Full text of "The Black diamond"

See other formats

-ttf!:; 


jiiPii 


•lr‘ 


v,:-!-;,; 


ll'i: 


■ili'i:  a 


mm 


iilili 


iiii 


liililiiii 


>  u '.'il 

r  ■.  ■'■'>, ■’•!V.'!.5.'i^.-,-f,  ;  -r  •■•  ■;.  'r'';  ,;'  ■  ■  ■  ■' 


. 


iil»liiS;l:|5' 

\  y:  :'- 


...■I 


ill 


_  jjllllilllijlj 

pli|||ilfiwSHli||i||F''' 


ki'-’i 


III 

llll|lpi?iili;;|s?'i|;iff;f) 

.«:■'  t;  ''.--..-•iiri.i:  ik:iiW.r.«:  '4itn> 


P',':p!.!f;[-  i;i;|i^!'fef'‘' 


J|i||ii?^iiiil 

liiiifi 


ijilP'IP': 

j;i5iga!;i!iil-5ilr 

p|j|iiiyi 


'  l‘l 


III 


i|liilii|ii|l 

sW!f|ii||!| 


sjlliilfiil 


li 


miSi 


'.' a'v'.V. "V'S".''*'  svi,!-' '  ■';■-',;:  '■.■-■'■■'■'  '■ 


ii 


■>ii'i.ptfri;!m4|f 


li 


M 


Is'f 


'r 


-I  SfJ 


iii 


W‘ 


lil 


ifiiii: 


iiii 


iiyi^ 


iaii' 


ilSif'!!);' 


li 


'TfrS 


III 


,J'PF!‘i;f’i 

llilfli 


iiiii-'' 


PffSi- 


Mmm 


!:i;i:;!iLi::H?r;;!i;; 

* 


m 


^PPrr,  ;  .  45^-  nl 

:iv..!CAt_  1 -'‘I' '*  ..  ■  ,-f ;'3.x 


Ipflisi 

iliip . . . . . . 

iilliflfi.iiiii 


illp 


liiii 


•’Pi.-; 


iiiiaisiiiiliPif 

:  k  i-P  'fPS  !  !. 
ipilPpIlisiE' 


ipiiii 


!'  ISiipSSSiPllj: 

liiiiii-ilpilllifli 


lii 


iiiilii 


“.i'j'rll-ill?! 

.. 


*  »  .it 


il 


ii:-'’-]!;?''!:-'':! 


vil'f: 


, . Ii|ii| 

Slilpl* 

Bill 

|pi':vp-EE'. 


li! 


tfii'n 


mm 

iiii: 


lynjialftifeiiiipijIi'iiPPiPl;: _ _ 

ilpii  ;ii^lil|i|iii:i!f 

....  . . ■'■'•• 

iaiilSHiill . . 

ijl''?i 


■.P: 


'filiiiiipiliil 


’i 


. . .  P- 

iiii^ 


:  'K' 


IfPli 


.■i;.l.:i 


''.:ii!p5i- 

r!}iip'i.Si';!;i. 

l!  tePil' 


iliiiiSiif 


Pifiiili 


iiiiai'i'i', 
fliPPit 


Ifii!'iii']:l'fcii4ii|lifl?| 


ji . . 

i;  iiiii  lllliii 


iiililiilliiliiiPifiii 

■(iiiPsililllii'lll 

I;!!  iii  iil  i  iPL  ii  i  its. 


■  Is 


gi'i 


liiif'i 


,.ti;.  •<•-;  .v,i'  li;,;  | 

ill  1:44 


■n 


’"Tjiivfcf  ‘  ■' 

■;  S.V-*:-'.,-" 


vV,^  ■ 


,' A>; 


THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  ILLINOIS 
LIBRARY 


3  3  J.  OS’ 

13  u 
v .  sS 

OAK  ST.  HDS^ 


r 


4 


, ''  V 
■.\  ' 


I'.'  . 


.  / 
i , 


.  'i  , 


f  '.  ^ 


f 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2018  with  funding  from 

University  of  Illinois  Urbana-Champaign  Alternates 


https://archive.org/details/blackdiamond55unse 


BABin. 


Vol.  55.  No.  1 


CHICAGO 

COLUMBUS 


JULY  3,  1915 


NEW  YORK 

PITTSBURGH 


$3.00  Per  Year 


Needed  Aids  for 

When  a  retailer  owns  an  auto  truck,  what  other 
appliances  must  he  have  in  order  to  get  all  of  the 
economy  of  which  is  possible?  That  is  to  say, 
the  auto  truck  is  an  instrument  of  speed.  It 
does  no  good  to  have  the  possibility  of  speed  if 
it  cannot  be  realized,  because  either  loading  or 
unloading  facilities  are  hopelessly  slow.  What 
can  be  done,  therefore,  to  load  and  unload  the 
auto  truck  rapidly  in  order  to  get  the  full  ad¬ 
vantage  of  its  speed  possibilities? 

We  have  asked  that  question  of  a  good  many 
retailers  and  some  of  them  are  less  positive  in 
their  answers  than  they  are  about  other  thin.gs 
which  have  to  do  with  an  auto  truck.  Still  there 
is  universal  recognition  of  the  fact  that  the  auto 
truck  must  have  auxiliary  equipment  or  it  cannot 
be  made  to  pay. 

Every  retailer  recognizes  that  an  auto  truck 
must  be  loaded  promptly  and  quickly.  Some  are 
of  the  opinion  that  an  overhead  pocket  with 
gravity  loading  is  the  only  thing  that  should  be 
used.  However,  for  various  reasons  some  do  not 
take  kindly  to  an  overhead  pocket,  but  say  the 
same  result  could  be  obtained  in  another  way. 
For  example,  a  wagon  loader  can  be  used  to  lift 
the  coal  from  the  ground  to  either  a  rocking 
cradle  loader  or  into  a  small  bin  that  will  hold 
about  a  truckload  of  coal. 

Some  few  have  advised  the  use  of  the  rocking 
cradle  loader  in  connection  with  a  car  on  the 
public  team  track  and  the  employment  of  men 
to  shovel  the  coal.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  one  of 
the  best  records  ever  made  by  a  truck  was  af¬ 
fected  in  just  this  way. 

Still  others  say  that  a  truck  can  still  be  made 
economical  while  being  loaded  with  a  wagon 
loader  direct  from  the  pile  on  the  ground.  They 
do  not  claim  for  this  method  quite  the  economy 
that  can  come  from  one  dumping  which  will  fill 
the  truck  in  a  few  seconds.  Still  they  say  it 
gives  the  truck  practical  efficiency. 

In  the  matter  of  unloading,  all  kinds  of  sugges¬ 
tions  are  made  and  they  ring  all  the  changes  from 
optimism  to  pessimism.  For  exainple,  one 
will  say  that  a  truck  is  practically  impossible  be¬ 
cause  not  five  per  cent  of  the  consumers  of  coal 
are  equipped  to  receive  it  in  any  efficient  or  ex¬ 
peditious  manner.  They  are  inclined  to  say  that 
because  the  truck  cannot  be  unloaded  rapidly  in 
ninetv-five  per  cent  of  the  cases,  the  truck  should 
not  be  employed  at  all.  . 

Others  recognize  the  lack  of  equipment  on  the 
part  of  the  consumer  but  insist  that  this  is  a  prop¬ 
osition  for  the  retailer  to  solve  rather  than  for 
him  to  depend  upon  the  householder  to  reform 
his  conditions  before  making  use  of  the  truck  as 
an  instrument  of  speed  For  example,  one  of 
these  vigorous  retailers  comes  out  strongly  in 
favor  of  the  tractor  which  has  “the  power  m 
front  and  the  load  behind,”  or  which  has  a  de¬ 
tachable  body  that  can  be  left  to  unload  while 
the  motor  returns  to  the  yard  for  another  body 
containin.g  another  load. 

Still  others  favor  the  dumping  of  the  coal  on 
the  ground  by  the  use  of  a  dump  body  and  the 
leaving  of  men  to  carry  the  coal  in,  while  the 
truck  returns  to  the  yard  to  take  up  another 
load  and  another  crew  of  carriers.  Where  the 
coal  is  delivered  in  bulk  these  dealers  favor 
dumping  the  coal  on  to  a  strip  of  canvas  or  a 
broad  platform,  leaving  the  men  with  shovels 
and  wheelbarrows  to  negotiate  the  distance  be¬ 
tween  the  curb  and  the  coal  hole. 

Where  the  coal  is  deliv'ered  in  bags,  they_  ad¬ 
vise  dumping  the  bags  on  the  ground  as  quickly 
as  possible,  leaving  the  men  to  carry  them  m 
while  the  truck  returns  to  the  yard. 

Some  few  favor  increasing  the  number  of  car¬ 
riers  so  that  the  truck  can  be  unloaded  and  the 
coal  dumped  about  as  fast  as  the  bags  could  be 
put  upon  the  ground  by  the  use  of  fewer  helpers. 
Those  in  favor  of  this  idea  say  that  the  same 
number  of  helpers  are  employed  as  would  be  the 
case  if  the  men  worked  in  two  or  three  gangs, 
and  that  this  system  would  avoid  the  expense  of 
carfare  for  the  men  returning  to  the  yard  to  take 
up  another  load  after  one  was  finished. 

One  very  ingenious  suggestion  made  by  one  re- 


Trucks — Facilities  to  Save  Time. 


A  Costly  Machine  Built  for  Speed  Can¬ 
not  Make  a  Record  if  Kept  Standing  Idle 
for  a  Long  Time  at  Both  Ends  of  a 
Route. 


tailer  is  that  he  employs  the  truck  only  on  long 
hauls.  He  loads  the  truck  by  automatic  ap¬ 
pliances  at  the  yard  and  then  sends  it  out  on  a 
long  haul  and  sends  a  good-sized  crevv  along  to 
do  the  carrying  in.  Then  the  truck  is  allowed 
to  stand  while  it  is  being  unloaded  by  this  crew. 
He  calls  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  percentage 
of  time  per  trip  that  the  car  is  standing  idle  at 
the  unloading  point  is  thus  very  materially  re¬ 
duced.  This  cuts  down  the  idle  time  to  a  point 
where  it  is  not  really  embarrassing. 

However,  the  retailers  are  convinced  of  one 
thing,  which  is  that  a  truck  unless  it  is  kept  going 
most  of  the  time  is  likely  to  get  less  of  its  pos¬ 
sible  economy  than  though  it  were  kept  on  the 
move  most  all  the  while  by  being  given  rapid 
loading  in  the  yard  and  rapid  unloading  at 
destination. 

In  response  to  inquiries  retailers  in  very  part 
of  the  United  States  have  given  definite  informa¬ 
tion  upon  this  point.  What  they  have  to  say 
is  both  interesting  and  instructive,  as  the  follow¬ 
ing  letters  will  indicate. 

Importance  of  Auxiliary  Appliances. 

Central  Coal  &  Coke  Company,  Kansas  City, 
IMo. ;  “For  periods  during  the  winter  months 
when  we  had  plenty  to  do  and  places  where  our 
coal  could  be  unloaded  with  dump  body,  we  cut 
our  hauling  e.xpense  in  two. 

"We  think  where  business  justifies  the  use  of  a 
fleet  of  trucks  large  enough  to  bear  the  expense 
of  hiring  an  able  mechanic  to  keep  the  trucks  in 
condition  without  sending  them  to  a  public  garage, 
there  is  economy  in  the  use  of  same. 

“The  main  advantage  gained  in  truck  hauling  is 
to  keep  them  moving  by  having  a  method  of  load¬ 
ing  quickly,  and  also  getting  rid  of  the  load 
without  delay.  The  price  of  several  teams  is  tied 
up  in  one  truck  and  should  they  be  compelled 
to  load  by  hand  and  unload  under  the  usual  team 
conditions  there  is  no  economy  whatever.” 

A  retailer  of  St.  Paul,  Minn. :  “The  value  of 
a  motor  truck  depends  entirely  upon  the  use  to 
which  it  is  to  be  put,  the  condition  of  streets 
and  roads,  the  ease  with  which  the  truck  can  be 
loaded  and  unloaded  and  the  facility  of  operation 

in  the  vard.  . 

“What  is  good  for  one  location  is  not  good  tor 
another  and  dealers  should  give  the  subject  most 
careful  consideration  before  buying  a  truck  that 
might  afterwards  turn  out  to  be  a  white  ele¬ 
phant.”  .  , 

J.  B.  Dooley,  Dooley  Bros.,  Peoria,  Ill. :  With¬ 
out  a  doubt  the  auto  truck  is  a  paying  proposition 
to  the  dealer  who  has  sufficient  business  to  keep 
his  truck  running  to  full  capacity  at  all  times 
and  can  arrange  for  a  quick  method  of  loading 
and  unloading  the  trucks.  The  success  of  a 
truck  will  depend  a  great  deal  upon  the  condi¬ 
tions  to  be  met  at  both  the  loading  and  unload¬ 
ing  points.” 


Big  Tonnage  to  One  Point. 

C.  P.  Campbell,  vice-president  Consumers  Com- 
panv,  Chicago;  “We  are  rather  riew_  in  the  use 
of  trucks  and  find  them  quite  economical  on  cer¬ 
tain  deliveries  and  the  reverse  on  work  of  a 
different  character.  For  instance,  where  we  have 
a  large  tonnage  going  to  one  delivery  point  and 
can  provide  facilities  for  the  prompt  loading  and 
unloading  of  our  trucks  there  is  quite  an  advan¬ 
tage  in  using  this  kind  of  equipment.  But  for 
miscellaneous  deliveries  on  moderately  short  hauls 
I  consider  team  delivery  the  most  economical. 

“It  seems  to  me  it  is  a  matter  for  every  dealer 
to  figure  out  for  himself  and  in  order  vo  arrive 
at  the  proper  conclusion,  he  must  take  into  con¬ 


sideration  his  loading  facilities,  the  class  of  his 
deliveries,  and  variations  in  the  volume  of  his 
business.  I  am  very  sorry  that  we  have  no  fig¬ 
ures  to  give  out  that  might  be  a  guide  to  others 
in  the  trade,  but  as  previously  stated,  we  are 
rather  new  in  the  use  of  trucks  and  do  not  know 
as  yet  whether  or  not  they  may  prove  entirely 
economical  for  handling  the  bulk  of  our  coal  and 
material.” 

A  dealer  of  Cleveland,  Ohio:  “After  a  month’s 
trial  with  a  two-ton  automobile  truck  in  connec¬ 
tion  with  our  retail  business,  we  have  found  that 
it  is  not  as  economical  for  operation  as  the  horse 
team  in  connection  with  the  average  retail  yard. 
For  an  up-to-date  yard  with  hopper  bins  with  an 
average  haul  of  two  miles  or  more,  I  think  they 
should  be  a  success.” 


Curb  Deliveries  Necessary. 

Schaeffer  &  Gengnagel,  Dayton,  Ohio:  “Trucks 
are  a  paying  investment  at  times,  but  are  not  for 
the  coal  dealers  unless  said  dealers  have  curb 
deliveries.  In  our  city  where  the  coal  dealers 
have  been  foolish  enough  to  use  chutes  and  any¬ 
thing  else  that  is  needed  to  put  their  customers’ 
coal  in  his  cellar  or  coal  bin,  a  truck  is  an  ex¬ 
pensive  luxury.” 

G.  T.  Lawrence,  manager  the  Peoples  Ice  & 
Fuel  Company,  Topeka,  Kans. :  “We  are  not  in 
the  coal  business,  but  the  ice  business  only.  I 
should  think  that  from  our  experience  vvith 
motor  trucks  in  this  line  they  would  be  prac¬ 
tical  only  in  such  places  as  are  equipped  with 
rapid  loading  facilities  and  no  carrying  to  be 
done  in  the  unloading.” 


Good  Facilities  at  One  End. 

N.  Poston,  vice-president  and  manager  Pacific 
Coast  Coal  Company,  Seattle,  Wash.:  “We  have 
been  using  auto  trucks  in  the  delivery  of  coal  for 
the  last  five  years  and  have  been  successful  with 
their  operation.  With  all,  however,  I  do  _  not 
think  that  we  would  have  been  successful  if  it 
were  not  for  the  fact  that  we  operate  a  large 
machine  shop,  and  as  a  consequence  our  repair¬ 
ing  was  done  at  actual  cost  and  was  very  much 
less  the  price  usually  charged  for  repairing  auto¬ 
mobiles. 

“A  big  consideration  in  the  operation  of  auto 
trucks  is  as  to  whether  the  volume  of  business 
is  sufficient  to  keep  the  truck  going  with  a  capa¬ 
city  load  continually.  If  so,  the  next  considera¬ 
tion  would  involve  itself  into  three  parts :  Load¬ 
ing,  running  and  discharging.  We  have  found  it 
to  be  a  losing  proposition  to  take  trucks  off  hard 
surface  road  ways  and  will  not  do  so.  W'e  have 
bunkers  where  the  coal  flows  by  gravity  into  the 
trucks.  We  are  at  a  disadvantage  in  unloading 
as  it  is  impossible  for  us  to  dump  the  coal.” 


Favors  Power  Dump  Unloading. 

J.  E.  Andrews,  manager  the  Cuyahoga  Coal 
Hompanv,  Cleveland,  Ohio :  “Our  answer  to  the 
question,  ‘Will  it  pay  to  install  auto  trucks  m  my 
-etail  coal  business,’  is  up  in  our  case,  ‘Yes.’  We 
lave  a  gravity  loading  plant  and  have  business 
enough  to  keep  our  two  Packard  trucks  working 
where  conditions  are  right  for  using  the  power 
:lump  in  unloading  and  getting  away  quickly. 
A’ithout  rapid  loading  and  unloading  facilities  it 
is  a  question  in  our  minds  whether  a  motor  truck 
will  show  economy  over  the  horse-drawn  vehiclp, 
excepting  in  cases  where  the  distance  is  long.” 

H.  McK.  Smith,  the  Smith  Fuel  &  Ice  Com¬ 
pany,  Staunton,  Va. ;  “Two  years  ago  we  bought 
one  two-ton  capacity  dump  body  coal  truck.  It 
has  paid  us  well,  although  this  town  is  very  hilly 
and  the  average  round  trip  haul  is  not  over  one 
and  one-half  miles.  We  have  quick  loading  and 
unloading  facilities,  however.  ^\  e  have  just 
ordered  a  second  truck  of  three-ton  capacity, 
automatic  hydraulic  dump  body.  Two  of  our 
competitors,  having  closely  observed  the  per¬ 
formance  of  our  truck,  have  also  recently  pur¬ 
chased  trucks.”  T,  1  1  -It  XT 

R.  ?iIacKeller  &  Sons  Company,  Peekskill,  iN. 


3536.10 


A 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[July  3 


) 


Y. :  “We  are  not  in  the  coal  business  but  we 
can  say  that  auto  trucks  are  all  right  for  the 
retail  man,  provided  he  has  pockets.  Otherwise 
they  are  not.” 


Automatic  Loading  Needed. 

Alex  Y.  Malcomson,  United  Fuel  &  Supply 
Company,  Detroit,  iMich. :  “In  our  opinion  auto¬ 
mobile  trucks  can  be  installed  in  a  retail  coal 
yard  advantageously,  where  the  yard  is  equipped 
with  the  proper  apparatus  for  quick  loading  of 
the  trucks;  that  is,  with  chutes,  over-head  bins 
and  locomotive  cranes  or  other  proper  labor  sav¬ 
ing  devices.” 

Jos.  W.  Simpson,  assistant  to  president,  Mil¬ 
waukee  Western  Fuel  Co.,  Milwaukee :  “We  have 
now  been  operating  for  the  last  nine  months  a 
Pierce-Arrow  five-ton  hydraulic  dump  truck,  and 
the  same  has  proved  to  be  very  successful.  The 
question  of  making  a  truck  pay,  however,  depends 
entirely  upon  the  loading  facilities  and  unloading- 
facilities.  Before  any  retail  coal  man  purchases 
a  truck,  it  would  be  advisable  to  have  the  truck 
salesman  know  just  what  the  conditions  are  that 
must  be  confronted.” 


Private  Driveways  Inadequate. 

A.  E.  Davison,  Bell  Coal  Company,  Kansas 
City,  Mo. :  “Our  trucks  are  five-ton  automatic 
dump  bodies  weighing  slightly  over  five  tons 
when  empty.  In  the  domestic  business  we  find 
that  about  nine  driveways  out  of  ten  are  not 
constructed  so  as  to  be  able  to  withstand  a  load 
of  ten  tons  so  that  the  truck  is  of  very  little 
service  in  this  direction.  Then  again,  some  drive¬ 
ways  are  too  narrow  to  permit  of  the  passage  of 
a  five-ton  truck  in  case  they  could  stand  up 
under  the  weight  imposed. 

“When  it  is  necessary  to  shovel  a  load  of  coal 
from  a  truck  to  a  coal  window^  or  chute,  it  is 
more  difficult  to  do  so  than  is  the  case  from  a 
w^agon. 

“The  truck  is  of  more  value  in  the  handling  of 
street  hauls,  but  compared  to  other  cities,  there 
is  not  a  large  percentage  of  this  class  of  business 
here  on  account  of  the  local  heating  companies 
that  pipe  their  steam  along  the  streets. 

“A  truck  is  of  special  value  when  it  comes  to 
handling  steam  dumps,  and  we  use  them  prin¬ 
cipally  for  that  purpose.” 


Gets  Fast  Loading. 

W.  H.  Riley  &  Son,  North  Attleboro,  Mass._: 
“We  have  a  two-ton  Packard  truck  and  find  it 
to  be  a  very  profitable  investment.  We  handle 
our  coal  through  a  pocket  and  we  can  load  our 
truck  with  three  tons  of  screened  coal  in  five 
minutes.  We  are  of  the  opinion  that  it  would  not 
pay  a  dealer  to  use  trucks  where  his  coal  has  to 
be  loaded  by  hand,  especially  on  short  hauls.” 

Godfrey  Coal  Company,  Milton,  Mass. ;  “Auto 
trucks  to  be  run  successfully  must  have  the  ad¬ 
vantage  of  quick  loading  facilities.  The  ordinary 
way  of  shoveling  coal  from  the  ground  in  the 
average  retail  yard  in  the  country  takes  too  much 
time.  We  have  been  running  a  truck  now  for 
four  years,  and  under  our  local  conditions  can 
say  that  while  it  has  advantages  over  the  horses 
in  some  ways,  we  cannot  deliver  coal  as  cheaply 
as  with  the  horses.” 


Small  Truck  for  Mixed  Loads. 

John  T.  Blackburn,  Albany,  N.  Y. :  “We  have 
had  one  three-ton  Packard  truck  with  hand  ele¬ 
vating  body  in  operation  nearly  three  years.  We 
find  it  advantageous  and  economical  on  long  hauls 
where  we  can  have  quick  loading  and  quick  dis¬ 
charging.  On  short  hauls  it  is  more  expensive 
than  horse-drawn  vehicles. 

“If  the  dealer  has  quick  loading  devices  at  his 
yard  and  enough  business  at  full  loads  at  a  dis¬ 
tance  of  say  two  miles  from  the  loading  point, 
he  will  make  no  mistake  in  purchasing  a  truck. 
If  his  business  is  short  hauls  with  mixed  loads 
it  would  be  a  doubtful  investment — especially  if 
the  truck  is  three-ton  capacity  or  over.  My  own 
notion  is  that  a  two-ton  truck  is  a  better  propo¬ 
sition  for  the  average  man  than  a  larger  one.” 


Small  and  Large  Trucks. 

W.  W.  Griffith,  Washington,  D.  C. :  “I  adopted 
this  mode  of  delivery  in  1911.  During  that  time 
I  have  carefully  tested  and  observed  the  results 
obtained  from  motor  trucks  of  from  one  to  five- 
ton  capacity,  inclusive.  I  have  finally  concluded 
that  in  coal  delivery  service,  the  most  advantage¬ 
ous  results  are  obtained  from  trucks  of  two  and 
five-ton  capacity,  and  have  adopted  them  accord¬ 
ingly,  my  conclusions  having  been  based  upon 


the  showing  of  an  established  system  of  recording 
the  results  obtained. 

“Having  practically  eliminated  from  coal  de¬ 
livery  service  trucks  of  other  than  two  and  five- 
ton  capacity,  I  now  have  in  this  service  five  two- 
ton  trucks  and  six  five-ton  trucks.  These  trucks 
make  general  deliveries,  and  the  only  instances  in 
which  I  find  the  horse-drawn  vehicle  an  advantage 
over  the  motor  truck  are  where  special  conditions 
prevail  rendering  motor  truck  delivery  disadvan¬ 
tageous — such  as  narrow  and  congested  entrances 
to  the  objective  points  of  delivery.  Where  such 
conditions  prevail  teaming  delivery  is  much  more 
feasible,  teaming  labor  is  cheaper,  and  there  is 
no  special  hardship  on  the  animals,  and,  thus,  the 
advantage  of  horse-drawn  vehicles  under  such 
conditions  offset  the  quicker  mode  of  conveyance 
by  motor  truck. 

“Another  instance  in  which  I  would  not  recom¬ 
mend  the  motor  truck  is  where  it  is  necessary  to 
shovel  coal  from  cars  or  ground,  except  in  such 
cases  where  the  radius  of  haul  exceeds  a  two-mile 
round  trip.  The  longer  the  haul  the  more  favor¬ 
able  is  the  use  of  the  motor  truck,  so  long  as 
roadways  render  their  operation  practical.” 


Good  With  Gravity  Bins. 

F.  O.  Block,  secretary  W.  G.  Block  Company, 
Muscatine,  Iowa ;  “We  have  several  Velie  auto 
trucks  in  use  for  the  past  three  years  and  our 
costs  show  that  we  can  haul  coal  from  our  plants 
at  about  fourteen  cents  per  ton  per  mile. 

“By  way  of  explanation,  however,  we  wish  to 
state  that  we  handle  all  our  coal  through  gravity 
bins  and,  of  course,  the  loading  of  the  trucks  is 
done  automatically.  The  above  mentioned  figure, 
of  course,  does  not  include  the  operating  expense 
of  the  truck,  repairs  and  depreciation.” 

S.  Shriner  of  the  W.  G.  Block  Company,  Daven¬ 
port,  Iowa:  “We  are  using  motor  trucks  at  our 
Muscatine  and  Davenport  yards,  but  not  at  our 
Cedar  Rapids  yard.  At  both  our  Muscatine  and 
Davenport  yards  we  have  gravity  coal  bins  which 
enable  us  to  load  our  trucks  in  from  three  to 
five  minutes.  We  do  not  believe  that  an  auto 
truck  would  be  a  profitable  proposition  for  any 
retail  yard  unless  the  yard  was  equipped  with  a 
gravity  coal  pocket  or  some  other  means  to  in¬ 
sure  quick  loading. 

“Before  this  company  installed  the  gravity  coal 
pockets,  we  handled  our  coal  from  a  flat  yard  and 
our  experience  was  that  it  took  from  half  to 
three-quarters  of  an  hour  to  load  a  three-ton  load 
of  coal  either  direct  from  the  car  or  from  the 
bins  in  the  shed.  A  proposition  of  this  sort  would 
keep  a  truck  idle  too  many  hours  of  the  day.  In 
order  to  make  a  truck  pay,  it  is  our  experience 
that  they  must  be  kept  on  the  move. 

“The  average  retail  dealer,  of  course,  handles 
his  coal  from  a  flat  yard  or  direct  from  the  car. 
Where  gravity  pockets  are  installed,  however,  we 
believe  that  in  most  cases  a  truck  would  prove  a 
paying  proposition.” 


Used  on  Long  Hauls. 

John  J.  Mullan,  vice-president  Peoples  Coal 
Company,  Worcester,  Mass. :  “We  have  found 
our  trucks  have  paid  us  very  well  in  long  hauls 
or  anything  beyond  two  and  one-half  or  three 
miles  where  we  could  use  them  on  quick  loading. 
We  found  it  did  not  pay  to  have  them  stand 
while  they  are  being  loaded  by  hand  either  on 
anthracite  or  bituminous.  But,  with  our  wagon 
loader  and  hopper  arrangements  which  we  have 
we  can  load  them  very  rapidly. 

“Our  trucks  average  thirty-five  miles  per  day, 
making  about  eight  trips  with  an  average  load 
of  about  8,000  pounds,  which  is  very  good  for 
our  city,  which  is  hilly.  We  also  find  that  the 
trucks  relieve  our  horses  in  a  great  many  ways, 
as  we  do  not  give  them  any  more  of  the  hilly 
trips  than  we  can  possibly  help.” 


Routing  Is  Necessary. 

Henry  A.  Welch,  Welch  Coal  Company,  Nia¬ 
gara  Falls,  N.  Y. :  “After  two  years’  experience 
with  a  three-ton  automatic  dump  truck,  -  would 
say  that  there  are  several  conditions  to  be  con¬ 
sidered  before  entering  into  the  truck  proposi¬ 
tion. 

“First,  a  truck  should  be  able  to  get  its  load 
quickly  and  discharge  same  without  any  loss  of 
time. 

“Second,  good  roads  are  a  necessity  because  a 
truck  will  not  operate  satisfactorily  on  a  muddy, 
slippery  street. 

“Third,  the  attention  of  some  person  is  needed 
to  look  after  the  routing.  To  operate  to  advan¬ 
tage  truoks  must  be  kept  moving. 

“We  find  that  on  bulk  loads  the  truck  works 
out  all  right,  but  on  split  loads,  unless  the  haul 


is  a  long  one,  it  is  not  much  better  than  horses. 

“In  putting  in  summer  supply  orders,  we  dump 
the  coal  on  the  street  wherever  possible  and  leave 
a  man  to  wheel  it  in.  In  this  way  it  is  possible 
to  work  four  or  five  jobs  at  one  time. 

“We  find  that  it  costs  us  about  $14  per  day  to 
operate  our  three-ton  truck.  If  we  were  buying 
another  one,  we  would  buy  a  five-ton,  as  the  cost 
of  operation  is  not  much  greater  and  the  capacity 
would  be  considerably  increased. 

“If  the  dealer  has  the  bulk  business  as  well  as 
split  loads,  proper  handling  and  unloading  facili¬ 
ties  and  good  streets  the  truck  will  work  out  all 
right,  otherwise  he  will  have  a  very  expensive 
proposition  on  his  hands  and  he  had  better  stick 
to  horses.” 


Owner  and  Driver  Determine. 

E.  S.  Morse  &  Company,  No.  199  Medford 
street,  Boston,  Mass.:  ■  “We  have  no  figures  and 
no  advice  to  give  concerning  auto  trucks,  as  we 
have  decided  after  four  years’  experience  that  it 
all  depends  upon  the  owner  and  driver  as  to 
whether  the  truck  can  be  made  to  pay  or  not. 

“The  driver  of  a  car  should  be  like  a  good 
horse  driver,  avoid  the  holes  and  ruts  in  the 
street,  car  trucks,  gutters,  etc.,  thereby  saving 
the  springs,  tires,  etc.,  and  also  mechanic  enough 
to  take  good  care  of  his  motor,  keep  it  well  oiled 
and  cleaned.  The  bearings  also  need  watching, 
and  the  steering  gear.  The  carburetor  needs  ad¬ 
justing  and  the  proper  mixture  of  air  and  gas 
keeps  the  gasoline  bill  down.  There  are  count¬ 
less  other  things  a  driver  should  know.  He 
should  also  be  a  temperance  man  as  rum  and  auto 
trucks  do  not  work  well  together. 

“The  owner  should  be  liberal  enough  to  pay  his 
driver  overtime  for  extra  time  he  works  to  keep 
his  machine  washed  and  in  good  condition,  so 
that  there  may  be  no  delay  in  starting  up  in  the 
morning.  The  machine  should  be  kept  in  a 
heated  or  warm  garage  in  winter. 

“If  a  good  owner  and  a  good  driver  both  take 
an  interest  in  the  machine  and  watch  its  daily 
work,  there  is  no  doubt  about  its  being  a  paying 
investment.” 


A  Record  Is  Made. 

J.  F.  Flood,  general  .manager  Youghiogheny 
Coal  Company,  Pittsburgh,  Pa.:  “To  make  trucks 
pay  they  must  be  kept  moving.  If  loading  and 
unloading  facilities  are  good  and  proper  atten¬ 
tion  is  paid  to  upkeep  of  trucks,  the  delivery  of 
coal  by  motor  trucks  will  cost  less  than  delivery 
by  team,  short  or  long  hauls.” 

“As  to  the  possibility  of  the  delivery  power  of 
trucks,  would  say  that  in  one  night  our  truck 
“C,”  a  five-ton  machine,  in  eleven  hours  and 
thirty-five  minutes  actual  running  time  delivered 
371  tons  of  coal ;  in  ten  hours  running  time  the 
tonnage  delivered  was  316.  This  was  delivered 
from  our  dock  at  Eighth  street  and  Duquesne 
Way  to  the  buildings  in  the  downtown  of  Pitts¬ 
burgh.  No  special  preparations  were  made  for 
this  test  except  that  we  kept  our  bins  filled  with 
coal  and  allowed  the  coal  bins  of  our  customers 
to  run  low.  I  am  satisfied  that  a  truck  can  equal 
this  record  three  hundred  nights  a  year  if  con¬ 
ditions  are  right.  .\s  we  load  from  over  head 
bins,  this  work  is  done  rapidly.  This  also  ap¬ 
plies  to  unloading  as  we  dump  from  rear  aided 
by  power  hoist.” 


Oil  and  water — it  is  known — will  not  mix,  so 
some  wit  has  put  it  that  text  books  and  coal 
mining  should  be  put  in  the  same  class.  This 
week  saw  considerable  newspaper  space  accorded 
to  T.  J.  Foster,  head  of  the  International  Text¬ 
book  Company  of  Scranton  and  the  financing  of 
that  concern  and  the  I.  C.  S.  Foster  and  J.  K. 
Griffith,  an  officer  of  the  correspondence  course 
concern,  lay  the  blame  of  the  straitened  circum¬ 
stances  of  the  schools  to  the  receivership  that 
was  forced  on  the  Paint  Creek  Collieries  Com¬ 
pany.  This,  with  the  financing  of  the  Lacka¬ 
wanna  Coal  &  Lumber  Company,  the  correspond¬ 
ence  school  men  say,  was  a  continual  drain  on 
the  other  resources.  A  plan  for  rehabilitation  of 
the  properties  has  been  offered  by  bankers  who 
have  a.greed  to  re-finance  the  concerns. 


About  the  only  public  contracts  pending  in  New 
York  City  that  are  new,  are  those  of  the  de¬ 
partment  of  docks  and  ferries  to  be  opened  on 
Friday  noon  of  this  week  for  a  certain  quantity 
of  buckwheat,  and  the  Collec^e  of  the  City  of 
New  York,  to  be  opened  on  July  6th.  Both  of 
these  contracts  call  for  very  small  tonnages  as 
compared  with  some  of  the  public  business  re¬ 
cently  let. 


No.  1] 


3 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


Making  Tests  to  Learn  Coal  Value. 


By  H.  A.  Atwater. 

The  average  buyer  of  steam  coal  of  several 
years  ago  could  be  placed  in  the  same  category  as 
the  buyer  of  gas  or  electricity.  He  thought  of 
coal  as  a  thing  possessing  more  or  less  uni¬ 
form  properties,  and  consequently  the  coal  bills 
were  paid  without  his  taking  the  trouble  to  settle 
for  himself  the  question  of  whether  or  not  the 
proper  kind  of  coal  for  his  particular  furnace  was 
being  burned.  In  fact,  many  buyers  probably 
never  considered  the  possibility  that  one  grade 
of  coal  might  be  more  suited  to  their  furnace 
equipment  than  some  other  grade. 

It  has  been  only  recently  that  the  men  in 
charge  of  the  boiler  or  power  plant  expenditures 
have  seriously  considered  the  question.  Goaded 
on  by  the  sharper  and  sharper  competition  in 
modern  industrial  processes,  the  manager,  in  his 
endeavor  to  make  all  possible  cuts  in  the  costs  of 
production,  has  finally  been  forced  to  look  his 
steam  costs  square  in  the  face. 

Ask  several  plant  managers  what  their  fuel 
cost  of  steam  is  and  it  will  be  a  source  of  won¬ 
derment  that  it  could  be  possible  to  obtain  such 
a  variety  of  answers. 

Or,  better  yet,  ask  one  what  his  furnace  ef¬ 
ficiency  is.  The  most  relevant  answer  to  this 
question  will  very  probably  be  given  with  more 
or  less  pardonable  pride  about  as  follows : 

“It  costs  us  1.9  cents  to  produce  a  kilowatt 
hour,”  or  “we  produce  a  kilowatt  hour  with  22.1 
pounds  of  coal.” 

Getting  the  Fine  Point. 

These  figures  are  all  very  good  as  far  as  they 
go,  only  they  do  not  go  far  enough.  They  cover 
the  costs  all  rolled  into  one  figure  all  the  way 
from  the  coal  pile  to  the  switchboard,  whereas  at 
present  we  are  interested  only  in  finding  the 
costs  into  which  the  item  of  coal  enters  directly. 
\'et,  this  same  manager  knows  to  a'  fraction  of  a 
cent  what  the  unit  costs  are  for  every  little  oper¬ 
ation  in  his  plant.  The  fuel  cost  of  evaporation 
per  thousand  pounds  of  steam,  or  some  similar 
■  quantity,  is  one  of  the  figures  that  the  manager 
ought  to  know,  and  until  he  does  know  it  any 
endeavor  to  reduce  his  power  costs  from  the 
coal  end  will  resolve  itself  into  more  or  less  of 
a  hit-or-miss  proposition. 

The  greater  part  of  the  total  cost  of  steam 
consists  of  the  fuel  cost  of  steam,  which  imme¬ 
diately  shows  what  a  vital  part  the  coal  bill  plays 
in  the  total  power  cost. 

Blame  for  Waste. 

In  placing  the  blame  for  the  wasteful  practices 
one  usually  sees  in  most  boiler  rooms,  we  can 
start  with  the  fireman.  But,  the  real  blame  ought 
to  rest  higher  up  with  the  manager  or  whoever 
the  man  may  be  who  has  the  final  decision  on  all 
matters  connected  with  the  power  plant.  The 
average  fireman  gets  the  lowest  wages  of  any 
man  around  the  plant.  And,  as  should  be  ex¬ 
pected,  he  measures  his  ability  by  the  steadiness 
with  which  he  maintains  the  needle  of  the  steam 
gauge  at  a  certain  figure.  He  looks  upon  the 
coal  pile  as  an  inexhaustible  quantity  of  heavy 
material  to  be  shoveled  just  as  so  much  mud  or 
cinders. 

Very  probably  a  radically  different  state  of  af¬ 
fairs  would  exist  were  the  coal  pile  to  be  changed 
to  the  gold  it  represents  and  the  manager  to  walk 
in  during  the  daily  routine  of  shoveling.  The 
time  is  not  so  very  far  distant  when  the  boiler 
room  superintendent  will  be  one  of  the  highest 
paid  men  in  the  plant.  This  time  has  already  ar¬ 


rived  at  some  plants  whose  owners  have  recog¬ 
nized  the  importance  of  efficient  and  economical 
steam  production. 

The  coal  buyer  need  give  just  a  little  thought 
to  these  considerations  to  be  convinced  of  the 
importance  of  choosing  his  coal  with  care.  The 
engineer  of  any  plant  can  easily  obtain  data  de¬ 
scriptive  of  the  manner  in  which  various  boiler 
tests  should  be  carried  out,  whether  he  wants  the 
test  to  be  a  comprehensive  one  or  one  carried  out 
in  a  more  special  manner  with  the  omission  of 
many  observations  which  might  not  be  essential 
to  the  object  of  obtaining  a  check  on  the  relative 
worth  of  the  coals  being  fired. 

The  Matter  of  Tests. 

The  facilities  in  a  large  number  of  plants  are 
more  or  less  limited  as  well  as  most  engineers' 
time.  So,  the  running  of  a  series  of  evaporative 
or  general  performance  tests  can  be  considered 
as  being  out  of  the  question.  Nor  is  such  a  series 
of  tests  necessary.  Any  engineer  thoroughly 
familiar  with  his  plant  can  readily  judge  as  to 
the  comparative  results  obtained  with  different 
grades  of  coal  by  a  close  observation  of  furnace 
conditions  and  a  little  conscientious  study  of 
what  he  observes. 

A  check  on  the  coal  weights  should  always  be 
kept,  but  this  requirement  should  present  no  dif¬ 
ficulties  in  even  the  smallest  hand-fired  plant.  Ap¬ 
proximations  based  on  volume  observations  are 
usually  sufficiently  accurate  to  indicate  very  clear¬ 
ly  the  difference  that  may  exist  between  any  two 
grades  of  coal. 

The  length  of  the  test  is  a  matter  which  has  to 
be  solved  by  every  engineer  or  manager  for  him¬ 
self.  Some  plants  are  so  situated  that  price 
considerations  prohibit  the  purchase  of  more 
than  one  or  two  different  grades  of  coal.  For 
these  plants,  a  comparison  of  the  results  obtained 
with  the  coals  available  should  not  require  such 
a  great  length  of  time.  In  the  case  of  plants  with 
very  uniform  load  and  operating  conditions,  a 
test  of  any  one  coal  would  hardly  need  be  e.x- 
tended  over  more  than  a  few  days.  Conse¬ 
quently,  the  engineer  could  determine  to  his  own 
satisfaction  the  best  coal  to  use  after  a  few  days 
or  a  week  of  observations. 

On  the  other  hand,  a  plant  often  is  situated 
where  a  number  of  various  grades  of  coal  are 
available.  If,  furthermore,  load  conditions  were 
so  variable  that  it  would  be  necessary  to  extend 
observations  over  a  period  of  a  few  weeks  in  or¬ 
der  to  obtain  a  fair  estimate  of  what  any  one  coal 
could  do  under  an  average  of  these  conditions,  it 
is  obvious  that  the  length  of  time  required  for  a 
sifting  down  of  various  coals  to  the  one  grade 
most  suitable  could  very  easily  run  into  weeks 
and  possibly  months. 

It  is  far  cheaper  in  the  long  run  to  take  a  little 
more  time,  whether  it  is  a  matter  of  days  or 
weeks,  and  continue  observations  until  the  engi¬ 
neer  is  satisfied  in  his  own  mind  that  he  has  de¬ 
termined  the  proper  coal  to  contract  for. 

Need  of  Information. 

There  is  no  gainsaying  the  statement  that 
altogether  too  many  managers  who  are  directly 
charged  with  the  purchasing  of  coal  are  ignorant 
of  most  of  the  relations  that  govern  the  fitting 
of  coals  to  certain  furnace  equipment  in  order  to 
secure  the  highest  furnace  efficiency,  not  to  men¬ 
tion  the  matter  of  a  knowledge  of  what  coals 
are  available  for  i)urchase  and  the  general  condi¬ 
tions  governing  the  price  at  which  they  can  be 
contracted  for.  It  is  this  general  coal  and  price 
situation  which  the  buyer  should  understand  be¬ 
fore  going  into  the  questions  involved  by  an  en¬ 
deavor  to  choose  his  coal. 


While  it  is  not  true  that  the  use  of  the  cheaper 
sizes  of  coal  always  results  in  lower  steam  costs, 
if  conditions  are  made  favorable  for  burning 
these  coals,  there  is  no  reason  why  a  substantial 
reduction  in  steam  costs  should  not  be  the  result. 
The  western  manufacturer  is  the  one  to  whom 
this  question  of  cheaper  sizes  is  the  most  vital 
as  the  principal  anthracite,  semi-anthracite,  semi- 
bituminous,  and  high  grade  bituminous  fields  lie 
in  the  east,  and  thus  give  the  eastern  manufac¬ 
turer  the  use  of  high  grade  coals  without  the 
disadvantage  of  high  freight  rates. 

The  principal  coal  fields  near  to  the  hand  of  the 
western  manufacturer  cover  the  greater  part  of 
the  state  of  Illinois  and  the  southwestern  portion 
of  Indiana.  Unfortunately  the  Chicago  manu¬ 
facturing  district  is  situated  at  a  disadvantage 
with  respect  to  these  fields  as  the  higher  grade 
coals  are  mined  in  the  southern  part  of  the  state, 
although  the  bituminous  and  block  or  lower  vein 
districts  of  Indiana  furnish  very  good  steam 
coals.  The  operations  nearest  the  city,  such  as 
the  Wilmington,  Streator,  and  Danville  districts, 
furnish  the  poorer  grades. 

In  general,  the  coals  from  the  central  part  of 
the  state,  such  as  the  Springfield,  Mt.  Olive  and 
Third  vein  districts,  have  a  lower  fusing  point 
than  those  from  the  southern  fields,  which  tends 
to  offset  the  advantage  in  lower  freight  rates  en¬ 
joyed  by  these  central  Illinois  coals. 

Peculiarly  it  is  a  market  condition  of  supply 
and  demand  that  affords  the  buyer  a  great  op- 
[lortunity  to  obtain  cheap  steam-coal  by  buying 
screenings. 

Screenings  result  from  the  production  of  do¬ 
mestic  and  prepared  sizes,  and  the  demand  for 
these  coals  being  accompanied  by  the  necessity  ot 
getting  rid  of  the  screenings  makes  it  possible  to 
contract  for  this  “by-product,”  as  it  might  be 
called,  at  prices  which  are  very  often  below  cost. 

Nor  is  this  lower  price  justified  by  the  fact  that 
the  screenings  constitute  the  slack  coal  of  the 
mining  operations,  as  modern  improved  methods 
of  mining  coal  make  it  possible  to  obtain  slack 
coal  with  very  little  more  ash  than  is  present  in 
the  prepared  sizes. 

A  Matter  of  Value. 

If  the  actual  relative  values  of  the  screenings 
and  the  prepared  coals  were  figured  from  their 
heat  values,  as  shown  by  calorimetric  tests,  it 
would  be  found  that  the  difference  in  market 
prices  would  almost  without  an  e.xception  amount 
to  two,  three  and  often  four  times  the  difference 
warranted  by  the  heat  contents. 

It  is  this  fact  that  should  show  the  buyer  how 
much  more  he  is  getting  for  his  money  when  he 
buys  screenings ;  that  is,  assuming  that  he  can 
use  them.  It  is  in  just  this  last  question  of  being 
able  to  use  them  that  he  has  usually  fallen  down. 
The  lower  fusing  temperature  of  the  majority 
of  the  cheaper  screenings  will  usually  cause 
trouble  from  clinkering  in  hand-tired  furnaces  as 
they  have  been  constructed  in  most  plants  up  to 
the  present  time.  However,  the  introduction  of  a 
great  number  of  automatic  stokers  and  even  sev¬ 
eral  designs  of  hand  fired  furnaces,  which  are 
designed  to  handle  these  screenings  without  any 
difficulty,  has  opened  up  a  field  to  the  steam  coal 
user  of  almost  unlimited  possibilities.  It  is  to 
these  possibilities  that  this  article  has  endeavored 
to  direct  the  attention  of  the  buyer. 

But  even  this  should  be  made  to  serve  as  a  be¬ 
ginning  as  the  final  choice  of  a  fuel  for  various 
furnace  conditions  is  more  or  less  complicated  by 
considerations  of  furnace  design,  the  per  cent  of 
volatile  matter  and  ash  in  the  coal,  thickness  of 
the  fuel  bed,  draft,  wet  or  dry  firing  of  coal,  etc., 
each  of  which  in  itself  can  readily  be  made  the 
basis  of  an  instructive  article. 


It  is  stated  that  no  action  has  been  taken 
l)y  the  Bethlehem  Steel  Corporation  relative 
to  the  construction  of  the  fleet  of  steamers 
to  use  in  bringing  ore  from  Chile  to  the 
United  States.  About  a  year  ago  it  was  said 
that  Mr.  Schwab  had  placed  contracts  abroad 
for  the  construction  of  a  fleet  of  vessels  of 
12,000  to  15,000  cargo-carrying  capacity  to 
bring  ore  from  his  Chilean  property  to  an 
Atlantic  port,  where  it  could  be  transshipped 
to  Bethlehem.  ,4n  order  was  said  to  have 
been  placed  for  six  vessels,  but  this  work  was 
suspended  when  war  broke  out,  and  it  looks 
now  as  though  delivery  would  not  be  made 
until  the  war  is  over.  It  is  not  possible  at 
the  moment  to  place  orders  for  any  con¬ 
siderable  amount  of  tonnage  with  American 
shipyards,  as  most  of  the  .Atlantic  shipbuild¬ 
ing  i)lants  have  sufficient  business  now  under 
contract  to  keep  them  busy  for  eighteen 
months  to  two  years. 


4 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[July  3 


The  Aftermath  of  the  M-O-I  Convention. 


As  a  closing  act  of  one  of  the  most  interesting 
and  important  conventions  which  the  Michigan- 
Ohio-Indiana  Coal  Association  ever  held  came 
the  election  of  officers  and  the  adoption  of  resolu¬ 
tions. 

J>y  the  election  of  officers,  Robert  Lake  of  Jack- 
son,  Mich.,  was  returned  to  the  presidency,  where 
he  liad  served  successfully  on  two  previous  occa¬ 
sions.  It  was  under  .Mr.  Lake’s  presidency  that 
the  organization  got  its  start  and  grew  to  some¬ 
thing  of  the  importance  in  the  coal  field  that  it 
has  filter  cotne  to  occupy.  11  is  return  to  that 
position  is  a  warrant  of  the  contituied  success  of 
the  organization. 

At  the  same  time,  it  is  indicated  by  the  resolu¬ 
tions,  that  the  recommendations  of  H.  11.  Dean, 
the  president  of  the  organization,  are  very  highly 
considered  by  the  members  of  that  organizatioti. 
lie  said,  for  e.xample,  that  the  different  depart¬ 
ments  should  be  luit  upon  a  paying  basis.  There 
is  an  echo  of  this  same  idea  iti  the  resolutions. 
They  say  that  each  department  should  be  self- 
supporting  and  therefore  it  is  apparently  up  to 
the  e.xecutive  committee  to  devise  a  plan  by 
which  the  revenues  of  the  association  may  he  en¬ 
larged. 

The  new  official  roster  of  the  association  is: 

President — Robert  Lake,  Jackson.  Mich. 

V'ice- President — Chas.  T.  Harther,  Toledo, 
Ohio. 

Treasurer — W.  Gipson,  Upper  Sandusky, 
Ohio. 

.Secretary — R.  fi'.  Nigh,  Columbus,  Ohio. 

Board  Members. 

Michigan. 

Wm.  Brown,  St.  Joseph,  Mich.,  to  succeed  him¬ 
self. 

11.  P.  Gaukler,  Pontiac,  Mich.,  to  fill  the  unex¬ 
pired  term  of  Robert  Lake. 

Ohio. 

Homer  C.  Gill,  Columbus,  Ohio. 

Indiana. 

11.  \\’.  Kelley,  Angola,  Ind. 

N.  S.  Longworth,  Fort  Wayne,  Ind.,  to  fill  the 
unexpired  term  of  H.  B.  Wolfe. 

Executive  Committee. 

11.  Bauknecht,  Aluskegon,  Alich.,  chairman. 

W.  F.  Voegele,  Mansfield,  Ohio. 

11.  W.  Kelley,  Angola,  Ind. 

The  resolutions  adopted  by  the  association  were 
as  follows,  these  being  prepared  by  a  committee 
consisting  of  W.  F.  Voegele  and  J.  W.  Land- 
strum  ; 

Resolutions. 

‘‘Your  committee  congratulates  this  association 
ui)on  its  splendid  convention  both  in  spirit  and 
enthusiasm  and  trusts  that  its  deliberations  may 


Sunday  Creek  Coal  Comp 

The  accompanying  photograph  is  of  the  sales¬ 
men  of  the  Sunday  Creek  Coal  Company  who 
attended  the  Michigan-Ohio-Indiana  Coal  Deal¬ 
ers’  -Association  at  Cedar  Point.  Retiding  from 
left  to  right,  they  are :  Back  row  standing — 


prove  an  inspiration  to  each  and  every  one  of  its 
members,  to  the  end  that  the  next  convention  will 
be  even  greater,  and  your  committee  offers  the 
following  resolutions ; 

"I.  That  we  commend  the  faithful  service  and 
good  administration  during  the  past  year  of  our 
president,  secretary  and  treasurer,  and  believe 
tluit  very  much  of  our  success  is  due  to  their 
efforts. 

“2.  We  recommend  that  the  executive  board 
of  this  association  be  directed  to  devise  ways  and 
means  to  increase  our  financial  receipts,  so  that 
more  active  work  may  he  done  in  the  field,  secur¬ 
ing  a  traveling  secretary  if  necessarv  to  the  end 
that  our  membership  may  he  largely  increased 
and  all ‘of  our  bills  paid  promptly. 

“.3.  We  commend  the  various  valuable  coal 
trade  press  and  urge  not  only  the  members  of  our 
association,  but  every  coal  dealer  to  subscribe  for 
one  or  more  of  them,  thereby  keeping  in  closer 
touch  with  those  things  that  are  interesting  and 
valuable  in  the  conduct  of  their  business. 

“4.  We  desire  to  thank  the  various  commit¬ 
tees  who  have  taken  part  in  so  successfully  ar¬ 
ranging  and  conducting  this  convention  and  the 
social  features  thereof,  and  further  we  appre¬ 
ciate  and  wish  to  thank  the  men  who  have  so 
ably  addressed  the  convention. 

We  most  hearily  thank  Mr.  G.  A.  Boeck- 
ling,  manager  of  the  Cedar  Point  Resort  Com¬ 
pany,  and  his  able  assistants  for  the  many  cour¬ 
tesies  and  entertainment  extended  to  our  asso¬ 
ciation  during  its  session  here.” 

M-O-I  Convention  Notes. 

The  Glen  Alum  Fuel  Company  was  repre¬ 
sented  by  F.  W.  Diebel. 

E.  D.  Scott,  western  agent  for  the  Skeele 
Coal  Company,  was  here. 

R.  W.  Tuttle  of  the  P.  &  R.  Coal  &  Iron 
Company  was  among  those  present. 

C.  B.  Ebhert,  Chicago  manager  for  The  White 
Oak  Coal  Company,  was  among  the  Chicago  dele¬ 
gation. 

Jas.  Reilly  of  the  Queen  City  Coal  Company 
of  Cincinnati  was  among  the  Cincinnati  dele¬ 
gation. 

Geo.  B.  Rogers,  representing  the  W.  H.  War¬ 
ner  Coal  Company  of  Cleveland,  was  in  at¬ 
tendance. 

Geo.  S.  Payne  of  the  Blue  Ash  Coal  Company 
of  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  exhibited  his  Naugatuck 
coal  to  excellent  advantage. 

L.  Z.  Netzorg  and  Mrs.  Netzorg,  a  coal 
family,  came  ov^er  to  the  Point  in  the  interests 
of  the  Warner  Coal  Company. 

The  usual  quota  of  selling  interests  were 
present  but  the  dealers  were  here  also.  Homer 


any  Men  at  Cedar  Point. 

R.  D.  Teele,  N.  E.  Arnold.  Front  row  seated — 
R.  R.  Andrews,  George  F.  Schwartz,  P.  A.  Coen, 
J.  R.  Fitzer,  James  A.  Greenwald,  M.  J.  Galla¬ 
gher,  H.  G.  Walbolt,  H.  D.  Thomas.  They  heliied 
to  entertain  the  visitors. 


C.  Gill  and  Leo  A..  Roberts  of  Columbus  were 
in  evidence  as  well  as  A.  B.  Meyer  and  John 
George  of  Indianapolis,  -Arthur  -Ainsworth 
of  Grand  Rapids  and  Julius  Knack  of  Detroit, 
also  Sam  Davis  of  Toledo,  while  Dan  R.  Lontz 
and  wife  journeyed  over  from  South  Bend. 

The  New  Pittsburgh  Coal  Company  of  Co¬ 
lumbus  are  to  be  congratulated  in  sending  J. 
.A.  Rundio  and  .A.  W.  Marshall  to  represent 
them. 

Col.  M.  T.  Roach  of  the  Logan  Pocahontas 
Coal  Company  of  Charleston  came  over  early 
Monday.  Mr.  Roach  found  a  great  many  of 
his  old  friends  here  to  greet  him. 

J.  M.  Leonard,  sales  manager  of  the  Broth¬ 
ers  Valley  Coal  Company,  journeyed  from  New 
York.  Mr.  Leonard  is  appreciative  of  the  favor 
being  shown  Pen  Mar  in  the  western  territory. 

The  Susquehanna  Coal  Company  was  rep¬ 
resented  by  C.  L.  Thompson,  general  western 
agent,  who  was  accomnanied  by  Homer  Allen  of 
the  Erie  office,  and  William  Blair  of  the  Chicago 
branch. 

Uncle  Dan  Howard  journeyed  all  the  way 
from  Clarksburg,  W.  Va.  Uncle  Dan  has  evi¬ 
dently  found  the  fountain  of  perpetual  youth, 
as  he  looked  more  fit  today  than  a  lot  of  the 
new  recruits. 

D.  H.  Jenks  of  the  Producers  Coal  Company 
of  Cincinnati  showed  his  loyalty  by  making  it 
possible  to  be  in  attendance.  The  picture 
wouldn’t  be  complete  without  the  presence 
of  our  friend  “Hugh.” 

It  looked  for  a  time  as  though  the  genial  J. 
-A.  Ballard,  of  the  Semet  Solvay  Company,  would 
be  among  the  missing,  hut  Mr.  Jim  showed  up  on 
Wednesday  and  saved  his  well  earned  reputation 
for  loyalty  to  the  coal  trade  in  general. 

B.  F.  Nigh,  secretary  of  the  association,  cer¬ 
tainly  came  in  for  his  full  share  of  praise,  not 
only  for  the  splendid  showing  made  during  his 
past  year  in  office  but  for  the  efficient  manner  in 
which  the  convention  itself  was  conducted.  Mr. 
Nigh  is  making  good  and  is  deserving  of  it  all. 

H.  W.  Kelley  of  Angola,  Ind.,  was  present 
with_  Mrs.  Kelley.  We  missed  Mr.  Kelley’s 
classic  this  year  and  if  it  wasn’t  an  imposition 
Air.  Kelley  should  be  given  a  subject  for  each 
convention. 


Nc'w  Coal  Mine  Companies. 

-Ashland,  Ky. — The  Dunlap  Coal  Company  was 
recently  incorporated  for  $10,000.  The  officers 
are  S.  S.  Willis,  president;  E.  P.  Rice,  vice- 
president,  and  C.  C.  Page,  secretary  and  treasurer. 
The  properties  are  located  in  Letcher  county, 
Kentucky.  No  development  will  be  undertaken 
at  present,  as  this  is  a  holding  company. 

Slab  Fork,  W.  Va. — The  Slab  Fork  Coal  Com¬ 
pany  is  putting  in  substations  and  will  buy  power 
from  the  Virginia  Power  Company.  The  com¬ 
pany  recently  bought  some  electrical  equipment. 

Charleston,  W.  Va. — The  Coal  River  Colliery 
Company  is  the  name  of  a  recently  incorporated 
concern  with  a  capital  of  $50,000.  The  present 
address  is  No.  3  Odd  Fellows  building.  Charles¬ 
ton,  W.  Va. .  The  officers  are  W.  C.  Sharpe, 
president;  John  P.  Vaughan,  secretary,  and  A.  P. 
Sharpe,  treasurer.  It  is  a  drift  mine  located  in 
Boone  county.  West  Virginia,  on  the  Coal  River 
branch  of  the  Chesapeake  &  Ohio  Railway. 
Development  is  expected  to  begin  within  sixty* 
days,  and  cost  of  eiiuipment  for  present  plans  will 
he  ai)out  $35,000.  W.  C.  Sharpe,  who  is  general 
manager,  will  be  in  charge  of  the  operation. 

Pekin,  Ill. — The  Ubben  Coal  Company,  which 
has  been  a  partnership  for  the  last  year,  was  re¬ 
cently  incorporated  for  $25,000.  The  new  firm 
contemplates  installing  some  new  machinery,  and 
increase  the  output  of  the  mine. 

Pulaski,  W.  Va. — The  Wallin  Coal  Corporation 
was  recently  incorporated  for  $10,000.  The  in¬ 
corporators  are  H.  Hardaway,  J.  F.  Wysor  and 
O.  P.  Jordan.  The  charter  is  for  leasing  pur¬ 
poses  and  not  for  operating. 

Johnson  City,  Tenn. — The  Blue  Grass  Coal 
Corporation  is  the  name  of  a  new  firm  recently 
incorporated  for  $100,000,  chartered.  The  officers 
are  S.  R.  Jennings,  president;  H.  K.  English, 
vice-president  and  C.  H.  Anderson,  secretary  and 
treasurer.  The  mines  are  located  at  Hazard,  Ky., 
and  are  drift  propositions.  The  mines  are  now 
being  run  on  an  operating  basis,  in  immediate 
charge  of  H.  K.  English.  There  will  probablv 
be  an  expenditure  of  $50,000  in  development 
work. 

Independence,  AIIo. — The  DeCourcy-Loveland 
Coal  &  Alercantile  Company  has  been  recently  in¬ 
corporated  for  $10,000.  The  company  does  not 
operate  any  mines  at  present,  and  conduct  a 
wholesale  and  retail  coal  business.  J.  DeCourcy 
is  president  and  E.  R.  Loveland,  secretary. 


No.  1] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


5 


Getting  the  Farmers’  Trade. 

A  young  man  who  had  decided  to  go  into  the 
coal  business  in  a  large  city  of  the  central  west 
looked  about  for  a  good  location.  At  first  glance, 
all  of  them  seemed  to  be  taken.  Most  of  the 
real  “strategic  points”  had  been  occupied  by 
others. 

After  considerable  cogitation,  however,  the 
prospective  dealer  realized  that  the  locations 
which  the  coalmen  had  taken  were  good  chiefly 
with  respect  to  city  deliveries.  In  other  words, 
the  yards  had  been  placed  where  they  were  ac¬ 
cessible  to  large  numbers  of  urban  consumers. 

But  he  also  appreciated  the  fact  that  there  were 
many  consumers  who  lived  outside  of  the  city. 
The  locality  happened  to  be  prominent  in  the 
truck  gardening  field,  and  hundreds  of  small 
farmers,  operating  “patches”  of  from  ten  to  fifty 
acres  of  land,  cultivating  potatoes,  onions,  cab¬ 
bage,  etc.,  drove  in  from  the  country  regularly 
with  their  produce. 

The  new  man  finally  decided  that  he  would 
make  a  special  play  to  these  small  farmers,  in¬ 
stead  of  exclusively  to  the  city  trade,  but  that  he 
would  be  in  a  position  to  take  some  of  this 
also.  So  he  located  a  yard  on  the  outskirts  of 
the  town,  where  he  could  get  the  suburban  busi¬ 
ness,  but  principally  with  an  eye  to  the  numer¬ 
ous  truckers’  wagons  which  passed  there. 

He  put  out  a  sign  advertising  his  coal,  not  de¬ 
livered,  at  a  price  which  was,  of  course,  con¬ 
siderably  below  the  regular  retail  prices.  The 
farmers,  who  had  been  neglected  previously, 
had  been  accustomed  to  “clubbing”  in  the  pur¬ 
chase  of  a  car,  having  it  delivered  at  some  con¬ 
venient  siding,  and  then  loading  their  wagons 
from  it.  But  this  took  a  lot  of  time  and  was 
unsatisfactory  in  other  ways,  especially  as  to 
disposing  of  the  nut  and  slack  in  the  bottom  of 
the  car.  Hence  the  offer  of  the  new  dealer 
sounded  good  to  them,  and  they  took  advantage 
of  it. 

It  was  not  long  before  he  had  a  lot  of  regu¬ 
lar  business  of  this  kind,  and  in  the  meantime 
he  had  also  been  cultivating  the  residence  trade 
in  his  vicinity,  so  that  he  had  a  respectable  ton¬ 
nage,  all  of  a  desirable  character,  in  a  little 
while.  . 

One  advantage  of  the  farmers’  business  was 
that  it  was  all  cash.  The  truckers  got  paid  in 
coin  of  the  realm  for  all  of  the  produce  they 
sold  in  town,  and  they  were  prepared  to  pay  for 
the  coal  they  got  in  the  same  way.  Thus  the 
dealer  was  relieved  at  the  start  from  collection 
troubles,  and  was  probably  able  to  finance  his 
business  much  more  easily  than  he  would  have 
been  if  he  had  had  to  put  a  part  of  his  capital 
into  accounts. 

If  you  have  been  overlooking  the  farmers  near 
your  town,  try  to  attract  their  favorable  at¬ 
tention. 


Coal  Dealers  “Scratching  Gravel.” 

In  one  city  which  may  or  may  not  be  typical, 
four  coal  dealers  have  decided  within  the  past 
year  or  two  to  get  into  the  sand  and  gravel  busi¬ 
ness. 

Their  decision  has  been  based  upon  first,  in¬ 
adequate  profits  in  the  coal  business;  second, 
a  long  dull  season;  third,  the  fact  that  the  same 
equipment  may  be  Used  in  handling  sand  and 
gravel  as  coal ;  and  fourth,  increasing  demand 
for  that  material  in  construction  work,  due  to 
the  increased  amount  of  concrete  construction 
going  on. 

A  coal  dealer  who  recently  decided  to  put  a 
considerable  amount  of  capital  into  a  gravel¬ 


handling  plant,  with  elevating  equipment,  hop¬ 
pers,  washing  equipment,  etc.,  explained  that  he 
had  to  do  it  because  of  the  long  periods  of 
idleness  in  the  retail  coal  business. 

“Even  though  we  manage  to  keep  our  teams 
busy  a  good  part  of  the  time  during  the  sum¬ 
mer  with  storage  trade,”  he  said,  “there  are 
long  spells  during  which  we  cannot  keep  them 
going.  Of  course,  there  may  come  times  when 
we  will  have  so  much  business  of  both  kinds  that 
there  will  be  difficulty  taking  care  of  it;  but  I 
figure  that  too  much  business  is  far  better  than 
too  little,  and,  besides,  there  are  usually  extra 
teams  to  be  hired.  Frankly,  I  think  the  two 
will  work  well  together,  and  will  enable  us  to 
take  care  of  our  fixed  expense  much  better.” 

One  angle  on  the  proposition,  namely,  that  of 
employing  idle  teams,  suggests  that  the  plan 
used  by  another  coal  concern,  referred  to  re¬ 
cently  in  this  department  of  The  Black  Diamond, 
whereby  a  separate  teaming  company  was  or¬ 
ganized  to  handle  this  feature,  ought  to  meet 
this  situation. 

Eliminating  Teaming  Investment. 

In  some  cities  the  actual  delivery  of  the  coal 
is  in  the  hands  of  teaming  companies  organized 
for  this  special  work,  the  yard  business  and  the 
delivery  ends  being  separate  and  distinct  busi¬ 
nesses.  But  usually,  and  in  practically  all  of 
the  smaller  communities,  the  coal  dealer  owns 
the  yard  and  the  wagons  and  horses,  and  handles 
the  transaction  from  the  purchase  of  the  coal 
to  its  delivery  at  the  home  of  the  consumer. 

In  one  city,  not  among  the  largest,  there  is 
one  dealer  who  has  reversed  this  situation,  al¬ 
though  the  custom  there  is  for  every  concern 
to  own  and  operate  its  own  delivery  equipment. 
He  started  in  the  business  modestly,  having  a 
suburban  yard,  and  in  order  to  keep  his  troubles 
down  to  the  minimum,  he  made  arrangements 
with  the  owner  of  an  express  wagon  to  look 
after  the  deliveries.  As  the  business  grew  other 
wagon-owners  took  up  the  work,  and  now  all  of 
the  deliveries  are  handled  by  this  method,  a 
line  of  wagons  being  located  outside  the  yard, 
constantly  ready  for  service. 

The  dealer  does  not  get  their  exclusive  serv¬ 
ices,  of  course,  but  pays  fifty-five  cents  a  ton 
for  deliveries.  A  few  of  the  wagons  are  regu¬ 
larly  built  for  coal  deliveries,  but  most_  of  them 
are  ordinary  express  wagons,  the  carrying  capa¬ 
city  of  which  is  enlarged  on  occasion  by  putting 
on  side-boards.  The  expressmen  get  business 
by  telephone,  the  dealer  allowing  them  to  have 
calls  come  in  over  his  wire;  and  thus,  in  spite 
of  being  out  of  the  beaten  path,  they  are  able 
to  get  enough  odd  jobs  of  hauling  and  moving 
to  keep  them  busy  at  times  when  they  are  not 
needed  at  the  coal-yard. 

The  plan  seems  to  have  been  mutually  satis¬ 
factory,  and  the  dealer  is  especially  happy  over 
not  being  compelled  to  put  money  into  teams  and 
wagons.  The  amount  he  pays  for  the  service 
seems  reasonable  enough,  and  the  fact  that  the 
owners'  of  the  teams  drive  the  wagons  ought  to 
make  for  a  little  better  service,  in  spite  of  the 
fact  that  they  are  not  the  direct  employes  of 
the  coal  company,  than  is  given  when  the  drivers 
are  rather  irresponsible,  and  have  no  interest  in 
taking  particularly  good  care  of  the  teams  or 
the  property  of  the  customer. 

Building  an  Organization. 

Some  men  with  a  stenographer  and  a  collector 
will  refer  in  proud  tones  to  their  “organization.” 
But  even  in  the  most  modest  business  the  pro¬ 
prietor  should  remember  always  that  he  must 


delegate  some  of  his  duties,  and  that  the  se¬ 
lection  of  the  proper  ones  to  turn  them  over  to 
is  one  of  the  important  features  of  his  work. 

The  man  who  imagines  that  he  is  the  only 
one  capable  of  running  the  various  departments 
of  his  business,  and  who  has  as  his  slogan,  “If 
you  want  a  thiag  done  well,  do  it  yourself,”  is 
likely  to  find  that  his  physical  capacity  is  not 
able  to  keep  pace  with  the  growth  of  his  busi¬ 
ness.  The  only  sort  of  enterprise  he  can  run 
successfully  is  a  small  one,  because  when  the 
volume  gets  too  big,  he  is  sure  to  be  lost  in  a 
mass  of  details.  Besides,  the  physical  and  men¬ 
tal  strain  involved  in  trying  to  keep  in  mind  and 
actually  attend  to  a  myriad  of  things  that 
others  could  do  just  as  well,  is  so  great  that 
there  is  bound  to  be  a  breakdown  some  time. 

There  is  a  certain  coalman  in  a  big  city  of 
the  Ohio  Valley,  who  illustrates  this  proposi¬ 
tion  exactly.  He  has  a  splendid  physique,  keen 
intelligence,  and  great  aggressiveness.  He  has 
built  up  a  big  business,  and  because  he  has  many 
friends,  and  looks  after  his  trade  well,  he  has 
seen  the  concern  grow  steadily  and  take  a  place 
with  the  leaders  in  the  community.  But  he  is 
doiag  just  as  much  of  the  work  now  as  he  ever 
did.  He  gets  up  early  in  the  morning  and  is 
first  at  the  coal-yard,  starting  the  drivers  out 
on  their  early  runs.  Then  he  goes  home  to 
breakfast,  and  jumps  in  on  the  details  again 
afterwards.  If  a  team  gets  in  trouble,  he  is  as 
likely  as  anybody  to  get  on  a  street-car  and 
literally  put  his  shoulder  to  the  wheel  in  order 
to  straighten  it  out.  If  a  customer  complains 
about  her  lawn  being  cut  up  by  a  fractious  team 
or  a  bone-head  driver,  he  goes  out  personally 
to  attend  to  it  and  make  the  necessary  adjust¬ 
ment.  He  writes  out  most  of  the  bills  himself, 
and  about  the  only  thing  he  doesn’t  do  is  actually 
shovel  the  coal.  And  he  has  been  known  to  un¬ 
dertake  that  at  times,  just  to  illustrate  the  proper 
method  of  doing  it. 

This  dealer  is  a  success;  but  the  price  of  suc¬ 
cess  to  him  is  less  sleep  than  he  deserves,  and 
possibly  less  profit.  If  he  ever  realizes  that  he 
can  hire  men  to  do  the  things  he  does,  and  that 
he  can  devote  his  time,  with  a  mind  free  from 
the  relatively  unimportant  details  that  now  de¬ 
mand  his  constant  attention  and  effort,  to  the 
really  big  things  of  the  business,  he  is  going  to 
get  to  the  top.  But  there  is  no  indication  that 
he  expects  to  change  his  present  policy. 

Nothing  breeds  ability  and  self-confidence  like 
responsibility.  Tell  a  man  that  he  has  to  do  a 
thing,  and  will  be  held  responsible  for  results, 
and  even  though  he  has  shown  only  mediocre 
ability  in  a  routine  job,  he  is  likely  to  rise  to 
the  occasion  in  fine  style.  The  best  he  has  will 
come  to  the  surface.  The  coalman  who  is  try¬ 
ing  to  do  it  all  himself  is  letting  the  latent 
ability  of  his  employes,  who  are  capable  of  han¬ 
dling  bigger  things,  go  to  waste,  as  well  as  de¬ 
priving  himself  of  the  freedom  to  which  he  is 
entitled. 


The  Value  of  a  Trade-Mark. 

A  trade-mark  which  illustrates  a  brand  can 
be  made  so  familiar  to  the  public  that  it  will 
come  to  stand  for  the  concern  handling  it  as 
well  as  the  goods. 

This  has  been  illustrated  in  the  case  of  a 
retailer  who  has  been  selling  coal  under  his 
private  brand.  Red  Fox.  He  has  used  the  pic¬ 
ture  of  a  red  fox  in  all  of  his  advertising,  with 
the  name  printed  across  the  body. 

Consequently  his  local  public  has  been  asso¬ 
ciating  the  picture  with  the  name,  the  name 
with  the  picture,  and  both  with  the  concern 
selling  the  coal. 

This  has  enabled  him  to  do  a  good  many 
things  which  no  dealer  could  think  of  doing 
otherwise.  For  instance,  he  often  advertises 
without  using  his  own  name,  but  simply  pub¬ 
lishing  a  cut  of  the  familiar  red  fox,  giving 
the  price  of  the  coal  and  the  telephone  num¬ 
bers  of  his  concern.  In  his  billboard  advertis¬ 
ing,  of  which  he  does  considerable,  the  big 
red  fox  is  always  the  principal  thing  on  the 
boards. 

Pictures  are  easily  remembered,  whereas  a 
phrase  might  be  forgotten.  The  two  together 
— the  trade  name  and  the  trade-mark — make  a 
winning  combination. 


Accountants  employed  to  make  an  audit  of 
the  property  of  Josiah  V.  Thompson  of  Union- 
town  are  now  making  an  investigation  of  his 
West  Virginia  holdings.  Wetzel  and  Marshall 
counties  have  already  been  covered.  Mononga¬ 
lia,  Harrison  and  Doddridge  and  other  counties 
will  be  taken  up.  The  work  is  being  done  under 
the  supervision  of  Attorney  Waitman  H.  Cona¬ 
way  of  Fairmont. 


[July  3 


Judge  Kunkel’s  Decisions  on  Anthracite  Tax 


6 


A  short  time  ago  Judge  Kuiikel  in  a  trial  couit 
ill  Pennsylvania  handed  down  a  decision  on  the 
anthracite  tax  case.  That  decision  upheld  the 
right  of  the  state  in  every  particular  to  impose 
this  tax.  Naturally  the  ruling  was  contested  and 
the  case  was  carried  on  appeal  to  the  higher 

It  is  now  being  heard  in  the  United  States 
courts  and  the  decision  will  come  along  in  due 
course.  This  makes  the  decision  of  Judge  Kun- 
kel  of  interest  and  it  is  as  follows 

Commonwealth  of  Pennsylvania  vs.  Alden 
Coal  Company.  In  the  Court  of  Common 
Pleas  of  Dauphin  County,  No.  61  Common- 
w'ealth  Docket,  1914. 

By  the  Court; 

This  is  an  appeal  from  the  settlement  by  the 
accounting  officers  of  the  commonwealth 
against  the  defendant  for  the  tax  on  anthracite 
coal  which  it  mined  and  prepared  for  market 
during  the  period  beginning  June  28,  1913,  and 
ending  December  31,  1913.  It  has  been  sub¬ 
mitted  to  us  for  trial  without  a  jury.  We  hnd 
the  facts  to  be  as  follows: 

Facts. 

The  defendant  is  a  corporation  of  this  state 
and  operates  only  in  Luzerne  county,  where,  it 
mines  and  prepares  anthracite  coal  for  market. 
On  June  30,  1914,  pursuant  to  its  report  to  the 
auditor  general  made  January  31,  1914,  [hs 
present  account  was  settled  against  it,  in  which 
it  was  charged  with  a  tax  of  $7,791.86,  being 
two  and  one-half  per  centum  on  137,017.8  tons 
of  coal  prepared  for  market,  of  the  value  of 
$311,714.42.  It  presented  its  petition  for  a  re¬ 
settlement,  in  accordance  with  the  provisions 
of  the  Act  of  April  9,  1913,  P.  L.  48,  which 
was  refused.  Whereupon  it  took  this  appeal. 

Before  it  made  its  report  of  the  number  of 
tons  of  coal  prepared  for  market  and  the 
value  thereof,  and  before  this  settlement  was 
made  against  it,  it  had  sold  the  coal  and  was 
no  longer  the  owner  thereof,  and  of  the  137,- 
017.8  tons  of  coal,  103,018.9  had  been  shipped 
out  of  the  state.  These  are,  we  think,  the  ma¬ 
terial  facts.  There  are,  however,  other  facts 
wliich  we  have  found  and  which  appear  by  our 
answers  to  the  commonwealth’s  and  defend¬ 
ant’s  requests  for  findings  of  fact  filed  here¬ 
with. 

Discussion. 

The  commonwealth’s  claim  for  the  tax  in 
dispute  rests  upon  the  Act  of  June  27,  1913,  P. 
L.  639.  By  Section  1  of  the  Act  every  ton  of 
anthracite  coal  prepared  for  market  in  this 
commonwealth  is  made  subject  to  a  tax  of 
two  and  one-half  per  centum  of  the  value 
thereof,  the  tax  to  be  settled  and  collected  as 
provided  by  law  for  other  state  taxes.  By 
Section  2  every  operator  of  an  anthracite  coal 
mine  or  mines  in  the  state  is  required  to  re¬ 
port  in  writing  and  under  oath  to  the  auditor 
general,  in  the  month  of  January  in  each  year, 
the  number  of  tons  of  anthracite  coal  mined 
by  him  or  it  within  the  calendar  year  then 
next  preceding,  and  the  value  thereof  prepared 
for  market.  By  Section  3  the  failure  to  report 
within  the  time  required  is  visited  by  a  pen¬ 
alty  of  ten  per  centum  on  the  tax;  and  an  in¬ 
tentional  failure  to  make  the  report  is  de¬ 
clared  to  be  a  misdemeanor,  punishable,  upon 
conviction,  by  fine  or  imprisonment.  By  Sec¬ 
tion  4  an  appeal  is  given  to  the  operator  from 
the  settlement  of  the  account  for  the  tax.  By 
Section  5  it  is  provided:  “Each  county  shall  re¬ 
ceive  from  the  state  treasurer,  for  the  use  of 
the  several  cities,  boroughs  and  townships 
thereof,  one-half  of  the  said  tax  collected  from 
operators  in  said  county;  and  the  treasurer 
thereof  shall,  within  thirty  days  thereafter,  pay 
over  the  same  to  the  treasurers  of  the  several 
cities,  boroughs  and  townships  in  said  county 
pro  rata  according  to  their  respective  popu¬ 
lations  as  shown  by  the  last  preceding  United 
States  census,”  Many  objections  have  been 
raised  to  the  validity  of  this  statute,  which 
we  will  consider  as  briefly  as  possible. 

Title  of  the  Act. 

1.  The  statute  is  assailed  on  the  ground  that 
it  contains  more  than  one  subject,  that  its  title 
is  defective,  and  that  in  these  respects  it  vio¬ 
lates  Section  3  of  Article  III  of  the  Constitu¬ 
tion.  In  Booth  &  Flinn  vs.  Miller,  237  Pa.  297, 
it  was  said;  “It  is  not  an  infringement^  of  Ar¬ 
ticle  III,  Section  3,  of  the  Constitution,  if  there 
are  several  provisions  in  a  bill  providing  they 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


are  connected  with  and  germane  to  the  one 
general  object  of  the  legislation.  It  is  suffi¬ 
cient  if  they  relate  to  and  are  a  means  of  car¬ 
rying  out  the  one  general  provision  of  the 
.\ct.”  And  in  Commonwealth  vs.  Powell,  et 
al.,  appealed  from  this  court,  and  affirmed  by 
the  supreme  court  but  not  yet  reported,  it 
was  said:  "No  argument  should  be  required 
to  show  that  provision  for  attaining  various 
objects  which  relate  to  the  general  subject  of 
a  bill  may  be  dealt  with,  by  its  terms,  without 
laying  it  open  to  the  charge  of  containing 
more  than  one  subject.”  The  general  subject 
of  the  present  Act  is  the  taxation  of  anthracite 
coal.  The  provisions  for  the  collection  and 
disposition  of  the  tax  relate  to  that  subject. 
They  cannot  be  viewed  as  other  subjects  under 
the  doctrine  above  stated. 

The  objection  that  the  title  of  the  Act  is 
defective  because  there  is  no  notice  _  given 
therein  of  the  penal  provision  for  failing  to 
make  the  required  report  is  not  tenable.  The 
report  is  an  important  step  toward  collecting 
the  tax.  The  penal  provision  is  the  means  of 
enforcing  the  production  of  the  report.  It  is 
auxiliary  to  the  collecting  of  the  tax  of  which 
notice  is  given  in  the  title.  It  is  necessarily 
covered  therefore  by  such  notice.  The  high 
license  law  entitled  “An  Act  to  regulate  and 
restrain  the  sale  of  •  •  •  liquors”  contains 

penal  provision  for  its  enforcement,  but  no 
notice  thereof  is  given  in  the  title.  No  one 
ever  successfully  ruestioned  the  sufficiency  of 
that  title,  although  there  is  no  specific  or 
express  notice  given  therein  of  the  means 
provided  for  enforcing  it.  Many  other  in¬ 
stances  of  like  kind  might  be  cited,  but  this 
we  think  is  sufficient. 

2.  It  is  further  objected  that  the  Act  does 
not  require  the  defendant  to  pay  the  tax.  It 
is  true  there  is  no  express  requirement  that 
the  operator  shall  pay  and  in  this  respect  the 
Act  is  crudely  drawn,  but  an  examination  of 
its  provisions  leave  no  doubt  of  the  legisla¬ 
tive  intention.  The  operator  who  prepares  the 
coal  for  market  is  required  to  report  the  num¬ 
ber  of  tons  mined  and  the  value  thereof,  the 
accounting  officers  are  authorized  to  settle 
the  account  for  the  tax,  and  the  operator  is 
given  the  right  to  appeal  from  ths,  settlement. 
Why  give  him  the  right  to  appv^jl"  ;§  not 
interested  in  the  account  and  the  ^ount  is 
not  against  him  and  if  he  is  not  to  pay?  That 
it  was  the  intention  of  the  legislature  that  he 
should  pay  is,  we  think,  manifest. 

Local  Legislation. 

3.  We  have  carefully  examined  and  consid¬ 
ered  the  proposition  that  the  Act  is  local  and 
special  legislation,  but  we  are  not  able  to  agree 
with  it.  The  Act  imposes  a  tax  on  anthracite 
coal.  It  in  no  way  purports  to  legislate  for 
any  particular  locality.  The  fact  that  anthra¬ 
cite  coal  is  now  found  in  only  nine  counties 
of  the  state  does  not  render  it  a  local  Act.  An¬ 
thracite  coal  may  be  found  in  other  counties 
in  the  future,  and  even  if  this  be  not  so  an 
Act  is  not  local  which  operates  in  every  coun¬ 
ty  of  the  state  where  the  subject  of  the  tax  is 
found.  There  is  no  indication  that  the  Act  was 
not  passed  in  good  faith  or  was  passed  to 
avoid  the  constitutional  inhibition  against  lo¬ 
cal  or  special  legislation.  The  authorities  cited 
by  the  defendant  in  support  of  this  objection 
have  no  application  to  the  present  case.  Those 
were  cases  where  the  legislation  in  terms_  re¬ 
ferred  to  counties  and  other  municipal  divis¬ 
ions  of  the  state,  and  a  law  that  applied  to 
some  and  not  to  others  was  of  course  held  to 
be  a  local  law  and  violative  of  the  constitu¬ 
tion;  or  where  the  counties  or  divisions  men¬ 
tioned  in  the  legislation  were  so  described  as 
to  embrace  some  counties  or  divisions  of  the 
state  and  not  others,  in  which  even  the  law 
was  declared  to  be  local.  In  the  case  before 
us,  however,  there  is  no  attempt  to  legislate 
for  any  counties,  cities,  boroughs,  etc.  The 
Act  refers  to  anthracite  coal  and  its  taxation. 
If  it  referred  to  all  coal,  the  same  objection 
could  be  made  against  it,  because  in  many 
counties  of  the  state  no  coal  of  any  kind  is 
to  be  found. 

It  is  further  argued  that  the  Act  is  a  local 
law  regulating  the  affairs  of  counties,  cities, 
etc.,  and  violates  Section  7  of  Article  III  of 
the  constitution.  We  fail  to  understand  how 
it  can.be  said  to  regulate  the  affairs  of  coun¬ 
ties,  cities,  boroughs,  etc.  As  we  have  said,  it 


does  not  purport  to  refer  to  counties  or  any 
municipal  division  of  the  state.  It  makes  no 
attempt  to  regulate  the  tax  of  any  such  di¬ 
vision.  It  imposes  a  tax  for  state  purposes. 
On  its  face  it  deals  with  a  state  affair.  It  is 
nothing  more  nor  less  than  legislation  for  the 
purpose  of  raising  state  revenue.  If  it  is  to 
be  condemned  as  a  local  Act  regulating  the 
affairs  of  counties,  etc.,  it  follows  that  the  leg¬ 
islature  may  not  subject  to  taxation  any  prop¬ 
erty  unless  it  be  found  in  every  county  in  the 
state,  a  proposition  not  to  be  entertained  for 
a  moment,  and  one  the  mere  statement  of 
which  is  its  own  refutation. 

Again,  if  it  be  considered  a  local  Act,  al¬ 
though  not  regulating  the  affairs  of  counties, 
such  as  may  be  enacted  by  proper  publica¬ 
tions,  then  it  amounts  to  this,  that  the  legisla¬ 
ture  may  not  subject  to  taxation  any  property 
unless  such  property  be  found  in  every  county 
in  the  state,  without- publication  in  conformity 
with  the  constitutional  requirement. 

Furthermore,  if  it  be  suggested  that  the  Act 
is  local  and  special  legislation  because  the 
distributive  section.  Section  5  applies  only  to 
the  cities,  boroughs  and  townships,  in  the  coun¬ 
ties  in  which  the  coal  is  mined,  we  can  only 
say  we  are  not  aware  of  any  obligation  on  the 
part  of  the  legislature  to  give  notice  by  pub¬ 
lication,  before  passage,  of  every  bill  by  which 
the  state  revenues  are  distributed  or  by  which 
appropriations  are  made  therefrom  to  specific 
objects.  If  this  be  the  law  it  has  never  been 
observed,  and  failure  to  observe  it  is  a  strong 
argument  against  the  defendant’s  position.  Nor 
have  we  been  referred  to  any  authority  which 
holds  that  such  a  law  is  a  regulation  of  the 
affairs  of  counties,  cities,  etc.,  in  violation  of 
the  constitutional  prohibition. 

Double  Taxation. 

4.  The  objection  that  the  coal  here  taxed 
was  represented  in  the  capital  stock  of  the  de¬ 
fendant  on  which  it  paid  or  will  pay  a  capital 
stock  tax,  and  that  therefore  the  Act  imposes 
double  taxation,  is  not  necessarily  a  fatal  ob¬ 
jection.  Whether  a  double  taxation  is  im¬ 
posed  by  the  Act  is  quite  immaterial.  The 
power  of  the  legislature  to  impose  double 
taxation  is  well  settled.  The  only  question 
here  is  whether  the  legislature  so  intended.  It 
must  be  presumed  that  the  legislature  knew 
that  the  coal  taxed  by  this  Act  might  be  in¬ 
cluded  in  the  valuation  of  the  capital  stock 
for  the  capital  stock  tax,  and  if  it  knew  this 
and  passed  the  present  statute  with  such  a 
knowledge  it  is  quite  plain  it  intended  to  im¬ 
pose  double  taxation.  But  the  coal  taxed  by 
the  Act  might  or  might  not  be  included  in  the 
valuation  of  the  capital  stock.  That  would 
depend  upon  whether  or  not  it  was  in  the 
state  or  owned  by  the  defendant  during  the 
period  from  November  1  to  November  15  of 
the  year  for  which  the  tax  was  settled.  Within 
that  period  the  appraisement  of  the  capital 
stock  for  state  taxation  is  required  to  be  made. 
Com.  vs.  Railroad  Co.,  145  Pa.  74.  If  the  coal 
was  not  owned  by  the  operator  or  was  not 
in  the  state  during  that  time  it  could  not 
properly  be  included  in  the  appraisement  of 
the  capital  stock,  Penn.  vs.  Delaware  R.  R. 
Co.,  198,  U.  S.  341,  in  which  case  there  would 
not  be  double  taxation.  It  is  manifest,  there¬ 
fore,  that  it  is  in  the  power  of  the  operator, 
by  disposing  of  the  coal  before  the  period  be¬ 
ginning  November  1  and  ending  November  15 
in  each  year,  or  by  removing  it  from  the  state 
before  that  period,  to  readily  avoid  the  double 
taxation  which  is  made  the  basis  of  this  com¬ 
plaint.  We  do  not  think  the  complaint  has 
any  real  merit,  as  the  double  taxation  does 
not  necessarily  result  from  the  legislation  and 
mav  be  avoided  by  the  Act  of  the  operator. 

Uniform  Taxation. 

5.  It  is  further  contended  that  the  Act  in 
question  is  in  conflict  with  Sections  1  and  2 
of  Article  IX  of  the  State  Constitution  and 
of  the  Fourteenth  Amendment  of  the  Federal 
Constitution,  because  it  imposes  a  tax  on  an¬ 
thracite  coal  and  not  on  coal  generally.  It  is 
argued  that  coal  may  not  be  classified  for  taxa¬ 
tion  as  anthracite  coal  and  all  other  coal  be 
exempted  from  the  tax  under  these  constitu¬ 
tional  provisions,  and  that  such  a  tax  is  not 
uniform.  If  the  classification  be  allowable  the 
objection  of  the  lack  of  uniformity  and  the 


No.  1] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


7 


resulting  exemption  complained  of  must  fail. 
Necessarily  the  classification  of  property  or 
persons  for  taxation,  and  the  subjection  of 
the  members  of  a  class  and  the  property  within 
the  class  to  taxation,  excludes  or  relieves  from 
such  tax  all  property  or  persons  not  embraced 
in  the  class.  This  is  not  the  kind  of  exemp¬ 
tion,  however,  against  which  Section  2  of  Ar¬ 
ticle  IX  is  directed. 

On  the  question  of  the  right  of  the  legisla¬ 
ture  to  classify  for  the  purposes  of  taxation, 
the  authorities  are  numerous  and  need  not  be 
referred  to  at  length.  We  think  it  is  sufficient 
to  refer  only  to  the  case  of  Knisley  vs.  Cot- 
terel,  196  Pa.  614,  where,  quoting  from  Seabolt 
vs.  Commissioners  of  Northumberland  County 
187  Pa.  318,  it  is  reiterated:  “Classification  is 
a  legislative  question,  subject  to  judical  re¬ 
vision  only  so  far  as  to  see  that  it  is  founded 
on  real  distinctions  in  the  subjects  classified, 
and  not  on  artificial  or  irrelevant  ones  used  for 
the  purposes  of  evading  the  constitutional  pro¬ 
hibition.  If  the  distinctions  are  genuine  the 
courts  cannot  declare  the  classification  void 
though  they  may  not  consider  it  to  be  on  a 
sound  basis.  The  test  is  not  wisdom,  but 
good  faith  in  the  classification.”  It  is  quite 
clear  that  the  distinction  between  anthracite 
coal  and  other  kinds  of  coal  is  not  a  fictitious 
one.  It  has  arisen  among  those  who  have 
mined,  dealt  in  and  used  coal.  It  is  a  dis¬ 
tinction  so  common  as  to  be  recognized  the 
world  over.  The  classification  of  anthracite 
coal,  therefore,  as  a  subject  of  taxation  can¬ 
not  be  said  to  be  artificial  or  may  not  justly 
be  subjected  to  the  charge  of  being  used  for 
the  purpose  of  evading  the  Constitution.  What 
the  legislature  did  in  enacting  the  present 
statute,  was  but  to  adopt  a  distinction  already 
existing  respecting  the  property  made  subject 
to  the  tax.  The  same  distinction  has  been  ^ 
recognized  by  the  legislature  and  sustained 
with  respect  to  the  business  of  mining  an¬ 
thracite  coal  and  of  mining  bituminous  coal. 

The  difficulty  in  some  instances  to  differ¬ 
entiate  between  anthracite  coal  and  semi-an¬ 
thracite  or  semi-bituminous  coal  can  have  no 
effect  on  the  question  of  classification. 
Whether  or  not  the  particular  coal  sought  to 
be  taxed  in  a  given  case  is  anthracite  and  falls 
within  the  Act  must  necessarily  depend  upon 
the  facts  of  such  case. 

We  are  of  the  opinion  that  the  classification 
of  anthracite  coal  for  taxation  is  a  legitimate 
one  and  that  the  taxation  of  such  coal  as 
distinguished  from  all  other  kinds  of  coal  is 
not  a  violation  of  the  constitutional  provisions 
referred  to. 

Disposition  of  Funds. 

6.  By  Section  5  the  tax,  when  collected,  is 
distributable  to  the  cities,  boroughs  and  town¬ 
ships  in  the  several  counties  where  the  coal  is 
mined.  The  result  of  this  distribution  will  be 
to  give  annually  to  some  of  these  municipal 
divisions  sums  of  money  equal  to,  and  in  some 
cases  greater  than  their  total  municipal  ex¬ 
penditures,  thus  relieving  them  in  part,  and 
possibly  in  whole,  from  local  taxation.  This 
also,  it  is  contended,  is  in  violation  of  Sec¬ 
tions  1  and  2  of  Article  IX  of  the  State  Con¬ 
stitution,  which  provides  for  uniformity  of 
taxation,  and  declares  void  all  laws  ex¬ 
empting  property  from  taxation  other  than  the 
property  enumerated  therein.  The  citizens  of 
these  municipalities  will,  however,  still  be  sub¬ 
ject  to  some  local  taxation  and  to  taxation 
for  state  purposes.  If  so,  the  relief  thev  will 
receive  from  the  tax  is  not  prohibited.  These 
constitutional  provisions  have  no  application 
to  tlie  conditions  which  may  arise  from  the 
enforcement  of  the  present  statute. 

7.  F.ven  if  all  the  objections  thus  far  raised 
to  the  Act  prove  ineffectual  to  destroy  it,  the 
further  objection  is  urged  upon  us  that  as  Sec¬ 
tion  5  distributes  one-half  of  the  tax  to  the 
several  municipalities  of  the  counties  wherein 
the  coal  is  mined,  the  defendant’s  property 
will  thus  be  taken  and  given  over  to  others, 
and  thereby  it  will  be  deprived  thereof  with¬ 
out  due  process  of  law.  We  do  not  take  this 
view  of  the  case.  The  Act  is  a  measure  to 
raise  revenue  and  at  the  same  time  provides 
for  the  distribution  of  the  funds  so  raised  to 
certain  municipalities.  If  the  purpose  for 
which  the  tax  is  levied  is  a  public  one  there 
is  no  doubt  of  the  power  of  the  legislature  to 
impose  the  tax.  One-half  of  it  is  to  be  used 
for  the  state  generally.  The  other  half  the 
state  proposes  to  pay  over  to  certain  mimi- 
cipalities.  To  pay  money  to  its  municipal 
divisions  seems  to  us  to  be  using  it  for  a 
public  purpose.  These  municipalities  are  the 
creatures  of  the  state,  erected  by  the  legis¬ 


lature,  for  the  purpose  of  administering,  and 
clothed  with  the  power  to  administer  public 
affairs  in  their  respective  localities.  They  rep¬ 
resent  the  state.  It  must  be  conceded  that 
the  state  may  authorize  them  to  levy  taxes  to 
meet  the  expenses  of  administering  their  local 
government.  If  so,  why  may  it  not  also  take 
out  of  its  general  revenue  no  matter  how 
raised,  and  give  to  them  in  aid  of  what  they 
are  doing  in  representing  the  state?  This  the 
state  has  frequently  done.  It  has  distributed 
for  years  from  its  revenues  to  the  several 
school  districts.  It  distributes  out  of  the  same 
revenue  to  charity  and  benevolence.  It  has 
divided  with  the  counties  the  tax  on  personal 
property  which  it  collected.  It  distributes 
to  the  several  counties  and  townships  from  its 
general  revenues  in  aid  of  the  public  high¬ 
ways.  It  appropriates  one-half  of  the  tax  on 
premiums  of  foreign  fire  insurance  companies 
to  the  several  municipalities  of  the  Common¬ 
wealth,  Act  of  June  28,  1895,  P.  L.  408.  Other 
instances  of  the  same  kind  might  be  cited. 
Who  is  to  direct  how  the  state  revenues  raised 
by  taxation  are  to  be  distributed  or  disposed 
of?  This  is_a  question  as  to  which  the  Courts 
agree.  It  is  exclusively  for  the  legislature, 
bound  only  by  such  restrictions  as  are  placed 
upon  it  by  the  organic  law.  It  is  a  power  the 
exercise  of  which  the  judiciary  have  no  right 
to  revise.  If  Section  5  stood  as  a  separate 
Act,  distributing  the  taxes  raised  under  the 
Act  in  question,  what  standing  would  the  de¬ 
fendant  have  to  complain?  The  statute  does 
not  present  the  case  where  the  property  of 
one  is  taken  and  applied  to  the  use  and  benefit 
of  another,  but  presents  the  case  where  prop¬ 
erty  is  taxed  by  the  Commonwealth  and  the 
revenues  thus  raised  are  distributed  where,  in 
the  judgment  of  the  legislature,  seems  right 
and  proper.  In  State  vs.  Western  Union  Tele¬ 
graph  Co.,  73  Maine,  518,  under  a  statute  of 
that  state,  telegraph  companies  were  required 
to  pay  into  the  state  treasury  a  tax  of  two 
and  one-half  per  centum  on  the  value  of  their 
property  within  the  limits  of  the  state.  The 
tax  thus  raised  was  directed  to  be  distributed 
to  certain  towns  in  the  state  in  the  proportion 
which  the  number  of  shares  of  stock  of  the 
company  owned  in  the  town  bore  to  all  the 
shares  owned  in  the  state.  The  remainder  of 
the  tax  was  to  be  retained  for  the  use  of  the 
state.  The  effect  of  this  provision  was  to  give 
the  revenue  so  raised  to  three  towns  of  the 
.state,  whereby  the  tax  of  every  individual  in 
the  three  towns  was  ratably  diminished.  The 
same  objection  to  the  validity  of  the  statute 
was  made  there  as  is  made  here,  that  it  took 
the  property  of  some  citizens  and  used  it  for 
the  benefit  of  others.  To  this  objection  it  was 
said  by  the  Court:  “It  is  objected  in  this 
case  that  the  distribution  of  this  tax  as  pro¬ 
vided  in  the  Act  shows  that  it  is  not  for  a 
legitimate  purpose.  What  distribution  is  con¬ 
templated  is  somewhat  difficult,  perhaps  im¬ 
possible,  to  ascertain  from  the  Act  itself.  If 
it  is  all  to  go  to  the  towns  it  would  still  be 
a  public  purpose.  But  that  is  not  the  matter 
which  is  now  involved.  The  tax  is  now  im¬ 
posed  by  the  state  and  is  to  be  paid  to  the 
state  treasurer  as  other  public  funds.  It  then 
becomes  a  public  fund  to  be  used  for  public 
purposes.  If  diverted  from  that  the  remedy 
is  not  by  refusal  to  pay.  If  the  last  section 
of  the  Act  should  prove  to  be  a  violation  of 
the  Constitution  or  void  for  uncertainty,  it 
does  not  affect  the  remainder.  This  is  not  a 
case  where  one  district  is  required  to  pay  the 
tax  for  the  support  of  another.  It  is  like  one 
excise  tax  raised  in  any  part  of  the  state  to 
be  appropriated  by  the  state  wherever  its  needs 
or  its  sense  of  justice  may  require.” 

The  purpose  of  the  present  taxation  being  a 
public  one,  the  legislature  possessed  the  power 
to  levy  the  tax  and  the  distribution  thereof  is- 
alone  within  its  control. 

Matter  of  Ownership. 

8.  A  further  objection  to  the  recovery  by 
the  Commonwealth  on  this  settlement  is  that 
the  coal  reported  by  the  defendant,  upon  which 
the  value  of  the  tax  is  computed,  was  not 
owned  by  it  at  the  time  the  report  was  made, 
nor  at  the  time  the  settlement  was  made 
against  it,  and  that  when  it  made  its  report  a 
great  part  of  the  coal  was  outside  of  the  state 
and  beyond  the  taxing  jurisdiction  of  this 
state.  This  objection  is  based  upon  what  we 
think  is  an  erroneous  construction  of  the  Act. 
The  tax  is  levied  by  the  Act.  The  rate  is  fixed 
liy  the  Act.  The  taxable  value  of  the  coal  is 
as  prepared  for  market.  The  coal  is  made 
subject  to  the  tax.  not  as  contended  by  the 
defendant  when  the  quantity  and  value  are 


reported,  nor  when  the  settlement  is  made,  but 
in  the  language  of  the  Act  itself  “when  pre¬ 
pared  for  market.”  At  that  time  its  value  is 
to  be  ascertained,  but  the  report  thereof  is 
postponed  until  the  end  of  the  year.  If  this 
be  not  the  true  construction  of  the  section  the 
phrase  “when  prepared  for  market”  adds  noth¬ 
ing  to  its  meaning.  What  precedes  sufficiently 
declares  that  the  rate  is  to  be  upon  the  value 
of  each  ton  as  prepared  for  market.  The 
phrase  “when  prepared  for  market”  manifestly 
relates  to  the  words  “shall  be  subject  to,” 
meaning  the  coal  shall  be  subject  to  the  tax 
when  it  is  prepared  for  market.  This  being 
the  proper  construction,  the  defendant’s  coal 
became  subject  to  the  tax  when  it  was  pre¬ 
pared  for  market.  This  being  the  proper  con¬ 
struction,  the  defendant’s  coal  became  subject 
to  the  tax  levied  by  the  Act  when  it  was  pre¬ 
pared  for  market.  It  was  then  the  defendant’s 
duty  to  ascertain  the  number  of  tons  and  fix 
the  value  at  that  time.  The  ascertainment 
of  the  value  at  that  time  amounted  to  an  as¬ 
sessment.  No  other  assessment  was  needed. 
Being  made  by  the  defendant,  it  has  no  room 
to  complain.  Com.  vs.  McKean  County  200 
Pa.  383.  The  coal  was  subject  to  the  tax 
when  it  reached  the  stage  of  being  prepared 
for  market  and  its  valuation  was  to  be  made 
at  that  time.  The  removal  of  it.  therefore, 
from  the  state,  or  the  sale  of  it  to  another, 
after  that  time,  would  not  relieve  the  de¬ 
fendant,  who  was  the  owner  at  the  time  the 
tax  was  levied  and  assessed,  from  paying  it; 
nor  could  it  avoid  liability  by  failing  to  assess 
and  value  the  coal  at  the  time  the  statute  re¬ 
quired  it  to  be  done. 

We  assume  that  the  quantities  and  values 
reported  by  the  defendant  are  such  as  the  Act 
required  it  to  report  and  that  they  are  correct. 
There  is  no  suggestion  to  the  contrary.  A 
settlement,  therefore  on  the  basis  of  its  own 
report  cannot  be  open  to  objection  in  respect 
to  these  particulars. 

Conflicting  Regulation. 

9.  We  are  unable  to  see  how  the  Act  con¬ 
flicts  with  Article  1,  Section  8,  of  the  Fed¬ 
eral  Constitution,  respecting  the  power  of 
Congress  to  regulate  commerce  among  the 
several  states.  In  Coe  vs.  Errol,  116  U.  S. 
515,  it  was  said:  “Goods,  the  products  of  a 
state  intended  for  exportation  to  another  state, 
are  part  of  the  general  mass  of  property  of 
the  state  of  their  origin  until  actually  started 
in  course  of  transportation  to  the  state  of 
their  destination  or  delivered  to  a  common 
carrier  for  that  purpose.”  If  we  be  right 
in  our  construction  of  the  Act,  the  coal  here 
sought  to  be  taxed  became  subject  to  the  tax 
at  the  time  when  it  was  prepared  for  market, 
and  so  far  as  it  appears,  that  was  before  it 
was  actually  started  in- the  course  of  transpor¬ 
tation  from  the  state. 

10.  Nor  does  the  Act  violate  Clause  5,  Sec¬ 
tion  9  of  .A.rticle  1  of  the  Federal  Constitution 
which  provides  that  “No  tax  or  duty  shall  be 
laid  on  articles  exported  from  any  state.”  This 
provision  is  limited  to  articles  exported  to  a 
foreign  country. 


As  mentioned  in  The  Black  Diamond  but  re¬ 
cently,  a  Brooklyn  alderman  introduced  a  resolu¬ 
tion  to  amend  section  No.  31  of  article  No.  3  of 
chapter  26  of  the  code  of  ordinances,  relating  to 
coal  and  coke,  by  adding  thereto  a  new  sub¬ 
division.  This  was  introduced  by  Alderman  Gay- 
nor,  and  the  amendment  proposed  is  as  follows : 
“All  coal  sold  or  delivered  in  quantities  of  one 
hundred  (100)  pounds  or  less  than  one  hundred 
(100)  pounds  in  the  city  of  New  York  must  be 
contained  in  bags,  baskets  or  other  receptacles, 
and  shall  have  the  weight  of  the  contents  plainly 
marked  on  the  outside  thereof  in  solid  Roman 
capital  letters  at  least  one  inch  in  height,  but 
charcoal  or  coke  in  quantities  of  one  hundred 
(100)  pounds  or  less  than  one  hundred  (lOO) 
pounds  may  be  sold  and  delivered  by  standard 
dry  measure,  and  in  such  cases  the  bag,  basket 
or  receptacle  shall  have  plainly  marked  on  the 
outside  thereof  the  capacity  in  terms  of  standard 
dry  measure  in  solid  Roman  capital  letters  ai 
least  one  inch  in  height,  and  in  violation  hereof 
shall  be  punishable  by  a  penalty  not  to  exceed 
fifty  dollars  ($50).  Upon  a  conviction  for  vio¬ 
lation  of  provisions  of  this  section  the  commis¬ 
sioner  of  weights  and  measures  is  authorized  to 
post  a  sign  or  placard  on  the  outside  of  the 
offender’s  place  of  business,  in  a  conspicuous 
place  for  a  period  of  ten  days,  setting  forth  the 
details  of  the  violation  of  the  ordinance. _  Any 
person  or  persons  guilty  of  removing  or  disturb¬ 
ing  any  such  sign  or  placard  shall  be  punishable 
by  a  penalty  not  to  exceed  fifty  dollars  ($50).” 


8 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[July  3 


Sunday  Creek  Company  Closes  Some  Mines. 


Columbus,  Ohio,  July  \.--{Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — No  coal  news  for  a  long  period  has 
caused  a  greater  sensation  than  the  announce¬ 
ment  just  made  by  the  Sunday  Creek  Company 
that  it  has  temporarily  abandoned  a  large  section 
of  the  Hocking  Valley  field,  and  may  in  the  near 
future  suspend  all  operation  in  Ohio.  That  this 
is  something  more  than  talk  is  proved  by  the 
fact  that  before  the  news  was  actually  given  out, 
on  Monday  last,  the  work  of  removing  goods 
from  the  company’s  mining  stores  in  the  valley 
to  its  West  Virginia  operations  had  already 
hegun. 

Lhider  existing  industrial  conditions,  the  pres¬ 
sure  of  West  Virginia  and  other  southern  com¬ 
petition  is  crushing  the  life  out  of  the  industry 
on  any  large  scale  in  the  Hocking  valley,  if  not 
throughout  Ohio,  is  the  statement  of  local  oper¬ 
ators. 

The  Sunday  Creek  officials  give  two  reasons 
for  their  action.  One  is  the  discrimination 
against  Ohio  in  the  matter  of  freight  rates,  as 
compared  with  West  Virginia,  Kentucky  and 
Tennessee.  These  states  enjoy  a  much  better 
rate  per  ton  mile.  This  advantage  added  to  the 
lower  cost  of  mining  in  the  unorganized  fields, 
makes  it  impossible,  it  is  claimed,  for  Ohio  mines 
of  the  same  general  class  to  compete.  An  at¬ 
tempt  was  made  by  John  H.  Winder,  general 
manager  of  the  Sunday  Creek  Company,  to  put 
the  condition  up  to  the  state  legislature  last  win¬ 
ter  and  secure  relief  in  some  form  that  would 
protect  the  coal  interests  of  this  state,  but  little 
attention  was  given  the  move. 

A  second  ground  of  action  on  the  part  of  the 
Sunday  Creek  Company  lies  in  the  terms  of  the 
recent  settlement  made  by  the  Ohio  United  Mine 
Workers  with  the  eastern  Ohio  field,  terminating 
a  strike  which  had  existed  for  over  a  year.  Fol¬ 
lowing  the  passage  of  the  law  requiring  a  mine- 
run  .system  of  weighing  coal  as  basis  of  pay¬ 
ment  in  mining,  the  Hocking  valley  operators  on 
July  3,  t014,  made  settlement  with  the  miners, 
but  one  of  the  conditions  was  that  settlement 
should  be  made  with  no  other  district  in  the 
state  on  more  favorable  terms.  It  is  now  claimed 
by  the  Hocking  operators  that  the  concessions  in 
rides  made  to  eastern  Ohio  gives  that  field  a 
lower  rate  of  mining  than  exists  elsewhere  in  the 
state. 


The  Hocking  Valley  Coal  Operators  Associa¬ 
tion,  in  a  communication  bearing  date  of  June 
39,  1915,  signed  by  John  H.  Winder,  president, 
and  addressed  to  John  Moore,  president  of  the 
Ohio  United  Mine  Workers,  calls  the  latter’s  at¬ 
tention  to  the  clause  of  the  settlement  with  the 
Hocking  miners  in  July,  1914,  which  provides 
that  the  scale  then  agreed  upon  should  apply  to 
all  fields.  The  communication  further  assumes 
that  in  view  of  this,  tlic  Hocking  scale  will  be  re¬ 
duced  automatically  to  place  it  on  an  equality 
with  eastern  Ohio. 

The  reply  of  the  miners’  organization  will,  it  is 
intimated  by  company  officials,  go  far  to  deciding 
whether  or  not  the  Sunday  Creek  will  attempt  to 
operate  any  mines  at  all  in  Ohio.  The  suspen¬ 
sion  so  far  includes  all  of  the  mines,  twelve  in 
number,  on  the  Hocking  side  of  the  valley.  Some 
have  not  been  active  lately  by  reason  of  the  de¬ 
pressed  market.  The  T.  &  O.  C.  side,  which  is 
threatened  with  a  like  fate,  has  twenty-eight 
mines. 

Of  the  mines  already  idle  only  two  or  three 
men  will  be  retained,  to  keep  the  pumps  going. 
The  company  announces  with  regret  the  neces¬ 
sity  of  parting  with  a  number  of  old  loyal  em¬ 
ployes  in  official  capacity  of  one  form  or  another 
at  the  mines.  At  headquarters  in  Columbus  the 
large  clerical  force  has  been  cut  to  pieces,  and 
few  are  to  be  retained  outside  of  heads  of  de¬ 
partments.  The  traveling  sales  force  has  been 
taken  off  the  road.  The  full  effect  of  the  move 
is  not  yet  apparent,  but  it  is  certain  that  the 
Sunday  Creek  Company  is  in  earnest  about 
forcing  the  issue  in  the  grievances  which  it  holds 
against  the  railroad  companies  and  the  miners’ 
union.  The  action  does  not  mean  the  permanent 
abandonment  of  the  Ohio  field,  but  it  does  mean 
that  the  company  prefers  to  remain  idle  than  to 
attempt  production  under  the  present  confusion 
of  dull  times  and  hopeless  competition,  no  matter 
how  long  it  may  take  to  secure  conditions  that 
will  lift  the  Hocking  valley  up  to  a  fair  standard 
of  equality  that  will  permit  of  profitable  mining. 

Columbus  business  interests  and  those  of  the 
flocking  valley  outside  of  mining  will  feel  the 
loss  keenly,  as  it  was  expected  that  extensive 
loading  for  the  lake,  with  employment  of 
thousands  of  idle  miners,  would  begin  within  a 
few  weeks. 


Bids  for  and  Contracts  Let  on  Coal. 


Bids  and  Contracts. 

The  successful  bidders  for  the  coal  supply  of 
the  public  -schools  of  Pittsburgh,  as  shown  by 
the  awards  made  last  week  by  the  Board  of  Edu¬ 
cation,  include  both  producers  and  retailers,  as 
per  the  following  list.  The  prices  cover  quite  a 
range,  and  are  anywhere  from  six  cents  per 
bushel  up  to  six  and  four-tenths  cents,  delivered 
as  per  specifications  embraced  in  bid,  to  the 
individual  schools,  the  location  of  which  and  the 
means  and  time  of  delivery,  explaining  the  di¬ 
vergences  shown  in  the  price  range.  The  aggre¬ 
gate  amount  approximates  500,000  bushels,  and 
includes  mine  run,  smokeless,  lj4-'nch  lump,  nut 
slack,  and  slack,  as  per  the  requirements  of  each 
])articular  school.  The  names  of  the  firms  re¬ 
ceiving  the  awards,  are  as  follows : 

The  Pittsburgh-Buffalo  Company. 

D.  J.  Kennedy  Company. 

Youghiogheny  Coal  Company. 

Junction  Coal  &  Contracting  Company. 

Keller  Brothers. 

J.  P.  O’Niel  Company. 

Paul  Coal  &  Supply  Company. 

Thos.  A.  Owens. 

Jas.  T.  Fox. 

Second  Pool  Coal  Company. 

W.  .S.  Bockstoicc. 

'P.  J.  Patterson. 

J.  M.  Cilebrist  &  Sons  Company. 

Weiman  Brothers. 


'I'he  United  States  engineer’s  office  in  Pitts¬ 
burgh  have  awarded  the  contracts  for  their  coal 
supply  for  the  coming  year  to  the  parties  named 
in  the  following  specifications.  This  fuel  is  for 
use  at  the  locks  and  dams  in  the  Monongahela 
and  Ohio  rivers,  and  was  awarded  to  the  parties 
named  above  each  item  as  numbered  below. 

To  the  Clyde  Coal  Company — 

Item  1. — In  flat  loads  on  owner’s  flat  at  tipple, 
from  passing  fleet,  or  delivered  at  Locks  1  to 
!t,  Monongahela  River,  including  use  of  flat 
until  empty;  River  screened  nut  and  slack 
coal . Per  bu.  3  9/lOc 


To  W'.  H.  Brown — 

Run  of  mine  coal . Per  bu.  IJ^c 

To  the  Clyde  Coal  Company — 

Item  2. — In  flat  loads  on  owner’s  flat  delivered 
at  New  Lock  6,  Monongahela  River,  includ¬ 
ing  use  of  flat  until  empty:  River  screened 

nut  and  slack  coal . Per  bu. 

To  W'.  Harry  Brown — 

Run  of  mine  coal . Per  bu.  i'Ac 

To  C.  F.  Reed- 

Item  3. — In  wagonloads  on  owner’s  wagon,  de¬ 
livered  at  United  States  Boatyard,  Lock  4  or 
New  Lock  4,  Monongahela  River;  River 

screened  nut  and  slack  coal . Per  bu.  H'/iC 

To  Consumers  Coal  Company — - 

Run  of  mine  coal . Per  bu.  5.87c 

To  the  Clyde  Coal  Company — 

Item  4. --In  flat  loads  on  owner’s  .flat,  deliv¬ 
ered  at  Dam  1,  Ohio  River,  including  use  of 
flat  until  empty:  River  screened  nut  and 

slack  coal  . Per  bu.  i'/ic 

Run  of  mine  coal . Per  bu.  514c 

Item  5. — In  flat  loads  on  owner's  flat,  delivered 
at  Dam  7,  Ohio  River,  including  use  of  flat 
until  empty:  River  screened  nut  and 

slack  coal  . Per  bu.  S'Ac 

Run  of  mine  coal . Per  bu.  Ciyic 

Item  6. — On  U.  S.  steamers  from  tipples 
or  yards,  in  Pittsburgh  Harbor,  or  Mononga¬ 
hela  River  pools:  River  screened  nut  and 

slack  coal  . Per  bu.  4I4c 

Run  of  mine  coal . Per  bu.  f>I4c 

Item  7. — In  flat  loads  on  owner’s  flat  delivered 
in  Pittsburgh  Harbor,  Point  Bridge  Landing, 
including  use  of  flat  until  empty:  River 

screened  nut  and  slack  coal . Per  bu.  4!4c 

Rune  of  mine  coal . Per  bu.  !>'Ac 

To  Pittsburgh  Coal  Company — 

Item  S. — Delivered  f.  o.  b.  cars  at  \V’.  Bellevue 
or  (lien  O.sborne,  Pa.  (P.  Ft.  W.  &  C.  Ry.): 

Run  of  mine  coal . Per  ton  :(il.50 

To  the  Moreland  Coal  &  Coke  Company — 

Item  10. — Delivered  f.  o.  h.  cars  at  Legionville, 
Freedom  (P.  Ft.  W.  &  C,  Ry.)  or  Merrill 
(C.  &  P.  R.  R.),  Pa.;  Run  of  mine  coal.. 

. Per  ton  l.GSyi 

Item  11. — Delivered  f.  o.  b.  cars  at  Dam  7, 

Ohio  River,  Midland,  Pa.  (C.  &  P.  R.  R.): 

Run  of  mine  coal . Per  ton  I.Giyi 

Item  12. — Delivered  f.  o.  b.  cars  at  Dam  8, 

Ohio  River,  Kenilworth,  W.  Va.  (P.  C.  C.  & 

St.  L.  Ry.):  Run  of  mine  coal . Per  ton  1.39)4 

Item  13.— Delivered  f.  o.  b.  cars  at  Dam  9, 

Ohio  River,  New  Cumberland,  W.  Va.  (P.  C. 

C.  &  St.  I..  Ry.)  :  Run  of  mine  coal.  Per  ton  1.39)4 
Item  14. — Delivered  f.  o.  b.  cars  at  Dam  10, 

Ohio  River,  Steubenville,  Ohio  (P.  C.  C.  & 

St.  L.  Ry.) ;  Run  of  mine  coal . Per  ton  1.24)4 


To  Pittsburgh  Coal  Company — 

^f®m.l5. — Delivered  f.  o.  b.  cars  on  powerhouse 
sjumg.  Lock  3,  Monongahela  River,  Elizabeth, 
Pa.  (P.  &  L.  E.  R.  R.) :  Run  of  mine 
<^oal  . Per  ton 


1.20 


All  coal  must  be  of  uest  quality  for  steam  pur¬ 
poses,  reasonably  free  from  slate.  The  nut  and 
slack  shall  be  the  screenings  from  run  of  mine 
coal  passed  over  a  two-inch  screen. 

Coal  for  items  1,  2,  4,  5  and  7  shall  be  loaded 
in  craft  of  such  draft  and  construction  as  may 
be  necessary  for  delivery  and  hauling  at  the  dif¬ 
ferent  points  where  needed. 

Bidder  must  state  the  different  points  from 
which  coal  for  items  1  and  6  may  be  obtained  and 
the  length  of  time  generally  required  for  de¬ 
livery  after  receipt  of  order. 


Wisconsin  Contracts. 

Recently  the  State  Hospital  for  the  Insane  at 
Mendota,  Wis.,  opened  bids  for  coal  for  the  fiscal 
year  from  July  1,  1915,  to  June  30,  1916.  There 
has  been  some  little  misconception  as  to  the  firm 
which  took  the  major  portion  of  the  business. 
The  following,  taken  from  the  official  report  on 
the  subject,  shows  the  names  of  the  successful 
bidders  and  the  price  at  which  the  coal  was  sold ; 
State  Hospital  for  the  Insane,  Mendota,  Wis.— 

To  C.  Reiss  Coal  Company,  Sheboygan,  Wis.  Bes¬ 
semer  gas  screenings  . $3.20 

Northern  Hospital  for  the  insane,  State  Hospital  Sta¬ 
tion,  Wis. — 

To  Milwaukee  Western  Fuel  Co.,  Milwaukee,  Wis., 

Kanawha  gas  mine  run .  3.40 

To  Callaway  Fuel  Co.,  Milwaukee,  Wis.,  Youghio¬ 
gheny  lump  .  3.50 

School  for  the  Deaf,  Delavan,  Wis. — 

To  Martin  Howe  Coal  Co.,  Chicago,  III.,  Indiana 

egg  3x6-in .  2.r 

School  for  the  Blind,  Janesville,  Wis. — - 
To  Wasson  Coal  Company,  Chicago,  III.,  Harris¬ 
burg  mine  run  .  2,70 

Industrial  School  for  Boys,  Waukesha,  Wis. — 

Two  test  cars  to  be  ordered  each  from  following: 
Callaway  Fuel  Company,  Milwaukee,  Wis., 

Youghiogheny  screenings  .  2:65 

S.  II.  Benjamin  Coal  Company,  Milwaukee,  Elben 

screenings  .  2.50 

f Contract  to  be  held  pending  result  of  test.) 

State  Prison,  Waupun  Wis. — 

To  Callaway  Fuel  Company,  Milwaukee,  Youghio¬ 
gheny  screenings  .  2.80 

State  Public  School,  .Sparta,  Wis. — 

To  S.  H.  Benjamin  Coal  Co.,  Milwaukee,  Elben 

2x3-in.  nu)  .  3.50 

f  Above  price  based  on  C.  &  N.  W.  Ry.  delivery.) 
Home  for  the  Feeble-Minded,  Chippewa  Falls,  Wis. — 

To  C.  Reiss  Coal  Company,  Sheboygan,  Wis.,  Bes¬ 
semer  gas  screenings  .  3.20 

Bessemer  gas  mine  run .  3.90 

Wisconsin  State  Reformatory,  Green  Bay,  Wis. — 

To  Barkhausen  Coal  &  Dock  Company,  Green  Bay, 

Wis.,  54-m.  Anchor  screenings .  2.70 

State  Tuberculosis  Sanitorium,  Wales,  Wis. — - 

To  Milwaukee  Western  Fuel  Company,  Milwaukee, 

Wis.,  Kanawha  gas  mine  run .  3.35 

Hospital  for  the  Criminal  Insane.  Waupun,  Wis. — 

To  Callaway  Fuel  Company,  Milwaukee,  Youghio¬ 
gheny  screenings  . . .  .  2.80 

(Delivery  in  all  cases  to  be  f.  o.  b.  cars  institution.) 

TABULATION  SHOWING  AWARD  OF  COAL  CON¬ 
TRACTS  BY  THE  STATE  BOARD  OF  CONTROL 


For  one  year,  ending  June  30,  1916. 

Institution,  Location,  To  Whom  Awarded.  No.  tons. 
State  Hospital  for  the  Insane,  Mendota,  Wis. — C. 

Reiss  Coal  Co.,  Sheboygan.  Wis . 5,000 

Northern  Hospital  for  the  Insane,  State  Hospital 
Station,  Wis. — Milwaukee  Western  Fuel  Company, 

Milwaukee  . 4,000 

Callaway  Fuel  Company,  Milwaukee,  Wis .  500 

School  for  the  Deaf,  Delavan,  Wis. — Martin  Howe 

Ccal  Company.  Chicago.  Ill . . . 1,600 

School  for  the  Blind,  Janesville,  Wis. — Wasson  Coal 
Company,  37  W.  Van  Buren  street,  Chicago,  Ill..  1,200 
State  Prison,  Waupun,  Wis. — Callaway  Fuel  Com¬ 
pany,  Milwaukee,  Wis . 6,00f 

State  Public  School,  Sparta,  Wis. — S.  H.  Benjamin 

Coal  Company.  Milwaukee,  V/is . ..2,000 

Home  for  the  Feeble-Minded,  Chippewa  Falls,  Wis. 

— C.  Reiss  Coal  Company,  Sheboygan,  Wis . 4,500 

State  Reformatory,  Wiswall  Station,  Wis. — Bark- 
hausen  Coal  &  Dock  Company,  Green  Bay,  Wis... 3, 000 
Tuberculosis  Sanitarium,  Wales,  Wis. — Milwaukee 

Western  Fuel  Company,  Milwaukee . 2, .500 

Hospital  for  the  Criminal  Insane,  Waupun,  Wis. — 
Callaway  Fuel  Company,  Milwaukee,  Wis . 1,000 


.Symbi 

A. 

B. 

C. 

1). 

F. 

F. 


II. 

1. 

J. 

K. 

L. 

M. 

N. 

O. 

P. 
U- 


LIST  OF  COAL  CONTRACTORS 
STATE  BOARD  OF  CONTROL 
1915-1916 

il.  Contractor.  Address. 

Wasson  Coal  Company ....  37  W.  VanBuren  Street 

Chicago 

Purity  Coal  Company... 72  W.  Adams  St.,  Chicago 

Great  Lakes  Coal  S:  Dock  Company . 

. 1034  Security  Bldg.,  Minneapolis,  Minn 

F.  Hurlbut  Company . Green  Bay,  Wis. 

D.  F.  Cooley . '..Madison,  Wis. 

Tliomson  &  Burton  Company . ._ 

. 625  Home  Insurance  Bldg.,  Chicago 

Sunnyside  Coal  Company . 

. 1309  Fisher  Bldg.,  Chicap 

S.  H.  Benjamin  Cpal  Company.  .  .Milwaukee,  Wis. 

Callaway  Fuel  Company . Milwaukee,  Wis. 

Taylor  Coal  Company.. Old  Colony  Bldg.,  Chicago 

C.  Reiss  Coal  Company . Sheboygan,  Wis. 

Northern  Coal  Company . Edison  Bldg.,  Chicago 

Pittsburgh  Coal  Company . 

. Plymouth  Bldg.,  Minneapolis,  Minn. 

Barkhausen  (joal  Company . Green  Bay,  Wis. 

Pennsylvania  Coal  &  Supply  Company . 

.  Milwaukee,  Wis. 

Marlin  Ilowe  Coal  Company . .  ........ 

. 1907  McCormick  Bldg.,  Chicago 

Milwaukee  Western  Fuel  Company.  .Milwaukee, Wis. 


No.  1] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


9 


Men  Prominent  in  the  Coal  Trade’s  Eye. 


Holly  Stover. 

Holly  Stover,  the  western  representative  of 
the  Flat  Top  Fuel  Company,  with  headquartep 
in  the  Lytton  building,  Chicago,  was  again 
brought  to  the  attention  of  the  western  coal 

trade  this  week 
by  an  announce¬ 
ment  which  read 
as  follows: 

“Mr.  James 
Henry  Clark  an¬ 
nounces  the  mar- 
riage  of  his 
daughter,  Grace 
Mae,  to  Mr.  Holly 
Stover,  on  Satur¬ 
day  the  twenty- 
sixth  of  June, 
nineteen  hundred 
and  fifteen,  in  the 
city  of  Chicago.” 

An  accompany- 
i  n  g  card  a  n- 
nounces  that  the 
bride  and  groom 
are  at  home  at 
5812  Magnolia 
avenue,  Chicago. 

In  business  Mr. 
Stover  is  one  of 
the  most  interesting  selling  representatives 
of  the  Pocahontas  district.  He  was  born  on 
a  farm  in  Raleigh  county,  W.  Va.,  March  12, 
1883.  This,  being  interpreted,  means  that  he 
is  now  thirty-two  years  of  age.  He  started 
to  work  in  the  mine  at  the  age  of  twelve  as 
a  trapper  boy.  While  he  was  occupying  that 
position  and  some  other  positions  around  the 
mine  he  studied  telegraphy  at  night.  For 
several  years  thereafter  he  served  as  tele¬ 
graph  operator,  as  agent  and  general  utility 
man  around  the  stations  of  the  Chesapeake 
&  Ohio  and  Norfolk  &  Western  railways. 

Eight  years  ago  he  quit  the  railway  busi¬ 
ness  and  began  to  sell  coal  out  of  Richmond, 
Va.,  for  the  White  Oak  Coal  Company.  He 
remained  there  for  two  years,  when  he  was 
transferred  to  the  Chicago  office  of  that  com¬ 
pany,  where  he  continued  for  a  year. 

Five  years  ago  Mr.  Stover  opened  the  west¬ 
ern  office  of  the  Flat  Top  Fuel  Company, 
which  he  has  since  been  largely  instrumental 
in  making  well  known  in  the  Chicago  and  all¬ 
rail  territory  in  the  west  and  also  in  the  upper 
lake  trade. 


E.  F.  Burchard. 

E.  F.  Burchard  has  been  selected  as  geologist 
in  charge  of  the  non-metals  section  of  the  Divi¬ 
sion  of  Mineral  Resources  of  the  United  States 
Geological  Survey,  effective  July  1. 


He  has  specialized  on  the  economic  geology  of 
the  Appalachian  iron  ores  and  the  cement,  stone, 
lime  and  other  structural  materials  of  the  United 
States,  but  has  also  studied  the  lignites  of  Ne¬ 
braska,  the  lead  and  zinc  ores  of  Arkansas  and 
Wisconsin,  and  various  other  economic  fields.  As 
the  author  of  the  Mineral  Resources  reports  on 
iron  ore,  pig  iron  and  steel,  and  on  cement,  build¬ 
ing  stone,  fluorspar  and  cryolite,  he  has  become 
an  authority  on  these  subjects. 


Ronald  L.  Paterson. 

Omaha,  Neb.,  July  1. —  (Special  Correspond¬ 
ence.) — There  is  a  general  opinion  that  the  young 
man  of  today  does  not  have  the  opportunities  of 


R.  L.  Paterson. 


climbing  to  the  top  that  the  young  man  of  a  gen¬ 
eration  or  two  ago  did.  And  yet  the  oldest  coal 
firm  in  Omaha  is  entirely  in  the  hands  of  youag 
men,  no  one  of  whom  is  over  thirty  years  of 
age.  With  George  M.  Wallace  as  the  new  sales 


G.  M.  Wallace. 


E.  F.  Burchard. 


Mr.  Burchard’s  scientific  training  at  Lehigh 
and  Northwestern  Universities  has  been  supple¬ 
mented  by  work  on  the  Wisconsin  State  Survey 
in  1903  and  on  the  Federal  Survey  since  1904. 


manager  and  secretary  of  the  Nebraska  Fuel 
Company,  it  becomes  strictly  a  young  men’s  or¬ 
ganization. 

George  Paterson  came  to  Omaha  forty-eight 
years  ago.  He  had  been  in  the  business  here  be¬ 
fore  this  company  was  organized.  Ronald  L. 
Paterson,  president  of  the  company  today,  and 
Kenneth  H.  Paterson,  vice-president  and  treas¬ 
urer,  are  his  sons.  They  have  grown  up  in  this 
business,  and  so  are  thoroughly  familiar  with  its 
details. 

Twice  in  the  last  few  years  the  company  has 
been  burned  out,  but  its  business  has  only  been 
delayed  an  hour  or  two  each  time.  In  1910  the 
company  erected  at  Sixteenth  and  Pierce  streets 
one  of  the  finest  mechanically  operated  coal  plants 
in  this  section  of  the  country.  It  had  a  capacity 


of  8,000  tons  of  coal.  At  5  :15  on  the  morning  of 
October  2,  1912,  the  entire  plant  was  destroyed 
by  fire.  At  8  a.  m.  the  company  was  doing  busi¬ 
ness  as  usual,  coal  being  unloaded  from  cars  at 
other  yards. 

The  company  was  reorganized  in  1912,  the 
Towles  drawing  out.  The  same  year,  following 
the  burning  of  the  plant,  the  central  yard  of  the 
Havens-White  Company,  at  the  north  end  of  the 
Sixteenth  street  viaduct,  was  purchased,  the 
Havens-White  Company  going  out  of  business  at 
that  time. 

Mr.  Wallace,  who  just  joined  the  company,  has 
had  experience  in  both  the  retail  and  wholesale 
coal  business.  He  will  pay  particular  attention 
to  the  wholesale  field.  Ronald  Paterson  is  a  prom¬ 
inent  member  of  the  Commercial  Club,  and  won 
the  last  contest  of  that  club  for  new  members, 
bringing  in  thirty  of  them.  He  is  also  a  member 
of  the  University  Club.  Kenneth  Paterson  is  a 
prominent  young  club  man,  and  owin.g  to  his 
marriage  to  Miss  Elizabeth  Pickens,  recently,  is 
now  on  his  wedding  trip. 


Peoria  Convention  Notes. 


One  of  the  most  novel  displays  at  the  Peoria 
convention  was  the  Buchanan  Coal  Company’s 
“Auto-Projectoscope,”  in  which  colored  slides 
showing  views  in  and  around  the  mines  were 
displayed.  This  machine  attracted  considerable 
attention  and  was  in  charge  of  Dr.  J.  E.  Beebe, 
director  of  publicity  and  trade  extension  for  the 
company. 

Robert  L.  Green,  manager  of  sales  for  the  John 
A.  Logan  Coal  Company,  mingled  with  the 
crowds,  meeting  old  friends  and  making  new 
ones. 

The  Purity  Coal  Company  engaged  an  attract¬ 
ive  young  lady  to  pin  perfumed  buttonhole 
bouquets  to  the  lapels  of  the  conventionites.  It 
was  a  Calla  lily,  which  is  the  company’s  well 
known  trade  mark. 

Secretary  I.  L.  Runyan  was  one  of  the  busiest 
of  men  during  the  entire  convention  period.  It 
was  his  duty  to  see  that  everyone  enjoyed  him 
and  herself  and  his  duty  was  nobly  performed. 

The  following  companies  maintained  head¬ 
quarters  at  the  convention :  Big  Creek  Colliery 
Company,  Buchanan  Coal  Company,  Purity  Coal 
Company,  Peabody  Coal  Company,  David  Rutter 
&  Co.,  where  they  entertained  their  friends  dur¬ 
ing  the  recess. 

The  Peabody  Coal  Company  distributed  a  use¬ 
ful  souvenir  in  the  shape  of  a  burnished  copper 
combination  ash  receiver  and  match  safe. 

Pickands,  Brown  &  Co.  gave  away  teamsters’ 
pencils  as  souvenirs.  Thev  were  eagerly  sought 
after. 


. 


I'.Wff/IS 

rnsritL 

w  arf 
mmDCf 

TO 

Kunrii  . 


Peoria  Coal  Club  Monument. 


10 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


[July  3 


pubi.ishi:d  bvebt  satubdat  by  thb 

BI.ACX  DIAMOND  COMPANY. 

Subscription  price,  $3.00  per  year,  postage  prepaid,  to 
any  postoffice  in  the  United  States.  Foreign  subscrip¬ 
tion  price,  $5.00  per  year.  Single  copies,  20  cents. 
Entered  at  Chicago  postoffice  as  second-class  matter. 


Address  all  communications  to 
THE  BEACH  DIAMOND  COMPANY  (INC) 

Main  office,  Manhattan  building,  Chicago. 


Branch  Offices. 

New  York,  29  Broadway. 
Philadelphia,  1400  Land  Title  building. 
Pittsburgh,  1502  Oliver  building. 


Saturday,  July  3,  1915. 


INDEX. 


Special  Articles. 

Page 


Needed  Aids  for  Trucks — Facilities  to  Save  Time .  1 

Making  Tests  to  Learn  Coal  Value .  3 

The  Aftermath  of  the  M-O-I  Convention .  4 

New  Coal  Mine  Companies .  4 

Field  of  the  Retail  Dealer .  5 

Judge  Kunkel’s  Decisions  on  Anthracite  Tax .  6 

Sunday  Creek  Company  Closes  Some  Mines .  8 

Bids  for  and  Contracts  Let  On  Coal .  S 

Men  Prominent  in  the  Coal  Trade’s  Eye .  9 

Peoria  Convention  Notes .  9 

Editorial  .  10 

News  Local  to  Chicago .  12 

National  Coal  Convention .  12 

War  Risk  Insurance .  12 

Facts  Which  Determine  Our  Export  Prices .  13 

Market  Reports. 

General  Review  and  Chicago .  14 

Pittsburgh  and  Toledo .  15 

Cincinnati,  Denver  and  Indianapolis .  16 

Detroit,  Twin  Cities  and  Birmingham .  17 

New  York .  18 

Philadelphia  and  Buffalo .  19 

New  England  and  Baltimore .  20 

Hocking  Valley .  15 


Retail  Convention. 

Jhe  retail  coal  convention  season  is  at 
an  end  for  this  year.  At  such  a  time 
there  is  a  disposition  among  leaders  of 
the  coal  trade  to  regret  that  the  conven¬ 
tions  have  not  been  as  successful  as  they 
might  have  been.  A  quite  common  com¬ 
plaint  is  that  the  attendance  was  not 
large,  and  that  the  attention  given  the 
jiapers  was  discouraging.  There  is  oc¬ 
casionally  a  disposition  to  say:  “Let’s 
cut  out  this  high  brow  stuff  in  future  and 
])ut  on  a  vaudeville  performance  and  a 
jiicture  show.” 

We  are  reminded  here  of  a  saying  in 
Holy  Writ  to  this  effect:  “Be  not  weary 
of  well  doing,  for  in  due  season  you  will 
reap  if  you  faint  not.”  We  are  not  dis¬ 
couraged  if  all  of  the  retail  coal  dealers 
do  not  accept  at  face  value  the  sober 
things  we  say  about  coal.  We  are  not 
discouraged  if  the  whole  procession  does 
not  take  it  up  instantly,  with  a  big  idea. 
We  are  far  from  discouraged  if  an  ad¬ 
vanced  idea  is  not  accepted  by  the  rear 
guard  of  the  procession. 

On  the  contrary,  we  are  inclined  to 
consider  all  men  in  business  as  making 
up  rather  a  long  jiarade.  Usually  the 
marchers  are  in  fairly  close  order.  There 
are  always  those  who  march  at  the  head 
of  the  procession  and  just  behind  the 
Tand.  There  are  others  who  make  up  the 
middle  distance.  There  are  others  who 
bring  up  the  rear.  We  have  always  found 
it  true  that  those  who  remain  in  the  pro¬ 
cession  at  all  occupy  a  certain  relation  to 
each  other.  The  further  ahead  the  lead¬ 
ers  march,  the  further  ahead  the  rear 
guard  gets. 

The  point  of  it  all,  of  course,  is:  If  you 


can  get  the  vanguard  to  advance,  the 
rear  guard  is  going  to  advance,  merely 
as  a  matter  of  following  the  leaders.  So 
the  serious  thought  is  always  addressed 
to  those  who  are  in  the  lead,  with  the 
assurance  that  those  who  bring  up  the 
rear  will  catch  the  step  after  a  while. 
That  is  a  point  of  view  which  association 
workers  can  find  a  great  deal  of  comfort 
in  adopting.  If  they  can  get  the  leaders 
to  advance  the  other  fellows  are  going 
to  do  so  merely  as  a  matter  of  self-pres¬ 
ervation,  or  of  keeping  in  the  ranks  at  all. 

So  we  are  not  discouraged  if  the  whole 
body  of  the  convention  does  not  take 
kindly  or  avidly  to  some  of  the  sober 
things  said  by  speakers.  If  they  chal¬ 
lenge  the  attention  of  the  best  men,  it 
is  almost  sure  to  inoculate  the  entire 
trade,  because  others  will  get  it  ulti¬ 
mately  by  merely  following  the  leader. 


A  coal  wholesaler  recently  gave  this  ad¬ 
vice  to  a  friend:  “If  you  want  to  get  a 
good  coal  go  to  so-and-so.  He  is  the  big¬ 
gest  crank  in  America.  I  would  rather 
try  to  swim  Lake  Michigan  than  to  try  to 
sell  him  an  assortment  of  cats  and  dogs. 
He  knows  what  he  wants  and  he  yells  like  a 
fiend  unless  he  gets  it.  A  man  who  adopts 
that  attitude  toward  us  is  a  safe  man  for 
any  householder  to  buy  from.”  This  is  not 
intended  as  advise  to  retailers  to  become 
kickers.  Rather  it  hints  at  this.  “You  can’t 
he  easy  on  the  wholesaler  without  being 
hard  on  your  customer.” 


The  Matter  of  Weight. 

There  are  a  few  words  in  our  language 
which  mean  one  thing  and  only  one. 
These  few  words  can  not  be  improved  by 
and  additions.  They  have  no  positive, 
comparative  and  superlative  degrees. 

For  example,  there  is  the  word  “truth.” 
If  anything  is  true,  that  ends  it.  There 
can  be  no  such  thing  as  “truer”  or 
“truest.”  If  a  thing  is  perfect,  there  is 
no  such  thing  as  it  being  “more  perfect” 
or  “most  perfect.”  A  thing  is  either  true 
or  it  is  not ;  it  is  either  perfect  or  it  is 
not.  That  is,  as  the  purists  in  English 
would  say,  such  words  are  absolute. 

The  word  “weight”  belongs  in  the  same 
category.  If  you  have  the  weight  of 
anything,  it  is  something  which  cannot 
be  disputed.  That  is,  there  is  and  can  be 
no  such  thing  on  a  carload  of  coal  as  the 
“correct  weight”  or  the  “exact  weight” 
— implying  that  you  can  have  an  incor¬ 
rect  and  an  inexact  weight.  If  you  have 
the  weight,  you  have  a  statement  of 
what  the  contents  of  the  car  weighs.  You 
cither  have  it  or  you  don’t.  It  is  either 
the  correct  weight  or  you  only  have  a 
guess  as  to  what  the  weight  is.  Nobody 
will  say  that  a  weight  obtained  on  an 
inaccurate  scale  or  that  a  statement  of 
weight  made  by  a  person  who  is  not 
competent  is  the  weight  of  anything;  it 
would  simply  be  an  inaccurate  statement 
about  the  weight.  An  incorrect  state¬ 
ment  is  nothing  at  all.  It  is  a  lie  about 
the  truth. 

Nevertheless,  the  railroads  insist  that 
it  is  possible  to  temporize  on  the  ques¬ 
tion  of  weights.  They  plead  that  the 
scales  are  inaccurate.  They  are  willing 
to  base  their  carrying  charges  upon  the 
weights  recorded  by  scales.  Yet  when 
a  claim  is  presented  they  hide  behind  the 


hackneyed  excuse  that  the  scales  are  un¬ 
reliable  or  that  the  weighmaster  is  in¬ 
competent. 

We  insist  that  a  weight  which  is  ac¬ 
cepted  as  the  basis  for  freight  charges 
must  be  the  weight  used  for  the  estab¬ 
lishment  of  a  claim. 

Also,  if  the  inaccuracy  of  scales  at 
point  of  origin  is  waived,  the  inaccuracy 
of  scales  at  destination  must  also  be 
waived. 

If  the  railroads  want  to  evade  this 
proposition,  they  must  test  the  scales  and 
repair  them  if  found  out  of  order. 


Western  sales  agents  of  smokeless  coal 
are  puzzled.  They  know  that  cars  are 
going  to  be  short  and  hence  that  coal  of 
that  grade  will  be  scarce.  Yet,  they  can¬ 
not  get  the  retailer  to  buy  it.  The  retailer 
says  the  ultimate  consumer  is  not  buying. 
The  ultimate  consumer  pleads  poverty. 
The  curious  fact  is:  The  ultimate  con¬ 
sumer,  mainly,  is  the  apartment  house 
owner.  The  same  number  of  apartments 
are  rented  now  as  were  rented  when  times 
were  better.  The  real  estate  agent  is  col¬ 
lecting  the  rent  regularly.  Therefore,  the 
apartment  house  owner  has  money.  Un¬ 
der  the  circumstances,  the  sales  agent  for 
smokeless  coal  cannot  harmonize  the  facts 
with  the  excuses. 


The  Average  Is  Safest. 

One  of  the  best  signs  of  the  times  is 
that  coal  men  are  beginning  to  inquire : 
What  is  the  average  cost  of  producing 
coal  in  our  district?  They  rely  less  upon 
their  own  costs  as  a  criterion  by  which  to 
determine  their  prices. 

For  two  reasons  the  average  cost  is  best. 
The  first  is  that  in  every  producing  field 
there  are  thick  veins  and  thin  veins;  those 
with  a  good  roof  and  those  with  a  bad 
roof.  There  are  those  with  new  and  those 
with  old  mines.  There  is  a  need  for  prac¬ 
tically  all  of  the  mines.  Therefore,  there 
is  need  for  all  of  the  various  kinds  of 
mines.  To  take  the  cost  of  the  most  fav¬ 
ored  mine  as  the  cost  for  the  entire  field 
is  to  make  the  business  hopelessly  un¬ 
profitable  for  the  other  people.  To  take, 
however,  the  cost  of  the  worst  mine  as  the 
criterion  for  the  field  is  to  make  the  cost 
of  production  so  high  that  the  whole  dis¬ 
trict  will  be  driven  out  of  business  by  some 
other  district.  An  average  of  the  best  and 
the  worst  conditions  will  bring  the  cost 
of  production  to  where  one  district  can 
compete  with  another  and  still  where  the 
average  of  the  field  will  give  a  profit  to 
the  average  of  the  operators. 

The  second  thing  in  favor  of  the  aver¬ 
age,  instead  of  either  the  top  or  bottom 
cost  is  that  it  inculcates  a  community 
spirit  among  the  operators.  It  gets  rid 
of  the  notion  that  each  man  is  a  business 
or  an  institution  unto  himself.  No  man 
was  ever  so  good  at  anything  but  that 
somebody  proved  to  be  better.  The  oper¬ 
ator  who  tries  to  win  on  the  belief  that 
only  the  fittest  survive  perishes  in  the  end 
as  a  victim  of  his  own  doctrine.  He  may 
win  for  a  time  but  somebody  will  beat 
him  after  a  while.  It  is  a  safer  policy, 
therefore,  to  “live  and  let  live.” 

On  these  two  accounts,  the  average  cost 
of  a  district  is  the  proper  one  as  a  basis 
for  the  prices.  Any  system  of  accounting 
adopted  by  any  district  which  does  not 
proceed  upon  this  theory  is  unsafe. 


No.  1] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


II 


Establishing  a  Name. 

There  is  a  picturesque  practice  in  the 
west  which  is  called  cutting  a  steer  out 
of  the  herd.  There  is,  of  course,  a  great 
herd  of  cattle,  containing  some  fine,  some 
good,  some  indift'erent,  and  some  bad. 
The  owner  of  the  herd,  of  course,  puts 
his  brand  upon  the  best  first.  To  do  it 
lie  must  first  maneuver  to  get  the  steer 
that  is  to  be  branded  out  of  the  herd. 
'Fhis  is  accompanied  by  a  good  deal  of 
noise,  dust  and  confusion. 

VVe  have  a  replica  of  this  performance 
in  the  coal  trade  frequently.  There  is  a 
host  of  coal  companies.  There  is  a  large 
and  varied  assortment  of  coals.  In  that 
host  of  companies  there  are  some  fine, 
some  good,  some  indifferent  and,  unfor¬ 
tunately,  some  bad  ones.  The  same  can 
be  said  of  coals.  The  purpose  is  to  cut 
the  fine  and  the  good  out  from  the  herd 
and  put  a  brand  upon  them.  This  usually 
is  accompanied  by  a  somewhat  noisy 
ceremony.  This  ceremony  in  business  is 
called  advertising. 

The  purpose,  then,  of  advertising  is  to 
put  some  one’s  brand  upon  the  company 
or  the  grade  of  coal.  It  is  to  distinguish 
one  product  or  one  service  from  the  mass. 
It  is,  in  a  word,  to  establish  a  name. 
Therefore,  the  first  purpose  of  advertis¬ 
ing  is  to  establish  a  name. 

Essentially  the  establishing  of  a  name 
carries  with  it  the  suggestion  of  quality 
or  fitness.  It  is  impossible  to  establish 
a  quality  or  fitness  without  having  a 
name  to  which  it  can  cling.  We  can 
make  a  name  synonymous  with  quality 
but  we  cannot  reverse  the  process  and 
suggest  a '  name  by  talking  first  about 
quality.  Therefore  the  first  aim  in  ad¬ 
vertising  is  to  establish  a  name.  If  you 
will  take  the  trouble  to  look  at  the  con¬ 
spicuous  successes  in  business  today  you 
will  appreciate  that  the  establishment  of 
the  name  came  first  and  the  recognition 
of  quality  came  later. 


One  outspoken  retail  coal  dealer  told  the 
whole  truth  when  he  said  that  most  of  the 
troubles  of  the  eastern  coal  trade  begin  and 
end  with  the  fact  that  the  government  has 
taught  the  people  to  dislike  the  anthracite 
industry  and  this  displeasure  has  been  trans¬ 
ferred  to  every  one  in  the  business.  That 
is,  the  nation  is  trying  to  convict  the  an¬ 
thracite  operators  of  a  fancied  offense 
against  the  law.  They  are  peevish  because 
they  have  not  succeeded.  Now  in  a  spirit 
of  reprisal,  politicians  are  heckling  the 
whole  coal  business  through  a  series  of  laws 
such  as  the  anthracite  tax.  This  does  not 
speak  well  for  the  moral  status  of  our  poli¬ 
ticians,  but  such  seem  to  be  the  facts. 


About  Fountain  Pens. 

Arthur  Brisbane,  the  editorial  writer  for 
the  Hcarst  publications,  devoted  a  couple 
of  columns  recently  to  the  abuse  of  foun¬ 
tain  pens  in  general.  Since  he  is  one  of 
America’s  greatest  writers,  we  have  emin¬ 
ent  authority  for  taking  the  fountain  pen 
as  a  text. 

We  have  had  some  difficulty  with  j)cns. 
Our  opinion — pardon  the  assumption  Mr. 
Brisbane — is  that  the  difficulty  is  not  in 
the  pen  but  in  the  way  it  is  used  and  the 
man  who  uses  it. 

A  fountain  pen  consists  of  a  container 
for  the  ink;  a  passageway — usually  quite 


small — through  which  the  ink  flows,  and 
a  point.  The  crux  of  the  instrument  is 
the  passageway.  If  it  is  not  kept  clean  or 
if  one  tries  to  force  bad  ink  through  it, 
trouble  results.  Most  of  the  trouble  comes 
from  using  an  ink  which  cannot  flow 
through  a  passageway  which  must  be 
small. 

I'he  coal  trade  has  a  similar  difficulty. 
Coal  men  have  many  interesting  and  im- 
jxjrtant  tilings  to  say  to  the  American 
people.  But  to  say  them,  we  think  we 
must  go  back  to  the  beginning  of  time  and 
tell  the  whole  story.  To  say  one  or  two 
things,  we  must  open  the  whole  subject. 
We  want  to  tell  so  much  that  we  clog  the 
avenue  of  communication.  We  use  a 
quality  of  ink  too  thick  to  flow  through 
the  small  passageway  leading  to  the  point. 

Current  periodicals — newspapers  and 
magazines — are  the  passageway.  They 
are  small  compartively.  They  can  say  but 
little  and  try,  in  short  space,  to  tell  some¬ 
thing  which  thrills  and  informs.  Whether 
it  informs  or  not,  it  must  thrill. 

Because  the  space  is  limited  and  be¬ 
cause  the  people  will  not  read  anything 
else,  the  periodicals  devote  themselves  to 
a  single  and  small  phase  of  a  subject. 
There  are  enough  of  these  small  things  to 
congest  permanently  the  small  space  at 
the  disposal  of  publications. 

The  coal  man  wants  to  and  feels  that 
he  must  say  certain  things.  Yet,  the  pas¬ 
sageway  can  acommodate  neither  the 
quality  nor  the  quantity  of  what  he  has  in 
mind.  How,  under  the  circumstances,  is 
the  coal  trade  message  to  be  carried  to 
the  people? 

The  only  practical  suggestion  is  that 
the  coal  man  permit  the  statement  of  his 
case  to  be  made  in  a  way  that  the  public 
will  take  it.  We  are  wondering  if  the 
time  will  ever  come  when  the  coal  trade 
will  invite  the  “yellow  journalist”  to  help 
him  state  his  case. 


There  is  a  comforting  way  of  looking  at 
the  sale  of  munitions  of  war  by  United 
States  factories  to  European  belligerents. 
We  are  training  our  own  people  to  produce 
war  materials  which  we  may  need  some 
day  and  we  are  creating  facilities  such  as 
England  and  Russia  today  would  give  mil¬ 
lions  for.  Under  the  circumstances,  the 
Government  should  prohibit  the  sale  of 
those  factories  to  Germany  or  any  other 
foreign  power. 


A  Diseased  Nation. 

To  say  that  America  is  a  diseased  na¬ 
tion  and  that  its  malady  is  epidemic  is 
astounding  and  yet  it  is  true. 

The  best  definition  of  “disease”  is  that 
used  commonly  by  the  Christian  Scien¬ 
tists.  They  make  a  compound  word  of 
it — “dis-ease.”  They  say,  therefore,  it  is 
nothing  more  than  the  absence  of  ease. 

We  were  visited  recently  by  a  gentle¬ 
man  who  confessed  that  he  was  obsessed 
with  a  desire  to  discuss  only  a  few  sub¬ 
jects.  We  concluded  after  a  while  that 
he  wanted  to  discuss  two  or  three  phases 
of  one  subject.  His  theme  was  the  right 
of  capital  to  a  certain  remuneration.  His 
time  was  given  up  to  devising  arguments 
in  favor  of  his  propaganda.  He  could 
think  of  nothing  else;  he  preferred  to  talk 
of  nothing  else.  Naturally  he  was  fighting 
the  ideas  of  those  who  want  to  crush  capi¬ 


tal.  He  got  into  a  stew  every  few  hours 
and  this  constant  upsetting  in  the  end  in- 
terferred  with  his  appetite,  with  his  sleep 
and  with  his  health.  From  a  state  of  men¬ 
tal  dis-ease,  he  passed  to  a  state  of  phy¬ 
sical  disease.  The  man  was  sick  because 
he  had  let  some  ideas  about  what  be¬ 
longed  to  others  overcome  him. 

This  man  presents  a  striking  example 
of  the  prevalent  American  tendency.  We 
are  having  more  labor  trouble  than  at  any 
time  in  history.  At  the  same  time,  the 
workers  were  never  better  paid,  better  fed 
nor  better  housed  than  now.  Yet,  nearly 
a  majority  of  the  American  workers  is  in 
a  state  of  dis-ease.  The  trouble  is  not 
that  the  man  himself  feels  agrieved  or 
wronged,  but  that  his  mentality  has  been 
imposed  upon  by  his  leaders  who  are 
thinking — or  trying  to  think — in  terms  of 
labor  in  the  mass.  These  leaders  are  ob¬ 
sessed  with  an  idea  that  labor  is  all  there 
is,  and,  therefore,  that  labor  should  dom¬ 
inate  all  and  absorb  all.  We  have  as  a 
consequence  a  case  of  dis-ease  through¬ 
out  the  labor  world.  There  is  a  resultant 
lowering  of  physical  capacity  because  dis¬ 
ease  in  the  mind  is  setting  up  disease  in 
the  body. 

Precisely  the  same  thing  is  true  of  our 
publicists  and  literati.  Men  like  Roose¬ 
velt,  Steffens,  Baker,  Berger  and  Hearst, 
and  women  like  Jane  Addams  and  Ida  M. 
Tarbell  are  plainly  suffering  from  mental 
dis-ease.  They  have  done  more  to  inocu¬ 
late  the  world  with  their  uneasy  germ 
than  could  a  regiment  of  men  turned  loose 
with  the  cholera  or  bubonic  plague.  This 
is  so  because  their  malady  is  infectious 
rather  than  contagious  and  because  the 
jjrinting  press  is  their  agent  rather  than 
the  air  or  the  touch.  They  poison  by 
machinery. 

As  a  consequence  of  futile  discussion  of 
these  disturbing  topics,  America  is  becom¬ 
ing  the  most  diseased  nation  of  all  time. 
There  is  no  such  thing  left  as  ease  in  our 
society.  There  is  no  such  thing  any  more 
as  a  reasonable  degree  even  of  content¬ 
ment.  We  have  lost  the  passion  for  do¬ 
ing  things  for  the  mere  love  of  doing  them 
well.  On  the  contrary  we  have  aban¬ 
doned  everything  except  the  spoils  sys¬ 
tem.  America  is  quarreling  over  the  di¬ 
vision  of  profit  before  there  is  any  foun¬ 
dation  under  the  profit  itself. 

Our  situation  is  rather  serious  but  it 
need  not  prove  fatal.  The  cure  will  come 
if  we  all  will  relax  a  little  and  learn  to 
take  our  problems  and  our  perplexities 
a  little  less  seriously. 


The  weather  is  the  coal  man’s  stock  in 
trade.  The  astronomers  and  the  astrologers 
say  that  for  a  year  or  two  the  weather  will 
be  abnormal.  Thus  the  coal  man’s  calcu¬ 
lations  are  likely  to  be  away  off.  Tbe  as¬ 
tronomers  say  that  the  stars  are  coming 
to  occupy  a  new  relation  to  each  other. 
The  astrologers  say  that  the  stars  influ¬ 
ence  the  weather  and  hence  influence  men. 
In  the  next  year  or  two,  the  influence  of 
one  star  on  the  earth  and  the  sun  will  be 
disappearing  and  that  of  a  new  one  will 
be  appearing.  This  is  likely  to  unsettle 
the  weather.  The  Seventh  Day  Adventists 
at  this  point  come  to  the  relief  of  the  coal 
men  by  saying  that  this  change  forecasts 
the  second  coming  of  Christ  and  hence  the 
end  of  the  world.  So  the  weather  may 
change,  but  we  will  all  be  out  of  the  coal 
business.  Therefore,  cheer  up. 


12 


[July  3 


THE  BLA(  K  DIAMOND. 


News  Local  to  Chicago. 

Holly  Stover,  who  was  married  last  Satur¬ 
day  nisht,  expects  to  take  a  trip  through  West 
Virginia  in  a  few  days. 

Will,  (h  Eldridge  has  joined  the  Matthew  Addy 
Company  in  the  Rookery  liuilding  as  sales  man¬ 
ager  for  their  coal  department. 

F.  C.  Scott  of  the  Scott  Coal  Company  of 
Springfield,  was  one  of  the  callers  on  the 
Chicago  trade  on  Wednesday  of  the  week. 

L.  O.  Stanton,  general  sales  agent  of  the 
Clinton  Coal  Company  moved  his  family  from 
his  home  at  Oak  Park  to  his  summer  resi¬ 
dence  at  Delavan  Lake  the  latter  part  of  June, 
and  will  spend  the  Fourth  of  July  holidays  at 
that  resort.  He  expects  also  to  spend  his 
vacation  there. 

One  of  the  coke  producers  of  the  western 
territory  is  now  ready  to  put  out  an  interest¬ 
ing  moving  picture  advertisement.  The  mov¬ 
ing  picture  is  a  close-in  view  of  the  head 
of  the  selling  organization  writing  a  descrip¬ 
tion  of  what  coke  will  do  in  the  furnace  and 
how  to  use  it.  The  moving  picture  is  really 
that  of  a  man’s  hand  penning  the  words  which 
appear  on  the  sheet. 

W.  J.  Dillon  of  the  Mitchell  &  Dillon  Coal 
Company,  moved  his  family  to  the  farm  at 
Liberty ville,  on  the  first  of  July,  and  will 
spend  the  remainder  of  the  summer  as  a 
commuter.  He  will  share  the  lot  of  the  other 
communtation  coal  men  in  that  he  will  fight 
competition  in  the  day  time  and  mosquitoes  m 
the  evening,  and  spend  the  rest  of  the  time 
rushing  to  and  from  or  riding  upon  trains. 

W.  C.  Hill,  vice-president  of  the  Chicago 
&  Carterville  Coal  Company,  put  out  a  new 
circular  on  June  25,  announcing  that  effective 
July  tst  prices  on  Hickory  Hill  coal  are;  Do¬ 
mestic  lump,  egg  and  No.  1  washed,  $1.50;  No. 
2  washed  nut  and  No.  1  dry  screened  nut 
$1.40;  mine  run,  $1.15.  He  announces  also 
that  the  dry  screened  nut  quoted  is  a  new 
product,  produced  by  his  mines,  the  size  be¬ 
ing  3x2  inches. 

Most  of  the  Franklin  county  operators  this 
week  announced  a  new  circular  price,  effec¬ 
tive  July  1st,  which  makes  the  price  on  do¬ 
mestic  lump,  egg  and  No.  1  nut  $1.50  and  on 
No.  2  or  special  stove  $1.40.  This  announce¬ 
ment  did  not  come  as  any  surprise  to  the 
trade  since  an  advance  notice  of  the  possi¬ 
ble  intention  in  that  direction  had  served  to 
warn  a  good  many  of  the  buyers  who  had 
partially  covered  their  needs  by  orders  in 
June. 

One  of  the  interesting  announcements  of 
the  week  was  that  for  some  time  a  number  of 
the  mines  of  the  Sunday  Creek  Company  in 
the  Hocking  district  of  Ohio,  will  be 
closed  down.  It  seems  that  the  mines  of  this 
company  are  divided  into  two  groups,  one  be¬ 
ing  on  the  Hocking  Valley  railway  and  the 
other  on  the  Toledo  &  Ohio  Central  railway. 
The  present  intention,  so  it  is  understood, 
is  to  close  the  mines  on  the  Hocking  Valley 
until  the  market  recovers.  This  will  permit 
the  concentration  of  the  management  on  the 
mining  on  the  Toledo  &  Ohio  Central,  which 
are  grouped  so  that  they  can  most  easily  be 
operated  by  one  set  of  officials  and  miners. 

H.  C.  Adams  of  the  Jones  &  Adams  Coal 
Company,  is,  after  an  experience  last  Sunday, 
quite  an  enthusiast  on  the  south  side  as  a 
place  to  live.  He  says  that  he  went  out  to 
Kenilworth  last  Sunday  to  visit  some  friends 
of  his,  and  ran  into  the  north  shore  brand  of 
mosquitoes,  which  he  is  willing  to  take  oath 
are  as,  big  and  as  vicious  as  bumble  bees.  He 
said  that  the  one  way  to  combat  those  mos¬ 
quitoes  was  to  use  a  tennis  racket.  The  ex¬ 
perience  of  Lynn  Rutter,  Gordon  Buchanan, 
John  Pynchon  and  a  few  other  north  shore 
men  will  probably  bear  out  the  statement  of 
Mr.  Adams  on  this  interesting  point.  The 
only  consolation  which  north  shore  residents 
have  is  the  fighting  mosquitoes  is  good  ex¬ 
ercise. 

The  announcement  is  made  this  week  by  the 
Eldridge  Coal  Company  that,  effective  July 
1st  the  Consumers  Company  acquired  its 
entire  retail  business  and  will  complete  the 
deliveries  of  all  coal  on  contract  held  by 
that  concern.  However,  all  outstanding  ac¬ 
counts  due  the  company  are  payable  at  its 
general  offices.  The  yards  of  the  Eldridge 
Coal  Company  transferred  by  this  arrange¬ 


ment  are  as  follows;  On  the  north  side  at 
Bryn  Mawr  avenue  and  the  Chicago  &  North¬ 
western  Railway;  at  Elston  avenue  near  '  Di¬ 
vision  street.  On  the  south  side  at  Forty- 
seventh  and  Federal  streets;  at  the  foot  of 
South  Water  street  and  Illinois  Central  Rail¬ 
way;  and  at  Sixty-ninth  street  and  St.  Law¬ 
rence  avenue.  On  the  west  side  at  Ogden 
avenue  and  Kedvale  avenue,  and  at  Elston 
avenue  near  Racine  avenue.  This  company 
had  been  in  Chicago  for  twenty-five  years  un¬ 
der  the  same  management  as  that  which  has 
just  sold  the  properties.  The  announceme:i4 
is  made  that  Harold  Eldridge  has  not  made  plans 
for  the  future,  and  is  not  sure  yet  what  his  line 
of  activity  will  be.  This  transfer  of  one  of  the 
older  retail  properties  of  Chicago  to  the  Consum¬ 
ers  Company  was  a  matter  of  considerable  inter¬ 
est  to  members  of  the  Chicago  trade. 

James  F.  Callbreath,  secretary  of  the  Amer¬ 
ican  Mining  Congress,  spent  last  Friday  and 
Saturday'  in  Chicago  on  his  way  to  Denver  and 
San  Francisco,  where  he  is  making  arrange¬ 
ments  for  the  coming  convention  of  his  con¬ 
gress.  He  has  some  mighty  interesting  plans 
in  contemplation,  one  of  which  is  the  organiza¬ 
tion  of  a  bureau  of  information,  or  bureau 
of  statistics,  which  will  compile  and  distribute 
necessary  data  about  all  the  phases  of  min¬ 
ing.  It  is  quite  a  pretentious  plan.  While  Mr. 
Callbreath  was  here  an  interesting  fact  was 
developed  in  connection  with  his  career  when 
he  began  to  tell  how  on  one  occasion  he 
learned  the  poetic  possibilities  of  profanity.  It 
seems  in  his  earlier  days  he  was  an  expert 
on  raising  bees.  His  father,  who  was  a  scien¬ 
tific  apiarist,  made  a  miscalculation  on  build 
ing  his  hive,  with  the  result  that  one  hive 
of  bees  was  not  satisfied  with  the  new  home 
and  left  to  find  other  quarters.  They  were 
finally  housed  about  a  mile  away  from  home 
in  the  woods.  There  they  set  up  housekeep¬ 
ing,  and  began  to  make  honey  in  that  terri¬ 
tory.  In  those  days  there  was  a  bee  hunter  who 
would  take  observations  on  the  homeward 
flight  of  the  bees  from  two  different  points 
and  having  made  calculations  of  angles  and 
distances,  arrive  at  an  idea  about  where  the 
home  of  the  wild  bees  could  be  found.  He 
would  then  cut  down  the  tree,  smoke  out  the 
bees  and  take  the  honey.  This  was  usually 
the  work  of  a  day  or  so.  This  wild  bee 
hunter  had  discovered  what  he  thought  was 
the  home  of  quite  a  lot  of  wild  bees  and  after 
painful  calculations  traced  them  to  their  hive, 
only  to  find  that  they  were  domestic  bees 
after  all,  owned  by  Mr.  Callbreath.  What  he 
had  to  say  on  the  subject  gave  Mr.  Callbreath 
the  idea  of  the  use  to  which  profanity  on  cer¬ 
tain  occasions  could  be  put. 


National  Coal  Convention. 


■A.  general  and  most  cordial  invitation  is  ex¬ 
tended  to  everyone  connected  with  the  coal  trade 
to  make  a  special  effort  to  be  present  at  the  na¬ 
tional  coal  convention  and  tenth  anniversary  of 
the  Order  Kokoal  at  the  Auditorium  Hotel,  Chi¬ 
cago,  Ill.,  on  Monday  and  Tuesday,  July  12 
and  13. 

An  unusually  interesting  and  instructive  pro¬ 
gram  has  been  prepared  and  as  it  is  a  general 
open  meeting  for  all  coalmen,  regardless  of 
whether  they  are  members  of  the  Order  Kokoal 
it  is  earnestly  hoped  that  there  will  be  a  large 
attendance. 

It  is  planned  to  make  this  national  coal  con¬ 
vention  educational  in  character  and  the  theme 
of  the  meeting  is  to  be  the  cost  of  producing, 
shipping  and  selling  coal  with  the  thought  that  a 
wider  and  more  accurate  knowledge  of  this  sub¬ 
ject  by  all  concerned  will  do  much  towards  con¬ 
vincing  operators,  wholesalers,  and  retailers  of 
the  necessity  of  getting  a  sufficient  price  for  their 
coals  as  will  insure  a  reasonable  profit. 

It  is  also  believed  that  a  campaign  of  education 
alont!  this  line  can  be  made  helpful  in  lessening 
unjust  criticism  of  the  coal  trade  bv  the  public 
as  well  as  to  persuade  them  that  the  large  con¬ 
sumers  of  coal,  who  are  business  men  themselves, 
should  be  willing  to  pay  a  living  price  for  their 
coal  supply. 

With  these  praiseworthy  objects  in  vie  v  the 
national  coal  convention  in  Chicago,  on  July  12 
promises  to  be  unusually  timely  and  important 
and  especially  as  it  is  proposed  radically  to 
change  the  policy  under  which  Kokoal  has  oper¬ 
ated  during  the  last  ten  years,  eliminate  the 
horseplay  and  unnecessary  frivolity  and  make  it 
a  purposeful  national  coal  association,  combin¬ 


ing  social,  fraternal  and  educational  features  in 
a  manner  that  will  enable  it  to  co-operate  in  a 
thoroughly  practical  way  with  the  various  retail, 
wholesale  and  operators’  associations  and  local 
coal  exchanges  throughout  the  country,  without 
any  detail  conflicting  with  the  work  or  fields 
which  they  now  cover. 

A  leading  feature  of  this  meeting  will  be  an 
interesting  and  instructive  lecture  on  the  mining 
preparation  and  distribution  of  anthracite,  given 
under  the  ausnices  of  the  United  States  Govern¬ 
ment  by  H.  1.  Smith,  engineer  of  the  United 
States  Bureau  of  Mines. 

The  convention  is  to  be  held  at  the  Auditorium 
Hotel,  Chicago,  and  the  first  session  will  begin 
promptly  at  2  p.  m.  Monday  afternoon,  July  12. 

The  complete  program  for  the  two  days’  ses¬ 
sion  is  as  follows ; 

MONDAY  AFTERNOON,  JULY  12—2  P.  M.  SHARP. 
Call  to  Order. 

Address  of  Welcome,  by  Chas.  L.  Dering,  manager  S.  C. 
Schenck  Co.  and  president  Chicago  Association  of  Com¬ 
merce. 

Welcome  to  the  Retailers,  hy  Wm.  D.  Elmstrom,  president 
Chicago  Coal  Merchants’  Association. 

Response  and  .\nnouncement  of  New  Educational  Policy, 
hy  Chas.  K.  Scull,  Imperial  Modoc,  Order  Kokoal, 
Philadelphia. 

Tcn-Mimite  Addresses.  ' 

“Importance  of  I'iguring  Costs  Accurately.”  by  A.  I. 
Moorshead.  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  ex-president  Illinois  Coal 
Operators’  Associaation. 

Year’s  Experience  Retailing  Coal  for  Cash,”  hy  G.  T. 
Rider,  manager  Scanlon  Coal  Company,  Louisville,  Ky. 
“Will  Knowledge  of  Costs  Reduce  Price-Cutting,”  by  T. 
P,  Rryan,  Gray-Bryan  Sweeney  Coal  Company,  Kan¬ 
sas  City,  Mo. 

Illustrated  Motion  Picture  Lecture  under  direction  of 
United  States  Government — The  Mining,  Preparation 
and  Distribution  of  Anthracite  Coal,  by  H.  I.  Smith, 
Bureau  of  Mines. 

Appointment  of  Committees 
Announcements. 

Recess. 

MONDAY  EVENING,  JULY  12—6:30  P.  M. 
National  Coal  Banquet  at  Auditorium  Hotel,  Chicago. 
“Have  Selling  Prices  Kept  Up  With  Rising  Costs,”  by 
Walter  S.  Bogle,  The  Dean  of  Chicago  Coalmen. 
“Ilniform  .System  of  Accounting  and  Costs,”  by  Homer  D. 

Jones,  Western  Fuel  Company,  Chicago. 

“The  Coal  Trade’s  Need  of  National  Co-operation,”  hy 
Chas.  K.  Kerchner,  Hall  Bros.  &  Co.,  Baltimore,  Md. 
“How  to  .Strengthen  Local  Conditions,”  by  H.  C.  Mc¬ 
Kinney,  Kansas  City,  Mo. 

“The  Advantage  of  a  Definite  Aim,”  by  C.  M.  Moderwell, 
Chicago,  Ill.,  president  Illinois  Coal  Operators’  Asso¬ 
ciation. 

TUESn.\Y  MORNING,  JULY  13—10  A.  M.  SHARP. 
“Odd  Leaks  That  Decrease  Profits,”  by  B.  L.  Shepard, 
of  -Shepard  &  Chandler,^  Chicago. 

“Jobbers’  Cost  of  Selling  Coal,”  by  W.  J.  Dillon,  Mitchell 
’  &  Dillon  Coal  Company,  Chicago. 

“\Vhat  Can  Be  Accomplished  by  Coal  Publicity,”  by  Arch 
Coleman,  president  City  Fuel  Company,  Minneapolis, 
Minn. 

General  Discussion  for  the  Good  of  the  Coal  Trade. 
Recess  for  Luncheon. 

2  P.  M.  SHARP. 

Annual  Address,  Imperial  Modoc,  Chas.  K.  Scull,  Phila¬ 
delphia,  Pa. 

.'nnual  Report,  Imperial  Pictor,  Ed.  F.  Smith,  Chicago. 
Reports  of  Committees. 

Election  of  Officers. 

Unfinished  Business. 

Adjournment. 


War  Risk  Insurance. 


Washington,  D.  C.,  June  24. — Owing  to  the 
exceptional  hazards  involved,  the  Bureau  of  War 
Risk  Insurance  will  consider  these  ports  only 
when  application  is  made  to  the  Bureau  of  War 
Risk  Insurance,  Washington,  D.  C.  The  bureau 
reserves  to  itself  the  right  to  decline  any  risks 
to  these  ports,  or  if  accepted,  to  name  such  rates 
as  may  seem,  in  its  judgment,  adequate.  This  list 
is  effective  from  the  date  hereof,  but  subject  to 
change  without  notice.  At  this  date  it  is  as  fol¬ 
lows  ; 

All  United  Kingdom  ports. 

All  ports  on  the  continent  of  Europe  other  than 
Spanish  or  Portuguese  '^orts. 

All  ports  of  Asia  Minor. 

All  African  ports  in  the  Mediterranean  sea. 

All  colonial  possessions  of  Germany  and  Tur¬ 
key. 

The  ports  above  mentioned  comprise  the  pres¬ 
ent  special  list  of  ports  referred  to  in  the  vessel 
form  of  policy,  to  which  vessels  may  not  clear 
and  proceed  without  special  permission  of  the 
bureau. 

Applications  for  insurance  to  the  above-men¬ 
tioned  ports  must  contain  full  particulars  of  the 
proposed  voyage,  including  name  of  consignee 
and  description  of  cargo  as  well  as  the  amount 
of  insurance. 

The  latest  lists  issued  may  be  obtained  from  the 
Bureau  of  War  Risk  Insurance. 

[The  above  sunnlements  the  announcements 
that  were  published  in  Commerce  Reports  for 
Feb.  24  and  27  and  March  13,  1915.] 


Charters  for  the  week  included  twelve 
steamships  for  Italian  ports;  five  for  the  River 
Plate;  two  for  Spain;  one  for  Sweden,  and 
one  for  Chili. 


No.  1] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


13 


Facts  Which  Determine  Our  Export  Prospects. 


The  Export  Situation. 

While  at-  the  moment  the  exact  figures  of 
exports  of  bituminous  coal  over  the  Atlantic 
seaboard  for  the  month  of  June  are  not  avail¬ 
able,  sufficient  information  is  at  hand  to  show 
that  the  total  will  show  that  June  made  a 
record  for  exports  from  this  country  over 
the  Atlantic  seaboard.  Baltimore  will  show 
a  total  of  exports  for  the  month  well  above 
300,000  tons,  a  record-breaking  performance, 
while  Hampton  Roads  shipments  have  been 
running  well  between  100,000  and  200,000  tons 
per  week  and  are  expected  to  show  very 
closely  around  600,000  tons  for  the  month, 
while  Philadelphia  is  expected  to  show  heavy 
exportations,  though  not  quite  reaching  her 
record  of  107,654  tons  for  May. 

Up  to  June  26  Hampton  Roads  had  ex¬ 
ported  547,685  tons,  Baltimore  287,015  tons, 
while  Philadelphia  up  to  the  23rd  had  shipped 
86,310  tons,  a  total  of  921,000  tons.  This 
would  indicate  a  total  for  June  of  around 
1,100,000  tons,  or  an  increase  of  300,000  tons 
over  May,  when  the  total  exports  from  all 
these  ports  was  778,000  tons. 

Italy  continues  to  receive  heavier  tonnages 
than  those  going  to  any  other  foreign  coun¬ 
tries,  with  Brazil  and  Argentine  following 
closely  in  order.  During  the  past  several 
weeks,  shipments  have  begun  to  be  made  to 
France,  Holland  and  Sweden,  Norway  and 
Spain,  and  commitment  to  these  countries 
indicate  that  a  large  tonnage  will  be  going 
forward  for  these  destinations  for  the  next 
several  months.  Holland  is  believed  to  be 
a  purchaser  of  approximately  100,000  tons 
of  coal,  most  of  it  to  be  used  for  bunkering 
steamships  that  ply  from  Rotterdam  to  other 
than  American  ports.  Spain,  which  is  tak¬ 
ing  considerable  American  coal  and  exporters 
believe  that  her  requirements  will  grow  from 
month  to  month.  Scattered  here  and  there 
are  orders  for  individual  cargoes,  all  of  which 
help  to  make  the  aggregate  exports  large. 

This  week  the  Central  Brazil  Railways  re¬ 
ceived  bids  for  100,000  tons  of  coal  to  be 

divided  equally  between  British  and  American 
coal.  Bids  were  asked  c.  i.  f.,  and  few  of 

the  American  shippers  care  to  tender  bids 

under  this  basis.  However,  it  is  expected 

that  there  will  be  quite  a  number  of  bidders, 
though  it  is  quite  a  problem  now  to  name  a 
c.  i.  f.  price. 

Coal  is  very  scarce  with  the  leading  ex¬ 
porters  through  Hampton  Roads.  Some  of 
the  big  exporting  companies  have  considerable 
more  tonnage  and  vessels  in  sight  than  they 
have  coal  available,  and  this  means  scouring 
for  coal  amnog  other  more  favored  shippers 
so  as  not  to  cause  delay  in  dispatching  ves¬ 
sels. 

Tidewater  prices,  ^2.85  on  New  River  and 
Pocahontas  coals,  are  being  well  maintained, 
and  prices  are  just  as  firm  for  George’s  Creek 
for  loading  at  Baltimore,  while  prices  are 
easy  on  the  favored  grades  of  Pennsylvania 
and  Fairmont  gas  coals  that  are  now  going 
into  export. 


April  Coal  Exports. 

The  Dei)artment  of  Commerce  and  Labor  give 
exports  of  coal  for  April,  1915,  and  ten  months, 
with  comparisons,  as  follows: 

-April- 

^ - 1914 - 

Destination. 

Anthracite — 

t  anada  . 

-Argentina  . 

Brazil . 


- 1914- 

Tons.  Value. 

..192,822  I-Ool-IST 


-191. I - ^ 

Tons.  Value. 


Foreign  Freight  Rates. 

W.  VV.  Battle  &  Company,  Produce  Ex¬ 
change,  New  York,  report  as  follows  under 
date  of  June  28: 

We  chartered  a  number  of  steamers  during 
the  past  week  for  coal  to  Spanish  and  Italian 
ports,  and  have  numerous  other  boats  offered 
for  this  business,  at  lower  rates  than  those 
recently  quoted. 

To  the  Plate  steamers  offer  sparingly,  and 
a  steamer  of  about  7,000  tons  coal  capacity 
was  chartered,  Virginia  to  Buenos  Aires,  at 
36s,  option  Port  Militar  at  37s  6d,  but  we 
consider  these  rates  a  little  above  the  market 
as  we  chartered  steamers  for  similar  business 
at  lower  rates. 

Freight  rates  to  other  destinations  are  un¬ 
changed. 

We  would  quote  freight  rates  on  coal  by 

steamer  as  follows; 

West  coast  of  Italy,  about .  39s. 

Marseilles,  about .  37s. 

Barcelona,  about  .  36s. 

(Spanish  dues  for  account  of  cargo.) 

Montevideo,  about  .  35s. 

Buenos  Aires  or  La  Plata,  about .  35s.  6d. 

Rosario,  about  .  38s. 

Rio,  about  .  36s. 

Santos,  about  .  37s. 

(Consignees  paying  docas  dues.) 

Valparaiso  or  Callao . $6.75@7.00 

Havana  . ’. .  2.00@2.25 

Cardenas  or  Sagua,  about .  2.75 

Cienfuegos  .  2.75@3.00 

Port  of  Spain,  Trinidad .  3.50@3.75 

St.  Lucia,  about  .  3.50 

St.  Thomas  .  3.00@3.25 

Barbados  .  3.50@3.75 

Kingston  .  2.75@3.0n 

Curacao,  about . (and  p.  c.)  3.50 

Santiago  .  2.50@3.00 

Guantanamo  . .’ .  2.50@3.00 

Demerara,  about  .  4.25 

Bermuda,  about .  3.00 

Vera  Cruz  .  3.50@3.75 

Tampico  .  3.50@3.75 


U.  S.  Coal  Imports. 

The  Department  of  Commerce  and  Labor  show 
imports  of  coal  into  the  United  States  for  April, 
1914  and  1915,  and  ten  months  comparisons,  as 
follows : 

APRir, 

Imported  from — 

(ioal,  bituminous — 

United  Kingdom  . 


Japan  . 

Australia  and  Ta 
Other  countries. 


TEN  MONTHS  ENDING 
1913 
Tons. 

United  Kingdom  .  8,550 

Canada  . 1,181,216 

Japan  .  66,497 

Australia  and  Tasmania.  .  129,985 

Other  countries .  3,257 


1914 

Tons. 

442 

136,486 

233 

29,020 

1915 

Tons, 

3,012 

116,632 

4,729 

13,027 

321 

166,181 

137,721 

APRIL 

1914 

1915 

Tons. 

Tons. 

10,133 

32,902 

882,772 

959,072 

83,441 

72,980 

226,945 

154,907 

3,430 

1,828 

Total  . 1,389,505  1,206,721  1,221,749 


Recent  Coal  Freight  Charters. 

Steamer  Ferndene  (Br.),  Atlantic  Range  to  west  coast 
of  Italy,  coal,  41s.,  July. 

Steamer  Chumleigh  (Br.),  Atlantic  Range  to  Barcelona, 
coal,  37s.,  June. 

Steamer  Oreland  (Br.),  Philadelphia  to  Rio  Janeiro, 
coal,  p.  t. 

Steamer  Anglesea  (Br.),  Virginia  to  Buenos  Aires, 
coal,  36s.,  option  of  Port  Milton,  37s.  6d.,  July. 

Steamers  - - ,  Atlantic  Range  to  west  coast  of  Italy, 

coal,  405.,  July,  Ropness  steamers. 

Steamers  Sidmouth  (Br.)  and  Caprera  (Ital.),  Balti¬ 
more  to  Italy,  coal,  p.  t. 

Steamer  Apolo  (Span.),  Baltimore  to  River  Plata, 
coal,  p.  t. 

t - Ten  Months  Ending  April - , 

, - 1913 - ^  , - 1914 - r-, - 1915- 

Tons.  Value.  Tons.  Value.  Tons 


Value. 


445,118  2,286,424  3,63,5,117  19,353,251  3,000,205  15,7,50,121  2,856,521  15,111,786 


18 


17J 


212 

24 


1,14  5 
219 


Uruguay  . 

84 

559 

Otlier  countries.  . 

3,438 

16,637 

8,391 

37,492 

66.324 

335,903 

50,077 

246,438 

50,101 

236,826 

Total  . 

1,978,194 

4.53,527 

2,324,089 

3,701,441 

19,689,154 

3,0.50,366 

15,997,108 

2,906,858 

15,349,976 

*Rituniinous — 

253,273 

747,644 

960,233 

2,878  538 

Canada  . 

395,027 

836,394 

38i;223 

825,728 

9,093,740 

22,356,868 

9,972,979 

23,377,674 

6,962,352 

15,211,979 

Panama  . 

.33,073 

89,189 

42,946 

115,610 

393,449 

1.061,988 

314,467 

850,797 

261,343 

714,719 

Mexico  . 

24,453 

95,918 

32,966 

143,879 

350,201 

976,388 

259,575 

873,160 

838,919 

1,484,007 

Cuba  . 

63,091 

187,027 

101,013 

286,837 

1,035.110 

2,777,497 

965,528 

2,683,310 

882,572 

2.484,542 

Other  West  Indies 

and  Bermuda.. 

56,213 

164,332 

55,055 

168,845 

502,891 

1,416,788 

481,284 

1,407,734 

379,015 

1,159,900 

Argentina  . 

18,966 

54,350 

79,531 

239,640 

118,354 

336,684 

297,328 

901,356 

Brazil  . 

15,831 

53,330 

66„582 

196,024 

212,668 

676,6.58 

339.597 

1,037.464 

Uruguay  . 

4,179 

13,.5.37 

36,503 

104,520 

44,671 

130,649 

77,270 

225,992 

Other  countries. . 

160,604 

471,920 

63,576 

191,822 

911,299 

2,629,509 

1,066,061 

3,144,491 

576,679 

1,718,064 

Total  . 

772,037 

1,964,997 

1,112,668 

3,020,549 

12,28.5,090 

31,219,038 

13,435,587 

33,481,052 

11,075,308 

27,826,561 

Steamers  Patras  (Ital.)  and  Clearthia  (Greek),  a  Vir¬ 
ginia  port  to  west  coast  of  Italy,  coal,  40s.  and  44s.  6d., 
respectively. 

Steamer  Kanaria  (Greek),  Atlantic  Range  to  Italy, 
coal,  41s. 

Steamer  Balgray  (Br.),  Baltimore  to  Piraeus,  coal,  44s. 

Schooner-Charles  Noble  Simmons,  Philadelphia  to  Porto 
Cabello,  coal,  $4  and  discharge. 

Schooner  L.  H.  Goward,  Baltimore  to  Porto  Rico, 
coal,  p.  t. 

Steamer  Thelma  (Nor.),  Newport  News  to  Havana, 
2,000  tons  coal  and  coke,  p.  t. 

Steamer  Wascana  (Nor.),  Norfolk  to  Rio  Janeiro,  8,000 
tons  coal,  p.  t. 

Steamer  Devian  (Br.),  Baltimore  to  Chile,  coke,  p.  t. 

•Steamer  Florida  (Dan.),  Baltimore  to  Copenhagen  or 
Gothemburg,  coal,  p.  t. 

.Steamer  .Styliani  Bebis  (Greek),  Baltimore  to  west 
coast  of  Italy,  coal,  42s.,  prompt. 

Bark  Blanca  (Nor.),  Norfolk  to  Pernambuco,  2,250  tons 
coal,  $7. 

Schooner  Samuel  W.  Hathaway,  Philadelphia  to  Guaya¬ 
quil,  1,400  tons  coal,  p.  t. 

Schooner  Henry  S.  Little,  Philadelphia  to  Summerside, 
P.  E.  I.,  coal,  ?2.25. 

Schooner  Bayard  Barnes,  Philadelphia  to  Bahia,  1,400 
tons  coal,  $7.75. 

Philadelphia  May  Exports. 

Exports  of  coal  from  the  port  of  Phila¬ 
delphia  during  the  month  of  May,  1915,  were 
as  follows: 

Anthracite.  Bituminous. 


Italy  . 

12,343 

Norway  . 

6,506 

.Spain  . 

16,045 

Canada  . 

. .  1,898 

Mexico  . 

2,218 

Newfoundland  . 

.  .  2,02,3 

473 

Jamaica  . 

1,886 

Other  British  West  Indies.  . .  . 

iio 

967 

Cuba  . 

. .  5,583 

57,611 

French  West  Indies . 

799 

Argentina  . 

4,078 

Brazil  . 

4,724 

Total  . 

..  9,614 

107,645 

*Do  not  include  fuel  or  bunker  coal  laden  on  vessels  ergaged  in  the  foreign  trade,  which  aggregated  during  the 
month  and  ten  months  ending  April,  as  follows:  April,  1914,  695,192  tons,  valued  at  $.2,297,465;  April,  1915,  655,465 
tons,  valued  at  $2,201,197.  Ten  months  ending  April,  1913,  5,976.266  tons,  valued  at  $19,317,988;  1914,  6,449,722  tons, 
valued  at  $21,071,815;  1915,  5,686,855  tons,  valued  at  $19,108,485. 


Welsh  Freight  Rates. 

Recent  fixtures  from  Cardiff  have  been  as 
follows:  Aden,  22s  6d;  Bombay,  25s;  Bor¬ 

deaux,  14  fr.;  Gibraltar,  17s;  Las  Palmas,  20s; 
Lisbon,  15s  6d;  Madeira,  20s;  Marseilles,  25 
fr.;  Naples,  24s;  Rosario,  25s  6d;  River  Plate, 
24s  6d  and  26s;  Savona,  21s  and  22s  6d. 

From  the  Tyne,  recent  fixtures  have  been 
as  follows:  Algiers,  19s  and  20s;  Genoa,  25s 
to  27s  6d;  Gibraltar,  19s;  Lisbon,  20s;  Naples, 
27s  6d;  Porto  Vecchio,  28s  6d;  Rouen,  15s  6d. 

Canal  Prices  Advance. 

The  Panama  Railroad  Company  has  issued 
the  following  announcement: 

“On  September  1st,  1915,  the  price  for  Poca¬ 
hontas  coal  delivered  to  steamers  calling  at 
Colon  and  Cristobal,  will  be  increased  from 
$5.40  to  $6.00  per  gross  ton  trimmed  into 
bunkers;  and  at  Balboa  from  $6.40  to  $7.00  per 
gross  ton  trimmed  into  bunkers. 

“The  prices,  which  will  be  maintained  until 
further  notice,  are  based  on  steamers’  gear 
being  used  in  the  loading  of  bunkers.  If 
gear  is  not  available,  or  cannot  be  used  to  ad¬ 
vantage,  and  in  the  judgment  of  our  agents 
a  crane  or  hoist  must  be  supplied,  the  charge 
for  this  will  be  $1.00  per  hour. 

“In  the  event  officers  or  agents  of  steamers 
order  more  coal  than  can  be  conveniently 
loaded  into  bunkers,  thus  resulting  in  coal 

being  left  in  cars  or  barges,  a  charge  to  reim¬ 
burse  the  company  for  the  expense  of  handling 
the  coal  ordered  but  not  taken  will  be  made 
at  the  rate  of  twenty-five  cents  per  ton  for 

that  left  in  cars,  and  fifty  cents  per  ton  for 

that  left  in  lighters.” 

Porto  Rico  received  from  the  United  States 
11,791  tons  of  bituminous  coal  in  April  of 

this  year,  as  compared  with  8,113  tons  in 
April,  1914.  For  ten  months  ending  April 
30,  1915,  93,426  tons  were  received  from  the 
United  States,  as  compared  with  87,683  Ions 
for  ten  months  ending  April,  1914,  and  79,392 
tons  for  ten  months  ending  April,  1913. 
Anthracite  shipments  to  Porto  Rico  in  April 
were  ninety-four  tons,  as  compared  with  206 
tons  in  April,  1914.  For  ten  months  ending 
April  30,  1915,  anthracite  shipments  to  Porto 
Rico  were  1,579  tons,  as  compared  with  2,673 
tons  for  the  same  i)criod  ending  April  30, 
1914,  and  744  tons  for  ten  months  ending 
April  30,  1913. 

A  London  cable  on  Tuesday  read:  “The 
threatened  general  strike  in  the  Welsh  coal 
fields,  because  of  the  squabble  between  the 
men  and  the  owners  over  union  questions, 
caused  the  government  to  take  a  drastic 
step  today.  It  was  intimated  that  the  mines 
would  be  taken  over  by  the  government  and 
martial  law  proclaimed  if  the  strike  went  into 
effect.  .\lready  several  thousand  men  are 
out.” 


14 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[July  3 


General  Review. 


Prices  Are  Held  Firm  by  Restrictions  of 
Output,  But  Buying  Still 
Is  Light. 


With  the  exception  of  some  bituminous  dis¬ 
tricts  in  West  Virginia  and  portions  of  eastern 
Kcntuck}'  and  Pennsylvania,  the  coal  market  of 
the  nation  is  being  held  reasonably  firm,  because 
the  operators  are  refusing  to  ship  coal  until  it 
is  sold.  As  a  consequence  there  is  very  little 
free  coal  on  many  of  the  principal  markets,  but 
business  is  so  light  that  the  mines  are  running 
on  the  average  a  little  less  than  three  days  a 
week.  Production  is,  in  fact,  between  forty-five 
and  fifty  per  cent  of  capacity  on  the  average. 

In  sections  excepted,  some  new  mines  have 
recently  been  opened  and  productive  capacity  has 
been  increased.  The  operators  there  are  trying 
to  force  their  product  upon  the  market  and  are 
campaigning  by  means  of  cut  prices.  This  is 
disturbing  the  situation  to  an  extent,  but  it  is  not 
altering  the  purpose  of  other  operators  to  .get  a 
fair  price  for  their  coal  or  make  no  sale. 

According  to  advices  from  New  York,  the 
anthracite  trade  in  that  territory  is  dull,  as  is 
customary  at  this  season  of  the  year.  The  mines 
are  running  part  of  the  time  only.  However, 
prices  are  artificially  firm  because  the  operators 
are  not  shipping  any  unsold  coal  to  any  of  the 
principal  centers.  The  bituminous  trade  shows 
an  improvement  in  spots.  That  is,  there  is  a 
steady  increase  in  export  business  and  in  some 
places  the  coastwise  trade  is  improving,  especially 
in  New  England. 

In  Boston  the  public  is  indifferent  to  anthra¬ 
cite  and  is  buying  practically  nothing  for  storage 
purposes  now.  In  New  England,  reached  through 
Boston,  however,  the  demand  is  improving  some¬ 
what.  In  bituminous,  and  especially  semi-bitumi¬ 
nous  coals,  the  trade  is  taking  the  larger  tonnage 
on  contract,  and  one  feature  of  importance  of  the 
week  was  placing  of  a  contract  by  the  Edison 
Company  at  Boston  for  175,000  tons  of  New 
River  nut  and  slack. 

Philadelphia  sums  up  the  whole  situation  as 
follows : 

The  Eederal  Employment  Bureau  reports  that 
positions  for  2,000  miners  in  West  Virginia  re¬ 
main  un/dled.  An  abundance  of  war  contracts 
and  sub-contracts  have  recently  been  let  to  east¬ 
ern  Pennsylvania  firms.  Reports  of  railroad  con¬ 
ditions  show  that  transportation  problems  will 
be  tight  early  in  September.  These  things  indi¬ 
cate  a  shortage  of  production,  an  increase  of 
demand  and  difficulty  of  transportation  strength¬ 
ening  the  market  on  both  bituminous  and  anthra¬ 
cite,  altliough  the  latter  is  not  showing  the 
improvement  that  it  might,  the  season  of  the 
year  being  against  it. 

I'hrough  Baltimore  the  exports  of  coal  for 
June  will  aggregate  more  than  300,000  tons.  This 
breaks  all  previous  records  and  the  records  that 
coal  men  expect  to  make  for  some  time  to  come. 
Through  the  last  week  exports  amounted  to 
nearly  80,000  tons.  Coal  for  Italian  delivery  has 
been  conspicuous  in  recent  activities.  At  the 
same  time  there  has  been  some  improvement  in 
the  demand  at  home  and  that  is  giving  the  whole 
trade  in  that  territory  a  decidedly  better  turn. 

At  Pittsburgh  the  operators  are  convinced  that 
the  opening  of  the  second  half  of  the  year 
promises  definite  improvement  over  conditions 
during  the  last  half.  Excellent  crop  prospects 
and  an  increase  of  exports  give  both  railroads 
and  steel  mills  a  better  future,  while  a_  gradual 
increase  in  the  movement  to  the  lakes  improves 
the  present  market. 

Central  Indiana,  as  reported  through  Indian¬ 
apolis,  shows  a  better  buying  of  domestic  coal, 
but  no  increased  consumption  of  steam  coal.  The 
retailers  are  beginning  to  take  in  some  cojd  for 
the  farmer  trade  and  thus  the  larger  size  is 
strengthening.  An  unchanged  demand  for  steam 
coal  and  larger  production  causes  prices  to  ease 
off  a  little. 

Western  trade  is,  from  a  standpoint  of  price, 
the  strongest  part  of  the  market.  That  is,  the 
mines  are  running  only  about  half  time,  but  all 
of  the  producers  in  Indiana  and  Illinois,  with  a 
very  few  exceptions,  are  announcing  an  advance 
in  circular  price  of  fifteen  cents  a  ton  on  the 
domestic  sizes,  effective  the  first  of  July. 

Minneapolis  is  inclined  to  believe  that  the 
worst  part  of  the  year  is  passed  and  that  the 
quarter  just  entered  upon  contains  a  good  deal 
of  promise  from  the  selling^  standpoint.  That 
is  the  time  of  year  when  retailers  begin  to  think 
seriously  about  coal  and  already  there  are  indi¬ 
cations  that  this  year  will  be  no  exception  to 
tlie  general  ride, 


Chicago  Market. 

Prices  Are  Advancing  But  the  Volume 
of  Business  Does  Not 
Increase. 


Office  of  The  Black  Dia.mond, 
Chicago,  July  1. 

The  distinguishing  feature  of  the  Chicago  mar¬ 
ket  this  week  is  a  general  tendency  to  advance 
prices.  Nearly  every  western  coal  will  sell  for 
fifteen  cents  a  ton  more  on  the  first  of  July  than 
it  has  sold  for  within  the  last  month  or  six 
weeks,  h'or  the  last  week  there  has  been  a  de¬ 
cided  disposition  to  consider  circular  prices  as  a 
positive  minimum.  Beginnine  with  today  the 
disposition  will  be  to  consider  the  new  circular 
price  as  a  positive  minimum.  The  western  oper¬ 
ators  are  not  getting  much  more  business  than 
they  were  a  week  or  two  ago,  which  means  that 
they  are  only  running  on  about  half  time.  At 
the  same-  time  the  western  operators  see  no  rea¬ 
son  why  they  should  continue  indefinitely  to  sell 
their  coal  for  cost  of  production  or  less.  The 
western  spirit  is  to  get  more  monev  for  coal  or 
not  sell  it. 

The  same  idea  does  not  obtain  on  all  of  the 
eastern  coals.  Anthracite  and  smokeless  are 
strong  as  to  price  but  some  of  the  other  eastern 
coals  are  still  on  the  bargain  counter  and  the 
operators  are  expecting  not  only  lots  of  tonnage 
but  lots  of  revenue.  Anthracite  is  extremely 
dull,  all  things  considered.  Some  selling  agencies 
report  a  fair  volume  of  business  for  June;  others 
say  that  sales  were  unprecedently  light.  On  the 
average  the  tonnage  moved  was  considerably  below 
normal.  The  operators  have  accepted  the  fact  that 
the  people  are  hard  un  and  that  the  retailers  are 
not  in  a  binfing  mood.  As  a  consequence  they 
have  kept  the  coal  off  the  market  and  this  re¬ 
striction  of  output  and  free  shipment  alone  gave 
the  market  any  kind  of  tone  at  all.  The  situa¬ 
tion  does  not  improve  any  with  the  appearance 
of  July  and  the  outlook  is  decidedly  uncertain. 

Smokeless  coal  is  artificiallv  firm  but  the  mar¬ 
ket  cannot  be  said  to  be  stromr.  This  coal  is 
used  mainly  by  apartment  houses  and  hence  is 
bought  by  real  estate  agents  who  have  been  col¬ 
lecting  their  rents  regularly  and  hence  have  not 
been  short  of  money.  However,  real  estate  firms 
are  not  buying  for  storage,  preferring  to  delay. 
The  retailers  as  a  consequence  have  not  been 
buying  and  this  has  made  the  market  a  little 
dull.  The  demand  for  lump  and  egg  is  fairly 
strong  mainly  because  production  is  light  since 
the  operators  have  no  market  for  slack.  The 
same  grades  of  lump  and  egg  have  been  selling 
at  a  premium  or  at  $2.10  for  the  last  week  or  so 
and  on  the  first  of  July  the  new  circular  price 
became  $2.00  which  it  will  not  be  difficult  to  get. 
Prices  up  to  Thursday,  carrying  of  course  the 
June  circular,  were: 

F.  O.  B.  F.  p.  B. 

Smokeless —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Mine  run .  $3.30  $1.25 

I-ump  and  egg .  3.95  1.90 

Somerset  county  coal  has  been  moving  slowly, 
being  subject  to  about  the  same  conditions  as 
govern  the  smokeless  market.  There  is  not  any 
very  large  immediate  demand  but  there  is  enough 
demand  in  fact  to  warrant  the  operators  in  hold¬ 
ing  their  deliverable  tonnage  open  for  the  higher 
price  instead  of  sacrificing  price  to  get  business 
now.  As  a  consequence  the  market  has  remained 
firm  at  the  June  circular,  prices  up  to  Thursday 
being :  ' 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Somerset  County —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Mine  run .  $3.30  $1.25 

Lump  and  egg .  3.75@3.95  1.70@1.90 

The  Hocking  market  has  been  decidedly  quiet 
for  the  last  week  or  two  but  sales  agents  report 
a  better  inquiry  for  July  delivery  and  this  has 
transferred  the  market  status  from  one  of  tech¬ 
nical  firmness  to  one  of  actual  potential  strength. 
Prices  up  to  Thursday  were : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Hocking —  Chicago.  Mines. 

It4-inch  lump .  $3.15  $1.50 

The  Kanawha  market  is  demoralized,  largely, 
it  seems,  because  the  mine  development  in  that 
district  has  in  the  last  year  or  so  been  overdone 
and  because  various  concerns  are  campaigning 
so  vigorously  for  business  now.  In  some  places 
the  campaigning  is  being  done  at  the  expense  of 
price  and  the  buyer  is  almost  naming  his  own 
figure  within  reason.  On  shipments  direct  from 
the  mines  prices  up  to  Thursday  were  as  stated 
below,  although  these  prices  have  been  lowered 
on  spot  business. 

F.  O.  B.  F.  p.  B. 

Kanawha —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Iti'inch  lump . .  .  .$3.00@3.15  $1.10@1.25 

Eastern  Kentucky  coal  is  in  alxuit  the  same 


position  that  it  has  been,  prices  and  conditions 
being  unchanged.  Prices  are  low  and  the  de¬ 
mand  for  coal  is  small.  On  shipments  direct 
from  the  mines  prices  up  to  Thursday  were  as 
(juoted  below,  spot  sales  being  made  for  less. 

„  F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Eastern  Kentucky —  Chicago.  Mines. 

6-inch  block . $3.15@3.65  $1.25@1.75 

Lump  .  3.05@3.40  1.15@1.50 

Egg  .  2.90@3.00  1.00@1.10 

Franklin  county  prices  advanced  to  $1.50  for 
prepared  sizes,  effective  July  1st.  For  the  last 
week  the  June  circular  price  of  $1.25  has  been 
the  minimum.  The  mines  are  holding  for  this 
price  regardless  of  the  fact  that  the  mines  of 
the  whole  field  are  working  at  slightly  less  than 
fifty  per  cent  of  production  capacity.  The  out¬ 
look  is  improving  a  little  in  that  inquiries  are 
somewhat  larger.  Retailers  also  are  beginning  to 
buy  to  satisfy  the  harvest  demand.  Screenings 
have  been  a  trifle  easier,  being  quoted  at  eighty 
to  eighty-five  cents. 


F.  0.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

Franklin  County — 

Chicago. 

Mines. 

Lump  . 

$1.35 

Egg  . 

1.35 

No.  1  nut . 

1.35 

No.  2  nut . 

.  2.40 

1.35 

Mine  run . 

1.10 

2*inch  screenings . 

.90 

The  leading  Williamson  county  operators  put 
out  a  new  circular  this  week  announcing  an  ad¬ 
vance  in  price  to  $1.50  effective  July  1st.  Some 
few  operators  will  be  content  with  circular  of 
$1.40.  The  mines  in  that  field  on  the  whole  are 
working  to_  a  little  less  than 'fifty  per  cent  of 
capacity  with,  curiously  enough,  the  best  de¬ 
mand  for  the  domestic  sizes  and  for  the  very 
small  steam  coal.  The  larger  sizes  of  steam  coal 
and  the  smaller  sizes  of  domestic  are  moving- 
very  slowly.  Prices  up  to  Thursday  were : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Williamson  County —  Chicago.  Mines. 


Lump  . 

Egg  . 

No.  1  washed. 
No.  2  washed. 


$2.40  $1.35 

2.40  1.35 

2.40  1.35 

2.40  1.35 


Saline  county  operators  have  not  yet  decided 
on  the  question  of  price  policy  for  July  but  most 
of  them  will  probably  follow  the  example  of 
Franklin  and  \Villiamson  counties.  For  the  last 
week  June  circular  of  $1.35  on  lump  has  been 

minimum  and  screenings  have  been  a  trifle  easier 
at  about  seventy-five  to  eighty  cents.  Prices  up 
to  Thursday  were: 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Saline  County —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Lump  .  $2.40  $1.35 

Mine  run .  2.15  1.10 

Screenings  .  1.95  .90 

lJ4-inch  lump .  2.30  1.25 


Without  any  material,  although  with  a  small 
increase  in  demand  for  domestic  lump,  most 
Springfield  operators  will  advance  their  circular 
price  to  $1.50  on  July  1st.  For  the  last  week  the 
June  circular  of  $1.35  has  been  the  minimum. 
There  is  a  smaller  demand  for  screenings,  due  to 
closing  the  factories  incident  to  the  strike  of 


carpenters,  painters,  etc.,  in 

Chicago. 

This  has 

cased  down  the  screenings 

price  to : 

F.  O.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

Springfield — 

Chicago. 

Mines. 

r.ump  . 

$2.17 

$1.35 

Egg  . 

3.17 

1.35 

Nut  . 

2.17 

1.35 

Mine  run . r.  . . . 

1.87 

1.05 

Screenings  . 

1.67 

.85 

Clinton,  Ind.,  operators  will  follow  the  lead  of 
other  companies  in  advancing  domestic  prices 
hut  screenings  are  easier  owing  to  the  small  de¬ 
mand.  Prices  up  to  Thursday  were : 


F.  0.  B. 

F.  0.  B. 

Clinton — 

Chicago. 

Mines. 

Domestic  lump . 

$1.30 

Egg  . 

.  2.07 

1.30 

Nut  . 

.  1.97 

1.20 

Mine  run . 

.  1.87 

1.10 

Screenings  . 

.  1.62 

.85 

Knox  county  domestic  is  a  trifle  stronger  and 


prices  are  rising  but  steam  coals  are  not 

quite  so 

strong.  Prices 

up  to  Thursday  were: 

F.  0.  B. 

F.  0.  B. 

Knox  County — 

Chicago. 

Mines. 

5-inch  lump . 

.  $2.12 

$1.25 

3-inch  lump . 

.  2.02 

1.15 

S-inch  egg . 

.  2.02 

1.15 

3-inch  egg . 

.  2.02 

1.15 

Mine  run . 

.  1.87 

1.05 

Screenings  . 

.  1.67 

.80 

Most  of  the  coke  that  is  now  moving  is  on  con¬ 
tract  and  sales  on  the  spot  market  are  small. 
Contract  prices  are  on  the  average  ten  to  fifteen 
cents  a  ton  below  those  quoted  for  current  ship¬ 
ment.  Spot  prices  up  to  Thursday  were : 

F.  O.  B. 

Coke —  Chicago. 


Connellsville  . 

Ry-product,  foundry . 

By-product,  egg  and  stove 

By-product,  nut  . 

Sas  house . . 


$4.75 

4.85@5.10 

4.65 

4.65 

3.75@4.90 


No.  1] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


15 


Pittsburgh  Trade. 


Crops  Are  Good  and  Foreign  Orders  Are 
Larger  Giving  Better  Business 
and  Prospects. 


Office  of  The  Black  Diamond, 
1503  Oliver  Building, 

Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  July  1. 

With  the  first  half  of  1915  closed  and  the 
second  opening,  there  are  unmistakable  signs 
of  a  general  improvement  in  the  coal  trade; 
the  local  market  showing  an  excellent  under¬ 
current  of  strength  considering  the  midsum¬ 
mer  dullness  and  absence  of  any  concerted 
buying  movement  for  domestic  use.  A  New 
York  stock  broker  fitly  said  “with  excellent 
crop  prospects,  further  improvement  in  busi¬ 
ness,  big  exports,  and  the  plentiful  supply  ol 
money,  European  complications  can  only 
temporarily  delay  another  period  of  activity,” 
and  we  think  his  remarks  will  apply  to  coal 
and  coke,  as  well  as  to  stocks,  for  while  the 
local  market  has  been  devoid  of  any  startling 
features  the  past  week,  there  have  been  devel¬ 
opments  here  and  there,  that  emphasize  the 
continued  betterment  of  trade  on  the  whole. 
Mine  capacity  is  expanding  gradually  in  the 
independent  trade,  and  at  the  mines  of  the 
coke-producing  steel  makers,  the  average  is 
about  seventy  per  cent  of  normal,  thus  giving 
employment  to  larger  numbers  than  for  some 
time  past. 

Higher  prices  continue  to  be  talked  of  iu 
both  coal  and  coke  trade,  and  some  business 
has  been  turned  down  for  the  third  quarter, 
and  last  half  by  operators,  who  are  firm  in 
their  determination  not  to  mine  coal  at  pres¬ 
ent  figures. 

There  is  a  deal  on  in  Pittsburgh  now  cover¬ 
ing  nearly  a  million  tons  of  coal  that  will  likely 
be  closed  the  present  week  but  we  refrain 
from  giving  names,  or  buyer’s  location  in 
connection  with  the  deal,  as  there’s  “many  a 
slip  ’twixt  the  coal  and  the  consumer”  these 
days.  There  are  deals  and  rumors  of  deals 
galore  in  the  Pittsburgh  atmosphere  now  atnd 
operators  intimate  that  prices  are  stiffening 
to  quite  an  extent,  except  on  slack,  which  has 
slumped,  owing  to  the  larger  demand  for 
screened  coals  and  consequent  larger  produc¬ 
tion. 

The  Pittsburgh-Buffalo  Company  is  reported 
to  have  closed  with  one  of  the  largest  eastern 
steel  manufacturers  for  their  fuel  supply  for 
the  coming  year  at  a  new  advanced  figure, 
and  that  a  large  export  order  from  the  east 
will  likely  be  consummated  by  them  the  present 
week  as  well  as  some  smaller  tide  water  ton¬ 
nages  that  are  now  being  negotiated.  In¬ 
creased  export,  inquiry  seems  to  be  general, 
and  line  trade  showing  a  slight  improvement. 
Quite  a  number  of  public  contracts  are  now 
closing,  as  noticed  on  another  page  of  this 
issue  for  the  year  commencing  July  1st. 

The  lake  trade  still  remains  inactive  and 
it  is  reported  vessel  capacity  can  be  had  at 
almost  any  price — but  no  takers — what  will 
develop  a  little  later  ’tis  hard  to  tell,  but  with 
the  time  limit  narrowing  down  to  nearer  cold 
weather,  it  looks  as  though  a  scramble  would 
develop  a  little  later,  unless  there  is  much 
more  coal  on  the  docks  than  reported.  Much 
irregularity  still  maintains  as  to  prices,  but 
as  near  as  quotable,  the  following  would  rep¬ 
resent  the  market: 

F.  O.  B.  Pittsburgh — 


.Slack  . $  .65®  .75 

Mine  run  .  1.00@1.15 

54  screened  coal .  1.20@1.25 

T  !4  screened  coal .  1.25..1.."5 

4  in.  block  .  1.50 


At  the  mines  work  is  spotty,  operators 
producing  where  they  can  best  meet  their 
requirements,  some  working,  as  have  the  Mari¬ 
anna  mines  of  the  Pittsburgh  Buffalo  Company, 
full  capacity  for  the  past  two  weeks  and  others 
at  only  two  or  three  days’  time  a  week. 

The  new  tipple  of  tho  Meadowlands  Coal 
Company  at  Arden  Mine  No.  2  will  be  in 
operation  next  week  and  anticipate  a  steady 
run. 

The  new  mine  of  the  P.  C.  &  Y.  Coal  Com¬ 
pany  at  Thornburg,  on  the  Pittsburgh,  Char- 
tiers  and  Youghiogheny  R.  R.,  -will  commence 
operations  in  about  ten  days  with  a  capacity 
of  800  tons.  This  is  a  new  company — Mr.  B. 
S.  Hammel,  president — and  has  a  thoroughly 
modern  equipment.  In  Washington  County 
preparations  are  being  made  for  resumption 
of  work  at  several  points,  that  indicate  in¬ 
creased  production. 

The  old  Castle  Shannon  coal  tipple,  at  Oak 


Station,  on  the  former  line  of  the  Pittsburgh 
and  Castle  Shannon  Railroad,  and  a  land¬ 
mark  for  the  past  forty  years,  has  just  been 
torn  down,  the  mines  at  that  point  having 
been  worked  out,  all  irons  removed  and  the 
workings  abandoned.  In  its  day  this  was  one 
of  the  most  important  near  Pittsburgh  mines. 

The  Ohio  and  Monongahela  rivers  remain 
at  a  low  stage,  and  outside  of  transferring 
empty  coal  craft  from  the  Pittsburgh  harbor 
to  the  upper  pools  for  reloading  there  is  no 
activity  in  the  river  trade. 

The  coke  market  continues  a  little  uncer¬ 
tain  but  better  on  the  whole,  though  the  mer¬ 
chant  producers  are  not  yet  experiencing  the 
increased  activity  that  the  steel-making  pro¬ 
ducers  are.  The  pig  iron  market  was  less 
active  the  past  week,  though  the  sale  of  a 
block  of  10,000  tons  of  basic  was  reported 
closed  in  this  district. 

Furnace  coke  continues  in  better  demand 
than  foundry  and  producers  are  holding  stift 
for  $1.75  for  contract,  though  small  spot  lots 
are  sold  down  to  $1.50  and  $1.60.  So  far  as 
(luotable  the  market  would  range  as  follows: 


Prompt  furnace  .  $1.50 

Furnace,  July  .  1.00 

Furnace,  second  half .  1.75 

Prompt  foundry  . $2.00@2.50 

Contract  foundry  .  2.20@2.50 


News  in  and  Near  Pittsburgh. 

The  Hicks  Coal  Company’s  tipple  near  West 
Apollo,  Pa.,  and  surrounding  buildings  were 
burned  Monday  last  involving  a  loss  of  $100,- 
000. 

The  Pittsburgh  Coal  Company  has  declared 
the  usual  quarterly  dividend  of  one  and  one- 
fourth  per  cent  on  the  preferred  stock,  payable 
July  24  to  holders  of  record  July  15. 

At  a  special  meeting  of  the  Evans  Coal  & 
Coke  Company,  Connellsville,  Pa.,  the  re¬ 
building  of  the  tipple  at  plant  No.  2  at  Evans 
Station  and  the  purchase  of  a  gasoline  haul¬ 
age  system,  were  authorized.  This  wilt  entail 
an  expenditure  of  approximately  $10,000.  The 
work  will  be  started  at  once. 

M.  F.  McDermott,  general  sales  manager 
for  the  Pittsburgh-Buffalo  Company,  returned 
from  a  successful  business  trip  east  last  Mon¬ 
day,  having  closed  some  large  tonnage  deals, 
for  the  coming  year.  Mr.  McDermott  is  very 
optimistic  as  to  both  home  and  foreign  busi¬ 
ness  for  the  future. 

Coal  under  7,000  acres  of  land  in  Jefferson 
County  near  Stubenville  is  to  be  removed  by 
steam  shovels  instead  of  by  the  customary 
methods  of  mining.  The  property,  located 
between  the  Pennsylvania  and  the  Wabash- 
Pittsburgh  terminal  railroads,  has  been  pur¬ 
chased  by  a  syndicate  composed  of  Pittsburgh 
and  Columbus  men.  Steam  shovels  by  which 
the  earth  will  be  scooped  from  off  the  coal 
are  being  installed  and  active  operations,  it 
is  stated,  will  be  under  way  within  the  next 
two  weeks.  Twenty-five  men  and  the  shovels 
are  expected  to  do  the  work  of  400  skilled 
miners. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  stockholders  of  the 
Penn  Scott  Illinois  Coal  Company,  held  last 
week  at  the  office  of  Attorney  H.  H.  Emmeret, 
Martinsburg,  West  Va.,  the  formal  organi¬ 
zation  of  the  company  was  affected  by  the 
election  of  the  following  officers:  President, 
H.  H.  Emmert;  vice-president,  W.  A.  Roush; 
secretary-treasurer,  T.  W.  Martin.  Directors 
— H.  H.  Emmert,  W.  A.  Roush,  T.  W.  Martin, 
C.  G.  Smith  and  F.  C.  Foreman.  The  com¬ 
pany  was  recently  granted  a  charter  under 
the  laws  of  West  Virginia,  the  authorized 
capital  being  $]  ,000,000.  Much  of  the  stock 
has  been  sold,  and  a  substantial  sum  has 
been  paid  in.  The  company  owns  8,000  acres 
of  coal  land  in  Illinois,  and  it  is  said  that 
the  land  is  very  valuable.  The  principal  office 
of  the  company  will  be  in  Martinsburg. 


Toledo  Market. 


Toledo,  Ohio,  July  1. —  {Special  Correspond¬ 
ence.)— has  been  no  variation  in  the 
market  since  last  week.  There  is  some  little 
additional  stren.gth,  according  to  some  dealers, 
while  others  are  more  pessimistic  and  do  not  see 
anything  to  feel  specially  hopeful  about.  The 
West  Virginia  coal  is  just  now  carrying  every¬ 
thing  before  it  and  has  the  firmest  hold  on  the 
market,  as  the  Ohio  producers  are  not  able  to 
meet  the  competition  very  well.  There  is  some 
little  lake  movement ;  indeed,  this  portion  of  the 
trade  has  shown  considerable  improvement  re¬ 


cently.  Steam  and  domestic  are  quiet  and  the 
threshing  season  has  not  yet  opened  up  enough 
to  make  any  impression.  Quotations  have 
changed  very  little,  but  list  prices  are  not  being 
very  closely  maintained. 

Pocahontas  will  be  advanced  tomorrow  to  $2.00. 
The  demand  is  strong,  with  a  light  supply.  The 
scarcity  of  the  better  grades  of  smokeless  is  due 
to  curtailed  production,  owing  to  the  fact  that 
there  is  no  market  for  the  consequent  fine  coal, 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Smokeless —  Toledo  Mines 

Lump  and  egg . $,3.45  $2.00 

Mine  run  .  2.70  1.25 

Pomeroy  is  dull,  waiting  for  the  threshing 
season,  which  will  undoubtedly  inject  more  life 
into  the  market.  Prices  are  unchanged. 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 


Pomeroy — 

Toledo 

Mines 

Domestic  . 

$1.60 

Egg  and  nut  . 

.  2.35 

1.35 

Hocking  movement  continues  slow  and  the  lake 
trade  is  not  very  active,  as  the  competition  of  the 

West  Virginia  coal 

is  not  being  very  well 

met. 

F.  O.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

Hocking — 

Toledo 

Mines 

3-inch  lump  . 

. .  2.50 

1.50 

154 -inch  lump  . 

1.40 

54-inch  lump  . 

.  2.35 

1.80 

Egg  . 

1.25 

Nut  . 

.  2.15 

1.15 

Mine  run  . 

.  2.10 

1.10 

I'he  West  Virginia  better  grades  are  meeting 
an  increased  demand,  especially  for  lake  ship¬ 
ment.  Prices  remain  the  same. 


Kanawha  Gas — 

^-inch  lump  . 

Mine  run . 

1.05 

.95 

Fairmont — 

154-inch  lump  . 

1.05 

^-inch  lump  . 

.  2.20 

.95 

Mine  run  . 

.  2.10 

.85 

F.  O.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

Kanawha  Splint — 

Toledo 

Mines 

4-inch  lump  . 

. $2.75 

$1.50 

2-inch  lump  . 

1.40 

54-inch  lump  . 

1.15 

Mine  run  . 

1.00 

Kentucky  coal  is  enjoying  a  little  stronger  call 
and  some  of  this  coal  is  going  up  the  lakes.  A 
better  demand  is  expected  later  next  month  when 
the  tractor  demand  is  at  its  height. 


Kentucky — 

4-inch  lump  . 

Egg  . 

Nut,  pea  and  slack 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Toledo  Mines 

,.$2.75  $1.50 

. .  2.50  1.25 

..open  open 


Massillon  coal  is  still  slow  and  prices  at  rock 
bottom. 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Massillon—  Toledo  Mines 

Lump  . $3.25  $2.50 

Washed  nut  .  3.25  2.50 


Pittsburgh  No.  8  is  showing  very  little  strength 

or  activity  on  this  market  and  prices  remain 

unchanged. 

Pittsburgh  No.  8 — 

lt4->nch  lump  .  2.40  1.40 

i4-inch  lump  .  2.20  1.20 

M'.ne  run  .  2.10  1.10 

Youghiogheny  is  slow  in  demand  and  prices 
are  being  set  largely  by  the  buyer.  Quotations 
remain  unchanged. 


Y  oughiogheny — 

Mine  run  .  2.45  1.20 

54-inch  steam  lump  .  2.55  1.30 

Blossburg  Smithing — 

Prepared  size  .  3.20  1.75 

Lilly  smithing,  prepared  size .  3.20  1.75 


Cambridge  movement  is  light  and  prices  the 


same. 

F.  O.  B. 


Cambridge —  Toledo 

Mine  run  . $2.10 

54-inch  lump  .  2.20 

l}4-inch  lump  .  2.40 


F.  O.  B. 
Mines 
$1.10 
1.20 
1.40 


Cannel,  being  a  purely  domestic  coal,  is  nat¬ 
urally  slow  at  this  season.  Conditions  are  about 
normal  for  the  season  and  prices  are  unchanged. 


Cannel — 

Kentucky  Cannel  lump  . $4.60  $2.75 

Pennsylvania  Cannel,  egg .  8.60  *.15 

Pennsylvania  Cannel,  lump .  4.20  2.75 

Ohio  Cannel  .  3.85  3.00 


Toledo  Local  News. 

President  Elmer  Miller  of  the  Elmer  Miller 
Coal  Company  was  in  Columbus  this  week. 

D.  A.  Vowles,  Cincinnati  agent  of  the  Elmer 
Miller  Coal  Company,  and  L.  C.  Brown,  the  Ohio 
representative  of  the  same  company,  were  visitors 
at  the  home  offices  in  the  Nicholas  building  this 
week. 

C.  T.  Harther,  of  the  Central  States  Coal  Com¬ 
pany,  was  honored  by  being  elected  vice-president 
of  the  i\Iichigan,  Ohio  and  Indiana  Coal  Dealers’ 
Association  at  its  recent  meetin.g.  Mr.  Harther 
is  one  of  Toledo’s  successful  and  hard  working 
jobbers.  He  has  been  in  business  here  but  a  few 
years,  but  by  his  persistent  efforts,  strict  attend¬ 
ance  to  business  and  straightforward  methods 
has  w'on  a  position  near  the  top  in  the  Toledo 
trade. 


16 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[July  3 


Cincinnati  Trade. 


Because  Consumers  Are  Beginning  to 
Store  Coal,  the  Demand  is  Better — 
Smokeless  Is  Strong. 

Cincinnati,  Ohio,  July  1. —  {Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — But  little  change  is  noted  this  week 
in  the  splint  situation,  but  many  of  the  companies 
report  an  improvement.  These  handle  the  finest 
grades  of  splint.  Those  who  have  been  selling  at 
lower  prices  see  no  improvement.  There  is  an 
improvement  in  stocking.  Some  of  the  com¬ 
panies  report  a  beginning  of  storage  of  splint 
coal  in  cellars  of  users. 

The  better  grade  of  four-inch  lump  sells  at 
$f.25;  run  of  mine  at  ninety  cents  to  $1  for  fu¬ 
ture  shipment  and  eighty-live  cents  for  spot  de¬ 
livery,  while  nut  and  slack  ranges  from  sixty-five 
to  seventy-five  cents.  One  operator  quotes  four- 
inch  splint  lump  at  $1.25  to  $1.50,  run  of  mine 
seventy-live  cents  to  ninety  cents,  nut  and  slack 
thirty-five  to  fifty  cents  with  higher  and  special 
grades  going  at  better  prices.  This  operator  de¬ 
nies  that  there  is  any  spot  price.  He  says  the 
bidder  gets  the  coal  at  the  first  bid. 

Miller’s  Creek  may  be  taken  as  a  sample  of 
the  prices  of  the  better  grade  and  better  adver¬ 
tised  coals.  Four-inch  lump  brings  $2;  two  and 
one-half  inch,  $1.90;  nut  and  slack,  eighty,  cents, 
with  business  dull  in  all  these  grades.  Miller’s 
Creek  coal  is  moving  principally  to  the  lakes 
and  goes  into  storage  there  in  large  tonnage. 

Yellow  Jacket  coal  is  another  product  that  is 
moving  nicely  and  smoothly  for  the  reason  that 
the  Middle  West  Company  never  takes  refuge 
in  low  prices  in  dull  times  or  in  high  prices  in 
greatly  prosperous  times. 

The  export  demand  was  felt  very  strongly  at 
the  opening  of  the  week  and  at  the  close  was 
pulling  hard  at  the  mouth  of  the  miiie.  The 
smokeless  mines  are  running  on  better  time  gen¬ 
erally,  and  some  of  them  are  in  the  market  for 
smokeless  coal.  One  company  wanted  100  cars 
last  week.  Jobbers  are  after  smokeless,  regard¬ 
less  of  whether  it  is  New  River  or  Pocahontas, 
and  are  not  having  much  luck.  Contracts  are  be¬ 
ing  renewed  at  the  prevailing  prices. 

Other  features  in  the  market  are  a  plentiful 
supply  of  cars,  the  evidences  of  stringency  noted 
earlier  having  disappeared  under  the  new  rules 
regarding  distribution  and  removal  of  cars  at 
mine  yards.  Labor  is  growing  somewhat  scarcer 
but  that  is  not  an  embarrassment  in  the  splint 
regions  where  the  rule  is  now  three  and  four 
days  a  week. 

Cincinnati  Trade  News. 

O.  If.  Iledrich,  of  the  O.  H.  Hedricli  &  Co., 
Chicago,  paid  a  visit  to  the  coal  men  of  the  city 
within  the  past  week. 

R.  S.  McVeigh,  vice-president  of  the  Island 
Creek  Coal  Sales  Company,  returned  this  week 
from  an  extended  trip  in  the  northwest,  then 
went  east  to  New  York  City. 

Ira  J.  Prugh  of  the  Otto  Marmet  Coal  Com¬ 
pany  sports  a  fine  past  master’s  jewel  bestowed 
by  Cynthia  Lodge,  F.  &  A.  M.,  a  few  days  ago 
on  his  retirement  from  the  master’s  chair. 

N.  V.  James,  secretary-treasurer  of  the  War 
Eagle  Coal  Company,  spent  most  of  the  week 
in  Cincinnati  a  guest  of  friends.  He  is  greatly 
benefited  in  health  and  is  slowly  improving. 

George  P.  Daniels  of  the  Smokeless  Fuel  Com¬ 
pany,  with  headquarters  in  the  Union  Trust  build¬ 
ing,  returned  home  Monday  from  a  trip  through 
the  north  and  northwest,  and  into  Canada,  ex¬ 
tending  as  far  as  Nova  Scotia.  He  was  on  the 
trip  over  two  weeks. 

C.  R.  Hinsch  and  J.  IT.  Briscoe,  members  of 
the  firm  of  Hinsch  &  Briscoe,  Union  Central 
building,  spent  the  week  in  a  touring  car  chasing 
down  business  in  cities  and  towns  all  over  Ohio. 
It  was  a  novel  and  useful  method  of  gaining 
health,  rest  and  business  all  at  the  same  time. 

E.  J.  Howe,  of  the  Pocahontas  Fuel  Company, 
president  of  the  Cincinnati  Coal  Exchange,  re¬ 
turned  home  Tuesday  after  a  week  at  Cedar 
Point  in  attendance  on  the  meeting  of  the  M.  O. 
1.  convention.  Mrs.  Howe  accompanied  her  hus¬ 
band  on  the  tri])  and  after  the  convention  they 
lingered  on  the  lake  front  for  several  days. 

John  M.  Wright,  accompanied  by  Mrs.  Wright 
and  the  children,  are  at  Watch  Hill,  R.  I.,  enjoy¬ 
ing  the  sea  breezes  and  they  will  spend  the  sum¬ 
mer  there.  Mr.  Wright  is  president  of  the 
Raleigh  Coal  &  Coke  Company  and  usually 
siiends  his  summers  in  his  Michigan  summer 
home,  but  this  year  he  wanted  to  be  in  touch 
with  tidewater  and  watch  the  exportation  of  the 
Raleigh  product.  He  will  run  down  the  coast 


occasionally  to  watch  the  exportation  at  New 
York,  Roanoke  and  Newport  News. 

Among  visitors  in  the  city  at  the  end  of  last 
week  were  W.  H.  Ball,  coal  and  coke  agent  of 
the  Semet-Solvay  Collieries,  C.  D.  Weeks  of  the 
Milwaukee  Coke  &  Gas  Company,  and  Quinn 
Morton  of  the  Imperial  Coal  Sales  Company. 
They  passed  through  the  city  returning  from  the 
M.  O.  1.  convention  and  called  on  connections 
here. 

A.  A.  Liggett,  secretary  of  the  Raleigh  Coal  & 
Coke  Company,  is  about  his  duties  after  a  severe 
illness  of  several  weeks  caused  by  a  fall.  A 
blood  clot  paralyzed  his  right  ear  and  eye,  and 
his  sight  and  hearing  were  badly  impaired  for  a 
time.  Under  treatment  these  are  returning 
slowly  and  Mr.  Liggett  is  regaining  his  health 
and  strength. 

The  yards  and  tipple  of  the  Reliance  Coal  & 
Coke  Company  below  the  city  are  rapidly  ap¬ 
proaching  completion.  The  new  yards  will  hold 
a  heavy  stock  and  the  tipple  is  a  combined  rail 
and  river  equioment  and  coal  can  be  loaded  either 
way.  While  the  yard  is  not  yet  opened,  the  com¬ 
pany  is  storing  about  3(), ()()()  tons  for  present 
needs  and  will  later  store  to  the  full  capacity 
of  the  yards. 

A  party  of  about  fifty  malleable  iron  and  gas 
men  of  Chicago  and  vicinity  returned  through 
Cincinnati  this  week,  having  been  guests  of  the 
Consolidation  Coal  Company  in  the  Elkhorn 
region.  The  distinguished  visitors  were  inspect¬ 
ing  the  coal  mines  and  facilities  of  the  Consoli¬ 
dation  Company  in  order  to  understand  the 
situation  there  and  to  learn  of  the  qualities  of 
the  products  of  the  company. 

Burke  H.  Keeney,  formerly  with  the  Bewley- 
Darst  Company,  but  late  sales  manager  of  the 
Leitch  Collieries,  Ltd.,  handling  the  Passburg, 
Alberta,  coal,  was  in  Cincinnati  this  week.  He 
became  connected  with  the  Middle  West  Coal 
Company  Thursday  morning  and  will  have 
charge  of  the  Detroit  offices  of  the  company  and 
will  handle  the  Middle  West  business  in  that  ter¬ 
ritory.  Mr.  Keeney  is  well  known  among  coal 
dealers  of  this  territory  and  has  many  friends 
all  over  the  country. 

The  Reliance  Iron  &  Coke  Company,  which 
was  recently  incorporated  at  Columbus,  and 
which  will  operate  in  connection  with  the  Re¬ 
liance  Coal  &  Coke  Company,  is  at  work  now, 
having  organized  for  business  the  past  week. 
Julius  Fleischmann  is  president;  Herbert  Black, 
vice-president  and  general  manager;  Charles  J. 
Christie,  secretary,  and  William  S.  Minor, 
treasurer  and  chairman  of  the  board.  Mr.  Black 
was  formerly  connected  with  the  Hickman-Wil- 
liams  Company,  iron  and  steel  firm,  being  sales 
manager  of  that  firm.  The  new  company  will 
handle  the  iron  and  coke  production  of  its  con¬ 
nections. 


Denver  Trade. 


Denver,  July  1. —  (Special  Correspondence.)  — 
While  the  retail  business  is  dull  and  almost  life¬ 
less,  operators  and  jobbers  report  a  very  fair 
business  on  storage.  The  former  condition  is 
due  to  the  warm  weather  prevailing  in  the  terri¬ 
tory  tributary  to  this  market,  with  only  a  light 
demand  for  threshing  coal  as  an  encouraging 
feature.  During  the  past  week  especially,  and 
for  nearly  two  weeks,  there  has  been  excellent 
storage  bookings.  There  has  been  a  general  tail- 
end  rush  on  the  part  of  dealers  to  take  advan¬ 
tage  of  prices  before  the  advance  on  July  1st. 
Many  operators  were  already  behind  on  the  fill¬ 
ing  of  storage  orders  and  will  go  over  into  the 
new  delivery  month  with  many  June  orders  un¬ 
filled.  This  means  a  steady  output  for  some  little 
time  to  come. 

Nearly  all  of  the  lignite  mines  are  shut  down 
this  week,  and  their  output  will  show  but  little 
increase  until  the  opening  of  the  sugar  factories. 
There  is  some  inquiry,  however,  for  coal  for 
threshing  purposes. 

Trinidad  is  leading  the  state  in  tonnage  for 
the  week,  with  Routt  second.  Mines  in  the  lat¬ 
ter  district  have  been  making  better  than  full 
running  time.  Walsenburg  has  received  its 
share  of  storage  bookings  and  will  record  a 
heavier  output  than  last  week. 

Lignite  slack  is  scarce,  but  there  is  a  moderate 
surplus  of  bituminous,  especially  from  Routt 
county.  There  seems  to  be  at  the  present  time, 
not  a  very  strict  adherence  to  any  fixed  selling 
price.  The  range  is  so  irregular  that  it  is  next 
to  impossible  to  line  up  existing  quotations.  It 
is  thought,  however,  that  these  conditions  will 
soon  be  adjusted. 

Lignite  prices  f.  o.  b.  mines  are  as  follows : 
For  Denver  delivery,  lump,  $2. ,35  to  $2.05 ;  mine 


run,  $1.50  to  $1.65;  slack,  $1.05  to  $1.25.  For 
delivery  to  points  outside  of  Denver,  lump,  $2.50; 
mine  run,  $1.55  to  $1.65;  slack,  $1.05. 


Canon  City  District —  Lump 

For  shipment  May  and  June . $8.60 

For  shipment  July  and  August .  2.76 

Add  26  cents  to  above  prices  for  washed  nut. 
Walsenburg  District — 

For  shipment  May  and  June .  2.60 

For  shipment  July  and  August .  2.76 

Washed  nut  25  cents  per  ton  additional. 
Chestnut,  $1.26  for  entire  season. 

Trinidad  District — 

For  shipment  May  and  June .  2.00 

For  shipment  July  and  August .  8.00 

Routt  County  District — 

For  shipment  May  and  June .  2.60 

For  shipment  July  and  August .  8.75 

Western  Slope  District — 

For  shipment  May  and  June . 2.26 

For  shipment  July  and  August .  8.60 

From  Baldwin,  shipments  for  points  east  of 
are  76  cents  per  ton  less  than  Walsenburg  prices. 


Nut 

$2.00 

2.25 


2.00 

2.25 


1.7S 

1.71 

2.01 

2.2i 


Denvef 


The  State  Coal  Company,  a  co-operative  con¬ 
cern  operating  a  lignite  mine  near  Erie  for  about 
five  years,  has  been  forced  into  the  hands  of  a 
receiver  on  the  petition  of  minority  stockholders. 
They  have  fought  against  heavy  odds  for  the 
past  two  years,  including  dissension  among  the 
stockholders,  a  lack  of  capital  and  workings  par¬ 
tially  filled  with  water.  The  coal  is  a  splendid 
grade  of  lignite. 


Indianapolis  Trade. 


Indianapolis,  Ind.,  July  1 — (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — Aside  from  a  little  increase  in 
the  demand  for  domestic  coal  there  has  been 
no  change  in  the  situation  in  Indiana  during 
the  last  week.  Domestic  is  stronger  but  prices 
are  about  the  same  as  they  were  at  this  time 
last  year.  There  is  a  demand  among  the 
wheat  threshers  for  domestic  coal  that  is 
helping  to  tide  the  operators  and  jobbers  over 
a  very  dull  period.  Domestic  consumers  in 
Indianapolis  and  the  larger  cities  of  the  state 
are  beginning  to  buy  for  the  early  fall  and 
winter,  but  the  movement  of  domestic  here 
is  about  the  same  as  it  has  been  for  the  past 
month.  That  June,  1915,  will  not  come  up 
to  June,  1914,  is  apparent.  There  was  less 
steam  coal  moved  into  Indianapolis  the  past 
month  than  there  was  a  year  ago.  Practically 
every  operator  seems  to  have  come  to  the 
conclusion  that  the  demand  for  steam  coal 
is  not  going  to  increase  much  until  times  are 
betteh.  There  are  more  mines  closed  down 
in  Indiana  than  there  have  been  for  a  number 
of  years  and  the  production  is  below  normal, 
yet  some  of  the  operators  are  predicting  that 
the  demand  for  steam  coal  will  pick  up  by 
September  1  and  that  it  will  be  better  then 
than  it  was  a  year  ago.  However,  there  are 
no  signs  now  of  a  revival  among  the  industrial 
concerns,  which  are  large  consumers  of  coal. 
Contracts  are  being  made  now  by  the  oper¬ 
ators  and  jobbers  at  practically  the  same  quo¬ 
tations  that  were  made  last  year. 

The  following  prices  are  being  quoted  by 
the  Indiana  wholesalers; 


F.  O.  B. 

Indiana —  Mines. 

No.  4  mine  run . $1.10@1.20 

Nos.  5  and  6  mine  run .  1.00@1.10 

No.  4,  l}4-inch  steam  coal .  1.30@1.40 

Nos.  5  and  6,  l}4-inch  steam  coal  1.20@1.30 

No.  4  egg .  1.30@1.40 

No.  4  nut  .  1.25@1.30 

No.  5  egg  .  1.26@1.35 

No.  4  screenings  . 85(a  .90 

No.  6  and  6  screenings . 80@  .85 

Domestic  lump  .  1.40@1.60 

No.  1  washed  coal .  1.75 

No.  2  washed  coal .  1.65 

Brazil  block  .  2.00@2.10 

Southern  Indiana  Field — 

No.  5  mine  run .  1.00@1.10 

Domestic  .  1.40@1.50 


F.  O.  B. 

Indianapolis. 

$1.60@1.80 

1.50@1.60 

1.80@1.90 

1.70@1.80 

1.80@1.90 

1.75@1.80 

1.76@1.85 

1.85@1.40 

1.80@1.S5 

1.90@2.00 

2.25 

2.15 

2.50@2.60 


Frank  1.  Pearce,  former  state  mine  in¬ 
spector,  has  issued  an  interesting  statement 
regarding  the  coal  trade.  He  deals  with  the 
•  waste  in  mining,  overproduction  and  com¬ 
petitive-conditions  which  he  says  must  soon 
come  before  the  people  of  the  country  as  an 
urgent  problem  to  be  solved.  He  says  that 
in  1910  there  were  182  mines  in  operation  in 
Indiana  employing  21,171  persons.  There  are 
126  Indiana  mines  now.  “The  coal  operators 
of  Indiana,’’  says  Pearce,  “together  with  those 
of  Illinois,  through  absolute  necessity,  have 
at  last  been  forced  to  seek  some  relief.  Sev¬ 
eral  meetings  have  been  held  in  Indiana  to 
consider  what  can  be  done  to  alleviate  the 
present  deplorable  conditions  in  the  coal  trade. 
They  deserve  to  succeed,  and  will,  if  they  are 
successful  in  getting  all  the  facts  before  the 
public.  The  federal  government  and  the  state 
government  as  well  should  take  sorne  cog¬ 
nizance  of  the  evils  of  overproduction  and 
ruinous  competition  in  marketing  the  over¬ 
produced  product.” 


No.  1] 


THE  BEACK  DIAMOND 


17 


Detroit  Trade. 


Detroit,  Mich.,  July  1 — {Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — Buying  continues  light  in  vol¬ 
ume  both  in  the  steam  and  domestic  coal 
branches  of  the  local  trade.  With  midsum¬ 
mer,  usually  a  period  of  sluggish  market  con¬ 
ditions,  here,  local  shippers  see  in  retrospect 
unsatisfactory  business  and  in  the  immediate 
future  no  indication  of  material  improvement. 
Yet  optimism  is  the  most  noticeable  feature 
of  their  attitude. 

Domestic  coal  is  not  bought  freely.  Many 
of  the  retail  dealers  are  delaying  the  placing 
of  orders  for  stock  which  will  be  needed  to 
supply  their  fall  trade,  either,  because  they 
feel  confident  that  coal  may  be  obtained  at 
the  same  price,  or,  perhaps,  cheaper,  several 
weeks  hence,  or  because  they  are  unwilling 
to  have  their  capital  tied  up  until  the  time 
for  distribution  of  the  coal  to  consumers  is 
nearer  at  hand.  Little  heed  appears  to  be 
given  the  warning  of  the  shippers  that  the 
situation  may  change  in  such  a  wa}^  as  to 
make  deliveries  more  uncertain,  less  prompt 
and,  perhaps,  more  costly. 

Consumers  of  steam  coal  also  are  holding 
off  on  putting  in  supplies  larger  than  are 
necessary  for  immediate  needs.  While  this 
in  some  instances  is  due  to  lack  of  storage 
space,  many  of  the  buyers,  who  could  accom¬ 
modate  larger  stocks,  are  observing  the  hand- 
to-mouth  plan  of  purchase.  Any  improvement 
in  general  industrial  conditions  the  shippers 
believe  would  be  reflected  in  increased  orders 
for  steam  coal. 

The  quantity  of  coal  arriving  in  Detroit 
does  not  greatly  exceed  the  capacity  of  the 
market  for  assimilation,  but  there  are  occa¬ 
sional  shipments  on  which  prices  are  below 
list  to  effect  a  speedy  sale.  Under  such  con¬ 
ditions  West  Virginia  slack  of  good  quality 
can  be  bought  for  forty  cents,  run  of  mine 
about  twenty-five  cents  higher  and  three- 
quarter  lump  around  ei.ghty  cents.  /  Quick 
sale  prices  on  splint  lump  range  from  $1.10 
to  $1.20  and  on  Hocking  lump  about  $1.35. 

The  improvement  often  forecasted  for  the 
rail-lake  trade  is  still  deferred  and  the  date 
for  its  probable  development  is  now  set 
forward  to  about  the  middle  of  July.  Con¬ 
siderable  demand  appeared  for  tonnage 
capacity  for  immediate  loading  early  this 
week,  the  shippers  desiring  to  clear  tracks  at 
loading  ports  before  the  end  of  the  month. 
The  outlook  is  that  many  of  the  freighters 
which  will  be  available  late  this  week,  will 
be  unable  to  find  coal  cargoes  and  will  be 
sent  up  light. 

Business  in  anthracite  is  rather  dead,  the 
retailers  seemingly  being  reluctant  to  increase 
their  stocks  at  present. 

Prices  in  the  Detroit  market  on  direct  ship¬ 
ment  orders  are  as  follows: 


F.  0.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

West  Virginia  Gas — 

Mines. 

Detroit. 

1  hree-quarter  lump . 

_ $0.95@1.00 

$2.35@2.40 

Mine  run . 

2.15@2.20 

Slack  . 

1.80@1.90 

West  Virginia  Splint — 

Four-inch  lump . 

2.75@3.00 

Two-inch  lump . 

2.50@2.65 

1  liree-(|uarter  . 

2.40f«)2  66 

Mine  run . 

2.30@2.40 

Nut,  pea  and  slack . 

1.90(®2.15 

Smokeless — 

Lump  and  egg . 

8.50 

Nut  . 

S.IO 

Slack  . 

Open 

Mine  run . 

Open 

Kentucky  Splint — 

Lump  . 

_  1.20@1.25 

2.60@2.65 

Egg  . 

2.40@2.50 

Nut,  pea  and  slack . 

Open 

Fairmount — 

Three-quarter  steam  lump.  . . . 

. 85@  .95 

2.25@2.35 

Mine  run . 

2.10@2.20 

Slack  . 

Open 

Hocking  Valley — 

Shaker  three-inch  lump . 

_  1.50 

2.65 

-Shaker  egg  and  nut . 

_  1.15 

2.30 

Domestic  lump . 

_  1.35 

2.50 

Three-quarter  lump . 

2.40@2.45 

Mine  run . 

_ 1.00@1.10 

2.15@2.25 

*Nut,  pea  and  slack . 

...  ( )pen 

( )i>en 

Detroit  Local  News. 

V\'.  E.  Craig  of  Amherstburg  has  sold  his 
retail  coal  and  wood  business  to  his  brother, 
Joel  Craig,  and  will  take  a  vacation  to  regain 
his  health,  which  has  been  failing  for  some 
time. 

With  capital  stock  of  $14,000.  of  which 
$778.37  is  paid  in  cash  and  $13,221.63  in  prop¬ 
erty,  the  Greenfield  Coal  &  Supply  Company 
has  been  incorporated  in  Detroit  by  Gustave 
E.  Pavis,  William  E.  Streeter,  Maude  M. 
Pavis  and  Clara  L.  Streeter. 

Bids  for  coal  will  be  received  until  noon. 


July  13,  by  the  board  of  guardians  of  the 
Michigan  Industrial  Home  for  Girls,  Adrian, 
Mich.,  Rolla  L.  Taylor,  treasurer.  The  supply 
required  is  estimated  at  2,000  tons  more  or 
less  of  domestic  lump  and  250  tons  or  more 
of  chestnut  coke.  Delivery  is  to  be  made  on 
track  at  the  coal  house  of  the  home. 


Twin  Cities  Trade. 


MiNNE.troi.is  and  St.  Paul,  July  1. —  (Special 
Correspondence.) — The  advent  of  July  is  being 
looked  upon  more  and  more  by  coal  shippers  as 
marking  the  commencement  of  a  new  season. 
The  first  three  months  of  the  mining  year,  that 
is  from  April  1st  to  June  30,  are  the  ones  of 
least  business  and  lowest  prices.  From  the  be¬ 
ginning  of  the  mid-summer  month  demand  for 
storage  purposes  is  on  the  upgrade,  and  the  ap¬ 
proach  of  the  threshing  season  gives  indications 
of  a  larger  business.  This  year  nearly  all  soft 
coal  sold  in  this  territory  w'as  advanced  in  price. 
Standard  grades  of  dock  soft  coal  in  the  lump 
and  stove  sizes  have  been  quite  generally  ad¬ 
vanced  ten  cents  a  ton,  making  the  new  price 
$3,40  f.  o.  b.  the  docks.  This  advance  in  dock 
prices  did  not  occur  with  all  the  companies  at 
the  same  time.  One  company  put  the  advance  in 
as  early  as  June  18,  while  circulars  were  issued 
by  other  companies  since  that  date.  Dock  run 
coal  and  the  standard  grades  of  soft  coal 
screenings  remain  practically  unchanged  at  the 
former  range  of  prices. 

In  the  Illinois  soft  coal  trade  there  was  an  ad¬ 
vance  in  southern  Illinois  product  of  ten  and 
fifteen  cents  a  ton.  Harrisburg  and  Carterville 
coals  in  the  prepared  sizes  quite  generally  took 
the  former  advance,  whereas  Franklin  county 
coals  took  the  latter  advance,  making  the  circu¬ 
lar  price  for  chunks,  egg  and  nut  on  b'ranklin 
county  product  $1.50.  This  w'as  the  price  that 
prevailed  a  year  ago  with  the  Franklin  county 
producers,  and  there  is  every  indication  it  will 
be  well  maintained. 

Demand  for  Illinois  coal  for  domestic  pur¬ 
poses  increased  the  latter  part  of  June,  but  in 
total  volume  was  about  the  same  as  for  the  cor¬ 
responding  period  a  year  ago. 

Prices  on  all  grades  of  coal  sold  in  this  terri¬ 
tory  are  steady,  in  accordance  with  the  circular 
prices  given  herewith. 


ANTHRACITE. 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Duluth  Minneapolis 
and  and 

Superior  St.  Paul 


Grate  .  $6.60  $7.80 

Egg  .  6.85  8.05 

Stove  .  6.85  8.05 

Nut  .  7.10  8.30 

Pea  .  5.50  6.70 

Buckwheat  .  4.00  6.20 


During  July  a  discount  of  twenty  cents  per  ton  is 
allowed  on  all  anthracite  except  pea  and  buckwheat. 


which  pricer  are  net. 

BITUMINOUS. 

Splint,  screened  lump  and  stove....  $3.40  $4.36 

Splint,  dock  run  .  3.10  4.06 

Hocking,  screened  lump  and  stove...  3.40  4.30 

Hocking,  dock  run  .  3.00  3.96 

Youghiogheny,  gas,  lump  and  stove.  .  3.40  4.36 

Youghiogheny,  gas,  dock  run .  3.10  4.06 

Pittsburgh  vein,  lump .  3.40  4.36 

Pittsburgh  vein,  dock  run .  3.00  3.96 

Pocahontas,  screened  lump  or  egg.  ...  4.75  5.71 

Pocahontas  screened  lump  and  egg 

mixed  .  4.50  6.46 

Pocahontas,  mine-run  .  3.25  4.21 

Cannel,  lump  .  5.25  6.21 

Smithing,  bulk  .  4.25  5.21 

Smithing,  in  100-lb.  sacks .  6.00  6.96 

Briquets,  anthracite  .  5.00  5.96 

Briquets,  smokeless  .  5.00  5.96 


In  the  Illinois  trade  the  range  of  prices  on 
southern  Illinois  product  on  the  various  sizes  is 
as  follows: 


Southern  Illinois  chunks  . $1.35@1.50 

Southern  Illinois  egg  .  ].35@1.50 

Southern  Illinois  No.  1  nut .  1.35@1.50 

Southern  Illinois  No.  2  nut .  1.25@1.35 

Southern  Illinois  No.  3  nut .  1.20@1.25 

Southern  Illinois  No.  4  nut .  1.10@1.20 

Southern  Illinois  run-of-mine  ...  1.10@1.25 

Southern  Illinois  2-in.  screenings.  .80 


$3.55@3.7n 

3,55@3.70 

3.55@3.70 

3.45@3.55 

3.40@3.45 

3.30'a3.40 

3.30@3.45 

3.00 


Southern  Illinois  coal  includes  Franklin  county, 
Harrisburg  and  Williamson  county. 

The  M.  A.  Hanna  Coal  Company.  North  West¬ 
ern  Fuel  Company,  and  Clarkson  Coal  &  Dock 
Company,  formerly  occupying  offices  in  the  Pio¬ 
neer  huilding,  St.  Paul,  are  occupying  new 
fiuarters  in  tlie  new  and  commodious  Merchants 
National  Bank  building  in  that  city.  The  build¬ 
ing  W'as  formally  opened  to  occupancy  about  a 
week  ago,  and  is  tbe  best  in  St.  Paul. 

The  Citv  Fuel  Company,  Minneapolis,  has  been 
awarded  the  contract  to  supplv  the  new  postoffice 
with  Purity  screenings  for  the  coming  year. 

William  Blankenbnrg,  a  leading  coal  and  grain 
dealer  of  St.  uharles,  Minn.,  passed  through 
Minneapplis  this  week  from  a  vacation  spent  at 
Britain,  S.  D. 


Birmingham  Trade. 


Birmingham,  Al.v.,  July  1. — (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — The  immediate  demand  for  steam 
coal  is  at  a  low  point,  but  the  renew'ing  of  con¬ 
tracts  bv  the  railroads  entering  this  point  is  an 
indication  that  better  business  is  coming  and  the 
outlook  better  than  for  some  time  past.  Within 
the  past  thirty  days  contracts  for  over  half  mil¬ 
lion  tons  of  steam  have  been  placed.  Other  rail¬ 
roads  entering  this  city  are  now  considering  pur¬ 
chase  of  the  year's  supply  of  steam  coal.  When 
all  these  contracts  are  made  it  will  furnish  a  ton¬ 
nage  of  over  a  million  tons  for  this  source  alone. 

hrom  various  other  sources,  which  use  steam 
coal,  contracts  are  being  signed  for  either  six 
months  or  a  year’s  supply.  One  of  the  distinct 
features  of  Alabama  coal  trade  was  the  placing  of 
an  order  for  75,000  tons  of  Alabama  steam  coal 
by  the  United  Fruit  Company.  The  entire  supplv 
for  a  number  of  years  at  New  Orleans  has  been 
coming  from  Pittsburgh  dow'ii  the  Mississippi 
river.  And  for  Alabama  to  secure  one-half  the 
tonnage  is  a  victory.  The  coal  selected  for  use 
is  the  Black  Creek  seam  of  coal  and  from  the 
Warrior  Black  Creek  Coal  Company’s  mines 
which  are  located  only  a  few  miles  from  Birming¬ 
ham  in  the  upper  portion  of  Jefferson  county. 
The  coal  will  be  delivered  by  rail  to  the  New 
Orleans  Coal  Company,  which  in  turn  will  de¬ 
liver  it  to  the  United  Fruit  Company.  The  coal 
selected  is  considered  among  the  best  to  be  had 
in  the  country.  This  contract  was  secured 
through  the  energy  and  work  of  D.  H.  Brown  & 
Co. 

This  means  much  to  the  future  of  Alabama 
steam  coals  going  to  southern  points.  A  thorough 
try  out  this  coal  was  eiven  under  the  direc¬ 
tion  of  D.  H.  Brown  &  Co.  and  their  agents  at 
New  Orleans,  the  New  Orleans  Coal  Company. 
The  following  is  the  analysis  of  the  coal  which 
has  proven  so  efficient  from  reports  bv  the  engi¬ 
neers  of  the  United  Fruit  Company: 


Per  cent 


Moisture  .  1.12 

Dry  Basis — 

Volatile  matter  .  30.92 

Fixed  carbon  .  64.43 

Ash  .  4.65 

Sulphur  .  1.08 

B.  T.  U .  14.693 


The  pit  ash  showing  as  low  as  5  per  cent. 


The  DeBardeleben  Coal  Company  secured 
order  for  25,000  tons  for  the  United  Fruit  Com¬ 
pany  to  be  delivered  at  Mobile.  This  coal  is  also 
from  Black  Creek  seam  and  is  known  as  Sipsey. 

A  tramway  will  be  constructed  by  the  De¬ 
Bardeleben  Coal  &  Coke  Company,  formerly  the 
Maryland  Coal  &  Coke  Company,  from  the  Sip¬ 
sey  mines  to  slackwater  for  connection  via  the 
Warrior  river  barge  lines.  The  mines  are  only 
about  six  miles  from  slackwater. 

The  plan  has  been  under  consideration  with 
Henry  T.  DeBardeleben,  president  of  the  com¬ 
pany,  for  some  time,  and  the  Empire  Coal  Com¬ 
pany,  it  is  stated,  is  also  interested  with  Mr. 
DeBardeleben  in  the  construction  of  a  line  of 
some  kind  to  the  river. 

Either  this  or  next  week  three  barges  of  the 
Pratt  Consolidated  Coal  &  Iron  Company  will  go 
down  the  Warrior  river  loaded  with  coal  for 
Mobile.  The  company  for  several  weeks  has  been 
planning  to  barge  about  1,500  tons  of  coal  down 
the  river.  In  barging  the  coal  down  the  Warrior 
to  Mobile,  the  Pratt  Consolidated  Company  will 
be  enabled  to  find  out  the  exact  transportation 
cost,  including  the  charges  at  Mobile. 

Birmingham  industrial  men  are  greatly  inter¬ 
ested  in  the  fight  being  made  for  wharfage  fa¬ 
cilities  at  Mobile.  The  Ledger,  in  Birmingham 
and  The  Register,  in  Mobile,  have  been  leading 
the  fight,  and  already  a  great  deal  of  interest 
both  here  and  at  Mobile  has  been  aroused. 


The  following  prices  prevail : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Bibb  County  Domestic  Coal —  Mine  Birmingham 

Cahaba  fancy  lump . 

Cahaba  No.  2  . 

Jefferson  County — 

Fancy  Steam  Pratt .  1.70 

Run  of  mine .  1.15 

Jefferson  Seam- — 

Mine  run  . 

Horse  Creek  mine  run . 90@1.10  Frt.  rate  40c 

Carbon  Hill  lump,  Walker  Co.  domestic,  $1.60  to  $2.00. 
Most  all  coals  based  on  this  classification. 

Shelby  County  Domestic  Coal — 

Montevallo  fancy  lump,  $2.00  to  $2.25.  Frt.  rate  30c. 
Blacksmith  coal,  washed  and  screened,  per  ton,  $2.00  to 
$2.25  at  mines,  with  different  rates  to  various  points. 


$2.10 

$2.40 

1.85 

2.15 

.  1.70 

2.10 

1.15  Frt.  rate  30c 

,  1.15@1.25 

Frt.  rate  30c 

The  Westchester  Fuel  Company  of  Tuckahoe, 
N.  Y.,  was  incorporated  on  Monday  under  the 
New  York  state  laws,  with  a  capital  stock  of 
$15,000.  The  following  are  named  as  incorpor¬ 
ators:  Charles  M.  Randolph  of  Yonkers,  Nich¬ 
olas  W.  Hacker  of  Denville,  N.  J.,  and  William 
L.  Bowman  of  New  York.  “ 


[July  3 


18 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


New  York  Trade. 


June  Anthracite  Movement  Considered 
Very  Fair — Better  Bituminous 
Outlook. 


Office  of  The  Black  Diamond, 
New  York,  July  1. 

As  is  to  be  expected  just  at  this  season  of  the 
year,  the  anthracite  coal  trade  is  dull,  though  not 
in  such  bad  shape  as  many  in  the  trade  have 
predicted.  In  fact,  June  turned  out  to  be  a 
much  better  month  than  was  expected  earlier  in 
the  season.  The  movement  of  coal  has  not  been 
so  remarkably  heavy  for  a  summer  month,  but 
there  has  been  less  coal  sacriliced  than  was  ex- 
I'.ected,  in  view  of  the  very  many  selling  interests 
now  in  the  trade,  as  compared  with  former 
seasons. 

Much  credit  is  due  to  the  companies  and  in¬ 
dividuals  for  their  restriction  policy,  so  well  car¬ 
ried  out  during  June.  As  the  result,  the  mar¬ 
kets  today  are  not  glutted  to  any  radical  extent 
with  unsold  coal,  unless  it  be  the  small  steam 
sizes,  and  although  considerable  prepared  coal 
has  been  sold  off  circular,  and  is  still  obtainable 
at  concessions  of  twenty-five  to  thirty-five  cents, 
on  some  of  these  low  sizes,  the  aggregate  ton¬ 
nage  moving  of  these  concessions  is  not  so  very 
large.  Chestnut  coal  is  still  a  drug,  but  it  is 
not  in  such  plentiful  supply  as  was  the  case  sev¬ 
eral  weeks  ago. 

Due  to  the  restriction  in  production,  the  buck¬ 
wheat  sizes  are  not  as  long  as  formerly,  and 
prices  of  these  are  held  more  nearly  the  circular 
than  was  the  case  earlier  in  the  new  coal  year. 
At  the  moment  pea  coal  is  very  (lull,  but  sacrific¬ 
ing  of  prices  on  this  size  is  being  saved  by  the 
policy  of  some  of  the  large  producers  in  putting 
surplus  in  storage. 

Most  of  the  companies  have  announced  a  full 
week’s  suspension,  due  to  the  fourth  of  July  holi¬ 
days,  and  this  means  that  practically  no  coal  will 
be  mined  from  this  time  until  the  latter  part  of 
next  week. 

This  should  find  supplies  of  coal  at  tidewater 
very  light  by  that  time,  and  while  the  demand  in 
the  meantime  is  expected  to  be  very  limited,  con¬ 
siderable  activity  may  be  anticipated  by  tbe  time 
general  mining  is  resumed. 

The  retail  trade  are  not  so  busy,  and  through¬ 
out  the  month  it  is  expected  that  pnsiderable  of 
their  ecpiipment  will  be  idle.  This  trade  is  ex¬ 
pected  to  drag  until  towards  the  end  of  August, 
when  large  users  of  domestic  coal  will  be  re¬ 
turning  from  the  seaside  and  other  summer 
homes. 

The  steam  size  trade  is  expected  to  show  some 
improvement  from  now  on,  due  to  the  fact  that  a 
great  many  small  manufacturing  plants  around 
the  larger  cities,  where  the  anthracite  steam  coals 
are  popular  for  steam  making  purposes,  are  now 
beginning  to  feel  the  effect  of  some  of  the  very 
large  war  orders  that  have  been  placed  during 
the  past  few  months. 

The  Bituminous  Situation 

The  Atlantic  seaboard  soft  coal  trade  continues 
to  be  very  spotty.  Some  firms  note  improvement, 
and  all  are  pretty  generally  agreed  that  the  con¬ 
tract  coals  are  moving  at  this  time  much  better 
than  formerly.  However,  everyone  deplores  the 
lack  of  spot  business. 

Those  few  firms  that  are  engaged  in  exporting 
coal  are  finding  it  difficult  to  get  enough  coal  to 
tide  to  take  care  of  vessels  promptly,  and  also  to 
take  care  of  their  domestic  business.  Some  of 
these  shippers,  particularly  at  Hampton  Roads, 
are  compelled  from  time  to  time  to  borrow  coal 
from  one  another  to  load  ships  promptly.  Both 
Baltimore  and  Hampton  Roads  ports  will  make 
new  records  for  June  for  exports,  the  total  for 
all  the  ports  estimated  at  the  moment  to  be  well 
around  1,000,000,  or  1,100,000  tons,  establishing  a 
new  record.  For  every  ton  of  coal  exported  it  is 
estimated  that  from  one-fifth  to  one-fourth  ton 
is  taken  for  bunkers.  This  means  that  to  export 
1,000,000  tons,  approximately  1,200,000  tons  of 
coal  are  taken,  and  as  the  bunker  coals  usually 
sell  at  a  better  price  than  the  cargo  coals,  the 
benefit  of  this  trade  can  be  appreciated. 

The  New  England  situation  is  in  much  better 
shape.  There  is  a  better  demand  for  contract 
coals  from  the  New  River  and  Pocahontas  fields, 
while  some  of  the  shippers  of  the  better  grades 
of  Pennsylvania  coals  that  are  popular  in  this  ter¬ 
ritory,  are  finding  the  demand  much  improved. 
Coal  men  who  have  covered  the  manufacturing 
section,  particularly  the  machinery  territory  and 
those  plants  that  are  now  manufacturing  war  mu¬ 
nitions^  find  that  practically  every  available  me¬ 
chanic  is  engaged,  and  that  these  companies  are 


now  beginning  to  use  up  their  coal  piles  in  a 
way  that  will  call  for  early  replenishment,  or 
constant  shipment  to  keep  them  going.  Several 
coal  men  who  studied  the  New  England  situation 
\ery  closely  during  the  past  week  are  very  opti¬ 
mistic  as  to  the  (Outlook  for  the  fall  months. 
General  business  in  most  all  directions  seems  to 
be  improving,  and  it  is  expected  that  the  bi¬ 
tuminous  coal  trade  will  receive  very  material 
benefit  by  the  middle,  of  August,  if  not  before. 

The  shortage  of  labor  is  becoming  an  absorbing 
topic  for  some  of  the  coal  producers,  particularly 
those  who  visit  their  mines  regularly  or  keep  in 
close  communication  with  their  mine  managers. 
Considerable  Italian  labor  is  leaving  the  West 
Virginia  fields,  and  also  the  western  Pennsyl¬ 
vania  regions.  Aloreover,  where  a  mine  is  work¬ 
ing  on  short  time,  miners  are  given  to  leaving 
to  seek  employment  at  some  of  the  coke  or  steel 
or  other  manufacturing  plants,  where  they  can 
get  full  time. 

The  New  York  harbor  ports  are  plentifully 
supplied  with  low  grade  coals,  which  are  seeking 
sale  because  of  being  close  to  demurrage.  How¬ 
ever,  the  accumulation  of  these  coals  is  not  as 
heavy  as  was  the  case  earlier  in  the  spring. 
Prices  on  inferior  grades  range  from  $2.35  up  on 
West  Virginia  coals,  with  fair  grades  of  Penn¬ 
sylvania  obtainable  at  $2.55  to  $2.00,  and  good 
grades  at  $2.75  to  $2.80. 


The  Vessel  Situation. 


The  coastwise  vessel  situation  is  not  materially 
changed.  Rates  are  just  about  firm  at  recent 
quotations.  There  seems  to  be  a  serious  shortage' 
of  small  schooners,  particularlv  for  loading  at 
Philadelphia  to  Sound  and  noints  east  of  Boston. 
For  the  movement  of  coal  from  Flampton  Roads 
and  Baltimore  to  New  England  points,  the  sup¬ 
ply  of  vessels  at  the  moment  seems  to  be  ade- 
cpiate.  For  off  shore  business,  vessels  seem  to  be 
more  plentiful,  with  rates  to  the  Mediterranean 
and  other  European  ports  generally,  reduced. 
They  are  a  trifle  firmer  to  South  American  ports, 
though  not  materially  advanced. 

Current  quotations  are  as  follows :  • 

From  Hampton  Roads  to  Boston,  seventy-five 
to  eighty-five  cents ;  to  the  Sound,  seventy  to 
eighty  cents. 

From  New  York  rates  to  New  Haven  are  thirty 
cents.  New  London  forty  cents  and  Providence 
and  New  Bedford  fifty  cents;  to  Boston  fifty-five 
to  seventy  cents;  Portsmouth  and  Portland,  fifty- 
five  to  seventy  cents ;  to  Bangor,  seventy  cents. 
Harbor  rates  are  from  eighteen  to  twenty  cents. 

Prices  on  gross  tons  of  bituminous  coal  are: 


Somerset  County — 

Best  grades . 

Medium  grades . 

Ordinary  . 

Cambria  County — 

Best  Miller  vein . 

Cheaper  grades . 

Clearfield  County — 

Best  grade  . 

Ordinary  grades . 

Indiana  County — 

Best  grade  . 

Medium  grade . 

Maryland — 

Georges  Creek  big  vein. 
West  Virginia — - 

Ordinary  grades . 

Best  gas,  ^-inch  lump. 
Best  graae,  run  of  mine 
Gas  slack  . 


F.  O.  B. 
Harbor. 
.$2.95 
. .  2.60 
.  .  2.55 

. .  3.00 
.  .  2.G0 

. .  3.00 
.  .  2.50 

. .  2.80 
.  .  2.50 


3.15 


2.40 

2.65 

2.65 


F.  O.  B. 
Mines. 
$1.35 
1.05 
1.00 

1.40 

1.05 

1.35 

.95 

1.25 

.90 


1.65 


.75 
1.10 
.90 
.50®. 70 


New  York  Trade  Briefs. 

W.  .V.  Marsball,  of  W.  A.  Marshall  &  Co.,  No. 
I  Broadway,  visited  Boston  on  Wednesday. 

J.  W.  Whiteley,  of  Whitney  &  Kemmerer,  No. 
143  Liberty  street.  New  York,  visited  Boston  on 
Tuesday. 

I'rederic  Landstreet,  general  ea.stern  sales 
agent  for  the  Punxsutawney  Coal  Mining  Com¬ 
pany,  with  Philadelphia  headquarters,  was  in 
New  York  on  Monday. 

J.  M.  Creighton,  the  well  known  coal  broker 
of  No,  1  Broadway,  leaves  today,  Thursday,  in 
his  eight-cylinder  Cadillac  for  a  trip  to  Meyers- 
dale,  in  the  Somerset  county,  Pennsylvania,  coal 


region. 

Bids  were  opened  on  Wednesday,  June  23,  for 
2,700  tons  of  egg  coal  by  the  fire  department  of 
the  city  of  New  York.  There  were  two  bidders. 
John  F.  Schmadeke,  $6.10,  and  Wm.  Farrell  & 
Sons,  $6.17. 

Newspaper  cables  on  Tuesday  stated  that  Mr, 
D.  A.  Thomas,  the  Welsh  coal  king,  has  sailed 
for  .America  to  look  after  the  munition  interests 
of  the  British  government,  and  he  is  therefore 
expected  to  arrive  early  in  the  coming  week. 

Some  of  the  financial  papers  in  New  York  on 
Monday  gave  as  a  reason  for  some  activity  in 
Reading  stocks,  that :  “Reading  had  sold  a  large 
quantity  of  anthracite  for  export.”  It  is  need¬ 


less  to  saj;  that  such  a  rumor  was  without 
foundation. 

h'our  of  the  lake  steamers  operated  in  the  in¬ 
terest  of  the  Erie  Railroad  Company,  are  said  to 
have  been  sold  to  the  president  of  the  Staten 
island  Shipbuilding  Company  and  that  they  will 
some  time  this  fall  be  transferred  from  the  lakes 
to  the  -Atlantic. 

J.  M.  Leonard,  general  sales  manager  of 
Brothers  Valley  Coal  Company,  who  went  to 
Cedar  Point  last  week  to  attend  the  annual  con¬ 
vention  of  the  Alichigan-Ohio-Indiana  Coal  .As¬ 
sociation,  visited  several  of  the  western  offices  of 
his  company  before  returning  east. 

diaries  Heyl,  representing  J.  Hudson  &  Co., 
coal  importers  and  dealers  at  Bordeaux,  is  visit¬ 
ing  in  America.  Mr.  Heyl  is  inspecting  numerous 
coal  handling  appliances  now  in  use  in  America, 
with  a  view  of  finding  something  suitable  for 
bunkering  and  storing  purposes  at  Bordeaux. 

Governor  Brumbaugh  of  Pennsylvania  an¬ 
nounces  that  he  has  approved  the  bill  increasing 
the  number  of  mine  inspectors  in  the  first 
anthracite  district  from  six  to  nine,  and  in  the 
second  district  from  five  to  six.  This  measure 
had  the  backing  of  the  United  Mine  Workers 
organization. 

J.  W.  Searles,  general  sales  manager  of  the 
Pennsylvania  Coal  &  Coke  Corporation,  No.  17 
Battery  Place,  leaves  on  Saturday  for  a  month’s 
vacation.  Mr.  Searles  will  go  with  his  family  on 
a  trip  up  to  the  Great  Lakes,  returning  to  a 
Canadian  point  where  he  will  spend  two  or  three 
weeks  in  fishing. 

.Archibald  McNeil,  Jr.,  and  Kenneth  McNeil, 
of  Archibald  McNeil  &  Sons  Company,  whole¬ 
sale  coal  dealers  of  Bridgeport,  Conn.,  and  New 
York,  have  acquired  a  controlling  interest  in  the 
Bridge  fort  Standard,  a  daily  newspaper,  the  pur¬ 
chase  price  of  which  is  said  to  exceed  $110,000. 
It  is  said  that  the  McNeils  now  control  three  of 
the  four  daily  newspapers  published  in  Bridge¬ 
port. 

P.  B.  Heilner,  vice-president  of  the  Lehigh  & 
Wilkes-Barre  Coal  Company,  has  started  on  a 
vacation  trip,  which  will  take  in  points  of  interest 
through  the  west,  terminating  at  San  Francisco, 
where  he  will  view  the  exposition.  On  his  return, 
Mr.  Heilner  will  go  through  the  northwest.  This 
is  his  first  vacation  in  four  years,  and  he  has 
promised  himself  and  friends  that  he  will  take 
ample  time  to  see  all  the  points  of  interest  from 
coast  to  coast. 

A  recent  issue  of  the  Fayetteville  (W.  Va.) 
Journal  states  that  several  large  coal  operators  in 
the  New  River  and  Kanawha  field  are  said  to  be 
concerned  in  a  deal  now  pending,  which  it  is  be¬ 
lieved  will  mean  the  transfer  of  a  lot  of  coal 
lands  in  these  two  regions  to  an  English  syndi¬ 
cate.  Interested  in  this  deal  are  Frank  B. 
Enslow,  a  well  known  lawyer  of  Huntington,  W. 
Va.,  and  \\’.  H.  Cunningham,  a  consulting  engi¬ 
neer  of  the  same  place.  Mr.  Enslow  was  inter¬ 
ested  in  the  proposition  that  was  under  in  the 
early  part  of  1914,  known  as  the  New  Virginia 
Syndicate,  which  at  that  time  had  up  negotiations 
for  the  sale  of  a  lot  of  New  River  coal  properties 
to  an  English  syndicate. 

Due  to  the  increase  in  its  coal  tonnage,  the 
Western  Maryland  Railroad  for  the  fiscal  year 
ending  June  30th,  will  report  the  largest  annual 
gross  revenues  in  its  history.  The  total  receipts 
from  traffic  will  amount  to  $8,630,000,  against 
$8,267,000  last  year,  which  until  this  year  was 
the  company’s  largest  traffic.  This  record  is  said 
to  be  due  primarily  to  the  new  arrangement 
made  with  the  Consolidation  Coal  Company  un¬ 
der  which  a  part  of  that  company’s  coal  traffic 
is  now  carried  by  the  Western  Maryland.  Since 
the  date  of  this  agreement,  traffic  has  steadily 
been  increasing  in  volume,  and  by  the  end  of 
June  the  company’s  gross  receipts  will  be  more 
than  $360,000  ahead  of  the  corresponding  twelve 
months  last  year.  Of  the  year’s  increase  in  gross, 
nearly  $300,000  will  have  been  contributed  by  coal 
traffic,  so  that  it  appears  that  in  the  last  four 
months  the  accession  of  this  Consolidation  Coal 
Company  traffic  has  amounted  to  nearly  .$500,000 
in  the  Western  Mar.vland’s  gross  results.  _  The 
movement  of  coal  and  coke  since  the  inception  of 
the  new  movement  has  shown  an  average  increase 
of  about  twenty-five  per  cent  over  the  correspond¬ 
ing  periods  of  last  year.  General  merchandise 
traffic  also  shows  a  substantial  increase  of  eight¬ 
een  per  cent,  both  for  the  third  week  and  for  the 
three  weeks,  but  passenger  receipts  have  declined 
about  a  third  as  much  as  the  general  merchandise 
receipts  have  increased.  It  is  estimated  that  dur¬ 
ing  the  next  fiscal  year  receipts  from  the  Consoli¬ 
dation  Coal  Company’s  traffic  alone  will  add  be¬ 
tween  $1,800,000  and  $2,000,000  to  the  railroad’s 
revenue. 


No.  1] 


19 


Philadelphia  Trade. 


Demand  Is  Increasing  as  Production  Is 
Curtailed — Piers  Crowded 
With  Coal. 


Office  of  The  Black  Diamond, 
1400  Land  Title  Building, 
Philadelphia,  July  1. 

Within  the  last  ten  days  all  of  the  faith  of  coal 
men  in  better  prices  and  better  market  conditions 
has  strengthened.  Here  is  a  summary  of  the 
new  pegs  on  which  their  faith  is  pinned :  The 
federal  employment  bureau,  in  its  report,  says 
that  positions  for  2,000  miners  in  West  Virginia 
remain  unfilled;  an  abundance  of  war  contracts 
and  sub-contracts  have  been  let  to  eastern  Penn¬ 
sylvania  firms;  thousands  of  miners  have  re¬ 
turned  to  their  native  lands  to  answer  the  call 
of  the  war  departments :  railroad  conditions  show 
that  transportation  is  likely  to  be  tied  in  a  knot 
about  the  middle  of  September.  That  is,  demand 
is  increasing  as  production  is  curtailed. 

As  to  the  local  trade’s  actual  record :  Fair¬ 
mont  slack  has  been  cutting  up  didoes.  The 
market  has  a  range  from  thirty-five  to  forty 
cents  and  no  strength  shown.  This  is  caused 
by  the  operators  of  that  section  of  West  Vir.ginia 
piling  up  shipments  to  the  east  and  by  the  cement 
mills  cutting  down  on  consumption  to  a  ratio  in 
keeping  vVith  contract  requirements.  This  market 
will  absorb  only  a  normal  amount  of  this  size 
and  when  too  much  is  offered  the  stability  in 
price  is  bound  to  give  way. 

Once  again  the  operators  in  western  Pennsyl¬ 
vania  have  committed  the  indiscretion  of  piling 
up  their  coal  at  the  piers  rather  than  have  it  lie 
on  mine  sidings.  Port  Richmond  is  sadly 
crowded  with  coal  that  has  passed  or  is  danger¬ 
ously  near  the  demurrage  point.  Some  high 
grade  Sqmerset  and  Clearfield  coal  has  changed 
ownership  around  eighty  to  eighty-five  cents,  a 
concession  of  twenty-five  to  forty  cents  a  ton,  to 
move  it.  And  at  that,  concessions  have  not  been 
successful  in  all  instances,  and  the  railways  are 
collecting  their  toll. 

Line  business  has  been  off  color  and  the  spot 
market  for  these  sales  are  practically  nil.  The 
only  outlet  is  for  bunkerage  purposes,  and  while 
there  has  been  considerable  shipping  taking  coal 
here,  yet  this  will  not'  take  near  the  surplus  that 
has  been  put  on  the  piers. 

Movement  from  the  Reynoldsville  and  Punxsu- 
tawney  district  has  been  mostly  west  and  north, 
with  considerable  coal  going  to  Canada  for 
thresher  purposes.  Price  ranges  as  quoted 
are :  Slack,  eighty-five  cents  and  up ;  run  of 
mine,  $1@1.25 ;  smithing,  $1.25,  and  screened 
lump,  $1.25  and  up. 

Greensburg  is  still  moving  in  fairly  heavy 
quantity  toward  Baltimore  for  export,  with  the 
range :  $1.10  for  run  of  mine  and  $1.20  for 

screened. 

Quotations  on  Somerset  still  are  around  $1.30 
for  best  grades,  $1.20  to  $1.25  for  medium  grades 
and  85c  to  95c  for  ordinaries. 

Not  any  change  has  been  noted  on  Western 
Maryland  offerings  and  the  quotations  seventy- 
five  to  eighty-five  cents  a  ton  stand. 

Anthracite  Situation. 

July  prices  go  into  effect  tomorrow,  but 
whether  they  can  be  maintained  is  another  mat¬ 
ter.  One  thing  is  certain,  and  that  is  that  the 
companies  are  going  to  hold  to  them.  For  the 
first  couple  of  weeks  in  June  the  independents 
accepted  orders  at  May  prices  and  there  is  con¬ 
siderable  indication  that  the  ten-cent  rise  in  price 
for  July  will  be  again  a  basis  for  order  getting. 

The  following  prices  listed  for  July  are  plus 
the  state  tax  of  2^  per  cent: 


l-ump  . $3.50 

Steamboat  .  3.50 

Broken  .  3. 30 

Egg .  3.55 

Stove  .  3.80 

Chestnut  .  3.95 

Pea  .  2.50 

Buckwheat  .  1.50 


While  the  quotations  on  pea  coal  are  made  at 
$2.50,  yet  there  have  been  concessions  made  by 
the  companies  to  a  $2.10@2.25  range.  Sales  by 
independents  have  been  made  even  below  this 
figure.  Steam  sizes,  buckwheat  No.  2  and  smaller, 
have  also  been  sold  below  listed  prices.  The 
sizes  that  have  been  best  taken  and  are  leaders 
in  the  anthracite  market  at  the  present  time  are 
stove  and  egg. 

Retail  dealers  are  said  to  be  shorter  on  coal 
at  the  present  time  than  for  months.  The  rea¬ 
son,  so  runs  the  explanation,  that  cash  sales  only 
will  bring  deliveries  in  July  and  August  except 
in  rare  cases. 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOXD. 


At  the  mines  it  is  reported  that  three  of  the 
companies  have  shut  down  for  a  week  to  ten 
days  from  the  first  of  July.  The  others  and  the 
independents  are  working  on  short  time.  An 
intimation  is  given  that  the  report  of  the  Bureau 
of  Anthracite  Statistics  will  show  quite  a  falling 
off  in  production  as  a.gainst  that  of  former  years 
for  the  month  of  June. 


Philadephia  Trade  Notes. 

Harry  IMorgan  of  the  Emerson  &  Morgan  Coal 
Company  of  Baltimore  was  a  visitor  early  in 
the  week. 

Walter  P.  Maguire  of  the  Makoma  Coal  Com¬ 
pany  of  Harrisburg  was  one  of  the  trade  visitors 
of  the  week. 

Charles  A.  Owen  of  the  Shade  Creek  Coal 
Company,  Johnstown,  Pa.,  paid  his  respects  to 
local  acquaintances  in  the  trade  this  week. 

Charles  W.  Mills  of  the  Climax  Coal  Company 
was  west  this  week,  his  itinerary  including  a  visit 
to  Cincinnati  and  other  points. 

W.  E.  Watson,  Jr.,  of  the  Rosebud  Fuel  Com¬ 
pany  of  Fairmont,  W.  Va.,  was  in  this  city  this 
week  sizing  up  the  eastern  steam  situation. 

J.  M.  Green,  secretary  of  the  Spreckels  Sugar 
Refinery  Company,  and  who  is  the  “yes”  man  on 
coal  contracts,  has  returned  to  his  desk  after  an 
absence  of  a  couple  of  weeks. 

Plans  and  specifications  have  been  prepared  by 
the  Specialty  Engineering  Company  for  a  coal 
trestle  100  feet  long  to  be  built  in  steel,  concrete 
and  wood  for  Isaac  Nicholson  of  Germantown. 

Frank  M.  Ramsey,  Jr.,  of  the  Glen  Brook  Coal 
Company  was  away  this  week  on  a  business  trip 
west.  While  in  Cincinnati  he  will  call  on  his 
brother-in-law,  who  is  connected  with  the  Island 
Creek  Sales  Company  forces  in  that  city. 

C.  C.  Gano  of  the  Gano-Moore  Company,  who 
has  been  in  South  America  for  four  months,  has 
returned  to  Rio  Janiero  and,  according  to  a  letter 
received  this  week,  may  return  home  in  the  next 
six  weeks. 

C.  P.  Burtner  of  the  C.  P.  Burtner  Coal  Com¬ 
pany  of  x41toona.  Pa.,  was  a  business  visitor.  It 
is  understood  that  his  business  has  expanded  so 
that  he  may  arrange  for  an  eastern  office  as  an 
outlet. 

A.  S.  McQueen,  Pittsburgh  manager  for  B. 
Nicoll  &  Co.,  and  A.  Kelly  Rothstein  were  visit¬ 
ors  at  the  local  office  of  that  company.  Harry 
Stauffer  of  the  local  staff  returned  from  a  ten- 
day  visit  to  Buffalo  and  Toronto. 

H.  B.  Cornog  of  the  Cortright  Coal  Company 
was  noted  among  the  piscatorial  experts  who 
tantalize  the  fish  of  Barne.gat  Bay.  He  has  taken 
occasion  to  declare,  however,  that  the  imputation 
that  he  caught  178  fish  at  one  sitting  is  a  pure 
fabrication — nothing  more — nothing  less. 

At  the  ripe  old  age  of  seventy-four,  John  W. 
Moyer  of  Last  Creek  died  at  his  home  last  week. 
He  had_  been  employed  in  executive  capacities  in 
anthracite  mines  the  better  part  of  his  life.  As 
a  contract  miner  in  the  early  sixties,  he  was  one 
of  the  men  who  made  history  in  the  development 

Considerable  interest  has  been  aroused  through 
the  efforts  of  crude  oil  men  to  place  their  wares 
on  this  market  as  a  fuel  commodity.  Long  term 
contracts  are  being  sought  on  the  plea  that  boiler 
room  changes  would  be  equalized  through  long¬ 
time  rise  of  the  product.  It  is  known  that  three 
large  fuel  consumers  have  seriously  considered 
the  change  and  this  is  a  reason  why  they  have 
not  signed  up  their  coal  contracts. 

The  local  newspapers  have  been  offering  some 
dazzling  figures  from  the  coal  minin.g  sections 
as  to  the  number  of  men  that  have  left  these 
sections  to  return  to  fight  for  their  fatherland. 
Mine  owners  are  inclined  to  dispute  the  fi.gures 
given  and  say  that  exaggeration  has  been  shown 
in  more  than  one  instance,  and  prove  this  by  the 
number  of  passengers  carried  on  boats  to  foreign 
ports. 

Eastern  Pennsylvania  hankers  have  estimated 
that  the  war  in  Europe  has  prevented  miners  in 
the  anthracite  regions  from  shipping  nearly  $10,- 
000,000  abroad  during  the  past  ten  months.  The 
bulk  of  this  money  went  to  Italy,  Russia,  Greece, 
Germany,  Austria  and  the  Balkan  States  in  times 
of  peace.  It  is  said  that  the  miners  in  the  regions 
never  were  better  supplied  with  money,  despite 
the  short  time  they  have  work,  than  at  present. 

Provision  has  been  made  by  the  City  Councils 
for  an  appropriation  of  $80,000  for  coal  storage 
equipment  at  the  Queen  Lane  pumping  station. 
About  eighty  tons  of  coal  a  day  are  burned  at 
this  plant  and  for  years  the  station  has  been 
living  from  hand  to  mouth  as  regards  its  coal 
supply.  The  city  has  owned  a  piece  of  ground 


for  years  on  which  it  has  been  the  intention  to 
place  a  yard  that  would  have  railway  connection. 
The  new  storage  house  will  have  a  capacity  of 
about  3,000  tons. 


Buffalo  Trade. 


Bui'f.vlo,  N.  Y.,  July  1. —  (Special  Correspond¬ 
ence.)  Shipments  of  anthracite  by  lake  for  the 
past  week  were  on  a  heavy  scale,  amounting  to 
177,100  tons.  The  feature  of  these  shipments  is 
the  quantity  of  coal  and  the  number  of  cargoes 
now  going  to  Duluth-Superior.  Thirteen  cargoes 
were  recorded  for  these  two  ports  during  the 
week,  or  about  as  many  as  for  all  the  other  ports 
combined.  The  shipments  cleared  as  follows; 
Duluth-Supenor,  90,100  tons;  Chicago,  47,300; 
:Milwaukee,  21,200;  Fort  William,  10,300;  Port 
V\  ashmgton,  1,200 ;  Marinette,  1,000. 

Anthracite  trade  is  practically  dead,  so  far  as 
retad  demand  is  concerned  and  were  it  not  for 
the  lake  trade  there  would  be  little  coal  moving 
in  this  territory.  Dealers  could  dispose  of  more 
coal  in  a  good  many  cases  if  they  are  willing  to 
grant  extended  credit,  but  they  prefer  not  to  take 
such  action,  finding  collections  slow  as  it  is.  A 
dull  period  in  the  near  future  is  being  predicted. 

Shippers  of  bituminous  are  beginning  to  report 
a  somewhat  increased  business,  though  trade  is 
not  at  all  active  and  the  improvement  in  condi¬ 
tions  is  so  small  as  scarcely  to  be  noticeable. 
Concerns  which  have  been  taking  three  cars  a 
week  are  now'  taking  five  in  some  instances,  and 
other  concerns  which  have  for  a  long  time  had 
no  need  of  coal  are  now  placing  orders  for  it. 
But  the  supplies  of  coal  coming  to  market  are 
Iarge,_  being  increased  beyond  the  needs  of  the 
situation  by  the  addition  of  a  good  deal  of  con¬ 
signment  coal,  shipped  here  by  one  or  tw'o  com¬ 
panies  that  make  a  practice  of  gambling  on  the 
market  and  relying  on  the  extra  ability  of  sales 
agents  to  sell  the  coal  before  it  incurs  demurrage 
charges.  The  slack  market  is  very  weak,  with 
prices  down  to  the  lowest  point  in  a  good  while. 
Fair  quality  slack  is  said  to  be  bringing  for  spot 
shipment  only  fifty  to  sixty  cents  above  the 
freight  rate,  and  some  predict  that  the  price  w'ill 
be  lower  before  it  is  higher.  Three-quarter  coal 
is  also  depressed  in  price. 

Coal  men  see  no  immediate  prospect  of  better 
market  conditions  and  expect  prices  to  drag 
along  at  the  present  low  level  for  a  number  of 
weeks.  The  lake  trade  is  disappointingly  quiet 
and  not  much  stir  is  to  be  looked  for  there  until 
another  month  or  so.  It  is  believed  that  by 
August  1st  conditions  will  be  improved  on  the 
lakes. 


Buffalo  Trade  Briefs. 

Among  local  wholesalers  of  coal  lately  in  Pitts¬ 
burgh  w'ere  J.  Bert  Ross  and  J.  W.  Noble. 

F.  W.  Buckalew,  sales  agent  of  Whitney  & 
Kemmerer,  has  returned  from  a  two  weeks’ 
wedding  trip  in  the  Adirondacks. 

Francis  Barrington,  a  former  Philadelphian, 
has  taken  a  position  as  traveling  salesman  from 
the  Buffalo  office  of  the  Pittsburgh  Coal  Com¬ 
pany. 

Francis  H.  McDonald,  a  Niagara  Falls  coal 
dealer,  is  completing  the  erection  of  a  concrete 
elevator,  which  will  have  a  capacity  of  about 
1,800  tons. 

H.  K.  Stauffer,  representative  of  B.  Nicoll  & 
Co.,  Pittsburgh,  was  a  visitor  to  the  coal  trade 
here  last  week.  The  company  will  not  fill  the 
position  left  vacant  by  the  death  of  its  salesman, 
A.  IM.  Brumaghim,  it  is  said. 

Mrs.  Abbie  H.  Horton,  wife  of  Col.  Joseph  H. 
Horton,  one  of  the  veteran  members  of  the  Buf¬ 
falo  coal  trade,  died  suddenly  at  the  family  home 
on  June  27,  aged  seventy-one  years.  She  had 
been  a  resident  of  this  city  for  thirty  years  and 
was  born  at  Worcester,  Mass.  She  leaves  a 
daughter,  Mrs.  Grosvenor  R.  Trowbridge. 

The  county  coal  contract  has  been  divided  be¬ 
tween  Spaulding  &  Spaulding,  who  get  the  peni¬ 
tentiary  award  of  2,500  tons,  and  C.  A.  and  M. 
Kaiser,  who  get  the  county  home  and  hospital  of 
3, GOO  tons.  The  coal  was  slack  and  the  price  is 
equivalent  to  $1.85  on  cars.  The  anthracite  con¬ 
tract  was  dropped,  the  authorities  concluding  to 
use  coke  instead. 

Eugene  C.  Roberts,  Jr.,  sailed  this  week  from 
Montreal  for  England  as  a  lieutenant  in  the 
British  army,  the  only  American  ever  to  have 
been  given  a  commission.  He  expects  to  be  in 
the  trenches  in  France  within  a  month.  While 
superintendent  of  the  Fairmont  mines,  Mr.  Rob¬ 
erts  was  a  deputy  sheriff  of  the  county  and  was 
wounded  in  the  face  while  attempting  to  arrest 
a  drunken  miner. 


20 


THE  BLACK  HIA3IOM) 


[July  3 


New  England  Trade 


Boston,  July  1. —  (Special  Correspondence.)  — 
Retail  dealers  throughout  New  England  report  a 
better  demand  for  anthracite,  which  is  the  most 
encouraging  news  the  wholesale  houses  have  re¬ 
ceived  before  in  some  time.  The  retailers,  es¬ 
pecially  those  operating  in  Boston,  have  had 
mighty  hard  going  because  of  the  indifference  of 
the  public  household  demand.  Almost  every  con¬ 
cern  has  had  large  numbers  of  horses  idle,  house 
to  house  canvasses  were  made  and  consumers 
were  flooded  with  circulars  giving  reasons  why 
coal  bins  should  be  filled.  The  retail  contract 
market  w'as  shot  to  pieces,  competition  was  so 
keen,  but  since  retail  buying  has  improved  con¬ 
tract  prices  have  stiffened.  The  usual  July  1  ad¬ 
vance  of  twenty-five  cents  per  ton  in  retail 
anthracite  prices  was  not  announced  today,  but 
probably  will  be  next  iMonday. 

The  improvement  in  the  household  demand  for 
anthracite  has  been  reflected  in  the  wholesale 
market,  the  all-rail  buying  being  better.  There 
are,  however,  some  spots  where  absolutely  noth¬ 
ing  can  be  done,  notably  Attleborough  which  has 
suffered  much  through  the  depression  in  the 
jewelry  business.  Cargo  lots  are  sold  every  day 
in  Boston,  but  the  all-rail  business  seems  to  hold 
the  center  of  the  stage.  At  the  moment  there  is 
a  scarcity  of  egg  owing  to  deliveries  on  school 
contracts,  etc.,  all  over  the  country.  The  local 
market  seems  to  be  long  on  nut  and  pea,  while 
the  demand  for  stove  just  about  offsets  the  sup¬ 
ply.  At  iMystic  Wharf,  stove  and  egg  have  been 
advanced  ten  cents  per  ton  to  $6.90  per  ton  on 
cars,  and  nut  to  $6.2.‘S.  Longside  Boston  Harbor 
prices  are  now  :  Stove  and  egg,  $5.65 ;  nut,  $5.90 ; 
broken,  $5..30(S;5.40 ;  pea,  $4.05  per  ton.  Buck¬ 
wheats  are  unchanged  on  a  basis  of  $1.80  per  ton 
f.  o.  b.  New'  York  for  No.  3. 

The  local  contract  demand  for  New  River, 
Pocahontas  and  other  bituminous  continues  to 
improve.  The  Edison  Company  of  Boston  has 
just  closed  a  contract  for  175,000  tons  of  New 
River  nut  and  slack.  The  price  at  which  the  coal 
sold  and  the  name  of  the  seller  has  not  been 
made  public  as  yet.  A  large  tonnage  of  nut  and 
slack  has  been  sold  on  contract  throughout  New 
England,  and  in  some  quarters  it  is  believed  that 
dealers  will  have  difficulty  in  filling  such  orders 
owing  to  the  small  available  supply.  Other  large 
soft  coal  contracts  are  still  pending,  and  should 
be  announced  within  the  near  future.  In  the 
meantime  the  average  sized  consumer  is  in  the 
market  each  day  for  reorders,  and  while  some 
houses  are  reported  as  cuttinsr  prices,  the  average 
dealer  is  holding  firmly  to  the  official  price  of 
$2.85  f.  o.  b.  Hampton  Roads  for  New  River 
and  Pocahontas. 

Very  little  spot  coal  is  offered  at  Mystic 
Wharf,  as  practically  everything  coming  forward 
is  on  contract.  The  demand  for  spot  New  River 
and  Pocahontas  at  that  point  is  still  light,  how¬ 
ever,  and  dealers  in  order  to  move  lots  have  to 
sell  at  $3.60  per  ton  on  cars.  It  is  almost  impos¬ 
sible  to  get  more  than  that  price.  Georges  Creek 
at  Mystic  is  generally  held  at  $3.90  to  $4  per  ton 
on  cars,  but  practically  none  has  been  sold  since 
last  reports.  The  Boston  Harbor  bunker  market 
is  unchanged  on  a  basis  of  $4.65  per  ton  f.  o.  b. 
on  board  and  trimmed  for  New  River  and  Poca¬ 
hontas.  Pennsylvania  bituminous  continues 
active  and  prices  are  unchanged  on  a  basis  of 
eighty  cents  to  $1.50  per  ton  on  cars  at  the  mines. 
Some  grades  command  more  than  $1.50  per  ton, 
but  comparatively  few  of  these  coals  are  sold  in 
Boston. 

Some  scarcity  of  anthracite  barge  space  is  re¬ 
ported  by  shippers  using  other  than  big  company 
vessels.  Anthracite  rates  remain  unchanged, 
however,  on  a  basis  of  fifty  to  fifty-five  cents 
per  ton  from  New  York  to  Boston.  The  supply 
of  southern  coal  space  just  about  offsets  the  de¬ 
mand  and  prices  are  unchanged  at  seventy-five  to 
eighty  cents  per  ton  from  Hampton  Roads  to 
Boston,  and  seven  to  ten  cents  a  ton  from  Balti¬ 
more  to  Boston. 


Masachusetts  Gas  Companies. 

At  a  recent  meeting  of  the  trustees  of  the 
Massachusetts  Gas  Companies,  Edward  Page  was 
elected  vice-president  of  the  New  England  Coal 
&  Coke  Company.  At  the  same  meeting  the  Bos¬ 
ton  Consolidated  Gas  Company  declared  a 
quarterly  dividend  of  two  and  one-half  per  cent, 
as  compared  with  two  per  cent  for  the  same 
period  last  year ;  the  Citizens  Gas  Company  of 
Quincy  declared  one  per  cent,  against  one  and 
one-quarter  last  year ;  the  East  Boston  Gas  Com¬ 
pany,  two  and  one-half  and  one  per  cent  extra, 
the  same  as  last  year,  and  the  Newton  &  Water- 
towm  Gas  Company,  two  and  one-half  against  two 
last  year. 


The  New  England  Gas  &  Coke  Company  de¬ 
clared  an  annual  dividend  of  three  and  one-half 
per  cent;  last  year  the  dividend  was  four  and 
one-half  per  cent.  The  New  England  Coal  &. 
Coke  Company  declared  ten  per  cent  and  ten 
per  cent  extra,  against  ten  per  cent  and  an  extra 
of  thirty  last  year.  The  Federal  Coal  &  Coke 
Company  declared  fifteen  per  cent,  against  ten 
last  year,  and  the  Boston  Tow  Boat,  twelve, 
against  ten  per  cent  last  year.  The  J.  B.  B.  Coal 
Company  didn’t  pay  a  dividend  this  year;  last 
year  it  paid  five  per  cent. 

The  net  earnings  of  the  subsidiary  companies 
for  May  compared  favorably  with  those  for  the 
same  month  last  year,  but  unfavorably  with 
those  for  April,  this  year.  The  total  net  earn¬ 
ings  for  IMay  were  $230,759,  as  against  $218,502 
for  the  same  month  last  year  and  $212,502  for 
May,  1913.  The  total  net  earnings  for  the  eleven 
months  ended  May  31  were  $2,422,218 ;  for  the 
same  period  last  year  they  were  $2,332,997,  and 
in  1913  were  $2,598,434. 

Following  are  the  net  earnings  of  the  coal  de¬ 
partment  for  May  and  the  eleven  months  ended 
May  31  in  detail,  together  with  comparisons : 


May— 

1915 

1914 

1913 

N.  E.  Gas  &  Coke . 

$  75,363 

$  66,268 

N.  E.  Coal . 

_  66,543 

40,733 

57,074 

Boston  Tow  . 

_  3,804 

6,501 

2,397 

Federal  Coal  . 

_  10,292 

4,124 

2.655 

Total  . 

$126,723 

$118,395 

Eleven  mos.  ended  May  31 — 

X.  E.  Gas  &  Coke.... 

$  735,126  $  754,727 

X.  E.  Coal . 

216,963 

298,056 

Federal  Coal  . 

.  .  .  .  99,090 

63,157 

19,8.50 

Boston  Tow . 

_  49,090 

33,797 

48,635 

Total  . 

_ $963,320  $1,049,044 

$1,121,268 

Baltimore  Trade. 


Baltimore,  July  1. —  (Special  Correspond¬ 
ence.) — With  all  ports  records  for  foreign 
movement  smashed  by  the  June  record  of  ex¬ 
port  cargo  coal  loaded  here  some  Baltimore 
coal  men  at  least,  who  are  sharing  in  this 
immense  business,  have  reason  for  congratu¬ 
lation.  That  the  total  will  show  more  than 
300,000  tons  loaded  here  for  export  when  the 
official  figures  are  announced  is  confidently 
expected.  The  past  week  saw  a  movement 
of  nearly  80,000  tons  for  the  six-day  working 
period.  Many  vessels  are  now  afloat,  also, 
for  coal  loading  here,  and  the  past  week  saw 
the  announcement  of  another  big  batch  of 
charters,  especially  for  Italian  delivery.  Pros¬ 
pects  are,  therefore,  that  the  heavy  trade  will 
continue  some  time  at  least. 

Coal  men  who  have  recently  returned  from 
trips  to  the  mining  regions  of  West  Virginia, 
western  Maryland  and  Pennsylvania  have 
more  or  less  conflicting  stories  to  tell.  On 
the  one  hand  is  found  reports  that  those  mines 
sharing  in  the  output  of  export  coal  are  work¬ 
ing  quite  heavily,  and  that  others  are  profiting 
by  a  growing  call  for  fuel  from  the  north¬ 
west,  while  on  the  other  hand  come  stories 
of  continued  low  prices  and  offerings  of  fuel 
at  almost  sacrificial  rates  at  times.  That 
there  is  some  betterment,  however,  is  evident 
from  the  fact  that  a  number  of  mining  prop¬ 
erties  are  reporting  full  time  or  increased 
activity. 

Times  are  quiet  with  the  anthracite  hand¬ 
lers  here.  There  is  little  or  nothing  doing 
along  the  line  of  steam  sizes.  Considerable 
business  is  on  the  books,  of  course,  but  little 
is  developing  just  now.  There  is  some  little 
call  for  smaller  sizes,  and  some  for  storage 
for  next  winter,  but  the  bulk  of  the  remain¬ 
ing  demand  to  fill  the  situation  here  will  not 
develop  for  several  weeks  at  least. 

But  little  real  change  has  come  in  soft  coal 
prices  for  the  past  three  weeks.  The  rates 
are  about  as  follows: 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Fairmont —  Mines.  Baltimore. 

Three-quarter  . $0.85@  .95  $2.38@2.38 

Run  of  mine . 76@  .80  2.18@2.23 

Slack  . 45@  .55  1.88@1.98 

Somerset — 

Best  .  1.25  2.43 

Good  .  1.10  2.28 


\V.  M.  R.  R.— 


Freeport  .  .80  1.9S 

B.  &  O.— 


Freeport 


.80  1.98 


P.  R.  R.— 

Best  South  Fork 
Miller  Vein  . . . . 
Ordinal  y  . 


1.40  2.58 

1.15  2.83 

.95@1.00  2.13@2.18 


Baltimore  Trade  Notes. 

The  Maryland  Coal  Company  mines  at 
Wendell,  W.  Va.,  are  now  reported  working 
full  time. 

The  effect  of  heavy  purchasing  for  export 
is  reflected  in  properties  that  are  handling 


product  for  that  end  of  the  trade.  Elk  Horn 
Fuel  Company  stock  is  now  very  active,  ap¬ 
parently  partly  on  such  prospects. 

The  demand  by  foreign  carriers  for  bunker 
use  is  growing  steadily.  Last  week  such  ves¬ 
sels  bought  13,248  tons. 

The  Davis  Coal  &  Coke  Company  is  re¬ 
modeling  the  old  Barton  mine  near  Franklin, 
Md.,  preparatory  to  reopening  the  property. 

It  is  understood  that  D.  A.  Thomas,  English 
coal  magnate,  now  on  his  way  to  this  side 
as  purchasing  agent  for  the  Allies,  is  to  in¬ 
clude  this  city  in  his  trip.  When  here  before 
he  had  several  consultations  with  officials  of 
the  Consolidation  Coal  Company. 


Pilotage  Rates  at  Mobile. 


In  order  to  place  the  port  of  Mobile  on  an 
equal  footing  with  competing  ports  on  the  At¬ 
lantic  coast  in  the  handling  of  bunker  coal  the 
Mobile  Bar  Pilots’  Association  have  adopted 
resolutions  reducing  the  rates  for  vessels  coming 
into  port  only  for  coal  to  a  sum  equal  to  those 
prevailing  on  the  Atlantic  coast,  although  the 
service  rendered  is  considerably  greater.  This 
action  is  a  development  of  the  opening  of  the 
Warrior  river,  making  possible  the  establishment 
of  a  cheap  coaling  depot  at  Mobile. 

The  resolutions  adopted  by  the  association  fol¬ 
low  : 

Resolutions  unanimously  adopted  by  the  board 
of  directors  of  Mobile  Bay  and  Bar  Pilots’  Asso¬ 
ciation  on  June  14,  1915: 

“Whereas,  The  opening  up  of  the  Warrior  river 
to  all  year  navigation  by  the  completion  of  Lock 
17  makes  possible  the  establishment  of  a  cheap 
coaling  depot  at  iMobile,  a  possibility  which  has 
not  heretofore  existed ;  and 

Whereas,  At  competing  ports  on  the  Atlantic 
coast,  notably  Norfolk,  Va.,  pilotage  rates  on  ves¬ 
sels  taking  only  bunker  coal  are  lower  than  the 
ordinary  pilotage  rates ;  and 

“Whereas,  It  is  the  desire  of  this  organization 
to  place  IMobile  on  an  equal  footing  with  Nor¬ 
folk,  insofar  as  concerns  the  handling  of  bunker 
and  cargo  coal,  although  the  pilotage  here  is 
much  longer  than  at  Norfolk;  therefore,  be  it 

“Resolved,  That  the  Alobile  Bay  and  Bar  Pi¬ 
lots’  Association  does  hereby  reduce  the  pilotage 
rates  on  vessels  calling  only  for  bunker  coals  and 
on  vessels  substantially  all  of  whose  cargo  is  coal, 
to  the  rates  now  applicable  under  the  laws  and 
practice  governing  the  Virginia  ports  with  respect 
to  such  vessels.  It  is  the  intent  and  purpose 
hereof  to  place  Mobile  on  exactly  an  equal  foot¬ 
ing' with  Norfolk  and  other  Virginia  ports  inso¬ 
far  as  concerns  the  charge  for  pilotage  on  ships 
calling  for  bunker  coals  and  on  ships  whose 
cargo  is  substantially  all  coal. 

“Resolved  further.  That  the  officers  of  this 
association  do  ascertain  the  exact  rates  applica¬ 
ble  under  the  foregoining  clause  of  this  resolu¬ 
tion  and  take  such  steps  as  may  be  necessary  to 
put  the  same  in  force. 

“Resolved  further.  That  the  president  of  this 
association  be,  and  he  herebj'  is,  instructed  to 
take  the  steps  necessary  to  present  to  the  legisla¬ 
ture  at  its  approaching  session  a  bill  or  bills  es¬ 
tablishing  as  a  matter  of  law  the  pilotage  rates 
hereinabove  authorized,  and  to  that  end  that  he 
cause  to  be  drawn  appropriate  bills,  and  have 
the  same  presented  to  the  senator  and  representa¬ 
tives  from  Mobile  county. 

“Resolved  further.  That  this  action  be  given 
full  publicity  that  all  may  know  that  this  asso¬ 
ciation  will  do  all  that  it  can  for  the  develop¬ 
ment  of  Mobile  as  a  coaling  port.’’ 


The  state  public  utilities  commission  has  de¬ 
nied  the  petition  of  the  Victor-American  and 
nine  other  southern  operators  to  intervene  in  the 
order  establishing  lower  coal  rates  from  western 
slope  points,  effective  August  1st.  The  commis¬ 
sion  will,  however,  hear  the  petition  of  the  Colo¬ 
rado  &  Southern  Railroad  on  July  13,  maintain¬ 
ing  that  the  same  rates  are  confiscatory  and  un¬ 
warranted.  The  operators  will,  it  is  said,  assist 
the  railroad  in  fighting  the  reduction. 


One  of  the  large  concerns  near  Buffalo  that 
is  busy  with  fillino'  war  orders  is  the  American 
Locomotive  Company’s  plant  at  Dunkirk.  About 
700  men  are  employed  in  the  manufacture  of 
shrapnel  and  it  is  expected  that  this  number  will 
be  increased  to  1,000.  The  Lackawanna  Steel 
Company  is  turning  out  steel  billets  for  making 
shrapnel  and  is  said  also  to  have  an  order  for 
6,000  tons  of  rails  for  the  Cuban  Railway. 


Making  a  Bigger  Profit  by  Buying  Coal  Properly. 


Scientific  or  near  scientific  buying  as  a 
source  of  profit  for  the  retail  coal  dealers  has 
not  been  considered  as  seriously  as  it  might 
be.  At  least,  there  is  still  room  for  vast  im¬ 
provement.  It  is  the  purpose  of  this  article 
to  discuss  this  question  and  to  suggest  some 
of  the  possibilities. 

The  first  thing  to  do,  of  course,  is  to  buy 
something  that  will  sell.  The  retailer  does 
not  buy  coal  merely  to  fill  his  empty  space. 
He  buys  to  satisfy  a  known  or  anticipated  de¬ 
mand.  He  has,  therefore,  practically  nothing 
to  do  with  the  selection  of  the  coals  which  he 
is  going  to  handle.  This  is  predetermined  by 
the  demands  of  his  trade.  Right  there,  the 
question  is  raised:  “How  can  a  retailer  know 
what  his  trade  wants?”  I  am  going  to  answer 
that  question  because  it  is  the  cause  of  so 
much  needless  confusion. 

Stores  like  Marshall  Field  &  Co.  have  a  way 
of  judging  accurately  the  public  taste.  They 
buy  a  small  lot  of  a  given  kind  of  goods  and 
try  them  out.  If  the  first  lot  moves  rapidly, 
a  second  is  bought.  The  rule  with  such  stores 
is:  “Small  lots,  small  risk  and  quick  turn¬ 
over  or  the  abandonment  of  that  line.” 

However,  Field  &  Co.  and  other  such  stores 
must  have  a  big  assortment  of  goods.  They 
do  not  deal  principally  in  those  staples  which 
do  not  change  from  year  to  year;  on  the  con¬ 
trary,  practically  everything  they  handle 
changes  with  the  styles.  Therefore,  they 
must  move  cautiously  on  everything  they 
handle. 

The  Unchanging  Coal  Demand. 

The  retail  coal  merchant  is  in  different  busi¬ 
ness.  The  people  do  not  follow  the  fashion 
in  coal.  Rather,  they  stick  to  one  kind  for 
years.  It  is  said  truly  that  the  average  house¬ 
holder  is  as  firmly  rooted  to  the  kind  of  coal 
he  uses  as  he  is  to  the  location  in  which  he 
lives.  Therefore,  the  problem  of  “feeling  the 
pulse  of  the  trade”  is  not  a  difficult  one  for 
the  retail  coal  man.  The  only  customers 
about  whom  he  should  have  any  doubt  are  the 
new  ones  or  those  who  have  moved  but  re¬ 
cently  into  his  selling  zone. 

When  to  Buy. 

With  the  major  problem  of  “what  to  buy” 
settled  by  the  habits  of  the  buyers,  the  next 
question  becomes  “When  shall  I  buy?”  The 
old  truism  in  merchandising  is  to  "buy  low 
and  sell  high.”  The  retail  coal  trade  has  con¬ 
verted  this  into:  “Buy  when  you  need  it  and 
sell  for  pretty  nearly  anything  your  competi¬ 
tor  suggests.”  Between  those  two  policies 
there  is  room  to  sail  the  ship  of  state  with 
the  royals  and  the  spankers  set.  That  is, 
there  is  about  all  the  room  there  is.  One  pol¬ 
icy  gets  some  place  that  is  definite.  The  other 
policy  heads  no  place  at  all  and  hence  never 
gets  anywhere. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  there  is  a  time  when 
every  coal  is  at  the  low  water  mark  for  the 
year.  There  is  anthracite,  for  example.  It  is 
lowest  in  April  and  advances  steadily  until 
September,  when  the  price  holds  steady  for 
the  winter.  The  time  to  buy  anthracite  is  in 
April  and  May. 

Smokeless  coal  has  two  prices — summer 
and  winter.  The  lump  and  egg  begins  low  in 
April  and  moves  up  rapidly  until  July,  when 
it  is  at  top  figure.  The  time  to  buy  it  is  in 
April  and  May.  At  latest,  it  should  be  bought 
in  June.  The  mine  run  stays  at  one  price 
from  April  to  August.  This  coal  can  be 
bought  in  July,  under  present  conditions,  to 
best  advantage. 

The  point  in  consideration  here  is:  The  re¬ 
tailer  wants  to  buy  his  coal  at  the  lowest  price 
and  yet  carry  it  the  least  possible  time  l)cfore 
he  sells  it  again.  Thus  he  gets  the  lowest 
price  on  anthracite  and  on  smokeless  pre¬ 
pared  coal  by  buying  in  April  and  May  and  by 
holding  it  until  October  or  November.  But 

*Of  the  O’Gara  Coal  Co. 


By  E.  H.  Irwin,* 

Buying  Low,  Selling  High,  and  Playing 
for  a  Quick  Turnover  Gives  an  Oppor¬ 
tunity  to  Turn  a  Losing  Business  Into  a 
Profit. 

since  the  smokeless  mine  run  does  not  change 
price  in  four  months,  the  best  possible  policy 
is  to  buy  it  in  the  last  month  of  the  low 
price — July — and  thus  have  the  minimum  hold 
or  until  October  and  November. 

Buying  Bituminous  Coal. 

Bituminous  coal  presents  another  problem. 
It  has  no  regular  schedule  of  prices.  It  is  al¬ 
together  a  hit  and  miss  proposition.  Under 
ordinary  circumstances,  the  supply  is  always 
greater  than  any  possilde  demand.  The  only 
things  that  cause  its  prices  to  change  are 
some  present  disruption  of  conditions  or 
some  expected  disruption. 

While  that  is  true,  it  also  is  a  fact  that  these 
actual  or  expected  disruptions  come  around 
with  remarkable  regularity.  One  or  the  other 
gives  some  strength  to  the  bituminous  trade 
at  certain  periods  'each  year.  Thus  there  is 
nearly  as  much  regularity  to  the  bituminous 
coal  seasons  as  there  is  to  those  of  any  other 
kinds  of  coal. 

Experience  proves,  in  fact,  that  the  lowest 
prices  on  bituminous  coal  are  quoted  in  June, 
July  and  the  first  half  of  August.  The  time, 
then,  to  buy  bituminous  coal  at  the  lowest 
price  is  in  those  months.  However,  there  is 
a  secondary  period  of  inaction  in  bituminous 
coal.  A  survey  of  the  market  for  the  last 
twenty-five  years  shows  that  a  period  of  low 
prices  comes  regularly  in  December.  Al¬ 
ways  it  lasts  for  fifteen  days.  Sometimes  it 
lasts  longer. 

Therefore,  the  program  of  the  progressive 
retailer  should  be  to  buy  enough  bituminous 
in  summer  to  carry  him  through  until 
December  and  to  buy  enough  in  December  to 
carry  him  through  until  March.  The  buying 
period — or  the  one  when  prices  are  lowest — in 
l)ituminous  coal  is  thus  split  into  two  sections. 

This  presents  a  striking  fact.  The  retailer 
can  get,  in  the  off  season,  a  lower  price  on  his 
bituminous  coal  than  on  any  other.  He  can 
carry  it  a  shorter  period  before  he  gets  a 
“turn  over”  than  he  can  any  other.  He  can, 
when  he  has  had  the  “turn  over,”  renew  his 
supply  at  bargain  prices.  Thus  a  retailer  can 
buy  bituminous  to  better  advantage  than  any 
other  kind  of  coal. 

Matters  of  Policy. 

There  are  several  reasons  why  this  early 
purchasing  is  advisable,  aside  from  the  (|ues- 
tion  of  making  a  bigger  profit. 

First.  Relatively  only  a  few  of  the  i)etter 
retailers  can  buy  ahead  of  time.  The  others 
have  not  the  money  to  pay  cash  nor  the  stand¬ 
ing  that  would  give  them  credit.  The  better 
dealer  thus  gets  an  edge  on  his  competitor. 

Second.  Cars  are  always  shortest  at  the 
time  when  the  movement  of  coal  to  the  house¬ 
holder  is  heaviest.  The  fact  of  the  heavy 
movement  from  mines  to  yards  explains  this 
in  part.  The  fact  that  farm  produce  is  mov¬ 
ing  at  that  time  explains  it  in  another  part. 
The  fact  that  the  railroads  “borrow”  and  do 
not  return  more  cars  at  that  time  than  any 
other  is  still  another  good  reason.  By  hav¬ 
ing  a  supply  on  hand,  the  retailer  avoids  the 
annoyances  and  dangers  of  a  car  shortage. 
Coal  shipped  during  the  summer  months  ar¬ 
rives  in  much  better  condition  and  can  be 
handled  more  economically  than  later  when  it 
is  liable  to  be  filled  with  snow  or  frozen  solid 
in  the  car,  and  there  is  not  the  danger  of 
pilfering  in  July  that  there  is  in  zero  weather. 

Third.  Ordering  the  coal  early  assures  that 


it  will  be  on  hand  when  the  demand  is  the  big¬ 
gest.  It  assures  that  the  retailer  will  have 
something  to  sell  when  the  buyers  want  it. 

These  three  considerations  decide  that  it 
will  be  “good  policy”  for  the  retailer  to  buy 
his  coal  early.  This,  of  course,  provided  that 
he  has  the  money  with  which  to  pay  for  it 
and  the  space  in  which  to  store  it. 

Measuring  the  Profit. 

But,  these  things,  important  as  they  are,  do 
not  decide  that  the  dealer  is  going  to  make 
money  out  of  the  coal  that  he  buys  early. 
That  is  one  question  to  which  careful  atten¬ 
tion  must  be  given. 

In  the  territory  embracing  the  middle  west¬ 
ern  states,  it  is  conservative  and  perhaps  fair 
to  say  that  the  average  cost  of  western  bi¬ 
tuminous  coal  to  the  retailer  is  $4.00  a  ton. 
In  the  months  of  June,  July  and  part  of 
August,  this  coal  can  be  had  for  at  least  sev¬ 
enty-five  cents  a  ton  less  than  the  fall  price. 
Thus  the  dealer  by  buying  in  the  low-priced 
months  can  save  at  least  twenty  per  cent  of 
the  purchase  price  of  his  coal.  Twenty  per 
cent  would  be  a  big  profit  on  money  invested 
in  coal  if  the  investment  were  carried  a  year. 
But  it  is  not  carried,  on  the  average,  more 
than  four  months.  To  get  the  yearly  interest 
rate,  we  have  to  multiply  the  20  per  cent  by 
three,  which  makes  sixty  per-  cent. 

The  return  on  the  money  invested  in 
bituminous  coal  is  larger  than  in  any  other 
for  two  reasons: 

First.  The  summer  discount  on  bituminous 
coal  per  ton  is  larger  than  on  any  other. 

Second.  The  money  is  tied  up  a  shorter 
time  than  is  the  case  on  any  other  grade  of 
coal. 

What  is  true  of  bituminous  coal  is  true,  in 
a  measure,  of  semi-bituminous  or  smokeless 
and  anthracite.  The  possible  saving  on 
anthracite  is  fifty  cents  a  ton.  The  average 
selling  price  to  the  retailer  in  the  middle 
western  states  is  $7.50.  Therefore,  if  he  saves 
fifty  cents  a  ton,  he  makes  a  saving  of  ap¬ 
proximately  seven  per  cent.  I  venture  to  say 
that  this  is  more  than  the  average  retailer 
makes  yearly  on  the  money  tied  up  in  his 
business.  I  know  of  one  good  retailer,  located 
in  a  prosperous  territory,  who  has  earned  for 
four  or  five  years  only  one  and  one-half  per 
cent. 

However,  the  retailer  makes  this  seven  jier 
cent  for  the  time  that  his  money  is  tied  up. 
We  will  say  that  he  buys  his  anthracite  in 
April  and  delivers  it  in  October.  He  has  held 
the  coal  for  six  months  and,  therefore,  the 
saving  is  not  seven  per  cent  but  fourteen. 
There  is  no  coal  retailer  of  whom  I  know  who 
makes  fourteen  per  cent  on  his  money. 

My  estimate  is  that  the  average  cost  of 
smokeless  lump  and  egg  coal  to  the  dealer,  in 
the  territory  here  under  consideration,  is  $5.50 
a  ton.  By  buying  this  coal  in  April  or  May, 
he  can  save  anywhere  from  forty  to  sixty-five 
cents  a  ton.  We  will  say,  on  the  average,  that 
he  can  save  lifty  cents  a  ton.  That  is  about 
nine  per  cent  on  his  money.  At  the  outside, 
he  will  have  to  carry  this  coal  only  six  months, 
so  tliat  the  nine  per  cent  in  six  months  be¬ 
comes  eighteen  per  cent  on  an  annual  basis. 
There  is  no  retailer  of  whom  I  know  who  can 
make  eighteen  per  cent  in  any  other  way — at 
least  out  of  the  retail  coal  luisiness. 

The  average  cost  of  smokeless  mine  run  is, 
in  the  territory  under  consideration,  probably 
$4.50.  The  saving  which  it  is  possible  to  make 
on  this  coal  is  fifteen  cents  a  ton  or  twenty- 
five  cents  a  ton  at  the  outside.  The  saving  to 
be  made  on  this  coal  is,  therefore,  about  six 
per  cent.  However,  if  the  retailer  does  not 
i)uy  this  coal  until  July  and  moves  it  out  of  his 
yard  in  October,  he  is  carrying  the  coal  only 
three  months,  'I'hercfore,  he  gets  six  per  cent 
for  three  month.s,  or,  on  the  average,  about 
(Concluded  on  page  29.) 


22 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[July  10 


Exact  Figures  Turn  Expected  Profit  to  Loss. 


Two  months  ago,  Ed  Klinenberg  of  the 
Peoples  Fuel  &  Supply  Company  of  Chicago, 
would  have  taken  oath  that  he  was  making 
money  out  of  his  retail  anthracite  business. 
He  had  a  margin  between  his  selling  price 
and  his  cost  of  coal  which  he  was  sure  would 
far  more  than  cover  every  cent  of  expense. 
Also  he  had  reason  to  believe  that  by  virtue 
of  a  given  arrangement,  he  could  make  a 
profit  twenty-five  cents  a  ton  larger  than  that 
which  most  retailers  get. 

But,-  to  make  doubly  sure,  he  called  in  an 
auditor  who  went  over  the  records  carefully 
placed  upon  his  books.  This  auditor  charged 
against  the  cost  of  doing  business  every  cent 
of  expense  that  had  been  entailed.  When  this 
had  been  done,  instead  of  making  a  good 
profit  on  anthracite  and  twenty-five  cents  be¬ 
sides,  Mr.  Klinenberg  found  that  he  had 
thrown  away  his  twenty-five  cent  advantage 
and,  in  addition,  had  lost  one  and  one-half 
cents  a  ton. 

This  means,  when  applied  to  the  retail  busi¬ 
ness  generally,  that  some  dealers  think  they 
are  making  money  on  anthracite  while  charg¬ 
ing  current  prices.  Instead,  they  are  losing 
from  twenty-five  to  thirty  cents  a  ton. 

The  same  thing  applies  to  other  grades  of 
coal,  of  course.  It  is  true  that,  in  other  de¬ 
partments,  Mr.  Klinenberg  did  not  lose 
money.  But  it  is  also  true  that  he  did  not 
make  anything  like  the  amount  that  he  sup¬ 
posed  he  was  making.  The  facts  in  the  case, 
when  actually  revealed  by  the  auditor’s  state¬ 
ment,  were  astounding. 

Now  Mr.  Klinenberg  permits  the  printing 
of  the  auditor’s  report  to  him,  not  because  he 
cares  to  disclose  the  private  affairs  of  his  own 
businqss  but  because  he  wants  to  impress  upon 
the  other  retail  dealers  that  they  do  not  know 
how  they  stand.  He  is  candid  to  show  that 
they  are  not  making  the  money  they  think 
they  are  unless  they  have  accurate  accounting 
and  unless  they  employ  an  auditor  now  and 
then  to  go  over  their  books. 

The  statement  made  to  Mr.  Klinenberg  by 
Frank  J.  Ross,  public  auditor  and  accountant, 
is  as  follows: 

“In  accordance  with  your  request  I  have 
compiled  a  statement  of  the  business  trans¬ 
acted  by  your  company  for  the  year  ended 
March  31,  1915,  showing  in  detail  the  selling- 
price,  cost  of  sales,  gross  profit,  expense,  and 
net  profit  or  loss  per  ton  of  the  various  com¬ 
modities  handled  during  the  year. 

“The  sales  tonnage  used  as  a  basis  for  com- 
l)iling  this  statement  is  summarized  as  fol¬ 


lows  : 

Tons. 

Anthracite  sales .  7,102 

Bituminous  sales .  9,508 

Wholesale  coal  sales .  4,362 

Ice  sales . 10,700 

Miscellaneous  sales .  434 


Total  sales  tonnage . 33,106i/$ 


Anthracite  Coal. 

“The  anthracite  coal  business  transacted  for 
the  year  shows  that  7,102  tons  of  coal  was  sold 
at  a  net  loss  of  about  one  and  four-fifths  cents 
per  ton,  making  a  net  loss  for  the  year  of 


$152.92. 

.5nthracite  sales  (7,102  tons) . $52,475.34 

Cost  of  coal .  48,240.51 

Gross  profit  on  sales . $  4,234.83 

Special  consideration .  1,874.26 


Gross  profit  on  trading .  $0,109.09 

Operating  expense .  2,484.79 

Selling  expense .  703.14 

Office  and  miscellaneous  expense .  3,074.08 


Total  expenses  on  anthracite .  6,262.01 


Net  loss  on  anthracite .  $  152.92 

Sales  price,  per  ton . $7,38  4/5 

Cost  of  coal,  per  ton .  6.79  1/5 

Gross  profit,  per  ton . 59  3/5 

Special  consideration,  per  ton . 26  2/5 

Gross  profit  on  trading,  per  ton . 86 

Operating  expense,  per  ton . 35 

Selling  expense,  per  ton . 09  4/5 

Miscellaneous  expense,  per  ton . 43 

Total  expenses,  per  ton . 87  4/5 

Net  loss,  per  ton . 01  4  . '5 


Bituminous  Coal. 

“The  net  profits  on  the  bituminous  coal  sales 
of  9,508  tons  amount  to  $4,020.80,  a  net  earning 
of  about  forty-two  and  four-fifths  cents  per 
ton.  The  net  profits  on  the  bituminous  coal 
sales  are  eighty-five  per  cent  of  the  total  net 
profits  on  the  trading  done  for  the  year.  The 
following  is  a  brief  summary  of  the  bituminous 
coal  business  transacted: 


Bituminous  coal  sales  (tonnage.  9,508)  .$43,499.73 
Cost  of  coal .  31,379.34 


Gross  profit  on  sales . $12,120.39 

Allowances  and  discounts .  296.32 


Gross  profit  on  trading .  $12,416.71 

Operating  expense .  3,335,71 

Selling  expense .  942.23 

Office  and  miscellaneous  expenses .  4,117.97 


Total  expenses  on  bituminous _  8,395.91 


Net  profit  on  bituminous .  $4,020.80 

Sales  price,  per  ton . $4.67^ 

Cost  of  coal,  per  ton .  3.30 

Gross  profit,  per  ton .  1.27J4 

Discounts,  per  ton . 03 

Gross  profit  on  trading,  per  ton  of  bituminous.,.  I.3014 

Operating  expense,  per  ton . 35 

Selling  expense,  per  ton . 09  4/5 

Miscellaneous  expenses,  per  ton . 43 

Total  expenses,  per  ton . 87  4/5 

Net  profit,  per  ton . 42  4/5 


“The  ice  business  transacted  for  the  year 
ended  March  31,  1915,  shows  that  10,700  tons 
of  ice  were  sold  at  a  net  profit  of  about  one 
and  two-fifths  cents  per  ton,  amounting  to  a 
net  profit  of  $114.29.  The  attached  schedule 
shows  that  the  operating  expense  on  the  ice 
sales  is  two  cents  greater  than  on  coal  sales. 
The  following  summary  briefly  sets  forth  the 


ice  business  transacted: 

Ice  sales  (tonnage,  10,700) . $31,800.48 

Cost  of  ice .  22,670.53 


Gross  profit  on  sales . $  9,129.95 

Allowances  and  discounts .  629.69 


Gross  profit  on  trading .  $9,759.64 

Operating  expense .  3,952.75 

Selling  expense .  1,059.42 

Office  and  miscellaneous  expenses.  . .  .  4,633.18 


Total  expenses  on  ice .  9,645.35 


Net  profits  on  ice .  $  114.29 

Sales  pffee,  per  ton . $2.97  1/5 

Cost  price,  per  ton .  2.12 

Gross  profit,  per  ton . 85  1/5 

Discounts,  per  ton . 05  4/5 

Gross  profit  on  trading,  per  ton . 91  1/5 

Operating  expense,  per  ton . 37 

Selling  expense,  per  ton . 09  4/5 

Office  and  miscellaneous  expenses,  per  ton . 43 

Total  expenses,  per  ton . 89  4/5 

Net  profit,  per  ton . 01  2/5 


“The  wholesale  coal  business  is  not  treated 
here  because  it  is  not  germane.  The  report 
continues: 


At  the  convention  at  Wilmington  of  the  Penn¬ 
sylvania  Retail  Coal  Merchants’  Association, 
Charles  Enzian,  mining  engineer  of  the  Bureau 
of  Mines,  delivered  an  address  on  anthracite  in 
connection  with  the  presentation  of  the  moving 
pictures  of  the  mines. 

Part  of  it  was  explanatory  of  the  pictures  pre¬ 
sented,  but  the  forepart  of  it  had  to  do  with  the 
statistics  of  the  anthracite  trade.  These  are 
grouped  in  a  way  that  is  not  common.  What  he 
had  to  say  on  that  phase  of  the  subject  was  as 
follows : 

“The  history  of  the  discovery  of  anthracite  no 
doubt  is  familiar  to  every  one  connected  with 
the  industry.  The  Indian  tribes  of  the  Wyoming 
and  Lackawanna  Valleys  had  discovered  the  ex¬ 
istence  of  “stone  coal”  many  years  before  that 
region  first  attracted _ the  attention  of  the  white 
settlers.  A  narrative  history  of  the  region,  the 
development  of  the  first  mine,  the  formation  of 
the  first  company,  the  building  of  canals  and 
railroads  and  many  other  changes  brought  about 
by  the  industry  that  has  become  of  such  tremen¬ 
dous  importance  to  the  prosperity  of  northeastern 
Pennsylvania  and  of  the  nation,  abounds  in 
epochs  of  absorbing  interest. 

“Illustrative  of  the  economical  importance  of 
the  anthracite  mining  industry,  I  quote  from 
statistics  compiled  by  Mr.  E.  W.  Parker,  statis¬ 
tician  of  the  United  States  Geological  Survey. 
During  1913  the  total  production  of  coal  in  the 
United  States  was  570,000,000  tons ;  of  this  total 
production,  91,500,000  tons  were  anthracite — about 
one-sixth  of  the  hulk.  The  total  value  of  all  the 
coal  mined  in  the  country  duripg  the'  same  year 
was  $760,000,000 ;  of  this  value  anthracite  repre¬ 
sents  $195,000,000,  or  more  than  one-fourth  of  the 
total.  Since  1807  there  has  been  mined  7,398,000,- 
()()()  tons  of  bituminous  and  2,447,000,000  tons  of 
anthracite.  On  a  comparative  basis,  using  the  aver¬ 
age  value  for  1913,  it  will  be  noted  that  anthra¬ 
cite  represents  sixty  per  cent  of  the  value  of  all 
the  coal  mined  in  the  United  States,  which  at  the 
end  of  1913  reached  the  enormous  quantity  of 


Miscellaneous  Sales. 

“The  miscellaneous  sale  of  coke,  hay,  oats, 
corn,  and  wood  show  that  on  a  sales  tonnage 
of  434p2  tons  a  net  profit  of  $551.66  was 
realized,  averaging  a  net  profit  of  $1.22 1/5 
per  ton  as  shown  in  the  following  summary: 


Miscellaneous  sales  (tonnage,  43454)  ...  .$5,342.24 
Cost  of  miscellaneous  merchandise .  4,584.22 


Gross  profit  on  sales . $  758.02 

Allowances  and  discounts .  95.76 


Gross  profits  on  trading .  $853.78 

Operating  expense .  78.65 

Selling  expense .  38.48 

Office  and  miscellaneous  expenses .  184.99 


Total  expenses  on  miscellaneous .  302.12 


Net  profits  on  miscellaneous....  $551.66 

Selling  price,  per  ton . $12,29  2/5 

Cost  price,  per  ton .  10.55 

Gross  profit,  per  ton .  1.74  2/5 

Discounts,  per  ton . 19 

Gross  profit  on  trading,  per  ton .  1.93  1/5 

Operating  expense,  per  ton . is  1/5 

Selling  expense,  per  ton . 09  4/5 

Miscellaneous  expenses,  per  ton . 43 

Total  expenses,  per  ton . 71 

Net  profits,  per  ton .  1.22  1/5 


“The  total  sales  tonnage  handled  during  the 
year  was  32,106^  tons,  the  average  selling 
price  of  same  being  $4.37  4/5  per  ton,  or 
$140,557.97,  the  cost  price  of  same  being 
fifty-three  and  four-fifths  cents  per  ton,  creat¬ 
ing  an  average  gross  profit  on  the  sales  of 
about  eighty-four  cents,  or  $26,981.65.  The 
allowances  and  discounts  on  this  sales  tonnage 
of  32,106^  tons  was  nine  cents  per  ton  or 
$2,896.03,  which  added  to  the  gross  profit  on 
the  sales,  makes  the  gross  profit  on  trading 
ninety-three  cents  per  ton  or  $29,877.68. 

“The  operating  expense  on  the  sales  tonnage 
averaged  thirty  and  four-fifths  cents  per  ton  or 
$9,857.92.  The  selling  expen'se  averaged  eight 
and  one-half  cents  per  ton  or  $2,743.27,  and 
the  office  and  miscellaneous  overhead  expense 
averaged  thirty-nine  cents  or  $12,542.04,  mak¬ 
ing  the  average  total  expense  per  sales  ton  of 
seventy-eight  and  two-fifths  cents  or  $25,143.23. 

“The  average  gross  profit  on  trading  being 
ninety-three  cents  per  ton  or  $29,877.68,  and 
the  average  total  expense  being  seventy-two 
and  two-fifths  cents  per  ton,  or  $25,143.23, 
making  the  net  (clear)  profit  of  fourteen  and 
three-fifths  cents  per  sales  ton,  or  $4,734.45 
net  profit  on  trading  for  the  year.” 


9,844,000,000  tons.  It  may  be  of  further  interest 
to  note  that  in  1913,  which  is  perhaps  a  rep¬ 
resentative  year,  the  State  of  Pennsylvania  had  a 
total  production  of  over  265,000,000  tons,  anthra- 
ciate  and  bituminous  combined,  or  forty-six  per 
cent  of  the  coal  mined  in  the  United  States.  It  is 
estimated  that  in  1913  the  United  States  produced 
39.5  per  cent  of  the  world’s  production  of  coal. 

“Sales  organizations  bear  an  important  relation 
to  the  economical  mining  and  the  perpetuation  of 
a  national  resource,  not  inexhaustible  and  never 
to  be  replenished  when  the  present  deposits  have 
been  depleted.  In  this  movement  the  Federal 
Bureau  of  Mines,  with  the  limited  funds  appro- 
prited  for  its  work,  has  taken  a  deep  interest 
during  its  five  years  existence,  and  through  the 
splendid  co-operation  of  the  miners  and  operators 
has  accomplished  most  gratifying  results.  The 
bureau  is  most  vitally  interested  in  the  safe¬ 
guarding  of  the  lives  of  the  mine  workers,  and 
from  investigations  and  experiments  has  been 
able  to  render  a  most  helpful  service  to  the  public 
and  the  nation.” 


Up  to  June  6th  a  total  of  $4,000,000  in  tolls 
was  collected  for  the  use  of  the  Panama 
Canal  since  the  opening  of  the  canal  last  fall. 
During  April  the  tolls  for  the  first  time  were 
greater  than  the  cost  of  operating  and  mainte¬ 
nance  of  the  canal  by  $84,102,  a  total  for  the 
month  being  $442,415,  and  the  cost  of  opera¬ 
tion  $358,303.  The  cost  of  operation  was  less 
in  April  than  in  any  month  since  the  opening 
of  the  canal.  The  reduction  in  operating  ex¬ 
penses  was  due  largely  to  diminished  dredg¬ 
ing  operations. 


E.  D.  Carr,  at  one  time  sales  manager  of  the 
old  Columbus  &  Hocking  Coal  &  Iron  Company, 
and  afterwards  connected  with  several  local  coal 
concerns,  has  taken  a  position  as  assistant  sales 
manager  of  the  Hickory  Ash  Coal  Company, 
Wellston,  Ohio.  For  a  year  or  more  past  he  has 
been  in  another  line  of  business. 


Some  Figures  on  Anthracite  Output. 


No.  2] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


23 


The  Coal  Company’s  Trouble  Man. 


Philadelphia,  May  13. —  {Special  Correspond¬ 
ence.) — In  the  clays  when  the  electric  light  plants 
were  in  their  infancy  a  set  of  men  found  new 
jobs.  They  were  “trouble  shooters.”  Their  labor 
was  to  get  to  places  of  trouble  “just  as  quick  as 
the  Lord  would  let  ’em.” 

One  of  the  new  things  connected  with  coal 
sales  is  a  “trouble  shooter.”  The  particular 
“trouble  shooter”  who  inspires  this  article  has 
been  in  the  employ  of  a  West  Virginia  coal 
company  for  over  a  quarter  of  a  century.  An 
officer  of  his  company  told  the  writer  that,  con¬ 
servatively,  he  had  saved  them  the  loss  of  thou¬ 
sands  of  dollars  worth  of  business  every  year. 

“Not  alone  that,”  this  man  continued,  “but  he 
has  saved  the  blame  that  might  fall  on  other 
shoulders  from  carrying  a  sting.” 

This  man  knows  coal.  He  delved  into  the 
bowels  of  the  earth  for  it  for  years.  Afterward 
he  fired  the  boilers  at  the  company’s  plant.  His 
was  the  school  of  hard  knocks.  All  kinds  of 
conditions  were  met  in  gaining  the  greatest  en¬ 
ergy  from  the  coal.  He  was  observant  and  he 
remembered  what  he  observed. 

There  came  a  time  when  a  big  contract  that 
was  held  by  his  company  was  in  danger  because 
the  coal  was  not  coming  up  to  the  point  of  effi¬ 
ciency  that  had  been  guaranteed  in  the  contract. 
The  sales  force  was  at  its  wits’  end  to  know 
where  and  why  the  coal  was  failing  in  its  task. 

One  of  the  heads  of  this  organization  is  a 
man  that  knows  a  thousand  and  one  of  his  em¬ 
ployes.  He  declared  that  if  anyone  could  find 
where  the  coal  was  “falling  down,”  our  friend 
at  the  boilers  could. 

He  took  the  man  away  from  the  boilers  and 
told  him  exactly  the  situation  confronting  the 
company  and  proposed  that  he  should  ferret  out 
the  “monkey  wrench  that  was  disturbing  the 
machinery.”  His  report  was : 

“Well,  I  guess  you  won’t  have  any  more  trou¬ 
ble  with  that  coal.  I  found  that  the  drafts  were 
clogged  up  and  there  wasn’t  enough  suction 
behind  the  boilers  to  draw  milk  out  of  a  baby’s 
bottle.  We  rigged  it  up  so  as  to  give  her  about 
two  inches  more  leeway  and  you  ought  to  have 
seen  the  steam  hitting  the  high  spots  on  the 
gauge.” 

A  complete  report  of  examination  and  deduc¬ 
tion  by  an  efficiency  engineer  would  have  dwelt 
on  a  dozen  and  one  things  that  this  “trouble 
shooter”  found.  But  his  way  of  expressing  it 
was  to  tell  of  the  great  condition  and  smooth 
out  the  little  ones  without  comment.  ■  Today  the 
owner  of  the  self-same  plant  where  the  “trouble 
shooter”  made  his  debut  into  his  own  particu¬ 
lar  line  of  work  would  gladly  pay  his  expenses 
and  a  goodly  “bit”  beside  whenever  the  boiler 
room  efficiency  is  falling  below  what  he  reckons 
to  be  right. 

The  coal  company  does  a  considerable  amount 
of  business  in  the  southern  states.  Here,  where 
the  retailers  are  not  as  numerous  as  in  the 
north,  the  business  is  done  direct  with  corpora¬ 
tions  requiring  coal.  Here  also  is  found  the 
lower  strata  of  boiler  room  men.  To  use  one 
man’s  expression :  “In  the  north  the  fireman 
considers  his  work  as  employment ;  in  the  south 
it  is  only — a  job.” 

One  day  a  long  letter  came  from  a  cotton  fac¬ 
tory  declaring  that  of  all  the  coals  that  this  plant 
had  used  in  years,  that  on  supply  and  from  the 
beginning  of  the  season  was  the  worst  ever. 

By  this  time  the  “trouble  shooter”  had  been 
“on  the  job”  for  several  trips  and  he  was  dis¬ 
patched  to  the  scene  of  complaint.  Here  was 
a  pretty  pickle.  The  coal  looked  good  and  was 
good.  All  things  about  the  boiler  room  section 
of  the  plant  looked  to  be  up  to  the  mark,  well 
kept  and  better  than  the  ordinary.  It  took  a 
day  or  two  and  finally  the  test  that  the  old  mine 
fireman  applied  worked  out. 

The  flues  of  the  plant  were  so  corroded  and 
stuffed  with  soot  that  it  was  a  wonder  that  any 
fire  below  would  burn  red. 

Here  was  another  case  from  the  south  that 
he  straightened  out.  This  time  it  was  reported 
that  the  coal  was  running  “good  and  bad.”  The 
trouble  shooter  spent  three  or  four  days  about 
the  plant  in  question  and  finally  there  came  a 
morning  when  the  steam  was  surely  insufficient 
to  drive  the  load  of  machinery  that  it  was  sup¬ 
posed  to.  Another  morning  and  a  like  condi¬ 
tion.  Then  Mr.  Trouble  Shooter  went  sleuth¬ 
ing.  He  found  that  the  steam  on  these  two 
mornings  had  been  turned  into  a  huge  dye  vat 
and  over  half  the  generation  was  being  side¬ 
tracked  to  that  department  of  the  works  instead 
of  running  the  machinery,  as  had  been  expected. 
It  was  not  the  coal ;  it  was  expecting  the  im¬ 
possible. 


So  much  for  the  mechanical  side  of  this  man’s 
employment.  His  labors  do  not  cease  there.  A 
demand  came  for  the  cancellation  of  a  con¬ 
tract  from  a  southern  mill  one  year  with  no 
explanation.  Off  our  friend  was  started  to  the 
scene  of  action.  The  trouble  again  was  that 
the  coal  was  below  the  grade  that  had  been  rep¬ 
resented. 

A  visit  to  the  engine  room  of  the  plant  put 
him  on  the  scent  of  “what  was  what”  right 
away.  The  stuff  that  was  being  run  upon  the 
grates  in  the  fire  box  certainly  was  not  the  run 
of  mine  coal  that  had  been  shipped  from  the 
rnines  of  the  company  for  which  he  worked.  He 
pinned  the  superintendent  of  the  plant  clown  to 
fact  and  elicited  the  information  that  coal  was 
being  screened  and  the  large  pieces  were  being 
sold  to  the  employes  at  regular  retail  rates.  The 
superintendent  was  surprised  beyond  measure 
when  he  learned  that  the  fine  coal  placed  under 
the  boilers  was_  burning  in  the  natural  manner 
of  fine  coal  without  giving  the  heat  efficiency 
that  he  wanted. 

Numerous  cases  he  has  run  to  ground  where 
he  has  been  called  upon  to  show  that  a  piece  of 
slate  picked  out  from  a  car  of  coal  did  not  at 
all  represent  decent  grounds  for  a  kick.  One 
occasion  was  the  receipt  of  several  bricks  that 
one  buyer  found  in  his  coal.  He  wanted  to 
know  if  the  coal  company  “had  taken  the  means 
of  loading  a  car  with  broken  brick  to  cheat  him 
out  of  coal.”  He  was  a  much  surprised  busi¬ 
ness  man  to  know  that  the  object  of  his  com¬ 
plaint  had  been  used  by  a  lot  of  boys  in  his 
own  home  town  as  missiles  with  which  to  peg 
coal  cars. 

All  coal  men  have  “kicks”  coming  in  daily  and 
some  of  these  above  may  sound  like  some  of 
their  own.  The  outstanding  difference,  however, 
is  that  the  selling  force  of  the  coal  company  re¬ 
ferred  to  believe  that  a  satisfied  customer  is  an 


One  of  the  mooted  legal  questions  of  the  day 
is  the  legality  of  the  present  campaign  to  tax 
all  manner  of  premium  schemes  out  of  existence. 
Readers  of  trade  papers  know  that  this  campaign 
has  broken  out  in  various  States  of  the  Union, 
and  is  now  being  vigorously  waged. 

It  takes  either  of  two  forms.  The  first  is  such 
a  law  as  Colorado  has  just  passed,  flatly  for¬ 
bidding  all  manner  of  gift  enterprises,  and  the 
second  is  a  law  making  everybody  who  sells  or 
uses  trading  stamps  and  other  premium  devices 
pay  a  tax  so  high  that  nobody  can  afford  to  re¬ 
main  in  the  business.  Such  a  bill  is  pending  in 
Pennsylvania.  It  would  compel  trading  stamp 
companies  to  pay  a  license  of  $2,000,  and  retailers 
who  distribute  the  stamps  to  pay  $500.  In  New 
York  State  the  attack  takes  even  a  third  form — 
that  of  a  proposed  law  forbidding  all  sorts  of 
coupon  schemes  except  trading  stamps. 

In  some  states  prohibitory  or  regulatory  laws 
have  already  been  passed  and  are  waiting  tests 
as  to  their  constitutionality.  In  other  states  such 
laws  undoubtedly  will  be  passed,  and  it  is  prob¬ 
able  that  the  coming  year  will  see  the  whole 
premium  question  thrown  into  the  courts  for 
decision  as  to  whether  premiums  have  a  right 
to  live. 

Can  laws  be  passed  which  will  make  premium 
schemes  illegal?  Or  can  premium  schemes  be 
gotten  rid  of  by  imposing  sUch  a  high  license 
tax  that  nobody  can  pay  it?  My  own  opinion 
is  that  the  courts  will  finally  answer  both  of 
these  questions  in  the  negative.  In  the  present 
state  of  the  law  in  most  states,  a  Legislature 
can  impose  some  tax  on  the  premium  business 
or  any  phase  of  it,  but  it  cannot  destroy  it  under 
pretense  of  taxing  it.  Only  on  one  ground  can 
premium  schemes  (which  includes  trading 
stamps)  be  either  forbidden  or  taxed  so  high  as 
to  be  destroyed,  and  that  is  on  the  ground  that 
they  are  detrimental  to  the  public.  Here  is 
almost  all  of  the  law  on  the  subject  in  a  nutshell : 

“In  regard  to  certain  forms  of  business  which 
are  inherently  harmful  and  dangerous  to  society, 
the  Le.gislature  may  either  enact  statutes  which 
are  directly  prohibitory,  or  may  accomplish  the 
same  and  indirectly  by  requiring  a  license  fee 
so  high  as  to  amount  to  a  prohibition  of  the 
business.  But  useful  occupations  which  are  not 
detrimental  to  the  public  cannot  be  unduly  re¬ 
stricted  or  substantially  prohibited  under  the 
guise  of  police  regulation.” 

In  other  words,  if  the  trading  stamp  scheme 


asset  and  that  every  complaint  should  be  in¬ 
vestigated  and  cared  for  if  the  business  is  “to  be 
held.” 

Is_  it  possible  then  to  improve  on  the  system 
outlined  in  this  case?  My  informant  offered  an 
answer  in  a  shape  that  may  cause  comment. 

“There  will  be  a  new  addition  to  the  selling 
force  of  big  coal  companies  one  of  these  days  in 
the  form  of  an  efficiency  engineer.  In  our  case  we 
have  followed  up  the  question  from  the  obverse 
angle.  We  have  waited  for  a  complaint  before 
we  took  action.  In  other  words,  we  have  as¬ 
sumed  that  all  plants  are  up  to  the  mark  unless 
we  get  a  complaint.  It  is  on  a  par  with  believ¬ 
ing  a  man  innocent  until  he  is  proved  guilty. 

“I  really  believe  that  were  coal  not  as  cheap 
as  sand — cheaper  in  some  instances — and  we  had 
to  pay  the  price  for  it  that  the  folks  in  Italy 
do  today,  we  would  find  manufacturers  and  cor¬ 
porations  paying  more  attention  to  their  boiler 
rooms.  Instead  of  that,  they  fish  around  for 
some  coal  ‘they  like  better,’  or  some  coal  ‘that 
suits  our  purpose  better,’  without  taking  a  peep 
at  their  own  local  conditions  that  may  be  re¬ 
tarding  efficiency. 

“Why  not,  then,  if  they  place  the  burden  on 
the  coal  man  and  demand  that  he  should  show 
them  wherein  they  err,  have  a  man  thoroughly 
expert  and  fully  equipped  to  find  the  cause  of 
the  buyers’  dissatisfaction? 

“It  is  a  trade  or  a  profession  wherein  a  man 
to  handle  it,  I  will  admit,  must  be  born  and  not 
made.  I  have  told  you  about  our  man.  He  is  as 
plain  as  an  old  shoe.  He  is  probably  the  last 
man  you  would  pick  out  of  a  crowd.  Rut  he 
sure  does  know  coal  and  boilers,  firing  and  fire¬ 
men. 

“Were  we  looking  for  a  man  to  fill  his  shoes 
tomorrow,  it  would  not  be  the  book-read  stu¬ 
dent,  nor  perhaps  the  efficiency  engineer,  but  one 
of  his  kind,  a  mine  fireman  with  brains.  And 
you  can  say  for  me  that  I  believe  that  there 
is  a  greater  field  than  some  of  the  firemen  at 
the  mines  know  of  lying  right  before  them  if 
they  only  knew  it.” 


and  other  premium  schemes  are  “inherently 
harmful  and  dangerous,”  any  Legislature  can 
destroy  them  instantly  and  directly,  or  give  them 
their  quietus  by  a  prohibitive  tax.  If  they  are 
not  “inherently  harmful  and  dangerous,”  then 
laws  imposing  high  taxes  or  directly  prohibiting 
them  are  unconstitutional  and  will  be  thrown 
out  by  the  courts  as  fast  as  they  come  up. 

The  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States, 
which  will  have  to  say  in  the  end  whether  pre¬ 
mium  schemes  are  “inherently  harmful  and  dan¬ 
gerous,”  has  never  expressed  itself  on  the  subject 
as  yet.  Many  states,  however,  have  done  so,  the 
large  majority  deciding  in  favor  of  the  premiums. 
Ore.gon  not  long  ago  passed  a  law  taxing  people 
Using  trading  stamps  $5,000  per  year,  and  the 
court  upheld  it.  In  effect  this  was  a  decision 
that  premium  schemes  were  “inherently  harmful 
and  dangerous,”  and  that  on  that  ground  the 
Legislature  could  destroy  them.  This  case  is 
to  be  taken  to  the  United  States  Supreme  Court, 
which  will  probably  decide  the  question  once 
and  for  all. 

There  was  also  the  state  of  Arkansas,  in  which 
state  there  is  legislation  taxing  everybody  using 
gift  enterprises  $1,000  and  everybody  patroniz¬ 
ing  them  $500.  This  legislation  was  also  upheld 
by  the  United  States  Circuit  Court  for  that  dis¬ 
trict  and  the  tax  stood.  This,  too,  is  practically 
a  decision  that  gift  enterprises,  which  in  Arkan¬ 
sas  means  trading  stamps  because  the  law  says 
so,  are  “inherently  harmful  and  dangerous.” 

On  the  other  hand,  something  like  twenty-four 
states,  if  I  remember  ri.ghtly,  have  decided  that 
premium  schemes,  particularly  trading  stamps, 
were  not  “inherently  harmful  and  dangerous,” 
and  could  therefore  neither  be  prohibited  nor 
destroyed  by  high  taxes.  What  the  United  States 
Supreme  Court  will  say  is,  of  course,  a  question, 
but  if  it  follows  what  is  unquestionably  the  weight 
of  judicial  authority  in  this  country  today,  it 
will  decide  that  premium  schemes  are  not  “in¬ 
herently  harmful  and  dangerous.” 

(Copyright,  May,  19/3,  by  Elton  J.  Buckley.) 


L.  C.  Sabin,  general  superintendent  of  the 
canals  at  Salt  St.  Marie,  in  a  report  on  .A.pril 
traffic  through  both  the  I’nitetl  States  and 
Canadian  locks,  shows  that  the  west  bound 
movement  of  coal  in  short  tons  was:  An¬ 
thracite,  U.  S.  Canal,  121,652:  Canadian  canal 
8,459:  total  130,111.  Bituminous  coal,  U.  S. 
canal  149,455. 


Taxing  Premium  Plans  Out  of  Existence. 


24 


Tin:  IILA(  K  DIAMOND 


[July  10 


The  Inside  Story  of  How  the  “Little  Giant”  Won.* 


The  members  of  the  Chicago  Coal  .Merchants 
Association  highly  apiJreciatc  the  opportunity  you 
have  accorded  me,  as  their  commissioner,  to  de¬ 
liver  their  message  to  you.  They  are  proud  of 
their  association,  and  welcome  opportunities  to 
tell  of  its  work. 

The  message  entrusted  to  me  is  extremely 
short,  hut  its  brevity  does  not  detract  from  its 
importance ;  it  is  the  one  word  “Co-operate.” 

h'or  many  years  Chicago  has  had  a  coal  associ¬ 
ation.  The  present  organization  was  formed  in 
June,  U)()().  Immediately  prior  to  that  time  there 
existed  what  was  known  as  the  Track  Dealers 
.■\ssociation,  which,  as  its  name  implied,  only 
accepted  as  members  coal  merchants  who  had 
track  connections. 

The  Chicago  Coal  Dealers  .Association,  now  the 
Chicago  Coal  Merchants  Association,  was  formed 
to  replace  it,  and  founded  on  broader  lines,  it 
accepting  as  members  any  individual,  firm  or  cor¬ 
poration  having  an  established  office,  doing  a  reg¬ 
ular  wholesale  or  retail  fuel  business,  or  en¬ 
gaged  in  the  production,  jobbing,  shipping  or 
mining  of  fuel.  The  important  point  in  broad¬ 
ening  the  scope  of  oi)eration  was  admitting  the 
wholesale  trade  as  members.  It  was  recognized, 
even  as  long  ago  as  1908,  that  an  organization 
with  both  branches  of  the  trade  as  members, 
should  be  able  to  accomplish  more  (and  that  more 
speedily)  than  two  separate  organizations. 

We  have  today  committees  composed  of  mem¬ 
bers  engaged  in  both  branches  of  the  trade,  who 
are  working  on  matters  pertaining  strictly  to 
one  branch,  giving  their  time  cheerfully.  The 
intimate  business  relations  and  personal  friend¬ 
ships  resulting  from  these  committee  meetings 
are  worth  the  time  spent,  even  if  the  object  of 
the  committee  is  not  attained.  Co-operation  of 
this  sort  pays. 

Our  association  is  confined  in  its  direct  opera¬ 
tions  to  Chicago,  and  its  suburbs,  differing  from 
your  organization  only  in  the  amount  of  terri¬ 
tory  covered.  One  great  advantage  we  have  over 
associations  like  yours  is  our  ability  to  get  to¬ 
gether  frecpiently. 

Our  regular  meetings  are  held  on  the  second 
and  fourth  Tuesdays  of  each  month.  The  direct¬ 
ors  meet  monthly,  and  our  committee  meetings 
will  average  better  than  two  per  week.  We  arc 
in  constant  touch  with  all  members  by  telephone. 
The  result  of  this  close  communication  keeps  an 
office  force  of  four  busy. 

Stopping  Short  Weights. 

The  first  thing  that  was  done  in  our  present 
organization  was  to  incorporate  in  its  by-laws  an 
article  that  no  action  could  be  taken  as  an  associ¬ 
ation  contrary  to  federal  or  state  statute  or 
municipal  ordinance. 

During  the  lapse  of  time  between  the  demise 
of  the  Track  Dealers  Association  and  the  birth 
of  the  Chicago  Coal  Merchants  .Association  con¬ 
ditions  became  almost  intolerable  for  the  honest 
dealer.  The  standard  table  of  weights  was  en¬ 
tirely  overlooked  by  a  sufficient  number  of  the 
trade  so  that  it  was  almost  impossible  for  a  repu¬ 
table  concern  delivering  2,000  pounds  of  coal  to 
the  ton  to  e.xist. 

The  association  took  steps  to  have  an  ordi¬ 
nance  i)assed  permitting  the  city  sealer  to  stop 
wagons  on  the  streets,  take  the  delivery  ticket 
from  the  driver,  reweigh  the  load  on  an  adjacent 
scale,  accompany  the  driver  to  delivery  point,  and 
then  reweigh  the  wagon  light  on  the  same  scale. 
If  a  discrepancy  was  located  the  owner  of  the 
wagon  was  required  to  report  to  the  city  sealer. 
The  ordinance  provides  for  a  fine  of  twenty-five 
to  two  hundred  dollars  for  violations. 

To  assist  the  city  sealer’s  department  the  asso¬ 
ciation,  for  a  number  of  years,  paid  an  inspector 
to  work  jointly  with  the  deputy  weighman. 

b'or  the  first  few  months  after  the  ordinance 
became  effective  convictions  were  (luite  numer¬ 
ous,  but  when  on  the  second  and  tliird  offense, 
these  dishonest  dealers  were  lined  the  limit  of 
two  hundred  dollars,  they  began  to  realize  that 
the  ordinance  was  to  be  enforced,  and  changed 
their  business  methods,  and  today  the  eity  is  com¬ 
paratively  free  from  the  short-weighting  evil. 

Collecting  Bad  Accounts. 

The  next  evil  that  we  started  in  to  correct  was 
to  reduce  the  enormous  losses  to  members 
through  bad  accounts.  This  matter  was  started 

’Part  of  an  address  before  the  Canadian  Retail  Coal 
Dealers’  Association  at  Huffalo. 

tCommissioner  of  the  Chicago  Coal  Merchants’  Asso¬ 
ciation,  Chicago. 


By  N.  H.  Kendall. t 

The  Commissioner  of  the  Chicago  Coal 
Merchants  Association  Tells  the  Ca¬ 
nadians  How  His  Organization  Got  Its 
Start. 


in  a  small  way.  The  system  has  been  growing 
ever  since,  and  from  May  1,  1908,  to  Alay  .'il, 
19 1."),  there  has  been  collected,  through  our  Col¬ 
lection  Department,  $145,595.79. 

The  greatest  benefit  from  this  department  is 
the  data  which  has  been  collected,  and  is  now  in 
our  office  for  the  benefit  of  members.  Our  mem¬ 
bers  are  supplied  with  a  book  containing  about 
15,000  names,  which  was  issued  a  year  ago,  it 
being  the  third  issue  of  this  credit  data.  In  addi¬ 
tion  they  receive  monthly  lists,  containing  all  in¬ 
formation  that  has  come  to  our  notice  during 
the  month.  This  information  is  taken  from  re¬ 
ports  furnished  by  members,  and  from  another 
source.  They  are  furnished  the  names  of  all 
parties,  known  to  be  coal  consumers,  who  have 
lieen  sued  or  had  judgments  entered  against 


N.  H.  Kendall. 


them.  We  also  have  a  way  where  members  can 
secure  information  as  to  the  habits  of  pay  of  pro¬ 
spective  customers,  in  a  very  short  time,  by  re- 
<|ucsting  the  office  for  it. 

C)ur  monthly  bulletins  contain  from  three  to 
si.x  hundred  names  each,  and  in  a  very  short  time 
it  will  be  necessary  for  us  to  reissue  our  printed 
list. 

By  this  one  act  of  the  association  thousands  of 
consumers  who  were  in  the  habit  of  getting  coal, 
paying  for  it  if  they  wished  to,  and  not  doing  so 
of  they  so  desired,  are  now  compelled  to  “toe 
the  mark.” 

The  amount  collected  is  a  good  showing,  but 
the  benefit  to  the  members  is  very  small,  com¬ 
pared  with  what  they  have  saved,  by  keeping 
away  from  undesirable  trade  these  last  seven 
years. 

Probably  some  of  you,  engaged  in  business  in 
smaller  towns,  are  thinking  that  this  is  all  right 
for  a  large  city  like  Chicago,  but  not  in  smaller 
places.  In  this  you  are  mistaken,  as  in  a  city 
with  only  two  firms  engaged  in  the  coal  busi¬ 
ness,  your  proposition  is  very  much  easier  than 
the  one  we  have  to  contend  with.  By  getting 
acquainted  with  your  competitor,  who  is  also 
your  neighbor,  arrangements  can  be  worked  out 
whereby  all  coal  bills  of  both  parties  will  be 
paid.  I  am  not  familiar  with  your  laws,  and  do 
not  know  how  far  a  proiJosition  of  this  kind 
could  be  carried,  but  I  feel  safe  in  saying  that 
you  are  permitted  to  inform  other  members  of 
the  trade  that  Air.  Smith  owes  you  $50  for  coal 
purchased  six  months  ago. 

Dealing  With  Carriers. 

.As  is  well  known,  Chicago  is  one  of  the  larg¬ 
est  railroad  centers.  .As  far  back  as  1  can  re¬ 
member  there  have  been  agreements  on  recipro¬ 
cal  switching,  designed  to  equalize  conditions  as 


between  industries.  The  situation  (owing  to  the 
growth  of  the  city)  became  more  confusing,  un¬ 
til  in  1905  it  was  so  unsatisfactory  and  unjust 
to  all  the  commercial  interests  that  the  various 
associations,  headed  by  the  Qiicago  .Association 
of  Commerce,  began  conferences  with  the  car¬ 
riers,  with  a  view  of  correcting  the  existing 
evils. 

When  I  say  that  this  situation  obtained  in 
what  is  known  as  the  switching  district,  which 
embraces  territory  from  a  point  on  Lake  Michi¬ 
gan,  just  west  of  Cary,  Ind.,  to  the  southern 
boundary  of  Evanston,  north  of  the  city,  a  dis¬ 
tance  of  about  twenty-five  miles,  and  an  average 
distance  back  from  the  lake  of  twelve  or  thir¬ 
teen  miles,  in  which  district  something  over 
thirty  railroads  operate,  serving  more  than  two 
thousand  industries,  you  can  imagine  the  task 
before  them  in  endeavoring  to  work  out  a  uni¬ 
form  arrangement,  which  would  be  satisfactory 
to  carrier  and  shipper  alike. 

After  conferences  extending  over  a  period  of 
two  years  an  agreement  was  reached,  and  on 
August  1,  1911,  a  tariff,  known  as  the  Lowrey  tar¬ 
iff,  became  effective.  This  tariff  took  the  place 
of  individual  road  issues.  Before  this  time,  if  a 
shipper  wanted  a  rate  it  would  be  necessary  for 
him  to  consult  the  tariffs  of  all  of  the  lines  mak¬ 
ing  the  deliveries.  With  the  Lowery  Tariff  in 
effect  the  switching  situation  was  boiled  down  to 
one  tariff. 

The  greatest  obstacle  to  overcome  in  reaching 
the  settlement  was  the  allowance  for  switching 
coal  and  grain.  While  the  association  was  con¬ 
sulted  it  was  not  in  a  position  to  take  a  positive 
stand  and  back  it  up.  It  was  understood  that  the 
interests  of  the  coal  industry  were  to  be  taken 
care  of.  But  when  the  Lowrey  Tariff  was  pub¬ 
lished  it  was  found,  to  our  amazement  and  re¬ 
gret,  that  coal  and  coke  had  been  excluded.  There 
had  not  only  been  no  improvement  in  the  condi¬ 
tions  surrounding  the  coal  trade,  but  we  were 
worse  off  by  $2  per  car,  in  a  large  portion  of  the 
city,  due  to  a  peculiar  arrangement  of  tariffs. 

Finding  ourselves  actually  hurt,  we  got  to¬ 
gether.  It  was  necessary  to  bring  the  matter 
before  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission,  who 
sent  its  suspension  board  to  Chicago.  After  two 
or  three  days’  conference  a  tentative  agreement 
was  reached  with  the  carriers,  whereby  the  trade 
was,  at  least,  not  to  be  penalized.  Conditions 
were  to  remain  the  same  as  before  the  applica¬ 
tion  of  the  Lowrey  Tariff.  There  were  some 
points  in  this  agreement  that  were  not  clearly 
covered,  and  some  of  the  carriers  have  endeav¬ 
ored,  at  various  times,  to  make  changes  in  their 
switching  rates  on  coal  and  coke. 

It  was  necessary  for  us,  in  one  case,  to  file  a 
complaint  with  the  Illinois  Railroad  and  Ware¬ 
house  Commission  on  intrastate  shipments,  and 
the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  on  inter¬ 
state  shipments.  We  were  successful  in  secur¬ 
ing  favorable  decisions. 

Winning  a  Big  Fight. 

The  decision  of  the  Illinois  State  Commission 
was  appealed  from,  and  we  had  to  follow  the  case 
through  the  circuit  and  supreme  courts  of  Illi¬ 
nois,  receiving  favorable  decisions  in  both  courts. 
The  expense  of  handling  this  case  was  something 
like  $5,000. 

Also  growing  out  of  the  situation  rates  were 
increased  in  other  parts  of  the  city,  which  were 
very  detrimental  and  discriminatory  to  the  coal 
industry.  A  coal  company  located  on  the  rails 
of  one  railroad  would  enjoy  the  benefit  of  a  rate, 
sometimes  twenty  to  twenty-five  cents  less  than 
a  competitor,  only  a  few  blocks  distant  on  an¬ 
other  road,  and  it  was  necessary  to  object  to 
these  conditions. 

The  objections  were  in  the  form  of  formal 
complaints  to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commis¬ 
sion.  .As  carriers  are  represented  by  attorneys, 
it  was  necessary  that  our  cases  be  likewise  pre¬ 
sented,  so  that  the  result  of  not  being  properly 
organized  when  we  should  have  been  cost  the 
coal  trade  of  Chicago  ten  or  twelve  thousand  dol¬ 
lars  in  legal  expenses,  and  it  is  impossible  to  state 
how  much  in  profits. 

We  have  been  successful  in  winning  every  case 
presented  to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commis¬ 
sion,  and  the  returns  have  justified  the  outlay. 

Our  association  now  has  its  representative  on 
the  Chicago  Conference  Committee  on  Switch¬ 
ing,  which  is  a  joint  committee  of  carriers  and 
shippers.  We  now  get  together  on  these  switch- 
( Concluded  on  page  29.) 


No.  2] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


25 


Putting  a  Retail  Coal  Business  on  a  Cash  Basis. 


At  the  recent  meeting  of  the  Illinois  &  Wiscon¬ 
sin  Retail  Coal  Dealers’  Association,  Wednesday 
evening  was  devoted  to  a  round  table  discussion, 
in  charge  of  H.  A.  Robinson  of  Peoria.  What 
follows  is,  in  major  part,  what  the  stenographer 
took  down ;  there  has  been  cut  out  only  a  few 
stories  put  in  to  amuse. 

The  Chairman :  We  are  going  to  limit  the 
speakers  to  three  minutes.  I  wish  you  would 
confine  yourselves  to  the  topic  under  discussion. 
The  first  subject  is,  “Cash  Basis,”  and  Mr.  Peter 
E.  Beck  of  Harvey,  Ill.,  will  open  the  discussion. 

Mr.  Beck:  I  do  not  know  what  Friend  Robin¬ 
son  was  trying  to  do  to  me  when  he  said  three 
minutes.  To  cover  the  subject  of  cash  basis  in 
three  minutes  is  almost  an  impossible  thing.  At 
the  start  I  want  to  explain  that  I  do  not  want  to 
speak  as  one  having  authority  on  that  subject. 
It  is  a  wide  subject,  a  far  reaching  subject,  a 
subject  in  which  there  are  local  conditions  that 
must  be  considered.  It  is  a  thing  that  laid  upon 
my  mind  and  upon  the  minds  of  those  associ¬ 
ated  with  me  for  a  great  many  years.  We 
thought  over  the  problem  each  year.  On  looking 
over  our  books  and  seeing  the  “no-good”  ac¬ 
counts  that  we  were  assuming,  the  amount  of  in¬ 
terest  that  we  had  to  pay  on  them,  the  amount 
of  bookkeeping,  the  clerical  wages  that  we  paid 
to  keep  track  of  them,  the  cost  of  the  collector 
going  out  pleasantly  but  persistently  trying  to 
collect  those  accounts,  it  simply  “got  our  goat,” 
that  was  all  there  was  to  it. 

We  tried  various  ways.  First  we  offered  a 
cash  discount,  but  that  did  not  work  at  all,  be¬ 
cause  the  thirty  day  customer,  when  he  pays  his 
account  in  thirty  days,  is  supposed  to  get  a  dis¬ 
count,  and  when  you  allow  it  to  the  thirty  day 
customer  the  sixty  day  customer  wants  it,  and 
you  have  to  allow  it  to  all. 

We  tried,  several  years  ago,  the  matter  of  giv¬ 
ing  coupons,  trading  stamps,  and  that  sort  of 
thing,  but  that  is  just  as  bad  as  the  other.  It 
becomes  a  nuisance  and  does  not  work. 

So  a  year  ago  we  made  up  our  minds  that  we 
would  absolutely  sell  coal  on  no  other  condi¬ 
tions  except  than  for  cash.  No  matter  whether 
we  sold  to  a  millionaire,  a  check  would  have  to 
be  received  with  the  order  or  would  have  to  be 
paid  to  the  driver  or  to  the  messenger  at  the 
time  of  delivery.  Sometimes  we  sent  one  of  the 
clerks  from  our  office  to  collect  the  bill,  because 
it  has  to  be  collected  elsewhere.  But  it  vvas 
always  collected  the  same  day  the  coal  was  deliv¬ 
ered,  or  some  time  perhaps  on  the  next  day. 

Getting  Away  With  It. 

Of  course,  it  naturally  took  a  lot  of  hard  work 
to  introduce  it  and  to  explain  it.  A  lot  of  peo¬ 
ple  did  feel  naturally  “sore”  to  have  a  driver 
come  up  to  their  house  to  deliver  a  ton  of  coal 
and  come  in  with  a  ticket  marked  “C.  O.  D.” 
That  looks  just  like  striking  them  in  the  face 
and  insulting  them.  But  before  we  did  that  we 
started  out  on  a  two  months’  campaign.  We  got 
a  complete  list  of  our  customers,  and  a  couple 
of  women  were  sent  around  to  every  house  to 
get  the  people  posted.  We  started  advertising  in 
the  papers,  something  to  this  extent : 

“Did  you  ever  stop  to  consider  what  it  costs 
you  to  do  business  with  the  merchant  who  gives 
credit?” 

I  used  a  half  page  of  two  local  papers  with 
nothing  but  that  for  one  week.  The  next  week  I 
followed  that  with  something  like  this : 

“When  you  buy  from  a  merchant  who  gives 
credit  you  have  to  pay  for  selling  to  the  cus¬ 
tomer  who  never  pays  at  all.  The  cost  of  giving 
him  credit  is  the  cost  of  carrying  his  account  in 
the  business.  Do  you  realize  how  much  carry¬ 
ing  his  account  costs  you?” 

We  had  an  auditor  go  over  our  books  and  pre¬ 
pare  a  statement,  and  I  have  satisfied  myself 
that  it  was  substantially  correct.  It  costs  us  fifty 
cents  per  ton  to  do  a  credit  business.  We  put 
in  our  statement  the  extra  clerical  labor,  the  cost 
of  collecting,  the  interest  on  the  money  invested 
in  outstanding  accounts  and  bad  accounts  and  all 
those  things  entering  into  it,  and  it  amounted  to 
approximately  fifty  cents  a  ton. 

We  published  that  and  followed  it  with  news¬ 
paper  advertisements  during  the  months  of  June, 
July  and  August,  twice  a  month  in  the  news¬ 
papers,  so  that  nobody  could  fail  to  get  it.  Then 
we  started  out  on  the  first  of  August  by  saying 
that  we  were  going  to  serve  the  consumer  in  the 
best  manner  possible,  that  we  wanted  to  cut  down 
every  item  of  unnecessary  exi)ense,  that  the  most 
unnecessary  expense  we  ever  incurred  was  that 


Peter  Beck  Explains  His  Plan  and  Other 
Members  of  the  Illinois  and  Wisconsin 
Association  Discuss  It. 


of  giving  credit ;  that  we  were  going  to  reduce 
the  price  by  doing  away  with  this  unnecessary 
expense.  We  made  a  reduction  of  fifty  cents  a 
ton  for  deliveries  in  two-ton  lots,  and  a  reduc¬ 
tion  of  twenty-five  cents  a  ton  for  deliveries  in 
one-ton  lots,  and  for  less  than  ton  lots  the  price 
would  be  the  same  as  before.  We  made  just  one 
price  for  all. 

We  started  this  plan  and  carried  it  through  all 
last  year  by  simply  mailing  out  a  price  card  the 
first  of  every  month,  and  with  some  new  feature 
connected  with  the  selling  of  coal  for  cash  only. 
We  carried  it  through  in  that  way  and  our  sales 
from  the  1st  of  January,  1914,  to  the  1st  of  Jan¬ 
uary,  1915,  exceeded  the  sales  of  the  previous 
year  about  ten  per  cent.  The  other  day  I  went 
over  the  accounts  of  our  April  sales  of  coal  and 
we  had  six  accounts  that  just  through  some  over¬ 
sight,  or  because  the  people  were  not  at  home,  or 
something  of  the  kind,  had  got  on  the  list.  And 
that  was  on  a  tonnage  of  about  6,700  or  6,800 
tons  for  the  year. 

Now,  that  is  what  we  have  succeeded  in  doing 
this  year,  in  selling  coal  on  the  cash  basis.  As 


Peter  Beck. 


far  as  I  am  personally  concerned  we  will  never 
again  sell  any  coal  on  credit. 

We  have  other  features  and  other  local  condi¬ 
tions  to  meet  at  present  connected  witli  the  way 
we  conduct  the  business,  which  have  made  losses, 
hut  it  is  not  due  to  selling  coal  for  cash. 

I  believe  it  is  the  biggest  and  best  advertising 
that  any  business  can  adopt,  that  of  selling  your 
product  for  cash  and  at  the  lowest  possible  cost 
to  the  consumer.  I  believe  that  any  concern  that 
undertakes  it  carefully  and  systematically  will 
make  a  success  of  it. 

The  other  dealers  in  our  town  did  not  wish  to 
co-operate  with  us.  They  have  not  yet,  so  that 
in  our  locality  they  still  adhere  to  the  heavy  bur¬ 
den  of  selling  on  credit. 


Experience  of  C.  S.  Dodge. 

The  Chairman :  Is  there  any  one  else  here 
who  has  had  any  experience  in  selling  for  cash 
only  ? 

C.  S.  Dodge,  Monroe,  Wis.:  I  started  in  the 
coal  business  six  years  ago  this  summer.  There 
were  six  dealers  in  our  town  of  4,500  people.  My 
father  was  one  of  the  dealers.  He  has  been  in 
the  lumber  business  for  fifty  years.  He  objected 
to  my  building  a  coal  elevator.  He  said  it  would 
not  pay,  but  I  went  ahead  on  my  own  hook.  I 
borrowed  the  money  to  build  it  and  borrowed 
the  money  to  go  into  the  coal  business.  I  was  in 
the  lumber  business  with  my  father  and  thought 
1  could  carry  on  the  lumber  business,  but  I  had 
failed  in  it.  I  built  a  coal  elevator  that  is 
twenty-four  by  fourteen,  thirty-two  feet  high  to 
the  eaves.  I  have  a  better  location  than  the  rest 
of  them,  because  I  am  only  one  block  off  from 
the  public  square.  I  started  out  to  do  a  cash 


business.  But  it  has  got  away  from  me;  I  have 
not  stuck  to  it,  I  am  sorry  to  say.  But  my  busi¬ 
ness  jumps  by  leaps  and  bounds,  and  last  year  my 
increase  was  over  $4,000  from  the  year  before. 
This  year  it  is  running  higher  than  it  was  last 
year.  The  cash  business  did  not  stop  me  from 
getting  business.  The  elevator  drew  business. 
They  used  to  sell  a  great  deal  of  lump  coal.  I 
started  in  handling  No.  1  coal,  and  I  have  edu¬ 
cated  the  trade  so  that  about  sixty  per  cent  of 
the  coal  I  handle  is  No.  1  coal,  and  probably 
about  thirty  per  cent  is  hard  coal.  We  give  them 
screened  coal  that  runs  over  a  screen  into  their 
wagons  and  the  farmers  all  come  there  and  buy 
their  coal,  even  though  they  are  related  to  the 
other  dealers. 

Cash  Always. 

Mr.  Beck:  I  forgot  one  item,  and  what  Mr. 
Dodge  says  brings  it  to  my  mind.  You  may  ask 
if  it  is  impossible  under  any  circumstances  to 
give  credit.  I  have  had  maybe  a  dozen  people 
who  have  been  good  customers,  who  own  their 
own  homes  and  have  been  buying  of  us  for  sev¬ 
eral  years.  It  is  an  industrial  town,  and  they 
will  not  get  a  cent  till  pay  day.  Just  a  month 
ago  a  woman  came  around  with  that  plea.  I 
knew  her  to  be  perfectly  good.  She  simply  tele¬ 
phoned  over  from  a  neighboring  telephone.  I 
explained  to  her  that  we  were  selling  coal  on  a 
cash  basis  which  enabled  us  to  give  a  low  price. 
She  came  over  and  we  talked  about  it.  She 
wanted  $4  worth  of  coal.  So  I  took  a  $5  bill  out 
of  my  pocket  and  lent  it  to  her,  and  I  said : 

“There  is  nobody  in  my  office  that  knows  any¬ 
thing  about  it.  I  will  lend  you  this  money  and 
you  can  pay  me  next  pay  day,  or  you  can  address 
it  to  me  personally  in  the  mail.” 

She  paid  it.  I  have  done  that  about  half  a 
dozen  times,  not  over,  and  in  no  case  have  I 
failed  to  get  the  money  back.  But  I  have  felt  the 
absolute  necessity  of  adhering  to  the  rule,  or  the 
whole  proposition  would  fall  down. 

A  Member:  You  pay  your  bills  with  cash, 
do  you? 

Air.  Beck:  Certainly;  I  do  a  cash  business  with 
the  merchants.  I  have  asked  Mrs.  Beck  to  pay 
her  bills  in  cash.  It  is  some  trouble  to  her  to 
do  it,  but  she  does  it.  I  have  done  that  in  order 
to  carry  out  the  principle. 

A  Member :  Suppose  a  person  comes  in  and 
says,  “I  haven’t  any  money.”  What  would 
you  do? 

Air.  Beck:  We  do  not  take  him  his  coal.  We 
handle  lumber,  too,  and  that  is  the  only  way  we 
extend  credit.  I  have  gone  thirty  or  sixty  days 
perhaps  on  lumber.  We  take  installment  notes  at 
six  or  seven  per  cent  interest.  I  do  not  do  that 
with  coal,  because  at  the  price  we  are  handling  it 
we  cannot  do  it.  The  principle  we  are  working 
on  is  to  make  it  as  cheap  as  possible  to  the  con¬ 
sumer,  cutting  off  every  unnecessary  expense, 
and  if  Mr.  Rademacher  is  here  this  evening  I 
think  he  can  tell  you  the  condition  they  have  run 
up  against  in  Alilwaukee,  because  the  lumher  con¬ 
cerns  are  entering  into  tlie  coal  business  and  sell¬ 
ing  coal  for  cash  and  giving  coupons  with  it, 
these  little  trading  stamps. 

A  Alember :  Don’t  you  think  if  it  can  be  car¬ 
ried  out  in  a  big  town  it  can  be  in  a  small  town  ? 

Mr.  Beck:  Our  town  is  not  so  big.  It  has 
only  about  9,000  population.  I  do  not  know  why 
it  should  be,  because  you  can  make  it  perfectly 
apparent  to  everybody  that  they  have  been  paying 
the  cost  of  this  credit  system.  I  have  had  people 
come  into  our  office  and  say: 

“Ain’t  I  good?  Don’t  I  always  pay  my  bills?” 

“Sure  you  are  good,  but  I  am  almighty 
ashamed  of  the  fact  that  I  had  not  the  nerve 
before  to  do  anything  but  charge  you  an  extra 
price  for  the  fellow  that  never  paid  his  bills  and 
the  other  fellow  that  is  slow  pay.” 

Of  course  it  is  a  little  hard  on  an  old  business. 
It  is  hard  for  me  to  educate  my  office  men  diplo¬ 
matically  to  carry  that  out.  It  meant  very  close 
attention,  during  the  fall  months  last  year,  sit¬ 
ting  right  in  the  office  and  meeting  pretty  nearly 
every  person  that  came  in,  and  answering  every 
telephone  call.  But  that  is  all  pretty  well  cov¬ 
ered  now. 


Recognizing  the  increasing  activity  of  Balti¬ 
more  as  a  coal  port,  the  Davis  Coal  &  Coke 
Company  has  re-established  its  headquarters  in 
this  city.  Two  years  ago  the  general  offices 
were  removed  to  Cumberland.  President  .A.  \V. 
Callaway  will  hereafter  make  his  home  in  Balti¬ 
more. 


26 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[July  10 


Sale  of  Pittsburgh-Buffalo  Company  Properties 


Pittsburgh,  July  8. —  (Special  Correspondence.) 
— The  sale  of  the  properties  of  the  Pittsliurgh- 
Buffalo  Company,  which  has  lieen  postponed 
from  time  to  time,  has  again  lieen  set  by  order  of 
Judge  Shafer  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas. 
The  court  issued  the  order  last  Monday.  The 
date,  as  now  set,  will  be  July  lath.  The  sale  is 
under  the  mortgage  held  by  the  Union  Trust 
Company  of  Pittsburgh.  What  further  action 
will  or  can  be  taken  by  the  receivers  of  the  com¬ 
pany  is  not  known. 

The  sale  is  for  the  satisfaction  of  two  mort¬ 
gages,  one  for  a  $2,()0(),()()()  bond  issue,  which  the 
trust  company  financed,  and  the  second  asking 
indemnity  for  a  loan  to  the  company  on  the  paper 
given  it  by  the  officers  of  the  company. 

This  latter  obligation  was  placed  by  an  attor¬ 
ney  of  the  company  yesterday  at  $1 ,7.')0,0()(),  which 


Bids  for  and  Contracts  Let  on  Coal 


Bids  on  Ohio  Contracts, 

Columbus,  Ohio,  July  8. —  (Special  Correspond¬ 
ence.) — Bids  have  been  opened  by  the  trustees  of 
Ohio  State  University,  Columlnis,  on  1. "),()()()  tons 
of  nut,  pea  and  slack.  The  lowest  figure  submit¬ 
ted  was  that  of  the  Halmer  Coal  Company,  Cin¬ 
cinnati,  a  price  of  twenty-si.x  cents  having  been 
made.  It  is  the  claim  of  the  company  that  it 
will  realize  a  heavy  enough  premium  under  the 
specifications  to  raise  the  price  to  a  good  figure 
should  the  contract  be  awarded  it.  Pending  the 
analysis  in  its  own  laboratory  of  coal  samples 
submitted,  the  trustees  are  holding  hack  announce¬ 
ment  of  successful  bidder. 

The  Franklin  County  Commissioners  have  made 
award  of  coal  contracts  as  follows :  Peacock 
Coal  Company,  Columbus,  4,000  tons  of  Pomeroy 
delivered  on  infirmary  switch  at  price  of  $1.60 
for  use  at  the  county  infirmary,  court  house. 


J.  E.  Mitchell’s  Silo  Coal  Pockets  at  Glenolden,  Pa. 


makes  the  Union  Trust  Company’s  claim  against 
the  company  approximately  $4,000,000. 

Other  liabilities  of  the  company  were  said  by 
lawyers  to  total  several  millions  more,  but  with 
which  they  have  no  concern. 

The  holdings  of  the  company  consist  of  five 
separate  mines,  all .  of  which  were  prosperous. 
These  are  the  Marianna,  the  Hazel,  the  Frances, 
the  Johnetta  and  the  Bertha  mines.  John  H. 
Jones  is  the  president  of  the  company  and  D.  G. 
Jones  is  the  general  manager. 

The  troubles  of  the  company  are  said  to  have 
been  hastened  by  the  formation  of  the  Four 
States  Coal  &  Coke  Company,  an  auxiliary  con¬ 
cern,  and  into  which  was  poured  much  of  the 
revenue  of  the  Pittsburgh-Buffalo  Company. 

.A.S  advertised  today,  the  sale  will  be  by  public 
auction  in  the  rotunda  of  the  .Allegheny  court 
house,  at  10  a.  m.  the  1.1th. 


county  morgue  and  memorial  building;  jM.  A. 
Suydam  &  Co.,  Columbus,  1,;20()  tons  Pomeroy 
mine  run,  at  delivered  price  of  $1.95  for  court 
house  and  memorial  hall. 


Michigan  Reformatory  Bids. 

Bids  will  be  received  by  the  Michigan  Reform¬ 
atory  at  Ionia,  Mich.,  until  -August  6,  1915,  for 
4, ()()()  tons  of  bituminous  coal  to  be  delivered  at 
Ionia,  one  to  three  cars  per  week,  as  needed,  in 
flat  Iiottom  cars.  Bids  must  be  accompanied  by 
analysis  and  the  name  of  the  coal,  with  the  state 
and  county  where  it  is  mined  and  the  nearest 
shipping  point  to  the  mine,  and  price  quoted  f.  o. 
b.  Ionia.  Bids  will  be  opened  at  the  warden’s 
office  at  Alichigan  Reformatory  on  -August  6, 
1015,  or  as  soon  thereafter  as  a  quorum  of  the 
Board  of  Control  shall  be  present.  The  success¬ 
ful  bidder  will  be  notified  by  mail. 


The  photograph  shown  herewith  is  that  of 
the  very  efficient  coal  handling  plant  of  J.  E. 
Mitchell  at  Glenolden,  Pa.  The  three  silo 
coal  pockets  have  a  combined  capacity  of 
1.000  tons,  ami  were  built  by  the  Creamery 
Package  Company  of  Rutland,  Vt. 

The  round  bins  are  24  feet  in  diameter  and 
,■)()  feet  high.  The  staves  are  of  Canadian 
spruce  plank  dipped  in  creosote  oil  to  pro¬ 
long  the  life  of  the  staves  by  preventing  rot. 
The  staves  are  held  in  place  liy  hoops  made 
of  j4-'iich  steel  rods. 

Owing  to  the  fact  that  the  railroad  track 
runs  along  behind  the  pockets,  two  systems 


for  ele\ating  and  conveying  the  coal  are  nec¬ 
essary.  The  coal  is  dumped  from  the  cars 
into  a  steel  lined  concrete  hopper,  and  carried 
from  the  hopper  to  a  chain  conveyor  by 
means  of  a  double  chain  elevating  arrange¬ 
ment.  However,  these  two  systems  or  ma¬ 
chines  are  operated  as  a  unit,  an  electric  mo¬ 
tor  being  used  with  gear  reductions  and  fric¬ 
tion  clutch.  The  coal  in  the  pocket  is  also 
gently  lowered  to  the  floor  by  means  of  chain 
conveyors. 

The  conveying  and  elevating  machinery  was 
furnished  by  the  Gifford-Wood  Company  of 
Hudson,  N.  A'.  The  plant  w'as  completed  last 


Communications. 


“A  Diseased  Nation,” 

Editor  The  Black  Diamond. 

Chicago,  July  7. — It  was  somewhat  startling 
to  learn  that  -America  is  a  diseased  nation.  It 
was  even  more  difficult  to  follow  the  line  of  rea¬ 
soning  used  in  proving  the  premise.  Granting 
that  the  editor  drew  heavily  upon  the  imagination 
in  employing  a  negative — hence  a  misapplied  defi¬ 
nition — of  a  positive  condition,  nevertheless,  his 
diagnosis  of  the  symptoms  could  not,  in  the  light 
of  modern  opinion,  be  accepted  as  conclusive.  In 
fact,  when  we  consider  what  is  being  done  along 
sociological  lines  by  large  employers  of  labor,  the 
sentiment  of  this  editorial  sounds  more  like  an 
echo  of  the  past  generation  than  a  reflection  of 
modern  thought. 

That  the  world  today  is  more  restless  is  unde¬ 
niably  true.  But  it  is  a  restlessness  born  of  a 
desire  to  advance ;  to  improve ;  to  utilize  the  ad¬ 
vantages  that  arts  and  sciences  have  spread  for 
our  use.  It  is  the  pressure  of  economic  bondage 
throbbing  in  the  mass  that  seeks  a  greater  free¬ 
dom  so  that  it  may  enjoy  the  fruits  of  advancing 
civilization.  It  is  not  a  state  of  dis-ease.  On  the 
contrary,  it  is  a  living,  positive  force  learning  to 
know  what  it  wants,  that  will  not  down. 

-Allowing  that  the  laborer  is  better  housed, 
better  fed  and  better  paid  than  ever  before,  it  is 
equally  true  that  the  cost  of  living  at  the  same 
time  has  increased  in  greater  proportion  to  his 
income  with  which  to  buy  the  improved  living 
conditions.  Therein  lies  the  source  of  discon¬ 
tent.  The  disorganized  mass  of  foreigners  at 
Lawrence,  Mass.,  did  not  declare  war  because  of 
the  mouthings  of  violent  agitators,  but  because 
an  adult  male  could  not  support  a  family  on  a 
wage  of  $7  per  week. 

Keen  minded  employers  recognized,  not  only 
the  danger  of  such  treatment  of  labor  to  our 
established  institutions,  but  alsh  the  more  perti¬ 
nent  fact  that  a  better  paid  and  cared  for  em¬ 
ploye  will  render  more  efficient  and  profitable 
results.  Henry  Ford  proved  it.  He  may  have 
been  dubbed  an  anarchist  by  his  competitors,  but 
he  has  set  a  pace  that  but  few,  if  any,  can  fol¬ 
low.  The  Wisconsin  Steel  Company,  at  its  coke 
works  at  Benham,  Ky.,  has  recognized  these  facts 
and  today  folks  in  that  wild  mountain  country 
speak  about  things  done  the  "Benham  Way.” 
And  it  pays. 

Jane  -Addams,  Ida  M.  Tarbell,  Lincoln  Steffens, 
Ray  Stannard  Baker  and  Victor  Berger  are  not 
suffering  from  mental  dis-ease.  They  saw  and 
suffered  in  their  day  from  intolerable  injustice 
and  asked  for  a  change.  Ida  M.  Tarbell  took  up 
a  line  of  investigation  because  her  father  was 
financially  ruined  through  secret  rebates  and  un¬ 
fair  competition.  Lincoln  Steffens  was  among 
the  first  to  expose  the  political  corruption  in 
American  cities.  Ray  Stannard  Baker  pointed 
out  the  futility  of  church  work  without  practice 
of  the  Master’s  teaching.  Berger  was  a  conserv¬ 
ative  among  radical  socialists  and  recognized  the 
rights  of  capital  under  the  existing  order.  -And 
Jane  Addams.  To  charge  her  with  sowing  dis¬ 
content!  A  woman  whose  whole  life  is  devoted 
to  the  uplift  of  the  helpless  and  ignorant.  -A 
woman  whose  work  is  praised  and  honored  wher¬ 
ever  civilization  extends.  The  "Greatest  Living 
Woman,”  as  one  of  Chicago’s  leading  dailies 
describes  her,  to  he  guilty  of  the  motives  ascribed 
to  her,  leads  to  the  suspicion  that  the  editor 
draws  heavily  upon  the  credulity  of  his  readers. 
The  men  and  women  referred  to,  judged  by  their 
work,  cannot  be  the  instigators  of  movements 
that  seek  to  overthrow  the  established  order. 
They  seek  to  correct  evils  that  have  crept  in  and 
provide  for  a  greater  measure  of  justice  to  which 
we  are  all  entitled. 

It  seems  to  me  that  this  is  a  field  which  the 
trade  publications  generally  overlook.  As  leaders 
of  thought,  they  •seek  to  maintain  rather  a  one¬ 
sided,  ultra-conservative  position  without  serious¬ 
ly  considering  the  various  shades  of  modern  opin¬ 
ion.  The  world  today  no  longer  seeks  to  suppress 
truth.  It  asks  for  light — the  safest  guide  hy 
which  solid  and  permanent  peace  and  contentment 
can  be  reached.  And,  happily,  signs  of  improve¬ 
ment  are  apparent  on  every  hand.  We  are  learn¬ 
ing  to  rela.x — to  think. 

A’ours  very  truly, 

L.  Romanski, 

President  of  the  -Atlas  Coal  &  Coke  Co. 

[Our  points  of  view  on  such  things.  Air. 
Romanski,  depend  on  our  information  about 
them.  A’^our  information  about  them  differs, 
apparently,  from  ours.  AMurs  leads  to  a  eulogy. 
Ours  does  not.  Whose  information  is  correct? 
That  is  the  point,  after  all. — The  Editor.] 


fall. 


I 


A  View  of  the  Silo  Pocket  Built  for  J.  E.  Mitchell. 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


No.  2] 

Reading  Company  Wins  in  United  States  Court. 


Phil.\i)elphi.\,  July  T. —  (.Special  Correspond¬ 
ence.) — Following  close  on  the  heels  of  the 
Delaware,  Lackawanna  &  Western  decision  in 
the  United  States  supreme  court,  came  the  United 
States  district  court's  finding  in  the  suit  of  the 
Government  against  the  Reading  Railroad.  This 
was  announced  last  Saturday,  and  with  the  ex¬ 
ception  of  three  minor  points  was  a  victory  for 
the  Philadelphia  &  Reading  Railroad  and  the 
Philadelphia  &  Reading  Coal  &  Iron  Company. 

Briefly,  the  points  gained  by  the  Reading  Com¬ 
pany  are :  Charges  of  violation  of  the  anti-trust 
act  are  dismissed ;  charges  of  violation  of  the 
commodities  clause  are  dismissed ;  right  of  coal 
operators  to  acquire  coal  lands  is  upheld ;  that 
the  decision  in  the  Lackawanna  case  has  no 
bearing  on  the  Reading  suit.  The  point  of  dif¬ 
ference  held  by  the  court  is  a  suggestion  that 
the  Jersey  Central  and  the  Wilkes-Barre  Coal 
Company  be  divorced  from  the  Reading  Company 
in  tliat  the  control  is  objectional  and  conflicting. 

The  court  holds  that  no  evidence  has  been 
produeed  to  show  that  oppression  or  discrimina¬ 
tion  was  practiced  by  the  three  Reading  com¬ 
panies.  The  court  also  says  that  no  dealers  have 
been  prevented  from  transacting  their  business 
and  no  shipper  has  been  prevented  from  carrying 
on  his  trade.  The  court  says : 

“Everywhere  along  the  Reading  Railway  the 
coal  of  other  shippers  over  that  route  meets  its 
own  coal,  while  at  many  points  the  Pennsylvania 
Railroad  and  the  Lehigh  Valley  Railroad  bring 
the  product  of  other  mines. 

“In  more  distant  markets  it  faces  the  competi¬ 
tion  of  all  its  great  rivals.  Neither  is  there  any 
proof  that  the  price  of  coal  has  been  extortion¬ 
ate  or  unreasonable.  Even  in  times  of  scarcity 
there  has  been  no  e.xaction  of  higher  prices,  al¬ 
though  in  such  a  situation  some  of  the  independ¬ 
ent  producers  have  taken  advantage  of  the  public 
need.  The  rates  of  freight  have  remained  for 
years  substantially  as  they  now  are,  and  ( except 
in  the  case  of  certain  shippers  over  two  other 
roads,  not  defendants,  that  reach  the  anthracite 
field)  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission,  with 
full  power  of  regulating  the  sulq'ect,  has  not  in¬ 
terfered  with  these  rates.  Indeed,  the  Commis¬ 
sion  heard  and  dismissed  a  complaint  against  the 
reasonableness  of  the  rates  charged  by  the  Read¬ 
ing  Railway  and  other  carriers  at  the  suit  of 
William  R.  Hearst  several  years  ago. 

"Neither  does  the  evidence  support  the  charge 
of  the  bill  that  “the  transportation  of  anthracite 
by  railroad  at  the  rates  now  and  for  a  long  time'^ 
past  in  force  has  been  and  is  enormously  profit¬ 
able'  :  and  this  charge  is  not  pressed  in  the  Gov¬ 
ernment's  brief.  And  the  mining  of  coal  during 
the  years  from  1898  to  1913,  inclusive,  has  re¬ 
sulted  in  a  profit  to  the  Coal  &  Iron  Company  of 
no  more  than  eighteen  and  one-half  cents  per 
ton,  while  its  miscellaneous  receipts  increase  its 
income.” 

The  holding  of  coal  lands  by  the  Reading  Com¬ 
pany  is  not  taken  by  the  court  to  be  an  evidence 
of  restraint  of  trade,  and  the  court  expressed 
itself  thus  : 


Philip  P.  Woods,  the  well  known  transpor¬ 
tation  man  of  No.  1  Broadway,  New  York, 
sent  the  first  barge  of  bituminous  coal  through 
the  Cape  Cod  Canal.  This  was  the  barge 
“Ida  Wood,”  which  took  a  cargo  of  coal  from 
Perth  Amboy  to  the  Cape  Ann  Anchor 
Works,  Gloucester,  Mass.  The  barge  carried 


"It  is  elementary  prudence  to  look  ahead.  *  * 

*  Since  coal  is  a  much-desired  article,  he  (the 
miner)  is  not  only  serving  himself,  but  is  serv¬ 
ing  the  consumer  also  when  he  takes  the  neces¬ 
sary  measures  to  prevent  the  supply  from  being 
exhausted  or  interrupted.  And  we  are  not  aware 
of  any  federal  statute  which  has  declared  it  un¬ 
lawful  to  lay  in  a  large  supply  of  raw  material. 

*  *  *  The  mere  size  of  his  stock  does  not  make 
a  merchant  an  offender  against  the  law.” 

The  court  holds  that  the  railway  and  the  coal 
and  iron  companies  are  separate  and  distinct  in 
organization,  and  therein  lies  the  difference  be¬ 
tween  the  case  of  the  Reading  and  the  Lacka¬ 
wanna  companies.  In  this  regard  the  decision 
says  : 

"But  even  the  lawful  right,  originally  used  for 
a  lawful  purpose,  may  afterwards  be  used  to 
attain  an  unlawful  object.  .Although  the  organi¬ 
zation  of  the  companies  may  have  been  lawful, 
and  although  their  alliance  may  also  have  been 
lawful,  the  question  remains,  have  they  since 
offended  ? 

“.And,  especially,  have  they  offended  against 
the  commodities  clause? 

“To  be  exact:  Has  the  Reading  Railway  since 
May,  1908,  carried  coal  that  had  in  substance 
and  reality  been  mined  or  produced  by  it,  or 
under  its  authority,  or  which  it  owned  in  whole 
or  in  part,  or  in  which  it  had  any  interest,  direct 
or  indirect? 

"In  our  opinion,  these  questions  must  be  an¬ 
swered  in  the  negative,  unless  the  long-estab¬ 
lished  legal  conceptions  concerning  corporate  or¬ 
ganization  ought  not  to  prevail  in  the  present 
case.  These  conceptions  are  so  deeply  rooted  in 
the  theory  and  practice  of  the  law  that  an  im¬ 
mense  readjustment  of  legal  rules  would  be 
neeessary  if  the  legal  separateness  of  a  eorpo- 
ration  were  to  disappear  and  he  replaced  by  the 
rights  and  liabilities  of  the  individual  stockhold¬ 
ers. 

"The  theory  of  separate  corporate  entity  has 
been  of  enormous  value,  and  while  it  has  been 
sometimes  alnised,  there  is  no  doubt  that  indus¬ 
trial  society  is  largely  based  upon  its  conspicu¬ 
ous  features  of  distinct  and  separate  existence 
and  of  limited  liability. 

Abuses  Not  Overlooked. 

“The  abuses  have  been  exceptional,  and  the 
law  has  not  overlooked  them.  Where  a  corpora¬ 
tion  is  a  mere  screen  for  an  individual,  or  where 
one  corporation  performs  a  similar  office  for  an¬ 
other,  the  device  has  not  been  allowed  to  stand 
in  the  way  of  justice  and  fair  dealing.  But  we 
may  safely  saj’  that  in  practically  all  such  in¬ 
stances  the  element  of  fraud  or  bad  faith  is  to 
be  found,  and  it  is  certainly  rare  to  find  a  situa¬ 
tion  where  such  an  element  is  secure  from  suc¬ 
cessful  attack.  The  cases  already  decided  by 
the  supreme  court  make  the  distinction  between 
good  faith  and  bad  faith.  *  *  *  If,  then,  the 

Government  can  succeed  iu  the  present  case,  it 
must  offer  evidence  to  satisfy  the  rules  laid  down 
by  these  decisions;  and  this  l)rings  us  to  consider 
what  facts  have  been  proved. 


9.50  tons  of  coal,  and  passed  through  the 
canal  on  May  11. 

The  accompanying  picture  shows  the  barge 
passing  through  the  canal  at  a  ijoint  about 
midway  between  Buzzards  Bay  and  the  east¬ 
ern  outlet.  Eastern  coal  men  will  watch  the 
development  closely. 


“That  the  law  has  been  consciously  and  de¬ 
liberately  violated  we  do  not  believe,  and  decline 
to  find.  But  as  the  commodities  clause  does  not 
make  the  carrier's  state  of  mind  an  essential  ele¬ 
ment  in  the  offense,  the  question  is  still  open 
whether  the  Reading  Railway  and  the  Coal  & 
Iron  Company,  whatever  their  intention  may 
have  been,  have  in  fact  so  conducted  their  affairs 
as  to  violate  the  law.” 

While  the  particular  matter  of  the  divorce¬ 
ment  of  the  Wilkes-Barre  Coal  Company  from  the 
Jersey  Central  was  not  argued,  yet  the  court 
holds  that  inasmuch  as  the  Jersey  Central  is  the 
chief  holder  of  the  stock  of  the  Wilkes-Barre 
Company  and  this  is  a  competitor  of  the  Reading 
Coal  &  Iron  Company  the  exactions  of  the  law 
would  be  met  were  the  Wilkes-Barre  Company 
divorced  from  the  Jersey  Central. 

The  decision  was  written  by  Judge  McPherson 
and  was  approved  by  his  colleagues.  Judges  Buf¬ 
fington  and  Hunt. 

A  dispatch  from  Washington  received  early 
this  week  announces  that  steps  have  been  com¬ 
menced  to  appeal  from  the  decision  and  carry 
the  case  to  the  Lhiited  States  supreme  court. 


A  New  One-Man  Drill. 


The  accompanying  illustration  shows  a  new 
type  of  powerful  coal  drill  recently  developed 
and  placed  on  the  market  by  the  Jeffery  Man¬ 
ufacturing  Company  of  Columbus,  Ohio. 

The  motor  and  drill  mechanism  proper  are 
mounted  on  trunnions  in  a  carriage,  which 


may  be  raised  or  lowered  in  a  vertical  chan¬ 
nel-iron  frame  hy  means  of  a  J^-inch  steel 
rope.  One  end  of  this  rope  is  fastened  to 
the  top  yoke  of  the  frame  and  the  other  end 
to  a  drum  on  the  carriage.  This  drum  is 
rotated  by  a  handle,  as  shown,  to  wind  up 
the  rope  and  to  raise  the  carriage.  A  ratchet 
and  pawl  are  provided  on  the  drum  to  pre¬ 
vent  the  carriage  from  dropping  when  the 
handle  is  released. 

Wdien  it  is  desired  to  move  the  drill  from 
one  place  to  another,  the  carriage  carrying 
the  motor  and  mechanism  is  lowered  to  the 
bottom  of  the  frame  and  the  drill  rolled  along 
on  the  wheels  provided  on  the  bottom  cross¬ 
yoke,  in  a  manner  similar  to  an  ordinary  hand 
freight  truck. 

The  motor  of  this  drill  is  rated  at  3  h.  p. 
The  total  weight  of  the  drill  is  approximately 
300  pounds,  while  it  is  made  sufficiently  rugged 
and  powerful  to  drill  through  any  material 
against  which  the  auger  will  stand  up. 

With  the  means  employed  on  this  drill  for 
raising  and  lowering  and  with  the  wheels  pro¬ 
vided  for  moving  it  from  place  to  place,  only 
one  man  is  recpiired  to  move,  set  up,  adjust 
and  operate  the  machine. 


First  Barge  of  Coal  Through  Cape  Cod  Canal. 


28 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[July  10 


Simple  Changes  Possible  in  a  Furnace. 


By  H.  A.  Atwater. 

Once  the  steam  coal  buyer  has  had  his  at¬ 
tention  directed  to  the  substantial  reductions 
in  steam  costs  which  it  is  possible  to  make  by 
the  proper  use  of  the  cheaper  grades  of  coal 
he  should  be  cautioned  against  rushing  blindly 
into  the  market  after  the  cheapest  grade  of 
coal  he  can  find.  Nor  should  this  warning  be 
reserved  solely  for  the  buyer  of  cheap  coal. 
This  matter  is  of  just  as  vital  importance  to 
the  user  of  the  higher  priced  coals  as  it  is 
to  the  user  of  the  cheaper  coals,  as  the  former, 
having  the  proportionately  greater  coal  bill 
should  be  all  the  more  anxious  to  make  cuts 
in  his  yearly  fuel  bills. 

The  first  and  by  far  the  most  important  fact 
to  be  impressed  upon  the  buyer  is  the  only 
correct  basis  upon  which  comparisons  of  the 
commercial  efficiency  of  various  fuels  should 
be  made.  This  is  the  actual  cost  of  generation 
of  a  certain  quantity  of  steam,  say  for  ex¬ 
ample,  a  thousand  pounds. 

Of  the  various  cost  items  which  enter  into 
this  quantity  by  far  the  largest  and  conse¬ 
quently  most  important  one  is  the  fuel  cost 
of  generating  a  thousand  pounds  of  steam. 

A  resolution  upon  the  part  of  the 
buyer  to  try  every  possible  kind  of  coal 
seems  commendable  at  first  glance,  but  a  lit¬ 
tle  consideration  will  readily  indicate  that  such 
a  procedure  is  very  liable  to  end  in  disastrous 
results.  The  furnace  equipment  of  any  plant 
is  suited  more  to  the  combustion  of  some  par¬ 
ticular  type  of  coal,  and  haphazard  experi¬ 
ments  with  every  coal  available  are  liable  to 
result  in  a  complete  shutdown.  While  a  great 
deal  of  emphasis  should  be  laid  upon  the 
possibility  of  substantially  reducing  steam 
costs  by  the  intelligent  use  of  cheap  coals, 
the  fact  should  not  be  lost  sight  of  that  often 
the  cheapest  coal  to  burn  is  one  of  the  higher 
grade  and  consequently  higher  priced  coals. 

The  composition  of  coals  varies  so  greatly 
and  there  are  so  many  factors  all  of  which 
directly  affect  the  efficiency  of  combustion 
that  no  hard  and  fast  rules  can  be  applied  to 
steam  plants  in  order  to  obtain  the  most 
economical  operation.  However,  there  are 
many  general  rules  which  will  apply  to  all 
furnaces  and  the  best  results  will  be  obtained 
by  the  owner  who  is  guided  by  these  in  putting 
into  effect  any  methods  which  experience  and 
local  conditions  might  suggest.  . 

In  taking  up  these  general  governing  prin¬ 
ciples  the  logical  start  would  be  with  the  sub¬ 
ject  of  the  design  of  the  furnace.  There  are 
many  other  factors  which  should  be  con¬ 
sidered  in  connection  with  this  subject,  but  a 
rough  outline  of  a  few  of  the  more  common 
examples  of  furnace  design  as  found  at  the 
present  time,  and  the  changes  which  will 
usually  result  in  an  improvement  would  be 
most  useful  in  aiding  the  owner  in  acquiring 
an  understanding  of  the  problem  of  fitting  a 
coal  to  his  furnace  condition  or  vice  versa. 

The  owner  might  argue  here  that  his  par¬ 
ticular  furnace  design  features  are  fixed,  and 
hence  that  this  discussion  does  not  help  him, 
but  such  an  attitude  is  not  justified.  Very 
few  owners  are  so  placed  that  they  will  never 
have  to  consider  the  possibility  of  future  ad¬ 
ditions  to  their  steam  generating  equipment, 
and  even  though  they  should  be  so  placed 


any  poor  furnace  design  can  be  changed  in 
many  ways  and  usually  with  the  expenditure 
of  a  trifling  sum  of  money.  For  these  rea¬ 
sons  it  is  to  an  owner’s  best  interests  to  ac¬ 
quire  a  general  knowledge  of  these  principles 
of  furnace  construction  without  which  it  would 
be  impossible  to  proceed  intelligently  towards 
the  selection  of  a  coal  to  fit  any  specific  con¬ 
ditions. 

In  the  earlier  days  of  steam  power  plants 
settings  were  developed  in  the  eastern  states 
for  use  almost  exclusively  with  the  higher 
grade  coals  such  as  anthracite  and  bituminous 
coals  of  a  low  percentage  of  volatile  matter. 
Gradually  these  earlier  designs  became  prac¬ 
tically  standardized  and  naturally,  when  these 
standards  were  followed  in  laying  out  plants 
in  regions  where  only  the  poorer  grades  of 
coal  were  available  trouble  was  immediately 
encountered  which  usually  took  the  form  of 
incomplete  combustion.  Most  of  the  changes 
which  it  is  possible  to  make  in  existing  plants 
are  a  result  of  the  endeavor  to  get  away  from 
these  old  established  standards. 

Figure  I  is  an  outline  of  the  type  of  setting 
usually  seen  with  a  horizontal  return  tubular 
holier.  In  this  more  or  less  standardized  set¬ 
ting  the  grate  surface  is  usually  about  twenty- 
six  to  thirty  inches  below  the  bottom  of  the 
boiler  shell,  the  combustion  chamber  back  of 
the  bridge  wall  is  usually  filled  in  and  leveled 
off  by  a  sloping  course  of  brick,  and  the  arch 
at  the  rear  of  the  boiler  is  usually  a  curved 
surface.  In  almost  every  such  case  combus¬ 


tion  can  be  greatly  improved  by  removing  the 
filling  behind  the  bridge  wall  and  changing  the 
curved  arch  to  a  flat  one  at  the  rear  end  of 
the  boiler  as  indicated  by  the  dotted  lines  in 
the  figure. 

Furthermore  when  installing  new  settings 
the  boiler  should  be  raised  so  as  to  have  at 
least  thirty  to  thirty-six  inches  of  space  be¬ 
tween  the  grate  surface  and  the  boiler  shell, 
the  top  of  the  bridge  wall  to  be  carried  up 
also  to  correspond  with  the  change.  There 
are  many  different  types  of  wing  walls  piers, 
etc.,  designed  for  the  purpose  of  securing  a 
better  mixture  of  air  and  the  gases  evolved 
from  the  coal.  It  is  useless  though  to  give 
a  diagram  of  any  of  these  arrangements  as 
most  of  them  give  more  or  less  trouble  on 
account  of  their  inability  to  withstand  for  any 
length  of  time  the  intense  heat  to  which  they 
are  subjected.  Nevertheless  the  owner  can 
very  well  pay  some  attention  to  these  mixing 
devices  as  there  is  no  question  as  to  their  value 
with  reference  to  improving  combustion  in 
general.  Experiments  have  been  made  with 
arches  sprung  over  the  grates  to  protect  the 


gases  from  the  chilling  effect  of  the  boiler 
shell,  but  while  they  usually  make  for  more 
smokeless  operation  they  seldom  increase  the 
overall  efficiency. 

Figure  2  is  an  outline  of  the  setting  and 
method  of  baffling  usually  seen  with  a  Heine 
boiler,  which  is  a  good  representative  of 
horizontally  baffled  boilers.  In  this  type  there 
are  only  two  changes  of  any  importance  which 
can  be  made.  The  first  change  has  to  do  with 
the  baffling.  The  figure  shows  the  standard 
baffling  giving  two  passes  to  the  gases,  but 
of  recent  years  a  number  of  installations  have 
gone  in  with  a  larger  number  of  baffles.  The 
other  change  concerns  the  type  of  tile  roof 
used  over  the  furnace.  This  tile  roof  can  be 
constructed  of  “C”  or  “T”  tile,  the  “T”  tile 
roof  being  supported  only  by  the  row  of  tubes 


upon  which  it  lies,  while  the  “C”  tile  roof  in 
addition  to  being  supported  also  completely 
encloses  and  thus  prevents  its  supporting  tubes 
from  exercising  a  chilling  action  on  the  furnace 
gases.  The  figure  illustrates  a  “C”  tile  roof. 
The  advantages  and  disadvantages  of  these 
two  roofs  are  of  too  detailed  a  nature  to  go  into 
in  the  present  discussion. 

The  best  known  type  of  vertically  baffled 
boilers  is  the  Babcock  and  Wilcox  water-tube 
boiler,  which  is  of  such  a  standardized  nature 
that  a  sketch  of  it  is  hardly  necessary.  With 
this  type  of  boiler  most  of  the  easily  made 
changes  have  to  do  with  the  arrangement  of 
the  baffles  and  their  number.  So  far  as  the 
different  settings  as  a  whole  are  concerned 
the  furnace  can  be  shifted  to  the  rear  end 
of  the  boiler  which  makes  it  possible  to  in¬ 
stall  a  tile  roof  over  the  furnace  proper  and 
secure  a  dutch  oven  effect. 

The  baffling  and  furnace  design  of  the  Stir¬ 
ling  boiler  is  so  well  established  that  there 
are  not  many  changes  possible  to  make.  Most 
deviations  which  are  being  made  at  present 
from  the  standard  three  pass  design  run  to¬ 
wards  an  increasing  number  of  baffles  thus 
giving  more  than  three  passes  for  the  gases. 

So  far  as  grates  and  stokers  are  concerned, 
changes  in  these  are  more  a  matter  of  varia¬ 
tions  in  design  brought  out  by  the  manufac¬ 
turers  and  troubles  encountered  in  the  use  of 
any  grate  under  certain  conditions  can  usually 
be  remedied  only  by  completely  replacing  it 
with  some  other  better  adapted  type.  In 
mechanically  stoked  plants  the  questions  of 
how  much  spring  to  give  an  arch,  its  proper 
height  above  the  grate,  whether  it  should  be  flat 
or  curved,  and  how  much  pitch  upwards  it  should 
be  given  when  carrying  it  back  towards  the 
throat  of  the  furnace  all  present  almost  un¬ 
limited  possibilities  for  any  owner  who  wants 
to  go  into  the  subject  of  what  changes  he 
can  make  in  his  present  furnace  design. 

The  foregoing  discussion  has  been  very  gen¬ 
eral  in  character  and  has  touched  only  upon 
some  of  the  more  commonly  met  types  of 
boiler  installations.  The  object  has  not  been 
to  cover  the  field  of  present  day  boiler  and 
furnace  design  or  to  go  into  the  reasons  for 
making  certain  changes  in  furnace  designs, 
but  merely  to  show  in  a  general  way  that 
any  owner,  regardless  of  what  type  of  furnace, 
stoker,  or  boiler  equipment  he  may  have,  can 
make  a  number  of  changes  without  much  ex¬ 
pense  or  trouble.  The  question  of  when  to 
make  these  changes  and  when  not  to,  of  course, 
is  one  involving  many  correlated  factors  which 
could  only  be  presented  by  means  of  a  de¬ 
tailed  discussion. 


The  Fidelity  Fuel  Company  has  taken  over  the 
entire  production  of  the  Oklahoma  Consolidated 
Coal  Companies,  Dewar,  Oklahoma.  J.  T.  Buck¬ 
ner,  formerly  general  manager  Oklahoma  Coal 
Company,  is  general  sales  manager  of  the  Fidelity 
Fuel  Company,  headquarters  at  Mtiskogee,  Okla. 


No.  2] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


29 


America  “Arrives”  as  a  Factor  in  Coal  Exports. 


It  was  not  so  many  years  ago  that  the 
total  exports  of  bituminous  coal  over  the  At¬ 
lantic  seaboard  did  not  exceed  1,000,000  tons 
per  annum.  For  the  past  two  years,  they 
have  averaged  4,200,000  tons  per  year. 

Therefore,  when  we  make  the  announce¬ 
ment  that  exports  for  June  past  exceeded  1,000,- 
000  tons,  the  exact  figures  showing  1,047,277 
tons,  we  record  the  advent  of  a  new  era  for 
the  export  coal  trade  of  America. 

It  has  been  a  hard  up  hill  struggle_  to  make 
much  headway  in  building  up  a  fair  export 
business  in  coal  from  America.  The  great 
handicap  has  been  the  lack  "of  shipping — all 
bottoms  used  in  this  trade  being  until  the 
last  few  months,  of  foreign  ownership,  and 
for  the  most  part,  owned  or  controlled  in 
Great  Britain,  with  which  country  we  have 
been  competing  for  export  trade.  Moreover, 
but  few  of  the  American  coal  men  had  the 
capital  and  courage  to  go  after  foreign  trade. 
It  has  been  a  hard  fight  for  them,  but  a  study 
of  the  figures  of  exports  for  the  past  three 
months,  say,  show  that  they  have  won  out,  and 
that  they  are  now  so  firmly  entrenched  in  the 
foreign  trade  in  both  hemispheres,  that  even 
a  sudden  cessation  of  the  European  war  will 
not  drive  them  from  the  positions  they  have 
attained  in  the  principal  foreign  markets  where 
they  are  sending  American  coal  today  in  a 
large  and  radically  increasing  volume. 

Exact  exports  for  June  by  ports,  were  as 
follows; 

Tons- 


Hampton  Roads .  604,69) 

Baltimore  .  314,79!) 

Philadelphia  .  127,7^3 


Total 


1,047,277 


This  shows  an  increase  of  269,277  tons  ovei* 
May,  when  778,000  tons  were  exported. 

A  table  of  exports  from  these  ports  for  the 
first  six  months  of  1915,  shows: 

Hampton  Phila. 

Baltimore.  Roads.  delphia. 


January  .  89,779  117,607  54,078 

February  .  79,029  150,417  32,794 

March  .  76,888  262,687  43,290 

April  . 193,293  448,239  60,658 

May  . 231,124  442,872  107,670 

Tune  . 314,799  604,695  127,783 


Totals  . 984,912  2,026,517  426,273 


Grand  total  for  all  ports  3,437,702  tons. 

Total  exports  for  the  entire  year  of  1914, 
were  4,205,000  tons,  so  that  the  first  six  months 
shipments  of  this  year  fall  only  767,298  tons 
short  of  reaching  the  total  for  last  year. 

A  comparison  of  figures  of  the  first  six 
months  of  this  year  exports  for  the  corre¬ 
sponding  months  of  1914,  shows  that  Balti¬ 
more  in  the  first  half  of  this  year  more  than 
doubled  her  exports  for  the  same  period  in 
1914,  by  shipping  984,912  tons  abroad.  Total 
shipments  from  Baltimore  for  the  first  six 
months  of  1914,  reached  452,538  tons,  while 
shipments  for  the  same  months  this  year 
totaled  984,912  tons. 

Shipments  from  Baltimore  for  the  first  six 
months  of  1914  and  1915,  respectively  were: 


Destination — 

Italy  . 

Spain  . 

Costa  Ki  CO  . 

Panama  . 

Cuba  . 

France  . 

Argentine  . 

French  Africa  .... 

Netherlands  . 

Guatemala  . 

Philippines  . 

Egypt  . 

Honduras  . 

British  West  Indies 
French  West  Indies 

Sweden  . 

Uruguay  . 

Mexico  . 

Jamaica  . 

Venezuela  . 

Porto  Rico  . 

Central  America  .  . 

Martinique . 

Brazil  . 

Greece  . 


1914.  ini.'i. 
102,413  456,793 

37,765  16,40 1 

15,240  6,703 

19,911  3,145 

116,580  84,313 

40,826  18,843 

34,170  272,719 

20,921  . 

202  . 

9,854  2,757 

12,809  . 

38,961  60,128 

900  8,500 

696  84 

1,190  * . 

.  18,865 

.  11,547 

.  45 

.  1,885 

.  9,500 

.  4.436 

.  2,500 

.  2,500 

.....  9,705 

.  5,592 


Totals  . 462,538  984,912 

.A.S  is  shown  from  tables  given  in  the  fore¬ 
part  of  this  article,  Philadelphia  has  also  be¬ 
gun  to  show  increases  in  tonnage,  both  May 
and  June,  showing  marked  improvement  over 
the  earlier  months  of  the  year. 

Hampton  Roads  exports  began  to  improve 
in  March,  April  and  May,  both  showing  very 
heavy  gains.  The  June  increase  over  May 
was  161,823  tons. 


The  distribution  of  coal  exported  from  Hamp¬ 
ton  Roads  during  June,  1915,  was  as  follows; 

Country —  Tonnage. 

Italy  . 244,893 

Portugal  .  3,254 

Spain  .  13,638 

France  .  13,147 

Greece  .  11,189 

Egypt  .  8,007 

Morocco  .  2,348 

Holland  .  10,886 

Sweden  .  6,833 

Canary  Islands .  3,800 

.\frica  .  15,802 

Bermuda  .  1,125 

Porto  Rico  .  2,994 

British  West  Indies: 

St.  Lucia .  4,541 

Bridgetown,  Barbados  .  14,026 

Georgetown,  Demerara . 1,697 

Port  of  Spain,  Trinidad .  11,634 

Curacao,  D.  W.  1 .  6,541 

Cuba .  29,283 

Mexico  . 3,414 

Chile  .  750 

Peru  .  3,143 

Argentine  .  26,982 

Uruguay  .  11,968 

Martinique  .  4,641 

Brazil  . 101,056 

Panama  .  47,708 

Total  . 604,095 


Making  a  Bigger  Profit. 

(Concluded  from  page  21.) 
twenty-four  per  cent  for  the  year. 

Thus,  laying  aside  the  question  of  the  re¬ 
sponsibility  of  the  retailer  to  keep  his  custom¬ 
ers  supplied  with  coal  and  laying  aside  all 
other  questions  of  good  policy,  it  is  a  profit¬ 
able  thing  to  buy  coal  when  it  is  at  the  low 
price  and  to  sell  it  out  quickly  the  minute  the 
price  rises. 

As  indicated  in  what  has  been  said,  the  time 
to  buy  anthracite  is  in  April,  May  and  June. 
The  time  to  sell  it  is  in  October  and  Novem¬ 
ber. 

The  time  to  buy  smokeless  lump  and  egg  is 
in  April  and  May;  the  selling  time  is  the  same 
as  in  anthracite. 

The  time  to  buy  smokeless  mine  run  is  the 
latter  part  of  June  or  July,  so  long  as  the 
present  basis  of  prices  is  adhered  to.  The 
time  to  sell  it  is  in  October  and  November. 

The  time  to  buy  bituminous  domestic  coal 
is  in  June,  July  and  the  first  half  of  August. 
The  time  to  sell  it  is  in  October  and  Novem¬ 
ber.  The  time  to  buy  again  is  when  the 
slump  comes  in  December.  The  time  to  sell  is 
when  the  busy  time  comes  in  February  and 
March. 

A  Limited  Advantage. 

If  every  one  followed  this  program,  the 
situation  would  very  quickly  change.  The 
periods  which  now  offer  bargain  prices  would 
be  the  high  priced  periods  of  the  year.  How¬ 
ever,  there  is  no  possibility  that  any  such 
change  can  come  in  the  coal  trade.  In  the 
first  place,  there  always  will  be  those  who  will 
not  be  forehanded  in  their  buying,  no  matter 
how  much  they  are  urged. 

Also  there  are  sure  to  be  those  who  will  not 
have  the  money  to  invest  in  coal  at  these  op¬ 
portune  times. 

Also  there  are  retailers  who  have  no  storage 
capacity  and  could  not  house  coal  even  if  they 
bought  it. 

For  these  reasons,  there  is  no  danger  at  all 
that  what  I  recommend  as  good  policy  for  a 
few  retailers  will  become  the  general  buying 
practice  of  the  trade. 

The  Selling  Policy. 

Having  bought  the  coal  advantageously,  the 
question  arises;  How  can  the  retailer  sell  it 
to  an  equal  advantage?  I  have  noticed  in  the 
retail  trade  two  practices  which  I  think  are 
indications  of  mistaken  policy.  A  retailer  will 
buy  storage  coal  in  the  early  months  as  here 
indicated  and  then  will  hold  it,  sometimes,  un¬ 
til  February  or  March,  before  he  tries  to  move 
it  out.  This  is  not  giving  him  a  turn-over 
which  he  ought  to  have.  On  the  contrary,  he 
keeps  coal  in  storage  so  long  that  a  good  part 
of  the  advantage  is  lost  because  the  interest 
eats  up  part  of  the  profit.  Also  he  passes 
over  the  big  buying  time  of  the  householders. 

I  doubt  if  any  dealer  deliberately  tries  to 
hold  coal  for  a  better  market.  Doubtless  the 
average  dealer  simply  waits  for  customers  to 
come  and  merely  accepts  orders. 

Good  merchandising  suggests  that  where 
there  is  a  possibility  of  a  profit,  take  it.  That 
is,  if  you  have  carried  coal  from  May  until 
October  and  you  get  a  chance  to  sell  your  coal 


at  a  price  which  will  insure  a  good  profit,  sell 
it.  Then  if  you  want  to  restock  for  a  later  de¬ 
mand,  continue  to  buy  coal  for  current  de¬ 
livery  and  put  that  in  storage  and  hold  that 
until  the  later  demand  arrives. 

Another  policy  which  I  think  is  mistaken  is 
to  base  the  selling  price  in  October,  Novem¬ 
ber  and  December  on  the  purchase  price  in 
the  earlier  period.  This  is  giving  the  house¬ 
holder  the  profit  which  you  should  have  or 
the  interest  on  your  investment  which  you 
should  keep  for  yourself.  The  householder 
invested  no  money  in  coal  in  April  and  May. 
He  did  not  carry  the  insurance  on  it.  He  did 
not  assume  any  responsibility  for  it.  Rather, 
he  waited  until  he  wanted  the  coal  before  he 
bought.  Therefore,  the  householder  earned 
no  profit  on  his  winter  supply  of  coal  and  he 
should  not  have  it.  The  profit  belongs  to  the 
man  who  is  forehanded  and  far-sighted.  That 
is  the  retail  dealer.  Therefore,  the  price 
charged  in  October  and  November  should  be 
the  regular  price  dictated  by  the  law  of  sup¬ 
ply  and  demand  at  that  time,  which  is  the 
big  buying  period  of  the  year.  This  price,  of 
course,  should  carry  a  profit  on  the  cost  of 
coal  delivered  at  that  time.  Such  a  selling 
price,  therefore,  will  not  only  give  a  current 
profit  on  coal  bought  currently,  but  it  will  give 
a  much  bigger  profit  on  coal  bought  earlier. 

This  consideration  is  important  because 
prices  named  in  October  and  November  are 
likely  to  determine  the  price  which  will  be  re¬ 
ceived  all  through  the  winter  months.  There¬ 
fore,  if  the  retailer  gets  a  good  price  in  Octo¬ 
ber  and  November,  he  is  likely  to  get  a  price 
in  the  later  months  which  will  yield  him  a 
profit,  although  a  small  one,  on  the  coal 
which  he  buys  for  delivery  during  the  winter 
and  which  he  sells  almost  directly  out  of  the 
car. 

In  other  words,  I  recommend  a  buying  pol¬ 
icy  which  is  to  make  two  distinct  classifica¬ 
tions  of  coal  purchases.  One  of  them  is  the 
early  purchases  with  a  big  profit.  The  other 
is  the  later  purchases  with  a  moderate  profit. 
Averaging  these  two  up  should  give  the  wide¬ 
awake  and  progressive  retailer  a  bigger  re¬ 
turn  on  his  year’s  business  than  though  he  fol¬ 
lowed  out  the  prevailing  idea  and  bought  coal 
only  as  he  needed  it  or  as  the  buyers  took  it 
from  him. 


How  the  “Little  Giant”  Won. 

(Concluded  from  page  24.) 
ing  matters,  and  usually  any  differences  are  set¬ 
tled  in  a  satisfactory  manner. 

City  Ordinances. 

I  would  like  to  also  mention  some  of  the  mat¬ 
ters  we  have  taken  up  with  the  city  council  re¬ 
cently. 

About  two  years  ago  a  very  prominent  city  offi¬ 
cial  observed  a  coal  wagon  being  unloaded  in  the 
downtown  district  in  such  a  manner  that  consid¬ 
erable  dust  and  dirt  was  flying,  to  the  discomfort 
of  those  about.  He  immediately  drafted  an  ordi¬ 
nance  providing  for  the  saturation  of  all  coal  and 
coke  after  being  weighed,  the  ordinance  being- 
specific  that  the  coal  must  be  drenched,  and  pro¬ 
hibiting  the  weighing  of  any  coal  after  the  wet¬ 
ting  process.  This  ordinance  prevented  the  city 
sealer  from  carrying  out  the  provisions  of  the 
weighing  ordinance,  in  which  we  are  so  much 
interested.  The  ordinance  made  no  provision  as 
to  the  condition  of  the  weather,  and  prescribed 
that  the  drenching  process  must  take  place  in 
freezing  as  well  as  warm  weather. 

It  was  necessary  for  the  association  to  point 
out  the  impractical  points  in  this  ordinance,^  and 
after  several  lengthy  conferences  with  the  judi¬ 
ciary  committee  of  the  city  council  we  were  able 
to  have  the  matter  referred  to  the  department  of 
public  works. 

The  matter  was  finally  left,  with  the  under¬ 
standing  that  all  possible  precaution  would  be 
taken  to  avoid  creating  dust  and  dirt. 

Very  recently,  in  order  to  avoid  congestion,  an 
ordinance  was  proposed  prohibiting  the  use  of 
street  car  tracks  in  downtown  districts  by  any 
commercial  vehicles,  during  certain  hours  of  the 
morning  and  afternoon.  So  far  as  the  coal  trade 
was  concerned,  it  would  reduce  the  efficiency  of 
teams  in  the  district  about  fifty  per  cent,  because 
during  the  proscribed  hours  it  would  be  impossi¬ 
ble  to  send  a  team  into  the  loop  district. 

After  conference  with  the  local  transportation 
committee  and  police  department  we  were  suc¬ 
cessful  in  having  the  committee  recommend  that 
the  subject  be  made  a  matter  of  police  regula¬ 
tion,  where  it  is  today. 


30 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


[July  10 


pubi.ishi:d  evbby  satttbday  by  thb 

BBACK  BIAMONB  COMPANY. 

Subscription  price,  $3.00  per  year,  postage  prepaid,  to 
any  postoffice  in  the  United  States.  Foreign  subscrip¬ 
tion  price,  $5.00  per  year.  Single  copies,  20  cents. 
Entered  at  Chicago  postoffice  as  second-class  matter. 

Address  all  communications  to 

THB  BI.ACE  DIAMOND  COMPANY  (INC  ) 

Main  office,  Manhattan  building,  Chicago. 

Branch  Offices. 

New  York,  29  Broadway. 

Philadelphia,  1400  Land  Title  building. 
Pittsburgh,  1502  Oliver  building. 


Saturday,  July  10,  1915. 


INDEX. 


Special  Articles. 

Page 


Making  a  Bigger  Profit  by  Buying  Coal  Proiierly.  ...  21 

Exact  b'igures  Turn  Expected  Profit  to  Loss .  22 

Some  Figures  on  Anthracite  Output .  22 

The  Coal  Company’s  Trouble  Man .  23 

Taxing  Premium  Plans  Out  of  Existence .  23 

The  Inside  Story  of  Mow  the  ‘‘Little  Ciant  Won”....  24 

Putting  a  Ketail  Coal  Business  on  a  Cash  Basis .  25 

Communications  .  26 

Bids  for  and  Contracts  Let  On  Coal .  26 

J.  E.  ^litchell’s  Silo  Coal  Pockets  at  Glenolden,  Pa..  26 

Sale  of  Pittsburgh-Bciffalo  Company  Properties .  26 

Reading  Company  Wins  in  United  States  Court .  27 

A  New  One-Man  Drill .  27 

Simple  Changes  Possible  in  a  Furnace .  28 

America  Arrives  as  a  Factor  in  Coal  Exports .  29 

Editorial  .  30 

News  Local  to  Chicago .  32 

Lackawanna  Coal  Changes .  32 

Facts  Which  Determine  Our  Export  Prospects .  33 

Anthracite  Tax  Case .  35 

Market  Reports. 

General  Review  and  Chicago .  34 

Pittsburgh  and  Detroit .  3.5 

Cincinnati  and  Toledo .  36 

Twin  Cities,  Indianapolis  and  St.  Louis .  37 

New  Yorx .  38 

Philadelphia,  Baltimore  and  New  England .  39 

Buffalo,  Denver  and  Birmingham .  40 

Hocking  Valley . .  15 


An  Ugly  Fact  or  Two. 

.■\s  the  Ohio  mines  try  to  work  under  the 
Green  anti-screen  law,  it  becomes  evident 
that,  as  the  urchins  say,  the  miners  “spilled 
the  beans”  when  they  forced  the  legislature 
to  pass  that  bill. 

One  obvious  cost  of  that  law  was  a  strike 
which  lasted  a  year  in  eastern  Ohio.  The 
union  miners  went  on  a  vacation.  The 
union  mines  were  closed  down. 

The  miners  did  not  really  expect  that  the 
coal  consumers  would  go  on  a  symjjathetic 
strike.  The  trouble  is  they  didn’t  think 
about  that  at  all.  All  the  miners  thought 
about  was  that  they  wanted  to  whip  the 
operators.  The  spirit  of  their  leaders  was : 
“I'll  show  you  who  is  boss  around  here.’’ 

W’hen  the  miners  returned  to  work,  they 
expected  to  take  up  their  jobs  where  they 
left  off.  They  expected  the  operators  could 
go  back  to  their  old  customers  and  resume 
the  sale  of  coal.  This  was  their  silly  child¬ 
ish  dream. 

Then  the  naked  truth  walked  aljroad.  The 
resumption  of  mining  showed  that  the  mar¬ 
ket  was  gone.  Somebody  else  had  taken 
the  business  and  the  Ohio  operators  could 
not  recover  it.  When  orders  were  sought, 
it  was  found  that  the  non-union  mines  of 
West  Virginia  had  them.  Eastern  Ohio 
had  been  robbed  of  its  business  because  the 
miners  refused  to  work  or  to  let  anyone 
else  work. 

Some  other  Ohio  mines  did  not  hold  out 
against  the  miners.  They  accepted  the  law 
and  paid  what  the  miners  demanded.  Even 
they  started  to  prepare  their  coal  similar 
to  the  way  that  is  done  in  some  of  the  west¬ 
ern  states.  But  the  non-union  mines  did 
not  do  it  because  they  did  not  have  to. 


Neighboring  states  did  not  do  it  because 
that  was  not  the  practice.  Thus  the  Hock¬ 
ing  Valley  field  was  the  pioneer  in  the  mat¬ 
ter  of  investment  for  and  the  cost  of 
elaborate  sizing  of  coal. 

It  simply  could  not  be  done.  Ohio  could 
not  pay  its  miners  more  money  and  add  to 
the  cost  of  preparation  and  still  compete. 

The  announcement  was  made  a  week  ago 
that  a  number  of  the  Hocking  mines  were 
closed  down  to  remain  closed  indefinitely. 

You  have  there  a  direct  example  of  cause 
and  effect.  It  is  an  ugly  fact,  but  we  must 
look  at  it. 

The  Hocking  operators  explain  their 
move  by  saying  that  competing  mines  in 
eastern  Ohio  have  been  given  the  better 
mining  rate.  That  is  an  explanation  which 
does  not  explain.  The  eastern  Ohio  mines 
cannot  hold  their  business  at  that  rate 
against  the  non-union  mines  of  West  \’ir- 
ginia.  The  Hocking  mines  may  be  out¬ 
classed,  as  the  operators  say,  by  eastern 
( )hio,  hut  eastern  Ohio  in  turn  is  outclassed 
by  West  Virginia.  How  impossible  it  is, 
therefore,  for  the  Hocking  \"alley  to  com- 
]3ete  wdth  West  Mrginia. 

The  closing  down  of  the  Hocking  ATlley 
mines  means  that  under  labor  domination 
their  ])rofitable  operation  is  out  of  the  ques¬ 
tion.  This  is  what  it  has  cost  Ohio  to  be 
ruled  by  the  miners’  union. 

The  miners  tried  in  convention  and  by  a 
conference  to  win  their  dispute.  Failing 
there  they  went  to  the  legislature.  The 
resultant  partnership  between  labor  and 
politics  proved  that  while  it  is  possible  to 
force  capital  to  make  concessions  to  labor, 
the  force  designed  to  remedy  a  business 
situation  cures  the  ill  by  killing  the  business. 


Every  woman  knows  that  the  laws  gov¬ 
erning  human  actions  apply  to  all  men — 
except  her  husband.  Every  coal  man 
credits  every  business — except  his —  as 
being  regulated  by  certain  fixed  rules. 
These  mental  exceptions  explain  the 
growth  of  divorce  suits  and  coal  company 
failures. 


Profitable  Buying. 

Every  coal  merchant  should  read  the 
article  by  E.  H.  Irwin  on  buying  which  ap¬ 
pears  in  this  issue.  He  should  take  time  to 
study  it  until  he  is  sure  that  he  has  mas¬ 
tered  not  only  its  facts,  but  the  principles 
wdiich  it  announces. 

One  principle  in  particular  deserves  mem¬ 
orizing.  “Buy  at  the  lowest  price  and  take 
your  profit  the  instant  there  is  an  oppor¬ 
tunity.”  That  is  w'orth  real  money  to  any 
man  who  wxmts  to  be  a  merchant  in  coal. 

Many  retailers  get  coal  at  a  low  price. 
Alien  they  have  a  chance  to  sell  it  at  a 
good  price,  they  do  not  like  to  dispose  of  it. 
They  seem  to  wxmt  to  tantalize  themselves 
by  thinking  of  the  still  bigger  profit  they 
are  going  to  get  after  a  while. 

Rather  than  getting  the  higher  price  and 
the  larger  profit  later,  the  presence  of  cheap 
coal  in  a  yard  is  demoralizing  to  current 
jirices.  The  retailer  keeps  it  always  in  his 
mind.  He  cannot  forget  that  he  has  cheap 
coal  on  hand.  He  is  thinking  ahvays  about 
how  much  he  can  cut  prices  if  he  must. 
After  thinking  of  it,  he  does  it.  That  is, 
he  lets  it  level  down  the  price  he  paid  for 
the  other  coal  until  he  has  arrived  at  an 
“average”  price.  Thereafter  he  is  prone  to 
fix  his  current  selling  price  on  this  average 
rather  than  on  what  a  fresh  sujiply  of  coal 
would  cost.  If  he  would  dispose  of  cheap 


coal  early  in'  the  fall,  he  would  soon  forget 
about  it.  Then  the  average  price  would 
rise  and  he  would  get  a  profit  on  all  of  his 
coal. 

We  have  known  of  instances  where  dne 
bargain  lot  of  coal  has  caused  a  dealer  to 
lose  money  on  every  pound  of  coal  sold  dur¬ 
ing  a  winter.  To  illustrate  how  that  is 
made  i)ossible,  we  will  say  that  a  retailer 
bought  ten  cars  of  coal  in  July  for  $1  a 
ton.  He  held  it  until  September,  when  he 
bought  ten  other  cars  of  coal  paying  $1.50 
a  ton.  He  then  said,  which  was  true,  that 
the  average  i)rice  on  his  twenty  cars  of 
coal  was  $1.25. 

He  sold  out  the  second  lot  of  coal  or 
that  which  was  bought  last,  at  the  equiv¬ 
alent  of  $1.25,  or  at  a  loss  of  twenty-five 
cents  a  ton.  He  then  bought  ten  other  cars. 
Still  using  the  first  ten  cars  as  the  cheap 
coal  in  a  mixture,  he  said  that  the  coal  in 
his  yard  still  cost  him  on  the  average  $1.25. 
Here  his  calculations  were  away  off.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  the  average  price — including 
the  ten-car  lot  already  sold  was  $1.41  2-3. 

To  avoid  this  and  other  mistakes,  it  is 
well  to  take  the  profit  on  cheap  coal  when 
you  can  get  it  and  then  forget  about  it. 


Exports  of  coal  are  now  at  the  highest 
point  in  our  history.  This  is  more  than  an 
incident  of  the  war.  It  means  that  Amer¬ 
ica,  which  has  been  trying  for  foreign  trade 
for  years,  has  now  an  introduction.  Whether 
we  hold  the  business  must  depend  on  our 
merchandising  ability. 


Pointedly  Put. 

Some  Chicago  retail  coal  men  had  gath¬ 
ered  around  a  table  to  discuss  the  business 
situation.  All  of  them  said  that  they  had 
lost  tonnage  in  the  last  year  because  of  the 
times  and  the  weather.  J^Iost  of  them  con¬ 
fessed  that  they  also  were  losing  money  be¬ 
cause  prices  had  been  cut  right  and  left. 
Ed  Klinenberg,  a  retailer,  was  in  the  party. 
He  expressed  his  opinion  of  the  latter  state¬ 
ment  as  follows : 

“You  men  are  cutting  prices  not  because 
you  want  to  but  because  die  other  fellow 
does.  You  are  losing  money  not  because 
you  like  to  lose  it  but  because  the  older  fel¬ 
low  sets  the  example. 

“All  right.  Suppose  I  too  set  an  example. 
We  will  all  start  from  here  and  walk  to 
the  lake.  When  I  get  to  the  end  of  the  pier, 
I  am  going  crazy  and  will  drown  myself. 
Wall  you  fellows  do  the  same  thing  merely 
because  I  set  the  example?  Of  course  you 
will  not,  because  you  are  not  quite  so  crazy 
as  you  seem  to  be. 

“Still,  you  will  lose  money  and  commit 
business  suicide  merely  because  the  other 
fellow  takes  the  lead. 

“If  the  other  fellow  wants  to  lose  money, 
let  him.  But  I  am  not  in  business  for  that 
pur])Ose  and  1  refuse  to  follow  that  sort  of 
a  leader.” 

We  have  never  been  able  to  make  out 
why  men  who  have  such  destructive  policies 
as  have  the  price  cutters  should  be  referred 
to  as  “leaders.”  Generally,  a  man  who 
leads  has  something  constructive  to  offer. 
The  devil  is  the  only  known  exception  to 
this  rule  since  Roosevelt  lost  his  following. 
Nevertheless,  coal  men  have  deserted  the 
constructive  leaders  of  the  trade  and  have 
gone  off  after  men  of  the  other  sort.  It 
seems  today  that  the  whole  flock  is  follow¬ 
ing  the  hlack  sheep. 

Because  it  outlines  a  policy  which  leads 


No.  2] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


31 


the  other  way,  we  like  the  statement  of  a 
wholesaler  who  said  this  week : 

“I  never  sell  any  chea])  coal.  It  may  be 
good  coal  at  that,  and  it  may  be  in  distress 
for  legitimate  reasons.  But,  when  a  coal 
gets  a  habit  of  being  in  distress,  I  think  of 
it  the  same  as  I  do  of  a  man  who  is  always 
in  hard  luck.  I  think  there  is  a  reason.  I 
refuse  to  jeo])ardize  my  standing  with  the 
trade  by  passing  such  coal  on  to  my  cus¬ 
tomers.” 


Cash  and  Credit. 

There  is  a  lot  of  talk  these  days  about 
returning  to  a  strictly  cash  basis  in  the  sale 
of  coal  at  retail.  That  is  one  way  out  of  a 
dilemima.  But,  the  credit  system  is  not 
quite  so  black  as  it  is  painted  sometimes. 

A  coal  operator  told  this  story,  just  the 
other  day,  to  illustrate  his  attitude  on  the 
subject : 

“My  wife  and  I  .were  in  a  store  in  Cin¬ 
cinnati  about  thirty  years  ago.  The  clerk- 
asked:  ‘Shall  we  charge  it?’  We  had  the 
money  to  pay,  of  course,  but  we  wanted  to 
see  whether  the  store  would  open  a  charge 
account  for  a  couple  of  youngsters  from 
the  country.  We  gave  our  references,  etc., 
and  there  and  then  opened  an  account.  We 
have  traded  with  that  store  every  month 
since.” 

In  those  thirty  years,  this  account  has 
meant  thousands  of  dollars  of  trade,  at 
wholesale  and  retail,  to  that  store.  There 
was  one  case  where  a  liberal  extension  of 
credit  worked  out  the  right  way  for  the 
store. 

While  on  that  subject  the  big  Chicago 
stores  feel,  apparently,  that  credit  is  a  good 
thing.  For  example,  the  big  State  street 
stores  are  more  liberal  on  terms,  etc.,  with 
their  credit  customers  than  they  are  with 
those  who  pay  cash. 

It  may  not  have  occurred  to  some,  but  it 
is  true,  that  merchant  tailors  continue  in 
business  solely  because  they  extend  credit. 
Thus,  the  concrete  evidence  in  favor  of  the 
credit  system  is  striking. 

Here  is  one  thing  which  must  not  be 
overlooked.  The  man  who  sells  anything 
must  satisfy  his  customer  or  he  does  not 
hold  the  trade.  If  he  does  not  satisfy  a 
credit  customer  he  knows  it.  If  he  does 
not  satisfy  a  cash  customer,  he  may  never 
know  it :  the  man  will  simply  go  elsewhere. 
When  a  man  opens  an  account,  he  and  the 
merchant  expect  that  it  will  be  active. 
When,  therefore,  the  account  is  closed  or 
becomes  inactive,  the  merchant  knows  that 
something  is  wrong.  Thus  the  trend  of 
credit  accounts  proves  a  sure  indication 
whether  the  store  itself  is  on  the  road  to 
popularity  with  its  patrons. 

The  man  who  sells  only  for  cash,  has  no 
way  of  knowing  how  many  customers  he  is 
losing  because  his  service  is  not  good  or 
because  his  clerks  are  not  courteous. 

That  which  is  against  the  credit  .system 
may  be  summed  up  under  three  headings : 

First,  bad  accounts  are  made  by  a  pro¬ 
miscuous  extension  of  credit. 

h'or  one  thing,  there  should  be  no  pro¬ 
miscuous  extension  of  credit.  For  another 
thing,  bad  accounts  in  annoying  volume 
mean  a  poor  system  for  collecting  credit  in¬ 
formation.  Thus  the  first  objection  is  not 
valid  because  it  means  that  a  man  is  con¬ 
demning  a  method  of  doing  business  be¬ 
cause  he  is  trying  to  do  something  for 
which  he  is  not  equip])ed. 

Second,  interest  money  is  lost  because 
those  who  buy  on  credit  pay  slowly. 


This  is  an  indictment  against  the  collector 
or  merchant  himself  rather  than  against  the 
credit  system.  A  man  has  no  right  to  con¬ 
demn  any  system  publicly,  merely  because 
he  will  not  do  his  business  properly. 

Third,  it  is  an  imposition  upon  the  prompt 
pay  customers  to  ask  them  to  pay  a  higher 
])rice  on  coal  to  make  up  the  losses  incurred 
by  those  who  refuse  to  pay  their  bills. 

Because  the  coal  man  has  not  improved 
his  methods  to  overcome  these  age-old  de¬ 
fects  in  our  business,  is  no  reason  for  aban¬ 
doning  the  credit  system  altogether.  In¬ 
stead  there  is  need  to  keep  it  alive  that  the 
merchant  in  a  struggle  to  hold  the  credit 
customer  on  the  books  will  learn  to  please. 
In  this  way,  and  in  no  other,  can  a  man 
make  a  merchant  of  himself. 


Use  Your  Own  Figures, 

A  coal  man  who  does  a  big  business  made 
this  astounding  confession  one  day  this 
week : 

“I  have  been  making  the  common  mis¬ 
take.  When  some  one  raised  the  question, 

I  said  that  ‘business  is  rotten.’  When  any¬ 
body  asked  me,H  said  I  was  losing  money. 

1  talked  the  way  everybody  else  did  because 
it  has  become  a  habit. 

“On  the  first  of  July,  the  statement  from 
our  auditor  was  handed  in.  This  accounted 
for  the  business  for  the  first  six  months  of 
the  year  compared  with  the  first  six  months 
of  1914.  1  found  that  for  April  and  May, 

I  was  ahead  of  last  year  by  $2,700  in  cash. 
The  comparison  was  with  1914,  the  best 
year  in  ten.  The  June  figures  were  just  as 
encouraging. 

“We  made  a  gain  in  tonnage  of  five  per 
cent  in  the  two  months  of  the  year  which 
are  considered  the  worst.  If  we  continue 
on  that  basis  merely,  we  will  show  a  gain  in 
tonnage  of  thirty  per  cent  for  this  year. 
This  compares  with  the  business  for  1914 
when  the  gain  was  about  twenty-five  per 
cent  over  1913. 

“That  is,  the  facts  do  not  bear  out  my 
pessimistic  remarks  about  business.” 

There  is  no  intention  here  to  say  that 
everybody’s  business  is  increasing  at  any 
such  rate.  This  business  man  made  an  ex¬ 
ceptional  showing.  However,  it  is  still  good 
advice  to  suggest;  If  disposed  to  make  any 
statements  about  business  in  general,  base 
these  on  the  records  of  your  own  books  and 
not  on  what  other  people  tell  you  about 
things  in  general. 

This  is  really  important  for  the  reason 
that  the  period  of  de])ression  is  psychologi¬ 
cal.  That  is,  business  bas  been  depressed  be¬ 
cause  people  have  thought  it  would  be. 
I'rom  thinking  bad  business,  we  have  come 
to  have  bad  business.  If  we  reverse  the 
process  and  think  good  business  and  talk 
good  business,  we  will  get  it. 

However,  if  we  let  other  people  dictate 
what  we  shall  say  and  think,  we  are  going  * 
to  continue  to  have  bad  business.  There¬ 
fore,  we  earnestly  advise  coal  men  to  think 
about  their  own  business  in  terms  only  of 
what  their  own  books  show.  We  recom¬ 
mend  that  all  talk  be  based  upon  the  actual 
record  and  not  on  what  somebody  has  led 
somebody  else  to  think. 

As  business  shows  an  increase,  we  will 
have  something  cheerful  and  optimistic  to 
talk  about.  Fvery  man’s  mite  of  optimism, 
added  to  every  other  man’s  mite  of  oj)tim- 
ism  will  soon  bring  about  an  im])rovement 
of  business  in  general. 

The  experiment  is  worth  trying  because 


it  costs  nothing.  It  costs  no  more  to  talk 
facts  than  it  does  to  talk  wrong  theories. 
It  costs  no  more  to  talk  about  small  profits 
in  an  o])timistic  way  than  it  does  to  talk 
about  imagined  los.ses  in  a  pessimistic  way. 
No  one  is  honest  with  himself  or  with  his 
associates  unless  he  talks  about  what  he 
knows  instead  of  about  what  other  people 
have  led  him  to  think. 


Reserve  Force. 

The  world  is  getting  a  good  business 
suggestion  from  the  manner  in  which  the 
generals  of  Euroj^e  are  maneuvering  their 
fighting  machines.  He  is  either  a  fool  of 
a  general  or  he  is  in  terrible  straits  if  he 
puts  his  whole  fighting  force  on  the  firing 
line  at  one  time  and  keeps  nothing  in  re¬ 
serve  for  a  sudden  emergency. 

I'here  is  a  first  rate  example  of  how  a 
coal  man  should  consider  his  business. 
One  of  the  primary  rules  of  investment  is; 
“Put  your  money  in  a  place  where  the 
main  line  can  be  reinforced  by  some  other 
line  in  case  the  leader  meets  with  a  seri¬ 
ous  reverse.”  Under  this  rule,  one  of  the 
best  business  investments  is  in  a  general 
merchandising  concern,  such  as  a  depart¬ 
ment  store.  The  leading  line  may  be  dry 
goods,  but  the  merchant  has  recourse  to 
helpful  activity  in  a  hundred  or  even  a 
thousand  other  lines.  Another  good  in¬ 
vestment  is  a  steel  producing  company 
as  organized  today.  If  anything  happens 
to  the  finished  steel  business,  the  owner 
has  recourse  to  one  of  the  processes  of 
conversion  to  get  a  profit. 

Ai)plied  to  the  coal  producing,  the  op¬ 
erator  must  concentrate  upon  one  line  of 
activity.  We  have  not  developed,  as  they 
have  in  England,  an  assortment  of  busi¬ 
ness  around  a  coal  mine.  Usually  our 
one  line  is  devoted  to  some  specific  use  or 
to  sale  in  some  fixed  territory.  Thus  many 
companies  devote  themselves  almost  ex¬ 
clusively  to  the  lake  trade.  If  anything 
happens  to  make  the  lake  trade  unprofit¬ 
able,  the  oi)erator  is  without  reinforce¬ 
ment  unless  he  is  keeping  himself  in  touch 
with  all  rail  trade. 

.\nother  Cfjinpany  devotes  its  product, 
it  may  be,  mainly  to  railroads  and  to  pub¬ 
lic  utilities  companies.  If  anything  hap¬ 
pens  to  one  big  contract  that  operator  is 
in  an  embarrassing  ])osition  unless  he  is 
making  a  steady  appeal  to  another  class 
of  buyers. 

Applied  to  the  retail  trade,  the  situation 
is  somewhat  different.  If  a  retail  coal 
merchant  deals  in  nothing  but  coal,  he  is 
de];)endent  for  his  prosperity  upon  the 
fickle  element  of  the  weather.  If  the 
weather  turns  against  him,  as  it  did  last 
winter,  he  is  practically  out  of  business 
and  out  of  ])rofit  for  a  year  unless  he  car¬ 
ries  some  other  line.  Some  of  the  larger 
companies  hold  the  ice  business  in  re¬ 
serve  to  hel])  out  the  coal  business  and 
still  others  rely  upon  building  material. 

It  is  hardly  likely  that  all  of  these  things 
will  fail  at  one  time,  'riuis  if  one  thing 
fails,  the  money  invested  has  a  chance  of 
getting  returns  by  extraordinary  activity 
in  another  line. 

W’e  do  not  consider  it  a  wise  i)olicy  to 
put  all  of  one’s  investment  ui)on  one  line 
of  activity  which  is  likely  to  fail.  An  in¬ 
vestment  needs  reinforcement  as  much  as 
docs  the  firing  line  of  an  army.  It  is  part 
of  the  business  general’s  duty  to  provide 
that  reinforcement. 


32 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[July  10 


News  Local  to  Chicago. 


A  visitor  in  Chicago  this  week  was  John  A. 
Buell  of  Pontiac,  Ill. 

The  next  tournament  of  the  Coal  Trade  Golf 
Association  will  be  held  at  the  Evanston  Golf 
Club  on  July  14th. 

The  receiver  for  Rasmusson,  Balnies  & 
Burke  has  paid  a  first  and  final  dividend  of 
two  per  cent  to  its  creditors. 

E.  C.  Pratt,  the  northwestern  sales  agent  of 
the  Purity  Coal  Company  was  a  Chicago 
visitor  on  Friday  of  this  week. 

Among  the  Chicago  visitors  within  the  last 
week  was  William  Forschner,  manager  of  the 
Forschner  Coal  Company  of  Linton,  Ind. 

One  of  the  visitors  to  the  Chicago  coal  trade 
on  Tuesday  of  this  week  was  E.  M.  Peters,  pres¬ 
ident  of  the  Hamilton,  Otto  Coke  Company  of 
Hamilton,  Ohio. 

Dudley  Gregory,  son  of  the  well  known 
George  Gregory  of  Marshalltown,  Iowa,  has 
been  "added  to  the  Iowa  selling  staff  of  the 
Purity  Coal  Company. 

Fred  Harwood  of  The  New  Kentucky  Coal 
Company,  is  spending  his  energy  and  the  week 
at  Birmingham,  Alabama,  in  connection  with 
the  Alabama  rate  case. 

The  Mancourt-Winters  Coal  Company  of 
Detroit,  has  opened  a  branch  office  at  No.  110 
South  Dearborn  street,  with  Benjamin  M. 
Ferguson  in  charge  as  manager. 

C.  M.  Moderwell,  president  of  C.  M.  Moder- 
well  &  Company,  took  an  outing  over  the  holidays 
by  attending  a  rate  hearing  at  Birmingham,  where 
the  commission  is  now  going  into  the  proposed 
rate  advance. 

C.  D.  Caldwell  of  the  By-Product  Coke 
Corporation  returned  the  latter  part  of  last 
week  from  his  trip  through  the  east,  which 
embraced  Cincinnati,  the  mines,  Cleveland  and 
Detroit. 

The  general  outing  committee  of  the  Chicago 
Coal  Merchants’  Association  held  a  meeting  in 
the  association  rooms  on  Thursday  morning  to 
decide  definitely  on  the  place  and  time  for  hold¬ 
ing  the  outing.  After  having  looked  over  many 
amusement  parks,  it  was  finally  decided  to  go  to 
Fox  River  Park  near  Aurora.  The  date  is 
August  14th. 

Herbert  H.  Taylor  of  the  Taylor  Coal  Com¬ 
pany,  left  the  early  part  of  the  week  for  the 
northwest.  Mr.  Taylor  endeavors  to  visit 
every  coal  buyer  that  he  does  business  with  at 
least  once  a  year. 

A  visitor  to  the  Chicago  coal  trade  on  Tues¬ 
day  was  Mr.  Wynne  of  the  Buser  Concrete  Con¬ 
struction  Company  of  IMount  Morris,  Ill.  One  of 
the  interesting  points  about  his  visit  was  that  he 
left  a  coal  contract  behind  him. 

A.  O.  Tandy  of  the  Franklin-Tandy  Coal 
Company,  was  on  a  trip  to  the  mines  of  the 
Logan  Pocahontas  Fuel  Company  in  Mac- 
Dowell  county,  W.  Va.,  within  the  week.  He 
was  accompanied  by  E.  S.  Lovejoy  of  O.  S. 
Richardson  &  Co. 

H.  W.  Weeks,  the  fuel  engineer  and  salesman 
for  the  Peabody  Coal  Company,  having  com¬ 
pleted  a  severe  test  of  coal  on  locomotives  and 
having  landed  a  contract  of  some  size,  took  an 
outing  over  the  Fourth,  which  he  spent  in  a 
three  day  automobile  trip  to  Indiana. 

Carl  Scholz,  president  of  the  Consolidated  In¬ 
diana  Coal  Company,  returned  the  middle  part 
of  this  week  from  a  fishing  trip.  Instead  of  go¬ 
ing  to  the  Wisconsin  resorts,  as  is  customary,  he 
knows  of  a  place  in  Arkansas  where  the  fishing 
is  good  and  he  and  his  family  went  there  for 
about  a  week. 

George  F.  Getz  of  the  Globe  Coal  Company 
spent  the  Fourth  at  his  farm  in  Michigan,  where 
he  went  at  the  conclusion  of  a  recent  tour  of  in¬ 
spection  of  some  properties  in  West  Virginia. 
On  the  latter  he  was  in  company  with  some  New 
York  financiers  and  some  men  of  influence  in 
West  Virginia. 

The  Chicago  Coal  Merchants’  Association  was 
to  have  held  a  meeting  on  Tuesday  of  next  week, 
but  out  of  consideration  of  the  fact  that  the 
annual  pow-wow  of  the  Order  Kokoal  is  being 
held  here  next  week  the  meeting  was  abandoned. 
The  next  meeting  will  be  held  subject  to  call, 
perhaps  two  weeks  later. 

I.  I,.  Runyan,  secretary  of  the  Illinois  & 
Wisconsin  Retail  Coal  Dealers’  Association 
returned  the  latter  part  of  this  week  from 


Galesburg,  where  on  Tuesday  night  he  at¬ 
tended  a  district  meeting  of  retailers  represent¬ 
ing  Galesburg,  Monmouth,  Abingdon,  Knox¬ 
ville  and  DeLong.  There  were  thirty-three  re¬ 
tailers  in  all  present  at  the  meeting  which  was 
an  enthusiastic  gathering.  In  fact  the  success 
of  the  coal  club  at  Galesburg  is  so  pronounced 
that  Monmouth  decided  to  organize  one  at 
once  and  the  enthusiasm  for  association  work 
became  so  strong  that  five  new  members  were 
added  to  the  Illinois  &  Wisconsin  membership 
list. 

A  novel  plan  to  encourage  thrift  among 
wage-earners  in  every  trade  and  business  in 
Chicago,  through  which  corporations  will 
agree  to  pay  an  amount  of  interest,  in  addi¬ 
tion  to  that  paid  on  savings  accounts  by  the 
banks,  to  employes  who  are  willing  to  de¬ 
posit  part  of  their  income,  has  been  decided 
upon  by  a  number  of  prominent  corporation 
men  and  bankers  of  this  city.  The  Consumers 
Company,  with  a  pay  roll  of  about  $10,000  a 
day,  is  the  pioneer  in  the  plan.  President 
Fred  Upham  has  announced  that  his  concern 
will  agree  to  allow  1  per  cent  annually  on 
all  savings  accounts  of  employes,  in  addition 
to  3  per  cent  allowed  by  the  bank  in  which 
the  employes  may  elect  to  place  the  funds. 

Carl  Scholz  attended  a  meeting  at  Des 
Moines  on  Tuesday  of  the  operators  in  the 
state  of  Iowa.  It  seems  that  Iowa  is  be¬ 
coming  impressed  with  the  fact  that  some  of 
the  other  coal  producing  sections  are  taking 
away  business  which  belongs -to  it.  The  Iowa 
operators  believe  that  the  difficulty  is  that  the 
good  qualities  of  Iowa  coal  have  not  been 
generally  known,  therefore,  an  organization  to 
promote  information  about  Iowa  coal  -was 
formed.  This  will  get  some  money  together 
at  once,  and  this  will  be  used  to  hire  Sn 
efficiency  engineer  who  will  show  people  how 
to  burn  that  coal  and  it  will  also  pay  the  ex¬ 
penses  of  an  Iowa  man  who  is  going  to  write 
some  things  afcout  Iowa  coal  for  the  farm 
papers.  The  new  organization  was  effected  and 
a  committee  of  four  was  appointed  to  map 
out  the  details. 

Some  progress  has  been  made  recently  in  the 
matter  of  forming  a  selling  agency  for  Indiana. 
It  will  take  two  or  three  weeks  to  get  it  in 
shape  to  act,  but  an  organization  already  has 
been  effected.  The  name  is  the  Indiana  Coal  Sales 
Company.  The  officers  are :  President,  A.  M. 
Ogle;  vice-presidents,  E.  D.  Logsdon,  J.  K.  Der¬ 
ing  and  David  Ingle ;  secretary,  P.  H.  Penna ; 
and  treasurer,  M.  L.  Gould.  The  executive  com¬ 
mittee  are  J.  C.  Kolsem,  W.  S.  Bogle,  H.  A. 
Huskey,  W.  J.  Freeman,  Plugh  Shirkie  and  H.  B. 
Talley.  The  directors  are:  John  Oliphant,  Oli- 
phant-Wasson  Coal  Company;  H.  B.  Talley,  Coal 
Bluff  Mining  Company ;  W.  S.  Bogle,  W.  S. 
Bogle  &  Co.,  Inc. ;  Hugh  Shirkie,  Shirkie  Coal 
Company;  A.  M.  Ogle,  Vandalia  Coal  Company: 

J.  K.  Dering,  J.  K.  I)ering  Coal  Company ;  David 
Ingle,  Ay  reshire  Coal  Company;  W.  J.  Freeman, 
Green  Valley  Coal  Company;  J.  C.  Kolsem,  Jack- 
son  Hill  Coal  &  Mining  Company  ;  E.  D.  Logsdon, 
Indian  Creek  Coal  Company;  M.  L.  Gould,  Gould 
Coal  Washing  &  Mining  Company  ;  J.  T.  Connery, 
Miami  Coal  Company;  Harley  Huskey,  Worth- 
Huskey  Coal  Company;  Carl  Scholz,  Consoli¬ 
dated  Indiana  Coal  Company;  H.  M.  Ferguson, 
Clinton  Coal  Company;  Janies  Persons,  Knox 
Coal  Company;  Paul  Zimmerman,  American  Coal 
Company;  Jabez  Woolley,  Woolley  Coal  Com¬ 
pany,  and  Thomas  Byers,  Bicknell  Coal  Company. 

Chan.  F.  Lemmon  is  chairman  of  the  recep¬ 
tion  committee  appointed  to  welcome  the  dele¬ 
gates  to  the  annual  pow-wow  of  the  Order 
Kokoal,  which  is  to  open  at  the  Auditorium 
on  next  Tuesday,  July  12.  The  members  of 
the  order  in  Chicago  are  getting  ready  to  ex¬ 
tend  a  characteristic  Chicago  welcome  to  the 
visiting  coal  men  who  are  expected  to-  come 
in  rather  large  numbers.  Mr.  Lemmon’s  re¬ 
ception  committee,  which  will  be  made  up  of 
some  of  the  best  known  coal  men  in  Chi- 
ca.go,  will  be  on  hand  at  the  Auditorium  at 
two  o'clock.  This  means  that  all  details  for 
the  coming  annual  pow-wow  and  coal  con¬ 
vention  have  been  taken  care  of  down  to 
even  the  point  of  entertaining  the  visitors. 
Late  last  week  Ed.  Smith,  the  imperial  pictor, 
made  a  trip  to  the  printers  and  had  several 
thousand  copies  of  the  program  struck  off. 
It  is  a  program  filled  with  big  speeches  by 
men  who  know  what  they  are  talking  about, 
and  who  will  be  able  to  say  at  lot  of  things 
to  the  coal  trade  that  are  worth  listening  to. 
Among  those  who  are  on  the  program  are 


C.  M.  Moderwell  W.  S.  Bogle  and  A.  J. 
Moorshead — all  of  them  well  known  for  their 
ability  to  say  things  that  are  worth  while 
and  to  say  them  well.  On  the  program  B.  L. 
Shepard,  the  accountant,  will  make  his  first 
appearance  as  a  public  speaker,  but  he  has 
something  to  say  which  is  distinctly  worth 
while,  if  the  annual  pow-wow  had  nothing 
else  to  attract  the  visitors  than  just  merely 
the  program  it  would  be  distinctly  worth  while. 
However,  there  are  some  other  features,  among 
them  the  launching  of  the  new  purpose  of 
the  order,  which  was  arranged  for  and  an¬ 
nounced  at  this  time  last  year.  It  is  always 
interesting  to  see  any  organization  take  on  a 
new  purpose  or  try  to  do  something  that  is 
different  and  new  and  the  Order  Kokoal  has 
espoused  a  purpose  and  is  going  to  try  to 
give  that  purpose  vitality  at  this  annual  meet¬ 
ing  and  coal  convention.  It  will,  therefore,  be 
one  of  the  interesting  things  of  the  trade  in 
a  year  and  the  working  out  of  the  experiment 
will  be  watched  with  more  than  common  in¬ 
terest. 


Lackawanna  Coal  Changes. 


The  Delaware,  Lackawanna  &  Western  Coal 
Company  had  its  sixth  annual  meeting  on 
Thursday  of  last  week.  At  this  meeting  in 
addition  to  the  regular  two  and  one-half  per 
cent  quarterly  dividend  on  $6,590,000  stock, 
they  declared  an  additional  cash  dividend  of 
fifty  per  cent.  The  coal  company  has  paid 
regular  annual  ten  per  cent  dividends  since 
it  was  organized.  The  directors  at  this  meet¬ 
ing  took  formal  notice  of  the  recent  Supreme 
Court  decision,  and  announced  the  plans  in¬ 
tended  to  bring  the  Delaware,  Lackawanna  & 
Western  Coal  Company  within  the  mandate 
of  the  Supreme  Court.  The  following  an¬ 
nouncement  was  made  by  the  company: 

“Steps  were  taken  to  comply  promptly  with 
the  recent  rulings  of  the  United  States  Su¬ 
preme  Court. 

“The  board  authorized  the  officers  of  the 
company  to  execute  a  new  contract  which 
should  conform  to  all  matters  questioned  by 
the  Supreme  Court  as  either  illegal  or  ob¬ 
jectionable. 

“The  only  directors  of  the  coal  company 
who  are  directors  of  the  railroad,  viz.;  Messrs. 
W.  H.  Truesdale  and  George  F.  Baker,  Jr., 
resigned  from  the  board,  and  Messrs.  C.  D. 
Norton  and  T.  J.  Mumford  were  elected  in 
their  places. 

“E.  E.  Loomis,  president  of  the  coal  com¬ 
pany,  tendered  to  the  board  his  resignation 
to  be  accepted  as  soon  as  his  successor  can 
be  selected,  and  arrangements  were  made 
to  procure  separate  office  accommodations 
without  delay.’’ 

At  this  meeting  it  was  stated  by  Mr.  Loomis, 
the  retiring  president  of  the  company,  that 
the  coal  company  had  actually  changed  its 
original  contract  w-ith  the  Lackawanna  a  year 
ago.  The  first  changes  were  made  to  con¬ 
form  to  suggestions  made  by  the  agents  of  the 
Department  of  Justice,  when  the  coal  case 
was  tried  in  the  lower  Federal  courts.  The 
Supreme  Court  descision  took  no  cognizance 
of  the  fact  that  the  coal  company  had  made 
any  changes.  This  decision  was  made  on  the 
contract  which  prevailed  when  the  case  went 
to  trial  in  the  lower  courts.  Mr.  Loomis  said: 

“The  railroad  company  owns  the  mines  and 
sells  the  product  to  the  coal  company.  In 
everything  we  have  tried  to  be  open  and  above 
board  our  books  were  always  accessible  to 
the  Department  of  Justice,  and  we  employed 
the  best  lawyers  available  to  tell  us 
how  to  obey  the  law.  If  we  have  erred, 
we  are  only  too  anxious  to  correct  our  mis¬ 
take.  So  far  as  the  earnings  of  the  coal  com¬ 
pany  is  concerned,  I  forsee  no  likelihood  of  an 
adverse  effect  at  this  time.  The  sixty-five  per 
cent  clause,  will,  of  course,  be  eliminated.  If 
the  lawyers  suggest  any  other  changes,  they 
will  also  be  made.  We  are  going  to  try  to 
do  just  what  the  Supreme  Court  wants  us  to 
do.  We  have  nothing  to  conceal  and  we  make 
no  objection.  We  are  glad  that  we  have  a 
final  decision  to  go  by.’’ 


The  contract  for  the  coal  and  coke  supply  for 
the  public  schools  of  Uniontown,  Pa.,  was 
awarded  last  week  to  John  A.  Whyel  &  Son. 
Their  bid  was  for  run  of  mine,  from  the  Snyder 
mines  at  seven  cents  per  bushel,  and  soft  coke 
at  $3.00  per  ton  of  3,000  pounds  net. 


No.  2] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


33 


Facts  Which  Determine  Our  Export  Prospects. 


The  Welsh  Coal  Situation. 

Latest  advices  from  Cardiff  state  that  the 
refusal  of  the  government  to  grant  licenses 
for  exporting  to  countries  outside  of  the  allies 
and  British  colonies  is  still  the  all-absorbing 
topic.  It  is  stated  that  as  result  of  this  dras¬ 
tic  policy  which  the  coal  committee  of  the  gov¬ 
ernment  have  up  to  the  present  been  follow¬ 
ing  that  the  market  for  all  descriptions  of 
coal  is  considerably  restricted,  and  that 
prices  have  suffered  consequently.  Some  of 
the  coal  men  hold  that  the  general  trade  of 
Great  Britain  will  suffer  very  largely,  espe¬ 
cially  as  regards  to  South  American  business, 
due  to  the  restrictions  placed  upon  this  coun¬ 
try  as  well  as  other  neutral  countries,  because 
of  the  loss  of  the  great  quantity  of  grain,  meat 
and  other  products  that  England  imports,  and 
which  is  quite  an  attractive  return  cargo  for 
ships.  Concerning  prices,  it  is  pretty  difficult 
to  quote  current  prices  at  the  present  time. 
The  quotations  for  the  cheaper  grades  of 
Admiralty  coals  is  given  at  about  30s,  though 
this  price  is  said  to  be  considerably  reduced 
by  some  of  the  middlemen.  Small  coals  are 
very  weak,  especially  for  cargo  qualities.  One 
reason  given  for  this  is  that  at  present  there 
is  a  very  large  number  of  loaded  steamers  at 
the  principal  French  ports  that  have  been  un¬ 
able  to  get  discharged.  At  that  writing  there 
were  said  to  be  no  less  than  fifty  steamers 
waiting  for  their  turn  at  the  coal  docks  at 
Bordeaux,  and  that  consequently  a  great  deal 
of  demurrage  was  accruing.  For  ordinary 
cargo  qualities  16s.  Gd.  to  17s.  6d.  is  said 
to  be  ruling  prices.  Best  bunker  smalls  are 
quoted  at  21s.;  best  ordinaries  at  20s  to  20s.  6d., 
and  cargo  qualities  at  16s.  to  17s.  6d.  In  the 
Monmouthshire  coals.  Black  Veins  are  quoted 
at  28s.  to  30s.;  Western  Valleys  26s.  to  27s.; 
Eastern  Valleys  at  23s.  to  25s. 

Current  freight  rates  from  Cardiff  are  about 
as  follows:  To  Algiers,  23fr.;  Genoa,  25s.  to 
25s.  6d.;  Bilbao,  14s.  sd.;  Barcelona,  21s.  6d.; 
Havre,  10s.  6d.;  Las  Palmas,  20s.;  Lisbon, 
15s.  6d.;  Marseilles,  25fr.  to  25I"2fr.;  Malta,  20s.; 
Oporto,  16s.  3d.;  Port  Said,  23s.  to  23s.  6d.; 
River  Plate,  26s.;  Savona,  25s. 


Recent  Coal  Freight  Charters. 

Steamer  Plieada  (Dutch),  Norfolk  to  Parana,  coal,  p.  t., 
July. 

Steamers  Primo  (Ital.)  and  Giiisseppi  Accame  (Ital.), 
Atlantic  Range  to  west  coast  of  Italy,  coal,  p.  t. 

Steamer  Mariteres  (Span.),  Virginia  to  Casa  Blanca, 
coal,  40s.,  July. 

Schooner  George  D.  Edmonds,  Philadelphia  to  Sum- 
m.erside,  P.  E.  I.,  coal,  p.  t. 

Steamer  Ulidia  (Br.),  Baltimore  to  Alexandria,  coal, 

p.  t. 

•Steamer  Egda  (Nor.),  Philadelphia  to  Cuba,  coal,  p.  t. 

Steamer  St.  Andre  (Fr.),  Philadelphia  to  St.  Nazaire, 
coal,  p.  t. 

Steamer  Starfond  (Nor.),  Philadelphia  to  Havana, 
coal,  p.  t. 

Schooner  Augustus  N.  Snow,  Norfolk  to  Rio  Janeiro, 
coal,  $8. 

Schooner  Eleanor  F.  Bartram,  Norfolk  to  Rio  Janeiro, 
coal,  p.  t. 

Steamer  -  fBraz.),  Atlantic  Range  port  to  west 

coast  of  Italy,  coal,  42s.,  July. 

Steamer  Stormount  (Br.),  Newport  News  to  Havana, 
coal,  p.  t. 

Steamer  Urd  (Nor.),  Baltimore  to  .Stockholm,  coal,  p.  t. 

Steamer  Clumleigh  (Br.),  Philadelphia  to  Barcelona, 
coal,  p.  t. 

Steamer  Geddington  Court  (Br.),  Philadelphia  to  a 
-Spanish  port,  coal,  p.  t. 

Steamer  Camilla  (Nor.),  Baltimore  to  Banes  and  Pres¬ 
ton,  coal,  p.  t. 

Schooner  Clara  Davis.  Virginia  to  Brazil,  coal,  p.  t. 

Schooner  \Vm.  E.  Litchfield,  Norfolk  to  Porto  Plata, 
coal,  $3.50  and  port  charges. 

Steamer  Campeiro  (Ital.),  Baltimore  or  Virginia  to  west 
coast  of  Italy,  coal,  42s.,  July. 


Foreign  Freight  Rates. 

W.  W.  Battie  &  Co.,  Produce  Exchange, 
New  York,  report  as  follows  under  date  of 
July  6. 

Freight  conditions  are  practically  the  same 
as  a  week  ago,  and  although  we  have  chartered 
a  number  of  steamers  for  export  coal  since 
our  last  report,  the  rates  have  varied  but 
slightly  from  previous  quotations.  A  steamer 
was  chartered  today  from  a  U.  S.  port  north 
of  Hatteras  to  Genoa  at  39s.  Plate  orders 
from  here  are  accumulating,  which  rather  sur¬ 
prises  us  as  we  understand  that  grain  freights 
from  the  Plate  have  considerably  improved  re¬ 
cently. 

We  would  quote  freight  rates  on  coal  by 


steamer  as  follows: 

Marseilles,  about .  36s. 

West  coast  of  Italy,  about .  39s. 


Barcelona,  about . 

(Spanish  dues  for  account  of  cargo.) 

Montevideo,  about  . 

Buenos  Aires  or  La  Plata,  about . 

Rosario,  about . 

Rio,  about . 

Santos,  about . 

(Consignees  paying  docas  dues.) 

Valparaiso  or  Callao . 

Havana  . 

Cardenas  or  Sagua,  about . 

Cienfuegos  . 

Port  of  Spain,  Trinidad . 

St.  Lucia,  about  . 

St.  Thomas  . 

Barbados  . 

Kingston  . 

Curacao,  about  . (and  p.  c.) 

Santiago  . 

Guantanamo  . 

Demerara,  about  . . 

Bermuda,  about  . 

Vera  Cruz  . 

Tampico  . 


35s. 


34s.  9d. 

35s. 

37s. 

36s. 

37s. 

$6.75@7.00 
2.00@2.2.} 
2.75 
2.75@3.00 
3..50@3.7.5 
3.50 
3.00@3.25 
3.50(®3.75 
2.75(®3.00 
3.50 
2.50@3.00 
2.50@3.00 
4.25 
3.00 
3.50@3.75 
,  3.50@3.75 


Hampton  Roads  Exports. 

Exports  of  bituminous  coal  from  the  Hamp¬ 
ton  Roads  ports  for  June,  1915,  totaled  604,- 
695  tons,  as  compared  with  209,064  tons  for 
June,  1914,  as  follows: 


LAMBERT’S  POINT 


1914. 

Genoa,  Italy  .  22,300 

Cagliari,  Italy  .  . 

Naples,  Italy  .  12,800 

Leghorn,  Italy  .  5,600 

Savona,  Italy  . . . 


Santa  Lieberata,  Italy . 

Torre  Annunziata,  Italy.... 

Catania,  Italy  . 

Spezia,  Italy  . 

Messina.  Italy  . 

Palermo,  Italy  . 

Puerto  Ferrajo,  Italy . 

Civita  Vecchia,  Italy . 

Lisbon,  Portugal  . 

Seville,  Spain  . 

Bilbao,  Spain  . 

Tarragona,  Spain . 

Marseilles,  France . 

Piraeus,  Greece . 

Port  Said,  Egypt  . 

Casa  Blanca,  Morocco . 

Amsterdam,  Holland  . 

Rotterdam,  Holland . 

Stockholm,  Sweden  . 

Las  P'almas,  G.  C,  I . . . 

Dakar,  French  West  Africa 


Lagos,  Africa  . . 

Sierra  Leone,  Africa . 

Forcados,  Africa  . 

St.  George,  Bermuda . 

San  Juan,  Porto  Rico . 

St.  Lucia,  B.  W.  1 .  5,950 

Bridgetown,  Barbados  .  3,727 

Georgetown,  Demerara  . 

Port  of  Spain,  Trinidad . 

Curacao,  D.  W.  1 .  4,573 


Havana,  Cuba  . 

Vera  Cruz,  Mexico  . 

Iquique,  Chile  . 

Salaverry,  Peru  . 

Buenos  Aires,  A.  R .  2,215 

La  Plata,  A.  R .  1,800 

Montevideo,  Uruguay  .  6,172 

Rio  de  Janeiro,  Brazil .  6,300 

Pernambuco,  Brazil  . . 

Para,  Brazil  . . 

Cristobal,  Canal  Zone .  22,125 

Kingston,  Jamaica .  2,700 

Coronel,  Chile,  for  orders .  5,781 

Valparaiso,  Chile  .  5,075 

Venice,  Italy  .  20,600 

Brindisi,  Italy  .  6,500 

Trieste,  Austria  .  4,244 


1915. 

81,342 

17,848 

22,724 

5.800 
12,742 

5,355 

15,873 

5,500 

5.993 
6,900 
8,305 

18,991 

5,172 

3,254 

1,369 

5,646 

5,798 

7,49:5 

11,180 

8,007 

963 

6,002 

4,834 

6,833 

3.800 
4,852 
5,000 

998 

4,952 

1,125 

2.994 

4.541 
8,481 
1,697 
2,973 

5.541 
1,522 

20,948 

3,414 

750 

550 

11.738 
6,014 
6,755 

40.739 
4,593 
1.640 

47,708 


138,462 

NEWPORT  NEWS. 

1914. 


Genoa,  Italy  . 

Naples,  Italy  .  18,093 

Sardina,  Italy . 

Italy,  any  port  . 

Cartagena,  Spain  . 

Marseilles,  France . 

Casa  Blanca,  Morocco . 

St.  Lucia,  B.  W,  1 .  13,709 

Bridgetown,  Barbados  .  1,425 

Port  of  Spain,  Trinidad .  9,967 

Santiago,  Cuba  .  2,620 

Havana,  Cuba  .  8,201 

Cardenes,  Cuba  . . . 

Guantanamo,  Cuba  . 

Vera  Cruz,  Mexico  .  3,938 

Buenos  Aires,  A.  R . 

Montevideo,  Uruguay  . 


Fort  de  France,  Martinique 

Callao,  Peru  . 

Rio  de  Janeiro,  Brazil . 


Pernambuco,  Brazil  . 

Para,  Brazil  . 

Manzanillo,  Cuba  .  1,768 

St.  Thomas,  D.  W.  1 .  4,575 

Ceara,  Brazil  .  184 


467,689 

1915. 

14,445 


7.058 

5,081 

835 

5,654 

1,385 


5,545 

8,661 


4,851 

900 

1,066 


5,040 

5,213 

4,641 

2,593 

45,131 

2,082 

1,007 


67,000  121,188 

SEWALL’S  POINT. 

1914.  1915. 


Spezia,  Italy  .  5,764 

Buenos  Aires,  A.  R .  4,190 

Rio  de  Janeiro,  Br.izil .  5,861 

Para,  Brazil  .  1,984  . 

Kingston,  Jamaica  .  1,618  . 


3,602  15,818 

The  aggregate  total  of  exports  from  Hamp¬ 


ton  Roads  for  June,  1915,  was  604,695  tons, 
as  compared  with  209,064  tons  for  June,  1914, 
showing  a  radical  increase  of  395,631  tons. 


French  Coal  Production. 

A  recent  Paris  newspaper  cable  tells  of  the 
coal  situation  in  France,  as  follows : 

“The  coal  question  in  the  first  six  months  of 
the  war  was  perhaps  the  greatest  industrially 
that  the  government  was  called  upon  to  answer. 
France  got  most  of  her  coal  from  Germany  and 
Belgium,  and  her  northern  provinces  contributed 
their  share.  About  20,000,000  tons  of  foreign  coal 
were  needed  in  peace  times  to  make  up  the  total 
consumption  of  about  60,000,000  tons. 

“For  the  first  five  or  six  weeks  of  the  war  the 
production  of  coal  simply  ceased,  owing  to  the 
lack  of  rniners  and  transportation,  and  a  danger¬ 
ous  deficit  arose,  which  was  overcome  by  impor¬ 
tations  partly  from  America  but  chiefly  from 
Great  Britain.  Then  the  government  took  hold, 
supplied  the  mines  with  enough  men  to  carry  on 
the  work  and  provided  means  of  transport.  Bit 
by  bit  the  situation  improved,  and  gradually  it  is 
approaching  the  normal. 

“French  mines  are  now  producing  20,000,000 
tons,  or  half  the  normal  domestic  output,  and 
inasmuch  as  the  war  has  reduced  the  annual 
consumption  to  about  35,000,000  tons  England 
will  be  called  upon  for  only  15,000,000.  The  price 
of  coal  increased  from  twenty-five  to  thirty  per 
cent,  but  it  has  fallen  somewhat,  and  is  expected 
to  go  considerably  lower.” 


Baltimore  June  Exports. 


Exports  of  bituminous  coal  from  Baltimore 
for  the  month  of  June  1915,  were  as  follows: 


Country — 

Egypt  . 

Italy  . 

Spain  . 

France  .... 
Greece  .... 
Sweden  . . . 
Uruguay  .  . , 
Argentine  . . 

Brazil . 

Guatemala  . 
Cuba  . 


Tonnage. 
. .  21,223 
.  .127,744 
..  10,045 
.  .  11,275 
.  .  5,592 

..  6,111 
.  .  8,882 
. .  98,516 
. .  9,705 

.  .  2,757 

..  12,949 


Total 


314,799 


Export  Trade  Briefs. 

Of  the  total  exports  of  coal  from  England 
during  May  the  average  value  of  large  coal 
exported  was  20s  6.05d;  through-and-through 
(unscreened),  14s  7. 2d,  and  small  coal,  15s 
9.7d.  The  average  value  of  all  kinds  of  coal 
exported  was  17s  8.7d,  an  increase  of  7.4d  as 
compared  with  the  previous  month. 

The  South  Wales  correspondent  of  the 
Colliery  Guardian  says  in  its  issue  of  June 
18th:  “The  practical  prohibition  of  coal  ex¬ 
ports  to  South  America — indeed,  to  neutral 
areas  generally,  for  there  are  very  few  left 
— opens  out  a  question  of  highest  moment, 
because  of  the  opportunity  thereby  afforded 
to  Americans.  Coincident  with  prohibition  is 
the  much  higher  cost  of  production  which  is 
due  to  limitation  of  output  and  greatly  in¬ 
creased  wages,  with  higher  price  of  all 
requisites.  It  is  feared  that  once  the  Ameri¬ 
can  coal  gets  into  the  South  American  mar¬ 
kets,  we  shall  have  much  difficulty  in  ousting 
our  competitors;  and  not  only  the  coal  trade, 
but  also  the  shipping,  corn,  and  other  indus¬ 
tries  must  be  seriously  affected  through  lack 
of  steamers  for  return  cargoes.  In  addition. 
American  competition  in  the  Mediterranean 
becomes  a  factor  to  be  reckoned  with.”  Con¬ 
tinuing,  this  correspondent  states  that  the 
government  and  Allies  are  taking  probably 
ten  times  the  quantity  of  Welsh  coal  which 
the  Admiralty  takes  in  peace  times,  and  have 
the  first  call  upon  all  coals  that  is  available. 
Continuing,  he  says:  “In  the  course  of  dis¬ 
cussion  on  this  very  important  subject,  opin¬ 
ion  on  the  Cardiff  Exchange  opened  out  into 
an  expression  of  doubt  as  to  what  may  happen 
when  the  Panama  Canal  route  becomes  avail¬ 
able  for  steamers.  Where  on  any  particular 
line  it  proves  cheaper  to  run  via  Panama, 
there  is  every  prospect  of  Americn  coal  oust¬ 
ing  British  for  bunkering  purposes.  As  to 
Australia  and  New  Zealand,  it  may  very  well 
be  that  the  cost  of  bunkers  will  become  a 
determining  factor.  The  American  Govern¬ 
ment  have  had  exhaustive  inquiry  made  on 
this  point,  their  conclusion  being  that  cheaper 
coal  will  determine  the  westward  route  via 
Panama  as  against  the  eastward  route  through 
the  Suez  Canal,  the  .'\merican  coal  being 
much  cheaper.” 


34 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[July  10 


General  Review. 


Coke  Production  Increases,  Exports  are 
Larger  and  Sales  at  Home 
Are  Heavy. 


A  statement  just  issued  1)y  the  Coniicllsville 
Courier  shows  that  coke  production  for  the  sec¬ 
ond  (luarter  was  twenty-five  per  cent  heavier 
titan  for  the  first,  and  that  output  is  increas¬ 
ing;  also  that  current  demand  is  heavy  and  over 
the  holidays  spot  coke  brought  a  premium  of 
fifteen  cents  a  ton. 

A  statement  coming  from  Baltimore  and 
New  York  is  to  the  effect  that  exports  are 
now  nearly  100  per  cent  heavier  than  they 
were  three  months  ago  and  are  increasing. 

A  statement  in  nearly  every  market  is  that 
the  current  buying  of  domestic  coal  is  heavier 
than  it  has  been  in  five  months,  indicating  a 
revival  of  business  wdth  the  retail  dealers. 
Some  good-sized  contracts  are  being  closed 
for  steam  coal. 

In  New  York  the  anthracite  market  has 
strengthened  a  little  because  some  of  the 
mines  were  closed  down  for  the  entire  week 
over  the  holidays.  In  bituminous  there  is  some 
accumulation  of  unsold  coal  at  tidewater,  and 
therefore,  a  little  weakness. 

The  situation  in  Philadelphia  has  improved 
materially.  The  holiday  cut  down  shipments, 
while  an  increased  demand  for  bunker  coal 
took  up  the  accumulation.  The  market  gained 
strength  ciuickly,  rising  fifteen  to  twenty  cents 
a  ton  in  a  few  days.  The  anthracite  trade  on 
the  contrary  has  been  very  dull,  the  market 
being  off  to  an  unusual  extent. 

According  to  Baltimore  advices  the  holiday 
brought  no  annoyance  to  coal  men  in  that 
territory,  but  rather  something  of  relief.  The 
offshore  movement  has  been  rather  heavy,  hut 
also  there  has  been  quite  a  free  movement  of 
coal  from  the  mines  to  the  piers.  A  little  lull 
which  would  permit  the  clearing  up  of  the  ac¬ 
cumulation  was  welcomed  by  the  trade.  The 
export  demand  showed  a  decline  for  the 
last  week.  Sales  totalled  42,200  tons  of  cargo 
and  6,442  tons  of  bunker  coal.  Chartering  for 
the  last  week  was  not  so  extensive  as  recently, 
but  this  is  considered  a  lull  in  the  trade  rather 
than  a  decrease  as  contracts  on  hand  will  con¬ 
tinue  shipments  at  the  present  rate  for  some 

time.  , 

The  movement  of  anthracite  by  lake  through 
Buffalo  for  June  was  618,236  tons  as  com¬ 
pared  with  805,879  tons  for  June,  1914.  How¬ 
ever,  shipments  to  July  1st  this  year,  aggre¬ 
gated  1,420,378  tons  compared  with  1,409.32.'> 
for  the  corresponding  period  of  1914.  The 
local  demand  is  quiet  because  more  factories 
are  taking  steam  coal,  hence  the  market  is 
improved  in  both  tonnage  and  price. 

The  Pittsburgh  report  graphically  describes 
the  improvement  in  the  trade  there  as  in¬ 
visible  but  evident.”  That  is,  there  is  some 
improvement,  but  it  is  pretty  hard  to  measure 
and  what  there  is  of  it  is  not  so  noticeable  now 
because  the  home  trade  and  the  local  steam 
trade  are  in  the  summer  vacation  period,  leav¬ 
ing  only  the  lake  trade  to  absorb  the  major 
portion  of  the  output,  and  this  is  not  as  brisk 
as  it  might  be.  The  market  is  helped  out  by 
shipments  into  the  export  trade  by  an  increase 
in  coke  production  and  by  heavy  use  in  steel 
mills.  River  trade  is  quiet. 

In  Cincinnati  an  improvement  is  noted  m 
tonnage  and  price  in  both  the  domestic  and 
steam  departments.  It  is  not  anything 
astounding,  but  yet  it  is  noteworthy  Iioth  in 
smokeless  and  splint  coal. 

Indianapolis  records  the  fact  that  consump¬ 
tion  of  coal  has  been  cut  down  by  labor  trou¬ 
bles  in  Indiana  and  Chicago,  hence  the  market 
is  even  a  little  more  quiet  than  it  has  been  re¬ 
cently.  Prices  on  the  whole  are  unattractive. 

In  Chicago  there  was  a  general  upturn  in 
the  trade.  The  operators  of  Indiana  and  Illi¬ 
nois,  with  a  few  exceptions,  named  prices  on 
July  1st,  which  made  an  advance  of  fifteen 
cents  a  ton  on  the  three  domestic  sizes.  This 
was  accompanied  by  a  reduction  of  five  to 
ten  cents  in  fine  coal  prices.  At  the  same 
time  sales  increased  perceptibly  and  on  the 
average  the  mines  are  doing  a  half  a  day  a 
week  more  than  they  were.  It  looks  as  though 
the  fall  buying  movement  had  started  about 
two  weeks  earlier  in  the  western  territory. 
The  eastern  coals  on  the  Chicago  market  are 
not  quite  so  active. 


Chicago  Market. 

Retail  Buying  Starts  and  Prices  Are  Im¬ 
proved,  But  Screenings  Are  a 
Trifle  Easier. 


Office  of  The  Black  Diamond, 
Chicago,  July  8. 

The  Chicago  market  for  this  last  week  has  a 
better  tone,  everything  considered,  than  it  has 
had  for  a  year.  There  are  still  some  weak  spots 
in  the  market,  but  it  is  generally  true  that  oper¬ 
ators  are  more  hopeful.  Retailers  are  taking 
more  coal  and  prices  are  better  today  than  they 
have  been  for  a  long  while. 

This  starts  with  the  fact  that  retailers  are 
beginning  to  put  coal  in  storage.  Some  orders 
are  placed  for  immediate  delivery ;  some  an¬ 
ticipate  delivery  later  in  the  month.  The  re¬ 
tailers  are  committing  themselves,  and  the  op¬ 
erators  are  getting  better  prices. 

It  seems  true  that  the  general  announcement 
of  an  advance  in  price,  effective  July  1st,  had  a 
stimulating  effect  all  along  the  line.  The  advance 
warned  all  retailers  that  the  fall  season  was  ap¬ 
proaching.  Also,  adherence  to  the  price,  which 
was  quite  general,  gave  retailers  an  idea  that 
the  operators  are  in  earnest.  The  air  has  been 
cleared  definitely  within  the  last  week. 

For  the  time  being,  anthracite  is  slow.  This, 
however,  is  expected  at  this  time  of  the  year. 
The  retailer  can  get  this  month  a  discount  of 
only  twenty  cents  a  ton  from  September  circu¬ 
lar  and  does  not  consider  that  attractive.  Thus, 
July  is  always  rather  a  dull  month  in  that  trade. 
However,  the  business  is  not  much  lighter  now 
than  it  generally  is  at  this  time. 

The  smokeless  trade  is  still  a  little  slow.  Sales 
agents  have  been  trying  to  get  the  retailers  to 
take  in  coal  while  it  is  plentiful  and  while 
transportation  is  easy.  The  dealers  are  not  in¬ 
terested,  largely  because  the  real  estate  agents 
have  not  yet  begun  to  buy.  Mine  run  is  kept 
firm  in  the  meantime  by  being  withheld  from 
the  market.  The  circular  price  is  still  $1.25. 
This  is  being  maintained.  On  July  1st  the  price 
on  lump  and  egg  advanced  to  $2  a  ton.  The 
supply,  however,  is  short,  and  already  premium 
prices  of  ten  to  fifteen  cents  a  ton  are  being  ob¬ 
tained.  The  market  is  strong,  with  prices  up  to 
Thursday  as  follows ; 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Smokeless—  Chicago.  Mines. 

Mine  run .  $3.30  $1.2.5 

Lump  and  egg .  8.05  2.00 

Somerset  county  coal,  which  follows  the 
smokeless  market  closely,  is  not  active,  for  obvi¬ 
ous  reasons.  The  operators  are  holding  firmly 
to  circular  price.  Very  little  coal  is  being  shipped 
west,  and  none  of  it,  this  week,  has  been  up  to 
demurrage.  Prices  remain  about  firm  as  follows : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Somerset  County—  Chicago.  Mines. 

Mine  run .  $3.30  $1.25 

Lump  and  egg .  3.75@3.95  1.70@l.t)0 

Hocking  coal  is  quiet.  The  week  developed 

no  change  in  situation,  demand  or  price.  The 
market  up  to  Thursday  was  : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Hocking —  Chicago.  Mines. 

154-inch  lump .  $3.15  $1.50 

There  are  two  markets  on  Kanawha  gas  and 
splint.  A  lot  of  cheap  coal  is  on  the  market. 
Some  of  the  lump  sells  for  ninety  cents  or  $1. 
This  kind  of  splint  has  been  getting  a  reputation 
lately  of  such  a  character  that  the  better  houses 
will  not  handle  it.  Better  grades  of  splint  are 
selling  at  a  minimum  of  $1.15,  and  some  few 
sales  have  been  made  up  as  high  as  $1.3.5.  Prices 
on  the  better  grades  on  shipments  direct  from  the 
mines  up  to  Thursday  were : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Kanawha —  Chicago.  Mines. 

154-iDch  lump . $3.05@3.13  $1.15@1.2.) 

The  eastern  Kentucky  market  has  shown  all 
kinds  of  prices.  For  the  summer,  some  of  the 
operators  have  abandoned  the  production  of 
block  coal  as  that  has  been  understood  hereto¬ 
fore.  Domestic  lump  includes  now  what  was 
formerly  block  and  lump  coal.  The  price  on 
this  comlnnation  size  has  ranged  all  the  way 
from  $1.25  up  to  $1.75.  Some  operators  are 
making  a  straight  egg  coal,  while  others  are 
mixing  the  egg  and  the  nut.  The  prices  have 
been  variable  on  that  account.  Prices  np  to 

Thursday  were :  „  ^  „ 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Eastern  Kentucky —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Domestic  lump . $3.t5@3.G5  $1.25@1.j5 

£gg  .  3.00@3.15  1.10@1.25 

Franklin  county  prices  advanced  generally  fif¬ 
teen  cents  a  ton  on  the  first.  The  lump,  egg  and 


F.  p.  B. 
Mines. 
$1.50 
1.50 
1.50 
1  35 
1.10 
.80®  .85 


No.  1  nut  are  now  being  held  at  $1.50,  and  the 
No.  2  or  special  stove  is  now  held  at  $1.35.  The 
advance  in  price  proved  a  stimulus  to  the  trade. 
That  is,  the  operators  got  more  money  for  their 
coal  and  got  more  orders  at  the  same  time.  The 
latter  came  because  the  retailers  were  warned  by 
the  advance  that  fall  was  approaching  and  be¬ 
gan  to  get  some  coal  in  storage.  The  domestic 
sizes  have  been  moving  fairly  well,  but  there  has 
been  no  improvement  in  the  demand  for  the 
steam  sizes.  .-\s  a  result,  screenings  prices  have 
eased  off  a  trifle,  being  (luoted  today  at  eighty 
to  eight\-five  cents  a  ton.  Prices  up  to  Thursday 
were : 

F.  O.  B. 

Franklin  County—  Chicago. 

Lumj)  .  $2.55 

Hgg  .  --55 

No.  1  nut .  2.55 

No.  2  nut .  2.40 

Mine  run .  2.15 

2-inch  screenings .  1.85 @1.90 

Williamson  county  operators  advanced  their 
prices  on  the  first  of  July  to  $1.50  for  the  lump, 
egg  and  No.  1  washed  and  $1.40  for  the  No.  2 
washed.  The  operators  got  an  increase  in  busi¬ 
ness  as  the  result  of  this  advance  in  price.  What 
is  peculiar  is  that  the  advance  does  not  appear 
to  have  been  contested  by  any  of  the  buyers. 
Smaller  sizes  are  not  moving  very  well.  No.  5 
washed  is  selling  for  seventy  to  seventy-five 
cents,  with  No.  3  and  No.  4  maintaining  rela¬ 
tively  a  higher  price.  Prices  up  to  Thursday 
were : 

F.  O.  B. 

Williamson  County —  Chicago. 

Lump  .  $2. .55 

Egg  .  2. .5.5 

No.  1  washed .  2.5o 

No.  2  washed .  2.45 

On  the  first  of  July,  gome  Saline  county  opera¬ 
tors  advanced  the  price  on  domestic  lump  to 
$1.50,  but  made  no  cliange  in  the  prices  on  other 
sizes.  As  a  consequence  of  increased  produc¬ 
tion  of  lump  the  screenings  market  is  easier,  now 
being  quoted  at  eighty  to  eighty-five  cents. 
Prices  up  to  Thursday  were : 

F.  O.  B. 

Saline  County —  Chicago. 

l.ump  . % .  $2.;)5 

Mine  run .  _  3.15 

Screenings  .  1.85@1.90 

lJ4-inch  lump .  3.30 

One  of  the  strongest  spots  in  the  market  is 
the  Springfield  district.  This  contrasts  with  the 
record  of  that  coal  in  former  years.  On  the  first 
of  July,  the  operators  advanced  their  mine  price 
to  $1.50  on  lump  and  egg  and  have  been  getting 
it.  On  the  nut  coal,  the  price  is  .$1.35.  For  the 
last  week,  the  operators  have  been  getting  a  fair 
run  of  orders.  In  the  meantime  screenings  are 
easier,  the  average  price  being  about  seventy-five 
cents.  Prices  up  to  Thursday  were : 

F.  O.  B. 

Springfield—  Chicago. 


•F.  O.  B. 
Mines. 
$1.50 
1.50 
1.50 
1.40 


F.  O.  B. 
Mines. 
$1.50 
1.10 
.80@  .85 
1.25 


F.  O.  B. 
Mines. 


.  $2.32 

$1.50 

2.32 

1.50 

Nut  . 

.  2.17 

1.35 

.  1.87 

1.05 

Screenings  . 

.  1.57 

.75 

Clinton  operators  have  not  been  making  much 
of  an  appeal  for  domestic  business.  Since  other 
operators  are  holding  for  $1.50,  the  Clinton 
operators  are  doing  the  same  thing.  Most  of 
the  mines  are  running  on  steam  coal  contracts, 
with  only  an  occasional  lot  of  screenings  on  the 
market  at  about  cig'  "" 

to  Thursday  were : 

Clinton — 

Domestic  lump . 

Egg  . 

Nut  . 

Mine  run . 

Screenings  . 

Knox  county  coal  has  been  practically  un¬ 
changed  within  the  last  week,  with  but  little  busi¬ 
ness  in  domestic  coal  and  most  of  the  output 
being  devoted  to  the  steam  trade.  Prices  up  to 
'Thursday,  while  mainly  nominal,  were: 


cents  a  ton. 

Prices  up 

F.  0.  B. 

F.  0.  B. 

Chicago. 

Mines. 

.  $2.27 

$1.50 

2.07 

1.30 

.  2.07 

1.30 

.  1.87 

1.10 

.  1.57 

.80 

Knox  County — 


F.  O.  B. 
Chicago. 


F.  O.  B. 
Mines. 


T 

.  $2.37 

$1.50 

.  2.37 

1.50 

.  1.87 

1.05 

Screenings  . 

.  1.57 

.70 

The  domestic  sizes  of  by-product  coke  have 
not  been  any  too  strong.  Nominally  the  pro¬ 
ducers  have  been  holding  for  circular  price  of 
$4.65,  but  orders  can  be  placed  at  a  concession 
of  ten  to  fifteen  cents  a  ton.  Furnace  and  foun¬ 
dry  coke  has  been  fairly  firm  at  the  old  prices. 
The  market  up  to  Thursday  was  :  ^  ^ 

Coke—  Chicago. 

Connellsville  . . .  <  ccfffs'In 

By-product,  egg  and  stove . 

. : : : ; : : : : : : : : : : : : : ::::::::::  3,75®  ..m 


No.  2] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


35 


Pittsburgh  Trade. 

Line  Business  Is  Quiet  but  Lake  Ship¬ 
ments,  Coke  Sales  and  Exports 
Show  Increase. 


Office  of  The  Black  Diamond, 
1503  Oliver  Building, 

Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  July  8,  1915. 

.•\  mid-summer  dullness  seems  to  have  settled 
over  the  coal  trade  in  this  district,  domestic,  line 
and  lake  trade  all  seemingly  taking  a  summer 
vacation.  One  operator,  when  asked  for  an  opin¬ 
ion  as  to  present  conditions,  said  “an  invisible 
improvement  was  evident,’’  and  that  is  about  as 
near  the  condition  you  can  get — “invisible  but 
evident.” 

Certain  it  is,  however,  that  the  trade  enters 
the  second  half  of  1915  under  conditions  vastly 
different,  but  much  the  same  as  the  first  half, 
which  has  undoubtedly  been  a  disappointment. 
Prices,  while  showing  firmness,  have  not  ad¬ 
vanced,  and  the  volume  of  trade  has  not  met  ex¬ 
pectations.  Buyers  have  now  pretty  well  cov¬ 
ered  for  the  last  half,  and  outside  of  export 
business  little  new  business  has  developed  the 
past  week.  These  conditions  will  probably  main¬ 
tain  for  some  weeks,  though  the  same  optimism 
maintains  as  to  the  future  that  has  characterized 
the  past,  or,  if  any  change,  the  increasing  vol¬ 
ume  of  iron  and  steel  business,  increases  the 
“invisible  improvement”  seen  by  the  coal  pro¬ 
ducer,  the  war  business  contributing  largely  to 
the  hopeful  views  of  the  operator. 

As  in  coke,  the  holiday  of  the  week  has  to  a 
smaller  extent  had  its  effect  at  the  coal  mines, 
though  this  was  not  felt  as  much  as  usual,  ow¬ 
ing  to  the  idleness  at  many  points,  hence  ship¬ 
ments  were  not  interfered  with  to  any  extent. 

Heavy  rains  of  the  past  week  disappointed  the 
river  coal  men,  inasmuch  as  they  produced  but 
a  slight  rise  in  the  rivers — not  of  sufficient  mag¬ 
nitude  to  admit  of  lowering  the  wickets,  hence 
any  coal  going  out  had  to  be  locked  through  the 
dams.  The  only  shipment  of  any  magnitude  was 
made  by  the  Diamond  Coal  &  Coke  Company, 
who  sent  out  three  of  their  tow  boats  with  ap¬ 
proximately  325, ()()()  bushels  of  coal  for  the 
south.  Each  boat  took  five  barges,  which  fleet 
will  be  consolidated  when  the  lower  pools  are 
reached  and  continue  down  stream  under  one 
tow  boat. 

The  usual  mid-summer  closing  of  mills  and 
mines  at  this  season  apparently  cuts  no  figure 
in  trade  under  present  conditions,  few  of  the 
plants  that  are  working  making  any  stoppage,  as 
all  have  had  ample  time  in  the  past  six  months 
to  make  any  needed  repairs  and  improvements. 

The  coke  market  last  week  felt  the  usual 
holiday  spurt,  and  spot  furnace  was  in  demand 
at  an  advance  of  from  $1.50  as  quoted  for  some 
time  past  to  sales  at  $1.60  and  $1.70,  and  scarce, 
but  this  might  be  termed  a  soda  water  boom, 
preparatory  to  the  usual  holiday  shortage,  as 
many  workers  do  not  get  back  on  their  jobs  for 
a  day  or  two  after  a  holiday. 

The  Frick  interests  are  operating  at  about 
eighty-five  per  cent  capacity,  and  the  corpora¬ 
tion  was  pushing  them  for  every  ton  possible 
the  past  week,  while  brokers  were  phoning  in¬ 
quiries  to  different  independents  for  spot  fur¬ 
nace,  but  found  it  hard  to  get  even  at  the  ad¬ 
vance.  It  is  rumored  that  the  corporation  will 
blow  in  additional  furnaces  very  soon,  the  in¬ 
crease  of  war  and  railroad  orders  being  felt  con¬ 
siderably — this  being  the  case,  it  is  expected  that 
the  J'rick  interests  in  the  Connellsville  region 
will  fire  a  large  number  of  additional  coke  ovens 
to  meet  this  demand.  The  question  of  labor  is 
approaching  the  ragged  edge  at  coke  plants,  and 
if  the  Frick  ovens  take  up  the  idle  forces  to  be 
had  today  the  merchant  interests  will  find  it  very 
hard  to  get  under  way  to  any  extent.  At  pres¬ 
ent  the  independent  producers  are  at  near  sixty 
per  cent,  and  the  open  market  showing  slightly 
increased  demand  with  strengthening  prices. 

There  was  some  little  trouble  among  the  coke 
makers  the  past  week,  and  at  one  plant  a  three- 
day  strike  caused  a  little  excitement.  This  was 
owing  to  the  differences  in  wages  paid,  some 
having  been  operating  at  figures  less  than  what 
is  known  as  the  Frick  scale,  and  labor  organ¬ 
izers  created  the  agitation,  but  the  matter  was 
soon  disposed  of,  and  the  operators  granted  the 
advance,  which  varies  at  different  plants  from 
about  eight  per  cent  to  twelve  and  one-half  per 
cent,  and  this  will  have  a  tendency  to  still  fur¬ 
ther  stiffen  prices.  One  operator  reported  today 
that  he  had  refused  $1.80  for  delivery  beyond 
October  1st,  and  would  not  (piote  price  for  the 
last  quarter  on  furnace  coke. 


On  the  whole,  the  coke  trade  is  feeling  the 
effect  of  the  steel  trade  expansion  to  quite  an 
extent,  and  the  opinion  is  that  before  the  second 
half  of  1915  closes  the  business  will  again  be  on 
a  top-notch  basis. 

The  foundry  coke  trade  still  lags,  but  there  is 
more  activity  in  the  foundry  iron  market,  and 
consumption,  no  doubt,  improving,  and  it  is  be¬ 
lieved  the  time  is  not  far  distant  when  this 
branch  will  feel  the  general  expansion  in  the 
iron  and  steel  trade. 


News  in  and  Near  Pittsburgh. 

Shipments  of  coal  over  the  Norfolk  &  West¬ 
ern  Railroad  for  the  month  of  May  were  1,T7S,- 
3.38  tons.  Shipments  of  coke  from  the  Poca¬ 
hontas  field  were  64,872  tons. 

The  Pittsburgh  Coal  Company  has  taken  title 
to  two  tracts  of  coal  land  in  Jefferson  township, 
paying  Jacob  H.  S.  Mowry  $75,728  for  200  acres 
and  John  N.  Mowry  $I>S,756  for  50.35  acres. 

A  member  of  the  committee  having  in  charge 
the  reorganization  of  the  United  Coal  Company 
states  that  subscriptions  on  the  part  of  creditors 
for  new  bonds  is  coming  in  satisfactorily,  the 
plan  .having  met  with  a  favorable  reception. 

The  American  Zinc  &  Chemical  Company, 
with  offices  in  the  Oliver  Building,  Pittsburgh, 
are  opening  a  new  coal  mine  at  their  plant  at 
Langoth,  Pa.,  near  Bengettestown,  of  1,500  tons 
capacity.  The  company  consume  their  own  nut 
and  slack,  marketing  the  screened  coal. 

At  the  annual  election  of  officers  of  the  La- 
trobe-Connellsville  Coal  &  Coke  Company,  Mr. 
Julian  B.  Huff  was  elected  president,  succeeding 
Mr.  M.  W.  Saxman,  retiring.  The  other  offi¬ 
cials  remain  the  same.  The  general  offices  of 
the  company  have  been  removed  from  Latrobe 
to  Greensburg,  Pa. 

Last  Saturday  a  deal  was  closed  whereby  the 
Edgewood  Coal  Company,  composed  of  Mar¬ 
shall  county  people,  sold  a  tract  of  almost  800 
acres  of  coal  land  about  three  miles  east  of 
Wheeling,  W.  Va.,  to  Pennsylvania  and  Ohio 
capitalists.  The  price  said  to  have  been  paid  for 
the  property  was  close  to  $75,000.  It  is  under¬ 
stood  that  the  purchasers  will  continue  to  oper¬ 
ate  the  property,  but  on  a  more  extensive  scale. 
The  officers  of  the  old  company  were  Sheriff 
C.  E.  Hutchinson,  president,  and  J.  W.  Garvin, 
treasurer.  Among  the  other  owners  were  G. 
Charles  Hughes,  F.  H.  Jones,  J.  M.  Grandstaff, 
W.  T.  Hughes  and  J.  L.  Phillips. 


Detroit  Trade. 


Detroit,  Mich.,  July  S. —  (Special  Correspond¬ 
ence.) — With  inactivity  continuing  the  dominant 
feature  of  the  local  coal  market,  shippers  appear 
to  have  lost  none  of  the  optimism  which  has 
characterized  their  patient  “watchful  waiting” 
for  some  weeks  past.  The  explanation  of  their 
attitude  is  perhaps  traceable  from  the  statement 
of  one  of  them  : 

“People  will  have  to  buy  coal  some  time,  and 
every  day  that  passes  now  brings  that  time 
nearer.  When  they  do  get  ready  to  send  in  their 
orders  some  of  the  buyers  may  be  fortunate  if 
they  are  able  to  get  coal  at  the  same  price  and 
with  as  little  delay  as  is  possible  at  present.” 

Neither  steam  nor  domestic  coal  appears  to  be 
in  much  demand.  Fortunately  the  situation  is 
not  seriously  complicated  by  large  consignments 
shipped  into  Detroit  as  a  speculative  market. 
While  the  amount  of  coal  brought  here  is  con¬ 
siderable,  in  the  aggregate,  it  appears  to  be 
less  than  were  the  shipments  a  month  or  so  ago, 
the  result  being  a  closer  balance  between  supply 
and  consumption,  which  has  the  effect  of  giving 
steadier  prices. 

Coal  is  still  being  sold  below  list  prices  to 
avoid  demurrage,  but  such  sales  seem  to  be  more 
infrequent,  and  the  reductions  made  are  reported 
to  be  less  extensive  than  was  the  case  in  the 
spring  months.  While  first-class  slack  ranges 
from  sixty  cents  upward,  a  good  quality  may  be 
bought  around  forty  and  forty-five  cents.  West 
Virginia  lump  is  olitainable  at  from  $1.10  up¬ 
ward. 

The  improvement,  if  it  may  be  so  described,  is 
perhaps  attributable  to  the  diversion  of  surplus 
coal  to  the  lake  trade,  though  the  volume  of  the 
rail-lake  movement  has  not  materially  increased. 
Shipments  carried  through  the  waterways  at 
Sault  Ste.  Marie  in  June  were  more  than  336, ooo 
tons  less  than  in  June,  1914. 

The  statistical  report  for  last  month  shows  a 
total  movement  of  anthracite  amounting  to  300,- 
361  tons,  which  compares  with  414,401  in  June 


last  year  and  with  377,869  tons  in  the  similar 
month  of  1913.  Soft  coal  carried  through  the 
canals  amounted  to  1,624,535  tons  last  month,  in 
contrast  to  1,846,689  tons  last  season  and  2,601,302 
tons  in  June,  1913. 

Owing  to  the  bunching  of  ore  carriers  at  Lake 
Erie  ports  because  of  the  Fourth  of  July  double 
holiday,  there  has  been  a  great  scramble  for  coal 
cargoes  this  week,  in  which  many  of  the  freight¬ 
ers  were  unsuccessful  and  were  forced  to  make 
the  upbound  trip  light.  Others  were  held  several 
days  on  Lake  Erie  to  await  arrival  of  coal  at 
loading  docks. 

Coal  from  the  Pittsburgh  No.  8  district  has 
not  yet  regained  much  prominence  in  the  local 
market.  Anthracite  is  dull,  the  retail  dealers 
seemingly  being  unwilling  to  stock  up  at  this 
time. 

Prices  in  the  local  market  on  direct  shipments 
are : 


West  Virginia  Gas — 

F.  0.  B. 
Mines. 

F.  O.  B. 
Detroit. 

Three-quarter  lump . 

_ $0.95@1.00 

$2.35@2.40 

Mine  run . 

. 75@  .80 

2.15@2.20 

Slack  . 

1.80@1.90 

West  Virginia  Splint — 

Four-inch  lump . 

-  1.35@1.60 

2.76@3.00 

Two-inch  lump . 

_  1.10@1.25 

2.50@2.65 

1  hree-quarter  . 

.  .  .  .  I.OOCO'LIO 

2. 40(0)2. 50 

Mine  run . 

2.30@2.40 

Nut,  pea  and  slack . 

. 50@  .75 

1.90@2.15 

Smokeless — 

Lump  and  egg . 

3.00 

Nut  . 

3.10 

Slack  . 

Open 

Mine  run . 

Open 

Kentucky  Splint — 

Lump  . 

2.60@2.65 

Egg  . 

_  1.00@1.10 

2.40@2.50 

Nut,  pea  and  slack . 

Open 

Fairmount — 

Three-quarter  steam  lump.  . . . 

. 85@  .95 

2.25@2.35 

Mine  run . 

. 70@  .80 

2.10@2.20 

Slack  . 

Open 

Hocking  Valley — 

Shaker  three-inch  lump . 

.  ...  1.50 

2.65 

Shaker  egg  and  nut . 

_  1.15 

2.30 

Domestic  lump . 

_  1.35 

2.50 

Three-quarter  lump . 

_  1.25@1.30 

2.40@2.45 

Mine  run . 

_ 1.00@1.10 

2.15@2.25 

Nut,  pea  and  slack . 

Open 

Open 

Detroit  Local  News. 

Harry  B.  Parker,  having  sold  his  interest  in 
the  Parker  Bros.  Company,  Ltd.,  wholesale  and 
retail  Detroit  coal  dealers,  has  retired  from  the 
firm  and  will  devote  his  attention  to  other  inter¬ 
ests. 

Bids  for  supplying  coal  to  the  United  States 
lighthouse  service  in  the  Eleventh  district,  which 
were  opened  recently,  have  been  referred  to  the 
bureau  in  Washington,  which  will  award  the 
contract. 

J.  T.  Sinclair,  for  many  years  a  well-known 
wholesale  and  retail  coal  dealer  in  Detroit,  has 
formed  the  J.  T.  Sinclair  Company,  which  is 
incorporated  with  capital  stock  of  $200,000,  of 
which  $100,000  is  paid  in  property.  Besides  Mr. 
Sinclair,  the  stockholders  are  A.  F.  Arbury  and 
D.  N.  Harper.  The  company  will  handle  coal 
and  coke. 


Anthracite  Tax  Case. 


Philadelphia,  July  7. —  (Special  Correspond¬ 
ence.) — Another  chapter  was  written  in  the  fight 
to  determine  the  constitutionality  of  the  anthra¬ 
cite  coal  tax  of  1912,  when  an  appeal  from  the 
decision  of  the  Dauphin  county  court  was  heard 
before  the  state  supreme  court  in  its  sitting  in 
this  city  on  Friday  last.  The  text  of  the  deci¬ 
sion  upholding  the  tax  was  printed  in  The  Bl.ack 
Diamond  of  last  week. 

In  the  argument  of  the  case  John  G.  Johnson, 
C.  B.  Miller,  J.  T.  Olmstead  and  A.  C.  Stamm 
appeared  as  counsel  for  the  coal  '  companies. 
They  advanced  the  argument  that  the  act  di¬ 
rected  the  distribution  of  the  money  raised  by 
tax  to  borroughs,  districts  and  townships  where¬ 
in  no  coal  was  mined,  and  that  nine  counties 
alone  were  producing  this  revenue. 

The  noted  lawyer  John  G.  Johnson  urged  that 
the  title  of  the  law  was  defective  and  misleading 
in  that  no  one  would  suppose  that  the  tax  to  be 
collected  would  be  distributed  in  a  manner  as  to 
tax  the  citizens  of  one  municipal  district  for 
the  benefit  of  another  distinct  district.  The 
method  of  distribution,  he  declared,  was  uncon¬ 
stitutional  in  that  it  contained  two  different  sub¬ 
jects.  Francis  Shunk  Brown  defended  the  pro¬ 
vision  of  the  bill  and  the  method  of  distribution 
ordered. 

The  decision  of  the  judges  was  reserved. 


36 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[July  10 


Cincinnati  Trade. 


Prices  Are  Better  Because  There  Is  a 
Demand  for  Coal  From 
Retailers. 


Cincinnati,  Ohio,  July  8. —  {Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — While  the  situation  is  what  is  de¬ 
scribed  as  “spotted,”  in  this  territory,  prices  of 
coal  are  somewhat  better  in  most  fields,  and  de¬ 
mand  has  improved.  This  is  especially  true  in 
nut  and  slack,  which  is  beginning  to  feel  the 
pressure  of  better  demand  from  the  increased 
iron  and  steel  production  and  the  general  re¬ 
sumption  of  industries. 

Events  have  proved  that  the  accumulation  of 
cheap  coal  in  the  various  parts  of  the  country 
was  much  larger  than  had  been  thoughf,  and  that 
now  this  accumulation  is  beginning  to  melt.  An¬ 
other  factor  that  has  aided  slightly  is  the  three- 
day  holiday  over  July  4th. 

Some  of  the  prices  this  week  look  better. 
Kanawha  lump  is  $1.2.5,  and  well  advertised 
grades  are  going  as  high  as  $1.60.  In  this  field 
nut  and  slack  is  in  better  demand  at  higher  July 
prices  of  fifty  to  seventy-five  cents,  egg  $1.10  to 
$1.25  and  run  of  mine  from  eighty  to  ninety-five 
cents. 

In  other  fields  there  is  little  lump  moving  ex¬ 
cept  for  railroad  purposes.  Splint  prices  for 
July  are  held  by  most  of  these  fields  to  be: 
Lump,  $1.35;  egg,  $1.10;  mine  run,  ninety  cents, 
and  nut  and  slack,  seventy-five  cents.  These 
are  contract  prices,  spot  prices  being  lower  in 
some  respects.  In  these  fields  the  better  adver¬ 
tised  brands  are  held  at  $1.50. 

Inquiries  for  all  grades  and  brands  of  coal 
have  been  much  better  this  week,  and  contract 
signing  has  become  more  general,  many  who  have 
refused  to  sign  now  being  active  in  leading  up  to 
negotiations,  and  in  many  cases  even  taking  the 
initiative.  There  is  a  little  more  shipping  to  the 
lakes,  but  very  little,  and  splint  producers  have 
been  gladdened  by  inquiries  from  Spain  and 
Italy,  while  South  Americans  have  been  giving 
indications  that  they  are  turning  their  attention 
to  cheaper  coal  than  the  smokeless  producers  can 
guarantee  them.  Altogether  the  splint  man  is 
more  cheerful  at  the  close  of  this  week  than  he 
was  at  the  close  of  the  last  week. 

There  is  no  surplus  of  any  sort  of  smokeless 
coal,  and  this  includes  both  New  River  and 
Pocahontas  products.  It  was  reported  early  in 
the  week  that  No.  3  Pocahontas  was  weak,  and 
some  of  it  was  on  the  spot  market.  This  was 
indignantly  denied  by  No.  3  companies,  who  sent 
feelers  out  to  find  if  the  report  were  true.  One 
would  have  taken  100  cars  off  the  market,  but 
he  could  not  find  ten  cars,  but  he  did  find  a  few 
producers  who  said  they  could  furnish  a  few 
cars  if  he  would  take  the  resultant  run  of  mine 
and  slack,  which  he  does  not  need.  The  tide 
water  demand  is  still  as  good  as  ever,  with  a 
little  halt  in  shipment  due  to  lack  of  vessels.  As 
a  general  rule,  operators  say,  they  are  going 
smoothly  along  at  a  satisfactory  pace. 

Some  splint  operators  frankly  say  that  nothing 
will  improve  the  market  until  a  car  stringency 
strikes  the  country.  They  are  looking  for  that 
very  thing  to  occur;  in  fact,  they  say  there  are 
evidences  all  around.  As  to  the  labor  market, 
the  weakness  of  that  will  not  develop,  it  is  al¬ 
leged,  until  all  the  fields  begin  operating  in  full 
force.  As  it  is  now,  the  splint  mines,  operating 
but  three  and  four  days  a  week — and  most  of 
them  are  doing  this  now — give  employment  to  a 
percentage  of  the  men  which  keeps  at  a  steady 
figure,  the  balance  going  into  the  smokeless  fields, 
where  mines  are  running  night  and  day.  When 
the  splint  mines  get  into  full  operation  it  is  pre¬ 
dicted  the  labor  stringency  will  be  certainly  fierce. 


Cincinnati  Local  News. 

C.  B.  Ebbert  of  Chicago,  representative  of  the 
White  Oak  Coal  Company,  was  a  visitor  to  the 
local  offices  of  the  company  early  in  the  week. 

T.  P.  Young,  manager  of  the  Lexington  Coal 
&  Coke  Company,  was  a  visitor  in  the  city 
Wednesday. 

Kuper  Plood  of  the  Huston  Coal  Company  left 
Monday  for  the  east  to  oversee  some  of  the  de¬ 
tails  of  new  export  business  which  has  come  to 
the  company. 

Harry  L.  Bocklage  has  been  added  to  the 
Queen  City  Coal  Company  force  in  this  section 
of  the  country,  and  will  represent  the  company  in 
Indiana. 

D.  T.  Ulland  of  the  Ulland  Coal  Company 
started  with  the  Shriners  of  this  city  to  Seattle 


to  attend  the  meeting  of  the  Shriners  in  that  city 
shortly. 

Hugh  Bartlitt  of  the  Darby  Coal  &  Coke  Com¬ 
pany  is  in  very  much  better  s[)irits  from  the  fact 
that  Mrs.  Bartlitt  was  able  last  Saturday  to  be 
removed  from  the  hospital,  where  she  has  been 
ill  for  some  weeks,  to  her  home.  She  is  con¬ 
valescing  rapidly. 

One  or  two  Cincinnati  companies  have  received 
inquiries  from  Spain  for  coal  and  requests  to 
send  prices  and  terms  of  delivery.  In  the  let¬ 
ters  are  indications  that  there  will  be  heavy 
demand  from  that  part  of  the  world  in  addition 
to  the  heavy  demand  from  other  parts  of  Europe 
within  a  few  weeks. 

Captains  William  and  Edwin  Marmet,  who  have 
just  gone  out  of  the  Marmet  Coal  Company,  are 
planning  a  $100,000  river  excursion  steamer  for 
use  of  Cincinnatians,  and  others,  during  the  excur¬ 
sion  season.  It  is  planned  to  be  a  carrier  of 
about  2,000  persons  safely,  and  it  is  proposed  that 
it  shall  be  the  largest,  finest  and  safest  boat  in 
the  river. 

George  P.  Daniels,  secretary-treasurer  of  the 
Smokeless  Fuel  Company,  returned  this  week 
from  an  extended  trip  throughout  the  northwest, 
in  which  he  uncovered  a  much  better  sentiment 
than  suspected  and  a  much  better  prospect  for 
early  resumption  of  satisfactory  coal  business 
than  he  had  expected.  Mr.  Daniels  returned  the 
latter  part  of  the  week  to  Detroit  for  further 
business  getting. 

W.  O.  Davis,  secretary-treasurer  of  the  new 
Kentucky  River  Coal  Corporation,  was  a  visitor 
in  the  city  this  week.  He  was  in  conference  with 
certain  financial  men  of  the  city  interested  in 
the  new  coal  venture,  which  is  a  consolidation  of 
the  various  Slemp  interests  in  Kentucky.  Mr. 
Davis  is  a  prominent  lawyer  of  Lexington 
closely  identified  with  the  coal  business  in  his 
profession  and  makes  an  excellent  official  of  the 
big  consolidation. 

The  Queen  City  Coal  Company,  the  Diamond 
Coal  Company,  that  Campbell’s  Creek  Coal  Com¬ 
pany  and  the  Otto  Marmet  Coal  Company  have 
brought  down  tows  from  the  Pennsylvania  and 
the  Kanawha  coal  fields  this  week,  the  two  first 
mentioned  sending  down  three  tows  each.  The 
river  companies  are  in  as  good  position  for  sup¬ 
plying  their  patrons  this  year  as  they  have  ever 
been,  in  all  probability  there  having  been  very 
heavy  transportation  of  coal  from  these  fields 
this  season,  which  has  been  much  better  tlian 
the  average  season  for  coal  rises. 

It  was  reported  this  week  among  coal  men 
here  that  the  Big  Four  contracts  were  awarded 
this  week,  but  that  the  results  are  not  to  be  made 
known  to  the  successful  bidders  until  later.  The 
story  has  it  that  the  company  has,  at  its  fuel 
points  in  this  territory,  a  heavy  accumulation  al¬ 
lowed  to  be  piled  up  on  the  late  contracts  in  the 
latter  part  of  June,  and  this  accumulation  will 
be  allowed  to  dissipate  before  the  new  contracts 
are  announced,  to  avoid  the  annoyance  of  hold¬ 
ing  back  shipments.  The  West  Virginia  portion 
of  the  road’s  contracts  totals  over  400,000  tons, 
and  quite  a  number  of  companies  here  are  on  the 
anxious  seat.  The  contracts  are  effective  July 
1,  and  a  little  dissatisfaction  exists  at  the  situa¬ 
tion. 

A  revision  of  the  local  prices  by  the  coal  com¬ 
mittee  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  and  of  the 
Cincinnati  Coal  Exchange  gives  the  following 
delivery  prices:  Youghiogheny  lump,  $3.50  and 
$3.75  per  ton;  nut  and  slack,  $2.25.  Kanawha 
lump,  $3.50  and  $3.75  per  ton ;  nut  and  slack, 
$2.25.  Smokeless  lump,  $4.75;  nut  and  slack, 
$3.25;  run  of  mine,  $3.50  and  $3.75.  Anthracite, 
$7.75  and  $8;  broken,  $4.65  and  $4.70;  egg,  $4.90 
and  $4.95;  stove,  $4.90  and  $4.95;  chestnut,  $5.15 
and  $5.20 ;  pea,  $5.60  and  $5.65 ;  buckwheat,  $2.80 
and  $2.85  ;  rice,  or  No.  2  buckwheat,  $2.40.  River 
coal :  Pittsburgh,  eight  and  one-quarter  cents 
per  bushel  of  2,688  cubic  inches;  run  of  mine, 
seven  and  one-half  cents;  Kanawha,  eight  cents, 
all  afloat. 


Toledo  Market. 


Toledo,  Ohio,  July  8. —  (Special  Correspond¬ 
ence.) — There  is  little  in  tlie  local  market  to  cause 
much  optimism  among  Toledo  coal  dealers.  The 
demand  is  not  particularly  better  than  it  has  been 
and  despite  a  strenuous  effort  to  uphold  the  mar¬ 
ket  and  keep  prices  right  it  is  a  fact  that  coal  is 
not  selling  close  to  the  list  but  is  really  a  Iniye'rs’ 
market  and  prices  are  determined  largely  by  the 
desire  of  the  buyer  to  secure  coal  and  that  of  the 
holder  to  exchange  his  coal  for  money. 


While  it  is  the  stocking  season  there  is 
little  stocking  going  on.  West  Virginia  coal 
for  lake  movement  is  showing  some  life,  but 
outside  of  this  the  market  is  extremely  dull.  The 
action  of  the  Sunday  Creek  Company  shows  some¬ 
thing  of  the  state  of  Ohio  coal  operators  and  it  is 
freely  predicted  here  that  an  adjustment  of 
freight  rates  must  soon  follow  if  Ohio  operators 
are  to  continue  in  the  business. 

Smokeless  coal  is  in  good  demand,  but  prac¬ 
tically  all  Toledo  dealers  are  completely  sold  up 
and  there  will  be  no  available  supplies  until  the 
first  of  August.  This,  of  course,  applies  to  the 
select  grades. 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Smokeless —  Toledo  Mines 

I-ump  and  egg . $3.45  $2.00 

Mine  run  .  2.70  1.2.5 

Pomeroy  is  dull  and  though  the  threshing  sea¬ 
son  is  now  on  there  does  not  seem  to  be  much 
tendency  on  the  part  of  dealers  to  stock  up.  Prices 
remain  unchanged. 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Pomeroy —  Toledo  Mines 

Domestic . $2.60  $1.60 

Egg  and  nut  .  2.35  1.35 


Hocking  is  dull  and  the  Ohio  product  is  finding 
it  practically  impossible  to'  meet  the  competition  of 
the  West  Virginia  coal. 


F.  0.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

Hocking — 

Toledo 

Mines 

3-inch  lump  . 

1.50 

154-'nch  lump  . 

1.40 

44-inch  lump  . 

1.30 

Egg  . 

1.25 

Nut  . 

1.15 

Mine  run  . 

1.10 

West  Virginia  coal  by  comparison  with  other 
.grades  is  moving  well,  but  conditions  are  by  no 
means  normal.  There  is  some  shipping  for  lake 
movement,  but  this  is  below  normal  and  prices 
remain  the  same. 


Kanawha  Gas — 

44-inch  lump  . 

1.05 

Mine  run  . 

.95 

Fairmont — 

144-inch  lump  . 

1.05 

44-inch  lump  . 

.  2.20 

.95 

Mine  run  . 

.85 

F.  O.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

Kanawha  Splint — 

Toledo 

Mines 

4-inch  lump  . . . 

$1.50 

2-inch  lump  . 

1.40 

44-inch  lump  . 

1.15 

Mine  run  . 

1.00 

Kentucky  coal  has  been  enjoying  a  fair  move¬ 
ment  as  conditions  now  are  and  prices  remain 
fairly  firm.  There  seems  to  be  some  difference 
of  opinion  on  the  price  question  and  the  move¬ 
ment  is  spotted.  Prices  follow  : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Kentucky —  Toledo  Mines 

4-inch  lump  . $2.90  $1.65 

Egg  .  2.50  1.25 

Nut,  pea  and  slack . open  open 

Massillon  shares  the  fate  of  other  Ohio  coal 
and  is  practically  stagnant  with  unchanged  prices. 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Massillon—  Toledo  Mines 

Lump  . $3.25  $2.50 

Washed  nut  .  3.25  2.50 

Pittsburgh  No.  8  is  showing  little  activity  and 
the  call  continues  light. 

Pittsburgh  No.  8 — 

i;4-inch  lump  .  2.40  1.40 

14-inch  lump  .  2.20  1.20 

M.ne  rui.  .  2.10  1.10 

Youghiogheny  demand  is  low  and  prices  are  not 
being  specially  well  maintained. 

Youghiogheny — 

Mine  run  .  2.45  1.20 

J4->nch  steam  lump  .  2.55  1.30 

Blossburg  Smithing — 

Prepared  size  .  3.20  1.75 

Lilly  smithing,  prepared  size .  3.20  1.75 

Cambridge  is  unchanged  with  slow  movement 
and  unchanged  prices. 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Cambridge —  Toledo  Mines 

Mine  run  . $2.10  $1.10 

44-inch  lump  .  2.20  1.20 

154 -inch  lump  .  2.40  1.40 

There  has  been  some  development  in  cannel  coal 
within  the  past  week  and  the  demand  is  fair  with 
a  good  movement.  Prices  are  fairly  firm. 


Cannel — 

Kentucky  Cannel  lump  . $4.60  $2.75 

Pennsylvania  Cannel,  egg .  3.60  2.15 

Pennsylvania  Cannel,  lump .  4.20  2.75 

Ohio  Cannel  .  3.85  3.00 


Toledo  News  Notes. 

Wm.  Byers,  of  the  Fluhart  Collieries  Company 
of  Dayton,  was  a  Toledo  caller  last  week. 

H.  W.  Jenkins,  Ohio  sales  agent  for  the  Bor¬ 
derland  Coal  Sales  Company  of  Columbus,  visited 
Toledo  coal  offices  last  week. 

President  R.  T.  Tway,  of  the  R.  C.  Tway  Coal 
Company  of  Louisville,  Ky.,  was  in  the  city  this 
week.  Mr.  Tway  states  that  business  in  his  sec¬ 
tion  is  fairly  good  and  he  takes  an  optimistic 
view  of  the  general  situation. 


No.  2] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


37 


Twin  Cities  Trade. 


Minneapolis  and  St.  Paul,  July  8. —  (Special 
Correspondence.) — In  the  matter  of  prices  coal 
market  conditions  in  the  northwest  are  much  im¬ 
proved  over  those  existing  a  year  ago.  At  that 
time  dock  prices  as  well  as  those  of  all-rail  ship¬ 
pers  were  badly  demoralized.  While  some  of  the 
factors  in  the  trade  were  endeavoring  to  maintain 
circular  prices  they  were  not  permitted  to  do  so 
by  the  price-cutting  of  the  other  fellow,  and  when 
the  other  fellow  was  not  actually  cutting  prices 
he  was  under  suspicion,  which  had  the  same 
result.  Although  prices  are  bein.g  maintained  they 
are  not  exorbitant.  The  present  dock  circular 
price  on  soft  coal  is  fifteen  cents  a  ton  less  than 
it  was  a  year  ago,  whereas  the  circular  on  south¬ 
ern  Illinois  coal  is  exactly  the  same  as  that  time. 
Under  these  circumstances  the  buyer  of  coal  is  not 
indulging  in  any  complaint,  and  where  the  truth  is 
known  there  is  every  reason  to  believe  he  is 
better  satisfied  with  present  conditions  than  he 
was  with  the  previous  demoralization.  Most  buy¬ 
ers  pride  themselves  on  the  fact  they  can  buy  a 
few  cents  cheaper  than  the  other  fellow,  and 
when  there  is  a  demoralized  market  they  look 
for  the  last  cent,  just  to  sustain  their  pride  in 
their  business  ability.  Sometimes  it  keeps  them 
very  much  worried  to  keep  up  with  the  proces¬ 
sion,  especially  when  price  changes  occur  once  or 
twice  in  twenty-four  hours.  On  the  other  hand, 
when  there  is  a  steady  market,  they  feel  reason¬ 
ably  sure  that  no  one  else  is  doing  better  than 
they  are  and  a  heavy  load  is  lifted  from  their 
minds. 

Under  existing  circumstances  it  is  to  be  ex¬ 
pected  that  the  market  will  continue  steady.  Coal 
investments  on  a  large  scale,  for  two  or  three 
years,  have  not  returned  a  reasonable  interest  rate, 
and  undoubtedly  the  whole  country  will  be  better 
off  from  a  material  standpoint  if  the  man  who 
has  invested  his  money  in  mines,  docks  and  retail 
coal  yards  is  permitted  to  earn  his  six  or  seven 
per  cent.  There  is  already  some  talk  that  some 
of  the  dock  companies  may  advance  their  prices 
on  prepared  sizes  ten  cents  more  a  ton  some  time 
in  August,  and  it  is  absolutely  assured  that  prices 
on  southern  Illinois  coal  will  harden  fully  ten 
cents  a  ton,  if  not  more  the  first  of  next  month. 
These  market  prospects  will  undoubtedly  have  a 
tendency  to  make  buyers  somewhat  forehanded 
in  their  purchases  against  future  requirements. 
An  advancing  market  always  induces  heavier  buy¬ 
ing  and  the  northwestern  market  on  all  .grades 
of  soft  coal  is  showing  stronger  tendencies  as 
the  season  advances. 

Current  prices  on  all  grades  of  coal  sold  in  this 
territory  are  as  follows  : 

ANTHRACITE. 


Grate  . 

Egg  . 

F.  0.  B.  F.  0.  B. 

Duluth  Minneapolis 
and_  and 

Superior  St.  Paul 

.  $6.60  $7.80 

6.85  8.05 

fi  ftfi  ft. ns 

Nut  . 

7.10 

8.30 

Pea  . 

.  5.50 

6.70 

Buckwheat  . 

4.00 

5.20 

During  July  a  discount 

of  twenty  cents  per  ton  is 

allowed  on  all  anthracite 

except 

pea  and  buckwheat, 

which  prices  are  net. 

BITUMINOUS. 

Splint,  screened  lump  and 

stove. .  . 

.  $3.40 

$4.36 

Splint,  dock  . . 

3.10 

4.06 

Hocking,  screened  lump  and 

stove.  . 

3.40 

4.36 

Hocking,  dock  run  . 

3.00 

3.96 

y  oughiogheny,  gas,  lump  and  stove. 

3.40 

4.36 

■youghiogheny,  gas,  dock  run . 

3.10 

4.06 

Pittsburgh  vein,  lump  . 

3.40 

4.36 

Pittsburgh  vein,  dock  run.. 

3.00 

3.96 

Pocahontas,  screened  lump  or  egg.  .. 

4.75 

5.71 

Pocahontas  screened  lump 

and  egg 

mixed  . 

4.50 

5.46 

Pocahontas,  mine-run  .... 

3.25 

4.21 

Cannel,  lump  . 

5.25 

6.21 

Smithing,  'oulk  . 

4.25 

5.21 

Smithing,  in  1 00-lb.  sacks.  . 

6.00 

6.96 

Briquets,  anthracite  . 

5.00 

5.96 

Briquets,  smokeless  . 

5.00 

5.96 

In  the  Illinois  trade  the  range  of  prices  on 
southern  Illinois  product  on  the  various  sizes  is 
as  follows : 


Southern  Illinois  chunks  . $1.3.S@1.50  $3..')5@3.7n 

.Southern  Illinois  egg  .  1.35@1.60  3.55@3.70 

Southern  Illinois  No.  1  nut .  1.35@1.50  3.55@3.70 

Southern  Illinois  No.  2  nut . 1.25@1.3.5  3.45@3.55 

Southern  Illinois  No.  3  nut .  1.2n@1.25  3.40(3)3.4.5 

.Southern  Illinois  run-of-mine.  . .  .  I.15@1.25  3.35@3.45 

.Southern  Illinois  2-in.  screenings.  .80  3.00 

Southern  Illinois  coal  includes  Franklin  county, 
Harrisburg  and  Williamson  county. 


Twin  Cities  News  Notes. 

Frank  J.  Browning,  secretary  and  treasurer  of 
the  Purity  Coal  Company,  Chicago,  was  in  the 
northwest  for  several  days  on  business  and  pleas¬ 
ure. 

F.  Warde  Smith,  formerly  sales  manager  of 


the  Cedar  Lake  Ice  Company,  Minneapolis,  has 
accepted  an  important  position  with  the  I'lour 
City  Fuel  &  Transfer  Company,  Minneapolis,  one 
of  the  lar.ge  coal  companies. 

H.  L.  Laird,  secretary  of  the  Northwestern  Re¬ 
tail  Coal  Dealers’  Association  took  a  trip  to 
Marshalltown  over  the  Fourth  with  his  family, 
in  his  new  Premier  car  and  was  laid  up  at  Albert 
Lea,  Minn.,  for  twenty-four  hours  on  the  return 
trip  on  account  of  bad  roads,  due  to  the  recent 
very  heavy  rains. 

The  Northwestern  Retail  Coal  Dealers’  Asso¬ 
ciation  will  hold  its  annual  convention  in  Min¬ 
neapolis  next  Thursday  and  Friday  at  the  Dyck- 
man  hotel.  A  very  interesting  program  has  been 
prepared,  the  prominent  feature  of  which  is  an 
address  on  features  of  the  coal  trade  by  Frank 
Stockdale,  editor  of  “System.”  There  will  be 
entertainment  for  the  dealers,  but  most  of  the 
large  companies  will  refrain  from  calling  in  their 
salesmen  from  the  road  in  order  that  the  con¬ 
vention  may  be  emphasized  as  a  dealer's  conven¬ 
tion. 


Indianapolis  Trade. 


Indianapolis,  Ind.,  July  8. —  (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — The  demand  for  Indiana  coal  is 
not  improving.  The  trade  between  the  Indiana 
operators  and  Chicago  has  been  cut  down  lately 
because  of  the  labor  troubles.  Several  operators 
say  that  their  Chicago  contract  customers  have 
reduced  their  orders  because  of  the  labor  condi¬ 
tions.  The  Indiana  tonnage  to  Chicago  during 
June  was  below  normal,  and  it  bids  fair  to  be 
even  worse  during  July  unless  there  is  a  change 
soon  in  the  present  situation.  As  far  as  In¬ 
dianapolis  and  other  Indiana  manufacturing  cen¬ 
ters  are  concerned,  the  demand  for  steam  coal  is 
not  improving.  Here  and  there  some  concerns 
are  reported  to  be  doing  a  nice  business.  Har¬ 
ness  manufacturers,  for  instance,  are  doing  a 
wonderful  business.  They  are  making  harness 
for  European  nations  now  engaged  in  war.  But 
the  harness  factories  use  very  little  coal.  The 
wagon  manufacturers — there  are  but  two  or 
three  in  Indiana — are  reaping  a  harvest  because 
of  war  orders,  but  they  don't  consume  enough 
coal  to  cause  a  change  in  market  conditions. 
There  are  a  few  factories  in  this  state  that 


manufacture  munitions  of  war,  but  they  are  not 
big  enough  to  help  the  coal  trade  very  much. 
The  furniture  manufacturers  are  complaining 
because  of  poor  business.  They  are  coal  con¬ 
sumers.  The  lumber  dealers  who  use  coal  say 
that  business  is  poor.  Taken  as  a  whole,  the 
business  situation  is  far  from  being  inviting 
from  the  standpoint  of  the  coal  operator.  The 
demand  for  steam  coal  is  below  normal,  and  the 
prices  are  about  the  same  as  they  have  been  for 
some  time.  There  is  practically  no  demand  for 
domestic  except  from  the  wheat  threshers.  Un¬ 
der  the  circumstances  the  operators  are  doing 
well  to  hold  prices  as  they  have  been  for  some 
time. 


The  following  prices  are  being  quoted  by  the 
Indiana  wholesalers  : 


F.  O.  B. 

Indiana —  Mines. 

No.  4  mine  run  . $1.10®!. *20 

Nos.  5  and  0  mine  run .  1.00@1.10 

No.  4,  lJ4-inch  steam  coal .  1.30@1.40 

Nos.  5  and  6,  l|4'inch  steam  coal  1.20@1.30 

No.  4  egg  .  1.8O@1.40 

No.  4  nut  .  1.25@1.30 

No.  5  egg  .  1.25@1.35 

No.  4  screenings . 8r)@  .90 

No.  5  and  6  screenings . 80@  .8.5 

Domestic  lump  .  1.40@1.50 

No.  1  washed  coal .  1.7.5 

No.  2  washed  coal .  1.05 

Brazil  block  .  2.00@2.10 

Southern  Indiana  Field- 

No.  5  mine  run .  1.00®1.10 

Domestic  .  J.40@1.50 


F.  O.  R. 

Indianapolis. 

$1.CO®1.80 
1.50@1.60 
1.80@1.9') 
1.70@1.80 
1.80@1.90 
1.75@1.80 
1.75@  1.85 
1.35@1.40 
1.8U@1.35 
1.90@2.00 
2.25 
2.15 
2.50  @2.00 


The  Indianapolis  retailers  are  quoting  the  fol¬ 
lowing  prices :  Linton  No.  -I,  forked,  $.'! ;  In¬ 
diana  lump,  forked,  $2.7.');  Indiana  lump  and 
egg,  screened,  $2. .50 ;  Kanawha  lump,  forked, 
$4.25 ;  Ohio  Hocking  lump,  forked,  $4.25 ;  Ohio 
Hocking,  washed  egg,  $4.50 ;  Kentucky  lump, 
$4.50;  Ohio  Jackson  lump,  forked,  $5;  Blossberg 
smithing,  $5.50;  cannel  lump,  $6;  Pocahontas 
forked  lump,  $5.50 ;  Pocahontas  shoveled  lump, 
$5 ;  Pocahontas  mine  run,  $4 ;  Pocahontas,  nut 
and  slack,  $:i.50 ;  anthracite  chestnut,  $7.75 ;  an¬ 
thracite  stove  and  egg,  $7.50;  anthracite  grate, 
$7.25 ;  Connellsville  coke,  $0 ;  Indianapolis  by¬ 
product  coke  (all  sizes),  $5.50. 

Extra  delivery  charge:  Bags,  fifty  cents  a 
ton  extra,  ground  floor  or  dumped  in  cellar ; 
bags,  seventy-five  cents  a  ton  extra,  carried  into 
cellar;  charge  for  chute  or  wheelbarrow,  twenty- 
five  cents  a  ton. 

.Articles  of  incorporation  have  been  filed  by  the 
Kingsbury-Shepherd  Coal  Company,  Indianapo¬ 


lis,  $10,000;  to  deal  in  coal  and  fuel.  H.  N. 
Kingsbury,  H.  R.  Kingsbury,  J.  B.  Shepherd. 

The  Elberfield  Co-operative  Coal  Company, 
Elberfield,  Ind.,  has  filed  notice  with  the  secre¬ 
tary  of  state  of  an  increase  of  $1,000  in  capital 
stock. 


St.  Louis  Trade. 


St.  Louis,  Mo.,  July  S— (Special  Correspond¬ 
ence.) — The  July  circulars,  which  raised  nearly 
all  grades  of  coal,  together  with  the  holidays, 
caused  actual  buying  to  drop  off  for  the  moment, 
but  as  the  last  few  days  of  June  brought  a  good 
deal  of  business  on  all  grades  of  coal,  the  opera¬ 
tors  were  content  to  lay  back  and  fill  the  orders  on 
hand,  and  have  not  been  pushing  much  for  new 
business  the  first  week  in  July. 

The  dealers  are  beginning  to  come  around  to 
the  July  prices,  and  by  the  time  the  mines  ac¬ 
tually  need  more  orders  there  is  no  doubt  but 
that  there  will  be  plenty  of  the  July  circular  to 
keep  them  busy. 

Business  on  high  grades  has  been  better  than 
expected.  The  Franklin  and  Williamson  county 
operators  are  now  gettin.g  a  nice  run  of  businesi 
and  are  running  as  close  to  full  as  could  possibly 
be  expected  at  this  time  of  the  year. 

The  dealers  locally  are  beginning  to  do  a  fair 
business,  which  will  naturally  increase  in  volume 
from  now  on.  The  10th  of  July  always  been 
considered  the  turning  point  in  the  summer  coal 
trade,  as  after  this  date  all  business  begins  to 
take  on  considerable  activity. 

While  the  Standard  operators  have  not  been  as 
fortunate  in  regard  to  the  amount  of  orders  on 
hand  as  those  in  the  higher  grade  fields,  never¬ 
theless  the  conditions  have  improved,  and  the 
prices  have  been  advanced.  It  is  gratifying  to 
note  that  the  operators  are  more  inclined  to  stick 
together,  and  hold  out  for  the  list  prices,  and  the 
situation  seems  to  be  in  hand  better  than  at  any 
time  durin.g  the  summer  months  in  the  past. 

Current  prices  are  as  follows : 


Standard—  Mine 

6-inch  lump  . $1.00 

6x3  egg  .  1.00 

6x2  steam  egg . 80 

2-iiich  lump  . 85 

3x2  nut  . 85 

2x1  nut  . S5 

Mine  run  . 80 

2-inch  screenings  . 85 


St.  Louis 
$i.5i;4 
1.57}4 
1.37J4 
1.42'/^ 
1.42;.^ 
1.52J4 
1.37J4 
1.4754 


Tilden  and  Springfield  operators  are  doing  a 
conservative  business,  and  sticking  firmly  to  their 
prices,  which  are  as  follows : 


Staunton  or  Mt.  Olive — 

6-inch  lump  .  1.25  1.8254 

2-inch  lump  .  1,20  1.7754 

3x2  nut .  1.10  1.6754 

2-inch  screenings  . 80  1.37K' 


Williamson  county  coal  shows  considerable  im¬ 
provement,  both  in  price  and  in  demand.  There 
is  quite  a  little  demand  from  the  south. 


Williamson  County — 

6-inch  lump  . $1.25  $1.9754 

3x2  nut  .  1.23  1.97  54 

Washed  No.  1 .  1.50  2.2254 

Washed  No.  2 .  1.30  2.0254 

154-inch  screenings  . 80  1.3254 

The  demand  for  Franklin  county  is  good.  The 
demand  for  coal,  both  locally  and  in  the  country 
is  quite  brisk,  and  orders  are  coming  in  better 
than  was  expected. 


Franklin  County — 

0-inch  lump  or  egg . $1.50  $2.22  ;4 

2x3  nut  .  1.50  2.2254 

Anthracite  has  been  dull  but  is  picking  up.  It 
had  quite  a  spurt  at  the  end  of  June.  In  fact  the 
spurt  was  more  than  was  expected,  and  cleaned 
out  nearly  all  the  entire  supply  of  coal  in  transit. 

Anthracite — 


Chestnut .  $7.35 

Stove  or  egg .  7.10 

Crate .  6.85 


Coke  and  smokeless  remain  unchanged  with 


light  demand. 

Coke — 

Gas  house  lump  or  egg .  4.25 

By-product  egg,  stove  or  nut .  4.50 

Smithing  coal  .  4.25 

Smokeless — 

Lump  or  egg .  1,75  4.25 


Prices  on  Illinois  soft  coal,  f.  o.  b.  East  St.  Louis, 
Madison,  Venice,  or  Granite  City,  Ill.,  are  255^  cents 
per  ton  less  than  St.  Louis  prices. 


All  records  were  broken  in  Baltimore  by  the 
June  coal  exports.  During  that  month  there  was 
loaded  there  a  total  of  305,917  tons  for  foreign 
points.  Italy  took  the  largest  amount,  127,744 
tons,  with  Argentina  as  second,  with  98,510  tons. 

But  seven  vessel  charters  were  announced  the 
past  week,  against  an  average  of  about  fifteen 
for  the  past  several  weeks,  in  the  foreign  coal 
carrying  trade. 


38 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[July  10 


New  York  Trade. 


Holiday  Observance  Felt  in  Both  Anthra¬ 
cite  and  Bituminous  Markets 
— Orders  Few. 


•  Office  of  The  Bl.\ck  Di.wiond, 

New  York,  July  8. 

It  is  rather  difficult  to  size  up  the  anthracite 
situation  following  |)ractically  a  full  week’s  ces¬ 
sation  from  i)ro(luction,  distribution  and  sell¬ 
ing,  due  to  the  h'ourth  of  July  holidays. 
Up  to  \\’ednesda>  noon  coal  offices  had  i)racti- 
call\'  no  new  business  to  report,  and  while  a  fair 
.'ohune  of  coal  is  being  loaded  from  the  piers 
this  is  going  forward  on  orders  received  prior 
to  the  holidays,  and  the  coal  in  cpiestion  is  largely 
from  accumulations  at  the  piers.  There  is  no 
pressure  from  any  section  for  coal,  and  most  of 
those  in  the  trade  anticipate  that  this  month  will 
he  perhaps  the  (luietest  of  any  during  the  present 
year. 

In  the  matter  of  production  most  of  the  col¬ 
lieries  shut  down  last  week  for  a  full  week,  and 
are  just  starting  uj)  to  run  two  or  three  days 
only,  unless  orders  should  become  more  plentiful 
before  the  week  has  passed.  Production  figures 
for  June  will  he  made  public  later  in  the  week. 
It  is  estimated  that  shipments  for  the  month  of 
June  will  show  a  loss  of  about  400, ()()()  tons  as 
compared  with  June,  1914,  when  shipments 
reached  (),i:!0,18()  tons.  According  to  the  Bureau 
of  Anthracite  Statistics,  shipments  for  the  first 
five  months  of  1915  were  5.'S(),401  tons  less  than 
shipments  for  the  first  five  months  in  the  pre¬ 
vious  year.  When  June  is  included  the  ship¬ 
ments  for  the  first  half  of  1915  will  he  close  to 
a  •million  tons  less  than  for  the  first  six  months 
of  1914.  The  trade,  therefore,  are  very  hopeful 
that  the  fall  months  will  prove  very  active,  and 
that  the  improvement  will  set  in  late  in  August 
or  early  in  September. 

It  has  been  pointed  out  at  various  times  that 
recjuirements  of  anthracite  for  domestic  pur¬ 
poses  varies  so  little  from  year  to  year  that  the 
loss  of  production  of  a  million  tons  in  the  first 
six  months  of  the  year  will  have  to  be  made  up 
during  the  fall  and  winter  months.  Moreover, 
anthracite  stocks  were  pretty  well  absorbed  dur¬ 
ing  the  past  winter,  and  there  is  very  little  sur¬ 
plus  above  ground,  so  that  if  the  coming  fall  is 
anything  like  normal  the  anthracite  trade  will 
uiKiuestionably  be  active.  Again,  it  is  pointed 
out  that  manufacturing  conditions,  esi)ecially 
through  the  east,  where  anthracite  coal  is  used 
exclusively  for  domestic  pur|)oses,  have  im¬ 
proved,  and  that  workmen  will  consetpiently  be 
in  a  much  better  position  to  keep  their  furnaces 
going  during  the  coming  winter  than  they  were 
last  winter,  when  there  was  so  much  idleness 
due  to  the  European  war. 

In  the  way  of  concessions,  a  great  deal  of 
chestnut  coal  is  said  to  be  selling  under  the  cir¬ 
cular,  but  at  prices  that  are  said  to  be  much  bet¬ 
ter  than  prevailed  at  this  time  last  year.  Due 
to  the  restriction  policy  being  practiced  by  both 
large  companies  and  individuals,  there  is  no 
great  amount  of  surplus  coal  today,  and  the  rad¬ 
ical  reductions  that  one  hears  talked  about  are 
confined  in  most  instances  to  extreme  cases  and 
do  not  affect  a  considerable  tonnage.  Stove  and 
egg  coal  are  moving  freely,  considering  the  sea¬ 
son,  and  are  held  closely  to  the  circular. 

Steam  sizes  of  anthracite  are  not  so  plentiful — 
that  is,  as  far  as  concerns  the  better  grades — and 
at  the  upper  ports  of  New  York  these  sizes  are 
held  very  closely  to  the  circular,  and  in  some 
instances  shi|)pers  are  delayed  in  getting  cargoes 
loaded  promptly,  due  to  the  restriction  in  min¬ 
ing  and  the  small  amount  of  these  coals  that  are 
coming  to  tide.  At  the  lower  ports  some  of  the 
inferior  coals  are  very  plentiful,  and  prices  on 
these  are  easy.  There  are  numerous  loaded  boats 
of  pea  and  buckwheat  in  the  harbor,  and  it  is 
possible  to  obtain  these  at  good  concessions. 

The  Bituminous  Situation. 

The  bituminous  trade  has  been  affected  by  the 
holiday  observances.  Production  has  been  cut 
very  materially,  while  distribution  is  consequent¬ 
ly  slow.  Contracts  coals  are  moving  along  in 
good  volume,  but  the  much  talked  of  and  ex¬ 
pected  improvement  in  spot  demand  has  failed  so 
far  to  materialize. 

Unquestionably  most  of  the  large  interests  that 
take  coal  upon  contract  have  closed  up  on  con¬ 
tracts,  so  that  practically  the  only  business  now 
o|)en  is  that  of  small  concerns  whose  calls  are 
not  so  heavy.  It  a])pears  that  some  of  these, 
who  have  been  prompted  by  the  low  prices  that 


have  been  offered  on  soft  coals,  believe  that  they 
buy  coals  to  better  advantage  from  time  to  time 
as  they  may  need  it,  than  to  commit  themselves 
over  a  period  of  months  at  a  specified  price,  which 
is  in  all  cases  considerably  higher  than  the  spot 
l)rices  obtaining  for  the  same  coal. 

At  the  moment  most  of  the  tidewater  ports 
have  considerable  unsold  coal,  but  there  seems  to 
be  no  pressure  to  sell  accumulations  at  some  of 
the  sacrifice  prices  that  were  in  effect  during  the 
past  spring.  It  might  be  possible  today  to  pick 
up  some  lots  of  inferior  coals  in  New  5’ork  har¬ 
bor  as  low  as  $2.95  a  ton,  and  some  good  Penn¬ 
sylvania  coals  at  $2.()5  f.  o.  b.  the  piers.  Choice 
grades  would  sell  around  $2.80. 

The  export  trade  continues  to  be  the  one  bright 
feature  of  the  hituminous  situation.  Total  ex¬ 
ports  through  Philadelphia,  Baltimore  and 
Hampton  Roads  during  June  reached  well  over 
1,()()(),00()  tons,  establishing  a  new  record,  and 
advices  at  hand  at  the  moment  indicate  that  there 
will  be  very  heavy  loading  throughout  July,  and 
contracts  in  existence  call  for  heavy  shipments 
throughout  the  remainder  of  the  year.  As  export 
cargo  coal  increases,  there  comes  a  like  increase 
in  the  demand  for  bunkers  for  steamers  taking 
coal  cargoes,  so  that  this  line  of  the  trade  is  tak¬ 
ing  heavy  tonnages  from  the  ports  above  named. 

The  Vessel  Situation. 

The  coastwise  vessel  situation  shows  no 
change.  Former  rates  are  just  about  firm,  with 
some  interests  predicting  that  the  situation  will 
be  eased  somewhat  by  the  return  of  some  of  the 
steamers  that  were  taken  during  the  winter 
months  for  the  transatlantic  trade.  A  great 
many  schooners  that  went  into  the  off-shore 
trade,  taking  cargoes  principally  to  West  Indies 
and  South  American  ports,  have  not  yet  been 
returned  to  the  coastwise  service. 

Off-shore  rates  are  slightly  easier,  and  appar¬ 
ently  there  will  still  l)e  further  declines  in  these. 

Current  quotations  are  as  follows: 

From  Hampton  Roacjs  to  Boston,  seventy-five 
to  eighty-five  cents ;  to  the  Sdund,  seventy  to 
eighty  cents. 

From  New  York  rates  to  New  Haven  are  thirty 
cents.  New  London,  forty  cents,  and  Providence 
and  New  Bedford,  fifty  cents:  to  Boston,  fifty- 
five  to  seventy  cents ;  Portsmouth  and  Portland, 
fifty-five  to  seventy  cents:  to  Bangor,  seventy 
cents.  Harbor  rates  are  from  eighteen  to  twenty 
cents. 

Prices  on  gross  tons  of  bituminous  coal  are  : 


F.  O.  B. 

F.  ().  B. 

Somerset  County — 

Harbor. 

Mines. 

Best  grades  . 

$1.25 

Medium  grades . 

.  ^.()0 

1.05 

Ordinary  . 

1. 00 

Cambria  County — 

Best  I^Iiller  vein . . 

1.40 

C'lieaper  grades  . 

.  2.(50 

1.0. -J 

Clearfield  County — 

Best  grade  . 

.  3.00 

1.35 

Ordinary  grades  . 

.  2.50 

.05 

Indiana  County — 

Best  grade  . 

1.35 

Medium  grade  . 

.  2.50 

.00 

Maryland — 

Georges  Creek  big  vein . 

.  3.1.5 

l.fil 

West  Virginia — 

Ordinary  grades  . 

.  2.40 

.7T) 

Best  gas,  ^-inch  lump . 

.  2.05 

1.10 

Best  grade,  run  of  mine . 

.00 

Gas  slack  . 

New  York  Trade  Briefs. 

J.  W.  Whiteley  of  Whitney  &  Kemmerer,  No. 
14.3  Liberty  street,  spent  the  holiday  of  the 
Fourth  at  Lake  George. 

.Alan  E.  Trombore  of  the  Consolidation  Coal 
Company  of  New  A’ork  was  a  visitor  to  Phila¬ 
delphia  over  the  Fourth  of  July  holiday. 

Arthur  Terry,  New  York  manager  of  W.  C. 
Mason  &  Co.,  has  just  returned  from  a  week's 
automobile  tour  of  the  Cattskill  mountains. 

Harry  E,  Meeker  of  Meeker  &  Co.,  No.  143 
Liberty  street,  is  visiting  the  Panama-Pacific  ex¬ 
position  at  San  Francisco. 

G.  W.  Seiler  of  Seiler-Blanchard  Company, 
No.  1  Broadway,  visited  the  Catskill  mountains 
over  the  holidays,  making  his  trip  via  motor. 

Lemuel  Burrows  Jr.,  vice-president  and  gen¬ 
eral  manager  of  Castner,  Curran  &  Bullitt,  Inc., 
No.  1  Broadway,  is  spending  several  days  at 
Atlantic  City  this  week. 

George  J.  Haney,  the  well-known  Perth  Am¬ 
boy,  N.  J.,  coal  dealer,  leaves  this  week  for  a 
visit  to  the  Panama-Pacific  exposition  at  San 
Francisco. 

Taylor  Vinson,  an  attorney  of  Huntington, 
W.  Va.,  and  interested  very  largely  in  coal  prop¬ 


erties  in  that  state,  was  at  the  Waldorf  several 
days  this  week. 

•At  the  recent  meeting  of  the  Delaware,  Lacka¬ 
wanna  &  \\  estern  Coal  Company  an  extra  divi¬ 
dend  of  fifty  per  cent,  in  addition  to  the  regular 
quarterly  dividend  of  two  and  one-half  per  cent, 
was  declared. 

Wdliam  B.  Oakes  has  been  elected  treasurer  of 
Peale,  Peacock  &  Kerr,  Inc.,  with  headquarters 
at  Grand  Central  Terminal,  New  A'ork  city,  suc¬ 
ceeding  to  the  position  made  vacant  by  the  re¬ 
tirement  of  J.  11.  Lumley.  .Mr.  Oakes'has  been 
connected  with  the  various  Rembrandt  Peale 
enterprises  for  many  years. 

Last  week  the  newspapers  stated  that  contracts 
for  four  l(),()()0-ton  steamers  are  soon  to  be 
awarded  to  the  New  York  Shipbuilding  Com¬ 
pany  of  Camden,  N.  J.  The  new  order  is  said  to 
be  in  addition  to  recent  orders  for  ships  of  simi¬ 
lar  size,  and  that  the  company  now  has  sufficient 
business  to  keep  its  plants  busy  for  two  years. 

Willis  (j.  Townes,  who  is  now  in  Europe  in  the 
interest  of  a  well-known  bituminous  company, 
has  written  a  triend  that  he  will  open  offices  in 
both  London  and  Paris.  It  is  understood  that 
Mr.  Townes  is  meeting  with  some  success  in  his 
work  of  securing  foreign  orders,  and  that  some 
coal  has  already  started  to  go  forward  on  this 
account. 

Bids  were  opened  on  last  Friday,  the  2d,  by 
the  department  of  docks  and  ferries  of  the  city 
of  New  A'ork  for  aiiproximately  2,000  tons  of  No. 
2  buckwheat  coal.  Bidders  were  as  follows : 
George  D.  Harris  &  Co.,  $2.2() ;  Charles  D.  Nor¬ 
ton,  $2.18:  Gavin  Rowe,  $2.21:  Pattison  & 
Bo\vns,  $2.14,  and  Clarksiiurg  Coal  Mining  Com¬ 
pany,  $1.94,  all  of  New  A'ork  city. 

Louis  DeMayo,  the  inventor  of  the  DeMayo 
coal  elevator,  now  in  use  by  several  of  the 
transatlantic  lines  that  bunker  their  steamers  in 
New  A'ork  harbor,  returned  about  ten  days  ago 
from  a  trip  to  the  Panama  canal,  where  the  Gov¬ 
ernment  has  recently  placed  four  of  his  eleva¬ 
tors  ill  commission.  Mr.  DeMayo  states  that 
these  elevators  have  been  placed  on  steel  barges 
of_  61)0  tons  capacity  that  the  Panama  canal  is 
using  for  the  bunkering  of  steamers  that  are 
calling  at  Cristobal  for  bunkers.  Two  elevators 
are  placed  on  each  barge.  Each  barge  has  a  ca¬ 
pacity  of  handling  about  200  tons  per  hour.  It 
is  understood  that  this  equipment  will  be  in¬ 
creased  as  the  demand  for  bunker  fuel  grows. 

Samuel  Thorne,  a  capitalist,  banker  and  di¬ 
rector  of  railroads  and  other  large  enterprises, 
died  suddenly  of  heart  disease  Sunday  on  board 
the  yacht  of  Janies  J.  Hill,  chairman  of  the  board 
of  directors  of  the  Great  Northern  Railway,  on 
the  St.  Johns  river,  near  Quebec,  Canada.  Every 
year  it  has  been  Air.  Thorne's  custom  to  take 
this  fishing  trip  with  Mr.  Hill,  his  friend  and 
long  time  business  associate.  He  was  eighty 
years  old  and  was  a  native  of  New  A'ork  state. 
Air.  Thorne  was  interested  in  the  early  develop¬ 
ment  of  the  Pennsylvania  anthracite  coal  fields 
and  was  for  a  time  jiresident  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Coal  Company.  He  was  an  uncle  of  S.  B. 
Thorne,  president  of  Thorne,  Neale  &  Co.,  and 
the  Temi)le  Coal  Coinjiany,  with  headquarters  in 
this  city. 

One  soft  coal  man  was  happy  on  last  Satur¬ 
day,  when  he  pulled  down  his  roll-top  desk  to  go 
out  of  town  over  the  holidays.  He  said:  “You 
may  say  that  the  soft  coal  business  is  in  pretty 
good  condition  when  the  Fourth  of  July  rolls 
round,  and  you  haven't  got  the  harbor  full  of 
unsold  coal.  Some  coal  men  can  go  away  for 
their  Fourth  of  July  holidays  this  year  without 
having  to  worry  all  the  time  they  are  away  about 
what  they  are  going  to  do  with  surplus  coal  at 
the  piers  the  moment  they  get  back.” 

The  committee  on  general  welfare  of  the 
board  of  aldermen  of  the  city  of  New  A'ork  gave 
a  hearing  on  last  Friday  afternoon  on  the  ordi¬ 
nance  introduced  by  Aldenrian  Gaynor  of  Brook¬ 
lyn,  which  provides  that  all  coal  sold  or  deliv¬ 
ered  in  quantities  of  loi)  pounds  or  less  in  bags 
or  baskets  shall  have  marked  on  the  container 
in  letters  one-inch  high  the  weight  contained  in 
the  container.  The  ordinance  provides  a  fine  of 
$50  on  conviction  for  a  violation  of  the  ordi¬ 
nance,  and  it  also  i)rovides  that  on  conviction  the 
commissioner  of  weights  and  measures  shall  post 
a  sign  on  the  door  of  the  convicted  dealer  for  a 
period  of  ten  days,  setting  forth  details  of  the 
violation.  There  was  no  oposition  to  the  ordi¬ 
nance,  and  the  only  persons  appearing  in  its 
favor  was  Alderman  Gaynor  and  a  representa¬ 
tive  of  the  Brooklyn  Coal  .Association. 


No.  2] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


39 


Philadelphia  Trade. 

The  Piers  Are  Cleaned  up  Because  Ship¬ 
ments  Decrease  as  the  Bunkering 
Demand  Increases. 

Office  of  The  Bl.\ck  Di.wiond, 
1400  Land  Title  Building, 
Philadelphia,  July  8. 

The  pier  situation  has  cleared  to  quite  an  ex¬ 
tent.  Requirements  for  hunker  coal  have  been 
better,  and  that,  with  picking  up  of  occasional 
cars,  together  with  shipping  restrictions  from 
the  mines,  has  been  the  cause.  Coal  that  could 
be  taken  at  $1.10  ten  days  ago  by  mid-week  was 
commanding  $l.a.‘j  and  even  a  nickel  more  for 
some  particular  lines  of  Somerset  that  were 
wanted  for  steamship  purposes.  In  relating  this 
betterment  the  dealers  who  operate  on  the  piers 
expressed  the  opinion  that  there  had  been  a  se¬ 
vere  lesson  taught  to  those  operators  who  take  a 
flyer  by  shipping  too  much  coal  to  the  piers, 
and  if  this  is  the  case  there  should  be  a  fair 
profit  there  as  long  as  a  moderate  amount  of  coal 
is  offered. 

Even  western  Maryland  coals  benefited  from 
the  clearance  at  the  wharfs.  The  price  quoted 
on  these  has  been  stationary  around  7.1  to  SO 
cents,  and  this  was  advanced  a  nickel,  or  to 
80@8r>  cents  during  the  week. 

Best  grades  of  Miller  vein  are  quoted  at  $1.25 
@1.30,  with  a  fair  inquiry  for  spot  offerings. 
The  ordinary  grades  of  this  Somerset  coal  are 
draggy  around  $1.05  to  $1.10. 

In  the  Punxsutawney-Reynoldsville  district  re¬ 
ports  show  that  the  mining  is  not  as  active  as 
has  been  up  to  the  middle  of  June,  though  a 
fair  movement  is  reported  to  Canada  and  west¬ 
ern  New  York  state.  Run  of  mine  has  a  range 
of  $1.05  to  $1.30,  depending  upon  quality,  and 
slack  is  quoted  from  80  cents  up.  Smithing  and 
screened  lump  has  been  bringing  $1.25. 

Shipments  from  the  Greensburg  district  con¬ 
tinue  heavy  toward  Baltimore,  and  New  York 
has  been  taking  a  fair  quantity.  Run  of  mine 
brings  $1.10  and  screened  $1.20. 

Anthracite  Situation. 

The  first  week  in  July  is  always  taken  by  the 
anthracite  people  to  be  the  most  ‘'off-color"  week 
of  the  year.  This  has  been  no  exception.  Re¬ 
tailers  have  been  marking  time  with  such  severity 
that  orders  are  about  as  scant  as  hen’s  teeth. 
With  the  householder  taking  to  the  tall  timbers, 
where  cooling  breezes  blow,  deliveries  locally 
now  strike  their  minimum.  Egg  and  stove  coal 
are  the  only  large  sizes  that  meet  inquiry,  while 
pea  is  sadly  neglected. 

With  the  restriction  in  production  due  to  the 
holidays,  dealers  are  inclined  to  believe  that 
there  will  be  a  stiffening  in  lioth  Nos.  1  and  2 
buckwheat.  Rut,  as  has  been  said  above,  orders 
are  not  coming  in,  and  a  stiffening  of  price  de¬ 
pends  on  the  future. 

Reports  from  the  operations  show  that  more 
independents  were  curtailing  or  had  actually 
suspended  operations  at  July  1st  than  for  some 
years  past.  The  storage  stocks  that  are  being 
carried  are  known  to  be  as  heavy  as  has  been, 
and  some  of  the  independents  declare  that  if 
prices  are  to  maintained  in  the  fall  this  is  the 
time  to  conserve. 

Philadelphia  Trade  Notes. 

Arnold  Gerstelle  of  Percy  Heilner  &  Son  made 
a  mid-week  trip  to  New  York. 

Harry  K.  Stauffer  of  B.  Nicoll  &  Co.  paid  a 
visit  to  the  New  York  offices  of  that  concern 
this  week. 

George  1).  Watts  of  the  Makoma  Coal  Com¬ 
pany  and  George  D.  Watts  &  Co.  was  another 
of  the  New  York  visitors  this  week. 

Abel  Mishler  of  the  Blaine  Mining  Company 
dropped  into  the  local  offices  Wednesday  while 
en  route  from  New  York  to  the  mines. 

Charles  A.  Storck,  general  sales  agent  of  the 
J.  B.  Jenkins  Coal  &  Coke  Company,  was  in 
Philadelphia  late  last  week  and  left  for  a  trip  to 
western  Ohio  cities. 

W.  C.  Huber,  general  eastern  sales  agent  for 
the  United  Coal  Company,  returned  to  the  local 
office  of  the  company  after  a  four-day  trip  to 
Boston  and  New  York. 

N.  D.  Cortright  of  Mauch  Chunk,  with  Mrs. 
Cortright,  left  for  a  summer  excursion  to  the 
Berkshire  Hills.  They  motored  through  Jersey 
and  crossed  the  Hudson  at  Poughkeepsie. 

J.  S.  Wentz  paid  a  visit  to  the  offices  of  his 
companv  late  last  week  while  en  route  to  Ri- 
mouski  and  other  Canadian  fishing  grounds. 


where  he  will  spend  a  few  weeks  angling  for  the 
lordly  salmon  and  other  monarchs  of  the  finny 
tribe. 

T.  W.  Arnett,  general  manager  of  the  Antler 
Coal  Company,  completed  a  trip  from  northern 
Ohio  to  the  Atlantic  seaboard  and  started  for 
his  home  in  Eairmont,  W.  Va.,  early  this  week. 

John  E.  Sheets  and  R.  S.  Feeney  of  H.  H. 
Lineaweaver  &  Co.  (Inc.)  left  last  week  for  a 
motor  tour  of  the  Berkshire  Hills  and  other  of 
the  eastern  coast  summer  resorts  late  last  week. 

J.  Edward  Hil)lein,  manager  of  the  Baltimore 
office,  and  G.  J.  Geers  Jr.  of  the  New  York  of¬ 
fices  of  the  (Juemahoning  Coal  Company  were 
visitors  at  the  local  office  of  the  company  early 
this  week.  Caroline  McDonnell  of  the  local 
force  is  spending  her  vacation  at  a  camp  on 
Lake  Nepahwin. 

The  value  of  organization  was  pointed  out  by 
a  coal  operator  this  week,  who  saw  fit  to  draw 
a  strong  contrast  lietween  the  protest  that  has 
l)een  offered  by  the  grain  shippers  against  a 
change  in  diversion  charges  by  the  railways,  and 
the  quiet  acceptance  of  the  same  charges  by  the 
coal  men.  In  March  the  lines  entering  this  city 
ordered  a  fee  ranging  from  $2  to  $5  for  diver¬ 
sion  and  rerouting  in  transit.  The  coal  men, 
without  any  association  to  fight  for  their  rights, 
accepted  the  charge  as  inevitable,  and  there  the 
matter  rested.  The  grain  men,  when  it  came 
their  turn  to  meet  the  charge,  raised  a  fine  old 
hullabaloo.  Organized  effort,  backed  by  legal 
ramifications  and  plenty  of  newspaper  protest, 
has  caused  a  hearing  before  an  examining  at¬ 
torney  of  tbe  Interstate  Commerce  Commission. 
"Oh,  for  a  Moses  that  would  liand  the  coal  men 
together,”  said  the  commentator.  "The  coal  man 
has  more  problems  to  meet,  more  battles  to 
figbt  and  more  adverse  criticism  to  contend  with, 
and  yet  he  gets  nowhere  because  it  is  every  man 
for  bimself  and  the  devil  take  the  hindermost.” 


Baltimore  Trade. 


Baltimore,  July  8. —  (Special  Correspondence.) 
— The  coal  trade  here  welcomed  the  Fourth  of 
July,  which  brought  practically  a  three-day  lay¬ 
off  in  both  the  mining  regions  and  in  the  offices 
in  this  city.  Some  holiday  periods  of  the  past 
have  been  generally  unwelcome  because  they  in¬ 
terfered  with  a  rush  of  business,  Imt  in  the  face 
of  present  conditions  the  lull  caused  no  inconven¬ 
ience. 

After  the  tremendous  rusli  of  exports  for  June 
has  come  a  period  of  decrease,  at  least  for  a 
time.  For  the  week  ending  Jul>-  3  the  cargo  ex¬ 
ports  from  Baltimore  totaled  42,205  tons,  and 
tlie  bunker  sales  to  coal  carriers,  0,442.  A  falling 
off  in  the  number  of  coal  charters  is  also  noted. 
Coal  men  here,  however,  say  that  contracts  ex¬ 
isting  or  at  present  pending  for  foreign  coun¬ 
tries  assure  a  continued  big  tonnage.  Whether 
it  will  hold  to  the  great  movement  of  the  past 
two  months  is  a  question,  however. 

There  is  an  air  of  confidence  in  the  coal  trade 
as  to  the  future,  despite  the  fact  that  no  big  im¬ 
provement  is  noted  in  any  direction.  I''uel  is 
still  offering  at  remarkably  cheap  rates,  much 
below  actual  jiroduction  costs,  but  what  little 
change  that  comes  just  now  is  for  the  better  each 
time. 


Prices  to  the  trade  at  the 

mines  may 

be  quoted 

as  follows : 

F.  O.  B. 

F.  o.  B. 

Fairmont — 

Mines. 

Baltimore. 

Tliree-quarter  . 

$2.23@2.2S 

Run  of  mine . 

2.18@2.23 

Slack  . 

1.88@1.93 

Somerset — 

Best  . 

1.2.) 

2.43 

(looci  . 

1.10 

2.28 

\V.  M.  R.  R.— 

Freeport  . 

.80 

1.98 

H.  &  O.— 

Freeport  . 

1.93®  1.9S 

V.  R.  R.— 

Best  South  Fork . 

1.3.5 

2. .53 

Miller  Vein  . 

1.10 

2.78 

Ordinary  . 

.  .9(l@  .<)5 

2.0S@2.13 

Noliody  talks  of  rail  movement  these  days. 
With  the  roads  spending  no  more  than  absolutely 
necessary  on  rolling  stock,  etc.,  a  liig  howl  would 
probably  be  the  vogue  just  now  if  general  busi¬ 
ness  was  not  so  flat.  As  it  is,  the  movement 
seems  pretty  good,  outside  of  an  occasional  iso¬ 
lated  complaint. 

A  little  lietter  demand  is  developing  for  coke. 
Several  cargoes  on  exiiort  were  noted  recently. 
The  steel  mills  are  also  calling  for  an  increased 
amount  of  coke.  Best  Connellsville  is  bringing 
around  $2.3(1  to  $2.35  for  seventy-two  hour  foun¬ 
dry,  with  forty-eight  hour  at  $!.()()  to  $1.70. 
West  Virginia  seventy-two  hour  commands  from 
$2.00  to  $2.15,  with  forty-eight  hour  at  $1.55  to 
$1.()0. 


Anthracite  conditions  are  uninteresting.  The 
summer  household  trade  is  also  dull  here  at  this 
time,  and  it  will  be  several  weeks  now  before  the 
majority  of  unsupplied  householders  will  be  look¬ 
ing  up  their  coal. 


Nc’w  England  Trade 


Boston,  July  8. —  (Special  Correspondence.)  — 
The  wholesale  anthracite  and  liituminous  mar¬ 
kets  of  New  England  have  not  as  yet  fully  re¬ 
covered  from  the  effects  of  the  July  4th  holi¬ 
days.  Then,  too,  the  vacation  season  is  on,  and 
consumer,  retailer  and  wholesaler  are  all  more 
or  less  upset  by  this  fact.  As  a  result,  business 
has  slowed  up  a  little,  but  indications  are  that 
it  will  pick  up  again  within  the  next  week. 

The  slowing  up  of  buying  is  more  noticeable 
in  anthracite  than  in  bituminous.  While  no 
increase  in  contract  buying  is  reported  for  the 
past  week,  local  soft  coal  houses  say  there  has 
been  no  falling  off,  and  most  everybody  appears 
quite  cheerful  over  the  future.  There  is  no  ques¬ 
tion  but  that  the  New  England  mill  situation  is 
steadily  improving,  and  this  increased  activity, 
together  with  the  filling  of  foreign  war  orders 
by  other  manufacturers,  spells  a  still  greater  con- 
sum[)tion  of  liituminous  and  more  prosperity  for 
the  local  selling  houses.  The  strangest  fea¬ 
ture  of  the  New  England  soft  coal  situation  is 
the  inactivity  of  the  spot  market.  At  Mystic 
Wharf,  for  instance,  the  demand  is  so  light  that 
New  River  and  Pocahontas  seldom  bring  more 
than  $3.00  per  ton  on  cars,  and  Georges  Creek 
usually  sells  for  $3.90.  A  year  ago  prices  ruled 
twenty  to  twenty-five  cents  per  ton  higher  than 
quoted  today,  and  the  demand  for  coal  at  Mys¬ 
tic  Wharf  was  quite  active. 

Local  dealers  claim  they  are  at  a  loss  to  ac¬ 
count  for  the  Mystic  Wharf  situation.  One  man 
says,  however,  that  conditions  there  are  un¬ 
doubtedly  due  to  the  fact  that  contract  ])rices 
have  been  cut  to  a  point  where  it  is  more  prolit- 
able  for  the  consumer  or  retail  dealer  to  buy  on 
a  f.  o.  b.  Hampton  Roads  basis  than  in  the 
Mystic  Wharf  spot  market.  It  is  true  that  some 
shippers  have  been  cutting  contract  prices  owing 
to  keen  competition,  but  a  majority  of  firms 
insist  they  are  not.  Certain  it  is,  however,  that 
from  a  New  England  standpoint  the  contract 
market  is  firmer  than  it  was  a  month  ago  and 
that  prices  in  the  future  are  more  likely  to  ad¬ 
vance  than  decline.  Pennsylvania  bituminous 
continues  to  move  fairly  well,  with  prices  I’irm  on 
a  liasis  of  eighty  cents  to  $1.50  per  ton  on  cars 
at  the  mines.  Local  receipts  of  Canadian  and 
Nova  Scotia  bituminous  are  increasing  all  the 
time,  but  practically  all  of  these  are  consigned 
either  to  the  Boston  &  Maine  Railroad  or  to  the 
New  England  Coal  &  Coke  Company.  Very  few 
if  any  of  these  coals  find  their  way  to  the  open 
market. 

The  restriction  of  output  occasioned  by  the 
holidays  has  materially  influenced  Boston’s  re¬ 
ceipts  of  anthracite  since  last  reports,  and  ship¬ 
ments  to  New  England  all-rail  points  have  de¬ 
creased  as  well.  New  buy-orders  made  their 
appearance  yesterday  and  today,  and  almost 
every  house  expects  to  close  more  business  be¬ 
fore  tbe  end  of  the  calendar  week.  At  Mystic 
Wharf  stove  and  egg  are  quoted  at  $5.9(1  per  ton 
on  cars,  and  nut  at  $0.25,  while  at  Portsmouth 
prices  rule  fifteen  cents  per  ton  more.  Stove 
and  egg  alongside  Boston  Harbor  are  $5.05  per 
ton,  and  nut  $5.90.  Local  and  nearby  retail 
prices  on  anthracite  have  been  advanced  twenty- 
live  cents  per  ton,  Imt  the  higher  prices  so  far 
have  not  stimulated  the  household  demand. 

The  marine  freight  rate  market  presents  no 
new  features,  h'or  bituminous  space  the  average 
asking  rate  from  Hampton  Roads  to  Boston  is 
unchanged  at  seventy-five  to  eighty  cents  per 
ton,  while  from  Baltimore  rates  run  from  seven 
to  ten  cents  a  ton  more.  Some  shippers  of  an¬ 
thracite  who  previously  had  not  covered  them¬ 
selves  are  finding  some  difficulty  in  securing 
space,  and  as  a  result  freight  rates  are  very 
strong  on  a  basis  of  fifty  to  fifty-five  cents  per 
ton  from  New  York  to  Boston. 


The  American  Agricultural  Chemical  Com¬ 
pany  has  purchased  the  Stewart  wharf  on  Med¬ 
ford  street,  Charlestown,  occupied  for  many  years 
by  the  James  P.  Stewart  Coal  Company.  The 
lirojicrty  coinjirises  sixty-five  thousand  square  feet 
of  solid  land  and  twenty-five  thousand  of  dock, 
with  several  buildings  used  for  offices,  sheds,  etc. 
The  total  assessed  value  is  seventy-three  thou¬ 
sand,  but  the  price  paid  for  the  jiroperty  was  con¬ 
siderably  in  excess  of  this. 


40 


Buffalo  Trade. 


Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  July  8. —  (Special  Correspond¬ 
ence.) — The  shipments  of  anthracite  from  this 
port  for  June  were  018,336  tons,  as  against  805,- 
879  in  the  same  month  last  year.  This  j'ear’s 
shipments  to  July  1st  amount  to  1,420,378  tons, 
compared  with  1,409,325  in  the  corresponding 
period  of  1914.  For  the  past  week  the  shipments 
were  light,  owing  to  the  holiday,  and  amounted 
to  95,785  tons,  as  follows :  Duluth-Superior, 
47,200  tons  ;  Chicago,  22,500  ;  Sheboygan,  9,000  ; 
Waukegan,  6,850;  Fort  William,  3,000;  Milwau¬ 
kee,  2,700;  Marinette,  1,800;  Lake  Linden,  1,500; 
Green  Bay,  1,235. 

The  lake  movement  of  anthracite  is  expected 
to  continue  on  an  active  basis  this  summer,  as 
there  is  plenty  of  coal  to  be  had  and  scarcely 
any  demand  for  it  from  retailers,  who  are  carry¬ 
ing  large  supplies,  for  which  they  have  but  little 
call.  It  is  to  be  an  uninteresting  month  from 
the  retailer’s  standpoint,  as  consumers  will  un¬ 
doubtedly  pursue  their  same  policy  of  holding 
off  as  they  did  in  June.  Much  effort  has  been 
made  to  induce  the  dealer  to  buy  more  coal, 
but  without  success.  Many  dealers  are  carrying 
all  they  have  room  for,  while  others  are  carrying 
as  much  as  they  feel  able  to  pay  for.  Independ¬ 
ents  are  in  some  instances  making  lower  than 
schedule  quotations,  and  the  market  is  generally 
spoken  of  as  weak. 

The  bituminous  trade  is  reported  to  be  a  little 
stronger  than  a  few  weeks  ago,  with  many  buy¬ 
ers  finding  it  necessary  to  take  a  car  or  more 
extra  per  week  and  others  laying  in  coal  for  the 
first  time  in  months.  Industries  are  recovering 
from  the  depression  very  slowly,  however,  and 
coal  orders  are  coming  in  much  less  freely  than 
usual  at  this  season.  The  great  trouble  with  this 
market  is  that  the  Canadian  trade  has  been  cut 
off  so  largely  by  the  war.  Lately  many  of  the 
Canadian  plants  have  begun  to  prepare  to  fill 
war  orders  for  ammunition,  and  this  will  un¬ 
doubtedly  have  a  stimulating  effect  upon  general 
business  and  make  the  coal  trade  a  good  deal 
more  active. 

Prices  in  bituminous  have  dropped  down  to  a 
low  level  recently,  the  market  for  slack  being 
weaker  at  present  than  for  some  weeks.  Good 
slack  from  the  Pittsburgh  district  can  be  bought 
for  spot  shipment  for  about  $1.85  here,  which  is 
about  30  cents  below  the  contract  quotation.  De¬ 
mand  for  slack  is  very  small.  Three-quarter  coal 
is  bringing  less  than  a  short  time  ago,  and  little 
is  called  for  for  spot  shipment. 


Buffalo  Trade  Briefs. 

W.  N.  Gatfield  of  the  Pittsburgh  Coal  Com¬ 
pany  staff  at  Sandwich,  Ont.,  was  a  visitor  here 
this  week. 

P.  G.  Roth  of  the  Consolidation  Coal  Com¬ 
pany’s  sales  force  at  Detroit  was  here  part  of 
last  week. 

E.  S.  Keay,  western  sales  agent  of  the  Skeele 
Coal  Company,  has  gone  up  the  lakes  for  a  busi¬ 
ness  trip,  accompanying  President  E.  J.  Skeele. 

Reports  from  the  Allegheny  Valley  coal  fields 
state  that  quite  a  few  Italians  have  gone  back  to 
their  native  land  to  join  the  army.  A  labor 
shortage  seems  likely  this  fall. 

The  Pennsylvania  Railroad  has  restored  two 
passenger  trains  between  here  and  Pittsburgh 
and  also  an  accommodation  train  to  East  Brady, 
much  to  the  satisfaction  of  coal  men. 

Miss  M.  M.  Moll,  former  sales  agent  of  the 
Avoine  Coal  Company  and  for  some  time  with 
the  Keystone  Coal  &  Coke  Company  office,  has 
gone  for  a  five  weeks’  trip  to  Vancouver,  B.  C. 

Iron  ore  receipts  at  this  port  have  been  heavier 
this  year  than  last  by  about  one-third.  This 
year’s  figures  to  July  1st  were  997,600  tons,  of 
which  625,341  came  in  during  June.  Last  year 
to  July  1st  the  receipts  were  733,393  tons.  Steel 
interests  are  predicting  a  heavy  year  in  ore 
shipments. 

B.  W.  Wister,  northern  sales  manager  of  the 
Bader  Coal  Company,  returned  this  week  from 
a  trip  to  Boston,  Mass.,  where  L.  F.  Bader,  presi¬ 
dent  of  the  company,  entertained  the  sales 
agents  and  salesmen  of  the  company’s  different 
offices  at  his  summer  home  at  Brier  Neck,  on  the 
north  shore. 

John  VanDorn,  former  postmaster  at  Mt.  Mor¬ 
ris,  and  a  partner  in  the  coal  business  with  Jacob 
Knappenberg  there,  died  on  July  4th,  aged  78 
years.  Fie  was  a  prominent  resident  of  the  vil¬ 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[July  10 


lage  for  a  number  of  years,  and  was  at  one  time 
in  business  at  Towanda,  Pa.  He  spent  the  win¬ 
ter  in  California,  returning  home  in  a  critical 
condition.  He  leaves  a  wife  and  two  sons. 

The  shipments  of  coal  by  lake  from  Sodus 
Point,  on  Lake  Ontario,  to  the  St.  Lawrence 
and  Canadian  territory  is  proceeding  at  a  very 
slow  rate.  Quite  a  number  of  shippers  have  coal 
there,  for  which  no  demand  exists  at  present. 
The  Canadian  trade  is  very  dull,  and  there  is 
fear  that  the  congestion  at  that  port  will  after 
a  while  provoke  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  to 
put  car  service  rules  into  operation  there. 


Denver  Trade. 


Denver,  July  8. — (Special  Correspondence.)  — 
The  retail  market  is  dull  here  this  week,  and 
jobbers  report  only  a  fair  business.  Weather 
conditions  are  ideal  for  the  ice  dealer,  but  offer 
small  encouragement  to  the  coal  dealer.  The 
lignite  mines  are  making  a  very  light  tonnage, 
the  average  running  time  for  the  whole  northern 
district  not  exceeding  two  days  for  the  past 
week. 


The  Trinidad  mines  are  running  full  time  and 
are  hard  pushed  on  railroad  and  steam  con¬ 
tracts.  In  addition,  they  are  getting  their  share 
of  storage  orders  and  are  several  days  behind  on 
filling  of  orders. 

There  is  a  decided  slump  this  week  in  storage 
bookings.  There  was  a  general  rush  to  place 
orders  before  the  advance  effective  July  1st,  but 
dealers  generally  seem  in  no  hurry  in  placing 
orders  for  either  July  to  August  delivery,  as  the 
price  for  both  months  is  the  same.  It  is  prob¬ 
able,  however,  that  July  business  will  yet  line 
up  all  right. 

The  Walsenburg  district  has  felt  the  slump 
more  keenly  than  other  districts,  the  week’s  out¬ 
put  running  about  60  per  cent  of  normal. 

Routt  county  mines  are  all  running  full  time, 
and  are  not  able  to  catch  up  on  the  filling  of  old 
storage  orders. 

So  far  as  prices  are  concerned,  the  slack  sit¬ 
uation  is  unchanged.  Lignite  slack  is  rather 
scarce,  but  heavy  consumers  are  satisfied  with 
Routt  as  a  substitute  and,  in  some  few  instances, 
mine  run.  The  supply  of  bituminous  is  lighter, 
but  there  is  sufficient  for  all  present  require¬ 
ments. 


Prices  for  lignite  coal,  f.  o.  b.  mines,  are  as 
follows :  For  Denver  delivery — Lump,  $3.35  to 
$2.65 ;  mine  run,  $1.50  to  $1.65 ;  slack,  $1.05  to 
$1.25.  For  delivery  to  points  outside  of  Den¬ 
ver — Lump,  $3.50;  mine  run,  $1.55  to  $1.65; 
slack,  $1.05. 


Canon  City  District —  Lump  Nut 

For  shipment  May  and  June . $2.50  $2.00 

For  shipment  July  and  August .  2.76  2.25 

Add  26  cents  to  above  prices  for  washed  nut. 
Walsenburg  District — 

For  shipment  May  and  June .  2.50  2.00 

For  shipment  July  and  August .  2.75  2.25 


Washed  nut  25  cents  per  ton  additional. 
Chestnut,  $1.25  for  entire  season. 


Trinidad  District — 

For  shipment  May  and  June .  2.00 

For  shipment  July  and  August .  2.00 

Routt  County  District — 

For  shipment  May  and  June .  2.60 

For  shipment  July  and  August .  2.76 


Western  Slope  District — 

For  shipment  May  and  June .  2.25 

For  shipment  July  and  August .  2.50 

From  Baldwin,  shipments  for  points  east  of 
are  76  cents  per  ton  less  than  Walsenburg  prices. 


1.7S 

1.71 

2.01 

2.2i 


Denvel 


Birmingham  Trade. 


Birmingham,  Ala.,  July  8. — (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — While  actual  conditions  have  not 
improved  to  any  great  extent  and  trade  is  quiet 
with  all  classes  of  coal,  there  are  indications  that 
some  improvement  will  be  noted  soon.  This  is 
especially  true  in  regard  to  the  use  of  coking 
coal  and  it  is  probable  that  four  or  five  furnaces 
will  be  put  in  blast  which  have  been  idle  for 
several  months.  Appearances  seem  to  be  better  for 
the  steam  coal  trade  as  contracts,  both  large  and 
small,  are  being  received  right  along.  One  of 
the  largest  last  week  was  for  500,000  tons  for  the 
Southern  Railway.  Cotton  oil  mills  which  usually 
get  coal  supply  from  this  district  are  placing  or¬ 
ders.  The  Mississippi  Cotton  Oil  Company  closed 
contract  with  Pratt  people  for  25,000  tons.  The 
Southern  Cotton  Oil  Company  has  closed  con¬ 
tract  with  Alabama  Company  for  25,000  tons. 
Numerous  smaller  contracts  are  being  received 
by  the  different  companies  selling  steam  coal. 

As  to  domestic  coal  very  little  buying  is  being 
done  by  either  yard  men  or  in  most  cases  con¬ 
sumers,  though  business  is  fairly  good  with  dealers 


who  are  quotin.g  low  prices  for  high  domestic 
coal.  Usually  about  this  time  of  the  year  retail 
coal  prices  are  advanced  slightly,  but  thus  far  no 
advance  has  been  made. 

The  renewal  of  the  larger  contracts  for  coal 
has  about  been  completed.  ^It  is  announced  for 
this  week  that  one  of  the  iron  making  companies 
has  received  a  contract  for  upwards  of  200,000 
tons  of  coal  to  be  delivered  during  the  next 
twelve  months,  this  being  new  business.  Delivery 
on  the  contract  will  be  started  shortly.  With 
what  is  consumed  at  plants  of  its  own  and  con¬ 
tracts  received  heretofore,  this  company  will  be 
called  upon,  it  is  figured,  to  supply  more  than  2,500 
to  3,000  tons  of  coal  per  day. 

E.  H.  Coapman,  vice-president  of  the  Southern 
Railway,  has  placed  contracts  with  Alabama  coal 
operators  for  a  tonnage  of  approximately  500,000 
tons  of  coal  for  the  years  1915-16. 

The  Pratt  Consolidated  Coal  &  Iron  Company 
got  about  the  same  tonnage  as  last  year.  This 
tonnage  will  amount  to  about  200,000  tons.  This 
was  the  largest  individual  contract.  Contracts  were 
also  obtained  by  the  Stith  Coal  Company,  the 
Bryan  Coal  Corporation,  the  Burnwell  Coal  Com- 
pany,  the  Barney  Coal  Company  and  a  few  others. 

Freight  officials  of  all  the  lines  operatin.g  from 
Birmingham  to  the  Mississippi  Valley,  and  coal 
operators  from  Ohio,  Kentucky  and  Illinois  began 
to  register  at  the  local  hotels  early  this  week, 
preparatory  to  the  hearings  Tuesday  and  Wednes¬ 
day  before  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  Ex¬ 
aminer  Bissell.  The  local  operators  are  seeking 
a  new  differential  to  the  Mississippi  Valley,  claim¬ 
ing  the  Illinois  and  Kentucky  coal  fields  enjoy 
better  rates  than  Birmingham.  They  sell  a  lower 
rate  in  order  to  be  on  a  competitive  basis.  Among 
the  officials  and  coal  operators  here  now  are : 
B.  J.  Rowe,  coal  traffic  manager  of  the  Illinois 
Central ;  Eugene  McAuliffe,  general  coal  a.gent  of 
the  Frisco  Lines;  D.  M.  Goodwin,  general  freight 
agent  of  the  Louisville  &  Nashville,  and  F.  H. 
Harwood,  representing  the  coal  operators  of  Illi¬ 
nois. 


Bibb  County  Domestic  Coal — 


Cahaba  No.  2  . 

Jefferson  County — 


Jefferson  Seam — 

Mine  run  . 

Horse  Creek  mine  run. 


yet  been 

made. 

F.  O.  B. 

F.  0.  B. 

Mine 

Birmingham 

.$2.10 

$2.40 

.  1.85 

2.15 

.  1.70 

2.10 

.  1.15  Frt. 

rate  30c 

.  1.15@1.25 

Frt.  rate  30c 

.  .90@1.10 

Frt.  rate  40c 

Most  all  coals  based  on  this  classification. 

Shelby  County  Domestic  Coal — 

Montevallo  fancy  lump,  $2.00  to  $2.25.  Frt.  rate  30c. 
Blacksmith  coal,  washed  and  screened,  per  ton,  $2.00  to 
$2.25  at  mines,  with  different  rates  to  various  points. 


D.  A.  Thomas,  the  well-known  Welsh  coal 
operator,  arrived  in  New  York  on  Monday  to 
look  after  the  interests  of  the  British  Govern¬ 
ment  in  its  purchases  of  munitions  on  this  side. 
Mr.  Thomas  was  accompanied  by  several  secre¬ 
taries  and  several  representatives  of  his  govern¬ 
ment,  and  was  met  at  the  pier  on  his  arrival  by 
the  British  Ambassador,  Sir  Cecil  Spring-Rice, 
and  Willard  D.  Straight  of  J.  P.  Morgan  &  Co. 
Mr.  Thomas  stated  that  he  came  over  exclu¬ 
sively  on  government  business,  and  would  have 
no  time  to  look  into  coal  matters.  The  purpose 
of  his  visit  to  America  is  set  forth  in  the  Col¬ 
liery  Guardian  of  London,  printed  the  day  be¬ 
fore  his  departure,  and  follows :  Mr.  D.  A. 
Thomas,  chief  of  the  Cambrian  Combine,  has 
undertaken  on  behalf  of  the  Ministry  of  Muni¬ 
tions  to  visit  the  United  States  and  Canada,  and 
organize  the  operation  of  the  munition  con¬ 
tracts  which  have  been  placed  across  the  At¬ 
lantic.  As  is  well  understood,  the  dealings  of 
the  British  Government  with  American  manu¬ 
facturers  have  been  financed  through  Messrs. 
J.  P.  Morgan  &  Co.,  and  one  part  of  Mr. 
Thomas’  work  will  be  to  revise  the  terms  with 
that  firm,  and  to  make  arrangements  for  some 
means  of  meeting  British  Government  liabilities 
in  respect  of  war  supplies  instead  of  exporting 
gold.  Between  ten  and  fifteen  millions  sterling 
have  already  been  sent  forward  to  meet  these 
liabilities ;  and  there  is  a  necessity  to  make  some 
change  which  will  not  involve  depletion  of  the 
Bank  of  England’s  gold  reserves.  With  Mr. 
Thomas  will  go  officials  of  the  War  Office  and 
of  the  Treasury;  and  Mr.  Thomas’  well-known 
acumen,  combined  with  business  associations 
which  he  has  established  during  his  recent  visits 
to  the  United  States  and  Canada,  lead  to  the  ex¬ 
pectation  that  national  interests  will  be  peculiarly 
well  served  by  his  entrustment  with  this  impor¬ 
tant  mission.  As  previously  announced,  Mr. 
Leonard  Llewellyn,  general  manager  of  the  Com- 
liine’s  collieries,  has  already  taken  up  duty  under 
the  Ministry  of  Munitions  in  London.” 


Coal  Convention  and  Meeting  of  Order  Kokoal. 


The  tenth  annual  pow-wow  of  the  Order  Ko¬ 
koal,  which  this  year  took  the  form  of  a  na¬ 
tional  coal  convention,  was  held  in  Chicago  on 
Monday  and  Tuesday  of  this  week.  The  Audi¬ 
torium  hotel  was  headquarters. 

For  a  year  the  proposition  of  changing  the 
purpose  of  the  order  has  been  discussed.  A 
year  ago  it  was  proposed  that  this  fraternal 
organization  should  become  the  national  voice 
of  the  coal  trade  on  all  matters  pertaining  to 
legislation,  etc.  During  the  year  this  program 
has  been  discussed  much,  and  from  every  point 
of  view.  Some  pessimists  have  said : 

'“Can  any  good  thing  come  out  of  Nazareth? 
Can  an  organization  of  young  men  who  have 
devoted  their  time  principally  to  riotous,  but 
sober,  and  undignified  pleasure  reform  over  night 
and  become  the  leader  of  a  great  industry?” 

Others  who  were  politely  unkind  but  sarcastic 
asked : 

“Is  it  possible  for  young  men  to  lead  the  old ; 
for  the  inexperienced  to  guide  the  veteran?  Is 
it  possible  that  the  leaders  will  abdicate  in  favor 
of  those  who  want  to  lead?” 

From  these  two  pointed  questions,  discussion 
has  run  the  whole  keyboard  from  condemnation 
to  praise.  But  all  the  while  a  few  kept  asking 
the  simple  question ; 

“Why  not?” 

That  is,  the  doors  of  any  coal  trade  organ¬ 
ization  are  open  wide  to  any  man,  no  matter  how 
big  he  is,  to  get  in. 

Why  not,  then,  map  out  a  definite  purpose  for 
coal?  Why  not  rally  around  that  purpose  the 
men  in  the  trade  who  are  big  enough  to  carry 
it  to  success?  Why  not,  in  fact,  create  the  pur- 


After  Two  Days  of  Discussion,  It  Is  De¬ 
cided  to  Form  a  National  Association  to 
Study  to  Improve  the  Coal  Business. 


pose  and  let  it  act  as  a  nucleus  for  the  organ¬ 
ization?  Under  such  conditions  the  parentage 
does  not  matter.  The  father  may  be  a  young 


Selection  of  Officers. 

F.  C.  .'^twill  presented  the  report  of  the  com¬ 
mittee  on  nominations  as  follows : 

President,  James  A.  Ballard,  sales  manager, 
Semet-Solvay  Company,  Detroit,  Mich. 

h'irst  vice-president,  William  A.  Clark,  North¬ 
ampton  Mass.,  president.  New  England  Coal 
Dealers’  Association. 

Second  vice-president,  A.  J.  Moorshead,  presi¬ 
dent,  Madison  Coal  Corporation,  St.  Louis,  AIo. 

Secretary-treasurer,  Arthur  M.  Hull,  Monad- 
nock  block,  Chicago,  Ill. 

Directors,  Harry  G.  Trestor,  sales  manager, 
A.  B.  Currie  &  Company,  Omaha,  Neb. ;  Frank 
F.  Mathers,  .of  J.  W.  Mathers  &  Son,  Philadel¬ 
phia,  Pa. ;  G.  T.  Rider,  general  manager,  Scanlon 
Coal  Company,  Louisville,  Ky. ;  Arch.  Coleman, 
president.  City  Fuel  Company,  Minneapolis, 
Minn. ;  John  J.  Gordon,  of  Robert  Gordon  Sons 
Company,  New  York  City;  T.  P.  Bryan,  of  Gray- 
Bryan-Sweeney  Coal  Company,  Kansas  City, 
Mo. ;  Charles  F.  Kerchner,  of  Hall  Brothers  & 
Company,  Baltimore,  Md. 

Their  election  was  unanimous. 


man  or  old — a  fun  lover  or  a  wiseacre.  The 
purpose  is  the  thing. 

In  the  latter  spirit  the  coal  men  got  together 
in  Chicago  this  week.  The  spirit  in  which  the 
organization  was  discussed  was,  at  this  meet¬ 
ing,  changed  from  what  it  was  a  year  ago. 
Then  a  determination  was  evident  to  leap  into 
the  mastery  of  the  business.  Those  who  came 
to  the  eonvention  this  week  were  more  modest 
and  hence  more  likely  to  succeed. 

They  did  not  talk  of  leadership.  Rather,  they 
said  among  themselves  : 

"Let  us  study  the  coal  question.  Let  us  study 
what  eoal  needs  most.  Let  us  try,  after  a  study 
of  its  needs,  to  devise  a  program  that  will  fit 
those  needs.” 

Thus  from  the  proposal  of  a  year  ago  the 
program  shifted  gradually  during  a  year.  At 
the  closing  session  of  the  convention  the  object 
was  so  far  changed  that  there  was  presented  the 
idea  of  a  guild  or  a  student  body  wherein  men 
would  gather  to  go  to  school  to  learn  their  craft 
of  producing,  selling  or  distributing  coal.  They 
know  that  the  business  is  disorganized,  without 
a  definite  aim  and  has  no  harmonious  and  pro¬ 
gressive  program  of  production  and  distribu¬ 
tion. 

So  there  was  discussed  the  idea  of  a  guild 
in  which  all  of  these  problems  can  be  studied 
by  those  eager  to  learn. 

In  fact  all  the  way  through  the  convention 
there  was  expressed  this  one  idea : 

“Let  us  study  the  needs  of  coal  and  let  us 
study  them  as  that  has  never  been  done  be¬ 
fore.” 

Thus  it  is  a  modest  beginning  which  the  new 


The  Coal  Banquet  in  Chicago  on  Monday  at  Which  Was  Formed  the  New  National  Association. 


42 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[July  17 


association  has,  but  it  is  purposeful.  And,  what 
is  most  to  the  point,  men  who  sat  in  that  meet¬ 
ing,  few  though  they  were,  were  definitely  in 
earnest.  They  mean  to  succeed. 

What  the  Convention  Did, 

As  to  the  concrete  developments :  The  com¬ 
mittee  on  constitution  and  by-laws  presented  a 
partial  draft  of  its  recommendations.  It  pro¬ 
poses  to  change  the  name  of  the  Order  Kokoal, 
temporarily  at  least,  to  the  National  Coal  Asso¬ 
ciation. 

The  names  of  the  officers  were  put  upon  a 
business  basis.  Thus  the  chief  executive  of  the 
association  is  the  “president”  and  there  are  vice- 
presidents  and  all  of  the  other  officers  down  to 
a  board  of  directors. 

The  present  purpose  is  to  retain  the  name  of 
The  National  Coal  Association  for  the  national 
body  and  then  to  call  the  local  organizations 
“guilds”  instead  of  “breakers.” 

There  was  elected  a  complete  list  of  officers, 
which  is  given  in  the  proper  place.  The  leader¬ 
ship  of  the  new  organization  was  placed  in  the 
hands  of  James  A.  Ballard,  general  sales  agent 
of  the  Semet-Solvay  Company  of  Detroit.  In¬ 
cluded  in  the  list  of  officers  are  such  men  as 
Charles  F.  Kerchner,  of  Baltimore ;  John  Gordon, 
of  New  York;  A.  M.  Hull,  of  Chicago;  G.  T. 
Rider,  of  Louisville ;  A.  J.  Moorshead,  of  St. 
Louis,  and  T.  P.  Bryan,  of  Kansas  City. 

It  was  also  decided  to  increase  the  dues  to 
$.j  a  year  and  to  increase  the  initiation  fee  to 
the  same  amount.  The  by-laws  provide  for  the 
admission  of  associate  members,  who  shall  pay 
$10  a  year  and  shall  be  admitted  provided  they 
employ  a  member  of  The  National  Coal  Asso¬ 
ciation. 

The  Opening  Session. 

The  meetings  of  this  coal  association  began 
at  two  o’clock  on  Monday  and  lasted,  almost 
without  interruption,  excepting  for  a  little  time 
to  sleep,  until  the  afternoon  on  Tuesday.  There 
was  a  session  Monday  afternoon  filled  to  the 
brim  with  discussions  of  what  it  costs  to  do 
business.  There  was  a  little  respite  after  that 
during  which  motion  pictures  of  the  anthracite 
mines  were  shown.  After  that  the  men  took  a 
little  time  to  stretch  their  legs  and  to  take  the 
air. 

Then,  at  6  :'M)  o’clock  Monday  night  there  was 
a  banquet  in  the  Auditorium  hotel.  While  the 
dinner  was  being  served  professional  entertain¬ 
ers  were  on  an  impromptu  platform.  Following 
that,  there  was  the  appointment  of  committees 
and  then  A.  M.  Hull,  who  had  acted  as  chair¬ 
man  in  the  afternoon  and  the  fore  part  of  the 
evening,  turned  the  banquet  over  to  F.  S.  Pea¬ 
body,  who  acted  as  master  of  the  toast. 

Mr.  Peabody  did  not  devote  very  much  time 
to  speechmaking  himself,  but  confined  his  re¬ 
marks  to  the  statement  that  he  and  others  are 
very  much  encouraged  by  the  attitude  of  the 
Trades  Commission  toward  business  in  general. 
He  was  encouraged  especially  by  the  idea  adopted 
by  the  Trades  Commission  that  the  government 
should  try  to  induce  people  to  study  what  it 
costs  to  do  business  rather  than  to  prosecute 
them  for  trying  to  make  a  living  out  of  it. 

From  that  on  there  were  more  than  two 
solid  hours  of  discussion  of  various  phases  of 
what  it  is  costing  to  produce  and  handle  coal. 

W.  S.  Bogle  opened  the  discussion  by  a  ten- 
minute  talk  on  whether  prices  had  kept  up  with 
the  rising  cost  of  production,  and  C.  M.  Moder- 
well  closed  the  meeting  by  a  very  short  address 
on  “The  Value  of  a  Definite  Aim.”  In  between 
there  were  four  very  purposeful  papers.  These 
are  reproduced  elsewhere  and  no  further  refer¬ 
ence  to  them  here  is  necessary. 

The  Tuesday  Meeting. 

At  9:30  o’clock  on  Tuesday  morning  the  dis¬ 
cussion  started  again. 

In  the  meantime,  the  committees  appointed  the 
preceding  evening  went  into  session— one  of 
them  to  nominate  the  officers,  another  one  to 
formulate  the  resolutions,  and  a  third  to  make 
the  necessary  changes  in  the  constitution  and 
by-laws.  It  was  11  o’clock  before  these  com¬ 
mittees  were  ready  to  report,  and  by  that  time 
the  speeches  had  been  delivered. 

Also  there  were  a  couple  of  presentations. 
Morton  Hiscox,  on  behalf  of  the  Order,  gave 
Charles  K.  Scull,  the  retiring  imperial  modoc, 
a  handsome  gold  watch.  The  modoc  in  turn 
presented  E.  F.  Smith,  the  imperial  pictor,  with 
a  gold  watch.  Both  of  these  gifts  were  in¬ 
scribed,  saying  that  they  were  given  to  the  re¬ 
cipients  by  the  members  of  the  trade  out  of 
consideration  for  the  work  faithfully  per¬ 
formed  within  the  last  year.  At  the  conclu¬ 


sion  of  this  very  pretty  ceremony  F.  C.  Atwill 
took  the  chair  and  a  motion  was  presented  to 
make  Retiring  Modoc  Scull  a  life  member  of 
the  Order. 

It  was  at  the  conclusion  of  this  ceremony  that 
the  committee  on  resolutions  made  its  report. 
This  committee  had  been  working  most  of  the 
morning  and  suggested  for  the  Order  the  new 
name,  the  “National  Coal  Guild.” 

Almost  immediately  following  there  was  pre¬ 
sented  a  report  of  the  committee  on  constitution 
and  by-laws  which  suggested  the  name  of  “The 
National  Coal  Association.” 

Rather  a  lively  debate  ensued,  led  by  the 
editor  of  this  paper  on  one  side  as  the  advocate 
of  the  guild  idea,  and  on  the  other  side  by 
Charles  Kerchner  of  Baltimore,  who  was  chair¬ 
man  of  the  committee  on  constitution  and  by¬ 
laws;  A.  M.  Hull,  Morton  Hiscox,  Leo  Roman- 
ski  and  Homer  Allen.  At  the  conclusion  of  the 
this  debate,  which,  while  lively,  was  one  of  the 
pleasant  features  of  the  morning  session,  it  was 
suggested  by  Mr.  Hull,  and  adopted  by  the  con¬ 
vention,  that  any  name  which  might  be  taken 
now  was  purely  temporary.  Therefore,  he  pro¬ 
posed  that  the  name,  “The  National  Coal  Asso¬ 
ciation,”  be  adopted  for  the  major  organization. 


James  A.  Ballard. 


and  that  the  name  of  “guilds”  be  .given  to  the 
local  organizations  which  shall  take  the  place 
of  the  old  breakers. 


Address  of  Welcome. 

In  his  address  of  welcome,  C.  L.  Dering,  presi¬ 
dent  of  the  Chicago  Association  of  Commerce 
and  western  manager  for  S.  C.  Schenck  Com¬ 
pany,  said  in  part : 

"If  I  may  venture  to  go  a  bit  further,  Mr. 
Chairman,  than  is  ordinarily  contemplated  in  an 
address  of  welcome  and  presume  to  advise  you, 
out  of  an  experience  born  of  a  lifetime  of  learn¬ 
ing  by  mistakes. 

“It  is  my  understanding  that  from  this  honor¬ 
able  Order  Kokoal  and  its  ten  years  of  happy  and 
joyous  existence,  it  is  proposed  to  form  a  na¬ 
tional  organization  of  coal  dealers  based  upon 
broad  and  ambitious  lines. 

“Some  one  has  said :  ‘Association  work  is  the 
composite  of  the  inidvidual  mind,  tried  by  the 
fire  of  general  criticism,  welded  and  tempered 
by  thoughtful  consideration.  It  represents  not 
only  the  beginning  but  the  maturity  of  mind  and 
the  structural  strength  defies  assault.’ 

“Now  the  trouble,  it  seems  to  me,  is  that  in 
the  coal  trade  we  lack  co-operation  that  spells 
prosperity,  in  that  we  lack  organization  and  we 
lack  system.  Mr.  A.  W.  Shaw  of  System  Maga¬ 
zine  in  a  recent  issue  says : 

‘  “In  times  of  opulent  plenty,  business  can  wink 
at  a  thousand  weaknesses — and  the  profits  will 
cover  them  up.  But  when  conditions  tighten, 
the  wastes  cannot  be  concealed.  Mistakes  are 
spotlighted,  and  careless  methods  stand  forth  as 
despoilers  of  dividends  and  progress.  And  out 
of  the  crises  comes  new  knowledge  that  means 
new  power.  This  is  inventory  time  in  American 
business— a  time  for  trial  balancing,  not  alone 
our  physical  assets,  but  our  mental  and  moral 
capital.’ 

“Colonel  Goethals,  speaking  of  the  work  on 
the  Isthmus,  said  that  each  man  was  given  to 


understand  that  his  particular  work  was  the  piece 
that  was  essential  to  the  proper  completion  of 
the  balance. 

“We  are  living  in  a  period  of  evolution;  organ¬ 
ization  is  the  order  of  the  day.  Let’s  have  done 
with  bickerings  and  jealousies  in  the  coal  trade; 
let’s  organize  a  great  national  association. 

“Don’t  let’s  be  so  afraid  of  what  will  happen 
if  we  do  things,  but  let’s  be  more  afraid  of  what 
will  happen  if  we  don’t  do  them. 

“Let’s  work  in  the  spirit  of  that  stirring  slogan, 
‘Do  it  Now.’  Let’s  form  the  strongest  national 
organization  of  coal  dealers  possible  and  by  a 
strong  organization  I  mean  an  aggregation  of 
interests  working  through  committees  of  special 
functions — committees  that  never  sleep,  whose 
sphere  is  definite  and  whose  work  is  subject  to 
confirmation  or  repudiation  by  a  central  body. 

“An  organization  of  men  who,  whatever  their 
purpose  to  bring  some  good  to  themselves  out 
of  co-operative  action,  will  sacrifice  for  the  com¬ 
mon  good  and  give  time  and  money  for  the  trade 
as  a  whole. 

“Such  an  organization  willl  exercise  a  refining 
influence  upon  business  and  introduce  economic 
science  in  the  place  of  speculation  particularly 
vvith  respect  to  costs  of  production  and  distribu¬ 
tion-will  create  a  spirit  of  loyalty  to  our  com¬ 
mon  business  and  of  charity  and  forbearance 
toward  one  another. 

“In  considering  problems  of  business  legisla¬ 
tion  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  the  present  is 
a  time  of  changed  ideas  regarding  both  business 
and  legislation. 

“Business  today  views  without  alarm  so  mo¬ 
mentous  an  innovation  as  the  establishment  of 
the  Federal  Trade  Commission.  A  few  years 
back  such  a  departure  in  national  affairs  could 
only  have  been  regarded  as  a  menace — a  blow 
to  the  inalienable  rights  of  business  to  work  out 
its  own  salvation. 

“And  business,  too,  is  regarded  in  a  new  light. 
Once  it  was  represented  in  legislative  halls  only 
by  seekers  for  special  privilege.  Now  it  deals 
openly  and  squarely  and  pleads  its  case  upon  the 
merit  of  its  cause. 

“We  are  a  great  commercial  and  industrial 
nation.  A  stream  can  rise  no  higher  than  its 
source,  neither  can  our  commercial  strength  as  a 
nation  be  greater  than  the  prosperity  of  the 
individual  business  institutions  of  the  country — 
the  big  man  and  the  little  man.  And  it  is  be¬ 
cause  we  are  coming  to  understand  this — because 
we  not  only  theorize  about  fair  play  in  business 
and  ‘the  square  deal,’  but  are  working  together 
to  develop  a  practical  plan  to  realize  the  ‘square 
deal’  and  guarantee  to  business  the  largest  oppor¬ 
tunity  for  legitimate  development — it  is  because 
of  these  things,  I  say,  that  we  now  expect  more 
of  our  business  men  just  as  we  now  expect  more 
of  our  lawmakers.  Because  of  these  things,  too, 
we  entertain  confident  hope  for  the  future — a 
future  wherein  business  not  hampered  by  de¬ 
structive  legislation,  but  assisted  by  constructive 
legislation,  may  prosper  and  the  nation  prosper 
with  it.” 


Elmstrom  Welcomes  Retailers. 

At  the  opening  meeting  on  Monday,  there 
was  an  address  of  welcome  to  the  retailers  by 
Wm.  D.  Elmstrom,  president  of  the  Chicago 
Coal  Merchants  Association.  He  said : 

“Most  of  us  during  our  lifetime  have  received 
a  shock  of  some  sort  or  other.  Some  shocks  are 
of  little  or  no  consequence,  others  are  of  a  more 
serious  nature.  One  of  the  serious  shocks  that 
I  have  received  during  my  experience  was  when 
I  received  a  letter  from  our  distinguished 
Brother  Hull,  chairman  of  the  convention  commit¬ 
tee,  announcing  the  fact  that  I  had  been  assigned 
the  duty  of  giving  a  short  address  of  welcome 
to  the  retailers  of  this  convention. 

“While  I  am  disposed  to  criticise  him  severely 
for  disturbing  my  peace  of  mind,  I  respect  him, 
nevertheless,  and  admire  his  good  judgment  in 
requesting  me  to  make  my  address  short. 

“Those  of  you  who  know  me  best,  know  that 
I  am  not  qualified  to  make  an  address ;  those 
of  you  who  know  me  least,  will  be  of  the  same 
opinion  before  we  part.  However,  in  behalf 
of  those  whom  I  represent,  I  wish  to  express  to 
the  officers  in  charge  of  this  convention,  our 
very  sincere  appreciation  for  the  courtesy  and 
honor  you  have  accorded  us  on  this  occasion. 

“I  note  with  much  satisfaction  that  the  Order 
Kokoal  stands  for  good  fellowship,  honorable 
dealings,  high  business  integrity,  and  a  square 
deal.  These  principles  should  not  only  be  prac¬ 
ticed  among  ourselves,  one  with  another,  but 
should  be  equally  applied  toward  the  public 
with  whom  we  do  business.  May  we  not  be 
proud  of  the  fact  that  we  have  the  privilege  and 


No.  3] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


43 


opportunity  of  being  affiliated  with  an  organi¬ 
zation  that  has  such  splendid  ideals  and  busi¬ 
ness  ethics?  While  the  product  we  handle  is 
black,  let  us  ever  keep  in  mind  and  let  it  be 
our  constant  aim  to  so  conduct  our  business, 
along  the  lines  as  set  forth,  that  ere  long,  we 
can  with  pride  and  much  satisfaction  say,  that 
our  business  is  white  instead  of  black. 

“We  are  informed  that  one  of  the  important 
matters  before  this  convention  is  to  devise  ways 
and  means  of  perfecting  a  National  Organiza¬ 
tion,  with  a  view  to  improving  the  condition 
of  the  entire  trade,  and  we  all  know,  to  our 
sorrow,  that  there  is  ample  opportunity  for  a 
movement  of  this  kind.  I  firmly  believe  that 
you  are  on  the  right  road  to  accomplish  this 
end,  and  have  every  confidence  to  believe  that 
you  will  meet  with  success.  Much  can  be  done 
along  educational  lines  in  all  branches  of  the 
trade,  in  proper  and  systematic  accounting,  so 
that  the  trade  will  know,  at  all  times,  the  cost 
of  doing  business  and  the  true  state  of  affairs 
of  their  business. 

“Let  us  gather  up  the  fragments  of  loose  busi¬ 
ness  methods,  cast  aside  all  selfish  motives  which 
are  the  cause  of  most  of  our  troubles,  and  so 
cement  together  our  common  interests  that  noth¬ 
ing  can  part  us ;  then  and  only  then  can  we 
hope  to  succeed. 

“I  have  been  requested  to  welcome  the  re¬ 
tailers.  The  welcome  that  I  may  extend  to 
you  in  a  few  words  is  inadequate  to  sufficiently 
express  to  you  the  real  sentiments  we  cherish 
of  your  presence  among  us ;  we  wish  to  wel¬ 
come  you,  and  think  of  you  as  brothers  of  one 
common  family  or  fraternity — a  welcome  with 
a  unanimity  of  goodfellowship,  with  all  self¬ 
ishness  eliminated ;  a  welcome  which  will  be 
an  incentive  to  visit  us,  many  times  in  the  years 
to  come.” 


Purpose  Is  Outlined. 

The  announcement  of  the  proposed  educational 
policy  was  made  by  Chas.  K.  Scull,  imperial 
modoc,  at  the  meeting  on  Monday  afternoon.  In 
part,  he  said : 

“Considerable  thought  has  been  given  to  the 
future  of  Kokoal  and  more  especially  to  the 
real  need  of  a  live  national  organization  in  the 
coal  trade. 

“Kokoal  is  the  logical  medium  to  start  this 
campaign  of  education.  It  makes  no  difference 
whether  the  name  Kokoal  is  retained  or  a  new 
one  substituted.  The  organization  is  already  es¬ 
tablished  and  has  been  for  ten  years.  It  is  the 
only  one  in  the  coal  trade  that  is  national  in 
character.  Its  constitution  is  broad  so  that  all 
that  is  necessary  is  to  amend  it  to  fit  any  live 
policy  that  may  be  deemed  best. 

“The  quickest  way  to  stop  price-cutting  is  to 
educate  the  less  informed  members  of  the  trade 
to  a  knowledge  of  the  actual  cost  of  doing  busi¬ 
ness.  Kokoal  can  take  up  this  work  without 
conflicting  with  any  other  organization  and  in 
fact  can  quickly  secure  the  active  support  and 
co-operation  of  every  association  in  the  trade. 

“Therefore  we  must  have,  sooner  or  later,  a 
purposeful  National  Coal  Association,  that  can 
and  will  co-operate  with  all  the  present  and  fu¬ 
ture  operators,  wholesale  and  retail  association 
and  local  coal  exchanges,  without  conflicting  in 
any  detail,  but  for  the  mutual  material  benefit  of 
all.” 


Report  of  the  Secretary, 

At  the  beginning  of  his  annual  report,  E.  F. 
Smith,  the  imperial  pictor,  quoted  the  resolution 
adopted  a  year  ago  callin.g  for  a  new  coal  body. 
This  resolution  recited  the  need  for  such  an 
organization,  and  ended : 

“Submitting  these  facts  for  your  consideration, 
we  advocate  the  formation  of  a  committee  of 
twelve  or  fifteen  from  among  the  representatives 
of  other  trade  associations  to  co-operate  with  our 
new  board  of  imperial  eleven  sentries  in  the 
development  of  details,  feeling  that  by  pursuing 
this  policy  Kokoal  can  establish  itself  as  the 
leading  organization  of  the  trade.” 

The  pictor  then  said,  in  part : 

“Along  these  lines  our  Imperial  Modoc,  Mr. 
Scull,  called  a  meeting  in  New  York  City  on 
October  21,  at  which  time  there  were  present : 
Thos.  W.  Ayers,  past  imperial  modoc,  Philadel¬ 
phia,  Pa. ;  W.  M.  Bertolet,  secretary  Pennsylvania 
Retail  Coal  Merchants’  Association,  Reading,  Pa. ; 

R.  M.  Ryar;,  The  Black  Diamond,  New  York; 

S.  B.  Crowell,  chairman  executive  committee, 
Philadelphia  Coal  Exchange,  Philadelphia;  W.  A. 
Clark,  president  New  Eagland  Coal  Dealers’  Ex¬ 
change,  Northampton,  Mass. ;  S.  D.  Hall,  presi¬ 
dent  Philadelphia  Coal  Exchange,  Philadelphia ; 


C.  F.  Kerchner,  past  imperial  modoc,  Baltimore 
Md. ;  F.  F.  Mathers,  modoc,  Philadelphia  Breaker, 
Philadelphia;  A.  H.  Rice,  commissioner.  New 
York  City ;  F.  W.  Saward,  past  imperial  acolyte. 
New  York ;  C.  K.  Scull,  imperial  modoc,  Phila¬ 
delphia;  E.  V.  Sidell,  past  imperial  mazumer, 
Poughkeepsie,  N.  Y. ;  J.  C.  Tattersall,  imperial 
baronel,  Trenton,  N.  J. ;  J.  D.  Van  Pelt,  No.  1 
Broadway,  New  York. 

“A  similar  meeting  was  called  to  order  by  the 
imperial  pictor  on  November  11,  those  present 
being:  C.  C.  Hall,  fuel  agent,  C.  &  E.  L  Ry., 
Chicago;  J.  A.  Ballard,  past  imperial  modoc, 
Detroit;  J.  S.  Van  Epps,  imperial  baron,  Qeve- 
land,  Ohio;  Daniel  Howard,  imperial  gazook, 
Clarksburg,  W.  Va. ;  Arch.  Coleman,  past  im¬ 
perial  modoc,  Minneapolis ;  Ford  R.  Cate,  imperial 
spotta,  Detroit,  Mich. ;  C,  M.  Anderson,  Colum¬ 
bus,  Ohio ;  H.  H.  Small,  Goodman  Manufacturing 
Company,  Chicago ;  F.  C.  Atwill,  imperial  baronet, 
Chicago;  E.  F.  Smith,  imperial  pictor;  H.  W. 
Redman;  S.  P.  Hostler;  S.  G.  Hale;  A.  T. 
Murphy;  Morton  Hiscox;  A.  D.  Casey;  T.  D. 
Haskett;  N.  K.  Kendall,  commissioner,  Chicago 
Coal  Merchants’  Association ;  W.  J.  Dillon ;  A.  O. 
Tandy,  past  imperial  modoc. 

“Subcommittees  appointed  at  these  two  meet¬ 
ings  met  in  Chicago  on  January  28,  29  and  30, 
and  the  following  resolution  was  offered  by  Past 
Imperial  Modoc  Hull,  which  was  voted  to  be 
referred  to  the  eleven  imperial  sentries : 

“  ‘Whereas,  It  is  the  opinion  of  this  conference 
that  there  is  need  for  a  national  organization  to 
promote  social  and  trade  relations  in  the  coal 
trade,  which  is  best  proved  by  the  fact  that  the 
Order  Kokoal  has  existed  for  over  ten  years  and 
during  that  time  has  initiated  more  than  5,000 
members,  covering  a  large  majority  of  the  leading 
and  influential  men  in  the  trade  in  practically 
every  section  of  the  country.  Therefore,  be  it 

“  ‘Resolved,  That  the  Order  Kokoal  be  con¬ 
tinued  in  fact,  if  not  in  name,  as  the  principal 
social  and  fraternal  ofganization  of  the  coal 
trade ; 

“  ‘That  all  horse-play  be  eliminated  and  abso¬ 
lutely  prohibited  from  all  initiatory  ceremonies ; 

“  ‘That  in  every  program  given  under  its  aus¬ 
pices  educational  features  must  predominate ; 

“  ‘That  a  bureau  be  established  to  collect,  pre¬ 
pare  and  disseminate  facts  and  fi.gures  covering 
the  cost  of  producing,  distributing  and  retailing 
of  the  various  grades  of  coal  from  the  mine  to 
the  consumer,  in  order  to  show  the  less  informed 
members  of  the  trade,  as  well  as  the  consumer, 
what  constitutes  a  reasonable  price  of  coal  in  the 
different  sections  of  the  country; 

“  ‘That  plans  be  formulated  to  give  this  educa¬ 
tional  information  under  the  leadership  and  aus¬ 
pices  of  the  Order  Kokoal  before  local  Chambers 
of  Commerce,  business  men’s  associations,  and  in 
such  other  ways  as  may  best  promote  the  best 
interests  of  all  branches  of  the  coal  industry; 

“  ‘That  in  order  to  properly  present  this  change 
of  policy  to  the  coal  trade  and  to  strengthen  the 
Order  Kokoal  throughout  the  country,  that  a 
high-grade  organizer  be  engaged  to  work  along 
lines  as  prescribed  by  the  imperial  eleven  sen¬ 
tries.’ 

“At  this  meeting  there  were  present :  C.  K. 
Scull,  imperial  modoc,  Philadelphia,  Pa. ;  F.  F. 
Mathers,  modoc,  Philadelphia  Breaker,  Philadel¬ 
phia;  C.  F.  Kerchner,  past  imperial  modoc,  Balti¬ 
more,  Md.;  J.  C.  Tattersall,  imperial  baronel, 
Trenton,  N.  J. ;  W.  A.  Clark,  president  New  Eng¬ 
land  Coal  Dealers’  Association,  Northampton, 
Mass. ;  W.  M.  Bertolet,  secretary  Pennsylvania 
Retail  Coal  Merchants’  Association,  Reading,  Pa. ; 
J.  S.  Van  Epps,  imperial  baron,  Cleveland,  Ohio; 
C.  M.  Moderwell,  past  modoc,  Chicago  Breaker ; 
Carl  Scholz,  president  American  Mining  Con¬ 
gress;  W.  J.  Dillon,  past  modoc,  Chicago  Breaker; 
F.  C.  Atwill,  imperial  baronet;  W.  H.  D.  Gibson, 
past  modoc,  Chicago  Breaker ;  N.  H.  Kendall, 
commissioner,  Chicago  Coal  Merchants’  Associa¬ 
tion  ;  A.  T.  Murphy,  The  Black  Diamond; 
Arthur  M.  Hull,  past  imperial  modoc ;  Morton 
Hiscox,  Retail  Coalman;  Sydney  A.  Hale,  Coal 
Trade  Journal;  E.  F.  Smith,  imperial  pictor. 

“From  the  sentiment  expressed  at  this  meet¬ 
ing,  and  also  from  letters  received  from  promi¬ 
nent  coal  men  from  all  parts  of  the  country,  un¬ 
questionably  the  new  policy  will  receive  hearty 
support  and  will  result  in  greatly  strengthening 
the  order. 

Kokoal  Membership. 

“The  fact  that  the  coal  trade,  due  to  industrial 
conditions,  as  well  as  extremely  warm  weather 
in  the  winter  season,  has  passed  through  the 
worst  two  years  in  its  history,  undouhtedly  has 
shown  its  effect  on  Kokoal  membership.  Only 
seven  koruskations  were  held,  they  being  as  fol¬ 
lows  : 


24tst  koruskation,  held  at  Philadelphia, 

October  16 . 

242d  koruskation,  held  at  l^ouisville,  No¬ 
vember  24 . 

243d  koruskation,  held  at  Edmonton,  Can., 

November  16 . 

244th  koruskation,  held  at  Trenton, '  jan- 

uary  5 . 

245th  koruskation,  held  at  Trenton,  Feb¬ 
ruary  19 . 

246th  koruskation,  held  at  Philadelphia 

April  29 . V.. 

247th  koruskation,  held  at  Chicago", 

July  12 . 

In  addition  to  above  Air.  J.  O.  Hannah, 
Edmonton,  Can.,  was  admitted  by  spe¬ 
cial  dispensation . 


Can¬ 

didates. 


2 


16 

2 

6 

3 

9 

1 


National 

Fund. 

$  2S.77 

4.34 

65.76 

8.22 

24.66 

12.33 

36.99 

8.28 


“At  the  closing  of  our  books  the 
list  shows  as  follows : 

1914-15  paid  up . 

New  . 

Life  . . !  .  ! 

Associate  . . 

1914-15  arrears . 

Two  years . 

Assessment  B . . 

Total  paid-up  membership . 

Total  unpaid-up  membership . 


48  $189.35 

membership 

.  951 

.  48 

.  9 

.  48 

.  446 

.  456 

.  8 

. 1,056 

.  900 


. 1,936 

‘‘Complete  financial  report  follows. 

“In  this  connection  it  might  be  well  to  add 
that  some  two  thousand  members  were  dropped 
for  non-payment  of  dues,  no  response  being  made 
to  warning  circular  sent  out  August  1. 

“I  regret  to  report  the  deaths  of  the  following 
Kokoals  during  the  year:  Moses  P.  Lawton, 
Pittsfield,  Mass.;  Enoch  T.  Roberts,  German¬ 
town,  Pa. ;  Guy  G.  Gibson,  Chicago  and  New 
York;  Daniel  F.  Conner,  New  York  City;  Geo. 
W.  Thedford,  New  York  City;  C.  M.  Clute, 
Bay  City,  Mich. ;  George  Theberge,  Lawrence, 
Mass.;  T.  A.  Gadbois,  Minneapolis,  Minn.;  P. 
Burns,  Toronto,  Ont. ;  Geo.  F.  Meyer,  Indiana¬ 
polis,  Ind. ;  J.  C.  Kilgore,  Chicago;  Geo.  W. 
Weeks,  Ann  Arbor,  Mich.;  G.  Robityek,  New 
York  City;  Joseph  Zock,  Michigan  City,  Ind.; 
W.  T.  Irwin,  Chicago;  C.  M.  Van  De  Water, 
New  York,  N.  Y. ;  F.  B.  Putchard,  Toledo,  Ohio. 

“As  is  custornary  under  our  constitution,  these 
names  will  continue  to  appear  in  our  membership 
lists,  appropriately  marked  to  show  that  they 
are  still  held  in  loving  memory.” 


Financial  Statement. 

The  trial  balance  at  the  closing  of  the  books 


for  the  year  showed  the  following: 

CREDITS. 

Balance  from  R.  S.  Jones  administration . $  218.46 

Charity  fund .  4.87 

Pin  account,  credit .  1.50 

Postage  and  express  account,  credit,  refund 

from  Skellett  Co .  5.25 

Current  dues,  as  per  cash  book .  1,791.39 

Back  dues,  as  per  cash  book .  157.05 

Initiation  fees,  as  per  cash  book .  153.48 

Educational  and  extension  fund,  as  per  cash  book  245.00 
1916  dues  account,  as  per  cash  book .  2.11 

$2,579.11 

DEBITS. 

Printing  and  stationery,  as  per  cash  book . $  285.29 

Postage  and  express,  as  per  cash  book .  282.89 

Telephone  and  telegraph,  as  per  cash  book .  9.82 

Rent  and  light  account,  as  per  cash  book .  334.00 

Salary  account,  E.  F.  S.,  7^  months .  1,027.00 

Furniture  and  fixtures,  see  ledger .  33.55 

Traveling  expenses,  see  ledger .  35.41 

Towel  account,  see  ledger .  8.50 

Old  bills  account,  as  per  R.  S.  J.,  see  ledger.  . . .  127.22 

Bill  folds  account,  see  ledger .  112.74 

Pin  account,  see  ledger .  2.25 

Petty  cash  account,  to  E.  F.  S.,  salary  account, 

July  1,  1915 .  50.00 

E.  F.  Smith,  personal,  bond,  see  ledger .  5.00 

Bank  exchange  account,  see  ledger .  18.46 

C.  K.  Scull  account,  personal,  see  ledger .  95.98 

Rack  dues  account.  Dr.,  as  per  cash  book .  12.66 

Initiation  fees.  Dr.,  as  per  cash  book .  16.12 

Educational  and  extension  fund,  Dr.,  as  per  cash 

book  .  117.23 

Cash  on  hand,  $2.88  in  M.  L.  T.  Co.,  $2.11  in 
drawer  .  4.99 


$2,579.11 


The  Modoc’s  Address. 

The  antnial  address  of  Imperial  Modoc  Charles 
K.  Scull  of  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  was,  in  part: 

“We  have  assembled  here  today  to  celebrate 
the  tenth  anniversary  of  the  Order  Kokoal. 

“The  present  imperial  sentries  have  been  handi¬ 
capped  from  the  start,  both  financially  and  as  to 
membership.  However,  the  imperial  pictor  will 
present  that  data  to  you  in  his  report. 

“Since  our  induction  into  office  we  have  been 
up  a.gainst  conditions  at  home  (with  national  and 
state  legislation,  railroad  rates  and  labor  organ¬ 
izations),  and  abroad  with  foreign  wars  and 
essential  consequences,  the  like  of  which  has 
never  before  existed.  These  consequent  troubles 
have  brought  about  the  rule  of  the  pessimist,  the 
(Continued  on  page  48) 


44 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[July  17 


Will  Facts  on  Costs 

By  T.  Percy  Bryan. | 


In  attempting  to  answer  this  question,  I  am 
doing  so  from  the  standpoint  of  the  retail 
dealer.  The  operator  and  jobber  is  as  much 
interested  in  the  sulqect  from  this  angle  as  is 
the  dealer  for  our  interests  are  very  mutual. 
If  the  one  is  not  successful  the  other  cannot 
long  continue  profitable  business  relations. 

I  will  divide  price-cutters  into  three  heads — 
1st,  the  dishonest  discontented  price-cutter;  2nd, 
the  honest,  contented  price-cutter ;  and,  3rd,  the 
honest,  discontented  price-cutter.  The  first  we 
have  always,  lie  is  the  Pirate.  He  is  dishonest 
in  his  methods  and  discontented  with  his  re¬ 
sults,  but  his  unfairness  is  bred  in  him  and  his 
nature  cannot  be  changed.  What  is  a  pirate? 
Webster  coniines  him  to  the  high  seas,  but  Web¬ 
ster  was  a  learned  writer.  II  is  knowledge  of 
the  coal  trade  was  vocabulary,  not  vocationary. 
A  pirate  is  a  person  who  seeks  by  subterfuge 
and  trickery  to  appropriate  the  fruits  of  capital 
and  industry,  lie  is  a  vampire,  flying  by  night 
and  sucking  out  the  life  blood  of  business,  but 
profiting  not.  The  retail  dealer  cannot  eliminate 
liim.  The  operator  and  jobber  might,  but,  alas, 
3mu  have  him  in  your  own  ranks. 

Under  the  second  head  we  have  the  honest, 
contented  price-cutter.  In  him  is  the  easy  go¬ 
ing,  more  or  less  lazy  man  whose  wants  are 
few  and .  who  depreciates  his  own  ability.  He 
is  not  numerous  nor  are  his  operations  disas¬ 
trous  to  the  trade.  If  he  makes  a  thousand  dol¬ 
lars,  it  is  just  that  much  more  than  he  could 
earn  in  any  other  job.  He  does  not  need  knowl¬ 
edge  ;  he  needs  a  bomb  with  a  short  fuse. 

The  third  class  comprises  the  rank  and  file 
of  retail  dealers,  long  on  desire  of  accomplish¬ 
ment  and  short  on  knowledge  of  judicious  pro- 
ceedure.  Sometimes  he  keeps  his  books  in  his 
hat,  often  on  a  wall  file,  and  frequently  in  an 
accurate  set  of  double  entry  books ;  bnt  always 
wanting  to  extend  his  operations  and  reap  more 
reward.  He  lets  his  competitor  set  the  pace 
in  the  matter  of  price,  then  to  make  sure,  sharp¬ 
ens  his  pencil  and  goes  to  it.  He  figures  that 
he  can  make  no  money  on  what  he  does  not 
sell ;  he  cuts  the  price,  shuts  his  eyes,  and  offers 
up  a  silent  prayer.  Pie  wants  that  piece  of  busi¬ 
ness  but  he  does  not  reckon  the  cost.  His  edu¬ 
cation  is  lacking  on  the  proper  basis  for  figur¬ 
ing  costs,  exi)ense  and  price.  This  is  the  man, 
and  his  name  is  Legion,  in  whom  fertile  soil 
will  be  found  for  sowing  the  seed  of  knowledge. 
And  this  is  the  class  to  which  I  belong,  and  you, 
and  you,  and  you. 

How  to  Make  a  Price. 

Do  we  know  how  to  make  a  price?  Do  we 
know  how  to  figure  costs?  Some  of  us  can 
figure  our  expense  per  ton,  but  is  that  as  vital 
as  it  would  seem?  I  believe  that  a  campaign 
of  educating  the  retail  coal  man  on  an  entirely 
different  basis  is  absolutely  necessary  to  his  fu¬ 
ture  welfare.  It  would  not  only  reduce  |)rice- 
cutting,  but  if  it  is  not  begun  now,  there  will 
never  be  a  time  when  the  coal  man  can  close 
his  year's  business  with  the  satisfied  feeling  of 
one  who  has  got  out  all  there  is  in  the  busi¬ 
ness.  There  is  no  such  thing  as  regulating 
prices.  Our  Uncle  Samuel  long  since  took  up 
the  task  of  regulating  regulators.  The  hap¬ 
hazard  method  now  in  vogue  of  trying  to  de¬ 
termine  how  much  the  market  will  stand  and 
naming  a  ])rice  accordingly  must  he  relegated 
to  the  ash  heap.  I  am  advocating  the  same 
method  of  fixing  a  price  that  has  been  used 
for  years  by  all  other  retail  merchandising 
houses ;  natnely,  cost  per  cent.  W  hat  is  the 
difference  in  selling  coal  and  selling  dry-goods? 
The  dry-goods  merchant  has  his  overhead  ex¬ 
pense,  drayage  and  shortage.  He  figures  his 
cost  of  doing  business  on  a  percentage  basis 
and  adds  this  per  cent  to  his  invoice  cost.  To 
this  he  adds  a  recognized  percentage  of  profit 
and  gets  a  selling  price.  Why  should  we  not 
do  the  same?  W'e  have  more  money  invested 
in  one  coal  than  in  another.  We  should 
have  more  net  profit  on  1000  tons  of  coal  cost¬ 
ing  $4.00  than  on  1000  tons  of  $2.01)  coal  be¬ 
cause  of  the  investment;  and  the  heavier  e.x- 
pense  of  handling  domestic  over  steam  coal 
makes  it  necessary  that  we  add  more  expense 
I)er  ton  to  the  high  ])riced  coal  than  to  the 
low.  .\  per  cent  basis  would  give  the  dealer 

*An  address  before  the  coal  convention  in  Chicago  on 
July  12. 

tSecretary-treasurer  of  the  Oray'P.ryaii-Sweeney  Coal 

Company  of  Kansas  City. 


End  Price  Cutting?* 

something  definite  to  work  on ;  but  he  must 
be  educated  to  it. 

He  must  be  taught  to  keep  his  accounts  in 
such  shape  that  he  knows  to  a  certainty  how 
many  tons  he  has  bought  during  the  year  and 
the  amount  of  money  invested  in  the  purchase ; 
how  many  tons  he  has  sold  and  the  amount 
of  money  received ;  how  many  dollars  he  has 
expended  in  carrying  on  his  business. 

I  have  heard  it  said  many,  many  times  that 
a  coal  dealer  cannot  be  taught,  that  he  cannot 
learn  a  lesson ;  but  when  I  see  upon  the  stage 
the  progress  made  with  geese,  pigs  and  seals, 
then  1  think  surely  there  is  something  rtiachable 
in  the  man. 

The  Proper  Per  Cent. 

My  ohservation  through  years  of  experience 
as  an  accountant  is  that  33  1-3  per  cent  of  the 
cost  of  coal  with  freight  added  will  just  cover 
the  gross  expense.  By  gross  expense  1  mean  all 
the  money  expended  in  carrying  on  your  busi¬ 
ness  exclusive  of  invoice  cost  of  coal  and  freight, 
and  including  salaries  of  every  kind,  interest 
paid,  shortage,  losses,  etc.  I  do  not  believe  1 
am  extravagant  when  I  say  a  legitimate  net 
profits  is  ten  per  cent  of  your  coal  cost. 

At  present  we  are  concluding  that  a  steam 
coal  costing  $1.95  will  stand  a  delivered  price 
of  $3.00,  and  this  price  is  probably  fifteen  or 
twenty  cents  less  than  our  present  method  shows 
our  per  ton  cost  to  be.  On  a  per  cent  basis  of 
figuring,  this  coal  can  be  sold  for  $3.80.  But, 
we  conclude  that  a  domestic  coal  costing  $4.75 
can  be  sold  at  a  profit  for  $6.50.  We  cannot 
afford  to  make  that  price.  It  nets  us  only  ten 
cents  a  ton.  We  should  get  at  the  very  least 
$6.90.  A  coal  that  costs  $6.25  we  think  we  can 
sell  at  $8.50.  That  is  an  erroneous  conception 
of  business.  We  should  have  $9.00  per  ton. 
The  cost  in  your  city  will  help  me  only  in¬ 
directly.  Your  overhead  may  be  similar  but  your 
dock  and  yardage  conditions  are  not  the  same 
and  you  have  a  different  drayage  proposition 
from  ours.  But  my  local  conditions  are  the 
same  as  the  competitor’s  in  my  city.  You  Chi¬ 
cago  dealers  all  have  similar  conditions.  Like¬ 
wise,  Omaha,  and  Minneapolis.  What  would 
help  the  Omaha  dealer  is  an  accurate  com¬ 
pilation  of  facts  regarding  the  business  there, 
given  out  by  a  recognized  central  body  of  the 
coal  fraternity  and  compiled  by  an  unbiased  im¬ 
partial  representative  of  the  body. 


J.  V.  Thompson  Holdings. 


Josiah  V.  Thompson,  former  Uniontown 
banker,  who  went  in  the  hands  of  a  receiver 
January  19,  last,  simultaneously  with  the  clos¬ 
ing  of  the  First  National  Bank  of  Uniontown, 
possesses  coal  lands  and  other  property  valued 
at  .1!65,367,758.()5,  according  to  the  appraisement 
of  an  auditing  firm  filed  with  Judge  J.  Q.  Van 
Swearingen  in  the  Fayette  county  courts  re¬ 
cently.  The  ai)praisers  were  Julian  Kennedy, 
R.  C.  Crawford  and  R.  M.  Hite,  being  appoint¬ 
ed  by  the  court. 

According  to  the  appraisement,  Thompson 
owns  a  total  coal  area  of  141,413.68  acres, 
and  the  surface  area  aggregates  12,411.94  acres. 
The  coal  value  in  Greene  county  is  .'i;32,647,- 
900.50,  the  coal  area  being  58,403.97  acres.  In 
Washington  county  his  coal  area  totals  10,- 
172.29  acres,  and  is  valued  at  $:i,  150,186.60. 
In  West  Virginia  the  valuation  is  placed  at 
.$18,868,841  ..55,  consisting  of  72,103.29  acres  of 
coal.  Properties  in  Washington  and  Greene 
counties,  on  which  plants  have  been  built, 
are  valued  at  $397,205,  the  property  aggregat¬ 
ing  3,976.05  acres.  A  valuation  of  $1,557,500 
is  placed  on  562.4  acres  of  land  in  Allegheny, 
Armstrong  and  Beaver  counties.  The  prop¬ 
erty  in  Fayette  county  consists  of  733.67  acres 
of  coal  land  and  7,877.49  acres  of  other  land, 
being  valued  at  $2,646,506.  Notes,  stocks, 
bonds,  mortgages,  etc.,  are  appraised  at  $6,- 
099,618.40. 


Death  of  John  C.  Burns. 


John  C.  Burns,  the  surviving  member  of 
the  firm  of  Burns  Brothers,  with  yards  at  2206 
North  Halsted  street,  Chicago,  died  at  St. 
Luke’s  hospital  on  July  6th. 

;  Mr.  Burns  had  been  at  West  Baden  for  a 
li^ttle  rest  and  recreation.  He  was  returning 
to  Chicago  and  in  passing  down  the  stairs 
of  the  railway  station  he  slipped  and  fell. 
By  the  fall  he  fractured  his  skull  in  such  a 


way  as  to  bring  on  a  hemorrhage.  He  was 
taken  to  St.  Luke’s  hospital,  but  died  two 
hours  later.  The  funeral  services  were  held 
on  last  Saturday,  the  burial  being  at  Mt. 
Carmel. 

Mr.  Burns  was,  at  the  time  of  his  death, 
sixty-five  years  of  age,  having  been  born  at 
Wheaton,  111.,  in  1850.  He  was  one  of  the 
veterans  of  the  coal  trade,  because  almost  all 
of  his  business  'life  was  spent  in  the  retail 
coal  business,  although  for  a  short  time  he 
engaged  in  general  teaming,  at  which  time  he 
was  also  selling  coal. 

Something  over  thirty-five  years  ago  the  re¬ 
tail  firm  of  Burns  Brothers  was  organized. 
The  two  brothers  conducted  it  at  the  same 
north  side  location  until  about  eight  or  nine 
years  ago,  when  the  other  brother  died.  John  C. 
Burns  continued  in  the  business  under  the 
old  name  until  his  untimely  death  on  July  6th. 

He  is  survived  by  four  children,  two  boys 
and  two  girls,  and  by  his  wife. 


Death  of  F.  A.  Hill. 


PoTTsviLLE,  July  15. —  (Special  Correspond¬ 
ence.) — Death  came  suddenly  to  Frank  A.  Hill, 
resident  director  of  the  Maderia  Hill  Coal  Com¬ 
pany,  at  his  home  here  tonight.  Three  days  ago 
Mr.  Hill  was  stricken  with  acute  indigestion  and, 
despite  the  most  valiant  medical  effort,  he  passed 
away  in  a  state  of  coma.  He  leaves  a  wife  and 
three  children — two  daughters  and  a  boy.  He 
was  fifty-seven  years  of  age. 

Death  came  to  him  while  he  was  engaged  in 
one  of  the  greatest  mining  operations  that  he  had 
attempted  in  his  career.  The  Maderia  Hill  Com¬ 
pany  have  been  engaged  in  opening  new  mines 
in  the  Broad  Top  mountain  and  Mr.  Hill  was 
directly  in  charge  of  this  work. 

He  was  a  practical  mining  man  and  was  the 
third  in  generation  of  a  great  mining  family. 
He  was  a  son  of  Charles  Hill,  whose  connection 
with  the  anthracite  regions  is  well  known,  and  a 
grandson  of  William  Hill,  who  made  a  lasting 
name  in  the  Pottsville  district. 

Early  in  his  life  Mr.  Hill  was  connected  with 
the  Philadelphia  &  Reading  Coal  &  Iron  Com¬ 
pany,  and  later  was  connected  with  the  first 
geological  survey  ordered  by  the  state  of  Penn¬ 
sylvania.  When  the  second  survey  was  made  he 
was  given  charge  of  the  work  in  the  middle 
anthracite  region. 

In  the  late  nineties  he  was  attracted  to  the 
semi-anthracite  district  of  West  Virginia  and 
for  some  years  was  the  president  of  the  Hall 
Coal  &  Coke  Company,  and  was  located  in  the 
Pocahontas  district. 

In  1908  he  returned  to  Pennsylvania  as  a 
director  in  the  Maderia  Hill  Company,  and  as¬ 
sumed  charge  of  the  operations  of  that  company 
in  the  Pottsville  district. 

He  was  a  man  of  the  strictest  integrity  and, 
combined  with  a  modest  and  retiring  disposition, 
he  was  an  idol  to  the  men  who  were  associated 
with  him.  There  was  not  a  man  from  the  hum¬ 
blest  miner  to  those  in  executive  capacities  to 
whom  his  word  was  not  an  accepted  fact. 

Arrangements  for  the  funeral  have  not  been 
completed  at  this  writing,  though  the  burial  will 
be  made  in  Pottsville. 


Coal  Production  in  Missouri. 


The  coal  mined  in  Missouri  in  1914  amounted 
to  3,935,980  short  tons,  valued  at  the  mines  at 
$6,802,325.  Compared  with  1913,  when  the  coal 
production  of  Missouri  was  4,318,125  short  tons, 
valued  at  $7,468,308,  the  returns  for  1!)14,  accord¬ 
ing  to  the  ITnited  States  Geological  Survey,  show 
a  decrease  of  382,145  tons  in  quantity  and  of 
$665,98:!  in  value.  The  decreased  production  in 
1914  was  due  primarily  to  the  uniformly  mild 
weather  throughout  the  winter  and  to  the  less¬ 
ened  demand  from  railroads.  The  demand  for 
steam  coal  by  manufacturers  was  fairly  well 
maintained  during  the  year,  the  transportation 
facilities  were  ample  and  satisfactory,  and  there 
was  little  interruption  to  mining  on  account  of 
labor  troubles.  There  were  occasional  shut¬ 
downs,  but  no  prolonged  period  of  idleness,  the 
time  lost  being  less  than  three  per  cent  of  the 
time  made. 

For  the  9,549  men  employed,  working  an  av¬ 
erage  of  179  day.s,  the  average  annual  produc¬ 
tion  per  man  was  412  tons,  or  2.30  tons  for  each 
workin.g  day.  About  half  of  Missouri’s  coal 
production  is  “powder  mined,”  1,834,017  tons, 
or  46.6  per  cent  of  the  total,  having  been  shot 
off  the  solid  in  1914,  a  slight  improvement  show¬ 
ing  in  these  figures  for  1914  as  against  2,021,292 
tons,  or  47  per  cent  of  the  total,  in  1913. 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


45 


No.  3] 


The  Cost  of  Selling  Coal  at  Wholesale.* 


By  W.  J.  Dillon.f 

The  jobber  or  middleman  is  one  who  acts  as 
agent  between  the  operator  and  the  final  dis¬ 
tributor.  It  will  be  admitted  without  argument 
that  the  greater  portion  of  the  domestic  coal, 
both  anthracite  and  bituminous,  in  the  west,  is 
handled  through  middlemen. 

That  the  cost  of  selling  coal  has  materially 
increased  during  the  past  ten  years  is  admitted. 
This  increase  is  due  to  the  keen  competition 
for  trade,  both  steam  and  domestic,  by  the 
wholesalers.  Not  infrequently  will  we  receive 
in  our  office  a  report  from  one  of  our  repre¬ 
sentatives  that  eight,  ten  or  a  dozen  coal  sales¬ 
men  have  called  on  the  dealers  in  a  small  town 
on  a  single  day. 

In  addition  to  salesmen  the  modern  whole¬ 
saler  has  advertised  to  a  more  or  less  degree 
through  the  newspapers,  by  circular  letters,  mov¬ 
ing  picture  slides,  etc.,  direct  to  the  consumers, 
conducting  a  campaign  to  bring  the  merit  of 
their  particular  product  to  the  one  who  consurnes 
the  coal.  While  the  production  has  largely  in¬ 


value  of  the  product  and  the  over-anxiety  to 
sell  poorly  rated  accounts.  Recently,  one  of 
our  salesmen  presented  me  with  an  order  from 
a  dealer  whom  we  refused  credit  ten  years  ago, 
as  notoriously  slow  pay,  but  this  dealer  is  still 
in  the  business  with  a  commercial  rating  of  — 8, 
and  still  slow  pay. 

To  sum  up  we  find  actual  results  from  repre¬ 
sentative  companies  as  follows ; 

A.  An  operator,  steam  and  domestic,  tonnage 
large,  entire  cost  of  selling  $.07  per  ton. 

B.  An  operator,  steam  and  domestic,  tonnage 
large,  entire  cost  of  selling  $.060  per  ton. 

C.  An  operator,  steam  and  domestic,  tonnage 
large,  entire  cost  of  selling  $.09  per  ton. 

D.  Shipper,  domestic  only,  entire  cost  of  sell¬ 
ing  $.1.5  per  ton. 

E.  Shipper,  domestic  only  entire  cost  of  sell¬ 
ing  $.16  per  ton. 

F.  Shipper,  domestic  only,  entire  cost  of  sell¬ 
ing  $.196  per  ton. 

G.  Mine  agent,  domestic  only,  entire  cost  of 
selling  over  $.20  per  ton. 


M.  Shipper,  domestic  only,  entire  cost  of  sell¬ 
ing  $.10J/^  per  ton. 

The  figures  noted  above  are  absolutely  cor¬ 
rect,  and  are  given  me  in  strict  confidence  by 
some  of  the  most  representative  of  the  opera¬ 
tors  and  wholesalers  in  this  territory.  You  must 
take  into  consideration  that  there  is  scarcely  an 
operator  who  does  not  handle  at  least  a  portion 
of  his  coal  through  the  wholesaler,  and  as  the 
selling  expense  on  what  we  commonly  call  job¬ 
bing  accounts  is  very  light,  it  brings  down  the 
average  of  the  entire  selling  cost  of  the  oper¬ 
ator. 

The  result  of  my  investigation  leads  me  to 
the  conclusion  that  an  operator’s  expense,  in¬ 
cluding  the  entire  selling  cost,  wilt  probably  av¬ 
erage  around  seven  cents  a  ton,  while  the  whole¬ 
saler  doing  a  strictly  domestic  business  will  have 
a  selling  cost  of  from  fifteen  cents  a  ton  up¬ 
ward.  The  company  that  I  represent  have  over 
a  dozen  exclusive  selling  arrangements  and  it 
is  acknowledged  that  we  can  place  a  larger  ton¬ 
nage  at  a  less  expense  than  any  of  the  individ¬ 
ual  operators  are  able  to  do,  soliciting  the  trade 
direct.  What  applies  to  our  company  will  ap¬ 
ply  to  the  representative  shipper  in  the  west. 


creased  during  the  past  fifteen  years,  the  sell¬ 
ing  expense  is  much  greater  in  proportion. 

The  cost  of  selling  coal  should  be  divided  into 
four  parts : 

First — Selling  expenses. 

Second — General  expenses. 

Third — Administrative  expenses. 

Fourth — Bad  accounts. 

Selling  expenses,  including  salesmen’s  salaries, 
expenses,  commissions,  and  advertising,  varies 
largely,  depending  whether  the  wholesalers  cater 
to  steam,  steam  and  domestic,  or  domestic  trade. 
Also,  whether  the  tonnage  is  distributed  in 
large  cities  or  country  towns.  One  of  the  larg¬ 
est  and  most  successful  Illinois  producers,  sell¬ 
ing  steam  and  domestic  trade,  tells  me  his  aver¬ 
age  cost  through  salesmen  is  $.046  a  ton,  but 
through  one  of  his  salesmen  selling  only  dom¬ 
estic  trade,  it  was  $.092  per  ton.  Another  sell¬ 
ing  domestic  trade  almost  exclusively,  shows  a 
salesman’s  expense  of  $.066  per  ton.  Another 
who  handles  all  grades  $.09  per  ton. 

General  expenses,  including  salaries  of  clerks, 
rent,  light,  telephone,  telegraph,  stationery, 
stamps,  etc.,  will  probably  be  as  low  as  three 
cents  a  ton  cost  to  an  operator  selling  largely 
to  steam  plants,  and  increasing  to  about  eight 
cents  per  ton  on  a  strictly  domestic  tonnage. 

Administrative  expenses,  including  the  salaries 
of  the  executive  offices  is  probably  the  most 
difficult  to  estimate,  but  between  one  cent  to 
three  cents  per  ton  will  cover. 

Bad  Accounts; — Among  coal  shippers  we  find 
that  seldom  is  any  provision  made  for  bad  ac¬ 
counts,  and  is  frequently  overlooked  as  a  sell¬ 
ing  expense,  the  bad  account  being  considered 
more  in  the  nature  of  the  unexpected  and  dis¬ 
agreeable,  not  to  be  faced  until  absolutely  com¬ 
pelled  to  and  frequently  carried  on  the  ledger 
as  an  asset  until  the  extra  profitable  year,  when 
it  is  charged  off.  Losses  of  wholesale  coal 
accounts  are  unusually  light  in  comparison  with 
other  lines  of  business,  considering  the  large 


*An  address  before  the  coal  convention  in  Chicago, 
July  13. 

tOf  the'  Mitchell  &  Dillon  Coal  Co.,  Chicago. 


The  Coal  Trade’s  Need  of  National  Co-operation.* 


By  Charles  F.  Kerchner.f 


No  industry  is  more  in  need  of  co-operation 
than  the  coal  trade,  and  the  coal  trade  at 
this  time  is  more  in  need  of  intelligent  co-opera¬ 
tion  than  ever  before  in  its  history.  Why? 

Because  one  definition  of  co-operation  in  an 
industry  is  given  as  the  equitable  distribution 
of  profits  among  those  who  earn  them,  which 
means  that  co-operation  should  insure  that  there 
be  some  profits  for  distribution.  Also  because 
during  the  past  twelve  months,  due  to  great  in¬ 
dustrial  depression  and  adverse  business  condi¬ 
tions,  attributed  primarily  to  the  disastrous  and 
cruel  European  War,  no  branch  of  the  coal  in¬ 
dustry  acknowledges  having  received  a  normal 
or  equitable  profit.  The  war  in  Europe  seems 
to  have  brought  on  price  wars  among  the  trade 
in  many  sections  of  the  country. 

I  am  considering  the  subject  from  the  stand¬ 
point  of  the  mine  operators,  the  coal  carriers, 
the  selling  agents  or  jobbers,  and  the  retailers  of 
coal — and  perhaps  the  consumers  as  well. 

When  we  think  of  the  vast  and  varied  inter¬ 
ests  covered  by  this  list  and  the  tremendous 
work  of  supplying  the  fuel  needs  of  this  coun¬ 
try,  and,  as  now  seems  imminent,  the  require¬ 
ments  of  many  foreign  markets  that  may  de¬ 
pend  upon  us  and  the  mineral  resources  of  our 
l)eloved  country,  the  subject  seems  appalling,  and 
much  too  important  to  be  dealt  with  except  very 
briefly  on  the  present  occasion  in  the  short  time 
allotted  me. 

When  we  consider  that  the  coal  areas  of  the 
United  States  are  all  defined  and  limited ;  that 
there  is  no  prospect  of  the  discovery  of  addi¬ 
tional  coal  fields ;  that  economy  in  mining  and 
preparing  the  coal  for  market  has  about  reached 
its  maximum,  while  on  the  other  hand  the  ever 
increasing  demand  due  to  new  industrial  uses 
and  broadening  markets — foreign  and  domestic 
— require  that  the  coal  wealth  now  in  the  ground 
be  conserved  and  protected  against  crude,  waste¬ 
ful  and  antiquated  merchandising  methods.  This 
latter  means  that  every  branch  of  the  trade 
should  be  safeguarded  against  cut-throat  com¬ 
petition  and  unfair  business  practices.  That  a 
general  and  continuous  effort  be  made  “all  along 
the  line”  to  bring  about  a  more  even  demand 
and  distribution ;  or  that  the  supply  keep  in 
closer  step  with  the  demand,  and  that  periods 
of  great  shortage  in  markets  due  to  the  inabil¬ 
ity  of  the  mines  to  produce,  or  the  railroads  to 
transport  quickly  to  satisfy  the  immediate  de¬ 
mand  for  coal,  are  not  followed  later  by  an 
overstocked  market  and  ruinous  prices. 

The  anthracite  companies  have  been  consider¬ 
ing,  during  the  past  year,  the  question  of  reduc¬ 
ing  the  number  of  sizes  now  prepared  and  sold 
by  them.  A  decrease  in  the  number  of  sizes,  if 
it  would  be  managed  without  disturbing  present 
markets  or  lessening  the  demand  by  the  intro¬ 
duction  of  competing  substitutes,  would  be  to 
the  advantage  of  the  mining  companies  and  of 
some  advantage  to  the  retail  distrilnitor.  1  cite 
this  simply  as  an  instance  where  working  to- 


*A  speech  at  the  coal  baiiqHet  in  Chicago,  July  12. 
tOf  Hall  Bros.  &  Co.,  Baltimore,  Md. 


gether  might  help  solve  an  important  problem. 

The  necessity  of  co-operation  in  the  coal  trade 
must  have  been  recognized  early  in  its  history. 
This  is  evidenced  by  the  many  exchanges,  asso¬ 
ciations,  clubs  and  organizations  of  all  kinds 
that  have  been  projected  in  the  past,  also  by  the 
many  local  and  state  organizations  that  flourish 
at  the  present  time.  A  great  number  of  these 
are  composed  of  retailers  and  are  intended  to 
safeguard  the  interests  principally  of  the  retail 
distributors  of  coal. 

About  this  time  of  the  year  our  trade  papers 
devote  no  inconsiderable  space  in  their  columns 
to  convention  proceedings  of  these  associations. 
Occasionally  we  find  statements  from  their  offi¬ 
cers  that  they  find  it  difficult  to  get  their  mem¬ 
bers  to  attend  and  those  that  are  present  to  take 
a  lively  interest  in  the  matters  under  discussion, 
or  to  give  attention  to  papers  presented  at  their 
business  sessions.  Of  our  city  exchanges  some 
are  doing  nicely,  while  in  others  the  members 
in  utter  violation  of  fundamental  business  prin¬ 
ciples  are  engaged  in  price-cutting  campaigns 
that  must  mean  serious  money  loss  and  sacrifice 
of  capital  and  credit.  These  spasmodic  out¬ 
breaks,  often  started  by  one  kickinp^  member, 
justify  the  thought  that  “one  fool  makes  many” 
is  often  as  true  in  the  coal  trade  as  on  a  frolic, 
and  often  apparently  unsettle  or  annul  the  efforts 
of  several  years  of  patient  organization.  Why 
have  these  irregular  and  unsatisfactory  condi- 
fions  prevailed?  What  is  the  answer? 

It  is  a  fact,  as  one  writer  observed,  “that  men 
cannot  co-operate  successfully  for  any  purpose 
if  the  sole  bond  between  them  is  one  of  self 
interest.”  Are  we  hampered  too  much  by  tra¬ 
dition  and  precedent?  Isn’t  it  about  time  that 
a  manly  effort  be  made  to  bring  these  various 
interests  of  this  great  industry  together  in  one 
strong  national  organization  that  will  be  always 
and  everywhere  truly  representative.  That  will 
be  mutually  beneficial  and  protective.  That  will 
carry  the  educational  work  into  every  city  and 
town  and  village  in  our  land.  That  might  be 
competent  to  voice  the  sentiments  of  the  trade 
as  a  body  on  any  national  or  state  legislative 
question  that  directly  or  indirectly  affect  ad¬ 
versely  or  otherwise  the  interests  of  the  trade. 
That  no  question  would  be  too  large  or  too  com- 
l)le.x  for  the  organization  to  haiKlle,  while  leav¬ 
ing  strictly  local  matters  to  the  state  or  local 
association  ? 

Is  there  need  in  the  trade  now  for  such  an 
organization,  and  isn’t  this  the  psychological  imi- 
ment  to  project  it?  Your  presence  here  indi¬ 
cates  that  you  believe  in  the  value  of  organized 
effort  and  suggests  to  my  mind  that  you  ma\’ 
agree  with  my  conclusions.  If  so,  how  shall  we 
bring  this  National  .-\ssociation  into  being?  Or¬ 
ganize  here  with  charter  members,  adopt  charter 
and  by-laws,  and  begin  a  recruiting  campaign, 
etc.,  etc.  Or  shall  we  make  use  of  Kokoal, 
adopting  its  many  valualfle  features,  principal 
among  them  being  its  social  and  fraternal  ideas. 
If  the  latter  be  joined  with  some  serious  object 
that  would  appeal  to  the  material  interests  of 
the  various  branches  of  the  trade,  we  will  have 
an  ideal  organization  that  will  command  the  uni¬ 
versal  support  and  resjject  of  our  trade  mem¬ 
bers. 


46 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[July  17 


Practical  Experience  in  Selling  Coal  for  Cash.* 


The  cash  or  not  the  cash — that’s  tlie  ques¬ 
tion. 

To  do  without  it  is  out  of  tlie  question  and 
to  get  any  real,  clean  net  cash  out  of  the  re¬ 
tail  coal  business  is  a  question  of  great  mag¬ 
nitude. 

My  argument  is  to  get  the  money  first  and 
take  chances  upon  retaining  at  least  a  small 
percentage  of  it,  rather  than  to  assume  the 
compound  risk  or  ever  getting  it  and  getting 
enough  of  it  when  we  do  get  it  to  have  any 
left  for  our  own  pockets  after  defraying  ex¬ 
penses. 

Shakespeare  also  said: 

"Out  of  this  nettle,  danger,  we  pluck  this 
flower,  safety.” — (King  Henry  iv.  Part  i.) 

One  of  the  great  present  day  slogans  is 
“Safety  First”  and  in  the  retail  coal  business 
it  should  be  first,  last  and  all  the  time.  The 
cash  plan  is  our  only  guarantee  of  safety. 

Beginning  the  season  of  1914,  May  1st,  our 
company  having  grown  tired  of  and  disgusted 
with  the  credit  feature  of  the  domestic  trade, 
decided  it  was  almost  a  choice  between  dis¬ 
continuing  our  retail  department  entirely  or 
establishing  same  upon  a  cash  basis,  so  we 
chose  the  latter  and  as  proof  of  our  satisfac¬ 
tory  experience  we  are  still  operating  upon 
that  basis  and  will  continue  to  do  so  as  long  as 
we  continue  to  sell  domestic  coal  at  retail. 

Before  undertaking  the  change  from  the 
credit  to  the  cash  basis  we  estimated  that  we 
would  lose  at  least  twenty-five  per  cent  and 
possibly  forty  per  cent  of  our  business,  but 
notwithstanding  the  keen  competition  of  our 
neighboring  dealers — selling  at  the  same  prices 
and  less — for  cash  or  credit,  our  sales  of  do¬ 
mestic  grades  showed  an  increase  of  over 
twenty-five  per  cent  the  first  year,  and  so  far 
this  season  they  show  an  increase  of  better 
than  thirty-three  and  a  third  per  cent  over  the 
same  period  last  year  and  we  have  experienced 
and  enjoyed  more  real  satisfaction  in  the 
handling  of  our  business  than  we  ever  thought 
possible,  in  fact,  for  many  reasons,  we  are 
fully  convinced  it  is  the  only  correct  basis 
upon  which  to  operate  successfully  under  pres¬ 
ent  day  conditions. 

In  the  first  place  coal  is  a  common  com¬ 
modity — a  necessity  and  a  not  a  luxury.  Like 
Kentucky  whiskey,  it  is  all  good — some  grades 
and  brands  better  than  others — every  dealer’s 
pet  brand  is  the  best,  or  he  says  as  much 
whether  he  really  thinks  it  or  not,  and  the 
majority  of  us  keep  on  boosting  our  own 
brands  until  we,  ourselves,  finally  come  to 
believe  in  them.  The  ultimate  consumer  of 
coal  is  the  only  real  purchaser — the  producers, 
brokers  and  dealers  being  mere  handlers  of 
it,  and  why  does  the  consumer  buy  coal? — 
purely  as  a  necessity,  and  there’s  no  reasoiv 
whatever  for  offering  the  buyer  anything  in 
the  way  of  inducements  to  buy  more  than  act¬ 
ual  requirements.  There  is  nothing  pleas¬ 
ant  about  the  transaction  in  so  far  as  the 
purchaser  is  concerned,  in  fact,  the  fuel  bill 
is  one  all  of  us  detest  the  same  as  we  do  the 
water  bill,  telephone  bill,  light  bill  and  tax 
bill,  and  the  sooner  we  pay  these  bills  and 
get  the  grouch  out  of  our  system  the  better 
our  liver  behaves — and  the  cash  plan  does  the 
work. 

The  Credit  System  in  merchandising  was,  I 
suppose,  inaugurated  originally  as  a  matter 
of  convenience  and  I  admit  there  is  an  ele¬ 
ment  of  luxury  and  ease  in  it,  the  path  of 
least  resistance,  if  you  please,  but  to  my  mind 
the  system  does  not  belong  in  the  retail  branch 
of  the  coal  trade  today  and  if  there  ever  was 
a  time  when  it  was  needed  it  has  long  since 
outlived  its  usefulness.  The  credit  problem 
is  one  of  the  greatest,  if  not  the  greatest  prob¬ 
lem  in  the  retail  trade. 

For  the  past  several  years  I  have  tried  to 
read  rather  carefully  the  leading  coal  trade 
journals'  of  the  United  States  and  have  been 
especially  interested  in  all  articles  pertaining 
to  the  credit  problem,  and  never  yet  have  1 
seen  any  solution  of  that  problem  except  the 
application  of  the  cash  system  to  it  and  then 
it  becomes  as  simple  as  the  simplest  puzzle 
after  once  explained. 

You  will  note  that  at  almost  every  coal  con¬ 
vention  much  is  heard  of  the  credit  problem, 
and  usually  the  secretary’s  report  contains  a 


*An  address  before  the  Coal  Convention  in  Chicago, 
July  12. 

tCreneral  manager  of  the  Scanlan  Coal  Company,  Louis¬ 
ville.  Ky. 


By  G.  T.  Rider. t 

A  Masterful  Assembly  of  Facts  to  Prove 
That  Selling  for  Cash  Is  the  Only  Safe 
Method  for  the  Retailer  to  Adopt. 


lot  of  figures  showing  the  great  number  of 
slow  accounts  placed  with  the  collection  de¬ 
partment  and  how  successful  has  been  that 
department  in  collecting  them. 

And  yet  these  reports  cover  only  the  ac¬ 
counts  turned  into  the  association  for  collec¬ 
tion,  but  there  is  no  earthly  record  obtainable 
showing  the  total  amount  of  losses  sustained 
through  the*  credit  system,  because  the  ma¬ 
jority  of  us  are  ashamed  to  admit  even  to 
ourselves  that  we  have  been  such  “easy  marks.” 
St.  Peter  may  have  a  complete  record  of  these 
losses,  but  only  he,  and  few  of  us  coal  dealers 
can  hope  to  ever  see  that  record  because  of 
the  sins  we  have  committed  in  permitting  a 
lot  of  deadbeats  to  rob  our  families  of  that 
to  which  they  were  justly  entitled  and  from 
which,  they  would,  no  doubt,  have  benefited 
had  it  not  been  for  our  moral  cowardice  in 
standing  idly  by  and  seeing  them  robbed  with¬ 
out  ever  raising  a  hand  in  defense. 

Mr.  Arthur  F.  Rice,  the  able  commissioner 
of  the  Coal  Merchants’  Association  of  New 
York  (whom  I  have  had  the  pleasure  of  meet¬ 
ing),  an  eminent  gentleman  indeed,  and  has, 
no  doubt,  devoted  more  time  and  effort  to 
the  solving  of  the  many  knotty  problems  of  the 
retail  trade  than  any  other  one  man  in  the 
United  States,  in  his  eleventh  annual  report 
submitted  to  his  association  last  December, 
says: 

“With  the  exception  of  the  greatly  improved 
market  condition,  the  matter  of  most  vital  im¬ 
portance  to  the  trade  this  year  is  the  new 
credit  system,  which  has  been  inaugurated  and 
put  into  successful  operation.  I  began  to  urge 
this  matter  upon  the  association  four  or  five 
years  ago  and  have  done  so  periodically  ever 
since.  The  amount  of  money  that  has  been 
lost  meanwhile  has  unquestionably  been  very 
large,  and  early  this  season  the  dealers  were 
aroused  to  the  necessity  of  stopping  this  big 
leak  if  possible.” 

He  devotes  the  better  part  of  three  pages 
of  his  report  to  their  splendid  credit  system — 
and  I  assure  you  it  is  a  good  one — especially 
with  Mr.  Rice  in  charge.  And  this  report  fur¬ 
ther  states: 

“Up  to  December  1st  (in  less  than  a  year) 
there  have  been  sent  in  ],189  claims,  300  more 
than  last  year,  aggregating  $107,741.37.” 

That  is  for  just  one  portion  of  one  year, 
remember,  and  for  less  than  the  two-year 
period  this  report  admits  over  2,000  claims 
sent  in.  And,  gentlemen,  think  of  it — that’s 
one  city  only — a  large  one,  it’s  true,  but  the 
losses  you  will  note  are  in  proportion  to  its 
size. 

The  Coal  Trade  Journal  of  New  York  in 
commenting  upon  this  feature  of  the  New 
York  association  says: 

“The  new  system  of  collecting  and  dissemi¬ 
nating  credit  information,  which  was  estab¬ 
lished  by  the  New  York  Coal  Merchants’  As¬ 
sociation  in  August,  has  worked  very  satisfac¬ 
torily  during  the  few  months  it  has  been  in 
operation.  The  system  is  simple  and  is  in¬ 
tended  to  be  fair  to  buyers  as  well  as  sellers; 
in  fact,  the  association  has  an  arbitrating  com¬ 
mittee  whose  duy  it  is  to  investigate  any  cases 
where  a  buyer  might  wrongfully  and  hastily 
be  considered  as  unworthy  of  credit;  the  main 
object  of  the  system  being  to  prevent  crooked 
and  irresponsible  buyers  from  defrauding  the 
dealers. 

“When  a  dealer  has  exhausted  every  other 
means  of  collecting  money  due  him,  he  sends 
in  to  the  association  a  form  of  letter,  which 
is  supplied  to  all  the  members,  filling  in  the 
facts  in  the  case  so  that  the  officials  have  a 
thorough  knowledge  of  it.  Immediately  upon 
receipt  of  this,  a  letter  is  sent  to  the  delinquent 
party  informing  him  that  the  account  has  been 
taken  in  hand  for  collection  and  asking  for 
an  immediate  settlement. 

“On  the  same  day  a  white  card  is  sent  to  all 
members,  on  which  the  name  and  amount  is 
written — ^nothing  more.  The  receipt  of  this 
card  by  the  members  of  the  association  indi¬ 
cates  that  the  credit  of  the  party  named  is  in 


doubt.  Very  often  settlement  is  made  at  once, 
but  if  not  a  second  letter  is  sent,  and  receiv¬ 
ing  no  response  within  a  specified  time,  a  blue 
card  with  the  same  name  and  amount  on  it  is 
mailed,  which  informs  the  members  that  the 
party  is  not  entitled  to  any  credit. 

“Naturally,  being  thus  informed,  no  dealer 
will  sell  this  party  except  for  cash.  When  a 
buyer  whose  credit  has  thus  been  questioned 
pays  his  bills,  a  pink  card  is  sent  out  from  our 
office.  This  means  that  the  man’s  record  is 
now  clear,  and  he  may  be  sold  on  credit;  but 
the  possession  of  the  previous  cards  inclines 
the  dealer  to  be  cautious  in  his  dealing  with 
him. 

“The  results  of  the  system  have  exceeded  the 
most  sanguine  expectations  and  every  mem¬ 
ber  is  enthusiastic  over  it.  The  crooks  are 
being  brought  into  line  and  the  chances  of  los¬ 
ing  money  are  reduced  to  the  lowest  terms. 
Moreover,  the  advantages  of  the  system  are 
so  manifest,  and  it  is  so  logically  clear  to  the 
dealers  that  those  who  are  not  in  it  would  be 
pretty  sure  to  have  this  undesirable  trade  run¬ 
ning  to  them,  that  they  have  all  come  in. 

“The  association’s  collection  department  is 
making  almost  a  record  this  year  in  getting 
in  many  bills.  The  amount  of  money  that  has 
been  lost  by  the  trade  through  loose  credits 
would  be  appalling  if  it  could  be  known  and 
a  tremendous  leak  has  been  checked.” 

At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Philadelphia 
Coal  Exchange  held  last  December  its  able 
assistant  secretary,  Mr.  H.  Landgraf,  was  com¬ 
mended  for  the  able  manner  in  which  he  had 
conducted  the  various  departments  of  the  or¬ 
ganization  and  especially  the  Credit  and  Col¬ 
lection  Bureau. 

I  will  read  you  from  that  report: 

“I  will  therefore  confine  my  report  to  the 
work  that  has  been  assigned  to  me,  the  collec¬ 
tion  of  accounts  that  have  gone  beyond  your 
control  and  the  information  imparted  by  the 
credit  department. 

“The  offerings  of  accounts  for  collection 
during  the  early  part  of  this  year  were  not 
very  many,  but  what  was  lacking  in  the  be¬ 
ginning  has  been  fully  made  up  during  the 
latter  end  of  1914.  There  have  never  been  so 
many  claims  presented  at  any  particular  time 
as  now,  the  increase  is  at  the  least  calculation 
100  per  cent  and  over,  against  the  same  period 
during  the  year  1913  and  in  fact  at  any  time 
since  1908.  Not  a  day  passes  on  which  there 
is  not  a  number  of  new  accounts  received,  a 
thing  that  has  never  happened  before.  I  have 
long  ago  recognized  the  fact  and  necessity  of 
delving  ever  deeper  into  new  schemes  to  at¬ 
tain  results.  It  keeps  the  office  force  of  the 
exchange  extremely  busy  at  all  times.  Old 
offenders  are  frequently  encountered  and  with 
such  people  our  old  letters  would  have  as 
little  effect  as  water  would  have  on  the  back  of 
a  duck,  if  we  did  not  have  something  new  to 
use  on  them  to  bring  the  result. 

“Coming  now  to  the  state  of  affairs,  as 
existing  along  the  line  of  inquiry  for  credit, 
I  have  all  along  maintained  that  every  person 
with  whom  the  members  have  time  accounts, 
should  be  listed  with  the  Exchange.  It  may 
be  objected  to,  that  the  files  of  the  Exchange 
need  not  be  burdened  with  accounts  that  are 
perfectly  good,  but  what  about  the  good  ac¬ 
counts  that  become  poor?  The  trouble  is  that 
our  members  do  not  embody  in  their  office 
methods  and,  routine  the  systematic  making 
of  reports.  Our  experience  to  date  is  that 
slow  pay  and  very  slow  pay  parties  are  rarely 
reported  and  undesirables  only  after  every 
effort  to  collect  has  failed,  and  then  it  is  usually 
too  late  to  stop  a  beat  from  obtaining  addi¬ 
tional  credit,  hence,  having  piled  onto  him¬ 
self  a  still  greater  burden  than  he  was  able  to 
carry  before  the  creation  of  additional  credit, 
is  in  many  instances  unable  to  meet  the  old 
debt,  which  thus  becomes  a  loss  instead  of 
merely  a  suspended  account.  Further,  what  is 
the  matter  with  the  account  that  is  too  slow 
to  be  profitable?  Such  accounts  are,  per¬ 
chance,  only  too  often  forgot  or  report  entirely 
neglected.  After  such  a  party  has  paid,  the 
member  makes  up  his  mind  never  to  sell  him 
again,  and  there  the  matter  rests,  report  to  the 
Exchange  is  not  made  at  all.  I  have  heard 
it  expressed  hundreds  of  times,  that  when  the 
Exchange  has  no  report  on  file,  that  person 
must  be  O.  K.,  if  not,  he  would  have  been  re¬ 
ported. 

“The  credit  department  has  been  exceedingly 
busy  with  inquiries  during  the  last  four 


No.  3] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


47 


months,  in  fact  so  busy  that  ive  have  had  to 
slight  some  matters  in  many  instances,  that  ivould 
otherwise  have  received  more  careful  painstak¬ 
ing  attention.  Yet  this  cannot  be  wondered 
at.  As  I  have  stated  before,  the  collections 
have  increased  100  per  cent  and  more  and  the 
inquiries  have  increased  from  200  to  300  per 
cent  over  those  of  last  year  during  the  same 
period  of  the  year.  Additional  to  that  comes 
the  fact  that  our  members  do  not  make  sys¬ 
tematic  efiforts  to  report,  and  some  no  re¬ 
ports  at  all,  so  that  we  have  to  advise  to  in¬ 
quire  of  the  credit-seeker  the  name  of  the  pre¬ 
vious  coalman.  This  necessitates  two  extra 
’phone  calls,  to  the  previous  dealer  and  again 
to  the  inquirer.  In  this  manner  our  work  is 
tripled  and  causes  the  loss  of  an  immense 
amount  of  time  needed  elsewhere.  Again  and 
again  we  have  found  that  the  information  re¬ 
ceived  was  what  should  have  been  reported 
to  the  Exchange  long  ago,  hence,  by  the  fact 
that  some  members  make  no  reports  a  great 
deal  unnecessary  work  is  piled  upon  the  small 
clerical  force  of  the  Exchange  office.  There 
is  one  concern  making  innumerable  inquiries 
each  day,  but  makes  no  systematic  reports 
whatsoever  to  keep  the  files  of  the  Exchange 
alive.  In  many  instances  where  we  had  to 
ask  them  for  information  the  parties  were 
either  undesirable  or  in  their  debt  for  a  con¬ 
siderable  length  of  time.” 

And  we  now  arrive  home — right  here  in  your 
little  village,  Chicago,  and  I  beg  to  quote  from 
the  report  of  Mr.  Wm.  D.  Elmstrom,  presi¬ 
dent  of  the  local  Coal  Merchants’  Association, 
which  report  he  delivered  the  association  at 
its  annual  meeting  held  here  in  your  city  last 
April. 

(See  page  336  Black  Diamond,  April  17.) 

Credit  Information. 

“Our  credit  information  and  files  now  con¬ 
tain  something  like  19,000  names.  It  has 
taken  several  years,  with  great  expense,  to 
compile  this  information,  and  it  is  one  of  the 
most  important  features  connected  with  our 
association.  You  should  not  fail  to  take  ad¬ 
vantage  of  this  information,  and  by  keeping 
in  touch  with  this  department  you  will  pos¬ 
sibly  save  many  times  the  expense  of  your 
membership. 

“During  the  past  year  we  have  adopted  and 
printed  a  uniform  application  blank  for  credit 
which  is  particularly  adapted  to  the  coal  trade. 
These  blanks  are  furnished  to  the  members 
free  and  should  be  freely  used,  and  when  prop¬ 
erly  handled  will  be  of  much  benefit  to  mem¬ 
bers  when  credit  is  requested. 

“With  a  view  to  increasing  the  efficiency  of 
our  credit  department  your  board  of  directors 
authorized  our  commissioner  to  take  out  a 
membership  in  the  Chicago  Association  of 
Credit  Men.  This  association  is  composed 
of  representatives  of  the  principal  mercantile 
houses  in  Chicago,  and  a  membership  therein 
will  be  of  much  benefit  to  the  members  of  our 
organization,  for  additional  credit  information 
can  be  secured  from  that  source  through  our 
office. 

“Our  association  has  made  arrangements 
with  the  Chicago  Real  Estate  Index  Company 
whereby  the  members  can  verify  the  owner¬ 
ship,  etc.,  of  property  through  our  office,  which 
also  will  be  useful  for  credit  information.” 

At  this  same  meeting  and  under  the  heading 
“Collection  Department”  the  commissioner,  Mr. 
N.  H.  Kendall,  stated  in  part: 

See  pages  (337-338)  Black  Diamond,  April 
17,  1915.) 

“Collection  Department. 

“From  May  1,  1908,  to  March  31,  1914,  there 
was  collected  through  the  collection  depart¬ 
ment  $131,059.78,  and  during  this  year  the  de¬ 
partment  was  successful  in  collecting  $13,098.02, 
bringing  the  total  amount  of  our  collections 
up  to  $144,157.80. 

“The  great  obstacle  is  the  time  required 
to  make  the  collections.  Occasionally,  an  ac¬ 
count  is  sent  in  which  we  are  able  to  collect 
in  full  in  a  few  days,  while  we  have  a  large 
number  of  accounts  which  have  been  worked 
for  over  one  and  two  years,  and  some  few 
that  are  still  alive  that  are  as  old  as  five 
years. 

“There  were  sent  in  for  collection  698  ac¬ 
counts,  amounting  to  $35,493.14.  Of  this  num¬ 
ber  the  association  collected  128  accounts,  or 
a  fraction  over  eighteen  per  cent,  aggregating 
$5,146.65,  a  little  less  than  fifteen  per  cent  of 
the  total  amount  of  all  the  accounts  tendered. 


“Being  unable  to  realize  on  a  certain  por¬ 
tion  of  the  698  accounts  previously  men¬ 
tioned,  362  of  them  were  placed  in  the  hands 


of  attorneys  or  ouside  agencies.  There  were, 
however,  quite  a  few  of  these  362  which  re¬ 
quired  the  services  of  an  attorney  when  placed 
in  our  hands,  and  the  association  immediately 
transmitted  them  for  legal  attention. 

“An  account  under  six  months  old  is  very 
seldom  sent  to  the  association  unless  the 
debtor  has  absolutely  refused  to  pay  or  there 
is  some  other  reason  why  action  is  taken  under 
six  months.  Comparatively  few  accounts  un¬ 
der  qne  year  old  are  turned  in,  and  the  age  of 
the  account  runs  from  that  point  up  to  three 
and  four  years,  and  we  have  had  them  five 
and  six  years  old.  One  in  particular,  which 
comes  to  my  mind,  was  for  less  than  $10.00, 
and  was  twelve  years  old. 

“Regardless  of  our  efforts  to  have  accounts 
placed  for  collection  earlier  there  are  still 
large  amounts  now  standing  on  members’ 
books,  and  you  only  need  to  refer  to  the 
figures  above,  reading  306  accounts  aggregat¬ 
ing  $19,403.14  in  the  hands  of  attorneys,  which 
have  not,  as  yet,  been  realized  upon,  to  see 
the  condition  of  the  accounts  when  sent  to 
the  association. 

“Many  of  the  accounts  included  in  this  list 
came  to  us  against  parties,  some  of  them 
named  Smith,  Jones  and  Johnson,  with  no 
initials  on  the  statement,  and  upon  inquiry, 
it  was  found  that  the  members  had  been  so  lax 
as  to  extend  credit  in  this  loose  manner.” 
and  under  the  heading  “Credit  Department,”  he 
says  further: 

(See  page  338  Black  Diamond,  April  17, 
1915.) 

“Credit  Department. 

“The  credit  feature  of  our  collection  de¬ 
partment  has  been  vastly  improved  in  the  past 
year,  and  will  be  still  further  improved  in 
future.  We  can  only  give  out  such  informa¬ 
tion  as  can  be  gathered.  Our  source  of  sup¬ 
ply  is  the  ledgers  of  our  members.  If  these 
ledgers  are  not  open  to  this  office  in  the  way 
of  the  reports,  which  we  beg  for  monthly,  we 
will  be  unable  to  supply  you  with  advance  in¬ 
formation. 

“During  the  past  year  our  new  book  was 
issued  containing  about  16,000  names,  and  from 
July  1st  to  date  members  have  been  supplied 
with  2,985  additional  items  of  information.” 

On  the  editorial  page  of  the  Retail  Coalman, 
January,  1915,  we  find  the  following:  (See 
page  45.) 

“How  Much  Bad  Debts? 

“We  are  publishing  an  unusually  interest¬ 
ing  letter  on  another  page  of  this  issue  from 
a  retail  coal  merchant  giving  his  experience 
for  the  past  twelve  years  in  amounts  lost 
through  bad  accounts  and  asking  for  infor¬ 
mation  from  other  retailers  along  the  same 
line. 

“This  dealer  has  found  that  on  an  annual 
business  of  $45,000,  they  have  had  to  charge 
off  about  $1,000  a  year  in  bad  accounts  or  a 
per  cent  of  two  and  thirty-one  hundredths 
on  the  total  business  done.  Figured  on  a 
tonnage  basis  this  makes  an  average  of  four¬ 
teen  cents  a  ton  on  all  the  coal  sold  to  offset 
the  amount  lost  from  bad  debts. 

“He  raises  the  point  that  if  these  figures  are 
not  higher  than  most  dealers  suffer,  then  it 
would  seem  advisable  to  enforce  a  cash  basis 
instead  of  allowing  credit  in  the  coal  business. 

“In  any  event  a  decidedly  interesting  ques¬ 
tion  is  raised  and  the  editor  would  particularly 
appreciate  receiving  letters  from  our  readers 
on  this  subject,  giving  their  experiences  and 
the  percentage  that  the  amount  they  charge 
off  each  year  on  bad  accounts  bears  to  their 
total  volume  of  business.  Any  information 
given  to  the  editor  along  this  line  will  be  con¬ 
sidered  strictly  confidential  and  no  names  will 
be  given  in  connection  with  it.  In  other 
words,  all  we  want  is  the  figures  in  order  to 
find  out  just  how  much  is  the  average  that 
retail  coal  merchants  have  to  charge  off  on 
account  of  bad  debts  in  proportion  to  their 
total  sales  each  year.” 

With  reference  to  this,  I  claim  it  is  a  mis¬ 
take  to  calculate  the  percentage  of  loss  on 
the  volume  of  business  handled  because  in  the 
handling  of  coal  there  is  not  a  legitimate  mar¬ 
gin  of  profit  basing  the  calculation  on  the 
gross  sales;  therefore,  the  correct  way  to 
reckon  the  loss  from  bad  accounts  is  to  com¬ 
pare  same  with  the  net  profits  of  the  business 
and  determine  what  proportion  such  losses 
bear  to  the  net  profits.  For  example,  say  a 
retail  dealer  handles  a  gross  business  of  quar¬ 
ter  of  a  million  dollars  per  year — does  he 
make  what  may  be  called  a  legitimate  mer¬ 
chandising  margin  of  from  ten  to  twenty  per 
cent  on  that  volume?  Not  by  any  means — 


in  fact  that  concern  considers  itself  quite 
fortunate  to  clear  even  two  per  cent,  or  $5,000 
per  year  and  if  its  losses  from  credit  risks 
amount  to  as  much  as  $1,000  per  year  it  is 
only  two-fifths  of  one  per  cent  on  the  total 
volume,  which  sounds  very  small,  but  it  rep¬ 
resents  sixteen  and  two-thirds  per  cent  of 
what  should  be  the  net  profits — or  in  other 
words,  the  dealers  figures  up  the  year’s  work 
and  finds  a  net  profit  of  $6,000  or  two  and 
two-fifths  per  cent  on  the  total — but  after 
charging  off  the  bad  debts  he  has  only  $5,000 
net,  consequently  he  has  lost  sixteen  and  two- 
thirds  of  his  net  returns  by  extending  credit. 

A  dealer  in  Portland,  Maine,  in  a  communi¬ 
cation  to  The  Coal  Trade  Journal  is  reported 
in  one  of  that  paper’s  recent  issues  as  saying: 

“In  regard  to  the  matter  of  selling  coal 
strictly  for  cash,  will  say,  while  this  matter  has 
been  gone  over  quite  thoroughly  at  different 
times  by  the  different  dealers,  it  has  never 
seemed  wise  to  adopt  it.  The  opinion  of  the 
vvriter  has  always  been  that  it  would  be  en¬ 
tirely  impracticable,  based  largely  on  the 
premises  that  it  is  too  arbitrary.  Our  liberal 
discount  of  4  per  cent  brings  very  large  re¬ 
turns  from  those  who  are  in  position  to  pay 
promptly,  the  whole  matter  being  one  in  its 
'last  analysis  of  good  judgment  in  extending 
credits.” 

This  objection  is  very  nicely  answered  by 
another  article  appearing  in  the  same  issue 
of  that  same  paper,  although  the  writer  of  it 
was  not,  of  course,  aware  of  the  fact  that  he 
was  answering  it.  He  says: 

“Some  Thoughts  on  the  Credit  Problem. 

“A  slow-as  molasses  customer  who  had  al¬ 
ways  been  one  year  behind  in  payment  for  his 
bin  coal,  on  settling  with  the  old  firm  and  be¬ 
ing  introduced  to  the  new  purchaser  of  the 
coal  yard,  said  with  some  warmth:  ‘If  I 
had  known  you  had  sold  out,  I  would  have 
given  the  money  to  some  other  concern.’  This 
story  voices  very  aptly  the  feeling  of  the  aver¬ 
age  consumer  of  fuel,  especially  those  who 
have  been  carried  along  from  season  to  sea¬ 
son  by  easy-going  dealers. 

“The  argument  so  often  used  that  ‘credit 
holds  trade’  vanishes  into  thin  air  when  a  cut 
rate  is  made  by  some  rival  establishment. 
This  question  of  getting  and  using  the  other 
fellow’s  goods  and  then  making  him  beg  for 
the  pay  is  all  wrong.  People  ought  to  have 
the  moral  of  this  taught  in  the  schools,  for 
even  the  laws  seem  all  made  in  favor  of  de¬ 
linquent  payers.” 

Now  gentlemen,  I  must  apologize  for  con¬ 
suming  so  much  of  your  time  and  so  much 
of  the  time  of  this  convention,  but  in  order 
to  back  up  my  argument  in  favor  of  the  Cash 
.System  I  wanted  to  call  your  attention  to  the 
fact  that  the  “Credit  Problm”  is  a  paramount 
question  before  the  present  day  retailer — yes, 
and  the  wholesaler  as  well. 

I  have  shown  from  the  reports  read  that  the 
major  portion  of  the  time  of  the  active  offi¬ 
cers  of  the  retail  associations  throughout  the 
country  is  taken  up  by  these  Credit  and  Col¬ 
lection  Bureaus.  There  is  no  question  about 
its  being  great  work  and  I  heartily  commend 
it,  for  it  justly  deserves  commendation,  but 
let’s  come  right  down  to  the  meat  in  the 
cocoanut,  look  ourselves  square  in  the  face 
and  ask  ourselves  if  the  game  is  worth  the 
candle? 

These  reports  tell  about  all  the  money  they 
collected  from  dead  beats,  but  none  of  them 
state  what  it  cost  the  association  to  collect 
them  nor  what  it  cost  the  dealers  to  try  to 
collect  them  before  they  were  turned  into  the 
association. 

I  can  tell  you,  and  I  say  it  without  the  least 
fear  of  successful  contradiction,  that  from  the 
time  those  accounts  were  opened  on  the  ledg¬ 
ers  of  the  dealers,  until  collected  by  the  as¬ 
sociation,  every  dollar  collected  has  cost  more 
than  one  hundred  cents,  not  to  say  anything 
about  the  loss  of  religion  involved. 

Would  it  not  be  a  thousand  times  lietter  for 
all  of  us  to  do  away  with  this  Credit  and  Col¬ 
lection  work  of  the  association,  thereby  stop¬ 
ping  the  enormous  expense  of  it  and  have  our 
secretaries  or  commissioners  devote  that  time 
and  money  tojthe  live  issues  of  the  day  in  an 
effort  to  place  our  enterprise  upon  a  business 
basis — a  higher  and  better — a  more  dignified 
plane,  where  it  justly  belongs? 

In  order  to  do  this  it  is,  of  course,  neces¬ 
sary  to  establish  the  Cash  System  universally 
in  the  retail  trade — and  why  not?  The  prin¬ 
cipal  argument  against  it  is  as  heretofore 
stated  by  one  writer — that  it  is  “too  arbitrary,” 
that,  to  my  mind,  is  just  where  the  mistake 
is  being  made.  There  is  nothing  arbitrary 


48 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[July  1/ 


about  tlie  Cash  system — that  all  belongs  to  the 
Credit  System,  because  it  is  a  very  tine  point 
indeed  to  draw  the  line  between  the  con¬ 
sumer  who  is  entitled  to  credit  and  the  one 
one  who  is  not,  and  the  mortal  man  who 
can  perform  that  task  successfully  has  not  yet 
been  born — many  of  us  have  tried  it  and  are 
trying  it  today,  unsuccessfully,  and  what  is 
the  result?  The  loss  of  friendship,  the  loss 
of  patronage  and  the  loss  of  money.  1  say 
the  loss  of  friendship  because  you  must  make 
enemies  when  y(ni  refuse  credit  to  one  and 
extend  it  to  another,  when,  no  doubt,  the  one 
refused  considers  himself  or  herself  as  much 
or  more  entitled  to  credit  than  the  person 
granted  it,  and  frequently  such  is  the  case,  as 
T  have  heretofore  proven.  When  you  inake 
the  announcement  that  you  extend  credit  to 
no  one — rich  or  poor,  prince  or  peasant — it  is 
more  clearly  understood  and  notwithstanding 
the  general  opinion  of  the  average  dealer  to 
the  contrary,  fewer  enemies  are  made  than  in 
the  case  of  undertaking  the  separation  of  the 
sheep  from  the  goats,  as  it  were. 

There  is  so  much  to  be  said  in  favor  of  the 
Cash  System  that  the  entire  two  days  allotted 
to  this  convention  could  be  consumed  and  the 
question  not  done  justice,  but  I  have  already 
imposed  upon  you  to  such  an  extent  that  I 
will  close  by  quoting  from  that  learned  and 
eloquent  brother,  Kokoal,  and  a  brother  in  the 
trade  of  long  standing  and  wide  experience, 
Mr.  J.  S.  Van  Epps,  of  Cleveland,  Ohio: 

“It  is  a  marvel  to  me  the  ease  and  facility 
with  which  the  retail  dealer  parts  with  that 
which  represents  good  and  solid  dollars  and 
takes  in  exchange  a  promise  to  pay  and  some¬ 
times  scarcely  that,  from  customers  hope¬ 
lessly  insolvent.  Would  he  hand  out  those 
same  dollars  that  the  coal  represents,  were 
he  a  money-lender,  with  only  the  one  object 
in  view — that  apparently  of  making  a  showing 
of  business  transacted?  I  think  not.  Think 
seriously  on  this.  It  is  the  rock  that  has 
foundered  ninety  per  cent  of  the  stranded 
coal  dealers  of  the  past;  it  is  not  covered  up 
except  at  high  tide;  it  lies  right  in  the  main 
channel  of  business;  then  you  may  pass  over, 
but  you  will  have  to  use  your  surplus  to  make 
good  the  necessary  repairs  attendant  upon 
your  hazard.  Steer  clear  of  it  at  all  times, 
saving  your  little  surplus  intact,  and  yourself 
and  others  inevitably  from  financial  disaster 
and  all  the  distressing  consequences  follow¬ 
ing.” 


The  Coal  Convention. 

(Concluded  from  page  43.) 
man  with  the  long  countenance  and  the  rumor 
tongue  until  our  calling,  already  practically 
driven  from  ‘pillar  to  post,’  has  been  on  the  verge 
of  business  suicide. 

“The  transportation  problem  is  one  of  national 
importance,  and  if  we  are  to  continue  to  advance 
it  must  be  solved  rightly  and  promptly.  This 
country  could  not  have  grown  from  its  four 
millions  to  its  one  hundred  millions  without  trans¬ 
portation  facilities.  Their  proper  relations  to  the 
nation,  state  and  individual  require  the  thought¬ 
ful  consideration  of  all. 

“Another  of  our  problems  is  that  of  the  proper 
treatment  of  capital  organizations  or  corpora¬ 
tions.  Large  and  strong  corporations,  wisely 
managed,  are  absolutely  necessary,  and  bad  ones 
are  gradually  being  eliminated.  A  few  stron.g 
and  ambitious  men  used  the  great  powers  of 
corporations  unwisely,  and  as  a  result  the  country 
was  aroused  against  them  and  all  sorts  of  laws 
were  passed  in  an  effort  to  correct  evils,  and,  as 
is  often  the  case,  some  of  the  remedies  were 
worse  than  the  disease. 

“There  are  .signs  now  that  we  are  approaching 
the  time  when  the  country  will  obtain  the  full 
benefit  of  the  corporate  form  of  doing  business 
without  the  evils. 

“.•\nother  present-day  problem  is  that  of  legis¬ 
lation.  Because  of  some  mistakes  by  railroad 
owners  and  managers,  and  by  those  engaged  in 
other  forms  of  corporate  business,  suspicion  and 
disfavor  developed,  and  a  class  of  critics  has 
grown  up  in  this  country  who  have  made  a  livin.g 
by  agitation  and  by  advocating  unnecessary  legis¬ 
lation. 

“Probably  a  large  number  of  the  alleged  evils 
would  have  gradually  corrected  themselves  and 
the  country  would  be  far  better  off  with  less 
instead  of  more  laws. 

“Another  great  problem  before  the  country  is 
that  of  the  labor  organizations.  They  are  a  part 
of  our  complex  social  machinery,  but  they  have 
not  yet  found  their  place.  The  great  leaders  of 
capital  obtained  tremendous  power,  which  has 
been  curtailed  and  regulated  by  law.  The  time 


will  come  when  the  great,  unresisted  powers  now 
exercised  by  the  leaders  of  the  .great  labor  organ¬ 
izations  will  be  regulated  in  the  same  way. 

“Now  with  all  this  prosperity  comes  the  ap¬ 
pointed  time  to  further  Kokoal,  to  put  it  on  its 
feet,  to  enable  it  to  carry  out  the  spirit  which 
Ijrought  it  into  being. 

“Personally,  I  believe  it  would  be  a  wise  fea¬ 
ture  to  change  the  name  of  Kokoal  to  the  Na- 
lional  Coal  Association,  with  the  subsidiary  name 
of  the  Order  Kokoal,  and  to  continue  the  design 
on  the  letterhead  as  a  sort  of  a  trade-mark,  but 
that  is  for  your  cotisideration  and  decision. 


Report  of  Resolutions  Committee. 

li.  V.  Sidell  of  the  committee  on  resolutions 
submitted  the  followin.g  report. 

“Yoiir  committee  on  resolutions,  having  many 
matters  under  consideration,  desires  to  present 
these  in  sections,  which  are  herewith  suggested : 

“Purpose  of  Organization:  We  believe  the 
greatest  need  of  the  coal  industry  is  to  study  to 
improve  the  craftsmanship  in  production  and 
distribution.  We  believe  in  and  recommend  the 
adoption  of  the  guild  idea,  with  the  attendant 
establishment  of  a  clearing  house  of  ideas.  In 
accordance, 

“Re  It  Resolved,  That  the  name  of  this  organ¬ 
ization  be  changed  to  the  National  Coal  Guild. 

“Officers:  We  believe  that  names  of  officers 
carry  a  suggestion  of  the  purpose  of  the  organ¬ 
ization.  Also,  we  believe  in  as  few  officers  as 
are  consistent  with  the  effective  work  of  the 
organization.  In  accordance, 

“Be  It  Resolved,  That  the  names  of  the  officers 
be  those  of  a  business  organization,  namely,  presi¬ 
dent,  vice-president,  secretary,  treasurer,  etc.  Be 
it  further 

“Resolved,  That  there  be  elected  three  vice- 
presidents,  representing  operating,  accounting  and 
finance,  distribution  and  general  welfare,  and 
any  others  needed  to  represent  all  branches  of  the 
service. 

Uniform  Accounting. 

“Whereas,  In  accordance  with  the  spirit  and 
purpose  of  this  convention,  that  we  proceed  to 
put  into  effect  plans  which  shall  redound  to  the 
benefit  of  all  members  alike,  we  believe  that 
among  the  much  needed  reforms  is  the  matter 
of  a  uniform  system  of  accounting  _  for  each 
branch  of  the  service.  Therefore  be  it 

“Resolved,  That  the  executive  of  this  organiza¬ 
tion  be  and  is  hereby  authorized  to  appoint  a 
committee  of  three  to  investigate  and  ^report  to 
him,  and  upon  his  acceptance  of  the  ‘forms’  is 
authorized  to  have  a  sufficient  number  of  sets 
printed  and  distributed  to  the  entire  membership. 

Exact  Weights. 

“Whereas,  the  subject  of  weights  has  been  one 
of  the  most  serious  causes  of  contention  between 
shipper,  retailer  and  consumer,  primarily  the  rea¬ 
son  for  the  contention  is  the  improper  construc¬ 
tion,  as  well  as  maintenance  and  inspection  of 
scales;  therefore  be  it 

“Resolved,  That  the  executive  is  hereby  au¬ 
thorized  to  arrange  for  the  drafting  of  a  bill  to 
be  presented  to  all  legislatures  in  the  respective 
states  at  one  and  the  same  time  which  will  pro¬ 
vide  specifically  for  the  construction  of  all 
scales,  both  track  and  wagon,  with  concrete  or 
brick  and  steel,  and  furthermore  provide  for 
systematic  inspection  by  the  respective  state  gov¬ 
ernment  representatives.” 

Acknowledgments. 

“Be  It  Resolved,  That  this  organization  enter¬ 
tains  and  hereby  expresses  its  lively  apprecia¬ 
tion  of  the  efforts  of— 

“The  Chicago  coal  men  who  have  provided 
the  entertainment  at  this  convention.  ' 

“The  speakers  who  have  worked  so  diligently 
to  give  us  so  much  information. 

“The  trade  press  who  have  done  so  much  to 
advance  the  best  interests  of  the  trade. 

“The  officers  of  the  Order  Kokoal  who  have 
done  so  much  in  the  last  year  to  advance  the 
order  to  the  point  where  its  new  purpose  is 
adopted.” 


Changes  in  the  By-Laws. 

Charles  Kerchner.  chairman  of  the  committee 
on  constitution  and  by-laws,  made  the  following 
preliminary  report : 

"Your  committee  on  revision  of  the  constitu¬ 
tion  and  by-laws  would  respectfully  report  as 

follows :  r  ,  ^  1 

“Article  i:  The  official  name  of  the  Order 
Kokoal  shall  be  the  National  Coal  Associatimi. 

“Article  2:  The  object  of  the  National  Coal 
Association  shall  be  to  promote  the  social,  fra¬ 
ternal  and  educational  development  and  general 


welfare  of  the  coal  industry,  and  in  furtherance 
of  this  aim  the  National  Coal  Association  shall 
stand  for  alisolute  integrity  in  business  relations, 
both  in  the  coal  trade  and  with  the  consuming 
public. 

“Section  2:  Its  motto  shall  be  ‘Come  On 
And  Lift.’ 

“Article  3:  Section  8.  The  membership  fee 
shall  be  $5,  which,  to.gether  with  the  current 
year’s  dues,  must  accompany  the  application.  The 
annual  dues  shall  be  $.5  per  year. 

“Section  It:  Firms  or  corporations  employing 
a  member  of  the  National  Coal  Association  in 
good  standing  at  the  time  of  its  application  shall 
be  eligible  to  membership. 

“Section  12 :  The  annual  dues  for  associate 
membership  shall  be  $10  without  any  membership 
fee. 

“Article  4:  Section  1  :  The  governing  officers 
of  the  National  Coal  Association  shall  be:  Presi¬ 
dent,  first  and  second  vice-presidents,  secretary- 
treasurer,  and  seven  directors,  who  shall  com¬ 
prise  the  executive  committee. 

“Section  2 :  The  executive  committee  shall 
appoint  an  advisory  board  not  to  exceed  fifteen, 
who  shall  promote  the  welfare  of  the  association 
in  their  respective  territories.” 


Coal  Convention  Notes. 

After  listening  to  retiring  Modoc  Scull  through 
two  sessions,  the  members  of  the  order  came  to 
the  conclusion  that  orally  he  is  a  machine  gun 
who  is  always  ready  for  action.  It  made  no  dif¬ 
ference  whether  it  was  an  occasion  of  receiving 
a  gift  from  the  order,  or  whether  it  was  a  matter 
of  discussing  a  new  phase  of  a  question  that  was 
brought  up,  he  had  a  pat  way  of  expressing 
everything.  It  came  so  easily  it  seemed  that  he 
mi.ght  have  studied  the  matter  out  for  weeks. 

E.  V.  Sidell  of  Poughkeepsie,  N.  Y.,  was  very 
much  in  evidence.  He  was  chairman  of  the 
resolutions  committee,  and  he  and  G.  T.  Rider  of 
Louisville  formed  an  impromptu  association 
among  themselves  to  boost  the  “cash  basis.” 

Unless  W.  H.  D.  Gibson  “falls  down”  one  of 
these  days  he  is  going  to  get  a  permanent  job 
as  a  member  of  the  finance  committee  of  all 
coal  trade  gatherings.  He  succeeded  in  per¬ 
suading  something  like  forty  members  of  the 
Chicago  trade  to  donate  ten  dollars  each  to  de¬ 
fray  the  expenses  of  entertaining  the  visitors. 
He  actually  got  the  cash.  This  was  enou,gh 
money  to  pay  the  convention  expenses,  without 
relying  upon  anything  from  the  sale  of  banquet 
tickets.  As  a  result,  Harley  Huskey,  in  charge 
of  the  banquet  committee,  was  able  to  spend  all 
of  the  two  dollars  which  he  got  for  tickets  on 
the  menu  for  the  banquet.  Incidentally,  the 
dinner  was  a  good  one. 

T.  P.  Bryan  of  Kansas  City  was  one  of  the 
few  western  men  present,  but  he  made  up  for 
the  whole  west  by  the  impression  which  he  left 
on  the  convention.  Both  in  his  talk  and  in  a 
subsequent  discussion  he  gave  the  idea  that  he 
is  a  coal  man  who  actually  knows  his  business. 

John  S.  Van  Epps  was  missed — sorely  missed. 
Business  in  other  directions  kept  him  away. 

The  equipment  men  were  not  very  much  in 
evidence.  Still,  this  convention  in  Chicago  would 
not  have  been  complete  without  Otto  H.  Thjomoe 
of  the  Gifford-Wood  Company.  He  was  on  hand 
early  and  late. 

The  crowd  had  a  good  deal  of  fun,  under  the 
leadership  of  Modoc  Scull,  with  Charles  Kerch¬ 
ner,  who  was  said  to  be  the  only  representative 
of  the  kaiser  in  the  convention.  Of  course,  this 
was  not  literally  true,  because  Germany  had  a 
good  many  devotees  who  sat  in  the  background 
and  said  very  little. 

B.  L.  Shepard  made  his  initial  appearance  as 
a  speechmaker  at  this  convention  and  went  home 
with  some  laurels.  He  can  play  golf  and — talk 
some. 

Homer  D.  Jones  appeared  on  the  pro.gram  for 
the  first  time  “in  the  major  league,”  as  he  ex¬ 
pressed  it. 


Germany  Takes  Mines. 

London,  July  16. — German  newspapers  reaching 
here  publish  details  of  the  government’s  scheme 
to  control  the  coal  industry  in  Germany.  A 
proclamation  empowers  the  state  authorities  to 
bring  the  owners  of  coal  fields  together  by  com¬ 
pulsion  in  associations,  which  will  control  the 
whole  production  and  sale  of  coal. 

The  government  feared  a  condition  of  chaos 
in  the  coal  market  as  a  result  of  this  failure  and 
stepped  in  to  prevent  it.  The  coal  interests 
apparently  are  surprised  by  the  action  of  the 
government. 


No.  3] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


49 


Odd  Leaks  That  Decrease  Profits.* 


By  B.  L.  Shepard. 

I  do  not  quite  understand  why  the  Committee 
gave  me  the  subject  “Odd  Leaks  that  Decrease 
Profits’’,  for  1  am  certain  there  is  not  an  oper¬ 
ator  who  really  knows  of  such  a  department  in 
connection  with  the  operation  of  a  mine. 

You,  as  members  of  the  Order  Kokoal,  repre¬ 
sent  one  of  the  leading  industries  of  the  coun¬ 
try — one  upon  which  all  other  industries  depend 
directly  or  indirectly  upon  it  for  its  power.  You 
represent  a  large  investment  of  capital  and  an 
industry  that  has  during  the  past  few  years 
shown  a  very  small  return  upon  the  investment 
and  has  reached  a  state  where  it  must  be  closely 
watched  in  all  details  in  order  to  give  in  return 
an  average  percent  of  profit. 

I  am  informed  by  the  Mining  Department  of 
the  University  of  Illinois  that  for  each  ton  of 
coal  mined  in  this  State  there  is  represented 
a  capital  investment  of  $1.20.  This  will  give 
you  an  idea  how  close  all  departments  must  be 
looked  after,  thus  avoiding  any  possible  “leaks”. 

I  am  more  convinced  each  year  that  the  op¬ 
erator  must  arrange  the  several  departments  so 
that  he  knows  the  true  cost  whatever  it  may  be. 
One  cannot  leave  out  certain  fixed  charges  and 
arrive  at  the  actual  cost  of  operation.  If  one 
does,  then  he  places  his  product  upon  the  market 
at  a  price  that  will  be  detrimental  to  his  earn¬ 


B.  L.  Shepard. 


ings  and  will  represent  a  loss  that  not  only 
works  a  hardship  upon  himself,  but  upon  others. 

During  the  past  two  years  a  uniform  system 
of  accounting  has  been  more  freely  adopted  by 
the  operators,  and  this  has  been  extended  to  the 
adoption  of  such  uniform  accounting  by  dis¬ 
tricts  which  I  am  certain  will  place  the  coal  in¬ 
dustry  upon  a  higher  standard  and  will  do 
more  to  bring  the  operators  closer  together  than 
any  other  method  that  has  been  adopted  for 
sometime. 

Today  the  cost  of  operations  must  be  watched 
in  such  a  mapner  that  in  saving  a  few  cents 
here  and  there,  the  operator  must  look  to  these 
small  savings  for  the  return  upon  his  investment. 
It  is  upon  these  small  things  I  am  trying  to 
give  you  a  general  idea  of  the  “Odd  Leaks  that 
Decrease  Profits”. 

One  would  not  consider  that  the  scales  were 
not  in  proper  repair  as  they  are  tested  each  day 
by  weighing  an  empty  car  or  placing  four  fifty 
pound  weights  on  a  hundred  ton  scale  to  see 
that  they  weigh  correctly.  However,  I  have 
seen  this  tested  and  found  to  be  a  failure.  When 
making  up  a  tonnage  list  for  a  period  there  is 
found  that  for  several  months  the  shortage  is 
too  great  and  complaint  is  made  to  the  weigh- 
man.  He  is  sure  all  is  well.  The  time  comes 
when  it  runs  into  the  hundreds  of  tons,  then  an 
examination  is  made  and  they  find  that  the  tim¬ 
bers  are  decaying  in  a  manner  not  noticeable 
until  they  are  cut  into  and  then  the  real 
trouble  appears,  which  is  a  surprise  to  all.  How¬ 
ever,  several  hundred  dollars  have  been  lost. 

Then  we  have  the  top  scale  or  weigh  hopper 

*An  address  before  the  coal  convention,  Chicago, 
July  13. 


to  contend  with.  All  are  certain  they  are  cer- 
rect,  but  it  has  been  known  that  a  small  pin 
has  been  lost  or  removed  which  has  increased 
the  weighing  capacity  twenty  pounds  to  the 
hoist.  VVith  one  thousand  hoists  per  day,  it  is 
only  a  small  matter  of  ten  tons.  At  your  mine 
rate  it  would  be  $5.71)  to  $().t0  per  day — a  small 
profit  in  itself. 

In  the  manner  of  feeding  and  caring  for  the 
mules  on  the  bottom,  some  operators  only  make 
it  a  rule  to  send  down  the  feed  on  days  when 
the  mine  is  idle,  so  they  have  plenty  on  hand 
in  case,  I  suppose,  of  a  shortage  in  the  car 
supply.  This  in  my  estimation  is  an  extrav¬ 
agance.  Send  down  the  supply  daily  and  it  will 
not  be  wasted  or  trampled  upon.  I  have  had 
my  experience.  By  adopting  the  daily  delivery, 
this  account  was  cut  over  $200.00  per  month. 
Another  small  profit.  A  suggestion — Why  not 
try  grinding  the  corn  and  oats,  thus  saving  a 
large  percent  of  waste?  This  has  been  tried 
and  found  a  success. 

All  mines  have  their  mine  managers  and  an 
assistant  in  a  great  many  places,  however,  I  do 
not  think  that  the  mine  manager  is  capable  of 
going  over  all  his  workings  each  day,  and  I 
am  certain  that  by  allowing  him  an  assistant 
for  forty  to  fifty  working  places  and  holding  this 
assistant  accountable  for  his  territory,  a  great 
saving  will  be  made ;  a  closer  watch  can  be  kept 
upon  the  use  of  props  and  the  proper  placing 
of  them  and  by  so  doing  the  result  will  be  to 
reduce  the  liability  expense  and  increase  the  ton¬ 
nage,  at  the  same  time  it  will  also  give  a  better 
preparation  which  is  essential  to  the  sale  of  the 
coal.  The  props  should  be  well  inspected  at  the 
time  they  are  purchased  to  see  that  the  ends  are 
of  proper  size ;  cull  all  that  are  not  straight 
(I  mean  a  medium  well  cut  timber).  This 
saves  the  “leak”  which  is  sure  to  come.  All 
that  are  discarded  in  the  room  on  account  of 
not  being  of  proper  size  or  shape  represent  an 
outlay  of  six  and  one-half  cents  to  eight  and 
one-half  cents  each.  I  have  seen  fifty  out  of  one 
hundred  and  twenty-five  props  in  a  pile  on  the 
bottom  that  were  not  fit  for  use.  This  would 


Detroit  Public  Bids. 

Bids  opened  by  the  Detroit  board  of  health  on 
coal  supply  for  the  year  were ; 

Bituminous.  Anthracite. 


United  Fuel  it  Supply  Co. — 

Richmond  nut,  pea  and  slack .  $2.55  . .  • 

Scranton  egg  or  stove .  $fi.75 

Scranton  chestnut  .  7.00 

Pocahontas  mine  run .  *3.50 

Pocahontas  egg.  forked  .  1.25 

William  E.  Besancon — 

West  Virginia  nut,  pea  and  slack....  2.78  .... 

Ohio  nut,  pea  and  slack .  2.63  .... 

Pennsylvania  nut,  pea  and  slack .  2.78  .... 

Lehigh  egg  or  stove .  *6.55 

Pocahontas  mine  run .  3.30 

Pocahontas  shoveled  lump  and  egg .  4.35 

K.  L.  Aylward  — 

Island  Creek  nut,  pea  and  slack .  2.65  .... 

Scranton  egg  or  stove .  7.00 

Scranton  chestnut  .  7.25 

Houston  mine  run .  3.75 

Houston  egg,  forked .  4.30 

P.  Koenig  Coal  Company — 

Meadowbrook  nut,  pea  and  slack....  2.(54  .... 

Lehigh  Valley  egg  or  stove .  7.00 

Pocahontas  mine  run .  3.75 

Pocahontas  egg  .  5.50 

Parker  Bros.  Company,  Ltd. — 

White  Star  nut  and  slack .  2.68  .... 

Scranton  egg  or  stove .  7.00 

Scranton  stove  or  cliestnut .  7.20 

Weyanoke  mine  run .  3.75 

Weyanokc  egg,  forked .  5.40 

Daniel  Sullivan — 

Lehigh  Valley  egg .  6. 88 

Lehigh  Valley  stove  or  chestnut .  7.20 

Houston  mine  run .  *3.25 

Houston  egg,  forked .  4.90 


*. Accepted  bids. 

Estimated  quantity:  2,000  tons  mine  run,  500  tons 
anthracite. 


Proposals  for  Coal. 

Sealed  proposals  are  invited  for  furnishing 
coal  for  consumption  at  the  Illinois  State 
Penitentiary  at  Joliet,  Ill.,  from  the  2d  day 
of  August,  1915,  until  the  2d  day  of  August, 
J916. 

Bids  are  invited  upon  mine  run.  Also  upon 


represent  a  loss  which  in  my  estimation  is  un¬ 
necessary. 

At  the  close  of  each  day's  operation  have  your 
assistant  managers  counsel  with  your  general 
niine  manager,  and  report  findings.  You  will 
find  this  will  save  more  than  the  extra  cost 
of  the  assistants  or  room  bosses  as  they  are 
called  in  some  locations. 

All  mines  not  ccpiipped  with  the  latest  im¬ 
proved  pit  cars  will  waste  grease  and  oil.  It 
is  the  custom  at  some  mines  to  send  down 
several  barrels  of  grease  at  a  time,  this  is 
poor  policy  as  it  is  always  subject  to  waste  and 
in  most  cases  will  be  opened  and  used  in  a 
careless  manner.  It  is  very  handy  for  others 
to  make  use  of  it  in  a  manner  not  intended, 
as  all  mines  use  an  instrument  for  boring  the 
hole  to  place  the  charge  of  powder  and  this 
instrument  becomes  very  warm  and  works  hard. 
A  little  grease  helps  out.  A  small  amount  used 
each  day  in  this  manner  grows  to  a  large  item 
of  ex[)ense. 

About  all  mines  there  are  more  or  less  non¬ 
productive  hours  of  labor.  This  will  always 
be  so,  but  by  placing  your  mine  under  the  de¬ 
partment  system  you  can  more  closely  observe, 
and  soon  find,  the  “leakage”.  Take  for  instance 
a  piece  of  bottom  labor;  it  has  been  shown  that 
there  were  more  men  employed  on  a  certain 
work  than  necessary  and  as  soon  as  this  was 
discovered  a  cut  was  made.  The  men  them¬ 
selves  admitted  that  they  had  to  maneuver  to 
get  by  without  being  discovered  and  comment 
ran  among  themselves  that  they  lasted  longer 
than  they  expected.  I  only  use  this  to  illus¬ 
trate  that  it  is  essential  to  always  be  on  the 
lookout  to  stop  “leaks”  of  this  nature. 

I  have  taken  up  more  time  than  I  should 
dealing  with  operations.  There  are  other 
“leaks”.  I  am  sure  the  retailer  has  his  troubles. 
One  that  comes  to  my  mind  is  the  manner  in 
which  some  handle  their  freight  account.  My 
advice  is  to  purchase  as  much  of  the  coal  as 
possible  at  a  mine  price,  this  will  save  the  an¬ 
noyance  of  deducting  the  amount  paid  out  for 
freights.  I  have  seen  instances  where  such  ac¬ 
counts  have  been  paid  in  full.  If  a  close  watch 
is  not  kept  on  such  items  the  retailer  must 
suffer  the  “leak”  until  by  accident,  if  ever,  it 
is  detected  and  corrected. 


IJ^-inch  screenings  containing  not  to  exceed 
35  per  cent  by  weight,  that  will  pass  through 
a  screen  having  a  circular  mesh  of  >>ich  in 
diameter. 

The  annual  consumption  of  this  plant  is 
estimated  at  20,000  tons,  being  at  the  rate  of 
approximately  forty  tons  per  day. 

Proposals  will  be  received  at  the  peniten¬ 
tiary  at  Joliet,  Ill.,  up  to  ten  a.  m.  on  the  31st 
day  of  July,  A.  D.  1915.  They  are  to  be 
mailed  to  Edmund  M.  Allen,  warden.  Each 
proposal  must  be  accompanied  by  currency, 
certified  check  or  certificate  of  deposit  to  the 
amount  of  $200,  payable  to  the  order  of  Ed¬ 
mund  M.  Allen,  warden,  which  deposit  will 
be  returned  to  the  bidder  if  his  proposal  is 
rejected,  and  if  accepted,  upon  the  bidder  fur¬ 
nishing  the  required  bond  within  five  days  of 
notification  that  said  bond  is  ready  for  exe¬ 
cution.  If  the  bidder  should  fail  to  furnish 
the  said  bond  within  said  period,  such  de¬ 
posit  will  be  forfeited  to  the  Illinois  .State 
Penitentiary. 

All  proi)osals  are  to  be  made  out  in  the  form 
of  contract,  copies  of  which  will  be  furnished 
upon  reeiucst  by  Edmund  M.  Allen,  warden, 
and  no  other  proposal  will  be  considered  or 
accepted:  such  contract  to  be  properly  exe¬ 
cuted,  it  being  understood  that  although  e.xe- 
cu.ted  such  contract  will  not  lie  binding  ui)on 
the  bidder  unless  accepted  by  the  consumer 
on  or  before  the  2d  day  of  .August,  1915. 


On  .Augu.st  1st  the  Kentucky  State  Board  of 
Health,  in  connection  with  the  Rockefeller  Foun¬ 
dation,  will  take  charge  of  sanitary  imi)rove- 
ments  with  a  view  to  making  the  town  of  Cox- 
ton,  Harlan  county,  Kentucky,  a  model  mining 
town  in  all  respects  that  affect  the  health  and 
comforts  of  miners  and  their  families.  After 
completing  their  sanitary  and  hygienic  arrange¬ 
ments  at  Co-xton.  it  is  planned  by  Dr.  J.  S.  Lock, 
representing  the  Rockefeller  Foundation,  to  make 
a  campaign  through  other  mining  towns,  both  in 
eastern  and  western  Kentucky,  with  a  view  to  the 
general  betterment  of  living  conditions. 


Bids  for  and  Contracts  Let  on  Coal. 


50 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[July  17 


PUBIiISHED  BVEBT  SATTTBDAT  BT  THB 
BBACK  DIAMOITD  COMFAITY. 

Subscription  price,  $3.00  per  year,  postage  prepaid,  to 
any  postoffice  in  the  United  States.  Foreign  subscrip¬ 
tion  price,  $5.00  per  year.  Single  copies,  20  cents. 
Entered  at  Chicago  postoffice  as  second-class  matter. 


Address  all  communications  to 
THB  BBACK  DIAMOND  COUP  ANT  (INC) 

Main  office,  Manhattan  building,  Chicago. 


Branch  Offices. 

New  York,  29  Broadway. 
Philadelphia,  1400  Land  Title  building. 
Pittsburgh,  1602  Oliver  building. 


Saturday,  July  17,  1915. 


INDEX. 


Special  Articles. 


Page 


Coal  Convention  and  Meeting  of  Order  Kokoal .  41 

J.  V.  Thompson  Holdings .  44 

Death  of  John  C.  Burns .  44 

Death  of  F.  A.  Hill .  44 

Coal  Production  in  Missouri .  44 

Will  Knowledge  of  Costs  Reduce  Price  Cutting? .  44 

The  Cost  of  Selling  Coal  at  Wholesale .  45 

The  Coal  Trade’s  Need  of  National  Co-operation....  45 

Practical  Experience  in  Selling  Coal  for  Cash .  40 

Germany  Takes  Mines .  48 

Odd  Leaks  That  Decrease  Profits .  49 

Bids  for  Contracts  Let  on  Coal .  49 

Editorial  .  50 

Dr.  Joseph  A.  Holmes  Dies  at  Denver .  51 

New  Ruling  Complicates  Ohio’s  Situation . ■. .  61 

News  Local  to  Chicago .  52 

Have  Prices  Kept  Up  With  Rising  Costs? .  52 

Facts  Which  Determine  Our  Export  Prospects .  53 

New  Coal  Companies .  15 


Market  Reports. 


General  Review  and  Chicago .  54 

Pittsburgh  and  Detroit .  65 

Cincinnati  and  Denver .  66 

Omaha,  Toledo,  Louisville  and  Indianapolis .  57 

New  York .  68 

Philadelphia  and  New  England .  59 

Buffalo,  Baltimore  and  Birmingham .  00 

Hocking  Valley .  16 


Glenn  D.  Bennett,  correspondent  of 
The  Black  Diamond  at  Omaha,  died  on 
Tuesday,  following  an  operation  for  ap¬ 
pendicitis.  This  was  an  editorial  bereave¬ 
ment.*  He  knew  coal  and  coal  men  and 
he  could  write  what  he  knew.  He  was 
conscientious  in  his  work  and  faithful. 


Dr.  Joseph  A.  Holmes. 

Dr.  Joseph  A.  Holmes,  the  director  of 
the  United  States  Bureau  of  Mines,  died 
on  Tuesday  of  this  week.  The  coal  trade 
will  think,  and  properly  so,  that  it  has 
lost  its  best  friend.  The  metal  mining  in¬ 
dustry  will  think,  and  properly  so,  that  it 
has  lost  its  best  advocate.  The  people  of 
America  will  think,  and  properly  so,  that 
they  have  lost  their  best  advocate  of  prac¬ 
tical  conservation. 

With  all  partisans  claiming  this  man  as 
their  own,  the  fact  stands  out  that  he 
boldly  represented  all  America.  He  was 
in  the  broadest  and  best  sense  the  public’s 
man. 

Many  will  try  to  fa.shion  a  phrase 
which  will  tell  what  this  remarkable  man 
meant  to  America.  Only  one  paragraph 
properly  covers  that  subject  and  it  came 
from  his  own  pen.  Ble  said : 

“The  resources  which  have  required 
ages  for  their  accumulation,  to  the  intrin¬ 
sic  value  or  quality  of  which  human 
agency  has  not  contributed,  which  when 
once  exhausted  are  not  reproduced  and 
for  which  there  are  no  known  substitutes, 
must  serve  as  a  basis  for  the  future  no 


less  than  the  present  welfare  of  the  na¬ 
tion.  In  the  highest  sense,  therefore,  they 
should  be  regarded  as  property  held  in 
trust  for  the  use  of  the  race  rather  than 
for  a  single  generation  and  for  the  use  of 
the  nation  rather  than  for  the  benefit  of 
the  few  individuals  who  may  hold  them 
by  rights  derived  from  the  state,  the  orig¬ 
inal  owner.” 

Dr.  Holmes  when  he  said  those  few 
simple,  straightforward  words,  stepped 
out  upon  that  broad  plane  which  is  of 
American  statesmanship.  To  have  been 
able  to  say  that  and  to  stand  for  it  puts 
him  down  as  one  of  America’s  great  men. 
We  will  let  that  single  paragraph  stand 
as  his  eulogy,  his  life  history  and  his 
epitaph. 


Cost  of  Selling. 

W.  J.  Dillon,  head  of  a'  Chicago 
sales  agency,  was  asked  to  address 
the  coal  convention.  Preparatory 
thereto,  he  asked  operators  and  sell¬ 
ing  agencies  to  give  him  a  statement 
of  what  it  costs  them  to  sell  coal  at 
wholesale.  This  information  he 
tabulates : 

A.  An  operator,  steam  and  domes¬ 
tic,  tonnage  large,  entire  cost  of 
selling,  $.07  per  ton. 

B.  An  operator,  steam  and  domes¬ 
tic,  tonnage  large,  entire  cost  of 
selling,  .066  per  ton. 

C.  An  operator,  steam  and  domes¬ 
tic,  tonnage  large,  entire  cost  of 
selling,  $.09  per  ton. 

D.  Shipper,  domestic  only,  entire 

/  cost  of  selling,  $.15  per  ton. 

E.  Shipper,  domestic  only,  entire 

cost  of  selling,  $.16  per  ton. 

F.  Shipper,  domestic  only,  entire 

cost  of  selling,  $.196  per  ton. 

G.  Mine  agent,  domestic  only,  en¬ 
tire  cost  of  selling  over  $.20  per 
ton. 

H.  Shipper,  domestic  only,  entire 

cost  of  selling,  $.10j<  per  ton. 

Many  men  will  look  at  this  differ¬ 
ently.  To  us,  it  means  only  one 
thing.  There  are  far  too  many  sell¬ 
ing  agencies  hence  the  cost  of  mak¬ 
ing  sales  is  far  too  high. 


Trade  Commission  Program. 

The  Federal  Trade  Commission  is  mak¬ 
ing  progress  rapidly.  It  was  created  by 
Pre.Udent  Wilson  mainly  as  a  hope  and 
as  a  promise.  He  did  not  expect  it  to  do 
very  much  at  once.  He  expected  it  would 
grow  gradually  and  only  as  the  people 
came  to  demand  that  it  undertake  bigger 
things. 

In  point  of  fact,  it  in  six  months  has 
arrived  at  the  point  which  it  took  the 
terstate  Commerce  Commission  ten  years 
to  reach.  That  is,  it  already  has  begun  to 
demand  standardized  accounting. 

Lest  the  importance  of  this  step  be 
missed,  we  have  this  to  say  about  the  In¬ 
terstate  Commerce  Commission.  It  has 
been  helpful  to  railroads  and  the  public  in 
two  ways  only.  The  one  of  these  that  far 
overshadows  all  else  is  that  it  gave  the 
railroads  standardized  accounting.  The 
lessor  thing  of  value  was  that  it  central¬ 
izes  railroad  authority.  Some  will  say 
that  the  commission  has  been  of  great 
benefit  because  of  its  decisions.  We  are 
not  arguing  that  point  here  but  we  do  not 


think  so.  It  has  straddled  on  too  many 
issues. 

But  it  has  forced  standardized  account¬ 
ing.  That  was  of  incalculable  value  be¬ 
cause  it  put  the  hand  of  the  federal  gov¬ 
ernment  upon  the  shoulder  of  every  dis¬ 
honest  railroad  official  and  stopped  him 
from  hiding  his  rascality  or  his  incom¬ 
petence  behind  a  garbled  statement  of 
cost.  Today,  if  a  man  is  incompetent  to 
operate  a  railroad  economically,  he  al¬ 
most  automatically  passes  into  the  discard 
so  soon  as  his  record  is  known  and  a  man 
is  chosen  who  can  do  the  job  properly. 
Concealment  of  personal  defects  through 
a  manipulation  of  the  books  is  no  longer 
possible.  Especially  price  cutting  on  a 
misformed  conception  of  what  it  costs  to 
carry  goods  is  out  of  vogue.  The  clear¬ 
ing  up  the  railroad  misunderstandings,  and 
the  destruction  of  ignorance  as  the  reason 
for  rate  cutting  helped  the  railroads  im¬ 
measurably.  Therein  lies  the  big  work 
done  by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Com¬ 
mission  and  the  root  of  it  all  is  standard¬ 
ized  accounting. 

Now  the  Trades  Commission  purposes 
to  perform  this  same  service  for  general 
business.  It  proposes,  practically,  to 
force  standardized  accounting  in  business. 
The  same  ends  will  be  achieved,  namely: 
First,  ignorance  will  no  longer  be  the  basis 
of  price  wars,  and  second,  the  incompe¬ 
tent  man  will  not  remain  at  the  head  of  a 
business  by  reason  of  his  ability  to  con¬ 
ceal  his  defects  through  distorted  finan¬ 
cial  statements. 

If  we  can  put  business  on  a  plane  where 
every  man  who  cuts  prices  knows  that  he 
is  giving  away  money,  we  will  have  an 
end  to  much  of  the  “riotous  competition” 
about  which  business  has  complained  so 
bitterly  in  the  last  few  years.  By  mak¬ 
ing  this  possible,  the  Trades  Commission 
is  making  progress.  In  fact,  it  is  racing 
to  its  goal  almost  before  it  has  started. 
More  speed  to  it. 


Telltale  Figures. 

One  Chicago  retailer  was  sure  that  he 
was  making  money  on  every  pound  of  coal 
he  sold.  He  sold  mostly  to  what  are  known 
as  peddlars.  He  therefore  got  cash  in  ad¬ 
vance.  He  got  the  current  price  on  the 
standard  grades  and  better  than  the  cur¬ 
rent  price  on  most  grades.  He  was  quite 
sure  that  everything  which  moved  out  of 
his  yard  left  a  profit  behind  it. 

Then,  to  reassure  himself,  he  called  in  a 
public  accountant  to  audit  his  books.  The 
one  department  that  this  dealer  was  sure 
was  paying  big  was  his  anthracite  trade. 
He  had  reasons  to  believe  that  he  was  getting 
the  regulation  profit  and,  for  other  reasons, 
had  an  edge  on  his  customers  to  the  extent 
of  twenty-five  cents  a  ton.  Yet,  when  the 
figures  were  all  down,  it  was  found  that 
his  supposed  advantage  had  been  wiped  out 
and  that  he  not  only  had  no  “regulation” 
profit  but  actually  had  had  a  loss,  through¬ 
out  an  entire  year,  of  one  and  a  half  cents 
a  ton. 

This  is  an  old  story  in  a  new  dress.  Still, 
it  will  bear  telling  and  telling  again.  No 
man  knows  whether  his  coal  is  making  or 
losing  him  money  until  he  charges  against  it 
every  cent  of  expense  and  subtracts  that 
from  the  selling  price.  When  and  only 
when  something  is  left  of  the  selling  price, 
he  can  say  truly  that  he  has  a  profit  To  do 
anything  else  is  to  guess,  which  is  a  dan¬ 
gerous  thing  in  business. 


No.  3] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


51 


Dr.  Joseph  A.  Holmes  Dies  at  Denver. 


At  four  o’clock  in  the  morning  of  Tuesday 
of  this  week  Dr.  Joseph  A.  Holmes,  director 
of  the  Bureau  of  Mines,  died  at  Denver,  Colo., 
where  he  was  living  temporarily  in  an  effort 
to  recover  his  health.  He  had  quit  Washing¬ 
ton  something  like  a  year  ago  to  seek  the 
recovery  of  his  health  in  the  west.  He  had 
spent  most  of  that  year  at  and  around  Phoe¬ 
nix,  Ariz.,  but  a  turn  for  the  worse  lately  had 
caused  him  to  move  to  Denver.  His  malady, 
which  was  a  wasting  one,  increased  rather 
than  decreased  and  death  on  Tuesday  morn¬ 
ing  was  the  result. 

The  body  was  prepared  at  once  to  be  trans¬ 
ferred  to  Washington  and  was  in  Chicago  for 
three  hours  on  Thursday  afternoon  of  this 
week,  where  respects  were  paid  to  the  dead 
by  representatives  of  the  Illinois  and  Indiana 
coal  trade. 

There  is  little  need  to  say  to  any  man  in  the 
mining  business  in  America  much  now  about 
the  remarkable  career  of  the  head  of  the  Bu¬ 
reau  of  Mines  who  has  just  passed  away. 
Every  one  is  aware  that  he  died  as  a  result 


Dr.  Joseph  A.  Holmes. 


of  overwork,  this  work  being  done  to  give 
the  mineral  industry  a  proper  standing  with 
the  American  people  and  to  see  that  some¬ 
thing  of  appreciation  of  the  value  of  our  natu¬ 
ral  resources  should  result  in  proper  measures 
of  practical  conservation.  Such  work  per¬ 
formed  always  under  the  eye  of  the  mining 
men  of  America  naturally  challenged  atten¬ 
tion  to  the  man  years  ago,  with  the  result 
that  every  phase  of  his  activity  has  been 
known  in  detail  and  every  characteristic  of 
the  man  became  impressed  upon  the  mind  of 
the  American  people. 

Dr.  Holmes  was  a  North  Carolinian  by 
birth.  He  was  an  engineer  and  an  educator 
in  his  earlier  days,  but  there  was  nothing  in 
that  career  which  suggested  the  latent  possi¬ 
bilities  in  the  man,  which  possibilities  devel¬ 
oped  so  rapidly  after  he  went  into  the  gov¬ 
ernment  service  something  like  eight  years 
ago.  At  that  time  the  government  began  to 
be  concerned  about  the  future  of  our  natural 
resources.  As  a  consequence  there  was  or¬ 
ganized  in  the  Bureau  of  the  United  States 
Geological  Survey,  under  the  Department  of 
the  Interior,  a  subbureau,  which  was  known 
as  the  technologic  branch  of  the  Geological 
Survey.  Dr.  Holmes  was  chosen  as  the  head 
of  that  subdivision  of  the  government  activ- 
ity.  . 

His  first  attention  was  directed  to  the  use 
of  coal  and  other  minerals.  He  began  at 
once,  in  fact,  an  active  study  of  how  coal 
might  be  used  so  that  the  efficiency  would  be 
greater  and  the  waste  less.  He  was,  in  fact, 
the  man  who  started  the  tremendous  discus¬ 
sion  which  has  since  enveloped  the  country 
as  to  how  to  get  greater  fuel  economy. 


It  was  this  enterprise  which  developed  the 
organizing  ability  of  Dr.  Holmes.  He  started 
everybody  to  discussing  fuel  economy.  One 
of  the  first  things  he  did  was  to  enlist  the 
heads  of  the  mechanical  departments  of  the 
colleges  and  universities  and  cause  them  to 
specialize  on  the  study  of  greater  use  of  fuel. 
He  enlisted  the  active  co-operation  of  both 
the  engineers  and  the  chemists. 

From  having  started  the  education  of  the 
American  people  in  the  universities,  he  di¬ 
rected  his  attention  to  the  engineer  societies 
of  America  which  govern  the  present  prac¬ 
tice.  Before  he  had  gone  very  far  every 
such  society  in  America  was  discussing  how 
fuel  might  be  used  to  better  advantage.  As 
a  matter  of  fact  every  organization  which 
had  to  do  with  trying  to  get  greater  fuel 
economy  can  be  traced  directly  back  to  the 
zeal  with  which  Dr.  Holmes  carried  on  his 
propaganda. 

From  this  he  naturally  extended  his  field  of 
operations  to  influence  the  manufacturers  of 
coal  burning  appliances.  Thus  in  an  ever 
widening  circle  his  influence  upon  America 
came  to  be  astounding. 

His  attention  was  next  directed  to  the  con¬ 
servation  of  life  in  the  mines.  A  number  of 
disastrous  explosions  in  coal  mines  in  the 
leading  states  caused  him  to  begin  an  investi¬ 
gation  into  the  many  things  which  endangered 
life  around  the  mines.  Perhaps  the  biggest 
movement  which  he  brought  into  existence 
there  was  the  safety  first  movement  which 
has  spread  to  every  other  industry  in  the 
United  States.  Sub-divided,  this  movement 
expressed  itself  in  a  study  as  to  the  causes 
and  prevention  of  dust  explosions;  the  proper 
use  of  electricity  in  the  mines;  purpose  and 
development  of  first  aid  to  the  injured  corps; 
the  improvement  of  the  ventilation,  and  the 
development  of  permissible  explosives. 

With  all  of  these  things  attracting  his  at¬ 
tention  and  calling  for  some  definite  action 
on  the  part  of  the  government,  the  instrument 
at  his  disposal  was  not  big  enough.  There¬ 
fore,  the  technologic  branch  of  the  Geolog¬ 
ical  Survey  was  abandoned  and  there  was  cre¬ 
ated  in  the  Department  of  the  Interior  a 
separate  organization  known  as  the  Bureau 
of  Mines.  Dr.  Holmes  was  placed  in  charge 
of  that  work  and  carried  on  in  a  larger  way 
the  things  which  he  had  undertaken  with  his 
former  and  smaller  equipment. 

But  the  government,  whose  servant  he  was, 
proved  a  niggard  in  the  matter  of  appropria¬ 
tions.  There  was  much  work  to  do  but  not 


Columbus,  O.,  July  14. —  {Special  Correspond¬ 
ence.) — A  new  factor  has  been  introduced  into 
the  much-disturbed  Ohio  coal  situation  by  the 
decision  of  the  supreme  court,  mentioned  last 
week,  which  upholds  the  right  of  the  state  utili¬ 
ties  commission  to  authorize  lower  freight  rates. 
Railroad  officials,  it  is  stated  are  now  in  confer¬ 
ence  on  the  matter  of  further  fighting  the  case 
on  which  this  decision  is  based,  that  of  the  com¬ 
mission’s  reduction  of  the  commercial  coal  from 
the  Nelsonville  assembling  yards  to  Toledo  to 
eighty-five  cents,  replacing  the  $1  rate  now  in 
force.  To  stave  off  the  enforcement  of  this  rate 
the  railroads  will  have  to  go  into  the  United 
States  courts. 

Along  with  this  new  rate,  if  it  stands,  will 
come  agitation  for  general  reductions  that  will 
help  protect  Ohio  against  West  Virginia,  in 
equalizing  alleged  inequalities.  General  Manager 
Winder  of  the  Sunday  Creek  Company  is  the 
leading  figure  in  this  fight.  He  made  effort  to 
secure  action  from  the  legislature  last  winter, 
and  has  given  prominence  to  the  rate  question  in 
newspaper  interviews  regarding  reasons  for  the 
company’s  temporary  abandonment  of  a  large 
number  of  its  Ohio  mines.  That  this  is  bearing 
fruit  in  the  way  of  arousing  interest  is  shown 
by  the  fact  that  the  commission  within  the  past 
few  days  has  been  making  inquiries  among 
Columbus  shippers,  those  having  West  Virginia 
connections  and  otherwise,  to  draw  out  opinions 
and  information  on  the  rate  problem.  An  early 
consideration  of  the  whole  question  appears  to 
be  likely. 

Upon  the  result  is  said  to  partly  hinge  the 
matter  of  whether  or  not  the  Sunday  Creek 
Company  will  continue  to  operate  its  mines  on 


enough  money  to  pay  the  expenses.  There¬ 
fore,  instead  of  many  men  to  do  many  things 
there  were  but  few  men  to  do  far  more  than 
they  were  supposed  to  do.  Seeing  the  im¬ 
portance  of  the  work.  Dr.  Holmes  undertook 
far  more  than  his  strength  could  possibly 
endure.  Those  who  have  been  associated  with 
him  appreciate  and  have  appreciated  for  years 
this  fact  to  the  full.  They  have  known,  for 
example,  that  when  something  of  a  pressing 
character  had  to  be  done  he  would  quite  fre¬ 
quently  work  until  he  fell  asleep  over  his 
dictation  or  his  manuscript;  reviving  himself 
by  an  almost  superhuman  effort,  he  would 
continue  to  work  when  his  associates  were 
begging  him  to  relinquish  it  and  take  some 
rest. 

The  Chicago  coal  men  who  went  to  view 
his  remains  on  Thursday  of  this  week  had 
a  very  lively  recollection  of  the  manner  in 
which  he  did  things.  There  was  to  be  a 
meeting  of  mining  men  in  Chicago  and  the 
details  of  the  program  and  procedure  were 
to  be  mapped  out.  He  had  just  completed  a 
long,  hard  trip  around  the  country.  He  had 
spent  night  after  night  upon  the  sleeper  and 
day  after  day  meeting  men  and  discussing 
plans  that  would  further  his  work.  He  had 
in  his  portfolio  parts  of  speeches  which  he 
had  begun  to  prepare  and  parts  of  articles 
which  he  had  promised  to  write  for  those 
who  were  disposed  to  help  the  government 
spread  its  gospel  of  conservation.  Laying 
these  things  aside  temporarily,  he  went  into 
the  conference  at  nine  o’clock  in  the  morning 
and  without  an  instant  of  rest  or  distraction 
from  the  business  at  hand  he  worked  in  in¬ 
tensified  concentration  until  five  o’clock  in  the 
afternoon.  Then  he  dismissed  his  associates, 
locked  himself  in  a  room  and  began  to  go 
over  some  of  the  manuscript  which  he  had 
laid  aside.  He  continued  at  that  until  he  was 
late  for  a  dinner  engagement,  which  was  a 
business  conference.  In  the  evening  he  took 
another  long  trip  across  the  city  and  late  at 
night  was  still  in  conference  with  the  people, 
who  followed  him  to  the  train.  That  evening 
he  carried  his  portfolio  on  board  the  train, 
worked  until  after  midnight,  and  arose  the 
next  morning  to  start  in  another  city  an¬ 
other  round  of  discussion  of  government  work. 

It  was  this  sort  of  thing  which  caused  the 
untimely  death  of  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
men  who  has  ever  been  in  America’s  public 
service.  As  a  result  of  his  manifold  activities 
he  died  before  his  time,  but  he  left  such  an 
imprint  upon  the  American  mind  that  what 
he  started  will  go  on  to  a  natural  conclusion 
because  the  foundation  upon  which  he  pro¬ 
ceeded  was  sound  and  good. 


the  T.  &  O.  C.  railway,  or  shut  them  down 
indefinitely,  as  has  been  the  case  on  the  Hocking. 
Another  factor  will  be  the  reply  of  the  miners 
to  the  Hocking  Valley  Coal  Operators’  Associa¬ 
tion  on  the  question  raised  as  to  favorable  con¬ 
ditions  having  been  granted  eastern  Ohio  in  vio¬ 
lation  of  agreement  made  with  the  Hocking 
Valley  when  the  mine  run  wage  scale  was  signed 
last  August.  Any  concession  to  the  Hocking 
operators  at  this  time  would  likely  throw  the 
eastern  Ohio  situation  into  confusion  again. 

It  is  a  pretty  muddle  into  which  the  miners 
seem  to  have  got  themselves  through  forcing  the 
operators  into  the  trenches  with  the  Green  law. 
They  have  a  paper  scale  only,  as  one  operator 
expresses  it,  because  there  can  be  no  work^  for 
them  in  any  large  sense  under  its  prohibitive 
terms.  Many  operators  feel  that  the  whole 
Ohio  coal  situation,  involving  all  fields,  is  rapidly 
drifting  toward  a  crisis  which  will  rnean  the 
strangling  of  the  industry  or  a  new  deal  in  which 
mining  scales,  freight  rates  and  better  co-oper¬ 
ating  among  producers  will  all  play  a  part.  The 
miners,  it  is  asserted,  will  first  have  to  learn 
that  in  bringing  ruin  on  the  operators_  they  have 
killed  their  own  goose.  Eastern  Ohio  is  cited 
as  an  instance  of  the  injury  which  labor  inflicts 
upon  itself.  With  settlement  reached  after  over 
a  year  of  idleness,  the  miners  have  no  work,  a 
condition  resulting  as  much  from  the  field’s  mar¬ 
kets  having  got  away  from  it  as  from  industrial 
depression. 


G.  T.  Rider,  president,  Scanlon  Coal  Company, 
Louisville,  has  been  in  Chicago  attending  the 
national  convention  of  coal  men. 


New  Ruling  Complicates  Ohio’s  Situation. 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[July  17 


52 


Have  Prices  Kept  Up  With  Rising  Costs?* 


« 

News  Local  to  Chicago. 


F.  C.  Honnold  of  the  Chicago  &  Big  Muddj' 
Coal  Company  was  in  Springfield  this  week. 

Among  the  week’s  visitors  was  N.  D.  Ying- 
ling,  geiieral  manager  of  the  East  Jellico  Coal 
Company  at  Lexington,  Ky. 

Because  the  retailers  were  mostly  at  the 
coal  convention  at  the  Auditorium  this  week, 
the  regular  meeting  of  the  Chicago  Coal  Mer¬ 
chants’  Association,  scheduled  for  Tuesday 
afternoon,  was  postponed. 

H.  A.  Kuhn,  a  coal  operator  of  Pittsburgh, 
was  in  Chicago  the  early  part  of  this  week. 
While  here  he  took  occasion  to  run  out  to 
the  third  vein  district  to  study  the  long  wall 
mining  method  employed  in  that  district. 

The  announcement  is  made  that  the  City 
Coal  &  Coke  Company  has  taken  over  the 
yard  and  business  of  the  Cherokee  Coal  Com¬ 
pany,  effective  at  once.  The  City  Company 
has  John  C.  Michael  for  its  president  and  the 
yard  is  located  at  No.  3600  Princeton  avenue. 
The  Cherokee  Coal  Company  was  owned  by 
E.  H.  Michael  and  Frank  Swan,  and  the  yard 
was  located  at  Fiftieth  street  and  the  lake 
shore. 

When  news  of  the  death  of  Dr.  Holmes 
reached  Chicago  on  Tuesday,  most  of  the 
operators  were  out  of  the  city.  However, 
arrangements  were  made  through  C.  M. 
Moderwell,  president  of  the  Illinois  Coal  Op¬ 
erators’  Association,  and  Carl  Scholz,  presi¬ 
dent  of  the  American  Mining  Congress,  to 
have  a  committee  at  the  station  on  Thursday 
afternoon  when  the  party  accompanying  the 
body  to  Washington  passed  through  Chicago. 

One  of  the  week’s  visitors  in  Chicago  was 
J.  F.  Clarke  of  Davenport,  Iowa,  the  western 
representative  of  the  Mitchell  &  Dillon  Coal 
Company.  He  has  just  returned  from  a  trip 
into  the  northwest,  visiting,  among  other 
places,  Ashland,  Wis.  He  says  that  the  re¬ 
ceipts  of  coal  in  the  northwest  are  far  below 
normal  and  he  is  rather  inclined  to  believe 
there  wjll  be  a  shortage  of  anthracite  if  the 
demand  this  year  is  anywhere  near  normal. 
The  lake  movement  to  that  port  has  not  been 
up  to  expectations. 

I.  L.  Runyan,  secretary  of  the  Illinois  & 
Wisconsin  Retail  Coal  Dealers’  Association, 
is  in  receipt  of  a  communication  from  P.  L. 
Price,  president  of  the  Roanoke  Retail  Coal 
Dealers’  Association  of  Roanoke,  Va.  This 
letter  says  that  that  association  is  being  re¬ 
organized  and  an  attempt  is  being  made  to 
form  a  state  association.  The  letter  inquires 
as  to  the  methods  used  b}^  the  Illinois  and 
Wisconsin  and  other  associations  in  getting 
results.  Apparently  the  association  spirit^  is 
growing,  as  is  indicated  by  reports  coming 
from  so  many  different  districts  concerning 
new  associations  being  formed. 

The  directors  of  the  Illinois  &  Wisconsin 
Retail  Coal  Dealers’  Association,  carrying  out 
an  intention  to  hold  a  meeting  every  three 
months  in  Chicago,  came  together  at  the 
offices  in  the  Great  Northern  building  on  Mon¬ 
day  of  this  week.  Those  in  attendan.ee  were: 

J.  B.  Dooley,  the  president,  and  Howard  Kin¬ 
sey,  of  Peoria;  Peter  Beck,  of  Harvey,  Ilk; 
Joseph  Rademacker,  of  Milwaukee,  and  J.  G. 
Moore,  of  LaCrosse,  Wis.  The  first  thing 
taken  up  was  the  re-election  of  I.  L.  Runyan 
as  secretary  and  then  there  was  discussed  the 
matter  of  destination  weights.  A  committee 
was  appointed  consisting  of  Mr.  Dooley,  Mr. 
Kinsey  and  Mr.  Beck  to  get  this  matter  _m 
shape  for  presentation  to  the  Illinois  legis¬ 
lature  when  it  meets  the  next  time. 

Chicago  sales  agencies  who  handle  eastern 
Kentucky  coal  are  in  receipt  of  information 
from  the  mines  this  week  to  the  effect  that 
1,300  miners  employed  by  the  Continental 
Coal  Corporation  on  Straight  Creek,  near  Pine- 
ville,  went  out  on  strike  on  July  1st.  On 
July  6th  the  miners  employed  by  the  Prosper 
Coal  Company  in  the  Brush  Creek  field  and 
the  miners  employed  by  the  New  Bell  Jel¬ 
lico  Coal  Company  in  the  Greasy  Creek  field 
also  went  out  on  strike.  It  seems  that  about 
three  months  ago  these  mines,  which  are  non¬ 
union,  decided  to  reduce  the  wages  in  an 
effort  to  sell  the  coal  at  a  price  which  would 
put  it  on  the  market  in  competition  with  other 
coals.  A  few  companies  only  in  that  field 
resorted  to  the  practice,  much  against  the 
advice  of  the  others.  There  was  a  promise 
of  a  restoration  at  a  near  future  date,  but 
when  this  did  not  come  in  three  months  the 
rniners  decided  to  go  on  a  strike. 


By  W.  S.  Bogle.f 


I  can’t  conceive  why  unpleasant  things  should 
he  injected  into  what  would  otherwise  prove  a 
very  pleasant  occasion,  and  that  I  should  be  se¬ 
lected  as  the  injector.  The  time  allotted,  how¬ 
ever,  is  short  and  we  will  then  pass  on  to  more 
agreeable  subjects.  The  subject  that  I  am  asked 
to  speak  on  is  the  following  question:  “Have 
Selling  Prices  Kept  PIp  With  the  Rising  Costs?’’ 

Outside  of  anthracite,  which  is  the  only  part 
of  the  coal  producing  industry  in  this  country 
that  is  conducted  on  sound  business  principles, 
that  question  could  be  answered  fully  and  com¬ 
pletely  with  one  small  word  of  two  letters — 
N-0 — No.  But  that  could  be  amplified  by  the 
further  statement  that  each  increase  in  the  cost 
of  production  has  been  followed  by  a  decrease 
in  selling  prices.  This  sounds  incredible,  but 
it  is  true. 

Labor  constitutes  ninety  to  ninety-five  per  cent 
of  the  producing  cost.  Practically  every  agree¬ 
ment  that  has  been  entered  into  with  labor  in 
the  past  ten  years,  excepting  the  last  one,  has 
contained  an  advance  in  wa.ges.  And  yet,  in 
every  instance  immediately  following  such  ad¬ 
vances,  bituminous  operators  have  reduced  their 
selling  prices  below  those  prevailing  under  the 
previous  scale.  And  selling  prices  under  the 


W.  S.  Bogle. 


present  scale  have  been  steadily  reduced  year 
by  year  since  it  was  first  agreed  upon. 

There  are  other  increased  costs.  Compensa¬ 
tion  laws  have  added  three  to  four  cents  per 
ton  to  the  cost  of  production.  Even  mutual 
companies,  which  are  intended  to  be  conducted 
without  profit,  have  been  obliged  to  more  than 
double  their  rates  for  liability  insurance. 

Cost  of  supplies  of  all  kinds  have  increased 
and  has  added  to  the  cost  of  production.  Shaker 
screens,  rescreening  plants,  picking  tables,  load¬ 
ing  booms  and  other  devices  have  been  installed 
at  a  heavy  outlay  of  money,  and  while  they 
may  improve  the  quality  of  the  product,  at  the 
same  time  they  add  to  the  number  of  sizes  and 
materially  to  the  cost  of  production. 

The  cost  of  the  plants  themselves  has  in¬ 
creased  tenfold  in  the  last  twenty  years  and  the 
increased  carrying  and  depreciation  charges 
thereby  entailed  add  to  the  cost  of  production. 

Certainly  all  these  additions  to  the  cost  of 
production  would  justify  at  least  some  advance 
in  selling  prices,  but  sellin.g  prices  have  not 
advanced ;  they  have  declined.  Such  a  situation 
means  one  of  two  things:  Either  the  industry 
enjoyed  abnormal  profits  in  years  gone  by  and 
is  gradually  coming  down  to  earth,  or  else  the 
industry  is  not  being  conducted  in  accordance 
with  sound  business  principles  and  is  on  its 
way  to  disaster. 

Abnormal  profits  produce  multi-millionaires, 
and  the  coal  industry  is  the  only  important  one 
in  this  country  that  has  not  produced  one  or 
more.  But  a  glance  at  court  records  discloses 
the  fact  that  they  are  strewn  with  the  wrecks 
of  coal  operations,  and  it  is  a  matter  of  com¬ 
mon  knowledge  that  many  of  the  present  opera¬ 

*An  address  before  the  coal  convention  and  Kokoal 
Pow  Wow  in  Chicago,  July  12. 

tOf  W.  S.  Bogle  &  Co.,  Inc.,  Chicago. 


tions  are  in  the  hands  of  banks  and  striving 
desperately  to  avoid  receiverships. 

There  are  many  causes  that  could  be  cited  as 
contributing  to  this  situation,  but  the  funda¬ 
mental  one  of  all  is  the  over-production  that  has 
taken  place  and  the  excess  of  capacity  over 
consumption.  Given  a  market  for  100  tons  and 
a  production  of  105  tons,  that  extra  five  tons 
will  make  the  price  on  all  of  the  100  tons,  and 
so  well  has  the  situation  been  known  to  the  buy¬ 
ers  that  the  larger  ones  have  frequently  dictated 
prices  to  the  seller. 

The  operators  have  been  charged  with  re¬ 
sponsibility  for  this  over-production  and  fre¬ 
quently  derided. 

The  operators  have  found  out  the  difference 
and  have  made  a  number  of  sincere  efforts 
to  correct  the  situation  by  the  only  known  ef-- 
fective  method — co-operation.  But  the  bright¬ 
est  minds  among  them  and  the  best  legal  talent 
they  could  procure  have  until  recently  been  un¬ 
able  to  formulate  a  plan  that  did  not  conflict 
with  the  law  “as  it  has  been  construed  by 
the  past  three  national  administrations”  and  pos¬ 
sibly  subject  them  to  a  criminal  prosecution. 
The  operators  from  the  first  have  insisted  that 
they  would  not  knowingly  violate  the  law  or 
subject  themselves  to  prosecution  as  criminals, 
let  the  consequences  be  wffiat  they  may. 

The  Administration  Attitude. 

The  time  allotted  me  is  too  short  to  detail 
the  position  of  the  government  on  the  law,  but 
the  basis  of  it  has  been  that  nothing  was  lawful 
that  in  any  way  restricted  competition,  and  they 
have  consistently  refused  to  advise  in  advance 
whether  or  not  a  proposed  plan  was  lawful.  In 
effect,  their  position  has  been : 

“Put  your  plan  in  operation  and  then  we  will 
investigate  it.  If  we  find  it  conflicts  with  the 
law,  we  will  either  bring  a  suit  to  dissolve  or 
a  criminal  prosecution,  but  we  cannot  give  any 
guiding  advice  in  advance.” 

Is  it  to  be  wondered  at  that  under  such  con¬ 
ditions  business  has  become  apprehensive  and 
timid?  That  a  great  industry  like  the  coal  in¬ 
dustry  should  be  on  its  way  to  disaster  and 
that  we  are  suffering  from  a  general  depression 
in  business  instead  of  enjoying  the  prosperity  that 
our  natural  resources  and  other  conditions  en¬ 
title  us  to? 

They  have  told  us  that  “competition  is  the  life 
of  trade.”  I  am  willing  to  .give  theorists  the 
credit  of  believing  it.  But  my  experience  in 
business  has  taught  me  that  unrestricted  com¬ 
petition  is  the  most  cruel  and  relentless  enemy 
of  successful  business.  It  means  that  every  man 
is  arrayed  against  his  competitor  in  thought, 
purpose  and  deed.  It  means  the  strong  arrayed 
against  the  weak.  The  “survival  of  the  fittest” 
inevitably  will  result  in  monopoly — the  one  thing 
that  the  law  and  all  good  citizens  most  wish  to 
destroy. 

The  New  Theory. 

But  every  cloud  has  its  silver  lining,  and  it 
looks  as  if  ours  would  be  no  exception  of  the 
rule.  The  courts  in  their  recent  decisions  have 
been  more  liberal  in  their  construction  of  the 
law,  differing  radically  with  the  Government’s 
view  of  it.  Again,  there  is  no  lesson  so  con¬ 
vincing  as  an  object  lesson,  and  the  people  are 
beginning  to  realize  that  you  cannot  benefit  one 
class  of  a  community  by  harassing  another. 
They  are  beginning  to  realize  that  the  harass¬ 
ment  of  business  that  has  prevailed  in  this  coun¬ 
try  has  resulted  in  idle  mills,  idle  men,  idle 
women  and  destitution  and  want  to  many.  The 
conviction  that  business  needs  encouragement  in¬ 
stead  of  discouragement  is  daily  gaining  ground. 

Again,  the  present  administration  has  made  a 
great  stej)  in  advance  by  passing  the  Federal 
trade  law  and  establishing  the  Federal  Trade 
Commission,  which,  if  properly  administered 
must  prove  the  greatest  blessin.g  ever  conferred 
on  business  in  this  country.  The  law  may  not 
be  perfect — few  are  at  first.  But  from  personal 
interviews  I  am  convinced  that  the  commission 
as  now  constituted  is  composed  of  earnest,  sin¬ 
cere,  broad-minded  men  who  sympathize  with 
business  and  are  anxious  to  facilitate  it  in  every 
legitimate  manner  under  the  law. 

Several  plans  of  co-operation  are  before  them 
which  it  is  hoped  they  will  approve.  One  of 
these  is  from  the  coal  trade.  Others  will  un¬ 
doubtedly  follow,  and  if  their  policy  proves  to 
be  to  control  big  business  instead  of  annihilat¬ 
ing  it,  I  can  see  the  dawn  of  an  era  greater, 
better  and  more  prosperous  than  this  country 
Has  ever  enjoyed. 


No.  3] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


53 


Facts  Which  Determine 


The  Welsh  Coal  Situation. 

The  Welsh  coal  trade  is  in  a  very  troubled 
state,  and  it  is  therefore  out  of  the  question 
for  much  husiness  to  he  done.  It  is  said  that 
the  cutting  off  of  exports  to  neutral  countries 
has  caused  very  serious  monetary  loss  to  many 
exporters.  Many  collieries  have  their  prin¬ 
cipal  output  taken  by  certain  of  the  neutral 
countries,  and  as  new  markets  to  make  up 
for  the  loss  of  the  old  cannot  be  secured, 
these  collieries  must  suffer.  Owing  to  the 
stoppage  of  exports  except  to  the  allied  coun¬ 
tries,  coal  has  accumulated  on  the  docks  and 
many  collieries  have  been  forced  to  shut  down 
owing  to  the  shortage  of  cars.  Shippers  are 
not  eager  to  do  contract  business,  and  in  the 
matter  of  spot  purchases,  buyers  are  able  to 
obtain  concessions  of  2s  and  .'is  from  shippers 
who  have  coal  accumulated.  Some  coals  have 
declined  in  price  from  35s  and  2(5s  to  25s  and  26s. 
Ordinary  seconds  are  quoted  at  25s  to  26s ;  best 
bunker  smalls  at  19s  6d  to  20s ;  Black  Veins  at 
26s  and  27s;  Western  Valleys  at  24s  to  25s; 
Easterns  at  21s  to  23s,  and  inferiors  at  19s  to  20s. 
Cardiff  advices  have  it  that  the  Egyptian  Irriga¬ 
tion  contract  for  about  60,000  tons  has  been 
placed,  about  50,000  tons  of  same  coming  to 
American  firms,  and  the  balance  to  Monmouth¬ 
shire  firms.  Prices  are  not  made  public.  The 
Egyptian  State  Railways  contract  for  360,000 
has  not  yet  been  awarded.  Shipments  for  the 
last  week  reported  from  Cardiff  amounted  to 
195,757  tons,  as  compared  with  389,497  tons  for 
the  corresponding  week  last  year.  The  small 
coal  market  is  still  affected  by  the  unsatisfactory 
conditions  obtaining  at  the  French  ports,  where 
there  is  a  great  congestion  of  ships  owing  to  the 
shortage  of  labor. 

Recent  charters  from  Cardiff  have  been  as 
follows :  To  Alexandria,  25s ;  Genoa,  22s  to  22s 
6d;  Las  Palmas,  19s;  Cape  Verde,  20s;  Lisbon, 
15s  and  15s  6d;  Leghorn,  20s  to  21s;  Marseilles, 
24  fr.  and  25fr. ;  Mantes,  15J/2  fr. ;  Port  Said, 
22s  6d  to  24s ;  Pernambuco,  24s ;  Rio  Janeiro, 
25s  to  25s  Od ;  River  Platte,  26s  6d ;  Savona, 
22s  Od. 

Recent  freight  charters  from  the  Tyne  have 
been  as  follows:  To  Bordeaux,  20s;  Genoa, 
26s  to  27s  6d ;  Las  Palmas,  22s ;  Marseilles,  24s 
6d  to  28s;  Naples,  30s;  Piraeus,  31s  to  31s  Od; 
Port  Said,  28s;  St.  Vincent,  23s  6d. 


Welsh  Coal  Crisis. 

Cables  on  Tuesday  of  this  week  stated  that 
representatives  of  more  than  42,000  miners 
in  South  Wales  have  voted  to  strike  on  Thurs¬ 
day  of  this  week  unless  the  mine  owners  grant 
the  full  demands  of  the  men  for  a  new  wage 
agreement.  Advices  state  that  the  decision  was 
reached  by  a  majority  of  857  votes,  each  vote 
representing  fifty  members  of  the  federation. 
This  vote  was  in  opposition  to  the  adviee  of 
the  men’s  leaders  who  recently  promised  the 
new  Minister  of  Munitions  that  there  would 
be  no  strike  in  the  coal  trade,  in  return  for 
his  action  in  leaving  the  miners  out  of  the 
trades  covered  by  the  Munitions  bill.  On 
Thursday  the  strike  was  declared  and  the 
government  took  over  the  available  supply 
of  coal. 

On  Tuesday,  Walter  Runciman,  president  of 
the  Board  of  Trade,  announced  in  the  Com¬ 
mons  that  the  government  did  not  intend  to 
let  the  South  Wales  miners  go  on  strike  and 
would  put  in  force  the  drastic  powers  pro¬ 
vided  under  the  recent  munitions  act. 

A  Cardiff  cable  of  same  date  read: 

“Announcement  made  in  the  Commons  to¬ 
day  that  the  South  Wales  coal  field  had  been 
proclaimed  by  the  government  as  being  under 
the  Munitions  act,  was  heartily  welcomed 
here.  The  ultimatum  issued  by  the  miners’ 
delegates  yesterday  came  as  a  shock  to  every¬ 
body  outside  of  the  coal  trade.  It  seemed 
incredible  that  anyone  would  be  willing  to 
jeopardize  the  supply  of  fuel  for  the  navy 
when  the  very  life  of  the  nation  depends  upon 
the  navy. 

“Colliery  owners  had  intimated  to  the  gov¬ 
ernment  their  readiness  to  co-operate  with 
any  measures  for  preventing  stoppage  and 
have  drawn  up  the  following  notice: 

“  ‘This  colliery  will  continue  open  for  work 
upon  terms  to  be  settled  by  the  government. 
In  view  of  the  present  crisis  it  is  of  utmost 
importance  for  the  safety  of  the  country  that 
there  should  be  regularity  of  work  by  work- 


Our  Export  Prospects. 


men  and  any  workmen  absenting  themselves 
will  be  assisting  the  enemy.’’’ 

.‘\bout  eighty  colliery  owners,  employing  156,000 
miners,  are  affected  by  the  dispute. 


Foreign  Freight  Rates. 

W.  W.  Battie  &  Co.,  Produce  Exehange,  New 
York,  report  as  follows,  under  date  of  July  12: 

Since  our  last  report  we  have  chartered  a 
number  of  steamers  to  take  coals  to  South  Amer¬ 
ican,  Mediterranean  and  West  Indian  ports,  and 
our  last  charters  to  Lower  Plate  ports  were  at 
34/-6,  although  it  was  claimed  that  others  were 
offering  35/-  at  the  same  time  for  boats  of  similar 
size  and  in  similar  position. 

Four  large  British  steamers  are  reported  as 
having  been  chartered  for  three  trips  each  for 
coals  to  the  west  coast  of  Italy  at  4()/-6,  but  we 
think  this  report  is  incorrect,  as  we  had  the 
same  boats  proposed  to  us  at  40/-  for  three  trips. 
Single  charters  are  at  considerably  less  than 
this  rate,  our  last  fixtures  being  at  36/-  37/-  to 
west  Italy. 

We  would  quote  freight  rates  on  coal  by 
steamer  as  follows : 


West  coast  of  Italy .  36s. @ 37s. 

Marseilles,  about  .  35s. 

Barcelona, ,  about .  34s. 


(Spanish  dues  for  account  of  cargo.) 

NOTE — Charters  for  Italy,  France  and  Spain 
read:  “Lay  days  to  commence  on  steam¬ 
er’s  arrival  at  or  off  port  of  discharge. 
One  shilling  per  net  register  ton  per  day 


demurrage.” 

Montevideo,  about  .  34s.  9d. 

Buenos  Aires  or  La  Plata,  about .  35s. 

Rosario,  about  .  36s.  6d. 

Rio  . 35s.@36s. 

Santos,  about  .  36s. 

(Consignees  paying  docas  dues.) 

Valparaiso  or  Callao  . $.25@.506 

Havana  .  2.00  @2.25 

Cardenas  or  Sagua,  about .  2.75 

Cienfuegos  .  2.75@3.00 

Port  of  Spain,  Trinidad,  about .  3.50 

St.  Lucia,  about . 3.50 

St.  Thomas  .  3.00@3.25 

Barbados,  about  .  3.50 

Kingston  .  2.75@3.00 

Curacao  . (and  p.  c.)  3.25@3.50 

Santiago  .  2.50@3.00 

(luantanamo  . ; .  2.50@3.00 

Demerara,  about  .  4.25 

Bermuda,  about  .  3.00 

Vera  Cruz  .  3.50@3.75 

Tampico  .  3.50@3.75 


Recent  Coal  Freight  Charters. 

Steamer  - ,  Atlantic  Range  to  Pacific  coast  port,  coal, 


$5.25. 

Steamers  Strathspey  (Br.),  Strathaven  (Br.)  and  Tiver¬ 
ton  (Br.),  Virginia  to  west  coast  of  Italy,  coal,  p.  t. 

Steamer  Ilarlen  (Br.),  Philadelphia  to  west  coast  of 
Italy,  coal,  p.  t. 

Schooner  E.  Starr  Jones,  Norfolk  to  Pernambuco,  coal, 
$7.25. 

Steamer  Moosdyk  (Dutch),  Baltimore  or  Virginia  to 
Buenos  Aires  or  I.a  Plata,  coal,  34s.  fid. 

Steamer  Urd  (Nor.),  Baltimore  to  Stockholm,  coal,  p.  t. 

Steamers  Dorington  Court  (Br.),  Eleni  Strathatos 
((ireek)  and  Petrilses  (Greek),  Virginia  to  Italy,  coal,  p.  t. 

Steamer  -  (Br.),  Philadeliihia  to  Barcelona,  Bilbao 

or  Cadiz,  coal,  37s.  fid. 

Schooner  Henry  C.  Brown,  Philadelphia  to  Calais, 
coal,  SI. 25. 

Steamer  Bruckhaus  (Br.),  Baltimore  to  Honduras, 
coal,  p.  t. 


Country —  January  February 


Italy  . 

13,2.S7 

.  7.371 

.  5,8f)0 

2,554 

British  West  Indies: 

.  1,452 

Barbaiios  . 

.  2,110 

8.04K 

3,203 

10,893 

1,080 

49,000 

698 

.  14,235 

.  3’7fil 

Chile . 

.  2A00 

1,210 

8,286 

Argentine  . 

.  7,540 

4,624 

.  13,782 

■  20;n49 

26,551 
632 

.  27,321 

Porto  Rico  . 

.  2,450 

1,784 

802 

Totals  . 

154,291 

The  above  figures  do  not  include  bunkers. 


Steamer  Alf  (Dan.),  Baltimore  to  Bocas  del  Toro, 
coal,  p.  t. 

Steamer  Magnus  Mansor,  Newport  News  to  Pernam¬ 
buco,  coal,  $7.50,  prompt. 

Steamer  Farmand  (Br.),  Philadelphia  to  Vita.  Cuba, 
coal,  p.  t. 

Steamer  Osterdyk  (Dutch),  Norfolk  to  west  coast  of 
Italy,  coal,  37s.,  prompt. 

Steamers  Harmattan  (Br.)  and  Holtye  (Br.),  Balti¬ 
more  to  west  coast  of  Italy,  coal,  p.  t 

Steamers  Belgien  (Br.)  and  Erinier  (Br.),  Baltimore 
to  Marseilles,  coal,  p.  t. 

Steamer  Strathcorn  (Br.),  Philadelphia  to  Barcelona, 
coal,  p.  t. 

Steamer  Sommelsdyk  (Dutch),  Philadelphia  to  Rio 
Janeiro,  coal,  p.  t. 

Schooner  King  Josiah  (Br.),  Philadelphia  to  Halifax, 
N.  .S.,  2o0  tons  coal,  $2. 

Schooner  Lucia  Porter,  Philadelphia  to  St.  John  N 
Ik,  550  tons  coal,  p.  t. 

Schooner  Carrie  A.  Lane,  Philadeljihia  to  Porto  Rico 
l,2o0  tons  coal,  p.  t.  * 

Steamer  Glenmont  (Br.),  Philadelphia  to  Antilla,  coal 
p.  t. 

Steamers  Colomba  (Ital.),  Eurichetta  (Ital.),  II  Pie¬ 
monte  (Ital.)  and  Catarina  Accame  (Ital.),  Baltimore  to 
Italian  ports,  coal,  July. 

.Steamer  Bendew  (Br.),  Baltimore  to  Barcelona  or 
Valencia,  coal,  p.  t.,  spot. 

Steamer  Zambora  (Swed,),  Baltimore  to  a  Swedish 
port,  coal,  p.  t.,  prompt. 

Steamer  Eliofilo  (Ital.),  Baltimore  to  Italian  port  coal 
p.  t.,  spot. 

Steamer  Derwenthall  (Br.),  Baltimore  to  Marseilles 
coal,  p.  t.,  spot. 

Schooner  M.  D.  Cressey,  Norfolk  to  Bahia,  coal,  p.  t 

Schooner  E.  F.  Northam,  Philadelphia  to  Yarmouth 
N.  S.,  coal,  .$7.90. 

Schooner  Laura  Haldt,  Philadelphia  to  Paramaribo 
coal,  $4.25  and  port  charges.  ’ 


Selling  Our  Coal  Abroad. 

Persons  who  worry  lest  the  coal  deposits  of 
this  country  run  out  in  a  million  years  or  less 
may  take  fresh  alarm  from  the  rapid  jumps  in 
the  quantity  of  coal  now  being  exported. 

.Shipments  of  coal  from  Atlantic  ports  for 
the  first  six  months  of  this  year  are  only  7.50,000 
tons  behind  the  total  for  the  entire  year,  1914. 
During  this  first  half  of  1915,  Baltimore  more 
than  doubled  its  coal  exports  as  compared  with 
the  corresponding  period  last  year. 

Not  many  years  ago  1,000,000  tons  was  a  fair 
figure  for  the  amount  of  coal  exported  from 
the  Atlantic  seaboard  in  a  twelve  month.  This 
year,  at  the  present  rate,  something  like  8,000, 000 
tons  will  be  sent  abroad. 

With  these  figures  The  Black  Diamond,  organ 
of  the  coal  trade,  heralds  “the  advent  of  a  new 
era  for  the  export  coal  trade  of  America.”  Re¬ 
laxing  of  British  competition  has  encouraged  the 
American  coal  men  to  go  after  foreign  trade. 
American  coal  is  pushing  its  way  to  a  recognized 
place  in  new  markets  of  Europe  and  South 
-Aiperica.  In  the  first  six  months  of  this  year, 
Baltimore  shipped  four  times  as  much  coal  to 
Italy  as  for  the  same  period  last  year,  eight 
times  as  much  to  the  Argentine. 

Whether  American  coal  can  hold  its  own  in 
these  markets  after  the  war  is  over  depends  upon 
whether  enough  American  ships  are  built  to 
carry  it, — A^ezv  York  World. 


Hampton  RoaiJs  Exports. 

Presented  below  is  a  statement  showing  cx- 
imrts  of  coal  from  Hampton  Roads  (Lambert’s 
Point,  Sewall’s  Point  and  Newport  News)  for 
the  first  si.x  months  of  1915,  showing  destina¬ 
tions  : 


March 

April 

May 

lune 

Total 

41,099 

146,570 

170,162 

244,893 

642,706 

1.391 

3,254 

4,645 

1,524 

10,480 

13,648 

25,652 

7,420 

1.3,147 

20,567 

5,746 

11,180 

16,926 

7,865 

8,007 

15,872 

2,348 

2  348 

10,886 

10  886 

6  883 

6  883 

9,746 

.3,800 

13,546 

6,550 

6,570 

15,802 

36,293 

2.223 

7,447 

1,125 

19,149 

11.913 

14, .535 

5,500 

5,541 

37,489 

8,681 

5,3.38 

4,541 

23,012 

9,922 

0,147 

4,47(3 

14,026 

44,720 

1,831 

1,750 

1,697 

8,571 

11.793 

4.170 

2,141 

11,634 

40,640 

2,295 

1,645 

8,700 

13,720 

47,976 

48,035 

30,697 

29,287 

210,830 

7,177 

3,800 

.3,414 

18,850 

1,241 

500 

.3,277 

750 

7,86S 

3,143 

4.353 

21,014 

26,410 

24,057 

26,982 

114,289 

10,273 

36,635 

14,.522 

11,968 

73,398 

4,637 

4,673 

4,661 

4,641 

23,2.36 

39.706 

62,534 

60,588 

101.056 

298.615 

47,600 

39,601 

34,321 

47,695 

223,089 

231 

863 

719 

719 

2,395 

5,707 

2,994 

15.3.30 

8,618 

13,147 

21,765 

5,418 

5,418 

8.014 

8,014 

802 

512 

2.116 

4,023 

2,439 

6,162 

155,849 

453,178 

442,162 

604,305 

2,027,392 

54 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[July  17 


General  Review. 


There  Is  Something  of  a  Healthy  Im¬ 
provement  in  the  Coal  Market 
Generally  for  This  Week. 


Pittsburgh  coke  producers  are  recording 
rises  in  prices  now  with  expectation  of  much 
higher  prices  later.  Shippers  by  lake  are  call¬ 
ing  attention  to  the  belated  movement  and 
this  is  speeding  up  shipments.  Export  sales 
are  heavier  and  inquiries  are  large.  In  the 
interior  the  time  is  approaching  when  fall 
buying  customarily  starts  and  already  there  is 
some  practical  suggestion  of  it. 

In  the  east  it  is  reported  through  New  York 
the  sale  of  anthracite  coal  is  abnormally  light 
even  for  this  season  and  the  operators  are  cur¬ 
tailing  anthracite  production  sharply,  although 
inquiries  are  heavier.  There  is  a  sentimental 
improvement  in  bituminous,  but  so  far  the  ac¬ 
tual  change  has  been  of  little  importance. 

Because  July  is  customarily  a  month  of 
small  business  in  New  England,  the  Boston 
report  says  that  the  customary  slump  is  now 
occurring.  There  is  a  lessened  demand  for 
anthracite  from  the  retailers  because  the  mills 
and  factories  are  closing  down  for  inventory. 
There  is  also  a  small  demand  for  bituminous. 
The  market  has  been  none  too  strong  because 
shipments  have  been  rather  heavy. 

At  Philadelphia,  it  will  be  recalled,  the  piers 
were  cleaned  up  over  the  holiday,  first  by 
the  reduction  in  shipment  and  second  by  the 
increase  in  demand.  This  last  week  the  de¬ 
mand  has  continued  heavy  and  shipments  have 
been  increased.  The  market  is  still  ten  cents 
a  ton  above  what  it  was  and  the  volume  of 
business  is  appreciably  larger.  In  the  anthra¬ 
cite  field  all  of  the  operators,  including  the 
so-called  independents,  have  curtailed  ship¬ 
ment  rather  sharply. 

At  Baltimore,  the  export  trade  has  fallen 
off  a  little.  The  week’s  shipments  were  but 
57,000  tons,  or  about  30,000  tons  short  of  what 
has  been  done  lately.  However,  inquiries  are 
rather  heavy.  A  considerable  volume  of  busi¬ 
ness  is  being  done  on  orders  which  anticipate 
shipments  direct  from  the  mines,  but  sales  of 
spot  coal  are  small. 

At  Buffalo,  the  retailers  are  not  buying 
much  anthracite  for  immediate  shipment,  al¬ 
though  orders  for  later  delivery  are  heavy. 
Bituminous  continues  to  show  a  slight  im¬ 
provement,  which  has  been  the  case  recently. 

Birmingham’s  sentiment  is  somewhat  mixed, 
the  major  operators  reporting  a  fair  business, 
but  the  others  not  being  quite  so  well  satis¬ 
fied  with  current  conditions  or  prospects. 
The  biggest  improvement,  it  seems,  is  in  the 
sale  of  bunker  coal  at  the  gulf  ports. 

At  Pittsburgh  the  coal  market  is  quotably 
and  actually  unchanged.  The  mines  are  still 
selling  a  good  deal  of  coal  to  the  coke  ovens 
and  to  export  trade.  They  are  selling  some 
to  local  industries.  The  retail  demand  by  all 
rail  is  rather  small  and  the  movement  up  the 
lakes  is  not  quite  as  heavy  as  it  might  be. 

Labor  troubles  in  southeastern  Kentucky 
are  lessening  the  supply  of  coal  in  the  Louis¬ 
ville  market,  causing  a  stray  from  prices.  At 
the  same  time  harvesting  is  under  way  and 
the  retailers  are  able  to  sell  some  coal  to  the 
farmers.  This  brings  up  a  suggestion  of  im¬ 
provement  which  so  far  has  not  developed 
much  actual  business. 

Taken  as  a  whole,  the  Cincinnati  trade  is 
not  much  encouraged  by  the  week’s  develop¬ 
ment,  although  the  retailers  in  the  interior 
are  beginning  to  take  a  little  more  coal  when 
prices  are  right. 

In  Indiana  the  operators  are  noting  a  slight 
improvement  in  the  demand,  coming  first  from 
the  manufacturing  districts  and  second  from 
the  farming  districts.  The  movement  of  the 
crop  explains  the  latter  naturally.  The  de¬ 
mand  has  not  increased  enough,  however,  to 
enlarge  the  output  or  improve  prices. 

Detroit  and  Toledo  reports  both  indicate 
a  continuance  of  the  over-supply  of  coal,  a 
tendency  to  cut  prices,  and  not  much  but 
still  some  improvement  in  the  demand  from 
retailers  and  factories. 

The  Chicago  situation  is  in  every  respect 
a  trifle  better  than  it  was  a  week  or  so  ago. 
There  is  a  better  demand  for  most  of  the 
eastern  coals,  with  the  exception  of  anthracite. 
Especially  there  was  a  better  movement  in 
smokeless  among  the  western  coals.  The  de¬ 
mand  for  the  domestic  sizes  has  been  larger 


and  prices  have  been  maintained  without  any 
difficulty. 

Omaha  has  had  a  sluggish  market  for  the 
last  week.  Heavy  rains  have  interfered  with 
farming  operations  and  thus  have  checked  the 
movement  of  coal  from  the  retail  yards  to 
the  farmers.  This  has  reacted  upon  the  whole¬ 
sale  trade  by  limiting  orders. 


Chicago  Market. 


Buying  Is  Moderate  but  Prices,  Except 
on  Screenings,  Are  Firm. 


Office  of  The  Black  Diamond, 
Chicago,  July  15. 

The  Chicago  coal  market  is  not  much  different 
this  week  from  what  it  was  last  week,  and  in  fact, 
not  radically  different  from  what  it  has  been  in 
the  last  month  or  six  weeks.  There  is  some  more 
buying  of  pretty  nearly  every  grade  of  coal,  and 
sentiment  in  favor  of  better  prices  and  bigger  busi¬ 
ness  seems  to  be  solidifying.  At  the  same  time 
the  actual  transfer  from  sentiment  to  fact  is  a 
little  slow. 

The  slight  increase  in  domestic  buyin,g  has  en¬ 
larged  production  a  little  and  with  that  has  come 
an  increase  in  the  output  of  fine  coal.  The  con¬ 
sumption  there  has  not  increased,  consequently  the 
market  is  a  trifle  easy. 

At  this  time  of  the  year  anthracite  is  always 
slow,  because  July  is  between  the  investment  buy¬ 
ing  of  April,  May  and  June,  and  the  fall  buying 
of  August,  September  and  October.  This  year  the 
recession  in  business  is  a  little  more  pronounced 
than  customary  and  the  business  is  flat.  Some 
orders  are  being  placed  for  delivery  the  latter  part 
of  July  and  the  early  part  of  August,  but  mostly 
the  inquiries  are  for  August  delivery.  Prices  are 
held  firm  only  because  coal  is  kept  off  the  market. 

About  the  best  statement  of  the  smokeless  mar¬ 
ket  is  that  fifty  per  cent  of  the  contracts  have 
been  closed,  but  these  contracts  do  not  cover  fifty 
per  cent  of  the  tonnage  used  in  Chicago.  Some 
of  the  retailers  have  signed  up  their  contracts  for 
the  full  amounts  stipulated  in  previous  years  and 
are  now  takin.g  coal  on  contract.  Others  have 
contracted  for  only  a  part  of  their  requirements. 
Others  have  not  contracted  at  all  so  far.  This 
survey  of  the  situation  does  not  take  into  con¬ 
sideration,  of  course,  the  largest  retail  establish¬ 
ment  in  the  city  which  has  a  long  time  arrange¬ 
ment  for  its  supply.  As  this  indicates,  the  mine 
run  business  is  firm  but  a  little  slow.  If  there  is 
any  shortage  of  coal  later,  which  seems  some  peo¬ 
ple  now  anticipate,  the  market  situation  will  be 
far  from  satisfactory  for  the  buyer  a  little  later. 
In  the  meantime  the  spot  buying  is  a  trifle  heavier 
because  some  retailers  are  taking  advantage  of  the 
last  discount  month,  prices  advancing  on  mine  run 
the  first  of  August.  Smokeless,  lump  and  egg  is 
firm  at  the  new  circular  of  $2,  and  in  fact,  where 
any  coal  is  available  it  can  readily  be  sold  at  a 
premium  of  ten  to  fifteen  cents.  Prices  up  to 
Thursday  were : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Smokeless —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Mine  run .  $3.30  $1.25 

Lump  and  egg .  3.05  2.00 

The  Somerset  county  situation  has  not  chaaged 
in  any  particular.  Prices  are  artificially  firm,  but 
the  business  is  extremely  light.  Quotations  up  to 
Thursday  were : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Somerset  County —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Mine  run .  $3.30  $1.25 

Lump  and  egg .  3.75@3.95  1.70@1.00 

In  the  last  week  the  demand  for  Hocking  coal 
has  picked  up  just  a  little,  due  principally  to 
country  buying.  The  improvement  is  not  much, 
and  in  fact,  prices  can  be  kept  firm  only  by  rigid 
supervision  of  shipments.  Prices  up  to  Thursday 
were : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Hocking —  Chicago.  Mines. 

154-iDch  lump .  $3.15  $1.50 

The  market  on  splint  coal  has  been  rather  un¬ 
steady,  but  some  little  improvement  is  noted. 
There  is  not  so  much  free  coal  being  shipped  to 
this  territory  because  the  operators  are  beginning 
to  appreciate  that  by  sacrificing  in  the  matter  of 
price  they  are  prejudicing  the  reputation  of  their 
product.  There  is  no  tendency  to  advance  the 
maximum  price,  but  the  minimum  price  is  moving 
up  a  little.  Prices  on  better  grades  on  shipments 
direct  from  the  mines  up  to  Thursday  were: 

F.  p.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Kanawha —  Chicago.  Mines. 

It4-inch  lump . $3.05@3.15  $1.15@1.25 

Eastern  Kentucky  coal  is  quoted  at  quite  a 

spread  of  prices,  still  the  circumstances  dictating 
what  the  prices  shall  be.  If  the  coal  is  on  con¬ 
signment  and  approaching  demurrage  domestic 


lump,  which  includes  the  block  coal,  is  often  sacri¬ 
ficed  at  $1.25  or  less.  If  shipments  are  to  be  made 
direct  from  the  mines,  the  producers  are  holding 
for  prices  ranging  from  $1.50  to  $1.75.  Commen¬ 
surate  prices  are  named  on  the  egg  coal  which  has 
not  a  very  big  sale  in  this  territory, 
r.  O-  F-  O-  K- 

Eastern  Kentucky—  Chicago.  Mines. 

Domestic  lump . $3.15@3.65  $1.25@1.75 

Egg  .  3.00@3.15  1.10@1.25 

Franklin  county  prepared  sizes  had  a  week  of 
moderately  slow  sales,  and  yet  on  the  whole  there 
has  been  a  pretty  fair  increase  in  volume.  The 
lump  and  the  No.  1  nut  have  been  moving  rather 
freely.  The  egg  has  been  moving,  but  with  diffi¬ 
culty.  The  No.  2  nut  or  special  stove  has  not 
been  particularly  a  free  seller  and  a  differential  in 
price  alone  has  given  it  a  call.  Steam  sizes  have 
been  produced  in  a  little  larger  volume  than  the 
market  would  take  eagerly  and  the  prices  on 
screenings  as  a  consequence  has  eased  off  a  trifle 
Perhaps  eighty  cents  is  the  top,  with  seventy-five 
as  a  common  figure.  Prices  up  to  Thursday  were  : 


F.  0.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

Franklin  County — 

Chicago. 

Mines. 

Lump  . 

$1.50 

Egg  . 

1.50 

No.  1  nut . 

1.50 

No.  2  nut . 

1.35 

Mine  run . 

1.10 

2-inch  screenings  . 

.80 

Williamson  county  lump  and  No.  1  washed  coal 
have  been  moving  rather  freely.  The  egg  has  not 
been  a  good  seller  and  there  has  only  been  a 
moderate  demand  for  the  steam  sizes  of  washed 
coal.  However,  the  operators  are  adhering  to  the 
new  circular  put  out  two  weeks  ago,  and  have 
heen  closing  down  the  mines  rather  than  sell  for 
less  than  the  circular  indicates.  Prices  up  to 
Thursday  were : 


Williamson  County — 
Lump  . 

Egg  . 

No.  1  washed . 

No.  2  washed . 


F.  0.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

Chicago. 

Mines. 

$2.55 

$1.50 

2.55 

1.50 

2.55 

1.50 

2.45 

1.40 

The  Saline  county  operators  have  had  within 
the  week  a  slightly  better  demand  for  lump  coal, 
traceable  to  buying  for  the  harvest  period.  Screen¬ 
ings  have  not  been  quite  so  stron.g,  with  prices  of 
eighty  cents  iierhaps  representative  for  the  field. 


Prices  up  to  Thursday  were : 

F.  O.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

Saline  County — 

Chicago. 

Mines. 

Lump  . 

$2.55 

$1.50 

Mine  run . 

2.15 

1.10 

Screenings  . 

1.85 

.80 

iK-inch  lump . 

2.30 

1.25 

Springfield  screenings  are  still  the  feature  of 
that  market.  Price  for  this  last  week  was  seventy 
to  seventy-five  cents,  with  perhaps  emphasis  on 
the  seventy. 

There  has  been  a  little  better  demand  for  domes¬ 
tic  coal  and  one  or  two  cases  are  reported  of 
where  this  was  on  contract  up  to  demurrage.  It 


is  interesting  that  demurrage  was  paid  rather  than 


accepting  sacrifice  in 

the  market  price. 

Prices  up 

to  Thursday  were: 

F.  O.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

Springfield — 

Chicago. 

Mines. 

r.ump  . 

.  $2.32 

$1.50 

Egg  . 

.  2.32 

1.50 

Nut  . 

.  2.17 

1.35 

Mine  run . 

1.05 

Screenings  . 

.70 

In  the  main,  Clinton  county  operators  are  still 
relying  on  steam  contracts  to  take  up  the  output 
of  the  mines.  They  have  not  begum  to  specialize 
on  domestic.  It  may  be  because  Indiana  retailers 


are  not  selling  much  to  the 
to  Thursday  were : 

farmers. 

Prices  up 

F.  0.  B. 

F.  0.  B. 

Clinton — 

Chicago. 

Mines. 

Domestic  lump . 

$2.27 

$1.50 

Egg  . 

2.07 

1.30 

Nut  . 

2.07 

1.30 

Mine  run . 

1.87 

1.10 

Screenings  . 

1.52 

.75 

One  or  two  Knox  county  mines  are  now  sold  up 
on  contract,  and  as  a  consequence  are  off  the  mar¬ 
ket.  The  others  are  selling  little  domestic  coal 
and  are  concentratin.g  on  steam  trade.  Prices  up 
to  Thursday  were : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Knox  County—  Chicago.  Mines. 


Lump  .  .  . 

Egg  . 

Mine  run. 
Screenings 


$2.37  $1.50 

2.37  1.50 

1.87  1.05 

1.52  07 


Coke  is  moving  but  with  difficulty.  The  mar¬ 
ket  for  furnace  and  foundry  seems  to  be  rising, 
with  prophecies  of  higher  prices  later.  Domes¬ 
tic  sizes  of  by-product  coke  are  still  easy,  conces¬ 
sions  of  ten  to  fifteen  cents  a  ton  from  circular 
being  made.  Prices  up  to  Thursday  were : 

F.  O.  B. 

Coke —  Chicago. 


Connellsville  . 

By-product,  foundry . 

By  product,  egg  and  stove 

By-product,  nut  . 

3as  house . 


$4.76 

4.85@5.10 

4.65 

4.66 
3.75@4.90 


No.  3] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


55 


Pittsburgh  Trade. 

Conditions  Continue  Fairly  Satisfactory 
as  to  Big  Tonnages,  but  Small 
Business  Is  Lacking. 


Office  of  The  Black  Diamond, 
1502  Oliver  Building, 

PiTSBURGH,  Pa.,  July  15. 

“What  has  been  said  can  be  said  again,”  so 
far  as  the  Pittsburgh  market  is  concerned — the 
situation  being  practically  unchanged  and  a  gen¬ 
eral  awaiting  of  developments  in  a  situation  very 
hard  to  analyze,  seems  to  be  the  order  of  the  day. 

The  steel  trade  continues  to  show  betterment, 
but  its  chief  end  is  the  foreign  business  in  war 
stocks,  and  while  demanding  increased  supplies 
of  coke  and  labor  —  thus  improving  certain 
branches — its  activity  is  not  reflected  in  the  open 
coal  market,  the  mills  operating  generally  mining 
their  own  coal  and  producing  their  own  coke. 
The  only  big  business  consummated  the  past 
week  is  the  sale  of  300,000  tons  of  coal  by  the 
Pittsburgh  Coal  Company,  through  its  southern 
sales  department,  to  the  United  Fruit  Company 
of  New  Orleans,  the  delivery  to  extend  over  a 
period  of  three  years.  Some  large  export  orders 
are  still  hanging  fire — expected  to  be  closed 
momentarily — and  aggregating  a  couple  of  mil- 
ion  tons,  but  various  circumstances  seem  to  halt 
the  purchasers  and  delay  final  adjustments — 
freights  east  from  Pittsburgh,  compared  _  with 
nearer  tide  water  mines,  presumably  cutting  a 
figure  in  the  deals. 

Several  factors  seemingly  tend  to  put  the  mar¬ 
ket  on  the  “bum” — the  one — the  delay  in  the 
starting  of  lake  shipping,  the  question  as  to 
whether  there  will  be  lake  demand  to  any  extent, 
and  when  it  will  develop.  If  it  comes  there  will 
be  some  hustling  develop  later  in  the  season  to 
meet  it,  particularly  if  local  demand  for  fall 
materializes  as  the  optimists  see  that  it  will. 
Overproduction  is  another  factor  that  depresses 
the  market,  especially  with  the  present  lack  of 
demand. 

Panhandle  slack  was  to  be  had  the  past  week 
at  thirty-five  and  forty  cents,  and  Youghiogheny 
slack  at  fifty-five  and  sixty  cents.  These  prices 
are  said  to  be  under  cost  of  production  and  not 
to  be  considered  as  representing  the  market. 
Mine  run  sold  at  $1.00  and  $1.05,  with  3/4  at 
$1.10  and  5/4  at  $1.20,  and  yet  mines  are  not  oper¬ 
ating  more  than  fifty  to  seventy-five  per  cent  of 
capacity. 

Rumor  has  it  that  the  Lackawanna  Steel  Com¬ 
pany  are,  or  will  soon  be,  asking  for  quotations 
on  coke  for  four  additional  furnaces  to  be  blown 
in  soon,  and  inquiry  develops  the  fact  that  fur¬ 
nace  coke  is  bringing  $1.85  spot,  and  contract 
holding  at  $2  to  $2.25.  One  operator  asserted 
that  he  would  make  no  contracts  extending  past 
October  1st  under  $3.00,  so  confident  is  he  of 
the  continued  and  increasing  demand.  Foundry 
coke  is  looking  up  as  to  demand,  but  no  change 
in  nrices  has  been  reported,  quotations  remaining 
at  $2  to  $2.50. 

With  an  eight-foot  stage  at  Davis  Island  dam 
last  Saturday,  developed  by  the  heavy  rains  of 
the  latter  end  of  the  week,  the  wickets  were 
lowered  to  allow  a  big  shipment  of  coal  aggre¬ 
gating  1,300,000  bushels  to  pass  to  points  below 
from  the  Pittsburgh  harbor. 

The  Monongahela  River  Consolidated  Coal  & 
Coke  Company  sent  the  Charles  Brown,  James 
Moren,  Tom  Dodsworth  and  the  Boaz,  each  with 
seventeen  barges  and  small  coal  boats.  The 
Diamond  Coal  &  Coke  Company  started  the 
Volcano  and  the  Sam  Bernum  with  fourteen 
barges  between  them.  The  entire  latter  shipment 
will  be  turned  over  to  the  Volcano  after  the  trip 
through  the  lower  pools,  and  the  Sam  Barnum 
will  return.  The  other  towboats  will  proceed 
to  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  or  Louisville,  Ky.,  their 
destination  not  having  been  decided  when  they 
cleared. 

The  Monongahela  river  did  not  contribute  to 
this  rise  and  large  fleets  of  empties  are  still 
lying  in  the  Pittsburgh  harbor,  also  loaded  coal 
in  the  upper  pools,  awaiting  a  shipping  stage 
from  the  upper  waters  of  the  Monongahela. 

Much  activity  seems  to  be  developing  in  the 
coke  regions,  not  only  with  the  steel  making 
companies,  but  with  the  independents  as  well, 
the  general  outlook  for  the  latter  being  better 
than  it  has  been  for  the  past  six  months.  Two 
independent  companies  in  the  Fayette  county  re¬ 
gion  are  reported  as  having  blown  in  130  ovens 
last  week,  and  the  Union  Connellsville  Coke  Com¬ 
pany  reported  that  they  have  blown  in  seventy 
out  of  140  ovens  at  the  Katherine  plant  at  Simp¬ 
son  Station.  This  plant  has  been  entirely  idle 


for  practically  a  year  and  a  half.  The  Consoli¬ 
dated  Connellsville  Coke  Company  has  placed  in 
operation  sixty  additional  ovens  at  Mount  Ster¬ 
ling  plant.  The  Consolidated  company,  at  its 
four  plants,  now  has  600  out  of  872  ovens  in 
blast. 

In  the  vicinity  of  Brownsville,  while  from 
unofficial  sources,  it  was  learned  that  five  small 
coke  plants  were  making  preparations  to  resume 
operations,  which  is  indicative  of  the  gradual 
improvement  of  industrial  conditions  throughout 
the  mining  section. 

While  no  official  announcement  has  been  made 
by  the  officials  of  the  various  companies,  it  is 
known  by  corporations  in  Brownsville  with  whom 
the  mines  are  greatly  dependent  for  facilities  that 
the  works  are  preparing  to  resume.  The  works 
about  to  open  up  are : 

Garwood  mines  of  the  Etna  Connellsville  at 
Simpson,  shut  down  for  over  a  year. 

Champion  mines  of  the  Connellsville  Consoli¬ 
dated,  near  the  Brownsville  Construction  Com¬ 
pany  in  Brownsville. 

Gray’s  Landing,  Connellsville  Consolidated, 
Nos.  1  and  2. 

Katherine  works.  Union  Connellsville,  at 
Simpson. 

It  is  also  reported  that  several  idle  plants  along 
the  Redstone  branch  of  the  Pennsylvania  railroad 
are  to  be  blown  in  shortly. 

News  in  and  Near  Pittsburgh. 

The  Greenwich  Coal  &  Coke  Company,  which 
has  mines  in  Cambria  county,  has  transferred 
161  acres  of  coal  in  Green  township,  Indiana 
county,  to  the  Manor  Real  Estate  &  Trust  Com¬ 
pany,  the  land  holding  concern  of  the  Pennsyl¬ 
vania  railroad,  for  $12,575.73. 

The  Andrews  Run  Coal  Company,  Pittsburgh, 
Pa.,  is  a  new  company  chartered  by  the  state  of 
Delaware  to  acquire  and  operate  coal  mines  and 
to  prepare  the  same  for  market;  capital  stock, 
$250,000;  incorporators,  Otto  F.  Lohmann,  An¬ 
toinette  F.  Lohmann,  both  of  Pittsburgh. 

The  annual  Niagara  river  outing  of  the  Messrs. 
Roberts  of  Buffalo,  announced  for  the  17th,  will 
be  attended  by  a  number  of  Pittsburgh  coal  men, 
among  them  Mr.  Stoneroad  of  the  Carnegie  Coal 
Company,  Mr.  Gross  and  Mr.  Syroth  of  the 

Keystone  Coal  Company,  Mr.  Neeld  and  Mr. 

Milholland  of  the  Clyde  Coal  Company,  Mr. 

McQuense  of  the  Terminal  Coal  Company,  Mr. 
Marsh  of  the  Pittsburgh  Coal  Company,  Mr. 

Hammill  of  the  Meadow  Lands  Coal  Company, 
and  others. 

Wellston,  Ohio,  and  the  territory  in  the  vicin¬ 
ity  bids  fair  to  be  returned  to  its  activity  of 
previous  years  by  the  formation  of  the  New 
Wellston  Coal  Mining  Company  with  a  capital¬ 
ization  of  $500,000.  The  corporation  has  obtained 
leases  on  about  1,000  acres  of  land  near  Wellston 
and  preliminary  developments  show  that  a  thirty- 
seven-inch  vein  of  coal  has  been  uncovered.  It 
is  planned  to  mine  the  entire  lease.  Incorporators 
of  the  company,  all  local  men,  are :  J.  F.  Pflieger 
and  son,  Mark  F.  Pflieger,  owners  of  the  Pflieger 
Manufacturing  Company  of  Columbus ;  Harry  C. 
Hughes,  a  mining  engineer  and  operator ;  L.  C. 
Marion,  and  E.  Dellinger,  president  of  the  Del¬ 
linger  company.  Headquarters  for  the  company 
will  be  established  in  Columbus. 


Detroit  Trade. 


Detroit,  Mich.,  July  15. —  {Special  Correspond¬ 
ence.) — With  neither  steam  nor  domestic  coal 
showing  any  special  activity  in  the  local  market, 
a  more  cheerful  feeling  seems  to  have  developed 
among  certain  of  the  Detroit  shippers  and  job¬ 
bers,  who  heretofore  have  appeared  inclined  to 
take  a  somewhat  gloomy  view  of  the  outlook. 

The  improvement  in  the  situation  which  is 
accepted  as  a  hopeful  indication  by  some  of  the 
shippers  appears  in  the  fact  that  the  quantity  of 
coal  now  being  shipped  into  Detroit  seems  more 
closely  proportioned  to  requirements  of  the  mar¬ 
ket  than  for  some  weeks  past,  and  that  in  conse¬ 
quence  the  amount  of  various  kinds  of  coal 
thrown  on  the  market  at  reduced  prices  to  effect 
immediate  sale  is  not  as  great  as  before,  while 
prices  are  taking  a  steadier  basis. 

The  consignment  coal  problem,  though  less 
vexatious,  is  not  wholly  eliminated,  and  cautious 
buyers  who  are  able  to  take  advantage  of  oppor¬ 
tunities  are  still  finding  West  Virginia  slack  and 
nut  and  pea  sizes  which  may  be  bought  at  from 
forty-five  to  fifty-five  cents,  although  the  better 
quality  commands  from  seventy-five  to  ninety 
cents.  With  demurrage  impending.  West  Vir¬ 
ginia  lump  is  obtainable  at  $1  and  upward. 


With  the  exception  of  Pocahontas  lump,  all 
kinds  of  coal,  including  smokeless  fine  coal,  are 
being  received  in  quantities  fully  sufficient  for 
the  present  needs  of  the  market.  Steam  coal 
users  and  retail  dealers  have  not  developed  as 
much  interest  in  the  matter  of  stocking  up  as 
some  of  the  shippers  believe  would  be  desirable 
at  this  season  of  the  year,  especially  in  view  of 
the  possible  interruption  of  shipments  later  by 
labor  controversies  in  some  of  the  mining  dis¬ 
tricts. 

While  the  coal  now  being  sent  up  the  lakes 
makes  a  large  total,  the  movement  continues  to 
fall  short  of  what  would  be  the  shipments  of  a 
normal  year.  Delay  in  movement  of  coal  from 
docks  at  the  head  of  the  lakes  is  still  a  depressing 
influence,  though  some  of  the  shippers  predict 
larger  activity  in  that  direction  in  the  near 
future,  on  the  theory  that  the  opening  of  the 
threshing  season  in  the  northwest  will  increase 
the  demand  for  coal  in  districts  which  are  be¬ 
lieved  to  be  poorly  supplied.  The  rolling  equip¬ 
ment  used  by  the  railroads  in  moving  grain  to 
shipping  centers  is  expected  to  aid  in  distributing 
coal  which  now  crowds  the  unloading  docks. 

Slow  movement  of  coal  from  the  mines  to 
Lake  Erie  is  forcing  many  freighters  to  return 
to  the  head  of  the  lakes  without  cargo,  though 
some  of  the  vessels,  not  owned  by  shippers  and 
without  ore  handling  contracts,  are  taking  delays 
of  several  days  to  obtain  coal  on  the  upbound 
trip. 


Prices  in  the  local 

market  on  mine 

shipment 

orders  are  as  follows 

F.  O.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

West  Virginia  Gas — 

Mines. 

Detroit. 

Three-quarter  lump . 

. $0.95@1.00 

$2.35(a2.40 

Mine  run . 

. . 75@  .80 

2.15(g2.20 

Slack  . 

1.80(gl.90 

West  Virginia — 

Four-inch  lump . 

2.76@3.00 

Two-inch  lump . 

2.50@2.65 

Three-quarter  . 

.  1.00(3)1.10 

2.40(3)2.50 

Mine  run . 

. . 9o<ai.oo 

2.30@2.40 

Nut,  pea  and  slack . 

. 50@  .75 

1.90@2.15 

Smokeless — 

Lump  and  egg . 

3.60 

Nut  . 

8.10 

Slack  . 

Open 

Mine  run . 

Open 

Kentucky  Splint — 

Lump  . . 

.  1.20@1.25 

2.60(32.65 

Egg  . 

2.40@2.50 

Nut,  pea  and  slack . 

Open 

Fairmount — 

Three-quarter  steam  lump. 

. . 85(®  .95 

2.25@2.35 

Mine  run . . 

2.10(32.20 

Slack  . 

Open 

Hocking  Valley — 

Shaker  three-inch  lump.., 

.  1.50 

2.65 

Shaker  egg  and  nut . 

2.30 

Domestic  lump . . 

2.50 

Three-quarter  lump . 

.  1.25@1.30 

2.40(32.45 

Mine  run . 

.  1.00@1.10 

2.15@2.25 

Nut,  pea  and  slack . 

Open 

Detroit  Local  News. 

John  S.  Gatfield  of  Duff  &  Gatfield,  vessel 
agents  at  Texas  Landing  on  the  Canadian  side 
of  the  Detroit  river,  has  opened  a  retail  coal 
yard  near  his  vessel  office. 

Cut  in  two  amidships,  the  steel  steamer  Matoa, 
for  many  years  a  coal  and  ore  carrier  on  the 
lakes,  is  now  on  her  way  through  the  Welland 
canal  and  St.  Lawrence  river  to  the  Atlantic 
coast,  where  she  will  engage  in  the  coal  trade  out 
of  Boston.  It  was  necessary  to  cut  the  ship  in 
two  to  get  her  through  the  Welland  locks. 

Lake  tonnage  employed  in  the  coal  trade  was 
reduced  this  week  by  the  loss  of  the  steel 
freighter  Choctaw,  owned  by  the  Cleveland  Cliffs 
Iron  Company  of  Cleveland.  The  Choctaw,  up- 
bound  from  Cleveland  to  Superior  with  a  cargo 
of  coal,  was  struck  in  a  fog  Monday  morning 
oft’  Presque  Isle,  Lake  Huron,  by  the  Canadian 
steamer  Waheondah,  downbound,  and  sank  al¬ 
most  immediately,  her  crew  all  escaping  to  the 
Waheondah.  Loss  on  steamer  and  cargo  is 
about  $125,000. 


The  Gifford-Wood  Co.,  of  Hudson,  N.  Y., 
are  distributing  35,000  booklets  describing 
their  adjustable  car  loader  for  handling  ice 
rapidly  from  the  house  to  cars  or  platform, 
and  also  describing  their  cutter  for  separating 
ice  cakes  in  the  house. 

The  number  of  the  booklet  is  18,  and  will 
be  gladly  sent  any  reader  of  The  Black  Dia¬ 
mond  upon  request  to  the  above  mentioned 
concern. 


William  E.  Minor,  vice-president.  The  Reliance 
Coal  &  Coke  Company,  Cincinnati,  was  a  Louis¬ 
ville  visitor  during  the  week.  Mr.  Minor  takes 
an  optimistic  view  of  the  industrial  outlook  in 
tlie  manufacturing  towns  of  Ohio,  at  least. 


56 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[July  17 


Cincinnati  Trade. 

Buying  Is  Light  but  Indications  Are  for 
an  Upturn  in  the  Near 
Future. 

Cincinnati,  Ohio,  July  15. — (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — The  market  in  this  territory  is  no 
lietter.  In  the  language  of  a  disgustetl  splint 
operator,  “it  is  getting  no  better  fast.”  How¬ 
ever,  a  few  splint  people  are  enjoying  a  little 
better  demand  and  contracts  are  coming  in  fair 
proportions.  What  little  surplus  they  have  "spot” 
is  bringing  a  fair  price. 

While  iron  and  steel  business  is  better,  most 
of  the  business  has  gone  to  the  United  States 
Steel  Corporation  or  other  large  interests  who 
manufacture  their  own  coke  and  are  independent 
of  the  general  coal  market.  They  believe,  how¬ 
ever,  that  the  limit  of  the  production  of  these 
interests  is  at  hand  and  that  they  must  go  into 
the  open  market  and  buy  coal  if  their  business 
grows. 

Many  splint  operators  have  been  asked  to 
furnish  figures  for  export  coal.  Also  the  lake 
movement,  which  has  started  fairly  well,  has 
been  gradually  reducing  the  surplus  production 
in  the  splint  fields. 

Spot  coal  is  quite  weak  and  dull,  with  four- 
inch  lump  going  at  $1.05,  four-inch  mine  run 
sixty  cents,  full  mine  run  seventy  cents,  and  nut 
and  slack  forty-five  cents.  It  is  known  that  in 
some  cases  good  quality  coal  has  sold  even  lower 
than  that.  Other  better  grades  are  quoted  and 
have  sold  this  week  at  seventy-five  cents  for 
run  of  mine,  four-inch  block  as  low  as  $1.15,  the 
same  as  one  and  one-half  inch  of  the  same 
quality;  egg,  $1.10,  but  in  some  cases  was  bought 
at  eighty-five  cents,  and  nut  and  slack  forty-five 
and  fifty  cents. 

In  the  Kentucky  field  some  good  coal  prices, 
this  week  and  the  previous  week,  were  quoted 
privately  at  $1.45  for  block,  $1.10  and  $1.15  for 
egg;  one  and  one-half  inch  lump,  $1.25;  run  of 
mine,  ninety  and  ninety-five  cents ;  spot,  sixty 
cents,  and  some  seventy-five  and  eighty  cents. 
Contract  making  in  this  field  is  running  better 
and  slack  has  been  selling  at  forty  to  fifty  cents 
spot. 

The  matter  of  contract  signing  is  improving, 
many  dealers  seeing  winter  staring  them  in  the 
face  soon  with  their  contract  situation  not  in 
condition  to  be  easy  of  contemplation.  But  few 
have  stocked  for  winter,  most  having  bought 
cheap  coal. 

The  tidewater  movement  is  strong  and  some 
of  it  is  now  carrying  the  better  grades  of  splint. 

The  situation  with  the  smokeless  operators 
and  dealers  is  not  much  different  from  that  in 
the  past  two  months.  All  districts  are  beginning 
to  feel  a  labor  scarcity,  and  a  car  shortage  is  so 
near,  in  the  opinion  of  some  of  the  operators, 
that  it  is  not  pleasant  to  contemplate.  They  feel 
that  the  labor  scarcity,  the  car  shortage  and  the 
pending  heavy  demand  for  winter  fuel  will  all 
"strike  the  pike”  about  the  same  time  and  come 
down  on  their  defenseless  heads  in  an  avalanche. 


Cincinnati  News  Notes. 

Captain  J.  T.  Butts  of  the  Carrollton  Coal 
Company  has  purchased  the  elevators  of  the 
Madison  Coal  Company  here  and  will  reconstruct 
and  improve  them  to  hold  sand  and  gravel,  as 
well  as  coal.  It  will  require  several  thousand 
dollars  to  remodel  them  as  the  new  owner  desires 
to  have  them. 

Maury  Robinson,  representing  the  Davis  Col¬ 
lieries  Company  at  Columbus,  tihio,  was  a  visitor 
in  the  city  this  week.  Mr.  Robinson  was  for¬ 
merly  with  the  company,  but  he  resigned  to  help 
his  father-in-law,  who  has  large  plantations  in 
Arkansas.  He  comes  back  now  to  his  old  posi¬ 
tion  to  succeed  W.  Hood,  who  has  been  holding 
the  position  in  Mr.  Robinson’s  absence. 

The  Wyatt  Coal  Company  has  arranged  for  a 
change  in  quarters  to  a  more  commodious  and 
convenient  location.  The  company  now  has  of¬ 
fices  in  the  sixteenth  floor  of  the  First  National 
Bank  building  and  these  have  become  too  small 
and  not  conveniently^  arranged  for  the  conduct 
of  the  rapidly  growing  business  of  the  company. 
The  new  quarters  afe  •well  lighted,  and  much 
more  comfortable  and  sufficiently  large  for  the 
present  nnrposes  of  the  conqiany.  They  are  lo¬ 
cated  on  the  ninth  floor  of  the  h'irst  National 
Bank  building. 

Captain  Harry  R.  Martin  of  the  Convoy,  who 
was  badly  hurt  when  the  boat  went  down,  was 
believed  dead  for  some  days,  but  he  was  heard 


from  at  his  home  at  Gallipolis,  Ohio,  having 
swum  out  from  the  boat  and  boarded  a  train  at 
once  for  home.  He  is  rapidly  recovering  from 
the  loss  of  two  toes  and  a  badly  wrenched  back, 
and  will  soon  be  about.  The  two  tugs,  the 
Convoy  and  the  Fulton,  will  be  raised  from  the 
bottom  of  the  river  as  soon  as  the  water  goes 
down  sufficiently.  They  are  valued  at  nearly 
$10,000  each,  and  it  is  likely  a  loss  of  several 
thousand  dollars  has  been  entailed  by  the  owners 
as  it  is. 

Congressman  Bascom  Slemp  of  Virginia,  prin¬ 
cipal  stockholder  in  the  new  Kentucky  River  Coal 
(Corporation  and  the  man  resiionsible  for  the  big 
corporation,  is  said  to  be  on  “Easy  street”  now. 
It  is  estimated  by  coal  men  here  that  his  royalties 
from  the  company  next  year,  when  they  become  in 
full  effect  for  the  operations  now  working,  will 
be  $10,000  and  that  in  the  following  years  they 
will  reach  $.SO,000  to  $100,000  jier  annum.  Mr. 
Slemp  was  in  Cincinnati  a  few  days  ago  and 
said  he  would  not  cpiit  work  if  his  income  should 
reach  a  million  dollars  a  month.  He  is  built  for 
hard,  energetic  work  and  is  not  happy  without 
it,  his  friends  here  say  in  an  estimate  of  the 
man. 

The  Big  Four  railroad  contracts  for  this  sec¬ 
tion,  about  400,000  tons,  have  been  let,  as  stated 
before,  and  it  is  learned  that  for  the  first  time 
mines  along  the  Louisville  &  Nashville  are  let 
in  on  the  awards  to  large  tonnage.  It  is  said, 
not  authoritatively  but  about  correct,  that  the 
Bewley-Darst  Company  was  awarded  25,000  tons ; 
the  Southern  Coal  &  (loke  Company,  about  35,000 
tons ;  the  Halmar  Coal  Mining  Company,  25,000 
tons ;  the  Snead-Meguire  Company,  about  50,000 
tons,  and  that  the  Wyatt  Coal  Company  and  other 
companies  along  the  C.  &  O.  railroad  obtained 
the  usual  tonnage,  about  that  of  last  year.  The 
award  has  not  yet  been  made  public,  but  the 
above  is  about  the  award,  the  company  holding 
back  deliveries  until  some  of  its  accumulations 
have  disappeared  at  the  coaling  points. 

The  storm  of  last  week  in  Cincinnati  and 
vicinity  was  very  destructive,  the  property  loss 
reaching  $1,000,000,  or  perhaps  more,  and  the 
loss  of  life  believed  to  run  up  to  about  fifty  lives. 
Coal  Companies  feared  the  loss  of  all  their  coal 
in  the  harbors,  but,  remarkable  to  say,  not  a 
barge  was  lost.  This  is  attributed  by  the  coal 
men  to  the  fact  that  the  storm  lasted  but  about 
six  minutes  at  its  worst,  and  that  was  not  suffi¬ 
cient  to  lash  the  waters  to  such  a  fury  as  to 
engulf  the  barges.  However,  the  tug  “Robert 
Fulton”  of  the  Queen  City  Coal  Company,  and 
the  “Convoy”  of  the  Hatfield  Company,  went  to 
the  bottom  of  the  river,  the  former  carrying 
Captain  Bradford  Williams  of  Covington,  a  well 
known  river  captain,  and  the  latter  going  down 
with  about  eight  of  the  crew,  including  the  stew¬ 
ardess  and  Captain  John  Smith,  chief  engineer 
of  the  Convoy.  The  body  of  Captain  Williams 
has  been  recovered  and  his  funeral  has  been  held, 
but  the  body  of  Captain  Smith  has  not  been 
found,  allhough  nearly  all  the  bodies  of  other 
members  of  the  crew  and  the  stewardess  have 
been  recovered.  A  reward  of  $50  has  hcen  of¬ 
fered  for  the  recovery  of  Captain  Smith’s  liody. 

Report  was  made  Tuesday  in  the  United  States 
court  by  Edwin  Marmet  and  Charles  W.  Poysell, 
receivers  of  the  Marmet  Coal  Company  proper¬ 
ties,  that  the  proposed  purchase  of  the  properties 
by  big  financial  interests  had  fallen  through  for 
the  time  being,  although  the  promoters  of  the 
deal  are  supposed  to  be  still  at  work  interesting 
financiers  in  the  proposition.  The  promoters, 
who  are  said  to  represent  eastern  syndicate  inter¬ 
ests,  had  agreed  to  purchase  the  property  for 
$1,500,000  and  were  asked  by  the  court  to  pay 
down,  as  an  instance  of  good  faith,  twenty-live 
per  cent  of  the  purchase  price,  or  $375,000,  by 
May  15.  On  that  date  the  promoters  reported 
that  they  were  unable  to  make  certain  arrange¬ 
ments  in  time,  but  that  they  would  be  willing  to 
make  the  payment  July  12.  The  payment  was  not 
in  evidence  Monday,  the  date  mentioned,  and 
Thomas  BAce  of  New  York,  who  is  representing 
ihe  syndicate,  announced  to  the  receivers  that 
he  was  unable  to  make  the  iiaymcnt,  but  that  it 
would  be  forthcoming  at  a  later  date.  He  said 
the  financial  condition  in  New  York  was  such, 
owing  to  the  European  war,  that  the  money  could 
not  be  raised  at  this  time.  It  is  understood  the 
creditors  and  receivers  have  agreed  to  offer  the 
properties  for  sale  September  21,  bids  to  be 
called  for,  and  the  attorney  for  the  receivers  lias 
applied  for  permission  to  advertise  the  entire 
properties  for  sale  in  bulk  or  in  parcel. 

(Operators  and  wholesale  coal  dealers  in  the 
city  are  receiving  specifications  from  Columhus, 
(Ohio,  for  the  purchase  of  17,000  tons  of  West 


Virginia  coal  for  municipal  use  in  the  coming 
winter.  Some  of  the  dealers  are  placing  bids, 
but  they  do  not  like  the  plan  laid  down  for  the 
award.  The  bid  calls  for  delivery  on  the  B.  T.  U. 
limit  of  12,500,  two  cents  per  100  units  above 
that  standard  to  be  paid  by  the  city,  if  the  coal 
goes  above  that  limit  in  the  test,  as  a  premium, 
and  two  cents  per  100  units  to  be  held  as  a 
penalty  by  the  city  for  every  100  units  the  coal 
falls  below  that  standard.  Dealers  do  not  fear 
the  standard,  but  the  effect  on  the  bidding  will 
be  peculiar.  No  company  will  care  to  bid  on  a 
basis  comparative  with  that  standard,  for  most 
of  the  West  Virginia  coal  eligible  for  the  con¬ 
tract  is  14,000  units  and  over,  and  but  little  of  it 
falls  below  13,500.  If  the  company  should  bid 
to  the  value  of  the  coal  by  the  standard  he  will 
he  high.  It  he  bids  at  the  standard  and  the 
calculation  shows  twenty  to  forty  cents  above 
the  submitted  price,  there  would  likely  be  trouble. 
The  operators  say  that  in  all  probability  the  city 
is  trusting  the  preparation  of  the  specifications 
to  university  students  who  do  not  know  the  effect 
of  their  proposed  plan.  The  bids  come  to  West 
Virginia  producers  because  of  the  condition  in 
the  Hocking  valley,  where  some  of  the  large 
mining  interests  have  been  abandoned  for  the 
present. 


Denver  Trade. 


Denver,  July  15. —  (Special  Correspondence.)  — 
Dullness  and  summer  inactivity  is  ruling  the 
market  here  this  week.  The  retail  trade  amounts 
to  almost  nothing.  There  will  be  a  fair  tonnage 
in  all  of  the  bituminous  districts,  but  most  of 
this  can  be  credited  to  the  filling  of  back  orders. 
Storage  orders  continue  to  arrive,  but  only  in 
moderate  volume.  It  is  hardly  probable  that 
future  bookings  will  show  much  improvement 
until  the  latter  half  of  the  month  is  well  begun. 

Lignite  mines  in  the  northern  district  are  prac¬ 
tically  at  a  standstill,  h'ew  are  in  operation  this 
week,  and  those  that  are  running  at  all  report 
an  exceedingly  light  output. 

In  the  southern  districts,  Trinidad  mines  are 
running  full  time,  but  they  were  hehind  on  storage 
and  also  on  regular  contract  filling.  Walsenburg 
district  will  record  an  output  for  the  week  under 
fifty  per  cent  of  normal. 

Few  mines  are  running  in  the  Canon  City 
district,  but  it  is  said  that  many  which  had  been 
idle  for  several  months  are  being  put  in  shape 
for  reopening  this  fall. 

Routt  county  mines  are  all  busy  on  storage 
orders  and  are  still  behind  on  June  bookings. 
More  than  one-third  of  orders  booked  this  week 
went  to  Routt  county. 

The  slack  situation  is  dull,  with  supply  and 
demand  pretty  evenl}'  balanced.  Prices  are  un¬ 
changed. 

Lignite  prices  f.  o.  b.  mines  are  as  follows : 
Denver  delivery — Lump,  $2.35  to  $2.05 ;  mine  run, 
$1.50  to  $1.05;  slack,  $1.05  to  $1.25.  Points  out¬ 
side  of  Denver — Lump,  $2.50;  mine  run,  $1.55  to 
$1.05;  slack,  $1.05. 


Canon  City  District — 

For  shipment  May  and  June . 

For  shipment  July  and  August .  2.75 

Add  25  cents  to  above  prices  for  washed  nut. 
Walsenburg  District — 

For  shipment  May  and  June .  2.50 

For  shipment  July  and  August .  2.75 

Washed  nut  25  cents  per  ton  additional. 
Chestnut,  $1.25  for  entire  season. 

Trinidad  District — 

For  shipment  May  and  June .  2.00 

For  shipment  July  and  August .  2.00 

Routt  County  District — 

For  shipment  May  and  June .  2.60 

For  shipment  July  and  August .  2.75 

Western  Slope  District — 

For  shipment  May  and  June .  2.25 

For  shipment  July  and  August .  2.60 

From  Baldwin,  shipments  for  points  east 
are  75  cents  per  ton  less  than  Walsenburg  prices, 


Lump 

Nut 

.$2.50 

$2.00 

.  2.75 

2.25 

ihed  nut. 

.  2.50 

2.00 

.  2.75 

2.25 

lal. 

.  2.00 

1.7i 

.  2.00 

1.7S 

.  2.60 

2.01 

.  2.75 

2.2| 

.  2.25 

.  2.60 

1  -  -  - 

)  east  of 

DenvM 

Want  Rates  Reduced. 

Denver.  July  15. —  (Special  Correspondence.)  — 
'\  complaint  signed  by  leading  coal,  lumber, 
brick,  and  other  commodity  dealers,  has  been 
filed  with  the  state  public  utilities  commission 
asking  that  the  present  freight  switching  charges 
of  twenty  and  twenty-five  cents  a  ton  in  Denver 
be  reduced  to  around  eight  or  ten  cents  a  ton. 

The  complaint  sets  forth  that  Denver  concerns 
are  paying  from  two  to  five  times  as  much  for 
switching  charges  as  are  concerns  in  other  Colo¬ 
rado  towns.  .4t  points  outside  of  Denver  switch¬ 
ing  charges  are  usually  $1.50  to  $2  per  car,  while 
on  the  same  class  of  freight  Denver  firms  fre¬ 
quently  pay  $10  per  car. 

The  switching  charges  on  coal  in  Denver 
‘amount  to  practically  as  much  as  the  charge 
from  the  northern  lignite  district  into  Denver. 


No.  3] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


57 


Omaha  Trade. 


Omaha,  Neb.,  July  14. —  (Special  Correspond¬ 
ence.) — Heavy  rains  continuing  through  this 
territory  makes  business  of  all  kinds  more  or  less 
sluggish  and  uncertain.  Farmers  are  trying  to 
get  into  the  fields  to  try  and  harvest  the  wheat 
crop,  but  unable  to  make  much  headway  on 
account  of  the  soft  condition  of  the  soil.  Dealers 
are  holding  off  buying  until  the  last  minute  in 
order  to  determine  whether  they  will  have  any 
need  of  threshing  coal. 

The  market  on  all  kinds  of  coal  is  more  or  less 
weak.  Quite  a  number  of  cars  of  soft  coal  are 
being  refused  by  dealers  on  account  of  the  in¬ 
ability  to  move  the  coal  and  the  uncertainty  as 


to  the  possibility 

of  selling  it  for 

threshing 

purposes. 

The  following  m 
Southern  Kansas — 

arkets  prevail : 

Mines. 

Omaha. 

Nut  . 

$3.20 

Slack  . 

.  1.35 

2.70 

Franklin  County — 

Lump  . 

. $1.35(3)1.50 

$3.75(g3.y0 

Egg  . 

.  1.35@1.50 

3.75@3.90 

Nut  . 

.  1.35@1.50 

3.75(®3.90 

Williamson  County- 
Lump  . 

.  1.25(gl.35 

3.65@3.75 

Egg  . 

.  1.25@1.35 

3.65@3.75 

Rock  Springs — 

Lump  . 

.  2.15 

5.85 

Nut  . 

.  1.60 

5.35 

Arkansas  Anthracite- 
Lump  . 

.  3.40 

6.51 

Broken  sizes  . 

.  3.65 

6.40 

Omaha  News  in  Brief. 

VV.  G.  McQuire,  sales  manager,  The  Domhoff 
&  Joyce  Company,  was  calling  on  the  trade  this 
week. 

A.  N.  Hanna,  sales  manager,  McClemens  Coal 
Company,  Kansas  City,  Mo.,  spent  a  couple  of 
days  with  friends  in  Omaha  last  week. 

A  number  of  the  local  coal  men  are  going  to 
attend  the  association  meeting  at  Minneapolis  and 
are  looking  forward  to  a  good  time. 

President  Banning  of  the  Northwestern  Coal 
Dealers’  Association  passed  through  Omaha  last 
night  on  his  way  to  the  Minneapolis  annual  con¬ 
vention. 


Death  of  Glenn  D.  Bennett. 

In  the  death  of  Glenn  D.  Bennett  of  Omaha 
the  coal  trade  loses  one  of  its  brightest  and  most 
energetic  young  men.  Mr.  Bennett  passed  away 
Tuesday  of  this  week  after  an  operation  on 
Wednesday  of  last  week  for  appendicitis. 

Mr.  Bennett  was  very  young,  taking  into  con¬ 
sideration  the  progress  he  had  made  in  the  busi¬ 
ness,  being  only  twenty-four  years  of  age.  Upon 
leaving  school,  he  started  in  with  the  Burlington 
railorad  company,  advancing  rapidly.  He  left 
the  railroad  service  two  and  a  half  years  ago 
to  become  principal  assistant  to  J.  A.  Rockwell, 
treasurer  and  sales  manager,  Sunderland  Brothers 
Company,  which  position  he  held  until  the  time 
of  his  death. 


Toledo  Market. 


Toledo,  Ohio,  July  15. —  (Special  Correspond¬ 
ence.) — There  has  been  no  tangible  change  in 
market  conditions  here  during  the  past  week, 
but  there  is  an  intangible  something  which  gives 
hope  to  the  drooping  spirits  of  local  coal  dealers. 
There  does  not  seem  to  be  any  specially  better 
demand,  but  the  market  has  a  better  tone  and 
there  is  a  decided  note  of  strength  in  prices, 
especially  on  domestic  coal.  Lake  shipping  con¬ 
tinues  as  it  has  been  and  steam  coal  is  not 
moving  very  well.  It  is  the  general  belief  that 
by  the  middle  of  August,  or  at  the  latest  the  first 
of  September,  stocking  by  dealers  will  have  to 
begin,  and  this,  it  is  expected,  will  give  the 
much  needed  impetus. 

There  is  no  difference  in  smokeless  conditions. 
There  is  a  fair  demand  with  small  supply,  and 
prices  are,  of  course,  firm. 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Smokeless —  Toledo  Mines 

Lump  and  egg . .$.S.4.5  $2.00 

Mine  run  .  2.70  1.2r) 


Hocking  movement  continues  light  and  the 
supply  does  not  seem  to  he  unlimited.  As  a 
matter  of  fact  jobbers  here  say  there  seems  to  be 
a  decided  tendency  on  the  part  of  practically  all 
operators  to  leave  the  coal  in  the  ground  rather 
than  to  flood  the  markets  with  a  lot  of  coal 
which  has  to  he  sold  at  cut  rates. 


F.  O.  B. 


Hocking —  Toledo 

3  inch  lump  .  2.50 

l!4-inch  lump  .  2.40 

44->nch  lump  .  2.35 


F.  O.  B 
Mines 
1.60 
1.40 
1,30 


Egg  .  2.25  1.25 

Nut  .  2.15  1.16 

Mine  run  .  2.10  1.10 


Massillon  movement  is  light  and  no  changes  in 
prices  are  noted. 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Massillon —  Toledo  Mines 

Lump  . $3.26  $2.50 

Washed  nut  .  3.25  2.50 


Pomeroy  remains  as  for  some  time  past,  light 
as  to  demand  and  fairly  firm  as  to  price. 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Pomeroy —  Toledo  Mines 

Domestic . $2.60  $1.60 

Egg  and  nut  .  2.35  1.35 

Kentucky  coal  has  enjoyed  a  fair  demand,  but 
better  conditions  are  anticipated  within  a  few 
weeks,  when  dealers  will  begin  putting  in  their 
winter  supplies.  Prices  are  stronger. 


F.  O.  B. 


Kentucky —  Toledo 

4-ineh  lump  . $2.90 

Egg  .  2.50 

Nut,  pea  and  slack . open 


F.  O.  B. 
Mines 
$1.05 
1.25 
open 


West  Virginia  coal,  while  not  active  enough  to 
brag  about,  is  enjoying  a  fairly  steady  demand 
and  prices  appear  pretty  firm. 


Kanawha  Gas — 

^-inch  lump  . 

1.05 

Mine  run  . 

.95 

Fairmont — 

l}4-inch  lump  . 

1.05 

54-inch  lump  . 

Mine  run  . 

.  2.20 

.95 

.  2.10 

.85 

F.  O.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

Kanawha  Splint — 

Toledo 

Mines 

4  inch  lump  . 

$1.50 

2-inch  lump  . 

1.40 

54-inch  lump  . 

1.15 

Mine  run  . 

1.00 

Pittsburgh  No.  8  coals  continue  to  have  a 
featureless  market  and  prices  are  not  strong. 
Pittsburgh  No.  8 — 

114-inch  lump  .  2.40  1.40 

^-inch  lump  .  2.20  1.20 

Mine  run  .  2.10  1.10 


The  Cambridge  market  is  fairly  firm  as  con¬ 
ditions  go  right  at  this  season.  Prices  are  rea¬ 
sonably  steady. 


F.  O.  B. 


Cambridge —  Toledo 

Mine  run  . $2.10 

54-inch  lump  .  2.20 

114-inch  lump  .  2.40 


F.  O.  B. 
Mines 
$1.10 
1.20 
1.40 


Youghiogheny  coal  is  slow  as  to  demand  and 
prices  remain  at  about  the  former  levels. 


Youghiogheny — 

Mine  run  .  2.45  1.20 

54-inch  steam  lump  .  2.66  1.30 

Blossburg  Smithing — 

Prepared  size  .  3.20  1.75 

Lilly  smithing,  prepared  size .  3.20  1.75 


Cannel  seems  to  be  enjoying  some  slight  re¬ 
vival  and  prices  are  holding  pretty  close  to  the 
list. 


Cannel — 

Kentucky  Cannel  lump  . $4.60  $2.75 

Pennsylvania  Cannel,  egg .  3.60  2,15 

Pennsylvania  Cannel,  lump .  4.20  2.75 

Ohio  Cannel  .  3.85  3.00 


Toledo  News  in  Brief. 

The  Toledo  and  Detroit  coal  dealers  have 
determined  to  repeat  the  successful  social  event 
of  last  year  and  are  now  preparing  for  another 
picnic  to  be  held  early  in  August.  There  will 
be  a  meeting  of  the  Toledo  committee  with  a 
committee  from  Detroit  in  this  city  Friday 
evening  to  perfect  the  arrangements. 

I.  W.  Copelin,  a  retired  coal  dealer,  well  known 
to  the  trade  throughout  this  section,  and  an 
inveterate  traveler,  has  brought  suit  in  the  fed¬ 
eral  court  against  the  Pennsylvania  railroad  for 
an  injury  to  his  leg  which  occurred  some  years 
ago.  Mr.  Copelin  occupied  a  Pullman  sleeper  on 
a  Pennsylvania  train  which  is  alleged  to  have 
had  a  collision  at  Woodville,  just  outside  of 
Toledo.  Mr.  Copelin’s  leg  was  injured  perma¬ 
nently,  as  set  forth  in  his  petition,  and  he  asks 
for  damages  to  the  amount  of  $10, 000. 


Louisville  Market. 


Louisville,  Kv.,  July  14. —  (Special  Correspond¬ 
ence.) — Practically  the  only  influences  to  be 
noticed  in  this  section  which  can  possibly  make 
for  immediate  betterment  of  market  conditions 
are  the  incipient  labor  trouliles  in  the  Straight 
Creek  field  and  the  arrival  of  dry  weather,  which 
will  make  possible  the  harvesting  of  the  wheat. 
y\s  yet,  there  is  very  little  laying  in  of  domestic 
coal  by  tbe  country  people,  owing  to  the  long 
period  of  rainy  days,  but  some  demand  from  this 
trade  is  expected  within  the  next  ten  days  to 
make  itself  manifest.  Meanwhile,  consumers  in 
the  hirge  cities  are  slightly  increasing  their  calls 
on  retailers,  though  the  latter  are  as  yet  by  no 
means  busy. 


In  the  Straight  Creek  field,  800  miners  are 
reported  to  be  on  strike  because  of  the  refusal 
of  the  Continental  Coal  Corporation  to  reinstate 
the  former  wage  scale,  which  was  reduced  ap¬ 
proximately  ten  per  cent  several  months  ago, 
the  men  voluntarily  agreeing  to  this  reduction. 
Together  with  this  labor  trouble,  several  changes 
are  announced  in  the  management  of  the  com¬ 
pany  and  its  properties,  Mr.  M.  S.  Barker,  for¬ 
merly  president  of  the  Straight  Creek  Coal  & 
Coke  Company,  becoming  vice-president  and  gen¬ 
eral  manager  in  place  of  White  L.  Moss,  resigned. 
Operators  consider  it  unlikely  that  the  labor 
trouble  at  Straight  Creek  will  involve  other 
mines,  in  view  of  the  very  curtailed  run  this 
section  has  enjoyed  for  several  months  past,  but 
are  inclined  to  look  for  serious  labor  troubles 
as  soon  as  business  conditions  become  active 
again. 

Considerable  damage  has  been  done  by  the 
hard  and  continuous  rains  in  the  mountain  sec¬ 
tion  of  eastern  Kentucky  during  the  past  several 
weeks.  A  slide  in  the  mountain  side  at  Gaston 
several  days  ago  resulted  in  blocking  the  main 
line  of  the  Louisville  &  Nashville  out  of  Clover 
Fork  and  shutting  off  all  shipments  from  six  or 
seven  mines  for  several  days.  These  unfavorable 
weather  conditions  have  also  retarded  work  on 
the  several  railroad  extensions  which  are  being 
made  in  Harlan  county,  and  comparatively  little 
progress  has  been  made  as  yet  on  this  construc¬ 
tion  work. 

There  is  little  change  in  prices  on  coal  from 
either  end  of  the  state.  With  the  exception  of 
one  or  two  mining  fields,  prices  are  fairly  well 
maintained  by  operators  on  domestic  sizes,  though 
this  policy  is  resulting  in  curtailing  output  to 
about  two  or  three  days  per  week.  Prices  on 
high-grade  block  coal  range  all  the  way  from 
$1.35  to  $1.90  per  ton,  but  the  best  grades  of 
Jellico  and  Straight  Creek  block  are  being  held 
at  $1.65  per  ton  and  upwards.  High-grade  nut 
and  slack  is  bringing  from  fifty  to  sixty  cents 
f.  o.  b.  mines,  with  second  quality  selling  around 
twenty-five  to  forty  cents  per  ton.  In  western 
Kentucky  there  has  been  an  acute  shortage  of 
pea  and  slack  screenings,  and  shippers  with  large 
contracts  for  this  grade  of  coal  have  been  com¬ 
pelled  to  apply  considerable  tonnage  of  eastern 
Kentucky  nut  and  slack  at  a  heavy  loss. 


Indianapolis  Trade. 


Indianapolis,  Ind.,  July  15. —  (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — The  demand  for  steam  coal  is  pick- 
ing  up  gradually  in  Indiana.  Operators  say  they 
notice  a  slight  improvement.  It  is  not  sufficient 
to  cause  an  advance  in  prices,  but  it  creates  a 
more  optimistic  feeling  than  has  existed  for 
several  months.  There  are  indications  that  the 
steel  industries  of  the  state  will  be  under  way 
soon  at  capacity.  The  big  industries  at  Gary  are 
opening  up,  which  will  be  a  boon  to  Indiana  coal 
producers. 

Operators  say  that  their  contract  consumers 
are  beginning  to  take  a  little  more  coal,  so  that 
the  situation  is  more  hopeful  than  it  has  been 
for  some  time.  There  has  been  an  increase  lately 
in  the  demand  for  domestic  lump,  owing  to  the 
wheat  threshing  season.  The  school  boards  in 
many  cities  and  towns  are  showing  a  disposition 
to  buy  their  coal  earlier  than  usual  and  there  is 
considerable  movement  of  domestic  on  that  ac¬ 
count.  Domestic  lump,  best  grades,  is  selling 
at  $1.41)  to  $1.50  f.  o.  b.  mines. 

Screenings  are  in  strong  demand.  Best  No.  4 
screenings  are  selling  at  eighty  to  ninety  cents 
a  ton  at  the  mines.  There  is  not  much  egg  coal 
on  the  market.  It  is  selling  at  $1.40  to  $1.50 
f.  o.  b.  mines  for  No.  4.  While  the  demand  for 
steam  coal  and  domestic  is  picking  up  a  little, 
'  operators  agree  that  the  production  for  1915  will 
be  shorter  than  it  has  been  for  many  years. 
Many  mines  are  idle:  in  fact,  there  has  been  less 
work  in  the  coal  field  than  there  has  been  for 
several  years. 

The  following  prices  are  being  quoted  by  the 
Indiana  wholesalers: 


F.  O.  B. 

F.  0.  B. 

Tiuliana — 

M  ines. 

Indianapolis. 

No.  4  mine  run  . 

$1.00(6)1.80 

Nos.  5  and  0  mine  run . 

..  1.00@1.H) 

1.50@1.00 

No.  1^-inch  steam  lump . 

..  1.30@1.40 

1. 80  @1.90 

Nos.  5  and  0  \'A  steam  lump.. 

..  1.20(®1.30 

1.7()@1.80 

No.  4  egg . 

..  I.40@1..50 

1.90(®2.00 

No.  4  nut  . 

1.80@1.90 

No.  .5  egg  . 

l.75@l.S5 

No.  4  screenings . 

.  .  .80(5)  .90 

1.30@1.40 

Nos.  5  and  0  screenings . 

..  .75(@  .80 

1.25@1.30 

Domestic  lump  . 

..  l.HKgl.SO 

1.90(®2.00 

No.  1  washed  coal . 

1.75 

2.25 

No.  2  washed  coal . 

l.Of) 

2.1.') 

Frazil  block  domestic . 

Southern  Indiana  Field — 

No.  5  mine  run . 

Domestic  . 

..  LOO @1.05 
..  I.40@1.50 

2.50(6)2.00 

58 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[July  17 


New  York  Trade. 


Anthracite  Trade  Marking  Time — Bitum¬ 
inous  Improvement 
Proves  Slow. 


Office  of  The  Black  Diamond, 
New  York,  July  15. 

The  anthracite  trade  is  now  passing  through 
one  of  the  dullest  periods  of  the  year.  There  has 
been  no  snap  to  business  since  the  Fourth  of 
July  holiday,  and  production  is  even  more  radi¬ 
cally  cut  at  the  present  time  than  was  the  case 
during  June,  when  production  fell  814,084  tons  as 
compared  with  June,  1914.  Shipments  for  this 
June  were  5,31(),102  tons,  as  compared  with  G,130,- 
186  tons  for  June,  1914.  Shipments  for  the  first 
half  year  of  1915  show  a  loss  of  1,350,485  tons, 
as  compared  with  shipments  for  the  same  period 
of  1914.  Restriction  is  not  being  carried  on  alone 
by  the  large  companies,  but  individuals,  from  the 
largest  of  the  smallest  being  forced  by  the  abso¬ 
lute  lack  of  demand  for  coal  in  certain  quarters, 
are  also  restricting  production  to  the  actual  re¬ 
quirements  of  their  contracts. 

The  situation  in  New  York  harbor  at  the 
moment  is  rather  depressing  for  those  who  have 
overshipped.  And  there  have  been  quite  a  few 
of  these.  A  great  many  boats  are  loaded  with 
coal,  and  some  of  these  are  so  near  the  demur- 
ra.ge  state  that  shippers  are  making  every  effort 
to  secure  purchasers.  And  to  attract  purchasers 
in  the  market  when  no  actual  spot  demand  exists, 
means  to  sacrifice  prices. 

While  at  the  moment  the  supply  of  domestic 
coal  at  New  York  harbor  cannot  be  considered 
large  in  normal  times,  it  is  entirely  too  large  for 
present  requirements,  and  some  radical  conces¬ 
sions  are  being  made  on  some  of  the  long  do¬ 
mestic  sizes. 

At  the  moment  the  most  active  size  is  stove, 
less  inquiry  being  shown  for  egg,  while  chestnut 
is  very  stagnant.  It  is  generally  reputed  that  most 
of  the  companies  are  putting  a  lot  of  chestnut  into 
stock,  while  a  considerable  tonnage  is  goin.g  west, 
where  it  meets  with  greater  favor  than  in  the 
east. 

New  England  reports  less  inquiry  for  anthra¬ 
cite.  Line  trade  in  New  England  has  not  been 
so  bad,  and  it  is  still  taking  considerable  coal, 
though  it  is  not  showing  the  life  that  existed  even 
during  June.  Receipts  of  anthracite  by  water 
in  Boston  for  June  showed  a  falling  off  of  about 
35,000  tons.  Eor  six  months  Boston  anthracite 
receipts  by  rail  and  water  showed  a  decrease  of 
120,115  tons.  Shipments  to  the  provinces  is  no 
longer  pressing. 

Some  of  the  large  steam  coal  users  in  New 
York  city  are  studying  the  steam  size  situation 
very  closely  just  now.  With  the  short  time  min¬ 
ing  the  supply  of  the  choice  grades  of  the  Wyom¬ 
ing  steam  coals  are  not  so  plentiful  at  the  upper 
ports  in  New  York,  and  consequently  some  of 
the  large  distributors  of  these  coals  are  not  too 
plentifully  supplied.  At  the  upper  ports  No.  1 
buckwheat  is  more  plentiful,  with  a  growing  scar¬ 
city  developing  for  choice  grades  of  No.  2.  No.  3 
is  very  scarce  at  the  upper  ports,  most  of  this 
size  being  shipped  on  contract,  and  very  little 
offering  for  spot  sale.  At  the  lower  ports  con¬ 
ditions  are  quite  the  reverse,  and  there  are  a 
great  many  loaded  boats  containing  all  sizes. 
Most  of  the  producers  of  pea,  who  have  no  all¬ 
rail  outlet  for  it,  are  trying  to  put  surplus  in 
stock,  as  there  is  absolutely  no  demand  for  it  at 
tide  at  the  moment.  One  hears  of  concessions 
on  cargoes  of  coal  running  as  high  as  fifty  cents 
a  ton.  Some  spot  prices  heard  on  steam  coals 
at  the  lower  ports  would  range  from  $1.45  up 
on  No.  3 ;  $1.80  on  rice  and  $2.00  up  on  buckwheat. 

The  Bituminous  Situation. 

The  improvement  in  the  bituminous  trade 
talked  of  in  some  quarters,  is  largely  one  of  sen¬ 
timent  and  not  of  actual  orders  for  new  busi¬ 
ness.  The  most  favorable  thing  that  is  discussed 
now  in  the  bituminous  trade  is  the  rather  better 
movement  of  coal  upon  contracts,  some  large  con¬ 
sumers  taking  larger  quantities  than  heretofore, 
which  is  enabling  certain  producers  to  keep  their 
operations  going  on  fairly  good  time.  The  opera¬ 
tor  that  is  feeling  the  dull  times  most  forcibly 
at  the  moment,  is  the  one  who  has  very  little 
coal  under  contract,  and  who  has  to  depend  upon 
spot  orders  to  keep  up  his  organization.  The 
local  trade  is  still  suffering  from  the  holiday 
effects,  a  great  deal  of  coal  having  accumulated 
around  New  York  ports  prior  to  the  holidays, 
which  is  as  yet  unsold.  This  makes  the  spot  situ¬ 
ation  very  bad,  a  great  many  loaded  cargoes  be¬ 


ing  urged  from  day  to  day  for  sale  with  buyers 
very  reluctant. 

The  one  bright  spot  in  the  bituminous  situation 
is  the  export  trade.  More  than  a  million  tons 
were  shipped  over  the  three  leadin.g  Atlantic  ports 
during  the  month  of  June,  whereas  coal  running 
from  fifteen  to  twenty  percent  of  this  tonnage, 
was  taken  for  bunkers  for  steamers  taking  export 
cargoes.  It  is  rather  interesting  to  note  that  at 
Hampton  Roads  approximately  1,400,000  tons  of 
coal  were  dumped  in  June,  of  which  604,000  tons 
went  into  straight  export  cargoes.  Dumping  for 
exports  for  the  first  ten  days  of  the  month  were 
not  in  as  heavy  volume  as  for  the  same  period  in 
June,  but  as  charterings  for  the  past  two  weeks 
have  been  very  heavy,  it  is  expected  that  dump¬ 
ing  for  the  remainder  of  the  month  will  show 
up  in  good  volume. 

The  slack  situation  is  very  quiet.  In  the  Eair- 
niont  region  slack  has  been  offered  as  low  as  forty 
cents,  with  forty-five  to  fifty  cents  a  ton  f.  o.  b. 
at  the  mines  being  about  the  prevailing  quotation. 
In  the  Reynoldsville  section  of  Pennsylvania,  there 
is  a  .good  demand  for  slack,  but  due  to  the  absence 
of  orders  for  lump  coal,  mines  are  turning  out 
slack  very  freely,  and  many  would  be  purchasers 
of  slack  are  compelled  to  take  run-of-mine  coal. 

At  the  New  York  harbor  ports  there  is  an  over¬ 
supply  of  practically  all  grades  of  Pennsylvania 
and  West  Virginia  coals  that  ordinarily  come  to 
this  market.  Pennsylvania  coals  can  be  obtained 
at  about  $2.50  and  up  at  the  piers  for  ordinary 
grades,  with  medium  grades  at  $2.60,  and  fair 
grades  at  $2.65  to  $2.75.  The  inferior  West  Vir¬ 
ginia  coals  can  be  obtained  in  some  instances  as 
low  as  $2.30. 

The  Vessel  Situation. 


The  coastwise  vessel  market  is  quoted  as_  being 
firm.  Rates  are  not  advanced,  seventy-five  to 
eighty  cents  being  about  the  prevailing  rates  from 
Hampton  Roads  to  Boston  and  like  rates  obtain¬ 
ing  to  Sound  and  further  ports.  The  rates  show 
a  tendency  to  advance,  and  a  slight  increase  in  the 
demand  for  coal  from  New  England  will  no  doubt 
see  an  advance. 

Off  shore  rates,  especially  to  the  Mediterranean, 
are  some  easier.  It  is  stated  in  some  quarters 
that  a  considerable  number  of  tramp  steamers  are 
on  their  way  to  America  to  secure  cargoes,  and 
that  the  trans-Atlantic  rates  may  be  further  re¬ 


duced. 

Current  rates  for  freight  are  as  follows : 

From  Hampton  Roads  to  Boston,  seventy-five 
to  eighty-five  cents ;  to  the  Sound,  seventy  to 
eighty  cents. 

From  New  York  rates  to  New  Haven  are  thir¬ 
ty  cents.  New  London,  forty  cents,  and  Provi¬ 
dence  and  New  Bedford,  fifty  cents;  to  Boston, 
fifty-five  to  seventy  cents;  Portsmouth  and  Port¬ 
land,  fifty-five  to  seventy  cents;  to  Bangor, .sev¬ 
enty  cents.  Harbor  rates  are  from  eighteen  to 
twentv  cents. 

Prices  on  gross  tons  of  bituminous  coal  are: 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Somerset  County —  Harbor. 

Best  grades  . $2.85  $1.25 

Medium  grades .  2.60  1.0.-> 

Ordinary  .  2.5,5  1.00 

Cambria  County — 

Best  Miller  vein .  3.00  l.l^ 

Cheaper  grades  .  2.00  i.Oo 

Clearfield  County — 

Best  grade  .  8.00  l.S.o 

Ordinary  grades  ..; .  2.jn  .Ho 

Indiana  County — 

Best  grade  .  2.80  l.~o 

Medium  grade  .  2.j0  .10 

Maryland — 

Georges  Creek  big  vein .  3.15  l.uo 

West  Virginia  Splint — 

Ordinary  grades  .  2.40  .vo 

Best  gas,  ^-inch  lump .  2.C.) 

Best  grade,  run  of  mine .  2.65 

Glas  slack  .  .4j@.70 


New  York  Trade  Briefs. 


R.  H.  Burrows  of  the  New  York  &  Philadel¬ 
phia  Coal  &  Coke  Company,  Produce  Exchange 
building,  has  returned  from  a  short  vacation. 

E.  J.  Skeele,  president  of  the  Skeele  Coal  Com¬ 
pany,  No.  90  West  Street,  has  returned  from  an 
extensive  western  trip. 

Deitrich  Denker  of  the  well-known  New  York 
retail  firm,  Meyer-Denker-Sinram  Company,  left 
last  week  to  visit  the  Panama-Pacific  Exposition 
at  San  Francisco. 

C.  H.  Smith,  consulting  engineer  of  the  Clinch- 
field  Coal  Corporation,  returned  to  his  New  York 
office  this  week,  after  a  week’s  visit  to  the  oper¬ 
ations  in  Virginia. 

Olin  J.  Stephens  of  Olin  J.  Stephens,  Inc.,  one 
of  New  York’s  best  known  retail  dealers  left 
about  two  weeks  ago  to  spend  a  couple  of  months 
at  his  summer  home  on  Lake  George. 

S.  D.  Fobes,  sales  mana.ger  of  the  New  England 
Coal  &  Coke  Company  of  Boston,  was  in  New 


York  on  Monday  en  route  home  after  a  visit  to 
the  central  Pennsylvania  bituminous  fields. 

J.  S.  W.  Holton,  of  the  Sterling  Coal  Company, 
Philadelphia,  spent  the  week  end  with  Colonel  R. 
B.  Baker  of  the  same  company,  at  his  home  at 
Greenwich,  Conn.,  and  several  interesting  rounds 
of  golf  at  the  Greenwich  country  club  was  the 
result. 

C.  E.  Bockus,  president  of  the  Clinchfield  Coal 
Corporation,  sailed  on  last  Saturday  for  London. 
Mr.  Bockus  is  combining  a  vacation  trip  with  busi¬ 
ness.  He  will  consult  with  mana.ger  C.  M.  Bar¬ 
nett  of  the  London  office,  on  the  European  situa¬ 
tion.  It  will  be  recalled  that  Mr.  Barnett  went 
abroad  early  in  the  year  to  open  up  a  European 
agency  for  the  Clinchfield,  and  it  is  understood 
that  he  has  been  making  good  roadway. 

Recent  incorporations  under  the  New  York 
state  laws  of  retail  coal  companies,  are  the  fol¬ 
lowing:  Valatie  Coal  &  Lumber  Corporation, 
Valatie,  N.  Y.,  with  capital  stock  of  $15,000.  In¬ 
corporators  are,  W.  L.  Tucker,  135  Broadway, 
New  York;  \V.  B.  Hutchinson  and  M.  D.  O’Don¬ 
nell.  The  Sprague  &  Doughty  Company,  In¬ 
wood,  N.  Y.,  with  a  capital  stock  of  $20,000.  The 
incorporators  are :  M.  P.  Doughty,  S.  Sprague  and 
Wilbur  Dottghty. 

A  well-known  coal  man  who  has  followed  very 
closely  the  work  of  digging  the  Cape  Cod  canal, 
tells  The  Black  Diamond  that  approximately 
175,000  tons  of  coal  were  used  by  the  dredges  in 
digging  this  waterway.  The  Cape  Cod  canal  is 
now  dug  to  about  an  average  depth  of  twenty-five 
feet,  and  it  will  shortly  be  available  for  use  by 
practically  all  of  the  coastwise  .going  steamers, 
except  perhaps  the  very  large  coal  carrying  ves¬ 
sels  that  are  now  used  in  the  Hampton  Roads 
and  Boston  trade. 

Every  Italian  steamship  sailing  from  New  York 
appears  to  be  loaded  to  its  passenger  capacity  with 
Italians  returnin,g  to  their  country  to  take  up 
arms  in  its  defense.  This  bears  out  the  story  that 
comes  from  the  various  mining  regions  that  many 
Italians  are  leaving  to  enlist  in  the  present  war. 
Recently  one  train  containing  750  Italian  recruits 
left  Scranton,  and  another  train  leaving  that  city 
shortly  after,  brought  500.  Special  trains  are 
leaving  this  region  with  such  frequency  that  some 
of  the  operators  feel  that  the  most  pronounced 
shortage  of  labor  will  result  in  the  next  few 
months. 

Announcement  comes  from  Clearfield,  Pa.,  that 
on  the  9th  inst.,  about  thirty-five  central  Penn¬ 
sylvania  operators  met  in  that  city  to  discuss  the 
new  Compensation  Act,  and  to  organize  in  some 
way  to  take  care  of  it  when  it  becomes  effective 
on  January  1,  next.  B.  M.  Clark  of  Punxsutaw- 
ney,  said  there  were  several  ways  for  the  operators 
to  meet  the  new  burden  that  this  act  will  place 
upon  them.  They  were,  that  the  operators  could 
go  it  alone,  combine  and  pool  issues  so  that  the 
insurance  that  they  paid  in  would  take  care  of  it, 
or  that  the  larger  operators  could  combine  and 
carry  their  own  insurance,  leaving  the  smaller 
ones  to  do  as  they  please.  Several  other  points 
in  the  law  were  brought  out,  but  nothing  definite 
was  decided  on  at  this  meeting.  The  operators 
will  hold  meetings  each  month  to  discuss  the  law, 
and  see  if  they  cannot  come  to  some  conclusions 
that  will  give  the  operators  material  aid  in  com¬ 
plying  with  the  provisions  of  the  Compensation 
Act. 

Marine  engineers  are  said  to  be  watching  with 
interest  the  trip  of  the  tug  Wyoming,  belonging 
to  the  Lehigh  Valley  Railroad  Company’s  coal 
barge  towing  fleet,  used  in  towing  coal  between 
New  York  and  New  England  points,  which  tug 
has  recently  been  equipped  with  superheaters.  It 
is  said  that  the  Wyoming  is  the  first  ocean-going 
tug  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic  to  be  equipped 
with  superheaters,  and  that  marine  engineers 
are  making  a  careful  study  of  this  device.  The 
superheater  is  expected  to  prove  a  big  coal  saver. 
It  is  said  that  the  Wyoming  burns  twenty  tons  of 
coal  every  twenty-four  hours,  and  that  workiag 
300  days  out  of  a  year,  6,000  tons  of  coal  are 
used  annually.  If  these  superheaters  do  what  is 
promised  for  them  this  amount  of  coal  will  be 
reduced  from  ten  to  twenty-five  per  cent,  while 
the  saving  in  dollars  and  cents  has  been  esti¬ 
mated  at  in  the  neighborhood  of  $23,000  a  year. 
Furthermore,  it  is  said,  that  in  addition  to  the 
saving  in  fuel,  that  the  superheater  will  increase 
the  output  of  power  from  ten  to  twenty-five  per 
cent. 


The  gross  earnings  of  the  Edison  Company 
of  Boston  for  the  fiscal  year  ended  June  30  were 
$7,429,124,  or  $420,836  more  than  those  for  the 
previous  year. 


No.  3] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


59 


Philadelphia  Trade. 


A  Heavier  Business  Is  Being  Done  Over 
The  Piers  and  Prices  Are  Firm. 


Office  of  The  Black  Diamond, 
1400  Land  Title  Building, 
Philadelphia,  July  15. 

The  pier  situation  here  was  the  leading  topic 
of  interest  in  this  trade  during  the  past  week. 
Following  the  “clean  up”  after  the  Fourth  of 
July  the  shipment  to  tidewater  was  lower  than 
for  months,  so  that  this  week  an  increase  in 
activity  was  the  logical  result.  While  there  was 
a  little  spurt  upward  of  a  nickel  to  a  dime  a 
ton  on  some  of  the  grades,  there  the  price  has 
rested  and  at  this  writing  there  is  plenty  of  coal 
to  meet  requirements.  It  would  appear  that 
there  is  little  chance  of  this  betterment  holding, 
for  throughout  the  trade  there  is  plenty  of  in¬ 
formation  as  to  coal  moving  to  Port  Richmond 
and  Greenwich  that  will  place  the  condition  just 
where  it  was  the  last  week  in  June. 

Tonnage,  generally,  has  been  a  little  better  than 
in  the  last  couple  of  months.  There  has  been  a 
disposition  on  the  part  of  certain  of  the  contract 
takers  to  order  a  higher  percentage  of  the  amount 
of  coal  that  they  had  bargained  for.  Spot  busi¬ 
ness,  also,  has  shown  a  little  better  tone.  One 
thing  that  has  been  reported  that  has  shown  a 
forecast  of  later  business  is  the  fact  that  several 
contracts  that  have  been  “holding  fire”  for  three 
or  four  months  have  been  signed  up  in  the  past 
ten  days. 

Reports  from  the  Central  Pennsylvania  bitumi¬ 
nous  mines  has  not  been  cheerful  to  the  opera¬ 
tors.  Too  many  men  are  leaving  their  jobs. 
Some  of  this  has  been  foreign  labor  that  is 
heading  homeward,  but  the  other  feature  is  the 
most  alarming.  These  are  men  that  have  been 
long  settled  in  the  region  and  who  are  leaving 
because  they  can  only  get  two  and  three  days’ 
work  a  week. 

Prices  have  shown  little  change  and  are  about 
on  the  same  basis  as  has  been  quoted  for  the  past 
month. 

The  Anthracite  Situation. 

Only  one  of  the  big  operators  is  working  full 
time  and  holds  out  hope  of  continuing  for  an¬ 
other  week.  Even  the  independents  have  chopped 
down  on  working  time  to  the  minimum.  Ship¬ 
ments  to  the  lakes  are  going  forward  in  a  fair 
volume,  though  some,  of  the  hard  coal  people 
given  to  statistics  say  that  this  is  way  below 
that  of  last  year. 

Locally,  the  retail  people  are  giving  their  time 
principally  to  repair  work  about  their  plants  and 
to  cleaning  up  in  preparation  to  the  fall  trade. 
Summer  dullness  in  the  fullest  of  meaning  of 
the  term  has  hit  hard  and  deliveries  are  few. 
What  little  activity  there  is  has  been  accorded 
to  egg  and  stove  sizes,  while  pea  and  chestnut 
are  practically  neglected;  in  fact,  prices  on  all 
sizes  are  “soft”  and  concessions  are  being  made 
to  move  tonnage. 


Philadelphia  Trade  Briefs. 

B.  R.  Lloyd  of  the  Oak  Ridge  Coal  Company 
visited  with  the  trade  during  the  mid-week. 

W.  E.  Macurda  of  the  Warfield  &  Proctor  Coal 
Company  of  Boston  was  a  recent  visitor  to  this 
city’s  trade. 

C.  P.  Burtner  of  Altoona,  Pa.,  has  opened  an 
office  for  his  company  on  the  tenth  floor  of  the 
new  Finance  building. 

John  1.  Martin,  New  York  sales  agent  for 
Hetherington  &  Co.,  spent  three  days  of  the  week 
on  a  visit  to  headquarters. 

F.  B.  Cortright  and  R.  Cornog  of  Cortright 
were  away  this  week,  “F.  B.”  being  in  New  York 
and  Cornog  in  New  Jersey. 

W.  K.  Kuntz,  president  of  the  Operators’  Coal 
Mining  Company  of  Johnstown,  Pa.,  was  noted 
among  the  visitors  of  the  week. 

G.  P.  Bassett  of  Pittsburgh,  a  western  Penn¬ 
sylvania  operator,  was  renewing  his  acquaintance 
with  trade  friends  early  in  the  week. 

Arthur  Kuppinger,  sales  agent  for  the  Valley 
Smokeless  Coal  Company,  is  away  on  a  trip  to 
Buffalo,  Erie  and  way  points  this  week. 

H.  C.  Barr,  general  sales  agent  of  the  J.  S. 
Wentz  Company,  spent  Sunday  at  the  seashore 
on  his  return  from  a  trip  through  the  New  Eng¬ 
land  states. 

John  Edmonds,  general  manager  for  the  Ma- 
deria  Hill  Company,  is  touring  the  west  with  his 


family  and  will  visit  the  Frisco  fair  before  re¬ 
turning  home. 

Charles  K.  Scull’s  genial  smile  was  missing 
from  his  usual  business  haunts  this  week.  He 
was  attending  the  annual  pow  wow  of  the  Ko- 
koals  in  Chicago. 

Lucien  Hill,  eastern  sales  agent  for  the  Mer¬ 
chants  Coal  Company,  with  headquarters  in  New 
York,  was  a  visitor  at  the  local  offices  of  the 
company  this  week. 

W.  F.  Coale  of  Cufriberland,  Md.,  passed 
through  this  city  on  Saturday  last  while  en  route 
to  Atlantic  City.  “Bill’s”  new  bonnet  was  the 
envy  of  some  of  his  friends. 

V.  E.  Goeke,  general  manager  of  the  Francois 
Coal  and  Coke  Company,  with  headquarters  in 
Clarksburg,  W.  Va.,  spent  a  day  in  this  city 
while  on  a  trip  to  seaboard  points  this  week. 

The  fiscal  year  of  the  Philadelphia  custom 
house  closes  on  June  30  and  the  yearly  export  of 
coal  for  that  of  1915  shows  a  decrease  from  1914. 
This  year’s  tonnage  value  was  $2,133,081,  as  com¬ 
pared  with  $2,189,236  in  1914. 

R.  R.  Ruetlinger  and  L.  G.  McCrum  of  the 
W.  H.  Bradford  Company  were  in  Washington 
this  week  going  over  the  details  of  the  supply 
of  coal  for  the  Federal  Hospital  for  the  Insane, 
which  has  been  awarded  to  them. 

A  number  of  the  southeastern  Pennsylvania 
coal  men  who  are  interested  in  the  lumber  busi¬ 
ness  are  attending  the  state  convention  of  the 
latter  trade,  which  is  held  this  year  at  Delaware 
Water  Gap.  Of  those  noted  in  passing  through 
this  city  were  C.  Frank  Williamson  of  Media  and 
Henry  Palmer  of  Langhorn. 

The  Quemahoning  Coal  Company  suffered 
quite  a  mishap  last  Thursday  when  the  barge 
Mazie  kicked  up  her  heels  at  League  Island, 
rolled  over  on  her  side  and  slid  about  300  tons 
of  perfectly  good  coal  into  the  harbor.  The 
barge  had  unloaded  about  100  tons  when  the  load 
shifted  and  a  sunken  log  that  poked  a  hole  in 
her  bow  finished  the  thing.  Some  of  the  coal 
has  been  recovered  by  suction  pipes  of  the  Gov¬ 
ernment  dredges. 

The  new  Chamber  of  Commerce  is  putting 
forth  valiant  strides  to  interest  the  coal  men, 
both  wholesale  and  retail,  in  making  an  organiza¬ 
tion  among  the  fuel  dealers  of  sufficient  strength 
to  accomplish  something  for  their  own  protec¬ 
tion,  good  and  benefit.  For  many  years  it  has 
been  felt  that  were  the  wholesalers  and  retailers 
to  put  their  shoulders  to  the  wheel  a  lot  of  the 
criticism  that  the  dealers  are  subjected  to  could 
be  obviated.  About  fifty  have  joined  the  re¬ 
juvenated  Chamber  of  Commerce.  Tuesday  there 
was  a  call  for  a  meeting  and  six  persons  re¬ 
sponded.  These,  however,  made  a  start  in  the 
right  direction.  A  committee  was  named  to  select 
representation  on  the  council  of  the  chamber, 
those  named  being  Sam  Van  Dusen,  Frank  Math¬ 
ers,  F.  B.  Cortright,  Mr.  Davis  of  the  Lehigh 
Coal  &  Navigation  Company,  and  Louis  Rafetto. 


Anthracite  Tax  Figures. 

Philadelphia,  July  14. — Printed  forms  for  use 
in  reporting  the  production  of  coal  in  the  anthra¬ 
cite  regions,  which  will  come  under  the  tax  im¬ 
posed  by  the  legislature  under  the  new  tax  law 
of  1915,  are  being  received  by  the  various  oper¬ 
ating  companies  of  the  state.  The  blanks  provide 
for  a  monthly  report  to  be  made  on  the  15th 
and  demand  is  made  for  the  tonnage  mined, 
tonnage  prepared  for  the  markets  and  tonnage 
used  in  preparing  coal  for  the  market.  The  old 
tax  law  provided  for  an  annual  report.  Failure 
to  comply  with  the  law  means  an  infliction  of  a 
ten  per  cent  penalty. 


Nc'w  England  Trade 


Boston,  July  15. — {Special  Correspondence.)  — 
The  general  coal  situation  in  New  England  seems 
to  have  slowed  up  somewhat  during  the  past 
week.  Business  is  by  no  means  dull,  but  new 
bookings  by  a  number  of  firms  have  shown  quite 
a  shrinkage.  July  is  usually  a  quiet, month  here, 
but  this  year  it  started  off  fairly  active  and  the 
only  reason  dealers  can  advance  for  the  present 
condition  is  the  almost  continuous  rainy  weather. 
It  is  generally  believed  that  with  seasonable 
weather  there  will  be  a  revival  of  buying. 

The  falling  off  in  business  is  more  noticeable 
in  anthracite  than  in  bituminous.  Yet  some 
wholesale  anhracite  houses  claim  their  trade  has 
held  up  well  to  all-rail  points  and  is  perhaps  a 
shade  better  on  the  cargo  end.  It  is  a  fact, 
nevertheless,  that  anthracite  has  been  offered 
here  at  concessions  in  order  to  clean  up  cargoes 


and  prevent  embargoes.  The  usual  asking  price 
for  stove  and  egg  at  Mystic  Wharf  is  $6.10  per 
ton  and  for  nut  $6.35,  but  some  of  each  grade 
has  been  sold  at  concessions  of  five  to  ten  cents. 
It  is  very  doubtful,  however,  if  any  concession 
could  be  obtained  on  large  amounts.  At  Ports¬ 
mouth  prices  have  ruled  ten  cents  per  ton  more 
than  at  Mystic  Wharf,  and  at  Providence  ten 
cents'  a  ton  less.  Alongside  Boston  Harbor  prices 
are  unchanged. 

The  demand  during  the  past  week  has  run 
largely  to  stove  and  nut.  Egg  is  not  as  active 
as  it  has  been  recently,  but  the  supply  is  not 
large,  so  there  is  little  likelihood  of  the  market 
weakening  noticeably.  Pea  is  moving  slowly, 
and  buckwheats  are  almost  lifeless,  the  latter 
still  being  quoted  on  a  basis  of  $1.80  per  ton  for 
No.  3,  f.  o.  b.  New  York.  St  John,  Halifax  and 
other  points  in  the  Provinces  are  placing  more 
and  more  orders  here  for  anthracite  each  week, 
but  undoubtedly  would  do  more  if  freight  rates 
were  cheaper. 

Southern  contract  bituminous  is  arriving  more 
freely,  but  local  firms  in  a  great  many  instances 
report  a  slight  falling  off  in  new  business.  There 
are,  however,  quite  a  number  of  consumers  who 
have  not  covered  and  some  of  them  are  impor¬ 
tant  factors  in  the  market,  concerns  like  the 
Narragansett  Electric  Light  Company.  Shippers 
say  there  is  plenty  of  New  River  and  Pocahontas 
at  Hampton  Roads  ports,  notwithstanding  the 
recent  activity  in  the  off-shore  business,  and  that 
shippers  are  doing  more  or  less  price-cutting  in 
order  to  get  business.  On  the  other  hand,  all¬ 
rail  Pennsylvania  bituminous  is  in  better  demand. 
Prices  for  this  coal  are  generally  quoted  from 
ninety  cents  to  $1.50  per  ton  on  cars  at  the  mines, 
but  undoubtedly  have  been  bought  recently  at 
concessions.  Off-shore  business  in  Pennsylvania 
is  light.  The  spot  market  for  New  River,  Poca¬ 
hontas  and  Georges  Creek  at  Mystic  Wharf  is 
practically  dead.  We  hear  of  no  sales  being  made 
at  that  point  during  the  past  week. 

The  southern  marine  freight  rate  market  is 
more  active,  but  not  enough  so  to  warrant  an 
advance  in  rates.  The  general  asking  price  for 
space  between  Hampton  Roads  ports  and  Boston 
is  seventy-five  to  eighty  cents  per  ton,  and  from 
Baltimore  seven  to  ten  cents  a  ton  more.  The 
anthracite  rate  market  is  strong  and  unchanged 
on  a  basis  of  fifty  to  fifty-five  cents  per  ton  from 
New  York  to  Boston.  Anthracite  rates  from 
New  York  to  the  Provinces  usually  range  from 
$1  to  $1.50  per  ton,  and  in  a  few  instances  even 
more  has  been  paid  by  shippers. 


Boston  Trade  Notes. 

L.  C.  Pratt,  formerly  with  the  Providence  Coal 
Company,  is  now  with  the  E.  B.  Townsend  Coal 
Company. 

George  McConnell  has  succeeded  William  J. 
Osgood  as  traveling  salesman  for  Dickson, 
Eddy’s  Boston  office. 

Joseph  Richardson,  formerly  with  the  E.  B. 
Townsend  Coal  Company,  has  become  associated 
with  Percy  Heilner  &  Sons,  Inc. 

Patrick  J.  Leonard,  a  coal  dealer  of  Chelsea, 
was  recently  fined  $20  for  assault  on  a  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Lenney.  He  appealed  and  was  held  under 
$200  bonds  for  the  Superior  Court. 

The  June  receipts  of  anthracite  at  Boston 
amounted  to  147,943  tons,  bringing  the  total  re¬ 
ceipts  for  the  first  three  months  of  the  coal  year 
up  to  458,768,  or  114,772  tons  less  than  for  the 
same  period  last  year.  The  total  receipts  of 
bituminous  for  the  first  three  months  of  the  coal 
year  were  1,253,167  tons,  or  69,069  less  than  those 
for  the  same  time  in  1914.  Following  are  the 
receipts  of  anthracite  and  bituminous  for  June, 
and  for  the  six  months  ended  June  30,  together 
with  comparisons : 

ANTHRACITE. 


June —  1915  1914  Decrease 

By  sea,  domestic .  134,485  169,586  35,101 

By  sea,  foreign .  .  . 

By  rail  .  13,458  13,678  220 


Total  .  147,943 

Jan.  1  to  June  30 — 

By  sea,  domestic .  709,937 

By  sea,  foreign . 

By  rail  .  89,900 


183,264  35,321 

842,088  132,151 

77,864  *12,6.'i6 


Total  . 

June — 

By  sea,  domestic 
By  sea,  foreign  . 
By  rail . 


.  799,839 

BITUMINOUS. 

1915 

.  360,694 

.  19,538 

.  5,531 


919,952  120,115 

1914  Decrease 
396,646  35,952 

.  *19,538 

2,001  *3,530 


Total 
Jan.  1 

to  June  30 — 

_  385,763 

398,647 

12,884 

By  sea, 

domestic . 

_ 2,420,057 

2,491,734 

71,677 

By  sea. 

foreign  . 

_  237,069 

90,812 

*146,257 

By  rail 

_  35,564 

32,393 

*3,171 

Total 

_ 2,692,690 

2,614,939 

*77,751 

60 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[July  17 


Buffalo  Trade. 


Buffalo,  X.  Y.,  July  15. — The  shipments  of  an¬ 
thracite  by  lake  have  begun  to  drop  off  consider¬ 
ably  and  there  is  not  the  demand  of  earlier  in  the 
season.  This  is  no  doubt  but  a  temporary  quiet, 
for  everybody  is  likely  to  want  coal  at  the  other 
end  of  the  lakes  this  fall,  in  view  of  the  labor  ad¬ 
justment  necessary  between  operators  and  miners 
next  spring.  The  effort  of  shippers  will  be  to  get 
as  much  coal  forward  as  possible  before  the  end 
of  the  season,  so  that  any  quiet  period  this  sum¬ 
mer  is  expected  to  be  brief. 

For  the  past  week  the  lake  shipments  were 
114,787  tons,  which  went  to  only  four  ports,  as 
follows  :  Duluth-Superior,  68,587  ;  Chicago,  24,800 ; 
Milwaukee,  13,500 ;  Sheboygan,  7,900.  The  smaller 
ports  are  not  taking  much  coal  at  present  and 
some  of  them  are  said  to  be  already  fairly  well 
supplied. 

The  demand  for  anthracite  from  dealers  is  on 
a  small  scale,  though  some  of  the  independent 
companies  are  reporting  a  little  better  business 
than  they  had  a  few  weeks  ago.  But  a  large  num¬ 
ber  of  dealers  have  all  the  coal  they  need  for  a 
long  time  to  come  and  consumers  are  not  takirtg 
supplies  to  any  extent.  The  report  of  poor  collec¬ 
tions  is  general  and  until  dealers  see  the  money 
they  are  not  inclined  to  put  out  much  coal. 

Bituminous  trade  is  showing  a  light  improve¬ 
ment,  though  the  volume  of  business  is  much  be¬ 
low  normal.  Optimistic  reports  are  being  received 
from  the  steel  trade,  and  plants  are  now  running 
close  to  capacity,  largely  on  account  of  the  filling 
of  war  orders.  Some  concerns  are  being  oper¬ 
ated  night  and  day.  On  the  other  hand  many 
others  are  doing  little  or  nothing,  and  the  domes¬ 
tic  manufacturing  trade  shows  little  improvement. 
There  are  more  optimists  than  a  short  vvhile  ago 
and  most  everybody  looks  for  a  good  improve¬ 
ment  this  fall,  but  few  are  predicting  any  change 
for  the  better  before  that  time. 

Coal  prices  are  much  depressed,  with  the  prin¬ 
cipal  weakness  in  slack,  which  is  selling  at  20c 
or  so  below  what  it  has  in  some  previous  years 
at  this  season.  The  supply  of  slack  is  apparently 
abundant,  while  there  is  not  much  being  called 
for.  Lack  of  the  ordinary  demand  from  Cana¬ 
dian  factories  and  other  plants  is  largely  respon¬ 
sible  for  the  weakness  of  slack.  Contract  prices 
are  considerably  better  than  those  for  spot  de¬ 
livery,  but  nevertheless  are  not  what  they  ought 
to  be  at  this  time. 


Buffalo  Trade  Briefs. 

W.  C.  Blodgett,  sales  agent  of  Dickson  &  Eddy, 
has  returned  from  a  business  trip  to  Chicago. 

F.  K.  Robinson  of  the  Black  Diamond  Coal  Co., 
Toronto,  was  a  visitor  here  this  week  while  on  a 
brief  vacation. 

W.  F.  McClurg,  president  of  the  McClurg-Hels- 
don  Coal  Co.,  is  taking  a  week’s  trip  through  the 
east  on  business. 

H.  L.  Findlay,  general  sales  manager  of  the 
Youghiogheny  &  Ohio  Coal  Co.,  visited  the  local 
office  of  the  company  a  few  days  ago. 

Coal  operators  noting  the  Supreme  Court  de¬ 
cision  regarding  compulsory  furnishing  of  cars 
to  mines  as  needed,  say  that  cars  have  been  in 
ample  supply  in  Pennsylvania  bituminous  regions 
all  this  year. 

George  D.  Rowland  of  the  Richland  Coal  Co., 
Wheeling,  W.  Va.,  and  J.  M.  Gates,  representing 
J.  Tatnall  Lea,  Philadelphia,  were  amon.g  callers 
upon  the  bituminous  coal  trade  during  the  past 
week. 

The  war  orders  of  a  number  of  local  plants  are 
keeping  them  unusually  busy  at  this  time.  The 
Pierce-Arrow  Motor  Car  Co.  is  well  filled  up  with 
orders  and  is  running  a  large  force.  The  Lacka¬ 
wanna  Steel  Co.  is  said  to  have  over  5,000  men 
now  employed.  The  Curtiss  Aeroplane  Co.  is 
keeping  its  local  plant  operating  actively  and  for¬ 
eign  orders  for  machines  are  said  to  be  numerous. 

The  Lehigh  Valley  dock  is  making  good  prog¬ 
ress  with  its  work  of  shifting  the  old  wooden 
trestle  over  to  a  steel  car  dump,  which  is  to  handle 
box  cars  rapidly  in  future.  The  lake  shipments 
were  shut  down  for  some  time  last  week  to  give 
way  to  this  new  work,  but  it  was  found  that  the 
contractors  were  not  ready  to  take  it  up  yet.  The 
dump  is  expected  to  be  ready  in  September. 

The  annual  coal  men’s  outing,  known  as  the 
Roberts  Bros.’  picnic,  will  be  held  next  Saturday. 
This  notable  event  in  coal  circles  has  been  given 
for  over  twenty  years  and  those  who  play  the 
hosts  on  the  occasion  are  Eu.gene  C.  and  William 
T.  Roberts  of  the  Buffalo  trade,  and  Clark  T. 
Roberts  of  Chicago.  Several  hundred  invitations 
have  been  sent  out  to  coal  and  railroad  men 


around  the  country,  who  are  associated  through 
personal  and  business  ties  with  the  Roberts  Bros., 
and  from  present  indications  the  attendance  will 
be  at  least  225.  There  has  been  talk  that  this 
will  be  the  last  annual  picnic  and  excursion,  and 
if  this  turns  out  to  be  true  it  will  be  a  disappoint¬ 
ment  to  many  coal  men. 


Baltimore  Trade. 


Baltimore,  July  15. —  {Special  Correspondence.) 
— While  trade  continues  flat,  with  the  exception 
of  war  order  business  and  a  heavy  export  coal 
movement,  there  are  many  evidences  that  there 
is  a  strong  underlying  feeling  of  confidence  in 
the  future.  This  is  shown  especially  by  the  fact 
that  many  new  coal  concerns  are  forming  from 
time  to  time,  and  that  old  operations  are  being 
planned  for  extension.  In  West  Virginia,  where 
prices  for  coal  at  present  are  frequently  below 
actual  production  cost,  arrangements  are  being 
pushed  to  increase  the  output  of  many  properties 
with  the  return  of  prosperity  to  the  trade. 

The  export  trade  through  this  port  has  fallen 
off  somewhat.  As  against  some  previous  weeks 
of  shipment  of  from  70,000  to  80,000  tons,  the 
movement  to  vessel-holds  here  last  week  ran 
less  than  57,000  tons.  If  maintained,  this  would 
mean  a  total  month’s  loading  of  not  much  more 
than  100,000  tons,  as  against  more  than  300,000 
for  June  and  about  200,000  for  May. 

The  price  of  fuel  to  the  trade  at  the  mines 
continues  low  and  steady.  Much  cheap  coal  is 
offering  by  mines  that  are  now  well  enough 
covered  by  contract  to  take  care  of  their  produc¬ 
tion.  There  is  no  heavy  demand,  even  at  the 
low  price  schedule  that  exists  at  present. 

Prices  to  the  trade  at  the  mines  may  be  quoted 


as  follows : 

F.  O.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

Fairmont — 

Mines. 

Baltimore. 

Three-quarter  . 

$2.23@2.2S 

Run  of  mine . 

. 70@  .80 

2.13@2.23 

Slack  . 

. 45@  .50 

1.88@1.93 

Somerset — - 

Best  . 

.  1.25 

2.43 

Good  . 

.  1.10 

2.28 

W.  M.  R.  R.— 

Freeport  . 

. 75@  .80 

1.93@1.98 

B.  &  O.— 

Freeport  . 

. 75@  .80 

1.93@1.9S 

P.  R.  R.— 

Best  South  Fork . 

.  1.35 

2.53 

Miller  Vein . 

.  1.10 

2.78 

Ordinary  . 

.  .90 

2.08 

The  hard  coal  men  are  marking  time.  .\s  an 
evidence  of  slowness  of  collections  for  some  time 
past,  not  a  few  of  the  coal  dealers  here  report 
settlement  of  accounts  only  before  the  placing 
of  orders  for  next  season.  This  has  been  one 
factor  in  the  short  ordering  for  household  use 
the  past  spring.  That  the  hard  coal  dealers  will 
be  very  busy  in  September  and  October  in  house¬ 
hold  supply  seems  assured  by  the  fact  that  a 
much  larger  proportion  of  cellars  are  empty  than 
is  usually  the  case  in  July.  The  steam  coal  call 
is  light  along  with  demand  for  all  classes  of 
industrial  fuels. 

.^.s  indicating  a  faith  in  the  future,  some  time 
ago  it  was  mentioned  that  not  only  was  the  Con¬ 
solidation  Coal  Company  carrying  out  additional 
development  along  both  the  B.  &  O.  and  Western 
Maryland  railroad  connections,  but  that  the  Davis 
Coal  &  Coke  Company  was  working  out  new 
development  plans.  Some  quite  recent  develop-' 
ments  to  be  mentioned  are  the  formation  of  the 
Williams-Pocahontas  Coal  Company  of  West 
Virginia,  with  a  capital  of  $50,000;  the  incorpora¬ 
tion  of  the  May  Dag  Coal  Company  of  Grafton, 
W.  Va.,  with  $25,000  capital;  the  incorporation 
of  the  Holly-Elk  Coal  Company  of  West  Vir¬ 
ginia,  with  a  capital  of  $100,000,  Colonel  John  T. 
McGraw  being  prominently  identified  with  this 
move ;  and  the  formation  of  a  concern  to  be 
known  as  the  Coal  River  Colliery  Company,  with 
a  capital  stock  of  $50,000.  A  Virginia  incorpora¬ 
tion  recently  reported  here  was  the  Wallin  Coal 
Corporation  of  Pulaski,  Va.,  with  $10,000  capital. 
The  Mullens  Smokeless  Coal  Company  last  week 
made  its  first  shipment  from  its  new  operations 
near  Mullens,  W.  Va. 

Fourteen  charters  for  foreign  loading  were 
recorded  here  last  week.  The  range  covered  both 
South  and  Central  America  and  Europe.  The 
Italian  demand  was  not  as  heavy  as  in  the  past, 
but  France  was  noted  as  quite  a  heavy  taker  of 
this  arrangement  for  fuel. 

William  H.  Gorman,  for  many  years  a  figure 
in  the  coal  trade  of  Maryland,  died  the  past 
week  as  the  result  of  a  stroke  of  paralysis.  Mr. 
Gorman,  who  was  a  brother  of  the  late  Senator 
A.  P.  Gorman,  was  seventy-one  years  of  age. 
He  was  president  of  the  Cumberland  Coal  Com¬ 
pany,  which  he  organized  in  1885 ;  of  the  Gorman 
Coal  &  Coke  Co.  of  West  Virginia,  and  of  the 
Piedmont  Mining  Company. 


Birmingham  Trade. 


Birmingh.am,  Ala.,  July  15. —  {Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — In  some  coals  there  is  a  feeling  of 
better  conditions.  At  some  places  the  trade  is 
better,  while  at  others  it  is  still  depressing.  The 
Tennessee  Company  gave  work  to  nearly  1,400 
men  six  days  last  week,  working  both  day  and 
night,  and  five  days  the  week  before.  The  output 
at  this  place  is  about  normal. 

More  steam  and  coking  coal  is  being  gotten  out 
now  than  for  some  time,  but  most  of  this  noted 
improvement  is  with  iron-making  companies 
which  mine  their  own  coal. 

Such  good  showings  do  not  exist  with  com¬ 
mercial  companies  which  mine  steam  and  coking 
coal.  Large  contracts  have  been  placed  within 
the  past  thirty  days,  but  little  is  entirely  new 
business.  In  most  cases  prices  were  very  close 
and  the  margin  of  profit  is  very  small.  Some 
of  this  shifting  of  contracts  is  caused  by  both 
price  and  difference  of  coal.  In  some  cases  prices 
were  lowered ;  in  others  a  little  higher  than  those 
of  last  year. 

The  Sloss-Sheffield  Company  got  the  contract 
for  nearly  200,000  tons  of  steam  coal  from  New 
Orleans  Street  Railway,  Light  &  Power  Com¬ 
pany  the  past  week. 

The  domestic  coal  situation  has  not  shown  any 
improvement.  Blacksmith  coal  is  still  doing  a 
fairly  good  share  of  business. 


Prices  quoted,  but  varied 

some : 

F.  O.  B. 

F.  0.  B. 

Bibb  County  Domestic  Coal — 

Mine 

Birmingham 

Cahaba  fancy  lump . 

$2.35 

$2.65 

Cahaba  No.  2 . 

2.10 

2.40 

Jefferson  County — 

Pratt  fancy  steam  lump . 

,  1.70 

2.10 

(Furnished  by  T.  C.  I.) 

Pratt  mine  run . 

.  .90@1.15 

Frt.  rate  30c 

Jefferson  seam,  steam  coal . 

Black  creek  steam . 

,  1.15@1.25 
,  1.25@1.55 

Frt.  rate  30c 

Walker  County — 

Horse  Creek  steam  mine  run . 90@1.10 

Carbon  Hill  lump  domestic .  1.60@2.00 

Most  all  coals  based  on  this  classification. 

Frt.  rate  40c 

No  stable  prices,  but  these  serve  as  basis  from  which 
prices  vary  either  up  or  down. 

Blacksmith  calo,  washed  and  screened,  per  ton,  $2.00  to 
$2.25  at  mines,  with  different  rates  to  various  points. 


Birmingham  News. 

Monro  B.  Lanier,  manager  of  sales,  Monro- 
Warrior  Coal  &  Coke  Company,  Birmingham, 
Ala.,  spent  several  days  in  Louisville,  being  con¬ 
fined  to  his  room  at  the  Seelbach  hotel,  owing  to 
indisposition. 

Work  has  begun  at  the  plants  of  the  Wood¬ 
ward  Iron  Company  on  the  erection  of  a  benzol 
plant.  This  will  be  the  third  plant  of  its  kind  in 
the  Birmingham  district.  The  plant,  when  complet¬ 
ed  early  in  September,  will  have  a  daily  capacity 
of  3,000  gallons.  The  work  was  started  a  few 
days  ago  without  formal  announcement  from 
officials  of  the  company.  The  plant  will  be  ad¬ 
joining  the  by-product  plant.  The  benzol  plant 
of  the  Thomas  A.  Edison  Company  is  in  opera¬ 
tion  at  M’oodward  and  is  now  turning  out  daily 
2,000  gallons  of  the  product.  The  operation  of 
the  Woodward  plant  will  be  entirely  separate 
and  distinct  from  that  of  the  Edison  company. 

That  coal  can  be  carried  down  the  river  to 
Mobile  from  the  mine  at  Maxine  at  a  cost  of 
fifty  cents  per  ton — just  half  the  rail  cost — and 
can  be  loaded  on  ships  at  $1  per  ton  less  than 
the  present  cost,  is  the  statement  made  by  offi¬ 
cials  of  the  Pratt  Consolidated  Coal  Company, 
who  last  week  sent  their  first  shipment  of  coal 
by  water,  chiefly  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining 
the  cost  of  water  transportation.  The  results 
were  highly  satisfactory  to  the  company.  This 
week  the  Pratt  company  will  supply  a  ship  at 
Mobile  with  500  tons  of  coal,  which  will  be  the 
first  coal  carried  down  the  river  for  use  on  an 
ocean-going  vessel. 

The  annual  outing  and  institute  of  the  Ala¬ 
bama  Coal  Operators’  Association  Saturday  at 
Edgewater  and  Bayview  was  a  great  success. 
About  300  persons  were  in  attendance  and  all 
enjoyed  immensely  the  day’s  program.  In  addi¬ 
tion  to  an  excellent  lunch  served  at  Bayview 
about  1  o’clock,  a  program  that  included  many 
interesting  technical  subjects  was  carried  out. 
A  dust  explosion  by  black  powder  and  the 
results  from  the  use  of  permissible  explosives 
formed  an  interested  demonstration.  The  dem¬ 
onstration  was  made  by  E.  B.  Sutton  of  the 
West  End  station  of  the  United  States  Bureau 
of  Mines,  and  proved  highly  valuable.  The 
morning  session,  held  at  the  Edgewater  audi¬ 
torium,  was  devoted  to  the  reading  of  special 
papers  and  demonstrations  by  moving  pictures. 
Following  the  lunch  at  Bayview,  the  commissary 
plant  and  town  at  Edgewater  were  inspected 
and  then  the  reading  of  papers  continued. 


Vol.  55.  No.  4 


CHICAGO 

COLUMBUS 


JULY  24,  1915 


NBW  YORK 
PITTSBURGH 


$3.00  Per  Year 


Traffic  Bureau  Formed  at  Minneapolis. 


The  Northwestern  Retail  Coal  Dealers’  Asso¬ 
ciation,  after  struggling  with  the  matter  for 
months,  decided  at  its  meeting  last  week  that 
it  will  start  afresh  under  a  new  name.  In  con¬ 
sequence,  it  assumes  at  once  the  title  “The  North¬ 
western  Traffic  Bureau.’’ 

The  change  of  name  does  not  mean  that  the 
old  association  failed  and  that  the  officers  are 
trying  to  revive  it  by  a  new  disguise.  It  means 
nothing  of  the  sort. 

The  change  does  mean  that  the  officers,  after 
looking  the  facts  in  the  face,  admit  that  the  old 
idea  of  an  association  is  obsolete  because  no 
longer  responsive  to  conditions.  They  know  that 
a  newer  and  better  idea  has  come  into  existence. 
It  is  the  adoption  of  the  new  idea  which  is  con¬ 
veyed  by  the  selection  of  the  new  name. 

Candidly,  the  word  association,  as  formerly 
used,  meant  almost  anything.  Its  use  today  brings 
up  too  many  recollections  of  other  days  when 
business  was  not  done  on  the  plane  that  it  is  now. 
Then,  the  association  was  either  a  somnolent  club 
or  a  sort  of  polite  and  gentlemanly  sandbag.  Men 
went  into  most  of  them  not  because  they  hoped 
for  anything  much  but  because  they  thought  they 
should  do  what  others  did.  The  secretary  in 
those  days  did  not  hold  his  office  because  of  any 
especial  capabilities  along  any  line,  but  because 
the  office  had  to  have  some  sort  of  a  human  ani¬ 
mal  in  it  to  fill  the  chair  and  to  write  the  reports. 
If  the  association,  in  those  days,  drifted  along 
and  led  a  purposeless  and  a  sort  of  a  begging 
existence,  it  was  about  all  that  was  expected  of 
it.  If  it  ever  became  vitalized  its  purpose  in  life 
was  to  fix  prices  and  thus  to  undertake  a  little 
adventure  with  the  law. 

It  is  such  practices  and  such  memories  that 
the  old  word  association  recalls  to  many  men 
now  doing  the  coal  business.  Such  an  unhallowed 
inheritance  is  not  valuable  to  a  trade  organiza¬ 
tion. 

In  the  last  decade  conditions  have  changed  in 
the  coal  trade  and  everywhere.  The  public  is 
through  for  all  time  with  beggars  and  begging 
industries.  The  railroad  presidents  have  in  the 
last  ten  years  forever  sickened  the  American  peo¬ 
ple  by  their  humiliating  and  nauseating  pleas 
which  were  as  devoid  of  reason  as  they  were  of 
dignity.  The  coal  trade,  after  witnessing  that 
spectacle,  knows  that  it  will  do  no  good  to  get 
upon  one’s  haunches  and  beg.  Rather  in  dignity 
and  firmness,  it  is  prepared  to  get  what  is  coming 
to  it  as  does  any  man  who  stands  on  his  rights. 

By  the  same  token,  coal  trade  organizations  are 
no  longer  beggars.  Nobody  is  asked  any  more 
to  “kick  in’’  to  support  the  coal  trade  body.  The 
whole  idea  of  “kicking  in,”  due  to  union  labor 
grafting,  has  become  as  obnoxious  as  begging.  In¬ 
stead,  a  new  word  is  on  the  tongue  of  the  public 
and  on  the  tongue  of  the  coal  trade.  That  word 
is  “serve.”  Today  no  coal  company  hopes  to  suc¬ 
ceed  if  it  cannot  serve.  No  coal  organization 
hopes  to  get  any  support  unless  it  can  serve. 

Taking  these  general  precepts  into  considera¬ 
tion,  the  coal  men  of  the  northwest  have  decided 
to  have  done  with  the  old  word  “association”  with 
its  unhallowed  memories  and  to  adopt  a  name 
and  a  purpose  both  of  which  are  in  keeping  with 
the  times. 

That  suggested  the  name — since  the  railroads 
still  cling  to  the  past  and  make  men  fight  for 
what  is  due  them — the  Northwestern  Traffic 
Bureau.  This  means  that  in  future  the  organi¬ 
zation  will  do  for  the  northwestern  trade  what 
the  individual  retailers  can  not  do  for  themselves 
and  what  they  cannot  afford  to  hire  experts  to 
do.  That  is,  the  individual  retailers  cannot  hope 
to  hire  a  traffice  manager,  but  all  of  the  retailers 
of  one  state  or  one  territory  can  afford  to  hire 
a  first-class  man  for  that  job.  The  same  is  true 
of  an  attorney  and  other  experts  having  to  do 
with  the  annoying  technical  questions  arising 
from  the  purchase,  transportation  and  sale  of 
coal. 

Particularly  is  this  true  of  the  many  important 
matters  coming  before  the  various  legislatures  and 
congress,  The  retailer  unskilled  and  alone  can- 


Old  Northwestern  Association  Will  Give 
Place  to  a  New  Body  Designed  to  Give 
Service — Details  of  the  Plan  Outlined  by 
H.  L.  Laird. 


not  go  before  these  political  bodies  and  present  a 
consistent  story  which  will  convince.  He  has 
neither  the  skill  nor  the  facts.  The  expert  who 
have  been  fighting  many  battles  for  many  con¬ 
cerns  on  many  points  can  do  that  very  easily, 
because  he  has  both  the  skill  and  the  facts. 

All  these  things  considered,  the  Northwestern 
association  decided  to  change  its  name  and  its 
purpose  and  then  to  hire  experts  who  can  carry 


New  Officers  Chosen. 

President — A.  L.  Havens,  Havens  Coal 
Company,  Omaha. 

Vice-President — C.  A.  Cruikshank, 

Hannibal,  Mo. 

Directors — H.  T.  Folsom,  Nebraska; 
Wm.  Hardman,  Kansas;  C.  A.  Cruik¬ 
shank,  Missouri;  F.  K.  Sullivan,  Min¬ 
nesota;  J.  A.  Young,  Iowa;  C.  T. 
Rourke,  South  Dakota;  Harry  Alsop, 
North  Dakota;  Walter  Linton,  at  large. 


the  larger  plans  into  execution.  This  makes  the 
new  movement  interesting  not  only  from  the 
point  of  the  candor  displayed  but  from  the  point 
of  view  of  the  new  purpose  adopted. 

The  annual  meeting  of  the  northwestern  re¬ 
tailers,  which  was  held  at  Minneapolis  last  week, 
adopted  this  new  program  and  directed  the  offi¬ 
cers  to  start  to  work  on  the  new  bureau.  It  was 
a  most  interesting  gathering  of  coal  men.  There 
were  present  about  225  coal  men,  most  of  whom 
were  retail  dealers.  The  meeting  did  not  take 
the  form  of  a  trade  convention.  Rather  it  was  a 
business  meeting  of  business  men.  They  came 
together  not  for  a  frolic,  with  a  little  educa¬ 
tion  and  a  little  business  on  the  side,  but  to  do 
business.  They  did  their  business  first.  When 
that  was  done,  they  found  a  little  time  for  amuse¬ 
ment.  Thus  the  big  thing'  was  the  business  ses¬ 
sion  and  the  theme  of  interest  was  the  discussion 
of  this  new  plan  that  was  uppermost  all  the  time. 

Tersely  put,  the  old  association  retires  and 


H.  L,  Laird. 


gives  place  to  the  new  bureau.  This  is  to  be  an 
incorporated  body  with  capital  stock.  But  it  is 
not  organized  for  the  purpose  of  making  a  profit. 
On  the  contrary,  its  purpose  is  to  serve  the  deal¬ 
ers  in  traffic  matters  and  by  disseminating  infor¬ 
mation  which  the  officers  believe  cannot  be  given 
in  any  other  way. 

The  shares  of  stock  will  sell  to  retail  coal  mer¬ 
chants  only  for  $10.  In  addition,  the  sharehold¬ 
ers  wdl  be  expected  to  sign  a  contract  with  the 
bureau  to  subscribe  to  the  bureau’s  service  for  a 
term  of  years.  This  will  cost  $10  per  year,  the 
annual  payment  being  part  of  the  lump  sum  stip¬ 
ulated  in  the  contract. 

In  detail  documents  prepared  and  sent  out  by 
H.  L.  Laird,  the  secretary,  tell  the  story.  They 
are  printed  herewith  to  elaborate  the  points  al¬ 
ready  brought  out. 


Announcing  the  Plan. 

Upon  opening  the  meeting  on  Thursday,  July 
15,  it  was  bare  of  any  tedious  and  meaningless 
speech  making.  Secretary  Laird  went  directly 
to  the  big  purpose.  This  he  outlined  in  part  as 
follows : 

“It  is  necessary  for  secretaries  of  industrial  and 
mercantile  associations  to  make  a  report  each 
year  as  to  the  condition  of  the  organization,  in¬ 
cluding  therein  suggestions  for  the  future.  The 
annual  meeting  this  year  was  called  to  consider 
the  reorganization  of  the  Northwestern  Retail 
Coal  Dealers’  Association. 

“For  eighteen  months  the  question  of  the  re¬ 
organization  of  the  Northwestern  Association 
has  been  under  consideration.  The  board  of  di¬ 
rectors  has  considered  the  question  for  months, 
with  the  result  that  a  letter  was  sent  out  on 
June  17,  giving  detailed  information.” 

In  part,  that  letter  follows : 

“I  have  had  up  with  the  board  of  directors  for 
some  time  the  advisability  of  holding  an  annual 
meeting  or  convention  of  the  Northwestern  Re¬ 
tail  Coal  Dealers’  Association  this  year.  It  has 
just  been  decided,  after  due  consideration,  that 
an  annual  meeting  be  held  at  Minneapolis  on 
Thursday  and  Friday,  July  15  and  16. 

“The  idea  of  this  meeting  is  to  make  it  a 
business  session.  The  first  day,  from  10:00  until 
12 :30  we  are  to  take  up  matters  pertaining  to 
association  work  and  outline  a  future  campaign, 
the  problem  of  financing  the  reorganization,  etc. ; 
2:00  p.  m.  until  5:00  p.  m. 

“On  the  second  day,  10 :00  a.  m.  sharp,  there 
will  be  a  finishing  up  of  the  business  session  and 
election  of  officers,  and  at  2:00  p.  m.  the  dealers 
will  be  placed  in  charge  of  the  entertainment  com¬ 
mittee  for  the  balance  of  the  day. 

“The  reorganization  plan,  which  has  finally 
been  mapped  out,  is  more  fully  explained  by  the 
attached  statement. 

“It  is  true  that  our  association  and  other  kin¬ 
dred  organizations  have  been  running  from  hand 
to  mouth,  with  very  little  money  to  accomplish 
the  big  things  that  we  were  after.  The  result 
has  been  that  we  have  been  hampered  in  our 
work  by  want  of  funds.  When  the  writer  came 
in  here  as  secretary  of  the  Northwestern  Asso¬ 
ciation  five  years  ago  the  first  of  last  month,  we 
had  a  debt  of  $5,300.  This  has  all  been  paid. 
But  it  costs  us  more  to  run  everything  nowadays 
than  it  did  five  years  ago — stationery,  printing, 
office  rent,  clerical  hire,  light,  etc.  The  only 
thing  that  has  not  been  raised  on  us  is  United 
States  postage,  but  our  correspondence  has  in¬ 
creased  in  volume  twenty-five  per  cent.  So  we 
must  have  more  money  to  prosecute  our  broad 
line  of  work  if  we  are  to  be  successful. 

“The  Northwestern  Association  is  charging  less 
in  the  way  of  annual  dues  than  any  association 
in  the  country.  The  western  associations  in  the 
coal  business  charge  from  $5.00  to  $25.00  per  year 
according  to  the  population  of  the  town,  and  they 
have  ninety  per  cent  of  the  trade  as  members, 
while  in  this  part  of  the  territory  we  have  never 


62 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[July  24 


had  over  twenty-five  per  cent  of  the  established 
dealers  support  the  work.” 


Outline  of  Organization. 

Of  the  many  documents  presented  to  the  meet¬ 
ing,  the  least  convincing  was  the  plan  of  organi¬ 
zation  of  the  Northwestern  Retail  Coal  Dealers’ 
Association.  In  full  it  follows : 

“1.  Legal  Department. 

“2.  Traffic  Department. 

“3.  Information  Department. 

“4.  Credit  Department. 

“5.  Advertising  and  Sales  Department. 

“The  Legal  Department  would  take  care  of  any 
legal  counsel  or  advice  that  might  arise  in  con¬ 
nection  with  subscribers’  business ;  it  would  in¬ 
volve  correspondent  attorneys  under  contract  to 
prosecute  any  cases  of  the  organization  at  mini¬ 
mum  fees  and  percentage  in  every  county  in  the 
states  covered  by  the  bureau. 

“The  Traffic  Department  would  involve  the 
handling  of  cases  before  the  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission,  state  board  of  railroad  commis¬ 
sioners,  claims  for  reparation  before  the  Inter¬ 
state  Commerce  Commission ;  handling  of  rail¬ 
road  claims  of  all  character,  such  as  overcharge, 
shortage,  damage,  demurrage,  etc.,  and  in  con¬ 
nection  with  the  legal  department  the  service  of 
an  attorney  in  each  county  in  the  state  represent¬ 
ing  the  bureau. 

“The  Information  Department  would  involve 
the  gathering  and  disseminating  of  any  and  all 
lawful  information  pertaining  to  the  coal  trade 
or  to  retail  merchants  in  general,  the  publication 
of  a  monthly  bulletin  covering  traffic  rriatters,  de¬ 
cisions  of  the  courts ;  instructions  as  to  how  to 
handle  business  in  connection  with  the  carriers 
from  the  individual  firm  or  corporation  stand¬ 
point. 

“The  Credit  Department  would  involve  the 
collection  of  information  relating  to  the  financial 
standing  of  the  retail  coal  dealers  throughout  the 
territory  covered  by  the  bureau,  and  would  be 
given  out  to  the  wholesale  interests  at  their  re¬ 
quest,  but  only  to  those  subscribing  for  the  service. 

“The  Advertising  and  Sales  Department  would 
be  placed  in  charge  of  a  high-class  man  who 
would,  through  the  bulletin  monthly,  disseminate 
to  the  members  subscribing  for  the  service  infor¬ 
mation  showing  how  to  advertise  country  mer¬ 
chandise,  and  a  course  in  salesmanship  would  be 
promulgated  and  extra  copies  of  each  article  fur¬ 
nished  the  members. 

“It  is  the  idea  to  employ  three  high-class  field 
men.  These  men  could  be  used  in  soliciting  mem¬ 
bers  and  for  inspection  of  methods  and  facilities 
employed  on  the  part  of  the  carriers  at  the  docks 
and  at  the  mines,  particularly  at  producing  points, 
and  in  the  winter  time  when  car  shortage  usually 
occurs  these  men  could  be  used  for  the  purpose 
of  tracing  empty  cars  and  facilitating  movement 
of  empties  back  to  the  docks  and  the  mines  for 
loading  purposes  to  fill  orders  promptly  that  are 
placed  by  members  of  the  bureau.” 


Articles  of  Incorporation. 

Because  it  conveys  to  the  members  of  that  or¬ 
ganization  an  idea  of  what  is  intended  and  be¬ 
cause  it  may  prove  useful  to  other  associations, 
there  is  printed  here  a  document  called  “Certifi¬ 
cate  of  Incorporation  of  Northwestern  Traffic 
Bureau.”  It  follows : 


We,  the  undersigned,  for  the  purpose  of  form¬ 
ing  a  corporation  under  and  pursuant  to  the  pro¬ 
visions  of  Chapter  fifty-eight  (58)  Revised  Laws 
of  Minnesota  for  1905,  and  any  amendments 
thereof,  hereby  associate  ourselves  as  a  body  cor¬ 
porate,  and  do  hereby  adopt  the  following  Cer¬ 
tificate  of  Incorporation. 

Article  1. 

The  name  of  this  corporation  shall  be  North¬ 
western  Traffic  Bureau. 

Article  11. 

The  general  nature  of  the  business  of  this  cor¬ 
poration  shall  be  to  conduct  a  general  traffic,  audit 
and  adjustment  business,  route  shipments,  ascer¬ 
tain  and  quote  rates,  classifications  and  the  like, 
procure  legal  advice  of  a  traffic  and  other  nature, 
conduct  rate  investigations,  proceedings,  hearings 
and  the  like;  procure  suspensions  of  proposed 
advances  of  rates,  change  of  classification,  rules, 
transit  privileges  and  the  like,  audit  expense  bills, 
procure  the  refund  of  overcharges ;  investigate 
traffic  conditions  and  institute  any  and  all  proceed¬ 
ings  under  the  various  state  and  interstate  com¬ 
merce  acts,  and  generally  act  as  Traffic  Manager 
and  counsel  in  any  and  all  ways  practicable  to  its 
subscribers  and  those  to  whom  it  may  stand  in 
the  relation  of  advisor  and  counsel. 

Article  III. 

The  principal  place  of  transacting  the  business 
of  this  corporation  shall  be  at  the  city  of  Minne¬ 
apolis,  County  of  Hennepin,  State  of  Minnesota. 

Article  IV. 

The  time  for  the  commencement  of  this  cor¬ 
poration  shall  be  . .  and  the  period 

of  its  duration  shall  be  thirty  years. 

Article  V. 

The  names  and  places  of  residence  of  the  per¬ 
sons  forming  this  corporation  are . 

.  of  . 

of  . .  etc. 

Article  VI. 

The  management  of  this  corporation  shall  be 
vested  in  a  board  of  directors  composed  of  not 
less  than  three  nor  more  than  nine  persons.  The 
names  and  addresses  of  the  first  board  of  di¬ 
rectors  are : 

The  first  officers  of  this  corporation  shall  be. 


president . ;  vice-president, 

. ;  secretary,  . ; 

treasurer,  .  All  of  the  above 


named  officers  and  directors  shall  hold  their  re¬ 
spective  offices  aforesaid  until  the  next  annual 

meeting  of  the  corporation  to  be  held . 

. 19..,  at  which  time,  and  annually 

thereafter,  a  board  of  directors  shall  be  elected 
from  and  by  the  stockholders  of  this  corpora¬ 
tion.  The  annual  meeting  of  the  stockholders  of 
this  corporation  shall  be  held  at  its  principal 

place  of  business  on  the  . in  each 

year.  Immediately  after  the  election  of  directors 
or  as  soon  thereafter  as  practicable,  the  directors 
shall  meet  and  elect  from  their  number  a  presi¬ 
dent,  vice-president,  secretary  and  treasurer.  Any 
office  except  that  of  president  and  vice-president 
may  be  held  by  one  person.  The  directors  and 
officers  of  this  corporation  shall  hold  their  re¬ 
spective  offices  until  their  successors  have  been 
duly  elected  and  entered  upon  the  discharge  of 
their  duties.  The  first  meeting  of  the  stockhold¬ 
ers  and  of  the  board  of  directors  shall  be  held 
on  the  .  day  of .  19. .. 

Article  VII. 

The  amount  of  the  capital  stock  of  this  cor¬ 


poration  shall  be....... . . . dollars,  all 

of  which  shall  be  paid  in  money,  in  such  manner 
and  at  such  times,  and  in  such  amounts  as  the 
board  of  directors  shall  order.  The  capital  stock 

shall  be  divided  into . shares  of 

the  par  value  of  ten  ($10.00)  dollars  each. 

(Signatures)  . 

(Acknowledgment) . 


Articles  of  Agreement. 

The  vital  part  of  the  new  bureau  is  the  docu¬ 
ment  styled  the  “Articles  of  Agreement.”  This 
binds  the  bureau  to  provide  and  the  retailer  to 
buy  service  of  a  given  character.  The  exact 
wording  follows : 

“Articles  of  agreement  by  and  between  the 
Northwestern  Traffic  Bureau,  party  of  the  first 

part,  and  . party  of  the 

second  part, 

“Whereby,  the  party  of  the  first  part,  in  con¬ 
sideration  of  .  dollars,  payable  one- 

fifth  annually  in  advance,  agrees  to  perform  for 
the  party  of  the  second  part  for  the  term  of 
■ . years  from  date  hereof,  the  follow¬ 

ing  services : 

“1.  Giving  the  most  practicable  and  lowest 
through  rate  or  rates  on  any  commodity,  on 
application. 

“2.  Giving  the  best  and  most  practicable  route 
for  shipment  of  merchandise  to  or  from  place  of 
business  of  second  party  upon  application. 

“3.  Giving  the  best  and  most  practicable  route 
for  shipment  of  merchandise  from  points  from 
which  second  party  purchases  goods,  to  points  at 
which  he  is  engaged  in  business. 

“4.  To  examine  classification  of  all  commodi¬ 
ties  submitted  by  the  party  of  the  second  part 
and  to  verify  same. 

“5.  To  prepare  and  furnish  to  second  party 
one  route  index  from  and  to  points  supplied  by 
first  party,  which  route  index  shall  show  the 
rates  from  and  to  all  points  named  in  the  list  to 
be  furnished  by  the  second  party,  said  route  index 
to  be  checked  and  kept  up  to  date  by  the  North¬ 
western  Traffic  Bureau. 

“6.  To  furnish  to  said  second  party  under  the 
provisions  of  this  contract  all  office  legal  advice 
upon  all  matters  of  business  character  if  sub¬ 
mitted  by  second  party  to  the  Northwestern  Traf¬ 
fic  Bureau’s  legal  department  during  the  life  of 
this  contract,  including  advice  upon  banking  law, 
negotiable  instruments,  corporation  laws,  part¬ 
nerships,  contracts,  bankruptcy,  executions,  at¬ 
tachments,  mechanics’  liens,  torts,  damages,  pro¬ 
bate  law,  wills,  chancery,  et  al.,  also  traffic  advice 
relative  to  rates,  classification,  exceptions,  demur¬ 
rage,  routing  or  storage. 

“7.  To  give  counsel  and  advice  showing  the 
course  that  must  be  pursued  in  order  to  secure 
reduced  or  proper  classification  on  any  com¬ 
modity  upon  request. 

“8.  To  audit  freight  bills  and  express  receipts 
for  overcharge  in  rate,  weight,  classification, 
storage  or  demurrage  and  to  adjust  and  en¬ 
deavor  to  collect  all  such  claims  as  well  as  claims 
for  loss  and  damage,  on  the  following  terms : 


Accounts  of  $100  and  over . 10  per  cent 

Accounts  of  $25  to  $100 . 12  per  cent 

Accounts  of  $25  or  less . 15  per  cen‘ 

Except  current  claims. 


the  party  of  the  first  part  to  pay  all  expenses  in 
connection  therewith  in  collection  of  the  railroad 
claims. 

“9.  To  trace  delayed  or  lost  shipments  upon 


Northwestern  Traffic  Bureau  Convention. 


No.  4] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


63 


request,  to  order  cars  of  proper  dimensions  upon 
request  and  supervise  their  prompt  delivery  for 
loading. 

“10.  To  furnish  second  party  a  copy  of  all 
claims  as  soon  as  presented. 

“11.  Party  of  the  first  part  is  to  apply  to  the 
benefit  of  the  business  of  the  second  party,  when¬ 
ever  and  wherever  possible,  any  ruling  of  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission  or  any  state 
commission  and  to  watch  conditions  closely  and 
take  up  traffic  questions  in  which  the  members 
of  this  bureau  may  be  interested,  and  appear  be¬ 
fore  any  state  commission  or  the  Interstate  Com¬ 
merce  Commission  in  behalf  of  its  members  on 
general  traffic  matters. 

“The  above  terms  and  commissions  shall  be 
the  only  charges  to  be  made  for  service  rendered 
under  this  contract,  and  the  second  party  will  not 
be  required  at  any  time  to  pay  any  attorneys’  fees 
or  costs  of  any  nature  whatsoever,  except  in  spe¬ 
cial  cases  when  same  shall  be  incurred  in  the 
handling  of  matters  requiring  extra  legal  service 
in  drafting  or  drawing  contracts,  commencing  ac¬ 
tions  or  proceedings,  in  appearances  before  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission,  state  commis¬ 
sions,  classification  committees,  or  courts  of  law, 
in  which  cases  satisfactory  terms  shall  be  agreed 
upon  in  advance  between  party  of  the  second 
part  and  our  legal  department. 

“It  is  agreed  between  the  parties  hereto  that  in 
case  the  second  party  sells  or  transfers  his  busi¬ 
ness  during  the  life  of  this  agreement,  the  whole 
amount  called  for  in  this  contract  shall  at  once 
become  due  and  payable,  but  contract  may  be 
transferred  upon  notice  to  second  party. 

“Party  of  the  second  part  hereby  appoints  the 
Northwestern  Traffic  Bureau,  attorney-in-fact, 

for  .  and  in . name, 

place  and  stead,  in  all  matters  connected  with  the 
presentation  of  claims  for  overcharge,  loss  and 
damage,  and  receiving  refund  thereon  to  the  same 
effects  as  .  might  do. 

“Signed,  sealed  and  delivered  this . day 

of . 19. .. 

“Northwestern  Traffic  Bureau. 

“Per  . 


“Sec’y-Treas. 
“Party  of  the  first  part. 

ft 


“Party  of  the  second  part.” 


Advantages  Summarized. 

Having  presented  the  matter  in  some  detail. 
Secretary  Laird  summed  up  the  advantages  to 
the  dealer  in  the  graphic  manner  indicated  by  the 
following : 

“You  would  put  another  man  to  work  in  your 
office  if  it ‘meant  money  to  you,  would  you  not? 
Of  course  you  would;  that  is  good  business.  A 
good  office  boy  is  worth  $40.00  per  month,  or  you 
would  not  keep  him.  A  good  clerk  is  worth 
$100.00  per  month,  or  you  would  not  employ  him. 
Let  us  put  another  man  in  your  office  that  will 
make  you  money.  The  cost  is  small  in  compari¬ 
son  with  what  it  will  save  you  in  consideration  of 
service  performed. 

“Do  you  know  that  the  various  railroads  in  the 
country  file  more  than  5,000  rate  changes  every 
week  with  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission? 

“Do  you  know  that  some  of  these  rates  which 
you  are  using  may  be  changed  this  week  and 
you  may  not  have  any  information? 

“Do  you  know  that  the  same  rates  used  by 


your  competitors  may  be  reduced  by  the  railroads 
and  enable  your  competitors  to  land  some  of 
your  business  before  you  learn  of  the  change? 

“The  railroads  are  well  organized  with  efficient 
officers  to  look  after  their  business.  Capitaliza¬ 
tion  of  the  railroads  in  the  United  States 
amounts  to  something  like  over  eight  billion  dol¬ 
lars  and  constitutes  the  greatest  combined  finan¬ 
cial  power  in  existence  today.  Every  day  proves 
conclusively  that  the  railroads  always  work  to¬ 
gether  to  a  greater  extent  than  any  other  like 
interest.  The  business  man  is  often  amazed  at 
what  is  accomplished  on  the  part  of  the  railroad 
companies.  He  does  not  take  into  consideration 
the  cause  making  possible  the  success  of  these 
large  corporations  in  their  undertakings.  The  av¬ 
erage  business  man  will  scrutinize  his  household 
bills — gas,  electric  light,  coal,  etc. — very  care¬ 
fully,  as  well  as  the  items  of  expense  involved  in 
handling  his  business,  but  if  a  freight  bill  is  pre¬ 
sented  to  him  for  $50.00,  which  should  be  $35.00, 
he  pays  it  and  gives  the  matter  no  thought. 

“Freight  and  express  matters  are  handled  under 
such  a  varied  classification  that  it  is  impossible 
for  the  active  business  man  to  keep  sufficiently 
Informed  of  the  changes  that  are  made  almost 
daily  to  be  able  to  check  up  his  freight  and  ex¬ 
press  accounts,  and  know  that  he  is  paying  only 
the  legal  rate. 

“For  the  cost  of  one  cheap  clerk  you  can  shift 
your  responsibility  in  these  traffic  matters  to  the 
Northwestern  Traffic  Bureau  and  we  will  look 
after  these  important  questions  for  you.” 


The  Departments  Explained. 

Secretary  Laird  knew  that  many  questions 
would  be  asked  as  to  what  each  department  is 
supposed  to  do.  He  answered  all  of  these  ques¬ 
tions  by  a  careful  summary  of  what  each  is  sup¬ 
posed  to  accomplish.  Part  of.  his  statement  fol¬ 
lows  : 

“The  legal  department  will  pursue  a  policy  of 
making  it  almost  impossible  for  disputes  to 
arise,  rather  than  a  policy  of  getting  members 
out  of  disputes  in  which  they  are  involved.  The 
department  will  fight  all  disputes  based  on  merit 
to  a  finish.  This  policy  has  enabled  the  associa¬ 
tion  to  enforce  more  claims  and  maintain  a 
higher  standing  with  the  carriers  than  is  enjoyed 
by  any  other  similar  organization.  It  has  also 
had  the  effect  of  reducing  litigation  to  a  mini¬ 
mum. 

“Many  meritorious  claims  are  so  small  that  the 
carriers  decline  them,  but  because  they  believe  the 
association  will  not  finance  the  litigation.  To 
meet  this  situation,  your  secretary  has  devised 
the  following  plan : 

“The  association  shall  establish,  formally,  a 
legal  department  with  expert  counsel  at  its  head. 
Its  counsel  shall  devote  such  of  his  time  to  the 
matters  as  may  be  necessary,  and  shall  be  placed 
upon  a  retainer  sufficiently  compensatory.  He 
shall  designate  sub-counsel  in  every  county  seat 
of  every  county  in  which  the  association  has 
members.  The  sub-counsel  shall  be  supervised  by 
and  shall  proceed  only  as  directed  by  the  chief 
counsel.  All  sub-counsels  shall,  if  possible,  be 
upon  a  contingent  fee  basis  of  compensation,  and 
so  far  as  possible  will  be  limited  to  the  actual 
trial  of  cases  in  court. 

“The  preparation  of  the  cases,  the  drawings  of 
the  pleadings,  analyzing  of  evidence,  the  taking 
of  depositions,  of  appeals  and  question  of  policy 


to  be  pursued,  will  be  handled  by  the  chief 
counsel. 

“The  chief  difficulty  encountered  by  the  asso¬ 
ciation  today  is  the  lack  of  knowledge  of  local 
counsel  of  matters  handled  by  the  association, 
and  the  almost  prohibitive  expense  of  handling 
the  litigation  in  Minneapolis.  Matters  of  the 
nature  handled  by  the  association  require  special 
training,  expert  legal  counsel  devoting  his  time 
to  the  matter  and  required  to  keep  abreast  of  con¬ 
stantly  changing  conditions.  Local  counsel  cannot 
and  do  not  do  this.  The  result  is  that  it  is  not 
safe  to  allow  them  to  handle  cases  of  this  kind 
against  thoroughly  trained  and  efficient  counsel 
for  carriers. 

“On  the  other  hand,  the  expense  of  conducting 
litigation  in  Minneapolis  where  competent  coun¬ 
sel  can  be  secured,  is  prohibitive,  and  the  delay 
due  to  the  heavy  volume  of  litigation  always  be¬ 
fore  the  courts,  excessive.  The  preliminary  ex¬ 
pense  involved  in  handling  litigation  in  the  city 
will  average  $50,  and  the  delay  from  six  months 
to  a  year.  _  Under  the  plan  proposed  the  delay 
will  be  entirely  eliminated,  and  the  expense  will 
be  cut  to  $5.00,  to  say  nothing  of  the  saving  in 
convenience  to  witnesses  by  allowing  them  to 
travel  to  the  county  seat  instead  of  to  the  city, 
and  the  advantage  of  a  friendly  jury. 

“It  is  the  belief  of  your  secretary  that  the  plan 
proposed  will  give  the  advantage  of  expert, 
trained  advice  to  sub-counsel,  and  thus  overcome 
the  limitations  of  their  lack  of  experience. 

“Matters  of  rate  regulation,  discrimination, 
transit  privileges,  routing  and  the  like  are  assum¬ 
ing  increasing  and  paramount  importance. 
Freight  charges  form  from  fifty  to  eighty  per 
cent  of  the  total  cost  price  of  fuel.  As  freight 
charges  advance  and  force  up  the  price  of  coal, 
the  margin  of  profits  necessarily  diminishes.  An 
advance  in  rates,  sufficient  to  drive  Illinois  or 
all-rail  or  trans-lake  coal  out  of  the  northwest¬ 
ern  market  enables  the  dock  carriers  to  advance 
their  rates,  or  the  dock  companies  increase  their 
margin  of  profit  and  decrease  the  dealer’s  margin 
of  profit.  The  dealer’s  margin  of  profit  on  Illinois 
coal  is  in  many  instances  larger  than  on  other 
coal.  If  rate  advances  drive  Illinois  coal  off 
the  market  the  dealer  is  driven  to  lower  the 
margin  offered  by  other  coal. 

“Local  discriminations,  violations  of  the  long 
and  short  haul  clause  provisions  of  the  several 
commerce  acts,  absence  of  joint  rates  and  through 
routes,  mis-routing,  all  serve  to  reduce  profits.  It 
is  the  plan  of  the  secretary  to  have  the  chief  coun¬ 
sel  handle  all  such  matters  and  to  have  constant 
checks  and  comparisons  made,  with  the  view  of 
automatically  protecting  every  member  before, 
and  not  after,  the  damage  is  done. 

“In  addition,  the  secretary  will,  from  time  to 
time,  issue  bulletins  of  instructions  to  members 
dealing  with  rate,  routing  and  general  commerce 
matters,  and  will  at  all  times  personally  or  by 
counsel  be  in  a  position  to  handle  all  inquiries 
along  commerce  lines. 

“Referring  to  the  procuring  of  protective  legis¬ 
lation.  The  courts  often  hold  that  the  laws  do 
not  in  fact  give  rights  which  seem  to  be  unques¬ 
tionable.  Whenever  any  such  situation  is  found 
it  is  your  secretary’s  plan  to  have  the  entire  ma¬ 
chinery  of  the  association  turn  its  efforts  to  se¬ 
cure  the  amendment  of  the  existing  laws. 

“Your  secretary  begs  to  report  that  as  early 
(Concluded  on  page  67.) 


Photographed  at  Minneapolis,  July  15,  1915. 


64 


THE  BEACK  DIAMOND 


[July  24 


Meaningless  Contracts — The  Cost  to  the  Trade. 


“When  is  a  contract  not  a  contract?” 

This  is  not  an  end  man’s  joke.  It  is,  in¬ 
stead,  a  business  question  and  answer  is; 

“When  it  applies  to  the  buying  and  selling 
of  coal.  That  is,  when  the  coal  man’s  cus¬ 
tomer  is  called  upon  to  live  up  to  his  part  of 
the  bargain.” 

Many  coal  men — retailers — and  most  buyers 
of  steam  coal  have  come  to  look  upon  con¬ 
tracts,  as  now  written  and  constructed,  ^  as 
the  biggest  of  all  jokes.  They  mean  nothing 
at  all.  Coal  sold  on  contract  is  not  sold  at  all. 
It  is  only  optional. 

This  summer  has  been  of  the  kind  to  try 
patience  to  the  limit  in  this  respect.  Producers 
have  labored  assiduously  to  close  contracts 
and  they  have  succeeded.  Today  only  thirty 
to  fifty  per  cent  of  the  requirements  called  by 
those  documents  are  being  taken.  The  result 
is  that  coal  sold  once  at  great  expense  must 
be  sold  again  at  even  greater  expense.  This 
system  spells  ruin. 

“Of  all  the  lop-sided,  inconsistent,  and  pur¬ 
poseless  instruments  of  any  trade,  the  coal 
man’s  contract  is  about  the  worst.  It  is  so 
easily  overbalanced  that  it  has  no  stability. 
To  the  coal  man  who  accepts  it,  it  is  ‘neither 
fish,  flesh  nor  fowl.’  He  signs  away  all  of  his 
rights  when  he  signs  a  contract  in  order  to 
get  a  customer.  Thereafter  any  advantage  that 
accrues  is  wholly  in  favor  of  the  man  he  has 
bound  himself  to  serve.  The  market  goes  up 
and  the  customer  demands  His  ‘pound  of  flesh.’ 
The  market  goes  down  and  the  customer  is 
overstocked,  is  running  half  tiine  and  vvhat 
not  as  long  as  he  can  evade  taking  his  stipu¬ 
lated  amount.” 

That  may  sound  like  a  tale  of  woe  frorn  a 
pessimist  and  a  man  of  small  business  ability. 
It  is  not.  It  comes  from  a  man  of  recognized 
standing  in  coal.  Also,  any  man  of  experience 
in  coal  selling  knows  at  once  it  is  a  statement 
of  actual  conditions  about  which  there  can  be 
no  dispute. 

It  is  a  feature  of  the  coal  trade  that  tradi¬ 
tions  are  like  the  flag — -to  be  respected  on  sight 
and  never  trampled  upon  under  any  circum¬ 
stance.  So,  therefore,  it  is  like  unto  treason 
to  say  a  word  against  the  contract  system  that 
has,  year  after  year,  grown  out  of  all  propor¬ 
tion  to  other  angles  of  the  selling  end  of  the 
game.  And  yet  contract  business  is  like  the 
little  girl  who,  “when  she  was  good  she  was 
very,  very  good,  and  when  she  was  bad  she 
was  horrid.” 

Today  the  coal  business  is  “horrid.”  Every 
buyer  of  consequence  wants  a  contract  to  pro¬ 
tect  him  against  conditions  which  may  arise 
later.  But  now  the  contract  means  nothing 
because  the  coal  user  can  get  coal  cheaper  on 
the  open  market.  Thus  the  operator  has 
optioned  away  his  future  prospects  and  is  get¬ 
ting  no  present  benefit.  He  loses  both  ways 
by  an  arrangement  which  was  supposed  to  be 
of  mutual  benefit. 

This  brings  the  whole  contract  question  of 
coal  to  the  same  jumping  off  place,  which  is; 
How  can  this  situation  be  remedied? 

Frankly,  it  is  doubted  if  the  present  system 
can  ever  be  patched  up.  It  is  wrong  funda¬ 
mentally.  It  is  wrong  in  that  it  is  all  in  favor 
of  the  customer.  It  is  wrong  legally  in  that  it 
is  an  option  with  nO  consideration  attached. 
It  is  wrong  legally  because  it  is  an  option 
drawn  in  the  terms  of  a  contract.  The  inten¬ 
tion  and  the  instrument  do  not  agree.  The 
only  solution,  of  course,  is  to  redraw  the  in¬ 
strument  or,  if  the  contract  form  is  adhered 
to,  to  force  observance  of  its  terms. 

Here  is  cited  a  concrete  case  which  shows 
wherein  the  fault  lies  and  how  well  the  cus¬ 
tomer  has  been  schooled  to  get  every  possible 
advantage.  A  prepared  size  of  coal  from  a  cer¬ 
tain  district  is  used  by  a  given  industry  be¬ 
cause  of  its  relative  cheapness  and  because  it 
yields  the  intense  heat  required  by  the  char¬ 
acter  of  the  buyers’  business.  The  buyers 
represent  quite  a  large  industry.  Hence  one 
little  section  of  Pennsylvania  uses  thousands 
of  cars  of  coal  in  the  course  of  a  season.  In 
the  summer  months  this  size  of  coal  is  abnor¬ 
mally  cheap.  In  fact,  at  the  mines  it  is  looked 
upon  as  a  nuisance  and  hence  any  old  price 
will  buy  it.  But  when  late  fall  and  winter 
come,  the  demand  quickens  and  the  price  is 
likely  to  double  and  treble  what  it  was  in 
summer. 

Because  of  its  unstabilized  price,  to  get 


Under  the  Present  System,  Coal  Is  Sold 
Twice  at  Double  Expense — A  Contract 
Today  Is  an  Option  Given  Without  a 
Binding  Consideration. 


contracts  for  this  size  always  entails  consider¬ 
able  salesmanship. 

In  the  particular  instance  in  mind  the  busi¬ 
ness  had  been  done  under  contract  for  three 
or  four  years.  Sometimes  the  coal  man  has 
been  fortunate  enough  to  “break  even.”  In 
1914,  the  business  was  unprofitable,  because 
when  the  size  was  high  the  customer  took  his 
full  requirement  and  when  the  price  was  low 
the  buyer  dodged  the  contract. 

When  it  came  time  to  close  the  contract  for 
this  year,  the  coal  man  said  that  the  business 
showed  no  profit  for  him  unless  the  terms  of 
the  contract  were  adhered  to.  The  customer 
replied  that  he  had  always  tried  to  live  up  to 
his  part  of  the  bargain. 

In  reply,  the  coal  man  pointed  out  that  the 
buyer  had  failed  to  take  even  fifty  per  cent 
of  his  contract  coal  when  the  price  was  at 
low  mark  in  the  summer.  Despite  the  known 
fact  that  summer  is  the  busiest  season  for  that 
particular  industry,  the  buyer  said  that  he 
had  not  taken  the  coal  because  he  found  no 
need  for  it  at  that  time.  What  he  said  was 
not  true,  but  he  said  it  so  engagingly  the  coal 
man  was  expected  to  smile  and  say;  “That’s 
all  right.” 

Here  the  producer  offered  to  give  the  cus¬ 
tomer  fifty  cents  on  the  contract  price  for 
every  car  that  was  not  delivered  in  accordance 
with  the  contract,  if  the  customer  would  agree 
to  pay  fifty  cents  on  the  ton  for  every  car 
that  he  failed  to  take,  as  specified  in  the  con¬ 
tract. 

And  the  answer  was  “Notbyadamsight.” 

That  is  one  kind  of  contract  dealing.  Here 
is  another. 

A  firm  had  a  contract  with  a  New  England 
concern.  This  called  for  the  delivery  of  a 
specified  amount  of  coal  per  month.  This 
contract  was  entered  into  in  April.  The  sum¬ 
mer  months  passed,  during  which  the  New 
Englanders  did  not  take  more  than  one-fifth 
of  the  coal  they  had  bargained  for. 

During  that  time,  they  paid  about  fifteen 
cents  on  the  ton  for  what  they  took  more  than 
they  would  have  paid  on  the  spot  market. 
October  came  and  with  it  a  stiffening  of  price. 
Spot  values  rose  about  forty  cents  a  ton  over 
the  contract  price.  Then  the  New  Englanders 
demanded  that  every  ton  of  coal  stipulated  in 
the  contract  be  shipped  at  once.  They  wanted 
even  the  coal  not  taken  in  the  summer  months. 

The  coal  man  demurred.  The  two  men  then 
took  the  case  to  their  respective  lawyers.  The 
fatal  contract  was  produced.  “No  way  out  of 
it,”  said  this  limb  of  the  law.  “You  must  fill 
the  contract  that  you  have  entered  into.” 

Then  spake  the  coal  man; 

“But  these  fellows  failed  to  live  up  to  their 
part  of  the  contract.  They  took  only  one-fifth 
of  the  tonnage  when  we  had  them  by  the  short 
wool.  That  nullified  the  contract.” 

The  legal  light  said  it  might  have  done  so 
if  the  proper  action  had  been  taken  at  the 
proper  time.  But,  the  coal  man  had  continued 
the  contract  in  force  by  continuing  to  ship 
to  the  New  England  firm. 

Before  they  got  through  the  deal,  the  coal 
man  was  out  about  five  thousand  dollars. 

Here  also  is  cited  a  case  of  a  type  that  is 
more  or  less  familiar.  A  manufacturer  who 
takes  about  a  car  of  coal  a  day  and  whose  re¬ 
quirements  are  such  that  the  producer  slows 
down  shipments  to  little  or  nothing  in  July  and 
August,  was  under  contract.  Because  of  a 
straight  loss  of  about  a  dime  a  ton  faced  on 
this  business,  the  coal  producer  made  a  per¬ 
sonal  call.  The  manufacturer  told  him  that  his 
plant  was  running  less  than  half-time.  He 
offered  to  take  the  coal  man  out  and  show  him 
that  the  storage  capacity  for  coal  was  filled  up. 
They  went.  Some  coal  was  standing  on  track. 

The  car  numbers  did  not  look  familiar. 
Nor  did  the  name  of  the  road  printed  on  the 
side  of  the  cars.  The  coal  man  made  a  mental 
note  of  these  things.  When  he  got  back  to  his 
office,  no  record  of  these  cars  could  be  found. 


The  natural  supposition  was  that  the  coal 
was  supplied  through  a  source  that  was  selling 
spot  coal.  The  buyer  had  used  another  man’s 
coal  to  convince  the  coal  man  that  the  bins 
were  overstocked.  That  was  “some  nerve.” 

The  most  audacious  thing  of  the  whole  ex¬ 
perience  was  a  sign  hanging  over  the  manu¬ 
facturer’s  desk  that  read;  “A  Contract  is  a 
Contract.” 

But,  what  about  the  remedy?  How  can  such 
a  situation  be  straightened  out? 

The  natural  and  legal  thing  to  do  is  to  bring 
suit  for  damage  or  to  compel  the  customer  to 
live  up  to  his  contract  or  to  cancel  the  con¬ 
tract.  Such  suits  are  rare  for  two  reasons. 
First,  it  is  one  thing  to  sue  and  it  is  another 
thing  to  get  a  judgment.  Second,  no  one  con¬ 
cern  can  reform  the  common  practice.  In¬ 
stead,  he  will  drive  himself  out  of  business.  In 
the  east,  where  customers  are  hard  to  get  and 
still  harder  to  hold,  to  file  a  suit  means  to  close 
the  door  of  that  buyer  on  the  producer  forever. 
Many  a  coal  man  pockets  the  loss  on  such 
contract  business  year  after  year.  His  only 
avenue  of  escape  is  the  hope  that  the  year 
will  come  when  he  can  turn  the  tables  on 
some  one  and  get  it  all  back. 

More  and  more  it  seems  the  notion  of  “beat¬ 
ing  Coal  contracts”  is  being  developed  into  a 
system  by  business  in  general.  Sooner  or  later 
there  must  come  a  time  when  coal  men  will 
have  to  stand  together  to  break  up  this  sys¬ 
tem.  The  first  step  to  take  is  to  force  ob¬ 
servance  of  contracts.  The  second  is  to  ex¬ 
pose  those  persons  who  cannot  or  will  not 
live  up  to  that,  their  signed  obligations.  How 
live  up  to  their  signed  obligations.  How 
“is  a  different  matter,  Maurice.” 


Miners’  Remittances. 


Statistics  gathered  in  regard  to  the  amount  of 
money  remitted  abroad  from  Wilkes-Barre  dur¬ 
ing  the  first  six  months  of  1914,  before  the  out¬ 
break  of  the  war,  leads  to  the  conclusion  that  an 
outflow  of  nearly  $10,000,000  a  year  from  the 
anthracite  coal  fields  of  Pennsylvania  has  been 
stopped.  The  amount  of  money  sent  from 
Wilkes-Barre  through  the  postoffice,  banks  and 
ticket  agencies  from  January  1  to  July  1,  1914, 
was  approximately  $350,000.  The  amount  sent 
through  the  postoffice  includes  the  Kingston, 
Parsons,  Luzerne  and  Ashley  branches,  which 
means  that  a  population  of  approximately  75,000 
shipped  this  amount. 

The  counties  of  Carbon,  Lackawanna,  Lu¬ 
zerne,  Northumberland  and  Schuylkill,  in  which 
ninety-six  per  cent  of  the  total  output  of  anthra¬ 
cite  is  produced,  have  a  combined  population  of 
about  1,050,000  persons,  so  that  if  the  money  was 
shipped  proportionately  from  all  parts  of  the 
region  the  total  amount  for  six  months  would  be 
$4,900,000.  The  shipments  of  money  to  Europe 
are  heavier  during  the  Christmas  holidays  than 
at  any  time  during  the  year,  so  that  the  total  an¬ 
nual  shipments  cannot  have  fallen  far  short  of 
$10,000,000. 

The  Wall  Street  Journal  recently  estimated  the 
total  annual  amount  of  such  remittances  from 
the  entire  United  States  at  $850,000,000,  of  which 
$100,000,000  went  through  the  postoffice  and  the 
balance  through  banks,  immigrant  bankers  and 
steamship  and  ticket  agencies. 

Of  recent  years  the  amount  has  decreased  be¬ 
cause  the  miners  are  buying  their  own  houses. 
Bankers  say  that  the  maximum  remittances 
were  made  a  decade  ago  when  laborers  were 
more  accustomed  to  work  here  for  a  few  years 
and  then  retire  to  their  native  lands  on  their 
savings,  but  now  the  foreigner  is  taking  root. 


The  Locomobile  Company  of  America,  whose 
head  office  is  at  Bridgeport,  Conn.,  is  distributing 
copies  of  a  new  and  attractive  catalogue,  describ¬ 
ing  the  Locomobile  worm-drive  motor  trucks. 
The  catalogue  shows  and  describes  the  many 
parts  of  the  truck  and  several  photographs  ap¬ 
pear  of  the  Locomobile  under  practical  opera¬ 
tion  in  several  different  lines.  Sketches  showing 
the  different  styles  of  bodies  are  also  shown 
Readers  of  The  Black  Diamond  can  secure  a 
copy  of  this  catalogue  by  writing  the  above  men¬ 
tioned  company. 


No.  4] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


65 


New  Coal  Companies. 


Charleston,  W.  Va. — The  Coal  River  Colliery 
Company  is  the  name  of  a  recently  Incorporated 
company  for  $50,000.  The  company’s  office  is  lo¬ 
cated  in  the  Odd  Fellows  bldg.,  Charleston,  W. 
Va.,  and  its  mine  in  the  Sherman  District  of 
Boone  county,  W.  Va. 

Development  work  will  start  in  about  sixty 
days,  and  require  an  expenditure  of  about  $30,- 
000.  W.  C.  Sharpe,  president  of  the  company,  is 
in  charge  of  the  development  work.  It  is  a  drift 
mine. 

Broad  Mountain,  Pa. — The  property  of  the 
Ellsworth  Coal  Mining  Company,  a  recently  in¬ 
corporated  concern  for  $5,000,  is  owned  by  the 
Chas.  D.  Norton  Company  of  Philadelphia.  G. 
M.  Keiser  is  president,  Chas.  D.  Norton,  vice- 
president  and  treasurer.  It  is  a  slope  mine  prop¬ 
erty  producing  about  5,000  tons  a  month,  which 
will  be  increased  very  largely  at  an  early  date. 

Midland,  Ark. — A  new  company,  the  Midland- 
Six  Coal  Company  recently  incorporated  for  $10,- 
000,  will  reopen  the  famous  Midland-Six  mine 
and  have  same  in  operation  by  August  20.  About 
$10,000  will  be  spent  in  improvement  work  and 
repairs.  J.  E.  Finney  is  general  manager,  T.  A. 
Freeze,  superintendent  and  R.  A.  McEachin, 
agent. 


Pittsburgh- Buffalo  Co.  Sold. 


Pittsburgh. — The  properties  of  the  Pitts- 
burgh-Buffalo  Company  were  sold  at  a  public 
sale  August  15th,  to  the  Union  Trust  Com¬ 
pany  for  $1,500,000,  the  only  bid  offered  for 
the  holdings  of  the  company.  The  sale  was 
subject  to  the  lien  of  a  first  mortgage  made  in 
1909  to  secure  a  bond  issue  of  $2,500,000  of 
which  bonds  of  the  par  value  of  $1,769,000 
were  issued  and  upon  which  there  has  been 
no  interest  paid  since  August  2,  1913. 

The  sale  represents  an  outlay  of  nearly 
$3,500,000.  The  properties  were  offered  at 
auction  under  the  direction  of  Attorney  George 
H.  Calvert,  who  was  named  the  master  by  the 
court.  The  holdings  consisted  of  six  prop¬ 
erties,  the  Mariana  mine,  the  Hazel  mine,  the 
Erancis  mine,  the  Johnetta  mine,  the  Mertha 
mine  and  the  Higbee  tract. 


Ohio  Coal  Rate  Agitation. 


Columbus,  Ohio,  July  22. — (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — Coal  rate  reforms  reached  a 
more  acute  stage  this  vveek  as  a  subject  of 
agitation.  The  most  open  recognition  yet 
given  the  matter  by  railroad  officials  was  a 
meeting  held  here  Monday  and  Tuesday,  in 
which  the  carriers  took  the  initiative  by  asking 
shippers  in  for  a  conference  and  being  ap¬ 
parently  anxious  to  secure  all  information 
available. 

It  was  not  the  object  of  the  meeting  to  go 
on  record  for  or  against  rate  readjustment, 
but  to  talk  the  matter  over  in  a  friendly  spirit. 
Some  of  the  railroads,  like  the  shippers,  are 
beginning  to  feel  the  pinch  of  having  mines 
in  their  territory  closed  down.  Nothing  tangi¬ 
ble  was  accomplished  beyond  the  appoint¬ 
ment  of  a  committee  of  seven  railroad  men 
and  seven  operators  to  consider  and  report 
some  definite  plan  of  action.  Those  repre¬ 
senting  the  railroads  are:  Wasson,  of  the 
Hocking  Valley;  Mathews,  of  the  B.  &  O.; 
Terry,  of  the  New  York  Central  lines;  Wood- 
side,  of  the  Wabash-Pittsburgh  Terminal; 
McMasters,  of  the  W.  &  L.  E.;  McCabe,  of 
the  Pennsylvania  lines.  Coal  men:  Winder 
and  Weitzel,  of  Columbus;  Jones,  of  Toledo; 
Ebersbach,  of  Pomeroy;  Timmons,  of  Zanes¬ 
ville;  Maurer  and  Robins,  of  Cleveland.  The 
operators  represent  the  various  Ohio  coal  dis¬ 
tricts. 

At  least  a  partial  report  will  be  made  at  a 
meeting  called  for  Cleveland  on  July  27. 
The  meeting  was  harmonious,  and  there  was 
a  hopeful  feeling  that  some  measures  of  re¬ 
lief  might  be  worked  out.  The  coal  men  will 
insist  that  the  differential  against  West  Vir¬ 
ginia  must  be  increased.  In  the  opinion  of  one 
of  the  railroad  officials,  operators  inflict  per¬ 
manent  injury  upon  themselves  by  completely 
closing  down,  thus  allowing  other  fields  to  get 
their  markets.  About  seventy  railroad  and 
coal  men  took  part.  S.  H.  Robin,  of  Cleve¬ 
land,  acted  as  chairman. 

A  second  rate  movement  that  came  to  a 
head  this  week  was  the  appeal  of  the  United 
Mine  Workers  to  the  state  utilities  commis¬ 
sion,  formerly  made  through  their  attorney. 


Judge  George  B.  Okey.  The  petition  claims 
that  the  present  rate  on  Ohio  coal  is  “un¬ 
reasonably  high  and  discriminatory  to  Ohio 
coal  producers.”  The  miners  ask  that  the  mat¬ 
ter  be  thoroughly  investigated  and  that  the 
commission  exercise  its  power  to  correct  the 
injustice. 

The  petition  states  that  Ohio  operators  are 
charged  80  cents  a  ton  for  hauling  coal  only 
50  miles,  while  West  Virginia  coal  is  hauled 
in  many  instances  over  200  miles  for  only  85 
cents.  Judge  Okey,  in  discussing  the  case 
said:  “Ohio  railroads  will  haul  a  ton  of  West 
Virginia  coal  from  Armitage,  the  junction  of 
the  Hocking  Valley  and  the  Toledo  &  Ohio 
Central  road  near  Athens,  to  Toledo  for  39 
cents  as  their  share  of  the  freight;  while  the 
same  railroads  charge  Ohio  operators  85  cents 
a  ton  for  hauling  coal  the  same  distance  and 
over  the  same  route.” 


Detroit  Bids  Opened. 


Detroit,  Mich.,  July  22. —  (Special  Correspond¬ 
ence.) — Contracts  for  the  local  supply  of  the 
public  lighting  commission  of  Detroit  were 
awarded  on  a  b.  t.  u.  basis  to  the  P.  Koenig  Coal 
Company  of  Detroit.  Tests  of  the  coal  offered 
by  that  company  developed  14,465  b.  t.  u.,  from 
which  the  cost  to  the  commission  was  figured  at 
.07341  for  1,000,000  b.  t.  u.,  a  slightly  better  show¬ 
ing  than  was  made  in  tests  of  other  coals  and 
somewhat  better  also  than  the  estimate  of  the 
P.  Koenig  Company. 

Evaporation  per  pound  and  cost  of  handling 
ashes  also  were  considered.  The  contract  pro¬ 
vides  for  a  bonus  to  the  contractor  on  coal  of 
higher  calorific  value  than  that  submitted  for  test 
and  a  reduction  in  payment  on  coal  of  a  lower 
calorific  value.  The  contract  is  for  the  commis¬ 
sion’s  entire  supply  to  June  30,  1916,  estimated 
at  about  32,000  tons,  of  which  about  90  per  cent 
is  to  be  nut,  pea  and  slack  and  10  per  cent  three- 
quarter  lump,  with  the  stipulation  that  the  lump 
shall  not  exceed  15  per  cent  slack  and  the  pro¬ 
portions  of  the  fine  coal  shall  be  nut  25  per  cent, 
pea  25  per  cent  and  slack  50  per  cent,  approxi¬ 
mately.  The  bids  were : 

Firm  and  Coal —  54  Lump.  N.P.  &  S. 

R.  L.  Aylward — Kanawha,  No.  2  gas... $2. 40  $2.25 

R.  L.  Aylward — W.  Virginia .  2.40  2.15 

United  Fuel  &  Supply  — No.  2  gas.  .  2.40  2.15 

United  Fuel  &  Supply  Co. — Richwood...  2.50  2.20 

John  T.  Hesser  Coal  Co. — Winifred .  2.50  2.10 

Jewett,  Bigelow  &  Brooks — Iroquois....  2,50  2,15 

P.  Koenig  Coal  Co. — Meadowbrook .  2.40  2.15 

Island  Creek  Coal  Sales  Co. — Island  Cr.  2.50  2.15 

Ohio  &  Michigan  Coal  Co. — W.  Virginia 

No.  2  gas .  2.35  2.10 

Parker  Bros.  Co.,  Ltd. — White  Star.  . . .  2.40  2.13 

Mancourt-Winters  Coal  Co. — Winifred..  2.45  2.05 


The  First  Roberts  Ovens. 


Throughout  the  country  attention  of  coke  manu¬ 
facturers  and  others  interested  in  coke  or  by¬ 
products  of  coal,  is  turned  towards  Chattanooga, 
Tenn.,  because  the  first  Roberts  coke  ovens  ever 
erected  have  been  put  in  operation  there  by  the 
Chattanooga  Gas  &  Coal  Products  Company. 

The  inventor  claims  that  from  the  standpoint 
of  quick  conversion  of  coal  into  coke  the  ovens 
now  completed  will  prove  more  efficient  than  any 
type  now  used  in  this  country  or  even  in  Germany, 
where  the  art  of  coking  coal  is  conceded  to  be  the 
highest  attained,  economy  and  expeditious  work 
considered. 

If  Mr.  Roberts’  design  proves  successful,  gas 
and  coal  manufacturers  expect  it  to  revolutionize 
the  coke  industry  in  the  country  and  numerous 
visits  are  expected  from  northern  manufacturers. 

Heat  was  started  on  the  ovens — for  the  Roberts 
ovens  are  fired  from  the  top  in  a  way  never  at¬ 


tempted  before — about  June  1  and  it  was  fully 
thirty  days  later  that  a  sufficiently  high  tem¬ 
perature  was  reached  to  begin  coking. 

A  perpetual  motion  process  of  operation  is  in¬ 
corporated  in  the  Roberts  ovens,  or,  in  other 
words,  each  batch  of  coal  is  carbonized  by  the 
burning  of  ga$  generated  by  former  batches. 
This  made  it  necessary  for  the  Chattanooga  Gas 
&  Coal  Products  Company  to  contract  with  the 
Chattanooga  Gas  Company  for  the  purchase  of 
gas  for  bringing  the  ovens  to  their  first  heat. 


Virginian  Railway’s  May  Shipments. 


Slab  Fork  .  29,645 

New  River  Collieries  Company .  25,229 

Loup  Creek  Col.  Company .  22,688 

MacAlpin  Coal  Company .  22,172 

Kanawha,  Glen  Jean  &  Eastern  R.  R.  via  Pax....  18,215 

Winding  Gulf  Col.  Company .  17,871 

E.  E.  White  Coal  Company — 

Glen  White .  17,654 

Stotesbury .  14,879 

Raleigh  Coal  &  Coke  Co .  14,765 

Gulf  Smokeless  Coal  Co .  14,148 

Sullivan  Coal  &  Coke  Co .  11,703 

Pemberton  Coal  &  Coke  Co .  9,873 

New  River  Collieries  Co.  Sun .  9,152 

Gulf  Coal  Company .  8,867 

Bailey  Wood  Coal  Company .  7,826 

Lynwin  Coal  Company .  6,805 

Long  Branch  Coal  Company .  6,679 

Wyoming  Coal  Company .  6,654 

Pemberton  Coal  &  Coke  Co. — 

Summerlee  .  4,372 

Carlisle  .  3,590 

Lochgelly  .  3,480 

Beckley  .  2,408 

Mabscott  .  1,950 

Scarbro  .  5o 

Sprague  .  1,844 

Cranberry  .  28 

Mt.  Hope  Coal  &  Coke  Co .  2,633 

Sugar  Creek  Coal  &  Coke  Co .  2,313 

Trace  Fork  Company  .  2,000 

Algonquin  Coal  Company .  1,873 

Woodneck  Coal  Company .  1,532 

Virginia  Smokeless  Fuel  Co .  856 

Pemberton  Fuel  Company .  710 

Mullens  Smokeless  Company .  209 

W'est  Virginia  Coal  Mining  Company .  38 


307,006 


Birmingham  Operators  Protest. 

The  sole  reason  why  certain  operators  of  coal 
mines  desire  the  continuation  of  the  convict  lease 
system  is  the  necessity  confronting  them  of  filling 
orders  in  accordance  with  contracts  for  future 
delivery. 

The  above  was  a  statement  made  by  George  B. 
McCormick,  president  of  the  Pratt  Consolidated 
Coal  Company,  to  the  house  committee  which  is 
considering  the  recommendation  of  the  probe  com¬ 
mittee  that  the  convict  lease  system  be  abolished. 
Mr.  McCormick  added  that  convict  labor  was  not 
as  remunerative  as  free  labor  and  that  the  only 
argument  in  its  favor  was  the  fact  that  it  pro¬ 
duced  regularly  and  uniformly. 

The  operators  deeply  impressed  the  committee 
and  it  was  the  report  that  the  members  might 
vote  adverse  to  the  bills  prepared  by  the  recess 
committee  on  investigation.  It  is  certain  that  the 
committee  is  now  more  thoroughly  convinced  than 
ever  before  that  the  convict  problem  is  one  of 
such  serious  import  that  it  should  be  solved  only 
after  constant  and  systematic  study. 

H.  L.  Badham,  another  operator  using  convicts, 
is  protesting  against  abolishment  of  convicts  be¬ 
ing  leased  to  coal  mines. 


The  Fuel  Dealers  Social  Club  of  Milwaukee  will 
hold  their  tenth  annual  picnic  at  Waukesha  Beach, 
July  27.  E.  A.  Eleming  is  chairman  of  the  ar¬ 
rangement  committee.  The  honorary  committee 
includes  Edward  A.  Uhrig,  F.  W.  Fellenz,  A.  S. 
.‘\ustin,  E.  T.  McDonald,  Guy  Gregg,  C.  W. 
Moody,  C.  D.  Weeks,  J.  M.  Fiske,  Jr.,  Edward 
Callaway  and  W.  D.  Caldwell. 


The  First  Roberts  Coke  Oven  Erected  at  Chattanooga.  Its  Principles  Is  New. 


66 


[July  24 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


Coal  Dust  Tests  by  Bureau  of  Mines 


The  liureau  of  Mines  has  just  issued  one  of 
its  technical  papers  on  “Methods  of  Prevent¬ 
ing  and  Limiting  Explosions  in  Coal  Mines.” 
Its  authors  are  George  S.  Rice,  chief  mining 
engineer,  and  L.  M.  Jones,  mining  engineer. 
Mr.  Rice  in  the  introduction  says; 

“Although  advance  in  the  knowledge  of 
mine  explosions,  particularly  coal-dust  ex¬ 
plosions,  has  been  slow,  yet  since  investiga¬ 
tions  were  begun  in  1908  by  the  testing  sta¬ 
tions  of  various  countries,  progress  has  been 
steady,  each  station  contributing  to  the  gen¬ 
eral  fund  of  knowledge. 

“During  the  fiscal  year  ended  June  30,  1914, 
the  bureau  of  Mines  had  an  especially  fruitful 
period  of  investigation,  available  funds  being 
sufficient  to  carry  on  an  important  series  of 
large-scale  explosion  tests  at  the  experimental 
mine  at  Bruceton,  Pa.,  in  order  to  determine 
the  relative  explosibility  of  different  mine 
dusts  and  the  efficiency  of  various  methods 
of  preventing  and  of  stopping  explosions.  The 
large-scale  testing  for  relative  inflammability 
was  supplemented  by  inflammability  tests  in 
the  laboratory.  In  all,  the  explosion  experi¬ 
ments  were  undoubtedly  the  most  important 
and  instructive  of  their  kind  ever  conducted  in 
this  country. 

“During  the  year  the  work  was  greatly 
stimulated  by  a  month’s  visit  of  J.  Taffanel,  the 
distinguished  director  of  the  French  testing 
station  at  Lievin,  who  collaborated  with  the 
bureau’s  representatives  at  the  experimental 
mine  in  making  standardizing  tests  that  would 
permit  the  comparison  of  the  more  important 
results  with  those  obtained  in  the  French  test¬ 
ing  gallery,  and  also  with  the  results  of  the 
small  group  of  experiments  made  in  the  Com- 
mentry  mine,  France.  The  tests  were  de¬ 
signed  more  particularly  to  determine  (1) 
whether  the  same  percentages  of  ash  and 
other  inert  matter  in  the  dust  mixtures  for 
a  similar  class  of  coal  would  prevent  ignition 
of  tha  dust  from  a  blown-out  shot,  and  (2) 


I  have  received  the  following  letter  from 
a  Pennsylvania  reader.  It  raises  a  some¬ 
what  new  question  highly  important  to  every 
man  who  carries  fire  insurance; 

“Will  you  kindly  explain  what  the  true 
meaning  is  of  the  clause  in  a  fire  insurance 
policy  that’s  known  as  the  eighty  per  cent 
clause?  We  are  now  arguing  with  our  insur¬ 
ance  company  over  it,  without  result  as  yet. 
I  understand  all  fire  insurance  policies  con¬ 
tain  this  clause,  but  it  seems  that  few  know 
it,  as  several  men  who  carry  insurance  on 
their  own  stock  and  buildings,  and  who  I 
have  asked  to  explain  it  to  me,  say  they  never 
heard  of  it.  *  The  local  agent  did  not  seem  to 
understand  what  it  meant  until  he  had  writ¬ 
ten  on  to  the  company. 

“About  a  month  ago  we  had  a  fire  and  the 
actual  loss  on  building  and  stock  was  $4,000. 
The  actual  value  of  building  and  stock  is 
about  $14,000,  and  we  carried  $7,000  insurance. 
1  find  all  our  policies  contain  the  eighty  per 
cent  clause,  and  I  was  under  the  impression 
that  it  meant  that  we  could  not  get  more 
than  eighty  per  cent  of  the  loss,  in  case  of 
fire,  but  it  seems  the  company  contends  we 
do  not  get  even  that  much.  The  agent  at¬ 
tempts  to  explain  it  on  some  ground  of  pro¬ 
portion,  but  I  will  not  attempt  to  give  you  his 
explanation,  for  I  do  not  understand  it. 
Please  let  me  know  just  where  I  stand  under 
this  clause.” 

I  have  received  several  letters  from  time 
to  time  about  this  eighty  per  cent  clause,  but 
have  not  attemped  much  in  the  way  of  an 
answer,  because  insurance  is  very  technical, 
and  this  hardly  seemed  like  a  question  of  law 
The  queries  persist,  however,  and  as  there 
really  is  a  legal  question  involved,  I  have  now 
gone  into  the  matter  and  think  I  can  explain 
it  so  that  every  one  can  understand. 

Let  me  say  that  I  have  never  investigated 
a  question  in  which  there  seemed  to  be  so 
much  ignorance  and  diversity  of  opinion  as 
there  is  in  this  case.  Even  some  insurance 
agents  frankly  express  doubt  as  to  what  the 
clause  means  and  the  majority  of  insured  per¬ 
sons  don’t  even  know  the  thing  exists. 
Whether  it  is  so  intended  or  not,  the  eighty 


whether  a  strong  explosion  of  gas  or  dust 
would  be  propagated  throughout  a  long  ad¬ 
jacent  zone  containing  such  mixed  dust. 

“While  Taffanel  was  present,  certain  barrier 
devices  that  had  proved  effectual  in  the  French 
gallery  were  tested  to  ascertain  whether  they 
would  prove  effectual  under  American  mine 
conditions,  and  also  to  compare  their  ef¬ 
ficiency  with  barrier  devices  devised  by  the 
bureau.  Although  the  French  devices  proved 
effective,  the  bureau’s  seemed  better  suited  to 
the  usual  American  mine  conditions. 

“Much  information  was  obtained  from  the 
tests  conducted  during  the  year  in  determin¬ 
ing  the  velocity  of  propagation  of  explosions, 
the  pressure  obtained  at  certain  stages  with 
different  mixtures,  and  the  gases  produced. 
At  the  time  of  preparing  this  publication,  the 
data  are  being  compiled,  but  compilation  and 
correlation  of  the  large  mass  of  data  will  take 
considerable  time.  Therefore,  it  has  been 
considered  expedient  to  publish  promptly  a 
brief  report  of  such  practical  results  as  may 
be  applied  to  the  prevention  and  stopping  of 
explosions. 

“Especially,  it  is  hoped  that  the  suggestions 
may  lead  operators  of  dusty  bituminous  mines 
to  take  addditional  safeguards  during  the  win¬ 
ter  and  early  spring,  because  it  has  been 
demonstrated  that  there  is  especial  danger  of 
coal-dust  explosions  during  the  following  cold 
weather,  owing  to  the  natural  drying  out  of 
coal  dust  in  the  mines.  Of  course,  it  must  be 
fully  understood  that  precautions  must  not  be 
neglected  at  any  time  in  the  year;  the  issuance 
of  methane  into  the  mines  is  not  affected  by 
seasoned  changes,  and  in  extensive  mines,  if 
watering  of  some  sort  is  not  practiced,  dry 
dust  is  frequently  found  in  abundance  in  the 
interior  of  the  mine,  even  in  warm,  humid 
weather. 

“The  final  proof  of  a  safe  condition  where 
watering  or  humidifying  is  employed  is  to 
have  the  dust  wet  in  every  part  of  the  mine, 
and  at  all  times  of  the  year.” 


per  cent  clause  is  one  of  the  biggest  jokers  in 
an  insurance  policy. 

Following  is  the  form  in  which  the  eighty 
per  cent  clause  usually  appears  in  fire  insur¬ 
ance  policies; 

“Reduced  rate  average  clause.  In  consid¬ 
eration  of  the  reduced  rate  at  which  this  pol¬ 
icy  is  written,  it  is  expressely  stipulated  and 
made  a  condition  of  this  contract  that  this 
company  shall  be  liable  for  no  greater  pro¬ 
portion  of  any  loss  than  the  amount  hereby 
insured  bearer  to  eighty  per  cent  of  the  actual 
cash  value  of  the  property  described  herein, 
at  the  time  when  such  loss  shall  happen.” 

Not  easy  to  grasp  at  first  glance,  but  when 
analyzed  it  is  clear  enough.  The  object  is  to 
get  you  to  carry  at  least  eighty  per  cent  as 
much  insurance  as  the  property  is  worth — 
the  companies  admit  that.  If -you  do  not 
carry  eighty  per  cent  then  the  company’s  lia¬ 
bility  drops  below  100  per  cent  of  the  loss  in 
case  of  fire. 

Let  me  illustrate  that.  You  have  a  stock 
worth  $5,000  and  the  policy  of  insurance  which 
you  carry  on  it  contains  the  eighty  per  cent 
clause.  Under  this,  to  protect  yourself,  you 
should  carry  at  least  $4,000  insurance.  If  you 
do  that  you  can  collect  for  the  full  loss,  pro¬ 
vided  of  course,  it  is  not  more  than  $4,000. 

But  suppose  you  carry  only  $3,000  insur¬ 
ance.  You  have  a  fire  and  the  loss  is  $3,000. 
Instead  of  collecting  $3,000,  which  you  could 
have  done  had  you  carried  $4,000,  you  will 
collect  only  $2,250,  for  this  reason;  The  clause 
says  that  if  you  do  not  carry  eighty  per  cent 
of  insurance  the  company  shall  be  liable  only 
for  the  proportion  of  the  loss  that  the  amount 
of  your  insurance  bears  to  eighty  per  cent  of 
the  full  value  of  the  property.  If  the  amount 
of  your  insurance  is  only  half  of  eighty  per 
cent  of  the  full  value  of  the  property,  then  the 
company  will  only  be  liable  for  one-half  the 
loss.  To  go  on  with  the  above  illustration, 
the  $3,000  which  you  carried  is  three-fourths 
of  $4,000,  which  is  eighty  per  cent  of  the  full 
value  of  the  stock.  Therefore  the  company 
will  pay  three-fourths  the  loss,  or  $2,250. 

Suppose  your  stock  again  to  be  worth  $5,000, 
and  you  carry  only  $2,500  insurance — fifty  per 


cent  instead  of  eighty  per  cent  of  the  total 
value.  If  the  loss  is  $3,000  you  will  collect 
$1,500,  just  fifty  per  cent. 

I  have  known  men  who  had  stock  up  to 
$10,000,  but  who  carried  as  little  insurance  as 
$2,000  or  $3,000,  on  the  principle  that  nowa¬ 
days  few  fires  are  total  losses,  and  probably 
a  small  sum  would  be  sufficient  to  pay  the 
expenses  of  a  fire  and  do  whatever  replenish¬ 
ing  is  necessary.  If  the  policies  of  such  insur¬ 
ance  as  this  contain  the  eighty  per  cent  clause, 
the  holders  may  find  themselves  very  badly 
off  indeed.  Say  their  stock  is  worth  $10,000, 
They  should  carry  eighty  per  cent  or  $8,000. 
They  actually  carry  $2,000.  They  have  a  fire 
and  the  loss,  as  they  figured,  is  only  $2,000. 
If  they  had  known  what  they  were  about,  the 
plan  would  have  worked  out  all  right,  but  their 
policy  contained  the  eighty  per  cent  clause, 
and  they  did  not  know  it.  Therefore  their 
case  will  figure  out  like  this;  Their  $2,000  in¬ 
surance  is  only  one-fourth  of  the  eighty  per 
cent,  therefore  the  company’s  liability  is  lim¬ 
ited  to  one-fourth  the  loss,  or  $500. 

There  is  no  use  suing  an  insurance  com¬ 
pany  on  any  other  theory  of  the  eighty  per 
cent  clause,  for  this  is  assuredly  the  correct 
one,  and  your  suit  will  never  get  anywhere. 
—(Copyright  July  i,  1915,  by  Elton  J.  Buckley.) 


Annual  Joint  Field  Meet. 


There  will  be  a  great  gathering  in  San  Fran¬ 
cisco  from  September  16  to  October  6,  inclusive, 
of  persons  interested  in  mining  and  in  safety 
subjects. 

September  23  and  24 — in  the  midst  of  the  above 
period — there  will  be  held  on  the  North  Garden, 
in  front  of  the  Palace  of  Mines  and  Metallurgy, 
Panama-Pacific  International  Exposition,  on  the 
first  day  a  demonstration  and  state  contests  and 
on  the  second  day  an  interstate  contest  in  mine 
rescue  and  first  aid.  These  will  be  under  the 
auspices  of  the  Bureau  of  Mines,  the  American 
Mine  Safety  Association  and  the  California  Metal 
Producers  Association.  Following  is  the  pre¬ 
liminary  program ; 

September  23 

10:00  a.m.  Mine  Rescue  Demonstration  and  State  Con¬ 
tests. 

12:00  m.  Demonstration  of  inflammability  of  coal  dust 
and  coal  dust  explosion.  Mine  rescue  dem¬ 
onstration;  crew  enters  gallery. 

2:00  p.m.  First  Aid  Demonstration  and  State  Contests. 
4:00  p.m.  Demonstration  of  inflammability  of  coal  dust 
and  coal  dust  explosion.  Mine  rescue  dem¬ 
onstration;  crew  enters  gallery. 

September  24 

10:00  a.m.  First  Aid  Contest  for  Interstate  Supremacy. 
12:00  m.  Demonstration  of  inflammability  of  coal  dust 
and  coal  dust  explosion. 

2:00  p.m.  Mine  Rescue  Contest  for  Interstate  Supremacy. 
4  :00  p.m.  Demonstration  of  inflammability  of  coal  dust 
and  coal  dust  explosion. 

8:00  p.m.  Award  of  prizes  and  souvenirs,  Convention 
Hall. 

Music  each  day  by  exposition  bands. 

The  following  organizations  will  hold  indoor  confer¬ 
ences: 

September  17-18.  The  American  Institute  of  Mining  En¬ 
gineers. 

September  20-2.5,  International  Engineering  Congress. 
September  20-22.  Tlie  American  Mining  Congress. 
September  27-30.  National  Safety  Conference,  under  joint 
auspices  of  the  National  Safety 
Council  and  the  California  Indus¬ 
trial  Accidents  Commission.  Sept. 
28  to  be  devoted  to  mine  safety  con¬ 
ference. 

October  6.  The  World's  Insurance  Congress  will 

devote  this  day  to  the  subject  of  the 
relation  of  insurance  to  mine  safety. 
California  State  Mine  Rescue  and  First  Aid  Contest  will 
be  held  Sept,  22. 


Yolande  Mines  Electrified. 


The  Yolande  Coal  &  Coke  Company  has  com¬ 
pleted  putting  in  electrical  equipment  for  its 
mines  at  Yolande,  Tuscaloosa  county,  Ala.,  and 
operations  with  electrical  power  have  begun  with 
apparatus  capable  of  150 — 200  kilowatts  with  the 
intention  to  increase  this  as  the  development  goes 
on.  This  is  done  despite  the  fact  that  the  com¬ 
pany  could  get  all  the  coal  that  it  needed  for 
operation  of  boilers  with  which  to  provide  oper¬ 
ating  power,  but  it  has  been  determined  that  elec¬ 
trical  power  as  furnished  by  Alabama  Power 
Company  is  cheaper  and  more  profitable  than  to 
use  coal  even  though  mining  it. 


C.  E.  Tuttle  has  opened  an  office  in  the 
Oppenheim  building,  at  the  corner  of  Sixth 
and  Minnesota  streets,  St.  Paul,  Minn.,  under 
the  name  of  the  Tuttle  Coal  Company.  For 
the  last  four  years  Mr.  Tuttle  has  been  mana¬ 
ger  of  the  Carnegie  Fuel  Company,  St.  Paul, 
and  prior  to  that  time  was  identified  in  various 
capacities  with  some  of  the  well  known  dock 
companies. 


Eighty  Per  Cent  Clause  in  Fire  Insurance  Policies 


No.  4] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


67 


Northwestern  Traffic  Bureau. 

{.Concluded  from  page  63.) 

as  April,  1914,  he  directed  the  association  counsel, 
who  was  then  in  Washington,  to  urge  the 
enactment  of  the  Cummins’  amendment.  Since 
that  time  until  the  enactment  of  the  law  both 
the  secretary  and  the  counsel  labored  unceas¬ 
ingly  to  secure  the  end  finally  accomplished. 
This  law  provides  as  follows: 

“  ‘That  any  common  carrier,  railroad,  or 
transportation  company  subject  to  the  pro¬ 
visions  of  this  act  receiving  property  for  trans¬ 
portation  from  a  point  in  one  state  or  territory 
or  the  District  of  Columbia  to  a  point  in  an¬ 
other  state,  territory.  District  of  Columbia,  or 
from  any  point  in  the  United  States  to  a  point 
in  an  adjacent  foreign  country  shall  issue  a  re¬ 
ceipt  or  bill  of  lading  therefor,  and  shall  be 
liable  to  the  lawful  holder  thereof  for  any  loss, 
damage  or  injury  to  such  property  caused  by  it 
or  by  any  common  carrier,  railroad,  or  trans¬ 
portation  company  to  which  such  property  may 
be  delivered  or  over  whose  line  or  lines  such 
property  may  pass  within  the  United  States  or 
within  an  adjacent  foreign  country  when  trans¬ 
ported  on  a  through  bill  of  lading,  and  no  con¬ 
tract,  receipt,  rule,  regulation  or  other  limita¬ 
tion  of  any  character  whatsoever  shall  exempt 
such  common  carrier,  railroad  or  transporta¬ 
tion  company  from  the  liability  hereby  im¬ 
posed.  .  .  . 

“  ‘Provided,  however,  that  if  the  goods  are 
hidden  from  view  by  wrapping,  boxing  or 
other  means,  the  carrier  is  not  notified  as 
to  the  character  of  the  goods,  the  car¬ 
rier  may  require  the  shipper  to  specifically 
state  in  writing  the  value  of  the  goods,  and  the 
carrier  shall  not  be'  liable  beyond  the  amount 
so  specifically  stated,  in  which  case  the  Inter¬ 
state  Commerce  Commission  may  establish 
and  mairttain  rates  for  transportation,  de¬ 
pendent  upon  the  value  of  the  property  shipped 
as  specifically  stated  in  writing  by  the  shipper. 
Such  rates  shall  be  published  as  are  other 
rate  schedules;  provided,  further,  that  noth¬ 
ing  in  this  section  shall  deprive  any  holder  of 
such  receipt  or  bill  of  lading  of  any  remedy  or 
right  of  action  which  he  has  under  the  exist¬ 
ing  law;  provided,  further,  that  it  shall  be 
unlawful  for  any  such  common  carrier  to  pro¬ 
vide  by  rule,  contract,  regulation  or  otherwise 
a  shorter  period  for  giving  notice  of  claims 
than  ninety  days  and  for  the  filing  of  claims 
for  a  shorter  period  than  four  months,  and  for 
the  institution  of  suits  than  two  years;  pro¬ 
vided,  however,  that  if  the  loss,  damage  or  in¬ 
jury  complained  of  was  due  to  delay  or  dam¬ 
age  while  being  loaded  or  unloaded,  or  dam¬ 
aged  in  transit  by  carelessness  or  negligence, 
then  no  notice  of  claim  nor  filing  of  claim  shall 
be  required  as  a  condition  precedent  to  re¬ 
covery.’ 

“At  present,  active  steps  are  being  taken  to 
secure  a  law  requiring  settlement  of  claims 
within  sixty  days;  the  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission  is  being  urged  to  regulate  destina¬ 
tion  weights  so  as  to  facilitate  settlement  of 
loss  and  damage  claims  and  secure  recognition 
of  wagon  scale  weights.  Equally  important, 
however,  is  the  effort  of  the  association  to 
secure  reasonable  regulation  of  weights  by 
states  and  municipalities.  It  is,  of  course,  the 
purpose  of  your  secretary,  in  connection  with 
all  these  matters,  to  prepare  and  distribute 
blanks  and  bulletins  of  instruction,  designed 
to  make  loss  or  waiver  of  rights  by  members 
impossible.’’ 


The  Plan  Is  Approved. 

All  matters'  and  documents  were  placed  be¬ 
fore  the  organization  committee.  After  they 
had  been  considered,  the  committee  reported 
as  follows: 

“We,  your  committee,  to  whom  was  referred 
the  matter  of  reorganization,  after  due  and 
careful  consideration,  submit  the  following  re¬ 
port: 

“Your  present  organization  has  no  apologies 
to  offer  to  its  members,  the  courts  of  justice, 
or  the  public  for  any  of  its  actions.  Its  meet¬ 
ing  and  convention  deliberations  have  always 
been  public.  The  conduct  of  its  business  of¬ 
fice  and  affairs  have  always  been  such  that  no 
one  need  be  denied  the  fullest  information  con¬ 
cerning  its  actions.  While  it  has  vigorously 
prosecuted  the  work  for  which  it  was  organ¬ 
ized,  and  accomplished  results  attained  by  no 
other  like  organization.  Its  vigor  has  been  so 
tempered  with  that  due  regard  for  the  rights 
of  others,  we  believe  it  stands  today  as  the 


foremost  organization  of  its  kind  in  the  United 
States,  and  absolutely  immune  from  violations 
of  law  or  even  recognized  trade  ethics. 

“But  in  our  opinion  it  has  reached  and  in 
fact  gone  beyond  the  scope  of  accomplishment 
for  which  it  was  organized.  The  wonderfully 
progressive  age  in  which  we  are  living  de¬ 
mands  that  we  keep  our  trade  organization 
abreast  of  the  times. 

“Service  and  efficiency  are  the  greatest  words 
in  the  business  vocabulary  today.  They  are 
the  standards  by  which  all  business  is  meas¬ 
ured.  If  our  trade  organization  is  to  render 
to  us  that  service  that  is  expected  of  it,  it 
must  have  its  purposes  and  prerogatives  great¬ 
ly  enlarged  and  extended.  If  it  is  to  render  to 
us  this  extended  and  enlarged  service  efficient¬ 
ly,  it  must  be  provided  with  necessary  and 
adequate  funds  to  do  so,  and  in  our  opinion  a 
reorganization  at  this  time  is  not  only  advis¬ 
able  but  absolutely  necessary. 

“We  therefore  recommend  that  the  presi¬ 
dent,  secretary  and  board  of  directors  of  the 
Northwestern  Retail  Coal  Dealers’  Associa¬ 
tion  be  and  are  hereby  instructed  to  proceed 
at  once  to  incorporate  under  whatsoever  name 
may  seem  best  and  for  the  purpose  of  estab¬ 
lishing  an  institution  that  may  furnish  efficient 
service  to  its  members  and  subscribers  along 
trade,  traffic,  transportation  and  legal  lines  as 
more  fully  set  forth  in  the  proposals  hereto  at¬ 
tached  and  made  a  part  of  this  report. 

“Recommended  as  Part  of  By-Laws:  &.  The 
stock  shall  be  sold  under  agreement  that  the 
owner  shall  assign  it  to  his  successor  in  busi¬ 
ness,  and  if  said  successor  be  a  stockholder, 
or  retires  from  business,  then  the  stock  shall 
be  turned  back  to  the  treasury. 

“3.  No  person,  firm  or  corporation  shall 
own  more  than  one  share  of  stock,  which  shall 
be  fully  paid,  non-assessable  and  non-partici¬ 
pating. 

“4.  The  stock  may  be  sold  to  any  retail 
merchant,  engaged  in  the  sale  of  coal,  build¬ 
ing  supplies  and  any  such  other  commodities 
as  are  frequently  or  usually  carried  by  coal 
dealers. 

“5.  Nominations  of  directors  shall  be  by 
referendum  vote  of  the  stockholders.” 


Resolutions  Adopted. 

The  following  was  adopted  as  the  report  of 
the  resolutions  committee: 

“Resolved,  That  it  is  the  sense  of  those  in 
attendance  upon  the  Fifteenth  Annual  Meet¬ 
ing  of  the  Northwestern  Retail  Coal  Dealers’ 
Association  in  session  in  the  city  of  Minne¬ 
apolis,  July  15th  and  16th,  1915,  that  it  be  re¬ 
corded  as  the  best  get-together  meeting  ever 
held  by  the  association;  and  that  our  hearty 
thanks  be  extended  to  our  worthy  president 
and  to  the  directors  of  the  association  for  the 
time,  care  and  thought  so  freely  expended  in 
the  interests  of  the  association. 

“Resolved  further.  That  our  special  praise 
and  thanks  be  given  to  our  secretarv,  Herbert 
L.  Laird,  for  his  diligent  and  efficient  efforts 
to  further  the  best  interests  of  the  association, 
and  that  we  fully  realize  and  here  record  that 
the  splendid  results  obtained  and  the  place  of 
honor  and  confidence  now  occupied  by  our 
association  before  the  public  and  in  the  halls 
of  congress  and  in  the  general  offices  of  the 
railroads  of  America  is  due  almost  wholly  to 
his  wise,  careful,  intelligent  and  persistent 
management  and  unsurpassed  and  undying  en¬ 
thusiasm. 

“Resolved,  That  the  hearty  thanks  of  this 
association  be  given  to  the  coal  trade  journals 
for  the  fully  recorded  proceedings  of  this  and 
other  associations  and  for  their  enlightened, 
timely  and  consistent  efforts  to  further  the 
best  interests  of  the  coal  trade  in  general  and 
the  interests  of  the  retailer  in  particular. 

“Resolved,  That  we  extend  our  thanks  and 
appreciation  to  the  newspapers  for  the  cour¬ 
tesies  shown,  in  the  full  and  liberal  publicity 
given  to  the  deliberations  of  this  convention. 

“And  be  it  further  resolved.  That  we  hereby 
extend  our  hearty  thanks  to  the  entertainment 
committee  for  the  fine  program  of  entertain¬ 
ment  given  us  and  for  the  many  acts  of  kind¬ 
ness  shown  us  while  in  this  city 

“Resolved,  That  we  extend  our  thanks  and 
appreciation  to  the  management  of  the  Hotel 
Dyckman  for  the  use  of  the  Grill  room  for  our 
sessions  and  for  the  uniform  attention  and 
courtesy  shown  our  convention  attendants  by 
the  employes  of  the  Dyckman  Hotel. 

“Resolved,  That  we  are  in  favor  of  and  do 
endorse  the  new  Federal  Trade  Commission 


and  that  we  hereby  pledge  it  our  earnest  sup¬ 
port  and  co-operation  to  the  end  that  its 
influence  may  be  speedily  broadened  and  en¬ 
larged  and  that  it  will  be  able  thereby  to  more 
easily  correct  all  abuses  and  bring  about  a 
better  feeling  in  all  lines  of  business. 

“Resolved,  That  we  hereby  and  do  endorse 
the  bill  now  in  Congress  known  as  the  Stevens 
bill,  providing  for  the  enlargement  of  the 
powers  of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commis¬ 
sion  and  for  the  appointment  of  commission¬ 
ers  in  Federal  court  districts. 

“Resolved,  That  we  do  approve  of  and  en¬ 
dorse  the  new  plan  of  organization  proposed 
for  our  association  and  that  we  do  hereby  ask 
its  adoption  at  your  hands,  for  we  believe  it 
to  be  a  wise,  consistent  and  well  considered 
advance  along  enlightened  Association  prac¬ 
tices.” 


Committees  Which  Acted. 

The  following  were  the  active  committees: 
On  reorganization,  George  Gregory,  E.  J. 
Stearns,  A.  C.  Johnson,  F.  J.  Ward,  J.  H. 
Dobie. 

On  nominations,  Barney  Anderson,  Walter 
Linton,  W.  F.  Grasser. 

On  resolutions,  H.  T.  Folsom,  J.  A.  Young, 
George  Gregory. 

On  entertainment,  H.  L.  Laird,  chairman; 
Win.  H.  Godwin,  Berwind  Fuel  Co.;  E.  Savage, 
Carnegie  Fuel  Co.;  E.  O.  Fellows,  Great  Lakes 
Coal  &  Dock  Co.;  Frank  Collins,  Island  Creek 
Coal  Sales  Co.;  W.  F.  Aldenderfer,  Lehigh 
Valley  Coal  Sales  Co.;  L.  E.  Gilbert,  Northern 
Coal  &  Dock  Co.;  A.  M.  Malone,  Philadelphia 
&  Reading  Coal  &  Iron  Co.;  R.  O.  Eastman, 
Pittsburg  &  Ashland  Coal  &  Dock  Co.;  H.  M. 
Boyer,  Pittsburgh  Coal  Co.;  M.  P.  Hanson,  C. 
Reiss  Coal  Co.;  Walter  Still,  Zenith  Furnace 
Co.;  J.  A.  Vaughan,  Clarkson  Coal  &  Dock 
Co.;  T.  V.  Collins,  M.  A.  Hanna  Coal  Co.; 
Benj.  Gorham,  Northwestern  Fuel  Co.;  F.  O. 
•De  Groff,  St.  Paul  &  Western  Coal  Co. 


Notes  of  the  Convention. 

Robert  L.  Green,  general  sales  manager  of 
the  John  A.  Logan  Coal  Company,  stopped 
over  for  the  convention. 

Frank  N.  Browning  of  the  Purity  Coal  Com¬ 
pany  was  among  the  Chicago  party  present. 
Their  number  two  mine  had  shipped  an  1,800- 
pound  block  of  “Purity”  which  was  placed  on 
exhibition  in  the  hotel  lobby.  The  coal  was 
backed  up  against  the  marble  wall  of  the 
lobby.  A  number  of  the  local  dealers  would 
like  to  have  had  the  big  block  as  a  window 
display,  but  it  had  been  previously  arranged 
to  place  it  with  the  B.  B.  Fuel  Company  after 
the  convention.  , 

Q.  E.  Browning  represented  the  Thompson 
Burton  Company  of  Chicago. 

C.  E.  Hostler  came  up  in  the  interests  of 
The  Globe  Coal  Company. 

“Ernie”  Pratt,  northwestern  sales  agent  of 
the  Purity  Coal  Company,  was  in  attendance. 
“Ernie”  was  the  recipient  of  many  flattering 
comments  on  their  exhibit.  This  company  also 
passed  around  souvenirs  in  the  shape  of  paper 
weights. 

The  Gifford  Wood  Company  was  represent¬ 
ed  by  Otto  Thjomoe,  who  knows  a  whole  lot 
about  coal  pockets  and  coal  handling  machin¬ 
ery.  Otto  says  that  business  is  good  with  him, 
and  it  is  very  evident  that  the  coal  dealers  have 
faith  in  the  coming  season  from  his  report. 

Cy  Seymour,  W.  G.  Scott  and  H.  Muntinga 
were  here  representing  the  C.  Reiss  Coal  Com¬ 
pany.  They  made  a  gift  to  all  present  of  a 
very  attractive  coat  watch  chain  which  bore 
the  company’s  trade-mark. 

J.  A.  Vaughan,  vice-president  of  The  Clark¬ 
son  Coal  &  Dock  Company,  came  over  from 
St.  Paul  to  greet  the  many  friends  and  cus¬ 
tomers  of  the  company. 

M.  A.  Hanna  Coal  &  Dock  Company  was 
represented  by  T.  V.  Collins,  while  his 
lirother,  Frank  Collins,  took  good  care  of  the 
Island  Creek  Company’s  interests. 

The  Reeves  Coal  Company  passed  around 
the  cigars  on  the  way  out  to  Antlers  Park,  in¬ 
cidentally  distributing  a  brief  epistle  on  their 
coals. 

J.  N.  McCabe  of  the  Lehigh  Valley  Coal 
Sales  Company  came  up  from  Chicago  for  the 
convention,  while  Bell  &  Zoller  were  ably  rep¬ 
resented  by  E.  M.  Du  Rell. 

The  percentage  of  retailers  present  was 
uncommonly  large  and  the  attendance  at  the 
business  sessions  was  quite  satisfactory. 


68 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[July  24 


Men  Prominent  in  the  Coal  Trade’s  Eye. 


Jerry  Morrow. 

Some  time  the  latter  part  of  June,  Jerry  Mor¬ 
row  of  Wellston,  Ohio,  rounded  out  fifty  years 
in  the  coal  business.  He  is  now  nearly  seventy- 
two  years  of  age  and  yet  despite  his  years  and 
the  length  of  service  in  the  coal  business  he  is  so 
young  that  the  one  thing  for  which  he  will  dis¬ 
charge  an  employe  is  a  refusal  on  the  latter’s 
part  to  keep  abreast  of  the  times  and  to  use  the 
latest  devices  for  the  production  of  coal.  This 
one  fact,  supported  by  a  number  of  incidents, 
writes  a  character  sketch  of  the  man. 

When  he  was  a  boy  he  associated  with  older 
men  in  order  to  get 
the  advantage  of 
their  ideas  and  to 
get  a  dependable 
point  of  view  on 
things.  When  he 
became  a  man  he 
spent  his  time  with 
younger  men  that 
he  might  hold  ever 
a  fresher  view  of 
life  and  keep  him¬ 
self  young  by  asso¬ 
ciation.  Now  that 
he  has  reached  an 
age  where  he 
might  be  consid¬ 
ered  an  old  man  he 
is  associating  with 
even  younger  men 
that  he  may  never 
have  a  chance  to 
grow  stale.  As  a 
c  o  n  s  e  q  uence  a 
short  time  ago  he 
had  a  mine  superintendent  who  was  arguing 
against  the  introduction  of  electrical  haulage  and 
other  modern  appliances  and  found  it  necessary 
to  discharge  him  that  the  mine  itself  might  be 
brought  up  to  the  minute.  At  the  time  this  oc¬ 
curred  Mr.  Morrow  was  a  young  man  past  sev¬ 
enty.  The  mine  superintendent  was  an  old  man 
under  forty. 

The  career  of  Jerry  Morrow  has  been  as  inter¬ 
esting  as  it  has  been  full  of  activity.  He  was 
born  at  Chillicothe,  Ohio,  October  18,  1843. 

He  had  passed  through  the  primary  schools  and 
was  in  Miami  University  in  1863  when  he  quit 
that  to  enter  the  three  months’  service  of  the 
army  in  the  War  of  the  Rebellion.  At  the  end  of 
three  months’  service  he  returned  to  school  only 
to  quit  that  and  join  the  navy,  where  he  was 
attached  to  Admiral  Porter’s  flagship  “The 
Cricket.”  In  that  service  he  passed  through  the 
Red  River  campaign  from  start  to  finish. 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  war  in  1865  Mr.  Mor¬ 
row  returned  to  Jackson  county,  Ohio,  where  he 
accepted  a  position  as  weigh-master  to  the  Cincin¬ 
nati  Furnace  Company  and  in  1869  became  super¬ 
intendent  of  the  Petra  mine  in  Jackson  county. 
This  was  the  first  mine  to  ship  coal  out  of  that 
district. 

In  1873,  which  was  the  year  of  the  great  finan¬ 
cial  panic  in  America,  Mr.  Morrow  decided  to 
enter  the  coal  business  on  his  own  account  and 
opened  a  mine  on  Federal  Creek  in  Athens  coun¬ 
ty,  Ohio.  He  had  gotten  together  all  the  money 
that  he  could  command  personally  and  could  bor¬ 
row  from  his  friends  and  associates  and  this,  it 
seems,  was  swallowed  up  in  the  disturbance  in¬ 
cident  to  the  period  of  depression.  It  took,  how¬ 
ever,  some  time  for  the  forces  of  destruction  to 
exert  themselves. 

In  1881  Mr.  Morrow  returned  to  Jackson  county 
as  a  practical  man  in  charge  of  Horace  L.  Chap¬ 
man’s  mines.  He  was  superintendent  and  in  that 
capacity  opened  every  mine  that  the  Chapman 
Company  developed  at  that  time. 

At  the  conclusion  of  this  service  Mr.  Morrow 
accepted  a  position  as  commissioner  of  the  Jack- 
son  county,  Ohio,  Operators’  Association.  He 
was  there  for  seceral  years. 

After  that  he  accepted  a  position  as  secretary 
of  the  Ohio  Wholesale  and  Retail  Dealers’  Asso¬ 
ciation.  That  was  at  the  inception  of  the  move¬ 
ment  which  has  now  grown  into  the  Michigan- 
Ohio-Indiana  Coal  Association.  While  in  that 
particular  position  he  increased  the  membership 
from  112,  where  it  was  when  he  started,  to  850, 
and  made  it,  of  course,  one  of  the  strongest  asso¬ 
ciations  in  America. 

In  1906  and  1907  Mr.  Morrow  returned  to  the 
Jackson  County  Operators’  Association  as  com¬ 
missioner  and  remained  there  until  its  affairs  were 


investigated  by  the  United  States  court  and  the 
officer  of  that  court  advised  that  it  would  be  the 
best  plan  for  the  organization  as  it  then  existed 
to  discontinue. 

In  1907  Mr.  Morrow  left  Ohio  and  went  to  the 
northern  Peninsula  of  Michigan,  where  he  dis¬ 
covered  a  deposit  of  iron  ore  and  opened  the 
Spring  Valley  Iron  Company  which  was  one  of 
the  largest  mines  in  that  district  and  which  ulti¬ 
mately  was  sold  out  to  Eugene  Zimmerman  and 
J.  C.  Cluetts. 


Selling  Coal  in  Summer. 

Almost  every  retail  coal  man  looks  upon 
the  winter  as  his  best  season,  yet  the  Tan- 
nersville  Lumber  &  Coal  Co.,  of  Tanners- 
ville,  N.  Y.,  sells  more  coal  in  summer  than 
It  does  in  winter.  The  reason  for  this  is, 
that  Tannersville  is  a  summer  resort  with  a 
population  of  about  1,000  during  winter 
months,  and  of  about  10,000  during  the  vaca¬ 
tion  season.  All  the  collecting  is  done  during 
August  when  money  is  most  plentiful. 

A  photograph  of  the  company’s  pocket  and 
a  portion  of  the  yard  is  shown  herewith.  The 
modern  coal  pocket  was  built  two  years  ago 
and  is  of  1,000  tons  capacity.  The  pocket 
is  divided  into  five  bins  of  200  tons  capacity 
each,  and  under  each  bin  is  a  driveway  ten 
feet  wide,  with  chutes  along  the  sides  to  load 
the  wagons,  or  to  bag  the  coal  as  desired. 
These  chutes  at  the  same  time  screen  the 


coal  thoroughly,  so  that  the  customers  not 
only  get  good  clean  coal  with  no  dust,  but 
it  is  done  mechanically,  with  no  extra  work 
whatever.  This  feature  alone  is  worth  a 
great  deal  to  any  retail  coal  dealer. 

Even  though  the  pocket  has  a  flat  bottom, 
it  retains  very  little  unused  coal,  as  in  each 
bin  there  are  three  wagon  loading  chutes,  or 
fifteen  in  all. 

Another  great  advantage  of  the  pocket  is 
its  strong  and  rigid  design,  insuring  long  life 
and  a  minimum  of  repairs.  It  is  not  built 
like  so  many  pockets  with  the  two-inch  plank 
and  studs,  but  is  constructed  of  three-inch 
tongue  and  groove  planks,  strongly  held  to¬ 
gether  with  buck-stays  and  the  whole  thor¬ 
oughly  braced  and  rodded  together. 

The  outside  of  all  the  pocket  is  covered 
with  drop  siding,  which  not  only  keeps  out 
the  weather,  but  presents  a  pleasing  and  neat 
appearance. 

The  elevator  machinery  is  of  the  double 
roller  chain  elevator  conveyor  type,  carrying 
the  coal  from  the  steel  boot  onto  which  it 
is  dumped  from  the  track  hopper  to  one  end 
of  the  monitor  of  the  pocket,  from  where  it 
is  scraped  horizontally,  and  delivered  to  the 
different  bins,  for  different  sizes  of  coal  as 
desired. 

The  coal  is  lowered  gently  on  the  coal  lad¬ 
ders  (two  in  each  bin),  so  that  the  coal  never 
drops  more  than  twelve  to  eighteen  inches  at 
any  point. 


At  the  present  time  Mr.  Morrow  is  president  of 
the  Wellston  Colliery  Company,  of  the  Morrow 
Manufacturing  Company,  of  the  Jackson  County 
Coal  Club,  and  vice-president  of  the  Hickory  Ash 
Coal  Company  of  West  Virginia.  He  is  also 
general  sales  manager  of  the  Blue  Jay  Coal  Com¬ 
pany,  with  mines  in  the  Hocking  Valley.  He  lives 
at  Wellston,  Ohio. 

There  are  but  few  men  in  America  who  at  his 
age  are  occupying  so  many  positions  which  call 
for  the  active  work  that  these  positions  entail, 
and  who  at  the  same  time  attack  them  with  the 
vigor  of  youth  which  he  displays  in  everything 
that  he  does. 


This  pocket  was  designed  and  machinery 
furnished  by  the  Gifford-Wood  Co.,  of  Hud¬ 
son,  N.  Y. 


Coal  and  Dishes. 

The  selling  of  coal  and  dishes  seems  to  be 
almost  as  plausible  as  selling  perfume  and 
bridges.  Yet  the  Albert  Johnson  Coal  Co.,  of 
Minneapolis,  are  doing  this  very  thing,  in 
their  selling  a  forty-two-piece  set  of  china 
dishes  to  every  purchaser  of  two  or  more  tons 
of  coal.  The  Albert  Johnson  Coal  Company 
bought  these  dishes  in  carload  lots  and  were 
able  to  furnish  them  to  their  customers  at 
about  one-fourth  the  cost  of  a  similar  set  at 
the  retail  stores. 

The  scheme  proved  a  very  effective  adver¬ 
tising  and  selling  scheme  at  first,  but  several 
crockery  manufacturers  began  selling  this 


ware  to  merchants  in  other  lines,  who  offered 
them  at  the  same  and  lower  prices,  so  that 
the  scheme  grew  too  common. 

The  company’s  proposition  read  as  follows; 

“We  have  just  closed  a  contract  with  one 
of  the  largest  potteries  in  the  country  to  fur¬ 
nish  us  with  a  carload  of  forty-two-piece  sets 
in  the  conventional  design,  same  as  on  the 
reverse  side  of  this  coupon,  and  five  other  very 
attractive  patterns,  at  a  very  low  price,  and 
for  the  purpose  of  offering  our  customers  an 
inducement  to  buy  our  coal,  we  are  going  to 
give  you  the  benefit  of  our  bargain. 

“Remember,  we  are  only  giving  you  the 
opportunity  of  buying  these  sets  at  exactly 
what  they  cost  us  in  carload  lots,  therefore 
charge  you  nothing  extra  for  the  coal,  nor 
are  we  compelled  to  reduce  the  quality  or 
slight  the  preparation  as  we  would  have  to  do 
if  we  were  giving  premiums. 

“When  you  have  accumulated  tickets  to 
the  value  of  two  tons  of  coal,  return  them  to 
us,  with  $3.25  in  cash,  and  we  will  give  you 
this  beautiful  dinner  set. 

“Each  set  is  fully  guaranteed  by  the  manu¬ 
facturer  and  ourselves.  You  cannot  duplicate 
these  sets  for  less  than  $8.00  if  purchased  else¬ 
where.” 

The  crockery  manufacturer  from  whom 
these  sets  were  bought  guaranteed  the  exclu¬ 
sive  Minneapolis  territory,  and  had  not  other 
manufacturers  invaded  the  city,  the  scheme 
would  still  be  an  excellent  business  getter. 


In  the  Field  of  the  Retail  Dealers. 


New  Coal  Pocket  of  the  Tannersville  Lumber  &  Coal  Company. 


No.  4] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


69 


Devices  to  Burn]jVolatile  Matter. 


By  H.  A.  Atwater. 

The  difficulties  encountered  in  burning  bitu¬ 
minous  coals  increase  as  the  per  cent  of  volatile 
matter  increases.  The  principal  causes  of  diffi¬ 
culty  are  as  follows : 

1.  Combustion  space  too  small  to  allow  com¬ 
plete  combustion  of  volatile  gases  distilled  from 
freshly  fired  coal  before  they  are  chilled  by  strik¬ 
ing  the  cold  heating  surfaces  of  the  boiler. 

2.  Insufficient  supply  of  oxygen  to  unite  with 
large  amount  of  gases  evolved  from  each  fresh 
charge  of  coal. 

3.  Supply  of  air  may  be  properly  proportioned, 
but  the  combustion  chamber,  while  possibly  of 
ample  volume,  may  be  so  designed  that  the  air 
and  gases  are  not  properly  mixed. 

4.  Length  of  travel  of  gases  from  grate  to 
nearest  boiler  heating  surfaces  so  short  that  com¬ 


bustion  is  practically  stopped  as  soon  as  gases 
strike  these  cold  surfaces. 

Mechanical  stokers  by  feeding  coal  to  the 
grates  gradually  permit  of  a  uniform  distillation 
of  volatile  gases  and  hence  are  well  adapted  to 
high  volatile  coals.  Hand-fired  furnaces,  though, 
are  particularly  troublesome  when  high  volatile 
coals  are  handled  for  the  simple  reason,  in  most 
cases,  that  it  is  human  nature  to  take  the  path  of 
least  resistance.  And,  most  firemen  are  human  in 
this  respect.  It  is  much  less  work  to  fire  coal 
infrequently  and  in  large  amounts  than  to  fire  it 
in  small  and  frequent  charges,  and  there  is  no 
question  as  to  which  of  these  two  methods  will 
be  pursued  by  the  fireman  if  he  is  allowed  to 
take  his  choice,  which  is  usually  the  case. 

Combustible  products  which  burn  quickly  must 
of  necessity  give  the  point  of  highest  temperature 
nearer  the  grate  than  those  which  burn  more 
slowly,  and  consequently  as  the  volatile  matter 
increases  in  amount  this  point  of  most  intense 
combustion  or  of  highest  temperature  tends  to 
move  away  from  the  grate  and  nearer  the  heat¬ 
ing  surfaces. 

On  account  of  this  relation  the  owner  of  the 
average  hand  fired  plant  should  look  for  coal  of 
lower  volatile  matter  as  soon  as  he  finds  he  has 
to  force  his  boilers.  Or,  if  such  a  coal  is  not 


available,  some  method  of  speeding  up  the  com¬ 
bustion  process  must  be  put  into  operation. 
Otherwise  this  point  of  most  intense  combustion 
will  tend  to  move  so  far  from  the  grates  that  the 
chilling  effect  of  the  heating  surfaces  will  cause 
a  considerable  loss  in  unburned  gases. 

The  most  direct  remedy  consists  in  improving 
conditions  of  air  supply  and  gas  mixture.  A 
rapid  and  sudden  distillation  of  gases  follows  the 
throwing  in  of  a  fresh  charge  of  coal  and  the 
supply  of  air  to  the  furnace  should  be  greatly  in¬ 
creased  at  this  time  in  order  to  burn  these  gases 
completely.  There  are  devices  now  on  the  mar¬ 
ket  designed  to  take  care  of  this  requirement  by 
allowing  an  excess  amount  of  air  to  enter  through 


Fig.  2 — Showing  the  Staggering. 


the  firing  door  after  a  fresh  charge  of  coal  has 
been  thrown  onto  the  grates,  this  excess  air  being 
gradually  cut  off  by  means  of  a  dashpot  or  some 
other  suitable  arrangement. 

A  more  intimate  mixture  of  the  gases  and  air 
can  be  secured  by  means  of  mixing  piers  or  walls 
built  in  the  combustion  chamber,  or  by  means  of 
steam  jets. 

Figures  1  and  2  show  a  type  of  mixing  device 
built  on  top  of  the  bridge-wall.  Figure  1  shows 
the  piers  A,  A  on  top  of  the  bridge-wall,  B,  while 


Fig.  3 — The  Heine  Boiler  Setting. 


figure  2  shows  them  in  plan  to  indicate  how  they 
are  staggered.  These  piers  or  walls  can  also  be 
built  in  the  combustion  space  back  of  the  bridge- 
wall,  but  none  of  them  stand  up  very  satisfactor¬ 
ily  under  the  intense  heat  to  which  they  are  sub¬ 
jected. 

In  the  case  of  a  plant  where  the  boilers  are  not 
pushed  hard  some  such  construction  as  that  indi¬ 
cated  in  figures  1  and  2  would  probably  prove  a 
wise  investment  and  possibly  a  necessary  one  in 
case  a  high  volatile  coal  had  to  be  used.  But,  it 
would  be  difficult  to  attempt  to  maintain  such  a 
mixing  construction  under  a  boiler  which  was 
worked  hard.  For  such  a  condition  of  a  boiler 
driven  hard  on  high  volatile  coal  resulting  in  a 
very  high  furnace  temperature,  the  use  of  steam 
jets  constitutes  about  the  last  resort;  that  is,  if 
they  are  properly  used. 

Steam  jets  are  far  from  being  fool-proof,  and 
as  installed  in  most  plants  they  are  either  not 
used  at  all  or  are  turned  on  altogether  too  long. 
Unless  their  operation  is  carefully  regulated, 
either  automatically  or  by  an  intelligent  fireman, 
they  will  increase  rather  than  decrease  the  fuel 


bill,  and  if  the  owner  can  not  obtain  this  proper 
regulation,  he  had  better  throw  them  out  and  try 
to  obtain  a  coal  lower  in  volatile  matter. 

In  all  cases,  though,  of  high  volatile  coals  the 
higher  the  volatile  matter  the  more  frequent  and 
smaller  in  quantity  should  the  firings  be. 

Figure  3  is  an  outline  of  the  standard  setting 
of  a  Heine  boiler,  which  is  a  well  known  make 
of  horizontally  baffled  water  tube  boilers.  The 
foregoing  remarks  can  be  applied  to  a  Heine  set¬ 
ting  just  as  well  as  to  a  return  tubular  setting. 
But,  in  addition  the  choice  of  the  kind  of  tile 


Fig.  4 — Verticle  Baffles. 

forming  the  roof  over  the  furnace  affords  an¬ 
other  opportunity  to  change  the  conditions  which 
affect  combustion  and  efficiency.  The  figure 
shows  a  “C”  tile  roof  (Figure  1  also  shows  a 
“C”  tile  roof)  but  “T”  tile  can  be  used  just  as 
easily. 

The  existence  or  non-existence  of  stringent 
smoke  ordinances  has  a  great  deal  to  do  with  the 
choice  between  these  two  tiles.  The  “T”  tile  roof 
usually  gives  the  higher  overall  efficiency  princi¬ 
pally  due  to  the  fact  that  it  allows  the  lowest 
row  of  tubes  to  absorb  a  considerable  amount  of 
heat  by  radiation,  which  is  not  possible  with  a 
“C”  tile  roof.  However,  the  “T”  tile  roof  subjects 
the  furnace  gases  to  the  chilling  action  of  the 
supporting  tubes  and  there  is  consequent  dange# 
of  more  or  less  smoke  in  the  case  of  boilers 
pushed  hard  on  high  volatile  coal.  In  case  such 
a  plant  is  subject  to  a  stringent  smoke  ordinance 
its  owner  would  probably  either  be  forced  to  use 
a  lower  volatile  coal  or  replace  the  “T”  tile  with 
“C”  tile. 

The  present  more  or  less  standard  setting  for 
vertically  baffled  water-tube  boilers,  particularly 
that  of  the  B.  &  W.  boiler,  is  the  outgrowth  of  a 
setting  originally  designed  for  the  higher  grade 
low  volatile  eastern  coals.  It  is  very  satisfactory 
when  used  with  such  coals,  but  it  usually  gives 
trouble  when  high  volatile  coals  are  burned.  The 
chief  causes  of  trouble  are  an  insufficient  volume 
of  combustion  space  in  the  furnace  and  too  short 
a  distance  of  gas  travel  before  the  gases  strike 
the  tube  surfaces. 

Figure  4  is  an  outline  of  a  standard  setting  for 
this  type  of  boiler.  This  setting  is  all  right  for 
low  volatile  coals  but  an  owner  located  in  a  dis¬ 
trict  where  only  high  volatile  coals  are  available 
would  doubtless  increase  the  overall  efficiency  of 
his  plant  by  making  a  change  from  vertical  to 
horizontal  baffles  as  indicated  in  figure  5.  This 
figure  shows  a  two-pass  baffling,  but  the  addition 
of  another  baffle  to  give  three  passes  has  shown 
still  further  gains  in  efficiency.  The  two-pass 
baffling  would  probably  be  better  adapted  to  the 


plant  compelled  to  operate  its  boiler  equipment 
well  above  the  normal  rating,  while  in  the  case 
of  boilers  not  driven  hard  the  cheapest  steam  gen¬ 
eration  would  follow  the  installation  of  the  three- 
pass  baffling. 

In  the  foregoing  discussion,  several  different 
types  of  boilers  have  been  mentioned,  but  the 
general  relations  between  accepted  features  of 
furnace  design  and  the  per  cent  of  volatile  mat¬ 
ter,  whether  high  or  low,  can  be  applied  to  prac¬ 
tically  any  type  of  furnace,  and  the  steam  coal 
buyer  will  greatly  simplify  his  job  of  choosing  a 
proper  coal  if  he  will  satisfy  himself  of  the  broad 
api)lication  of  these  principles  by  an  intelligent 
reading  of  what  has  gone  before. 


70 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[July  24 


PTTBZiXSKED  EYEST  8ATTTBDAT  BT  THE 
BI.ACK  DIAUOm)  COUFANT. 

Subscription  price,  $8.00  per  year,  postage  prepaid,  to 
any  postofiice  in  the  United  States.  _  Foreign  subscrip¬ 
tion  price,  $5.00  per  year.  Single  copies,  20  cents. 
Entered  at  Chicago  postoffice  as  second-class  matter. 


Address  all  communications  to 

THE  BIiACX  DIAMOND  COMPANY  (INC) 

Main  office,  Manhattan  building,  Chicago. 


Branch  Offices. 

New  York,  29  Broadway. 
Philadelphia,  1400  Land  Title  building. 
Pittsburgh,  1602  Oliver  building. 


Saturday,  July  24,  1915. 


INDEX. 


Special  Articles. 


Page 


Traffic  Bureau  Formed  at  Minneapolis .  Cl 

Meaningless  Contracts — The  Cost  to  the  Trade .  64 

Miners’  Remittances .  64 

Nev;  Coal  Companies .  65 

Pittsburgh-Buffalo  Company  .Sold .  6.5 

Ohio  Coal  Rate  Agitation .  65 

Tlie  First  Roberts  Ovens .  65 

Coal  Dust  Tests  by  Bureau  of  Mines .  66 

Eighty  Per  Cent  Clause  in  Fire  Insurance  Policies...  66 

.\nnual  Joint  Field  Meet .  C6 

Men  Prominent  in  the  Coal  Trade’s  Eye .  68 

In  the  Field  of  the  Retailers .  68 

Devices  to  Burn  Volatile  Matter .  09 

Editorial  .  70 

News  Local  to  Chicago .  72 

Small  Activities .  72 

Facts  Which  Determine  Our  Export  Prospects .  73 

Wagon  Gear  Concern .  15 


Market  Reports. 

General  Review  and  Chicago .  74 

Pittsburgh,  Birmingham,  Louisville  and  Omaha . 75 

Cincinnati  and  Toledo .  76 

St.  Louis,  Indianapolis,  Detroit  and  Twin  Cities .  77 

New  York .  78 

Philadelphia  and  New  England .  79 

Buffalo,  Baltimore  and  Denver .  80 

Hocking  Valley .  15 


Stealing  Thunder. 

In  other  days,  when  one  man  appro¬ 
priated  unto  himself  an  idea  advanced  by 
another  it  was  called  “stealing  the  other 
man’s  thunder.”  Even  then  it  was  not 
considered  exactly  a  gentlemanly  thing 
to  do.  Still  it  was  considered  more  as  a 
moral  than  as  a  financial  offense.  In  these 
later  days,  however,  the  whole  process 
takes  on  a  slightly  different  aspect.  It  is 
equivalent  today  to  a  theft  of  money. 

For  one  thing,  we  are  hearing  much 
these  days  about  the  idea  that  “thoughts 
are  things.”  Tliis  is  not  only  accepted  as 
a  metaphysical  doctrine  hut  as  a  fact  in 
business.  This  is  so  because  so  many 
men  make  a  living  today  off  their  ideas 
alone.  For  example,  there  are  the  poli¬ 
ticians,  doctors,  preachers,  lawyers,  writ¬ 
ers,  engineers  and  efficiency  experts. 
These  men  have  nothing  to  sell  hut  their 
ideas.  Their  thoughts  constitute  their 
stock  in  trade.  It  is  beginning  to  be 
rather  a  serious  offense  to  steal  another 
man’s  ideas,  because  that  robs  him  of  his 
living. 

Ami  yet,  the  theft  of  thoughts  is  a  com¬ 
mon  practice  in  business.  An  engineer¬ 
ing  concern,  for  example,  who  employs  a 
practical  young  inventor,  thinks  nothing 
of  taking  his  biggest  and  best  ideas  and 
patenting  them  in  its  own.  The  head  of 
a  department  in  a  business  thinks  nothing 
today  of  appropriating  the  ideas  of  his 
subordinates.  He  may  be  on  a  salary  the 


same  as  they  are,  but  the  fact  that  he 
draws  the  larger  salary  is  assumed  to 
justify  him  in  the  act  of  taking  what  they 
created.  We  even  have  men  in  the  coal 
business  who  will  “borrow”  an  idea  and, 
at  the  end  of  the  day,  claim  it  as  their  own. 

To  steal  a  thought  is  an  easy  thing  be¬ 
cause  it  is  not  patentable,  and,  unless  re¬ 
duced  to  written  form,  it  is  not  possible 
to  copyright  it.  In  fact,  you  can  not  copy¬ 
right  an  idea  but  merely  the  manner  of 
expressing  it.  Thus  to  steal  a  thought 
is  perfectly  easy  and  has  no  legal  conse¬ 
quences. 

However,  there  is  a  moral  obligation  to 
recognize  the  rights  of  others  even  with¬ 
out  a  specific  law  upon  the  subject.  Com¬ 
mon  decency  suggests  that,  in  these  days 
Avhen  men  are  making  a  living  off  their 
ideas,  it  is  improper  to  steal  another  man’s 
thunder.  Especially  is  this  so  since  it 
may  be  taking  away  his  source  of  revenue. 


Jerry  Morrow,  past  seventy  and  a  coal 
man  for  fifty  years,  had  to  discharge  a 
superintendent  of  forty  because  he  was 
an  old  fogy.  Thus  whether  Osier  is  right 
or  wrong  depends  upon  the  man. 


Railroad  Perversity. 

A  short  time  ago,  the  president  of 
nearly  every  important  carrier  in  America 
stultified  his  company  and  put  himself  in 
a  humiliating  position  when  he  went  be¬ 
fore  trade  bodies,  legislative  bodies  and 
other  organizations  and  begged  that  the 
railways  be  left  alone  for  a  while.  A  pitia¬ 
ble  spectacle  was  thus  presented  to  the 
public.  It  was  one  which  added  no  dignity 
to  American  business  when  these  sup¬ 
posedly  representative  business  men  ap¬ 
peared  as  common  beggars,  pleading  that 
they  be  given  something  which  they  had 
not  earned.  On  the  contrary,  it  sickened 
the  whole  people. 

What  they  got — and  what  they  earned 
— was  the  ridicule  of  the  American  press. 
They  earned  it  because,  in  a  train  made 
up  of  private  cars,  they  went  to  Washing¬ 
ton  to  plead  poverty.  They  earned  it  be¬ 
cause  they  said  that  the  twenty-eight  to 
thirty  per  cent  of  their  gross  receipts 
which  was  left  as  the  compensation  of 
capital  was  not  enough.  They  wanted 
more  and  begged  for  it. 

One  turns  from  this  view  which  pre¬ 
sents  the  carrier  as  a  whining  supplicant 
to  another  which  presents  the  railway  in 
a  different  light.  Several  years  ago  the 
National  Industrial  Traffic  Eeague  was 
formed.  It  seems  that  “big  business” 
was  being  robbed  systematically  by  the 
carriers.  In  order  to  get  justice  from  and 
to  avoid  being  despoiled  by  the  railroads, 
the  larger  companies  had  to  add  a  traffic 
manager  to  their  official  list.  These  traffic 
managers  had  to  band  them.selves  together 
into  a  national  organization  as  the  only 
effective  way  of  overcoming  the  organ¬ 
ized  cunning  of  the  roads. 

In  the  coal  trade,  a  similar  need  for 
self  defense  has  been  felt.  The  retail 
dealers  alone  have  been  forced  to  band 
themselves  together  into  .something  like 
twenty  different  associations.  The  num¬ 
ber  is  increasing  steadily.  The  major 
portion  of  the  work  which  these  associa¬ 
tions  do  is  in  keeping  the  railways  from 
practically  confiscating  the  coal  business 
by  little  tricks  which  take  so  much  money 
for  transportation  as  to  make  retailing 


unprofitable.  In  fact,  the  need  to  watch 
the  railroads,  to  keep  them  from  stealing 
the  coal  business,  has  become  so  great 
that  the  Northwestern  Retail  Coal  Asso¬ 
ciation  decided  finally  to  abandon  its  old 
name  and  to  appear  hereafter  as  the 
Northwestern  Traffic  Bureau.  This 
means  that  in  future  its  life  object  will  be 
to  see  that  carriers  do  not  crush  the  re¬ 
tailer  entirely. 

In  one  picture  we  see  the  railroads 
begging  for  consideration  by  the  public. 
In  the  other,  we  see  the  receivers  of 
freight  banding  themselves  together  to 
protect  themselves  against  the  railroads. 
Does  the  latter  explain  why  the  former  is 
necessary? 

Our  opinion  is  that  the  carriers  would 
have  less  need  to  beg  if  the  users  of  rail¬ 
roads  had  less  need  to  protect  themselves 
against  injustice.  If  the  railroads  .want 
consideration,  they  can  get  it  if  they  will 
earn  it  by  being  a  little  more  decent  and 
a  little  less  cunning. 


Illinois  and  Indiana,  driven  to  despera¬ 
tion  by  the  condition  of  their  business,  have 
tried  to  work  out  their  own  salvation 
through  co-operation.  Their  principal 
effort  was  to  get  a  profit  by  simplifying 
selling  expenses.  Their  experiment  ap¬ 
pears  to  be  a  national  sensation.  Nearly 
every  other  line  of  business  is  studying 
their  plans  in  hope  of  finding  something 
which  they  can  use. 


Northwestern  Traffic  Bureau. 

The  Northwestern  Retail  Coal  Dealers’ 
Association  has  changed  its  name  to  the 
Northwestern  Traffic  Bureau.  Those 
who  drafted  the  new  plan  of  organization 
made  it  clear  that  they  believe  the  mod¬ 
ern  retail  coal  organization  has  outgrown 
all  meanings  conveyed  by  the  old  word 
“association.” 

The  old  association  was — let  us  be 
candid  now  that  conditions  have  changed 
— in  a  certain  sense  a  grafter  on  the  trade 
which  it  represented.  That  is,  it  took 
money  from  the  trade  but  it  served  very 
little.  Consequently,  it  earned  very  little. 
In  consequence,  all  the  support  it  got,  it 
had  to  beg  for.  Most  of  the  money  paid 
into  it  was  wasted— mainly  in  an  effort  to 
get  in  more  money.  The  old  association 
spending  money  to  get  more  money  had 
no  time  or  energy  left  to  give  any  value 
for  the  $5  or  $10  paid  each  year  by  its 
members.  On  the  contrary,  most  men 
knew  that  their  $5  a  year  was  a  useless 
gift. 

Today  things  are  different.  The  asso¬ 
ciation  supplies,  in  the  person  of  the 
secretary,  a  traffic  manager  for  each  retail 
yard.  He  is  competent  to  give  all  changes 
in  rates  on  coal ;  he  can  collect  claims  for 
overcharges  and  shortages ;  he  can  even 
collect  bad  accounts. 

Also,  under  this  secretary,  the  organi¬ 
zation  is  a  clearing  house  for  information. 
One  retailer  learns  what  the  others  are 
doing  to  solve  little  and  big  problems.  In 
addition,  it  acts  as  a  sort  of  legislative 
agent  for  all  retailers.  It  even  is  begin- 
ing  to  give  the  retailer  expert  legal  advice. 
It  will,  where  there  is  a  representative 
case,  undertake  a  lawsuit  in  his  name. 

Under  the  circumstances,  the  new  or¬ 
ganization  gives  service  to  the  value  of 
$100  or  $1,000  in  return  for  an  annual  pay¬ 
ment  of  only  $10  or  more.  From  a  drain 


No.  4] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


71 


upon  the  retailer,  the  new  association  has 
come  to  be  his  cheapest  employe. 

The  Northwestern  Traffic  Bureau  will 
try  to  do  these  various  things  on  a  more 
elaborate  scale  than  others  have  dared 

try- 

The  only  fly  m  the  ointment,  as  far  as 
it  appears  now,  is  that  all  of  the  proposed 
service  will  not  be  paid  for  by  the  $10 
fee;  it  cannot  possibly  be.  For  example, 
there  will  be  a  commission  for  the  collec¬ 
tion  of  claims;  this  ranges  from  ten  to 
fifteen  per  cent.  Also,  in  case  of  litiga¬ 
tion,  the  legal  department  will  have  to 
employ  associate  counsel  on  a  contingent 
fee. 

It  remains  to  be  seen  whether  dues  plus 
commissions  and  contingent  fees  will  en¬ 
able  the  retailer  to  get  that  work  done 
cheaper  than  he  can  in  another  way. 
Even  though,  however,  it  costs  the  same, 
it  will  probably  be  done  better  because 
the  same  money  will  buy  skilled  rather 
than  uninformed  servants.  Thus  the  re¬ 
tailer  will  get  an  advantage,  after  all. 


A  man  is  valuable  only  because  of  his 
ideas.  To  steal  his  ideas  merely  because 
they  cannot  be  put  under  lock  and  key  or 
cannot  be  patented  or  copyrighted  is  im¬ 
moral.  In  fact,  it  is  brigandage  more  of¬ 
fensive  than  the  mere  theft  of  money.  It 
takes  away  a  big  part  of  his  capital. 


Successor  to  Dr.  Holmes. 

The  death,  last  week,  of  Dr.  Joseph  A. 
Holmes,  director  of  the  Bureau  of  Mines, 
caused  discussion  of  the  selection  of  his 
successor.  President  Wilson  will  name 
the  man. 

Two  men  are  mentioned  in  current 
gossip — H.  Foster  Bain  and  James  F. 
Callbreath.  Dr.  Bain  was  formerly  state 
geologist  of  Illinois  and  more  recently 
was  editor  of  the  Mining  and  Scientific 
Press  of  San  Francisco.  Mr.  Callbreath  is 
secretary  of  the  American  Mining  Con¬ 
gress. 

If  either  of  these  men  want  the  job  we 
will  endorse  them  cheerfully  for  they  are 
both  clean,  fine  specimens  of  American 
men.  But  since  we  are  so  fond  of  both, 
we  would  advise  neither  to  accept  the 
appointment.  The  job  is  a  man  killer,  as 
the  experience  of  Dr.  Holmes  indicates. 

The  facts  of  the  matter  are  these :  The 
country  has  a  wealth  of  natural  resources 
never  equalled  in  history,  and  the  gov¬ 
ernment  knows  it.  America — Russia  is 
the  only  possible  exception — is  the  only 
nation  which  has  ever  had  within  its  own 
borders  enough  of  everything  to  support 
both  the  necessities  and  the  luxuries  of  its 
people  now  and  for  generations. 

But,  America  is  wantonly  extravagant. 
It  is  digging  up  and  wasting  more  things 
— and  faster — than  any  nation  has  ever 
done.  In  consequence,  when  it  is  still  an 
infant,  America  forsees  the  time  when 
some  of  its  most  precious  natural  re<- 
sources  will  be  gone. 

To  stop  the  waste  by  interposing  prac¬ 
tical  conservation,  the  nation  created  the 
Bureau  of  Mines.  It  is  a  small  subdivi¬ 
sion  of  the  Department  of  the  Interior, 
yet  it  was  told  to  reverse  at  once  the 
natural  tendency  and  dispositions  of 
100,000,000  people.  To  do  this  giant’s 
work,  congress  gave  this  puny  bureau  an 
appropriation  about  enough  to  pay  the 
expenses  of  a  park  board  in  a  medium¬ 
sized  city.  It  employs  about  as  many 


men  as  would  police  a  somnolent  village 
in  a  peaceable  community.  These  men 
are  expected,  with  practically  no  money, 
to  undertake  and  to  carry  through  the 
Herculean  task  of  reversing  the  national 
thought  and  practice  on  resources. 

For  any  one  man — -working  with 
assistants,  all  of  whom  arc  under  civil 
service — to  try  to  carry  out  the  big  pur¬ 
pose  of  the  bureau  is  to  attempt  something 
which  invites  his  physical  destruction. 
That  was  what  Dr.  Holmes  did.  Unless 
human  nature  changes  soon  and  unless 
congress  becomes  more  liberal  that  will 
be  the  fate  of  his  successor — if  he  is  con¬ 
scientious.  Under  the  circumstances,  we 
may  be  willing  to  endorse  either  Dr.  Bain 
or  Mr.  Callbreath  if  they  want  the  job. 
But,  candidly,  we  would  advise  neither  of 
them  to  take  it. 


It  does  no  good  to  talk  costs  unless  you 
propose  to  use  the  figures  to  cut  the  cost. 


The  Ash  in  Coal. 

If  the  theory  of  geologists  and  scien¬ 
tists  is  correct,  it  is  hard  to  understand 
why  we  have  so  little  ash  in  coal.  In 
fact,  the  relative  freedom  of  coal  from 
ash  has  led  a  selected  few  persons  to  be¬ 
lieve  that  the  geologists’  theory  about  how 
coal  was  formed  is  not  the  right  one. 

It  will  prove  interesting — even  if  no 
good  comes  of  it — to  cite  a  few  facts  and 
see  where  they  lead.  Scientific  men  say 
that  the  deposit  of  “star  dust’’  on  the  earth 
amounts  to  the  fraction  of  an  inch  per 
year.  This  is  supposed  to  arise  from  the 
appearance  of  meteors,  which  burn  the 
instant  they  strike  our  atmosphere.  Their 
ashes  gives  us  the  “star  dust.” 

In  dry  weather  great  quantities  of  dust 
will  be  picked  up  from  desert  places  and 
moved  by  the  wind  to  other  sections.  Its 
flight  is  checked  by  vegetation.  In  the 
end  it  falls  to  the  ground. 

In  early  days,  so  geologists  say,  glaciers 
moved,  carrying  with  them  vast  amounts 
of  dirt  which  they  deposited. 

The  geologists  say  that  it  took,  origi¬ 
nally,  10,000  years  to  grow  the  vegetation 
which  was  finally  condensed  into  a  foot 
of  coal.  Tliey  say  that  what  is  now  a 
foot  of  coal  was  originally  100  feet  of 
vegetable  matter.  Therefore,  a  six-foot 
vein  of  coal  required  60,000  years  to 
develop ;  originally  it  was  600  feet  thick. 

If  the  geological  theory  is  correct  and 
if  the  “star  dust”  theory  of  scientists  is 
correct,  in  those  60,000  years  we  must 
have  had,  over  those  incipient  coal  veins, 
quite  a  considerable  deposit  of  “star  dust” 
plus  a  mixture  of  sand,  etc.,  with  the 
vegetation.  In  addition,  the  glaciers  would 
probably  have  added  some  dirt. 

If  all  this  dust  was  deposited  among 
the  vegetation  which  ultimately  made  up 
the  coal  vein  and  if  it  fell  along  with  the 
leaves,  what  became  of  it  when  the  vege¬ 
tation  was  being  ripened  into  coal?  Did 
ordinary  dust  and  dirt  change  character 
and  become  coal?  Is  it  possible  that  so 
little  of  it  was  deposited  in  those  60,000 
years  that  it  constitutes  only  four  to  eight 
or  nine  per  cent  of  our  coal? 

If  the  geologic  and  scientific  theories 
are  correct,  then  the  wonder  is  not  that 
we  have  so  much  ash  but  that  we  have 
■SO  little.  Of  course,  it  is  possible  that  the 
geologic  theory  as  to  the  formation  of 
coal  is,  after  all,  not  correct. 


The  New  Seamen’s  Bill. 

The  last  congress  passed  the  new  sea¬ 
men’s  bill,  which  will  go  into  effect  on 
November  4th.  The  avowed  purpose  of 
this  new  law  is  to  improve  the  working 
conditions  of  sailors  and  to  increase  the 
safety  of  ocean  travel  on  American  ships. 

The  law  does  not  consciously  seek  to 
procure  the  destruction  of  our  merchant 
marine.  Nevertheless,  compliance  with 
its  provisions  increases  the  cost  of  operat¬ 
ing  ships  so  much  that  the  effect  is  in¬ 
evitable. 

This  is  embarrassing.  America  is  strug¬ 
gling  to  build  up  a  merchant  marine.  Yet 
every  man  who  wants  to  build  and  oper¬ 
ate  a  ship  must  first  raise  enough  money 
to  pay  for  it.  There  he  strikes  his  first 
handicap.  He  wants  to  operate  it  under 
the  American  flag.  Therefore,  he  wants 
to  build  it  of  American  material  in  an 
American  shipyard,  with  American  labor. 
The  American  laborer  is  paid  more  than 
the  ship  builder  in  England.  The  Ameri¬ 
can  ship  material  is  protected  by  a  tariff 
which  permits  a  profit  of  from  50  to  100 
per  cent,  which  makes  it  cost  far  more 
than  does  English  steel.  The  cost  of 
construction,  on  these  two  accounts,  is 
about  fifty  per  cent  higher  than  is  the 
English  cost. 

The  vessel,  when  off  the  ways,  must 
be  manned  by  American  seamen.  We 
have  no  seagoing  class.  Consequently  the 
sailors  must  be  drawn  from  other  indus¬ 
tries.  They  expect  the  same  pay  at  sea 
that  they  get  on  shore.  Lest  any  able 
seaman,  in  an  unguarded  moment,  con¬ 
sent  or  bargain  to  work  for  what  the 
vessel  owners  think  they  can  pay,  the 
seamen  have  been  organized  into  a  union. 
That  union  fixes  the  wages  for  all  classes 
of  workers. 

This  seamen’s  union,  which  heretofore 
has  operated  mainly  on  the  Great  Lakes, 
persuaded  Senator  LaFollette  to  introduce 
the  aforesaid  seamen’s  bill.  It  provides 
that  each  ship  shall  employ  more  of  these 
high-priced  men  than  are  employed  on 
foreign  ships.  It  goes  even  further.  It 
assures  every  man  who  takes  employment 
on  a  vessel  that  he  may  quit  whenever 
and  wherever  he  pleases.  He  may  ship  at 
Baltimore  and  quit  at  a  Chinese  port  And 
the  owner  of  the  vessel  must  not  only 
arrange  to  get  him  back  home,  but  must 
employ  another  American  sailor  to  take 
his  place.  That  is  fine !  American  sea¬ 
men  who  are  looking  for  a  berth  are 
always  plentiful  in  China,  you  know. 

In  addition,  the  vessel  must  be  equipped 
with  expensive  safety  appliances. 

After  having  been  subjected  to  all  of 
this  expense,  the  American  navigator 
must  pay,  while  passing  through  an 
American  canal,  built  with  American 
money,  precisely  the  same  tolls  as  are 
paid  by  cheaper  ships  operating  less  ex¬ 
pensively,  because  coming  from  other 
countries  where  the  laws  are  not  so  exact- 

Our  merchant  marine  is  a  sickly  infant. 
Yet  our  fool  government  overburdens  it 
and  then  asks  it  to  lead  America  out  of 
a  perfectly  hopeless  condition  of  foreign 
trade  into  which  it  has  fallen  through  fifty 
years  of  maritime  inaction. 

If  there  is  anything  more  idiotic  in 
America  than  the  LaFollette  Seamen’s 
Bill,  it  is  the  belief  that  we  can  build  up 
an  American  merchant  marine  under  such 
conditions. 


72 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[July  24 


News  Local  to  Chicago. 


E.  D.  Scott,  of  the  Skeele  Coal  Company,  in 
the  Old  Colony  building,  is  a  grandfather  this 
week. 

Maxwell  S.  Green,  formerly  with  Armour  & 
Company,  has  been  appointed  credit  manager  of 
the  Consumers  Company. 

Ed.  Qualkinbush,  vice-president  of  the  Wasson 
Coal  Company,  spent  several  days  of  this  week  at 
the  company’s  Harrisburg  mines. 

Col.  M.  T.  Roach  of  the  Logan-Pocahontas 
Coal  V.ompany  of  Charleston,  W.  Va.,  was  in 
town  the  early  part  of  the  week. 

J.  A.  Beardslee,  Chicago  manager  of  the  Con¬ 
solidation  Coal  Company,  is  spending  the  week 
end  with  his  family  at  Beaver  Lake,  Wis. 

Among  the  week’s  visitors  in  Chicago  were 
C.  A.  Schoessel,  an  operator  of  Rock  Island, 
and  J.  A.  Devoy,  representative  of  the  Ohio  & 
Michigan  Coal  Company  of  Detroit. 

Charles  Gilmore  and  G.  W.  Solomon  of  Gil¬ 
more  &  Solomon  Coal  Mining  Company  mo¬ 
tored  from  Chicago  to  their  mines,  located  in 
Central  Illinois,  the  early  part  of  the  week. 

F.  Gascoigne,  manager  of  the  Chicago  office 
of  the  Edwards  &  Bradford  Lumber  Company, 
has  gone  to  northern  Michigan  for  a  couple  of 
weeks.  This  is  the  first  vacation  Mr.  Gas¬ 
coigne  has  taken  in  the  four  years  he  has  been 
in  charge. 

F.  Van  O’Linda,  field  sales  manager  of  the 
Consolidation  Coal  Company,  is  spending  a  few 
days  in  the  Chicago  office.  Mr.  Van  O’Linda 
has  the  distinction  of  being  the  only  technical  coal 
salesman  in  the  trade  who  devotes  his  entire  time 
to  the  malleable  iron  coal  business. 

Chas.  1.  Pierce,  president  of  the  Saline  County 
Coal  Company  has  awarded  a  contract  to  the 
Roberts  &  Schaefer  Company  for  the  installa¬ 
tion  of  a  Marcus  patent  coal  tipple  at  the  Harris¬ 
burg  Illinois  mines  of  this  company.  Two  mod¬ 
ern  bath  houses  will  also  be  erected  at  an  early 
date. 

Among  the  Chicago  delegation  that  journeyed 
to  Buffalo  last  week  to  participate  in  the  Roberts 
Brother’s  picnic  were  C.  D.  Caldwell,  Chicago, 
manager  of  the  By-Products  Coke  Corporation  ; 
E.  M.  Mancourt,  western  manager  of  the  Consoli¬ 
dation  Coal  Company;  H.  J.  Elliott,  H.  M.  Plall, 
J.  B.  McCahey,  W.  Fitzgerald  and  Clark  T.  Rob¬ 
erts. 

Mrs.  Dorothy  F.  Daly,  wife  of  William  H. 
Daly,  sales  agent  for  the  Consolidation  Coal 
Company,  died  of  heart  failure  at  her  home,  5920 
Kenmore  Avenue,  July  17.  Mrs.  Daly  was  born 
in  Champaign,  Illinois,  the  daughter  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  William  Munhall  of  that  city.  The  funeral 
was  held  July  19  from  St.  Ita’s  church.  Burial 
took  place  at  Calvary  cemetery. 

Alfred  Ogle,  president  of  the  Vandalia  Coal 
Company  and  also  president  of  the  new  In¬ 
diana  Coal  Sales  Company,  was  in  Chicago 
on  Tuesday  of  this  week.  He  came  in  to  at¬ 
tend,  among  other  things,  the  hearing  of  the 
Trade  Commission,  which  went  into  some 
phases  of  the  lumber  business  on  Monday  and 
then  devoted  some  of  its  attention  to  the  coal 
business  on  Tuesday. 

Charles  W.  Jackson,  of  the  F.  G.  Hartwell 
Company,  who  lives  at  Wilmette,  had  an  addi¬ 
tion  to  his  family  last  week.  He  and  Mrs. 
Jackson  adopted  a  girl  three  months  of  age 
and  his  friends  in  the  trade  have  suggested  this 
week  that  this  is  a  very  clever  method  which 
he  has  taken  to  add  twenty  years  to  his  life 
as  the  association  with  the  young  lady  is  ex¬ 
pected  to  keep  him  young. 

There  is  a  pretty  well  confirmed  rumor  on 
the  street  this  week  to  the  effect  that  Franklin 
county  coal  prices  will  advance  on  the  first 
of  August  to  .$1.60  a  ton  for  lump,  egg  and 
No.  1  nut  and  $1.40  a  ton  for  special  stove. 
No  circulars  to  this  effect  have  been  put  out, 
but  the  understanding  is  that  the  salesmen  of 
some  of  the  larger  companies  have  been  in¬ 
structed  to  name  those  prices  for  delivery 
during  the  first  fifteen  days  of  August. 

Word  came  out  of  the  office  of  Olson  &  Van 
Allen,  retail  dealers  on  the  south  side,  this 
week,  that  a  new  partner  was  admitted  to  the 
firm  on  Tuesday.  The  new  partner  will  not 
be  active  in  the  business  for  some  twenty-one 
or  twenty-two  years,  but  while  inactive  he  is 


not  a  silent  partner.  His  last  name  by  inherit¬ 
ance  is  Olson,  but  the  first  name  has  not  yet 
been  given.  A  further  announcement  was  that 
Charles  A.  Olson,  the  president  of  the  com¬ 
pany,  was  absenting  himself  from  business 
celebrating  the  event  and  that  the  mother  is 
doing  well. 

James  F.  Callbreath,  secretary  of  the  Amer¬ 
ican  Mining  Congress,  stoppd  off  in  Chicago 
on  Tuesday  and  Wednesday  of  this  week  on 
his  return  from  Denver  and  San  Francisco. 
He  left  the  latter  part  of  the  week  for  Pitts¬ 
burgh  and  Washington,  intending  to  remain  at 
the  latter  point  until  he  has  to  go  west  again 
to  make  final  arrangements  for  the  convention 
of  the  congress,  which  this  year  is  going  to  be 
held  at  San  Francisco.  He  says  that  every¬ 
thing  in  connection  with  the  congress  is  mov¬ 
ing  satisfactorily,  with  every  promise  of  a  big 
meeting  this  fall. 

The  Roberts  &  Schaefer  Company  have  volun¬ 
tarily  relinquished  control  over  the  Holmen 
patents  relating  to  locomotive  coaling  plant  equip¬ 
ment.  Two  years  ago  this  company  obtained  con¬ 
trol  of  an  improved  design  of  elevating  machin¬ 
ery  which  while  retaining  all  the  advantages  of 
their  previous  equipment  under  the  Holmen  pa¬ 
tents  entirely  eliminates  the  bucket  hatches,  clos¬ 
ing  springs  and  tippers  required  by  those  pa¬ 
tents.  The  results  obtained  after  two  years  oper¬ 
ation  by  many  representative  plants  warrants  the 
Roberts  &  Schaefer  Company  in  making  this 
form  their  standard  which  they  will  hereafter 
employ  in  all  locomotive  coaling  stations  designed 
and  built  by  this  company. 

Henry  E.  Patrick,  general  sales  agent  of 
C.  M.  Moderwell  &  Co.,  returned  the  first  part 
of  this  week  from  a  ten  days’  trip  to  Lake 
Gogebic,  which  is  about  400  miles  north  of 
Chicago  and  within  twelve  miles  of  Lake 
Superior.  Before  he  went  away  there  was  a 
lively  little  tilt  between  him  and  Frank  Brown¬ 
ing  of  the  Purity  Coal  Company,  the  subject 
matter  of  which  was,  who  was  the  better  fisher¬ 
man  of  the  two.  Mr.  Browning  entertains  the 
idea  that  he  is  the  star  fisherman  in  the  coal 
trade  and  looks  upon  Mr.  Patrick  as  some¬ 
what  of  a  novice.  The  latter,  however,  is  will¬ 
ing  to  take  up  any  kind  of  a  challenge  and  to 
prove  to  Mr.  Browning  that  there  are  other 
fishermen  in  the  west  he  sent  to  Chicago  last 
week  one  box  which  contained  three  fish,  each 
weighing  a  minimum  of  eight  pounds.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  the  catch  of  fish  was  quite  con¬ 
siderable  and  in  the  ten  days  the  average 
weight  of  the  fish  caught  was  between  four 
and  five  pounds. 

The  Consolidated  Indiana  Coal  Company 
was  this  week  placed  in  the  hands  of  a  re¬ 
ceiver.  S.  K.  Smith,  the  mining  engineer  of 
St.  Louis,  was  appointed  as  receiver  of  the 
company.  The  action  was  taken,  it  is  said, 
because  the  company  was  forced  to  default  on 
the  payment  of  its  interest  on  the  bonds  and 
payment  of  a  sufficient  amount  to  the  sinking 
fund.  The  bonds  of  the  company  aggregate 
$2,000,000.  It  is  said  that  no  other  debts  are 
outstanding  against  the  company.  The  Con¬ 
solidated  Indiana  Coal  Company  owns  about 
24,000  acres  of  coal  land  in  Illinois,  Indiana 
and  Iowa.  It  has  five  mines  in  operation  in 
Indiana  and  one  in  Iowa.  It  owns  6,600  acres 
of  coal  land  in  Franklin  county,  Ill.,  which 
have  not  been  developed.  Speaking  of  the 
receivership,  Carl  Scholz,  who  has  been  presi¬ 
dent  of  the  company,  said:  “This  action  gives 
point  to  the  statement  which  I  have  so  often 
made  in  public  and  in  print  that  the  coal  busi¬ 
ness  of  Indiana  and  Illinois  is  in  serious  need 
of  some  kind  of  help  and  is  not  being  con¬ 
ducted  on  a  paying  basis.  The  properties  are 
good  and  are  economically  operated,  but  they 
have  not  in  these  times  been  earning  enough 
to  pay  interest  on  what  is  a  moderate  bond 
issue  for  property  of  this  size.” 

C.  A.  Eastman,  of  the  Eastman-Barber  Coal 
Company,  received  word  this  week  from  Com¬ 
missioner  McChord  of  the  Interstate  Com¬ 
merce  Commission  that  the  time  limit  on  the 
suspension  of  the  increased  anthracite  rates 
to  Chicago  has  expired  without  a  decision  of 
the  commission  on  that  question  and  therefore 
the  higher  rates  became  operative  on  July  17, 
automatically.  That  is,  the  coal  moving  into 
Chicago  on  and  after  July  17  carries  an  in¬ 
crease  in  rate  of  twenty-five  cents  a  ton.  It 
will  be  remembered  that  this  case  has  been  up 
for  several  months.  The  first  railroad  to  in¬ 
crease  the  rates  was  the  Pennsylvania.  The 
others  followed.  The  action  was  contested  be¬ 
fore  the  commission  on  two  occasions  and  all 
of  the  evidence  and  briefs  are  now  in  the  hands 


of  the  commission.  It  had  suspended  the  ad¬ 
vance  in  rates  twice,  but  the  second  suspen¬ 
sion  expired  before  the  commission  reached 
its  decision.  Just  when  the  decision  will  be 
handed  down  is  not  known,  but  in  the  mean¬ 
time  the  rates  are  now  in  effect.  The  anthracite 
companies  say  that  they  have  enough  coal  on 
hand  now  to  take  care  of  orders  up  to  the  first 
of  August  and  that  there  will  be  no  increase 
in  prices  prior  to  that  time.  Whether  anthra¬ 
cite  prices  will  rise  on  August  1st  to  take  care 
of  this  advance  is  not  known. 

Commissioner  Kendall,  of  the  Chicago  Coal 
Merchants’  Association,  received  word  this 
week  that  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commis¬ 
sion  had  handed  down  its  decision  on  the 
spotting  charge  case.  The  summary  of  the 
decision  is  printed  below.  The  full  decision 
will  be  printed  in  this  paper  next  week.  “1. 
Tariffs  proposing  a  ‘spotting  charge’  for  plac¬ 
ing  cars  for  loading  or  unloading  at  con¬ 
venient  points  on  the  tracks  of  industries  spe¬ 
cifically  named  in  the  tariffs  found  not  to  be 
justified,  for  the  reason  that  the  proposed 
charge  would  apply  in  many  cases  to  services 
covered  by  the  line-haul  rate,  and  also  for  the 
further  reason  that  to  impose  the  additional 
charge  upon  the  industries  named  in  the  pro¬ 
posed  tariffs  and  not  upon  other  industries  for 
which  like  services  are  performed  would  re¬ 
sult  in  unjust  discrimination.  2.  The  line-haul 
rate  covers  the  customary  movement  of  cars 
over  industry  tracks  incident  to  the  receipt  and 
delivery  of  carload  freight  at  convenient  points 
on  those  tracks  for  loading  or  unloading  with¬ 
out  regard  to  the  size  or  complexity  of  the 
industry,  and  the  points  at  which  the  cars  are 
to  be  placed  by  the  carrier  for  that  purpose 
without  additional  charge  are  to  be  deter¬ 
mined  by  general  usage.  3.  The  line-haul  rate 
covers  only  one  placement  of  a  car  upon  an 
industry  track  for  loading  or  unloading,  and  an 
additional  charge  should  be  made  for  each 
additional  placement  of  a  car  for  that  purpose, 
as  also  for  the  movement  of  cars  from  place 
to  place  within  the  plant  during  the  processes 
of  manufacture.” 


Small  Activities. 


Twin  City  Locals. 

The  W.  S.  Bogle  Mining  Company,  has  ap¬ 
pointed  R.  L.  Hancock  as  sales  agent  in  this  ter¬ 
ritory  with  headquarters  in  Minneapolis. 

George  C.  Chapman,  formerly  with  the  Taylor 
Coal  &  Coke  Company,  Chicago,  has  become  iden¬ 
tified  with  the  Clarkson  Coal  &  Dock  Company  of 
St.  Paul,  as  traveling  salesman. 

George  M.  Space  &  Company,  have  opened  of¬ 
fices  at  433  Lumber  Exchange,  Minneapolis,  _  as 
wholesale  distributors  of  coal.  It  is  the  intention 
of  the  new  firm  to  handle  cargo  coal  via  the 
great  lakes  and  engage  in  the  general  jobbing 
business. 

James  Rend,  northwestern  sales  agent  of  the 
Buchanan  Coal  Company,  has  resigned,  effective 
July  31,  and  will  remain  in  the  northwest  en¬ 
gaging  in  another  line  of  business.  It  is  under¬ 
stood  that  the  office  of  the  Buchanan  Coal  Com¬ 
pany  will  be  retained,  and  that  Mr.  Rend’s  suc¬ 
cessor  will  be  appointed  within  a  short  time. 


Detroit  Local  News. 

James  DeWolfe,  district  sales  agent  in  Detroit 
of  the  Pittsburgh  and  New  Pittsburgh  Coal  corn- 
panies,  has  returned  from  an  extended  trip 
through  central  Ohio. 

Charles  Dunn,  formerly  with  the  New  River  & 
Ohio  Coal  Company,  has  opened  an  office  at  1209 
Majestic  building,  Detroit,  where  he  will  handle 
the  Logan  Pocahontas  products. 

Members  of  the  Detroit  coal  exchange  are  fol¬ 
lowing  with  interest  a  series  of  baseball  matches 
between  teams  representing  wholesale  and  retail 
dealers  for  a  silver  cup  14  inches  high,  put  up 
as  a  prize  by  James  A.  Ballard,  general  sales 
agent  of  the  Semet-Solvay  Company  and  re¬ 
cently  elected  president  of  the  National  Coal  As¬ 
sociation.  The  trophy  goes  for  one  year  to  the 
team  winning  the  greater  numj)er  in  seven  games. 
The  retailers  now  have  three  victories  and  the 
wholesalers  one. 


Sam  Reynolds  of  the  firm  Allen  &  Reynolds 
Company,  Omaha,  is  putting  Omaha  on  the  map 
at  the  golf  tournament  in  Cleveland,  Ohio.  Sam 
has  the  best  wishes  of  his  many  friends  and  we 
hope  he  will  succeed  in  landing  some  of  the 
honors. 


No  4] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


73 


Facts  Which  Determine  Our  Export  Prospects. 


The  Export  Situation. 

While  the  movement  ot  export  coal  through 
Baltimore  is  not  so  heavy  as  it  was  during  June, 
yet  taking  together  the  cargo  and  bunker  require¬ 
ments,  tonnage  is  showing  up  remarkably  well. 
For  instance  last  week,  57,846  tons  of  cargo  were 
exported,  and  steamers  taking  this  cargo  took 
23,352  tons  of  bunkers.  The  increased  require¬ 
ment  of  bunkers  on  the  part  of  these  vessels,  prin¬ 
cipally  those  going  to  the  Mediterranean,  was  held 
due  to  the  Welsh  miners’  strike,  and  the  fear  on 
the  part  of  the  ships’  captains  that  they  would 
not  find  bunkers  readily  on  the  other  side. 

From  Hampton  Roads,  shipments  continue  to 
show  up  well,  running  approximately  150,000  tons 
per  week,  which  would  mean  approximately  600,- 
000  tons  for  the  month,  providing  there  is  no 
slump  during  the  remaining  days  of  the  month. 
Bunkers’  requirements  at  Hampton  Roads  also 
show  up  in  larger  volume,  although  not  showing 
the  radical  increase  as  in  the  case  of  Baltimore 
as  referred  to  above. 

Philadelphia  is  also  exporting  considerable  coal 
this  month,  so  that  on  the  whole  the  three  Atlan¬ 
tic  tidewater  shipping  ports  will  probably  make  a 
very  good  record,  though  it  is  not  expected  to 
reach  a  million  ton  mark  that  was  made  in  June. 

Some  new  business  was  closed  due  to  the  strike 
of  the  Welsh  coal  miners,  and  had  this  continued 
for  another  week,  no  doubt  a  great  many  orders 
would  have  been  received  on  this  side  for  prompt 
shipments.  Local  coal  men  do  not  believe  that 
very  much  Welsh  coal  will  be  sent  to  neutral 
countries  from  this  time  on,  and  that  South 
America  especially  will  have  to  look  to  the  United 
States  for  coal  requirements  for  the  next  few 
months  at  least.  It  is  believed  that  the  British 
government  came  so  close  to  facing  a  serious 
coal  shortage  that  they  will  from  this  time  on  be 
very  strict  about  licensing  exports  to  neutral  coun¬ 
tries,  it  being  understood  that  the  restriction  order 
issued  more  than  a  month  ago  is  still  in  force. 
This  restricted  exports  to  British  provinces,  and 
to  the  allies  exclusively,  though  licenses  were 
granted  under  certain  conditions  for  cargoes  to  go 
to  neutral  countries. 

Supplies  of  coal  are  plentiful  at  all  the  ports, 
the  New  River  and  Pocahontas  coal  being  pretty 
firmly  held  around  $2.80  and  $2.85  for  prompt 
loading,  with  Quemahoning  coal  available  at  Balti¬ 
more  at  $2.45  and  2.50  for  prompt  loading,  good 
grades  of  Pennsylvania  coal  at  Philadelphia  at 
$2.40  and  upward. 

Vessel  rates  are  some  easier,  as  will  be  shown 
by  the  special  reports  on  vessel  freights  elsewhere 
on  this  page. 

It  is  understood  that  one  New  York  house  se¬ 
cured  a  fair  contract  this  week  for  coal  to  be 
shipped  to  Sweden. 


Comparison  of  English  Exports. 

The  table  of  exports  of  coal  from  Great  Britain 
for  June,  1915  and  1914,  and  comparisons  for  the 
first  six  months  of  this  and  last  year  will  prove 
very  interesting  to  the  American  coal  man  who  is 
now  making  a  study  of  the  export  situation. 

An  analyses  of  these  shipments  show  that  for 
June,  1915  exports  fell  off  2,361,543  tons  from 
June,  1914,  when  they  reached  5,999,417  tons. 

For  the  first  six  months  of  1915  exports  de¬ 
clined  12,771,733  tons.  This  decline  represents 
just  about  four  times  the  total  tonnage  of  bitu¬ 
minous  coal  exported  over  the  Atlantic  seaboard 
ports  for  the  first  six  months  of  the  year. 

It  is  worth  while  to  note  the  amount  of  coal 
exported  by  England  to  South  American  countries 
during  June  just  past.  It  is  not  fair  to  make 
comparisons  with  June  of  last  year  because  that 
was  some  two  months  before  war  was  declared 
and  consequently  comparisons  at  this  time  would 
mean  nothing.  Furthermore  the  restriction  of 
shipments  in  June  this  year,  due  to  the  order  of 
the  British  government,  except  upon  special 
licenses,  kept  exports  down  to  the  minimum. 

Taking  up  the  South  American  countries,  we 
find  that  in  June  England  shipped  140,172  tons  to 
Chile,  Brazil,  Argentina  and  Uruguay,  as  com¬ 
pared  with  446,559  tons  for  June,  1914.  For  the 
first  six  months  of  this  year  English  exports  of 
coal  to  these  countries  totalled  1,539,774  tons  as 
compared  with  3,245,981  tons  for  the  first  six 
months  of  1914,  a  decline  of  1,706,207  tons.  For 
the  first  six  months  of  this  year,  the  United 
States  exported  851,138  tons  to  the  South  Amer¬ 
ican  countries  as  named  above. 

England’s  coal  exports  to  Sweden,  Norway  and 
Denmark  for  the  first  six  months  of  this  year 


show  up  very  favorably  with  the  shipments  for 
the  first  six  months  of  1914. 

Shipments  to  Erance  show  a  very  substantial 
increase.  This  is  largely  accounted  for  by  the 
fact  that  the  French  coal  fields  are  largely  in 
German  occupied  territory.  Also  Germany  prior 
to  the  war,  exported  a  lot  of  coal  to  southwest 
France,  and  this  deficiency  has  been  met  by  im¬ 
porting  British  coal. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  Italy  took  3,068,374  tons 
from  England  for  the  first  six  months  of  this 
year,  as  compared  with  4,633,077  tons  for  the 
same  period  in  1914.  This  shows  a  loss  of  1,- 
464,700  tons.  For  the  first  six  months  of  this 
year  Italy  took  1,137,468  tons  of  coal  from 
America. 

It  is  noticed  that  English  exports  to  Egypt 
slumped  heavily,  six  months  shipments  this  year 
totalling  only  685,796  tons  as  compared  with 
1,636,842  tons  for  the  corresponding  period  of 
1914.  A  part  of  this  decrease  can  no  doubt  be  ex¬ 
plained  by  tbe  slump  in  the  requirement  for  bun¬ 
ker  coals  at  Port  Said,  due  to  the  war.  For  the 
first  six  months  of  this  year,  the  United  States 
exported  75,000  tons  to  Egypt,  the  bulk  of  this 
going  to  Alexandria. 


English  Coal  Exports. 


Exports  of  coal,  coke  and  manufactured  fuel 
from  the  United  Kingdom  during  June,  1914  and 
1915,  and  the  first  six  months  of  1914  and  1915: 


June 

June 

First  six  months  of 

Country — 

1914 

1915 

1914 

1915 

Russia  . 

705,715 

3,281 

2,009,789 

19,420 

Sweden  . 

391,533 

285,693 

1,800,093 

1,628,068 

Norway  . 

152,058 

202,877 

1,247,501 

1,359,295 

Denmark  . 

219,991 

281,255 

1,389,551 

1,537,240 

823,978 

4,202,651 

Netherlands . 

163,574 

113,171 

'872,526 

762,209 

140,565 

880,366 

France  . 

965,326 

1,546,559 

6,818,125 

8,460,758 

Portugal,  Azores 

and  Madeira... 

102,929 

86,512 

650,349 

533,452 

Spam  and  (Janar’s 

253,377 

125,248 

1,756,681 

1,046,031 

Italy  . 

632,393 

399,353 

4,533,077 

3,068,374 

Austria-Hungary . 

83,892 

462,164 

Greece  . 

66,664 

32,446 

374,132 

219,489 

25,514 

156,720 

Turkey  . 

60,'ll6 

309,307 

6,557 

Algeria  . 

75,139 

70,481 

610,528 

525,405 

Port’g’e  W. Africa 

9,258 

10,716 

97,993 

112,784 

Chile  . 

34,035 

13,297 

302,205 

35,430 

Brazil  . 

135,821 

32,040 

727,128 

341,270 

Uruguay  . 

66,334 

19,865 

390,608 

204,092 

Argentine  Rep... 

210,369 

74,970 

1,825,940 

958,072 

Channel  Islands.. 

10,036 

7,590 

76,853 

61,117 

Gibraltar  . 

14,526 

32,218 

170,629 

190,066 

Malta  . 

35,129 

28,805 

242,657 

86,276 

Egypt  (inc.  Anglo 

Egypt’n  Sudan) 

211,818 

65,864 

1,636,842 

685,796 

Aden  and  depend. 

5,708 

28,777 

85,569 

89,179 

British  India.... 

12,800 

50 

110,802 

12,160 

Ceylon  . 

26,096 

469 

172,695 

31,990 

Other  countries.. 

99,526 

68,709 

673,457 

357,970 

Total — 

Anthracite  . . . 

205,686 

138,499 

1,360,242 

1,014,668 

Steam  . 

4,112,067 

2,494,635 

25,094,812 

16,372,730 

Gas  . 

993,284 

653,578 

5,739,845 

3,613,003 

Household  . . . 

139,430 

77,974 

742,440 

512,445 

Other  sorts.  . . 

283,753 

147,620 

1,649,599 

819,744 

5,734,220 

3,557,306 

34,586,938 

22,332,590 

Coke  . 

73,163 

52,713 

517,609 

419,709 

Manuf’d  fuel.  . 

192,034 

115,404 

1,044,360 

624,875 

Grand  total . 

5,999,417 

3,725,423 

36,148,907 

23,377,174 

Note.- — The  figures  in  the  above  table  do  not 

include  Admiralty  and  certain  other  shipments. 


Welsh  Coal  Strike  Settled. 

On  last  Thursday  the  Welsh  coal  miners 
stopped  work,  approximately  150,000  men  becom¬ 
ing  idle.  All  the  mines  were  shut  down  until 
Wednesday  of  this  week,  a  period  of  five  days, 
entailing  a  loss  in  production  of  upward  of  one- 
half  million  tons. 

The  strike  threatened  to  be  very  serious,  and 
it  was  due  to  the  presence  of  David  Lloyd  George, 
minister  of  munitions,  in  Cardiff  on  Tuesday,  that 
an  early  settlement  was  reached. 

The  terms  agreed  upon  give  the  strikers  a  new 
standard  wage  rate  of  five  shillings  ($1.20)  a  day. 
This  is  the  wage  they  originally  demanded,  and 
was,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  in  effect  when  the  men 
quit  work  a  few  days  ago. 

Eventually  they  will  obtain  as  well  a  new  mini¬ 
mum  wage  ten  per  cent  in  advance  of  the  present 
standard  wage,  but  this  will  not  become  effective 
for  some  time. 

The  agreement  will  stand  for  three  years,  or 
during  the  period  of  the  war,  and  for  a  period  of 
six  months  afterward.  Subsequently  it  will  re¬ 
main  in  force  subject  to  a  three  months’  notice 
by  either  the  employers  or  the  workers.  The 
agreement  applies  only  to  the  men  of  the  federa¬ 
tion,  who  are  still  to  be  subject  to  the  penalties 


prescribed  by  the  munitions’  act  if  they  strike 
again. 

The  men  have  promised  to  work  on  the  bank 
holiday  which  falls  on  August  2,  to  overtake  the 
shortage  caused  by  the  strike. 


Six  Months’  Exports. 


As  stated  in  The  Black  Diamond  last  week, 
the  total  exports  of  bituminous  coal  over  the 
Atlantic  seaboard  for  the  first  six  months  of 
this  year,  reached  approximately  3,437,702  tons, 
or  within  767,298  tons  of  the  total  of  the 
twelve  months  of  1914. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  the  destination  of 
this  coal,  and  we  present  below  a  statement 
showing  tonnages  going  to  the  principal  Euro¬ 
pean  and  South  American  countries  for  the 
first  six  months  of  the  year,  these  tonnages 
being  complete,  with  the  exception  of  a  few 
cargoes  from  Philadelphia  not  yet  reported.  - 
It  is  noticed  that  Italy  receives  upwards  of 
1,000,000  tons,  whereas  it  is  only  two  years 
ago  that  Italy’s  importation  of  American  coal 
per  year  ran  under  the  half  million  mark. 
South  American  countries  received  approxi¬ 
mately  851,138  tons  during  the  first  six 
months  of  this  year,  whereas  up  to  the  out¬ 
break  of  the  European  war  our  total  exports 
to  South  America  averaged  around  500,000  tons 


per  year. 

Exports  for  the  first  six  months  of  this 
year  were  as  follows: 

Tons. 


Italy  . 

Spain  . 

Greece  . 

France  . 

Egypt  . 

Portugal  . 

Norway . 

Sweden  . 

Holland  . 

Africa  . 

Canary  Islands  .  .  . 

Morocco  . 

Java  . 

Azores  . 

Gibraltar . 

Cape  Verde  Islands 

Argentine  . 

Brazil  . 

Uruguay . 

Chile  . 

Peru  . 


1,137,443 

63,977 

22,518 

89,410 

76,000 

4,646 

87,934 

26,748 

6,883 

36,293 

18,546 

2,348 

8,014 

6,462 

21,756 

5,418 

418,897 

335,080 

84,946 

7,868 

4,368 


Export  Trade  Briefs. 

A  London  cable  dated  July  18  says:  “The 
Weekly  Dispatch  says  this  morning  that  a  German 
commission  of  six  members  has  arrived  at  Stock¬ 
holm,  Sweden,  to  take  up  the  question  of  obtain¬ 
ing  cotton  for  Germany.  This  same  newspaper 
quotes  a  Copenhagen  paper  as  saying  that  Swe¬ 
den  has  not  received  any  coal  from  England  for 
a  week  and  consumers  cannot  ascertain  the  cause 
of  the  stoppage.  It  is  said  that  in  commercial 
circles  of  Sweden  it  is  believed  that  the  order  is 
connected  with  the  Anglo-Swedish  commercial 
negotiations,  which  are  under  way  and  these  take 
in  the  coal  question.  As  a  result  of  official  nego¬ 
tiation,  Sweden  during  the  last  few  days  has 
bought  $2,000,000  of  coal  from  Germany,  or  equiv¬ 
alent  to  600,000  tons. 

Requirements  of  steamers  taking  cargoes  from 
.A.merican  ports  for  bunker  coal  increased  very 
radically  last  week.  For  instance  for  the  week 
ending  July  10,  steamers  taking  export  cargo  coal 
from  Baltimore,  took  7,382  tons  of  bunkers,  and 
approximately  55,000  tons  of  cargo.  For  the 
week  ending  July  17,  steamers  sailing  from  Balti¬ 
more  with  57,846  tons  of  export  cargoes,  took 
23,352  tons  of  bunkers.  Certain  steamers  took 
about  half  as  much  bunkers  as  they  did  cargo.  A 
steamer  to  Spain  taking  5,560  tons  cargo,  took 
2,800  tons  bunkers,  one  for  France  of  the  same 
tonnage,  an  approximate  tonnage  of  bunkers,  a 
steamer  for  Egypt  taking  8,292  tons  of  cargo, 
took  4,200  tons  of  bunkers.  From  Hampton 
Roads,  where  146,580  tons  of  coal  were  exported 
for  the  week  ending  July  13,  bunker  require¬ 
ments  were  approximately  15,000.  However,  there 
were  several  steamers  taking  cargo  from  the 
Roads  that  took  no  bunkers  whatever,  evidently 
coming  over  from  the  other  side  with  coal  as  bal¬ 
last.  Also  there  were  three  or  four  schooners 
taking  cargo,  and  these  of  course  took  no 
bunkers  whatever,  .An  explanation  of  the  dif¬ 
ference  of  the  ratio  of  bunker  and  cargo  coal  at 
the  Roads  as  compared  with  Baltimore,  a  great 
many  of  the  cargoes  went  to  points  in  South 
.America,  whereas  the  bulk  of  the  cargoes  from 
Baltimore  went  to  the  Mediterranean,  where  the 
captains  apprehended  trouble  in  securing  an  ade¬ 
quate  amount  of  bunkers  to  take  them  to  their 
next  destination. 


74 


[July  24 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


General  Review. 


Chicago  Market. 


Buying  Is  Still  Light  in  the  Interior  but 
Some  Improvement  Is  Shown  in 
Prices  in  Places. 


Broadly  speaking,  the  buyers  of  coal  arc  still 
delaying  putting  any  coal  in  storage  against 
the  fall  and  winter  needs.  This  applies  par¬ 
ticularly  to  the  retail  dealers,  but  they  are 
governed  altogether  by  a  very  similar  action 
on  the  jKirt  of  the  householders.  This  has 
gone  so  far  that  there  is  an  element  of  danger 
in  the  whole  situation. 

With  the  railroads  in  rather  a  poor  physical 
condition,  and  with  cold  weather  prophesied 
by  even  Government  experts,  the  situation  is 
not  one  to  contemplate  with  any  degree  of 
equanimity. 

Individually  the  various  markets  continue  to 
report  extreme  dullness.  New  York,  for  ex¬ 
ample,  says  that  this  is  the  dullest  period  for 
anthracite,  but  that  July  is  the  dullest  of  all 
the  dull  months.  Production  has  been  cur¬ 
tailed  very  sharply  and  still  there  is  a  ten¬ 
dency  to  a  glut  of  the  market.  In  bituminous 
some  users  are  contracting  for  a  fair  amount 
of  coal  and  shipments  are  heavier  than  they 
have  been.  However,  any  spot  coal  goes  beg¬ 
ging  because  there  is  no  demand. 

Philadelphia  is  far  more  concerned  about 
export  business,  which  is  improving,  than  it 
is  about  local  conditions.  This  is  due  to  the 
fact  that  there  is  business  to  be  had  in  the 
export  field,  but  practically  none  at  home. 
That  is,  in  anthracite  and  bituminous  and  m 
the  domestic  and  steam  sizes,  the  local  spot 
demand  is  small,  although  there  is  a  fair  move¬ 
ment  of  coal  on  contract. 

Boston  shows  a  progressive  slowing  down 
of  coal  buying.  The  market  now  is  almost 
a  complete  reversal  of  what  it  was  six  weeks 
ago  when  conditions  were  fairly  satisfactory. 

Baltimore,  which  always  is  optimistic,  is 
still  looking  forward  to  better  times  in  the 
trade  but  is  still  confessing  that  present  con¬ 
ditions  are  unsatisfactory.  Its  main  depend¬ 
ence  has  been  in  exports,  but  the  business 
there  has  slowed  down  a  little. 

Buffalo  is  still  concerned  with  shipments  of 
anthracite  by  lake,  those  for  the  week  amount¬ 
ing  to  119,500  tons.  This  was  rather  heavy 
compared  with  recent  shipments,  but  not  as 
heavy  as  it  might  be.  In  the  bituminous  field 
orders  are  being  placed  with  more  freedoin. 

Pittsburgh  has  been  one  of  the  interesting 
points  in  the  market  for  the  last  few  months. 
Kveryone  has  been  talking  about  the  upturn 
in  steel  and  what  that  would  do  for  coal  and 
other  trades.  While  the  operators  have  had 
great  expectations  there  has  not  been  much 
realization  of  late.  Sales  to  local  mills  are 
fairly  heavy.  Coke  business  is  satisfactory. 
Some  coal  is  moving  into  export  and  some  is 
going  up  the  lakes.  Still  it  is  true  that  local 
factories  and  those  in  the  all-rail  trade  are  not 
taking  as  much  coal  as  they  should  and  the 
same  is  true  of  the  retailers.  The  depression 
in  the  latter  circles  more  than  offsets  the  fair 
business  in  other  directions. 

Louisville  operators  mourn  the  absence  of 
an  expected  upturn  in  business  and  the  report 
from  that  field  is  generally  pessimistic  on  the 
score  of  tonnage  and  price.  Added  to  that, 
labor  difficulties  are  annoying  the  operators. 

About  the  only  satisfaction  that  Indiana 
operators  get  out  of  life  is  the  fact  that  prices 
are  firm,  even  though  the  volume  of  sales  is 
distressingly  small. 

In  the  western  trade  Chicago  finds  a  steady 
but  not  very  large  demand  for  western  domes¬ 
tic  fuels  and  a  very  limited  and  light  demand 
for  the  high  grade  coals  from  the  east.  On 
the  western  coals  the  prices  are  advancing  arti¬ 
ficially  by  about  ten  cents  a  ton  on  the  first 
of  August.  On  some  eastern  coals  there  is 
difficulty  to  maintain  even  the  present  prices 
and  some  are  quoted  at  quite  a  wide  spread. 

St.  Louis  is  optimistic.  The  country  demand 
is  much  stronger  and  the  operators  are  once 
more  getting  a  fair  price  for  their  product. 

The  Omaha  report  sums  it  up  as  follows: 
General  conditions  have  not  been  overly  favor¬ 
able  to  the  coal  business  as  continued  rains 
and  more  or  less  hail  have  made  the  harvest¬ 
ing  of  the  wheat  crop  uncertain. 

A  similar  report  comes  from  Minneapolis, 
where  it  is  said  that  coal  orders  have  been 
held  back  by  wet  weather,  as  the  farmers  have 
not  been  coming  to  town  and  hence  have  not 
been  buying  much  coal. 


Buying  Is  a  Little  Heavier  and  on  West¬ 
ern  Domestic  Some  Price  Rises 
Are  Likely. 


Office  of  The  Black  Diamond, 
Chicago,  July  23. 

Domesfic  coal  iu  Chicago  is  beginuing  to  move 
with  a  little  more  vim  than  it  has  been  moving 
for  some  time  and  there  is  a  suggestion  here 
and  there  of  further  advances  in  prices.  These 
are  warranted  first  by  market  conditions,  but  in 
the  main  are  made  out  of  consideration  for  the 
season  of  the  year  and  prospects  which  are  im¬ 
mediately  ahead. 

Even  so,  the  market  in  Chicago  and  through  the 
west  is  filled  with  contradictions  which  show  the 
whimsical  character  of  trading.  Some  retailers 
are  buying  coal  and  are  paying  the  higher  prices 
for  it.  Others  are  not  interested  in  either  the 
present  or  the  future  market,  are  storing  noth¬ 
ing  and  are  not  anticipating  a  single  demand  on 
the  part  of  their  regular  customers.  Some  oper¬ 
ators  are  getting  good  prices ;  others  are  still  in 
the  center  of  a  veritable  fury  of  price  cutting 
which  strangely  enough  seems  to  deliver  nothing 
in  the  way  of  business,  prestige  or  advantage  over 
competitors. 

The  anthracite  trade  is  still  backward.  Orders 
are  a  little  heavier  than  they  were  last  week,  but 
they  are  not  up  to  normal.  Buying  for  immediate 
delivery  is  fair,  but  mostly  the  coal  had  to  be 
forced  on  the  retailers.  Generally  speaking,  the 
operators  are  not  forcing  much  coal  on  the  market 
l)ut  rather  are  shutting  down  the  mines.  Thus 
the  anthracite  season  is  backward. 

On  the  first  of  August  the  smokeless  mine  run 
prices  advances  to  $1.40  instead  of  $1.25.  There 
has  been  little  buying  to  get  coal  while  it  is 
still  cheap.  This  week  some  wagers  were  made 
that  this  coal  would  be  selling  at  a  premium  of 
ten  cents  a  ton  inside  of  the  next  two  weeks. 
Other  wagers  were  made  that  mine  run  would 
reach  a  price  of  $2.00  before  tHe  first  of  Septem¬ 
ber.  Every  one  is  discussing  these  prophecies 
in  an  interested  way,  but  apparently  nobody  is 
taking  any  warning  therefrom  to  lay  in  coal  early. 
In  fact,  a  recent  survey  of  most  of  the  Chicago 
yards  reveals  the  fact  that  only  one  retail  con¬ 
cern  is  stocked  with  Pocahontas  to  the  limit  of 
his  capacity.  Many  of  them  have  no  coal  at  all. 
Others  have  far  less  than  what  is  a  normal  sup¬ 
ply  for  this  time  of  the  year.  Lump  and  egg  coal 
is  firm  on  shipments  direct  from  the  mines  at 
circular  price  of  $2.00  and  spot  coal  is  selling  at 
a  premium  rather  than  a  sacrifice  figure.  Prices 
up  to  Thursday  were  : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Smokeless —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Mine  run .  f3.30  $1.25 

Lump  and  egg .  3.05  2.00 

Somerset  county  producers  are  expecting  big¬ 
ger  demands  a  little  later  and  this  week  got  a 
small  increase  in  orders  on  the  expectation  that 
prices  will  advance  on  August  1.  Business,  how¬ 
ever,  is  below  normal  for  this  time  of  year  and 
quotations  up  to  Thursday  were  unchanged  as 
follows : 

F.  p.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Somerset  County —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Mine  run .  $3.30  $1.25 

Lump  and  egg .  3.75@3.95  1.70@1.90 


The  harvest  demand  for  Hocking  coal  improved 
a  little  in  Indiana  and  Michigan  within  the  last 
week  and  there  was  some  increased  business  in 
the  all-rail  territory  to  the  west.  Around  Chi¬ 
cago,  however,  the  trade  is  backward  to  an  un¬ 
usual  extent,  a  few  retailers  having  put  in  as 
much  as  ten  per  cent  of  the  coal  they  normally 
store  prior  to  this  time.  Prices  are  artificially 
firm  at  the  old  figure.  Prices  up  to  Thursday 
were : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Hocking —  Chicago.  Mines. 

154-inch  lump .  $3.15  $1.50 

Very  little  has  happened  to  change  the  tone  of 
the  splint  market  within  the  last  week,  good  coal 
selling  at  a  fair  figure  and  poor  coals  on  demur¬ 
rage  is  being  sacrificed.  Prices  up  to  Thursday 
nominally  were : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Kanawha —  Chicago.  Mines. 

lJ4inch  lump . $3.05@3.15  $1.15@1.25 


Eastern  Kentucky  coal  is  still  moving  at  quite  a 
spread  of  prices.  There  has  been  a  little  increase 
in  business  within  the  last  week,  but  it  will  take 
quite  an  improvement  to  absorb  all  the  offerings 
which  are  constantly  available  to  this  territory. 
In  the  meantime  it  is  the  part  of  wisdom  to  keep 
unsold  coal  out  of  this  market.  Prices  up  to 
Thursday  were : 

F.  p.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Eastern  Kentucky —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Domestic  lump . $8.15@3.65  $1.25@1.75 

Egg  .  3.00@3.15  1.10@1.25 


It  is  unofficially  intimated  that  Franklin  county 
lirices  on  lump,  egg  and  No.  1  nut  will  advance 
ten  cents  a  ton  on  August  1,  the  new  circular  be¬ 
ing  .$1.60.  It  is  understood  that  some  of  the 
major  producers  are  going  to  put  out  circulars  to 
this  effect  in  the  next  few  days.  The  distinct 
understanding  will  be,  however,  that  these  prices 
will  a'pply  only  on  shipments  for  the  first  half  of 
.August,  as  a  new  circular  may  be  issued  the  latter 
part  of  the  month.  Prices  from  that  field  have 
been  under  a  steady  pressure  for  the  last  week 
or  ten  days  from  powerful  buyers  who  are  trying 
to  beat  down  the  new  circular  prices.  The  effort 
to  break  the  lump  prices  has  been  without  success, 
as  has  also  been  the  effort  to  get  some  of  the 
operators  to  guarantee  a  maximum  price  on 
business  for  the  remainder  of  the  coal  year. 
Screenings  have  been  a  trifle  easier,  being  quoted 
at  the  mines  at  about  seventy-five  cents  a  ton. 
Some  few  sales  may  have  been  made  a  nickel  less. 
Prices  up  to  Thursday  were : 


F.  0.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

Franklin  County — 

Chicago. 

Mines. 

Lump  . 

$1.50 

Egg  . 

1.50 

No.  1  nut . 

1.50 

No.  2  nut . 

2.40 

1.35 

Mine  run . 

2.15 

1.10 

2-inch  screenings  .... 

1.80 

.75 

Williamson  county  operators  are  contemplating 
the  possibility  of  advancing  their  price  to  $1.60 
on  the  1st  of  August.  Some  of  them  have  al¬ 
ready  decided  to  do  so,  first,  because  the  demand 
now  is  a  little  heavier  and  seems  to  warrant  an¬ 
other  increase,  but  partly  because  the  higher  price 
is  the  customary  circular  at  this  season  of  the 
year.  In  the  last  week  the  operators  have  been 
getting  a  fair  run  of  business  at  the  new  cir¬ 
cular  price  of  $1.50  for  the  major  domestic  sizes 
and  $1.40  for  No.  2  washed,  while  screenings 
have  been  sold  around  seventy  to  seventy-five 
cents  a  ton  with  some  sales  among  the  whole¬ 
salers  at  perhaps  a  less  figure.  Prices  up  to 
Thursday  were : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 


Williamson  County — 

Chicago. 

Mines. 

Lump  . 

.  $2.55 

$1.50 

Egg  . 

.  2.55 

1.50 

No.  1  washed . 

.  2.55 

1.50 

No.  2  washed . 

.  2.45 

1.40 

The  market  on  Saline  county  coal  has  not 
changed  to  any  extent  within  the  last  week. 
Screenings  have  eased  off  a  trifle  owing  to  an 
improvement  in  the  demand  for  domestic  coal  and 
perhaps  seventy-five  cents  a  ton  is  about  the  top 


figure.  Prices  up  to  Thursday  were : 

F.  O.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

Saline  County — 

Chicago. 

Mines. 

Lump  . 

$1.50 

Mine  run . 

.  2.15 

1.10 

Screenings  . 

.  1.80 

.75 

154-inch  lump . 

.  2.30 

1.25 

In  Springfield  coal  screenings  have  been  de¬ 
cidedly  easier,  due  to  the  increased  production  of 
lump  coal.  This  is  the  time  of  year  when  the  fine 
coal  market  runs  off,  but  it  is  noted  that  the  re¬ 
cession  has  not  been  quite  so  sharp  this  year  as  in 
other  years,  which  is  an  encouraging  feature. 
The  demand  for  domestic  coal  has  shown  a  per¬ 
ceptible  improvement  in  the  last  few  days.  Prices 
up  to  Thursday  were : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Spring6eld —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Lump  .  $2.32  $1.50 

Egg  .  2.32  1.50 

Nut  .  2.17  1.35 

Mine  run .  1.87  1.05 

Screenings  .  1.47  .65 


The  Clinton  county  situation  has  not  changed 
much  within  the  last  week.  The  demand  for  both 
domestic  and  steam  coals  being  moderate  and 
prices  being  fairly  steady  as  follows : 


F.  0.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

Clinton — 

Chicago. 

Mines. 

Domestic  lump . 

.  $2.27 

$1.59 

Egg  . 

.  2.07 

1.30 

Nut  . 

1.30 

Mine  run . 

.  1.87 

1.10 

Screenings  . 

.  1.47 

.70 

Knox  county  coal  has  lieen  fairly  steady  but 
not  extraordinarily  strong  for  the  last  week  at  the 
old  prices.  The  market  up  to  Thursday  was : 


Knox  County — 

Lump  . 

Egg  . 

Mine  run . 

Screenings  . 


F.  0.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

Chicago. 

Mines. 

$2.37 

$1.50 

2.37 

1.50 

1.87 

1.05 

1.47 

.62 

The  coke  market  is  quotably  unchanged.  The 

domestic  sizes  are  still  selling  ten  to  fifteen  cents 

a  ton  off  circular,  while  business  in  eastern  fur¬ 
nace  coke  is  fair  at  unchanged  prices.  The  mar¬ 
ket  up  to  Thursday  was  : 

F.  O.  B. 

Coke —  Chicago. 

Connellsville  .  ^^'15 

By-product,  foundry . 4.85@5.10 

By-product,  egg  and  stove . L65 

Gas  house . 3.75@4.90 


No.  4] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


75 


Pittsburgh  Trade. 

Gains  in  Lake  and  Export  Shipments  and 
in  Coke  Are  Offset  by 
Local  Lull. 


Office  of  The  Black  Diamond, 
1.503  Oliver  Building, 

Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  July  21. 

‘‘.An  underlying  feeling  of  confidence,”  “a 
splendid  optimism” — “a  firm  confidence  in  the  fu¬ 
ture” — and  kindred  expressions  on  the  part  of 
coal  producers  and  sellers,  may  all  be  very  sooth¬ 
ing  and  encouraging  to  the  sick  trade,  but  what 
will  help  the  patient  more,  would  be  some  actual 
business  in  the  market,  and  some  old-fashioned 
‘‘six  days  shalt  thou  labor”  and  dig  coal  orders 
at  the  mine,  instead  of  two  days  this  week,  and 
possibly  three  next” — we  can’t  tell — it  depends  on 
orders” — would  be  much  more  satisfactory  to  all 
concerned. 

The  steel  mill  trade  seems  to  be  very  satisfac¬ 
tory,  and  the  coke  trade  has  materially  braced  up, 
but  as  long  as  such  plants  as  the  Westinghouse 
interests  and  others  are  devoting  their  time  and 
machinery  to  the  manufacture  of  shells  and  other 
munitions  of  war,  instead  of  air  brakes,  there  is 
and  will  continue  to  be  an  unhealthy  condition 
of  business,  that  the  most  “splendid  optimism” 
will  not  remedy.  If  the  shoemaker  has  the  trade, 
he  can  “stick  to  his  last,”  but  when  he  has  none, 
he  has  got  to  get  out  and  do  something  else,  and 
that  is  about  the  situation,  the  steel  mills  are 
‘''doing  something  else,”  but  the  coal  operator  can’t 
dig  shells,  rifles  or  bayonets  out  of  his  mine. 

There  has  been  no  change  the  past  week  from 
the  stagnant  condition  that  has  maintained  for 
some  time,  the  only  events  that  disturbed  the 
calm  of  the  coal  trade  being  the  sale  of  the 
Pittsburgh-Buffalo  Company  properties,  and  the 
Meadow-Lands  Coal  Company  passing  into  the 
hands  of  a  receiver,  as  noted  below. 

The  properties  of  the  Pittsburgh-Buffalo  Com¬ 
pany  were  sold  at  a  public  sale  Thursday,  July 
15,  to  the  Union  Trust  Company  for  $1,500,000, 
the  only  bid  offered  for  the  holdings  of  the  com¬ 
pany.  The  sale  was  subject  to  the  lien  of  the 
first  mortgage  made  in  1909  to  secure  a  bond 
issue  of  $2,500,000,  of  which  bonds  of  the  par 
value  of  $1,769,000  were  issued  and  upon  which 
there  has  been  no  interest  paid  since  August  2, 
1912.  The  sale  represents  an  outlay  of  nearly 
$3,500,000. 

The  properties  were  first  offered  separately,  but 
there  were  no  bids,  after  which  they  were  offered 
as  an  entirety.  Attorney  James  H.  Beal,  after 
the  sale  opened,  made  the  bid  of  $1,500,000  as  the 
representative  of  the  Union  Trust  Company. 
There  being  no  other  bidders  his  bid  was  accepted. 
The  Union  Trust  Company  holds  the  first  mort¬ 
gage  on  the  property. 

.A.ttorney  C.  G.  Mcllvain,  representing  creditors, 
insisted  that  the  master  postpone  the  sale,  due  to 
insufficiency  of  the  bid,  as  these  properties  have 
been  appraised  by  Messrs.  Keefer  and  Henderson 
of  Pittsburgh,  for  the  court  at  $6,368,522.15  if 
operated  on  a  screen  coal  basis.  They  were  also 
appraised  by  Dr.  I.  C.  White,  State  Geologist  of 
West  Virginia,  at  more  than  $10,000,000,  and 
by  W.  H.  Coverdale,  consulting  engineer  of  New 
York,  at  more  than  $11,000,000,  their  names  hav¬ 
ing  been  suggested  by  banking  interests. 

The  appraisals  made  by  Messrs.  Coverdale  and 
White  were  confirmed  by  the  late  John  W. 
Boileau,  a  recognized  high  authority  on  local 
property  values,  and  also  sustained  by  appraise¬ 
ment  of  adjoining  properties  made  by  Edward  V. 
d’Invilliers  of  Philadelphia,  and  by  Julian  Ken¬ 
nedy  and  Rufus  Crawford,  both  of  Pittsburgh. 

James  S.  Boggs  was  appointed  temporary  re¬ 
ceiver  for  the  Meadow-lands  Coal  Company  last 
week,  after  a  bill  in  equity  was  filed  in  Common 
Pleas  court  by  the  Harris  Pump  and  Supply  Com¬ 
pany  against  the  coal  company,  asking  that  a  re¬ 
ceiver  be  named.  The  plaintiffs  presented  a  claim 
of  $1,152.58  against  the  coal  company,  which  they 
say,  the  latter  company  has  been  unable  to  meet. 
The  statement  says  that  the  company’s  report  of 
July  1  showed  liabilities  of  $725,560.25,  with  assets 
consisting  of  coal  lands  and  equipment.  The  de¬ 
fendant  company,  in  its  answer,  stated  that  it  can 
realize  a  sufficient  amount  to  liquidate  outstanding 
obligations  if  given  time  to  realize  upon  its  assets. 
The  answer  further  says  that  the  recent  busi¬ 
ness  depression  made  it  impossible  to  operate 
mines  to  capacity,  and  thus  the  income  of  the 
company  w^s  cut  down. 

A  round  among  the  leading  operators  develops 
nothing  new,  domestic  buying  very  light,  and 
little  or  nothing  doing  in  the  lake  trade.  Any 
talk  of  business  stems  to  be  along  the  line  of 


anticipated  export  trade,  and  this  it  is  suggested 
will  have  a  tendency  to  better  domestic  prices. 

A  Canadian  inquiry  of  a  week  ago  for  quota¬ 
tions  on  a  large  amount  of  slack,  was  withdrawn 
by  wire  a  couple  of  days  since,  and  in  another  in¬ 
stance,  hold  back  orders  for  two  weeks  on  a 
regular  contract  would  lead  to  the  conclusion  that 
northwest  prospects  were  not  improving,  but  hope 
survives,  notwithstanding,  and  some  intimate  that 
a  coal  boom  is  near — following  the  expansion  in 
the  steel  and  coke  trades — coal  being  the  first  to 
feel  a  depression,  and  the  last  to  recover  from 
one. 

The  coke  situation  is  better  all  around.  Fur¬ 
nace  maintains  advances  made  a  week  ago,  and 
some  inquiry  is  being  met  on  a  sliding  scale  based 
on  pig  iron  prices,  which  today  would  mean  $1.85. 
Foundry  shows  decided  improvement,  with  a  firm¬ 
ness  that  is  encouraging.  The  Jamison  Coal  & 
Coke  Company  report  that  they  have  with¬ 
drawn  from  the  coke  market,  their  present  output 
being  satisfactorily  disposed  of  for  the  time  being. 


Pittsburgh  Personals. 

John  M.  Jamison,  president  of  the  Jamison 
Coal  &  Coke  Company,  with  offices  in  the  Oliver 
building,  Pittsburgh,  landed  at  Bordeaux,  France, 
on  the  19th,  and  was  expected  to  meet  represen¬ 
tatives  of  the  French  government  in  Paris  today. 
The  French,  Italian,  English  and  other  European 
governments  are  in  the  market  for  Pennsylvania 
coal  and  coke.  It  was  upon  invitation  of  the 
French  government  that  Senator  Jamison  went 
to  Europe.  It  is  thought  that  he  will  close  con¬ 
tracts  for  the  sale  of  millions  of  tons  of  coal.  If 
they  secure  these  contracts  the  Jamison  plants  in 
western  Pennsylvania  and  West  Virginia  will  run 
to  their  capacity. 


Birmingham  Trade. 

Birmingham,  Ala.,  July  22. —  (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — Since  most  of  the  large  contracts 
for  steam  coal  have  been  renewed,  the  market 
has  dropped  back  to  a  state  of  extreme  dullness. 
Some  coal  is  being  barged  down  Warrior  river 
by  Pratt  people,  but  as  yet  the  business  has  not 
developed  to  any  large  extent.  New  orders  for 
steam  are  lacking  and  outlook  for  new  business 
is  not  very  flattering.  Domestic  coal  trade  is 
very  nearly  at  a  standstill  and  the  trade  is  only 
desultory.  Blacksmith  coal  still  holds  to  a  fair 
trade.  As  to  coking  coal,  it  is  hardly  any  question 
hut  that  the  demand  will  assume  a  better  tone  and 
a  larger  output  be  had  very  soon.  It  is  reason¬ 
ably  certain  that  at  least  five  furnaces  will  need 
supply  of  coal  before  many  more  weeks  as  assur¬ 
ance  has  been  given  by  officials  that  such  will  be 
the  case  in  the  early  part  of  August.  This  alone 
is  about  the  only  real  tangible  prospect  for  the 
bettering  of  coal  mining  operations. 

Walter  Moore  and  associates  who  purchased 
the  Empire  Coal  &  Coke  Company,  are  making 
preparations  to  get  business  by  the  way  of  War¬ 
rior  river ;  some  extensive  work  is  being  planned 
and  work  has  already  begun.  This  company  owns 
large  holdings  of  land  on  Frisco  railroad  and 
with  improvements  now  being  put  into  execution 
will  give  the  company  outlet  to  the  gulf  for  the 
well-known  Black  Creek  coal,  which  is  used  as  a 
domestic  coal  of  high  grade  qualities  and  pos¬ 
sesses  sufficient  needs  for  a  fine  bunker  coal. 
Actual  test  has  proven  its  worth  in  this  respect. 

The  following  are  prices  quoted  but  varied 
some : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Bibb  County  Domestic  Coal —  Mine  Birmingham 

Cahaba  fancy  lump . $2.35  $2.65 

Cahaba  No.  2 .  2.10  2.40 

Jefferson  County — 

Pratt  fancy  steam  lump .  1.70  2.10 

(Furnished  by  T.  (7.  I.) 

Pratt  mine  run . 90@1.15  Frt.  rate  30c 

Jefferson  seam,  steam  coal .  1.15@1.25  Frt.  rate  30c 

Black  creek  steam .  1.25@1.55 

Walker  County — 

Horse  Creek  steam  mine  run . 90@1.10  Frt.  rate  40c 

Carbon  Hill  lump  domestic .  1.60@2.00 

Most  all  coals  based  on  this  classification. 

Blacksmith  coal,  washed  and  screened,  per  ton,  $2.00  to 
$2.25  at  mines,  with  different  rates  to  various  points. 


Louisville  Market. 


Louisville,  Ky.,  July  22. —  (Special  Corrspoud- 
encc.) — July  is  nearing  an  end,  but  the  long 
hoped-for  appearance  of  demand  for  domestic 
coal  has  yet  manifested  itself  to  only  a  slight 
degree.  It  seems  that  the  farmers  are  too 
busy,  and  the  city  people  are  too  poor  to  lay 
in  coal,  and  that  coal  has  been  set  down  to  the 
bottom  of  the  program  this  summer,  to  be 
taken  up  at  the  last  possible  minute.  Mean¬ 
while,  the  struggle  for  existence  among  pro¬ 


ducers,  shippers  and  retailers  still  continues 
without  special  change,  every  body  recording 
a  phenomenal  light  volume  of  sales  and  in¬ 
creasing  risk  and  difficulty  in  regard  to 
credits. 

Notwithstanding  the  disappointment  of 
their  hopes  for  a  substantial  advance  in  the 
market  price  of  domestic  sizes  by  this  time, 
producers  are  for  the  most  part  declining  to 
quote  coal,  except  at  fair  schedule  prices,  for 
delivery  during  the  fall  months,  preferring  to 
hold  a  considerable  portion  of  their  tonnage 
free.  They  feel  certain  that  the  greatly  cur¬ 
tailed  buying  of  coal  during  the  spring  and 
summer  is  bound  to  result  in  an  active  market 
and  possibly  car  shortage  for  at  least  several 
months  in  the  fall,  and  are  therefore  taking 
on  little  or  no  future  business. 

Prices  on  block  coal  at  present  range  all  the 
way  from  .$1.25  on  certain  of  the  block  coals 
produced  in  the  new  mining  fields,  up  to  .$1.90 
per  ton  on  high-grade  Jellico  coals,  and  a 
normal  August  demand  from  the  country  trade 
would  rapidly  take  up  the  surplus  block  pro¬ 
duction  which  is  now  demoralizing  the  market 
and  restore  conditions  as  to  the  domestic 
trade  to  a  normal  basis. 

The  market  for  steam  coal  at  the  present 
time  is  not  altogether  discouraging.  At  least, 
screenings  are  not  a  great  drug  on  the  market, 
and  neither  from  the  eastern  nor  western 
field  are  nut  and  slack  contracts  being  over¬ 
produced.  Run  of  mines  coal  and  the  coarser 
sizes,  however,  are  hard  to  move,  and  either 
spot  or  contract  business  for  these  grades  is 
eagerly  snapped  up. 

Nut  and  slack  of  the  best  grade  is  bringing 
from  50c  to  60c  f.  o.  b.  mines,  while  second- 
grade  screenings  are  worth  from  25c  to  40c 
f.  o.  b.  mines.  With  any  material  increase  in 
the  movement  of  domestic  sizes,  however,  it 
will  be  a  problem  to  dispose  of  the  increased 
output  of  fine  coal. 


Omaha  Trade. 


Omaha,  Neb.,  July  22. —  (Spectal  Correspond¬ 
ence.) — General  conditions  have  not  been  overly 
favorable  to  the  coal  business,  continued  rains  and 
more  or  less  hail  making  the  harvest  of  the  wheat 
crop  uncertain. 

The  ground  is  so  soft  in  a  good  share  of  the 
wheat  fields  that  it  makes  it  almost  impossible 
to  get  in  with  machinery,  resulting  in  considerable 
wheat  being  stacked  for  future  threshing.  A  good 
many  of  the  local  coal  dealers  are  holding  off  buy¬ 
ing  on  account  of  these  uncertain  conditions,  and 
unless  there  is  a  decided  change  the  buying  will  be 
from  hand  to  mouth.  Very  little  anthracite  coal 
has  been  shipped  owing  to  the  inability  in  hauling 
the  coal  account  of  bad  roads.  The  market  on 
practically  all  grades  of  soft  and  hard  coal  is 
more  or  less  weak. 

The  following  prices  prevailing: 


Southern  Kansas — - 

Nut  . 

Slack  . 

Franklin  County — 

Lump  . 

Egg  . 

Nut  . 

Williamson  County — 

Mines. 

Omaha. 

$3.20 

2.70 

$3.75@3.90 

3.75@3.90 

3.75@3.90 

3.65@3.75 

3.6503.75 

Egg  . 

Rock  Springs — 

Lump  . 

5.85 

Nut  . 

5.35 

Arkansas  Anthracite — 

Lump  . 

6.51 

Broken  sizes  . 

.  3.65 

6.40 

Omaha  Local  News. 

A  meeting  is  being  arranged  between  the  local 
jobbers  and  freight  claim  agents  of  various  lines 
to  be  held  in  Omaha  for  the  purpose  of  bringing 
about  closer  relations  and  better  understanding 
between  the  shippers  and  the  railroad  claim  de¬ 
partments  ;  the  principle  grievance  being  the  ar¬ 
bitrary  stand  taken  by  some  of  the  railroads  re¬ 
lative  to  the  proper  allowance  in  case  of  transfer 
of  shipments  en  route. 

In  electing  A.  L.  Havens  of  the  Havens  Coal 
Company,  Omaha,  as  president  of  the  Northwest¬ 
ern  Retail  Coal  Dealers’  .Association,  we  believe 
that  they  have  picked  out  the  right  man.  Mr. 
Havens  has  been  identified  with  the  coal  business 
a  good  many  years  and  has  always  been  active  in 
any  movement  for  the  betterment  of  general  con¬ 
ditions.  Mr.  Havens  has  been  especially  identi¬ 
fied  with  various  movements  to  bring  about  closer 
relations  between  tlie  railroads  and  shippers  of 
coal.  His  many  friends,  therefore,  feel  that  if 
the  coming  year  is  not  one  of  the  biggest  in  his¬ 
tory  in  the  association,  it  will  be  through  no  lack 
of  effort  on  the  part  of  their  worthy  president. 


76 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[July  24 


Cincinnati  Trade. 


Operators  Are  Encouraged  by  Better 
Prices  on  Splint  and  by  Orders 
for  Smokeless. 


Cincinnati,  Ohio,  July  22. —  (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — This  week  finds  the  market  still 
in  an  uncertaia  state  but  with  a  little  life 
shown  here  and  there  in  the  signing  up  of 
contracts,  a  slight  advance  in  some  grades  of 
splint  coal  and  better  demand  for  some  of  the 
products  of  the  territory.  As  far  as  the  smoke¬ 
less  products  are  concerned  the  market  is  just 
the  same  with  no  activity  even  in  the  Poca¬ 
hontas  market  which  is  the  best  known  and 
most  widely  advertised.  The  New  River  pro¬ 
ducts  were  slightly  embarrassed  early  in  the 
week  by  a  sudden  access  of  egg  coal  into  the 
market  but  one  or  two  of  the  leading  pro¬ 
ducers  gladly  captured  the  welcome  “spot” 
offerings  at  schedule  price  and  this  aided  them 
to  better  delivery  of  egg  and  helped  the 
market.  There  was  therefore  during  the  rest 
of  the  week,  no  trouble  with  egg,  although 
jobbers  tried  to  “bear”  the  market  when  they 
discovered  that  there  had  been  some  spot  egg 
loose. 

One  of  the  reasons  that  smokeless  pro¬ 
ducts  are  firm  in  this  territory  is  because  the 
operators  are  wisely  refraining  from  crowding 
any  into  the  market  here  which  is  quiet,  with 
demand  dormant  generally,  for  the  time  being. 
On  the  other  hand  they  are  crowding  their 
product  into  the  tide  water  market  where 
there  is  room  for  it,  and  more  and  are  keep¬ 
ing  up  their  movement  fairly  to  the  usual 
volume.  This  relieves  the  territory  and  in¬ 
cidentally  saves  the  situation  to  some  extent 
with  the  splint  brethren.  A  pertinent  sug¬ 
gestion  of  the  condition  of  the  market  in  the 
interior  is  found  in  orders  sent  to  one  or  two 
of  the  local  offices  of  large  producing  com¬ 
panies  to  notify  patrons  that  on  and  after 
July  25  the  August  schedule  will  prevail.  This 
has  had  a  tendency  to  rouse  the  dormant 
market  and  at  the  close  of  the  week  the  orders 
and  contracts  are  fairly  active. 

The  Kanawha  market  has  not  yet  aroused  itself 
although  there  are  evidences  that  the  Rip  Van 
Winkle  nap  it  has  had  is  approaching  its 
close  for  there  is  a  rumbling  in  the  ovens  and 
furnaces  about  the  country  which  if  kept  up  a 
few  weeks  longer  will  stir  the  splint  market 
to  activity  or  many  prominent  operators  and 
financiers  of  this  city  are  badly  fooled,  and 
are  bad  prophets.  One  operator  speaking  for 
a  prominent  field  of  splint  territory,  said  this 
week  that  splint  mining  is  already  coming 
along  fairly  well  with  spot  prices  just  a  little 
below  contract  prices  but  nearer  to  them  than 
has  been  true  for  some  months  and  that  he 
would  prophesy  that  the  spot  prices  will 
catch  up  with  the  contract  prices  by  the  mid¬ 
dle  of  August,  and  will  pass  them  by  the  first 
of  September.  If  that  should  prove  to  be  true 
get  ready  to  hear  some  splint  “Hallelujas” 
from  this  direction  about  September  1.  This 
will  be  the  first  time  this  condition  has  ob¬ 
tained  in  a  full  year.  In  general  it  may  be  said 
of  the  present  that  while  prices  are  not  much 
better,  buying  is  better  because  of  a  desire  to 
get  in  on  the  July  prices. 

Some  spot  prices  reported  this  week  show  a 
little  better.  One  company  reports  Thacker 
run  of  mine  at  85  to  90  cents  spot;  1^  inch 
lump,  $1.10;  3-inch  lump,  $1.25;  and  these 
prices  generally  are  10  to  15  cents  above  C. 
&  O.  prices.  This  is  but  a  hint  of  prices  all 
along  the  line,  all  quiet  but  few  operators 
reporting  improvement,  some  enthusiastic 
souls  reporting  a  few  more  contracts  or  a 
few  more  sales  of  cars.  But  all  are  looking  for 
a  cataclysm  of  orders  before  many  weeks  and 
are  trembling  to  think  what  will  happen.  La¬ 
bor  will  be  scarce  for  Italian  miners  by  scores 
and  hundreds  are  leaving  the  mines  and  going 
back  to  Sunny  Italy  to  fight  for  their  flag. 
As  an  instance;  at  the  beginning  of  this  week 
100  started  for  New  York  to  embark;  three 
days  before  that  50  went  and  a  few  days  ear¬ 
lier  75  started  out  for  home.  Probably  seventy- 
five  per  cent  of  all  these  were  miners  and  the 
rest  railroad  workers. 

Cars  are  begining  to  be  “shy.”  Some  of  the 
mines  say  that  there  is  a  timidity  on  the  part 
of  railroad  managements  just  now  as  to  stat¬ 
ing  just  when  they  can  deliver  empties,  where¬ 
as  just  a  few  days  ago  one  could  name  the 
date  and  frequently  forgot  the  number  wanted 
and  shoved  about  twice  as  many  as  ordered 
onto  the  siding.  They  seemed  then  to  have 


a  fair  idea  of  the  size  of  the  yards  and  their 
capacity  for  empty  cars,  which  they  now 
suddenly  seem  to  have  lost.  The  market  is  a 
waiting  one  but  not  so  much  so  as  formerly. 


Cincinnati  News  Notes 

W.  R.  Johnson,  of  Smithers,  W.  Va.,  pres¬ 
ident  of  the  W.  R.  Johnson  Coal  Company,  of 
that  city,  was  in  Cincinnati  the  early  part  of 
the  week  calling  on  dealers. 

L.  N.  Buford,  president  and  Hugh  Buford, 
secretary  and  treasurer  of  the  Ashless  Coal 
Corporation,  Lothair,  Ky.,  were  visitors  in 
Cincinnati  early  this  week. 

Thomas  N.  Mordue,  Chicago  representa¬ 
tive  of  the  Castner,  Curran  &  Bullitt  Co.,  was 
a  visitor  to  the  officers  of  the  company  in  this 
city  this  week. 

G.  H.  Caperton,  president  of  the  New  River 
Coal  Company,  passed  through  Cincinnati 
Saturday  on  his  way  home  to  Charleston,  W. 
Va.,  from  Chicago,  where  he  had  been  on  a 
business  mission  for  several  days. 

Enoch  Carver,  of  Charleston,  W.  Va., 
father  of  W.  W.  Carver,  and  a  former  well- 
known  coal  man  of  this  city,  visited  his  son, 
who  is  resident  manager  of  Percy  Heilner  & 
Sons  in  Cincinnati,  over  this  week. 

The  present  rise  in  the  Ohio  River  has  given 
the  Pittsburgh  and  Kanawha  River  people 
a  chance  to  float  down  still  more  coal  and 
they  have  embraced  the  opportunity  and,  for 
the  Pennsylvania  mines  at  least,  it  is  likely  to 
be  the  last  chance  for  the  season,  until  the  fall 
rains  set  in.  This  week  the  Campbell’s  Creek 
Coal  Company  has  filled  its  elevators  and  the 
Pittsburgh  operators  have  sent  down  heavy 
tows  to  the  cities  and  towns  below  Cincin¬ 
nati  on  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi. 

It  is  understood  that  the  J.  T.  Hatfield 
Company,  which  lost  the  Convoy  in  the  recent 
tornado,  which  visited  Cincinnati,  has  decided 
not  to  try  to  raise  the  vessel.  It  has  been  dis¬ 
covered  that  it  has  been  broken  in  two  and 
otherwise  damaged  until  it  is  useless  to  try  to 
salvage  it.  The  government  will  likely  remove 
it  as  an  obstruction  to  navigation  and  the  in¬ 
surance  companies  will  be  asked  to  pay  the 
insurance.  Captain  Harry  Menke,  of  Pitts¬ 
burgh,  is  in  the  city  this  week  watching  for 
the  river  to  go  down  so  the  Queen  City  Coal 
Company  can  place  divers  at  work  under  his 
direction  to  raise  the  towboat  Fulton,  which 
went  down  at  the  same  time  the  Convoy  did, 
about  three  hundred  yards  from  the  Convoy. 

An  order  of  the  Cincinnati,  New  Orleans  & 
Texas  Pacific  Railway  Company,  and  the 
Louisville  &  Nashville  Railway  Company 
cancelling  tariff  rates  from  West  Virginia  coal 
fields  into  Central  Kentucky  important  towns 
and  cities,  has  been  suspended  by  the  Inter¬ 
state  Commerce  Commission  pending  estab¬ 
lishment  of  the  contentions  of  the  Cabin  Creek 
Coal  Company,  the  Clear  Creek  Coal  Com¬ 
pany,  and  the  Carbon  Fuel  Company,  of  this 
city.  The  cancellation  of  the  tariff  was  made 
by  the  Chesapeake  &  Ohio  Railway  because 
of  an  increase  of  rates  by  the  other  two  roads. 
The  old  rate  was  from  $1.10  to  $1.20  per  ton 
to  Central  Kentucky  points.  Of  this  the  C., 
N.  O.  &  T.  P.  Railway  it  was  claimed  made 
claim  to  60  to  70  cents  for  hauling  and  deliv¬ 
ering  to  the  other  roads  even  if  the  distance 
was  but  five  or  six  miles  and  in  some  cases  it 
was  not  over  seven  miles,  it  was  said.  By 
reason  of  this  the  other  roads  had  to  add  10 
cents  to  their  own  charges  which  the  coal 
companies  claimed  in  many  cases  swallowed 
up  the  entire  profit.  Manager  W.  J.  Magee 
of  the  Carbon  Fuel  Company,  C.  R.  Moriarity 
manager  of  the  Cabin  Creek  Consolidated 
Coal  Company  and  R.  A.  Dickson  appearing 
for  the  Clear  Creek  Coal  Company,  placed 
their  case  before  H.  E.  Kelly  representing  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission  in  a  hear¬ 
ing  at  Frankfort,  Ky.,  last  week.  The  railroads 
claimed  they  were  protecting  their  operators 
in  their  rates  and  in  their  contentions.  They 
also  averred  that  the  rates  were  justified  by 
the  physical  obstacles  to  be  overcome. 


Toledo  Market. 


Toledo,  Ohio,  July  22. —  (Special  Correspond¬ 
ence.) — Practically  everybody  in  the  trade  here 
agrees  that  there  is  a  slight  general  improvement 
noticeable  in  the  market  conditions.  Demand  is 
still  slow  but  there  is  a  stiffening  up  of  prices  that 
is  encouraging.  Lake  movement  has  been  slow 
throughout  the  season  as  compared  with  other 


years  and  there  will,  of  course,  be  some  slowing 
down  after  the  first  of  next  month,  owing  to  the 
price  increase  which  it  is  announced  will  be  en¬ 
forced  as  usual  after  the  first  of  August.  The 
new  coke  ovens  to  be  put  in  here  will  add  some¬ 
thing  to  the  amount  of  coal  shipped  in.  Railroads 
have  not  yet  begun  to  buy  and  coal  men  gen¬ 
erally  are  awaiting  with  great  anxiety  the  com¬ 
ing  of  a  change  in  this  connection.  Domestic 
trade  is  rather  slow  and,  in  fact,  a  general  slow¬ 
ness  characterizes  the  entire  market. 

Of  the  smokeless  coals,  Pocahontas  No.  3  is  in 
strong  demand  at  the  full  list  price  and  there  is 
no  cutting  in  this  grade  of  coal.  Contracts  are 
not  being  made  with  new  concerns  for  delivery 
until  later  in  the  season.  The  regular  price  in¬ 
crease  will  be  made  in  August.  Some  of  the  job¬ 
bers  are  complaining  of  a  difficulty  in  securing 
orders  for  smokeless  coal,  but  on  the  whole  the 
call  for  prepared  sizes  is  stronger  than  the  supply. 
Pocahontas  is  at  a  premium. 


F.  O.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

Smokeless — 

Toledo 

Mines 

Lump  and  egg . 

$2.00 

Mine  run  . 

1.25 

Hocking  movement  is 

slow  and  the  supply  not 

very  heavy.  Operators 

are  not  anxious 

to  mine 

coal  to  be  sold  for  a  song. 

F.  0.  B. 

F.  O.  B 

Hocking — 

Toledo 

Mines 

3-inch  lump  . 

1.50 

154 -inch  lump  . 

1.40 

J4-inch  lump  . 

1.80 

Egg  . 

1.25 

Nut  . 

1.15 

Mine  run  . 

1.10 

Massillon  movement  is  extremely  slow  and 
prices  not  strong. 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Massillon—  Toledo  Mines 

Lump  . $3.25  $2.50 

Washed  nut  .  3.25  2.50 


Pomeroy  coal  is  not  enjoying  any  great  activ¬ 
ity  nor  is  there  any  change  in  price. 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Pomeroy —  Toledo  Mines 

Domestic . $2.60  $1.60 

Egg  and  nut  .  2.35  1.35 

Kentucky  still  enjoys  a  fairly  good  demand,  and 
prices  are  holding  a  little  firmer  than  other  domes¬ 
tic  grades. 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Kentucky —  Toledo  Mines 

4-inch  lump  . $2.90  $1.65 

Egg  . 2.50  1.26 

Nut,  pea  and  slack . open  open 


West  Virginia  coal  is  enjoying  some  activity, 
the  low  prices  prevailing  on  this  coal  keeping  up 
a  movement  as  long  as  there  is  any  life  at  all  in 
the  coal  situation,  but  there  is  nothing  like  the 
trade  there  should  be. 


Kanawha  Gas — 

W-inch  lump  .  2.30 

Mine  run  .  2.20 

Fairmont — 

Ika/inch  lump  .  2.30 

li-inch  lump  .  2.20 

Mine  run  .  2.10 

F.  O.  B. 

Kanawha  Splint —  Toledo 

4-inch  lump  . $2.75 

2-inch  lump  .  2.65 

l4-inch  lump  .  2.40 

Mine  run  .  2.25 


1.05 

.95 

1.05 
.95 
.85 
F.  O.  B. 
Mines 
$1.50 
1.40 
1.15 
1.00 


The  Pittsburgh  No.  8  is  very  slow  in  demand 
here  and  can  be  bought  for  practically  the  buyer’s 
own  price.  This  condition  is  likely  to  continue  as 
long  as  the  railroads  hold  off  in  buying,  as  they 
have  been  the  strong  patrons  of  Pittsburgh  No.  8 
coal. 

Pittsburgh  No.  8 — 

154 -inch  lump  .  2.40  1.40 

i4-inch  lump  .  2.20  1.20 

Mine  rue  .  2.10  1.10 


Very  little  Youghiogheny  coal  is  sold  on  the 
local  market  and  prices  are  considerably  off  the 
list. 


Y  oughiogheny — 

Mine  run  .  2.45  1.20 

l^i-inch  steam  lump  .  2.55  1.30 

Blossburg  Smithing — 

Prepared  size  . 3.20  1.75 

Lilly  smithing,  prepared  size .  3.20  1.75 


Cambridge  is  selling  about  as  it  has  been  for 
several  months  past.  Prices  are  low. 


F.  O.  B. 


Cambridge —  Toledo 

Mine  run  . $2.10 

}4-inch  lump  .  2.20 

154-inch  lump  .  2.40 


F.  O.  B. 
Mines 
$1.10 
1.20 
1.40 


Cannel  is  holding  up  well  as  to  price,  but  the 
demand  is  somewhat  spotted,  coming  in  fits  and 
jerks. 


Kentucky  Cannel  lump  . $4.60  $2.75 

Pennsylvania  Cannel,  egg .  8.60  2.15 

Pennsylvania  Cannel,  lump .  4.20  2.75 

Ohio  Cannel  .  3-^5  3.00 


C.  M.  Anderson  of  the  Elk  River  Coal  &  Lum¬ 
ber  Company  of  Columbus,  visited  local  coal  of¬ 
fices  this  week. 


No.  4] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


St.  Louis  Trade. 


St.  Louis,  Mo.,  July  22— (Special  Correspond¬ 
ence.) — A  general  improvement  in  demand  for 
all  domestic  coals  is  noticeable  all  down  the  line. 
The  country  demand  is  much  stronger.  Oper¬ 
ators  in  all  districts  seem  to  be  working  closer 
together  than  in  former  years  and  as  a  conse¬ 
quence  prices  are  being  better  maintained. 

In  sympathy  with  the  high  grade  coals.  Stand¬ 
ard  coal  is  a  little  stronger  on  doinestic  sizes. 
Screenings  are  weaker.  Current  prices  are  as 


follows : 

Mine  St.  Louis 

6-inch  lump  . $1.00  $1.5754 

3x6  egg  .  I’OO 

2-inch  lump  . 85  1.4254 

No  2®^n;r.:; . 80  1.3754 

lJ/2-inch  screenings  . 70  1.27J4 

Dealers  are  taking  an  increased  tonnage  of 
Staunton  and  Mt.  Olive  coals.  Most  of  it  is  still 
going  on  contracts. 


6-inch  lump  . $1.25 

2-inch  lump  .  1-20 


2-inch  screenings 


1.8254 

1.7754 

1.2754 


Carterville  operators  report  business  much  im¬ 
proved  and  by  the  first  of  August  the  district,  as 
a  whole,  will  be  running  pretty  well  on  full  time. 
Domestic  business  from  both  south  and  north  is 
coming  in  freely  as  is  also  considerable  steam 
business  from  the  south. 


6-inch  lump  . 

6x3  egg  . 

3x2  nut . . . . . 

154-inch  screenings 


$1.35 

1.35 

1.20 

.70 


$2.0754 

2.0754 

1.9254 

1.4254 


Franklin  county,  as  a  whole,  seems  to  have 
about  all  the  domestic  business  it  can  comfort¬ 
ably  handle  without  being  behind  with  orders. 
Production  is  almost  full  and  domestic  orders 
are  just  keeping  abreast  of  it;  an  almost  ideal 
condition.  Steam  sizes  are  lagging  a  little.  Prices 
are  being  rigidly  maintained. 


6-inch  lump  . 

. $1.50 

.  1.50 

.  1.50 

.  1.35 

1)4 -inch  screenings  . 

$2.2254 

2.2254 

2.2254 

2.0754 

1.5254 


Anthracite  has  been  very  sluggish,  but  is  be¬ 
ginning  to  pick  up  considerably  and  will  prob¬ 
ably  be  quite  active  for  the  balance  of  the  month. 
House  holders  do  not  seem  to  take  the  usual  in¬ 


terest  in  stocking  up  early. 


Chestnut  . $7.35 

Stove  or  egg  .  7.10 

Grate  .  6.85 


Smokeless  and  coke  are  both  moving  very  well 
for  this  season  of  the  year. 


Gas  house  coke,  all  sizes . $4.00 

By-product  coke,  all  sizes .  4.25 

Smokeless  lump  or  egg .  4.50 

Smithing  .  ^-25 


Note. — Prices  on  Illinois  soft  coal,  f.  o.  b..  East 
St.  Louis,  Madison  or  Granite  City,  Ills.,  are  25^4 
cents  cheaper  than  the  above  named  rates  to  St. 
Louis,  Mo. 


Indianapolis  Trade. 


Indianapolis,  Ind.,  July  22. —  (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — Market  conditions  on  steam  and 
domestic  coal  continue  in  Indiana  about  the  same 
as  they  have  been  for  the  last  month.  About  the 
only  satisfactory  feature  of  the  situation  is  that 
prices  are  steady  even  if  they  are  low.  Operators 
and  dealers  seem  to  have  come  to  the  realiza¬ 
tion  of  the  folly  of  cutting  prices  in  order  to  get 
business.  There  is  practically  no  free  coal  on 
the  market,  nearly  all  of  the  producers  being  con¬ 
tent  to  get  out  just  what  the  contract  consumers 
demand.  The  movement  of  coal  from  the  mines 
continues  below  normal  for  July.  The  tonnage 
for  the  month  is  at  least  a  fourth  less  than  it  was 
in  July,  1914,  which  was  not  a  good  month.  The 
demand  for  domestic  coal  is  about  the  same  as 
usual  for  July.  Probably  the  total  consumption 
of  domestic  will  be  less  this  July  than  last.  The 
threshers  cause  a  slight  bulge  in  the  production 
of  domestic,  but  this  year  the  floods  have  de¬ 
stroyed  hundreds  of  acres  of  wheat  so  that  the 
threshing  season  will  be  cut  somewhat  shorter 
than  it  generally  is.  There  have  been  few  lucky 
breaks  in  favor  of  the  operators  and  dealers.  The 
sale  of  anthracite  is  below  normal  in  Indianapolis 
and  other  cities.  The  demand  for  smokeless  coal 
has  fallen  off,  but  better  business  is  anticipated 
for  August  and  September. 

The  following  prices  are  being  quoted  by  the 
Indiana  wholesalers : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Indiana —  Mines.  Indianapolis. 

No.  4  mine  run  . $1.10@1.20  $1.60@1.80 

Nos.  5  and  6  mine  run .  1.00@1.10  1.50@1.6O 

No.  1^-inch  steam  lump .  1.30@1.40  1.80@1.90’ 

Nos.  5  and  6  steam  lump....  1.20@1.30  1.70@1.8O 

No.  4  egg .  1.40@1.50  1.90@2.0a 

No.  4  nut  .  1.30@1.40  1.80@1.9() 


No.  5  egg  .  1.25@1.35  1.75@1.85 

No.  4  screenings . 80@  .90  1.30@1.40 

Nos.  5  and  6  screenings . 76@  .80  1.26@1.30 

Domestic  lump  .  1.40@1.50  1.90@2.00 

No.  1  washed  coal .  1.75  2.25 

No.  2  washed  coal .  1.65  2.15 

Brazil  block  domestic .  2.00@2.10  2.60@2.G0 

Southern  Indiana  Field — 

No.  5  mine  run .  1.00@1.05 

Domestic  .  1.40@1.50 

The  following  prices  are  being  quoted  by  the 
Indianapolis  retailers,  per  ton ;  Linton  No.  4 
forked,  $3.00 ;  Indiana  lump,  forked,  $2.75 ;  Indi¬ 
ana  lump  and  egg,  screened,  $2.50 ;  Kanawha 

lump,  forked,  $4.25 ;  Ohio  Hocking  lump,  forked, 
$4.25  ;  Ohio  Hocking,  washed  egg,  $4.50 ;  Kentucky 
lump,  $4.50;  Ohio  Jackson  lump,  forked,  $5.00; 
Blossburg  smithing,  $5.50 ;  Cannel  lump,  $6.00 ; 
Pocahontas  forked  lump,  $5.50;  Pocahontas  shov¬ 
eled  lump,  $5.00 ;  Pocahontas  mine  run,  $4.00 ; 
Pocahontas,  nut  and  slack,  $3.50 ;  Anthracite 
chestnut,  $7.75 ;  Anthracite  stove  and  egg,  $7.50 ; 
Anthracite  grate,  $7.25 ;  Connellsville  coke,  $6.00 ; 
Indianapolis  by-product  coke  (all  sizes),  $5.50. 

EXTRA  DELIVERY  CHARGE. 

Bags,  50c  a  ton  extra  ground  floor  or  dumped 
in  cellar. 

Bags,  75c  a  ton  extra,  carried  into  cellar. 

Charge  for  chute  or  wheelbarrow,  25c  a  ton. 

Coke,  bags,  60c;  bags  in  cellar,  80c. 


Detroit  Trade. 


Detroit,  Mich.,  July  22. —  (Special  Correspond¬ 
ence.)— FracticaWy  featureless,  except  for  its  in¬ 
activity,  the  local  coal  market  continues  the  drift¬ 
ing,  which  has  marked  its  course  for  two  months 
past,  and  which  appears  to  have  brought  it  no 
nearer  to  the  stronger  activity,  which  shippers 
have  been  looking  forward  to  with  hope. 

Despite  the  persistency  of  discouraging  condi¬ 
tions,  shippers  generally  retain  their  optimism  and 
hold  to  the  belief  that  the  long  expected  improve¬ 
ment  cannot  now  be  much  further  in  the  future. 
The  fact  that  a  better  balance  appears  to  exist 
between  the  volume  of  sales  and  the  quantity  of 
consignment  coal  brought  into  the  city  is  one  of 
the  small  changes  in  the  situation,  which  tends 
to  inspire  a  more  cheerful  sentiment. 

The  consignment  coal  remains,  however,  as  a 
troublesome  factor  in  the  market  and  while,  at 
present,  greater  steadiness  in  prices,  seems  to 
prevail,  there  remains  considerable  coal  which 
goes  on  sale  at  prices  under  schedule  to  assure 
its  removal  from  tracks  before  demurrage  ap¬ 
plies.  This  stock  includes  almost  all  sizes  and 
varieties  of  coal,  though  the  larger  sizes  of  smoke¬ 
less  are  not  plentiful.  The  supply  of  small  coal 
of  that  type,  however,  is  rather  in  excess  of  im¬ 
mediate  requirements. 

Almost  no  variation  in  prices  has  developed 
during  the  week.  Fine  coal  on  forced  sale  is  still 
obtainable  at  from  45  cents  upward  and  there  is  a 
good  quality  of  lump  selling  around  $1.00  and 
occasionally  a  trifle  lower. 

Orders  for  anthracite  are  still  coming  in  very 
slowly,  despite  the  efforts  of  shippers  to  stimulate 
interest  by  pointing  out  the  possibility  of  less 
prompt  delivery  a  few  weeks  later  in  the  season. 

In  the  rail-lake  trade  the  situation,  instead  of 
improving  appears  to  have  become  less  satisfactory 
than  it  was  during  the  earlier  months  of  the  navi¬ 
gation  season.  Shipments  from  practically  all 
loading  docks  on  Lake  Erie  are  lighter  than  for 
several  years.  Vessels  operated  by  shippers,  which 
have  been  able  to  obtain  coal,  are  many  of  them 
being  returned  up  the  lakes  without  cargo,  be¬ 
cause  of  the  slow  movement  of  coal  from  the 
mines,  while  wild  carriers  having  no  ore  con¬ 
tracts  to  fill,  are  obliged  to  wait  several  days  for 
an  upbound  cargo. 

^  One  large  shipper  in  Cleveland  received  orders 
a  few  days  ago  to  send  no  more  coal  to  Lake 
Superior  for  about  three  weeks,  owing  to  the  lack 
of  storage  space  on  docks  at  the  American  head 
of  the  lakes.  The  delay  in  distributing  the  coal 
delivered  there  has  resulted  in  crowding  most  of 
the  unloading  docks. 


Prices  in  the  local 

market  on  mine 

shipment 

orders  are  as  follows 

F.  0.  B. 

F.  0.  B. 

West  Virginia  Gas — 

Mines. 

Detroit. 

Three-quarter  lump . 

$2.36@2.40 

Mine  run . 

2.16@2.20 

Slack  . 

1.80@1.90 

West  Virginia — 

Four-inch  lump . 

.  1.35@1.60 

2.76@3.00 

Two-inch  lump . 

2.60@2.65 

Three-quarter  . 

.  1.00(V/W.10 

2.40(212.50 

Mine  run . 

2.30@2.40 

Nut,  pea  and  slack . 

1.90(®2.16 

Smokeless — 

Lump  and  egg . 

3.60 

Nut  . 

S.IO 

Slack  . 

Open 

Mine  run . 

Open 

Kentucky  Splint — 

Lump  . 

2.60@2.65 

Egg  . 

2.40@2.60 

Nut,  pea  and  slack . 

Fairmount — 

Three.quarter  steam  lump 

Mine  run . 

Slack  . 

Hocking  Valley — 
Shaker  three-inch  lump. . 

Shaker  egg  and  nut . 

Domestic  lump . 

Three-quarter  lump . 

Mine  run . 

Nut,  pea  and  slack . 


77 


Open 

Open 

.  .86®  .95 

2.25®2.85 

.  .70®  .80 

2.10®2.20 

Open 

Open 

1.60 

2.65 

1.15 

2.30 

1.35 

2.60 

.  1.25®1.30 

2.40®2.45 

.  1.00®1.10 

2.15@2.26 

Open 

Open 

Twin  Cities  Trade. 


Minneapolis  and  St.  Paul,  July  22. —  (Special 
Correspondence.) — Northwestern  coal  orders  are 
being  held  back  by  the  wet  weather.  Small  grain 
in  this  territory  seems  to  be  in  good  shape  for  a 
large  crop,  but  with  rains  almost  every  day,  the 
growth  of  $traw  is  very  heavy  and  the  grain  in 
much  of  the  territory  has  not  yet  begun  to  fill  out. 
As  a  consequence  threshing  will  be  very  much 
delayed. 

These  conditions  are  all  having  their  influence 
on  the  coal  business.  Dealers  do  not  want  to 
take  in  threshing  coal  until  they  are  sure  what 
the  crop  is  going  to  be,  and  as  yet,  many  things 
can  happen  to  prevent  a  large  yield  of  grain.  On 
the  other  hand  the  prospects  are  favorable  for  a 
good  crop.  If  there  is  no  rust  and  grain  (on 
account  of  the  heavy  straw)  does  not  lodge,  pros¬ 
pects  indicate  one  of  the  heaviest  crops  on  record. 
Corn  is  not  doing  so  well,  but  pasturage  is  heavy 
and  stock  is  flourishing. 

Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  all  the  prospects 
are  favorable,  well-posted  coal  men  do  not  be¬ 
lieve  the  trade  will  anticipate  its  requirements  to 
any  extent.  One  reason  for  this  is  found  in  the 
prospective  prosperity.  On  account  of  the  heavy 
grain  yield  it  is  expected  that  more  money  will  be 
required  this  season  to  move  the  crop.  This  may 
result  in  higher  interest  rates  than  usual.  Some 
dealers  who  made  loans  last  year  for  the  pur¬ 
pose  of  carrying  heavy  stocks  of  fuel  in  anticipa¬ 
tion  of  their  requirements  were  badly  pinched, 
on  account  of  the  advance  in  the  interest  rates, 
due  to  the  European  war.  This  year,  therefore, 
they  are  not  inclined  to  place  themselves  in  a 
position  where  they  will  be  at  the  mercy  of  the 
banks,  and  this  is  likely  to  have  a  tendency  to 
crowd  all  the  business  into  the  winter  months. 
If  an  abnormally  cold  winter  follows,  coal  may 
command  a  premium,  but  this  is  anticipating  what 
may  happen  three  or  four  months  hence,  and, 
therefore,  any  conclusions  are  largely  speculative. 

Prices  on  all  grades  of  bituminous  coal  range 
steady  at  circular  quotations  or  very  close  thereto. 
While  all  factors  in  the  trade  are  eager  to  secure 
all  business  possible,  and  are  exerting  themselves 
to  the  limit,  the  lesson  of  a  year  ago  is  still  fresh 
in  the  memory  of  sales  agents  and  there  is  no 
price-cutting  of  consequence.  Under  existing  cir¬ 
cumstances  this  policy  is  the  only  successful  one. 
Not  one  car  additional  of  coal  would  be  sold  if 
prices  were  ragged  and  demoralized.  Buyers  are 
not  withholding  orders  on  account  of  the  market, 
but  for  the  reasons  already  stated. 

Current  quotations  on  all  grades  of  coal  sold 
in  this  territory  are  as  follows : 

ANTHRACITE. 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Duluth  Minneapolis 
and  and 

Superior  St.  Paul 


Grate  .  $6.60  $7.80 

Egg  .  6.86  8.05 

Stove  .  6.85  8.05 

Nut  .  7.10  8.30 

Pea  .  6.60  6.70 

Buckwheat  .  4.00  6.20 


During  July  a  discount  of  twenty  cents  per  ton  is 
allowed  on  all  anthracite  except  pea  and  buckwheat. 


which  prices  are  net. 

BITUMINOUS. 

Splint,  screened  lump  and  stove....  $3.40  $4.36 

Splint,  dock  run  .  3.10  4.06 

Hocking,  screened  lump  and  stove...  3.40  4.36 

Hocking,  dock  run  .  3.00  3.96 

Youghiogheny,  gas,  lump  and  stove.  .  3.40  4.36 

Youghiogheny,  gas,  dock  run .  3.10  4.06 

Pittsburgh  vein,  lump .  3.40  4.36 

Pittsburgh  vein,  dock  run .  3.00  3.96 

Pocahontas,  screened  lump  or  egg....  4.75  5.71 

Pocahontas  screened  lump  and  egg 

mixed  . 4.60  6.46 

Pocahontas,  mine-run  .  8.26  4.21 

Cannel,  lump  .  6.25  6.21 

Smithing,  bulk  .  4.25  5.21 

Smithing,  in  lOO-lb.  sacks .  6.00  6.96 

Briquets,  anthracite  .  5.00  5.96 

Briquets,  smokeless  .  6.00  6.96 


In  the  Illinois  trade  the  range  of  prices  on 
southern  Illinois  product  on  the  various  sizes  is 
as  follows: 


Southern  Illinois  chunks  . $1.40@1.50  $3.55@3.70 

Southern  Illinois  egg  .  1.35@1.50  3.66@3.70 

Southern  Illinois  No.  1  nut .  1.35@1.50  3.55@3.70 

Southern  Illinois  No.  2  nut . 1.25@1.35  3.45@3.55 

Southern  Illinois  No.  3  nut .  1.20@1.25  3.40@3.45 

Southern  Illinois  run-of-mine.  . .  .  l.I5@1.25  3.36@3.4a 

Southern  Illinois  2  in.  screenings.  .75@  .80  2.95(®3.00 


Southern  Illinois  coal  includes  Franklin  county, 
Harrisburg  and  Williamson  county. 


78 


[July  24 


New  York  Trade. 


Anthracite  Market  Drags  With  No  Snap 
Visible — Bituminous  Spot  Demand 
Weak. 


Ofifice  of  The  Black  Diamond, 
New  York,  July  31. 

During  this  the  dullest  period  of  the  sum¬ 
mer,  there  is  scarcely  a  ripple  to  be  noticed 
in  the  anthracite  trade  from  week  to  week. 
This  situation  made  lie  summed  up  as  being 
one  dull  week  after  another,  and  very  little 
improvement  is  looked  for  before  the  middle 
of  August. 

About  the  hardest  thing  that  the  operators 
are  finding  to  do  at  the  moment  is  to  keep* 
production  restricted  in  line  with  the  very 
limited  demand  that  is  being  felt  for  domestic 
coal.  This  does  not  mean  that  trade  is  ab¬ 
solutely  dead,  for  a  good  volume  of  coal  is 
moving  all  the  time,  the  Lake  trade  calling 
for  regular  shipments  during  the  summer, 
while  the  all-rail  eastern  coal  trade  keeps 
calling  for  shipments,  although  in  greatly  re¬ 
duced  volume  to  what  obtained  during  the 
earlier  months  of  the  present  coal  year. 

At  tidewater,  one  finds  more  dullness  per¬ 
haps  than  at  any  other  centers  where  anthra¬ 
cite  enters  largely  into  general  consumption. 
This  can  be  attributed  to  the  fact  that  most 
of  the  independent  operators  take  chances  in 
shipping  surplus  coal  to  New  York  and  other 
tidewater  ports,  anticipating  that  because  of 
the  very  heavy  demand  for  coal  at  these  points, 
they  will  stand  a  chance  of  securing  buyers 
upon  favorable  terms.  At  the  moment,  New 
York  harbor  is  plentifully  supplied  with  all 
of  the  domestic  and  steam  sizes  of  coal,  a 
great  many  loaded  boats  of  the  latter  sizes 
lieing  practically  up  the  demurrage  stage  with 
sellers  facing  serious  losses  unless  they  sell 
promptly  at  fair  prices.  Concessions  are  still 
Ijeing  made  on  some  of  the  slow  domestic 
sizes,  chestnut  coal  at  the  moment  being  about 
the  most  stagnant.  The  demand  for  stove, 
which  is  the  most  favored  size,  is  not  too  good 
even  for  a  dull  month,  and  certain  shippers 
of  this  size  where  they  have  an  accumulation, 
are  very  willin.g  to  make  concessions  before 
facing  demurrage  charges. 

In  the  steam  size  situation,  the  tidewater 
markets  are  over  supplied,  and  consequently 
a  great  deal  of  buckwheat  coal,  principally  of 
the  inferior  and  medium  grades,  are  loaded  in 
boats  awaiting  buyers.  Rice  and  barley  are 
not  as  long  as  No.  1  buckwheat,  but  these 
sizes  are  very  plentiful  and  prices  low  if  the 
buyer  is  not  so  very  strict  about  quality. 
Choice  grades  of  rice  and  barley  are  prac¬ 
tically  out  of  the  market,  as  these  are  being 
taken  upon  contracts,  and  the  restriction  in 
mining  prevents  producers  from  securing  any 
surplus  of  any  amount.  Pea  coal  is  largely 
going  to  stock  piles,  so  light  is  the  demand 
for  it. 

The  Bituminous  Situation. 

Some  of  the  large  shippers  of  contract  coals 
report  a  very  fair  movement  of  these  coals,  but 
report  practically  no  inquiry  for  si:)ot  lots.  The 
spot  market  cannot,  therefore,  be  auoted  as 
being  improved.  One  hears  very  little  call  for 
spot  coals,  except  in  exceptional  cases  at  tide¬ 
water  where  someone  has  a  vessel  to  load, 
and  is  short  a  few  cars,  or  needs  an  unusual 
amount  of  bunkers  so  as  to  give  a  boat  quick 
dispatch.  The  two  lines  that  are  active  at  the 
moment  are  the  export  and  bunker  lines,  ex¬ 
port  coal  continuing  to  go  forward  in  large 
volume,  though  not  quite  as  heavy  as  was 
recorded  during  July,  when  for  the  first  time 
in  the  history  of  the  American  coal  trade,  sea¬ 
board  coal  exports  reached  the  1,000,000  ton 
mark. 

However,  there  has  been  a  very  radical  in¬ 
crease  in  the  demand  for  bunker  coals,  due  no 
doubt  to  the  trouble  in  Wales,  and  the  in¬ 
crease  in  the  tonnage  in  bunkers  together  with 
the  shipments  of  exclusive  cargo  lots,  will  no 
doid)t  at  the  end  of  the  month  show  up  as 
well  as  the  cargo  and  bunker  business  for 
June.  Baltimore  is  exporting  between  50,000 
and  00,000  tons  per  week,  while  Hampton 
Roads  is  running  between  140,000  and  150,000 
tons  per  week.  Bunkers  requirements  are  es¬ 
pecially  heavy  just  now  for  cargo  steamers, 
as  a  great  many  of  these  are  being  used  in 
carrying  war  munitions  to  Europe,  and  vessel 
owners  are  taking  very  large  bunker  tonnages 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


on  this  side  so  as  to  get  (|uick  dispatch  when 
they  reach  their  destination.  Consequently 
those  houses  engaged  in  the  bunkering  trade 
are  doing  very  well  at  the  moment. 

The  New  York  harbor  situation  is  very  quiet, 
with  a  great  deal  of  unsold  coal  being  available 
l)oth  at  the  loading  piers  and  in  boats.  Good 
grades  of  Pennsylvania  steam  coals  can  be 
purchased  on  the  basis  of  $1.10  to  $1.15  at  the 
mines  for  prompt  shipments,  while  at  New 
York  harbor  ports,  steam  coals  are  available 
at  $3.35  up.  fair  grades  at  $3.50,  and  choice 
grades  at  $3.65  to  $3.80. 

The  Vessel  Situation. 

The  coastwise  vessel  situation  is  not  mate¬ 
rially  changed.  Rates  are  slightly  weaker  for 
coastwise  charters,  though  prices  have  not 
been  changed  to  any  extent  since  last  quota¬ 
tion.  Off  shore  rates  are  some  easier,  and 
there  still  continues  to  be  a  good  demand  for 
schooners  for  taking  export  coal,  principally 
to  South  American  points. 

We  quote  current  rates  on  freight  as  fol¬ 
lows  : 

From  Hampton  Roads  to  Boston,  seventy- 
five  to  eighty-five  cents;  to  the  Sound,  seventy 
to  eighty  cents. 

From  New  York  rates  to  New  Haven  are 
thirty  cents.  New  London,  forty  cents,  and 
Providence  and  New  Bedford,  fifty  cents;  to 
Boston,  fifty-five  to  seventy  cents;  Portsmouth 
and  Portland,  fifty-five  to  seventy  cents;  to 
Bangor,  seventy  cents.  Harbor  rates  are  from 
eighteen  to  twenty  cents. 


Prices  on  gross  tons  of  bituminous  coals  are: 

F.  O.  B.  F.  0.  B. 

Somerset  County — 

Harbor. 

Mines. 

Best  grades  . 

. $3.85 

$1.25 

Medium  grades  . 

.  2.G0 

1.10 

Ordinary  . 

1.00 

Cambria  County — 

Best  Miller  vein . 

1.40 

Cheaper  grades  . 

.  2.60 

1.05 

Clearfield  County — 

Best  grade  . 

.  3.00 

1.35 

Ordinary  grades  . 

.  2.50 

.95 

Indiana  County — 

Best  grade . 

1,25 

Medium  grade  . 

.  2.50 

.90 

Maryland — 

Georges  Creek  big  vein . 

.  3.15 

1.65 

West  Virginia  Splint — 

Ordinary  grades  . 

.75 

Best  gas,  J^-'nch  lump . 

Best  grade,  run  of  mine . 

1.10 

.90 

Clas  slack  . 

.45®. 70 

New  York  Trade  Briefs. 

L.  S.  Evans,  president  of  the  Eastern  Coal 
&  Export  Corporation  of  Richmond,  Va.,  was 
in  town  Tuesday. 

J.  A.  Renahan,  vice-president  of  the  Smoke¬ 
less  Fuel  Company,  No.  1  Broadway,  was  on  a 
southern  trip  this  week. 

Joseph  Gordon,  one  of  New  York’s  best 
known  retail  coal  dealers,  is  visiting  the  Pana¬ 
ma-Pacific  Exposition  at  San  Francisco. 

W.  S.  Wolle,  general  eastern  sales  agent  of 
the  Lehigh  Valley  Coal  Sales  Company,  is 
spending  his  vacation  in  the  Adirondack  moun¬ 
tains. 

W.  A.  Marshall  of  W.  A.  Marshall  &  Co., 
No.  1  Broadway,  spent  several  days  of  this 
week  in  making  several  of  the  important  cities 
in  New  England. 

Lemuel  Burrows,  Jr.,  vice-president  and  gen¬ 
eral  manager  of  Castner,  Curran  &  Bullitt,  Inc., 
No.  1  Broadway,  left  on  Wednesday  for  White 
Sulphur  Springs,  Virginia. 

Among  the  retail  coal  companies  recently  in¬ 
corporated  under  the  New  York  State  laws  is 
W.  O.  Hughes  Coal  Company  of  Rome,  N.  Y., 
with  a  capital  stock  of  $5,000.  The  incorpora¬ 
tors  are  Michael  Duly,  William  O.  Hughes, 
and  Charles  B.  Connor,  all  of  Rome. 

E.  J.  Berwind,  president  of  the  Berwind- 
White  Coal  Mining  Company  of  No.  1  Broad¬ 
way,  is  on  the  American  Line  steamship  Phil¬ 
adelphia,  due  to  arrive  in  New  York  this  week¬ 
end.  Mr.  Berwind  sailed  about  seven  weeks 
ago  for  Italy  direct,  returning  via  Paris  and 
London. 

A  recent  dispatch  from  Elkins,  W.  Va.,  to 
the  Fairmont  Times,  states  that  Isaac  T.  Mann 
of  Bramwell,  W.  Va.,  president  of  the  Poca¬ 
hontas  Fuel  Company,  and  Pocahontas  Con¬ 
solidated  Collieries  Company,  has  a  very  bright 
chance  of  landing  the  republican  nomination 
in  that  state  for  United  States  senator. 

The  golf  members  of  the  Whitehall  Club  of 


which  many  of  the  New  York  coal  men  are 
members,  held  a  golf  tournament  at  Oakland 
Course,  Bayside,  Long  Island,  on  Tuesday  of 
this  week.  George  M.  Dexter  of  Dexter  & 
Carpenter,  Inc.,  was  present  in  the  interest 
of  the  coal  men,  and  gave  an  interesting  ac¬ 
count  of  himself  in  two  rounds  of  play. 

Samuel  E.  Vincent  of  the  well  known  firm  of 
Vincent  Brothers,  coal  dealers  of  Bridgeport, 
Conn.,  died  on  Monday  morning.  He  had 
reached  the  age  of  sixty-one.  Besides  being 
prominently  identified  with  the  coal  trade  of 
Bridgeport,  he  was  very  actively  identified  in 
other  lines  of  trade,  having  with  his  brother 
Allen  E.  Vincent,  established  the  first  chain 
of  cash  grocery  stores  in  Connecticut.  Mr. 
Vincent  was  at  one  time  president  of  the 
Bridgeport  Business  Men’s  Association,  and 
he  was  very  active  in  that  association,  espe¬ 
cially  as  to  legislative  matters. 

The  Cape  Cod  Canal  has  again  reduced  its 
tolls  for  bulk  carriers  and  fishing  vessels,  the 
reductions  in  many  instances  being  over  fifty 
per  cent  for  small  sized  craft.  The  privilege 
of  returning  free  when  light  is  withdrawn,  but 
the  regular  rates  that  have  prevailed  for  pass¬ 
ing  light  through  the  canal  are  sharply  scaled. 
For  single  passage  through  the  canal  the  new 
toll  to  vessels  having  aboard  800  tons  or  more 
of  cargo,  is  five  cents  per  cargo  ton,  against 
seven  cents  heretofore,  the  former  right  of 
returning  gratis  through  the  waterway,  if 
empty,  being  withdrawn.  Towage  rates  are 
also  lowered. 

On  Saturday,  Charles  C.  Rose,  superintend¬ 
ent  of  the  coal  mining  department  of  the  Dela¬ 
ware  &  Hudson  Co.,  died  at  his  home  at 
Scranton,  Pa.,  after  an  illness  of  several 
months.  Mr.  Rose  was  sixty-nine  years  of 
age,  and  had  been  with  the  Delware  &  Hud¬ 
son  Company  for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a 
century.  About  twenty-five  years  ago  he  be¬ 
came  identified  with  the  coal  company’s  en¬ 
gineering  department,  and  it  was  only  a  short 
time  after  this  that  he  was  put  in  full  charge 
of  all  the  company’s  operations.  He  was  rec¬ 
ognized  as  one  of  the  ablest  men  in  the  an¬ 
thracite  field,  and  his  death  will  prove  a  seri¬ 
ous  loss  to  the  anthracite  industry. 

Italian  laborers  still  continue  to  leave  the 
mining  regions  to  return  to  Italy  to  engage 
in  the  war  that  their  country  is  now  waging. 
Recently  in  these  columns  The  Black  Diamond 
called  attention  to  the  fact  that  a  large  num¬ 
ber  of  Italian  laborers  were  leaving  the  an¬ 
thracite  region.  Investigation  made  by  the 
Baltimore  &  Ohio  railroad,  discloses  that  more 
than  5,000  Italian  miners  have  left  the  West 
Virginia  regions  served  by  this  road.  This  in¬ 
vestigation  was  due  to  the  fact  that  the  offi¬ 
cials  of  the  railroad  found  that  the  tonnage 
of  coal  being  shipped  was  not  up  to  normal, 
fiotwithstanding  the  very  heavy  increase  in 
tonnage  for  tidewater  shipment  for  export. 
It  is  stated  that  approximately  25,000  Italians 
are  employed  in  the  coal  fields  of  West  Vir¬ 
ginia,  and  more  than  half  of  them  under  the 
Italian  laws  are  either  compelled  to  return  and 
fight  for  their  country,  or  face  imprisonment 
if  they  return  after  the  war  is  over.  West 
Virginia  is  therefore  faced  with  a  serious  labor 
shortage. 

Concerning  the  first  statement  of  the  Dela¬ 
ware,  Lackawanna  &  Western  Coal  Company, 
made  public  since  the  Supreme  Court  decree^ 
which  was  printed  last  week,  at  which  profits 
for  the  year  ending  June  30  were  stated  as 
approximately  ninety  per  cent  on  the  stock, 
an  official  of  the  coal  company  said  that  he 
wanted  to  forestall  a  criticism  which  he  ex¬ 
pected  the  statement  to  produce  on  the  ground 
that  the  profits  reported  by  the  Lackawanna 
were  on  their  face  proof  that  the  price  of  an¬ 
thracite  is  too  high.  “In  the  first  place,”  said 
this  representative,  “we  buy  our  coal  at  the 
mines  at  the  same  price  that  all  other  com¬ 
panies  pay.  In  the  second,  we  have  to  sell 
it  in  the  hardest  kind  of  a  competitive  mar¬ 
ket.  The  reason  we  make  money  is  that  we 
have  a  very  efficient  organization,  with  over¬ 
head  charges  no  larger  than  we  would  have 
if  we  did  a  business  of  only  a  million  tons 
a  year.  Our  profits  come  on  the  other  ten 
millions  or  so  that  we  sell.  In  other  words, 
our  selling  cost  per  ton  is  so  low  that  we  do 
not  need  a  wide  margin  between  cost  and  sell¬ 
ing  price  to  make  a  good  profit  on  our  vast 
business.” 


No.  4] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


79 


Philadelphia  Trade. 


Exports  Are  Looking  Up  But  Business  at 
Home  in  All  Sizes  Is 
Not  Good. 


Office  of  The  Black  Diamond, 
1400  Land  Title  Building, 
Philadelphia,  July  21. 

The  “export  bug”  seems  to  have  bitten  deep 
in  the  trade  with  headquarters  here  and  here¬ 
about.  In  offices  where  only  a  passing  inter¬ 
est  was  shown  in  shipments  abroad,  deep 
study  is  being  given  to  freight  rates  charters 
and  the  modus  operandi  of  exporting.  Even  with 
the  equipment  with  which  the  harbor  is  provided 
and  all  of  the  natural  facilities  that  Philadelphia 
has  for  exporting,  there  has  not  been  exhibited 
the  bulk  of  attention  to  exporting  coal  as 
has  been  shown  in  other  cities  of  the  Atlantic 
range.  True  there  were  four  or  five  firms  soon 
after  the  war  broke  out  that  paid  attention 
to  the  fact  that  coal,  sooner  or  later,  would 
be  needed  abroad  and  in  South  America,  and 
these  firms  have  gone  about  order  getting  and 
transporting  of  coal  without  any  great  to-do-, 
but  with  a  goodly  volume  of  results.  Within 
the  past  month  at  least  ten  firms  have  actively 
entered  the  competition  for  the  foreign  orders 
and  with  fair  success.  The  record  of  the  past 
week  on  charters  for  coal  hauling  shows  that 
Philadelphia  as  a  port  can  be  expected  to 
load  quite  an  amount  of  coal  in  the  next  few 
weeks.  Even  more  significant  than  this  is  the 
fact  that  direct  means  is  being  taken  by  other 
firms  for  coal  shipments  for  the  future.  At 
both  Port  Richmond  and  the  Greenwich  piers 
this  week,  thousands  of  tons  passed  over  that 
are  destined  for  foreign  ports.  At  Richmond 
in  one  day  there  were  five  boats  tied  up  to 
pier  18  that  were  receiving  coal  for  five  widely 
scattered  ports  abroad. 

Other  than  this,  there  has  been  no  change 
in  the  solid  bituminous  situation.  Things  are 
dead,  and  that  in  all  the  broad  scope  of  mean¬ 
ing  of  the  word.  Outside  visitors  have  been 
few  and  far  between  and  that  is  rightly  in¬ 
dicative  of  the  lack  of  jump  or  interest  in  a 
market.  The  pier  situation  has  resolved  itself 
into  the  former  situation  prior  to  the  first 
week  in  July.  True  there  is  not  as  much  coal 
on  demurrage  there  as  was  shown  in  the  last 
week  in  June,  but  some  of  it  is  getting  danger¬ 
ously  near  that  point. 

The  “line”  business  has  jogged  along  at  the 
same  easy  running  amount  with  the  industries 
taking  only  about  40  to  GO  per  cent  of  require¬ 
ments.  While  great  newspaper  talk  has  been 
made  of  the  resumption  of  business  by  the  big 
steel  plants,  coal  men  say  that  this  has  not 
been  reflected  in  the  least,  locally  by  coal  buy¬ 
ing  orders. 

Little  or  no  change  has  been  quoted  on  the 
bituminous  coals  coming  into  this  market.  As 
one  dealer  put  it,  “Our  prices  are  at  bed  rock 
and  they  can  only  move  one  way — and  there 
has  been  no  advance  noted  here.” 

Anthracite  Situation. 

Summer  quietness  has  almost  reached  the 
stage  of  monotony  with  the  hard  coal  peo¬ 
ple.  Orders  are  about  as  scarce  as  hen’s  teeth 
— and  that  is  some  scarce,  as  George  Ade 
would  say.  Western  business  has  not  been 
at  all  what  had  been  expected,  and  reports 
from  that  section  indicate  a  lack  of  interest 
until  the  last  of  September.  While  this  is 
taken  to  mean  that  the  dealers  are  not  putting 
out  coal  unless  cash  is  paid,  at  the  same  time 
it  hurts  here,  for  the  reason  that  summer  trade 
with  the  west  is  always  looked  for  to  keep 
the  office  forces  busy. 

Local  retailers  say  that  the  past  week  will 
show  the  smallest  movement  in  deliveries  of 
any  week  in  the  year. .  Filling  of  orders  given 
early  in  the  season  and  contract  business  is 
about  the  only  work  they  find  to  do.  Chest¬ 
nut  and  pea  sizes  are  practically  neglected, 
and  what  sales  are  being  made  are  way  below 
those  quoted  in  circular  prices.  Some  little 
betterment  has  been  shown  in  inquiries  for 
buckwheat  and  what  strength  is  shown  is  for 
egg  and  stove  sizes. 

Outside  of  one  of  the  big  companies,  the 
rest  are  working  on  short  time  at  the  mines. 


and  most  of  the  independents  are  restricting 
their  output. 


Philadelphia  Trade  Briefs. 

J.  W.  Burch  of  the  J.  H.  Weaver  Company, 
made  a  mid-week  trip  to  New  York. 

Fredric  Landstreet  of  the  Punxsutawney 
Coal  Company,  left  early  in  the  week  for  a 
trip  south. 

.Senator  Horace  Tompkins  of  the  Portage 
Coal  Mining  Company,  at  Portage,  Pa.,  was 
one  of  the  visitors  of  the  week. 

Fred  B.  Kerr  of  the  Potts  Run  Land  Com¬ 
pany  of  Clearfield,  Pa.,  dropped  in  to  say 
“howdy”  to  trade  acquaintances  the  latter  part 
of  the  week. 

W.  B.  Ways  of  the  Stoney  River  Coal  Com¬ 
pany  and  Ben  Stevens  of  Pullman  &  Stevens, 
left  last  week  for  a  fishing  trip  in  the  hinter¬ 
lands  of  West  Virginia. 

S.  B.  Gaucher  of  Pittsburgh,  who  is  con¬ 
nected  with  the  National  Fireproofing  Com¬ 
pany,  and  is  interested  in  coal  mines  on  the 
Ohio  River  was  a  trade  visitor. 

E.  J.  Frauenhaim  of  the  Logansport  Coal 
Company  of  Pittsburgh,  was  a  visitor  at  the 
coal  offices  of  the  city  this  week.  Mr.  Frauen- 
heim  is  making  a  tour  of  the  Atlantic  Seaboard. 

E.  H.  Brady,  who  has  had  considerable  ex¬ 
perience  in  the  sales  field  in  New  England, 
has  joined  the  forces  of  S.  M.  Martin  &  Co. 
He  will  be  located  in  the  local  territory  for  the 
present  though  it  is  expected  that  with  the 
opening  of  the  fall  he  will  return  to  Con¬ 
necticut. 

John  Jamison  and  David  E.  Williams,  Jr., 
of  D.  E.  Williams  &  Co.,  went  abroad  three 
weeks  ago  in  search  of  export  business.  They 
have  communicated  with  the  office  here  and 
have  announced  their  safe  arrival.  It  is  ex¬ 
pected  that  they  will  return'in  the  next  couple 
of  weeks  in  accordance  with  their  plans  when 
they  were  last  heard  from. 

Under  the  provisions  of  the  anthracite  coal 
tax  law  the  first  of  the  reports  of  the  coal 
companies  of  their  output  of  coal  for  the  mar¬ 
ket,  subject  to  the  tax,  was  received  at  the 
office  of  the  Auditor  General  of  this  state  on 
Tuesday  of  this  week.  Until  further  notice 
these  reports  must  be  filed  by  the  20th  of  each 
month  or  the  mine  owners  stand  liable  to  the 
penalty  clause. 

In  the  death  of  Adam  S.  Body,  who  died  at 
his  home  in  Shenandoah  on  Saturday,  the  Phil¬ 
adelphia  &  Reading  Coal  &  Iron  Company 
lost  the  second  of  their  division  superintend¬ 
ents  in  the  past  two  months.  Mr.  Boyd  had 
charge  of  the  operation  in  the  Ashland,  Gilber- 
ton  &  Girardville  districts.  The  immediate 
cause  of  his  demise  was  heart  failure.  He  was 
one  of  the  best  known  mining  men  in  Eastern 
Pennsylvania,  and  his  advice  was  sought  in 
the  big  mining  operations  of  the  anthracite 
district.  He  rose  from  the  ranks.  He  was 
55  years  of  age. 

The  New  York  golfers,  who  have  “dared” 
the  golfers  of  the  trade  in  this  city  to  attend 
a  match  to  be  held  in  the  fall  may  have  things 
their  own  way,  but  there  is  a  group  of  the 
local  coal  men  who  are  about  ready  to  utter 
a  defi  to  those  men  of  New  York,  who  think 
that  they  know  something  about  playing 
quoits.  Three  or  four  of  the  Philadelphia 
men  have  become  such  enthusiasts  in  the 
game  that  it  is  said,  and  on  good  authority 
that  they  play  well  into  the  evening,  and 
when  the  pegs  are  no  longer  to  be  seen  they 
pin  lightning  bugs  on  them  in  order  to  con¬ 
tinue  the  game. 


New  England  Trade 


Boston,  Mass.,  July  22. —  {Special  Correspond¬ 
ence.) — ^A  further  slowing  up  in  the  demand 
for  anthracite  and  bituminous  is  noted 
throughout  New  England  and  particularly  at 
this  point.  Many  of  the  wholesale  houses  have 
taken  advantage  of  the  quietness  and  start 
their  employees  on  their  summer  vacations. 

The  easing  up  in  the  contract  demand  for 
bituminous  has  taken  the  local  trade  some¬ 
what  by  surprise  and  many  of  the  trade  are  at 
a  loss  to  give  a  satisfactory  reason  for  condi¬ 
tions.  One  agent  says  the  lack  of  new  busi¬ 
ness  may  possibly  be  due  to  the  fact  that  re¬ 
cent  rains  have  given  a  large  number  of  bitu¬ 
minous  consumers  ample  water  power  to  run 


their  plants.  The  real  reason,  another  house 
says,  is  that  practically  all  of  the  big  New 
England  contracts  have  been  booked  and  that 
for  the  next  month  or  so  wholesalers  will  be 
obliged  to  depend  entirely  on  odd-lot  buying 
from  here  and  there. 

Another  unexplainable  condition  is  that  the 
European  demand  for  bituminous  has  fallen 
off  recently,  as  has  the  bunker  business,  and 
the  result  has  been  a  larger  accumulation  of 
New  River  and  Pocahontas  at  Hampton 
Roads  ports.  As  stocks  at  Southern  ports 
increase,  shippers  are  more  anxious  to  do  bus¬ 
iness,  and  prices  grow  easier.  Just  now  New 
River  and  Pocahontas  are  being  ofifered  at  less 
than  the  circular  price  of  $2.85  f.  o.  b.  Hamp¬ 
ton  Roads  price.  At  Mystic  Wharf,  Boston, 
the  spot  market  is  flat  and  nominal  at  about 
$3.63  per  ton  on  cars  for  Southern  coals.  Lit¬ 
tle  Georges  Creek  is  offered  at  that  point  and 
prices  for  same  are  reported  as  firm  at  $3.90 
a  $4.00  per  ton  on  cars.  Pennsylvania  bitu¬ 
minous  is  really  weak,  although  no  material 
change  in  prices  is  noted.  Shippers,  however, 
are  very  anxious  to  sell,  which  would  indicate 
large  stocks  on  hand. 

Many  of  the  local  wholesale  anthracite 
houses  say  the  all-rail  demand  for  prepared 
sizes  holds  up  remarkably  well  in  view  of  the 
semi-stagnant  condition  of  the  cargo  end.  We 
know  of  one  house  alone  that  sold  125  cars  of 
coal  within  a  week,  which  is  a  very  creditable 
showing  when  general  conditions  are  taken 
into  consideration.  But  dealers  have  not  lost 
hope  by  any  means.  Prospective  buyers  have 
been  in  the  market  and  will  undoubtedly  place 
orders  before  the  end  of  July.  Retail  dealers 
as  a  whole  are  busier  than  they  have  been  and 
in  many  instances  are  getting  stocks  down  to 
a  point  where  re-orders  will  be  necessary. 

Of  the  prepared  sizes,  egg  and  nut  seem  to 
be  in  better  demand  than  stove.  Pea  is  mov¬ 
ing  better,  but  cannot  really  be  called  active. 
Prices  appear  firm  notwithstanding  the  volume 
of  buying,  a  fact  undoubtedly  due  to  the  marked 
restriction  of  output.  Many  of  the  mines  are 
operating  but  three  days  a  week.  The  spot 
market  at  Mystic  Wharf  is  dull,  with  stove 
and  egg  held  at  $6.10  per  ton  on  cars,  and  nut 
at  25  cents  per  ton  more.  The  shipment  of 
anthracite  to  the  Provinces  has  decreased  no¬ 
ticeably,  consumers  located  there  evidently 
holding  off  for  lower  freight  rates.  Rates, 
however,  are  more  likely  to  advance  than  de¬ 
cline. 

The  Southern  freight  rate  market  is  senti¬ 
mentally  easier,  but  rates  have  not  changed 
noticealily.  The  general  asking  rate  for  space 
from  Hampton  Roads  ports  to  Boston  is 
seventy-five  to  eighty  cents  per  ton,  while 
from  Baltimore  to  Boston  they  range  from 
seven  to  ten  cents  per  ton  more.  The  demand 
for  Southern  charters  is  quieter.  Anthracite 
space  is  in  lighter  demand,  but  rates  for  same 
hold  firm  at  fifty  to  fifty-five  cents  per  ton 
from  New  York  to  Boston.  Several  of  the 
anthracite  barge  owners  are  getting  return 
cargoes  of  ice  from  Maine  points.  They  get 
about  seventy-five  or  eighty  cents  per  ton  for 
carrying  ice  from  say  Boothbay  Harbor  to 
New  York  and  have  ten  days  to  load  and 
discharge  cargoes,  during  which  freight  rates 
are  paid. 


New  England  Trade  Notes. 

The  Hocking  Coal  Lands  Company,  of  Au¬ 
gusta,  with  a  capital  of  $250,000,  has  been 
granted  a  Maine  charter.  The  incorporators 
are:  Ernest  L.  McLean,  Frank  E.  Southard, 
both  of  Augusta  and  E.  M.  Leavitte,  of  Win- 
throp.  Me. 

S.  Austin  Thayer,  a  Brockton  coal  dealer, 
died  recently  after  a  long  illness.  Mr.  Thayer 
was  63  years  old,  was  born  at  Randolph  and 
spent  many  years  of  his  life  there.  He  went 
to  Brockton  fifteen  years  ago.  Mr.  Thayer  is 
survived  by  a  wife,  a  son  and  two  brothers. 

From  January  1  until  June  30,  the  Island 
Creek  Coal  Company  turned  out  1,013,221  tons 
of  bituminous;  during  the  same  period  last 
year  the  output  amounted  to  1,158,674  tons. 
In  each  of  the  first  six  months  of  this  year 
there  has  been  a  decrease  in  production  as 
compared  with  1914. 


Diedrich  Denker,  president  of  the  Meyer- 
Denker-Sinram  Company  of  New  York  and 
Mrs.  Denker  left  the  middle  of  July  for  a  two 
months’  trip  as  follows:  Chicago,  Denver,  Salt 
Lake  City,  Yellowstone  Park,  Los  Angeles, 
San  Diego,  Santa  Barbara,  Delmonte,  San 
Francisco  and  then  through  the  Panama 
Canal  to  New  York. 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[July  24 


80 


Buffalo  Trade. 


Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  July  22. — The  anthracite  ship¬ 
ments  by  lake  were  on  a  good  scale  last  week, 
amounting  to  119,500  tons,  which  cleared  as 
follows:  Duluth-Superior,  66,200  tons;  Port 
Arthur,  12,000;  Green  Bay,  11,000;  Milwaukee. 
10,000;  Chicago,  8,700;  Ashland,  6,000;  Racine, 
3,000;  Hancock,  2,000;  Kincardine,  500.  The 
week  showed  but  little  less  activity  than 
recent  preceding  weeks,  but  the  near  future 
is  likely  to  show  some  decline.  Upper-lake 
docks  are  well  supplied  with  coal  and  until 
much  of  this  is  removed  there  will  be  a  falling 
off  of  shipments  from  this  port.  The  large 
companies  are  already  curtailing  their  oper¬ 
ations,  and  though  this  is  an  early  date  for 
such  a  step  to  be  taken  it  is  made  necessary 
by  the  fact  that  shipments  began  on  a  heavy 
scale  early  in  the  season.  The  fall  shipments 
will  be  large  in  anticipation  of  trouble  at  the 
mining  regions  when  the  scale  comes  up  for 
deliberation  next  spring. 

Dealers  are  ordering  scarcely  any  anthracite 
at  present  and  there  is  very  little  doing  with 
any  of  the  companies.  The  outlook  is  for  quiet 
times  in  the  trade  in  the  near  future  and  most 
dealers  are  carrying  fair  supplies,  which  are 
not  being  depleted  to  any  extent. 

Bituminous  trade  is  slowly  improving  and 
shippers  notice  that  orders  are  being  placed 
with  more  freedom  than  several  weeks  ago. 
Domestic  business  in  industrial  lines  is  in¬ 
creasing,  while  the  number  of  plants  busy 
with  foreign  orders  is  also  larger.  Reports 
from  the  steel  trade  are  favorable  and  many 
plants  are  now  working  nearly  to  capacity. 
There  is  more  strength  than  for  some  time 
in  the  coke  industry.  The  lake  trade  is  still 
on  a  small  scale,  with  not  much  prospect  of 
betterment  for  several  weeks.  The  different 
ports  are  still  fairly  well  supplied  with  coal 
and  not  much  interest  is  being  taken  as  yet 
in  getting  in  more. 

Coal  prices  are  weak,  particularly  slack,  but 
there  is  no  greater  weakness  prevailing  than 
heretofore.  Some  call  the  slack  market 
stronger  than  several  weeks  ago,  but  there  is 
much  room  for  improvement.  A  pretty  large 
amount  of  consignment  coal  is  being  shipped 
into  the  market  and  this  feature  depresses  the 
price  situation.  Spot  business  is  on  a  very 
small  scale  and  there  is  always  plenty  of  coal 
offering.  With  trade  showing  some  improve¬ 
ment,  however,  it  is  expected  that  prices  will 
soon  show  a  gain. 


Buffalo  Trade  Briefs. 

H.  S.  Hastings,  treasurer  of  the  Shawmut 
interests,  was  a  visitor  here  this  week. 

The  Roberts  Bros.’  picnic,  which  was  given 
on  July  17th,  was  the  usual  success,  being 
attended  by  more  than  200  guests  from  many 
points,  including  New  York,  Chicago,  Pitts¬ 
burgh,  Cleveland,  Minneapolis  and  elsewhere. 
This  picnic  was  first  given  in  1891,  and  every 
year  since,  except  1910,  when  E.  C.  and  W. 
T.  Roberts,  were  both  away,  and  C.  T.  Rob¬ 
erts,  the  youngest  brother,  was  already  in 
Chicago.  Begun  as  a  fishing-day  off  among 
friends  in  the  coal  trade,  it  after  awhile  set¬ 
tled  down  to  a  regular  excursion  around 
Grand  Island  and  down  the  Niagara  River, 
and  in  late  years  no  other  trip  was  thought  of. 
Closing  as  it  possibly  does  this  long  series  of 
unbroken  fine  times,  this  picnic  was  perhaps 
the  most  successful  one  of  them  all,  and  as 
one  of  the  attendants  remarked  was  a  great 
tribute  to  the  popularity  of  the  Roberts  Bros., 
there  being  so  many  busy  men  from  such  a 
wide  territory  eager  to  accept  the  annual  in¬ 
vitation.  There  was  nothing  formal  about  the 
picnic,  though  the  usual  ball  game  was  played 
at  the  principal  stop,  the  Smooth  and  Slick 
Club,  on  Grand  Island.  The  boat  returned  to 
Buffalo,  reaching  her  dock  at  sunset  in  time 
for  those  who  did  not  wish  to  leave  at  once 
for  home. 

James  W.  Ganoe,  a  well-known  Allegheny 
Valley  opertor,  died  suddenly  at  his  home  at 
Phillipston,  Pa.,  on  July  18th,  aged  about  80 
years.  He  had  been  engaged  in  mining  oper¬ 
ations  in  that  territory  for  forty  years  or  so, 
previous  to  which  time  he  had  been  engaged 
successfully  in  oil  and  lumber  business.  His 
last  mine,  the  Montrose,  was  sold  out  not 
long  ago  on  account  of  his  ill  health,  but  he 
still  owned  the  general  store  in  Phillipston, 
which  he  had  maintained  for  a  long  time.  It 
was  under  the  management  of  his  son,  Charles 
Ganoe.  For  some  time  the  deceased  had  not 


been  in  good  health,  suffering  from  heart 
disease,  but  against  the  better  judgment  of  his 
friends  and  perhaps  himself,  he  attended  the 
Roberts  Bros.’  picnic  at  Buffalo  on  the  day 
before  his  death.  It  was  observed  by  all  that 
he  was  not  his  usual  self  and  he  went  to  the 
hotel  and  to  bed  as  soon  as  the  boat  returned 
from  the  trip  around  Grand  Island.  He  was 
taken  home  with  difficulty  the  next  day,  dying 
soon  after  arrival  there.  He  had  been  a  cap¬ 
tain  in  the  Civil  War  and  bore  an  excellent 
war  record.  His  lively  disposition  and  good 
business  talent  made  him  well-known  and 
liked  throughout  Western  Pennsylvania  and 
beyond.  He  leaves  a  wife  and  grown-up 
children. 


Baltimore  Trade. 


Baltimore,  July  22. —  (Special  Correspondence.) 
— Everything  seems  to  point  to  better  times  com¬ 
ing  in  the  coal  trade.  Whether  this  upward  move¬ 
ment  for  improved  conditions  is  coming  gradually 
or  will  arrive  with  a  rush  after  the  first  signs  of 
betterment  is  a  point  of  doubt.  But  most  coal 
men,  despite  the  fact  that  demand  and  prices  have 
not  improved  to  an  appreciable  extent  as  yet,  feel 
that  there  can  no  longer  be  a  doubt  that  better 
times  are  at  hand. 

The  railroads  are  at  last  in  the  market  for  sup¬ 
plies  in  anticipation  of  heavier  hauling,  the  steel 
works  are  filling  up  with  orders,  general  business 
conditions  are  improved  and  the  export  coal  trade 
is  holding  up  in  splendid  shape.  During  the  past 
week  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad  came  for¬ 
ward  with  a  big  equipment  order  for  2,000  steel 
hopper  cars,  and  this  was  frankly  stated  to  be  in 
line  with  an  expected  great  increase  in  coal  ton¬ 
nage  shortly.  The  Maryland  Steel  Works  is  busy 
in  many  of  its  departments,  with  other  big  work 
in  sight,  and  the  machine  shops  and  smaller  iron 
plants  of  the  city  are  working  overtime  on  war 
and  other  orders.  It  is  not  to  be  denied  that 
there  is  still  a  certain  amount  of  depression  in 
other  lines,  but  everything  is  now  hopeful  for  a 
change  right  along  the  course  of  trade. 

That  the  export  business  of  the  port  on  coal 
is  holding  up  well  is  shown  by  the  fact  that 
57,846  tons  was  exported  from  here  during  the 
past  week,  an  increase  of  about  two  thousand 
tons  over  the  week  previous.  That  the  month’s 
shipments  will  exceed  200,000  tons  is  apparently 
assured. 

At  the  mining  centers  there  is  talk  of  this  or 
that  mine  starting  up  or  of  increasing  production, 
despite  the  fact  that  coal  is  still  offering  very 
cheap  in  many  places.  Better  grades,  as  is  nearly 
always  the  case,  are  beginning  to  tighten  up,  and 
that  the  whole  list  will  soon  be  touched  for  the 
better  is  apaprently  assured. 

Prices  to  the  trade  at  the  mines  may  be  quoted 


as  follows : 

Fairmont — 

Three-quarter  . 

F.  O.  B. 
Mines. 

. $0.80@  .85 

. 70@  .80 

F.  O.  B. 
Baltimore. 
$2.23@2.2S 
2.13@2.23 
1.88@1.93 

Slack  . 

. 45@  .50 

Somerset — 

Best  . 

Good  . 

.  1.25@1.30 

.  1.10@1.15 

2.43@2.48 

2.28@2.33 

W.  M.  R.  R.— 
Freeport  . 

1.93@1.98 

B.  &  O — 

Freeport  . 

. 75@  .80 

1.93@1.9S 

P.  R.  R.— 

Best  South  Fork . 

Miller  Vein  . 

Ordinary  . 

.  1.35 

.  1.10@1.15 

.  .90 

2.78  @1'.  83 
2.08 

Summer  deliveries  of  fair  proportion  are  being 
made  here  of  anthracite  for  household  use,  but 
the  steam  sale  business  is  very  unsatisfactory. 
Most  dealers  here  have  come  to  recognize  the 
summer  season  as  a  necessary  evil,  however,  and 
they  are  philosophical  enough  to  say  that  most 
of  the  delayed  trade  will  be  made  up  in  the  late 
summer  and  early  fall. 

The  Baltimore  and  Ohio’s  $2,500,000  equipment 
order,  including  2,000  steel  hopper  cars,  was  dis¬ 
tributed  between  the  American  Car  &  Foundry 
Company,  the  Pressed  Steel  Car  Company,  and 
the  Cambria  Steel  Company. 

In  what  is  claimed  as  a  record  for  speed,  the 
Maryland  Steel  Company  has  delivered  to  the 
■A..  H.  Bull  Steamship  Company  the  new  steam¬ 
ship  Edith,  one  of  nine  vessels  building  by  the 
marine  department  of  the  works.  The  keel  was 
laid  February  16  for  this  338-foot  ship,  and  by 
completing  her  three  months  ahead  of  contract 
time  the  steel  concern  wins  a  $9,000  bonus. 

The  first  coal  to  be  loaded  here  for  some  time 
for  the  South  African  French  colonies  was 
cleared  during  the  week  on  the  British  steamer 
Black  Friargate. 


Denver  Trade. 


Denver,  Col.,  July  22. —  (Special  Corrspond- 
cnce.) — While  the  local  retail  business  still 
continues  dull,  there  seems  to  be  a  somewhat 
better  demand  for  all  grades  from  country 
dealers.  Cold  rains  and  in  some  instances 
severe  hail  storms  have  served  as  sharp  re¬ 
minders  of  the  season  only  a  few  months 
away,  and  there  has  been  an  increase  in  the 
volume  of  orders  which  have  also  been  more 
liberal  in  extent. 

Lignite  operators  report  a  slightly  better 
business  for  the  week,  average  running  time 
for  the  district  being  about  two  days.  There 
is  much  activity  throughout  the  Northern  dis¬ 
trict  in  preparation  for  winter  months. 

Trinidad  mines  are  all  busy.  Steel  mills 
requirements  are  unusually  heavy  and  there 
is  a  better  output  on  storage.  Walsenburg 
and  Routt  county  also  report  a  decided  in¬ 
crease  in  storage  bookings  as  compared  with 
last  week. 

All  grades  of  slack  are  in  slow  demand  with 
prices  unchanged  from  last  week. 

The  following  prices  are  ruling  for  lignite 
f.  o.  b.  mines:  For  Denver  delivery,  lump, 
$2.35  to  $2.65;  mine  run,  $1.50  to  $1.65;  slack, 
$1.05  to  $1.25.  Points  outside  of  Denver,  lump, 
2.50;  mine  run,  $1.55  to  $1.65;  slack,  $1.05. 


Canon  City  District —  Lump 

For  shipment  May  and  June . $2.50 

For  shipment  July  and  Aup:ust .  2.76 

Add  26  cents  to  above  prices  for  washed  nut. 


Nut 

$2.00 

2.25 


Walsenburg  District — 

For  shipment  May  and  June .  2.50  2.00 

For  shipment  July  and  August .  2.75  2.25 

Washed  nut  26  cents  per  ton  additional. 

Chestnut,  $1.26  for  entire  season. 

Trinidad  Distri.-t — 

For  shipment  May  and  June .  2.00  1.71 

For  shipment  July  and  August . 2.00  1.71 

Routt  County  District — 

For  shipment  May  and  June .  2.60  2.01 

For  shipment  July  and  August .  2.76  2.21 


Western  Slope  District — 

For  shipment  May  and  June .  2.25  .... 

For  shipment  July  and  August .  2.60  .... 

From  Baldwin,  shipments  for  points  east  of  Denvet 
are  76  cents  per  ton  less  than  Walsenburg  prices. 


Denver  News  Notes. 

Guy  Fox,  manager  of  the  New  Fox  mine  at 
Marshall,  in  the  Northern  lignite  district,  is 
lying  at  the  point  of  death  as  the  result  of  a 
recent  accident.  A  few  days  ago,  while  run¬ 
ning  a  train  of  cars  down  a  grade  at  the  mine, 
he  lost  control  of  the  locomotive  and  in  some 
unaccountable  manner  was  crushed  between 
two  cars.  He  was  injured  internally,  but  has 
a  chance  for  recovery. 

The  Rocky  Mountain  Fuel  Company  is 
planning  extensive  improvements  that  will 
make  possible  a  greatly  increased  output  this 
fall  and  winter  in  its  holdings  in  the  North¬ 
ern  lignite  district.  One  hundred  men  will 
shortly  begin  the  work  under  the  direction  of 
expert  engineers.  The  Shamrock  is  to  be  made 
a  shipper  by  the  completion  of  a  railroad  spur 
new  being  built  from  the  Puritan  spur  direct 
to  the  Shamrock  shaft.  A  much  larger  force 
will  be  employed  at  both  mines  beginning 
October  1. 

Colorado  coal  operators  have  arranged  to 
meet  the  requirements  of  the  new  workmen’s 
compensation  law  which  becomes  effective 
August  1,  by  the  organization  of  a  mutual 
insurance  company  at  a  recent  meeting  in 
Denver.  It  will  be  known  as  the  Mutual  Li¬ 
ability  Insurance  Company. 

Practically  all  of  the  operators  in  the  state 
will  carry  their  own  insurance  rather  than  in 
the  state  fund  or  in  regular  insurance  com¬ 
panies.  The  Rocky  Mountain  Fuel  Company 
and  the  Victor-American,  two  of  the  largest 
concerns  in  the  state  are  members  of  the  mu¬ 
tual  organization.  The  Colorado  Fuel  &  Iron 
Company  will  it  is  said,  carry  its  own  insur¬ 
ance.  Incorporation  papers  have  been  pre¬ 
pared  and  the  following  named  as  directors: 
D.  C.  Brown,  S.  S.  Murphy,  Harry  Van  Mater, 
S  .M.  Perry,  Lewis  A.  Hayden,  W.  W.  Curtis, 
J.  A.  Osgood,  William  Harris  and  R.  L.  Snod¬ 
grass.  The  mutual  company  will  write  insur¬ 
ance  for  the  operators  on  a  basis  of  $4.60  per 
$100  of  their  payrolls.  It  is  stated  that  the 
business  can  be  carried  for  $4  on  the  $100 
basis  and  a  surplus  accumulated  to  take  care 
of  the  first  $25,000  loss  and  to  reinsure  the 
excess.  In  the  event  of  an  unusual  catas¬ 
trophe  before  the  accumulation  of  $25,000,  the 
contingency  will  be  met  by  assessment. 


Vol.  55.  No.  5 


CHICAGO 

COLUMBUS 


JULY  31,  1913 


NBW  YORK 
PITTSBURGH 


$3.00  Per  Year 


Have  Ohio’s  Miners  Killed  Ohio’s  Coal  Trade? 


At  this  time,  a  year  ago,  it  seemed  that  the 
coal  mining  situation  in  Ohio  was  tangled  up 
as  badly  as  was  possible.  The  facts  are  these: 
The  Ohio  operators,  along  with  those  in  west¬ 
ern  Pennsylvania,  a  portion  of  Indiana,  the 
newer  districts  of  West  Virginia  and  eastern 
Kentucky,  had  been  paying  the  miners  on  a 
lump  coal  basis.  This  practice  had  been  in 
vogue  for  over  fifty  years.  The  mines  had 
been  equipped  accordingly.  The  furnaces  and 
habits  of  coal  buyers  had  by  long  usage  been 
fixed  to  accord  with  this  system.  Without 
consulting  the  wishes  of  the  consumer:  with¬ 
out  knowing  whether  the  coal  operators  could 
finance  the  change  in  mine  equipment;  and, 
without  any  assurance  that  competing  districts 
would  make  a  similar  change,  the  miners  had 
procured  the  passage  of  a  law  which  substi¬ 
tuted  the  mine  run  for  the  lump  coal  basis  of 
paj'inent. 

It  seemed,  then,  that  the  Ohio  mines  were 
placed  in  as  embarrassing  a  position  as  was 
possible.  That  is,  to  make  the  change,  it 
would  cost  more  to  produce  coal  because  new 
practices  were  introduced;  the  investment 
would  be  larger  because  of  new  and  dififerent 
screens;  the  relations  with  customers  would  be 
disrupted  because  new  sizes  would  demand 
new  furnaces;  and  the  operators  would  be 
thrown  out  of  competition  with  the  other  mines 
in  the  other  districts  because  of  changes  in 
prices,  sizes,  etc. 

What  the  Effect  Was. 

It  seemed  inevitable  that  the  operators  of 
Ohio  had  been  ruined  by  one  thoughtless  act 
of  •  legislation.  After  a  year  and  a  little  more 
under  the  new  system,  it  is  necessary  to  make 
another  survey  of  the  Ohio  situation.  That 
proves  that  the  present  plight  of  the  operators 
is  even  worse  than  it  was  a  year  ago.  Indeed, 
if  a  death  blow  has  not  been  struck  at  the  coal 
mining  business  in  Ohio,  some  miraculous 
change  must  take  place  at  once,  first,  in  the 
sentiment  of  the  body  of  the  miners,  and,  sec¬ 
ond,  in  the  attitude  of  the  consumers  of  coal 
toward  prices. 

The  present  situation  in  Ohio  is  so  dis¬ 
turbing  it  is  necessary  to  take  it  apart  and  to 
look  at  it  in  detail  to  get  a  comprehensive  idea 
of  it.  As  a  foundation,  the  present  situation 
in  the  state  must  be  outlined. 

Ohio  has  several  producing  districts  but 
these  can  really  be  divided  into  major  districts. 
Those  are  the  Hocking  Valley  field  and  the 
affiliated  mines  and  the  Pittsburgh  No.  8  or 
eastern  Ohio  field  and  the  affiliated  mines. 

In  August,  last  year,  the  Hocking  Valley 
group  signed  up  with  the  miners.  As  a  conse¬ 
quence  of  agreeing  to  pay  the  miners  on  the 
mine  run  basis,  all  of  the  tipples  had  to  be 
changed.  A  good  part  of  that  work  has  been 
done  within  the  last  year. 

After  a  year,  the  Hocking  group  finds  that  the 
selling  price  of  coal  will  not  pay  the  higher 
wages  of  the  men  and  interest  oyi  the  larger  in¬ 
vestment.  About  half  of  the  mines  in  the 
Hocking  district  are  closed"  the  other  half 
may  be  forced  out  of  business  before  long. 

The  eastern  Ohio,  or  the  Pittsburgh  No.  8 
field,  did  not  surrender  to  the  miners  but  en¬ 
dured  a  strike  that  lasted  over  a  year.  Today, 
a  temporary  scale  has  been  agreed  ui)on.  But 
the  whole  district  was  out  of  the  market  so 
long  that  its  business  has  been  taken,  in  major 
part,  by  operators  in  other  fields.  Some  of  its 
operators  had  become  discouraged;  they  have 
closed  permanently  their  mines  and  have  in¬ 
vested  what  money  they  could  command  in 
new  properties  in  West  Virginia.  They  thus 
have  kept  some  of  their  old  customers  but  to 
do  it  had  to  abandon  their  Ohio  properties. 

The  Gallagher  Bill. 

The  facts  of  Ohio  are  that  about  half  only  of 
the  mines  are  now  in  operation  a  part  of  the 
time.  Those  that  are  running  have  no  possi¬ 
bility  of  paying  anything  on  the  investment. 

In  the  mftintime,  the  situation  was  presented 


By  Disregarding  Competitive  Conditions 
and  by  Forming  a  Partnership  With  Poli¬ 
ticians,  They  Have  All  But  Hopelessly 
Entangled  Conditions. 


to  the  officials  of  the  state  government.  They 
saw  that  one  of  the  state’s  biggest  businesses 
was  being  ruined  by  this  thoughtless  piece  of 
legislation.  Accordingly  they  repealed,  in 
effect  at  least,  the  Green  anti-screen  law  and 
passed  in  its  place  the  Gallagher  law.  This 
permits  individual  operators  and  individual 
miners  to  make  contracts  on  any  basis  they 
please  and  hence  regardless  of  the  mine  run 
basis  demanded  by  the  Green  act. 

There  was  possible  this  much  salvage  out 
of  the  wreck:  The  mines  which  remained  on 
strike — those  which  lost  their  business — were 
given  the  privilege  of  making  proper  labor 
contracts  in  future.  Also,  new  mines  or  those 
hereafter  opened,  if  any,  in  Ohio,  will  have  the 
limited  advantage  of  that  statute. 

However,  the  Gallagher  bill  cannot  recall  the 
agreement  made  with  the  Ohio  miners  in  the 
Hocking  field.  It  cannot  persuade  the  men  to 
change  the  character  of  the  contraet  in  future 
and  thus  to  surrender  the  advantage  gained  by 
force  of  law.  It  cannot  certainly  recall  the 
investment  in  tipple  equipment  which  _  the 
Hocking  operators  had  to  make.  Those  mines, 
in  consequence,  are  still  in  a  position  which 
is  potentially,  if  not  actually,  one  of  ruin. 

The  Miners’  Point  of  View. 

These  are  the  uncomfortable  facts  in  the  sit¬ 
uation.  But  the  reason  for  this  imposition  is 
not  clear  until  we  take  into  eonsideration  the 
point  of  view  of  those  who  forced  this  change. 

Society,  from  time  immemorial,  has  tried  to 
consider  business  from  three  points  of  view — • 
that  of  the  worker,  that  of  capital,  and  that  of 
the  consumer.  These  were  considered  the 
three  co-ordinate  rights,  equal  in  force  and  ef¬ 
fect.  They  made  a  triangular  consideration. 

By  later  developments  we  have  introduced  a 
fourth  factor — the  carrier.  Thus  the  triangle 
is  changed  to  a  quadrangle.  Today  no  ques¬ 
tion  is  considered  settled,  with  any  degree  of 
permanenej",  until  there  are  considered  the  co¬ 
ordinate  rights  of  the  worker,  capital,  the 
consumer  and  the  carrier. 

In  the  Ohio  mine  situation  the  rights  of  all 
others  were  disregarded  while  the  worker  with 
his  “me  first  and  my  rights  above  all”  compli¬ 
cated  the  situation  by  his  ruinous  greed. 

This  is  a  harsh  statement  unless  it  is  ex¬ 
plained  by  taking  apart  the  position  of  the 
laborer  and  analyzing  what  he  calls  his 
“rights”  as  opposed  to  the  three  other  and  co¬ 
ordinate  rights  which  must  be  considered  in 
any  business  situation. 

The  Wage  Earner’s  Share 

In  a  legal  sense,  it  is  considered  that  every 
worker  has  a  right  to  a  living  wage.  But  y^y^liat 
is  a  “living  wage”  is  a  moot  cpiestion,  first,  be¬ 
cause  the  standard  of  living  has  changed,  and, 
second,  because  three  other  rights  to  a  “living” 
must  be  satisfied  from  the  selling  price  of  coal. 
For  example,  capital  has  a  right  to  a  living 
return  on  investment.  The  carrier  has  a  right 
to  a  living  rate  for  its  services.  The  consumer 
has  a  right  to  a  living  price  at  which  he  buys 
his  coal. 

Thus  a  miner  might  consider  that  a  “living 
wage”  for  him  would  permit  him  to  own  a 
commodious,  modern  house  and  to  enjoy  not 
only  the  comforts  but  the  modern  luxuries  of 
life.  While  those  things  are  desirable,  and 
he  cannot  get  them  all  if  to  do  so  he  had  to 
strip  the  other  three  of  their  equally  definite 
rights. 

In  the  more  vital  sense,  the  right  of  the 
worker  to  what  he  considers  a  “living  wage” 
is  modified  by  what  the  miners  are  willing  to 


accept  in  a  competing  field.  For  example, 
Ohio  cannot  pay  .$1  a  ton  for  producing  coal, 
if  West  Virginia  is  paying  forty  or  fifty  cents 
a  ton. 

The  Ohio  miner,  when  he  made  his  demands, 
left  out  of  consideration  the  co-ordinate  rights 
of  capital,  of  the  carrier,  of  the  consumer,  as 
well  as  what  was  the  common  wage  paid  in  the 
big  competing  field.  Instead  he  went  head¬ 
long  into  a  conference  with  the  operators  and 
tried  to  compel  them  to  pay  him  more  than 
common  sense  indicated  the  business  could 
stand.  When  it  was  clearly  proved  by  the 
operators  that  the  demands  were  impossible, 
the  miners  went  to  politicians  of  Ohio  and 
formed  a  partnership.  The  implied  considera¬ 
tion  was  that  the  union  vote  would  he  cast  for 
any  man  or  party  that  would  enact  a  law  com¬ 
pelling  the  operators  to  surrender  to  the 
miners’  union  in  the  matter  of  the  mine  run 
basis. 

The  Material  Consequence 

This  attitude  of  the  miners  began  the  com¬ 
plication  which  grows  as  the  weeks  pass.  Now 
that  the  miners  have  plastered  their  self-inter¬ 
est  over  the  Ohio,  mine  mouths  the  other  three 
factors  in  the  quadrangle  are  coming  to  de¬ 
mand  consideration  of  their  rights,  also.  In¬ 
vestors  are  saying:  “What  about  us?  Are  we 
to  continue  to  invest  our  money  for  coal  land 
and  coal  producing  equipment  to  turn  all 
of  the  rewards  oveg  to  the  laborer?  He  has 
nothing  invested.  He  cannot  work  even  if  we 
do  not  provide  him  a  working  place.  Is  it  a 
proper  conception  of  justice  in  modern  so¬ 
ciety  that  we  shall  give  him  the  coal  to  mine 
and  the  coals,  while  he  takes  all  the  return?” 

Next  comes  the  carrier,  and  says: 

“What  about  us?  Are  we  to  invest  money  in 
rights  of  way,  railroad  tracks,  cars,  locomo¬ 
tives,  distributing  yards,  and  are  we  to  employ 
men  to  man  these  trains  and  to  carry  and  dis¬ 
tribute  this  coal  solely  that  the  miners  may  be 
given  employment?  We  are  not  interested  in 
the  mines.  We  are  not  even  employing  these 
men.  We  have  nothing  whatever  to  do  with 
them.  Are  we  out  of  consideration  for  somq 
one  not  connected  with  us  to  be  compelled  to 
surrender  even  a  hope  of  return  that  they  may 
get  all  they  want?” 

After  the  carrier  comes  the  consumer,  who 
asks : 

“What  about  me?  I  have  been  paying  higher 
prices  for  coal  for  many  years.  I  am  paying 
today  almost  the  same  price  for  coal  now  that 
I  did  twenty-five  years  ago.  All  the  while  coal 
producing  machinery  has  been  improving 
the  process  of  coal  production.  With  each 
improvement  in  mechanism  the  cost  of  pro¬ 
duction  naturally  should  come  down.  I  have 
l^atiently  liorne  the  old  burden  for  years.  Now, 
I  think  it  about  time  1  should  get  some  bene¬ 
fit  of  modern  conditions.  I  should  pay  a  lower 
price  on  coal  than  I  have  been  paying.  But, 
these  miners,  who  are  human  beings  the  same  as 
I  am  and  who  have  no  larger  family  obliga¬ 
tions  than  I  have,  ask  me  to  waive  my  rights 
in  modern  inventions  that  they  may  get  all 
the  benefit.  They  ask  that  I  g,o  even  further 
and  actually  pay  more  for  the  coal  than  1  have 
been  paying.  The  only  reason  is  that  they 
may  satisfy  their  jjersonal  desires.  It  is  an 
outrage  even  to  ask  me  to  surrender  my  ex¬ 
pectation  of  a  decrease  in  price.  It  is  out  of 
the  question  to  expect  me  actually  to  pay  an 
increase.” 

The  Discouraging  Truth 

But  these  considerations — sound  as  they  are 
— are  swept  away  by  two  major  facts.  One  of 
them  is  that  the  Green  law  was  on  the  statute 
books  for  just  long  enough  to  change  the 
whole  Ohio  sittiation  to  favor  of  the  miners. 
That  is,  regardless  of  its  sound  and  logical 
plea,  capital  has  been  robbed  of  all  present 
and  possible  return  on  Ohio  coal.  Despite  the 
pica — and  the  logical  one — of  the  railroad,  the 
(Concluded  on  page  87.) 


82 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[July  31 


Decision  of  the  Commission  On  Spotting  Charges. 


The  first  impression  of  the  decision  of  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission  in  the  mat¬ 
ter  of  the  spotting  charge  was  that  it  was  a 
wholesale  victory  for  the  shippers  and  receiv¬ 
ers  of  freight.  An  excerpt  of  this  decision  was 
printed  last  week. 

A  careful  reading  of  the  decision  does  not 
bear  out  this  assumption.  The  commission 
divides  its  decision  three  ways: 

First,  it  shows  that  under  ordinary  condi¬ 
tions  the  line  rate  covers  the  placement  of 
cars  whether  they  are  on  private  tracks  or  on 
railroad  tracks. 

Second,  it  says  that  if  industrial  tracks  were 
not  provided,  all  the  business,  would  have  to 
be  done  on  the  railroad’s  tracks.  Those  at 
present  are  incapable  of  doing  the  work  and 
the  railroads  could  not  provide  the  additional 
facilities  without  an  enormous  increase  in  cap¬ 
ital.  Also  receivers  and  shippers  of  freight 
announce  definitely  they  would  not  use  public 
tracks  even  if  provided. 

These  two  parts  of  the  decision  indicate  a 
victory  for  the  protestants  in  the  case  of  the 
proposed  spotting  charge. 

Third,  the  commission  shows  that  two 
classes  of  switching  charges  are  performed. 
One  of  them  is  the  first  placing  of  the  car  for 
loading  or  unloading.  This,  it  says,  is  covered 
by  the  line  rate  and  the  railroads  in  future  will 
not  be  permitted  to  increase  the  charges  for 
that  service. 

The  second  is  a  shifting  of  the  cars  after  the 
first  placement  in  order  to  spot  them  exactly 
for  the  convenience  of  the  shipper  or  receiver. 
This  is  an  additional  service  not  covered  by  the 
line  rate  and  for  which  the  railway  may  charge 
if  it  chooses. 

The  commission  hints  at  a  possible  sched¬ 
ule  which  the  railways  may  devise  that  will 
increase  the  rates  for  service  not  covered  by 
the  line  charge. 

Thus  the  spotting  case  is  not  ended  but 
merely  begun.  The  railroads  undoubtedly  will 
conform  to  that  suggestion  and  there  will  be 
need  for  contention  over  the  justice  of  the 
rates  which  the  railroads  will  propose. 

The  commission  even  hints  at  the  ultimate 
desirability  of  separating  line  charges  from 
terminal  charges  but  says  that  before  that  is 
possible  there  must  be  first  a  careful  compila¬ 
tion  of  cost  on  the  new  basis  or  one  that  will 
show  what  line  service  costs  and  what  terminal 
service  costs.  The  rates  must  bear  a  certain 
relation  to  what  it  costs  to  carry  goods  in  the 
two  divisions. 

The  decision  of  the  commission  failed  of 
unanimous  support  because  Commissioner 
Harlan  dissented. 

The  report  of  the  commission  was  in  major 
part : 

“This  proceeding  involves  the  propriety  and 
reasonableness  of  a  proposed  charge  for  placing 
cars  upon  industry  spurs  or  private  sidings,  or 
upon  the  tracks  of  industrial  plants,  at  convenient 
points  for  loading  and  unloading. 

“This  charge,  which  is  called  a  spotting  charge, 
is  proposed  by  the  principal  railroads  in  central 
freight  association  and  trunk  line  territories,  to 
become  effective  at  different  dates  from  April  20, 
1914,  to  July  15,  1914,  inclusive.  The  respond¬ 
ents  announce  in  the  suspended  tariffs  that  they 
were  filed  to  comply  with  a  suggestion  of  the 
commission  in  the  Industrial  Railway  case.  The 
proposed  spotting  charge  is  five  and  one-half 
cents  per  ton,  minimum  $2  per  car,  and  the  serv¬ 
ice  for  which  the  charge  is  proposed  is  defined  in 
the  suspended  tariffs  as  'follows : 

“  ‘Spotting  service  is  the  service  beyond  a  rea¬ 
sonably  convenient  point  of  interchange  between 
road  haul  or  connecting  carrier  and  industrial 
plant  tracks’  and  includes : 

“‘(a)  One  placement  of  a  loaded  car,  which 
the  road  haul  connecting  carrier  has  transported, 
or 

“‘(b)  The  taking  out  of  a  loaded  car  from 
a  particular  location  in  the  plant  for  transporta¬ 
tion  by  road  haul  or  connecting  carrier. 

“‘(c)  The  handling  of  the  empty  car  in  the 
reverse  direction.’ 

“The  industries  to  which  the  charge  applies  arc 
divided  into  three  lists.  The  first  of  these  lists 
appears  in  the  tariff  of  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad 
Company,  which  may  be  taken  as  typical,  under 
the  heading :  List  of  industries  having  ‘industrial 
plant  tracks’  connected  with  the  tracks  of  these 
companies  on  which  these  companies  performed 
spottin.g  service  in  the  past  and  on  which  they 
will,  if  desired,  continue  to  perform  such  service 


The  Line  Rate  Covers  the  First  Place¬ 
ment,  But  Any  Other  Switching  Service 
May  Be  Subject  of  an  Extra  Charge. 

on  and  after  the  effective  date  of  this  tariff  at 
the  charge  provided  herein. 

“The  second  list  appears  in  the  same  tariff  un¬ 
der  the  heading  :  List  of  industries  having  'in¬ 
dustrial  plant  tracks’  connected  with  the  tracks 
of  these  companies  on  which  the  industry  has 
performed  spotting  service  in  the  past.  The 
charge  of  these  companies  for  performing  spot¬ 
ting  service  for  the  industry  on  its  plant  tracks 
connecting  directly  with  the  tracks  of  these  com¬ 
panies  will  be  as  per  this  tariff,  provided  the  per¬ 
formance  of  this  service  by  these  companies  is 
shown  to  be  practicable  and  is  a, greed  upon. 

“The  third  list  appears  under  the  following 
heading:  List  of  industrial  railways  (incorpo¬ 
rated).  These  companies  will  perform  ‘spotting’ 
service  on  or  over  the  tracks  of  these  railways 
only  by  special  agreement. 

Basis  of  the  Charge. 

“The  basis  of  selection  of  industries,  if  there 
may  be  said  to  have  been  any  such  basis,  varied 
with  the  different  respondents.  The  necessity 
for  an  intraplant  service  in  addition  to  the  move¬ 
ment  of  cars  incident  to  the  receipt  and  delivery 
of  carload  freight  seems  to  have  been  controlling 
in  some  cases,  but  in  general  the  industries  were 
arbitrarily  selected,  and  range  from  the  ordinary 
mill  or  factory  with  a  single  spur  or  private  sid¬ 
ing  to  the  large  iron  and  steel  industries  having 
an  interior  system  of  rails  called  a  plant  railway. 

“Considerable  testimony  was  presented  by  both 
respondents  and  protestants  with  reference  to 
the  physical  layout  of  the  tracks  over  which  the 
service  is  performed,  the  character  and  extent  of 
that  service,  and  the  approximate  cost  thereof. 

“It  does  not  appear  that  the  terminal  facilities 
of  the  respondents,  exclusive  of  industry  spurs, 
private  sidings,  and  tracks  of  industrial  plants, 
are  now  adequate  for  the  receipt  and  delivery  of 
all  carload  freight,  which  they  have  been  accus¬ 
tomed  to  receive  ana  deliver  upon  such  tracks  at 
convenient  points  for  loading  and  unloading ,  and 
respondents  do  not  show  that  they  could  provide 
such  terminal  facilities,  but  some  of  the  protest¬ 
ants  testified  that  if  such  terminal  facilities  were 
provided  by  the  carriers  they  would  not  use  them. 

Railways  Seek  Advice. 

“It  is  admitted  by  the  principal  respondents 
that  the  proposed  charge  and  also  the  lists  of 
industries  named  in  the  tariffs  are  tentative 
merely,  and  that  if  the  tariffs  should  take  effect 
as  filed  unjust  discrimination  would  result  in  that 
there  are  many  industries  not  named  in  the  sus¬ 
pended  tariffs  for  which  the  respondents  perform 
without  an  additional  charge  therefor  the  same 
service  for  which  they  propose  to  require  the  in¬ 
dustries  named  in  the  suspended  tariffs  to  pay 
the  spotting  charge  in  question.  But  while  these 
respondents  concede  that  the  proposed  tariffs  can 
not  he  justHied,  they  ask  us  to  indicate  hozu  far 
they  may  go  in  imposing  spotting  charges. 

One  of  the  respondents,  the  Chesapeake  &  Ohio 
Railway  Company  of  Indiana,  insists  that  its  pro¬ 
posed  charge  is  justified  by  the  mere  fact  that  the 
industries  upon  which  it  proposes  to  impose  the 
charge  are  located  upon  a  private  track,  which 
it  does  not  own  or  control,  and  which  is  not  a 
part  of  its  terminal  facilities.  This  respondent 
concedes  that  the  line-haul  rate  covers  the  trans¬ 
portation  to  and  from  the  point  of  connection  of 
its  tracks  with  the  track  on  which  the  industries 
are  located  and  which  it  claims  to  be  a  private 
track,  but  it  insists  that  it  has  no  right  to  per¬ 
form  any  service  over  a  private  track  without 
making  a  charge  therefore  in  addition  to  the 
line-haul  rate,  and  that  it  not  only  may  hut  must 
add  to  the  line-haul  rate  a  reasonable  charge  for 
the  switching  of  cars  hetzveen  the  industries  in 
question  and  point  of  connection  of  its  tracks 
Zi'ith  tracks  on  zvhich  the  industries  are  located. 

Line  Rates  Cover. 

“The  protestants  insist  not  only  that  the  pro¬ 
posed  tariffs  can  not  be  justified,  but  that  the 
line-haul  rates  cover  the  placement  of  cars  upon 
industry  tracks  at  convenient  points  for  loading 
and  unloading  without  regard  to  the  size  of  the 
plant  or  the  ownership  or  control  of  the  tracks 
over  which  the  cars  are  moved,  and  that  no  charge 
for  the  spotting  service  in  addition  to  the  line- 
haul  rate  could  be  justified. 

“It  has  long  been  the  custom  of  carriers  in  this 
country  to  receive  and  deliver  carload  freight 


upon  spur  tracks  leading  to  private  industries  at 
convenient  points  for  loading  and  unloading  with¬ 
out  imposing  any  charge  for  that  service,  in  ad¬ 
dition  to  the  line-haul  rate,  and  in  the  Los  An¬ 
geles  case  (18  I.  C.  C.,  310),  we  held  that  where 
this  service  is  merely  a  substitute  for  team-track 
receipt  and  delivery  of  carload  freight  the  line- 
haul  rate  covers  the  service  for  the  reason  that 
rates  generally  in  this  country  have  been  con¬ 
structed  upon  that  basis.  Our  order  in  that  case 
was  upheld  by  the  Supreme  Court  Los  An.geles 
case,  2.34  U.  S.,  293. 

“The  mere  size  or  complexity  of  the  industry 
is  not  controlling  in  determining  whether  or  not 
the  line-haul  rate  covers  the  receipt  or  delivery 
of  freight  at  the  door  of  the  plant.  The  service 
involved  in  the  placement  of  cars  for  loading  or 
unloading  at  an  isolated  industry  to  which  a  single 
spur  leads  may  be  as  great  as  that  rendered  in 
the  placement  of  cars  for  loading  or  unloading 
in  a  large  plant  having  an  intricate  system  of  in¬ 
terior  tracks.  Indeed  there  is  testimony  tending 
to  show  that  by  reason  of  greater  density  of  traf¬ 
fic  and  greater  tonnage  the  cost  of  spotting  at 
the  larger  industries  is  less  per  car  than  at 
smaller  industries.  At  the  large  industries  the 
trunk  line  may  render  interplant  services  in  the 
movement  of  cars  from  place  to  place  within  the 
plant  during  the  processes  of  manufacture  which 
it  has  no  occasion  to  render  at  smaller  industries, 
and  for  such  services  an  additional  charge  should 
be  made;  but  where  the  service  rendered  is 
merely  a  substitute  for  the  service,  which  would 
be  required  if  the  movement  were  to  or  from  a 
team  track,  an  industry  spur,  or  a  private  siding, 
nothing  should  be  added  to  the  charge  for  the 
line  haul. 

“As  existing  rates  must  be  deemed  to  have 
been  constructed  to  cover  the  customary  place¬ 
ment  of  cars  at  factory  doors,  whether  upon  an 
industry  spur  or  private  siding,  or  upon  the 
tracks  of  an  industrial  plant,  and  the  outward 
movement  of  cars  from  such  tracks,  without  re- 
.gard  to  the  size  or  nature  of  the  plant,  to  now 
add  a  charge  to  the  line-haul  rate  for  that  service 
would  be  revolutionary. 

Commission’s  Suggestions. 

“While  we  have  from  time  to  time  called  the 
attention  of  the  carriers  to  the  possibility  of  in¬ 
creased  revenues  from  certain  sources,  and  have 
suggested  that  it  might  be  that  the  carriers  ought 
to  make  a  charge  in  addition  to  the  line-haul 
rate  for  some  services  in  connection  with  the 
movement  of  cars  within  industrial  plants,  for 
which  no  such  additional  charge  is  now  made, 
zee  have  never  intended  to  suggest  that  an  addi¬ 
tional  charge  zoould  be  proper  for  serz’ices,  which 
by  long  continued  general  custom  and  usage  have 
been  treated  as  covered  by  the  line-haul  rate. 

“In  General  Electric  Co.  v.  N.  Y.  C.  &  H.  R.  R. 
R.  Co.  we  stated  that  common  carriers  could  not 
be  called  upon  as  a  part  of  their  contract  of 
transportation  to  make  deliveries  through  a  net¬ 
work  of  interior  switching  tracks  constructed  as 
plant  facilities  to  meet  the  necessities  of  the  In¬ 
dustry,  but  the  case  did  not  require  a  decision  of 
that  question.  The  point  actually  decided  was  that 
the  complainant  was  not  entitled  to  an  allowance 
from  the  carrier  for  a  service,  which  the  carrier 
was  ready  and  willing  to  perform,  and  which 
the  complainant  performed  because  it  was  not 
convenient  for  it  to  permit  the  carrier  to  perform 
the  service. 

“As  said  by  the  Supreme  Court  in  Atchison 
Railway  Co.  v.  United  States,  whatever  trans¬ 
portation  service  or  facility  the  law  requires  the 
carriers  to  supply  they  have  the  ri.ght  to  furnish, 
and  it  does  not  follow,  therefore,  that  because 
the  line-haul  rate  covers  the  movement  of  cars 
incident  to  the  receipt  and  delivery  of  carload 
freight  on  industry  spurs,  or  on  the  interior 
tracks  of  industrial  plants,  that  the  owner  of  the 
property  transported  may  in  every  case  receive 
an  allowance  from  the  carrier  when  he  per¬ 
forms  that  service. 

A  Question  of  Allowances. 

“In  Industrial  Railways  case,  the  commission 
also  expressed  the  opinion  that  the  line-haul  rate 
docs  not  cover  the  movement  of  cars  incident  to 
the  receipt  and  delivery  of  carload  freight  at 
large  industrial  j)lants,  where  the  movement  is 
through  a  network  of  interior  tracks,  but  in  that 
case  also  the  question  presented  was  one  of  al¬ 
lowances,  and  we  did  not  undertake  to  determine 
the  number  of  tracks  over  which  the  cars  must 
move  prior  to  their  receipt  or  delivery  by  the 
carrier  in  order  to  deprive  the  owner  of  the 
property  transported  of  the  right  to  an  allow- 


No.  5] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


83 


ance  for  the  service.  We  did,  however,  in  that 
case,  recognize  the  fact  that  the  line-haul  rate 
may  cover  the  service  of  spotting  a  car  at  the 
factory  door  on  a  private  siding,  as  we  there 
said : 

“  ‘Under  the  common  law  as  construed  in  the 
practically  unanimous  decisions  of  the  courts,  a 
delivery  of  carload  freight  to  a  shipper  having  a 
private  siding  is  made  by  shunting  the  car  upon 
the  switch,  clear  of  the  main  tracks.  All  services 
upon  the  siding  beyond  that  point,  in  placing  the 
car  for  loading  or  unloading  at  a  particular  spot 
convenient  to  the  shipper,  are  what  may  be  called 
volunteered  services  in  the  senfe  that  they  are  in 
addition  to  the  main-line  haid  and  in  excess  of 
any  obligation  of  service  by  the  carrier  at  com¬ 
mon  law.  Nevertheless,  the  custom  of  making 
deliveries  at  the  warehouse  or  factory  door  on 
private  sidin.gs  is  one  of  long  standing  in  this 
country,  and  under  certain  language  in  the  act  it 
is  possible  that  the  carriers  may  be  required  upon 
reasonable  compensation,  to  do  this  spotting  as  it 
is  called.  We  find  no  authority,  however,  Eng¬ 
lish  or  American,  that  holds  or  intimates  that  the 
line  carrier,  in  connection  with  the  main-line  haul, 
is  under  any  obligation  to  spot  a  car  at  the  fac¬ 
tory  door  on  a  private  siding  except  upon  rea¬ 
sonable  compensation  included  in  the  rate  itself 
or  set  Up  in  the  form  of  a  special  charge.’ 

Conditions  Variable. 

“There  may  be  cases  in  which  the  spots  at 
which  cars  are  placed  for  loading  and  unloadin.g 
in  complex  industries  are  so  located  that  the  re¬ 
quest  for  the  receipt  and  delivery  of  carload 
freight  at  such  spots  could  not,  in  view  of  general 
usage,  be  regarded  as  reasonable,  and  where  a 
charge  for  the  spotting  service  in  addition  to  the 
line-haul  rate  might  therefore  be  justified,  but  the 
mere  fact  that  an  industry  is  complex,  or  that  it 
requires  an  interplant  service  in  addition  to  the 
receipt  and  delivery  of  carload  freight,  is  not 
sufficient  to  justify  an  additional  charge  for  the 
placing  of  cars  at  the  door  of  the  industrial 
plant  for  the  receipt  or  delivery  of  carload 
freight.  The  line-haul  rate,  however,  covers  only 
one  placement  of  the  car  for  loading  or  unload¬ 
ing,  and  an  additional  charge  should  be  made 
for  each  additional  placement  of  the  car  for  that 
purpose. 

“The  mere  fact  that  many  individual  plants  are 
operated  together  as  a  single  industry  does  not 
deprive  the  industry  of  the  right  to  such  a  serv¬ 
ice  in  the  receipt  and  delivery  of  carload  freight 
at  each  of  the  several  plants  as  that  plant  would 
be  entitled  to  have  if  it  were  operated  separately, 
unless  the  collective  operation  so  far  removes 
the  necessity  for  such  a  service  as  to  make  it 
unreasonable  for  the  industry  to  demand  the 
service. 

“To  permit  the  carriers  to  add  to  the  line- 
haul  rate  a  charge  for  the  movement  of  cars 
incident  to  the  receipt  and  delivery  of  carload 
freight  at  industries  selected  because  of  their 
size  or  complexity,  or  upon  some  other  basis 
equally  uncertain,  while  treating  a  like  service  at 
all  other  industries  as  covered  by  the  line-haul 
rate,  would  result  in  unjust  discrimination  of  a 
flagrant  character. 

The  Private  Spur. 

“The  argument  that  while  the  line-haul  rate 
may  cover  the  movement  incident  to  the  receipt 
and  delivery  of  carload  freight  when  that  move¬ 
ment  is  over  an  ordinary  industry  spur,  it  does 
not  cover  a  like  service  when  the  movement  is 
over  the  interior  tracks  of  an  industrial  plant, 
is  founded  upon  the  assumption  that  the  carrier 
and  the  industry  have  the  joint  use  of  the  in¬ 
dustry  spur  while  the  interior  tracks  of  the  in¬ 
dustrial  plant  are  used  exclusively  by  the  indus¬ 
try.  The  fact,  is,  however,  that  the  service, 
which  the  carrier  renders  in  the  movement  of 
cars  over  the  interior  tracks  of  the  industrial 
plant  for  the  purpose  of  receiving  and  delivering 
carload  freight  of  the  industry  is  public  service, 
and  the  tracks  are  used  both  for  that  public  serv¬ 
ice  and  for  the  private  purposes  of  the  industry. 
It  is  immaterial  that  the  carrier  may  not  use 
the  tracks  for  all  the  purposes  for  which  it  uses 
the  ordinary  industry  spur.  The  difference  is 
merely  one  of  degree  and  not  of  kind. 

“Especially  ought  the  tracks  of  the  industrial 
plant  to  the  extent  that  they  are  used  by  the 
carrier  for  a  public  service  be  treated  as  a  part 
of  its  terminal  facilities  where  the  carrier  docs 
not  show  that  it  would  be  possible  for  it  to  pro¬ 
vide  the  necessary  terminal  facilities  in  any 
other  way. 

“The  public  interest  is  served  in  many  ways 
by  permitting  the  carriers  to  use  the  tracks  of 
industrial  plants  as  a  part  of  their  terminal 
facilities.  The  exclusively  owned  terminals  of 
the  carriers  are  thereby  relieved  of  a  heavy  bur¬ 


den  under  which  they  would  either  break  dozen 
completely  or  be  so  congested  as  to  greatly  in¬ 
convenience  shippers  who  are  compelled  to  re¬ 
ceive  and  deliver  their  freight  in  those  terminals. 
The  distribution  of  terminals  also  tends  to  pre¬ 
vent  the  undue  concentration  of  industries  and 
consequent  concentration  of  population,  thus  aid- 
in.g  the  solution  of  one  of  our  social  problems. 

Proposed  C.  &  O.  Charge. 

“The  proposed  spotting  charge  of  the  Chesa¬ 
peake  &  Ohio  Railway  Company  of  Indiana  re¬ 
quires  separate  consideration.  The  industries  to 
which  it  is  proposed  to  apply  this  charge  are 
located  on  the  tracks  of  the  Muncie  &  Western 
Railroad  at  Muncie,  Ind.  In  in  re  Muncie  & 
Western  Railroad  Company,  we  held  this  road  to 
be  a  mere  plant  facility  of  the  principal  industry 
located  thereon,  and  not  entitled  to  a  division 
of  joint  rates  with  the  trunk  lines.  That  case 
is  now  pending  on  a  petition  for  rehearing  by 
which  we  are  asked  to  reconsider  that  finding. 

“There  are  only  two  industries  on  the  Muncie 
&  Western,  and  these  industries  are  served  by 
two  belt  lines  in  addition  to  the  Muncie  &  West¬ 
ern.  The  principal  one  of  these  two  industries 
has  a  large  plant,  and  the  three  lines  referred 
to  serve  different  parts  of  the  plant.  When  the 
movement  is  over  either  of  the  two  belt  lines 
the  Chesapeake  &  Ohio  of  Indiana  absorbs  the 
switching  change  of  that  line  and  gives  the  ship¬ 
per  the  Muncie  rate,  but  it  now  proposes  to  add 
to  that  rate  a  minimum  charge  of  $2  per  car 
when  the  shipment  moves  over  the  Muncie  & 
Western.  If  the  Muncie  &  Western  is  a  mere 
plant  facility,  the  line-haul  rate  of  the  Chesa¬ 
peake  &  Ohio  of  Indiana  to  and  from  Muncie 
covers  the  movement  of  cars  incident  to  the  re¬ 
ceipt  and  delivery  of  freight  on  that  track.  If 
that  road  is  a  common  carrier,  the  addition  to 
the  line-haul  rate  of  a  charge  for  the  switching 
of  cars  over  that  road  to  and  from  industries 
located  thereon  would  create  an  unjust  discrim¬ 
ination  so  long  as  the  trunk  line  absorbs  the 
switching  charges  of  other  roads,  which  serve  the 


Herein  are  given  some  points  in  the  official 
call  for  the  meeting  of  the  American  Mining 
Congress  just  issued  by  James_  F.  Callbreath, 
the  secretary: 

“A  meeting  of  the  active  members  of  The 
American  Mining  Congress  is  hereby  called 
to  meet  at  the  Exposition  Memorial  Audito¬ 
rium,  San  Francisco,  Cal.,  September  21,  1915, 
at  7:30  p.  m.,  for  the  purpose  of  electing  six 
directors;  one  director  to  serve  for  a  period 
of  one  year  to  fill  vacancy  and  five  directors 
to  serve  for  a  term  of  three  years,  to  succeed 
Mr.  D.  W.  Brunton,  Mr.  George  H.  Bern,  Mr. 
Faison  Joslin  and  Mr.  Harry  L.  Day,  whose 
terms  of  office  expire,  and  for  the  transaction 
of  such  other  business  as  may  be  properly 
brought  before  said  meeting. 

Instead  of  assigning  certain  times  for  the  dis¬ 
cussion  of  the  several  subjects  a  general  program 
will  be  outlined,  and  at  the  first  meeting  the  con¬ 
vention  will  decide  how  much  time  shall  be  given 
to  the  discussion  of  each  subject. 

The  Public  Lands  Question. 

“Whether  the  Federal  Government  shall 
lease  the  coal,  oil  and  phosphate  lands  and 
water  powers,  or  whether  these  shall  pass  into 
private  ownership  and  subject  to  the  state  tax¬ 
ing  power,  is  a  question  of  vital  importance  to 
the  West. 

“As  an  illustration:  The  coal  reserves  of 
the  State  of  Wyoming  are  estimated  at  424,- 
085,000,000  tons.  Let  us  suppose  that  twenty- 
five  per  cent  of  this  estimate  is  available  for 
production.  A  royalty  of  two  cents  per  ton 
to  the  Federal  Government  would  amount  to 
two  billion  dollars.  If  ten  per  cent  of  the  esti¬ 
mated  coal  were  to  be  placed  on  the  market 
during  the  next  hundred  years,  it  would  mean 
at  two  cents  per  ton  royalty,  eight  hundred 
million  dollars — or  eight  million  dollars  annu¬ 
ally,  to  be  derived  by  the  Federal  Government 
from  Wyoming,  while  Pennsylvania  and  the 
other  great  coal  producing  states  of  the  East 
would  go  entirely  free  from  paying  similar 
tribute, 

“Ten  per  cent  of  the  estimated  coal  reserve 
of  the  states  of  Wyoming,  Montana,  Colorado 
and  Utah,  at  two  cents  ner  ton  royalty,  would 
net  the  Federal  Government  twenty-five  hun¬ 
dred  million  dollars, — one-third  more  than  the 
aggregate  bonded  indebtedness  of  all  the  states 
and  cities  of  the  United  States. 

“The  water  powers  of  the  west  are  more  val¬ 
uable  than  its  £.oal  reserves,  and  a  most  modest 


same  industries,  as  it  now  does,  the  service  in 
each  case  being  substantially  the  same.  The 
only  reason  which  the  Chesapeake  &  Ohio  of 
Indiana  gives  for  imposing  the  proposed  charge 
for  the  switching  of  cars  over  the  Muncie  & 
Western  Railroad,  to  and  from  the  industries 
thereon,  while  it  absorbs  the  switching  charges 
of  other  roads,  which  serve  the  same  industries, 
is  that  such  other  roads  are  common  carriers, 
while  the  Muncie  &  Western  Railroad,  as  the 
Chesapeake  &  Ohio  of  Indiana  claims,  is  only  a 
plant  facility.  It  is  unnecessary,  therefore,  in 
this  proceeding  to  determine  whether  the  Mun¬ 
cie  &  Western  is  or  is  not  a  common  carrier,  as 
in  either  case  the  proposed  spotting  change  has 
not  been  justified. 

The  Broad  Question. 

“With  the  growth  of  terminal  areas  and  the 
consequent  increase  of  terminal  expenses,  there 
may  be  a  growing  need  for  a  separation  of  the 
charges  for  line-hauls  from  the  charges  for  ter¬ 
minal  services,  and  a  graduation  of  charges  for 
terminal  services  so  that  each  industry  within 
the  terminal  area  will  pay  in  proportion  to  the 
service  it  receives  in  addition  to  the  line-haul, 
if  such  a  system  should  in  the  future  be  deemed 
to  be  preferable  to  what  now  obtains ;  but  be¬ 
fore  that  could  be  done  there  would  have  to  be 
a  separation  of  the  cost  of  the  line-haul  from 
the  cost  of  the  terminal  service,  and  a  complete 
reconstruction  of  rates. 

“We  conclude,  therefore,  and  find  that  the 
respondents  have  not  justified  the  suspended 
tariffs,  and  an  order  will  be  entered  requiring 
those  tariffs  to  be  cancelled.  The  respondents 
may,  however,  file  new  tariffs  providing  for  spot¬ 
ting  charges  in  those  instances  in  which  the  ter¬ 
minal  services  performed  exceed  the  services 
which  under  established  custom  is,  or  should  be, 
performed  for  the  line-haul  rate,  in  accordance 
with  the  views  expressed  in  this  report. 

“Commissioner  Harlan  dissents  from  the  con¬ 
clusions  of  the  commission  in  this  proceeding 
and  will  later  file  a  separate  report.” 


royalty  will  net  a  fabulous  income,  all  of  which 
will  be  a  special  tax  upon  the  western  states 
for  the  support  of  the  National  Government, 
not  imposed  on  the  eastern  states. 

“This  is  one  of  the  least  important  reasons 
why  the  west  protests  against  the  proposed 
leasing  and  water  power  bills.  The  question 
is  one  which  has  direct  bearing  upon  mining 
development  and  operation,  and  should  re¬ 
ceive  the  serious  consideration  of  the  con¬ 
vention. 

Co-operation  in  the  Coal  Industry. 

“Destructive  competition  is  one  of  the  con¬ 
trolling  elements  in  creating  an  appalling  con¬ 
dition  Ill  the  bituminous  coal  industry.  First, 
2,500  lives  are  sacrificed  and  more  than  100,000 
men  are  injured  annually,  in  the  coal  industry. 

“Second,  approximately  200,000,000  tons  of 
coal  are  wasted  annually,  being  sufficient  to 
exhaust  about  35,000  acres  of  our  best  coal 
lands. 

“Third,  more  than  500,000  workmen  engaged 
in  the  bituminous  industry  are  idle  more  than 
100  days  each  year. 

“Fourth,  more  than  $900,000,000  of  capital 
engaged  in  the  bituminous  industry  is  idle 
more  than  100  days  each  year. 

“The  peculiar  conditions  surrounding-  this 
industry  serve  to  aggravate  these  conditions 
which  tend  directly  toward  destruction  of  the 
small  producers  and  the  creation  of  a  perma¬ 
nent  monopoly  in  coal  production.  Complete 
co-operation  between  operator,  miner  and  con¬ 
sumer  is  essential  to  the  best  results.  The 
question  is  national,  not  local. 

“With  the  market  price  of  coal  lower  than 
in  any  other  large  producing  county,  it  would 
seem  that  export  coals  lying  near  the  seaboard 
should  absorb  the  trade  of  countries  lying 
much  nearer  to  us  than  to  the  countries  which 
are  now  furnishing  the  larger  part  of  the  coal 
used.  The  Latin-American  countries  during 
1914  imported  approximately  $911, 000. 000  worth 
of  coal,  of  which  the  United  States  supplied 
less  than  twenty-five  per  cent. 

“The  Federal  Trade  Commission  is  espe¬ 
cially  authorized  to  investigate  conditions  in 
competing  countries  which  permit  trade  com¬ 
binations,  but  lacks  authority  to  approve  sim¬ 
ilar  combinations,  in  order  that  tlie  business  of 
this  country  may  be  put  upon  an  equal  com¬ 
petitive  basis.  A  discussion  of  the  means 
through  which  our  export  trade  may  be  so 
developed  as  to  serve  the  public  good  will  be 
welcome.” 


Convention  of  Mining  Congress  Called. 


THE  BLA(  K  DIAMOND 


.S4 


Uniform  System  of  Accounting  and  Costs/ 


By  Homer  D.  Jones. 


During  the  past  few  years,  I  have  been  advo¬ 
cating  uniform  costs  and  systems  in  the  coal 
trade,  sincerely  believing  that  the  coal  business 
is  just  as  dignified  as  hanking  or  railroading,  and 
it  can  also  be  conducted  on  as  scientific  a  basis, 
conscciucntly  when  we  as  a  whole  rise  above  our 
present  slip-shotl  methods  of  liookkeeping  and 
accounting,  the  industry  will  gain  the  respect 
and  dignity  from  the  public  that  it  deserves. 

Respect  for  the  coal  industry  will  displace  ridi¬ 
cule  wlien  the  managers  and  proprietors  have 
overcome  timidity  and  indolence.  Many  coal 
men  are  timid,  as  it  takes  hackl)one  to  charge 
among  the  monthly  expenses  all  the  proper  items 
and  their  proper  amounts  and  then  to  look  the 
actual  net  results  squarely  in  the  face.  1  also 
say  indolence  because  the  “W  hat's  the  use  feel¬ 
ing"  has  predominated  the  managers  and  pro¬ 
prietors  of  many  firms. 

It  was  certainly  a  step  in  the  right  direction 
toward  a  Uniform  System  of  Accounting  Costs 
when  the  Corporation  Income  tax  law  was  passed. 
Many  of  us  here  to-night,  were  and  are  by  law, 
compelled  to  do  and  know  much  about  our  busi¬ 
ness  that  should  have  been  voluntarily  learned 
long  ago. 

Some  dealers  and  perhaps  some  coal  operators 
have  said  or  will  say,  “How  does  all  this  in¬ 
formation  and  bookkeeping  help  me  make  more 
money”.  One  answer  from  a  retail  standpoint 
is  that  it  will  make  the  retailer  a  better  salesman 
or  sales  manager  and  the  operator  will  become 
a  better  and  more  economical  coal  producer  and 
on  this  single  phase  of  the  subject,  an  evening  or 
more  could  be  profitably  spent. 

Someone  has  said— “Knowledge  is  Power 
These  words  certainly  will  prove  their  worth 
when  it  is  vitally  important  to  convince  a  govern¬ 
ment  commission  or  perhaps  our  legislatures  that 
the  mining  and  selling  of  coal  has  been  done 
in  a  very  deplorable  and  lax  manner  from  the 
standpoint  of  profit  and  loss. 

Unless  we  keep  books  properly  and  frorn  them 
make  uniform  records,  how  are  we  to  intelli¬ 
gently  compare  the  costs  of  cartage  by  wagon 
to  that  of  delivery  by  auto  trucks,  and  how  are 
we  to  discuss  the  cost  of  and  improve  the  meth¬ 
ods  of  handling  hard  and  soft  coal  by  machinery, 
which  is  necessary  in  many  yards. 

There  are  many  other  topics  for  discussion, 
such  as  depreciation,  also  items  of  expense,  that 
can  be  greatly  reduced  if  it  were  possible  to  com¬ 
pare  costs  and  reports  based  on  a  uniform  plan. 

Office,  vard  and  delivery  methods  can  be  done 
better  and  at  less  expense  by  the  systematic  get¬ 
ting  together  of  the  various  managers  with  the 
desire  to  really  do  something  along  the  line  of 
uniform  methods  in  accounting,  instead  of  wait¬ 
ing  for  some  other  fellow  or  firm  to  try  work¬ 
ing  it  out  alone. 

The  Laundry  Association,  a  national  organiza¬ 
tion  has  accomplished  much  along  this  line  and 
I  am  told  that  the  printers  also  have  a  uniform 
system  of  cost  figuring. 

It  is  surely  wisdom  to  know  all  you  can  about 
your  own  business  and  then  to  learn  something 
as  to  how  your  neighbor  coal  man  conducts 
his  business  and  right  here  T  want  to  say  a 
good  word  for  the  various  coal  trade  papers  and 
magazines  who  have  printed  many  good  arti¬ 
cles  on  the  subject  of  Costs  and  Systems,  both 
for  the  operator  and  retail  firms. 

The  head  of  every  firm,  particularly  the  sales 
manager  selling  either  a  large  or  small  tonnage, 
should  either  read  or  have  brought  to  his  atten¬ 
tion  by  an  employee  appointed  to  that  duty,  the 
many  good  articles  that  these  publications  will  no 
doubt  continue  to  publish  under  the  heading  of 
Costs  and  Systems. 

Figures  are  seldom  interesting,  but  I  can  from 
experience,  assure  you  that  if  you  once  start 
to  know  the  cost  each  month  to  run  your  business 
and  itemizing  the  expenses,  you  will  continue  to 
do  so,  as  it  soon  becomes  a  habit,  in  fact  a  fas¬ 
cinating  pastime  to  compare  figures  on  one  month 
with  another. 

It  is  surprising  that  so  few  retail  dealers  know 
from  their  actual  book  figures  what  it  is  cost¬ 
ing  them  to  deliver  or  handle  the  average  ton. 
A  few  dealers  close  books  every  six  months, 
but  many  oidy  once  a  year  and  then  do  not 
bother  nor  care  to  take  the  necessary  time  to 
review  and  analyze  the  balance  sheet  and  learn 
why  the  business  shows  a  profit  or  loss.  Very 

*An  address  before  the  Coal  Convention  in  Chicago, 
July  1*. 


few  will  figure  costs  correctly,  unless  they  fol¬ 
low  the  cost  systems  of  up-to-date  and  well 
regulated  firms. 

It  is  gratifying  to  learn  that  several  retail 
firms  in  Chicago  know  every  month  in  detail, 
what  the  average  firm  knows  hut  once  a  year. 
They  believe  that  if  it  necessary  annually  to 
know  the  conditions  of  business,  that  once  a 
month  is  twelve  times  better.  Undoubtedly  the 
most  important  thing  a  business  man  should 
know,  is  liis  actual  cost  of  doing  business,  with¬ 
out  this  accurate  knowledge,  he  cannot  tell  with 
any  degree  of  certainty  whether  he  is  making  a 
real  profit.  It  seems  to  be  human  nature  for  the 


Homer  D.  Jones. 


large  majority  of  us  to  believe  that  we  can 
do  business  at  less  expense  per  ton  than  we 
are  really  doing  it. 

This  inclination  is  probalily  caused  by  our  lik¬ 
ing  to  hear  good  news,  consequently  we  are  apt 
to  think  our  margin  of  profit  is  greater  than  it 
is.  If  coal  dealers  would  figure  exactly  what 
it  costs  them  to  do  business  during  the  six  sum¬ 
mer  months  compared  with  the  six  winter  months, 
they  will  be  surprised  to  see  how  high  the  ex¬ 
penses  run. 

Many  of  us  learned  when  filing  the  Corpora¬ 
tion  Income  Tax  with  the  government  that 
there  is  a  big  difference  between  earnings  and 
income. 

Many  retail  dealers  have  looked  upon  the  sub- 


The  Delaware,  Lackawanna  &  Western  Coal 
Company  as  of  June  30  last,  had  profit  and  loss  sur¬ 
plus  to  90^2  per  cent  on  its  $6,590,700  capital  stock. 
After  allowing  fpr  the  payment  July  15  of  the 
50  per  cent  extra  cash  dividend  and  the  regular 
quarterly  2J/2  per  cent  disbursement,  the  credit  to 
profit  and  loss  account  amounted  to  38  per  cent  on 
the  stock  outstanding. 

Since  January  1,  1910,  the  Lackawanna  Coal 
Company  has  earned  an  aggregate  of  164  per  cent 
on  its  stock  and  has  paid  to  shareholders  a  total 
of  117^2  per  cent  in  dividends. 

The  company  issued  no  statement  for  the  1914 
year,  but  has  made  pul)lic  its  balance  sheet  as  of 
June  30,  last.  Comparison  of  this  statement  with 
that  of  December  31,  1913,  shows  that  in  the 
eighteen  months’  period  ended  June  30,  earnings 
amounted  to  43  per  cent  on  the  stock.  Compari¬ 
son  is  made  below  with  profits  in  the  calendar 
years  from  1910  to  1913  : 

1!)15  ( 18  mos.) .  iS%  11(11  .  2791! 

1913 .  31<7o  1910 .  23% 

1912 .  40%  Grand  total . 164% 

In  addition  to  the  regular  10  per  cent  dividend 
rate  the  company  paid  an  extra  of  10  per  cent  in 
May,  1914,  and  of  .50  per  cent  this  month. 

The  profitaldeness  of  this  coal  company  has 
undoubtedly  been  an  element  in  its  attractiveness 
as  an  object  of  government  attention,  and  yet  am¬ 
ple  reason  for  its  richness  may  be  found  without 
seeking  for  collusive  action  with  the  railroad  or 
study  of  “monopolistic”  contracts. 

The  company  is  of  small  capitalization,  and  has 
an  organization  admitted  in  the  trade  to  be  of  the 
most  efficient  type.  Although  selling  approxi- 


fjuly  31 


ject  of  Costs  and  Systems  as  a  nuisance,  in  fact 
a  bore.  Others  thought  it  was  worth  while 
for  bookkeepers  only  and  that  it  did  not  apply 
to  them  as  an  executive  or  proprietor.  There 
is  a  big  difference  between  bookkeeping  and  ac¬ 
counting.  .A  clerk  who  draws  off  the  trial  balance 
is  called  a  bookkeeper,  but  the  man  who  gets 
out  of  the  books,  information  and  figures  to 
analyze  them  is  an  accountant. 

There  seems  to  be  no  regular  standard  system 
for  keeping  coal  accounts  and  the  many  methods 
now  employed,  vary  from  keeping  books  on 
check  stubs  to  a  system  requiring  the  services 
of  a  regular  cost  clerk. 

As  a  result  the  statements  of  costs  taken  from 
the  books  of  most  retailers,  are  not  complete 
and  of  course  not  uniform  and  cannot  be  used 
as  a  safe  basis  for  estimating  or  recording  the 
cost  of  handling  coal  at  retail. 

Efficiency  and  economy  are  the  watchwords  of 
present  day  business  administration.  Individual 
endeavor  toward  obtaining  large  ))enefits  in  the 
way  of  favorable  legislation  counts  for  but  lit¬ 
tle,  while  an  association  with  a  large  reputable 
memliership  witli  facts  and  figures  has  a  power¬ 
ful  influence  for  the  success  of  the  desired 
movement. 

Coal  merchant  .\  cooperating  with  coal  merchant 
B  to  secure  some  mutual  benefit  or  business  pro¬ 
tection,  gets  twice  the  amount  of  protection  or 
benefits  that  he  could  through  his  individual 
efforts.  If  he  joins  with  four  others,  he  re¬ 
ceives  four  times  the  amount — one-hundred  oth¬ 
ers — one-hundred  times  the  amount  and  so  on 
and  we  are  aware  of  the  fact  that  in  “Lhiion 
there  is  Strength”. 

The  Order  of  Kokoal  can  l)e  made  a  power¬ 
ful  organization  and  grow  more  powerful  every 
year. 

The  larger  it  grows,  the  greater  benefits  it 
furnishes  its  members.  It  will  reach  its  limits 
in  power  for  good — for  economy — for  efficiency 
and  for  helpfulness  only  when  every  member 
strives  to  acquire  and  maintain  the  new  policies, 
which  I  understand  the  Order  or  Association 
hope  to  adopt  at  this  convention. 

One  of  the  good  features  of  the  Order  of 
Kokoal  are  its  banquets,  at  which  are  and  should 
be  discussed  matters  of  vital  importance  to  the 
coal  industry. 

The  subject  of  uniform  system  of  accounting 
and  costs,  is  1  think,  one  of  the  most  important 
questions  for  the  coal  industry  to  solve,  both 
in  the  mining  of  coal  and  its  distrilnition  by 
the  retailers,  and  I  hope  that  these  few  words 
together  with  those  of  the  other  speakers  will 
bear  fruit  in  the  future  by  the  realization  “That 
we  must  know  that  we  know  our  costs”  then, 
the  coal  trade  will  have  reached  the  place  of 
dignity  and  respect  that  it  certainly  deserves^  as 
one  of  the  largest,  if  not  the  greatest  industry 
existing  in  our  nation  to-day. 


mately  lo, OOP, ()<)()  tons  of  coal  per  annum  the  com¬ 
pany  has  I)ut  a  handful  of  salesmen,  only  one,  for 
example  for  the  whole  of  New  York  City.  The 
large  volume  of  coal  handled  compared  with  the 
size  of  the  organization  permits  a  very  low  cost 
per  unit  of  business  done. 

Such  profits  as  the  com|)any  reports  have  been 
made  in  a  competitive  business.  The  Lackawanna 
Coal  Company  has  bought  its  coal  at  a  price  fig¬ 
ured  on  the  tidewater  base,  and  sells  its  coal  in 
competition  with  other  coal  companies. 

It  has  been  learned  from  an  authoritative  source 
that  in  the  period  from  1902  to  this  year  the 
Lackawanna  produced  1 10,0()0,0()0  tons  of  coal 
and  its  sales  aggregated  approximately  .1144.5, llOO,- 
000,  and  on  this  immense  volume  of  business  ag¬ 
gregate  losses  on  collections  amounted  to  hut 
slightly  over  $.50,000.  The  percentage  of  had 
debts  on  the  business  handled  is  understood  to 
have  been  actually  but  i:’-l,000ths  of  I  per  cent. 
Such  a  record  has  few  parallels. 

Arrangements  have  already  been  announced  to 
make  the  organization  of  the  company  conform 
with  the  suggestions  of  the  Supreme  Court  deci¬ 
sion,  and  Mr.  Loomis  will  step  down  from  the 
presidency,  new  offices  will  be  taken  removed 
from  the  neighborhood  of  the  railroad,  and  a  new 
contract  with  fixed  prices  instead  of  prices  based 
on  tidewater  quotations  will  be  made. 

The  Loomis  management  completes  its  tenure 
of  office  with  coal  on  hand  of  $4,460,829,  accounts 
receivable  of  $3,449,323  and  cash  of  $7,189,888  (as 
of  June  :’>0),  or  $15,100,042  in  the  aggregate,  com¬ 
pared  with  total  obligations  of  $3,343,728. — ll'all 
Street  Journal. 


Record  of  the  Lackawanna  Coal  Company. 


No.  5] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


85 


The  Market  for  Franklin  County  Prepared  Coal.* 

By  John  E.  Beebe. 


In  the  declaration  of  purpose  of  the  Franklin 
County  Coal  Dealers’  Association,  the  following 
is  given  as  one  of  the  objects  of  the  organization; 
■‘To  Open  New  Markets  for  Franklin  County  Pre¬ 
pared  Coal.” 

I  sincerely  appreciate  the  compliment  paid  me 
and  my  company  by  this  association,  in  asking  an 
expression  of  my  thoughts  on  this  important  sub¬ 
ject.  No  more  vital  phase  of  this  organization 
work  can  be  imagined  than  the  careful  study  of 
where  the  coal  it  produces  is  to  be  marketed,  for 
in  the  intelligent  solution  of  that  problem  lies  the 
success  or  failure  of  all  its  efforts. 

Franklin  county,  Illinois,  contains  within  its 
420  square  miles  one  of  the  most  important  coal 
deposits  in  the  United  States.  It  is  located  308 
miles  south  and  west  of  Chicago,  on  a  line  drawn 
through  the  center  of  the  state,  its  surface  pre¬ 
senting  the  usual  downstate  characteristics  of  rol¬ 
ling  prairie  fairly  well  wooded  and  drained  by  a 
few  sluggish  streams.  Its  present  annual  pro¬ 
duction  is  about  7,000,000  tons.  Estimating  the 
coal  within  its  boundaries  by  the  customary  rule 
of  1,000  tons  to  the  foot  per  acre  and  taking  an 
average  of  8  feet  for  the  seam,  with  eighty  per 
cent  as  the  recovery  figure,  a  fair  estimate  of 
the  coal  available  in  the  main  seam  now  being 
worked  (No.  6)  will  approximate  three  billion 
(3,000,000,000)  tons,  and  removed  at  the  present 
rate,  a  300-year  supply.  With  such  a  reserve  body 
of  coal  upon  which  to  base  all  calculations  for  fu¬ 
ture  marketing,  only  the  most  comprehensive  and 
broad-minded  planning  should  be  considered. 

Nothing  short  of  methods  of  a  kind  that  will 
make  for  the  complete  covering,  both  in  selling 
and  publicity  policies  of  the  entire  possible  selling 
zone,  will  fit  the  case. 

Now,  then,  what  of  the  coal  itself?  Just  where 
in  the  list  of  other  fuels  with  which  it  must 
compete  does  it  stand  as  to  quality,  price  and  gen¬ 
eral  availability?  An  honest  answer  to  this  ques¬ 
tion  is  of  fundamental  importance.  ' 

h'ranklin  County  Prepared  Coal  has  been  on  the 
market  for  about  ten  years,  and  has  been  tried 
extensively  for  domestic  purposes,  for  steam  use 
and  clay  product  manufacturing  over  a  very  wide 
range  of  country  and  conditions,  and  in  competi¬ 
tion  with  every  one  of  the  best  coals  produced  in 
the  United  States  in  all  such  uses  gives  excep¬ 
tionally  satisfactory  results. 

It  has  also  been  repeatedly  tested  against  its 
neighboring  county  coals  and  has  won  a  place  for 
itself  against  not  only  them,  but  a  formidable 
array  of  other  standard  coals,  that  were  firmly 
intrenched  in  the  trade,  and  that  will  always  be 
sharp  rivals  for  business  in  the  zone  where  Frank¬ 
lin  County  Prepared  Coal  can  be  sold. 

Franklin  County  Prepared  Coal  can  honestly 
be  said  to  have  elbowed  itself  into  a  position  that 
permits  the  statement  that  it  is  today  looked  upon 
in  its  selling  zone,  as  the  very  best  type  of  an  all 
purpose  coal  produced  in  the  middle  west. 

Put  in  another  way :  Franklin  County  Prepared 
Coal  is  of  such  inherent  good  quality,  and  is  so 
well  sized  and  cleaned,  that  it  now  stands  in  the 
very  front  rank  of  commercial  coals. 

Its  proper  marketing,  both  present  and  future, 
should,  therefore,  carry  it  into  every  stove,  boiler, 
heater,  or  clay  product  kiln  where  prohibitory 
freight  and  mining  rates  do  not  prevent  its  in¬ 
troduction. 

Now,  a  few  words  as  to  the  factors  that  have 
made  possible  this  rapid  climb  to  the  top  of  what 
is  a  comparatively  new  coal — for  ten  years  is  but 
a  brief  span  in  the  history  of  coal  consumption 
in  this  country. 

First,  of  course,  is  the  great  seam  of  coal  itself 
that  is  of  a  thickness  that  makes  its  extraction 
simple — it  is  of  a  quality  that  readily  commends 
itself  to  the  consumer,  and  is  geographically  so 
favorably  located  that  it  can  readily  reach  a  vast 
army  of  consumers. 

Second ;  Because  of  the  kindly  fate  that 
changed  rather  down-hearted  Franklin  County  of 
a  dozen  years  ago  into  what  is  today  one  of  the 
busiest  communities  in  Illinois,  and  also  pro¬ 
vided  just  the  right  sort  of  men  to  work  the 
miracle. 

The  real  merchandising  instinct  was  big  in  the 
minds  of  the  men  who  first  opened  the  Franklin 
county  mines,  and  those  that  have  followed  are 
of  the  same  type. 

Third:  Because  from  the  very  first  the  pro¬ 
ducers  of  Franklin  County  Prepared  Coal  knew 
that  the  swiftest  and  most  powerful  force  that 


*.\  paper  read  before  a  meeting  of  the  Franklin  County 
Coal  Operators’  Association. 


could  be  put  into  the  quick  creation  of  a  market 
was  publicity;  in  simpler  English,  advertising,  and 
they  used,  and  are  today  using  it  to  a  greater  ex¬ 
tent  perhaps  than  any  field  in  the  country. 

Fourth ;  Again  the  use  of  gray  matter  was 
demonstrated  by  these  operators  when,  not  con¬ 
tent  with  the  knowledge  that  the  raw  coal  that 
they  were  mining  in  Franklin  county  was  of  first 
rate  quality,  they  proceeded  by  every  means  pos¬ 
sible  (and  a  tidy  sum  it  cost)  to  turn  that  raw 
product  into  an  infinitely  better  one. 

Up  and  down  the  country  and  farther  afield,  to 
Europe,  went  these  searchers  for  better  methods 
than  the  ones  previously  used  for  preparing  this 
coal,  so  that  as  a  result  Franklin  County  Prepared 
Coal  is  today  recognized  as  the  best  prepared 
bituminous  coal  in  the  country ;  we  could  almost 
say  with  safety,  in  the  world. 

The  most  perfectly  prepared  coal  in  the  world  is 
Pennsylvania  anthracite,  and  the  men  who  had 
the  vision  and  nerve  to  put  forth  the  effort  to 
bring  Franklin  County  Prepared  Coal  into  a  place 
of  equal  importance,  as  far  as  preparation  is  con¬ 
cerned,  gave  close  attention  to  the  methods  used 
by  the  anthracite  producers.  And  in  studying  an¬ 
thracite  preparation  methods,  they  absorbed  a  big 
market  expansion  thought  at  the  same  time. 

Well  might  they  give  much  time  to  the  study  of 
the  history  of  anthracite  coal  preparation,  for  in 
the  great  development  of  improved  anthracite 
preparation  methods  lay  a  most  vital  and  inspir¬ 
ing  lesson,  for  there  was  coupled  with  its  perfect 
preparation  an  equally  important  and  correspond¬ 
ing  enlargement  and  extension  of  the  market  for 
anthracite  coal  that  was  most  attractive  and  in¬ 
spiring. 

What  was  it  that  put  the  whole  anthracite  in¬ 
dustry  on  its  feet?  Perfect  preparation! 

What  was  it  that  lifted  the  anthracite  operators 
out  of  the  business  of  producing  a  limited  ton¬ 
nage  of  a  coarse  coal  made  up  of  lumps  of  every 
size  and  quality  and  which  threw  its  fine  coal  into 
the  refuse  pile,  and  has  replaced  it  with  a  mighty 
manufacturing  industry  that  makes  a  perfectly 
sized  and  cleansed  fuel  for  every  human  need,  and 
saves  all  the  fine  sizes?  Perfect  preparation! 

What  was  it  that  changed  and  improved  every 
form  of  heating  apparatus,  cleansed  up  cities, 
made  for  better  public  health  and  brought  great 
comfort  to  tens  of  thousands  of  homes  all  over 
America?  Again,  perfect  preparation. 

What  was  it  that  brought  harmony  out  of 
business  chaos,  organized  the  producing  and  sell¬ 
ing  companies  that  controlled  the  interests  of  the 
anthracite  fields,  and  made  possible  a  distribution 
method  that  brought  to  the  American  consumer’s 
home  a  most  admirable  fuel?  Preparation,  of 
course. 

Hence  the  operators  of  Franklin  County,  with 
this  blazing  example  of  what  has  been  done,  are 
duplicating  in  a  large  measure  this  business  tri¬ 
umph.  There  is  nothing  to  prevent  a  coal  that 
responds  to  preparation  as  does  Franklin  county 
coal,  from  driving  itself  like  a  wedge  through 
competing  fields  into  every  home  and  community 
in  the  middle  west,  unless  there  be  failure  by  the 
operators  in  the  county  to  prepare  the  coal  as  it 
should  be  prepared. 

A  consideration  of  the  future  markets  for 
h'ranklin  county  coal  must  also  recognize  the 
growing  possibility  of  the  steady  replacement  of 
anthracite  which  has  become  a  somewhat  costly 
luxury  in  most  localities.  Acquaintance  and  fam¬ 
iliarity  with  the  sterlTng  qualities  of  Franklin 
county  coal,  its  admirable  preparation  and  adapt¬ 
able  sizing  should  bling  it  rapidly  into  homes 
everywhere  as  an  exceptionally  satisfactory  sub¬ 
stitute. 

Think  of  what  an  opportunity  lies  right  before 
the  producers  of  Franklin  County  Prepared  Coal 
in  having,  all  over  the  land,  an  enormous  number 
of  well-to-do  coal  users  who  have  been  educated 
to  the  use  of  a  properly  sized,  bright  looking, 
clean  coal,  and  who,  while  they  will  give  np  the 
use  of  anthracite  perhaps  slowly,  can  be  compelled 
or,  better,  induced  to  replace  it  with  h'ranklin 
County  Prepared  Coal  that  resembles  anthracite  so 
closely. 

The  saving  of  several  dollars  a  ton  will  be  a 
mighty  factor  in  bringing  about  this  change,  and 
the  householder  is  already  discovering,  in  many 
places,  that  the  substitute  can  be  made. 

Many  instances  are  recited  to  us  by  dealers,  and 
our  own  experience  at  many  conventions  indi¬ 
cates  the  interest  the  coal  buying  public  take  in 
the  possibility  of  such  change.  Prompt  advan¬ 
tage  should  be  taken  of  this  situation  and  the 


growing  sentiment  of  favor  capitalized.  Every 
effort  should  be  made  to  let  the  public  see  and 
handle  samples  of  Franklin  County  Prepared 
Coal,  and  whenever  possible  actual  home  trials 
should  be  effected. 

No  rnore  important  work  lies  before  this  or¬ 
ganization  than  the  extension  and  development 
of  this  kind  of  publicity  among  coal  consumers. 
We  know  that  the  dealers  are  ready  and  eager  to 
carry  forward  this  propaganda,  and  in  this  direc¬ 
tion  lies  an  important  opportunity  for  the  oper¬ 
ators,  who  are  given  the  large  vision  that  will 
stand  for  the  time,  cost  and  labor  that  must  be 
the  price,  to  educate  the  householders  to  the  steady 
use  of  Franklin  County  Prepared  Coal. 

Ihe  work  that  has  already  been  done  in  ad¬ 
vertising  the  coal  sold  by  this  organization,  and 
in  bringing  it  to  the  knowledge  of  the  dealer  has 
been  of  the  most  substantial  character,  and  has 
made  Franklin  County  Prepared  Coal  familiar  to 
the  bulk  of  the  dealer  tracle,  but  to  increase  the 
demand  steadily  from  the  six  and  a  half  or  seven 
million  tons  per  annum  now  produced,  to  the 
tonnage  easily  possible  with  the  present  equipment, 
working  300  days  in  the  year,  a  strong  and  united 
effort  must  be  employed. 

The  leverage  must  continue  to  be  ever  and  al¬ 
ways  a  preparation  by  every  operator  in  Franklin 
county  of  coal  that  will  show,  in  every  ton  sold 
to  dealer  or  consumer,  such  careful  sizing,  such 
freedom  from  anything  hut  coal,  so  complete  a 
removal  of  fine  stuff,  that  they  will  learn  to  know 
it  like  the  face  of  a  friend. 

The  cost  to  so  prepare  the  product  of  the 
County  of  h'ranklin  will  not  be  small,  but  the 
reputation,  good-will  and  patronage  that  will  fol¬ 
low  will  bury  the  initial  cost  so  deep  that  it  will 
never  be  thought  of. 

No  lever  can  do  its  work  unless  it  has  a  proper 
fulcrum.  That  resting  point  must  be  solid,  steady 
and  substantial,  and  it  consists  of  enough  honest, 
simple,  easily  understood  advertising  to  penetrate 
and  keep  alive,  year  in  and  year  out,  in  the  minds 
of  dealers  and  consumers  alike,  a  knowledge  of 
all  the  facts  about  Franklin  County  Prepared 
Coal.  Competition,  like  death,  taxes  and  interest, 
never  goes  to  sleep  at  the  switch. 

This  method  is  “The  Only  Way”  by  which  ton¬ 
nage  can  be  increased  tO  a  point  that  will  bring 
about  a  lowering  of  the  cost  of  production,  that 
will  be  evidence  in  dividends  without  increase  of 
cost  to  the  public  and  will  be  along  lines  which 
will  educate  the  public  into  becoming  steady, 
regular  and  loyal  buyers. 

It  is  not  to  be  understood  by  anything  I  have 
said  that  the  persistent  education  of  the  dealer 
should  be  neglected;  very  far  from  it.  Through 
him  lies  the  obvious  way  of  approach  to  the  busi¬ 
ness  in  his  town,  and  to  his  credit  it  can  be  said 
that  he  is  prompt  in  the  majority  of  cases  to  help 
on  the  work.  The  fact  remains,  however,  that 
steady  pressure  can  be  brought  upon  the  house¬ 
holder,  even  if  the  dealer  does  not  at  first  co¬ 
operate  with  us.  This  matter  is  so  important 
that  it  can  be  made  a  constant  subject  for  your 
thoughtful  consideration. 

Assuming  that  it  is  the  intention  and  determin¬ 
ation  of  this  association  to  have  the  prepared  coal 
of  Franklin  county  delivered  to  the  consumer  in 
a  condition  of  preparation  that  will  he  unrivalled, 
yet,  inasmuch  as  “eternal  vigilance  is  the  price  of 
profit,”  the  fact  should  never  be  lost  sight  of  that 
Franklin  County  Prepared  Coal,  to  reach  its  mar¬ 
kets,  must  pass  through  vigorously  competitive 
coal  producing  fields,  that  are  also  alive  to  the 
benefits  of  proper  preparation. 

By  a  combination  of  fortunate  circumstances, 
one  of  the  most  important  factors  that  has  to  do 
with  the  present  and  future  markets  for  Franklin 
County  Prepared  Coal  is  ready  to  hand — the  ma¬ 
chinery  of  distribution — otherwise  railroads.  The 
forces  that  for  many  years  were  developing  the 
empire  of  the  middle  west,  have  laid  the  railroads, 
built  the  towns  and  established  the  manufacturing 
enterprises  that  are  the  natural  market  for  h'rank¬ 
lin  County  Prepared  Coal,  so  that  the  opening  of 
the  field  found  the  market  ready  and  ripe  for  its 
product,  with  the  pioneer  work  and  introductory 
effort  in  this  particular  reduced  to  a  minimum. 
The  geograi)hical  location  of  the  county  is  all 
that  could  be  desired,  and  the  great  western  ra¬ 
diating  lines  of  railroad  have  been  quick  to  make 
the  necessary  individual  mine  connections. 

Today,  owing  to  the  intelligent  realization  on 
the  part  of  railroad  managers  of  the  substantial 
permanence  of  this  field,  and  the  wide  range  of 
use  to  which  its  coal  can  be  i)ut,  the  i)resent  and 
future  needs  of  the  district  as  to  transportation 
are  well  provided  for. 

It  is  hoi)ed  a  general  tendency  may  at  all  times 
prevail  with  the  railroads  to  provide  a  favorable 
adjustment  of  rail  rates  that  will  be  of  advantage 


86 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[July  31 


in  extemling  the  future  market  for  Franklin 
County  Prepared  Coal  to  far  distant  points.  As  a 
whole,  the  outlets  for  the  coal  are  so  well  bal¬ 
anced  within  the  state  tliat  all  operations  therein 
are  satisfactorily  served  on  what  seems  a  fair 
competitive  basis. 

Hut  there  is  a  point  in  the  consideration  of  the 
I)resent  and  future  markets  for  Franklin  County 
Prepared  Coal  that  is  worth  your  most  careful 
consideration. 

.May  1  ask  for  it  your  earnest  attention? 

F.arlier  in  this  paper  1  made  a  broad  statement, 
that  might  seem  to  cover  the  subject,  when  I 
said  that  the  present,  and  future  market  for 
l•'ranklin  County  Prepared  Coal  was  in  every 
stove,  furnace,  boiler  or  clay  product  plant  where 
prohibitive  freight  and  mining  rates  do  not  pre¬ 
vent  its  introduction. 

'Phis  was  fixing  the  limit  of  the  market  ex¬ 
tension  with  an  arbitrary  rate,  which  is  perhaps 
only  partly  true.  May  it  not  be  possible  that  the 
lield  for  the  use  of  this  coal  will  pass  that  usually 
agreed  barrier? 

Pardon  me  if  I  must  again  emphasize  the  much 
dwelt  on  matter  of  proper  preparation  at  this 
point,  for  it  is  the  pivot,  it  seems  to  me,  upon 
which  our  whole  argument  revolves. 

A  subtle  thing  is  reputation.  It  has  first  to  be 
built  up,  for  an  article  like  Franklin  County  Pre- 
|)ared  Coal,  by  skillful  management  and  properly 
ecpiipped  plants.  Only  with  these  fundamentals 
installed  will  reputation  have  a  proper  soil  on 
which  to  grow.  This  soil  must  be  fertilized  by 
strong  publicity  and  first-class  salesmanship ;  but. 
after  all,  it  is  the  good-will  of  the  coal  user  that 
causes  a  reputation  to  grow  like  Jack’s  bean  stalk. 

If  over  the  back  fences  and  uj)  the  back  stairs, 
at  thimble  clubs  and  dog  fights,  men  and  women 
are  telling  each  other  that  FTanklin  County  Pre¬ 
pared  Coal  is  the  best  they  ever  had,  the  tipples 
of  h'ranklin  County  will,  in  a  few  years,  be  busy 
.'ioo  days  every  year. 

With  an  established  reputation,  built  on  the 
firm  foundation  of  perfect  preparation,  the  oper¬ 
ators  will  make  a  better  profit,  and  increased  vol¬ 
ume  of  business  will  reduce  cost  of  the  i)ublic, 
steadier  and  better  wages  will  flow  into  the  homes 
of  the  miners,  and  the  market  for  F'ranklin 
county  coal  must  steadily  broaden. 

Admitting  that  there  is  a  zone  line  that  is 
thought  to  be  a  stone  wall  to  the  market  exten¬ 
sion  of  F'ranklin  County  Prepared  Coal,  I  am 
compelled  to  confess  that  I  have  not  as  yet  dis¬ 
covered  it,  for  as  soon  as  a  dead  line  has  been 
seemingly  reached,  some  enterprising  salesman  or 
progressive  dealer  who  is  curious  about  the  claims 
made  for  the  coal,  proceeds  to  sneak  a  car  over 
that  boundary. 

Human  nature  is  the  same,  and  under  ordinary 
conditions  is  always  looking  for  a  little  more  com¬ 
fort,  a  little  more  cleanliness,  a  little  more  con¬ 
venience,  and  is  willing  to  pay  for  it,  and  when 
it  is  found  by  trial  that  there  is  a  coal  that  com¬ 
bines  these  qualities  to  the  extent  that  F'ranklin 
County  Prepared  Coal  does,  there  begins  to  per¬ 
meate  through  every  ordinary  community,  when 
it  is  once  introduced,  a  demand  for  it. 

There  must  be  a  place  where  a  subject  as  in¬ 
teresting  as  the  one  we  have  been  considering 
comes  to  some  sort  of  a  focus,  and  it  must  be 
evident  that  the  thought  dominating  this  paper 
has  been  that  a  coal  like  that  of  F'ranklin  county, 
if  properly  prepared,  so  that  those  who  use  it 
will  continue  to  do  so,  must  become  an  established, 
profitable,  standard  commodity  all  through  the 
middle  west. 

“Profitable,”  yes,  but  to  wbom? 

To  the  consumer?  Yes,  always,  if  he  gets  such 
a  coal  as  he  should  get. 

The  dealer  cannot  help  making  a  good  i)rofit 
on  an  article  such  as  we  have  been  talking  about, 
which  satisfies  his  customers  and  increases  his 
business. 

Hut  how  about  the  operators?  .\re  they  to  go 
unrewarded?  Not  for  a  moment,  if  their  attitude 
toward  the  dealers  who  distribute  the  output  of 
F'ranklin  county  is  based  on  clean,  honorable,  rea¬ 
sonable  lines,  and  the  dealers  give  in  return  genu¬ 
ine  co-operation. 

This  preparation  that  we  have  talked  so  much 
about  carries  with  it  a  steady,  easily  ascertain¬ 
able,  demonstrable  cost,  as  does  the  entire  invest¬ 
ment  of  the  operator  in  plant,  land,  business  risk 
and  selling  organization.  Upon  this  investment 
a  fair  and  reasonable  profit  is  due  to  the  oper¬ 
ator,  and  without  it  his  business  is  a  failure. 

To  get  this  profit  he  must  at  all  times  receive  a 
proper  price  for  the  coal  shipped,  and  such  a 
price  must  be  one  that  the  dealer  pays  with  satis¬ 
faction,  because  he  has  received  a  i)roper  value  for 
his  money  and  an  article  on  which  he  can  reap  a 
substantial  profit. 


If  the  oi)erator  is  to  get  this  fair  price,  it  has 
been  for  a  long  time  evident  that  friendly  co-oper¬ 
ation  must  always  exist  between  him  and  the 
dealer. 

The  operator  must  have  removed  from  his  daily 
consciousness  the  knowledge  that  during  certain 
seasons  of  the  year  the  dealer  will  attempt  to, 
and  under  past  prevailing  conditions  succeed,  in 
purchasing  coal  at  or  below  cost  of  production, 
and  that  he  (the  coal  operator)  must,  in  order  to 
make  good  the  loss  from  such  low  price  sales 
during  a  part  of  the  year,  charge  during  the  re¬ 
mainder  of  the  year  a  correspondingly  high  and 
unwarranted  price  in  order  that  a  reasonable  profit 
may  be  shown  on  the  year’s  operation. 

Whatever  the  necessity  of  the  coal  companies 
may  be  as  to  return  of  their  producing  cost,  it  is 
certainly  unwise  that  such  a  wide  variation  of 
price  should  prevail  between  seasons.  A  substan¬ 
tial  percentage  of  coal  users  know  little  or  noth¬ 
ing  of  the  cost  of  coal  production  and  sale,  nor  do 
they  understand  how  any  occasion  could  arise 
that  would  promi)t  the  sale  of  such  a  standard 
commodity  as  coal  at  less  than  cost.  Hence  their 


The  United  Mine  Workers  of  .America  are 
now  actively  engaged  in  tryin.g  to  stir  up  en¬ 
thusiasm  in  their  organization  in  the  anthracite 
districts,  and  to  enroll,  if  possible,  every  man 
connected  with  the  anthracite  industry  in  a  work¬ 
man’s  capacity  by  .April  1,  next,  when  the  present 
four-year  agreement  with  the  operators  expires. 

About  two  weeks  ago  John  P.  \Vhite,  presi¬ 
dent  of  the  United  Mine  Workers  of  .America, 
came  to  the  anthracite  regions,  and  since  then 
there  have  been  frequent  meetings  at  certain 
points,  and  speeches  have  been  made  galore  by 
White  and  numerous  leaders  of  the  union. 

A  great  many  claims  are  being  made  as  to 
what  the  miners  will  demand  in  the  way  of  a 
new  agreement.  Some  of  the  most  important 
demands  are  an  eight-hour  day;  a  complete  rec¬ 
ognition  of  the  union ;  the  check-off  and  a  general 
increase  in  wages  running  from  fifteen  to  twenty- 
live  per  cent.  They  also  demand  the  elimina¬ 
tion  of  the  conciliation  board  in  favor  of  some 
more  direct  method  of  settling  disputes. 

■An  important  meeting  of  the  anthracite  dis¬ 
trict  mine  workers  will  be  held  at  Wilkes-Ftarre, 
on  September  6.  In  the  meantime  the  mine  work¬ 
ers  of  the  various  parts  of  the  anthracite  fields 
will  conduct  a  campaign  for  membership,  holding 
two  meetings  a  day  until  September  (i,  when  the 
joint  convention  will  be  held  in  Wilkes-Barre  to 
formulate  the  demands  that  will  be  presented 
to  the  operators. 

The  following  announcement  was  made  by  the 
union  last  week: 

“.April  1,  1910,  the  present  agreement  between 
the  anthracite  coal  operators  and  the  mine  work¬ 
ers  throughout  the  anthracite  belt  will  e.xpire. 
Unless  satisfactory  arrangements  have  been  con¬ 
cluded  by  that  time  the  coal  mines  will  prac¬ 
tically  be  at  a  standstill.  Most  every  one  is 
familiar  with  the  long  struggle  of  1900,  when 
over  a  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  coal  mines 
struggled  for  a  year  to  secure  an  increase  in 
wages,  shorter  work  day  and  generally  improved 
working  conditions  as  well  as  recognition  of  the 
union. 

“The  strike  was  linally  terminated  by  the  ap¬ 
pointment  of  a  commission  by  F’resident  Roose¬ 
velt,  which  made  the  award  of  1902,  granting  the 
miners  a  small  increase,  but  refusing  to  give  them 
the  leverage  of  union  recognition.  Since  1902 
the  miners  have  struggled  to  perfect  their  or¬ 
ganization,  but  every  contract  year  has  found 
them  weak  in  numbers,  with  the  result  that  only 
one  increase  in  wages  has  been  received  by  them 
since  1902.  This  increase  was  secured  in  1912, 
when  out  of  a  total  of  176,000  men  and  boys  em- 
|)loyed  in  the  mines  less  than  20,000  were  paid  up 
members  of  the  union. 

“The  .20,000  membership  of  1912  has  grown 
during  the  i)ast  three  years  to  100,000,  the  highest 
ever  known  in  the  anthracite  field.  Union  offi¬ 
cials  estimate  that  the  number  of  men  employed 
in  and  about  the  mines  and  not  now  affiliated 
with  the  union  is  .'j0,()00,  who  are  eligible  for 
membership.  On  this  figure  the  promoters  of  the 
campaign  based  their  hope  for  a  hundred  per  cent 
organization  and  have  adopted  for  their  campaign 
slogan  the  words,  ‘After  F'ifty  Thousand  Con¬ 
verts.’  In  every  mining  town  the  miners  are 
showing  an  intense  interest  in  the  campaign. 
.Mines  are  always  closed  on  meeting  days  and 
the  membership  committees  of  local  unions  are 
making  a  house  to  house  canvass  of  the  non¬ 


assumption  will  always  be  that  the  lowest  price 
of  the  year  is  never  less  than  cost  and  that  the 
whole  spread  to  the  extreme  prices  prevailing  in 
periods  of  sharp  demand  is  all  profit,  and  both 
dealers  and  other  users  are,  therefore,  apt  quite 
naturally  to  assume  an  attitude  of  antagonism 
most  uncomfortable  when  asked  to  pay  a  price 
that  seems  excessive. 

The  dealer  must  possess  (if  this  vital  matter  is 
to  be  ruled  by  reason)  a  mind  that  appreciates 
the  position  of  the  operator,  and  that  will  prompt 
him  at  all  times  of  the  year  to  pay  a  price  for  his 
supply  that  carries  a  fair  profit  to  the  operator 
that  ships  to  him. 

To  feel  this  way  the  dealer  must  be  honestly 
convinced  that  at  no  time,  and  under  no  stress  of 
circumstances  will  the  operator  endeavor  to  secure 
a  price  from  him  that  is  excessive. 

In  no  other  way  can  this  much  to  be  wished 
for  state  of  affairs  be  brought  about  so  satis¬ 
factorily  as  through  an  organization  like  the 
F'ranklin  County  Coal  Operators’  .Association,  and 
it  can  work  for  no  one  thing  of  greater  im¬ 
portance. 


affiliated  workers  in  order  to  get  them  out  in 
full  force  to  attend  the  meetings  and  hear  their 
chieftains  plead  unity  for  the  common  good  of 
all.” 


The  Miners  and  Ohio  Trade. 

(Concluded  from  page  81.) 
case  has  been  prejudiced  in  favor  of  the  miners 
by  the  mere  fact  of  enacting  the  Green  law. 
Regardless  of  the  logical  and  forceful  state¬ 
ment  of  the  consumer,  the  Green  law  has  pre¬ 
judiced  the  case  in  favor  of  the  Ohio  miners. 

The  second  big  fact  is  that  competing  states 
are  not  governed  by  the  Green  law  or  by  any 
other  Ohio  statute.  That  is.  West  A^irginia  has 
not  surrendered  wholly  to  the  Ohio  miners. 
West  Virginia  is  still  producing  coal  under 
the  old  system  and  at  the  old  rates.  The 
miners  are  not  getting  all  of  the  selling  price 
of  coal  in  West  Virginia. 

This  means  one  thing:  Ohio  capital  is  per¬ 
fectly  hopeless  because  it  is  tied  up  in  coal 
lands  which  cannot  be  moved.  But  the  rail¬ 
road  and  the  consumers  are  not  similarly 
hampered.  Thus,  the  consumers  are  not  buy¬ 
ing  Ohio  coal,  but  are  taking  West  Virginia 
coal.  The  railroads  are  not  carrying  Ohio  coal 
but  are  carrying  the  West  Virginia  product. 
Because  of  these  decisions,  Ohio  capital  is 
forced  to  abandon  its  mines  and  its  investment 
as  in  the  Hocking  Valley  case.  Incidentally, 
the  headstrong  and  blundering  miner  is  today 
on  the  bread  line. 

Reaping  the  Whirlwind. 

The  resultant  situation  is  one  that  gives 
pause.  The  state  of  Ohio  is  being  appealed  to 
to  relieve  the  distress  of  these  hungry  miners. 
It  is  even  suggested  now,  by  a  subservient  po¬ 
litical  administration,  that  the  taxes  collected 
from  other  and  more  sensible  people  of  Ohio 
should  be  set  aside  tcybuild  roads  through  the 
mining  districts  so  that  the  hungry  miners  may 
find  employment. 

'Fhat  may  be  the  political  way  to  solve  the 
problem,  but  the  business  way  would  be  to 
take  into  consideration  the  rights  of  the  other 
three  members  of  the  quadrangle — to  consider 
the  rights  of  capital,  of  the  consumer  and  th? 
carrier — and  then  to  get  down  to  business. 
The  f)hio  mining  rates  and  labor  conditions 
must  be  put  on  a  competitive  basis  with  those 
of  the  surrounding  field.  Then,  and  only  then, 
Ohio,  with  its  superior  grade  of  coal,  can  find 
a  market  for  its  product  and  can  give  profit¬ 
able  employment  to  its  miners. 

The  article  closes  where  it  began,  namely: 
No  question  is  ever  settled  permanently  until, 
under  modern  conditions,  equal  consideration 
is  given  to  the  co-ordinate  rights  of  all  four 
parties  to  the  business  quadrangle. 

Presently  we  will  discuss  this  same  question 
from  the  point  of  view  of  the  railways. 

On  July  1st.  American  shipyards  had  under 
construction  or  under  contract,  sixty-five  steel 
merchant  vessels  of  298.426  gross  tons.  High¬ 
est  previous  record  was  on  July  1st,  1907,  when 
124  steel  merchant  vessels  of  40.2,473  gross  tons 
were  under  construction  or  contract.  Vessels 
now  building  for  the  navy,  excluding  sub¬ 
marines,  number  twenty-seven,  of  287^382  tons 
displacement. 


Miners  Union  Is  Canvassing  Anthracite  Field. 


No.  S] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


87 


New  Hocking  Rate  Goes  Into  Effect. 


CoLU.MBUS,  Ohio,  July  28. — The  new  commer¬ 
cial  rates  on  coal  from  the  Nelsonville  assem- 
blying  yards  to  Toledo  and  intermediate 
points,  went  into  effect  today  on  the  Hocking 
X'alley  Railway.  They  make  reductions  of  from 
five  to  twenty  cents  per  ton,  according  to  des¬ 
tination. 

The  time-honored  tariff  of  sixty-five  cents 
on  Hocking  coal  into  Colum.bus  is  replaced 
by  one  of  sixty  cents.  Delaware,  Marion,  Fos- 
toria,  as  miany  smaller  points,  are  beneficiaries 
in  varying  degree.  The  Toledo  rate  of  $1  is 
replaced  by  eighty-five  cents. 

The  initiative  in  these  reductions  was  taken 
by  the  New  York  Coal  Company  of  Columbus 
five  years  or  more  ago  who  attacked  the  rates 
on  the  grounds  that  they  were  excessive. 
I’etition  was  filed  with  the  state  utilities  com¬ 
mission.  This  body  about  a  year  later,  after 
several  hearing  sessions,  in  which  experts  and 
able  attorneys  appeared  on  behalf  of  both  the 
coal  company  and  the  railroads,  authorized 
the  reductions  herein  cited. 

The  Hocking  Valley  Company  used  its  right 
of  taking  the  matter  into  the  courts,  carrying 
it  up  to  the  chief  tribunal  of  the  state.  Its 
grounds  were  that  the  commission  had  no  au¬ 
thority  under  the  constitution  to  fix  rates.  A 
few  weeks  ago,  the  Supreme  Court  handed 
down  a  decision  sustaining  the  conffnission. 
Any  further  fight  made  by  the  railroad  would 
have  had  to  be  in  the  federal  courts.  Its  formal 
issuing  of  a  new  tariff  in  accordance  with  the 
commission’s  findings  is  a  virtual  declaration 
of  acceptance.  Technically  this  tariff  is  sup¬ 
posed  to  have  been  in  force  since  the  date  of 
the  Supreme  Court’s  decision,  but  time  has 
been  allowed  by  shippers  for  the  issuing  of 
the  tariff. 


Ohio  Coal  Rates  Situation. 

Columbus,  Ohio,  July  28.— (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — Whether  the  coal  rate  issue  in 
Ohio,  now  recognized  as  having  reached  a  real 
crisis,  will  have  a  drawn-out  preliminary 
sparring  stage  between  shippers  and  the  rail¬ 
roads,  such  as  usually  marks  a  scale  settle¬ 
ment,  remains  to  be  seen.  Prominent  ship¬ 
pers  state  that  no  such  delay  will  occur.  There 
has  been  quick  action  sc  far  in  frequency  of 
conferences.  The  first  was  held  at  Columbus 
on  July  19th  and  20th,  followed  by  a  second 
at  Cleveland  on  the  27th.  The  third  is  billed 
for  Columbus  on  the  30th. 

Without  discussing  the  merits  of  the  ques¬ 
tion,  the  issue  miay  be  stated  in  a  few  words. 
Ohio  coal  producers  are  asking  that  the  dif¬ 
ferential  between  Ohio  and  West  \'irginia  be 
increased  from  twenty-five  to  fifty  cents  per 
ton.  They  believe  that  they  are  able  to  force 
it.  The  railroads  concede  that  there  should 
be  some  increase  in  the  differential,  possibly 
five  or  ten  cents  per  ton,  but  they  want  it  to 
come  through  the  authority  of  the  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission.  Further,  they  have 
a  large  appreciation  of  the  advantage  held  by 
the  coal  mien  in  the  present  controversy,  and 
are  much  more  anxious  for  a  compromise,  and 
less  anxious  for  a  fight,  than  at,  perhaps,  any 
time  in  the  history  of  their  dealings  with  coal 
producers  on  rate  matters. 

Ohio  coal  men  have  a  new-found  weapon. 
Last  winter  John  H.  Winder,  general  manager 
of  the  Sunday  Creek  Company,  and  other 
coal  men,  supported  by  the  Ohio  United  Mine 
Workers,  made  strenuous  representation  to  the 
state  legislature  that  the  (3hio  coal  industry 
was  threatened  with  extinction  by  reason 
largely  of  alleged  discrimination  by  the  rail¬ 
roads  in  favor  of  West  Virginia  coal  in  the 
matter  of  freight  rates,  and  petitioned  inves¬ 
tigation  and  readjustment. 

This  did  not  excite  much  interest  in  coal 
circles  generally,  for  the  reason  that  it  was 
felt  nothing  would  come  of  it.  And  nothing 
did  come  of  it.  When  the  legislature  ad¬ 
journed  a  month  or  more  ago,  coal  regulation 
by  the  state  was  as  dead  an  issue  as  though  it 
had  never  been  brought  before  the  law-mak¬ 
ers.  It  was  at  this  point  that  something  hap¬ 
pened.  A  decision  was  handed  down  by  the 
Supreme  Court  of  Ohio  recognizing  the  au¬ 
thority  of  the  state  utilities  commission  to 
regulate  freight  rates.  The  commission  had 
already  tried  its  hand  in  the  matter.  The  par¬ 
ticular  case  involved  is  given  in  detail  in  the 
foregoing  announcement  of  the  going  into 
effect,  today,  of  a  reduced  tariff  between  Nel¬ 
sonville  and  Toledo.  The  case  had  been  pend¬ 


ing  five  years  or  more,  and  doubtless  many 
coal  men  had  forgotten  its  existence. 

But  the  whole  rate  situation  was  thus  placed 
on  a  different  basis.  The  fact  that  the  coiw- 
mission  had  been  favorable  to  the  coal  men 
in  one  instance,  after  investigation,  presup¬ 
posed  that  it  recognized  the  need  and  justice 
of  rate  regulation  in  Ohio,  and  was  ready  to 
give  prompt  consideration  to  other  petitions 
that  might  be  filed.  Granting,  for  argument’s 
sake,  that  the  Ohio  coal  men  are  right  in  their 
contentions  that  the  life  of  the  coal  industry 
in  the  state  depends  upon  higher  differentials, 
they  have  a  very  strong  position.  And  no 
better  time  could  have  been  planned  for  bring¬ 
ing  the  question  to  a  head,  mines  now,  from 
whatever  cause,  being  largely  idle  and  miners 
calling  for  public  relief  in  the  niatter  of  food. 

“Give  us  our  Ohio  steam  trade,”  is  the  sen¬ 
timent  of  Ohio  producers,  as  announced  by  one 
of  their  leaders.  They  cite  Indiana  as  a 
model.  There  intrastate  rates  are  so  favorable 
to  the  home  operator  as  to  keep  both  West 
Virginia  and  Ohio  out  of  the  steam  market, 
though  Indiana  steam  coal,  it  is  claimed,  is 
inferior. 

Nothing  less  than  a  fifty  cent  differential, 
operators  state,  will  insure  Ohio  an  equal 
show  in  her  own  steam  market.  It  is  cited 
that  in  normal  times,  not  taking  into  account 
present  low  prices.  West  Virginia  has  a  price 
in  Toledo  of  seventy-five  cents  f.  o.  b.  mine. 
Ohio,  with  its  larger  mining  rate  and  other 
handicaps,  must  have  .$1.10  or  $1.15  f.  o.  b.  per 
ton  before  a  profit  stage  is  reached  on  mine 
run,  taking  the  Hocking  Valley  as, basing  point. 
One  point  of  large  importance  is  that  West 
Virginia  steam  coal  has  about  1,400  heat  units, 
as  against  Ohio’s  1,200. 

The  opinion  is  expressed  am^ong  operators 
that  unless  the  railroads  agree  at  the  forth¬ 
coming  conference  to  the  concession  asked  for 
that  the  coal  men  will  at  once  go  before  the 
utilities  commjssion  and  ask  to  have  the  whole 
coal  rate  question,  with  its  bearing  upon  the 
general  prosperity  of  the  state,  sifted  from 
top  to  bottom.  A  plea  put  up  by  the  railroads 
is  that  reduction  of  Ohio  rates  would  be  fol¬ 
lowed  by  retailiatory  action  on  the  part  of  West 
Virginia  railroads,  and  in  the  end  there  would 
be  no  gain  to  Ohio.  This  is  their  ground  for 
wanting  to  pass  the  problem  up  to  the  Inter¬ 
state  Commerce  Commlission,  whose  rulings, 
whatever  they  were,  would  be  obligatory  on 
all  the  states  affected. 


Pennsylvania  Fuel  Tonnage. 


The  total  fuel  tonnage  hauled  by  the  Pennsyl¬ 
vania  Railroad  lines  east  of  Pittsburgh  in  the  six 
months  of  this  year,  amounting  to  30,684,163,  was 
less  than  in  the  corresponding  period  of  any  of 
the  three  preceding  years.  It  compares  with 
32,740,336  tons  in  the  first  half  of  1914,  27,027,558 
in  1913  and  34,312,495  in  1912.  The  bituminous 
coal  shipments  in  the  first  half  of  this  year, 
amounting  to  20,261,777,  compared  with  21,973,572 
tons  in  1914;  24,282,419  in  1913,  and  22,619,781  in 
1912.  Anthracite  tonnage  this  year  was  5,423,467, 
as  against  5,560,680  in  1914;  5,418,231  in  1913,  and 
5,318,121  in  1912.  Coke  shipments  of  4,998,919 


PH]L,Jir)ELi’Hi.\,  July  28:  The  presence  of  John 
P.  White,  jiresident  of  the  Lhiited  Mine  Workers 
of  America  in  the  anthracite  fields  has  caused  all 
manner  of  speculation  and  rumors  as  to  strike 
possibilities. 

So  much  newspaper  talk  has  been  created  that 
White  has  seen  fit  to  issue  the  following  state¬ 
ment  as  to  his  object  in  “lining  up”  the  miners. 

“Articles  appearing  in  certain  newspapers  dur¬ 
ing  the  last  few  days,  for  the  most  part  pub¬ 
lished  a  great  distance  from  the  anthracite  in¬ 
dustry,  containing  the  information  that  the  an¬ 
thracite  mine  workers  are  making  huge  prepara¬ 
tions  for  a  big  strike  at  the  expiration  of  the 
present  agreement  March  21,  1916,  are  absolutely 
unfounded. 

“The  campaign  now  being  conducted  in  the  an¬ 
thracite  region  is  for  the  sole  purpose  of  uniting 
the  men  of  the  mines  as  members  of  the  United 
Mine  W'orkers  of  America.  When  the  anthracite 
miners  have  perfected  their  organization,  1  am  of 


this  year  compare  with  5,196,084  in  1914;  7,326,908 
in  1913,  and  6,374,593  in  1912. 

In  June  this  year  the  bituminous  tonnage,  3,664,- 
703,  was  the  largest  monthly  amount  since  De¬ 
cember  of  last  year.  It  was  less  than  in  June, 
1914  or  1913,  but  greater  than  1912.  June  an¬ 
thracite  shiinnents,  843,053  tons,  were  smaller  than 
in  that  month  of  1914  and  1912,  but  larger  than 
in  1913.  Coke  tonnage  in  June,  990,476  was  the 
largest  since  March,  1914.  It  also  was  greater 
than  in  June  last  vear,  but  less  than  in  1913  or 
1912. 

The  fuel  tonnage  of  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad 


eastern  lines 

by  mont 

hs  for  four  years 

follows 

( bituminous) 

1915 

1914 

1913 

1912 

January  . 

3,.171.34.t 

4,117,511 

4,210,196 

3,581,305 

February  . 

3,031,009 

3,556,665 

3,857,304 

4,086,917 

IVl  a  rc  h  . 

4,740,313 

4,050,247 

4,501,053 

April  . 

3.099,928 

3,796,432 

3,391,985 

May  . 

.3,393,328 

3,543,218 

4,178,271 

3.495,010 

Tune  . 

3,664,703 

3.897.544 

4,189,969 

3,502,845 

■July  . 

3,966,357 

4,551,528 

3,655,387 

August  . 

4,299,810 

4,562,339 

4,032,727 

Sei)tem])er  .  .  .  . 

4,291,425 

4,378,037 

3,906,164 

October  . 

4,233,393 

4,887,840 

4,113,550 

November  .  .  .  . 

3,607,38.5 

4,509,375 

3,934,870 

December  .  . .  . 

3,755,675 

4,354,729 

4,271,702 

Total  .  .  . . 

47,769,227 

5 1 ,526,267 

46,434,187 

—IVal 

Street  Journal. 

Lackawanna  Coal  Company. 


New  York,  July  28. — (.‘Special  Correspond¬ 
ence.) — -At  a  directors  meeting  of  the  Dela¬ 
ware,  Lackawanna  &  Western  Coal  Company 
held  today,  J.  F.  Bermingham,  who  has  been 
general  auditor  of  the  company  since  its  or¬ 
ganization,  was  elected  president  in  place  of 
E.  E.  Loomis  who  resigned  some  weeks  ago 
in  order  to  carry  out  the  decree  of  the  supreme 
court.  The  general  offices  of  the  company  will 
be  removed  from!  No.  90  West  street  to  the 
new  Equitable  building  some  time  next  month. 


England’s  Coal  Shortage. 


New  York,  July  29. — (Special  Correspond¬ 
ence.) — As  emphasizing  England’s  coal  short¬ 
age,  a  mass  mieeting  of  2,000  miners,  delegates 
was  held  in  London  today  when  addresses 
were  made  by  Lloyd  George,  minister  of  muni¬ 
tions,  President  Runciman  of  the  boaril  of 
trade,  and  others,  to  speed  up  production.  The 
home  secretary  declared  England’s  shortage 
amounted  to  three  million  tons  monthly. 


New  York  Coal  Bids. 


Bids  were  opened  on  Monday,  July  19,  by  the 
fire  department  for  furnishing  and  delivering  an¬ 
thracite  coal  for  fireboats.  There  were  three  de¬ 
livery  points,  with  different  tonnages.  No.  1,  1,150 
gross  tons;  No.  2,  600  gross  tons;  No.  3,  600  gross 
tons.  Bidders  and  their  prices  were  as  follows  : 

No.  1.  No.  2.  No.  3. 


Commercial  Coal  Co.,  Brooklyn .  $G.18 

Tohn  F.  Schmadeke,  Tnc.,  I>rooklyn.  $5.95  $5.95  .... 
\Vm.  Farrell  &  Son,  New  York  City  5.93  5.93  .... 
Bacon  Coal  Co.,  Brooklyn .  5.SC  .... 


On  Wednesday,  July  21,  the  department  of 
docks  and  ferries  of  New  York  City  opened  bids 
for  furnishing  approximately  3,000  gross  tons  of 
egg  coal.  Bidders  were  as  follows  : 


Streat  Coal  Company .  $5.94 

W.  P.  W.  Hat! .  .5.57 

Pattison  &  Bowns .  5.37 

(iavin  Rowe .  5.4() 


the  belief  that  the  union  will  be  sufficiently  strong 
and  efficient  to  command  the  respect  and  recog¬ 
nition  it  deserves. 

“1  have  every  reason  to  feel  assured  that  the 
operators,  like  the  miners,  want  to  be  fair,  and 
consequently  I  am  at  a  loss  to  understand  why 
the  attempt  in  some  quarters  is  being  made  to 
misrepresent  the  real  purpose  of  our  present  mem¬ 
bership  camiiaign. 

“The  international  officials  nor  district  officials 
have  formulated  any  plan  that  contemplate  a 
strike  at  the  expiration  of  the  agreement.  We 
are,  on  the  other  hand,  hopeful  that  we  will  enjoy 
the  opportunity  to  meet  the  operators  in  confer¬ 
ence  and  reach  a  fair  agreement,  emliracing  needed 
reforms  and  betterments  that  we  feel  quite  con¬ 
fident  the  general  condition  of  the  industry  will 
permit.  The  public  should  not  become  alarmed 
at  the  stories  of  a  strike  nature,  for  the  mission 
of  the  L’nited  Mine  Workers  is  one  of  peace,  and 
I  predict  that  such  will  be  the  outcome  of  our 
negotiations  when  we  again  meet  the  operators.” 


No  Strike  of  Anthracite  Miners,  But — 


88 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[July  31 


Hurley  Outlines  Trade  Commission  Plan. 


Edward  N.  Hurley,  vice-chairman  of  the 
Federal  Trade  Commission  has  outlined  the 
plan  according  to  which  that  body  will  work. 
The  authorized  statement  follows: 

“Among  the  several  methods  by  which  the 
federal  trade  commission  can  be  of  construc¬ 
tive  help  to  American  business,  there  are  two 
of  particular  importance.  One  of  these  is  to 
aid  the  business  men  of  the  country  in  obtain¬ 
ing  the  additional  credits  to  which  their  busi¬ 
ness  operations  may  entitle  them.  The  second 
is  to  aid  in  establishing  a  standard  system  of 
bookkeeping  and  cost  accounting.  The  two 
are  interdependent. 

“The  small  manufacturer,  the  country  store¬ 
keeper  and  the  retail  merchant  as  a  rule  do  not 
get  at  the  banks  credit  that  they  ought  to  re¬ 
ceive,  owing  to  the  fact  that  they  are  unable 
to  present  balance  sheets  in  accordance  with 
good  business  practice.  These  men  are  just 
as  good  business  men,  in  many  respects,  as 
those  of  larger  operations. 

“Frequently  a  business  man  with  a  credit 
of  a  few  hundred  dollars  at  his  bank,  based 
wholly  on  personal  grounds,  could,  if  he  could 
produce  a  reliable  balance  sheet,  readily  ob¬ 
tain  several  thousand  dollars  which  would 
enable  him  to  expand  his  business  along  sound 
lines.  Failing  to  obtain  it,  his  business  is  lim¬ 
ited  and  confined. 

“Ability  to  borrow  at  the  bank  has  a  far- 
reaching  efifect  on  all  credit,  because  to  the 
bank,  primarily,  are  directed  inquiries  for  a 
rating  of  a  manufacturer  or  merchant  seeking 
credit  for  goods.  An  unfavorable  or  noncom¬ 
mittal  report  from  the  bank  results  in  a  cur¬ 
tailment  of  opportunity.  It  also  checks  ex¬ 
pansion. 

“But  it  is  true  that  a  great  many  of  these 
forms  could  be  adapted  for  use  in  lines  other 
than  those  for  which  they  are  originally  ar¬ 
ranged,  as  certain  fundamental  principles  un¬ 


derlie  the  general  structure  of  accountancy 
and  must  be  recognized  by  each  group. 

“It  is  a  fact  well  understood  among  busi¬ 
ness  men  that  the  general  demoralization  in 
a  large  number  of  industries  has  been  caused 
by  firms  who  cut  prices,  not  knowing  what 
their  goods  actually  cost  to  manufacture;  and 
the  cost  of  selling,  which  is  equally  important, 
is  almost  wholly  lost  sight  of. 

“How  can  the  federal  trade  commission  help 
cure  these  conditions? 

“By  no  compulsory  methods.  The  commis¬ 
sion  has  no  power  and  no  desire  to  use  such 
methods.  But  the  commission  does  hope  to 
reach  the  desired  end  by  putting  at  the  service 
of  the  manufacturers  and  merchants  who  have 
not  had  the  experience  or  advantages  that 
larger  firms  possess  the  accountants,  book¬ 
keepers  and  experts  in  cost  of  production  that 
are  employed  by  the  commission,  and  in  that 
way  to  help  strengthen  American  industries 
where  they  are  weak.  These  services  will  be 
rendered  only  on  the  request  of  the  individual 
merchant  or  manufacturer  who  desires  them. 

“\Vhen  there  is  completed  within  the  com¬ 
mission  the  organization  for  aiding  business 
any  manufacturer  or  merchant,  on  request, 
may  receive  (a)  an  approved  form  for  presen¬ 
tation  to  his  bank  when  seeking  credit;  (b)  a 
form  designed  to  show  accurately  and  con¬ 
cisely  his  assets  and  liabilities,  stock  on 
hand,  etc.;  (c)  a  form  of  double  entry  book¬ 
keeping  adapted  to  his  class  of  business,  as 
well  as  (d)  a  form  and  method  of  arriving  at 
costs,  also  adapted  to  his  line  of  business. 
All  of  these  sample  forms  will  be  simple  in 
character  and  can  be  supplied  by  the  local 
printer. 

“It  is  hoped  that  the  different  banks 
throughout  the  country  will  carry  supplies  of 
these  forms  for  the  benefit  of  their  custom- 

ff 


Law  of  a  Case  Involving  a  Dishonest  Salesman. 


An  employer’s  legal  responsibility  for  the  things 
his  salesmen  says  and  does  is  brought  forward 
by  a  letter  just  received  through  a  New  York 
paper.  Readers  will  bear  in  mind  that  the  law  is 
the  same  both  as  to  the  salesman  of  a  manufac¬ 
turer  or  a  jobber,  traveling  on  the  road,  and  the 
store  salesman  or  clerk  of  a  retail  dealer : 

“We  have  been  put  in  an  uncomfortable  situa¬ 
tion  by  a  dishonest  salesman,  and  should  much 
like  your  advice  on  the  legal  complications  which 
have  ensued.  This  salesman  has  been  in  our 
employ  for  several  years  and  always  went  straight 
until  a  few  months  ago,  when  he  got  in  with  some 
bad  people,  and  since  then  he  has  gone  from  bad 
to  worse.  He  has  mixed  us  up  with  our  custom¬ 
ers  in  several  ways.  To  begin  with,  he  took 
orders  for  certain  of  our  merchandise  at  a  cut 
price.  The  price  is  far  below  our  cost,  and  of 
course  he  had  no  authority  to  name  any  such 
price.  In  selling  the  goods  at  these  prices  he 
made  out  an  order  at  the  regular  price,  which  he 
sent  to  us,  and  left  a  duplicate  with  the  cus¬ 
tomers  containing  the  cut  price. 

“He  also  has  collected  a  considerable  sum  of 
money  from  various  customers  and  has  failed  to 
turn  it  in.  We  fear  thi?  when  ascertained  will 
run  into  several  thousand  dollars. 

“The  worst  thing  he  has  done,  however,  is  to 
guarantee  a  certain  preparation  which  we  sell  as 
fit  for  a  certain  purpose,  which  it  is  not  fit  for  at 
all.  It  is  similar  to  other  preparations  which  are 
used  for  that  purpose,  but  we  have  never  sold  it 
for  that,  and  all  our  salesmen  have  been  instruct¬ 
ed  to  tell  the  trade  openly  that  our  brand  was  not 
sold  for  any  such  purpose.  By  untruthfully  rep¬ 
resenting  that  it  would  do  the  work  in  question, 
this  salesman  has  gotten  quite  a  number  of  or¬ 
ders,  and  from  buyers  who  have  recommended  it 
to  their  own  trade  for  that,  and  when  it  did  not 
make  .good  the  customers  came  back  on  their 
dealer,  and  the  dealer  now  comes  back  on  us. 
We  are  in  a  bad  mix-up  on  this  account. 

“What  is  our  legal  status  under  all  these  com¬ 
plications  ?’’ 

It  has  always  been  a  mystery  to  me  that  there 
were  not  more  cases  of  this  sort.  An  employer 
is  to  a  very  large  degree  at  the  mercy  of  his  sales¬ 
men  or  his  clerks.  Good  salesmen  are  scarce; 
therefore  when  a  man  gets  a  chance  to  hire  what 
looks  like  one,  he  often  snaps  him  up  without 
looking  deeply  enough  into  his  past. 


Three  questions  presented  here  are  common  to 
any  employer : 

1.  When  a  salesman,  without  authority  from 
his  employer,  or  even  perhaps  against  the  posi¬ 
tive  instructions  of  his  employer,  takes  an  order 
for  goods  at  a  cut  price,  is  the  employer  bound  to 
fill  it,  or  can  he  collect  the  regular  price  of  the 
goods  from  the  buyer? 

2.  When  a  salesman  collects  money  for  his 
employer,  without  authority,  or  again,  even  against 
his  employer’s  instructions,  can  the  employer 
claim  that  it  was  paid  to  the  wroa?  person  and 
must  be  paid  again,  or  is  he  bound  to  regard  it 
as  equivalent  to  payment  to  himself? 

3.  When  a  salesman  makes  false  representa¬ 
tions  or  warranties  about  goods  he  sells  for  an 
employer,  against  the  wish  and  order  of  his  em¬ 
ployer,  and  in  consequence  the  customer  gets  into 
trouble  with  his  own  customers  and  has  to  take 
goods  back  and  refund  money,  can  the  employer 
also  be  compelled  to  take  the  goods  back  and 
refund  money,  or  can  he  claim  that  he  is  not  re¬ 
sponsible,  because  the  salesman  acted  without 
authority  ? 

In  a  nutshell,  the  answer  to  all  these  questions 
is  “course  of  dealing.’’  A  salesman  can  do,  and 
bind  his  employer  in  doing,  anything  like  or  sim¬ 
ilar  to  what  his  employer  has  recognized  the  sales¬ 
man’s  right  to  do  before. 

To  explain,  consider  the  cut-price  question  first. 
I  can  make  this  plain  by  citin.g  two  imaginary 
cases. 

First.  A  salesman  goes  to  a  retailer  and  offers 
certain  goods  at  a  certain  price.  The  retailer  re¬ 
fuses  to  pay  the  price,  and  the  salesman,  after 
some  haggling,  cuts  it  without  consulting  his 
employer,  who  subsequently  accepts  the  order  at 
the  cut  price.  This,  which  we  will  say  happens 
several  times,  gives  the  retailer  to  understand  that 
the  salesman  has  some  jurisdiction  over  prices. 

Second.  A  salesman  offers  goods  to  a  retailer 
at  a  certain  price.  The  retailer  declines  to  pay 
the  price  and  says  that  unless  it  can  be  reduced 
he  will  not  buy.  The  salesman  tells  the  retailer 
that  he  has  no  authority  to  chan.ge  the  price,  but 
he  will  wire  his  house  and  see  if  they  will  change 
it.  This  he  does,  and  afterward  reduces  it  or 
refuses  to  reduce  it,  as  the  case  may  be.  This, 
which  again  happens  several  times,  gives  the 
retailer  to  understand  that  the  salesman  has  no 
jurisdiction  over  prices. 

In  the  first  case  a  salesman  who  took  an  order 


at  a  cut  price  would  bind  his  employer,  and  the 
latter  would  have  to  fill  it;  but  in  the  second  case 
he  would  not,  because  in  the  first  the  employer 
led  the  retailer  to  understand  that  the  salesman 
had  some  authority  over  prices,  and  in  the  sec¬ 
ond  case  he  did  not. 

As  to  the  collection  of  money,  if  the  employer 
had  permitted  the  salesman  to  collect  previous 
bills  and  had  accepted  the  money  and  receipted 
for  them,  then  he  gave  the  salesman  standing  as 
a  collector,  and  any  payment  made  to  the  sales¬ 
man  would  be  legally  equivalent  to  payment  to 
the  house. 

But  if  the  salesman  had  never  collected  before, 
and  the  retailer  knew  that  the  custom  of  the  house 
was  that  he  should  remit  direct,  which  before  he 
had  always  done,  then  he  would  pay  the  salesman 
at  his  own  risk,  and  if  the  salesman  stole  the 
money,  the  employer  could  say : 

“You  never  really  paid  me  at  all,  for  the  sales¬ 
man  was  not  my  agent  for  the  purpose  of  collect¬ 
ing.  I  never  told  you  to  pay  him;  I  never  in  any 
way  led  you  to  believe  I  wanted  you  to  pay  him.” 

In  this  the  employer  would  be  right,  and  the 
retailer  would  have  to  pay  his  bill  again. 

As  to  the  false  warranties  that  the  salesman 
made,  undoubtedly  the  employer  is  responsible  for 
them,  and  must  straighten  the  matter  out  with  his 
customers,  even  to  the  extent  of  takiag  back  the 
goods  and  refunding  the  money,  and  even  fur¬ 
ther  than  that — paying  any  loss  which  his  cus¬ 
tomers  sustained.  This  because  making  repre¬ 
sentations  and  warranties  about  the  goods  was 
clearly  within  the  scope  of  the  salesman’s  author¬ 
ity,  since  that  was  a  real  part  of  the  business  of 
selling,  which  the  salesman  was  sent  out  to  do. 

An  irresponsible  salesman  can  involve  his  em¬ 
ployer  in  more  legal  liabilities  in  one  hour  than 
the  employer  can  untie  in  a  year.  Some  time  I 
shall  suggest  how  a  salesman  can  be  so  tied  up 
by  legal  contract  that  he  can  be  prevented  from 
doing  this. 

(Copyright,  June,  1915,  by  Elton  J.  Buckley.) 


June  Anthracite  Production. 


A  statement  of  anthracite  production  for  June 
has  just  been  made  public  by  A.  H.  Armstrong, 
chief  of  the  Bureau  of  Anthracite  Coal  Statistics. 
This  shows  that  for  June  the  total  shipments  were 
5,316,103  compared  with  the  corresponding  month 
for  last  year  of  6,130,186.  Total  shipments  to 
June  30  for  the  year  were  31,595,304  compared 
with  shipments  for  the  corresponding  period  of 
last  year  of  32,945,789. 

The  shipments  by  railroads  and  by  sizes,  with 
the  total  for  the  two  periods,  were  as  follows : 

Buckwheat  Sizes  below 
No.  1  and  Buckwheat  Total 
larger  sizes  No.  1  Shipments 


W. 


June,  1914 — 

Phila.  &  Reading  R 
Lehigh  Valley  R.  R. 
Central  R.  R,  of  N.  J... 
Dela.,  Lacka.  &  W.  R.  R 

Dela.  &  Hudson  Co . 

Pennsylvania  R.  R . 

Erie  R.  R . 

N.  Y.,  O.  &  W.  R.  W... 


Total . . 

June,  1915 — 

Phila.  &  Reading  R.  \V. 

Lehigh  Valley  R.  R . 

Central  R.  R.  of  N.  J.  . 
Dela.,  Lacka.  &  W.  R.  R 
Dela.  &  Hudson  Co 
Pennsylvania  R.  R.. 

Erie  R.  R . 

N.  Y.,  O.  &  W.  R.  W... 


Year,  1914— 
Phila.  &  Reading  R. 


V/. 


Central  R.  R.  of  N.  J... 
Dela.,  Lacka.  &  W.  R.  R 
Dela.  &  Hudson  Co.... 

Pennsylvania  R.  R . 

Erie  R.  R . 

N.  Y.,  O.  &  \V.  R.  W.. 


Year,  1915— 

Phila.  &  Reading  R.  \V 
Lehigh  Valley  R.  R. .  .  . 
Central  R.  R.  of  N.  J.. 
Dela.,  Lacka.  &  \V.  R.  R 
Dela.  &  Hudson  Co.... 

Pennsylvania  R.  R . 

Erie  R.  R . 

N.  Y.,  O.  &  W.  R.  \V.. 


.  .  827,887 

116,929 

944,816 

.  1,158,659 

167,323 

1,325,982 

684,079 

155,435 

839,514 

..  776,679 

165,189 

941,868 

.  566,842 

94,400 

661,248 

.  401,541 

69,111 

470,652 

.  608,589 

129,586 

738,175 

.  186,661 

21,270 

207,931 

.  .  5,210,937 

919,249 

6,130,180 

.  745,260 

107,151 

852,411 

888,496 

99,757 

988,25.3 

490,461 

118,666 

609,127 

..  755,964 

132,435 

888,399 

605,354 

92,540 

697,894 

.  .  370,814 

75,876 

446,690 

578,600 

114,489 

693,089 

129,412 

10,827 

140,239 

.  .  4,564,361 

751,741 

5,316,102 

. .  5,273,253 

758,395 

0.031,648 

.  .  5,575,215 

579,860 

6,155,075 

.  .  3,677,861 

711,226 

4,389,087 

. .  3,806,647 

791,859 

4,598,506 

.  2,930,156 

485,719 

3,415,875 

.  .  2,803,374 

413,714 

3,217,088 

.  .  3,373,083 

616,944 

3.990,027 

.  .  1,020,809 

127,674 

1,148,483 

.  .28,400,398 

4,485,391 

32,945,789 

.  .  4,771,119 

042,152 

5,413,271 

.  .  5,097,282 

602,566 

6,299,848 

.  .  3,169,964 

628,885 

3,798,849 

.,  3,821,309 

747,239 

4,568,60.8 

.  .  3,295,080 

508,706 

3,803,792 

.  .  2,534,687 

435,267 

2,969,954 

..  3,163,356 

583,726 

3,747,082 

889,392 

104,508 

993,900 

.  .27,342,255 

4,253,049 

31,595,304 

The  amount  of  coal  in  stora.ge  at  tidewater  on 
June  30  this  year  was  739,729  tons  compared  with 
that  on  hand  May  31  of  751,617  tons.  This  shows 
a  decrease  of  11,888  tons  in  tidewater  stocks. 


No.  5] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


89 


An  Unnecessary  Mistake 

Everybody  makes  mistakes ;  those  who  do  not 
are  no  lon.ger  with  us. 

However,  there  are  two  kinds  of  mistakes; 
those  which  could  not  be  avoided,  and  those 
which  belong  in  the  “bone”  category.  The  man 
who  makes  too  many  of  this  sort  is  hopeless, 
from  the  standpoint  of  the  employer. 

Not  long  ago  a  salesman  turned  in  an  order 
for  ten  tons  of  coal,  which  contained  the  notation 
that  the  coal  was  to  be  delivered  any  time  during 
July.  On  a  day  convenient  to  the  manager  of 
the  yard,  the  wagons  were  loaded  up  and  sent  outj 
to  the  customer’s  house.  There  the  drivers  were 
met  with  the  announcement  that  the  customer  had 
said  August,  and  not  July. 

The  wa.gons  and  their  drivers  were  held  up 
while  the  manager  made  arrangements  for  a  shift 
in  the  deliveries,  so  as  to  put  that  coal  in  the  bin 
of  somebody  else.  Finally  he  was  able  to  get 
this  fixed  up,  but  the  net  result  was  the  loss  of 
considerable  valuable  time  all  around. 

The  moral  seems  to  be  that  in  addition  to  sell¬ 
ing  the  coal,  the  salesman  ought  to  take  just  as 
much  pains  as  possible  in  writing  up  the  order, 
so  that  there  will  be  no  confusion  in  carrying  it 
out.  Incidentally,  this  is  one  of  the  most  fre¬ 
quent  complaints  that  buyes  in  all  lines  have  to 
make — that  the  order  is  not  transmitted  correctly 
to  the  house. 


Too  Much  Competition 

The  old-fashioned  mills  that  were  operated  by 
horsepower  had  long  arms  to  which  the  horses 
were  fastened.  The  animals  walked  round  and 
round  in  a  circle,  and  there  hoofs  wore  a  de¬ 
pression  in  the  .ground,  because  the  same  earth 
was  constantly  trod  upon. 

The  coal  dealer  who  is  in  a  market  where  there 
is  plenty  of  business,  and  also  plenty  of  competi¬ 
tion,  sees  his  competitors  and  their  salesmen  so 
often  that  he  is  sure  to  tell  himself  that  the  field 
is  overcrowded,  and  that  it  is  mighty  hard  to 
get  along  in  the  business. 

The  chances  are  that  the  dealer  and  his  sales¬ 
men,  and  other  dealers  and  theirs,  are  following 
the  beaten  path — going  around  in  circles — instead 
of  striking  out  for  new  business  and  gettin.g  after 
new  customers. 

The  writer  made  an  experiment  in  this  connec¬ 
tion  not  long  ago.  Four  people  living  in  a  city 
of  250,000,  all  of  them  buyers  of  coal  at  retail, 
were  asked  how  many  times  this  season  their 
business  has  been  solicited.  In  every  case  it  ap¬ 
peared  that  the  only  calls  were  from  the  sales¬ 
men  of  the  concerns  which  had  been  previously 
handling  their  trade. 

Now,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  this  was  the  most 
comfortable  condition  that  could  have  existed,  in¬ 
asmuch  as  each  man  held  on  to  his  trade,  instead 
of  swapping  orders  with  the  other  fellow.  But 
it  certainly  didn’t  sug.gest  the  terrific,  feverish 
competition  that  many  dealers  believe  exists. 

If  the  coalman  who  really  wants  to  expand  his 
business  were  to  make  a  point  of  calling  on  at 
least  five  “prospects”  every  day,  and  to  have  his 
salesmen  look  for  new  business,  as  well  as  take 
care  of  the  old,  he  would  probably  add  a  good 
deal  of  trade  without  much  additional  effort. 


One  Kind  of  Service. 

Suppose  ^ou  had  a  customer  who  was  buying 
the  most  expensive  coal  you  sell,  coal  on  which 
you  make  a  good  profit. 

Suppose  the  customer  were  using  this  coal  for 


a  purpose  for  which  some  other  and  cheaper  coaf 
would  be  entirely  suitable  and  would  give  equal 
satisfaction. 

Would  you  sug.gest  making  the  change  to  the 
cheaper  variety? 

A  good  many  dealers  would  undoubtedly  per¬ 
mit  the  customer  to  buy  whatever  coal  he  wanted, 
and  if  he  ordered  the  highest-priced,  so  much  the 
better.  Others,  who  believe  in  service  as  an  ef¬ 
fective  factor  of  their  business,  instead  of  merely 
as  a  catch-word  in  advertising,  would  consider 
their  part  of  the  business  poorly  taken  care  of, 
unless  the  best  coal  for  the  purpose  were  se¬ 
lected;  and  the  “best”  coal,  of  course,  is  that 
which  does  the  work  at  the  lowest  cost.  A  cheap 
coal  which  gives  satisfaction  in  a  certain  connec¬ 
tion  where  a  more  expensive  kind  was  being  used 
previously  would  undoubtedly  be  better,  from  the 
standpoint  of  the  customer,  than  the  costly  va¬ 
riety. 

There  is  a  good  parallel,  alon.g  the  lines  of 
service  and  its  effect  on  business  building,  in  the 
fire  insurance  business.  The  old-style  agent  who 
wanted  to  charge  “all  the  traffic  would  bear” 
never  made  a  suggestion  as  to  improving  the 
risk,  so  as  to  get  a  lower  rate,  because,  thou.gh 
that  would  benefit  the  company  and  the  assured, 
it  would  reduce  his  immediate  income.  The  mod¬ 
ern  agent  is  urging  his  customers  to  do  certain 
specific  things  to  reduce  the  fire  hazard,  and  by 
so  doing  he  is  reducing  the  premium  and  thereby 
lessening  his  commissions.  But  is  this  poor 
policy?  No,  because  the  customer  feels  that  he 
is  bein.g  “taken  care  of,”  and  when  he  gets  serv- 
,ice  like  that,  he  doesn’t  feel  any  desire  to  change 
agents. 

If  your  hold  on  your  customers  is  insecure, 
think  over  the  service  proposition  from  the  stand¬ 
point  of  making  them  like  the  way  you  are  hand¬ 
ling  their  business.  Maybe  there  is  a  chance  to 
make  improvements  here  aiul  there. 


Who  Pays? 

In  the  ordinary  coal  business,  where  most  of 
the  accounts  are  charged,  and  cash  is  paid  only 
if  the  customer  does  not  feel  like  taking  advan- 
ta.ge  of  the  credit  privilege,  which  is  generally 
extended,  an  interesting  question  is  that  of  who 
pays  for  the  items  of  interest,  bookkeeping,  credit 
losses  and  other  things  which  are  involved  in 
selling  coal  on  credit. 

It  is  evident  that  the  customer  who  planks 
down  the  cash,  or  who  settles  his  bill  at  its  first 
presentation,  is  paying;  because  the  one  who  takes 
months  to  pay  out,  and  who  requires  constant 
work  on  his  account  in  the  form  of  credits  and 
rebalancing,  and  constant  visits  on  the  part  of 
the  collector,  is  getting  his  coal  at  the  same  price 
as  the  man  who  paid  for  it  as  soon  as  it  was 
delivered,  or  as  soon  after  that  as  the  bill  fell 
due. 

Since  the  retail  price  must  necessarily  include 
all  of  the  e.xpenses  of  doin.g  business,  it  must 
include  those  represented  by  losses  suffered 
through  bad  accounts,  which  are  ultimately 
charged  off  the  books.  This  loss  is  obviously  as¬ 
sumed  by  those  who  pay. 

If  the  number  and  volume  of  accounts  carried 
on  the  books  for  months  at  a  time  is  so  great 
that  the  capital  of  the  dealer  is  largely  tied  up 
in  this  manner,  so  that  he  has  to  go  to  the  bank 
for  money  with  which  to  carry  on  his  business, 
the  item  of  interest  is  one  which  plays  a  part 
in  increasing  the  overhead.  Assuming  that  this 
is  charged  into  the  selling  price,  as  it,  of  course, 
should  be,  the  man  who  pays  promptly  is  ap¬ 
parently  paying  interest  on  the  money  which,  in 


effect,  is  loaned  to  those  who  take  their  own  sweet 
time  about  paying  for  the  coal.  He  is  paying 
interest  on  his  own  purchase,  even  though  he 
pays  cash;  or,  to  put  it  differently,  he  is  paying 
for  the  privilege  of  taking  a  long  time  to  settle 
the  obligation,  though  he  does  not  take  advan¬ 
tage  of  it. 

Summing  up,  it  must  be  admitted  that  the 
dealer  who  is  operating  on  a  credit  basis  is  dis¬ 
criminating  a.gainst  his  best  customers— those  wl;r) 
pay  promptly  and  cause  little  trouble  and  expense 
in  settling  their  accounts.  Of  course,  it  is  en¬ 
tirely  possible  that  competitive  conditions  prevent 
the  dealer  from  including  in  overhead  all  of  the 
expenses  connected  with  operating  a  credit  busi¬ 
ness,  and  in  that  event  his  net  profit  suffers  most 
from  it.  But  whether  the  burden  falls  on  the 
good  customer  or  on  the  dealer,  it  is  evident 
that  somebody  pays  for  the  expenses  which  are 
involved  in  handling  credit  accounts,  collecting, 
credit  losses  and  interest. 


“Bargains”  in  Coal. 

The  July  issue  of  The  Cellar  Door,  the  house 
organ  of  the  J.  A.  Alahlstedt  Lumber  &  Coal 
Company,  of  New  Rochelle,  N.  Y.,  contains  an 
interestin.g  story,  intended  to  bring  out  the  points 
that  bargains  in  coal,  like  everything  else  are  not 
always  what  they  seem.  ’ 

1  story  was  of  a  newspaper  publisher  who 
had  printed  an  editorial  against  bargain  sales 
and  had  brought  down  the  wrath  of  the  store- 
keepers,  who  appeared  at  the  sanctum  to  protest 

“The  interview  was  opened,”  the  story  con¬ 
tinues,  by  a  man  named  Callahan,  whose  store 
did  the  biggest  business  in  town.  We  knew 
from  his  name  that  he  had  a  temper,  so  we  gave 
him  an  extra  smile  of  welcome.  He  said,  ‘Do 
you  want  to  undermine  public  confidence  in  my 
stor^e?  Your  editorial  warns  women  a.gainst  so- 
called  bargains,  and  practically  gives  the  lie  to  our 
advertisements.  We  advertise  only  the  truth. 
When  we  hold  a  bargain  sale,  it  is  really  a  sale 
of  bargains.’ 

right,’  echoed  his  seven  colleagues. 

“  ‘Look  at  this,’  he  went  on,  opening  a  copy  of 
our  noon  edition,  ‘here’s  the  advertisement  of  a 
special  sale  of  bargains  we  hold  tomorrow;  every 
word^  of  it’s  the  truth,  and  we  can  prove  it.’ 

“We  took  the  paper  from  him  and  at  random 
pointed  to  an  item  headed,  ‘Special— These  Coats 
Sell  Everywhere  at  $12 — Our  Price  $5.85.’ 

“  ‘Do  you  mean,  Mr.  Callahan,  that  these  seven 
other  .gentlemen,  your  competitors,  get  $12  for 
the  coat  you  are  selling  for  $5.85?’ 

“He  turned  red.  ‘Well,  they  look  for  $12  values 
and  a  woman  might  well  consider  them  such.’ 

“Seven  heads  leaned  over  the  table,  read  the 
item  and  examined  the  illustrations. 

“Spoke  up  Mr.  Isaacson  of  the  Emporium,  ‘We 
have  that  same  coat;  we  sell  it  regularly  for 
$5.50.’ 

“  ‘We  get  $6.’  said  another. 

“‘We  sold  200  of  them  at  the  first  of  the  sea¬ 
son  for  $4,’  said  Mr.  Marx  of  the  Leader. 

“Callahan  was  getting  redder  and  redder. 

“  ‘I  know  the  coat — we  have  a  better  one  for 
$4,’  said  another. 

“  ‘Mr.  Callahan,’  we  asked,  ‘why  do  you  ad¬ 
vertise  in  our  paper?  Simply  because  you  get 
your  money’s  worth.  You  make  us  prove  our 
circulation;  you  insist  upon  certain  position,  and 
you  pay  your  bills  gladly,  because  you’re  sure 
you  .get  what  you  pay  for.  One  of  the  after¬ 
noon  papers  offered  you  a  contract  last  week  for 
four  cents  below  their  published  rate;  we  find 
out  such  things.  You  turned  it  down  because  it 
looked  too  cheap.  You  suspected  the  value  of¬ 
fered.  You  can’t  sell  $15  worth  of  anything  for 
$5.50  and  make  a  living ;  some  day  women  are 
going  to  find  it  out,  and  your  biggest  asset  will 
he  gone — confidence.  There  have  been  complaints 
lately  of  shoppers  who  did  not  find  what  you  ad¬ 
vertised  to  be  as  represented.  The  editorial  of 
which  you  complain  was  a  friendly  hint  to  you 
that  times  are  changing.’ 

“Eight  men  went  out  mad— and  six  of  the 
stores  changed  their  advertising  policy.  The 
other  two  are  not  as  big  as  they  once  were. 

“We  don’t  believe  in  bargains— if  bargains  mean 
something  for  nothiag. 

“When  we  pay  $7  for  a  load  of  coal,  we  want 
seven  good,  honest  dollars’  worth  of  coal,  and 
that’s  all. 

“No  more — no  less!” 


The  Consumers  Coal  &  Feed  Company  of 
Marion,  Ohio,  which  is  owned  jointly  by  N. 
E.  Arnold  and  L.  B.  McNeal  have  recently 
incorporated  and  in  addition  have  purchased 
the  business  formerly  conducted  by  the  Johns 
Coal  &  Feed  Company. 


90 


FUBIiISHED  EVEKY  SATUBEAY  BY  THE 
BEACH  DIAiaONB  COMFAITY. 

Subscription  price,  $3.00  per  year,  postage  prepaid,  to 
any  postoffice  in  the  United  States.  Foreign  subscrip¬ 
tion  price,  $5.00  per  year.  Single  copies,  20  cents. 
Entered  at  Chicago  postoffice  as  second-class  matter. 


Address  all  communications  to 

THE  BEACH  EIAMONB  COMFAHY  (INC) 

Main  office,  Manhattan  building,  Chicago. 


Branch  Offices. 

New  York,  29  Broadway. 
Philadelphia,  1400  Land  Title  building. 
Pittsburgh,  1502  Oliver  building. 


Saturday,  July  .11,  191.5. 

INDEX. 


Special  Articles. 


Page 


Have  Ohio's  Miners  Killed  Ohio’s  Coal  Trade? .  81 

Decision  of  the  Commission  on  Spotting  Charges.  ...  82 

Convention  of  Mining  Congress  Called .  83 

Uniform  System  of  Accounting  and  Costs .  84 

Record  of  the  Lackawanna  Coal  Company .  84 

The  Market  for  Franklin  County  Prepared  Coal .  85 

Miners’  Union  Is  Canvassing  .Anthracite  Field .  86 

New  Hocking  Rate  Goes  Into  Effect .  87 

Pennsylvania  Fuel  Tonnage .  87 

Lackawanna  Coal  Company .  87 

England's  Coal  Shortage .  87 

No  Strike  of  Anthracite  Miners,  But — .  87 

Hurley  Outlines  Trade  Commission  Plan .  88 

Law  of  a  Case  Involving  a  Dishonest  Salesman .  88 

June  Anthracite  Production .  88 

Field  of  the  Retail  Dealer .  89 

Editorial  .  96 

News  Local  to  Chicago .  92 

Milwaukee  Dealers’  Picnic .  92 

A  Modern  Coal  Pocket .  92 

Facts  Which  Determine  Our  Export  Prospects .  93 


Market  Reports. 


General  Review  and  Chicago.... .  94 

Pittsburgh,  Louisville  and  Detroit .  95 

Cincinnati.  St.  Louis  and  Denver .  96 

Indianapolis,  Toledo  and  Birmingham .  97 

New  York .  98 

Philadelphia  and  Buffalo .  99 

New  England,  Baltimore  and  Omaha . 100 

Hocking  Valley .  15 


Two  Coal  Decisions. 

The  decision  in  the  government’s  case 
to  dissolve  the  Reading  Company  is  in¬ 
teresting  because  it  is  on  the  facts.  The 
Government  lost  its  case  because  it  did 
not  prove  what  its  complaint  alleged. 

The  court  “declined  to  find”  that  the 
company  had  violated  the  law  by  inten¬ 
tion,  and  then  proceeded  to  inquire 
whether  it  had  violated  the  law  by  mis¬ 
adventure. 

The  court  found  no  evidence  that  other 
producers  had  been  injured,  and  no  at¬ 
tempt  was  made  to  prove  that  the  price  of 
coal  was  excessive. 

There  was  no  discrimination  injurious 
to  other  producers,  and  nothing  was  shown 
that  was  extortionate  or  unreasonable. 

The  rates  for  freight  in  particular  were 
under  regulation  by  the  Interstate  Com¬ 
merce  Commission.  There  was  no  proof 
that  the  profits  were  unreasonable  apart 
from  the  reasonableness  of  the  process,  by 
which  they  were  produced. 

The  court  declined  to  go  back  before  the 
reorganization  of  1896,  but  made  especial 
inquiry  into  the  allegation  that  a  mono¬ 
poly  in  the  coal  trade  was  shown  by  the 
acquirement  of  unreasonable  supplies  of 
unmined  coal.  On  this  the  court  ruled 
that  as  miners  the  companies  were  under 
the  necessity  of  looking  ahead  and  pro¬ 
viding  reserves  of  surplus  coal  lands  even 
in  large  amounts. 

The  Reading  is  absolved  on  the  very 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


point  which  was  adverse  to  the  Lacka¬ 
wanna.  The  contract  between  the  Lacka¬ 
wanna  miners  and  carriers  limited  their 
transactions  to  themselves.  That  was 
found  obnoxious  both  to  the  law  forbid¬ 
ding  restraint  of  trade  and  the  law  for¬ 
bidding  railways  to  carry  commodities  in 
which  they  are  interested,  thereby  making 
competition  with  others  unfair. 

In  the  Reading  case  the  government  al¬ 
leges  that  the  similar  contract  is  unlawful 
because  of  the  absence  of  such  limitation 
of  business,  thereby  making  the  business 
monopolistic  for  lack  of  the  limitation. 
Already  the  Lackawanna  has  taken  steps 
to  comply  with  the  law.  It  is  only  the 
irresponsible  who  can  defy  the  terrors  of 
the  law.  Those  who  have  given  hostages 
by  investments  of  hundreds  of  millions  of 
capital  irremovably  attached  to  the  soil 
have  no  alternative  but  to  accept  the 
court’s  interpretation  of  the  law. 

It  is  announced  from  Washington  that 
the  Reading  case  will  be  appealed.  It  is 
difficult  to  see  how  the  government  could 
hope  to  succeed  on  an  appeal  on  the  facts. 
The  only  appeal  on  facts  is  by  contrary 
evidence,  not  by  an  appeal  to  other  opin¬ 
ions  on  the  same  state  of  evidence. — ■ 
Neiv  York  Times. 


Compulsory  Cost  Accounting. 

The  coal  trade  has  been  talking  for 
eight  or  ten  years  about  the  advantages 
of  accurate  cost  accounting.  That  is 
about  as  far  as  it  has  gone.  Every  one 
has  talked  about  it ;  few  have  adopted  or 
applied  it.  Instead,  retailers  have  car¬ 
ried  their  cash  in  one  pocket  and  the  bills 
in  another — with  the  mortgage  on  their 
business — in  their  hat.  Operators  have 
kept  their  accounts  on  the  stubs  of  their 
check  books  and  have  accepted  some¬ 
body  else’s  statement  as  to  what  it  costs 
to  produce  coal.  As  a  talk  fest,  it  was 
beautiful.  As  a  cause  of  action,  it  was 
sterile. 

But  now  the  United  States  govern¬ 
ment  is  about  to  force  coal  men  to  adopt 
standardized  accounting.  Thus  we  will 
begin  to  practice  what  we  preach  not  be¬ 
cause  preaching  has  convinced  us,  but  be¬ 
cause  we  are  forced  to  change  our  meth¬ 
ods. 

Government  pressure  is  going  to  be 
exerted  from  three  different  directions. 
The  nation  has  passed,  for  example,  the 
income  tax.  Since  it  is  going  to  collect 
that  tax,  it  will  want  to  know  that  it  is 
taxing  the  “income” — all  of  it — and  not 
the  “earnings.”  Its  experts,  eager  to  get 
all  the  information,  will  not  tolerate  some 
bookkeeping  used  by  coal  men.  There  is 
one  place  where  proper  cost  accounting 
will  be  urged. 

Also  the  nation  has  created  the  Federal 
Reserve  Board.  This  is  discounting  the 
commercial  paper  held  by  the  member 
banks.  It  will  not  accept  the  commer¬ 
cial  paper  put  out  by  a  company  which 
is  not  sure  of  itself — one  which  does  not 
employ  a  recognized  form  of  accounting. 
Therefore,  if  coal  men  want  their  paper 
to  be  accepted  by  the  banks  they  must 
have  the  kind  of  paper  that  may  be  dis¬ 
counted.  If  that  kind  of  paper  is  to  be 
issued  and  if  the  Federal  Reserve  Board 
sticks  to  its  ruling,  the  operators  must 
adopt  a  standardized  form  of  accounting. 

Also  the  nation  has  created  the  Federal 


[July  31 


Trades  Commission.  This  announces 
that  it  is  going  to  advise  men  in  industry 
to  adopt  a  standardized  form  of  account¬ 
ing.  No  consideration,  it  would  seem, 
will  be  given  to  concerns  which  do  not 
first  adopt  the  standardized  method  of  ac¬ 
counting.  That  is,  if  a  coal  man  insists 
upon  using  his  present  method  of  book¬ 
keeping  and  then  puts  up  a  plea  of  pov¬ 
erty,  the  commission  will  turn  a  deaf  ear. 
It  will  tell  him  that  he  cannot  prove  what 
he  says  mainly  because  his  books  are  in¬ 
complete. 

Apparently  many  new  and  big  oppor¬ 
tunities  are  being  made  available  to  busi¬ 
ness  men  by  the  government.  But  the 
price  of  those  oportilnities  is  to  adopt 
standardized  accounting.  Thus  coal  men, 
to  get  any  advantage  of  these  opportuni¬ 
ties,  must  change  their  accounting  sys¬ 
tems.  This  means  that  the  trade  is  to  be 
compelled  to  abandon  its  interesting  but 
purposeless  debate  about  accounting  and 
adopt  a  real  system. 


Our  Demands  on  Germany. 

A  cartoonist  expressed  the  recent  situa¬ 
tion  between  the  United  States  and  Ger¬ 
many  precisely  when  he  pictured  it  as  a 
tennis  game  with  Uncle  Sam  serving  and 
the  Kaiser  returning  the  ball.  That  is, 
we  were  not  getting  any  place ;  we  were 
simply  exchanging  notes. 

However,  an  end  was  put  to  that  non¬ 
sense  by  President  Wilson’s  firm  note 
released  for  publication  on  last  Saturday. 
The  point  made  by  the  president  was 
clearly  and  plainly  drawn.  In  a  few 
words  it  may  be  summed : 

“Does  the  German  government  mean  to 
say  that  because  it  is  in  a  quarrel  with 
England,  which  it  cannot  end  success¬ 
fully,  the  United  States,  which  is  not  em¬ 
broiled  with  either  country,  must  be  in¬ 
jured  ?” 

The  German  government  had,  in  effect, 
contended  that  it  was  going  to  coerce 
the  United  States  into  compelling  Eng¬ 
land  to  let  food  supplies  pass  to  Ger¬ 
many’s  civil  population  or  stand  the  con¬ 
sequences — having  its  ships  blown  up,  its 
commerce  interfered  with,  and  its  citi¬ 
zens  killed. 

W'e  are  under  no  obligations  to  Ger¬ 
many  in  any  such  sense.  We  are  not 
called  upon  to  fight  its  battles.  We  are 
the  cat’s-paw  for  no  nation  on  earth,  and 
we  will  not  be  because  we  are  big  enough 
to  take  care  of  ourselves.  If  Germany 
has  any  quarrel  with  England,  it  must 
settle  that  quarrel  itself ;  we  are  not  going 
to  be  drawn  into  it  by  the  insistence  of 
Germany  or  any  other  government.  And, 
if  Germany  or  any  other  country  tramples 
upon  our  toes,  it  will  learn  to  feel  the 
weight  of  our  fist.  That  is  the  plain 
ineaning  of  President  Wilson’s  note  of 
last  Saturday  and,  candidly,  he  said  the 
piroper  thing  under  the  circumstances. 

This  does  not  take  an  unneutral  posi¬ 
tion  as  to  the  war  in  Europe.  It  merely 
announces  the  position  of  the  United 
States,  which  is  that  it  insists  upon  re¬ 
maining  a  neutral  power  and  cannot  be 
forced  into  any  other  position  by  any  one 
of  the  contestants. 


If  you  are  selling  coal  on  credit,  you  are 
lending  money.  Would  you  lend  money 
to  all  the  men  you  “trust”? 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


91 


No.  5] 


Cash  Versus  Credit. 

It  may  prove  impractical,  for  years  to 
come,  to  get  all  retail  coal  dealers  to 
abandon  the  credit  system  and  to  sell  coal 
strictly  on  a  cash  basis.  Still,  any  one 
who  listens  to  the  good-natured  but 
mildly  sarcastic  remarks  of  G.  T.  Rider 
of  Louisville  upon  the  subject  must  come 
to  the  conclusion  that  there  is  much  vir¬ 
tue  in  the  cash  basis. 

Mr.  Rider  in  his  talk  before  the  coal 
convention,  did  a  sensible  thing  when  he 
separated  coal  from  all  other  forms  of 
merchandising.  He  said  that  it  is  a  busi¬ 
ness  separate  and  apart  from  any  other. 
That  is  to  say,  to  put  it  plainly,  the  mer¬ 
chants  in  dry  goods  extend  credit  to  peo¬ 
ple  to  induce  them  to  buy  more  than  they 
actually  need  and  a  trifle  more  than  they 
can  safely  afiford.  The  man  whose  wife 
has  enjoyed  one  or  more  credit  accounts 
at  the  department  stores  in  the  larger 
cities  realizes  that  this  is  exactly  the  re¬ 
sult  of  the  system.  Most  persons  who 
patronize  such  stores  buy  more  than  they 
can  afford.  Thus  the  credit  system  is,  to 
the  big  department  stores,  one  method  of 
increasing  sales.  The  burden  of  worry 
attendant  upon  credit  is  transferred  from 
the  store  to  the  buyer. 

But  with  coal,  it  is  a  different  matter. 
Coal  is  a  necessity.  The  people  use  only 
a  certain  amount  of  it.  No  system  of 
credit  extension  will  induce  any  con¬ 
sumer  to  buy  more  than  he  needs  or  more 
than  he  expects  to  use  in  the  near  future. 
Therefore,  credit  in  coal  does  not  increase 
sales  in  coal.  It  never  can. 

As  Mr.  Rider  views  it,  the  net  result 
of  the  credit  system  in  retail  coal  mer¬ 
chandising  is  to  increase  the  labor  of  the 
coal  selling  company,  to  increase  its  loss 
and  to  increase  its  cost  of  doing  business. 
As  he  sees  it — and  this  seems  to  be  the 
best  way  to  look  at  it — it  is  a  system  of 
many  demerits  and  no  merits. 

In  this  way,  Mr.  Rider  effectively  dis¬ 
posed  of  every  point  but  one  which  was 
made  in  a  recent  editorial  in  this  paper 
on  this  subject.  That  point  was  that  the 
credit  system  compels  the  merchant  to 
be  abreast  of  the  times  in  order  to  hold 
his  credit  customers  on  his  books. 

On  this  score,  Mr.  Rider  says  that  it  is 
a  fallacy  to  believe  that  the  credit  system 
has  any  such  merit.  On  the  contrary,  he 
says  that  if  another  man’s  price  is  lower, 
the  credit  customer  leaves  his  account 
standing  on  your  books  to  go  and  buy  the 
cheap  coal  for  cash  of  a  competitor. 

Whether  this  is  generally  true  or  not  is 
open  to  discussion.  However,  there  is  a 
lot  of  truth  in  what  he  says  about  the  cash 
basis.  Therefore,  this  one  point  is  not 
big  enough  to  cause  any  one  to  favor  the 
whole  credit  system  on  its  account. 
Everything  considered,  the  cash  basis  is 
by  far  the  better.  According  to  the  ex¬ 
perience  of  those  who  have  tried  it,  it 
only  takes  a  little  courage  to  make  it  a 
fact. 


Social  Arithmetic. 

A  communication  from  Leo  Romanski, 
a  coal  wholesaler  of  Chicago,  was  pub¬ 
lished  on  page  26  of  The  Black  Diamond 
of  July  10.  This  presents  a  matter  which 
is  no  less  important  than  an  example  of 
social  arithmetic  and  as  such  suggests 
something  of  debate  which  we  hope  the 
author  will  see  fit  to  continue. 


Mr.  Romanski  takes  up  the  cudgel  for 
certain  eminent  writers  mentioned  un¬ 
favorably  in  our  editorial  on  “A  Diseased 
Nation.” 

He  admits  that  “the  laborer  is  better 
fed,  better  housed  and  better  paid  than 
ever  before.”  He  says  that  one  company 
which  he  represents  is  spending  much 
money  to  improve  living  conditions.  It 
is  equally  true  that  the  cost  of  living,  at 
the  same  time,  has  increased  in  greater 
proportion  to  his  income,  with  which  to 
buy  the  improved  living  conditions. 
Therein  lies  the  source  of  discontent.” 
The  words  quoted  are  those  of  his  com¬ 
munication.  Then  he  eulogizes  all  writ¬ 
er;; — except  only  Mr.  Hearst,  the  leader 
of  them  all — who  want  to  go  still  further 
along  these  three  lines. 

To  get  a  proper  point  of  view,  let  us 
reduce  this  to  a  sum  in  arithmetic.  An 
article  sells  for  a  dollar.  Of  that  the  divi¬ 
sion  is  as  follows : 


Labor  . $  .75 

Material  . 10 

Selling,  etc . 10 

Capital  . 05 


Total  . $1.00 


The  social  man  says  that  the  cost  of 
living  has  increased.  That  is  true  enough, 
but  why?  Largely  because  labor  is  get¬ 
ting  two  divisions  of  the  selling  price 
rather  than  one.  That  is,  wages  have 
not  decreased  but  instead  business  has 
been  paying  out  increased  sums  on  social 
account.  Thus  business  has  to  meet  the 
regular  pay  roll  plus  enough  to  give  the 
worker  an  old-age  pension,  compensation 
for  injury,  hospital  service  when  sick,  and 
a  doctor  to  look  after  his  family. 

Let  us  reconstruct  the  problem.  An 
article  sells  for  a  dollar.  Out  of  it  must 


be  paid : 

Labor  . $  .75 

Social . 15 

Material  . 10 

Selling,  etc . 10 

Capital  . 05 


Total  . $1.15 


That  explains  the  high  cost  of  living. 
The  selling  price  must  be  marked  up. 

Mr.  Romanski’s  discussion  leads  us  to 
believe  that  he  would  also  increase  the 
wages  of  workers.  This  is  typical  of  the 
social  thought  of  today.  It  insists  that 
business  shall  do  all  sorts  of  things  for  the 
workers’  welfare ;  shall  increase  wages ; 
and  shall  decrease  the  selling  price  of 
goods.  That  is,  business  must  increase 
the  cost  to  $1.15  and  reduce  the  price  to 
$0.85. 

Mr.  Romanski  is  a  business  man. 
Therein  he  differs  from  most  social  think¬ 
ers — except  Hearst.  He  knows  that  the 
coal  business  is  being  forced  into  insol¬ 
vency  by  this  very  decreasing  price  and 
this  rising  cost  of  production.  Under 
the  circumstances,  who,  pray,  is  to  pay  the 
bill  for  all  of  this  elaborate  sociability? 
If  business  cannot  pay  the  bill  out  of  cur¬ 
rent  prices,  shall  the  additional  cost  be 
paid  out  of  the  private  revenue  of  the  em¬ 
ployer  ? 

Arithmetic  in  this  situation  is  insistent. 
If  we  are  going  to  continue  to  increase  the 
standard  of  living  and  the  wages  of  the 
worker,  we  must  also  increase  the  selling 
price  of  goods.  As  the  selling  price  in¬ 
creases,  we  must,  in  turn,  increase  the 
wage  of  the  worker.  Thus  the  head  will 


follow  the  tail  and  the  tail  the  head  in  a 
mad  race  around  a  circle.  The  end  is 
higher  and  higher  prices  for  everything, 
and  higher  cost  of  doing  business,  and  in 
the  end  an  impossible  situation  which  can 
be  rectified  only  by  a  collapse  and  recon¬ 
struction. 

To  stop  this  foolish  pursuit  of  the  im¬ 
possible,  we  must  be  content  to  make  so¬ 
cial  [irogress  a  little  at  a  time.  We  must 
be  content  to  improve  wages  and  living 
conditions  a  little  at  a  time.  We  must 
not  permit  the  increasing  outlay  for  so¬ 
cial  things  to  outrun  the  economy  in¬ 
cident  to  the  improvement  in  our  method 
of  doing  business.  We  cannot  do  so  and 
hope  to  retain  a  solvent  community. 


Cautious  Generosity. 

Elton  J.  Buckley,  who  writes  most  en¬ 
tertainingly  on  subjects  pertaining  to  the 
law',  is  disposed  to  w'arn  business  men  to 
be  cautious  about  being  generous  to  faith¬ 
ful  employes.  He  makes  one  point  wdiich 
is  particularly  interesting. 

He  assumes  that  an  employer  has  sev¬ 
eral  employes  who  have  worked  for  him 
faithfully  for  a  number  of  years.  He 
assumes,  also,  that  the  employes  have 
been  responsible  for  a  great  part  of  the 
employer’s  success.  The  human  employer 
— if  he  is  human — wants  to  give  these  men 
something  more  than  a  mere  salary  as  a 
reward  for  what  they  have  done.  Llere 
the  danger  lies. 

Mr.  Buckley  says  that  the  ordinary 
business  man  wants  to  take  these  faithful 
employes  into  partnership.  The  accepted 
— but  dangerous — way  to  do  that  is  to 
incorporate  a  company  and  make  the  em¬ 
ployes  stockholders.  Right  there  he  points 
a  legal  difficulty  by  citing  a  case  wdiich  is, 
in  substance,  as  follows : 

An  employer  so  disposed  toward  em¬ 
ployes  of  this  character  did  the  customary 
thing  and  distributed  stock.  The  majority 
of  the  beneficiaries  took  it  in  the  right 
S])irit.  However,  one  stockholding  em¬ 
ploye  developed  a  nasty  streak.  He  in¬ 
sisted  upon  the  rights  of  the  “minority 
stockholder.” 

He  went  into  court  to  com])el  an  ac¬ 
counting  of  the  business  and  demanded  a 
right  to  see  the  books  and  that  he  be 
given  all  kinds  of  information  about  the 
conduct  of  affairs.  Getting  this  informa¬ 
tion,  he  charged  mismanagement  and  that 
no  consideration  was  given  the  small 
stockholders. 

Mr.  Buckley  says  that  to  take  such  an 
action  is  always  w'ithin  the  right  of  the 
minority  stockholders.  It  does  not  mat¬ 
ter  w'hether  he  was  given  his  stock  as  a 
bonus  for  faithful  service  or  whether  he 
])aid  for  it  outright. 

Seeing  the  facts,  this  w'riting  huvyer 
is  dis])Osed  to  w'arn  business  men  that 
such  a  practice  is  op])osed  to  their  peace 
of  mind  and  to  the  uninterrupted  posses¬ 
sion  of  the  business. 

He  goes  further,  how^ever,  than  merely 
to  issue  a  warning.  He  show's  how'  the 
same  amiable  intention  can  be  carried 
into  efifect  without  danger,  lie  advises 
that,  instead  of  giving  the  stock  to  the 
emjiloyes  and  instead  of  giving  them  the 
right  to  vote,  the  employer  set  aside  cer¬ 
tain  shares  of  the  stock  in  the  company  for 
the  benefit  of  certain  enqdoyes.  They  will 
therefore  get  the  benefits  from  the  stock 
without  any  ability  to  annoy  the  owmer. 


92 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[July  31 


News  Local  to  Chicago. 

Kentucky  was  represented  on  the  street  this 
week  l)y  J.  T.  Bradley  of  the  Trosper  Coal  Com¬ 
pany  of  Hradel,  Ky. 

Roger  Corman,  formerly  witli  tlie  O’Cara  Coal 
Company  is  now  connected  with  the  I’ilsen  Coal 
Comiiany. 

J.  R.  McFarland,  general  sales  agent  of  the 
O’Cara  Coal  Company,  siient  the  early  part  of 
the  week  in  the  Twin  Cities. 

A.  A.  Bryden,  general  sales  agent  of  the  Bord¬ 
ers  Coal  Company  of  St.  Louis,  was  calling  on 
the  trade  during  the  week. 

Dan  J.  Coffey,  vice-president  of  the  Missouri 
&  Illinois  Coal  Company  of  St.  Louis  was  a  visi¬ 
tor  this  week. 

D.  E.  Richards,  president  of  the  Bell  Coal  & 
Mining  Company  of  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  spent  a  por¬ 
tion  of  this  week  calling  on  the  Chicago  coal  men. 

The  explosion  at  the  No.  1  Christopher  mine 
of  the  C.  M.  Moderwell  Company  in  no  way 
interfered  with  shipments  and  they  are  prepared 
to  take  full  care  of  their  customers’  demands. 

E.  H.  Coxe  of  Knoxville,  Tenn.,  paid  his  re¬ 
spects  to  his  friends  in  the  trade.  Mr.  Coxe  will 
he  remembered  as  the  former  general  superin¬ 
tendent  of  the  Tennessee  Coal  &  Iron  Company. 

D.  E.  Russell,  vice-president  of  the  Delaware, 
Lackawanna  &  Western  Coal  Company,  with  head- 
(juarters  at  Buffalo,  was  a  visitor  with  the  trade 
this  week. 

The  coal  trade  golf  tournament  was  held  on 
Wednesday  of  this  week  at  the  Calumet  Country 
Club.  Robert  A.  Gardner  was  showing  a  superior 
brand  of  golf. 

W.  J.  Carney,  president  of  the  Carney  Coal 
Company  will  leave  Chicago  July  31,  for  a  month’s 
automobile  tour  with  the  Adirondack  country  of 
New  York  state  as  his  objective  point. 

Joseph  H.  McNamara,  who  purchased  the  coal 
for  J.  C.  Hubinger  Brothers  Company  of  Keokuk, 
Iowa,  was  in  town  shopping  for  their  coal  wants, 
which  amount  to  from  150  to  200  tons  a  day. 

The  Groveland  tipple  of  the  Gilmore  &  Solomon 
Coal  Mining  Company  in  the  Peoria  district  was 
destroyed  by  fire  on  Wednesday  of  this  week. 
There  were  no  casualities. 

The  Consolidation  Coal  Company  is  having  its 
offices  in  the  Fisher  building  remodeled,  having 
been  forced  to  take  more  office  sjuice  on  ac¬ 
count  of  the  steady  increase  in  its  western  Inisi- 
ness. 

Paul  L.  James  has  resigned  as  western  man¬ 
ager  of  the  C.  G.  Blake  Company.  Mr.  James 
has  gone  to  his  farm  in  West  Virginia  for  a  rest. 
He  hasn’t  made  known  his  future  plans,  but  no 
doubt  the  call  of  the  coal  trade  will  assert  itself 
before  many  moons. 

The  coal  committee  of  the  Association  of  Com¬ 
merce  sent  out  a  letter  soliciting  donations  from 
the  trade  for  the  sufferers  of  the  Eastland  catas¬ 
trophe.  A  great  many  members  of  the  trade 
have  already  contributed  either  direct  or  through 
the  Chicago  Coal  Merchants’  Association. 

Dr.  John  E.  Beebe  of  the  Buchanan  Coal  Com¬ 
pany,  will  try  to  banish  the  whirring  of  the  spiral- 
izer  by  spending  a  two  week’s  vacation  at  Dela- 
van  lake.  Chasing  the  elusive  golf  ball  is  the 
doctor’s  chief  delight  when  not  seeking  new  mar¬ 
kets  for  Old  Ben  coal. 

W.  C.  Hill,  vice-president  of  the  Chicago  & 
Carterville  Coal  Company,  has  issued  a  new  cir¬ 
cular  announcing  the  prices  for  various  sizes  of 
coal  as  follows :  Hickory  Hill  G  in.  select  lump, 
$1.60  mines;  six  by  three  select  egg,  $1.60  mines; 
No.  1  washed  egg,  $1,G5  mines;  No.  2  washed  nut, 
$1.3.)  mines;  No.  1  dry  screened  nut,  $1.40  mines. 

A  number  of  Franklin  county  operators  this 
week  put  out  a  new  circular  of  prices  effective  the 
first  two  weeks  in  August,  naming  $1.60  on  No.  1 
lump,  egg  and  nut,  $1.40  on  No.  2  or  special  stove, 
and  relative  prices  on  other  sizes.  Screenings,  of 
course,  are  not  subject  to  circular,  varying  with 
the  market. 

A  report  recently  made  to  the  Inter-State  Com¬ 
merce  Commission  showed  that  the  potential 
capacity  of  the  mines  within  twenty  miles  of 
St.  Louis  was  double  the  coal  consumption  of 
that  city.  This  did  not  take  into  consideration 
the  tonnage  coming  from  the  Williamson  and 
Franklin  county. 

W.  D.  Elmstrom,  president  of  the  Chicago  Coal 
Merchants’  Association,  circularized  the  members 
of  the  organization  this  week  calling  for  contrib¬ 
utions  to  relieve  the  distress  of  those  involved  in 
the  disaster  of  the  Eastland  on  the  morning  of 


July  -24.  The  remittances  should  be  made  pay¬ 
able  to  A.  J.  Bunge,  the  treasurer,  and  should  be 
so  identified  that  they  will  go  to  the  relief  fund. 

George  Pauli,  vice-president  of  the  Common¬ 
wealth  Fuel  Company  of  Pittsburgh,  spent  a  part 
of  the  week  in  Chicago.  Mr.  Pauli  says  condi¬ 
tions  arc  particularly  l)right  in  the  Fairmont  dis¬ 
trict  where  their  interests  are  located.  The  mines 
are  working  full  time  and,  although  a  great  deal 
of  the  tonnage  is  for  water  shipment  he  says 
that  local  demands  are  very  satisfactory. 

Nine  miners  were  killed  and  a  number  of  others 
severely  burned  in  a  gas  explosion  at  the  No.  1 
mine  of  the  United  Coal  Mining  Company  at 
Christopher,  Illinois,  July  27.  The  explosion  oc¬ 
curred  in  an  entry  where  a  pocket  of  gas  was 
concealed.  It  is  presumed  that  one  of  the  miners 
entered  the  tunnel  and  his  oil  lamp  ignited  the 
gas.  Little  damage  was  done  to  the  mine  as  the 
explosion  was  confined  to  the  vicinity  of  the  room 
where  it  originated. 

The  Buchanan  Coal  Company  announced  to 
the  trade  that  effective  August  1,  1915,  F.  A. 
Barthelme  is  appointed  northwestern  sales  man¬ 
ager,  with  headquarters  at  No.  618  Security  Bank 
building,  Minneapolis,  Minn.,  vice  James  E.  Rend 
resigned.  Mr.  Barthelme  has  been  a  member  of 
the  sales  force  for  a  number  of  years,  having  his 
headquarters  at  Waterloo,  Iowa.  Previous  to 
joining  the  Buchanan  forces  he  conducted  a  suc¬ 
cessful  local  coal  business  at  Joliet,  Ill. 

Web  L.  Miller  of  the  Miller  Coal  Company, 
St.  Louis,  was  a  visitor  in  Chicago  this  week. 
Mr.  Miller  maintains  that  St.  Louis  is  the  most 
exasperating  coal  market  in  the  United  States. 
Every  condition  that  operates  to  destroy  all 
chance  of  getting  a  fair  price  for  coal  can  be 
found  here.  Short-rate  mines,  stripping  opera¬ 
tions,  co-operative  companies  and  non-union  coal 
e.xplains  why  lump  coal  is  selling  for  ninety  cents 
with  a  mine  run  average  about  seventy-five  cents. 

Erank  P.  Doherty,  president  of  the  Black  Star 
Coal  Company,  left  on  Thursday  for  Duluth.  He 
will  make  the  trip  on  the  ore  steamer  John  J. 
Block,  accompanied  by  a  number  of  his  business 
associates.  Mr.  Doherty  was  given  a  “going 
away’’  party  at  the  Automobile  Club  July  28,  by 
a  few  of  his  friends  where  he  was  presented  with 
a  token  of  esteem.  The  presentation  speech  was 
made  by  George  Roth,  better  known  as  the  “zinc 
king.”  This  title  is  derived  from  his  heavy  in¬ 
terests  in  the  lead  and  zinc  mining  industry  of 
southwestern  Wisconsin. 

Jno.  E.  Beebe,  director  of  the  publicity  and 
Trade  Extension  Department  of  the  Buchanan 
Coal  Company,  has  just  returned  from  a  south¬ 
western  trip  which  included  St.  Louis,  Kansas  City 
and  Omaha.  Dr.  Beebe  says  in  his  opinion  one 
reason  why  the  dealers  are  backward  in  order¬ 
ing  coal  is  due  to  the  inability  of  the  farmers  to 
get  to  town  to  take  out  coal.  Due  to  the  ex¬ 
traordinary  heavy  rains  the  roads  are  almost  im¬ 
passable,  consequently  hauling  a  heavy  load  of 
coal  does  not  appeal  to  the  farmer  at  this  time. 
The  crop  prospect  in  this  section  was  never  bet¬ 
ter  and  a  bumper  return  is  expected.  Dr.  Beebe 
also  noted  that  Franklin  county  coal  is  taking  the 
place  of  the  Arkansas  semi-anthracite  product  in 
many  sections  of  the  southwest. 

Competing  with  H.  M.  Hall  in  the  best  ball 
twosome  staged  by  the  Chicago  Coal  Trade  Golf 
Association  in  their  monthly  tournament  at  the 
Calumet  Country  Club  recently,  Robert  A.  Gard¬ 
ner  of  the  Hinsdale  Golf  Club  lowered  the 
record  for  the  remodeled  course  to  73.  The 
event  was  won  by  R.  L.  Shepard  and  A.  F. 
Smith,  with  a  card  of  82-13-69,  A.,  O.  Tandy 
and  N.  B.  Birkland  having  86-16-70.  Hall  and 
Gardner  had  third  low  net  with  74-2-72.  In  the 
semi-final  round  of  the  Lemon  Trophy  N.  B. 
Birkland  defeated  A.  O.  Tandy,  3  and  1,  and  H. 
Hall  defeated  D.  E.  Willett,  1  up.  G.  S.  Wood 
defeated  D.  Payne,  2  up,  in  the  semi-final  for  the 
Hostler  trophy,  and  will  play  W.  C.  Hill  in  the 
final.  E.  T.  Franklin  won  the  Black  Diamond 
Trophy  emblematic  of  the  club  championship  by 
defeating  H.  A.  Hall,  2  and  1,  in  the  final.  In  the 
president’s  cup  final,  played  under  handicaps,  Ed¬ 
ward  S.  Smith  defeated  E.  T.  Franklin  5  and  3. 
The  qualifying  round  for  the  women’s  champion¬ 
ship  at  the  Onwentsia  club  was  postponed  until 
today  on  account  of  the  rain. 


Bear  River  Valley. 


Denver,  July  29. —  {Special  Correspondence.) — 
More  than  .$3,000,000  is  being  expended  by  coal 
companies  in  the  Bear  River  valley  in  Routt 
and  Moffat  counties,  and  a  dozen  properties 


are  being  opened.  The  town  of  Mount  Harris, 
one  year  old,  is  emiploying  250  workmen  and 
several  cars  of  coal  leave  that  camp  daily  for 
Kansas  points. 

The  coal  camp  at  McGrcgory,  a  little  fur¬ 
ther  up  the  Bear  river,  is  being  rgpidly  de¬ 
veloped,  and  shipments  will  begin  as  soon  as 
the  track  can  be  completed  over  the  Bear  river 
ridge. 

The  Victor-American  Fuel  Company  of 
Denver  recently  purchased  a  tract  known  as 
the  Dawson  farm,  which  within  a  few  nLonths 
will  be  a  producing  mine. 

Joining  Mount  Harris  on  the  cast  is  a  mine 
owned  by  the  Italian-American  hank  of  Den¬ 
ver,  which  is  to  be  developed  as  soon  as  a 
railroad  spur  now  being  built  is  finished. 


Mil'waukee  Dealers  Picnic. 


The  Fuel  Dealers  Social  Club  of  Milwaukee 
held  its  tenth  annual  picnic  Tuesday,  July  27, 
at  Waukesha  Beach.  With  the  co-operation  of 
the  Milwaukee  dock  men  and  the  long  experience 
of  the  dealers,  this  affair  was,  as  ever,  a  big  so¬ 
cial  success.  This  year  on  account  of  the 
weather  the  attendance  dropped,  but  300  pic¬ 
nickers  showed  up  at  the  Terminal  station  on 
time.  The  children  of  the  party  were  furnished 
with  all  the  necessary  carnival  toys  that  go  to 
make  for  happiness,  while  the  fair  sex  were  pro¬ 
vided  for  in  the  matter  of  ice  cream  tickets.  As 
it  rained  most  of  the  day,  all  of  the  games  with 
the  exception  of  the  baseball  game  were  held 
in  the  dance  pavilion.  When  it  came  to  baseball 
the  wholesalers  made  the  dealers  look  like  a  lot 
of  bush  leaguers,  winning  the  game  by  a  score 
of  26  to  10.  After  a  full  day’s  enjoyment  the 
party  returned  a  tired  but  happy  lot,  looking  for¬ 
ward  to  the  next  annual  outing. 


A  Modern  Coal  Pocket. 


Bliss  Neilson  has  operated  a  retail  coal  yard 
in  connection  with  his  feed  mill  on  the  banks 
of  the  Champlain  canal  at  Stillwater,  N.  Y., 
for  many  years.  The  proposed  abandonment 
of  the  canal  and  the  remloval  of  traffic  into 
the  improved  Hudson  river  made  it  necessary 
for  him  to  build  a  plant  on  the  railroad  and 
a  photograph  of  his  new  silo  coal  pockets  is 
shown  herewith. 

The  plant  consists  of  three  18x30  feet  bins 


Bliss  Neilson’s  New  Pocket. 


holding  210  tons  each,  while  additional  storage 
capacity  is  obtained  by  making  the  foundations 
a  part  of  the  bins.  The  foundations  are  seven 
feet  above  ground  and  the  coal  is  elevated 
twelve  feet  above  the  tops  of  the  bins,  from 
which  bins  it  slides  in  chutes  to  coal  elevators 
located  at  the  center  of  each  bin.  The  staves 
used  in  the  bins  are  dipped  in  creosote  oil  as 
a  preservative. 

The  plant  was  built  complete  by  the  Cream¬ 
ery  Package  Manufacturing  Company  of  Rut¬ 
land,  Vt.,  and  the  machinery  furnished  by  the 
Gifford-Wood  Company  of  Hudson,  N.  Y.  It 
has  been  in  operation  since  December  1,  1914. 


No.  5] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


93 


Facts  Which  Determine  Our  Export  Prospects. 


The  Export  Situation. 

Shipments  of  bituminous  coal  over  the  At¬ 
lantic  seaboard  for  the  past  week  did  not  hold 
up  in  keeping  with  the  earlier  weeks  of  the 
present  month,  or  within  the  records  made  in 
June.  For  the  week  ending  July  24,  Baltimore 
exported  only  31,989  tons,  whereas  for  the  first 
two  weeks  in  the  month  she  was  exporting  ap¬ 
proximately  60,000  tons  per  week.  In  June, 
Baltimore  averaged  over  75,000  tons  per  week. 
Bunker  requirements  of  steamers  taking  cargo 
coal  are  running  heavier,  seven  steamers  tak¬ 
ing  cargo  coal  from  Baltimore  last  week  re¬ 
quiring  12402  tons  of  bunkers.  Shipments 
from  Hampton  Roads  also  eased  off,  but  not 
as  radically  as  at  Baltimore. 

At  the  moment  the  outlook  for  August  is 
encouraging.  A  great  number  of  ships  are  un¬ 
der  charter  to  take  coal  during  the  month 
from  the  various  Atlantic  ports,  and  it  is  ex¬ 
pected  that  the  month  will  show  a  much 
heavier  tonnage  exported  than  for  July.  Some 
of  our  large  exporters  have  large  contracts, 
upon  which  they  are  shipping  regularly,  and 
some  business  has  been  closed  during  the  pres¬ 
ent  month,  though  not  up  to  the  volume  that 
the  trade  anticipated,  in  view  of  the  Welsh 
labor  troubles. 

Last  week  some  of  the  papers  had  something 
to  say  about  a  large  western  Pennsylvania  op¬ 
erator  securing,  or  being  in  position  to  close 
a  contract  for  approximately  1,000,000  tons. 
We  learn  upon  very  good  authority  that  this 
interest  is  shipping  upon  a  80,000  ton  con¬ 
tract,  and  that  while  negotations  are  pending 
on  a  contract  that  may  mean  shipments  of 
1,000,000  tons  or  more,  that  they  are  by  no 
means  assured  that  they  will  secure  it. 

Prices  at  seaboard  for  export  are  somewhat 
firmer,  especially  on  the  New  River  and  Poca¬ 
hontas  coals.  These  command  $2.85  for  prompt 
shipment  at  Hampton  Roads,  while  low  vola¬ 
tile  coals  at  Baltimore  and  Philadelphia  can 
still  be  secured  at  very  favorable  prices,  namely 
at  $1.25  to  $1.40  at  the  mines,  taking  a  rail¬ 
road  rate  of  $1.18  to  Baltimore  and  $1.25  to 
Philadelphia. 

Bunker  requirements  for  cargo  steamers  con¬ 
tinue  to  run  heavy,  and  this  is  proving  to  be 
one  of  the  most  profitable  avenues  of  trade 
of  some  people  who  specialize  in  this  end  of 
the  coal  trade. 


Recent  Coal  Freight  Charters. 

Steamer  Isthmian,  Norfolk  to  Caleta  Calosa,  coal, 
$6.30,  August.  . 

Steamer  King  Idwal  (Br.),  Baltimore  or  Virginia  to 
Montevideo,  coal,  34s. 

Steamers  Clontsham  (Br.),  and  Pennine  Range  (Br.), 
.Atlantic  Range  to  Buenos  Aires  or  La  Plata,  coal,  34s 
6d,  prompt  and  August  loadings  respectively. 

Steamer  Andreas  Gerakes  (Greek),  Hampton  Roads  to 
west  coast  Italy,  coal,  36s  6d. 

Steamer  Stryn  (Nor.),  Baltimore  to  Malme,  coal,  p.  t. 

Steamer  Polamhall  (Br.),  Atlantic  Range  to  west  coast 
Italy,  coal,  41s,  five  trips,  August. 

Schooner  Chas.  G.  Endicott,  Virginia  to  Maranham, 
coal,  $6.50. 

Schooner  Three  Marys,  Baltimore  to  Porto  Rico,  coal, 
p.  t. 

Steamers  Frederick  Knight  (Br.)  and  Blackfrigate 
(Br.),  Baltimore  or  Virginia  to  River  Plata,  coal,  34s  fid, 
July. 

Steamer  Jersey  City  (Br.),  Baltimore  or  Virginia  to 
west  coast  of  Italy,  coal,  39s  6d,  August. 

Steamer  Fert  (Ital.),  Baltimore  to  Savona,  coal,  37s. 

Steamer  Fagersand  (Nor.).  Baltimore  to  Point-a-Pitre, 
Guadaloupe,  coal,  p.  t.,  spot. 

Steamer  Elini  Strathatos  (Greek),  Baltimore  to  Pal¬ 
ermo,  coal,  41s,  spot. 

Steamer  Sydic  (Swed.),  Baltimore  to  Sweden,  coal, 
p.  t.,  spot.  . 

Steamer  Stormont  (Br.),  Philadelphia  to  Autilla,  Cuba, 
1,231  tons,  prompt. 

Schooner  Marcus  L.  Urann,  Norfolk  to  Rio  Janeiro, 
coal,  p.  t.,  prompt. 

Steamer  St.  Andrews  (Br.),  Baltimore  to  Montevideo, 
coal,  p,  t. 

Steamer  Donepeses  Strathotos  (Greek),  Philadelphia  to 
Barcelona,  coal,  p.  t. 

Schooner  Robert  P.  Murphy,  Philadelphia  to  Mayagnez, 
P.  R.,  coal,  $2.85. 

Schooner  William  Booth,  Philadelphia  to  Calais,  coal, 
$1.35. 


Foreign  Trade  Rates. 

W.  W.  Battle  &  Co.,  Produce  Exchange,  New 
York,  reports  as  follows  under  date  of  July  26: 

The  number  of  steamers  available  for  coal 
has  decreased  materially  since  our  last  report, 
and  the  freight  market  is  considerably  firmer, 
owing  to  the  increased  demand  for  steamers 
for  grain.  Owners  are  not  willing  to  accept 
shippers’  views  on  these  grain  freights,  but 
shippers  are  advancing  their  ideas,  and  prob¬ 
ably  a  number  of  steamers  will  be  chartered 
for  grain  in  the  near  future.  This  grain  de¬ 


mand  makes  it  difficult  to  quote  probable 
freight  rates  on  Mediterranean  coal  with  any 
degree  of  certainty,  but  if  you  have  any  in¬ 
quiries  nlease  communicate  with  us  and  we 
will  endeavor  to  give  you  a  close  quotation. 

We  would  quote  freight  rates  on  coal  by 
steamers  as  follows: 


West  Coast  of  Italy . 37s.  @40s. 

Marseilles  . 36s.  @38s. 

Barcelona  or  other  good  Spanish  port.... 34s.  @36s. 

(Spanish  dues  for  account  of  cargo) 


Note.-^Charters  for  Italy,  France  and 
Spain  read:  “Lay  days  to  commence  on 
steamer’s  arrival  at  or  off  port  of  dis¬ 
charge.  Is.  per  net  register  ton  per  day 
demurrage.” 

Montevideo  . 34s.  3d.@34s.  9d. 

Buenos  Aires  or  La  Plata . 34s.  6d. @3, 5s. 

Rosario  . 36s.  @37s. 

Rio  . 3.5s.  @36s. 

Santos  . 35s.  @37s. 

(Consignees  paying  docas  dues) 

Valparaiso  or  Callao . $6.25@6..50 

Havana  .  2.00@2..50 

Cardenas  or  Sagua . $2.75@3.00 

Cienfuegos  .  2.75@3.2.5 

Port  of  Spain,  Trinidad,  about .  3.50 

St.  Lucia .  3.25@3.50 

St.  Thomas,  about .  3.00 

Barbados,  about .  3.50 

Kingston  .  2.75<ffi3.00 

Curacao,  about .  3.25  &  p.c. 

Santiago  .  2.50@3.00 

Guantanamo  .  2.50@3.0() 

Demerara  .  4.25@4.50 

Bermuda,  about .  3.00 

Vera  Cruz .  3.25@3.75 

Tampico  .  3.25@3.75 


To  Limit  Coal  Prices. 

An  important  bill  has  been  introduced  in 
Parliament  by  a  Mr.  Runciman,  to  provide  for 
a  limitation  of  coal  prices. 

The  measure  enacts  that  the  coal  at  the 
pit’s  mouth  shall  not  be  sold  or  offered  for 
sale  by  the  owner  of  the  coal,  or  on  his  be¬ 
half,  at  a  price  exceeding  by  more  than  the 
standard  amount  per  ton  the  price  of  coal  of 
the  same  description  sold  in  similar  quantities 
under  similar  conditions  at  the  pit’s  mouth 
at  the  same  coal  mine  on  the  corresponding 
date,  or  as  near  thereto  as,  having  regard  to 
the  course  of  business,  may  be  practicable,  in 
the  twelve  months  ended  June  30,  1914.  It 
is  decreed  that  the  standard  amount  shall  be 
4s,  provided  that  the  Board  of  Trade  may  by 
order,  if  they  are  satisfied,  as  respected  any 
class  of  coal  mines  specified  in  the  order,  or 
the  coal  mines  in  any  district  so  specified,  that, 
owing  to  special  circumstances  affecting  those 
mines,  the  standard  amount  of  4s  should  be 
increased,  substitute  for  that  amount  such 
higher  sum  as  they  may  think  just  in  the  cir¬ 
cumstances.  As  respects  those  mines  this  act 
shall  have  effect  as  if  the  higher  sum  so  sub¬ 
stituted  were  the  standard  amount. 

It  is  further  enacted  that  if  any  person  sells, 
or  offers  for  sale,  any  coal  in  contravention 
of  this  action  he  shall  be  liable  to  a  fine  not 
exceeding  £100,  or,  at  the  discretion  of  the 
court,  to  a  fine  not  exceeding  treble  the 
amount  by  which  the  sum  paid,  or  payable, 
for  any  coal  sold  by  him  in  contravention  of 
this  section  exceeds  the  maximum  sum,  which 
would  have  been  paid,  or  payable,  for  the  coal 
if  there  had  been  no  contravention. 

This  section  shall  apply  to  a  case  where  the 
owner  of  coal  at  the  pit’s  mouth  has  sold, 
or  offered  to  sell,  that  coal  at  a  price  which  in¬ 
cludes  the  cost  of  railway  or  other  incidental 
services  besides  the  actual  value  of  the  coal  at 
the  pit’s  mouth,  as  if  he  had  sold,  or  offered 
to  sell  it  at  the  pit’s  mouth  at  a  price  re¬ 


duced  by  an  amount  representing  the  cost  of 
those  services. 

Section  2  provides; — 

(Ij  If  in  any  proceedings  for  the  recovery 
of  a  fine  under  this  Act  any  question  is  raised 
as  the  corresponding  price  of  any  coal,  includ¬ 
ing  any  question  as  to  the  cost  of  railway  or 
other  incidental  services,  the  court  shall  refer 
the  question  for  determination  by  the  Board 
of  Trade,  and  the  decision  of  the  board  shall 
be  final  and  conclusive  for  all  purposes. 

(2)  If  for  any  reason  there  are  not  ade¬ 
quate  data  at  any  coal  mine  from  which  to 
ascertain  the  corresponding  price  at  the  mine, 
the  Board  of  Trade  may  fix  that  price,  having 
regard  to  the  data  afforded  from  the  sales  of 
coal  at  other  mines. 

(3)  The  Board  of  Trade  may  require  the 
owner  of  any  coal  mine  to  furnish  such  infor¬ 
mation  as  appears  to  them  necessary  for  the 
purpose  of  carrying  into  effect  this  Act.  In 
the  event  of  the  refusal  of  such  information 
he  shall  be  liable  on  summary  conviction  to  a 
fine  not  exceeding  £100. 

Section  3  states: — This  Act,  to  he  known 
as  the  Price  of  Coal  (Limitation)  Act,  1915, 
shall  not  apply  to  any  sale  of  coal  for  the 
manufacture  of  patent  fuel  for  export  or  to 
any  sale  of  coal  to  be  used  on  any  ship. 

Further,  this  Act  shall  not  apply  to  the  sale  of 
coal  supplied  in  pursuance  of  a  contract  made  be¬ 
fore  the  commencement  of  this  Act.  The  Act  is 
to  have  effect  during  the  continuance  of  the 
present  war  and  a  period  of  six  months  there¬ 
after. 


New  York  Exports. 


Considerable  anthracite  is  exported  from 
New  York  tidewater  ports,  principally  to  the 
Maritime  Provinces. 


Clearances  for 

June  include  the  following: 

Schooners. 

Destination 

Tonnage 

F.  E.  Melanson . 

.  214 

Elizabeth  Gilbert.... 

.  710 

Elsie  A.  Bayles.... 

.  531 

Lavalata  . 

.  321 

A.  J.  Sterling . 

Maria  Cobb . 

.  004 

St.  Bernard . 

.  215 

Percy  O . 

.  212 

Scotia  Queen . 

.  218 

W.  L.  Elkins . 

.  341 

H.  H.  Chamberlain. 

....  Fredericton  . 

C.  P.  Harris . 

Elma  . 

Glyndon  . 

.  180 

Aloara  . 

Seth  Jr . 

S.  B.  HafTord . 

.  601 

Carrie  E.  Look . 

.  780 

American  Team . 

Crescent  . 

.  686 

F.  C.  Pendleton.... 

....  St.  John . 

Minnie  Slawson..  .. 

.  . .  .St.  Tohn . 

Wm.  D.  Marvel.  .  .  . 

....  St.  John . 

M.  V.  B.  Chase . 

Seguin  . 

Jessie  Ashley . 

.  222 

E.  Liidlaw . 

.  328 

W.  H.  Davenport.. 

.  342 

E.  M.  Brown . 

.  597 

Arthur  M.  Gibson... 

S.  S.  Nepos . 

Isaiah  K.  Stetson... 

.  475 

Palmetto  . 

.  190 

Flo.  Mader . 

.  193 

Bellivean  . 

....  New  Carlisle . 

.  397 

Geo.  B.  Cluett . 

L.  P,  Whitmore.... 

....  St.  Tohn . 

.  438 

S.  S.  Siberia . 

Tost  . 

.  350 

S.  S.  Timandra.  . . . 

Frances  Sawyer.... 

.  598 

S.  S.  Matura . 

May  Exports  and  Comparisons. 

The  Department  of  Commerce  and  Labor 
give  the  following  statement  of  exports  of  bi¬ 
tuminous  and  antliracite  coal: 


-1914- 


-May- 


TONS. 


-1915- 


-1913- 


-Eleven  Montlus  Ending  May- 
-1914- 


-1915- 


Anthracite- 


Ouantity.  Value.  (.Quantity.  Value.  Quantity.  Value.  Quantity.  Value.  Quantity.  Value. 


Canada  . 

Uruguay  . 

Other  countries. 

469,441  $2 

,524,181 

412,479  $2,137,483 

4,131,075  $21,936,325 

3,469,646  $18,274,302 

Si  .55Q 

3,209,000  $17,249,269 

6,042 

30,435 

10,215 

46,202 

73,741 

371,012 

56,119 

276,863 

00,552 

284,392 

Total  . 

Bituminous^ 
Italy  . 

475,483  $2 

,554,610 

422,694  $2,183,685 

28.5.027  845.870 

4,204,816  $22,307,337 

3,525,849  $18,551,724 

3,329,552  $17, .533, 661 

1  94.5  260  .3.724.408 

Canada  . 

705,562  10,572,992 

589,512 

1,256,291 

10,563,330 

25,836,505 

10,678,541 

24,950,666 

7,551,864 

16,478,270 

Panama  . 

22,150 

59,805 

34,321 

93,869 

443,240 

1,196,448 

336,617 

910,602 

295,664 

808,588 

Mexico  . 

20,951 

89,285 

30,247 

132,235 

406,249 

1,136,658 

280,526 

962,445 

369.165 

1,616,242 

('uba  . 

Other  West  Indies 

82,851 

231,042 

107,650 

297,228 

1,167,681 

3,136,986 

1,048,379 

2,914,352 

990,222 

2,781,770 

and  Bermuda. 

50,824 

153,120 

34,471 

102,827 

550,055 

1,.551,019 

.532,108 

1,560,854 

413,486 

1,262,727 

Argentina  . 

11,078 

34,852 

108,730 

322,930 

129,432 

371,.530 

406,058 

1,224,286 

Brazil  . 

16,391 

55,842 

65,183 

198,430 

229,059 

732,495 

404,780 

1,235,894 

Other  countries. 

162,425 

478,615 

134,735 

396,830 

1,060,966 

3,059,127 

1,228,486 

3,623,106 

711,414 

2,114,894 

Uruguay  . 

11,.581 

34,743 

14,401 

42,280 

56,252 

105,292 

91,671 

268,272 

Total  . 1,083,813  $2,710,296  1.404,277  .$3,688,790  14,191,530  $35,916,743  14,519,400  $36,191,348  12,479,585  $31,515,351 

■Above  figures  d/i  not  include  fuel  or  bumker  coal  laden  on  vessels  engaged  in  the  foreign  trade,  which  aggregated 
during  the  month  a+id  eleven  months  ending  May  as  follows:  May,  1914,  674,805  tons,  valued  at  $2,212,285;  May, 
1915,  647,918  tons,  valued  at  $2,161,317;  eleven  months.  May,  1913,  6,666,494  tons,  valued  at  $21,565,959;  1914,  7,124,- 
527  tons,  valued  at  $23,284,100;  1915,  6,334,773  tons,  valued  at  $21,269,802. 


94 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[July  4’ 


General  Review. 


Buying  Improves  Slightly  in  Domestic 
Sizes,  While  Steam  Shows  a  Pro¬ 
gressive  Improvement. 

The  general  market  for  coal  is  showing 
some  change  in  nearly  all  centers.  The  do¬ 
mestic  demand  is  growing  moderately  be¬ 
cause  the  season  of  the  year  is  approaching 
when  retailers  know  they  must  have  some  coal 
on  hand  regardless  of  financial  conditions  and 
regardless  of  any  dilatory  attitude  of  buyers. 
The  change  in  the  domestic  business  is  there¬ 
fore  seasonal. 

However,  steam  business  is  also  improving, 
due  to  a  certain  upturn  in  general  business. 
Pittsburgh  reports  are  most  encouraging  be¬ 
cause  they  show  that  the  mills  are  running 
to  full  capacity  or  to  what  is  done  in  boom 
times.  Foreign  orders  predominate,  but  home 
business  is  growdng.  The  lake  trade  is  pick¬ 
ing  up  a  little.  The  eastern  all-rail  trade  is 
showing  a  decided  improvement  and  export 
trade  is  very  promising.  All  of  these  things 
make  for  a  better  tone  in  the  steam  market. 
In  the  west  domestic  prices  are  advancing 
and  output  is  increasing. 

In  New  York  the  anthracite  market  is  not 
improving  much,  because  the  retailers  have 
placed  their  storage  coal  and  will  not  buy 
until  about  the  middle  of  August  to  satisfy 
September  needs.  Some  buying  is  expected 
early  in  August,  because  the  labor  attitude  is 
threatening.  In  bituminous  the  movement  into 
export  and  on  contract  is  still  heavy  and  this 
week  brought  some  demand  for  spot  coal  which 
is  the  best  indication  for  some  time. 

New  England  indicates  a  demand  at  whole¬ 
sale  for  both  bituminous  and  anthracite  coal, 
showing  better  buying  both  by  steam  users 
and  householders.  .The  anthracite  trade  is 
helped  no  doubt  by  fear  of  labor  troubles  in 
Pennsylvania. 

Midsummer  dullness  seems  to  have  attacked 
the  Pennsylvania  trade,  specially  in  bituminous, 
although  a  large  volume  of  export  business  is 
being  done,  thus  relieving  the  situation.  The 
anthracite  operators  have  practically  no  mar¬ 
ket  and  are  closing  down  the  mines. 

Baltimore  records  a  loss  to  some  extent  in 
the  export  business  which  while  heavy  is  not 
as  brisk  as  it  was  some  time  ago.  War  orders 
are  increasing  the  production  of  factories  and 
this  is  improving  the  demand  for  coal  on  con¬ 
tract,  but  the  spot  demand  is  still  light. 

Shipments  of  anthracite  coal  by  lake  from 
Buffalo  were  79,630  tons  for  the  last  week,  a 
rather  heavy  decline  compared  with  recent 
shipments.  The  bituminous  demand,  espe¬ 
cially  on  contract,  is  better  because  concerns 
in  that  territory  are  busy  with  war  orders. 

The  general  tone  of  the  Pittsburgh  market 
has  not  changed  much  within  the  last  week, 
but  evidences  on  all  sides  are  that  the  market 
is  in  first  class  condition.  The  mills  are 
running  to  full  capacity,  partly  on  war  orders 
and  partly  on  orders  for  home  consumption. 
The  activities  among  the  coke  ovens  are  such 
as  to  indicate  the  presence  of  boom  times. 
Shipments  to  the  lakes  are  increasing  a  little 
all  the  while  and  the  only  weak  spots  in  the 
market  have  to  do  with  the  demand  for  coal 
by  local  factories  and  retailers  in  the  all  rail 
trade. 

Cincinnati  reports  an  improvement  both  in 
demand  and  price.  The  individual  buyers  are 
not  taking  much  more  coal,  but  an  accumu¬ 
lation  of  small  orders  from  many  quarters 
accounts  for  the  better  tone  in  the  wholesale 
market.  This  applies  not  only  to  the  low 
volatile  coals  but  to  the  high  volatile  coals  of 
West  Virginia. 

Indiana  operators,  according  to  reports  from 
Indianapolis,  are  displaying  a  spirit  of  optim- 
.ism,  but  it  has  to  do  more  with  future  than 
with  current  business.  The  market  is  still  bad, 
but  the  factories  are  taking  more  coal  in  the 
center  of  the  state.  Some  retailers  are  buying 
for  harvest  needs. 

Louisville  has  had  a  slightly  better  demand 
for  both  domestic  and  steam  coal  within  the 
week.  Retailers  are  buying  in  anticipation 
of  a  price  advance  on  August  1st.  Steam 
users  are  buying  because  they  need  the  coal 
to  run  the  factories.  ' 

Both  Detroit  and  Toledo  show  a  marked 
improvement  over  recent  conditions,  first,  be¬ 
cause  the  supply  of  spot  coal  is  not  so  large 
and,  second,  because  consumption  is  heavier. 

At  Birmingham  the  Georgia  Southern  & 


Florida  railroad  closed  a  contract  for  1.50,000 
tons  of  steam  coal.  The  steel  makers,  which 
own  their  own  mines,  have  also  been  increas¬ 
ing  production.  Otherwise  the  market  in  that 
territory  is  quiet. 

The  feature  of  the  Chicago  market  is  the 
rising  price  of  domestic  coal  on  August  1st, 
prices  generally  being  marked  up  ten  cents  a 
ton.  Also  smokeless  coal  will  increase  fifteen 
cents  a  ton  on  August  1st  and  this  brought 
some  heavier  buying  the  latter  part  of  this 
month.  The  situation  is  generally  Ijetter  also 
in  steam  coal,  for  while  individuals  are  not 
buying  much  more  than  they  have  been,  small 
orders  have  aggregated  quite  a  tonnage. 

At  St.  Louis  hot  weather  has  checked  the 
demand  for  domestic  coal,  but  there  is  a  fair 
run  of  orders  for  steam  coal.  Screenings  are 
a  trifle  easier  because  of  larger  domestic  pro¬ 
duction. 

Omaha,  after  a  slight  improvement  in  de¬ 
mand,  had  a  relapse  the  early  part  of  this 
week.  The  situation  is  generally  pretty  dull. 

Storage  orders  in  Denver  are  satisfactory  in 
the  main  and  the  market  is  dull  with  the  ex¬ 
pectation  that  it  will  remain  so  until  the  first 
of  September. 


Chicago  Market. 


Buying  Continues  to  Improve  and  Prices 
Will  Advance  on  August  1st. 


Office  of  The  Black  Diamond, 
Chicago,  July  29. 

The  coal  market  in  Chicago  is  one  of  progres¬ 
sive  improvement  on  a  small  scale.  It  took  on  a 
little  more  activity  the  first  of  July ;  it  took  on  a 
great  deal  more  activity  the  latter  part  of  the 
month.  In  part  the  season  of  the  year  has  some¬ 
thing  to  do  with  it.  In  major  part  the  announce¬ 
ment  of  the  rise  in  prices  had  a  good  deal  to  do 
with  it.  The  steam  trade  has  not  kept  pace  with 
the  domestic  trade  in  every  particular,  although 
that  is  improving  too.  Fine  coal,  however,  is 
easing  off  as  lump  advances. 

Reports  on  the  anthracite  trade  do  not  quite 
agree  in  every  particular.  Some  agencies  had 
quite  a  run  of  orders  in  July.  Others  say  that 
their  business  is  far  below  normal.  It  is  still 
a  fact  that  the  business  for  July  was  below 
what  it  was  in  other  years  and  below  what  it 
should  have  been  to  have  brou.ght  shipments  for 
.\ugust  1  up  to  a  comfortable  figure  for  the 
retail  trade.  Prices  have  been  steady  because 
production  has  been  curtailed. 

On  August  1  smokeless  mine  run  prices  ad¬ 
vanced  to  $1.40,  a  rise  of  fifteen  cents  a  ton. 
Lump  and  egg  prices  advanced  to  $2.2.'),  or  a  rise 
in  circular  of  twenty-five  cents.  Knowing  that 
these  prices  will  hold,  retailers  bought  more  heav¬ 
ily  the  latter  part  of  July  than  they  have  been 
doing.  They  are  still  far  short  of  their  normal 
storage  supply.  Production,  while  reasonably 
heavy,  has  not  congested  the  market  with  spot 
coal,  shipments  to  the  east  being  heavy.  The 
technical  position  here  is  strong  because  no  coal 
is  on  consignment  and  few  cars  are  even  approach¬ 
ing  demurrage.  Prices  up  to  Thursday,  carrying 
the  July  circular,  were: 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Smokeless —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Mine  run .  $3.30  $1.25 

Lump  and  egg .  3.05  2.00 

The  Somerset  county  market  is  stronger  today 
than  it  has  been  all  summer.  Prices  will  advance 
on  the  mine  run  to  $1.40  on  .August  1,  but  until 
then  the  July  circular  price  obtains  and  some  buy¬ 
ing  at  the  low  price  was  done.  Prices  up  to 
Thursdav  were : 

F.  p.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Somerset  County —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Mine  run .  $3.30  $1.25 

Lump  and  egg .  3.75@3.95  1.70@1.U0 

Hocking  coal  is  unchanged  in  price,  but  the 
Inisiness  for  the  last  week  was  a  trifle  heavier. 
The  market  is  firm  because  there  has  been  no 
free  coal  offered.  Prices  up  to  Thursday  were: 

F.  p.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Hocking —  Chicago.  Mines. 

IJ^-inch  lump .  $3.15  $1.50 

Splint  operators  who  all  summer  have  been 
flirting  with  the  jobbers  have  begun  to  sell  their 
coal  direct.  They  are  thus  making  a  first  effort 
to  get  rid  of  a  demoralizing  influence  and  the 
market  is  strong  in  consequence.  Some  are 
still  holding  their  coal  under  the  old  conditions 
and  that  makes  for  easier  prices  in  spots.  How¬ 
ever,  the  market  is  stronger.  Prices  up  to  Thurs¬ 
dav  were : 

F.  p.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Kanawha —  Chicago.  Mines. 

I'/i-inch  lump . $3.05@3.15  $1.15@1.25 


Eastern  Kentucky  coal  is  firmer,  largely  because 
wage  conditions  in  that  territory  are  about 
straightened  out.  The  market  was  demoralized 
somewhat  by  the  fact  that  a  few  operators  had 
cut  wages  and  were  cutting  prices  accordingly. 
That  situation  is  now  straightened  out  and  the 
market  is  strengthening.  Prices  up  to  Thurs¬ 
day  were : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Eastern  Kentucky —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Domestic  lump . $3.15@3.65  $1.25@L75 

Egg  .  3.00@3.15  1.10@1.V5 


Circulars  were  sent  out  this  week  announcing 
new  prices  on  Franklin  county  coal  to  take  effect 
.‘\ugust  2.  Lump,  egg  and  No.  1  nut  will  then 
command  $1.60;  No.  2,  or  special  stove  will  com¬ 
mand  $1.40.  In  anticipation  of  these  higher  prices 
which  will  prevail  for  the  first  two  weeks  in  the 
month,  some  active  buying  was  done  this  last  week. 
The  finer  sizes  naturally  ran  off  a  little  as  domes¬ 
tic  production  increased.  This  coal  was  selling 
all  the  way  from  sixty-five  to  eighty-five  cents, 
according  to  quality,  but  a  fair  average  for  the 
market  would  probably  be  about  seventy-five  cents. 
Prices  up  to  Thursday  were : 


Franklin  County — 
Lump  . 

Egg  . 

No.  1  nut . 

No.  2  nut . 

Mine  run . 

2-ineh  screenings  . . 


F.  0.  B. 

F.  p.  B. 

Chicago. 

Mines. 

$2.55 

$1.50 

2.55 

1.50 

2.55 

1.50 

2.40 

1.35 

2.15 

1.10 

1.80 

.75 

The  majority  operators  in  Williamson  county 
lield  will  in  the  next  day  or  so  put  out  circulars 
announcing  new  prices  for  the  first  part  of  August. 
.\ccording  to  one  circular  already  issued,  lump 
and  egg  will  sell  for  $1.60;  No.  1  washed  for 
$1.65;  No.  2  washed  for  $1.30;  No.  1  dry  screened 
nut,  $1.40.  Fine  coal  prices  have  been  a  little 


easier 

because  lump 

production  has 

increased. 

Prices 

up  to  Thursday 

were : 

F.  O.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

Williamson  County — 

Chicago. 

Mines. 

Lump 

Egg  . . 

.  $2.55 

$1.50 

1.50 

.  2.55 

No.  1 

washed . 

.  2.55 

1.50 

No.  2 

washed . 

.  2.45 

1.40 

Saline  county  operators  pretty  generally  on 
.\ugust  1  will  advance  lump,  egg  and  nut  price  to 
$1.60.  In  the  meantime  the  circular  price  for 
July  of  $1.50  has  maintained  and  a  lively  business 
was  done.  Screenings  are  a  triffle  soft,  but  the 


market  is  still  fairly  good  at  seventy-five  cents. 


Prices  up  to  Thursday 

were : 

F.  0.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

Saline  County — 

Chicago. 

Mines. 

Lump  . 

$1.50 

Mine  run . 

.  2.15 

1.10 

Screenings  . 

.  1.80 

.75 

154-inch  lump . 

.  2.30 

1.25 

Springfield  prices  will  not  advance  until  Au¬ 
gust  15,  when  it  is  expected  ten  cents  a  ton  will 
be  added  to  the  circular  on  lump,  egg  and  nut, 
bringing  the  first  two  up  to  $1.60.  In  the  mean¬ 
time  prices  recently  quoted  prevail,  with  a  better 
volume  of  business  on  the  prepared  sizes.  Screen¬ 
ings  are  a  little  easier,  ranging  between  sixty  and 
sixty-five  cents.  Prices  up  to  Thursday  were : 


F.  O.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

Springfield — 

Chicago. 

Mines. 

Lump  . 

$1.50 

Egg  . 

.  2.32 

1.50 

Nut  . 

.  2.17 

1.35 

Mine  run . 

.  1.87 

1.05 

Screenings  . 

.  1.47 

.65 

The  Clinton, 

Tnd.,  market  is  quotably  un- 

changed.  Prices 

up  to  Thursday  were 
F.  O.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

Clinton — 

.  Chicago. 

Mines. 

Domestic  lump.... 

.  $2.27 

$1.50 

Egg  . 

.  2.07 

1.80 

Nut  . 

1.3» 

Mine  run . 

.  1.87 

1.10 

Screenings  . 

.  1.47 

.70 

Knox  countv  has  not  changed  within 

the  week 

either  as  to  production  or  price.  The 
as  follows : 

F.  0.  B. 

market  is 

F.  O.  B. 

Knox  County — 

Chicago. 

Mines. 

Lump  . 

.  $2.37 

$1.50 

Egg  . 

.  2.37 

1.50 

Mine  run . 

.  1.87 

1.05 

Screenings  . 

.  1.47 

.62 

Domestic  coke 

is  a  little  stronger,  but  furnace 

and  foundry  coke  has  not  changed.  Prices  up  to 
Thursday  were: 

F.  O.  B. 

Coke —  Chicago. 

Connellsville  . 

$4.76 

Ry-product,  foundry .  4.85@5.10 

By-product,  egg  and  stove .  4.65 

By-product,  nut  .  4.65 

jas  house .  3.75@4.90 


Ohio  &  Michigan  Coal  Company,  Detroit,  has 
been  awarded  the  contract  for  supplying  approx¬ 
imately  3,500  tons  of  slack  to  the  .Ann  Arbor 
waterworks  and  about  the  same  amount  of  Poca¬ 
hontas  coal  to  the  University  of  Alichigan,  which 
withholds  prices  made  by  the  various  bidders. 


No.  5] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


95 


Pittsburgh  Trade. 


Factory  and  Retail  Demand  Is  Light  But 
Mills,  the  Lakes  and  Exports 
Take  More  Coal. 


Office  of  The  Bl.\ck  Di.\moni), 
l.*)()2  Oliver  Building, 

Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  July  29. 

The  Pittsburgh  market  has  shown  little  or  no 
activity  the  past  week,  and  little  is  anticipated  at 
present.  The  trade  seem  to  be  taking  advantage 
of  the  almost  complete  stagnation  of  the  coal 
business,  to  get  away  to  mountain  and  shore  re¬ 
sorts,  to  “rest  up”  after  the  long  strain  of  idle¬ 
ness  of  the  past  several  months.  Those  who  are 
not  “out  of  town”  find  the  golf  links  quite  a  re¬ 
lief  to  their  over-worked  nervous  systems.  Un¬ 
certainty  is  still  the  feature  of  the  coal  market, 
and  prevents  any  perceptible  increase  in  activity. 
Buyers  as  a  general  thing  prefer  to  pursue  a  con¬ 
servative  policy,  and  only  make  purchases  as 
necessity  demands,  while  producers  are  just  as 
cautious  and  are  quoting  no  figures  for  any  ex¬ 
tended  delivery. 

From  a  domestic  view  point  matters  are  not  as 
bright  as  sellers  could  wish  and  many  items  in 
the  inventory  of  the  situation  suggest  the  main¬ 
taining  of  the  cautious  attitude,  and  while  the 
time  is  at  hand  for  a  general  stocking  up  for  in¬ 
dividual  and  industrial  purposes — it  is  not  being 
done — nor  are  the  railroads  buying  any  far  ahead 
fuel  supply,  though  the  prices  quoted  today  might 
hold  large  inducements  for  such  purchasers  but 
they  are  holding  back,  possibly  for  both  a  lack 
of  confidence  and  a  lack  of  money.  Many  large 
miscellaneous  manufacturing  plants,  and  the  bulk 
of  the  smaller  industrial  concerns  are  not  doing 
more  than  fifty  per  cent  of  normal,  and  their 
purchases  of  coal  can  be  graded  about  the  same. 

Lake  shipping  does  not  show  any  appreciable 
increase,  but  looks  somewhat  more  encouraging — 
from  the  point  of  inquiry,  and  the  inland  jobbers 
are  only  buying  to  fill  orders,  nothing  for  stock. 
At  the  retail  yards  no  disposition  is  being  shown 
to  provide  for  the  winter's  fuel  supply. 

The  following  range  of  prices, '  although  sub¬ 
ject  to  change  daily,  or  in  individual  transactions, 
about  represents  the  market  for  deliveries  in  this 
district  during  the  third  quarter. 


Panhandle  slack . $0.4.5@  .53 

Voughiogheny  steam  slack . 55@  .60 

Mine  run .  1.00@1.10 

screened .  1.20@1.25 

5/4  screened .  1.30@1.35 


A  large  broker,  during  the  past  week  made  in¬ 
quiry  of  several  producers  offering  to  take  cer¬ 
tain  coals  over  a  period  covering  the  remainder 
of  the  year  at  figures  slightly  less  than  quoted 
above,  but  bis  offer  in  each  case  was  turned  down 
the  opinion  being  that  it  was  simply  put  out  as  a 
feeler  to  test  the  market. 

These  conditions  and  the  uncertainty  pending 
war  developments,  keep  mines  down  to  an  aver¬ 
age  of  about  fifty  per  cent  to  sixty  per  cent  of 
capacity,  and  at  some  points  less.  Some  suffering 
is  reported  in  certain  mining  localities,  where  the 
work  has  not  provided  sufficient  income  to  meet 
necessities  and  pay  rent. 

The  demand  for  coke  holds  up  extremely  well, 
and  in  some  cases  expands.  There  is  strong  ten¬ 
dency  toward  higher  prices  hy  some  independent 
producers,  while  others  have  not  yet  fully  adopted 
the  higher  level — much  depends  on  the  sellers 
order  books,  and  the  nature  of  the  business  of¬ 
fered.  Prices  quoted  by  the  steel-making  pro¬ 
ducers  are  very  firm — though  it  is  said  they  have 
no  coke  for  sale,  yet  this  helps  the  market  and 
operators  are  not  anxious  to  quote  for  further 
ahead  than  quarter  by  quarter,  the  pig  iron  out¬ 
look  seeming  to  make  the  sliding  scale  more 
interesting. 

Coke  market  might  be  called  strong  at  the  following: 


Prompt  furnace .  :iil.75 

([ontract  furnace,  third  quarter .  1.75 

Contract  furnace,  second  half .  2.00@2.25 

Foundry  prompt .  2.40@2.5n 

Foundry  contract .  2.23@2.60 


At  the  office  of  one  producer  of  best  grade 
foundry — it  was  reported  they  were  out  of  the 
market — at  another  the  quotations  averaged  five 
to  ten  cents  above  the  figures  here  given.  Oven 
activity  has  slightly  increased  the  past  week,  but 
as  yet  no  scarcity  of  labor  has  developed,  as  was 
anticipated  by  some  operators  a  month  ago. 

Merchant  coke  operators  in  the  Connellsville 
region  are  reported  as  doing  considerable  export 
business,  the  Argentine  Republic,  and  Italy  hav¬ 
ing  been  buyers,  and  a  Ibiiontown  firm  is  reported 
to  have  sold  through  a  New  York  jobber  44,000 
tons  of  coal  for  shipment  to  Spain. 


Personal  and  News  Items. 

James  H.  Gallagher,  treasurer  of  the  Delmont 
Gas  Coal  Company,  is  on  a  vacation  trip  through 
Canada. 

James  G.  Geegan,  manager  of  the  Clyde  Coal 
Company,  is  taking  a  much  needed  rest  at  Mt. 
Clemens,  Pa. 

Mr.  Taylor,  president  of  the  Pittsburgh  &  Erie 
Coal  Company  of  Erie,  Pa.,  was  a  Pittsburgh 
visitor  this  week. 

John  H.  Jones,  president  of  the  Pittsburgh- 
Buffalo  Company,  is  spending  the  week  in  Cleve¬ 
land  and  other  lake  points. 

11.  S.  Odbert,  president  of  the  Odbert  Coal 
Company  of  Cleveland,  spent  some  days  with  the 
Pittsburgh  trade  last  week. 

E.  M.  Gross,  western  manager  of  the  Keystone 
Coal  Company,  is  on  an  extended  pleasure  trip 
through  Canada  and  the  northwest. 

Dr.  Arnaud  Rosenthal  of  Paris,  is  in  Pitts¬ 
burgh  this  week  conferring  with  Pittsburgh  man¬ 
ufacturers,  brokers  and  other  business  men  re¬ 
lative  to  the  purchase  of  materials  and  goods  of 
various  kinds  needed  in  the  allied  countries  of 
the  European  war  zone.  Among  other  items  he 
claims  to  want  to  buy  3,000,000  tons  of  bituminous 
coal,  though  we  do  not  locate  any  direct  inquiry 
having  been  made.  He  says  his  country  needs 
large  quantities  of  coal  and  he  may  establish  a 
permanent  head  quarters  in  Pittsburgh  to  handle 
coal  and  other  products  for  export. 

A  movement  is  on  foot  among  those  who  have 
admired  the  late  Dr.-  Holmes  and  profited  in  so 
many  ways  by  his  labors,  to  in  some  manner 
fittingly  commemorate  his  achievements.  The 
erection  of  a  monument  at  his  grave,  a  tablet 
suitably  inscribed,  a  memorial  volume  containing 
his  life,  and  works  have  been  suggested,  and  the 
matter  is  assuming  form.  Locally  it  will  be 
brought  before  the  coal  operators  the  coming 
week,  by  the  Secretary  S.  A.  Taylor,  but  action 
may  be  deferred  as  many  are  away  from  home  at 
this  season,  Mr.  Taylor  makes  the  suggestion  that 
in  addition  to  either  of  the  above,  a  substantial 
fund  for  the  family  of  Dr.  Holmes  be  raised,  in 
appreciation  of  his  devotion  to  his  profession. 


Louisville  Market. 


Louisville,  Ky.,  July  29. —  (Special  Correspond¬ 
ence.) — Some  betterment  has  been  noted  in  the 
demand  for  both  domestic  and  steam  coal  during 
the  past  week,  principally  due  to  the  willingness 
of  dealers  to  order  out  coal  for  delivery  during 
the  last  week  of  the  month,  rather  than  run  chance 
of  a  price-advance  on  August  1.  Nevertheless, 
buyin.g  is  not  of  a  strictly  general  character,  nor 
is  the  price  situation  sufficiently  satisfactory  to 
lead  to  any  high  hopes  as  to  business  for  several 
weeks  to  come.  Nevertheless,  the  month  of  July 
has  been  distinctly  better  with  coal  producers  in 
this  section  than  was  June,  and  it  may  be  ex¬ 
pected  that  August  will  show  a  slight  improve¬ 
ment  over  July,  unless  some  unforeseen  influ¬ 
ences  come  into  play. 

Roth  the  country  dealers  and  those  in  the  larger 
towns  are  taking  more  domestic  coal,  but  the 
movement  is  by  no  means  anything  like  normal. 
So  far,  the  increased  movement  of  domestic  has 
not  resulted  in  any  slaughtering  of  screenings, 
and  although  same  were  slightly  more  plentiful, 
they  are  not  on  demurrage  in  any  large  quan¬ 
tities. 

Producers  dependent  on  southern  markets  re¬ 
port  that  the  demand  for  steam  coal  is  exceed¬ 
ingly  poor,  and  competition  at  cut-prices  is  still 
exceedingly  keen.  Contracts  are  being  renewed  at 
price-concessions  on  the  best  grades  of  steam 
coal,  and  shippers  from  mines  on  the  Louisville 
&  Nashville  &  Southern  Railways  are  still  losing 
business  through  mines  in  Virginia  and  Alabama. 
The  Southern  Railway  is  now  taking  in  eastern 
Kentucky  a  minimum  shipment  specified  in  its 
contract  with  Middlesboro  and  other  operators, 
whereas  30  to  (K)  days  ago  they  were  receiving 
less  than  their  contract  minimum.  Receipts  by 
the  Louisville  &  Nashville  and  Illinois  Central 
Railroads  are  about  as  they  have  been  during 
recent  weeks. 

Prices  for  August  will  cover  the  same  wide 
range  as  during  the  past  several  months.  Do¬ 
mestic  block  coal  is  selling  at  prices  ranging 
from  $1.40,  and  occasionally  as  low'  as  $1.2.'),  all 
the  way  to  $2.00  per  ton,  with  the  mines  selling 
at  the  lower  iirices,  in  general  running  more  days 
tlian  those  in  the  Jellico  district,  which  arc  hold¬ 
ing  their  prices  more  stiffly.  Nut  and  slack  coal 
of  the  best  (piality  is  bringing  from  fifty  cents  to 


sixty-five  cents  per  ton,  and  second  grade  screen¬ 
ings  frorn  twenty-five  cents  to  forty  cents  per  ton. 

The  mines  of  the  Continental  Coal  Corporation 
in  the  Straight  Creek  district  have  been  union¬ 
ized  during  the  past  week,  and  union  organizers 
are  very  busily  engaged  in  an  attempt  to  organize 
other  companies  in  the  Bell  and  Harlan  county 
districts.  So  far,  however,  there  has  been  no 
disorder  and  little,  if  any,  ill-feeling. 


Detroit  Trade. 


Detroit,  Mich,  July  29. —  (Special  Correspond¬ 
ence.) — Improvement  in  mild  form  appears  to 
be  developing  in  the  local  market.  While  condi¬ 
tions  have  not  yet  reached  a  point  where  the  mar¬ 
ket  may  be  correctly  described  as  active,  ship¬ 
pers  assert  they  are  able  to  notice  a  perceptible 
increase  in  the  number  of  small  orders  coming  in. 

This  feature,  they  regard  as  particularly  en¬ 
couraging  following  the  long  period  during  which 
the  market  has  been  so  inactive  as  to  be  almost 
stagnant  and  the  sentiment  of  shippers  is  tak¬ 
ing  a  more  buoyant  and  cheerful  trend. 

The  fact  that  the  amount  of  consignment  coal 
now  being  sent  into  Detroit  is  less  than  for  many 
months,  is  another  feature  which  tends  to  in¬ 
crease  cheerfulness.  There  is  still  coal  on  tracks, 
however,  and  probably  always  will  be  in  Detroit, 
but  it  is  being  moved  in  a  way  that  produces  less 
unsettledness  in  the  market  than  heretofore,  h'or 
the  time  being,  about  the  only  coal  which  does 
not  reflect  the  improved  conditions  is  the  egg 
size  and  under  normal  conditions  Detroit  is  not  a 
large  consumer  of  that  class  of  stock. 

The  supply  of  all  kinds  of  coal,  with  the  ex¬ 
ception,  perhaps  of  Pocahontas  lump,  is  fully 
sufficient  for  all  requirements  and  there  is  little 
difficulty  in  obtaining  coal  somewhat  below  sched¬ 
ule,  at  prices  that  have  prevailed  for  several 
months  past,  but  the  feeling  among  shippers, 
appears  to  be  that  a  gradual  hardening  and  steady¬ 
ing  of  prices  may  be  expected  to  develop  in  the 
very  near  future. 

The  fact  that  shipments  by  the  lake  route  to 
ports  on  Lake  Superior  have  been  largely  cur¬ 
tailed  during  the  present  month  because  of  the 
lack  of  dock  space  available  for  storage,  is  a 
circumstance,  which  may,  however,  exert  a  trou¬ 
blesome  effect  on  the  Detroit  market,  should  it 
result  in  directing  here  coal  which  should  he 
handled  over  the  rail  lake  route. 

The  outlook  for  early  improvement  of  con¬ 
ditions  at  the  unloading  docks  on  Lake  Superior 
is  said  to  be  far  from  satisfactory  and  no  im- 
])ortant  distribution  of  the  stock  now  filling  the 
docks  is  expected  until  the  movement  of  grain 
to  the  lakes  gains  considerable  headway,  or  prob¬ 
ably  not  until  some  time  in  September. 

Anthracite  is  being  bought  very  sparingly.  Ef¬ 
forts  to  convince  retail  dealers  that  it  is  likely 
to  be  to  their  advantage  to  place  orders  now, 
have  met  with  little  success.  Nearly  all  of  them 
appear  to  be  holding  off,  though  the  reason  is  not 
wholly  clear. 

Prices  in  the  local  market  are  as  follows : 


F.O.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

West  Virginia  Gas — 

Mines. 

Detroit. 

Three-quarter  lump . 

$2.:15@2.40 

Mine  run . 

_  .80 

2.20 

Slack  . 

_  .50 

1.00 

West  Virginia  Splint— 

Four-inch  lump . 

2.90@3.00 

Two-inch  lump . 

_  1.25 

2.65 

Three-quarter  . 

_  l.IO 

2.50 

Mine  run . 

. 9()@1.00 

2.30@2.40 

Nut,  pea  and  slack . 

1.90@2.15 

Smokeless — 

Lump  am!  egg . 

_  2.00 

3.60 

Nut  . 

_  1.50 

3.10 

vSlack  . 

Open 

Mine  run . 

Open 

Kentucky  Splint — 

I.ump  . 

.  .  .  .  1.40@1.50 

2.80@2.90 

Kgg  . 

.  .  .  .  1.10 

2.50 

Nut,  pea  and  slack . 

Open 

Fairmount — 

Tliree-quarter  steam  lump.  . .  . 

. S5@  .05 

2.25@2.3r> 

Mine  run . 

2.10@2.20 

Slack  . 

Open 

Hocking  Valley — 

■Shaker  three-inch  lump . 

_  1.50 

2.65 

Shaker  egg  and  nut . 

_  1.15 

2.30 

Domestic  lump . 

_  1..S5 

2.50 

Three-quarter  lump . 

_  I.25@1.30 

2.40@2.45 

Mine  run . 

.  .  .  .  1.00@I.l0 

2.15@2.25 

Nut,  pea  and  slack . 

Open 

Fittsburgh  No.  8 — 

'I'hree-quarter  lump . 

_  1.15 

2.30 

Mine  run . 

_  1.05 

2.20 

Slack  . 

Open 

lackson  Hill 

Domestic  lumi) . 

_  2.50 

3.65 

('amhridge — 

Three-quarter  lump . 

_  1.20 

2.35 

Mine  run . 

_  1.10 

2.25 

Pomeroy — 

Two  and  three-incli  lumj).... 

_  2.15 

3.30 

Fgg  . 

_  1.60 

2.75 

Slack  . 

Open 

96 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[July  31 


Cincinnati  Trade. 


Cincinnati  Ohio,  July  29. —  (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — The  market  in  this  territory  tliis 
week,  is  a  little  better,  both  in  price  and  in 
demand.  In  particular  it  would  he  hard  to 
point  out  just  where  the  betterment  is. 

Some  operations  take  a  “bullish”  view  of 
conditions  and  others  are  still  “bearish.”  All 
unite,  however,  in  saying  that  it  is  only  a 
matter  of  a  few  days  until  “something  will 
drop.”  At  present  wholesalers  are  sweating 
in  an  effort  to  wake  up  dealers  to  the  fact 
that  a  car  stringency,  labor  scarcity  and  trans¬ 
portation  blockade  are  casting  their  shadows 
before. 

Some  com])anies  have  withdrawn  their  prod¬ 
uct  from  the  market.  They  will  not  enter  the 
trade  which  is  controlled  by  jobbers  intent 
on  getting  only  their  brokerage.  The  splint 
operators  are  especially  strong  on  this  point. 

The  price  list  is  variegated.  For  West 
Virginia  splint  lump  quotations  range  from 
ninety  cents  to  .$1.75;  three-inch  lump  gen¬ 
erally  around  $1.50;  IJ/^-inch  around  $1.25  and 
nut  and  slack  fifty  to  seventy-five  cents. 
Some  prices  in  all  grades  have  been  made. 
Several  companies  who  have  been  attempting 
to  meet  competition,  Wednesday  withdrew  all 
their  price  lists  and  notified  their  patrons  that 
they  are  out  of  the  market  until  buyers  show 
a  better  appreciation  of  the  value  of  coal. 
This  has  created  a  sensation  among  the  pa¬ 
trons,  but  it  has  not  aided  the  market  yet. 

The  tidewater  situation  is  unchanged  for  the 
smokeless  exporting  companies.  For  some  of 
the  better  splint  operations  it  is  a  godsend. 
The  lake  movement  has  again  brightened  up. 
Coal  companies  here  have  learned  that  a  large 
number  of  dealers  in  other  cities  of  the  state 
and  adjoining  states  have  taken  their  sales¬ 
men  off  the  road,  and  it  is  likely  that  some 
of  those  here  will  follow  the  example.  This 
is  not  for  the  purpose  of  closing  down  for 
these  companies  have  contracts  that  will  take  a 
fair  supply  of  coal,  but  for  the  purpose  of 
stopping  the  mischievous  operation  of  some  of 
the  jobbers. 

Car  shortage  is  pronounced  now,  and  labor 
shortage  is  in  the  immediate  future.  Contract 
making  is  fair,  but  at  lower  prices  with  those 
who  feel  that  they  must  contract.  Notwith¬ 
standing  all  this,  some  of  the  big  mines  in 
West  Virginia  and  Kentucky  are  working  full 
capacity  and  marketing  their  products  with¬ 
out  much  trouble,  and  no  loss. 


Cincinnati  Trade  News. 

The  Bell  Coal  Mining  Company  of  this  city, 
which  has  had  offices  in  the  Lyric  Theater 
building,  has  removed  to  office^  in  the  Union 
Trust  building. 

The  Borderland  Coal  Sales  Company,  has 
removed  from  suite  ()27-r>28  in  the  Union  Trust 
building  to  suite  703-704-705,  larger  and  more 
comfortable  quarters. 

L.  C.  Tippett,  general  manager  of  the  M-B 
Coal  &  Coke  Company,  Kimberly,  W.  Va.,  was 
a  visitor  in  -the  city  this  week.  Other  visitors 
were  H.  S.  Leonard  of  the  Leonard  Coal  & 
Supply  Company,  Dayton,  O.,  and  W.  E. 
Hassey,  a  well  known  coal  man  of  Colum¬ 
bus,  Ohio. 

R.  D.  Jeffers,  who  recently  resigned  as 
sales  manager  of  the  Borderland  Coal  Sales 
Company,  is  now  holding  a  similar  position 
with  the  I.itz-Smith  Fuel  Company  of  Hunt¬ 
ington,  W.  Va.  Mr.  Jeffers  is  well  known  to 
the  coal  trade,  having  been  connected  with 
the  Producers  Coal  Company  of  the  city  for 
several  years  until  about  a  year  ago. 

G.  E.  Weber,  Cincinnati  manager  of  the 
Chesapeake  &  Ohio  Coal  &  Coke  Company,  is 
home  this  week  from  a  prolonged  tour  through 
the  Michigan  coal  distributing  centers.  He 
finds  that  the  dealers  there  are  not  taking  ad¬ 
vantage  of  the  low  prices  of  the  past  few 
weeks  and,  in  fact,  are  not  taking  their  usual 
quota  of  the  tonnages  of  the  mining  districts, 
preferring  to  wait  until  later  and  take  chances. 

E.  F.  Hcasley,  private  secretary  to  Quin 
Morton,  president  of  the  Imperial  Coal  Com¬ 
pany  of  Charleston,  W.  Va.,  and  of  the  Im¬ 
perial  Coal  Sales  Company  of  this  city,  has 
been  appointed  assistant  secretary  of  the  West 
Virginia  High  Volatile  Coal  Operators’  As¬ 
sociation.  This  organization,  composed  of  the 
operators  along  the  C.  &  O.  and  the  K.  &  M. 
railways,  and  which  will  eventually  take  in  all 
the  high  volatile  operators  in  the  state,  it  is 
believed,  is  organized  for  the  purpose  of  aid¬ 
ing  in  suppressing  ruinous  competition  and 


stimulating  legitimate  competition  between 
coal  districts  and  Inining  operations.  Last 
week  J.  W.  Dawson  was  elected  chairman  of 
the  executive  committee  of  the  organization 
and  J.  R.  Thomas  and  P.  F.  Colgan,  vice-chair¬ 
men.  An  executive  secretary  is  sought  to  take 
char,ge  of  the  operations  of  the  organization, 
and  until  one  is  found  Mr.  Heasley  will  have 
charge  of  the  new  offices  which  were  established 
this  week  in  Charleston. 

The  Norwood  city  contract  for  coal  was 
awarded  this  week  to  the  low  bidder.  Eureka 
Coal  Company  of  that  suliurb.  The  contract 
called  for  5,000  tons  of  14,900  B.  T.  U.  7  per 
cent  ash,  splint  nut  and  slack,  and  2,000  tons 
of  15,300  B.  T.  U.,  G  per  cent,  ash  smokeless 
mine  run.  Ten  companies,  among  them  the 
largest  retail  companies  in  Cincinnati,  filed 
bids  and  the  gratifying  thing  was  that  the 
bids  except  one  or  twq_  showed  a  determina¬ 
tion  to  hold  up  prices  to  a  living  basis.  It  is 
not  understood  exactly  what  the  award  price 
was. 

Tom  R.  Morgan,  formerly  sales  manager 
of  the  Pluto  Cannel  Coal  Company  of  I.ex- 
ington,  Ky.,  resigned  that  position,  to  take 
effect  August  1st,  and  was  at  once  appointed 
assistant  to  President  L.  P.  Yandell  of  the 
company,  and  retains  his  headquarters  at  Lex¬ 
ington.  Mr.  Yandell’s  home  is  in  Danville,  Ky. 
A  new  sales  manager  will  be  appointed  and 
the  offices  will  be  moved  to  Cannel  City,  Ky., 
at  the  mines.  Later  Mr.  Morgan’s  appoint¬ 
ment  was  withdrawn. 

Cincinnati  people  have  been  asked  to  aid 
the  starving  miners  of  the  Hocking  Valley 
(Ohio),  who  are  out  of  employment  and  can¬ 
not  leave  for  other  points  just  now  to  obtain 
emplovment.  The  St.  Vincent  de  Paul  Society, 
a  Catholic  organization,  promptly  sent  $100 
cash  and  opened  a  depot  for  clothing  in  the 
city  to  aid  the  sufferers.  Other  organizations, 
notably  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  and  civic 
societies  are  aiding  in  the  plan  which  was 
started  by  Governor  Willis. 

A  story  is  going  the  rounds  here,  and  has 
been  published  in  some  of  the  West  Virginia 
papers,  to  the  effect  that  The  Island  Creek 
Coal  Company,  has  obtained  an  option  on  the 
Main  Island  Creek  properties  of  the  Wyatt 
Coal  Company.  It  is  further  said,  that  an  ex¬ 
tension  of  that  option  has  been  made  to  August 
10th,  at  which  time,  it  is  explained,  the  Island 
Creek  Company  will  take  over  these  proper¬ 
ties.  It  is  said  that  John  Laing,  president  of 
the  Wyatt  Company  has  been  prevailed  on 
to  sell  these  e.xcellent  properties  which  adjoin 
the  Island  Creek  holdings,  and  that  the  per¬ 
suasion  has  been  in  the  form  of  a  very  sub¬ 
stantial  profit  on  the  coveted  properties.  It 
is  understood  that  the  Island  Creek  Company 
was  losing  business  in  direct  competition  with 
the  Main  Island  Creek  coal.  However,  this 
may  be,  it  is  given  on  good  authority  that  a 
$20,000  forfeit  has  been  posted  for  the  nur- 
chase  of  the  properties,  August  10th.  The. 
story  was  denied,  at  first,  by  officials  of  the 
company  here  on  general  principles,  but  com¬ 
munication  has  not  been  held  with  Mr.  Laing 
in  reference  to  it. 


St.  Louis  Trade. 


St.  Louis,  Mo.,  July  39. —  (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — The  fact  that  the  weather  has  been 
seasonable  has  somewhat  checked  the  demand, 
which  was  getting  to  be  quite  lively  from  a  num¬ 
ber  of  sources.  Coal  dealers  began  to  think  of 
hauling  ice,  when  the  weather  turned,  and  lost 
some  of  their  enthusiasm  for  coal.  The  fact 
that  the  end  of  the  month  is  nearin.g  and  the 
coal  will  advance  in  price  the  first  of  August 
has  stimulated  sales  on  some  of  the  higher 
grades  of  anthracite. 

Standard  coal  has  been  hard  to  move,  es¬ 
pecially  in  the  2-inch  lump  and  steam  sizes, 
showing  a  tendency  to  drop.  Six-inch  lump 
and  domestic  show  a  slight  improvement.  The 
current  prices  are  as  follows: 


Mine 

fi-inch  lump  . $1.00 

3x0  egg  .  1.00 

2-inch  lump  . 8.5 

2x6  egg . so 

No.  2  nut  . 80 

];4-inch  screenings . 00 


St.  Louis 
$1.5714 
1.5714 

1.4214 

1.3714 

1.3714 

1.1714 


There  is  absolutely  no  change  in  the  demand 
or  prices  on  Mt.  Olive  and  Staunton  coal. 

6-inch  Imup  . $1.25  $1.8214 

2-inch  lump  .  1.20  1.7714 

2-inch  screenings  . 70  1.2714 

Carterville  moving  somewhat  better.  Wil¬ 
liamson  county  operators  on  the  whole  are 


advancing  their  prices  on  domestic  sizes  and 
most  of  the  snaps  are  now  off  the  market. 

6-inch  lump  . $1.35  $2.0714 

6x3  egg .  1.35  2.0714 

3x2  nut .  1.20  1.0214 

114-inch  screenings  . 70  1.4214 

Franklin  county  is  moving  very  satisfactorily. 
Lump  and  egg  business  coming  in  freely, 
though  some  steam  sizes  are  lagging  such  as 
No.  3  and  No.  4. 

O-inch  lump  . $1.50  $2.2214 

6x3  egg .  1.50  2.2214 

3x2  nut .  1.50  2.2214 

.Stove .  1.35  2.0714 

ll4-inch  screenings  . 80  1.5214 

Anthracite  has  been  moving  slowly.  There 

is  considerable  consternation  in  the  coal  trade 

over  the  advance  of  25c  in  the  rates  to  St. 
Louis,  and  this  advance  took  every  one  by 
surprise.  None  of  the  large  companies  have 
issued  their  new  circulars,  as  yet,  and  there  is 
considerable  speculation,  as  to  just  what  will 
be  done  in  regard  to  the  matter. 

Chestnut  . $7.35 

Stove  or  egg  .  7.10 

Grate  .  6.85 


There  is  litle  change  on  smokeless,  or  coke, 
both  are  moving  fairly  well.  The  price  on 
coke,  however,  advances  on  the  first  of  the 


month. 

Gas  house  coke,  all  sizes . $4.00 

By-product  coke,  all  sizes .  4.25 

Smokeless  lump  or  egg .  4.50 

Smithing  .  4.25 


Note. — Prices  on  Illinois  soft  coal,  f.  o.  b., 
East  St.  Louis,  Madison  or  Granite  City,  Ill., 
are  25j/^  cents  cheaper  than  the  above  named 
rates  to  St.  Louis,  Mo. 


J.  Howard  Seymour,  of  the  Philadelphia  & 
Reading  Coal  &  Iron  Company,  was  in  St. 
Louis  on  Wednesday. 


Denver  Trade. 


Denver,  July  29. — (Special  Correspondence.) — 
The  market  here  this  week  seems  to  have 
lapsed  into  summer  dullness,  and  is  only  re¬ 
lieved  by  better  bookings  on  storage  with  the 
near  approach  of  the  begging  of  the  last  stor¬ 
age  option. 

There  is  little  doing  in  the  lignite  district. 
Most  of  those  mines  are  closed  this  week,  but 
advantage  is  being  taken  of  the  dull  season  in 
making  extensive  improvements  and  repairs 
before  the  winter  rush. 


Trinidad  operators  report  a  busy  week,  on 
the  receipt  of  steadily  arriving  storage  orders, 
filling  of  regular  contracts  and  unusual  re¬ 
quirements  of  the  steel  mills.  The  bulk  of  the 
storage  orders,  however,  are  going  to  Routt 
county.  They  are  many  days  behind  on  the 
filling  of  these  orders. 

Walsenburg  will  produce  about  fifty  per 
cent  of  normal  tonnage  for  the  week. 

Slack  prices  are  unchanged.  Routt  county 
is  making  up  for  the  small  supply  of  lignite. 
There  is  plenty  of  bituminous  but  no  surplus. 

The  prices  for  lignite,  f.  o.  b.  mines  are  as 
follows:  For  Denver  delivery,  lump,  $2.35  to 
$2,65;  mine  run,  $1.50  to  $1.65;  slack,  $1.05  to 
$1.25.  To  points  outside  of  Denver,  lump, 
$2.50;  mine  run,  $1.55  to  $1.65;  slack,  $1.05. 


Canon  City  District —  Lump 

For  shipment  May  and  June . $2.50 

For  shipment  July  and  August .  2.76 

Add  26  cents  to  above  prices  for  washed  nut. 
Walsenburg  District — 

For  shipment  May  and  June .  2.60 

For  shipment  July  and  August .  2.75 

Washed  nut  25  cents  per  ton  additional. 
Chestnut,  $1.25  for  entire  season. 

Trinidad  District — 

For  shipment  May  and  June .  2.00 

For  shipment  July  and  August . 2.00 

Routt  County  District — 

For  shipment  May  and  June . 2.60 

For  shipment  July  and  August .  2.75 

Western  Slope  District — 

For  shipment  May  and  June . 2.25 

For  shipment  July  and  August .  2.60 

From  Baldwin,  shipments  for  points  east  of 
are  75  cents  per  ton  less  than  Walsenburg  prices. 


Nut 

$2.00 

2.25 


2.00 

2.26 


1.71 

1.7$ 

2.01 

2.21 


Denvcl 


Denver  Local  News. 

A  fire  at  Rock  Springs,  Wyoming,  last  week, 
destroyed  the  tipple  and  power  plant  at  the  Cen¬ 
tral  Coal  &  Coke  Company’s  No.  2  mine.  The 
loss  exceeds  $50,000. 

A  further  reduction  in  coal  rates  from  Lud¬ 
low  to  Trinidad  is  asked  by  the  Huerfano  Coal 
Company,  regardless  of  a  reduction  recently  by 
the  state  public  utilities  commission  from  sixty- 
five  cents  to  sixty  cents  a  ton.  The  Huerfano 
Coal  Company  has  filed  a  petition  with  the  com¬ 
mission  asking  that  body  to  reopen  its  investiga¬ 
tion  of  coal  rates  charged  by  the  railroads,  so  far 
as  it  relates  to  the  tariff  between  Ludlow  and 
Trinidad.  It  believes  these  rates  should  be  low¬ 
ered  to  approximately  twenty-five  cents  per  ton. 


No.  5] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


97 


Indianapolis  Trade. 

Indianapolis,  Ind.,  July  29. — {Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — Much  of  the  optimism  displayed  by 
Indiana  operators  and  coal  dealers  is  of  a  forced 
nature.  They  have  been  whistling  to  keep  up 
their  courage  and  spirits  while  they  know  that 
business  is  bad.  Many  of  them  have  been  try¬ 
ing  to  put  on  a  cheerful  face  and  tell  their 
neighbors  and  friends  that  business  was  first  rate 
when  they  know  better. 

A  well-known  Indiana  operator  said  today  that 
he  is  about  at  the  point  where  he  has  concluded 
that  it  doesn’t  pay  to  attempt  to  deceive  himself 
further.  He  declared  that  the  demand  for  steam 
coal  is  very  weak ;  that  the  demand  for  domestic 
is  below  normal  even  for  this  time  of  the  year 
and  that  the  outlook  for  business  during  the 
next  few  weeks  is  not  very  bright.  The  demand 
for  Indiana  coal  in  the  Chicago  markets  has  not 
been  up  to  the  usual  standard  lately.  The  manu¬ 
facturing  centers  around  Chicago  that  are  large 
consumers  of  Indiana  coal  have  been  cutting 
down  their  orders.  There  have  been  fewer  in¬ 
quiries  than  usual  for  coal  for  the  northwestern 
markets.  The  state’s  big  manufacturing  centers 
are  not  buying  fuel  heavily. 

.A.ltogether  the  situation  is  not  encouraging. 
There  has  been  a  disposition  among  operators 
and  dealers  to  say  that  the  long-delayed  business 
revival  was  only  a  few  weeks  off.  About  three 
months  ago  some  of  the  leading  Indiana  oper¬ 
ators  said  that  by  August  a  general  revival  would 
be  noticeable.  They  have  failed  as  prophets. 
The  tonnage  in  July  probably  will  be  less  than  it 
has  been  for  any  July  in  recent  years.  Prices  are 
fairly  steady.  Screenings  showed  a  disposition 
to  break  but  they  are  about  steady  again.  The 
prices  on  mine-run,  egg  and  nut  are  about  the 
same  as  they  have  been  for  several  months.  Do¬ 
mestic  is  not  changed.  Operators  say  that  the 
dealers  are  not  buying  as  much  as  usual  for  this 
time  of  year,  which  is  a  very  discouraging  feature. 

There  is  not  as  much  coal  as  usual  in  storage 
in  the  retail  yards,  which  helps  matters  when  the 
demand  does  come  from  the  consumers.  The 
dealers  in  smokeless  and  hard  coal  are  finding 
business  very  dull.  In  fact,  the  shipment  of  coal 
into  Indiana  is  below  the  JuJy  mark.  The  retailers 
are  not  doing  as  well  as  they  were  at  this  time 
in  1914. 

The  Indiana  wholesalers  are  quoting  the  fol¬ 
lowing  prices : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Indiana —  Mines.  Indianapolis. 

No.  4  mine  run . $1.10@1.20  $1.GO@1.80 

Nos.  5  and  G  mine  run .  1.00@I.]0  1.50@1.G0 

No.  1^-inch  steam  lump .  1.30@1.40  1.80@1.90 

Nos.  5  and  G  steam  lump....  1.20@1.30  1.70@1.80 

No.  4  egg .  1.30@1.40  1.80@1.90 

No.  4  nut .  1.30@1.40  1.80@1.90 

No.  5  egg .  1.20@1.30  1.70@1.80 

No.  4  screenings . 80@  .85  1.30@1.35 

Nos.  5  and  6  screenings . 70@  .75  1.20@1.25 

Domestic  lump .  1.40@1.50  1.90@2.00 

No.  1  washed  coal .  1.75  2.25 

No.  2  washed  coal .  1.65  2.15 

Brazil  block  domestic .  2.00@2.10  2.50@2.G0 

Southern  Indiana  Field — 

No.  5  mine  run .  1.00(3)1.05  . 

Domestic  .  1.40(3)1.50  . 


Toledo  Market. 


Toledo,  Ohio,  July  29. —  (Special  Correspond¬ 
ence). — The  situation  here  is  showing  marked 
improvement  and  coal  men  are  in  a  better 
frame  of  mind  than  they  have  been  for  months 
past.  The  betterment  is  due  to  an  improved 
demand  and  the  many  inquiries  which  have 
been  coming  into  the  Toledo  market  for  the 
past  week  or  two,  from  both  steam  and  do¬ 
mestic  users.  Local  coal  men  have  waited  so 
long  for  a  betterment  that  they  had  almost 
given  up  hope  so  that  the  present  good  out¬ 
look  is  all  the  more  appreciated.  Coal  gen¬ 
erally  is  showing  a  little  stiffening  as  to  prices 
and  an  improved  demand  if  kept  up  will  make 
the  usual  August  increase  something  more  than 
a  formality.  There  is  a  noticeable  stiffening 
up  as  regards  fine  coal,  due  it  is  thought,  to  the 
rather  light  lake  shipments. 

Pocahontas  nut  and  egg  coal  is  in  strong  de¬ 
mand  and  the  supply  is  commencing  to  ease 
up  a  little.  Pocahontas  has  been  very  scarce 
in  the  prepared  sizes  throughout  the  season, 
and  it  has  been  next  to  impossible  to  fill 
orders.  It  is  believed  that  this  condition  will 
be  alleviated  within  a  few  weeks  at  the  latest. 
In  the  meantime  the  full  list  price  is  being 
maintained  on  this  grade  of  coal.  Other 
smokeless  coal  is  easy  to  secure  and  shows  a 
trifle  more  weakness.  Prices  remain  un¬ 
changed. 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Smokeless —  Toledo  Mines 

Lump  and  egg . $3.45  $2.00 

Mine  run  .  2.70  1.25 

The  extremely  wet  weather  of  the  past  few 

weeks  has  greatly  delayed  the  threshing  sea¬ 
son  in  this  section,  and  this  has  kept  the  de¬ 
mand  for  threshing  coal  at  a  minimum.  An 
improvement  is  expected  the  first  of  next 

month.  This  will  probably  give  Hocking  some 
impetus  as  it  is  heavily  used  throughout  this 
section  for  threshing  purposes.  Hocking  is 
now  in  very  light  demand,  but  prices  are  be¬ 
ing  well  maintained. 


F,  O.  B. 

F.  0.  B 

Hocking — 

Toledo 

Mines 

3-inch  lump  . 

1.50 

154 -inch  lump  ... 

1.40 

54-inch  lump  .... 

1.30 

Egg  . 

1.25 

Nut  . 

1.15 

Mine  run  . 

1.10 

Massillon  is 

moving  very  slightly 

at  weak 

prices. 

F.  O.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

Massillon— 

Toledo 

Mines 

Lump  . 

. $3.25 

$2.50 

Washed  nut  . 

2.50 

Pomeroy  continues  slow  and  prices  rather 
weak.  With  an  improved  general  demand  for 
domestic  coal  Pomeroy  will  probably  show  a 
general  improvement. 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Pomeroy —  Toledo  Mines 

Domestic . $2.60  $1.60 

Egg  and  nut .  2.35  1.35 

West  Virginia  coal,  like  all  other  fuel  prod¬ 
ucts,  is  moving  slowly.  Still  there  is  a  bet¬ 
ter  tone  to  inquiries  than  for  30  days  or 
more.  There  continues  to  be  considerable 


West  Virginia  coal 

going  up  the  lakes. 

Prices 

remain  unchanged. 

Kanawha  Gas — 

^-inch  lump  . 

1.05 

Mine  run . 

.95 

Fairmont — 

154-inch  lump  . 

1.05 

54-inch  lump  . 

.  2.20 

.95 

Mine  run  . 

.  2.10 

.85 

Kanawha  Splint — 

F.  O.  B. 
Toledo 

F.  O.  B. 
Mines 

4-inch  lump  . 

. $2.75 

$1.50 

f*inch  lump  . 

1.40 

^-inch  lump  . 

1.15 

Mine  run  . 

.  2.25 

1.00 

Pittsburgh  No.  8  is  still  slow  as  to  demand 
and  short  as  to  prices.  With  the  railroads 
beginning  to  buy  an  improvement  is  likely  to 
be  noticed  in  this  grade  of  coal,  as  it  has  al¬ 
ways  been  a  strong  railroad  coal. 

Pittsburgh  No.  8 — 

154-inch  lump  .  2.40  1.40 

54-inch  lump  .  2.20  1.20 

Mine  run  .  2.10  1.10 

Youghiogheny  remains  unchanged  as  to  price 
and  demand.  There  is  but  little  movement. 


Y  oughiogheny — 

Mine  run  . 

54-inch  steam  lump  . 

Blossburg  Smithing — 

Prepared  size  . 

Lilly  smithing,  prepared  size 


1.20 

2.56 

1.30 

3.20 

1.75 

3.20 

1.75 

Kentucky  coal  is  showing  more  firmness  as 
to  price,  and  there  are  better  inquiries.  Thresh¬ 
ing  coal  will  make  an  improvement  as  soon 
as  the  demand  opens  up. 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Kentucky —  Toledo  Mines 

4-inch  lump  . $2.90  $1.05 

Egg  .  2.50  1.25 

Nut,  pea  and  slack . open  open 


Cambridge  being  a  strictly  steam  product 
is  enjoying  the  same  quietude  as  other  steam 
coal.  It  is  believed  that  a  better  demand  will 
follow  the  first  of  the  month. 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Cambridge —  Toledo  Mines 


Mine  run  . $2.10  $1.10 

54-inch  lump  .  2.20  1.20 

154-inch  lump  .  2.40  1.40 


Cannel  is  showing  considerable  strength  at 
this  time,  especially  as  to  demand.  Prices 
are  running  close  to  the  list. 


Cannel —  . 

Kentucky  Cannel  lump  . $4.60  $2.75 

Pennsylvania  Cannel,  egg .  3.00  2.15 

Pennsylvania  Cannel,  lump .  4.20  2.75 

Ohio  Cannel  .  3.85  3.00 


.'\u.gust  10th,  is  the  date  set  for  the  picnic 
to  be  given  at  Sugar  Island  by  the  Toledo 
coal  men,  who  with  their  families  will  make 
the  trip  on  the  steamer  “Creyhound.”  Sjiecial 
attention  is  being  given  to  .tbe  program  and 
a  delightful  time  is  anticipated.  The  Detroit 
dealers  with  their  families  will  join  the  To¬ 
ledoans  in  the  good  time,  the  same  as  they 
did  last  season. 


Birmingham  Trade. 


Birmingh.\m,  Ala.,  July  29. — (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — With  the  exception  of  two  large 
iron  producing  companies,  the  coal  trade  still 
remains  dull.  The  big  mines  of  the  Tennessee 
Company  at  Edgewater,  Bayview,  Docena  and 
elsewhere  are  producing  large  quantities  of 
coal,  the  same  is  true  of  the  Sloss-Sheffield 
Company  with  mines  at  Dora,  Drifton,  Flat 
Top,  Bessie  and  elsewhere  in  the  western  part 
of  the  district  which  are  in  full  operation. 
This  company  has  received  some  of  the  larger 
contracts  for  steam  coal  recently  left.  Last 
week  a  deal  for  150,000  tons  was  made  with 
the  Georgia  Southern  &  Florida  Railroad. 
Most  of  the  other  companies  producing  steam, 
coal  are  complaining  of  slack  business,  but 
notwithstanding  the  general  dullness  felt  at 
this  time  of  the  year  and  the  general  expres¬ 
sion  indulged  in,  there  is  without  doubt  somje 
general  improvement  to  be  noted,  as  more  men 
are  now  at  work  in  mines  than  for  some  time 
past.  Efforts  are  being  miade  in  every  direc¬ 
tion  to  extend  Alabamla’s  coal  trade.  Such 
efforts  are  expected  to  bring  results  and  Mr. 
James  Bonnyman,  a  well  known  coal  operator, 
says:  “The  coal  business  is  still  quiet  but  I 
expect  to  see  it  very  brisk  in  the  next  three 
months.” 

Bunker  trade  toward  the  gulf  is  limited  in 
tonnage,  while  domestic  coal  trade  is  almost 
at  a  standstill.  Blacksmith  coal  trade  is  hold¬ 
ing  its  own  with  a  fair  trade. 

Coke  operations  are  good,  and  there  is  a 
larger  production  right  now.  The  statistics  for 
the  year  promise  to  show  an  increase  in  1915 
as  compared  to  the  production  in  1914,  and 
not  only  will  coke  figure  in  the  output  column 
but  the  several  by-products.  The  big  by¬ 
product  coke  oven  plants  at  Ensley,  F’airfield 
and  Woodward  have  had  a  most  wholesome 
effect  on  the  coke  situation  and  the  annual 
output  is  now  looked  forward  to  with  interest. 

There  is  not  the  least  hesitation  at  either 
of  these  plants,  to  the  contrary  the  largest 
possible  output  is  being  sought  right  along. 

The  following  is  price  of  coal  though  it  varies 
some : 

F.  ().  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Jefferson  County —  Mine  B’ham 

Pratt  Fancy  Steam  Lump . $1.70  $2.10 

Furnished  by  T.  C.  I. 

Pratt  Mine  Bun,  90c  to  $1.15.  Frt.  rate,  30c. 

Jefferson  Seam,  steam  coal,  $1.15  to  $1.25.  Frt. 
rate,  30c. 

Black  Creek,  steam,  $1.25  to  $1.55. 

Walker  County — 

Horse  Creek,  steam  mine  run,  GOc  to  $1.00.  Frt. 
rate,  40c. 

Carbon  Hill,  lump  domestic,  $1.00  to  $2.00. 

Most  all  coals  based  on  this  classification. 

No  stable  prices,  but  these  serve  as  basis 
from  which  prices  vary  either  up  or  down. 

Blacksmith  coal  washed  and  screened;  per 
ton  $2.00  to  $2.25  at  niiines  with  different  rates 
to  various  points. 


Birmingham  Trade  Notes. 

Semi-annual  examinations  for  certificates  as 
first  and  second  class  mine  foremen  and  for 
fire  bosses  began  Monday  witli  thirty-seven 
men  composing  the  classes.  C.  H.  Nesbitt, 
chief  state  mine  inspector,  is  in  charge. 

The  annual  meeting  of  the  American  Mine 
Safety  Association  will  bring  to  Birmingham 
September  2,  3  and  4,  some  of  the  most  promi¬ 
nent  men  interested  in  the  object  of  safety  in 
mining  work.  The  executive  sessions  of  the 
American  Mine  Safety  Association  will  be 
held  Saturday,  September  4,  while  the  two 
days  preceding  will  be  given  over  to  the  demi- 
onstrations,  either  at  mines  or  on  a  field  in 
a  convenient  locality.  The  United  States  Bu¬ 
reau  of  Mines  will  take  a  most  prominent  part 
not  only  in  the  meeting  of  the  association,  Imt 
in  the  demonstrations.  While  the  program  for 
the  great  gatliering  has  not  been  gone  over 
as  yet,  it  is  being  outlined.  The  winning  team 
will  be  given  a  trip  to  San  Francisco  in  Sep¬ 
tember,  where  the  national  mine  safety  meet 
will  be  held.  The  meeting  of  the  .American 
Mine  Safety  Association  will  be  held  in  the 
big  dining  room  of  the  Hillman  Hotel.  It  is 
announced  that  coal  mining  companies  in  Illi¬ 
nois  and  another  in  West  Virginia  will  send 
teamis  to  the  Birmingham  meet.  The  repre¬ 
sentative  of  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Mines, 
E.  B.  Sutton,  engineer  in  charge,  is  conferring 
will  coal  operators  of  the  Birmingham  district. 
A  tentative  program  for  the  great  gathering- 
will  be  announced  in  a  few  weeks. 


98 


New  York  Trade. 


Anthracite  Producers  Store  Surplus  Pro¬ 
duction — Bituminous  Tone 
Better. 

Office  of  The  Black  Diamond, 

New  \'oi'iK,  July  29. 

The  summer  dullness  in  the  anthracite 
trade  which  set  in  early  in  June,  continues 
practically  without  change.  It  is  rather  dif¬ 
ficult  to  find  any  improvement  in  demand 
from  any  part  of  the  anthracite  consuming 
territory.  Some  coal  continues  to  go  for¬ 
ward  on  what  are  termed  regular  contracts,  and 
those  companies  that  have  distributing  stations 
in  the  various  anthracite  consuming  centers, 
where  they  can  store  considerable  coal,  are 
loading  these  to  maximum  capacity  to  take 
care  of  surplus  production.  Notwithstanding 
this,  and  the  short  time  mining,  about  three 
days  per  week  being  the  average  schedule  now, 
considerable  coal  is  being  put  in  the  storage 
pile  near  points  of  production. 

Usually  towards  the  latter  part  of  July,  there 
is  some  improvement  in  buying  from  those 
dealers  who  want  to  take  advantage  of  the 
twenty  cents  per  ton  discount  that  prevails  this 
month.  This  year,  there  has  been  practically 
no  increase  in  demand  noticed  from  dealers 
who  are  concerned  about  the  discounts.  This 
situation  has  been  held  largely  due  to  the  fact 
that  so  much  individual  coal  has  been  offered 
this  season,  at  practically  the  April  discount, 
that  such  a  small  reduction  as  twenty  cents  per 
ton  does  not  longer  interest  the  buyer.  More¬ 
over,  this  year  finds  more  difference  than  ever 
before  on  the  part  of  the  consumer  to  take 
coal  on  during  the  summer  months  to  obtain 
discounts.  Retail  dealers  are  finding  con¬ 
sumers  very  indifferent  about  taking  on  sup¬ 
plies,  so  that  we  now  have  only  one  more 
summer  month  to  go  through  summer,  and  if 
reports  that  come  from  the  retail  trade  are  to 
be  taken  seriously,  less  coal  has  been  stored 
by  consumers  this  season  than  heretofore. 
This  should  mean  a  good  demand  for  coal 
during  the  fall  and  winter  months,  and  should 
insure  that  the  retailers  will  be  very  busy  with 
deliveries,  commencing  som'e  time  in  Septem¬ 
ber. 

In  the  way  of  production,  all  of  the  pro¬ 
ducers  are  working  now  on  a  three-day  per 
week  schedule.  Even  on  this  short  time 
schedule,  production  is  consideralily  ahead  of 
demand,  and  it  is  taxing  the  capacities  of  some 
of  the  producers  to  store  their  surplus.  Those 
producers  who  have  no  storage  plants,  and 
no  yards  at  large  consumptive  points  to  take 
care  of  surplus  coals,  are  forced  to  ship  their 
surplus  into  the  open  markets,  and  conse¬ 
quently  a  great  deal  of  coal  is  held  at  New 
York  tidewater  ports  for  spot  sale.  This  means 
that  prices  on  these  unsold  sizes  are  subject 
to  discounts  of  twenty  to  forty  cents  per  ton. 

Buckwheat  coals  at  tidewater  do  not  seem 
to  be  so  plentiful,  but  prices  are  not  im¬ 
proved,  some  very  low  prices  have  been  named 
recently  upon  contracts  for  these  coals. 

The  anthracite  operators  are  now  becoming 
concerned  over  the  very  threatening  attitude 
of  labor,  and  no  doubt  they  are  going  to  face 
on  April  1,  the  most  serious  fight  they 
have  had  since  1902,  with  the  Mine  Workers 
organization. 

The  Bituminous  Trade. 

The  bituminous  trade  is  better  in  spots. 
Some  interests  report  more  spot  inquiry  dur¬ 
ing  the  past  week,  and  some  sales,  though  not 
of  large  volume.  The  improvement  in  spot 
demand  comes  from  those  manufacturing  in¬ 
terests  that  are  not  protected  by  contracts, 
and  who  buy  largely  on  the  “hand-to-mouth” 
basis,  or  only  when  they  need  it. 

This  year,  there  are  many  such  consumers. 
Most  of  them  have  hesitated  about  placing 
regular  contracts  because  of  the  abundance — 
at  all  times,  and  most  of  the  time,  at  prices 
in  the  buyer’s  favor — of  coal  that  salesmen 
have  been  offering  them.  Just  how  much 
longer  the  situation  is  going  to  continue  to 
favor  consumers  of  this  class,  one  does  not 
know,  but  evidences  seem  to  be  piling  up  that 
the  situation  may  soon  change,  and  that  the 
unprotected  consumers  are  going  to  find  prices 
stiffening. 

An  instance  came  to  hand  on  Monday  where 
a  large  Pennsylvania  manufacturer  had  to  close 
his  plant,  due  to  a  shortage  of  coal.  The  plant 
was  situated  so  close  to  the  mines,  that  they 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 

,.a.  .  - 


[July  31 


figured  that  coal  would  never  run  short.  There¬ 
fore,  they  ordered  very  sparingly,  and  a  delay 
on  the  railroad  in  making  deliveries,  caught 
them  short. 

There  are  indications  that  production  in  the 
Pennsylvania  fields  is  improving.  This  im¬ 
provement  is  confined  principally  to  the  large 
producers  who  are  needing  coal  for  contract 
requirements.  Some  of  the  smaller  producers, 
with  the  small  contract  needs  are  said  to  have 
many  loaded  cars  on  railroad  sidings  at  the 
mines,  for  which  they  are  seeking  purchasers. 
This  means  that  spot  prices  are  still  held  low 
due  to  a  surplus  of  coal. 

Export  loadings  last  week  were  lighter  than 
they  have  been  in  many  weeks.  However,  this 
lull  is  believed  to  be  only  temporary.  Bunker 
requirements  continue  large. 

At  New  York  harbor  ports,  there  are  ample 
supplies  of  all  J|Kides  of  Pennsylvania  and 
West  Virginia  coals  usually  sold  in  this  mar¬ 
ket.  Prices  range  from  .$2.50  to  $2.60  for  good 
grades  of  Pennsylvania,  choice  grades  com¬ 
manding  ten  to  fifteen  cents  more.  West  Vir¬ 
ginia  prices  range  down  to  $2.85. 

The  Vessel  Situation. 


Coastwise  vessel  rates  are  just  about  easy  at 
former  quotations.  The  bulk  of  the  tonnage 
is  moving  on  time  charters,  and  so  far  there 
has  been  very  little  change  in  the  demand  for 
spot  charters.  It  is  not  believed  that  there  is 
much  available  open  tonnage,  and  that  a  rad¬ 
ical  improvement  in  the  coal  trade  will  find  a 
serious  shortage.  A  great  numlier  of  schooners 
are  still  engaged  in  the  export  trades. 

Off  shore  rates  are  about  unchanged. 

We  quote  current  rates  on  freight  as  fol¬ 
lows; 

P'rom  Hampton  Roads  to  Boston,  seventy- 
five  to  eighty-five  cents;  to  the  Sound,  seventy 
to  eighty  cents. 

P'rom  New  York  rates  to  New  Haven  are 
thirty  cents.  New  London,  forty  cents,  and 
Providence  and  New  Bedford,  fifty  cents;  to 
Boston,  fifty-five  to  seventy  cents;  Portsmouth 
and  Portland,  fifty-five  to  seventy  cents;  to 
Bangor,  seventy  cents.  Harbor  rates  are  from 
eighteen  to  twenty  cents. 

Prices  on  gross  tons  of  bituminous  coals  are: 


Somerset  County — 

F.  O.  B. 
Harbor. 

F.  O.  B. 
Mines. 

Best  grades  . 

Medium  grades  . 

Ordinary  . 

. $2.85 

.  2.60 

.  2.55 

$1.25 

1.10 

1.00 

Cambria  County — 

Best  Miller  vein . 

Cheaper  grades  . 

.  3.00 

1.40 

1.05 

Clearfield  County — 

Best  grade  . 

Ordinary  grades  . 

.  3.00 

.  2.50 

1.35 

.95 

Indiana  County — 

Best  grade  . 

Medium  grade  . 

.  2.80 

.  2.50 

1.26 

.90 

Maryland — 

Georges  Creek  big  vein . 

.  3.15 

1.65 

West  Virginia  Splint — 

Ordinary  grades  . 

Best  gas,  44  inch  lump . 

Best  grade,  run  of  mine . 

(ias  slack . 

.  2.40 

.  2. 65 

.75 

1.10 

.90 

.50@  .70 

New  York  Trade  Briefs. 

A.  Sidney  Davison,  of  the  A.  Sidney  Davison 
Coal  Company,  No.  1  Broadway,  left  on  Tues¬ 
day  for  a  two  day  trip  to  Quebec. 

A.  P.  Sutter,  of  the  Sutter  Coal  Company, 
Punxsutawney,  Pa.,  was  a  recent  visitor  to  the 
New  York  trade. 

E.  H.  .Sanborn,  of  the  Philadelphia  office  of 
the  Berwind-White  Coal  Mining  Company, 
visited  the  New  York  offices  of  his  company 
last  Tuesday. 

Gardner  Pattison,  of  Pattison  &  Bowns,  No. 
1  Broadway,  is  spending  his  vacation  this  year 
in  Maine,  and  is  expected  back  around 
August  2nd. 

G.  H.  Kent,  of  Williams  &  Peters,  No.  1 
Broadway,  leaves  around  the  first  of  the  month 
for  his  vacation,  which  will  be  spent  at  his 
summer  home  at  Watch  Hill,  R.  1. 

H.  W.  Henry,  vice-president  of  Peale,  Pea¬ 
cock  &  Kerr,  Inc.,  Grand  Central  Terminal, 
has  been  spending  a  couple  of  weeks  in  a  visit 
to  relatives  at  Rochester,  \’t. 

John  Stoddard,  Savannah  representative  of 
the  Stonega  Coal  &  Coke  Company,  with 
headquarters  at  Big  Stone  Gap,  V'a.,  was  in 
town  several  days  this  week. 

b'rederic  Landstreet,  general  eastern  sales 
agent  of  the  Punxsutawney  Coal  Mining  Com¬ 


pany,  with  headquarters  in  Philadelphia,  was 
a  visitor  to  New  York  on  Tuesday  of  this 
week. 

The  Luchenbach  Steamship  Company  of 
New  York  have  placed  a  second  order  with 
the  Fore  River  Shipbuilding  Corporation  of 
Quincy,  Mass.,  for  a  cargo  steamer  of  large 
capacity. 

John  H.  Gans,  president  of  the  Gans  Steam¬ 
ship  Company,  with  offices  at  No.  12  Broad¬ 
way,  died  on  last  Friday  night  at  his  home 
on  Staten  Island,  after  a  month’s  illness.  Mr. 
Gans  was  well  known  to  the  coal  trade,  espe¬ 
cially  those  interested  in  exports  and  bunkers. 

On  Monday,  August  2nd,  the  Department  of 
Education  will  receive  bids  for  furnishing  and 
delivering  to  its  department  23,700  gross  tons 
of  anthracite  and  semi-bituminous  coal,  more 
or  less,  for  use  in  the  schools  in  New  York 
City,  and  also  for  several  ofiices  and  depart¬ 
ments.  The  period  of  delivery  will  be  from 
August  16,  1915,  to  March  31,  1916. 

John  Lochrie,  the  well-known  Windber,  Pa., 
operator,  spent  last  week  visiting  the  eastern 
cities,  returning  to  his  home  on  Monday.  Mr. 
Lochrie  heads  about  four  coal  companies  in 
the  Windber  territory,  and  is  now  very  busy 
in  a  new  development  at  Central  City,  which 
will  within  a  few  months  be  an  important 
shipper. 

R.  H.  Kmode,  representing  the  National 
Fuel  Company,  Uniontown,  Pa.,  was  in  New 
York  during  the  past  week  calling  on  trade, 
principally  in  the  interest  of  their  coke  de¬ 
partment.  Mr.  Knode  reports  that  there  has 
been  a  very  decided  improvement  in  the  coke 
business  during  the  past  few  weeks,  and  that 
prices  are  looking  upwards. 

George  F.  Glitter,  of  Hartwell,  Lester  & 
Glitter,  Inc.,  No.  1  Broadway,  returned  late 
last  week  from  a  three  weeks’  trip  to  the 
Provinces,  visiting  Nova  Scotia,  New  Bruns¬ 
wick  and  Prince  Edward  Island.  Mr.  Glitter 
found  business  conditions  in  much  better  shape 
in  the  Provinces  than  he  had  been  led  to  be¬ 
lieve  existed.  Consequently  he  had  a  very 
satisfactory  trip. 

Two  anthracite  coal  companies  recently 
granted  charters  are  the  Tamaqua  Coal  Com¬ 
pany,  and  the  East  Lehigh  Colliery  Company, 
each  capitalized  at  $12,000.  The  stockholders 
are:  Colliery  Company,  E.  M.  B.  Shepp  600 
shares;  Rosalind  Shepp  590  shares  and  Rosabel 
Shindel  10  shares.  Coal  Company,  J.  A. 
Hirsch,  40  shares;  Rosabel  Shindel  40  shares, 
E.  M.  B.  Shepp  20  shares  and  Rosalind  Shepp 
20  shares. 

Newspaper  advices  from  Windber  in  the 
Somerset-Cambria  coal  fields  of  Pennsylvania, 
indicate  great  activity  in  coal  developments. 
Operators  are  preparing  to  open  the  upper 
Lochrie  mine  near  Central  City.  Funds  are 
being  subscribed  and  a  right-of-way  obtained 
for  a  branch  railroad  to  the  workings.  Ship¬ 
ments  from  the  Bougher  mine  in  the  vicinity 
will  be  started  August  1.  The  Arrow  Coal 
Mining  Company  has  begun  work  on  the  open¬ 
ing  of  a  mine  on  its  1,200  acres  of  coal  land 
near  Reitz.  A  liranch  will  be  built  from  the 
railroad  line  to  Cairnbrook  to  insure  trans¬ 
portation  of  the  output. 

In  Shi/’ ping  Illustrated,  the  well  known  New 
York  shipping  paper,  of  the  issue  of  July  24th, 
appears  an  interesting  article  on  Lake  built 
deep  sea  boats,  containing  a  picture  and  de¬ 
scription  of  the  new  steamer  “International” 
of  2,500  tons  dead  weight  capacity,  built  on 
the  Great  Lakes  for  the  American  coast  coal 
trade.  The  “International”  is  intended  for  the 
coal  trade  for  shallow  draught  ports.  It  was 
built  according  to  Lloyd’s  rules  with  a  view 
of  meeting  their  classification  in  ocean  service, 
and  had  dead  weight  carrying  capacity  of 
2,500  tons  on  fourteen  feet  draught,  and  its 
speed  exceeds  ten  knots  per  hour.  The  gen¬ 
eral  dimensions  of  the  steamer  are  256  feet  3 
inches  in  length  over  all,  and  244  feet  on  keel, 
by  forty-three  foot  beam,  and  a  depth  of  nine¬ 
teen  feet  two  inches.  The  propelling  ma¬ 
chinery  consists  of  a  triple-expansion  engine, 
having  cylinders  sixteen  inch,  twenty-six  and 
one-half  inch  by  forty-five  inch  by  thirty-three 
inch  stroke.  Steam  is  supplied  by  two  Scotch 
boilers  using  natural  draught  and  tested  for 
a  working  pressure  of  180  pounds  per  square 
inch,  the  dimensions  being  eleven  feet  six 
inches  by  eleven  feet  six  inches.  The  keel  of 
this  steamer  was  laid  on  April  17th,  the  boilers 
installed  on  May  1st,  the  launching  took  place 
on  June  17th,  and  on  July  3rd,  exactly  four 
months  from  the  date  of  the  contract,  the  boat 
was  ready  for  acceptance. 


No.  5] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


99 


Philadelphia  Trade. 


Signing  of  Contracts,  Long  Held  Up,  Is 
the  One  Feature  of  a  Listless 
Coal  Market. 


Office  of  The  Black  Diamond, 
1400  Land  Title  Building, 
Philadelphia,  July  2i). 

Not  a  thing  has  disturbed  the  tranquility  of 
this  market  during  the  last  seven  days.  A  flutter 
of  excitement  would  be  such  a  novelty  that  it 
would  be  worthy  of  notation  in  bold  black  type. 
Midsummer  dullness,  to  the  full  meaning  of  that 
set  phrase,  seems  to  have  gripped  both  the  hard 
and  soft  coal  men  and  topics  of  conversation  in 
trade  channels  seem  given  over  more  to  specula¬ 
tion  as  to  what  the  future  holds  rather  than 
actual  happenings  of  the  present. 

Such  speculation,  however,  has  resulted  in  one 
thing.  It  has  helped  to  hurry  the  signing  of  con¬ 
tracts  that  have  been  in  the  balance  for  some 
time.  Some  few  of  the  manufacturers  are  now 
beginning  to  heed  what  the  coal  man  has  to  say 
in  regard  to  stiffening  of  prices  and  have  been 
assuring  themselves  of  coal  for  a  time  when 
deliveries  will  be  difficult.  In  this  connection  it 
might  be  said  that  a  shortage  argument  can  often 
be  overdone  and  the  continuous  hammering  and 
warning  of  the  consumer  has  been  retro-active 
where  too  active  preaching  has  been  indulged  in. 

Export  business  from  the  piers  continues  at  a 
high  volume.  It  was  said  that  the  figures  for  the 
month  of  July  will  show  heavier  shipments  of 
bituminous  than  any  corresponding  month  of  pre¬ 
vious  years.  Most  of  these  shipments  are  going 
to  South  .America,  Spain  and  Italy. 

So  far  as  the  price  named  on  soft  coals,  there 
is  only  one  change  noted  in  the  week’s  business. 
That  is  on  Fairmont  slack  with  the  new  figures 
of  fifty  to  fifty-five  cents  posted.  The  advance 
was  due  to  the  reduction  in  the  make  of  three- 
Qi-iarter  sizes  for  lake  shipments.  Cement  mills 
are  taking  this  size  to  within  sixty  per  cent  of 
contract  requirements.  ]\Iuch  of  the  newspaper 
talk  that  has  appeared  recently  regarding  activity 
in  the  steel  and  iron  mills  seems  to  apply  to  a 
different  section  than  that  of  Eastern  Pennsyl¬ 
vania.  Trips  made  by  coal  men  through  this 
territory  during  the  past  week  discount  strongly 
the  stories  of  jobs  going  begging. 

Anthracite  Situation. 

The  bottom,  it  would  seem,  has  dropped  out  of 
the  market  for  hard  coal.  Independents  and  com¬ 
panies  alike  report  that  their  deliveries  for  local 
consumption  for  the  past  week  has  been  miserably 
small.  One  middle  man,  however,  put  it  this  way, 
"We  know  that  a  full  quota  of  coal  has  not 
gone  into  the  cellars  in  this  territory  so  when  the 
demand  comes  it  will  be  with  a  rush.  The  retailer 
has  been  a  trifle  more  cautious  this  year  than  in 
the  past  and  has  required  cash  for  his  goods, 
otherwise  the  householder  will  have  to  pay  the 
advanced  price  of  August  or  September  for  his 
coal.  Which  ever  way  the  cat  jumps,  I  can¬ 
not  hut  see  where  the  retail  man  has  benefited.” 

While  egg  and  stove  are  the  "leaders”  to  the 
market — if  the  present  market  can  he  said  to 
have  any  outstanding  features,  yet  there  has 
been  a  fair  demand  for  buckwheat  and  the  heav¬ 
iest  deliveries  are  being  made  of  the  No.  2  size. 
All  of  the  other  sizes  are  neglected  and  pea  in 
particular. 

Practically  all  of  the  mines  in  the  anthracite 
district  are  maintaining  strict  suspension  and 
independents  who  have  worked  throughout  the 
entire  summer  have  cut  down  to  two  days  a 
week  this  year. 


Philadelphia  Trade  Briefs. 

C.  Bolton  of  llale-Ladysmith  Coal  Company  of 
Hucksdale,  Pa.,  was  a  visitor  to  the  trade. 

J.  R.  Kleckner  of  South  Bethlehem  motored 
down  on  Tuesday  and  paid  a  visit  to  various  of 
the  coal  men. 

George  M.  B.  Cann  of  George  W.  Bush  & 
Sons  of  Wilmington,  paid  a  visit  to  his  friends  in 
the  coal  trade  this  week. 

Charles  E.  Davenport  of  the  Seaboard  Coal 
Company  of  New  York  City  was  in  town  the 
latter  part  of  last  week. 

R.  H.  Knohe  of  the  National  Fuel  Company  of 
Pittsburgh  dropped  in  on  trade  acquaintances  dur¬ 
ing  the  fore  part  of  the  week.  ^ 

E.  P.  Lee  of  the  Knickerbocker  Fuel  Company 
of  New  York  City  was  a  caller  at  the  local  offices 
of  that  company  on  Tuesday. 

Tom  S.  Bailie,  sales  manager  of  the  Pittsburgh 


&  Westmoreland  Coal  Company  put  in  the  fore 
part  of  the  week  on  business  here. 

J.  Howard  Magee,  traveling  freight  representa¬ 
tive  for  the  Western  Maryland  Railroad,  made  his 
rounds  of  the  coal  men  of  this  city  during  the 
fore  part  of  the  week. 

A.  P.  Sutter  of  the  Sutter  Coal  Company  of 
Punxsutawney,  Pa.,  made  the  rounds  of  the  trade 
early  this  week  in  an  endeavor  to  "get  shut”  of 
quite  a  jag  of  coal  that  he  had  to  market. 

D.  H.  Jenks  of  the  Producers  Coal  Company, 
and  Mr.  Hindi  of  the  Hinsch-Briscoe  Coal  Com¬ 
pany,  both  of  Cincinnati,  passed  through  the 
Quaker  city  last  week  enroute  to  the  cool  Mecca 
of  the  east — .Atlantic  City. 

The  brothers  Stauffer  of  the  B.  Nicoll  &  Com¬ 
pany  forces  here  were  out  of  town  this  week. 
Harry  K.  Stauffer  was  in  Pittsburgh  and  "J.  C.” 
journeyed  to  Scranton  and  other  points  in  the 
northwestern  part  of  the  state. 

F.  E.  Ulrich,  sales  manager  for  the  Lehigh 
Coal  &  Navigation  Company,  and  R.  B.  Cornog 
of  the  Cortright  Coal  Company,  with  their  wives, 
have  been  spending  a  two  weeks’  vacation  cruising 
the  Delaware  River  on  Mr.  Ulrich’s  comfortable 
boat. 

Harry  Moore,  chief  clerk  at  the  Port  Rich¬ 
mond  Coal  Piers  returned  to  his  desk  this  week 
after  his  vacation.  He  has  refused  to  tell  where 
it  was  spent,  but  inasmuch  as  Mr.  Moore  is  a 
strong  rooter  for  the  Phillies  his  friends  draw 
their  own  conclusions. 

Marshall  D.  Brooke  of  the  Buckhannon  River 
Coal  Company,  whose  headquarters  are  in  Lhiion- 
town  was  noted  among  the  visitors  of  the  week. 

Jack  Jones  of  the  staff  of  the  Alorrisdale  Coal 
Company  had  an  opportunity  to  try  out  a  new 
fangled  car  in  a  trip  up  state  this  week. 

Looking  younger  if  anything  than  when  he  was 
here  on  former  visits.  “Col.”  John  H.  Sessions, 
the  representative  of  the  Philadelphia  &  Reading 
Coal  &  Iron  Company  at  Minneapolis,  dropped  in 
on  old  friends  this  week.  The  "Colonel”  is  a  great 
Ijooster  for  the  northwest  and  his  word  pictures 
are  enough  to  make  one  long  for  the  land  of 
Minnetonka.  While  this  was  purely  a  pleasure 
trip  he  found  time  to  talk  business  also,  here  and 
there. 

F.  B.  Cortright  was  taken  ill  suddenly  last  Fri¬ 
day  afternoon  and  was  forced  to  take  to  his  bed. 
Later  alarming  symptoms  developed  and  two  spe¬ 
cialists  were  called  in.  They  were  undecided 
whether  gall-stones  was  his  malady  or  whether 
it  was  appendicitis.  An  x-ray  examination  will 
be  made  to  determine  if  there  should  be  an 
operation.  Mr.  Cortright  is  one  of  the  most 
popular  young  men  in  the  trade  and  his  trouble 
has  called  forth  universal  sympathy. 

In  the  death  of  George  Deardorff  McCreary, 
former  congressman  and  philanthropist,  there 
passed  a  man  who  made  his  mark  in  many  lines 
and  who  was  strongly  identified  with  the  coal 
trade  at  one  time.  He  was  born  in  York  Springs 
in  1846  and  spent  his  early  life  in  the  anthracite 
belt.  When  he  left  the  university  in  1867  it  was 
to  enter  his  father’s  firm,  Whitney  McCreary  & 
Kemmerer.  His  father  had  been  one  of  the  pion¬ 
eers  in  the  coal  business  and  at  his  death  his  son 
became  a  director  in  the  Upper  Lehigh  Coal  Com¬ 
pany  and  the  Nescopee  Coal  Company  and  other 
concerns  in  the  anthracite  fields.  Following  a 
term  as  city  treasurer  in  the  early  nineties,  Mr. 
McCreary'  followed  his  bent  in  the  banking  busi¬ 
ness  and  was  known  from  that  time,  more  as  a 
hanker  than  a  coal  man. 


Buffalo  Trade. 


Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  July  29. — The  lake  shipments 
of  anthracite  have  dropped  off  to  a  lar.ge  extent, 
through  the  slowing  up  of  one  or  two  leading 
companies  which  have  a  large  amount  of  coal 
already  shipped.  The  week’s  figures  were  79,630 
tons,  which  were  distributed  as  follows :  C'hi- 
cago,  28,000  tons :  Duluth-Superior,  23,000 ;  Port 
Arthur,  7,030 ;  Sheboygan,  6,700 ;  Fort  William, 
4,800;  Racine,  3,700;  Alenominee,  3,300;  Mani¬ 
towoc,  3,000.  The  docks  at  the  other  end  of  the 
lakes  are  reported  by  shippers  to  he  filled  up, 
so  it  is  probable  that  not  much  will  be  done  for 
a  time.  Plenty  of  tonnage  is  available,  as  the 
numiber  of  vessels  Iirin.ging  in  ore  is  rather 
large.  There  is  also  plenty  of  coal  available  for 
shipment.  Some  shippers  predict  a  heavy  move¬ 
ment  l)y  lake  during  the  fall,  in  preparation  for 
the  troubles  likely  to  occur  over  mining  sched¬ 
ules  next  spring.  Others  say  that  lake  business 
may  not  be  much  above  the  ordinary  season  and 
that  the  strike  jiossibilities  of  next  spring  will 


not  affect  shipments  to  any  great  extent.  A 
good  deal  of  coal  will  have  to  be  moved  from 
upper-lake  docks  before  there  is  a  brisk  re¬ 
sumption  of  shipping. 

Demand  from  dealers  is  light.  Most  of  them 
have  ample  supplies  of  coal  on  hand  and  no  great 
activity  is  looked  for  until  colder  weather  comes 
along.  Business  will  probably  be  slow  until 
September,  in  the  opinion  of  some  of  the  rep¬ 
resentatives. 

The  bituminous  demand  is  showing  up  some¬ 
what  better  than  a  few  weeks  ago.  IMore  con¬ 
cerns  are  ordering  and  there  is  quite  a  little 
increase  in  optimism  among  both  buyers  and 
sellers.  Trade  is  not  on  a  normal  basis,  but 
the  revival  in  the  steel  trade  makes  most  every¬ 
body  feel  that  in  a  short  time  business  is  going 
to  be  better  all  around.  Steel  plants  in  this 
section  are  runnin.g  on  a  nearly  full  basis,  while 
a  number  of  other  large  industrial  lines,  includ¬ 
ing  automobile  plants,  have  plenty  of  work  on 
hand  for  a  large  force  of  employes.  Not  much 
life  exists  in  the  lake  trade,  owing  to  the  plenti¬ 
fulness  of  coal  at  receiving  ports.  This  ought 
to  be  a  busy  period  in  the  lake  trade  and  if  things 
would  start  up  there  the  market  would  be  much 
benefited. 

Coal  prices  are  unsteady  and  weak.  Little 
tendency  toward  an  advance  is  shown,  though 
some  testify  that  slack  is  a  de.gree  stronger  than 
it  has  lately  been.  It  is  still  twenty  or  twenty- 
five  cents  below  what  it  brings  in  good  seasons. 


Buffalo  Trade  Briefs. 

D.  W.  McClennan,  sales  agent  of  the  .Alle¬ 
gheny  Coal  Company,  spent  two  days  this 
week  on  business  at  the  home  office  of  the 
coiTspany  in  Cleveland. 

The  steamer  Charlton,  an  ocean  vessel  has 
been  in  drydock  here  for  repairs,  after  going 
ashore  in  the  St.  Lawrence  river.  She  has  now 
gone  to  Lorain,  Ohio,  to  load  a  bituminous  coal 
cargo  for  England. 

Charles  T.  Faulkner,  for  some  time  connected 
with  the  Buffalo  coal  trade,  is  now  on  the  sales 
staff  of  Brady  &  Ewell.  For  the  past  two  or 
three  years  Mr.  Faulkner  has  been  sales  man- 
a.ger  of  the  Western  New  York  Fuel  Company, 
with  an  office  in  the  Prudential  building. 

The  Lackawanna  Steel  Company  is  now  re¬ 
ported  to  be  operating  on  a  100  per  cent  basis, 
for  the  first  time  in  a  long  while.  The  unfilled 
order  tonnage  has  shown  a  big  increase  recentl)'. 
The  plant  has  fourteen  open-hearth  furnaces, 
each  with  a  capacity  of  150  tons  a  day,  and  is 
building  four  additional  ones  in  order  to  keep 
up  with  business. 

The  contract  for  furnishing  the  coal  suppl\' 
for  the  North  Tonawanda  waterworks  has  been 
divided  between  the  Ives  Ice  &  Coal  Company 
and  G.  F.  Meyers,  local  dealers,  whose  bids 
were  practically  the  samle.  The  city  of  Tona¬ 
wanda  this  week  advertised  for  2,000  tons  of 
slack  coal  to  be  used  by  the  waterworks  there. 
The  bids  will  be  opened  on  August  23. 

A  number  of  visitors  to  the  coal  market  were 
here  last  week,  including  the  following :  Hebron 
Robison,  general  manager  of  the  West  Virginia- 
Pittsburgh  Coal  Company,  and  L.  A.  Burnett, 
president  of  the  Clifton  Coal  Company,  both  of 
Pittsburgh;  A,  P.  Sutter,  president  of  the  Sutter 
Coal  Company,  Punxsutawney,  Pa. ;  William  T. 
Ryan,  East  Boston  Coal  Company,  Kingston, 
Pa. 

Thomas  J.  McNamara  continues  at  the  head 
of  the  Iroquois  Coal  &  Coke  Company,  Buffalo, 
hut  has  made  an  arrangement  with  President 
Thomas  Donohoe,  of  the  Pittsburgh  &  South¬ 
western  Coal  Company,  by  which  he  is  to  be¬ 
come  the  sales  manager  of  the  company,  with 
office  in  this  city.  The  company  has  a  mine  at 
.Avella,  Pa.  President  Donohoe  is  expected  to 
be  here  this  week  for  business  and  recreation. 

A  hearing  was  given  before  a  special  exam¬ 
iner  of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission 
here  this  week  in  the  case  of  the  Buffalo  Union 
Furnace  Company  and  the  Wickwire  Steel  Com¬ 
pany  against  a  number  of  railroads,  alleging 
overcharge  on  shipments  of  coal  and  coke  from 
Tyler  and  Sykes,  Pa.  Complainants  claim  that 
they  have  to  pay  forty  cents  more  a  ton  on 
coke  from  these  points  than  their  competitors 
do.  Samuel  A.  Kennedy,  a  coke  expert  from 
Chicago,  was  the  chief  witness. 

Prof.  F.  E.  Bach,  sociological  suiicrintendent 
of  the  Ellsworth  Collieries  Company  has  been 
asked  to  serve  as  an  official  judge  of  the  inter¬ 
state  mine  rescue  contests,  to  he  held  at  the 
Panama-Pacific  Exposition  from  Seiitemher  23  to 
September  26  in  San  Francisco. 


100 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[July  31 


New  England  Trade 

Boston,  July  29. —  {Special  Cori'cspondnce.)- 
An  improvement  in  business  is  noted  by  the 
local  wholesale  bituminous  and  anthracite 
dealers,  especially  the  latter,  yet  everybody 
admits  that  there  is  much  room  for  further 
improvement. 

The  improvement  in  bituminous,  however, 
when  sifted  down,  appears  to  be  more  a  matter 
of  sentiment  than  any  material  increase  m 
bookings  of  new  business.  One  thing  is  very 
certain  though,  and  that  is  the  f.  o.  b.  Hampton 
Roads  market  is  considerably  firmer  than  it 
was  a  fortnight  ago  when  it  was  an 
secret  that  shippers  were  cutting  the  official 
market  price  of  $2.85  per  ton.  Ihe  large  ex¬ 
port  demand  and  a  steady  betterment  m  the 
bunkering  business  up  and  down  the  Atlantic 
coast  are  largely  responsible  for  the  lirmer 
Southern  market.  This  firmness  has  been  re¬ 
flected  on  the  spot  market  for  New  River  and 
Pocahontas  at  Mystic  Wharf  which  has  been 
in  a  comatose  condition  for  many  weeks. 

A  fortnight  or  so  ago.  New  River  and  Poca¬ 
hontas  were  offered  at  Mystic  Wharf  on  a 
basis  of  $3.63  per  ton  f.  o.  b.  or  even  less, 
while  today  dealers  are  asking  and  getting 
more  money.  Georges  Creek  is  very  strong 
there  at  $3.90@4.00  per  ton,  and  other  grades 
of  bituminous  are  more  firmly  held  than  here¬ 
tofore.  New  England  manufacturers,  who  two 
months  ago  had  large  supplies  in  their  storage 
yards,  have  in  many  instances  been  here  re¬ 
cently  sounding  the  market  with  a  view  to 
purchasing  within  the  near  future.  So  it  would 
appear  that  local  agents  are  justified  in  ex¬ 
pecting  good  business  after  the  turn  of  next 
month.  Old  contract  Southern  coals  are  com,- 
ing  in  well,  but  there  is  no  congestion  and 
the  market  appears  to  be  on  an  extremely 
healthy  basis.  One  optimistic  local  dealer  goes 
so  far  as  to  predict  very  sensational  price  ad¬ 
vances  in  soft  coal  provided  the  European 
war  continues  another  six  months.  Pennsyl¬ 
vania  bituminous  is  firmer,  although  not  much 
more  active.  They  are  Quoted  on  a  basis  of 
ninety  cents  to  $1.65  per  ton  on  cars  at  the 
mines. 

During  the  past  week  there  has  been  quite 
a  little  spurt  in  the  buying  of  anthracite  in¬ 
dicating  greater  activity  among  the  retail 
dealers.  Locally,  this  assertion  is  borne  out 
by  the  fact  that  retail  dealers  have  been  buy¬ 
ing  quite  a  number  of  horses  in  the  Boston 
market.  The  buying  of  coal  has  come  from 
dealers  and  large  consumers  operating  in  such 
cities  as  Providence,  Pawtucket,  Manchester, 
N.  H.,  Fitchburg,  and  smaller  dealers  located 
on  Boston  &  Albany  and  New  Haven  as  well 
as  Boston  &  Maine  points  running  out  of 
Portsmouth.  Maine  and  certain  sections  of 
New  Hampshire  and  Vermont  have  been  back¬ 
ward  in  buying,  and  Fall  River  has  been  rather 
quiet  owing  to  the  fact  that  improvements 
being  made  to  the  Jamgs  A.  Bowen  Co’s,  prop¬ 
erty  there  will  not  be  completed  until  possibly 
October. 

The  spot  market  at  Mystic  Wharf  has  been 
much  better  and  the  smaller  dealers  have  been 
able  to  get  rid  of  coal  there  without  cutting 
prices  or  giving  discounts.  Stove  and  egg  at 
Mystic  Wharf  are  firm  at  $6.10  per  ton  on  cars, 
and  nut  at  $6.35.  Within  a  few  days  all  three 
sizes  will  cost  ten  cents  per  ton  more.  The 
buying  has  by  no  means  been  confined  to  car- 
lots,  for  the  cargo  tonnage  for  the  past  week 
has  footed  up  well.  Coal  is  coming  forward 
freely,  but  is  quickly  cleaned  up  and  the 
chances  are  that  comparatively  few  July  orders 
will  have  to  be  carried  over  into  August.  The 
movement  of  anthracite  to  the  Provinces  con¬ 
tinues  somewhat  restricted  as  Northern  deal¬ 
ers  are  looking  for  cheaper  freight  rates.  At 
Portsmouth  prices  rule  ten  cents  a  -ton  above 
those  named  at  Mystic  Wharf,  and  at  Provi¬ 
dence  ten  cents  a  ton  less. 

The  marine  freight  rate  market  presents  few 
new  features.  Rates  on  anthracite  from  New 
York  to  Boston  hold  at  fifty  to  fifty-five  cents 
a  ton.  Barge  owners  are  still  getting  return 
cargoes  of  ice  from  Maine  points.  The  de¬ 
mand  for  Southern  space  appears  to  be  a 
shade  better,  but  no  change  has  been  made  in 
rates,  which  run  from  seventy-five  to  eighty 
cents  per  ton. 


Massachusetts  Gas  Companies. 

The  combined  net  earnings  available  for 
dividends  of  the  subsidiary  companies  of  the 
Massachusetts  Gas  Companies  for  June 
amounted  to  $254,229;  for  the  same  month  last 
year  they  were  $220,363.  The  grand  total  earn¬ 


ings  for  the  fiscal  year  ended  June  30,  were 
$2,676,573,  and  for  the  previous  year  $2,524,043. 
The  earnings  of  the  gas  department  in  June 
and  the  year  ended  June  30  increased  in  a  much 
larger  proportion  than  those  of  the  coal  de¬ 
partment  did. 

Following  are  the  earnings  of  the  coal  de¬ 
partment  in  detail  for  June  and  the  twelve 
months  ended  June  30,  together  with  com¬ 


parisons  : 

Tune—  1915.  1914.  1913. 

N.'E.  Gas  &  Coke . $  49,.579  $  75,566  $  71,857 

N.  E.  Coal .  40,986  10,803  36,628 

Boston  Tow  Boat .  538  3,133  3,746 

Federal  Coal .  10,558  5,930  2,523 


Total  . $107,604  $101,440  $114,756 

Year  Ended  June  30 — 

N.  E.  Gas  &  Coke . $  010,032  $  797,753  $  789,927 

N.  E.  Coal .  301,453  214,789  152,003 

Boston  Tow  Boat .  48,208  41,430  43,030 

Federal  Coal .  109,336  69,094  22,374 


Total  . $1,075,630  $1,123,007  $1,008,003 


Death  of  J.  C.  Harrington. 

John  C.  Harrington,  a  member  of  the  firm 
of  Green  &  Harrington,  coal  dealers,  died  at 
his  home.  No.  1  Parker  street,  Everett,  Mass., 
July  26.  Mr.  Harrington  has  been  ill  for  some 
time,  death  resulting  from  Bright’s  disease. 
He  was  45  years  old. 

Mr.  Harrington  was  one  of  the  best  known 
and  popular  men  in  Everett  where  he  had 
long  been  active  in  politics,  having  be^n  a 
prominent  member  of  the  Republican  Com¬ 
mittee.  For  more  than  twenty  years,  Mr. 
Harrington  was  a  member  of  the  Everett  Re¬ 
publican  Ward  and  City  Committee.  He  was 
a  charter  member  of  the  Everett  lodge  of 
Elks. 

Mr.  Harrington  was  born  in  the  house 
where  lived  his  grandfather,  who  was  one  of 
the  earliest  residents  of  Everett.  He  gradu¬ 
ated  from  the  Chelsea  High  School  and  then 
attended  the  Harvard  Medical  School,  but  he 
chose  a  business  and  not  a  professional  ca¬ 
reer.  In  addition  to  being  in  the  coal  business 
he  was  a  member  of  the  Winthrop  Yachting 
Supply  Company. 


Give  Employes  Stock. 

Within  the  immediate  future  the  655 ^em¬ 
ployes  of  the  Boston  Consolidated  Gas  Com¬ 
pany  will  receive  a  premium  of  eight  and  one- 
half  per  cent  on  their  salaries  in  accordance 
with  the  terms  of  the  profit-sharing  plan  which 
has  been  in  effect  since  1906. 

The  bonus  is  not  given  the  employes  in  the 
form  of  cash,  but  is  invested  for  them  in  pre¬ 
ferred  stock  of  the  Massachusetts  Gas  Com¬ 
panies.  A  year  ago  the  company  paid  a  pre¬ 
mium  of  eight  percent  to  its  employes,  who 
at  present  own  something  like  3,500  shares  of 
Massachusetts  Gas  preferred  stock. 

President  James  L.  Richards,  in  a  letter  to 
the  employes,  devotes,  considerable  space  to 
Legislative  matters  pertaining  to  several  bills 
introduced  seeking  to  repeal  the  so-called 
sliding  scale  act  under  which  the  company  is 
now  operating.  In  conclusion  he  says: 

“I  desire  to  express  to  all  our  employes, 
the  appreciation  of  the  board  of  directors  for 
what  has  been  accomplished  in  the  past,  and 
to  urge  that  everyone  will  render  the  most 
efficient  service  possible  in  the  future  with  the 
hope  and  expectation  that  the  results  for  the 
year  just  commencing  will  show  a  substantial 
improvement  over  the  past  year. 

“If  employes  desire  to  take  advantage  of  the 
privilege  of  making  an  additional  deposit  to¬ 
ward  the  purchase  of  one  or  more  shares  in 
the  Massachusetts  Gas  Companies,  the  treas¬ 
urer  should  be  advised  not  later  than  Aug¬ 
ust  7th.’’ 


Baltimore  Trade. 


Baltimore,  July  29. —  (Special  Correspond¬ 
ence.) — But  little  real  change  is  to  be  recorded 
in  the  coal  trade  here  for  the  past  week.  If 
anything  there  was  a  little  lost,  as  the  par¬ 
ticularly  bright  feature,  the  export  trade, 
showed  a  falling  off  to  some  extent,  while 
continuing  heavy.  For  the  week  ending  July 
24  but  31,989  .  tons  of  coal  were  loaded -here 
for  export,  the  smallest  loading  for  ten  or 
more  weeks  past.  That  there  will  be  another 
big  upward  movement  shortly,  however,  is 
assured  by  the  large  number  of  charters  closed 
for  loading  at  this  port.  From  twelve  to 
twenty  charters  per  week  are  now  being  an¬ 
nounced,  and  many  of  these  are  for  August 
loading. 

While  no  change  of  note  is  seen  in  the  im¬ 
mediate  coal  situation  here,  war  business  is 


coming  more  and  more  heavily  into  this  ter¬ 
ritory,  and  the  industrial  condition  here  is 
sure  to  improve.  More  men  are  being  put  on 
daily  at  the  Maryland  Steel  Works  at  Spar¬ 
rows  Point,  and  there  are  now  nearly  4,000 
men  at  work  there  as  against  about  1,500  four 
or  five  months  ago. 

The  railroads  too  are  bending  efforts  to 
prepare  for  a  big  business  revival  that  is  ex¬ 
pected  with  the  fall.  The  Baltimore  &  Ohio 
has  urged  rapid  delivery  on  its  2,000  steel 
hopper  cars  ordered  last  week.  A  large  part 
of  this  order  will  be  ready  for  the  early  fall 
trade. 

From  mining  sections  that  supply  this  ter¬ 
ritory  come  reports  of  dullness  in  regard  to 
new  business.  ’  Deliveries  on  contracts  are 
stronger,  but  this  has  not  been  sufficient  to 
bolster  the  price  list  for  spot  business  in  any 
way. 


Prices  to  the  trade  at  the  mines  may  be 
quoted  as  follows: 


F.  O.  B. 

F.  0.  B. 

Fairmont — 

Mines. 

Baltimore. 

Three-quarter  . 

$2.23@2.28 

Run  of  mine . 

. 70@  .80 

2.13@2.23 

Slack  . 

. 45@  .50 

1.88@1.93 

Somerset — 

Best  . 

.  1.25@1.30 

2.43@2.48 

Good  . 

.  1.10@1.15 

2.28@2.33 

W.  M.  R.  R.— 

Freeport  . 

1.93@1.98 

B.  &  O.— 

Freeport  . 

1.93@1.9S 

P.  R.  R.— 

Best  South  Fork . 

.  1.30@1.35 

2.48@2.53 

Miller  Vein  . 

2.78@2.83 

Ordinary  . 

2.03@2.08 

Baltimore  Trade  Briefs. 

The  Bartlett,  Hayward  Company  of  this  city 
has  secured  an  immense  war  munitions  con¬ 
tract.  While  this  is  admitted,  the  extent  of  the 
order  is  held  secret.  It  is  known  that  the 
concern  has  purchased  an  entire  city  block 
adjoining  their  present  plant  and  will  put  up 
an  immense  munitions  factory  there,  however. 
The  Spedden  Ship  Building  Company  of  this 
city  has  also  received  an  order  for  shells  and 
is  installing  new  machinery  for  their  manu¬ 
facture. 

The  longest  sea  tow  from  this  port  is  now  in 
progress.  The  steamer  Falcon,  towing  the 
barge  Charles  Nelson  left  here  on  July  16 
for  San  Francisco,  by  way  of  the  Panama 
Canal.  The  steamer  is  carrying  1,800  tons  of 
coal  and  the  barge  1,000  tons  of  fuel.  The 
boats  were  loaded  by  the  Davis  Coal  and  Coke 
Company  at  the  Port  Covington  piers  of  the 
Western  Maryland  Railway.  The  distance, 
5,213  miles,  is  probably  one  of  the  longest  for 
a  tow  on  record. 

The  incorporators  of  the  new  Fairmont 
Helen’s  Run  Railway  Company  will  hold  their 
first  meeting  for  organization  at  the  Conti¬ 
nental  Building  in  this  city  on  August  25. 
In  the  meantime  work  is  being  actively  pushed 
on  the  four  shafts  being  sunk  near  Helen’s 
Run  by  the  Consolidation  Coal  Company, 
which  product  will  move  over  the  new  road. 
It  is  expected  that  shipments  will  begin  about 
January  1st,  and  will  reach  this  port  over  the 
Western  Maryland  Railway. 


Omaha  Trade. 


Omaha,  Nebr.,  July  29. — (Special  Correspond¬ 
ence.) — There  is  not  any  change  to  speak  of 
in  the  situation  in  this  territory  as  against 
last  week.  We  got  a  glimpse  of  the  sun  two 
or  three  days  the  latter  part  of  last  week 
which  had  a  tendency  to  slightly  stimulate 
buying.  It  started  in  to  rain  Monday,  how¬ 
ever,  and  has  rained  almost  continually  up  to 
this  time  which  is  naturally  very  discouraging 
to  all  lines  of  business. 

The  following  market  prices  prevailing: 


Southern  Kansas — 

Mines. 

Omaha. 

Nut  . 

$3.20 

Slack  . 

_  1.35 

2.70 

Franklin  County — 

Lump  . 

$3.75@3.90 

Egg  . 

3.75@3.90 

Nut  . 

3.75@3.90 

Williamson  County —  * 

Lump  . 

_  1.25@1.35 

3.65@3.75 

Egg  . 

_  1.25@1.35 

3.65@3.75 

Rock  Springs — 

Lump  . 

_  2.15 

5.85 

Nut  . 

_  1.60 

6.36 

Arkansas  Anthracite — 

Lump  . 

6.61 

Broken  sizes  . 

_  3.65 

6.40 

On  Monday  a  disastrous  fire  in  Poughkeep¬ 
sie,  N.  Y.,  damaged  to  the  extent  of  between 
$75,000  and  $100,000  the  coal  and  lumber  plant 
of  the  D.  W.  Wilbur  Company.  The  damage 
to  properties  adjoining  the  Wilbur  properties 
aggregated  over  a  quarter  of  a  million  dollars. 


Getting  Rid  of  Manual  Labor  in  Furnace  Room. 


“What  do  you  know  about  underfeed  stok- 
ers?” 

That,  in  the  east,  is  quite  a  commonplace 
question  in  this  day  of  our  Lord  when  a  coal 
salesman  is  supposed  to  have  a  range  of  in¬ 
formation  extending  from  intricate  railroad 
tariffs  to  the  analyses  of  the  product  of  “the 
mines  of  Squeedunk.”  However,  the  under¬ 
feeds  come  in  for  more  discussion  than  pos¬ 
sibly  any  other  device  that  bothers  the  sales¬ 
man.  Also  the  steam  user  has  had  the  ques¬ 


tion  “referred,  for  computation  and  report,” 
so  many  times  that,  from  any  angle,  informa¬ 
tion  is  not  alone  sought  but  welcomed. 

Not  so  many  days  ago  the  writer  drifted 
into  the  office  of  the  sales  manager  of  a  large 
bituminous  corporation.  His  attention  was 
drawn  to  a  dozen  or  so  catalogues  and  other 
pamphlets  lying  on  the  desk.  All  had  to  do 
with  the  underfeed,  self-dumping,  chain  grate 
and  other  stoking  devices. 

This  coal  man  volunteered  the  thought  that 
a  coal  salesman  of  twenty  years  ago  would 
have  had  a  mighty  hard  row  to  hoe  if  un¬ 
equipped  and  Rip  Van  Winklelike  he  were  to 
go  on  the  street  to  sell  his  wares  to  the  highly 
polished  and  up-to-the-minute  purchasing  agent 
of  this  day  and  date. 

“I  have  drifted  along  for  several  years,  have 
seen  dozens  of  underfeed  stokers,  looked  them 
over  and  let  it  go  at  that,”  he  said.  “I  man¬ 
aged  to  ‘get  by’  with  my  ignorance  until  the 
other  day.  Then  I  was  talking  with  a  man 
who  knew  and  I  found  how  woefully  I  was 
at  sea.  ‘What  did  I  know  about  underfeed 
stokers?’  Practically  nothing.  And  I  was 
willing  to  admit  it.  But  I  determined  not  to 
be  caught  that  way  again.  So  I  started  to 
look  up  this  matter  of  underfeeds.  The  more 
I  delved  into  the  question,  the  more  I  became 
involved  in  the  technical.  Magazine  articles  in 
scientific  journals  were  of  little  help  to  me. 
I  found  that  they  proceeded  upon  the  theory 
that  the  basic  principles  were  known  to  the 
readers.  What  I  wanted  was  a  broad  ex¬ 
planation  of  underfeed  principles  and  I  found 
that  it  would  take  a  ‘Philadelphia  lawyer’  to 
put  in  plain  words  the  involved  explanation  of 
individual  plants. 

“So,  as  a  court  of  the  last  resort,  I  decided 
to  get  the  catalogues  of  a  half  dozen  of  the 
standard  firms  and  see  what  they  had  to  say 
first  hand.  Well,  I  have  found  out  some  of 
the  essentials  and  I  am  still  digging  for  more.” 

This — the  foregoing — is  offered  as  an  ex¬ 
planation  why  the  writer  went  “rooting”  about 


One  Type  of  Stoker  Is  Described,  Indi¬ 
cating  How  Coal  May  Be  Fed,  Air  Regu¬ 
lated  and  Ashes  Removed  by  Automatic 
Machines. 


trying  to  dig  up  an  uninvolved,  non-technical 
article  on  underfeed  stokers. 

First,  in  getting  the  bearings  on  the  question 


it  was  found  that  Philadelphia  and  Chicago 
are  centers  in  the  stoking  line,  just  as  Louis¬ 
ville  is  for  whiskey,  Boston  for  shoes  and 
New  Orleans  for  sugar.  Being  close  at  hand, 
and  to  follow  the  line  of  the  least  resistance, 
the  product  of  the  Quaker  City  presented  the 
easiest  ground  for  inquiry,  the  pivotal  thought 
being  that  all  stoking  devices  should  have  a 
fair  field,  with  no  pretense  at  favors. 

However,  before  getting  away  to  a  good 
start,  yes,  before  getting  my  hat  off,  as  it 


were,  in  following  a  line  of  inquiry,  yours 
truly  was  brought  up  with  a  short  turn.  Out 
at  the  plant  of  the  American  Kngineering 
Company,  where  the  Taylor  stoker  is  made,  I 
made  known  my  errand  and  an  obliging 
young  lady  dragged  forth  the  volumes  and 
stacks  of  articles  on  underfeed  and  other  stok¬ 
ers.  Yes,  considered  from  a  textbook  stand¬ 
point  it  would  have  startled  a  Boston  “Tech.” 
man.  The  explanation  was  volunteered  that 
the  purpose  of  the  visit  was  to  gather,  if  pos¬ 
sible,  a  non-technical  article  on  this  very  tech¬ 
nical  subject  and  not  to  take  a  complete  course 
in  one  branch  of  mechanical  engineering. 

This  understood,  from  another  source  came 
scrap  books  with  clippings  showing  technical 
data,  measurements,  data  reasons  why  and 
wherefore,  fore  and  aft.  Again,  hopelessly  at 
sea. 

“Now,”  wishing  to  get  a  start,  “let’s  start  at 
a  beginning.  Suppose  you  tell  me  of  the  im¬ 
provements  in  your  class  of  stokers  in  the  past 
year?” 

Frankly,  the  query  should  have  been  given 
at  least  a  reproving  smile.  It  took  in  so  much 
territory.  The  reply  came  something  like  this. 

“There  is  such  a  wide  range  of  possibilities 
in  stoker  construction  that  improvements  are 
carefully  considered  and  little  points  of  vari¬ 
ance  of  opinion  have  taken  up  hours  of  debate 
in  the  sessions  of  the  A.  S.  M.  E.”  (Later  I 
found  these  initials  stand  for  the  American  So¬ 
ciety  of  Mechanical  Engineers.) 

Right  here  it  was  brought  home  that  to  deal 
with  a  technical  subject,  technicalities  of  neces¬ 
sity  would  have  to  be  included.  So,  headfore¬ 
most  another  plunge  was  taken. 

“As  a  labor  saving  device,  how  do  the  stok¬ 
ers  offer  a  solution  to  the  problem?” 

“In  one  plant  of  the  New  York  Edison  Com¬ 
pany  of  330,000  kilowatt  equipment,  one  man 
attends  to  the  stoking.” 

Some  jolt  for  the  uninitiated  interviewer. 
That  was  about  the  place  to  say  “Good  night” 
and  take  it  on  the  run.  Mentally,  the  answer 
imposed  the  picture  of  a  steam  plant  the 
writer  had  known  in  his  own  home  town  with 
a  battery  of  six  boilers  and  as  many  firemen 
on  the  job  to  spread  the  coal.  Yes,  and  the 
foreman’s  story  illustrative  of  handling  help 
of  flesh  and  sinew.  It  ran  something  like  this: 

_A  Georgia  farmer  supplanted  the  family  mule 
with  an  automobile.  It  had  been  his  habit  to 


An  Annotated  Rear  View  of  an  Underfeed  Stoker. 


RETORT 


TUYCREIS 


extension 

ORATES 


SPEED 
SHAFT 
PPEIR  ram 
RAM  BOX 


.DRiviNO  Clutch 

SHAFT 

D'lMPiMG  LCVER 
^  50CKF-T 


LOWER  RAM 

'\ 

TUYCRC:  BOX 


WIND  nox 


DUMP  PLATES 


A  Front  View  of  an  Underfeed  Stoker  of  the  Taylor  Type. 


102 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[August  7 


start  the  mule,  when  balky,  by  means  of  a  kick 
in  the  midriff.  A  week  after  he  got  the  auto 
he  approached  the  salesman  and  wanted  to 
trade  it  back. 

“What’s  the  matter,  don’t  you  get  more 
speed,  more  convenience  and  better  service 
than  with  your  old  mule  to  depend  on?’’  asked 
the  salesman. 

"Yes,”  said  the  agriculturist,  “but  who  wants 
to  kick  a  machine  that  won’t  even  grunt 
back?” 

It  is  right  there  that  that  the  wonders  of 
the  mechanical  grow  on  one  who  wants  to 
delve  into  underfeed  stokers.  The  elmination 
of  labor  problems,  oh,  well,  a  little  more  of 
that  anon. 

Underfeed  stokers  I  found  were  quite  mod¬ 
ern  contraptions.  Seven  years  ago,  so  1  was 
told,  there  were  less  than  100  in  use  and  now 
there  are  a  couple  of  thousand  installations. 
No  wonder  coal  men  find  it  more  necessary 
to  “brush  up”  on  stoker  knowledge  now  than 
in  the  past.  The  natural  question  that  fol¬ 
lowed  was  as  to  the  class  of  coal  that  produce 
the  best  results. 

“The  better  the  goods,  the  better  the  results,” 
said  my  informant.  “We  recommend  coals  for 
this  stoker  of  14,000  b.  t.  u.’s  and  up  as  the 
best  result  producers.  More  and  more  comes 
the  demand  for  perfect  combustion  and  elimi¬ 
nation  of  smoke.  Let  the  human  part  of  a 
inechanical  stoker  do  his  part  and  it  can  be 
so  adjusted  to  burn  low  grade  coals  down  to 
siftings,  yes,  and  even  a  mixture  of  sawdust, 
perfectly.  The  trouble  is  that  the  human  part 
will  sometimes  forget;  the  mechanical  part, 
never.” 

Right  in  the  plant  of  the  American  Engineer¬ 
ing  Company  is  a  model  stoker  that  best  shows 
the  capabilities  of  the  device  and  the  result  in 
smoke  elimination.  The  illustrations  tell  their 
own  story  in  the  heart  of  Philadelphia  where 
the  axiom  “Cleanliness  is  next  to  godliness” 
is  written  large  in  the  laws  of  smoke  preven¬ 
tion,  and  eagle-eyed  inspectors  roost  every¬ 
where  to  catch  those  who  desecrate  said  laws. 

However,  by  this  time  the  technical  had  so 
interjected  itself  that  the  futility  of  being  non¬ 
technical  was  finally  recognized.  So,  now  to 
stick  close  to  facts  proffered  and  adduced  from 
information  given  me. 

The  basic  idea  in  the  construction  of  stokers 
is  to  mechanically  control  air  and  coal  so  as 
to  produce  a  perfect  fire.  The  theory  of  the 
thing  is  that  a  perfect  fire  never  produces 
smoke.  It  is  the  contention  of  underfeed 
stoker  engineers  that  the  perfect  fire  must  be 
fed  from  beneath  and  that  only  in  this  manner 
can  the  hydro-carbons  distilled  from  “green” 
coal  be  completely  burned  by  passing  through 
a  white-hot  fuel  bed. 

Mechanical  control  of  the  air  and  of  the  coal 
supply;  the  automatic  disposal  of  refuse  as 
fast  as  it  forms  in  a  permanently  closed  fur¬ 
nace  prevents  the  inrush  of  cold  air,  chilling 
of  the  fires  and  incomplete  ‘ combustion.  And 
in  this  connection  it  is  advanced  that  to  pro¬ 
duce  a  perfect  fire  it  must  be  automatically 
and  continuously  cleaned,  otherwise  the  clean¬ 
ing  periods  will  necessitate  the  frequent  open¬ 
ing  of  doors  and  will  reduce  the  b'oiler  out¬ 
put  temporarily. 

Now  that  we  are  into  the  thing,  “good  and 
good,”  it  might  be  well  to  show  by  illustra¬ 
tion  what  has  been  written  about.  The  etch¬ 
ings  showing  a  perspective  of  the  front  of  the 
stoker  and  that  of  a  rear  view  may  be  of  as¬ 
sistance  to  those  who  have  a  bump  of  the 
mechanical  in  their  cranium.  Here  is  the  ex¬ 
planation,  as  given. 

“The  rams  introduce  and  distribute  the  coal 
by  pushing  it  forward  at  an  angle  to  the  fire 
surface.  Gravity  then  moves  the  entire  fuel 
bed  down  an  incline  to  the  dump  plates;  be¬ 
cause  gravity  operates  constantly  the  power 
recpiircd  to  drive  the  rams  is  a  minimum.  The 
engine  shaft  is  connected  with  the  speed  shaft 
of  the  stoker  and  the  fan  shaft  so  that  a 
change  of  si)ccd  simultaneously  changes  both 
the  rate  of  feeding  coal  and  the  rate  of  siq)- 
plying  air.” 

.\gain. 

“For  burning  large  quantities  of  coal  every 
clement  of  stoker  design  must  be  directed  to¬ 
ward  capacity.  Every  inch  of  grate  area  must 
be  callable  of  obtaining  high  economy  when 
working  at  the  highest  point  of  activity.  With 
coals  that  form  a  fusible  ash,  the  rocking  mo¬ 
tion  serves  to  keep  the  clinker  well  broken  up 
and  maintains  throughout  this  stage  of  com¬ 
bustion  a  uniform  porous  fuel  bed  which  makes 
high  burning  capacities,  together  with  furnace 
efficiejicies,  readily  obtainable.” 


For  the  underfeed  stokers  there  is  no  ques¬ 
tion  on  the  saving  of  labor.  The  coal  is  fed 
from  hoppers  without  leveling  or  trimming  by 
hand,  the  fire  is  cleaned  without  hand  slicing 
or  raking;  the  mechanically  regulated  air  sup¬ 
ply  and  automatically  cleaned  fire  have  re¬ 
duced  the  attendant’s  labor  to  lowering  and 
raising  the  dump  plates. 

Now  as  to  cleaning:  “Cleaning  as  com¬ 
monly  understood  among  firemen  is  eliminated 
by  this  type  of  underfeed  stokers.  It  goes  on 
all  the  time — automatically.  Ashes  and  clink¬ 
ers  slide  the  dump  plates  by  gravity  without 
grate  bar  agitation  or  fireman’s  labor.” 

Now  as  to  construction  and  operation  of 
this  underfeed  stoker  and  the  object  of  attain¬ 
ment,  the  following  is  given  as  a  concrete 
description  of  the  stoker: 

“Coal  from  the  hopper  is  fed  into  the  fuel 
magazines  from  which  two  cylindrical  rams 
push  it  into  the  furnace  at  an  angle  to  the  fire 
surface.  The  upper  ram  shoves  the  coal  up¬ 
ward  and  outward,  distributing  it  in  the  cok¬ 
ing  zone.  The  lower  ram  working  with  the 
upper  acts  similarly,  forcing  the  refuse  toward 
the  dump  plates  in  the  rear  without  forcing 
in  fresh  coal. 

“A  retort  is  formed  by  two  tuyere  boxes — 
the  retorts  and  tuyere  boxes  alternating — the 
number  depending  on  the  size  of  the  boilers. 
The  tuyeres  interlock  when  in  position. 

“The  necessary  air  to  support  combustion 
is  furnished  by  a  power  driven  fan  from  which 


it  is  driven  through  ducts  to  the  wind  box  and 
thence  into  the  tuyere  boxes  and  escaping 
through  the  tuyere  openings,  mingles  with  the 
gases  distilled  from  the  coal  and  with  the 
coked  fuel  pushed  forward  and  upward  by  the 
rams. 

“Combination  dump  plates  and  fire  guards 
are  hung  at  the  rear  of  the  wind  boxes  to 
receive  burned-out  refuse.  These  are  dumped 
periodically,  as  conditions  of  service  require. 
These  are  operated  from  the  front  of  the 
stoker  and  are  released  by  a  hand  lever.  The 
hot  ash  is  deposited  in  a  large  pocket  and  is 
moved  against  the  crusher  plates  by  a  recipro¬ 
cating  movement.  At  the  same  motion  a  pre¬ 
viously  compressed  charge  is  discharged  at 
the  bottom  over  the  dumping  apron.  The  op¬ 
erator  can  release  the  entire  pocket  of  ash  by 
dropping  the  dump  aprons. 

“The  air  supply  to  the  extension  grate  is 
regulated  by  a  hand  wheel  in  front  of  the  fur¬ 
nace,  and  when  once  set  is  subject  to  the  same 
automatic  control  as  the  air  supply  to  the 
stoker  itself.  With  this  class  of  stoker  coal 
feeding  is  as  continuous  as  the  fire  itself.  The 
fresh  coal  is  slowly  pushed  into  the  incandes¬ 
cent  zone,  gradually  heats  and  then  cokes  in¬ 
stead  of  being  thrown  cold  on  the  burning 
fuel.  Coal  is  fed  only  as  fast  as  it  is  con¬ 
sumed,  never  in  excess  of  the  immediate  re¬ 
quirements,  and  is  supplied  in  equal  quantities 
to  all  parts  of  the  furnace.” 


Centralized  Power  Plant  for  Coal  Mines. 


At  Cabin  Creek  Junction  on  the  line  of  the 
Chesapeake  &  Ohio  Railway  in  West  Virginia  is 
situated  the  central  power  plant  of  the  Virginia 
Power  Company.  It  is  on  the  bank  of  the  Kana¬ 
wha  river,  the  current  of  which  the  company 
expects  to  use,  after  a  while,  for  the  making  of 
electricity.  On  all  sides  are  coal  mines  from 
which  at  present  is  drawn  an  abundant  supply  of 
coal  to  make  electric  power  by  the  ordinary  steam 
process. 

In  the  erection  and  equipment  of  this  building, 
in  the  laying  of  transmission  lines  and  in  the 
erection  of  substations  the  company  has  already 
invested,  so  it  is  said,  upwards  of  $4,000,000. 

It  is  the  intention  ultimately  to  make  most  of 
the  electricity  by  water  power,  supplementing  that, 
from  time  to  time,  by  the  use  of  coal  and  an 
auxiliary  steam  plant. 

At  present  the  hydro-electric  facilities  have  not 
been  put  into  operation,  therefore  the  Virginia 
Power  Company,  which  is  already  supplying  power 
to  a  great  many  mines  all  through  that  section 
of  West  Virginia,  is  creating  its  power  entirely 
from  coal.  To  get  this  coal  into  the  plant  an  in¬ 
genious  device  is  employed  which  does  the  work 
with  the  least  possible  work  and  inconvenience. 

The  power  building,  in  height,  corresponds  to 
about  an  ordinary  four-story  structure.  On  one 


side  of  it  has  been  erected  a  tall,  panel  shaped 
separate  building,  which  looks  very  much  like  a 
coal  tipple.  On  that  side  of  the  building  is  the 
spur  track  of  the  railroad  which  delivers  the  coal 
from  the  mine.  The  coal  is  all  moved  in  hopper 
bottom  cars  and  is  dropped  through  the  bottom 
of  those  cars  into  a  concrete  hopper  or  boot.  From 
this  hopper  the  coal  can  be  dropped  through  a 
gate  directly  into  a  large  bucket. 

Two  buckets  work  in  a  reciprocating  fashion  by 
means  of  a  cable.  That  is,  when  one  goes  up  to 
the  top  of  the  tipple  the  other  comes  down.  While 
one  is  taking  on  a  load  of  coal  at  the  hopper  be¬ 
low  the  other  is  discharging  into  another  hopper 
at  the  top  of  the  tipple  arrangement. 

From  this  hopper  at  the  top  the  coal  is  sent 
down  into  larries,  which  run  around  on  a  circular 
track  situated  in  the  top  of  the  building.  These 
larries  dump  their  coal  into  other  hoppers  situ¬ 
ated  above  the  furnaces.  From  these  hoppers  the 
coal  is  sent  down  through  a  chute  directly  to  or¬ 
dinary  stoker  equipment  in  the  ordinary  fashion. 

There  is  an  arrangement  also  for  taking  out  the 
ashes.  As  these  are  removed  from  underneath 
the  grate  they  are  put  on  to  a  conveyor  which 
carries  them  to  a  sort  of  hopper  located  in  the 
tipple  previously  referred  to.  From  this  receptacle 
the  ashes  are  run  out  over  a  chute  into  a  waiting 
railway  car  and  are  carried  away. 


Power  House  of  the  Virginia  Power  Company,  Showing  Coal  Handling  Device. 


No.  6] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


103 


Three  Most  Important  Price-Fixing  Cases. 


I  have  just  been  reading  in  the  United  States 
court  reports  the  first  intelligent  information  I 
have  had  as  yet  as  to  the  real  gist  of  the  court’s 
decisions  in  the  three  recent  celebrated  price¬ 
fixing  cases — the  Ford  automobile  case,  the  Kel¬ 
logg  corn  flakes  case  and  the  Victor  talking  ma¬ 
chine  case.  In  all  these  cases  the  manufacturers 
tried  with  the  utmost  ingenuity  to  tie  up  both 
jobbers  and  retailers  so  that  the  wholesale  and 
retail  prices  on  their  various  products  would  not 
be  cut.  The  United  States  court  decided  against 
all  of  them.  In  the  Kellogg  case  the  decision  was 
not  final  or  complete,  but  indicates  the  mind  of 
the  court  on  the  main  question  whether  a  manu¬ 
facturer  may  compel  a  retailer,  whom  he  has  not 
sold  direct,  to  sell  at  a  price  which  the  manufac¬ 
turer  dictates. 

Some  attention  was  paid  to  these  three  cases 
hy  the  newspapers,  but  as  usual,  the  reports  were 
badlv  garbled,  and  in  order  that  the  business 
world,  which  is  so  keenly  interested  in  the  sub¬ 
ject  from  one  standpoint  or  the  other,  should 
have  a  clear  conception  of  the  pro.gress  of  legal 
events,  I  wdll  briefly  give  the  point  involved  in 
each  of  the  three  cases. 

The  Ford  Case. 

The  Ford  Motor  Company  has  always  tied  ev¬ 
erybody  up  to  sell  Ford  cars  at  retail  at  regular 
list  prices.  One  of  its  agents  or  sellers  in  Ohio 
cut  the  price  and  Ford  at  once  asked  for  an  in¬ 
junction  and  damages.  The  Ford  plan  of  lirnit- 
ing  the  price  was  to  do  what  it  called  licensing 
its  dealers,  the  condition  of  the  license  being  that 
they  should  resell  at  regular  Ford  prices.  Of 
course  Ford’s  idea  was  that  if  anybody  violated 
that  condition  and  cut  the  price  he  would  revoke 
the  license  to  sell  and  get  an  injunction  prevent¬ 
ing  the  cutter  from  selling  any  more  cars  that  he 
might  have  on  hand. 

The  plan  did  not  succeed.  The  court  held  that 
in  spite  of  the  “licensing”  scheme.  Ford  had  actu¬ 
ally  parted  with  the  title  to  his  cars,  and  the 
buyer  therefore  had  the  right  to  do  as  he  pleased 
with  them.  The  court  said  it  was  true  that  Ford 
had  made  a  contract  with  his  dealers  not  to  cut 
the  price,  but  it  was  illegal  and  he  could  not  en¬ 
force  it.  This  case  enforces  the  doctrine  laid 
down  by  the  United  States  Supreme  Court  in  the 
Sanatogen  limited  price  case,  that  whether  an 
article  is  patented  or  not,  a  seller  who  has  actu¬ 
ally  sold  it,  and  parted  both  with  possession  and 
title,  can  not  interfere  with  the  retail  selling 
price. 

The  Victor  Talking  Machine  Case. 

The  scheme  used  in  this  case  was  even  more 
ingenious  than  the  other.  The  Victor  concern  has 
of  course  patented  its  machines  and  its  records. 
Everything,  in  fact,  about  its  whole  enterprise  is 
tied  up  with  patents.  Every  machine  and  every 
record  had  printed  on  it  a  notice  that  they  were 
not  sold,  but  that  the  Victor  company  merely 
licensed  the  right  to  use  them.  The  title  to  both 
machine  and  records  remained  in  the  Victor  until 
the  patents  expired,  according  to  this  clever 
scheme.  Here,  too,  this  “license”  could  be  re¬ 
voked  the  minute  somebody — buyer  or  licensee, 
whichever  you  like — broke  the  Victor  company's 
rules,  the  most  important  of  which  was  of  course 
the  rule  to  sell  at  a  fixed  price.  And  if  the  price 
was  cut  the  Victor  company,  under  its  contract, 
could  go  in  and  take  its  goods  back. 

The  “license  to  use”  was  granted  upon  the  pay¬ 
ment  to  the  Victor  company  in  the  beginning  of  a 
sum  which  the  Victor  company  called  a  “royalty,” 
but  which  corresponded  exactly  with  the  price 
charged  both  for  machine  and  records. 

Macy  &  Co.,  the  New  York  department  store¬ 
keepers,  cut  the  price  of  Victor  records,  and  the 
\’ictor  company  promptly  revoked  their  license 
to  sell  and  demanded  the  return  of  all  unsold 
goods,  on  the  ground  that  breaking  the  price 
condition  constituted  an  infringement  of  its  pat¬ 
ents!  Macy  &  Co.  resisted,  and  the  Victor  com¬ 
pany  then  applied  for  an  injunction,  damages,  etc., 
to  prevent  Macy  &  Co.  from  continuing  to  cut 
prices.  Here  too  the  plan  failed.  The  court  said 
that  inasmuch  as  the  Victor  company  had  col¬ 
lected  the  whole  royalty  in  the  beginning,  instead 
of  an  installment  like  royalties  are  usually  col¬ 
lected,  it  showed  that  it  was  after  all  not  a 
license,  but  a  sale,  and  being  a  sale,  the  Victor 
company  could  not  interfere  with  the  retail  sell¬ 
ing  price. 

The  Kellogg  Case. 

The  Kellogg  company  is  a  manufacturer  of 
toasted  corn  flakes  and  has  always  been  particu¬ 
larly  earnest  in  its  effort  to  compel  jobbers  to  sell 
retailers  at  a  uniform  price,  and  retailers  to  sell 


consumers  at  a  uniform  price.  Its  latest  plan 
was  to  get  a  patent  on  some  feature  of  the  car¬ 
ton  in  which  its  corn  flakes  were  packed.  It  could 
not  patent  the  corn  flakes.  The  company  only 
sells  jobbers  that  will  a.gree  to  sell  to  retailers  at 
the  company’s  fixed  price.  It  did  not  deal  with 
retailers  direct,  so  it  printed  a  notice  on  each 
carton  that  the  retailer  who  sold  below  ten  cents 
would  be  considered  an  infringer  on  the  com¬ 
pany’s  patents.  Flere  the  question  was  opened  by 
the  United  States  government,  who  began  suit 
against  the  Kellogg  company  on  the  ground  that 
its  plan  of  limiting  prices  was  a  violation  of 
the  Sherman  act.  The  first  decision  on  this  case 
has  just  been  handed  down.  Although  only  on 
a  part  of  the  case,  it  is  significant  in  that  it 
declares  that  the  fact  that  the  carton  is  patented 
is  immaterial  in  determining  whether  the  com¬ 
pany’s  plan  of  maintaining  prices  is  a  violation 
of  lawa 

From  these  three  cases,  which  are  the  latest 
and  most  important  at  the  moment  before  the 
public,  the  crux  of  the  limited  price  campaign  may 
easily  be  seen.  The  manufacturer  who  wishes  to 
enforce  a  fixed  selling  price  is  tryin.g  by  every 
possible  means  to  hold  on  to  his  goods  until  they 
get  into  the  consumer’s  hands.  That  is,  not  hold 


actual  physical  possession,  but  hold  the  title.  The 
reason  is  of  course  clear.  As  long  as  he  holds 
the  title,  the  goods  are  his  to  do  as  he  pleases 
with,  including  fixing  and  holding  the  price  at 
which  they  shall  be  sold.  To  reach  this  result 
the  manufacturers  license  and  patent  and  make 
agreements,  but  the  trouble  with  all  of  their  plans 
is  that  they  want  the  cake  and  the  penny  too. 
They  want  to  sell  and  not  to  sell.  They  want  to 
collect  the  purchase  price  of  their  products  and 
and  still  say  it  is  not  a  sale.  The  United  States 
Supreme  Court  and  several  lesser  United  States 
courts  have  repeatedly  said,  in  the  last  few  years, 
that  this  cannot  be  done.  If  the  transaction  is 
really  a  sale,  no  matter  what  it  is  called,  the 
manufacturer  is  helpless  to  control  the  selling 
price  in  the  hands  of  anybody  who  has  acquired 
both  title  and  possession. 

There  is  only  one  way  for  a  manufacturer  to 
do  what  he  wishes  to  do,  and  that  is  to  actually 
hold  title  to  his  goods  until  they  are  sold  to  the 
consumer.  He  can  do  that  by  regarding  retail¬ 
ers  as  his  agents  and  actually — not  by  a  legal  fic¬ 
tion,  but  literally — consigning  his  goods  to  these 
agents,  taking  his  pay  only  when  they  are  sold. 
If  he  is  willing  to  do  that  he  can  control  the  sell¬ 
ing  price  clean  to  the  limit,  but  he  has  not  been 
willing  to  do  it  up  to  this  time,  owing  to  the 
enormous  trouble  and  work  which  it  involves. 

(Copyright,  May,  1915,  by  Elton  J.  Buckley.) 


How  Bunker  Coal  Is  Stowed  In  Japan. 


Americans  traveling  through  the  Orient  and 
touching  at  Nagasaki,  Japan,  have  often  com¬ 
mented  upon  the  primitive  but  efficient  method 
of  coaling  ships  at  that  port. 

It  is  primitive,  because  human  labor  is  the 
only  agency  employed  in  this  onerous  task 
and  it  is  efficient  because  the  results  obtained 
within  a  given  time  fall  very  little,  if  any,  be¬ 
low  that  obtained  by  the  use  of  the  latest 
bunkering  devices. 

In  effect,  the  laborers  transform  themselves 
into  a  human  conveyor  and  the  coal  is  trans¬ 
ferred  from  the  barges  into  the  bunkers  of  the 
ship  with  marvelous  rapidity. 

As  soon  as  a  ship  is  ready  to  coal,  about 
twenty  coal  barges  are  arranged  on  each  side 
of  the  ship.  From  the  barges  stair-ladders  are 
placed,  eight  on  each  side.  On  each  stair  the 
coal  passers  are  placed  facing  each  other,  as 
shown  in  the  illustration.  The  laborers  in  the 
barges  rapidly  fill  small  baskets  containing 
about  a  half  a  bushel  of  coal,  which  is  passed 
to  the  laborer  on  the  lowest  step  of  the  lad¬ 
der.  He  in  turn  passes  it  to  the  one  above 
him  until  presently  there  is  a  continuous  stream 
of  the  small  baskets  ascending  the  ladder.  The 
movement  is  so  rapid  that  the  baskets  seem 
to  revolve  while  on  their  upward  flight.  As 
soon  as  the  baskets  are  emptied  they  are 
nested  in  threes  or  fours  and  thrown  back 


into  the  barges  to  be  used  again.  Nothing  is 
permitted  to  interrupt  the  continuous  motion 
or  to  break  the  chain.  A  laborer  getting  a 
piece  of  coal  in  his  eye  will  calmly  step  out 
of  line,  cover  the  eye  with  a  bandage  and  re¬ 
sume  his  place  as  if  nothing  had  happened. 

By  this  process  900  tons  of  coal  were  re¬ 
cently  placed  in  the  bunkers  of  the  steamship 
Persia  between  the  hours  of  six  o’clock  in  the 
morning  and  half  past  two  in  the  afternoon. 
The  laborers  at  their  work  hum  a  song  which 
enables  them  to  maintain  a  rhythm  in  their 
motions.  Women  as  well  as  men  are  employed 
in  this  work. 


A  London  dispatch  reads :  “German  news¬ 
papers  reaching  here  publish  details  of  the  gov¬ 
ernment’s  scheme  to  control  the  coal  industry 
in  Germany.  A  proclamation  empowers  the  state 
authorities  to  bring  the  owners  of  coal  fields  to¬ 
gether  by  compulsion  in  association  which  will 
control  the  whole  production  and  sale  of  coal.  It 
is  expressly  stated  that  these  associations  are  to 
be  formed  without  the  consent  of  the  coal  own¬ 
ers.  They  are  compelled  to  place  their  output  at 
the  disposal  of  the  association  from  the  moment 
it  begins  operations,  and  for  the  protection  of 
public  interests  the  state  is  given  various  con¬ 
trolling  rights,  particularly  with  regard  to  fi.xing 
prices.” 


The  Human  Conveyor  Belts  of  Japan  Putting  Bunker  Coal  in  the  Persia. 


104 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[August  7 


Formation  of  Coal  and  Influence  of  Grades.’ 


According  to  the  geologists  a  piece  of  coal  was 
many  thousands  of  years  ago  a  mass  of  damp 
vegetable  fibre,  a  portion  of  peat-bog.  Half  of  its 
weight,  approximately,  was  water  and  the  other 
half  would  contain,  by  analysis,  about  fifty  per 
cent  carbon,  six  per  cent  hydrogen,  forty  per  cent 
oxygen,  one  per  cent  nitrogen  and  two  per  cent 
ash. 

During  successive  geological  ages  the  peat-bog 
was  submerged  and  overlaid  with  mud,  which 
hardened  into  slate.  This  was  covered  with 
glacial  and  alluvial  drift  and  it  may  have  tilted 
and  upheaved  by  volcanic  action  or  subsidence  of 
the  earth’s  crust.  It  was  subjected  to  great  pres¬ 
sure  and  high  temperature  and  underwent  a  more 
or  less  complete  destructive  distillation  under 
pressure. 

The  conditions  under  which  the  distillation  oi 
the  peat-bogs  took  place  were  not  alike  in  dif¬ 
ferent  parts  of  the  world.  The  variable  factors 
were  time,  depth,  and  porosity  of  the  overlying 
strata,  pressure  and  temperature,  disturbance  of 
the  beds  by  floods  and  by  intrusion  into  them  of 
minerals,  such  as  carbonate  of  lime  held  in  solu¬ 
tion,  or  clay,  sand,  iron  and  sulphur. 

Therefore,  the  product  of  distillation  varies  in 
different  localities,  all  the  way  from  the  original 
peat,  through  brown  coal  or  lignite,  bituminous 
and  semi-bituminous  coal,  semi-anthracite  and 
anthracite  to  graphitic  coal.  The  last  named, 
which  is  found  in  Rhode  Island,  has  nearly  all 
the  volatile  hydrocarbon  gases  and  oxygen  driven 
off  from  it,  leaving  practically  only  fixed  carbon 
and  ash,  the  carbon  being  in  a  form  which  is  so 
hard  to  burn  that  the  coal  is  not  used  as  a  com¬ 
mercial  fuel.  The  lignite,  being  the  next  stage 
to  peat,  has  lost  its  woody  fibre,  retaining  perhaps 
a  third  of  its  water  and  a  large  part  of  the  orig¬ 
inal  hydrocarbon,  or  rather  oxy-hydrocarbon, 
since  it  contains  a  large  percentage  of  oxygen. 

Origin  of  Coal  Variety 

We  thus  have  different  varieties  of  coal,  due 
to  differences  in  the  extent  to  which  the  volatile 
gases  have  been  driven  off  from  the  original  peat 
or  other  woody  coal-forming  substance.  There 
are  also  differences  in  quality  in  each  variety,  due 
to  varying  percentages  of  ash  and  water.  The 
ash,  or  earthy  matter,  in  the  coal  ranges  from 
two  to  over  thirty  per  cent  in  different  localities. 
The  water  ranges  from  less  than  one  per  cent  in 
the  anthracites  up  to  fourteen  per  cent  or  more 
in  some  Illinois  coals  and  twenty-five  per  cent  or 
more  in  some  lignites.  This  water  seems  to  be 
held  by  capillary  attraction,  or  some  similar  force, 
within  the  particles  of  apparently  dry  coal,  so 
that  it  cannot  be  driven  off  without  heating  to  a 
temperature  considerably  higher  than  212°  F.  It 
requires  from  250  to  280°  F.  Many  coals  are 
hygroscopic  and  absorb  moisture  from  the  at¬ 
mosphere  and  the  quantity  they  will  contain  de¬ 
pends  not  only  on  the  nature  of  the  coal,  but  on 
the  relative  humidity  of  the  atmosphere,  which 
changes  from  day  to  day. 

Classification  of  Coal 

It  is  convenient  to  classify  the  several  varieties 
of  coal  according  to  the  relative  percentages  of 
carbon  and  volatile  matter  contained  in  their 
combustible  portion  as  determined  by  proximate 
analysis.  The  following  is  such  a  classification : 


Fixed 

Vol. 

Per 

Carbon. 

Matter. 

Cent. 

I 

97  -92.5 

3  -  7.5 

93 

2. 

Semi-anthracite  . 

92.5-87.5 

7.5-12.5 

94 

« 

87.5-75 

12.5-25 

100 

Bituminous,  eastern.... 

75  -06 

25  -40 

95 

r. 

Bituminous,  western.... 

65  -50 

35  -50 

90 

f-i. 

Lignites  . under 

50  over 

50 

77 

^Relative  value  of  combustible. 

The  location  in  which  the  several  classes  of 
coal  are  found  in  the  United  States  are  briefly 
as  follows : 

The  anthracites,  with  some  unimportant  ex¬ 
ceptions  are  confined  to  the  small  fields  in  eastern 
Pennsylvania,  known  as  “Southern,”  “Middle” 
and  “Northern,”  or  as  “Schuylkill,”  “Lehigh,” 
and  “Wyoming.”  The  area  of  the  first  is  128 
scjuare  miles,  of  the  second  thirty-eight  square 
miles  and  of  the  third  196  square  miles,  a  total 
of  472  square  miles.  There  are  fifteen  workable 
beds  in  this  area,  of  a  total  thickness  of  107  feet 
of  coal,  the  thickness  of  the  measures  in  which 
the  beds  are  interstratified  being  about  3,000  feet. 

The  coal  in  all  the  fields  follows  the  general 
law  of  increasing  in  percentage  of  volatile  mat- 

*Paper  read  at  the  meeting  of  the  Purchasing  Agents’ 
Association,  May  18,  1915. 

i'Analytical  chemist. 


By  O.  W.  Palmenberg.t 

An  Interesting  Study  of  the  Fuel  Situa¬ 
tion  From  Its  Ancient  Origin  Down  to 
the  Latest  Theory  as  to  Its  Use. 


ter  and  decreasing  in  hardness  towards  the  west¬ 
ern  portion  of  the  fields. 

The  anthracite  fields  of  Pennsylvania  are 
grouped  in  five  principal  divisions:  (1)  The 
southern  or  Pottsville  field,  (2)  the  western  or 
Mahanoy  and  Shamokin  field,  (3)  the  upper  Le¬ 
high,  (4)  the  northern  or  Wyoming  and  Lacka¬ 
wanna  field,  (5)  the  Loyalsock  and  Mahoopany 
field. 

Aside  from  this  geological  division,  the  fields 
are  also  subdivided  under  different  names  and 
in  a  different  way  for  trade  purposes,  the  divi¬ 
sions  being  known  as  regions.  These  are:  (1) 
the  Wyoming  region,  embracing  the  Northern 
and  Loyalsock  fields;  (2)  the  Lehigh  region,  em¬ 
bracing  all  of  the  eastern  middle  field  and  the 
Panther  Creek  district  of  the  southern  field,  and 
(3)  the  Schuylkill  region,  embracing  the  western 
middle  field  and  all  the  southern  field  except  the 
Panther  Creek  district. 

Sizes  of  Anthracite 

Much  confusion  and  inconvenience  in  the  mar¬ 
keting  of  anthracite  coal  has  been,  in  time  past, 
occasioned  by  the  want  of  uniformity  in  the  sizes 
of  the  coal  produced.  At  a  meeting  of  operators 
from  every  part  of  the  anthracite  fields,  held  for 
the  purpose  in  Wilkes-Barre,  this  subject  was 
considered,  and  the  following  sizes  of  meshes 
were  adopted,  to  take  effect  January  1,  1891 : 


Through.  Over. 

Grate  ...  .1  in.  sq.  or  4}4  round  in.  sq.  or  5%  round 

Egg  . 2  in.  sq.  or  Syl  round  2  in.  sq.  or  2}4  round 

Stove  ...  .2  in.  sq.  or  214  round  1^  in.  sq.  or  round 

Nut  . IH  in.  sq.  or  1.^  round  in.  sq.  or  %  round 

Pea  .  in.  sq.  or  %  round  in.  sq.  or  ^  round 

Buckwheat  in.  sq.  or  A  round  in.  sq.  or  round 

Rice  .  54  in.  sq.  or  round  in.  sq.  or  round 

Barley  ...  54  iu.  sq.  or  round  round 


The  semi-anthracites  are  found  in  a  few  small 
areas  in  the  western  part  of  the  anthracite  field 
known  as  the  Bernice  coal  basin,  which  lies  be¬ 
tween  Beech  Creek  on  the  north  and  Loyalsaek 
Creek  on  the  south. 

The  semi-bituminous  coals  are  found  in  a  nar¬ 
row  strip  of  territory  twenty  miles  wide  or  less 
on  the  eastern  border  of  the  great  Appalachain 
coal  field,  extending  from  north  central  Pennsyl¬ 
vania  across  the  southern  boundary  of  Virginia 
into  Tennessee,  a  distance  of  over  300  miles.  A 
peculiar  characteristic  of  all  these  semi- 
bituminous  coals  is  that  their  combustible  portion 
is  of  a  remarkably  uniform  composition,  the  vola¬ 
tile  matter  usually  ranging  between  eighteen  and 
twenty-three  per  cent  and  having  a  composition 
approaching  in  its  analysis  marsh  gas,  CHi  with 
very  little  oxygen.  They  are  usually  low  also  in 
moisture,  ash  and  sulphur  and  rank  among  the 
best  steam-coals  in  the  world. 

The  eastern  bituminous  coals  occupy  the  re¬ 
mainder  of  the  Appalachian  coal  field,  from  Penn¬ 
sylvania  and  eastern  Ohio  to  Alabama.  They  are 
higher  in  volatile  matter,  ranging  from  twenty- 
five  to  over  forty  per  cent,  the  higher  figure  in 
the  western  portion  of  the  field.  The  volatile 
matter  is  of  lower  heating  value  than  the  semi- 
bituminous,  being  higher  in  oxygen,  the  Pitts¬ 
burgh  vein  being  typical  for  this  coal. 

The  western  bituminous  coals  are  found  in 
most  of  the  states  west  of  the  Ohio  river,  Illinois 
being  the  largest  producer  among  these  states. 
There  are  three  principal  coal  basins  in  which 
this  class  of  coal  is  found:  (1)  The  Illinois  basin, 
extending  into  the  western  part  of  Indiana  and 
northwestern  Kentucky,  (2)  the  Michigan  basin 
and  (3)  the  Missouri  or  western  basin,  covering 
portions  of  Iowa,  Nebraska,  Missouri,  Kansas, 
Indian  Territory  and  Arkansas,  with  an  extension 
into  Texas.  These  coals  run  higher  in  volatile 
matter  and  are  lower  in  heating  value  than  the 
eastern  bituminous. 

Bituminous  coals  are  sometimes  classified  as 
caking  and  non-caking  coals,  according  to  their 
behavior  when  subjected  to  the  process  of  cok¬ 
ing.  The  caking  coals  swell  and  form  a  com- 
•  pact  coke  when  heated  while  the  non-caking  coals 
preserve  their  form  and  produce  a  coke  which 
is  brittle. 

Cannel  coals  are  bituminous  coals  that  are 
higher  in  hydrogen  than  the  ordinary  coals  of 
this  class. 


Lignite  or  brown  coal  includes  all  varieties 
which  are  intermediate  in  properties  between  peat 
and  coal  of  the  older  formations.  It  is  usually 
of  brownish  color,  is  non-caking,  and  high  in 
moisture  and  ash.  The  best  varieties  are  black 
and  pitchy  and  resemble  greatly  true  coals  in  ap¬ 
pearance.  They  contain  large  proportions  of 
water  and  of  oxygen,  and  their  heating  value  is, 
therefore,  much  lower  than  that  of  true  coals. 

Method  of  Coal  Purchasing 

Prior  to  about  the  year  1900  coal  was  mined 
and  sold  without  laying  much  stress  upon  the 
grade.  There  may  have  been  a  few  large  con¬ 
sumers  who  submitted  their  shipments  of  coal 
to  investigation  and  analysis.  The  majority, 
however,  even  to  this  day,  buy  coal  principally 
as  a  black  material  for  the  production  of  steam 
without  giving  much  attention  to  the  quality  from 
the  standpoint  of  chemical  analysis.  At  that  time 
there  were  not  many  records  available  showing 
the  value  of  the  various  grades  of  coal  offered 
upon  the  market,  and  in  transacting  coal  sales 
the  worth  of  a  coal  had  to  be  gauged  principally 
by  reputation. 

Where  small  installations  requiring  little 
power  were  predominant  this  method  of  purchas¬ 
ing  coal  was  perhaps  permissible,  but  when 
larger  units  began  to  develop,  and  the  output  of 
power  centralized,  bringing  with  it  a  large  con¬ 
sumption  of  coal,  the  difference  in  the  quality 
and  grade  of  various  shipments  of  coal  became 
very  evident.  It  was  at  the  time  when  these 
larger  units  for  the  production  of  power  were 
put  in  operation  that  the  method  for  a  close  in¬ 
spection  of  coal  was  introduced. 

As  an  illustration  of  this  kind  the  Interborough 
Rapid  Transit  Company  may  serve.  Prior  to  the 
building  of  the  large  power  station  necessitated 
by  the  electrifying  of  the  Elevated  Railroad,  there 
were  a  great  number  of  power  units  in  the  form 
of  locomotives  consuming  coal,  and  these  being 
small,  variations  of  the  coal  would  not  be  very 
noticeable. 

But  after  the  completion  of  the  large  power 
house,  where  a  vast  amount  of  coal  from  a  large 
storage  bin  was  fed  to  >a  battery  of  boilers  and 
the  units  of  power  produced,  compared  to  the 
coal  supplied,  were  under  observation,  any- 
marked  variation  of  the  grade  of  coal  could  be 
noticed.  It  was  soon  found  that  a  uniform  grade 
of  coal  would  produce  the  best  results.  These 
facts  led  to  the  installation  of  chemical  laborato¬ 
ries  as  a  necessary  part  in  the  operation  of  a 
large  power  plant. 

So  it  happened  with  the  Interborough  Rapid 
Transit  Company,  and  after  a  year  or  two  of  pre¬ 
liminary  study  a  method  was  worked  out  whereby 
specifications  were  issued  calling  for  competi¬ 
tive  bids  for  coal,  the  deliveries  of  which  would 
be  subject  to  chemical  analyses  and  the  price  paid 
in  accordance  with  the  actual  worth  of  the  coal 
as  a  steam  producer. 

To  my  knowledge,  very  few  other  concerns 
bought  coal  at  that  time  in  this  way  and  it  was 
not  till  after  the  investigations  which  were  con¬ 
ducted  under  the  supervision  of  the  LTnited  States 
Geological  Survey  at  the  St.  Louis  exposition  in 
1904,  that  the  United  States  government  took  up 
the  purchase  of  coal  on  the  basis  of  chemical  con¬ 
trol.  At  that  time  an  act  of  congress  provided 
for  the  appropriation  of  $60,000  to  be  used  for 
making  boiler  tests  and  analyses  of  coals  and 
lignites  of  the  United  States. 

After  this  time,  considerable  publicity  was 
given  to  the  purchase  of  coal  on  a  specification 
basis  controlled  by  chemical  analysis,^  the  conse¬ 
quences  beipg  a  regular  revolution  in  the  coal 
trade.  Analyses  of  coals  were  made  in  every 
imaginable  way  and  a  most  disturbed  condition 
was  produced.  Coal  dealers  not  being  familiar 
with  the  meaning  of  such  analyses,  have  suffered, 
others  have  gained.  Consumers,  who  had  anal¬ 
yses  of  coals  submitted  to  them  often  were 
misled,  in  the  selection  of  the  proper  fuel,  and 
so  it  is  today  except  that  a  better  general  knowl¬ 
edge  in  the  sale  and  purchase  of  coal  exists  in 
this  line  of  trade. 

Where  coal  is  juirchased  on  the  basis  of  a 
chemical  analysis,  the  essential  features  are  first, 
proper  selection  of  fuel  to  meet  furnace  condi¬ 
tions,  which  should  be  ascertained  by  making 
boiler  tests,  and  second,  proper  method  of 
sampling  the  coal  shipments  so  as  to  obtain  a  rep¬ 
resentative  sample. 

1  have  found  that  the  great  number  of  dis¬ 
putes  and  criticisms  arising  against  the  method 
of  purchasing  coal  on  a  b.  t.  u.  basis  can  be 
traced  to  the  faulty  method  of  sampling.  As  a 


No.  6] 


105 


rule,  specifications  are  drawn  up  and  every  pos¬ 
sible  care  is  given  to  the  penalty  and  premium 
clauses,  but  the  sampling  end  is  dealt  with  in  a 
superficial  manner.  The  proper  method  of  select¬ 
ing  a  representative  sample  must  suggest  itself 
from  the  conditions  as  they  are  given.  The  de¬ 
cision  of  a  method  must  be  left  to  a  responsible 
party  who  is  familiar  with  the  variations  pro¬ 
duced  in  the  sampling  when  shipping  _  different 
kinds  of  coal.  Each  case  is  a  study  in  itself  and 
should  be  worked  out  carefully  by  the  chemist. 

As  an  example  to  show  how  variations  rnay 
occur  in  sampling  coal  I  will  cite  the  following 
experience.  This  was  with  semi-bituminous  coal. 
Coal  was  shipped  by  two  companies  to  two  plants 
and  each  plant  consumed  about  the  same  amount 
and  received  the  shipments  in  cargoes  of  like 
amount.  The  two  coals  were  of  a  different  qual¬ 
ity.  The  method  of  receiving  and  unloading  the 
coal  was  the  same  for  the  two  plants  and  briefly 
as  follows :  A  clam  shell  bucket  would  hoist  the 
coal  to  a  receiving  hopper  at  the  top  of  the  coal 
tower,  from  here  it  passed  over  a  screen  and  all 
lumps  of  coal  passing  over  the  bars  were  crushed, 
whereupon  the  crushed  and  slack  coal  would 
meet  again  and  fall  into  a  pair  of  weighing  hop¬ 
pers,  which  would  be  filled  alternately.  On  the 
side  of  the  weighing  hopper  there  was  attached 
a  trough  which  would  allow  a  definite  amount  of 
coal  to  drop  in  during  the  charging.  The  hopper 
had  a  false  bottom,  which  when  opened,  allowed 
the  coal  to  drop  to  a  conveyor  which  carried  it 
to  the  bin.  Upon  emptying  this  hopper,  the  coal 
sampler  would  automatically  discharge  its  por¬ 
tion  of  coal  into  a  barrel.  In  this  way  frorii  an 
800-ton  cargo  a  gross  sample  was  obtained  weigh¬ 
ing  between  1,500  to  2,000  pounds  of  coal.  Each 
time  the  barrel  was  full,  which  represented  about 
200  pounds  of  coal,  this  coal  was  spread  out  on  a 
clean  concrete  floor,  crushed,  mixed,  piled  and 
quartered.  Opposite  quarters  were  discarded  and 
the  remaining  coal  crushed,  mixed,  piled,  etc. 
This  was  done  with  each  barrel  full  and  the 
small  sample  from  each  barrel  (representing 
about  ten  pounds)  was  placed  in  a  receptacle.  In 
this  way  a  composite  sample  was  obtained  from 
the  different  barrel-fulls.  This  composite  sam¬ 
ple  was  then  mixed,  crushed  and  prepared  for 
the  laboratory.  Even  taking  all  this  care,  it  hap¬ 
pened  that  the  coal  from  the  one  company  showed 
about  100  b.  t.  u.’s  higher  at  one  plant  than  the 
other,  and  with  the  other  coal,  the  reverse  was 
noticed.  Not  till  after  much  investigation  was 
it  found  that  the  cause  for  the  variations  was 
due  to  the  fact  that  the  opening  on  the  side  of 
the  hopper  for  the  sampler  was  in  a  different  re¬ 
lative  position  to  the  chute,  from  which  the  coal 
dropped  against  the  side  of  the  coal  hopper,  and 
that  the  impurities  of  the  two  coals  were  of  dif¬ 
ferent  physical  character,  and  the  arc  of  the 
falling  particles  of  coals  were  different. 
The  coal  which  had  hard  impurities  gave  high 
ash,  where  the  arc  struck  the  sampler  high,  and 
low  ash  with  the  coal  in  which  the  lump  coal 
predominated.  By  changing  the  position  of  the 
sampler  to  correspond  to  that  position  where  a 
number  of  check  samples  taken  in  different  ways 
from  the  boats  would  give  similar  analyses,  the 
trouble  was  corrected.  If,  however,  only  one 
plant  had  been  in  charge  this  difference  in  anal¬ 
yses  might  not  have  been  detected  so  readily. 
This  case  may  serve  to  explain  why  at  times 
the  analyses  at  one  plant  differ  so  much  from 
those  as  shown  by  a  coal  shipper,  where  deliver¬ 
ies  of  the  same  coal  have  been  made  to  some 
other  plant.  If  a  certain  method  of  sampling  is 
to  be  chosen,  it  must  first  be  checked  by  taking  a 
number  of  samples  in  different  ways  to  determine 
whether  the  method  is  correct  and  gives  consist¬ 
ent  results. 

Limitations  of  Chemists. 

Another  cause  for  disputes  often  lies  in  the 
fact  that  the  chemist  who  should  supervise  the 
process  of  sampling  is  confined  to  his  laboratory 
due  to  the  large  amount  of  work  he  may  have  to 
perform.  The  analyses  are  made  on  prepared 
coal  samples  of  which  he  has  no  information  and, 
although  both  parties  may  be  performing  their 
work  apparently  faithfully,  gross  errors  are  often 
made,  which  could  be  avoided  by  making  this 
process  co-operative.  A  case  of  this  kind  was 
brought  to  my  attention  some  time  ago. 

Upon  investigation  I  found  the  method  of  ob¬ 
taining  the  coal  sample  apparently  good,  but  the 
person  in  charge  of  preparing  the  sample  for  the 
laboratory  was  not  doing  his  end  properly.  The 
chemist  had  been  receiving  a  jar  of  pulverized 
coal,  but  never  attended  the  preparation  of  the 
sample.  The  man  had  been  told  to  pulverize  the 
sample  to  pass  a  certain  mesh  sieve.  The  coal  be¬ 
ing  hard,  A  No.  1  Buckwheat  coal,  this  gave  quite 
some  trouble  and  took  time  and  the  consequence 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


was,  to  get  through  with  the  work,  the  sampler 
would  crush  the  coal,  sieve  it  and  discard  what 
did  not  pass  through  the  sieve.  Then  a  new  por¬ 
tion  of  the  sample  was  treated  in  the  same  way 
and  enough  sieved  coal  obtained  to  fill  the  quart 
jar.  By  doing  this,  it  happened  that  the  ash  con¬ 
tent  of  the  coal  was  increased  between  three  and 
five  per  cent,  due  to  the  fact  that  the  coal  was  of 
such  a  nature  that  the  slate  broke  more  readily 
than  the  coal. 

Had  the  chemist  been  on  the  job,  this  fault 
would  no  doubt  have  been  detected  and  would 
have  prevented  a  lot  of  trouble.  You  will  see, 
therefore,  the  importance  of  having  the  sampling 
of  coal  looked  after  properly  and  what  great 
care  must  be  exercised  in  doing  this  work  rightly, 
not  leaving  it  altogether  to  some  irresponsible 
party  who  knows  nothing  about  the  intricacies  of 
coal  sampling. 

Coal  Specifications. 

A  coal  contract  which  embraces  specifications 
calling  for  coal  analyses  should  be  made  in  such 
a  way  as  to  be  fair  to  both  the  consumer  and  the 
contractor.  There  are  many  types  of  coal  speci¬ 
fications  and  all  sorts  of  conditions  are  exacted. 
Some  are  good,  many  are  bad  and  few  are  applic¬ 
able  to  different  plants.  Before  formulating  coal 
specifications  embracing  analyses,  considerable 
preliminary  study  is  necessary  for  each  case  and 
to  make  a  contract  indiscriminately  without  giving 
the  subject  proper  study  is  bound  to  lead  to  dis¬ 
content  on  the  part  of  the  contracting  parties  and 
poor  results  in  the  boiler  plant. 

Besides  the  usual  form  of  coal  specifications 
embracing  chemical  analysis,  within  recent  years 
the  fusing  test  showing  at  what  temperature  coal 
ash  melts,  has  become  of  great  importance  and  is 
being  applied  as  a  gauge  when  purchasing  coal. 
There  is  no  question  that  this  new  move  is  in  the 
right  direction,  for  the  fusing  test  throws  much 
light  upon  the  most  important  physical  character¬ 
istic  of  coal.  There  remains,  however,  much  to 
be  learned  in  connection  with  the  application  of 
this  test  to  the  purchase  of  coal.  This  subject  is 
naw  being  investigated  and  I  hope  it  will  not  be 
long  before  the  laboratory  test  will  be  applicable 
to  practice.  It  has  been  a  common  practice  to 
judge  the  clinkering  quality  of  a  coal  by  its  sul¬ 
phur  and  iron  content,  and  even  today  too  much 
stress  is  laid  upon  the  sulphur  in  coal,  when  se¬ 
lecting  a  fuel  for  steaming  purposes.  With  some 
coals  the  constituents  of  the  ash  may  be  a  gauge 
for  judging  the  value,  but  often  much  harm  is 
done  by  adhering  too  closely  to  this  practice. 
Operating  conditions  and  type  of  furnace  must 
be  considered  when  selecting  a  coal.  To  debar 
a  coal  from  being  used  simply  because  it  may  be 
high  in  sulfur,  without  taking  into  consideration 
its  state  of  combination  and  effect  of  combustion 
under  given  furnace  conditions,  is  a  wrong  policy. 
The  sulfur  in  the  coal  may  be  in  such  a  state  that 
it  does  no  harm  whatever.  In  fact,  the  sulfur 
as  such  has  no  bad  effect  and  it  is  only  the  iron, 
after  the  sulfur  has  been  set  free,  that  may  cause 
clinkering  trouble.  I  have  shown  by  careful  in¬ 
vestigation  that  the  iron  and  sulfur  are  no  gauge 
for  the  clinkering  quality  of  a  coal.  High  sul¬ 
fur  and  iron  coals  may  clinker  but  there  are  many 
coals  low  in  these  constituents  that  clinker  also. 
A  fusing  test  in  this  case  will  give  a  valuable 
index  as  to  the  clinkering  quality.  If  the  aver¬ 
age  working  temperature  of  the  furnace  is  known, 
which  can  easily  be  ascertained,  it  is  then  quite 
possible  to  pick  the  coal  most  suitable,  providing 
the  fusing  temperature  of  the  ash  is  know'n,  so 
that  with  a  fair  degree  of  accuracy  the  ex¬ 
perienced  person  can  tell  which  coal  will  be  most 
suitable  for  fixed  furnace  conditions. 

Storage  of  Coal. 

The  storage  of  coal  is  a  very  important  factor, 
when  coal  is  purchased  in  large  quantities  and 
considerable  study  has  been  given  to  this  question. 
The  kind  of  coal  and  its  nature,  from  a  chemical 
and  physical  standpoint  and  the  conditions  of¬ 
fered,  will  suggest  which  is  the  best  method  to 
select  for  storage.  Here  in  the  east  the  weather¬ 
ing  of  coal  does  not  come  into  consideration  for 
most  coals  used  are  of  such  a  nature  that  they 
do  not  lose  materially  when  stored  for  a  long 
period  of  time.  It  has  been  determined  that  the 
loss  in  b.  t.  u.’s  is  1  arely  more  than  one  per  cent 
on  coals  used  in  luis  section  of  the  country.  A 
more  serious  pr,  position,  however,  is  the  oxida¬ 
tion  to  which  all  coals  are  subject,  and  the  con¬ 
sequent  spontaneous  ignition  of  a  coal  pile.  Spon¬ 
taneous  combustion  is  brought  about  by  slow 
oxidation  in  an  air  supply  sufficient  to  support 
oxidation,  but  insufficient  to  carry  away  all  the 
heat  formed.  The  area  of  surface  exposed  to 
oxidation  by  a  given  mass  of  coal  determines 
largely  the  amount  of  oxidation  that  takes  place 


in  the  mass ;  it  depends  on  the  size  of  the  par¬ 
ticles  and  increases  rapidly  as  the  fineness  ap¬ 
proaches  that  of  dust.  Dust  is,  therefore,  dan¬ 
gerous,  particularly  if  it  is  mixed  with  lump  coal 
of  such  size  that  the  interstices  permit  the  flow 
of  a  moderate  amount  of  air  to  the  interior. 
Coals  differ  widely  in  friability,  that  is,  in  the 
proportion  of  dust  that  is  produced  under  like 
conditions  of  handling.  This  variation  of  friabil¬ 
ity  is  a  factor  in  effecting  the  liability  of  spon¬ 
taneous  combustion.  Sulfur  and  moisture  do  not 
necessarily  have  any  bearing  upon  the  spontaneous 
combustion  of  coal.  Coal  piles,  which  have  been 
on  fire,  have  shown  that  even  at  places  where  the 
heat  was  greatest  both  the  total  sulfur  and  that 
in  the  sulfate  or  oxidized  form  had  shown  very 
little  change.  This  change  amounts  to  less  than 
twenty-five  per  cent  on  an  average  and  shows  that 
less  than  one-fourth  of  the  total  sulfur  had  en¬ 
tered  into  the  heat-producing  reaction. 

A  very  usual  cause  for  spontaneous  combus¬ 
tion  may  be  traced  to  local  heating,  such  as  when 
a  steam  pipe  has  been  covered  with  the  coal  or 
it  has  been  deposited  in  a  pocket  of  a  bin  ex¬ 
posed  to  heat  without  sufficient  ventilation.  Coal 
piles  should  be  kept  low,  preferably  not  over  10 
or  12  feet  high  and  turned  over  once  or  twice  a 
year  if  the  nature  of  the  coal  is  such  to  induce 
spontaneous  combustion.  Although  it  is  not 
essential  to  cover  the  coal  with  a  shed,  this  prac¬ 
tice  suggests  itself  from  an  economical  stand¬ 
point,  since  the  coal  will  be  less  wet  when  fired 
and,  therefore,  more  heat  units  per  weight  of  coal 
burned  will  be  available.  The  expense  for  such  a 
covering  will  often  pay  for  itself  in  a  very  short 
time. 

I  have  endeavored  in  the  brief  time  allotted  to 
me,  to  bring  before  you  gentlemen,  a  subject  in 
which  all  of  you  are  more  or  less  interested,  but 
there  would  still  remain  much  that  I  am  not  able 
to  say  this  evening.  Although  a  tremendous  stride 
has  been  made  by  the  endeavors  of  those  who  are 
engaged  on  problems  pertaining  to  the  economic 
use  and  proper  method  for  selecting  fuel  for  vari¬ 
ous  purposes,  still  there  remains  a  vast  amount 
of  knowledge  yet  to  be  acquired. 

I  have  not  touched  upon  the  subject  of  coal 
preparation  and  methods  of  mining,  since  this 
would  be  more  of  interest  to  the  coal  operators 
than  the  coal  purchasers,  but  still  if  this  matter 
were  given  more  attention  and  there  existed  a 
better  mutual  understanding  between  the  man 
who  produces  the  coal  and  he  who  uses  it,  far 
different  and  more  efficient  results  would  be  at¬ 
tained  in  many  cases. 

Coal  is  one  of  Nature’s  most  bountiful  gifts, 
but  it  remains  to  man  to  learn  how  to  use  it,  al¬ 
ways  bearing  in  mind  that  economy  should  be 
the  foremost  thought,  for  its  nature  is  such,  that 
when  once  consumed,  it  is  irretrievably  lost. 


Communications. 


Coke  Ovens — Chattanooga  Gas  &  Coal 

Products  Company. 

Editor  The  Black  Diamond; 

Your  reference  to  above  ovens  erected  by 
the  “American  Coal  &  By-Products  Coke 
Company”  of  Chicago,  Ill.,  in  your  issue  of 
the  24th  instant,  is  somewhat  in  error. 

The  principle  of  heatin.g  coke  ovens  from 
the  top  is  covered  in  m,y  United  States  patent 
of  May  3,  1912;  Serial  No.  607148.  At  this 
time,  I  assigned  one-fourth  interest  to  Mr. 
Roberts  and  one-fourth  interest  to  Mr.  Ander¬ 
son.  The  latter,  Mr.  Edward  Anderson,  is 
well  and  favorably  known  amongst  coal  men. 
Later  the  “American  Coal  &  By-Products  Coke 
Company”  was  formed  to  take  over  the  patent. 
It  was  tested  out  for  over  two  years  at  the 
Gary  Steel  plant,  Gary,  Ind.  The  Chattanooga 
contract  is  the  result. 

The  writer  does  not  care  a  snap  regarding 
the  name  of  the  oven,  because  all  patents  or 
future  patents  on  coke  oven  construction  be¬ 
come  the  property  of  the  Chicago  or  parent 
company  of  which  Mr.  E.  M.  Bowman  is 
president.  Such  an  arrangement  makes  all  in¬ 
terests  mutual  for  the  success  of  this  company. 
But,  protection  of  interests  from  the  obvious 
intent  conveyed  in  the  notice  above  referred 
to  is  plainly  yet  unfortunately  made  necessary. 
Years  of  study  and  practical  application  to  de¬ 
velop  a  new  type  of  by-product  coke  oven, 
along  true  fundamental  principles,  is  entitled 
to  protection,  as  well  as  substantial  recogni¬ 
tion. 

R.  S.  Moss,  Consulting  Expert. 
American  Coal  &  By-Products  Coal  Co.,  Chi¬ 
cago,  Ill. 


106 


[August  7 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


A  Machine  Which  Mines  and  Loads  Coal. 


For  the  last  eight  or  ten  years  Pittsburgh  re¬ 
ports  have  declared  at  frequent  intervals  that 
“H.  A.  Kuhn  has  invented  a  machine  which  will 
mine  and  load  coal  without  hand  labor.” 

Sometimes  Mr.  Kuhn  found  himself  in  Mark 
Twain’s  position  when,  in  London,  he  received 
an  American  cable  asking  if  it  were  true  that  he 
had  died.  At  other  times  the  reports  were  liter¬ 
ally  true.  He  had  invented  such  a  machine  and 
it  would  mine  coal.  But  something  was  wrong 
with  it ;  maybe  it  cost  too  much  to  run  it.  Thus 
year  after  year  the  reports  spread,  but  they  never 
were  sanctioned. 

Two  weeks  ago  Mr.  Kuhn,  himself,  made  the 
announcement ; 

"rve  that  machine  now.  Mechanical  mining 
in  a  practical  sense  is  a  fact.  If  you’ll  come 
down  to  Pittsburgh  I’ll  show  you  how  it  works.” 

“How  much  of  a  fact?  What  has  it  done?” 

“I’ve  worked  several  of  the  last  design  nearly 
every  day  for  a  year  and  a  half  and  they  are  still 
going.  I’ve  let  everybody  run  them — machine 
men,  boys,  drivers  and  careless  men — and  no  one 
has  been  able  to  break  them.  I’ve  asked  them  to 
try  to  break  them  and  they  could  not.  I’ve  let 
t:oo  tons  of  slate  and  rock  fall  on  top  of  one,  and 
it  not  only  was  not  damaged  but  backed  out  from 
under  the  fall  and  loaded  the  slate  and  rock  into 
the  pit  cars  in  a  short  time.  I’ve  run  these  me- 
chines  into  horsebacks  and  they  took  them  out. 
I’ve  run  them  in  fifteen  to  eighteen  inches  of 
water  and  they  mined  coal  just  the  same.  I’ve 
run  them  on  hard  floors  and  on  heaving  bot¬ 
toms  ;  they  worked  as  well  in  one  place  as  the 
other.  I’ve  mined  short  walls  and  long  walls 
with  them.  I’ve  used  them  in  straight  mining 
and  pillar  drawing  to  equal  advantage.  I’ve 
driven  entries  with  them  and  I’ve  made  them 
turn  corners  at  right  angles  in  a  nine  to  ten 
foot  entry  to  get  at  coal  or  mine  break¬ 
throughs.  The  machine  has  never  failed  and  it 
has  never  been  broken.  And,  they  produce  coal 
at  a  cost  of  less  than  half  the  present  cost  in  a 
district  where  the  average  cost  is  about  fifty-three 
cents  and  at  an  additional  power  cost  over  present 
power  costs  under  present  methods  with  hand 
labor  of  seven-tenths  of  a  kilowatt  hour  per  ton 
of  coal  placed  in  the  pit  wagon.” 

“There  are  some  other  advantages  accruing 
to  the  operation  of  these  machines  in  coal  mining; 
The  areas  of  mine  operations  are  made  smaller 
by  about  eighty  per  cent.  Accidents  and  injuries 
to  miners  are  minimized,  as  the  men  do  not  have 
to  work  at  the  face,  nor  work  under  underlying 
slate,  and  there  can  be  no  “blow  out”  shots.  The 
roof  is  not  disturbed  by  mining  with  this  machine 
— roof-falls  will  be  largely  eliminated  as  com¬ 
pared  with  falls  of  roof  occurring  under  the 
present  practice  of  placing  powerful  shots  on  the 
roof  line.  The  cost  of  ventilating,  pumping,  mine 
roads,  wiring,  hauling  and  other  underground 
costs  are  largely  reduced  on  account  of  concen¬ 
tration  of  operations  underground  to  one-fifth  of 
the  area  necessary  to  operation  under  the  present 
mining  methods.” 

If  all  that  were  true,  only  one  statement  accu¬ 
rately  describes  the  situation — a  revolution  in  coal 
mining  was  at  hand.  One  of  those  major  changes 
was  about  to  be  seen  in  the  trade  which  spelled 
the  beginning  of  an  epoch.  The  most  natural 
thing  to  do  was  to  challenge  the  statements  but 
that  was  neither  fair  nor  safe  when  a  man  has 
spent  years  and  more  than  $100,000  to  one  end. 
So  I  accepted  the  invitation  and  went  to  Pitts- 
bungh  to  see  the  machine  work  and  to  study  it. 

I  will  tell  here  only  what  I  saw. 

We  drove  from  Pittsburgh  twenty  miles  to 
the  Blaine  mine.  Some  distance  from  the  main 
bottom  and  near  the  outcrop  one  section  of  the 
mine  was  set  aside  for  mechanical  mining  with 
these  machines.  We  passed  in  through  entries 
that  had  been  driven  by  the  new  machines.  We 
went  into  rooms  which  they  had  opened  and 
worked.  We  saw  places  where  they  had  driven 
l)reakthroughs.  We  passed  one  place  where  pil¬ 
lars  had  been  drawn  by  them.  Then  we  came 
to  the  machine  itself. 

My  first  impression  was  that  I  was  looking  at 
the  rear  wheels  of  an  auto  truck  with  some  extra 
machinery — not  much — between.  It  looked  as 
though  a  platform  had  been  built  on  top;  because 
the  front  wheels  were  missing.  This  was  resting 
on  the  floor  in  front  and  was,  consequently,  ele¬ 
vated  behind.  I  should  say  that  this  platform 
was  sixteen  or  eighteen  feet  long  and  six  and  a 
half  feet  wide.  It  stood  about  five  feet  tall. 

Two  men  were  there  to  work  it.  It  was  eleven 
o’clock  in  the  morning.  That  last  is  an  important 
detail,  as  the  further  recital  will  show. 


H.  A.  Kuhn  of  Pittsburgh,  After  Years  of 
Study,  Produces  a  Machine  Which  Prom¬ 
ises  to  Open  a  New  Epoch  in  Coal 
Mining. 

One  workman  moved  one  lever  which  released 
an  automatic  catch.  Instantly  a  modified  design 
of  an  ordinary  undercutting  machine,  which  was 
perched  upon  the  platform  and  in  the  center, 
moved  down  the  incline  to  the  floor  and  in  the 
regular  manner  made  a  cut  across  the  eighteen 
foot  face.  By  11 :20  this  work  was  finished  and 
the  mining  machine,  moving  under  its  own  power, 
had  climbed  back  upon  the  platform ;  it  was 
fastened  in  place  by  the  automatic  catch. 

The  same  motor  which  had  driven  the  under¬ 
cutting  machine  was  then  thrown  into  gear  with 
a  drill — a  part  of  the  Kuhn  machine — and 
mounted  on  the  right  side  of  the  platform.  With 
the  two  men  directing  the  bit,  three  six-foot 
holes  were  drilled  in  the  face.  In  five  minutes — 
ordinarily  it  takes  less  than  four — this  work  was 
done  and  the  drill  was  put  to  one  side. 

Another  lever  threw  the  same  motor  into  an¬ 
other  gear,  which  hoisted  the  front  end  until  the 
platform  was  horizontal. 

The  motor  was  next  thrown  into  gear  with  an 
arm  above  and  on  the  right  hand  side  of  the 
platform.  This  was  about  eight  feet  long  by 
fifteen  inches  across.  It  was  set  parallel  with 
the  platform  and  on  edge.  Encircling  it  was  a 
motor  driven  chain  set  with  the  bits  used  on 
undercutting  machines.  As  this  chain  revolved 
around  the  frame  the  arm  was  advanced  into  the 
coal.  Thus  a  cut  eighteen  inches  high  and  six 
feet  deep  was  made  in  the  center  and  at  the  top 
of  the  seam.  When  this  incision  had  been  made, 
the  platform  was  lowered  gradually  and  as  the 
chain  continued  to  revolve  a  vertical  cut  was 
made  in  the  center  of  the  room.  My  recollection 
is  that  this  took  about  eight  minutes. 

The  holes  were  then  charged  and  tamped.  The 
workmen  used  one-half  the  amount  of  powder 
required  in  an  ordinary  shot. 

When  we  returned  to  the  room  very  little  coal 
had  fallen.  I  should  say,  offhand,  that  about 
five  to  seven  per  cent  of  the  coal  was  down.  But, 
even  to  the  untrained  eye,  it  was  evident  that  all 
the  coal  wliich  had  been  undercut  and  sheared 
had  been  loosened.  For  instance,  the  coal  had 
moved  laterally  enough  to  close  the  opening  made 
by  the  vertical  cut.  Also,  the  natural  lines  of 
cleavage  were  rather  sharply  marked  and  here 
and  there  small  open  cracks  were  seen. 

The  work  of  loading  began  at  this  point.  The 
spectacle  presented  in  the  next  few  moments  was 
one  which  I  shall  not  forget  soon,  for  in  that 
demonstration  I  saw  the  coal  miniag  method  of 
the  world  begin  to  undergo  a  gradual  change. 
Let  me  present  the  picture  as  I  saw  it. 

The  front  end  of  the  platform  was  resting  on 
the  floor;  the  rear,  standing  about  five  feet  high, 
was  over  the  pit  car.  The  wheels — built  like 
those  of  a  traction  engine  and  about  six  feet 
apart — were  revolving  slowly  while  the  workmen 
put  the  machine  in  exactly  the  right  position  to 
attack  the  pile  of  coal.  The  busy  wheels,  the 
slanting  platform  and  all  that  reminded  me  of  a 
bustling  big  rooster  scratching  and  pecking  in  the 
dirt. 

The  mechanician  raised  a  lever  immediately  in 
front  of  him  on  the  left-hand  side  of  the  machine 
and  the  front  of  the  platform  moved  over  against 
the  right-hand  wall.  The  rear  of  the  platform 
was  still  over  the  pit  car. 

He  pulled  another  lever  on  top  and  the  coal 
bevgan  running  up  a  channel  which  runs  along  the 
left-hand  side  of  the  platform.  This  seemed  com¬ 
plex  at  first  but,  like  everything  else  about  the 
machine,  it  is  perfectly  simple.  That  is,  the  outer 
portion  of  the  platform  has  been  turned  into  an 
excavator.  An  opening  is  made  under  the  coal ; 
into  this  opening  the  end  of  the  platform  is 
shoved  by  the  simple  act  of  moving  the  whole 
machine  forward  a  few  inches. 

The  coal,  naturally,  falls  upon  this  platform 
and  is  carried  to  the  pit  car. 

At  the  upper  end  of  the  platform  the  revolving 
arms  run  over  an  opening.  Through  this  the 
coal  falls  into  the  pit  car. 

I  timed  this  operation.  The  first  pit  car,  which 
held  three  tons  of  coal,  was  loaded  in  a  little  less 
than  three  minutes.  Therefore — it  was  a  simple 
problem  in  mathematics — the  loading  speed  was, 
in  straight  coal,  a  little  better  than  a  ton  a  minute. 

The  mechanician  pulled  up  a  second  lever  and 


the  machine  moved  cautiously  but  resistlessly 
into  the  face.  There  the  end  of  the  platform 
encountered  what  seemed  to  be  a  solid  block  of 
coal.  The  instant  this  machine  made  its  attack, 
a  quiver  ran  through  the  column  of  coal  from 
top  to  bottom.  A  succession  of  shocks  were 
given  that  coal  column,  in  regular  succession,  and 
with  each  one  a  veritable  wave  of  action  was 
seen  in  the  block  of  coal.  When  this  had  been 
repeated  several  times  small  columns  broke  loose 
from  the  mass  and  fell  upon  the  front  of  the 
machine.  The  whole  machine  was  then  backed 
away  a  few  inches  and  loaded  out  this  coal  in 
the  manner  already  described. 

In  that  wave  action  transmitted  to  the  coal 
lies  the  bi.g  point  of  the  whole  machine.  That 

is,  instead  of  using  a  large  amount  of  power  to 
break  down  the  coal,  only  enough  is  used  to 
move  it  out  of  its  native  bed  after  its  main 
cleavage  lines  have  been  released  by  shock,  and 
this  shock  is  produced  by  about  one-half  the  or¬ 
dinary  amount  of  powder  so  applied  as  not  to 
affect  the  roof.  Then,  an  undulating  motion  is 
applied  to  complete  the  break,  which  is  tremen¬ 
dously  interesting. 

By  this  arrangement  coal  is  loaded  out  con¬ 
taining  about  seventy-five  to  eighty  per  cent  lump. 
This  is  equal  to  the  result  obtained  by  the  best 
hand  mining. 

Before  the  big  machine  had  completed  the 
work  of  taking  the  coal  across  that  eighteen-foot 
face  I  had  a  chance  to  see  it  put  through  one 
of  its  “stunts.”  To  the  left  of  what  had  been  the 
vertical  cut  there  was  a  column  of  coal  about 
six  feet  across,  about  six  feet  high  and  about 
three  feet  thick.  It  was  a  solid  block  upon  which 
the  powder  had  for  some  reason  but  little  or 
no  effect  except  to  release  it  from  the  face  and 
rib.  On  top  of  it  was  poised  an  ugly  looking 
slab  of  slate  which  was  fully  a  foot  thick  and 
several  feet  across  in  either  direction.  It  was 
evident  that  to  take  out  that  coal  would  allow 
the  slate  to  fall. 

The  machine  runner  had  no  fear  of  being 
caugbt  when  it  fell,  for  he  was  at  least  ten  feet 
away.  His  helper  was  in  the  rear  of  the  machine 
trimming  the  pit  car.  So,  the  machine  tackled 
the  solid  block  of  coal.  The  undulating  motion 
passed  under  it  but  only  raised  without  breaking 

it.  The  end  of  the  platform  was  raised  a  little. 
This  lifted  the  block  clear  of  the  floor  and  let  it 
fall,  but  still  no  break  occurred.  The  only  effect 
was  to  move  the  bottom  of  it  forward  and  to  let 
the  top  fall  back  against  the  face. 

When  that  was  done  the  piece  of  slate — it 
weighed  about  a  ton  and  a  half — came  tumbling 
down  upon  the  front  end  of  the  platform.  It 
struck  a  sort  of  fender,  which  is  thrown  up  over 
the  cutting  arm  of  the  mining  machine  to  ward 
off  such  blows.  This  had  no  effect  on  the  machine 
whatever.  Instead,  it  continued  to  load  coal  off 
the  floor  as  though  nothing  had  happened.  When 
that  part  of  the  work  was  done,  the  machine  was 
backed  a  little,  or  enough  to  allow  the  piece  of 
slate  to  fall  upon  the  mechanism  of  the  drag 
line  conveyor.  Thereupon  the  direction  of  the 
revolving  arms  was  reversed  and  the  big  piece 
of  slate  was  carried  to  one  side  of  the  room  in  a 
few  seconds  and  without  human  effort.  The 
slate  was  moved  entirely  out  of  the  way  when 
the  machine’s  nose  was  turned  a  little  to  the 
right  and  thus  nudged  over  against  the  rib. 

The  loading  of  coal  was  then  resumed.  Two 
or  three  charges  of  the  stout  machine  against  the 
big  lump  were  successful  in  breakin.g  it  Up. 

Mr.  Kuhn  and  the  workmen  wanted  to  show 
me  what  the  machine  could  do,  so  they  did  more 
at  certain  stages  than  was  really  necessary.  Also 
it  took  time  to  explain  to  a  novice  the  different 
parts  of  the  mechanism.  Also  they  took  a  little 
extra  time  to  prove  its  simplicity  and  its  rugged¬ 
ness  by  letting  me  run  it.  Further,  we  had  to 
wait  once  or  twice  for  pit  cars.  Nevertheless,  by 
half  past  one  o’clock  we  were  out  of  that  room 
and  were  examining  the  workings  at  other  places. 
By  two  o’clock  we  were  in  the  automobile  and 
were  headed  back  to  Pittsburgh. 

Here  is  the  record :  From  eleven  o’clock  until 
a  little  after  one  we  had  loaded  out  five  three-ton 
pit  cars  and  three  two-ton  pit  cars  of  coal  and 
one  two-ton  pit  car  holding  about  four  tons  of 
slate — twenty-one  tons  of  coal  and  four  tons  of 
slate. 

Mr.  Kuhn  claims  for  this  machine  only  three 
cycles  and  perhaps  a  half  in  a  day.  I  am  con¬ 
vinced  that,  without  working  hard  or  rushing 
things,  it  can  easily  complete  four  cycles  in  eight 
hours,  especially  where  slate  is  not  bothersome. 
That  would  mean  eighty-four  tons  of  coal  and 


No.  6] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


107 


sixteen  tons  of  slate  in  an  eight  hour  shift.  If 
working  in  coal  alone,  it  would  easily  mean 
eighty  to  one  hundred  tons  in  a  shift. 

On  the  way  back  to  Pittsburgh  we  began  to  talk 
costs.  Mr.  Kuhn  made  a  computation,  a  com¬ 
parison  and  an  analysis.  In  the  Pittsburgh  Thin 
Vein  district  the  actual  average  labor  cost  of 
mining  coal  is  from  fifty-two  to  fifty-three  cents 
a  ton.  (This  does  not  include  roads,  pumping, 
ventilating,  haulage,  hoisting,  outside  or  overhead 
costs,  of  course.)  With  this  machine  the  labor 
cost  is  less  than  half  the  present  cost,  as  any  basis 
of  computation  will  show.  Anyone  can  operate 
the  machine,  as  the  last  three  years  have  been 
spent  solely  for  the  purpose  of  standardizing 
parts,  and  to  give  it  simple  controls  that  make  it 
“fool-proof.”  Each  important  feature  is  protect¬ 
ed  by  a  slipping  clutch,  and  back  of  that  the 
whole  machine  is  protected  automatically  from 
injury.  An  ordinary  workman  by  keeping  the 
machine  busy  (which  is  light  work)  may  earn 
from  forty  to  sixty  cents  per  hour  or  better.  The 


The  announcements  of  the  Sixth  Annual  Con¬ 
vention  of  the  National  Commissary  Managers’ 
Association,  to  be  held  at  the  Hotel  Gibson,  Cin¬ 
cinnati,  August  24,  25  and  26,  have  just  been 
issued. 

From  reports  and  the  number  of  acceptances 
already  received,  the  Sixth  Convention  promises 
to  have  more  interested  parties  in  attendance  than 
any  other  ever  held. 

Coal  mine  companies  everywhere  have  sanc¬ 
tioned  the  going  and  will  pay  the  expenses  of 
their  commissary  managers.  The  Consolidation 
Coal  Company  of  Fairmont,  W.  Va.,  has  author¬ 
ized  the  attendance  of  six  division  store  man¬ 
agers,  and  the  Tennessee  Coal  &  Iron  Co.  has 
done  likewise.  These  two  cases  and  the  accept¬ 
ances  of  many  mine  stores  managers  evidence  the 
realization  upon  the  part  of  coal  companies  every¬ 
where  of  the  benefit  they  derive  in  having  their 
commissary  men  attend  these  conventions.  Every 
mining  company,  no  matter  where  located,  operat¬ 
ing  a  commissary  store  in  connection  with  their 
mine,  should  authorize  the  attendance  of  their 
store  managers  and  commissary  buyers.  The  ex¬ 
pense  is  an  investment  returning  many  times  the 
cost  of  the  trip  to  the  coal  company. 

Ever  since  the  organization  of  this  association 
at  Baltimore  in  1910  a  growing  interest  has  been 
manifested  in  its  activities  and  especially  its  an¬ 
nual  convention  to  which  are  attracted  the  man¬ 
agers  of  company  stores  operated  by  sawmills  and 
mining  institutions  throughout  the  country.  The 
fundamental  purposes  back  of  the  association 
work  are  to  promote  the  welfare  of  the  commis¬ 
sary  trade  and  to  increase  the  individual  efficiency 
of  commissary  managers.  “Increased  efficiency 
through  cooperation”  is  the  motto  of  the  com¬ 
missary  men  and  anyone  who  has  attended  any 
convention  in  the  past  knows  what  a  serious  and 
sincere  effort  they  make  to  help  each  other  at 
these  meetings. 

For  the  coming  meeting  at  Cincinnati  an  ex¬ 
cellent  program  has  been  arranged — “the  best  in 
our  history,”  says  the  official  announcement  just 
issued  from  the  office  of  the  secretary,  Tracy  D. 
Luccock,  801  Manhattan  Building,  Chicago. 

There  will  be  three  morning  sessions  and  one 
afternoon  session.  Among  the  speakers  and  a 
brief  outline  of  their  subjects  are: 

F.  C.  Gifford,  Chicago,  secretary  National  Asso¬ 
ciation  of  Box  Manufacturers,  who  for  many 
years  has  been  a  careful  student  of  industrial  ac¬ 
tivities  and  who  will  speak  from  a  wealth  of  ex¬ 
perience  and  observation  on  “How  the  Commis¬ 
sary  Manager  Can  Assist  the  Operating  Com¬ 
pany.” 

Frank  Stockdale,  Chicago,  Lecture  Service  Sys¬ 
tem  Magazine,  whose  blackboard  talk  on  “Keeping 
Up  with  the  Rising  Costs”  is  an  exceedingly  help¬ 
ful  and  illuminating  analysis  of  the  problems  of 
retailing  and  the  cost  of  doing  business. 

H.  S.  Youker,  Philadelphia,  assistant  manager 
division  of  commercial  research,  Curtis  Publish¬ 
ing  Company,  whose  first  hand  investigations  of 
the  retail  field  covering  the  entire  country  emi¬ 
nently  qualify  him  to  speak  authoritatively  on  his 
subject,  “Retail  Merchandising.” 

Anderson  Pace,  Chicago,  secretary  Produce 
Terminal  Corporation  (formerly  industrial  com¬ 
missioner  Chicago  Association  of  Commerce), 
whose  success  in  many  departments  of  merchan¬ 
dizing  work  has  been  conspicuous ;  a  brilliant  con¬ 
vention  leader.  Subject:  “Personality  in  Busi¬ 
ness.” 

R.  H.  Grant,  Dayton,  sales  manager  National 
Cash  Register  Company,  a  man  of  wide  selling 


expense  of  operating  the  machine  other  than  labor 
cost  is : 

Power — 1  cent  per  ton  of  coal. 

Powder — kz  cent  per  ton  of  coal. 

Interest,  depreciation  and  repairs  about  3  cents 
per  ton  of  coal. 

Including  these  charges  the  cost  is  about  one- 
half  the  present  mining  cost.  There  is  no  dead 
work  or  yardage,  as  the  machine  drives  narrow 
places  almost  as  cheaply  as  wide  places. 

What  is  said  here  does  not  end  this  remarkable 
story  by  any  means.  There  is  still  to  be  told 
the  theory  upon  which  it  was  constructed;  the 
experiments  with  other  machines;  the  influence 
upon  future  conditions  and  a  little  about  the 
somewhat  remarkable  and  certainly  interesting 
man  who  worked  it  out.  The  telling  of  all  that 
will  be  undertaken  in  due  time.  The  task  of 
the  minute  is  to  show  that  mechanical  mining  is, 
at  last,  a  fact,  and  then  to  tell  just  what  sort  of 
a  machine  it  is  that  does  the  work.  That  part  of 
it  has  consumed  this  article.  The  Editor. 


experience  and  a  gifted  speaker ;  a  human  dy¬ 
namo.  Subject:  “Salesmanship.” 

J.  W.  Fiske,  Detroit,  director  selling  service, 
J.  L.  Hudson  Company  (formerly  manager  Dry 
Goods  Economist  training  school),  who  began  his 
merchandising  career  twenty  years  ago  in  a  lum¬ 
ber  commissary ;  one  of  the  country’s  leading 
store  experts.  Subject:  “Better  Management 
and  Better  Salesmanship.” 

At  the  Tuesday  afternoon  session  the  annual 
experience  meeting  will  take  place,  embracing  five- 
minute  talks  by  commissary  managers  and  a  gen¬ 
eral  discussion  of  the  following  subjects: 

How  to  manage  clerks  to  win  their  loyalty  and 
increase  their  efficiency.  (Can  a  commissary 


F.  M.  Meadows. 


manager  have  a  greater  asset  than  harmony  and 
enthusiasm  among  his  clerks?) 

Building  bigger  business  in  the  commissary,  in¬ 
cluding  a  discussion  of  sales  plans,  contests,  ad¬ 
vertising  schemes,  bargain  days,  special  sales,  dis¬ 
play — window  and  inside,  winning  the  trade  and 
good  will  of  difficult  customers,  show  cards  and 
bulletin  boards,  meeting  and  heating  competition, 
turning  prejudice  into  confidence. 

Importance  of  departmentizing  the  commissary. 

Methods  of  making  the  store  more  inviting. 

Fundamentals  in  buying  merchandise. 

The  variety  department. 

The  meat  department. 

Methods  of  cleaning  out  old  stock. 

Planning  for  the  Christmas  trade. 

The  delivery  department. 

_  Putting  character  and  “punch”  into  your  adver¬ 
tising.  * 

Cost  of  doing  business. 

Advantages  of  a  uniform  accounting  system  for 
commissary  stores. 

How  inventory  helps  and  hurts. 

Experiences  with  coupons,  metal  checks,  scrip, 
etc.  Their  comparative  advantages. 

Credits  and  collections ;  installment  plans. 

Refrigerating  systems  and  ice  plants. 

Farm  trade. 

Throughout  the  convention  a  question  box  will 
be  ready  to  receive  from  the  commissary  men 
suggestions  for  subjects  and  questions  to  be  dis¬ 
cussed.  The  box  will  be  opened  and  the  questions 


discussed  at  one  of  the  sessions  under  the 
auspices  of  a  special  committee.  In  this  manner 
it  is  expected  that  every  subject  of  interest  and 
problem  concerning  commissary  management  will 
receive  attention  for  the  mutual  benefit  of  all  pres¬ 
ent. 

A  big  feature  of  the  convention  will  be  the 
merchandise  displays.  Two  entire  floors  of  the 
Hotel  Gibson  will  be  used  for  this  purpose.  Fifty 
leading  manufacturers  and  jobbers  have  arranged 
for  space  and  will  exhibit  their  lines,  thus  afford¬ 
ing  managers  an  excellent  opportunity  to  get  a 
line  on  “what’s  new”  and  “what’s  best”  for  their 
stores.  These  are  being  prepared  at  the  urgent 
request  of  the  officers  of  the  association  and  they 
will  be  so  handled  as  to  interfere  in  no  way  with 
the  business  sessions. 

The  social  side  will  not  be  neglected.  Elaborate 
entertainment  plans  are  being  made  by  the  Cin¬ 
cinnati  business  men,  including  a  banquet,  an  eve¬ 
ning  at  Chester  Amusement  Park,  a  vaudeville 
performance  with  Dutch  lunch,  etc.  In  addition, 
there  will  be  special  entertainment  features  for 
the  ladies. 

The  officers  of  the  association  are : 

President — F.  M.  Meadows,  Continental  Coal 
Corporation,  Pineville,  Ky.  A  photograph  of  Mr. 
Meadows  is  shown  herewith. 

Vice-President— G.  A.  Musson,  Weed  Lumber 
Company,  Weed,  Cal. 

Vice-President — Herbert  Moss,  Carter-Kelly 
Lumber  Company,  Manning,  Tex. 

Vice-President — A.  W.  Dowling,  Hilton-Dodge 
Lumber  Company,  Belfast,  Ga. 

Vice-President— John  I.  Bellaire,  Wisconsin 
Land  &  Lumber  Company,  Blaney,  Mich. 

Vice-President — J.  Milton  Bailey,  Bailey  Lum¬ 
ber  Company,  Penland,  N.  C. 

Complete  program  announcements  and  conven¬ 
tion  information  may  be  obtained  from  the  secre¬ 
tary,  Tracy  D.  Luccock,  801  Manhattan  Building, 
Chicago. 


Sunday  Creek  Co.  Changes. 


Taking  effect  August  1st,  the  traffic  department 
was  consolidated  with  the  sales  department,  with 
Sales  Manager  Coen  in  charge  of  both.  This  fol¬ 
lowed  the  resignation  last  week  of  C.  F.  Mayer, 
who  has  been  at  the  head  of  the  traffic  bureau  for 
the  past  ten  years.  As  Mr.  Coen  has  had  a  rail¬ 
road  experience,  the  change  is  expected  to  mean 
no  loss  of  efficiency  and  will  be  in  the  interests 
of  economy.  The  complete  divorcement  of  the 
company  from  railroad  association  makes  a  sep¬ 
arate  traffic  bureau  less  necessary.  Mr.  Mayer  was 
formerly  assistant  freight  agent  of  the  Hocking 
Valley  Railway  Company,  and  besides  being  a 
man  of  lar.ge  energies,  is  recognized  as  an  expert 
in  his  line  of  work. 

Ohio  has  been  practically  abandoned  for  the 
time  being  by  the  Sunday  Creek  Company,  its 
mines  on  the  Toledo  &  Ohio  Central  having  been 
closed  within  the  past  week,  as  was  anticipated 
when  those  on  the  Hocking  Valley  were  shut  down 
recently.  While  adverse  railroad  rates,  lack  of 
demand  for  lake  coal,  and  the  generally  depressed 
business  conditions  are  in  a  way  responsible  for 
the  company’s  action,  it  is  stated  that  the  closing 
of  the  mines  is  primarily  a  lockout  against  the 
miners’  union,  until  the  Hocking  Valley  is  granted 
as  favorable  a  mining  scale  as  now  exists  in 
eastern  Ohio.  The  claim  is  made  that  the  con¬ 
cessions  in  working  rules  granted  the  latter  field 
virtually  give  it  a  differential  over  the  Hocking 
of  from  ten  to  fifteen  cents  a  ton.  Agitation  over 
the  matter  between  the  miners  and  the  Hocking 
operators  has  not  yet  passed  the  letter-writing 
stage,  but  it  is  thought  that  a  conference  may  be 
held  in  the  near  future. 

It  is  further  announced  by  the  Sunday  Creek 
Company  that  its  sales  force  will  be  kept  intact 
in  the  interests  of  the  important  jobbing  depart¬ 
ment  which  it  recently  established,  including 
anthracite.  All  salesmen  are  now  covering  their 
territories  as  usual,  with  very  satisfactory  re¬ 
sults  it  is  said,  considering  trade  conditions. 


The  Toledo  boys  are  determined  that  their 
picnic  at  Sugar  Island  next  week  shall  be  a 
complete  success  and  have  put  out  some  very 
handsome  illustrated  advertising  hangers,  calling 
attention  to  the  affair  which  will  take  place  next 
Tuesday.  The  ball  team  will  rival  professionals 
if  the  promoters  are  to  be  believed  and  consider¬ 
able  jealousy  has  been  manifested  because  of  the 
selections  made  to  fill  the  different  positions.  An- 
tone  Bueschen  refuses  to  divulge  whether  or  not 
he  has  secured  an  airship  for  the  trip  this  season. 
It  will  be  remembered  that  is  what  he  was  com¬ 
pelled  to  do  last  year  when  he  missed  the  boat. 


Commissary  Managers  Meet. 


108 


[August  7 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 

Bids  for  and  Contracts  Let  on  Coal. 


New  York  Bids. 

Bids  were  opened  on  Monday  by  the  Board 
of  Education  of  New  York  City  for  furnishing 
17,77")  gross  tons  of  No.  3  buckwheat  and  5,!)2') 
tons  of  bituminous,  run  of  mine,  for  certain 
school  buildings  in  the  l)oroughs  of  iManhattan, 
Bronx,  Brooklyn  and  Queens,  deliveries  to  he 
made  from  August  1(5,  1915,  to  March  31,  1916. 
Bids  were  as  follows  : 

Buckwheat 

No.  3  Mine  Run 
Manhattan —  8,250  tons  2,750  tons 

Burns  Bros .  $3.04  $2.93 

\Vm.  Farrell  &  Son .  3.39  4.23 

C.  D.  Norton  &  Co .  2.98  3.73 

Norton  &  Co.  offered  a  rehate  of  one  cent  per  ton 
if  the  city  furnished  dock  facilities  free. 

Buckwheat 

No.  3  Mine  Run 
The  Bronx —  3,000  tons  1,200  tons 

Burns  Bros .  $3.14  $4.03 

C.  D.  Norton  &  Co .  3.23  4.03 

Norton  Co.  offered  a  rebate  of  one  cent  per  ton  if 
the  city  furnished  dock  facilities. 

Buckwheat 


Brooklyn — 

No.  3 
4,1)50  tons 

Mine  Run 
1,050  tons 

Gavin  Rowe . 

$4.12 

C.  H.  Reynolds  &  Son.... 
S.  Tuttle’s  Sons  &  Co.... 

.  2.00 

3.58 

.  2.04 

4.04 

Bacon  Coal  Co . 

.  2.70 

3.81 

A.  T.  &  T.  T.  McCollum.  . 

.  2.90 

3.73 

\V.  P.  W.  Ilaff . 

.  3.11 

3.71 

Rowe  offered  a  rebate 

of 

one  cent  ner  ton  if  free 

dock  facilities  are  furnished. 

Buckwheat 
No.  3 

Mine  Run 

Queens— 

975  tons 

325  tons 

Gavin  Rowe . 

.  $3.47 

$4.22 

C.  H.  Reynolds  &  Sons.  . 
S.  Tuttle’s  Sons  &  Qo.... 

.  2.70 

3.68 

.  3.23 

4.18 

Bacon  Coal  Co . 

.  3.11 

4.16 

A.  J.  &  J.  J.  McCollum.. 

.  3.20 

4.05 

Rowe  offered  a  rebate 

of 

one  cent  per  tone  if  free 

dock  facilities  are  furnished. 

It  will  he  noticed  that  there  were  a  small  num¬ 
ber  of  bidders,  and  that  the  names  of  several  well 
known  companies  that  usually  make  a  hid  for 
city  contracts,  do  not  appear  above.  It  is  under¬ 


stood  that  some  of  these  companies  declined  to 
tender  bids  under  the  new  specifications  that  coal 
is  now  being  purchased  under,  stating  that  they 
cannot  secure  coal  to  fit  the  stringent  specifica¬ 
tions. 


.'\  4,()00-ton  contract  with  the  Peru,  Ind.,  water¬ 
works  has  been  taken  by  the  Wyatt  Coal  Com¬ 
pany  on  its  Main  Island  Creek  coal.  The  con¬ 
tract  covers  run  of  mine  and  usually  takes  6,000 
tons  to  complete  it,  and  may  do  so  this  time,  the 
extension  being  covered  by  a  “more  or  less” 
phrase  in  the  contract. 


The  Lorain  Coal  &  Dock  Company  has  been 
awarded  the  Ohio  State  University  coal  contract, 
amounting  to  15,000  tons,  at  $1.19  per  ton,  on 
nut,  pea  and  slack,  delivered  at  the  university 
switch,  Columbus.  The  coal  is  to  come  from  the 
new  operations  of  the  company  in  Logan  county, 
W.  Va.  There  were  some  twelve  bidders,  the 
contract  being  made  on  a  heat  unit  basis.  The 
Lorain  people  secured  the  business  over  a  lower 
bid  per  ton  of  several  cents. 


Bids  have  been  opened  by  the  city  of  Colum¬ 
bus,  Ohio,  for  12,000  tons  nut,  pea  and  slack 
for  the  workhouse,  6,000  tons  mine  run  for  the 
Scioto  river  pumping  station,  and  2,500  tons  of 
nut,  pea  and  slack  for  the  garbage  reduction 
plant.  The  bid  of  the  Fletcher-Williams  Com¬ 
pany  was  $1.12  on  West  Virginia  nut,  pea  and 
slack  and  $1.15  for  mine  run.  The  Elk  Coal 
Company’s  bid  was  $1.41  and  $1.48  on  Cam¬ 
bridge  and  Hocking  mine  run.  The  Victoria 
Coal  Company  quoted  $1.23  for  Hocking  nut, 
pea  and  slack  and  $1.53  for  eastern  Ohio  mine 
run.  The  seven  other  bidders  were  consider¬ 
ably  higher  than  the  three  given.  All  prices  in¬ 
cluded  delivery.  The  contracts  have  not  yet 
been  awarded. 


Michigan  Agricultural  Collegt. 


Detroit,  Mich.,  August  5. —  {Special  Corres  pondence.) — Following  are  bids  on  coal  supply  re¬ 
cently  opened  by  the  board  of  control  of  the  Mich  igan  Agricultural  College  in  East  Lansing,  Mich.: 


Parker  Bros.  Co.,  Detroit . 

H.  S.  Oclbert  Coal  Co.,  Detroit . 

Detroit  &  Pittsburgh  Coal  Co.,  Detroit . 

Commercial  Coal  Co.,  Detroit . 

Commercial  Coal  Co^  Detroit . 

Consolidation  Coal  Co..  Detroit . 

W.  H.  Warner  Coal  Co.,  Detroit . 

Ohio  &  Michigan  Coal  Co.,  Detroit . 

United  Fuel  &  Supply  Co.,  Detroit . 

Michigan  Coal  Co.,  Lansing . 

Michigan  Coal  Co.,  Lansing . 

C.  G.  Blake  Co.,  Cincinnati . 

C.  G.  Blake  Co.,  Cincinnati . 

Bev/ley-Darst  Coal  Co.,  Richmond,  Ind . 

Elmer  Miller  Coal  Co.,  Toledo . 

Elmer  Miller  Coal  Co.,  Toledo . 

Progressive  Coal  Co.,  Detroit . 

J.  W.  Dykstra  Co.,  Detroit . 

J.  W.  Dykstra  Co.,  Detroit . 

J.  W.  Dykstra  Co.,  Detroit . 

Houston  Coal  Co.,  Detroit . 

Southland  Coal  Co.,  Detroit . 

Southland  Coal  Co.,  Detroit . 

Beech  Creek  Coal  Co.,  Detroit . 

Beech  Creek  Coal  Co..  Detroit . 

United  Coal  Sales  Co.,  Detroit . 

Moreland  Coke  Co.,  Pittsburgh . 

Moreland  Coke  Co.,  Pittsburgh . 

Morgan  Andrews  Coa!  Co.,  Detroit . 

M.  O.  Dewey  &  Co.,  Jackson . 

M.  O.  Dewey  &  Co.,  Jackson . 

O’Gara  Coal  Co.,  Chicago . 

Indian  Run  Coal  Co.,  Charleston,  W.  X'a . 

John  T.  Hesser  Coal  Co.,  Detroit . 

West  Virginia  Pocahontas  Coal  Sales  Corpora¬ 
tion,  Detroit . 

West  Virginia  Pocahontas  Coal  Sales  Corpora¬ 
tion,  Detroit . . 

J.  G.  Hoffman,  Detroit . 

Reliance  Coal  &  Coke  Co.,  Cincinnati . 

Reliance  Coal  &  Coke  Co.,  Cincinnati . 

Lorain  Coal  &  Dock  Co.,  Detroit . 

Lorain  Coal  &  Dock  Co.,  Detroit . . 

Jewett,  Bigelow  &  Brooks,  Detroit . 

Interstate  Coal  Co.,  Columbus., . 

F.  P.  Weaver  Coal  Co.,  Buffalo . 

Purzglove  Maher  Coal  Co.,  Detroit . 

Purzglove  Maher  Coal  Co.,  Detroit . 

Smokeless  Fuel  Co.,  Cincinnati . 

Tones-Parsons  Coal  Co.,  Toledo . 

Wyatt  Coal  Co.,  Richmond,  Va . 

George  M.  Jones  Coal  Co.,  Toledo . 

Island  Creek  Coal  Sales  Co.,  Detroit . 

The  France  Coal  Co.,  Toledo . 

The  France  Coal  Co.,  Toledo . 

The  Evans  Coal  Co.,  Fort  Wayne,  Ind . 

The  Evans  Coal  Co.,  Fort  Wayne,  Ind . 

Logan  Pocahontas  Fuel  Co.,  Detroit . 

T.ogan  Pocahontas  Fuel  Co.,  Detroit . 

C.  C.  Corey,  Detroit . 

Mancourt-Winters  Coal  Co.,  Detroit . . . 

Ayers  &  Lang,  Detroit . 

Ayers  &  Lang,  Detroit . 

Ayers  &  Lang.  Detroit . 

J.  S.  Wentz  Co.,  Detroit . 


Island  Creek,  W.  Va . 

West  Virginia . 

Nagola  Island  Creek,  W.  N'^a . 

Dorothy,  W.  Va . 

Fairmont,  W.  Va . 

Fairmont  . 

West  Virginia . 

West  Virginia . 

West  Virginia . 

West  Virginia . 

Michigan  . 

Blake  New  River,  Smokeless . 

Blake  Kanawha  Splint . 

Harlan  Count:w  Ky . 

Main  Island  Creek . 

Buffalo  Creek  Wash  Screening . 

Frocco,  W.  Va . 

Blue  Star,  W.  Va . 

Peacock  Pomeroy,  W,  Va . 

Clifford  Mine,  Ohio . 

Houston  Pocahontas  Slack,  W.  Va.... 

West  Virginia . 

Pocahontas  Slack . 

West  Virginia . 

Beech  Creek  Slack . 

Ella  Main  Island  Creek . 

West  Virginia . . . 

Youghiogheny  Gas  Coal . 

West  Virginia . 

Island  Creek . 

Pittsburgh  No.  8 . 

West  Virginia . 

West  Virginia . 

West  Virginia . 

Panther  Mine  Run . 

1^-Inch  Lump . 

West  Virginia . 

Logan,  W.  Va . 

Kentucky  Blue  Jacket . 

Logan,  W.  Va . 

Ohio  Ihltsburgh . 

Iroquois,  W.  Va . ^ . 

King  Pocahontas  Slack  (Marvin  Thacker 

Lump) . 

Liberty  Smokeless  (Pennsylvania) .... 

Island  Creek . 

Pittsburgh  No,  8 . 

West  Virginia . 

West  Virginia . 

West  Virginia . 

Pultney  Slack . 

Island  Creek . 

West  Virginia . 

Kentucky  Hummer . 

West  Virginia . 

Harlan,  Ky . . . 

West  Virginia . 

West  Virginia  Splint . 

Genuine  Island  Creek . 

West  Virginia . 

West  Virginia . 

Kentucky  . 

Pittsburgh  No.  8 . 

Harlan,  Ky . 


Slack. 

Lump. 

2.55 

2.80 

2.40 

2.80 

2.50 

2.80 

2.30 

2.80 

2.30 

2.70 

2.50 

2.90 

2.42 

2.70 

2.45 

2.75 

2.55 

2.80 

2.40 

2.80 

2.50 

2.80 

3.00 

3.30 

2.  si 

3.16 

2.50 

2.80 

2.35 

2.80 

2.45 

2.80 

2.50 

2.30 

2.85 

2.55 

2.80 

2.40 

2.90 

2.70 

2.40 

2'.  75 

2.35 

2.70 

2.80 

2.47^ 

2.80 

2.50 

2.80 

2.45 

2.80 

2.48 

2.85 

2.33 

2.70 

2.65 

2.95 

2.35 

2.75 

2.50 

2.80 

2.70 

2.90 

2.46 

2.80 

2.50 

2.90 

2.50 

2.44 

2.70 

2.35 

2.70 

2.52 

2.85 

3.00 

2.85 

3.25 

3.35 

2.40 

2.70 

2.30 

2.65 

2.40 

2.80 

2.50 

2.90 

2.55 

2.95 

2.10 

2.(5 

2.55 

2.90 

2.50 

2.80 

2.50 

2.47 

2.69 

2.44 

2.55 

2.76 

2.40 

2.40 

2.80 

2.45 

2.83 

2.54 

2.75 

2.50 

3.00 

2.45 

2.85 

2.48 

, - B.  T. 

U. - s 

Slack. 

Lump. 

13800 

13900 

14200 

14000 

14200 

14500 

14700 

13900 

13600 

14050 

14000 

14200 

14000 

14300 

14000 

14200 

14000 

12000 

14300 

14200 

14000 

14000 

14000 

14300 

13500 

14600 

14000 

14600 

14000 

13000 

13700 

14000 

13800 

14100 

14300 

1  4050 

14200 

13850 

13951 

14000 

14000 

14200 

13800 

14300 

14300 

13500 

13400 

13400 

14000 

14100 

14500 

14500 

14600 

14000 

14400 

14200 

14200 

14200 

14000 

14500 

13000 

13500 

13500 

14600 

14500 

14250 

14300 

14300 

f3000 

13500 

13500 

13S00 

14500 

13500 

14000 

13500 

14100 

14100 

14000 

14000 

14000 

13500 

13800 

14000 

14000 

13700 

14050 

14200 

14000 

14000 

14000 

13700 

13800 

14200 

13300 

13500 

13800 

New  York  Golf  Tournament. 


The  New  York  Coal  Trade  Golf  Association 
will  hold  a  one  day  tournament  at  the  Green¬ 
wich  Country  Club  at  Greenwich,  Conn.,  on 
Tuesday,  August  10. 

President  R.  B.  Baker  has  donated  two 
prizes  for  events,  presidents  cups,  to  be  given 
to  the  players  making  the  lowest  net  score  in 
the  first  and  second  divisions,  playing  to  be 
under  the  new  system  of  handicaps. 

A  one  day  tournament  will  be  held  Septem¬ 
ber  14,  the  course  to  be  decided  upon  later  on 
by  the  tournament  committee. 

The  annual  fall  tournament  will  be  held  on 
October  9  and  10  at  some  course  to  be  de¬ 
cided  upon  later  on.  Two  courses  now  under 
favorable  consideration  are  the  new  Seaview 
course  at  Atlantic  City,  and  the  Shawnee  at 
the  Delaware  Water  Gap. 

In  the  future  at  all  tournaments,  greens  fees 
of  all  members  playing  will  be  paid  out  of 
the  funds  of  the  association. 

Among  those  present  at  the  meeting  of  the 
association  held  on  Monday  were  President  R. 
B.  Baker,  Treasurer  Joseph  E.  Parsons,  J.  E. 
Davis  and  E.  Coe  Kerr  of  the  board  of  gov¬ 
ernors,  and  A.  E.  Metlach,  G.  M.  Dexter  and 
W.  H.  Temple  of  the  various  committees. 


Large  Coal  Land  Deal. 


Twenty-seven  thousand  acres  of  coal  lands  con¬ 
sidered  among  the  richest  in  West  Virginia  is  in¬ 
volved  in  a  deal  pending  between  the  Main  Island 
Creek  Coal  Company  and  William  H.  Coolidge,  a 
Boston  capitalist,  who  practically  controls  the 
United  States  Coal  and  Oil  Company,  operating 
mines  in  Logan  county. 

Details  of  the  deal  which  has  been  pending 
since  May  were  made  known  today  for  the  first 
time.  An  option  was  granted  to  Mr.  Coolidge,  of 
No.  55  Congress  street,  Boston,  on  June  10,  the 
consideration  has  been  stated  to  have  been  $2,000,- 
000.  This  option  will  expire  August  10.  In  the 
event  that  the  United  States  Coal  and  Oil  Com¬ 
pany  does  not  take  over  the  property  it  is  the 
purpose  of  Mr.  Coolidge  to  organize  a  company 
and  take  over  the  properties.  The  Main  Island 
Creek  Coal  Company  operates  extensive  holdings 
in  Logan  county  adjacent  to  the  vast  holdings  of 
the  United  States  (Soal  and  Oil  Company.  The 
proposed  purchase  of  these  properties  by  the 
United  States  Coal  and  Oil  Company  follows  the 
gradual  absorption  of  extensive  coal  operations 
in  Logan  county  by  the  same  company,  involving 
recently  the  purchase  of  the  property  of  the 
Island  Creek  Fuel  Company. 

Largely  increased  consumption  of  coal  is  ex¬ 
pected  by  Detroit  shippers  when  Henry  Ford, 
head  of  the  Ford  Motor  Company,  puts  in  opera¬ 
tion  several  new  plants,  for  which  he  has  secured 
about  2,000  acres  of  land  as  a  site  in  a  district 
adjoining  the  city’s  westerly  boundary.  The 
new  plants  proposed  include  a  steel  plant,  tire 
plant  and  factory  for  manufacturing  tractor  en¬ 
gines.  Construction  work  on  part  of  the  build¬ 
ings  will  start  in  the  near  future,  Mr.  Ford  says. 


Three  indictments  brought  a.gainst  the  Phila¬ 
delphia  &  Reading  Railway  Company  by  the 
Philadelphia  &  Reading  Railway  Company  by  the 
last  Federal  grand  jury  were  sustained  by  Judge 
J.  Whittaker  Thompson  in  the  United  States  Dis¬ 
trict  Court  the  latter  part  of  last  week.  These  in¬ 
dictments  charge  the  Reading  Company  with  fail¬ 
ing  to  file  tariffs  on  rates  for  coal  carried  over 
its  barge  lines  and  which  is  claimed  to  be  in  vio¬ 
lation  of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Act. 

During  the  December  term  of  .court  the  .grand 
jury  brought  in  an  indictment  against  the  Read¬ 
ing.  The  presence  of  two  stenographers  in  the 
court  room  during  the^  taking  of  testimony  was 
taken  as  grounds  for  havin.g  the  indictments  nulli¬ 
fied.  On  new  bills  drawn  and  during  the  March 
term  of  court  the  charges  were  again  heard. 
Complaint  was  then  made  by  the  attorneys  for  the 
railway  company  that  many  acts  of  the  prosecut¬ 
ing  attorney  for  the  government  had  been  against 
the  practice  of  the  court.  This  time,  however,  the 
judge  has  held  that  all  acts  under  complaint  were 
le.gal  and  gives  considerable  attention  to  the  in- 
quisitorial  scope  that  is  vested  in  the  grand  juries. 

The  case  at  issue  is  one  that  greatly  concerns 
the  coal  dealers  of  New  England  in  that  it  is  an 
attempt  to  bring  the  barge  line  of  the  Reading 
Railway  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission,  in  that  a  demand  is  made 
for  the  filing  of  tariffs  on  the  barges.  Trial  date 
for  the  case  has  not  yet  been  announced. 


No.  6] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


109 


And  This  Is  “News.” 

An  interesting  sidelight  on  the  way  the  public 
regards  the  coal  trade  is  given  in  a  newspaper 
publication  of  the  following  item,  under  an 
Evansville,  Ind.,  date-line : 

“Coal  consumers  in  Evansville  who  have  not 
paid  their  last  year’s  coal  bills  will  have  con¬ 
siderable  trouble  in  getting  coal  next  winter,  ac¬ 
cording  to  officers  of  the  recently-organized 
Evansville  Coal  Exchange.  They  say  they  will 
compile  a  list  of  people  who  have  not  paid  their 
bills,  and  none  such  will  be  sold  coal  unless  they 
pay  for  it  in  advance.” 

The  fact  that  newspapers  considered  this  item 
sufficiently  good  “news”  to  be  worth  running  sug¬ 
gests  that  the  coal  dealers,  ordinarily,  are  sup¬ 
posed  to  permit  themselves  to  be  stung  and 
stung  again,  supplying  coal  to  all  who  ask  for  it, 
and  not  caring  whether  they  get  their  money  for 
it  or  not. 

If  it  is  “news”  to  Evansville  people  that  they 
are  going  to  have  to  pay  for  their  coal,  and  that 
those  who  have  shown  themselves  not  to  be 
worthy  of  credit  will  not  enjoy  this  privilege 
hereafter,  it  might  be  a  good  idea  to  print  this 
“news”  in  other  towns  for  the  benefit  of  the 
dealers  in  those  communities,  who  may  not  have 
waked  up  to  the  proposition  that  it  is  time  to 
defend  themselves  from  the  operations  of  the 
deadbeats. 

A  Backward  Dealer. 

Not  long  ago  the  writer  approached  a  coal 
dealer  who  was  using  a  method  of  pricing  his 
coal  which  seemed  to  offer  only  a  small  chance 
of  sc|ueezing  out  a  profit.  The  object  was  to 
ask  him  how  he  did  it.  The  dealer  not  only  did 
not  give  the  information,  but  seemed  to  think  that 
the  inquiry  warranted  suspicion. 

“No,  So-and-So  has  never  set  the  woods  on 
fire,”  said  another  dealer  in  that  community, 
when  questioned  regarding  the  standing  of  the 
coalman  referred  to.  “He’s  been  in  the  trade 
a  long  while,  but  about  all  he  has  ever  been  able 
to  do  is  to  make  a  living — and  not  a  very  good 
one,  at  that.  He’s  a  good,  honest  fellow,  but  not 
the  sort  who  read  the  trade  papers.” 

In  other  words,  if  you  want  to  do  business 
without  getting  the  information  furnished  by  the 
experiences  of  others:  if  you  prefer  to  blaze  a 
trail  for  yourself  in  the  tangled  thickets  of  busi¬ 
ness  troubles;  if  you  don’t  care  whether  you  make 
a  profit,  just  so  long  as  you  stay  in  business, 
be  sure  not  to  read  the  trade  papers.  They  might 
make  you  want  to  change  some  of  your  obsolete, 
antiquated  and  unprofitable  methods ! 


Volume  Versus  Profit. 

“I  just  turned  down  a  $60  coal  order,”  said  a 
veteran  dealer  in  a  Middle  Western  city  the  other 
day. 

“Teams  all  tied  up?”  inquired  a  friend. 

“Nope.  Had  plenty  of  teams.” 

“Wanted  the  sort  of  coal  you  didn’t  handle, 
maybe?”  pursued  the  inquirer. 

“Not  on  your  life.  Everybody  in  this  town 
wants  our  Triple  X  Bernwell,  my  friend.” 

“Well,  then,  why  didn’t  you  take  the  order?” 

“The  customer  wanted  to  pay  for  it  at  the 
rate  of  $.5  a  month,”  said  the  dealer.  few 

years  ago,  before  I  began  to  analyze  my  business, 
T  would  have  taken  that  order  as  quickly  as  a 
trout  grabs  a  tempting  fly — and  wouldn’t  have 
realized  my  mistake,  as  the  trout  frequently  does. 
But  now  I  have  sense  enough  to  know  that  I  can’t 


make  money  out  of  that  kind  of  business;  that 
the  cost  of  keeping  books  on  the  account,  the  cost 
of  sending  a  man  each  month  to  get  the  five 
dollars,  and  the  interest  on  the  money  tied  up  dur¬ 
ing  that  period — there’s  an  item  of  $1.80  alone — 
would  be  so  great  that  the  profit  would  be  nil. 
I’d  have  my  trouble  for  my  pains,  and  that’s 
about  all. 

“So  I  told  the  would-be  purchaser  that  we 
didn’t  carry  accounts  over  sixty  days,  and  we 
wouldn’t  be  able  to  handle  his  business  on  that 
basis.  He  went  away,  not  sorrowfully  like  the 
young  man  of  the  Scriptures,  but  as  sore  as 
Johnny  Evers  when  he  is  chased  out  of  the  ball¬ 
park  during  a  close  game. 

“That  buyer  is  perfectly  honest,  and  would 
probably  pay  the  account  as  he  promised  to  do. 
Furthermore,  he  thinks  that  my  action  was  a  re¬ 
flection  on  him  personally,  which  it  was  not.  He 
merely  wanted  to  borrow  part  of  my  money  with 
the  understanding  that  he  would  pay  it  back  with¬ 
in  a  year,  and  I  told  him,  in  effect,  that  I  wasn’t 
in  the  banking  business. 

“However,  there  are  plenty  of  dealers  in  this 
town  who  will  readily  take  the  order,  and  con¬ 
gratulate  themselves  on  getting  it,  so  that  there’s 
no  reason  why  I  or  the  consumer  should  worry.” 


Study  Human  Nature. 

There  are  usually  several  ways  of  doing  a  thing, 
and  when  it  affects  the  public,  it  is  worth  con¬ 
sidering  whether  the  plan  which  has  been  pro¬ 
posed  will  please  or  displease  your  customers. 

In  other  words,  a  working  knowledge  of  hu¬ 
man  nature,  or  what  the  high-biows  call  psychol¬ 
ogy,  is  often  of  advantage  to  the  coal  dealer, 
who  is  dealing  with  human  Ij  dngs  just  as  much 
as  he  is  with  coal. 

In  a  certain  city  where  the  question  of  “getting 
the  money”  has  been  under  consideration  by  the 
coal  dealers,  who  are  divided  on  the  subject  of 
operating  on  a  cash  or  credit  basis,  most  of  the 
members  of  the  trade  have  straddled  the  propo¬ 
sition  by  giving  credit,  but  requiring  the  price  to 
be  paid  within  ten  days  from  date  of  delivery. 
They  figure  that  in  this  way  they  are  getting  the 
advantage  of  cash,  by  getting  the  money  in 
promptly,  and  that  the  customer  has  the  con¬ 
venience  of  credit,  in  that  it  is  not  necessary 
to  have  the  money  at  the  house  when  the  coal 
is  delivered,  but  he  may  remit  by  check  against 
the  dealer’s  bill,  in  the  usual  way. 

One  dealer  who  adopted  this  plan  quoted  the 
net  prices  that  he  expected  to  get  on  all  of  the 
coal  which  he  is  selling.  At  the  bottom  of  his 
quotations,  however,  he  stated,  “If  bill  is  not 
paid  within  ten  days  after  delivery,  twenty-five 
cents  a  ton  extra  will  be  added.”  This  dealer 
approached  the  twenty-five-cent  differential  as  if 
it  were  a  club,  and  held  it  threateningly  over  the 
heads  of  his  customers.  “If  you  don’t  do  as  1 
tell  you,”  he  declared  in  effect,  “I’ll  hit  you  with 
this  twenty-five-cent  penalty !” 

.-\nother  dealer,  however,  simply  quoted  the 
gross  prices,  including  the  twenty-five-cent  rebate. 
Then  he  added  graciously,  “All  customers  paying 
their  bills  within  ten  days  will  be  entitled  to  a 
rebate  of  twenty-five  cents  a  ton  on  these  prices.” 

Here  was  an  attractive  proposition — a  chance 
to  get  something  of  value  by  the  simple  expedient 
of  paying,  promptly.  And,  of  course,  everybody 
liked  the  idea  of  that  and  the  dealer  found  it 
easy  to  sell,  and  easier  to  collect,  on  that  basis. 

One  of  the  things  the  public  service  corpora¬ 
tions  have  learned  is  that  it  doesn’t  pay  to  tell 
the  public  that  it  must  do  certain  things.  The 
best  and  most  successful  ones  say,  ‘Tleasc,”  even 


though  they  have  a  monopoly.  Therefore  a  coal 
man  with  lots  of  competitors,  can  lose  nothing  by 
making  a  thing  seem  as  pleasant  and  agreeable  as 
possible,  especially  when  he  gets  exactly  the  same 
results  as  when  the  proposition  is  put  in  a  less 
attractive  form. 


The  Retort  Courteous. 

.4  certain  coal  dealer  who  got  all  hot  under 
the  collar  over  a  statement  about  his  coal  at¬ 
tributed  to  the  salesman  of  a  competing  house 
straightway  went  to  the  advertising  department 
of  a  local  newspaper  and  inserted  an  advertise¬ 
ment  in  which  he  declared  that  the  statement 
aforesaid  was  “  a  malicious  lie.” 

Now,  without  stopping  to  consider  the  rights 
and  wrongs  of  this  special  case,  do  you  really 
l)elieve  that  the  use  of  the  “short  and  ugly  word” 
by  the  dealer  helped  his  cause  with  the  great  pub¬ 
lic  to  which  he  was  appealing  by  means  of  his 
black-faced  type  and  his  white  space? 

In  a  formal  debate  each  side  is  entitled  to  rc- 
Inittal,  and  the  most  effective  sort  of  rejoinder  is 
what  “Marse  Henry”  would  call  the  retort  court¬ 
eous,  which  presents  the  fact,  but  presents  it 
wittily,  pointedly  and  in  a  friendly  spirit.  To  say 
that  another  dealer  is  passing  out  “malicious 
lies”  is  a  reflection  on  that  dealer,  assuming  that 
it  is  so,  but  are  not  a  great  many  people  going  to 
feel  that  an  affront  has  been  put  upon  them  by 
having  such  coarse  expressions  used  in  soliciting 
their  favor?  Then,  too,  there  are  others  who 
always  favor  the  under  dog.  The  man  who  is  at¬ 
tacked  without  being  given  an  opportunity  to 
defend  himself  is  presumed  innocent  until  proved 
guilty  by  those  of  this  type. 

In  other  words,  the  use  of  extreme  language, 
uttered  in  the  heat  of  passion,  alienates  friends, 
instead  of  winning  supporters,  and  no  business 
man  should  lose  his  temper  so  far  as  to  risk  such 
a  result,  even  though  he  may  get  some  temporary 
personal  satisfaction  out  of  it. 

Let  all  your  ads  bear  the  words,  “Passed  by  the 
National  Board  of  Censorship.”  And  be  your 
own  censor. 


One  Use  of  Advertising. 

Some  coal  concerns  have  salesmen  out  on  the 
street,  going  from  door  to  door  soliciting  coal 
business.  This  is  salesmanship  reduced  to  the 
absolute  zero,  and  is  putting  the  business  on  the 
lowest  plane  that  it  is  possible  to  use. 

One  use  for  advertising — including  circular 
letters,  premiums  and  all  other  forms  of  publicity 
— is  to  develop  prospects.  When  the  dealer  has 
certain  definite,  interested  prospects  to  work  on, 
he  can  use  his  salesman  to  the  best  advantage  in 
soliciting  them. 

W’hen  it  is  necessary  to  spend  valuable  time  in 
ringing  doorbells,  as  a  preliminary  to  working 
up  prospects  for  coal  orders,  the  cost  of  getting 
the  business  is  prohibitive. 

-A^nalyze  the  proposition,  as  applied  to  your  own 
l)usiness,  and  see  if  it  isn’t  so. 


A  charter  was  issued  last  week  by  the  Sec¬ 
retary  of  State  of  West  Virginia  for  the  in¬ 
corporation  of  the  Fairmont  &  Helen’s  Run 
Railway  Company,  of  Baltimore,  with  a  capital 
stock  of  $.500,000.  This  is  a  subsidiary  of  the 
Western  Maryland  Railway.  Incorporators 
are  Carl  R.  Gray,  M.  C.  Byers,  C.  H.  Porter, 
H.  R.  Pratt  and  L.  F.  Timmerman,  all  officials 
connected  with  the  Western  Maryland  Rail¬ 
way.  The  road  will  be  six  miles  long,  and 
will  connect  the  two  mines  of  the  Consolida¬ 
tion  Coal  Company,  which  are  being  opened 
up  in  the  Helen’s  Run  field  of  West  Virginia. 
The  line  will  also  connect  with  the  Baltimore 
&  Ohio  in  the  vicinity  of  Fairmont,  and  the 
output  of  the  mines  will  be  taken  over  the 
Baltim,ore  &  Ohio  from  the  new  road  and 
turned  over  to  the  Western  Maryland  at  a 
point  on  the  Connellsville  extension,  whence 
it  will  be  carried  into  the  Western  Maryland’s 
big  export  terminal  at  Port  Covington.  The 
building  of  this  line  is  in  connection  with  the 
arrangement  made  last  winter  between  the 
Western  Maryland  and  the  Consolidated  Coal 
Company,  under  which  the  Rockefeller  interests 
supplied  the  coal  company  with  new  funds  to 
the  extent  of  about  $7,000,000.  In  return  for 
this  it  was  stated  the  Consolidation  Coal  Com¬ 
pany  agreed  to  turn  over  to  the  Western 
Maryland  the  output  of  the  new  mines  to  be 
developed  with  the  money.  .Mready  Consoli¬ 
dation  Coal  traffic  is  said  to  be  moving  over 
the  Western  Maryland  at  the  rate  of  1,000,000 
tons  per  annum  and  is  expected  shortly  to 
reach  a  total  of  3,000,000  tons  annually. 


110 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[August  7 


PUBI.ISHED  EVEBT  SATXTBEAT  BT  THE 
BEACH  DIAMOHD  COUFAITS'. 

Subscription  price,  $3.00  per  year,  postage  prepaid,  to 
any  postoffice  in  the  United  _  States.  Foreign  subscrip¬ 
tion  price,  $6.00  per  year.  Single  copies,  20  cents. 
Entered  at  Chicago  postoffice  as  second-class  matter. 


Address  all  communications  to 
THE  BEACH  DIAMOHD  COUFAITT  (INC) 

Main  office,  Manhattan  building,  Chicago. 


Branch  Offices. 

New  York,  29  Broadway. 
Philadelphia,  1400  Land  Title  building. 
Pittsburgh,  1602  Oliver  building. 


Saturday,  August  7,  1915. 


INDEX. 


Special  Articles. 

Getting  Rid  of  Manual  Labor  in  Furnace  Room 

Centralized  Power  Plant  for  Coal  Mines . 

Three  Most  Important  Price-Fixing  Cases . 

How  Bunker  Coal  Is  Stowed  in  Japan . 

Formation  of  Coal  and  Influence  of  Grades... 

Communications  . 

A  Machine  Which  Mines  and  Loads  Coal.... 

Commissary  Managers  Meet . 

Sund^  Creek  Company  Changes . 

Bids  For  and  Contracts  Let  On  Coal . 

New  York  Golf  Tournament . 

Large  Coal  Land  Deal . 

Field  of  the  Retail  Dealer . 

Editorial  . 

Men  Prominent  in  the  Coal  Trade’s  Eye . 

Ohio  Coal  Rate  Agitation . 

Colorado’s  Output . 

News  Local  to  Chicago . 

New  Coal  Companies . 

Facts  Which  Determine  Our  Export  Prospects 

Market  Reports. 

General  Review  and  Chicago . 

Pittsburgh,  St.  Louis  and  Omaha . 

Cincinnati  and  Louisville . 

Indianapolis,  Detroit  and  Birmingham . 

New  York . . . 

Philadelphia  and  New  England . 

Buffalo,  Baltimore  and  Toledo . 

Hocking  Valley . 


Page 


101 

102 

103 

103 

104 

105 
ItG 
107 

107 

108 
lOS 
lOS 
lOO 
110 
111 
111 
in 
112 
11-2 
113 


114 

115 

no 

117 

118 
no 
120 

15 


Van  H.  Manning. 

When  William  Jennings  Bryan  went 
off  on  a  peace  debauch  and  resigned  from 
President  Wilson’s  cabinet,  the  newspa¬ 
pers  and  everybody  began  to  speculate 
on  who  would  be  his  successor.  They 
expected  President  Wilson  to  do  the  cus¬ 
tomary  thing  and  hence  to  search  for 
some  conspicuous  figurehead  who  could 
fill  the  position  and  reap  the  honors  while 
some  efficient  somebody  else  did  the  prac¬ 
tical  work. 

That  was  not  President  Wilson’s  idea, 
however.  Instead,  he  promoted  the  next 
in  line.  He  got,  for  once,  a  Secretary  of 
State  who  really  can  do  the  work  of  the 
Department  of  State.  -  Secretary  Lansing 
is  living  up  to  the  nation’s  expectations  in 
every  particular. 

On  a  smaller  scale,  a  similar  problem  is 
presenting  itself  at  Washington.  Dr. 
Holmes,  the  director  of  the  Bureau  of 
Mines,  died  recently.  A  new  man  must 
be  selected  to  fill  his  place.  Most  com¬ 
mentators  have  been  looking  around  to 
find  a  conspicuous  man  to  adorn  the  title 
— or — while  some  one  else  does  the  work, 
be  adorned  by  it. 

In  the  meantime,  there  is  in  the  bureau 
now  a  very  efficient  person  by  the  name 
of  Van  H.  Manning.  He  has  been  the 
assistant  of  Dr.  Holmes.  For  the  last 
year  he  has  been  acting  director  of  the 
Bureau  of  Mines.  Many  of  the  things 
which  Dr.  Holmes  could  not  find  time  to 
do,  Mr.  Manning  has  done.  Many  of  the 
papers  and  reports  which  Dr.  Holmes  did 
not  have  time  to  write  or  edit,  Mr.  Man¬ 


ning  has  “whipped  into  shape.”  He  knows 
the  work  of  the  bureau  because  he  has 
been  in  it  for  a  long  time. 

As  assistant  director,  he  is  in  line  for 
promotion.  So  far  as  we  can  see  now, 
there  is  no  good  or  sufficient  reason  why 
President  Wilson  should  not  follow  his 
own  precedent  and  promote  Mr.  Manning 
to  the  head  of  the  bureau. 

If  promoting  the  next  man  in  line  to 
the  bigger  position,  because  he  showed  a 
particular  fitness  for  the  work,  were 
adopted  in  the  government  bureaus,  it 
would  be  a  first-rate  thing  for  the  public 
work  in  general.  It  would  teach  em¬ 
ployes  of  various  bureaus  and  depart¬ 
ments  that  they  were  not  merely  under 
civil  service,  but  that  they  might  come  to 
occupy  conspicuous  positions  if  they 
learned  their  jobs. 

This  is  what  Mr.  Manning  has  done,  so 
we  are  informed,  and  it  would  be  a 
mighty  good  thing  to  recognize  that  fact 
by  his  promotion. 


The  Purpose  of  Patents. 

The  American  government  will  grant 
letters  of  patent  to  any  man  who  invents 
a  new  and  useful  device.  The  patent 
gives  him  for  seventeen  years  a  monopoly 
of  his  invention.  He  can  make  the  thing 
himself  or  he  can  sell  the  right  to  others 
to  make  it  exclusively. 

It  is  expected  that  all  the  profits  de¬ 
rived  from  it  shall  be  his  for  a  period  of 
seventeen  years.  The  wish  of  the  people 
is  that  he  should  be  fully  compensated. 

Not  all  of  us  have  asked  why  the  gov¬ 
ernment  should  do  such  a  liberal  thing. 
Why  should  a  great  people  give  a  man 
an  exclusive  monopoly  of  a  certain  ma¬ 
chine  for  nearly  a  score  of  years? 

It  is  a  long-headed  policy  of  the  govern¬ 
ment.  Those  who  enacted  the  patent  law 
knew  that  the  cost  of  living  can  only  be 
cut  by  the  use  of  ingenious  devices.  If 
manual  labor  is  relied  upon  the  cost  may 
never  be  lower  but  must  be  higher.  The 
government  is  willing,  for  a  period  of 
years,  to  give  one  man  a  large  return  on  a 
machine  provided  the  people  themselves 
get  the  benefit  of  it.  That  is,  the  govern¬ 
ment  is  not  looking  out  for  the  inventor 
solely;  it  has  its  eye  upon  the  ultimate 
good  of  the  whole  people.  There  is  the 
nub  of  the  whole  patent  law. 

Naturally  the  government  expects  that 
every  invention  would  help  to  reduce  the 
cost  of  living.  Let  us  consider  this,  for  a 
moment,  in  the  light  of  the  attitude  of 
the  Ohio  miners  toward  coal  production. 
The  government  has  sought  to  procure 
the  invention  of  machines  which  would 
reduce  the  cost  of  mining  coal.  The  peo¬ 
ple  have  encouraged  the  invention  of 
devices  which  would  improve  the  trans¬ 
portation  of  coal.  They  did  so  because 
they  want  cheaper  coal. 

The  miners’  union  sets  itself  up  as 
opposed  to  both  of  these  things.  It  re¬ 
sists  the  introduction  of  machines  into 
the  mines.  It  demands  that  it  shall  be 
given  such  constant  increases  in  wages 
that  the  pay  roll  absorbs  all  of  the  benefit 
of  the  machinery  and  more. 

That  is,  instead  of  any  of  the  benefit 
of  new  production  processes  going  to  the 
people,  all  of  that  benefit  is  absorbed  by 
the  men  who  form  the  union. 

The  people  of  Ohio  are  today  up  against 
the  proposal  that  with  nearly  all  of  its 


coal  mined  by  machinery,  with  transpor¬ 
tation  by  improved  machinery  and  with 
retail  distribution  simplified  by  machinery, 
they  must  pay  higher  prices  than  they 
have  ever  paid.  This  situation  arises 
from  the  exactions  of  the  miners.  They 
not  only  set  at  naught  all  of  the  nation’s 
efforts  at  lowering  the  cost  of  the  produc¬ 
tion,  but  they  make  such  demands  that 
the  cost  is  higher  than  it  was  when  hand 
labor  alone  was  used. 

There  is  something  wrong  in  a  society 
which  will  tolerate  such  a  condition. 


Partisan  Politics. 

There  is  an  old,  old  story  to  the  effect 
that  a  navigator  and  his  son  were  out  in 
a  boat  steering  by  a  compass.  The  father 
went  to  sleep  and  left  the  boy  on  watch, 
telling  him  to  keep  the  boat  headed 
toward  the  North  Star.  He  awoke  after 
several  hours  and  found  the  boat  running 
in  the  opposite  direction.  He  asked  the 
boy  about  it  and  the  lad  replied  that  they 
had  passed  that  star  a  long  time  ago. 

We  have  a  similar  situation  in  Ameri¬ 
can  politics  today.  We  started  out,  in 
this  country,  with  no  parties  at  all.  Then 
Alexander  Hamilton  got  one  view  of  what 
our  financial  and  general  government  pol¬ 
icy  should  be  and  Thomas  Jefferson  got 
another.  The  two  split  and  there  was  the 
origin  of  parties  in  America. 

The  original  conception  of  “partisan,” 
however,  was  that  the  two  parties  should 
be  advocates  of  opposing  theories  of  gov¬ 
ernment.  A  partisan  might  be  a  very  big 
man  and  still  hold  one  or ,  the  other  of 
two  theories,  since  nobody  knows  what  is 
the  right  theory  of  government. 

As  time  went  on  the  word  “partisan” 
came  to  have  a  very  different  and  a  very 
much  smaller  meaning.  They  call  the 
lawyer  a  partisan  today  merely  because 
he  is  hired  by  some  man  to  represent  him 
in  court.  It  is  possible  for  one  man  to  be 
a  partisan  in  a  quareel  between  two  other 
men  who  may  be  settling  their  difficulties 
with  their  fists.  We  have  so  degraded  the 
word  “partisan”  that  it  has  come  to  mean 
those  who  take  sides  on  the  most  trivial 
questions. 

It  is  the  latter  meaning  which  has  come 
to  dominate  our  present  politics.  Today 
politicians  are  not  standing  for  great  prin¬ 
ciples  of  government ;  they  are  standing 
for  self-interest  and  personal  prejudice  on 
the  most  trivial  and  unimportant  things. 
Naturally  the  poltical  partisan  is  today 
siding  with  the  majority  or  the  greatest 
number  of  voters.  Thus  we  have  come  to 
have  a  whole  system  of  partisan  politics 
based  upon  what  is  the  personal  interest 
of  a  class  in  society,  or  one  of  the  major 
subdivisions  of  society. 

For  a  while  the  politicians  were  parti¬ 
sans  of  the  consumer.  As  such  they  were 
pijted  against  capital,  the  carrier  and  the 
worker.  Now  they  have  changed  from 
that  kind  of  partisanship  to  favoritism  of 
the  worker — to  a  partisanship  of  the 
worker  in  the  form  of  the  labor  union. 

In  other  words,  the  politicians  are  no 
longer  studying  the  big  questions  from  a 
broad  point  of  view.  They  are  looking  at 
them  only  from  a  very  narrow  and  re¬ 
stricted  point  of  view,  which  is:  “What 
action  can  we  take  which  will  get  the 
greatest  number  of  votes?”  This  sort  of 
partisanship  is  going  to  prove  the  destruc¬ 
tion  of  the  republic. 


No.  6] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


111 


Men  Prominent  in  the  Coal  Trade’s  Eye. 


John  F.  Bermingham. 

As  announced  in  The  Black  Diamond  of 
last  week,  at  the  meeting  of  the  board  of  di¬ 
rectors  of  the  Delaware,  Lackawanna  &  West¬ 
ern  Coal  Company,  held  at  the  New  York 
offices  on  Wednesday  of  last  week,  John  F. 
Bermingham  was  elected  president  to  fill  the 
vacancy  caused  by  the  resignation  of  E.  E. 
Loomis,  who  resigned  the  presidency  imme¬ 
diately  following  the  decision  of  the  supreme 
court  in  the  Lackawanna  case. 

In  appointing  Mr.  Bermingham  to  this  im¬ 
portant  position,  the  directors  have  taken  into 
cognizance  his  long  and  faithful  record  with 
the  Lackawanna  interests,  entering  the  Lacka¬ 
wanna  railroad  service  twenty-four  years  ago. 
Since  the  organization-  of  the  Delaware,  Lack¬ 
awanna  &  Western  Coal  Company  in  1909,  Mr. 
Bermingham  has  filled  the  position  of  auditor 
and  also  assistant  to  President  Loomis.  His 
first  service  with  the  Lackawanna  Railway  was 
in  the  accounting  department,  in  which  de¬ 
partment  he  spent  about  ten  years.  He  began 
to  acquire  experience  in  the  coal  sales  depart¬ 
ment  and  the  coal  operating  department  about 
1902,  when  Mr. 

Loomis  came  with 
the  Lackawanna  as 
general  sales  agent, 
to  be  almost  im¬ 
mediately  elected 
to  the  vice-presi¬ 
dency.  As  assist¬ 
ant  to  Mr.  Loomis, 

Mr.  Bermingham 
had  every  oppor¬ 
tunity  to  acquire  a 
very  ripe  experi¬ 
ence  both  in  the 
operating  and  gell¬ 
ing  ends  of  the 
anthracite  indus¬ 
try.  He  has  also 
done  a  great  deal 
of  traveling  in  the 
large  territory  to 
which  the  Lacka¬ 
wanna  distributes 
its  product  and  en¬ 
joys  the  acquaint¬ 
ance  of  all  of  its  agencies,  as  well  as  of  many  of 
its  most  important  customers.  He,  therefore, 
brings  to  his  new  position  an  experience  that  is 
most  valuable  for  an  executive. 

Mr.  Bermingham  was  born  in  New  York 
and  he  has  maintained  a  residence  at  Oyster 
Bay  for  many  years.  He  was  educated  at  the 
Huntington  high  school,  and  belongs  to  the 
Huntington  County  Club,  the  Huntington  Golf 
and  Marine  Club,  and  is  president  of  the  Oys¬ 
ter  Bay  board  of  education.  He  was  one  of 
the  organizers  and  is  still  a  director  of  the 
North  Shore  Bank,  one  of  the  most  flourishing 
financial  institutions  on  the  north  shore  of 
Long  Island. 

About  the  15th  of  the  month,  the  general  of¬ 
fices  of  the  Delaware,  Lackawanna  &  Western 
Coal  Company  will  be  removed  from  No.  90 
West  street  to  the  eighteenth  floor  of  the  new 
Equitable  building. 

Mr.  Bermingham  has  many  warm  friends  in 
the  coal  trade  who  feel  proud  of  his  election 
to  the  presidency  of  the  company  with  which 
he  has  so  long  been  identified.  It  is  a  very 
responsible  position,  and  those  that  know  him 
will  realize  that  the  directors  could  not  have 
made  a  wiser  selection. 


C.  F.  Rouze. 

The  Knox  Motors  Associates  of  Springfield, 
Mass.,  an  association  recently  organized  to 
act  as  sole  distributors  of  the  products  of  the 
Knox  Motors  Company,  announces  the  ap¬ 
pointment  of  C.  F.  Rouze  as  sales  manager. 

Mr.  Rouze  succeeds  H.  F.  Blanchard,  who 
for  several  years  has  been  sales  manager  of 
the  Knox  Motors  Company. 

Mr.  Rouze  has  been  in  charge  of  the  Knox 
branch  office  at  Kansas  City,  Mo.,  since 
February,  1914.  Because  of  his  experience  in  the 
motor  truck  and  tractor  field,  he  is  well  qualified 
to  supervise  the  marketing  of  the  latest  Knox 
product — a  four-wheeled  tractor. 

Since  1909,  Mr.  Rouze  has  been  associated  with 
the  motor  truck  and  tractor  business,  having  been 
connected  with  the  Rapid  Motor  Transportation 
Company  as  sales  representative;  with  the  Motor 
Truck  Department  of  the  United  Motor  Company 


as  western  supervisor,  and  with  the  American 
•Locomotive  Company  in  a  similar  position. 

“My  conviction,’’  says  Mr.  Rouze,  “has  been 
that  the  gasoline  engine  must  inevitably  do 
our  heavy  trucking.  I  realized,  however,  that 
with  a  motor  vehicle  which  both  propelled 
and  carried  its  loads,  the  tonnage  limits  were 
quickly  reached.  My  study  of  transportation 
problems  led  me  naturally  into  the  fields  of 
heavy  hauling.  In  other  words,  I  was  in  search 
of  a  gasoline  vehicle  which  would  handle  loads 
of  from  five  to  twenty  tons  as  conveniently 
as  the  motor  truck  handles  the  lighter  loads 
of  two  or  three  tons  and  at  a  much  lower  ton 
mile  cost.  My  connection  with  the  Knox 
Motors  Associates  is  due  to  the  fact  that,  even 
in  the  earliest  experimental  Knox  tractors,  I 
recognized  the  complete  solution  of  the  heavy 
hauling  problem.” 


Anson  L.  Havens. 

At  the  recent  reorganization  of  the  North¬ 
western  Retail  Coal  Dealers’  Association  into  the 
Northwestern  Traffic  Bureau  the  executive  po¬ 
sition  was  given  to  Anson  L.  Havens,  pro¬ 
prietor  of  the  Havens  Coal  Company,  with 
headquarters  at  No.  1714  Farnam  street, 
Omaha,  Neb.  The 
Omaha  men  who 
know  Mr.  Havens 
say  that  the  judg¬ 
ment  of  the  new 
traffic  bureau  was 
correct  when  they 
selected  him  as 
the  executive 
head.  He  not  only 
knows  the  retail 
coal  business,  but 
he  knows  lots  of 
other  things  which 
pertain  to  the  larg¬ 
er  aspect  of  retail¬ 
ing,  and  he  is  con¬ 
sidered  the  proper 
man  to  put  the 
new  bureau  on  its 
feet. 

Mr.  Havens  was 
born  at  North 
Amherst,  Ohio, 

August  6, 1860.  He 
obtained  his  education  at  the  graded  schools  of 
North  Amherst  and  at  Pittsford,  N.  Y.  He  after¬ 
wards  broadened  this  out  by  an  extended  business 
experience,  part  of  which  was  in  connection 
'with  the  railroads. 

Mr.  Havens  has  been  an  enthusiastic  mem¬ 
ber  of  the  Order  Kokoal,  having  been  modoc 
of  the  Omaha  breaker  and  having  served  as 
imperial  swatta  of  the  organization. 

Mr.  Havens’  business  experience  began  in 
1876  with  the  Union  Pacific  railway,  where  he 
continued  until  1895.  He  was  connected  with 
the  station  service  of  the  Union  Pacific  at 
various  points  for  that  period  of  time. 

From  1895  to  1908  he  was  a  partner  in  the 
firm  of  Tom  Collins  &  Havens  Coal  Company, 
and  from  1908  to  1913  he  was  treasurer  and 
manager  of  the  Havens-White  Coal  Company, 
Incorporated,  of  Omaha.  In  the  latter  year 
the  Havens-White  Coal  Company  went  out  of 
business  and  Mr.  Havens  took  over  the  Far¬ 
nam  street  yard,  where  since  that  time  he  has 
been  trading  under  the  name  of  the  Havens 
Coal  Company. 


W.  Alfred  Weeks. 

W.  Alfred  Weeks  is  managing  partner  of  the 
Weeks  Coal  Company,  with  headquarters  at 
Sterling  Ill.  His  other  claim  to  fame  is  the 
fact  that  he  is  a  director  of  the  Illinois  &  Wis¬ 
consin  Retail  Coal  Dealers’  Association  and  a 
good  one — at  least  the  officers  of  that  associa¬ 
tion  put  a  mark  against  his  name  which  means 
that  whenever  they  need  advice  or  money  or 
help  they  can  get  it  by  going  to  him. 

Mr.  Weeks  was  born  at  Lee,  Illinois,  July  10, 
1884.  He  passed  through  the  Lee  and  the 
Rochelle  grammar  and  high  schools  and  al¬ 
though  he  is  too  modest  to  mention  the  fact, 
his  associates  say  that  he  quitted  his  school 
with  the  honors  of  his  class. 

His  first  venture  in  business  was  as  a  clerk 
in  the  office  of  the  Keystone  Manufacturing 
Company,  which  position  he  accepted  in  1901. 

The  years  from  1902  to  1906  were  occupied  by 
him  as  a  bookkeeper  for  the  Moses  Dillon 


Company,  but  in  October  of  the  latter  year  he 
bought  the  coal  business  then  conducted  by 
F.  N.  Powers. 

That  Mr.  Weeks  has  been  somewhat  of  an 
aggressive  factor  in  the  coal  trade  is  indicated 
by  one  fact:  At  the  time  he  took  charge  of  this 
business  its  annual  sales  amounted  to  $11,000. 
He  has  succeeded  in  multiplying  this  by  five 
because  the  volume  of  business  done  in  the 
last  year  was  measured  to  be  exact  by  the 
figure  of  $50,857.04. 


Ohio  Coal  Rate  Agitation. 


Columbus,  Ohio,  August  4. —  (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — Formal  hearing  before  the  Ohio 
Utilities  Commission  to  secure  readjustment  of 
coal  rates  that  will  increase  the  differential  against 
West  Virginia  and  Kentucky,  starts  in  the  public 
rooms  of  the  commission  at  the  State  House 
Thursday  morning. 

The  third  conference  between  railroad  officials 
and  Ohio  coal  producers,  held  in  Columbus  last 
Friday,  broke  up  without  prospect  of  the  two 
sides  getting  together.  On  vote  the  railroad  men 
declared  themselves  in  favor  of  going  before  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission  and  the  coal 
men  announced  their  purpose  of  appealiag  to  the 
Ohio  Utilities  Commission. 

The  medium  through  which  the  question  is  about 
to  be  threshed  out  before  the  state  body  is  the 
action  filed  with  it  a  week  or  more  ago  by  the 
miners.  Practically  every  coal-carrying  railroad 
in  Ohio  is  named  as  defendant.  Any  coal  com¬ 
pany  may  become  party  to  the  petition  by  being 
represented  at  the  hearing  and  submitting  evi¬ 
dence.  It  is  thought  that  a  large  number  of  them 
will  take  advantage  of  this  opportunity,  and  that 
the  whole  fight  will  centre  in  this  case,  rather  in 
one  that  might  be  filed  by  the  operators. 

Among  the  witnesses  which  the  miners  have 
asked  to  be  subpoenaed  are  the  following  Hock¬ 
ing  Valley  officials:  M.  J.  Caples,  vice-president; 
M.  S.  Connors,  general  manager;  H.  Q.  Wassen, 
general  freight  agent;  H.  B.  Dunham,  freight 
traffic  manager;  W.  N.  Cott,  auditor,  and  C.  H. 
Sisson,  trainmaster  at  Nelsonville.  Frank  A.  Ray 
and  Edwin  W.  Warnick,  of  the  state  tax  com^ 
mission,  have  also  been  summoned.  They  are 
asked  to  bring  railroad  reports  submitted  to  the 
tax  commission  for  the  year  ending  July  1,  1915. 
C.  A.  Radcliff,  former  secretary  of  the  utilities 
commission,  will  be  among  counsel  representing 
the  miners.  It  has  already  been  unofficially  an¬ 
nounced  that  the  attitude  of  the  railroads  will  be 
that  of  carryin.g  the  matter  into  the  federal  courts 
should  any  radical  change  of  rates  be  authorized 
l)y  the  commission.  The  aim  of  the  coal  men  is 
to  see  the  differential  against  out-of-state  bitu¬ 
minous  coals  be  increased  so  as  to  insure  Ohio 
steam  business  to  Ohio  producers. 


Colorado’s  Output. 


Denver,  August  5. — The  coal  production  in 
Colorado  for  1914  is  officially  reported  as  being 
8,201,423  tons  against  9,268,939  tons  in  1913.  This 
is  a  decrease  of  1,067,516  tons,  equal  to  11.5  per 
cent.  A  mild  winter  last  year  and  unsettled  labor 
conditions  in  the  spring  are  assigned  as  reasons 
for  the  decreased  tonnage. 

The  total  number  of  men  employed,  according 
to  the  official  report,  was  10,596.  Seventy-five 
were  killed  and  356  men  were  injured.  The  per¬ 
centage  of  fatal  accidents  was  seven  per  1,000 
men  employed,  compared  with  8.6  per  1,000  in 
191.3. 

Routt  county  made  the  best  showing  in  ton¬ 
nage,  more  than  doubling  its  production.  The 
Routt  county  output  was  655,878  tons,  against 
323,312  tons  in  1913. 

The  following  tabulation  shows  the  increase 
or  decrease  of  each  county,  1913-1914 : 


County — 

1913 

1914 

Archuleta  .  . .  . 

3,771 

2,611 

Boulder  . 

.  .  959,010 

993,702 

Delta  . 

.  .  80,786 

97,073 

El  Paso . 

283,142 

Fremont  .  . .  . 

.  .  531,833 

173,483 

Ciarfield  . 

..  168,027 

117,994 

r,unnison  .  . .  . 

.  .  476,025 

403,503 

Huerfano  .  . .  . 

.  .1,644,212 

1,686,606 

Tackson  . 

62,905 

45,769 

Jefferson  .  .  .  . 

.  .  155,351 

141,914 

r.a  Plata . 

.  .  140,353 

135,513 

r^s  Animas.  . 

.  .3,782,340 

2,756,284 

Me.sa  . 

.  .  127,034 

158,267 

Moffat  . 

300 

Montezuma  .  . 

150 

987 

Pitkin  . 

.  .  52,216 

70,746 

Routt  . 

.  .  332,566 

655,878 

Weld . 

.  .  419,399 

477,651 

Totals  . 

.  .9,268,939 

8,201,423 

Decrease,  1914 


Increase 

Decrease 

1,160 

34,692 

16,287 

42,394 

48,719 

358,350 

50,033 

72,522 

17,136 

13,437 

4,940 

1,026,056 

3t  .233 
300 

837 

1 7,530 
323,312 
58,252 

1,067,616 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[August  7 


112 


News  Local  to  Chicago. 


A.  R.  McMaster  of  Peoria,  Ill.,  was  calling 
on  Chicago  friends  this  week. 

A  number  of  judgments  have  recently  been 
rendered  against  the  Berry  Coal  &  Coke  Com¬ 
pany. 

Arthur  Ainsworth  of  Grand  Rapids,  Michi¬ 
gan,  was  calling  on  the  Chicago  trade  this 
week. 

We  note  a  judgment  against  that  energetic 
coal  company  organizer,  Frank  B.  Downing, 
for  $739. ()('). 

Three  suits  for  amounts  ranging  from  .$100 
to  $300  have  recently  been  started  against  the 
Alwart  Bros.  Coal  Company. 

The  Iliggins-Martin  Coal  Company  have 
closed  their  office  in  the  Lytton  building,  which 
was  in  charge  of  Wm.  J.  O’Rourke. 

Joseph  Devoy  of  the  Ohio  &  Alichigan  Coal 
Company  has  returned  to  Detroit  after  spend¬ 
ing  a  week  in  Chicago  and  Milwaukee. 

Walter  S.  Bogle  is  making  an  eastern  trip 
which  will  include  stops  at  Montreal,  New 
York  and  Baltimore  before  he  returns. 

W.  P.  Johnson,  president  of  the  Des  Moines 
Coal  &  Coke  Company,  Des  Moines,  Iowa, 
was  in  Chicago  this  week  for  a  few  days. 

John  A.  Ford  is  now  spending  his  time  call¬ 
ing  on  the  country  trade  in  northern  Illinois 
and  southern  Wisconsin  for  the  Houston  Coal 
Company. 

George  Hutchinson  has  tendered  his  resig¬ 
nation  as  secretary  and  treasurer  of  the  F.  G. 
Hartwell  Company.  His  successor  will  be  T. 
R.  Johnson. 

A.  O.  Nelson,  who  recently  organized  the 
Nelson  Coal  &  Dock  Company  of  Minneapolis, 
was  in  Chicago  for  a  short  time  the  early  part 
of  the  week. 

Two  suits  have  recently  been  started  and 
two  judgments  rendered  against  the  Northern 
Coal  and  Supply  Company.  The  largest  judg¬ 
ment  was  for  $3,471.60. 

Charles  Spalding,  formerly  with  the  New 
Kentucky  Coal  Company,  has  been  appointed 
local  sales  agent  at  Omaha  for  the  Wickham 
&  Burton  Coal  Company. 

Ronald  L.  Patterson,  president  of  the 
Nebraska  Fuel  Company,  Omaha,  was  in  Chi¬ 
cago  for  a  few  days  getting  a  line  on  the 
southern  Illinois  coal  market. 

On  August  2nd  quite  a  snowfall  was  report¬ 
ed  at  Aberdeen,  S.  D.,  which  extended  to 
northwestern  Iowa.  This  may  or  may  not  be 
an  indication  of  a  severe  winter. 

A  creditors’  meeting  of  the  Illinois  Hock¬ 
ing  Washed  Coal  Company  will  be  held  in  the 
office  of  Referee  in  Bankruptcy  Walter  J. 
Grant,  Marion,  Illinois,  August  13th. 

Gordon  Buchanan  says  the  rush  of  orders 
for  the  last  few  days  in  July  indicated  the 
dealers  were  of  the  opinion  the  new  circular 
on  Franklin  county  coal  which  went  into  effect 
August  2nd  would  be  maintained. 

Said  one  Dearborn  street  shipper  this  week: 
“Collections  are  getting  better.  Some  of  my 
trade  are  now  only  taking  two  months’  time 
to  pay  their  bills.  Since  the  war  started  three 
montlis  has  been  considered  fairly  prompt 
pay.” 

Geo.  S.  Whyte  has  purchased  the  interest  of 
F.  R.  Macomber  in  the  wire  rope  business 
operated  under  the  name  of  the  Macomber  & 
\Vhyte  Wire  Rope  Company.  Mr.  iMacomber 
was  appointed  general  manager  of  the  Frank¬ 
lin  Life  Insurance  Company,  effective  .August 
3nd. 

Charles  M.  Moderwell,  F.  S.  Peabody,  T.  J. 
O’Gara,  Glenn  W.  Traer,  C.  R.  Solsberg,  G. 
W.  Wardley  and  W.  C.  Niblack  make  up  the 
Chicago  list  of  delegates  appointed  by  Gov¬ 
ernor  Dunne  to  attend  the  eighteenth  annual 
session  of  the  American  Mining  Congress, 
which  will  be  held  at  San  Francisco,  Septem¬ 
ber  20  and  23. 

Charles  W.  Gilmore  says  this  is  bound  to  be 
a  good  year  for  the  coal  shipper.  He  looks 
for  a  turn  in  the  tide  about  August  31st,  which 
will  be  his  forty-seventh  birthday.  He  is  not  a 
believer  in  phrenology  or  astrology,  but  is 
willing  to  wager  a  few  tons  of  Cora  Lump 
that  the  coal  man  will  start  to  smile  again 
about  that  time. 

The  “war  order”  busines,s  must  be  spread¬ 
ing  to  some  of  the  firms  manufacturing  coal 


mine  equipment,  judging  from  the  length  of 
time  it  takes  to  fill  orders.  The  Dodge  Manu¬ 
facturing  Company  of  Mishawaka,  Indiana, 
promised  to  make  a  delivery  of  screening 
equipment  to  a  southern  Illinois  operator  the 
latter  part  of  June,  but  this  order  is  still  wait¬ 
ing  to  be  shipped. 

I.  L.  Runyan,  secretary  of  the  Illinois  & 
Wisconsin  Retail  Coal  Dealers  Association, 
attended  the  Rock  Island,  Ill.,  retail  coal  mer¬ 
chants’  picnic  held  at  Maple  Grove  on  August 
3.  A  fish  and  chicken  dinner  made  the  occa¬ 
sion  memorable  and  served  to  emphasize  the 
good  feeling  prevailing  among  the  Rock  Island 
dealers  as  a  result  of  their  habit  of  meeting 
together  each  month.  The  picnic  is  an  annual 
event  and  is  always  well  attended. 

The  tax  valuations  placed  on  the  personal 
property  of  the  coal  mining  companies  by  the 
Franklin  county  board  of  assessors  is  causing 
the  different  operators  considerable  anxiety. 
H.  A.  Edwards,  chairman,  of  the  board  of  re¬ 
view,  has  sent  out  notices  to  the  operators  to 
appear  and  show  cause  why  the  assessment 
should  not  be  raised.  Chairman  Edwards  evi¬ 
dently  is  not  in  touch  with  the  coal  market  or 
the  prices  obtained  for  coal  in  the  last  year. 

G.  D.  Rosengrant  of  the  Bickett  Coal  & 
Coke  Company  says  the  coming  fall  and  win¬ 
ter’s  business  will  be  the  best  the  coal  men 
have  experienced  since  the  windfall  of  1902. 
This  prognosticator  has  many  arguments  to 
substantiate  his  prophecy.  He  also  ventures 
to  assert  that  the  screenings  buyer  waiting  for 
a  repetition  of  the  drop  in  prices  of  former 
years  is  bound  to  be  disappointed.  According 
to  this  genial  optimist  the  operator  will  dump 
his  screenings  on  the  ground  before  forcing 
the  market  to  the  figure  prevailing  in  former 
years. 

Frank  J.  Browning,  manager  of  the  Purity 
Coal  Company,  returned  this  week  from  a  trip 
to  Minneapolis.  While  talking  of  conditions 
in  that  section  he  said:  “The  northwest  is 
harvesting  the  greatest  crops  of  wheat  and 
other  grains  in  its  history.  Personally  I  feel 
the  railroads  will  be  swamped  to  take  care  of 
the  coal  and  grain  movement,  which  will  come 
pretty  close  together  this  year.  I  would  not 
l)e  surprised  to  see  quite  a  stiff  jump  in  prices 
later  on,  due  to  a  suddenly  increased  demand 
and  the  inability  of  the  transportation  com¬ 
panies  to  move  coal  promptly. 

A  number  of  suits  have  been  started  and  a 
few  judgments  rendered  against  the  National 
Coal  Sales  Company  formerly  located  in  the 
Westminster  building.  This  concern  was  or¬ 
ganized  by  Jacob  Feinstein  and  Julius  Mueller 
over  a  year  ago.  At  the  time  of  the  organ¬ 
ization  Feinstein,  the  “capitalist”  in  this  ven¬ 
ture,  said  he  did  not  believe  in  financial  state¬ 
ments  and  for  that  reason  would  not  make 
one.  In  view  of  the  recent  development  we 
have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  Solomon, 
the  wisest  of  men,  was  not  superior  in  wisdom 
to  Feinstein.  A  glance  over  the  list  of  credit¬ 
ors  indicates  that  two  are  born  every  minute 
in  the  coal  trade  instead  of  one,  which  was 
popularly  supposed  to  be  the  number  until  the 
coal  operators  got  shy  of  a  place  to  put  their 
surplus  coal. 

Keeping  consignment  coal  off  the  market  is 
an  important  factor  in  the  upholding  of  prices 
by  southern  Illinois  shippers.  Formerly  oper¬ 
ators  who  were  not  strong  financially  would 
ship  one  hundred  or  more  cars  to  consignment 
points  to  some  jobber  who  would  help  make 
up  the  company’s  payroll.  .\s  a  rule,  this  coal 
was  sacrificed  regardless  of  price.  The  net 
return  to  the  operator  was  way  below  the 
cost  of  production,  but  he  saved  his  face  tem¬ 
porarily  by  not  missing  his  payroll.  This  prac¬ 
tice  was  an  expensive  one  and  the  result  was 
that  receivers  were  eventually  appointed  for 
the  companies  indulging  in  it  extensively.  Two 
Franklin  county  companies  guilty  of  this  pro¬ 
cedure  last  year  have  shut  down  and  the  mar¬ 
ket  is  not  compelled  to  take  this  tonnage  which 
has  helped  to  keep  it  strong. 

The  Illinois  Public  Utilities  Commission  has 
notified  shippers  in  central  Illinois  that  a 
series  of  conferences  will  be  held  at  various 
points  to  obtain  data  concerning  a  case 
brought  by  Israel  Joseph  of  Aurora  against 
the  Burlington,  objecting  to  an  advance  in 
switching  charges  for  cars  to  industrial  plants. 
The  commission  will  confer  with  shippers  at 
.^lurora,  Galesburg,  Oregon,  Ottawa,  Beards- 
town,  Moline,  Zearing,  Monmouth,  Polo,  Men- 
dota,  Vermont,  Fulton,  Oglesby,  Bushnell, 


Whitehall,  Savanna,  Shabbona,  Buda,  Galva, 
RocheUe,  East  Dubuque  and  Chapin.  The 
Burlington  and  other  roads  propose  to  ad¬ 
vance  switching  charges  to  privately  owned 
tracks  from  ten  cents  a  ton,  minimum  $3, 
maximum  $4  a  car,  to  fifteen  cents  a  ton,  min¬ 
imum  $6  a  car,  on  coal  and  twenty  cents  a 
ton,  minimum  $5  a  car,  on  other  commodities. 
Shippers  assert  that  the  present  rates  are 
ample. 

B.  L.  Shepard,  secretary,  announces  that 
great  preparations  are  being  miade  for  the 
third  annual  tournament  of  the  National  Coal 
Trade  Golf  Association  to  be  held  over  the 
beautiful  course  of  the  Glen  Oak  Country  Club 
near  Chicago,  Ill.,  on  Monday,  Tuesday  and 
Wednesday,  August  23,  34  and  25.  A  large 
and  enthusiastic  attendance  of  coal  trade  golf¬ 
ers  are  expected  and  you  don’t  have  to  be  an 
expert  to  thoroughly  share  in  the  full  enjoy¬ 
ment  of  the  occasion.  There  are  plenty  of 
rooms  at  the  Club  House  so  that  those  who 
desire  can  stay  there  during  the  tournament. 
This  feature  makes  it  exceptionally  pleasant 
and  the  National  Tournaments  have  always 
proved  to  be  one  of  the  most  delightful  out¬ 
ings  held  in  the  coal  trade.  You  and  your  coal 
trade  friends  who  enjoy  golf  are  miost  cor¬ 
dially  and  heartily  invited.  The  latch  string 
is  out  and  we  will  not  only  be  glad  to  have 
you  with  us  on  August  23-25,  but  will  do  every¬ 
thing  possible  to  make  you  enjoy  every  min¬ 
ute  of  the  time. 

A  new  coal  from  the  famous  Franklin 
county  field  will  be  ready  for  shipment  from 
the  mine  of  the  John  A.  Logan  Coal  Company 
some  time  this  month.  The  installation  of  the 
picking  tables  is  almost  completed  and  with 
a  few  finishing  touches  this  plant  will  be  in  a 
position  to  take  advantage  of  the  late  summer 
and  early  fall  business.  The  operation  will 
have  an  ultimate  capacity  of  3,000  tons  per  day. 
Every  modern  mechanical  device  for  the  care¬ 
ful  handling  and  preparing  of  coal  is  in  use  at 
this  mine.  The  officers  of  the  company  are 
William  J.  Carney,  president;  John  P.  Hard¬ 
ing,  vice-presid.ent,  and  J.  Joseph  Wright, 
secretary  and  treasurer.  Mr.  Carney  is  well 
known  to  the  trade,  having  now  in  active 
operation  a  number  of  coal  mines  in  Iowa, 
Kansas  and  Wyoming.  The  vice-president, 
John  P.  Harding,  is  the  proprietor  of  the 
Planters  hotel,  Chicago.  Mr.  v/right  is  presi¬ 
dent  of  the  Wright  Coal  Company,  an  Iowa 
mining  company.  The  general  sales  office  in 
the  Old  Colony  building,  Chicago,  is  in  charge 
of  Robert  L.  Green,  with  the  title  of  manager 
of  sales. 


New  Coal  Companies. 


Poteau,  Okla.  The  Midland-Six  Coal  Com¬ 
pany  of  Poteau,  Okla.,  recently  reported  incor¬ 
porated,  was  incorporated  under  the  laws  of  the 
state  of  Arkansas.  The  main  office  will  be  at 
Midland,  Ark.,  and  the  officers  are:  J.  E.  Finney, 
general  manager;  T.  A.  Freeze,  superintendent, 
and  R.  E.  McEachin,  agent.  The  company  is  re¬ 
opening  the  famous  Midland  No.  6  mine  and  will 
spend  from  $10,000  to  $15,000  in  getting  the 
property  in  operation.  It  also  expects  to  put  in 
a  large  and  modern  equipped  plant  just  as  soon 
as  the  present  plant  is  in  operating  order. 

Paris,  Ark.  The  New  Union  Coal  Company 
recently  incorporated  with  a  capital  of  $6,000,  has 
for  its  president,  superintendent  and  general  man¬ 
ager  H.  S.  Foster ;  secretary  and  treasurer,  George 
M.  Zeller.  The  location  of  the  mine  is  1I4  miles 
west  of  Paris,  and  it  is  a  slope  proposition.  The 
development  work  is  about  completed  and  about 
$15,000  is  being  expended  in  equipment.  It  will 
be  ready  to  hoist  coal  about  August  1,  and 
though  the  capacity  will  be  small  at  first  it  will 
increase  until  the  capacity  of  about  200  tons  a 
day  is  reached. 

Praise,  Ky.  An  incorporation  composed  of 
W.  O.  Brothers,  as  president;  H.  B.  Brothers, 
secretary  and  treasurer;  1.  C.  Crige,  vice-presi¬ 
dent,  and  M.  L.  Senter,  general  manager,  will  be 
known  as  the  Eastern  Kentucky  Block  Coal  & 
Fuel  Company.  The  company  expects  to  be  ship¬ 
ping  coal  about  the  first  of  August.  B.  V. 
Brothers  is  in  charge  of  development  work,  and 
there  will  be  something  like  $30,000  expended  in 
equipping  the  property.  The  location  of  the  mines 
is  near  East  Elkhorn  City,  Pike  county,  Ky.,  on 
the  C.  C.  &  O.  R.  R.,  near  the  Junction  of  the 

C.  &  O.  R.  R.  The  mine  is  a  slope  proposition. 
The  coal  is  a  fine,  solid  coal  and  said  to  be 
a  good  one  for  by-product  purposes. 


No.  6] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


113 


Facts  Which  Determine  Our  Export  Prospects. 


The  Export  Situation. 

The  American  coal  trade  established  a  new 
export  record  for  shipments  over  the  Atlantic 
seaboard  in  July,  by  exceeding  the  record  es¬ 
tablished  in  June,  when  1,047,377  tons  were 
exported  from  Hampton  Roads,  Baltimore  and 
Philadelphia,  .^.t  the  moment  the  exact  fig¬ 
ures  from  Philadelphia  are  not  available,  but 
figures  from  Hampton  Roads  and  Baltimore 
already  at  hand,  show  shipments  of  707,388 
tons  from  Hampton  Roads  and  334,380  tons 
from  Baltimore,  making  a  total  of  941,668  tons. 
An  estimate  of  135,000  tons  from  Philadelphia 
will  make  a  total  of  1,065,768  tons,  a  substan¬ 
tial  increase  over  June. 

The  trade  are  very  much  exercised  over  the 
cables  from  London  on  Tuesday  to  the  effect 
that  the  British  government  would  restrict  ex¬ 
ports  of  bituminous  coal  to  all  countries  ex¬ 
cept  British  possessions  after  August  30.  This 
cable  stated  that  they  would  cut  off  supplies 
to  the  allies.  If  this  is  true,  the  United  States 
will  have  to  supply  coals  to  France  and  Italy, 
which  two  countries  are  now  taking  coal  from 
England  at  the  rate  of  1,500,000  and  500,000 
tons,  respectively,  per  month.  This  will  also 
mean  that  the  North  sea  countries  will  have 
to  take  all  of  their  coal  from  the  United 
States,  as  will  all  of  the  Mediterranean  coun¬ 
tries,  and  all  of  the  South  American  countries. 

The  paramount  question  is  to  secure  ton¬ 
nage  to  handle  this  coal,  should  the  restric¬ 
tion  order  be  literally  followed.  It  will  be  re¬ 
called  that  in  May  the  British  government  is¬ 
sued  a  restriction  order,  allowing  exports  to 
go  only  to  British  possessions  and  allied  coun¬ 
tries,  except  by  special  license.  It  appears 
that  the  special  licenses  were  issued  so  freely 
that  the  restriction  did  not  amount  to  very 
much. 

As  indicating  the  serious  shortage  of  coal  in 
England,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  for 
one  week  all  of  the  Welsh  mines  were  idle. 
Furthermore,  at  a  mass  meeting  of  English 
coal  operators  held  in  London  last  Wednes¬ 
day,  David  Lloyd  George,  minister  of  muni¬ 
tions,  announced  that  English  industries  were 
short  about  3,000,000  tons  of  coal  per  month. 
This  amounts  to  approximately  seventy-five 
per  cent  of  England’s  exports  at  present. 

American  shippers  have  cabled  their  Lon¬ 
don  representatives  to  know  just  what  the  new 
order  means,  and  should  they  cable  back  that 
English  exports  will  be  restricted  except  to 
British  possessions,  it  should  create  quite  a 
flurry  in  the  American  coal  market. 

We  present  below  a  statement  of  the  ex¬ 
ports  from  the  Atlantic  seaboard  ports  for 
June  and  July,  1915,  with  comparison  for  July, 
1914,  as  follows: 


Ports — 

June  1915 

July  1915 

July  1914 

Lamberts  Point .  . .  . 

_  467,689 

435,3.53 

125,588 

Newport  News . 

....  121,188 

211,590 

48,177 

Sewalls  Point .... 

_  15,818 

69,345 

11,634 

604,695 

707,288 

185,399 

Baltimore  . 

_  314,799 

234,380 

85,303 

Philadelphia  . 

....  127,783 

*125,000 

49,704 

1,047,277 

1,005,768 

320,406 

‘Estimated. 


Foreign  Freight  Rates. 

W.  W.  Battle  &  Co.’s  produce  exchange. 
New  York,  under  date  of  August  3,  report  as 
follows : 

A  number  of  large  British  steamers  were  of¬ 
fering  last  week  at  34s  6d,  for  coals  to  Lower 
Plate  ports,  at  which  rate  a  few  of  these 
steamers  were  chartered,  but  neutral  tonnage 
is  difficult  to  obtain  for  this  voyage  even  at 


Mediterranean  freights  are  firmer,  owing  to 
the  competition  of  grain,  which  is  now  ac¬ 
tively  in  the  market,  and  rates  to  Cuban  and 
West  Indian  ports  are  also  firmer,  on  account 
of  the  limited  supply  of  tonnage  available  for 
these  trades. 

We  would  quote  freight  rates  on  coal  by 
steamer  as  follows: 


West  Coast  of  Italy 
Marseilles  . 


Bercelona  or  other  good  Spanish  port . 

(Spanish  dues  for  account  of  cargo) 

Note. — Charters  for  Italy,  France  and  Spain 
read:  “Lay  days  to  commence  on  steamer’s 

arrival  at  or  off  port  of  discharge,  Is  per  net 
register  ton  per  day  demurrage.” 

Montevideo . about 

Buenos  Aires  or  La  Plata . ...about 

(Above  quotations  on  Plate  coal  by  British  ton¬ 


38s@  40s 
36s@38s 
35s@'37s 


34s  3d 
34s  6d 


nage.  Plate  on  neutral  tonnage  to  Montevideo, 

Buenos  Aires  or  La  Plata  about  35s.  Neutral 
owners  prefer  Buenos  Aires.) 

Rosario  . 36s@37s 

Rio  . 35s  @  36s 

Santos  . 35s@37s 

(Consignees  paying  docas  dues) 

V'alparaiso  or  Callao . $6.25@$6..50 

Havana  .  2.25@  2.75 

Cardenas  or  Sagua .  3.00@  3.50 

Cienfuegos  .  3.00@  3.25 

Port  of  Spain,  Trinidad . about  3.50 

St.  Lucia .  Z.25@  3.50 

St.  Thomas . about  3.00 

Barbados  . about  3.50 

Kingston  .  2.75@  3.00 

Curacao  . about  3.25  &  p.c. 

Santiago  .  2.75@  3.25 

Cuantanamo  . . .  2.75 @  3.25 

Demerara  . '. .  4.25  @  4.50 

Bermuda . about  3.00 

Vera  Cruz  .  3.25@  3.75 

Tampico  . .  3.25@  3.75 


Baltimore  Exports. 


Exports  of  bituminous  coal  from  Baltimore 
for  July,  1915,  with  a  comparison  with  July, 
1914,  were  as  follows: 


1915  1914 


Italy  .  80,768  . 

Argentine  .  28,038  6,642 

Egypt  .  17,685  23,064 

Greece  .  10,220  . 

Cuba  .  24,333  24,837 

France  .  26,191  . 

Spain  .  14,077  . 

Sweden  .  18,850  . 

Venezuela  .  988  . 

Netherlands .  3,002  . 

Peru  .  371  . 

Norway  .  2,907  . 

Montevideo  .  3,953  . 

Costa  Rica .  3,000  7,866 

Mexico  .  17,257 

Jamaica  .  78 

Japan  .  5,559 


Totals 


234,380  85,303 


June  Philadelphia  Exports. 


Exportations  of  coal  from  Philadelphia  dur¬ 
ing  the  month  of  June  1915,  were  as  follows: 


Country — 

Italy  . 

Norway  . 

Spain  . 

Canada  . 

Cuba  . 

French  West  Indies 

Argentina  . 

Brazil  . 

Colombia  . 


Anthracite.  Bituminous. 

.  10,620 

.  16,915 

.  12,514 


3.3,814 

4,559 

32,368 

9,309 

1,280 


5,387  121,379 


May  Exports  of  Coal. 

The  Department  of  Commerce  through  the 
Bureau  of  Foreign  and  Domestic  Commerce 
at  Washington  has  just  issued  a  special  month¬ 
ly  statement  on  the  exports  of  domestic  coal 
and  coke  from  the  United  States,  and  the 
bunker  coal,  laden  on  vessels  engaged  in  the 
foreign  trade  at  the  specified  districts,  during 
the  month  of  May,  1915.  It  follows: 

Domestic  Exports. 


COAL.  COKE. 

Anthracite.  Bituminous. 

Districts —  Tons.  Tons.  Tons. 

Maine  and  New  Hampshire...  1,217  . 

Maryland  .  298  232,866  396 

Massachusetts  .  1  . 

New  York  .  18,081  3,044  628 

Philadelphia  .  9,614  107,645  3,591 

Virginia  .  445,917  5,361 

Florida  .  45  . 

Mobile  .  433  . 

New  Orleans .  2,530  39 

Arizona  .  1,124  82 

El  Faso  .  18,968  18,674 

Laredo  .  2,202  . 

Hawaii .  10  . 

Southern  California  .  2  26  . 

.San  Francisco  .  .  11 

Washington  .  70  144  3,659 

Buffalo  . 147,883  152,479  35,137 

Dakota  .  645  1,772  157 

Duluth  and  Superior .  58  1,031  122 

Michigan  .  ,32,430  5,168 

Ohio  .  20,800  344,505  450 

Rochester  . 104,649  40,634  78 

St.  Lawrence  . 117,354  16,171  973 

t'^ermont  .  1,977  346  55 


Total  . 422,694  1,404,277  74,581 


BUNKER  COAL. 

Districts —  Gross  Tons, 

New  York .  273,142 

Philadelphia  .  41,532 

Maryland  (Baltimore") .  56.986 

Virginia  (Norfolk  and  Newport  News) .  146,291 


Recent  Coal  Freight  Charters. 

Steamer  Nailsea  Court  (Br.),  Virginia  to  Buenos  .\ires, 
coal,  34s  6d. 

Steamer  Ribe(  Greek),  Virginia  to  Rio  Grande-do-Sul, 
coal,  42s  6d. 

Steamer  Rosebank  (Br.),  Philadelphia  to  Valencia,  coal, 
p.  t. 


Steamer  George  Pyman  (Br.),  Fliiladelphia  to  Barcelona, 
coal,  p.  t. 

Steamer  Isle  of  Jula  (Br.),  Baltimore  to  Alexandria, 
coal,  p.  t. 

Schooner  Gen.  E.  S.  Greeley,  Norfolk  to  Pernambuco, 
coal,  $7. 

Schooner  C.  A.  Campbell,  Norfolk  to  Para,  coal,  $5.50. 

Schooner  Annie  Lord,  New  York  to  St.  John,  N.  B., 
coal. 

Steamer  New  Sweden  (Sweden),  Baltimore  to  Sunds- 
vale,  coal,  p.  t. 

Steamer  Hogland  (Swed.),  Baltimore  to  Stockholm, 
coal,  p.  t.,  August. 

Steamer  Artemis  (Nor.),  Baltimore  to  Gothemburg, 
coal,  p.  t. 

Steamer  Alcana  (Ital.),  Virginia  to  River  Plata,  coal, 
34s  6d. 

Schooner  Geo.  E.  Dudley,  New  York  to  Halifax,  N.  S., 
coal,  $1.90. 

Steamer  Deddington  (Br.),  Norfolk  to  Campana,  or 
Villa  Constitucion,  coal,  34s  6d,  option  Rosario  35s  6d, 
prompt. 

Steamers  Framlington  Count  (Br.)  and  Argo  (Br.), 
Baltimore  to  River  Plata,  coal,  p.  t. 

Steamer  Mar  Caspio  (Span.),  Baltimore  to  Barcelona, 
coal,  p.  t. 

Steamer  Kaupauger  (Nor.),  Baltimore  to  Malmo,  coal, 


p.  t. 

Steamer  Grekland  (Swed.),  Baltimore  to  Stockholm, 
coal,  p.  t. 

Schooner  Alice  M.  Colburn,  Philadelphia  to  Porto  Rico, 
coal,  p.  t. 

Steamer  Sif  (Nor.),  Philadelphia  to  Fort  de  France, 
coal,  p.  t. 

Steamer  Millicent  Knight  (Br.),  Philadelphia  to  Medi¬ 
terranean,  coal,  p.  t. 

Steamer  Rothley  (Br.),  Norfolk  to  Buenos  Aires,  coal, 
34s  6d,  prompt. 

Steamer  Salamis  (Greek),  Baltimore  or  Virginia  to 
west  coast  Italy,  coal,  36s  August. 

Steamer  Brendon  (Br.),  Norfolk  to  Dakar,  coal,  p.  t. 

Steamer  Riverdale  (Br.),  Baltimore  to  Guayaquil,  coal. 


p.  t. 

Steamers  Glenmount  (Br.)  and  Orkeld  (Dan.),  Phila¬ 
delphia  to  Cuba,  coal,  p.  t. 

Schooner  Horace  A.  Stone,  Philadelphia  to  Porto  Rico, 
coal,  p.  t. 

Steamer  Antwerpen  (Dan.),  Baltimore  to  Denmark, 
coal.  p.  t.,  spot. 

Schooner  Singleton  Palmer,  Norfolk  to  Lisbon,  coal, 
p.  t.,  prompt. 

Steamer  Skogland  (Nor.),  Norfolk  to  Colon,  coal 
p.  t.,  prompt. 


A  Paris  correspondent  of  the  Birmingham 
(Eng.)  Daily  Post,  tells  of  the  French  coal 
problem  as  follows:  “The  coal  problem 
threatens  to  absorb  public  attention  more 
and  more  as  winter  approaches.  The  com¬ 
plaints  of  the  civil  population  have  been  gen¬ 
eral,  and  no  doubt  the  government  thought 
it  wise  to  explain  the  situation.  M.  Marcel 
Sembat,  minister  of  public  works,  boldly  states 
that  there  is  no  crisis  at  all  so  far  as  quan¬ 
tity  is  concerned,  but  only  as  regards  prices. 
He  admits  that  from  25,000,000  to  30,000,000 
tons  have  been  cut  off  by  the  Germans  holding 
Belgium  and  northern  France,  and  that  the 
needs  of  war  and  its  industries  increase  con¬ 
sumption:  ‘but  I  very  much  want  everyone 
to  understand  that  an  average  of  1,500,000  tons 
of  coal  enters  our  ports  every  month — and  the 
coal  fields  that  are  left  to  us  furnish  about 
the  same  amount.  Military  and  civil  necessi¬ 
ties  during  the  year  of  war  being  evaluated  at 
35,000,000  tons,  you  see  we  have  enough  to 
carry  us  through.’  The  municipal  authorities 
of  Paris  two  weeks  ago  voted  a  sum  of  40,000,- 
000  francs  to  accumulate  stocks  for  the  com¬ 
ing  winter,  and  depots  are  being  rapidly  con¬ 
structed  to  hold  them.  Partisans,  however, 
know  that  the  coal  they  use  every  winter  runs 
into  three  times  that  figure,  and  at  normal 
prices.  There  are  at  least  500  barges  and 
lighters  moored  along  the  Seine  that  have 
been  idle  for  twelve  months.  There  are  plenty 
of  British  coal  exports  blocking  Rouen,  but 
the  prices  offered  for  canal  transport  to  Paris 
are  not  sufficiently  remunerative.  But  what 
need  to  go  into  these  details?  France  consumes 
every  year  about  60,000,000  tons  of  mineral 
combustible,  and  by  this  present  war  she  is 
able  to  extract  no  more  than  about  1,500,000 
tons  per  month  from  the  mines  that  are  left  to 
her.  To  make  up  the  deficit  she  is  absolutely 
at  the  mercy  of  the  British  miners.  But  there 
is  something  also  to  think  of  now.  What  is 
to  become  of  Italy,  which  has  not  a  single  coal 
mine  in  her  territory,  and  who  can  no  longer 
get  German  coal?  Italy,  too,  is  absolutely  at 
the  mercy  of  the  British  miners.” 


A  regulation  is  now  in  force  which  prohibits 
neutral  steamers  from  being  supplied  in 
British  ports  with  more  bunker  coal  than  is 
sufficient  to  take  them  to  their  first  port  of 
call,  excepting  in  a  case  where  the  vessel  is 
bound  for  French  ports  or  to  Archangel.  De¬ 
partures  from  this  rule  will  be  allowed  in  cer¬ 
tain  cases,  and  owners  and  agents  who  desire 
exceptional  treatment  must  make  application 
to  the  secretary  of  the  board  of  customs  in 
London,  giving  full  details  of  the  prospective 
employment  of  the  ship  in  question. 


114 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[August  7 


General  Review. 

Export  Trade  Feature  of  the  Coal  Market 
— Rainy  Weather  Affects  Thresh¬ 
ing  Demand. 

A  gradual  improvement  in  the  demand  for 
coal  is  noted  at  all  important  coal  distributing 
centers.  This  slightly  increased  demand  in¬ 
cludes  both  the  steam  and  domestic  product. 
The  former  is  l>eginning  to  feel  the  effect  of 
the  war  order  business,  due  to  the  opening  up 
of  factories  which  have  secured  a  portion  of 
the  foreign  orders  now  being  placed  in  differ¬ 
ent  sections  of  the  country. 

The  improvement  in  domestic  demand  is 
due  to  the  near  approach  to  the  time  when 
coal  will  again  be  a  necessity  of  life  to  a  great 
section  of  the  country. 

Almost  continual  foggy  weather  has  se¬ 
riously  hampered  the  coal  supply  at  New  Eng¬ 
land  points.  In  spite  of  this  the  greater  por¬ 
tion  of  the  trade  report  a  decided  slump  in 
new  business.  This  is  in  part  attributed  to  the 
fact  that  the  production  of  bituminous  coal 
increased  in  greater  proportion  than  the  de¬ 
mand  warranted.  Anthracite  to  these  points, 
however,  is  in  a  better  position  and  it  is  re¬ 
ported  that  the  average  Boston  house  did  a 
better  July  business  than  had  been  expected. 

In  New  York  the  anthracite  interests  were 
not  disappointed  at  the  relatively  slow  move¬ 
ment  of  the  hard  coal.  Although  August  is 
the  last  month  for  the  reduced  prices,  there 
was  not  much  of  a  scramble  to  take  advantage 
of  the  discount.  The  bituminous  trade  is  not 
materially  improved  since  the  first  of  this 
month,  but  conditions  can  be  truly  said  to 
have  improved.  The  volume  in  movement  is 
not  so  heavy,  but  there  is  a  better  all  around 
general  demand  which  augurs  well  for  an 
awakening  in  various  lines  of  industry. 

At  Philadelphia  there  are  indications  that 
the  anthracite  market  will  be  materially  im¬ 
proved  as  there  has  been  a  stiffening  in  the 
pea  coal  market  in  the  last  few  days.  Enough 
of  a  demand  being  created  to  advance  the  price 
ten  cents  a  ton,  the  other  sizes  of  hard  coal 
have  also  shown  strength  which  is  attributed 
mainly  to  the  restriction  in  production.  In 
spite  of  the  newspaper  reports  to  the  contrary, 
the  volume  of  bituminous  coal  passing  over 
the  Port  Richmond  and  Greenwich  piers  ex¬ 
ceeded  the  volume  for  the  same  period  of  last 
year  by  a  comfortaI)le  margin.  There  was  lit¬ 
tle  demurrage  coal  and  the  piers  started  the 
month  in  fair  shape. 

Most  comforting  assurances  come  from  Bal¬ 
timore  to  the  effect  that  record-breaking  ex¬ 
port  tonnages  are  expected  for  this  month,  as 
well  as  for  September.  Charters  already  an¬ 
nounced  indicate  that  it  would  not  be  surpris¬ 
ing  to  see  the  300,000  ton  mark  left  behind  for 
each  month.  The  general  tonnage  is  also  im¬ 
proved  and  it  is  reported  that  the  railroads 
centering  in  Baltimore  have  made  extensive 
arrangements  of  their  motive  power  in  order 
to  be  prepared  for  the  heavy  movements  they 
anticipate  in  the  near  future.  Anthracite  at 
this  point  is  reported  flat  with  the  collections 
poor. 

Pittsburgh  reports  activity  in  steel  and  or¬ 
ders  in  accumulation,  but  this  does  not  seem 
to  aid  the  market  to  any  great  extent.  The 
closing  week  of  the  past  month  was  the 
most  uneventful  of  the  long  dull  season.  There 
are  rumors  of  inquiries  for  very  large  tonnages 
of  coal  for  foreign  consumption,  one  of  them 
being  from  Italy  and  calling  for  100,000  tons 
to  be  delivered  at  the  rate  of  500  tons  a  day. 

The  Buffalo  demand  for  anthracite  is  very 
light  as  the  retail  dealers  are  charry  with 
their  orders.  There  is  a  plentiful  supply  with 
most  of  the  companies  who  do  not  expect 
much  of  a  demand  until  the  cooler  weather 
appears.  The  bituminous  trade  does  not  show 
much  improvement,  although  it  is  better  than 
a  few  weeks  ago. 

The  market  in  Cincinnati  is  reported  in  a 
much  better  condition  than  for  some  time 
past.  Dealers  and  operators  are  maintaining 
an  optimistic  attitude.  The  demand  for  nut 
and  slack  is  better  in  all  departments. 

Indianapolis  advices  are  tinged  with  pessim¬ 
ism  because  of  the  unprecedented  bad  weather 
with  which  the  state  of  Indiana  has  been 
sorely  afflicted. 


In  the  west  the  rains  have  interfered  with 
threshing  to  such  an  extent  that  scarcely  any 
of  it  is  under  way.  Impassable  roads  have  also 
decreased  the  demand  from  the  farmer  trade 
as  well  as  causing  the  refusal  of  a  lot  of  coal 
which  it  is  impossible  to  haul.  This  condition 
is  especially  noticeable  in  the  vicinity  of 
Omaha. 


Chicago  Market. 


Restricted  Output  Strengthens  Market — 
Backward  Crops  Delay 
Farmer  Demand. 


The  first  week  in  August  has  always  been 
considered  the  turning  point  of  the  year  in 
the  domestic  coal  business.  This  year  the 
backwardness  of  the  crops,  due  to  the  con¬ 
tinued  rains  and  the  absence  of  warm  weather, 
will  postpone  the  turning  period  until  the  lat¬ 
ter  part  of  the  month.  Some  harvesting  is 
being  done,  but  the  bulk  of  the  grain  will  not 
be  gathered  until  the  middle  of  the  month. 
The  taking  in  of  coal  is  delayed  accordingly. 
After  threshing  dealers  should  begin  to  buy 
heavily  of  the  domestic  product. 

The  merging  of  the  grain  moving  and  coal 
shipping  periods  into  one  may  cause  some 
embarrassment  to  the  transportation  com¬ 
panies.  Operators  as  a  rule  are  optimistic  and 
as  a  result  are  holding  for  prices  that  will 
bring  a  fair  profit  on  their  investment. 

When  the  market  cannot  absorb  any  more 
coal  at  current  quotations  there  is  no  hesi¬ 
tancy  to  shut  down  the  mines.  This  policy  has 
kept  consignment  coal  off  the  market,  giving  it 
a  strength  that  has  not  always  prevailed  at 
this  time  of  the  year. 

The  new  smokeless  circular  which  went  into 
effect  the  first  of  the  month  calls  for  $1.40  for 
mine-run  and  $2.25  for  lump  and  egg.  A  rush 
to  cover  immediate  requirements  was  notice¬ 
able  the  last  few  days  in  July  which  will  take 
care  of  the  trade’s  needs  for  a  short  time  only. 
There  is  no  wavering  on  the  part  of  operators 
to  grant  concessions  by  accepting  coal  at  July 
prices  and  what  little  coal  is  being  sold  is 
ordered  on  the  basis  of  the  new  circular.  Deal¬ 
ers  are  of  the  opinion  that  the  smokeless  mar¬ 
ket  is  in  a  strong  position  owing  to  the  ab¬ 
normal  export  business  and  but  little  tendency 
is  noted  to  break  the  August  quotations.  Prices 
up  to  Thursday  carrying  the  August  circular 
were: 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Smokeless —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Mine  run  .  $3.45  $1.40 

Lump  and  egg .  4.30  2.25 

Somerset  county  operators  are  holding  off 
putting  a  new  circular  into  effect  until  they  see 
how  strictly  the  Pocahontas  and  New  River 
shippers  maintain  their  recent  advance  in 
prices.  Coal  is  offered  this  week  at  the  July 
quotations  providing  for  an  immediate  ac¬ 
ceptance,  but  with  the  feeling  that  an  advance 
will  be  made  as  soon  as  it  is  determined  that 
the  West  Virginia  smokeless  shippers  will  hold 
for  $1.40  for  mine  run  coal.  Prices  up  to 
Thursday  were: 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Somerset  County —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Mine  run .  $3.30  $1.25 

Lump  and  egg .  8.75@3.95  1.70@1.90 

The  Hocking  market  is  featureless  with  no 
change  in  quotations.  The  delay  in  the  grain 
movement  has  effected  the  demand  the  same  as 
it  has  for  other  domestic  coal.  Prices  up  to 
Thursday  were: 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Hocking —  Chicago.  Mines. 

154-inch  lump .  $3.15  $1.50 

Splint  coal  shippers  have  decided  to  mine 
only  enough  coal  to  supply  market  needs  and 
as  a  result  prices  are  stronger.  Some  com¬ 
panies  making  low  quotations  have  signed  up 
for  most  of  their  output.  Their  removal  as 
a  market  influence  should  make  for  firmer  quo¬ 
tations.  Prices  up  to  Thursday  were: 

F.  p.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Kanawha—  Chicago.  Mines. 

1^'inch  lump . $3.05  @3.15  $1.15  @1.25 

Kentucky  operators  producing  the  best  pro¬ 
duct  are  now  getting  $1.90  for  lump  while  a 
considerable  tonnage  of  second  grade  coal  is 
moving  at  twenty  cents.  The  wide  range  in 
the  price  of  Kentucky  is  matched  by  the  wide 
range  in  quality.  Shippers  spending  money  to 
prepare  their  coal  probably  have  no  hesitancy 
in  asking  the  higher  price  while  the  poorer 
product  must  always  be  moved  at  much  lower 
figures.  The  prices  up  to  Thursday  were: 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Eastern  Kentucky —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Domestic  lump . $3.25@3.80  $1.35@1.90 

Egg  .  3.05@3.25  1.15@1.35 

The  advent  of  the  new  circular  brought  a 
rush  of  orders  the  last  three  days  in  July  to 
the  Franklin  county  operators.  Dealers  anti¬ 
cipated  their  requirements;  as  a  result  little 
coal  has  moved  forward  at  the  new  quotations. 
The  screenings  market  held  its  own  fairly 
well  considering  the  movement  of  the  domes¬ 
tic  sizes.  Some  coal  has  sold  at  seventy  cents 
and  an  occasional  car  that  was  up  to  demurrage 
service  brought  only  sixty  cents.  The  average 
quotation  was  about  sixty-five  cents.  Some 
shippers  are  making  arrangements  to  store 
their  fine  coal  at  the  mines  if  there  continues 


to  be  a  sliding  market. 

The  prices 

up  to 

Thursday  were: 

F.  O.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

Franklin  County — 

Chicago. 

Mines. 

Lump  . 

$2.65 

$1.60 

Egg  . 

2.65 

1.60 

No.  1  nut . 

2.65 

1.60 

No.  2  nut . 

2.45 

1.40 

Mine  run  . 

2.15 

1.10 

2-inch  screenings  . 

1.70 

.65 

The  producers  of  the  better  grades  of  coal 
in  Williamson  county  have  put  their  new  cir¬ 
cular  into  effect  calling  for  $1.60  for  lump,  egg 
and  nut  and  $1.40  for  special  store.  There  is 
some  shading  of  prices  by  the  smaller  opera¬ 
tors  producing  coal  not  of  standard  prepara¬ 
tion,  but  this  tonnage  is  insignificant.  Screen¬ 
ings  are  a  little  easier,  ranging  from  sixty  to 
seventy  cents. 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Williamson  County —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Lump  .  $2.65  $1.60 

Egg  .  2.65  1.60 

No.  1  washed .  2.65  1.60 

No.  2  washed .  2.50  1.45 


Saline  county  operators  are  running  their 
mines  only  a  little  better  than  half  time  and 
for  that  reason  no  change  in  the  price  schedule 
was  made  the  first  of  the  month.  If  the 
domestic  business  comes  with  a  rush  later  in 
the  month  this  section  will  probably  get  in  line 
with  the  other  producers  of  high  grade  south¬ 
ern  Illinois  coal.  Screenings  from  this  district 
are  in  good  demand  at  sixty-five  cents.  The 
prices  up  to  Thursday  were: 

F.  p.  B.  F.  p.  B. 

Saline  County —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Lump  .  $2.55  $1.50 

Mine  run .  2.16  1.10 

Screenings  .  1.70  .65 

154-inch  lump .  2.30  1.25 


No  change  has  been  made  in  the  Springfield 
operators’  circular,  they  being  satisfied  to  ac¬ 
cept  orders  at  the  July  quotations.  Screenings 
are  holding  fairly  well  around  sixty  cents,  while 
mine  run  is  bringing  $1  and  $1.10.  If  the  anti¬ 
cipated  demand  materializes  a  new  circular  will 
be  issued  August  15  calling  for  an  increase  of 
ten  cents  per  ton.  The  prices  up  to  Thurs- 


day  were: 

F.  0.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

Springfield — 

Chicago. 

Mines. 

I-ump  . 

.  $2.32 

$1.50 

Egg  . 

1.60 

Nut  . 

1.35 

Mine  run . 

1.05 

Screenings  . 

.65 

Coal  from  the  Clinton  field  commands  a  bet¬ 
ter  price  in  its  home  state  and  for  that  reason 
the  movement  of  coal  to  the  Chicago  market 
is  not  active  at  this  time.  There  is  no  change 


in  quotations,  which  were: 


Clinton — 

Domestic  lump . 

Egg  . 

Nut  . 

F.  0.  B. 
Chicago. 

.  2.07 

F.  O.  B. 
Mines. 
$1.60 
1.30 
1.30 

.  1.87 

1.10 

Screenings  . 

.70 

Knox  county  operators  are  gradually  increas¬ 
ing  their  output  and  a  better  feeling  exists 
throughout  the  field.  A  partial  return  of  busi¬ 
ness  activity  is  noted  in  the  territory  between 
the  mines  and  Chicago  and  this  condition  has 
helped  to  maintain  prices  on  a  firm  basis. 
Prices  up  to  Thursday  were: 


F.  0.  B. 

F.  0.  B. 

Knox  County — 

Chicago. 

Mines. 

Lump  . . 

.  $2.37 

$1.50 

Egg  . 

1.50 

Mine  run . 

1.05 

Screenings  . 

.62 

The  domestic  coke  market  is  without  feature, 
no  chgmge  in  quotations  occurring  at  this  tirne. 
Dealers  have  stocked  domestic  coke  heavily 
at  the  suggestion  of  shippers  who  have  ex¬ 
tended  the  time  of  payment  three  and  four 
months.  This  policy  may  keep  the  ovens  go¬ 
ing  during  the  dull  period  but  it  is  bound 
to  react  later  on.  Prices  up  to  Thursday 


Coke —  Chicago. 

Connellsville  .  $4.76 

By-product,  foundry .  4.85@5.10 

By-product,  egg  and  stove .  4.50@4.60 

By-product,  nut .  4.60@4.60 

Gas  house  .  3.75@3.90 


No.  6] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


115 


Pittsburgh  Trade. 


Steel  Trades  Active  But  Demand  for 
Coal  Shows  Little  Improvement — 
Coke  Is  Firm. 


Office  of  The  Black  Diamond, 
1502  Oliver  Building, 

Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  August  5. 

The  coal  market  in  Pittsburgh  is  one  that  is 
hard  to  understand.  From  all  reports,  our  steel 
mills  are  very  busy  and  orders  accumulating,  but 
the  bulk  of  the  business  is  on  lines  other  than 
constructive,  war  munitions  being  the  leading  fac¬ 
tors  that  maintain  plant  activity,  and  with  it  all — 
the  demand  for  coal  has  not  increased  in  the 
open  market  to  any  considerable  extent — in  fact 
there  is  practically  a  total  absence  of  any  spot 
demand  for  bituminous  coal  in  the  Pittsburgh 
district  today,  and  the  closing  week  of  July  end¬ 
ing  the  first  half  of  the  year  was  the  most  un¬ 
eventful  of  the  long  dull  season,  with  the  first 
week  in  August  showing  little  signs  of  better¬ 
ment  at  the  start.  Any  shipping  that  is  being 
done,  is  on  contracts  that  covered  the  larger  mills 
and  factory  supply,  long  ago — and  the  forwarding 
orders  on  these  are  comparatively  light,  though 
operators  are  firm  in  their  demand  for  better 
prices  on  future  contracts,  feeling  that  the  con¬ 
tinued  expansion  in  the  steel  and  iron  trades 
cannot  much  longer  be  without  its  influence  on 
the  demand  for  coal. 

The  lake  trade  continues  to  maintain  a  disap¬ 
pointing  attitude,  in  spite  of  forecasts  by  optimists 
during  the  past  two  months,  who  expected  a 
lively  demand  in  the  northwest,  by  harvest  time, 
even  now  one  frequently  hears  it  said  that  should 
this  trade  open  up  to  anything  like  normal — min¬ 
ing  and  shipping  facilities  would  be  taxed  beyond 
capacity  to  handle  it  within  the  limited  period — 
before  the  cessation  of  navigation.  Reports  from 
Canadian  industrial  districts  are  not  encouraging, 
however,  and  with  the  still  large  tonnages  of  coal 
awaiting  buyers  at  lake  shipping  points  it  is 
hardly  to  be  expected  that  any  excessive  demand 
will  be  felt. 

With  5,000  or  more  miners  still  idle  in  the 
nearby  Ohio  districts,  and  workings  there  non¬ 
productive — and  West  Virginia  advertising  for 
miners,  to  enable  producers  there  to  meet  the  re¬ 
quired  production  for  their  export  business,  it 
would  appear  that  Pittsburgh  should  be  very  busy 
with  interior  and  other  local  industrial  demand — • 
but  such  is  not  the  case,  and  mines  continue  to 
operate  only  fifty  or  sixty  per  cent  of  capacity  for 
merchant  production.  The  small  demand  for 
screened  coal  has  produced  a  scarcity  of  slack  the 
past  few  days,  and  prices  show  an  upward  move¬ 
ment  accordingly.  Quotations  made  here  last  week 
on  both  coal  and  coke  fairly  represent  the  market 
today — unless  it  might  be  stated  that  a  stronger 
feeling  is  shown  on  coal.  Rumor  says  that  quo¬ 
tations  are  being  held  back  on  a  conditional  in¬ 
quiry  for  a  very  large  tonnage  of  coal,  awaiting 
developments  in  Ohio — it  being  understood  the 
coal  will  be  bought  there  if  the  operators  can  fill 
the  orders.  Another  Italian  inquiry  received  in 
Pittsburgh  today  calls  for  quotations  on  100,000 
tons  of  coal — delivered  at  the  rate  of  500  tons 
daily.  Parties  quoting  on  this,  are  asking  an 
advance. 

Foundry  coke  has  assumed  a  more  determined 
stand,  as  to  price,  with  a  little  better  demand,  but 
not  showing  anything  like  a  boom.  Prices  re¬ 
main  unchanged  from  quotations  of  last  week, 
on  both  foundry  and  furnace,  though  furnace  is 
reported  as  weaker,  with  a  tendency  to  recede, 
rather  than  advance,  no  large  tonnages  are  being 
talked  about,  and  little  spot  buying  of  any  magni¬ 
tude  is  reported.  The  pig  iron  situation  appar¬ 
ently  improves,  and  lends  an  element  of  strength 
to  coke  that  prevents  anything  like  a  decided 
slump. 

No  river  shipping  has  been  possible  the  past 
two  weeks  on  account  of  the  low  stage  of  water 
in  the  three  rivers.  The  somewhat  heavy  rain 
falls  of  the  latter  end  of  the  week  past,  caused 
but  an  ineffective  rise,  and  produced  no  activity 
in  river  coal  circles.  The  Pittsburgh  harbor  is 
filled  with  large  fleets  of  empty  coal  barges  at 
anchor,  awaiting  higher  stages  of  water,  when 
they  will  be  transferred  to  the  upper  pools  for 
loading. 

By  the  opening  of  the  new  lock  on  the  Monon- 
gahela  river  at  Charleroi,  Pa.,  last  week  to  take 
the  place  of  that  built  in  1844  by  the  Monongahela 
Navigation  Company,  it  practically  assures  the 
local  coal  companies  of  a  satisfactory  stage  of 
water  throughout  the  year  from  the  mines  to  the 
local  harbor.  The  new  lock  is  360  feet  in  length 
and  fifty-six  feet  wide,  while  the  old  one  is  only 


160  feet  by  fifty  feet.  The  new  lock  is  two  feet 
deeper  than  the  former. 

The  sale  of  the  properties  of  the  Pittsburgh- 
Buffalo  Company  having  been  confirmed  by  the 
courts,  the  Union  Trust  Company  of  Pittsburgh 
have  taken  over  the  mines  of  the  Pittsburgh- 
Buffalo  Company  and  a  company  to  be  known  as 
the  Union  Coal  &  Coke  Company  has  been  or¬ 
ganized  among  the  officials  of  the  Trust  Com¬ 
pany  for  which  a  charter  has  been  asked. 


Pittsburgh  News  Items. 

G.  P.  Bassett  of  the  Bassett  Pig  Iron,  Coal  & 
Coke  firm  is  with  his  family  at  their  summer 
home  at  Nautucket. 

G.  A.  Magoon,  president  of  the  Commonwealth 
Coal  Company  of  Pittsburgh  is  putting  in  the 
month  of  August  at  Georgian  Bay. 

R.  A.  Woods  of  the  Morris-Poste  Coal  Com¬ 
pany  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  spent  some  days  with 
the  coal  trade  in  Pittsburgh  this  week. 

The  partnership  heretofore  existing  between 
Wm.  J.  Harris  and  Ira  E.  Stevens  under  the 
firm  name  of  the  Harris-Stevens  Company,  has 
been  dissolved  by  mutual  consent.  Ira  E.  Stevens 
retires  and  Wm.  J.  Harris  will  continue  the  busi¬ 
ness  at  room  1104  the  Empire  building,  Pittsburgh, 
Pa. 

Alexander  Dempster,  a  prominent  Pittsburgh 
coal  operator,  and  formerly  president  of  the 
Monon.gahela  River  Consolidated  Coal  &  Coke 
Company,  together  with  his  wife  and  son,  James 
G.  Dempster,  32  years  of  age,  and  their  chauffeur, 
Carl  Williams,  were  killed  by  their  car  going 
over  an  embankment  near  Ligonier,  Pa.,  return¬ 
ing  home  last  Monday  from  a  trip  to  Baltimore. 
Mr.  Dempster  was  a  well-known  coal  operator, 
and  identified  with  many  public  and  private  inter¬ 
ests  in  the  city. 

James  S.  Boggs  and  Charles  W.  Theis  were 
appointed  receivers  of  the  Meadow  Lands  Coal 
Company  by  Jud.ge  Ambrose  B.  Reid  in  Common 
Pleas  Court  on  the  third  of  this  month.  The 
appointment  of  the  latter  receiver  was  made  after 
a  conference  between  counsel  for  the  bankrupt 
company  and  the  creditors,  while  the  former  has 
served  for  several  weeks  as  temporary  receiver. 
The  court  fixed  the  bond  of  the  receivers  at 
$10,000  each.  A  statement  filed  with  the  court 
shows  that  the  company  has  an  authorized  capi¬ 
tal  stock  of  $600,000,  of  which  $599,400  is  issued 
or  outstanding.  The  liabilities  or  bonded  in¬ 
debtedness  of  the  company  was  stated  to  be 
$725,560.65.  The  receivers  are  preparing  to  re¬ 
sume  operations  very  shortly. 

Examiner  C.  V.  Burnside  of  the  Inter-State 
Commerce  Commission,  heard  testimony  last  week 
in  Pittsburgh  in  the  complaint- of  the  Pitt  Gas 
Coal  Company,  against  rates  charged  it  by  the 
Pennsylvania  Railroad.  At  the  conclusion  of 
testimony  counsel  were  instructed  to  file  briefs. 
The  petition  filed  by  the  coal  company  averred 
that  the  rate  of  ninety  cents  a  ton  on  coal  from 
the  Bescor  siding  of  the  company  near  Frederick- 
town.  Pa.,  to  Ashtabula  Harbor,  for  reshipment, 
is  unreasonable  and  discriminatory  in  favor  of 
competing  shippers  in  Kentucky  and  West  Vir¬ 
ginia.  The  company’s  mine  is  located  2.4  miles 
out  of  the  Pittsburgh  zone  for  the  shipment  of 
coal.  The  rate  in  the  Pittsburgh  zone  is  seventy- 
eight  cents  a  ton.  J.  C.  Venning,  general  coal 
and  oil  agent  for  the  railroad,  testified  that  he 
believes  an  extension  of  the  Pittsburgh  zone  to 
include  Bescor  siding  would  result  in  a  general 
move  on  the  part  of  the  coal  companies  to  extend 
the  zone  indefinitely.  He  declared  that  competi¬ 
tion  on  the  part  of  the  carrier  and  competition  on 
the  part  of  the  operator  are  two  of  the  things 
taken  into  consideration  in  determining  what  ter¬ 
ritory  constitutes  a  zone. 


St.  Louis  Trade. 


St.  Louis,  Mo.,  August  5,  1915. —  {Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — The  first  of  August  brought  a 
slackening  in  the  coal  trade,  due  perhaps  to  the 
fact  that  the  prices  on  nearly  all  grades  of  coal 
advanced.  Most  operators  went  into  the  month 
well  fortified  with  orders,  and  consequently  are 
not  soliciting  business  actively.  The  general  situ¬ 
ation  is  better  than  usual  at  this  time  of  the 
year.  The  Franklin  county  operators  are  acting 
as  a  unit.  Their  prices  seem  very  well  main¬ 
tained.  The  Williamson  county  fellows  seem  to 
have  profited  by  the  example  of  their  Franklin 
county  brothers,  and  are  maintaining  prices  bet¬ 
ter  than  usual,  with  one  or  two  small  exceptions. 

The  operators  in  the  standard  district  are  do¬ 


ing  a  great  deal  better  than  they  have  done  in 
past  years,  in  the  way  of  holding  out  for  the 
price.  The  Standard  district  is  a  much  larger 
field  than  any  of  those  in  southern  Illinois,  and 
the  organization  is  not  so  closely  knit.  However, 
the  various  operators  are  showing  a  disposition 
to  work  together,  which  has  never  been  seen  be¬ 
fore  in  this  part  of  the  country. 

Prospects  for  business  in  general  are  good. 
There  is  an  expectation  that  domestic  business 
will  be  unusual,  because  trade  as  a  rule  has  been 
holding  off  during  the  summer  months,  and  nat¬ 
urally  there  is  bound  to  be  a  congestion  of  busi¬ 
ness  when  the  buying  movement  begins  in 
earnest. 

Prices  on  Standard  coal  are  as  follows : 


„  ■  ,  ,  Mine 

6-inch  lump . $1.10 

3x6  egg .  1.00 

2-inch  lump  . go 

2x6  egg  . 85 

No.  2  nut . 80 

ly4-inch  screenings  . 60 


St.  Louis 
$1.67H 
1.5754 
1.4754 
1.4254 
1.3754 
1.1754 


The  Mt.  Olive  coals  are  beginning  to  move 
much  better  in  the  north  and  west.  In  St.  Louis, 
locally,  the  demand  remains  about  the  same. 


6-inch  lump  . $1.25  $1.8254 

2-inch  lump  .  1.20  1.7754 

2-inch  screenings  . 60  1.1754 

The  demand  for  Williamson  county  coal  is 
slowly  but  surely  improving  on  domestic  sizes. 
Screenings,  as  to  be  expected,  are  getting  weaker. 

6-inch  lump  . $1.35@1.60  $2.0754 @2.3254 

6x3  egg  .  1.35@1.60  2.0754 @2.3254 

3x2  nut  .  1.40  2.1254 

154-inch  screenings  .  .60  1.3254 

Franklin  county  operators  report  business  very 
much  improved.  Orders  for  a  few  days  have 
fallen  off  owing  to  price  advances,  but  there  is 
no  doubt  they  will  be  coming  in  freely  again  by 
the  first  of  next  week.  By  the  15th  of  the  month 
it  is  certain  that  all  of  the  Franklin  county  mines 
will  be  running  full  time. 


6-inch  lump  . $1.40@1.60  $2.1254 @2.3254 

6x3  egg  .  1.40@1.6n  2.1254  @2.3254 

3x2  nut  .  1.40@1.6  0  2.1254  @2.3254 

Stove  .  1.35  2.0754 

154-inch  screenings . 65@  .70  1.3754 @1.4254 

Anthracite  is  not  moving  very  well.  The  ad¬ 
vance  in  freight  rates  has  everybody  guessing, 
and  buyers  do  not  care  to  place  orders  until  the 
situation  settles  down.  Of  course  whatever  coal 
was  in  transit  under  the  old  rate  was  readily 
disposed  of. 


Chestnut  . $7.45 

Stove  or  egg  .  7.20 

Grate  .  6.85 


Both  smokeless  and  coke  are  moving  better. 


Gas  house  coke,  all  sizes . $4.25 

By-product  coke,  all  sizes .  4.50 

Smokeless  lump  or  egg .  4.75 

Smithing  .  4.25 


Omaha  Trade. 


Omaha,  Nebr.,  August  5. — {Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — General  conditions  in  this  territory 
are  still  very  much  depressed  on  account  of  the 
rainy  weather  followed  by  a  drop  in  the  tem¬ 
perature.  The  thermometer  re.gistering  fifty-two 
degrees  above  yesterday,  which  is  a  record-breaker 
for  August  in  this  vicinity.  A  great  deal  of  wheat 
is  under  water  and  scarcely  any  threshing  is  be¬ 
ing  done,  consequently  very  little  coal  is  moving 
out  of  dealer’s  bins. 

The  market  is  rather  firm  with  exception  of 
the  coal  which  has  been  refused  principally  on 
account  of  impassible  roads,  making  it  impossible 
for  the  dealers  to  haul  the  coal. 

The  following  market  prices  prevailin.g; 


Southern  Kansas — 

Mines. 

Omaha. 

Nut  . 

$3.20 

Slack  . 

2.70 

Franklin  County — 

Lump  . 

3.75@4.00 

Egg  . . . 

.  1.35@1.60 

3.75@4.00 

Nut  . 

.  1.35@1.60 

3.75@4.00 

Williamson  County — 

Lump  . . 

8.65@3.75 

Egg  . 

3.65@3.75 

Rock  Springs — 

Lump  . 

_  2.15 

5.86 

Nut  . 

.  1.60 

5.35 

Arkansas  Anthracite — 

Lump  . 

.  3.70 

6.60 

Broken  sizes  . 

.  3.95 

6.85 

Omaha  News  Notes. 

C.  R.  Spalding,  western  sales  manager  for  the 
Wickham  Burton  Coal  Company,  is  renewing  old 
acquaintances  in  Omaha  this  week. 

B.  H.  Kemper  of  the  Bell  Zollar  Coal  Company 
was  in  town  this  week  looking  after  his  personal 
interests  in  Omaha.  His  many  friends  in  Omaha 
are  glad  to  see  H.  B.  making  a  success  in  the  coal 
business,  although  they  regret  to  lose  him  as  a 
neighbor. 


116 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[August  7 


Cincinnati  Trade. 

Market  in  Better  Condition — Contract 
Coal  Shows  Activity — Labor 
Shortage  Noted. 

Cincinnati,  Ohio,  August  o. —  {Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — The  market  at  this  writing  is  in 
much  better  condition  than  it  has  been  for  some 
time.  Dealers  and  operators  are  much  more  op¬ 
timistic  than  for  some  weeks  and  the  general 
opinion  seems  to  he  that  the  tide  has  turned  and 
that  it  will  slowly,  but  surely,  turn  business  back 
into  its  old  channels  and  that  improvement  now 
will  he  apparent.  It  is  believed  that  prices  will 
first  be  affected,  for  the  reason  that  both  labor 
and  transportation  are  becomin.g  tighter.  Then 
coal  dealers  will  wake  up  to  the  fact  that  they  are 
out  of  fuel  and  there  will  be  a  frantic  rush  for 
orders  that  will  swamp  the  coal  dealers  in  the 
wholesale  end  of  the  market,  and  the  operators. 
To  this,  if  it  should  materialize,  there  will  be  a 
general  chorus  of  “amens.” 

Tliere  is  no  question  of  a  better  demand  for  nut 
and  slack  in  all  departments,  a  great  deal  of  it 
in  search  of  cheap  products  that  have  disappeared 
from  the  market.  Many  of  the  dealers  are  turn¬ 
ing  down  inquiries  for  nut  and  slack  for  two 
reasons.  One  reason  is  that  the  inquirers  are 
not  offering  what  the  holders  deem  a  fair  price 
for  it,  and  second,  where  a  fair  price  is  offered 
dealers  are  turning  it  down  'for  the  reason  that 
they  are  not  in  an  active  market  for  lump  and 
will  not  sacrifice  that  product  which  probably 
will  be  in  frantic  demand  in  thirty  days  from 
now.  There  is  a  little  demand  for  egg  which  is 
now  starting  toward  a  better  basis  of  business. 
This  is  all  in  reference  to  splint  coal.  Lump  is 
not  yet  in  active  demand,  althou,gh  mine  run  and 
egg  are  in  better  demand  and  the  lake  movement 
is  much  better. 

Some  August  quotations  in  West  Virginia  splint 
are  as  follows:  Lump,  $1.50;  egg,  $1.25;  run  of 
mine,  ninety-five  cents ;  nut  and  slack,  seventy-five 
cents,  with  some  acceptances  of  spot  at  sixty-five 
cents  in  the  lower  grade  product.  Another  field 
which  also  conforms  pretty  well  to  the  Kentucky 
situation,  gives  the  followin,g  figures :  Four-inch 
block,  $1.50;  egg,  $1.20;  run  of  mine,  ninety 
cents ;  nut  and  slack,  sixty-two  spot  and  seventy- 
five  contract.  The  later  inquiries  in  nut  and  slack 
in  both  fields  are  heavier  and  it  is  likely  by  the 
fifteenth  prices  will  go  up  at  least  five  to  ten 
cents  on  this  grade  of  product. 

In  reference  to  the  car  shortage  it  may  be  said 
that  the  Chesapeake  &  Ohio  is  nearly  up  to  its 
limit  and  that  it  has  borrowed  quite  a  number  of 
the  Hocking  Valley  Company’s  cars,  made  idle 
by  the  abandonment  of  the  valley  by  the  Sunday 
Creek  Coal  Company,  and  by  the  closing  down  of 
other  mines.  This  is  not  a  dispara.gement  of  the 
company’s  resources  for  they  never  were  better. 
Rut  so  many  of  the  hoppers,  especially,  have  been 
tied  up  in  the  coast  movement  for  export,  that 
they  are  very  much  more  scarce  than  usual,  and 
this  makes  a  drain  on  the  gondolas  that  thins  out 
that  line  of  cars. 

Regarding  the  labor  shortage  with  many  of  the 
smokeless  mines  it  may  be  said  that  the  United 
States  Steel  Corporation  is  pushing  its  coal  sub¬ 
sidiary  in  West  Virginia  so  vigorously  night  and 
day  and  almost  offerin.g  any  old  wages  to  get 
men  into  their  mines,  that  miners  are  flocking 
there  from  all  over  the  state.  The  mines  are  up 
to  their  capacity,  night  and  day,  for  the  needs 
of  the  big  steel  company  are  urgent  just  now,  and 
miners  who  want  to  work  can  get  it  there,  if  any¬ 
where.  This  shortens  the  forces  in  other  mines 
and  some  of  them  complain  to  selling  agencies 
that  they  cannot  get  out  their  orders  promptly 
for  that  reason. 

This  week  dealers  say  that  contract  makers  are 
comin.g  into  line  and  that  while  a  few  contracts 
just  now  are  being  made  at  a  little  lower  than 
last  year’s  prices,  yet  by  the  middle  of  the  month 
contract  prices  will  be  on  a  much  better  basis 
and  that  by  September  1  there  will  be  no  trouble. 
Indeed  the  middle  of  this  week  found  many 
northwestern  dealers  using  the  telephone  and 
the  telegraph  freely.  So  solicitous  were  some  of 
those  desiring  to  contract  that  they  cross-ques¬ 
tioned  the  operators  as  to  their  ability  to  deliver 
if  they  should  enter  into  contract.  In  other  words 
the  buyers  now  seem  to  be  endeavoring  to  buy 
delivery  rather  than  product.  It  seems  evident 
to  Cincinnati  coal  men  just  now  that  the  low 
tide  has  passed  by  and  that  from  now  on  the  re¬ 
covery  will  be  gradual,  steady  and  satisfactory. 


Cincinnati  News  Notes. 

J.  Ray  Quinn,  sales  manager  of  the  Central 


Fairmont  Coal  Company  of  West  Virginia,  was  a 
visitor  to  Cincinnati  early  in  the  week, 

E.  C.  Evart  of  Chicago,  general  manager  of 
the  White  Oak  Co;d  Comparty,  paid  a  visit 
Wednesday  to  the  local  offices  of  the  company. 

It  is  reported  here  that  Harry  Brown  of  Pitts- 
Inir.gh  will  establish  offices  here  soon  and  that  he 
will  ship  coal  south  from  Pittsburgh  from  his  own 
mines,  operating  five  small  boats  for  the  purpose. 

new  shaker  screen  outfit  is  being  constructed 
l)y  the  Webb  Fuel  Company,  at  its  Ebony  mines 
on  the  Cabin  Creek  branch  of  the  Chesapeake  & 
Qhio  Railway.  The  improvements  are  e.xpected 
to  lie  completed  by  September  1. 

The  Winifrede  Coal  Company’s  steamer  ‘Wini- 
frede”  is  at  Point  Pleasant,  undergoing  repairs 
and  overhauling,  under  direction  of  Captain  John 
E.  Lyons,  who  is  also  huilding  thirty  new  barges 
at  Hig.ginsport,  for  the  coal  trade  in  Pomeroy 
and  along  the  Ohio. 

The  E.  L.  Sternberger  Coal  Company,  which 
has  had  offices  on  the  sixteenth  floor  of  the 
Eirst  National  bank  buildin.g  for  many  years, 
is  removing  to  the  seventeenth  floor  of  the  same 
Iniilding,  to  larger  and  more  suitable  rooms 
e.xactly  above  the  former  quarters. 

O.  W.  Gardner,  sales  manager  of  the  Chesa¬ 
peake  &  Ohio  Coal  &  Coke  Company  of  Norfolk, 
Va.,  was  a  visitor  to  the  offices  of  G.  E.  Weber, 
the  western  agent  of  the  company  this  week. 
Mr.  Gardner  finds  that  the  coal  situation  is  grow¬ 
ing  better  each  day  except  that  prices  continue 
low  and  demand  is  still  timid. 

The  diver  who  has  been  examining  the  hull  of 
the  sunken  steam  tug,  the  Convoy,  belonging  to 
the  Hickey  Coal  Company,  has  made  a  report 
which  indicates  that  the  boat  is  probably  not 
worth  the  effort  to  lift  it  and  repair  it  for  future 
use.  It  is  likely  the  salvage  will  be  undertaken 
by  the  insurance  company  which  insured  it  and 
which  will  take  it  off  the  hands  of  the  Hickey 
Company. 

President  E.  J.  Howe  of  the  Cincinnati  Coal 
E.xchange  has  been  invited  by  the  Cincinnati 
Chamber  of  Commerce  to  participate  in  an  effort 
to  bring  the  1916  meetin.g  of  the  National  Coal 
Dealers’  Association  to  Cincinnati.  A  committee 
will  be  appointed  by  President  Howe  to  take  up 
the  matter  with  the  convention  department  of  the 
Chamber  of  Commerce  and  to  formulate  plans 
for  the  campaign. 

Judge  J.  A.  Herron,  a  well-known  coal  sales¬ 
man,  formerly  connected  with  the  local  offices  of 
the  Pocahontas  Fuel  Company,  but  for  a  few 
days  a  salesman  under  Tom  Morgan  of  the  Pluto 
Block  Cannel  Coal  Company  of  Cannel  City,  Ky., 
has  accepted  position  with  the  Webb  Fuel  Com¬ 
pany  of  this  city  and  started  Sunday  for  his  new 
field  of  operations,  which  is  Michigan.  He  will 
cover  the  entire  state  and  have  headquarters  at 
Detroit. 

River  coal  men  in  this  district  are  interested 
in  the  announcement  this  week  that  Col.  Lansing 
H.  Reach  has  been  assigned  to  duty  here  as 
United  States  engineer  in  charge  of  the  Central 
Division  of  the  Ohio  river  and  its  tributaries. 
Colonel  Beach  was  stationed  in  Cincinnati  twenty- 
nine  years  ago  as  a  lieutenant,  but  remained  only 
a  short  time.  He  came  this  time  from  Baltimore, 
having  been  seven  years  in  change  of  the  Gulf 
division  as  division  engineer. 

President  E.  J.  Howe  of  the  Cincinnati  Coal 
Exchange  has  named  C.  R.  Moriarty,  C.  A.  Trib- 
bey,  R.  O.  Heyser,  E.  R.  Minor  and  James  A. 
Reilly  aides  to  the  grand  marshal  of  the  parade 
of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  which,  after  three 
quarters  of  a  century  of  existence  without  it,  has 
decided  to  ha\-e  an  official  outing  for  its  members 
and  the  members  of  the  many  auxiliary  bodies 
connected  with  it.  The  outing  is  booked  for  next 
Thursday,  August  12,  and  promises  to  be  a  gala 
event.  Fifty  aides,  including  the  five  coal  men 
above  named,  will  make  an  imposing  feature  of 
the  parade. 

An  application  for  compensation  with  the  State 
Industrial  Commission  of  Ohio  opens  up  an  in¬ 
teresting  point,  and  may  cause  a  declaration  of 
conditions  in  certain  coal  companies.  The  appli¬ 
cation  is  filed  by  Mrs.  Williams,  widow  of  Captain 
Bradford  Williams,  who  lost  his  life  in  the  big 
storm  of  July  7.  The  state  law  insures  the  lives 
of  employes  of  industrial  companies  who  take  out 
policies,  and  it  also  protects  employes  of  com¬ 
panies  who  carry  their  own  insurance.  The  law, 
liowever,  reaches  only  Ohio  corporations,  of 
course.  Captain  Williams  was  supposed  by  his 
wife  to  be  employed  by  the  Queen  City  Coal  Com¬ 
pany,  an  Ohio  corporation,  which  carries  the  in¬ 
surance  of  its  employes  on  its  own  risk.  It  tran¬ 


spires  that  Captain  Williams  was  in  the  employ 
of  the  Monon.gahela  River  Consolidated  Coal  & 
Coke  Company,  predecessor  here  of  the  Queen 
City  Coal  Company,  and  also  a  foreign  corpora¬ 
tion.  If  he  were  in  the  employ  of  the  Queen  City 
Company  his  widow  is  entitled  to  the  insurance 
provided  by  the  company  under  the  Ohio  law,  but 
if  he  were  in  the  employ  of  the  Monongahela 
river  company  she  is  not  entitled  to  compensa¬ 
tion.  James  A.  Reilly,  manager  of  the  Queen 
City  Company',  however,  has  announced  that  nego¬ 
tiations  are  on  with  Airs.  Williams  by  which  a 
satisfactory  settlement  will  be  reached. 

L.  J.  Alueller,  assistant  to  E.  F.  Bardin  of  the 
Wyatt  Coal  Company  here,  is  taking  two  weeks’ 
vacation  with  his  wife  and  little  one  on  his  farm 
up  the  Big  Miami,  some  distance  above  Cincinnati, 
.\  row  is  probable  over  the  award  of  the  water 
works  contract,  Saturday  by  the  municipality  of 
St.  Bernard,  a  suburb  of  Cincinnati,  not  yet  in 
the  big  corporation.  The  contract  was  advertised 
and  bids  invited  for  .'?,600  tons  splint,  nut  and 
slack,  delivered,  Amon.g  the  bidders  were  the 
Reliance  Coal  &  Coke  Company,  $1.59;  the  Hal- 
mar  Coal  Mining  Company,  $1.59 ;  Bell  Coal  & 
Mining  Company,  $1.60;  B.  H.  Wess,  $1.64;  West 
Virginia  Coal  Company,  $1.70;  Kentucky  South¬ 
ern  Coal  Company,  $1.70,  and  Fred  Krehe,  Jr., 
$1.80.  The  award  went  to  Fred  Krehe,  Jr.,  son 
of  the  treasurer  of  the  municipality,  although  as 
seen  above,  there  were  several  lower  bidders.  The 
award  created  considerable  indignation  and  the 
defeated  bidders  say  they  will  contest,  not  be¬ 
cause  of  the  award  to  a  higher  bidder,  but  be¬ 
cause  they  claim  that  the  law  of  Ohio  is  ex¬ 
pressly  violated  in  the  fact  that  Fred  Krehe,  Jr., 
is  not  a  legal  bidder,  they  claim  that  his  father 
is  the  real  beneficiary,  which  they  say  is  a  crim¬ 
inal  offense  under  the  law  which  expressly  forbids 
the  officer  of  any  community  to  participate  in  a 
profitable  capacity  in  the  business  of  the  muni¬ 
cipality,  in  other  words,  to  do  business  in  a 
private  capacity  where  his  official  acts  may  make 
him  a  beneficiary.  The  unsuccessful  bidders  are 
contemplatin.g  testing  the  law  in  the  case. 


Louisville  Market. 


Louisville,  Ky.,  August  5. —  (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — There  has  been  evidence  of  a  fur¬ 
ther  improvement  in  the  market  for  both  steam 
and  domestic  coal  during  the  past  week.  The 
coal  trade  has  learned  to  control  its  expectations 
to  very  moderate  things  during  the  past  year  and 
to  console  itself  with  the  observation  that  “every 
little  bit  helps.”  Therefore,  it  need  not  be  as¬ 
sumed  that  there  is  any  riotous  upturn  in  prices 
or  any  radical  broadening  of  demand.  There  is, 
however,  evidenced  a  considerable  broadenin.g  of 
demand  for  steam  coal,  due  to  apparent  increase 
in  industrial  activity,  and  a  visible  improvement 
in  the  demand  for  domestic  coal,  which,  of  course, 
is  only  seasonable. 

Even  when  all  encouragement  is  taken  into 
consideration,  it  must  be  admitted  that  the  do¬ 
mestic  buying  is  extremely  backward  and  that 
not  in  a  great  many  years  has  an  August  rolled 
around  without  the  operators,  both  of  eastern  and 
western  Kentucky,  having  a  plentiful  supply  of 
domestic  orders  at  much  better  prices  than  the 
present.  However,  there  is  jiist  enough  en¬ 
couragement  in  the  situation  to  lead  producers 
to  believe  that  for  at  least  a  brief  period  durin,g 
the  fall  months,  there  will  be  something  like  a 
normal  demand  for  coal  at  something  like  normal 
prices. 

Buying  by  dealers  in  the  big  cities  is  prac¬ 
tically  nil,  and  the  country  dealers  are  furnishing 
the  bulk  of  the  orders  for  domestic  coal.  At 
that,  the  farmers  are  still  comparatively  busy  with 
crops  and  a  general  demand  for  country  coal  will 
probably  not  arrive  for  some  thirty  days,  at 
which  time,  there  is  every  reason  to  expect,  a 
heavy  rush.  Indeed,  shippers  in  this  district  are 
prepared  to  see  a  fierce  flurry  of  orders  during 
September  and  October,  which  may  tax  the  capac¬ 
ity,  both  of  the  mines  and  the  railroads. 

Labor  conditions  in  southeastern  Kentucky 
continue  somewhat  uneasy,  but  although  the  Cat¬ 
ron’s  Creek  Coal  Company  mine  in  Harlan  county 
has  been  closed  down  several  days  by  reason  of 
a  strike  of  miners  caused  by  the  company’s  ac¬ 
tion  in  dischargin,g  two  of  their  number  who 
had  been  unduly  active  in  welcoming  the  union 
organizers,  it  does  not  appear  that  the  attempt 
to  organize  the  Harlan  county  mines  has  made 
any  progress  as  yet,  and  it  is  predicted  that  the 
one  mine  which  has  been  closed  down  will  re¬ 
sume  in  the  next  few  days. 


No.  6] 


117 


Indianapolis  Trade. 

Indianapolis,  Ind.,  Aii.gust  5. —  {Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.') — It  would  be  difficult  to  note  any  ma¬ 
terial  change  in  the  coal  trade  in  Indiana.  At 
least  it  would  be  difficult  to  locate  any  change  for 
the  better  within  the  past  few  days.  Weather 
conditions  have  been  adverse.  It  would  be  out 
of  the  ordinary  to  speak  of  a  “weather  market’’ 
in  the  good  old  summer  time,  hut  the  weather 
has  handicapped  industrial  concerns  so  that  the 
demand  for  steam  coal,  already  too  low  for  July 
and  August,  is  even  lower  than  it  was.  Heavy 
rains  have  put  a  crimp  in  many  lines  of  business. 
Rains  and  storms  have  cost  the  farmers  hundreds 
of  thousands  of  dollars  in  Indiana  within  the  past 
month  so  that  coal  consumers  in  the  rural  com¬ 
munities  are  not  in  a  hopeful  frame  of  mind. 
The  loss  to  them  is  bound  to  be  felt  in  other 
lines.  The  threshing  season  which  generally  helps 
out  in  the  demand  for  domestic  coal  has  been  cut 
short  and  made  unnecessary  in  many  localities 
by  the  cloud  bursts.  Something  ought  to  chase 
the  hoodoo  within  the  next  few  weeks.  The  de¬ 
mand  for  steam  coal  is  such  that  it  is  pleasing 
to  be  able  to  state  that  prices  are  holding  fairly 
level.  Mine-run  ranges  from  $1.00  to  $1.20  a 
ton  at  the  mine,  according  to  the  grade.  There  is 
a  little  improvement  in  the  tonnage  of  Indiana 
mine-run  for  the  Chicago  market,  but  the  trade 
with  Chicago  is  not  up  to  what  it  generally  is 
for  this  time  of  the  year.  Screenings  are  fairly 
strong  at  seventy  to  eighty  cents  at  the  mine. 
Domestic  lump  is  selling  around  $1.40  at  the 
mines,  $1.50  being  the  top  price.  Now  and  then 
some  inferior  domestic  sells  below  $1.35.  The 
operators  say  that  the  retailers  have  smaller  stocks 
than  usual  on  hand  which  is  a  good  sign.  When 
the  demand  does  pick  up  among  the  retailers  they 
will  have  to  have  coal  in  a  hurry  which  is  bound 
to  help  strengthen  the  market.  There  is  compara¬ 
tively  little  coal  above  ground  in  Indiana  so  that 
it  is  reasonable  to  predict  that  within  a  short 
time  prices  will  stiffen  and  that  the  demand  will 
pick  up  to  what  it  was  at  this  time  a  year  ago. 

The  Indiana  wholesalers  are  quoting  the  fol¬ 
lowing  prices ; 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Indiana —  Mines.  Indianapolis. 

No.  4  mine  run . $1.10@1.20  $1.60@1.80 

Nos,  5  and  6  mine  run .  1.00@1.10  1.50@1.60 

No.  l%-\nch  steam  lump .  1.30@1.40  1.80@1.90 

Nos.  5  and  6  1%  steam  lump....  1.20@1.30  1.70@1.80 

No,  4  egg .  1.30@1.40  1.80@1.90 

No.  4  nut .  1.30@1.40  1.80@1.90 

No.  5  egg .  1.20@1.30  1.70@1.80 

No.  4  screenings . 80@  .85  1.30@1.35 

Nos.  5  and  6  screenings . 70@  .75  1.20@1.25 

Domestic  lump .  1.40@1.50  1.90@2.00 

No.  1  washed  coal .  1.75  2.25 

No.  2  washed  coal .  1.65  2.15 

Brazil  block  domestic .  2.00@2.10  2.50@2.60 

Southern  Indiana  Field — 

No.  5  mine  run .  1.00@1.05  . 

Domestic  .  1.40@1.50  . 


Detroit  Trade. 


Detroit,  Mich.,  Au.gust  5. —  (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — With  a  slight  increase  during  the 
week  in  the  amount  of  coal  coming  to  Detroit,  the 
local  shippers,  or  some  of  them  at  least,  continue 
to  take  a  more  optimistic  view  of  the  situation 
than  has  been  apparent  during  preceding  months. 

It  is  asserted  a  material  strengthening  of  mar¬ 
ket  conditions  seems  in  pro.gress,  being  reflected 
through  the  increasing  volume  of  business  done 
in  small  order  lots.  While  neither  steam  nor 
domestic  coal  shows  especial  activity  a  better  in¬ 
quiry  is  appearing,  denoting  an  inclination  on  the 
part  of  buyers  to  drop  the  attitude  of  indifference 
which  has  been  a  discouraging  feature  of  the  De¬ 
troit  market  for  some  time. 

Were  it  not  for  the  consignment  coal,  its  un¬ 
settling  effect  on  prices  and  the  resultant  curtail¬ 
ment  of  mirie  shipment  orders,  the  outlook  at  pres¬ 
ent  would  seem  quite  cheerful,  some  of  the  ship¬ 
pers  say.  The  quantity  of  stock  that  comes  to 
forced  sale  is  still  sufficiently  great,  however,  to 
make  it  possible  for  watchful  buyers  to  renew 
their  supplies  at  prices  considerably  shaded  below 
schedule. 

\Vhile  for  the  better  quality  of  fine  coal  and 
slack  sixty-five  to  seventy-five  cents  is  demanded 
a  very  good  quality  of  West  Virginia  slack  is 
bought  around  forty-five  cents  and  occasionally 
even  cheaper.  West  Virginia  lump  at  from  one 
dollar  to  $1.10  on  forced  sale  is  to  be  had  fre¬ 
quently  enough,  also  to  make  watchfulness  and 
delay  profitable  to  the  consumer.  Eg.g  sizes  are 
not  as  readily  sold. 

Shipment  of  coal  over  the  lake  route  continues 
to  fall  short  of  expectations  and  is  proceeding  in 
volume  much  lighter  than  for  many  years,  due 
largely  to  the  fact  that  little  storage  space  remains 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 

on  docks  at  the  head  of  the  lakes  from  which  the 
movement  to  consumers  has  been  greatly  retarded. 

The  light  movement  of  coal  hits  owners  of  in¬ 
dependent  carriers  particularly  hard,  as  sales  of 
iron  ore  have  been  lar.gely  increased  during  July 
and  ore  cargoes  would  be  available  to  many  of 
the  wild  boats,  but  for  the  fact  that  freighters 
owned  by  shippers  are  being  sent  up  the  lakes 
without  cargo  and  are  receiving  a  dispatch  that 
makes  a  round  trip  in  seven  and  eight  days  pos¬ 
sible  in  many  instances,  where  twelve  or  fourteen 
days  might  be  required  if  the  ships  had  carried 
coal.  By  thus  increasin.g  the  carrjdng  capacity 
of  the  shippers  fleets,  the  lack  of  coal  cuts  down 
on  business  which  independent  owners  had  reason 
to  expect  their  boats  would  receive. 

Anthracite  seems  not  to  arouse  much  interest 
on  the  part  of  retailers  yet.  A  rush  of  orders  is 
expected  later  in  the  month. 

Prices  in  the  local  market  are  as  follows : 


F.O.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

West  Virginia  Gas — 

Mines. 

Detroit. 

Three-quarter  lump . 

$3.35@2.40 

Mine  run . 

_  .80 

2.20 

Slack  . 

_  .50 

1.90 

West  Virginia  Splint — 

hour-inch  lump . 

2.90@3.00 

Two-inch  lump.., . 

2.65 

Three-quarter  . 

_  1.10 

2.50 

Mine  run.  . . 

2.30@2.40 

Nut,  pea  and  slack . 

1.90@2.15 

Smokeless — 

Lump  and  egg . 

.  2.00 

3.60 

Nut  . 

3.10 

Slack  . 

Open 

Mine  run . 

Open 

Kentucky  Splint — 

Lump  . 

_  1.40@1.50 

2.80@2.90 

Egg  . 

_  1.10 

2.50 

Nut,  pea  and  slack . 

Open 

Fairmount — 

Three-quarter  steam  lump,  . . . 

2.25@2.35 

Mine  run . 

. 70@  .80 

2.10@2.20 

Slack  . 

Open 

Hocking  Valley — 

Shaker  three-inch  lump . 

_  1.50 

2.65 

Shaker  egg  and  nut . 

_  1.15 

2.30 

Domestic  lump . 

_  1.35 

2.50 

Three-quarter  lump . 

_  1.25@1.30 

2.40@2.45 

Mine  run . 

2.15@2.25 

Nut,  pea  and  slack . 

Open 

Pittsburgh  No.  8 — 

Three-quarter  lump . 

-  1.15 

2.30 

Mine  run . 

_  1.05 

2.20 

Slack  . 

Open 

Jackson  Hill — 

Domestic  lump . 

-  2.50 

3.65 

Cambridge — 

Three-quarter  lump . 

_  1.20 

2.35 

Mine  run . 

_  1.10 

2.25 

Pomeroy — 

Two  and  three-inch  lump.  .  .  . 

_  2.15 

3.30 

Egg  . 

_  1.60 

2.76 

Slack  . 

Open 

Clinton — 

Domestic  lump  . 

.  2.07 

1.30 

Egg  . 

1.30 

Nut  . 

1.20 

Mine  run  . . 

.  1.87 

1.10 

Screenings  . 

_  1.62@1.67 

.85®  .90 

Birmingham  Trade. 


Birmingham,  Ala.,  August  5,  1915. —  (Special 
Correspondence.) — The  coal  production  is  im¬ 
proving  a  little.  Every  time  a  blast  iron  furnace 
or  a  foundry  starts  up  or  puts  on  additional 
workmen,  there  is  need  for  more  coal.  The  pro¬ 
duction  right  now  is  considerably  better  than  it 
was  three  months  ago,  but  it  cannot  be  stated 
that  mining  operations  are  back  to  the  normal 
conditions  of  the  district. 

There  is  a  splendid  output  at  some  of  the  big 
mines.  A  large  volume  of  business  has  not  yet 
reached  the  smaller  mines,  and  there  are  many 
mines  throughout  the  Birmingham  district  which 
are  yet  to  get  contracts  that  will  keep  them  go¬ 
ing  more  than  two  and  three  days  a  week.  There 
is  a  feeling,  however,  that  coal  will  soon  be  in 
demand  by  many  industries  which  use  coal.  The 
general  tone  of  the  market  is  better  than  for 
some  months.  This  is  more  particularly  true 
with  regard  to  steam  and  coking  coals.  Much 
of  the  increased  demand  for  coal  is  largely  cok¬ 
ing,  which  is  due  to  more  iron  furnaces  being 
in  blast  than  since  the  advent  of  the  European 
war.  There'  is  also  some  little  increase  in  de¬ 
mand  for  steam  coal. 

There  is  a  belief  that  arrangements  will  be 
finally  consummated  through  the  war  department 
at  M'ashington  by  which  the  Tennessee  Comiiany 
proposes  to  ship  many  thousand  tons  of  coal 
per  annum  down  the  river  into  New  Orleans  and 
other  places.  Lessening  the  freight  on  coal  from 
fifty  to  seventy-five  cents  per  ton  into  New  Or¬ 
leans  would  give  an  advantage  to  the  ilistrict 
that  would  he  most  interesting  and  would  liring 
about  a  condition  in  mining  circles  that  would 
he  very  encouraging. 

Domestic  coal  has  not  felt  any  increased  de¬ 
mand.  While  some  small  contracts  are  still  be¬ 


ing  received,  shipments  are  to  he  made  at  later 
dates.  The  coke  market  is  good  and  demand 
heavier  than  for  months. 

The  following  are  the  prices  of  coal,  though 
they  vary  some ; 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Jefferson  County —  Mine  B’ham 

Pratt  Fancy  Steam  Lump . $1.70  $2.10 

Furnished  by  T.  C.  1. 

Pratt  Mine  Run,  90c  to  $1.15.  Frt.  rate,  30c. 

Jefferson  Seam,  steam  coal,  $1.15  to  $1.25.  Frt. 
rate,  30c. 

Black  Creek,  steam,  $1.25  to  $1.55. 

Walker  County — 

Horse  Creek,  steam  mine  run,  90c  to  $1.10.  Frt. 
rate,  40e, 

Carbon  Hill,  lump  domestic,  $1.60  to  $2.00. 

Most  all  coals  based  on  this  classification. 
There  are  no  stable  prices,  but  these  serve  as 
Itasis  from  which  prices  vary  either  up  or  down. 

Blacksmith  coal,  washed  and  screened,  per  torn, 
$2.00  to  $2.25  at  mines,  with  different  rates  to 
various  points. 

Alabama’s  Annual  Report 

The  report  of  C.  H.  Nesbitt,  state  mine  in¬ 
spector,  is  compiled  in  attractive  booklet  form, 
and  contains  much  valuable  information  in  regard 
to  the  mining  industry  of  Alabama.  According 
to  the  report,  there  were  several  new  mines 
opened  up  in  .A.labama  during  1914.  There  were 
during  1914,  two  hundred  and  sixty-three  mines 
in  operation  in  Alabama.  In  regard  to  the  rather 
low  output  for  1914,  Mr.  Nesbitt  says :  “While 
there  was  considerable  decrease  in  the  year  just 
closed,  it  is  gratifying  to  know  that  the  pro¬ 
duction  was  largely  in  excess  of  anticipation,  in 
view  of  the  fact  that  local  as  well  as  general 
trade  conditions  throughout  the  entire  country 
have  been  very  unfavorable.” 

Alabama’s  coal  production  for  the  year  was 
15,525,903  tons  against  the  17,907,284  tons  of  the 
year  previous,  according  to  the  report.  The  coke 
output  for  1914  was  3,092,771,  which  was  438,7.34 
less  than  the  year  before. 

Fatalities  during  the  year  were  128  in  number, 
and  they  resulted  in  forty-two  widows  and  sixty- 
four  orphans.  There  were  forty-two  serious 
non-fatal  accidents. 

Tonnage  in  the  four  coal  fields  of  Alabama  is 
given  as  follows :  W’arrior  Field,  12,942,255 ; 
Cahaba,  2,553,274;  Coosa,  27,095;  Plateau,  3,279. 
Following  this  is  a  statement  of  coal  tonnage  in 
-Alabama  by  seams,  and  the  number  of  fatalities 
in  each  seam. 

Classified  fatalities  show  that  fall  of  rock 
caused  42.8  per  cent  of  fatalities,  while  explosion 
of  gas  was  next,  and  then  death  by  tram  cars. 

The  inspectors  and  their  districts  are  as  fol¬ 
lows:  First  district,  in  which  Jefferson  county 
is  included,  W.  P.  Smith ;  second  district,  David 
Kelso;  third  district,  J.  F.  W’ebb ;  fourth  dis¬ 
trict,  T.  H.  Tinney;  fifth  district,  Frank  Hill¬ 
man,  and  sixth  district,  Thomas  Roscoe. 

New  mines  opened  during  the  year  were  as 
follows :  Benoit,  Benoit  Coal  Company,  Walker 
county;  Phillips,  Sipsey  Coal  Company,  Walker 
county;  Risco,  Republic  Iron  and  Steel  Company, 
Jefferson  county;  Blocton  No.  9,  Tennessee  Coal, 
Iron  and  Railroad  Company,  Bibb  county;  New 
Acton,  Alabama  Fuel  and  Iron  Company,  St. 
Clair  county;  Brilliant  No.  1,  South  Brilliant 
Coal  Company,  Marion  county ;  Graves  No.  2,  T. 
J.  Hoskins  &  Co.,  Jefferson  county. 


Birmingham  News  Notes. 

The  Mobile  Coal  Company  is  making  arrange¬ 
ments  to  handle  six  or  more  barges  to  handle 
coal  down  the  river  for  use  of  its  customers.  Mr. 
Danner,  president  of  the  company,  thinks  he  can 
get  his  coal  cheaper  by  river.  The  coal  will  be 
supplied  by  DeBardeleben  and  the  Empire  Coal 
companies. 

.'\nnouncement  was  made  during  the  week  that 
the  Tennessee  Coal,  Iron  &  Railroad  Company 
was  preparing  to  use  the  barges  of  the  Alabama 
&  New  Orleans  Transportation  Company  down 
the  river.  This  coal  will  he  mined  by  the  Ten¬ 
nessee  Coal,  Iron  &  Railroad  Company  in  the 
western  part  of  the  Birmingham  district,  at 
Fdgewater  and  Bayviewq  and  will  be  shipped  in 
quantity,  via  the  Ensley  -Southern  Railroad  to 
Salters  Bluff  and  then  by  barges  of  the  Alabama 
&  New  Orleans  Transportation  Company  to  New 
Orleans.  The  coal  will  be  dumped  right  off  the 
railroad  bridge  to  the  liarges,  and  it  is  esti¬ 
mated  that  many  thousands  of  tons  will  be 
barged  down  the  river  annually.  ft  is  under¬ 
stood  a  contract  has  lieen  made  that  will  con¬ 
tinue  for  two  years,  and  a  rate  most  favorable 
to  both  interests  has  been  made.  The  Tennessee 
Coal,  Iron  &  Railroad  Company  is  now  shipping 
a  large  quantity  of  coal  via  rail  to  New  Orleans, 
Mobile  and  other  southern  ports. 


118 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[August  7 


New  York  Trade. 


Anthracite  Trade  Marks  Time — Bitu¬ 
minous  Outlook  Much 
Brighter. 


Office  of  The  Black  Diamond, 
New  York,  August  5. 

There  were  very  fewy  if  any,  members  in  the 
anthracite  trade  who  expected  the  first  week 
in  August  to  show  any  improvement,  and  so  far 
the  forecast  has  not  been  shown  wrong.  Trade 
is  very  dull,  and  will  likely  continue  so  for  sev¬ 
eral  weeks  at  least. 

August  is  the  last  month  for  summer  dis¬ 
counts,  the  discount  for  this  month  being  ten 
cents  per  ton.  There  is  not  much  of  a  scramble 
to  take  advantage  of  this  reduction.  On  account 
of  surplus  stocks  of  certain  favored  sizes,  like 
egg  and  chestnut,  many  of  the  individuals  con¬ 
tinue  to  offer  these  sizes  at  a  concession  of  from 
twenty  to  forty  cents  and  in  some  instances  fifty 
cents  per  ton.  Heavier  concessions,  however,  are 
confined  usually  to  cargoes  or  stocks  at  tide¬ 
water  that  are  up  to  the  demurrage  stage  and 
have  to  be  moved.  Individuals  are  not  naming 
such  radical  concessions  for  coal  to  be  shipped 
from  the  mines. 

July  was  the  second  month  of  the  extremely 
low  production,  and  it  is  expected  that  when  the 
official  figures  are  out  later  in  the  week,  that 
they  will  show  that  not  more  than  5,000,000  tons 
were  shipped  to  market  during  the  month.  In 
July  of  last  year,  shipments  amounted  to  5,391,- 
857  tons.  There  has  been  no  improvement  in  pro¬ 
duction,  most  of  the  mines  still  working  on  a 
three  day  per  week  schedule.  Some  believe  that 
they  will  not  be  able  to  improve  this  working 
schedule  later  in  the  month,  unless  something  of 
an  unexpected  nature  should  happen. 

Just  now  considerable  attention  is  being  paid 
by  the  operators  to  the  campaign  of  the  United 
Mine  Workers  to  increase  membership  in  the 
anthracite  regions.  It  is  generally  believed  that 
the  operators  are  going  to  face  on  April  1st, 
next,  when  the  present  agreement  with  the  miners 
expires,  one  of  the  stubbornest  fights  that  they 
have  yet  had.  Mine  workers  officials  are  making 
a  thorough  canvass  of  the  anthracite  districts  in 
an  effort  to  enroll  members. 

The  short  time  mining  is  bringing  about  a 
shortage  of  some  of  the  choice  grades  of  the 
steam  sizes,  rice  particularly  being  short  at  the 
moment.  There  is  a  very  good  inquiry  for  good 
grades  of  rice  at  New  York  harbor  ports,  with 
most  of  the  high  grade  brands  out  of  the  mar¬ 
ket  because  of  the  fact  that  they  are  under  con¬ 
tract.  This  week  offers  on  good  grades  of  rice 
range  from  $3.05  to  $2.30  per  ton.  Some  of  the 
inferior  grades  are  available  from  $1.85  to  $2.05. 
The  demand  for  No.  1  buckwheat  is  not  so  good, 
and  this  size  is  in  free  offering,  prices  practically 
unchanged.  Barley  is  in  little  better  demand  be¬ 
cause  of  its  growing  scarcity.  There  is  still  a 
surplus  of  pea  coal,  and  this  is  obtainable  at 
$2.90  to  $3.50,  according  to  the  grade  and  port. 

The  Bituminous  Situation. 

The  bituminous  trade  is  not  materially  im¬ 
proved  since  August  set  in,  but  conditions  can 
be  truly  said  to  have  improved.  While  the  vol¬ 
ume  of  coal  moving  is  not  so  heavy,  except  with 
certain  favored  producers,  there  is  a  better  gen¬ 
eral  all  around  demand,  consuming  interests  here 
and  there  calling  for  more  coal,  so  that  there  is 
in  the  air,  so  to  speak,  indications  that  general 
business  will  soon  be  humming  at  such  a  rate  as 
to  bring  such  a  demand  for  bituminous  as  will 
make  the  business  as  active  as  in  the  early  part 
of  1907. 

Here  are  some  reasons  why  coal  men  are  look¬ 
ing  for  better  business  from  now  on :  Enormous 
war  orders  recently  placed  will  mean  the  con¬ 
sumption  of  large  quantities  of  coal  and  coke. 
Then,  there  are  evidences  that  further  war 
orders  of  unprecedented  size  are  still  to  come. 
The  belligerent  countries  to  which  we  can  at 
present  ship,  are  now  beginning  to  buy  heavy 
materials,  cars,  locomotives,  rails  and  steel  of  all 
kinds,  that  mean  railroad  tonnage.  When  these 
begin  to  move  in  large  volume  it  will  bring  about 
the  employment  of  more  railroad  equipment  and 
likewise  the  consumption  of  more  coal  for  rail¬ 
road  fuel.  Moreover,  big  employers  of  men  are 
increasing  wages.  This  gives  labor  more  money 
to  spend.  This  goes  for  general  manufactures. 

And  what  is  more  promising  to  the  tidewater 
shippers,  is  the  remarkable  growth  of  seaboard 
exports.  June  showed  over  a  million  tons,  July 
will  exceed  this  by  about  25,000  or  50,000  tons, 


the  June  record,  while  bunker  requirements  for 
July  were  larger,  and  these  will  continue  to  grow, 
as  England  has  now  restricted  sales  of  bunker 
coals,  allowing  neutral  vessels  only  a  sufficient 
quantity  to  take  them  to  their  first  port  of  call. 
Heretofore,  many  cargo  steamers  coming  to 
America  in  ballast,  took  enough  English  coal  for 
the  round  trip.  Now  they  will  have  to  take 
bunkers  here.  Add  to  the  above  the  most  re¬ 
cent  order  of  the  British  government  restricting 
shipments  of  coal  after  the  thirteenth,  to  British 
possessions  only.  This  will  cut  off  the  allies, 
large  consumers  that  the  United  States  will  have 
to  supply.  There  is  every  reason  to  believe  that 
America  will  soon  be  called  upon  to  ship  2,000,- 
000  tons  per  month  into  export  over  the  Atlantic 
seaboard,  and  this  will  mean  a  most  active  tide¬ 
water  market. 

At  New  York  harbor  ports  there  is  ample  un¬ 
sold  coal  for  all  present  needs,  though  not  in  as 
large  supply  as  formerly.  Cheap  coals  may  be 
obtained  at  $2.35  and  up  at  the  ports ;  good 
grades  of  Pennsylvania  at  $2.55  to  $2.65 ;  choice 
grades,  $2.75  to  $2.90. 

The  Vessel  Situation. 

Vessel  rates  for  coastwise  charters  continue  at 
about  the  former  range.  Vessels  have  been  un¬ 
duly  delayed  by  fogs  and  gales  during  the  past 
week,  so  that  there  is  likely  to  be  a  shortage  of 
tonnage  at  the  lower  ports  in  a  week  or  ten 
days. 

We  quote  current  rates  as  follows : 

From  Hampton  Roads  to  Boston,  seventy-five 
to  eighty-five  cents ;  to  the  Sound,  seventy  to 
eighty  cents. 

From  New  York  rates  to  New  Haven  are 
thirty  cents.  New  London,  forty  cents,  and 
Providence  and  New  Bedford,  fifty  cents;  to 
Boston,  fifty-five  to  seventy  cents ;  Portsmouth 
and  Portland,  fifty-five  to  seventy  cents ;  to 
Bangor,  seventy  cents.  Harbor  rates  are  from 
eighteen  to  twenty  cents. 


Prices  on  gross  tons 

of  bituminous  coals  are : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Somerset  County — 

Harbor. 

Mines. 

Best  grades  . 

. $2.85 

$1.30 

Medium  grades  . 

.  2.60 

1.10 

Ordinary  . 

.  2.55 

1.00 

Cambria  County — 

Best  Miller  vein . 

.  3.00 

1.40 

Cheaper  grades  . 

1.05 

Clearfield  County — 

Best  grade  . 

1.35 

Ordinary  grades  . 

.  2.50 

1.00 

Indiana  County — 

Best  grade  . 

.  2.80 

1.25 

Medium  grade  . 

.  2.50 

.95 

Maryland — 

Georges  Creek  big  vein.  . .  . 

1.65 

West  Virginia  Splint — 

Ordinary  grades  . 

.  2.40 

.75 

Best  gas,  )i-inch  lump.... 
Best  grade,  run  of  mine.. 

1.10 

.  2.65 

.90 

(ias  slack  . 

.5o@  .70 

New  York  Trade  Briefs. 

J.  W.  Whiteley,  of  Whitney  &  Kemmerer,  No. 
143  Liberty  street,  visited  Boston  on  Tuesday. 

Frank  Smith,  who  covers  the  Long  Island  trade 
for  the  Lehigh  Valley  Coal  Sales  Company,  is 
away  on  his  vacation. 

W.  S.  Wolle,  eastern  sales  manager  of  the 
Lehigh  Valley  Coal  Sales  Company,  returned  on 
Monday  from  his  vacation,  which  was  spent  in 
the  Adirondacks. 

Henry  Metz,  office  manager  of  the  New  York 
office  of  the  Quemahoning  Coal  Company,  No. 
17  Battery  place,  is  spending  a  two  weeks’  vaca¬ 
tion  in  the  Adirondack  mountains. 

The  Timmerman  Coal  &  Ice  Company  has  been 
granted  a  charter  under  the  New  York  state 
laws.  The  capital  stock  is  $10,000.  Incorporators 
are  Charles  A.  Timmerman,  Ida  Timmerman  anii 
Vernon  E.  Mump  of  Westerleigh,  Staten  Island. 

William  D.  Leeds,  the  well  known  coal  broker 
of  No.  1  Broadway,  is  now  located  in  room  276, 
with  a  new  telephone  number.  Rector  4050.  Mr. 
Leeds  represents  mines  operating  in  the  Georges 
Creek,  Broad  Top,  South  Fork,  Nant-y-Glo  and 
Somerset  regions. 

Tuesday’s  cables  announced  that  the  American 
schooner  Laura  C.  Anderson,  loaded  with  1,700 
tons  of  coal,  and  sailing  from  Newport  News  for 
Melilla,  Morocco,  had  been  seized  by  a  British 
cruiser  and  taken  into  Gibraltar.  The  schooner 
was  loaded  by  the  American  Coal  Exporting 
Company  of  No.  1  Broadway. 

P.  B.  Heilner,  vice-president  and  general  sales 
manager  of  the  Lehigh  &  Wilkes-Barre  Coal 
Company,  No.  143  Liberty  street,  returned  on 
Monday  night  from  a  trip  to  the  Panama-Pacific 
exposition,  and  a  tour  of  the  northwest.  Mr. 


Heilner  was  gone  just  about  five  weeks.  This 
was  his  first  vacation  in  about  four  years,  and 
he  reports  having  had  a  very  interesting  trip. 

G.  B.  Markle  &  Co.,  the  well  known  anthracite 
operators,  have  completed  the  new  steel  breaker 
at  their  Jeddo  No.  5  operation,  and  it  was  put 
to  work  on  Monday  of  this  week.  This  work  has 
been  completed  in  a  remarkably  short  time. 
This,  too,  despite  the  fact  that  the  breaker  has 
been  equipped  with  the  most  modern  improve¬ 
ments  in  breaker  machinery,  which  takes  time  to 
install.  The  plant  will  have  a  very  large  output. 

The  Johnstown  Democrat  reports  that  The 
Dexcar  Coal  Company  of  Ashville,  Pa.,  which 
is  controlled  by  the  Dexter  &  Carpenter,  Inc.,  in¬ 
terests  of  No.  12  Broadway,  New  York,  has  lo¬ 
cated  another  rich  vein  of  coal  which  extends 
through  a  large  acreage,  and  which  has  existed 
elsewhere  in  more  or  less  uncertain  quantity. 
The  Democrat  states  that  the  Dexcar  mines  have 
been  put  on  a  larger  working  basis. 

The  Continental  Coal  Company,  having  de¬ 
faulted  in  the  payment  of  interest  on  its  first 
mortgage  five  per  cent  coupon  gold  bonds  on 
August  1st,  a  protective  committee  of  bondholders 
has  been  formed,  and  a  deposit  agreement  has 
been  prepared  under  which  the  Guaranty  Trust 
Company  of  New  York  will  be  the  depositary  of 
the  committee,  and  bondholders  who  have  not 
already  done  so,  are  asked  to  deposit  their  bonds 
with  this  depositary.  Charles  H.  Sabin  of  the 
Guaranty  Trust  Company  is  chairman  of  the 
committee. 

The  automobile  truck  manufacturers  continue 
to  derive  great  prosperity  from  the  European 
war.  A  cable  from  Paris  to  the  New  York  Sun 
on  Wednesday,  stated  that  the  French  govern¬ 
ment  had  closed  a  contract  through  J.  P.  Morgan 
&  Company,  to  take  the  entire  surplus  motor 
truck  output  of  the  Packard,  White  and  Pierce- 
Arrow  companies  for  an  indefinite  period.  It  is 
estimated  that  France  already  has  purchased  ap¬ 
proximately  2,500  from  the  companies  above 
named,  and  other  companies  have  secured  orders 
aggregating  1,500  from  the  same  source. 

As  the  European  war  means  so  much  to 
American  industries  at  this  time,  and  therefore, 
to  the  coal  trade  in  general,  it  is  interesting  to 
note  the  opinion  expressed  by  William  E.  Corey, 
an  ex-president  of  the  United  States  Steel  Cor¬ 
poration,  who  returned  from  France  this  week, 
which  is  that  the  war  will  be  continued  for  three 
or  four  years.  Mr.  Corey  said :  “I  believe  fully 
that  the  war  will  last  three  to  four  years  longer 
because  the  allies  are  going  to  fight  the  struggle 
to  a  finish.  The  allies  are  now  preparing  to 
continue  the  fight  at  least  three  years  more.  War 
orders  are  being  placed  years  ahead.  It  is  a  war 
of  mechanics  and  chemistry.  The  allies  are  mak¬ 
ing  every  effort  to  preserve  friendly  relations 
with  this  country.  They  look  to  the  United 
States  to  a  large  degree  for  their  financial  sup¬ 
port,  especially  if  the  war  should  continue  a 
number  of  years.  Then  loans  will  have  to  be 
floated  abroad.” 

The  annual  statement  of  the  Lehigh  Valley 
Railroad  shows  an  increase  in  net  income  of 
$734,214  in  net  income,  in  the  year  ended  June 
30.  Owing  to  the  dissolution  of  the  Temple  Iron 
Company,  the  road  did  not  receive  any  dividends 
from  it,  as  against  $685,080  from  this  source  for 
the  previous  year.  One  million  dollars  was 
marked  off  as  depreciation  of  the  book  value  of 
the  stock  of  Coxe  Bros.  &  Co.,  Inc.  The  rail¬ 
road  company  is  making  many  improvements, 
among  them  the  construction  of  a  modern  steel 
and  concrete  coal  dock  at  Buffalo.  F.  M.  Chase, 
vice-president  of  the  Lehigh  Valley  Coal  Com¬ 
pany,  in  his  annual  report  showed  a  total  net  in¬ 
come  of  $1,022,814,  an  increase  of  $457,955. 
The  production  of  anthracite  coal  from  the 
mines  owned  and  leased  by  the  Lehigh 
Valley  Coal  Company,  including  that  mined  by 
tenants,  was  8,088,901  gross  tons,  an  increase  of 
211,511  tons.  In  the  bituminous  mines  258,205 
gross  tons  were  mined,  an  increase  of  5,474  tons. 


A  London  dispatch  says  that  Lloyds  ship- 
build  returns,  which  owing  to  the  war  is  con¬ 
fined  to  merchant  vessels,  shows  that  there 
were  434  steam  vessels  of  1,505,025  gross  tons 
and  eight  sailing  vessels  of  1,900  tons  under 
construction  in  the  United  Kingdom  in  the 
quarter  ending  June  30,  1915,  or  81,000  tons 
less  than  at  the  end  of  the  previous  quarter, 
and  215,000  tons  less  than  the  corresponding 
period  of  last  year.  During  the  quarter  end¬ 
ing  June  30,  this  year,  seventy-four  steamers 
of  147,964  gross  tonnage  were  launched. 


No.  6] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


119 


Philadelphia  Trade. 

Pea  Coal  Advances  in  Price  and  Consider¬ 
able  Strength  Develops  in 
the  Market. 


Office  of  The  Black  Diamond, 
1400  Land  Title  Building, 
Philadelphia,  August  5. 

With  this  the  last  month  of  the  discount  on  an¬ 
thracite  there  promises  to  be  an  awakening  in 
that  branch  of  the  trade  which  will  justify  the 
opinion  held  by  many  of  the  middlemen  and  oper¬ 
ators,  i.  e.,  that  the  1915  period  should  be  about 
as  heavy  in  the  volume  of  business  as  has  been 
seen  in  some  years.  Already  some  of  the  straws 
have  been  showing  the  direction  of  the  wind. 
There  is  an  old  saying,  “When  pea  coal  sells  well, 
all  of  the  other  sizes  will  follow.”  There  has 
been  a  stiffening  in  the  pea  coal  market  in  the  past 
few  days,  not  enough  to  bring  about  a  standard 
price  or,  to  be  more  correct,  a  set  price,  but 
enough  to  make  some  of  the  companies  which  have 
been  selling  this  kind  of  coal  on  a  short  margin, 
advance  the  price  a  dime  on  the  ton. 

The  report  of  the  Bureau  of  Anthracite  Statis¬ 
tics  will  show  that  the  production  for  the  month 
of  July  was  slightly  under  that  of  corresponding 
month  in  last  year.  Taken  with  the  fact  that 
June  of  this  year  also  showed  a  decrease,  it  can 
be  seen  why  there  should  be  a  stiffening  in  price. 
One  more  thing.  Inquiry  for  deliveries  usually 
comes  the  last  week  in  the  month,  but  this  year 
the  coal  dealers  got  repairs  made  to  their  yards 
early  and  some  orders  were  placed  this  week  for 
mid-month  delivery. 

The  re-arrangement  of  price  for  August  on  the 
sizes  is  as  follows  : 

Lump  .  $3.50 

Steamboat  .  3.50 

Broken  .  3.30 

Egg  .  3.65 

Stove  .  3.90 

Chestnut  .  4.05 

Pea  . $2.00@2.50 

Buckwheat  .  1.50 

Because  of  the  restriction  at  the  mines  there  has 
been  considerable  strength  shown  to  the  buck¬ 
wheat  sizes  and  high  grade  coals  have  been  sold 
at  a  little  advance  over  the  ran.ge  of  prices  that 
have  been  current  for  the  past  six  weeks. 

The  Bituminous  Situation. 

Despite  the  newspaper  talk  which  has  been  cur¬ 
rent  there  was  a  severe  falling  off  in  the  export 
of  soft  coals  during  the  last  week  of  the  month, 
the  report  of  the  Port  Richmond  and  Greenwich 
piers  show  that  the  tonnage  which  passed  over 
has  been  of  much  greater  volume  than  for  the 
corresponding  month  of  last  year.  Most  of  the 
coal  taken  from  this  port  for  the  past  ten  days 
has  been  bound  for  European  points  and  there 
has  been  only  a  scant  shipment  here  and  there  to 
South  America. 

The  month  started  with  piers  in  a  fair  shape  so 
far  as  over-crowding  was  concerned.  There  was 
little  demurrage  coal  to  be  called  on  and  some 
agents  who  had  foreign  boats  to  load  had  a  little 
trouble  getting  enough  cars  to  fill  up.  This  does 
not  necessarily  mean  that  there  is  an  indication 
of  it  being  a  profitable  venture  to  consign  cars  to 
this  point.  A  jam  can  follow  a  few  over-eager 
ventures  and  those  who  are  willing  to  “take  a 
chance”  had  better  be  fore-warned. 

Greensburg  shipments  are  still  being  held 
around  $1.00  for  run  of  mine  and  $1.10  for 
screened.  Quite  a  large  movement  of  coal  from 
this  section  is  going  forward  to  Baltimore  while 
some  little  is  being  exported  through  this  port. 

Reports  from  the  Connellsville  district  to  the 
effect  that  all  available  ovens  are  working  and 
that  miners  are  being  sought  from  other  fields, 
is  taken  as  an  indication  that  the  local  steel  and 
iron  trade  look  forward  to  increasing  capacity  in 
leaps  and  bounds. 

The  cement  trade  has  been  a  keen  taker  of 
Fairmont  slack  during  the  past  week  and  the 
price  has  advanced  to  fifty-five  to  sixty  cents  a 
ton  and  with  a  scarcity  or  further  restriction  at 
the  other  and  there  is  liable  to  be  a  further  ad¬ 
vance  noted. 


Philadelphia  News  Notes. 

M.  S.  Sears  of  Hetherington  &  Company  is  away 
on  his  vacation  and  will  return  in  two  weeks. 

Walter  P.  Maguire  of  the  Makoma  Coal  Com¬ 
pany  at  Harrisburg,  Pa.,  was  one  of  the  visitors 
of  the  week. 

Thurston  Knight  of  Pittsburgh,  made  a  tour  of 
the  eastern  offices  of  the  Merchants  Coal  Company 
during  the  past  week. 

J.  A.  Emmons  of  the  Emmons  Coal  Mining 


Company,  returned  from  a  trip  to  New  England 
points  the  fore  part  of  the  week. 

William  H.  Speer  of  Chambersbur.g,  Pa.,  paid 
a  visit  to  coal  associates  while  going  and  coming 
from  a  Sunday  holiday  spent  at  Atlantic  City. 

L.  A.  Hickley  of  the  Island  Creek  Coal  Sales 
Company  was  a  visitor  to  Johnstown,  Pa.,  this 
week.  Another  Johnstown  visitor  was  F.  M. 
Ramsey,  Jr.,  of  the  Glen  Brook  Coal  Company. 

William  Kline  of  the  forces  of  the  Island  Creek 
Coal  Sales  Company  at  Cincinnati  was  one  of 
the  western  people  who  passed  through  here  on 
the  way  to  the  sea  shore. 

R.  B.  Isner,  assistant  general  mana.ger  of  the 
Davis  Colliery  Company  at  Elkins,  W.  Va.,  paid 
a  visit  to  the  local  office  while  en  route  to  New 
York. 

W.  F.  Coale  of  Cumberland,  Md.,  visited  the 
local  offices  of  Coale  &  Company  this  week.  Fred 
Coale,  his  brother,  put  in  the  week  end  visiting 
the  “home-folk”  down  in  Maryland. 

Mrs.  S.  J.  Mounts  of  S.  J.  Mounts  &  Company, 
and  who  manages  the  operations  of  that  concern 
at  Smithville,  Pa.,  was  affiusiness  visitor  of  the 
week. 

H.  H.  Lineaweaver,  head  of  the  firm  bearing 
his  name,  left  this  week  for  a  month’s  vacation, 
which  will  be  spent  with  his  family  in  the  Penn¬ 
sylvania  mountains. 

Fred  W.  Foedisch  of  F.  W.  Foedisch  &  Com¬ 
pany  was  placed  on  the  list  of  the  maimed  and 
injured.  He  sprained  his  leg  while  at  Ocean  City 
on  Sunday. 

J.  E.  Haverstick,  manager  of  the  bituminous  de¬ 
partment  of  Ayers  &  Brothers,  left  the  middle  of 
the  week  for  a  couple  of  weeks  holidays  at  Mar¬ 
tha’s  Vineyard  on  the  New  England  coast. 

Because  two  miners  at  the  William  Penn  opera¬ 
tion  of  the  Susquehanna  Coal  Company  in  the 
Shenandoah  district  refused  to  wear  union  but¬ 
tons,  over  1,000  men  walked  out  the  latter  part  of 
the  week. 

F.  W.  Cortright  fooled  the  doctors  who  had 
him  ready  for  an  operation  for  appendicitis. 
After  an  x-ray,  examination  failed  to  reveal  any¬ 
thing  like  a  condition  that  they  had  opined,  Mr. 
Cortright  concluded  to  get  well  and  was  at  his 
desk  Monday  morning. 

S.  M.  Kendall  of  Meyersdale,  Pa.,  and  who 
represents  the  Listonburg  Coal  Company,  with 
operations  in  the  Connellsville  district  was  an 
early  week  visitor.  He  said  that  the  most  of  the 
ovens  in  the  district  had  been  fired  and  that  ar¬ 
rangements  were  being  made  to  open  some  new 
ones. 

C.  C.  Gano,  who  was  expected  back  home  this 
month,  apparently  has  found  so  much  business 
to  handle  in  the  South  American  republics  that 
it  will  cause  him  to  remain  there  for  another  six 
months.  At  Gano,  More  &  Company’s  office  it 
was  announced  that  Mr.  Gano  had  established 
headquarters  in  Rio  de  Janeiro  and  that  he  would 
not  return  for  another  six  months  at  least.  Mrs. 
Gano  sailed  to  join  her  husband  last  Saturday. 


New  England  Trade 

Boston,  August  5. —  {Special  Correspondence.) 
—Almost  continual  foggy  weather  outside  since 
last  reports  has  seriously  influenced  the  move¬ 
ment  of  coals  to  New  England  points.  As  a  mat¬ 
ter  of  fact  many  of  the  local  agents  have  been 
unable  to  deliver  a  ton  of  coal  during  the  past 
week. 

Less  than  a  half  dozen  wholesale  bituminous 
houses  have  about  all  the  business  they  can  pos¬ 
sibly  handle.  A  majority 'of  the  trade,  however, 
reports  a  decided  slump  in  new  business.  The 
firmness  noted  last  week  in  the  f.  o.  b.  Hampton 
Roads  market  appears  to  have  disappeared  en¬ 
tirely,  for  shippers  are  reported  as  making  con¬ 
cessions  in  the  hope  of  moving  New  River  and 
Pocahontas.  The  production  of  these  coals  dur¬ 
ing  July  increased  in  greater  proportion  than  the 
demand  did,  the  export  demand  being  disappoint¬ 
ing.  The  result  was  that  stocks  running  to  and 
standing  at  shipping  points  show  considerable  ac¬ 
cumulation. 

At  Mystic  Wharf  there  continues  practically  no 
spot  market.  Anybody  having  a  cargo  of  such 
bituminous  to  dispose  of  there  would  find  much 
difficulty  in  doing  so  at  a  profit.  What  few  sales 
have  been  put  through  at  Mystic  Wharf  recently 
have  been  at  the  minimum  price  of  $3.60  per  ton 
on  cars.  No  sales  of  Georges  Creek  have  been 
made  there,  chiefly  because  nothing  has  been  of¬ 
fered.  Thus  it  is  evident  that  very  nearly  every- 
, thing  coming  into  Boston  is  on  contract. 

Pennsylvania  bituminous,  according  to  one  local 


dealer,  greatly  resembles  the  Russian  army  for 
it  is  being  steadily  pushed  back  into  the  back¬ 
ground.  Many  of  the  Pennsylvania  mines  are 
being  operated  but  three  or  four  days  a  week,  but 
stocks  have  accumulated  nevertheless.  The  offi¬ 
cial  range  of  quotations  on  Pennsylvania  is  90 
cents  to  about  $1.25  per  ton  on  cars  at  the  mines, 
but  it  is  intimated  that  even  lower  prices  might 
be  accepted  if  a  considerable  tonnage  was  in¬ 
volved.  Standard  72-hour  Connellsville  foundry 
coke  is  quoted  at  $6.25  per  ton  at  Boston  common 
points. 

The  local  wholesale  anthracite  market  is  in  a 
relatively  better  position  than  the  bituminous  is. 
Water  shipments  have  been  exceedingly  unsatis¬ 
factory  to  be  sure,  but  considerable  coal  has  been 
received  throughout  New  England  by  rail.  The 
average  Boston  house  did  a  better  July  business 
than  expected,  and  contrary  to  the  general  belief 
some  unfilled  tonnage  was  carried  over  into  the 
new  month.  At  the  moment  Maine  and  the 
provinces  are  active  buyers  of  anthracite,  retail¬ 
ers  and  other  large  consumers  evidently  having 
made  up  their  minds  that  freight  rates  were  more 
apt  to  advance  than  decline. 

Notwithstanding  this  increased  activity  many 
of  the  local  dealers  are  inclined  to  look  for  a 
quiet  August.  Everybody  puts  in  the  proviso, 
however,  that  possible  labor  troubles  at  the  mines 
next  spring  may  stimulate  trade  in  the  meantime. 
Although  the  regular  August  advance  of  ten  cents 
per  ton  in  prices  has  been  made  by  the  important 
shippers,  independents  in  a  great  many  instances 
have  made  no  change  in  their  schedules  except, 
perhaps,  downward.  Small  amounts  of  independ¬ 
ent  nut  are  reported  as  having  been  offered  here 
on  an  April  basis,  but  on  other  grades  prices 
seem  firmer.  Stove  and  egg  alongside  Boston 
Harbor  is  usually  quoted  at  $5.75  per  ton,  nut  at 
$6,  and  pea  at  $4.05.  At  Mystic  Wharf,  stove  and 
egg  bring  $6.20  per  ton  and  net  twenty-five  cents 
per  ton  more.  Broken  can  be  had  at  Mystic 
Wharf  at  $5.65  to  $5.70  per  ton  on  cars,  and 
about  the  same  at  Portsmouth.  In  the  closing 
days  of  July,  the  demand  for  buckwheats  was 
much  better  than  it  had  been  previously,  but  deal¬ 
ers  had  to  turn  down  orders  owing  to  the  fact 
that  their  washeries  were  closed  and  they  were 
unable  to  get  the  coal.  No.  3  bucks  are  generally 
quoted  here  on  a  basis  of  $1.80  per  ton  f.  o.  b. 
New  York,  and  birdseye  at  $2. 

The  marine  freight  rate  market  is  practically 
unchanged.  The  demand  for  space  continues 
fairly  active,  but  owners  of  vessels  have  not  felt 
justified  in  advancing  rates.  From  Hampton 
Roads  ports  to  Boston  the  average  asking  rate  is 
seventy-five  to  eighty  cents  per  ton,  and  from 
Philadelphia  to  Boston  rates  are  about  the  same, 
while  from  Baltimore  to  Boston  they  average  five 
cents  per  ton  more.  For  anthracite  space  from 
New  York  to  Boston  fifty  to  fifty-five  cents  per 
ton  is  usually  asked.  From  New  York  to  the 
Provinces,  shippers  are  getting  $1.25  per  ton  or 
even  more  for  carrying  anthracite. 


New  England  Trade  Notes. 

The  shares  of  the  New  River  Company  have 
been  enjoying  a  period  of  strength  on  the  Bos¬ 
ton  Curb  Exchange  as  a  result  of  greater  ac¬ 
tivity  at  the  company’s  property. 

The  Federal  Coal  &  Coke,  Company,  a  subsidiary 
of  the  New  England  Coal  &  Coke  Company,  in 
June  produced  70,000  tons  of  coal,  which  is  the 
largest  amount  ever  produced  by  the  company  in 
any  one  month. 

The  funeral  of  Elmer  E.  Cole  was  held  at  his 
home  in  Billerica,  August  1.  Mr.  Cole  for  years 
was  in  the  coal  business,  and  was  widely  known 
in  Massachusetts.  His  death  occurred  at  Bethle¬ 
hem,  N.  H.,  where  he  went  in  search  of  health. 
The  funeral  services  were  attended  by  members 
of  Thomas  Talbot  Lodge,  A.  F.  &  A.  M. ;  Boston 
Chamber  of  Commerce,  Billerica  Board  of  Trade 
and  many  Boston,  Lowell,  Billerica,  Chelmsford 
and  Bedford  friends. 


Newspaper  advices  from  McDonaldton,  Pa., 
state  that  contracts  have  been  awarded  for 
the  erection  of  twelve  more  houses  for  the 
Brothers  Valley  Coal  Company,  which  has 
headquarters  in  New  York  City.  The  big 
plant  has  a  housing  problem  on  hand.  The 
mines  are  working  full  time,  and  a  large  num¬ 
ber  of  miners  are  being  employed.  There  are 
not  enough  houses  to  accommodate  the  fam¬ 
ilies  of  these  men.  Recently  a  number  of 
houses  were  burned  and  the  miners  families 
have  been  put  to  inconveniences  since.  Houses 
are  very  scarce  up  the  surrounding  territory, 
too,  and  the  officials  have  been  contemplating 
the  buildings  since  the  fire.  It  is  estimated 
that  more  houses  will  be  ordered  built  before 
the  summer  season  is  over. 


120 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[August  7 


Buffalo  Trade. 


Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  August  5. —  {Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — The  anthracite  shipments  by  lake 
for  July  were  449,012  tons,  a  large  falling  off 
from  the  same  month  last  year,  when  shipments 
were  810,410  tons.  The  total  to  August  1  this 
year  was  1,869,390  tons,  as  compared  with  2,219,735 
in  the  corresponding  period  of  last  year.  The 
shipments  for  the  past  week  showed  some  in¬ 
creased  movement  and  amounted  to  139,  900  tons, 
as  follows :  Milwaukee,  49,000  tons ;  Duluth-Su¬ 
perior,  46,900;  Qiicago,  29,900;  Ashland,  7,600; 
Fort  William,  6,.500.  This  is  the  largest  shipment 
to  Alilwaukee  in  some  time.  It  is  hardly  likely 
that  the  present  month  will  be  as  busy  in  the  lake 
coal  trade  as  the  same  month  was  last  year. 
The  docks  at  the  other  end  of  the  lakes  are  in  a 
number  of  instances  well  filled  with  coal  and  the 
same  condition  will  no  doubt  prevail  through  this 
month. 

The  retailers  are  not  ordering  anthracite  to  any 
extent,  so  the  rail  demand  is  light.  No  improve¬ 
ment  is  looked  for  right  away,  and  it  may  be 
cold  wearther  before  any  big  increase  in  demand 
‘will  take  place.  Most  sizes  are  in  plentiful  sup¬ 
ply  with  all  the  companies. 

The  bituminous  trade  is  not  showing  any  late 
improvement,  though  it  is  better  than  a  few 
weeks  ago.  Orders  are  not  bein.g  placed  at  all 
freely  and  there  is  some  cutting  of  prices.  The 
improvement  in  the  steel  trade  is  quite  marked, 
however,  and  coal  men  expect  to  see  increased 
business  as  a  result.  But  .the  general  situation 
is  not  satisfactory  and  any  change  for  the  better 
is  likely  to  be  gradual.  The  lake  trade  has  been 
a  disappointment  all  this  season  and  it  is  still 
quiet.  No  activity  is  looked  for  until  coal  begins 
to  move  away  from  the  docks  more  freely.  Some 
mines  are  busy  shipping  to  the  lakes,  but  they  are 
the  ones  which  have  favorable  freight  rates  or 
some  other  advanta.ge  over  their  competitors. 
There  is  a  good  deal  of  complaint  that  some 
operators  are  getting  rates  which  show  discrimin¬ 
ation,  and  certain  mines  with  a  long-haul  freight 
rate  are  doing  a  pretty  good  business  on  low- 
priced  coal. 

The  Canadian  market  is  depressed  as  for  some 
time  and  few  new  accounts  are  being  opened 
there,  as  collections  are  below  normal  and  credits 
are  uncertain.  Many  concerns  are  now  workin.g 
on  filling  war  orders,  but  domestic  factories  and 
other  industrial  concerns  are  doing  little.  Better 
times  are  looked  for  this  fall  in  Canada. 


Buffalo  News  Notes. 

Max  G.  Voelkler,  sales  agent  of  the  Youghio- 
gheny  &  Ohio  Coal  Company  has  gone  on  a 
two  weeks’  fishing  trip  to  Oswego  county. 

\V.  H.  Mufstader,  vice-president  of  the  J.  B. 
Jenkins  Coal  &  Coke  Company  has  been  con¬ 
fined  to  his  home  for  several  w'eeks  by  illness. 

J.  T.  Roberts,  sales  agent  of  the  Widnoon  Coal 
Minin.g  Company  has  returned  from  a  vacation 
trip  of  about  1,400  miles  into  Pennsylvania.  His 
automobile  demonstrated  its  economic  value  by 
cutting  expenses  to  about  one-third  railroad  fare. 

The  new  box-car  dump  which  the  Lehigh  Val¬ 
ley  Railroad  is  buildin.g  at  its  coal  trestle  on  the 
Tifft  Farm  is  getting  on  so  fast  that  it  is  ex¬ 
pected  to  be  ready  for  use  in  al>out  a  month. 
This  will  take  the  place  of  the  old  wooden  coal 
trestle  entirely  and  is  expected  to  unload  a  box 
car  in  two  or  three  minutes,  and  in  that  respect 
will  be  a  novelty  in  the  business  of  handling  coal. 

The  prospect  of  buildin.g  the  Lackawanna  lake 
shipping  trestle  at  the  mouth  of  the  Buffalo  river, 
ordered  by  the  Secretary  of  War,  is  somewhat 
changed  from  the  time  the  order  was  issued  in 
the  spring.  The  company  filed  its  plans  before 
August  1,  as  directed,  and  when  it  found  that 
the  work  could  not  be  done  until  the  state  moved 
the  Erie  Basin  breakwater.  This  work  cannot  be 
done  right  away,  and  may  not  for  a  year  or  two. 
The  state  is  deepening  the  Erie  Basin  just  back 
of  the  present  trestle  and  will  remove  the  break¬ 
water  when  it  gets  to  it,  as  the  basin  is  now 
protected  by  an  outer  breakwater.  It  is  not  likely 
that  anybody  will  complain  if  the  Lackawanna 
work  is  delayed  indefinitely. 

Two  persons  were  killed  and  five  injured  on 
August  2,  when  the  automobile  of  Mrs.  John  W. 
Ross,  wife  of  a  Rochester  coal  dealer  skidded  on 
a  freshly-oiled  road  near  East  Pembroke,  about 
forty  miles  east  of  Buffalo.  The  two  who  were 
killed  were  Mrs.  Paul  West,  twenty  years  old, 
and  Charles  West,  five  years  old.  Mrs.  Ross 
sustained  a  broken  rib  and  bruises,  and  others  of 
the  party  were  painfully  cut  and  bruised.  Mrs. 
Ross  was  formerly  the  wife  of  Charles  C.  West, 


a  well-known  Rochester  coal  dealer,  and  she  is 
the  mother  of  the  boy  who  was  killed  and  the 
mother-in-law  of  Airs.  Paul  AVest.  The  party 
was  en  route  from  Rochester  to  Niagara  Falls 
when  for  some  reason  the  car  skidded  and  turned 
turtle,  three  of  the  passengers  being  pinned  be¬ 
neath  it.  Airs.  Paul  West’s  head  was  severed 
from  her  body. 


Baltimore  Trade. 


B.vltimore,  August  5. —  (Special  Correspond¬ 
ence.) — With  exports  again  jumpin,g  after  a  brief 
drop  the  first  part  of  July,  the  coal  trade  is  look¬ 
ing  for  some  record-breaking  figures  either  during 
August  or  September,  or  possibly  for  both  months. 
During  July  a  total  of  about  235,000  tons  are  load¬ 
ed  here  as  cargo  coal  for  foreign  ports.  The  last 
week  of  the  month  saw  a  movement  of  nearly 
66,000  tons.  With  the  large  number  of  charters 
already  announced  for  August  and  September 
loading  here  it  would  not  be  at  all  surprising  to 
see  the  300,000-ton  fi,gure  left  well  behind  for  each 
month. 

Along  with  the  big  movement  of  export  coal 
the  general  tonnage  is  also  on  the  mend.  From 
most  of  the  mining  centers  which  are  controlled 
from  this  city,  or  in  which  shippers  here  are  par¬ 
ticularly  interested,  come  reports  that  there  is 
an  almost  daily  increase  in  the  amount  of  coal 
being  called  for.  True  this  increase  so  far  has 
not  brought  the  demand  abreast  of  production  pos¬ 
sibilities,  and  prices  have  remained  low,  but  the 
whole  tendency  of  the  situation  is  now  apparently 
upward. 

Speaking  from  a  strictly  local  viewpoint,  a 
steady  increase  in  fuel  demands  may  be  expected 
here  now  that  many  of  the  lar.gest  firms  are  work¬ 
ing  on  big  war  orders.  There  are  probably  thirty 
or  forty  large  war  orders,  or  parts  of  orders  on 
sub-contracts,  now  being  worked  out  by  plants  in 
Baltimore.  The  railroads  here  are  all  preparing 
for  a  fall  rush.  For  instance  the  Baltimore  & 
Ohio  Railroad,  with  more  than  100  idle  loco¬ 
motives  standing  in  one  of  the  terminal  yards  here 
because  of  drop  in  freight  traffic,  last  week  turned 
out  thirty  reconstructed  locomotives  from  its 
shops  to  add  to  this  standing  list  of  motive 
power.  The  officials  confidently  expect  that  within 
a  comparatively  few  weeks  all  the  motive  power 
will  be  needed  for  prompt  freight  movement. 
That  an  increased  coal  business  will  make  Up  a 
big  part  of  this  is  the  firm  belief. 

Anthracite  dealers  here  report  that  business 
is  flat  and  collections  are  poor.  The  present 
summer  is  one  of  the  dullest  in  the  history 
of  the  trade.  That  the  fall  will  be  a  busy 
one  seems  assured,  however,  as  many  people  who 
must  have  coal,  and  who  ordinarily  have  it  in  the 
bins  by  this  time,  have  neglected  so  far  to  get 
under  cover. 

Prices  in  the  bituminous  fields,  as  mentioned, 
have  shown  no  particular  sign  of  rejuvenation  as 
yet,  although  there  is  a  little  more  inclination  not 
to  let  much  fuel  go  at  practically  sacrifice  rates. 


Prices  to  the  trade  at  the  mines  may 

be  quoted 

as  follows : 

F.  0.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

Fairmont — 

Mines. 

Baltimore. 

Three-quarter  . 

$2.23@2.2S 

Run  of  mine . 

2.1S@2.23 

Slack  . 

1.88@1.98 

Somerset — 

Best  . 

2.43@2.48 

Good  . 

_  1.10@1.15 

2.28@2.33 

W.  M.  R.  R.— 

Freeport  . 

. 75@  .80 

1.93@1.98 

B.  &  O.— 

Freeport  . 

1.93@1.9S 

P.  R.  R.— 

Best  South  Fork . 

_  1.30@1.35 

2.48@2.53 

Miller  Vein  . 

2.78@2.83 

Ordinary  . 

2.03@2.08 

Baltimore  Trade  Notes. 

The  Bartlett-Hayward 

Company  of 

Baltimore 

has  closed  negotiations  for  the  manufacture  of 
about  $12,000,000  of  war  supplies  for  the  allies. 

The  Pennsylvania  Railroad  will  shortly  award 
a  contract  for  the  new  coal  pier  in  Baltimore. 
Dredgin.g  the  approaches  is  already  being  done  by 
the  Mayland  Dredging  Company. 

C.  G.  Appleton  has  Eeen  sent  to  Baltimore  to 
take  charge  of  the  export  business  of  Dexter  & 
Carpenter  of  New  York.  An  office  has  been 
opened  by  Air.  Appleton  in  the  Continental  build¬ 
ing. 

W.  F.  Coale,  general  manager  of  the”  Georges 
Creek  Coal  Company  of  Cumberland,  Md.,  was  a 
Baltimore  visitor  the  past  week.  Another  visitor 
was  J.  S.  Brophy  of  the  Piedmont  and  Geor.ges 
Creek  Coal  Company  of  Frostburg,  Aid. 

W.  Goche  of  the  Francois  Coal  &  Coke  Com¬ 
pany  of  Clarksburg,  W.  Va.,  was  one  of  the 
visiting  coal  men  in  Baltimore  the  past  week 


who  predicted  an  early  turn  for  the  better  in  the 
fuel  trade. 

Of  foreign  charters'  announced  the  past  week 
six  were  for  South  American  delivery,  five  for 
Sweden,  two  for  Italy  and  one  for  Spain. 

Toledo  Market. 

Toledo,  Ohio,  Au.giist  5. —  (Special  Correspond¬ 
ence.) — There  are  no  new  features  to  the  market 
here  but  the  slight  improvement  which  has  been 
noted  for  the  past  couple  of  weeks  continues  to 
hold  and  gives  every  evidence  of  permanency. 
There  has  been  nothing  of  a  startling  nature  but 
generally  the  call  has  been  better  and  prices  are 
a  little  better  maintained  than  has  been  true  for 
some  time  past.  The  rate  reduction  made  by  the 
Hocking  Valley  Railroad  Company  has  not  im¬ 
proved  the  situation  to  any  extent  according  to 
local  dealers  and  there  is  general  dissatisfaction 
as  to  the  territory  covered  by  the  rate  decrease. 

There  is  a  trifle  of  weakness  noted  in  the  smoke¬ 
less  market  recently  and  there  is  a  tendency  on 
the  part  of  some  operators  to  shade  the  price  a 
little  in  order  to  secure  orders.  Prices  were  in¬ 
creased  a  little  on  Au.gust  1  as  follows : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Smokeless —  Toledo  Mines 

I.ump  an.l  egg . $3.70  $2.25 

Mine  rim  .  2.85  1.40 

The  demand  for  Hocking  coal  continues  light 
and  the  threshing  demand  is  very  slow  because 
of  the  extremely  wet  weather  which  has  made  it 
impossible  for  farmers  to  get  into  their  fields  to 
do  their  threshing.  Alany  farmers  in  this  section 

have  been  unable  to  cut  their  oats.  This,  of 
course,  has  taken  from  the  market  some  of  its 
natural  impetus.  The  rate  decrease  has  made  no 
noticeable  difference  as  yet.  Price  quotations  fol¬ 
low  : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B 

Hocking —  Toledo  Mines 

3- inch  lump  . $2.50  $2.35 

lJ4-i”ch  lump  .  2.40  2.25 

^-inch  lump  .  2.35  2.20 

Egg  .  2.25  2.10 

Nut  .  2.15  2.00 

Mine  run  .  2.10  1.95 

Alassillon  is  practically  a  dead  issue  here  and 
very  little  is  moving  at  any  price. 

F.  O.  B.  F.  0.  B. 

Massillon —  Toledo  Mines 

Lump  . $3.25  $2.50 

Washed  nut  .  3.25  2.50 

But  a  few  of  the  Pomeroy  mines  are  being 
operated  and  the  demand  continues  very  light. 

F.  O.  B.  F.  0.  B. 

Pomeroy —  Toledo  Mines 

Domestic . $2.60  $1.60 

Egg  and  nut  . ;  2.35  1.35 

There  is  some  call  for  West  Virginia  products 
for  domestic  use  and  there  is,  of  course,  quite  a 
good  deal  of  coal  being  shipped  in  for  lake 

movement.  Otherwise  there  is  little  change  in 
the  situation. 

Kanawha  Gas — 

54-inch  lump  .  2.30  1.05 

Mine  run  .  2.20  .95 

Fairmont — 

154-inch  lump  .  2.30  1.05 

44-inch  lump  .  2.20  .95 

Mine  run  .  2.10  .85 

F.  O.  B.  F.  0.  B. 

Kanawha  Splint —  Toledo  Mines 

4- inch  lump  . $2.75  $1.50 

2-inch  lump  .  2.65  1.40 

44-inch  lump  .  2.40  1.15 

Mine  run  .  2.25  1.00 

Pittsburgh  No.  8  operations  are  light  and  the 
demand  is  extremely  low.  Prices  remain  un¬ 
changed. 

Pittsburgh  No.  8 — 

lJ4-inch  lump  .  2.40  1.40 

44-inch  lump  .  2.20  1.20 

Mine  rui:  .  2.10  1.10 

Youghiogheny  is  securin.g  its  usual  quota  of 
orders  which,  however,  is  not  large  in  this  ter¬ 
ritory. 

Youghiogheny — 

Mine  run  .  2.45  1.20 

44-inch  steam  lump  .  2.55  1.30 

Blossburg  Smithing — 

Prepared  size  .  3.20  1.75 

Lilly  smithing,  prepared  size .  3.20  1.75 

Kentucky  operations  seem  to  be  fairly  good 
and  a  number  of  the  mines  are  running  pretty 
well.  The  demand  is  fair. 

F.  O.  B.  F.  0.  B. 

Kentucky —  Toledo  Mines 

4-iiich  lump  . $2.90  $1.65 

Egg  . 2.50  1.25 

Nut.  pea  and  slack . open  open 

Cambridge,  like  all  steam  grades,  is  light  as  to 
demand  and  not  speciallv  firm  as  to  price. 

F.  O.  B.  F.  q.  B. 

Cambridge —  Toledo  Mines 

Mine  run  . $2.10 

44-inch  lump  .  2.20  1.20 

154-inch  lump  .  2.40  1.40 

Cannel  continues  quite  active  and  prices  are 
unchan.ged. 

Cannel —  »  „  .n 

Kentucky  Cannel  lump  . $4.60 

Pennsylvania  Cannel,  egg .  3.60  2.15 

Pennsylvania  Cannel,  lump .  4.20  2.75 

Ohio  Cannel  .  3.85  3.00 


The  Black  Diamond  | 

Vol.  SS.  No.  7  ggLSfrus  AUGUST  14.  1913  PPAKSSh  $3.00  Per  Year 


Theory  Underlying  the  Kuhn  Mining  Machine. 


Last  week  there  was  told  the  news — the  naked 
facts — about  the  mining  and  loading  machine 
which  H.  A.  Kuhn  of  Pittsburgh  has  perfected. 
That  is  to  say,  an  eye,  more  or  less  trained  to 
such  things,  observed  the  details  of  the  machine 
and  made  such  notes  as  coal  men  might  find  of 
interest.  The  details  as  to  procedure  and  ton¬ 
nage  were  given  accurately  but,  even  so,  the 
first  article  presented  merely  the  body  and  the 
mechanics  of  the  device.  Nothing  was  said  about 
the  basic  theory  of  it.  Before  this  article' is  fin¬ 
ished  it  will  be  found  that  the  theory  bears  the 
same  relation  to  the  machine  that  the  soul  does 
to  the  body ;  it  makes  it  live  and  gives  it  char¬ 
acter. 

There  is  something  definitely  human  about  the 
Kuhn  machine— perhaps  because  it  expresses  its 
author  so  much.  For  this  reason,  alone,  it  is 
impossible  to  understand  this  machine  without 
understanding  something  of  the  man  who  is  re¬ 
sponsible  for  it.  So  we  will  begin  to  tell  of  the 
machine  by  saying  something  of  H.  A.  Kuhn. 

His  min'd  has  a  capacity  for  independent  think¬ 
ing  which — seeing  such  a  faculty  is  uncommon- 
can  only  be  made  clear  by  an  incident  or  two  and 
a  comparison. 

Some  years  ago — it  must  have  been  all  of  fifteen 
— the  writer  of  this  article  was  reporting  the  rail¬ 
road  news  for  a  daily  paper  and  W.  R.  Wood¬ 
ford,  of  Cleveland,  was  president  of  a  railroad. 
One  day  he  said — he  was  trying  with  the  utmost 
tact  and  kindness  to  correct  a  common  tendency : 

“You  never  can  get  the  truth  about  any  rail¬ 
road  by  adopting  the  Wall  Street,  the  legislative 
or  its  competitor’s  point  of  view  toward  it.  You 
must,  on  the  contrary,  learn  to  study  each  rail¬ 
road  as  a  unit.  You  must  get  first  its  financial 
facts,  its  traffic  facts  and  its  physical  facts.  Then, 
after  seeing  what  relation  these  bear  to  each 
other,  you  must  decide  for  j^ourself  whether  it  is 
a  good  property  or  a  bad  one  and  whether  it  is 
properly  managed.  You  must  think  for  your¬ 
self.” 

Independent  Thinking. 

His  was  a  formula  for  railroad  analysis,  but  it 
was  more ;  it  was  a  complete  course  in  independ¬ 
ent  thinking.  It  opened  a  new  world,  for  it  took 
away  all  the  borrowed  opinions  upon  which  most 
of  us  depend  and  sat  a  man  down  in  the  midst 
of  a  medley  of  naked  facts  to  construct  for  them 
a  theory  comprehensive  enough  to  take  in  all  of 
them  without  doing  damage  to  any  one  of  them. 
He  outlined  a  thinking  process  which  can  be 
likened  only  to  packing  eggs  in  a  crate ;  each  one 
must  be  fitted  exactly  in  place,  yet  all  of  them 
must  remain  whole.  By  way  of  comparison, 
most  of  us  who  borrow  our  opinions  are  careful 
of  one  egg  only ;  we  think  a  lot  of  others  while 
we  bestow  especial  care  upon  one  or  two. 

This  old  lesson  on  how  to  think  was  exempli¬ 
fied  when  H.  A.  Kuhn  began  to  talk  about 
mechanics — and  other  things.  Indeed,  so  little 
time  as  an  hour  with  him  will  convince  any  man 
that  his  mind  follows  no  beaten  path  of  thought 
on  mechanics  or  anything  else.  Still,  he  is  no 
revolutionist  because  he  deals  solely  with  accepted 
principles,  yet  he  cuts  free  and  clear  of  prec¬ 
edent.  of  borrowed  opinions,  and  of  most  ac¬ 
cepted  notions  when  it  comes  to  grouping  his 
devices  into  a  machine  or  to  making  a  coal  com¬ 
pany  pay.  That  is,  he  has  a  high  regard  for 
established  truths  without  thinking  it  necessary 
to  worship  a  commonplace  arrangement  of  things. 

As  an  example  of  how  he  begins  to  work  at  a 
problem  and  to  solve  it,  he  said : 

“.\merica  must  get  40,000  new  miners  in  its 
coal  fields  every  year  merely  to  produce  the  in¬ 
creased  tonnage  demanded  first  by  an  increase  in 
population  and  second  by  an  increased  comsump- 
tion  per  capita.  Also,  America  must  get  20,000 
more  miners  every  year  to  replace  those  who  are 
graduated  out  of  the  mines  into  other  industries. 
This  means  that  America  must  get,  from  some¬ 
where,  60,000  new  miners  every  year. 

“Native  Americans  do  not  take  naturally  to  the 
coal  fields,  regardless  of  the  fact  that  we  are  the 
greatest  mining  nation  on  earth.  Also,  the  sons 


It  Must  Save  on  Labor  Cost  and  Increase 
the  Output  Greatly  Without  Using  So 
Much  Power  That  One  Saving  Is  Offset 
by  Another  Expense. 

of  imported  miners  do  not  adopt  the  trade  of 
their  fathers  here  as  they  do  in  Europe.  There¬ 
fore,  these  00,000  new  miners  annually  must  come 
mainly  from  abroad.  The  time  is  coming  when 
we  will  not  be  able  to  depend  upon  an  ever  in¬ 
creasing  flood  of  foreign  workers.  Then,  what?” 

That  naked  fact  gave  him  a  starting  point.  He 
knew  that,  because  of  a  growing  population  and 
a  larger  use  per  capita,  a  steadily  increasing 
production  of  coal  is  inevitable.  He  knew,  too, 
that — expecially  since  the  European  war — we 
must  count  upon  a  decreasing  supply  of  foreign 
labor.  His  conclusion  was  unavoidable : 

“We  must  have  a  machine  which  can  mine  and 
load  coal  and  which  will  allow  the  miners  now 
in  the  fields  to  do  the  nation’s  work.” 

He  had  there  the  skeleton  work  of  what  he 
had  to  do.  Later,  he  filled  it  out  by  adding 
many  specifications,  but  that  was  not  done  until 
he  had  spent  years  of  hard  work  and  more  than 
a  hundred  thousand  dollars  in  experimentation. 

Having  a  definite  object  in  mind,  he  worked  at 
it  methodically.  He  was  an  engineer  by  profes¬ 
sion  but  spent  his  days  directing  a  big  business — 
so  he  hired  a  corps  of  engineers  to  get  together 
a  library  on  mining  machines.  He  has  a  detailed 
description  of  every  device  ever  used  or  pro¬ 
posed  in  America,  England,  Belgium,  Germany 
and  France.  This  library  is  indexed  and  cross 
indexed.  It  is  compiled  by  subjects  and  by  de¬ 
vices.  It  is  arranged  chronologically  and  alpha¬ 
betically.  You  can  begin  at  the  bottom  and  work 
to  the  top  or  you  can  reverse  the  process.  Which¬ 
ever  way  you  go  about  it,  you  can  get  from  him 
all  of  the  known  information  on  the  subject. 

After  that,  he  wpnt  to  all  of  these  countries 
to  study  both  the  conditions  and  the  devices.  He 
saw  some  machines  work.  He  talked  to  old  men 
about  abandoned  devices  and  learned  why  they 
failed. 

This  method  of  procedure  was  sufficiently 
orthodox  to  please  even  a  Presbyterian  clergy¬ 
man.  It  is  mentioned  here  only  to  show  that  he 
has  a  proper  reverence  for  the  old  things  and  for 
the  accepted  notions.  Right  there  he  threw 
orthodoxy  in  the  scrap  heap  and  began,  inde¬ 
pendently  of  the  voluminous  literature,  to  work 
the  problem  in  his  own  way.  He  said  at  first — 
and  none  too  wisely  as  it  proved ; 

The  First  Theory. 

“Lump  coal  production  is  a  mistake.  It  is  not 
right  to  mine  it  that  way;  it  is  not  right  to  try 
to  burn  it  in  big  pieces.  Therefore,  the  proper 
mining  method  is  to  rip  it  out  of  the  seam  regard¬ 
less  of  size.  I’ll  build  a  machine  which  will  tear 
its  way  back  to  the  boundaries  of  the  acreage  and 
then,  in  a  furious  campaign,  will  gut  the  mine 
retreating.  I’ll  let  the  roof  fall  after  me  if  it 
wants  to  but  I’ll  get  the  coal  quickly  and  get  it 
cheaply.” 

That  was  his  first  object.  Consequently,  he 
built  several  mining  machines  which  would  attain 
it.  One,  a  compressed  air  machine,  stood  about 
as  high  as  an  average  man  and  filled  an  ordinary 
entry  from  rib  to  rib.  He  put  it  up  against  a 
face  and  turned  on  the  power.  It  began  to  tear 
out  the  coal  so  fast  it  was  dangerous  even  to 
stand  behind  it.  Some  of  these  machines  mined 
coal,  all  right,  but  they  had  two  fatal  defects. 

Some  dug  coal  so  fast  that  nothing  short  of  a 
continuous  belt  conveyor  could  have  carried  it 
away. 

Each  required  practically  an  entire  air  com¬ 
pressor  or  dynamo  on  the  surface  to  supply  it 
with  power. 

That  is,  he  could  mine  and  load  coal  mechan¬ 
ically  and  could  reduce  the  labor  cost,  but  used 
too  much  power.  Indeed,  the  increased  power 
cost  ate  up  the  saving  on  labor.  The  only  thing 


he  did  was  to  solve  the  labor  problem  but  that 
was  not  enough. 

So,  when  he  had  taken  the  power  readings  and 
had  computed  the  cost,  he  abandoned  all  these 
machines.  He  threw  them — and  his  work  and 
outlay — into  the  scrap  heap.  They  are  now  only 
relics.  He  abandoned  not  only  the  design  but 
also  the  very  theory  according  to  which  they  had 
been  constructed.  In  the  light  of  that  experience, 
he  said ; 

“It  costs  entirely  too  much  to  tear  coal  out  of 
the  solid  by  machinery.  My  next  machine  will 
mine  coal  in  as  large  lumps  as  can  be  produced 
by  skilled  hand  labor.  It  will  handle  coal  ten¬ 
derly.  If  the  users  want  small  coal,  we  can 
break  it  on  the  surface.  The  next  time  I  will 
build  a  machine  to  mine  and  load  coal  but  to  do 
it  with  a  minimum  amount  of  power.” 

His  associates  protested;  they  hoped  to  save 
something  out  of  the  wreck.  But  Mr.  Kuhn 
would  not  listen.  He  abandoned  the  idea  not 
because  of  any  flaw  in  his  mechanics  but  because 
the  basic  theory  was  wrong. 

The  Revised  Idea. 

Then  began  the  work  of  constructing  the  new 
theory  and  of  designing  a  new  machine  which 
would  fit  it.  This  ended  in  the  demonstration 
reported  last  week. 

The  first  question  asked  and  answered  was : 

How  can  coal  be  broken  down  at  the  face 
while  using  machinery  and  still  with  the  mini¬ 
mum  use  of  power? 

Undercutting  and  using  powder  is  the  universal 
practice.  Mauling  it  down  by  machinery  alone 
had  just  been  proved  too  expensive.  Shooting 
off  the  solid  is  too  much  like  suicide.  What 
cheaper  way — what  new  arrangement  of  methods 
— was  possible? 

It  took  months  of  study  to  find  the  answer. 
Mr.  Kuhn  words  his  final  conclusion  somewhat 
after  this  fashion ; 

“Powder  is  an  impartial  agency  which  exerts 
its  force  when  exploding  in  all  directions  from 
the  starting  point.  An  explosion  is,  in  fact,  the 
instantaneous  conversion  of  a  solid  into  gas. 
Since  the  gas  takes  up  much  more  room  than  the 
solid,  something  has  to  give  way.  Therefore,  if 
the  point  where  the  explosion  takes  place  is  near 
the  rib  and  roof,  those  absorb  as  much  of  the 
force  as  does  the  coal  to  be  brought  down.  Thus 
only  about  one-half  the  force  of  the  powder  is 
exerted  to, break  down  the  coal.  The  other  half 
is  devoted  to  crushing  coal  or  doing  damage  to 
the  roof,  mainly.  This  so  damages  the  roof  that  . 
it  will  come  down  at  a  touch.  To  avoid  this, 
there  is  need  for  men  either  to  support  it  or  to 
remove  what  has  fallen.  Either  one  increases 
the  cost  of  mining. 

“I  decided  to  place  the  shot  where  all  the 
force  of  the  exploding  powder  would  be  used 
to  shock  the  block  of  coal  that  I  wanted  to  re¬ 
move.  This  led  me  to  place  the  powder  hole  in 
the  center,  vertically,  of  the  face  and  a  little 
away  from  the  rib. 

“This  would  throw  all  the  force  of  the  shot — 
unless  too  much  powder  were  used — into  only 
the  coal  that  was  to  be  taken  out  at  once.  That 
is,  the  downward  pressure  of  the  shot  would 
break  down  the  lower  half  of  the  vein,  this 
operation  being  assisted  by  the  undercut.  The 
upward  pressure  of  the  explosion  would  not  be 
working  against  a  cut,  hence  it  would  start  merely 
the  natural  cleavage  lines  in  the  coal.  To  one 
side  the  force  of  the  explosion  would  back  up 
against  the  rib. 

“This  accounts  for  the  exertion  of  force  in 
three  directions.  What  about  the  effect  of  the 
shot  in  the  fourth  direction?” 

It  was  such  penetrating  analysis  which  gave  Mr. 
Kuhn  the  first  real  conception  of  the  character  of 
machine  needed  by  coal  men.  In  fact,  the  ques¬ 
tion,  “what  about  the  effect  of  the  shot  in  the 
fourth  direction  ?”— the  portion  of  the  coal  to¬ 
ward  the  center  of  the  room — proved  to  be  the 
pivotal  point  for  the  new  machine. 

While  studying  that  question,  it  did  not  take 
(Continued  on  page  128.) 


122 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[August  14 


An  Explanation  of  How  Coal  Tar  Is  Recovered. 


To  the  casual  inspection  of  the  man  not  initiated 
into  the  mysteries  of  coal  tar  products,  the  ap¬ 
paratus  used  seems  wonderfully  intricate,  and 
almost  beyond  ordinary  comprehension.  To  a 
chemist  or  engineer,  the  principles  embodied  in 
the  different  devices  are  often  hidden  even  from 
the  trained  mind. 

To  fully  understand  such  apparatus,  one  must 
first  get  hold  of  the  fundamental  ideas  which 
brought  them  to  the  mind  of  the  inventors.  There¬ 
fore,  let  us  try  to  deduce  the  theory  which  pre¬ 
ceded  the  appearance  of  the  various  stills,  con¬ 
densers,  and  washers  used  in  this  line  of  work. 

As  the  coke  oven  drives  off  the  gases  from 
the  coal,  at  the  necessarily  high  temperatures 
used,  the  various  liquid  constituents  of  the  coal 
are  also  vaporized,  and  these  vapors  of  the  dif¬ 
ferent  liquids  mingle  with  the  heated  gases,  and 
leave  the  oven  with  them.  Since,  to  be  used 
by  the  medium  of  pipe  conveyors,  the  eas  rnust 
be  cooled  to  ordinary  temperatures,  it  is  obvious 
that  the  contained  vapors  would,  upon  the  tem¬ 
perature  being  lowered,  condense  in  these  pipes, 
and  ultimately  choke  them.  Accordingly,  the 


By  P.  W.  Thomas. 

The  Author  Tells  How  Tar  Is  Taken 
From  the  Gas;  How  Ammonia  Is  Drawn 
Off  and  How  Many  Primary  Products 
Are  Obtained. 

first  problem  confronting  the  men  who  wished 
to  utilize  the  gas  from  coal  was  that  of  removing 
such  of  these  vapors  as  would  tend  to  condense 
readily  in  the  pipes  of  the  system. 

When  condensed  in  a  body,  such  vapors  form 
at  medium  temperatures  a  liquid,  which  at  ordi¬ 
nary  temperatures  becomes  a  fairly  solid  conglom¬ 
erate  mass,  called  tar.  Tar,  in  addition  to  the 
liquids  of  the  various  coal  vapors,  contains  a 
high  percentage  of  free  carbon,  called  amorphous 
carbon,  which,  without  assuming  a  liquid  form, 
yet  changes  from  a  solid  matter,  if  subjected  to 
heat,  to  a  practically  gaseous  form,  and  redeposits 
on  any  cool  surface. 

The  first  problem,  then,  was  the  condensation 
of  tar  in  such  a  way  as  to  remove  it  from  the 
gas  without  loss  of  the  gas.  Research  made  it 
evident  that  as  the  gas  cooled  to  the  temperature 
known  as  the  dew  point  of  the  tar,  small  globules 
of  tar  appeared  in  the  gas,  but  were  not  readily 
deposited  from  it.  To  fully  clear  the  gas  of 
these  globules,  three  methods  were  found  effi¬ 
cient  ; 

I.  To  baffle  the  current  of  gas  carrying  the 
globules  by  obstructing  the  current  with  cool 
surfaces.  The  impact  of  the  globules  striking 
such  surfaces  removed  them. 

II.  To  cause  such  impact  against  the  sides  of  a 
cylindrical  vessel  by  centrifugal  motion  of  the 
gas  current. 

III.  To  wash  the  gas  with  a  liquid  spray,  the 
impact  of  the  globules  against  the  surfaces  of 
the  sprayed  drops  causing  their  assimilation  and 
removal. 

To  take  three  types  of  tar  washers  which  illus¬ 
trate  these  principles  definitely  I  have  drawn  the 
following  figures  from  similar  diagrams  in  Mr. 
I'rederick  Wagmers’  book  on  “Coal  Gas  Resid¬ 
uals.” 

Fig.  1  shows  the  cross-section  plan  of  the  Pe- 
louze  Adouin  tar  condenser.  The  gas  enters  the 
condenser  at  the  inlet  "O,”  passing  up  through 
the  center  to  come  out  under  the  friction  bell 
“A.”  This  bell  is  suspended  in  a  cylindrical 
casing  which  dips  into  ammoniacal  liquor  filling 
the  well  “C.”  The  bell  is  cast  in  two  pairs  of 
concentrically  enclosing  cylinders,  each  perforated 
with  holes.  The  gas  entering  under  the  bell, 
passes  out  through  these  holes,  which  are  so  ar¬ 
ranged  that  as  the  gas  comes  through  it  strikes 
a  blank  space  in  the  wall  opposite,  condensing 
with  the  impact.  The  inner  bell  has  larger  holes, 
and  as  the  size  of  the  holes  decreases,  the  gas  is 
“wiredrawn,”  which  aids  materially  iyi  condensa¬ 
tion.  The  tar  collects  on  the  bell,  and  the  sur¬ 
plus  falls  into  the  well  below,  where  it  is  re¬ 
moved  by  overflow.  The  gas  passes  up  into  the 
chamber  aliove,  leaving  at  the  outlet  marked 
“E.”  The  friction  bell  is  suspended  bv  a  hy¬ 
draulic  lift  which  operates  automatically  with 
the  make  of  gas,  lifting  as  the  make  increases, 
and  so  bringing  more  holes  above  the  surface 
of  the  liquor  to  take  care  of  the  increased  volume 
of  gas. 

Of  the  various  types  of  condensers  using  the 
second  principle  for  the  removal  of  tar,  Fig.  II 
shows  the  simplest,  known  as  the  Cyclone  ex¬ 
tractor.  The  gas  enters  at  “A”  the  cylindrical 
casing  “R,”  entering  at  a  tangent.  This  causes 
the  current  to  spiralize,  with  sufficient  soeed  to 
cause  the  centrifugal  force  of  the  revolving  glob¬ 
ules  to  throw  them  against  the  walls  of  the  cylin¬ 
der.  where  thev  condense  and  run  down  into  the 
storage  tank  “E.”  The  gas,  after  whirling  around 
the  cylinder,  leaves  through  the  central  outlet 
marked  “C.” 

Fig.  Ill  shows  the  Standard  Injector  tvpe  of 
tar  condenser.  The  gas  entering  at  “A,”  follows 
the  direction  indicated  by  the  arrows  to  meet  a 
stream  of  hot  tar  from  the  iniector.  The  hot  tar 
spray  meets  the  gas  and  falls  through  the  cur¬ 
rent,  carrying  the  globules  of  tar  from  the  gas 
into  the  well  beneath.  certain  portion  of  the 
tar  is  continuallv  pumped  back  through  the  in¬ 
jector.  the  surplus  being  removed  to  a  storage 
tank  bv  overflow.  The  gas  leaves  the  condenser 
through  perforations  in  the  outlet  pipe. 

The  above  principles  are  those  upon  which  all 
types  of  condensers  and  washers  for  taking  coal 
products  work,  though  the  variations  in  form 


are  many  in  number,  and  some  are  more  efficient 
iiian  the  types  given.  ' 

Having  taken  the  tar,  most  manufacturers 
have  found  it  advisable  to  immediately  separate 
the  ammoniacal  liquor  by  settling  tanks,  the 
liquor  being  stored  from  overflow,  and  the  tar 
removed  for  treatment.  To  remove  all  ammonia¬ 
cal  liquor,  the  tar  is  now  heated  to  eighty-five  or 
ninety-five  degrees  F.,  and  after  being  filtered, 
passed  into  the  drum  of  a  centrifugal  running 
at  a  speed  of  2,500  revolutions  per  minute.  This 
thoroughly  separates  all  ammoniacal  liquor  from 
the  tar,  which  yields  the  manufacturer  increased 
revenue  from  the  sale  of  ammonia  free  tar,  and 
from  the  sale  of  the  liquor  or  ammonium  sulphate. 
Mr.  Wagner  calculates  that  after  deductiriP  labor, 
cost  of  operation,  interest,  and  amortization  of 
capital  involved,  a  plant  separating  2,800  gallons 
of  tar  per  day,  and  so  obtaining  2,352  gallons  of 
ammonia  free  tar  and  448  gallons  of  ammoniacal 


taken  either  I)efore  or  i;nmedately  after  removing 
the  ammonia  from  the  gas  or  tar.  If  taken  be¬ 
fore,  by  the  Feld  process,  the  yield  of  ammonia 
is  slightly  larger.  Many  attempts,  some  success¬ 
ful,  have  been  made  to  decompose  this  gas  and 
place  the  nitrogen  in  combination  with  hydrogen 
to  form  additional  ammonia.  The  profit  at  pres¬ 
ent  would  not  be  so  great  as  to  remoye  the  gas 
in  the  formation  of  cyanide  of  potassium,  how¬ 
ever.  In  this  respect,  two  processes  are  in  gen¬ 
eral  use,  one  the  Bueb  process,  which  takes  cyano¬ 
gen  in  the  form  of  a  press  cake,  and  the  other 
the  Feld  process,  more  economical,  which  takes 
cyanogen  in  the  form  of  a  sludge,  at  the  sarne 
time  liberating  hydrogen  sulphide  gas  which  is 
comljined  with  the  ammoniacal  liquor  to  yield 
direct  ammonium  sulphate.  The  processes  are 
both  conducted  in  washers,  the  Bueb  washer  using 
copperas  solution  as  an  absorbent,  and  the  Feld 
washer  using  milk  of  lime.  While  the  washers 
have  minor  "differences,  the  washing  principle  is 
used  entirely.  However,  in  these  more  advanced 


No.  7] 


123 


forms  of  washers,  the  gas  enters  at  the  bottom, 
and  the  washing  fluid  at  the  top  in  a  fine  spray. 
Therefore  the  liquid  in  falling,  meets  the  cur¬ 
rent  of  gas  rising  and  obtains  additional  impact, 
and  additional  absorbing  power,  without  the  use 
of  injector  pumps. 

When  cleaned  of  ammonia  and  cyanogen,  the 
tar  is  ready  for  fractional  distillation,  and  is 
placed  in  a  coke  oven  or  retort.  I  have  in  previ¬ 
ous  articles  taken  up  the  steps  of  this  work,  and 
described  the  products.  It  does  not  seem  neces¬ 
sary  to  further  describe  the  apparatus  used  in 
fractionating  the  tar  by  heat,  save  to  explain 
that  when  heated,  at  certain  degrees  the  vapors 


Fig.  3.  Standard  Injector  Type. 


of  each  oil  or  liquid  produced  are  given  off,  and 
must  be  condensed  again  separately  by  employing 
one  of  the  principles  set  down. 

Naphthalene  is  a  solid  crystalline  substance, 
melting  at  174  degrees  F.,  boiling  at  424  degrees 
F.,  which  in  quantities  is  injurious  to  gas,  but 
in  small  amounts  increases  the  lighting  power  of 
gas.  The  majority  of  the  napthalene  present  will 
be  condensed  in  the  tar,  and  if  redistilled,  can 
be  washed  from  the  vapor  with  several  solvents, 
using  any  good  type  of  washer.  Anthracene  oil, 
creosote  oil,  hot  water  gas  tar,  or  the  waste 
from  other  distillations  called  napthalene  wash¬ 
ers,  may  be  used  to  remove  the  napthalene  from 
the  distillation  vapors  of  the  oven.  The  vertical 
washer  which  sprays  the  vapor  more  thoroughly 
is  generally  used. 

So,  in  turn,  the  mechanical  treatment  of  the  tar 
repeats  this  procedure  in  taking  each  separate 
basic  product.  The  tar  is  heated  to  that  known 
temperature  at  which  the  desired  product  alone, 
as  nearly  as  possible,  is  vaporized  from  the  con¬ 
glomerate  hot  tar  liquid,  and  carried  off  as  vapor 
to  a  condenser  or  washer  and  there  removed. 
Once  separated,  the  product  may  be  further  puri¬ 
fied  and  treated  to  reach  a  marketable  re¬ 
sult.  Such  treatment  is  chemical  rather  than 
mechanical,  and  is  seldom  carried  on  entirely  by 
the  manufacturer,  who  rather  seems  to  sell  his 
product  at  the  earliest  marketable  stage  of  its 
production. 


THE  HEA(K  I)IA3IOM). 


The  processes  given  above  all  necessitated  con¬ 
stant  alternate  vaporizing  and  condensing  of  the 
tar  constituents.  Walthcr  Feld,  after  applying 
new  principles  in  washers  in  various  branches  of 
the  distillation  process,  conceived  the  plan  of  tak¬ 
ing  the  oven  gases,  which  contained  all  the  vapors 
of  the  different  elements,  and  successively  con¬ 
densing  each  vapor  by  washers.  After  years  of 
determination  relative  to  the  critical  heats  of  con¬ 
densation  for  each  product,  Feld  perfected  a 
series  of  eleven  washers,  of  the  vertical  type, 
wherein  the  entering  oven  gas  is  successively 
washed  clean  of  the  principal  vapors  separately 
contained  in  it. 

It  is  interesting  to  know  that  this  process,  as 
far  as  mechanical  treatment  is  concerned,  aptly 
shows  the  dependence  of  the  by-product  busi¬ 
ness  on  its  own  products.  Feld  has  shown  that 
when  a  vapor  approaches  its  dew  point,  it  is  most 
readily  absorbed  by  the  liqiiid  of  its  own  con¬ 
densation.  Thus,  the  absorbents  used  in  the 
washeries  are  all  coal  products.  Pitch  vapor  is 
removed  at  the  temperature  of  its  dew  point  by 
being  washed  with  liquid  pitch  of  the  same  tem¬ 
perature.  Each  element  in  turn  is  removed  in 
separate  washers  through  which  the  liquid  of 
that  element,  or  the  liquid  of  the  nearest  possible 


similarity,  is  sprayed.  Napthalene,  not  a  liquid 
at  the  required  temperature,  can  be  removed  with 
the  oils  closest  to  it  in  temperature  of  the  dew 
point. 

Then  it  can  readily  be  seen  that  the  foregoing 
mechanical  treatment  of  coal  products  does  not 
need  labor  of  more  skill  than  that  already  em¬ 
ployed  in  our  own  coking  plants.  The  products 
of  such  treatment  are  the  raw  basic  elements 
which  the  chemist  must  take  in  charge,  but  these 
same  raw  products  have  a  value  which  makes  the 
mechanical  treatment  alone  one  of  profit. 

The  chemical  treatment  of  the  raw  products  is 
of  a  more  technical  nature,  and  of  more  interest 
to  chemists  than  coal  men.  However,  the  coal 
men  may  be  sure  that  if  they  undertake  to  pro¬ 
duce  the  basic  materials,  the  chemists  will  be  on 
hand  to  treat  them  or  buy  them  for  treatment. 
.Already  the  demand  for  these  products  far  ex¬ 
ceeds  the  apparent  supply,  and  the  indications  are 
that  the  demand  will  increase  enormously,  even 
with  the  close  of  the  war  and  the  resumption  of 
German  trade.  As  yet,  the  war  has  made  but 
little  shortage  of  supplies — the  trouble  has  prin¬ 
cipally  been  a  fear  of  shortage — but  even  with  a 
normal  import  trade,  the  demand  is  greater  than 
the  supply. 


Lignite  as  First  Aid  to  the  Settler. 

By  F.  L.  Clark. 


What  the  presence  of  lignite  coal  in  such 
enormous  quantities  and  over  such  a  wide  ter¬ 
ritory  in  western  North  Dakota  and  eastern 
Montana  is  meaning  today  and  has  meant  the 
last  ten  years  to  homesteaders  and  farmers  can 
scarcely  be  realized  by  anyone  who  is  un¬ 
familiar  with  conditions.  There  are  those  who 
go  so  far  as  to  say  that  without  this  omni¬ 
present  lignite  the  settlement  of  these  lands 
comprising  an  area  greater  than  the  New  Eng¬ 
land  states  would  have  been  delayed  indefi¬ 
nitely.  The  great  stretches  are  absolutely  bare 
of  trees  with  the  exception  of  brush  and  cot¬ 
tonwoods  along  the  streams. 

In  the  old  cattle  days  the  ranchers  built 
their  houses  near  the  rivers  and  creeks.  There 
were  so  few  of  them  that  the  timber  along  the 
water  courses  sufficed  for  their  needs.  Fifteen 
year  ago  the  homesteaders  began  coming  in. 
Within  the  last  ten  years  tens  of  thousands  of 
them  have  settled  in  the  region.  Flomesteads 
have  been  taken  up  as  far  as  a  hundred  miles 
from  a  railroad,  while  a  distance  of  forty  and 
fifty  miles  is  extremely  common.  The  writer 
recently  lived  on  a  claim  in  northwestern 
North  Dakota  forty-eight  miles  from  a  rail¬ 
road.  There  was  no,  timber  for  miles.  It  cost 
a  cent  a  pound  to  have  freight  brought  from 
the  railroad.  Obviously,  at  $20  a  ton  merely 
for  hauling  there  are  few  homesteaders  who 
could  stand  the  strain  of  a  fuel  bill  through  the 
long,  severe  winters. 

Think,  then,  what  it  has  meant  to  the  settle¬ 
ment  of  this  region  to  have  veins  of  lignite  coal 
within  walking  or  teaming  distance  of  almost 
every  farm;  and  this  is  the  case  over  thousands 
of  miles  of  territory.  Many  settlers  have  lig¬ 
nite  beds  on  their  own  quarter-sections  and 
obtain  with  a  pickaxe  and  shovel  all  the  fuel 
they  need.  Those  who  buy  are  required  to  pay 
only  a  little  more  than  the  cost  of  hauling. 
This  ranges  from  $2.00  to  $4.00  a  ton.  accord¬ 
ing  to  the  distance  to  be  covered.  There  are 
springs  issuing  from  many  of  the  lignite  veins. 
On  a  ranch  near  Watford,  North  Dakota,  three 
springs  bubble  out  of  a  bed  of  lignite  within 
a  few  yards  of  the  house,  the  rancher  thus 
having  a  water  supply  and  a  fuel  supply  pro¬ 
vided  by  nature  at  his  back  door. 

The  region  is  rapidly  developing  and  rail¬ 
roads  are  bringing  the  farmers  and  home¬ 
steaders  constantly  in  closer  touch  with  the 
outside  world.  There  are  still,  however,  many 
thousand  people  west  of  the  Missouri  river 
in  North  Dakota  and  eastern  Montana  thirty 
miles  or  more  from  a  railroad.  They  use  no 
fuel  but  the*  lignite  they  obtain  from  local 
mines.  Furthermore,  they  like  it  so  well  that 
after  the  railroad  comes  and  the  towns  build 
up  they  go  on  using  it  almost  exclusively  for 
domestic  purposes.  Electric  light  plants  ami 
small  manufacturing  concerns,  as  they  are  es¬ 
tablished.  make  use  of  lignite  to  the  exclusion 
of  shipped-in  coal.  The  government  uses  it 
in  its  power  plant  for  the  Williston  irrigation 
I)roject  in  northwestern  North  Dakota.  It  is 
also  the  fuel  consumed  exclusively  in  all  pub¬ 
lic  buildings  in  North  Dakota. 

And  yet  this  same  resource  was  considered 
worthless  twenty-five  years  ago.  .An  old  Da¬ 


kota  pioneer  tells  the  following  story  of  the 
discovery  of  its  value  as  a  fuel: 

“In  territorial  days  there  lived  on  the  banks 
of  the  Missouri  a.bove  Bismarck  one  John 
Warren.  His  shack  was  located  near  a  large 
vein  of  lignite.  Alexander  McKenzie,  one  of 
North  Dakota’s  most  famous  citizens,  had  oc¬ 
casion  to  stop  with  Warren  one  cold  winter’s 
night  and  discovered  that  the  shack  was  com¬ 
fortably  warm  with  lignite  which  Warren  had 
dug  out  of  the  nearby  vein. 

“Upon  his  return  to  Bismarck,  Mr.  McKen¬ 
zie  told  a  number  of  citizens  of  that  place  that 
Warren  was  burning  lignite,  and  advanced  the 
opinion  that  there  was  no  better  fuel  to  be 
had  in  the  northwest.  The  Bismarck  people 
received  the  statement  with  skepticism,  for 
Warren’s  reputation  for  veracity  was  not  of 
the  best. 

“Mr.  AIcKenzie,  to  make  good  his  claim,  pur¬ 
chased  a  suitable  stove  and  set  it  up  in  his 
office  in  Bismarck.  He  then  secured  a  quan¬ 
tity  of  lignite  coal  and  invited  a  score  of 
friends  to  call  a  certain  cold  evening.  Within 
a  few  minutes  after  the  party  had  assembled 
the  stove  got  so  red  hot,  and  the  room  also, 
that  everyone  declared  themselves  perfectly 
satisfied  that  North  Dakota  lignite  would  burn 
and  give  forth  heat — in  fact,  more  than  sat¬ 
isfied. 

“Mr.  McKenzie,  as  he  traveled  about  the 
state  later,  gave  wide  publicity  to  the  value  of 
lignite.” 


Canadian  Toluol  and  Benzol. 


fConsul  Henry  P.  Starrett,  Owen  Sound,  Ontario. 1 

Recent  press  notices  state  that  the  conditions 
brought  about  by  the  war  have  served  to  create 
an  industry  new  to  Canada — the  manufacture  of 
toluol  and  benzol  as  by-products  of  the  coke 
ovens. 

Toluol  is  a  hydrocarbon  used  in  the  manufac¬ 
ture  of  dyes  and  also  in  production  of  high  ex¬ 
plosives.  Benzol  is  also  a  hydrocarbon,  the  chief 
raw  material  of  the  artificial-dyestuff  industry 
and  a  fuel  that  can  be  used  in  internal-combus¬ 
tion  engines  as  a  substitute  for  gasoline.  Half 
of  the  benzol  output  of  German  coke  ovens  was 
used  for  motors  in  1913,  and  at  present  it  has 
almost  completely  replaced  gasoline  for  automo¬ 
biles  in  that  country. 

At  least  one  large  Canadian  steel  company  has 
received  a  contract  from  the  Canadian  govern¬ 
ment  for  its  output  of  toluol,  and  the  same  com¬ 
pany  expects  important  contracts  in  the  future 
from  the  British  government. 

[The  separation  of  the  two  hydrocarbons  from 
coke-oven  gas  involves  the  construction  of  “ben¬ 
zol  scrubbers,”  and  the  separation  of  the  two 
compounds  from  each  other  and  in  a  relatively 
pure  state  requires  the  erection  of  suitable  stills. 
The  cost  of  a  benzol  plant  for  a  battery  of  coke 
ovens  handling  daily  2,000  short  tons  of  coal  is 
about  $300,000.  Such  a  plant  produces  daily  about 
4,000  gallons  of  crude  benzol.  The  daily  output 
of  pure  benzol  is  about  2,700  gallons,  of  toluol 
040  gallons,  and  of  other  useful  hydrocarbons, 
solvent,  naphtha,  etc.,  080  gallons.] 


124 


[August  14 


_  THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. _ 

Possible  Substitutes  for  Anthracite  Coal. 


Anthracite  coal  is  an  ideal  domestic  fuel. 
It  is  clean,  smokeless,  burns  slowly,  hence 
holds  a  fire  for  a  long  time;  is  hard,  strong 
and  does  not  break  easily  and  is  of  small 
volume.  After  the  exhaustion  of  wood  fuel, 
it  had  for  many  years  little  or  no  competition 
in  the  markets  of  its  natural  territory. 

Conditions  in  recent  years  have,  however, 
caused  a  considerable  increase  in  its  cost,  and 
this  has  not  only  given  an  opportunity  to  the 
substitute  for  anthracite,  but  has  shown  that 
some  other  form  of  fuel  will  find  a  continually 
increasing  market  in  its  replacement.  As  a 
substitute  of  importance,  semi-l)ituminous  coal 
has  easily  first  place.  Next  in  order  comes 
coke,  a  comparatively  new  fuel  in  the  domestic 
trade. 

Coke  possesses  some  of  the  advantages  en¬ 
joyed  bv  anthracite:  in  other  respects  it  is  not 
equal  to  hard  coal.  In  heating  power  and 
freedom  from  smoke  it  is  equal.  Iri  price  it 
has  an  advantage  as  it  sells  for  less;  in  fact,  it 
must  sell  for  less  to  obtain  a  market.  Each 
fuel  being  smokeless,  this  feature  cancels  out 
of  the  problem,  leaving  price  as  the  only  su¬ 
perior  feature  of  coke  to  offset  its  disadvan¬ 
tages.  but  price  is  an  universal  cure  for  most 
ali  ills. 

Character  of  Coke. 

The  handicaps  home  by  coke  are  of  two 
kinds — one  of  a  physical  character,  the  other 
of  a  commercial  nature.  Regarding  the  first, 
some  one  in  attempting  to  illustrate  the  pe¬ 
culiar  physical  nature  of  coke  has  said  that 
it  possesses  in  a  marked  degree,  the  physical 
characteristics  of  an  egg,  an  emery  wheel  and  a 
sponge.  Like  an  egg  because  it  is  fragile, 
delicate  and  easily  broken.  Idke  an  emery 
wheel  because  the  walls  of  its  cells  are  sharp 
and  hard,  cutting  and  rapidly  wearing  shovels, 
conveyors  or  any  handling  appliances.  Like 
a  sponge,  because  it  will  absorb  a  very  large 
amount  of  water.  The  reason  that  coke  ab¬ 
sorbs  so  much  water,  is  the  same  reason  that 
it  is  of  such  large  volume,  and  this  is  because 
of  the  large  cells  of  its  structure  like  the 
comb  of  the  honey  bee. 

Anthracite  is  just  the  opposite  in  these  re¬ 
spects,  it  is  very  hard  and  is  the  strongest  of 
all  coal  fuel;  it  does  not  cut  or  scratch  like 
coke;  it  is  very  dense  so  it  does  not  absorb 
water  to  any  appreciable  extent,  and  being 
dense  it  does  not  have  the  open  cell  structure. 
It  is  therefore  of  small  volume,  or  in  other 
words,  it  is  very  heavy,  occupying  small  space. 

The  large  volume  of  coke  is  a  feature  of 
difficulty  to  the  dealer,  as  it  requires  more 
space  for  storage,  and  less  quantity  can  be 
transported  on  w'agons,  or  to  haul  the  same 
qauntity,  the  loads  must  be  made  larger.  To 
accomplish  this  requires  the  use  of  side  boards 
or  other  special  means  to  allow  of  the  load 
being  built  up  higher.  This  makes  it  more 
difficult  for  dealers  to  stock  up  during  spring 
or  summer  as  their  storage  space  usually  does 
not  allow  of  the  stocking  of  large  amounts 
as  with  anthracite. 

The  Firing  Problem. 

Another  of  the  problems  with  coke  is  its 
firing.  People  are  disposed  to  follow  practice 
that  gives  good  results  with  anthracite,  and 
unfavorable  results  follow.  Coke,  however, 
may  be  burned  with  equally  good  results  if 
fired  properly.  The  principal  feature  in  good 
firing  is  the  maintenance  of  a  thick  fuel  bed, 
if  this  is  done  excellent  results  are  had. 

The  reasons  why  a  thicker  fuel  bed  is  re¬ 
quired  with  coke  is  that  it  burns  more  freely 
than  does  anthracite  and  it  does  not  produce 
as  compact  a  fuel  bed,  the  spaces  between 
the  pieces  of  a  corresponding  size  being  larger 
and  more  irregular  than  with  the  coal.  The 
demand  for  coke  is  growing  as  consumers 
learn  to  use  it,  and  as  they  realize  a  saving  in 
their  fuel  bills.  But  the  manufacture  and  mar¬ 
keting  of  coke  for  domestic  use  are  attendant 
with  much  more  difficulty  than  with  coal. 

Domestic  coke  is  always  a  by-product;  if  it 
were  not,  it  could  not  be  marketed  in  com¬ 
petition  with  coal.  Formerly,  it  was  prin¬ 
cipally  the  residue  of  the  illuminating  gas  re¬ 
tort,  and  to  some  extent  a  residue  of  oil  re¬ 
fining.  In  each  case,  it  found  a  market  in  the 
vicinity  of  its  production,  because  it  could  not 
bear  the  addition  of  transportation  charges. 
More  recently,  however,  coke  from  coke  ovens  of 
the  by-product  type,  has  entered  the  market. 

’Consulting  Engineer,  Chicago,  III. 


By  A.  Bement.* 

A  Discussion  of  Coke  as  a  Fuel  for  the 
Replacement  of  Anthracite — What  Coke 
Makers  Have  Done  to  Manufacture  Fuel. 


This  is  the  fuel  with  which  the  public  and 
dealers  have  had  most  to  do  and  the  one  to 
which  most  consideration  must  be  given. 

Never  as  yet  have  by-product  ovens  been  es¬ 
tablished  for  the  purpose  of  supplying  do¬ 
mestic  coke,  the  enterprise  would  not  be 
profitable  because  the  market  could  not  pay 
the  price  necessary  to  insure  the  oven  a  profit. 
The  by-product  oyen  is  a  complicated  com¬ 
mercial  proposition,  much  different  from  coke 
manufacture  with  the  old  beehive  oven,  with 
the  latter,  coke  was  the  only  product  and  only 
one  grade  of  coke  was  shipped,  and  this  being 
a  high  grade  article  suited  to  the  use  of  blast 
furnaces  and  foundry  cupolas,  it  could  bear 
any  necessary  transportation  cost,  because 
there  was  no  substitute  for  it,  therefore,  dis¬ 
tance  was  no  bar  to  market.  The  oven  be¬ 
ing  a  very  simple  and  cheap  affair  located  at 
the  mines  where  real  estate  was  cheap,  fixed 
charges  and  maintenance  were  very  low.  The 
by-products  were  wasted  and  the  small  coke 
thrown  away  as  was  once  the  practice  with  fine 
coal  in  certain  mining  localities. 

The  by-product  oven,  however,  is  a  very 
different  affair  than  its  old  predecessor  as  it 
produces,  besides  a  high  grade  furnace  and 
foundry  coke  which  is  the  main  product  and 
is  the  principal  excuse  for  the  existence  of  the 
plant,  other  by-products  in  the  form  of  do¬ 
mestic  coke,  illuminating  gas,  tar,  and  chemical 
products  in  the  form  of  sulphite  of  ammonia. 
For  the  plant  to  be  successful  a  market  must 
be  had  for  all  of  the  products,  and  this  is  a 
problem  of  no  small  niagnitude. 

Gas  and  domestic  coke  are  both  products, 
which  will  bear  but  little  transportation  costs. 
The  only  markets  available  for  the  gas  are 
the  gas  supply  of  a  city,  or  for  industrial  uses, 
such  as  a  steel  works,  if  the  ovens  are  located 
at  such  a  plant.  The  city  gas  supply  is,  how¬ 
ever,  the  best  market  as  it  is  a  service  that 
can  afford  to  pay  the  highest  price.  This 
means  that  the  ovens  be  located  in,  or  at,  a 
large  city. 

The  domestic  coke  demanding  a.  large  mar¬ 
ket  within  a  short  radius  also  requires  that 
the  ovens  be  located  at  a  large  city.  It,  of 
course,  is  desirable  from  the  standpoint  of  the 
furnace  coke  that  it  also  find  a  market  near 
by.  While  this  is  not  necessarily  essential 
to  the  successful  marketing  of  the  high  grade 
coke,  as  it  is  with  the  gas  and  the  domestic 
coke,  yet  it  is  a  desirable  feature.  It  is  ap¬ 
parent  from  the  foregoing  that  a  large  city 
is  the  best  place  for  a  plant  of  by-product 
ovens;  also  that  if  blast  furnaces  and  foundries 
are  ;  among  the  industries  of  such  a  city,  they 
also  not  only  contribute  to  the  success  of  the 
enterprise,  but  make  possible  a  low  priced 
domestic  coke. 

Source  of  Raw  Material. 

Coke  has  always  been  made  from  some  spe¬ 
cial  seams  of  coal,  or  from  some  particular  lo¬ 
cality  which  produces  what  is  known  as  cok¬ 
ing  coal,  either  from  a  straight  coal  or  from 
a  mixture  of  coals.  This  is  not  because  such 
is  the  only  coal  that  will  produce  coke,  but  be¬ 
cause  the  requirements  for  structure,  strength, 
sulphur  and  ash  content,  can  be  secured  with 
it.  Any  coal  will  make  coke,  but  only  certain 
coal  will  make  a  furnace  coke  and  this  prod¬ 
uct  is  the  controlling  factor. 

At  the  present  state  of  the  art  it  will  not 
pay  to  coke  the  grades  of  coal  which  have 
been  known  as  non-coking.  They  will  ijot 
make  a  furnace  coke,  and  it  would  not  pay 
to  market  the  entire  product  as  domestic  coke. 
There  has  been  much  activity  in  the  coking 
field  since  the  advent  of  the  by-product  oven, 
and  at  the  present  time  there  are  rumors  of 
“new  processes,”  which  is  to  coke  various  low 
grades  of  coal,  changing  poor  coal  into  good 
coke,  which  give  more  promise  of  financial 
losses  than  of  good  coke. 

In  the  line  of  coke  proper  there  have  been 
some  experimental  work  in  this  country  and 
Europe,  having  for  its  object  the  removal  of 


certain  objectionable  features  of  bituminous 
coal,  the  principal  one  being  smoke.  The 
theory  is  that  if  the  smoke  making  consti¬ 
tuents  could  be  taken  out  leaving,  not  a  coke, 
but  an  “improved  form  of  coal,”  it  would  be 
a  very  desirable  thing.  These  processes  have 
only  resulted  in  the  production  of  a  slightly 
coked  coal,  and  while  destroying  the  coal 
structure,  have  only  attained  a  semi-coke  of 
a  very  soft  and  mushy  structure. 

Coke  has  come  to  stay  as  a  domestic  fuel, 
its  use  is  attendant  with  economy,  and  it^ 
marketing  will  be  extended  as  dealers  become 
equipped  with  the  special  problems  involved. 


Taking  Coal  from  River. 


Removal  of  coal  deposits  from  the  bed  of  the 
Susquehanna  river  for  industrial  use  is  to  be 
undertaken  by  the  Citizens’  Electric  Illuminating 
Company,  beginning  this  week,  on  a  scale  that 
will  definitely  determine  the  feasibility  of  such 
an  enterprise,  says  the  Pittston  (Pa.)  Gazette. 

Many  persons  have  noticed  and  inquired  con¬ 
cerning  the  odd-looking  nautical  structure  that 
wa.s  recently  erected  just  above  the  Ferry  bridge. 
This  is  the  boat,  or  dredge,  which  is  to  figure 
in  the  new  industry.  The  Citizens’  company  has 
contracted  with  H.  Pfingsten  to  operate  the  so- 
called  dredge,  and  Mr.  Pfingsten  has  built  the 
equipment,  consisting  of  the  dredge,  a  32x14  foot 
flat  boat  and  two  coal  boats. 

The  plan  is  to  raise  the  coal  from  the  river 
bed  by  means  of  a  six  inch  centrifugal  pump, 
driven  by  a  vertical  engine  installed  in  the  boat. 
The  pump  has  sufficient  suction  power  to  raise 
the  coal  deposits  into  the  boat,  where  these  can 
be  screened  through  into  the  coal  boats,  which 
are  to  be  rigged  alongside  the  dredge.  The  coal 
\vill  be  removed  to  a  point  on  the  east  side  of  the 
river  near  the  company’s  plant,  from  which  it 
will  be  hoisted  by  a  conveyor  line  to  an  elevation 
and  run  through  a  crusher,  reducing  it  to  rice 
size  or  much  smaller. 

Mr.  Pfingsten  had  previously  engaged  in  the 
dredging  business,  but  found  little  or  no  market 
for  the  product.  Officials  of  the  light  company 
said  that  this  was  because  the  deposits  are  prac¬ 
tically  screenings,  not  of  the  cleanest,  and  are 
undesirable  for  commercial  use ;  in  fact,  it  was 
stated  that  probably  the  only  industry  in  Pittston 
that  could  use  the  coal  from  the  river  was  the 
Citizens’  plant,  with  a  special  fire-box  under  its 
boilers  that  would  consume  the  finest  siftings 
of  anthracite.  The  company  plans  to  operate  the 
dredge  during  the  months  when  the  river  is  suffi¬ 
ciently  low,  and  in  the  winter  season  to  fall  back 
on  the  culm  bank  of  the  old  Clear  Spring  colliery, 
which  it  purchased  some  years  ago. 

Dredging  coal  from  the  Susquehanna  is  done 
extensively  in  Columbia  county,  south  of  the 
anthracite  fields  of  the  Susquehanna  valley,  and 
commercial  sizes  marketed.  Further  south,  at 
Harrisburg,  screenings  are  dredged.  The  Harris¬ 
burg  Light  Company  in  1914  pumped  out  29,000 
tons  of  screenings.  There  is  a  big  bed  of  coal 
deposits  under  the  river  on  the  east  above  Ferry 
bridge.  This  was  left  there  by  the  coal-thickened 
Lackawanna  tributary. 


The  receipts  and  shipments  of  coal  to  and  from 
Cincinnati,  as  reported  to  the  Chamber  of  Com¬ 
merce  for  July,  1915,  and  July,  1914,  show  a  com¬ 
parison  as  follows:  July,  1915 — Receipts — Bitu¬ 
minous  coal,  rail  93,105  tons,  river  101,858  tons, 
total  1,094,903  tons ;  anthracite,  790  tons ;  coke, 
7,203  tons.  Shipments — Bituminous,  rail  1,030,391 
tons,  river  9,722  tons,  total  1,040,113  tons;  an¬ 
thracite,  214  tons;  coke,  2,915  tons.  July,  1914 — 
Receipts — Bituminous,  rail  332,407  tons,  river 
140,005  tons,  total  479,072  tons;  anthracite,  590 
tons  ;  coke,  4,225  tons.  Shipments — Bituminous, 
rail  122,391  tons,  river  35,213  tons,  total  157,004 
tons;  anthracite,  578  tons;  coke,  1,587  tons. 


Orders  have  been  received  by  Thomas  O’Neill, 
agent  in  Superior  of  the  Sunday  Creek  Coal 
Company,  to  dispose  of  the  stock  remaining  on 
the  dock  as  soon  as  possible  and  close  business 
for  the  present.  This  is  in  line  with  the  orders 
sent  out  to  the  company’s  Milwaukee  dock  and  is 
a  result  of  the  rate  fight  in  which  the  company 
is  involved  in  Ohio.  At  present  there  are  only 
about  30,000  tons  of  soft  coal  on  the  dock.  The 
property  was  previously  owned  by  the  St.  Paul 
&  Western  Fuel  Company. 


No.  7] 


THE  BEACK  DIAMOND 


125 


Ohio  Rate  Hearing  Becomes  Important 


Columbus,  Ohio,  August  11. —  (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) —  Hearing  on  Ohio  coal  rates  in  the 
action  brought  by  miners’  union  officials  before 
the  State  Utilities  Commission  took  a  recess  on 
the  6th  inst.  until  the  17th,  after  being  in  session 
two  days.  Illness  of  Trainmaster  Sisson,  of  the 
Hocking  Valley,  one  of  the  chief  witnesses  sum¬ 
moned  by  the  plaintiffs,  was  the  immediate  cause 
of  adjournment.  However,  the  proceedings  gave 
evidence  of  taking  on  such  large  importance  that 
both  sides  desired  to  make  better  preparations. 

Among  thp  early  witnesses  was  Professor 
Frank  A.  Ray,  of  the  mining  engineering  depart¬ 
ment  of  the  Ohio  State  University.  He  stated 
that  only  six  percent  of  the  available  coal  sup¬ 
ply  df  the  state  had  been  mined.  Production  had 
steadily  increased  from  19,500,000  tons  in  1900  to 
.'56,000,000  in  1913,  but  the  amount  produced  last 
year  was  less  than  15,000,000  tons. 

H.  Q.  Wasson,  general  freight  agent  of  the 
Hocking  Valley  Railway,  in  explanation  of  the 
low  rates  on  West  Virginia  coal  for  Toledo  re¬ 
ceived  by  the  road  at  Armitage,  Ohio,  acknowl¬ 
edged  that  31.5  per  ton  was  the  tariff  on  tonnage 
received  from  the  Norfolk  &  Western  and  55.3 
from  the  Kanawha  &  Michigan  Railway. 

H.  B.  Dunham,  a  former  general  freight  agent 
of  the  Hocking,  said  that  the  road  was  forced  to 
accept  such  rates  in  order  to  get  tonnage  that  was 
being  hauled  by  the  Cincinnati,  Hamilton  &  Day- 
ton  Railroad  on  delivery  by  the  Chesapeake  & 
Ohio.  On  business  of  this  character,  it  was  claimed 
the  Hocking  Valley  was  at  no  expense  in  as¬ 
sembling  the  shipments,  and  supplies  none  of  the 
equipment  in  handling  the  same,  except  the  en¬ 
gine  and  crew  to  make  the  haul  to  Toledo. 

M.  S.  Connors,  general  manager  of  the  Hock¬ 
ing  Valley,  testified  that  he  reported  to  M.  J. 
Caples,  vice-president  of  both  the  Hocking  and 


the  Chesapeake  &  Ohio,  and  that  it  was  his  un¬ 
derstanding  that  the  latter  owned  the  greater 
part  of  the  stock  of  the  Hocking  Valley.  The 
object  of  the  prosecution  in  drawing  out  this  in¬ 
formation  was  to  show  that  the  Hocking  was 
controlled  by  a  southern  railway. 

The  miners  won  a  point  at  the  beginning  of  the 
hearing  when  the  commission  ruled  that  the  rail¬ 
roads  cannot  offer  a  defense  that  mining  condi¬ 
tions  and  prices  of  production,  as  between  Ohio 
and  outside  coal  fields,  are  responsible  for  pres¬ 
ent  inactivity  in  the  Ohio  mining  centers,  rather 
than  exorbitant  freight  rates.  Effort  of  the 
Hocking  Valley  Railroad  to  be  dismissed  from 
the  list  of  defendants  on  the  technical  ground 
that  it  had  just  recently  lowered  rates  from 
Nelsonville  to  Columbus  and  northbound  points 
as  far  as  Toledo,  was  overruled  by  the  commis¬ 
sion  for  the  time  being  at  least. 

It  is  conceded  that  the  present  action  is  going 
to  be  a  battle  royal  between  the  coal  interests 
and  the  railroads.  It  has  developed  into  much 
greater  importance  than  was  anticipated  when 
the  case  was  filed.  The  hearing  rooms  of  the 
commission  were  found  to  be  too  small  to  ac¬ 
commodate  the  attorneys,  witnesses  and  inter¬ 
ested  spectators,  and  a  room  at  the  county  court 
house  was  secured  for  the  purpose.  While  on 
the  face  of  it,  the  case  is  one  brought  by  the 
miners,  the  operators  of  the  state  are  back  of 
the  movement.  Their  announced  object  is  to 
have  the  differential  against  West  Virginia  coal 
increased  from  twenty-five  cents  to  fifty  cents 
per  ton.  The  railroads  are  willing  to  make  a 
small  concession,  but  want  it  to  come  through 
the  authority  of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Com¬ 
mission,  being  opposed  to  any  recognition  of  the 
State  Utilities  Commission  in  fixing  rates.  Thir¬ 
ty-nine  railroads  are  named  as  defendants. 


“Coming  now  to  the  penalties  for  infractions, 
it  may  be  observed  that  aggrieved  parties  can 
either  proceed  for  recovery  in  the  commercial 
courts  or  apply  for  a  conviction  under  the  act. 
In  either  case  the  Board  of  Trade  is  the  final 
tribunal,  and  amendments  have  now  been  in¬ 
serted  whereby  a  contract  is  not  vitiated  by  a 
contravention  of  the  act,  except  as  regards  the 
price,  and  penalties  will  not  be  inflicted  where 
the  contravention  has  been  innocently  com¬ 
mitted.” 

Continuing  on  certain  points  in  the  act  that 
are  considered  unfair  to  the  coal  trade.  The  Col¬ 
liery  Guardian  says : 

“Such  points  as  these  might  be  labored  inim¬ 
itably,  beyond  the  boundaries  of  our  space.  These 
defects  crowd  upon  us,  because  the  act  is  funda¬ 
mentally  unsound.  The  pregnant  fact  is  that 
the  output  of  coal  is  insufficient  for  the  needs  of 
the  country;  it  is  no  assistance  to  the  consumer 
to  tell  him  that  he  must  no  pay  more  than  a 
certajn  price  for  his  coal,  if  he  is  unable  to 
obtain  it.  The  act  merely  complicates  his  diffi¬ 
culties,  because  not  only  does  it  destroy  the 
incentive  to  increased  production,  but  it  does  not 
give  the  buyer  any  means  of  overcoming  the 
geographical  and  other  disadvantages  under 
which  he  may  labor,  by  the  offer  of  correspond¬ 
ingly  better  terms  to  the  owner  of  the  coal.  We 
are  still  convinced  that  the  only  fair  and  proper 
way  to  achieve  the  objects  aimed  at  by  the  act 
was  for  the  Government  to  take  over  the  distri¬ 
bution  of  all  the  coal  raised,  or,  like  the  German 
Government,  to  assist  the  coal  owners  to  organ¬ 
ize  some  workable  scheme  on  the  lines  of  the 
Westphalian  Kohlenkontor. 

“Any  excessive  profits  might  then  have  been 
dealt  with  on  the  lines  of  the  amendment  intro¬ 
duced  by  Sir  Joseph  Walton,  by  a  system  of 
taxation,  to  which  everybody  would  contribute. 
As  it  is,  the  coal  mines  have  been  singled  out 
for  taxation,  not  because  they  are  best  able 
to  bear  it,  but  because  their  coal  is  a  veritable 
necessity.  At  the  same  time  there  is  no  coal 
owner  sufficiently  optimistic  to  believe  that  this 
enforced  sacrifice  is  going  to  benefit  the  nation 
in  any  way.” 


England  Has  Serious  Coal  Problems 


Herertofore,  England’s  coal  owners  have  had 
to  contend  with  a  miner’s  strike ;  a  restriction 
of  exports ;  and  a  scarcity  of  miners  due  to  en¬ 
listment.  Now  they  have  to  face  the  need  to 
sell  coal  at  prices  fixed  under  government  regula¬ 
tion.  Recently  the  price  of  coal  (limitation)  bill 
was  passed  by  Parliament. 

The  bill  is  considered  by  English  mine  opera¬ 
tors  and  the  trade  press  of  England  as  being 
needlessly  drastic.  The  Colliery  Guardian  says 
that  it  “is  very  nearly  the  last  straw,  and  cer¬ 
tainly  the  man  who  takes  upon  himself  the  re¬ 
sponsibility  of  winning  coal  orders  under  the 
conditions  now  imposed  must  be  very  bold  or 
foolhardy.”  The  coal  operators  have  promised 
the  Government  to  do  their  utmost  to  facilitate 
the  enforcement  of  the  law.  The  act  is' outlined 
in  detail  by  the  Colliery  Guardian  of  London,  as 
follows : 

“The  act,  which  is  now  in  operation,  is  to  have 
effect  during  the  continuance  of  the  war  and  for 
a  period  of  six  months  thereafter.  It  applies  to 
all  sales  of  inland  coal,  with  the  exception  of 
sales  in  pursuance  of  a  contract  made  before  the 
commencement  of  the  act;  but  it  is  provided  that 
sales  of  ‘excepted’  coal  contracted  for  between 
April  1,  1915,  and  the  date  of  the  act,  and  de¬ 
livered  after  October  29,  1915,  may  be  brought 
under  the  act  on  the  application  of  the  buyer, 
the  Board  of  Trade  having  power  to  extend  this 
period ;  ‘excepted’  coal  is  defined  as  ‘coal  supplied 
for  domestic  or  household  purpose  to  any  local¬ 
ity,  or  to  any  undertakers  supplying  gas,  water, 
or  electricity  in  any  locality  in  pursuance  of  au¬ 
thority  given  by  an  act  of  Parliament,  or  by  an 
order  confirmed  by,  or  having  the  effect  of  an  act. 

“The  act  applies  not  only  to  coal  sold,  but  also 
to  coal  offered  for  sale ;  and  it  is  important  to 
emphasize  the  point  that  ‘sold,’  as  regards  the 
basis  period,  July  1,  1913,  to  July  1,  1914,  means 
not  ‘delivered,’  but  ‘contracted  for’ ;  in  other 
words,  coal  is  deemed  to  be  sold  when  a  con¬ 
tract  is  made. 

“Before  dealing  with  the  effects  of  the  act, 
we  may  examine  some  of  its  provisions.  It  is 
difficult  to  offer  more  than  a  conjecture  as  to 
the  true  construction  of  some  of  these,  and  were 
this  an  ordinary  act  it  would  give  rise  to  an 
unending  flood  of  litigation.  Against  this  there 
are  two  safeguards ;  in  the  first  place,  all  ques¬ 
tions  are  left  to  the  arbitrament  of  the  Board 
of  Trade,  even  as  regards  the  facts  incident 
to  prosecutions  under  the  act ;  and,  secondly, 
we  may  hope  that  parties  injuriously  affected  by 
the  act  will  resolve  to  compound  their  grievances. 


if  only  to  assist  the  Government  in  carrying  out 
their  onerous  duties.  Those  who  have  a  genuine 
conviction  that  this  contempt  for  the  ‘sanctity  of 
contracts’  strikes  at  the  foundations  of  commer¬ 
cial  morality,  must  keep  it  to  themselves,  pre¬ 
serving  their  energies  for  the  time  when  these 
honorable  conventions  have  to  be  restored  to 
their  proper  eminence. 

“Of  the  questions  that  may  arise,  one  is  as  to 
who  is  the  ‘owner  of  the  coal  at  the  pit’s  mouth.’ 
We  think  it  is  clear,  however,  that  the  section 
covers  the  case  of  a  factor  or  merchant  who  is 
the  owner  of  the  coal  at  the  pit’s  mouth,  and  in 
the  report  stage  Mr.  Runciman  added  the  words 
‘directly  or  indirectly,’  which  gives  the  Board  of 
Trade  a  wide  discretion.  Sir  Edwin  Cornwall’s 
attempt  definitely  to  exclude  the  factor  was  de¬ 
feated. 

“The  expressions  ‘same  description’  and  ‘sim¬ 
ilar  conditions,’  which  occur  in  section  1,  may 
also  give  rise  to  trouble,  because  no  two  contracts 
are  alike,  and  there  may  be  sales  for  which  no 
comparative  basis  exists;  this  is  another  task  as¬ 
sumed  by  the  Board  of  Trade  in  the  last  resort. 
One  point,  however,  of  considerable  importance 
to  coal  owners  who,  as  in  Lancashire,  engage  in 
the  retail  trade,  was  elucidated  by  Sir  Clifford 
Cory;  it  was  felt  that  if  coal  owners  were  bound 
down  at  their  depots  to  a  bare  4s  increase,  they 
would  be  prejudicially  situated  in  competition 
with  other  merchants ;  in  such  cases,  however, 
the  owner  will  be  able  to  add  to  the  standard  the 
difference  in  cost  of  transport,  cartage,  etc.,  so 
as  to  place  him  on  the  same  footing  as  the  mer¬ 
chants. 

“The  act  provides  that  the  standard  amount 
of  4s  may  be  increased  where  representations  are 
made  by  certain  classes  of  mines.  The  Irish 
mines  have  been  specifically  eliminated  from  the 
act,  and  some  sort  of  promise  was  held  out  in 
the  case  of  the  Kent  collieries ;  it  appears,  how¬ 
ever,  that  such  applications  can  only  be  made  by 
the  owners  of  a  class  of  mines  in  any  district  and 
not  by  individual  owners.  We  have  no  doubt 
that  the  Board  of  Trade  will  be  inundated  with 
such  applications. 

“Mr.  Runciman  showed  in  the  course  of  the 
debate  that  his  department  does  not  share  the 
ridiculous  estimates  as  to  the  rise  in  cost  cher¬ 
ished  by  some  of  the  representatives  of  the 
‘back-streets.’  The  figure  arrived  at  by  the  Board 
of  Trade,  whilst  it  may  be  a  fair  average,  does 
not,  even  with  the  additional  shilling,  cover  the 
rise  in  cost  in  many  cases,  and  such  collieries 
can  make  a  fair  claim  for  consideration. 


New  York  Golf  Tournament. 


The  New  York  Coal  Trade  Golf  Association 
had  an  ideal  day  on  Tuesday  of  this  week  for 
their  second  tournament  of  the  present  season. 
This  tournament  was  held  on  the  links  of  the 
Greenwich  Country  Club,  at  Greenwich,  Conn., 
of  which  Colonel  R.  B.  Baker,  president  of 
the  New  York  Coal  Trade  Golf  Association,  is  a 
very  prominent  member. 

Due  to  the  vacation  season,  there  was  not  a 
full  attendance  of  the  members  of  the  associa¬ 
tion,  but,  notwithstanding,  there  was  a  very  rep¬ 
resentative  party  of  coal  men  and  their  guests. 
There  were  two  rounds  of  play,  in  the  fore¬ 
noon  and  afternoon,  and  at  the  conclusion  of  the 
day  about  two  dozen  sat  down  to  dinner  at  an 
immense  round  table  on  the  veranda  of  the  club 
house  and  listened  to  some  good  singing  and 
iinjiromptu  speeches.  Colonel  Baker  presided. 

The  members  of  the  association  taking  part  in 
the  tournament  were  Colonel  R.  B.  Baker,  W.  H. 
Temple,  W.  D.  Eyre,  A.  E.  Metlach,  G.  J.  Geer, 
G.  M.  Dexter,  J.  E.  Parsons,  M.  Naun,  F.  W. 
Saward,  E.  R.  Brevoort,  Dan.  Anthony,  DeL. 
Hendrickson,  R.  M.  Bryan,  E.  Coe  Kerr,  G.  J. 
Geer  and  J.  E.  Davis.  Among  the  guests  of 
the  members  were  Andrew  Baxter,  J.  H.  Temple, 
Jr.,  J.  R.  English,  A.  J.  Billin,  T.  B.  Davis,  R.  A. 
Floyd-Jones,  Frank  Speakerman,  Irving  Brown, 
Chris.  Bambach,  R.  C.  Gillespie,  A.  McDougall, 
R.  J.  Buchholz  and  J.  S.  W.  Holton. 

The  prize  winners  were  as  follows : 

First  prize,  a  silver  cup  presented  by  Colonel 
Baker,  was  won  by  J.  E.  Parsons,  for  lowest  net 
in  thirty-six  holes. 

G.  J.  Geer,  E.  Coe  Kerr  and  J.  E.  Davis  tied 
for  the  second  prize,  a  cup  presented  by  Colonel 
Baker. 

DeL.  Hendrickers  won  the  kickers’  handicaji 
for  thirty-six  holes.  The  prize  was  a  box  of 
golf  balls. 

T.  B.  Davis  and  A.  J.  Billin  tied  for  the  silver 
cup  for  the  visitors’  handicap. 

Qiris.  Bambach  won  a  box  of  golf  balls  as 
one  of  the  prizes  for  visitors. 

It  is  planned  to  have  a  meeting  real  soon  on 
some  convenient  course  so  that  the  ties  can  be 
played  off. 

Tbe  next  one  day  tournament  is  set  for  Sep¬ 
tember  14. 


126 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


A  Statement  About  the 


A.  iM.  Hull,  secretary-treasurer  of  the  New 
Coal  Association,  has  issued  the  following 
statement : 

“The  general  aim  and  purpose  of  the  Na¬ 
tional  Coal  Association  as  adopted  at  the  an¬ 
nual  meeting  is  as  follows; 

‘  "'J'he  object  of  the  National  Coal  Associa¬ 
tion  shall  be  to  advance  the  general  welfare 
of  the  coal  industry,  and  in  furtherance  of 
this  ai’m  the  National  Coal  Association  shall 
promote  the  educational  development  and  so¬ 
cial  relations  of  the  trade  memliers  and  shall 
stand  for  absolute  integrity  in  business  matters 
both  between  members  of  the  coal  trade  and 
with  the  consuming  public.’ 

“Primarily  it  was  agreed  to  retain  the  so¬ 
cial  and  fraternal  features  of  the  Order  Ko- 
koal,  but  to  make  it  a  purposeful  trade  organ¬ 
ization  by  adding  educational  features. 

"There  is  absolutely  no  question  as  to  the 
l)road  field  and  wonderful  opportunities  for 
helping  in  a  practical  way  all  branches  of  the 
coal  industry  in  all  the  various  localities.  The 
important  thing  is  where  to  start  first.  Evolu¬ 
tion  will  develop  other  departments  rapidly 
as  we  go  along. 

“Personally,  my  idea  would  be  to  make  the 
National  Coal  Association  a  general  Clearing 
House,  for  all  the  dififerent  existing  coal  as¬ 
sociations.  In  other  words,  to  keep  closely  in 
touch  with  all  of  the  secretaries  ajid  forward 
to  the  others  any  systems  or  plans  which 
others  are  finding  successful.  This  feature 
alone  could  be  made  to  have  a  wide  influence, 
and  indirectly  at  least  prove  of  real  benefit  to 
a  large  percentage  of  the  coal  trade  as  to 
strengthen  the  present  associations  in  a  marked 
degree. 

“Next  we  should  compile  some  definite  and 
convincing  data  on  the  cost  of  handling  vari¬ 
ous  grades  of  coal  in  different  localities  in  a 
manner  that  ‘he  who  runs  may  read.’  This 
will  help  to  educate  the  less  informed  mem¬ 
bers  of  the  trade  to  the  necessity  of  getting 
prices  that  will  insure  them  a  profit. 

“Committees  should  also  be  appointed  to 
draft  some  uniform  systems  for  keeping  ac¬ 
counts  and  figuring  costs  for  all  branches  of 
the  industry,  similar  to  the  campaign  carried 
on  by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission 
to  standardize  railroad  accounting.  This  fea¬ 
ture  is  in  line  with  the  policy  of  the  Fed¬ 
eral  Trade  Commission  and  we  can  work  in 
close  harmony  and  get  much  assistance  from 
them. 

“A  Publicity  Department  could  promptly 
answer  in  a  dignified  conservative  manner, 
any  unjust  criticism  that  may  appear  against 
the  coal  trade  in  the  daily  newspapers  of  any 
city  or  town.  Assistance  can  also  be  given 
by  furnishing  articles  to  the  coal  men  in 
towns  where  they  are  threatened  with  ‘Muni¬ 
cipal  coal  yards,’  ‘Co-operative  Competition’  or  a 
‘Cut  Price  War.’ 

“In  perfecting  the  general  organization 
throughout  the  country,  it  is  desirable  and 
exceptionally  important  to  have  local  Coal 
Guilds  formed  in  every  city,  county  or  dis¬ 
trict  to  maintain  the  social  and  fraternal  fea¬ 
tures  and  also  secure  the  greatest  possible 
benefit  from  the  educational  development  of 
the  campaign  to  be  carried  on  by  the  National 
Coal  Association. 

“To  facilitate  this  work  the  N.  C.  A.  should 
prepare  interesting  programs  for  them,  sug¬ 
gest  topics  for  discussion,  send  papers  to  be 
read,  and  when  possible  arrange  for  out-of- 
town  speakers  or  motion  picture  lectures  on 
the  producing  and  preparation  of  coal.  This 
latter  can  also  be  held  at  times  before  Cham¬ 
ber  of  Commerce,  business  Men’s  Associa¬ 
tions  or  at  public  .gatherings  to  educate  the 
consuming  public. 

“The  field  is  practically  unlimited  and  there 
are  many  other  features  that  will  present  them¬ 
selves  from  time  to  time,  whereby  the  Na¬ 
tional  Coal  Association  can  take  up  work 
hitherto  not  attempted. 

“Briefly,  it  will  be  the  aim  to  co-operate 
and  supplement  the  work  of  all  the  present  as¬ 
sociations  without  in  any  manner  encroaching 
upon  or  conflicting  with  the  problems  of  the 
business  end,  while  the  National  Coal  Asso¬ 
ciation  will  promote  the  social,  fraternal  and 
educational  features. 

“In  the  re-organization  of  the  Order  Kokoal 
into  the  National  Coal  -Association  all  horse¬ 
play  and  useless  frivolity  will  be  absolutely 
prohibited  from  the  initiatory  ceremonies  and 


New  Coal  Association. 


the  ritual  will  be  condensed  into  a  concise, 
dignified  appeal  for  absolute  integrity  in  all 
!)usiness  transactions.  At  all  dinners,  banquets 
and  meetings  it  is  prescribed  that  educational 
features  must  predominate  and  it  is  intended  to 
carry  out  the  school  or  Guild  idea  in  bringing 
out  in  an  interesting,  pleasing  and  attractive, 
manner  facts  which  will  make  everyone  con¬ 
cerned  better  coalmen' and  better  business  men, 
and  thus  enable  them  to  be  better  enabled  to 
meet  present  day  competition  and  consequently 
make  better  profits. 

“The  days  of  the  cave  man  are  over  where 
might  makes  right  and  the  survival  of  the 
fittest  in  the  future  will  be  the  men  who  give 
the  most  intensive  study  to  the  real  problems 
of  their  business  and  as  a  result  become  ex¬ 
perts  in  specialized  merchandizing. 

“The  National  Coal  Association  has  made  a 
splendid  start  along  this  line,  and  with  the 
combined  thought  of  you  and  other  leaders 
in  the  trade,  we  should  be  able  to  safely  launch 
it  on  a  prosperous  and  most  successful  career. 

“For  this  reason,  I  am  especially  anxious 
to  receive  your  views,  opinions  and  criticism 
of  the  suggestions  offered  so  that  we  can  de¬ 
cide  upon  the  very  best  working  plan  to  bring 
the  most  good  to  the  coal  industry.’’ 


Attack  Compensation  Act. 


Several  of  the  features  of  the  workmen’s 
compensation  laws  passed  at  the  last  session 
of  the  I’ennsylvania  legislature,  which  amends 
the  bituminous  coal  miners’  act  of  I'Jll,  are 
unsatisfactory  to  many  members  of  the  Cen¬ 
tral  Pennsylvania  Bituminous  Coal  Operators’ 
Association. 

The  association  will  hold  an  important  meet 
at  Clearfield  sometime  in  August,  at  which 
meeting  the  question  of  changes  in  the  law 
made  by  the  last  legislature  and  the  Compen¬ 
sation  act,  will  form  the  basis  of  most  of  the 
discussion. 

Last  week  in  Clearfield,  a  preliminary  meet¬ 
ing  of  the  operators  was  held.  Those  present 
were  Rembrandt  Peale  of  New  York;  Horace 
A.  Tompkins  of  Ebensburg;  E.  C.  Brown  of 
Patton;  Harry  B.  Scott,  Philadelphia;  B.  M. 
Clark  of  Punxsutawney ;  Robert  Somerville  of 
Winburn,  and  others. 

One  of  the  operators  present  at  the  meet¬ 
ing  explained  the  changes  of  the  law,  giving 
as  his  opinion  that  they  were  not  only  neces¬ 
sary,  but  to  the  best  interests  of  all  concerned, 
as  follows; 

“Reading  them  alone  the  amendments  to 
the  act  of  1911,  providing  for  the  proper  con¬ 
duct  of  bituminous  coal  mines  appear  to  be 
a  step  backward  in  regards  to  safety  for  the 
miners,’’  he  said.  “As  a  matter  of  fact,  the 
amendments  were  necessary  so  there  would 
not  be  any  conflict  with  the  even  more  im¬ 
portant  workmen’s  compensation  acts. 

“Under  the  act  of  1911,  operators  were  forced 
to  employ  as  mine  foreman  and  fire  bosses 
only  men  who  had  held  certificates  of  com¬ 
petency.  Under  the  act  as  amended  the  oper¬ 
ators  may  employ  anyone  they  please  for  those 
jobs  irrespective  of  whether  or  not  they  hold 
such  certificates. 

“Now  in  the  face  of  it  that  appears  as  if  a 
restriction  which  made  for  safety  had  been  re¬ 
moved.  .\s  a  matter  of  fact  no  such  thing  is 
contemplated.  The  mining  law  was  changed 
because  the  operators  are  held  liable  under 
the  workmen’s  compensation  act,  and  there 
was  a  big  question  whether  the  act  could  be 
enforced  if  the  operators  did  not  have  a  free 
and  unrestricted  choice  as  to  the  men  they 
could  hire. 

“There  is  no  one  more  anxious  for  safety 
than  the  operator.  Every  accident,  aside  from 
personal  feelings,  brings  with  it  damage  claims, 
suits  ami,  to  be  more  mercenary,  shutting  down 
of  the  mine  with  a  consequent  loss  of  income 
and  a  certain  I)ill  for  repairs.  An  operator 
is  not  going  to  take  any  chances  with  the 
men  who  are  supposed  to  keep  the  mine  out 
of  such  troubles.  They  will  employ  com¬ 
petent  men,  rest  assured  of  that.  What  they 
might  save  on  a  ‘cut-rate’  man  would  be  too 
small  for  the  majority  to  consider. 

“So  far  as  I  am  concerned,  and  I  think  I 
voice  the  opinion  of  many  other  operators  in 
this  section,  it  is  a  good  thing  for  the  operators 
to  have  their  choice  of  men  as  foreman  irre- 


[  August  14 


-spective  of  whether  or  not  they  have  a  cer¬ 
tificate. 

“I  know  miners  of  40  and  50  years’  expe¬ 
rience,  who  know  bituminous  mines  and  min¬ 
ing  from  A  to  Z,  who  would  make  invaluable 
foremen,  yet  who  couldn’t  for  the  life  of  them 
pass  the  examinations  for  a  certificate.  Un¬ 
der  the  old  law  we  could  not  employ  them, 
despite  our  certain  knowledge  that  they  were 
better  men  than  some  bright  young  whipper- 
snapper  who  had  studied  up  the  theory  of 
mining  and  who  could  pass  a  written  test  with 
flying  colors.  I  don’t  mean  to  say  that  there 
are  many  theoretical  mine  foremen.  But  I 
just  ^  want  to  point  out  where  sometimes  a 
man’s  experience  is  just  as  good  as  and  bet¬ 
ter  than  book  knowledge. 

‘‘There  are  other  minor  changes  in  the  law 
of  1911,  but  it  is  the  one  making  the -oper¬ 
ator  the  actual  head  of  his  mine,  which  in 
my  opinion  will  create  the  most  discussion, 
especially  among  the  miners,  after  its  pro¬ 
visions  are  more  thoroughly  understood. 

Another  section  which  may  create  a  good 
deal  of  trouble  where  the  labor  union  element 
is  strong  is  that  tacked  on  to  section  one  of 
article  four,  which  amendment  reads:  ‘The 
right  to  hire  and  discharge  employes,  the  man¬ 
agement  of  the  mine  and  the  direction  of  the 
working  forces  are  vested  exclusively  in  the 
operator;  and  no  person  or  persons,  associa¬ 
tion  or  association,  organization  or  organiza¬ 
tions,  corporation  or  corporations,  shall  inter¬ 
fere  with,  abridge  or  attempt  to  abridge,  in 
any  manner  whatsoever,  such  right.’ 

“Now  that  seems  to  me  to  be  aimed  at  labor 
unions.  Of  course,  there  is  a  provision  which 
sets  forth  that  the  section  shall  not  invalidate 
any  existing  contract,  but  what  about  when 
the  contracts  with  labor  unions  expire? 

“Suppose  a  mine  has  a  contract  which  says 
that  none  but  union  labor  shall  be  employed. 
That  holds  good  now.  When  it  expires  if  the 
operator  sees  fit  he  may  refuse  to  renew  it. 
If  the  union  tries  to  force  him  to  through  a 
strike  they  run  up  against  that  section.  It’s 
all  in  the  future,  of  course,  but  there  may  be 
trouble  from  it. 

“The  intent  of  the  legislature  as  I  view  it, 
was  to  give  absolute  control  of  the  mine  to 
the  operator,  including  the  right  to  hire  who¬ 
ever  he  wanted,  under  the  theory  that,  as  he 
was  personally  responsible  under  the  compen¬ 
sation  acts,  he  had  the  right  to  choose  his 
own  men  irrespective  of  any  affiliation  with 
any  labor  union.” 


Oklahoma  Coal  Yield. 


Oklahoma  produced  3,988,613  short  tons  of 
coal  in  1914,  valued  at  $8,204,015.  This  was  a 
decrease  of  4.25  per  cent  in  quantity  and  3.97 
per  cent  in  value  from  the  production  of  1913, 
and  was  due  to  the  displacement  of  coal  by 
petroleum  and  gas  as  a  fuel,  following  the  re¬ 
markable  increase  in  the  oil  production  of  Okla¬ 
homa  and  Texas,  which  was  not  fully  offset  by 
the  opportunities  furnished  by  the  Colorado 
strike. 

Oklahoma  continues  to  show  a  high  percentage 
of  coal  shot  off  the  solid,  a  dangerous  practice 
encouraged  by  the  laws  of  the  state,  which  com¬ 
pel  payment  of  wages  on  a  basis  of  mine-run 
coal.  The  record  for  1914,  however,  may  be 
considered  an  improvement  over  that  of  1913, 
the  quantity  of  “powder-mined”  coal  decreasing 
from  3,371,218  tons  in  1913  to  2,820,529  tons  in 
1914;  the  production  of  machine-mined  coal  in¬ 
creased  from  670,629  tons,  or  16.1  per  cent  of 
the  total  in  1913  to  1,053,526  tons,  or  26.41  per 
cent  of  the  total  in  1914. 

The  number  of  days  the  men  were  able  to 
work  in  1914  showed  a  marked  improvement 
over  the  two  preceding  years.  The  average 
time  made  by  the  8,078  men  employed  was  205 
days,  as  compared  with  9,044  men  for  197  days 
in  1913,  and  8,785  men  for  174  days  in  1912. 
The  average  total  production  per  man  in  1914 
was  494  tons,  against  461  tons  in  1913,  and  the 
average  daily  production  by  each  employe  was 
increased  from  2.34  tons  in  1913  to  2.41  tons  in 
1914.  Less  time  was  lost  in  1914  by  reason  of 
strikes  than  in  1913,  a  total  of  1,286  men  in  1914 
having  been  affected  for  an  average  of  only 
thirty-one  days. 

According  to  the  Bureau  of  Mines,  there  were 
thirty-one  fatal  accidents  in  the  coal  mines  of 
Oklahoma  in  1914  as  compared  with  twenty-three 
in  1913. 


No.  7] 


127 


_ _ THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 

Small  Activities  in  Many  Coal  Centers. 


Twin  Cities  Notes. 

James  Rend  of  W.  P.  Rend  &  Co.  has  been  in 
the  northwest  for  a  .  week  looking  after  tlie 
h'ranklin  county  interests  of  that  company. 

J.  D.  Ekstrum,  president  of  the  hdour  City  Intel 
&  Transfer  Company,  Minneapolis,  with  mem¬ 
bers  of  his  family,  is  taking  a  vacation  trip  down 
the  great  lakes. 

Charles  Ebbert  of  the  White  Oak  Coal_  Mining 
Company,  Chicago,  was  in  Minneapolis  this  week. 
He  regards  the  outlook  for  smokeless  coal  with 
optimism  and  anticipates  the  export  demand  will 
keep  the  market  steady  to  firm  throughout  the 
winter,  no  matter  what  climatic  conditions  may 
come. 


St.  Louis  Notes  and  Personals. 

The  contract  for  furnishing  coal  to  the  Univer¬ 
sity  of  Missouri,  at  Columbia,  Mo.,  was  awarded 
the  St.  Louis  Coal  Company. 

The  coal  trade  was  very  much  grieved  to  learn 
of  the  death  of  Mrs.  H.  Trier  last  week,  whose 
husband  is  connected  with  D.  E.  McMillan  & 
Bros,  of  this  city. 

C,  V.  Reck,  vice-president  of  the  St.  Louis  Coal 
Company,  is  now  in  the  east  on  some  of  his 
anthracite  business  and  will  spend  a  few  days  in 
Chicago  the  latter  part  of  this  week. 


Detroit  Local  News. 

Employes  of  the  General  Coal  &  Coke  Com- 
panv,  operated  by  the  General  Ice  Company,  De- 
troi't,  all  shared  in  the  eighth  annual  distribu¬ 
tion  of  profits,  made  by  the  latter  company. 
.A.bout  $11,000  was  distributed  among  some  600 
persons.  The  plan  was  originated  by  David  A. 
Brown,  president. 

By  winning  four  of  six  l)aseball  games  played 
in  a  series  of  seven,  the  team  representing  retail 
dealers  of  the  Detroit  Coal  Exchange  gains  pos¬ 
session  for  a  year  of  the  fourteen-inch  silver  cup, 
presented  as  a  trophy  by  James  A.  Ballard,  sales 
manager  of  the  Semet-Solvay  Company.  1  he 
wholesalers’  team  snatched  two  victories  and  is 
now  making  plans  to  acquire  the  trophy  next 
season. 

H.  B.  Parker  began  deliveries,  Monday,  from 
a  new  retail  yard  in  Detroit.  He  is  said  to  have 
orders  amounting  to  2,000  tons  booked.  The 
yard,  on  the  northwest  corner  of  Harper  avenue 
and  the  Grand  Trunk  Railroad,  has  540  feet  of 
frontage  on  the  railroad.  Mr.  Parker  will  handle 
the  "Dixie  Gem”  stock  of  the  Southern  Coal  & 
Coke  Company,  Knoxville,  Tenn.  He  recently 
sold  out  his  interest  in  the  firm  of  iParker  Bros. 
Company,  Ltd.,  his  action  marking  the  with¬ 
drawal  from  that  company  of  the  last  member 
of  the  Parker  family,  which  established  it. 


Pittsburgh  News  Briefs. 

Five  towboats  of  the  Monongahela  River 
Consolidated  Coal  &  Coke  Company  fleet,  with 
empties  for  this  port,  were  compelled  to  tie  up 
for  two  days  below  Dam  No.  16,  under  con¬ 
struction  near  Sistersville,  W.  Va.  At  that 
point  the  water  was  rushing  so  swiftly  through 
the  340-foot  way  between  the  cofferdam  and 
the  West  Virginia  shore  that  the  towboats 
with  their  barges  were  unable  to  stem  the 
tide.  The  fleet  consists  of  the  F.  M.  Wallace, 
John  A.  Wood,  Charles  Brown,  Harry  Brown 
and  the  Fallie.  Work  was  started  yesterday 
raising  the  wickets  at  most  of  the  dams  along 
the  Ohio  river,  which,  no  doubt,  will  slacken 
the  current  at  No.  16,  and  the  boats  will  be 
due  here  a  couple  of  days  late. 

Orders  have  been  issued  by  the  .American 
Connellsville  Coal  &  Coke  Company,  with 
offices  in  Pittsburgh,  for  the  firing  of  their 
entire  plant  at  American  No.  2.  This  plant  is 
located  at  Lynn  Station  and  is  the  old  Francis 
No.  1  plant  of  the  Sunshine  Coal  &  Coke  Com¬ 
pany.  It  consists  of  240  ovens  and  all  of  them 
will  be  fired.  For  the  past  few  weeks  repairs 
have  been  made  to  have  the  plant  ready  to  fire 
when  orders,  would  come.  The  American  Con¬ 
nellsville  Coal  &  Coke  Company  has  three 
plants  in  the  Connellsville  region — American 
No.  1,  the  old  Cyrilla  plant  of  the  Sunshine 
Coal  and  Coke  Company,  American  No.  2, 
the  old  Francis  No.  1  plant,  and  the 
American  No.  3,  the  old  Francis  No.  3  plant. 
There  are  142  ovens  at  American  No.  1  and 
all  of  them  are  in  blast.  There  are  fifty  ovens 
at  .\merican  No.  3,  the  only  plant  which  the 
company  will  have  idle.  Frank  Byrne  of 
Uniontown  is  the  superintendent  of  the  No.  3 


plant.  The  coke  from  this  plant  will  go  to 
the  domestic  trade. 

Coal  operators  and  miners  scored  against 
the  railroads  at  the  hearing  before  the  Ohio 
utilities  commission  in  Columbus.  The  miners 
complained  that  rates  in  Ohio  coal  are  exces¬ 
sive  and  discriminatory  when  compared  with 
shipments  from  the  West  Virginia  fields.  The 
Ohio  commission  sustained  miners’  objections 
against  the  introduction  of  railroad  testimony 
bearing  upon  mining  conditions  and  the  causes 
for  various  grades  of  coal.  John  F.  Wilson 
of  Columbus,  counsel  for  the  railroads,  at¬ 
tempted  to  get  data  from  Frank  A.  Ray,  nro- 
fessor  of  mine  engineering  at  Ohio  State  Uni¬ 
versity,  on  the  cost  of  mining  coal  in  West 
Virginia.  Chairman  Waltermine,  of  the  utili¬ 
ties  commission,  in  ruling  against  the  question, 
said:  “We  are  not  making  this  inquiry  be¬ 
cause  of  deplorable  conditions  among  the 
miners.  The  only  question  is  whether  freight 
rates  on  coal  are  reasonable.  This  question 
cannot  be  determined  by  going  into  the  side 
issue  of  mining  conditions  either  in  this  state 
or  other  states.”  Each  side  is  represented  at 
the  hearing  by  a  large  number  of  lawyers, 
A.  P.  Burgwin  of  Pittsburgh  acting  with  Karl 
Burr  of  Columbus,  as  counsel  for  the  Penn¬ 
sylvania  Lines  West. 


Death  of  W.  W.  Ritchie. 


On  Monday  of  this  week,  W.  W.  Ritchie, 
manager  of  the  city  office  of  the  Bell  &  Zoller 
t.'oal  Company  of  Chicago,  died  at  the  family 
home  at  Vandalia,  Ill. 

William  Wilson  Ritchie  was  born  at  Greens- 
burg,  Ind.,  February  28,  1874.  He  was,  there¬ 
fore,  forty-one  years  of  age.  He  moved  from 
Indiana  to  Vandalia.  Ill.,  in  1880,  where  he 
continued  to  reside  until  1902.  In  the  latter 


W.  W.  Ritchie.' 


year  he  accepted  a  position  with  the  Bell  & 
Zoller  Coal  Company  of  Chicago,  as  a  travel¬ 
ing  salesman.  He  made  a  pronounced  suc¬ 
cess  in  that  undertaking  and  was  soon  ad¬ 
vanced  to  the  position  of  manager  of  the  city 
office,  which  position  he  continued  ,to  fill 
until  his  death. 

On  November  11,  1911,  Mr.  Ritchie  married 
Miss  Rose  G.  Bingham  in  Oklahoma  City. 

The  funeral  services  were  held  at  the  home 
of  John  A.  Bingham  of  Vandalia,  on  Thurs¬ 
day  afternoon  of  this  week.  They  were  con¬ 
ducted  l)y  tile  Masonic  lodge,  as  he  was  a 
menilier  of  No.  16,  F.  &  A.  M.  of  Vandalia. 


Nation  Wins  a  Suit, 


Denver,  August  12. —  (Special  Correspond¬ 
ence.) — The  Government  won  an  important  de¬ 
cision  in  federal  court  here  Monday,  regaining 
title  to  1,180  acres  of  valuable  coal  lands  near 
Delta,  on  the  western  slope,  held  by  the  Explora¬ 
tion  Company,  Limited,  of  London,  owners  of 
several  Coolrado  mctaleferous  mines.  According 
to  the  ruling  of  the  court,  the  lands  which  are 
valued  at  approximately  $500,000,  were  acquired 
through  fraudulent  means. 


The  case,  owing  to  the  wealth  of  the  owners 
of  the  land  and  the  prominence  of  counsel  on 
both  sides,  has  attracted  widespread  interest.  The 
Exploration  Company  is  controlled  by  some  of 
the  richest  men  in  the  world,  all  residents  of 
London.  Philip  L.  P'oster  of  New  York  is  the 
agent  and  trustee  of  the  company. 

The  decision  in  the  case  was  handed  down  liy 
Federal  Judge  Treiber  of  Arkansas,  who  heard 
the  evidence  a  short  time  ago.  He  said  that  the 
entries  were  not  only  acquired  by  fraud,  but  that 
the  passive  concealment  of  the  act  precluded  the 
company  from  pleading  the  statute  of  limitations, 
and  it  could  not  escape  loss  of  title  to  the  lands. 

Frank  Hall,  special  assistant  to  the  attorney 
general  of  the  United  States,  handled  the  case  for 
the  Government,  and  Vaile,  McAllister  &  Vaile 
for  the  London  company.  The  latter  immediately 
gave  notice  of  appeal. 


A  New  England  Change. 


Boston,  M.4SS,  August  11.— (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — One  of  the  most  important  trans¬ 
actions  in  the  Boston  coal  trade  in  recent 
years  has  just  been  closed.  Owing  to  a  dis¬ 
agreement  between  the  meiiEbers  of  the  firm 
of  Pratt,  Staples,  Bell  &  Young,  Incorporated, 
and  certain  New  York  interests.  Staples  and 
Bell  have  sold  their  interest  in  the  concern 
to  Pratt  and  Young. 

The  company  was  formed  in  the  early  part 
of  1914  and  since  then  has  been  one  of  the 
most  progressive  middle  houses  in  New  Eng¬ 
land.  The  disagreement  referred  to  arose 
over  a  difference  of  opinion  as  to  whether  or 
not  certain  stock  of  the  company  had  voting 
power. 

In  a  recent  court  decision,  full  account  of 
which  was  given  in  The  Black  Diamond,  the 
master  upheld  the  contention  of  Staples  and 
Bell.  In  the  agreement  just  reached  by  all 
parties,  the  master’s  decision  was  confirmed. 

It  is  rumored  among  the  trade  that  Pratt 
and  Young  will  continue  the  business  of  the 
corporation  under  a  new  name,  probably  their 
own,  and  that  a  new  corporation  is  being 
formed  by  Staples  and  Bell  to  handle  several 
well  known  anthracite  and  bituminous  coals 
throughout  New  England.  Inasmuch  as  the 
suit  above  referred  to  was  not  decided  as  the 
New  York  interests  of  Pratt  and  Young  con¬ 
tended,  it  is  understood  that  a  large  sum  of 
money  was  paid  to  Staples  and  Bell  for  their 
interest. 


Dr.  E.  W".  Parker  Selected. 


Edward  W.  Parker,  who  for  a  quarter  of  a 
century  has  prepared  the  annual  reports  of  the 
Lhiited  States  Geological  Survey  on  the  produc¬ 
tion  of  anthracite  and  bituminous  coal,  has  been 
selected  to  take  charge  of  the  Anthracite  Bu¬ 
reau  of  Information  supported  by  the  anthraciie 
coal  mining  operators,  both  the  large  companies 
and  independents  as  well,  for  the  entire  region. 
The  objects  of  this  new  bureau  are  to  collect, 
compile  and  distribute  information  regarding  the 
anthracite  industry,  and  it  is  located  at  No.  1032 
Miners’  building,  \Vilkes  Barre,  Pa. 

Much  of  this  work  has  for  a  number  of  years 
been  handled  by  the  Bureau  of  Anthracite  Coal 
Statistics,  under  the  direction  of  the  late  \\k  W. 
Ruley,  and  since  his  death  it  has  been  in  charge 
of  A.  H.  Armstrong.  But  the  scope  of  the  neiv 
bureau  will  be  considerably  extended.  The  Bu¬ 
reau  of  .Anthracite  Coal  Statistics  will  be  merged 
with  the  new  bureau  and  moved  to  Wilkes  Barre, 
and  it  is  understood  that  Mr.  Armstrong  will 
remain  in  charge  of  that  portion  of  the  work. 
Very  accurate  statistics  have  been  kept  in  tiic 
past  and  various  departments  of  the  Federal  Gov¬ 
ernment  have  been  in  the  habit  of  calling  upon 
the  hureau  for  much  information  because  of  the 
thoroughness  and  accuracy  with  which  it  has 
been  prepared. 

Mr.  Parker  has  been  selected  because  of  his 
record  during  the  past  quarter  of  a  centurv 
for  accuracy  iu  statistical  matters  and  for  intelli¬ 
gent  discussion  of  causes  and  effects  which  have 
made  the  Geological  Survey  reports  models  of 
their  kind.  lie  was  a  member  of  the  .Anthracite 
Coal  Strike  Commission  appointed  by  the  Presi¬ 
dent  of  the  United  States  in  1902. 


Charles  Gallagher,  general  agent  of  the  Pitts¬ 
burgh  Coal  Company  here,  was  called  to  Chii)- 
pewa  Falls,  Wis.,  this  week  by  the  death  of  his 
mother. 


128 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[August  14 


July  Anthracite  Output. 


Philadelphia,  August  13. —  {Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — According  to  the  statement  of  the 
Bureau  of  Anthracite  Coal  Statistics  for  the 
month  of  Jul}%  only  two  of  the  hard  coal  car¬ 
riers  showed  an  increase  in  tonnage  handled  in 
anthracite  over  the  corresponding  period  of  the 
last  year. 

The  total  tonnage  for  the  month  showed  a 
decrease  of  542,348  tons  as  against  the  tonnage 
carried  last  year.  This,  with  the  decrease  shown 
in  the  production  during  the  month  of  June, 
shows  the  coal  on  hand  at  the  present  time  to  be 
considerably  less  than  last  year.  In  addition  the 
bureau’s  figures  show  that  the  coal  on  hand  at 
tidewater  shipping  points  to  be  636,384  tons  on 
July  31  as  compared  with  739,729  tons  on  June  30. 

The  two  roads  that  showed  an  increase  were 
the  Philadelphia  &  Reading  and  the  Delaware  & 
Hudson  Company.  These  increases  in  the  face 
of  heavy  decreases  on  the  other  roads  have 
mostly  gone  into  storage  so  that  they  can  hardly 
be  said  to  be  an  increase  “on  the  wheels.”  The 
decrease  in  production  of  nearly  two  million  tons 
on  the  year  as  compared  with  the  amount  of  last, 
is  also  taken  as  an  indication  that  a  shortage 
can  be  expected  if  untoward  demand  developed 
with  the  fall  buying. 

The  bureau’s  figures  follow : 


buckwheat  Sizes  Below 
No.  1  and  Buckwheat  Total 


July,  1915 — 

Larger  Sizes. 

No.  1. 

Shipments. 

Philadelphia  &  Reading. 

727,539 

112,015 

839,554 

Lehigh  Valley. 

907,611 

117,000 

1,024,611 

Central  of  New 

lersey . 

472,477 

125,515 

597,992 

Delaware,  L. 

\V . 

471,812 

70,963 

542,775 

Delaware  &  Hudson .  . .  . 

577,181 

120,622 

697,803 

Pennsylvania  . 

303,703 

65,847 

369,550 

Erie  . 

558,972 

101,038 

660,010 

N.  Y.,  O.  &  W. 

R.  W..  . 

183,385 

18,525 

201,910 

Total  .... 

4,202,680 

731,525 

4,934,205 

Year  1915 — 

Philadelphia  & 

Reading  5,498,658 

754,167 

6,252,825 

Lehigh  Valley. 

6,604,893 

719,566 

7,324,459 

Central  of  New 

Tersey. 

3,642,441 

754,400 

4,396,841 

Delaware,  L.  & 

W . 

4,293,181 

818,202 

5,111,383 

Delaware  &  Hudson... 

3,872,267 

629,328 

4,501,595 

Pennsylvania  . 

2,838,390 

501,114 

3,339,504 

Erie  . 

3,722,328 

684,764 

4,407,092 

N.  Y.,  O.  &  W. 

R.  W..  . 

1,072,777 

123,033 

1,195,810 

Total  .... 

31,544,935 

4,984,574 

36,529,509 

Buckwheat  Sizes  Below 
No.  1  and  Buckwheat  Total 


Tuly,  1914 —  Larger  Sizes. 

No.  1. 

Shipments. 

Philadelphia  &  Reading 

721,863 

110,102 

831,965 

Lehigh  Valley . 

911,237 

114,988 

1,026,225 

Central  of  New  Tersey. 

570,718 

138,173 

708,891 

Delaware,  L.  &  W . 

704,343 

122,428 

826,771 

Delaware  &  Hudson... 

578,351 

93,331 

671,682 

Pennsylvania  . 

346,332 

60,428 

406,760 

Erie  . 

593,111 

124,090 

717,201 

N.  Y.,  O.  &  W.  R.  W. .  . 

180,081 

22,281 

202,362 

Total  . 

4,606,036 

785,821 

5,391,857 

Year  1914 — 

Philadelphia  &  Reading  5,995,116 

868,497 

6,863,613 

Lehigh  Valley . 

6,486,452 

694,848 

7,181,300 

Central  of  New  Jersey. 

4,248,579 

849,399 

5,097,978 

Delaware,  L.  &W . 

4,510,990 

914,287 

5,425,277 

Delaware,  L.  &  W . 

4,510,990 

914,287 

5,425,277 

Pennsylvania  . 

3,149,706 

474,142 

3,623,848 

Erie  . 

3,966,194 

741,034 

4.707,228 

N.  Y.,  0.  &  W.  R.  W.  . 

1,200,890 

•  149,955 

1,350,845 

Total  . 

33,066,434 

5,271,212 

38,337,646 

New  Coal  Mining  Companies. 


Okmulgee,  Okla. — The  Okmulgee  Coal  Com¬ 
pany,  which  was  recently  incorporated  for 
$20,000,  has  purchased  the  holdings  of  the 
Blackstone  Collieries,  Inc.,  and  are  now  in¬ 
stalling  full  electric  equipment  in  the  Black- 
stone  mines  for  the  cutting,  hauling  and 
preparation  of  their  coal.  This  company  has 
also  acquired  a  considerable  amount  of  addi¬ 
tional  acreage,  and  intends  to  develop  a  new 
slope  in  the  next  few  months.  When  this  is 
completed,  the  Okmulgee  Coal  Company  will 
have  three  slopes  in  operation  in  the  Hen- 
ryetta  field,  tributary  to  both  the  P'risco  and 
M.  O.  &  G.  railway  systems.  The  officers  of 
the  company  are:  W.  Thornburgh,  president; 
W.  H.  Wigton,  vice-president,  and  Harlan 
Read,  secretary.  The  vice-president,  Mr. 
Wigton,  has  entire  charge  of  the  development 
work  and  the  operating  department. 

Mistletoe,  W.  Va. — The  Silush  Coal  Com¬ 
pany  was  organized  July  12,  with  a  capital 
stock  of  $50,000.  The  present  capital  paid 
in  is  $13,000,  and  the  balance  is  to  be  paid  in 
four  equal  monthly  installments.  The  officers 
are:  E.  B.  Siler,  president;  A.  O.  Siler,  secre¬ 
tary  and  treasurer,  and  C.  C.  Lovet,  general 
manager.  The  general  manager’s  address  is 
at  present  Mistletoe,  W.  Va.,  though  applica¬ 
tion  has  been  made  for  a  postoffice  of  the 
same  name  as  the  coal  company.  Work  is 
progressing  very  rapidly,  and  the  company  ex¬ 


pects  to  ship  coal  over  a  shaker  screen  in 
ninety  days  from  date  of  organization.  The 
grading  of  the  siding,  the  machinery,  and  the 
building  of  a  large  storehouse  and  several 
knock-down  miners’  houses  has  already  been 
contracted  for  and  the  company  is  in  no  need 
of  material  at  the  present  time.  The  com¬ 
pany  has  so  far  discounted  all  bills,  and  ex¬ 
pects  to  continue  to  do  so. 


Theory  of  Kuhn  Machine. 

(Concluded  from  page  121.) 

him  long  to  decide  that,  if  the  lateral  pressure 
of  the  exploding  powder  was  to  do  any  effective 
work,  there  must  be  a  vertical  cut  in  the  face  in 
the  room  center. 

By  placing  the  shot  half  way  between  the  floor 
and  the  roof  and  by  undercutting  and  center 
shearing  he  had  two  directions  where  the  re- 
sh^tance  was  small.  And,  he  had  a  buffer  of  coal 
between  the  shot  and  the  roof.  This  allowed  him 
to  release  a  lot  of  coal  from  its  solid  cemented 
state;  to  save  the  roof;  to  use  only  half  the 
powder  the  miners  used,  and  to  eliminate  blow¬ 
out  shots. 

Mr.  Kuhn  knew  too  that  because  little  of  the 
force  of  the  powder  went  into  the  roof,  the  roof 
material  would  not  be  broken  by  the  explosive. 
Tliere  was  lessened  danger  that  it  would  come 
down.  If  it  did  come  with  the  coal,  the  work¬ 
man  would  be  out  of  danger.  If  it  came  later, 
he  could  dodge  under  the  machine  and  still  be 
safe. 

But  this  theory  and  method  carried  out  to  this 
point  left  the  coal  almost  in  the  solid;  some  of 
the  main  cleavage  lines  were  released  or  partially 
released,  so  that  a  small  amount  of  power  would 
mine  the  coal  out  of  its  native  bed — but  still  it 
must  be  mined  out  and  put  into  the  pit  wagons. 
Coal  in  this  state  was  anything  but  a  stock  pile 
of  coal  that  might  be  attacked  by  conveying 
apparatus  and  loaded  into  pit.  wagons. 

It  took  some  years  to  develop  a  method  and 
machine  to  mine  the  coal  from  the  semi-solid  and 
place  it  in  the  pit  wagons,  and  a  long  time  to 
develop  horizontal  cutting,  shearing  and  drilling 
apparatus  that  would  do  their  part  of  the  pre¬ 
paratory  work  quickly. 

The  specifications  were : 

A  horizontal  cut  must  be  made  in  less  than 
twenty  minutes ; 

A  shearing  cut  in  less  than  10  minutes ; 

Two  or  three  holes  must  be  drilled  six  to 
seven  feet  deep  where  wanted  in  five  minutes ; 

Total  time,  thirty  to  thirty-five  minutes. 

The  whole  operation  must  be  done  with  one 
machine,  easily  and  instantly  controlled,  by  any 
class  of  labor,  must  be  “fool-proof,”  must  not 
fill  the  working  place  but  give  plenty  of  clearance 
in  three  dimensions,  must  be  flexible — move  side¬ 
ways  or  vertically  at  the  will  of  the  operator, — 
must  not  depend  on  tracks  but  must  work  with 
tracks,  must  travel  short  distances  in  a  few 
minutes,  must  be  strong  and  not  break.  And  on 
top  of  this  and  in  combination  with  the  other 
apparatus,  it  must  mine  and  load  the  merchant¬ 
able  coal  out  of  the  semi-solid  at  the  rate  of  a 
ton  a  minute.  And  finally,  the  power  consump¬ 
tion  must  not  exceed  a  kilowatt  hour  to  the  ton, 
because  the  latter  meant  small  capital  expenditure 
for  the  machine.  Small  power  consumption  and 
large,  simple  parts  several  times  too  strong  also 
meant  a  meager  repair  bill  and  small  depreciation 
charge. 

Having  decided  on  a  method  and  the  necessary 
apparatus  to  carry  it  out,  it  is  necessary  to  com¬ 
bine  all  in  one  machine.  This  proved  easy,  as 
it  was  built  in  steps,  parts  and  apparatus  were 
developed  sometimes  alone,  and  sometimes  in 
combination  in  the  same  machine.  Then  com¬ 
plete  machines  were  developed,  re-designed  and 
rebuilt  until  all  co-operative  parts  acted  as  one 
well  developed  machine. 

He  now  had  all  the  devices  which  worked  to¬ 
gether  quite  naturally.  mechanical  question 
was  still  to  be  answered:  Was  it  to  do  all  of 
this  work  and  still  keep  down  the  power  cost? 
Anyone  who,  in  an  automobile,  has  “ground”  up 
a  hill  on  low  gear,  can  answer  that  question.  On 
such  a  pull,  the  engine  “races,”  but  the  gears  in 
the  transmission  system  work  slowly.  Mr.  Kuhn 
employed  that  same  principle  in  his  machine. 
He  uses  only  one  motor,  but  it  “turns  over”  fast. 
But  the  wheels  of  the  truck — operating  on  the 
twin  screw  propeller  principle — move  very  slowly. 
The  coal  loading  apparatus  does  the  same. 

One  short  statement  measures  the  result :  It 
requires  only  five  horse  power  to  turn  over  the 
motor  and  its  connected  gearing.  It  requires 
only  an  additional  one  and  a  half  horse  power 


to  move  the  machine  in  any  direction  and  only 
several  more  to  mine  out  the  coal. 

It  takes  more  power,  of  course,  to  undercut 
and  to  shear  the  coal  because  there  the  chains 
must  move  at  high  speed. 

)Vhen  he  took  the  power  readings  on  the  first 
series  of  tests,  Mr.  Kuhn  knew  that  he  had  at 
last  perfected  the  machine  on  which  he  had  been 
working  for  years.  It  actuall:^  cut  the  labor  cost 
from  fifty-three  to  eighteen  cents  a  ton.  In 
doing  so,  it  added  only  one  cent  a  ton  for  power 
and  about  three  cents  a  ton  for  interest  on  in¬ 
vestment  and  depreciation.  His  total  cost  of 
getting  coal  in  the  car  was  only  twenty-two  cents, 
with  no  dead  work  charges.  He  was  thus  able 
to  put  coal  on  the  cars  for  less  than  half  what 
b.and  and  machine  mining  and  loading  had  been 
costing. 

With  the  design  and  the  cost  of  production 
fixed,  he  had  but  one  more  problem.  That  was 
to  make  the  machine  so  strong,  no  one  and  noth¬ 
ing  ordinary  could  break  it.  He  wanted  to  make 
it  fool  proof.  To  do  that  he  kept  adding  weight 
to  the  parts.  Some  of  the  later  machines  had 
parts  twice  as  heavy  as  the  original.  He  could 
do  that  because,  everywhere,  there  is  plenty  of 
room  in  which  to  make  any  part  heavier.  The 
machine  now  shown  to  visitors  is  so  strong  that 
it  has  resisted  the  impact  of  a  fall  of  200  tons  of 
rock  and  slate.  Not  only  did  it  not  break,  but 
backed  from  under  the  fall  and  loaded  it  out. 
It  is,  therefore,  strong,  but  he  still  has  room 
enough  left  to  double  the  weight  of  parts  with¬ 
out  changing  the  design.  If  that  were  done  he 
would  make  it  sturdy  enough  to  resist  a  dyna¬ 
mite  explosion.  And,  to  do  it  he  need  not  change 
a  single  line. 

If  in  any  mine  the  floor  is  too  soft  to  support 
so  much  weight  or  if  there  is  a  heaving  bottom, 
all  he  has  to  do  is  to  add  breadth  to  the  traction 
wheels.  He  can  make  the  equivalent  of  a  road 
roller  out  of  it  at  will,  for  there  are  no  low  hang¬ 
ing  gears  to  interfere  with  the  breadth  of  his 
tread. 

It  was  said  at  the  start  that  something  would 
be  told  about  the  man.  Since  this  is  an  article 
about  a  machine,  that  something  had  to  confine 
itself  to  his  mechanical  method  of  thinking  and 
to  the  results  which  have  followed.  But  that 
does  not  tell  it  all.  As  a  matter  of  fact  all  of 
this — and  much  more — mechanical  work  was  done 
in  the  time  which  some  coal  men  devote  to  golf 
et  cetera.  It  was  a  form  of  recreation. 

His  main  work  in  the  last  ten  years  has  been 
to  take  a  coal  mine  which  produced  400  tons  a 
day  and  to  expand  it  into  a  concern  which  pro¬ 
duces  3,000,000  tons  a  year  and  which  controls 
some  of  the  best  acreage  of  coal  in  the  world. 
To  tell  about  that  commercial  success  demands 
more  space  than  is  allowed  in  the  tailpiece  of  an 
article. 

So,  with  a  warning  that  there  is  another  side 
to  the  man,  we  will  let  the  mechanical  genius 
pervade  this  article  and  write  about  the  commer¬ 
cial  phase  of  him  in  the  next  one. 


July  Coal  Receipts. 


During  July  1,235,130  tons  of  coal  were  re¬ 
ceived  at  the  head  of  the  lakes,  of  which  230,620 
was  anthracite  and  994,510  was  bituminous.  This 
gives  a  total  of  coal  received  for  the  season  up 
to  August  1st,  compared  with  the  same  period  a 
year  ago,  as  follows : 


1915  1914 

Anthracite  .  770,920  775,800 

Pituminous  .  2,770,145  3,856,100 


Totals  .  3,541,065  4,631,900 


The  receipts  by  the  various  companies  with 
docks  at  Duluth  and  Superior  were  as  follows  in 
July: 

Anthracite  Bituminous  Total 


Northwestern  .  90,350  172,000  262,350 

Pittsburgh  .  43,500  132,700  176,200 

Berwind  .  82,500  82,500 

Osborne  .  31,200  46,900  78,100 

Lehigh  Valley  .  8,070  .  8,070 

Sunday  Creek  .  2,500  2,500 

Boston .  5,500  5,500 

Island  Creek  .  7,500  63,700  71,200 

Clarkson  .  3,200  47,610  50,810 

Carnegie  .  31,800  135,600  167,400 

Reiss  .  10.000  51,500  61,500 

Zenith  furnace  .  94,000  94,000 

Hanna  .  49,000  49,000 

Reading  .  5,000  .  5,000 

Great  Lakes .  39,000  39,000 

Missabe  .  72,000  72,000 


Totals  .  230,620  994,510  1,225,130 


C.  M.  Blanchard,  local  manager  for  Jeffrey 
Manufacturing  Company,  states  that  inquiries 
for  machinery  and  equipment  is  being  received 
from  coal  mining  people,  and  business  with  this 
class  of  trade  indicates  increased  business  both 
for  them  and  coal  people. 


No.  7] 


129 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


Western  Coal  Rates  Rise;  Anthracite  Rates  Cut. 


The  Interstate  Commerce  Commissicm  this 
week  handed  down  two  big  decisions  on  coal 
rates. 

In  the  western  five  per  cent  rate  advance 
case,  it  decided  against  the  coal  men  and  said 
that  the  rates  on  coal,  except  those  to  South 
Dakota,  have  been  justified  and  therefore,  that 
the  order  suspending  those  rates  is  vacated. 
This  means  that  the  new  tariffs,  put  out  a 
good  while  ago,  will  become  effective  at  once. 
The  Commission  says  that  the  advance  in 
some  cases  is  only  eight  cents  a  ton,  but  in 
other  cases  is  ten  cents  a  ton.  On  the  aver¬ 
age,  the  increase  is  a  fraction  less  than  ten 
cents.  The  territory  affected  is  that  west 
from  Chicago  to  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

In  the  anthracite  case  the  railways  lost. 
They  were  not,  in  that  case,  petitioning  for 
higher  rates.  Rather  the  Government  was  in¬ 
vestigating  those  roads  under  an  old  charge 
that  some  violations  of  the  law  were  evident 
in  the  careful  supervision  maintained  over 
prices  in  recent  years.  The  charge  was  that 
the  railroads  and  coal  companies  were  very 
close  together.  It  was,  in  fact,  declared  by  the 
Government,  that  the  two  were  really  one. 
The  first  effort  was  to  prove  a  violation  of 
the  Sherman  act.  When  this  failed  the  Gov¬ 
ernment  proceeded  to  strike  at  the  railroad 
rates.  It  was  the  belief  that  while  the  coal 
companies  were  not  making  money,  the  com¬ 
bination  did  make  enormous  amounts  because 
of  the  high  freight  rates  charged.  The  deci¬ 
sion  of  the  Commission  is  a  clear  effort  to 
strip  this  “combination”  of  the  profit  it  has 
been  making.  Therefore,  rates  on  anthracite 
are  reduced  radically,  especially  between  the 
mines  and  points  on  the  roads  which  are 
called  the  “hard  coal  carriers.”  On  the  aver¬ 
age,  the  reduction  demanded  ranges  between 
fifteen  and  twenty-five  cents  a  ton.  In  some 
cases  it  runs  as  high  as  seventy-five  cents  a 
ton.  The  annual  loss  to  the  railways  is  va¬ 
riously  estimated  at  between  .$8,000,000  and 
$10,000,000, 

It  is  believed  in  Washington  that  the  deci¬ 
sion  of  the  Commission  on  the  anthracite 
cases  meets  the  approval  of  the  president.  It 
is  known,  however,  that  the  decision  in  the 
western  rate  case  does  not  come  up  to  Mr, 
Wilson’s  idea.  He  had  no  particular  point  of 
view  on  western  coal,  but  he  did  want  the 
western  roads  to  get  more  revenue  for  carry¬ 
ing  the  other  commodities. 

The  Commission  did  the  reverse  in  the 
whole  five  per  cent  advance  case,  of  what  it 
was  expected  to  do  and  of  what  it  really  did 
in  the  eastern  rate  case.  That  is,  it  denied 
the  advance  on  general  commodities  and 
granted  the  increase  on  coal. 

The  Western  Coal  Rate 

In  the  western  rate  advance  case  there  was 
one  point  in  particular  against  which  the  coal 
men  were  fighting.  The  railroads  serving  the 
Indiana  and  Illinois  mines  by  carrying  coal  to 
Minnesota  points  proposed  to  increase  their 
rates  ten  cents  a  ton.  The  roads  serving  the 
docks  into  the  same  territory  did  not  ask  for 
any  increase.  The  western  coal  men  declared 
that  if  this  unequal  advance  were  to  be  sanc¬ 
tioned  the  effect  would  be  to  throw  the  west¬ 
ern  lines  out  of  competition  because  there 
would  be  a  differential  of  ten  cents  a  ton,  on 
Minnesota  business,  against  them. 

The  Commission  recognized  this  point  and 
spoke  of  it  in  its  decision.  However,  it  said 
that  the  rates  might  go  into  effect  just  the 
same. 

There  was  also,  in  the  hearing,  some  discus¬ 
sion  of  the  proposed  rate  to  South  Dakota. 
The  western  coal  men  could  not  see  that  this 
increase,  which  was  to  apply  from  the  docks, 
as  well  as  from  western  mines,  could  do  any 
damage.  It  might,  in  fact,  give  the  western 
coal  some  little  advantage  in  that  territory. 
The  Commission  looked  at  the  matter  differ¬ 
ently.  It  said  that  the  proposed  rate  from 
the  docks  to  South  Dakota  was  out  of  fine 
with  the  rates  from  the  docks  to  the  Twin 
Cities.  That  is,  the  per  ton  mile  rate  to  South 
Dakota  would  be  higher  than  the  per  ton  mile 
rate  to  the  Twin  Cities.  This  was  against  the 
accepted  principle  that  the  per  ton  mile  rate 
should  decrease  as  the  length  of  haul  in¬ 
creased.  The  Commission  therefore  refused 


The  Commission  Hands  Down  Two  Big 
Decisions  by  Which  Western  Operators 
Lose  Territory  and  Anthracite  Carriers 
Lose  Money. 

to  allow  the  increased  rate  from  the  docks  to 
South  Dakota. 

In  both  of  these  rulings  the  Commission 
struck  hard  at  the  western  coal  interests.  Its 
decision  will,  no  doubt,  block,  in  large  meas¬ 
ure,  all  but  the  very  best  of  the  western  coals 
out  of  the  Twin  Cities.  At  present  the  east¬ 
ern  and  western  coals  are  on  as  near  a  parity 
as  it  is  possible  to  get  them,  everything  con¬ 
sidered.  Under  the  new  ruling  the  Illinois 
coal  will  be  under  a  disadvantage  amounting 
to  about  ten  cents  a  ton.  This  must  mean  the 
throwing  of  much  business  to  the  docks  that 
the  western  operators  have  had.  If  not  that, 
then  western  operators  must  sell  their  coal 
there  at  cost  or  below. 

In  other  than  “ex-lake  territory,”  the  west¬ 
ern  operators  did  not  care  much  what  was 
done  to  the  rates.  That  is,  so  long  as  the 
rates  were  horizontally  advanced  and  so  long 
as  no  one  field  was  given  an  advantage  over 
another,  the  coal  men  were  willing  that  the 
carriers  should  have  a  larger  revenue.  There 
were  a  few  points,  however,  where  inequali¬ 
ties  of  rates  in  the  proposed  tariffs  were  sug¬ 
gested  when  the  hearing  of  this  case  was  held. 
The  Commission  brushed  aside  all  protests  of 
the  coal  men.  It  even  closed  its  eyes  to  all 
consideration  of  what  the  operators  considered 
an  injustice  to  certain  fields.  It  decided  in 
favor  of  the  railroads. 

As  nearly  as  it  is  possible  to  get  at  the  com¬ 
mission’s  reasoning  on  this  subject,  it  is  as 
follows : 

Coal  is  a  low  grade  and  low  priced  com¬ 
modity.  The  railways  have,  for  years,  taken 
that  into  consideration  in  making  their  rates. 
But  the  situation  has  changed  in  recent  years 
in  certain  particulars.  That  is,  the  slack  coal 
used  to  be  of  no  value.  To  help  find  a  mar¬ 
ket  for  it,  the  railroads  made  low  rates  on  this 
slack.  This  had  the  desired  effect,  and  the 
market  has  grown  steadily.  As  the  market 
grew,  the  price  has  advanced.  Therefore,  the 
average  price  on  coal  must  be  more  satisfac¬ 
tory.  The  railroads  have,  in  a  substantial  way, 
favored  the  coal  business  long  enough.  It  is 
about  time  that  they  began  to  get  proper  com¬ 
pensation. 

That  is  not  the  way  the  Commission  worded  - 
it,  but  that  seems  to  be  a  correct  statement 
of  the  spirit  in  which  the  decision  was  writ¬ 
ten.  _  This  attitude  contrasts  sharply  with  the 
opinion  of  the  same  commission  on  the  same 
commodity  in  the  eastern  territory.  The  lat¬ 
ter  decision  was  made  but  a  few  months  ago. 

A  Dissenting  Opinion. 

Commissioner  Daniels  dissented  vigorously 
from  the  decision  of  the  other  members  of  the 
Comvnission  on  the  whole  western  rate  ad¬ 
vance  case.  He  suggests,  in  fact,  that  the 
question  was  not  decided  upon  its  merit,  but 
that  the  major  consideration  was:  What  will 
be  the  political  effect  if  we  decide  this  way 
or  that?  Will  the  people  be  better  pleased  if 
we  hit  the  railroads  than  if  we  advance  the 
rates  so  that  the  average  consumer  will  have 
to  pay  more,  even  though  we  thus  aid  a  return 
of  prosperity? 

It  is  intimated  in  Washington  that  the  rail¬ 
roads  are  far  from  satisfied  with  the  decision 
of  the  Commission  and  will  at  once  ask  for  a 
rehearing.  It  is  hinted,  even,  that  President 
Wilson  may  ask  the  Commission  to  grant  a 
rehearing. 

The  Anthracite  Decision 

The  anthracite  case  was  decided  on  Thurs¬ 
day.  The  Commission  was  expected,  at  the 
same  time,  to  hand  down  its  decision  in  the 
proposed  advance  in  rates  to  Chicago.  Con¬ 
cerning  this  decision,  an  Associated  Press  Dis¬ 
patch  says: 

“Washington,  D.  C.,  August  12th. — The  inter¬ 
state  commerce  commission  today  handed  down 
its  long  expected  rate  decision  in  the  case  of 
the  anthracite  railroads. 

“In  addition  to  ordering  a  drastic  reduction  in 
the  freight  rates  on  anthracite  coal  which  it  is 


estimated  will  cost  the  carriers  close  to  $10,000,- 
000  annually  in  revenue,  the  commission  urged 
the  department  of  justice  to  prosecute  several  of 
the  carriers  for  flagrant  violations  of  the  inter¬ 
state  commerce  act. 

_  “The  commission  charges  the  roads  with  stifling 
independent  coal  operators  by  making  concessions 
in  joint  and  through  rates  to  coal  companies 
wholly  controlled  by  the  railroads,  as  well  as  by 
loans  at  low  interest  rates,  and  leases  of  valuable 
properties  at  inadequate  rentals. 

“The  decision  today  was  the  second  in  two 
days  in  which  the  railroads  have  been  jolted 
severely  oy  the  commission. 

“A  third,  in  the  case  of  the  Rock  Island  inves¬ 
tigation,  is  expected  tomorrow  or  Saturday,  and, 
according  to  authoritative  sources,  the  Rock 
Island  verdict  will  be  even  more  severe  than  that 
in  the  case  of  the  anthracite  carriers. 

“The  cut  in  rates  ordered  by  the  commission 
today  amounts  to  15  cents  a  ton  on  shipments  of 
the  so-called  prepared  sizes— stove,  chestnut  and 
egg  coal— from  the  mines  to  tidewater  and  10 
cents  a  ton  on  the  smaller  sizes  of  coal.  These 
rates  instead  of  being  $1.60  and  $1.45  a  ton  will 
now  be  $1.45  and  $1.35. 

“The  reductions  to  interior  points  on  the  hard 
coal  roads  are  much  larger,  ranging  all  the  way 
from  15  to  80  cents  a  ton.  The  Delaware  and 
Hudson  Railroad  Company’s  rate  to  Windsor, 
N.  Y.,  for  instance,  is  cut  from  $1.65  to  85  cents 
a  ton,  while  the  rate  of  the  Delaware,  Lacka¬ 
wanna  and  Western  to  Syracuse  is  reduced  from 
$1.90  to  $1.40. 

The  Roads  Hardest  Hit. 

“The  railroads  involved  in  today’s  decision 
were : 

The  Central  of  New  Jersey. 

The  Philadelphia  and  Reading. 

The  Delaware,  Lackawanna  and  Western. 

The  Lehigh  Valley. 

The  Erie. 

The  Wilkes-Barre  and  Eastern. 

The  New  York,  ousquehanna  and  Western. 

The  New  York,  Ontario  and  Western. 

The  Pennsylvania. 

The  Northern  Central. 

The  Delaware  and  Hudson. 

“Of  these  the  Pennsylvania  is  the  least  affect¬ 
ed.  Its  rates  to  tidewater  and  to  interior  points, 
which  were  lower  than  those  of  other  roads,  are 
not  chaaged,  except  in  some  of  the  joint  rates 
affecting  the  Northern  Central. 

“Opinions  differed  in  Washington  regarding 
the  possible  effect  of  the  decision  on  the  price  of 
coal  to  the  consumer.  If  the  reduced  rates  are 
reflected  fully  in  the  retail  prices  of  coal,  the 
saving  on  the  71,000,000  tons  that  are  mined  each 
year  would,  of  course,  be  a  substantial  item.” 

The  documents  on  both  of  these  cases  came 
to  hand  on  Friday  mornin.g,  or  within  an  hour  of 
our_  press  time.  A  complete  analysis  of  the  two 
decisions  is,  therefore,  impossible  in  this  issue. 
A  full  discussion  of  the  two  decisions  will  be 
made  next  week,  together  with  a  statement  of 
what  the  change  in  rates  will  mean  to  certain 
coal  consuming  districts. 


Representatives  of  the  Italian  government  have 
been  in  correspondence  with  various  coal  produc¬ 
ers  in  Cincinnati  in  reference  to  the  submission  of 
contracts  for  the  furnishing  of  coal  for  gov¬ 
ernment  use,  both  in  bunker  and  for  delivery  at 
Italian  ports.  One  New  River  company  has  a 
large  block  of  its  production  under  option  with 
the  Government,  the  option  expiring  with  the 
close  of  this  week.  It  is  practically  certain  that 
the  option  will  be  closed  by  acceptance  of  the 
product,  and,  if  so,  this  company  will  likely  go 
out  of  the  market. 


A  large  number  of  the  men  employed  on  the 
dock  of  the  Northern  Coal  &  Dock  Company  in 
Superior  struck  Monda)'  morning  after  their  de¬ 
mand  for  ten  cents  an  hour  extra  for  overtime 
had  been  refused.  A  compromise  was  reached 
on  Tuesday  morning  and  the  men  all  went  back 
work.  The  terms  of  the  compromise  were  not 
given  out,  but  it  is  understood  that  they  will 
receive  additional  pay  for  overtime.  They  re¬ 
ceive  twenty-two  and  one-half  cents  an  hour  for 
regular  time.  Sixty  men  are  employed  at  the 
dock. 


Central  Coal  &  Iron  Company,  with  furnace 
and  mines  at  Holt,  Tuscaloosa  county,  Ala.,  has 
put  in  operation  coal  mines  to  full  capacity. 


130 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


PUBI.ISHED  EVERY  SATURDAY  BY  THE 
BEACK  DIAMOND  COMPANY. 

Subscription  price,  $3.00  per  year,  postage  prepaid,  to 
any  postoffice  in  the  United  States.  Foreign  subscrip¬ 
tion  price,  $5.00  per  year.  Single  copies,  20  cents. 
Entered  at  Chicago  postoffice  as  second-class  matter. 


Address  all  communications  to 

THE  BEACK  DIAMOND  COMPANY  (INC) 

Main  office,  Manhattan  building,  Chicago. 


Branch  Offices. 

New  York,  29  Uroadway. 
Philadelphia,  1400  Land  Title  building. 
Pittsburgh,  1502  Oliver  building. 


Saturday,  August  14,  1915. 


INDEX. 


Special  Articles. 


Page 


Theory  Underlying  the  Kuhn  Machine .  121 

An  Explanation  of  How  Coal  Tar  Is  Recovered .  122 

Lignite  as  First  Aid  to  the  Settler .  123 

('anadian  Toluol  and  Benzol . 123 

Possible  Substitute  for  Anthracite  Coal .  124 

Taking  Coal  From  River .  124 

Ohio  Rate  Hearing  Becomes  Important .  125 

England  Has  Serious  Coal  Problems .  125 

New  York  Golf  Tournament .  125 

A  Statement  About  the  New  Coal  Association .  126 

Attack  Compensation  Act .  126 

Oklahoma  Coal  Yield .  126 

Small  Activities .  127 

Death  of  \V.  \V.  Ritchie .  127 

Nation  Wins  a  Suit .  127 

A  New  England  Change .  127 

Dr.  E.  W.  Parker  Selected .  127 

Tuly  Anthracite  Output .  128 

New  Coal  Mining  Companies .  128 

July  Coal  Receipts . 128 

Western  Coal  Rates  Rise;  Anthracite  Rates  Cut .  129 

Editorial  .  130 

News  Local  to  Chicago .  132 

Facts  Which  Determine  Our  Export  Prospects .  133 

Market  Reports. 

(ieneral  Review  and  Chicago .  134 

Pittsburgh,  Louisville  and  Toledo .  135 

Cincinnati,  Twin  Cities  and  Duluth.. .  136 

Indianapolis,  Denver,  Detroit,  St.  I.ouis  and  Omaha..  137 

New  York . 138 

Philadelphia  and  New  England .  139 

Baltimore,  Buffalo  and  Birmingham .  140 

Hocking  X’alley .  15 


Public  Cost  Accounting. 

The  Federal  Trade  Commission  is  ])lan- 
ning  to  introduce  cost  accounting  as  a 
means  of  relieving  tlie  difficulties  of  l)usi- 
ness.  It  is  going  to  lend  the  services  of 
pul)lic  accountants  to  those  who  want  to 
install  a  i)roi)er  l)ookkeeping  system  and 
wlio  want  to  learn  how  to  use  tlie  infor¬ 
mation  contained  in  books. 

The  coal  trade  is  in  such  straits  and  is 
so  in  need  of  help  a  danger  presents  itself. 
Coal  men  are  likely  to  accept  pul)lic  cost 
accounting  without  figuring  what  the  con¬ 
sequences  are  sure  to  be  if  the  system  is 
carried  to  its  logical  conclusion.  It  is 
well,  therefore,  to  let  the  imagination  play 
upon  the  possibilities  before  plunging. 

If  government  experts  supervise  coal 
cost  accounting,  they  will  know  what  tlie 
cost  is.  'riien,  if  the  Trade  Commission, 
which  puts  out  the  cost  accountants,  su¬ 
pervises  the  selling  arrangements,  the  com¬ 
mission  will  know  what  the  profits  are. 
That  is,  knowing  the  cost  and  knowing 
tlie  selling  price,  it  is  easy  to  figure  the 
profit. 

Another  point :  It  depends  entirely  upon 
who  is  on  the  Trades  Commission  at  tliat 
time  as  to  whetlier  its  rulings  will  lie  fair 
or  unfair  to  business.  For  example,  there 
are  several  theories  as  to  what  is  a  jiroper 
profit.  One  theory  is  that  the  money  iu- 
2'ested  should  have  a  certain  return ;  \vc 
will  say,  ten  per  cent. 

Anotlier  theory  is  that  there  should  be 
a  percentage  of  profit  on  each  trade. 
That  is,  a  man  buys  a  carload  of  coal  and 


sells  it.  lie  lias  invested,  we  will  say, 
J?200.  'I'en  per  cent  of  that  would  be  $20. 
fie  turns  tliat  money  over,  if  he  is  a  re¬ 
tailer,  in  about  tliree  months.  Then  he 
duplicates  the  operation  and  makes  an- 
other  ten  per  cent  or  anotlier  $20.  In 
the  end  lie  lias  made  three  turnovers  of 
ills  money  in  tiie  course  of  a  year,  making 
$60  all  told  on  his  original  investment,  or 
a  profit  of  30  per  cent  in  the  course  of 
that  year.  Which  of  these  two  theories 
would  the  Trade  Commission  adopt? 

More  particularly,  would  the  Trade 
Commission  make  the  same  ruling  on  a 
mine  that  it  made  on  a  retail  yard?  Would 
it  liold  the  retail  yard  to  the  same  per¬ 
centage  of  profit  that  it  gave  the  opera¬ 
tor?  If  it  would,  the  retailer  is  out  of 
l)usiness  before  the  ruling  is  even  put  into 
effect.  If  the  retailer  had  to  make  as  little 
per  ton  as  the  operator  does,  to  retail  coal 
would  be  out  of  the  question. 

Also,  how  is  the  Trade  Commission  go¬ 
ing  to  look  at  a  proposition  of  this  sort : 
The  steel  l)nsiness  today  is,  because  of  its 
tariff  protection,  making  a  profit  of  fifty 
per  cent.  Tlie  coal  l)usiness  is  making 
about  one  to  one  and  one-half  per  cent, 
or  none  at  all.  Will  tlie  Trade  Commission 
try  to  level  up  the  coal  profits  to  the 
steel  profits,  or  will  it  try  to  level  the 
steel  profits  down  to  the  coal  profits? 
Will  it  try  by  cost  accountants  on  one 
side  and  public  regulators  on  the  other  to 
level  one  up  and  the  other  down? 

Will  this  apply  to  big  business  and  to 
little  business  alike?  AVill  it  give  the 
small  coal  retailer  ten  per  cent  on  $.S,000 
worth  of  business  and  then  give  the  big 
department  store  in  Chicago  ten  per  cent 
of  $50,000,000  of  business? 

Under  the  circumstances,  what  would 
be  the  natural  result  to  business?  Will 
not  the  little  fellow  cease  to  exist  and  the 
big  fellow  hog  it  all  because  he  has  great¬ 
er  funds  upon  which  to  grow? 

We  could  go  on  with  suggestions  of 
the  possibilities  of  public  cost  accounting 
to  almost  an  unlimited  extent.  The  point 
is  that  the  government  is  trying  some¬ 
thing  new.  ft  will  be  w'ell  not  to  plunge 
before  we  know  what  the  consequences 
are  going  to  he. 


Helping  the  Mines. 

For  two  or  three  years,  much  has  been 
said  about  helping  the  coal  mines  out 
ot  their  difficulties,  d'he  expression  com¬ 
monly  used  does  not  convey  the  idea  ex¬ 
actly.  That  is,  the  coal  mines  are  not 
asking  the  government  to  lend  them  any 
money,  or  to  extend  to  them  any  special 
consideration.  All  they  want  is  that  the 
government  shall  get  out  of  the  way  and 
let  them  do  what  is  needed. 

ff  the  government  should  consent  to 
extend  practical  hell)  to  coal  mines,  it 
would  probably  he  the  kind  that  the  ma¬ 
jority  customarily  gives  to  the  minority. 
The  majority  looks  out  for  self  first.  If 
anything  is  left  over,  the  minority  eats  at 
the  second  table.  Interference  with  coal 
mining  by  politicians  as  they  are  now 
disposed,  would  be  mainly  to  give  a 
greater  number  of  voters — meaning  the 
miners — a  greater  amount  of  considera¬ 
tion — meaning  more  money.  The  coal 
mines  do  not  need  that.  They  are  getting 
plenty  of  it  from  the  department  of  labor. 

There  is  serious  need  that  something 
be  done  to-  keep  most  mining  companies 
alive.  W'hat  the  government  can  do  is  to 


(/aignst  14 


stand  aside  and  let  the  operators  do  for 
themseh’es  what  they  know  how  to  do, 
and  what  they  know  must  be  done. 

We  need  not  put  into  words,  ])resuma- 
hly,  what  the  operators  would  decide  upon. 
The  ])eople  may  rest  assured,  however, 
that  the  result  would  not  be  the  riotous 
and  wasteful  competition  and  the  foolish 
tiissipation  of  investments  which  is  going 
on  today. 

In  other  words,  coal  would  sell  for  what 
it  is  worth.  And  it  is  worth  more  than  a 
cent  a  ton  in  the  ground. 

Understanding  Your  Subject. 

(ffir  good  friends  the  Christian  Scien¬ 
tists  have  a  way  of  saying  that  your  men¬ 
tal  attitude  toward  a  thing  is  all  there  is 
to  it.  Consequently  they  are  always  keen 
to  find  the  proper  mental  attitude.  Their 
most  valuable  first  aid  is  to  use  the  Eng¬ 
lish  language  properly.  As  a  rule,  not 
one  of  them  will  employ  a  phrase  unless 
he  knows  its  meaning  exactly.  They  are 
all  terrific  students  of  the  dictionary  and 
of  the  hooks  on  English. 

It  seems  a  far  cry  from  religious  phil¬ 
osophy  to  retailing  in  coal.  But  the  two 
things  are  mighty  closely  related  in  one  re¬ 
spect  at  least.  Yon  can  not  do  a  successful 
business  unless  you  have  a  proper  mental 
attitude  toward  it.  Yon  can  not  have  a 
proper  mental  attitude  if  you  are  con¬ 
stantly  using  phrases  which  you  do  not 
understand.  Our  suggestion  is  that  if  you 
want  to  understand  the  coal  business,  you 
must  understand  its  terms. 

'fhere  is  one  word  in  particular  which 
will  hear  close  study.  We  speak  very 
often  of  the  “responsibility”  for  coal  at 
certain  stages  in  its  passage  from  the  pro¬ 
ducer  to  the  consumer.  Responsibility 
for  anything  generally  attaches  itself  most 
intimately  to  ownership  and,  after  that,  to 
agency.  Therefore  the  main  question  is : 
Who  owned  the  coal  at  the  time  the  thing 
in  question  happened? 

In  ordinary  business  procedure,  an  oper¬ 
ator  sells  coal  “f.  o.  b.  the  mines.”  That 
being  the  case,  the  coal  becomes  the  prop¬ 
erty  of  the  purchaser  when  it  was  put  on 
board  the  car.  With  that  passage  of  own¬ 
ership,  responsibility  also  shifts.  Respon¬ 
sibility  for  it  therefore  is  not  with  the 
producer  but  with  the  buyer. 

Then  arises  instantly  another  question. 
Tlie  coal  is  not  in  the  possession  of  the  • 
buyer  while  it  is  in  transit.  He  owns  it 
and  is  responsible  for  it,  but  it  is  not  in 
his  possession.  In  such  an  event  the 
owner  has  entrusted  it  to  a  second  party 
with  instructions  to  carry  it  to  a  given 
point.  The  responsibility  there  changes 
again  from  the  man  wlio  owns  the  coal 
to  the  agent.  But  this  is  a  transfer  of 
responsiliility  througli  an  agency  rather 
than  through  a  change  of  ownership.  Un¬ 
der  those  circumstances  the  agent  is  re¬ 
sponsible  to  the  principal — the  owner — 
for  the  coal. 

Of  course  if  the  coal  is  sold  f.  o.  b.,  such 
and  such  a  point — meaning  a  certain  des¬ 
tination — the  situation  is  reversed.  In 
that  case  the  operator  retains  possession 
of  the  coal  and  retains  responsibility  for 
it  until  it  gets  to  that  destination  and  is 
accepted. 

This  is  one  definition  among  many 
which  will  help  to  emphasize  the  prin¬ 
ciple.  The  principle  is  that  if  you  want 
to  understand  a  subject  thoroughly  you 


No.  7] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


131 


must  understand  the  words  and  phrases 
in  which  that  subject  naturally  is  couched. 
If  you  cannot  think  without  words,  you 
cannot  think  straight  unless  you  under¬ 
stand  the  words. 


Idle  Car  Statement. 

For  some  time  the  railways  have  not 
made  public  that  enlightening  document 
of  the  American  Railway  Association 
called  the  “idle  car  statement.”  There 
are,  no  doubt,  good  and  sufficient  reasons 
for  its  non-appearance.  It  may  be  that  so 
many  cars  have  been  lying  idle  the  rail¬ 
ways  do  not  care  to  make  an  exhibition 
of  the  fact. 

Presumably,  now  that  the  car  situation 
is  tightening,  the  publication  of  this  re¬ 
port  will  be  resumed.  If  this  vivacious 
publication  is  again  circulated  some  infor¬ 
mation  might  be  added  that  would  in¬ 
crease  its  value.  There  might,  for  exam¬ 
ple,  be  a  footnote  to  the  effect  that  the 
average  number  of  cars  hauled  to  a  train 
is  such-and-such,  and  that  the  number  of 
engines,  in  good  order,  available  is  so- 
and-so.  This  would  indicate  whether  the 
idle  engines  are  capable  of  hauling  the 
idle  cars.  It  does  no  good,  you  know,  to 
have  cars  if  there  is  no  motive  power  to 
haul  them. 

Of  course  such  information  really  can¬ 
not  be  part  of  such  a  report.  But  it 
would  be  of  value  to  the  shippers  if  they 
could  know  that  track  facilities  were  am¬ 
ple,  that  engines  enough  are  on  hand  to 
haul  the  trains  and  whether  terminal 
facilities  are  equal  to  the  ta.sk  of  maneu¬ 
vering  these  trains. 

We  are  getting  around  to  a  ])oint  where 
the  railroads  are  likely  to  be  hard  put 
to  move  the  commerce  offered  to  them. 
This  need  not  arise  from  the  fact-  that 
commerce  has  actually  developed  a  stu¬ 
pendous  volume ;  it  might  very  well  mean 
that  the  railroads  are  not  physically 
equipped  to  take  care  of  even  ordinary 
business. 

If  the  American  Railway  Association 
could  prepare  a  document  of  the  sort  here 
suggested  it  would  prove  enlightening 
to  shippers,  even  though  it  might  not  en¬ 
courage  them. 


Russia’s  Back  Door. 

Even  German  thoroughness  in  material 
preparation  for  military  eventualities, 
amazing  as  it  has  been,  does  not  seem  to 
have  been  able  to  reach  to  what  may 
prove  to  be  a  vital  factor  in  the  ultimate 
decision  of  the  titanic  struggle  now  rag¬ 
ing  in  Poland.  That  factor  is  what  may 
be  termed  “Russia’s  back  door.” 

An  Associated  Press  correspondent's 
letter  from  Vladivostok  under  date  of 
June  25  calls  attention  to  it.  Students  of 
our  foreign  trade  returns  had  suspected 
its  rapid  widening,  now  related  in  detail. 
They  had  noted  that  while  our  exports  to 
European  Russia  in  the  teri  months  end¬ 
ing  with  last  April  had  fallen  to  less  than 
$17,000,000  from  over  $26,000,000  in  the 
same  months  a  year  earlier,  exports  to 
Asiatic  Russia  had  jumped  from  around 
$1,000,000  to  nearly  $19,000,000.  The 
Herald  noted  this  weeks  ago  as  .showing 
how  the  “blockades”  and  “war  zones”  had 
changed  trade  channels  rather  than  acted 
as  trade  stoppers. 

Of  course,  this  is  not  the  only  country 


from  which  Russia  is  drawing  su])plies 
through  her  back  door.  While  the  corre¬ 
spondent  speaks  of  cargoes  of  cotton  com¬ 
ing  through  the  Panama  Canal,  of  the  400 
locomotives  and  20,000  freight  cars  due 
before  the  end  of  August  from  America, 
he  also  speaks  of  shiploads  of  rifles  and 
cartridges  already  arrived  from  japan 
and  of  naval  guns  from  England  for  ships 
building  on  the  Black  Sea.  Ele  tells  of  a 
great  harbor  already  crowded  with  ship¬ 
ping  and  of  the  swift  building  of  more 
docks  and  wharves  at  which  to  unload  the 
more  and  more  ships  that  are  coming. 

That  truly  amazing  German  thorough¬ 
ness  stopped  Russia’s  front  door  on  the 
Baltic  and  has  so  far  barred  the  side  door 
at  the  Dardanelles.  Undoubtedly  it  took 
into  account  this  back  door,  though  not 
able  to  stop  it.  And  so  it  may  come  about 
that  the  decision  on  the  plains  of  Poland 
will  be  made  not  so  much  on  the  firing 
line  as  on  the  wharves  of  Vladivostok  and 
on  the  railway  line  that  connects  the  bat¬ 
tle  front  with  Russia’s  back  door. — The 
Chicago  Herald. 


Discussion  and  Action. 

Accurate  cost  accounting  has  two  pur¬ 
poses.  One  is  to  suggest  the  price  which 
should  be  charged,  the  cost  having  been 
determined.  The  other  is  to  show  where 
the  cost  can  l^e  cut  when  study  has  proved 
that  it  is  too  high. 

In  all  the  coal  trade  discussions  of  cost 
accounting,  most  attention  has  been  di¬ 
rected  to  the  problem  :  How  can  we  get 
the  price  up  to  a  point  where  it  will  cover 
the  cost?  Very  little  attention  has  been 
paid  to  the  question  :  “How  can  we  cut 
the  cost  down  to  where  it  meets  that 
of  our  neighbor  or  to  where  it  should 
be?  Concentration  has  been  upon  the 
less  important  factor;  we  have  neglected 
the  most  important  end  of  all  accounting. 

It  does  no  man  any  good  to  know  merely 
what  it  costs  him  to  do  business.  If  he 
is  a  coal  man  and  if  the  figures  prove  that 
it  costs  him  $1.00  a  ton  to  handle  coal, 
and  if  he  accepts  that  as  a  proper  cost, 
laying  the  report  aside,  he  might  better 
have  saved  the  money  which  he  paid  the 
accountant  to  make  the  report.  But  if  the 
figures  prove  that  it  cost  $1.00  to  handle 
coal  and  if  he  had  been  charging  seventy- 
five  cents,  and  if  as  a  result,  he  begins  at 
once  to  charge  more  than  $1.00,  he  begins 
to  use  the  report  of  the  cost  accountant 
and  thus  to  realize  its  value.  He  has 
turned  the  information  to  good  account. 

If  a  coal  man  finds  that  his  cost  of  do¬ 
ing  business  is  $1.00  a  ton  and  lets  it  rest 
there,  he  is  out  of  pocket  the  money  he 
paid  the  accountant.  He  has  had  a  loss 
for  his  pains.  But  if  he  finds  that  it  costs 
him  $1.00  to  handle  coal  while  it  is  cost¬ 
ing  somebody  else  sixty-five  cents,  and  if 
he  studies  how  he  may  cut  his  cost  down 
to  meet  that  competitor,  then  his  outlay 
for  the  cost  accounting  system  was  the 
best  possible  investment  he  could  have 
made. 

Of  the  two  advantages  of  cost  account¬ 
ing,  the  most  difficult  one  to  realize  is 
that  which  finds  expression  in  an  advance 
of  the  selling  price.  The  sale  price  of  coal  is 
determined  by  the  competition  of  all  pro¬ 
ducers  or  dealers  of  a  community.  Prices 
are  not  fixed  alone  by  individual  action. 
Even  if  all  competitors  should  unite  to 
advance  the  selling  price  to  cover  a  re¬ 


cently  discovered  but  extravagant  cost  of 
handling,  they  would  not  dissolve  their 
difficulties.  They  would  do  nothing  more 
than  invite  an  increase  of  competition  as 
others  would  want  to  participate  in  their 
assured  profit.  Therefore,  to  advance  the 
price  is  to  invite  the  destruction  of  their 
own  arrangement. 

However,  the  man  who  learns  the  pres¬ 
ent  cost  of  doing  business  and  uses  it  as 
a  guide  by  which  to  improve  his  methods 
is  in  a  way  to  occupy  a  class  by  himself. 
He  soon  learns  to  outdistance  competi¬ 
tion. 

What  is  more  to  the  point,  he  thus 
learns  to  keep  out  of  the  trade  all  others 
except  those  who  conform  to  his  efficient 
method  of  doing  business  and  who,  there¬ 
fore,  have  a  low  cost  of  handling  coal. 

The  purpose  of  cost  accounting  which 
expresses  itself  in  a  reduction  of  that  cost 
is  best,  all  things  considered. 


Although  some  persons  may  think  dif¬ 
ferently,  the  coal  mines  of  America  are 
not  run  merely  for  the  purpose  of  giving 
jobs  to  the  miners,  freight  revenue  to  the 
carriers  and  cheap  coal  to  the  people.  The 
man  who  is  doing  a  lot  of  work  and  tak¬ 
ing  all  of  the  risk  should  get  some  pay  for 
it.  That  is  the  purpose  for  which  most 
coal  companies  are  organized. 


A  Suggested  Experiment. 

We  would  like  to  suggest  as  an  experi¬ 
ment  to  some  daring  coal  operators  that 
they  enter  an  ironclad  agreement  to  do 
these  things: 

First,  to  employ  high-grade  account¬ 
ants  to  arrive  at  what  is  the  actual  aver¬ 
age  cost  of  production  in  their  field. 

Second,  to  work  co-operatively  to  find 
what  is  the  average  cost  of  making  sales 
over  their  territory. 

Third,  not  to  sell  their  coal  for  less  than 
the  cost  of  production  plus  the  cost  of 
making  sales. 

We  suggest  that  the  operators  enter  a 
trust  agreement  purposely  made  stronger 
than  any  which  has  ever  been  framed  in 
America.  The  sole  purpose  of  it  should 
be  not  to  sell  a  ton  of  coal  for  less  than 
what  it  costs  at  the  market. 

This  done,  we  suggest  that  the  oper¬ 
ators  make  a  frank  statement  of  their 
program  to  the  officials  of  the  United 
States  Government.  This  should  not  be 
done  as  a  banter  or  in  a  spirit  of  brag¬ 
gadocio,  but  with  firmness  as  one  stands 
on  his  rights.  Their  defense  should  be : 

“It  is  no  restraint  of  trade  for  the  pro¬ 
ducers  to  agree  not  to  do  business  at  a 
loss.” 

Elton  Buckley  said  recently  that  the 
laws  were  not  framed  to  force  men  to  do 
business  at  a  loss,  but  to  prevent  them 
from  combining  to  get  an  exorbitant  mar¬ 
gin.  We  believe  that  the  operators  can 
combine  to  get  at  least  the  cost  of  pro¬ 
duction.  If  they  can,  the  laws  of  trade 
fluctuation  will  enable  them  to  get  a  fair 
profit  on  the  long  run.  This  idea  seems 
to  be  upheld  by  the  rule  of  reason  intro¬ 
duced  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States  in  several  of  the  anti-trust  cases. 


Who  can  fathom  the  mind  of  the  Inter¬ 
state  Commerce  Commission.  Today  it  ad¬ 
vances  coal  and  holds  other  rates  down. 
Yesterday  it  did  exactly  the  opposite. 


132 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[August  14 


News  Local  to  Chicago. 


One  of  tlie  week’s  visitors  was  Fred  Scherer 
of  Ottawa. 

Andrew  I.  Cochran,  president  of  the  Cochran 
Coal  Company,  of  Indianapolis,  was  calling  on 
the  trade  this  week. 

Mr.  Fyke  of  the  Marion  County  Coal  Com¬ 
pany  of  Centralia,  Ill.,  was  in  Chicago  the 
early  part  of  this  week. 

Kuper  Hood,  general  sales  agent  of  the 
Houston  Company  of  Cincinnati,  was  a  Chi¬ 
cago  visitor  within  the  week. 

E.  F.  Pierce,  vice->president  of  the  Shelby 
Coal  Mining  Company,  Shelbiana,  Kentucky, 
was  in  Chicago  last  week  getting  a  line  on 
the  gas  coal  market. 

C.  C.  Nash,  formerly  with  the  Harrishnrg- 
Franklin  Coal  Company,  has  been  added  to 
the  city  sales  force  of  the  P.uchanan  Coal 
Company. 

F.  Gascoigne,  Chicago  manager  of  the  Ed¬ 
wards  &  Bradford  Lumber  Company,  left  this 
week  for  the  coast.  Mr.  Gascoigne  is  making 
it  a  business  and  pleasure  trip. 

Miss  Cummings,  who  is  now  in  charge  of 
the  Chicago  office  of  C.  G.  Blake  Coal  &  Coke 
Company,  is  spending  a  two  weeks’  vacation 
at  Colorado,  and  the  Chicago  office  tempo¬ 
rarily  is  closed. 

J.  B.  Hilton,  purchasing  agent  for  C.  M. 
Moderwell  &  Co,,  will  leave  the  middle  of 
August  for  a  two  weeks’  vacation.  Mr.  Hilton 
will  spend  his  time  on  the  New  Brunswick 
shore,  where  fishing  is  always  good. 

Win.  Leckie,  president  of  the  West  Virginia 
Pocahontas  Coal  Sales  Corporation,  passed 
through  Chicago  this  week  on  his  return  from 
the  Pacific  Coast.  Mr.  I.eckie  and  his  family 
have  spent  the  past  month  visiting  the  ex¬ 
position  and  other  points  of  interest. 

W.  S.  Taylor,  western  agent  for  the  West 
Virginia  Pocahontas  Coal  Sales  Corporation 
with  headquarters  at  Detroit,  Michigan,  was  a 
Chicago  visitor  this  week.  Mr.  Taylor  reports 
a  notable  improvement  in  business  and  that 
July  was  the  record  month  for  their  Panther 
mine. 

Harry  Trester,  who  has  been  manager  of 
sales  for  the  A.  B.  Currie  Company  of_  Omaha, 
has  recently  resigned  his  position  and  is  spend¬ 
ing  the  month  in  Chicago.  Fie  says  that_  he 
has  been  in  the  harness  for  a  good  long  time 
and  needs  a  rest,  so  he  is  going  to  take  about 
a  month  before  he  makes  another  connection. 

The  picnic  of  the  Chicago  Coal  Merchants’ 
.Association  will  be  held  on  Saturday  of  this 
week  at  Fox  River  Park,  on  the  line  of  the 
Aurora,  Elgin  &  Chicago  railway.  The  sale 
of  tickets  has  been  very  heavy  and  the  ex¬ 
pectations  are  that  there  will  be  an  unusually 
large  attendance  —  weather  permitting,  of 
course. 

Ten  years  ago  the  Chicago  coal  trade  held 
a  picnic,  which  resulted  in  a  profit  of  over 
$400.  Shortly  afterward  at  the  suggestion  of 
George  Merry,  $300  of  the  amount  realized  was 
used  to  purchase  a  bed  in  St.  Luke’s  Hospital. 
The  balance  and  accrued  interest  amounting 
to  $24.5.00  was  turned  over  this  week  by  the 
trustees,  F.  J.  Browning  and  D.  W.  Buchanan, 
to  St.  Luke’s  Hospital. 

Among  the  week’s  visitors  was  W.  W. 
Broughton,  president  of  the  Pittsburgh  Coal 
Company  of  Minneapolis.  He  was  here  study¬ 
ing  the  situation  with  regard  to  supplies  and 
said  incidentally  that  most  of  the  consumers 
in  the  northwest  had  been  doing  the  same  thing 
as  had  the  consumers  in  other  parts  of  the 
country;  namely,  they  have  not  been  putting 
in  much  coal. 

The  offices  of  the  Old  Ben  Mining  Corpo¬ 
ration  in  the  McCormick  building,  are  being 
enlarged  and  generally  done  over.  The  new 
arrangement  will  include  six  private  offices 
and  a  very  large  workroom,  with  a  general 
entrance  and  a  rather  long  hallway.  The 
office  is,  in  fact,  to  occupy  the  major  por¬ 
tion  of  the  south  side  of  the  eleventh  floor 
of  the  McCormick  building. 

The  Springfield  operators  have  recently 
been  making  a  very  careful  survey  of  the  sit¬ 
uation.  They  found  that  the  demand  for  do¬ 
mestic  coal  had  been  increasing  and  they  be¬ 
lieve  that  the  business  for  the  next  2^2  months 
is  going  to  be  extraordinarily  strong.  This 
arises  from  the  fact  that  the  retailers  have 


been  expecting  low  prices  and  have  not  bought 
any  coal  up  to  now.  Therefore,  the  market 
is  quite  strong  and  it  would  not  I)e  surprising 
if  on  the  15th  of  the  month  some  of  them 
should  put  out  a  new  circular  of  $1.05  for  the 
lump,  egg  and  nut  coal. 

The  officers  of  the  Old  Ben  Mining  Cor¬ 
poration  a  short  time  ago  took  their  sales¬ 
men  on  a  trip  to  the  mines  and  made  quite 
an  event  of  it.  The  salesmen  in  return  wanted 
to  show  their  appreciation  of  the  courtesy  and 
took  up  a  subscription,  which  was  turned  over 


The  Old  Ben  Tablet. 

to  Dr.  J.  E.  Beebe.  He  in  turn  had  a  bronze 
tablet  struck  ofif,  a  photograph  of  which  is 
reproduced  herewith.  As  can  be  seen,  this 
carries  a  first-rate  likeness  of  Old  Ben,  which 
has  become  the  trademark  of  the  company, 
and  an  inscription  commemorating  the  trip  to 
the  mines. 

A  rather  curious  situation  has  prevailed  in 
the  local  coke  market  for  the  last  three  or 
four  months.  The  growth  of  by-product  plants 
has  been  so  great  that  about  all  the  western 
needs  for  foundry  coke  can  be  taken  care  of 
by  production  of  western  ovens.  In  fact,  when 
the  iron  and  steel  market  went  ofT,  there  was 
more  coke  available  than  the  market  needed. 
In  consequence  the  production  ran  down  to 
about  sixty  per  cent  of  normal  in  May  and 
June.  Then  the  demand  for  furnace  and 
ioundry  coke  improved.  Instead  of  this  in¬ 
fluencing  the  price  as  is  customarily  the  case, 
the  producer  simply  put  more  ovens  into  op¬ 
eration.  Thus  in  July  the  ovens  were  run¬ 
ning  to  seventy  or  seventy-five  per  cent  of 
capacity  and  the  further  improvement  in  de¬ 
mand  has  made  necessary  running  the  ovens 
to  about  eighty  or  ninety  per  cent  of  capacity. 
Meanwhile  there  has  been  a  rather  .over¬ 
crowded  market  on  the  crushed  or  domestic 
sizes.  Recently,  however,  the  domestic  demand 
improved  enough  to  take  up  the  increased  pro¬ 
duction  and  to  warrant  a  rise  of  ten  cents  per 
ton  in  price. 

While  in  Chica.go  this  week,  George  Barker, 
vice-president,  Maynard  Coal  Company,  spoke 
of  the  difficult  condition,  under  which  the 
Ohio  operator  is  trying  to  work  his  mines,  due 
to  the  shortsightedness  of  the  officials  of  the 
Miners’  Union.  Some  of  the  mining  towns 
m  the  Hocking  have  been  practically  aban¬ 
doned  by  the  operators  making  it  impossible 
for  men  to  make  a  livelihood  of  any  kind  as 
the  mines  were  their  only  source  of  employ¬ 
ment.  From  the  operator’s  standpoint  the  only 
ray  of  hope  was  to  secure  a  tonnage  from 
neighboring  states,  which  were  not  dominated 
by  the  United  Workers  of  America.  Mr. 
Barker’s  company  was  particularly  fortunate 
in  this  respect  as  it  had  a  property  at  Hazard, 


Ferry  county,  Kentucky,  which  is  developing 
rapidly.  The  coal  is  known  to  the  trade  as 
the  famous  Daniel  Boone  coal.  The  prepara¬ 
tion  is  standard  consisting  of  the  following 
sizes:  four-inch  shaker  screened  block,  2x4 
inch  shaker  screened  egg  and  two-inch  nut  and- 
slack.  While  the  Maynard  Company  will  con¬ 
tinue  to  run  their  Ohio  properties  if  market 
conditions  permit  it  is  their  intention  to  make 
a  specialty  of  their  Kentucky  product  at  this 
lime. 

The  anthracite  trade  in  Chicago  is  in  a  pe¬ 
culiar  and  interesting  situation,  as  the  result 
of  the  attitude  of  the  Interstate  Commerce 
toward  the  proposed  advance  in  anthracite 
rates.  Quite  a  while  ago  the  Pennsylvania 
Railroad  announced  an  increase  of  twenty-five 
cents  a  ton  in  anthracite  rates  to  Chicago.  It 
was  compelled  to  equalize  the  Chicago  rates 
\vith  those  to  points  east,  and  it  had  an  op¬ 
tion  either  of  lowering  those  rates  or  ad¬ 
vancing  the  Chicago  rate.  It  decided  upon  the 
latter  course.  Incidentally,  formal  protests 
against  the  increase  were  filed  with  the  com¬ 
mission.  Accordin.gly,  the  proposed  increase 
was  suspended  for  180  days.  At  the  expira¬ 
tion  of  that  time  it  was  again  suspended  for 
120  days.  That  was  as  far  as  the  commission 
could  go  under  the  law.  Meanwhile  the  com¬ 
mission  had  taken  testimony  and  briefs  were 
filed  by  the  protestants  and  by  the  defendant 
carriers.  These  were  in  the  hands  of  the  com¬ 
mission,  which  was  able  to  reach  no  decision 
before  the  summer  vacation,  which  started  on 
on  August  1st.  As  a  consequence,  the  pro¬ 
posed  increase  went  into  efifect  on  July  17,  by 
tlie  mere  fact  of  the  expiration  of  the  time 
allowed  the  commission  for  suspending  rates. 
Now  Chairman  McChord  of  the  commission 
says  that  the  rates  going  into  efifect  now  have 
the  same  force  as  though  they  were  sanctioned 
liy  the  commission.  This  makes  the  anthra¬ 
cite  rate  to  Chicago  twenty-five  cents  a  ton 
higher  than  it  has  been.  Protests  were  filed 
by  the  Chicago  Coal  Merchants’  Association 
and  others,  but  these  were  known  to  have 
no  efifect  under  the  circumstances.  The  Penn¬ 
sylvania  Railroad  finally,  to  simplify  matters, 
had  put  out  a  new  tarifif,  which  combined 
and_  explained  several  preceding  tarififs  on  this 
subject.  One  member  of  the  Chicago  Asso¬ 
ciation  instantly  seized  upon  this  as  a  tech¬ 
nicality,  which  might  be  of  use  to  the  re¬ 
tailers.  Therefore,  a  formal  protest  was  filed 
against  this  new  tarifif  because  it  proposed 
a  new  increase  in  rates.  In  view  of  the  fact 
that_  the  subject  matter  is  still  under  consid¬ 
eration  by  the  commission,  it  is  doubtful 
whether  this  additional  protest  will  have  any 
effect.  The  only  explanation  which  is  ob¬ 
tainable  from  the  commission  comes  in  a 
letter  from  Chairman  McChord,  who  says  that 
the  commission  did  not  decide  the  Chicago 
rate  case,  because  it  is  really  part  of  the  gov¬ 
ernment’s  investigation  of  the  anthracite  in¬ 
dustry  and  anthracite  rates  which  has  been 
going  on  for  about  two  years,  and  upon  which 
a  report  is  soon  to  be  forthcoming.  Other 
than  that,  the  commission  offers  no  informa¬ 
tion.  The  assumption  therefore  is  that  pres¬ 
ently,  or  after  the  commission’s  vacation,  there 
will  be  put  out  jointly  the  decision  on  the 
anthracite  case  as  a  whole  and  on  the  pro¬ 
posed  advance  of  rates  to  Chicago.  Meanwhile, 
locally  the  rates  are  twenty-five  cents  a  ton 
higher,  but  this  increase  is  being  absorbed  by 
the  coal  companies  rather  than  any  higher 
prices  being  made  temporarily  for  anthracite 
in  the  western  trade. 


President  Howe  of  the  Cincinnati  Coal  Ex¬ 
change  is  receiving  a  stack  of  letters  compliment¬ 
ing  him  and  the  publication  committee  of  the 
exchange  on  the  publication  of  the  recent  booklet 
gotten  out  by  the  exchange,  explaining  the  rela¬ 
tions  between  buyer  and  seller,  shipper  and  re¬ 
ceiver  of  coal,  and  giving  decisions  of  courts, 
commissions  and  other  authorities  on  puzzling 
points  in  the  relationship  which  exists  between 
the  railroad  companies  and  shippers,  along  with 
other  points  of  interest  to  coal  dealers.  Man¬ 
agers  of  all  the  large  railroads  have  sent  their 
congratulations  together  with  requests  for  con¬ 
signments  of  the  booklets  for  circulation  among 
the  agents  of  the  companies  as  well  as  among 
their  coal  shippers.  The  booklet  was  a  happy 
idea  and  has  been  received  with  pleasure  by  coal 
men  everywhere,  as  well  as  by  the  railroad  man¬ 
agers.  A  very  large  edition  was  printed,  but  it 
begins  to  look  as  though  a  second  edition  will 
have  to  be  placed  on  the  presses. 


No.  7] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


133 


Facts  Which  Determine  Our  Export  Prospects. 


The  Export  Situation. 

July  exports  of  bituminous  over  the  At¬ 
lantic  seaboard,  ran  very  near  1,100,000  tons. 
This  was  the  second  month  when  shipments 
were  over  1,000,000  tons.  Below  are  details 
of  exports  by  the  principal  ports.  Some  un¬ 
reported  cargoes  from  Philadelphia  will  likely 
swell  the  figures  from  that  port  by  some 
15,000  or  25,000  tons. 

Negotiations  are  now  being  conducted  by 
European  coal  people  with  American  shippers, 
that  would  indicate  that  the  foreign  coal  im¬ 
porter  is  now  much  exercised  over  England’s 
latest  order  restricting  exports. 

The  Black  Diamond  learns  from  most  au¬ 
thoritative  sources  that  some  very  large  deals 
are  now  pending.  There  is  every  indication 
that  our  exports  for  August  will  make  a  new 
record,  and  that  a  further  increase  will  be 
shown  in  September,  should  shippers  find  it 
possible  to  secure  ample  bottoms  for  the  ton¬ 
nage  they  can  sell. 

A  statement  of  coal  exported  in  July  by 
ports  and  destinations  follows: 


July  Bituminous  Exports. 


Phila- 


Country — 

Italy  . 

Argentine  . 

delphia.* 

9,421 

3,519 

Cuba  . 

51,197 

France  . 

21,637 

Spain  . 

30,044 

French  West  Africa 

Brazil  . 

15,270 

Grand  Canaries.  . .  . 

Danish  West  Indies 

Porto  Rico . 

2,274 

British  West  Indies 

Algiers  . 

3,388 

Dutch  Guiana . 

805 

Hampton 

Roads.  Baltimore.  Total. 
374,270  80,768  404,459 

68,893  28,038  100,450 

5,001  17,685  22,686 

4,404  10,220  14,624 

13,889  34,333  99,419 

7,282  26,191  55,110 

2,970  14,077  47,091 

12,910  18,850  31,760 

.  988  988 

12,027  3,002  15,029 

.  371  371 

.  2,907  2,907 

.  3,953  3,953 

.  3,000  3,000 

7,651  7,651 

2,677  2,677 

7,439  7,439 

13,451  13,451 

63,502  78,772 

7,604  7,604 

1,088  .  1,088 

21,772  21,772 

6,546  6,546 

736  736 

1,189  1,189 

52,800  52,800 

8,883  11,157 

12,641  12,641 

.  3,388 

.  805 


712,955  234,380  1,084,890 


Totals  .  137,555 

Incomplete;  some  cargoes  yet  not  reported. 


The  Welsh  Coal  Situation. 

Latest  mail  advices  from  Cardiff,  under  date 
of  July  30th,  show  that  the  coal  market  had 
not  by  any  means,  recovered  from  the  effect 
of  the  week  of  idleness  caused  by  the  strike 
of  the  Welsh  miners.  Following  the  settle¬ 
ment  of  the  strike,  there  was  a  resumption 
of  work,  but  not  more  than  seventy  per  cent 
of  the  men  returned  to  work  immediately. 
Therefore,  with  outputs  below  normal,  and  the 
needs  of  the  admiralty  large,  there  has  not 
been  much  surplus  coal  of  the  favored  grades, 
for  commercial  sale.  While  production  was 
improving  each  day,  the  trade  was  faced 
with  a  serious  shortage  of  coal,  making  it 
difficult  for  sellers  to  negotiate  ahead  for 
shipments. 

Since  the  date  of  these  advices,  a  new  re¬ 
striction  order  relating  to  exports  has  been 
announced  by  the  government.  According  to 
this,  no  exports  can  be  made  to  the  allied 
countries  except  by  special  license. 

This  will  make  it  very  unsatisfactory  for 
sellers  to  do  business,  and  this  will  no  doubt 
cause  the  diversion  of  orders  to  America, 
where  purchases  can  be  made  with  assurance 
of  regular  shipments.  Prices  have  advanced, 
second  admiralty  grades  being  quoted  at  27 
to  29.S,  against  25  to  26s  as  formerly.  Ordinary 
qualities  are  quoted  at  26s.  Black  Veins  are 
said  to  have  sold  at  31s,  with  27s  as  the  nominal 
quotation.  Western  Valleys  are  28  to  30s. 
Best  bunkers  are  22  to  23s;  ordinaries  19  to  20s. 
Patent  fuel  (briquett)  firm  at  35s  for  best 
brands. 

Foreign  Vessel  Rates. 

Latest  mail  advices  from  Cardiff  show 
fixtures  for  coal  as  follows:  To  Ale.xandria, 
20s  6d;  Algiers,  17  francs;  Buenos  Aires,  26s 
to  27s  6d:  Bordeaux,  15  francs;  Genoa,  16s 
6d  to  20s  6d;  Gibraltar,  14s  6d;  Lisbon,  12s  6d; 
Marseilles,  20  francs;  Naples,  15s  3d  to  15s  9d; 


Palermo,  21s  6d;  Savona,  16s  6d  to  20s  6d; 
Rouen,  10s  to  12s  6d. 

From  the  Tyne  to  Algiers,  18s  6d;  Bordeaux, 
18s;  Copenhagen,  12s;  Genoa,  25s;  Gibraltar, 
18s;  Marseilles,  24s  6d;  Naples  15s  3d  to  15s 
9d;  Port  Said,  24s;  Rotterdam,  12s  6d. 


Hampton  Roads  Exports. 

Exports  from  Hampton  Roads  by  ports  for 
July,  1915,  as  compared  with  July,  1914,  were 
as  follows: 


Destination — . 

Antofagasta,  Chile . 

Buenos  Aires,  A.  K . 

Bridgetown,  Barbados . 

Bahia,  Brazil . 

Branto,  Italy . 

Cristobal,  C.  Z . 

Civita,  Vecchia,  Italy . 

Curacao,  D.  W.  1 . 

Cienfuegos,  Cuba . 

Cardenas,  Cuba . 

Cadiz,  Spain . 

Catania,  Italy . 

Casa  Blanca,  Morocco . 

Copenhagen,  Denmark . 

Castries,  St.  Lucia . 

Genoa,  Italy . 

Gaeta,  Italy . 

Dakar,  French  West  Africa.  . 

Havana,  Cuba . 

Italian  port . 

Kingston,  Jamaica . 

Leghorn,  Italy . 

Las  Palmas,  G.  C.  I . 

Lisbon,  Portugal . 

Maceio,  Brazil . 

Montevideo,  Uruguay . 

Messina,  Sicily . 

Maddaleiia,  Italy . 

Marseilles,  France . 

Naples,  Italy . 

Puerto  Ferrao,  Italy . 

Puerto  Plata,  S.  D . 

Port  Antonia,  Jamaica . 

Port  Said,  Egypt . 

Palermo,  Italy . 

Para,  Brazil . 

Pernambuco,  Brazil . 

Rio  de  Janeiro,  Brazil . 

Rosario,  A.  R . 

Piraeus,  Greece . 

Rotterdam,  Holland . 

San  Juan,  P.  R . 

Stockholm,  Sweden . 

Spezia,  Italy . 

Savona,  Italy . 

Santa  Liberata,  Italy . 

Siracusa,  Italy . 

Santiago,  Cuba . 

St.  Michaels,  Azores . 

St.  Thomas,  D.  W.  I . 

Torre  Annunziata,  Italy . 

Zarata,  A.  R . 

Demerara,  B.  G . 

Hamilton,  Bermuda . 

Santo  Domingo  City,  S.  D.  . .  . 

La  Plata,  A.  R . 

Coronel,  Chile,  F.  O . 

Venice,  Italy . 

Brindisi,  Italy . 

Trapani,  Italy . 

Cavite,  P.  I . 

Gunatanamo,  Cuba . 

Vera  Cruz,  Mexico . 

St.  Lucia,  B.  VV.  I . 

Totals  . 


Destination — 

Antofagasta,  Chile . 

Buenos  Aires,  A.  R . 

Bridgetown,  Barbados . 

Bahia,  Brazil . 

Branto,  Italy . 

Cristobal,  C.  Z . 

Civita  \'ecchia,  Italy . 

Curacao,  D.  W.  I . 

Cienfuegos,  Cuba . 

Cardenas,  Cuba . 

Cadiz,  Spain . 

Catania,  Italy . 

Casa  Blanca,  Morocco . 

Copenhagen,  Denmark . 

Castries,  St.  Lucia . 

Genoa,  Italy . 

Gaeta,  Italy . 

Dakar,  French  West  Africa.. 

Havana,  Cuba . 

Italian  port . 

Kingston,  Jamaica . 

Leghorn,  Italy . 

Las  Palmas,  G.  C.  I . 

Lisbon.  Portugal . 

Maceio,  Brazil . 

Montevideo,  Uruguay . 

Messina,  Sicily . 

Maddalena,  Italy . 

Marseilles,  France . 

Naples,  Italy . 

Puerto  Ferrajo,  Italy . 

Puerto  Plata,  S.  D . 

Port  Antonia,  Jamaica . 

Port  Said,  Egypt . 

Palermo,  Italy . 

Para,  Brazil . 

Pernambuco,  Brazil . 

Rio  de  Janeiro,  Brazil . 

Rosario,  A.  R . 

Piraeus,  Greece . 

Rotterdam,  Holland . 

San  Juan,  P.  R . 

Stockholm,  Sweden . 

Spezia,  Italy . 


- 1914 - , 

Lambert’s  Newport  Sewall’s 
Point.  News.  Point. 


2,150  5,444 


17,460 


5,624  . 

.  6,209 


32,930 

6,584 

5,400 

7,680 

3,943 

3,096 

11,650 


2,189  1,107 


1,287 


4,001  . 

’9,693  !’.!!!! 


2,347  . 

597  . 

1,270  . 

2,988  . 

3,188  . 

20,450  . 

6,000  . 

2,005  . 

8,443  . 

.  1,298 

.  6,392 

.  4,524 


125,588  48,177  11,634 

, - 1915 - 

Lambert’s  Newport  Sewall  s 
Point.  News.  Point. 

7,651  . 

47,103  .  10,135 

5,390  . 

2,975  3,980  . 

.  28,580  . 

52,800  . 

10,202  4,633  . 

4,400  . 

1,510  . 

1,915  . 

2,970  . 

5,435  . 

.  4.110  . 

.  2,677 

.  2,731  4,514 

86,346  11,119  . 

.  4,921  . 

13,451  . 

.  1,630  3,382 

11,454  14,828  4,916 

3,785  . 

17,889  . 

7,004  . 

1,889  . 

1,098  . 

11,008  10,764  . 

12,581  . 

.  24,430  . 

.  7,282  . 

17,235  6,218  . 

9,046  . 

736  . 

3,654  . 

5,001  . 

7,860  . 

.  4,000 

4,840  2,400  647 

20,982  16,875  5,705 

4,309  4,228  . 

4,404  . 

.  12,027  . 

7,145  1,738  . 

12,910  . 

5,187  42,498  24,795 


Savonia,  Italy . 

Santa  Liberata,  Italy . 

Siracusa,  Italy . 

Santiago,  Cuba . 

•St.  Michaels,  Azores . 

St.  Thomas,  D.  W,  I . 

Torre  -Annunziata  Italy . 

Zarata,  A.  R . 

Demerara,  B.  G . 

Hamilton,  Bermuda . 

Santo  Domingo  City,  S.  D... 

La  Plata,  A.  R . 

Coronel,  Chile,  F.  O . 

Venice,  Italy . 

Brindisi,  Italy . 

Trapani,  Italy . 

Cavite,  P.  I . 

Gunatanamo,  Cuba . 

Vera  Cruz,  .Mexico . 

St.  Lucia,  B.  W.  I . 

Totals  . 


5,000  . 

5,900  . 

4,830  . 

.  5,446  . 

.  1,088 

.  2,086 

5,197  . 

.  3,118  . 


435,454  213,556  63,945 


Foreign  Freight  Rates. 

W.  W.  Baltic  &  Co.,  Produce  Exchange, 
New  York,  report  as  follows  under  date  of 
August  9: 

Plate  freights  are  practically  the  same  as 
a  week  ago,  and  a  number  of  charters  were 
effected  during  this  interval  at  or  about  re¬ 
cent  quotations.  Mediterranean  freights  are 
firmer  owing  to  the  increased  demand  for 
steamers  for  grain,  and  Cuban  and  West  In¬ 
dian  freights  are  also  firmer  on  account  of  the 
scarcity  of  tonnage  available  for  this  business. 

We  would  quote  freight  rates  on  coal  by 
steamer  as  follows: 


West  Coast  of  Italy .  39s.@40s. 

Marsedles  ....  . . .  37s. @ 38s. 

Barcelona  or  other  good  Spanish  port .  36s.@37s. 

(Spanish  dues  for  account  of  cargo.) 

NOTE. — Charters  for  Italy,  France  and 
Spain  read:  “Lay  days  to  commence  on 
steamer’s  arrival  at  or  off  port  of  dis¬ 
charge,  Is.  per  net  register  ton  per  day 
demurrage.” 

Montevideo,  about .  345 

Buenos  Aires  or  La  Plata . '.34s.@34s.  6d' 

(Above  quotations  on  Plate  coal  by  British 
Steamers.  Netitral  steamers  are  more  dif¬ 
ficult  to  obtain  and  the  rates  are  always 
higher.) 

.  35s.@36s. 

oantos  . .  ggg  @375 

(Consignees  paying  docas  dues.) 

Valparaiso  or  Callao . $6.5007.00 

Havana  .  .  2.75  0  3.25 

Cardenas  or  Sagua .  3.00  0  3.50 

■  ■  ■  T  -'  -a' T  ■  ■  ; .  3.2503.50 

Port  of  Spain,  Trinidad,  about .  3.50 

i‘-  - ; .  3.25@3!50 

ot.  Inomas,  about .  3  qq 

Barbados,  about . 'LL!  slso 

Kingston  .  3.00@3!50 

. 3.25  and  p.c. 

Santiago  .  3.2503.50 

Guantanamo  .  3.2503.-50 

Demerara  .  .  4.5005.00 

Bermuda,  about .  300 

Vera  Cruz . L  .’  3.25@3!75 

lompico  .  3.2503.75 


Recent  Coal  Freight  Charters. 

Schooner  Ed.  E.  Briry,  Philadelphia  to  Fort  de  France, 
coal,  p.  t. 

Schooner  Theoline,  Philadelphia  to  Cay  Francis,  coal, 
p.  t. 

Schooner  Ann  J.  Trainer,  Philadelphia  to  St.  John, 
N.  B.,  coal,  p.  t. 

Steamer  J.  A.  Hooper,  Baltimore  to  San  Diego,  coal, 

p.  t. 

Steamer  Titania  (Ital,),  Baltimore  to  west  coast  of 
Italy,  coal,  p.  t. 

Steamer  Nordland  (Dan.),  Philadelphia  to  Cardenas, 
coal,  p.  t. 

Steamer  Lexie  (Br.),  Virginia  to  Montevideo,  coal,  34s, 
August. 

Steamer  Siljerstad  (Nor.),  Virginia  port  to  River  Plata, 
coal,  34s  6d,  August. 

Steamer  Corby  (Br.),  Virginia  port  to  River  Plata, 
coal,  p.  t.,  August. 

Steamer  Orion  (Greek),  Atlantic  Range  to  v/est  coast 
Italy,  coal,  38s,  August. 

Steamer  Tancred  (Nor.),  Newport  News  to  St.  Lucia, 
coal,  p.  t. 

Steamer  Nicholaos  (Greek),  .Atlantic  Range  to  Mar¬ 
seilles,  coal,  37s,  August. 

Schooner  Daisy  Farlin,  Philadelphia  to  St.  John,  N.  B., 
600  tons  coal,  $1.90. 

Schooner  A.  and  M.  Carlisle,  Philadelphia  to  St.  John. 
N.  B.,  500  tons,  $1.90. 

Schooner  Crescent,  Philadelphia  to  St.  John,  N.  B., 
coal,  $1.90. 

Steamer  Calimeris  (Br.),  Virginia  or  Baltimore  to  west 
coast  of  Italy,  coal,  30s. 

Steamer  Ludgate  (Br.),  Virginia  to  Campana  or  Villa 
Constitucion,  coal,  34s  Od. 

Steamer  Nea  Helles  (Greek),  Baltimore  to  Virginia 
to  Piraeus  or  Eyra,  coal,  30s,  August. 

Schooner  L.  H.  Goward,  Baltimore  to  Porto  Rico, 
coal,  p.  t. 

Steamer  Nordbotten  (Swed.),  Philadelphia  to  Narvik, 
8,000  tons  coal,  p.  t.  prompt. 

Steamer  Commonwealth  (Br.),  Baltimore  or  a  Virginia 
port  to  River  Plata,  coal,  34s  6d. 

Steamer  Camlake  (Br.),  Baltimore  to  west  coast  of 
Italy,  coal,  36s,  August. 

Steamer  Mar  Mediterraiieo  (Span.),  Baltimore  to  Span¬ 
ish  port,  coal,  p.  t.  spot. 

Steamer  Llongwen  (Br.),  Baltimore  to  west  coast  Italy, 
coal  p.  t. 

Steamer  Georgios  (Greek.),  Baltimore  to  west  coast 
Italy,  coal,  p.  t. 

Steamer  Falk  (Nor.),  Philadelphia  to  Manzanilla,  coal, 
p.  t. 


134 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[August  14 


General  Review. 

Buying  Has  Been  Delayed,  Exports 
Increase  and  Car  Shortage  Is 
Inevitable. 

I'or  the  first  time  in  almost  a  year  the  national 
coal  trade  has  a  definite  drift.  Kverything  con¬ 
sidered,  it  may  be  said  that  the  producers  are  in 
control  and  will  soon  be  able  to  dictate  prices. 

To  understand  the  present  national  market  in 
all  its  moods  and  tenses,  one  must  take  many 
commonplace  things  into  consideration,  but  make 
a  new  arrangement  of  them.  'J'hat  is,  one  must 
take  stock  of  transportation  facilities,  mine  devel¬ 
opment,  mine  working  force  and  facilities  for 
ultimate  distribution. 

Thus,  the  production  capacity  of  .American 
mines  is  not  far  from  r)()(),()()0,()()0  tons  of  coal  per 
year.  .More  has  been  produced  and  sold  in  a 
few  years  of  record,  but  it  was  only  made  possi¬ 
ble  by  extraordinary  activity  on  the  part  of  the 
railroads.  While  the  mines  evidently  can,  in  or¬ 
dinary  times,  produce  more,  it  is  not  safe  to 
count  on  much  more  than  .500,000, 000  tons  of  coal 
without  increasing  facilities,  and  hence  invest¬ 
ment.  Even  to  get  out  so  much  demands  the  im¬ 
portation  yearly  of  at  least  2.5,000  miners  from 
Europe. 

This  volume  of  coal  had  to  satisfy  all  home 
demands  and  also  the  export  and  bunker  de¬ 
mands.  .^t  present,  exports  are  more  than  100 
per  cent  above  normal :  the  railroads  are  begin¬ 
ning  to  take  almost  normal  amounts ;  factories 
are  in  some  districts  taking  more  than  they  took 
this  time  last  year.  The  question  demanding  to 
be  answered  is  whether  the  possible  supply  of 
coal  will  satisfy  the  demand  in  other  directions. 
Candidly,  it  seems  that  it  will  not. 

.‘\nthracite  is  a  first  rate  example.  Last  year 
the  operators  in  a  studied  campaign  practically 
forced  the  coal  on  the  retailers ;  they,  in  turn 
hounded  the  consumers  until  they  took  in  coal 
on  credit.  This  year  both  operators  and  retailers 
have  reversed  their  programs ;  production  has 
been  curtailed  when  consumers  were  backward 
with  orders.  As  a  result,  production  has  fallen 
off  nearly  2,000, OOP  tons  for  the  first  seven  months 
of  the  year  and  tidewater  stocks  have  been  all 
but  wiped  out.  b'pper  lake  stocks  also  are  low. 
Now,  the  storage  period  for  anthracite  is  about 
over.  Thus,  the  shortage  will  have  to  be  rnade 
up  at  the  exact  time  when,  normally,  the  direct 
movement  from  the  mines  to  the  consumer  is 
largest. 

The  bituminous  situation  also  is  exactly  the 
reverse  of  what  it  was  last  year.  Then,  the 
retailer  expected  and  got  cheap  coal.  They  stored 
much.  This  year,  the  operators  knew  they  were 
going  to  lose  tonnage  and  did  not  care  to  com- 
Iiound  the  loss  by  losing  money  also  on  the  coal 
sold.  Therefore  they  held  for  and  got  a  good 
figure.  Buyers  expected  this  situation  to  change 
from  day  to  day  and  delayed  luiying.  In  the 
west,  particularly,  not  to  exceed  twenty-five  per 
cent  of  the  normal  amount  of  coal  has  gone  into 
stora.ge. 

More  coal  than  normal  is  going  into  export  and 
hence  is  subtracting  from  the  volume  available 
for  the  interior  use.  .Mso,  storage  coal  and  coal 
for  current  use  must  be  shipped  at  the  same  time. 
This  is  going  to  throw  an  extraordinary  burden 
upon  both  mines  and  railroads.  The  question  is 
whether  they  can  respond  satisfactorily.  Recent 
reports  from  the  mining  districts  are  not  encour¬ 
aging.  The  mines  have  obtained  no  new  miners 
from  Europe,  but  instead  actually  have  lost  work¬ 
ers.  If  they  need  at  least  25,000  new  men  yearly 
to  get  out  their  regular  production  and  got  none 
Imt  lost  some,  the  mines  are,  at  least,  25,000  min¬ 
ers  short. 

In  addition,  we  are  running  into  a  period  of 
transportation  difficulty.  Railroad  cars  and  en¬ 
gines  have  not  been  maintained  in  good  order. 
What  is  more,  the  railroads  have  not  the  money 
to  spend  to  put  them  in  shape. 

Thus,  there  is  a  real  possibility  of  a  coal  short¬ 
age.  Everything  depends  upon  the  weather.  If 
the  weather  is  cold,  there  must  be  a  coal  short- 

Particular  attention  must  be  called  to  the  sit¬ 
uation  in  the  northwest.  Most  of  the  docks  had 
quantities  of  coal  left  over.  Some  assumed  that 
this  was  nearly  enough  to  carry  them  through 
this  year.  Consequently  they  bought  little.  When 
the  people  inland  took  no  coal,  the  docks  were 
confirmed  in  their  opinion.  The  action  of  the 
northwest  is  natural  enough.  Still,  it  does  not  re¬ 
lieve  the  northwestern  situation  any.  It  does  not 
assure  plenty  of  coal  for  a  hard  winter. 


Chicago  Market. 

Technically  the  Market  Is  Strong,  But 
Actually  Buying  Is  Still  Below 
Normal. 

Office  of  The  Hi..\c'k  I)i.\mond, 
Chu  auo,  .'\ugust  12. 

The  Chicago  coal  market  is  in  one  of  the  most 
curious  positions  it  has  occupied  in  a  number  of 
months.  Technically  every  coal  is  strong  to  the 
point  of  being  buoyant.  That  is,  the  operators 
liave  done  the  uncommon  thing  this  year  and 
have  refused  to  load  up  their  order  books  with 
cheap  coal ;  the  retailers  and  householders,  being 
accustomed  to  ridiculously  low  prices  in  summer, 
have  been  holding  off  expecting  every  minute  that 
the  market  would  break.  Thus  they  delayed  buy¬ 
ing  in  May,  again  in  June,  and  again  in  July. 
The  result  is  a  complete  reversal  of  the  situation 
common  early  in  August.  Heretofore  the  opera¬ 
tors  have  entered  that  month  with  their  order 
!)onks  full  for  lump  coal  sold  at  $1  or  a  little 
better.  This  year  they  enter  August  with  their 
books  clear  of  orders,  but  practically  no  coal  in 
th.e  hands  of  the  retailers  or  the  consumers. 

As  one  of  the  operators  expressed  it,  about 
the  only  domestic  business  that  has  been  done  this 
summer  has  been  the  selling  of  coal  to  schools 
and  the  public  utilities  companies.  This  means 
that  not  much  more  than  twenty-five  per  cent  of 
the  normal  amount  of  summer  coal  has  been 
moved.  Naturally,  with  the  storage  movement 
and  the  regular  fall  buying  to  be  taken  care  of 
in  the  next  two  and  a  half  months,  and  with 
transportation  difficulties  disturbing,  the  market 
is  exceptionally  strong  with  the  operators  in  com¬ 
mand  of  the  situation. 

The  anthracite  situation  has  not  been  changed 
to  the  same  extent  as  some  of  the  others.  An¬ 
thracite  coal  has  not  been  subjected  to  any  ex¬ 
traordinary  price  influence  this  summer. 

The  smokeless  situation  has  not  changed  much 
in  the  last  week.  Some  differences,  mainly  among 
the  operators,  over  the  question  of  policy,  has 
disturbed  prices  a  little  in  Chicago  on  mine  run. 
The  disturbance  has  had  no  effect  outside  of  Chi¬ 
cago.  On  spot  sales  mine  run  is  firm  at  $1.40. 
Both  on  spot  sales  and  on  contract,  lump  and  egg 
is  firm  at  circular  price  of  $2.25.  Prices  up  to 
Thursda)'  were : 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Smokeless —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Mine  run  .  $3.4.5  $1.40 

I.ump  and  egg .  4.30  2.25 


The  market  on  Somerset  county  coal  is  prac¬ 
tically  unchanged.  The  operators  are  not  loading 
their  books  with  cheap  coal  because  they  expect 
higher  jirices  later.  Prices  up  to  Thursday  were : 

F.  p.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Somerset  County —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Mine  run .  $3.30  $1.25 

I.ump  and  egg .  3.75@3.95  1.70@1.'JO 

Blocking  coal  has  shown  a  little  improvement 
in  the  last  week.  Business  is  not  up  to  normal 
hecause  the  weather  has  been  so  wet  that  har¬ 
vesting  has  been  delayed.  There  is  very  little 
movement  to  the  farmers  now  and  this  is  cur¬ 
tailing  the  demand.  However,  retailers  realize 
that  the  harvest  movement  will  have  to  start 
soon  and  they  are  buying  a  little  coal  to  be  ready 
for  the  demand  when  it  comes.  Prices  up  to 
Thursday  were : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Hocking —  Chicago.  Mines. 

l!4-inch  lump .  $3.15  $1.50 

The  Splint  situation  has  improved  a  little,  first, 
because  operators  are  more  disposed  to  keep  un¬ 
sold  coal  off  the  market  and,  second,  because  the 
expected  demand  for  harvest  purposes  is  causing 
retailers  to  buy  a  little  heavier.  Prices  up  to 
Thursdav  were : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Kanawha —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Ij4inch  lump . $3.05@3.15  $1.15@1.25 

The  eastern  Kentucky  situation  is  just  about 
as  reported  last  week.  That  is,  all  kind  of  Ken¬ 
tucky  coal  is  being  offered  at  all  kind  of  prices, 
but  the  carefully  prepared  and  well  advertised 
coals  are  having  no  difficulty  to  find  a  market  at 
around  $1.00  a  ton  for  lump  and  block  com¬ 
bined.  Prices  up  to  Thursday  were : 

F.  p.  B.  F.  p.  B. 

Eastern  Kentucky —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Domestic  lump . $3.25@3.80  $1.35@1.90 

Egg  .  3.05@S.25  1.15@1.35 

In  Eranklin  county  the  situation  is  peculiar. 
The  retailers  expected  that  orders  placed  early 
in  August  would  carry  the  July  circular.  They 
were  disappointed  and  did  not  buy  for  a  few 
days.  Mainly,  however,  they  have  been  buying 
more  freely  and  the  market  is  in  consequence 
fairly  strong.  However,  the  operators  appreciate 
that  the  wet  weather  has  interfered  with  deliv¬ 


eries  and  out  of  sympathy  with  the  retail  situa¬ 
tion  they  have  decided  to  continue  the  new  cir¬ 
cular  i>rice  of  $!.()()  in  effect  during  the  month. 
It  would  not  be  surprising,  however,  if  the  reg¬ 
ular  circular  price  of  $1.75  were  to  apply  on  and 
after  September  1st.  The  finer  sizes  have  been 
rather  strong  lately.  The  operators  for  a  time 
were  selling  this  coal  at  rather  low  figures,  but 


lately  have  been  insisting  upon  seventy  cents  as 


the  minimum  on  two-inch. 

Prices  up 

to  Thurs- 

day  were : 

F.  O.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

Franklin  County — 

Chicago. 

Mines. 

Lump  . 

$2.65 

$1.60 

Egg  . 

2.65 

1.60 

No.  1  nut . . 

1.60 

No.  2  ,nut . 

2.45 

1.40 

Mine  run  . 

2.15 

1.10 

2-inch  screenings  . 

1.75 

.70 

Two  prices  have  ruled  in  Williamson  county. 
The  better  grades  and  better  known  coals  have 
brought  $!.()(),  while  on  the  lump  and  egg  and 
No.  1  washed  other  producers  have  been  holding 
for  $1.50.  Prices  have  been  firm  at  these  figures 
throughout  the  week,  with  a  fair  amount  of  buy¬ 
ing.  Tonnage  in  fact  increases  about  every  day. 
Prices  up  to  Thursday  were : 


Williamson  County — 
Lump  . 

Kge  . 

No.  1  washed . 

No.  2  w.ished . 


F.  O.  B. 
Chicago. 
$2.65 
2.65 
2.65 
2.50 


F.  p.  B. 
Mines. 
$1.60 
1.60 
1.60 
1.45 


Saline  county  operators  have  been  in  about  the 
same  position  as  other  mines  in  the  southern  part 
of  the  state.  That  is,  fifty  per  cent  of  capacity 
of  active  mines  is  about  the  rule  in  that  district. 
In  addition,  some  mines  are  not  running  at  all. 
However,  the  operators  are  letting  market  con¬ 
ditions  and  not  the  mine  situation  govern  the 
prices  and  as  a  consequence  the  market  is  firm 
at  prices  quoted  heretofore,  the  market  up  to 
Thursday  being : 


Saline  County — 

Lump  . 

Mine  run . 

Screenings . 

lJ4-inch  lump. .  . 


F.  O.  B. 
Chicago. 
$2.55 
2.15 
1.7) 
2.30 


F.  O.  B. 
Mines. 
$1.50 
1.10 
.70 
1.25 


The  demand  for  Springfield  coal  has  been  im¬ 
proving  enough  to  warrant  the  suggestion  that 
in  a  few  days  there  will  be  an  advance  in  price 
on  the  lump  coal  of  about  fifteen  cents,  bringing 
the  circular  up  to  $1.05.  Meanwhile  the  market  is 
quite  strong  at  $1.50.  Screenings  were  a  trifle 
easy,  but  have  strengthened  in  the  last  week  be¬ 
cause  lump  production  has  been  small.  Prices 


up  to  Thursday  were : 


F.  0.  B. 

F.  0.  B. 

Springfield — 

Chicago. 

Mines. 

Lump  . 

.  $2.32 

$1.50 

Egg  . 

.  2.32 

1.50 

Nut  . 

1.35 

Mine  run . 

.  1.87 

1.05 

Screenings  . 

.  1.47 

.35 

Clinton  county  coal  is  unchanged  from  last 
week,  namely,  most  of  the  coal  is  lieing  consumed 
in  Indiana  and  very  little  coming  to  Chicago. 
Prices  up  to  Thursday  were : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 


Clinton- — 
Domestic  lump 

Egg  . 

Nut  . 

Mine  run . . 

Screenings  .... 


Chicago. 

Mines. 

$2.27 

$1.60 

2.07 

1.30 

2.07 

1.30 

1.87 

1.10 

1.47 

.70 

Knox  county  operators  have  been  running 
mostly  on  steam  business  and  as  a  consequence 
the  market  for  screenings  and  mine  run  coal  has 
been  the  one  to  which  most  attention  has  been 
paid.  The  domestic  business  is  picking  up  just 
a  little.  In  the  Chicago  market  proper,  screen¬ 
ings  have  had  to  meet  the  competition  of  other 
fine  coal  and  consequently  have  had  to  sell  at 
sixty  to  sixty-five  cents,  but  in  Indiana  prices 
have  been  decidedly  better,  ranging  from  seventy 
to  eighty  cents,  with  some  companies  refusing  to 
sell  below  the  latter  figure.  Prices  up  to  Thurs¬ 
day  were ; 

F.  O.  B.  F.  p.  B. 

Knox  County —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Lump  .  $2.37  $1.50 

Egg  .  2.37  1.50 

Mine  run .  1.87  1.05 

Screenings  .  1.47  .60 

There  is  a  better  demand  for  coke,  but  rather 

than  this  influencing  the  price  it  has  simply 
enabled  some  of  the  operators  to  increase  their 
production.  The  ovens  are  now  running  eighty 
to  eighty-five  per  cent  of  capacity,  whereas  two 
months  ago  they  were  doing  no  better  than  sixty 
per  cent.  Prices  in  consequence  are  unchanged 
with  the  exception  that  the  crushed  sizes  of  by¬ 
product  coke  are  about  ten  cents  above  the  fig¬ 
ures  recently  quoted.  Prices  up  to  Thursday 


were : 

F.  O.  B. 

Coke —  Chicago. 

Connellsville  .  $4.76 

By-product,  foundry .  4.85(®5.10 

By-product,  egg  and  stove .  4.60@4.7n 

By-product,  nut  .  4.60@4.70 

Gas  house  .  3.75@3.90 


No.  7] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


135 


Pittsburgh  Trade. 

Big  Tonnages  Are  Placed,  But  Small 
Orders  Are  Needed — Still,  Low  Prices 
Are  Refused. 

Office  of  The  Bl.\ck  Di.^mond, 
1502  Oliver  Building, 

Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  August  12. 

There  is  a  large  amount  of  optimism  in  the 
coal  trade  of  Pittsburgh  today,  based  on  actual 
conditions  as  they  exist,  and  the  vague  possi¬ 
bilities  of  the  future.  And  yet,  careful  ob¬ 
servers  utter  words  of  caution  and  predictions 
as  to  the  market’s  course  are  hazarded  with 
reserve.  Many  of  the  optimists  admit  they  are 
sailing  an  uncharted  sea,  with  unknown  "trade 
winds”  and  unprecedented  weather  conditions. 

The  big  steel  mills  and  the  big  coal  pro¬ 
ducers  report  business  as  good  and  increas¬ 
ing,  while  the  operators  of  smaller  coal  and 
manufacturing  plants  are  not  nearly  so  well 
satisfied  with  the  situation  or  the  outlook.  The 
plants,  working  largely  on  war  munitions,  are 
taking  near  their  normal  supply  of  coal  under 
existing  contracts,  but  the  sewer  pipe  indus¬ 
tries,  brick  making,  and  other  domestic  in¬ 
dustrials  are  not  taking  more  than  fifty  per 
cent  of  their  usual  requirements.  There  is 
little  or  no  spot  demand  for  coal  among  mis¬ 
cellaneous  manufacturing  plants. 

The  lake  trade  continues  a  puzzling  feature. 
Shipments  are  not  increasing  and  little  or  no 
new  inquiry  is  developing.  It  is  freely  stated 
by  operators  that  much  longer  delay  will  place 
consumers  in  a  bad  position  later  as  reviving 
industrial  demand  will  make  it  impossible  to 
effect  deliveries  to  the  lakes  and  northwest 
trade.  The  export  factor  will  have  to  be 
figured  on  more  and  more.  All  these  circum¬ 
stances  have  a  tendency  to  advance  prices 
above  what  the  market  calls  for  today  and 
producers  show  a  determination  to  resist  at¬ 
tempts  shown  by  buyers  to  force  the  market 
to  a  still  lower  level. 

Offers  of  fifty  cents  and  fifty-two  and  one- 
half  cents  for  Pittsburgh  slack  were  turned 
down  by  leading  coal  operators  here  this  week, 
and  sixty  cents  does  not  look  inviting,  as  there 
is  little  accumulated  slack  of  any  grade  at 
mines  or  on  wheels. 

There  seems  to  be  snags  developing  in  the 
way  of  export  trade  in  the  shape  of  increasing 
ocean  freight  rates,  and  where  some  large  in¬ 
quiry  was  being  made  a  week  ago,  by  eastern 
exporters,  report  today  says  the  placing  of  or¬ 
ders  is  being  delayed  until  more  satisfactory 
freight  rates  can  be  negotiated. 

The  general  appearance  of  trade  is  very 
quiet,  no  activity  of  note  being  noticeable  at 
plant  or  offices.  The  vacation  season  accounts 
for  many  empty  desks,  and  the  splendid 
condition  of  the  golf  links,  with  ideal  weather 
conditions,  explains  the  vacancy  of  numerous 
office  chairs. 

The  market  might  be  quoted  as  follows, 
though  it  is  hardly  safe  to  hazard  quotations 
at  all  under  existing  circumstances: 

Pittsburgh  slack  . .fit) 

•Mine  run  .  1.0U@1.10 

a  screened  .  1.2()@  1.2.5 

.')/4  screened  .  1.3(l@1.35 

Coke  seems  to  be  undergoing  a  somewhat 
similar  experience  to  that  which  coal  has  been 
passing  through,  an  element  of  uncertainty 
effecting  the  market  and  causing  a  halt  in  the 
upward  trend  that  seemed  to  be  in  sight.  Joli- 
bing  foundries  have  not  been  doing  more  than 
fifty  per  cent  of  capacity,  but  prospects  seem 
to  be  brightening,  and  some  are  showing  a  dis¬ 
position  to  buy  coke  ahead,  at  least  inquiry 
would  suggest  that,  and  prices  are  holding  well 
at  $2.40  to  $2.00  with  some  asking  $2.05. 
Prompt  foundry  can  be  had  at  2.10  to  $2.40. 

Report  says  that  should  the  demand  for  steel 
continue  to  increase  the  steel  works’  ovens 
will  have  to  turn  to  the  merchant  ovens  for 
additional  supply  of  furnace  coke,  but  this 
point  has  not  yet  developed;  however,  any 
further  increases  in  the  steel  business  must 
soon  affect  independent  plants,  and  this  will 
create  a  demand  for  merchant  coke  that  is  not 
now  being  felt  to  any  extent,  and  help  to  main¬ 
tain  the  $1.75  to  $2  quotation  for  which  pro¬ 
ducers  are  standing  pat. 

The  pig  iron  situation  favors  a  hardening 
of  coke  prices,  for  while  the  current  sales  have 
not  been  large,  consideralily  increased  ton¬ 
nages  of  lioth  steel  making  and  foundry  grades 
are  said  to  be  under  negotiation  in  the  various 
producing  centers  east  and  west,  and  an  ad¬ 


vance  of  twenty-five  to  fifty  cents  a  ton  for 
this  year’s  delivery  is  generally  being  asked. 

All  told  the  strength  of  the  coal  and  coke 
market  in  this  district  has  not  weakened,  and 
might  be  said  to  have  hardened.  Buyers  for 
future  delivery  are  lagging  and  sellers  are  more 
firm.  One  large  coal  operator  voiced  the 
opinion  yesterday  in  conversation  with  the 
writer  that  by  the  middle  of  September  every¬ 
thing  would  be  at  normal  and  the  labor  situa¬ 
tion  making  it  hard  to  meet  demands  in  this 
locality. 

"Want”  advertisements  are  appearing  quite 
frequently  in  the  Pittsburgh  papers  for  coal 
miners  for  various  parts  of  West  Virginia  and 
for  Kentucky  mining  regions.  E.xport  busi¬ 
ness  in  those  localities  is  said  to  be  increasing 
very  considerably. 


Personal  and  News  Items. 

A.  F.  Syroth,  of  the  Keystone  Coal  &  Coke 
Company,  Pittsburgh  office,  is  absent  on  a 
vacation. 

Mr.  Harris,  inspector  for  the  Cleveland  & 
Western  Coal  Company,  was  a  Pittsburgh  visi¬ 
tor  last  week. 

H.  A.  Andrews  of  the  Pittsburgh  and  West 
Moreland  Coal  Company  has  departed  for  a 
summer  vacation  of  some  weeks’  duration. 

J.  H.  Hillman,  of  J.  H.  Hillman  &  Sons,  iron 
brokers  and  coal  experts,  has  gone  to  Beau¬ 
maris,  Canada,  to  join  the  colony  of  Pittsburgh 
bankers  and  iron  and  steel  men. 

H.  R.  Hyndman  ,of  the  Washington  Coal 
Company,  is  recuperating  at  Algonquin  Park. 

John  H.  Jones,  of  the  Pittsburgh-Buffalo 
Company,  is  on  a  business  trip  to  the  lakes 
and  the  northwest  points. 


Louisville  Market. 

Louisville,  Ky.,  August  12. —  (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — There  is  considerable  evidence  of 
improving  business  in  a  number  of  lines  in  this 
section,  but  as  yet  the  coal  trade  has  lagged  be¬ 
hind  and  August  business  has  not  come  up  to 
expectations  entertained  by  shippers  a  month 
ago.  It  is  true  that  there  is  not  a  great  deal  of 
steam  coal  either  on  demurrage  or  being  sold  at 
cut-rate  prices,  but  demand  for  the  domestic 
sizes  continues  phenomenally  light,  considering 
the  near  approach  of  the  fall  season,  and  ship¬ 
pers  are  wondering  if  they  will  ever  get  any 
higher  prices  for  their  block  and  egg  sizes 
during  the  balance  of  the  year. 

The  best  advised  coal  men  seem  sure  that  there 
will  be  a  very  heavy  demand  for  coal  beginning 
about  the  middle  of  September,  and  continuing 
well  into  the  winter.  They  figure  that  supplies 
in  the  hands  of  dealers  and  consumers  are  un¬ 
doubtedly  far  lighter  than  during  any  previous 
season,  that  the  amount  of  coal  required  for  the 
growing  population  of  the  country,  in  view  of  the 
continuous  depletion  of  wood,  will  he  consider¬ 
ably  increased,  and  that  the  facilities,  both  of 
producers  and  carriers,  will  he  less  than  normal, 
due  to  the  long  period  of  dull  Imsiness  we  have 
passed,  or  are  passing  through. 

Coal  men  in  this  section  have  freely  expressed 
their  desire  that  the  Interstate  Commerce  Com¬ 
mission  grant  advances  in  rates  to  the  western 
roads,  and  were  therefore  glad  to  see  that  the 
increase  requested  on  bituminous  coal  was  held 
to  be  justified.  Coal  men  in  general  are 
anxious  to  see  the  railroads  get  their  share  of 
such  prosperity  as  there  is  to  pass  around.  When¬ 
ever  industrial  conditions  are  inactive  the  great 
importance  of  railroads  as  coal  consumers  be¬ 
comes  more  manifest  to  the  coal  trade. 

Conditions  with  the  retailers  in  Louisville  are 
somewhat  more  promising  as  to  outlooks,  though 
current  demand  is  not  up  to  normal,  but  country 
dealers  are  still  extremely  backward  and  are 
wholly  occupied  with  their  splendid  crops,  to 
the  detriment  of  coal  deliveries.  Road  building, 
which  is  epidemic  all  over  Kentucky  at  the  pres¬ 
ent  time,  is  also  interfering  to  some  extent  with 
the  hauling  and  storing  of  domestic  coal.  The 
farmers  are  almost  altogether  unsupplied  with 
any  future  stock  of  coal  and  when  the  first  cool 
weather  comes  this  btiying  should  start  with  a 
rush. 

There  has  been  a  continuance  of  labor  trouble 
in  southeastern  Kentucky,  due  to  failure  of  sev¬ 
eral  mining  companies  to  restore  wages  that  were 
cut  some  months  ago,  and  due  to  refusal  by  other 
mining  companies  to  recognize  the  union,  partic¬ 
ularly  in  the  Harlan  county  field.  Producers 
are  confident,  however,  that  there  will  be  no 
serious  disturbance  or  shut-down,  as  the  national 
organization  does  not  seem  disposed  to  come  to 


the  assistance  of  the  Kentucky  miners  at  the 
present  time. 


Toledo  Market. 


Toleix),  Ohio,  August  11. — The  coal  situation 
remains  about  the  same  as  it  has  been  and  there 
will  probably  be  no  further  general  improvement 
noticed  until  the  farmers  have  got  their  crops  in 
and  are  ready  to  take  their  winter  supply  of  coal. 
The  harvest  was  extremely  late  in  this  section 
this  season  owing  to  the  heavy  rains  and  this  has 
of  course  held  the  coal  buying  back,  as  farmers 
would  hardly  stop  now  to  haul  gold,  much  less 
coal.  It  is  predicted  by  those  in  a  position  to 
know  that  within  ten  days  there  will  be  a  notice- 
alile  improvement.  The  farmers  will  he  in  good 
shape  by  that  time  and  it  is  believed  the  general 
movement,  including  hard  coal,  will  be  much 
lietter  by  that  time.  There  are  some  more  in¬ 
quiries  than  formerly  and  some  contracts  are  now 
being  made.  The  commissioners  are  now  in  the 
market  for  nearly  ]0,()0()  tons  of  coal  and  bids  are 
being  called  for  on  Pittsburgh  No.  8  and  West 
Virginia  products. 

There  has  been  a  decided  and  unexplained 
weakening  in  the  Pocahontas  prepared  sizes  with¬ 
in  the  past  week  or  so,  although  the  mine  run  is 
holding  very  firm.  Prices  are  quoted  as  follows : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Smokeless — ■  Toledo  Mines 

I  ump  an.l  egg . $3.70  $2.25 

Mine  run  .  2.85  1.4(1 

The  demand  for  Hocking  is  not  specially  strong 
although  there  has  been  a  fair  call  for  threshing 
coal  recently.  Farmers  will  be  buying  more  heav¬ 
ily  later  on  than  at  present,  however.  Prices  are 


holding  as  quoted : 

F.  O.  B. 

F.  O.  B 

Hocking — 

Toledo 

Mines 

3-inch  lump  . 

$1.50 

L4-inch  lump  . 

.  2.40 

1.40 

^•inch  lump  . 

.  2.3.) 

1.35 

Egg  . 

.  2.25 

1 .2.5 

N  ut  . 

1.15 

Mine  run  . 

1.10 

Practically  no  movement 

of  Massillon  and 

prices  unchanged : 

F.  0.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

Massillon— 

Toledo 

Mines 

Lump  . 

. $3.25 

$2.50 

Washed  nut  . 

. 3.25 

2.50 

The  demand  for  Pomeroy 

is  light  and 

prices 

are  the  same : 

F.  0.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

Pomeroy — 

Toledo 

Mines 

Domestic . 

. $2.60 

$1.60 

Egg  and  nut  . 

1.35 

The  West  Virginia  product  continues  to  move 
about  as  it  has  been  for  some  time  past.  The 
lake  movement,  while  not  heavy,  has  not  weak¬ 
ened  much.  Prices  have  been  very  low  and  re¬ 
main  the  same : 


Kanawha  Gas — 

44-inch  lump  . 

1.05 

Mine  run  . 

.96 

Fairmont — 

i;4-inch  lump  . 

.  2.30 

1.05 

44-inch  lump  . 

.95 

Mine  run  . 

.85 

F.  O.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

Kanawha  Splint — 

Toledo 

Mines 

4-inch  lump  . 

. $2.75 

$1.50 

2-inch  lump  . 

1.40 

44-inch  lump  . 

1.15 

Mine  run  . 

1.00 

Few  of  the  Pittsburgh  No.  8  mines  are  now  in 
oiieration  and  the  movement  of  this  coal  in  this 
market  is  extremely  light,  although  an  occasional 
contract  is  signed  or  fair  sized  order  placed. 

Pittsburgh  No.  8 — 

lJ4-inch  lump  .  2.40  1.40 

^-inch  lump  .  2.20  1.20 

M^ne  ruL  .  2.10  1.10 

Youghiogheny  coal  is  used  very  slightly  here 
and  remains  just  as  it  has  been  for  weeks  past. 


Youghiogheny — 

Mine  run  .  2.45  1.20 

f^-inch  steam  lump  .  2.65  1.30 

Clossburg  Smithing — 

Prepared  size  . 3.20  1.75 

Lilly  smithing^  prepared  size .  3.20  1.75 


Kentucky  seems  to  be  holding  its  own  quite 

well  and  prospects  are  favorable. 

F.  O.  B.  F.  q.  B. 

Kentucky —  Toledo  Mines 

4-i)ich  lump  . $2.90  $1.C5 

P^gg  . 2.50  1.25 

Nut,  pea  and  slack . open  open 


Cambridge  movement 
changed. 

Cambridge — 

Mine  run  . 

^-inch  lump  . 

Ij4-inch  lump  . 


is  light  and  prices  iin- 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Toledo  Mines 

. $2.10  $1.10 

.  2.20  1.20 

.  2.40  1.40 


Cannel  continues  with  about  the  same  degree 
of  activity  as  formerly.  Prices  follow: 


Cannel— 

Kentucky  Cannel  lump  . $4.60 

Pennsylvania  Cannel,  egg .  3.60 

Pennsylvania  Cannel,  lump .  4.20 

Ohio  Cannel  .  3.86 


$2,75 

2.15 

2.75 

3.00 


136 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


Cincinnati  Trade. 


Bigger  Export  Demand  and  Rush  Orders 
From  Retailers  are  Improving  the 
Market’s  Tone. 


Cincinnati,  Ohio,  August  12. — Conflicting 
ideas  are  expressed  this  week  by  many  opera¬ 
tors  in  this  market,  but  in  a  general  way  the 
sentiment  prevails  that  the  nightmare  of  the  trade 
here  is  about  over.  The  nightmare  has  been  the 
jobber  who  has  seen  only  the  ten  cents  commis¬ 
sion  he  is  getting  from  handling  the  output  of 
mines. 

Splint  is  improving,  although  the  improvement 
is  slow.  Almost  everybody  believes  that  it  will 
be  permanent.  Considerable  exportation  to  South 
.\merica,  especially  Brazil  and  Argentina,  is  re¬ 
lieving  the  market.  One  of  the  results  of  the 
large  and  continuous  demand  at  seaboard  and  in 
the  east,  especially  in  New  England,  is  the  ten¬ 
dency  of  prices  to  hold. 

Another  bright  light  in  the  horizon  is  the  fact 
that  many  dealers  who  have  given  orders,  say  for 
shipment  about  August  25,  have  been  writing, 
telegraphing  and  telephoning  to  the  operators  to 
hasten  the  order,  or  to  ship  immediately,  or  to 
restore  certain  orders  cancelled  last  week.  This 
indicates  that  farmers  and  other  consumers  are 
beginning  to  come  in  for  supplies.  Threshing  is 
on  and  but  for  the  rainy  weather  there  would 
now  be  a  big  demand  for  small  lots. 

One  peculiar  matter  is  showing  up  in  the 
splint  field,  and  that  is  that  some  of  the  jobbers 
and  wholesalers  have  been  so  occupied  with  their 
run  of  mine  shipments,  lake  and  seaward,  that 
they  have  neglected  their  nut  and  slack  contracts 
and  have  run  behind  with  some  of  them. 

Coke  business  is  picking  up,  not  rapidly  or 
lucratively,  but  moderately  and  in  a  paying  man¬ 
ner.  Many  of  the  coke  men  will  not  take  orders 
further  than  the  last  quarter  of  the  year  and 
many  of  them  are  up  to  capacity  for  the  year. 
A  few  orders  have  been  placed  for  the  first  quar¬ 
ter  of  1916  but  they  have  been  accepted  with  fear 
and  trembling  and  for  speculative  purposes. 

Quotations  on  good  four-inch  splint  lump  this 
week  shows  firmer  price  of  $1.50  and  several 
orders  have  been  taken  at  $1.60,  with  one  or  two 
heard  of  at  $1.70,  the  latter,  however,  being 
smaller  than  the  others.  Operators  see  but  ninety 
cents  for  run  of  mine  this  week  because  of  slack 
demand  for  the  larger  sizes,  or  some  of  them, 
and  as  a  result  two-inch  lump  is  now  easily 
quoted  at  $1.35  on  the  average.  Nut  and  slack 
of  inferior  grades  are  still  burdening  the  market 
at  sixty-five  cents,  and  in  some  cases  lower,  but 
the  better  steam  grades  are  in  better  demand, 
as  stated. 

Smokeless  grades  are  in  smooth  seas  and  some 
of  the  European  governments  are  sending  repre¬ 
sentatives  to  the  ground  to  talk  up  contracts  for 
their  governments.  Italy  has  some  options  on 
New  River  products  and  perhaps  some  Pocahon¬ 
tas  outputs,  but  the  latter  have  been  sold  to 
capacity,  reserving  domestic  products  for  the 
better  local  prices. 


Cincinnati  Trade  News. 

W.  INI.  Puckett,  vice-president  of  the  Cabin 
Creek  Consolidated  Coal  Company,  was  in  the 
city  this  week  in  consultation  with  C.  R.  Mori- 
arty.  western  sales  agent  of  the  company,  with 
headquarters  in  this  city. 

Among  the  visitors  in  the  coal  district  this 
week  was  E.  J.  Baxter,  manager  of  the  Welch 
Coal  &  Coke  Company,  Welch,  W.  Va.  Also  a 
noted  visitor  was  Byron  Smith,  secretary  of  the 
Foster  Lumber  &  Coal  Company  of  Valparaiso, 
Tnd. 

Frank  S.  Easley,  formerly  manager  of  the  Po¬ 
cahontas  Coal  Company  at  Bluefield,  W.  Va.,  has 
resigned  his  position  with  that  company  to  ac¬ 
cept  a  similar  position  with  the  Bluefield  Coal  & 
Coke  Company  of  Bluefield.  Mr.  Easley  is  well 
known  in  coal  circles  of  this  city. 

Colonel  S.  W.  Patterson,  formerly  on  the  staff 
of  Governor  Hatfield  of  West  Virginia,  president 
of  the  Bottom  Creek  Coal  &  Coke  Company  of 
Vivian,  W.  Va.,  and  also  president  of  the  Syca¬ 
more  Coal  Company  of  Cinderella,  W.  Va.,  was  a 
visitor  in  the  city  this  week,  spending  most  of  his 
time  with  F.  B.  Raines  of  the  Castner,  Curran  & 
Bullitt  Company. 

The  harbor  towboat  Fulton,  which  has  just 
been  raised  from  the  bottom  of  the  river,  is  be¬ 
ing  temporarily  repaired  so  she  will  be  able  to 
float  to  the  Queen  City  Coal  Company’s  marine 
ways  for  caulking  and  fixing,  so  she  can  be 
towed  to  Pittsburgh  to  be  rebuilt.  The  boat 


careened  in  the  middle  of  the  river  during  a 
cyclone,  June  7th. 

Captain  Charles  J.  Menges,  formerly  harbor 
master  for  the  Monongahela  River  Consolidated 
Coal  &  Coke  Company  in  this  city,  but  later  har¬ 
bor  master  for  the  company  and  the  Queen  City 
Coal  Company  of  this  city  at  New  Orleans,  was 
a  visitor  in  the  city  this  week  on  a  short  vacation 
visit  with  Mrs.  Menges  to  their  old  home  here. 
Captain  Menges  has  a  host  of  friends  all  along 
the  river. 


Twin  Cities  Trade. 


Minneapous  and  St.  Paul,  August  12. —  (Spe¬ 
cial  Correspondence.) — Northwestern  coal  men 
are  more  cheerful  over  the  prospects  than  they 
have  been  at  any  time  this  year.  The  tremendous 
crop  which  is  being  harvested  and  which  will 
shortly  be  threshed  is  the  source  of  this  optimism, 
and  indications  emphatically  point  to  a  much 
better  business  situation.  While  optimism  pre¬ 
vails  it  is  not  being  realized  upon  to  any  great 
extent.  Dealers  recognize  that  if  the  harvest  is 
as  bountiful  as  expected  their  business  will  be 
very  large,  but  they  are  not  prepared  yet  to  pur¬ 
chase  much  coal  for  threshing  purposes.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  the  volume  of  present  business 
with  most  all  the  factors  in  the  trade,  wholesale, 
as  well  as  retail,  is  less  than  a  year  ago  at  this 
time.  There  is  a  hesitancy  in  taking  on  business 
obligations  that  will  not  disappear  until  the  de¬ 
mand  from  consumers  of  coal  is  being  realized. 
Possibly  the  foreign  war  has  something  to  do 
with  this,  but  dealers  who  placed  loans  with 
banks  a  year  ago  and  were  obliged  to  pay  high 
interest  rates  or  could  not  renew  them  later,  are 
not  anxious  to  be  placed  in  the  same  position 
again. 

As  a  consequence  of  the  conservatism  that  pre¬ 
vails,  the  coal  business  thirty  or  sixty  days  from 
now  may  be  very  good.  Undoubtedly  it  will  re¬ 
quire  an  immense  number  of  cars  to  move  the 
crop.  North  Dakota  farmers  who  are  heavily 
mortgaged  on  account  of  two  bad  crops  in  pre¬ 
vious  years  in  succession,  will  realize  on  their 
crop  as  soon  as  possible  to  meet  these  obligations, 
and  a  very  large  amount  of  grain  may  be  thrown 
onto  the  market  at  one  time,  requiring  all  the 
available  resources  of  the  railroads  to  move  the 
crop.  The  coal  movement  and  merchandise  ship¬ 
ping  to  date  has  been  less  than  a  year  ago. 
Transportation  facilities  are  almost  certain  to 
come  under  a  tremendous  strain,  and  for  thirty 
or  si.xty  days,  while  these  conditions  continue, 
undoubtedly  the  demand  for  fuel  will  be  keen. 
On  the  other  hand,  this  will  not  constitute  the 
entire  winter’s  business.  The  real  market  condi¬ 
tions  after  the  first  of  December  will  depend 
upon  the  climate.  Dealers  are  likely  to  follow  a 
hand  to  mouth  buying  policy  until  about  that 
date,  owing  to  the  fact  that  for  several  years 
they  have  accumulated  stocks  of  coal  which  could 
be  replaced  later  in  the  season  at  less  cost  than 
the  original  purchases. 

Current  car  lot  quotations  on  all  grades  of  coal 
sold  in  this  market  are  as  follows : 

ANTHRACITE. 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Duluth  Minneapolis 


Grate  . 

Egg  . 

and 

Superior 
.  $6.60 
6.85 
6.85 

and 

St.  Paul 
$7.80 
8.05 
8.05 

Nut  . 

7.10 

8.30 

.  5.50 

6.70 

Buckwheat  . 

4.00 

5.20 

During  August  a  discount  of  ten  cents 

per  ton  is 

allowed  on  all  anthracite  except 
which  prices  are  net. 

pea  and 

buckwheat. 

BITUMINOUS 

Splint,  screened  lump  and  stove... 

.  $3.40 

$4.36 

Splint,  dock  run  . 

3.10 

4.06 

Hocking,  screened  lump  and  stove. . 

3.40 

4.36 

Hocking,  dock  run  . 

3.00 

3.96 

Youghiogheny,  gas,  lump  and  stove. 

3.40 

4.36 

Youghiogheny,  gas,  dock  run . 

3.10 

4.06 

Pittsburgh  vein,  lump  . 

3.40 

4.36 

Pittsburgh  vein,  dock  run . 

3.00 

3.96 

Pocahontas,  screened  lump  or  egg. . .  , 

4.75 

5.71 

Pocahontas  screened  lump  and  egg 

mixed  . . 

4.50 

6.46 

Pocahontas,  mine-run  . 

3.25 

4.21 

Cannel,  lump  . 

5.25 

6.21 

Smithing,  bulk  . 

4.25 

5.21 

Smithing,  in  lOO-lb.  sacks . 

6.00 

6.96 

Briquets,  anthracite  . 

5.00 

5.96 

Briquets,  smokeless  . 

5.00 

5.96 

In  the  Illinois  trade  the  range  of  prices  on 
southern  Illinois  product  on  the  various  sizes  is 
as  follows ; 


Southern  Illinois  chinks . $1.50(3)1.60  $3.70(®3.80 

Southern  Illinois  egg .  1.50@1.60  3.70(a>3.80 

Southern  Illinois  No.  1  nut .  1.50@1.G0  3.70(3)3.80 

Southern  Illinois  No.  2  nut .  1.25(31.40  3.45@3.60 

Southern  Illinois  No.  3  nut .  1.20@1.25  3.40@3.45 

.Southern  Illinois  run  of  mine...  1.15@1.25  3.35@3.45 

Southern  Illinois  2-in.  screenings  .70(3  .75  2.95 @3.00 

Southern  Illinois  coal  includes  Franklin  county, 
Harrisburg  and  Williamson  county. 


[August  14 


Duluth  Trade. 


Duluth,  Minn.,  August  1%.— (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — While  conditions  are  brisking  up  in 
the  coal  trade,  they  are  far  from  normal.  The 
fact  that  not  a  great  deal  of  coal — compara¬ 
tively  _  speaking— is  being  brought  up  from  the 
east,  is  actually  no  hardship  here,  for  the  de¬ 
mand  from  the  northwest,  fed  from  the  Duluth 
docks,  as  a  usual  thing,  is  of  no  such  propor¬ 
tions  that  the  shortage  of  eastern  supply  for  this 
point  cuts  much  of  a  figure. 

Coal  men  say  that  there  is  a  better  inquiry  for 
coal,  starting  with  about  two  weeks  ago,  but  that 
it  is  nothing  like  that  of  former  years.  The  fact 
that  threshing  demand  looms  up  ahead  is  what  is 
bringing  the  inquiry  and  which  is  expe’eted  to 
bring  more.  However,  as  is  quite  well  known, 
Illinois  coal,  placed  in  northwestern  towns  on  a 
much  cheaper  h.  O.  B.  basis  than  eastern  coal, 
cuts  into  the  demand  from  here,  and  the  further 
fact  that  lignite  is  being  more  generally  used, 
even  though  admitted  of  a  inestimately  poorer 
quality,  is  another  factor  in  the  slowness  of  the 
trade  at  this  point.  However,  hope  is  held  out 
that  the  filict  that  the  crops  this  year  are  very 
much  larger  than  in  former  years  and  that  con¬ 
sequently  more  threshing  will  have  to  be  done, 
will  help  overcome  militating  influences. 

As  to  coal  shipments  from  this  point  to  points 
in  the  northwest,  figures  for  July  are  not  yet 
available,  but  those  up  to  the  end  of  June  show 
pretty  well  the  general  trend.  It  is  a  fact  that 
more  boats  have  been  bringing  up  coal  since  that 
time,  but  the  increase  in  number  is  not  so  very 
great  oyer  a  year  ago.  However,  the  figures  of 
the  weighing  bureau  show  the  following  ship¬ 
ments,  in  car  circulations,  this  year  up  to  the 
end  of  June: 


Duluth.  Superior.  Total. 

January  .  6,259  18,737  24,996 

February  .  5,476  14,803  20,279 

March  .  5,113  11,747  16,860 

April  .  4,005  8,624  12,629 

May  .  4,245  7,156  11,401 

June  .  4,308  7,160  11,468 


Totals  . 29,406  68,227  97,633 


The  figures  up  to  the  end  of  June  of  each  of 
the  past  three  years,  compared  with  the  current 
year,  1912  being  the  banner  year  in  shipments 
from  this  point,  indicate  pretty  well  the  falling 
off  that  has  been  taking  place : 


Duluth.  Superior.  Total. 

1912  75,868  200,519  276,387 

1913  80,872  176,411  257,283 

1914  31,384  74,547  105,931 

1915  29,406  68,227  97,633 


The  government  figures  of  coal  receipts  here 
are  issued  only  every  two  months,  for  there  are 
always  delinquents  in  making  reports,  so  the 
latest  figures  that  can  be  obtained  as  yet  con¬ 
cerning  receipts  here  are  up  to  the  end  of  May. 
As  has  been  said,  a  few  more  boats  have  been 
carrying  coal,  but  coal  cargoes  are  notoriously 
short,  and  that  fact  is  furnishing  one  of  the  prob¬ 
lems  of  Great  Lakes  vessel  owners  at  this  time. 
Receipts  up  to  the  end  of  May,  compared  with 
the  same  period  last  year,  were  as  follows : 


Tons—  1915.  1914. 

Soft  .  781,789  1,341,233 

Hard  .  275,800  131,721 


Totals  . 1,057,589  1,472,954 

The  following  markets  prevail : 

Anthracite —  Duluth 

Egg  . $6.85 

Stove  .  6.85 

Nut  .  7.10 

Pea .  5.55 

In  bituminous: 

Y  oughiogheny — 

Screened  lump  .  3.40 

Screened  nut  or  stove  .  3.40 

Dock  run  .  3.10 

Screenings  .  2.40 

Hocking — 

Screened  lump  .  3.40 

Screened  nut  or  stove  .  3.40 

Dock  run  .  3.05 

Screenings  .  2.25 

Splint — ■ 

West  Virginia  lump  .  3.40 

West  Virginia  stove  or  nut .  3.40 

West  Virginia  dock  run  .  3.10 

West  Virginia  screenings  .  2.40 

Pocahontas  Smokeless — 

Lump,  egg  or  nut  .  4.75 

Lump  and  egg,  mixed  .  4.50 

Mine  run  .  3.25 

Screenings  .  2.75 

Cannel — 

Screened  lump  .  5.25 

Smithing — 

Pittsburgh  selected  .  4.25 

Georges  Creek  .  4.25 


C.  E.  Tweed,  city  agent  of  the  Pittsburgh  Coal 
Company,  spent  the  first  week  of  this  month  in 
Minneapolis,  taking  part  in  the  state  golf  tourna¬ 
ment  at  the  Minikahda  links.  He  was  a  member 
of  the  Duluth  team. 


No.  7] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


137 


Indianapolis  Trade. 

Indianapolis,  Ind.,  August  12. —  (Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — A  slight  improvement  is  apparent 
in  the  demand  for  Indiana  coal.  It  isn’t  sufficient 
to  cause  a  bulge  in  the  prices,  but  it  helps  some. 
Indiana  operators  with  headquarters  here  say 
that  the  demand  for  domestic  is  picking  up  nice¬ 
ly.  They  say  that  the  retailers  are  beginning  to 
bu'  domestic  for  the  early  fall  trade.  The  re¬ 
tailers  have  not  been  very  generous  with  their 
orders  lately.  They  are  buying  now  for  the 
school  houses  and  the  flats  where  coal  is  being 
put  in  for  the  winter.  There  is  still  a  demand 
for  domestic  coal  for  wheat  threshing  purposes, 
but  that  season  is  drawing  to  a  close.  The  de¬ 
mand  for  steam  coal  is  better  than  it  was.  One 
operator  says  that  he  sold  1,000  tons  more  during 
the  last  half  of  July  than  during  the  first  half 
which  he  regards  as  a  good  omen. 

There  is  an  increased  demana  for  steam  coal 
in  all  of  the  iron  and  steel  industries  of  the  state. 
Operators  here  with  contracts  for  coal  with  mal¬ 
leable  iron  and  steel  concerns  in  the  Chicago  dis¬ 
trict  say  that  their  trade  in  steam  coal  is  picking 
up  and  that  it  will  be  normal  within  a  short  time. 
However,  the  demand  for  steam  coal  from  those 
sources  are  better  than  they  are  elsewhere. 

Screenings  are  a  little  off.  No.  4  screenings 
are  selling  from  seventy-five  to  eighty  cents  a  ton 
at  the  mines.  Nos.  5  and  6  screenings  are  run¬ 
ning  from  sixty-five  to  seventy  cents  at  the 
mines,  with  the  demand  only  fair.  No.  4 
domestic  lump  is  selling  at  $1..50  at  the  mines. 
Nos.  5  and  6  domestic  lump  is  about  ten  cents 
lower  than  No.  4.  The  tonnage  for  August 
promises  to  be  quite  a  fair  margin  above  that  of 

July. 

The  following  prices  are  being  quoted  by  the 
Indiana  wholesalers : 


F.  O.  B. 

F.  0.  B. 

Indiana — 

Mines. 

Indianapolis. 

No.  4  mine  run  . . 

,$1.10@1.20 

$1.60@1.80 

Nos.  .")  and  6  mine  run . 

1.00@1.05 

1.50@1.55 

No.  4,  154-inch  steam  lump . 

1.25@1.35 

1.75@1.85 

Nos.  5  and  6,  I'l-inch  steam 

lump  . 

,  1.15@1.25 

1.65@1.75 

Nut  . 

,  1.20@1.30 

1.70@1.80 

Egg  . 

,  1.30@1.40 

1.80@1.90 

No.  4  domestic  lump  . 

1.50 

2.00 

Nos.  5  and  6  domes.tic  lump . 

1.40 

1.90 

No.  4  screenings . 

.75®  .80 

1.25@1.30 

Nos.  5  and  6  screenings . 

.60@  .70 

1.10@1.20 

No.  1  washed  coal . 

1.75 

2.25 

No.  2  washed  coal . 

1.G5 

2.15 

Brazil  block  domestic . 

2.00 

■  2.50 

Southern  Indiana  Field — 

Domestic  lump  . 

1.40 

Mine  run  . 

1.00@1.05 

Screenings  . 

.60@  .70 

Indianapolis  retail  prices  are:  Linton  No.  4 
forked,  $3  per  ton;  Indiana  lump,  forked,  $2.75; 
Indiana  lump  and  egg,  shoveled,  $2.50;  Kanawha 
lump,  forked,  $4.20 ;  Ohio  Hocking  lump,  forked, 
$4.35 ;  Ohio  Hocking  washed  egg,  $4.15 ;  Ken¬ 
tucky  lump,  $4.10;  Ohio  Jackson  lump,  forked, 
$5.50 ;  Blossburg  smelting,  $5 ;  Cannel  lump, 
$5.50;  Pocahontas  forked  lump,  $6;  Pocahontas 
shoveled  lump,  $5.50 ;  Pocahontas  mine  run,  $5 ; 
Pocahontas  nut  and  slack,  $4 ;  anthracite  chest¬ 
nut,  $7.50;  anthracite  stove  and  egg,  $7.75;  an¬ 
thracite  grate,  ,‘i;7.25;  Connellsville  coke,  $G;  In¬ 
dianapolis  by-product  coke,  all  sizes,  $5.50. 
Extra  delivery  charge :  Bags,  fifty  cents  a  ton 
extra,  ground  floor  or  dumped  in  cellar.  Bags, 
seventy-five  cents  a  ton  extra,  carried  into  cellar. 
Charge  for  chute  or  wheelbarrow,  twenty-five 
cents  a  ton.  Coke  bags,  sixty  cents ;  bags  in  cel¬ 
lar,  eighty  cents. 


Denver  Trade. 


Denver,  August  12. —  (Special  Correspond¬ 
ence.) — Continued  dullness  rules  the  market  this 
week  and  there  seems  to  be  little  encouragement 
for  the  immediate  future.  The  lignite  situation 
is  particularly  quiet,  the  whole  northern  district 
not  averaging  two  days  a  week  actual  running 
time.  Lignite  operators  are  expecting  a  little 
threshing  business  within  the  next  three  weeks 
from  Colorado  points,  and  Texas  threshing  or¬ 
ders  now  being  received  are  relieving  the  stag¬ 
nation. 

Trinidad  mines  are  all  busy,  especially  the  Col¬ 
orado  Fuel  &  Iron  mines.  There  is  a  heavy  pro¬ 
duction  at  the  Pueblo  steel  mills,  nearly  every 
department  making  record  breaking  outputs. 

Routt  county  and  Walsenburg  are  making  a 
fair  tonnage,  the  former  leading  with  about  eighty 
per  cent  of  normal  tonnage.  Dull  business  is 
said  to  be  responsible  for  closing  down  two  mines 
in  the  latter  district  a  few  days  ago. 

As  an  indifference  of  country  operators,  one 
of  the  largest  operating  concerns  in  the  state  is 
understood  to  have  called  in  their  entire  force  of 
traveling  salesmen  this  week.  There  is  a  decided 
slump  in  the  volume  of  storage  business,  con¬ 


trary  to  general  expectations.  It  is  said  that 
dealers  are  anticipating  on  rock  bottom  prices 
this  winter — probably  an  advance  of  twenty-five 
cents  over  August  storage  quotations,  and  that 
they  are  willing  to  take  a  chance  of  being  able 
to  secure  coal  at  those  prices  than  to  tie  up  their 


money  now. 

There  is  neither  a  scarcity  or  surplus  of  lignite 
slack,  but  bituminous  is  very  plentiful.  As  a 
consequence  there  has  been  considerable  price 
cutting,  Denver  prices  ranging  around  thirty  to 
forty  cents.  This  same  price  cutting  has  also 
affected,  to  a  less  extent,  lignite  coal,  but  the 
following  prices,  f.  o.  b.  mines,  are  still  ruling: 
For  Denver  delivery,  lump,  $2.35  to  $2.65 ;  mine 
run,  $1.50  to  $1.65;  slack,  $1.05  to  $1.25.  Points 
outside  of  Denver,  lump,  $2.50 ;  mine  run,  $1.55 
to  $1.65;  slack,  $1.05. 


Canon  City  District —  Lump 

For  shipment  May  and  June . $2.50 

For  shipment  July  and  August .  2.75 

Add  25  cents  to  above  prices  for  washed  nut. 
Walsenburg  District — 

For  shipment  May  and  June .  2.50 

For  shipment  July  and  August .  2.75 

Washed  nut  25  cents  per  ton  additional. 
Chestnut,  $1.25  for  entire  season. 

Trinidad  District — 

For  shipment  May  and  June .  2.00 

For  shipment  July  and  August .  2.00 

Routt  County  District — 

For  shipment  May  and  June .  2.60 

For  shipment  July  and  August .  2.75 

Western  Slope  District — 

For  shipment  May  and  June .  2.25 

For  shipment  July  and  August .  2.50 

From  Baldwin,  shipments  for  points  east  of 
are  75  cents  per  ton  less  than  Walsenburg  prices. 


Nut 

$2.00 

2.25 


2.00 

2.25 


1.71 

1.71 

2.01 

2.2i 


Denvc! 


Detroit  Trade. 


Detroit,  Mich.,  August  12. —  (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — Though  developments  of  the  week 
appear  to  have  brought  about  no  change  of  spe¬ 
cial  importance  in  conditions  affecting  the  coal 
trade  in  Detroit,  the  situation  remains  rather 
more  encouraging  than  otherwise  due  to  the 
continuance  of  the  booking  of  small  orders  which 
in  the  aggregate  amount  to  considerable  tonnage. 

While  shippers  seem  disinclined  to  regard  this 
feature  as  an  indication  of  larger  activity  they 
express  the  belief  that  it  portends  more  substan¬ 
tial  improvement  later,  if  only  the  mines  will  re¬ 
frain  from  flooding  the  market  with  consign¬ 
ment  stock  for  a  period  long  enough  for  the  con¬ 
sumers  to  awaken  to  a  realization  that  coal  at 
cut  prices  cannot  always  be  obtainable. 

The  quantity  of  coal  now  on  tracks  and  near¬ 
ing  forced  sale  is  described  as  being  far  below 
the  amount  of  consignment  stock  on  hand  a  few 
weeks  ago  and  reports  of  sacrifice  sales  are  more 
infrequent.  The  influence  of  the  consignment 
stock  is  not,  however,  wholly  eliminated  as  a 
factor  in  market  conditions,  even  though  its  po¬ 
tentiality  is  reduced. 

There  is  a  fairly  active  demand  for  all  steam 
coal,  but  little  business  seems  to  be  done  in  egg 
sizes.  The  market  for  domestic  coal  continues 
sluggish,  while  anthracite  appears  not  to  be  at¬ 
tracting  the  attention  that  it  should  and  orders 
are  not  of  large  volume. 

Shippers  who,  in  previous  seasons  have  sent 
large  quantities  of  coal  over  the  lake  route  in 
August,  are  holding  back  their  stock  this  year, 
because  of  lack  of  room  on  docks  at  the  head  of 
the  lakes.  The  reduction  in  shipments  is  shown 
by  the  statistical  report  of  the  St.  Mary’s  canals 
for  the  month  of  July. 

Shipments  of  soft  coal  carried  through  the 
canals  aggregated  1,759,178  tons,  against  1,868,150 
tons  in  July  last  year,  a  decrease  of  108,972  tons. 
In  July,  1913,  the  movement  of  soft  coal  was 
2,494,790  tons  or  1,735,692  tons  more  than  last 
month.  Hard  coal  shipments  were  315,374  tons, 
compared  with  431,193  a  year  ago,  a  reduction 
of  115,819  tons.  In  July,  1913,  the  hard  coal 
shipments  made  a  total  of  421,526  tons. 

Prices  in  the  local  market  on  mine  shipment 
orders  are  as  follows : 


F.O.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

West  Virginia  Cias — 

Mines. 

Detroit. 

Three-quarter  lump . 

.  . .  .$0.95@1.00 

$2.35®2.40 

Mine  run . 

_  .80 

2.20 

Slack  . 

1.95 

West  Virginia  Splint — 

Four-inch  lump  . 

_  1.35 

2.75 

Two-inch  lump  . 

_  1.15 

2.55 

Three-quarter  . 

_  1.10 

2.50 

Mine  run  . 

_  .85 

2.25 

Nut,  pea  and  slack . 

1.95®3.05 

Smokeless — 

T.ump  and  egg  . 

_  2.25 

3.85 

Nut  . 

_  1.75 

3.35 

Slack  . . . 

Open 

Mine  run  . 

_  1.25 

2.85 

Kentucky  Splint— 

I.ump  . 

_  1.30 

2.70 

Egg  . 

_  1.10 

2.50 

Nut,  pea  and  slack . 

Open 

Fairmount — 

Three-quarter  steam  lump.  .  .  . 

. 85®  .95 

2.25®2.35 

Mine  run . 

. 70®  .80 

2.10@2.20 

Slack  . 

Open 

Hocking  Valley — 

Shaker  three-inch  lump . 

_  1.50 

2.65 

Shaker  egg  and  nut . 

-  1.15 

2.30 

Domestic  lump . 

_  1.35 

2.50 

Ihree-quarter  lump . 

_  1.25@1.30 

2.40®2.45 

Mine  run . 

2.15@2.25 

Nut,  pea  and  slack . 

Open 

Pittsburgh  No.  8 — 

Ihree-quarter  lump . 

-  1.15 

2.30 

Mine  run . 

-  1.05 

2.20 

Slack  . 

Open 

Jackson  Flill — 

Domestic  lump . 

....  2.50 

3.65 

Cambridge — 

Three-quarter  lump.  .  . . 

-  1.20 

2.35 

Mine  run . 

-  1.10 

2.25 

Pomeroy — 

Two  and  three-inch  lump . 

_  1.60 

2.75 

I'-Sg  . 

-  1.35 

2.50 

Slack  . 

Open 

St.  Louis  Trade. 


St.  Louis,  Mo.,  August  11,  (Special  Cor¬ 

respondence.) — Business  this  week  has  been  quite 
brisk,  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  first  of  the  month 
everyone  does  not  like  to  buy  very  heavy  and 
waits  until  the  10th  of  the  month.  Prices#  have 
advanced  from  five  to  ten  cents  per  ton  on  all 
grades  of  coal.  This  is  of  course  due  partly  on 
account  of  the  screening  market  being  a  little 
weak  and  the  price  must  be  gotten  out  of  the 
other  sizes. 

Of  course,  with  fall  approaching  and  manufac¬ 
turing  plants  starting  up,  there  has  been  quite  a 
demand  for  standard  coal  in  the  city.  Also,  a 
number  of  plants,  realizing  that  prices  will  re¬ 
main  about  the  same  from  now  on,  are  contract¬ 
ing  for  their  requirements  up  until  April  1st  and 
some  have  contracted  up  for  one  year. 

Country  business  as  a  whole  has  picked  up 
quite  a  bit  and  a  fairly  good  tonnage  has  been 
received.  Prices  are  being  maintained  especially 
good  in  the  country  and  one  is  able  to  realize 
a  fair  margin  of  profit. 

Anthracite  is  also  moving  very  good  now  that 
the  price  is  fixed  and  nearly  all  the  dealers  in 
St.  Louis  raised  their  circular  thirty-five  cents 
per  ton  on  .August  1st.  The  country  business  on 
anthracite  is  fairly  good  as  dealers  are  now  be¬ 
ginning  to  take  the  coal  they  ordered  earlier. 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Standard —  Mines  St.  Louis 

6-inch  lump  . .' . . $1.20  $1.77;4 

2-inch  lump  .  1.10  1.G7J4 

Nut  .  1.00  1.57}4 

Mine  run  .  1.00  1.57J4 

Screenings  . 35  1.4254 

Staunton  or  Mt.  Olive — 

6-inch  lump  .  1.30  1.8754 

2-inch  lump  .  1.20  1.7754 

Franklin  County — 

6-inch  lump  .  1.35  2.0754 

6x3  egg  .  1.35  2.0754 

3x2  nut  . 1.35  2.0754 

Williamson  County — 

6-inch  lump  .  1.15  1.8754 

6x3  egg  .  1.15  1.8754 

3x2  nut  .  1.10  1.8254 

Screenings  . 90  1.6254 

Smokeless — 

Lump  or  egg  .  1.60  4.10 

Mine  run  .  1.25  3.75 

Smithing  coal  .  1.75  4.25 

Coke — 

Gas  house  lump  or  egg .  4.00 

By-Produce,  all  sizes  .  4.50 

Anthracite — 

Chestnut  .  7.05 

Stove  or  egg  .  6.80 

Grate  .  6.55 

The  prices  on  Illinois  soft  coal  f.  o.  b.  East  St.  Louis, 
Madison,  Venice  or  Granite  City,  Ill.,  are  2  5  54  cents  less 
per  ton  than  the  above  named  prices  to  St.  Louis,  Mo. 


Omaha  Trade. 


Omaha,  Neb.,  August  12. —  (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — few  days  of  sunshine  lias  had  a 
tendency  to  create  a  better  feeling  in  all  trades, 
resulting  in  a  tendency  on  the  part  of  buyers  to 
place  orders. 

Threshing  has  started  in  some  localities;  the 
wheat,  however,  varies  in  quality,  some  of  it 
starting  to  sprout.  Corn  as  a  general  proposi¬ 
tion  is  growing  rapidly  and  with  a  couple  of 
weeks  more  of  hot  weather  business  conditions 
will  become  normal. 

The  market  is  firm,  refused  and  consignment 


coal  being  pretty  well 

cleaned  up. 

The  following  prices  prevail : 

Southern  Kansas — 

Mines. 

Omaha. 

Nut  . 

.  $1.85 

$3.20 

Slack  . 

.  1.35 

2.70 

Franklin  County — 

Lump  . 

.  I..t5®1.60 

3.75®4.00 

Egg  . 

.  1.45@1.60 

3.75@4.00 

Nut  . 

.  1.45®1.60 

3.75®4.00 

Williamson  County — 

I.ump  . 

8.65®3.75 

Egg  . 

.  1.25®1.35 

3.65@3.75 

Rock  Springs — 

I.ump  . 

.  2.15 

5.85 

Nut  . 

.  1.60 

6.35 

Arkansas  Anthracite — 

Lump  . 

.  3.70 

6.60 

Broken  sizes  . 

.  3.95 

6.85 

138 


THE  T5LA(  K  DIAMOND 


[August  14 


New  York  Trade. 


Anthracite  Production  Still  Low — Bit¬ 
uminous  Improvement  More 
Noticeable. 


Office  of  The  Black  Diamond, 
New  York,  August  12. 

So  far  this  mouth  no  improvement  is  to 
be  found  in  the  anthracite  trade.  Most  of  the 
wholesale  houses  report  business  just  as  dull 
as  it  was  in  July,  and  they  see  very  little 
prospect  of  improvement  before  early  in  Sep¬ 
tember.  Mines  are  working  about  half  time, 
which  means  that  less  than  .'l.OOO.OOO  tons  jier 
month  is  being  produced.  It  should  be  borne 
in  mind  that  when  it  is  announced  that  opera¬ 
tors  are  doing  short  time  mining,  that  it  is 
not  to  be  taken  for  granted  that  they  will 
in  three  days  per  week  mine  only  fifty  per 
cent  of  what  is  considered  capacity.  As  is 
shown  by  the  table  of  shipments  of  anthra- 
city  for  July,  appearing  elsewhere  in  this  is¬ 
sue,  4,924,205  tons  of  anthracite  coal  were 
shipped  during  the  month  when  no  few  opera¬ 
tions  worked  much  better  than  three  days  per 
week.  The  banner  month  in  the  anthracite  in¬ 
dustry  has  shown  production  around  0, 000, 000 
tons.  This  does  not  mean  that  the  mines  can¬ 
not  produce  more  than  6,000,000  tons  a  month, 
but  does  mean  that  it  was  never  found  pos¬ 
sible  to  have  labor,  car  supply  and  other 
things  upon  which  production  is  contingent, 
harmonize  so  closely  that  maximum  capacity 
could  be  reached.  For  instance,  if  the  trade 
are  plentifully  supplied  with  orders  so  that 
they  could  run  the  mines  every  day,  it  is 
usually  found  impossible  to  secure  the  co¬ 
operation  of  the  miners  to  work  the  full  six 
days  or  to  obtain  an  adequate  car  supply. 

As  above  stated,  shipments  for  July  were 
4,924,205  tons,  as  against  5,291,857  tons  in 
July,  1914,  a  decrease  of  457,652.  From  Jan¬ 
uary  1st  to  July  21st,  shipments  were  26,529,- 
509  tons,  as  compared  with  28,327,646  tons  for 
the  same  period  of  1914,  a  decrease  of  1,808,137 
tons.  This  means  that  we  have  now  but  four 
and  a  half  months  remaining  of  the  jiresent 
calendar  year  with  a  shortage  of  anthracite 
approximately  2,000,000  tons  to  be  made  up. 
This  would  augur  that  the  anthracite  trade 
will  have  to  be  very  active  from  .September 
1st  on,  unless  many  consumers  go  without 
coal  during  the  coming  winter. 

The  N’ew  England  trade  is  inactive,  as  is 
the  tidewater  trade  in  all  directions.  There  is 
a  fair  volume  of  coal  going  westward  for  lake 
shipment,  but  not  as  heavy  as  is  believed  the 
western  needs  require.  Shipments  to  the  mari¬ 
time  provinces  have  also  eased  off,  and  trade 
in  all  directions  is  slow. 

Buyers  who  are  looking  for  concessions  on 
egg  and  chestnut  coal  find  that  these  con¬ 
cessions  are  not  as  marked  as  individuals 
were  giving  earlier  in  the  coal  year.  Indi¬ 
viduals  have  been  practicing  the  restriction 
policy  more  closely  during  the  past  month 
than  heretofore,  and  consequently  not  so 
much  unsold  coal  is  pressing  for  sale  as  was 
formerly  the  case. 

In  the  steam  sizes,  there  is  a  shortage  of 
good  grades  of  both  rice  and  barley,  and 
buyers  are  now  looking  for  these  coals  where 
formerly  they  were  pressing  for  buyers. 
Quotations  at  the  upper  ports  range  from 
$2.50  to  $2.80  for  No.  1  buckwheat;  $2.05  to 
$2.30  for  No.  2,  and  $1.75  to  $1.80  for  No.  2. 
Quotation  on  pea  is  from  $2  to  $2.25.  At  the 
lower  ports,  No.  1  buckwheat  is  quoted  at 
$2.25.  No.  2  at  $1.80  to  $2.15,  and  barley  from 
$1.50  to  $1.75. 

The  Bituminous  Situation. 

The  bituminous  trade  is  improvi'.ig  in  spots. 
Most  of  the  improvement  is  to  be  found  in 
the  better  contract  demand,  many  of  the  large 
consumers  calling  for  larger  shipments.  In 
the  spot  trade,  the  demand  is  still  restricted, 
and  shippers  of  unsold  coal  at  tidewater,  of 
which  there  are  quite  a  few  at  this  time,  do 
not  find  a  ready  sale  for  their  surplus  coal  at 
satisfactory  prices.  In  the  tidewater  trade, 
the  export  markets  continue  to  be  the  dom¬ 
inating  feature.  There  is  considerable  more 
inquiry  this  week,  due  no  doubt  to  the  re¬ 
striction  that  England  is  placing  now  on  ex¬ 
ports,  and  some  good  business  is  said  to  be 
at  the  point  of  closing.  Most  of  the  large 
export  shippers  have  good  orders  now  un¬ 
filled  that  will  mean  heavy  shipments  through¬ 
out  this  month  and  well  along  into  the  fall. 


Added  to  this,  a  good  many  purchasers  of 
cargo  lots  coming  to  hand  from  day  lo  day. 
Also,  the  bunker  business  is  improving,  at 
the  lower  ports  especially,  and  this  will  grow 
as  the  grain  and  cotton  season  advances. 

In  the  central  I’ennsylvania  fields,  opera¬ 
tions  are  running  at  about  fifty  to  sixty  per 
cent  cajiacity.  Labor  is  growing  scarce  in 
nearly  all  sections,  while  some  fear  is  being 
felt  as  to  car  supply.  Most  of  the  trade  are 
optimistic,  and  lielieve  that  September  will 
see  some  important  development  in  the  bitumi¬ 
nous  industry  that  will  bring  about  much 
better  prices  than  are  prevailing  at  present. 
Already  there  is  some  talk  about  labor  trou¬ 
bles,  and  it  has  been  reported  that  some  of  the 
big  railway  lines  will  stock  coal  very  heavily 
this  fall  and  winter  in  anticipation  of  the  sus¬ 
pension  next  .spring.  At  the  moment  large 
consumers  do  not  appear  to  be  much  con¬ 
cerned  about  strike  talk,  but  it  is  expected 
that  this  will  have  its  effect  later  on. 

At  the  New  York  harbor  ports  there  Is  not 
the  accumulation  of  unsold  coal  as  was  the 
case  during  June  and  July,  but  the  market 
is  still  oversupplied,  and  prices  are  just  about 
easy  at  former  quotations. 

The  Vessel  Situation. 

There  is  no  appreciable  change  in  the  coast¬ 
wise  vessel  situation.  Boats  seem  to  be  ample 
for  present  requirements.  The  weather  indi¬ 
cations  have  been  good  for  the  past  week  and 
prompt  schedules  are  being  made. 

We  quote  current  rates  on  freight  as  fol¬ 
lows  : 

From  Hampton  Roads  to  Boston,  seventy- 
five  to  eighty-five  cents;  to  the  Sound,  seventy 
to  eighty  cents. 

From  New  York  rates  to  New  Haven  are 
thirty  cents.  New  London,  forty  cents,  and 
Providence  and  New  Bedford,  fifty  cents;  to 
Boston,  fifty-five  to  seventy  cents;  Portsmouth 
and  Portland,  fifty-five  to  seventy  cents;  to 
Bangor,  seventy  cents.  Harbor  rates  are  from 
eighteen  to  twenty  cents. 

Prices  on  gross  tons  of  bituminous  coals 
are : 


F.  0.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

Somerset  County — 

Harbor. 

Mines. 

Best  grades  . 

. $2.85 

$1.30 

Medium  grades  . 

.  2.60 

1.10 

Ordinary  . 

.  2.55 

1.00 

Cambria  County — 

Best  Miller  vein . 

.  3.00 

1.40 

Medium  grades . 

.  2.55 

1.1  f) 

Cheaper  grades  . 

.  2. GO 

1.05 

Clearfield  County — 

Best  grade  . 

1.35 

Ordinary  grades  . 

.  2.50 

1.00 

Indiana  County — 

Best  grade  . 

1.25 

Medium  grade  . 

.  2.50 

.95 

Maryland — 

Georges  Creek  big  vein . 

.  3.15 

1.65 

West  Virginia  Splint — 

Ordinary  grades  . 

.  2.40 

.75 

Best  gas,  54 -inch  lump . 

Best  grade,  run  of  mine . 

1.10 

.  2.65 

.90 

Gas  slack  . 

.5.’)@  .70 

New  York  Trade  Briefs. 

D.  W.  Kuhn,  of  the  Pittsburgh-Westmore- 
land  Coal  Company  at  Pittsburgh,  was  in  New 
York  on  Tuesday. 

C.  L.  Smith,  of  the  sales  force  of  Whitney 
&  Kemmerer,  No.  143  Liberty  street,  is  now 
away  on  his  vacation. 

C.  Law  Watkins,  president  of  the  Watkins 
Coal  Company,  is  visiting  the  mines  in  cen¬ 
tral  Pennsylvania  this  week. 

W.  B.  McQueen,  of  the  Alden  Coal  Mining 
Company,  No.  1  Broadway,  took  in  several 
New  England  points  this  week. 

Lucien  Hill,  New  York  manager  for  the 
Merchants  Coal  Company  of  Pennsylvania,  has 
taken  a  residence  at  Short  Hills,  N.  J. 

J.  A.  Hill,  president  of  the  Knickerbocker 
Fuel  Company,  No.  1  Broadway,  leaves  on 
Monday  for  Maine  for  a  brief  vacation. 

O.  H.  Chellborg,  of  the  firm  of  Robinson, 
Haydon  &  Company,  No.  1  Broadway,  is 
spending  his  vacation  on  his  houselioat. 

J.  W.  Whiteley,  general  sales  agent  for 
Whitney  &  Kemmerer,  No.  142  Liberty  street, 
left  on  Tuesday  for  a  two  or  three  days’  yacht¬ 
ing  cruise. 

Edward  Aspinwall,  of  h'rederic  A.  Russell’s 
office,  N'o.  1  Broadway,  is  on  his  vacation, 
which  is  being  spent  at  Hamilton  and  other 
points  in  Canada. 

M.  R.  Hellbut,  of  Robinson,  Haydon  & 
Company,  No.  1  Broadway,  will  be  one  of 
the  many  coal  men  to  visit  the  Panama- 
Pacific  exposition  at  San  Francisco  this  year. 


Mr.  Hellbut  leaving  for  the  coast  at  the  end 
of  August. 

E.  H.  Sanborn  visited  the  New  York  offi¬ 
ces  of  his  company,  the  Berwind- White  Coal 
Mining  Company,  last  Tuesday,  coming  over 
from  Philadelphia. 

J.  H.  Davison,  New  York  manager  for 
Weston  Dodson  &  Company,  Inc.,  left  on 
Saturday  for  a  visit  to  Frisco  and  other  points 
on  the  Pacific  coast. 

Willett  H.  Brown  has  resigned  as  vice- 
president  of  the  Skeele  Coal  Company,  of  No. 
90  West  street.  His  future  plans  have  not 
yet  been  announced. 

W.  F.  Armstrong,  of  the  firm  of  Robinson, 
Haydon  &  Company,  No.  1  Broadway,  leaves 
on  the  21st  for  a  vacation  to  be  spent  up  in 
the  Pocono  mountains. 

F.  A.  Taylor,  sales  agent  for  the  Maryland 
Coal  &  Coke  Company,  with  headquarters 
in  Philadelphia,  paid  a  Tuesday  visit  to  the 
New  York  offices  of  his  company  this  week. 

W.  A.  Marshall,  of  W.  A.  Marshall  &  Com¬ 
pany,  No.  1  Broadway,  left  last  Thursday  for 
a  trip  up  to  Maine.  It  will  be  principally  a 
pleasure  trip,  and  Mr.  Marshall  expects  to 
return  in  about  a  week. 

R.  C.  Gillespie,  Boston  manager  for  the 
Consolidation  Coal  Company,  came  over  Tues¬ 
day  and  took  in  the  tournament  of  the  New 
York  Coal  Trade  Golf  Association  at  the 
Greenwich  Country  Club. 

The  anthracite  tonnage  of  the  Lehigh  & 
New  England  Railtoad,  which  was  not  re¬ 
ported  in  the  railroad  shipments  furnished 
by  the  anthracite  statistical  bureau  in  July, 
amounted  to  257,070  tons,  an  increase  of  23,- 
792  tons  over  July,  1914.  ' 

The  Skeele  Coal  Company  announce  the 
appointment  of  Frank  J.  Honan  as  vice- 
president,  to  fill  the  vacancy  caused  by  the 
resignation  of  W.  J.  Brown.  Mr.  Honan  was 
for  several  years  Buffalo  manager  of  the 
company,  coming  to  New  York  six  months 
ago  to  become  assistant  to  the  president. 

The  JVall  Street  Journal  states  that  at  least 
one-third  of  the  estimated  earnings  of  the 
Bethlehem  Steel  Corporation  over  the  next 
two  years  will  go  into  new  construction.  This 
will  mean  an  expenditure  of  at  least  $25,000,- 
000.  Some  of  the  new  construction  work  is 
already  under  way.  The  plans  call  for  new 
blast  furnaces,  sheet  and  tin  plate  mills,  wire 
mills,  steel  plates  and  various  other  forms  of 
commercial  steel.  It  is  said  that  the  cor¬ 
poration  is  now  employing  between  31,000 
and  32,000,  and  that  it  would  not  be  sur¬ 
prising  if  it  had  50,000  men  employed  a  year 
or  two  hence.  This  corporation  is  said  to 
have  unfilled  orders  on  its  books  now  to  the 
extent  of  $250,000,000. 

The  Sackett  Coal  Company,  at  Sackett 
street  and  Gowanus  canal,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y., 
has  awarded  the  contract  for  the  erection  of 
a  new  pocket  to  be  built  entirely  of  re¬ 
inforced  concrete,  and  of  4,000  ton  capacity. 
It  will  be  equipped  with  a  steel  hoisting  tower, 
one-man  operation,  of  the  Mead-Morrison 
type.  The  Guarantee  Construction  Company 
of  New  York  have  the  contract,  and  work 
has  already  commenced.  The  same  company 
have  also  another  contract  for  erecting  a 
2,500-ton  capacity  pocket  for  F.  A.  &  D.  R. 
Ailing  of  New  Haven,  Conn.,  to  be  equipped 
with  a  mast  and  gaff  hoist,  clam  shell  bucket, 
and  modern  conveying  appliances  for  eco¬ 
nomical  coal  handling.  This  pocket  will  be  of 
tipple  construction  on  a  pile  and  concrete 
foundation. 

Last  week  an  announcement  was  made  of 
the  incorporation  of  the  Haaren-Dartt  Coal 
Company,  of  Manhattan,  to  engage  in  the  fuel, 
stevedoring  and  trucking  business.  The  cap¬ 
ital  stock  is  named  at  $20,000.  The  incorpora¬ 
tors  are  E.  F.  and  C.  W.  Haarcn  and  W.  H. 
Dartt,  No.  552  West  24th  street.  This  is  a 
merging  of  the  two  retail  coal  companies, 
D.  O.  Haaren  &  Sons,  for  many  years  in 
business  at  14th  street  and  North  river,  and 
Dartt  &  Co.,  of  No.  552  West  24th  street. 
About  two  years  ago  D.  O.  Haaren  died,  and 
the  business  that  he  founded  has  since  been 
run  by  his  sons.  The  new  company  will  con¬ 
tinue  to  operate  the  two  plants  at  20th  street 
and  North  river  and  the  Dartt  plant  in  West 
24th  street,  while  they  will  extend  the  busi¬ 
ness  in  the  stevedoring  line,  commenced  by 
the  Dartt  people  some  years  ago.  The  14{h 
street  plant  of  the  Haaren  Company  was 
abandoned  some  time  ago. 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


139 


No.  7] 


Philadelphia  Trade. 

Current  Business  Is  Light,  But  Orders 
for  Future  Delivery  at  Present  Prices 
Are  Rejected. 

Office  of  The  Black  Diamond, 
1400  Land  Title  Building, 
Phil.adelphia,  August  12. 

Trade  conditions  have  neither  improved  nor 
otherwise  within  the  week.  Here  and  there 
a  growl  against  the  condition  in  the  hard  coal 
trade  is  heard,  but  on  the  average  the  soft 
coal  men  have  been  holding  their  own. 

Touching  the  future  there  has  been  a  de¬ 
cided  change.  Some  business  that  was  of¬ 
fered  at  the  beginning  of  the  w'eek  in  bitu¬ 
minous  for  September  delivery  at  the  pre¬ 
vailing  prices  has  been  turned  down,  and 
some  members  of  the  local  trade  who  have 
not  been  backward  in  declaring  for  a  ten- 
cent  advance  within  the  next  month.  Quite 
a  healthy  sign  is  noted  in  the  inquiries  that 
are  being  made  for  future  delivery  and  this 
feeling  about  on  the  price  question  is  always 
indicative  that  the  consumers  are  getting 
ready  for  a  stocking  up. 

At  the  piers  there  is  quite  an  adequate  sup¬ 
ply  of  coal,  though  none  of  these  points  re¬ 
port  that  any  of  it  is  in  distress.  Quite  an 
amount  of  coal  that  was  nearing  the  demur¬ 
rage  point  has  been  disposed  of  early  this 
week.  That  relieved  the  pressure.  Loading  for 
export  has  not  been  as  heavy  during  the  past 
seven  days  as  marked  the  closing  of  .July, 
though  charters  from  this  port  indicate  that 
the  next  ten  days  may  see  a  number  of  boats 
here  for  coal.  New  England  business,  which 
was  fairly  heavy  during  the  latter  part  of  July, 
has  fallen  off  to  quite  an  appreciable  de¬ 
gree. 

Prices  on  the  various  grades  of  Pennsylva¬ 
nia  coal  and  Western  Alaryland  have  not 
changed  in  the  past  week.  Fairmont  slack 
has  not  lost  the  strength  that  has  been  shown 
for  the  last  three  weeks.  Quotations  range 
from  fifty-five  to  sixty  cents  a  ton. 

Anthracite  Situation. 

Hard  coal  dealers  have  anticipated  a  dull 
August,  but  the  condition  of  trade  has  been 
away  below  even  that  which  had  been  dis¬ 
counted.  Chestnut  and  egg  sizes  have  been 
soft  to  the  full  meaning  of  the  word.  From 
reliable  sources  it  has  been  learned  that  sales 
of  chestnut  have  been  made  at  the  April  price, 
tax  off,  during  the  week  and  even  concessions 
of  this  latitude  have  not  moved  any  great 
amount  of  it.  Two  reasons  were  offered  as 
to  the  cause.  One  was  that  the  warm  April 
of  the  last  spring  caused  a  strong  selling 
movement  that  stocked  up  the  dealers  and 
allowed  them  to  get  their  customers  sup¬ 
plied  earlier  than  for  many  years  past.  The 
other  is  the  effect  of  the  motor  truck  on 
modern  retailin.g  business.  \Miere,  in  former 
years,  the  retailer  with  a  couple  of  two-horse 
^cagons  puttered  about  all  summer  getting  his 
deliveries  made,  the  auto  truck  has  cut  down 
the  length  of  time  of  delivery  to  a  .great  de¬ 
gree.  To  this  must  be  added  the  fact  that 
retailers  have  not  extended  credit  this  year 
in  many  places  where  formerly  thej'  would 
take  a  chance. 

A  survey  of  the  retail  yards  made  by  a  sales¬ 
man  old  in  the  anthracite  game  shows  that 
there  is  not  an  inordinate  amount  of  coal  on 
hand  and  once  the  buying  for  the  fall  starts 
in  it  will  soon  make  the  dullness  now  at  hand 
forgotten. 

Pea  coal  has  not  been  so  bad  off  for  the 
week.  The  heavy  buying  by  the  householder 
is  still  some  ways  off,  but  quite  a  number 
of  the  retailers  are  taking  on  this  “poor  man’s 
fuel”  in  anticipation  of  the  demand  that  will 
open  soon. 


Philadelphia  Trade  Notes. 

Geor.ge  Foedisch,  of  the  Whitney  &  Kem- 
merer  forces,  is  spending  his  vacation  on  the 
Jersey  coast. 

John  C.  Lynch,  office  man  for  the  Emmons 
Coal  Mining  Company,  is  spending  his  vaca¬ 
tion  at  Atlantic  City. 

Fred  W.  Foedisch,  of  the  company  bearing 
his  name,  made  a  mid-week  visit  to  the  Ar¬ 
row  mine  near  Windber,  Pa. 

S.  C.  Hetherington,  of  Hetherington  &  Co., 
put  in  several  days  in  New  York  attending 


to  export  business  which  has  been  offered  his 
company. 

C.  C.  Fredricks,  who  has  retail  yards  at 
Wayne  Junction,  left  the  early  part  of  the 
week  with  his-  wife  for  a  trip  to  Niagara  Falls 
and  Canada. 

Gucker  Bros,  are  rebuilding  and  improving 
their  pockets  and  when  completed  will  have 
as  modern  a  trackage  equipment  as  is  in 
Chestnut  Hill. 

J.  Howard  Keeley,  who  kept  a  retail  yard 
in  Manyunk  for  several  years,  died  after  a 
short  illness  of  a  couple  of  weeks  and  was 
buried  on  Saturday  last. 

H.  C.  Pearson  left  on  Wednesday  evening 
for  a  tour  of  Lake  Ontario  and  the  St.  Law¬ 
rence  river.  The  itinerary  of  the  party  will 
take  in  two  weeks  of  travel. 

L.  A.  Hickley,  of  the  Island  Creek  Coal 
Sales  Company,  left  with  his  family  early  this 
week  for  a  two-w'eeks  vacation,  which  will 
be  spent  on  the  Great  lakes. 

W.  A.  Perry,  of  the  Greensburg-Connels- 
ville  Coal  &  Coke  Company,  with  lieadquar- 
ters  at  Ligonier,  Pa.,  paid  a  business  visit 
to  the  Philadelphia  trade  early  this  week. 

Martin  F.  Connor,  retailer,  with  yards  at 
Germantown,  with  his  wife  returned  this  week 
from  a  trans-continental  trip  which  concluded 
with  a  visit  to  the  San  Francisco  exposition. 

Harry  Stauffer,  of  the  local  office  of  B. 
Nicoll  &  Co.,  and  E.  Kelly  Rothstein,  from 
New  York,  started  for  Latrobe,  Pa.,  early  this 
week,  where  they  will  inspect  a  new  property 
of  that  company. 

Robert  P-  Magee,  local  manager  for  the 
Knickerbocker  Fuel  Company,  is  away  on  his 
vacation — somewhere.  The  “somewhere”  is 
used  advisedly,  for  no  one  but  his  stenogra¬ 
pher  knows,  and  she  won’t  tell. 

D.  B.  Zimmerman,  president  of  the  Que- 
mahoning  Coal  Company,  was  in  Philadelphia 
the  latter  part  of  last  week.  He  had  been 
elected  a  member  of  the  Linion  League  Club 
and  while  here  he  was  initiated. 

Frank  Taylor,  of  the  Maryland  Coal  &  Coke 
Company,  was  away  from  the  office  for  a  day 
this  week.  The  occasion  was  the  celebra¬ 
tion  of  his  wife’s  birthday,  which  was  held 
at  their  summer  home  in  Qcean  City. 


Philadelphia  Bituminous  Exports. 

Exports  of  bituminous  coal  from  Philadel¬ 
phia  during  July  (yet  incomplete),  as  com¬ 
pared  with  Jul}^  of  last  year,  were  as  follows: 

1914 

.  'sV.ios 


5,690 


1,504 

746 

5,690 

49,704* 


New  England  Trade 


Coiintr}' —  1915 

Brazil  .  15.270 

Cuba  .  51.197 

Italy  .  9,121 

Spain  .  30,044 

France  .  21,637 

Argentine  .  3,519 

Porto  Rico .  2,274 

Algiers  .  3,3S8 

Dutch  Guiana .  805 

Mexico  . 


British  West  Indies 
French  West  Indies 


137,555 


Boston,  August  12. —  {Special  Correspondence.) 
— The  New  England  coal  situation  is  some¬ 
what  mixed.  That  is  to  say,  the  demand  for 
anthracite  holds  up  well,  while  that  for  bitu¬ 
minous  is  somewhat  disappointing. 

The  unsatisfactory  condition  of  the  bitu¬ 
minous  market  is  generally  credited  to  the  fact 
that  a  great  many  manufacturers  in  this  sec¬ 
tion  of  the  country  are  well  supplied  with  water 
power  and  naturally  are  consuming  as  little 
bituminous  as  possible.  Indications  are,  also, 
that  water  power  will  be  plentiful  for  the  next 
two  months  at  least,  and  many  of  the  local 
wholesale  bituminous  agents  look  for  no  gen¬ 
eral  improvement  in  the  demand  for  supplies 
during  that  period.  The  local  market,  how¬ 
ever,  appears  quieter  than  it  really  is  for  many 
manufacturers,  machine  shops,  etc.,  which  are 
busily  engaged  in  making  w^ar  materials  for 
the  allies  are  consuming  large  amounts  of  coal 
and  are  constantly  in  the  market  for  fresh 
supplies. 

Contract  New  River  and  Pocahontas  are 
coming  into  New  England  in  about  the  same 
volume  as  last  week.  The  local  July  receipts 
were  smaller  than  generally  anticipated  and 
since  then  have  been  even  smaller  it  is  under¬ 
stood.  The  spot  market  for  these  coals  at 
Mystic  Wharf  is  practically  at  a  standstill. 
Occasionally  a  sale  is  reported  at  that  place  at 


or  close  to  $3.60  per  ton  f.  o.  b.  cars.  Because 
of  the  unsatisfactory  conditions  at  Mystic 
Wharf  comparatively  little  spot  coal  is  being 
offered.  Georges  Creek  at  Mystic  Wharf  is 
dull,  but  firm  at  $3.90  per  ton  on  cars.  Penn¬ 
sylvania  bituminous  is  weak,  although  not 
openly  quoted  lower.  Because  of  conditions 
here,  shippers  are  giving  more  attention  to  the 
western  field  for  distribution.  Locally,  Penn- 
sylvanias  are  generally  quoted  at  ninety  cents 
to  $1.50  per  ton  on  cars  at  the  mines,  but  some 
have  been  offered  at  slight  concessions  in  the 
hopes  of  reducing  the  accumulation  at  shipping 
points. 

So  far  this  month  the  demand  for  anthracite 
has  exceeded  general  expectations  and  many 
of  the  local  dealers  firmly  believe  that  greater 
activity  will  rule  during  the  last  half  of  August. 
The  big  company  agents  claim  to  be  holding 
strongly  to  regular  circular  prices.  Many, 
however,  appear  to  have  more  nut  than  they 
want  and  slight  concessions  are  rumored  to 
have  been  made  on  this  size.  Independent 
shippers  have  openly  offered  prepared  sizes 
throughout  New  England  at  concessions,  but 
with  the  exception  of  nut,  the  amounts  re¬ 
ported  as  having  been  sold  have  been  so  small 
that  they  have  failed  to  influence  big  company 
prices. 

The  bulk  of  the  business  transacted  since 
last  reports  has  been  for  delivery  at  all  rail 
points.  New  contract  orders  have  been  com- 
parativ^ely  few  and  far  between,  but  fortunately 
weather  conditions  outside  have  been  decidedly 
unfavorable  for  water  shipping  and  as  a  result 
there  has  been  no  accumulation  anywhere. 
Stove  cOal  at  Mystic  Wharf  is  generally  quoted 
at  or  close  to  $6.10  per  ton  on  cars  screened, 
and  nut  at  $6.35,  but  it  is  not  at  all  improbable 
but  that  some  nut  has  sold  for  five  cents  per 
ton  less  when  prompt  payment  has  been  guar¬ 
anteed.  Broken  has  sold  there  quite  recently 
at  $5.65  per  ton  on  cars,  but  the  demand  for 
this  size  has  fallen  off  materially. 

The  movement  of  hard  coal  to  the  provinces 
also  has  fallen  off,  but  should  pick  up  within 
the  near  future  owing  to  the  fact  that  exports 
from  England  have  practically  been  forbidden 
and  these  Canadian  possessions  will  have  to 
depend  more  or  less  upon  us  for  supplies.  A 
considerable  tonnage  has  been  unloaded  at 
Maine  ports  during  the  past  week,  especially 
at  Kennebeck  river  points.  Everybody  in  Bos¬ 
ton  this  week  is  commenting  on  the  improve¬ 
ment  in  collections  which  is  taken  as  an  indi¬ 
cation  that  business  interests  in  general  have 
more  confidence  in  the  future  of  this  country. 

The  leading  feature  of  the  marine  freight 
rate  market  is  the  large  tonnage  of  return 
freights  being  obtained  by  owners  of  anthra¬ 
cite  as  well  as  bituminous  barges.  Large  quan¬ 
tities  of  ice  are  being  carried  from  Blaine 
points  to  New  York,  and  ore,  lumber  and  fer¬ 
tilizer  to  more  southern  ports.  The  demand 
for  biturninous  space  from  Hampton  Roads  to 
Boston  is  quieter,  but  rates  are  unchanged  at 
seventy-five  to  eighty  cents  per  ton.  From 
Baltimore  to  Boston  rates  range  from  seven 
to  ten  cents  per  ton  more.  Space  for  anthra¬ 
cite  from  New  York  to  Boston  remain  un¬ 
changed  at  fifty  to  fifty-five  cents  per  ton. 


Boston  Trade  Notes. 

The  Searls  Coal  Company,  of  Portland,  with 
a  capital  of  $250,000,  has  been  granted  a  Maine 
charter.  The  company  proposes  to  operate 
coal  mines,  coal  lands,  mineral  and  mining 
rights  and  to  develop  the  same.  The  names 
of  the  incorporators  are:  A.  B.  Farnham, 
George  S.  Soule,  and  J.  P.  O’Donnell,  all  of 
Portland,  Maine. 

Following  are  the  receipts  of  anthracite  and 
bituminous  coal  at  Boston  during  July  and 
those  from  January  1  to  July  31,  together  with 
comparisons  (in  tons) : 


Antliracite — 

JULY 

1915 

1914 

Decrease 

By  sea.  domestic.... 

145,208 

14,039 

By  rail  . 

.  9,372 

15.810 

6,438 

Total  . 

.  140,.541 

161,018 

20.477 

Bituminous — 

Bv  sea,  domestic.... 

.  328,740 

383,520 

54,780 

By  sea.  foreign . 

13,976 

*6,110 

By  rail  . 

.  12,159 

2,602 

*9,557 

Total  . 

400,098 

39,113 

JANUARY  1  TO  JULY 

31 

.\nthracite— 

By  sea,  domestic.... 

.  841,108 

987,296 

146,188 

By  rail  . 

93,674 

*5,598 

Total  . 

.  940,380 

1,080,970 

140,590 

Bituminous — 

By  sea,  domestic.  . .  . 

. 2,748,797 

2,875,254 

126,457 

By  sea,  foreign . 

.  257,155 

104,788 

*152,367 

By  rail  . 

.  47,728 

34,995 

*12,733 

Total  . 3,053,675  3,015,037  *38,638 


*  Increase. 


140 


THE  BLACK  I)IA3I()XD 


[August  14 


Baltimore  Trade. 


Baltimore,  Aug.  12. — (Sp-ccial  Correspond¬ 
ence.) — That  the  coal  trade  is  expecting  a 
period  of  better  times  is  evident  on  every 
hand.  Throughout  the  mining  districts  of 
Maryland,  West  Virginia  and  Pennsylvania, 
while  production  is  as  j'et  greater  than  de¬ 
mand  in  many  cases,  preparations  are  being 
made  for  increased  output  with  the  coming 
of  fall.  Wherever  possible  the  trade  is  ar¬ 
ranging  affairs  so  that  the  best  results  will 
be  secured  from  labor  and  other  elements  of 
production  and  prompt  removal  of  coal. 
number  of  mines  are  being  arranged  for  in¬ 
creased  output,  while  several  companies  are 
busy  sinking  new  shafts. 

That  the  railroads  too  are  working  to  pre¬ 
pare  is  self-evident.  Following  the  recent  or¬ 
der  of  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  for  2,000  new 
steel  hopper  cars  and  the  announcement  that 
the  shops  of  the  company  are  busy  bringing 
all  motive  power  up  to  standard  and  parking 
it  pending  an  increased  tonnage  movement, 
the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  has  decided  to 
build  ninety-four  more  locomotives  at  the  Al¬ 
toona  shops,  making  194  arranged  for  in  1915. 

Expecting  a  continuance  of  its  increasing 
export  coal  movement,  the  Western  Maryland 
Railroad  has  been  busy  improving  its  yard 
facilities  around  the  big  Port  Covington  piers. 
The  coming  week  will  probably  see  an  award 
by  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  for  its  new 
coal  pier  and  yards  here,  to  cost  about  $2,000,- 
000;  while  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  is  also  about 
ready  to  give  a  contract  for  a  giant  new  steel 
and  concrete  coal  pier  to  cost  $1,000,000,  and 
supplement  the  work  of  the  present  big  pier 
at  Curtis  Bay. 

Of  the  immediate  situation  there  is  cer¬ 
tainly  an  increasing  demand  for  fuel  on  con¬ 
tract  and  some  new  business  developing  in 
scattered  sections.  Prices  have  not  responded 
as  yet,  and  probably  there  will  not  be  any 
big  move  in  that  direction  until  demand  as¬ 
sumes  a  proportion  where  the  output  is  more 
easily  absorbed  than  at  present.  That  ton¬ 
nage  movement  is  on  the  increase,  however, 
is  undoubted. 


Prices  to  the  trade 

at  the  mines 

may  be 

quoted  as  follows: 

F.  O.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

Fairmont — 

Mines. 

Baltimore. 

Three-quarter  . 

$2.23@2.2S 

Run  of  mine . . 

. 75@  .80 

2.18@2.23 

Slack  . 

. 50@  .60 

1.93@2.03 

Somerset — 

Best  . 

.  1.25@1.30 

2.43@2.48 

Good  . 

.  1.10@1.15 

2.28@2.33 

W.  M.  R.  R.— 

Freeport  . . 

. 75@  .80 

1.93@1.98 

B.  &  0.— 

Freeport  . 

1.93@1.9S 

P.  R.  R.— 

Best  South  Fork . 

.  1.30@1.35 

2.48@2.53 

Miller  Vein  . 

.  1.10@1.15 

2.78@2.83 

Ordinary  . 

2.03@2.13 

The  e.xport  movement  continues  excellent 
from  this  port.  Following  the  movement  of 
more  than  251,000  tons  for  July,  the  first  week 
in  August  saw  a  shipment  on  foreign  account 
of  54,856  tons. 

.'\nthracite  men  here  report  that  there  is  a 
slow  gain  in  orders  coming  in  for  late  sum¬ 
mer  and  early  fall  deliveries.  Next  month, 
however,  will  see  many  orders  go  on  the 
books,  and  the  fall  trade  is  expected  to  be 
exceptionally  prosperous  from  many  angles, 
although  the  call  for  industrial  coal  may  not 
be  up  to  the  proper  mark  at  the  outset. 

The  coal  trade  is  figuring  on  what  effect  the 
British  order  against  shipment  of  any  British 
coal  to  other  than  British  dependencies  will 
have.  That  Britain’s  allies  will  now  turn  to 
America  seems  assured. 


Buffalo  Trade. 


Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  .August  12. — There  is  only 
a  fair  movement  of  anthracite  by  lake  from 
this  port,  as  shippers  are  obliged  to  obtain 
assurance  that  there  is  dock  room  at  the 
various  ports  before  sending  cargoes  there. 
Midsummer  buying  was  never  lighter  and  it 
is  not  expected  to  improve  right  away,  un¬ 
less  there  is  a  small  spurt  near  the  end  of 
the  month  to  take  advantage  of  the  last  ten- 
cent  reduction.  The  shipments  for  the  week 
were  only  moderate,  though  not  so  small  as 
during  some  weeks  late  in  July.  The  amount 
for  the  week  is  96,150  tons,  distributed  as  fol¬ 
lows:  Duluth-Superior,  37,350  tons;  Chicago, 
25,000  tons;  Milwaukee,  12,300  tons;  Green 
Bay,  8,500  tons;  Sheboygan,  7,000  tons;  Port 
Arthur,  3,500  tons;  Fort  William,  2,500  tons. 


It  has  not  been  often  in  late  seasons  that  the 
midsummer  shipments  have  run  below  100,000 
tons  a  week. 

There  is  no  life  to  the  local  trade  yet  and 
not  much  is  expected  till  there  is  some  hint 
of  the  approach  of  winter.  The  city  con¬ 
sumer  is  engaged  in  other  occupations  than 
laying  in  coal.  It  is  expected  that  the  total 
consumption  of  anthracite  this  year  will  fall 
off  some,  as  there  are  so  many  men  out  of 
work  that  families  are  doubling  up  some. 

.All  mines,  anthracite  as  well  as  bituminous, 
are  running  at  a  slow  rate,  as  it  has  been 
hard  to  find  room  even  to  store  a  normal 
amount  of  coal  and  bituminous  consumers 
are  as  much  against  stocking  up  as  they  ever 
were.  Then  the  mines  have  not  stocked  much 
slack  and  the  move  has  obliged  them  to  sell 
it  at  a  low  price  most  of  the  summer.  It  has 
improved  in  price  steadily  for  some  weeks 
and  it  is  expected  that  it  will  be  back  to  nor¬ 
mal  in  early  fall,  though  what  this  means  to 
the  shipper  is  hard  to  tell.  If  cars  are  plenty 
the  price  cannot  be  so  much  higher  than  it  is 
now,  for  the  mine  capacity  is  so  great  that 
it  will  be  easy  to  keep  the  production  ahead 
of  the  demand.  If  cars  run  short  the  price 
will  advance  at  a  good  rate,  as  shippers  will 
be  quick  to  take  advantage  of  it. 

So  much  of  all  business  activity  depends  on 
the  movement  of  iron  that  the  improvement 
in  that  trade  is  held  to  be  a  sure  sign  of  good 
advances  in  coal  this  fall.  .  All  that  is  needed 
in  this  market  is  a  greater  activity  in  Canada, 
which  it  is  feared  will  not  take  place.  The 
war  has  tied  up  the  industries  there  in  a  way 
not  approached  on  this  side  of  the  line. 


Buflfalo  Trade  Briefs. 

The  Philadelphia  &  Reading  Company  is 
receiving  more  coal  for  lake  shipment  of  late 
and  appears  to  be  getting  ready  for  a  brisker 
fall  movement. 

H.  J.  Huntsinger,  of  the  Frick  Coal  &  Coke 
Company,  has  bought  a  small  farm  a  short 
distance  from  Hamburg  village,  where  he  will 
spend  his  summers  hereafter. 

Seymour  Whitley,  sales  agent  of  the  Pitts¬ 
burgh  Coal  Company,  has  returned  from  a 
Canadian  trip,  during  which  he  took  account 
of  the  coal  trade  here,  finding  it  as  a  rule 
pretty  dull. 

Vice  President  W.  H.  Hufstader,  of  the 
J.  B.  Jenkins  Coal  &  Coke  Company,  is  some¬ 
what  recovered  from  his  serious  illness.  The 
business  is  in  charge  of  General  Sales  .Agent 
Charles  A.  Storck. 

The  small  size  of  some  of  the  coal  cargoes 
lately  cleared  shows  that  a  few  of  the  smaller 
craft  are  going  out.  The  laid-up  fleet  at  the 
breakwater  begins  to  dwindle.  It  has  some¬ 
times  numbered  about  twenty-five  steamers. 

.A  Canadian  coal  firm  sends  letters  to  the 
trade  here  with  this  legend  on  the  reverse  of 
the  envelope:  “Business  as  usual  during  the 
^alterations  to  the  map  of  Europe.”  .A  burst- 
‘ing  shell  in  red  tells  the  rest  of  the  story. 
But  Canada  is  not  doing  much  business  for  all 
that. 

With  the  opening  of  the  bids  to  supply 
2,000  tons  of  slack  coal  to  the  Tonawanda 
waterworks  on  the  23rd,  practically  the  last 
of  the  season’s  contracts  will  be  history..  The 
prices  have  been  a  trifle  lower  than  last  y'ear, 
but  were  perhaps  as  satisfactory  to  the  trade 
as  the  single  orders  have  been. 

The  manufacturing  census  of  Buffalo  prom¬ 
ises  to  show  that  an  increase  of  twenty-five 
per  cent  has  been  made  in  the  past  five  years, 
as  against  only  three  per  cent  in  the  pre¬ 
vious  five  years.  Only  a  semi-official  report 
has  been  made  as  yet.  Buffalo  has  in  late 
years  become  a  very  smoky  city,  causing  the 
people  both  to  congratulate  themselves  and 
to  wish  for  the  smoke  consumer  to  come 
along. 

.A  representative' of  the  Union  Carbide  Com¬ 
pany  of  Canada,  which  has  a  very  large  fac¬ 
tory  at  Welland,  was  in  Buffalo  this  week, 
looking  after  business.  He  states  that  the 
war  has  given  the  factories  of  that  sort,  of 
which  there  are  others  in  this  country,  a  big 
trade.  The  use  of  limestone  by  them  is  so 
great  that  the  port  of  Calcite  on  Lake  Huron 
will  ship  a  matter  of  2,000,000  tons  of  it  this 
season.  The  carbide  companies  have  dropped 
anthracite  screenings,  of  which  they  used  to 
use  a  large  amount,  and  are  now  taking  a 
special  grade  of  coke  instead. 


Birmingham  Trade. 


Birmingham,  .Ala.,  August  12.— {Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — There  is  hardly  an  existing  doubt 
but  that  a  better  feeling  and  a  more  cheerful  view 
of  the  general  trade  conditions  in  coal  mining  is 
being  felt.  slow  but  gradual  improvement  is 
beginning  to  show  up.  This  feeling  exists  more 
with  the  iron  making  people  who  mine  their  own 
coal,  than  with  strictly  commercial  coal  concerns. 

The  heavy  iron  sales  at  some  advance  in  prices 
has  caused  more  demand  for  coal  to  be  produced 
for  the  production  of  iron  caused  by  increasing 
demand.  Within  the  next  two  or  three  weeks  an 
increased  number  of  furnaces  will  be  in  opera¬ 
tion,  sufficient  to  bring  the  number  up  to  twenty- 
one  or  twentj'-two  in  blast  out  of  thirty-two  in 
the  district.  .And,  of  course,  this  means  more 
coal  and  larger  tonnage  to  be  mined,  and  such 
condition  is  enough  for  a  more  cheerful  view 
to  be  taken  of  the  coal  situation. 

The  comrnercial  people  are  out  hustling  for 
trade  and  with  the  approaching  of  fall  it  is  ex¬ 
pected  that  a  better  trade  will  soon  be  had  with 
the  retail  yard  men,  and  a  better  condition  of 
domestic  coal  is  expected  to  begin  soon. 

The  bunker  business  at  Mobile  and  New  Or¬ 
leans  moves  along  nicely  and  some  fair  business 
is  going  to  the  ports.  Operators  who  make  a 
specialty  of  blacksmith  coal  say  that  they  are 
still  having  a  good  show  of  business  for  that  kind 
of  coal. 

No  change  has  yet  been  made  in  regard  to 
prices — for  fall.  The  following  prices  prevail, 
but  are  not  strictly  carried  out : 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Bibb  County  Domestic  Coal —  Mine  Birmingham 

Bibb  County  domestic  coal..  $2.10  $2.40 

Cahaba  Fancy  Lump .  2.10  2.40 

Cababa  No.  2 .  l.S.)  2.15 

Jefferson  County — 

Fancy  Steam  Pratt .  1.70  2.10 

Ru:i-af-mine  .  1.15  Freight  rate  .30 

Jefferson  Seam — 

Mine-run  .  1.15@1.25  Freight  rate  .30 

Horse  Creek  mine-run . 90@1.10  Freight  rate  .40 

Carbon  Hill  lump.  Walker 

County  domestic  .  1.60  2.00 

Most  all  coals  based  on  this  classification. 

Shelby  County  Domestic  Coal — 

Montevallq  fancy  lump .  2.00@2.25  Freight  rate  .30 

Blacksmith  coal,  washed  and  screened  per  ton  $2.00  to 
$2.25  at  mines,  with  different  rates  to  various  points. 


\^'ithin  another  thirty  days  the  big  benzol  plant 
of  the  Tennessee  Coal,  Iron  &  Railroad  Company 
at  Fairfield,  attached  to  the  by-product  coke 
oven.s,  will  be  nearing  completion  and  probably 
will  be  ready  for  operation. 

This  plant,  according  to  the  plans,  will  have  a 
daily  output  of  13,000  gallons  of  benzol  per  day, 
and  the  statement  comes  from  Fairfield  that  con¬ 
tracts  have  been  offered  to  take  every  gallon  of 
the  product  that  can  be  turned  out. 

The  new  plant  is  being  built  in  a  most  sub¬ 
stantial  manner,  and  the  industry  will  give  em¬ 
ployment  to  a  number  of  men. 

It  has  been  figured  the  progress  on  the  con¬ 
struction  will  be  such  that  during  this  month 
some  of  the  machinery  will  be  in  position  and 
being  tried  out.  Around  Fairfield  there  appears 
to  be  an  impression  that  officials  are  anxious  to 
get  the  works  completed  at  the  earliest  possible 
moment,  and  to  that  end  everything  is  being  done. 

The  little  benzol  plant  of  the  Thomas  A.  Edi¬ 
son  Company  at  the  by-product  coke  ovens  of  the 
Woodward  Iron  Company,  manufacturing  about 
2,000  gallons  of  the  product  daily,  has  been  com¬ 
ing  up  to  all  expectations.  The  progress  on  the 
larger  benzol  works  at  the  Woodward  plant,  to 
manufacture  about  three  or  four  times  as  much 
as  the  smaller  industry,  is  steady  and  before  an¬ 
other  sixty  days  the  plant  will  be  in  operation. 
There  is  a  strong  demand  for  all  the  by-prod¬ 
ucts  of  coal,  and  coke  ovens  are  being  worked 
to  their  capacity. 

Reports  are  that  the  Gilmore  mines  on  the 
Y’arrior  river,  above  Tuscaloosa,  will  reopen  the 
15th  of  August,  after  having  been  closed  several 
months.  The  coal  from  the  mines  will  be  barged 
to  Mobile  and  New  Orleans  for  use  on  ocean 
going  vessels.  The  coal  was  recently  tested  and 
is  said  to  be  excellent  for  this  purpose. 

C.  H.  McFarlane,  who  has  been  with  the  Jef¬ 
frey  Company  at  the  Birmingham  office  some 
months,  has  resigned  to  become  superintendent  of 
the  Montevallo  IMining  Company  at  Aldrich, 
Shelby  county.  New  machinery  will  be  put  in 
and  general  improvements  made  under  super¬ 
vision  of  McFarlane  and  enlargement  of  capacity 
is  being  considered. 

The  Aetna  Powder  people  report  that  business 
is  increasing  with  coal  mining  companies. 

L.  E.  Patton  of  Southern  Fuel  &  Iron  Com¬ 
pany  has  a  chemically  treated  bag  which  is  being 
used  largely  in  this  district  for  shipping  black¬ 
smith  coal  and  coke. 


The  Black  Diamond 


Vol.  55.  No.  8 

CHICAGO 

COLUMBUS 

AUGUST  21,  1915 

NEW  YORK  (nr.  n  'V 

piTTSBURGH  rCF  Tear 

Anthracite 

Rates 

Reduced  by 

the  Commission. 

The  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  last 
week  made  public  its  report  and  findings  “in  the 
matter  of  rates,  practices,  rules  and  regulations 
governing  the  transportation  of  anthracite  coal.” 
The  report  covers  235  printed  pages.  It  sums  up 
an  investigation  which  covered  about  three  years. 
The  order  to  begin  the  investigation  was  issued 
June  10,  1912;  the  case  was  submitted  on  Feb¬ 
ruary  1,  1915,  and  was  decided  on  July  30. 

In  essence,  the  commission  decides  that  the 
railways  used  primarily  a  wrong  basis  of  charg¬ 
ing  for  their  early  service  to  coal  shippers.  This 
resulted  in  a  steady  increase  in  carrying  charges. 
At  the  climax  of  the  rise  the  rates  were  em¬ 
balmed  in  a  tariff.  These  rates  are  now  unrea¬ 
sonably  high.  Because  of  certain  practices,  which 
are  detailed,  these  rates  are  discriminatory  in 
favor  of  shippers  of  anthracite  coal  owned  by 
the  railway  companies.  In  accordance,  the  com¬ 
mission  orders  the  rates  reduced  radically. 

The  average  reduction  is  between  fifteen  and 
twenty-five  cents  per  ton ;  the  reductions  in  some 
cases  range  in  excess  of  seventy-five  cents  a  ton. 
These  reductions  apply  mainly  to  points  local  to 
the  roads  on  which  anthracite  is  originated  and 
to  tidewater  ports  where  the  coal  is  transshipped 
by  vessels  to  other  destinations. 

The  Commission’s  Conclusions. 

Reversing  the  customary  order  of  procedure, 
we  give  first  the  conclusion  of  the  commission, 
the  data  which  supports  the  conclusion  being 
given  later.  The  commission  in  deciding  the  case 
says : 

"The  importance  of  this  case  cannot  easily  be 
overstated.  The  record  is  so  extensive  as  to 
forbid  a  review  in  detail  of  the  character  of 
much  of  the  evidence  introduced.  After  a  care¬ 
ful  review  of  the  record,  we  are  impressed  with 
the  inherent  unlawfulness  of  the  rates  and  prac¬ 
tices  established  by  these  carriers,  which  clearly 
are  the  outgrowth  of  past  conditions  wherein  the 
carriers  were  producers,  shippers,  transporters 
and  vendors  of  the  commodity. 

“If  the  rates  they  established  for  transporta¬ 
tion  were  excessive,  it  resulted  in  no  hardship  to 
their  mining  and  selling  operations  because  the 
excessive  profits  from  the  transportation  services 
offset  the  absence  of  profits  in  their  mining  and 
selling  operations,  and  high  rates  eliminated  the 
competing  shipper  from  the  markets. 

“If  the  record  in  this  case  were  barren  of 
evidence  as  to  income,  revenues,  and  low  operat¬ 
ing  costs,  resulting  from  the  transportation  of 
this  commodity,  the  mandatory  language  of  the 
act  to  regulate  commerce  would  require  removal 
of  the  unlawful  discriminations,  preferences,  and 
advantages  which  have,  for  many  years,  been 
extended  by  these  carriers  to  their  allied  and  con¬ 
trolled  coal  companies  and  which  operate  to  the 
prejudice  of  the  individual  shippers  of  this  com¬ 
modity.  The  conduct  of  these  carriers,  extend¬ 
ing  over  a  long  period  of  years,  in  granting  to 
their  allied  coal  companies  concessions  from,  and 
offsets  against  their  established  tariff  rates,  pre¬ 
sents  very  strong  evidence  that  the  rates  on 
anthracite  coal  which  these  carriers  established 
are  excessive. 

“Their  coal  companies  ship  eighty  per  cent  of 
the  total  production,  and  if  a  substantial  reduc¬ 
tion  is  made  in  the  tariff  rates,  its  full  effect  will 
fall  upon  but  twenty  per  cent  of  the  tonnage 
shipped.  If  the  great  purpose  of  the  act  to  regu- 
date  commerce  is  to  be  carried  out,  we  must  re¬ 
quire  that  such  tariff  rates  on  this  commodity 
shall  be  established  as  can  be  maintained  on  the 
shipments  of  all  shippers. 

“The  operations  of  several  of  these  carriers 
have  for  many  years  produced  a  very  large  in¬ 
come  for  their  stockholders.  Having  these  re¬ 
sults  before  us  in  the  Five  Per  Cent  case,  31  I. 
C.  C.,  384,  we  hold : 

“  ‘The  financial  condition  of  the  various  rail¬ 
roads  comprising  the  thirty-five  systems  varies 
greatly,  as  disclosed  by  their  net  corporate  in¬ 
come  as  well  as  by  their  net  operating  income. 
The  condition  of  some  of  them  is  so  prosperous 


Discrimination  in  Favor  of  Controlled 
Coal  Companies  Is  Found  and  Becomes 
the  Ruling  Factor  in  Effecting  a  Reduc¬ 
tion  in  Charges. 


that  they  clearly  do  not  need  a  higher  net  in¬ 
come  ;  the  condition  of  others  is  such  as  to  pre¬ 
clude  the  expectation  of  a  return  upon  outstand¬ 
ing  capital  stock  or  the  possibility  of  raising 
much  additional  capital  without  a  thorough  re¬ 
organization.’ 

Rates  Are  Prescribed. 

“Upon  consideration  of  all  the  facts  and  cir¬ 
cumstances  disclosed  by  the  record  we  are  of  the 
opinion  and  find  that  the  respondent  carriers’ 
rates  per  ton  of  2,240  pounds  on  anthracite  coal 


Effect  of  the  Decision. 

The  new  rates  on  anthracite  coal 
will  go  into  effect  on  October  1, 
1915. 

This  first  decision  has  to  do  only 
with  the  rates  east  of  Buffalo  and 
Pittsburgh.  The  reductions  range 
between  fifteen  and  twenty-five  cents 
a  ton. 

Whether  prices  in  that  territory 
will  be  reduced  has  not  yet  been  de¬ 
cided.  The  commission  reduced  the 
rates,  palpably  to  give  the  inde¬ 
pendent  operators  a  chance  to  make 
money.  Some  operators  say  that  a 
small  decrease  in  price  must  come 
in  obedience  to  laws  of  commerce. 

The  commission  allowed  the  old 
rates  to  apply  to  the  lakes.  This 
means  unchanged  lake  prices.  It 
granted  an  increase  of  twenty-five 
cents  a  ton  in  the  Chicago  rate  and 
to  points  beyond.  Chicago  shippers 
cannot  increase  prices  unless  the  lake 
price  also  is  advanced.  Also  the  com¬ 
petition  of  bituminous  coal  and  coke 
will  work  against  an  increase. 


in  carloads  from  the  Wyoming,  Lehigh  and 
Schuylkill  regions  in  the  state  of  Pennsylvania  to 
the  following  named  points  : 

[These  rates  are  to  become  effective  on  or  before 
October  i,  1915.] 


TABLE  A. 


Kates  for  transportation  by  The  Central  Rail¬ 
road  Company  of  New  Jersey  from  all 
collieries,  washeries,  and  points  named  on 
page  2  in  The  Central  Railroad  Company  of 
New  Jersey  tariff  I.  C.  C.  A.  number 
332,  to — 


Pea  size 
Pre-  and 
pared  smaller 
sizes  sizes 


Elizabethport  Pier  (Elizabethport),  N.  J..$l,40 

Port  Johnson,  N,  J .  1.40 

Communipaw  Pier  (Jersey  City),  N.  J....  1.45 

Port  Liberty,  N.  J .  1.45 

Rates  for  transportation  by  the  Philadelphia  & 
Reading  Railway  Company  from  all  collier¬ 
ies.  washeries,  and  points  named  in  the 
Philadelphia  &  Reading  Railway  Company’s 
tariff  I,  C.  C.  number  A-518,  to  Port  Read¬ 
ing,  N.  J .  1.40 

Rates  for  transportation  by  the  Ifehigh  Valley 
Railroad  (Company  from  all  collieries,  wash¬ 
eries,  and  points  named  on  the  second  page 
in  the  I.ehigh  Valley  Railroad  Company’s 
tariff  I.  C.  C.  number  D-701,  to  Perth  Am- 


$1.30 

1.30 

1.35 

1.35 


1.30 


boy,  N.  J . . . .  1.40  1.30 

Rates  for  transportation  by  the  Erie  Railroad 
Company  from  all  collieries,  washeries,  and 
points  on  the  Erie  Railroad  specified  on  the 
second  jiage  in  the  Erie  Railroad  Company’s 
tariff  I.  C.  C.  number  D-662,  to  Weehawken, 

N.  J . . . ., - .. .  1.45  1.35 

Joint  rates  for  transportation  by  the  Erie  Rail¬ 
road  Company  and  the  New  York,  Susque¬ 
hanna  &  Western  Railroad  Company  from 


1.35 


1.35 


1.35 


ajl  collieries,  washeries,  and  points  on  the 
Erie  Railroad  specified  on  the  second  page 
in  the  Erie  Railroad  Company’s  tariff  I.  C. 

C.  number  D-662,  to  Undercliff,  N.  J .  1.45  1.3.5 

Joint  rates  for  transportation  by  the  Wilkes- 
Barre  &  Eastern  Railroad  Company  and  the 
New  York,  Susquehanna  &  Western  Rail¬ 
road  Company  from  all  collieries,  washeries, 
and  points  bn  the  Wilkes-Barre  &  Eastern 
Railroad  specified  in  the  Erie  Railroad  Com¬ 
pany’s  tariff  I.  C.  C.  number  D-G63,  to 

Undercliff,  N.  J . .  i.,j5 

Rates  for  transportation  by  The  Delaware, 

Lackawanna  &  Western  Railroad  Company 
from  all  points  named  on  pag^l  (title-page) 
in  The  Delaware,  Lackawanna  &  Western 
Railroad  Company’s  tariff  I.  C.  C.  number 
8088,  to  New  York  Lighterage  Station, 

„N-  -I- .  1.45 

Kates  for  transportation  by  the  New  York, 

Ontario  &  Western  Railway  Company  from 
all  points  on  the  New  York,  Ontario  & 

Western  Railway  specified  on  page  3  in  the 
New  York,  Ontario  &  Western  Railway 
Company’s  tariff  I.  C.  C.  number  5155,  to 

Weehawken,  N.  J .  1.45 

Joint  rates  for  transportation  by  The  Delaware 
and  Hudson  Company,  the  Erie  Railroad 
Company,  and  the  New  York,  Susquehanna 
&  Western  Railroad  Company,  from  all  col¬ 
lieries  and  washeries  at  points  and  stations 
on  The  Delaware  and  Hudson  Company 
specified  on  the  second  page  in  the  Erie 
Railroad  Company’s  tariff  I.  C.  C.  number 
D-662,  to  Weehawken,  N.  J.,  and  Undercliff, 

^  -T . . .  1.45  1.35 

Joint  rates  for  transportation  by  The  Delaware 
and  Hudson  Company  and  the  New  York. 

Ontario  &_  Western  Railway  Company,  from 
all  collieries  and  washeries  at  points  and 
stations  on  The  Delaware  and  Hudson  Com¬ 
pany  specified  on  the  second  page  in  The 
Delaware  and  Hudson  Company’s  tariff 
I.  C.  C.  number  12077,  to  Weehawken,  N.  J.  1.45  1.35 

Joint  rates  for  transportation  by  The  Dela¬ 
ware  and  Hudson  Company,  The  Delaware, 

Lackawanna  &  Western  Railroad  Company, 

The  Pennsylvania  Railroad  Company,  and 
The  Northern  Central  Railway  Company, 
from  all  collieries,  washeries,  and  points  on 
The  Delaware  and  Hudson  Company  and 
The  Delaware,  Lackawanna  &  Western  Rail¬ 
road  specified  on  page  2  in  The  Pennsyl¬ 
vania  Railroad  Company’s  tariff  AA-I.  (j.  C. 
number  551,  to  South  Amboy,  N.  J .  1.40 


TABLE  B. 


1.30 
Pea  size 
Pre-  and 
pared  smaller 
sizes  sizes 


Rates  for  transportation  by  The  Delaware, 
Lackawanna  &  Western  Railroad  Company 
from  all  points  named  on  page  (title-page) 
in  The  Delaware,  Lackawanna  &  Western 
Railroad  Company’s  tariff  I.  C.  C.  number 
8088,  to — 

Hoboken  City.  N.  J . 

Paterson,  N.  J . 

Newark,  N.  J . 

Boonton,  N.  J . 

Washington,  N.  J . 

Binghamton,  N.  Y . 

Waverly,  N.  Y.-Pa . 

Elmira,  N.  Y . 

Corning,  N.  Y . 

Bath,  N.  Y . 

Dansville,  N.  Y . 

East  Bethany,  N.  V . 

East  Lancaster,  N.  V . 

Syracuse,  N.  Y . 

Utica,  N.  Y . 

Rates  for  transportation  by  the  Lehigh  Valley 
Railroad  Company  from  all  collieries,  wash¬ 
eries,  and  points  named  on  the  second  page 
in  the  Lehigh  Valley  Rai'.road  Company’s 
tariff  I.  C.  C.  number  D-lOl,  to — 

Jersey  City,  N.  J . 

Newark,  N.  J . 

Bound  Brook.  N.  J . 

Phillipsbtirg,  N,  J — ■ 

From  Wyoming  region . 

From  Lehigh  and  Schuylkill  regions. .  . 

Waverly,  N.  Y . 

Van  Etten,  N.  Y . 

Ithaca,  N.  Y . 

Burden,  N.  Y . 

Hyat’s  Corners.  N.  V . 

Kendaia,  N.  _  Y . 

Geneva,  N.  V . 

Caledonia,  N.  Y . 

Depew,  N,  Y . 

Rochester,  N.  Y . . 

Rates  for  transportation  by  the  Erie  Railroad 
Companv  from  all  collieries,  washeries,  and 
points  on  the  Erie  Railroad  specified  on 
page  3  in  the  Erie  Railroad  Company’s  tariff 
I.  C.  C.  number  D-619,  to — 

Jersey  City.  N.  J . 

Paterson,  N.  J . 

Newark,  N.  J . 

Middletown,  N.  5' . 

Port  Jervis,  N.  5' . 

Binghamton,  N.  V . 

Waverly,  N.  Y . 

Elmira.  N.  Y . 

Corning,  N.  Y . 

.  Hornell,  N.  Y . 


1 


$1.45 

1.35 

1.40 

1.20 

.95 

.90 

1.15 

1.25, 

1.35 

1.45 

1.60 

1.75 

1.90 

1.40 

1.50 


1.45 

1.40 

1.25 


.95 

.85 

1.15 

1.30 

1.45 

1.45 

1.55 

1.55 

1.60 

1.80 

1.95 

1.85 


1.45 

1.35 

1.40 

1.05 

.90 

.90 

1.15 

1.25 

1.35 

1.60 


$1.35 

1.22 

1.30 
1.09 

.86 

.82 

1.05 

1.14 

1.17 

1.27 

1.40 

1.53 

1.66 

1.22 

1.31 


1.35 

1.30 

1.13 


.75 

.68 

1.05 

1.18 

1.32 

1.32 

1.35 

1.35 

1.39 

1.56 

1.71 

1.61 


1.35 

1.22 

1.30 

.95 

.82 

.82 

1.05 

1.14 

1.17 

1.40 


142 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[August  21 


Castile,  N.  Y .  1.75  1.53 

Attica,  N.  y .  1.85  1.62 

Uepew,  N.  V .  1.95  1.71 

Rochester,  N.  V .  1.85  1.61 

Kates  for  transportation  by  The  Central  Rail¬ 
road  Company  of  New  Jersey  from  all  col¬ 
lieries,  washeries,  and  points  named  on  page 
2  in  The  Central  Railroad  Company  of  New 
Jersey  tariff  I.  C.  C.  A.  number  284,  to — 


Jersey  City,  N.  J .  1.45  1.35 

Newark,  N.  J .  1.40  1.30 

Elizabeth,  N.  J .  1.40  1.30 

Somerville,  N.  J .  1.20  1.09 

Fhillipsburg,  N.  J. — 

From  Wyoming  region . 95  .75 

From  Lehigh  region . 85  .68 


Rates  for  transportation  by  The  llelaware  and 
Hudson  Company  from  all  points  and  sta- . 
tions  specified  on  page  2  in  The  Delaware 
and  Hudson  Company’s  tariff  I.  C.  C. 


number  11170,  to — 

Windsor,  N.  V . 85  .72 

Nineveh,  N,  V . 90  .76 

Sidney,  N.  Y .  1.00  .88 

Well's  Bridge,  N.  Y .  1.10  .97 

Otego,  N.  1 .  1.10  .97 

Oneonta,  N.  V .  1.20  1.03 

Colliers,  N.  Y .  1.20  1.03 

Schenevus,  N.  Y .  1.25  1.07 

Worcester,  N.  Y .  1.25  1.07 

Cobleskill,  N.  Y .  1.35  1.16 

Central  Bridge,  N.  Y .  1.45  1.25 

Albany,  N.  Y .  1-60  1.31 

Troy,  N,  Y .  1.60  1.31 

Mechanicsville,  N.  Y .  1.60  1.31 


The  Bone  of  Contention. 


The  essence  of  the  opinions  of  both  sides  is 
contained  in  a  brief  statement  found  on  page  282 
of  the  report.  Counsel  for  one  railroad  said  that 
when  cost  accounting  has  been  carried  far  enough 
"it  will  be  found  that  the  cost  of  handling  anthra¬ 
cite  coal  is  so  low  that  the  rates  are  remunera¬ 
tive”  and  not  only  sufficient  to  take  care  of  the 
anthracite  business  itself  but  to  make  up  the  loss 
sustained  by  handling  other  commodities.  In  fact 
this  attorney  told  his  clients  he  would  not  take 
the  case  if  they  proposed  to  "justify  the  rates  on 
the  ground  of  cost  because  I  said  it  is  true  of 
this  company  as  well  as  other  companies  that 
their  heavy  traffic  which  moves  in  large  volume 
is,  generally  speaking,  traffic  which  enabled  them 
to  p.ay  the  cost  which  highly  competitive  traffic 
cannot  pay.  Therefore  I  did  not  think  we  could 
get  anywhere  with  that  line  of  argument.” 

The  commission  on  the  same  page  says : 

“The  transportation  of  this  low  grade  com¬ 
modity,  anthracite  coal,  has  been  termed  by  these 
carriers  their  ‘backbone  traffic.’  They  are  en¬ 
gaged  in  producing  and  selling  as  well  as  trans¬ 
porting  it.  We  cannot  overlook  the  fact  that 
some  force  has  brought  the  production  and  sale 
of  most  of  the  tonnage  of  this  commodity  under 
their  control.  If  they  establish  excessive  rates 
on  anthracite  they  become  beneficiaries  of  condi¬ 
tions  which  were  prejudicial  to  the  business  of 
the  individual  operator  or  shipper.  The  power 
to  fix  freight  rates  on  this  commodity  was  the 
opportunity  to  confiscate  property  if  the  carrier 
so  willed.” 

A  little  further  on  the  commission  says : 

“A  number  of  these  coal  companies,  in  whose 
stocks  the  carriers  had  invested  large  sums  of 
money,  have  never  paid  to  the  carriers  dividends 
on  these  stocks.  *  *  *  Manifestly  the  return  on 
such  investment  accrues  to  the  carrier  on  extra 
profits  from  the  freight  rates  charged  on  the 
tonnage  shipped  by  the  coal  company.  But  the 
individual  operator  or  shipper  who  must  compete 
with  the  coal  company  so  financed  by  the  carrier 
obtains  none  of  the  profits  that  are  in  the  freight 
rates  and  freight  rates  established  to  produce 
such  extra  elements  of  profit  in  addition  to  legiti¬ 
mate  transportation  costs  and  profits,  are  fatal 
to  the  successful  conduct  of  the  business  of  the 
individual  operator  or  shipper.” 

The  defense  of  the  operators  clearly  was  that 
the  rates  may  be  too  high  on  anthracite  coal  but 
they  are  justified  by  the  fact  they  make  possible 
lower  rates  on  other  commodities. 

The  commission,  without  assailing  this  prin¬ 
ciple,  views  as  predominant  another  matter.  It 
says  that  there  is  discrimination  in  the  attitude 
of  the  railways  toward  the  controlled  coal  com¬ 
panies. 

The  Commission’s  Struggle. 

The  report  was  written  by  Chairman  McChord. 
It  starts  out  by  explaining  the  old  method  of 
assessing  charges  which  it  condemns.  It  strug¬ 
gles  to  find  a  proper  new  basis.  The  proceeding 
is  labored  and,  candidly,  if  a  new  basis  is  found, 
the  public  is  not  taken  into  the  commission’s 
confidence. 

In  detail  it  tries  out,  first,  the  railroad  sugges¬ 
tion  that  a  fair  return  be  allowed  on  the  value 
of  the  property.  It  is  unable  to  agree  with  the 
railway’s  method  of  arriving  at  what  is  a  proper 
valuation. 

Then  it  tries  to  compare  the  earnings  per  ton 
mile  on  anthracite  and  other  commodities  and 
thus  find  a  proper  basis.  This  effort  seems  to 


have  been  abandoned  so  soon  as  it  became  clear 
that  anthracite  rates  were  higher  than  others. 
Next,  it  figures  what  are  the  earnings  of  anthra¬ 
cite  carriers  per  mile  of  line  per  year.  It  com¬ 
pares  these  with  those  of  other  railways.  Still 
no  basis  is  found. 

The  report  arrives  ultimately  at  what  the  com¬ 
mission  thinks  is  a  fair  basis.  This  basis  is  not 
stated  in  explicit  terms.  Rather  the  report  names 
a  schedule  of  rates  which  are  the  embodiment  of 
an  unnamed  idea. 

Original  Rate  Basis. 

-A.ccording  to  the  report,  the  railways  on  an¬ 
thracite  coal  originally  had  no  tariff  rates.  In¬ 
stead,  the  operator  was  given  a  percentage  of 
the  selling  price  at  tidewater.  The  remainder 
went  to  the  railway  to  compensate  it  for  carry¬ 
ing,  for  storing  and  for  selling  the  coal  and  to 
offset  any  waste  due  to  degradation.  The  oper¬ 
ator,  at  first,  was  given  forty  per  cent  of  the 
selling  price  of  his  coal.  The  commission  says: 

“It  gradually  increased  in  later  years,  reaching 
fifty  and  fifty-five  per  cent  in  the  eighties,  sixty 
per  cent  in  1892,  and  sixty-five  per  cent  on 
November  1,  1900.  The  contracts  were  commonly 
designated  as  sixty  per  cent  contracts,  sixty-five 
per  cent  contracts,  etc.  The  remaining  portion 
of  the  selling  price  of  coal,  forty  or  thirty-five 
per  cent,  in  more  recent  years  was  the  freight 
rate  which  the  carriers  charged  to  the  individual 
operators  who  elected  to  ship  their  own  coal  pro¬ 
duction  to  tidewater.” 

The  report  then  shows  that  since  the  selling 
price  of  anthracite  increased  from  year  to  year, 
the  freight  rate  per  ton  likewise  increased.  It 
then  says : 

“While  the  adoption  of  a  flat  basis  of  rates  in 
19(11  and  1903  arrested  the  progressive  increase 
in  the  rates,  the  evidence  clearly  shows  that  the 
percentage  rates  of  which  the  flat  or  tariff  rates 
were  an  adaptation  were  excessive  rates. 

“There  is  here  presented  a  condition  wherein 
carriers  who  were  also  dealers,  not  in  their  capac¬ 
ity  as  carriers  but  as  dealers  in  the  commodity, 
through  the  agency  of  the  Temple  Iron  Company, 
established  rates  on  anthracite  coal  for  all  ship¬ 
pers  to  tidewater.” 

Thus  the  commission,  before  it  came  to  the 
point  of  considering  any  other  matter,  had  con¬ 
cluded  that  the  rates  were  too  high,  if  for  no 
other  reason  than  that  they  were  on  the  per¬ 
centage  basis  for  a  number  of  years  and  that 
percentage  basis  was  yielding  an  ever  higher  rate. 

Commission’s  Point  of  View. 

In  one  short  paragraph  the  commission  dis¬ 
closes  its  point  of  view  on  the  whole  question. 
It  says : 

'  “It  has  been  the  policy,  for  many  years,  of 
these  carriers  to  gain  a  monopoly  of  the  produc¬ 
tion  and  sale  of  anthracite  coal.  Those  whose 
property  they  coveted  were  at  their  mercy  as 
they  must  either  pay  the  toll  in  freight  rates 
which  these  carriers  chose  to  exact  or  accept  the 
price  for  their  product  which  the  carriers  or  their 
coal  companies  elected  to  pay.” 

As  proving  the  existence  of  this  policy,  the 
commission  goes  on  to  cite  certain  things  which 
it  says  the  established  railways  did  to  kill  pros¬ 
pective  competition.  A  lengthy  section  is  devoted 
to  this  subject.  The  ground  work  for  the  recita¬ 
tion  of  much  scandal  is  the  belief  that  the  in¬ 
dependent  operators  were  not  satisfied  with  the 
rates  or  the  prices  and  hence  were  trying  to  build 
independent  railroads.  It  leaves  out  of  considera¬ 
tion  that  in  those  days  nearly  everyone  wanted 
to  build  a  railroad.  The  omission  was  vital. 

It  mentions  three  in  particular.  One  was  the 
New  York,  Wyoming  &  Western.  The  most  in¬ 
fluential  independent  operators  behind  it  were 
Simpson  &  Watkins.  The  latter,  the  report  said, 
were  bought  off  at  approximately  a  premium  of 
$5,000,000. 

In  1899,  the  Pennsylvania  Coal  Company,  prin¬ 
cipally,  proposed  to  extend  the  Erie  &  Wyoming 
railroad  to  Lackawaxen,  Pa.,  and  because  of  con¬ 
struction  from  that  point  of  a  railway  line  to 
Kingston  on  the  Hudson  river  there  was  organ¬ 
ized  the  Delaware  Valley  &  Kingston  Railway 
Company,  in  November,  1899.  On  this  subject 
the  commission  says  : 

“In  payment  for  these  securities,  which  had  a 
par  value  of  $6,010,000,  the  Erie  Railroad  issued 
in  March,  1911,  to  J.  P.  Morgan  &  Company, 
$5,000,000  of  its  preferred  stock  and  $32,000,000 
Erie  Railway  Company  Pennsylvanian  collateral 
four  per  cent  gold  bonds.  The  Erie  paid  a  pre¬ 
mium  of  approximately  $30,000,000  for  this  prop¬ 
erty  and  it  charged  the  premium  to  its  cost  of 
road.” 

The  third  case  to  which  it  calls  attention  is 


the  Delaware,  Susquehanna  &  Schuylkill  Railroad, 
owned  mainly  by  Coxe  Brothers  &  Company. 

These  and  other  cases  are  cited  by  the  com¬ 
mission  to  bring  out  the  point  that  the  established 
anthracite  carriers  were  willing  to  go  to  an  elab¬ 
orate  extent  to  kill  off  prospective  competition 
and  thus  to  maintain  a  monopoly  over  the  busi¬ 
ness. 

An  Indication  of  Guilt. 


On  page  249  it  quotes  section  five  of  article 
seventeen  of  the  constitution  of  Pennsylvania, 
adopted  in  1873.  This  clause  of  the  constitution 
might  lie  called  the  first  draft  of  the  commodities’ 
clause  of  the  Hepburn  act.  The  commission 
says  : 

“It  appears  that  the  stock  of  most  of  the  large 
anthracite  companies,  which  are  owned  by  the 
carriers  respondent  in  this  case,  were  acquired 
by  these  companies  subsequent  to  the  year  1873.” 

This  it  considers  a  sort  of  binding  argument 
which  clinches  the  guilt  of  the  carriers.  That 
IS,  they  not  only  did  wrong,  but  knew  they  were 
doing  it. 

Rewards  of  Monopoly. 


Having  established,  as  it  believes,  both  the 
intention  and  the  fact  of  the  monopoly,  the  com¬ 
mission  goes  on  to  show  what  are  the  rewards 
of  monopoly  as  measured  in  freight  rates.  This 
IS  brought  out  in  the  table  of  rates  quoted  at  the 
top  of  page  258,  which  is  as  follows: 


Distance  hauled  (miles)  — 

6  to  in . 

11  to  15 . 

16  to  20 . 

21  to  25 . 

26  to  50 . 

51  to  75 . 

70  to  100 . 

101  to  125 . 

120  to  150 . 

151  to  175 . 

176  to  200 . 

201  to  250 . 

251  to  300 . 

301  to  350 . 

351  to  400 . 

401  to  500 . 

501  to  600 . 

001  to  700 . 

701  to  800 . 

801  to  900 . 

901  to  1,000 . 

1,001  to  1,100 . 

1,101  to  1,200 . 

1,201  to  1,300 . 

It  then  says: 


Revenue 
per  loaded 
car-mile 
(Cents) 

- 169.57 

- 109.44 

-  81.88 

_  66.95 

_  49.91 

- 67.45 

-  52.79 

-  48.49 

- 43.51 

-  40.5fl 

- 31.82 

-  28.37 

-  27.44 

-  26.70 

-  25.12 

-  18.88 

-  16.30 

-  13.65 

-  16.08 

-  12.29 

_  11.30 

-  10.64 


9.86 


“The  remunerative  character  of  the  rates  on 
anthracite  coal  is  well  illustrated  by  a  compari¬ 
son  of  the  foregoing  revenue  per  loaded  car 
mile  with  the  revenue  per  loaded  car  mile  on 
various  commodities  reported  by  sixty-five  car¬ 
riers  in  the  five  per  cent  rate  case  and  with  the 
average  revenue  per  loaded  car  mile  earned  on  all 
of  the  freight  traffic  of  1900  by  carriers  for  the 
year  ended  June  30,  1913. 


TABLF.  A. 

Net  reveituc  on  representative  carload  shipments  of  vari¬ 
ous  coininodilics  during  October,  igi3,  averaged, 
for  6g  carriers,  arranged  in  order  of 
length  of  haul. 


Commodities — 

Average 
Carloads  haul 

Average 
net  reve¬ 
nue  per 
loaded 
car-mile 

Hemlock  lumber . 

144 

(Allies) 

59 

(Cents) 

28 

Hides,  leather,  etc . 

Drick,  stone,  etc . 

41 

65 

24 

304 

66 

22 

Iron  ores . 

29,521 

87 

20 

Cement  (building),  in  sacks . 

3,496 

88 

22 

Pulp  wood . 

2,481 

90 

13 

Fruit  and  vegetables . 

325 

109 

16 

(lak  lumber . 

64 

120 

16 

Coke  . 

19,261 

122 

21 

Sand,  gravel,  etc . 

57 

132 

13 

Miscellaneous  forest  products.... 

158 

144 

12 

Plaster,  sewer  pipe,  etc . 

380 

146 

14 

Pig  iron . 

2,486 

147 

17 

Pine  lumber . 

215 

150 

14 

('orn,  shelled,  in  bulk . 

1,050 

151 

11 

Wood  pulp,  etc . 

670 

151 

9 

Hituminous  coal,  run  of  mine.... 

64.430 

159 

16 

Iron  and  Steel  billets,  blooms 
and  ingots . 

2,437 

160 

20 

Manufactured  iron  and  steel  arti¬ 
cles  .  5,081 

170 

19 

Paper,  etc . 

.500 

181 

9 

Tfay,  in  bales . 

1,348 

183 

9 

Salt,  in  sacks . 

1.005 

184 

11 

Sheep  . 

759 

186 

7 

Lumber,  not  otherwise  specified.. 

3,301 

187 

13 

Steel  rails . 

1,236 

190 

21 

Spruce  lumber . 

17 

199 

13 

Petroleum  products,  in  tank  cars. 
Agricultural  implements . 

478 

210 

16 

229 

214 

10 

Petroleum  products,  in  barrels.. 

443 

227 

10 

Pig  lead,  spelter,  etc . 

245 

228 

11 

Feed,  in  sacks  or  barrels . 

6.37 

229 

8 

Beer  and  emptv  bottles . 

112 

249 

8 

Cotton  and  Tobacco . 

46 

258 

7 

Packing  house  products . 

Wheat,  in  bulk . 

1,264 

262 

11 

535 

264 

13 

Flour  (wheat,  buckwheat,  or  rye) 

1,370 

272 

0 

Soda  ash  and  bleach . 

85 

273 

n 

Sugar,  in  barrels . 

1,392 

307 

10 

Corn  sirup . 

13 

314 

6 

(fiats,  in  bulk . 

1,402 

335 

8 

Cattle  . 

2,889 

391 

6 

No.  8] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


143 


Dried,  smoked,  or  salted 

meats .  . 

208 

416 

10 

Dressed  fresh  meats, 

in 

refrigera 

tor  cars . 

2,247 

419 

10 

Copper  bullion,  bar. 

ingots,  pig 

and  slab . 

676 

4fi4 

11 

Hogs  . 

1,453 

475 

7 

Average 

freight 

revenue  per 

loaded  car- 

mile,  all 

Average 

freight 

Carrier — 

Haul 

traffic 

(Miles) 

(Cents) 

N.  Y.  C.  &  H,  R.  R. 

Co 

.  .203.52 

11.10 

it.  &  O.  R.  R.  Co.. 

.  .197.53 

14.24 

B..  R.  &  P.  Ry-  Co. . 

.  .163.35 

15.96 

It.  &  M.  R.  R . 

16.56 

M.  C.  R.  R.  Co . 

.  .158.46 

11.09 

P..  C..  C.  &  St.  L.  Ry. 

Co . 

.  .123.31 

12.97 

C.  &  A.  R.  R.  Co.. 

12.52 

I.  C.  R.  R.  Co . 

.  .242.56 

11.11 

L.  &  N.  R.  R.  Co.. 

.  .171.00 

15.78 

Virginian  Ry.  Co... 

15.46 

12.25 

N.  &  W.  Ry.  Co.  . . 

.  .270.81 

12.98 

Reading  . 

.  .  99.59 

19.43 

D.  &  H.  Co . 

.  .148.03 

17.30 

Lackawanna . 

15.91 

Frie  . 

.  .166.42 

12.93 

Lehigh  Valiev . 

.  .179.57 

15.43 

Pennsylvania  . 

.  .160.02 

16.11 

N.  Y.,  O.  &  W,  Ry. 

18.78 

What  Is  a  Fair  Rate? 


In  an  effort  to  find  out  what  is  a  reasonable 
rate,  the  commission  then  takes  up  the  study  of 
the  freight  revenue  per  train  mile  on  the  anthra¬ 
cite  carriers  and  on  other  groups  of  roads.  It 
calls  attention  to  the  fact  that  anthracite  is 
carried  in  full  train  loads  and  says : 

“At  the  present  effective  rates,  the  revenue  per 
train  mile  on  anthracite  to  tidewater  is  for  the 
Jersey  Central  $19.30,  for  the  Lehigh  Valley 
$16.14,  and  for  the  Lackawanna  $16.43.  These 
revenues  are  substantially  higher  than  the  aver¬ 
age  train  mile  revenue  as  here  shown. 


Freight 

TABLE  B  Revenue 

per 

Train-Mile. 

Feight 

A.  C.  L.  R.  R.  Co . $2,696 

B.  &  O.  R.  R.  Co .  3.474 

B.  &  M.  R.  R .  3.074 

B. ,  R.  &  P.  Ry.  Co .  3.275 

C.  &  O.  Ry.  Co .  3.471 

C.  &  A.  R.  R.  Co .  2.709 

C.,  1.  &  S.  Ry.  Co .  2.821 

I.  C.  R.  R.  Co .  2.347 

II.  V.  Ry.  Co .  4.326 

M.  C.  R.  R.  Co .  3.012 

L.  &  N.  R.  R.  Co .  2.205 

N.  Y.  C.  &  II.  R.  R.  R.  Co .  3.028 

N.  &  W.  Ry.  Co .  3.242 

P.,  C.,  C.  &  St.  L.  Ry.  Co .  2.770 

Virginian  Ry.  Co .  4.567 

Eastern  district,  1912 .  3.12891 

Southern  district,  1912 .  2.48888 

Western  district,  1912 .  3.17357 

United  States,  1912 .  3.02284 

1911  .  2,89548 

1910  .  2.86218 

1900  .  2,76450 

1908  .  2,65307 


“In  comparisons  of  average  car-mile  and  train- 
mile  revenues,  the  revenue  derived  by  these  car¬ 
riers  from  the  transportation  of  bituminous  coal, 
being  considerably  lower  than  the  anthracite  rev¬ 
enue,  reduces  the  average  revenue  to  which  an¬ 
thracite  coal  is  compared.  With  the  exception  of 
the  Pennsylvania,  and  to  a  limited  extent  the 
Erie,  the  bituminous  coal  tonnage  of  these  re¬ 
spondents  is  received  from  their  connecting  lines 
and  their  haul  is  but  part  of  a  long  interline  haul. 
The  average  receipts  per  ton-mile  derived  by 
these  respondents  and  five  other  carriers  from 
coal  are  herewith  shown. 


TABLE 

c 

Anthra- 

Bitumi- 

Anthra- 

Bitumi- 

Carrier — 

cite.* 

nous.* 

cite.f 

nous.t 

C.  R.  R.  Co.  of  N.  J.  . 

8.37 

5.23 

111.68 

49.38 

P.  &  R.  Ry.  Co . 

8.82 

3.67 

105.14 

131.18 

D.,  L.  &  W.  R.  R.  Co. 

7.40 

5.80 

191.36 

66.96 

D.  &  H,  Co . 

7  54 

142.42 

L.  C.  R.  R.  Co . 

7.11 

6.0.3 

177.15 

158.35 

P.  R,  R.  Co . 

5.99 

^.27 

129.57 

218.22 

N.  C.  Ry.  Co . 

6.02 

3.88 

63.05 

80.78 

Erie  R.  R.  Co . 

5.96 

212.51 

N.  Y.,  O.  &  W.  Rv.  Co. 

6.47 

4.64 

159.80 

,81.57 

N.Y.C.&H.R.R.R.Co.  . . 

4.59 

3.63 

159.37 

212.55 

B.  &  O.  R.  R.  Co . 

5.01 

3.97 

171.66 

206.60 

B.,  R.  &  P.  Ry.  Co .  .  . 

4.94 

4.15 

95.07 

176.68 

M.  C.  R.  R.  Co . 

.3.80 

6.22 

184.03 

70.31 

C.,  I.  &  S.  Ry.  Co.... 

2.84 

3.88 

93.03 

104.18 

^Average  receipts  per  ton-mile.  tAverage  haul 

of  one 

ton. 

Empty  Car  Haul. 

The  railways  had  explained  their  rates  largely 
on  the  fact  of  a  burdensome  empty  car  haul.  The 
commission  admits  that  this  should  he  considered 
and  adds : 

“It  is  therefore  apparent  that  these  various 
elements  of  extraordinary  expense,  attributed  to 
the  transportation  of  certain  commodities,  must 
be  considered  from  the  standpoint  of  cost  of 
service  and  not  by  adjustments  of  average  rev¬ 
enue.” 

Cost  of  Carrying  Coal. 

This  led  the  commission  into  a  consideration 


of  what  is  the  cost  of  service.  The  report,  on 
page  264,  says : 

"Briefly  stated,  the  examiners  found  that  the 
operating  cost  of  transporting  anthracite  coal  to 
tidewater  by  the  Central  Railroad  Company  of 
New  Jersey  was  59.26  cents  per  long  ton  from 
the  Lehigh  region  (average  haul,  120  miles),  and 
49.04  cents  per  long  ton  from  the  Upper  Lehigh 
region  (average  haul,  140  miles),  making  a 
weighted  average  of  3.3  mills  per  short  ton-mile 
to  the  three  tidewater  termini  of  this  carrier.” 

"The  Central  Railroad  of  New  Jersey  costs 
were  computed  for  a  railway  line  whose  average 
distance  to  tidewater  is  shorter  than  the  average 
haul  of  the  other  carriers.  We  have  frequently 
held  that  cost  of  service  per  ton-mile  properly 
decreases  as  the  length  of  the  haul  increases. 
In  the  short  haul  of  the  Central  Railroad  of  New 
Jersey  there  are  included  the  assembling  costs 
and  the  terminal  costs,  which  necessarily  result 
in  causing  a  higher  cost  per  ton-mile  than  would 
result  under  similar  operating  conditions  for  the 
lon.ger  haul  to  tidewater  of  the  other  carriers.”  _ 

The  carriers  objected  to  the  commission’s  basis, 
which  brought  out  the  following  statement  from 
Chairman  McChord : 

“The  margin  of  profit  on  tidewater  anthracite 
is  indicated  by  a  comparison  of  the  cost  of  trans¬ 
portation,  3.3  mills  per  ton  (2,000  pounds)  per 
mile,  with  the  average  revenue  here  shown: 

Carrier — ■ 

C.  R.  R.  Co.  of  N.  . . 

L.  V.  R.  R.  Co . 

N.  Y.,  O.  &  W.  Ry.  Co . _ . v.;  '  Y'  A’ 'A . i 

Erie  R.  R.  Co,  (including  N.  \.,  S.  &  W.  R.  R.  Co.  and 

W.-B.  &  E.  R.  R.  Co.) . 

P.  &  R.  Ry.  Co . 

D. ,  L.  &  W.  R.  R.  Co . . . 

P.  R.  R.  Co.  (including  N.  C.  Ry.  Co.) . 

“The  revenues  per  ton  (2,000  pounds)  per  mile 
on  anthracite  coal  transported  to  Buffalo  via  the 
various  routes  are  here  shown : 


To  Buffalo,  Via  Direct  Route — 

Lackawanna  . 

Lehigh  Valley . 

Erie  (from  Pittston  group) . 

Via  Circuitous  Routes— 

Pennsylvania  (from  Wyoming  region)  . . 

Reading  via  Newberry  Junction  and  New  'LY 

Ontario  &  Western  (via  Oneida  and  N.  Y.  C,  &  H.  R.  R.  R.) 
Delaware  &  Hudson  (via  Schenectady  and  New  York  Central) 


is  made  up  out  of  eastern  freight  revenue  and 
hence  largely  out  of  earnings  on  anthracite  coal. 

The  commission  says,  on  page  277 : 

"The  net  corporate  income  of  these  carriers  has 
enabled  them  not  only  to  pay  the  very  substantial 
dividends  shown  by  these  figures,  but  also  to  set 
aside  large  amounts  for  the  purchase  of  consid¬ 
erable  property,  and  still  have  eonsiderable 
amounts  remaining  to  add  to  their  surplus.  The 
aggregate  of  the  items  are  here  shown  for  the 
ten  years  from  1904  to  1913  : 


Additions  to 

Carrier —  Dividends.  Property.  Surplus.  § 

C.  R.  R.  Co.  of  N.  T.  .$26,335,828  $23,094,820  $10,043,883 

F.  &  R.  Ry.  Co .  52,144,510  20,729,598  8,022,929 

D. ,  L.  &  W.  R.  R,  Co.  79,336,586  30,782,739  10,355,253 

L.  V.  R.  R,  Co .  37,744,663  13,288,935  21,828,238 

I),  &  11.  Co.* .  11,475,657  5,791,381 

P.  R.  R.  Co.f . 100,848,116  42,777,196  9,464,852 

N.  C.  Ry.  Co .  16,562,733  8,106,464  $3,147,047 

Erie  R.  R.  Co .  9,582,784  10,180,566  23,521.017 

N.  Y.,  S.  &  W.  R.  R. 

Co .  883,337  572,495 

W.-B,  &  E.  R.  R,  Co . 

N.  Y.,  O.  &  W.  Ry.  Co.  10,754,448  1,048,397  212,356 


*Figures  are  for  three  years,  1911  to  1913. 
fFigures  are  for  four  years,  1910  to  1913. 
tRepresents  excess  of  dividends  and  additions  to  prop¬ 
erty  over  net  corporate  income. 

§Remainder  of  net  corporate  income  added  to  surplus. 


-Aver.  Rev.  per  Ton — — Av.  Rev.  perTon-Mile- 


‘tverage 

2,210 

2,000 

2,240 

2,000 

Haul. 

Pounds. 

Pounds. 

Pounds. 

Founds. 

Miles. 

Mills. 

Mills. 

140.58 

$1,489 

$1,329 

10.59 

9.45 

157 

1.484 

1.325 

9.45 

8.44 

209 

1.447 

1.292 

6.92 

6.18 

169.90 

1.407 

1.256 

8.28 

7.39 

185.70 

1.338 

1.195 

7.21 

6.44 

147 

1.300 

1.161 

8.84 

7.90 

221.43 

1.347 

1.203 

6.08 

5.43 

-Prepared  Sizes- 


-Fea  aijd  Smaller- 


Miles. 

Rate. 

Revenue 

per 

Ton-Mile. 

Rate. 

Revenue 

per 

Ton-Mile. 

276 

$1.7857 

$0.00647 

$1.5625 

$0.00566 

301 

1.7857 

.00593 

1.5625 

.00519 

290 

1.7857 

.00603 

1.5625 

.00528 

326 

1.7857 

.00548 

1.5625 

.00479 

397 

1.7857 

.00449 

1.5625 

.00394 

332 

1.7857 

.00539 

1.5625 

.00472 

466 

1.7857 

.00393 

1.6964 

.00373 

Investments  of  Carriers. 

In  further  pursuit  of  a  proper  basis^  for  rates, 
the  commission  went  into  the  suggestion  of  the 
carriers  that  the  investments  in  the  roads  should 
he  allowed  a  proper  return.  An  elaborate  dis¬ 
cussion  of  the  point  resulted  in  two  paragraphs 
summing  the  conclusions  as  follows  : 

“Property  costs  deduced  from  the  old  books 
of  these  carriers  are  not  reliable.  The  fault  is 
back  of  the  books.  This  is  well  illustrated  by 
the  cost  of  construction  of  the  Port  Reading  Rail¬ 
road,  which  the  carriers’  expert  has  ascertained 
from  its  books  to  have  been  $3,025,000.  This 
railroad  is  of  recent  construction,  being  completed 
in  the  year  1894.  The  commission’s  examiners 
found  that  the  actual  cost  of  constructing  this 
railroad  was  $1,525,000,  and  that  the  book  cost 
includes  $1,500,000  representing  a  bonus  payment 
in  securities  to  the  construction  company.  Such 
practices  were  so  prevalent  in  railroad  construc¬ 
tion  in  former  years  that  we  must  regard  prop¬ 
erty  costs  deduced  from  the  old  books  as  very 

unreliable.  , 

“The  property  costs  per  mile  of  line  shown  tor 
the  Erie  Railroad  are  $199,832,  and  for  the  New 
York,  Susquehanna  &  Western  Railroad,  $200,213, 
while  for  the  Reading  they  are  $157,732,  and  for 
the  Pennsylvania  $180,543.  Such  property  costs 
for  the  New  York,  Susquehanna  &  Western, 
whose  terminal  properties  are  very  limited  in 
comparison  with  the  other  lines  mentioned, 
clearly  indicate  the  unreliability  of  book  costs  as 
representative  of  actual  cost  of  property.  Coun¬ 
sel  for  the  carriers  frankly  admits  the  dubious 
character  of  Erie  property  costs  arising  from  the 
book  entries  of  such  costs  in  1895.” 

Unproductive  Betterments. 

In  this  same  connection,  the  commission  has  a 
savage  word  to  say  about  unproductive  better¬ 
ments.  It  calls  particular  attention  to  the  Penn¬ 
sylvania  terminal  in  New  York  City,  which  cost 
$114,900,000.  This  was  supposed  to  be  paid  for 
in  part  by  the  “Lines  West  of  Pittsburgh,’^’^  which 
is  a  joint  beneficiary  with  “Lines  East.”  The 
western  lines  have  never  paid  either  any  part  of 
the  cost  of  construction,  nor  have  they  done 
anything  to  make  up  the  annual  deficit  of  $2,000,- 
000  on  its  operation.  On  the  contrary,  this  deficit 


Lawson’s  New  Trial. 


Denver,  Colo.,  August  ,17. — The  United  Mine 
Workers  of  America  today  won  two  victories  in 
the  legal  war  which  has  succeeded  the  strike  of 
Colorado  coal  miners.  The  state  supreme  court 
granted  a  writ  of  supersedeas,  preliminary  to  a 
review  of  the  John  R.  Lawson  case,  and  at  the 
same  time  barred  Judge  Granby  Hillyer  from  pre¬ 
siding  at  future  trials  .growing  owt  of  strike  dis¬ 
orders. 

The  Lawson  supersedeas  stays  the  execution  of 
the  sentence  of  life  imprisonment  pronounced  by 
Judge  Hillyer  upon  the  labor  leader  after  his 
conviction  of  first  degree  murder  at  Trinidad  last 
May.  Lawson  still  is  in  jail,  the  court  having 
deferred  settlement  of  the  question  of  admitting 
him  to  bail. 

By  granting  a  writ  of  prohibition  barrin.g  Judge 
Hillyer  from  hearing  three  strike  trials  at  Wal- 
senherg,  attorneys  believe  the  court  has  in  effect 
ended  Hillyer’s  connection  with  strike  cases,  as 
the  motion  decided  today  was  admitted  to  be  a 
test  of  the  supreme  court’s  attitude  toward  the 
jurist,  who  was  charged  with  bias  by  reason  of 
having  been  an  attorney  for  coal  mining  com¬ 
panies.  Several  hundred  cases  still  are  to  be 
tried  in  the  Third  judicial  district,  which  includes 
the  coal  minin.g  fields. 

Hillyer  was  appointed  to  the  bench  last  spring 
by  Governor  George  A.  Carlson,  in  compliance 
with  a  law  enacted  at  the  last  session  of  the  legis¬ 
lature  providing  for  an  additional  judge  in  the 
Third  district. 

In  barring  Jud.ge  Hillyer  from  hearing  further 
coal  strike  cases,  the  court  said ; 

“We  are  certain,  from  the  facts  alleged,  that  a 
reasonable  person  might  very  properly  conclude 
that  because  of  Judge  Hillyer’s  interest  and  activ¬ 
ity  in  a  cause  of  similar  character  against  active 
associates  of  relators  for  similar  offenses  grow¬ 
ing  out  of  the  same  alleged  controveries  .  .  . 

that  he  has,  within  the  meaning  of  the  law,  a  bias 
or  prejudice  that  would  in  all  probability  prevent 
him  from  dealing  fairly  with  the  relators  as  de¬ 
fendants.” 


During  the  past  week  Ray  Elder  and  E.  C. 
McKelvey  opened  up  a  new  store  at  Pomeroy, 
Ohio,  for  the  Essex  Coal  Company.  Mr.  Elder 
was  formerly  with  the  sales  force  of  the  Hocking 
Valley  Products  Company. 


144 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[August  21 


Western  Coal  Rate  Ruling  of  the  Commission. 


As  outlined  briefly  in  last  week’s  issue,  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission  has  handed 
down  its  decision  in  the  matter  of  “the  proposed 
increase  in  rates  in  the  western  classification  ter¬ 
ritory.’’ 

The  railroads,  in  1910,  asked  certain  increases 
in  rates.  The  commission  refused  to  allow  them. 
In  1911  the  request  was  repeated  and  the  com¬ 
mission  after  an  investigation  has  made  two  re¬ 
ports,  of  which  the  one  here  analyzed  is  the 
second.  The  first  report  covered  all  railroads 
east  of  Chicago  and  north  of  the  Ohio  and 
Potomac  river.  The  current  decision  embraces 
lines  west  of  Chicago  and  practically  east  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  extending  from  the  northern 
to  the  southern  border. 

The  proposed  increase  in  rates  as  suggested  by 
the  railroads  covered  practically  all  classes  of 
rates  and  therefore  practically  all  commodities. 
The  commission,  as  in  the  eastern  case,  granted 
an  increase  in  some  rates  but  denied  increases  on 
others. 

Rate  Changes  Made. 

The  commission  justified  the  increase  proposed 
by  the  carriers  in  the  following  instances : 

In  the  minimum  weight  on  carloads  of  grain 
from  30,000  to  40,000  pounds. 

On  bituminous  coal,  except  to  South  Dakota 
points,  and  all  rates  on  coke. 

On  brewers’  rice. 

On  carload  minima  from  Gulf  ports. 

On  carload  rates  on  fruit.  ^ 

On  hay  and  straw  not  in  excess  of  class  O 
r^tcs 

The  commission  found  not  to  be  justified  the 
proposed  increase  in  rates  in  the  following  cases : 
Carload  rates  on  grain. 

Carload  rates  on  live  stock. 

Carload  rates  on  packing  house  products. 
Carload  rates  on  fertilizer  and  fertilizing  ma¬ 
terial. 

Carload  rates  on  broom  corn. 

Rates  on  cotton  piece  goods,  and  carload  rates 
from  points  in  Texas. 

Scope  of  the  Report. 

The  report  of  the  commission  covers  in  all  185 
pages  of  print.  It  takes  into  consideration,  first, 
the  general  financial  situation  of  the  railroads  as 
to  relation  between  investment  and  gross  revenue, 
operating  cost  and  net  revenue.  This  considers 
the  subject  on  the  broad  base  of  general  average 
rather  than  as  a  temporary  matter.  It  compares 
the  average  of  western  linp  with  the  average  of 
eastern  lines  as  to  financial  status  and  general 
profitableness. 

Then  it  comes  down  from  the  big  to  the  smaller 
questions  and  takes  into  consideration  the  rela- 
■  tion  of  each  commodity  to  the  total  volume  of 
freight.  Also,  it  takes  into  consideration  the 
revenue  from  each  commodity  and  its  relation  to 
the  total  revenue  of  the  road.  The  commission 
even  stops  to  consider  all  phases  of  the  particular 
commercial  condition  of  those  who  produce  and 
ship  or  buy  and  sell  these  various  commodities. 

Next  it  takes  into  consideration  the  history  of 
the  rates  on  each  one  of  these  commodities  and 
hence  the  commission’s  previous  rulings  on  cer¬ 
tain  rates  in  certain  of  the  territories  involved. 

It  even  considers  the  delicate  point  whether  the 
railroads  by  proper  management  and  by  intro¬ 
ducing  proper  economies  could  have  avoided  the 
admitted  loss  in  net  revenue. 

In  a  word,  this  voluminous  and  pretentious 
report  of  the  commission  has  tried  to  compre¬ 
hend  the  whole  railroad  situation  and  to  set  right 
that  which  is  wrong.  It  has  tried  to  conform  its 
opinion  to  what  under  the  disclosed  circumstances 
would  be  good  public  policy. 

Since  trained  experts  of  the  commission  spent 
more  than  a  year  in  painstaking  inquiry  and  since 
those  contributing  to  that  report  included  the  best 
minds  in  the  railroad  service,  in  the  employ  of 
shippers,  and  in  the  legal  profession,  it  is  no 
simple  task  here  undertaken  when  it  is  attempted 
to  reduce  even  so  little  as  the  conclusion  of  the 
commission  on  coal  down  to  a  short  and  under¬ 
standable  statement. 

However,  by  attacking  the  problem  a  little  at 
a  time,  subdivisions  of  the  report  can  so  be  stated 
that  the  attitude  of  the  commission  can  easily  be 
understood. 

A  Fundamental  Difference. 

For  example,  one  of  the  first  tasks  of  the  com¬ 
mission  was  to  come  to  understand  the  relative 
positions  and  hence  the  relative  earning  power 
of  the  lines  in  the  eastern  group  and  the  lines  in 


It  Was  Proved  the  Carriers  Need  More 
Money — Rather  Than  Tax  Foodstuffs  to 
Supply  It,  Coal  Is  Given  the  Burden  to 
Carry. 

the  western  group.  In  a  general  way,  the  differ¬ 
ence  between  these  roads  is  simple  and  can  be 
thus  expressed : 

The  center  of  population  of  the  United  States 
is  at  a  point  about  in  the  middle  of  Indiana.  That 
is,  at  a  point  about  one-fourth  the  distance  across 
the  continent  there  is  the  center  of  population. 
This  means  that  by  far  the  greater  percentage  of 
America’s  1 00,000, 000  live  in  the  eastern  district — 
most  of  them  north  of  the  Ohio  and  Potomac. 
Naturally  the  eastern  group  of  railroads  have 


Western  Rates. 

This  increase  in  rates  will  take  ef¬ 
fect  on  September  30th. 

The  increase  is,  in  some  places,  ten 
cents  a  ton  and  in  others  five.  The 
average  increase  is  5.36  per  cent,  or 
a  little  less  than  eight  cents  a  ton. 

The  operators  are  organizing  a 
popular  movement  against  the  in¬ 
crease.  The  railroads  are  seriously 
considering  whether  it  is  advisable 
to  take  advantage  of  the  increase 
which  the  commission  allowed.  It 
will  not  be  possible  for  another  week 
to  say  definitely  what  effect  this  will 
have  on  coal  prices  in  the  west. 


more  people  to  serve,  therefore  more  things  to 
carry,  hence  a  greater  density  of  traffic  and 
naturally  larger  gross  earnings  per  mile. 

The  lines  in  the  western  territory  operate  in 
a  district  where  the  population  begins  to  thin 
out :  therefore  they  have  longer  hauls,  less  peo¬ 
ple  to  serve,  less  things  to  carry,  higher  operating 
expenses,  lower  density  of  traffic  and,  as  a  conse¬ 
quence,  lower  gross  earnings  per  mile. 

The  commission  expresses  all  this  in  a  graphic 
way  when  it  says  that  on  a  group  of  eleven  east¬ 
ern  coal  carriers  the  average  freight  revenue  per 
mile  of  road  is  $21,625 ;  while  on  twenty-two  so- 


called  western  roads  the  freight  revenue  is  $6,789 
per  mile,  or  less  than  one-third  what  it  is  in  the 
eastern  territory. 

Commissioner  Daniels  in  his  dissenting  opinion 
makes  a  big  point  of  the  fact  that  the  western 
railroads  also  use  up  a  larger  percentage  of  their 
gross  revenue  for  operating  expenses  than  do 
the  eastern  roads.  In  the  case  of  the  eastern 
roads,  in  1900,  it  cost  the  carriers  64.22  cents  in 
operating  expenses  to  secure  $1  of  revenue,  while 
in  1913  the  cost  had  risen  to  71.77  cents.  In  the 
case  of  the  western  railroads,  in  1901,  it  cost  the 
carriers  63.97  cents  to  secure  $1  of  revenue  while 
in  1914  the  cost  had  risen  to  72.12  cents. 


The  commission  found  itself  confronting  a 
need  to  allow  the  western  railroads,  which  have 
great  operating  difficulties  and  rising  cost,  to  get 
enough  revenue  to  offset  the  facts  of  sparse 
population,  of  long  hauls  and  therefore  of  natur¬ 
ally  high  operating  costs. 

Bases  of  the  Opinion. 

Even  so,  and  granting  that  the  basic  principles 
of  its  inquiry  were  sound,  it  is  difficult  to  under¬ 
stand  why  the  commission,  instead  of  granting  a 
general  increase  in  rates,  allowed  the  increase 
only  on  a  small  number  of  commodities.  Per¬ 
haps — and  this  is  an  assumption — that  can  be  ex¬ 
plained  only  by  taking  up  a  few  commodities,  as 
the  commission  has  done,  and  by  trying  to  find 
why  the  commission  decided  to  place  a  big  bur¬ 
den  upon  one  commodity  such  as  coal  and  none 
upon  another,  such  as  grain  and  packing  house 
products. 

In  this  connection  the  commission’s  decision  on 
grain  is  enlightening.  It  allowed  the  railroads  to 
increase  the  minimttm  carload  on  grain  from 
30,000  to  40,000  pounds.  That  is,  the  commission 
believes  it  is  easy  to  load  a  car  so  that  it  will 
carry  40,000  pounds  of  grain.  The  permitted  in¬ 
crease  in  the  minimum  weight  strove  therefore 
to  compel  the  shippers  to  load  cars  to  tfieir  capac¬ 
ity.  This  relieves  the  railroads  from  pulling  a 
car  which  is  only  partially  loaded. 

The  commission,  however,  refused  to  allow  the 
railroads  to  increase  rates  on  grain.  The  reason 
given  by  the  commission  for  its  decision  on  grain 
rates  is  not  convincing.  That  is,  it  stresses  in¬ 
equalities  in  rates  on  wheat  from  Kansas  City  to 
Chicago,  Denver  and  Gulf  ports.  This  is  a  con¬ 
troversy  of  twenty-five  years  standing.  It  says, 
which  is  true  enough,  that  the  rates  are  not  well 
proportioned  in  that  particular. 

Also,  the  commission  says  that  in  the  eastern 
territory  corn  and  wheat  move  at  the  same  rate 
while  in  the  western  territory  each  cereal  has  a 
separate  rate.  The  commission  complains  about 
the  double  basis  of  cereal  rates  in  the  west.  It 
it  is  not  justified  in  continuing  two  objec¬ 
tionable  practices  which  it  would,  in  effect,  do 
if  it  granted  an  increase. 

What  appears  to  be  the  real  reason,  which  is 
not  brought  out  in  the  report  at  all,  is  very  prob¬ 
ably  as  follows: 

The  known  fact  is  that  the  nation  depends 
mainly  for  its  supply  of  food  upon  this  western 
territory.  The  center  of  wheat  and  corn  pro¬ 
duction  for  years  has  been  gradually  moving 
westward.  To  allow  an  increase  in  the  rates  on 


wheat  and  corn  would  therefore  be  to  put  an 
extra  tax  on  the  food  supply  of  the  greatest  per¬ 
centage  of  the  American  people,  namely  those 
living""  in  the  east.  The  same  thing,  precisely,  is 
true  of  packing  house  products. 

The  commission  says  that  it  refuses  to_  allow 
this  increase  because  of  a  technicality  in  the 
manner  of  making  the  western  rates.  Its  real 
reason  was  perhaps  political.  It  did  not  want  to 
increase  the  price  of  foodstuffs  to  people  living 
in  the  east. 

Placing  the  Burden. 

Still,  the  commission  recognized  that  the  rail¬ 
ways  had  to  get  more  revenue.  Therefore  some 


The  commission  inserts  the  following  table  in  its  report,  which  shows  representative  rates,  in¬ 
cluding  both  those  at  present  and  those  proposed : 

REPRESENTATIVE  BITUMINOUS  COAL  RATES  ON  WHICH  INCREASES  ARE  PROPOSED. 


From —  „  . 

Peoria,  HI . P.*"" 

Peoria,  HI . St-  ^tiul  Mii 

—  jjj . Huron,  S.  D 

Miriii . Woonsocket, 


Iowa . 


Peoria 

Duluth 


D. 


Duluth,  Minn. 
Girard,  Ill. 


Aberdeen,  S.  D... 
Kansas  City,  Mo.. 

Centralia,'  Ill . Madison  Wis  . ... 

Milwaukee,  Wis . Chamberlain,  S*  D. 

Springheld,  Ill . Sioux  City,  Iowa. 

Cornell,  Kans . ^ttf-.sas  City^ 


Pittsburg, 

Pittsburg, 

Southern 

Southern 

Southern 

‘Alabama 


Kan . St.  Joseph,  Mo . 

Kan . South  Omaha,  Neb. 

Illinois  group . .Alexandria,  La. 

Illinois  group . Pine  Bluff, 

Illinois  group . Brownwood, 

mines . Brownwood, 


New  Mexico,  Dawson  district . Brownwood, 

Colorado,  Trinidad  district . Brownwood, 

Lehigh-Coalgate,  Okla . Brownwood, 

McAlester,  Okla . Brownwood, 

Calhoun,  Okla . Dallas,  Tex... 

McAlester,  Okla . Winfield,  La.. 

Hartford,  Ark . .Altus,  Okla... 

Hartford,  Ark . Oklahoma  Cit-/ 

Robinson,  Colo . Amarillo,  Tex. 

Trinidad,  Colo . Amarillo,  Tex. 


Ark.  . 
Tex. 
Tex . 
Tex . 
Tex. 
Tex. 
Tex . 


Distance, 

Present 

■'  proposed  i\ate - ^ 

Per  Net 

Miles. 

Rate  per  Ton. 

Per  Ton. 

Ton-Mile. 

.  250 

$1.70 

$1.80 

$0,720 

.  462 

1.50 

1.60 

.346 

.  649 

2.55 

2.65 

.393 

.  524 

2.55 

2.65 

.506 

.  458 

2.55 

2.65 

.579 

.  305 

1.80 

1.90 

.623 

.  337 

1.40 

1.45 

.430 

.  622 

3.40 

3.50 

.563 

.  600 

2.69 

2.79 

.465 

.  139 

.70 

.75 

.540 

.  191 

.90 

1.00 

.524 

.  323 

1.35 

1.45 

.449 

.  645 

3.82 

3.92 

.608 

.  335 

2.25 

2.35 

.701 

.  368 

2.65 

2.75 

.747 

.  820 

4.80 

4.90 

.598 

.  831 

3.75 

3.85 

.463 

.  730 

3.75 

3.85 

.527 

.  368 

•  2.65 

2.76 

.747 

434 

2.65 

2.75 

.634 

.  388 

1.25 

1.35 

.348 

.  426 

2.25 

2.35 

.552 

430 

2.35 

2.45 

.570 

.  207 

1.45 

1.55 

.749 

.  297 

3.00 

3.10 

1.044 

.  256 

2.75 

2.85 

1.113 

‘Distance  from  Birmingham,  .Ala.,  as  given  in  W.  W.  Miller  exhibit  4. 


No.  8] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


145 


commodities  had  to  pay  higher  rates.  One  of 
the  commodities  selected  to  carry  this  burden 
was  coal.  That  is,  rather  than  taxing  the  food 
supply  of  a  densely  populated  eastern  territory, 
it  decided  to  tax  the  coal  supply  of  a  sparsely 
populated  district.  It  chose  the  lesser  of  evils. 
The  commission  says  that  in  some  cases  the  in¬ 
crease  asked  for  was  ten  cents  a  ton;  in  others, 
the  increase  asked  for  was  five  cents  a  ton.  The 
average  increase  is  less  than  eight  cents  a  ton. 
The  proposed  increase  amounts  to  5.36  per  cent 
on  the  average,  in  the  western  territory  on  coal 
rates.  The  average  weighted  haul  on  this  coal  is 
303  miles.  The  average  present  rate  is  $1,483. 

The  Empty  Car  Haul. 

In  granting  this  increase,  the  commission  took 
into  consideration  a  few  general  and  a  great 
man)"  specific  conditions.  One  of  the  general 
conditions  was  this:  Ninety  per  cent  of  the  cars 
which  move  away  from  the  mines  with  coal  re¬ 
turn  to  the  mines  empty  or  travel  the  whole  dis¬ 
tance  back  home  without  any  load.  This  was 
one  of  the  big  disputed  points  in  the  coal  rate 
case. 

The  railroads  themselves  presented  that  figure 
of  ninety  per  cent  empty  car  haul.  This,  it  will 
be  remembered,  was  vigorously  assailed  by  F.  H. 
Harwood  and  other  representatives  of  the  coal 
shippers.  Mr.  Harwood  called  attention  to  the 
fact  that  the  railroads  consumed  twenty-five  per 
cent  of  the  coal  and  that  the  empty  car  haul 
covers  the  movement  on  their  own  fuel  as  well 
as  the  movement  of  commercial  coal.  That  is, 
the  commercial  coal  shippers  were  being  charged 
with  an  empty  car  haul  which  should  have  been 
charged  against  railroad  business.  The  commis¬ 
sion  apparently  waved  aside  this  objection  of  the 
shippers  and  clung  to  the  ninety  per  cent  empty 
car  haul  as  representative. 

Fluctuations  in  Tonnage. 

Another  general  consideration  is  thus  worded 
by  the  commission : 

“Between  the  month  of  lowest  and  the  month 
of  highest  density  in  this  traffic  there  is  a  dif¬ 
ference  of  89.73  per  cent — greater  than  the  dif¬ 
ference  between  the  maximum  and  minimum  ton¬ 
nage  of  any  other  particular  kind  of  traffic.  The 
variation  indicates  that  the  movement  is  seasonal 
and  the  fact  that  miners’  contracts  are  renewed 
biennially,  causing  uncertainty  in  the  production, 
makes  for  heavy  fluctuation  in  the  volume  of 
traffic.” 

This  fluctuation,  it  might  be  added,  is  heavier 
in  the  west  than  in  the  east.  In  the  east  the  coal 
movement  changes  direction  and  destination  in 
summer;  in  the  west  it  falls  off  in  volume.  The 
burden,  expressed  in  idle  cars,  is  heavier  in  the 
west. 

Another  general  consideration  is  thus  worded 
by  the  commission ; 

“The  cost  incident  to  the  assembling  and  diver¬ 
sion  of  coal  is  material  but  the  exact  measure 
thereof  cannot  be  determined  from  this  record. 
As  pointed  out  in  the  general  discussion  of  the 
carriers’  financial  situation,  there  has  been  a  con¬ 
stantly  increasing  cost  of  maintenance  of  those 
heavy  coal  cars, — a  cost  augmented  by  reason  of 
the  injury  caused  by  these  heavy  cars  to  other 
lighter  equipment.” 

Another  general  consideration  of  the  commis¬ 
sion  was  that  the  status  of  slack  coal  has  changed 
in  the  last  few  years.  Formerly  the  commodity 
had  no  value  because  it  had  a  very  limited  use. 
Then  the  railroads  put  in  a  lower  rate  on  slack 
than  applied  on  lump  coal  and  the  commission 
believes  that,  as  a  consequence,  the  market  for 
slack  coal  improved  and  therefore  the  value  in¬ 
creased.  The  commission  does  not  carry  its  rea¬ 
soning  to  the  logical  conclusion  but  rather  seems 
to  assume  that  because  slack  coal  has  advanced 
in  price,  the  rates  should  stand  the  corresponding 
increase. 

Trend  of  Coal  Prices. 

The  commission  thus  seems  to  assume  that 
because  of  the  rise  in  slack  coal  prices  the  opera¬ 
tors  are  in  a  better  position  to  stand  an  increase 
than  they  were,  although  its  evident  assumption 
here  does  not  agree  with  its  own  statement  of 
facts.  For  example,  on  page  606  of  the  report 
the  commission  says : 

“Coal  mined  in  the  states  here  affected  has 
increased  in  value  but  little  since  1904  and  the 
price,  except  in  the  states  of  Alabama  and  Ken¬ 
tucky,  is  given  for  the  years  1904  to  1913  in  the 
subjoined  table. 

AVERAGE  SELLING  PRICE,  ALL  COAL  FROM 
MINES  IN  STATES  SHOWN,  1904  TO  1913, 
INCLUSIVE. 

[Taken  from  bulletins,  “Production  of  Coal,”  by  Edward 
W.  Parker,  U.  S.  Geol.  Survey.] 


State—  1904  1905  1906  1907  1908 

Illinois  . $1.10  $1.00  $1.08  $1.07  $1.05 

Indiana  .  1.11  1.05  1.08  1.08  1.06 


Missouri  .  1.63  1.58  1.63  1.64  1.64 

Iowa  .  1.61  1.56  1.60  1.62  1.63 

Kansas  .  1.52  1.46  1.49  1.52  1.49 

Oklahoma  .  1.82  1.76  1.02  2.04  2.03 

Arkansas  .  1.54  1.49  1.61  1.68  1.08 

Colorado  .  1.31  1.22  1.26  1.40  1.41 

New  Mexico .  1.31  1.33  1.34  1.46  1.37 

State—  1909  1910  1911  1912  1913 

Illinois  . $1.05  $1.14  $1.11  $1.17  $1.14 

Indiana  .  1.02  1.13  1.08  1.14  1.11 

Missouri  .  1.65  1.79  1.72  1.76  1.73 

Iowa  .  1.65  1.75  1.73  1.80  1.79 

Kansas  .  1.44  1.61  1.53  1.62  1.67 

Oklahoma  .  2.00  2.22  2.05  2.14  2.05 

Arkansas  .  1.48  1.56  1.61  1.71  1.76 

Colorado  .  1.33  1.42  1.45  1.49  1.52 

New  Mexico' .  1.29  1.39  1.44  1.42  1.46 


“A  shipper  gave  the  prices  paid  by  five  rail¬ 
roads  for  their  fuel  coal  1910-1914  as  somewhat 
higher  than  the  prices  shown  in  the  foregoing 
table ;  and  it  appears  that  one  of  the  carriers  is 
paying  the  same  for  coal  as  in  1910,  two  slightly 
more,  and  two  slightly  less.  The  relative  density 
of  all  traffic  hauled  by  representative  eastern  and 
western  roads  appears  from  the  following  table : 


FOR  YEAR  ENDED  JUNE  SO,  1914. 

Tons  of 
,, eight  car¬ 
ried  1  mile 


Eastern  bituminous  coal 

Average  Freight  : 
miles  op-  revenue 
erated  dur-  per  mile 

originating  roads — 

ing  year 

of  road 

Pennsylvania  Co . 

. 1,749 

$25,518 

Pennsylvania  R.  R . 

. 4,083 

31,407 

Baltimore  &  Ohio . 

.  . 4,478 

16,922 

Hocking  Valley  . 

.  351 

15,935 

Norfolk  &  Western . 

. 2,035 

18,683 

Chesapeake  &  Ohio . 

. 2,345 

12,305 

Buffalo,  Rochester  &  Pittsburgh.  581 

15,742 

Toledo  &  Ohio  Central.  . 

.  446 

9,817 

Kanawha  &  Michigan.  ..  . 

.  176 

15,031 

Bessemer  &  Lake  Erie.. 

.  204 

38,903 

Pittsburgh  &  Lake  Erie. 

.  223 

67,925 

Unweighted  average.  . . 

21,625 

road 

4,448,369 

5,430,286 

2,997,966 

3,742,321 

4,497,010 

3,011,617 

3,405,126 

2,366,937 

3,739,955 

8,564,706 

9,043,294 

4,100,550 


FOR  YEAR  ENDED  JUNE  30,  1914. 
Western  and  southwestern  bitu¬ 
minous  coal  originating  roads — 


Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe.  . 

.8,345 

7,139 

706,150 

Chicago  &  Alton . 

.1,033 

8,595 

1,417,388 

Chicago,  Rock  Island  &  Pacific. 

.7,729 

5,478 

639,184 

Chicago  &  Eastern  Illinois . 

.1,283 

8,825 

1,724,429 

Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy. 

.9,139 

6,871 

942,339 

Chicago  &  North  Western . 

.8,070 

6,689 

771,930 

Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul. 9, 683 

6,739 

834,338 

Chicago  Great  Western . 

.1,496 

6,645 

911,648 

Illinois-Central  . 

.4,768 

9,200 

1,633,461 

Minneapolis  &  St.  Louis* . . 

,  .1,646 

4,338 

516,390 

Wabash  . 

.2,514 

8,032 

1,320,933 

Cleveland,  Cincinnati,  Chicago 

& 

St.  Louis . 

.2,187 

10,337 

1,896,495 

Vandalia  . 

.  910 

8,326 

1,275,451 

Chicago,  Terre  Haute  &  South- 

eastern]  . 

5,109 

887,354 

Missouri  Pacific . 

.3,919 

4,972 

609,465 

St.  Louis,  Iron  Mountain 

& 

Southern  . 

.3,364 

7,282 

926,024 

St.  Louis  &  San  Francisco . 

.4,746 

6,037 

613,127 

Missouri,  Kansas  &  Texas . 

.3,824 

5,288 

483,838 

Kansas  City  Southern . 

.  827 

9,963 

1,284,810 

Colorado  &  Southern . 

.1,127 

4,986 

481,034 

Midland  Valley . 

.  380 

2,745 

226,229 

Missouri,  Oklahoma  &  Gulf.... 

.  334 

2,623 

350,095 

Unweighted  average. 


6,789 


881,642 


‘Passenger  mileage  operated,  1,585  miles. 

[Passenger  mileage  operated,  207  miles. 

The  Twin  Cities  Rate. 

In  detail,  one  of  the  principal  points  in  dispute 
was  the  rate  on  coal  from  Illinois  and  Indiana 
mines  to  the  Twin  Cities — St.  Paul  and  Minne¬ 
apolis.  The  carriers  serving  Indiana  and  Illinois 
had  proposed  an  increase  in  this  rate  from  $1.50 
to  $1.60.  The  carriers  moving  coal  from  the 
Lake  Superior  docks  to  the  same  point  did  not 
propose  an  increase.  The  coal  shippers  protested 
that  if  this  unequal  advance  were  allowed  the 
western  mines  would  be  driven  out  of  that  terri¬ 
tory. 

The  commission,  in  this  particular  instance, 
took  several  things  into  consideration,  but  failed 
to  consider  the  vital  point  of  it  all. 

In  the  first  place,  and  on  broad  grounds,  it 
said  that  a  regulating  body  could  not  name  a 
rate  which  would  give  a  shipper  an  opportunity 
to  sell  in  a  certain  market  if  that  were  the  only 
consideration.  In  substance,  it  said  that  the  car¬ 
rier  might  do  that  if  it  liked,  and  even  quoted 
the  chief  justice  of  the  United  States  Supreme 
Court  on  that  point,  but  it  said  that  the  com¬ 
mission  had  no  power  to  make  a  rate  which  would 
do  that  thing,  provided  the  rate  was  less  than  the 
traffic’s  proportion  of  the  cost  of  the  service. 
In  this  connection  it  gave  the  following  terse 
history  of  the  rates  from  the  western  mines  to 
the  Twin  Cities  : 


Year  Rate  per  ton 

1887 . $2.00 

1889 .  1.75 

1892 .  2.00 

1896 .  1.62]^ 

1899 .  1.65 

1902  .  1.40 

1903  .  1.50 

1904  .  1.40 


“The  $1.40  rate  remained  effective  until,  in 
obedience  to  an  order  of  this  commission  regard¬ 


ing  a  rate  to  the  Twin  Cities  no  higher  than  to 
intermediate  points,  the  carriers  increased  the 
terminal  rate  to  $1.50.  The  increase  was  sus¬ 
tained  by  us  in  Daly  Coal  Company  vs.  Chicago 
&  Alton  Railway  Company,  33  I.  C.  C.,  467.  In 
the  present  case  it  is  proposed  to  increase  this 
rate  to  $1.60.” 

In  the  second  place  the  commission  considered 
the  Twin  Cities  as  a  part  of  the  general  group 
including  Wisconsin,  Iowa,  Minnesota  and  South 
Dakota. 

“We  are  of  the  opinion  that  the  territory 
affected  should  properly  be  considered  as  one. 
When  so  considered,  while  there  have  been  fluc¬ 
tuations,  the  present  rates  are  no  higher  than 
they  were  ten  years  ago.” 

Later  on,  the  commission  says,  in  what  is  per¬ 
haps  its  most  adroit  point  of  the  whole  Twin 
Cities  case : 

“From  lake  ports  in  Wisconsin  and  Minnesota 
to  intrastate  points  in  those  states  no  increase  is 
proposed  in  the  rates  on  dock  coal.  It  is  claimed 
that  injury  will  result  to  the  coal  miners  of 
Illinois  unless  increases  in  coal  rates  are  made 
from  the  docks  commensurate  with  the  proposed 
increases  from  the  mines  in  that  state.  Illinois 
coal  is  said  to  be  somewhat  less  attractive  to 
users  than  is  coal  from  the  Pittsburgh  district, 
but  the  Illinois  coal  can  be  sold  more  cheaply 
than  the  Pittsburgh  coal.  Details  of  the  cost  of 
each  at  the  representative  consuming  markets  of 
St.  Paul  and  Minneapolis  were  shown  by  protest- 
ants  in  a  table  here  inserted. 

“The  following  is  a  comparison  of  prices  for 
coal  delivered  at  St.  Paul  and  Minneapolis,  the 
largest  coal  markets  west  of  Chicago : 


From  Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  district— 

Coal  at  mines . $1.25 

Average  freight  charges  to  Lake  Erie  ports . 75 

Loading  to  vessel . 05 

Lake  freight  Erie  to  Superior . 32 

Dock  charges  at  Superior  and  Duluth . 40 

Freight  from  Superior  and  Duluth  to  Twin  Cities..  .96 


Total  . $3.73 

Illinois  coal — 

Average  selling  price  at  mines  (10  years) .  1.10 

Present  average  freight  charges  from  State  of 
Illinois  . *1.93 


Total  . $3.03 


‘Margin  to  cover  difference  in  quality . 70 


“From  other  facts  of  record  it  appears  that  past 
increases  in  rates  from  Illinois  without  corre- 
sp:)nding  increases  in  the  rates  from  the  docks 
have  resulted  in  relatively  lessening  the  amount 
shipped  from  the  Illinois  mines.  Since  the  rates 
from  the  docks  at  Milwaukee  to  points  in  Wis¬ 
consin  and  rates  from  Duluth  to  the  Twin  Cities 
remain  unchanged,  some  carriers  maintain  exist¬ 
ing  related  interstate  rates.” 

In  other  words,  the  adroit  argument  of  the 
commission  is  that  the  western  operators  cannot 
complain  about  this  increase  in  rates  to  the  Twin 
Cities  unless  they  are  willing  to  admit  that  the 
intrinsic  value  of  eastern  coal  is  more  than 
seventy  cents  a  ton  greater  than  western  coal. 
The  vital  point  left  out  of  consideration  is :  The 
price  quoted  on  eastern  coal  is  on  the  size  bought 
and  used  in  the  Twin  Cities.  The  price  quoted 
on  western  coal  is  an  average  of  all  sizes  of  all 
mines  whereas  only  the  larger  sizes  from  assorted 
districts  sell  there  and  they  demand  higher  prices 
than  those  used  as  a  basis. 

On  the  South  Dakota  case,  which  is  one  of 
considerable  dispute,  the  commission  makes  its 
own  point  in  the  following  paragraph : 

“To  South  Dakota  destinations  an  increase  of 
ten  cents  per  ton  is  proposed  in  the  rates  on 
bituminous  coal  from  Lake  Michigan  and  Lake 
.Superior  ports,  as  well  as  from  Illinois  mines. 
No  increase  is  proposed  from  any  of  the  lake 
ports  to  Minnesota  destinations.  The  present 
rates  from  the  lake  ports  to  South  Dakota  des¬ 
tinations  are  on  a  higher  per  ton-mile  basis  than 
rates  to  intermediate  destinations  in  western 
Minnesota.  An  increase  in  the  rates  to  South 
Dakota  destinations  would  accentuate  the  exist¬ 
ing  violation  of  the  general  principle  that  the 
ton-mile  revenue  should  decrease  with  increased 
distance.  The  present  rates  to  South  Dakota 
destinations  appear  to  be  on  a  higher  bases  than 
to  other  western  destinations,  although  the 
greater  part  of  the  haul  is  through  the  lower 
rated  territory.  For  these  reasons  the  increases 
proposed  to  South  Dakota  destinations  have  not 
been  justified.” 

After  this  rather  elaborate  presentation  of 
facts  and  assumptions,  the  commission  concludes : 

“From  the  facts  of  record  we  are  of  the 
opinion  and  find  that,  with  exception  of  rates  on 
coal  from  points  in  South  Dakota,  the  proposed 
increase  on  rates  in  coal  have  been  justified  and 
the  orders  of  suspension  relating  thereto  will  be 
vacated.” 


146 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[August  21 


Rates  on  Coal 

The  second  preliminary  bout  in  the  effort 
to  force  a  general  revision  and  reduction  of 
Ohio  coal  transportation  rates,  within  that 
state,  was  begun  before  the  Ohio  Utilities 
Commission  on  August  17th.  A  recess  had 
been  taken  to  that  date  from  August  6th  to 
permit  time  for  better  preparation  on  both 
sides. 

There  was  a  formidable  array  of  attorneys 
when  the  session  was  called  together  in  one 
of  the  hearing  rooms  of  the  county  court 
house — a  makeshift  place  of  meeting — at  Co¬ 
lumbus.  Few  coal  men  from  over  the  state 
were  present,  but  a  number  of  prominent  com¬ 
panies  were  represented  by  counsel. 

The  anticipated  trend  of  events  was  evident 
when  Judge  George  B.  Okey,  chief  attorney 
for  the  plaintiffs,  the  Ohio  United  Mine  Work¬ 
ers,  took  a  place  in  the  background,  and  a 
corps  of  legal  lights,  presumably  on  behalf  of 
the  Sunday  Creek  Company,  assumed  charge 
of  the  prosecution.  Tliey  comprised  George  P. 
Boyle  of  Chicago,  formerly  connected  with 
the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission;  Messrs. 
Hillman  and  Hopkins  of  Chicago,  the  former 
a  rate  expert  whose  testimony  four  years  ago 
played  a  prominent  part  in  the  lowering  of 
Hocking  Valley  commercial  rates  to  Toledo; 
and  Harry  Arnold  of  Columbus. 

Attorneys  for  various  other  coal  companies, 
whose  attitude  for  the  time  being  would  seem 
to  be  at  least  technically  against  the  plaintiffs, 
grouped  themselves  with  railroad  counsel. 

At  the  previous  hearing,  which  covered  parts 
of  two  days,  the  Hocking  Valley  railroad  had 
refused  the  request  of  the  plaintiffs  to  produce 
in  court  documents  and  records  showing  ex¬ 
pense  of  hauling  coal  from  the  Nelsonville  as¬ 
sembling  yards  to  Toledo.  The  commission 
afterwards  issued  subpoenas  requiring  the  offi¬ 
cials  to  come  into  court  with  such  evidence. 
As  soon  as  court  opened  this  began  to  arrive 
by  the  truck-load,  there  being  almost  enough 
of  it,  finally,  to  fill  a  freight  car. 

The  attitude  was  taken  by  counsel  for  the 
plaintiffs  that  the  submitting  of  records  in  this 
volum.inous  form  was  for  effect,  and  that  what 
was  desired  was  condensed  records  instead  of 
the  original  way-bills  and  the  like.  J.  F.  Wil¬ 
son,  chief  counsel  for  the  Hocking  Valley, 
stood  upon  the  broad  grounds  of  the  subpoena, 
which  designated  subsidiary  records  as  being 
among  the  kind  asked  for.  Mr.  Wilson  stated 
that  the  documents  submitted  consisted  of  per¬ 
haps  5,000  separate  papers.  He  took  the  de¬ 
fense  that  the  subpoena  had  been  vague  in  is 
terms  and  that  the  company  had  complied  in 
the  most  liberal  form  possible.  The  greater 
part  of  the  day  was  taken  up  in  the  discussion 
of  the  character  and  completeness  of  the  docu¬ 
ments.  The  plaintiffs  tried  to  make  it  appear 
that  they  were  submitted  in  a  spirit  of  ridi¬ 
cule  and  with  the  idea  of  confusing  and  ham¬ 
pering  proceedings.  The  railroad  officials  de¬ 
fended  themselves  at  length  against  these 
charges. 

The  Big  Point. 

C.  H.  Sisson,  trainmaster  of  the  Hocking 
Valley  railroad  at  the  Nelsonville  yards,  was 
placed  on  the  stand  by  the  prosecution  and  in¬ 
terrogated  as  to  the  portion  of  the  documents 
his  department  had  submitted,  and  these  were 
checked  off  into  a  group  by  themselves.  In 
the  hour  or  more  which  Mr.  Sisson  held  the 
witness  stand  testimony  was  brought  out  to 
show  what  part  through  freight  from  the  south 
played  in  the  record  of  cars  handled  at  the 
Nelsonville  yards. 

This  showed  the  drift  of  the  proceedings, 
namely,  that  the  old  question  of  the  difference 
charged  for  hauling  Hocking  Valley  coal  to 
Toledo  and  coal  received  at  Armitage  junc¬ 
tion  from  West  Virginia  for  the  same  point 
was  to  be  the  cornerstone  of  the  whole  rate- 
reduction  fight. 

In  answer  to  the  direct  question  of  Chairman 
Waltermire,  of  the  commission,  it  was  stated 
that  the  evidence  submitted  in  the  earlier 
stages  of  the  case  at  least  was  to  pertain 
wholly  to  the  Hocking  Valley  coal  field.  This 
revealed  the  additional  fact  that  the  Sunday 
Creek  Company,  by  reason  of  its  great  im¬ 
portance  in  this  field,  was  the  corporation 
chiefly  interested. 

The  chairman  thereupon  took  the  ground  in 
effect  that  the  standing  of  the  United  Mine 
Workers  as  the  supposed  plaintiffs  in  the  case, 
with  all  coal-carrying  railroads  of  the  state 


in  Ohio  Are  Being  Challenged. 


The  United  Mine  Workers  of  Ohio  Begin 
the  Action,  But  the  Sunday  Creek  Com¬ 
pany  Announces  It  Will  Take  Action 
Now  or  at  a  Later  Date. 


defendants,  was  no  longer  logical.  He  ruled 
that  the  Sunday  Creek  Company,  if  it  proposed 
to  intervene  in  the  case,  should  make  its  plead¬ 
ing.  It  was  given  until  Wednesday  to  take 
such  action. 

Sunday  Creek  Takes  a  Stand 

Mr.  Boyle,  who  was  the  mouthpiece  of  the 
prosecution  throughout  the  day’s  session, . 
stated  that  the  Sunday  Creek  Company  would 
back  up  the  miners  in  their  contention;  that 
it  had  a  case  with  the  Hocking  Valley  railroad 
which  it  proposed  to  fight  out,  either  in  the 
case  brought  by  the  miners  or  one  which  it 
would  bring  itself. 

Judge  Okey,  of  counsel  for  the  miners,  made 
a  plea  in  their  behalf  to  the  commission,  citing 
the  inability  of  his  clients  in  their  present  im¬ 
poverished  condition  to  employ  rate  experts 
and  otherwise  carry  on  a  prosecution,  and  sug¬ 
gested  that  the  commission  itself  prosecute  the 
matter  of  rate  reform.  He  urged  this  on  be¬ 
half  of  the  people  of  the  state  at  large.  The 
commission  refused  to  entertain  this  sugges¬ 
tion,  stating  that  it  had  properly  come  before 
the  last  legislature  and  that  body  had  refused 
to  take  the  matter  up. 

At  the  afternoon  session,  the  question  as  to 
the  character  of  the  documents  submitted  and 
which  were  yet  to  be  submitted  by  the  Hock¬ 
ing  Valley  railroad  were  again  taken  up. 
Counsel  fdr  the  prosecution  wanted  to  ignore 
what  was  termed  the  rubbish  that  the  company 
had  carted  into  the  court  room  and  go  at 
once  to  the  condensed  records.  The  plan  was 
that  its  rate  expert,  with  his  assistants,  should, 
with  the  aid  of  one  of  the  railroad  company’s 
officials,  go  through  the  company’s  records  at 
the  general  offices. 

Strenuous  objection  was  raised  by  Chief 
Counsel  Wilson.  First  he  claimed  that  any¬ 
thing  produced  or  shown,  without  being 
specifically  authorized  by  the  commission, 
would  be  in  violation  of  the  Interstate  Com¬ 
merce  Commission  rulings,  as  giving  investiga¬ 
tors  opportunity  to  learn  matters  that  would 
be  to  the  benefit  of  the  coal  company  they 
represented  as  against  competing  companies. 

Further,  he  stated  that  an  experience  of  a 
similar  nature  several  years  ago  had  resulted 
in  the  experts  being  in  the  offices  of  the  rail¬ 
road  company  for  two  months,  to  the  ineon- 
venience  of  employes  and  officials. 

He  claimed  that  the  Hocking  Valley  railroad 
had  nothing  to  conceal  in  the  matter  of  an  in¬ 
vestigation,  but  did  not  want  it  conducted  ac¬ 
cording  to  the  plan  proposed.  The  chairman 
of  the  commission  suggested  a  compromise 
plan,  but  as  neither  side  would  agree  to  it,  he 
ordered  the  hearing  to  proceed. 

A  large  part  of  the  afternoon  was  taken  up 
with  the  further  examination  of  General  Man¬ 
ager  Connors,  of  the  Hocking  Valley,  who  was 
on  the  stand  when  the  recess  occurred  ten  days 
ago.  It  was  wholly  of  a  technical  nature,  with 
regard  to  the  completeness  of  the  documents 
which  had  been  placed  in  evidence.  Mr.  Con¬ 
nor  stated  that  there  would  be  a  further  in¬ 
stallment  of  documents  on  Wednesday.  The 
impression  was  given  that  more  condensed 
records  would  be  submitted.  Auditor  F.  D. 
Hodgston,  who  had  just  returned  from  a  three 
weeks’  absence,  and  was  on  the  stand  during 
the  day,  was  given  until  Wednesday  to  pro¬ 
duce  documents  from  his  department. 

Before  adjournment  for  the  day,  Mr.  Boyle 
stated  that  after  the  additional  documents  were 
in  and  checked  up,  the  prosecution  would  ask 
for  a  postponement  until  the  whole  could  be 
tabulated.  He  estimated  that  it  would  prob¬ 
ably  require  five  weeks,  whereas  if  the  rail¬ 
roads  would  consent  to  examination  of  general 
offiee  records  the  work  could  be  done  in  three 
weeks. 

Are  Other  Roads  Involved? 

Mr.  Denison,  of  Cleveland,  attorney  for  the 
Wheeling  &  Lake  Erie,  asked  Mr.  Boyle  if  the 
prosecution  proposed  to  attack  the  rates  of 
other  roads  after  it  got  through  with  the  Hock¬ 
ing  Valley.  To  this  Mr.  Boyle  replied  that 
they  were  only  crossing  one  bridge  at  a  time. 


During  the  session,  Mr.  Ginn,  of  Cleveland, 
representing  the  Ohio  &  Pennsylvania  Coal 
Company,  and  other  operators  not  named, 
stated  that  the  middle  distriet  would  not  inter¬ 
vene  on  the  basic  question  of  lowering  rates. 
They  had  qualified  as  parties  to  the  action  so 
as  to  be  in  a  position  to  have  a  part  in  it 
should  developments  warrant,  but  this  part 
would  be  simply  that  of  differentials. 

As  the  matter  stands  at  present,  the  fight  is 
between  the  Sunday  Creek  Company  and  the 
Hocking  Valley  Railway  Company,  and  the 
outcome  will  be  awaited  by  other  operators  as 
a  test.  If  Hocking  rates  are  reduced  to  any 
extent  it  is  believed  that  every  district  will 
get  into  the  fight  to  preserve  existing  differ¬ 
entials  among  Ohio  fields. 

Wednesday’s  Session. 

When  the  commission  reconvened  at  1:30 
p.  m.,  Wednesday,  Mr.  Boyle  stated  that  a 
conference  between  Mr.  Hillman,  the  rate  ex¬ 
pert,  and  the  railroad  officials  had  established 
just  what  additional  records  the  plaintiff  would 
insist  upon.  No  agreement,  however,  had  been 
reached  by  which  the  railroad  was  to  furnish 
these  records  or  in  what  form. 

As  eighty-five  per  cent  of  them  would  come 
from  the  auditor’s  department.  Auditor  Hodg¬ 
ston  was  again  placed  upon  the  stand.  Ques¬ 
tions  as  to  the  producing  of  the  additional 
records  and  what  they  would  contain  as  to 
easily-available  information  did  not  bring  out 
replies  satisfactory  to  the  plaintiff.  Mr.  Boyle 
stated  to  the  commission  that  it  would  be  a 
waste  of  effort  to  put  other  officials  of  the 
road  on  the  stand,  and  that  the  plaintiff  could 
go  no  further  until  it  had  all  the  documents 
in  hand  that  had  been  promised  to  be  sub¬ 
mitted  and  compilation  made  from  same.  If 
was  his  suggestion  that  the  hearing  be  ad¬ 
journed  over  to  some  date  that  would  give 
time  for  this  work. 

Upon  inquiry  by  Chairman  Waltermire,  Mr. 
Hillman  stated  that  the  compiling  would  re¬ 
quire  about  three  weeks,  and  ten  days  addi¬ 
tional  time  should  be  allowed  for  counsel  to 
make  its  deductions.  At  this  point  Chief  Coun¬ 
sel  Wilson,  on  behalf  of  the  railroad  entered 
protest  against  the  several  tons  of  documents 
which  had  and  were  to  be  submitted,  remain¬ 
ing  in  the  custody  of  the  plaintiff’s  attorneys 
for  that  length  of  time.  It  would  be  an  in¬ 
convenience  to  the  company  to  be  deprived 
of  their  use.  Again,  they  would  reveal  private 
information  which  was  not  pertinent  to  the 
case.  Such  custody  and  use  of  the  documents 
would  amount  to  nothing  less  than  search  and 
seizure  and  violated  the  constitutional  rights 
of  the  company. 

The  commission  held  that  the  plaintiff  had 
an  unquestioned  right  to  examine  records  in 
support  of  its  case.  The  commission  had  tried 
to  get  plaintiff  and  defendant  together  on 
some  plan  of  examination  that  would  be  mu¬ 
tually  satisfactory.  Having  failed  in  this,  it 
was  within  the  province  of  the  commission  to 
provide  a  plan. 

Mr.  Wilson  persisted  in  his  objections,  on 
three  grounds.  First,  the  request  of  the  plain¬ 
tiff  was  unreasonable,  and  contrary  to  a  fed¬ 
eral  court  decision  which  was  cited.  Second, 
while  the  defendant  was  willing  to  produee 
any  record  for  the  information  of  the  commis¬ 
sion  as  a  tribunal,  it  made  a  distinction  when 
records  were  to  be  turned  over  to  a  plain¬ 
tiff  in  an  action  against  the  company,  allow¬ 
ing  such  plaintiff  to  make  promiscuous  use 
of  them.  Third,  the  competency  of  the  pro¬ 
ceeding  was  called  into  question,  inasmuch  as 
it  was  an  intervening  and  not  the  original 
plaintiff  making  the  demand,  and  further  the 
Hocking  Valley  Railroad  Company,  as  the  de¬ 
fendant  upon  which  action  was  centered  in 
the  new  phase  of  the  ease  since  the  Sunday 
Creek  Company  had  usurped  the  place  of  the 
United  Mine  Workers  as  plaintiff,  was  not 
amenable,  because  the  new  coal  tariff  recently 
filed  by  the  company  had  not  been  in  force 
one  3'ear  and  was,  therefore,  not  subject  to 
attack. 

The  commission  ruled  that  the  intervention 
of  the  Sunday  Creek  Company  did  not  change 
the  nature  of  the  ease  that  had  been  filed  by 
the  United  Mine  Workers,  and  that  the  ac¬ 
tion  of  that  plaintiff  was  still  in  force.  A  con¬ 
cession  was  made  the  railroad  by  the  chair- 

( Concluded  on  page  149.) 


No.  8] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


147 


Increased  Anthracite  Rates  to  Chicago  Allowed. 


Early  this  week  the  Interstate  Commerce  Com¬ 
mission  approved  of  the  increased  rates  on  an¬ 
thracite  proposed  some  time  ago.  The  increase 
is  twenty-five  cents  per  ton.  This  is  the  rate 
which  became  effective  on  July  17  by  the  expira¬ 
tion  of  the  time  limit  on  the  second  order  of 
suspension.  The  report  made  by  Chairman  Mc- 
Chord  was  as  follows : 

“The  tariffs  under  investigation  in  this  proceed¬ 
ing  were  filed  by  respondents  to  become  effective 
May  20  and  May  29,  1914,  but  were  suspended 
by  the  commission  until  March  17,  1915,  upon  the 
protest  of  dealers  in  anthracite  coal  in  the  city  of 
Chicago  and  in  the  states  of  Iowa  and  Nebraska. 
Subsequently  respondents  voluntarily  suspended 
the  operation  of  the  schedules  until  July  17,  1915. 
The  report  in  this  matter  was  held  up  pending 
the  report  on  the  Rates  for  Transportation  of 
Anthracite  Coal,  35  I.  C.  C.,  220,  and  the  rates 
here  involved  have  automatically  gone  into  effect 
with  the  expiration  of  the  suspension  period. 

“This  investigation  involves  the  reasonableness 
of  the  proposed  Increase  of  twenty-five  cents  per 
gross  ton  in  the  rates  for  transporting  anthracite 
coal,  ‘prepared  sizes,’  all  rail  in  carloads  from 
the  anthracite  mines  in  northern  Pennsylvania  to 
Chicago  and  Chicago  rate  points  and  to  points  of 
connection  between  eastern  and  western  lines  near 
Chicago,  such  as  Joliet,  Kankakee,  Griffith,  and 
others,  and  to  the  other  points  of  connection  be¬ 
tween  such  lines,  Peoria,  East  St.  Louis  and  St. 
Louis. 

“The  effective  rates  and  the  proposed  increased 
rates  per  net  ton  and  per  gross  ton  from  the 
mines  to  the  points  indicated  are  as  follows : 

Effective  Rate-^u^Proposed  Rate — ^ 
Gross  Net  Gross  Net 


Destination —  Ton.  Ton.  Ton.  Ton. 

Chicago  and  Chicago 

rate  points .  $3.50  $3.12  $3.75  $3.35 

Peoria .  3.75  3.35  4.00  3.56 

St.  Louis  and  East 

St.  Louis .  4.00  3.56  4.25  3.79 


“The  all-rail  movement  of  anthracite  coal  to 
Chicago  is  annually  about  2,500,000  tons,  and  the 
movement  by  water  in  1913  was  1,083,712  tons. 

“The  proposed  increases  apply  to  all-rail  ship¬ 
ments  to  points  west  of  Chica.go  to  which  there 
are  no  through  rates  from  Buffalo.  Except  to 
Mississippi  river  points,  there  are  no  through 
rates  from  Buffalo  to  points  west  of  Chicago. 
The  proposed  increases  do  not  affect  the  territory 
which  extends  from  Chicago  west  to  the  Missis¬ 
sippi  river,  south  to  St.  Louis  and  Cairo,  and 
north  to  Quincy,  except  a  few  points  to  which 
there  are  now  through  rates,  such  as  Peoria,  East 
St.  Louis  and  St.  Louis.  To  Quincy  and  to  the 
Mississippi  river  crossings  north,  the  increase  of 
twenty-five  cents  applies.  The  rates  to  the  lower 
Mississippi  river  crossings  below  St.  Louis  are 
not  affected. 

“Through  rates  are  effective  on  all  of  the  lines 
from  the  mines  to  Chica.go  and  to  Chicago  rate 
points  and  to  Peoria,  East  St.  Louis  and  St. 
Louis.  Of  the  through  rates,  $1.75  formerly  con¬ 
stituted  the  division  accruing  to  the  trunk  line 
carriers  for  the  haul  from  the  mines  to  Buffalo 
as  opposed  to  the  local  rate  of  $2  on  all  lines  for 
that  haul.  But  to  points  intermediate  to  Chicago 
and  to  other  points  in  Ohio,  Indiana  and  Michi¬ 
gan,  to  which  no  through  joint  rates  apply,  the 
rate  applicable  is  made  by  the  combination  of  the 
local  $2  per  gross  ton  rate  from  the  mines  to 
Buffalo  and  the  local  or  reshipping  rate  from 
Buffalo  west  to  destination,  by  which  combination 
there  is  broaght  about  a  freight  charge  of  twenty- 
five  cents  a  gross  ton  more  to  those  points  which 
commonly  take  the  same  rate  as  Chicago  than  the 
former  joint  through  rate  to  Chicago. 

“Anthracite  coal  is  not  sold  f.  o.  b.  at  the  mines, 
but  at  such  a  price  per  net  ton  in  Chicago  as 
preserves  to  the  producer  of  coal  the  advantage 
of  the  twenty-five  cents,  so  that  the  producer 
realizes  more  profit  on  the  through  shipments  to 
Chica,go  than  on  the  local  shipments  to  Buffalo 
or  on  the  through  shipments  to  points  between 
Buffalo  and  Chicago.  The  service  at  Buffalo  is 
the  same  as  to  coal  hauled  to  Buffalo  consigned 
to  Chicago  at  the  proportional  charge  of  $1.75 
as  to  coal  hauled  to  Buffalo  consigned  to  points 
west  in  Ohio,  Indiana  and  Michigan.  The  Penn¬ 
sylvania  Railroad  Company  and  its  affiliated  line, 
the  Pennsylvania  Company,  hereinafter  referred 
to  as  the  Pennsylvania,  published  no  throu.gh  rate 
via  its  Buffalo  route.  The  Erie  Railroad  Com¬ 
pany  and  the  Chicago  &  Erie  Railroad  Company, 
operating  jointly,  hereinafter  together  referred  to 
as  the  Erie,  maintain  only  one  rate  to  Buffalo, 
which  is  $2,  regardless  of  the  destination  of  the 
shipment  all  rail.  The  Erie,  since  this  proceeding 
was  begun,  established  through  rates  of  $3.50 


from  the  mines  to  Chica.go  and  $4  from  the 
mines  to  East  St.  Louis  and  St.  Louis  via  Buffalo 
and  the  Niagara  frontier,  not  having  heretofore 
published  such  a  rate,  but  expects  to  file  a  tariff 
increasing  these  rates  to  $3.75  and  $4.25,  respec¬ 
tively,  in  line  with  the  general  policy  of  re¬ 
spondents  as  disclosed  on  this  record.  The  mean 
distance  from  the  mines  to  Buffalo  on  the  Erie 
Railroad  is  about  288  miles.  From  Buffalo  to 
Chicago  the  short-line  distance  on  that  railroad 
is  about  550  miles. 

“The  record  deals  primarily  with  Chicago  con¬ 
ditions  and  the  rates  to  Chicago,  because  the 
Protestants  who  appeared  at  the  hearing  were 
coal  dealers  either  at  Chicago  or  at  points  to 
which  the  rate  is  a  combination  of  the  rate  to 
Chicago  and  the  rate  from  Chicago  to  the  place 
of  destination. 

“The  entire  increase  of  twenty-five  cents  is 
apportioned  as  compensation  for  that  part  of  the 
through  haul  between  the  mines  and  Buffalo  on 
shipments  via  Buffalo  on  the  lines  running  to 
Buffalo,  so  that  on  such  shipments  carriers  will 
receive  no  increase  for  that  part  of  the  through 
haul  between  Buffalo  and  the  named  points  of 
destination,  and  the  rate  to  Buffalo  will  be  uni¬ 
formly  $2.00,  regardless  of  the  destination  of  the 
shipments.  But  as  to  shipments  moving  west,  not 
via  Buffalo,  over  the  Erie  or  Pennsylvania  rail¬ 
roads,  which  extend  by  their  own  rails  from  the 
mines  to  Chicago,  the  increase  is  necessarily 
apportioned  over  the  entire  mileage  from  the 
mines  to  Chicago. 

“Respondents  assert  that  they  have  proposed 
the  increased  rates  in  view  of  a  complaint  that 
certain  discriminations  against  dealers  in  and  con¬ 
sumers  of  anthracite  coal  in  Ohio,  Indiana  and 
Michigan  have  been  created  by  the  effective  rates. 
Protestants  admit  the  existence  of  the  alle.ged 
discrimination,  but  insist  that  the  only  proper 
way  to  remove  it  is  by  a  reduction  of  the  rates 
to  points  in  Ohio,  Indiana  and  Michigan,  as  to 
which  it  is  alleged  that  the  Chicago  rate  is  un¬ 
justly  discriminatory,  it  being  urged  that  the  in¬ 
creased  rates  are  unreasonably  high. 

“This  issue  is  determined  by  our  finding  in  the 
Rates  for  Transportation  of  Anthracite  Coal, 
supra,  where  a  rate  of  $2  per  gross  ton  was 
found  to  be  unreasonable  for  the  haul  from  the 
mines  to  Buffalo.  Nothing  has  been  made  to 
appear  here  that  would  warrant  our  requiring  the 
trunk-line  carriers  to  accept  less  revenue  on  the 
transportation  here  involved  than  they  receive  on 
like  transportation  to  the  intermediate  points  in 
Ohio,  Indiana  and  Michigan.  Whether  or  not  the 
rates  under  consideration  are  properly  divided  be¬ 
tween  the  carriers  east  of  Buffalo  and  those  west 
thereof  is  a  matter  not  raised  on  this  record. 

“The  rates  here  involved  have  been  justified.” 


Control  of  Europe’s  Coal. 


Several  of  the  daily  newspapers  in  America 
printed  on  Sunday,  August  15,  some  statistics  on 
the  coal  supply  of  Europe,  emphasizing  the 
change  in  the  situation  brought  about  by  the  one 
year  of  war. 

F.  R.  Wadleigh,  the  well  known  coal  engineer, 
makes  some  timely  comments  on  the  newspaper 
articles,  which  bore  a  London  date  line,  in  the 
following  letter  to  the  New  York  Times: 

“Your  London  correspondent,  in  today’s  issue, 
gives  incorrect  figures  as  to  the  coal  output  of 
the  European  countries.  Taking  the  figures  for 
1913,  a  normal  year,  the  output  of  the  various 
European  countries,  in  short  tons  (see  U.  S. 
Geological  Survey  reports.  Colliery  Guardian, 
Iron  and  Coal  Trade  Review,  Stahl  u.  Eisen, 
United  Kingdom  Board  of  Trade  reports)  were 
as  follows,  as  against  the  output  given  in  your 
columns : 


Un-te'l  Kingdom . 

France  . 

Belgium  . 

Russia  (all) . 

1913 

. 321,922,000 

.  25,322,000 

.  37,335,000 

Times 

Figures 

236,000,000 

35,000,000 

22,000,000 

*15,000,000 

Total  . 

*Polaud. 

Germany  . 

Austria-Hungary  . 

. 429,379,000 

. 312,062,000 

308,000,000 

175,000,000 

42,000,000 

Total  . 

. 374,046,000 

217,000,000 

“There  were  also  9,915,000  tons  produced  by 
the  smaller  countries,  making  the  European  total 
813,348,000,  of  which  allied  countries  produced 
52.8  per  cent ;  Germany  and  Austria,  46.0  per 
cent,  and  other  countries,  1.2  per  cent.  Your  cor¬ 
respondent’s  figures  were :  Allied  countries. 


sixty-five  per  cent;  Germany  and  Austria,  thirty- 
five  per  cent. 

“Another  table  is  given  in  your  correspondence 
showing  “The  coal  conditions  since  Germany’s  in¬ 
roads  on  the  coal  fields  of  Belgium,  Flanders,  and 
Poland”  as  follows: 


United  Kingdom  total . 175,000,000 

Germany  . 175,000,000 

Austria-Hungary  . .  42,000,000 

France  .  35,000,000 

Belgium  .  22,000,000 

Poland  .  15,000,000 


“Your  correspondent  says  that  today  German 
occupation  has  given  them  the  Belgium  coal 
fields,  the  Pas  de  Calais  fields  of  France,  and  the 
chief  coal  fields  of  Russia,  located  in  Poland, 
those  of  the  Caucasus  being  minor  in  compari¬ 
son  ;  he  fails  to  mention  the  Donetz  field  of  Rus¬ 
sia  or  the  southern  field  of  France. 

“Based  on  this  statement,  the  entire  coal  out¬ 
put  of  E’rance  is  placed  on  the  German  side,  also 
what  is  stated  to  be  that  of  Poland,  no  allowance 
being  made  for  any  other  output  of  coal  in 
Russia. 

“Now  as  regards  France,  the  normal  (1913) 
output  of  its  southern  coal  fields,  which  are  not 
in  Germany’s  hands,  was  14,000,000  net  tons;  this 
amount  should  be  credited  to  the  Allies. 

“Then,  not  more  than  one-half  of  the  northern 
coal  fields  are  in  German  hands,  according  to  our 
consular  reports,  so  that  we  should  add  to  the 
Allies’  resources  one-half  of  the  northern  field 
output  of  30,800,000  net  tons. 

“Of  Russia,  the  largest  coal  fields  are  not  in 
Poland,  but  in  southern  Russia,  the  Donetz 
Basin,  as  it  is  called.  In  1913  the  output  of  the 
Poland  (Dombrova)  district  was  7,714,000  net 
tons,  not  15,000,000,  while  the  output  of  southern 
Russia  was  26,880,000  net  tons,  which  should  also 
he  credited  to  the  Allies,  as  well  as  the  small 
amount  from  the  other  fields,  making  a  total  of 
29,621,000  net  tons. 

“Reconstructing  the  table  showing  war  condi¬ 
tions,  we  have : 


United  Kingdom . 321,922,000 

France  .  29,400,000 

Russia  .  29,621,000 


Total  . 380,943,000 

Germany  . 312,062,000 

.'V'.istria-Hungary  .  61,984,000 

Belgium  .  25,322,000 

France  .  15,400,000 

Poland  .  7,714,000 


Total  . 422,482,000 

(  ^1*. 

Allies  . 46.9  per  cent 

Germany  and  Austria . 51.9  per  cent 

Other  countries .  1.2  per  cent 


“However,  such  calculations,  based  on  normal 
conditions,  are  of  doubtful  value  now,  when  the 
output  of  all  the  European  countries  at  war,  no 
matter  in  whose  hands  the  coal  fields  are,  have 
decreased  from  thirty-five  to  seventy-five  per 
cent.  It  is  the  countries  that  are  able  to  mine 
sufficient  coal  for  their  own  needs  and  those  of 
their  allies  that  are  ahead  of  the  game,  regardless 
of  what  might  have  been  the  case  before  the  war. 

“Great  Britain  and  Germany  are  each  mining 
about  sixty-five  per  cent  of  their  normal  output, 
but  the  former  had  an  export  tonnage  of  85,000,- 
000  net  to  divert  to  home  consumption,  as  against 
Germany’s  34,000,000,  and  the  normal  consump¬ 
tion  in  Germany  was  about  286,000,000  tons,  as 
against  Great  Britain’s  212,000,000. 

“Wherever  the  preponderance  of  coal  output  in 
Europe  may  lie,  the  whole  situation  is  full  of 
promise  to  our  coal  operators.  Neutral  coun¬ 
tries,  as  well  as  those  at  war,  must  have  coal;  if 
the  latter  cannot  supply  more  than  their  own 
needs,  the  former  must  come  to  the  United  States 
for  the  coal  needed  above  their  own  output. 

“F.  R.  WADLEIGH.” 

Philadelphia,  August  7,  1913. 


The  Link-Belt  Company  is  sending  out  to  the 
trade  a  most  complete  general  catalogue,  which 
not  only  exhibits  the  full  line  of  elevating  and 
conveying  machinery  and  accessories,  but  power 
transmission  machinery  and  engineering  installa¬ 
tions  as  well.  The  catalogue  is  known  as  Gen¬ 
eral  Catalogue  No.  110  and  is  invaluable  to  the 
purchasing  and  engineering  departments  of  a  coal 
company.  Not  figuring  the  value  of  the  technical 
matter  contained  in  this  book,  the  company  is 
spending  close  to  $40,000  on  this  edition.  The 
book  is  finely  bound,  printed  on  an  excellent 
grade  of  paper  and  contains  576  pages  of  sub¬ 
ject  matter.  A  copy  of  this  will  he  furnished  to 
the  readers  of  The  Black  Diamond  on  applica¬ 
tion  to  the  Link-Belt  Company,  Chicago. 


“Chan”  Lemmon,  of  the  Chicago,  Wilmington 
&  Franklin  Coal  Company,  was  in  the  Twin 
Cities  for  several  days  this  week,  pushing  the 
sale  of  “Orient”  coal. 


148 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[August  21 


Bids  for  and  Contracts  Let  on  Coal. 


Specifications  Unpopular. 

'I'hat  the  new  specifications  under  which  the 
city  of  New  York  is  now  buying  its  coal  are  not 
popular  is  shown  by  the  bidding  on  the  Board  of 
Education  tenders  for  buckwheat  and  bituminous 
coal,  which  were  opened  on  Monday,  Au.gust  2d. 
It  will  be  recalled  that  there  were  but  three  bid¬ 
ders  on  Manhattan  deliveries,  two  on  the  Bron.K 
deliveries,  six  on  Brooklyn  and  five  for  the 
Queens. 

It  will  be  recalled  that  about  two  or  three 
months  ago,  when  the  Central  Purchasing  Com¬ 
mittee  asked  for  bids  on  about  a  quarter  of  a 
n\illion  tons  of  coal,  that  there  were  around  thirty 
bidders. 

Most  of  the  New  York  retail  and  wholesale 
coal  men  who  make  a  specialty  of  city  business 
complain  that  the  new  specifications  are  too  dras¬ 
tic,  and  that  coal  does  not  exist  that  will  harmon¬ 
ize  with  the  new  requirements  and  enable  the  coal 
suppliers  to  get  out  whole  unless  an  enormous 
profit  is  tacked  onto  the  prices  that  are  submitted. 

Sizes  of  Coal. 


“Not  less  than  ninety  (90)  per  cent  of  all  sizes 
of  anthracite  coal  shall  pass  over  the  minimum 
screen,  and  not  less  than  ninety  (90)  per  cent  of 
broken,  egg,  stove  and  chestnut  sizes  shall  pass 
through  the  maximum  screen  given  in  the  fol¬ 
lowing  table.  Tests  for  sizes  will  be  made  with 
standard  screens  using  the  customary  laboratory 
methods.  Greater  variation  in  the  sizes  of  coal 
shal'  constitute  cause  for  rejection: 

Barnes  of  Sizes  of  Coal—  Inches.* *  Inclies.f 

Broken  . 

Eee  .  3  2 

Sfole': .  1/4 

Chestnut  .  1/ 

Pea  .  H  / 

Buckwheat  No.  1 .  /  A 

Buckwheat  No.  2 .  54  A 

Buckwlieat  No.  3 .  A  32 


‘Shall  pass  through  square  mesh  screen  of  clear 
opening. 

tShall  pass  over  square  mesh  screen  of  clear  opening. 

Standard  Analyses. 


“The  quality  of  coal  of  the  different  sizes  to 
be  furnished  shall  conform  or  be  superior  to  the 
coal  described  in  the  following  standard  analyses 


applying  to  such  sizes : 

c 

0) 

U  . 

*0 
U  flj 

.  ^ 

Names  of  Sizes  P-i  ^ 

of  Coal—  ‘-.5 

o  rt 


Broken  .  4 

Egg  .  I 

Stove .  4 

Chestnut  .  4 

Pea  .  5 

Buckwheat  No,  3 .  0 

Buckwheat  No.  2 .  C 

Buckwheat  No.  1 .  0 


>» 

O 


G 


U 


-  o 


< 

9 

11 

12 

12 

16 

16 

18 

18 


3  c 
•n  ^ 

Ui  O 


3 

c  ^ 

*=’  r 


(U  w 


9 

9 

9 

9 

9 

9 

9 

9 


Ph^* 

u  o 
30 

'o.  >v 


1.5 

1.5 

1.5 

1.5 

1.5 

L5 

1.5 

1.5 


a; 

O'  . 

v)  rt 

•* .  o 


p: 


13,500 

13.200 
13,000 
13.000 
12,400 
12,400 

12.200 
12,200 


Correction  of  Gross  Weight 


“The  actual  weight  of  coal  delivered  shall  be 
subject  to  deductions  as  a  result  of  analyses  of 
samples  taken  from  deliveries  as  follows: 

“Correction  for  moisture:  If  the  moisture 
the  gross  weight  of  coal  shall  be  reduced  at  the 
rate  of  two  (2)  per  cent; 

“For  each  one  per  cent  of  ash  in  stove  and 
chestnut  sizes  in  excess  of  the  standard  of  twelve 
(12)  per  cent  and  up  to  and  including  fourteen 
(14)  per  cent  the  gross  weight  of  coal  shall  be 
reduced  at  the  rate  of  one  per  cent,  and  for  each 
one  per  cent  of  ash  in  excess  of  fourteen  (14) 
per  cent  the  gross  weight  of  coal  shall  be  reduced 
at  the  rate  of  two  (2)  per  cent. 

“For  each  one  per  cent  of  ash  in  the  pea  and 
Buckwheat  No.  3  sizes  in  excess  of  the  standard 
of  sixteen  (16)  per  cent  and  up  to  and  including 
eighteen  (18)  per  cent  the  gross  weight  of  coal 
shall  be  reduced  at  the  rate  of  one  (1)  per  cent, 
and  for  each  one  per  cent  of  ash  in  excess  of 
eighteen  (18)  per  cent  the  gross  wei.ght  of  coal 
shall  be  reduced  at  the  rate  of  two  (2)  per  cent; 

“P'or  each  one  per  cent  of  ash  in  Buckwheat 
No.  1  and  Buckwheat  No.  2  sizes  in  excess  of  the 
standard  of  eighteen  (18)  per  cent  and  up  to  and 
including  twenty  (20)  per  cent  the  gross  weight  of 
coal  shall  be  reduced  at  the  rate  of  one  (1)  per 
cent,  and  for  each  one  per  cent  of  ash  in  excess  of 
twenty  (20)  per  cent  the  gross  weight  of  coal 
shall  be  reduced  at  the  rate  of  two  (2)  per  cent. 

“Reductions  in  the  gross  weight  of  coal  for 
excess  ash  above  the  standard  of  nine  (9)  per 
cent  for  broken  sizes  up  to  and  including  eleven 
(11)  per  cent,  in  excess  of  the  standard  of  eleven 


(11)  per  cent  for  egg  size  up  to  and  including 
thirteen  (13)  per  cent,  in  excess  of  the  standard 
of  twelve  (12)  per  cent  for  stove  and  chestnut 
sizes  up  to  and  including  fourteen  (14)  per  cent, 
in  excess  of  the  standard  of  sixteen  (10)  per 
cent  for  pea  and  Buckwheat  No.  3  sizes  up  to  and 
including  eighteen  (18)  per  cent  and  in  excess 
of  the  standard  of  eighteen  (18)  per  cent  for 
Buckwheat  No.  1  and  Buckwheat  No.  2  sizes  up 
to  and  including  twenty  (20)  per  cent  in  de¬ 
liveries,  shall  be  offset  by  remitting  such  reduc¬ 
tions  made  on  the  one  per  cent  basis  at  the  rate 
present  in  the  sample  of  coal  taken  from  de¬ 
liveries  be  in  excess  of  the  limits  specified  in  the 
standard  analysis  for  the  particular  kind  and  size 
of  coal  represented  by  the  said  sample,  the  gross 
weight  of  coal,  determined  in  the  manner  herein 
prescribed,  shall  be  corrected  for  the  percentage 
in  excess  of  the  allowed  limit  by  an  amount 
directly  in  proportion  to  such  excess  percenta.ge 
of  moisture.  For  example,  if  broken  coal  as  de¬ 
livered  contains  seven  (7)  per  cent  of  moisture, 
being  three  (3)  per  cent  in  excess  of  the  amount 
specified  herein,  a  deduction  of  three  (3)  per  cent 
of  the  gross  weight  of  such  delivery  shall  be 
made. 

“Correction  for  ash:  The  gross  weight  of  coal, 
after  the  correction  for  excess  moisture,  shall  be 
reduced  as  follows : 

“For  each  one  per  cent  of  ash  in  the  broken 
size  in  excess  of  the  standard  of  nine  (9)  per 
cent  and  up  to  and  including  eleven  (11)  per  cent 
the  gross  wei.ght  of  coal  shall  be  reduced  at  the 
rate  of  one  per  cent,  and  for  each  one  per  cent 
of  ash  in  excess  of  eleven  (11)  per  cenf  the  gross 
weight  of  coal  shall  be  reduced  at  the  rate  of  two 
(2)  per  cent; 

“For  each  one  per  cent  of  ash  in  the  egg  size 
in  excess  of  the  standard  of  eleven  (11)  per  cent 
and  up  to  and  including  thirteen  (13)  per  cent 
the  gross  wei.ght  of  coal  shall  be  reduced  at  the 
rate  of  one  (1)  per  cent,  and  for  each  one  per 
cent  of  ash  in  excess  of  thirteen  (13)  per  cent 
of  one  per  cent  for  each  one  per  cent  on  the 
amount  of  coal  in  other  deliveries  under  the 
same  contract  at  the  same  unit  price  which  con¬ 
tains  ash  below  the  standards  of  nine  (9)  per  cent 
for  broken  size,  eleven  (11)  per  cent  for  egg  size, 
twelve  (12)  per  cent  for  stove  and  chestnut  sizes, 
sixteen  (16)  per  cent  for  pea  and  Buckwheat 
No.  3  sizes  and  eighteen  (18)  per  cent  for  Buck¬ 
wheat  No.  1  and  Buckwheat  No.  2  sizes.  No 
deductions  made  on  the  two  (2)  per  cent  basis 
shall  be  remitted.  The  percentages  of  ash  shall 
be  computed  to  the  nearest  tenth  of  a  per  cent. 
All  such  remissions  of  reductions  in  the  gross 
weight  of  coal  shall  be  made  upon  the  final  pay¬ 
ments  under  contracts  for  coal  delivered. 

“Correction  for  excess  volatile  combustible  mat¬ 
ter:  The  gross  weight  of  coal,  after  correction 
for  excess  moisture,  shall  be  reduced  at  the  rate 
of  two  (2)  per  cent  for  each  one  (1)  per  cent  of 
volatile  combustible  matter  present  in  excess  of 
the  standard  specified  herein  for  the  particualr 
kind  and  size  of  coal  delivered.  The  percentage 
of  volatile  combustible  matter  shall  be  computed 
to  the  nearest  tenth  of  a  per  cent. 

“Correction  for  excess  volatile  sulphur:  The 
gross  weight  of  coal,  after  correction  for  excess 
moisture,  shall  be  reduced  at  the  rate  of  five  (5) 
per  cent  for  each  one  (1)  per  cent  of  volatile 
sulphur  present  in  excess  of  the  standard  specified 
herein  for  the  particular  kind  and  size  of  coal 
delivered.  The  percentage  of  sulphur  shall  be 
computed  to  the  nearest  tenth  of  a  per  cent. 

“Correction  for  deficiency  in  British  Thermal 
Units  per  pound:  The  gross  weight  of  coal,  after 
correction  for  e.xcess  moisture,  shall  be  reduced 
as  follows: 

“For  each  one  hundred  (100)  British  thermal 
units  in  broken  size  below  the  standard  of  13,500 
British  thermal  units  per  pound  of  dry  coal  and 
down  to  and  including  13,200  the  .gross  weight  of 
coal  shall  be  reduced  at  the  rate  of  one  per  cent, 
and  for  each  one  hundred  (lOO)  British  thermal 
units  below  13,200  the  gross  weight  of  coal  shall 
be  reduced  at  the  rate  of  two  (2)  per  cent; 

“For  each  one  hundred  (100)  British  thermal 
units  in  e.gg  size  below  the  standard  of  13,200 
and  down  to  and  including  12,900  the  gross 
weight  of  coal  shall  be  reduced  at  the  rate  of 
one  per  cent,  and  for  each  one  hundred  (100) 
British  thermal  units  below  12,900  the  gross 
weight  of  coal  shall  be  reduced  at  the  rate  of 
two  (2)  per  cent ; 

“For  each  one  hundred  (100)  British  thermal 
units  in  stove  and  chestnut  sizes  below  the  stand¬ 
ard  of  13,000  and  down  to  and  including  12,700 
the  gross  weight  of  coal  shall  be  reduced  at  the 


rate  of  one  per  cent,  and  for  each  one  hundred 
(100)  British  thermal  units  below  12,700  the 
gross  weight  of  coal  shall  be  reduced  at  the  rate 
of  two  (2)  per  cent ; 

“For  each  one  hundred  (100)  British  thermal 
units  in  pea  and  Buckwheat  No.  3  sizes  below 
the  standard  of  12,400  and  down  to  and  including 
12,100  the  gross  weight  of  coal  shall  be  reduced 
at  the  rate  of  one  per  cent,  and  for  each  one  hun¬ 
dred  (100)  British  thermal  units  below  12,100  the 
gross  weight  of  coal  shall  be  reduced  at  the  rate 
of  two  (2)  per  cent; 

“For  each  one  hundred  (100)  British  thermal 
units  in  Buckwheat  No.  1  and  Buckwheat  No.  2 
sizes  below  the  standard  of  12,200  and  down  to 
and  including  11,900  the  gross  weight  of  coal 
shall  be  reduced  at  the  rate  of  one  per  cent,  and 
for  each  one  hundred  (lOO)  British  thermal  units 
below  11,900  the  gross  weight  of  coal  shall  be 
reduced  at  the  rate  of  two  (2)  per  cent. 

“Reductions  in  the  gross  weight  of  coal  for 
deficiencies  in  British  thermal  units  below  the 
standard  of  13,500  for  broken  size  down  to  and 
including  13,200,  below  the  standard  of  13,200  for 
standard  of  13,000  for  stove  and  chestnut  sizes 
egg  size  down  to  and  including  12,900,  below  the 
down  to  and  including  12,700,  below  the  standard 
of  12,400  for  pea  and  Buckwheat  No.  3  sizes 
down  to  and  including  12,100  and  below  the 
standard  of  12,200  for  Buckwheat  No.  1  and 
Buckwheat  No.  2  sizes  down  to  and  including 
11,900  in  deliveries,  shall  be  offset  by  remitting 
such  reductions  made  on  the  one  per  cent  basis 
at  the  rate  of  one  per  cent  for  each  one  hundred 
(100)  British  thermal  units  that  coal  in  other  de¬ 
liveries  under  the  same  contract  at  the  same  unit 
price  contains  British  thermal  units  in  excess  of 
the  standards  of  13,500  for  broken  size,  13,200 
for  egg  size,  13,000  for  stove  and  chestnut  sizes, 
12,400  for  pea  and  Buckwheat  No.  3  sizes  and 
12,200  for  Buckwheat  No.  1  and  Buckwheat  No. 
2  sizes.  No  deductions  made  on  the  two  (2)  per 
cent  basis  shall  be  remitted.  The  deductions  in 
British  thermal  units  shall  be  computed  to  the 
nearest  fifty  (50)  units.  All  such  remissions  of 
reductions  in  the  gross  weight  of  coal  shall  be 
made  upon  the  final  payments  under  contracts  for 
coal  delivered. 

“Aggregate  reductions  in  gross  weight:  After 
the  correction  for  excess  moisture  shall  have  been 
made  as  herein  specified,  all  percentage  in  reduc¬ 
tions  as  herein  described  to  be  made  on  account 
of  a  deficient  number  of  British  thermal  units  per 
pound,  and  all  percentage  in  excesses  of  ash, 
volatile  combustible  matter  and  volatile  sulphur, 
shall  be  aggregated  and  totalized,  and  shall  be 
deducted  as  a  whole,  and  each  payment  shall  be 
made  only  for  the  balance  of  the  gross  weight  of 
coal  delivered  at  the  price  bid  per  unit,  except 
that,  before  the  final  payment  is  made  under  a 
contract,  deductions  in  the  gross  weight  of  de¬ 
liveries  of  one  per  cent  made  for  deficiencies  in 
British  thermal  units  as  herein  described,  shall 
be  offset  by  remitting  such  deductions  at  the  rate 
of  one  per  cent  for  each  one  hundred  (100)  Brit¬ 
ish  thermal  units  that  coal  in  other  deliveries 
under  the  same  contract  at  the  same  unit  price 
exceeds  the  standard  given  herein,  and  that  de¬ 
ductions  in  the  gross  weight  of  deliveries  of  one 
per  cent  for  excess  of  ash  as  herein  described 
shall  be  offset  by  remitting  such  deductions  at  the 
rate  of  one  per  cent  for  each  one  per  cent  that 
the  amount  of  coal  in  other  deliveries  under  the 
same  contract  at  the  same  unit  price  contains  ash 
below  the  standard  given  herein.  The  total  off¬ 
setting  tonnage  shall  never  exceed  the  tonnage 
deductions  on  the  one  per  cent  basis  for  ash  and 
British  thermal  units,  nor  shall  offsettiag  tonnage 
on  coal  at  one  unit  price  be  remitted  for  reduc¬ 
tions  on  coal  at  a  different  unit  price.  Deductions 
made  for  excess  moisture,  volatile  combustible 
matter  and  volatile  sulphur  shall  not  be  remitted.” 

Furthermore,  the  city  reserves  the  right  to  con¬ 
demn  deliveries  in  case  excessive  clinker  is  shown 
after  a  “test  of  reasonable  duration.” 

.4  well  known  dealer  protests  against  these 
specifications,  scoring  specifically  the  increase  in 
the  standard  of  quality  for  both  the  buckwheat 
and  bituminous.  In  case  of  the  bituminous,  the 
standard  has  been  raised  by  400  B.  t.  u’s.,  and  ash 
by  three  per  cent.  This  dealer  states  that  it  is 
practically  impossible  to  secure  a  No.  3  buck¬ 
wheat  which  will  when  shipped  commercially 
show  sixteen  in  ash  and  12,400  B.  t.  u. 

As  to  the  sizing,  it  is  contended  that  they  are 
altogether  too  high. 

The  city  specifications  require  that  the  coal 
must  pass  through  a  clear  openiag  of  three-six- 
tenth  of  an  inch  and  pass  over  a  clear  opening 
of  three-thirty-seconds  of  an  inch.  The  stand¬ 
ards  of  the  large  anthracite  coal  mining  com¬ 
panies  are  for  coal  to  pass  through  an  opening 
of  one-eighth  of  an  inch  and  over  an  opening  of 


No.  8] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


149 


one-sixteenth  of  an  inch.  The  dealer  who  there¬ 
fore  makes  a  contract  with  the  city  upon  specifi¬ 
cations  as  above,  guarantees  delivery  of  a  product 
that  he  cannot  buy  from  most  of  the  producers. 
This  case  is  cited  as  a  reason  why  the  large 
anthracite  companies  do  not  make  bids  for  city 
business  and  who,  furthermore,  will  not  make  any 
guarantees  of  their  coal  to  middlemen,  enabling 
them  to  protect  themselves  on  city  contracts. 
Dealers  contend  that  there  is  little  possibility  of 
earning  premiums  on  either  buckwheat  or  bitu¬ 
minous  coal  under  the  above  specifications,  and 
that  dealers  who  submit  bids  now  on  city  con¬ 
tracts  take  great  chances. 


Coal  for  Lighthouses. 

Detroit,  Mich.,  August  19. —  (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.)— for  coal  supply,  opened  by 
Edward  L.  Woodruff,  Detroit,  inspector  of  the 
Eleventh  United  States  lighthouse  district,  awards 
on  which  have  been  confirmed  by  the  United 
States  bureau  of  lighthouses,  Washington,  cover 
delivery  of  the  supply  for  the  year  ending  June 
:i0,  1916,  at  four  depots  in  the  district,  as  fol¬ 
lows  : 

IN  DETROIT. 

^Bitum.  Lump-^  r" — Anthracite - , 

Trim  in  In  Govt. 

Bidder —  Bunkers.  Bags.  Stove.  Chest. 

*J.  T.  Hurley _ $3.50  $3.50  $8.00  $8.00 

United  Fuel  &  Sup- 

ply  Co .  3.48  3.04  7.09  7.94 

^  ^  IN  SAULT  STE.  MARIE,  MICH. 

*George  Kemp,  Sault  ...  „  „ 

Ste.  Marie . $3.30  $3.60  $7.40  $8.00 

Perry  Coal  Co.,  Sault 

Ste.  Marie .  3.35  3.70  7.90  .... 

IN  DULUTH,  MINN. 

^Northwestern  Fuel 

Co.,  Duluth . $3.97  $4.53  $8.51  $8.79 

Pittsburgh  Coal  Co.  3.97  4.53  8.79  9.07 

IN  ASHLAND,  WIS. 

*C.  Reiss  Coal  Co., 

Ashland  . $4.00  $4.40  ....  $8.80 

‘Finn  receiving  award. 

Proximity  of  coal  yard  to  lighthouse  depot  considered  in 
awartl. 


Ohio  Rates  Challenged. 

(Concluded  from  page  146.) 
man  ruling  that  the  examination  of  the  rec¬ 
ords  should  be  made  by  disinterested  parties, 
and  not  by  the  plaintiff’s  rate  experts.  By 
inquiry  of  Mr.  Hillman  it  was  learned  that  it 
would  probably  require  four  men  three  weeks 
time  to  go  through  the  records,  the  men  to 
work  as  two  teams.  Thereupon  Chairman 
Waltermire  stated  that  the  commission  would 
select  and  announce  the  names  of  these  men 
before  nine  o’clock  Thursday  morning.  This 
proved  to  be  agreeable  to  the  plaintiff,  but 
Mr.  Wilson  was  non-committal  as  to  whether 
or  not  the  railroad  company  would  attempt 
by  any  legal  action  to  resist  the  examination 
of  the  records.  He  admitted,  however,  that  if 
an  examination  was  to  be  made  it  would  be 
more  convenient  that  it  should  be  in  the 
offices  of  the  company,  rather  than  in  the 
court.  It  was  thereupon  authorized  by  the 
commission  that  the  work  should  be  done  in 
the  railroad  offices.  Previous  to  making  the 
ruling  that  the  commission  should  provide  a 
compromise  plan  of  its  own  for  going  into  the 
records,  the  members  of  that  body  held  a  long 
conference. 

Adjournment  was  then  announced  until 
Tuesday,  October  5,  suiting  the  convenience 
of  the  plaintiff  in  preparing  its  case  from  the 
records  of  the  company.  The  defendant  was 
passive  as  to  the  time  of  resuming  the  hear¬ 
ing,  offering  no  objection  or  suggestion.  Chair¬ 
man  Waltermire  asked  that  two  representa¬ 
tives  from  each  side  call  at  commission  head¬ 
quarters  at  five  o’clock,  Wednesday  presum¬ 
ably  for  conference  purposes  in  passing  upon 
the  personnel  of  the  corps  of  e.xaminers,  who 
will  tackle  the  railroad  records. 

It  was  believed  that  the  railroad  would  make 
some  further  effort  to  forstall  the  investigation 
of  the  records,  but  there  was  no  intimation 
as  to  the  grounds  that  would  be  ])ut  forward. 

In  order  to  block  the  ruling  of  the  commis¬ 

sion  it  would  have  to  go  into  the  federal 
courts.  The  highest  court  of  the  state  re¬ 
cently  upheld  the  authority  of  the  commission 
in  regulating  freight  rates.  In  fact,  it  was 

this  decision  that  precipitated  the  present 

fight.  The  railroads  have  given  out  the  state¬ 
ment  in  several  conferences  with  the  op¬ 
erators  that  should  the  commission  in  the 
final  ruling  on  any  test  case  decide  against 
them  they  would  go  into  the  federal  courts. 
It  is  not  thought  that  the  present  defendant 
will  take  such  a  step  on  an  early  technicality 
such  as  is  involved  in  the  examination  of 
records. 


The  Annual  Chicago  Coal  Trade  Picnic. 


“All  aboard,”  and  about  400  coal  dealers  and 
their  families  left  from  the  Quincy  street  station 
of  the  Aurora,  Elgin  &  Joliet  Railway,  Saturday 
morning,  August  14th,  for  the  annual  picnic  of 
the  Chicago  coal  trade  at  Fox  River  grove,  Au¬ 
rora,  Ill. 

A  large  crowd,  bulging  lunch  baskets  and  plenty 
of  sunshine  gave  evidence  that  the  picnic  would 
be  a  success,  and  it  was. 

The  coal  trade  picnickers  arrived  at  Fox  River 
grove  about  noon  time.  After  lunch,  everybody 
went  over  to  a  nearby  ball  park,  where  an  indoor 
outdoor  baseball  game  between  Glaser’s  Tigers 
and  the  Big  Creek  Sox  was  to  be  played,  but 
threatenin.g  clouds  developed  into  a  small  cloud- 
Imrst,  and  the  game  was  cancelled. 

The  crowd  in  the  grandstand,  after  locating 
dry  places  under  waterproof  spots  in  the  roof, 
listened  to  a  band  concert,  several  impromptu 
solos  and  quartets. 

“Wet  grounds”  after  the  rain  prevented  hold¬ 
ing  the  races  in  the  ball  park,  and  the  picnickers 
waded  over  to  the  pavilion,  where  they  danced 
and  participated  in  the  different  events.  The 
winners  of  the  events  were : 

Men’s  horseshoe  pitching  contest — Wm.  Hirsch- 
feld,  first ;  George  Glaser,  second ;  Sam  Babcock, 
third. 

Potato  race  for  men — Gottschalk,  first;  Ray 
Barker,  second;  C.  Ringston,  third. 

Ladies’  high  jump — Miss  Cohen,  first;  Miss 
Hecht,  second ;  Mrs.  Kuhr,  third. 

Ladies’  pitching  quoits — Mrs.  Morehouse,  first; 
Mrs.  James,  second;  Mrs.  Groeff,  third. 

Ladies’  peanut  finding  contest — Miss  McMahon, 
first;  Misses  King  and  Nolan,  tied  for  second; 
Mrs.  Carpenter,  third. 

Ladies’  whistling  contest — Miss  Nolan,  first; 
Mrs.  Carpenter,  second;  Miss  Argo,  third. 

After  the  completion  of  the  program,  those 
dealers  still  enjoyin.g  an  over-abundance  of  “pep,” 
tried  their  skill  at  “it’s  a  short  throw  and  a  big 
head,”  “the  cane  you  ring  is  the  cane  you  get,” 
and  other  amusements. 

Wni.  D.  Elmstrom  awarded  the  different  prizes 
from  the  stage  of  the  grove’s  open  air  theater, 
in  a  manner  that  would  make  the  village  mayor’s 
diploma  presentation  look  like  a  side  show 
barker’s  spiel. 

The  afternoon’s  rain  having  delayed  the  pro- 
.gram  somewhat,  there  was  little  time  left  after 
the  awarding  of  the  prizes  for  anything  else 
but  catch  the  homeward  bound  trains  at  six-thirty 
and  seven. 


Though  it  was  said  that  the  picnic  was  not  as 
well  attended  as  former  ones,  it  could  not  he 
surpassed  for  the  good  time  and  sociability  it 
afforded. 

“Leftovers”  From  the  Picnic  Baskets 

Letter  openers  were  distributed  among  the  pic¬ 
nickers  by  the  Chicago  Solvay  Coke  Company, 
and  the  Chicago,  Wilmington  &  Franklin  Coal 
Company  gave  out  pencils. 

Chan.  Lemmon  went  out  to  the  park  accom¬ 
panied  by  three  of  his  sales  force  and  his  trusty 
golf  clubs.  Chan,  and  the  golf  clubs  are  insep¬ 
arable  whenever  he  gets  out  of  the  city  limits.  It 
is  rumored  that  he  is  a  little  off  on  his  game 
this  season,  and  that  it  will  not  be  surprising  if 
he  is  seen  under  the  care  of  a  professional  tutor 
before  lon.g. 

This  isn’t  “Funabout  Fords.”  Homer  Jones 
and  his  brother,  Barrett,  made  the  run  to  the 
park  in  an  hour  and  forty-five  minutes.  There 
was  a  very  heavy  rain  during  the  afternoon  and 
we  have  not  heard  whether  or  not  he  has  arrived 
in  Chicago  up  to  date. 

Among  those  of  the  elect  who  motored  out 
were  A.  B.  Lemmon  of  the  Consolidation  Coal 
Company,  Percy  McMillan  of  D.  C.  McMillan  & 
Bro.,  and  W.  R.  Kernohan,  western  manager  of 
the  Pocahontas  Coal  Sales  Company. 

Al.  Bunge  peeled  off  his  coat  early  in  the  game, 
and  it  remained  off  until  everything  was  over. 

John  Collins  of  the  Bunge  Bros.  Coal  Company 
played  a  role  a  bit  different  from  the  others. 
John  was  appointed  custodian  of  the  prizes, etc., 
and  he  certainly  made  good,  although  he  missed 
a  lot  of  the  fun. 

It  was  suggested  by  some  that  water  polo  be 
substituted  for  the  baseball  game.  It  was  an 
appropriate  suggestion,  but  at  the  last  moment  it 
was  decided  to  hold  a  musicale.  Miss  Margaret 
Keyes,  with  the  John  Cowman  (Toal  Company, 
was  the  soloist,  and  was  ably  assisted  by  C.  D. 
Caldwell,  Chan.  Lemmon,  A.  O.  Tandy,  Al.  Mor- 
due,  and  many  others  less  prominent  in  musical 
circles. 

Although  the  entries  in  the  various  contests 
were  numerous,  it  is  a  certainty  that  there  would 
have  been  many  more  had  the  prizes  been  viewed 
by  those  in  attendance  before  the  games  started. 
The  prizes  awarded  were  unusually  attractive  and 
of  exceptional  value. 

The  “Purity”  party  were  well  represented  in 
the  awards.  Miss  Nolan  carried  off  a  very  hand¬ 
some  silver  cake  plate,  while  her  sister  was 
awarded  a  diamond  ring.  Mrs.  Harry  King  won 
a  beautiful  vanity  case  and  coin  purse. 


Coal  Men  of  Chicago  and  Their  Families  at  the  Annual  Picnic  Last  Saturday. 

No.  1 — J.  H.  Nelson  (center  front  row)  of  Iiehig'h  Valley  Coal  Sales  Company,  and  others  from 
the  Iiehig'h  office.  No.  2 — W.  D.  Nlmstrom  (right)  and  W.  R.  Kernohan  (left),  President  and  Vice- 
President  of  the  Chicago  Coal  Merchant’s  Association,  at  the  picnic.  No.  3 — Homer  Jones  of  the 
■Western  Fuel  Company,  almost  making  a  “ringer.”  Frank  J.  Browning  (second  from  the  left,  hack 
row),  and  his  “Purity”  Plcknlckers. 


150 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[August  21 


PUBIiISHED  EVE&T  SATTTBDAT  BT  TSB 
BIiACK  BIAMOITD  COUPAlfT. 

Subscription  price,  $8.00  per  year,  postage  prepaid,  to 
any  postoffice  in  the  United  States.  _  Foreign  subscrip¬ 
tion  price,  $6.00  per  year.  Single  copies,  20  cents. 
Entered  at  Chicago  postoffice  as  second-class  matter. 


Address  all  communications  to 

THB  BBACS  DIAUONB  COMPANT  (INC) 

Main  office,  Manhattan  building,  Chicago. 


Branch  Offices. 

New  York,  29  Broadway. 
Philadelphia,  1400  Land  Title  building. 
Pittsburgh,  1502  Oliver  building. 


Saturday,  August  21,  1915. 


INDEX. 


Special  Articles. 


Page 


Anthracite  Rates  Reduced  by  the  Commission .  141 

Lawson’s  New  Trial .  143 

Western  Coal  Rate  Ruling  of  the  Commission .  144 

Rates  on  Coal  in  Ohio  Are  Being  Challenged .  146 

Increased  Anthracite  Rates  to  Chicago  Allowed .  147 

Control  of  Europe’s  Coal .  147 

Bids  for  and  Contracts  Let  on  Coal.  ..^ .  148 

The  Annual  Chicago  Coal  Trade  Picnic .  149 

Editorial  .  150 

Illinois  Operators  Will  Try  to  Overturn  Rate  Advance  151 
Illinois  Mines  Over  57,000,000  Tons  of  Coal  in  1914  151 

Mesa  Verde  Prophets  Foretell  Cold  Winter .  151 

News  Local  to  Chicago .  152 

American  Mining  Congress .  152 

Detroit  Coal  Picnic .  162 

Facts  Which  Determine  Our  Export  Prospects .  153 

Ruling  on  Steam  Sizes .  157 


Market  Reports. 


General  Review  and  Chicago .  154 

Pittsburgh,  Twin  Cities  and  Omaha .  155 

Cincinnati,  Denver  and  Duluth .  156 

Indianapolis,  Louisville  and  Detroit .  157 

New  York .  158 

Philadelphia  and  New  England .  159 

Buffalo,  Baltimore  and  Birmingham .  160 

Hocking  Valley .  15 


Basis  of  Anthracite  Rates. 

We  have  studied  patiently  and  dili¬ 
gently  to  find  what  is  the  basis  according 
to  which  the  Interstate  Commerce  Com¬ 
mission  prescribed  the  new  rates  on  an¬ 
thracite  coal.  So  far  we  have  not  been 
successful.  It  may  be  there  somewhere, 
but  so  far  as  the  wording  of  the  report  in¬ 
dicates  there  is  no  basis.  It  is  simply  a 
matter  of  guess. 

That  is  to  say,  the  carriers  suggested 
that  rates  be  made  so  as  to  allow  a  cer¬ 
tain  return  on  the  value  of  the  property. 
The  commision  tried  to  do  that  and  then 
came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  railway’s 
value  was  false.  Then  it  admitted  that  its 
own  figures  as  to  railway  valuation  had 
not  been  compiled.  Therefore,  not  know¬ 
ing  what  the  cost  was,  it  could  not  figure 
the  rates  so  as  to  yield  a  fair  return  on 
the  value  of  the  property. 

It  found  what  it  considers  to  be  the 
“cost  of  the  service”  on  at  least  two  roads. 
The  preceding  paragraph,  however,  proves 
that  its  own  figures  are  not  correct.  That 
is,  it  is  impossible  to  figure  the  cost  of  any 
railway  service  unless  you  include  as  part 
of  it  a  proper  charge  to  depreciation  and 
a  proper  interest  on  the  investment.  Not 
knowing  what  a  thing  costs  in  the  first 
place,  makes  it  impossible  to  figure  either 
depreciation  or  interest  on  investment. 
Therefore  the  commission’s  finding  as  to 
the  “cost  of  service”  is,  on  the  face  of  it, 
incorrect. 

The  commission  tried  other  schemes  by 
which  it  was  going  to  decide  what  is  the 
proper  basis  of  rates,  but  seems  to  have 
abandoned  all  of  them. 

In  a  word,  the  new  basis  of  rates  is 
guesswork.  The  difference  is  that  in  this 
instance  it  is  the  guesswork  of  a  govern¬ 


ment  official — which  makes  it  all  right,  to 
be  sure — rather  than  the  guesswork  of  the 
officers  of  the  road.  Does  a  position  in 
the  government  service  make  one  man’s 
guess  better  than  that  of  another  man  in 
the  railway  service? 


New  Light  on  Coal  Storage. 

For  years  students  of  coal  have  recog¬ 
nized  that  the  principal  difficulty  is 
unequal  monthly  distribution.  Its  big¬ 
gest  disadvantages  are  that  unnecessary 
mine  development  is  created  to  supply  the 
demand  in  season  and  unnecessary  rail¬ 
road  equipment  is  bought  to  move  the 
coal.  That  is,  mines  and  railroads  must 
be  equipped  to  produce  and  carry  in  seven 
months  all  of  the  domestic  and  much  of 
the  steam  coal  which  should  be  produced 
and  distributed  over  twelve  months. 

The  solution  of  the  problem  has  been 
agreed  upon.  On  theory,  the  right  thing 
is  to  store  in  summer  a  portion  of  the  coal 
that  is  used  in  winter.  The  assumption 
heretofore  has  been  that  the  retailer  and 
householder  should  do  the  storing.  Very 
little,  if  anything,  has  been  said  about 
any  extended  storage  of  steam  coal.  Al¬ 
though  the  railroad  pays  one  big  penalty 
of  unequal  distribution,  very  little  has 
been  said  about  any  extended  storage  of 
coal  by  it. 

This  summer  we  have  had  ample  proof 
of  the  fact  that  summer  storage  can  be 
procured.  But  it  was  also  proved  that  it 
costs  money.  The  anthracite  operators 
learned,  a  year  ago,  that  they  could  put 
coal  in  storage  if  they  would  extend  credit 
to  the  retail  dealers  for  four  or  five 
months.  The  dealer  learned,  last  year, 
that  the  householders  could  be  persuaded 
to  store  coal  if  credit  were  extended  for 
five  or  six  months.  Both  of  these  exten¬ 
sions  of  credit  cost  money.  The  operators 
and  dealers  only  came  to  know  the  terms 
upon  which  storage  can  be  done  when  they 
withheld  credit  and  when,  in  consequence, 
the  storage  movement  stopped. 

It  has  been  proved  that  bituminous  coal 
can  be  stored  if  the  summer  price  is  cut. 
In  former  years,  western  bituminous  lump 
coal  has  been  sold  in  the  summer  in  large 
volume,  at  $1.00  a  ton.  When  that  price 
ruled,  there  was  considerable  storage. 
This  year  the  western  operators  main¬ 
tained  a  minimum  price  of  $1.25.  The 
average  price  for  May,  June  and  July  was 
perhaps  $1.30. 

That  moderate  rise  in  price  stopped  the 
storage  movement.  Practically  no  retailer 
and  no  householder  has  stored  any  coal 
this  summer.  Therefore,  the  cost  to  the 
operator  of  storing  bituminous  coal  can  be 
figured  at  thirty  cents  a  ton. 

Now  we  have  this  other  angle  of  the 
situation.  The  Interstate  Commerce  Com¬ 
mission,  in  its  recent  report  on  the  western 
railroad  rate  case,  says  that  “between  the 
month  of  lowest  and  the  month  of  highest 
density  of  this  traffic  there  is  a  difference 
of  89.73  per  cent — greater  than  the  differ¬ 
ence  between  the  maximum  and  minimum 
tonnage  of  any  other  particular  kind  of 
traffic.”  This  says  definitely  that  if  the 
railroads  could,  in  some  way,  assist  in  the 
summer  storage  of  coal  they  could  get 
rid  of  the  small  traffic  in  summer,  and  the 
congestion  of  coal  traffic  in  the  fall  and 
winter.  Because  of  the  slow  movement 
at  one  time  and  the  intensified  movement 
at  another,  the  railroads  must  have  more 


cars  and  other  things  to  take  care  of  the 
peak  load  than  would  be  necessary  if  the 
tonnage  were  equally  distributed. 

That  leads  to  this  conclusion :  The  cost 
of  bituminous  coal  storage  is  thirty  cents 
a  ton  as  a  maximum ;  on  anthracite  it  is 
the  price  discount  plus  the  cost  of  credit. 
If  the  railroads  could  make  storage  rates 
on  coal  over  the  summer  months — we 
will" say  of  twenty  cents  a  ton  below  the 
tariff  rates — the  bituminous  operator 
would  no  doubt  be  willing  to  pay  their 
ten  cent  share  to  get  the  storage  move¬ 
ment  started.  In  the  end,  a  more  equal 
distribution  of  tonnage  throughout  the 
twelve  months  of  the  year  would  result 
in  economies  which  would  more  than  off¬ 
set  the  initial  cost. 


Cost  of  Property. 

The  Interstate  Commerce  Commission, 
in  its  ruling  on  the  anthracite  case,  gave 
what  may  prove  some  indication  of  the 
basis  upon  which  its  experts  are  going  to 
try  to  compute  the  value  of  American 
railways.  i 

For  example,  it  said  that  the  first  cost 
of  one  railroad,  built  in  1894,  had  been 
fixed  by  its  officials  at  about  $3,000,000. 
The  commission’s  own  accountants  had 
proved  that  the  actual  money  expenditure 
was  about  $1,500,000.  The  bonus  to  some 
contractors  was  another  $1,500,000.  The 
commission  would  not  admit  that  the 
bonus  should  be  part  of  the  cost. 

Any  man  who  has  undertaken  to  start 
either  a  new  or  a  venturesome  business 
and  who  has  had  to  borrow  money  in  or¬ 
der  to  make  his  plans  a  reality,  knows 
that  a  bonus  is  not  only  a  proper  but  a 
necessary  item  in  the  cost — as  much  so 
as  the  bill  for  material.  It  is  a  fact  that 
only  by  giving  a  bonus  can  the  organizer 
get  money  at  all ;  without  the  money  the 
whole  thing  is  impossible. 

Does  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commis¬ 
sion  mean  to  say  that,  in  figuring  the  cost 
of  the  railroads,  even  in  the  earlier  times, 
it  is  going  to  rule  out  all  the  bonuses 
given  as  inducements  to  get  capital?  We 
could  think  of  nothing  more  unjust  to 
business  than  that  principle. 

A  great  deal  has  been  said  of  late  about 
watered  stock.  Much,  and  in  fact  most 
of  this  watered  stock  sprang  from  the 
bonuses  given  to  people  who  had  money 
but  who  were  unwilling  to  invest  it  in  a 
railway  which,  at  that  time,  was  sup¬ 
posed  to  be  only  a  dream.  Nobody,  forty- 
years  ago  or  less,  could  foresee  the  present 
social,  economic  and  political  system  of 
America  which  has  grown  up  with  the 
railroad  as  a  center.  All  they  could  see 
was  that  the  railroad  was  starting  off  into 
a  wilderness  with  a  hairbrained  fellow  at 
one  end  and  a  hope  at  the  other.  It  took 
a  lot  of  courage  to  invest  money  in  such 
a  thing.  Naturally  the  men  who  did  in¬ 
vest  had  to  have  some  strong  inducement. 

In  recent  years  the  situation  in  America 
has  so  changed  that  among  those  who  can¬ 
not  understand,  the  inducement  is  looked 
upon,  not  as  a  bait  for  the  man  with 
money,  but  as  prima  facie  evidence  of  cor¬ 
ruption. 

If  the  United  States  government, 
through  its  Interstate  Commerce  Com¬ 
mission,  adopts  any  such  idea,  the  Amer¬ 
ican  people  will  occupy  the  humiliating 
position  of  convicting  themselves  of  not 
knowing  their  own  history. 


No.  8] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


151 


Illinois  Operators  Will  Try  to  Overturn  Rate 


A  meeting  of  Illinois  coal  operators  was  held 
in  the  Great  Northern  hotel,  Chicago,  on  Thurs¬ 
day  of  this  week  to  see  if  anything  could  be  done 
to  persuade  the  railroads  to  refuse  to  check  in 
the  advance  in  rates  which  they  were  authorized 
to  do  by  the  recent  decision  of  the  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission. 

The  operators  were  not  protesting  in  the  first 
instance  against  the  railroads  getting  more  reve¬ 
nue.  On  the  contrary,  when  the  railroads  pro¬ 
posed  the  advance,  the  Illinois  Coal  Operators’ 
Association  passed  the  following  resolutions : 

“That  although  the  association  desires  to  go  on 
record  as  riot  being  antagonistic  to  the  railroads 
in  securing  proper  and  reasonable  freight  ad¬ 
vances  where  such  advances  can  be  checked  in 
without  distributing  present  existing  differentials 
as  between  their  coal  and  that  from  the  docks  to 
Illinois,  Wisconsin  and  other  northwest  destina¬ 
tions,  we  do  feel  compelled  to  object  and  contend 
against  advance  in  freight  rates  to  all  north  and 
west  points  where  movement  of  our  coal  would 
be  affected  by  competition  from  eastern  coal, 
moving  all  rail  or  over  the  north  lake  docks.” 

The  point  is :  The  upper  lake  lines  by  hauling 
grain  to  the  lakes  and  coal  on  return  have  prac¬ 
tically  no  empty  car  haul.  Therefore,  the  weighted 
average  per  car  mile  is  higher.  The  other  lines, 
by  having  an  empty  car  haul  on  coal  equipment 
back  to  the  mines,  have  a  fair  weighted  average 
rate  on  the  outgoing  car,  but  this  is  cut  by  the 
empty  return  trip.  The  railways  say  that  they 
cannot  afford  the  lower  average  earnings  on  the 
gross  car  movement.  The  operators  admit  these 
facts  but  ask  if  the  railroads  think  they  can  in 
the  present  impoverished  condition  of  the  western 


The  season  so  far  verifies  the  weather  pre¬ 
dictions  of  the  Indians  who  occasionally  visit 
the  Mesa  Verde  National  Park  in  southwest¬ 
ern  Colorado  for  trading  purposes,  but  who 
never  stay  an  hour  longer  than  is  necessary 
because  of  their  dread  of  the  “little  people’ 
whom  they  believe  still  inhabit,  in  spirit  form, 
the  prehistoric  cliff  dwellings  that  have  made 
the  Mancos  Valley  famous  the  world  over. 
Last  fall  the  Mesa  Verde  prairie  dogs  deserted 
their  villages  for  new  ones  and  the  Indians 
have  been  shaking  their  heads  over  it  all  win¬ 
ter.  “Rain,  much  rain,”  they  say:  “rain  all 


Despite  some  strikes  and  other  rather  unfa¬ 
vorable  conditions  in  191.4,  the  production  of 
coal  for  Illinois  during  the  year  was  57,589,197 
short  tons,  valued  at  $64,693,529,  according  to 
figures  compiled  by  the  United  States  Geolog¬ 
ical  Survey  in  co-operation  with  the  State  Geo¬ 
logical  Survey  of  Illinois. 

This  tonnage  is  well  up  with  the  figures  of 
the  years  of  largest  production  in  Illinois.  The 
supply  of  labor  was  plentiful  and  transporta¬ 
tion  facilities  were  adequate  throughout  the 
year,  except  during  the  biennial  shutdown, 
which  has  now  become  a  regular  incident  of 
the  spring  months  of  the  “even”  year  in  Illi¬ 
nois  coal  mining,  which  began  as  usual  on 
April  1,  1914,  and  lasted  in  certain  districts 
from  thirty  to  sixty  days. 

An  increase  in  value  per  ton  was  recorded 
in  nearly  one-third  of  the  coal  producing  coun¬ 
ties  in  Illinois  during  1914,  but  the  average 
value  per  ton  for  the  state  declined  slightly 
—from  $1.14  to  1913  to  $1.12  in  1914. 

There  are  more  coal  mining  counties  in  Illi¬ 
nois  than  in  any  other  state  in  the  Union,  half 
of  the  102  counties  being  or  having  been  pro¬ 
ducers.  The  two  most  important  producing 
counties  are  in  the  southern  part  of  the  state, 
where  the  coal  beds  attain  greater  thickness 
than  in  the  northern  districts. 

The  principal  Increase  in  the  coal  production 
of  Illinois  in  1914  was  in  Franklin  county, 
where  a  large  amount  of  development  has 
taken  place  during  the  last  four  years,  advanc¬ 
ing  the  county  from  eighth  place  in  1910  to  first 
in  1914.  In  1914  this  county  produced  7,311,- 
209  tons  of  coal,  an  increase  over  1913  of  1,- 
229,107  tons,  or  over  sixteen  per  cent. 

The  increased  efficiency  in  the  labor  em¬ 
ployed  in  the  coal  mines  of  Illinois  continued 


coal  trade,  out  of  their  own  pocket,  afford  to 
make  up  what  the  railroad  want.  Specifically,  the 
operators  ask: 

“Would  not  the  effect  be  that  both  the  operators 
and  the  railroads  would  lose  business  and  hence 
money?  Would  not  the  railroad  lose  enough  tons 
of  business  and  hence  the  whole  rate  to  more 
than  offset  the  increase  per  ton  on  what  is  car¬ 
ried.  Isn’t  it  a  fact  that  to  put  these  rates  into 
effect  would  be  merely  to  turn  business  in  another 
direction.” 

At  the  meeting  on  Thursday,  the  larger  opera¬ 
tors  decided  to  go  individually  to  the  railroads 
and  plead  their  case  as  here,  in  substance,  out¬ 
lined.  They  will  make  a  particular  point  of  the 
record  presented  in  Harwood’s  exhibit  No.  3 
to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  in  1910. 

In  1910  the  movement  of  commercial  coal  to 
Minnesota,  including  the  Twin  Cities,  had  grown 
to  587,753  tons;  in  1911  the  rate  was  advanvced, 
increasing  the  differential  against  the  western 
mines.  In  consequence,  the  business  dropped  to 
266,782  tons.  Next  year  there  was  an  increase  in 
business  to  571,628  tons.  Afterward,  in  1913, 
there  was  another  increase  in  differential  against 
the  western  operators  and  the  tonnage  again 
dropped  to  485,998  tons. 

In  other  words,  every  time  there  has  been  an 
increased  differential  against  Illinois,  the  tonnage 
has  fallen  off. 

The  same  thing,  the  operators  believe,  is  going 
to  happen  if  the  proposed  rates  are  checked  in. 
They  want  to  avoid  this  loss  of  tonnage  to  them¬ 
selves  and  traffic  to  the  railroads,  hence  this  ap¬ 
peal  that  the  railroads  do  not  check  in  the  rates 
which  they  are  empowered  to  do. 


summer.”  So  far  they  seem  to  have  predicted 
right. 

And  now  they  are  again  shaking  their  heads. 
“Cold,  much  cold,”  they  say;  “bad  winter 
coming.”  And  why?  Because  this  summer 
game  has  been  unusually  plentiful  on  the 
Mesa  Verde.  Deer  are  more  frequently  seen 
than  for  years.  Rabbits  and  hares  are  so 
numerous  one  can  scarcely  go  about  without 
seeing  them  in  large  numbers.  Coyotes  and 
mountain  lions  are  also  unusually  plentiful, 
which  may  be  explained  by  the  abundance  of 
the  small  game  on  which  they  live. 


in  1914  and  was  due  chiefly  to  the  larger  pro¬ 
duction  obtained  by  the  use  of  mining  machin¬ 
ery.  In  1914  the  average  production  per  man 
in  the  Illinois  coal  mines  was  724  tons  for  the 
year  and  4.2  tons  for  each  working  day,  against 
775  tons  for  the  year  and  4.1  tons  for  each  day 
in  1913. 

The  increased  quantity  of  coal  mined  by  ma¬ 
chines  increased  from  32,630,555  tons,  or  fifty- 
three  per  cent  of  the  total,  in  1913,  to  32,640,528 
tons,  or  fifty-six  per  cent,  in  1914.  It  is  grati¬ 
fying  to  note  the  corresponding  decrease  in 
the  coal  shot  off  the  solid.  In  1912  the  quantity 
of  coal  thus  mined  by  powder  in  the  mines  of 
Illinois  was  24,136,940  tons,  or  forty  per  cent 
of  the  total;  in  1913  that  item  amounted  to  20,- 
469,139  tons,  or  thirty-three  per  cent  of  the 
total,  and  in  1914  it  amounted  to  18,362,240  tons, 
or  thirty-two  per  cent  of  the  total. 


English  Coal  Situation  Serious. 


The  recent  settlement,  by  government  inter¬ 
ference,  of  the  strike  of  the  coal  miners  in 
Wales,  does  not  insure  a  period  of  peace  and 
prosperity  for  the  Welsh  coal  operators.  In 
fact,  the  settlement  just  about  amounted  to 
giving  the  miners  what  they  contended  for, 
which  is  a  very  good  increase  in  pay,  and  this 
means  that  a  suitable  advance  must  he  made  in 
coal  prices  to  compensate  the  increase  in 
wages  paid  to  the  miners,  or  that  operators’ 
profits  must  be  cut  accordingly.  That  the  set¬ 
tlement  of  the  strike  upon  the  conditions  as 
given  in  the  cables,  and  later  confirmed  by  the 
trade  and  newspapers  coming  to  America,  is 
not  by  any  means,  satisfactory  to  the  coal 
operators,  is  best  evidenced  by  an  editorial 


appearing  in  the  well  known  English  coal  min¬ 
ing  paper,  the  Colliery  Guardian  of  London, 
in  its  issue  of  July  23.  Says  this  paper: 

“The  strike  in  South  Wales  has  ended  and 
the  men  have  gone  back  to  the  pits,  but  the 
stink  remains.  Mr.  Lloyd  George  went  down 
to  Cardiff  and  told  the  Welsh  miners  what  a 
fine  lot  of  fellows  they  were,  and  they  fer¬ 
vently  acquiesced;  yet  how  far  is  this  from 
being  the  true  reflection  of  the  facts.  By 
their  action  they  have  irretrievably  Injured  the 
prestige  of  their  country;  they  have  gambled 
with  the  blood  of  their  comrades  in  the 
trenches,  destroyed  the  confidence  of  our  al¬ 
lies,  and  dealt  the  government  a  blow  from 
which  it  will  with  the  utmost  difficulty  recover. 

“For  the  minister  of  munitions  we  have  no 
word  of  blame;  he  had  to  save  something 
from  the  wreck,  and  he  succeeded  as  well  as 
the  wit  of  man  could  conceive;  but  for  the 
perverted  and  sordid  democracy  that  e.an 
stoop  to  wrest  these  spoils  from  the  necessfty 
of  its  fatherland,  we  have  nothing  but  loath¬ 
ing;  and  for  those  who  have  abetted  and  ex¬ 
cused,  nothing  but  amazement.  What  must  be 
the  future  of  those  who  can  with  complacency 
witness  a  compromise  at  such  a  cost? 

“Let  us  look  at  the  consequences.  The 
miners  have  succeeded  in  obtaining  practically 
the  whole  of  their  demands;  and  they  have 
done  this,  to  use  the  word  of  the  ministers 
who  visited  Cardiff,  ‘by  the  public-spirited  ac¬ 
tion  of  the  coal  owners,  who  placed  them¬ 
selves  unreservedly  in  the  government’s  hands 
for  the  purpose  of  securing  a  peaceful  and 
reasonable  settlement  immediately.’  To 
measure  the  justice  of  the  cause  by  the  results 
obtained  under  these  conditions,  and  to  say, 
as  do  some  of  our  agile  contemporaries  of  the 
daily  press,  that  by  their  failure  to  agree  to 
these  terms  in  the  first  instance,  the  mine 
owners  have  shown  their  guilt,  is  evidence  of 
a  warped  judgment;  it  is  to  presuppose  the 
justice  and  reasonableness  of  the  terms  that 
have  been  extorted.  If  the  mine  owners  are 
guilty,  is  not  the  government  equally  guilty? 
For  the  owners  from  the  outset  placed  them¬ 
selves  unreservedly  in  the  hands  of  the  cabi¬ 
net,  and  the  terms  that  have  been  flouted  have 
not  been  the  terms  of  the  employers,  but  those 
formulated  by  the  president  of  the  board  of 
trade. 

“Under  other  circumstances,  we  might  fairly 
say  that  the  employers’  trust  has  been  abused; 
we  prefer  to  say  that,  by  their  self-sacrifice, 
they  have  saved  the  face  of  the  government,  so 
far  as  it  was  possible  to  save  it.  For  let  us  be 
under  no  delusion,  this  strike  has  shaken  the 
authority  of  the  state  to  its  foundations. 

“But  the  trouble,  which  broke  into  open 
eruption  in  South  Wales  last  week,  is  still 
there;  the  foliage  has  been  mown  down  but 
the  roots  of  the  weeds  are  still  alive  below  the 
surface.  What  has  happened  in  the  Rhondda 
Valley,  may  tomorrow  happen  in  South  York¬ 
shire,  at  Elswick,  or  on  the  Clyde,  and  the 
damage  may  be  greater  next  time.  When  the 
munitions  act  was  introduced,  Mr.  Lloyd 
George  said  he  would  require  guarantees  from 
the  coal  trade;  if  he  gets  them,  what  are  they 
worth?  The  unions  cannot  give  them;  even 
when  the  executive  of  the  South  Wales 
Miners’  Federation,  the  government  and  the 
coal  owners  had  reached  agreement,  the  pact 
had  still  to  be  ratified  by  the  delegates;  if  it 
had  been  deemed  politic  to  the  caucus,  the 
decision  of  the  delegates  might  in  its  turn  have 
been  conditional  upon  its  acceptance  by  the 
rank  and  file,  although  the  latter,  from  first 
to  last,  were  never  consulted  through  the  bal¬ 
lot  on  the  question  of  striking,  as  they  should 
have  been. 

“Under  these  circumstances,  from  whom  can 
Mr.  Lloyd  George  obtain  his  guarantee,  and 
where  is  his  security?  Only  in  the  goodwill 
and  patriotism  of  the  people;  and,  in  that  case, 
why  have  a  government  at  all?  In  another 
column  we  examine  the  ‘terms  of  settlement’; 
we  refuse  to  discuss  them  here,  because  any 
such  digression  would  obscure  the  paramount 
fact  that  nothing  can  be  really  settled  if  the 
methods  adopted  in  South  Wales  be  sanctified 
by  approval.  The  only  consolation  we  have  is 
that  those  who  engineered  this  disgraceful 
strike  have  not  quite  succeeded  in  their  real 
object,  which  was  the  nationalization  of  the 
mines.  The  chief  argument  against  nationali¬ 
zation  is  that  it  is  less  economical  and  less  ef¬ 
ficient  than  private  enterprise;  but,  if  private 
enterprise  be  hampered  by  unfair  and  impos¬ 
sible  conditions,  the  argument  is  sensibly 
weakened.” 


Mesa  Verde  Prophets  Foretell  Cold  Winter 


Illinois  Mines  Over  57,000,000  Tons  of  Coal  in  1914 


152 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[August  21 


News  Local  to  Chicago. 


Karl  B.  Brundage  now  with  the  Ford  Collieries 
Company,  with  headquarters  in  Detroit,  was  in 
Chicago  this  week. 

E.  M.  Peters,  president  of  the  Ilamilton-Otto 
Coke  Company  of  Hamilton,  Ohio,  was  a  Chicago 
visitor  within  the  week. 

F.  S.  Peabody  returned  the  first  of  this  week 
from  a  month’s  vacation  which  he  spent  in  New 
England,  a  good  part  of  the  time  being  spent  on 
an  automobile  tri])  in  New  Hampshire. 

W.  L.  Schmick,  vice-president  and  general  man¬ 
ager  of  the  Big  Muddy  Coal  &  Iron  Company 
of  St.  Louis,  spent  the  early  part  of  this  week 
in  town. 

J.  B.  Beardslee,  Chicago  manager  of  the  Con¬ 
solidation  Coal  Company,  is  back  at  his  desk 
after  having  spent  a  week  with  his  family  at 
Beaver  Lake,  Wis. 

The  announcement  was  made  this  week  that 
Harry  Trester  who  recently  resigned  a  position 
as  manager  of  sales  of  the  A.  B.  Currie  Coal 
Company  of  Omaha,  has  accepted  a  position  with 
the  Peabody  Coal  Company,  connected  with  the 
sales  force. 

C.  V.  Beck,  president  of  the  St.  Louis  Coal 
Company  of  St.  Louis,  dropped  off  for  a  day  on 
his  return  trip  from  the  east,  where  he  visited 
in  New  York,  Atlantic  City  and  the  anthracite 
regions.  Mr.  Beck  reports  an  optimistic  outlook 
on  bituminous  coals  in  the  east. 

George  B.  Harrington,  president  of  the  Chi¬ 
cago,  Wilmington  &  Franklin  Company,  has 
almost  completed  the  building  of  a  modern 
mining  plant  and  town  at  Orient,  Illinois.  This 
operation  is  now  producing  3,300  tons  of  coal 
daily,  making  it  one  of  the  largest  mines  in 
Franklin  County. 

J.  E.  Rutledge  of  St.  Louis,  president  of  the 
New  Staunton  Coal  Company  and  the  Nokomis 
Coal  Company,  has  awarded  a  contract  to  the 
Robert  &  Schaefer  Company  for  the  con¬ 
struction  of  two  miners’  bath  houses,  tvliich  will 
be  built  immediately  at  Nokomis  and  Livings¬ 
ton,  Illinois. 

Guy  V.  Dering  of  Columbus,  Wisconsin,  for 
the  last  three  3fears  a  member  of  the  Boarcl 
of  Directors  of  the  Illinois  and  Wisconsin 
Coal  Dealers’  Association,  was  one  of  the 
prominent  figures  at  the  Grand  American  trap 
shooting  tourney  held  at  Grant  Park  this 
week.  Mr.  Dering  won  the  national  amateur 
title  at  double  tragets  by  breaking  ninety-one 
in  100,  from  the  sixteen  yard  line. 

C.  B.  Cotton  of  Sabula,  Iowa,  while  in 
Chicago  this  week,  said  very  little  coal  had 
been  stocked  by  dealers  in  eastern  Iowa. 
This  situation  is  due  principally  to  the  back¬ 
wardness  of  the  threshing  season  and  the 
inability  of  the  dealers  to  get  labor  to  un¬ 
load  coal.  The  continued  wet  weather  has 
also  been  an  important  factor  in  delaying  the 
movement  of  coal. 

The  Purity  Coal  Company  closed  their 
offices  August  14,  to  permit  the  employes  to 
attend  the  picnic.  They  came  sixteen  strong 
as  guests  of  the  company.  The  party  dropped 
off  at  Aurora,  where  Frank  J.  Browning  was 
host  at  a  lunebeon  given  in  honor  of  his  grand¬ 
daughter,  who  arrived  Saturday  morning  at 
7:15.  Frank  N.  Browning,  the  proud  father, 
was  unable  to  attend  the  picnic  on  account 
of  the  new  arrival.  Grandfather  Browning 
will  be  in  the  market  shortly  for  a  new  ma¬ 
chine.  However,  the  automobile  salesmen 
won’t  profit  by  this  tip,  although  the  vehicle 
comes  under  the  heading  of  a  “horseless  car¬ 
riage.’’ 

The  Coal  Trade  Bowling  League  is  organ¬ 
izing  and  completing  its  schedule  for  the  sea¬ 
son  of  1915-10.  A  few  more  clubs  are  needed 
to  complete  the  organization.  The  Globe  Coal 
Company,  Peabody  Coal  Company,  Consumers 
Company  and  the  Atwill-Mackemson  Coal  &  Coke 
Company  are  represented  by  teams  and  four 
more  teams  will  be  added  shortly.  Flarry 
Steers  Alleys  at  Randolph  and  Wabash  avenue, 
have  been  secured,  which  ensures  ideal  alleys 
for  the  rolling  of  the  games.  Bowlers  in¬ 
terested  in  joining  this  organization  should  get 
in  touch  with  H.  L.  Weith  with  the  Atwill- 
Makemson  Coal  Company,  1128  McCormick 
building,  Chicago. 

Among  the  visitors  this  week  was  H.  A.  Kuhn 
of  Pittsburgh,  who  is  making  a  trip  into  the  west¬ 
ern  territory  to  study  mining  conditions.  He 
makes  the  statement  that  all  through  the  Pitts¬ 
burgh  district  prices  are  rising  steadily  because 


the  demand  really  is  booming.  The  steel  mills 
are  running  extraordinarily  full  on  foreign 
orders,  mostly  for  war  material,  and  this  activity 
is  gradually  spreading  to  all  factories  in  the 
Pittsburgh  district.  JMeanwhile,  there  is  an  in¬ 
creasing  export  demand  for  coal,  which,  together 
with  better  home  demand  in  the  east,  is  having  a 
beneficial  influence  on  prices.  The  values  are  be¬ 
ing  marked  up  nearly  every  day  and  prices  are 
now  common  which  a  short  time  ago  were  con¬ 
sidered  to  be  very  attractive  figures. 

The  announcement  was  made  this  week  that  the 
J.  K.  Dering  Coal  Company  had  sold  to  some 
financial  interests  its  two  mines  in  Franklin 
county,  one  of  them  being  the  famous  Little  Jack 
mine.  A  further  announcement  was  that  these 
were  turned  over  to  the  Producers  Coal  Com¬ 
pany,  which  is  a  new  concern  just  organized.  Of 
that  company,  F.  h.  Peabody  is  president  and 
will  be  in  charge  of  the  operations.  The  an¬ 
nouncement  further  is  that  negotiations  are  under 
way  by  which  J.  K.  Dering  will  sell  the  output 
of  these  mines,  since  he  is  familiar  with  the  coal 
and  with  the  market  in  which  it  has  been  hereto¬ 
fore  sold.  Some  negotiations  are  also  pending 
touching  other  mines  of  the  J.  K.  Dering  Coal 
Company  and  definite  announcement  as  to  them 
will  be  made  in  a  few  days. 


American  Mining  Congress. 


The  annual  meeting  of  the  American  Mining 
Con.gress  this  fall  is  going  to  be  held  in  San 
Francisco,  beginning  on  Monday,  September  20th. 
This  will  be  a  most  important  meeting  for  several 
reasons. 

The  middle  part  of  September  will  see  in  San 
Francisco  perhaps  more  .mining  men  than  have 
ever  gathered  at  one  point  on  one  occasion.  For 
e.xample,  the  American  Institute  of  Mining  En¬ 
gineers  will  meet  there  the  latter  part  of  the  pre¬ 
ceding  week;  then  comes  the  Mining  Congress 
session,  and  following  that  is  the  meeting  of  the 
American  Mine  Safety  Association.  The  first 
meeting  will  gather  in  San  Francisco  the  techni¬ 
cal  mining  men  of  the  world.  The  Mining  Con¬ 
.gress  will  gather  there  those  men  who  are  inter¬ 
ested  in  the  executive  side  of  coal  and  metal 
mining.  And  the  Mine  Safety  Association  will 
gather  there  the  operating  officials  who  are  in¬ 
terested  in  the  preservation  of  life  and  the  safe 
development  of  coal  mine  operations.  Thus  all 
classes  of  mining  men  will  be  in  San  Francisco 
at  just  about  that  time.  This  makes  the  Mining 
Congress  especially  interesting. 

For  another  thing,  ihe  American  Mining  Con¬ 
gress  has  some  very  big  plans  in  mind.  Some  of 
these  plans  have  to  do  with  the  work  which  is  to 
be  done  in  the  next  year,  both  throughout  the 
United  States  and  at  Washington.  Some  in¬ 
tensely  interesting  legislative  programs  are  up 
right  now  and  the  Mining  Congress  will  want  to 
.get  from  the  coal  men  an  approach  to  a  con¬ 
sensus  of  opinion  on  what  should  be  done. 

For  another  thing,  the  Congress'  is  going  to 
begin  at  once  to  plan,  if  it  is  thought  advisable, 
a  bi.g  mining  exhibition  to  be  held  in  Chicago  a 
year  hence.  That  will  be  one  of  the  principal 
matters  up  for  discussion. 

All  things  considered,  the  meeting  of  the  Con¬ 
gress  this  year  is  going  to  be  of  unusual  impor¬ 
tance  and  should  command  the  attendance  of 
quite  a  number  of  coal  people.  Not  only  that, 
Init  many  coal  men  no  doubt  will  want  to  visit 
the  Panama-Pacific  exposition  anyway  and  could 
very  well  time  their  visit  to  the  coast  to  be  there 
when  the  Mining  Con.gress  is  in  session. 

All  these  things  considered,  Carl  Scholz,  the 
president  of  the  Congress,  is  trying  to  get  to¬ 
gether  a  special  party  of  coal  men  who  will  travel 
on  the  same  train  after  leaving  Chicago.  He  is 
in  touch  with  some  coal  mining  people  who  are 
planning  to  go  west  and  would  like  to  get  in 
touch  with  others  who  expect  to  go  to  the  exposi¬ 
tion  and  who  might  want  to  .go  at  the  time  of 
the  Mining  Congress. 

One  plan  is  to  leave  Chicago  at  ten  o’clock 
a.  m.  on  Wednesday,  September  15th,  on  the 
Rocky  Mountain  Limited  over  the  Rock  Island 
road.  This  will  put  the  party  in  Denver  at  2:45 
p.  m.  the  next  day.  It  will  leave  Denver  at  five 
o’clock  that  evening  on  the  Union  Pacific,  arriv¬ 
ing  at  Salt  Lake  City  at  noon  the  next  day.  The 
party  will  remain  there  over  night  and  leave  on 
the  early  train  for  Frisco  on  Saturday  mornin.g, 
arriving  at  destination  on  Sunday  morning,  the 
19th. 

The  alternative  plan  is  to  leave  Chicago  at 
10:30  p.  rn.  on  Tuesday  and  go  by  way  of  Colo¬ 
rado  Springs  and  the  Denver  &  Rio  Grande  to 
Salt  Lake  City. 


Mr.  Scholz  has  made  very  flexible  arrange¬ 
ments  with  the  railroad  as  to  the  kind  of  car  to 
be  used  and  is  sure  that  any  kind  of  equipment 
which  the  coal  people  may  want  can  be  provided. 
That  is,  they  can  have  a  car  containing  compart¬ 
ments  only  or  they  can  have  a  combination  of 
compartments  and  sections  with  an  observation 
car.  Under  whatever  arrangement,  the  same  car 
will  take  the  party  from  Chicago  through  to  San 
Francisco,  so  that  there  need  be  no  inconvenience 
even  on  the  stop-over  at  Salt  Lake  City.  He  is 
especially  anxious  to  get  together  a  party  that 
will  at  least  take  up  one  car. 

It  would  seem  not  a  difficult  matter  to  get  that 
eighteen  or  twenty  persons  together,  seein.g  that 
all  those  going  from  the  east  could  join  the  party 
at  Chicago. 

Mr.  Scholz  will  be  accompanied  by  his  wife 
and  daughter  and  it  is,  naturally,  expected  that 
other  coal  men  will  take  some  members  of  their 
family.  Coal  men  who  are  expecting  to  .go  west 
about  that  time  can  have  their  reservations,  etc., 
made  for  them  by  communicating  with  Mr.  Carl 
Scholz  at  the  office  of  the  Consolidated  Indiana 
Coal  Company  in  the  La  Salle  street  station, 
Chicago. 


Detroit  Coal  Picnic. 


Detroit,  Mich.,  August  19— (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — Defeated  by  the  athletes  pf  Toledo 
Coal  Exchange  in  a  baseball  game,  members  of 
the  Detroit  Coal  Exchange  found  consolation  in 
snatching  victory  in  the  tug  of  war  contest  with 
Toledo  and  in  a  baseball  game  played  with  a  team 
representing  the  Detroit  and  Toledo  Shore  Line 
Railroad,  at  the  joint  outing  of  the  Detroit  and 
Toledo  exchanges  on  Sugar  Island,  August  10. 
Both  cities  were  about  evenly  represented  in  the 
700  or  more  persons  attending  the  affair. 

Their  winning  of  the  ball  game  with  the  rail¬ 
road  men  secured  to  Detroit  the  prize,  an  ebony 
and  silver  plaque  contributed  to  the  Toledo  coal 
men,  while  the  conquest  in  the  tug  of  war  won 
for  each  of  the  eight  men  on  the  Detroit  team  a 
nickel-plated  coal  scuttle  donated  by  the  Ford 
Collieries  Company.  The  Toledo  ball  players’ 
victory  brought  them  a  gold-lined  silver  cup  con¬ 
tributed  by  officers  of  the  Detroit  &  Toledo  Shore 
Line. 

In  a  second  tug  of  war  between  teams  of  eight 
men  representing  Detroit  retailers  and  whole¬ 
salers,  the  retailers  each  won  a  watch  fob  pre¬ 
sented  by  the  Detroit  City  Gas  Company. 

Other  athletic  events,  the  winners  and  prizes 
were : 

Yes  and  no  contest,  free  for  all — Lady’s  prize — 
manicure  set,  Lucile  Lan.g,  Detroit;  gentleman’s 
prize — one-half  dozen  silk  socks,  Kean  Cronin, 
Detroit. 

One  hundred  yard  dash — boys  ten  to  fifteen 
years  old — First  prize,  bathing  suit,  John  Lang, 
Detroit;  second  prize,  indoor  baseball,  James 
Greenwald,  Detroit. 

One  hundred  yard  dash — boys  over  fifteen  years 
old — First  prize,  baseball  glove,  A.  L.  Sterner, 
Toledo;  second  prize,  baseball  bat,  Hal  Reynolds, 
Detroit. 

Fifty  yard  dash — girls  twelve  years  or  older — 
First  prize,  wrist  watch,  Clara  Bentley,  Detroit; 
second  prize,  pair  of  silk  gloves  Loretta  Krupp, 
Detroit. 

Twenty-five  yard  dash — ^.girls  under  twelve 
years  old — First  prize,  pair  of  silk  stockings, 
Helen  Kraft,  Detroit;  second  prize,  middy  blouse, 
Marie  Wetzel,  Detroit. 

Fat  man’s  race — 200  pounds  or  over — First 
prize,  silk  shirt,  John  Koenig,  Detroit;  second 
prize,  military  comb  and  brush  set,  Alexander 
Smart,  Detroit. 

Three  legged  race — for  boys  and  men — First 
prize,  box  of  cigars  for  each,  Joe  Cronin  and 
Kean  Cronin,  Detroit;  second  prize,  belt  for  each, 
Harold  Spitler  and  Albert  Miller,  Toledo. 

Pipe  race — First  prize,  pipe  and  tobacco,  Bert 
Mandell,  Detroit;  second  prize,  tobacco  and  pipe, 
W.  K.  Reeves,  Columbus,  Ohio. 

Egg  race  for  ladies — First  prize,  electric  curliag 
iron,  A.  Korte,  Detroit;  second  prize,  one-half 
dozen  cut  glass  tumblers,  Mrs.  E.  J.  Dubois,  De- 
troit. 

Dancing  contest — First  prize  for  lady,  very  spe¬ 
cial,  Miss  Pyra  Champlin ;  for  gentleman,  cane, 
Harry  Chrysler,  Detroit ;  second  prize,  lady,  um¬ 
brella,  Miss  Agnes  Witt ;  for  gentleman,  more 
special,  Geor,ge  Haddus,  Detroit. 


The  Baltimore  &  Ohio  Railroad  has  distributed 
a  $1,000,000  order  for  steel  rails  and  1,000  more 
steel  hopper  car  bodies. 


No.  8] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


153 


Facts  Which  Determine  Our  Export  Prospects. 


The  Export  Situation. 

The  export  movement  continues  good.  Hamp¬ 
ton  Roads  shipments  this  month  are  keeping  up 
pretty  well  with  the  July  record.  Baltimore 
slumped  last  week,  due  to  the  delay  in  the  ar¬ 
rival  of  vessel  tonnage.  It  is  expected  that  from 
now  until  the  end  of  the  month,  arrivals  will  be 
large  enough  to  make  up  for  this  slump. 

Some  new  business  for  Italian  interests  is  said 
to  have  been  closed  during  the  week,  estimates  as 
to  the  tonnage  involved,  running  around  250,000 
tons.  Rumors  also  continue  regarding  negotia¬ 
tions  for  a  very  heavy  tonnage  for  France. 

American  shippers  note  with  interest  the  very 
light  shipments  going  from  England  to  South 
America  during  the  past  three  or  four  weeks,  and 
look  for  no  few  spot  sales  of  American  coals  to 
make  up  for  the  lack  of  shipments  on  the  part 
of  the  Welsh  shippers. 

Cargo  sales  continue  to  be  made  here  and 
there,  so  that  in  the  aggregate,  a  very  good  ton¬ 
nage  is  moving  in  addition  to  the  very  large 
tonnage  being  shipped  under  contract. 

Later  figures  show  that  July  exports  from 
Hampton  Roads,  Baltimore  and  Philadelphia 
reached  the  handsome  total  of  1,142,567  tons. 
This  was  an  increase  of  100,000  tons  over  June. 

Exports  by  ports  were : 

Tons 

tUmpton  Roads .  712,955 

Philadelphia .  171,027 

Baltimore  .  258,585 


Total  . _ . .1,142,567 

This  compares  with  320,406  tons  shipped  in 
July,  1914. 


Baltimore  Exports. 

Statement  of  bituminous  coal  exported  from 
the  port  of  Baltimore  during  the  month  of  July, 
1915,  as  reported  by  the  Custom  House,  shows : 


Country  Tonnage 

France  .  26,191 

Greece  .  10,220 

Italy  .  96,358 

Netherlands  .  3,002 

Norway  .  2,907 

Spain  .  14,077 

Sweden  .  23,311 

Costa  Rica .  2,710 

Honduras  .  559 

Cuba  .  24,427 

Argentine  .  29,725 

Egypt  .  17,885 

Fr.  West  Indies .  928 

Uruguay  .  6,126 

Venezuela  .  988 

Peru  .  371 


Total  . 258,585 


English  Freight  Rates. 

Recent  fixtures  from  the  Tyne  have  been  as 
follows:  To  Algiers  18s;  Barcelona,  22s  6d  and 
24s;  Boulogne,  12s  6d;  Buenos  Aires,  24s; 
Bordeaux,  17s  and  17s  6d ;  Lisbon,  17s  3d  and 
19s;  London,  6s  6d;  Las  Palmas,  19s  and  19s  6d; 
Port  Said,  24s;  Teneriffe,  19s. 

From  Cardiff,  recent  fixtures  h^ive  been  as  fol¬ 
lows:  Alexandria,  20s;  Genoa,  17s  and  17s  6d; 
Gibraltar,  13s  3d  and  13s  6d ;  Leghorn,  16s  6d 
and  17s;  Lisbon,  10s  6d ;  Marseilles,  17  fr. ; 
Naples,  16s  3d  and  16s  6d ;  Rouen,  10s;  Savona, 
17s  6d  and  17s;  St.  Nazaire,  llj^  fr. 


Lloyd-George  Extols  Coal. 

At  a  joint  conference  of  the  British  govern¬ 
ment  departments  and  the  various  coal  trade  or¬ 
ganizations  held  in  London  on  July  29,  David 
Lloyd-George,  the  new  minister  of  munitions, 
made  some  very  interesting  statements  about  coal 
and  its  mission  in  the  present  war.  Mr.  Llovd- 
George  said  that  the  country  was  suffering  from 
the  patriotism  of  the  miners.  The  demand  for 
coal  was  greater  than  ever;  the  supply  of  labor 
less  than  ever.  He  continued : 

“In  times  of  peace  coal  is  the  most  important 
element  in  the  industrial  life  of  the  country.  The 
blood  which  courses  through  the  veins  of  indus¬ 
try  in  this  country  is  made  of  distilled  coal.  In 
peace  and  in  war  King  Coal  is  the  paramount 
lord  of  industry.  It  enters  into  every  article 
of  consumption  and  of  utility,  it  is  our  real  in¬ 
ternational  coinage.  When  we  buy  goods,  food 
and  raw  material  abroad,  we  pay  not  in  gold,  but 
in  coal.  We  pay  in  diamonds,  except  that  they 
are  black,  and  not  in  gold.  Coal  brings  meat  and 
bread,  say,  from  the  Argentine,  and  brings  it  all 
the  way.  It  does  more.  It  pays  across  the 
counter  there  for  it  out  of  its  own  pocket.  We 
cannot  do  without  coal.  In  war  time  it  is  life 
for  us,  and  death  for  our  foes.  It  not  merely 
fetches  and  carries  for  us,  it  makes  the  material 


and  the  machinery  which  it  transports.  It  bends, 
it  moulds,  it  strengthens,  it  purifies,  it  fills  the 
weapons  of  war.  Steel,  rifles,  machine  guns  and 
cannons  mean  coal;  shells  are  made  with  coal; 
the  very  explosive  inside  them  is  coal,  and  then 
coal  carries  them  right  into  the  battlefield  to  help 
our  men.  Coal  is  everything  for  us,  and  we  want 
more  of  it  to  win  victories.  Coal  is  the  most 
terrible  of  enemies,  and  the  most  potent  of 
friends.  That  terrible  casualty  list  of  350,000 
British  soldiers  was  a  list  of  casualties  inflicted 
by  German  coal;  by  the  Westphalian  miners 
working  in  co-operation  with  the  Prussian  engi¬ 
neer,  without  stint,  without  reserve,  without  regu¬ 
lations,  putting  their  strength  at  the  disposal  of 
their  fatherland.  It  is  coal  that  did  that.  Yes, 
and  when  you  see  that  the  seas  over  which  the 
British  flag  flies  with  impunity  from  realm  to 
realm  and  from  shore  to  shore,  are  clear,  when 
you  find  that  the  German  flag  has  vanished  from 
the  face  of  the  seas,  who  has  done  it?  The 
British  miner  helping  the  British  sailor.” 


Recent  Coal  Freight  Charters. 

Steamer  Thorsa  (Nor.),  Philadelphia  to  Cardenas,  coal, 
p.  t. 

Steamer  Rosina  (Greek),  Baltimore  or  Virginia  to 

River  Plata,  coal,  34s  6d,  August-September. 

Steamer  Penlee  (Br.),  Virginia  to  Fort  Militor,  coal, 
37^  August. 

Steamer  Winnebago  (Br.),  Virginia  to  Rio  Janeiro, 
coal,  34s  6d,  prompt. 

Steamer  Mongenero  (Ital.),  Baltimore  to  West  Coast 
Italy,  coal,  p.  t. 

Steamer  Camilla  (Br.),  Baltimore  to  Bocas  del  Toro, 
coal,  p.  t. 

Steamer  Lovland  (Nor.),  Baltimore  to  Banes  and 

Preston,  coal,  p.  t. 

Steamer  Southport  (Br.),  Atlantic  Range  to  Mar¬ 

seilles,  coal.  37s. 

Steamer  Andjik  (Dutch),  Virginia  to  Taetal,  coal,  $7, 
August-Septemoer. 

Steamer  Penhale  (Br.),  Virginia  to  River  Plata,  (toal, 
34s,  August. 

Steamer  Teviotdale  (Br.),  Baltimore  to  west  coast 

Italy,  coal,  p.  t.,  spot. 

Steamer  Luigi  (Ital.),  Baltimore  to  west  coast  Italy, 
coal,  p.  t.,  spot. 

Steamer  Coila  (Br.),  Baltimore  to  Piraeus,  coal,  p.  t., 
spot. 

Steamer  Winlaton  (Br.),  Virginia  to  La  Plata,  coal, 
33s  6d,  August-September. 

Steamer  Ronald  (Nor.),  Virginia  to  River  Plata,  coal, 
34s  6d. 

Steamer  Jupiter  (Span.),  Philadelphia  to  Marseilles, 
coal,  p.  t. 

Steamer  Zurichmoor  (Br.),  Virginia  to  west  coast 
Italy,  coal,  39s  6d,  August-September. 

Schooner  Catherine  (Br.),  Philadelphia  to  St.  John, 
N.  B.,  coal,  $1.90. 

Schooner  May  T.  Neville,  Philadelphia  to  Porto  Rico, 
coal,  p.  t. 

Steamer  Eigerre  S.  Embirces  (Greek),  Virginia  to 
River  Plata,  coal,  34s,  August. 

Steamer  Rio  Preto  (Br.),  Philadelphia  to  Rio  Janeiro, 
coal,  p.  t.,  prompt. 

Steamer  The  Warren  (Br.),  Virginia  to  River  Plata, 
coal,  34s,  August-September. 

Steamer  Penare  (Br.),  Virginia  to  River  Plata,  coal, 
34s  6d,  prompt. 

Steamer  Evandale  (Br.),  Baltimore  or  Virginia  to 
west  coast  Italy,  coal,  p.  t. 


England’s  Restriction  Order. 

Concerning  the  new  English  coal  export  re¬ 
striction  order,  which  became  effective  last  Fri¬ 
day,  the  Liverpool  Journal  of  Commerce  of 
August  6th,  says :  “A  new  order  in  council  pro¬ 
hibiting  the  export  of  coals  to  all  countries,  with 
the  exception  of  British  possessions,  on  and  after 
the  13th  inst.,  came  as  a  surprise  this  week  to 
mystified  coal  owners.  This  is  the  most  drastic 
order  yet  issued,  for  it  entirely  closes  the  export 
trade  to  foreign  countries,  while  the  quantity 
sent  to  British  possessions  and  protectorates  is 
almost  a  negligible  one.  Beyond  the  supplies 
sent  to  Egypt  the  quantity  of  British  coal  sent  to 
other  British  possessions  is  practically  nil,  owing 
to  those  countries  having  huge  coal  resources  of 
their  own.  The  order  caused  a  flutter  of  excite¬ 
ment  amongst  South  Wales  colliery  proprietors, 
who  depend  primarily  upon  foreign  markets.  The 
subject  was  discussed  at  a  meeting  of  the  Coal 
Owners’  Association  this  week.  Anxious  mem¬ 
bers  were  assured  that  the  coal  export  committee 
had  no  desire  to  interfere  with  exports  provided 
local  consumers  obtained  adequate  supplies  of 
coal.  The  South  Wales  coal  owners  have  formu¬ 
lated  a  scheme  whereby  local  consumers  will  be 
assured  of  supplies.  For  coal  owners  were  look¬ 
ing  forward  to  a  removal  of  the  restrictions  on 
the  export  trade,  and  despite  the  assurance  given 
as  to  non-interference  with  exports  several  coal 
exporters  view  the  order  with  considerable  mis¬ 
giving.  Vvhen  the  restriction  was  first  imposed 
upon  exports  to  certain  countries  coal  owners 
were  assured  that  shipments  would  not  be  inter¬ 
fered  with.  Yet  exporters  were  harrassed  and 
delayed  by  the  operation  of  the  first  order  in 
council,  and  have  witnessed  their  trade,  built  up 


by  years  of  hard  work  and  organization,  prac¬ 
tically  given  over  to  the  competition  of  American 
coal  exporters.  It  is  stated  that  the  new  order 
was  issued  to  prevent  the  undue  rushing  of  sup¬ 
plies  abroad  following  the  new  act  regulating 
prices  at  the  pit  head  for  home  consumption.  On 
good  authority,  it  is  stated  that  licenses  for  ex¬ 
port  will  still  be  granted  by  the  coal  exports’  com¬ 
mittee,  but  they  will  have  to  be  obtained  for  ship¬ 
ment  to  allied  as  well  as  neutral  countries.  The 
coal  owners,  by  their  scheme,  will  prevent  any 
shortage  of  coal  for  home  consumption,  and  look 
forward,  therefore,  to  exporting  their  surplus, 
without  undue  restrictions.  There  is  apparently 
every  desire  on  the  part  of  the  government  to 
avoid  shackling  the  coal  export  trade,  which  in 
its  economic  operation  pays  directly  for  our  grain 
imports,  for  Great  Britain  is  importing  every  day 
over  a  million  pounds’  worth  more  goods  than 
she  is  exporting.  It  is  imperative,  therefore,  to 
encourage  exports  rather  than  restrict  them. 
When  supplies  for  home  consumption  are  as¬ 
sured,  the  shackles  holding  the  export  trade  in 
leash  should  be  entirely  removed  with,  of  course, 
the  exceptions  that  are  necessary  in  times  of 
war.” 


Export  Trade  Briefs. 

The  Colliery  Guardian  of  London,  in  a  recent 
issue,  prints  the  following  paragraph :  “Notice 
was  yesterday  given  to  ship  owners  that  a  con¬ 
siderable  amount  of  coal  is  finding  its  way  from 
the  United  States  to  the  Deutches  Kohlen  depot 
at  Buenos  Aires,  and  that  there  is  a  reason  to 
believe  that  some  of  it  is  being  carried  in  British 
ships.  The  coal  is  shipped  to  agents,  and  ulti¬ 
mately  delivered  to  the  Deutsches  Kohlen  depot 
or  other  concerns  controlled  by  German  interests. 
Owners  are  requested  to  take  all  measures  possi¬ 
ble  to  prevent  their  ships  being  used  by  charterers 
as  a  means  for  carrying  coal  to  agents  who  will 
hand  the  coal  on  to  German  depots  or  companies, 
and  it  is  suggested  that  special  care  should  be 
taken  to  cover  this  point  in  all  new  charters. 
Coal  consigned  to  well  known  British  firms  es¬ 
tablished  in  neutral  ports  or  to  neutral  govern¬ 
ments  or  municipalities  can  safely  be  carried, 
but  owners  should  take  measures  to  prevent  coal 
being  merely  consigned  to  order  or  being  con¬ 
signed  to  the  order  of  any  consignee  other  than 
those  specified  above,  unless  he  is  known  to  be 
well  affected  or  has  been  approved  by  the  board 
of  trade.”  , 

Sunday’s  cables  told  of  the  moving  of  coal 
from  Cardiff  to  French  ports  by  barges.  This 
is  a  new  venture,  and  was  originated  by  Mr. 
Ernest  Plisson  of  Lysberg  Company,  Ltd.,  and 
the  Plisson  Steam  Navigation  Company  of  Car¬ 
diff,  with  which  enterprises,  Mr.  D.  A.  Thomas, 
now  representing  the  British  government  in  this 
country,  is  interested.  It  appears  that  steam  ton¬ 
nage  became  so  scarce  that  Mr.  Plisson  set  about 
to  secure  other  tonnage  and  started  to  utilize  the 
hulls  of  schooners  that  were  available,  turning 
them  into  barges.  Two  of  these  have  already 
been  put  into  service,  and  they  are  towed  by  a 
tug  boat.  Patent  towing  tackle  has  been  fitted, 
and  it  is  believed  the  scheme  will  become  quite 
successful.  It  is  stated  that  Mr.  Plisson  is  said 
to  be  prepared  to  spend  $150,000  on  the  new 
idea,  and,  if  the  preliminary  work  is  a  success, 
liarges  of  3,000  and  4,000  ton  capacity  will  he 
built.  Recently  there  has  been  great  delay  in  dis¬ 
charging  coal  loaded  vessels  at  the  French  ports 
because  of  congestion.  It  is  stated  that  in  cases 
where  there  is  a  possibility  of  delaying  of  dis¬ 
charge,  barges  can  be  dropped,  and  returned 
barges  of  pitwood  picked  up  with  minimum  de¬ 
lay.  Besides  this,  it  is  claimed  considerable 
breakage  can  be  avoided  by  the  barges  themselves 
being  used  instead  of  discharge  being  made'  into 
lighters.  The  barges,  too,  can  stand  delay,  should 
a  vessel  be  unable  to  unload,  with  much  lower 
cost  than  an  ordinary  vessel ;  and,  if  necessary, 
are  adaptable  to  inland  waterways.  On  the  re¬ 
turn  voyage,  should  there  be  a  scarcity  of  wagons 
for  the  reception  of  the  return  cargo,  or  should 
Ihere  be  adverse  market  fluctuations,  the  barges 
can  be  kept  waiting  outside  port — a  course  almost 
impracticable  with  ordinary  chartered  vessels. 

It  is  understood  that  the  recent  contract  of  the 
Egyptian  State  Railways  for  approximately  360,- 
000  tons  of  coal  has  been  divided  between  Welsh 
and  American  coals.  Messrs.  Watts,  Watts  &  Co. 
of  London  and  Cardiff,  securing  the  contract  for 
the  Welsh  coal,  and  the  Consolidation  Coal  Com¬ 
pany  of  New  York  and  Baltimore,  the  contract 
for  American  coals.  The  Consolidation  Coal 
Company  has  been  shipping  the  Egyptian  State 
Railways  regularly  now  for  more  than  three 
years,  and  the  renewal  of  this  contract  attests  to 
the  satisfaction  the  coal  is  giving. 


154 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


[August  21 


General  Review. 


Rate  Uncertainties  Rule  the  Market  With 
the  Future  Trend  of  Prices 
in  Doubt. 


Rate  uncertainties  have  been  a  dominating 
influence  in  the  coal  market  this  week.  In 
the  first  place,  the  Interstate  Commerce  Com¬ 
mission  ordered  reductions  on  rates  to  tide¬ 
water  and  to  points  local  to  carriers  on  which 
anthracite  is  originated.  This  rate  does  not 
go  into  effect  until  October  1st.  There  are 
two  ways  of  looking  at  this  reduction,  which 
amounts  to  from  fifteen  to  twenty-five  cents 
a  ton.  One  is  that  the  commission  intended 
it  merely  to  give  the  independent  operators 
a  chance  to  make  some  money  off  of  their 
coal,  which  they  have  not  had  heretofore.  The 
other  way  to  look  at  it  is  that  a  new  com¬ 
mercial  force  has  inserted  itself,  and  there 
being  a  chance  of  more  profit  to  the  coal 
companies,  there  is  an  equal  chance  that  the 
coal  companies  will  more  than  divide  it  with 
the  consumers  in  order  to  increase  their 
volume  of  sales. 

In  the  second  place,  the  Interstate  Com¬ 
merce  Commission  did  not  disturb  the  higher 
rates  on  coal  to  the  lake  ports  or  to  the 
west.  This  means  that  on  the  lake  move¬ 
ment,  at  least  through  the  points  on  the  west 
shore  of  Lake  Michigan  and  on  Lake  Superior 
north  of  Chicago,  the  prices  on  anthracite 
coal  as  figured  on  freight  rates  will  be  the 
same  as  it  was  heretofore.  However,  the  com¬ 
mission  in  a  separate  decision  granted  an  in¬ 
crease  in  the  freight  rates  to  Chicago,  and 
hence  in  basing  rates  for  points  beyond  of 
twenty-five  cents  a  ton.  The  coal  companies  in 
Chicago  have  a  rate  situation  which  suggests  a 
continuance  of  the  old  prices  from  the  lakes,  but 
a  rise  of  price  of  twenty-five  cents  if  the  coal 
is  moved  through  Chicago.  The  indications 
are  at  the  minute  that  the  coal  companies 
will  dissolve  this  difficulty  by  letting  the  dock 
prices  rule  and  this  will  force  the  operators 
who  ship  through  Chicago  to  absorb  the  ad¬ 
vance  in  rates  of  twenty-five  cents  a  ton.  This 
means  principally  that  there  will  be  a  decrease 
in  the  movement  of  coal  through  Chicago. 

The  market  for  the  week  has  been  further 
disturbed  by  potentialities  in  the  Ohio  rate 
situation.  The  United  Mine  Workers  of  Amer¬ 
ica,  have  gone  before  the  industrial  com¬ 
mission  of  Ohio,  attacking  the  whole  fabric 
of  rates  applying  from  the  mines  in  Ohio  to 
points  in  Ohio.  No  one  is  blind  to  the  con¬ 
sequences  of  this  movement  if  it  succeeds. 

This  simply  means  that  the  Ohio  rates  will 
apply  on  the  movement  of  Ohio  coal  to  Lake 
Erie  ports,  and  hence  it  will  influence  the  price 
at  which  that  coal  can  be  sold  in  the  northwest. 
In  the  meantime,  any  change  made  in  Ohio  must 
also  be  made  in  western  Pennsylvania.  Thus 
any  readjustment  of  the  rates  in  the  Ohio 
ports  will  mean  an  automatic  adjustment  in 
western  Pennsylvania  rates  to  the  same  ports. 

In  the  western  territory  the  situation  is 
even  more  upset.  The  railways  made  a  plea 
for  a  general  advance  in  rates.  They  evi¬ 
dently  expected  they  would  get  an  increase 
on  other  commodities,  but  no  increase  on  coal. 
However,  the  commission  did  the  reverse  of 
what  it  was  supposed  to  do  and  gave  an  in¬ 
crease  on  coal,  but  not  on  the  other  commodities. 
Now  the  western  railroads  are  beginning  to 
awaken  to  a  realization  of  the  fact  that  they 
have  been  given  permission  to  do  something 
which  it  may  not  be  diplomatic  or  financially 
sensible  to  do. 

In  the  meantime  the  railroad  uncertainty  is 
transferred  in  double  measure  to  the  coal  offices 
and  the  situation  is  acting  as  a  barrier  to 
future  business,  although  it  is  inclined  to  in¬ 
tensify  the  current  movement  of  coal. 

Even  so,  this  situation  is  not  without  its 
difficulties.  For  example,  if  the  higher  rates 
go  into  effect  the  western  operators  will,  after 
the  first  of  October,  have  the  same  produc¬ 
tive  capacity,  but  a  smaller  selling  zone.  That 
will  mean  the  congestion  of  tonnage  and  a 
general  lowering  of  the  average  price.  This 
throws  price  and  production  programs  some¬ 
what  out  of  joint. 

_  Thus  in  a  large  way  the  freight  rate  situa¬ 
tion  is  dominating  the  coal  market  for  the 
week  and  nearly  every  other  consideration  is 
subordinated. 


Chicago  Market. 

Prices  Are  Uncertain  Because  of  Rate 
Disturbances  and  Buying 
Is  Heavier. 


Office  of  The  Black  Diamond, 
Chicago,  August  19,  1915. 

The  Chica.go  market  has  not  been  more  dis¬ 
turbed  in  a  long  while  than  it  has  been  in  the 
last  week.  In  the  first  place,  the  commission  gave 
the  railroads  an  increase  of  freight  rates  averag¬ 
ing  close  to  eight  cents  a  ton.  This  increase  is 
not  to  become  effective  until  September  30th. 
There  is  even  some  doubt  as  to  whether  the  rail¬ 
roads  will  take  advantage  of  their  privilege  and 
whether,  therefore,  there  will  be  any  increase 
at  all.  Still,  the  operators  did  not  know,  and  the 
retailers  did  not  know  for  sure  whether  the  in¬ 
crease  would  take  effect.  The  dealers  naturally 
wanted  to  buy  now  to  .get  coal  before  the  advance 
went  into  effect ;  the  operators  wanted  to  sell  coal 
now,  rather  than  risk  the  uncertainties  of  the 
market  after  the  rise  should  take  effect.  The 
buyers  and  the  operators  were,  therefore,  both 
eager  to  do  business,  and  as  a  matter  of  fact  some 
more  business  was  done.  It  is  expected  that  in 
the  next  six  weeks  quite  a  volume  of  additional 
business  will  be  done  on  this  account  principally, 
but  as  far  as  the  future  beyond  the  six  weeks’ 
period  is  concerned,  it  is  decidedly  in  doubt.  The 
operators  do  not  know  what  the  railroads  are 
going  to  do,  and  the  carriers  do  not  know  them¬ 
selves  as  yet.  If  the  rate  goes  into  effect  it  must 
limit  the  selling  zone  and  that  may  force  the  dis¬ 
tribution  of  the  same  volume  of  coal  in  a  smaller 
territory,  and  hence  have  an  effect  upon  the  price. 
On  this  account  the  market  has  been  decidedly 
uncertain  and  uneasy. 

The  anthracite  rates  also  were  officially  con¬ 
firmed  the  latter  part  of  last  week.  This  means 
that  there  will  be  an  increase  in  the  rates  to  Chi¬ 
cago  and  a  correspondin.g  increase  to  points  be¬ 
yond  of  twenty-five  cents  a  ton.  This  rate  has 
really  been  in  effect  now  for  a  month.  'Up  to 
now,  however,  there  has  been  no  increase  in 
anthracite  prices.  It  is  doubtful  whether  there 
will  be,  for  the  time  being,  any  increase  at  all, 
at  least  among  the  major  companies.  That  has 
made  the  market  uncertain,  but  there  has  been 
no  increase  in  buying. 

The  smokeless  market  is  not  in  the  best  of 
condition.  Some  operators  have  had  a  little  dis¬ 
pute  among  themselves  recently  over  the  matter 
of  prices,  and  this  has  not  been  to  the  advantage 
of  the  producers.  In  Chicago  proper,  some  con¬ 
cession  was  made  for  Au.gust  shipments  on  con¬ 
tract  business  solely,  but  within  the  last  week 
some  jobbers  have  forced  a  quotation  of  the  same 
price  on  spot  business  as  well.  What  they  call 
the  logic  of  the  situation  has  ruled  against  the 
better  judgment  of  all  concerned,  and  here  and 
there  the  price  has  broken.  The  standard  opera¬ 
tors,  however,  have  not  reduced  the  price  of 
standard  coal  for  spot  sale,  and  in  that  respect 
some  little  firmness  is  left.  Lump  and  egg  are 
undisturbed  at  circular  price  of  $2.25.  Prices  up 
to  Thursday  were ; 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Smokeless —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Mine  run . $3.30@3.45  $1.25@1.40 

Lump  and  egg .  4.30  2.25 


There  is  quite  a  range  of  prices  on  Somerset 
county  lump  and  egg  coal.  Some  off  .grade  coal, 
which  is  not  the  very  best,  is  still  selling  for 
$1.70.  High  grade  coal  is  sold  at  $2.10.  Medium 
grades  are  selling  at  $1.90.  One  producer  is  mar- 
ketiag  the  egg  coal  and  is  quoting  that  at  $2  and 
$2.10.  Mine  run  is  steady  at  $1.25.  Prices  up  to 
Thursday  were : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Somerset  County —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Mine  run .  $3.30  $1.25 

Lump  and  egg .  3.75@4.15  1.70@2.10 

Hocking  coal  has  been  moving  in  a  little  larger 
volume,  principally  to  the  country  retailers,  who 
are  beginning  to  satisfy  harvest  demands.  Coal 
on  track  is  sold  locally  at  $1.40,  but  most  of 
the  business  is  moving  at  circular  of  $1.50. 
Prices  on  shipments  direct  from  the  mines  up  to 
Thursday  were : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Hocking —  Chicago.  Mines. 

154-inch  lump .  $3.15  $1.50 

The  splint  market  has  improved  both  in  tone 
and  in  the  average  price.  The  reason  is  that  there 
is  better  buyin.g  in  the  east  and  not  so  much  of 
the  coal  is  being  forced  on  this  market.  Also,  not 
so  many  operators  are  speculating  on  the  absorp¬ 
tive  capacity  of  the  market  as  was  the  case  re¬ 
cently.  Prices  up  to  Thursday  were : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Kanawha —  Chicago.  Mines. 

154-inch  lump . $3.05@3.15  $1.16@1.25 


The  eastern  Kentucky  situation  is  improving 
as  the  month  advances.  The  market  is  absorbing 
some  more  coal,  but  offerings  are  still  free  enough 
so  that  prices  have  not  advanced  sharply.  A  bet¬ 
ter  home  and  southern  demand  is  also  affecting 
the  situation.  Prices  up  to  Thursday  were; 


^  .  F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Eastern  Kentucky—  Chicago.  Mines 

Domestic  lump . $3.25@3.80  $1.35@1.90 

.  3.05@3.25  1.15@1.35 

Franklin  county  coal  is  influenced  by  the  con¬ 
sideration  mentioned  at  the  be.ginning  of  this 
report.  That  is,  retailers  are  beginning  to  buy 
to  get  in  the  coal  before  the  increased  rate,  if 
any,  takes  effect.  The  price  for  the  time  being 
is  unchanged  from  the  circular  announced  on 
August  1st,  but  another  rise  of  fifteen  cents  a 
ton  is  expected  on  the  first  of  September.  Screen¬ 
ings  are  a  little  stronger— perhaps  five  cents  a 
ton.  Prices  up  to  Thursday  were; 


Franklin  County — 

Lump  . 

Egg  . 

No.  1  nut . 

No.  2  nut . 

Mine  run . 

2-inch  screenings.... 


F.  0.  B. 

F.  p.  B. 

Chicago. 

Mines. 

$2.65 

$1.60 

2.65 

1.60 

2.65 

1.60 

2.45 

1.40 

2.15 

1.10 

1.80 

.75 

There  is  still  a  division  among  the  operators 
in  Williamson  county.  Some  coal  is  quoted  at 
$1.60.  Other  prepared  sizes  are  going  at  $1.50; 
smaller  sizes  take  a  corresponding  price.  The 
demand  has  been  a  little  better  within  the  week, 
but  the  average  running  time  of  the  mine  is  still 
about  fifty  percent.  Prices  up  to  Thursday  were; 


Williamson  County — 
Lump  . 

Egg  . 

No.  1  washed . 

No.  2  washed . 


F.  O.  B. 
Chicago. 
$2.65 
2.65 
2.65 
2.50 


F.  O.  B. 
Mines. 
$1.60 
1.60 
1.60 
1.45 


Saline  county  mines  are  havia?  a  better  demand 
for  steam  coal,  which  is  generally  true  of  coal 
mines  all  over  the  country.  Screenings  moved  up 
at  least  five  cents  a  ton  and  in  some  cases  ten 
cents.  The  market  showed  clearly  this  week 
that  high  grade  screenings  were  scarce.  Prices 
up  to  Thursday  were : 


Saline  County — 

Lump  . 

Mine  run . 

Screenings  . 

154-inch  lump... 


F.  0.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

Chicago. 

Mines. 

$2.55 

$1.60 

2.15 

1.10 

1.80 

.75 

2.30 

1.25 

Clinton  county  operators  are  running  mainly  on 
steam  coal,  namely,  mine  run,  steam,  lump  and 
screenings.  There  is  a  little  domestic  demand 


at  home,  but  it  is 

;  not  considered  a  factor. 

Screen- 

in.gs  are  rather 

strong  at  seventy-five  to  eighty 

cents,  with  prices  higher  in  some  spots. 

Prices 

up  to  Thursday 

were : 

F.  0.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

Clinton — 

Chicago. 

Mines. 

Domestic  lump.... 

$1.60 

Egg  . 

l.*0 

Nut  . 

1.30 

Mine  run . 

1.10 

Screenings  . 

.  1.57 

.80 

The  Springfield  market  is  unchanged  as  to 
prices  and  tonnage.  Quotations  up  to  Thursday 
were : 


F.  0.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

Springfield — 

Chicago. 

Mines. 

Lump  . 

$1.50 

Egg  . 

1.50 

Nut  . 

1.35 

Mine  run . 

.  1.87 

1.05 

Screenings  . 

.  1.47 

.35 

Knox  county  operators  are  having  an  extraor¬ 
dinary  run  of  demand  for  their  screenings. 
Whereas  low  grade  screenings  and  even  some 
from  Indiana  are  selling  in  this  market  around 
sixty-five  cents,  the  minimum  price  today  seems 
to  be  about  eighty  cents  on  Knox  county,  with 
price  to  the  trade  ranging  up  to  eighty-five  _  and 
ninety  in  places.  This  is  a  rather  peculiar  situa¬ 
tion,  which  does  not  obtain  generally  in  the  fine 
coal  market.  Prices  up  to  Thursday  were; 


F.  O.  B. 
Chicago. 
$2.37 
2.37 
1.87 
1.67 


F.  O.  B. 
Mines. 
$1.50 
1.50 
1.05 
.80 


Knox  County — 

Lump  . 

Egg  . 

Mine  run . 

Screenings  . 

One  block  of  10,000  tons  of  foundry  coke  was 
sold  one  day  this  week  and  some  other  big  con¬ 
tracts  are  bein.g  placed.  The  demand  is  increas¬ 
ing  steadily,  which  gives  the  operators  an  in¬ 
creased  output.  This  increases  production  of  the 
crushed  sizes,  making  them  a  little  bit  more  diffi¬ 
cult  to  move.  Prices,  however,  are  steady,  those 
up  to  Thursday  being: 

‘  F.  O.  B. 

Coke —  Chicago. 

Connellsville  .  ^ 

By-product,  foundry . 

By-product,  egg  and  stove .  4.60@4.7U 

By-product,  nut  . 

Gas  house  .  3.75@3.90 


No.  8] 


155 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


Pittsburgh  Trade. 

Eastern  Prices  Improve  But  the  Effect 
Is  Offset  by  Western  Conditions — 
Coke  Is  Booming. 


Office  of  The  Black  Diamond, 
1502  Oliver  Building, 

Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  August  15,  1915. 

With  practically  no  change,  the  Pittsburgh  coal 
operator  still  hopes  for  better  conditions  in  the 
near  future.  August  thus  far  has  been  a  month 
of  disappointment  for  while  steel  mill  activity  is 
in  many  instances  near  normal,  with  pig:  iron  the 
feature  in  the  iron  and  steel  market,  with  heavy 
sales  and  advanced  prices  in  practically  all  the 
leading  centers,  coal  still  refuses  to  respond  to 
the  improved  conditions,  and  until  the  demand 
at  industrial  plants  throughout  the  country  calls 
for  products  for  home  consumption,  rather  than 
foreign  war  materials,  there  will  be  little  im¬ 
provement.  The  lake  trade  is  practically  an 
eliminated  factor — though  it  is  assumed  that  in 
the  very  limited  period  that  any  lake  shipping 
will  have  to  be  done — it  will  be  “rush”  orders 
when  it  comes,  but  the  possibility  of  shipping 
anything  like  the  season’s  regular  demand  is  not 
thought  of.  Current  sales  are,  both  in  price  and 
delivery,  largely  dependent  on  the  necessity  of 
buyers,  or  sellers’  order  books.  Prices  generally 
are  very  firm  for  any  forward  delivery,  but  little 
is  sought  and  when  quotations  are  made  they 
are  subject  to  immediate  acceptance,  the  seller 
feeling  quite  confident  that  future  developments 
will  be  to  his  advantage,  and  only  proposes  sell¬ 
ing  a  limited  output  at  today’s  prices,  the  future 
to  average  up  the  season. 

The  talk  through  the  newspapers  of  the  Penn¬ 
sylvania  railroad  preparing  large  storage  coal 
yards  at  Altoona  and  elsewhere  has  created  some 
little  life  among  producers.  It  is  generally  sup¬ 
posed  this  railroad  is  in  a  position  to  see  as  far 
ahead  as  can  be  seen  by  any  interest,  and  that 
with  the  continuation  of  European  conditions  the 
demand  upon  this  country  for  export  coal  will 
be  hard  to  meet,  and  together  with  the  fall  do¬ 
mestic  and  any  increased  industrial  business,  that 
six  weeks  from  the  present  may  see  a  runaway 
market,  or  at  least  a  hard  and  strong  one  with 
prices  considerably  advanced. 

Today  no  change  is  reported  in  prices,  slack 
possibly  holding  still  firmer,  but  no  large  demand. 
We  have  from  reliable  sources  that  a  large  Pitts¬ 
burgh  operator  closed  a  deal  the  past  week  for 
760  tons  mine  run  daily  at  $1.20  per  ton,  and  this 
deal  was  probably  made  in  anticipation  of  higher 
prices.  Another  deal  for  1,000  tons  daily  will 
probably  be  closed  by  the  same  company  by  the 
time  this  is  in  press.  These  are  straws,  but  are 
an  indication  of  which  way  the  wind  is  blowing, 
and  as  suggested  some  time  ago  in  this  column, 
should  warn  those  that  are  still  out  to  get  under 
cover. 

That  industrial  conditions  are  improving  in  the 
Pittsburgh  district  is  shown  by  the  large  number 
of  calls  for  men  received  by  the  distribution 
branch  of  the  United  States  Immigration  Service. 
Yesterday  a  call  for  200  coal  miners  was  re¬ 
ceived  from  the  Quemahoning  Coal  Company  in 
Somerset  county.  The  wages  range  from  $50  to 
$100  per  month.  Steady  employment  is  promised. 
Uver  300  miners  are  also  asked  for  by  the  New 
River  Association,  which  operates  a  number  of 
mines  in  Fayette  county.  West  Virginia.  This 
company  also  promises  good  wages  and  steady 
work. 

The  coke  market  seems  to  harden  somewhat, 
though  no  extra  large  tonnages  are  being  called 
for  by  the  merchant  trade.  One  deal  was  closed 
for  a  fair  quantity  during  the  week  at  $1.80  for 
the  balance  of  1915.  Some  spot  furnace  is  to 
be  had  at  last  week’s  figures,  but  producers  are 
wary  of  contracts,  the  pig  iron  situation  placing 
coke  on  a  much  firmer  basis  than  it  has  been  for 
.some  time.  Foundry  grades  remain  unchanged, 
with  slightly  increased  demand,  $2.40  to  $2.65 
being  the  range  quoted. 


Personal  and  News  Items. 

John  H,  Jones  of  the  Pittsburgh-Buffalo  Com¬ 
pany,  is  looking  after  business  in  the  eastern 
market  this  week. 

The  ^arnegie  Steel  Company  has  notified  its 
salesmen  to  quote  $1.35,  Pittsburgh,  on  plates, 
shapes  and  steel  bars,  this  quotation  being  $1  a 
ton  higher  than  the  previous  figures. 

B.  F.  Hoffacker,  successor  to  the  late  John  W. 
Boileau,  expert  mining  engineer,  is  in  Kentucky 
inspecting  coal  lands  in  the  interests  of  clients. 


H.  S.  Odbert,  president  the  Odbert  Coal  Com¬ 
pany,  Cleveland,  Ohio,  is  a  Pittsburgh  visitor 
with  the  coal  trade  this  week. 

The  LaBelle  Iron  Works’  directors  of  Stuben- 
ville,  Ohio,  let  a  contract  for  a  $2,000,000  by¬ 
product  coking  plant  to  the  H.  Koppers  Com¬ 
pany  of  Pittsburgh  last  Tuesday.  It  will  consist 
of  ninety-six  ovens.  It  will  be  built  on  the  West 
Virginia  side  of  the  river,  opposite  the  plant 
there,  and  a  bridge  to  cost  a  half  million  dollars 
will  be  built  to  connect  the  West  Virginia  plant 
with  the  big  plant  on  the  Ohio  side. 

A  deed,  one  of  the  longest  ever  recorded  in 
Washington  county,  containing  276  printed  pages, 
was  filed  last  week.  It  is  a  conveyance  from 
George  H.  Calvert,  master,  and  the  Union  Trust 
Company  of  Pittsburgh,  to  Scott  Hayes  of  Pitts¬ 
burgh,  for  the  coal  underlying  169  tracts  or  farms 
in  West  Bethlehem,  East  Bethlehem,  Amwell, 
North  Strabane,  Chartiers  and  Smith  townships, 
Marianna  and  Canonsburg,  Washington  county, 
and  Armstrong,  Green  and  Allegheny  counties. 
The  total  area  is  not  given,  but  it  is  the  largest 
single  sale  of  coal  land  that  ever  took  place  in 
western  Pennsylvania.  The  consideration  named 
was  $1,500,000.  This  coal  land  was  originally 
the  property  of  the  Pittsburgh-Buffalo  Company, 
which  went  into  the  hands  of  a  receiver  in  1914. 
The  principal  creditor  was  the  Union  Trust  Com¬ 
pany  of  Pittsburgh,  which  held  a  mortgage 
against  the  coal  land  of  the  Pittsburgh-Buffalo 
Company  for  $1,750,000,  and  George  H.  Calvert 
was  appointed  master  to  make  the  sale  of  the 
property  of  the  defendant  company.  The  amount 
of  the  mortgage  was  disputed,  but  the  lower 
court  held  that  this  amount  was  correct.  An  ap¬ 
peal  was  taken  from  this  decision  by  John  H. 
Jones,  one  of  the  receivers,  to  the  supreme  court 
of  the  state,  but  the  decision  of  the  lower  court 
was  affirmed.  On  March  23,  1915,  the  court 
ordered  a  public  sale  of  the  property  of  the  de¬ 
fendant  company  to  satisfy  this  mortgage,  but 
the  sale  was  adjourned  from  time  to  time  until 
July  15.  The  properties  were  exposed  separately 
but  no  bids  were  received  and  the  entire  acreage 
of  169  tracts  was  offered  as  a  whole  to  the 
Union  Trust  Company.  It  directed  that  the  deed 
be  made  out  in  the  name  of  Scot  Hayes.  It  re¬ 
quired  $1,500  in  revenue  stamps  on  this  deed, 
which  was  represented  by  two  stamps,  one  of 
the  $1,000  denomination  and  the  other  of  the 
$500  denomination. 


Twin  Cities  Trade. 


Minneapolis  and  St.  Paul,  August  19. —  (Spec¬ 
ial  Correspondence.) — Market  conditions  in  this 
territory  on  dock  coal  are  not  as  well  defined  as 
they  were  several  weeks  ago.  Early  in  July  prac¬ 
tically  all  the  dock  companies,  excepting  one 
named  a  circular  price  on  standard  grades  of 
lump  bituminous  coal  of  $3.40  f.  o.  b.  docks.  One 
company  sent  out  its  circular  at  the  old  price  of 
$3.30,  and  continued  accepting  business  on  that 
basis.  Practically  all  the  other  companies  have 
now  met  this  price.  As  a  result  of  this  condi¬ 
tion  some  abuses  in  the  trade  which  were  being 
eliminated,  have  again  crept  into  the  business. 
Except  for  steam  business,  many  of  the  com¬ 
panies  did  not  make  contracts  with  dealers  on 
soft  coal  for  their  yard  use  early  in  the  season. 
These  contracts  in  the  past,  it  is  claimed,  have 
not  been  binding  on  the  dealers,  and  dock  com¬ 
panies  felt  as  if  they  should  not  be  obliged  to 
hold  the  bag  if  the  winter  developed  increased 
business  and  higher  prices.  Recently,  however, 
the  trade  has  been  slipping  backward  in  this  re¬ 
spect  and  a  few  dealers’  contracts  have  been 
made  at  the  present  going  price. 

It  is  expected  that  present  conditions  will  cor¬ 
rect  themselves  when  the  crop  begins  to  move 
and  cars  are  in  shorter  supply.  Most  of  the  dock 
companies  desire  to  eliminate  the  experience  of 
a  year  ago  so  that  they  may  have  a  small  balance 
on  the  profit  side  of  the  ledger  next  spring.  They 
realize  that  a  repetition  of  price-cutting  and 
other  abuses  of  a  year  ago  will  not  bring  this 
about. 

In  the  Minneapolis  steam  trade  the  price  sitii- 
ation  has  also  been  weak,  but  an  improvement  is 
expected.  One  contract  for  smokeless  screenings 
is  reported  at  forty-five  cents  off  the  circular 
basis,  and  a  few  other  slips  have  occurred,  but 
with  the  active  consuming  season  only  a  few 
weeks  distant,  it  is  to  be  expected  that  prices  will 
be  on  steadier  basis  within  the  next  thirty  days. 

Harvest  is  in  full  swing  all  through  northwest¬ 
ern  territory,  and  a  small  amount  of  threshing 
has  been  done.  Labor  is  becoming  scarce  in  the 
harvest  fields  and  the  railroads  are  preparing  to 
move  an  e.xceptionally  large  crop.  Threshing 


coal  is  moving  more  freely,  but  the  demand  is 
not  as  large  as  in  previous  years  on  account  of 
the  increasing  use  of  gasoline  and  kerosene 
tractor  engines  for  this  purpose.  Immediate  de¬ 
mand  for  all  grades  of  coal  is  quiet. 

Current  quotations  on  the  standard  coals  sold 
in  this  territory  are  as  follows: 

ANTHRACITE. 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Duluth  Minneapolis 
and  and 

Superior  St.  Paul 

Grate  .  $6.60  $7.80 

Egg  .  6.85  8.05 

Stove  .  6.85  8.05 

Nut  .  7.10  8.30 

Pea  .  5.50  6.70 

Buckwheat  .  4.00  5.20 

During  August  a  discount  of  ten  cents  per  ton  is 

allowed  on  all  anthracite  except  pea  and  buckwheat, 
which  prices  are  net. 

BITUMINOUS. 

Splint,  screened  lump  and  stove.$3.30@3.10  $4.25@4.36 

Splint,  dock  run .  $3.10  $4.06 

Hocking,  screened  lump  and  stove.  3.30@3.40  4.26@4.36 

Hocking,  dock  run .  3.OO  3!96 

Youghiogheny,  gas,  lump  and  stove  3.30@3.40  4.26@4!36 

Youghiogheny,  gas,  dock  run....  3.10  4.06 

Pittsburgh  vein,  lump .  3.30@3.40  4.26@4.36 

Pittsburgh  vein,  dock  run .  3,00  3.96 

Pocahontas,  screened  lump  or  egg  4.75  5]71 

Pocahontas,  screened  lump  and 

egg  mixed .  4.50  5.46 

Pocahontas,  mine-run  .  3.25  4. 21 

Cannel,  lump .  5.25  6!21 

Smithing,  bulk .  4.25  5.21 

Smithing,  in  100-lb.  sacks .  6.00  6.96 

Briquets,  anthracite .  5. 00  5.96 

Briquets,  smokeless .  5.00  5,'96 

In  the  Illinois  trade  the  range  of  prices  on 
southern  Illinois  product  on  the  various  sizes  is 
as  follows : 


Southern  Illinois  chunks . fl.50@1.70  $3.70@3.90 

Southern  Illinois  egg . 

Southern  Illinois  No.  1  nut .  1.50@1.60  3.70@3.80 

Southern  Illinois  No.  2  nut .  1.25@1.40  3,45@3  60 

Southern  Illinois  No.  3  nut .  1.10@1.25  3.30@3.45 

Southern  Illinois  run  of  mine...  1.15@1.25  3.35@3.45 

Southern  Illinois  2-in.  screenings  .70@  .75  2.95 @3.00 

Southern  Illinois  includes  Franklin  county, 
Harrisburg  and  Williamson  county. 


Twin  Cities  Notes. 

Harris  Gagnon,  of  the  Elliott  Fuel  Company, 
Minneapolis,  has  returned  from  a  two  weeks’  va¬ 
cation  trip  spent  at  Madison  Lake  and  Mankato, 
Minn.  Mr.  Gagnon  spent  most  of  the  time 
motoring,  having  covered  900  miles  while  he  was 
absent  from  Minneapolis. 

Edmond  H.  Pendergast,  for  more  than  five 
years  traveling  salesman  for  the  Purity  Coal 
Company  in  this  territory,  passed  away  Sunday 
at  Hopewell  hospital  in  Minneapolis,  after  an  ill¬ 
ness  of  over  a  year.  Death  was  caused  by  tuber¬ 
culosis.  Mr.  Pendergast  was  thirty-nine  years  of 
age  and  previous  to  going  with  the  Purity  Coal 
Company  was  with  the  Powers  Fuel,  Feed  & 
Transfer  Company,  Minneapolis,  as  chief  clerk. 
He  leaves  a  wife  and  one  daughter.  Interment 
was  at  his  boyhood  home,  Dassell,  Minn. 


Omaha  Trade. 


Omaha,  Neb.,  August  19.— (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — ^Developments  of  the  week  appear 
to  have  brought  about  no  change  of  special  im¬ 
portance  in  conditions  affecting  the  coal  trade  in 
this  territory.  The  situation  remains  rather  more 
encouraging  than  otherwise,  due  to  the  booking 
of  a  few  small  orders,  which  in  aggregate, 
amount  to  considerable  tonnage. 

In  spite  of  the  fact  that  it  has  rained  almost 
continually  through  this  territory  since  Sunday, 
very  little  refuse  or  consignment  coal  is  being 
offered. 

Although  dealers  have  not  been  able  to  move 
any  coal  to  speak  of  on  account  of  impassible 
roads,  they  are  beginning  to  realize  the  necessity 
of  getting  their  bins  filled  in  order  to  avoid  the 
possibility  of  further  increases  in  price. 

Very  few  orders  for  anthracite  have  been  com¬ 
ing  in,  owing  to  the  dealers  getting  the  impression 
from  recent  newspaper  items  that  the  freight 
rates  on  anthracite  coal  would  be  reduced  all 
over  the  country. 

General  business  showed  increased  activities 
last  week,  but  continued  rains  this  week,  how¬ 
ever,  have  had  a  depressing  effect. 

The  following  prices  on  coal  prevail : 

Southern  Kansas —  Mines.  Omaha. 


Nut  . 

$3.20 

Slack  . 

_  1.35 

2.70 

Franklin  County — 

Lump  . 

_  1.45@1.60 

3.75@4.00 

Egg  . 

_  1.45@1.60 

3.75@4.00 

Nut  . 

_  1.45@1.60 

3.75@4.00 

Williamson  County — 

Lump  . 

3.65@3.75 

Egg  . 

3.65@3.75 

Rock  Springs — 

I.ump  . 

5.85 

Nut  . 

5.35 

Arkansas  Anthracite — 

Lump  . 

6.60 

Broken  sizes  . 

_  3.95 

6.85 

156 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[August  21 


Cincinnati  Trade. 


The  Interior  Trade  on  Smokeless  Is  Slow, 
Offset  by  a  Brisk  Demand 
at  Tidewater. 


Cincinnati,  Ohio,  August  19. —  (Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — “Fewer  cancellations  and  more 
orders”  is  the  rule  now  in  the  splint  market,  as 
expressed  by  prominent  operators  here.  Heavy 
cancellations  and  serious  hold  ups  in  delivery  are 
reported  by  some  smokeless  operators,  regarding 
lump  and  egg  product  in  the  interior,  but  heavier 
demand  and  bettering  prices  in  the  export  trade 
to  balance.  Others,  however,  say  that  business  is 
booming  with  them  and  they  are  hard  put  to  it 
to  fill  orders. 

Betterment  in  some  of  the  grades  of  West 
Virginia  coal  are  shown  by  average  quotations 
as  follows :  Large  block,  $1.50,  and  small  block, 
$1.35 ;  egg,  $1.25 ;  nut  and  slack,  spot  sixty-five 
cents,  and  contract,  seventy-five  cents,  and  run 
of  mine,  ninety  cents.  The  betterment  is  abso¬ 
lutely  a  fact  although  some  of  the  companies  are 
so  thoroughly  saturated  with  pessimism  they  do 
not  see  the  betterment  because  it  does  not  come 
with  a  whoop  and  hurrah.  The  spot  market  is 
better  and  selling  is  of  such  a  character  in  that 
market  that  many  dealers  are  inquiring  for  con¬ 
tract  blanks. 

The  lake  movement  is  becoming  somewhat 
more  lively  but  in  the  ultimate  it  has  proven  un¬ 
satisfactory. 


Cincinnati  Trade  Notes. 

Among  western  visitors  to  Cincinnati  this  week 
is  E.  W.  Tildesley,  Detroit  representative  of  the 
Halmar  Coal  Mining  Company. 

The  VVyatt  Coal  Company  this  week  removed 
its  headquarters  from  the  sixteenth  floor  of  the 
First  National  Bank  building  to  the  ninth  floor 
of  the  same  building,  occupying  offices  Nos.  906- 
907-909-911  of  the  floor. 

Karl  F.  Bierach,  who  was  manager  for  the 
Pittsburgh-nuffalo  Company  when  it  closed  of¬ 
fices  here  the  first  of  the  month,  has  entered  the 
employ  of  the  Halmar  Coal  Mining  Company  of 
this  city,  and  Miss  Barrett,  the  stenographer  here, 
has  entered  the  office  of  The  Norfolk  &  Chesa¬ 
peake  Coal  Company. 

F.  .A..  Kruse,  traffic  manager  of  the  Middle 
West  Coal  Company,  has  returned  this  week 
from  a  three  weeks’  vacation  in  the  Kentucky 
mountains  in  and  around  Paintsville  where  he  has 
many  friends.  Golf,  baseball  and  other  amuse¬ 
ments  gave  him  considerable  tan  and  lots  of 
health  and  energy  to  wrestle  with  the  problems 
of  coal  traffic  this  coming  season. 

Clyde  E.  Darragh,  the  well  known  representa¬ 
tive  of  the  Middle  West  Coal  Company  in  west¬ 
ern  Michigan,  spent  several  days  the  past  week 
with  the  offices  of  the  company  here  and  a  few 
days  with  his  family,  which  is  spending  the  sum¬ 
mer  with  relatives  in  Franklin,  a  short  distance 
north  of  Cincinnati.  Mr.  Darragh  left  early  in 
the  week  for  his  headquarters  in  Kalamazoo  to 
begin  field  work  for  the  coming  season. 

Friends  of  H.  L.  Smith,  president  of  the  newly 
incorporated  Southland  Coal  Company,  with 
headquarters  in  Detroit,  were  astonished  to  learn 
that  he  has  sold  out  his  interest  in  the  company 
and  has  resigned  as  president,  effective  Septem¬ 
ber  1st.  It  is  reported  that  the  company  will 
abandon  the  Cincinnati  offices  on  that  date.  Mr. 
Smith  formerly  represented  the  H.  T.  Hackney 
Coal  Company  of  Knoxville,  Tenn.,  and  assisted 
in  organizing  the  Southland  Company,  following 
the  withdrawal  of  thfe  Hackney  Company  from 
this  field  some  months  ago.  Mr.  Smith  is  unde¬ 
cided  just  what  to  do  and  may  hold  the  offices 
here  for  himself. 

In  a  wreck  on  the  Coal  River  branch  of  the 
Chesapeake  &  Ohio  Railway,  Monday  this  week, 
information  comes  to  the  city  that  D.  A.  Vowles, 
formerly  manager  in  Cincinnati  for  the  Paint 
Creek  Collieries  Company,  and  of  late  represent¬ 
ing  the  Elmer  Miller  Coal  Company,  Toledo,  was 
badly  injured,  being  cut  on  the  head  and  other¬ 
wise  shaken  up  and  bruised.  The  wreck  was  in 
the  Pinacle  tunnel  near  McCorkle,  and  was 
caused  by  the  falling  of  a  heavy  rock  on  the 
smoker  and  baggage  car  of  the  train  as  the 
train  passed  through.  J.  C.  Fennimore,  a  wealthy 
coal  land  owner  and  operator  of  Huntington,  was 
among  the  killed,  and  A.  S.  Moore  of  Athens, 
Ohio,  a  coal  operator  also,  was  among  the  in¬ 
jured.  Five  persons  were  killed. 

The  Wyatt  Coal  Company  announces  that  re¬ 
ported  sale  of  eight  of  their  best  producing  mines 


with  modern  equipment,  and  operated  by  the 
IHain  Island  Creek  Company,  is  not  true  and  that 
the  company  will  be  operated  and  its  product 
sold  by  the  Wyatt  Coal  Company  as  always. 
“Some  of  our  competitors  have  made  us  some 
very  flattering  offers  on  our  Logan  county  prop¬ 
erties  but  none  of  them  have  been  accepted,” 
says  the  announcement.  This  refers  to  the  op¬ 
tion  taken  by  the  Island  Creek  Coal  Company  on 
these  properties,  together  with  the  extension  of 
the  option,  each  option,  it  is  said,  having  been 
clinched  by  a  deposit  of  $20,000.  The  extension 
of  the  option  expired  August  10  without  accept¬ 
ance  of  the  terms  by  the  optioning  party. 

The  Fulton,  the  tug  steamer  which  went  to  the 
bottom  of  the  Ohio  river  just  above  the  Cincin¬ 
nati  landing  during  the  big  storm  of  July  7th, 
was  towed  up  the  river  to  Pittsburgh  by  the 
Enterprise  this  week  and  will  be  placed  in  dock 
there  for  repairs  by  the  Queen  City  Coal  Com¬ 
pany.  The  body  of  Captain  Bradford  Williams 
of  the  Fulton,  who  went  down  with  the  steamer, 
has  been  recovered  and  was  buried  from  his  late 
home  in  Covington.  The  Convoy,  another  tug 
steamer,  which  went  down  at  the  same  time,  car¬ 
ried  the  body  of  Chief  Engineer  John  Smith 
down  with  it.  Thomas  McGuffin,  a  diver  of 
Pittsburgh,  and  F.  W.  Metre,  a  diver  of  Point 
Pleasant,  W.  Va.,  are  here  to  try  to  recover  the 
body  of  the  chief  engineer  and  also  to  place 
chains  about  the  Convoy  to  raise  it  and  restore 
it  to  service,  the  Hickey  company  believing  that 
it  can  be  so  restored  despite  adverse  reports  by 
other  divers,  the  insurance  having  been  settled 
and  out  of  the  way.  The  boat  is  in  thirty-five 
feet  of  water. 


Denver  Trade. 


Denver,  August  19. —  (Special  Correspondence.) 
— The  month  bids  fair  to  pass  out  with  little  of 
the  strength  that  was  expected.  The  country 
demand  still  continues  very  light  and  there  is 
practically  no  disposition  to  place  any  orders  for 
future  requirements.  Present  indications  are  that 
threshing  in  northern  Colorado  and  in  Wyoming 
will  be  delayed  two  weeks  longer  than  usual  on 
account  of  excessive  rains.  In  other  sections 
dealers  seem  to  be  supplied  for  the  present  at 
least,  to  meet  all  threshing  requirements. 

Lignite  production  is  still  very  small.  In  the 
bituminous  districts  Routt  and  Walsenburg  will 
produce  a  tonnage  for  the  week  equal  to  sixty 
per  cent  of  normal.  Canon  City  mines  that  are 
open  are  averaging  about  two  days  a  week.  Trin¬ 
idad  output  will  run  seventy-five  per  cent  of 
normal  this  week  on  account  of  steam  contracts 
and  old  bookings  of  storage. 

The  slack  situation  is  practically  unchanged. 
Demand  for  all  grades  is  light  but  there  is  little 
surplus.  Prices  continue  irregular. 

Prices  for  lignite  coal  f.  o.  b.  mines  are  as 
follows :  Denver  delivery,  lump,  $2.35  to  $2.65  ; 
mine  run,  $1.50  to  $1.65 ;  slack,  $1.05  to  $1.25. 
For  country  delivery,  lump,  $2.50;  mine  run,  $1.55 
to  $1.65 ;  slack,  $1.05. 


Canon  City  District —  Lump  Nut 

For  shipment  May  and  June . ?2.60  $2.00 

For  shipment  July  and  August .  2.75  2.25 

Add  25  cents  to  above  prices  for  washed  nut. 
Walsenburg  District — 

For  shipment  May  .and  June .  2.50 

For  shipment  July  and  August........  2.75 

Washed  nut  25  cents  per  ton  additional. 

Chestnut,  $1.25  for  entire  season. 

Trinidad  District — 

For  shipment  May  and  June .  2.00 

For  shipment  July  and  August .  2.00 

Routt  County  District — 

For  shipment  May  and  June .  2.50 

For  shipment  July  and  August .  2.75 

Western  Slope  District — 

For  shipment  May  and  June . 2.25  .... 

For  shipment  July  and  August .  2.50  .... 

From  Baldwin,  shipments  for  points  east  of  Denvet 
are  75  cents  per  ton  less  than  Walsenburg  prices. 


2.00 

2.25 


1.71 

1.71 

2.01 

2.21 


Denver  Local  News. 

The  Rocky  Mountain  Fuel  Company  has  agreed 
to  take  hack  the  former  strikers  in  the  Louisville 
district  and  the  men  will  be  given  work  later 
with  the  resumption  of  winter  activity.  The  de¬ 
cision  was  reached  upon  the  recommendation  of 
officials  who  feared  trouble  during  the  winter 
months  should  the  men  remain  unemployed. 

According  to  reports  from  Sheridan,  Wyo., 
extensive  improvements  which  include  a  new 
screening  system  at  the  Monarch  mine,  which 
calls  for  the  expenditure  of  over  $17,000,  are  to 
be  made  in  September.  The  Monarch’s  daily 
capacity  is  4,000  tons.  Much  of  the  coal  is 
shipped  to  Washington  and  Oregon.  Chicago 
men  are  at  the  head  of  the  reorganization  re¬ 
cently  effected.  They  are:  M.  F.  Pettier,  presi¬ 
dent;  Granger  Farwell,  treasurer,  and  A.  G.  Les¬ 
ter,  secretary. 


Duluth  Trade. 


Duluth,  Minn.,  August  19. —  (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — Maj.  E.  D.  Peek,  government  engi¬ 
neer  of  the  Duluth  district,  has  just  issued  his 
report  of  coal  receipts  in  this  harbor  for  the  last 
two  months,  and  it  shows  a  considerable  falling 
off  from  a  year  ago.  For  the  season  up  to  the 
end  of  July  there  is  shown  a  difference  of  1,010,- 
611  tons  of  hard  and  soft  coal  in  favor  of  the 
corresponding  period  last  year.  The  big  loss  is 
in  soft  coal,  for  hard  coal  shows  an  increase  of 
14,487  tons.  Soft  coal  receipts  this  year  are 
1,025,098  tons  less  than  a  year  ago. 

How  much  the  lack  in  receipts  will  affect  the 
supply  for  the  northwest  is  problematical  and 
cannot  be  determined  as  yet  for  there  are  still 
four  months  in  which  coal  can  come  up,  and  it 
is  generally  believed  that  the  receipts  during 
those  periods  will  show  continued  gains.  They 
will  not  have  to  be  as  heavy  as  the  receipts  of 
last  year  to  give  adequate  stocks  here,  unless  the 
demand  for  harvesting  purposes  is  much  greater 
than  expected — and  it  is  expected  to  be  greater 
than  usual  because  of  the  gigantic  crop  that  is  to 
be  threshed — for  there  was  a  big  “hold-over” 
stock  on  hand  when  spring  broke  this  year,  the 
demand  last  fall  and  winter  being  much  smaller 
than  usual.  So  the  docks  are  still  pretty  well 
stocked  up. 

The  first  part  of  the  season  showed  very  little 
coal  moving,  and  it  has  not  improved  very  greatly 
since.  Vessel  men  have  been  kicking  a  good  deal 
about  lack  of  cargoes,  for,  from  their  point  of 
view,  an  ideal  season  consists  of  plenty  of  iron 
ore  or  grain  to  take  down  the  lakes,  and  plenty 
of  coal  to  bring  back.  However,  the  coal  men 
or  the  “ultimate  consumer”  are  not  very  likely 
to  get  fussed  about  that  so  long  as  there  is 
enough  of  a  supply  on  hand  to  go  around.  If 
the  demand  from  the  northwest  is  not  much  bet¬ 
ter  than  it  was  last  year,  the  supply  is  assured 
now. 

Receipts  of  hard  and  soft  coal  for  the  months 


of  June  and  July  in  both 

years  were  as 

follows  • 

Tons 

Tons 

1915 

1914 

Soft  . 

. 1,984,872 

2,450,526 

Hard  . 

634,160 

Totals  . 

. 2,489,440 

3,084,686 

Receipts  for  the  season 

Up  to  July  31 

for  both 

years  were : 

Tons 

Tons 

1915 

1914 

Soft  . 

. 2,766,661 

3,791,759 

Hard  . 

.  780,368 

765,881 

Totals  . 

. 3,547,029 

4,557,640 

The  receipts  of  soft  coal  this  season  to  the  end 
of  July  were  of  the  following  classifications : 

Youghiogheny,  1,705,125;  Hocking,  86,691; 
Pocahontas  or  smokeless,  317,058 ;  splint,  578,622  ; 
cannel,  31,799;  smithing,  9,339;  Tennessee,  5,067; 
No.  8  or  East  Ohio,  32,960. 

The  shipments  have  shown  a  proportionate 
falling  off,  not  in  actual  tons  but  in  percentage. 
There  were  shipped  from  the  head  of  the  lakes 
in  July  of  this  year,  12', 855  cars  of  all  kinds  of 
coal,  against  15,099  cars  during  the  same  period 
of  1914.  For  the  season,  up  to  the  date  men¬ 
tioned,  there  were  shipped  110,488  cars  against 
121,030  cars  a  year  ago,  a  decrease  this  year  of 
10,642  cars.  In  figuring  the  number  of  tons 
shipped,  it  is  estimated  that  there  is  an  average 
of  about  thirty-two  tons  to  a  car,  which  would 
make  the  following  comparison  up  to  July  31; 


Tons 

191-1  3,872,960 

1915  3,535,610 

Decrease  this  year .  337,344 


Duluth  Trade  Notes. 

W.  ri.  Fobes,  treasurer  of  the  Northwestern 
I'uel  Company,  is  here  from  Minneapolis,  Minn., 
attending  the  annual  conventions  of  the  Retail 
uredit  Men’s  National  Association  and  the  Na¬ 
tional  Association  of  Mercantile  Agencies. 

Superintendent  Willis  W.  Spring,  of  the  Car¬ 
negie  Dock  &  Fuel  Company,  accompanied  hy  his 
wife,  ha$  heefi  spending  his  vacation  on  board 
the  steamer  Shenango,  taking  a  round  trip  on  the 
Great  Lakes.  They  returned  on  Wednesday. 

The  Ber\vind  Fuel  Company  is,  just  now,  add¬ 
ing  new  equipment  to  its  West  Duluth  dock, 
which  will  make  it  one  of  the  fastest  docks  at 
the  head  of  the  lakes.  It  is  installing  three  new 
seven  and  one-half  ton  buckets  and  one  clean-up 
clam  with  a  spread  of  twenty-four  feet.  With 
the  new  equipment  a  10,000-ton  boat  can  be  dis¬ 
patched  in  nine  hours. 


No.  8] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


157 


Indianapolis  Trade. 

Indianapolis,  Ind.,  August  19. —  (Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — Not  much  change  has  been  noted 
in  the  Indiana  coal  field  during  the  last  week.  It 
would  be  difficult  to  point  out  any  marked  change 
for  the  better  or  worse  in  any  week  of  the  past 
six  months,  during  which  the  trade  has  drifted 
along  at  a  low  water  mark.  It  does  not  appear 
even  yet  that  there  has  been  any  appreciable  im¬ 
provement,  but  many  operators  are  saying  that 
the  outlook  is  growing  better.  It  is  believed  that 
most  of  them  are  dealing  in  futures  and  that  the 
wish  is  father  to  the  thought.  There  are  more 
inquiries  for  steam  coal  than  there  have  been 
for  many  weeks.  Some  factories  are  starting  up 
again  after  a  long  shut  down,  but  many  are  not 
preparing  to  turn  a  wheel  during  the  next  few 
months.  The  effect  of  the  placement  of  war 
orders  in  this  country  is  being  noticed  in  several 
localities  in  Indiana,  which  may  help  the  coal 
trade  quite  a  little.  Operators  and  dealers  are 
confident  that  because  of  the  big  crops  business 
will  be  better  in  Indiana  next  winter,  yet  the 
heavy  rains  have  ruined  fifty  per  cent  of  the 
wheat  crops,  and  the  corn  may  be  damaged  seri¬ 
ously  unless  the  weather  becomes  more  favorable. 
However,  there  is  more  cause  for  optimism  than 
there  was  a  short  time  ago.  The  demand  for 
domestic  coal  is  improving  slightly,  but  summer 
prices  still  prevail.  The  situation  is  not  as  favor¬ 
able  to  the  buyers  as  is  generally  the  case  at  this 
time  of  the  year,  due  probably  to  the  fact  that 
the  average  dealer  felt  that  he  could  get  all  the 
domestic  coal  he  wanted  at  his  own  prices,  and 
to  the  fact  that  it  has  been  supposed  that  the 
operators,  being  short  of  orders,  would  turn  out 
domestic  as  fast  as  it  was  required.  Not  many 
dealers  have  laid  in  stocks.  There  is  less  domes¬ 
tic  coal  in  the  Indiana  yards  now  than  usual  for 
August.  There  has  been  practically  no  free  coal 
on  the  market.  The  operators  naturally  are  in 
position  to  furnish  coal  promptly,  but  the  retailer 
is  not  in  a  position  to  make  terms.  It  is  antici¬ 
pated  that  prices  will  be  advanced  twenty-five 
cents  a  ton  by  all  of  the  retailers  the  first  of  Sep¬ 
tember. 


The  following  prices  are  being  quoted  by  the 
Indiana  wholesalers : 


F.  O.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

Indiana — 

Mines. 

Indianapolis. 

No.  4  mine  run  . 

$1,10@1.20 

$1.60®!. 80 

Nos.  5  and  6  mine  run . 

1.00@1.05 

1.50(®1.55 

No.  4,  1^-inch  steam  lump . 

Nos.  5  and  6,  1^-inch  steam 

1.25@1.35 

1.75®1.85 

lump  . 

1.15(®1.25 

1.65®1.75 

Nut  . 

1.20(gl.30 

1.70@1.80 

Egg  . 

1.30(®1.40 

1.80®1.90 

No.  4  domestic  lump  . 

1.50 

2.00 

Nos.  5  and  6  domes,tic  lump . 

1.40 

1.90 

No.  4  screenings . 

.75@  .80 

1.25®1.30 

Nos.  5  and  6  screenings . 

.60®  .70 

1.10(®1.20 

No.  1  washed  coal . 

1.75 

2.25 

No.  2  washed  coal . 

1.65 

2.15 

Brazil  block  domestic . 

2.00 

2.50 

Southern  Indiana  Field — 
Domestic  lump  . 

1.40 

Mine  run  . 

1.00@1.05 

Screenings  . 

.  .60®  .70 

The  board  of  works  here  has  awarded  to  the 
Indianapolis  Coal  Company  the  contract  to  sup¬ 
ply  coal  for  the  city  hall,  city  asphalt  plant  and 
the  street  cleaning  department. 


Louisville  Market. 


Louisville,  Ky.,  August  19. — (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — General  improvement  in  business 
has  been  reflected  to  some  extent  in  the  coal 
trade,  continuing  during  the  last  week.  So  far 
this  improvement  in  the  coal  business  is  limited 
to  a  somewhat  broadening  demand  for  both 
steam  and  domestic  coal  without  any  perceptible 
advance  in  prices.  The  season  still  remains  ex¬ 
traordinarily  backward  insofar  as  deliveries  of 
domestic  coal  are  concerned,  and  there  is  no  rea¬ 
son  to  change  the  prediction  made  in  these  col¬ 
umns  from  time  to  time  that  during  at  least  a 
limited  period  of  this  fall  and  winter  there  would 
lie  an  unprecedented  rush  for  domestic  coal  that 
will  tax  the  capacity  of  mines  and  carriers. 

An  announcement  of  great  interest  to  southern 
coal  men  was  received  from  Wa.shington  several 
days  ago  to  the  effect  that  the  Interstate  Com¬ 
merce  Commission  had  ordered  that  the  published 
divisions  of  rates  from  mines  in  Virginia  to  the 
southeastern  Carolina  points,  located  principally 
on  the  Atlantic  Coast  Line,  Seaboard  Airline, 
and  connections,  and  designed  with  a  view  to 
securing  Virginia  shippers  in  the  fuel  contracts 
of  several  of  these  railroads,  must  be  discontin¬ 
ued  by  September  1.5.  Apparently  this  decision 
will  reopen  the  fuel  contracts  closed  several 
weeks  ago  by  several  of  these  southeastern  car¬ 
riers  for  more  than  one  million  tons  of  coal. 


Shippers  in  the  Kentucky-Tennessee  fields  are 
hopeful  that  the  readjustment  of  the  basis  of 
divisions  of  southeastern  rates  will  be  such  as 
to  make  it  possible  for  them  to  secure  at  least  a 
portion  of  this  much  desired  tonnage. 

While  there  is  an  increase  of  activity  in  the 
delivery  of  domestic  coal,  both  in  the  large  cities 
and  in  the  country  points,  this  is  retarded  to  a 
considerable  extent  by  the  incessant  rains.  The 
crop  situation,  however,  is  so  very  favorable 
throughout  most  of  Kentucky  that  the  consump¬ 
tion  of  domestic  coal  is  expected  to  increase 
above  previous  records  during  the  coming  sea¬ 
son,  and  to  be  maintained  on  a  satisfactory  basis 
At  Louisville  competition  between  river  and  rail 
dealers  has  reached  an  acute  stage,  with  all  deal¬ 
ers  losing  money  by  making  prices  which  would 
not  be  profitable  even  were  a  large  volume  of 
coal  moving.  Unless  Louisville  retailers  abandon 
their  price  cutting  program  and  fix  a  fair  price 
for  their  commodity,  the  outlook  for  the  fall  and 
winter  trade  for  them  is  exceedingly  blue. 

Operators  in  general  are  cautious  about  quoting 
prices  on  domestic  coal  far  in  advance,  most  of 
them  declining  to  quote  beyond  October  1st. 
However,  it  is  not  anticipated  that  a  very  large 
advance  will  be  secured  during  at  least  the  early 
part  of  the  month  of  September,  and  that  not 
until  October  will  much  heavy  buying  be  in  evi¬ 
dence. 

Prices  on  eastern  Kentucky-Tennessee  coals 
are  about  as  follows : 


Block  coal . $1.35@2.00 

Egg  coal .  1.10@1.35 

Steam  run  of  mines .  .95 

High  grade  nut-slack . 50@  .(10 

Second  grade  nut-slack . 25(®  .40 


Detroit  Trade. 


Detroit,  Mich.,  August  19. —  (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — Without  attaining  any  large  amount 
of  activity,  business  in  the  Detroit  market  is  hold¬ 
ing  comparatively  steady,  the  present  conditions 
being  a  gratifying  improvement  over  those  to 
which  the;,  market  was  subject  earlier  in  the 
summer. 

Prices  in  general  are  rather  more  steady  than 
a  month  ago,  although  there  is  still  some  yielding 
of  concessions  to  hasten  the  movement  of  con¬ 
signment  coal,  where  demurrage  is  threatened. 
The  quantity  of  such  coal  on  tracks  is  reported 
materially  less  than  a  month  ago. 

Some  of  the  local  shippers  fear,  however,  that 
with  a  greatly  diminished  movement  of  coal  over 
the  lake  route,  as  compared  with  previous  sea¬ 
sons,  there  may  develop  on  the  part  of  some 
mine  owners,  an  inclination  to  increase  their  ship¬ 
ments  of  consignment  coal  to  the  Detroit  mar¬ 
ket.  Such  a  development,  should  it  occur,  would 
speedily  renew  the  unsettled  conditions  which 
made  it  practically  impossible  to  do  any  business 
on  a  mine  order  basis  in  the  earlier  months  of 
the  year. 

Orders  of  small  size  continue  more  numerous 
in  the  steam  coal  trade  than  heretofore.  While 
these  make  a  gratifying  total,  the  business  has 
not  yet  proceeded  beyond  a  stage,  where,  in  the 
opinion  of  shippers,  it  constitutes  rather  a  sug¬ 
gestion  of  better  times  than  a  realization  of  ma¬ 
terial  improvement.  With  the  approach  of  the 
threshing  season  in  agricultural  sections  of  the 
state,  there  is  apparently  developing  a  stronger 
inquiry  for  steam  coal  from  a  number  of  the 
small  towns  and  cities  in  the  interior  of  the 
state. 

The  amount  of  business  being  done  in  domestic 
coal  is  still  far  from  satisfactory  as  neither  the 
retail  dealers  nor  the  consumers  seem  to  be  pur- 
suaded  by  the  arguments  of  the  shippers  that  the 
prospective  rush  of  orders  a  few  weeks  later  in 
the  season,  is  likely  to  bring  about  conditions, 
that  not  only  will  cause  trouble  at  the  mines, 
but  will  be  likely  to  result  in  slow  delivery,  due 
to  inability  of  railroads  to  provide  the  necessary 
equipment  to  handle  shipments. 

The  rail  lake  business,  of  which  much  was  ex¬ 
pected  at  the  opening  of  the  navigation  season 
has  dwindled  away,  until  the  upbound  carrier, 
with  coal  cargo,  is  now  rather  the  exception,  as 
the  greater  number  of  freighters  are  making  the 
upbound  trip  without  cargo.  With  shipments  of 
soft  coal  received  at  Duluth  and  Superior  to 
August  1  falling  short  of  the  receipts  for  the 
similar  period  of  1914  by  1,02'5,098  tons,  while 
the  storage  docks  remain  so  crowded  that  ves¬ 
sels  find  difficulty  unloading,  the  outlook  is  not 
encouraging  for  vesselmcn,  while  shippers  are 
predicting  some  coal  consumers  of  the  northwest 
mav  have  to  depend  on  all  rail  shipments  for 
their  supply. 

Interest  in  anthracite  seems  difficult  to  awaken 


despite  the  fact  that  the  present  month  marks 
the  end  of  the  discount  period.  Orders  are  of 
small  volume  and  far  from  numerous. 

Prices  in  the  local  market  on  mine  shipment 
orders  are  as  follows; 


West  Virginia  Gas — • 

F.O.  B. 
Mines. 

F.  0.  B. 
Detroit. 

Three-quarter  lump . 

$2.35®2.40 

Mine  run . 

2.20 

Slack  . 

1.95 

West  Virginia  Splint— 

Four-inch  lump  . 

2.75 

Two-inch  lump  . 

2.55 

Three-quarter  . 

2.60 

Mine  run  . 

2.25 

Nut,  pea  and  slack . 

1.95®3.05 

Smokeless — 

Lump  and  egg  . 

3.85 

Nut  . 

3.35 

Slack  . 

Open 

Mine  run  . 

-  1.25 

2.85 

Kentucky  Splint — 

Lump  . 

2.70 

Egg  . 

2.50 

Nut,  pea  and  slack . 

Open 

Fairmount — 

Three-quarter  steam  lump.  .  .  . 

. 85®  .95 

2.25@2.35 

Mine  run . 

2.10®2.20 

Slack  . 

Open 

Hocking  Valley — 

Shaker  three-inch  lump . 

_  1.50 

2.65 

Shaker  egg  and  nut . 

-  1.15 

2.30 

Domestic  lump . 

2.50 

Three-quarter  lump . 

-  1.25®1.30 

2.40®2.45 

Mine  run . 

2.15®2.25 

Nut,  pea  and  slack . 

Open 

Pittsburgh  No.  8 — 

Three-quarter  lump . 

-  1.15 

2.30 

Mine  run . 

-  1.05 

2.20 

Slack  . 

Open 

Jackson  Hill — 

Domestic  lump . 

-  2.50 

3.65 

Cambridge — 

Three-quarter  lump . 

_  1.20 

'  2.35 

Mine  run . 

2.25 

Pomeroy — 

Two  and  three-inch  lump . 

-  1.60 

2.75 

Egg  . 

2.50 

Slack  . 

Open 

Increased  consumption  of  coal  by  Detroit  City 
Gas  Company,  one  of  Detroit’s  largest  users  of 
coal  is  anticipated  with  the  completion  of  exten¬ 
sions  of  plants  and  mains,  for  which  the  com¬ 
pany  will  expend  part  of  the  proceeds  of  a  new 
issue  of  $7,500,000  of  stock.  The  increase,  which 
doubles  the  company’s  former  capital,  has  been 
approved  by  the  Michigan  railroad  commission. 
The  company  plans  to  distribute  $1,792,000  of  the 
new  stock  to  its  stockholders  as  a  stock  dividend. 


Ruling  on  Steam  Sizes. 


One  of  the  interesting  points  brought  out  by 
the  new  schedule  of  rates  on  anthracite  coal  to 
take  effect  October  1st  is  the  change  in  the 
tidewater  rates  on  the  steam  sizes.  For  instance, 
the  order  of  the  Commission  specifies  pea  and 
smaller  sizes  at  an  average  price  of  $1.30  per 
ton  from  the  re.gions  to  New  York  tidewater 
ports,  which  is  a  reduction  of  ten  cents  per  ton 
on  pea  coal.  For  years,  buckwheat,  rice  and 
barley  have  been  shipped  on  a  lower  rate  than 
pea  coal,  for  instance,  to  Port  Reading,  bnck- 
wheat  taking  a  rate  of  $1.25  and  rice  and  barley 
$1.10.  To  .South  Amboy  from  the  Scranton  re¬ 
gion,  buckwheat,  rice  and  barley  have  taken  a 
rate  of  $1.25.  From  the  Schuylkill  region,  a 
rate  of  $1.15.  To  Weehawken,  the  rate  from 
the  Scranton  region  has  been  $1.30  on  buckwheat 
and  $1.15  on  rice  and  barley.  Therefore,  should 
the  railroads  advance  the  rates  on  the  steam 
sizes,  as  they  are  permitted  to  do  under  the  Com¬ 
mission’s  ruling,  this  would  mean  an  increase  of 
from  ten  to  twenty  cents  per  ton  on  the  steam 
sizes,  and  the  members  of  the  trade  seriously 
doubt  if  they  could  continue  to  sell  the  present 
volume  of  anthracite  steam  coal  in  this  market  in 
competition  with  soft  coal.  This  competition  has 
grown  more  serious  from  year  to  year  due  to 
the  fact  that  many  of  the  consumers  have  equipped 
their  plants  so  that  they  can  burn  bituminous  coal 
without  violating  the  smoke  ordinance  of  the 
city. 

It  was  stated  that  the  presidents  of  the  an¬ 
thracite  railroads  and  the  anthracite  coal  com¬ 
panies  would  have  a  general  meeting  early  this 
week  to  consider  the  question  of  an  appeal  from 
the  decision  of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Com¬ 
mission.  Owing  to  the  fact  that  quite  a  number 
of  these  people  are  out  of  town,  it  has  so  far 
been  found  impracticable  to  arrange  for  a  general 
meeting. 

Some  of  the  coal  experts  point  out  at  this 
time  the  inexpediency  of  the  public  taking  seri¬ 
ously  some  of  the  tabular  and  other  alle.ged  in¬ 
formation  in  circulation  relative  to  the  gains  or 
losses  in  tonnages  or  profits  of  the  coal  com¬ 
panies,  due  to  the  Commission’s  recent  decision. 


158 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[August  21 


New  York  Trade. 


New  Freight  Rates  Muddle  Anthracite 
Market — Bituminous  Improve¬ 
ment  Permanent. 


Office  of  The  Black  Diamond, 
New  York,  August  19. 

The  anthracite  trade  continues  in  a  very 
unsettled  state.  The  situation  this  week  is 
very  much  muddled  over  the  action  of  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission  last  week, 
ordering  a  change  in  the  anthracite  freight 
rates  to  become  effective  October  1st.  This 
in  effect,  means  a  reduction  of  fifteen  cents  a 
ton  on  rates  to  tidewater  on  prepared  coal, 
a  reduction  of  ten  cents  a  ton  on  pea  coal, 
while  the  carriers  are  permitted  to  advance 
rates  on  steam  sizes  ranging  from  ten  to 
twenty  cents  per  ton.  To  line  points,  the  re¬ 
duction  in  rates  are  very  radical  in  some  in¬ 
stances.  The  reductions  are  so  very  heavy  at 
certain  points  that  trade  at  these  points  in 
position  to  take  coal,  are  expected  to  defer  ship¬ 
ments  until  the  new  rates  go  into  effect.  This 
means  that  throughout  the  large  all-rail  terri¬ 
tory,  trade  will  practically  be  suspended  for 
five  or  six  weeks. 

New  York  trade,  especially  are  interested  in 
the  changes  on  the  rates  for  steam  sizes.  A 
great  deal  of  buckwheat  coal  comes  to  New 
York,  where  it  is  sold  in  competition  with  bi- 
tuminious  coal.  The  question  that  is  para¬ 
mount  at  the  moment  is,  can  the  steam  sizes 
stand  an  advance  in  rates  at  this  time  and 
sell  in  large  volume  as  has  been  the  case  for 
the  past  several  years?  It  is  generally  be¬ 
lieved  that  if  the  railroads  put  the  advances 
on  the  steam  coals,  that  the  Interstate  Com¬ 
merce  Commission  ruling  allows  them,  that  the 
market  for  steam  coals  in  New  York  territory 
will  become  very  much  restricted.  It  is  pointed 
out  that  in  the  past  few  years  the  burning 
of  soft  coal  in  New  York  City,  formerly  a 
serious  violation  of  the  smoke  ordinances,  is 
made  possible  by  introduction  of  stokers  and 
new  combustion  methods.  A  great  number  of 
plants  that  in  former  years  used  anthracite 
coal  exclusively,  now  use  bituminous  coal  ex¬ 
clusively  without  seriously  violating  the  city’s 
smoke  ordinance. 

In  the  meanwhile,  there  is  much  better  feel¬ 
ing  in  the  anthracite  trade  as  regards  prices. 
During  the  past  few  days  prices  on  prepared 
sizes  have  become  much  firmer.  There  is 
no  great  amount  of  coal  loaded  in  the  harbor, 
while  supplies  at  the  piers  are  not  considered 
abnormal.  One  still  hears  of  concessions  be¬ 
ing  made  on  individual  coal,  but  not  so  heavy 
as  was  formerly  the  case.  It  is  said  to  be 
possible  to  obtain  certain  grades  of  chestnut 
at  thirty-five  to  forty  cents  per  ton  off  the 
circular,  stove  at  about  ten  cents  off  circular,  and 
egg  at  thirty  cents  off  circular. 

Pea  coal  is  sold  at  from  twenty-five  to  forty- 
fi*e  cents  off  circular,  while  the  best  grades 
of  buckwheat,  rice  and  barley  are  held  very 
close  to  circular.  At  the  lower  ports,  some 
of  the  inferior  grades  of  buckwheat  are  sold 
at  about  twenty-five  to  thirty-five  cents  off 
circular.  Rice  at  about  twenty-five  cents  off. 
Good  grades  of  rice  are  very  scarce  and  full 
circular  is  obtained  for  these.  Barley  is  also 
becoming  short.  At  the  lower  ports  inferior 
grades  are  sold  at  $1.65  to  $1.75. 

The  Bituminous  Situation. 

Some  improvement  is  to  be  noted  here  and 
there  in  the  Atlantic  seaboard  coal  situation. 
Contract  requirements  are  becoming  heavier. 
Spot  demand  is  still  disappointing  on  the 
whole,  but  quite  satisfactory  to  certain  favored 
shippers. 

The  export  movement  continues  big,  and 
the  probabilities  are  that  August  will  show 
around  a  million  tons  exported  if  vessels  un¬ 
der  charter  for  over  sea  business  should  ar¬ 
rive  at  the  piers  between  now  and  the  end 
of  the  month.  Bunker  requirements  for  cargo 
steamers  continues  to  be  good,  and  there  is 
the  probability  here  for  an  enormous  increase 
when  the  grain  movement  starts  up  in  Stptem- 
ber.  Grain  experts  estimate  very  heavy  grain 
exports,  through  the  Atlantic  seaboard  ports 
beginning  in  September,  and  this  will  mean 
very  heavy  bunker  requirements,  much  larger 
than  in  former  years,  as  now,  due  to  the  short¬ 
age  and  uncertainty  of  securing  bunkers  on  the 
other  side,  vessels  will  take  every  ton  possible 
on  this  side. 

Certain  plants  favored  with  war  orders,  are 


now  said  to  be  using  from  three  to  five  times 
as  much  coal  as  they  do  in  normal  times. 
These  instances,  unfortunately  for  the  trade, 
are  few  and  far  between.  However,  the  man¬ 
ufacturers  of  the  very  heavy  war  materials, 
and  for  the  very  large  contracts,  are  just 
now  getting  busy.  As  their  activity  advances, 
the  effect  on  the  coal  consumption  is  ex¬ 
pected  to  become  very  pronounced. 

During  the  past  week,  some  of  the  large 
railroad  interests  have  begun  to  store  coal 
in  anticipation  of  unfavorable  conditions  dur¬ 
ing  the  winter.  Now  that  car  supply  and  la¬ 
bor  are  ample,  they  argue  that  to  store  coal 
is  an  act  of  wisdom.  The  Pennsylvania  Lines 
east  will  store  1,000,000  tons,  it  is  said.  Other 
lines  are  said  to  be  planning  storage,  and 
some  few  are  known  to  be  storing  at  the 
moment.  These  roads  are  not  buying  spot 
coal,  but  are  making  demands  on  contracts,  for 
which  shippers  are  truly  thankful  at  this  time. 

At  the  local  piers  some  cheap  coals  are 
obtainable,  though  they  are  not  in  heavy 
offering.  Some  Ligonier  coal  is  said  to  have 
been  offered  at  $2.35.  Some  lots  of  West  Vir¬ 
ginia,  nearing  demurrage  at  $2.30.  Medium 
grades  of  Clearfield  can  be  bought  at  $2.50 
to  $2.55.  Good  Pennsylvania  coals  bring  $2.75 
to  $2.95.  Slack  is  much  stronger,  contract  re¬ 
quirements  now  taking  the  entire  output  of 
some  of  the  principal  producers. 

The  Vessel  Situation. 

The  coastwise  vessel  market  is  unchanged. 
Rates  are  just  about  firm.  Schooners  are  now 
largely  engaged  in  foreign  trade,  a  great 
number  still  finding  it  profitable  to  take  coal 
to  South  America  and  other  foreign  destina¬ 
tions.  Off  shore  rates  are  just  about  easy. 
A  great  shortage  of  tonnage  is  predicted  as 
soon  as  the  grain  movement  becomes  active. 

We  quote  current  rates  of  freight  as  follows: 

From  Hampton  Roads  to  Boston,  seventy- 
five  to  eighty-five  cents;  to  the  Sound,  seventy 
to  eighty  cents. 

From  New  York  rates  to  New  Haven  are 
thirty  cents.  New  London,  forty  cents,  and 
Providence  and  New  Bedford,  forty-five  cents; 
to  Boston,  fifty-five  to  sixty  cents;  Portsmouth 
and  Portland,  fifty-five  to  seventy  cents;  to 
Bangor,  seventy  cents.  Harbor  rates  are  from 
eighteen  to  twenty  cents. 

Prices  on  gross  tons  of  bituminous  coals 
are: 


F.  O.  B. 

F.  0.  B. 

Somerset  County — 

Harbor. 

Mines. 

Best  grades  . 

. $2.85 

$1.30 

Medium  grades  . 

.  2.60 

1,10 

Ordinary  . 

1.00 

Cambria  County — 

Best  Miller  vein . . 

.  3.00 

1.40 

Medium  grades . 

.  2.55 

1.15 

Cheaper  grades  . 

. .  2.60 

1.05 

Clearfield  County — 

Best  grade  . 

1.36 

Ordinary  grades  . . 

.  2.50 

1.00 

Indiana  County — 

Best  grade  . 

.  2.80 

1.25 

Medium  grade  . 

.  2.50 

.95 

Maryland — 

Georges  Creek  big  vein . 

.  3.15 

1.65 

West  Virginia  Splint — 

Ordinary  grades . 

.  2.40 

.75 

Best  gas,  }4-inch  lump . 

Best  grade,  run  of  mine . . 

.  2.65 

1.10 

.  2.65 

.90 

Gas  slack  . 

.55@  .70 

New  York  Trade  Briefs. 

Frank  Logan  of  the  Frederic  A.  Potts  & 
Co.,  forces,  is  spending  his  vacation  in  the 
Pocono  Mountains. 

Russell  K.  Pratt  of  the  new  reorganized 
firm  of  Pratt  &  Young,  Boston,  was  in  New 
York  on  Monday. 

A.  B.  Luce  of  Maderia,  Hill  &  Co.,  No. 
143  Liberty  street,  has  returned  from  a  vaca¬ 
tion  spent  at  his  former  home  in  Ohio. 

A.  B.  Harris  of  George  D.  Harris  &  Co., 
No.  1  Broadway,  left  on  Saturday  for  Lake 
George,  where  he  will  spend  his  vacation. 

A.  S.  Cary  of  the  Eastern  Coal  &  Coke  Cor¬ 
poration  of  Richmond,  Va.,  was  in  New  York 
several  days  this  week. 

John  Jamison,  president  of  the  Jamison 
Coal  &  Coke  Company  of  Pittsburgh,  who 
went  to  France  recently  in  connection  with 
some  export  contracts,  has  returned. 

G.  W.  Seiler  of  the  Seiler-Blanchard  Com¬ 
pany,  No.  1  Broadway,  returned  on  Monday 
from  his  vacation,  which  was  spent  in  Ros- 
coe,  N.  Y. 

Many  friends  of  Charles  Hornung,  manager 
■of  the  New  York  office  of  the  Susquehanna 
Coal  Company,  No.  1  Broadway,  who  has  been 
ill  for  several  months,  will  be  pleased  to  learn 


that  he  was  able  to  make  a  short  visit  to  the 
office  last  week.  It  is  hoped  that  his  improve¬ 
ment  is  permanent,  and  that  he  will  soon  be 
able  to  resume  his  active  duties. 

J.  Howard  Aleager,  manager  of  the  Grassy 
Run  Coal  Company  of  Elk  Lick,  Somerset 
county.  Pa.,  was  a  New  York  visitor  on 
Tuesday. 

The  general  offices  of  the  Delaware,  Lacka¬ 
wanna  &  Western  Coal  Company,  were  moved 
on  Tuesday  from  No.  90  West  street,  to  the 
new  Equitable  building.  No.  120  Broadway, 
where  ample  quarters  have  been  taken  on  the 
eighteenth  floor. 

Concerning  the  new  anthracite  freight  rates, 
some  changes  will  no  doubt  have  to  be  made 
in  rates  for  rail  delivery  on  Long  Island.  At 
present.  Long  Island  rates  are  based  on  rate 
to  Jersey  tidewater  transfer  ports,  plus  a  float¬ 
ing  charge  of  twenty-five  cents  per  ton. 

Announcement  comes  from  Cambria  county 
that  the  Berwind-White  Coal  Mining  Company 
is  negotiating  for  the  purchase  of  mining  prop¬ 
erties  of  the  W.  H.  Hughes  Coal  Company, 
near  Bens  Creek  in  that  county.  These  are 
known  as  the  Sonman  properties.  They  have 
been  operated  by  the  Hughes  interests  for 
some  years  past,  and  the  coal  has  excellent 
reputation. 

A  dispatch  from  Clarksburg,  W.  Va.,  states 
that  the  resumption  of  the  operations  of  the 
Madeira-Hill-Clark  Coal  Company’s  three  min¬ 
ing  plants  in  the  Wilsonburg  section,  dis¬ 
closes  that  the  company  through  its  eastern 
offices  has  landed  a  large  contract  for  ex¬ 
port,  that  will  keep  the  plants  running  con¬ 
tinually  at  full  capacity  for  three  months  and 
likely  longer. 

Frederic  Landstreet,  general  eastern  sales 
agent  of  the  Punxsutawney  Coal  Mining  Com¬ 
pany,  with  headquarters  in  Philadelphia,  was 
in  New  York  on  Tuesday.  Mr.  Landstreet  has 
just  received  a  commission  from  Governor 
Tener  of  Pennsylvania,  appointing  him  as  a 
delegate  to  the  Convention  of  the  American 
Mining  Congress  to  be  held  at  San  Francisco 
in  September. 

Frederic  A.  Potts  of  Frederic  A.  Potts  &  Co., 
No.  143  Liberty  street,  is  one  of  the  most  en¬ 
thusiastic  golfers  among  the  New  York  coal 
trade.  Mrs.  Potts  is  also  an  enthusiatic  golfer, 
and  Mr.  Potts  thought  so  little  of  her  ability  in 
this  direction  some  time  ago  he  made  a  wager 
that  she  could  not  make  a  course  under  ninety- 
five.  During  the  tournament  for  ladies  at  the 
links  of  the  Spring  Lake,  N.  J.  club  last  week, 
Mrs.  Potts  made  a  score  of  ninety-three,  and 
Mr.  F.  A.  is  now  $500  poorer. 

F.  M.  Chase,  general  manager  of  the  Le¬ 
high  Valley  Coal  Company,  announces  that 
the  tunnel  planned  to  be  driven  in  the  Hazel- 
ton  district  has  not  been  abandoned.  Mr. 
Chase  was  in  Hazelton  last  week,  and  stated 
while  no  progress  of  the  work  had  been  en¬ 
tered  into  since  the  bids  were  first  received, 
that  as  soon  as  details  were  completed,  the 
contract  would  be  awarded.  This  tunnel  is 
planned  to  open  up  heretofore  untouched  veins 
of  coal  in  sections  that  have  only  been  partially 
mined.  It  is  quite  a  big  engineering  undertak¬ 
ing,  and  bids  for  its  construction  were  received 
some  weeks  ago. 

The  Guarantee  Construction  Company  of 
New  York,  has  recently  been  awarded  a  con¬ 
tract  for  the  unloading  equipment  to  be  in¬ 
stalled  in  the  new  coal  pocket  to  be  built  of 
O.  H.  Perry  &  Son,  Inc.,  of  Jersey  City,  at 
East  19th  street.  New  York.  The  equipment 
will  consist  of  a  steel  hoisting  tower  of  the 
Mead-Morrison  type,  one-man  operation,  with 
a  capacity  of  100  tons  per  hour.  Rescreen¬ 
ing  equipment  will  also  be  installed  to  re¬ 
size  the  screenings  from  the  discharge  chute 
of  the  main  pocket.  Charles  A.  Higgins  of 
No.  30  Church  street,  is  consulting  engineer 
in  charge  of  the  work.  The  building  of  a 
New  York  plant  was  necessitated  by  the  grow¬ 
ing  business  of  this  well  known  Jersey  City 
corporation  in  Manhattan. 

Some  of  the  coal  men  who  have  made  recent 
visits  along  the  lines  of  some  of  the  rail¬ 
ways  from  the  anthracite  fields  to  tidewater, 
comment  upon  the  large  quantity  of  steam 
sizes  that  have  been  placed  in  storage  at 
some  of  the  storage  points.  They  do  not 
know  how  to  regard  this  storage,  whether  as 
a  result  of  a  lack  of  demand  on  the  part  of 
buyers,  or  the  desire  of  the  companies  to 
prepare  for  a  serious  shortage  of  coal  dur¬ 
ing  the  coming  winter. 


No.  8] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


159 


Philadelphia  Trade. 

Low  Priced  Orders  Refused  and  Higher 
Figures  Are  Demanded  on 
Current  Business. 


Office  of  The  Black  Diamond, 
1400  Land  Title  Building, 
Philadelphia,  August  19. 

One  of  the  most  sanguine  moves  that  has  been 
made  by  the  local  market  was  recorded  during 
the  past  week.  Talk  of  better  prices  seems  to 
have  assumed  a  concrete  form  and  the  long 
looked  for  up-turn  of  price  seems  to  be  an  ac¬ 
complished  fact.  The  foregoing  refers  to  the 
bituminous  market,  the  anthracite  business  needs 
a  few  cool  nights  to  give  it  an  impetus. 

Contract  business  that  has  been  hanging  fire  for 
months  seems  to  have  awakened  to  the  new  order 
of  thin.gs.  Partially  responsible  for  this  is  the 
publicity  that  has  been  given  to  the  fact  that 
the  big  trunk  lines  are  taking  “the  bull  by  the 
horns”  and  are  gettin.g  ready  for  an  emergency. 
The  statement  that  thousands  of  tons  of  bitu¬ 
minous  coal  are  going  into  storage  by  the  carriers 
has  led  to  the  natural  question,  “Why?” 

One  firm  that  within  the  week  has  received 
signed  contracts  from  four  consumers  has  had 
the  written  orders  in  its  desk  for  from  five  to  six 
days  and  it  was  learned  that  all  may  be  turned 
down  and  a  new  price  asked — this  at  least  a 
dime  on  the  ton  in  advance  of  the  price  named 
a  month  ago.  Another  firm  has  ordered  its 
Philadelphia  representative  to  take  on  no  large 
tonna.ge  at  current  prices  and  to  go  sparingly 
where  contracts  will  run  1,000  tons  or  over.  Still 
another  firm  selling  Miller  vein  coal  has  put  its 
price  to  its  local  representatives  on  a  “one  day 
option  plan.”  This  is  enumerated  merely  to  show 
how  the  issue  is  being  carefully  watched  and 
weighed  before  tying  up  any  great  tonnage  for 
a  year. 

At  the  piers  the  movement  in  bituminous  coal 
continues  in  good  volume  with  considerable  cargo 
boats  filling  with  export  coal.  The  bunkerage 
business  is  fully  up  to  the  standard  and  some  of 
the  coal  houses  in  this  particular  line  say  that 
it  is  ahead  of  the  corresponding  month  of  last 
year. 

Price  changes  for  the  week  were  principally 
on  Central  Pennsylvania  coals,  Cambrias  and 
Clearfields  being  quoted  at  $1.50  to  $1.60  for  best, 
$1.25  to  $1.35  for  mediums,  and  $1  to  $1.20  for 
ordinary  grades. 

Quemahoning  offerings  also  stiffened  in  price, 
with  a  range  of  $1.30  to  $1.40  for  run  of  mine. 

Anthracite  Situation. 

Egg  and  stove  coal  are  about  the  only  firm  sizes 
in  the  anthracite  market  at  the  present  time.  The 
over-plus  of  chestnut  and  pea  coal  that  has  to  be 
moved  and  without  a  market,  apparently,  has 
caused  a  strange  series  of  price  cutting.  Prices 
made  during  the  week  were  as  low  as  April  cir¬ 
cular,  tax  off.  From  this  figure  made  by  some 
of  the  overstocked  independents  it  ranges  up  to 
July  circular,  with  tax.  Pea  coal  is  almost  in 
as  bad  a  fix  though  the  local  consumption  has 
lifted  the  stagnation  on  this  size  a  little  bit  and 
May  circular  price  seems  to  be  about  the  lowest 
that  has  been  offered  on  the  bargain  counter. 
All  of  the  retail  yards  are  practically  dormant. 
One  well  informed  man  in  the  trade  ventured 
the  opinion  that  “more  horses  are  out  on  pasture 
this  year  than  in  the  past  dozen.” 

Coal  to  New  England  points  was  shut  off  for 
four  or  five  days  from  the  Port  Richmond  piers. 
The  big  storm  outside  the  capes  and  poor  demand 
was  the  cause. 


Philadelphia  Trade  Notes. 

Senator  Horace  Tompkins  of  Portage  made  a 
brief  business  visit  to  this  city  early  in  the  week. 

R.  M.  Peterson  of  S.  M.  Martin  &  Co.’s  forces 
returned  this  week  from  a  vacation  spent  at 
Atlantic  City. 

Carrol  Patterson  of  the  Carrol-Cross  Mining 
Company  of  Blooniin.gton,  Md.,  was  one  of  the 
trade  visitors  of  the  week. 

T.  Frank  Sheehan  of  the  Dominion  Coal  & 
Coke  Company’s  office  in  Baltimore  was  among 
the  trade  visitors  of  the  week. 

Charles  E.  Fernberg,  manager  of  sales  for  the 
Thorne  Neal  Company,  has  been  spending  a  week 
at  the  Marlborough  Blenheim  in  Atlantic  City. 

E.  S.  Lawrence,  manager  of  the  local  office  of 
the  Pennsylvania  Coal  and  Coke  Corporation, 
returned  to  business  this  week  after  a  pleasant 
vacation  spent  in  the  Blue  Ridge  mountains. 

H.  C.  Barr,  sales  a.gent  of  the  J.  S.  Wentz 


Company,  left  early  in  the  week  for  a  trip  to 
the  lakes  and  which  will  include  a  visit  to  the 
Detroit  offices  of  his  concern  before  his  return. 

John  H.  Jones  of  the  Four  States  Coal  Com¬ 
pany  and  the  Pittsburgh-Buffalo  Coal  Company 
dropped  in  to  talk  over  trade  matters  with  Man¬ 
ager  Collins  of  the  local  office  on  Wednesday  of 
this  week. 

Robert  K.  Cassatt  of  the  Keystone  Coal  &  Coke 
Company,  who  has  been  summering  at  Newport, 
R.  L,  will  finish  the  summer  season  at  White  Sul¬ 
phur  Springs,  Va.  Mrs.  Cassatt’s  health  was  the 
cause  of  the  change. 

Word  has  been  received  from  W.  H.  Bradford, 
head  of  the  W.  H.  Bradford  Company,  Inc.,  who 
left  for  a  vacation  in  Vermont  and  New  Hamp¬ 
shire  early  this  month,  that  he  will  lengthen  his 
stay  until  the  second  week  in  September. 

Floyd  Chadwick,  eastern  manager  of  the  sales 
department  of  the  Davis  Colliery  Company,  and 
Maury  Robinson,  western  salesmana.ger  with 
headquarters  in  Columbus,  Ohio,  are  in  Elkins, 
W.  Va.,  this  week  in  conference  with  the  oper¬ 
ating  heads  of  that  concern. 

A.  Bart  Cornog,  who  has  charge  of  the  gas  coal 
department  of  the  Cortright  Coal  Company,  left 
early  in  the  week  to  make  a  personal  observa¬ 
tion  of  the  lake  trade.  He  went  to  Cleveland 
and  will  visit  Detroit,  and  maybe  some  of  the 
upper  lake  ports  before  returning. 

J.  H.  Weaver  of  J.  H.  Weaver  &  Co.,  with  his 
family  and  a  friend  or  two,  left  for  the  west  the 
latter  part  of  last  week.  The  conclusion  of  the 
trip  will  be  at  the  Panama  Exposition  in  San 
Francisco.  Arrangements  were  made  for  stops 
in  the  trans-continental  tour,  where  the  party 
will  do  some  golfing. 

Considerable  satisfaction  was  expressed  locally 
in  the  report  issued  by  the  United  States  Geo¬ 
logical  Survey  showing  the  total  value  of  the 
coal  produced  in  this  state  in  1914  to  be  $188,- 
181,399.  Said  one  man,  “We  thought  that  every¬ 
thing  had  gone  to  the  eternal  bow-wows  last  year, 
and  we  try  to  make  ourselves  think  the  same 
this  year,  but  I  guess  that  ou.ght  to  make  some 
fellows  with  the  blues  change  their  tune.” 

Pursuant  to  the  policy  established  of  “getting 
on  the  ground  to  get  the  business,”  C.  R.  Dimm 
of  the  Gano,  Moore  &  Co.  forces  left  last  week 
for  St.  Petersburg,  Russia,  in  the  interests  of  the 
e.xport  business  of  that  concern.  Upon  conclu¬ 
sion  of  his  mission  there  Dimm  will  .go  to  both 
the  eastern  and  western  range  of  Italy  in  quest 
of  coal  business.  The  firm  already  has  offices 
established  in  Rio  Janeiro  and  Buenos  Aires. 

Straws  that  show  the  way  the  wind  blows  are 
indicated  in  the  report  on  the  idle  car  movement 
issued  this  week.  A  decrease  of  11,000  cars  was 
shown  between  July  1  and  August  1,  with  a 
total  of  264,243  cars  out  of  commission,  as  com¬ 
pared  with  196,665  cars  last  August  1st.  The 
report  comments  on  the  fact  that  the  decrease  was 
principally  in  .gondola  and  coal  cars  in  Pennsyl¬ 
vania  and  eastern  coal  producing  states. 

The  New  York  Shipbuilding  Company  of  Cam¬ 
den,  which  has  contracts  for  six  colliers  for  cost- 
wise  trade  for  the  Coastwise  Transportation  Com¬ 
pany  of  Boston,  announced  this  week  that  the 
first  of  these  is  about  ready  for  launching.  This 
boat,  the  “Franklin,”  will  be  placed  in  the  water 
on  August  21st.  It  has  been  stated  on  pretty 
good  authority  that  the  original  purpose  of  the 
boats — carria.ge  between  southern  coal  ports  and 
the  New  England  receiving  points — would  be 
abandoned  and  they  would  go  into  the  Atlantic 
ocean  trade. 

Considerable  interest  was  evinced  locally  in  a 
cablegram  received  from  The  Ha.gue  which  de¬ 
clared  that  an  immediate  market  for  Pennsyl¬ 
vania  coal  had  been  created  by  the  lifting  of  an 
embargo  which  had  been  in  force  for  some  time. 
One  cablegram  received  read  as  follows :  “Great 
demand  and  agitation  for  coal.  The  Netherland 
Overseas  Trust  will  now  issue  licenses  for  Amer¬ 
ican  coal.  Better  push  coal  where  Overseas 
licenses  are  obtainable.  Hereafter  importers  may 
sell  only  through  new  distributing  committees. 
Import  licenses  .given  only  to  those  satisfactorily 
accountin.g  in  detail  the  ultimate  destination  of 
last  lot.” 


The  local  receipts  of  anthracite  for  the  first 
four  months  of  the  coal  year  were  599,309  tons, 
as  compared  with  734,558  for  the  same  period  last 
year  and  647,646  in  1913.  The  receipts  of  bitu¬ 
minous  from  April  1  to  July  31,  inclusive,  were 
1,658,908  tons;  last  year  they  were  1,613,697,  and 
in  191.3,  1,371,811  tons. 


New  England  Trade 


Boston,  August  19. —  (Special  Correspondence.) 
— The  local  and  nearby  retail  dealers  have  ad¬ 
vanced  their  prices  on  anthracite  twenty-five  cents 
per  ton  to  the  following  basis:  Stove,  $7.75; 
e§'&.  $7.75;  nut,  $8;  furnace,  $7;  pea,  $6;  Franklin, 
$9,  and  Shamokin,  $8.  Most  of  the  dealers  are 
sellin.g  Lehigh  on  the  same  basis  as  other  kinds. 
In  previous  years  Lehigh  usually  commanded 
twenty-five  cents  per  ton  more.  Bituminous,  in 
large  amounts,  retails  for  $4.40  per  ton. 

The  most  discussed  subject  in  local  wholesale 
anthracite  circles  is  the  recent  decision  handed 
down  by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  as 
to  freight  rates  from  producing  to  the  tidewater 
and  certain  eastern  points.  Opinions  as  to  the 
effect  of  this  decision  upon  earnings  of  the  vari¬ 
ous  coal  producing  companies  and  the  future  price 
of  anthracite  are  somewhat  conflicting,  but  a 
majority  of  the  local  trade  seem  to  feel  that 
the  railroads  in  the  end  will  not  lose  materially 
and  possibly  be  better  off  after  the  recommenda¬ 
tions  of  the  Commission  have  been  complied  with. 

'I'he  demand  for  anthracite  during  the  past 
week  has  held  up  remarkably  well.  There  has 
been  some  slight  falling  off  in  certain  sections 
of  the  all-rail  demand,  but  this  has  been  more 
than  offset  by  an  increase  in  cargo  business. 
Most  of  the  cargoes  sold  diiriag  the  past  week 
have  been  taken  by  Boston,  Lynn,  Beverly  and 
Providence  dealers,  who  evidently  have  enter¬ 
tained  some  fears  of  a  possible  shortage  later 
in  the  year  owing  to  labor  troubles.  Most  of  the 
producing  companies  are  operating  on  greatly  re¬ 
duced  tinie  and  stocks  at  tidewater  shipping  points 
are  comparatively  small.  If  labor  troubles  should 
be  experienced  premiums  undoubtedly  would  be 
received  for  prompt  shipments.  A  slight  im¬ 
provement  is  noted  in  the  demand  for  spot  coal 
at  Mystic  Wharf  and  prices  at  that  point  appear 
to  be  much  firmer  than  they  were  a  week  ago. 
Offerings  of  spot  lots  are  small.  Stove  at  Mystic 
Wharf  is  generally  quoted  at  $6.10  per  ton  on  cars 
and  nut  at  $6.35.  The  movement  of  hard  coal 
to  the  more  distant  Maine  and  provinces  points 
is  better  than  it  was  a  week  ago. 

The  demand  for  New  River,  Pocahontas  and 
other  bituminous  coals  is  no  better.  Conditions 
at  ■  Mystic  Wharf  continue  very  unsatisfactory. 
Very  little  if  any  coal  is  being  offered  there  for 
spot  delivery,  for  it  will  not  bring  more  than 
$3.60  per  ton  on  the  cars.  Practically  no  Georges 
Creek  has  been  sold  there  for  a  month  and  its 
price  of  $3.90  to  $4  per  ton  is  purely  nominal. 
Stocks  of  southern  coals,  standing  and  running, 
at  Hampton  Roads  ports,  are  still  far  in  excess 
of  the  demand,  and  more  or  less  price  cutting  is 
reported  as  being  done  with  a  view  of  stimulating 
business.  The  off-shore  business  holds  up  fairly 
well,  but  comparatively  few  firms  are  getting 
any  of  it.  The  bunkering  business  is  light.  Prac¬ 
tically  the  only  Pennsylvania  bituminous  coming 
into  New  England  is  all-rail,  the  sharp  competi¬ 
tion  witli  other  kinds  eliminated  cargo  shipments 
now  that  the  largest  consumers  here  have  con¬ 
tracted  for  all  they  will  need  for  some  months. 

The  local  trade  expresses  considerable  amuse¬ 
ment  over  articles  that  have  appeared  recently 
in  the  Boston  News  Bureau,  which  tell  of  the 
wonderful  earnings  to  be  made  by  soft  coal  pro¬ 
ducers  in  the  fall  and  winter  owing  to  the  Euro¬ 
pean  war.  The  belief  here  is  that  the  news 
reports  are  circulated  for  the  sole  purpose  of 
inflating  the  market  value  of  certain  stocks.  That 
profits  this  fall  and  winter  will  be  larger  than  they 
were  a  year  a,go  is  generally  admitted,  but  prices 
to  be  realized  as  intimated  by  the  financial  news¬ 
paper  seem  absolutely  unreliable. 

The  marine  freight  rate  market  is  practically 
the  same  as  reported  last  week.  Vessel  and 
barge  owners  are  asking  seventy-five  to  eighty 
cents  per  ton  for  bituminous  space  from  Hampton 
Roads  to  Boston,  and  seven  to  ten  cents  a  ton 
more  from  Baltimore  to  Boston.  Fifty  and  fifty- 
five  cents  a  ton  is  the  general  asking  rate  for 
anthracite  space  from  New  York  to  Boston.  The 
return  cargo  business  is  .good,  according  to  local 
dealers. 


Boston  Trade  Notes. 

Pratt  and  Young  of  the  firm  of  Pratt,  Staples, 
Bell  &  Young,  Inc.,  have  sent  out  announcements 
that  within  a  short  time  the  firm’s  name  will  be 
changed  to  Pratt  &  Young. 

The  Boston  Perfect  Fuel  Company,  with  a 
$50, GOO  capital  has  been  granted  a  Mdine  char¬ 
ter.  The  company  proposes  to  manufacture,  buy 
and  sell  fuel  products,  and  the  incorporators  are : 
William  K.  Neil  and  Albert  E.  Meal  of  Portland, 
and  Henry  D.  S.  Woodbury  of  South  Portland. 


160 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[August  21 


Buffalo  Trade. 


Baltimore  Trade. 


Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  August  19. —  (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — Shipments  of  anthracite  by  lake  for 
the  past  week  were  119,848  tons,  which  is  a  fall¬ 
ing  off  of  about  10  percent  from  the  preceding 
week  and  is  below  the  average  for  this  season  of 
the  year.  The  shipments  were  distributed  as 
follows:  Duluth-Superior,  51,000  tons;  Chicago, 
26,100;  Fort  William,  23,448;  Waukegan,  13,800; 
Port  Arthur,  5,500.  The  shipments  at  present  are 
running  a  good  deal  behind  those  of  the  same 
period  last  year  and  unless  the  situation  changes 
there  will  be  about  the  same  falling  off  in  total 
for  August  as  was  recorded  during  July. 

The  demand  for  anthracite  from  dealers  shows 
very  little  life  and  most  companies  are  calling 
trade  stagnant.  Tlie  decision  as  to  anthracite 
freight  rates  has  doubtless  deterred  many  buyers 
from  taking  coal,  as  consumers  are  generally  of 
the  opinion  that  coal  is  to  be  clipper  because  of 
the  lower  rail  charges  for  carrying  it.  Many  in 
this  section  are  likely  to  be  mistaken.  The 
Rochester  rate  has  been  changed,  but  that  of 
Buffalo  has  not.  Many  think  that  it  will  be  only 
a  matter  of  time  before  a  reduction  will  be  made 
in  the  anthracite  rate  to  Buffalo. 

The  bituminous  trade  has  not  shown  much 
improvement  lately,  though  it  is  better  than  a 
couple  of  months  ago.  There  is  some  disappoint¬ 
ment  that  business  does  not  pick  up  more  rapidly, 
Init  the  feeling  is  optimistic  as  to  the  future  for 
all  that.  A  better  tone  is  .shown  in  contract 
prices,  though  spot  coal  does  not  show  any 
greater  strength.  The  strengthening  of  contract 
prices  is  a  good  indication  of  the  fact  that  every¬ 
body  is  anticipating  better  times  to  come  along 
this  fall  and  winter.  Nobody  is  disposed  to  make 
long-term  contracts  unless  prices  a  little  higher 
than  those  wanted  for  immediate  delivery  are 
cpioted.  There  is  not  much  spot  coal  on  track 
at  present  and  shippers  are  generally  disposed 
to  wait  until  they  have  regular  orders  for  fuel 
before  shipping  in  on  consignment. 

The  steel  industry  is  now  putting  up  a  much 
better  front  than  some  weeks  ago,  the  larger 
plants  running  full  time  or  close  to  it.  It  may 
take  a  little  time  to  impart  activity  to  other  linp 
of  business,  but  coal  men  feel  that  this  fall  will 
see  renewed  strength  to  many  lines  which  are 
still  dull.  The  lake  movement  of  coal  is  light, 
but  that  of  iron  ore  is  heavy. 


Buffalo  Trade  Briefs. 

Herbert  Milnes,  of  the  Milnes  Coal  Company, 
Toronto,  was  a  Canadian  coal  visitor  here  last 
week. 

L).  L.  Tuttle,  sales  agent  of  the  Philadelphia  & 
Reading  Coal  &  Iron  Company,  has  returned 
from  a  week-end  trip  to  Genesee,  Pa. 

L.  A.  Burnett,  president  of  the  Clifton  Coal 
Company,  and  George  D.  Rowland  of  the  Rich¬ 
land  Coal  Company,  Wheeling,  were  here  last 
week. 

W.  T.  Roberts,  western  sales  agent  of  Williams 
&  Peters,  has  gone  to  Long  Beach,  on  the  north 
shore  of  Long  Island,  where  he  will  spend  some 
weeks. 

J.  A.  Beam,  of  the  Bader  Coal  Company,  came 
up  from  the  Allegheny  valley  to  visit  old  asso¬ 
ciates  a  few  days  ago.  The  office  of  the  com¬ 
pany  was  also  visited  by  F.  L.  White  from  the 
New  York  office,  who  was  recently  in  charge  of 
the  Buffalo  office. 

The  Lehigh  Valley  Railroad  Company  is  plan¬ 
ning  to  build  big  repair  shops  in  this  city  at  a 
cost  of  more  than  $250,000.  The  company  owns 
valuable  property  in  this  city  which  is  available 
for  the  purpose  and  it  proposes  to  engage  in  mak¬ 
ing  extensive  repairs  to  locomotives  and  cars 
here,  as  well  as  at  Sayre,  Pa.,  where  the  present 
shops  are  located.  It  is  expected  that  500  men 
will  be  given  employment  in  this  city 

The  sale  of  the  Buffalo  &  Susquehanna  Rail¬ 
way  is  scheduled  for  August  23  at  the  Buffalo 
city  hall.  The  property  is  to  be  disposed  of  in 
one  piece  and  bidders  must  put  up  $100,000  in 
money  or  certified  check  or  a  deposit  of  $300,000 
par  value  of  the  first  mortgage  bonds  of  the 
company.  The  sale  includes  franchise,  equip¬ 
ment,  real  estate,  shares  of  stock  of  the  road 
and  buildings  along  the  line.  The  line  is  84.3 
miles  in  length.  Sale  is  made  bv  virtue  of  a 
judgment  of  foreclosure  and  under  the  auspices 
of  George  D.  Crofts  as  referee.  It  was  hoped 
until  recently  that  a  buyer  would  be  found  who 
would  electrify  the  road,  as  there  are  a  number 
of  shipping  stations  dependent  upon  it  for  rail 
facilities. 


Baltimore,  August  19. —  (Special  Correspond¬ 
ence.) — A  period  of  undoubted  prosperity  is 
dawning  for  business  of  all  kinds  here,  and  for 
the  coal  trade  in  particular.  War  business  alone 
that  is  pouring  into  Baltimore  is  of  such  a  nature 
that  the  industrial  wheels  must  hum  here,  and 
many  thousands  of  tons  of  coal  be  contracted  for. 
Most  of  this  business  has  been  of  sudden  growth 
and  is  entirely  uncared  for  in  existing  coal  con¬ 
tracts,  so  that  a  line  of  big  inquiry  is  now  ex¬ 
pected  to  develop  rapidly. 

During  the  past  week  the  biggest  thing  from 
an  industrial  viewpoint  was  the  purchase  by  the 
Bethlehem  Steel  Company  of  the  big  Detrick  & 
Harvey  Machine  Company  here.  The  purchase 
price  was  $225,000,  and  it  is  understood  that  not 
only  will  the  plant  in  the  city  be  utilized  but  a  big 
factory  for  munitions  manufacture  will  go  up  on 
the  grounds  owned  by  the  company  just  outside 
the  city  at  Bayview.  The  American  Distributing 
Company  has  placed  contracts  for  a  $1,000,000 
plant  at  Curtis  Bay  to  manufacture  alcohol  for 
high  explosive  use.  With  the  Bartlett-Hayward 
Company  plant  working  to  complete  buildings  to 
handle  a  $12,000,000  order,  the  Poole  Engineeriag 
Company,  P.  Kennedy  Foundry  Company,  Na¬ 
tional  Enameling  &  Stamping  Company,  Davison 
Chemical  Company,  Mt.  Vernon  Cotton  Duck 
Corporation  and  a  dozen  other  big  plants  work¬ 
ing  night  and  day  on  war  orders  of  various  kinds, 
it  would  seem  that  nothing  can  stop  a  .great  in¬ 
dustrial  boom  here. 

Already  prices  are  stiffening  gradually  at  the 
mining  centers.  There  is  now  no  longer  talk  of 
taking  orders  for  coal  at  any  price  to  keep  up 
organization.  Shippers  and  consumers  now  have 
to  do  tile  bargaining  with  the  mines,  and  not  the 
opera'-ors  with  the  takers  of  fuel.  During  the 
past  week,  while  there  was  no  big  general  jump 
in  prices,  both  slack  and  coke  moved  upward.  It 
is  freely  predicted  that  from  henceforth  there 
will  be  a  general  upward  movement. 

The  increasing  activity  of  the  steel  mills  is  un¬ 
doubtedly  telling  on  the  coke  situation.  Best 
Connellsville  seventy-two-hour  foundry,  six 
months,  was  quoted  at  $2.35  to  $2.40.  Forty- 
eight-hour  was  bringing  $1.65  to  $1.75.  West 
Virginia  seventy-two-hour  was  worth  $2.10  to 
$2.25,  with  forty-eight-hour  at  $1.60  to  $1.65. 


F.  0.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

Fairmont — 

Mines. 

Baltimore. 

Tin  ee  quarter  . 

$2.23@2.28 

Run  01  mine . 

. 75@  .80 

2.18@2.23 

Slack  . 

1.98@2.03 

Somerset — 

Best  . 

2.43@2.48 

Good  . 

.  1.10@1.15 

2.28@2.3S 

W.  M.  R.  R.— 

Freeport  . 

1.93@1.98 

B.  &  O.— 

Freeport  . 

. 75@  .80 

1.93@1.9S 

P.  R.  R.— 

Best  South  Fork . 

.  1.30@1.35 

2.48@2.53 

Miller  Vein  . 

.  1.10@1.15 

2.78@2.83 

Ordirtary  . 

. 85@  .95 

2.03@2.13 

Birmingham  Trade. 


Birmingham,  Ala.,  August  19. —  (Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — The  most  startling  feature  which 
has  come  to  light  to  affect  the  coal  trade  was 
the  announcement  of  the  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission,  which  granted  many  privileges  the 
Alabama  coal  operators  asked.  Concessions  were 
made  which,  while  asked  for,  were  not  antici¬ 
pated.  The  decision  is  far-reaching  and  will  have 
a  marked  effect  upon  the  trade  in  certain  terri¬ 


tory. 

The  general  tone  of  the  market  is  much  more 
optimistic  than  has  been  the  case  for  several 
months.  This  is  true  with  all  grades  of  coal,  and, 
while  the  domestic  coal  trade  has  not  yet  shown 
any  marked  activity,  it  is  expected  that  a  heavier 
movement  will  soon  begin.  In  steam  coal,  the 
trade  is  good  and  bunker  business  has  shown 
some  improvement. 

In  coking  coal,  the  activity  is  very  marked, 
and  further  demand  for  this  kind  of  coal  is  soon 
to  be  increased  by  additional  furnaces  bein.g  put  in 


blast. 

The  blacksmith  coal  trade  is  well  in  hand  and 


good  trade  is  still  being  carried  on. 

Coal  prices  have  stiffened  considerably  in  the 
last  few  days.  One  of  the  large  producing  com¬ 
panies,  pursuant '  to  large  demand  for  its  own 
need,  has  withdrawn  from  the  market  in  both 
steam  and  domestic  coal. 


The  following  prices  are  for  balance  of  August, 
.ib j  ect  to  chan,ge  for  September  : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Tib 5  County  Domestic  Coal —  Mines  Birmingham 

anaba  fancy  lump .  $2.50  $2.80 

anaba  No,  2  lump .  2.25  2.55 

Jefferson  County — 

ancy  steam  Pratt .  1.75  2.00 


Run  of  mine  Pratt . $1.20@1.25  $1.45@1.50 

Black  Creek — 

Fancy  steam  lump .  1,' 

Washed  nut .  1.' 

Washed  steam .  1.35@l.i 

Mine  run .  1.35@1.- 

Jefferson  seam  steam  coal — 

Mine  run .  1.15@1.1 

Walker  County  domestic....  l.( 

Carbon  Hill  lump — 

Horse  Creek  mine  run .  1.00@1.20  Freight  rate  .40 

Shelby  County — 

Montevallo  domestic  prices 

ranging .  2.75@3.' 

Blacksmith  coal,  washed  and 
$2.00  to  $2.25  at  mines,  with 
various  points. 


.75 

.75 

.60 

.40 

.25 

.60 


i.OO 


2.05 

2.05 

Freight  rate  .30 
Freight  rate  .30 

Freight  rate  .30 
2.00 


screened,  per  ton, 
different  rates  to 


Will  Barge  Coal. 

Following  receipt  of  formal  permission  from 
the  United  States  war  department  for  the  use 
of  the  steel  bridge  over  the  Warrior  river  at 
Maxine,  official  announcement  is  made  at  the 
executive  offices  of  the  Tennessee  Coal,  Iron  & 
Railroad  Company  that  the  company  would  barge 
coal  from  mines  in  the  Edgewater  and  Bayview 
divisions  down  the  Warrior  river  to  New  Or¬ 
leans.' 

Negotiations  have  been  under  way  between  the 
Tennessee  Company,  the  Southern  and  the  Ala¬ 
bama  and  New  Orleans  Transportation  Company 
for  several  weeks  in  this  respect.  It  was  desired, 
however,  to  load  the  coal  onto  the  barges  from 
a  steel  bridge  on  the  Maxine  branch  of  the 
Ensley  Southern  Railway  near  Maxine,  and  to  do 
this  the  consent  of  the  war  department  had  to  be 
secured. 

The  necessary  arraasements  will  be  completed 
by  September  1st  and  the  Tennessee  Company 
will  barge  down  the  river  about  10,000  tons  of 
coal  a  month.  The  Alabama  &  New  Orleans 
Transportation  Company  already  has  six  self- 
propelled  steel  barges  and  has  two  more  under 
construction.  Each  barge  will  haul  about  800 
tons  of  coal  a  trip. 

Work  is  now  to  be  started  at  once  by  the  Ten¬ 
nessee  Company  on  the  construction  of  the  chute 
at  the  Salters  Bluff  bridge  and  the  first  barge  is 
expected  to  be  loaded  about  September  1st. 

Coal  is  now  being  barged  down  the  Warrior 
by  the  Pratt  Consolidated  Coal  Company  in  its 
own  bar.ges  to  Mobile  and,  at  Cordova,  on  the 
’Frisco  Railroad,  a  switch  and  trestle  is  being 
built  for  the  unloading  of  coal  into  the  barges 
by  the  De  Bardeleben  Coal  &  Coke  Company. 

While  there  is  no  connection  between  the  move¬ 
ment  to  barge  coal  down  the  Warrior  and  the 
decision  of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission, 
which  increases  freight  rates  by  rail  on  coal  to 
New  Orleans  from  Birmingham  by  fifteen  cents 
a  ton,  the  decision  is  generally  accepted  among 
coal  men  as  meaning  that  the  time  will  be  has¬ 
tened  when  the  Warrior  is  to  become  quite  a 
factor  in  the  coal  market  to  southern  ports. 

Coal  operators  of  the  Birmingham  district 
were  somewhat  surprised  Friday  morning  when 
they  heard  the  news  of  the  decision  of  the  Inter¬ 
state  Commerce  Commission,  which  allows  rail¬ 
roads  to  increase  the  freight  rate  on  coal  into 
New  Orleans  and  other  Mississippi  river  points. 
Meridian,  Vicksburg,  and  a  few  other  places  be¬ 
ing  excepted.  The  result  of  this  decision  will 
brin.g  about  a  large  volume  of  business  down  the 
river. 

Heretofore  the  Munson  Line’s  steamers  for 
Uruguay  and  Argentine  Republic  have  coaled  at 
Pensacola,  and  through  the  efforts  of  the  repre¬ 
sentative  of  the  Pratt  Company  they  have  been 
induced  to  bunker  these  steamers  in  Mobile. 


Secures  More  Tonnage. 


The  Punxsutawney  Coal  Mining  Company 
of  which  Frederic  Landstreet  is  general  east¬ 
ern  sales  agent,  with  offices  in  the  Land  Title 
building,  Philadelphia,  announce  to  the  trade 
a  joint  sales  agency  arrangement  with  the 
Punxsutawney  Coal  Mining  Company,  Anita 
Coal  Company,  and  the  William  Run  Coal 
Company,  as  of  August  1st.  These  mines  are 
controlled  by  Mr.  Barry  Yates  of  Buffalo,  and 
Dr.  W.  S.  Blaisdell  of  Punxsutawney. 

The  active  management  of  all  three  mines 
will  be  in  charge  of  Dr.  Blaisdell  at  Punxsutaw¬ 
ney,  Pa.,  and  the  sale  of  these  coals  will  be 
pushed  very  largely  through  the  Philadelphia 
office,  as  the  coal  naturally  finds  a  ready  sale 
in  this  territory.  The  tonnage  represented 
by  this  arrangement  amounts  to,  roughly, 
350,000  tons  per  year  of  strictly  high  grade 
Punxsutawney  coal.  The  Frances  coal  origi¬ 
nates  on  the  Buffalo,  Rochester  &  Pittsburgh 
Railroad  at  Frances  Mine,  Pa.,  while  Anita  and 
Williams  Run  coal  originate  on  the  Penn¬ 
sylvania  Railroad  at  Anita  and  Horatio  re¬ 
spectively. 


The  Black  Diamond 


Vr»l  RR  lVr»  Q  CHICAGO 

V  OI.  OO.  llO.  »  COLUMBUS 

AUGUST  28.  1915 

NEW  YORK  c'Y  ork  D  'V 

PITTSBURGH  9tJ«UU  rer  Tear 

Effect  of  Rate 

Changes  on  the 

Retail  Trade. 

Within  the  next  six  weeks — the  sooner  the  bet¬ 
ter — the  retail  coal  dealer  must  decide  and  act 
upon  a  big  and  new  policy.  This  need  arises 
because  coal  rates  have  been  changed  and  mar¬ 
kets  disturbed.  He  will  feel  the  effect  of  this 
policy  for  six  or  seven  months  or  until  the  end 
of  the  coal  year.  If  his  decision  is  right,  he  is 
going  to  make  money.  If  his  decision  is  wrong, 
he  is  going  to  lose  money.  Still  he  must  decide 
one  way  or  the  other  and  upon  what  he  does 
will  depend  the  profitableness  or  otherwise  of  his 
business  for  this  coal  year. 

Incidentally,  every  retailer  must  make  up  his 
own  mind.  No  one  can  do  it  for  him.  That  is, 
we  can  state  the  situation  generally,  but  we  can¬ 
not  give  any  advice.  Likewise  the  operator  can 
state  his  position  broadly,  he  cannot  give  any 
advice.  That  is,  the  situation  is  new  to  us  and 
to  them.  None  of  us  knows  what  is  going  to 
happen.  Therefore,  the  retailef  must  think  for 
himself  and  decide^  for  himself. 

The  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  has  al¬ 
ready  decided  four  big  rate  cases.  Soon  it  may 
have  to  decide  a  fifth.  By  these  decisions  rates 
have  been  ordered  changed  radically  in  three 
big  sections.  A  pending  case  may  end  in  a 
decision  to  change  rates  in  the  fourth  section. 

The  changes  ordered  are  radical  enough  to 
disturb  seriously  the  market  zone  of  many  coals. 
They  disturb  the  commercial  prospects  of  many 
coal  mining  companies.  As  a  consequence,  the 
retail  dealer’s  source  of  supply,  hereafter,  may 
not  be  the  same  as  it  has  been  heretofore;  the 
freight  rate  on  coal  moving  to  his  point  may 
have  changed  the  relative  positions  of  competing 
coals  to  the  point  that  the  price  of  one  coal  will 
make  it  his  natural  leader,  the  quality  being  con¬ 
sidered. 

The  thing  for  the  retail  dealer  to  do,  there¬ 
fore,  is  to  study  the  new  rates;  to  study  the 
quality  of  the  coal  moving  on  those  rates;  to 
study  the  relative  prices  of  competing  grades 
at  his  point  and  to  study  the  demands  of  his 
consumers.  In  this  way  only  may  he  know  what 
coal  to  buy. 

Prompt  Action  Necessary. 

This  decision  by  the  dealer  should  be  made 
in  the  next  few  weeks  because  the  new  rates 
go  into  effect  on  September  30th  and  October  1st. 
He  may  want  to  buy  some  coals  before  that  time. 
He  may  not  want  to  buy  other  coals  until  after 
that  time,  still  he  must  decide  now  what  his 
policy  will  be  to  avoid  buying  certain  coals  at  an 
inopportune  time.  He  must  know  what  coal  to 
put  in  storage  now  and  what  coal  the  buying 
of  which  he  should  put  off.  But,  before  he 
can  do  either,  he  must  have  a  pretty  clear  idea 
of  what  the  future  is  going  to  develop. 

While  we  do  not  pretend  to  advise,  we  can 
recite  the  facts  from  the  retailers’  point  of 
view.  That  is  the  purpose  of  this  article. 

Anthracite  Rate  Reduction. 

The  Interstate  Commerce  Commission,  in  its 
decision  of  two  weeks  ago,  revised  the  anthracite 
rates  downward  in  the  territory  east  of  Buffalo 
and  Pittsburgh.  There  is  a  minimum  reduc¬ 
tion  of  line  rates  to  keynote  points  in 
consuming  centers  of  fifteen  cents  a  ton. 
The  maximum  reduction  is  eighty  some  odd 
cents  a  ton.  The  average  of  all  reductions 
ranges  somewhere  between  fifteen  and  twen¬ 
ty-five  cents  a  ton.  These  rate  reductions  are 
to  keynote  points  in  the  big  coal  distributing 
zones.  The  detail  of  aligning  rates  to  inter¬ 
mediate  points  to  correspond  with  the  basing 
rates  named,  was  left  to  the  railroads.  Whether 
the  reduction  is  fifteen  cents  a  ton  or  eighty  cents 
a  ton,  there  is  a  corresponding  reduction  to  every 
point  between  the  mines  and  that  destination. 

As  to  what  effect  this  rate  reduction  will  have 
on  prices,  we  have  two  points  in  view.  The  Inter¬ 
state  Commerce  Commission  clearly  indicated  in 
its  report  that  it  was  not  striving  to  reduce  the 
price  of  anthracite  coal  at  de.stination.  It  seems 
to  have  accepted  as  proper  the  anthracite  prac- 


The  Future  Is  Uncertain  But  the  Retailer 
Must  Guess  Soon  Whether  Prices  Are 
Going  Up  or  Down  or  Remain  Stationary 
— The  Result. 


tice  to  name  a  delivered  price.  The  Commission 
seems  to  have  expected  that  this  practice  would 
continue.  Therefore  it  seems  to  have  expected 
that  this  price  would  not  be  changed.  The  deci¬ 
sion  was  accordingly  addressed  more  to  a  di¬ 
vision  of  that  price  between  the  railroad  and  the 
operator  than  it  was  to  a  reduction  in  it  to  the 
retailer  or  user.  That  is,  it  seemed  to  desire 
that  the  operators  should  get  in  future  a  larger 
percentage  and  the  railroads  a  smaller  percentage 
of  the  delivered  price.  It  wanted  to  increase 
the  percentage  received  by  the  operators  that  the 
“independent”  might  as  readily  make  money  as 
have  “the  companies.” 

If  that  view  should  prevail,  the  delivered  price 
would  remain  unchanged. 

Competition  a  Factor. 

However,  there  is  another  possibility.  The 
“independents”  and  “the  companies”  compete  vig¬ 
orously  in  all  of  the  eastern  markets.  The  com¬ 
mission  can  give  these  operators  a  chance  to 
make  a  bigger  profit  but  it  cannot  say  that  they 
must.  Therefore  each  coal  company,  whether 
“independent”  or  railroad-owned,  is  at  liberty  to 
share  the  rate  reduction  with  the  retail  dealer 
or  even  to  give  him  the  whole  of  it.  That  is, 
the  operator  can  accept,  if  he  choose,  the  same 
mine  price  that  he  has  been  getting  heretofore 
and  can  reduce  the  delivered  price.  That  is  to 
say,  a  new  commercial  force  has  been  introduced 
into  the  anthracite  coal  trade.  It  is  quite  likely 
to  change  things  around. 

Before  the  new  rates  go  into  effect  on  October 
1st,  the  retailer  must  decide  what,  in  his  opinion, 
anthracite  prices  are  going  to  be.  If  he  decides 
that  competition  will  force  the  price  of  anthracite 
coal  down,  he  must  decide  to  buy  cautiously  for 
awhile.  If  he  decides  that  the  delivered  price 
is  going  to  remain  the  same,  he  will  decide  to 
get  his  coal  in  now  to  avoid  the  rush  of  orders 
which  others  will  place  later.  We  cannot  say 
what  is  going  to  happen.  The  operators  cannot. 
This  is  so  because  we  do  not  know  and  the  oper¬ 
ators  do  not  know.  It  must  be  a  guess  at  best 
and  since  the  retailer  is  the  one  most  concerned, 
he  must  do  the  guessing. 

Influence  on  Grades. 

This  is  a  vital  matter  for  this  region.  In  cer¬ 
tain  sections  of  the  east,  anthracite  and  certain 
grades  of  hituminous  coal  are  highly  competitive. 
Bituminous  coal,  to  overcome  the  prestige  of  an¬ 
thracite,  has  been  sold  at  a  ridiculously  low  fig¬ 
ure.  The  price  has  in  fact  about  reached  an  ir¬ 
reducible  minimum.  As  the  result  of  a  long 
campaign,  anthracite  and  bituminous  coal  have 
found  about  their  competitive  level  under  the  old 
prices.  The  growth  of  bituminous  has  depended 
on  the  installation  of  new  coal  burning  equip¬ 
ment.  Naturally  a  reduction  of  fifteen  or  twenty- 
five  cents  or  more  in  the  price  of  anthracite  coal 
would  be  likely  to  throw  the  market  out  of  joint 
in  this  particular.  It  might  easily  result  in  a 
rebirth  of  anthracite  demand  in  the  east  and 
therefore  in  a  postponement  of  the  final  suprem¬ 
acy  of  bituminous  in  that  territory.  The  deter¬ 
mining  question  is:  “Do  the  anthracite  operators 
as  a  whole  feel  disposed  to  gain  tonnage  at  the 
expense  of  price  and  at  the  expense  of  competing 
coals?”  So,  the  decision  of  the  retailer  on  this 
point  is  sure  to  prove  vital.  It  must  influence 
his  whole  program  of  purchases. 

Western  Anthracite  Rates. 

Anthracite  coal  moving  to  the  west  of  Buffalo 
takes  two  routes : 

One  is  from  the  mines  to  Buffalo  and  the  lake 
route  to  far  western  destinations. 


The  other  is  by  all  rail  from  the  mine  to  Ohio, 
Indiana,  Michigan,  and  Illinois  and  through  Chi¬ 
cago  to  a  big  territory  to  the  west  and  south- 
we.st. 

While  these  two  routes  are  distinct,  they  are 
competitive.  The  transportation  charges  by  lake 
being  the  lower,  the  lake  route  dominates  the 
western  coal  trade. 

The  decision  of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Com¬ 
mission  was  that  the  rates  from  the  mines  to 
Buffalo  are  not  to  he  disturbed.  That  is  the 
keynote  of  the  whole  lake  situation.  The  lake 
carrying  charges  are  not  fixed  by  the  Commission 
or  by  the  railroads;  neither  are  the  dockage 
charges  at  Buffalo  nor  at  the  upper  lake  ports. 
Therefore,  the  rate  to  the  upper  lake  docks  has 
not  been  disturbed  by  this  decision.  As  will  be 
brought  out  in  another  place,  the  rates  on  an¬ 
thracite  coal  from  the  upper  lake  docks  to  in¬ 
terior  points  have  not  been  disturbed.  Since 
the  rates  are  the  same  as  heretofore,  there  is 
every  reason  to  expect  that,  by  this  route,  the 
delivered  price  will  be  the  same. 

On  the  all  rail  trade  to  the  west  the  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission  leaves  undisturbed  the 
rates  from  the  mines  to  all  points  in  Ohio,  Mich¬ 
igan  and  Indiana.  Therefore  the  delivered  price 
in  all  of  that  territory  will  be  the  same.  How¬ 
ever,  the  Commission  grants  the  plea  of  the  rail¬ 
roads  that  there  shall  be  an  increase  of  twenty- 
five  cents  a  ton  in  the  rates  to  Chicago  and  there¬ 
fore  in  the  rates  to  all  points  reached  through 
Chicago  hy  all  rail. 

A  Conflict  of  Rates. 

Chicago  is  a  lake  port  and  a  rail  center,  hence, 
two  transportation  routes  are  open  to  its  ship¬ 
pers.  By  the  water  route,  the  rate  is  unchanged. 
By  the  rail  route,  the  rate  is  twenty-five  cents  a 
ton  higher.  Which  of  the  two  rates  is  going 
to  govern?  Can  the  coal  agencies  expect  to  do 
business  at  two  prices,  one  of  which  is  twenty-five 
cents  a  ton  higher  than  the  other?  Will  they 
move  up  the  lake  price  to  meet  the  all  rail  price? 
Or  will  they  cut  the  all  rail  price  down  to  meet 
the  lake  price?  Those  are  the  leading  questions. 

West  of  Chicago  we  have  this  situation?  Part 
of  the  territory  is  served  by  the  dock  companies. 
The  rate  there  being  the  same,  they  can  be  ex¬ 
pected  to  charge  the  same  delivered  price  as  here¬ 
tofore.  In  another  section,  however,  the  dealers 
get  their  coal  all  rail  and  the  rates  have  been 
advanced  twenty-five  cents  a  ton. 

Are  we  going  to  see  the  western  territory  split 
into  two  zones  on  anthracite  and  governed  by 
two  different  rates?  That  is,  will  a  line  be  drawn 
straight  west  from  Chicago,  for  example,  and 
will  be  coal  be  sold  in  territory  north  of  that 
line  at  twenty-five  cents  a  ton  less  than  in  the 
territory  south  of  that  line? 

A  Point  in  Competition. 

Before  answering  that  question  a  different  com¬ 
mercial  factor  must  be  considered.  Anthracite 
coal  in  this  territory  is  in  competition  strongly 
not  alone  with  various  grades  of  bituminous  and 
semi-bituminous  coal,  but  with  an  ever-increasing 
flood  of  coke.  If  coke  were  not  a  factor,  an¬ 
thracite  might  be  able  to  meet  the  competition 
of  bituminous  and  semi-bituminous  coal  even 
while  adding  twenty-five  cents  a  ton  to  the  price. 
This  is  so  because  the  only  coal  which  approaches 
it  in  quality  moves  at  a  relatively  high  rate. 

But,  coke  is  produced  now  at  points  near  the 
market  and  the  rate  is  low.  .\lso,  since  the 
cities  must  have  gas,  and  since  to  get  gas,  bitumi¬ 
nous  coal  must  be  treated,  the  resultant  produc¬ 
tion  of  coke  is  large.  It  increases  proportion¬ 
ately  to  the  growth  of  cities.  This  coke  naturally 
must  be  sold. 

The  growth  of  the  steel  business  is  not  rapid 
enough  to  absorb  in  furnaces  and  foundries  all 
of  the  increasing  production  of  coke.  That  com¬ 
pels  the  coke  operator  to  fall  back,  for  a  market, 
upon  the  retail  trade.  Thus  anthracite  coal  is 


162 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[August  28 


finding  a  stronger  and  stronger  competitor  each 
year. 

The  relative  merits  of  the  two  fuels  is  not  a 
governing  factor.  Instead,  the  necessity  of  the 
ovens  to  find  a  market  for  its  coke  product  is 
ruling. 

On  this  acco.unt,  we  cannot  tell  the  dealer  what 
the  price  of  anthracite  will  be  tomorrow.  Can¬ 
didly,  we  do  not  believe  the  operators  can.  The 
retailer  will  have  to  weigh  all  the  evidence  and 
make  up  his  own  mind.  The  only  thing  we  can 
do  is  to  give  him  the  facts  and  the  possibilities 
as  is  here  done. 

Bituminous  Rate  Increases. 

Another  decision  recently  handed  down  by  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission  gives  the  rail¬ 
roads  the  right  to  increase  rates  to  all  points 
west  of  a  line  drawn  north  and  south  through 
Chicago  and  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  This 
allowed  increase  can  be  checked  in  on  September 
30th. 

A  great  many  things  have  to  be  taken  into  con¬ 
sideration  by  the  retailer  in_  deciding  what  is  to 
be  his  attitude  towards  various  offerings  of  bi¬ 
tuminous  coal. 

The  first  one  is :  The  railroads  have  the  right 
to  check  in  this  advance  but  they  do  not  have  to. 
Some  of  them  are  disposed  to  do  so.  Others  are 
on  the  fence  and  may  decide  on  no  rate  advances 
at  all.  There  is  thus  introduced  an  element  of 
uncertainty.  What  will  happen? 

Second,  the  railroads  proposed  and  the  Inter¬ 
state  Commerce  Commission  allowed  a  rate  in¬ 
crease  of  ten  cents  a  ton  on  coal  from  western 
mines  to  the  Twin  Cities.  All  intermediate 
points,  of  course,  carry  a  corresponding  increase. 
However,  the  railways  moving  coal  from  the 
docks  to  the  same  4estination  did  not  propose 
and  do  not  get  any  increase  in  rates.  Therefore 
there  is  an  unequal  advance  and  it  amounts  to  a 
differential  against  the  coal  from  Illinois  and 
Indiana. 

The  north  line  of  Iowa  has  been  considered  the 
north  line  of  the  natural  selling  zone  of  Indiana 
and  Illinois  coal.  Beyond  that,  for  a  certain  dis¬ 
tance,  it  has  been  a  tug  of  war  as  to  which  coal 
should  rule  the  market — the  eastern  coal  or  the 
western  coal.  Still  further  north  is  another  line 
beyond  which  Illinois  and  Indiana  coal  could  not 
go  and  hence  beyond  which  dock  coal  has  pre¬ 
dominated. 

The  differential  against  Illinois  coal  changes 
this  map.  That  is,  the  north  line  of  the  natural 
market  may  be  further  south  than  the  north 
boundary  of  Iowa.  The  zone  where  there  has 
been  a  tug  of  war  may  be  smaller.  The  territory 
in  which  dock  coal  predominates  may  extend  fur¬ 
ther  south. 

There  are  two  possible  actions  for  the  retailer 
to  take.  One  is  to  buy  western  coal  now  before 
the  advance  takes  effect  and  therefore  to  get  his 
winter  supply  of  coal  moved  at  a  lower  freight 
rate.  This  gives  six  weeks  practically  in  which 
the  retailer  can  stock  up. 

The  other  is  for  him  to  wait  until  the  freight 
rate  has  gone  into  effect  and  to  expect,  as  a  result 
of  the  narrowing  of  the  market  zone  of  western 
coal,  a  reduction  in  the  mine  price. 

As  to  what  to  do,  we  cannot  advise.  Candidly 
the  operators  cannot  because  neither  we  nor  they 
know  what  is  going  to  happen. 

Another  consideration  is  that  the  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission  also  granted  the  Birming¬ 
ham  operators  some  increased  differentials  against 
Illinois  coal.  To  a  greater  extent  than  in  the 
northern  case,  the  market  zone  of  the  Illinois 
operators  has  been  abridged.  While  the  territory 
effected  is  larger,  the  volume  of  tonnage  moved 
into  that  zone  has  not  been  quite  so  large.  The 
effect  in  the  south  has  been  to  restrict  the  pos¬ 
sible  market  rather  than  to  take  away  business 
already  enjoyed.  Will  this  act  to  reduce  prices 
because  the  same  volume  of  tonnage  must  be  sold 
in  a  smaller  territory? 

The  Ohio  Rate  Case. 

There  is  a  rate  matter  in  Ohio  which  may  give 
the  Ohio  retailers,  and  incidentally  those  in  the 
west  and  northwest,  quite  a  good  deal  to  think 
about.  No  decision  has  been  made  so  far,  but  it 
must  be  made  soon. 

The  mine  workers  succeeded,  both  by  a  strike 
and  preferential  legislation,  in  getting  an  increase 
in  the  Ohio  mining  rate.  This  threw  the  oper¬ 
ators  out  of  line  in  a  big  selling  territory.  Nat¬ 
urally  this  curtailed  the  work  which  the  miners 
had  to  do. 

To  offset  the  loss  of  work,  the  miners’  union 
attacked  the  whole  rate  fabric  in  Ohio.  They 
took  into  consideration  that  Ohio  mines,  with 
few  exceptions,  have  no  market  in  Ohio’s  two 


big  cities — Cleveland  and  Cincinnati.  Also,  Ohio 
operators  have  lost  much  lake  business  because 
West  Virginia  mines  are,  they  say,  more  favor¬ 
ably  situated  as  to  mining  and  transportation 
rates. 

To  win  back  their  work,  the  union  attacked 
the  rates.  They  have  asked  an  increase  in  differ¬ 
ential  in  favor  of  Ohio  mines  of  about  twenty- 
five  cents  a  ton.  If  these  claims  are  allowed,  it 
will  mean  new  markets  for  Ohio  coal  in  Ohio, 
and  cheaper  Ohio  coal  in  the  northwestern  terri¬ 
tory. 

Since  Ohio  and  Pennsylvania  are  considered  as 
part  of  the  same  coal  producing  area,  what  is 
true  of  Ohio  will  be  true/ of  Pittsburgh  coal. 

If  we  extend  this  rate  readjustment,  as  it  must 


be  extended,  to  the  market  in  the  northwest,  it 
can  be  seen  that  there  is  likely  a  very  largely  in¬ 
creased  differential  against  western  coal  in  the 
northwestern  markets. 

In  this  rather  elaborate  presentation  of  the 
case,  we  have  merely  suggested  an  outline  of  the 
things  which  the  retail  coal  dealer  must  take 
into  consideration  when  buying  his  winter  supply 
of  fuel.  He  must  rnake  up  his  mind  quickly 
as  to  what  he  is  going  to  do.  If  he  guesses 
right,  he  can  make  the  winter’s  business  very 
profitable.  If  he  guesses  wrong,  he  is  liable  to 
have  a  loss  for  his  pains.  But,  he  must  guess. 
Therefore  he  should  take  the  time  to  study  the 
situation  so  that  he  may  make  that  guess  as  intel¬ 
ligent  as  is  possible,  under  the  circumstances. 


A  Point  Or  Two  About  the  Car  Situation. 


A  number  of  railroad  men  and  quite  a  number 
of  coal  men  have  been  and  are  predicting  that  we 
are  going  to  have  a  pretty  serious  car  situation 
this  fall.  They  are  predicting  that  the  railroads 
are  not  going  to  be  able  to  move  the  traffic  offered 
them  and  that  we  are  going  to  have,  in  reality, 
a  shortage  of  coal  or  just  barely  enough  coal  to 
keep  the  country  going  all  through  the  winter. 

This  talk  of  the  car  shortage  is  one  of  our  old 
friends.  It  comes  around  about  every  season. 
Sometimes  there  is  a  good  deal  of  truth  in  it ; 
at  other  times  it  is — well  some  one  starts  it  who 
wants  to  sell  coal  early  and  at  low  prices  instead 
of  selling  it  late  and  at  high  prices.  The  imme¬ 
diate  question  is: 

“What  is  the  situation  this  year?”  Are  cars 
likely  to  be  short,  or  is  this  a  bit  of  grand  army 
talk?” 

A  few  facts  may  help  to  clarify  that  situation. 
Railroads,  according  to  their  own  statements, 
have  for  the  last  three  or  four  years  been  about 
as  poor  as  Job’s  turkey,  which,  it  will  be  remem¬ 
bered,  was  so  lean  that  it  had  to  lean  against  the 
fence  to  gobble.  The  railroads  are  now  saying 
that  they  are  and  have  been  so  poor  that  they 
cannot  even  ask  for  an  advance  in  rates  unless 
somebody  gives  them  the  money  for  the  postage 
to  send  the  letter  to  the  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission.  Of  course,  we  all  pity  the  railroads 
found  in  that  position,  but  they  have  nothing  on 
the  coal  trade. 

However,  their  poverty  has  had  some  influence 
upon  their  attitude  toward  track  facilities,  cars, 
engines,  and  the  like.  Whether  their  poverty  is 
in  part  or  in  whole  a  stall,  the  real  truth  is  that 
they  have  not  been  spending  money  to  put  down 
new  tracks,  to  repair  their  engines  or  to  keep 
their  cars  in  tune. 

If  depreciation  on  a  car  is  ten  per  cent  a 
year  and  if  we  have  had  no  material  charges  to 
repairs  in  three  years,  it  means  that  the  rolling 
stock  of  the  railroads  of  the  United  States  is,  at 
best,  about  seventy  or  eighty  per  cent  of  nor¬ 


mal.  This  means  that  the  railroads  can  only 
handle  at  most  eighty  per  cent  of  the  business 
that  they  could  when  the  equipment  was  in  good 
condition. 

That  would  be  all  right  if  the  railroads  only 
had  eighty  per  cent  of  the  traffic  to  handle.  But, 
unfortunately,  coal  cars  are  devoted  almost  ex¬ 
clusively  to  the  coal  trade.  Instead,  therefore, 
of  only  having  eighty  per  cent  of  the  normal  ton¬ 
nage  of  coal  to  move,  the  railroads  are  going  to 
have  at  least  100  per  cent  of  the  normal  move¬ 
ment  of  coal  this  fall.  This  means  that  the  rail¬ 
roads  are  going  to  be  twenty  per  cent  behind. 

However,  the  fact  must  not  be  left  out  of  con¬ 
sideration  that  no  storage  coal  has  been  moved 
this  summer  for  domestic  use,  therefore  the  rail¬ 
roads  must  move  the  storage  coal  at  the  same 
time  that  they  move  the  coal  for  current  con¬ 
sumption.  Therefore  in  September,  October  and 
November  the  railroads  are  going  to  have  to 
have  about  125  per  cent  of  the  normal  traffic  in 
coal.  They  are  going  to  try  to  do  this  with 
equipment  which  has  only  eighty  per  cent  of  its 
normal  carrying  capacity.  This  simply  means 
that  the  railroads  are  going  to  be  away  behind 
on  the  movement  of  coal  and  that  there  is  really 
some  truth  in  the  statement  of  the  railroad  of¬ 
ficials  that  a  car  shortage  is  evident. 

In  view  of  this  situation,  one  other  fact  must 
not  be  overlooked.  The  export  movement  of 
coal  is  100  per  cent  above  normal.  Any  month 
now,  it  may  be  2W  per  cent  above  normal.  The 
expected  export  movement  will  take  at  least  50,- 
000  cars  constantly  employed.  The  railways  have 
no  time  to  construct  that  many  new  cars,,  so 
these  50,000  must  be  withdrawn  from  the  regular 
channels  of  trade.  This  simply  serves  to  lessen 
the  carrying  capacity  of  railways  from  the  mine 
to  interior  points  and  to  the  same  extent  sug¬ 
gests  a  car  shortage  which  now  seems  so  immi¬ 
nent. 

Under  the  circumstances  it  is  not  wise  or  safe 
to  delay  any  longer  than  is  absolutely  necessary 
the  purchase  of  coal  for  storage. 


Importance  of  Coal  Receiving  Facilities. 


Few  retailers  appreciate,  but  nevertheless  it  is 
true,  that  the  coal  consumers’  facilities  for  receiv¬ 
ing  coal  are  of  as  much  importance  to  him  as  is 
the  equipment  of  his  yard. 

That  is  to  say,  it  solves  only  half  of  the  prob¬ 
lem  for  the  retailer  to  equip  himself  to  unload 
quickly  from  the  cars  and  to  load  it  quickly  into 
his  wagons  and  then  to  move  it  quickly  through 
the  streets.  All  of  this  effort  for  speed  may  be 
nullified  in  part  by  poor  facilities  for  the  receipt 
of  coal  at  destination. 

So  long  as  the  householder  is  not  equipped  to 
receive  coal  quickly  and  easily,  the  retailer  is  but¬ 
ting  his  head  against  a  stone  wall  when  he  tries 
to  save  time.  He  is  going  to  elaborate  expense 
to  speed  up  deliveries  onlv  to  have  his  best  efforts 
vetoed  by  an  indifferent  householder. 

Poor  facilities  for  receiving  coal  do  not  take 
away  all  the  benefits  of  the  efforts  toward  quicker 
delivery,  but  they  do  take  away  about  half  of  the 
result  which  the  retailer  is  striving  to  get. 

The  situation  is  rather  difficult  for  the  retailer 
to  handle  but  not  impossible.  No  householder 
wantonly  makes  coal  delivery  difficult  or  slow. 
He  just  doesn’t  think  about  it.  In  fact  few,  if 
any,  householders  know  that  they  are  costing  the 
retailers  money  by  having  no  place  in  which  coal 
can  be  delivered  quickly.  It  is  a  point  which,  per¬ 
haps,  has  never  been  called  to  their  attention. 

New  house,  new  office  buildings  and  the  like 
are  going  up  almost  every  day.  Architects  are 


busy  all  the  while  in  designing  new  places  where 
coal  is  going  to  be  burned  and  must  be  received. 
The  retail  dealer,  by  working  with  the  house¬ 
holder  and  by  working  with  the  architects,  can  in 
a  very  short  space  of  time  make  considerable 
headway  in  simplifying  this  costly  proposition. 
When  they  realize  that  to  provide  no  easy  place 
to  get  in  coal  may  mean  as  much  as  one-half  or 
one-third  the  whole  delivery  cost  on  coal,  the 
householders  and  the  architects  are  going  to  pay 
some  attention  to  providing  beter  places.  Our 
advice  to  the  retailers,  therefore,  is  to  get  busy 
in  an  effort  to  improve  the  facilities  for  receiving 
coal.  Perhaps  a  little  local  association  work  along 
this  line  will  do  a  lot  of  good. 

The  average  retailer,  this  year,  has  had  first 
rate  example  of  what  current  facilities  mean. 
The  driveways  into  the  yards  have  been  too  light 
or  too  soft  to  accommodate  his  heavy  equipment. 
Therefore  he  could  not  make  delivery  at  all. 
This  has  so  slowed  down  the  movement  of  coal 
that  it  is  going  to  cost  a  whole  lot  more  of  money 
later  because  of  congested  traffic. 


The  ocean  tug  Lackawanna,  owned  by  the  Del¬ 
aware,  Lackawanna  &  Western  Railroad,  and 
chartered  to  the  J.  B.  Kin.g  Company  of  New 
York,  was  recently  sunk  in  Vineyard  Sound, 
about  two  miles  west  of  Handkerchief  Lightship, 
by  being  rammed  by  a  barge.  Two  lives  were 
lost. 


No.  9] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


163 


How  to  Strengthen  Local  Coal  Trade  Conditions.* 


When  we  refer  to  “local  conditions,”  we  mean 
those  that  exist  right  at  home,  and  I  do  not  be¬ 
lieve  they  vary  much  throughout  the  United 
States.  What  pertains  to  one  place  will  come 
pretty  near  fitting  in  any  other  point  where  there 
is  any  coal  business. 

As  a  salesman  in  a  part  of  the  country  where 
coal  is  at  present  looked  upon  as  a  nuisance  and 
a  burden,  I  am  compelled,  under  present  condi¬ 
tions,  to  almost  continually  foster  a  grouch.  The 
coal  salesman,  under  present  conditions,  in  order 
to  bring  in  the  business  must  first  hypnotize  the 
customer  to  make  the  sale,  and  a  little  later  on, 
overpower  him  to  collect  the  money  for  it.  What 
an  improved  condition  it  would  be  to  outline  and 
carry  out  a  policy  by  which  it  would  be  possible 
to  create  and  maintain  a  state  of  affairs  that 
would  make  our  customer  a  desirous  buyer  whose 
requirements  we  would  delight  in  satisfying! 

You  will  agree  with  me  when  I  tell  you  that  I 
know  numbers  of  wholesale  firms  who  are  con¬ 
ducting  their  business  just  as  if  they  expected  to 
suspend  operations  at  the  end  of  the  present 
month.  Of  course,  they  don’t  quit,  but  they  cer¬ 
tainly  act  like  it  and,  at  that,  they  manage  to 
finish  the  year.  And  I  can  describe  how  an  out¬ 
lined  policy  would  help  them  by  recounting  to 
you  an  item  I  once  read  in  a  Chicago  paper  re¬ 
ferring  to  a  citizen  of  this  city,  who  lived  his 
whole  life  here  and  died  at  ninety-three  years, 
and  I  thought  at  the  time,  “What  a  remarkable 
age  he  would  have  reached  had  he  lived  any¬ 
place  else !” 

Consigned  Coal. 

One  of  the  present-day  evils  is  consigned  coal. 
This,  I  consider  one  of  the  worst  handicaps  that 
is  placed  upon  the  satisfactory  disposition  of  coal. 
Its  tendency  is  to  place  the  selling  department 
entirely  at  the  mercy  of  the  trade.  The  slightest 
change  in  the  weather  dumps  a  lot  of  coal  on 
the  market,  and  the  influence  of  demurrage  starts 
a  demoralization  that  only  ends  in  the  other  ex¬ 
treme  of  no  coal  and  a  weak  market. 

This  glut  has  the  tendency  to  place  the  coal 
into  a  bad  account  and  you  can’t  force  the  col¬ 
lection  for  the  reason  that  you  have  placed  your¬ 
self  under  obligation  to  the  customer  when  you 
plead  with  him  to  take  coal  he  didn’t  want,  and 
which  he  had  to  unload  at  an  otherwise  unneces¬ 
sary  expense. 

How  much  safer  for  the  sales  department  that 
the  trade  be  taught  to  estimate  its  wants  for  the 
month  at  least,  and  order  with  the  explicit  under¬ 
standing  that  it  is  to  take  approximately  the 
amount  agreed  upon.  This  cannot  to  any  extent 
injure  the  customer,  because  if  he  is  a  user  of  the 
coal,  he  should  be  prepared  to  store  a  reasonable 
amount  of  it ;  and  if  a  dealer,  he  should  educate 
his  trade  along  the  same  lines.  There  has  not 
been  in  the  last  decade  one  case  where  a  reverse 
order  of  things  benefited  the  jobber  one  dollar’s 
worth.  It  is  unfair  for  the  trade  to  ask  jobbers 
to  keep  a  string  of  loaded  cars  on  hand  and  on 
demurrage  just  in  order  to  satisfy  its  whims  or 
in  order  to  cater  to  every  change  in  the  weather. 

Adjusting  Claims. 

_  A  besetting  evil  of  the  present  time  is  the  prac¬ 
tice  of  adjusting  claims  made  by  customers  for 
shortage  and  damage  in  coal  before  the  status  of 
same  is  established  with  the  common  carrier.  I 
am  safe  in  the  statement  that  unsatisfied  claims 
to  the  extent  of  enough  money  to  run  an  ordinary 
business  will  be  found  upon  the  books  of  every 
jobber  within  the  sound  of  my  voice.  One  of  the 
greatest  improvements  that  can  be  made  upon 
present  conditions  would  be  to  insist  that  cus¬ 
tomers  fight  their  own  battles  with  the  railroad 
companies. 

Allow  me  to  refer  to  the  custom  that  prevails 
in  paying  freight  and  adding  same  to  the  account. 
As  soon  as  a  car  of  coal  arrives,  the  jobber  is 
asked  to  pay  the  freight.  It  used  to  be  the  last 
thing  he  did — but  you  bet  that  has  all  been 
changed  in  our  town,  and  it  is  now  the  first  thing 
he  does.  And,  not  only  that,  but  he  must  guaran¬ 
tee  the  car  service  and  the  switching ;  then  some¬ 
times  the  freight  collection  bureau  collects  from 
the  customer,  and  one  of  them  has  a  devil  of  a 
time  getting  its  money  back. 

Railroad  companies,  the  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission,  the  banks  and  the  legal  department 
have  decided  that  an  expense  bill  is  just  a  sight 
draft  and  means  cash ;  and  when  you  pay  a 
freight  bill  for  a  customer,  you  simply  loan  him 

*Part  of  an  address  before  the  National  Coal  Conven¬ 
tion  in  Chicago. 

tOf  the  Midland  Coal  Company  of  Kansas  City,  Mo. 


By  H.  C.  Mckinney.f 

It  Is  First  Necessary  to  Know  What  Is 
Wrong  Both  in  Wholesale  and  Retail 
Methods  and  to  Get  Each  to  Correct  His 
Own  Practice. 

money  without  any  hope  of  interest.  Then  if 
you  don’t  send  him  out  the  expense  bill,  he  is 
prone  to  accuse  you  of  raising  the  weights  on 
him.  I  say  let’s  quit  paying  freight. 

Credit  Conditions  Bad. 

Credit  conditions  are  bad.  Our  invoices  specify 
that  a  car  of  coal  should  be  paid  for  by  the  tenth 
of  the  month  following  the  shipment;  but  how 
much  are  you  carrying  that  is  ninety  days  or  four 
months  old,  and  scaley  besides? 

Thirty  selling  agencies  in  our  town,  and  cus¬ 
tomers  owing  all  of  them,  and  up  to  three  months 
ago  each  jobber  imagined  he  was  the  only  one. 
Companies  carrying  one  hundred  thousand  dol¬ 
lars  on  their  books  are  making  somebody  a  pres¬ 
ent  of  six  thousand  each  year,  which  would  make 
a  nice  little  profit. 

So  far  in  this  paper,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  I  have 
only  referred  in  a  weak  way  to  a  part  of  the  un¬ 
satisfactory  conditions  of  the  selling  agencies. 
And  perhaps  you  are  tired  of  it  But  I  am  sorry 
to  say  that  the  local  conditions  of  the  retail  coal 
man  are  fully  as  bad,  if  not  worse  than  what  I 
have  already  described. 

Irregular  Shipments  Bother. 

Irregular  shipments  of  coal  are  robbing  the  re¬ 
tail  dealers  all  over  the  country  of  a  large  per  cent 
of  trade  to  which  he  is  undoubtedly  entitled. 
There  is  positively  no  excuse  for  selling  coal  in 
car  load  lots  to  men  and  concerns  who  have  to 
be  served  by  drayage.  The  status  of  a  steam  user 
is  easily  defined,  and  if  his  business  is  not  of 
such  importance  as  to  justify  a  switch,  and  he 
has  the  coal  hauled  to  his  building  or  his  place  of 
business  with  teams  or  trucks,  then  he  should  buy 
it  from  the  man  who  is  equipped  throughout  the 
entire  year  to  take  care  of  him.  I  have  noticed 
that  the  majority  of  men  who  try  to  go  by  the 
retail  dealer  and  buy  coal  by  the  carload  and  at 
carload  rates,  are  the  greatest  kickers  against 
mine  weight  as  a  basis  of  settlement. 

The  wholesale  man  who  asks  for  the  dealer’s  . 
business  should  not  attempt  to  get  his  business 


The  retail  dealer,  accustomed  to  being  classed 
with  the  ice  man,  is  likely  to  wake  up  one  of 
these  days  to  find  himself  a  partner  of  the  gas 
company.  This  is  so  for  the  reason  that  the  gas 
company  will  have  a  domestic  fuel  for  sale  and 
the  retailer  will  have  the  organization  for  selling 
it.  The  two  very  naturally  are  going  to  work  to¬ 
gether  because  they  will  belong  together. 

The  gas  company  is  organized  mainly  to  pro¬ 
duce  illuminating  and  heating  gas.  In  order  to 
supply  gas,  it  has  to  treat  coal.  As  it  treats  coal 
to  get  gas,  it  naturallv  gets  a  by-product  of  coke 
• — and  a  few  other  things — which  remain  on  its 
hands  for  sale. 

There  is  where  the  retailer  comes  in.  he  is 
going  to  have  to  help  sell  this  coke.  That  time  is 
coming  pretty  rapidly  for  this  reason.  It  costs 
about  a  million  dollars  to  build  even  a  small  by¬ 
product  coke  and  gas  plant.  One  of  even  fair 
size  costs  a  couple  of  million  dollars.  The  valu¬ 
able  products  from  that  plant  are  the  gas  and 
the  coke.  The  gas  rates  are  fixed  by  the  legis¬ 
lature  or  the  city  council  and  usually  they  are 
not  lilieral.  To  get  a  profit  out  of  the  gas  plant, 
the  coke  also  must  be  sold  at  a  pretty  fair  figure. 

Heretofore  the  coke  has  been  disposed  of 
mainly  to  foundries,  blast  furnaces  and  steel  mills. 
The  steel  mills  are  now  using  gas  largely  and 
that  curtails  the  consumption  of  coke.  Not 
enough  new  furnaces  and  foundries  are  Ijeing 
built  to  consume  all  the  coke  that  is  being  pro¬ 
duced  in  ever  increasing  volume.  And  so,  a  new 
market  must  be  found  for  it.  The  natural  sug¬ 
gestion  is  that  it  can  be  used  as  a  dome.stic  fuel. 
So,  the  crushed  sizes  of  coke  are  being  offered  to 
the  retailer  and  through  him  to  the  public.  The 
furnace  and  foundry  market  is  already  over¬ 
stocked. 


away  from  him  by  selling  to  the  customer  who 
legitimately  belongs  to  him.  This  is  an  evil  exist¬ 
ing  in  the  present  condition  of  the  retailer  that 
this  national  assocation  can  deal  with  directly, 
and  the  position  it  takes  on  this  subject  will  have 
a  great  deal  to  do  with  the  support  that  will  come 
from  the  retail  dealers  throughout  the  country. 

In  my  work  organizing  coal  clubs  in  towns,  the 
first  question  asked  me  is,  “How  can  we  stop  coal 
coming  here  direct  to  consumers?” 

Official  statistics  show  us  that  domestic  coal 
represents  fifty  per  cent  of  the  tonnage  of  the 
United  States,  and  with  these  facts  in  view,  I 
believe  we  should  consider  seriously  how  to  raise 
the  standard  of  the  business  of  the  retail  dealer. 
We  can  best  do  this  by  more  thoroughly  educat¬ 
ing  them  in  business  methods. 

One  of  the_  shortcomings  of  the  average  retail 
dealer  is  his  ignorance  in  figuring  his  costs.  His 
bookkeeping  is  thought  by  him  to  be  complete 
when  he  fills  his  ledger  full  of  open  accounts  with 
his  customers  and  his  wholesale  house,  when  it  is 
really  but  a  small  part  of  true  accounting.  A  man 
may  be  satisfied  in  his  own  mind  that  he  has  a 
grievance,  but  if  he  is  ignorant  of  the  proper  pro- 
ceedure  to  establish  the  evidence,  it  will  avail  him 
nothing  with  the  claim  agent  of  a  railroad  com¬ 
pany.  Technical  information  must  be  acquired — 
not  that  it  is  intricate  or  that  it  requires  the  sharp 
practice  of  a  lawyer,  but  it  must  follow  lines 
drawn  by  railroad  rules,  which  are  backed  up  by 
the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  and  the 
legal  department. 

A  thorough  understanding  of  the  various 
papers  read  in  this  national  convention,  and  a  fol¬ 
lowing  up  of  the  points  made,  and  the  theories 
put  into  everyday  practice,  would  so  revolutionize 
this  vast  army  of  retail  coal  men  that  the  busi¬ 
ness  would  take  upon  itself  such  dignity  as  to 
make  it  worthy  of  one  of  the  greatest  gifts  God 
has  bestowed  upon  mankind. 

What  the  retail  dealer  throughout  this  country 
needs  is  business  education,  and  this  education 
can  best  be  acquired  through  the  best  offices  of 
organization.  And  my  plan  for  organization  is  to 
start  at  both  ends  and  work  toward  a  meeting 
point.  Local  organizations  (or  I  call  them  “coal 
clubs”)  more  quickly  get  to  the  hearts  and  to  the 
minds  of  country  dealers.  They  know  their  own 
needs  and  in  conferring  with  each  other,  they  can 
soon  devise  a  way  of  securing  the  right  help.  At 
the_  other  end  is  the  National  Coal  Association 
which  can.  through  trade  journals  and  by  per¬ 
sonal  correspondence,  disseminate  information 
necessary  to  the  building  up  of  coal  ethics. 


The  big  point  for  the  retailer  to  remember  is : 
The  gas  companies  will  go  a  certain  distance  only 
along  the  old  line  before  they  find  that  they  have 
adopted,  perhaps,  a  wrong  policy  when  they  made 
their  coke  primarily  for  the  steel  trade  and  then 
tried  to  sell  the  left-over  sizes  to  the  domestic 
trade. 

They  are  going  to  find,  before  long,  that  what 
they  really  want  is  first  gas  and  after  that  a 
satisfactory  domestic  fuel.  So  we  are  going  to 
get  gas  on  one  side  and  a  new  smokeless  domestic 
fuel  on  the  other.  We  will  still  have  the  manu¬ 
factured  fuel,  but  it  will  not  be  a  metalurgical  coke 
crushed  down  to  sizes  which  meet  the  domestic 
demands. 

When  the  time  comes — indications  are  that  it 
is  almost  here — the  retail  coal  dealer  will  be  a 
direct  agent  of  the  gas  company  in  distributing 
this  manufactured  fuel  or  he  will  find  the  gas 
company  in  competition  with  him.  The  only  way 
that  the  retail  dealer  can  avoid  having  the  gas 
company  as  a  competitor,  is  to  start  out  now  and 
prove  a  more  efficient  distributing  agent  for  the 
gas  company’s  by-product  than  that  concern  can 
lie  for  itself. 

This  article  is  not  written  to  advertise  coke. 
Rather  it  is  intended  solely  to  give  the  retailer  a 
tip  as  to  what  may  be  good  business  policy. 


Julian  B.  Huff,  president  of  the  Latrobe-Con- 
nellsville  Coal  &  Coke  Company,  has  announced 
the  appointment  of  Messrs.  B.  Nicoll  &  Company 
as  sales  agents  for  the  distribution  of  the  coal 
produced  by  the  Latrobc-Connellsville  Coal  & 
Coke  Company,  whose  mines  are  in  the  famous 
Pittsburgh  vein,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Latrobe, 
Pennsylvania. 


Gas  Companies  and  the  Domestic  Fuel  Question. 


164 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[August  28 


Prices  of  Feed  for  the  Retailer’s  Horses 


Recent  inquiry  among  dealers  in  feed  indi¬ 
cates  that  prices,  on  the  15th  of  August  this  year, 
were  ten  to  twenty-five  per  cent  above  what  they 
were  on  the  15th  of  August  last  year. 

At  that  time  a  year  ago  they  were  from  fifteen 
to  fifty  per  cent  above  what  they  had  been  before 
the  European  war  was  declared. 

Quite  a  number  of  feed  dealers,  consulted  on 
this  point,  made  the  prophecy  that  before  the 
winter  is  over  prices  of  all  feed  will  be  higher 
than  they  are  now.  Some  say  that  they  will  he 
twenty  to  thirty-five  or  possibly  forty  per  cent 
higher  than  they  were  on  the  first  of  September 
last  year. 

There  is,  perhaps,  some  very  good  reason  for 
this  ri.se  in  price.  The  government  reports  have 
indicated  a  bumper  crop  of  all  cereals.  However, 
the  only  grain  on  which  the  report  was  at  all 
definite  was  wheat  and  that  is  not  considered, 
commonly,  as  a  feed  for  horses.  The  oats  crop, 
it  is  true,  is  large,  but  it  is  not  as  big  as  re¬ 
ports  have  indicated.  Plenty  of  oats  were  grown, 
but  a  big  percentage  of  it  is  damaged  by  the 
continuous  wet  weather. 

Plenty  of  ofT-grade  oats  is  on  the  market  and 
the  price  seems  to  be  reasonable.  However,  the 
oats  are  wet.  Even  when  bought  at  a  low  price 
they  have  to  be  treated  by  being  dried  out  or  in 
some  other  way  to  remove  the  moisture.  If  this 
is  not  done  they  will  mildew  and  spoil.  The  cost 


Customarily,  at  this  time  of  the  year,  the  oper¬ 
ators  want  to  know  about  how  much  coal  has 
moved  to  retailers  and  through  them  to  the 
householders  for  the  summer.  They  naturally 
want  to  know  because  upon  that  will  hinge  the 
operators’  prices  for  the  winter  months.  If  the 
retailer  has  moved  little  coal,  the  operators  ex¬ 
pect  to  get  a  good  price.  If  the  retailer  and  the 
householder  jointly  move  a  lot  of  coal,  the  oper¬ 
ator  knows  that  he  is  going  to  have  a  slim  year. 

This  year,  the  number  of  inquiries  coming  to 
us  have  been  unusually  large.  The  operators 
wanted  specified  information.  Consequently,  we 
have  tried  to  get  an  idea  of  what  is  going  on. 
We  have  inquired  in  detail  about  the  territory 
west  of  Chicago  and  extending  north  to  the 
Canadian  boundary. 

In  that  territory,  we  find  that  the  retailers  have 
stored  about  seventy-five  per  cent  of  the  normal 
amount  of  anthracite  coal,  but  not  to  exceed 
thirty  per  cent  of  the  normal  amount  of  bi¬ 
tuminous.  Several  operating  companies,  basing 
their  statements  upon  their  own  figures  and  those 
obtained  from  their  neighbors,  make  the  state¬ 
ment  that  the  retailers  have  not  stored  more  than 
fifteen  per  cent  of  the  bituminous  coal  they  nor¬ 
mally  do.  Some  retailers  have  stored  none  at 
all.  As  a  result,  we  believe  that  it  is  carrying 
conservation  to  the  utmost  to  say  that  as  much 
as  thirty  per  cent  of  the  coal  normally  going  into 
storage  in  the  summer  months  has  already  been 
moved. 

This  is  going  to  give  the  retailer  something  to 
think  about  for  the  next  three  or  four  months. 
The  weather  has  been  wet  and  the  roads  soft, 
hence  the  farmers  have  not  done  very  much 
hauling.  Therefore  the  farmers  still  have  to 
take  their  coal. 

Money  has  been  short  and  very  few  persons 
have  been  planning  the  future  with  any  hope  or 


Sometimes  the  retail  dealer  wonders  what  is 
delaying  the  coal  which  he  ordered  shipped  from 
the  mines  and  which  takes  such  a  mighty  long 
time  to  get  to  him. 

He  figures  the  distance  from  the  mines  to  his 
yard.  Then  he  figures  what  he  could  do  with 
an  automobile  or  an  auto  truck  covering  the  same 
distance.  When  the  coal  takes  three  to  five  times 
as  long  to  travel  by  railroad  as  it  would  to  travel 
over  the  country  roads,  the  retailer  begins  to 
ask  questions.  Sometimes  he  puts  these  up  to  the 
wholesaler  or  producer.  When  he  asks  those 
questions,  it  is  always  with  an  inflection  in  the 
voice  which  indicates  that  he  does  not  believe 
that  the  operator  is  telling  him  the  whole  truth 
and  nothing  but  the  truth  when  he  says  that  the 
fault  is  with  the  railroad. 


of  treatment,  of  course,  increased  the  purchase 
price. 

Also,  the  oats  are  fully  a  month  late  in  com¬ 
ing  to  market.  The  farmers  could  not  move  them 
l)ccause  the  roads  were  too  wet  to  permit  haulage. 
The  farmers  had  a  very  good  sized  crop  but  they 
had  no  way  of  drying  it  out  and  therefore  a  good 
deal  of  the  crop  was  spoiled  by  being  mildewed. 
This  is  going  to  subtract  appreciably  from  the 
total  yield.  That,  in  itself,  will  make  the  price 
higher. 

Further,  the  corn  crop  is  decidedly  late  this 
year.  In  some  places  the  farmers  had  to  plant 
the  second  time  in  order  to  get  a  crop  at  all. 
The  second  planting  was  so  late  as  to  make  it 
uncertain  whether  a  mature  crop  could  be  ready 
l)efore  frost.  Many  farmers  do  not  care  whether 
they  have  a  marketable  crop  of  corn  or  not.  They 
can  gather  the  fodder  and  some  corn  and  grind  it 
all  up  and  put  it  into  a  silo  to  be  used  for  feed 
for  their  own  stock.  However,  this  is  not  going 
to  to  satisfy  the  city  demand,  which  must  have 
the  mature  and  the  dried  corn. 

For  these  reasons,  the  feed  dealers  are  pre¬ 
dicting  very  high  prices  for  feed  this  winter.  If 
high  prices  rule,  of  course  the  retailers  will  have 
to  pay.  The  point  is  that  this  is  going  to  increase 
the  cost  of  delivering  coal  and  the  retailer  is  not 
safe  unless  he  increases  his  price  in  order  to 
cover  this  larger  cost. 


courage.  Consequently,  even  among  the  richer 
class,  the  storage  movement  this  year  has  been 
very  small.  For  that  reason  the  retailer  has 
bought  very  little.  The  coal  is  still  to  be  moved. 

Also  the  operators  had  lost  quite  a  lot  of  money 
because  they  had  lost  business.  The  fact  is  their 
steam  trade  was  not  up  to  the  normal  and  they 
were  losing  more  money  than  is  customary  in 
summer.  They  did  not  care  to  compound  their 
losses  by  cutting  prices  on  the  coal  sold  to  the 
retailers.  Hence  the  domestic  coal  prices  have 
been  higher  this  year  than  they  have  before.  Be¬ 
cause  he  has  been  in  rebellion  against  these  higher 
prices,  the  retailer  has  not  bought  much  coal. 

These  are  the  facts  in  the  case  and  now  the 
question : 

“How  are  we  going  to  get  this  coal  to  the  re¬ 
tailer  and  from  him  on  to  the  consumer  in  the 
busy  months  which  are  just  ahead.  In  September, 
October  and  November  the  retailer  normally  has 
about  all  he  can  do.  This  year  he  is  going  to 
have  the  regular  volume  plus  a  lot  of  this  storage 
coal  to  handle.  There  is  only,  in  the  winter,  one 
slow  month  and  that  is  customarily  December. 
Still  the  retailer  does  not  close  down  his  yard  for 
December ;  he  merely  has  a  little  surplus  time  in 
which  he  can  move  some  coal.  That  is  the  only 
time  this  year  that  he  is  going  to  have  to  catch 
up  on  the  business  that  he  should  have  been 
doing  all  of  this  summer. 

All  things  considered,  the  slow  storage  move¬ 
ment  of  the  last  two  or  three  months  does  not 
give  the  retailer  a  very  encouraging  prospect  for 
the  next  two  or  three  months.  It  seems  to  mean 
long  hours,  hard  work  and  a  tremendous  strain 
on  his  delivery  equipment  if  he  is  going  to  do 
the  normal  volume  of  business. 

This  is  unfortunate  for  the  retail  system  a.s  a 
whole,  for  it  makes  such  a  splendid  opening  for 
the  “snow-birds.” 


Nevertheless,  it  is  true  that  a  railroad  can  move 
a  car  at  the  rate  of  250  miles  a  day  or  more 
between  cities.  Still,  the  slowing  down  of  the 
movement  through  the  terminals  is  so  great  that 
the  average  movement  from  mine  to  destination 
is  at  the  rate  of  only  twenty-five  or  thirty  miles 
a  day.  In  fact,  the  latter  is  the  record  figure  of 
the  United  States. 

A  recent  example  indicates  that  the  delay  is  not 
always  caused  by  the  congestion  of  these  ter¬ 
minal  facilities.  Sometimes  it  may  be  caused  by 
the  fact  that  railroad  men  in  charge  of  the  ter¬ 
minals  are  not  actively  on  the  job  and  are  not 
watching  the  shipments. 

For  example,  a  Chicago  wholesaler  sold  a  car¬ 
load  of  coal  to  a  dealer  in  Maywood,  Illinois. 
The  coal  originated  in  West  Virginia — a  good  500 


miles  from  Chicago.  It  covered  that  distance  in 
exactly  seven  days  and,  therefore,  negotiated  not 
only  the  cross  country  haul  but  all  of  the 
division  terminals  en  route.  It  got  up  to  Chicago 
and  was  still  fifteen  miles  away  from  destination. 
It  took  the  Chicago  railroads  nine  days  to  get  the 
car  that  final  fifteen  miles. 

The  consignee  in  question  happened  to  have  a 
need  for  the  coal.  The  producer  in  question  had 
no  more  business  than  the  law  allows  and  was 
thankful  for  the  order.  He  wanted,  of  course,  to 
give  the  retailer  service.  After  a  delay  of  seven 
days,  a  skilled  railroad  and  coal  man  was  put 
on  the  job  to  trace  that  particular  car.  He  was 
on  the  telephone  for  exactly  two  hours  before  he 
could  get  any  information  as  to  where  the  car 
zoas. 

He  called  first  the  railroad  which  was  to  de¬ 
liver  the  coal  to  destination.  He  had  to  make 
three  calls  before  he  could  get  in  touch  with  the 
party  who  was  supposed  to  know  anything  about 
the  car. 

Then  he  was  referred  by  him  to  the  belt  line, 
from  which  that  railroad  was  expected  to  get  the 
car.  It  took  two  telephone  calls  to  get  the  party 
there  who  knew  anything  about  it.  He  in  turn 
disavowed  any  knowledge  of  the  car  but  passed 
the  inquirer  on  to  another  belt  line. 

There  two  more  calls  were  necessary  with  the 
same  result — nobody  seemed  to  know  anything 
about  it. 

He  was  finally  referred  to  the  Illinois  Central 
which  was  to  deliver  the  coal  in  Chicago.  After 
two  or  three  calls  there,  it  was  finally  discovered 
that  the  coal  had  been  transferred  to  the  belt 
line  which  had  just  claimed  no  knowledge  of  it. 
Only  when  the  car  tracer  was  able  to  dig  up  the 
name  of  the  conductor  and  the  number  of  engine, 
etc.,  that  pulled  the  car  to  the  first  belt  railroad 
was  he  able  to  get  any  information  from  that 
railroad  at  all.  Then,  the  information  was  that 
it  had  been  passed  on  to  the  second  belt. 

Confronted  by  such  specific  information,  the 
second  belt  finally  acknowledged  receipt  of  the 
coal  and  said  finally  that  it  had  passed  on  to  the 
railroad  that  was  to  make  ultimate  delivery. 

That  is,  in  dull  times,  when  the  railroads  are 
not  congested  with  traffic,  everything  was  running 
at  loose  ends  and  coal  was  delayed  which  should 
have  been  rushed  through  in  short  order.  Be¬ 
cause  of  loose  railroad  discipline  it  had  taken,  up 
to  that  time,  more  than  seven  days  to  move  one 
car  fifteen  miles.  Before  it  got  to  the  final 
destination  it  was  nine  days.  That  meant  sixteen 
days  from  mines  to  destination,  whereas  the  orig¬ 
inating  roads  had  hauled  the  coal  over  500  miles 
in  seven  days. 

This  is  one  of  the  reasons  why  the  retailer’s 
coal  is  often  much  longer  in  getting  to  him  than 
he  things  it  should  be. 


Government  Gets  Refund. 


Dentcr,  August  23. —  (Special  Correspondence.) 
— Following  the  settlement  of  a  case  long  pend¬ 
ing  1)etween  the  government  and  the  American 
Smelting  &  Refining  Company,  the  sum  of  $112,- 
766.88  was  paid  a  few  days  ago  by  the  Guggen- 
heims.  The  sum  named  was  payment  for  coal 
taken  from  mines  at  Aguilar  and  Cokedale, 
which  were  said  to  be  part  of  the  coal  lands 
obtained  liy  the  Guggenheim  company  fraudu¬ 
lently. 

In  addition  to  the  above  cash  settlement,  3,475 
acres  of  coal  lands  have  been  returned  to  the 
federal  government  on  the  ground  of  being  ob¬ 
tained  through  fraud. 

Two  hundred  and  five  acres  of  land  have  been 
sold  by  the  government  to  the  company.  The 
land  is  covered  with  expensive  buildings  and  the 
government  did  not  wish  to  cause  unnecessary 
loss,  so  it  agreed  to  accept  payment  for  the  205 
acres  on  which  the  huildings  had  been  erected, 
and  which  are  near  other  lands  which  are  not  in¬ 
volved  in  litigation.  To  acquire  perfect  title  to 
the  lands  which  have  passed  back  to  the  govern¬ 
ment,  the  smelting  company  must  buy  the  tract 
outright. 

There  were  two  suits  involved,  one  in  equity 
to  compel  the  return  of  the  coal  lands  and  to 
cancel  patents;  the  other  a  law  action  to  compel 
the  company  to  pay  the  government  for  the  coal 
already  mined  from  the  land  in  dispute.  The 
decree  was  entered  by  Judge  Trieber  of 
Arkansas. 


The  annual  distribution  of  coal  contracts  by 
the  Baltirtiore  and  Ohio  occurred  the- past  week. 
About  6,000,000  tons  are  now  under  contract  for 
delivery  to  the  road.  The  Consolidation  and 
other  large  shippers  along  the  road  got  the  most 
of  the  order,  as  is  the  usual  custom. 


The  Retailer  and  the  Coal  Storage  Movement 


Getting  Coal  Through  Congested  Terminal  Yards 


No.  9] 


165 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


Making  a  Record  With  a  Small  Truck. 


The  Getzinger  Coal  Company,  of  Chicago,  be¬ 
lieving  that  a  rtiotor  truck  would  pay  on  small 
as  well  as  large  tonnages  and  on  short  as  well 
as  long  hauls,  recently  made  an  experiment  using 
a  two-ton  Autocar  and  a  two-ton  Lee  loader. 

My  attention  and  interest  were  from  the  small 
dealer’s  standpoint,  and  whether  or  not  such 
equipment  as  described  above  was  going  to  solve 
the  problem  confronting  the  small  dealer  who 
doesn’t  think  his  business  warrants  his  buying 
and  using  a  large  motor  truck  and  installing  ex¬ 
tensive  loading  facilities. 

I  was  out  at  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern, 
Montrose  boulevard  team  track  before  the  loader 
was  hauled  into  position  beside  the  car  of  coal 
and  before  the  truck  had  received  its  first  load. 
I  saw  a  Lee  loader,  which  has  been  previously 
described  in  the  paper,  placed  beside  a  car  of 
lump  coal,  and  three  men  set  to  work  throwing 
coal  into  the  hopper.  It  required  about  ten 
minutes  for  these  three  shovelers  to  fill  up  the 
hopper,  which  was  of  two-ton  capacity,  and  re¬ 
quired  about  thirty  seconds  for  the  dumping  of 
the  coal  from  the  hopper  into  the  truck.  The 
truck  started  out  at  8 :35  a.  m.  and  returned  in 
six  minutes,  after  making  a  complete  round  trip 
of  seven-eighths  mile,  weighing  and  dumping 
the  load  included.  The  following  is  a  record  of 
the  work  accomplished  by  the  loader  and  the 
motor  truck  during  that  day,  August  17. 
MOVEMENT  OF  COAL  FOR  GETZINGER  COAL  COM¬ 
PANY  FROM  RAVENSWOOD  TEAM  TRACK,  CHI¬ 
CAGO,  TUESDAY,  AUGUST  17,  1915. 

I  oad  I.nad  Load 

No.  No.  No. 


1 

Out 

8 

:33 

17 

Out 

11 

:44 

33 

Out 

4 

:40 

In 

8 

:41 

In 

11 

;53 

In 

4 

:49 

2 

Out 

8 

:46 

18 

Out 

11 

:56 

34 

Out 

4 

:53 

In 

8 

:54 

In 

Lu 

nch 

In 

5 

;03 

3 

Out 

8 

;59 

19 

Out 

12 

;45 

35 

Out 

5 

:07 

In 

9: 

;05 

In 

12: 

:59 

In 

5 

:16 

4 

Out 

9 

•07 

20 

Out 

1 

:08 

36 

Out 

5 

;18 

In 

9; 

:15 

In 

1: 

20 

In 

6: 

;36 

5 

Out 

9; 

;19 

21 

Out 

1: 

:25 

37 

Out 

5; 

:39 

In 

9; 

;25 

In 

1; 

;3i 

In 

5: 

:49 

6 

Out 

9: 

;30 

22 

Out 

1; 

:37 

38 

Out 

5; 

;50 

In 

9; 

:S6 

In 

1; 

:50 

In 

6 

:01 

7 

Out 

9; 

:42 

23 

Out 

1: 

53 

39 

Out 

6 

;07 

In 

9: 

;52 

In 

2: 

:08 

In 

6 

;15 

8 

Out 

9: 

:53 

24 

Out 

2 

:19 

40 

Out 

6: 

;19 

In 

10; 

:03 

In 

2; 

;26 

In 

6; 

:27 

9 

Out 

10: 

:09 

25 

Out 

2: 

:30 

41 

Out 

6 

;30 

In 

10: 

:15 

In 

2 

:43 

In 

6 

:42 

10 

Out 

10 

:19 

26 

Out 

2 

:46 

42 

Out 

6 

:45 

In 

10 

:25 

In 

2 

:58 

In 

6 

:53 

11 

Out 

10: 

:30 

27 

Out 

3 

;02 

43 

Out 

6 

:59 

In 

10 

:48 

In 

3 

:16 

In 

7 

:07 

12 

Out 

10 

:49 

28 

Out 

3 

:17 

44 

Out 

7 

:10 

In 

10 

:56 

In 

3 

:32 

In 

7 

:18 

13 

Out 

10 

:57 

29 

Out 

3 

:39 

45 

Out 

7 

:22 

In 

11 

:05 

In 

3 

:52 

In 

7 

:30 

14 

Out 

11 

:10 

30 

Out 

3 

:53 

46 

Out 

7 

:42 

In 

11 

;20 

In 

4 

:01 

In 

7 

:50 

15 

Out 

11 

:21 

31 

Out 

4 

;07 

47 

Out 

8 

:15 

In 

11 

:30 

In 

4 

:21 

In 

8 

:30 

16 

Out 

11 

:33 

32 

Out 

4 

:26 

48 

Out 

8 

:40 

In 

11 

:43 

In 

4 

:36 

Average  length  of  trip,  1.65  miles. 
Labor  cost,  exclusive  of  driver,  $8.64. 


Let  US  compare  this  method  of  loading  and 


hauling  coal  with  the  customary  throwing  of 
coal  directly  into  the  wagon  box  and  delivering 
it  by  teams.  With  the  ordinary  means  of  load¬ 
ing  and  delivering  coal  the  team  could  only 
have  hauled  and  delivered  fifty  tons  of  coal  at 
the  outside,  taking  in  the  fact  that  it  would 
require  thirty  minutes  for  the  team  to  make  a 
trip  of  seven-eighths  mile  weigh,  and  unload. 
During  this  thirty  minutes  the  shovelers  in  the 
car  would  be  idle.  Figuring  eleven  hours  a  day, 
the  team  would  have  made  twenty  trips  and 
with  the  ordinary  wagon  box  of  two  and  one-half 
ton  capacity  making  a  total  of  about  forty-uve 
tons  of  coal.  The  motor  truck  and  loader  hauled 
ninety-six  tons  of  coal  with  the  same  number 
of  shovelers  in  the  same  length  of  time,  with 
an  increase  of  haulage  capacity  of  about  sixty 
per  cent. 

Comparing  the  use  of  this  method  of  equip¬ 
ment  with  that  equipment  of  the  ordinary  motor 


Getzinger’s  Two-Ton  Auto  Car 


truck  user  of  throwing  the  coal  directly  into 
the  truck,  it  would  have  required  twelve  minutes 
at  least  for  the  truck  to  receive  the  load  and  the 
same  time  in  making  the  trip.  During  the  twelve 
minutes  while  the  truck  was  making  the  trip  the 
men  would  be  idle,  whereas  if  they  had  been 
throwing  coal  into  the  loader  and  the  truck  could 
have  driven  up  and  received  its  load  in  thirty 
seconds,  the  truck  would  have  made  at  least  two 
trips  while  the  men  were  idle  waiting  for  the 
return  of  the  truck. 

Therefore,  the  use  of  a  Lee  loader  and  a  two- 
ton  truck  made  possible  twenty-eight  more  trips 
than  could  have  been  made  by  teams  and  seven¬ 
teen  more  trips,  a  movement  of  thirty  tons  or 
nearly  fifty-five  per  cent,  greater  than  could  have 
been  accomplished  by  the  ordinary  use  of  motor 
trucks.  Traveler. 


How  the  Retailer  Should  Advertise  His  Coal. 


“This  space  costs  us  real  money,  and  we  are 
not  sure  of  the  copy?” 

Such  was  the  notation  appended  to  the  ad¬ 
vertisement  of  Geo.  H.  Rudy  &  Co.,  Owensboro, 
Ky.,  a  reproduction  of  which  is  printed  herewith. 
The  original  advertisement  measured  15J4  x  7 
inches. 

We  are  led  to  believe  that  this  company  wishes 
us  to  criticise  the  advertisement,  and  maybe  sug¬ 
gest  a  change  or  two  for  its  betterment.  This 
being  the  case,  let  us  pick  it  to  pieces  from  an 
advertising  point  of  view. 

First  let  us  look  at  the  display,  the  set-up, 


the  type  arrangement.  It  is  good.  There  is 
plenty  of  white  space  to  make  the  reading  matter 
stand  out,  and  the  type-matter  is  neatly  and  at¬ 
tractively  arranged,  though  we  prefer  up  and 
down  sizes  rather  than  across  the  page  ads.  Up 
and  down  ads  are  a  more  familiar  sight  to  the 
average  reader. 

Let  us  look  to  the  text  of  the  reading-matter. 
Let  us  look  at  the  first  line,  the  catch-line,  the 
line  that  is  supposed  to  catch  the  eye  of  the 
reader.  “Dependable  Coal,”  Why  is  it  dependable 
coal  ?  Oh,  yes,  the  second  line  says,  “There  when 
you  need  it,”  and  “The  same  coal  all  the  time.” 


Simday  \hniiiie— OTTFX.Knono  TNQrTRRR  — .Tulv  lOl'j 


Dependable  Coal 

Grown  in  Oaviees  County 

There  When  You  Need  It-The  Same  Coal  a!!  the  Time 
Direct  from  Our  Mines,  Three  Miles  We.st  of  the  City 
Now  is  the  time  to  buy  Coal— to  wait  means  you  pay  more 

GEO.  H.  RUDY  &  COMPANY 

Onrorpo'Dlrif) 

Succe.ssful  Miners  of  Coal.  Home  Phone  1220;  Cumb.  Phone  37 1' 


Advertisement  of  Geo.  H.  Rudy  &  Co.,  of  Owensboro,  Ky. 


Now  let  us  look  at  this  “ad”  from  the  coal 
buyer’s  standpoint.  For  instance  I’m  a  coal 
buyer,  and  coal  is  something  I  cannot  afford  to 
or  do  not  want  to  run  short  of.  The  minute 
I  see  my  coal  bin  getting  empty,  I  hustle  up, 
and  see  that  it  is  immediately  filled  or  that  there 
is  an  adequate  supply  on  hand.  Maybe  I’ve  had 
trouble  in  getting  coal  when  I  need  it,  and  in 
always  getting  coal  as  good  as  the  last  lot.  If 
I  have  experienced  that  trouble,  then  “Depend¬ 
able  Coal”  will  attract  and  interest  me,  and  I 
will  read  on  and  find  out  the  name  of  the  com¬ 
pany  offering  that  dependable  service  and  reliable 
coal. 

But  suppose  I  have  never  had  any  trouble  in 
getting  coal  when  I  want  it  and  how  I  want  it. 
Then  “Dependable  Coal”  will  not  attract  or  inter¬ 
est  rne,  and  I  doubt  whether  or  not  I  will  take 
the  time  to  find  out  the  name  of  some  other  com¬ 
pany  offering  no  better  service  or  coal  than 
that  which  I  have  been  using  and  accustomed  to. 

Now  suppose  that  line  read,  “Dependable  Coal, 
a  little  better  than  that  which  you  have  been 
using  at  a  little  lower  price  than  you  have  been 
paying,  and  service  a  little  more  satisfactory  than 
that  which  you  have  been  accustomed  to.”  Then 
I  could  not  help  but  be  interested,  and  there 
would  be  an  immediate  desire  created  in  me  to 
try  that  company  and  its  coal.  So  much  for  the 
change  in  the  catch-line. 

Let  us  go  on.  “Direct  from  our  mines,  three 
miles  West  of  the  City.”  Certainly  that  definitely 
explains  the  location  of  the  mines,  but  wherein 
does  such  information  create  any  desire  in  me 
to  buy  coal  from  Geo.  Ft.  Rudy  &  Co.,  and  cre¬ 
ating  a  desire  to  buy  is  the  purpose  of  all  ad¬ 
vertising.  Ah,  if  the  advertisement  only  read, 
“Direct  from  our  mines,  three  miles  West  of 
the  City,  assuring  the  buyer  of  prompt  and 
reliable  deliveries,  lower  prices,  because  of  the 
shorter  haul,  and  a  pure,  unmixed,  unadulterated 
coal.” 

“Now  is^  the  time  to  buy, — to  wait  means  you 
pay  more.”  Oh  ho,  this  company  is  threatening 
to  make  me  pay  more,  unless  I  heed  their  warn¬ 
ing.  1 11  show  them  whether  or  not  any  threat 
of  theirs  is  going  to  make  me  buy. 

Now  the  company  is  not  doing  any  such  thing. 
It  is  not  threatening.  Its  only  purpose  in  telling 
the  reader  of  the  higher  prices,  is  to  save  him 
some  money.  The  intentions  are  of  the  best. 
Then  how  much  better  it  would  be  to  say,  “Slack 
times,  men  to  keep  busy  and  a  dull  business  sea¬ 
son  enables  us  to  quote  prices  much  lower  than 
those  prices  during  times  when  we  have  all  we 
can  do  to  fill  orders  in  keeping  up  with  the 
demand  caused  by  cold  weather  and  last  minute 
buyers.  If  you  buy  coal  at  this  time,  you  not 
only  save  a  surprisingly  large  amount  of  money 
per  ton,  but  also  a  material  percentage  of  your 
winter’s  coal  bill.  Take  advantage  of  this  op¬ 
portunity  by  phoning  or  mailing  your  order  to 
the  - etc.” 

A  saving  always  sounds  so  much  better  to 
the  buyer  than  the  words  “will  cost  you  so  much 
more  do.  Always  say  that  it  will  save  you 
so  much,  and  not  that  it  will  cost  you  so  much 
more. 

Read  over  these  changes  and  suggestions,  and 
see  if  we  haven’t  made  the  advertisement  a  little 
more  attractive,  a  little  more  interesting,  and 
above  all  a  little  stronger  in  its  appeal  to  the 
regular  or  prospective  coal  buyer  to  buy  from 
Geo.  H.  Rudy  &  Co.,  the  next  time  he  is  in  the 
market. 


First  Aid  Teams. 


The  first  team  to  win,  as  a  prize,  the  privilege 
of  representing  its  state  and  section  in  the  Third 
Annual  Joint  hield  Meet  and  Demonstration  of 
the  United  States  Bureau  of  Mines  and  the 
American  Mine  Safety  Association,  to  be  held  in 
San  Francisco,  California,  September  2.3-24,  is 
the  Lehigh,  Oklahoma,  team. 

This  team  won  the  interstate  championship  of 
the  southwest  in  the  contest  held  recently  at 
Kansas  City  between  teams  representing  six 
southwestern  states,  these  teams  having  been  se¬ 
lected  as  a  result  of  state-wide  meets  previously 
held  in  the  various  states.  At  the  Kansas  City 
meet,  which  was  held  in  Convention  hall,  the  fol¬ 
lowing  scores  were  made,  out  of  a  possible  900 : 


Lehigh,  Okla.,  team .  ggg 

Fronten.ac,  Kans.,  team . ggg 

Hocking,  Iowa,  team . 1 .  g43 

’Texas  team .  g24 

Revier,  Mo.,  team .  g23 

Calhoun,  Okla.,  team  (representing  Arkansas) .  812 


The  regular  Texas  team  did  not  appear  at  the  con¬ 
test,  the  team  listed  being  a  “scruh”  team  picked  from 
the  audience  in  oriier  to  make  the  six  teams.  This  team 
did  not  compete  for  the  grand  prize. 


166 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[August  28 


Men  Prominent  in  the  Coal  Trade’s  Eye. 


H.  A.  Kuhn. 

The  hardest  thing  an  ordinary  man  has  to 
understand  is  that  another  ordinary  man  can  be 
two  sorts  of  a  fellow  at  once.  That  is,  ordinary 
men  assume  that  if  another  ordinary  man  is  a 
producer,  he  knows  nothing  about  selling;  if  he 
is  in  a  profession,  he  cannot  be  practical;  and,  if 
he  has  a  mechanical  turn,  he  cannot  possibly  be  a 
commercial  success.  Of  most  men  that  is  true, 
hence  they  cannot  believe  that  any  other  man  can 
be  different. 

Recently,  somewhat  has  been  said  about  one 
mechanical  success  made  by  H.  A.  Kuhn  of  Pitts¬ 
burgh.  That  story  being  stold,  other  ordinary 
men  set  him  down  as  a  mechanical  genius.  That 
classifies  him  at  once:  “He  is  an  impractical  fel¬ 
low  who  never  had  and  never  will  make  a  dollar.” 

The  facts  do  not  support  the  assumption.  In 
1900  he  and  his  brother,  D.  W.  Kuhn,  took  over 
a  mine  producing  400  tons  a  day.  In  less  than 
ten  years  they  were  producing  3,000,000  tons  per 
year. 

Also,  they  had  come  to  control  15,500  acres  of 
some  of  the  best  coal  land  in  the  world.  Inci¬ 
dentally,  this  acreage  has  a  value  today  of  $15,- 
000,000. 

H.  A.  Kuhn  was  the  president  of  this  company 
during  this  period  of  growth.  He  not  only  super¬ 
vised  the  operation  of  the  mines,  but  he  devel¬ 
oped  his  own  markets,  selling  most  of  the  coal 
himself. 

One  of  his  properties  was  the  Blaine  mine. 
He  supervised  the  production  and  sold  the  coal. 
While  doing  that,  he  paid,  for  several  years,  divi- 
ends  of  two  per  cent  a  month.  For  the  last 
few  years,  or  until  he  sold  it  last  spring,  he  paid 
dividends  of  three  per  cent  a  month. 

Some  years  ago  he  was  asked  to  take  charge 
of  the  mines  of  the  Rail  &  River  Coal  Company. 
He  had  turned  them  into  properties  which  were 
beginning  to  pay  when  control  changed. 

Giving  the  record  full  consideration,  Mr.  Kuhn 
is  a  coal  man  with  a  balanced  record.  In  fact, 
his  mind  seems  to  work  in  much  the  same  way 
as  does  the  motor  on  his  new  mining  and  loading 
machine.  It  doesn’t  make  any  difference  to  that 
motor  whether  it  is  moving  the  machine,  driving 
the  undercutter,  shearing  the  coal  or  running  the 
loading  apparatus.  It  works  with  anything  with 
which  it  is  thrown  into  gear. 

If  Mr.  Kuhn’s  mind  is  thrown  into  gear  with 
a  selling  proposition,  it  sells.  If  it  is  geared  to 
a  financial  problem,  it  is  a  banker.  If  geared  to 
a  mechanical  proposition,  it  is  the  mind  of  a 
mechanic.  It  doesn’t  seem  to  have  been  built 
into  any  one  train  of  thought.  That  is  why  he 
can  be  a  successful  commercial  man  and  a  suc¬ 
cessful  mechanical  man  at  one  and  the  same  time. 
With  him  it  is  a  simple  process.  All  he  has  to 
do  is  to  change  his  way  of  thinking  and  he  is 
a  different  kind  of  a  man. 

For  example,  he  was  discussing  with  a  visitor 
a  certain  railroad  situation  when  he  -was  inter¬ 
rupted  by  an  inquiry  about  the  status  of  a  certain 
coal  man  in  an  adjoining  district.  He  made  a 
l)rief  reply — it  took  only  three  minutes — but  when 
he  was  through  he  had  told  the  whole  financial 
status  of  that  district ;  the  relation  of  that  com¬ 
pany  in  question  to  the  ruling  financial  powers 
and  the  relation  of  the  man  inquired  about  to 
his  company.  The  inquirer  departed  and  he  re¬ 
sumed  the  thread  of  the  other  conversation  with¬ 
out  apparently  missing  or  repeating  a  word. 

On  another  occasion,  a  salesman  was  somewhat 
bothered  over  a  prospect.  His  customer  was  a 
gas  company,  the  coal  for  which  was  sold  by  a 
competitor.  The  salesman  had  a  report  of  the 
gas  company  as  to  the  character  of  coal  it  was 
using,  the  gas  yield  per  pound  of  coal  and  the 
amount  of  coke  burned  under  the  benches.  Mr. 
Kuhn,  without  using  a  pencil,  told  the  salesman 
to  name  a  certain  price  which,  he  added,  will 
give  us  five  cents  a  ton  more  than  the  other  man 
is  charging  and  still  give  the  gas  company  a 
profit  of  fifteen  cents  a  ton.”  On  a  test  it 
worked  out  almost  to  a  penny  as  he  had  said 
it  would. 

Some  years  ago,  the  Institute  of  Mining  Engi¬ 
neers  a.sked  him  to  prepare  a  paper.  He  took 
some  of  the  data  which  he  had  been  gathering 
for  years  and  in  three  evenings  prepared  a  mono¬ 
graph  which  is  admitted  to  be  a  complete  history 
of  the  Pittsburgh  district,  an  accurate  forecast 
of  the  future  and  an  authoritative  explanation 
of  why  some  coal  companies  operating  there  are 
prosperous  and  why  others  are  not  so  prosperous. 
He  reduced  this  latter  information  to  a  graphic 
map  of  the  Pittsburgh  district.  From  it,  it  is 


possible  to  figure  the  sale  value  of  any  given 
acreage  in  that  field. 

In  1907,  when  the  panic  hit  this  country,  every¬ 
body  was  uneasy;  they  wanted  to  know  what 
would  be  the  influence  on  business.  Mr.  Kuhn 
had  been  studying  casually,  but  thoroughly,  the 
causes  of  depressions  and  their  influences.  He 
had  all  the  data  at  his  finger  tips.  In  three 
evenings  at  home  he  blocked  out  a  monograph 
illustrated  by  graphic  charts.  This  is  considered 
a  standard  work  on  that  subject  and  is  made  a 
permanent  part  of  the  library  of  such  institutions 
as  the  National  City  Bank  of  New  York.  Inci¬ 
dentally  it  has  been  used  in  every  commercial 
country  on  earth  and  in  some  places  has  been 
translated  into  other  languages. 

On  another  occasion,  he  wrote  a  monograph  on 
currency  and  banking.  This  is  so  comprehensive 
it  has  explained  even  to  bankers  and  financiers 
some  things  about  their  own  business  which  they 
did  not  know. 

Mr.  Kuhn  is  inclined  to  depreciate  the  value  of 
these  achievements  because,  he  says,  “they  are 
nothing.”  As  a  matter  of  fact,  they  are  not  ex¬ 
traordinary  if  you  consider  it  possible  that  a 
mind,  if  used  properly,  can  work  as  easily  in  one 
channel  as  in  another.  But,  if  you  consider  the 
mind  as  built  to  work  in  one  line  of  thought 
and  only  one,  these  manifold  activities  are  all 
but  superhuman.  Mr.  Kuhn,  by  being  able  to 
disconnect  his  mind  from  one  subject  and  to  gear 
it  up  to  another,  can  develop  what  seems  to  be  an 
amazing  efficiency.  This  indeed  is  the  keynote  of 
his  many  achievements. 

This  faculty  of  independent  thinking  has  en¬ 
abled  him  to  solve  many  important  questions. 
For  example:  A  mine  fire  started  in  the  center 
of  a  valuable  acreage.  At  this  mine  the  slope 
led  down  a  sharp  incline  to  a  point  where  the 
coal  vein  became  horizontal ;  a  short  distance 
beyond  was  another  sharp  incline  up  toward  an¬ 
other  outcrop.  The  fire  occurred  in  a  large 
opened  area  where  the  vein  was  horizontal.  It 
was  a  dangerous  situation  because  a  great  ex- 


P.\K.  3.  Sec.  (A) — Loss  or  Damage  of  Coal 
liY  Transportation.  Where  a  loss  is  sustained 
as  the  result  of  the  carrier’s  failure  to  transport 
properly,  safely  and  with  reasonable  promptness, 
and  the  carrier  denies  liability,  the  remedy  is  in 
the  courts  or  state  commission.  i 

Sec.  (B) — Weight — How  to  establish  a  basis 
for  a  claim  for  shortage  of  weight.  First,  call 
the  railroad  agent’s  attention  to  any  damage  or 
apparent  shortage  in  contents  of  car,  confirm  in 
writing,  and  insist  that  he  make  proper  notation 
of  damage  or  shortage  on  the  receipted  expense 
bill,  then  unload  the  car  promptly  to  avoid  de¬ 
murrage.  CONFERENCE  RULING  No.  451, 
the  Commission  HELD,  the  uncertainty  of  a  con¬ 
signee  as  to  whether  or  not  he  will  accept  a 
damaged  shipment  does  not  justify  the  carrier 
in  waiving  the  demurrage  charges  accruing  on 
the  shipment  pending  his  decision. 

If  a  car  of  coal  has  evidence  of  having  been 
robbed  or  appears  to  be  short  in  weight  call  the 
railroad  agent’s  attention  to  this  condition  as 
before  directed,  and  have  car  weighed  on  rail¬ 
road  track  scales;  if  there  are  none  nearby  notify 
the  agent  that  you  intend  making  claim  for 
shortage  of  weight  and  that  you  will  weigh  the 
coal  over  wagon  scales  and  ask  the  agent  to 
weigh  the  coal  or  to  be  present. 

If  necessary  to  weigh  over  wagon  scales  have 
the  weighmaster  to  make  tickets  showing  the 
exact  gross,  tare  and  net  weight  of  each  load  and 
then  make  affidavit  as  to  their  correctness,  also 
that  all  of  the  coal  in  the  car  was  weighed  and 
further  that  there  was  no  coal  lost  between  the 
car  and  the  scales.  The  affidavit  should  be  noth¬ 
ing  but  a  statement  of  the  unloading  of  the  car 
and  the  weighing  of  the  coal. 

If  neither  of  these  two  methods  are  possible 
then  endeavor  to  arrive  at  the  shortage  by  ar¬ 
bitration  with  the  railroad  agent  as  one  of  the 
arbiters. 

Sec.  (C) — Tolerance  Weight.  Sunderland 
Bros.  vs.  C.  B.  &  Q.  Railroad — 21  1.  C.  C.  632. 
The  Commission  held,  in  substance,  that  carriers 
should  provide  for  reweighing  of  coal  upon  re¬ 
quest  of  shippers  or  consignee  and  that  if  after 
such  reweighing  a  variation  is  shown  of  more 
than  1  per  cent  with  a  minimum  of  500  pounds 
from  the  original  shipping  weight,  the  original 


plosion  was  likely  and  because  the  fire  threatened 
to  spread  into  the  undeveloped  coal  area  beyond. 

Mr.  Kuhn  decided  to  go  down  from  the  surface 
immediately  above  the  fire  and  through  300  feet 
of  rock.  He  drilled  holes  with  such  precision 
that  he  found  the  exact  end  of  the  stub-entries 
and  the  room-necks  and  then  poured  mud  in 
through  the  drill  holes  until  the  worst  part  of 
the  fire  was  extinguished.  Thereafter,  he  sent 
in  the  first  crew  of  oxygen  helmet  men  ever  em¬ 
ployed  in  the  United  States.  They  built  a  con¬ 
crete  dam  around  the  entire  area  of  the  fire. 
After  that  was  done,  he  poured  in  more  mud 
until  the  arches  over  the  burning  area  were  com¬ 
pletely  closed.  In  this  way  he  smothered  the 
fire  in  less  than  three  months. 

Some  years  ago  he  operated  a  gaseous  mine 
which  was  also  inclined  to  be  dusty  in  winter. 
He  saw  the  danger  of  a  gas  and  dust  explosion 
and  decided  to  avoid  an  accident  by  destroying 
the  explosive  tendency  of  the  dust.  He  found  by 
calculation  that  the  explosive  force  of  the  dust 
is  forty-five  times  that  of  gun  powder.  This 
showed  him  the  real  danger.  To  offset  it,  he 
introduced  live  steam  into  the  air  current.  This 
was  the  first  application  of  that  principle  in  Amer¬ 
ica  and  his  early  experiment  had  much  to  do  with 
determining  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Mines, 
or  its  predecessor,  to  investigate  how  coal  dust 
explosions  could  be  avoided.  In  fact  the  whole 
theory  of  humidifying  mine  air  to  avoid  dust  ex¬ 
plosions  starts  from  his  experiment. 

H.  A.  Kuhn,  who  has  thus  done  so  many  inter¬ 
esting  things,  would  stand  about  six  feet  tall  if 
it  were  not  for  a  decided  stoop.  His  hair — the 
original  crop  has  been  halved  by  premature  bald¬ 
ness — is  black.  His  brows  are  heavy  and  long. 
His  eyes  are  black  and  he  has  no  need  of  glasses. 
His  nose  is  prominent  and  full  at  the  point,  giv¬ 
ing  an  indication  of  lung  capacity  and  hence  of 
physical  endurance.  He  wears  a  stubby  black 
mustache.  The  lower  lip  is  full,  indicating  to 
the  student  of  physiognomy  that  in  him  the  joy 
of  living  endures.  His  figure  is  rather  spare 
and  he  clothes  it  as  to  suggest  indifference  to 
fine  raiment.  He  walks  rather  loosely.  His  voice 
is  deep  and  as  he  uses  it  deliberately. 


weight  and  charges  should  be  corrected  accord¬ 
ingly  and  reweighing  charges  refunded. 

Freight  Assessed  on  Railroad  Scale  Weights. 
Schenck  vs.  N.  &  W.  Railway  Co.  (1.  C.  C.  No. 
4860).  Tariff  rule  of  defendant  Norfolk  &  West¬ 
ern  Railway  Company  provided  that  freight 
charges  will  be  assessed  on  weights  ascertained  at 
its  regular  weighing  stations,  and  that  the  rule 
will  not  be  departed  from,  found  to  be  unreason¬ 
able. 

It  Is  Ordered,  That  the  defendants  (N.  &  W. 
Ry.)  be,  and  they  are  hereby  notified  and  re¬ 
quired  to  cease  and  desist,  on  or  before  March 
15,  1914,  and  for  a  period  of  not  less  than  two 
years  thereafter  to  abstain,  from  applying  in  con¬ 
nection  with  interstate  transportation  of  coal  in 
carloads  the  Norfolk  &  Western  Railway  Com-, 
pany’s  tariff  rule  which  reads  as  follows : 

“Freight  charges  will  be  assessed  on  weights 
ascertained  at  Norfolk  &  Western  regular  weigh¬ 
ing  stations,  and  this  rule  will  not  be  departed 
from  by  the  Norfolk  &  Western  Railway.” 

Sec.  (D) — Damages.  If  it  is  a  case  of  the 
coal  being  damaged  by  reason  of  transfer  from 
one  car  to  another  while  in  transit,  or  from 
other  transportation  causes,  call  the  railroad 
agent’s  attention  to  it,  confirm  in  writing,  then 
arbitrate  the  extent  of  damage  with  him,  with 
disinterested  parties  as  witnesses,  whom  you  can 
have  make  supporting  affidavits  as  to  the  condi¬ 
tion  of  the  coal  on  arrival. 

Whether  a  car  of  coal  may  be  short  in  weight, 
transferred  or  otherwise  damaged,  the  buyer  or 
owner  is  still  legally  bound  to  receive  the  coal 
and  make  claim  against  the  railroad  as  set  forth 
hereinbefore.  He  cannot  refuse  to  receive  and 
unload  the  car  without  being  subject  to  demur¬ 
rage  and  compelled  to  pay  same  under  the  law 
and  in  case  of  later  recovering  damages  from 
the  Railroad  the  demurrage  cannot  be  recovered. 

Sec.  (E) — Drayage.  The  Commission  has 
made  numerous  rulings  and  awarded  reparation 
for  drayage  charges  where  the  carrier  misrouted 
merchandise  and  caused  extra  drayage  expense 
to  the  owner.  However,  in  such  case  it  is  al¬ 
ways  best  to  have  the  Railroad  authority  to  incur 
the  expense  as  they  might  wish  to  arrange  for  the 
drayage  themselves. — From  a  booklet  issued  by 
the  Cincinnati  Coal  Exchange. 


Owner’s  Rights  in  Relation  to  Carriers. 


No.  9] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


167 


National  Coal  Trade  Golf  Association. 


“Fore!”  and  forty-three  members  of  the  Na¬ 
tional  Coal  Trade  Golf  Association,  drove  off  in 
turn  from  the  first  tee,  Monday,  August  23,  at 
the  Glen  Oaks  Country  Club,  Glen  Oaks,  III. 
They  were  competing  for  the  qualifying  round 
of  the  third  annual  championship  tournament  of 
the  association. 

R.  A.  Gardner  of  Hinsdale,  Ill.,  present  cham¬ 
pion,  and  Sam  W.  Reynolds,  ex-Nebraska  cham¬ 
pion,  tied  for  the  gold  medal  for  low  score  with 
scores  of  82. 

Qualifying  scores  for  championships  were; 


S.  W.  Reynolds,  Omaha .  82 

R.  A,  Gardner,  Hinsdale .  82 

E.  T.  Franklin,  Chicago .  88 

K.  W.  Block,  Omaha .  90 

G.  S.  Patterson,  Chicago .  93 

R.  Rea,  Hinsdale .  94 

C.  J.  Fletcher  Chicago .  96 

H.  M.  Hall,  Chicago .  98 

B.  E.  Neal,  Indianapolis .  98 

J.  G.  Coneys,  Indianapolis .  99 

B.  L.  Sheoard,  Chicago .  100 

B.  J.  Fairburn,  Galesburg .  101 

H.  H.  Taylor,  Chicago .  101 

D.  W.  Heath,  Chicago .  102 

C.  G,  Hall,  Chicago .  102 

A.  O.  Tandy,  Chicago .  103 

Qualifying  scores  for  the  Vandalia  Cup  were: 

A.  J.  Atwater,  Chicago .  106 

M.  M.  Cloudman,  Elgin .  107 

W.  C.  Hill,  Chicago .  110 

G.  Wood,  Chicago .  110 

D.  Davidson,  Chicago .  Ill 

A.  G.  Blair,  Toledo .  112 

H.  W.  Redman,  Chicago .  112 

Scores  qualifying  for  the  Hull  Trophy  were: 

H.  L.  Reid,  Grand  Rapids .  119 

C.  M.  Moderwell,  Chicago .  119 

G.  P.  Koehler,  Chicago .  121 

N.  F.  Birkland,  Chicago .  123 

J.  B.  Roynon,  Chicago .  124 

C.  D.  Caldwell,  Chicago .  124 

A.  M.  Hull,  Chicago .  126 

J.  B.  Forbes,  Chicago .  128 


Pairings  for  the  first  match  round  were  played 
off  Tuesday  morning,  August  24.  Summaries  of 
the  morning  matches  are : 

CHAMPIONSHIP  FLIGHT. 

Sam  W.  Reynolds  defeated  G.  S.  Patterson,  1  up. 

C.  J.  Fletcher  defeated  E.  T.  Franklin,  1  up  in  nine¬ 
teen  holes. 

R.  A.  Gardner  defeated  Ridgely  Rea,  7  up  and  6  to 
play. 

Karl  Block  defeated  M.  M.  Hall,  6  and  5. 

SECOND  FLIGHT. 

M.  M.  Taylor  defeated  B.  E  Neal,  2  and  1. 

C.  G.  Hall  defeated  B.  L.  Shmjard,  4  and  3. 

D.  W.  Heath  defeated  J.  D.  Goneys,  4  and  3. 

R.  J.  Fairburn  defeated  A.  O.  Tandy,  5  and  4. 

THIRD  FLIGHT. 

A.  J.  Atwater  defeated  George  Wood,  6  and  5. 

A.  G.  Blair  defeated  W.  C.  Hill,  5  and  3. 


M.  M.  Cloudman  defeated  David  Jamieson,  2  up. 

M.  W.  Redman  defeated  W.  P.  Worth,  5  and  4. 

FOURTH  FLIGHT. 

H.  P.  Pope  defeated  N.  D.  Birkland,  1  up. 

F.  D.  Breit  defeated  C.  E.  Hostler,  6  and  5. 

F.  D.  Kilmer  defeated  A.  B.  Lemmon,  3  and  1. 

E.  E.  Neal  defeated  J.  A.  Ballard,  3  and  1. 

FIFTH  FLIGHT. 

H.  L.  Reid  defeated  J.  B.  Roynon  by  default. 

G.  P.  Koehler  defeated  A.  M.  Hulb  4  and  2. 

C.  M.  Moderwell  defeated  C.  D.  Caldwell,  1  up. 

N.  M.  Birkland  defeated  J.  B.  Forbes,  5  and  4. 

Semi-finalists,  winners  of  the  morning  matches, 

were  as  follows: 

CHAMPIONSHIP  FLIGHT. 

Reynolds  defeated  Fletcher,  5,  and  Gardner  defeated 
Block,  5  and  4. 

PRESIDENT’S  TROPHY. 

Taylor  beat  Hall,  3  and  2;  Fairburn  beat  Heath,  2  up. 

VANDALIA  CUP. 

Blair  beat  Newton,  5  and  4;  Cloudman  beat  Redman, 
3  and  2. 

HEDSTROM  TROPHY. 

Breit  defeated  Pope,  1  up;  Kilmer  defeated  Neal,  5 
and  3. 

HULL  TROPHY. 

Koehler  beat  Reid,  4  and  3;  Birkland  beat  Moderwell, 
8  and  7. 

Finals  were  played  off  Wednesday.  The  win¬ 
ners  were : 

R.  A.  Gardner  won  the  thirty-six  hole  cham¬ 
pionship,  defeating  Sam.  W.  Reynolds,  4  and  3. 
The  match  was  close,  neither  man  having  an 
advantage  of  more  than  three  holes  until  the 
sixth  hole  of  the  afternoon  match.  The  match 
ended  at  the  thirty-third  hole. 

R.  J.  Fairburn  won  the  President’s  Trophy, 
defeating  H.  H.  Taylor,  4  and  3.  The  loser  was 
2  up  at  the  end  of  the  morning  round. 

A.  G.  Blair,  Jr.,  won  the  Vandalia  cup,  M.  M. 
Cloudman  defaulting. 

F.  D.  Briet  took  the  Hedstrom  Trophy,  F.  D. 
Kilmer  defaulting. 

The  annual  meeting  and  supper  of  the  asso¬ 
ciation  was  held  at  the  Glen  Oaks  Country  Qub, 
Wednesday  evening,  August  25.  The  election  of 
officers  resulted  as  follows :  President,  C.  T. 
Robert,  Chicago ;  vice-president,  B.  S.  Hammil, 
Pittsburgh ;  second  vice-president,  Sam  W.  Rey¬ 
nolds,  Omaha;  third  vice-president,  A.  G.  Blair, 
Jr.,  Toledo,  and  secretary-treasurer,  B.  L.  Shep¬ 
ard  of  Chicago. 

Sliced  Into  the  Rough. 

It  is  rumored  that  A.  O.  Tandy  will  bring  his 
own  drinking  water  with  him  at  the  next  tourna¬ 
ment.  However,  Tandy  can  certainly  line  ’em 
out. 

“Dad”  Atwater  explained  his  losing  his  match 


to  A.  G.  Blair,  Jr.,  because  he  sliced  a  putt  on 
the  17th  green. 

“Herb”  Taylor  grabs  his  club  short,  bends 
over  and  lays  into  ’em  with  all  his  might,  and 
they  invariably  go  straight  and  far.  We  saw 
“Herb”  make  some  of  the  prettiest  drives  we 
have  ever  seen. 

J.  G.  Coneys  addresses  the  ball  in  a  dignified 
manner,  and  the  ball  respecting  the  driver  usually 
goes  straight  down  the  course. 

B.  L.  Shepard,  “Shep”  as  us  gollolofers  call 
him,  and  N.  F.  Birkland  were  the  only  “south¬ 
paws”  present. 

We  have  heard  of  pedigreed  dogs,  horses,  etc., 
but  we  never  heard  of  pedigreed  golf  clubs  until 
we  saw  those  of  A.  G.  Blair.  The  writer  was  in¬ 
vited  to  try  several  of  them,  and  as  each  club 
was  handed  him  a  short  history  went  with  it, — 
A  history  like  this.  “Say,  here’s  the  sweetest 
little  club  you  ever  saw.  Ted  Ray  gave  me  that 
down  at  Brooklyn  last  year,  etc.,  and  so  on.” 

Col.  Harold  Eldridge  was  on  the  job,  not  par¬ 
ticipating  in  the  tournament,  but  showing  ’em 
how  it  ought  to  be  done.  And  “by  gosh,  he  done 
it.” 

C.  D.  Caldwell  displayed  a  gold  mounted,  eb¬ 
ony-headed  golf  stick,  presented  him  by  A.  O. 
Tandy.  The  club  was  supposed  to  be  impervious 
to  remarks  about  driving,  as  well  as  to  water. 

E.  T.  Franklin  and  C.  J.  Fletcher  had  the 
honor  of  playing  the  only  extra  hole  match  of 
the  tournament,  these  two  went  nineteen  holes, 
C.  J.  Fletcher  winning  the  nineteenth  by  sinking 
a  long  putt  for  a  five. 

The  tournament,  though  not  as  well  attended 
as  some  of  those  in  former  years,  could  not  be 
surpassed  for  the  spirit  of  good-fellowship  it 
created  among  the  brother  golfers.  The  fact 
that  they  were  business  competitors  was  forgot¬ 
ten,  and  each  had  his  words  of  condolences  or 
congratulations  ready  to  extend  to  the  other  man. 


On  the  ground  that  coal  rates,  fixed  by  the 
Colorado  public  utilities  commission,  are  “dis¬ 
criminatory  and  confiscatory,”  the  Union  Pa¬ 
cific  and  the  Colorado  &  Southern  Railroads 
have  appealed  to  the  supreme  court  to  re¬ 
view  the  findings  of  the  commission,  set  them 
aside  and  modijy  the  rates.  Attorneys  for  the 
roads  state  that  the  actions  are  test  cases, 
and  will  be  carried  to  the  United  States  su¬ 
preme  court,  if  necessary.  The  outcome  will 
determine  whether  or  not  the  railroads  will 
also  appeal  from  the  passenger  rates  recently 
instituted  by  order  of  the  commission. 


1 — Ex-President  Heywood  tellingr  how  it  should  he  done,  and  Blair  doing*  it.  2 — H.  Reid.  3 — H.  J.  Reywood  displaying  his  form,  both  physical  and  golf.  4 — C.  O. 
Hall.  5 — Eeft  to  right:  Heal,  Taylor,  Heath,  Coneys.  6 — Eeft  to  right:  Cloudman,  Franklin,  Hostler,  Bae,  Hill,  Tandy,  Breit,  Jamieson.  7 — ^*‘Charlie”  Hostler  lining  ’em 
out.  8 — Xieft  to  right:  Hill,  Breit,  Gardner,  A.  M.  Hall,  Atwater,  Heywood,  Blair,  Rea,  Tandy,  Hostler. 


168 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[August  28 


Aerial  Tramway  Overcomes  Handling  Obstacles 


When  the  property  of  the  Harlan-Home 
Coal  Company  at  Harlan,  Ky.,  was  opened  up 
the  problem  of  getting  coal  down  the  moun¬ 
tain  from  the  mine  to  the  tipple,  a  distance  of 
900  feet  with  a  430  foot  drop,  was  finally 
solved  by  installing  a  Broderick-Rascom 
Aerial  Wire  Rope  Tramway. 

The  tramway  is  of  the  two-pocket  or  jig- 


eration  of  the  tramway.  He  is  stationed  at 
the  loading  end  and  controls  the  pulling  of 
the  buckets  as  well  as  the  brakes  regulating 
the  speed  of  the  line.  The  buckets,  which 
dump  automatically  at  the  discharge  station, 
are  shown  in  the  photograph  herewith. 

Further  particulars  concerning  this  tramway 
will  gladly  be  furnished  any  reader  of  The 


Intermediate  Supporting  Tower. 


back  type  and,  as  the  name  implies,  consists 
of  two  pockets  operating  back  and  forth  upon 
two  stationary  track  cables  controlled  by 
means  of  a  small  endless  moving  cable.  The 
tramway,  as  said  above,  is  900  feet  long  with 
a  430  foot  drop  in  this  distance,  which  permits 
gravity  operation.  In  other  words,  the  loaded 
bucket  going  down  on  one  side  hauls  the 
bucket  back  on  the  other  side.  There  is  only 
one  intermediate  supporting  tower,  which  is 
shown  by  the  photograph  herewith. 

The  track  cables  used  are  inches  in 

diameter  and  the  pulling  rope  of  an  inch 
in  diameter.  The  buckets  have  a  capacity  of 


Black  Diamond  upon  application  to  the  Brod- 
erick-Bascom  Company  of  St.  Louis. 


Columbus  Coal  Bids. 


Coal  bids  for  various  Columbus  city  depart¬ 
ments  opened  some  six  weeks  ago  were  rejected 
because  of  the  reduction  of  Hocking  Valley  rail¬ 
road  freight  rates,  which  was  announced  after 
the  bids  were  opened.  In  the  hope  of  getting 
a  better  price  new  bids  were  taken,  which  were 
opened  on  the  17th  inst.  They  are  as  follows : 
Scioto  River  Pumping  Station,  approximately 


Discharge  Station  and  Tipple. 


fifty-two  cubic  feet  each.  The  buckets  are 
controlled  at  the  loading  end  by  a  six  foot, 
two-groove  rubber  lined  shaft  equipped  with 
two  48  inch  diameter  by  4  inch  space  brakes. 
The  tramway  develops  a  capacity  of  45  to  50 
tons  an  hour. 

The  coal  is  brought  out  of  the  mine  m  cars 
to  the  loading  station  where  it  is  transferred 
into  hoppers  and  then  into  the  tramway  buck¬ 
ets  to  be  carried  down  the  mountain  and  dis¬ 
charged  into  shaker  screens  at  the  tipple. 

Only  one  man  is  required  for  the  entire  op¬ 


3,500  tons — Elk  Coal  Company,  Columbus,  Hock¬ 
ing  mine  run,  $1.44  and  Cambridge  mine  run, 
$1.46,  West  Virginia  mine  run,  $1.42;  New  York 
Coal  Company,  Columbus,  Hocking  mine  run 
$1.60 ;  Fletcher-Williams  Company,  Columbus, 
West  Virginia  mine  run  $1.45;  Gem  Coal  Com¬ 
pany,  Nelsonville,  Hocking  mine  run  $1.53;  Vic¬ 
toria  Coal  Company,  Columbus,  Hocking  mine 
run,  $1.48.  Municipal  Light  Plant,  10,000  tons 
nut,  pea  and  slack — Victoria  Coal  Company,  Co¬ 
lumbus,  Hocking,  $1.19 ;  Fletcher-Williams  Com¬ 
pany,  Columbus,  West- Virginia,  $1.12.  Garbage 


Reduction  Plant,  3,000  tons  nut,  pea  and  slack — 
Fletcher-Williams  Company,  Hocking,  $1.19, 
West  Virginia,  $1.12;  Victoria  Coal  Company, 
Hocking,  $1.19.  City  Hall  and  miscellaneous  de¬ 
partments,  1,000  tons  delivered — Franklin  Build¬ 
ers  Supply  Company,  Columbus,  bids  of  $2.29, 
$2.05,  $2.60  and  $2.10  on  Hocking  lump;  J.  Rapp 
&  Co.,  Columbus,  $2.30  for  all,  on  Hocking  lump; 
M.  A.  Suydam  &  Co.,  Columbus,  $2.17}4  for  all, 
on  forked  lump. 


Boston  and  Maine  Coal. 


The  Boston  &  Maine  Railroad  will  receive  at 
its  Boston  office  until  noon  of  September  10th, 
next,  bids  for  furnishing  720,000  tons  of  bitumin¬ 
ous  coal  per  year.  Also  bids  for  transportation  of 
this  coal  for  a  like  period.  The  company  invites 
bids  under  6  schedules,  as  follows ; 

Schedule  A :  Steamer  charter  for  six  years 
and  for  five  years  starting  September  1,  1916. 

Schedule  B :  Steamer  charter  for  one  year  and 
for  five  years  starting  November  1,  1917. 

Schedule  C :  Contract  for  approximately 

720,000  tons  of  Bituminous  coal  to  be  delivered 
on  steamer  at  loading  pier  at  one  year  commenc¬ 
ing  April  1,  1917. 

Schedule  D :  Contract  for  approximately 

720,000  gross  tons  of  Bituminous  coal  to  be  de¬ 
livered  alongside  Mystic  Wharf,  Boston,  Mass., 
in  one  year  commencing  April  1,  1917. 

Schedule  E :  Contract  for  approximately 

7,600,000  gross  tons  of  coal  f.  o.  b.  loading  pier, 
to  be  delivered  in  five  years. 

Schedule  F :  Contract  for  approximately 

3,600,000  gross  tons  of  coal  f.  o.  b.  alongside 
Mystic  Wharf,  to  be  delivered  in  five  years. 


New  Storage  System. 


As  the  practice  of  storing  bituminous  coal 
grows,  new  systems  are  introduced  for  getting  it 
into  and  out  of  a  pile.  The  latest  one  is  called 
the  circular  storage  system.  It  is  intended  mainly 
for  public  utilities  companies  and  for  the  mines 
which  want  to  store  an  unneeded  size  until  there 
is  a  market  for  it.  However,  since  it  works  well 
in  units  of  5,000  tons  or  less,  it  is  valuable  for 
retail  concerns  of  some  size. 

The  equipment  is  simple.  It  consists  of  a  loco¬ 
motive  crane  built  with  a  long  radius  arm  which 
is  equipped  with  a  self-filling  grab  bucket.  This 
crane  travels  on  a  curved  track  around  a  central 
point.  From  the  central  point  the  crane  receives 
its  coal  from  a  concrete  hopper  built  directly 
between  two  parallel  tracks  or  direct  from  the 
car. 

The  manner  of  storing  coal  is  illustrated  by 
the  outline  drawing  reproduced  herewith.  This 
shows  two  railroad  tracks  traversing  an  area  in 


Circular  Storage  System. 


which  coal  is  to  be  stored.  Customarily,  between 
the  two  is  placed  a  concrete  hopper  into  which 
the  cars  can  drop  the  coal  through  hopper  bot¬ 
toms.  Intersecting  these  two  railroad  tracks  at 
two  points  and  running  in  circle  are  two  other 
tracks.  On  these  latter  the  big  locomotive  cranes 
move.  The  crane  has,  usually,  a  radius  of  100 
to  110  feet.  The  grab  bucket  takes  the  coal  from 
the  central  storage  point  and  swings  it  around 
and  places  it  in  a  pile. 

Recovery  is  effected  by  reversing  this  opera¬ 
tion;  that  is,  by  taking  the  coal  from  the  pile 
and  putting  it  directly  in  the  car  or,  if  desired, 
into  an  auto  truck. 

The  grab  buckets  have  a  capacity  of  five  cubic 
yards  and  of  handling  240  tons  of  material  per 
hour.  This  method  of  handling  coal  was  de¬ 
signed  and  is  patented  by  the  Link-Belt  Company. 


No.  9] 


169 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


Why  Incorporate? 

A  coal  dealer  who  had  run  his  business  for 
about  ten  years  or  so  as  a  personal  enterprise 
recently  filed  articles  of  incorporation.  Instead 
of  being  “John  Smith,  Coal  Dealer,”  the  style  of 
the  business  became  “The  Smith  Coal  Company, 
Incorporated.” 

He  was  asked  his  reasons  for  making  the 
change,  and  for  apparently  losing  the  intimate 
personal  connection  which  was  insured  by  the 
operation  of  the  business  on  an  individual  basis, 
xiis  reasons  were  sufficiently  interesting  to  be 
worth  presenting. 

“In  the  first  place,”  he  said,  “I  am  not  as  yoimg 
as  I  was  when  I  started.  I  realize  that  I  am  not 
going  to  be  here  to  run  the  business  forever, 
and  yet  I  think  I  have  made  something  that  con¬ 
tains  the  germ  of  permanence.  I  want  to  leave 
it  in  such  shape  that  it  can  go  on  'without  me, 
if  necessary;  and  the  only  plan  which  meets  that 
requirement  is  the  corporation. 

“Next,  there  is  the  question  of  liability.  I  have 
made  a  little  money  out  of  the  business,  by  keep¬ 
ing  my  nose  at  the  grind-stone  ten  hours  a  day 
for  the  last  ten  years;  and  I  don’t  want  to  lose 
any  of  the  savings  I  have  made,  I  own  my  own 
home,  have  a  few  gilt-edged  bonds  and  am  trying 
to  build  up  a  little  personal  estate,  apart  from 
the  business.  As  long  as  I  run  it  individually, 
all  of  my  personal  property  is  subject  to  any  de¬ 
mands  which  may  be  made  upon  me,  in  connec¬ 
tion  with  the  business.  For  instance,  if  one  of 
my  teams  were  to  run  over  and  kill  a  man,  and 
iudgment  were  rendered  against  the  business  for 
$10,000,  I,  personally,  would  have  to  pay  it,  if  I 
had  to  sell  my  home  to  do  it.  By  incorporating 
I  relieve  myself  of  any  personal  liability  for  the 
acts  of  the  corporation,  and  restrict  the  operation 
of  any  judgment  against  the  business  to  its  assets. 

“In  the  third  place,  operating  a  corporation  re¬ 
quires  a  certain  amount  of  what  some  of  my 
friends  call  red  tape.  You  have  to  be  a  little 
more  careful,  as  a  corporation  officer,  than  as 
an  individual.  Reports  have  to  be  made  to  the 
Government,  for  instance,  that  are  not  required 
of  individuals  operating  their  businesses  as  such. 
The  main  advantage  of  this  is  that  I  am  sure 
to  be  more  careful  about  charging  companv  ex¬ 
penses  to  the  company,  instead  of  to  John  Smith, 
personally.  I  will  be  more  likely  to  see  that  all 
sorts  of  records  and  accounts  are  more  accurate¬ 
ly  kept,  and  to  be  in  a  position  to  make  a  report 
on  it  at  any  time  to  anybody  who  has  the  au¬ 
thority  to  demand  it. 

“Besides,  there  is  a  certain  prestige  about  a 
corporation  that  an  individual  seldom  has.  The 
public  feels  it — your  banker  appreciates  it.  It 
means  more  than  the  individual  name,  and  lends 
an  air  of  substance  and  permanence  to  the  con¬ 
cern.  These  are  some  of  the  reasons  I  had  for 
making  the  change — but  I  believe  they  are 
enough  ;  don’t  you  ?” 


Delivering  Coal  as  an  Art. 

An  Eastern  coal  dealer  recently  said  in  an 
announcement  to  his  customers  regarding  the  de¬ 
livery  of  coal  during  the  summer  months,  that  his 
men  have  perfected  the  art  of  putting  the  coal 
away  with  the  least  possible  inconvenience  to  his 
cu.stomers. 

“And  it  is  an  art.”  he  continued.  “We  spend 
time  and  money  training  our  drivers  to  get  the 
coal  into  your  bins  without  disturbing,  displac¬ 
ing,  or  spoiling  anything.  Their  orders  are  to 
leave  your  place  in  exactly  the  condition  they 
find  it — except  that  your  bins  are  to  hold  the 


best  coal  mined.  Our  coal  will  make  you  hot, 
but  our  delivery  service  will  not.” 

The  important  part  played  by  the  delivery  end 
of  the  business  in  establishing  a  dealer  in  the 
good  graces  of  his  customer — or  otherwise,  as 
the  case  may  be — suggests  that  the  plan  described 
some  time  ago  in  this  department,  whereby  a 
retail  coalman  saves  a  good  part  of  his  invest¬ 
ment  by  having  his  coal  delivered  by  someone 
else’s  teams,  has  its  weaknesses.  The  dealer  who 
controls  the  delivery  work  absolutely  can  come 
much  closer  to  insuring  satisfaction  with  this 
featuie  than  the  concern  which  turns  over  this 
job  to  somebody  else,  and  “hopes”  that  it  will 
l)e  well  done.  Such  minor  points  as  looking  out 
for  the  lawn  and  saving  the  appearance  of  the 
coal  window  are  not  likely  to  be  given  much 
attention  by  the  man  who  isn’t  paid  to  look  out 
for  these  details. 

In  this  connection,  the  dealer  who  is  handling 
soft  coal,  which  at  this  season  of  the  year  is  very 
dry  and  dusty,  should  instruct  his  drivers  to  turn 
the  hose  on  the  coal  after  it  is  dumped  and 
before  it  is  placed  in  the  bins.  This  will  eliminate 
the  dust,  and  will  save  a  lot  of  damage  to  the 
hangings  and  furniture  of  the  customer,  who, 
if  she  be  a  woman,  will  call  you  blessed  for 
this  forethought. 


You  and  the  Accountant. 

Just  to  make  assurance  doubly  sure,  and  to 
convince  yourself  that  your  plan  of  handling 
your  books  is  the  best  it  is  possible  to  devise, 
entailing  the  least  possible  labor,  have  an  expert 
accountant  make  an  examination  once  in  a  while. 

Do  this  whether  you  have  any  stockholders  to 
report  to  or  not,  and  simply  for  your  own  per¬ 
sonal  satisfaction.  The  chances  are  that  the 
criticism  which  an  expert  will  be  able  to  make — 
and  the  word  is  used  in  its  positive,  constructive 
sense — will  be  worth  a  great  deal  to  you. 

Bookkeeping  and  cost  accounting  are  almost 
interchangeable  terms ;  that  is,  all  that  one  knows 
about  the  cost  of  doing  business  must  be  shown 
on  the  books.  The  average  accountant  has  had 
to  study  costs,  and  knows  how  to  advise  regard¬ 
ing  keeping  the  books  so  that  the  essential  facts 
may  be  readily  accessible.  Hence  if  you  have 
been  working  in  the  dark  regarding  methods  of 
figuring  costs,  of  taking  inventories,  of  depart- 
mentizing  the  various  operations  of  the  yard, 
etc.,  you  can  get  suggestions  regarding  all  these 
things  from  the  accountant. 

The  smallest  business  can  well  afford  to  have 
the  benefit  of  expert  advice  of  this  sort ;  and  the 
large  dealer  can’t  afford  to  get  along  without  it. 


Look  a  Little  Ahead. 

The  man  who  succeeds  is  the  man  with  a 

vision. 

“Vision”  is  just  as  necessary  in  the  coal  busi¬ 
ness  as  it  is  to  the  head  of  a  million-dollar 
bank.  Handling  the  every  day  affairs  of  a 

modest  coal-yard  requires,  in  order  to  insure 
success,  the  same  broad  outlook  which  one  usual¬ 
ly  thinks  of  only  in  connection  with  huge  enter¬ 
prises  and  large  capitalization. 

A  vision  does  not  need  to  be  something  so 

grand  and  magnificent  as  to  be  out  of  reach 

in  this  life.  It  can  very  well  take  the  form  of 
a  new  office  building  or  increased  yard-room.  It 
may  have  to  do  with  motor  truck  delivery  or 
a  new  home.  And  when  some  such  project  or 
vision  has  been  created,  it  is  going  to  help  move 
the  business  forward.  The  man  who  wants  to 
accomplish  something,  and  who  is  using  his  busi- 


ess  as  a  means  to  an  end,  is  not  going  to  over¬ 
look  many  possibilities. 

Look  ahead  and  see  what  it  is  that  you  are 
trying  to  reach.  Try  to  create  in  your  own  mind 
a  picture  of  the  Imsiness  as  you  want  it  to  be 
one,  five,  ten  years  from  now;  and  then  make  a 
special  effort  to  get  there  a  little  ahead  of  the 
schedule. 


Typewritten  Bills. 

The  use  of  a  typewriter  in  a  coal  otnee  helps 
not  only  in  that  it  makes  a  neater-looking  and 
more  legible  statement,  but  it  also  impresses  the 
customer  with  the  business-like  character  of  the 
office.  Few^  men  produce  hand-writing  of  the 
“steel  plate”  type,  and  consequently  it  is  not 
often  that  a  hand-written  statement  has  the  good 
appearance  of  one  which  is  gotten  out  on  the 
typewriter.  In  some  cases  it  would  take  longer 
to  use  the  machine  than  write  by  hand,  but  in 
others  the  speed  would  be  greater.  Certainly 
for  all  business  communications,  such  as  cor¬ 
respondence  with  wholesalers  and  supply  houses, 
letters  to  customers,  etc.,  the  typewriter  should 
be  used,  as  this  will  make  for  more  rapid  han¬ 
dling  of  the  proposition. 


The  Business  Barnacle. 

Do  you  know  what  a  barnacle  is? 

It  is  a  small  parasite  which  attaches  itself  to 
the  bottom  of  a  ship,  and  is  carried  along  with  it. 

Naturally,  the  horsepower  of  a  barnacle  is 
zero. 

The  absolute  zero  of  power  is  reached  in  the 
marine  parasite  of  this  variety,  just  as  it  is 
reached,  from  a  commercial  standpoint,  in  the 
retailer  who  assumes  the  barnacle  attitude. 

A  man  of  this  type  merely  “takes  things  as 
they  come,”  and  is  carried  along  by  the  impetus 
of  trade.  People  buy  iris  coal,  partly  from  neces¬ 
sity,  partly  from  force  of  habit;  never  because 
he  has  actively  interested  himself  in  creating  in¬ 
terest  in  his  coal  and  his  service  and  endeavoring 
to  produce  sales. 

It  may  be  unfair  to  say  that  there  are  more 
barnacles  in  the  coal  business  than  in  other  lines; 
but  the  fact  that  coal  is  the  staple  of  staples, 
and  is  needed  so  definitely  that  the  demand  for 
It  comes  without  any  .special  effort  on  the  part 
of  the  dealer,  encourages  a  passive  attitude  and 
the  assumption  that  the  business  will  come  of  its 
own  accord. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  fact  that  definite  efforts 
to  secure  new  business  and  arouse  the  interest 
of  the  trade  often  fail  to  produce  immediate 
results  of  any  definite,  tangible  variety,  forms 
an  argument,  in  the  mind  of  the  man  who  has 
tried  them,  in  favor  of  leaning  back  and  being 
a  comfortable  barnacle. 

But  the  successful,  up-to-date,  hustling  dealer, 
who  is  using  all  of  the  business-getting  devices 
at  his  command,  knows  that  the  ultimate  results 
justify  all  of  his  efforts,  even  though  he  cannot 
see  them  immediately.  The  proof  lies  not  in 
single  sales,  but  in  a  comparison  of  volume  with 
volume,  month  with  month,  and  year  with  year. 

Don’t  be  a  barnacle ;  get  up  and  hustle,  and 
do  your  part  to  keep  things  moving. 


Anthracite  Rate  Case. 


New  York,  August  26.~(Special  Correspond¬ 
ence.) — The  meeting  of  the  executive  officials  of 
the  anthracite  coal  companies  and  their  counsel 
carried  over  from  last  week  was  resumed  at  11 
o’clock  on  Tuesday  morning.  After  a  short  ses¬ 
sion  the  conference  was  adjourned  for  a  further 
meeting.  No  details  were  given  out,  either  re¬ 
garding  the  result  of  the  deliberations  or  the 
dates  of  the  next  meeting. 

As  the  order  of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Com¬ 
mission  reducing  anthracite  rates  becomes  effective 
Oefober  1st,  action  by  the  coal  company  inter¬ 
ests  must  be  taken  before  that  date.  It  may 
be  stated  that  nothing  definite  has  yet  been  de¬ 
cided  along  any  of  the  lines  intimated  in  the 
public  reports.  It  has  been  suggested  that  each 
one  of  the  anthracite  companies  most  largely 
affected  by  the  rate  reduction  act  on  its  individual 
account;  also  that  a  joint  presentment  in  behalf 
of  all  the  roads  be  made ;  also  an  appeal  to  the 
courts  or  an  application  to  the  Interstate  Com¬ 
merce  Commission  for  a  rehearing. 


•Announcement  was  made  of  the  incorpora¬ 
tion  of  the  Hoffa  Brothers  Coal  Company, 
with  a  capital  stock  of  $20,000.  Arthur  P. 
Hoffa,  Charles  W.  Hoffa  and  Estella  Hoffa 
are  given  as  the  incorporators. 


170 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[August  28 


PUBIiISKED  ETEST  BATUBDAT  BT  THE 
BEACH  BIAMOBTl)  COMPAir7. 

Subscription  price,  $8.00  per  year,  postage  prepaid,  to 
any  postoffice  in  the  United  States.  Foreign  subscrip¬ 
tion  price,  $5.00  per  year.  Single  copies,  20  cents. 
Entered  at  Chicago  postoffice  as  second-class  matter. 


Address  all  communications  to 
THE  BEACH  BIAUCND  COMPAmr  (INC; 
Main  office,  Manhattan  building,  Chicago. 


Branch  Offices. 

New  York,  29  Broadway. 
Philadelphia,  1400  Land  Title  building. 
Pittsburgh,  1602  Oliver  building. 


Saturday,  Au.gust  28,  1915. 


INDEX. 


Special  Articles. 


Page 


Effect  of  Rate  Changes  on  the  Retail  Trade .  161 

A  Point  or  Two  About  the  Car  Situation .  162 

Importance  of  Coal  Receiving  Facilities .  162 

How  to  Strengthen  Local  Coal  Trade  Conditions....  163 
Gas  Companies  and  the  Domestic  Fuel  Question.  . .  .  163 

Prices  of  Feed  for  the  Retailers’  Horses .  164 

The  Retailer  and  the  Coal  Storage  Movement .  164 

Getting  Coal  Through  Congested  Terminal  Yards....  164 

Government  Gets  Refund .  164 

Making  a  Record  With  a  Small  Truck .  165 

How  the  Retailer  Should  Advertise  His  Coal .  165 

First  Aid  Teams .  165 

Men  Prominent  in  the  Coal  Trade’s  Eye .  166 

Owner’s  R.ghts  in  Relation  to  Carriers .  166 

National  Coal  Trade  Golf  Association .  167 

Aerial  Tramway  Overcomes  Handling  Obstacles .  168 

Boston  and  Maine  Coal .  168 

New  Storage  System .  168 

Field  of  the  Retail  Dealer . '. .  169 

Anthracite  Rate  Case .  169 

Editorial  .  170 

How  Trucks  Work  With  California  Coal  Trade .  171 

The  Welsh  Coal  Crisis .  171 

Facts  Which  Determine  Our  Export  Prospects .  173 

Wasteful  Coke  Production .  180 


Market  Reports. 


General  Review  and  Chicago .  174 

Pittsburgh,  St.  Louis  and  Omaha .  175 

Cincinnati  and  Denver .  176 

Duluth,  Birmingham  and  Detroit .  177 

New  York .  178 

Philadelphia  and  Buffalo .  179 

New  England  and  Baltimore .  180 

Hocking  Valley .  15 


The  Retail  Idea. 

F.  F.  Herrick,  the  agent  at  Savannah, 
Ill.,  of  the  Neola  Elevator  Company,  has 
recently  advertised  that  he  is  forming  a 
coal  club.  When  they  inquire  about  it, 
he  explains; 

“We  will  take,  weekly,  semi-monthly  or 
monthly,  any  amount  of  money  which 
you  may  want  to  deposit.  We  will  give 
you  credit  for  this  amount  and  guarantee 
to  give  you,  at  any  time  you  say,  the 
equivalent  in  any  kind  of  coal  you  select. 
By  paying  us  in  installments,  ahead  of 
time,  your  coal  bill  is  paid  when  you  need 
coal  and  may  want  money  for  some  other 
purpose.” 

The  householders  in  many  small  places 
haven’t  large  bins  for  coal  storage.  They 
would  like  to  buy  their  coal  in  summer, 
but  they  haven’t  the  room.  Maybe  they 
haven’t  the  money.  However,  if  each 
man  puts  in  $1  or  $5,  this  soon  mounts 
up  to  the  price  of  a  few  carloads.  The 
retailer,  receiving  this  money,  instantly 
invests  it  in  the  kind  of  coal  designated 
by  the  people.  He  puts  it  in  his  own 
storage  pile.  He  has  the  cash  with  which 
to  pay  the  bill. 

Then,  when  the  winter  comes,  the  coal 
is  on  hand.  Then,  any  man  who  has  or¬ 
dered  coal  can  simply  designate  that  he 
wants  deliveries  made  at  a  given  time. 

The  club  idea  has  been  worked  out  by 
merchant  tailors  and  others.  There  is  no 
good  reason  why  it  should  not  work  out 
fairly  well  in  connection  with  the  sale  of 
coal.  This  one  retail  concern  is  trying 
it  out. 


Anthracite  Rates. 

Many  statisticians  have  gone  into  the 
history  and  the  recent  development  of  the 
anthracite  trade.  They  came  to  one  con¬ 
clusion  after  looking  first  at  the  geology, 
at  mine  equipment,  at  the  difficulty  to 
prepare  coal,  and  at  the  present  tendencies 
of  market.  That  was : 

Anthracite  production  grew  quite  rap¬ 
idly  for  a  number  of  years,  then  it  reached 
the  present  figure  and  has  been  virtually 
unchanged  for  several  years. 

Therefore  anthracite  production  is  ap¬ 
proaching,  if  it  has  not  reached,  maxi¬ 
mum. 

This  is  not  our  own  conclusion,  under¬ 
stand.  It  is  that  of  the  statisticians,  some 
of  whom  have  been  employed  by  the 
United  States  government. 

With  that  point  in  mind,  it  is  interest¬ 
ing  to  consider  the  rates  recently  estab¬ 
lished  by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Com¬ 
mission.  Those,  as  liberally  outlined 
elsewhere,  are  fifteen  to  twenty-five  cents 
a  ton,  on  the  average,  lower  than  they  were. 
Two  possibilities  grow  out  of  these  lower 
rates.  One  is  that  the  independent  oper¬ 
ators,  who  have  been  making  practically 
no  money  on  the  coal  at  the  mine  mouth, 
will  have  a  chance  to  make  fifteen  to 
twenty-five  cents  a  ton  more.  This  would 
only  be  a  fair  profit.  That  seems  to  have 
been  the  intention  of  the  commission. 

The  other  is  that  the  anthracite  oper¬ 
ators  will  do  the  obvious  thing  for  the 
coal  trade,  namely,  give  the  benefit  of 
this  reduction  in  rates  to  the  retailer,  who 
in  turn  will  give  it  to  the  consumer. 

The  latter  consideration  suggests  this 
question : 

“Why  pass  on  this  reduction  in  rates  to 
the  consumer?” 

One  purpose  of  the  reduction  in  price 
would  be  to  increase  the  volume  of  sales 
by  giving  bituminous  coal  stronger  com¬ 
petition.  However,  if  the  anthracite  area 
is  limited  and  if  productive  capacity  does 
not  warrant  it  and  especially  if  production 
has  already  reached  maximum,  it  is  out 
of  the  question  to  increase  the  volume  of 
sales  because  production  cannot  be  in¬ 
creased.  Why  then  pass  on  the  reduction 
to  the  consumer? 

The  only  answer  to'  the  question  is 
that  a  few  coal  men  cannot  stand  prosper¬ 
ity  and  therefore  cannot  endure  to  make 
a  profit  out  of  their  business. 


Industrial  Commission. 

The  Commission  on  Industrial  Rela¬ 
tions  of  the  United  States  has  been  the 
subject  of  much  caustic  comment.  Even 
so,  none  of  its  enemies  has  been  able,  .so 
far,  to  condemn  it  quite  as  effectively  as 
it  has  done  for  itself.  Sober,  thinking 
persons  have  said  of  Frank  Walsh,  for 
example,  that  he  was  exploiting  his  par¬ 
tisanship  under  cover  of  an  United  States 
government  job,  and,  therefore,  was  mak¬ 
ing  the  government  a  partisan  in  a  social 
dispute  among  its  own  people. 

This  seemed  to  convict  the  commission 
at  first,  but  the  actual  effect  was  to  con¬ 
vict  critics  of  being  reactionaries.  So 
the  commission  escaped  the  criticism 
leveled  at  it. 

Now,  however,  the  Commission  has 
gone  on  record,  and  its  critics  are  repeat¬ 
ing  joyfully:  “Would  that  mine  enemy 
would  write  a  book.”  It  has  put  out  a 
triple-headed  report.  All  of  the  hot-heads 


appointed  on  that  Commission  could  not 
agree  on  what  should  be  said.  So,  we 
have  three  suggested  solutions  of  the  la¬ 
bor  situation.  They  convict  themselves, 
not  by  the  fact  that  they  could  not  agree 
— even  the  supreme  court  members  can¬ 
not  do  that — but  because  they  tried  to 
find  a  solution  for  such  a  perfectly  human 
thing  as  the  labor  problem. 

A  small  commission  made  up  of  small 
men  tried  in  one  brief  report  to  set  down 
a  rule  which  for  all  time  should  fix  the 
relations  between  labor  and  capital.  This 
in  essence  and  in  fact  is  ludicrous. 

That  is  to  say,  the  government  is  con¬ 
cerned  only  with  seeing  that  no  injustice 
is  done.  It  does  not  go  so  far  as  to  regu¬ 
late  conditions  so  that  a  man  who  is  a 
worker  must  remain  a  worker  always.  It 
dare  not,  by  government  degree,  bring 
back  the  old  feudal  system  and  all  that  it 
entailed. 

Still,  if  the  government  fixes  relations 
as  rigidly  as  this  commission  proposes,  it 
would  mean  just  that.  It  would  mean  that 
a  man  who  is  today  in  the  working  class 
must  forever  remain  in  the  working  class ; 
a  man  who  is  in  the  capital  class  must 
forever  remain  in  the  capital  class.  This 
is  making  hereditary  both  management 
and  labor.  All  human  society  is  trying 
to  get  away  from  just  that  condition. 

Finding  a  solution  for  the  labor  prob¬ 
lem,  as  this  commission  is  trying  to  do, 
means  therefore  nothing  else  than  to  put 
opportunity  under  the  knife  and  kill  it. 

The  whole  effort  of  the  commission  is 
too  silly  to  be  considered  by  those  who 
are  struggling  for  real  economic  liberty 
in  America.  Because  its  purpose  is  futile, 
the  commission  condemns  itself  as  useless. 


An  Unwarranted  Assertion. 

In  the  report  of  the  Interstate  Com¬ 
merce  Commission  on  the  “anthracite 
rates  and  practices  case,”  Commissioner 
McChord,  who  wrote  the  opinion,  said  on 
page  232 : 

“It  has  been  the  policy  for  many  years 
of  these  carriers  to  gain  a  monopoly  of 
the  production  and  sale  of  anthracite 
coal.” 

This  strong  statement  is  qualified  no¬ 
where  in  the  whole  document,  so  far  as  we 
can  find. 

The  ■  Sherman  anti-trust  law  makes  it 
a  felony  to  monopolize  anything,  or  even 
to  try  to  gain  a  monopoly.  In  fact,  an  in¬ 
tention  to  monopolize  anything,  if  proved, 
is  as  much  a  violation  of  the  law  as  is  the 
act  of  monopoly  itself. 

Therefore,  in  that  four-line  statement. 
Commissioner  McChord  accuses  the  car¬ 
riers  of  studiously  committing  a  crime. 
The  language  quoted,  when  put  alongside 
the  law,  leaves  the  reader  in  no  doubt. 
Yet,  some  years  previous  to  the  issuance 
of  Mr.  McChord’s  statement  the  attorney 
general  of  the  federal  government  had 
tried  and  failed  to  prove  that  the  anthra¬ 
cite  coal  roads  were  doing  just  what  Mr. 
McChord  charges.  The  Supreme  Court 
of  the  United  States  said  unequivocally 
that  the  government  had  not  proved  its 
charge. 

Under  those  circumstances  it  was,  to 
say  the  least,  an  unwarranted  assertion 
which  Chairman  McChord  made.  Whether 
or  not  he  committed  a  more  serious  of¬ 
fense  is  for  the  attorneys  and  the  courts 
to  decide. 


No.  9] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


171 


How  Trucks  Work  in  the  California  Coal  Trade.* 


When  I  was  asked  to  make  a  short  statement 
on  “The  Economy  and  Efficiency  of  the  Motor 
Truck  Over  Horse  Drawn  Vehicles”  I  'remarked 
that  I  had  better  decline,  as  I  was  far  from  con¬ 
vinced  of  the  economy  of  the  former  as  against 
the  latter  for  delivery  of  sacked  coal,  and  that  is 
what  interests  the  retail  coal  dealer.  I  was  told, 
however,  to  go  ahead  and  state  our  experience 
whether  for  or  against  the  motor  truck,  as  it 
might  help  some  other  dealer  who  was  wrestling 
with  the  same  problem.  The  conditions  of  de¬ 
livery  vary  so  much  that  I  can  only  give  you  an 
idea  of  what  our  conditions  are  in  Oakland,  Cal., 
and  the  results  we  have  obtained,  and  you  can 
adjust  them  to  your  own  particular  cases. 

First  of  all,  our  firm  does  a  larger  business  in 
sand,  gravel  and  rock,  commodities  which  are 
handled  entirely  in  bulk,  loaded  and  unloaded 
without  any  unnecessary  delay.  In  a  business  of 
this  kind  the  worth  of  the  motor  truck  is  un¬ 
questioned,  and,  therefore,  its  value  in  the  deliv¬ 
ery  of  sacked  coal  is  only  recognized  by  us  as  a 
secondary  consideration  and  auxiliary  to  this  part 
of  the  business,  and  can  be  applied  when  the  de¬ 
livery  of  building  material  is  light  and,  therefore, 
enables  us  to  keep  our  trucks  busy  delivering  coal 
when  the  more  profitable  deliveries  of  material 
are  slack. 

However,  long  before  we  had  any  trucks  on 
building  material,  we  got  the  idea  that  on  account 
of  our  many  long  hauls,  a  motor  truck  could  be 
used  in  our  coal  department  to  advantage,  as  our 
long  hauls  average  up  five  and  six  miles  in  four 
different  directions.  We  enthused  over  the  idea 
until  it  became  a  reality  and  we  had  the  first  five 
ton  coal  truck  in  Alameda  county.  The  machine 
we  purchased  was  recognized,  at  that  tirne,  as 
being  a  very  good  make,  but  the  construction  of 
motor  trucks  was  going  through  the  same  stages 
that  the  first  passenger  cars  did,  and  we  paid 
dearly  for  our  experimenting  and  pioneering.  It 
was  a  rigid  frame  truck,  built  very  heavy,  and 
every  time  it  went  over  a  bump  it  got  out  of 
alignment  and  refused  to  go;  in  other  words, 
some  days  it  ran  and  some  days  it  didn’t,  but 
mostly  it  didn’t,  and  it  could  usually  be  found 
gladdening  the  heart  of  some  repair  rnan.  I  am 
going  to  pass  over  the  details  of  the  life  of  this 
truck,  however,  as  they  are  indeed  painful  and 
have  no  bearing  on  the  operation  of  the  present- 
day  motor  truck. 

We  were  so  keenly  disappointed^  over  our  first 
experience  that  we  waited  some  time  before  we 
bought  another.  In  the  meantime  we  hired  trucks 
and  experimented  carefully  with  the  different 
makes  under  all  sorts  and  conditions.  Finally, 
becoming  convinced  that  the  experimental  stage 
of  motor  truck  construction  was  past,  we  picked 
out  the  truck  that  had  shown  up  best  under  tests 
and  bought  it  early  in  1914.  This  is  a  five-ton 
worm  driven  dump  body  truck,  and  the  service 
it  gave  was  so  excellent  that  we  purchased  an¬ 
other,  a  duplicate  of  the  first,  a  month  or  so  later. 

As  the  material  business  declined  with  the  com¬ 
ing  of  the  rainy  weather,  we  put  the  trucks  on 
coal  deliveries.  It  did  not  take  long  for  us  to 
discover  that  even  with  a  fast  modern  truck  coal 
deliveries  in  sacks  could  not  be  made  as  cheaply 
as  by  horse-drawn  vehicles.  The  earnings  of  the 
trucks  when  hauling  loose  material  that  could  be 
quickly  loaded  and  dumped  off  were  quite  dif¬ 
ferent  from  its  earnings  when  sacked  coal  had 
to  be  loaded  and  unloaded  sack  by  sack. 

For  instance,  during  the  summer  months  one 
truck  was  putting  144  yards,  or  approxirnately  190 
tons  of  sand  and  gravel  on  the  municipal  audi¬ 
torium  job  per  day  of  nine  hours  with  no  one 
on  the  truck  but  the  driver.  This  was  a  two-mile 
round  trip  haul,  and  at  twenty-five  cents  per  yard 
showed  daily  gross  earnings  for  the  truck  of 
$36.00  with  a  daily  average  of  seventy-two  miles. 
Of  course,  these  were  ideal  conditions ;  the  mate¬ 
rial  being  loaded  on  the  truck  out  of_  overhead 
bunkers  and  being  dumped  at  destination  into  a 
bunker  underneath  the  truck. 

When  we  put  the  truck  on  sacked  coal,  it  de¬ 
livered  an  average  of  fifteen  tons  per  day  with 
one  hour  overtime,  and  we  kept  two  extra  men 
on  the  truck  to  help  pack  the  coal,  and  the  daily 
mileage  was  thirty-five  miles. 

Of  course,  when  deliveries  are  being  made  by 
the  truck  and  horses  also,  the  trucks  are  naturally 
assigned  to  the  most  difficult  apd  longest  hauls 
and  this  must  be  taken  into  consideration  in  mak¬ 
ing  up  cost  figures.  The  big  drawback  on  sacked 

"An  address  before  the  California  Fuel  Dealers’  Asso- 
'^ation.  .  „  , 

tManager  of  the  Pacific  Fuel  &  Building  Material 
Company,  Oakland,  Cal. 


By  Frank  G.  Coxhead.f 

The  Hauls  Are  Long  and  Expensive,  But 
the  Trucks  Have  Some  Big  Advantages 
Over  Horse-drawn  Vehicles. 


coal  is  the  length  of  time  taken  to  load  and  un¬ 
load.  A  five-ton  load  of  coal  is  generally  split  up 
into  several  smaller  orders  and  the  truck  has 
to  manoeuvre  around  the  yard  for  some  time  to 
get  the  orders  on  in  proper  rotation.  Then  again, 
the  unloading  and  packing  in  of  100  sacks  of  coal 
even  by  three  men  is  a  slow  proposition  and  a 
truck  does  not  earn  any  money  standing  in  the 
street  or  in  a  dealer’s  yard.  It  must  be  kept  mov¬ 
ing  to  be  economical. 

The  large  lumber  companies  found  this  out  a 
long  time  ago  and  now  have  a  load  ready  for  each 
truck  the  minute  it  arrives  in  the  yard.  This  load 
is  loaded  on  a  dummy  and  transferred  to  the 
truck  in  a  few  minutes.  This  scheme  is  also  in 
vogue  in  the  east  with  the  large  department  stores 
that  use  motor  vehicles  for  delivery  of  packages ; 
the  packages  being  loaded  into  a  cage  which  is 
transferred  bodily  to  the  truck  when  the  empty 
cage  is  taken  off. 

Now  as  to  comparison  of  cost  between  horse- 
drawn  vehicles  and  trucks :  the  cost  of  delivpy 
by  horses  on  our  long  hauls  from  figures  covering 
a  period  of  years  shows  up  pretty  close  to  $1.00 
per  ton.  In  forming  an  estimate  of  cost  of  truck 
delivery  we  have  used  the  following  figures : 

Interest  on  investment  at  6  per  cent . $  324.60 

Insurance  (fire  liability,  property  damage,  theft, 

collision)  .  250.00 

Driver,  $24  per  week .  1,248.00 

Fixed  charges  for  year . $1,322.60 

Fixed  charges  for  day .  6.07 

COST  PER  MILE. 

Tires  (7,000  miles  guarantee,  $405  set) . $  .0570 

Gasoline  (four  miles  per  gallon  at  10  cents) .  .  .0250 

Lubrication  (250  miles  per  gallon  at  60  cents)  .0030 

Transmission,  5,000  miles  per  gallon,  65  cents 
Rear  axle,  2,000  miles,  3!4  gallons,  65  cents 
Repairs  and  overhauling  every  15,000  miles 

for  $375 . . .  .0250 

Depreciation — Truck  good  for  100,000  miles.  .  .0500 

Operating  cost  per  mile . $  .1600 

Figuring  on  coal  sacks  we  must  take  the  fixed 

charges  per  day . $  6.07 

Two  helpers  at  $2.75  per  day .  2.50 

Thirty-five  miles  at  16  cents .  5.60 

Overtime  .  1.50 

Total  cost  per  day . $  18.67 

Or,  a  cost  of  $1.25  per  ton. 

So  it  seems  that  the  cost  of  motor  delivery  is 
higher  than  the  cost  of  delivery  by  wagons.  But 
there  are  certain  advantages  the  motor  truck  has 
that  must  not  be  underestimated  and  are  often 
of  material  worth  to  the  coal  dealer  even  though 
it  may  cost  a  few  cents  more  per  day.  As  I  said 
before,  the  trucks  get  the  long  and  difficult  hauls, 
which  leaves  the  easier  ones  for  the  horses. 

We  have  noticed  a  great  difference  in  the  con¬ 
dition  of  our  animals  at  the  end  of  the  winter 
season.  Instead  of  being  all  used  up  as  they  were 
before  the  day  of  motor  trucks,  they  come 
through  the  season  in  excellent  condition. 

Then,  again,  the  amount  of  work  a  truck  can 
do  without  any  rest  is  unlimited.  It  does  not 
know  the  meaning  of  overtime. 

Another  advantage  that  the  truck  has  is  better 
and  quicker  service.  Where  it  used  to  be  neces¬ 
sary  to  have  orders  in  by  noon  from  the  outlying 
districts  in  order  to  make  delivery  the  same  day, 
it  is  now  possible  to  take  out  orders  that  come 
in  as  late  as  two  or  three  o’clock. 

The  advertising  feature  is  also  a  strong  one,  as 
there  are  lots  of  people  who  are  attracted  by  a 
well  kept,  smooth  running  coal  truck.  Some  are 
attracted  from  a  humanitarian  standpoint,  espe¬ 
cially  those  who  live  on  the  steeper  grades  and  do 
not  like  to  see  the  spectacle  of  a  load  of  coal  be¬ 
ing  hauled  up  by  horses,  and  who  can  only  see 
in  that  spectacle  a  case  of  cruelty  to  animals.  So 
you  can  readily  see  that,  while  our  experience 
when  looked  at  in  the  light  of  dollars  and  cents 
has  not  been  favorable  to  the  motor  truck,  it  has 
advantages  which  may  or  may  not  offset  the  dif¬ 
ference  in  cost.  But  the  worth  of  these  consider- 
ations  must  necessarily  rest  with  the  individual 
coal  dealer. 

There  are  a  few  points  which  we  have  learned 
from  that  best  of  teachers— exoerience— which 
may  be  valuable  to  anyone  contemplating  the  pur¬ 
chase  of  a  truck. 

In  the  first  place,  get  a  good  truck  made  by  a 
responsible  firm  that  is  in  the  truck  business  to 
stay.  Then  see  that  the  truck  is  properly  taken 


care  of,  many  a  truck  being  ruined  by  lack  of 
proper  lubrication. 

Get  a  truck  that  operates  with  a  minimum  of 
noise.  Nearly  all  the  manufacturers  are  working 
on  this  feature  and  that  is  the  reason  why  thirty 
per  cent  of  the  trucks  now  being  manufactured 
in  the  United  States  are  being  built  with  the  worm 
drive  instead  of  the  noisy,  dirt  collecting  chain 
drive.  It  is  only  a  question  of  a  short  time,  in 
my  opinion,  when  all  trucks  will  be  so  con¬ 
structed. 

Last,  but  not  least,  do  not  overload  your  trucks 
at  any  time  beyond  their  capacity,  because  if  you 
do,  the  little  saving  effected  will  be  eaten  up  ten 
times  in  damage  to  the  truck. 


The  Welsh  Coal  Crisis. 


A  special  correspondent  of  the  Journal  of 
Commerce  of  Liverpool  says; 

“The  South  Wales  coal  owners,  having 
laid  details  of  their  scheme  to  ensure  ade¬ 
quate  supplies  of  coal  being  available  for 
home  consumption  before  the  Coal  Exports 
Committee,  and  having  received  from  that 
committee  notification  that  the  scheme  would 
be  sympathetically  considered,  it  remains  for 
the  coal  owners  to  lose  no  time  in  putting 
their  scheme  into  practical  working  order. 
The  government  authorities  will  undoubtedly 
require  to  see  results,  and  until  something  def¬ 
inite  is  given  to  the  government,  coal  exports 
will  probably  find  considerable  difficulty  in 
obtaining  licenses  to  export  their  coals.  The 
authorities  have  now  a  firm  control  on  the 
coal  export  trade,  and  if  they  are  convinced 
that  the  supplies  for  home  consumption  are 
needed,  the  refusal  of  licenses  will  be  so 
exercised  that  collieries  will  be  forced  either 
to  stop  or  sell  their  surplus  to  home  consum¬ 
ers. 

“The  eastern  and  western  committees  of 
coal  owners  formed  to  carry  out  the  scheme 
submitted  to  the  government  have  now  a  hard 
task  before  them,  but  the  difficulties  will  in 
no  wise  prove  insurmountable  if  the  individ¬ 
ual  members  loyally  agree  to  carry  out  the 
clauses  of  their  agreement.  In  normal  times 
70  per  cent  of  the  total  production  of  the 
South  Wales  and  Monmouthshire  coal  field  is 
sent  abroad,  and  the  remainder  is  utilized  for 
home  consumption.  The  coal  output  has  been 
reduced  by  10  to  15  per  cent,  if  not  more,  the 
admiralty  authorities  have  greatly  increased 
their  requirements  over  the  quantities  taken 
in  normal  times,  and  the  bunkering  require¬ 
ments  of  vessels  at  the  ports  are  much  lieav- 
ier.  The  requirements  for  home  consump¬ 
tion  will  at  the  minimum  be  5  per  cent  greater 
than  during  normal  times,  owing  to  the  greater 
and  heavier  calls  for  coal  for  the  manufacture 
of  munitions,  and  also  to  the  heavier  demand 
by  the  railways  owing  to  the  increased  ton¬ 
nage  railed.  Therefore,  the  quantity  available 
for  export  on  ordinary  commercial  account, 
without  taking  the  increased  requirements  of 
the  admiralty,  will  be  at  the  maximum  about 
30  to  35  per  cent  of  the  total  production  of 
the  coal  field  in  normal  times.  To  solve  the 
problem  of  how  much  Individual  collieries 
shall  contribute  to  the  home  requirements 
will  be  the  most  difficult  point  of  the  whole, 
and  in  the  endeavor  to  carry  the  scheme  to 
a  successful  issue  the  coal  owners  must,  of  ne¬ 
cessity,  give  details  to  their  committee  which, 
in  normal  times,  they  would  keep  rigorously 
to  themselves.  The  coal  owners  must  trust 
each  other  and  abide  by  the  decision  of  their 
committee;  otherwise  it  will  be  impossible  to 
fix  quota  at  which  each  colliery  must  be  called 
upon  to  give  to  home  supplies  under  their 
scheme.  The  government  has  the  whip  hand, 
and  any  falling  short  in  the  supplies  for  home 
use  will  surely  be  followed  by  the  lopping  off 
of  exports,  to  the  great  detriment  of  the 
South  Wales  coal  trade  as  a  whole.  The  op¬ 
erations  of  the  Westphalian  Coal  Syndicate 
in  its  allotments  for  home  use  and  for  export¬ 
ing  is  an  illustration  of  how  such  a  matter 
can  be  mutually  and  equitably  arranged.  The 
South  Wales  coal  owners  are  astute  business 
men,  and  there  is  every  reason  to  believe  that 
their  scheme  will  prove  sufficiently  successful 
to  convince  the  government,  who  will  then 
gladly  release  the  shackles  which  are  encum¬ 
bering  one  of  the  most  important  branches  ot 
trade  in  the  kingdom.” 


172 


[August  28 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


News  Local  to  Chicago. 


John  L.  Pipe  of  Quincy,  Illinois,  spent  sev¬ 
eral  days  in  Chicago  the  first  part  of  this 
week. 

Among  the  Chicago  visitors  this  week  was  R. 

J.  O’Donnell  of  the  John  O’Donnell  estate  of 
Kenosha,  Wis. 

Mr.  Cunningham,  secretary  of  the  Western 
Virginia  Operators’  Association  was  in  Chi¬ 
cago  on  Thursday  of  this  week. 

R.  B.  Hullhorst,  resident  salesman  of  C. 
M.  Moderwell  &  Company  at  Peoria,  was  in 
Chicago  this  week.  He  was  accompanied  by 
Mrs.  Hullhorst. 

Thomas  Grant,  the  well  known  retailer  of 
Freeport,  Illinois,  and  a  leader  of  the  trade  in 
his  section,  was  in  Chicago  on  Thursday  of 
this  week. 

R  L  Phelps,  proprietor  of  the  Windsor  Park 
Coal  Company,  No.  7454  South  Shore  avenue, 
has  disposed  of  the  property  to  E.  R.  Sorensen 
who  will  continue  the  business  at  the  same  ad¬ 
dress. 

Mr.  Henry,  western  manager  of  the  West 
Virginia  Coal  Company,  with  headquarters 
in  Cincinnati,  was  a  caller  on  the  coal  trade 
on  Wednesday.  He  was  celebrating  the  fact 
that  only  recently  his  company  had  sold  50,- 
000  tons  to  the  Italian  Government. 

H.  H.  Stoek,  professor  of  Mining  Engin¬ 
eering  of  the  University  of  Illinois,  and  an 
authority  on  coal,  was  in  Chicago  on  \Vednes- 
day  of  this  week,  returning  to  the  university 
from  a  vacation  trip  spent  in  the  northern 
part  of  Wisconsin. 

Two  or  three  of  the  leading  operators  of 
Franklin  County  field,  announce  this  week, 
that  a  new  circular  price  on  that  coal  will  go  into 
effect  on  the  first  of  September.  The  lump,  egg, 
and  number  one  nut  will  be  $1.75  and  the  num¬ 
ber  two  or  special  stove  $1.40. 

The  old  saying,  “The  better  the  day  the  better 
the  deed’’  has  been  exemplified  again.  Dr. 
Beebe  of  the  Buchanan  Coal  Company  made  89 
twice  on  Sunday  last  at  the  Evanston  Golf  Club 
(bourse.  The  doctor  was  a  bit  skeptical  as  to  his 
form  but  now  is  full  of  assurance  and  willing 
to  challenge  any  man  in  Chicago— who  never  has 
played  the  game. 

Karl  W.  Block,  assistant  purchasing  agent 
of  the  Union  Pacific  Coal  Company  of  Omaha, 
v/as  in  Chicago  the  first  three  'days  of  this 
week.  He  was  playing  golf  at  the  Glen  Oak 
Club.  In  the  meanwhile,  he  was  also  look¬ 
ing  after  the  interests  of  his  coal  company  by 
having  several  conferences  of  a  business  char¬ 
acter  in  the  evenings. 

W.  C.  Hill,  vice-president  of  the  Chicago 
&  Cartervilie  Coal  Company,  usually  issues 
his  new  circulars  on  the  28th  of  the  month. 
The  latter  part  of  this  week  he  was  prepar¬ 
ing  a  new  circular  to  go  out  on  his  William¬ 
son  county  coal,  which  will  name  a  price  at 
$1.75  for  lump,  egg,  and  number  one  washed. 
It  is  probable  the  other  sizes  will  not  be 
subject  to  circular  just  now.  Just  what  the 
other  Williamson  county  operators  are  going 
to  do  has  not  been  determined,  although  there 
are  suggestions  that  the  price  may  go  to  $1.65. 

Samuel  Reynolds  of  the  Allen  &  Reynolds 
Company  of  Omaha,  was  in  Chicago  for  three 
days  the  early  part  of  the  week,  playing  golf 
at  the  Glen  Oak  Club,  where  the  National  Coal 
Tournament  was  held.  At  home  Mr.  Reyn¬ 
olds,  who  is  something  of  an  enthusiast  on 
golf  has  a  tournament  record  of  seventy-two 
on  the  home  grounds  and  in  competition  with 
Mr.  Gardner  at  Glen  Oak  made  eighty  and 
seventy-nine  on  what  is  considered  a  very 
difficult  course.  He  recently  played  in  the 
Western  Association  Tournament  at  Cleve¬ 
land. 

The  Chicago  coal  trade  was  somewhat  ex¬ 
cited  this  week,  over  a  report  that  the  recent 
advance  in  freight  rates  had  been  suspended 
until  the  first  of  April,  1916.  A  brief  bulletin 
sent  out  from  Washington  said  that  car-load 
rates  on  coal  and  coke  had  been  suspended. 
The  coal  men  instantly  jumped  at  the  con¬ 
clusion  that  an  application  of  the  interstate 
rates  had  been  held  up.  An  inquiry  proved 
that  this  was  not  the  case.  On  the  contrary, 
the  Rock  Island  and  the  Alton  railroads 


had  gotten  into  a  controversy  over  the  rates 
from  Winona,  Ill.,  and  the  Rock  Island  has  made 
some  changes.  There  was  some  protest  against 
this  strictly  local  rate  and  the  tariff  was  suspend¬ 
ed.  This  was  what  gave  rise  to  the  report  just 
outlined.  In  the  meanwhile,  the  coal  men  are 
expecting  to  hear  at  any  time,  that  the  railroads, 
will  ask  the  Railways  and  Warehouse  Commission 
of  Illinois  to  grant  an  increase  in  intrastate  rates. 
It  is  hardly  believed  that  seeing  the  granting  of 
an  increase  on  interstate  business  that  the  coal 
operators  will  make  any  serious  objection  to  an 
increase  in  intrastate  rates. 


“B.  L.  T.”  in  the  Chicago  Tribune  has  been 
stealing  some  of  the  sporting  editor’s  stuff.  He 
asks :  "At  Glen  Oak  yesterday  R.  A.  Gardner  suc¬ 
cessfully  defended  his  title  of  ‘champion  of  the 
National  Coal  Trade  Golf  Association.’  Wonder 
who  is  champion  of  the  National  Flour  and  Feed 
Trade  Golf  Association?”  Being  a  specialist  in 
only  one  industry  The  Bl.\ck  Diamond  cannot 
oblige.  However  we  will  lay  his  favorite  odds, 
eight  to  five,  that  we  could  name  the  champion 
golfer  of  the  Amalgamated  Association  of 
Wheeze-Founders  without  unduly  mussing  up 
our  statistical  records. 


Recess  Taken  in  Ohio’s  Rate  Hearing. 


Columbus,  Ohio,  August  25. —  {Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — In  the  Ohio  coal  railroad  rate  case 
brought  before  the  State  Utilities  Commission  by 
the  United  Mine  Workers  officials,  a  corps  of 
rate  experts  appointed  by  the  commission  are  now 
at  work  on  the  records  of  the  Hocking  Valley 
Railway  Company.  The  information  thus  se¬ 
cured  will  form  the  basis  for  testimony  when 
the  hearing  is  resumed  on  October  5th. 

Following  the  recess  taken  on  the  18th  inst., 
the  commission  named  as  examiners :  Beman 
Thomas,  Conway  W.  Hillman,  William  J.  Purdy, 
W.  J.  Warren  and  William  Wyand.  Mr.  Thomas 
is  head  of  the  stock  and  bond  bureau  of  the  com¬ 
mission,  and  the  others  are  members  of  the 
staff  of  Mr.  Hillman,  expert  employed  in  the 
case  by  the  Sunday  Creek  Company,  which  form¬ 
ally  intervened  in  the  action  against  the  rail¬ 
roads  on  the  18th.  Mr.  Purdy,  his  chief  assistant, 
was  formerly  auditor  of  the  Rock  Island  rail¬ 
road. 

At  the  conference  incident  to  the  naming  of 
this  force  J.  F.  Wilson,  chief  counsel  for  the 
Hocking  Valley,  raised  objection  on  the  ground 
that  it  was  not  a  disinterested  body.  The  com¬ 
mission  held  that  the  fact  of  Mr.  Thomas  being 
in  charge  of  the  work  robbed  the  force  of  a 
partisan  nature,  and  was  the  best  solution  of 
the  matter,  inasmuch  as  the  commission  had  no 
funds  with  which  to  employ  its  own  experts. 
The  Sunday  Creek  Company  is  responsible  for 
the  pay  of  the  men,  aside  from  the  commission 
official. 

An  expected  legal  effort  to  refuse  the  exam¬ 
iners  access  to  the  records  when  they  presented 
their  credentials  did  not  materialize.  It  is  be¬ 
lieved,  however,  that  the  railroad  will  not  allow 
the  examination  to  proceed  to  its  close,  or  at 
least  permit  the  data  to  go  before  the  commis¬ 
sion,  without  some  form  of  contest. 

There  is  still  much  speculation  in  coal  circles 
as  to  what  other  operators  are  backing  the  Sun¬ 
day  Creek  Company  in  the  large  outlay  that 
will  accrue  in  prosecuting  the  case.  The  five 
weeks’  services  of  the  experts  in  taking  data 
and  compiling  the  same  into  concrete  evidence 
will  in  itself  run  into  thousands  of  dollars.  It 
is  known  that  the  operators  of  the  state,  and  even 
of  the  Hocking  Valley,  are  not  a  unit  in  favor 
of  the  present  methods.  One  large  Hocking 
company  which  has  heretofore  been  aggressive  in 
fighting  rates,  is  holding  aloof  for  the  present, 
at  least,  because  it  was  believed  that  a  state 
organization  of  operators  should  have  first  been 
effected,  and  the  plans  of  the  campaign  well  dis¬ 
cussed  in  advance. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  known  that  some  in¬ 
fluential  coal  interests  throughout  the  State  are 
in  practical  sympathy  with  the  movement  now 
under  way.  A  prominent  representative  of  the 
Eastern  Ohio  field  has  been  in  Columbus  this 
week  urging  attendance  upon  a  sub-rosa  confer¬ 
ence  of  operators  to  be  held  in  Cleveland  with¬ 
in  a  few  days  to  provide  support  for  the  fight. 

What  importance  the  whole  matter  will  assume 
when  the  hearing  gets  under  way  again  in  Octo¬ 
ber  depends  upon  the  character  of  the  evidence 
which  the  experts  will  be  able  to  submit.*  Should 
it  show  a  discrimination  against  Ohio  coal  be¬ 
yond  the  necessities  of  the  case  on  the  part  of 
the  Hocking  Valley  railroad  in  preserving  its  own 
life  as  a  carrier,  under  conditions  over  which  it 
has  no  control,  the  prosecution  is  likely  to  be 
severe,  according  to  authorities  in  the  matter. 
Even  in  event  that  the  railroad  is  .shown  to  be 
a  victim  of  competitive  railroad  conditions  this  is 
not  likely  to  save  existing  rates  if  this  competi¬ 
tion  is  found  to  come  from  other  Ohio  railroads. 
The  latter  development  would  the  more  quickly 
involve  all  the  railroads. 

The  temper  of  the  commission,  so  far  as  can 
be  judged,  is  to  thrash  out  the  matter,  since  it 
has  been  drawn  into  it,  and  dispose  of  coal  rate 


problems  for  a  long  time  to  come.  As  much  was 
intimated  by  Chairman  Wildermire  from  the 
bench,  in  stating  that  other  important  public 
business  had  been  side-tracked  to  give  this  case 
right  of  way,  and  in  announcing  in  effect  that 
unreasonable  delays  in  the  presenting  of  the 
necessary  evidence  would  not  be  tolerated. 


Coal  and  Coke  Movement. 


The  Department  of  Commerce,  through  the 
bureau  of  foreign  and  domestic  commerce  at 
Washington,  has  just  issued  a  statement  of  the 
movement  of  coal  and  coke  over  thirteen  leading 
Eastern  railroads  during  May  and  the  five 
months  ending  May  31,  1914  and  1915  compared. 
It  is  as  follows : 


Classes  and  May  5  mos.  ending  May  31. 

railroads  1914  1915  1914  1915 

Anthracite.  Short  tons.  Short  tons. 


B.  S:  O.  (a).  .. 

97,003 

93,698 

633,765 

526,828 

C.  &  0.  (a).. 

1,270 

1,367 

6,224 

4,990 

Krie  (b)  .... 

Penn,  (a,  c).. 
Virginian  (a,  b) 

787,238 

1,022,077 

683,542 

972,995 

145 

3,642,083 

4,799,030 

52 

3,420,471 

4,580,414 

342 

Total,  5  roads. 

1,907,588 

1,751,747 

9,081,154 

8,533,045 

Bituminous. 

B.  &  0.  (a).. 

2,488,515 

2,723,221 

13,716,728 

11,730,282 

B.  R.  &.P.(a,  b) 

460,455 

633,175 

3,309,135 

3,012,400 

B.  &  Sus.  (a,  b) 

43,125 

81,162 

490,772 

437,829 

C.  &  0.  (a) .  . 

1,821,011 

1,911,315 

7,849,046 

8,093,417 

Erie  (c)  . 

H.  &  B.  T.  M. 

4,262 

10,432 

32,683 

45,328 

(a,  b)  .... 
N.  Y.  C.  &  H. 

59,043 

71,376 

466,219 

393,776 

R.  (b)  . 

492,619 

672,041 

3,318,606 

3,500,634 

N.  &  W.  (a,  b) 

2,338,672 

2,434,614 

10,200,365 

10,047,876 

Penn,  (a,  c) .  . 

3,543,218 

3,393,328 

19,657,638 

16,597,074 

P.  &  L.  E.  (a,  b) 

957,528 

954,946 

4,482,749 

3,339,253 

P.  S.  &  N.  (a,  b) 

152,807 

152,640 

1,016,809 

899,733 

Virginian  (a,b) 

359,879 

307,006 

1,706,539 

1,596,739 

W.  Md . 

187,228 

266,763 

1,301,792 

1,344,024 

Total,  13  roads.12,914,362 

13,612,019 

67,549,081 

61,038,425 

Coke. 

B.  &  O.  (a) . . 

301,163 

297,897 

1,541,624 

1,297,871 

B.  R.  &  P.  (a,  b) 

21,175 

33,662 

118,397 

166,803 

B.  &  Snsq.  {a,b) 

8,643 

49,259 

129,509 

244,213 

C.  &  0.  (a)... 

31,040 

21,803 

178,363 

87,343 

N.  &.W  (a,  b). 

88,145 

79,270 

492,747 

366,766 

Penn,  (a,  c) .  . 

817,816 

872,181 

4,434,422 

4,008,443 

P.  &  L.  E.  (a,  b) 

428,395 

427,333 

2,299,069 

1,791,030 

W.  Md . 

5,058 

4,497 

34,504 

17,489 

Total,  8  roads. 
Total,  coal  and 

1,701,435 

1,785,902 

9,228,635 

7,979,958 

coke,  13  roads. 
January  . 

18,157.998 

15,685.798 

February  . 

15,446,830 

13,702,789 

March  . 

20,233,213 

14,943,124 

.'Xpril  . 

15,497,444 

16,070,049 

May  . 

16,523,385 

17,149,668 

Total,  5  mos.  . 

85,858,870 

77,551,428 

(a)  Includes  coal  received  from  connecting  lines,  (b) 
Includes  company’s  coal.  (c)  Does  not  include  com¬ 
pany’s  coal  hauled  free. 


NOTE — The  Southern  Railway  hauled  274,122  short 
tons  of  bituminous  coal  during  April,  1915,  and  1,093,804 
short  tons  during  the  four  months  ending  April  30,  1915. 


Philadelphia  Exports. 


Exportations  of  coal  from  Philadelphia 
during  the  month  of  July,  1915,  were  as  fol¬ 


lows  : 


France  . 

Italy  . 

■Spain  . 

Sweden . 

Cuba  . 

Fr.  W.  Indies 
Argentina  .  . . 

Brazil  . 

Du.  Guiana  . 
Fr.  Africa.  . . 
Canada  . 


■Anthracite 

Tons. 


5,4.58 

5,458 


Bituminous 

Tons. 

28,253 

9,441 

35,747 

6,975 

50,045 

4,651 

7,753 

20,263 

805 

3,388 


167,321 


Twelve  new  charters  for  foreign  ports  were 
announced  during  the  week  through  the  Maritime 
Exchange  of  New  York.  The  west  coast  of  Italy 
is  again  taking  a  large  quantity  of  coal. 


No.  9] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


173 


Facts  Which  Determine 


Export  Situation. 

The  export  movement  of  American  coal 
over  the  Atlantic  seaboard  continues  in 
heavy  volume.  Last  week  saw  .  shipments  of 
147,917  tons  from  the  Hampton  Roads  ports, 
while  Baltimore  sent  out  52,000  tons  and 
there  were  also  fair  shipments  from  Phila¬ 
delphia.  The  latter  port  is  sending  some 
coal  to  Norway,  with  shipments  also  to 
France  and  Italy.  Italian  requirements  con¬ 
tinue  heavy  and  a  good  portion  of  shipments 
from  both  Hampton  Roads  and  Baltimore 
are  for  Italian  destination. 

The  American  shippers  are  watching  very 
closely  the  Welsh  coal  situation,  both  as  to 
the  dissatisfaction  of  labor  and  the  restric¬ 
tion  placed  upon  exports  by  the  government. 
It  is  noted  that  shipments  from  Cardiff  to 
South  American  ports  particularly  have 
shown  very  radical  decreases  during  the  past 
several  months,  and  it  is  believed  that  the 
South  American  countries,  in  consequence  of 
the  decrease  and  uncertainty  of  shipments 
from  Wales,  will  be  compelled  to  place  very 
heavy  orders  for  American  coals  in  the  very 
near  future. 


Welsh  Miners  Strike. 

New  York,  August  27. —  (Special  Telegram.)  — 
Ten  thousand  Welsh  miners  struck  today  in  pro¬ 
test  against  decision  of  President  Runciman  of 
Board  of  Trade  in  recent  settlement  matter. 


The  Welsh  Coal  Situation. 

The  latest  advices  from  Cardiff,  by  mail, 
which  were  just  on  the  eve  of  the  enforce¬ 
ment  of  the  new  English  government  re¬ 
stricting  order  on  exports,  show  that  there 
was  an  unsettled  feeling  in  the  coal  trade, 
both  buyers  and  sellers  awaiting  the  result  of 
the  visit  of  a  deputation  of  coal  men  to  the 
Coal  Exports  Committee,  in  connection  with 
a  scheme  proposed  by  the  coal  operators  un¬ 
der  which  they  proposed  to  guarantee  ade¬ 
quate  supplies  of  coal  for  home  consumption, 
under  the  Limitation  Prices  Act,  if  restric¬ 
tions  be  removed  in  regard  to  exports  to  al¬ 
lied  and  neutral  countries.  It  appears  an  im¬ 
portant  deputation  of  Welsh  coal  operators 
and  shippers  had  gone  to  London  to  take 
up  this  matter  with  the  government  commit¬ 
tee.  There  were  further  difficulties  in  the 
exportation  of  steam  coal  because  of  the 
shortage  of  prompt  tonnage  and  the  conse¬ 
quent  sharp  advance  in  freights  which  had 
been  a  feature  of  the  week,  following  upon 
the  diversion  of  a  large  number  of  steamers. 
Coal  stocks  had  grown  steadily  and  there 
was  anxiety  on  the  part  of  operators  to  avoid 
accumulation  that  might  result  in  a  partial 
stoppage  of  the  collieries.  They  were,  how¬ 
ever,  upholding  prices  in  hope  that  condi¬ 
tions  would  become  more  favorable.  Due 


Our  Export  Prospects 


just  before  midnight  indicates  his  decision  is 
likely  to  meet  with  vigorous  opposition  from 
the  miners. 

The  decision  is  highly  technical,  but  a  num¬ 
ber  of  the  miners’  demands  relating  to  work¬ 
ing  conditions,  hours  of  labor,  and  arbitra¬ 
tion  arrangements,  are  rejected,  although 
wage  concessions  are  made. 

Vernon  Hartshorn,  the  miners’  leader,  tele¬ 
graphed  from  Cardiff: 

“The  Runciman  settlement  is  impossible. 
Even  if  the  leaders  accepted  it,  the  workmen 
who  do  not  benefit  by  it  would  refuse  it,  and 
they  can  tie  up  the  whole  field.  Runciman 
has  taken  away  what  David  Lloyd  George 
and  Arthur  Henderson  promised  the  miners, 
and  has  brought  about  a  dangerous  crisis.’’ 

One  of  the  principal  disputed  points  was 
whether  any  increase  in  wages  granted  at  the 
present  time  was  to  be  regarded  as  merely  a 
war  bonus  or  as  a  permanent  adjustment. 
Mr.  Runciman  decides  that  “the  new  agree¬ 
ment  is  applicable  only  to  the  abnormal  con¬ 
ditions  prevailing  during  the  war  and  is  not 
intended  for  a  precedent  or  to  apply  to  nor¬ 
mal  times.’’ 

On  Wednesday,  a  newspaper  cable  read: 

“The  findings  of  Walter  Runciman,  presi¬ 
dent  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  who  acted  as  ar¬ 
bitrator  in  the  South  Wales  coal  strike  dis¬ 
pute,  has  been  virtually  rejected  by  the  mine 
workers.  The  executive  committee,  at  a  meet¬ 
ing  yesterday,  decided  not  to  sign  the  award, 
but  to  call  a  conference  of  representatives 
of  the  entire  coal  field  for  next  Tuesday  to 
consider  objections  to  the  award.’’ 


Recent  Coal  Freight  Charters. 

Str.  Buxton  (Br.).  Baltimore  or  Virginia  to  Spezia  or 
Magdalena,  coal,  39s  fid,  “Augnst-September.” 

Str.  Queenswood  (Br.).  Philadelphia  to  Rio  Grande 

du  Sul  Sulj,  coal,  42s  fid,  “Prompt.” 

Strs.  lolo  (Br.).  Orthon  Strathatos  (Greek)  and 
North  Pacific  (Br.).  Virginia  to  River  Plata,  coal,  33s  9d. 

Str.  Confield  (Br.).  Virginia  to  Rio  Grande  do  Sul, 
coal,  42s  fid,  “August-September.” 

Str.  Castlemoor  (Br.).  Baltimore  to  Alexandria,  coal, 
private  terms. 

Str.  Stornmount  (Br.).  Philadelphia  to  Antilla,  coal, 
private  terms. 

Schr.  Mary  V.  Neville.  Philadelphia  to  Porto  Rico, 

coal,  private  terms. 

Str.  Franklin.  Atlantic  Range  to  Mediterranean,  coal, 
time  charter;  account  Consolidation  Coal  Company. 

Str.  Greataston  (Br.).  Baltimore  to  Barcelona,  coal, 
private  terms. 

Str.  Alf  (Nor.).  Baltimore  to  River  Plata,  coal,  about 
34s. 

Str.  Poiartsjernen  (Dan.).  Coal,  Baltimore  to  Goth¬ 
enburg,  private  terms,  “Spot.” 

Str.  Othon  Stathatos  (Greek).  Coal,  Baltimore  to 
River  Plata,  private  terms,  “Spot.” 

Str.  Claveresk  (Br.).  Coal,  Baltimore  to  Felton,  pri¬ 
vate  terms,  “Spot.” 

Schr.  Bayard  Hopkins.  Coal,  Baltimore  to  Venezuela, 
private  terms,  ‘Spot.” 

Str.  Teespool  (Br.).  Hampton  Roads  to  Rio  Janeiro, 
coal,  94s  fid,  “Prompt.” 

Str.  Georgios  (Gk.)  Hampton  Roads  to  Marseilles, 
coal,  37s,  “Sept.” 

Str.  Horflete  (Br.).  Baltimore  to  Spezia,  coal,  private 
terms.  ...  r.  x  ■ 

Schr.  Catherine  W.  (Br.).  Philadelphia  to  St.  John, 
N.  B.,  coal,  private  terms. 


Exports  for  June. 

The  Department  of  Commerce,  through 
the  Bureau  of  Foreign  and  Domestic  Com¬ 
merce,  has  just  issued  a  statement  of  the 
exports  of  domestic  coal  and  coke  from  the 
United  States,  and  bunker  coal  laden  on  ves¬ 
sels  engaged  in  the  foreign  trade  at  the 
specified  districts,  during  the  month  of  June, 
1915.  It  follows: 

DOMESTIC  EXPORTS. 

Coal.  Coke. 

Districts.  Antharcite.  Bituminous.  Tons. 


Tons.  Tons. 


Maine  and  New  Hampshire.. 

1,613 

1 

Maryland  . 

305,917 

8,010 

Massachusetts  . 

52 

New  York  . 

20,685 

4,201 

644 

Philadelphia . 

5,387 

121,379 

61 

Porto  Rico  . 

60 

Virginia  . 

85 

608,599 

6,642 

Mobile . 

20 

290 

New  Orleans . 

769 

Arizona  . 

1,130 

6,483 

El  Paso  . 

13,925 

1,211 

Laredo  . 

3,846 

San  Francisco  . 

31 

Southern  California  . 

i 

24 

Washington  . 

179 

4,872 

Buffalo  . 

109,658 

124,367 

32,600 

Dakota  . 

795 

2,082 

154 

Duluth  and  Superior . 

20 

1,850 

27 

Michigan  . 

27,597 

6,299 

Ohio  . 

10,(358 

630,970 

398 

Rochester  . 

117,272 

64,361 

221 

St.  Lawrence  . 

85,680 

21,723 

903 

Vermont  . 

1,310 

109 

103 

Total . 

352,636 

1,933,410 

68,628 

BUNKER 

COAL. 

Districts. 

Gross  tons. 

Maryland  . 

76,850 

New  York  . 

318,589 

46,574 

159,155 

VTrginia  . 

BALTIMORE  COAL  EXPORTS. 
For  Week  Ending  Aug.  14,  1915. 


Tons,  Tons, 
Cargo,  Bunker. 

8-10  Sp.  Mar.  Mediterraneo,  Spain .  3,672  434 

8-10  Ital.  Mongineoro,  Italy .  7,305  740 

8-13  Nor.  Lovland,  Cuba .  3,506  350 

8-14  Dan.  Ribe,  Brazil .  3,008  879 

8*14  Br.  Teviodale,  Italy .  4,789  1,000 


Totals . 22,527  3,403 

For  Week  Ending  Aug.  21,  1915. 

8-16  Br.  Castlemoor,  Egypt .  4,999  1,300 

8-16  Ital.  Luigi,  Italy .  4,659  900 

8-18  Br.  Rio  Preto,  Brazil .  5,142  1,261 

8-18  Nor.  Camilla,  Panama .  3,123  410 

8-20  Greek  Calimeris,  Italy .  5,602  776 

8-20  Br.  Harflete,  Italy .  6,500  1,250 

8-21  Br.  Rocker,  Egypt .  5,300  200 

8-21  Dan.  Polarstjormen,  Sweden .  5,100  300 

8-21  Br.  Gretaston,  Spain .  5,062  234 

8-21  Nor.  Alf,  Argentina .  1,300  900 

8-21  Br.  Enterpe,  France .  5,400  700 


Totals . 52,194  8,231 


EXPORT  SHIPMENTS  OF  COAL  FROM  PHILA¬ 
DELPHIA. 

Date.  Vessel,  Flag  and  Destination.  Tons. 

8-  5  Thelma,  Nor.,  Ivigtut .  801 

8-  6  Sif,  Nor.,  Fort  de  France .  4,635 

8-  7  Orkild,  Nor.,  Havana .  3,835 

8-  9  Glenmount,  Br.,  Antilla .  2,631 

8-  9  Rio  Colorado,  Nor.,  Rio  Janeiro .  4,489 

8-  9  Schr.  H.  A.  Stone,  Jabos,  Porto  Rico .  1,998 

8-10  Mordland,  Dan.,  Cardenas,  Cuba .  1,906 


8-12  Norbotten,  Swed.,  Norvlk,  Norway .  6,164 

8-13  Bark  Balmoral,  Ital.,  Genoa .  8,861 

8-13  Libertad,  Mex.,  Guantanamo,  Cuba .  978 

8-13  Chiswick,  Br.,  Havana .  4,745 

8-13  Thorsa,  Nor.,  Cardenas,  Cuba .  1,476 

8-14  Hercules,  Span.,  Marseilles .  5,894 

8-14  Petra,  Nor.,  Port  Limon,  C.  R .  3,105 

8-19  Moldegaard,  - ,  Antilla,  Cuba .  4,127 


to  the  very  extraordinary  circumstances  it 
was  very  difficult  to  fix  prices.  The  govern¬ 
ment  continues  to  take  very  heavy  quanti¬ 
ties  of  the  best  grades  of  coal,  but  with  pro¬ 
duction  on  more  substantial  scale,  the  sur¬ 
plus  was  heavier  than  for  some  time  past. 
The  best  second  grades  of  Admiralty  coals 
were  being  retained  for  the  government,  or¬ 
dinary  seconds  being  quoted  at  28s  to  30s; 
other  sorts,  from  27s  to  28s;  Black  Veins, 
28s  to  29s.  There  is  a  demand  for  patent 
fuel,  quotations  ranging  from  34s  to  36s.  Con¬ 
siderable  pressure  was  being  brought  to  get 
forward  shipments  of  patent  fuel  to  France. 

Some  recent  freight  rates  from  Cardiff  were 
as  follows: 

To  Algiers,  25fcs;  to  Genoa,  22s  6d;  to  Port 
Said,  24s;  to  Rio,  23s;  to  River  Plate,  23s;  to 
Marseilles,  22fcs;  to  Bordeaux,  18  fcs.  Re¬ 
cent  fixtures  from  the  Tyne  to  Genoa  were 
made  at  24s. 


Welsh  Labor  Still  Unsettled. 

A  London  cable  on  Tuesday  stated  that 
the  decision  of  Walter  Runciman,  president 
of  the  Board  of  Trade,  who  acted  as  arbi¬ 
trator  on  numerous  disputed  questions  in  the 
South  Wales  coal  strike,  was  announced  last 
evening.  A  dispatch  received  fr-^m  Cardiff 


8-17 

8-17 

8-lT 

8-17 

8-17 

8-18 

8-19 

8-19 

8-19 

8-19 

8-19 

8-20 

8-20 

8-20 

8-20 

8-21 

8-21 

8-21 

8-21 


HAMPTON  ROADS  COAL  EXPORTS. 

Lambert’s  Point. 

British  Steamship  Kintail  St.  Vincent,  C.  V.  I . 

Italian  Steamship  Eliopoli  Genoa,  Italy..... . 

Norwegian  Steamship  Ydun  Kingston,  Jamaica . 

Norwegian  Steamship  Ocland  Cristobal,  C.  Z . 

Norwegian  Steamship  Antares  Vera  Cruze,  Mexico . 

Norwegian  Steamship  Mirjam  Buenos  Aires,  A.  R . 

British  Steamship  N^ailsea  Court  Buenos  Aires,  A.  R . 

American  Schooner  Gen.  E.  S.  Greeley  Pernambuco,  Brazil . 

British  Steamship  Lexie  Montevideo,  Urugay . 

Italian  Steamship  Italia  Civita  Vecchia,  Italy . 

Norwegian  Steamship  Ronald  Montevideo,  Urugay . . 

British  Steamship  Don  Arture  Buenos  Aires,  A.  R  . 

Greek  Steamship  Eugenia  S.  Embiricos  Buenos  Aires, ^  A.  R . 

Italian  Steamship  Phoebus  Puerto  Ferrajo,  Italy . 

Italian  Steamship  Luzon  Cienoa,  Italy... . 

Norwegian  Steamship  Taunton  Kingston,  Jamaica . 

Italian  Bark  Orealla  Naples,  Italy . 

Italian  Steamship  Circe  Italy,  any  port . 

Italian  Steamship  Labor  Savona,  Italy . 


.8-19  Italian  Steamship  Attualita 

8-16  American  Steamship  Kanawha 
8-16  Mexican  Steamship  Pueblo 
8-17  Italian  Steamship  Tea 
8-17  British  Steamship  Fairmouth 
8-18  British  Steamship  Jersey  City 
8-19  British  Steamship  Lady  Plymouth 
8-19  British  Steamship  Penlee 
8-20  British  Steamship  Camlake 
8-21  British  Steamship  Oak  Branch 
8-21  British  Steamship  Teespool 
8-21  British  Steamship  Zurichmoor 
8-21  American  Schooner  Lucinda  Sutton 
S-21  American  Steamship  Winnebago 
Total  cargo,  146,917. 

Total  bunkers,  21,472. 


Sewalls  Point. 

Spezia,  Italy . 

Newport  News. 

Port  of  Spain,  Trinidad 

Cardenas,  Cuba . 

Genoa,  Italy . 

Cienfuegos,  Cuba . 

Spezia,  Italy . 

Taranto,  Italy . 

Puerto  Militar,  A.  R.... 

Spezia,  Italy . 

Montevideo,  Urupay.  .  . 
Rio  de  Janeiro,  Brazil.. 

Tarento,  Italy . 

R'.*'  de  Janeiro,  Brazil.. 
Rio  de  Janeiro,  Brazil.. 


5,419 

620 

5,520 

460 

1,800 

240 

4,700 

250 

2,157 

316 

3,907 

1,400 

4,614 

995 

1,838 

5,234 

859 

4,233 

989 

3,195 

1,016 

4,948 

934 

6,243 

1,407 

4,500 

500 

5,602 

552 

1,368 

236 

2,822 

3,790 

50(3 

6,000 

500 

77,880 

11,774 

6,928 

649 

2,956 

456 

1,545 

7,168 

598 

2,540 

434 

6,810 

873 

5,991 

536 

5,452 

1,138 

4,755 

709 

5,764 

1,345 

6,261 

1,066 

5,400 

600 

1,826 

5,741  . 

1,094 

62,109 

9,049 

174 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[August  28 


General  Review. 


Buying  Is  Heavier  Because  of  the  Sea¬ 
son,  But  Price  Advances 
Come  Slowly. 

In  all  parts  of  the  country  the  buying  of  do¬ 
mestic  coal  has  improved  within  the  last  week. 
In  some  places  the  retailers  took  coal  in  order  to 
anticipate  either  the  rise  in  price  or  an  increase 
in  freight  rates.  Much  of  the  buying  was  there¬ 
fore  of  a  precautionary  nature,  but  some  of  it 
was  in  response  to  immediate  demand  by  the 
consumers. 

For  one  thing,  the  farmers  who  moved  their 
crops  to  market  very  late  this  year  have  begun  to 
buy  coal.  For  another  thing,  the  householders 
who  have  not  purchased  all  summer  are,  owing 
to  the  cool  days  and  nights,  finding  a  fire  is  a 
necessity. 

The  steam  trade  is  not  improving  as  much  as 
it  might,  because  factories  are  not  running  any¬ 
where  near  full  time.  There  is  going  to  be  some 
late  movement  of  coal  up  the  lakes  that  will  take 
up  part  of  the  mine  output  at  the  time  the  retail¬ 
ers  are  taking  their  coal.  Also,  there  is  going  to 
be  quite  a  heavy  movement  of  coal  to  tidewater, 
as  the  foreign  orders  are  increasing  and  prices 
there  are  becoming  attractive. 

One  of  the  big  developments  of  the  week  is 
the  improvement  in  the  coke  trade.  This  has 
been  under  way  for  some  weeks  now,  but  it  really 
reached  a  phenomenal  stage  of  development  with¬ 
in  the  last  week  or  two. 

The  New  York  report  is  in  a  sense  representa¬ 
tive  of  the  east.  It  says  that  there  is  quite  an 
improvement  in  anthracite,  but  candidly  the  up¬ 
turn  is  not  as  sharp  as  might  have  been  expected 
under  the  circumstances.  The  retailers  are  not 
buying  as  much  as  they  should,  the  lack  of  sum¬ 
mer  storage  coal  being  considered.  Also,  they 
are  not  buying  as  heavily  as  would  be  indicated  by 
a  shortage  in  anthracite  production  up  to  the  first 
of  August.  However,  the  buying  movement  has 
started.  In  bituminous  coal  there  has  been  some 
little  improvement,  but  the  steam  trade  does  not 
seem  to  be  concerned  much  over  the  future. 

This  report  is  confirmed,  in  a  measure,  by  an¬ 
other  coming  from  New  England.  Boston  has 
assumed  new  importance  of  late  because  of  in¬ 
creased  manufacturing  in  that  center  and  because 
of  a  general  awakening  of  manufacturing  inter¬ 
ests  all  through  New  England.  Still  the  trade 
does  not  show  the  improvement  that  it  should. 

Baltimore,  on  the  contrary,  is  quite  optimistic, 
being  made  so  first  by  the  off-shore  movement  of 
coal  and,  second,  by  a  demand  in  domestic  chan¬ 
nels  reached  through  that  port. 

Pittsburgh  is,  to  a  certain  extent,  representative 
of  western  Pennsylvania  and  Ohio,  but  in  a  sense 
it  is  not.  In  that  territory  there  is  quite  a  de¬ 
mand  for  coal  from  the  coke  ovens  and  the  steel 
mills.  In  fact,  wherever  there  is  a  chance  for 
local  industry  to  sell  anything  abroad  there  is  a 
good  business  in  coal,  but  the  movement  to  all 
rail  points  is  backward  and  the  move  up  the 
lake  certainly  is  nothing  like  it  is  normally. 

Cincinnati  strikes  quite  a  different  keynote.  In 
the  first  place  it  indicates  that  there  is  a  car 
shortage  and  in  the  second  place  it  speaks  for  a 
better  demand  for  both  steam  and  domestic  coal. 
In  one  respect,  however,  Cincinnati  differs  from 
Pittsburgh  in  that  it  is  representative  of  West 
Virginia  rather  than  western  Pennsylvania  coal 
conditions. 

In  the  northern  tier  of  cities,  including  Detroit, 
Toledo  and  others,  the  situation  is  improving 
slowly,  because  the  operators  no  longer  keep  the 
market  crowded  with  consignment  coal,  and  be¬ 
cause  the  demand  is  improving. 

In  the  west,  Chicago  is  representative  of  quite 
a  big  district.  There  the  retailers  are  beginning 
to  buy  coal  because  the  householders  are  signify¬ 
ing  a  demand.  In  response  to  general  conditions 
the  operators  are  increasing  their  price.  Thus 
the  first  of  September  sees  on  bituminous  coals  a 
rise  in  price  averaging  about  fifteen  cents  a  ton. 

St.  Louis  confirms,  in  a  sense,  this  report  from 
Chicago.  Most  of  the  mines  in  that  district  are 
running  about  full  time.  The  local  demand  has 
caused  some  of  the  mines  in  the  three  southern 
Illinois  counties  to  do  far  better  than  fifty  per 
cent  of  capacity  which  they  have  been  doing  here¬ 
tofore. 

In  the  northwest  there  is  an  indication  that  the 
market  is  improving  steadily,  as  is  shown  by  the 
fact  that  some  orders  for  West  Virgina  coal  have 
been  placed  just  recently.  Also  it  is  interesting  to 
note  that  some  Ohio  operators,  who  had  expected 
to  remain  out  of  the  market,  are  planning  now  to 
ship  quite  a  good  deal  of  coal  up  the  lakes. 


Chicago  Market. 

Domestic  Bu5ring  Is  Heavier  and  Prices 
May  Advance  Next  Week. 

Coke  Stronger. 


Office  of  The  Black  Diamond, 
Chicago,  August  26,  1915. 

This  morning  the  suburbanites  who  gath¬ 
ered  at  their  stations  to  await  the  trains  were 
for  the  first  time  talking  about  coal.  They 
had  abandoned  discussions  of  golf,  tennis, 
fighting  mosquitoes,  the  rainy  weather  and 
its  influence  on  vegetation  and  vacation 
plans.  Most  of  them  were  back  on  the  job 
for  the  fall  and  were  talking  about  the  kind 
of  coal  they  are  going  to  use  this  winter  and 
what  changes  they  expect  to  make  over  what 
they  did  last  year. 

This  situation  explains  the  one  big  change 
in  the  coal  market  for  this  week.  The  house¬ 
holders  are  not  only  talking  about  coal,  but 
are  buying  it.  The  first  movement  to  stock 
up  for  the  winter  has  begun.  As  the  house¬ 
holder  buys,  naturally  the  retailer  must  do  so, 
and  this  reacts  upon  the  wholesale  trade  to 
increase  production  of  domestic  coal.  The 
situation  all  told  is  much  more  encouraging 
than  it  has  been  and  warrants  advances  in 
prices  which  some  operators  are  planning  to 
make  the  first  of  September. 

The  steam  coal  situation  is  not  changed 
much.  A  slight  increase  in  the  production  of 
screenings  naturally  eases  the  price  there  and 
except  for  high-grade  coal,  the  market  is  for 
5  cents  a  ton  or  more  off. 

The  anthracite  trade  has  shown  some  little 
improvement.  That  is,  the  retailers  are  begin¬ 
ning  to  get  orders  from  the  house-holders 
and  are  buying  more  coal  from  the  whole¬ 
saler.  The  increase  is  not  heavy  enough  yet 
to  warrant  any  larger  shipments  or  to  war¬ 
rant  any  speculations  on  the  absorptive  capa¬ 
city  of  this  market.  However,  some  more 
business  is  being  done. 

Smokeless  market  is  strengthening,  but  as 
the  first  of  September  approaches,  some  con¬ 
cessions  were  made  on  track  coal  and  even  on 
spot  coal,  about  the  middle  of  the  month,  but 
mine  run  for  September  delivery  is  firm  both 
on  track  and  on  spot  at  the  new  circular  price 
of  $1.40.  The  lump  and  egg  situation  is  not 
quite  so  strong.  It  is  known  that  coke  ovens  in 
the  east  are  running  now  to  full  capacity.  This 
is  taking  much  more  slack  coal  than  has  been 
the  case  heretofore.  As  the  operators  in¬ 
crease  their  production  of  fine  coal,  they  must 
necessarily  increase  their  output  of  lump. 
They  are  having,  therefore,  an  unexpected 
volume  of  coal,  but  have  not  enough  orders 
to  place  all  of  it,  therefore  they  are  now 
soliciting  business  on  prepared  sizes,  a  situa¬ 
tion  which  has  not  confronted  them  for  two 
years.  The  prices  up  to  Thursday  were: 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Smokeless — ■  Chicago.  Mines. 

Mine  run . $3.30@3.45  $1.25@1.40 

Lump  and  egg .  4.30  2.25 


Somerset  County  coal  is  a  little  stronger 
than  what  it  was.  The  mine  run  will  ad¬ 
vance  to  $1.40  on  the  first  of  September  and 
some  operators  will  hold  for  $2.00  as  a  mini¬ 
mum  on  lump  and  egg.  The  prices  up  to 
Thursday  were: 

F.  p.  B.  F.  p.  B. 

Somerset  County —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Mine  run .  $3.30  $1.25 

Lump  and  egg .  3.75@4.15  1.75@2.10 

It  is  barely  possible  that  Hocking  operators 

will  advance  their  prices  on  September  1  to 
$1.60.  The  harvest  demand  has  been  in  full 
swing  for  the  last  week  or  so  and  orders  have 
increased  materially.  The  prices  have  been 
firm  at  circular.  The  market  up  to  Thursday 
was: 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Hocking —  Chicago.  Mines. 

154-inch  lump .  $3.15  $1.50 

Splint  coal  is  still  a  little  easy.  Some  low- 
priced  orders  are  being  forwarded  to  the 
mines  and  are  being  accepted.  However,  a 
change  is  in  sight  for  the  immediate  future. 
The  mines  have  orders  for  lake  coal  and  these 
will  keep  them  busy  for  the  next  three  months. 
The  tendency  is  towards  higher  figures,  but 
in  the  meanwhile,  the  prices  up  to  Thursday 
were: 

F.  p.  B.  F.  p.  B. 

Kanawha —  Chicago.  Mines. 

lJ4-inch  ’ump . $3.05@3.15  $1.15@1.25 

Several  things  are  improving  the  situation 
on  Eastern  Kentucky  coal.  There  is  open  de¬ 
mand  in  the  south  and  there  is  some  improve¬ 


ment  in  the  demand  in  the  west.  The  mini¬ 
mum  prices  have  been  moved  up  at  least  15 
cents  a  ton  and  another  advance  is  likely  on 
the  first  of  September.  In  the  meanwhile, 
the  prices  up  to  Thursday  were: 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Eastern  Kentucky—  Chicago.  Mines. 

Domestic  lump . $3.40@3.80  $1.50@1.90 

Egg  .  3.25  1.35 

Franklin  county  prices  will  be  marked  up 
to  $1.75  a  ton  on  September  1  for  the  lump, 
egg  and  No.  1  nut.  The  special  stove  will 
not  be  changed  at  $1.40.  The  smaller  sizes 
are  not  expected  to  increase  in  strength  be¬ 
cause  the  steam  demand  is  nothing  extraordi¬ 
nary.  The  prospect  of  this  advance  and  of 
the  increase  in  freight  rates  have  given  busi¬ 
ness  a  sharp  upturn  within  the  last  week  and 
many  of  the  mines  are  so  filled  with  orders, 
they  will  be  running  several  days  after  the 
first  of  September  on  current  business.  This 
last  week  orders  have  been  refused  at  the 
cost  price  because  to  accept  them  would  en¬ 
tail  delivery  in  September.  The  screenings 
are  off  from  five  to  ten  cents  a  ton.  The 
prices  up  to  Thursday  were: 


Franklin  County 

Lump  . 

Egg  . 


No.  1  nut . 

No.  2  nut . 

Mine  run . 

2-inch  screenings 


F.  O.  B. 
Chicago. 
$2.65 
2.65 
2.65 
2.45 
2.15 
1.70@1.75 


F.  p.  B. 
Mines. 
$1.60 
1.60 
1.60 
1.40 
1.10 
.65@.70 


One  Williamson  county  operator  will  ad¬ 
vance  the  prices  on  September  first  to  $1.75. 
The  others  are  sure  to  make  an  increase  to 
$1.60  if  not  to  $1.65.  In  anticipation  of  this 
advance  prepared  sizes  have  been  strong 
but  the  steam  sizes  have  been  easy.  The 
prices  up  to  Thursday  were: 


Williamson  County — 

Lump  . 

Eg?  . 

No.  1  washed . 

No.  2  washed . 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Chicago.  Mines. 
$2.65  $1.60 

2.65  1.60 

2.65  1.60 

2.50  1.45 


Saline  county  operators  have  not  put  out 
any  new  circular  prices  for  September,  but 
the  prices  are  expected  to  advance  to  $1.65 
at  least.  The  market  in  anticipation  of  a 
price  advance  and  of  an  increase  of  freight 
rates  has  been  strong,  with  an  exception  of 
screenings,  which  has  been  off  by  a  nickle 
a  ton.  The  prices  up  to  Thursday  were: 


Saline  County — 

Lump  . 

Mine  run . 

Screenings  . 

154 -inch  lump... 


F.  0.  B. 

F.  0.  B. 

Chicago. 

Mines. 

$2.55 

$1.50 

2.15 

1.10 

1.75 

.70 

2.30 

1.25 

Clinton  operators  are  beginning  to  get  a 
better  demand  for  domestic  coal,  but  their 


specialty  is  still 

the 

same  business. 

Prices 

there  are  expected  to 

advance  ten  cents  a  ton 

on  the  first  of 
Thursday  were: 

September.  Prices 

F.  O.  B. 

up  to 

F.  O.  B. 

Clinton — 

Chicago. 

Mines. 

Domestic  lump . 

.  $2.27 

$1.50 

Egg  . 

.  2.07 

1.36 

Nut  . 

.  2.07 

1.30 

Mine  run . 

1.10 

Screenings  . 

.75 

Springfield  operators  will  advance  their 
prices  on  September  first  to  $1.65.  The  busi¬ 
ness  both  in  steam  and  domestic  coal  has 
been  stronger  this  week.  Screenings  have 
been  off  about  five  cents  a  ton  and  soft  even 
at  sixty  cents.  The  prices  up  to  Thursday 


were: 


Springfield — 

Lump  . 

Egg  . 


Nut  . 

Mine  run. 
Screenings 


F.  O.  B. 

F.  0.  B. 

Chicago. 

Mines. 

$2.32 

$1.50 

2.32 

1.50 

2.17 

1.35 

1.87 

1.05 

1.42 

.60 

Knox  county  operators  are  running  mainly 
on  steam  coal,  with  screenings  still  ranging 
around  eighty  cents  a  ton  regardless  of  the 
general  savings  in  fine  coal  market  in  other 
directions.  There  is  not  much  demand  in 
other  sizes.  The  prices  up  to  Thursday  were: 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Knox  County —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Lump  .  $2.37  $1.50 

Egg  . .  2.37  1.50 

Mine  run .  1-87  1.05 

Screenings  .  1-67  .80 

With  the  approach  of  September  first  coke 
prices  have  been  marked  up  from  ten  to  fif¬ 
teen  cents  a  ton.  The  demand  is  stronger 
for  all  sizes  and  the  big  feature  is  the  market 
on  furnace  and  foundry.  The  prices  up  to 
Thursday  were:  f  O  B 

Coke _  Chicago. 

Connellsville  . 

By-product,  foundry . 

By-product,  egg  and  stove .  L7.6 

By-product,  nut  . 

gIs  house  .  3.85@4.00 


No.  9] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


175 


Pittsburgh  Trade. 


Dull  Business  to  Line  Points  and  the 
Lakes  Offsets  a  Good  Steel 
Mill  Demand. 


Office  of  The  Black  Diamond, 
1502  Oliver  Building, 

Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  August  26. 

The  dullest  week  of  the  dullest  month  of 
the  year  is  being  experienced  in  the  coal  trade 
just  now,  so  far  as  any  visible  activity  or 
movement  of  coal  is  concerned,  but  notwith¬ 
standing  the  vacation  season  and  the  long- 
continued  watchful  waiting  that  tends  to  give 
the  situation  a  stagnant  appearance,  there  is 
a  strong  undercurrent  that  is  being  felt  and 
that  will  soon  disturb  the  calm  of  the  sur¬ 
face.  Not  within  months  has  there  been  the 
decided  feeling  that  “things  will  take  a  turn” 
that  is  seen  today;  in  fact,  the  optimists  of 
the  past  months  say  today  “it  has  come,”  nor 
do  they  say  it  in  a  doubtful,  hesitating  man¬ 
ner.  The  writer  was  shown  correspondence 
today  by  selling  agents,  from  their  sources  of 
supply  in  Connellsville  and  Greensburgh  re¬ 
gions,  that  said  “take  more  orders  on”  such 
and  such  coals  at  present  prices,  “advance 

prices”  on  such  and  such  to  $ - ,  and  with 

these  instructions  were  seen  quotations  for 
screenings  for  immediate  delivery,  and  for 
the  three  months  to  come,  that  would  aver¬ 
age  72^  cents  per  ton,  this  against  the  55  to 
60-cent  prices  that  have  ruled  the  market  for 
some  time. 

At  some  mines  it  is  reported  that  while 
not  working  full,  their  present  capacity  is  ab¬ 
sorbed  on  contract  deliveries  and  they  do 
not  want  To  increase  outputs  at  present 
prices. 

One  larger  producer,  whose  contracts  have 
kept  operations  active,  said  they  would  soon 
be  in  the  market  themselves  for  coal  at  the 
present  rate  of  inquiry,  export  business  in 
other  districts  throwing  interior  trade  into 
this  section  to  an  extent  that  will  demand 
the  entire  surplus  output  of  this  district  as 
fall  domestic  tradj  opens  up.  Railroad  buy¬ 
ing  is  a  feature,  and  it  is  intimated  that  coal 
is  being  stored  on  speculation,  it  being  an¬ 
ticipated  that  later  on,  the  demand  cannot  be 
met,  and  that  prices  will  soar. 

The  labor  question  is  again  being  con¬ 
sidered,  and  the  fact  that  miners  have  been 
going  from  this  district  to  West  Virginia  and 
Kentucky  causes  some  slight  alarm.  The 
first  intimation  of  “car  shortage”  developed 
the  past  week,  when  gondolas  were  found  un¬ 
obtainable  in  certain  districts. 

Much  complaint  is  heard  in  Pittsburgh  re¬ 
garding  freight  rates,  the  Fairmont,  Kanawha 
and  other  districts  having  such  a  decided  ad¬ 
vantage  over  this  section  that  it  is  next  to 
impossible  for  Pittsburgh  to  compete  for  cer¬ 
tain  lake  trade,  and  although  this  trade  has 
been  and  is  exceptionally  light,  the  odds  are 
against  the  Pittsburgh  operator. 

Prices  are  hardly  quotable  today,  though 
the  tendency  is  toward  a  higher  plane.  Slack 
is  held  generally  at  sixty  cents  for  spot,  and 
scarce,  while  eighty  and  eighty-five  cents  is 
talked  of  as  to  contract  for  the  last  quarter. 
Mine  run  can  be  bought  at  from  $1.00  to 
$1.10,  with  3/4  at  $1.15  to  $1.25  and  5/4 
screened  coal  at  $1.30  to  $1.40  f.  o.  b.  Pitts¬ 
burgh,  and  while  some  are  quoting  higher 
figures  than  the  foregoing,  even  these  can 
still  be  shaded  for  spot  delivery. 

The  coke  market  seems  stronger,  if  any 
change  can  be  noted.  A  number  of  furnaces 
are  expected  to  blow  in  at  almost  any  time 
and  some  considerable  inquiry  has  been  out, 
but  no  definite  contracting  to  any  large  ex¬ 
tent  heard  of.  These  furnaces  are  simply 
holding  off  until  they  see  a  little  more  cer¬ 
tainty  as  to  continued  activity,  rather  than 
start  on  present  demand  and  then  blow  out 
again  shortly.  The  demand  today  for  pig 
seems  to  have  weakened,  though  the  ad¬ 
vances  made  the  past  ten  days  in  price  is 
maintained.  Foundry  coke  has  improved 
slightly  in  demand,  and  prices  holding  as  near 
the  following  as  can  be  quoted: 


Prompt  furnace . $1.50@1.60 

Sept,  furnace .  1.60@1.75 

Contract  last  quarter .  1.80@2.00 

Foundry — spot  .  2.40@2.50 

Foundry  contract .  2.50@2.65 


The  surplus  tonnage  of  furnace  coke  that 
unexpectedly  developed  immediately  after 
the  Fourth  of  July  seems  to  be  exhausted, 


and  so  far  as  causing  any  interference  in  the 
market  was  concerned  the  quantity  was  not 
sufficiently  large  to  create  anything  but  a 
temporary  flurry,  which  has  seemingly 
passed. 

Options  on  1,300  acres  of  coal  lands,  in¬ 
cluding  the  greater  part  of  the  unsold  coal 
lands  of  Luzerne  township,  Fayette  county, 
were  closed  last  week  for  $2,500,000  by  Pitts¬ 
burgh  interests.  The  option  will  expire  on 
September  10. 

The  coal  optioned  is  surrounded  by  some 
of  the  largest  coal  and  coke  interests.  It  is 
bounded  on  the  north  by  the  holdings  of  the 
W.  J.  Rainey  Coal  &  Coke  Company,  on  the 
northeast  by  the  acreage  of  the  Republic 
Iron  &  Steel  Company,  on  the  east  by  the 
land  of  Tower  Hill  Coal  &  Coke  Company, 
on  the  south  by  the  holdings  of  the  j.  V. 
Thompson  Coal  &  Coke  Company  and  on  the 
west  by  the  H.  C.  Frick  Company’s  prop¬ 
erty. 

The  parties  handling  the  deal  have  not 
made  public  the  names  of  the  Pittsburghers 
interested,  but  the  properties  are  owned  at 
the  present  by  ten.  or  twelve  different  parties. 


Pittsburgh  News  Items. 

Mineral  rights  under  forty-eight  acres  and  the 
surface  of  three  acres  have  been  purchased 
by  E.  E.  Miller,  of  Rockwood,  Pa.,  from  Da¬ 
vid  Ansel.  A  new  tipple,  storage  house  and 
steel  tracks  are  to  be  installed.  A  mine  on 
the  tract  has  been  worked  for  several  years. 

The  Capitol  Coal  Company  has  been  in¬ 
corporated  for  the  purpose  of  mining  for 
coal  in  Brooks  county,  W.  Va.,  but  has  its 
principal  offices  in  Pittsburgh.  The  capital 
stock  is  $250,000.  The  names  of  the  incor¬ 
porators  are  W.  J.  C.  Hays,  W.  J.  Birming¬ 
ham,  William  E.  Hays,  H.  W.  Breitweiser 
and  A.  M.  Lowe. 

A  memorial  of  the  late  Dr.  Joseph  A. 
Holmes,  director  of  the  United  States  Bureau 
of  Mines,  will  be  erected  when  the  new  bu¬ 
reau  buildings  are  constructed  in  Schenley 
Park,  according  to  the  announcement  made 
yesterday  by  Lauson  Stone,  superintendent 
of  the  Pittsburgh  district  of  the  bureau.  The 
American  Society  of  Mining  Engineers  has 
appointed  a  committee  to  publish  a  biogra¬ 
phy  of  Dr.  Holmes. 

With  a  guarantee  of  work  for  next  autumn 
and  winter,  a  call  for  fifty  unmarried  miners 
has  been  received  by  the  local  office  of  the 
distribution  branch  of  the  United  States  bu¬ 
reau  of  immigration  from  a  coal  company  in 
the  Latrobe  district.  The  company  also  guar¬ 
antees  good  wages  and  working  conditions. 
It  wants  only  unmarried  men,  as  all  the  com¬ 
pany  houses  have  been  taken  by  married 
men.  Miners  are  also  wanted  by  other  com¬ 
panies  in  Fayette  and  Westmoreland  coun¬ 
ties. 

The  plant  of  the  Four  States  Coal  Com¬ 
pany  has  been  closed  down  at  Annabelle,  W. 
Va.  The  miners’  houses  are  being  nailed  up 
and  a  general  suspension  of  business  has 
been  instituted.  For  several  months  the 
property  at  Annabelle  and  a  mining  property 
owned  by  the  same  company  at  Dorthy  in 
Raleigh  county,  has  been  operated  by  the 
trustees.  Two  mortgages,  one  for  $3,500,000, 
another  for  $1,000,000,  were  placed  on  the 
properties  at  Annabelle  and  in  the  south¬ 
ern  part  of  the  state.  Notes  began  to  come 
due  several  months  ago.  The  bondholders 
ordered  the  trustees  to  dispose  of  the  prop¬ 
erty  then.  Judge  Dayton  of  the  Federal 
Court  in  this  district  refused  to  allow  the 
sale  to  proceed.  The  action  of  the  trustees 
in  closing  down  the  plant,  it  is  said,  is  a 
move  to  hasten  the  sale  of  the  holdings. 


St.  Louis  Trade. 


St.  Louis,  Mo.,  August  26. —  {Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.)- — At  the  nearing  of  the  fall  season 
the  coal  market  on  all  domestic  sizes  continues  to 
improve.  Mines  in  Southern  Illinois  on  the  whole 
are  running  almost  full  time,  and  those  in  the 
central  district  are  running  more  continuously. 
One  of  the  peculiar  features  of  the  market  is 
that  screenings,  instead  of  dropping,  have  rallied 
in  price  in  the  last  ten  days,  and  on  the  whole 
are  much  firmer,  bringing  better  prices  than  they 
were  around  the  first  of  the  month.  Standard 


coal  is  moving  fairly  well  and  current  prices  are 
good. 


F.  O.  B. 


Standard  Coal  Mine. 

6-inch  lump  . $1.20 

6x3-inch  egg  . 1.00 

2-inch  lump  .  1.00 

Steam  egg  . 80 

No.  1  nut  . 90 

No.  2  nut . 80 

Mine  run  . 85 

Screenings  . 60 


F.  O.  B. 

St.  Louis. 

$1.77}4 
1.57'4 
1.57J4 
1.37J4 
1.47J4 
1.37H 
.  1.42}4 

1.17J4 


Mount  Olive  coals  are  moving  fairly  well  and 
prices  are  as  follows : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Mine.  St.  Louis. 


6-inch  lump  . $1.40  $1.97}4 

2-inch  lump  .  1.20  1.77;4 

Screenings  . 60  1.17J4 


Williamson  County  coals  are  moving  very  well 
indeed,  though  there  is  quite  a  range  in  prices. 
Domestic  sizes  being  quoted  all  the  way  from 
$1.30  to  $1.60  at  the  mines,  the  average  prices 
being  about  as  follows : 


F.  O.  B, 
Mine. 


6-inch  lump  or  egg  . $1.50 

3x2-inch  nut  .  1.20 

Screenings  . 60 


F.  O.  B. 
St.  Louis. 
$2.22^ 
1.9254 
1.32)54 


The  movement  of  Franklin  County  coals  is 
all  that  could  be  desired.  The  mines  are  run¬ 
ning  practically  full,  and  they  are  getting  their 
prices.  In  fact  a  great  many  of  the  mines  are 
now  three  weeks  and  more  behind  their  orders 
on  certain  sizes. 


F.  O.  B. 
Mine. 


6-inch  lump,  egg,  or  nut . $1.60 

No.  2  stove  .  1.40 

Screenings  . 70 


F.  O.  B. 
St.  Louis 
$2.3254 
2.1254 
1.4214 


Anthracite  is  moving  fairly  well  through  the 
country,  but  the  local  demand  has  been  very 
light.  Smokeless  is  also  in  seasonable  demand. 


Anthracite — ■ 

F.  O.  B.St.  Louis. 

Chestnut  . $7.45 

Stove  or  egg  . 7.20 

Grate  .  6.95 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Smokeless — -  Mine.  St.  Louis. 

Lump  or  egg  . $2.25  $4.75 

Gas  House  Coke —  F.  O.  B.  St.  Louis 

Gas  house  coke  . $4.25 

By-product  coke  (all  sizes) . $4.50 


The  prices  on  Illinois  soft  coal  f.  o.  b.  East 
St.  Louis,  Madison,  Venice,  or  Granite  City, 
Ill.,  are  25;4  cents  lower  than  the  above  quoted 
St.  Louis  prices. 


Omaha  Trade. 


Omaha,  Nebr.,  August  26. — {Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — -There  is  scarcely  any  change  in  this 
territory  during  the  past  week,  general  busi¬ 
ness  conditions  being  more  or  less  at  a  stand¬ 
still. 

There  has  been  a  slight  increase  in  the  de¬ 
mand  for  domestic  coals,  the  dealers  apparently 


realizing  they  have 

got  to  come  to 

it  sooner 

or  later. 

The  following  prices  prevail  on  coal 

Southern  Kansas — 

Mines. 

Omaha. 

Nut  . 

.  $1.85 

$3.20 

Slack  . 

.  1.35 

2.70 

Franklin  County — 

Lump  . 

.  1.45@1.60 

3.75@4.00 

Egg  . 

.  1.45@1.60 

3.75@4.00 

Nut  . 

.  1.45@1.60 

3.75@4.00 

Williamson  County — 

Lump  . 

.  1.25@1.35 

3.65@3.75 

Egg  . 

.  1.25@1.35 

3.65®3.75 

Rock  Springs — 

Lump  . 

.  2.15 

6.85 

Nut  . 

.  1.60 

5.35 

Arkansas  Anthracite — 

Lump  . 

.  3.70 

6.60 

Broken  sizes . 

.  3.95 

6.85 

Omaha  Local  News. 

E.  D.  Scott,  western  sales  agent  of  the  Skeele 
Coal  Company,  was  in  Omaha  this  week.  Scott, 
as  usual,  is  able  to  see  the  bright  side  of  every¬ 
thing  and  is  looking  for  a  good  business  this 

fall. 

Among  the  Omaha  visitors  this  week  was  F. 
M.  Vaughn  of  the  Victor  American  Fuel  Com¬ 
pany  of  Denver.  While  Mr.  Vaughn  was  opti¬ 
mistic  as  to  the  future  he  stated  that  the  western 
territory  had  been  having  about  the  same  ex¬ 
perience  that  we  have  had  here. 

The  Omaha  jobbers  will  entertain  a  number  of 
the  prominent  railroad  officials  at  lunch  Thurs¬ 
day,  August  26.  The  idea  of  the  meeting  being, 
in  addition  to  bringing  about  a  better  fellow¬ 
ship,  to  iron  out  a  few  of  their  general  disagree¬ 
ments  on  claims,  etc.  Among  those  expected 
to  be  present  are :  W.  A.  Holley,  J.  W.  Newell, 
H.  H.  Holcomb,  C.  L.  Birch,  of  the  Burlington ; 
H.  A.  Bierman  of  the  “Katy,”  H.  C.  Fribble  of 
the  Santa  Fe,  W.  P.  Hawkins  of  the  Missouri 
Pacific  and  B.  D.  Daley  of  the  Kansas  City  South¬ 
ern, 


176 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[August  28 


Cincinnati  Trade. 


An  Improvement  in  Coke  Makes  a  Better 
Demand  for  Slack,  Increasing 
Supply  of  Lump. 

Cincinnati,  Ohio,  August  26. —  (Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — The  main  feature  of  the  trade, 
this  week,  was  the  slowly  developing  car  shortage 
in  the  West  Virginia  fields  together  with  the  good 
improvement  in  the  demand  for  smokeless  slack 
for  by-product  manufacture.  This  week  for  the 
first  time  in  the  month,  there  is  also  developing 
a  good  demand  for  smokeless  lump  and  egg  in 
the  domestic  market  which  demand  was  also 
spreading  to  the  splint  market  toward  the  latter 
part  of  the  week.  This  domestic  demand  is  be¬ 
lieved  to  have  been  stimulated  by  the  cool 
weather  of  the  previous  week,  together  with  a 
belief  that  is  forming  in  the  minds  of  the  buyers 
and  their  patrons  that  fall  and  winter  will  de¬ 
velop  much  earlier  this  year  than  usual. 

The  coke  market  is  splendid  and  is  said  by  old 
operators  and  manufacturers  of  coke,  to  be  the 
best  in  four  years  with  a  brisk  demand,  accelerat¬ 
ing  almost  daily,  and  with  rising  prices.  Cincinn- 
nati  coal  men  characterize  it  as  an  “old  time 
market”  in  that  product.  The  condition  in  the 
iron  market  makes  it  better  for  the  coal  man  of 
this  district  and  most  of  the  dealers  are  opti¬ 
mistic.  Prices  are  not  much  affected  yet  in 
splint  and  the  smokeless  operators  have  been 
able  to  hold  their  prices  except  in  a  few  isolated 
cases.  The  end  of  the  week  sees  contracts  closed 
which  have  been  hanging  fire  for  some  weeks, 
and  it  also  sees  a  brisk  flow  of  orders  for  Sep¬ 
tember  delivery.  A  peculiar  thing  is  that  few 
orders  for  immediate  delivery  have  been  booked 
by  the  companies,  since  August  1.  Many  can¬ 
cellations  and  suspensions  have  been  received  by 
the  splint  operators  and  some  by  the  smokeless 
operators,  which  were  given  m  July  in  expecta¬ 
tion  that  the  market  would  stiffen  early  in  Au.gust. 
Seeing  that  this  was  not  so  pronounced  the  buy¬ 
ers  cancelled  or  suspended  orders  and  as  a  result 
they  will  pay  September  prices  when  they  do 
order  their  goods. 

Some  of  the  splint  operators  are  notifying  their 
patrons  that  with  September  1  their  prices  will 
go  up  and  they  will  not  protect  quotations  al¬ 
ready  made,  or  made  prior  to  that  date.  This  is 
quickening  orders  in  some  fields.  The  prices  be¬ 
lieved  probable  by  some  West  Virginia  operators 
are :  Run  of  mine,  ninety  cents  to  $1 ;  gas,  ordi¬ 
nary  eighty  to  eighty-five  cents,  fancy  ninety-five ; 
nut  and  slack,  spot  fifty-five,  contract  seventy-five 
and  eighty  cents  while  lower  grades  are  quoted  at 
seventy  for  that  date.  In  the  domestic,  good  two- 
inch  lump  is  booked  for  $1.25  and  4-inch,  $1.50 
to  $1.60.  This  is  about  an  average  for  the  general 
West  Virginia  splint  market.  In  another  field 
September  prices  are  quoted  as  follows :  Four- 
inch  lump,  $1.75;  two-inch,  $1.40;  egg,  $1.10;  run 
of  mine  ninety  cents ;  nut  and  slack  sixty-five. 
Kentucky  operators  expect  to  run  the  following 
prices  which  are  prevalent  now,  with  about  ten 
cents  added  after  September  1 :  Block,  $1.60  to 
$1.75;  egg,  $1.25;  run  of  mine  seventy-five  cents 
to  ninety  cents ;  nut,  $1  to  $1.10 ;  and  nut  and 
slack  fifty  to  seventy  cents.  Smokeless  will  still 
hold  to  $2.25  for  lump  and  egg,  run  of  mine  $1.40, 
and  nut  and  slack  $1.  These  prices  are  a  con¬ 
densation  of  prices  given  by  several  operations 
in  the  splint. 

The  car  shortage  is  hooted  at  by  railroads  but 
operators  say  it  is  a  fact  and  some  mines  have 
had  to  close  down  one  or  two  days  this  week 
because  of  a  lack  of  cars.  It  is  believed  that  cars 
have  been  delayed  at  coal  terminals,  and  dis¬ 
tributed  to  grain  centers  in  such  numbers  that 
they  have  thus  created  a  shortage.  Good  judges 
nrcdict  that  within  thirty  days  the  shortage  will 
be  so  pronounced  that  it  will  cut  the  volume  of 
delivery  to  half  its  present  size.  The  beet  sugar 
factories  will  eat  into  the  supply,  also,  in  a  few 
days  and  other  factors  are  working  on  the  already 
short  supply.  Labor  shortage  will  develop  as 
soon  as  the  domestic  demand  reaches  a  some¬ 
what  larger  tonnage. 

Operators  are  saying  this  week  that  they  be¬ 
gin  to  see  daylight,  and  higher  prices  are  looming 
up  over  the  horizon  line. 

Cincinnati  Trade  News. 

E.  F.  Bardin  of  the  Wyatt  Coal  Company,  is 
in  the  East  this  week  looking  over  the  export 
situation  as  well  as  other  matters  for  his  com- 
liany. 

Local  coal  operators  and  shippers  are  being 
notified  by  the  Monongahela  Railroad  that  this 
road  will  begin  service  transporting  freight,  Sep¬ 


tember  1st.  The  road  was  formerly  the  Buchan¬ 
an  &  Northern  Railway. 

C.  B.  Ebbert,  of  Chicago,  western  manager  of 
the  White  Oak  Coal  Company,  was  in  the  city 
this  week  in  conference  with  the  local  office 
on  matters  pertaining  to  the  local  fall  campaign. 

Quinn  Morton,  president  of  the  Imperial  Coal 
Sales  Company,  of  this  city  and  the  Imperial 
Coal  Company  of  Burnwell,  W.  Va.,  stopped  off 
a  few  fours  this  week  as  he  passed  through  the 
city  from  Detroit  to  the  mines  at  Burnwell. 

G.  L.  Drouillard,  a  well  known  coal  traveling 
salesman  in  this  territory  for  a  number  of  years, 
has  entered  the  employ  of  the  Webb  Fuel  Com¬ 
pany,  traveling  in  Michigan  and  Northern  Indi¬ 
ana.  Mr.  Drouillard  was  formerly  with  the  Paint 
Creek  Collieries  Company,  and  was  with  the 
Webb  Fuel  Company  once  before. 

A  new  rumor  arose  this  week  relative  to  the 
attempt  of  the  Island  Creek  Coal  Company,  or 
rather  the  United  States  Oil  &  Coal  Company, 
to  take  over  the  Wyatt  CoalCompany  holdings,  op¬ 
erated  by  the  Main  Island  Creek  Coal  Company. 
The  new  rumor  had  it  that  the  option  which 
lapsed  August  K),  had  been  renewed  to  date 
September  10.  Local  officials  of  the  company 
say  that  there  is  not  a  shadow  of  basis  for  the 
report,  so  far  as  they  know.  The  announcement 
of  the  failure  of  negotiations  stands  and  the 
company  is  making  more  large  contracts  every 
week.  In  addition  export  demand  is  rising  for 
the  coal  and  contracts  are  pending  of  consider¬ 
able  size  with  foreign  buyers. 

Edward  Schoenebaum  of  Cincinnati  and  Ray¬ 
mond  City,  W.  Va.,  has  been  chosen  by  Governor 
Hatfield  of  West  Virginia  to  represent  the  state 
at  the  eighteenth  annual  convention  of  the  Amer¬ 
ican  Mining  Congress,  which,  this  year,  will  be 
held  in  San  Francisco  September  20  to  23,  in¬ 
clusive.  Mr.  Schoenebaum  is  treasurer  and  gen¬ 
eral  manager  of  the  Marmet-Halm  Coal  &  Coke 
Company,  and  also  of  the  Raymond  City 
Coal  Mining  &  Coke  Company,  and  is 
well  known  in  the  coal  business  of  the 
state  of  West  Virginia  and  to  dealers 
throughout  the  middle  west.  The  state  will  have 
ten  delegates,  the  other  nine  being  George  T. 
Watson,  Fairmont;  W.  H.  Koch,  Wheeling; 
A.  J.  King,  Charleston;  Edward  O’Toole,  Gary; 
E.  E.  White,  Glen  White;  Clyde  Hutchinson, 
Fairmont;  James  Elwood  Jones,  Switchback; 
George  S.  Patterson  of  Vivian  and  R.  P.  Maloney 
of  Thomas. 

The  coal  contract  for  St.  Bernard  village,  a 
suburb  of  Cincinnati,  was  finally  awarded  this  week 
to  the  B.  H.  Wess  Coal  &  Coke  Co.,  of  Winton 
Place,  also  a  suburb.  The  contract  was  about 
to  be  awarded,  July  31,  according  to  several 
participants  in  the  bidding,  to  Fred  Krehe,  son 
of  the  treasurer  of  the  village,  who  was  also 
a  member  of  the  commission  which  awarded  the 
contract.  It  was  not  understood  at  the  time  that 
Mr.  Krehe,  Jr.,  was  representing  a  Cincinnati 
coal  omce,  it  being  believed  he  was  representing 
his  father,  who,  according  to  the  laws  of  Ohio 
was  barred  from  bidding  or  participating  in  any 
of  the  profits  of  the  award  by  reason  of  the 
fact  that  he  was  a  public  officer  in  the  village 
ordering  the  coal.  The  bid  was  $1.80  per  ton 
also  for  the  3,600  tons  to  be  under  contract. 
There  were  eight  bidders  under  that  figure,  of 
which  the  lowest  was  $1.59  per  ton.  Mr.  Wess’ 
bid  was  $1.64  and  the  award  was  made  to  him 
at  that  figure,  the  bid  of  Mr.  Krehe,  Jr.,  being 
eliminated. 


The  annual  convention  of  the  National  Com¬ 
missary  Managers  Association  of  which  Tracy 
D.  Luccock  of  Chicago  is  secretary-treasurer  and 
F.  M.  Meadows  of  Pineville,  Ky.,  is  president, 
was  held  here  this  week  and  proved  one  of  the 
best  and  most  successful  conventions  of  the 
seven  that  have  been  held  by  the  organization. 
About  500  delegates  were  present  and  the  entire 
second  floor  of  the  Gibson  Hotel  was  occupied 
by  exhibits  of  merchandise.  Gus  Lee  of  the  Ten- 
nesee  Coal  &  Iron  Company  is  mentioned  as  the 
gre  '.test  buyer  of  the  entire  convention,  having 
to  purchase  in  the  neighborhood  of  $3,000,000 
annually  for  the  company.  F.  C.  Clifford  of 
Chicap'o  was  one  of  the  speakers  at  the  conven¬ 
tion.  The  first  session  of  the  convention  was 
held  at  Chester  Park,  Monday  evening,  the  con¬ 
vention  being  entertained  by  the  Cincinnati  en¬ 
tertainment  committee  in  which  a  dinner  and  a 
cabaret  oerformance  were  the  features.  The 
first  business  session  was  held  next  day  and 
in  it,  after  the  convention  had  been  welcomed 
by  Mayor  Spiegel  of  Cincinnati,  and  S.  K. 
Mayer,  chairman  of  the  entertainment  committee 
of  the  business  men  of  the  city,  and  suitable 
responses  had  been  made,  Anderson  Pace  of  Chi¬ 
cago  spoke  on  “Personality  in  Business.”  Mr. 
Gifford  delivered  his  address  Tuesday  afternoon 
on  “How  the  Commissary  Manager  May  Help  the 
Operating  Company.”  The  convention  was  well 
attended  and  was  a  source  of  great  benefit  to 
all  the  delegates  and  their  companies. 


Denver  Trade. 


Denver,  Augu.st  26. — (Special  Correspondence.) 
There  is  little  life  to  the  coal  market  this 


week,  and  conditions  remain  practically  un¬ 
changed.  There  has  been  no  rush  of  country 
dealers  to  deluge  operators  and  distributors 
with  storage  orders  at  the  end  of  the  season, 
as  was  expected.  Dealers  generally  are  said 
to  be  fairly  well  supplied  for  a  little  time  to 
come,  and  are  not  worrying  about  the  future. 
This  supply  has,  in  most  cases,  been  ample 
for  every  requirement,  including  threshing. 

Lignite  production  is  at  a  low  level  this 
week,  and  the  bituminous  output  has  fallen 
off  in  comparison  with  that  of  last  week. 
Trinidad  and  Routt  districts  are  running  full 
time  and  are  leading  the  state  in  production. 

Cold  nights  and  abundant  rains  have  in¬ 
creased  the  slack  demand,  and  prices  have 
stiffened  a  little  in  consequence.  Lignite  sup¬ 
ply  is  light,  but  there  is  plenty  of  bituminous 
for  all  needs. 

Prices  for  lignite,  f.  o.  b.  mines  are  as  fol¬ 
lows:  Denver  delivery,  lump,  $2.35  to  $2.65; 
mine-run,  $1.50  to  $1.65;  slack,  $1.05  to  $1.25. 
Points  outside  of  Denver,  lump,  $2.50;  mine- 
run,  $1.55  to  $1.65;  slack,  $1.05. 


Canon  City  District — 

For  shipment  May  and  June . 

For  shipment  July  and  August .  2.75 

Add  25  cents  to  above  prices  for  washed  nut. 
Walsenburg  District — 

For  shipment  May  and  June .  2.50 

For  shipment  July  and  August .  2.75 

Washed  nut  25  cents  per  ton  additional. 

Chestnut,  $1.25  for  entire  season. 

Trinidad  Distri.;t — 

For  shipment  May  and  June .  2.00 

For  shipment  July  and  August . 2.00 

Routt  County  District — 

For  shipment  May  and  June .  2.60 

For  shipment  July  and  August .  2.75 

Western  Slope  District — 

For  shipment  May  and  June .  2.25 

For  shipment  July  and  August .  2.60 

From  Baldwin,  shipments  for  points  east  of  Denvel 
are  75  cents  per  ton  less  than  Walsenburg  prices. 


Lump 

Nut 

.$2.50 

$2.00 

.  2.75 

2.25 

:hed  nut. 

.  2.50 

2.00 

.  2.75 

2.25 

lal. 

.  2.00 

1.71 

.  2.00 

1.7$ 

,  2.60 

2.01 

.  2.75 

2.21 

.  2.25 

.  2.60 

.... 

Local  coal  operators  and  wholesale  dealers  are 
very  much  interested  in  news  which  developed 
this  week  relative  to  a  deal  that  has  been  pending 
here  conducted  by  Pittsburgh  and  Chicago  brok¬ 
ers  covering  the  purchase  of  about  100  acres 
in  the  outskirts  of  the  city  at  Madisonville,  for 
the  purpose  of  establishing  a  subsidiary  plant 
to  the  Bethlehem  Steel  Company’s  plants  else¬ 
where.  G.  S.  Ellis  of  Chicago  is  one  of  the 
interested  real  estate  dealers  and  Thomas  A. 
Nugent  and  G.  M.  Hartupee  of  Pittsburgh  are 
the  others.  The  Pennsylvania  Railroad  ^..om- 
pany  is  reported  to  have  options  on  about  forty 
acres  nearby  and  will  handle  the  output  and 
inshipments  in  its  yards,  besides  constructing- 
shops  there  also.  It  is  reported  that  the  Dethle- 
hem  Steel  Company  will  not  operate  the  new 
plant  but  that  it  will  participate  in  the  organiza¬ 
tion  of  a  subsidiary  company  to  be  managed  by 
Pittsburgh  capital  which  will  take  hold  of  it  and 
aid  in  the  manufacture  of  war  supplies  and  ma¬ 
terials  on  contracts  held  by  the  Bethlehem  Com¬ 
pany.  The  interest  by  coal  operators  and  pro¬ 
ducers  is  that  of  finding  a  near  market  for  their 
coal  products. 


Denver  News  Briefs. 

A  test  case  involving  the  right  of  the  state 
to  collect  royalties,  which  it  is  estimated,  will 
amount  to  more  than  a  half  million  dollars, 
has  been  filed  by  N.  S.  Walpole,  owner  of  a 
quarter  section  of  state  land  in  Routt  county. 
He  asks  an  injunction  against  the  state  land 
board  from  granting  to  George  Morrison  a 
five-year  mineral  lease  upon  his  land  with  the 
right  to  mine  coal.  Since  Walpole  acquired 
the  tract  a  big  vein  of  anthracite,  probably 
six  to  eight  feet  thick,  has  been  discovered, 
and  as  the  state  gets  a  royalty  of  ten  cents 
for  every  ton  of  coal  mined,  it  is  estimated 
that  the  school  fund  would  receive  about 
$500,000  if  the  clause,  which  is  included  in 
every  sale  certificate,  that  the  state  reserves 
all  mineral  rights  is  upheld  in  the  courts. 
The  surface  value  of  the  land  is  only  about 
$16,000.  The  suit  which  Walpole  has  in¬ 
stituted  to  prevent  Morrison  from  mining  on 
his  land  will  test  the  right  of  the  state  to 
reserve  mineral  rights  in  making  a  sale  of 
land  and  to  grant  a  lease  to  an  outsider  to 
excavate  or  bore  on  the  land  of  the  purchaser. 


No.  9] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


177 


Duluth  Trade. 


Duluth,  Minn.,  August  26. —  (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — For  the  last  week  there  has  been 
a  lull  in  both  receipts  and  shipments  of  coal  at 
this  point,  but  the  indications  are  that  between 
now  and  the  first  of  the  month  there  will  be  a 
distinct  betterment.  More  charters  of  vessels 
have  been  made  within  the  last  week  to  bring 
coal  up  from  Lake  Erie  ports  and  vesselmen  and 
coal  dock  superintendents,  alike,  report  expecta¬ 
tion  of  considerable  new  arrivals  from  now  on. 
The  movement  westward  must  start  soon,  if 
there  is  going  to  he  any  at  all  to  speak  of,  and 
as  it  is  confidently  expected  that  there  will  be 
much  better  trade  this  year  than  last,  even  though 
the  docks  are  well  filled  up  at  the  present  time, 
the  expected  movement  should  deplete  stocks  rap¬ 
idly,  beginning  soon,  and  the  arrival  of  more  coal 
will  be  imperative  to  keep  up  the  stocks  against 
the  winter  months.  That  is  why  more  receipts 
are  looked  for  practically  at  once. 

There  is  less  storage  available  than  during 
last  winter,  two  docks  going  out  of  commission. 
These  are  the  Sunday  Creek  on  the  Superior  side 
of  the  bay  and  the  Boston  coal  dock  on  the  Du¬ 
luth  side.  This  will  take  out  of  use  handling 
capacity  of  about  500,000  to  600,000  tons  a  year. 
The  Boston  dock  has  been  used  by  the  Sunday 
Creek  Company.  This  dock  has  about  100,000 
tons  in  stock  yet  for  disposal  and  the  Sunday 
Creek  is  pretty  well  cleaned  out. 

Shipments,  which  had  a  fair  start  a  few  weeks 
ago,  have  suffered  a  falling  off  for  no  apparent 
reason,  but  it  is  believed  that  they  will  be  re¬ 
sumed  shortly.  Some  docks  are  complaining  that 
the  railroads  are  slow  about  making  their  pur¬ 
chases  for  the  fall,  but  two  of  the  docks  here, 
at  least,  find  the  railroad  purchases  satisfactory. 
In  the  latter  cases,  the  roads  are  taking  the 
coal  to  their  western  storage  stations  in  mov¬ 
ing  their  cars  out  that  way  for  the  grain  crop 
that  is  starting. 

Business  in  hard  coal  is  said  to  be  dead  so 
far,  the  season  for  it  not  being  here  yet;  and 
yet,  two  big  train  loads  of  anthracite  have  just 
been  shipped  west  in  a  rather  spectacular  way. 
The  Clarkson  Coal  and  Dock  Company  started 
a  special  train  of  seventy-nine  cars  of  anthra¬ 
cite,  about  2,300  tons,  out  of  here  on  Tuesday 
night  of  this  week.  The  ultimate  destination  of 
the  train  is  Harvey,  N.  D.,  via  the  Soo  Line, 
but  cars  will  be  dropped  here  and  there  along 
the  road.  This  is  the  largest  shipment  of  hard 
coal  that  has  ever  left  Duluth  in  one  trainload. 
A  few  days  before,  another  trainload  was  sent 
out  by  the  same  company.  This  consisted  of  for¬ 
ty-five  cars  of  anthracite,  1,155  tons,  and  was 
sent  as  far  as  Crookston,  Minn.,  where  it  was 
distributed.  R.  S.  Beattie  conducted  the  sales 
of  the  two  train  loads,  and  says  that  the  willing¬ 
ness  with  which  dealers  loaded  up  this  far  in 
advance  of  the  season  is  indicative  of  the  op¬ 
timism  they  feel  for  the  future. 


Duluth  Local  News. 

Ed  Savage,  of  Minneapolis,  general  sales  man¬ 
ager  of  the  Carnegie  Company,  spent  a  part  of 
the  week  in  Duluth  and  Superior. 

At  M.  A.  Hanna  &  Co.’s  dock  in  Superior  more 
rail  clamps  are  being  put  in  on  the  bridges  to 
protect  them  from  heavy  winds  and  squalls. 
The  improvements  being  made  are  to  about  the 
extent  of  $10,000. 

Although  the  actual  receipts  of  coal  last  week 
at  Fort  William  and  Port  Arthur,  Ont.,  were 
less  than  the  week  previous,  the  general  coal 
condition  there  looks  better  than  at  any  time 
during  the  present  season.  Five  full  cargoes 
were  unloaded — two  bituminous  and  three  anthra¬ 
cite,  and  1,600  tons  of  coke  for  the  West  were 
unloaded  also.  Two  part  cargoes  of  coal  were 
also  delivered.  En  route  are  reported  six  bi¬ 
tuminous  cargoes  and  one  of  the  hard  variety. 
Car  shipments  are  improving  steadily. 

Take.shi  Kawamura,  representative  of  the  Mitsu 
Bishi  Company,  Tokio,  Japan,  spent  the  first 
part  of  this  week  in  Duluth  as  a  guest  of  the 
Pittsburgh  Coal  Company.  Mr.  Kawamura  was 
here  to  inspect  the  dock  equipment  of  the  com¬ 
pany  with  a  view  to  ordering  similar  equipment 
for  his  own  company  at  its  docks  in  Korea.  The 
Mitshu  Bishi  Company  is  in  the  iron  business 
extensively  but  also  handles  coal,  which  is  mined 
in  Manchuria,  and  wi.shes  to  get  the  latest  in 
handling  machinery.  Mr.  Kawamura  came  to 
America  to  interview  the  Brown  Hoisting  Ma¬ 
chinery  Company,  of  Cleveland,  regarding  equip¬ 
ment,  and  that  concern  sent  him  here  to  see  their 


machinery  in  operation.  The  latter  half  of  the 
week,  Mr.  Kawamura  spent  on  the  iron  ranges 
looking  over  equipment  there. 


Birmingham  Trade. 


Birmingham,  Ala.,  August  26. — (Special 
Correspondence.) — While  the  sale  of  pig  iron 
has  been  very  heavy  the  past  sixty  days,  the 
improved  conditions  in  getting  out  coal  have 
not  come  up  to  anticipations.  It  seems  to 
be  the  case  with  the  coal  trade  that  it  is 
like  the  rise  and  fall  of  a  barometer;  at  one 
time  it  seems  to  rise  and  everything  looks 
forward  to  better  trade  and  more  coal  being 
mined,  at  another  it  falls  and  holds  off  a 
while  longer.  The  latter  case  seems  to  be 
the  situation  just  now,  and  conditions  are 
not  thoroughly  satisfactory  in  any  of  the 
coals  gotten  out  in  this  district. 

The  mining  of  coking  coal  is  about  the 
only  kind  that  has  anything  like  a  reasonably 
satisfactory  output.  Domestic  trade  is  still 
slow  in  getting  good  business  going.  At 
present,  steam  and  bunker  trade  is  only 
fairly  good.  Some  shipments  are  being 
made  down  the  river,  but  have  not  yet 
reached  large  tonnage.  Plans  are  in  hand 
by  several  companies  to  push  business  down 
the  river  as  soon  as  arrangements  can  be 
completed.  In  railroad  business  this  class 
of  trade  toward  farther  southern  points,  the 
tonnage  is  limited. 

One  bad  feature  of  the  trade  is  cutting. 
While  prices  have  been  established,  they  are 
not  strictly  held  up,  and  this  hurts  business 
as  far  as  profits  are  concerned.  The  large 
number  of  companies  mining  coal  and  the 
anxiety  for  business  have  caused  keen  com¬ 
petition  and  cutting  has  been  indulged  in  by 
some  salesmen  and  agents. 

Sales  in  blacksmith  coal  hold  to  fairly  good 
proportion. 

The  following  prices  prevail  until  close  of 
August: 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B, 

Bibb  County  Domestic  Coal —  Hines.  Birmingham. 

Cahaba  fancy  lump .  2.50  2.80 

Cahaba  No.  2  lump .  2.25  2.55 

Jefferson  County — 

Fancy  steam  Pratt .  1.75  2.00 

Run  of  mine  Pratt .  1.20@1.25  1.45@1.50 

Black  Creek — 

Fancy  steam  lump .  1.75  2.05 

Washed  nut  .  1.75  2.05 

Washed  steam .  1.35@1..40  Frt.  rate  30c 

Mine  run .  1.35@1.40  Frt.  rate  30c 

Jefferson  Seam  Steam  Coal — 

Mine  run .  1.15@1.25  Frt.  rate  30c 

Walker  County  Domestic — 

Carbon  Hill  lump .  1.60  2.00 

Horse  Creek  mine  run .  1.00@1.20  Frt.  rate  40c 

Shelby  County — 

Montevallo  domestic  prices  ranging  from  $2.75  to  $3.00. 
Blacksmith  coal,  washed  and  screened,  per  ton,  $2  to 
$2.25  at  mines,  with  different  rates  to  various  points. 


Birmingham  Trade  Briefs. 

For  several  years  it  has  been  the  cu.stom 
for  the  state  to  lease  its  convicts  for  min¬ 
ing  coal.  Two  of  the  larger  companies  have 
used  large  numbers  of  convicts  in  mines,  and 
it  is  claimed  by  many  to  be  detrimental  to 
mining  interests.  The  state  legislature  now 
in  session  has  passed  a  bill  which  abrogates 
the  lease  system  for  coal  mining,  and  all 
convicts  must  be  out  of  mines  by  1920.  This 
will  be  a  heavy  blow  from  a  financial  stand¬ 
point,  as  the  state  convict  mining  department 
has  been  a  good  revenue  provider. 

The  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  re¬ 
cently  granted  the  railroads  a  raise  of  fifteen 
cents  a  ton  in  coal  rates  from  Birmingham 
to  Mobile  and  New  Orleans,  from  $1.25  to 
$1.40  per  ton.  Thus  far  the  railroads  have 
not  asked  for  date  of  application  of  such 
rates.  As  Warrior  river  rates  are  lower  to 
these  points  it  is  probable  that  while  the 
raise  has  been  granted,  it  may  not  be  asked 
for  effective  dates. 

A  good  report  comes  from  Walker  county. 
“Mining  interests  in  Walker  county  are  tak¬ 
ing  a  new  lease  of  life,”  said  G  D.  O’Rear, 
coal  operator,  of  Drifton.  “Most  of  the 
mines  in  our  section  have  closed  contracts 
for  the  winter  and  have  started  their  forces 
to  work  on  full  time,  while  a  number  of  new 
companies  have  entered  the  field  and  are 
making  new  openings.  J.  J.,  C.  D.  and  R.  Y. 
Long  and  associates  are  starting  a  new  min¬ 
ing  camp  in  the  Piney  Woods  district,  sev¬ 
eral  miles  north  of  Jasper,  and  the  blue¬ 
prints  call  for  a  modern  mining  camp  in 
every  respect,  with  a  large  capacity.” 

Coke  is  in  good  demand  and  supply  is  only 
fair.  The  renewal  of  furnace  activity  has  fur¬ 
ther  shortened  the  supply  of  available  coke. 


thus  adding  to  its  firmness  and  raising  prices. 
The  Woodward  company  has  been  forced  to 
get  some  coke  from  the  Tennessee  by¬ 
product  ovens  at  Ensley.  Foundries  are  tak¬ 
ing  larger  supplies.  The  following  prices  are 
prevailing  at  present:  Beehive  furnace,  $2  75 
to  $3;  beehive  foundry,  $3.25  to  $3.50;  by¬ 
product,  $2.25  to  $2.75. 


Detroit  Trade. 


Detroit,  Mich.,  August  26. —  (Special  Corres¬ 
pondence.) — Generally  improved  conditions  con¬ 
tinue  as  the  most  interesting  feature  of  the  coal 
trade  in  Detroit.  With  an  apparently  broadening 
demand_  prices  are  taking  on  a  firmer  tone,  while 
no  special  increase  is  reported  in  the  quantity  of 
consignment  stock  coming  into  the  city. 

As  would  be  expected  the  most  active  inquiry 
is  for  steam  coal  and  the  demand  seems  broad 
enou.gh  to  include  practically  all  varieties.  West 
Virginia  gas,  three-quarter  lump,  which  for  a 
long  time  has  held  around  ninety-five  cents  to  $1 
is  now  being  quoted  at  the  mines  at  $1.10,  the 
equivalent  of  $2.50  delivered  in  Detroit.  Mine 
run  has  advanced  from  eighty  to  ninety  cents  and 
slack  is  selling  at  from  seventy-five  to  eighty 
cents  while  Kentucky  splint,  nut,  pea  and  slack 
holds  around  sixty-five  cents. 

While  the  orders  are  not,  in  most  cases  of 
lar.ge  size,  they  are  coming  in  more  frequently 
and  in  the  aggregate  they  represent  considerable 
tonnage.  Orders  from  towns  in  the  interior  of 
the  state,  also  are  coming  in  more  freely  with 
the  advance  of  the  threshing  season  in  agricul¬ 
tural  sections. 

Steam  coal  continues  rather  comatose 
thou.gh  even  in  that  branch  of  the  business,  there 
are  said  to  be  some  indications  of  a  growing 
breadth  of  demand.  The  long  continued  rains 
which  have  been  an  unusual  feature  of  weather 
conditions  in  and  around  Detroit  have  so  charged 
the  atmosphere  with  moisture  that  an  occasional 
fire  is  found  almost  necessary  in  many  homes  to 
dry  out  the  air. 

The  volume  of  business  in  anthracite  continues 
far  short  of  what  the  shippers  believe  should  be 
moving  this  way  at  this  season  of  the  year.  Re¬ 
tail  dealers  appear  reluctant  to  put  their  money 
into  stock,  even  with  the  stimulant  of  a  ten  cents 
discount,  until  the  time  is  nearer  when  a  larger 
distribution  may  be  made  to  the  consumers. 

In  the  rail-lake  trade  there  is  no  perceptible 
improvement,  with  no  prospect  of  any  early 
change.  The  movement  to  the  interior  from  coal 
receivin.g  docks  at  the  head  of  the  lakes  is.  still 
very  light  in  volume  and  until  it  attains  a  much 
larger  volume,  there  wdll  be  no  relief  from  the 
congestion,  which  makes  it  impracticable  to 
transport  any  large  quantity  of  coal  from  lower 
lake  ports. 

In  the  third  week  of  August  three  cargoes  of 
anthracite  and  two  of  bituminous  coal  were  de¬ 
livered  at  Fort  William  and  Port  Arthur  and 
three  partial  cargoes,  includin.g  1,600  tons  of  coke 
also  arrived  there.  Shipment  by  rail  westward 
from  the  Canadian  head  of  the  lakes  is  reported 
as  improving  slightly.  Prices  in  the  local  market 


on  mine  shipment  order. 

are  as  follows 

F.  O.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

West  Vireinia  Das — 

Mines. 

Detroit. 

Three-quarter  lump . 

.  1.10 

2.50 

Mine  run . 

.  .90 

2.30 

Slack  . 

. 75@  .85 

2.15@2.25 

West  Virginia  Splint — 

Four-inch  lump . 

.  1.50@1.75 

1.90@2.15 

Two-inch  lump . 

.  1.25@1.40 

3.15@2.30 

Three-quarter  . 

.  1.10 

2.50 

Mine  run . 

.  1.00 

2.40 

Nut,  pea  and  slack . 

1.95@3.05 

Smokeless — 

Lump  and  egg . 

.  2.25 

3.85 

Nut  . 

3.35 

Slack . . . 

Mine  run . 

Open 

.  .  . .  .  1.25 

2.85 

Kentucky  Splint — 

Lump  . 

.  1.60@1.75 

$3.00@3.15 

Egg  . 

.  1.25@1.40 

2.65@2.80 

Nut,  pea  and  slack . 

2.05 

Fairmount — 

Three-quarter  steam  lump.  .  . 

. 85@)  .95 

2.2502.35 

Mine  run . 

. 70@  .80 

2.10@2.20 

Slack  . 

Open 

Hocking  Valley — - 

Shaker  three-inch  lumj) . 

.  1..50 

2.65 

Shaker  egg  and  nut . 

.  1.15 

2.30 

Domestic  lump . 

.  1.35 

2.50 

Three-quarter  lump  . 

.  1.25@1.30 

2.40@2.45 

Mine  run . 

.  i.oo@i.in 

2.15@3.25 

Nut,  pea  and  «lack . 

Open 

Pittshurgh  No.  8 — 

Three-quarter  lump . 

.  1.15 

2.30 

Mine  run . 

.  1.05 

2.20 

Slack  . 

Open 

Jackson  Hill — 

Domestic  lump . 

.  2.50 

3.65 

Cambridge — 

Three-quarter  lump . 

.  1.20 

2.35 

Mine  run . 

.  1.10 

2.25 

Pomeroy — 

Two  and  three-inch  lump... 

.  1.60 

2.75 

F-gg  . 

.  1.35 

3.50 

Slack  . 

Open 

178 


[August  28 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


New  York  Trade. 

Anthracite  More  Active,  Though  Still 
Dull — Better  Tone  Permeates 
Bituminous  Circles. 

Office  of  The  Bi.ack  Diamond, 
New  York,  August  26. 

There  is  a  much  better  demand  in  certain 
quarters  for  anthracite,  though  the  volume  of 
coal  called  for  due  to  this  demand  is  disap¬ 
pointingly  small.  However,  certain  shippers 
are  finding  that  their  orders  are  increasing, 
and  they  look  upon  this  as  an  indication  that 
the  fall  buying  movement,  usually  felt  after 
Labor  Day,  has  already  commenced. 

This  much  is  true.  The  companies  are 
working  on  better  time,  whether  for  the  pur¬ 
pose  of  making  prompt  shipments,  or  for 
the  purpose  of  stocking  against  future  needs. 
Everyone  seems  to  be  agreed  upon  the  fact 
that  there  will  be  an  active  demand  for  an¬ 
thracite  coal  this  winter,  and  that  it  is,  there¬ 
fore,  in  the  nature  of  insurance  to  lay  in  good 
storage  stocks  now.  It  will  no  doubt  be 
found  to  be  the  case  that  the  stocking  on  the 
part  of  certain  companies  runs  largely  to  one 
or  two  unfavored  sizes.  There  is^  some  talk 
of  large  stocks  of  steam  coals  being  accum¬ 
ulated  at  interior  points,  but  this  is*  only  to 
be  expected,  as  most  of  the  large  producers 
have  large  steam  coal  contracts  that  call 
for  very  heavy  shipments  during  the  winter 
months,  and  to  lay  in  stock  at  this  time  means 
only  a  move  towards  the  protection  of  the 
consumers  of  these  coals. 

Some  activity  has  been  noted  in  the_  line 
trade  this  week.  Dealers  say  that  this  is 
due  no  doubt,  to  the  fact  that  consumers  m 
the  all-rail  district  are  returning  frorri  their 
vacations  and  have  begun  laying  in  their  win¬ 
ter  coal.  Retail  dealers  at  tidewater  points 
also  report  more  activity  on  the  part  of  con¬ 
sumers,  and  that  they  are  making  good  de¬ 
liveries  from  their  yards  just  now.  This  will 
call  for  very  heavy  demands  for  wholesale 
lots  in  the  very  near  future  for  replenishing 
purposes. 

At  the  moment,  nut  coal  is  weak,  and  it 
in  common  with  egg,  is  still  being  offered  by 
individual  producers  at  good  concessions  from 
the  circular.  Stove  is  holding  the  leadership 
very  well,  and  is  selling  nearer  the  circular 
than  any  of  the  other  coals. 

Movement  to  the  lakes  should  be  very  ac¬ 
tive  from  now  on,  while  the  tidewater  move¬ 
ment  is  expected  to  show  up  much  better 
early  next  month. 

Some  of  the  trade  are  feeling  considerable 
optimism  as  to  the  outlook  for  the  coming 
fall  and  winter.  Contrasting  conditions  with 
what  they  were  a  year  ago,  it  is  argued  that 
now,  there  is  practically  employment  for 
everybody  that  will  work,  and  in  many  in¬ 
stances  at  an  advance  of  from  ten  to  twenty 
per  cent  in  wages.  Last  winter  there  was  a 
great  deal  of  unemployment.  Thousands  of 
those  employed  worked  on  short  time.  This 
meant  that  thousands  of  anthracite  consumers 
suffered  for  want  of  coal.  Coal  consumption 
was  hurt  in  many  ways.  Houses  that  would 
ordinarily  have  two  or  three  stoves  or  furnaces 
going  in  cold  weather,  used  only  one,  and 
fed  the  coal  sparingly  to  this.  With  money 
more  plentiful  this  winter,  the  coal  man  sees 
them  running  all  stoves,  and  consequently, 
a  very  marked  increase  in  the  consumption 
of  coal. 

The  trade  are  still  very  much  exercised 
over  the  new  anthracite  freight  rate  that  the 
commission  has  ordered  to  go  into  effect  on 
October  1st.  So  far,  the  railroad  people 
have  not  made  an  appeal.  Just  what  ac¬ 
tion  they  will  take,  has  not  so  far,  been 
indicated.  The  ruling  of  the  commission  on 
the  steam  size  rate  to  tidewater  has  been  asked 
for.  According  to  the  common  interpretation 
of  the  order,  the  roads  will  be  permitted  to 
advance  their  rates  on  steam  sizes  from  fifteen 
to  twenty  cents  per  ton.  Last  week,  when 
this  point  was  brought  out,  some  of  the  trade 
scoffed  at  the  idea  that  the  railroads  would 
take  this  action,  though  the  commission  had 
given  them  the  authority  to  *do  so.  Now, 
there  is  the  fear  on  the  part  of  these  same 
people  that  the  roads  may  be  forced  to  take 
this  action.  In  this  event,  the  result  will 
be  a  most  active  competition  with  soft  coal 
that  may  completely  re-arrange  many  con¬ 


tracts  now  enjoyed  by  sellers  of  the  steam 
sizes  of  anthracite. 

The  steam  sizes  show  but  little  improve¬ 
ment.  Demand  is  yet  very  limited,  with  the 
exception  of  choice  grades  of  rice  and  barley, 
which  are  very  short.  Buckwheat  is  in  good 
supply,  while  pea  is  especially  long  and  un¬ 
improved. 

The  Bituminous  Situation. 


The  eastern  bituminous  trade  continues  to 
improve,  though  not  of  the  radical  nature  that 
those  most  interested  would  like  to  see.  That 
is,  there  is  no  question  but  that  each  week 
is  finding  the  mines  as  a  whole,  operating  on 
better  time,  and  consequently,  more  coal  is 
moving. 

The  attitude  of  several  of  the  very  large 
railroads,  in  storing  large  quantities  of  coal  at 
this  time;  is  being  commended.  This  is  help¬ 
ing  very  materially,  those  operators  who  have 
fuel  contracts.  Just  now,  their  commercial 
contracts  are  not  pressing,  and  it  comes  as 
a  blessing  to  them  to  be  permitted  to  work 
their  mines  on  fairly  good  time  to  supply 
railroad  fuel,  as  this  works  to  their  advan¬ 
tage  in  many  ways.  One  of  the  most  im¬ 
portant  of  these  being  that  they  are  able  to 
give  pretty  regular  employment  to  labor  and, 
therefore,  keep  together,  a  good  working  force 
to  take  care  of  pressing  commercial  business 
that  seems  assured  later  on. 

Already,  although  general  bituminous  trade 
is  said  to  be  so  very  bad,  both  the  Baltimore 
&  Ohio  and  Pennsylvania  roads  are  develop-  , 
ing  small  car  shortages  at  certain  points. 
What  is  to  happen  later  on,  the  trade  fear 
to  predict.  Certain  it  is  that  many  large  coal 
consumers,  now  adamantically  indifferent  to 
the  treatise  of  the  coal  men  to  take  coal, 
while  transportation  conditions  are  ideal,  are 
going  to  suffer. 

Two  very  important  contracts  to  the  east¬ 
ern  coal  trade  are  now  up  for  consideration, 
both  of  which  are  to  be  settled  the  early  part 
of  September.  One  of  these  is  the  Panama 
Railroad  contract  for  about  600,000  tons  per 
year  for  the  Canal.  The  other  is  the  fuel 
contract  of  the  Boston  &  Maine  for  760,000 
tons  per  year,  bids  for  five  years  being  in¬ 
vited.  Both  of  these  contracts  are  at  present 
being  largely,  if  not  wholly,  supplied  by  West 
Virginia  coals. 

Prices  cannot  be  said  to  be  improved. 
Maine  prices  are  inclined  to  be  firmer.  At 
tide  there  is  still  to  be  obtained  from  time 
to  time,  some  bargain  lots.  This  week,  some 
good  Pennsylvania  coals  have  been  obtainable 
at  New  York  Harbor  ports  at  $2.55.  Choice 
goods  at  $2.65  to  $2.75.  Inferior  West  Vir¬ 
ginia  sells  at  $2.40.  Slack  is  stronger. 

We  quote  current  rates  of  freight  as  fol¬ 
lows: 

From  Hampton  Roads  to  Boston,  seventy- 
five  to  eighty-five  cents;  to  the  Sound,  seventy 
to  eighty  cents. 

From  New  York  rates  to  New  Haven  are 
thirty  cents.  New  London,  forty  cents,  and 
Providence  and  New  Bedford,  forty-five  cents; 
to  Boston,  fifty-five  to  sixty  cents;  Ports¬ 
mouth  and  Portland,  fifty-five  to  seventy  cents ; 
to  Bangor,  seventy  cents.  Harbor  rates  are 
from  eighteen  to  twenty  cents. 

Prices  on  gross  tons  of  bituminous  coals 
are : 


F.  O.  B. 

Somerset  County —  Harbor. 

Best  grades . $2.85 

Medium  grades .  2.60 

Ordinary  .  2.65 

Cambria  County — 

Best  Miller  vein .  3.00 

Medium  grades .  2.55 

Cheaper  grades .  2.60 

Clearfield  County — 

Best  grade .  3.00 

Ordinary  grades . 2.50 

Indiana  County — 

Best  grade .  2.80 

Medium  grade .  2.50 

Maryland — 

Georges  Creek  big  vein .  3.15 

West  Virginia  Splint — ■ 

Ordinary  grades .  2.40 

Best  gas,  j4-inch  lump .  2.65 

Best  grade,  run  of  mine .  2.65 

Gas  slack . 


F.  O.  B. 
Mines. 
$1.30 
1.10 
1.00 


1.40 

1.15 

1.05 


1.35 

1.00 

1.25 

.95 


1.65 


.75 

1.10 

.90 

.55®  .70 


New  York  Trade  Briefs. 

A.  H.  Dary,  secretary  to  Vice-president 
Renahan  of  the  Smokeless  Fuel  Company, 
No.  1  Broadway,  is  spending  his  vacation  at 
Garnett  Lake,  N.  Y. 

T.  F.  Conway,  a  well  known  coal  salesman. 


making  his  headquarters  at  Waterbury,  Vt., 
becomes  associated  with  Hartwell,  Lester  & 
Clitter,  Inc.,  of  No.  1  Broadway,  effective  on 
September  1st. 

The  Johnson  Coal  Company  of  Lloyd,  N.  Y., 
has  just  been  incorporated  under  the  New 
York  state  laws.  The  capital  stock  is  placed 
at  $10,000.  Incorporators  are  H.  A.  Lent,  M. 
and  L.  Johnson  of  Highland,  New  York. 

Thruston  Wright  of  Pittsburgh,  one  of  the 
receivers  of  the  Merchants  Coal  Company  of 
Pennsylvania,  who  is  spending  a  vacation  at 
one  of  the  Jersey  coast  resorts,  was  a  visitor 
to  the  New  York  office  of  his  company  on 
Monday. 

Charles  E.  Lester  of  Hartwell,  Lester  & 
Clitter,  Inc.,  No.  1  Broadway,  sailed  on  Thurs¬ 
day  of  this  week  for  Norway  direct.  From 
Norway,  Mr.  Lester  will  go  to  London  and 
Paris.  His  visit  abroad  at  this  time  has  to 
do  with  the  exportation  of  coal,  in  which  line 
his  company  has  been  very  active  since  the 
war  began  a  year  ago. 

Advices  from  Washington  on  Tuesday 
stated  that  the  Inter-State  Commerce  Com¬ 
mission  had  ruled  that  demurrage  charges  of 
$1  per  car  per  day  in  excess  of  five  days,  as 
charged  by  the  Delaware,  Lackawanna  & 
Western  Railroad  on  anthracite  coal  waiting 
trans-shipment  at  Hoboken  or  nearby  points, 
are  reasonable. 

A  usually  well  posted  anthracite  man  said 
Tuesday:  “The  anthracite  trade  showed  quite 
some  improvement  last  week.  There  was 
considerable  buying  for  line  trade,  while  the 
tidewater  business  was  also  stimulated.  I  be¬ 
lieve  that  real  buying  has  set  in  two  weeks 
earlier  than  is  usual  in  the  fall.  In  most  sea¬ 
sons,  very  little  real  buying  is  felt  until  after 
Labor  Day.  This  year,  dealers  are  inclined 
to  get  in  coal  earlier,  and  no  few  of  them 
tell  me  that  they  are  actuated  in  doing  this 
due  to  the  fact  that  consumers  have  begun 
buying  and  that  they  are  making  good  de¬ 
liveries  just  now  from  their  yards.” 

The  Panama  Railroad  Company,  through 
its  purchasing  department  at  24  State  street. 
New  York,  will  receive  bids  until  12  o’clock 
noon  on  September  3rd,  for  furnishing  coal 
for  the  Isthmus  for  the  twelve  months  end¬ 
ing  September  15,  1916.  Estimated  require¬ 
ments  will  be  run  between  500,000  and  600,- 
000  tons.  Specifications  call  for  not  to  ex¬ 
ceed  moisture  delivered  coal,  3  per  cent;  ash 
dry  coal,  6l4  per  cent;  volatile  matter  dry  coal, 
21  per  cent;  sulphur  dry  coal,  1  per  cent. 
Coal  must  not  contain  less  than  72J4  per  cent 
fixed  carbon  and  14,700  b.  t.  u.  per  pound  dry 
coal. 

John  Stoddard,  formerly  a  member  of  the 
New  York  coal  trade,  but  now  connected  with 
the  Stonega  Coal  &  Coke  Company  of  Big 
Stone  Gap,  Va.,  was  in  New  York  this  week. 
Mr.  Stoddard  states  that  on  the  first  of  Sep¬ 
tember,  the  Southern  Railway  will  put  its 
new  coal  handling  pier  at  Charleston,  S.  C., 
at  work,  and  that  from  that  time  on  the 
company  with  which  he  is  associated  will 
be  an  important  factor  for  export  and  bunker 
trade  through  the  port  of  Charleston.  Charles- 
will  have  the  same  tidewater  freight  rate  on 
coal  for  trans-shipment,  as  is  now  enjoyed  by 
the  Hampton  Roads  ports,  viz:  $1.40  per  ton, 
and  it  is  understood  that  coal  will  come  to 
Charleston  pretty  regularly  now  from  the  va¬ 
rious  Virginia  coal  fields  tapped  by  the  lines 
of  the  Southern,  Clinchfield  and  other  rail¬ 
ways  in  this  territory. 

C.  E.  Bockus,  president  of  the  Clinchfield 
Coal  Corporation,  was  at  the  New  York  offices 
during  the  past  week.  For  several  days  fol¬ 
lowing  the  hurricane  that  did  so  much  damage 
to  Galveston  and  vicinity,  Mr.  Bockus  was 
unable  to  get  any  information  as  to  how  the 
Clinchfield’s  steamer,  dock  and  harbor  prop¬ 
erties  fared  from  the  storm.  The  new  steamer 
Clinchfield,  now  being  used  by  the  company 
in  transporting  coal  to  Galveston  had  left 
Galveston  only  a  day  before  the  storm.  She 
was  bringing  lumber  east,  and  was  to  have 
put  in  at  St.  Andrews  Bay  to  complete  her  cargo. 
It  was  not  until  late  Friday,  that  advices 
were  received  of  her  safe  arrival  at  this  port 
with  practically  no  damage  sustained.  While 
advices  from  Galveston  were  lacking  in  detail, 
they  showed  that  the  new  bunkering  barge, 
recently  built  for  the  Clinchfield  to  use  at 
Galveston  and  Texas  City,  had  escaped  darn- 
age.  Some  of  the  small  harbor  barges  evi¬ 
dently  suffered. 


No.  9] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


179 


Philadelphia  Trade. 

Anthracite  Trade  Is  Slow,  but  the  Bitumi¬ 
nous  Demand  Is  Better  in  All  of 
the  Departments. 

Office  of  The  Black  Diamond, 
1400  Land  Title  Building 
Philadelphia,  Aug.  25. 

Somewhat  of  a  “reverse  English”  has  been  ob¬ 
served  in  the  local  coal  trade  during  the  past 
couple  of  weeks.  For  months  the  bituminous  men 
assumed  the  position  of  the  “down  trodden  broth¬ 
er,”  while  the  anthracite  people  were  as  perky 
as  could  be.  The  extreme  dullness  that  has  fol¬ 
lowed  the  anthracite  trade  for  a  matter  of  six 
weeks  has  caused  quite  a  down-in-the-mouth  feel¬ 
ing,  and,  with  a  most  promising  future  the  soft 
coal  men  have  all  the  best  of  the  going. 

Here  and  there  slight  changes  in  spot  price  on 
bituminous  have  been  noted  but  nothing  to  cause 
a  change  in  the  established  prices.  Firmer  hold¬ 
ing  to  the  set  mark  is  about  all  that  is  taken  in. 
However  on  contract  prices  a  decided 
change  has  been  noted.  Pretty  near  all 
of  the  firms,  big  and  small  are  waiting  for  a 
pacemaker.  Quite  a  number  of  consumers  who 
have  come  in  with  eleventh  hour  contracts  have 
been  informed  that  if  they  want  prices  named 
they  must  pay  a  nickel  to  a  dime  a  ton  over  the 
prices  that  were  given  three  to  four  weeks  ago. 
And,  a  more  healthy  sign  has  been  noted  in  the 
fact  that  firms  under  contract  have  beeft  taking 
more  fully  their  stated  requirements. 

At  the  piers  the  most  of  the  demand  has  been 
for  cheap  coal,  and  higher  grades  have  been 
rather  neglected,  in  fact  at  the  Greenwich  piers 
there  is  quite  an  accumulation,  some  on  demur¬ 
rage  and  some  dangerously  near.  Port  Rich¬ 
mond  has  been  fairly  free  of  coal  carrying  this 
railway  charge. 

At  the  Greenwich  pier  the  Pennsylvania  rail¬ 
way  is  putting  some  coal  into  storage.  This 
has  been  dumped  upon  the  ground.  The  heavy 
storage  of  coal  by  this  company  at  Altoona,  Sun- 
bury  and  now  at  Greenwich,  and  its  significance, 
has  been  pointed  out  to  consumers  as  the  best 
evidence  that  they  should  be  up  and  doing  in 
looking  out  for  their  supply. 

From  the  regions,  mines  that  have  seen  fit  to 
increase  their  capacity  have  run  point  blank  into 
the  labor  situation  and  have  found  that  the  bug¬ 
aboo  “scarcity  of  labor”  is  a  reality. 

Anthracite  Situation. 

With  the  coming  of  September  first  and  the 
resumption  of  circular  prices  at  the  winter  stand¬ 
ard,  the  hard  coal  men  are  commenting  on  the 
lack  of  interest  and  movement  through  the  re¬ 
tailers  of  their  product.  Generally  speaking  the 
wind  up  of  the  month  is  a  signal  for  an  increase 
of  business.  At  this  writing  there  has  been  no 
flurry  or  scramble  for  supplies  and  “old  timers” 
in  the  business  are  of  the  opinion  that  late  Sep¬ 
tember  may  come  before  any  great  rush  is  noted. 

Men  who  have  been  to  New  England  within 
the  last  week  say  that  even  this  section  is  due 
for  a  late  start.  They  say  that  most  of  the  deal¬ 
ers  are  of  the  opinion  that  a  dash  of  cold  weather 
is  necessary  in  order  to  start  the  wheels  moving. 
This  is  not  based  on  the  fact  that  coal  is  neces¬ 
sary  for  protection,  but  rather  that  the  need  of 
coal  will  cause  some  of  the  backward  ones  to 
pay  their  bills.  As  matters  stand  in  that  section 
a  heavy  percentage  of  accounts  have  been  car¬ 
ried  over  from  last  year  and  the  retailers  show 
little  disposition  to  extend  further  credit.  This 
is  pointed  out  as  a  reason  for  the  diminution  of 
water  shipments. 

Chestnut  has  been  the  chief  laggard  in  the 
sizes.  Even  prices  that  have  been  generously  cut 
in  some  quarters  have  failed  to  move  any  great 
volume  of  this.  Pea  coal  is  still  draggy  but 
has  shown  a  disposition  to  strengthen  in  price. 
With  the  curtailment  of  production  all  grades 
of  buckwheat  have  been  strong  and  have  been 
well  taken  by  the  steam  users.  Egg  coal  is  pos¬ 
sibly  the  leader  in  the  market  and  has  held  firmly 
to  the  August  circular  price. 


Philadelphia  Trade  Notes. 

J.  A.  Emmons  of  the  Emmons  Coal  Mining  Com¬ 
pany  was  on  a  business  trip  to  New  York  City 
this  week. 

J.  P.  Kisbaugh  of  the  Mill  Creek  Coal  Company 
at  Mauch  Chunk  circulated  among  the  local 
trade  on  Wednesday. 

F.  H.  Cortright  of  the  Cortright  Coal  Com¬ 


pany  went  over  to  New  York  in  the  middle  of 
the  week  on  a  business  tour. 

R.  B.  Isner,  assistant  general  manager  of  the 
Davis  Colliery  Company,  was  a  visitor  to  the 
local  offices  this  week  while  en  route  to  New 
York. 

R.  H.  Bopes,  formerly  auditor  of  the  Davis 
Colliery  Company,  and  now  located  in  Washing¬ 
ton,  D.  C.,  said  “howde”  to  local  friends  during 
the  mid-week. 

L.  F.  Darnall,  manager  of  the  local  office  of 
the  Merchants  Coal  Company,  took  a  few  days 
of  rest  the  early  part  of  the  week  and  spent 
them  on  the  Jersey  coast. 

John  H.  Tees  of  the  Cincinnati  office  of  the 
Island  Creek  Coal  Sales  Company,  and  who  was 
formerly  a  member  of  the  local  force  renewed 
old  acquaintances  here  this  week. 

Lloyd  McCrum  of  Somerset,  general  manager 
of  the  operations  of  W.  H.  Bradford  &  Co.,  was 
a  visitor  to  the  local  offices  of  that  concern  after 
a  day  or  two  spent  in  New  York  City. 

C.  M.  Hillegas,  sales  agent  at  Allentown,  and 
Charles  E.  Coffin,  chief  clerk  in  the  Philadelphia 
office  of  the  Pennsylvania  Coal  &  Coke  Corpora¬ 
tion,  are  on  their  vacations  this  week. 

H.  C.  Pearson,  sales  manager  for  the  Van 
Wickle  Estate,  returned  early  in  the  week  from 
a  tour  of  the  St.  Lawrence  River  and  Lake  On¬ 
tario.  In  Buffalo  he  visited  the  coal  trade  there 
and  was  informed  that  the  storms  and  other  un¬ 
toward  conditions  had  cut  down  the  usual  heavy 
distribution  of  coal  to  the  farmers. 

The  Clearfield  district  has  put  in  an  official 
bid  for  honors.  Operators  there  reported  that 
for  the  first  time  in  months  there  was  a  shortage 
in  supplies  of  cars.  The  reason  given  was  that 
the  Pennsylvania  railroad  was  using  such  a  vol¬ 
ume  of  cars  in  its  storage  preparations  that  the 
usual  ample  supply  had  to  be  cut  down. 

During  the  week  bills  have  been  received  by 
the  members  Ko-Koal  for  their  dues  to  the 
National  Coal  Association.  The  bills  were  made 
out  for  $5  with  a  foot  note  to  the  effect  that 
a  three  dollar  discount  would  apply  to  those  who 
were  members  of  the  Philadelphia  breaker.  Some 
of  the  members  were  puzzled  over  this  and  Sec¬ 
retary  Scott  had  quite  a  time  explaining  just 
what  the  “billet-doux”  meant. 

Hard  coal  men  were  on  the  anxious  seat  Wed¬ 
nesday  when  the  dispatches  from  New  York 
intimated  that  nothing  was  made  public  as  to 
the  action  that  the  officials  of  the  coal  carrying 
roads  took  on  the  new  rates  ordered  by  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission.  As  these  have 
to  be  taken  into  consideration  on  fall  business 
a  keen  weather  eye  on  the  decision  of  the  rail¬ 
way  people  is  anxiously  awaited. 

Coal  men  who  have  had  their  eyes  on  the 
magic  city  that  has  been  rising  for  the  Rem¬ 
ington  Arms  Company  at  Eddystone,  and  who 
have  been  counting  the  number  of  tons  per 
day  that  the  plant  will  use,  received  the  intima¬ 
tion  that  the  coal  burning  may  come  from  an¬ 
other  source.  It  is  understood  that  negotiations 
are  on  for  a  supply  of  electricity  to  run  the 
plant  from  the  Philadelphia  Electric  Company. 

With  the  opening  of  Philadelphia’s  newest  sky¬ 
scraper,  the  Widener  building,  there  has  been  no 
great  rush  on  the  part  of  the  coal  men  to  take 
quarters  there.  The  Shade  Creek  Coal  Company, 
it  is  understood,  was  the  first  of  the  fuel  people 
to  sign  up  for  quarters.  A  prophecy  was  made, 
however,  that  with  the  movement  of  old  estab¬ 
lished  firms  from  the  former  center  of  trade, 
at  5th  and  Chestnut  streets,  it  would  not  be  long 
before  some  of  these  companies  might  be  found 
in  the  neighborhood  of  Broad  and  Chestnut 
streets. 

Cards  were  received  by  the  local  trade  this 
week  from  Julian  Huff,  president  of  the  Latrobe- 
Connellsville  Coal  Company,  that  B.  Nicoll  &  Co. 
would  act  as  the  local  agents  for  that  concern. 

Advertisements  have  appeared  in  the  local 
papers  announcing  the  sale  of  the  Marmet  Coal 
Company  in  Cincinnati.  Philadelphia  capital  has 
been  interested  in  the  re-organization  of  the 
company  and  it  is  understood  that  a  further 
entrance  of  other  Philadelphians  in  the  proposal 
to  buy  out  the  company  is  the  reason  for  the 
appearance  of  the  announcement  of  sale. 

Quite  a  number  of  Bostonians  interested  in  the 
coal  shipping  trade  were  present  at  the  launch¬ 
ing  of  the  new  collier  “Franklin”  at  the  plant 
of  the  New  York  Shipbuilding  Company  in 
Camden  on  Saturday  last,  when  the  big  boat 
was  placed  in  the  water.  Among  those  present 
were  Captain  Arthur  Crowley,  assistant  general 


manager  of  the  Coastwise  Transportation  Com¬ 
pany,  owner  of  the  new  vessel;  John  Naston, 
Harry  Hutchinson,  Walter  Irvin,  Thomas  Rati- 
gan,  Captain  Elmer  Crowley,  S.  J.  Goucher  and 
S.  M.  Goucher.  The  boat  was  christened  by  Mr. 
Arthur  Crowley.  The  vessel  has  a  capacity  of 
9,400  long  tons,  is  395  feet  long  and  thirty-four 
feet  six  inches  deep.  She  is  fitted  with  un¬ 
usually  large  bunkers  and  is  a  self  discharger. 
As  soon  as  outfitted  the  new  collier  will  be 
placed  in  the  Norfolk-Mediterranean  trade. 

Ed  Harding,  local  manager  of  the  Blaine  Coal 
Company’s  office,  was  in  New  York  on  Monday. 


Buffalo  Trade. 


Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  August  26. —  (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — Anthracite  shipments  by  lake  for 
the  past  week  were  103,000  tons,  which  is  rather 
below  the  average.  The  cause  is  the  slowing 
down  of  one  large  loading  company,  which  sent 
out  but  one  cargo  last  week.  The  outlook  for 
larger  shipments  in  the  near  future  is  good,  as 
the  consumers  in  the  Northwest  are  beginning  to 
take  more  coal,  and  this  relieves  the  docks,  which 
in  some  cases  have  been  well  filled  up  to  now. 
Of  last  week’s  shipments,  33,200  tons  cleared  for 
Chicago;  25,500;  Milwaukee,  15,800;  Waukegan, 
14,000;  Green  Bay,  7,300;  Manitowoc,  7,200. 

Few  dealers  are  ordering  any  anthracite  at 
present  and  not  much  picking  up  in  trade  is 
looked  for  until  colder  weather  arrives.  Stocks 
are  now  of  rather  good  size,  so  that  there  is 
felt  to  be  little  use  in  ordering.  But  the  usual 
pressure  is  likely  to  be  felt  this  winter  when 
cold  weather  arrives  and  those  dealers  who  pro¬ 
crastinate  are  likely  to  be  disappointed.  The 
railroad  freight  reductions  do  not  apply  to  this 
city  and  nearby  territory,  but  many  dealers  are 
making  inquiry  on  the  subject  and  some  believe 
erroneously  that  their  coal  is  likely  to  be  cheaper. 

The  bituminous  trade  is  more  active  than  a 
few  weeks  ago  and  a  more  hopeful  feeling  pre¬ 
vails  as  the  outlook  for  the  near  future.  Plants 
in  different  lines  are  getting  busier  and  some  of 
those  making  steel  have  all  the  business  they 
can  handle  for  the  near  future.  Coal  prices 
are  holding  fairly  steady  on  contracts,  being  on 
a  basis  of  $2.40  for  mine  run.  For  spot  delivery 
prices  are  somewhat  easier,  especially  in  slack, 
which  is  now  selling  at  about  $1.90,  or  a  little 
better  price  than  some  weeks  ago.  The  big  ship¬ 
pers  are  beginning  to  advise  their  customers  that 
coal  is  likely  to  be  quite  a  little  higher  this 
winter  and  that  it  is  a  good  plan  to  be  prepared 
by  making  contracts  now. 

The  pig  iron  furnaces  in  this  district  have 
lately  taken  orders  for  the  first  quarter  of  next 
year  and  enough  business  has  been  secured  to 
keep  the  operators  quite  busy.  A  good  deal  of 
tonnage  is  understood  to  be  under  negotiation 
with  Buffalo  furnaces  for  the  first  half  of  next 
year,  but  at  present  the  furnaces  are  not  seeking 
business  of  this  type. 

The  coke  market  does  not  gain  any  particular 
amount  of  strength,  but  prices  are  holding  firm. 


Buffalo  News  Briefs. 

C.  M.  Stanton,  for  some  time  with  the  Under¬ 
hill  Coal  Company,  is  now  on  the  sales  force  of 
Whitney  &  Kemmerer,  and  will  travel  mostly  in 
Canada. 

James  Jones,  of  the  Logansport  Coal  Company, 
and  W.  N.  Stone,  of  the  Youghiogheny  Coal  & 
Coke  Co.',  .Pittsburgh,  have  lately  been  callers 
upon  the  trade. 

It  is  stated  on  good  authority  that  the  Rich¬ 
land  Coal  Company,  of  Wheeling,  W.  Va.,  will 
locate  an  office  here  in  the  near  future.  Arrange¬ 
ments  are  not  yet  quite  complete  in  the  matter, 
but  will  probably  be  in  a  few  days. 

Charles  S.  Snyder,  who  has  been  located  in 
Syracuse,  N.  Y.,  for’ the  past  two  or  three  years, 
representing  the  Buffalo  &  Susquehanna  Coal 
&  Coke  Co.,  has  taken  service  with  the  Lehigh 
'Valley  Coal  Mines  Co.,  with  headquarters  at 
Syracuse.  H.  S.  Bradfield,  of  Buffalo,  has  been 
appointed  to  fill  the  position  made  vacant  by 
Mr.  Snyder’s  resignation. 

The  sale  of  the  Buffalo  &  Su.squehanna  Railway 
Co.,  which  was  set  down  for  August  2'3d,  was 
postponed  until  September  13.  The  road  will  be 
i)id  in  by  the  l)ondholders,  who  are  interested 
in  it  to  the  extent  of  $7, .500, 000.  They  will  turn 
the  property  over  to  tlie  Western  New  York 
Traction  Company,  which  is  represented  by  Wil- 
■son  R.  Page,  of  Olean.  He  plans  to  electrify  it 
for  passenger  traffic  and  use  steam  for  freight 
trains. 


180 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[August  28 


New  England  Trade 


Baltimore  Trade. 


Wasteful  Coke  Production. 


Boston,  August  26. —  {Special  Correspondence.) 
— It  is  difficult  to  discover  any  important  change 
in  the  fundamental  conditions  governing  the 
wholesale  anthracite  and  bituminous  markets  of 
New  England.  Interest  among  the  local  repre¬ 
sentatives  of  coal  shippers  and  their  clerks  ap¬ 
pears  to  center  in  vacations  more  than  in  any¬ 
thing  else. 

New  orders  for  anthracite  appear  to  be  com¬ 
ing  in  fairly  well  for  late  August  delivery,  but 
the  market  cannot  really  be  called  active.  The 
buying  orders  in  most  cases  call  for  stove,  egg 
and  nut,  and  are  for  cargo  as  well  as  car-lots. 
Boston,  Lynn  and  Providence  appear  to  have 
been  the  best  buyers  of  cargo  lots  since  last 
reports,  while  retail  dealers  located  on  New 
Haven  and  Boston  &  Albany  points  have  placed 
more  orders  than  those  on  Boston  &  Maine 
points.  Prices  here  are  very  firm  because  ship¬ 
pers  have  learned  through  past  experience  not 
to  force  coal  on  this  market  and  by  so  doing 
pay  demurrage.  Stove  coal  for  $6.10  per  ton 
on  cars  at  Mystic  Wharf  can  be  had  for  but 
few  days  longer,  or  nut  at  $6.35,  as  prices  will 
automatically  advance  10  cents  per  ton  Sept.  1st. 

A  little  business  is  coming  along  all  the  time 
from  the  far  Maine  and  provinces  points  and  there 
is  nothing  in  view  that  suggests  any  turn  for 
the  worse.  Wholesale  dealers  here,  in  a  great 
many  instances,  are  predicting  a  boom  in  the 
market  after  Labor  Day.  This  belief  is  based 
on  the  fact  that  stocks  at  storage  points  are  far 
from  abnormal,  the  mines  are  still  being  oper¬ 
ated  on  reduced  time,  the  New  England  retailers 
have  not  bought  anywhere  near  the  amount  of 
anthracite  they  did  last  year,  and  a  probable  car 
shortage  owing  to  the  enormous  crops  in  this 
country. 

As  was  predicted  in  The  Black  Diamond 
a  fortnight  ago,  John  W.  Bell  and  Harry  O. 
Staples,  former  members  of  the  firm  of  Pratt, 
Staples,  Bell  &  Young,  Inc.,  have,  with  Frederick 
R.  Mackenzie,  formed  a  company  under  the  name 
of  Staples  &  Bell,  Inc.,  with  a  capital  of  $101,200. 
The  firm  proposes  to  deal  in  hay  and  grain  as 
well  as  fuel. 

As  practically  all  of  the  important  consumers 
of  New  England  have  contracted  for  all  the 
bituminous  they  will  need  for  some  time  the 
local  market  appears  quiet.  It  is  believed,  how¬ 
ever,  that  the  Boston  &  Maine  Railroad  may  pos¬ 
sibly  be  in  the  market  for  supplies  for  future 
deliveries.  It  is  probable  that  some  of  the  largest 
dealers  here  will  submit  bids  for  the  500,000  to 
600,000  tons  of  coal  wanted  by  the  Panama  Rail¬ 
road,  bids  for  which  will  be  opened  Sept.  3d.  New 
business  is  still  confined  very  largely  to  those 
mills  or  manufacturers  making  war  munitions 
for  the  Allies  who  are  not  supplied  with  water 
power. 

So  far  as  Mystic  Wharf  is  concerned  there  is 
practically  no  spot  market  for  New  River,  Poca¬ 
hontas,  Georges  Creek  or  any  other  kinds.  New 
River  and  Pocahontas  would  not,  it  is  generally 
believed,  bring  more  than  $3.60  per  ton  on  cars 
at  Mystic  Wharf  owing  to  competition  there. 
Georges  Creek  is  purely  nominal  at  $3.90  to  $4 
per  ton  on  cars.  Stocks  of  bituminous  at  South¬ 
ern  ports  are  still  far  in  excess  of  the  demand 
and  the  f.  o.  b.  Hampton  Roads  market  is  natur¬ 
ally  more  or  less  unsettled  although  officially 
quoted  on  a  basis  of  $2.85  per  ton.  It  is  highly 
probable  that  some  shippers  would  accept  $2.75 
and  possibly  $2.70  per  ton.  Pennsylvania  bitum¬ 
inous  is  weak  owing  to  a  lack  of  demand  brought 
about  by  an  abundance  of  water  power.  The 
official  market  for  these  coals  is  still  ninety  cents 
to  $1.50  per  ton  on  cars  at  the  mines,  but  some 
demurrage  has  brought  considerably  less. 

The  Southern  freight  rate  market  is  senti¬ 
mentally  weaker,  yet  rates  have  not  changed  ma¬ 
terially,  they  being  usually  from  seventy-five  to 
eighty  cents  per  ton  from  Hampton  Roads’  ports 
to  Boston.  The  demand  for  space  is  compara¬ 
tively  light  and  owners  might  possibly  make  con¬ 
cessions  if  a  considerable  tonnage  was  involved. 
Many  of  the  owners  of  anthracite  barges  are 
refusing  to  take  any  more  charters  for  return 
cargoes  of  ice,  fertilizer,  lumber,  etc.,  because 
of  their  belief  that  space  will  be  in  keen  demand 
before  another  month  goes  by.  Just  now  the 
usual  asking  rate  for  anthracite  space  from  New 
York  to  Boston  is  fifty  to  fifty-five  cents  per  ton, 


G.  I.  Stafford,  a  Baltimore  coal  shipper, 
spends  idle  hours  as  a  gardener.  He  is  boast¬ 
ing  of  a  crop  of  big  Poderoso  tomatoes  raised 
at  his  Walbrook  home.  Six  he  exhibited 
weighed  more  than  seven  pounds. 


Baltimore,  August  26. —  {Special  Correspond¬ 
ence.) — Unless  war  conditions  or  some  unexpected 
development  comes  to  disturb  the  rising  tide 
in  the  coal  trade,  the  next  few  weeks  should 
see  the  fuel  industry  on  the  best  plane  it  has 
held  for  months  past.  With  nearly  every  line 
of  industry  now  reporting  gradual  improve¬ 
ment,  with  a  veritable  boom  now  on  with 
plants  that  can  handle  war  orders,  and  with 
railroad  earnings  and  general  movement  all 
showing  distinct  improvement  week  by  week, 
there  can  no  longer  be  a  doubt  that  much  better 
times  are  at  hand. 

Mine  connections  everywhere  are  now  urg¬ 
ing  the  taking  of  all  the  fuel  possible,  while 
there  is  yet  time,  and  pointing  to  the  fact 
that  the  Pennsylvania,  Baltimore  &  Ohio,  and 
other  great  railroads  are  storing  millions  of 
tons  of  fuel  for  the  coming  fall  and  winter. 
With  English  coals  practically  out  of  the  mar¬ 
ket  now,  there  is  every  expectation  that  the 
call  from  foreign  sources  on  American  fuels 
will  continue  to  grow.  Railroads  here  are 
planning  extension  of  coal  loading  facilities, 
and  this  export  movement  is  apparently  des¬ 
tined  to  cut  an  increasing  figure  in  the  trade. 

So  far  prices  have  not  advanced  materially 
at  the  mines.  Under  a  growing  call  for  fuel, 
however,  the  movement  is  fast  approaching 
normal,  and  as  soon  as  this  is  reached  a  big 
jump  of  prices  is  apparently  sure.  The  fact 
that  cars  are  short  in  many  mining  regions 
alreadjq  and  that  all  the  mining  properties 
are  experiencing  labor  scarcity,  even  when 
not  running  capacity  as  yet,  indicates  that  the 


fall  and  winter  are  sure 

to  bring  decided  trou- 

ble  in  supplying 

everybody 

as  needed. 

Prices  to  the 

trade 

at 

the  mines 

may  be 

quoted  as  follows: 

Fairmont — 

Three-quarter  . 

F.  0.  B. 
Mines. 
$0.85@  .90 

F.  0.  B. 
Baltimore. 
$2.28@2.33 

Run  of  mine . 

.75@  .80 

2.1S@2.23 

Slack  . 

.60@  .65 

1.98@2.03 

Somerset — 

Best  . 

1.25@1.35 

2.43@2.53 

Good  . 

,  I.10@1.15 

2.28@2.33 

W.  M.  R.  R.— 

Freeport  . 

.80 

1.98 

B.  &  0.— 

Freeport . 

.80 

1.98 

P.  R.  R.— 

Best  South  Fork... 

1.30@1.35 

2.48@2.5S 

Miller  vein . 

,  1.10@1.15 

2.7802.83 

Ordinary  . 

,  .85@  .95 

2.03@2.13 

During  the  past  week  several  thousand  min¬ 
ers  were  added  to  the  payrolls  in  West  Vir¬ 
ginia,  Pennsylvania  and  Maryland.  Some 
mines  are  now  working  full  time,  but  there 
are  still  a  number  that  have  not  resumed  or 
are  only  in  partial  operation.  That  the  whole 
field  will  soon  be  as  busy  as  can  be  had  with 
available  mine  labor  is  predicted  on  all  sides. 

The  export  movement  from  Baltimore  for 
the  past  week  held  well,  as  a  total  of  52,194 
tons  was  loaded  at  Port  Covington  and  Curtis 
Bay  for  foreign  ports.  Through  the  Maratime 
Exchange  came  announcement  of  nineteen  new 
charters  also  for  loading  here  in  the  near 
future. 

While  summer  weather  holds  firmly,  an¬ 
thracite  men  say  there  is  little  to  report. 
Some  calls  are  coming  for  delivery  of  coal  for 
future  household  use,  and  institutional  delivery 
is  fairly  brisk  for  the  season,  but  the  main 
bunch  of  orders  will  not  be  available  for  sev¬ 
eral  weeks  as  yet.  Steaming  fuels  are  in  poor 
call. 


While  Germany  is  carefully  conserving  her  re¬ 
sources  by  coking  her  fuel  output  in  by-product 
ovens  to  save  the  valuable  tar,  ammonia,  gas,  and 
benzol,  the  United  States  is  literally  throwing 
away  these  useful  products  to  the  value  of  mil¬ 
lions  of  dollars  annually  by  the  continued  use  of 
the  wasteful  beehive  oven. 

In  1914  the  total  output  of  coke  in  the  United 
States  was  34,555,914  short  tons,  valued  at 
$88,334,217.  Of  this  23,335,971  tons  was  made  in 
beehive  ovens,  with  an  almost  total  loss  of  the 
by-products,  and  11,219,943  short  tons  was  pro¬ 
duced  in  by-product  ovens,  with  a  recovery  of 
over  $17,500,000  worth  of  by-products,  or  ap¬ 
proximately  $1.55  for  each  ton  of  coke.  As  there 
were  over  23,000,000  tons  of  bee-hive  coke  made 
in  1914,  and  as  the  yield  of  coal  in  coke  is  less  in 
beehive  ovens  than  in  by-product  ovens,  the  loss 
of  by-products  from  coal  made  into  coke  in  the 
beehive  ovens  in  1914  was  not  less  than 
$40,000,000.  The  slump  in  copper  and  other  base 
metal  smelting  following  the  declaration  of  war 
last  August  was  directly  responsible  for  a  marked 
decrease  in  the  coke  production  in  the  Rocky 
Mountain  States. 

Compared  with  1913  the  decrease  in  coke  out¬ 
put  was  11,743,616  tons,  or  twenty-five  per  cent 
in  quantity,  and  $40,588,056,  or  31.5  per  cent  in 
value.  The  beehive  and  by-product  coke  did  not 
suffer  equally  in  the  decrease,  the  former  falling 
off  10,248,859  tons,  or  30.5  per  cent  in  quantity, 
and  $30,030,371,  or  thirty-seven  per  cent  in  value, 
as  compared  with  a  decrease  in  by-product  coke 
of  1,494,757  tons,  or  11.8  per  cent  in  quantity,  and 
$10,557,685,  or  twenty-two  per  cent  in  value. 

Three  states,  Kentucky,  Ohio,  and  Washington, 
showed  increases.  These  increases  were  all  due 
to  the  operation  of  by-product  plants,  the  building 
of  which  was  begun  in  1912  and  1913.  The  prin¬ 
cipal  decreases  were :  Pennsylvania,  8,495,051 

tons;  West  Virginia,  1,044,790  tons;  Virginia, 
522,619  tons;  Indiana,  450,373  tons;  Illinois, 
434,385  tons;  and  New  York,  301,116  tons. 

At  the  end  of  1914  there  were  99,755  ovens  in 
the  United  States,  of  which  5,809  were  by-product 
ovens,  and  93,946  were  beehive.  Of  the  by¬ 
product  ovens  667,  or  11.5  per  cent,  were  idle 
throughout  the  year,  and  44,450,  or  47.3  per  cent 
of  the  beehive  ovens  were  idle.  At  the  end  of 
1914  there  were  under  construction  644  new  by¬ 
product  ovens  and  605  new  beehive  ovens.  Dur¬ 
ing  the  year  seventy-one  by-product  ovens  were 
abandoned,  all  of  which  it  is  expected  will  be 
replaced  by  others  of  the  retort  or  distillation 
type,  and  3,603  beehive  ovens  were  also 
abandoned. 

The  following  table  gives  the  output  of  coke  in 
the  United  States  during  1914,  by  States: 


Production  of  coke 


in  the  United 
States. 


States,  1914, 


by 

Quantity 

(short 

State —  tons), 

Alabama  .  3,084,149 

Colorado  .  666,083 

Georgia  .  24,517 

Illinois  .  1,425,168 

Indiana  .  2,276,652 

Kentucky  .  443,959 

New  Jersey .  255,283 

New  Mexico .  362,572 

New  York .  457,370 

Ohio .  521,638 

Pennsylvania  .  20,258,393 

Tennessee .  264,127 

Virginia  .  780,984 

Washington  .  84,928 

West  Virginia  .  1,427,962 

Maryland,  Massachusetts,  Michigan,  Minnesota, 

Utah  and  Wisconsin .  2,222,134 


Total 


34,555,914 


Egyptian  Railways  have  contracted  with  the 
Consolidation  Coal  Company  for  the  delivery 
of  60,000  tons  of  coal. 


The  Allegheny  Valley  Operators’  Association 
met  at  the  Lafayette  Hotel  on  August  20  with  a 
good  attendance.  E.  C.  Roberts  was  chairman 
of  the  meeting  and  an  election  of  officers  was 
held,  resulting  in  the  choice  of  George  E.  Henry 
as  president  and  Dr.  G.  D.  Morgan  as  secretary 
and  treasurer.  The  former  was  long  secretary 
of  the  association  and  the  latter  is  son-in-law 
of  the  late  president,  C.  P.  McCafferty.  That  offi¬ 
cer  and  the  late  James  Ganoe,  both  prominent 
in  the  association,  have  died  within  the  past 
few  months,  and  their  deliberations  at  the  meet¬ 
ing  were  much  missed.  An  executive  committee 
was  chosen,  consisting  of  E.  C.  Roberts,  W.  D. 
Ward  and  J.  R.  Brady.  Also  a  board  of  arbitra¬ 
tion,  made  up  of  G.  E.  Henry,  A.  J.  Watson  and 
L.  B.  Lewis. 


Hans  Lagerloff,  general,  manager  of  the 
Scandinavian  -  American  Trading  Company, 
with  offices  in  the  Produce  Exchange  build¬ 
ing,  New  York,  is  trying  to  bring  about  the 
purchase  of  five  of  the  Hamburg-American 
Steamships  now  interned  in  New  York,  to 
trade  between  New  York  and  Sweden  under 
the  Swedish  flag.  The  question  at  issue  just 
now,  is  said  to  be  the  action  of  the  allies  in 
giving  permission  for  the  transfer  of  the 
steamers  to  a  neutral  flag.  According  to  Mr. 
Lagerloff,  there  is  a  great  need  for  vessels 
to  take  American  products  into  Sweden.  He 
said:  “At  the  present  time  Sweden  wants 

4,000,000  tons  of  coal  for  use  next  winter,  and 
the  obiect  of  purchasing  the  ships  would  be 
to  use  them  for  freight  entirely.  They  would 
be  bought  by  us  for  the  Sweden-American 
Line,  which  was  incorporated  a  year  ago, 
and  will  shortly  have  an  office  in  New  York. 


'  ■■■■■  ' ■'  ■  '  —————— 

The  Black  Diamond 


Vol.  55.  No.  10 

CHICAGO 

COLUMBUS 

SEPTEMBER  4,  1915 

NEW  YORK 
PITTSBURGH 

$3.00  Per  Year 

Rail  Rates  and  Pilot  Fees  Dwarf  a  Big  Harbor. 


Philadelphia,  Pa.,  September  1st. — ■(Special 
Correspondence.) — Philadelphia,  as  an  Atlantic 
seaboard  coal  port,  has  advantages  over  some 
of  her  sister  harbors — and  then  again  she  lags 
behind.  While  other  places  are  up  and  doing 
continuously  and  everlastingly,  Philadelphia  takes 
her  natural  advantages  at  their  face  value,  toots 
no  horns  and  continues  to  ship  her  heavy  ton¬ 
nage  of  coal  to  the  four  corners  of  the  earth  in 
the  complacent  way  that  she  has  for  a  century. 

One  of  the  seeming  disadvantages  that  con¬ 
fronts  this  port  is  the  fact  that  the  harbor  is 
103  miles  from  the  Delaware  capes. 

From  a  coal  shipping  standpoint  this  distance 
is  offset  by  the  fact  that  every  mile  toward  Phila¬ 
delphia  by  water  is  a  mile  nearer  to  the  source 
of  coal  supply.  Argument  that  ports  of  the  old 
world  are  sixty  to  eighty  miles  from  the  salt 
water  and  that  navigation  for  the  distance  is 
cheaper  than  land  transportation  should  hold  good 
in  presenting  the  claim  of  Philadelphia. 

Yet  this  point  for  Philadelphia  is  offset  by 
freight  rate  differentials  that  favor  southern  ports 
and  also  by  high  pilotage  fees.  And,  if  it  must 
be  told,  it  is  offset  by  the  fact  that  Philadelphia’s 
giant  influences  have  never  been  set  in  motion 
to  see  that  the  trade  which  now  goes  elsewhere 
should  be  concentrated  here. 

An  editorial  in  the  Evening  Telegraph  of  July 
7th  aptly  describes  the  attitude  of  this  city.  It 
said ; 

“It  is  not  shown  or  claimed  that  the  Oregon 
and  California  Shipping  Company  selected  Phila¬ 
delphia  as  a  port  for  its  vessels  because  of  any 
united  action  by  the  city’s  business  interests  to 
bring  the  new  line  here. 

“Philadelphia  was  chosen  solely  because  of  its 
innumerable  natural  advantages  as  a  center  of 
maritime  commerce.  This  statement  does  not 
overlook  the  public  pier  at  the  foot  of  Dock 
street,  nor  the  deeper  channel  being  dredged, 
neither  of  which  may  be  credited  to  those  un¬ 
official  agencies  which  in  Baltimore,  Boston  and 
Mew  Orleans  labor  successfully  to  develop  their 
own  ports. 

“Every  time  this  harbor  is  chosen  by  ‘natural 
selection’  it  indicates  how  swift  its  development 
will  be  when  the  city’s  business  interests  unite 
to  exploit  it.” 

Philadelphia  has  a  great  harbor  that  makes  it 
the  second  port  of  importance  in  the  United 
States.  This  was  created  through  no  combined 
effort.  It  is  the  embodiment  of  no  public  spirit. 
It  is  not  even  a  product  of  design.  Rather,  like 
Topsy,  “it  just  growed.”  Nature  and  the  Penn- 


Philadelphia  Has  Natural  Advantages, 
But  These  Are  Offset  in  Part  by  a  Lack  of 
Any  Concerted  Action  to  Advantage  by 
Them. 


sylvania  Railroad  made  it.  Philadelphia  had  noth¬ 
ing  to  do  with  it. 

And  yet,  despite  its  natural  advantages,  the 
Quaker  City  has  been  slipping  in  the  matter  of 
tonnage  in  coal.  It  is  losing  in  the  transshipment 
of  the  greatest  of  Pennsylvania’s  products.  This 
means  that  it  is  falling  back  all  along  the  line. 
Only  a  slight  increase  in  tonnage  has  been  made 
in  five  years.  In  that  time  Baltimore  has  in¬ 
creased  her  tonnage  by  leaps  and  bounds.  Lam¬ 
bert’s  Point  and  Sewall’s  Point  have  made  stag¬ 
gering  increases  each  year.  That  is,  the  offshore 
business  has  grown,  but  Philadelphia  has  not 
done  her  share.  This  can  be  accounted  for  on 
one  of  two  grounds  only : 

First,  Philadelphia  is  not  equipped  to  handle 
coal,  or 

Second,  it  has  not  tried — through  animated 
public  action — to  do  it. 

Which  of  these  two  things  is  true? 

Philadelphia  is  equipped  to  handle  a  tonnage 
half  as  big  again,  and  then  some,  than  passes  over 
its  piers  today.  Tier  harbor  equipment  has  never 
been  tried  and  found  wanting.  As  a  coal  port 
she  has  never  been  tested  to  show  full  strength. 
In  fact,  Philadelphia  does  not  know  her  own 
strength.  The  fault  does  not  lie  in  the  lack  of 
machinery. 

But  what  about  the  other  phase  of  it?  Has 
Philadelphia  lost  ground  because  of  a  lack  of 
public  spirit?  Recently  the  local  daily  papers 
let  out  an  awful  squawk  because  the  government 
coal  tonnage  in  its  navy  contracts  was  taken 
from  this  port.  A  call  was  issued  to  all  public- 
spirited  organizations  to  get  busy.  And  there 
it  ended.  There  was  just  a  call — but  no  response; 
no  action ;  no  anything.  That  is  why  Phila¬ 
delphia  has  lost.  It  has  no  public  spirit  or  at 
least  no  organization  of  it. 

This  is  the  reason  for  the  statement  that  Phila¬ 
delphia’s  trade  is  like  Topsy— “it  just  growed.” 
But,  the  point  is,  it  did  grow.  For  instance, 
Philadelphia  as  an  export  port  has  had  a  grad¬ 
ual  growth  for  ten  years.  Yet,  with  the  coming 
of  the  war,  her  coal  exports  showed  a  falling 
off  instead  of  a  gain.  This  reversed  the  pro¬ 
gram  of  some  of  the  other  shipping  ports.  In 


1913  the  shipments  of  bituminous  coal  were  915,- 
145  tons,  as  against  649,301  tons  in  1914.  The 
export  figures  for  the  past  ten  years  follow :  ' 
TONS. 

Anthracite.  Bituminous.  Total. 


1905  .  40,414  703,420  743,840 

1906  .  39,098  603,151  642,241) 

1907  .  48,541  879,117  927,718 

1908  .  55,823  741,891  797,714 

1909  .  64,499  767,284  831,783 

1910  .  72,733  794,015  866,748 

1911  .  52,984  791,506  845,490 

1912  .  53,754  825,234  878,988 

1913  .  63,481  915,145  978,626 

1914  .  56,628  649,201  705,829 


But  export  business  is  not  the  “long  suit”  of 
the  port  of  Philadelphia;  it  is  the  coastwise 
trade  in  coal.  Flere  is  the  really  big  business 
of  the  port.  Nothing  can  better  show  it  than 
the  figures  for  1914,  when  1,392,182  tons  of  an¬ 
thracite  and  1,808,493  tons  of  bituminous  coal 
were  moved  by  ocean  to  other  cities  within  the 
boundaries  and  possessions  of  the  U.  S.  A. 

In  connection  with  this  immense  movement  of 
anthracite  coal  through  the  Philadelphia  harbor 
it  might  be  well  to  remind  the  reader  that  the 
Philadelphia  &  Reading  transportation  line  oper¬ 
ates  one  of  the  most  complete  coal  moving  fleets 
in  the  world  and  transports  an  immense  ton¬ 
nage  of  hard  coal  to  the  New  England  states 
every  year.  This  fleet  consists  of  thirteen  sea¬ 
going  tugs  of  400  to  644  registered  tons  and 
1,000  individual  horsepower  each.  Also  there  arc 
seventy-five  seagoing  barges  of  a  carrying  capac¬ 
ity  averaging  1,058  tons  each.  The  fleet  has 
a  maximum  carrying  capacity  of  2,600,000  tons 
of  coal  annually. 

Dan  C.  Kingman,  chief  of  engineers  of  the 
L'nited  States  army,  once  said : 

“A  perfect  harbor  is  a  natural  place  where  rail 
and  water  routes  meet  and  exchange  commodi¬ 
ties.  This  presupposes  (l)  a  center  of  produc¬ 
tion  which  ships  through  that  point;  (3)  rail 
transportation  to  the  water  edge;  (3)  docks  over 
which  to  transfer  the  goods ;  (4)  a  safe  place 
for  the  anchorage  of  ships;  (5)  ships  calling 
at  that  point,  and  (6)  a  market  beyond  for  the 
goods  thus  moved.” 

Philadelphia  has  the  anthracite  fields  nearby 
and  some  bituminous  fields  not  far  away.  It 
has  some  of  the  best  railways  in  the  world.  It 
has  all  of  New  England  and  the  southeastern 
states  as  a  market.  It  has  tidewater  facilities 
at  an  inland  city.  And  it  has  the  docks.  The 
piers  are,  in  fact,  the  center  of  the  whole  sys¬ 
tem.  Of  these  there  are  three.  Port  Richmond 
has  the  largest  acreage  and  handles  export  busi¬ 
ness  originating  on  the  Philadelphia  &  Reading 


Piers  at  Greenwich,  the  Gateway  "Between  the  Mines  and  the  Foreign  Markets  of  the  ’World. 


182 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[September  4 


Section  of  Pier  No.  3  at  Greenwich,  Showing  Dockage  and  Power  Equipment. 


Railroad,  the  New  York  Central,  the  Western 
Maryland  and  other  coal  producing  roads.  The 
Port  Greenwich  piers  are  devoted  to  the  han¬ 
dling  of  coal  from  the  Pennsylvania  lines  exclu¬ 
sively,  while  the  Jackson  street  piers  are  the 
property  of  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  Railway. 


Port  Richmond. 

Conservative  Philadelphia  is  not  given  to  mak¬ 
ing  any  idle  boasts.  So  when  the  harbor  com¬ 
missioners  and  the  men  at  the  Philadelphia  & 
Reading  freight  terminal  tell  the  layman  that  at 
Port  Richmond  is  the  “largest  single  freight 
depot  in  the  world”  you  have  to  take  it  that 
this  is  no  “common  barroom  jest.” 

They  concede — still  conservative,  you  see — 
that  there  are  combinations  of  yards  where  the 
tonnage  may  be  larger,  but  for  the  yardage  alone 
they  take  their  hats  off  to  none.  Here  are  some 
figures : 

The  yardage  of  Port  Richmond  is  151  acres, 
about  one-half  of  which  is  devoted  entirely  to 
coal  loading,  discharging  and  storage. 

'I  he  yard  has  a  capacity  of  4,000  cars. 

Immediately  contiguous  to,  but  not  considered 
a  part  of.  Port  Richmond  is  more  track¬ 
age  and  smaller  yards  covering  about  the  same 
acreage  and  with  a  capacity  also  for  4,000  cars. 

Port  Richmond,  like  most  everything  in  Phila¬ 
delphia,  is  no  upstart.  A  volume  could  be 
written  of  its  history.  It  has  a  family  tree. 
In  the  late  thirties  of  the  last  century  canal 
boats  and  other  water  conveyances  that  trans¬ 
ported  coal  found  that  this  made  a  snug  harbor 
at  the  ends  of  the  creeks  and  canals.  There  the 
carters  and  wagon  men  of  the  city  assembled  to 
get  the  coal. 

In  the  early  forties  the  trade  in  coal  had 
grown  so  much  it  was  found  necessary  to  build 
piers  for  the  accommodation  of  the  boatmen. 
These  were  makeshifts. 

When  the  strenuous  days  of  wartime — the  early 
sixties — arrived  the  coal  business  was  beginning 
to  spread.  The  railways  were  then  actively  bid¬ 
ding  for  coal  tonnage.  The  piers  built  to  load 
wagons  began  to  load  from  boats  to  cars. 

These  cars  were  of  from  four  to  eight  tons 
capacity ;  mule  haulage  was  employed.  Even  in 
these  early  days  the  strengthening  of  the  piers 
was  considered  a  necessity.  Also  nrovisions  were 
made  for  transferring  the  coal  that  went  to 
Elizabeth  and  Port  Reading,  N.  J.,  in  canal 
boats  over  the  New  York  and  Raritan  Canal. 

Along  in  the  seventies  colliers  from  New  Eng¬ 
land  ports  began  to  put  in  an  appearance  and 
were  loaded  with  black  diamonds.  The  largest 
of  these  coal  boats  was  in  the  neighborhood  of 
500  to  600  tons  capacity. 

In  the  early  eighties  the  “Coxswain  Green,” 
a  collier  of  800  tons  capacity,  put  into  Port 
Richmond.  This  visit  was  quite  an  occasion ; 
so  much  so,  in  fact,  that  thousands  of  persons 
journeyed  to  the  port  to  see  “that  whale  of  a 
boat.”  Her  advent  forced  the  deepening  of  the 


channel  at  piers  1  and  2  and  a  growth  in  the 
equipment. 

This  took  the  form  of  eight  wheeled  coal  cars 
and  brought  into  use  small  engines — known  as 
“wharf  rats” — as  motive  power. 

In  the  ten  years  that  followed  there  was  a 
continuous  growth  of  the  piers  and  their  equip¬ 
ment.  Thus,  by  1890,  twenty-one  piers  stretched 
out  into  the  river,  making  their  bid  for  the  coal 
business  of  the  “Atlantic  seaboard  and  the 
world.”  At  the  time  these  facilities  were  sup¬ 
posed  to  be  the  last  word  in  modern  dockage, 
but  how  woefully  short  of  the  supposed  perfec¬ 
tion  they  were  is  shown  in  the  fact  that  only  a 
couple  of  them  remain  today  and  they  are  more 
useful  as  antiques  than  as  modern  handlers  of 
coal. 

In  their  place  has  come  piers  that  would  have 
dazzled  the  coal  handlers  of  a  quarter  of  a 
century  ago.  Pier  18  of  the  present  is  possibly 
the  “king  bee”  of  the  Port  Richmond  devices. 
It  rises  sixty  feet  above  the  water  level,  is  765 
feet  long  and  is  seventy  feet  wide.  Four  rail¬ 
way  tracks  run  the  entire  length  of  this  pier. 

The  “well”  principle  is  used  for  the  transfer¬ 
ence  of  the  coal  from  the  cars  to  the  boats  along¬ 
side.  The  coal  flows  upon  itself  through  the 
well  with  a  minimum  breakage.  The  length  of 
this  pier  permits  the  loading  of  boats  at  four 
berths  and  lO.OO'O  tons  can  be  loaded  from  it  in 
ten  hours. 

Pier  11  was  built  in  1899  and  rises  forty-four 
feet  above  the  water  level  and  is  765  feet  long 
by  sixty-one  feet  wide.  This  also  permits  ves¬ 
sels  of  heavy  draught  to  load  there,  for  it  has  a 
depth  of  twenty-eight  feet  below  the  mean  water 
level.  This  pier  has  a  capacity  of  30,000  tons, 
with  four  tracks,  atop  which  empties  are  run 
back  in  the  yard  by  a  gravity  system. 

Pier  16  is  thirty  feet  above  the  water  level, 
with  a  width  of  fifty-five  feet  at  the  top,  and 
is  320  feet  in  length,  or  just  about  one-half  the 
size  of  the  two  newer  piers.  This  has  two  dump¬ 
ing  tracks  and  a  capacity  of  10,000  tons. 

Piers  4,  8,  10  and  12  are  of  the  old  type  with 
modernized  equipment.  These  are  used  more  for 
loading  barges,  river  craft  scows  and  canal  boats. 
But  so  far  as  tonnage  passing  over  them  they 
are  not  to  be  snickered  at,i  for  when  actively 
engaged  in  coal  loading  they  have  a  capacity  of 
from  three  to  five  thousand  tons  each. 

Of  the  coal  tonnage  passing  over  the  Port 
Richmond  piers  the  figures  for  last  year  show 
that  4,950,000  tons  were  handled  there.  Of  this 
the  volume  of  anthracite  and  bituminous  is  about 
50-50 ;  that  is  to  say,  half  to  each. 

And  of  the  coal  that  comes  to  Port  Richmond 
it  is  surprising  that  practically  all  of  it  goes  into 
bunkering,  tidewater  and  export  trade.  Figures 
show  that  only  about  five  per  cent  of  it  is  what 
is  known  as  harbor  coal.  This  estimate  is  for 
purely  Philadelphia  shipments  and  not  “inside  the 
capes” ;  that  is,  it  is  transferred  to  local  factories 
or  to  coal  yards. 

Add  to  this  five  million  tons  of  coal,  a  little 
matter  of  3,500,000  tons  of  all  sorts  of  export 


freight  and  it  can  then  be  seen  where  the  boast 
that  it  is  the  “largest  single  freight  station” 
comes  pretty  near  being  right. 

Before  dismissing  these  piers  as  a  factor  of 
Philadelphia’s  harbor  it  might  be  well  to  state 
that  here  is  located  one  of  the  anthracite  stor¬ 
age  plants  of  the  Philadelphia  &  Reading  Coal 
&  Iron  Company,  which  has  a  capacity  of  180,000 
tons,  all  of  which  is  thoroughly  equipped  with  the 
Dodge  system  of  coal  storage. 

Figures  from  the  reports  of  the  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission  show  that  in  1914,  688 
steamships,  136  sailing  vessels,  1,514  barges  and 
9,223  canal  and  river  boats  were  served  over 
these  piers. 


Port  Greenwich  Piers. 

The  history  of  the  Greenwich  piers,  controlled 
by  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  lines,  is  a  little 
bit  hazy.  Since  the  early  forties  the  section  of 
Greenwich  Point  whereon  the  piers  stand  has 
been  used  as  a  coal  dockage  and  wharfage  for 
retailers,  canal  boats  and  later  the  railways.  To¬ 
day  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  owns  a  battery  of 
five  coal  piers  on  the  location,  over  which  2,500,- 
000  tons  of  coal  go  annually. 

The  oldest  of  the  piers  dates  back  to  1868 
and  is  Pier  No.  1.  It  is  like  the  Kentuckian’s 
rifle;  it  has  had  all  sort  of  additions  and  better- 
T'cnts  and  hardly  a  piling  of  the  original  timbers 
remain.  But  it’s  the  same  old  location  and  is 
still  known  as  Pier  No.  1.  This  is  above  Pol¬ 
lock  street  and  is  used  for  coastwise  and  foreign 
coal  loading.  It  is  100  feet  wide  by  500  feet 
long,  has  four  tracks,  with  a  capacity  of  forty 
cars.  Its  water  depth  is  twelve  feet  on  the 
north  side  and  ten  feet  on  the  south  at  mean 
low  water. 

Pier  No.  2  has  a  length  of  500  feet  and  is  sixty 
feet  wide,  has  four  tracks  and  a  capacity  of  forty 
cars.  Its  water  depth  is  the  same  as  No.  1. 

The  location  of  Pier  No.  4  is  at  Packer  street 
and  this  is  sixty-two  feet  wide  by  725  feet  long. 
The  depth  of  this  is  twenty-four  feet  on  the 
north  side  and  twenty-six  feet  on  the  south  side 
at  mean  low  water.  It  is  equipped  with  four 
railroad  tracks  and  has  a  capacity  of  forty-fouF 
cars. 

Pier  No.  6  is  the  same  width  and  length  as  that 
of  No.  4  and  has  the  same  water  depth.  Its 
trackage,  however,  is  three  across  and  the  capac¬ 
ity  is  thirty-six  cars. 

All  of  the  foregoing  piers  are  used  only  in 
case  of  emergency:  that  is  to  say,  when  the 
tonnage  called  for  on  Pier  No.  3  is  burdensome 
or  when  trimming  a  vessel  on  the  higher  pier 
interferes  with  its  efficiency. 

No.  3  pier  is  the  kingpin  of  the  Pennsylvania 
lines  equipment.  This  is  sixty  feet  wide  at  the 
top  and  is  800  feet  long  and  has  twenty-six 
feet  depth  on  the  north  side  and  twelve  feet  on 
the  south.  It  has  one  railroad  track  to  feed  a 
McMyler  car  dumper  and  another  to  run  the 
empties  off  the  pier.  The  dumper  works  at  a 
capacity  of  1,500  tons  an  hour  and  can  be 


No.  10] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


183 


operated  day  and  night.  The  dumper  equip¬ 
ment  was  placed  in  operation  on  October  1,  1913, 
after  two  others  installed  in  their  South  Amboy 
piers  previously  were  found  satisfactory. 

In  .addition  to  the  dumper  the  road  has  also 
installed  a  thaw  house  for  winter  loading  of 
coal.  This  has  a  capacity  of  thirty-two  cars 
and  frost  can  be  driven  out  in  from  thirty  to 
forty-five  minutes  by  the  application  of  a  hot  air 
system  that  drives  the  heated  atmosphere  in  at 
the  top  of  the  cars  and  draws  it  off  by  fan  system 
from  underneath.  By  this  system  moisture  is 
obviated  and  moisture  is  the  bane  of  the  coal 
boatman’s  life  in  the  winter. 

The  yardage  about  Port  Greenwich  has  a  ca¬ 
pacity  of  2,700  cars,  though  the  limit  on  loaded 
coal  cars  there  is  placed  at  about  2,000. 

Of  the  coal  that  is  loaded  through  the  Green¬ 
wich  piers,  2,50'0,000  tons  yearly,  about  eighty- 
five  per  cent  is  bituminous  coal  and  the  rest  is 
anthracite.  There  is  a  distribution  of  about  thir- 
tv-five  per  cent  of  this  made  “within  the  capes,’’ 
that  is,  on  the  Delaware  River,  its  branches, 
creeks  and  tributaries  and  the  canal  svstem  at¬ 
tached  thereto. 


Jackson  Street  Piers. 

Technically  the  outlet  for  the  Baltimore  & 
Ohio  Railway  is  known  as  Pier  81  of  the  South 
Delaware  wharves.  With  the  entrance  of  the 
Baltimore  &  Ohio  into  Philadelphia,  coal  piers 
were  established  at  the  foot  of  Dickinson  street. 
These  proved  wholly  inadequate,  so  orders  were 
given  to  erect  a  pier  “that  would  take  care  of 
the  biggest  vessel  afloat,”  and  the  Jackson  street 
site  was  chosen.  No  sooner  was  it  erected  than 
river  men  said  that  it  would  be  a  “fizzle.”  And 
they  knew  more  than  the  high-priced  architect 
who  drew  the  design.  Time  after  time  additions 
have  been  made,  the  tracks  have  been  raised,  but 
the  pier  has  always  been  a  disappointment.  To¬ 
day  its  size  is  forty-two  feet  wide  by  574  feet 
long,  with  a  fourteen-foot  depth  at  mean  low 
water.  Its  equipment  is  two  tracks,  with  a  ca¬ 
pacity  of  twenty-four  cars. 

There  was  a  time  when  150  car?  of  coal  a 
day  went  over  this  pier,  but  this  has  dwindled, 
so  that  fifteen  cars  is  reckoned  a  good  day’s 
work  now.  In  fact,  only  about  150,000  tons  of 
coal  went  over  these  piers  last  year. 

There  is  a  good  foundation  for  a  rumor  that 
has  been  afloat  for  some  time  that  rier  81  will 
eventually  pass  into  the  hands  of  the  city  and 
will  become  one  of  the  big  chain  of  modern 
docks  that  has  been  talked  about  here  for  many 
years.  In  that  event  the  coal  handling  plant  of 
the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  will  be  moved  to  a  new 
railroad  yard  contemplated  for  the  betterment 
of  South  Philadelphia.  This  location  is  close  to 
the  League  Island  navy  yards  and  may  mean 
the  building  of  a  new  series  of  docks  in  that 
part  of  town. 


.  The  Commercial  Docks. 

In  reviewing  harbor  facilities  it  would  hardly 
be  right  to  dismiss  the  subject  without  a  word 
as  to  dockage  of  other  corporations  than  rail¬ 
ways. 

Shipping  men  have  covered  column  after  col¬ 
umn  with  comparisons  between  the  use  that  firms 
abroad  put  their  water  frontage  to  and  the 
wanton  disregard  of  dock  values  by  the  average 
American  concern.  Now,  everything  is  good  and 
bad  by  comparison.  Also  all  comparisons  are 
odious.  So  it  is  no  light  matter  to  sum  up 
Philadelphia’s  harbor  discharging  possibilities. 
There  might  be  more  of  them  and  rrood  use 
could  be  found  for  the  increase.  More  atten¬ 
tion  might  be  paid  to  public  docks  for  coal 
transference — and  there  you  are  ! 

The  city,  so  far  as  docks  are  concerned,  is 
divided  into  “north  of  Market  street”  and  “south 
of  Market  street.”  “Going  north”  twenty  years 


ago,  there  were  scores  of  small  piers  and  even 
public  dockage.  These  have  practically  disap¬ 
peared.  At  Susquehanna  avenue  two  docks — 
those  of  Hughes  and  Patterson  and  the  Lennig 
dock — occasionally  take  off  coal.  Private  docks 
are  those  of  the  Pennsylvania  Sugar  Refinery 
of  fair  size  and  having  a  “clamshell”  digger;  the 
J.  W.  Patton  Company,  foundry  supplies ;  the 
Cramp  shipyard.  At  Palmer  street  the  Ameri¬ 
can  Can  Company  has  a  coal  dock  that  is  used 
only  at  the  height  of  their  season.  The  Phila¬ 
delphia  Rapid  Transit  Company  and  the  Twenty- 
fifth  Ward  Gas  Works  are  two  of  the  heaviest 
coal  users  “north  of  Market  street.”  Both  plants 
have  two  “diggers”  operated  by  steam  power. 

The  waterworks  station  at  Torresdale  and  at 
Gardner’s  Point  have  coal  handling  devices  on 
the  docks.  Recently  an  appropriation  was  ap¬ 
proved  by  which  this  plant  will  be  extended. 

“South  of  Market  street”  the  city  owns  “Pier 
Forty,”  which  could  be  and  has  been  used  for 
coal  transference.  It  has  no  coal  handling  equip¬ 
ment.  Between  that  pier  and  Point  Girard  there 
are  only  two  docks  of  any  size — those  of  the 
Spreckels  Sugar  Refinery  and  the  Pennsylvania 
Salt  Works. 

Coming  into  the  Schuylkill  River,  however, 
privately  owned  dockage  and  equipment  makes 
coal  handling  one  of  the  heaviest  lines  of  water 
traffic  there.  Most  of  this,  however,  is  anthra¬ 
cite  business  and  comes  down  through  the  canals 
and  direct  to  the  retail  coal  companies’  elevators. 

The  United  Gas  Improvement  Company  has 
a  big  digger  on  its  docks  with  a  capacitv  of 
1,000  tons  a  day.  An  idea  of  the  wharfage  facil¬ 
ities  here  can  be  gained  from  the  statement  that 
from  25,000  to  30,000  tons  of  coal  are  always 
on  storage  there. 

Several  paper  mills,  the  Barrett  Manufacturing 
Company  and  Harrison  Brothers,  all  have  fair¬ 
sized  docks,  though  the  last  named  concern  has 
not  used  theirs  for  coal  purposes  for  some 
months.  The  Philadelphia  Electric  Company  has 
also  a  1,'000-ton-a-day  capacity  digger  and  exten¬ 
sive  wharfage  for  the  supply  of  their  plant. 

Coming  further  west  are  the  elevators  and 
wharfs  of  various  retail  coal  companies,  of  which 
the  American  Ice  Company  and  the  George  B. 
Newton  Coal  Company  have  the  largest  and  best 
equipped. 


Pilotage  Charges. 

Pilotage  on  the  Delaware  River  is  an  ancient 
and  honorable  institution.  Likewise  it  is  costlv 
for  ships  that  fly  a  foreign  flag.  With  a  com¬ 
fortable  channel  of  thirty  feet  depth  from  tide 
to  the  harbor,  the  pilotage  in  some  instances 
costs  about  as  much  as  the  coal  taken  into  the 
bunkers.  That  is  one  of  the  great  drawbacks. 

There  is  no  disposition  on  the  part  of  the 
pilots,  who  have  thrived  on  the  103  miles  of  river 
course,  to  give  up  their  lucrative  calling.  The 
statement  from  Mobile  by  the  pilots  there  that 
they  would  forego  their  fee  to  get  coal  business 
for  that  port  brought  a  long-lipped  sneer  from 
the  gentlemen  of  the  calling  of  this  port. 

Pilot  service  was  established  on  the  Delaware 
River  in  1788  and  the  present  close  corporation 
of  about  eighty  men  in  the  service  was  formed 
under  the  style  of  the  “Pilots’  Association”  in 
1896.  Prior  to  this,  with  headquarters  in  Wil¬ 
mington  and  authorized  by  the  state  of  Dela¬ 
ware,  there  was  another  association  and  it  was 
possible  to  get  pilot  service  at  a  rather  nominal 
rate.  Here  is  the  fee  rate  established  for  the 


service 
tion : 
Feet  in 

of  the 

members  of 

the  present 

associa 

Draught. 

Inward. 

*  Inward. t 

Inward. t 

Outward. 

8 

35.20 

32.00 

28.80 

32.00 

814 

37.40 

34.00 

30.60 

34.00 

9 

39.60 

36.00 

32.40 

S6.00 

914 

41.80 

38.00 

34.20 

38.00 

10 

44.00 

40.00 

36.00 

40.00 

10  54 

46.20 

42.00 

37.80 

42.00 

11 

48.40 

4  4.00 

39.60 

44.00 

Feet  in 

Draught. 

Inward. 

1114 

50.60 

12 

52.80 

12  54 

68.75 

13 

71.50 

1354 

74.25 

14 

77.00 

1454 

79.75 

15 

82.50 

1554 

85.25 

16 

88.00 

1654 

90.75 

17 

93.50 

17}4 

96.25 

18 

99.00 

1854 

101.75 

19 

104.50 

1954 

107.25 

20 

110.00 

2054 

112.75 

21 

11 5., 50 

2154 

118.25 

22 

121.00 

2254 

123.75 

23 

126.50 

23  54 

129.25 

24 

132.00 

2454 

131.75 

25 

137..50 

2554 

140.25 

26 

143  00 

2654 

145.75 

27 

148.50 

2754 

151.25 

28 

154.00 

28 

156.75 

29 

159.50 

Inward. t 

Inward,  t 

46.00 

41.40 

48.00 

43.20 

62.50 

56.25 

65.00 

58.50 

67.50 

60.75 

70.00 

63.00 

72.50 

65.25 

75.00 

67.50 

77.50 

69.75 

80.00 

72.00 

82.50 

74.25 

85.00 

76.50 

87.50 

78.75 

90.00 

81.00 

92.50 

83.25 

95.00 

85.50 

97.50 

87.75 

100.00 

90.00 

102.50 

92.25 

105.00 

94.50 

107.50 

96.75 

110.00 

99.00 

112.50 

101.25 

115.00 

103.50 

117.50 

105.75 

120.00 

108.00 

122.50 

110.25 

125.00 

112.50 

127.50 

114.75 

130.00 

117.00 

132.50 

119.25 

135.00 

121.60 

137.50 

123.75 

140.00 

126.00 

142.50 

128.25 

145.00 

130.50 

Outward, 
46.00 
48.00 
62. .50 
65.00 

67.50 
70.00 

72.50 
75.00 

77.50 
80.00 

82.50 
85.00 

87.50 

no. 00 

92.50 
95.00 

97.50 
100,00 

102.50 
105.00 

107.50 
110.00 

112.50 
115.00 

117.50 
120.00 

122.50 
125.00 

127.50 
130.00 
132. .50 
135.00 

137.50 
140.00 

142.50 
145.00 


north  of  Hereford  Inlet  Lighthouse 
wick  s  Island  Light. 


or  south  of  Fen- 

tlf  spoken  inside  of  Five  Fathom  Lightship  and  out- 
lopen'’Lighf  Light  to  Cape  Hen- 

Jlf  not  spoken  until  inside  of  line  drawn  from  Cane 
May  Lignt  to  Cape  Henlopen  Light.  ^ 


Freight  Rates. 

Railway  tariffs  cause  more  head  scratching 
^Lout  a  coal  man’s  office  than  any  other  thing. 
Phdadelphia  is  not  exempt.  In  fact,  many  de- 
^  the  tariffs  to  this  city  have  done 

much  to  divert  business  to  other  ports.  They 
point  to  the  seyen-cent  differential  that  favors 
Baltimore  on  tidewater  business  as  being  the 
cause  of  the  coal  tonnage  there  increasing  by 
leaps  and  bounds. 

Three  zones  from  the  bituminous  fields  that 
serve  Philadelphia  with  Pennsylvania  soft  coals 
carry  different  rates.  The  first  is  the  bitumi¬ 
nous  or  Clearfield  zone,  carrying  a  rate  of  $1.60 
a  ton.  The  second  the  semi-gas  or  Greensburg 
rate  of  $1.70  a  ton.  The  third  is  the  gas  or 
Westmoreland  rate  of  $1.85  a  ton. 

The  anthracite  fields  also  carry  different  rates 
for  different  zones,  but  to  attempt  to  explain 
these  would  lead  to  endless  complications. 

Going  back  to  the  bituminous,  there  enters 
the  tidewater  rates  and  taking  the  Greensburg 
rate  as  an  example,  the  freight  rates  run  $1.70 
for  rail  delivery  in  the  city,  $1.45  for  pier  de¬ 
livery  for  disposition  inside  the  capes  and  $1.25 
for  deliveries  for  outside  the  capes.  In  other 
words,  the  foreign  buyer,  whether  the  coal  is  for 
export  or  bunker,  gets  a  rate  forty-five  cents 
cheaper  than  the  man  whose  coal  pomes  all 
rail  to  his  siding  in  the  city. 

The  twenty-five  cents  difference  between  the 
all-rail  and  the  pier  delivery  for  local  coal  has 
been  the  mainstay  of  the  lighterage  people  and 
the  cause  of  a  number  of  the  firms  who  have 
wharfage  on  the  river  buying  their  coals  at  the 
piers  instead  of  by  track  delivery. 

With  lighterage  at  a  dime  or  less  on  the  ton, 
some  of  the  business  people  have  been  able  to 
save  ten  to  twelve  cents  on  the  ton. 

Lighterage  charges  in  the  local  harbor  are,  as 
in  any  other  port,  on  a  sliding  basis,  controlled 
by  the  laws  of  supply  and  demand.  The  set  rate, 
however,  is  ten  to  twelve  cents  a  ton  for  coal 
within  the  Philadelphia  harbor  lines  and  thirteen 
cents  for  delivery  on  the  Schuylkill  River.  This 
applies  to  a  minimum  of  350  tons.  The  lighters 
run  from  100  to  1,200  tons  in  capacity.  The 
lightering  companies  and  the  number  of  boats 
controlled  are  as  follows :  Delaware  River  Light¬ 
ering  Company,  nine;  Schuylkill  Transportation 
Company,  seven ;  S.  J.  Gocher,  fifteen ;  Daniel 
Junk,  twelve;  Estate  of  R.  S.  Oliver,  seven;  Bcr- 
iprd  Tucker,  twenty:  Hagen  &  Co.,  three:  Wil¬ 
liam  Donaldson,  thirteen. 

Stevedoring  into  bunkers  is  done  at  the  rate 
of  thirtv-five  to  forty  cents  a  ton  for  work  in 
the  harbor.  Only  two  firms  are  engaged  in  this 
line  of  work  here  and  their  equipment  is  both 
of  modern  and  near-modern.  M.  P.  Ilowlet  has 
five  cranes  of  the  new  clamshell  digger  type  and 
twelve  of  the  old  style  bucket,  man-shoveled  type, 
and  the  Delaware  River  Discharging  Company 
four  clamshells  and  four  buckets. 

The  smaller  machines  with  the  men  shovelers 
will  discharge  about  thirty  tons  an  hour  and  the 
grabbers  about  100  tons  an  hour. 


184 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[September  4 


Electricity  in  Mines— Growth  and  New  Uses. 


The  application  of  electric  current  to  the  vari¬ 
ous  power  requirements  of  coal  mining  has  be¬ 
come  so  general  that  the  question  of  its  use  is 
no  longer  as  regards  its  practicability,  but  rather 
as  to  its  superiority  over  other  forms  of  power. 
Economy  of  operation  and  maintenance  is  the 
prime  consideration  that  confronts  the  engineer 
in  the  determination  of  the  form  of  drive  to  be 
used  in  the  various  parts  of  the  system. 

The  gain  in  economy  through  the  substitution 
of  electric  power  for  steam  is  typified  by  the 
results  obtained  by  a  shaft  operated  mine  in  the 


By  John  A.  Randolph.* 

The  Author  Sketches  the  Progress 
Made  by  Electricity,  Hints  at  Central 
Power  Plants  and  Gives  a  Table  of  Costs. 

the  cost  of  production  to  the  extent  of  from 
ten  to  twelve  cents  per  ton. 

The  accompanying  chart  taken  from  a  paper 


The  Jeffrey  Arcwall  Cutter  Entering  Room  Under  Its  Own  Power. 


ciliated  savin.gs  effected  by  the  use  of  electricity 
as  compared  to  steam  in  a  certain  shaft  mine 
with  an  average  daily  output  of  1,100  tons : 

COST  BASED  ON  ONE  MONTH  OF  THIRTY  DAYS. 


ITEMS  INCLUDED  IN  COST. 


Tlnee  engineers  at  $85 . 

Two  firemen  at  $75 . 

One  helper  at  $50 . 

Five  hundred  tons  of  coal  at  fifty  Vents 

per  ton . 

Oil,  waste  and  packing . .!!!.!! 

Boilers: 


Total 

Amount 

Saved 

With 

Pur¬ 

Present 

chased 

Cost. 

Power. 

$  255.00 

$110.00 

150.00 

150.00 

50.00 

50.00 

250.00 

250.00 

50.00 

40.00 

Cost,  including  stack . $4,000.00 

Feed  pumps .  200,00 

Setting  and  foundation .  800.00 

I'eed  water  heater .  400.00 


$5,400.00 


Interest  at  five  per  cent .  22.50 

Depreciation,  seven  per  cent .  3150 

Repairs  and  upkeep .  50  00 

Insurance  .  10.00 

Boijer  Building: 


Interest  at  five  pci  cent .  8.35 

Depreciation  at  five  per  cent .  8!35 

Upkeep  and  repairs .  5V0 

Engines: 

Cost,  two  generator  engines.  .$3,000.00 

Hoist  engine .  1,500.00 

Fan  engine .  600.00 

Eletator  engine .  200.00 

Screen  engine .  150.00 

Conveyor  engine .  100.00 

Pumps  .  400.00 

Machine  shop  engine .  150.00 


$6,100.00 


22..50 

31.50 

50.00 

10.00 


8.35 

8.35 

5.00 


middle  west,  as  cited  by  a  prominent  electrical 
society.  Electric  power  was  applied  to  practi¬ 
cally  all  of  the  machinery.  A  steam  hoist  was 
replaced  by  one  which  was  electrically  driven. 
In  1911,  with  steam  operation,  82,000  tons  of 
coal  were  produced.  Of  this  amount  1,800  tons 
or  2.3  per  cent  were  used  for  fuel.  The  value 
of  this  fuel  was  $1,800. 

In  1912,  after  electric  power  had  been  adopted, 
105,000  tons  were  produced.  The  power  was  pur¬ 
chased  from  a  central  station  and  cost  $2,362  or 
2.24  per  cent  of  the  average  value  of  the  coal 
hoisted.  The  power  bill  thus  practically  equaled 
the  value  of  the  fuel  formerly  used  with  steam 
and  in  addition  a  complete  saving  was  effected 
in  the  labor  of  firing  the  boilers.  There  was 
also  a  considerable  reduction  in  fixed  charges 
on  capital  investment,  owing  to  the  fact  that  the 
power  was  purchased  outside,  thereby  obviating 
the  necessity  of  installing  a  large  amount  of  gen¬ 
erating  equipment. 

The  use  of  electric  power  in  the  primary 
workings  of  coal  mines  is  rapidly  increasing. 
Compressed  air  in  the  coal  cutting  has  here¬ 
tofore  been  extensively  used,  but  it  is  now  being 
supplanted  by  electricity,  owing  to  the  lower 
cost  of  operation,  the  simplicity  and  flexibility 


Chart  .Showing  Number  oe  Coal  Mining  Machines  in 
Use  and  Percentage  oe  Coal  Production  Mined 
BV  Machines. 

A  =  Total  iiiiiiiber  of  coal-miniiig  machines  in  use. 

B  =  Percentage  of  total  of  coal  production  mined  by 
machines. 

C  —  Compressed  air  pick  machines. 

D  =  Electric  machines — all  types. 

E  =:  Continuous  cutting  electric  machines. 


of  the  electrical  connections  and  to  the  broader 
range  of  adaptability.  'J'he  electric  cutting  ma¬ 
chines  are  giving  better  satisfaction  than  those 
driven  by  any  other  form  of  jiower.  It  is  esti¬ 
mated  from  the  results  obtained  in  a  large  num¬ 
ber  of  mines  that  the  electric  coal  cutter  reduces 


presented  by  Mr.  S.  B.  King  before  the  Ameri¬ 
can  Institute  of  Mining  Engineers  shows  the 
relative  numbers  of  coal  mining  machines  in  use 
in  the  United  States  by  years  from  1891  to  1912. 
It  will  be  observed  that  since  the  year  1910  the 
number  of  electric  machines  has  exceeded  those 
of  the  compressed  air  type. 


The  Breast  Cutter. 


Several  types  of  electric  cutting  machines  made 
by  the  Jeffrey  Manufacturing  Company  of  Co¬ 
lumbus,  Ohio,  are  shown  in  the  illustrations. 

The  following  table,  taken  from  a  paper  read 
by  Graham  Bright  before  the  American  Institute 
of  Electrical  Engineers,  shows  by  items  the  cal- 


Interest  at  five  per  cent . 

Depreciation  at  six  per  cent . ! 

Upkeep  and  repairs . 

Building: 

Cost  . $2,500.00 

Interest  at  five  per  cent . 

Depreciation  at  five  per  cent . 

Upkeep  and  repairs . 

Piping: 

Cost  . $1,500.00 

Interest  at  five  per  cent . 

Depreciation  at  seven  per  cent . 

Upkeep  and  repairs . 

Generator,  switchboard  and 
wiring: 

Cost  . $2,640.00 

Interest  at  five  per  cent . 

Depreciation  at  five  per  cent . 

Upkeep  and  repairs . 

Superintendence  . 

Taxes  at  one  per  cent  of  valuation  (as¬ 
sessment  ninety  per  cent) . 

Liability  insurance  at  $1.33  per  $100.  . 
Overhead  . 


25.40 

30.50 

30.00 


10.40 

10.40 

5.00 


6.25 

8.75 

15.00 


11.00 

11.00 

15.00 

25.00 


15.00 

6.05 

50.00 


Total  cost . $1,165.45 

Fixed  charges .  284.40 

Operating  expenses .  881.05 


25.40 

30.50 

30.00 


6.25 

8.75 

15.00 


11.00 

11.00 

15.00 


7.50 

4.15 


$900.25 


The  solution  of  the  question  as  to  whether 
the  electric  power  shall  be  generated  in  a  pri¬ 
vate  plant  or  purchased  from  a  central  station 
depends  largely  upon  the  proximity  of  a  central 
station  and  upon  the  rate  that  can  be  secured. 
Central  station  service  has  proved  very  satis¬ 
factory  to  mine  operation  and  many  prominent 
mining  companies  are  giving  it  the  preference 
over  the  isolated  plant. 

In  coal  mining,  as  in  other  industries,  electic 
current  is  revolutionizing  power  methods,  hence 
it  seems  reasonable  to  predict  the  time  when 
its  use  in  this  field  will  be  universal. 


L  ."7* 

. . . 

i  u  t 

*Of  the  Society  for  Electrical  Development,  Tnc.,  New 
York  City. 


The  Jeffrey  Mechanical  Loader  Ready  to  Load  Coal. 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


185 


No.  10] 


How  the  Nation  Can  Help  Shippers. 


J.  A.  Renahan,  vice-president  and  general  man¬ 
ager  of  the  Smokeless  Fuel  Company  of  New 
York,  has  cleared  the  air  as  touching  the  mer¬ 
chant  marine  with  one  shot.  He  says  in  sub¬ 
stance  : 

“America  is  not  interested  in  ships  per  se,  but 
in  getting  America’s  products  carried  at  a  rate 
which  will  allow  them  to  sell. 

“If  the  Government  could  for  a  few  years 
operate  ships  it  would  find  what  changes  in  the 
laws  are  needed  to  allow  them  to  compete.” 

His  suggestion  is  contained  in  a  letter  to  Hon. 
William  G.  McAdoo,  secretary  of  the  treasury, 
Washington,  D.  C.,  on  August  17.  It  follows : 

“In  connection  with  the  forthcoming  investi¬ 
gation  by  the  interstate  commerce  commission  of 
ocean  transportation  facilities  and  rates  and  the 
probability  of  the  ship  purchase  bill  coming  be¬ 
fore  the  next  session  of  Congress,  we  would 
like  to  present  in  a  measure  our  views  on  exist¬ 
ing  conditions  and  suggestions  directed  toward  a 
remedy. 

“The  end  to  aim  at,  we  believe,  is  the  move¬ 
ment  to  the  fullest  extent  of  the  outnut  of  the 
American  producer  and  manufacturer  to  com¬ 
petitive  territory  on  a  relative  rate  parity,  giving 
due  consideration  to  the  haul  involved  and  other 
material  features. 

“The  product  of  this  country  being  the  prime 
consideration,  passenger  traffic  should  be  a  minor 
or  secondary  consideration. 

“We  will  not  attempt  to  burden  this  letter 
with  statistical  comparisons,  but  desire  to  illus- 
rate  the  point  of  rate  parity  in  connection  with 
the  item  of  coal. 

“The  rate  at  present  from  Cardiff  to  the  River 
Plate  is  approximately  twenty-two  shillings  ster¬ 
ling,  and  from  Atlantic  range  ports  to  the  Plate 
thirty-four  shillings,  a  difference  against  Ameri¬ 
can  coal  of  about  $2.75  per  ton,  notwithstanding 
the  shorter  haul  lies  with  the  American  product. 

“To  depend  upon  private  ownership  to  bridge 
this  gap  would  mean  the  clearing  away  of  the 
impediments  of  existing  regulations  that  stand 


Locomotive  and  Car 


Last  week,  we  commented  to  the  effect  that, 
everything  considered,  a  car  shortage  for  the 
movement  of  coal  this  fall  and  winter  is  inev¬ 
itable.  That  is,  we  showed  that  the  railroads 
have  only  about  80  per  cent  of  normal  carrying 
capacity,  but  are  likely  to  be  called  upon  to  move, 
in  the  succeeding  threee  months,  about  125  per 
cent  of  the  normal  amount  of  coal.  This  indicated 
very  naturally  a  shortage  of  railroad  equipment. 

Within  the  week,  we  have  received  one  fact 
and  one  opinion  supporting  this  view.  The  fact 
comes  from  one  of  the  large  operators  in  Frank¬ 
lin  county,  Illinois,  who  reports  that  a  pinch  in 
the  car  supply  is  already  in  evidence.  He  has 
been  watching  the  movement  of  coal  away  from 
his  mines  for  the  last  two  or  three  weeks  to 
detect  the  first  suggestion  of  transportation  diffi¬ 
culty.  He  says  now  that  the  railroads  are  short 
of  engines  even  though,  for  the  time  being,  they 
have  plenty  of  cars.  This  is  indicated  in  this 
way. 

The  railroads,  serving  his  mines,  are  quite  busy 
moving  the  crops  to  market.  They  only  have  a 
certain  number  of  locomotives  and  many  of  these 
are  kept  busy  on  the  grain  movement.  They 
haven’t  enough  engines  to  haul  coal  cars  and 
consequently  many  cars  from  his  and  adjoining 
mines  are  held  on  sidetracks  and  are  being  de¬ 
layed  indefinitely. 

He  points  the  obvious  lesson  from  the  fact 
which  is  that  the  cars  held  on  mine  sidings, 
whether  loaded  or  empty,  subtract  from  the  num¬ 
ber  of  cars  available  at  the  mines.  This  means 
in  the  first  instance  a  slow  movement  to  market 
and  in  the  second  instance  a  slowing  down  of 
production  at  the  mines.  Thus  he  comes  to  the 
conclusion  that  a  shortage  of  rolling  stock  al¬ 
ready  is  in  evidence. 

An  opinion  supporting  this  same  view  is  ex¬ 
pressed  in  a  circular  just  issued  by  C.  A.  East¬ 
man,  of  the  Eastman-Barber  Company.  He  calls 
atttention  to  the  fact  that  the  lower  anthracite 
rates  in  the  east  do  not  go  into  effect  until  the 
1st  of  October.  He  believes  that  there  will  be  a 
reduction  in  price  on  anthracite  coal  in  the  east. 
He  believes  that  the  average  retailer,  expecting 
this  reduction,  will  not  buy  coal  with  any  free¬ 
dom  until  after  the  rate  goes  into  effect. 

He  points  out  that  the  territory  affected  by 
this  low  rate,  absorbs  eighty  per  cent  of  all  the 


as  hurdles  in  the  competitive  race  between  the 
American  merchant  marine  and  the  foreign.  Busi¬ 
ness  is  possible  at  the  present  time  only  because 
of  shrunken  values  of  the  American  product 
and  swollen  values  of  the  foreign.  With  deflated 
values  of  the  foreign  product  under  normal  con¬ 
ditions  the  American  product  is  shut  out. 

“Were  the  American  merchant  marine  today 
one  hundredfold  its  present  size  it  is  a  matter 
of  sincere  doubt  if  the  American  producer  could 
safely  look  to  it  for  protection  in  rate  parity, 
but  more  likely  that  it  would  follow  the  basis 
fixLed  by  British  shipping  as  applying  to  the  move¬ 
ment  of  American  product  seeking  competitive 
territory. 

“If  it  be  admitted  that  today  capital  under  pres¬ 
ent  United  States  maritime  regulations  will  not 
seek  investment  under  the  United  States  flag, 
then  the  producers  of  the  United  States  stand 
at  the  mercy  of  the  foreign  shipping  and  when 
the  foreign  owner  so  elects,  our  product  may 
move  spasmodically  at  the  highest  rate  the  traffic 
will  bear,  and  the  proceeds  go  to  a  foreign 
treasury. 

“Should  not  the  ship  purchase  measure,  then, 
be  the  plank  to  grasp?  The  producer,  manufac¬ 
turer,  merchant  is  interested  not  so  much  in  who 
does  the  hauling  as  that  some  one  does  or  will, 
and  at  a  fair  eompetitive  rate. 

“If,  then,  a  ship  purchase  bill  undertakes  to 
provide  the  purchase  and  operation  of  a  com¬ 
mensurate  fleet  of  cargo  ships  under  competitive 
rate  conditions  and  employed  in  foreign  trade, 
the  conduct  of  this  business  during  two  or  three 
years  will  more  readily  and  forcibly  demonstrate 
what  is  needed  in  our  laws  to  permit  private 
ownership  to  enter  the  same  class  of  trade  under 
similar  conditions  at  a  profit. 

“It  may  be  argued  that  the  purchase  of  exist¬ 
ing  ships  does  not  add  one  ton  to  the  floating 
tonnage,  but  it  undoubtedly  wdll  add  just  that 
much  to  the  bottoms  placed  at  the  service  of  the 
United  States  shipper  at  rates  fixed  by  the  Gov¬ 
ernment  to  meet  foreign  competition.” 


anthracite  coal.  Therefore  he  expects  a  slowing 
down  in  purchasing  of  anthracite  for  the  next 
month  over  this  eighty  per  cent  of  the  total 
tonnage. 

However,  he  believes  that  after  the  1st  of  Octo¬ 
ber,  the  people  in  the  east  will  buy  with  redoubled 
energy.  That  is,  they  will  try  to  make  up  in 
October  the  coal  which  they  did  not  buy  and 
move  the  latter  part  of  August  and  in  September. 
Therefore  he  believes  there  will  be  a  congestion 
of  eastern  anthracite  orders  in  October  which 
will  take  up  about  all  of  the  coal  available  from 
the  anthracite  mines. 

By  a  very  natural  process  of  reasoning,  Mr. 
Eastman  comes  to  the  conclusion  that  there  will 
be  a  shortage  of  anthracite  coal  for  western  de¬ 
livery  after  the  1st  of  October.  He  therefore 
advises,  in  his  circular,  that  dealers  buy  their 
anthracite  now. 

Touching  the  bituminous  coal  situations,  Mr. 
Eastman  is  also  of  the  opinion  that  we  are  going 
to  have  difficulty  in  getting  all  the  coal  needed. 
He  calls  attention  to  the  labor  shortage  w’hich  the 
eastern  mines  already  are  experiencing  and  which 
he  believes  will  spread  to  the  western  mines.  He 
calls  attention  to  the  shortage  of  cars  on  all  rail¬ 
roads  and  believes  that  this  is  going  to  increase 
as  winter  approaches. 

On  both  accounts,  he  is  of  the  opinion  that  coal 
purchases  should  be  made  early  or  the  buyer  is 
likely  to  be  disappointed. 


Centralize  Safety  Work. 


The  impression  seems  to  have  been  conveyed  by 
articles  appearing  in  the  technical  journals  that 
the  American  Mine  Safety  Association  has  ceased 
to  exist.  We  are  assured  by  President  A.  F. 
Knoefel  and  by  Secretary  H.  M.  Wilson  that 
this  is  by  no  means  the  case,  but  that  on  the 
contrary  it  is  not  only  very  much  alive,  but  will 
be  more  active  than  in  the  past  thou.«h  under 
another  name. 

The  recent  ballot  concerning  the  amalgamation 
with  the  National  Safety  Council  was  almost 
unanimously  in  favor  of  such  action  and  we  are 
informed  that  the  executive  committee  of  the  lat¬ 
ter  also  favors  the  taking  over  of  the  American 
Mine  Safety  Association  as  their  mining  branch. 


The  effect  will  be  to  practically  centralize  all 
safety  movements  within  the  National  Safety 
Council. 

The  American  Mine  Safety  Association  will 
hold  its  annual  meetiag  as  contemplated  in  Bir¬ 
mingham,  Ala.,  September  3,  and  it  is  expected  that 
it  will  recess  to  reconvene  October  20  at  the  an¬ 
nual  meeting  of  the  National  Safety  Council,  in 
the  Bellevue-Stratford  Hotel,  Philadelphia,  as  the 
mining  section  thereof.  At  that  time  there  will 
probably  be  elected  officers  and  committees  of  the 
mining  section  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  on 
the  activities  of  the  American  Mine  Safety  Asso¬ 
ciation  along  identical  lines  to  those  heretofore 
followed. 

In  addition  the  members  will  receive  the  weekly 
safety  bulletins  of  the  National  Safety  Council, 
its  correspondence  service  on  safety  subjects  and 
there  will  be  a  decided  strengthening  of  the  local 
branches  through  the  opportunity  to  include  in 
their  activities  not  only  safety  in  mining,  but  also 
in  railways,  manufacturing  industries,  public 
service,  etc. 

This  should,  therefore,  tend  to  strengthen  a 
national  safety  organization  concerned  in  min¬ 
ing  for  the  reason  that  heretofore  the  American 
Mine  Safety  Association  has  not  appealed 
strongly  to  the  metal  mining  industry  because 
that  the  latter  is  concerned  in  safety  in  the  mills 
and  smelters  and  railways  as  well  as  in  the  mines, 
whereas  under  the  reorganization  all  of  these 
activities  will  be  co-ordinated. 

We  are  further  advised  that  persons  taking  out 
memberships  in  the  American  Mine  Safety  As¬ 
sociation  prior  to  the  consummation  of  the  pro¬ 
posed  consolidation  in  October  will  have  the 
privile.ges  of  membership  in  the  larger  organiza¬ 
tion  for  the  ensuing  year,  but  at  the  lesser  rate 
of  membership  dues  called  for  by  the  American 
Mine  Safety  Association. 


British  Coal  Situation. 


As  predicted  in  these  columns  a  short  time  ago, 
settlement  of  the  British  coal  situation  has  not 
been  permanent.  The  brilliant  patriotic  oratory 
of  Lloyd-George  temporarily  adjusted  difficulties 
of  the  miners.  These  have  started  afresh  and  the 
decision  of  Walter  Runciman  has  aggrieved  the 
miners,  who  find  in  the  concession  of  higher 
wages  insufficient  granting  of  their  demands  for 
various  ameliorations  of  conditions  which  they 
are  seeking. 

Thirty  thousand  Welsh  miners  have  gone  on 
strike;  200,000  more  miners  may  follow  them.  In 
view  of  the  world  coal  situation,  this  is  ominous. 
War  status  depends  upon  coal  supply.  The  Allies 
look  to  Great  Britain  for  their  coal  needs.  Re¬ 
sults  of  the  spreading  of  the  strike  would  be  ex¬ 
tremely  dangerous  for  the  war  interests  of  the 
Allies. 

A  new  slogan  has  arisen  in  Great  Britain ; 
Miner  slacks,  nation  lacks.  In  spite  of  control 
of  prices  by  the  government,  the  danger  of  coal 
famine,  and  with  approaching  winter,  is  seriously 
feared. 

To  obviate  this,  it  is  felt  that  the  government 
must  take  drastic  action.  Coal  falls  into  two 
classes,  “contract”  and  “free.”  The  former  takes 
from  70%  to  80%  of  output.  Pressure  is,  there¬ 
fore,  felt  on  the  free  coals.  In  proportion  to  the 
decrease  of  production  in  these  free  coals  is  the 
approach  to  the  vanishing  point  of  coals  for  the 
small  consumer  and  the  immense  suffering  that 
this  would  entail. 

^^’ar  has  taken  from  coal  production  250,000 
men.  There  are  750,000  men  left  to  operate.  The 
miners  are  receiving  record  wages,  with  war 
bonuses,  and  are  working  short  time,  as  they  are 
able  to  make  much  in  lessened  hours.  High 
wages  are  thus  decreasing  production  materially. 
Average  working  time  of  the  miner  is  forty  hours 
a  week.  Munitions  workers  are  working  80  to 
100  hours  a  week.  The  Eight-hour  Act  checks 
increase  of  daily  mine  time.  Domestic  demand 
is  not  met.  Export  trade  is  paralyzed.  War 
needs  and  Allies’  supplies  are  in  jeopardy. 

It  is  urged  that  the  government  suspend  the 
Eight-hour  Act  and,  further,  that  it  penalize 
shirkers,  and  that  the  war  bonuses  be  pooled  each 
week  and  distributed  only  among  full-time 
workers. 

Conferences  have  been  held  between  the  Gov¬ 
ernment  Exports  of  Coal  Committee,  representa¬ 
tives  of  the  Mining  Association  of  Great  Britain 
and  of  the  various  Coal  Owners’  Associations 
looking  to  the  adjustment  of  all  present  ques¬ 
tions,  complicated  as  these  are  by  the  Act  limiting 
prices,  recently  passed,  and  the  subsequent  regu¬ 
lations  necessitating  the  obtaining  of  licenses  for 
the  exportation  of  coals. — Wall  Street  Journal. 


Shortage  Is  Inevitable. 


186 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[September  4 

« 


Men  Prominent  in  the  Coal  Trade’s  Eye. 


Van  H.  Manning. 

On  Saturday  of  last  week  the  announcement 
was  made  that  Vannoy  H.  Manning  has  been  ap¬ 
pointed  director  of  the  Bureau  of  Mines  of  the 
Department  of  the  Interior,  to  succeed  Dr.  Jos. 
A.  Holmes,  who  died  some  time  ago.  Prior  to 
his  appointment  he  had  been,  first,  assistant  to 
Dr.  Holmes  and  then  acting  director  of  the  bureau 
during  the  illness  of  his  chief. 

On  many  accounts  his  appointment  to  this  posi¬ 
tion  is  extremely  gratifying  to  all  members  of  the 
coal  trade  and  the  mining  industries  as  a  whole, 
and  is  considered  exceedingly  fortunate  for  the 
government  itself.  From  the  point  of  view  of 
the  public,  this  appointment  is  fortunate  because 
Mr.  Manning  is  familiar  with  the  work  that  has 
been  done  since  the  inception  of  the  Bureau,  and, 

therefore,  can  be 
depended  upon  to 
carry  it  on  along 
the  same  lines 
which  have  made 
the  Bureau  popular 
and  i  mp  o  r  t  a  n  t 
heretofore. 

The  second  rea¬ 
son  why  his  ap¬ 
pointment  is  es¬ 
pecially  gratifying 
is  that  his  ex¬ 
perience  has  been 
such  as  to  qualify 
him  in  a  peculiar 
way  for  the  work 
he  will  have  to  do. 
He  has  been  in¬ 
timately  familiar 
with  every  phase 
of  mining  and  is 
trained  in  all  of 
the  sciences  which 
the  work  of  the 
Bureau  touches.  A  brief  statement  of  his  record 
will  make  this  apparent  in  an  instant. 

Vannoy  H.  Manning  was  born  at  Horn  Lake 
Depot,  Alississippi,  December  15,  1861.  His  father 
was  Vannoy  H.  Manning,  Sr.,  and  in  his  day 
was  powerful  in  politics,  representing  the  second 
Mississippi  district  in  Congress. 

Mr.  Manning  holds  the  degree  of  A.  B.  from 
the  University  of  Mississippi.  He  is  married 
and  has  two  children. 

At  present  he  is  a  member  of  the  American 
Institute  of  Mining  Engineers;  Washington  So¬ 
ciety  of  Engineers;  American  Mining  Congress; 
Cosmos  Club  (an  organization  of  scientific  men 
in  the  government  service  at  Washington)  ;  Na¬ 
tional  Geographical  Society ;  Delta  Kappa  Epsilon ; 
Twenty  Years’  Topographers  (an  organization  of 
United  States  Geological  Survey  employees)  ; 
vice-president  of  the  Home  Club  of  Washington ; 
Trowel  Club  (Masonic  organization)  ;  and  of  the 
Mississippi  Society  of  Washington.  These  things 
show  something  of  the  breadth  of  his  interest  in 
scientific  and  economic  matters.  The  actual  work 
that  he  has  done  presents  a  record  which  is  far 
more  convincing. 

For  example,  he  is  the  author  of  a  large  num¬ 
ber  of  topographic  maps  of  several  parts  of  the 
United  States  and  of  Bulletin  No.  76  of  the 
Bureau  of  Mines,  the  title  of  which  is  “United 
States  Coals  Available  for  the  Export  Trade.” 
This  latter  report  was  issued  in  the  fall  of  1914, 
with  a  view  to  assisting  the  American  coal  min¬ 
ing  industry  in  the  development  of  an  export 
coal  trade  with  especial  reference  to  Latin-Ameri- 
can  countries. 

Eor  more  than  twenty  years  he  was  engaged  in 
technical  and  scientific  work  under  the  Depart¬ 
ment  of  the  Interior.  Erom  1885  to  1910  he  was 
civil  engineer  with  the  United  States  Geological 
Survey,  engaged  in  topographic  mapping  in  nearly 
every  state  in  the  Union.  In  addition  to  scientific 
work  he  has  long  held  administrative  positions  in 
the  government  service. 

When  the  Bureau  of  Mines  was  established  in 
1910,  Mr.  Manning  was  appointed  to  an  admin¬ 
istrative  position  in  the  bureau  by  Secretary  Bal¬ 
linger,  and,  on  January  1,  1911,  was  made  assist¬ 
ant  director ;  he  has  been  acting  director  of  the 
bureau  in  immediate  charge  of  its  work  since 
January  1,  1914,  at  which  time  Dr.  Holmes,  on 
account  of  illness,  had  to  relinquish  active  work 
as  director.  During  his  service  with  the  bureau, 
Mr.  Manning  has  had  charge  of  methods  re¬ 
lating  to  appointments,  expenditures  and  the  con¬ 
duct  of  investigations,  loyally  supporting  Dr. 
Holmes  in  every  effort  to  make  the  Bureau  of 
greater  service  to  the  public,  and,  by  attending 


to  a  mass  of  detail,  enabling  Dr.  Holmes  to  give 
attention  to  matters  of  policy  and  to  the  co¬ 
ordination  of  the  work  of  the  bureau  with  that 
of  other  government  and  private  institutions  or 
establishments  seeking  to  increase  safety  and  effi¬ 
ciency  in  the  mining,  quarrying  and  metallurgical 
industries.  Since  June  1,  1914,  when  Dr.  Holmes 
was  obliged  by  failing  health  to  relinquish  his 
duties,  Mr.  Manning  has  had  charge  of  all  the 
technological  investigations,  being  conducted  by 
the  bureau,  of  the  operation  of  its  mine-rescue 
cars  and  stations,  and  of  the  educational  work  of 
safety  and  health  that  the  bureau  is  conducting  in 
the  mining  and  metallurgical  districts  of  the 
United  States. 


George  E.  Hutchison. 

B.  L.  Shepard  and  G.  E.  Hutchison  have 
opened  an  office  as  public  accountants  under  the 
firm  name  of  Shepard  and  Hutchison  in  the  Old 
Colony  building.  This  item  is  of  especial  inter¬ 
est  to  the  coal  trade  as  both  men  are  well  known 


accountants,  particularly  versed  in  coal  account- 
ing. 

Mr.  Shepard  has  been  in  business  as  a  member 
of  the  firm  of  Shepard  &  Chandler,  and  is  one  of 
the  best  posted  mining  accountants  in  the  coun¬ 
try,  having  devoted  years  to  the  study  of  the 
practical  and  accounting  problems  confronting 


George  E.  Hutchison. 


producing  companies.  He  was  for  several  years 
active  in  the  Springfield  field,  prior  to  entering  the 
field  of  public  accounting. 

Mr.  Hutchison,  who  holds  a  degree  as  a  cer¬ 
tified  public  accountant  from  the  examining  board 
of  Illinois,  has  spent  most  of  his  business  career 
in  the  coal  trade  as  a  public  accountant. 

He  has  been  interested  for  years  in  urging 
the  necessity  for  the  improvement  of  cost  sheets 


and  accounting  for  mining  and  retail  companies 
in  order  to  produce  accurate  figures  upon  the 
cost  of  producing  and  marketing  the  product. 

He  was  for  some  time  examining  auditor  of 
several  Ohio  coal  companies,  coming  to  Chicago 
some  years  ago  as  general  auditor  for  the  coal 
interests  of  Jos.  Leiter,  and  was  until  recently 
secretary-treasurer  of  F.  G.  Hartwell  Company. 

Mr.  Hutchison  also  spent  several  years  in  gen¬ 
eral  public  accounting  work. 

In  view  of  the  increasing  interest  among  coal 
men  upon  the  subject  of  accounting,  this  firm 
should  prove  of  value  to  the  trade  generally. 


F.  B.  Cortright  Dies. 


Philadelphia,  September  2. —  {Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — Coal  men  of  this  city  received  a 
severe  shock  when  it  became  known  early  this 
week  that  Frank  Barton  Cortright  had  died  Sun¬ 
day  morning  after  a  very  brief  illness.  Popular 
among  his  trade  associates,  without  a  human 
enemy  and  in  the  prime  of  life,  his  taking-off 
could  not  be  and  has  not  been  fully  realized. 

Frank  Cortright  came  from  a  family  that  has 
been  identified  many  years  in  the  coal  business 
of  the  state.  Fif¬ 
teen  years  of  his 
life  were  put  in  in 
his  chosen  trade, 
and  in  that  time 
among  all  walks  of 
men  with  whom 
he  came  in  con¬ 
tact,  his  was  a  life 
filled  to  the  full 
with  kindly  words 
and  deeds. 

About  five  weeks 
ago  he  was  taken 
ill  in  his  office  and 
was  ordered  home. 

An  X-ray  opera¬ 
tion  followed  and 
his  physical  trou¬ 
bles  were  not 
shown.  Game,  he 
returned  to  his 
work  at  the  head 
of  the  Cortright 
Coal  Company, 
and,  using  his  own  words,  “he  fooled  the  doctors.” 

Wednesday  afternoon  of  last  week  he  was  again 
seized  by  the  malady  that  bothered  him  and  was 
hurried  to  the  hospital  where  an  operation  for 
appendicitis  followed.  Within  a  day  complica¬ 
tions  indicating  pneumonia  developed  and  this 
was  the  direct  cause  of  his  taking  off  on  Sunday 
morning. 

Mr.  Cortright  was  born  in  Mauch  Chunk  thirty- 
six  years  ago.  After  finishing  his  education  in 
public  and  private  schools  he  started  his  career 
in  the  coal  business  in  the  employ  of  the  Logan 
Coal  Company  of  which  his  father  was  president. 
After  a  connection  with  this  company  for  several 
years  he  joined  the  forces  of  Righter  &  Marshall, 
and  later  he  was  secretary  and  treasurer  of  W.  A. 
Marshall  &  Company. 

Six  years  ago  he  formed  a  partnership  with  his 
brother,  Harry  K.  Cortright,  who  was  also  asso¬ 
ciated  with  him  in  the  firm  of  W.  A.  Marshall 
&  Company,  and  the  formation  of  the  Cortright 
Coal  Company  followed. 

While  Mr.  Cortright  gave  all  of  his  time  and 
attention  to  the  Cortright  Coal  Co.,  since  that 
time,  he  was  an  officer  and  director  in  the  Beaver 
Run  Coal  Company,  as  well  as  several  other 
operations  in  Pennsylvania  and  West  Virginia. 

Socially  Mr.  Cortright  was  a  member  of  the 
Racquet  Gub  of  Philadelphia,  a  Scottish  Rite 
Mason  and  a  member  of  the  Lu  Lu  Temple,  as 
well  as  a  member  of  other  organizations. 

A  year  ago  Mr.  Cortright  was  married  in  Vir¬ 
ginia.  His  widow  and  a  five-months-old  son  sur¬ 
vive  to  mourn  his  loss. 

The  funeral  was  held  on  Wednesday  after¬ 
noon  from  the  residence  of  his  father  and  mother, 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  N.  D.  Cortright  in  Mauch  Chunk. 
Quite  a  large  number  of  coal  men  from  this 
city  were  present  as  the  last  sad  rites  were  said. 
A  beautiful  floral  token  was  the  last  good-bye 
of  those  in  the  trade.  , 


J.  &  T.  Hurley  of  Detroit  have  been  awarded 
the  contract  for  supplying  about  100  tons  of 
anthracite  furnace  coal  to  the  board  of  educa¬ 
tion  of  Grosse  Pointe  village.  The  firm’s  bid  is 
reported  as  $6.95.  Delivery  of  sixty  tons  is  to  be 
made  at  the  Cadieux  school  and  forty  tons  at  the 
Trombly  school. 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


187 


No.  10] 


Want  Coal  Lands  Sold. 


At  the  call  of  Daniel  B.  Ely,  who,  it  is  said, 
owns  a  substantial  amount  of  the  Wabash- 
Pittsburgh  Terminal  securities,  about  twenty- 
five  of  the  first  mortgage  bondholders  held 
a  meeting  at  his  office  in  New  York  on  Mon¬ 
day  to  protest  against  the  reorganization 
plan  which  call  for  an  assessment  of  $300 
per  $1,000  bond. 

Mr.  Ely,  who  acted  as  chairman  of  the 
meeting  of  the  minority  bondholders,  said 
that  unless  there  was  a  modification  of  the 
reorganization  plan  he  would  demand  that 
the  property  be  liquidated.  He  added  that 
there  were  outstanding  $7,000,000  in  notes 
issued  by  the  company  against  its  coal  hold¬ 
ings,  which  had  been  turned  over  to  the 
Wabash  Railroad  Company.  These  notes 
fell  due  some  time  ago  and  were  taken  up 
by  bankers.  Mr.  Ely  pointed  out  that  if  some¬ 
thing  was  not  done  promptly  the  holders  of 
the  Wabash-Pittsburgh  Terminal  Railroad 
would  lose  their  equity  in  the  coal  lands.  He 
also  objected  to  that  clause  in  the  reorganiza¬ 
tion  plan  which  gave  the  second  mortgage 
bondholders  the  right  to  subscribe  to  the  new 
bonds  which  were  not  taken  by  the  first  mort¬ 
gage  bondholders  and  complained  of  the  plan 
to  allow  the  reorganization  committee  to 
choose  the  first  directors  of  the  company. 

He  suggested  that  the  coal  properties  be 
sold  at  once,  saying  that  he  knew  of  one  large 
corporation  that  wanted  them.  He  thought 
that  $7,000,000  would  be  realized  in  the  sale  of 
the  properties  and  believed  that  with  this  the 
railway  could  be  rehabilitated.  Mr.  Ely  also 
said  that  it  would  be  fairer  to  have  a  board  of 
ten  directors  elected  from  among  the  bond¬ 
holders,  each  representing  $’3,000,000  in  bonds. 

Albert  Rathbone  of  Joline,  Larkin  &  Rath- 
bone,  counsel  of  the  protective  committee  for 
the  first  mortgage  bonds,  surprised  the  bond¬ 
holders  with  the  statement  that  the  receivers’ 
certificates  were  unpaid  and  that  an  action  for 
foreclosure  on  the  property  and  its  sale  as  a 
result  of  the  non-payment  would  soon  come  up 
in  court.  He  said  that  he  was  willing  to  see 
another  plan  substituted  for  the  present  one  if 
a  better  plan  could  be  devised.  He  told  the 
bondholders  that  their  equity  in  the  coal  lands 
was  secured  only  through  a  verbal  agreement. 

A  committee  of  five  was  appointed  to  co¬ 
operate  with  the  Philadelphia  committee  and 
also  to  find  a  purchaser  for  the  coal  lands. 
Resolutions  were  passed  condemning  the  re¬ 
organization  plan  for  the  property  as  inequit¬ 
able,  harsh,  illegal,  unfair  and  oppressive. 


Coaling  Plant  for  Honolulu. 


On  last  Thursday,  cables  received  at  New  York 
told  of  the  signing  at  Honolulu,  Hawaiian  Islands, 
of  a  contract  for  the  construction  and  equipment 
of  a  coaling  plant,  to  have  a  storage  capacity  of 
165,000  tons.  The  cost  will  exceed  $1,000,000. 
The  Inter  Island  Navigation  Company  of  Hono¬ 
lulu  will  operate  the  plant,  and  it  is  understood 
that  the  purpose  of  same  is  to  provide  bunker 
coals  for  ships  that  pass  through  the  Panama 
canal.  The  contract  was  secured  by  the  C.  W. 
Hunt  Company  of  New  York,  President  E.  L. 
Moen  of  this  company  going  to  Honolulu  early 
in  August  to  consummate  the  deal.  'Until  his 
return,  it  will  not  be  known  just  what  will  be  the 
particular  type  of  plant  that  will  be  constructed. 
The  Hunt  Company  are  now  building  part  of  the 
coaling  plant  for  the  Panama  canal. 

New  York  coal  men  interested  in  exporting 
and  supplying  bunkers  say  that  the  Honolulu 
plant  will  carry  Australian  coal  for  the  reason 
that  it  can  be  secured  so  much  cheaper  than  the 
American  coals.  They  advance  the  opinion  that 
in  this  way  Australian  coals  will  take  away  con¬ 
siderable  business  from  the  coal  depots  that  will 
be  maintained  at  the  canal,  and  which  will  carry 
American  coals. 

No  coal  can  be  shipped  from  the  Atlantic  sea¬ 
board  ports  to  Honolulu  except  in  American  bot¬ 
toms,  Hawaii  being  an  American  possession. 
Furthermore,  coals  passing  through  the  canal 
would  have  to  pay  toll.  Thus  the  Honolulu  com¬ 
pany  will  be  able  to  secure  vessel  tonnage  for 
transportation  of  coal  from  Australia  on  a  com¬ 
petitive  basis,  and  will  have  no  canal  charges  to 
pay.  Moreover,  it  is  probable  that  they  can  take 
coal  from  British  Columbia. 

It  will  require  fully  a  year  to  build  the  new 
plant.  In  the  meantime,  bunker  requirements  at 


the  canal  are  increasing,  and  the  Panama  Railroad 
Company  is  this  week  securing  bids  on  500,000 
to  600,000  tons,  which  they  estimate  will  be  the 
tonnage  that  will  be  required  by  steamers  taking 
bunkers  at  the  canal  during  the  next  twelve 
months. 


Mr.  White’s  Farewell. 


President  John  P.  White  of  the  United  Mine 
Workers  left  the  anthracite  region  early  this 
week  for  his  home  in  Indianapolis  after  mak¬ 
ing  a  thorough  canvass  of  the  three  anthra¬ 
cite  districts,  in  which  time  he  delivered  sixty- 
eight  addresses.  In  the  three  districts  he  ad¬ 
dressed  260,000  miners.  Seven  weeks  were  re¬ 
quired  in  this  campaign,  which  had  for  its  pur¬ 
pose  the  enrollment  of  new  members  and  to 
create  more  enthusiasm  among  those  already 
paying  union  dues. 

Before  leaving,  Mr.  White  gave  out  the  fol¬ 
lowing  statement: 

“I  have  always  entertained  high  hopes  that 
the  anthracite  mine  workers  would  perfect 
their  organization  and  as  a  result  secure  the 
fundamental  reforms  in  their  work  for  which 
the  United  Mine  Workers  of  America  have 
struggled  for  many  years  to  secure  for  them. 

“The  splendid  growth  of  the  organization 
in  the  anthracite  region  during  the  past  three 
years  and  the  result  of  the  membership  cam¬ 
paign  that  we  have  just  concluded  will,  in  my 
opinion,  perfect  the  union  into  a  100  per  cent 
organization  before  contract  negotiations  are 
again  opened  with  the  operators. 

“The  public  in  general  as  well  as  the  press 
is  in  thorough  accord  with  the  anthracite  mine 
workers.  In  fact  there  is  no  real  opposition 


to  the  United  Mine  Workers  in  the  entire  re¬ 
gion. 

“The  prospects  for  continued  peace  and 
greater  prosperity  for  the  miners  of  the  anthra¬ 
cite  are  indeed  encouraging.  The  receptions 
that  have  been  tendered  me  during  the  cam¬ 
paign  have  by  far  exceeded  my  wildest  expec¬ 
tations,  and  I  want  to  thank  everyone  who  in 
any  manner  contributed  to  the  great  demon¬ 
strations  for  their  splendid  hospitality.” 


J.  P.  Kishbaugh  Dies. 


Philadelphia,  September  1. — (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — Though  James  P.  Kishbaugh,  of 
Mauch  Chunk,  associated  with  his  brother,  W. 
Kishbaugh,  in  the  management  of  the  Mill  Creek 
Coal  Company,  died  in  this  city  a  week  ago  Mon¬ 
day  night,  it  was  late  in  the  week  before  his 
associates  here  knew  of  his  sudden  taking  off. 

Mr.  Kishbaugh  had  been  in  poor  health  for 
some  time  and  had  consulted  specialists  as  to  a 
form  of  heart  disease  from  which  he  was  suffer¬ 
ing.  A  few  weeks  ago  he  took  a  trip  to  New 
England  and  seemed  greatly  benefited.  On  the 
Monday  mentioned  he  was  in  this  city  and  was 
out  to  the  ball  game  and  left  another  coal  man 
to  take  the  train  to  go  home.  While  in  the 
Reading  Terminal  he  was  suddenly  stricken  and 
was  removed  to  the  Jefferson  hospital,  where  he 
died.  The  hospital  authorities  communicated 
with  his  family  and  the  body  was  taken  to 
Mauch  Chunk  for  burial. 

Socially,  Mr.  Kishbaugh  stood  high  in  his 
native  town.  He  was  a  member  of  various  fra¬ 
ternal  orders  and  was  active  in  the  formation  of 
the  Sons  of  Veterans  in  Mauch  Chunk.  He  was 
fifty-one  years  of  age  and  leaves  a  widow  and 
three  daughters. 


Imports  and  Exports  of  Coal  for  the  Fiscal  Year. 


The  following  statements  of  the  imports  and  exports  of  coal  and  coke  for  the  fiscal  year  were  com¬ 
piled  from  the  monthly  summary  of  the  foreign  commerce  of  the  United  States  for  the  month  of  June 
and  for  the  twelve  months  ending  June,  1915.  The  figures  are  presented  in  tables  showing  the  imports 
and  exports  by  quantity  and  value,  followed  by  a  table  showing  the  principal  countries  with  which  busi¬ 
ness  was  done. 

Imports  of  Coal  and  Coke  by  Quantity  and  Value. 

-June - ,  / - - Twelve  Months  Ending  June- 

-1914- 


-1914 


Coal,  tons —  Quantity 

Anthracite  .  2,942  $ 

Bituminous  .  91,591 

Bituminous* . ! . . .  1,578,204 

Coke  .  14,307  64,349  4,832  23,871  . 

Coke* .  102,890 


1913- 


1915 

Value.  Quantity.  Value.  Quantity, 
4,266  22  $  153  1,670  $ 

277,604  118,719  324,758 


Value.  Quantity.  Value. 

8,337  8,124  ?  15,881 

.  1,046,734  2,867,470 

4,308,356  311,268  817,538 

.  87,373  424,058 

463,419  25,168  113.562 


-1915- 
Quantity. 

12,358  $ 
1,429,608 


Value. 

28,809 

4,150,785 


88,805  398,949 


-1914- 


Imports  of  Coal  by  Principal  Countries. 

- June - ^  , - Twelve  Months  Ending  June- 


Countries —  Quantity. 
United  Kingdom.  341  $ 

Canada  .  67,511 

Japan  .  1,838 

•Australia  .  21,896 

Other  countries.  .  5 


-1915- 


Value.  Quantity. 
969 


Value. 


-1913- 


Quantity.  Value.  Quantity. 
9,398  $  37,152  11,025  i 

209,847  85,525  $  247,113  1,336,387  3,662,931  1,005,693 

8,156  11,750  30,535  79,072  270,181  85,689 

58,606  21,094  45,710  150,150  390,905  251,977 

26  350  1,400  3,257  7,127  3,618 


-1914- 


Value. 

43,361 

2,577,915 

395,058 

654,925 

13,749 


-1915- 
Quantity. 

33,919  $ 
1,121,810 
89,240 
182,041 
2,598 


Value. 

116,087 

3,254,830 

314,654 

455,947 

9,267 


Total  .  91,591  $  277,604  118,719  $  324,758  1,578,264  $  4,368,350  1,358,002  $  3,685,008  1,429,608  $  4,150,785 

Exports  of  Coal  and  Coke  by  Quantity  and  Value. 

-June - ^  ! - 7-^-; - —Twelve  Months  Ending  June- 


-1914- 


-1915- 


-1913- 


-1914- 


-1915- 


Coal,  tons —  Quantity.  Value.  Quantity.  Value.  Quantity.  Value.  Quantity.  Value.  Quantity.  Value. 

Anthracite  .  433,265  $2,329,649  352,636  $1 ,855,862  4,625,481  $24,523,800  3,959,114  $20,881,373  3,682,188  $19,389,523 

Bituminous*  _ 1,185,566  2,848,292  1,933,410  5,001,26616,083,101  40,573,421  15,704,966  39,039,640  14,412,995  36,516,617 


Total  coal.  .  .1,618,831  $5,177,941  2,286,046  $6,857, 12820,':08,582  $65,097,221  19,661,080  $59,921,013  18,095,183  $55,906,140 
Coke .  44,682  169,908  68,628  262,249  900,672  3,318,437  742,476  2,789,814  602,473  2,304,475 

Exports  of  Coal  by  Principal  Countries. 

ANTHRACITE,  TONS. 

-June»  ■  \  / - 7— - Twelve  Months  Ending  June- 


-1914- 


-1915- 


-1913- 


-1914- 


-1915- 


Countfies —  Quantity.  Value.  'Ouantity.  Value.  Quantity.  Value.  Quantity.  Value.  Quantity.  Value. 

Canada  .  427,719  $2,300,335  352,234  $1,853,392  4,545,976  $21,121,759  3,897,365  $20,574,637  3,621,234  $19,102,661 

Uruguay  .  5  34  .  .  84  559  5  34 

Other  countries..  5,546  29,314  397  2,436  79,503  399,041  61,665  306,177  60,949  286,828 


Total  .  433,265  $2,329,649  352,636  $1,855,862  4,625,481  $24,523,800  3,959,114  $20,881,373  3,682,188  $19,389,523 


BITUMINOUS,  TONS. 


Italy  . 

Canada  . 

Panama  . 

Mexico  . 

Cuba  . .  . 

Other  West  Indies 
and  Bermuda.. 

Argentina  . 

Brazil  . 

Uruguay  . 

Other  countries.  . 


793,856 

25,810 

15,866 

81,575 

45,433 

9,977 

10,023 

6,200 

196,826 


1,683,884 

69,245 

68,268 

225,562 

137,172 

29,931 

33,329 

18,600 

582,301 


383,019 

873,239 

47,708 

22,445 

74,984 

48,406 

157,831 

122,484 

11,968 

191,326 


1,119,247  . 

1,829,83511,981,443 
130,542  483,974 

99,869  443,884 

207,378  1,273,945 


29,136,271  11,472,397 
1,305,866  362,427 

1,246,660  296,392 

3,419,939  1,129,954 


148,200  001,431  1,697,687 

484,275  . 

378,194  . 

35,121  . 

568,605  1,298,424  3,766,998 


577,541 

139,409 

239,082 

62,452 

1,425,312 


26,634,550 

979,847 

1,030,713 

3,139,914 

1,698,026 

401,467 

765,824 

188,892 

4.206,407 


1,628,279 

8,425,103 

343,372 

391,611 

1,065,206 

461,892 

563,889 

527,264 

103,689 

902,740 


4,848,655 

18,308,105 

939,130 

1,716,111 

2,989,148 

1,410,927 

1,708,561 

1,614,088 

303,393 

8,683,499 


Total  . 1,185,566  $2,848,292  1,933,410  $5,001,26816.083,101  $40,573,421  15.704,966  $39,039,640  14,412.995  $36,516  617 

Exports  of  Coal  Imported  Into  the  United  States. 

, _ June - — ^  , - Twelve  Months  Ending  Jurie- 


Coal — 

Bituminous,  free 

Coke,  free . 

Coke,  duty . 


Quantity. 


-1914- 


Value. 


Quantity. 

. »6 


-191.1- 


Value. 

$  ’  ”  '9’g'3 


Quantity 

9,846 

. 13 


-1914- 


Value. 

$  28,010 

. 59 


Quantity. 

12,042 

70 


-1915- 


Value. 

$  93,231 
1,196 


*Does  not  include  fuel  or  bunker  coal  laden  on  .vessels  engaged  in  the  foreign  trade,  which  aggregated  during 
the  month  and  twelve  months  ending  June  as  follows:  June.  1914,  687,386  tons, 

727  880  tons,  valued  at  $2,409,410;  twelve  months,  June,  1913,  7,351,114  tons,  valued  at  $23,795,960;  1914,  7,811,913 
tons,  valued  at  $25,571,487;  1915,  7,062,653  tons,  valued  at  $23,679,212. 


188 


[September  4 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


Relation  of  Ash  to  Fuel  Efficiency. 

By  H.  A.  Atwater. 

In  order  of  importance  to  the  buyer,  the  per 
cent  of  ash  in  a  coal  can  very  properly  be  ranked 
next  to  that  of  volatile  matter. 

In  most  cases  the  relations  existing  between  the 
per  cent  of  volatile  matter  and  furnace  conditions 
and  efficiencies  are  as  a  closed  book  to  the  plant 
owner.  He  will  not  hesitate  to  admit  it.  In  his 
opinion  such  matters  are  too  technical  to  be  con¬ 
sidered  except  by  men  who  could  qualify  as 
combustion  experts. 

But  the  subject  of  ash  he  regards  as  coming 
well  within  his  comprehension.  He  expresses  his 
ideas  as  to  the  significance  of  ash  without  any 
lack  of  assurance.  To  him  ash  is  an  impurity 
which  is  the  same  as  so  much  common,  inert  mud 
and  the  idea  is  firmly  fixed  in  his  mind  that  the 
more  ash  there  is  in  his  coal  the  more  he  is  being 
victimized  by  the  coal  dealer. 

And,  the  extent  of  his  loss  he  is  accustomed 
to  measure  in  direct  proportion  to  the  per  cent 
of  ash  as  shown  by  analysis. 

The  Ash  Question. 

With  very  few  exceptions,  this  is  the  concep¬ 
tion  that  steam  coal  buyers  have  of  ash.  One 
of  the  surest  means  of  proving  the  fallacy  of 
this  opinion  is  the  indiscriminate  mixing  of  sev¬ 
eral  different  coals.  A  little  experimenting  along 
these  lines  will  soon  convince  any  skeptical  buyer 
that  ash  is  something  more  than  just  ash.  A 
number  of  the  larger  consumers  have  gone 
through  with  such  experiments  and  the  lessons 
they  have  learned  from  repeated  cases  of  ex¬ 
pensive  and  troublesome  clinkering  should  be 
known  to  every  buyer. 

Ash  is  an  impurity  and  is  objectionable  for 
many  reasons.  But,  while  it  has  no  fuel  value,  its 
injurious  effects  should  not  be  measured  alone  by 
the  amount  of  combustible  matter  in  coal  which 
it  displaces.  In  other  words,  under  certain  fur¬ 
nace  and  grate  conditions  a  coal  with  a  high 
ash  content  often  gives  much  better  results  than 
another  coal  with  a  lower  per  cent  of  ash,  the 
coals  being  similar  in  other  respects. 

When  Will  Ash  Clinker? 

The  question  next  arises,  “How  can  a  buyer 
judge  before  contracting  for  a  certain  coal  as  to 
its  clinkering  possibilities  when  fired  under  his 
boilers  ?” 

Unfortunately  there  is  no  definite  answer  to 
this  question.  However,  by  combining  the  expe* 
riences  of  his  neighbor  with  a  little  careful  ex¬ 
perimenting  of  his  own,  the  consumer  can  deter¬ 
mine  for  himself  whether  any  particular  coal  is 
going  to  give  good  or  bad  results  as  far  as  a 
tendency  to  clinker  is  concerned. 

Objections  to  the  presence  of  ash  in  coal  may 
be  based  upon  many  reasons,  such  as  the  follow¬ 
ing:  Increase  in  resistance  offered  to  flow  of 
air  through  fuel  bed,  thus  reducing  rate  of  com¬ 
bustion  and  boiler  capacity ;  higher  drafts  neces¬ 
sary  increase  leakage  of  air  through  boiler  set¬ 
ting;  less  intimate  combination  between  oxygen 
in  air  and  combustible  matter  in  fuel  bed  due  to 
interference  of  ash ;  loss  of  combustible  matter 
as  a  result  of  cleaning  fire  of  ash  and  clinkers ; 
fouling  of  tubes  by  finer  particles  of  ash  carried 
along  by  gases  of  combustion,  etc. 

Two  Kinds  of  Clinker. 

The  principal  consideration,  though,  is  that  of 
clinkering,  which  is  a  result  of  the  fusing  of  the 
ash.  In  general,  there  are  two  kinds  of  clinkers, 


• — the  hard,  non-adherent  kind,  and  the  soft,  mo¬ 
lasses-like  kind  which  tends  to  adhere  to  the  grate 
surfaces,  side  walls,  and  bridge  wall,  and  resist 
removal. 

The  hard  clinker  is  not  very  troublesome,  as 
it  does  not  tend  to  spread  throughout  the  fuel 
bed,  lies  quite  dead  on  the  grates,  and  is  readily 
removed. 

The  soft,  pasty  clinker  is  just  the  opposite  in 
character.  It  tends  to  spread  throughout  the  fuel 
bed,  impedes  and  often  prevents  any  motion  of 
the  grates,  particularly  under  hand  fired  boilers, 
and  does  not  hold  together  to  permit  of  its  being 
removed  bodily.  Such  a  clinker  often  finally 
necessitates  cleaning  the  entire  grate  surface  and 
starting  a  new  fire. 

A  great  many  experiments  have  been  made, 
most  of  them  dealing  with  analyses  of  the  con¬ 
stituents  of  ash  in  an  endeavor  to  find  some  rela¬ 
tion  by  means  of  which  the  clinkering  tendencies 
of  a  coal  might  be  predicted,  but  without  any 
real  positive  results.  There  seems  to  be  no  gen¬ 
eral  relation  between  the  fusing  point  of  the  ash 
and  the  percentages  of  its  various  constituents, 
nor  does  the  amount  of  sulphur  present  seem  to 
affect  the  question  of  clinkering. 

Many  contracts  contain  a  clause  limiting  the 
per  cent  of  sulphur  which  will  be  accepted  to  a 
certain  amount  with  a  penalty  added  based  upon 
the  amount  by  which  this  predetermined  limit  is 
exceeded.  The  injustice  of  such  a  clause  is  ob¬ 
vious  in  view  of  the  above  stated  fact  that  sul¬ 
phur  has  no  particular  connection  with  the  clink¬ 
ering  tendencies  of  a  coal. 

Fusion  Temperature  of  Ash. 

The  fusion  temperature  of  an  ash  is  a  far  more 
logical  item  to  specify.  In  fact,  this  is  one  of 
the  first  things  that  a  careful  coal  buyer  should 
insert  in  his  contract. 

The  character  of  the  slag  which  constitutes 
clinkers  is  more  or  less  definitely  known  now,  and 
experiments  have  been  carried  out  with  promising 
results  looking  toward  the  establishment  of  defi¬ 
nite  constants  governing  the  proportion  in  which 
certain  basic  elements  of  the  ash  combine  to  form 
the  slag  or  clinker.  However,  until  some  such 
system  of  calculated  constants  can  be  definitely 
worked  out  and  made  generally  applicable  to  the 
analysis  of  an  ash,  the  best  course  the  buyer  can 
pursue  is  to  obtain  his  information  from  actual 
tests  made  under  operating  conditions.  This  is 
not  at  all  a  forbidding  prospect,  as  the  lessons 
of  past  experiences  cover  the  ground  quite  thor¬ 
oughly. 

The  furnace  temperatures  vary  considerably  in 
different  plants.  In  plants  where  the  boilers  are 
run  well  above  normal  rating,  with  a  consequently 
high  furnace  temperature,  only  a  coal  having  an 
ash  of  high  fusing  point  should  be  used,  but  in 
the  case  of  lower  furnace  temperatures  a  coal 
containing  ash  of  a  lower  fusing  temperature 
could  be  used  with  just  as  good  results.  The 
point  to  be  observed  is  that  the  fusing  tempera¬ 
ture  of  the  ash  should  be  sufficiently  higher  than 
the  highest  probable  furnace  temperature  so  as 
to  prevent  any  tendency  of  the  ash  to  fuse  and 
form  a  slag. 

In  case  the  fusing  temperatures  of  all  the  coals 
available  are  about  the  same,  a  distinction  should 
be  made  between  the  different  kinds  of  clinkers 
formed.  In  general,  the  buyer  should  avoid  the 
coal  whose  clinker  is  of  the  molasses  type.  If 
any  clinker  forms  it  is  better  to  make  sure  it 
will  be  of  the  hard  type,  as  this  one  is  quite 
readily  removed. 

A  consumer  would  certainly  make  every  effort 
to  avoid  using  a  coal  which  would  cause  more 
or  less  trouble  from  clinkering,  but  in  case  no 


other  coals  were  available  without  recourse  to 
the  higher  priced  coals,  he  would  be  in  a  position 
where  he  would  have  to  make  the  most  of  a 
bad  situation.  Clinkers  very  often  persist  in 
sticking  to  the  grates  and  walls,  thus  offering 
considerable  resistance  to  their  easy  removal. 

Removing  Clinkers. 

The  use  of  steam  in  the  ash  pit  is  the  best 
means  of  combating  this  tendency.  As  the  use 
of  live  steam  for  such  a  purpose  would  be  quite 
expensive,  exhaust  steam  should  be  used  when¬ 
ever  available.  Even  water  in  the  ash  pit  is  a 
fairly  good  substitute  for  steam. 

The  type  of  stoker  installed  has  an  importance, 
when  considering  the  subject  of  clinkering,  which 
is  seldom  appreciated  by  the  consumer.  Some 
stokers  agitate  the  fuel  bed  constantly,  while 
others  do  not.  This  constant  stirring  of  the  fuel 
bed  almost  invariably  aggravates  any  trouble 
from  clinkering  which  might  be  present.  Sim¬ 
ilarly,  in  the  case  of  hand  fired  plants  a  too  fre¬ 
quent  use  of  the  slice  bar  will  cause  the  same 
difficulty. 

Then  again,  some  coals  seem  to  require  just 
this  continual  agitation  t6  prevent  the  formation 
of  clinkers. 

So  the  only  safe  thing  for  the  buyer  to  do  is 
to  make  actual  tests  of  a  coal  to  determine 
whether  it  does  or  does  not  require  an  agitated 
fuel  bed. 

The  thickness  of  the  fuel  bed  carried  is  an¬ 
other  feature  of  operation  which  should  be  inves¬ 
tigated  as  soon  as  clinkers  begin  to  develop.  In 
hand  fi.red  plants  the  average  fireman  tends  to  fire 
too  heavily  at  a  time  principally  because  such 
a  procedure  increases  the  time  available  for 
standing  around  between  firings.  The  heavier 
fuel  bed  which  results  after  every  charge  is  a 
prolific  source  of  clinkers,  the  obvious  remedy 
for  which  would  be  to  fire  oftener  and  to  main¬ 
tain  a  thinner  fuel  bed. 

The  cooling  action  of  the  air  passing  up 
through  the  fuel  bed  from  under  the  grates  is 
very  valuable  as  a  preventive  of  clinkering.  Con¬ 
sequently,  the  ash  pit  doors  should  always  be 
kept  open,  and  any  regulation  of  the  draft  should 
be  effected  by  means  of  the  damper  in  the 
breeching. 

In  hand  fired  plants,  the  rake  is  often  used 
altogether  too  vigorously  for  leveling  purposes, 
and  the  same  criticism  can  be  applied  to  the  use 
of  the  slice  bar.  Any  violent  disturbance  of  the 
fuel  bed  brings  the  ash  up  to  the  hot  upper 
portions  of  the  bed,  where  it  soon  fuses  and 
forms  a  clinker.  Furthermore,  more  or  less  par¬ 
tially  burned  coal  is  dropped  down  into  the  ash 
pit  and  the  heat  from  this  burning  coal  tends  to 
neutralize  the  cooling  effect  of  the  air  passing 
up  through  the  grates. 

Lastly,  a  word  as  to  the  mixing  of  various 
coals.  An  owner  frequently  obtains  the  best  re¬ 
sults,  so  far  as  an  absence  of  clinkering  is  con¬ 
cerned,  from  a  mixture  of  different  coals.  How¬ 
ever,  there  have  been  more  cases  of  expensive 
failures  than  successes,  and  to  guard  against  a 
shut-down  no  mixture  should  be  hred  during  nor¬ 
mal  operation  until  sufficient  preliminary  tests 
have  been  carried  out  to  serve  as  a  basis  for 
positive  information  as  to  whether  such  a  mix¬ 
ture  zmll  or  will  not  cause  clinkering. 

In  the  final  analysis,  the  safest  course  for  the 
buyer  to  pursue  when  dealing  with  the  subject  of 
ash  in  coal  is  to  make  actual  trial  tests  of  what¬ 
ever  coals  are  available  for  use  under  his  condi¬ 
tions.  Such  tests  will  remove  any  doubt  what¬ 
ever  as  to  a  coal’s  tendency  to  clinker  under 
certain  conditions.  However,  such  trials  need 
not  be  gone  into  blindly,  as  the  foregoing  dis¬ 
cussion  should  present  many  general  relations 
which  should  decrease  considerably  the  amount 
of  experimenting  necessary. 


It  is  said  that  there  is  something  of  a  car 
shortage  on  both  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  and 
Wheeling  &  Lake  Erie  roads.  This  is  some¬ 
thing  rather  out  of  the  ordinary  during  the  past 
year  and  to  many  it  recalls  some  of  the  past 
years  when  the  roads  could  not  get  the  coal  in 
to  the  docks  here  with  sufficient  rapidity  to  load 
the  waiting  vessels.  Up  to  this  time  the  load¬ 
ing  machines  are  said  to  have  operated  in  a  very 
dilatory  fashion. 


Lucien  Hill,  New  York  manager  of  the 
Merchants  Coal  Company  of  Pennsylvania, 
was  advised  on  Tuesday  evening  of  the  ex¬ 
plosion  at  the  Boswell  mine  of  his  company, 
which  caused  the  loss  of  life  of  some  sixteen 
miners.  The  mine  managers  are  of  the 
opinion  that  the  mine  will  be  idle  only  a  few 
days  as  the  result  of  the  explosion. 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


189 


No.  10] 


Charging  Degradation  on  Coal. 

About  the  most  convenient  method  of 
handling  the  loss  of  tonnage  and  grade  in¬ 
volved  in  running  a  coal  yard  is  by  charging 
degradation  against  receipts  of  lump. 

This  is  the  belief  of  a  good  many  success¬ 
ful  retailers  who  use  this  method,  and  who 
point  out  that  it  is  much  easier  to  handle  the 
factor,  as  a  bookkeeping  proposition,  when 
such  a  charge  is  made,  provided,  of  course, 
that  tests  are  taken  occasionally  to  see  that 
the  charge  adopted  really  covers  the  loss. 

For  example,  when  the  coal  comes  in  from 
the  mines,  a  five  per  cent  charge  is  made 
against  it  to  cover  the  loss  in  weight  and 
grade.  This  means,  in  effect,  that  ninety-five 
per  cent  of  the  tonnage  billed  to  the  dealer  is 
charged  with  the  cost  of  the  entire  100  per 
cent.  As  a  bookkeeping  operation,  the  five 
per  cent  is  credited  to  the  lump  pile,  and 
charged  against  the  nut  and  slack  pile,  the 
assumption  being  that  the  latter  gets  the  low- 
grade  coal  produced  by  the  handling  process. 
The  lump  coal  account  absorbs  the  net  loss 
in  this  operation;  that  is,  the  difference  be¬ 
tween  the  cost  of  the  coal  and  the  market 
price  of  the  nut  and  slack.  When  the  coal  is 
rehandled,  and  moved  out  of  the  yard  to  cus¬ 
tomers,  another  five  per  cent  charge  is  made 
against  it,  the  operation  being  handled  in  the 
same  way. 

This  makes  a  total  ten  per  cent  charge  for 
degradation.  The  amount,  as  a  matter  of 
fact,  is  rather  conservative,  and  errs  in  being 
too  small,  rather  than  too  large.  With  most 
bituminous  coals,  a  total  loss  of  fifteen  per 
cent  would  come  nearer  taking  care  of  the 
proposition.  The  right  system  is  for  each 
dealer  to  make  a  study  of  his  own  coal  pile, 
compare  the  weights  in  and  the  weights  out 
on  sufficiently  large  lots  to  know  how  much 
of  an  invisible  loss  he  has  and  how  much 
actual  loss  in  grade  is  accounted  for,  so  that 
his  percentage  of  degradation  will  represent 
not  merely  an  arbitrary  standard,  but  the  re¬ 
sults  of  his  own  experience.  Only  in  this 
way  can  the  charge  be  made  effective,  as  a 
business  proposition. 

The  plan  of  placing  a  value  upon  the  nut 
and  slack  equivalent  to  the  current  market 
price  of  that  grade,  and  making  the  lump  ab¬ 
sorb  the  loss,  seems,  in  the  opinion  of  a  good 
many  retailers,  to  be  the  only  sensible  way  to 
determine  the  right  way  to  price  nut  and 
slack.  Steam  coal  trade  is  solicited  so  closely 
that  it  is  next  to  impossible,  in  their  opinion, 
to  get  better  than  the  market  price  for  nut  and 
slack,  and  hence  the  only  way  to  insure  mov¬ 
ing  it  is  to  put  on  a  price  which  will  meet  the 
figures  quoted  from  other  sources.  That  is 
putting  the  entire  burden  on  the  lump  coal, 
of  course,  but  in  most  cases  it  is  in  the  best 
position  to  handle  it. 


Getting  Rid  of  Nut  and  Slack. 

The  problem  of  handling  nut  and  slack  coal 
to  advantage  is  doubtless  one  of  the  most 
severe  that  the  retailer  has  to  contend  with.  Tf 
his  market  happens  to  be  a  convenient  dump¬ 
ing  ground  for  the  c.xcess  production  of  the 
mines,  he  can  rest  assured  that  there  will  be 
enough  demurrage  coal  put  on  the  market  to 
depress  prices  for  this  kind  of  fuel  almost  to 
the  vanishing  point.  In  fact,  they  are  often 
below  the  vanishing  point,  and  are  actually 


minus  quantities,  by  the  time  teaming  charges 
are  considered. 

When  a  retailer,  who  has  put  high  priced 
lump  coal  into  his  yard,  is  compelled  to  haul 
it  out  in  the  form  of  nut  and  slack  to  some 
consumer  at  a  price  which  represents  less  than 
the  cost  of  hauling,  it  is  evident  that  on  that 
end  of  the  business,  at  least,  the  dealer  is  run¬ 
ning  not  a  commercial  enterprise,  but  an 
eleemosynary  institution. 

Yet,  what  is  the  dealer  going  to  do?  He 
must  get  rid  of  his  nut  and  slack.  If,  as  sug¬ 
gested  elsewhere,  he  has  already  charged  the 
loss  of  tonnage  and  grade  against  his  domestic 
coal — and  is  getting  the  price  for  the  latter 
which  this  loss  absorption  requires — his  whole 
problem  is  one  of  selling  the  nut  and  slack, 
not  necessarily  selling  it  at  a  profit.  So  if  he 
goes  out  into  the  market  and  gets  orders  for 
it,  even  at  prices  which  barely  cover  the  cost 
of  hauling,  he  has  met  the  requirements  of  the 
situation. 

But,  in  cases  of  that  kind  there  is  the  dan¬ 
ger  that  the  lump  coal  will  merely  have  been 
charged  with  the  supposed  shrinkage  in  value 
of  the  nut  and  slack,  based  on  assumed  prices, 
instead  of  a  100  per  cent  shrinkage,  the  result 
of  selling  at  a  figure  which  merely  allows  for 
teaming  expense. 

With  the  nut  and  slack  question  so  difficult 
of  solution  when  the  dealer  must  sell  it  in  the 
open  market  to  regular  steam  coal  buyers,  it 
seems  that  a  greater  play  for  furnace  coal 
trade,  involving  delivering  a  mixture  of  lump 
and  nut  and  slack  coal,  would  help  some. 

Of  course,  such  a  plan  would  necessarily 
mean  selling  less  lump  to  customers  who  took 
the  furnace  grade,  but,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
latter  could  be  figured  at  a  reasonable  cost 
price,  and  the  regular  delivery  and  profit 
items  added  to  it.  The  dealer,  in  that  event, 
would _  be  making  a  profit  on  all  his  ton- 
nage,  instead  of  only  on  part  of  it,  and  while 
he  might  not  need  so  much  coal  to  run  his 
business  with,  he  would  probably  be  able  to 
make  a  better  showing  in  the  matter  of  net 
results. 

A  good  many  dealers  supply  nut  and  slack 
with  lump  coal  for  furnace  use  when  the 
customer  requests  it,  or  suggests  that  he 
might  be  able  to  use  a  cheaper  grade  to  ad¬ 
vantage.  Comparatively  few,  however,  actu¬ 
ally  feature  the  proposition.  Obviously,  in 
order  to  be  of  the  greatest  benefit,  it  would 
be  well  not  to  use  too  much  publicity,  but 
to  present  the  proposition  to  individual  con- 
.^umers,  using  fairly  large  quantities.  If  the 
idea  were  handled  intelligently,  the  dealer 
would  be  able  to  move  a  large  part,  if  not 
most  of  his  nut  and  slack,  and  at  prices  which 
would  enable  a  profit  to  be  seen  with  the 
naked  eye. 


Display  Value  of  Coal. 

Most  coal  dealers  take  it  for  granted  that 
their  product  has  no  value  from  the  stand¬ 
point  of  display. 

Consequently  the  window,  if  the  dealer  has 
one,  is  bare  of  anything  worth  the  name  of 
display. 

A  lump  of  coal,  by  itself,  may  indeed  be 
without  much  selling  value,  but  a  man  with 
imagination  can  make  an  interesting  display 
out  of  any  sort  of  materials.  For  instance, 
there  is  a  certain  stationer  in  an  Ohio  \al¬ 


ley  city  whose  window  displays  are  famous 
all  over  the  country.  All  he  shows  is  ink, 
pencils,  rubber  bands,  mucilage,  etc.;  they 
are  not  very  pretty  nor  very  attractive,  but 
he  works  them  up  into  exhibits  that  catch 
the  eye  and  make  the  passerby  stop  and 
look. 

A  coal  dealer  who  has  the  right  idea  re¬ 
cently  applied  a  little  imagination  to  his  win¬ 
dow  display.  The  street  railway  company 
in  his  town  had  been  carrying  on  a  “Safety 
First”  campaign  by  means  of  big  posters  in 
the  cars,  while  the  newspapers  were  also  help¬ 
ing  along  the  good  work.  Consequently  the 
local  public  was  more  than  ordinarily  inter¬ 
ested  in  the  topic,  though  of  course  safety 
first  propaganda  has  been  more  or  less  famil¬ 
iar  for  some  time. 

This  dealer  made  use  of  the  current  in¬ 
terest  in  the  question  by  putting  a  nice  blocky 
lump  of  coal  in  his  window.  It  was  set  on  a 
pedestal — consisting  of  a  low  box  covered  with 
cheese-cloth — and  really  showed  up  nicely. 
The  legend  underneath  the  coal  was  this- 

“SAFETY  FIRST— You  Can’t  Go  Wrong 
When  You  Buy  Blank  Coal.” 

This  was  quite  simple,  and  anybody  could 
make  such  a  display.  Yet,  in  spite  of  its  sim¬ 
plicity — or  perhaps  because  of  it — it  was  really 
effective;  and  those  who  saw  it  got  a  good 
idea  of  the  character  of  the  coal  and  a  favor¬ 
able  impression  of  the  methods  of  the  con¬ 
cern  selling  it. 

Even  coal  stored  in  a  yard  can  be  made 
more  presentable  than  it  often  is.  In  the 
small-town  yard,  especially,  where  a  great 
many  people  pass  by,  efforts  should  be  made 
to  maintain  a  clean,  shipshape  appearance,  so 
that  the  prospective  customer  who  rides  by 
will  say  to  himself,  “That  is  certainly  a  nice- 
looking  pile  of  coal.”  If  he  says  that,  he  is 
more  than  likely  to  be  converted  from  a  pros¬ 
pective  into  an  actual  customer. 

The  writer  was  recently  in  a  small  town 
in  Ohio,  where  the  leading  coal  dealer  handles 
lumber  and  building  materials,  as  well  as  the 
other  line.  His  yard  is  a  model  of  neatness. 
The  buildings  in  which  the  supplies  are  stored 
are  well  constructed  and  attractively  painted. 
The  coal  is  piled  up  solidly,  and  looks  clean 
and  well  graded.  The  coal  pile  is  not  the  least 
attractive  feature  of  the  yard,  and  demon¬ 
strates  what_  a  little  care  and  thought  will  do 
to  make  a  display  of  coal  helpful  from  a  sales 
standpoint. 


Paducah  Dealers  Get  Together. 

In  line  with  the  recent  announcement  to  de¬ 
linquent  customers,  put  out  by  the  Evansville, 
Ind.,  dealers,  as  reported  in  this  department 
some  time  ago,  the  Retail  Coal  Dealers’  Asso¬ 
ciation  of  Paducah,  Ky.,  in  the  same  section 
of  the  country,  has  published  an  announcement 
on  the  subject  that  is  likely  to  have  a  salutary 
effect.  It  is  as  follows: 

“We,  the  retail  coal  dealers  of  Paducah, 
have  found  it  necessary  to  unite  in  what  shall 
be  known  as  the  Retail  Coal  Dealers’  Associa¬ 
tion  for  the  protection  of  ourselves  in  hand¬ 
ling  the  credit  business. 

“Another  winter  is  fast  approaching,  and  a 
great  many  customers  still  owe  us  for  last 
season’s  requirement  of  coal.  We  have,  there¬ 
fore,  found  it  necessary  to  report  to  our  sec- 
retarj"  the  names  of  all  delinquent  persons 
from  whom  we  have  been  unable  so  far  to  col¬ 
lect  by  all  honest  means.  We  do  not  desire 
to  embarrass  any  of  our  customers  who  are 
willing  to  pay  their  just  accounts,  and  are 
therefore  advertising  in  this  space  for  the 
benefit  of  those  who  have  not  as  yet  paid 
their  accounts  or  made  satisfactory  arrange¬ 
ments  to  do  so. 

“We  very  respectfully  urge  all  delinquent  cus¬ 
tomers  to  pay  up  or  make  satisfactory  arrange¬ 
ments  regarding  their  accounts  before  Octo¬ 
ber  1,  1915,  as  after  that  date  all  accounts  not 
yet  taken  care  of  will  have  to  be  reported  to 
our  secretary,  whose  duty  it  will  be  to  notify 
all  members  of  this  association  of  such  de¬ 
linquency.” 


According  to  a  recent  estimate  of  the  Govern¬ 
ment.  the  amount  of  coal  in  the  Rock  Springs 
district  of  M’yoming  available  for  mining  cxceeils 
113,000,000,000  tons.  This  includes  all  coal  de¬ 
posits  within  .1,000  feet  of  the  surface  and  in  beds 
two  and  a  half  feet  or  more  in  thickness. 


190 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[September  4 


fubi>isez:d  etebt  batxtbdat  bt  tee 

BBACK  EIAMOEl)  COMFAET. 

Subscription  price,  $3.00  per  year,  postage  prepaid,  to 
any  postoflSce  in  the  United  States.  _  Foreign  subscrip¬ 
tion  price,  $5.00  per  year.  Single  copies,  20  cents. 

Entered  at  Chicago  postoffice  as  second-class  matter. 

Address  all  communicatiuns  to 
THE  BIiACE  DIAMOND  COMPANY  (INC.) 

Main  office,  Manhattan  building,  Chicago. 


Branch  Offices. 

New  York,  29  Broadway. 
Philadelphia,  1400  Land  Title  building. 
Pittsburgh,  1502  Oliver  building. 


Saturday,  September  4,  1915. 


INDEX. 


Special  Articles. 

Page 

Rail  Rates  and  Pilot  Fees  Dwarf  a  Big  Harbor .  181 

Electricity  in  Mines — Growth  and  New  Uses .  184 

How  the  Nation  Can  Help  Shippers.  . .  185 

Locomotive  and  Car  Shortage  Is  Inevitable .  185 

Centralize  Safety  Work .  185 

British  Coal  Situation .  185 

Men  Prominent  in  the  Coal  Trade’s  Eye .  186 

F.  B.  Cortright  Dies .  186 

\Vant  Coal  Lands  Sold .  187 

Coaling  Plant  for  Honolulu .  187 

Mr.  White’s  Farewell .  187 

I.  P.  Kishbaugh  Dies . 187 

Imports  and  Exports  of  Coal  for  the  Fiscal  Year....  187 

Practical  Hints  to  Steam  Coal  Users .  188 

Field  of  the  Retail  Dealers .  189 

Editorial  . 190 

News  Local  to  Chicago .  192 

What  the  Ohio  Coal  Mines  Need  Most .  192 

Facts  \Vhich  Determine  Our  Export  Prospects .  193 

Columbus  Contracts  Let .  193 

Johnstown  Mine  Explosion .  193 

Market  Reports. 

General  Review  and  Chicago .  194 

Pittsburgh  and  Detroit.. .  195 

Cincinnati  and  Twin  Cities .  196 

St.  Louis,  Duluth,  Cleveland,  Louisville  and  Omaha.  .  197 

New  York .  198 

Philadelphia  and  Buffalo . . 199 

New  England,  Baltimore,  Birmingham  and  Denver. .  200 
Hocking  Valley .  15 


Colorado’s  Partisanship. 

The  American  people  are  becoming  dis¬ 
gusted — and  with  good  cause — with  the 
conflicting  reports  from  Colorado.  One 
day  the  daily  press  says  that  the  Gov¬ 
ernor  has  obtained  information  that  the 
United  Mine  Workers  and  certain  federal 
authorities  are  conspiring  to  destroy  the 
Colorado  militia.  It  is  added  that  they 
propose  to  indict  certain  state  officials  that 
they  may  trade  the  withdrawal  of  prose¬ 
cutions  of  such  cases  for  the  withdrawal 
of  the  prosecution  of  certain  miners  who 
are  indicted  for  murder  in  connection  with 
the  recent  strike. 

The  next  day  the  same  daily  press  car¬ 
ries  the  statement  that  the  mine  workers 
have  convicted  a  judge' of  partiality  and 
have  had  him  barred  from  hearing  of  all 
further  cases  against  accused  miners. 
The  miners  have  proved — ^according  to 
the  papers — that  the  Governor  and  his 
staff  are  partisans  in  the  employ,  virtually, 
of  coal  mine  owners. 

Thus  today  there  is  accusation ;  tomor¬ 
row  there  is  recrimination.  Between  the 
two,  the  people  fail  to  get  the  truth  of  the 
matter,  and  the  whole  country  is  agitated 
to  the  point  of  taking  sides. 

One  thing  about  Colorado  is  preemi¬ 
nently  true.  It  is  suffering  today  and  is 
endangering  the  nation  because  it  is  and 
has  been  a  state  breeding  violent  partisan¬ 
ship.  This  is  so  because  Colorado  has 
digressed  from  its  original  and  proper 
function  of  making  laws  and  administer¬ 
ing  justice  into  a  sort  of  dominating  com¬ 
mercial  influence.  It  long  ago  reached  the 


dangerous  point  where  its  officials,  by 
extending  favors  can  make  men  rich,  and 
where  by  withholding  favors  they  can 
make  men  poor.  Thus  politics,  with  its 
constant  shifting  of  partisan  control  and 
its  constant  change  of  men  in  power,  has 
been  given  a  function  never  intended  by 
any  scheme  of  government.  In  the  end, 
it  must  prove  disastrous  as  first  the  rep¬ 
resentative  of  capital  and  next  the  repre¬ 
sentative  of  labor  climb  into  temporary 
control  of  this  powerful  organization  and 
begin  to  bestow  favor  on  their  friends. 

In  Colorado,  heretofore,  this  political 
control  of  the  state’s  power  has  been  pur¬ 
chasable  for  money ;  today  it  is  purchas¬ 
able  for  a  far  more  subtle  influence — the 
voting  strength  of  an  organization  of  men. 
The  resultant  situation  is  unmoral  and 
dangerous,  not  only  to  both  capital  and 
labor  in  Colorado,  but  to  the  very  exist¬ 
ence  of  a  democratic  form  of  government. 

There  should  be  no  need,  at  this  late 
date,  to  thrash  out  in  a  small  community 
like  Colorado  the  old  dispute  as  to 
whether  capital  or  labor  should  rule.  That 
issue  should  be  considered  as  settled  for 
all  time  by  the  decree  that  the  whole 
people — and  no  fraction  thereof — are  mas¬ 
ter. 

We  do  not  begin  therefore  to  under¬ 
stand  the  Colorado  situation  until  we  rec¬ 
ognize  that  many  of  its  people  may  be 
partisans  but  the  state  cannot  be.  That 
is,  the  state  of  Colorado  has,  and  can  have, 
no  favorites.  It  must  stand  primarily  for 
impartial  justice  whether  the  person  at 
bar  is  mine  owner  or  the  meanest  la¬ 
borer  in  the  commonwealth.  Incidentally, 
that  impartial  justice  must  be  done  as 
well  to  John  D.  Rockefeller  as  to  the  most 
powerful  labor  organizer  in  Colorado. 
Only  impartial  justice  and  men  strong 
enough  to  enforce  it  can  ever  straighten 
out  the  Colorado  situation  and  restore 
something  of  the  supremacy  of  govern¬ 
ment. 


England’s  Coal  Situation. 

At  the  outset  of  the  war  England  em¬ 
ployed  in  its  coal  mines  about  one  mil¬ 
lion  men.  Two  hundred  and  fifty  thou¬ 
sand  of  these  have  entered  the  army, 
leaving  three-quarters  of  a  million  to  do 
the  mining.  That  automatically  limits 
coal  production,  unless  each  man  does 
one-third  more  work. 

With  the  beginning  of  war,  coal  con¬ 
sumption  by  the  navy  was  more  than 
doubled.  Fuel  demands  by  the  govern¬ 
ment  were  vastly  increased  and  England’s 
coal  owners  were,  for  lack  of  fuel,  com¬ 
pelled  to  retire,  to  an  extent,  from  the  ex¬ 
port  market. 

The  excessive  home  demand  and  smaller 
production  of  coal  naturally  indicated  a 
rise  in  price.  However,  to  prevent  the 
coal  owners  from  taking  the  natural  com¬ 
mercial  advantage  of  this  situation.  Par¬ 
liament  regulated  coal  prices.  In  sub¬ 
stance,  it.refus.ed  to  permit  the  operators, 
under  heavy  penalty,  to  charge  a  higher 
price  than  had  ruled  prior  to  the  first  of 
August,  1914.  This  limiting  of  prices  on 
a  reduced  tonnage  automatically  cut  the 
earnings  of  the  English  coal  companies. 

When  three-fourths  of  the  miners  found 
that  they  had  to  do  practically  the  work 
that  100  per  cent  had  done  heretofore, 
they  demanded  an  increase  in  pay.  They 
were  at  liberty,  apparently,  to  take  full 


advantage  of  the  law  of  supply  and  de¬ 
mand  for  labor,  even  though  the  operators 
were  not  as  regards  coal.  Parliament, 
through  one  of  its  officials,  interfered  and 
stipulated  that  the  miners  should  get  cer¬ 
tain  bonuses.  This  increased  the  cost  of 
labor.  The  operators  thus  lost  in  tonnage, 
lost  an  opportunity  to  get  a  rise  in  price, 
and  lost  because  the  wages  of  the  miners 
were  increased. 

The  European  war  has  brought  to  com¬ 
mercial  interests  the  World  over  an  op¬ 
portunity  to  make  money  out  of  the  things 
sold  to  the  warring  armies,  but  to  the 
coal  owners  of  England  it  has  brought 
only  a  success  of  losses.  On  top  of  that, 
it  has  brought  increased  taxation  to  sup¬ 
port  the  men  in  the  field.  It  would  seem 
that  England  has  been  asking  the  coal 
owners  to  bear  more  than  their  fair  share 
of  the  cost  of  the  great  struggle. 


Democracy  and  the  Press. 

No  one  will  deny  that  the  essence  of 
democracy  is  the  tenet  that  the  majority 
rules.  A  man,  therefore,  who  wants  to 
rule  in  a  democracy  must  have  the  ap¬ 
proval  of  the  majority.  There  are  two 
ways  of  getting  that  approval. 

One  of  them  is  to  convince  the  majority 
that  it  is  wrong  and  to  convert  it  to  a 
right  belief.  In  any  conceivable  length  of 
time  it  is  impossible  to  change  the  opinion 
of  the  majority  where  the  total  population 
is  expressed  in  such  an  enormous  figure 
as  one  hundred  million  persons.  There¬ 
fore,.  no  public  man  in  a  democracy  is 
“fool”  enough  to  try  to  change  the  ruling 
opinion  about  anything. 

The  other  way  is  to  say  what  the  ma¬ 
jority  are  already  thinking — or  think  they 
are  thinking — right  or  wrong.  If  the  sub¬ 
ject  at  hand  is  abstruse  and  technical,  and 
especially  if  it  demands  intensified  think¬ 
ing,  it  may  be  depended  upon  that  the 
majority  is  not  well  enough  informed  to 
have  or  to  express  an  intelligent  opinion. 
Therefore  to  depend  upon  the  majority 
opinion  on  a  big  question  is  to  take  the 
wrong  view  of  it. 

The  latter  is  the  way  most  men  gain 
prominence  in  a  democracy. 

The  press  of  America — the  popular 
press — is  struggling  for  the  same  kind  of 
power  as  is  the  politician.  It  is  the  power 
which  arises  from  the  expression  of  ideas. 
For  example,  the  local  daily  newspaper  is 
constantly  running  for  local  office,  even 
as  is  the  sheriff  or  the  mayor.  However, 
the  mayor  runs  for  office  only  once  in  two 
or  four  years ;  the  daily  newspaper  pleads 
for  votes  every  morning. 

The  mayor  gets  his  power  by  thinking 
the  way  he  assumes  the  population  is 
thinking.  The  daily  newspaper  gets  its 
prominence  by  thinking  the  way  it  as¬ 
sumes  the  majority  is  thinking. 

Continuing  the  simile,  the  national  pub¬ 
lication  is  comparable  to  the  president  of 
the  United  States  or  to  a  member  of  Con¬ 
gress. 

That  is,  democracy  is  coloring  our  lit¬ 
erature  rather  than  the  reverse  being  true. 
This  is  so  contrary  to  popular  belief  that 
we  will  explain.  An  editor  is  only  an 
individual.  He  can  see,  hear  and  think 
no  more  than  one  pair  of  eyes,  one  brain, 
and  one  pair  of  ears  will  allow.  He  can 
not  possibly  know  much  about  anything. 
Because  his  orbit  is  so  small,  he  cannot 
know  what  the  majority  is  thinking  or 


No.  10] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


191 


even  wants  to  think.  He  must  assume  a 
lot — an  awful  lot.  By  his  broad  and  lib¬ 
eral  assumptions,  he  concludes  that  the 
majority  thinks  a  certain  way.  He  does 
not  know  that  the  majority  thinks  that 
way;  he  cannot  know.  Still  he  assumes 
that  they  think  as  he  concludes,  so  he 
writes  his  articles  from  that  point  of  view. 
Incidentally,  he  colors  his  facts  to  suit  an 
assumed  and  fictitious  taste. 

This  has  a  vicious  effect.  The  real  ma¬ 
jority  started  without  any  knowledge  of 
a  given  subject,  but  keen  for  information. 
When  some  information  was  presented, 
the  majority  eagerly  read  it.  The  interest 
in  the  subject  did  not  signify  that  the 
public  had  a  preconceived  idea  concern¬ 
ing  or  had  formed  an  opinion  about  it. 
The  people  merely  wanted  to  know.  The 
editor  and  publisher  believed  that  the 
avidity  with  which  the  people  bought 
what  was  printed  signified  that  the  people 
approved  the  opinion  in  the  first  article. 
Acting  on  that  belief,  he  printed  more  to 
the  same  effect.  The  people,  to  get 
further  information,  grabbed  at  the  sec¬ 
ond  installment.  The  editor,  confirmed  in 
his  belief  that  it  was  his  point  of  view 
and  not  his  facts  which  was  sold,  printed 
more  of  the  same  kind.  The  people  ab¬ 
sorbed  the  third  installment. 

Pretty  soon,  since  only  one  point  of 
view  was  presented,  the  people  began  to 
believe  there  was  only  one  phase  of  the 
subject  and  formed  an  opinion.  But  this 
was  a  wrong  opinion,  because  it  was 
founded  upon  false  witness. 

There  are  two  points  to  this  situation. 
The  first  is  that  the  so-called  majority 
was  fictitious  in  the  rhind  of  both  the  edi¬ 
tor  and  the  reader.  The  editor  said : 

“I  don’t  believe  this  stuff,  but  ‘the  ma¬ 
jority’  wants  it,  so  I’ll  print  it.” 

The  reader  said : 

“This  is  one-sided  and  I  don’t  believe 
it,  but  ‘the  majority’  wants  it,  so  let  it 
pass.” 

Both  constructed  a  fictitious  majority 
of  which  neither  was  a  party  and  consid¬ 
ered  it  as  ruling.  Still — and  here  is  the 
curious  psvchology  of  it — frequent  repe¬ 
tition  of  only  one  point  of  view  so  ob¬ 
scured  all  other  points  of  view  that  in 
the  end  the  editor  and  the  reader  came  to 
believe  what  was  being  said. 

The  other  and  the  really  big  point  is 
that  by  this  system  of  bearing  false  wit¬ 
ness,  a  device  was  created  by  which  the 
very  idea  of  democracy  is  being  destroyed. 
That,  is,  a  false  notion  of  democracy  has 
tinged  the  literature  of  the  country.  This 
literature  has  tainted  the  opinion  of  the 
people.  The  warped  opinion  of  the  peo¬ 
ple  is  working  the  destruction  of  popular 
government.  The  combination  is  result¬ 
ing  in  the  destruction  of  a  form  of  gov¬ 
ernment  which  has  been  declared  to  be 
ideal.  It  is  curious  that  the  thing  which 
has  been  considered  the  bulwark  of  lib¬ 
erty  has  thus  developed  into  the  very  en¬ 
gine  which  destroys  liberty. 


Centralizing  Safety  Effort. 

The  “safety  first”  propaganda,  which  is 
spreading  from  coal  mines  to  every  in¬ 
dustry,  has  reached  a  sort  of  climax  in  the 
formation  of  the  National  Safety  Council. 
This  is  about  to  absorb  the  American 
Mine  Safety  Association,  which  becomes 
the  mining  branch  of  the  larger  organi¬ 
zation.  This  seems  to  be  a  case  of  the 


offspring  absorbing  the  parent.  Even  so, 
it  is  a  movement  in  the  right  direction. 

There  can  be  no  such  thing  as  section 
or  any  other  division  lines  in  such  an  im¬ 
portant  movement  as  that  expressed  in 
the  slogan  “safety  first.”  The  phrase 
means  merely  to  put  the  endangered  in¬ 
dividual  on  guard  against  himself.  It 
warns  men  who  work  in  dangerous  places 
to  “look  before  you  leap.”  This  warning 
has  a  pointed  meaning  in  the  coal  mine, 
where  danger  is  imminent  all  the  time. 
Where  men  are  living  in  more  or  less  dan¬ 
ger  all  the  while,  it  is  human  for  them  to 
become  so  familiar  with  it  that,  in  time, 
they  get  a  contempt  for  it.  If  only  to  keep 
the  miners  on  their  guard  against  the 
thing  which  is  likely  to  destroy  them,  the 
“safety  first”  movement  is  needed  in  the 
mine. 

However,  there  are  other  places  where 
equally  dangerous  conditions  exist.  There 
is  imminent  danger  all  the  time  on  a  rail¬ 
road,  where  enormous  weights  on  wheels 
are  constantly  in  motion,  and  where  an 
individual  is  likely  to  be  ground  to  pieces 
if  for  an  instant  he  disregards  his  own 
safety.  There  is  just  as  much  danger  con¬ 
stantly  in  steel  mills  and  in  other  places. 
Underlying  all  of  these  potential  dangers 
is  a  common  weakness  of  humanity — men 
will  not  always  be  vigilant  for  their  own 
safety.  To  keep  them  keyed  up  to  a  need 
to  save  themselves,  the  slogan  “safety 
first”  must  be  reiterated. 

If  the  best  results  are  to  be  obtained, 
there  should  be  but  one  national  organi¬ 
zation.  Therefore  the  organization  of  the 
National  Safety  Council  is  most  logical. 
That  this  safety  council  should  work 
through  subdivisions  familiar  with  the 
technical  phraseology  and  local  conditions 
in  various  industries  is  also  quite  natural. 
To  do  that  promises  to  introduce  effi¬ 
ciency  through  centralized  control,  and 
this  commands  the  attention  and  the  ap¬ 
proval  of  the  best  men  in  business. 


What  Regulators  Can  Do. 

The  broad  assumption  of  the  public  has 
been  that  the  Interstate  Commerce  Com¬ 
mission  is  master  of  the  railroad  rate 
situation.  This  isn’t  exactly  true,  as  its 
own  statement,  of  recent  date,  proves.  It 
makes  its  own  position  clear  when  it  co¬ 
incides  in  effect  at  least  with  the  recent 
ruling  of  the  United  States  supreme  court 
when  the  latter  said  that  the  owner  of  a 
carrier  may  accept  a  loss  on  a  certain  clas.s 
of  traffic  and  make  it  up  on  another  class, 
but  the  regulating  power  cannot  compel 
him  to  do  so.  That  is,  the  regulating  power 
cannot  force  the  regulated  carrier  to  ac¬ 
cept,  as  a  rate,  less  than  the  proved  cost 
of  the  service ;  in  this  particular,  the  cost 
of  the  service  is  that  commodity’s  per¬ 
centage  of  both  the  total  operating  ex¬ 
penses  and  the  total  profit  of  the  line. 
In  one  of  its  big  decisions,  the  commis¬ 
sion  makes  this  statement : 

“We  may  not  say  that  a  rate  shall  be 
fixed  so  as  to  meet  the  requirements  or 
needs  of  any  body  of  shippers  in  their 
efforts  to  reach  a  given  market ;  nor  may 
we  establish  rates  on  any  article  so  low 
that  they  will  not  return  out-of-pocket 
cost.  Neither  could  we  fix  an  entire 
schedule  of  rates  which  would  yield  an 
inadequate  return  upon  the  fair  value  of 
the  property  used  in  the  service  given. 
There  is,  however,  a  zone  within  which 


we  may  properly  exercise  ‘the  flexible 
limit  of  judgment  which  belongs  to  the 
power  to  fix  rates.’  These  are  the  words 
of  the  Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court. 
There  is  no  flexible  limit  of  judgment  if 
all  rates  must  be  upon  a  level  of  cost,  and 
out  of  every  dollar  paid  to  the  carrier 
must  come  a  fixed  amount  of  return  for 
capital  invested.” 

The  commission  thus  recognizes  that  it 
cannot  force  a  carrier  to  accept  a  loss  on 
one  commodity  and  to  make  up  that  loss 
on  another  commodity.  That  is,  it  can¬ 
not  force  it  to  accept  a  loss  on  coal  and 
make  that  loss  up  on  the  movement  of 
silk,  tea,  luxuries  in  general,  and  high- 
priced  animals.  Still,  if  the  railroads 
themselves  decide  to  do  just  that  thing, 
the  commission,  by  exercising  the  “flex¬ 
ible  limit  of  judgment”  can  sanction  what 
the  carrier  has  done. 

This  has  a  particular  bearing  upon  the 
recent  decision  of  the  coal  case — in  the 
eyes  of  the  commission.  The  carriers  had 
said  that  the  loss  on  coal  was  too  heavy 
to  be  made  up  by  any  conceivable  higher 
rates  on  the  higher  classes  of  traffic.  The 
commission  did  not  feel  itself  justified  in 
taking  exception  to  that  position  of  the 
railroads.  Therein,  it  seems  to  us,  lies 
the  crux  of  the  whole  decision  of  the  com¬ 
mission. 


A  Need  Emphasized. 

Last  November  the  coal  operators  of 
Indiana  and  Illinois  prepared  a  statement 
of  facts  about  their  business.  This  was 
presented  to  the  president  of  the  United 
.States.  Saying  much  in  little  space,  this 
document  said  that  if  the  coal  operators 
charged  either  for  the  amortization  of  coal 
land  or  depreciation  of  plant  and  equip¬ 
ment,  they  would  at  the  average  price  of 
1914  have  a  loss  for  the  two  states  of  at 
least  three  cents  a  ton.  This  statement 
presupposed  a  continuance  of  present  pro¬ 
duction  and  present  distribution  over  a 
territory  embracing  eighteen  states. 

Now  comes  the  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission  and  makes  two  decisions 
which  limit  the  market  zone  of  these  two 
coals  without  in  any  way  decreasing  the 
production.  That  is,  the  differential 
against  these  two  coals  in  the  northwest, 
limits  the  selling  zone  there.  The  dif¬ 
ferential  against  them  in  the  Birmingham 
case  lops  off  a  big  selling  territory  there. 
With  the  coal  selling  territory  abridged 
both  north  and  south  and  with  lowering 
rates  on  Colorado  coal  limiting  the  sell¬ 
ing  territory  to  the  west,  the  operators 
have  still  the  same  productive  capacity 
but  a  much  smaller  selling  zone. 

If,  therefore,  there  was  a  need,  eight 
months  ago,  that  something  be  done  to 
help  the  operators  solve  their  problem, 
there  is  a  double  need  at  present. 

This  need  is  emphasized  by  another 
situation,  which  is  quickly  developing  in 
Ohio.  Operators  of  that  state,  finding 
themselves  in  about  the  same  position  as 
the  operators  in  Indiana  and  Illinois,  are 
fighting  the  railroad  for  a  complete  re¬ 
adjustment  of  rates.  If  they  get  it,  coal 
will  move  to  the  lakes  for  twenty-five 
cents  less  than  it  does  now;  therefore  it 
will  sell  twenty-five  cents  a  ton  lower  in 
the  northwest.  By  that  means  the  sell¬ 
ing  zone  of  western  coal  will  be  that  much 
more  abridged. 

Under  the  circumstances,  if  the  coal 
trade  is  to  live,  something  must  be  done. 


192 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[September  4 


News  Local  to  Chicago. 


Frank  W.  DeWolf,  director  of  the  Illinois 
Geological  Survey,  spent  the  better  part  of  the 
week  in  Chicago. 

C.  M.  Moderwell,  president  of  C.  M.  Moder- 
wcll  &  Company,  was  in  Fairmont,  West  Virginia, 
over  last  Sunday. 

J.  K.  Dering,  president  of  J.  K.  Dering  Coal 
Company  was  on  an  eastern  trip  the  early  part 
of  this  week,  returning  on  Thursday. 

W.  R.  Kernohan,  western  representative  of  the 
Pocahontas  Coal  Sales  Company,  took  a  trip  into 
Minneapolis  and  the  northwest  this  week. 

Joseph  Devoy  of  the  Ohio  &  Michigan  Coal 
Company,  Detroit,  was  in  Chicago  this  week  after 
making  a  trip  across  southern  Michigan.  He 
reports  every  dealer  in  that  section  heavily 
stocked  and  patiently  waiting  for  orders. 

H.  M.  Ullrich,  representative  in  southern  Iowa 
of  C.  M.  Moderwell  &  Company,  and  having  head¬ 
quarters  at  Des  Moines,  was  in  Chicago  the  first 
few  days  of  this  week.  He  was  accompanied  by 
Mrs.  Ullrich. 

Peter  Beck,  president  of  the  Beck  Coal  &  Lum¬ 
ber  Company  of  Harvey,  Ill.,  paid  hi§  weekly 
visit  to  Chicago.  Mr.  Beck  says  that  industrial 
conditions  are  much  improved  in  his  section  and 
that  the  uplift  is  not  due  to  war  orders. 

The  Higgins-Martin  Coal  Company,  operating 
in  the  Clinton,  Indiana,  district,  have  opened  a 
Chicago  office  at  1001  Plymouth  building.  E.  V. 
VVarren,  for  several  years  with  Richards,  Evans  & 
Company,  will  be  in  charge  with  the  title  of  sales 
manager. 

The  Gifford-Wood  Company  announces  its  re¬ 
moval  to  the  second  floor  of  the  Sharpies  build¬ 
ing  at  565  West  Washington  street,  Chicago.  The 
company  occupies  the  entire  second  floor  and  now 
has  available  more  ample  accommodations  for  the 
display  of  its  large  stock  of  ice  and  coal  han¬ 
dling  machinery. 

On  September  first  the  Eranklin  and  Saline  and 
some  Williamsfield  county  operators  advanced 
the  price  on  domestic  coal  to  $1.75.  The  Spring- 
field  operators  advanced  their  circular  to  $1.65, 
and  some  Williamson  county  operators  advanced 
their  circular  to  $1.60  on  lump  and  egg  and  $1.75 
on  number  one  wa,shed. 

Early  this  week  E.  H.  Harwood,  vice-president 
of  the  New  Kentucky  Coal  Company  issued  a 
very  attractive  little  booklet,  describing  the  coal 
of  that  company.  It  gives  a  mighty  interesting 
history  of  Murphysboro  deposit  of  coal,  which 
is  controlled  by  this  company.  This  proves  to  be 
in  a  way  a  sort  of  history  of  all  southern  Illinois 
coal  fields. 

Charles  B.  Ebbert,  western  manager  of  the 
White  Oak  Coal  Company  believes  that  the  West 
Virginia  shippers  will  be  bothered  considerably 
by  a  car  shortage  in  the  near  future.  Operators 
located  on  the  Chesapeake  &  Ohio  Railway  report 
indications  of  a  shortage  of  equipment  on  that 
line  and  this  condition  will  undoubtedly  spread 
to  other  roads  shortly. 

Charles  W.  Jackson,  manager  of  the  jobbing 
department  of  the  F.  G.  Hartwell  Company,  re¬ 
viewing  conditions,  says,  “Dealers  have  not  de¬ 
livered  anywhere  near  their  usual  tonnage  and 
shipments  are  far  below  normal  up  to  this  time. 
This  tonnage  will  have  to  be  delivered  within 
the  next  few  months  in  order  to  meet  the  de¬ 
mands  of  the  consumer.” 

Some  time  ago  the  American  Institute  of  Min¬ 
ing  Engineers  decided  to  appoint  a  committee  on 
mine  explosion,  this  committee  to  act  as  ad¬ 
visory  capacity  to  the  bureau  of  mines.  Early  this 
week  the  members  of  the  committee  were  named 
by  the  institute  and  comprise  Carl  Scholz  of  the 
Rock  Island  Coal  Mining  Company,  Qiicago. 
Erank  Haas  of  the  Consolidation  Coal  Company, 
Eairmont,  and  H.  M.  Chance. 

On  September  first  J.  H.  M.  Claggett,  resident 
manager  of  the  Philadelphia  &  Reading  Coal  & 
Mining  Company  put  out  a  circular  price  on  an¬ 
thracite,  naming  the  following  figures :  Broken 
or  grate  coal,  $6.60  ;  nut,  $6.85  ;  stove,  $6.85  ;  chest¬ 
nut,  $7.10;  pea  coal,  $5.55.  All  net  tons  of  2,000 
pounds  f.  o.  b.  Chicago.  These  are  the  same 
prices  that  have  ruled  heretofore.  Therefore,  the 
increase  in  freight  rate  of  twenty-five  cents  a 
ton  to  Chicago  has  not  been  added  to  the  price 
which  the  retailer  and  the  cusumer  are  ex¬ 
pected  to  pay. 

Van  H.  Manning,  who  has  just  been  appointed 
director  of  tbe  Bureau  of  Mines,  to  succeed  the 


late  Dr.  Jos.  A.  Holmes,  is  expected  to  be  in 
Chicago  on  Saturday,  September  11.  He  will  be 
here  on  his  way  to  San  Francisco,  where  he  ex¬ 
pects  to  attend  several  mining  meetings  to  be 
held  there  the  latter  part  of  the  month.  While 
he  is  here,  it  is  expected  that  he  will  be  enter¬ 
tained  by  the  coal  men,  the  entertainment  being 
under  the  auspices  of  the  Illinois  Coal  Operators’ 
Association.  This  will  be  Mr.  Manning’s  offi¬ 
cial  introduction  to  the  coal  trade,  although  he 
has  been  very  well  and  favorably  known  to  the 
coal  men  because  previously  he  has  acted  as 
assistant  to  Dr.  Holmes  for  several  years,  and 
in  consequence  is  familiar  with  coal  business  in 
all  sections. 

A  memorial  committee  for  the  late  Dr. 
Joseph  A.  Holmes,  director  of  the  Bureau  of 
Mines,  has  just  been  appointed  by  James  F. 
Callbreath,  secretary  of  the  American  Mining 
Congress,  and  is  made  public  by  Carl  Scholz, 
the  president.  It  is  expected  that  this  com¬ 
mittee  will  meet  in  Alemorial  Hall,  San  Fran¬ 
cisco,  on  September  21,  when  each  member 
will  make  a  short  address  about  Dr.  Holmes. 
These  addresses  will  be  preceded  by  a  histor¬ 
ical  statement  prepared  by  Van  H.  Manning, 
successor  to  Dr.  Holmes.  The  committee  fol¬ 
lows;  Samuel  Taylor,  Pittsburgh:  George 
H.  Cushing,  Chicago;  J.  H.  Richards,  Boise, 
Idaho;  C.  W.  Goodale,  Butte,  Mont.;  H.  M. 
Lawrie,  Portland,  Ore.;  B.  F.  Millard,  Valdez, 
Alaska;  Dr.  D.  P.  Day,  Washington,  D.  C. ; 
J.  C.  Kolsem,  Terre  Haute,  Ind.;  W.  R.  Wood¬ 
ford,  Cleveland,  Ohio;  T.  H.  O’Brien,  Dawson, 
N.  M.;  John  Hays  Hammond.  New  York  City; 
C.  S.  Keith,  Kansas  City,  Mo.;  Thomas  B. 


Stearnes,  Denver,  Colo.;  Jesse  Knight,  Provo, 
Utah;  M.  D.  Leehey,  Seattle,  Wash.;  Dr.  I.  C. 
White,  Morgantown,  W.  Va.;  P.  J.  Quealy, 
Kemmerer,  Wyo.;  Dr.  Joseph  H.  Pratt,  Chapel 
Hill,  N.  C. ;  E.  W.  Parker,  Wilkes-Barre,  Pa.; 
and  William  Griffith,  Scranton,  Pa. 

Carl  Scholz,  president  of  the  American  Mining 
Congress,  is  having  splendid  success  with  his 
effort  to  get  up  a  special  party  of  coal  men  and 
their  families  to  go  to  the  meeting  of  the  Amer¬ 
ican  Mining  Congress  at  San  Francisco  the  latter 
part  of  this  month.  He  thought  at  first  that  he 
would  be  very  well  satisfied  if  he  filled  one  spe¬ 
cial  car,  but  reports  up  to  the  latter  part  of  this 
week  indicated  that  he  would  be  able  to  fill  at 
least  two  cars.  The  party  will  be  made  up  in 
part  by  men  from  east  of  Chicago,  but  the  indi¬ 
cations  are  that  some  from  Illinois  and  Iowa 
will  join  the  party  here.  The  intention,  as  pre¬ 
viously  outlined,  is  to  leave  Chicago  via  the  Rock 
Island  Railroad,  making  a  stop  for  the  better 
part  of  a  day  at  Salt  Lake  City  and  going  on  to 
San  Francisco  in  time  to  reach  there  Saturday 
morning,  the  18th.  According  to  this  schedule 
the  party  will  leave  Chicago  on  Tuesday  the  14th. 
This  will  give  them  Sunday  in  San  Francisco -be¬ 
fore  the  Mining  Congress  opens  on  Monday,  the 
20th.  There  is  special  interest  for  coal  and  min¬ 
ing  people  in  this  western  trip  just  now  because 
the  international  Engineering  Congress  will  hold 
a  meeting  at  San  Francisco  on  the  20th,  start¬ 
ing  the  same  day  as  does  the  Mining  Congress, 
and  then  on  the  23rd  there  will  be  a  meeting  of 
the  American  Mine  Safety  Association.  In  San 
Francisco  the  headquarters  of  the  American  Min¬ 
ing  Congress  will  be  at  the  Palace  hotel. 


What  the  Ohio  Coal  Mines  Need  Most 


Clevel.«iND  Ohio,  September  1. — Walter  R. 
Woodford,  president  of  the  Rail  &  River  Coal 
Company,  with  mines  at  Bellaire,  recently  gave  out 
the  following  concerning  the  coal  rate  hearing  in 
Ohio : 

“The  discrimination  in  railroad  freight_  rates 
may  have  something  to  do  with  the  present  inabil¬ 
ity  of  Ohio  operators  to  sell  their  coal  in  compe¬ 
tition  with  West  Virginia,  but  when  West  Vir¬ 
ginia  operators  can  sell  their  coal  as  they  are 
doing,  at  70c  or  less  for  mine  run  when  it  costs  us 
about  95c  under  normal  conditions,  it  is  evident 
that  there  is  something  besides  the  freight  rate 
which  must  be  adjusted  and  rearranged.  The 
real  discrimination  is  that  the  miners  union  has 
permitted  a  condition  to  exist  in  West  Virginia 
which  enables  the  operator  to  mine  coal  at  25c 
or  30c  a  ton  less  than  we  can.  The  attached 
figures  show  only  partially  where  West  Virginia 
has  the  advantage  of  Ohio,  and  these  figures  are 
in  a  contract  made  by  the  miners’  union. 

“Another  thing — Hocking  Valley  miners  are  be¬ 
ing  brought  to  Cleveland  at  the  expense  of  the 
state  to  accept  work  on  streets,  etc.,  at  $1.75  per 
day,  when  they  refuse  or  are  not  permitted  to 
work  for  an  operator  in  Ohio  at  less  than  $2.62 
or  $2.84  per  day. 

“Is  there  any  wonder  that  the  operator  is  un¬ 
able  to  furnish  work  to  miners?  These  men  and 
their  families  are  willing  to  accept  charity  rather 
than  work  for  an  Ohio  operator  at  wages  which 
he  is  willing  to  accept  from  the  city  of  Cleveland 
or  from  an  operator  in  West  Virginia. 

“How  long  will  the  people  of  Ohio,  who  really 
have  the  state’s  best  interests  at  heart,  permit 
such  a  condition  to  exist. 

“The  miners  of  the  Hocking  Valley  are  getting 
some  relief  at  present  from  the  public,  but  unless 
this  wage  question  is  corrected  in  the  near  future, 
the  public  will  have  not  only  the  Hocking  Valley 
but  all  of  the  eastern  Ohio  miners  on  their  hands 
as  well,  and  this  means  a  serious  situation  when 
such  a  number  of  persons  have  to  be  supported 
through  a  long  winter. 

“Those  miners  and  others  who  are  being  mis¬ 
led  by  the  miners’  officials  and  politicians  into  the 
belief  that  the  railroads  are  going  to  reduce  their 
rates  and  when  they  do  that  work  will  be  forth¬ 
coming,  will,  I  fear,  be  sadly  disappointed.  A 
reduction  in  or  readjustment  of  railroad  rates  is 
only  one  of  the  things  necessary  to  start  up  the 
mines  of  Ohio. 

“The  state  is  now  suffering  the  penalty  of  the 
passage  of  the  Green  anti-screen  law,  just  as  the 
operators  told  Governor  Cox  and  Willis  and  the 
legislature  that  it  would  suffer,  but  neither  of  the 
gentlemen  named  seemed  to  think  the  operators 
were  honest  in  their  statements.  The  last  legis¬ 
lature  did  believe  in  their  honesty  and  passed 
the  Gallagher  bill,  but  the  delay  on  the  part  of  the 


governor  in  signing  it  made  it  impossible  for  the 
coal  industry  this  year  to  get  the  benefit  of  that 
law. 


“Following  is  a  comparison  of  some  of  the 
items  of  wages  paid  in  No.  8  (Ohio)  District  and 
the  Kanawha  (W.  Va.),  District  (taken  from  the 
contract  between  the  Kanawha  Coal  Operators 
and  the  U.  M.  W.  of  A.) 

“The  rate  for  mining,  loading  and  cutting  ap¬ 
plies  to  Kanawha  seams  1  and  2,  but  the  day  wage 
scale  applies  to  the  whole  Kanawha  District. 

No.  8. 

Pick  mining . $0.6760 

Machine  loading . 39 

Machine  cutting . 08 

Water  haulers .  3.19J 

Motor  and  machine  runners .  S.19^ 

Track  layers .  3.1954 

Track  layers’  helpers .  2.93 

Trappers  . . : . ■ .  1-39 

All  other  inside  day  labor .  2.93 

“The  Kanawha  day  wages  being  for  9  hours’ 
work,  the  No.  8  wages  are  figured  as  for  9  hours 
also.  In  the  unorganized  fields  of  West  Virginia 
the  scale  of  prices  is  much  lower  than  the  above.” 


No.  8. 

Kanawha. 

$0.6760 

$0.49 

.39 

.26 

.08 

.0614 

3.191^ 

2.05 

3.19J^ 

2.55 

3.1914 

2.43 

2.93 

2.00 

1.39 

.89 

2.93 

2.00 

Quite  a  new  factor  has  been  making  its  ap¬ 
pearance  in  the  local  coal  trade  during  the 
past  few  weeks.  This  is  in  the  shape  of  Ital¬ 
ians  who  have  connections  with  firms  in  their 
fatherland  and  who  have  received  letters  ask¬ 
ing  to  be  placed  in  touch  with  American  coal 
firms  who  can  export.  Some  personal  ca-lls 
have  been  made  at  some  of  the  offices  and 
facts  and  figures  have  been  asked  for.  One 
thing  that  is  quite  noticeable,  and  that  is 
there  is  no  disposition  on  the  part  of  the  folk 
at  this  end  to  do  business  for  the  pure  love  of 
the  thing.  In  most  cases  the  query  has  been 
as  to  the  amount  of  commission  the  coal  men 
would  allow  were  they  successful  in  getting  a 
contract. 


Washington  dispatch  advises  that  pressure  is 
being  brought  to  bear  on  the  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission  to  have  extended  the  date  on  which 
the  recent  decision  in  the  anthracite  rate  case 
becomes  effective.  The  date  set  by  the  commis¬ 
sion  was  October,  and  this  may  be  extended  for 
sixty  to  ninety  days.  There  is  some  gossip  to 
the  effect  that  if  the  date  is  not  extended  beyond 
October,  the  receivers  may  go  into  court  and  ask 
for  an  injunction  against  the  commission. 

The  United  Mine  Workers  of  the  anthracite 
regions  meet  at  Wilkes-Barre  next  Tuesday  to 
formulate  demands  to  be  made  upon  the  operators 
at  the  expiration  of  present  wage  agreement, 
April,  next. 

Hampton  Roads  August  coal  exports  were 
618,000  tons.  Exports  from  Philadelphia  and 
Baltimore  will  make  the  total  around  the  one 
million  ton  mark. 


193 


No.  10] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


Facts  Which  Determine  Our  Export  Prospects. 


The  Export  Situation. 

.\t  the  moment  figures  showing  exports 
over  the  Atlantic  seaboard  for  the  month  of 
August  are  not  available.  According  to  early 
estimates  the  totals  for  the  month  will  not 
fall  very  far  short  of  shipments  for  the  month 
of  July,  although  sorne  shippers  were  very 
much  handicapped  during  the  month  for  lack 
of  vessel  tonnage  to  move  coal  under  con- 
tract. 

The  trade  following  very  closely  the  labor 
troubles  in  England,  cables  on  Wednesday  an¬ 
nounced  that  the  Miners’  Federation  had  met 
at  Cardiff  and  had  voted  to  accept  the  terms 
of  settlement  agreed  upon  in  London  on  Tues¬ 
day.  This  will  mean  that  all  of  the  miners 
will  return  to  work  immediately. 

As  is  shown  in  the  Cardiff  market  review, 
published  elsewhere  in  this  issue,  shippers  are 
experiencing  a  great  deal  of  difficulty  in  ex¬ 
porting  coal,  due  to  the  new  government  re¬ 
striction.  To  a  great  many  neutral  coun¬ 
tries  English  exports  have  been  radically  cur¬ 
tailed  during  the  past  several  months,  and 
this  leads  American  shippers  to  anticipate  that 
there  will  be  a  great  many  spot  purchases  of 
American  coal  in  the  very  near  future  to  fill 
pressing  needs. 

American  coal  exporters  are  just  now  work¬ 
ing  on  some  very  big  business  for  trans-At¬ 
lantic  shipment,  but  finding  it  very  difficult  to 
arrange  satisfactory  transportation  as  well  as 
satisfactory  terms  for  payment  of  cargoes. 

At  the  Hampton  Roads  ports  there  is  no 
over-abundance  of  New  River  and  Pocahon¬ 
tas,  and  these  coals  are  held  very  closely 
around  the  $2.85  price. 

Bunker  demand  continues  good  and  is  ex¬ 
pected  to  show  a  very  marked  increase  dur¬ 
ing  the  present  month,  as  a  great  deal  of  ship¬ 
ping  is  expected  because  of  the  commence¬ 
ment  of  the  grain  export  season. 


The  Welsh  Coal  Situation. 

Tuesday’s  cables  told  of  the  settlement  made 
in  London  between  the  leaders  of  the  South 
Wales  coal  miners  and  the  coal  operators 
through  the  offices  of  President  Runciman  of 
the  Board  of  Trade  and  David  Lloyd-George, 
minister  of  munitions.  As  was  announced  in 
The  Black  Diamond  last  week,  10,000  miners, 
dissatisfied  with  the  award  made  them  by 
President  Runciman  following  the  strike  of 
several  weeks  ago,  had  quit  work,  _  From  that 
time  until  Monday  the  number  of  idle  men  in 
the  Welsh  fields  ran  between  ten  and  twenty 
thousand.  The  settlement  made  at  Tuesday’s 
conference,  according  to  the  cables,  gave  the 
miners  all  that  they  asked  for.  Had  no  set¬ 
tlement  been  reached  it  was  stated  that  the 
government  would  have  intervened  and  taken 
the  mines  under  control. 

Latest  mail  advices  from  Cardiff  under  date 
of  August  30th  show  that  the  coal  market  was 
at  that  time  in  a  very  much  unsettled  state, 
due  to  the  difficuly  of  exporting  coal  under 
the  new  government  restrictions.  Since 
August  13th  shippers  have  been  unable  to  ex¬ 
port  coal  except  upon  the  securing  of  special 
licenses  from  the  coal  export  committee  of  the 
War  Trades  Department.  These  authorities 
have  evidently  been  very  careful  as  regards  the 
issuing  of  licenses  and  shippers  are  required 
at  every  instance  to  give  the  name  of  des¬ 
tination  and  consignee.  This  they  are  not  al¬ 
ways  in  a  position  to  do.  Due  to  the  delays 
experienced  in  obtaining  permits,  considerable 
coal  has  accumulated  at  the  piers  and  prices 
have  eased  4  and  5  shillings  per  ton  on  the 
grades  most  traded  in.  Best  and  second  best 
grades  of  Admiralty  are  out  of  the  market. 
Ordinary  seconds  are  quoted  at  24  to  25  shil¬ 
lings;  best  drys  at  24  shillings  to  25  shillings; 
black  veins  at  25  to  26  shillings;  western  val¬ 
leys,  23  to  24  shillings;  best  bunker  smalls,  20 
to  22  shillings  6d.  A  Greek  firm  was  said  to 
be  in  the  market  for  50,000  tons  of  second  Ad¬ 
miralties,  but  quotations  were  subject  to 
licenses  being  obtained  to  export,  also  the 
Admiralty’s  permission  to  release  such  coals. 
Due  to  the  heavy  accumulations  Monmouth¬ 
shire  coals  were  weaker.  Patent  fuel  makers 
have  had  numerous  inquiries  and  nominal  quo¬ 
tations  ranging  from  33  shillings  to  35  shil¬ 


lings.  The  Algerian  states  are  in  the  mar¬ 
ket  for  about  40,000  tons. 

Some  recent  freight  fixtures  from  Cardiff 
have  been  as  follows: 

To  Boulogne,  15  shillings  2d;  to  Bordeaux, 
22  fcs,;  to  Gibraltar,  15  shillings;  to  Genoa,  24 
shillings  6d;  to  Lisbon,  18  shillings;  to  Mar¬ 
seilles,  32  fcs.;  to  River  Plate,  21  shillings;  to 
Rio,  21  shillings  6d;  to  Algers,  26  fcs.;  to  Bar¬ 
celona,  20  shillings;  to  Naples,  20  shillings  lOd, 


Baltimore  Coal  Exports. 

For  week  ending  August  28th,  Baltimore’s 
exports  were: 

Cargo  Coal.  Bunker. 


Aug.  23 — Br.  S.  S.  Claverest,  Cuba .  6,100  300 

Aug.  23 — Br.  S.  S.  Allanton,  Italy .  5,866  1,260 

Aug.  24 — Gr.  S.  S.  Andros,  Greece....  4,407  650 

Aug.  25 — Gr.  S.  S.  Geargios,  Italy .  5,057  550 

.\ug.  25 — Br.  S.  S.  Evandale,  Italy....  5,150  600 

Aug.  26 — Br.  S.  S.  Newstead,  Cuba...  4,000  150 

Aug.  26 — Br.  S.  S.  Harmattan,  Italy...  6,200  830 

Aug.  26 — Swed.  S.  S.  Roland,  Sweuen.  6,243  600 

Aug.  26 — Ital.  S.  S.  Liguria,  Italy .  4,435  984 

Aug.  27 — Gr.  S.  S.  Otbon  Stathalos, 

Uruguay  .  3,335  1,030 

Aug.  27 — Br.  S.  S.  Ecclesia.  Italy .  5,300  1,120 

Aug.  27 — Gr.  S.  S.  Orion,  Italy .  4,300  800 

Aug.  28 — Br.  S.  S.  Sitmouth,  Italy....  5,300  1,000 

Aug.  28 — Nor.  .8.  8.  Senator,  Cuba....  971  250 


Total  .  66,670  10,124 


Coal  Freight  Charters. 

Strs.  Eccelsia  (Br.)  and  Sidraouth  (Br.),  Baltimore 
to  west  coast  Italy,  coal.  Private  terms. 

Str.  Sentor  (Nor.),  Baltimore  to  Manzanillo,  coal. 
Private  terms. 

Schr.  Josephine,  Philadelphia  to  Porto  Cabello,  coal, 
$4.75. 

Str.  Sleidrecht  (Dutch),  Virginia  to  Bahia,  coal,  44s. 
“September.” 

Str.  Jula  Mendi  (Spain),  Virginia  to  west  coast  of 
Italy,  coal,  41s  6d.  “September.” 

Strs.  Allanton  (Br.),  Silvia  (Ital.)  and  Liguria  (Ital.), 
Atlantic  range  to  Italy,  coal.  Private  terms. 

Schr.  A.  J.  Sterling  (Br.),  New  York  to  Moncton, 
N.  B.,  coal,  $1.90. 

Schr.  M.  A.  Bellerwill  (Br.),  New  York  to  Yarmouth, 
N.  S.,  coal,  $1.65;  back  from  Bridgewater,  N.  S.,  lumber. 
Private,  terms. 

Str.  Constantia  Embiricos  (Greek),  Virginia  to  Buenos 
Aires,  coal,  33s  6d.  “September.” 

Schr.  Alice  May  Davenport,  Norfolk  to  Rio  Grande 

do  Sul,  coal,  $9.  Substituted  for  the  James  B.  Brake. 

Str.  Gurre  (Dan),  Philadelphia  to  Coquimbo,  coke, 
$12.  Option  coal  and  coke,  $6.50  and  $11.50,  respec¬ 
tively. 

Strs.  Morte  (Span.)  and  Ellin  (Greek),  Virginia  to 

west  coast  of  Italy,  coal,  41s  6d. 

Str.  Roland  (Swed,),  Baltimore  to  Gothenburg,  coal. 
Private  terms. 

Str.  Evandale  (Br.),  coal,  Baltimore  to  Savona, 

with  options.  Private  terms,  ^ot. 

Str.  Liguria  (Ital.),  coal,  Baltimore  to  west  coast 
of  Italy.  Private  terms,  spot. 

Str.  Allanton  (Br.),  coal,  Baltimore  to  Tarento.  Pri¬ 
vate  terms,  spot. 

Str.  Hellenic  (Swed.),  coal,  Baltimore  to  Sweden. 

Private  terms,  spot. 

Str.  Oaklands  Grange  (Br.),  Norfolk  to  Marseilles, 
coal,  37s.  ^  j  j 

Schr.  James  B.  Drake,  Norfolk  to  Rio  Grande  do 
Sul,  coal,  $9.  “September.” 

Schr.  C.  F.  Cressy,  Baltimore  to  Porto  Rico,  coal. 
Private  terms. 

Str.  Senator  (Nor.),  Baltimore  to  Manzanilla,  coal, 
private  terms. 

Schr.  F.  C.  Pendleton,  Philadelphia  to  St.  John,  N.  B., 
coast.  Private  terms. 

Str.  Hassel  (ex.  Merity),  Virginia  to  Buenos  Aires, 
coal,  33s  7!^d. 

Str.  Silverton  (Br.),  Baltimore  to  River  Plata,  coal. 
Private  terms.  . 

Str.  Charitou  (Br.),  Baltimore  or  Virginia  to  Piraeus, 
coal,  41s  6d.  “September.”  _ 

Strs.  Titania  (Br.)  and  Sesostris  (Greek),  Baltimore 
to  west  coast  of  Italy,  coal.  Private  terms. 


Foreign  Freight  Rates. 

W.  W.  Battie  &  Co.,  Produce  Exchange, 
New  York,  report  as  follows  under  date  of 
August  30th: 

During  the  past  week  we  chartered  a  num¬ 
ber  of  steamers  to  load  coal  for  South  Amer¬ 
ican  and  West  Indian  ports.  Plate  rates  are 
practically  the  same  as  a  week  ago.  Mediter¬ 
ranean  rates  are  firmer;  several  steamers  were 
chartered  last  week  at  41s  6d. 

We  would  quote  freight  rates  on  coal  by 
steamer  as  follows: 


West  Coast  of  Italy . 41s  6d@42s 

Marseilles  . 39s  @40s 


Barcelona  or  other  good  Spanish  port . 38s  @39s 

(.'^anish  dues  for  account  of  cargo.) 

NOTE. — Charters  for  Italy,  France  and 
.Spain  read;  “Lay  days  to  commence 
on  steamer’s  arrival  at  or  off  port  of 
discharge  Is  per  net  register  ton  per 


day  demurrage.” 

Montevideo  about .  33s  Cd 

Buenos  Aires  or  La  Plata,  about . 33s  6d@34s 


(Above  quotations  on  Plate  coal  by  Brit¬ 
ish  steamers.  Neutral  steamers  are 
more  difficult  to  obtain  and  the  rates 
are  always  higher.) 

Rosario,  about .  35s 

Rio  de  Janeiro . 34s6d@35s 

Santos  . 36s  @36s 

(Consignees  paying  docas  dues.) 


Valparaiso  or  Callao,  about .  $7.00 

Havana  .  2.50@3.00 

Cardenas  or  Sagua .  3.00@3.30 

Cienfuegos  .  3.25@3.50 

Port  of  Spain,  Trinidad,  about .  3.75 

St.  Lucia .  3.50@3.7.1 

St.  Thomas .  3.00  @3.2.5 

Barbados,  about .  3.75 

Kingston  .  2.75@3.25 

Curacao  .  3.25  and  p.  c^ 

Sarstiago  .  2.75@3.25 

Guantanamo  .  2.75@3.25 

Demerara  .  4.00@5,00 

Bermuda,  about .  3.00 

Vera  Cruz .  3.25@3.75 

Tampico  .  3.25@3.75 


Export  Trade  Briefs. 

For  the  year  ending  June  30,  1915,  the  United 
States  exported  112,351  tons  of  bituminous  and 
4,292  tons  of  anthracite  to  Porto  Rico.  This 
compares  with  111,877  tons  of  bituminous  in 
the  year  ending  June,  1914,  and  4,663  tons  of 
anthracite  for  the  same  year. 

From  the  opening  of  the  Panama  Canal. 
.\ugust,  1914,  to  June  30th  of  this  year,  56,312 
tons  of  cargo  coal  was  handled  from  the  At¬ 
lantic  to  the  Pacific;  28,212  tons  were  shipped 
from  the  Atlantic  seaboard  ports  to  South 
American  ports  in  the  Pacific;  19,170  tons  go¬ 
ing  to  the  Pacific  coast  of  the  United  States; 
930  tons  to  the  Far  East;  10,700  tons  went 
from  Cardiff  to  unknown  destinations.  There 
were  14,193  tons  of  coke  to  pass  through  the 
canal,  2,350  tons  from  Philadelphia  to  Nou¬ 
mea;  1,877  from  England  to  San  Francisco,  and 
9,996  tons  from  the  Atlantic  seaboard  to  South 
America. 

Coal-peat  fuel  has  been  utilized  in  Canada 
somewhat  extensively,  the  peat  being  mixed 
with  coal  breeze  and  then  pressed  into 
briquettes.  Such  fuel  has  been  found  efficient 
and  economical.  Now  it  is  reported  that 
chalk,  of  which  there  are  large  deposits  in 
Canada,  can  be  converted  into  profitable  fuel. 
The  chalk  is  first  pulverized  and  then  com- 
liined  with  a  certain  percentage  of  breeze  and 
solidified  tar,  and  then  compressed  into  small 
briquettes,  which  are  said  to  have  a  high  cal¬ 
orific  value,  to  burn  freely  and  to  be  smoke¬ 
less. 


Columbus  Contracts  Let. 


On  readvertised  bids  for  municipal  fuel  pur¬ 
poses,  contracts  have  been  awarded  as  follows : 
.Main  pumping  station.  West  Virginia,  $1.40  a 
ton,  Elk  Coal  Company ;  municipal  light  plant. 
Hocking,  $1.19  a  ton,  Victoria  Coal  Company ; 
garbage  reduction  plant,  $1.19,  Victoria  Coal 
Compan}’ ;  city  hall,  parks,  water  works  shop, 
•State  street  yards  and  recreation  centers,  $2.I7J4 
delivered,  M.  A.  Suydam  &  Co.  All  were  Colum¬ 
bus  concerns.  Daily  consumption  of  the  pumping 
station  is  estimated  at  twenty-four  tons,  of  the 
municipal  light  plant  fifty-five  tons,  and  of  the 
garbage  reduction  plant  twenty-five  tons.  Ac¬ 
cording  to  the  city  chemist,  to  whom  was  put  up 
the  controversy  as  to  the  relative  cheapness  of 
Hocking  and  West  Virginia  bids.  Hocking  makes 
the  best  showing  from  the  economical  standpoint 
on  the  three  bids  awarded  that  field. 


The  Buffalo  State  Hospital  is  looking  for  a 
supply  of  slack  coal  for  a  period  of  six  months 
from  October  1st.  Bids  are  to  be  opened  Sep¬ 
tember  8th  by  the  Purchasing  Committee  for  state 
hospitals,  room  138,  Albany,  N.  Y.  The  quantity 
needed  is  about  6,000  tons. 


Johnstown  Mine  Explosion. 


Johnstown,  Pa.,  August  31.—  (Specuil  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — Sixteen  men  are  dead  and  a  score 
or  more  badly  injured  as  the  result  of  an  ex¬ 
plosion  in  the  Orenda  No.  2  mine  of  the  Mer¬ 
chants  Coal  Company  at  Boswell. 

The  explosion  occurred  during  the  forenoon, 
but  it  was  night  before  the  full  extent  of  the 
accident  was  known.  Rescue  parties  sent  out  six 
injured  men  during  the  afternoon,  two  of  whom 
died  later,  one  at  the  mine  mouth  and  the  other 
in  the  Memorial  Hospital,  this  city.  There  are 
three  others  in  a  critical  condition  at  the  hospital 
here. 

This  evening  the  rescue  parties  reached  the 
part  of  the  mine  in  which  the  explosion  occurred 
and  took  out  fourteen  bodies.  None  has  been 
identified  as  yet. 

It  is  said  that  a  fall  of  rock  opened  a  gas 
pocket,  which  was  fired  by  an  open  lamp.  After 
damp  killed  most  of  the  victims. 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[September  4 


194 


General  Review. 


Domestic  Prices  Rise  Due  to  Increased 
Orders  and  to  Fear  of  an  Acute 
Car  Shortage. 

The  actual  development  in  the  national  coal 
trade  within  the  last  week  has  been  first  a  big 
increase  in  orders  for  domestic  coal.  In  some 
sections  the  increase  was  modest  but  perceptible. 
In  others  it  amounted  to  as  much  as  100  per  cent 
of  existing  business.  The  cause  for  the  increase 
was  quite  different  in  different  places.  In  many 
cities  it  was  due  to  cloudy  and  cold  weather, 
waking  the  householder  to  the  appreciation  of  the 
fact  that  winter  is  approaching.  In  very  many 
districts  it  was  due  to  warm  weather  with  sun¬ 
shine  which  dried  up  the  roads  and  allowed  the 
farmers  to  haul  coal. 

The  development  of  second  importance  was 
an  increase  in  price.  In  some  places  this  was 
modest,  being  only  five  cents  a  ton.  In  other 
places  the  rise  amounted  to  twenty-five  cents. 
The  average  perhaps  is  close  to  fifteen  cents. 

Quite  a  factor  was  growing  apprehension  of  a 
car  shortage.  In  some  districts  this  is  not  felt 
at  all.  In  other  sections  it  is  just  beginning  to 
appear.  In  one  or  two  places  it  is  quite  pro¬ 
nounced.  The  trouble  does  not  seem  to  be  in 
actual  shortage  of  cars,  but  a  shortage  of  mo¬ 
tive  power  with  which  to  move  the  cars. 

The  third  important  influence  is  the  return 
of  activity  in  the  exports  of  coal.  Both  Baltimore 
and  Philadelphia  say  that  while  actual  shipments 
are  not  up  to  those  of  June  and  July,  they  are 
rapidly  approaching  that  figure  and  inquiries  for 
future  business  are  very  attractive. 

Another  influence  of  some  importance  is  the 
movement  of  coal  up  the  lakes.  For  a  good  part 
of  the  year  the  vessels  had  no  down-bound  car¬ 
goes  of  iron  ore  because  the  steel  mills  thought 
they  had  nearly  enough  to  carry  them  through. 
Now,  however,  the  steel  mills  are  running  to 
capacity  to  fill  export  orders,  and  in  some  places 
operation  has  been  interfered  with  by  the  lack 
of  iron  ore.  The  movement  of  that  commodity 
is  consequently  quite  heavy  now.  This  brings 
into  commission  a  great  many  boats  which  had 
been  idle  and  these  are  carrying  coal  up  the  lakes. 
This  movement  is  aided  by  the  fact  that  many  of 
the  upper  lake  coal  docks  have  had  such  an  in¬ 
different  movement  to  the  interior,  they  did  not 
believe  that  the  season  was  going  to  develop  any 
active  demand.  The  latter  part  of  August 
changed  this  forecast  materially  and  the  appear¬ 
ance  of  September  indicated  something  approach¬ 
ing  normal  demand.  As  a  consequence  coal  com¬ 
panies  are  shipping  heavily  to  the  lakes. 

Coke  interests  make  the  statement  that  their 
business  is  in  better  condition  today  than  it  has 
been  in  four  years.  For  one  thing,  the  steel  mills 
are  running  to  full  capacity  and  many  foundries 
are  doing  likewise.  This  calls  for  the  full  ton¬ 
nage  of  metallurgical  coke.  Naturally  the  ovens 
are  running  to  capacity  and  the  situation  is  quite 
strong.  This  has  a  double  effect  upon  the  coal 
trade.  It  calls,  of  course,  for  a  big  tonnage  of 
coal  moving  to  the  coke  ovens  and  that  is 
strengthening  the  prices  of  slack,  but  in  order  to 
produce  slack,  there  is  an  increased  production  of 
lump  and  egg.  Were  it  not  for  the  quite  heavy 
demand  for  domestic  fuel,  this  might  easily  re¬ 
sult  in  the  congestion  of  market. 

Strength  of  domestic  coal  is  a  conspicuous 
factor  in  that  market.  As  indicated,  in  places, 
the  demand  is  100  per  cent  heavier  than  it  was  the 
early  part  of  August.  Everywhere  it  shows  a 
decided  improvement.  This  has  two  causes.  The 
first,  of  course,  is  the  fact  that  neither  retailers 
nor  householders  had  stored  coal  during  the  sum¬ 
mer  to  anything  like  normal  amounts.  Septem¬ 
ber  must,  therefore,  supply  its  regular  tonnage 
plus  a  proportion  of  the  amount  not  stored.  The 
second  is  that  August  towards  the  end  of  the 
month  was  quite  cold.  Household  fires  were 
quite  common  and  the  householder  was  not  sure 
that  winter  had  not  set  in  much  ahead  of  sched¬ 
ule,  therefore,  the  householder  bought,  forcing 
the  retailer  to  buy. 

The  anthracite  situation  is  commanding  ana¬ 
lytical  attention,  especially  in  the  east.  There  is, 
for  example,  an  apparent  shortage  as  shown  by 
production  figures  up  to  September  first  of  about 
two  million  tons.  Those  who  have  studied  closely 
say  that  this  must  be  multiplied  by  two  and, 
therefore,  the  real  shortage  is  near  four  million 
tons,  the  additional  amount  having  been  sub¬ 
tracted  from  storage.  Since  the  next  four 
months  are  ones  in  which  the  largest  amount  of 
anthracite  goes  to  the  ultimate  consumer,  the 
question  as  to  whether  there  will  be  a  shortage 
and  a  rise  in  price. 


Chicago  Market. 


The  Buying  of  Domestic  Coal  Is  Boom¬ 
ing,  Cars  Are  Short  and  Screen¬ 
ings  Are  Easier. 


Office  of  The  Black  Diamond, 
Chicago,  September  2. 

For  the  first  time  in  about  four  years  the  Chi¬ 
cago  domestic  coal  market  has  been  on  a  genu¬ 
ine  boom  for  the  last  four  or  five  days.  Some 
sales  agencies  said  it  looked  like  old  times  to 
have  orders  coming  in  by  telegraph  and  tele¬ 
phone  ;  to  have  the  mines  sold  up  for  some  time 
ahead  of  production,  and  to  have  users  of  coal 
urging  delivery.  That  is  the  condition  in  which 
the  Chicago  market  has  been,  especially  on  west¬ 
ern  coal,  for  the  better  part  of  last  week.  This 
is  so  despite  the  fact  that  prices  on  the  average 
are  nearly  fifteen  cents  a  ton  higher  for  Septem¬ 
ber  than  they  were  for  August  delivery. 

The  question  of  orders  is  not  what  is  bothering 
the  sales  agencies,  because  those  are  coming  of 
their  own  accord.  The  thing  that  is  bothering 
them  is  the  supply  of  cars  to  make  deliveries. 
One  operator,  reporting  on  the  situation  in  south¬ 
ern  Illinois,  said  that  only  a  few  empty  cars  were 
on  track,  which  was  only  a  small  percentage  of 
the  cars  needed  and  of  the  number  that  has  been 
available.  This  was  annoying,  but  it  is  explained, 
not  by  the  absence  of  cars,  but  by  the  fact  that 
loads  and  empties  are  held  on  sidings  because  the 
railroads  have  not  the  power  to  move  them  and 
move  the  crops  also. 

Screenings  are  easier.  In  Chicago  proper  one 
and  one-half  inch  screenings  of  ordinary  quality 
have  sold  as  low  as  fifty  cents  a  ton,  with  sixty 
cents  considered  a  good  figure.  Two-inch  screen¬ 
ings  of  better  grade  are  selling  from  sixty-five  to 
seventy-five  cents.  The  highest  grade  screenings 
are  selling  from  seventy  to  seventy-five  cents. 
The  increased  production  of  lump  coal  naturally 
increases  the  production  of  fine  coal. 

Demand  for  anthracite  has  gained  materially 
within  the  last  week.  It  is  impossible  to  get  as 
yet  a  full  statement  of  the  buying  over  the  whole 
territory  reached  through  Chicago,  but  indications 
are  that  while  the  movement  is  heavier,  tonnage 
is  not  quite  up  to  normal,  owing  to  the  competi¬ 
tion  of  other  fuels.  However,  the  demand  shows 
vast  improvement. 

On  the  1st  of  September,  the  producers  of 
smokeless  coal  put  out  a  circular  of  $1.40  on 
mine  run  and  are  holding  to  it.  The  demand 
improved  considerably  because,  for  several  days, 
the  apartment  houses  had  to  maintain  fires.  Both 
in  price  and  in  tonnage  the  situation  is  improved. 
Lump  and  egg  were  easy  for  a  few  days  because 
the  operators  were  increasing  production  in  order 
to  take  care  of  the  demand  for  slack.  In  the  last 
few  days  buying  has  improved  all  over  the  west¬ 
ern  territory  and  the  coal  is  again  firm  at  circular 
of  $2.25.  Prices  on  Thursday  were : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Smokeless —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Mine  run .  $3.45  $1.40 

Lump  and  egg .  4.30  2.25 

Somerset  county  operators  are  beginning  to 
get  the  market  they  have  been  waiting  for.  When 
prices  were  low  they  did  not  care  to  tie  them¬ 
selves  up  on  a  lot  of  cheap  business.  Now  that 
buying  is  improved,  they  realize  the  wisdom  of 
their  policy,  as  prices  are  stronger  and  orders 
increase.  The  leading  mines  have  not  advanced 
the  circular,  but  that  will  come  soon  on  mine  run. 
They  quote  $2  on  lump  and  egg.  Prices  up  to 
Thursday  were : 

F.  p.  B.  F.  p.  B. 

Somerset  County —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Mine  run .  $3.30  $1.25 

Lump  and  egg .  3.75@4.05  1.75@2.00 

There  has  been  something  approaching  a  spurt 
in  buying  of  Hocking  coal  this  week.  This  cornes 
at  the  time  when  some  of  the  mines  were  begin¬ 
ning  a  belated  movement  up  the  lakes.  So  the 
supply  of  coal  for  the  western  territory  is  not 
large  unless  some  mines  which  have  been  closed 
down  are  opened.  The  situation  is  improved 
vastly,  with  indications  of  a  rise  in  price  of  ten 
cents  a  ton  soon.  The  market  up  to  Thursday 


was : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Hocking —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Ij4-inch  lump .  $3.15  $1.50 

Orders,  lately,  for  splint  coal  have  been  more 
abundant.  The  sales  agencies  have  not  beeen  ac¬ 
cepting  the  low  prices  which  prevailed  only  re¬ 
cently  and  today  $1.15  is  the  minimum,  with  $1.25 
a  very  common  figure.  The  prices  up  to  Thurs¬ 


day  were : 

Kanawha — 

l>^-inch  Himp . 

The  demand  for  eastern 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Chicago.  Mines. 

. .  .$3.05@3.15  $1.15@1.25 

Kentucky  coal  has  also 


shown  an  improvement  and  prices  generally  are 
stronger.  One  dollar  and  sixty  cents  is  now 
about  the  minimum  on  any  good  grade  of  coal, 
while  $2  per  ton  is  being  obtained  for  the  best 
grades  at  the  mine.  Prices  up  to  Thursday  were : 

^  F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Eastern  Kentucky —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Domestic  lump . $3.40@3.90  $1.50@2.00 

Egg  . . . . .  3.25  1.35 

According  to  indications  printed  in  the  last 
report,  most  of  the  operators  in  Franklin  county 
advanced  their  prices  on  the  1st  of  September 
to  $1.75  for  lump,  egg  and  No.  1  nut  coal  and 
$1.40  for  No.  2.  Rather  than  causing  any  falling 
off  in  demand,  the  increase  in  price  was  accom¬ 
panied  by  an  increase  in  buying.  Some  of  the 
mines  are  sold  up  for  several  days  ahead  and 
report  some  difficulty  in  getting  enough  cars  to 
move  the  coal.  Mine  run  coal  is  selling  from 
$1.10  to  $1.15  and  screenings  are  a  trifle  easier 
at  sixty-five  to  seventy  cents.  Prices  up  to 
Thursday  were: 


Franklin  County — 

Lump  . 

Egg  . 

No.  1  nut . 

No.  2  nut . 

Mine  run . 

2-inch  screenings.  . .  , 


F.  O.  B. 
Chicago. 
$2.80 
2.80 
2.80 
2.45 
2.15@2!20 
1.70@1.75 


F.  O.  B. 
Mines. 
$1.75 
1.75 
1.75 
1.40 
1.10@1.15 
.65@.70 


One  Williamson  county  operator  put  out  a  new 
circular  this  week  on  lump,  egg  and  No.  1  washed 
coal  at  $1.75;  No.  2  washed,  $1.40;  and  No.  1 
dry  screened  nut  at  $1.50.  The  other  operators 
put  out  a  price  of  $1.60  on  lump  and  egg,  $1.75 
on  No.  1  washed,  and  $1.40  on  No.  2.  All  of  them 
show  increases  in  orders,  as  the  retailers  are 
buying  to  get  in  some  coal  before  the  advance  in 
freight  rates  takes  effect.  The  domestic  sizes 
therefore  are  booming,  but  steam  coal  is  not  mov¬ 
ing  very  well.  Prices  up  to  Thursday  were: 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Williamson  County —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Lump  . $2.65@2.80  $1.60@1.75 

Egg  .  2.65@2.80  1.60@1.75 

No.  1  washed .  2.65@3.80  1.75 

No.  2  washed .  2.45  1.40 


The  major  Saline  county  operators  on  Septem¬ 
ber  1st  issued  a  new  circular  naming  $1.75  on 
lump  egg  and  nut,  $1.40  on  No.  2  nut,  and  $1.30 
on  steam  lump.  The  mines  are  sold  up  for  some 
days  ahead  and  the  difficulty  is  to  make  deliv¬ 
eries,  owing  to  growing  shortage  of  cars.  There 
is  a  fair  demand  for  mine  run  at  $1.15,  while 
screenings  are  a  trifle  easier  at  seventy  to  seventy- 
five  cents.  Prices  up  to  Thursday  were : 


F.  O.  B. 

Saline  County —  Chicago. 

Lump  .  $2.80 

Mine  run .  2.20 

Screenings  .  1.75@1.80 

lJ4-inch  lump .  2.35 


F.  O.  B. 
Mines. 
$1.75 
1.15 
.70®  .75 
1.30 


Springfield  operators  advanced  their  circular 
prices  to  $1.65  on  lump,  egg  and  nut.  Orders 
were  much  heavier  than  they  have  been,  being 
influenced  in  part  by  the  cold  weather  which 
spread  over  the  country  the  latter  part  of  August. 
The  demand  for  mine  run  coal  and  screenings 
has  been  just  fair,  the  latter  being  easy  at  fifty- 
five  to  sixty  cents  on  shipments  from  the  mines 
and  fifty  to  fifty-five  cents  when  on  track.  The 
prices  up  to  Thursday  were : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Springfield —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Lump  .  $2.47  $1.65 

Egg  .  2.47  1.65 

Nut  .  2.47  1.65 

Mine  run .  1.87  1.05 

Screenings  .  1.37@1.42  .65@  .60 

Knox  county  coal  is  unchanged  in  price  as  com¬ 
pared  with  last  week,  but  the  demand  is  better. 
Prices  up  to  Thursday  were : 

F.  p.  B.  F.  p.  B. 
Knox  County —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Lump  .  $2.37  $1.50 

Egg  . , .  2.37  1.50 

Mine  run . 1.87  1.05 

Screenings  .  1.67  .80 


Clinton  operators  are  still  devoting  most  of 
their  output  to  the  steam  trade,  but  they  have 
had  considerable  increase  in  domestic  orders 


from  the  territory 

near  the  mines.  Prices  up  to 

Thursday  were : 

F.  0.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

Clinton — 

Chicago. 

Mines. 

Domestic  lump . 

.  $2.27 

$1.50 

Egg  . 

.  2.07 

1.36 

Nut  . 

1.30 

Mine  run . 

1.10 

Screenings  . 

.70 

The  coke  trade  is  decidedly  better  this  week 
than  it  was  last.  Steel  mills  are  running  to  full 
capacity,  taking  a  great  deal  of  coke,  and  this  is 
advancing  the  prices  on  foundry  by  about  ten 
cents  a  ton  on  the  average.  There  is  a  demand 
for  about  all  the  domestic  coke  that  is  produced 
at  price  ranging  about  even  with  those  previously 
quoted.  The  market  up  to  Thursday  was : 


F.  O.  B. 

Coke —  Chicago. 

Connellsville  . $4.85@5.00 

By-product,  foundry .  4.90@5.10 

By-product,  egg  and  stove .  4.75 

By-product,  nut  .  4.75 

Gas  house  .  3.85@4.00 


No.  10] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


195 


Pittsburgh  Trade. 


Demand  from  the  Homes  Added  to  That 
of  the  Steel  Mills  Makes 
Conditions  Better. 


Office  of  The  Black  Diamond, 
1503  Oliver  Building, 

Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  September  2. 

If  the  naked  truth  must  be  told  “September 
Morn”  finds  a  touch  of  frost  in  the  atmosphere 
that  suggests  a  possibility  of  better  demand  for 
coal  for  domestic  purposes,  and  retailers  are  ex¬ 
periencing  a  little  rush  of  small  orders  for 
“home”  consumption  that  augur  well  for  better 
things  to  come — indicating  that  coal  cellars  and 
bins  are  empty  and  the  winter  supply  as  yet  un¬ 
provided.  Jobbers  have  not  as  a  general  thing 
been  stocking,  and  retail  yards  are  practically 
bare,  hence  the  explanation  of  numerous  hurry  up 
orders  for  one  and  two  car  lots  for  local  delivery 
that  have  been  passing  through  the  ’phones — and 
those  who  have  delayed  are  meeting  with  dis¬ 
appointment  in  the  expectation  of  lower  prices, 
for  while  the  market  for  months  past  has  been 
a  buyer’s  market,  now  the  tide  has  turned  and 
the  seller  is  to  have  an  inning. 

Generally  speaking  the  market  is  unchanged 
from  that  of  a  week  ago,  save  that  prices  are 
more  firm  and  an  upward  tendency  shown  all 
along  the  line.  A  call  on  the  leading  producers 
develops  a  decided  betterment  as  to  sentiment 
and  the  fact  that  offers  of  buyers  for  coal  at 
past  low  prices  are  being  refused  in  many  in¬ 
stances  shows  the  confidence  of  the  producer  in 
the  near  future. 

Quite  considerable  small  demand  has  developed, 
and  largely  increased  shipping  orders  on  existing 
contracts  seems  to  be  the  order  of  the  day.  Slack 
has  been  a  leading  feature  for  some  days,  with 
a  short  supply  and  advancing  prices.  _  No  one 
seems  to  have  any  quantity  on  hand,  owing  to  the 
restricted  mining  operations  of  months  past,  and 
the  light  demand  for  screened  coal.  The  better 
brands  of  gas  slack  are  quoted  today  at  sixty- 
seven  and  one-half  to  seventy-five  cents  spot,  and 
eighty  to  eighty-five  cents  for  October  and  No¬ 
vember  deliveries,  or  up  until  the  close  of  the 
lake  trade,  while  the  opinion  is  voiced  that  slack 
should  and  soon  will  be  bringing  $1.  Other 
coal  quotations  remain  practically  the  same  as 
given  here  last  week.  The  only  larger  inquiry 
we  meet  with  today  is  for  5,000  tons  mine  run, 
two  thousand  tons  three-quarters  lump,  and  2,000 
tons  of  slack  per  month  for  one  year  from  this 
date,  names  not  given,  and  considerable  hesi¬ 
tancy  as  to  prices  is  being  shown  by  parties  quot¬ 
ing.  The  market,  as  near  as  can  be  quoted, 
ranges  about  as  follows,  f.  o.  b.  Pittsburgh : 

Gas  slack . $0.65 @$0.75 

Steam  slack . 55@  .65 

Mine  run .  1.10@1.20 

^  screened .  1.25@1.35 

5/4  screened .  1.30@1.40 

The  Pittsburgh  Coal  Company  has  put  three 
of  their  new  mines  on  the  line  of  the  Montour 
Railroad  into  working  the  past  month.  These 
are  new  operations  now  active  for  the  first  time ; 
another  indication  of  better  conditions.  The 
mines  of  the  Meadowlands  Coal  Company,  in  the 
same  territory,  lately  passing  into  the  hands  of 
receivers,  are  being  operated  by  Messrs.  Theiss 
and  Boggs,  receivers,  awaiting  court  orders  as  to 
a  final  disposition  of  the  properties. 

Officials  of  the  Pittsburgh  Coal  Company  an¬ 
nounced  yesterday  that  mine  No.  10,  near  Athens, 
Ohio,  would  begin  operations  September  3d,  after 
being  idle  nine  months.  These  and  other  factors 
all  bear  on  the  market  and  have  a  bracing  effect 
that  helps  weather  conditions  to  strengthen  prices. 

Local  stock  operators  are  carefully  watching 
the  operations  of  the  Pittsburgh  coal  issues, 
which  are  standing  fairly  firm,  the  preferred  even 
making  a  new  high  record  in  a  sliding  market. 
Close  observers  believe  that  this  stock  is  being 
bought  by  outside  interests  in  big  blocks,  but  so 
carefully  that  the  price  is  not  run  up.  It  is 
thought  the  outstanding  indebtedness  and  back 
dividends  will  shortly  be  paid,  but  as  absolutely 
no  information  is  being  vouchsafed  by  officials 
of  the  company,  any  operations  in  this  stock  must 
be  considered  as  speculative.  It  is  understood 
the  company  will  go  into  the  coke  business  on 
a  moderate  scale  and  the  contracts  for  a  battery 
of  coke  ovens  will  be  let  in  the  very  near  future. 

The  Coke  Trade. 

Coke  maintains  its  strength  also,  and  operators 
are  very  firm  in  their  belief  that  the  next  few 
weeks  will  bear  the  fruit  that  they  have  been  so 
long  hoping  for.  There  is  little  free  coke  in  the 


yards  now,  and  little  accumulating,  and  while  no 
quotable  change  of  prices  can  be  said  to  have 
taken  place,  prices  for  further  than  1915  are  not 
being  quoted.  Some  small  lots  of  foundry  have 
been  marketed  during  the  past  week  as  low  as 
$2.25,  but  the  following  figures  represent  stand¬ 
ard  grades : 


Prompt  furnace . $1.50@1.60 

September  furnace .  1.60@1.75 

Contract,  last  quarter .  1.80@2.00 

Foundry,  spot .  2.40@2.50 

Foundry,  contract .  2.50@2.65 


The  by-product  coke  question  is  entering  the 
field  to  a  considerable  extent,  in  various  ways. 
A  large  producer  of  both  coal  and  coke  informed 
the  writer  yesterday  that  he  was  now  operating 
about  750  of  his  coke  ovens,  but  that  over  500 
were  still  idle,  and  that  he  would  not  blow  them 
in  at  present  prices,  as  he  was  now  selling  his 
coal  more  profitably  to  by-product  ovens,  and  that 
the  coal  orders  from  such  were  taking  his  sur¬ 
plus  output  today  and  would  take  more. 

The  labor  situation,  while  in  nowise  acute,  is 
taking  attention,  and  miners  are  wanted  today  in 
various  sections  in  the  Pittsburgh-Connellsville 
districts.  The  Jamison  Coal  &  Coke  Company, 
the  Pittsburgh-Westmoreland  Coal  Company  and 
others  require  additional  forces  at  their  various 
operations,  and  the  call  continues  to  come  from 
West  Virginia  and  Kentucky  for  help. 


Pittsburgh  Personals. 

Mr.  Gryce,  sales  manager  of  the  Carnegie  Coal 
Company,  is  lost  to  the  trade,  by  virtue  of  a 
month’s  vacation. 

M.  F.  McDermitt,  general  sales  manager  of  the 
Four  States  Coal  Company,  is  spending  a  week 
with  the  lake  trade  and  other  northwest  interests. 

George  Paul,  vice-president  of  the  Common¬ 
wealth  Fuel  Company,  returned  today  from  a 
business  trip  east,  in  the  interests  of  his  com¬ 
pany. 

J.  G.  Geegan,  general  manager  of  the  Clyde 
Coal  Company,  who  has  been  ill  at  home  for 
some  weeks,  is  convalescent  again  and  will  be  on 
duty  in  a  few  days. 

H.  R.  Hyndman,  of  the  Washington  Coal  & 
Coke  Company,  who  has  been  spending  a  month 
in  the  wilds  of  Algonquin  Park,  Canada,  alone, 
save  the  company  of  his  guide,  returns  to  his 
office  in  the  First  National  Bank  building  today. 

John  M.  Jamison,  president  of  the  Jamison 
Coal  &  Coke  Company,  who  was  reported  in  The 
Black  Diamond  New  York  news,  of  August  31st, 
by  mistake,  to  have  returned  from  France,  is  still 
abroad,  and  will  probably  remain  there  for  some 
time  yet,  as  no  definite  date  has  been  set  for 
his  return. 

A  coal  transaction  involving  nearly  5,000  acres 
was  closed  last  week  between  the  Rochester  & 
Pittsburgh  Coal  Company  and  the  Buffalo  & 
Susquehanna  Coal  &  Coke  Cornpany,  two  of  the 
largest  operating  corporations  in  the  bituminous 
coal  district.  For  2,019  acres  of  coal  in  Jeffer¬ 
son,  Clearfield  and  Armstrong  counties,  the 
Rochester  &  Pittsburgh  Company  has  traded  to 
the  Buffalo  &  Susquehanna  Company  a  slightly 
larger  acreage  in  Indiana  county,  in  the  White 
Bush  Flats  region. 

Joseph  A.  Donnelly  recently  sold  554  acres  of 
coal  and  limestone  land  in  Washington  town¬ 
ship,  Butler  county,  to  the  Pittsburgh  Limestone 
Company,  but  the  amount  of  money  which 
changed  hands  was  not  made  public.  The  royal¬ 
ties  paid  for  limestone  lands  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  property  which  was  sold  amounts  to  be¬ 
tween  $1,200  and  $1,500  and  on  coal  lands  it 
averages  about  $400  per  acre.  According  to  the 
figures  the  value  of  the  land  sold  will  probably 
amount  to  $1,000,000.  The  sale  is  one  of  the 
largest  transactions  in  coal  lands  which  has  ever 
been  made  on  Butler  county  coal  property. 

Eighteen  men  were  killed  and  a  score  injured 
in  an  explosion  at  Orenda  mine  No.  2  of  the 
Merchants  Coal  Company  at  Boswell,  Pa.,  yes¬ 
terday.  Several  of  the  si.xteen  unidentified  dead 
are  of  American  birth.  All  of  the  bodies  are  so 
badly  burned  and  blackened  that  identification 
was  impossible  tonight.  Practically  every  man 
in  the  path  of  the  explosion  and  in  the  workings 
reached  by  after-damp  was  killed.  The  injured 
list  shows  only  three  men.  The  explosion  oc¬ 
curred  deep  in  the  mine.  The  roof  in  a  room 
dropped,  opening  a  gas  pocket  which  ignited  from 
an  open  lamp.  Several  bodies  were  taken  from 
this  room,  also  charred  so  as  to  be  unrecog¬ 
nizable.  Rescue  squads  started  into  the  mine 
within  fifteen  minutes  after  the  explosion  oc¬ 
curred,  but  it  required  hours  for  them  to  make 
their  way  to  the  deeper  drifts.  Three  hundred 
men  were  in  the  mine  when  the  let-go  came. 


Detroit  Trade. 


Detroit,  Mich.,  September  2. —  (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — Though  orders  for  steam  coal  are 
still  of  very  moderate  size  the  frequency  with 
which  they  are  being  booked  continues  to  impart 
a  stimulating  effect  on  the  Detroit  market  and 
shippers  assert  that  the  situation  at  present  is 
much  more  satisfactory  and  by  far  more  encour¬ 
aging  than  the  conditions  under  which  business 
has  been  done  for  several  months  past. 

With  the  rather  steady  demand  for  stock  a 
tendency  toward  greater  firmness  of  prices  is  ap¬ 
parently  developing.  In  the  repetition  of  small 
orders  shippers  see  proof  of  the  lessened  move¬ 
ment  of  consignment  coal  to  the  Detroit  market. 
That  consignment  coal  is  still  being  brought  into 
Detroit,  the  shippers  do  not  dispute,  but  with  the 
quantity  of  such  stock  curtailed,  the  amount  that 
is  being  put  on  the  market  at  forced  sale  has 
diminished  to  a  point  where  consumers  in  search 
of  cheap  coal  are  quite  often  unable  to  find  any 
available  when  they  find  it  necessary  to  buy. 

After  a  few  experiences  of  that  nature,  the 
consumer,  the  shippers  say,  is  more  willing  to 
come  to  a  realization  of  the  fact  that  by  ordering 
his  stock  on  a  mine  shipment  basis,  he  will  be 
certain  to  have  a  supply  on  hand  when  it  is 
needed  and  of  the  character  and  quality  he  de¬ 
sires,  even  if  it  does  cost  a  few  cents  a  ton  more 
for  the  coal. 

In  the  domestic  coal  trade  the  outlook  also  is 
taking  on  a  slightly  more  encouraging  aspect,  the 
shippers  say.  Following  a  summer  of  heavy  rain¬ 
fall  and  low  temperatures,  the  weather  for  the 
last  week  has  been  of  a  brand  more  suggestive  of 
October  or  early  November  than  of  late  mid¬ 
summer. 

Atmospheric  conditions  have  had  a  tendency  to 
direct  attention  of  domestic  coal  users  to  the 
extent  of  their  supply  on  hand,  much  earlier 
than  in  previous  years.  While  the  amount  of 
business  resulting  from  the  chill  weather  is  not 
yet  large  it  is  expected  that,  with  a  few  days 
more  of  such  weather  the  buyers  of  domestic 
coal  will  be  coming  into  the  market  in  consider¬ 
able  numbers. 

The  fact  that  many  families  are  now  returning 
to  their  homes  after  having  spent  the  summer  at 
various  outing  resorts,  also  is  counted  on  to  add 
very  materially  to  the  volume  of  business  in 
domestic  stock  in  the  next  few  weeks.  The  same 
circumstances  are  expected  to  bring  a  stronger 
activity  in  the  retail  distribution  of  anthracite, 
this  being  strengthened  also  by  the  circumstance 
that  October  1  will  bring  an  advance  of  fifty 
cents  a  ton  on  hard  coal  for  domestic  consumers 
in  the  local  market. 


The  rail-lake  movement  of  coal  is  far  short  of 
the  quantity  usually  handled  at  this  season  of  the 
year. 


Prices  in  the  Detroit 

market  on  mine 

shipment 

orders  are : 

F.  O.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

West  Virginia  Gas — 

Mines. 

Detroit. 

Three-quarter  lump . 

.  1.10 

2.50 

Mine  run . 

.  .90 

2.30 

Slack  . 

2.15@2.25 

West  Virginia  Splint — 

Four-inch  lump . 

.  1.50@1.75 

1.90@2.15 

Two-inch  lump . 

.  1.25@1.40 

2.15@2.30 

Three-quarter  . 

.  1.10 

2.50 

Mine  run . 

.  1.00 

2.40 

Nut,  pea  and  slack. 

1.95@3.05 

Smokeless — 

Lump  and  egg . 

.  2.25 

3.85 

Nut  . 

.  1.75 

8.35 

Slack  . 

Open 

Mine  run . 

.  i.25 

2.85 

Kentucky  Splint — 

Lump  . 

.  1.60@1.75 

$3.00@3.15 

Egg  . 

.  1.25@1.40 

2.66@2.80 

Nut,  pea  and  slack . 

.  .65 

2.05 

Fairmount — 

Three-quarter  steam  lump.. 

2.25@2.35 

Mine  run . 

. 70@  .80 

2.10@2.20 

Slack  . 

Open 

Hocking  Valley — 

Shaker  three-inch  lump.... 

.  1.50 

2.65 

Shaker  egg  and  nut . 

.  1.15 

2.30 

Domestic  lump . 

.  1.35 

2.50 

Three-quarter  lump  . 

.  1.25@1.30 

2.40@2.45 

Mine  run . 

.  1.00@1.10 

2.15@2.25 

Nut,  pea  and  slack . 

Open 

Pittsburgh  No.  8 — 

Three-quarter  lump . 

.  1.15 

2.30 

Mine  run . 

.  1.05 

2.20 

Slack  . 

Open 

Jackson  Hill — 

Domestic  lump . 

.  2.50 

3.65 

Cambridge — 

Three-quarter  lump . 

.  1.20 

2.35 

Mine  run . 

.  1.10 

2.25 

Pomeroy — 

Two  and  three-inch  lump.  . 

.  1.60 

2.75 

Egg  . 

.  1.35 

2.50 

Slack  . 

Open 

James  DeWolfe,  after  attending  a  reunion  of 
his  Civil  war  regiment  in  Mt.  Vernon,  Ohio,  and 
spending  a  few  days  in  Columbus,  is  back  in 
Detroit,  where  he  is  the  representative  of  the 
Pittsburgh  and  New  Pittsburgh  Coal  Companies. 


196 


[September  4 


Cincinnati  Trade. 


Demand  Is  Improving  Slowly  and  Prices 
Are  a  Shade  Stronger — No 
Advances  Made. 

Cincinnati,  Ohio,  September  2. —  (Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — With  the  opening  of  a  new  montli 
the  market  contimics  in  much  better  shape  and 
lioth  splint  and  smokeless  dealers  have  little  cause 
to  grumble.  Tlie  splint  man,  in  general,  reports 
that  the  market’  is  rapidly  improving  and  that 
prices  are  a  shade  better  and  that  all  that  it  is 
reasonable  to  expect  in  a  market  that  has  been 
demoralized  so  long,  is  coming.  Some  of  them, 
however,  are  yet  complaining  that  they  see  little 
difference.  The  improvement  is  here,  they  will 
admit,  but  they  do  not  enthusiastically  hail  it 
and  point  to  the  dilatoriness  of  the  country  dealer 
in  placing  his  stocks  as  a  proof  that  the  market 
is  no  better. 

The  fact,  however,  remains  that  the  market  is 
better  and  is  daily  growing  more  secure  and  firm. 
Demand  for  nut  and  slack  is  growing  day  by 
day,  legitimately,  and,  coupled  with  that  is  the 
fact  that  mine  run  can  be  shipped  either  to  the 
sea  coast  or  to  the  lakes  at  any  time,  now,  that 
cars  can  be  obtained,  and  this  gives  relief.  Better 
prices  rule  also  and  but  few  loads  of  cheap,  good 
coal  are  now  to  be  found.  Within  the  past  week 
lump  and  egg,  both  wa.shed  and  unwashed,  has 
increased  in  demand  and  are  growing  much  bet¬ 
ter  in  a  domestic  way.  The  cool  weather  that 
was  general  at  the  beginning  of  the  week  had  a 
hint  at  Jack  Frost’s  coming  that  was  too  serious 
to  be  overlooked.  For  two  or  three  days  last 
week  and  for  the  whole  period  this  week  orders, 
which  had  been  suspended  earlier  were  released 
and  shipped.  Suspended  orders  were  renewed, 
the  latter  at  the  prevailing  prices,  some  ten  to 
fifteen  and  twenty  cents  heavier  than  when  they 
were  cancelled.  Contracts  have  been  closed  and 
new  orders  given,  or  former  orders  increased  in 
almost  every  local  office. 

Smokeless  operators  here  are  keeping  their 
eyes  anxiously  on  Chicago  to  see  what  the  deal¬ 
ers  there  have  done  toward  keeping  the  pact  for 
prices  in  September,  some  of  them  having  failed 
to  uphold  August  prices.  In  Cincinnati  the  Au¬ 
gust  figures  were  held  up  to  the  schedule,  and 
these  are  unchanged  for  September:  Lump  and 
egg,  $2.2.5;  run  of  mine,  $1.40;  nut,  $1.25  and  nut 
and  slack,  or  slack,  $1.00  per  ton.  There  will 
be  no  deviation  in  this,  and  it  is  expected  that 
Chicago  dealers  will  follow  suit.  Splint  oper¬ 
ators  are  not  in  such  secure  position  but  they 
are  in  better  position  than  for  many  weeks,  even 
months.  Cabin  Creek  district  reports  2-inch 
block,  $1.35,  run  of  mine  slow  and  no  market 
practically,  nut  and  slack  sixty  cents.  Miller’s 
Creek  district  reports  four-inch  block  at  $2.25 ; 
lk2-inch  block,  $2.10;  egg,  $1.85;  run  of  mine, 
none  free;  nut  and  slack  out  of  the  market  by 
reason  of  contract  requirements.  Fairmont  nut 
and  slack  is  out  of  the  market  but  any  chance 
tonnage  would  be  hailed  at  eighty-five  cents,  ac¬ 
cording  to  operators  of  that  district.  One  and 
one-half-inch  lump  in  that  field  is  quoted  at 
$1.40;  three-fourths-inch  nut  and  slack,  $1.20; 
mine  run,  $1.00.  Other  West  Virginia  districts 
report  run  of  mine  ninety  to  $1.00;  gas,  eighty  to 
ninety-five;  spot  nut  and  slack,  fifty-five  cents; 
contract,  seventy-five  and  eighty  cents;  low  grade 
nut  and  slack  has  risen  to  seventy  cents  in  most 
of  the  districts.  In  the  domestic  sizes  2-inch 
block  is  quoted  and  held  at  $1.25  and  4-inch  at 
$1.50  and  $1.60. 

In  all  these  districts  nut  and  slack  are  in  great 
demand  and  are  very  strong.  Lump  and  egg,  or 
large  and  small  block,  as  the  case  may  be,  are 
growing  in  demand  and  will  be  firm  by  the  mid- 
<lle  of  the  month  at  better  prices,  according  to 
the  prognostication  of  many  operators  and  sales¬ 
men  who  have  been  pessimistic  up  to  this  week. 

Car  shortage  is  here.  Quite  a  number  of  West 
Virginia  operations  have  been  interrupted  in  their 
mining  by  lack  of  cars.  Some  have  closed  down 
from  one  to  three  days  for  the  past  two  weeks, 
owing  to  scarcity  of  cars.  On  the  C.  &  O.  it  is 
more  pronounced  than  on  the  N.  &  W.  or  the 
others,  but  there  is  a  slip  frequently  now  in  the 
number  of  cars  allotted  and  the  number  delivered. 
The  railroads  deny  that  there  is  a  shortage  of  cars, 
but  the  operators  will  lift  both  hands  and  a  foot 
if  required  when  they  answer  there  is  a  shortage, 
and  a  serious  shortage,  with  worse  conditions  to 
follow.  If  it  were  not  for  the  car  shortage  the 
labor  shortage  would  have  been  evident  even  now. 
It  will  become  more  and  more  in  evidence  as  the 
davs  go  by. 

The  Rip  Van  Winkles  among  the  retail  dealers 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


in  the  interior  are  slumbering  still,  and  the  empty 
bins  and  yards  will  be  snowed  under  if  the  pre¬ 
dictions  of  the  operators  come  true,  before  the3f 
are  filled  with  cheap  coal  this  season. 


Cincinnati  Trade  News. 

R.  S.  McVeigh  has  just  returned  from  a  visit 
to  the  east. 

C.  F.  Her,  a  dealer  of  Carnstown,  Ky.,  was  a 
visitor  in  the  city  this  week. 

President  J.  M.  Wright  of  the  Raleigh  Coal  & 
Coke  Company  is  .still  tryiiTg  to  enjoy  the  breezes 
of  the  ocean  in  Rhode  Island  on  his  vacation  with 
his  family. 

Tom  N.  Mordue  of  the  Castner,  Curran  & 
Bullitt  Company,  Chicago  office,  and  W.  H.  Har¬ 
ris,  Qiicago,  representative  of  E.  L.  Hedstrom 
&  Company,  were  in  Cincinnati  this  week. 

The  Consolidation  Coal  Company,  through  T. 
11.  Richardson,  local  manager,  has  renewed  con¬ 
tract  with  the  Factory  Power  Company  of  Oak¬ 
ley,  which  serves  power  to  about  a  dozen  large 
manufacturies  of  that  suburb  of  Cincinnati,  for 
20,000  tons  of  coal  for  the  ensuing  year. 

Bernhard  Freudenstein,  manager  of  the  foreign 
department  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  is  in 
Europe  traveling  in  the  interest  of  the  business 
of  the  city.  He  sends  back  letters  frequently, 
containing  information  and  coal  orders  for  Cin¬ 
cinnati  coal  companies.  He  is  quite  successful  m 
getting  coal  men  in  touch  with  interests  in  neutral 
Europe,  and  also  some  of  the  belligerent  coun¬ 
tries,  in  need  of  American  coal  and  the  continu¬ 
ance  of  negotiations  between  them  are  conducted 
at  close  quarters  and  are  generally  fruitful  of 
good  business  for  the  Cincinnati  coal  interests. 

Newspaper  men,  lawyers,  and  detectives  have 
been  busily  engaged  in  uncovering  an  unsavory 
chapter  in  the  life  of  John  C.  C.  Mayo,  the  Ken¬ 
tucky  coal  baron,  owner  of  millions  in  coal  leases 
and  lands,  whose  life,  from  a  backwoods  school 
teacher  to  a  wealthy  mine  owner,  reads  like  a 
IMonte  Cristo  romance.  A  pretty  widow,  a  young 
son  imputed  to  the  millionaire  coal  man  and 
escapades  in  different  parts  of  the  country  are 
being  dragged  to  light,  regardless  of  the  feelings 
of  the  friends  of  the  dead  man.  The  story  of 
^the  woman  has  been  told  to  Cincinnati  lawyers 
and  detectives  and  reproduced  in  the  papers. 

Nearly  all  the  coal  men  of  Cincinnati  are  out 
of  the  city  this  week,  scattered  all  over  the  coun¬ 
try.  Kuper  Hood  is  in  New  York.  Frank  B. 
Stewart  is  in  Philadelphia  attending  a  directors’ 
meeting  of  his  company,  the  Winifrede  Coal  Com¬ 
pany,  after  which  he  goes  to  New  York.  Hugh 
Jenks  is  in  the  coal  fields.  Fred  Legg  is  down 
in  West  Virginia  looking  around  among  the 
mines.  E.  J.  Howe  is  at  the  Pocahontas  mines. 
L.  ]\L  Webb  is  at  the  mines.  D.  Cave  is  on  his 
vacation  in  Indiana  and  E.  E.  Minor  is  in  the 
east,  trying  to  rest  a  few  days.  Alex  Vowles  is 
on  the  road,  despite  the  serious  train  accident  in 
a  tunnel  in  West  Virginia  which  laid  him  up  a 
few  days.  The  absence  of  all  these  national 
warmers  from  their  usual  places  of  business  may 
explain  the  recent  drive  made  on  their  intrench- 
ments  by  their  old  friend  and  enemy.  General  J. 
Frost. 

The  close  of  the  convention  last  week  of  the 
National  Commissary  Managers’  Association  of 
America  was  marked  by  intense  interest.  Chi¬ 
cago  was  selected  as  the  convention  city  for  next 
year.  The  business  features  of  the  convention 
were  very  instructive  to  the  membership  and  did 
much  to  solidify  the  organization  and  will  tend 
to  make  it  more  effective.  The  addresses  were 
pertinent,  to  the  point  and  very  instructive  and 
entertaining.  The  social  features  were  well  en- 
joj'ed  by  the  visitors  and  delegates  of  whom  there 
were  close  800.  The  election  resulted  in  a  re- 
election  of  Tracey  D.  Luccock  of  Chicago,  secre¬ 
tary-treasurer.  Other  selections  were:  J.  Mil- 
ton  Bailey,  Penland,  N.  C.,  president ;  vice-presi¬ 
dents.  G.  A.  Musson,  Pacific  Coast,  Reed,  Cal.; 
A.  M.  Phillips,  Altoona,  Ala.,  Southern ;  E.  L. 
Harlev.  Warren,  Ark.,  Central;  F.  S.  Meyer,  Hop¬ 
kins,  Fla.,  Southeastern;  John  1.  Bellaire.  Blaney, 
IMich.,  Northern;  J.  W.  Walters,  Franklin,  N.  J., 
Eastern, 

Cincinnati  coal  men  were  astonished  this  week 
to  learn  that  the  executive  committee  of  the 
Splint  and  Gas  Coal  Association  of  West  Vir¬ 
ginia  had  selected  Tom  L.  Lewis,  the  well-known 
labor  leader  and  former  president  of  the  United 
Mine  Workers  of  America,  as  their  secretary. 
The  Splint  &  Gas  Coal  Association  of  West  Vir¬ 
ginia  was  formerly  known  as  the  High  Volatile 
Coal  Association  of  the  .state,  but  there  was  some 
objection  to  the  designation,  “High  Volatile,”  and 
it  was  abandoned,  and,  recently,  the  new  name 


was  adopted.  The  organization  combines  to¬ 
gether  all  the  companies  not  represented  in  the 
association  of  the  smokeless  people  and  all  those 
outside  the  West  Virginia  Coal  Operators’  Asso¬ 
ciation.  The  secretaryship  of  the  new  association 
is  practically  an  executive  position  and  requires, 
under  the  objects  of  the  association,  a  high  char¬ 
acter  of  executive  ability  as  well  as  ability  in 
business  administration.  In  the  interim  of  find¬ 
ing  such  a  man  E.  T.  Hea.sley,  private  secretary 
of  Quinn  Morton,  president  of  the  Imperial  Coal 
Company,  and  of  the  Imperial  Coal  Sales  Com¬ 
pany  was  appointed  assistant  secretary. 

Twin  Cities  Trade. 


Minneapolis  and  St.  Paul,  September  2. — 
(Special  Correspondence.) — Coal  market  condi¬ 
tions  in  this  territory  are  chiefly  interesting  on 
account  of  the  varied  features,  all  of  which  seem 
to  contribute  to  delay  in  buying  on  the  part  of 
large  purchasers  of  coal.  The  delay  in  the  season 
and  the  presence  of  cold  weather  last  week  all 
operated  to  prevent  earh'  threshing,  hence  a  great 
deal  of  coal  in  dealers’  bins  for  this  purpose  is 
not  moving  out.  It  will  probably  be  a  couple  of 
weeks  before  threshing  is  in  full  swing.  In  the 
meantime,  unless  household  fires  are  a  necessity, 
it  is  not  to  be  expected  that  dealers  will  buy  very 
liberally.  Their  bins  are  full  and  there  is  a  re¬ 
luctance  on  the  part  of  the  average  consumer  to 
purchase  fuel  until  he  absolutely  needs  it. 

The  recent  advance  in  freight  rates  in  western 
territory  will  not  affect  anthracite  prices  in  the 
northwest.  .\%  a  matter  of  fact,  owing  to  the 
advance  in  all-rail  freight  rates  into  some  parts 
of  Iowa,  Nebraska  and  Kansas,  the  territory  for 
the  distribution  of  coal  from  the  Lake  Superior 
and  Michigan  docks  will  undoubtedly  be  in¬ 
creased.  Rail  movement  is  practically  prohibited 
by  the  increased  rate  in  much  of  that  territory. 

The  full  effect  of  the  .advance  in  Illinois  rates 
is  not  yet  apparent,  but  some  indications  of  its 
influence  are  already  seen.  Some  of  the  milling 
companies  in  the  central  and  western  part  of 
iVIinnesota  are  making  tests  of  dock  coal,  with  a 
view  to  giving  it  preference  if  the  cost  per  barrel 
of  flour  shows  up  satisfactorily.  One  large  mill¬ 
ing  company  has  completed  its  test  and  has  con¬ 
cluded  to  give  smokeless  screenings  from  Duluth 
the  preference,  claiming  that  on  the  present  rate 
the  Duluth  coal  will  make  a  saving.  The  south¬ 
ern  Illinois  rate  to  this  mill  is  $2.20  per  ton  and 
the  Duluth  rate  $1.40.  Illinois  coal  will  lose  about 
3,000  tons  per  annum  in  this  one  instance. 

Dealers  who  handle  Illinois  coal,  especially 
Franklin  county,  have  not  yet  reached  a  decision 
as  to  their  future  plans.  It  is  safe  to  say,  how¬ 
ever,  that  those  who  have  used  any  considerable 
tonnage  will  continue  to  handle  the  coal  the 
present  season,  attempting  to  make  an  advance 
in  their  retail  price  to  cover  the  extra  cost  of 
transportation.  The  full  effect  of  the  advance  in 
that  branch  of  the  business  will  not  be  apparent, 
however,  until  next  year.  If  the  quality  of  the 
coal  will  sustain  a  higher  price  in  competition 
with  dock  coal,  undoubtedly  some  Illinois  coals 
will  continue  to  be  sold  in  this  territory  for  do¬ 
mestic  purposes. 

Current  quotations  on  leading  grades  of  coal 
sold  in  this  market  are  as  follows : 


ANTHRACITE. 

F.  O.  R  F.  O.  B. 

Duluth  Minneapolis 
and  and 

Superior.  St.  Paul. 


Grate  .  $6.60  $7.80 

Egg  .  6.85  8.05 

Stove  .  6.85  8.05 

Nut  .  7.10  8.30 

Pea  .  5.50  6.70 

Buckwheat  .  4.00  5.20 


BITUMINOUS. 

Splint,  screened  lump  and  stove. $3.30@3.40  $4.26@4.36 

Splint,  dock  run .  3.10  4.06 

Hocking,  screened  lump  and  stove  3.30@3.40  4.26@4.36 

Hocking,  dock  run .  3.00  3.96 

Youghiogneny,  gas,  lump  and  stove  3.30@3.40  4.26@4.36 

Youghiogheny,  gas,  dock  run .  3.10  4.06 

Pittsburgh  vein,  lump .  3.30@3.40  4.26@4.36 

Pittsburgh  vein,  dock  run .  3.00  3.96 

Poc.ihontis,  screened  lump  or  egg  4.75  5.71 

Pocahontas,  screened  lump  and 

egg  mixed .  4.50  5.46 

Pocahontas,  mine  run .  3.25  4.21 

Cannel,  lump .  5.25  6.21 

Smithing,  bulk .  4.25  5.21 

Smithing,  in  100-lb.  sacks .  6.00  6.96 

Briquets,  anthracite .  5.00  5.96 

Briquets,  smokeless .  5.00  5.96 

In  the  Illinois  trade  the  range  of  prices  on 

southern  Illinois  product  on  the  various  sizes  is 


as  follows : 

Southern  Illinois  chunks  . $1.65@1.75  $3.85(®3.9.) 

Southern  Illinois  egg  .  1.65@1.75  3.85@3.95 

Southern  Illinois  No.  1  nut .  1.65@1.75  3.85@3.95 

Southern  Illinois  No.  2  nut .  1.25@1.40  3.45@3.60 

Southern  Illinois  No.  3  nut .  1.10@1.25  3.30@3.45 

Southern  Illinois  run  of  mine....  1.15(S1.25  3.35@3.45 

Southern  Illinois  2-in.  screenings  .60@  .70  _  2.80@2.90 

Southern  Illinois  includes  Franklin  county. 


Harrisburg  and  Williamson  county. 


No.  10] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


197 


St.  Louis  Trade. 


St.  Louis^  Mo.,  September  2. —  {Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.') — The  opening  days  of  the  fall  mar¬ 
ket  showed  a  brisk  demand  on  all  grades  of  coal, 
especially  in  domestic  sizes.  Steam  sizes  are 
holding  on  remarkably  well.  The  southern  Illi¬ 
nois  mines  are  all  running  practically  full,  and 
the  standard  mines  are  nearly  so.  Screenings 
also  are  surprisingly  steady  for  this  time  of  year, 
and  are  bringing  good  prices.  Current  prices 
on  standard  coal  are  as  follows : 


Standard  Coal 
6-inch  lump  .  .  . 
6.x3-inch  egg  . . 
2-inch  lump  .  .  . 
Steam  egg  .... 

No.  1  nut  . 

No.  2  nut  . 

Mine  run  . 

Screenings  .  .  ■  . 


F.  0.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

Mine. 

St.  Louis. 

.  .$1.20 

$1.77^ 

..  I. 00 

1.57)4 

.  .  1.00 

1.57)4 

.  .  .80 

1.37)4 

.  .  .90 

1.47)4 

.  .  .80 

1.37)4 

.  .  .85 

1.42)4 

.  .  .60 

1.17)4 

On  Mt.  Olive  coal  there  is  a  better  demand 
from  the  north  than  locally,  with  prices  as  fol¬ 
lows  : 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Mine.  St.  Louis. 


6-inch  lump  . $1.40  $1.97}4 

2-inch  lump  .  1.20  1.77J4 

Screenings  . 60  1.1754 


On  Williamson  county  coals  the  demand  is 
much  stiffen  than  it  has  been  for  some  time  in 
the  past.  Prices  are  getting  steadier  with  the 
advent  of  the  first  cool  days.  Operators  are  op¬ 
timistic  over  the  way  the  orders  are  coming  in. 
Prices  are  as  follows : 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Mine.  St.  Louis. 


6-inch  lump  or  egg  . $1.50 

3x2-inch  nut  .  1.20 

Screenings  . 60 


$2.2254 
1.92  54 
1.32)4 


Franklin  county  operators  are  fairly  swamped 
with  orders,  which  are  pouring  in.  September  1st 
showed  a  general  advance  of  fifteen  cents  on 
Christopher,  with  no  decline  in  orders  on  the 
first  day  of  the  increase  in  price.  They  are  as 
follows : , 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Mine.  St.  Louis 


6-inch  lump,  egg  or  nut . $1.75  $2.47J4 

No.  2  stove  . . .  .• .  1.40  2.1254 

Screenings  . 70  1.4254 

Anthracite  has  shown  a  big  influx  of  orders 
in  the  last  few  days,  both  from  the  city  and  the 
surrounding  territory. 

Smokeless  and  coke  are  picking  up  consid¬ 


erably  : 

Anthracite — • 

F.  O.  B.St.  Louis. 

Chestnut  . $7.55 

Stove  or  egg .  7.30 

Grate  .  7.05 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Smokeless —  Mine.  St.  Louis. 

Lump  or  egg  . $2.25  $4.75 

Gas  House  Coke —  F.  O.  B.  St.  Louis 

Gas  house  coke  . $4.25 

By-product  coke  (all  sizes) . $4.50 


The  prices  on  Illinois  soft  coal  f.  o.  b.  East 
St.  Louis,  Madison,  Venice,  or  Granite  City,  Ill., 
are  2514  cents  lower  than  the  above  quoted  St. 
Louis  prices. 


The  Warren  Coke  Company  have  sent  invita¬ 
tions  to  the  entire  coal  trade  in  St.  Louis  for  a 
trip  through  their  new  by-product  coke  plant  in 
South  St.  Louis,  next  Saturday.  A  feature  of 
the  trip  is  that  the  Warren  people  are  going  to 
include  a  boat  excursion,  and  take  the  members 
of  the  coal  trade  from  downtown  to  Carondelet, 
v/hich  is  on  the  river,  on  the  steamer  Belle  of 
the  Bends. 


Duluth  Trade. 


Duluth,  Minn.,  September  2. —  (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — At  Fort  William  and  Port  Arthur 
last  week  nine  coal  cargoes  were  unloaded,  only 
one  of  which  was  anthracite.  Three  were  in 
-American  bottoms  and  six  in  Canadian  vessels. 
Three  more  cargoes,  two  of  them  bituminous  and 
one  anthracite,  were  reported  en  route,  the  latter 
in  an  American  bottom.  The  general  outlook  for 
the  coal  trade  in  western  Canada  is  much  im¬ 
proved  and  it  is  expected  that  coal  arrivals  at 
the  Canadian  head  of  the  lakes  will  increase 
from  now  on. 

Figures  will  not  be  available  for  a  few  days 
yet,  showing  the  amount  of  coal  receipts  at  the 
Duluth-Superior  coal  docks  during  August,  but 
it  is  known  that  quite  a  comfortable  increase  will 
be  displayed.  A  good  many  more  boats  than  in 
July  or  previous  months  came  up,  a  considerable 
portion  of  them  bringing  anthracite.  Vessel  men 
report  that  coal  cargoes  are  easier  to  get  now, 
and  that  the  near  future  augurs  well  in  the  vessel 
trade  in  that  line,  which  is  something  that  they 
have  been  devoutly  wishing  for.  Of  course,  this 
means  a  larger  supply  on  western  docks  for  the 


coming  winter  than  seemed  likely  a  short  time 
ago. 

A  few  days  ago  the  Island  Creek  coal  dock 
in  Duluth  established  an  unloading  record,  when 
8,600  tons  of  coal  were  taken  out  of  the  steamer 
Adriatic  in  eight  hours  and  twenty  minutes.  Two 
hoisting  rigs  were  used. 

On  Monday  of  this  week  the  largest  cargo  of 
coal  ever  unloaded  at  a  dock  in  Superior  was 
discharged  from  the  steamer  Col.  James  M. 
Schoonmaker,  consisting  of  13,560  tons  of  bitu¬ 
minous.  She  was  unloaded  at  the  Carnegie  dock. 
This,  however,  is  not  the  largest  coal  cargo  ever 
received  at  the  head  of  the  lakes,  for  in  1913 
the  William  P.  Snyder  brought  13,849  net  tons, 
which  stands  as  the  record.  Last  season  the 
Schoonmaker  brought  13,203  tons  from  Ashta¬ 
bula  to  Duluth. 

Coal  shipments  are  picking  up,  according  to  the 
superintendents  of  the  docks  at  the  head  of  the 
lakes,  and  it  is  believed  that  they  will  soon  reach 
normal  size.  The  demand  is  increasing  from 
the  harvest  fields  and  industrial  demand  is  grow¬ 
ing.  Business  is  picking  up  well  in  hard  coal 
also,  orders  being  received  from  almost  all  points 
of  the  northwest,  and  taken  to  be  a  result  of 
the  prosperity  insured  by  the  enormous  crops. 

Yesterday  an  advance  of  ten  cents  a  ton  on 
hard  coal  was  announced  locally.  This  is  the 
last  advance  of  the  year,  the  price  holding  until 
spring  as  follows : 

Egg  . $6.85 

Stove  .  6.85 

Nut .  7.10 

Pea  .  5.55 


The  Northwestern  Coal  Dock  Operators’  Asso¬ 
ciation  is  holding  a  monthly  meeting  here  today, 
and  operators  from  Chicago,  Milwaukee,  Green 
Bay  and  other  points  are  here.  Many  coal  com¬ 
pany  officials  are  here  from  Minneapolis  and  St. 
Paul.  The  party  left  Duluth  this  morning  on 
the  steamer  Columbia,  and  started  on  a  tour  of 
the  bay,  during  which  all  of  the  coal  docks  were 
visited  and  inspected.  The  business  meeting  of 
the  association  was  held  on  board  the  boat. 


Cleveland  Trade. 


Cleveland,  Ohio,  September  2. —  (Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — Although  it  is  growing  somewhat 
late  in  the  season,  it  can  not  be  said  that  lake 
shipping,  as  a  general  proposition,  is  in  a  very 
encouraging  condition.  It  is  true  that  some  of 
the  shippers  have  had  a  fairly  satisfactory  busi¬ 
ness,  but  others  have  not  fared  so  well.  Generally 
speaking,  those  producers  who  either  have  docks 
at  upper  lake  points  or  are  interested  in  such 
properties  have  fared  better  than  those  who  have 
depended  upon  their  contracts  for  business.  They 
have  been  able  to  ship  almost  the  usual  amount 
of  coal,  because  of  their  storage  facilities,  but 
others  must  depend  upon  the  willingness  of  pur¬ 
chasers  to  take  the  risk  of  putting  in  full  stocks 
without  the  best  of  prospects  for  distribution. 

Steam  business  has  not  shown  much  life  for 
the  past  several  weeks.  It  is  probable  that  nat¬ 
ural  gas  has  cut  a  greater  figure  than  usual  this 
season  and  many  concerns  have  contracted  with 
the  central  station  plants  for  electric  power  in¬ 
stead  of  generating  their  own  current  or  con¬ 
tinuing  to  use  steam  power  direct.  Pittsburgh 
slack  for  the  past  week  has  ranged  from  $1.55  to 
$1.60  and  in  some  cases  perhaps  a  little  higher, 
while  gas  slack  has  sold  as  high  as  $1.70.  The 
demand  has  been  somewhat  more  brisk  than  here¬ 
tofore,  perhaps  because  of  delay  in  some  of  the 
shipments. 

Prices  of  No.  8  coal  for  lake  shipment  are  said 
to  be  unsatisfactory  in  a  general  way.  Those 
who  are  compelled  to  sell  to  shippers  can  not  ex¬ 
pect  much  of  a  margin,  it  is  said,  because  of  the 
heavy  offerings. 

The  demand  for  Pocahontas  coal  has  been  bet¬ 
ter  the  last  week  than  for  some  weeks  past, 
because  of  an  increase  in  the  domestic  sales 
due  to  increasingly  cool  weather.  Lump  is  sell¬ 
ing  at  the  mines  at  $2.25 ;  mine-run,  $1.40,  and 
slack,  $1.00.  It  is  probable  that  some  producers 
have  quoted  better  figures  in  certain  instances, 
but  these  are  said  to  be  standard  prices.  The 
freight  rate  is  $1.45. 

Orders  for  Massillon  coal  are  increasing  in 
numbers  and  size  and  operators  feel  they  will 
have  a  fair  season.  Lump  is  quoted  f.  o.  b.  here 
at  $3.20 ;  nut,  $3.20,  and  slack,  eighty-five  cents, 
with  a  70-cent  freight  rate.  As  these  are  cir¬ 
cular  prices  they  will  probably  not  vary,  since 
there  is  little  necessity  of  producers  bidding 
against  each  other  on  this  brand  of  coal. 

Goshen  coal  is  commanding  its  usual  amount 
of  business  and  for  the  past  week  has  been  quoted 
at  $2.30  f.  o.  b.  here  for  lump  and  $1.50  for  slack. 


The  retail  business  of  the  city  is  said  to  be 
fully  a  month  behind  the  fall  seasons  of  the  past. 
Neither  the  summer  prices  on  anthracite  nor  any 
other  inducement  resulted  in  the  usual  volume  of 
early  sales  and  deliveries.  Consequently,  the  de¬ 
liveries  will  be  crowded  into  a  much  shorter 
period  this  fall.  For  a  week  past  orders  have 
been  good  and  seemingly  coal  users  have  only 
begun  to  realize  that  they  must  look  after  their 
supplies.  Anthracite,  stove  size,  is  selling  at  re¬ 
tail  for  $7.65  per  ton;  chestnut,  $7.90.  Poca¬ 
hontas  ranges  from  $4.25  to  $5.75  for  lump,  ac¬ 
cording  to  the  quality  and  manner  of  prepara¬ 
tion.  Nut  is  selling  for  $4.50. 


Louisville  Market. 


Louisville,  Ky.,  September  2. —  (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — Very  marked  and  definite  improve¬ 
ment  lias  come  about  in  the  coal  trade  during  the 
past  week  or  ten  days,  and  producers,  whole- 
.salers  and  retailers  at  present  are  feeling  optim¬ 
istic.  Mines  in  the  eastern  Kentucky-Tennessee 
fields  are  running  nearly  full  time  as  an  aver¬ 
age,  and  a  number  of  mines  with  well  known  and 
popular  coal  are  entirely  sold  up  for  several 
weeks  to  come.  While  an  average  advance  of  ten 
to  fifteen  cents  a  ton  in  the  market  price  of 
domestic  coal  is  realizable  for  the  month  of  Sep¬ 
tember,  this  average  still  keeps  the  price  below 
the  normal  level  of  September  prices  during  past 
years.  However  the  broadening  demand,  the  fact 
that  prices  are  now  on  a  basis  which  insures  a 
small  margin  of  profit  to  most  mines,  is  in  itself 
more  encouragement  than  the  coal  trade  has 
known  for  many  months. 

Buying  by  the  country  trade  is  still  backward, 
owing  to  cold  weather  and  continuous  rains,  and 
when  this  starts,  as  it  must  within  two  or  three 
weeks,  this  demand,  plus  the  already  growing 
demand  from  city  consumers,  should  cause  a 
wave  of  buying  that  will  be  sufficient  to  put  up 
prices  by  October  1st,  so  that  business,  at  least 
for  a  term,  will  be  restored  to  a  healthy  plane. 

While  no  reports  have  been  received  as  yet 
of  any  shortage  of  cars,  railroad  people  consider 
that  within  the  next  thirty  days  some  shortage 
may  develop.  During  the  past  year  there  have 
been  a  great  many  new  operations  started,  both 
on  the  Lexington  and  Eastern  branches  of  the 
Louisville  &  Nashville  and  on  the  branch  extend¬ 
ing  into  Harlan  county.  This  great  increase  in 
the  number  of  operations,  even  if  these  opera¬ 
tions  have  been  on  a  restricted  producing  basis 
for  many  months  past,  has  made  the  problem  of 
car  supply  and  distribution  more  difficult,  and 
this,  in  view  of  the  fact  that  railroad  equipment 
has  been  increased  very  little  during  the  past  year 
— in  fact  probably  shows  a  net  decrease,  due  to 
less  promptness  in  repairing  and  replacing  cars — 
make  it  not  at  all  improbable  that  a  slight  short¬ 
age  will  be  experienced  in  a  few  weeks. 

During  the  past  several  days  abnormally  low 
temperatures  over  a  great  part  of  the  south  and 
central  part  of  the  country  have  reminded  coal 
dealers  and  consumers  of  the  fact  that  summer 
is  past  and  autumn  is  here.  The  change  of  sea¬ 
son  may  be  expected  to  have  a  stimulating  effect 
on  industries,  and  in  that  way  help  the  steam  coal 
trade  as  \yell  as  bring  retail  dealers  to  time  with 
a  realization  that  their  stocks  of  coal  in  most 
instances  are  very  low. 


Omaha  Trade. 


Omaha,  Neb.,  September  2. —  (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — A  few  days  of  sunshine,  together 
with  the  prospect  of  advances  all  along  the  line 
in  prices,  has  had  quite  a  stimulating  effect  on 
the  local  market.  While  no  great  amount  of 
business  has  been  placed  there  has  been  a  dis¬ 
position  to  get  some  coal  placed  and  a  few  orders 
to  cover  immediate  requirements.  The  prices 
have  been  firm  and  very  little  transit  coal  being 
offered. 

There  has  not  been  much  change  in  the  gen¬ 
eral  business  conditions  in  this  territory  other 
than  the  natural  activities  following  a  few  days 
of  sunshine. 


The  following  market 

prices  prevail : 

Southern  Kansas — 

Mines. 

Omaha. 

Nut  . 

$3.20 

Slack  . 

2.70 

Franklin  Counly — 

Lump  . . 

.  1.45@1.75 

3.75@4.15 

Egg  . 

.  I.45@1.75 

3.75@4.15 

Nut  . 

.  1.4501.75 

3.75®4.15 

Williamson  County — 

Lump  . 

3.05@)3.90 

Egg  . 

3.6503.90 

Rock  Springs — 

Lump  . 

.  2.15 

5.85 

Nut  . 

.  1.60 

5.35 

Arkansas  Anthracite — 

lump  . 

.  3.70 

6.60 

Rroken  sizes . 

6.85 

198 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[September  4 


New  York  Trade. 

Better  Demand  for  Anthracite  Being  Felt 
— Bituminous  Storing  Calls  for 
Big  Production. 

Office  of  The  Black  Diamond, 
New  York,  September  2. 

During  the  past  week  the  anthracite  de¬ 
mand  has  materially  increased,  this  improve¬ 
ment  being  confined  largely  to  eastern  ter¬ 
ritory.  The  western  trade  is  still  very  quiet 
and  shippers  are  hoping  that  September  will 
see  a  marked  improvement  in  this  direction. 
Many  dealers  around  New  York  city  report 
a  better  demand  and  this  is  taken  as  an  in¬ 
dication  that  consumers  are  commencing  to 
buy  coal  earlier  than  in  former  seasons.  Many 
of  the  wholesale  sales  during  the  past  week 
for  New  York  delivery  will  go  into  immediate 
distribution,  it  is  believed,  and  this  will  pave 
the  way  for  still  further  buying  on  the  part  of 
these  retail  dealers  during  September. 

The  all-rail  trade  has  shown  considerable 
improvement  during  the  week.  This  trade 
is  far  short  of  the  tonnage  coal  that  it  ordi¬ 
narily  has  taken  by  September  1st,  and  it  is 
predicted  that  this  trade  will  take  a  very  mate¬ 
rial  increased  tonnage  from  now  on.  Through 
the  east,  consumers  are  in  much  better  con¬ 
dition  to  purchase  anthracite  coal  than  was 
the  ease  last  year,  and  dealers  are  looking 
for  a  very  radical  increase  in  consumption 
should  the  weather  be  seasonable.  As  was 
pointed  out  in  these  columns  last  week,  labor 
is  well  employed  now,  and  in  many  instances 
at  heavy  increases  in  wages  as  compared  with 
former  winter  seasons.  The  war  has  brought 
increased  prosperity,  and  in  practically  all 
the  manufacturing  territories  the  average  con¬ 
sumer  of  anthracite  coal  has  perhaps  more 
buying  power  than  ever  before. 

It  was  announced  on  Wednesday  that  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission  had  ex¬ 
tended  the  enforcement  of  the  new  anthracite 
freight  rates  until  December  1st.  This  will 
give  the  anthracite  roads  two  more  months 
in  which  to  make  their  plea  for  a  new  hear¬ 
ing,  should  they  decide  to  take  this  step. 
In  the  meantime,  it  is  believed  that  this  an¬ 
nouncement  will  stimulate  buying  on  the  part 
of  those  retail  dealers  who  were  hesitant 
about  placing  orders,  due  to  their  anticipation 
of  securing  the  reductions  in  freight  rates  as 
previously  announced  on  October  1st. 

The  full  winter  prices  on  coal  went  into 
effect  on  September  1st.  At  the  moment  at 
New  York  harbor  ports  there  is  an  ample 
supply  of  the  domestic  sizes  with  prices  on 
individual  coals  ranging  from  ten  cents  to 
thirty-five  cents  below  the  circular.  Chestnut 
coal  is  weak,  with  egg  coal  unfavored.  One 
hears  the  concessions  made  by  the  individuals 
of  thirty-five  cents  per  ton  on  egg  and  about 
twenty-five  cents  to  thirty-five  cents  on  chest¬ 
nut.  Pea  coal  is  in  better  demand  and  prices 
this  week  are  quoted  all  the  way  from  $2.15 
to  $2.50,  according  to  the  quality  and  the 
loading  port. 

The  choice  grades  of  No.  2  and  No.  3  buck¬ 
wheat  are  practically  out  of  the  tidewater 
market.  No.  1  buckwheat  is  in  better  demand, 
though  not  as  strong  as  the  other  two  sizes. 

The  miners  are  working  on  an  average  of 
from  four  to  five  days  a  week. 


On  September  1st,  the  full  winter  price  list 
went  into  effect  on  anthracite,  tidewater  prices 
being  about  as  follows: 


Upper 

Lower 

Ports. 

Ports. 

Broken  . 

.  $5.10 

$5.00 

Egg  . 

.  5.35 

5.25 

Stove  . 

.  5.35 

5.25 

Chestnut  . 

.  5.60 

5.50 

Pea  . 

.  3.55 

3.45 

Special  grades  of  Red  Ash  and  other  high 
grade  coals  at  the  lower  ports  sell  at  twenty- 
five  to  fifty  cents  per  ton  over  above  figures. 


The  Bituminous  Situation. 

The  eastern  bituminous  trade  continues  to 
show  improvement,  in  spots,  it  is  true,  but  of 
sufficient  tonnage  in  the  aggregate  to  call  for 
full  time  production  on  the  part  of  many  op¬ 
erators  and  to  put  into  use  most  of  the  equip¬ 
ment  of  some  of  the  railroads. 

While  the  general  reports  show  spot  trade 
in  most  markets  disappointing,  and  prices  on 
spot  coals  but  little  if  any  improved,  it  is 


found,  on  the  other  hand,  that  most  of  the 
operators  having  a  good  percentage  of  their 
output  under  contract,  are  finding  their  cus¬ 
tomers  calling  for  heavier  shipments  than 
heretofore. 

With  the  exception  of  the  New  England 
railroads,  practically  all  of  the  big  eastern 
roads  are  stocking  coal.  They  are  not  buy¬ 
ing  in  the  spot  market  but  are  calling  on  their 
regular  contractors  to  fill  their  cars,  and  as 
a  result  of  this  very  heavy  demand,  certain 
operators  who  had  made  quotations  on  spot 
lots  have  had  to  withdraw  them. 

One  by  one,  the  gas  coal  producers  are 
withdrawing  quotations.  A  month  or  so  ago, 
these  people  were  clamoring  for  orders.  Now 
they  are  finding  a  ready  outlet  for  their  ton¬ 
nage,  and  they  are  not  seeking  spot  business. 

There  is  a  very  good  demand  for  slack.  Re¬ 
cently  some  new  Canadian  business  has  been 
offering  for  slack,  which  is  desired  in  the 
place  of  run  of  mine  or  screened  on  account 
of  the  difference  in  the  tariff  charges.  The 
Reynoldsville  slacks  are  pretty  well  sold  up, 
while  the  situation  is  so  much  better  in  the 
Fairmont  region  that  the  prices  have  ad¬ 
vanced  to  sixty  to  sixty-five  cents  per  ton. 

While  there  is  a  fair  tonnage  of  unsold  coal 
at  tide,  and  at  New  York  harbor  points  par¬ 
ticularly,  the  aggregate  is  not  unusual.  The 
offerings  include  many  of  the  inferior  coals. 
Choice  coals  are  scarce  in  the  offerings,  and 
are  usually  confined  to  odd  cars  left  over  after 
filling  out  cargoes.  Prices  this  week  at  New 
York  harbor  ports  range  from  $2.45  on  in¬ 
ferior  West  Virginia  and  Pennsylvania  coals 
to  $2.60  on  medium  grades,  and  from  $2.70 
to  $2.90  on  choice  and  fancy  grades. 


The  Vessel  Situation. 


Coastwise  vessel  rates  are  unchanged.  Off- 
short  rates  are  firmer,  especially  to  the 
Mediterranean.  Rates  to  the  Provinces 
show  a  very  heavy  slump,  now  that  the  de¬ 
mand  for  vessels  for  taking  anthracite  has 
slackened.  Owners  who  formerly  wanted 
$2.25  to  Halifax  now  offer  at  $1.40.  Like  re¬ 
ductions  are  also  made  to  other  ports  in  the 
Maritime  Provinces. 

From  Hampton  Roads  to  Boston,  eighty 
to  ninety  cents  is  about  the  range;  to  Portland 
and  points  east  of  Boston,  from  ninety  cents 
to  $1.  To  sound  ports,  eighty  to  eighty-five 
cents.  From  Philadelphia  to  New  England 
points,  about  five  cents  under  the  Hampton 
roads  rates. 


From  New  York  to  Bridgeport  or  New 
Haven,  thirty  cents;  to  New  London  and 
Providence,  forty  cents;  to  Fall  River  and 
New  Bedford,  forty-five  cents;  to  Boston, 
fifty-five  to  sixty  cents. 

Current  quotations  on  bituminous  coal  in 
spot  lots  are: 


F.  O.  B. 

Somerset  County —  Harbor. 

Best  grades . $2.85 

Medium  grades .  2.60 

Ordinary  .  2.55 

Cambria  County — 

Best  Miller  vein .  3.00 

Medium  grades .  2.55 

Cheaper  grades .  2.60 

Clearfield  County — 

Best  grade .  3.00 

Ordinary  grades .  2.50 

Indiana  County — 

Best  grade .  2.80 

Medium  grade .  2.50 

Maryland — 

Georges  Creek  big  vein .  3.15 

West  Virginia  Splint — 

Ordinary  grades .  2.40 

Best  gas,  j4-ineh  lump .  2.65 

Best  grade,  run  of  mine .  2.65 

Gas  slack . 


F.  O.  B. 
Mines. 
$1.30 
1.10 
1.00 

1.40 

1.15 

1.05 

1.35 

1.00 

1.25 

.95 


1.65 

.75 

1.10 

.90 

.60®  .75 


New  York  Trade  News. 

W.  A.  Smith  of  David  E.  Williams  &  Co., 
Philadelphia,  was  calling  on  the  New  York 
trade  on  Tuesday. 

W.  H.  Thomas  of  the  Flat  Top  Fuel  Com¬ 
pany,  of  Bluefield,  W.  Va.,  was  a  New  York 
visitor  this  week. 

L.  A.  Hickley  of  the  Island  Creek  Coal  Sales 
Company,  of  Philadelphia,  was  a  New  York 
visitor  on  Tuesday. 

Abel  Mishler,  of  the  Blaine  Mining  Com¬ 
pany,  No.  1  Broadway,  has  returned  from  a 
vacation  spent  at  Lake  Spofford,  N.  H. 

George  A.  Mclroy  of  Parrish,  Phillips  & 
Co.,  No.  1  Broadway,  has  left  for  a  trip  to  the 
Panama-Pacific  Exposition  at  San  Francisco. 

W.  S.  S.  Rowland,  of  the  sales  forces  of 


the  Lehigh  Valley  Coal  Sales  Company,  has 
returned  after  a  two-weeks  vacation  spent  in 
New  York  state. 

Harry  Hosford,  shipper  for  the  Lehigh  Val¬ 
ley  Coal  Sales  Company,  of  New  York,  left  on 
Tuesday  for  a  trip  to  San  Francisco  and  the 
Panama-Pacific  Exposition. 

Lemuel  Burrows,  vice-president  of  Castner, 
Curran  &  Bullitt,  Inc.,  No.  1  Broadway,  spent 
part  of  last  week  and  this  week  on  an  auto¬ 
mobile  tour  up  New  York  state. 

Leon  E.  Muller,  a  retired  retail  coal  dealer, 
for  many  years  in  business  at  No.  Ill  King 
street,  Manhattan,  died  on  Tuesday,  August 
31st,  at  his  home  on  Staten  Island  at  the  age 
of  sixty-two. 


W.  R.  McTurk,  the  well-known  anthracite 
operator  with  Philadelphia  headquarters, 
called  on  several  of  the  New  York  trade  late  last 
week  while  enroute  to  Maine,  where  he  will 
spend  a  brief  vacation. 


The  McNulty  and  Neufer  interests  of 
Scranton  are  said  to  have  a  lease  on  a  sixty- 
acre  tract  of  coal  land  in  the  Hazelton  dis¬ 
trict  in  the  anthracite  field.  They  are  ex¬ 
pected  to  shortly  build  a  breaker  so  as  to 
develop  this  property. 


Edward  Brevoort,  Jr.,  of  Frederic  A.  Potts 
&  Co.,  No.  143  Liberty  street,  met  with  an 
accident  to  his  right  hand  last  week,  which, 
while  not  so  serious  as  to  keep  him  from  his 
desk,  is  keeping  him  from  making  his  regu¬ 
lar  trips  to  the  golf  course. 


W.  R.  Minds  and  George  Minds  of  the 
Beulah  Coal  Mining  Company,  No.  120  Broad¬ 
way,  went  to  Conifer,  N.  Y.,  on  Wednesday 
to  attend  the  marriage  of  their  brother,  Ches¬ 
ter  Minds,  to  Miss  Doris  Caflisch.  Mr.  Ches¬ 
ter  Minds  is  superintendent  of  the  Beulah  op¬ 
erations  at  Ramey,  Pa. 

News  has  been  received  in  New  York  of 
the  death  on  August  27th  of  Morgan  Davis, 
Jr.,  a  well-known  coal  mining  engineer  ot 
Scranton,  Pa.  Mr.  Davis  was  well  known  in 
New  York  city,  where  he  sppt  quite  a  lot  of 
time,  being  very  active  in  this  city  during  the 
past  two  or  three  years  in  an  effort  to  or¬ 
ganize  a  lot  of  the  New  River  coal  mines 
into  a  big  company,  to  be  financed  largely  by 
English  capital.  Mr.  Davis  was  forty-eight 
years  old  and  his  death  was  the  result  of 
pneumonia. 

Late  last  week  the  report  of  the  W^estern 
Maryland  Railroad  for  the  month  of  July  was 
made  public,  and  it  was  so  favorable  that  im¬ 
mediately  the  common  stock  of  the  company 
made  an  advance  of  around  three  points.  The 
increased  net  is  due  to  the  new  coal  tonnage 
that  this  road  is  securing  by  reason  of  the 
traffic  agreement  entered  into  some  months 
ago  with  the  Consolidation  Coal  Company, 
The  July  gross  amounted  to  $833,177,  an  in¬ 
crease  of  $120,747.  The  net  after  taxes  was 
$255,024,  an  increase  of  $88,773. 

Joseph  Morrison,  Jr.,  president  of  the 
Clarksburg  Coal  Mining  Company  of  No.  61 
Broadway,  returned  late  last  week  from  a 
trip  to  his  mines  in  West  Virginia.  Mr.  Mor¬ 
rison  states  that  the  coal  business  in  the 
Clarksburg  section  shows  improvement,  the 
eastern  movement  being  especially  improved. 
Demand  for  slack  coal  is  some  better  and 
he  finds  prices  on  slack  have  advanced,  sell¬ 
ing  at  sixty  cents  to  sixty-five  cents  per  gross 
ton.  Mr.  Morrison  says  that  the  steel  inter¬ 
ests  have  taken  quite  a  lot  of  labor  frorn 
the  coal  mines  and  there  is  a  likelihood  of 


labor  shortage  developing  later  on. 

The  New  York  coal  trade  was  very  much 
shocked  to  learn  on  Monday  morning  of  the 
sudden  death  of  Frank  B.  Cortnght  of  Cort- 
right  Coal  Company  of  Phil^elphia.  He 
had  visited  many  of  the  coal  offices  m  New 
York  as  recently  as  Tuesday  of  last  week. 
He  was  well  acquainted  in  New  York,  having 
been  for  a  number  of  years  a  member  of  the 
firm  of  W.  A.  Marshall  &  Co.,  of  No.  1 
Broadway.  For  a  period  of  about  five  years 
he  was  manager  of  the  Altoona  office  ot 
Righter  &  Marshall.  Frank  Cortnght  was 
looked  upon  in  the  trade  as  being  one  of  the 
most  energetic  and  able  of  the  younger  men 
engaged  in  coal,  and  a  most  brilliant  future 
was  predicted  for  him.  A  good  number  of  his 
New  York  acquaintances  went  to  Mauch 
Chunk  on  Wednesday  to  attend  the  funeral 
services. 


No.  10] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


199 


Philadelphia  Trade. 

Bituminous  Coal  Prices  Have  Advanced 
from  Five  to  Twenty-five  Cents  a 
Ton — Anthracite  Strong. 


Office  of  The  Black  Diamond, 
1400  Land  Title  Building, 
Philadelphia,  September  1. 

Price,  rather  than  any  other  condition,  has 
been  the  general  topic  of  interest  in  the  trade 
locally  for  some  time  past.  With  the  coming 
of  September  1st,  the  general  disposition  has 
been  to  take  a  firm  grip  on  the  question,  and, 
while  the  anthracite  figures  automatically  ad¬ 
vance,  the  bituminous  men  have  also  had  some¬ 
thing  to  say.  Within  the  month  advances  from 
five  to  twenty-five  cents  on  the  ton  have  been 
noted,  according  to  the  locality  and  mining 
conditions. 

This  week  practically  all  of  the  bituminous 
mines  have  seen  fit  to  withdraw  from  the  mar¬ 
ket  any  and  all  quotations  that  had  been  put 
out  for  contract  delivery.  To  use  one  sales 
agent’s  expression,  “The  consumer  is  being- 
brought  up  with  a  short  turn.  For  months 
he  has  had  the  say-so  as  to  price.  The  with¬ 
drawal  of  quotations  has  made  him  realize  that 
there  is  a  new  element  in  the  trade.  It  is  an 
indication  that  the  producer  has  the  upper  hand 
and  that  he  must  set  the  price  from  now  on.” 

One  of  Philadelphia’s  most  trustworthy 
barometers  of  trade  is  the  pier  business.  That 
there  is  a  tightening  even  in  spot  coal  is  shown 
by  the  fact  that  Port  Richmond  was  nearly 
clear  of  free  coal  this  week  and  even  the 
Greenwich  piers  that  have  been  crowded  more 
than  usual  in  the  summer  months  showed  very 
little  accumulation. 

While  Somerset  coal  has  not  shown  any  fur¬ 
ther  price  climbing  than  was  noted  a  couple 
of  weeks  ago,  yet  the  market  is  firm  and  it 
would  surprise  no  one  were  there  a  nickel  or 
a  dime  tacked  on. 

The  underlying  cause  for  this  was  the  short¬ 
age  of  cars  on  the  Burlington  &  Ohio  lines 
on  August  27th  and  28th.  While  this  line  has 
promised  to  keep  cars  coming,  general  doubt 
is  expressed.  The  labor  situation  also  is  cut¬ 
ting  a  figure  that  sooner  or  later  must  be 
reckoned  with.  Following  is  the  quoted  prices: 

Best  . $1.35@1.45 

Medium  .  1.20@1.30 

Ordinary  . 95@1.15 

Contract  quotations  practically  withdrawn. 

A  little  heavier  demand  made  on  the  mines 
has  changed  the  situation  with  Fairmont  slack 
and  the  price,  which  held  around  sixty  cents, 
was  whittled  down  a  nickel.  On  spot  ship¬ 
ments  the  following  prices  have  been  made: 

Gas  coal,  low  sulphur,  mine  run . $1.10@1.20 

Gas  coal,  mine  run . 70@  .80 

Three-quarter  size... . 85@$1.00 

Slack  . 50@  .60 

Some  of  the  companies  operating  on  the 
Western  Maryland  have  offered  a  price  of 
contracts  running  over  short  periods.  De¬ 
pending  on  the  quality  of  the  coal,  the  range 
has  been  from  $1  to  $1.10.  The  spot  market 
has  been  on  another  upturn,  with  most  of  this 
coal  being  held  at  eighty-five  to  ninety-five 
cents.  These  are  prices  to  consumers  with 
five  to  ten  cents  reduction  to  brokers. 

The  Greensburg  district  has  shown  the  full¬ 
est  advance  of  all  other  soft  coal  fields  feed¬ 
ing  in  here.  Run  of  mine  sold  around  a  dol¬ 
lar  up  to  the  first  of  August.  The  heavy 
buying  by  the  Pennsylvania  railroad  has  stead¬ 
ily  sent  the  price  up,  and  few  mines  have  any¬ 
thing  to  offer.  Prices  quoted  were: 

Run  of  mine . $1.20@1.30 

Screened  .  1.35 

Clearfield  coals  have  been  coming  east 
freely  and  for  good  Miller  vein  coal  for  spot 
shipments  prices  at  $1.25@1.35  have  been 
made.  Contracts  have  been  offered  at  $1.35(® 
1.40. 

With  the  Buffalo,  Rochester  &  Pittsburgh 
taking  freely  from  the  Reynoldsville-Punxsu- 
tawney  district  and  Canada  taking  consider¬ 
able  coal  for  steel  and  farmer  requirements, 
the  prices  on  this  commodity  have  stiffened 
and  are  holding  firm.  The  price  list  quoted  is: 

Slack  . 85c  and  up 

Run  of  mine . $1.00@1.25 

.Smithing  .  1.25 

Screened  . $1.30  and  up 

Anthracite  Situation. 

How  great  a  shortage  will  the  official  fig¬ 
ures  of  the  Bureau  of  Anthracite  Statistics 


show?  That  is  the  question  that  is  agitating 
quite  a  few  of  the  independents  at  the  present 
time.  From  a  source  that  will  bear  quoting 
it  was  learned  that  while  the  July  figures 
showed  that  the  production  was  running  about 
two  million  tons  less  than  last  year,  the  actual 
shortage  is  figured  at  twice  this  amount.  The 
reason — because  there  has  been  a  considerable 
reduction  in  the  heavy  stock  of  storage  coal. 
While  there  is  bound  to  be  an  effect  from  this, 
weather  conditions  aiding,  yet  there  has  been 
no  change  from  circular  prices  for  September, 
which  are  substantially  those  of  last  April  be¬ 
fore  the  summer  discounts  were  allowed.  Fol¬ 
lowing  is  the  lineup  of  prices  shown  on  the 
Reading  circular: 


Locust 

Mountain  Lorberry 

Mahanoy  and  and  Lyk’s 

and  Schuylkill  Schuylkill  Valley 

Shenan-  White  Red  Red 

Sizes —  doah.  Ash.  Shamokin.  Ash.  Ash. 

Lump  . $3.50  $3.50  ....  ....  .... 

Steamboat .  3.50  3.50  ....  ....  .... 

Broken  .  3.50  3.50  _  $3.75  $4.10 

Egg  .  3.75  3.76  $3.75  4.00  4.35 

Stove  .  4.00  4.00  4.00  4.25  4.60 

Chestnut  .  4.15  4.15  4.15  4.25  4.60 

Pea  .  2.50  2.50  2.50  2.60  2.75 

Buckwheat  ....  1.50  1.50  1.50  1.60  2.35 


Locally  there  has  been  little  change  in  the 
price  on  sizes  as  is  governed  by  conditions. 
Pea  coal  has  shown  a  little  betterment  in  tone 
and  is  still  to  be  bought  from  $2  to  $2.25. 
Chestnut  has  not  revived  to  any  great  extent 
and  the  larger  sizes  are  still  the  leaders  on  the 
market.  Quite  a  number  of  the  retailers  are 
holding  off  from  making  any  great  amount 
of  purchases  until  the  court  hears  the  case  of 
the  railways  in  appeal  against  the  orders  of 
the-  Public  Service  Commission  of  the  state 
demanding  a  reduction  in  tariffs  to  this  city. 
The  case  has  been  set  for  September  fifteenth 
at  Harrisburg. 

Buying  from  New  England  has  been  a  little 
heavier  during  the  week  and  the  flurry  of 
cool  weather  along  the  east  coast  evidently  has 
turned  the  mind  of  the  householder  coal-bin- 
ward.  This  has  relieved  to  an  extent  the  pres¬ 
sure  on  the  storage  yards  and  piers. 


Philadelphia  Trade  Notes. 

Charles  S.  Ling,  of  the  Sunnyside  Coal  Com¬ 
pany  of  Johnstown,  Pa.,  was  in  town  the  early 
part  of  the  week. 

George  Paul,  vice-president  of  the  Common¬ 
wealth  Fuel  Company  of  Pittsburgh,  was 
among  the  visitors  noted  this  week. 

Richard  Gabelle,  in  charge  of  the  bitumi¬ 
nous  department  for  Thorne,  Neale  &  Co., 
was  in  New  York  on  Tuesday. 

J.  W.  Gallaway,  president  of  the  Maryland 
Coal  Company  of  New  York  City,  was  in  Phil¬ 
adelphia  early  in  the  week  on  business  bent. 

T.  W.  Arnett,  general  manager  of  the  Antler 
Coal  Company  at  Fairmont,  W.  Va.,  took  a 
look  at  seaboard  conditions  early  in  the  week 
while  on  a  trade  visit  here. 

Joseph  P.  Reilly  of  the  Reilly  Coal  Company 
and  the  Duncan-Spangler  Coal  Company,  who 
has  spent  a  vacation  in  a  visit  to  the  Panama- 
Pacific  Exposition,  returned  last  Friday. 

Arthur  Kuppinger,  sales  manager  for  the 
Valley  Smokeless  Coal  Company,  was  up  the 
state  on  business  during  the  fore  part  of  the 
week. 

Arnold  Gerstelle,  head  of  the  sales  depart¬ 
ment  of  Percy  Heilner  &  Son,  has  been  on 
a  western  tour  for  ten  days  and  will  not  re¬ 
turn  until  the  latter  part  of  the  week. 

J.  B.  Van  Dusen  of  Van  Dusen  Brothers  is 
on  a  trip  to  Ithaca,  Buffalo  and  Toronto,  Can., 
and  while  it  is  more  on  pleasure  he  will  also 
make  a  survey  as  to  business  west. 

C.  H.  Tudworth  of  H.  M.  Hartwell  &  Sons, 
of  Boston,  finished  a  trip  through  the  regions 
with  a  visit  to  this  city.  He  was  in  Scranton, 
Wilkes-Barre  and  Hazelton  during  the  past 
week. 

Harry  K.  Stauffer  of  the  B.  Nicoll  &  Co. 
forces  here  was  a  visitor  to  headquarters  in 
New  York  this  week.  A.  A.  S.  McQueen, 
manager  of  the  Pittsburgh  office  of  that  com¬ 
pany,  visited  with  the  local  force  late  last 
week. 

W.  L.  Scott,  secretary  of  the  Commercial 
Coal  Mining  Company,  and  N.  L.  Haldt  of  the 
same  concern  leave  the  end  of  this  week  for 
a  fishing  trip  to  Fortesque,  N.  J.,  where  coal 
men  have  angled  for  the  big  ones  that  got 


away.  Scott  savs  they  are  going  to  “catch 
’em  all.” 

By  October  1st  another  9,000-ton  collier 
for  trans-Atlantic  coal  purposes  will  be  in 
shape.  The  sister  ship  of  the  Franklin,  the 
Plymouth,  is  to  be  launched  at  the  yards  of 
the  New  York  Shipbuilding  Company  on  Sep¬ 
tember  9th.  A  third  ship  of  the  same  style 
and  type  will  be  laid  and  work  commenced 
early  next  year  on  it. 

Golf  enthusiasts  of  the  trade  were  particu¬ 
larly  interested  in  the  amateur  tournament  in 
Detroit  this  week,  because  of  the  entry  of 
Howard  Perrin,  sales  manager  for  Philadel¬ 
phia  and  vicinity  for  the  Susquehanna  Coal 
Company.  Any  number  of  his  friends  were 
“pulling  for  him”  to  run  up  a  high  score.  They 
hope  that  he  will  have  better  success  with  the 
redoubtables  from  New  York  should  he  enter 
the  tournament  that  the  golfers  from  that  city 
are  planning  over  a  New  Jersey  links. 

For  over  ten  days,  the  Pennsylvania  rail¬ 
road  has  allotted  their  cars  to  operators  on  a 
distribution  basis  in  the  various  soft  coal  dis¬ 
tricts  of  the  central  part  of  the  state.  This 
usage  has  not  been  strictly  lived  up  to  for  a 
couple  of  years  and  operators  who  have  been 
m  the  city  during  the  past  week  declare  that 
cars  were  never  tighter  than  at  the  present 
time.  While  there  is  a  disposition  on  the  part 
of  the  buyer  to  discount  the  talk  of  labor 
shortage,  one  Clearfield  operator  declares  that 
men  are  as  scarce  as  “hen’s  teeth.”  “And  they 
are  some  scarce,”  he  added. 


Buffalo  Trade. 


Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  September  2. —  {Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.') — Anthracite  shipments  by  lake  for 
August  amounted  to  509,935  tons,  a  trifle  larger 
quaiitffy  than  the  same  month  last  year,  which 
was  508,620  tons.  The  shipments  to  September 
1st  this  year  were  2,379,325  tons,  against  2,728,- 
355  in  the  same  period  of  last  year.  The  move- 
ment  just  now  is  light,  but  it  is  expected  that 
It  will  increase  as  the  season  progresses.  The  fall 
will  probably  see  a  rush,  in  view  of  the  labor 
settlement  of  next  spring.  Some  trouble  is  likely 
to  occur  at  that  time  in  getting  vessels  to  carry 
small  cargoes,  as  quite  a  few  of  such  craft  have 
been  removed  from  the  lakes  to  engage  in  ocean 
trade. 

For  the  past  week  the  anthracite  shipments 
were  only  92,037  tons,  or  considerably  below  re¬ 
cent  averages.  The  largest  quantity,  or  43,400 
tons,  went  to  Duluth-Superior,  with  28,800  for 
Milwaukee,  14,200  for  Chicago,  5,337  for  Mar¬ 
quette,  5,200  for  Waukegan,  3,000  for  Ashland 
and  1,900  for  Fort  William. 

Anthracite  demand  has  shown  a  little  increase 
during  the  past  couple  of  weeks,  though  it  is  not 
at  all  brisk.  Before  the  month  is  out  it  is  ex¬ 
pected  that  dealers  will  begin  to  show  a  fair 
amount  of  interest  in  new  purchases  in  prepara¬ 
tion  for  cold  weather.  Shipments  are  not  com¬ 
ing  through  from  the  mines  quite  as  well  as 
desired,  owing  to  the  fact  that  operations  have 
been  on  a  lighter  scale  lately. 

In  the  bituminous  trade  a  scarcity  of  cars  is 
beginning  to  be  noted  for  the  first  time  in  a 
long  while.  The  small  gondola  class  is  hard  to 
get  and  many  such  cars  are  now  wanted.  Mines 
are  finding  that  the  railroads  are  no  longer  able 
to  deliver  all  the  cars  needed,  but  are  placing 
them  on  a  pro  rata  basis.  As  yet  there  is  no 
great  shortage,  but  with  operations  getting  to 
work  on  a  more  extended  basis  in  the  different 
districts,  and  with  more  cars  needed  than  for¬ 
merly  in  other  lines,  a  gradual  tightening  of  car 
supply  is  likely. 

The  contract  prices  on  bituminous  coal  are  a 
little  firmer  than  a  few  weeks  ago,  but  few  con¬ 
tracts  are  being  taken.  Operators  are  not  will¬ 
ing  to  take  chances  for  a  long  period  at  recent 
figures,  and  consumers  are  slow  to  convince  that 
prices  are  to  go  higher.  Yet  the  evidence  seems 
plain  that  the  period  of  depression  is  getting  over 
with  and  that  this  fall  will  see  a  fair  increase 
in  volume  of  business.  Steel  plants  are  busy  and 
other  manufactories  are  also  getting  more  orders 
than  a  few  weeks  ago. 


Believing  that  the  present  rates  for  com¬ 
pensation  are  too  high,  the  members  of  the 
New  York  Boat  Owners’  Association  have 
decided  to  start  a  mutual  insurance  company. 
This  association  represents  about  130  owners 
of  boats  that  trade  in  and  around  New  York, 
comprising  the  principal  owners  of  tug-boats 
and  barges  that  are  used  in  the  coal  trade. 


200 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[September  4 


New  England  Trade 

Boston,  September  2. —  {Special  Correspond¬ 
ence.) — The  closing  days  of  August  were  quiet 
ones  among  the  local  wholesale  anthracite  and 
bituminous  houses.  In  anthracite,  for  instance, 
a  majority  of  the  retail  dealers  were  well  sup¬ 
plied  or  had  enough  stock  on  hand  to  carry  them 
along  for  a  month  or  two.  For  that  reason  com¬ 
paratively  few  took  advantage  of  the  ten-cents-a- 
ton  reduction.  Generally  speaking,  the  retail 
trade  has  been  backward  this  summer,  and  it  will 
be  another  month  at  least  before  dealers  will 
have  to  come  into  the  market  for  supplies.  Nat¬ 
urally  with  his  trade  dull,  the  retailer  has  not 
felt  like  tying  up  a  lot  of  money  in  coal  until 
he  was  actually  obliged  to.  Then  too,  certain  of 
the  retailers  have  felt  that  possibly  tbe  recent 
decision  handed  down  by  the  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission  in  the  freight  rate  case,  may  possibly 
have  some  bearing  on  prices  before  December 
II  1st. 

Very  little,  if  any,  August  business  was  car¬ 
ried  over  into  this  month  by  the  wholesalers, 
and  they  already  are  making  strenuous  efforts  to 
get  new  orders  on  books.  Independent  shippers 
are  offering  coal  at  concessions  for  all-rail  points, 
which,  of  course,  makes  the  task  of  the  dealer 
handling  big  company  anthracite  more  difficult. 
Amounts  offered  at  concessions  are  small  in  most 
cases.  The  new  prices  bring  stove  and  egg  along 
side  Boston  Harbor  up  to  $5.85  per  ton,  nut  is 
$fi.l(),  and  pea  unebanged  at  $4.05.  At  Mystic 
Wharf  stove  and  egg  are  $6.20  per  ton  on  cars, 
screened,  and  nut  $6.45.  The  prohibiting  of  coal 
exports  by  Great  Britain  bas  brought  in  more 
inquiries  from  provinces  points,  but  actual^  book¬ 
ings  have  not  increased  noticeably.  There  is  little 
doubt  but  that  New  England  would  have  done  a 
very  large  provinces  trade  this  year  had  not 
freight  rates  been  so  high. 

With  all  the  lack  of  Imsiness  local  dealers  are 
by  no  means  pessimistic.  Some  of  them  are  not 
only  predicting  a  rushing  fall  and  winter,  but  be¬ 
lieve  some  prepared  sizes  will  sell  at  a  premium. 
Stocks  at  tidewater  shipping  and  at  stocking 
points  are  relatively  small  and  will  remain  so  for 
some  weeks,  as  all  of  the  mines  are  materially 
curtailing  their  outputs.  About  the  only  buck¬ 
wheats  moving  are  those  that  were  sold  in  the 
early  part  of  the  season.  One  of  the  oldest 
bituminous  dealers  says  that  he  cannot  remem¬ 
ber  a  year  when  consumers  in  general  have  been 
supplied  with  so  much  water  power  as  they  have 
in  1915.  The  present  condition  of  the  local  mar¬ 
ket  seems  to  bear  out  his  statement.  At  Mystic 
Wharf  there  is  no  open  spot  market  for  New 
River  and  Pocahontas  as  some  weeks  ago  the 
rank  and  file  of  dealers  found  it  unprofitable  to 
ship  to  that  point.  Plenty  of  good  coal  has  been 
offered  there  at  $3.60  per  ton,  as  compared  with 
$3.85  a  year  ago.  Shippers  of  Georges  Creek 
quote  the  Mystic  Wharf  market  as  nominal  at 
$3.90  per  ton  on  cars,  and  claim  they  have  no 
desire  to  compete  for  business  so  long  as  price 
cutting  prevails  on  southern  coals. 

Some  bituminous  is,  of  course,  selling  every 
day,  but  it  is  mostly  in  small  lots,  which,  as  one 
dealer  says,  “goes  to  the  four  corners  of  New 
England.”  The  Boston  &  Maine  has  done  noth¬ 
ing  as  yet  toward  contracting  for  fresh  sup¬ 
plies,  but  probably  will  soon.  The  New  Haven 
and  Boston  &  Albany  have,  it  is  understood,  a 
large  supply  of  coal  on  hand,  but  may  take  their 
cue  from  some  of  the  other  large  railroads  of 
the  country  and  stock  up  more  in  anticipation  of 
possible  labor  troubles  at  the  mines  later  on. 
Stocks  of  New  River  and  Pocahontas  at  and 
running  to  Hampton  Roads  ports  are  reported 
as  smaller  than  they  have  been  before  in  many 
months,  and  if  this  report  is  true,  the  New  Eng¬ 
land  market  is  bound  to  receive  some  benefit 
from  conditions  there.  Smaller  stocks  should 
.stop  the  price  cutting  in  the  f.  o.  b.  Hampton 
Roads  market.  Pennsylvania  bituminous  is  still 
reported  as  weak,  but  the  official  market  price 
range  is  unchanged  at  ninety  cents  to  $1.50  per 
ton  on  cars  at  the  mines. 

The  marine  freight  rate  market  is  unchanged. 
For  space  from  Hampton  Roads  ports  to  Boston 
range  from  seventy-five  to  eighty  cents,  while 
from  Baltimore  to  Boston  they  are  from  seven 
to  ten  cents  a  ton  more.  From  New  York  to 
Boston  rates  are  unchanged  at  fifty  to  fifty-five 
cents. 


Massachusetts  Gas  Companies. 

The  combined  net  earnings  available  for  divi¬ 
dends  of  the  subsidiary  companies  of  tbe  Massa¬ 
chusetts  Gas  Companies  for  July  were  $200,011, 
or  $12,905  more  than  those  for  the  corresponding 
month  last  year,  and  $30,642  larger  than  those 


for  July,  1913.  I'ollowing  are  the  July  earnings 
of  the  coal  department  with  comparisons : 


1915  1914  1913 

New  England  Gas . $37,692  $54,210  $  54,347 

New  England  Coal .  55,409  26,432  40,096 

Federal  Coal .  2,642  7,834  2,935 

Tow  Boat .  164  3,876  3,514 


Total  . $95,908  $92,353  $100,892 


The  output  of  the  Island  Creek  Coal  Com¬ 
pany  for  August  was  220,000  tons,  as  compared 
with  178,000  tons  for  July. 


Baltimore  Trade. 


Baltimore,  September  2. —  {Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — While  there  was  no  upward  move 
in  prices,  the  soft  coal  market  may  be  said  to 
have  improved  during  the  week.  This  was  due 
to  an  increasing  line  of  inquiries,  and  the  ex¬ 
pectation  of  a  brisk  fall  seems  about  to  be  real¬ 
ized.  That  prices  have  not  stiffened  materially 
is  undoubtedly  due  to  the  fact  that  demand  was 
so  far  below  production  for  many  weeks  that 
the  first  increases  in  call  for  coal  have  to  be 
absorbed  by  surplusage  before  there  is  a  real 
tightening  of  the  market. 

From  isolated  sections  the  past  week  came 
reports  of  car  shortage.  Relief  came  to  some 
sections  that  had  been  troubled  more  or  less  the 
week  before,  but  then  new  lines  of  trouble  devel¬ 
oped  at  other  points.  The  car  problem  is  likely 
to  be  one  of  the  biggest  ones  of  the  coming  fall 
and  early  winter.  _  _  . 

Immense  quantities  of  coal  are  again  moving 
over  the  piers  here  on  export  business,  and  there 
is  also  an  increase  in  evidence  in  the  movement 
at  tide  for  coastwise  account.  The  past  week  saw 
considerable  coal  shipped  to  New  England  and 
some  to  the  south  also.  With  the  southern  hur¬ 
ricane  season  due  there  may  be  some  little  in¬ 
clination  to  hold  off  until  September  has  been 


rounded  out. 

Export  business  took  another  upward  turn  the 
past  week.  While  the  August  record  will  prob¬ 
ably  not  reach  that  of  June  or  July,  it  will  still 
be  quite  heavy.  For  the  week  ending  August 
28th  a  total  of  66,670  tons  was  loaded  for  foreign 
ports  here.  Increasing  bunker  call  is  also  cutting 
a  large  figure  in  the  local  trade. 

Prices  to  the  trade  at  mines  may  be  quoted  as 

-  F.O.B. 

Baltimore. 
$2.28@2.33 
2.18@2.23 
1.98@2.03 

2.43@2.53 
2.28@2.33 

1.98@2.03 

1.98@2.03 

2.48@2.53 
2.78(®2.83 
2.03@2.13 

Among  the  anthracite  dealers  here  there  is  a 
more  optimistic  tone.  With  the  advent  of  Sep¬ 
tember,  and  cool  weather,  there  has  developed  the 
opening  line  of  inquiry  for  the  regular  fall  trade. 
That  this  business  will  be  up  to  normal  or  greater 
than  normal  is  confidently  predicted.  Even  with 
steaming  coals,  which  have  been  flat,  imprOTed 
business  conditions  are  likely  to  tighten  that  field 

Munitions  orders  here  are  playing  a  bigger  and 
bigger  part  in  the  local  industrial  field,  and  con¬ 
sequently  with  the  coal  trade.  More  than  $30,- 
000,000  of  contracts  have  already  been  placed  here 
with  a  dozen  or  so  firms,  and  contracts  for  twice 
that  amount  are  pending. 


Fairmont— 

Three-quarter  . 

Run  of  mine . 

F.  0.  B. 
Mines. 

. $0.85@  .90 

. 75@  .80 

. 60@  .65 

Somerset — 

.  1.25@1.35 

Good  . 

W.  M.  R.  R.— 

.  1.10@1.15 

. 80@  .85 

B.  &  0.— 

. 80@  .85 

P.  R.  R.— 

Best  South  Fork . 

Miller  vein . 

Ordinary  . 

.  1.30@1.35 

.  1.10@1.15 

. 85@  .95 

Birmingham  Trade. 


Birmingham,  Ala.,  September  2.— (Special 
Correspondence.) — The  coal  trade  is  without 
doubt  better  than  it  was  this  time  last  year. 
While  this  is  true,  not  all  of  operating  mines 
are  working  to  full  capacity.  Domestic  coal 
mines  have  shown  a  considerable  improve¬ 
ment  in  trade  in  tbe  past  few  days  and  some 
are  running  to  capacity.  There  is  some  buy¬ 
ing  by  the  yard  men  and  many  consumers 
who  buy  in  carloads  are  placing  orders  for 
early  delivery. 

It  is  probable  that  the  total  output  has 
reached  sixty-five  per  cent  and,  while  a  few 
places  are  running  full  time  and  full  capacity, 
many  others  are  not  doing  over  forty  per  cent 
of  the  business  which  could  be  done.  The 
Eureka  Company,  which  sells  the  Cahaba  do¬ 
mestic  coal,  is  getting  out  about  800  tons  per 
day,  full  tonnage.  The  Empire  Company  is 
getting  out  its  full  tonnage  of  1,200  tons  per 


day;  a  few  others  are  doing  the  same,  but 
with  203  mines  ready  for  operation  a  large 
volume  of  business  must  be  had  to  keep  all 
going  even  to  a  forty  per  cent  tonnage. 

Steam  coal  trade  is  only  fair;  still  some  in¬ 
crease  is  beginning  to  show  up.  Most  coking 
coal  mines  are  getting  out  satisfactory  output 
and  most  of  this  is  used  in  the  district. 

Most  of  the  high  grade  domestic  coals  have 
advanced  from  fifteen  to  twenty-five  cents  per 
ton  for  September  prices.  Prices  on  steam, 
coking  and  blacksmith  coal  show  very  little 
change,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  as  a 
whole  neither  the  sales  nor  the  output  of  any 
coals  is  entirely  satisfactory. 

Many  improvements  in  mining  sections  still 
continue  to  be  projected.  The  river  trade  out¬ 
look  seems  to  grow  brighter  and  many  indica¬ 
tions  are  coming  into  view  which  show  that 
that  route  will  soon  be  very  popular. 

The  following  prices  prevail  for  September: 


F.  p.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Bibb  County  Domestic  Coal —  Mines.  Birmingham. 

Caliaba  fancy  lump .  $2.75  $3.05 

Cahaba  No.  2  lump .  2.50  2.80 

Jefferson  County — 

Fancy  steam  Pratt .  1.75  2.00 

Run  of  mine  Pratt .  1.20@1.25  1.45@1.60 

Black  Creek — 

Fancy  steam  lump .  1.75  2.05 

Washed  nut  .  1.75  2.05 

Washed  steam .  1.35@1.40  Frt.  rate  80c 

Mine  run .  1.35@1.40  Frt.  rate  30c 

Jefferson  Seam  Steam  Coal — ■ 

Mine  run .  1.15@1.25  Frt.  rate  30c 

Walker  County  Domestic — 

Carbon  Hill  lump .  1.60  2.00 

Horse  Creek  mine  run .  1.00@1.20  Frt.  rate  40c 

Shelby  County — 

Montevallo  domestic  prices  ranging  from  $2.75  to  $3.00. 
Blacksmith  coal,  washed  and  screened,  per  ton,  $2  to 
$2.25  at  mines,  with  different  rates  to  various  points. 


Denver  Trade. 


Denver,  September  2. —  {Special  Correspond¬ 
ence.)- — Contrary  to  general  expectations,  there 
was  quite  a  scramble  to  place  storage  orders  last 
week  before  the  expiration  of  the  season  rates 
which  expired  on  Tuesday.  Most  of  these  orders 
came  from  western  Kansas  and  Nebraska  points. 
However,  nobody  was  swamped  and  every  angle 
of  the  business  points  to  continued  dullness. 
The  present  extremely  warm  weather  throughout 
this  section  has  also  had  a  very  depressing  in¬ 
fluence. 

Lignite  production  is  almost  at  a  standstill  this 
week,  but  the  bituminous  output  compares  very 
favorably  with  that  of  the  preceding  week. 
Canon  City  district  is  showing  up  much  better 
in  tonnage,  and  it  is  reported  that  a  few  addi¬ 
tional  mines  will  be  opened  with  the  advent  of 
cold  weather.  Trinidad  is  the  banner  producer 
for  the  week,  those  mines  being  much  taxed  by 
steam  and  steel  requirements  and  storage  fillings. 
Routt  county  production  will  run  about  sixty-five 
per  cent  of  normal. 

Lignite  slack  is  in  light  supply,  but  bituminous 
is  plentiful.  Prices  are  irregular  on  a  very  slow 
demand. 

Lignite  coal  prices  f .  o.  b.  mines  are  as  follows : 
For  Denver  delivery — Lump,  $2.35  to  $2.65;  mine 
run,  $1.50  to  $1.65;  slack,  $1.05  to  $1.25.  For 
country  delivery — Lump,  $2.50;  mine  run,  $1.55  to 
$1.65;  slack,  $1.05. 


Norfolk  &  Western  Shipments. 


In  July,  tbe  Norfolk  &  Western  made  a 
new  record  coal  tonnage,  handling  in  this 
month  173,980  tons  more  than  for  the  best 
previous  month  in  its  history.  June,  showing 
shipments  of  2,680,465  tons,  had  been  the  best 
previous  month  as  regards  coal  tonnage. 

The  following  comparison  of  the  shipments 
with  the  corresponding  months  in  1914  and 
1915  shows  the  rate  of  increase  in  the  road’s 
tonnage : 


Month —  1914.  1915. 

January  .  1,965,814  1,886,938 

February  .  1,666,475  1,621,021 

March  .  2,112,118  1,904,752 

April  .  2,117,286  2,200,551 

May  .  2,338,672  2,434,614 

Tune  .  2,315,956  2,680,465 

July  .  2,503,062  2,854,445 


Total 


15,019,333  15,582,786 


The  comptroller’s  report  shows  the  ship¬ 
ments  for  July  by  the  field  as  follows: 


Pocahontas  field .  1,648,551 

Tug  River  district .  361,454 

Thacker  district .  265,743 

Kenova  district .  80,009 

Clinch  Valley  district .  146,911 

Other  N.  &  W.  territory .  2,651 


Total  N.  &  W.  fields .  2,505,319 

Williamson  and  Pond  Creek  R.  R.  Co .  86,949 

All  other  railroads .  262,177 


Grand  total 


2,854,445 


Phe  Black  Diamond 

Vol.  55.  No.  11  g« 

SEPTEMBER  11,  1915  $3.00  Per  Year 

Vital  Facts  on  Coal  Storage  in  Three  Sections.* 


On  account  of  depressed  business  conditions 
during  the  past  year,  the  necessity  for  coal  stor¬ 
age  was  not  felt,  due  to  the  fact  that  the  con¬ 
sumption  of  coal  during  the  fall  and  winter 
months  by  railroads  and  industrial  plants  was 
conservatively  thirty  per  cent  below  normal.  This 
together  with  the  reduction  in  all  classes  of 
traffic  left  the  railroads  with  a  surplus  of  cars 
and  power  during  the  entire  year. 

This  state  of  affairs,  however,  did  serve  to 
magnify  some  of  the  unsatisfactory  and  un¬ 
economical  conditions,  existing  within  and  in 
connection  with  bituminous  coal  industry. 

1.  It  has  become  doubly  apparent  to  all  par¬ 
ties  interested  that  there  are  appro.ximately  fifty 
per  cent  more  coal  mining  operations  in  this 
country  than  are  needed  to  produce  the  amount 
of  coal  consumed. 

(a)  That  this  surplus  of  mines  represents  an 
investment  of  approximately  $450,000,000.  If 
twenty-five  per  cent  of  this  had  been  invested  in 
storage  facilities  instead  of  mines  the  needs  of 
the  country  could  have  been  fully  and  promptly 
supplied,  and  the  bituminous  coal  industry  of 
today  would  be  on  a  solid  basis  financially  in¬ 
stead  of  the  jeopardized  state,  which,  we  are  told 
by  the  operators,  actually  exists,  due  to  ruinous 
competition  and  high  cost  of  production  brought 
about  by  short  runnin.g  time. 

(b)  In  order  to  meet  the  spasmodic  strong 
demands  for  coal  in  the  fall  and  winter  (further 
intensified  by  the  biennial  mine  suspensions),  the 
railroads  have  been  gradually  creating  a  large 
surplus  of  coal  cars.  The  average  surplus  for 
period  May  15  to  July  15,  1914,  was  95,564  cars. 
This  represents  an  investment  of  approximately 
$105,120,400.  Fifty  per  cent  of  this  amount 
judiciously  expended  in  storage  facilities  would 
have  accomplished  as  much  in  taking  care  of  the 
coal  traffic  of  the  country,  and  the  life  of  such 
storage  facilities  would  have  been  double  the 
life  of  the  cars,  with  a  very  much  less  mainte¬ 
nance  cost. 

Eastern  Group. 

Ohio,  Pennsylvania  and  IVest  Virginia:  There 
is  a  difference  of  opinion  as  to  whether  the  stor¬ 
age  of  coal  is  desirable,  some  advocating  this 
practice,  while  others  feel  that  the  storage  of 
coal  is  not  practicable  and  should  be  avoided. 

Those  favoring  the  storage  of  coal  differ  as  to 
the  best  season  for  storage.  It  makes  consid¬ 
erable  difference  whether  the  coal  is  to  be  stored 
at  or  in  the  vicinity  of  the  mines  or  close  to 
the  point  where  it  will  ultimately  be  used.  If 
coal  is  to  move  from  storage  near  the  mines  by 
water,  it  should  be  stored  during  the  fall  and 
winter  months  and  moved  during  the  spring 
and  summer.  If  coal  is  to  be  moved  by  rail,  it 
is  the  consensus  of  opinion  that  it  should  be 
stored  near  the  mines  during  late  fall  when  traf¬ 
fic  is  heavy  and  winter  when  transportation  costs 
are  high,  and  moved  to  point  of  consumption 
during  the  spring  and  summer  months. 

The  consensus  of  opinion  in  regard  to  the 
coals  named  in  the  region  under  consideration, 
which  may  be  screened  without  excessive  break¬ 
age,  seems  to  be  that  the  coal  best  adapted  for 
storage  is  the  three-fourths  inch  to  the  one-and- 
one-fourth  inch  lump.  In  the  case  of  very  friable 
coals  such  a  separation  of  sizes  is  not  practi¬ 
cable,  for  which  reason  they  should  be  stored  as 
run-of-mine  and  the  stora.ge  piles  so  made  as 
to  minimize  the  danger  attendant  upon  storing 
the  coal  of  mixed  sizes. 

What  Storage  Costs 

While  in  the  district  in  question  attempts  have 
been  made  to  store  coal,  there  was  found  to  be 
considerable  variation  in  figures  representing  cost 
of  storage.  It  is  felt,  however,  under  conditions 
which  are  reasonably  favorable  the  cost  of  stor¬ 
age  should  not  exceed  thirty-five  cents  a  ton, 
and  under  quite  favorable  conditions,  the  cost 
should  be  less.  In  addition  to  the  cost  of  the 
second  handling,  the  interest  on  the  amount  of 

’Part  of  a  report  by  the  standing  committee  of  the 
International  Railway  Fuel  Association. 


Experts  Say  That  the  Loss  of  Heat  Is 
Small  and  Danger  Not  Great  —  Cost 
Varies  With  the  Methods  Used. 


coal  stored  must  be  considered ;  also  the  cost 
of  freight  charges,  if  any,  to  point  where  coal 
is  stored,  and  the  interest  on  such  charges,' like¬ 
wise  interest  and  depreciation  on  plant  and  facili¬ 
ties  used  for  storage  of  coal. 

The  Gulf  Smokeless  Coal  Company  has  a 
playt  in  service  at  Sewall’s  Point,  Virginia,  which 
they  feel  is  quite  econoriiical.  There  is  also  an¬ 
other  one  on  the  C.  C.  &  O.  Railroad,  operated 
by  the  Clinchfield  Coal  Corporation,  and  a  third 
on  the  Ohio  river,  operated  by  the  Island  Creek 
Coal  Sales  Company.  The  Westmoreland  Coal 
Company  makes  use  of  the  locomotive  crane  for 
storage  purposes  and  feels  that  under  normal 
conditions  the  cost  of  re-handling  coal  with  de¬ 
vice  of  this  character  is  not  over  six  cents  per 
ton. 

Heat  Value  Loss. 

The  information  as  regards  service  tests  made 
on  locomotives  or  stationary  boiler  plants  with 
Stored  coal,  is  meager  and  we  obtained  no  ac¬ 


An  Object  Lesson. 

As  this  issue  goes  to  press  a  car 
and  locomotive  shortage  is  becoming 
apparent. 

In  a  short  while  a  coal  shortage 
must  come  as  a  natural  consequence. 

To  avoid  such  things  the  Inter¬ 
national  Railway  Fuel  Association 
discussed  coal  storage  by  the  rail¬ 
ways.  It  sought  also  to  give  more 
even  employment  to  the  railway 
cars. 

So  long  as  the  railways  were  con¬ 
fronted  by  a  theory  only,  they  did 
not  act.  Faced  now  by  a  fact,  they 
may  adopt  a  new  and  helpful  pro¬ 
gram. 


curate  data  on  this  subject.  Such  information 
as  was  obtainable  indicates  that  the  loss  in  heat¬ 
ing  value  of  coal  is  very  slight.  One  large  coal 
company  advises  that  on  a  numlber  of  their  con¬ 
tracts  they  have  applied  both  freshly  mined  and 
storage  coal  as  their  conditions  made  it  neces¬ 
sary,  and  that  they  have  not  been  in  receipt  of 
any  reports  from  their  customers  which  would 
indicate  the  results  were  in  any  way  different. 
This  despite  the  fact  the  coal  frequently  re¬ 
mained  in  storage  from  six  to  twelve  months. 

Dr.  H.  C.  Porter  of  the  Bureau  of  Mines,  De¬ 
partment  of  Interior,  advises  as  follows  with 
reference  to  New  River  and  Pittsburgh  gas  coal: 

New  River  Coal:  “1.  Screenings  (through 
one-half-inch)  exposed  to  the  weather  lost  in  one 
year  0.5  per  cent  in  ash-and-moisture-free  calor¬ 
ies,  at  Portsmouth,  New  Hampshire,  and  0.7  per 
cent  at  Norfolk,  Virginia,  and  Key  West,  Flor¬ 
ida.  In  two  years  the  loss  had  reached  0.8  per 
cent  at  Portsmouth,  N.  H.,  and  1.2  per  cent  and 
l.S  per  cent  respectively,  at  Norfolk  and  at  Key 
West.  In  three  years  the  loss  had  apparently 
reached  its  maximum  at  about  two  to  2.5  per 
cent,  there  being  either  no  loss  at  all  or  a  very 
slow  deterioration  during  the  third,  fourth  and 
fifth  years. 

“2.  Run-of-mine  coal  weathered  in  the  open 
air  lost  in  heat  value  more  slowly  than  the 
screenings  and  had  reached  about  1.5  per  cent 
in  five  years.  In  two  years  there  was  only  a  very 
slight  slacking  of  lumps,  but  this  increased  to 
some  extent  during  the  followin.g  three  years. 


“3.  Submerged  under  salt  water  and  fresh 
water,  there  was  practically  no  loss  of  heat  value 
during  the  first  two  years.  After  this  period 
there  appeared  to  be  a  slight  loss  (considerably 
less  than  one  per  cent)  in  the  samples  submerged 
in  sea  water.” 

Pittsburgh  Gas  Coal:  “Samples  of  this  coal, 
about  four  tons  each,  run-of-mine,  stored  in 
open  bins,  exposed  to  the  weather  at  Ann  Arbor, 
Mich.,  suffered  practically  no  loss  in  heat  value 
in  one  year.  After  three  years  and  four  years 
a  slight  loss  had  occurred,  scarcely  over  0.5 
per  cent.  The  same  coal  submerged  under  fresh 
water  during  three  and  one-half  years  suffered 
no  loss  whatever.” 

And  gives  the  following  additional  informa¬ 
tion  with  reference  to  spontaneous  combustion : 

“The  conclusions  noted  in  Technical  Paper  16 
have  been  in  the  main  corroborated  by  the  ex¬ 
periments  made  subsequently.  It  appears  that 
the  penetration  of  air  to  the  interior  of  a  large 
pile  is  one  of  the  most  important  considerations. 
If  coal  could  be  screened  before  storing  and 
the  lump  piled  separately  from  the  screenings, 
or  if  the  screenings  were  consumed  at  once 
without  storing,  there  would  be  little,  if  any, 
danger  of  spontaneous  heating.  Air  does  not 
penetrate  easily  into  three-fourths  inch  screen¬ 
ings  containing  a  variety  of  sizes  under  three- 
fourths  inch.  The  heating  will,  therefore,  not 
probably  go  beyond  a  certain  maximum  in  the 
interior  and  will  not  reach  the  danger  point. 

“In  storing  run-of-mine  coal,  it  is  possible  gen¬ 
erally  to  avoid  spontaneous  combustion  if  the 
piles  are  made  in  the  form  of  long,  narrow 
ridges  separated  by  open  spaces  which  allow  air 
cooling.  It  is  important  also  in  piling  run-of- 
mine  to  move  the  handling  machine  so  that  there 
is  as  little  segregation  of  lumps  and  fines  as 
possible. 

“Rough  measurements  of  temperature  at  dif¬ 
ferent  points  in  the  interior  of  a  lar.ge  pile  should 
be  made  frequently  during  a  storage  of  over 
two  months  so  as  to  allow  any  rise  in  tempera¬ 
ture  which  may  occur  and  to  rehandle  those  sec¬ 
tions  of  the  pile  which  reach  a  temperature  of 
over  150  degrees  F.  These  temperature  meas¬ 
urements  can  be  made  easily  by  simply  driving 
down  one-eighth-inch  iron  pipes  or  rods,  and 
after  leaving  them  a  sufficient  time  withdrawing 
and_  feeling  of  them  with  the  hand ;  150  degrees 
F.  is  about  the  limit  of  temperature  that  one 
can  stand  with  the  bare  hand. 

“There  is  some  variation  among  bituminous 
coals  in  their  liability  to  spontaneous  combus¬ 
tion,  but  not  very  much  among  those  kinds  of 
coal  in  the  Appalachian  region.  Small  variations 
in  sulphur  content  are  of  no  consequence  in  this 
connection.  The  sulphur,  no  doubt,  acts  as  a 
heating  agent  and  contributes  to  the  danger  of 
spontaneous  heating,  but  its  importance  has  been 
over-rated.  The  physical  condition  of  the  pyrites, 
whether  finely  divided  and  distributed  through 
the  coal  or  in  maSsive  pieces,  is  the  most  im¬ 
portant  factor  in  connection  with  sulphur, 

“The  relative  friability  of  coals  or  their  ten¬ 
dency  to  break  up  into  dust  and  fines  by  hand¬ 
ling  is  an  important  factor  affecting  spontaneous 
combustion.  Breakage  tests  made  at  the  Bureau 
on  fourteen  different  kinds  of  coal  showed  a 
large  variation  in  this  respect.  The  semi-bitumi¬ 
nous  low-volatile  coals  appear  to  give  about  twice 
the  amount  of  material  passing  a  one-half  screen 
as  did  the  coals  of  the  Pittsburgh  type  created 
similarly.” 

Consolidation  Tests. 

The  Consolidation  Coal  Company  reports  as 
follows  with  reference  to  certain  tests  made  by 
them : 

“In  1912-1913,  we  made  weathering  and  labora¬ 
tory  tests  of  a  two-hundred-pound  sample  of 
coal,  closely  similar  in  all  respects  to  coal  from 
Pittsburgh  seam  in  northern  West  Virginia  and 
southwestern  Pennsylvania.  Coal  sampled  and 
the  analysis  made:  (1)  At  start  of  test:  (2), 
after  six  months’  exposure  of  sample;  and  (3), 
after  eighteen  months’  exposure.  Closely  rep- 


202 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[September  11 


resentative  sampling  was  impossible,  due  to  nat¬ 
ure  of  test  and  as  a  direct  result  some  rather 
wide  variations  in  some  features  of  the  analytical 
results  were  found.  However,  the  general  indi¬ 
cation  of  all  laboratory  results  was  that  the 
chemical  quality  of  the  coal  had  undergone  prac¬ 
tically  no  change  and  that  loss  at  calorific  value 
was  under  one-half  of  one  per  cent  during  the 
eighteen  months  of  exposure.” 

Westmoreland  Tests. 


The  Westmoreland  Coal  Company  advise : 

“This  company  has  made  some  elaborate  tests 
of  the  storage  of  coal  and  weatheriag,  and  the 
residts  have  shown  that  there  is  a  very  unex¬ 
pectedly  slight  deterioration ;  that  is  to  say,  at 
least,  in  our  coal.  The  coal  pile  oxidizes  rap¬ 
idly  on  the  outside  and  puts  on,  so  to  speak, 
an  overcoat  of  slack  or  fine  coal,  which  seems 
to  protect  the  interior  of  the  pile  and  this  process 
of  greater  or  less  oxidization  and  slacking  goes 
on  to  a  depth  of,  say  twelve  inches  or  thereabouts 
and  underneath  that  we  have  generally  found  all 
its  original  value.  Indeed,  in  some  tests  we  have 
found  that  there  has  been  no  deterioration,  even 
in  the  much  more  delicate  tests  of  gassification 
and  production  of  illuminatin.g  gas.  We  have 
had  some  coal  exposed  in  piles,  and  some  under 
cover,  for  some  ten  or  fifteen  years,  and  the 
general  reply  to  your  inquiry  would  be  that  there 
is  no  material  depreciation :  at  least  in  our  coal 
— which  is  the  only  coal  of  which  I  can  speak 
intelligently.” 

The  Island  Creek  Coal  Sales  Company  state 
as  follows ; 

“We  have  found  our  storage  arrangement  very 
satisfactory,  both  for  the  reason  that  the  coal 
can  be  stored  without  serious  deterioration  and 
also  that  it  is  of  mutual  benefit  to  the  railroad 
company  and  ourselves  inasmuch  as  coal  is  usu¬ 
ally  shipped  to  storage  during  a  time  when  cars 
are  plentiful  and  when  it  is  required  during 
time  of  shortage,  it  is  much  nearer  the  consum¬ 
ing  point.” 

Southeastern  Coast  Group. 

1.  The  consensus  of  opinion  of  both  railroad 
executives  and  of  at  least  one  coal  operator  in 
that  district,  is  that  it  is  both  desirable  and 
feasible  to  store  coal. 

(a)  Coal  should  be  stored  during  the  summer 
and  early  fall  months,  at  a  time  when  the  demand 
for  coal  is  small.  This  insures  a  sufficient  supply 
of  cars  and  locomotives  which,  under  normal 
conditions,  would  be  idle.  It  also  insures  steadier 
operation  of  the  mines  during  the  entire  year  and 
gives  both  the  railroad  and  coal  operator  the 
opportunity  to  handle  the  heavy  winter  demand 
to  the  satisfaction  of  all  concerned. 

(b)  From  the  railroad’s  standpoint,  it  is 
agreed  that  lump  coal  of  a  firm  quality,  in  or¬ 
der  to  resist  powdering,  is  the  best.  The  Central 
of  Georgia  Railway  has  been  very  successful 
in  storing  slack  with  a  large  per  cent  of  nut. 

From  the  operator’s  viewpoint,  run-of-mine 
should  be  stored,  as  it  leaves  nothing  on  their 
hands. 

2.  All  the  roads  in  this  district  have  stora.ge 
centers  and  store  coal  regularly  each  summer. 
One  coal  operator  has  a  storage  plant  in  North 
Carolina  with  a  capacity  of  1.50,000  tons. 

(a)  The  cost  of  operating  this  storage  plant 
for  two  different  periods  is  shown  below : 


UNLOADING  COST,  JUNE  24  TO  OCTOBER  4,  1912. 


NO.  OF  TONS,  125,696. 


Cost 
per  Ton. 

Pay  roll . $2,148.74  $0.0172 

Repairs  to  plant,  supplies,  etc .  727.44  .00.50 

Fuel  for  crane .  594.50  .0047 


Total  . $3,116.38  $0.0248 

Depreciation  at  10  per  cent  per  annum 

on  $71,000  for  si.x  months .  3,550.00  .0232 

Interest  at  5  per  cent  for  six  months.  .  1,755.00  .0141 

Total  . $5,325.00  $0.0671 

8,441.38 


RELOADING  COST,  OCTOBER  8  TO  JANUARY  31, 
1913. 

NO.  OF  TONS,  129,778. 


Cost 
per  Ton. 

Pay  roll . $1,797.62  $0.0138 

Reairs  to  plant,  supplies,  etc .  727.44  .0056 

Fuel  for  crane .  040.70  .0050 


Total  . $3,171.70  $0.0244 

Depreciation  at  10  per  cent  per  annum, 

on  $71,000  for  six  months .  3,550.00  .0274 

Interest  at  5  per  cent  per  annum  on 

$71,000  for  six  months .  1.775.00  .0137 


Total  . $5,325.00  $0.0055 

$8,496.76 

Total  average  cost  for  dumping  and  reloading,  13.26 
cents  per  ton. 


UNLOADING  CflST,  FROM  MAY  1  TO  AUGUST  31, 
1914,  INCLUSIVE,  2,703  CARS. 

NO.  OF  TONS,  131,949. 


Cost  in 
Cents 
per  Ton. 

Pay  rolls . $1,653.74  $0.0125 

Repairs  to  plant,  supplies,  etc .  576.72  .0044 

Fuel  for  crane,  estimated  at  two  and 

one-half  tons  per  day .  600.00  .0045 


Total  . $2,829.46  $0.0214 

Depreciation  at  10  per  cent  per  annum 

on  $71,000  for  six  months .  3,550.00  .0269 

Interest  at  5  per  cent  per  annum  on 

$71,000  for  six  months .  1,775.00  .0135 


Total  . $8,154.46  $0.0618 


(b)  One  road  in  this  c[istrict  has  a  Dodge 
plant,  vvhich  consists  of  a  20.x40-foot  pit,  15  feet 
deep,  into  which  the  coal  is  dumped  from  hopper 
bottom  cars.  Encircling  this  pit  is  a  track  for 
a  traveling  crane  which  takes  the  coal  from 
the  pit  and  stores  it  in  a  circular  pile  around 
the  pit.  The  same  crane  is  used  for  coaling 
engines  by  placing  the  coal  in  an  overhead  bin 
from  which  it  is  loaded  on  tenders.  This  de¬ 
vice  is  both  successful  and  economical. 

3.  No  tests  made. 

4.  Nothing  to  report  other  than  shown  on 
pages  138  of  Proceedings  of  our  Sixth  .Annual 
Convention. 


roads  (using  conservatively  ninety-five  per  cent 
of  the  railroad  fuel  coal  supplied  from  this  dis¬ 
trict)  show: 

Tons. 

Apnl-July  .  8,118,400 

October-January  .  15,075,650 

Increase  in  fall  and  winter  months,  6,957,250  tons,  or 
8.5.7  per  cent. 

(b)  Lump  and  egg  coal  should  be  stored  at 
destination  by  railroads,  industrial  plants  and 
domestic  users  during  months  April  to  August. 
Screenings  should  be  stored  at  mines  by  cOal 
operators  during  period  September  to  January. 

2.  Practically  nothing  has  been  done  toward 
the  stora.ge  of  coal  mined  in  this  district,  with 
the  exception  of  a  few  manufacturing  and  public 
utility  concerns. 

Nothing  has  been  done  by  coal  operators  in 
the  direction  of  storage  at  the  mines,  or  by  the 
railroads  at  coaling  stations.  The  only  storage 
undertaken  by  railroads  has  been  previous  to 
strikes  or  suspension  of  work  at  mines. 

(a)  Figures  submitted  by  one  railroad  cover¬ 
ing  coal  stored  in  fall  and  winter  1913-14  and 
recovered  in  spring  1914  show: 


Tons. 

Unloaded  . 54,227 

Reloaded  . 53,763 


Loss  .  464 


Total  Cost  Labor  Aver.  Cost 
and  Supplies.  per  Ton. 
$6,507.24  $0.12 

3,006.36  .055 


$9,613.60  $0,176 


North  Central  Group. 

{Indiana,  Illinois  and  Iowa) 

1.  The  coal  fields  of  Illinois,  Indiana  and 
Iowa  are  entirely  dependent  upon  immediate 
consumption  of  their  output  for  their  market. 
Coal  is  mined  as  it  is  consumed,  with  only  a 
small  variation  in  production  as  compared  with 
consumption.  The  absence  of  storage  facilities 
causes  an  overproduction  whenever  the  demand 
is  below  the  capacity  of  the  mines.  Likewise  is 
there  a  great  shortage  of  coal  if  the  output  of 
the  mines  is  interfered  with  by  natural  condi¬ 
tions,  such  as  severe  weather  causing  lack  of* 
transportation  facilities,  or  labor  trouble.  With 
the  output  of  the  mines  greatly  in  excess  of  the 
market  requirements  during  the  major  portion 
of  the  year,  there  is  a  surplus  of  coal.  Mines 
are  more  economically  operated  if  the  operations 
are  conducted  on  a  constant  basis  and  if  the 
development  work  is  carried  on  in  pace  with  the 
coal  requirements.  The  storage  of  coal  is  in¬ 
tended  to  act  as  a  balance  wheel  between  these 
two  extremes.  In  the  summer  months  the  coal 
.going  into  storage  would  enaltle  a  reasonably 
constant  operation  of  the  mines  and  would  be 
a  benefit  to  the  mine  operators  and  the  carriers ; 
and  in  the  winter  months  the  accumulated  stor¬ 
age  coal  would  be  of  l)enefit  to  the  coal  con¬ 
sumer  by  eliminating  undue  advances  in  the 
price  due  to  any  shortages  in  the  supply. 

The  territory  supplied  by  the  mines  of  Illinois, 
Indiana  and  Iowa  is  gradually  developing  in¬ 
dustrial  plants  which  require  ever-increasing 
quantities  of  screenings  for  their  power  plants. 
The  increased  production  of  lump  coal  in  the 
winter  months  creates  a  surplus  of  screenings, 
which  are  sold  as  low  as  ten  cents  a  ton  at  the 
mines  during  the  period  of  demand  for  domestic 
coals.  In  the  summer  months  when  the  lump 
coal  production  has  reached  its  minimum,  the 
same  screenings  command  a  price  of  $1.00  at 
the  mines. 

To  equalize  these  two  extremes  would  be  a 
well-nigh  ideal  condition,  but  one  which  has  as 
yet  not  been  reached.  The  unfavorable  financial 
situation  which  has  existed  during  the  last  two 
years  has  resulted  in  no  serious  attempts  to 
solve  the  coal  storage  problem  because  of  the 
inability  of  either  producers  or  consumers  to 
put  such  methods  into  effect.  As  one  member 
of  tiffs  Committee  aptly  states,  “The  prevailing 
conditions  during  the  last  two  or  three  years 
have  been  such  that  railroad  companies  are  not 
interested  in  any  subject  requiring  any  expendi¬ 
ture,  even  though  it  would  mean  a  vast  savin.g 
in  the  long  run.” 

There  is  no  question  but  that  the  storage  of 
coal  is  feasible,  when  conditions  make  it  desir- 


Locomotive  crane  and  grab  buckets  used  for 
handling  both  ways. 

Higher  cost  of  unloading  due  to  charging  cost 
of  temporary  tracks  to  unloading  expense. 

Following  are  figures  submitted  by  another 
railroad  covering  coal  stored  in  year  1910 : 


Location  of  Pile — How  Stored — 

Tons  unloaded . 

Cost  of  Unloading,  Total — 
Labor  charges . 

C.* 

132,314 

B.t 

31,576 

Switching,  etc . 

Total  . 

Tons  reloaded . 

Cost  of  reloading,  total . 

Cost  of  Unloading,  per  Ton — 

.$22,004.59 
107,096 
.  8,818.21 

$4,620.16 

31,576 

2,516.95 

LaDor  charges . $  .150 

Switching,  etc .  .016 

Total  . $  .166 

Cost  of  reloading,  per  ton .  .082 

Cost  of  unloading  and  re¬ 
loading  . $  .248 


.125 

.021 


.146 

.080 

.220 


*Semi-permanent  trestle,  drop  bottom  cars,  clam  shell 
used  to  widen  pile. 

tDrop  bottom  cars  and  track  jacked  up. 


Pile  “C”  was  stored  by  running  the  cars  on 
what  is  termed  a  “semii-permanent  structure,” 
i.  e.,  it  is  usable  year  after  year,  but  is  not  as 
well  put  up  as  though  it  were  to  be  used  for, 
say,  twenty  years.  The  structure  is  still  in 
place  and  some  of  the  coal  is  still  on  the  ground. 

There  are  apparently  no  figures  available  as 
to  the  e.xact  cost  of  this  structure,  and  we  are 
unable  to  furnish  any  further  details  than  are 
shown  in  the  above  table. 

In  storing  pile  “C,”  tracks  were  placed  at 
each  side  of  the  main  pile  and  a  clam  shell 
operating  on  these  tracks  took  the  coal  from  the 
main  pile  after  it  had  been  dumped  from  the 
cars  and  transferred  it  to  an  auxiliary  pile  paral¬ 
lel  to  the  main  pile  and  thus  leaving  the  clam 
shell  operating  on  tracks  between  the  main  and 
auxiliary  piles.  It  is  evident  that  this  addi¬ 
tional  handling  ran  up  the  cost  considerabl.v, 
and  if  interest  and  depreciation  on  investment 
of  trestle  were  included  in  above  table  it  would 
seemingly  prove  to  be  an  uneconomical  method. 

Pile  “B”  is  just  the  ordinary  storage  pile 
where  drop  bottom  cars  are  used  and  track 
jacked  upon  the  coal. 

3.  Tenable  to  obtain  any  data  of  road  tests  of 
storage  coal. 

4.  Following  information  furnished  by  one 
railroad  showing  laboratory  tests  of  samples 
taken  in  October,  1911,  from  a  storage  pile  con¬ 
taining  5,651  tons,  the  miost  of  which  was  stored 
in  the  fall  of  1907,  the  remainder  in  the  pre¬ 
vious  year.  The  average  results  of  these  analy¬ 
ses  are  shown  in  the  table  in  comparison  with 
those  of  samples  taken  at  the  mine  in  July  and 
August,  1909,  and  during  August,  1911. 


able. 

(a)  Coal  should  be  stored  at  ultimate  destina¬ 
tion  during  months  April  to  August  to  be  of 
greatest  advantage  to  producer  and  carrier.  In 


Loss  of 
Moisture, 
on  Air 
Drying, 
Pet. 


B.  T.  U. 
Determinations 


Average  of  surface  samples .  6.9 

Average  of  samples  taken  18  inches  below  surface .  6.0 

Average  of  samples  taken  4  to  8  feet  below  surface .  4.3 

Average  of  six  days’  samples  of  engine  lump,  July  and 

August,  1909 . 

Average  of  6ve  days’  samples  of  engine  lump,  August,  1911.. 


Proximate  Analysis- 

-X  and  Sulphur: 

Volatile  Fixed 

A 

Moisture. 

Matter.  Carbon. 

Ash. 

Sulphur. 

B.T.U. 

Pet. 

Pet.  Pet. 

Pet. 

Pet. 

9.93 

34.14  34.75 

21.18 

4.60 

8953 

10.93 

36.18  34.06 

18.83 

4.08 

9390 

9.37 

40.78  35.10 

14.75 

4.82 

10296 

8.08 

37.66  37.01 

17.25 

10298 

10.15 

38.95  35.13 

15.77 

5.10 

10705 

support  of  this  statement  we  have  procured  data 
showing  the  relative  consumption  of  the  rail¬ 
roads,  procuring  their  supply  from  this  district 
for  periods  April  to  July  and  October  to  Janu¬ 
ary  respectively,  and  reports  from  twenty-four 


Commenting  on  this  the  fuel  engineer  of  this 
road  says : 

“In  analyzing  the  coal  samples,  part  of  the 
moisture ,  was  driven  off  by  air  drying  at  a 
temperature  of  fifty  to  seventy  degrees,  after 


No.  11] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


203 


the  samples  had  been  ground,  and  you  will  note 
that  the  loss  by  air  drying  was  1.6  per  cent  and 
1.7  per  cent  higher  in  the  case  of  the  surface 
samples  and  the  samples  taken  eighteen  inches 
below  the  surface  respectively,  than  it  was  in 
the  case  of  the  samples  taken  four  to  eight  feet 
below  the  surface.  This  would  indicate  that 
there  was  no  considerable  amount  of  moisture 
present  due  to  melted  snow  in  any  of  the  sam¬ 
ples. 

“The  average  of  samples  taken  four  to  eight 
feet  below  the  surface  in  comparison  with  those 
taken  at  the  mine  during  1909  and  1911,  shows 
no  loss  of  moisture  or  heat  units.  Providing 
this  coal  was  undergoing  spontaneous  combus¬ 
tion  there  would  be  a  loss  of  heat  units,  loss 
of  fixed  carbon,  volatile  matter  and  moisture 
and  an  increase  of  ash,  but  apparently  no  spon¬ 
taneous  combustion  has  taken  place  even  in  the 
slightest  degree. 

“It  will  be  noted  that  weathering  has  taken 
place  on  the  surface  and  some  weathering  18 
inches  below  the  surface.  It  is  probable,  how¬ 
ever,  that  the  effect  of  this  weathering  is  negli¬ 
gible  three  to  four  feet  below  the  surface. 

"Although  the  major  portion  of  this  pile  has 
been  on  the  ground  for  more  than  four  years, 
there  is  no  necessity  for  loading  it  from  the 
standpoint  of  its  condition  and  I  am  satisfied  that 
the  greater  part  of  this  coal  would  be  just  as 
good  ten  years  from  now  as  at  the  present  date. 

“In  further  explanation  I  will  say  that  this 
was  Wyoming  lump  coal  prepared  over  shaker 
screens  and  finally  over  a  revolving  wire  screen 
having  openings  which  average  seventeen-sixty- 
fourths  inch  square.  Therefore,  this  is  what 
would  be  termed  ‘lump  coal,’  though,  of  course, 
it  is  a  very  low  grade  of  lump.  In  the  prepara¬ 
tion  of  this  lump  they  make  approximately 
ten  per  cent  slack. 

“No  precautions  were  taken  in  storing  this 
coal  and  it  was  stored  by  dumping  the  cars  and 
then  jacking  up  the  track  and  again  dumping 
the  cars.  After  the  pile  was  completed  the 
track  was  taken  up  and  the  pile  was  not  even 
peaked  on  top  as  it  should  have  been.  There 
was,  therefore,  a  flat  space  about  fifteen  feet 
wide,  and  the  depth  of  this  pile  was  about 
eighteen  or  twenty  feet. 

“The  coal  from  this  mdne  is  crushed,  picked, 
crushed  and  screened,  before  it  enters  the  rail¬ 
road  cars,” 

Various  methods  of  storage  of  coal  have  been 
considered  and  investigated.  On  account  of  the 
high  sulphur  contents  of  coal,  it  would  seem 
that  submerging  coal  under  water  offers  the 
best  solution,  the  only  handicap  being  the  great 
cost  of  providing  facilities.  The  advantage  of 
this  system  is  that  in  the  event  the  coal  is  not 
needed  by  reason  of  absence  of  interferences  of 
transportation  or  production,  then  it  can  be 
continued  in  storage  indefinitely,  thus  saving  the 
cost  of  unloading  and  reloading,  the  storage  pile 
acting  chiefly  as  an  insurance  against  a  possible 
shortage. 

The  committee  recommends  a  further  consid¬ 
eration  of  this  important  subject  during  the 
ensuing  year  with  the  view  of  obtaining  some 
definite  and  concerted  action  on  the  part  of 
producers  and  carriers  in  the  matter  of  working 
out  feasible  plans  for  the  storage  of  coal  an¬ 
nually  on  an  extensive  basis. 


Canada’s  Financial  Position. 


An  observer,  who  recently  returned  from  the 
northwest,  made  an  inquiry  into  the  financial 
situation  at  the  head  of  the  lakes.  He  was  par¬ 
ticular  to  ask  the  status  of  collections.  He  found 
them  fairly  good  as  a  whole. 

This  statement  is  modified  in  two  particulars. 
Some  manufacturing  districts  have  been  running 
on  rather  short  time  and  consequently  collections 
have  been  slow.  In  one  or  two-  places,  serious 
failures  have  involved  producing  companies  in 
difficulty  and  have  thrown  men  out  of  employ¬ 
ment.  This  tends,  in  those  places,  to  make  col¬ 
lections  slow. 

The  most  serious  situation  is  in  western  Can¬ 
ada,  according  to  reports.  That  territory,  it 
seems,  had  a  partial  crop  failure  last  year ;  the 
people  were,  in  consequence,  short  of  money. 

That,  however,  does  not  explain  all  of  the  diffi¬ 
culty  that  Canada  is  enduring  from  a  financial 
point  of  view.  It  seems,  from  what  we  can 
gather,  that  the  Dominion  is  having  to  carry  a 
considerable  part  of  England’s  war  burden.  That 
is,  England  has  been  buying  rather  heavily  in 
America  both  in  foodstuff  and  munitions  of  war. 
The  resultant  debt  has  to  be  satisfied. 

This  was  offset,  in  the  early  stages,  by  credits 
resting  in  England  against  the  United  States  due 
to  absorption  by  America  of  securities  held  in 


Europe.  However,  the  credit  in  England  has 
been  wiped  out  and  now  the  obligation  runs 
heavily  the  other  way.  This  can  only  be  satis¬ 
fied  by  a  shipment  of  gold  direct  to  America. 

The  shipment  of  gold  is,  or  has  been,  hazar¬ 
dous  owing  to  the  activity  of  the  German  fleet. 
Besides,  England  has  needed  gold  for  home  pur¬ 
poses  and  has  not  cared  to  deplete  its  supply  by 
shipping  to  the  United  States.  At  the  same  time, 
it  had  to  pay  the  United  States  in  cash  for  what 
it  got.  This  led  it  to  call  upon  Canada  to  de¬ 
plete,  to  a  large  extent,  its  gold  supply  to  aid 
the  mother  country. 

The  first  movement  was  to  return  to  Wash¬ 
ington  from  Ottawa  the  gold  previously  sent 
there  by  this  country.  As  a  secondary  means, 
the  gold  reserves  in  Canada  banks  were  called 


A  great  many,  perhaps  a  majority,  of  the  coal 
mines  in  the  state  of  Illinois  are  depending  upon 
accounting  methods  that  are  inadequate — some 
of  them  pathetically  so.  Considering  the  impor¬ 
tance  of  properly  setting  up  accounts  to  ascer¬ 
tain  costs,  record  transactions  and  display  finan¬ 
cial  position,  it  is  apparent  at  once  that  the  de¬ 
partment  of  accounts  has  not  been  given  the  care 
it  should  receive. 

It  is  true  that  some  companies  have  come  to 
an  appreciation  of  the  vital  Importance  of  cor¬ 
rect  and  thorough  accounting,  and  have  devel¬ 
oped  well  organized  departments  for  this  work. 
On  the  other  hand,  inquiry  reveals  a  surprising 
number  that  have  failed  to  provide  for  even  such 
elementary  needs  as  a  double  entry  set  of  books. 

A  reform  is  needed.  With  such  reforms  will 
come  not  only  a  higher  conception  of  the  value  of 
sound  and  thorough  methods  but  as  well  a  new 
view  of  the  need  that  all  account  classifications 
be  laid  out  along  lines  of  uniformity.  No  one 
thing,  perhaps,  would  help  more  to  turn  losses 
into  gains  than  for  the  operators  to  establish  and 
maintain  a  uniform  system  whereby  account  clas¬ 
sification  and  analysis  may  be  made  upon  the  same 
basis  throughout  the  state.  If  this  can  be  accom¬ 
plished,  more  good  will  be  derived  from  the  at¬ 
tempts  at  cooperation  between  operators.  They 
will  speak  to  each  other  in  terms  that  will  be  un¬ 
derstood.  "Cost  of  production’’  will  no  longer 
be  the  vague,  undefined  thing  it  now  is. 

Nowadays,  when  one  comments  on  the  cost  of 
production,  having  in  mind  his  own  accustomed 
manner  of  figuring  it,  his  remarks  are  grossly 
misunderstood  because  the  men  addressed  each 
have  persisted  in  regarding  “cost”  as  compiled  on 
a  very  different  basis. 

Mining  conditions  are  such  that  accounting 
methods  could  be  standardized  with  comparative 
ease.  The  wage  scale  contract,  stipulating  an 
exact  rate  to  be  paid  for  each  kind  of  labor,  is 
adopted  throughout  the  state.  No  mine  owner 
may  have  an  advantage  over  his  neighbor  in  the 
matter  of  labor  cost;  he  must  pay  the  same  price 
for  each  kind  of  work  done.  It  does  not  follow, 
however,  that  the  average  cost  per  ton  for  labor 
will  be  equal  at  the  several  mines  having  the 
same  contract  rates.  An  intelligent  study  of  the 
.grouping  of  items  of  cost,  readjusting  of  arrange¬ 
ment,  a  competent  analysis  of  expenditures  for 
labor,  and  very  shortly  a  material  saving  is 
effected.  Slight  as  these  savings  may  be,  they 
are  legitimate  and  represent  an  elimination  of  un¬ 
necessary  loss. 

A  far  greater  good  may  be  done  by  getting 
away  from  the  haphazard  ways  of  handling  ex¬ 
penditures  other  than  labor,  grouping  them  and 
givin.g  emphasis  to  each  in  its  proper  time  and 
place.  Most,  if  not  all  the  companies  insist  on 
receiving  daily  from  the  mines  a  report  of  oper¬ 
ations.  And  it  would  appear  that  studious  care 
had  been  exercised  to  avoid  having  any  two  re¬ 
ports  in  the  same  form.  It  may  be  that  operators 
do  not  wished  to  be  charged  with  copying,  one 
from  the  other.  Perchance  the  office  force  feels 
it  is  up  to  them  to  “get  something  different.” 

At  any  rate,  with  as  many  and  as  widely  differ¬ 
ing  groupings  as  are  found  ht  these  reports  it  is 
obvious  that  all  cannot  be  satisfactory,  either  in 
technique  or  for  practical  service. 

Any  attempt  to  compare  reports  from  different 
mines  would  be  entirely  useless.  Many  of  them 
fail  utterly  to  convey  the  information  they  are 
designed  to  show. 

The  classifications  used  in  periodical  reports 
and  in  the  books  of  account  are  little,  if  any,  bet¬ 
ter.  Little  wonder,  then,  that  the  “boss”  refuses 
to  devote  his  valuable  time  to  poring  over  the 


into  the  Dominion  treasury  and  that  in  turn  has 
found  its  way  to  Washington,  in  major  part. 
Now  all  of  the  available  gold  of  the  Dominion 
is  moving  through  Ottawa  to  Washington  to  sat¬ 
isfy  the  United  States’  demand  for  cash  for 
munitions  of  war.  As  a  natural  consequence  the 
interior  of  Canada  is  rather  bare  of  money  and 
this  is  giving  Canada  a  more  or  less  serious  fi¬ 
nancial  situation  because  its  augments  the  pre¬ 
vious  distress  due  to  crop  failure. 

For  these  various  reasons,  collections  from 
Canadian  buyers  of  coal  are  rather  slow  and  may 
be  expected  to  continue  so  for  some  time  to 
come.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  Canada  is  passing 
through  a  period  of  depression  which  is  far 
worse  than  that  which  has  spread  over  the  United 
States. 


figures  presented  to  him.  Unless  there  is  a  proper 
and  well-defined  outline  of  accounts,  accurately 
charted,  based  on  an  intimate  acquaintance  with 
and  a  positive  knowledge  of  the  right  way  to 
handle  items  such  as  labor,  supplies,  replacements, 
equipment,  overhead,  power,  deferred  charges, 
interest,  insurance,  taxes,  reserves  and  the  many 
other  elements  into  which  corporation  activities 
may  be  divided,  no  set  of  men  are  going  to  be 
able  to  give  a  concise  statement  of  the  real  finan¬ 
cial  statement  of  their  corporate  body,  or  of  its 
earnings.  And,  it  may  be  noted  in  passing,  men 
deceive  themselves  more  than  anyone  else.  Hence 
the  crying  need  for  a  uniform  system  of  account¬ 
ing. 

As  a  rule  men  whose  best  efforts  are  given  to 
the  active  management  of  mines  are  eagrossed 
with  that  duty.  They  have  enough  to  do.  More¬ 
over,  they  have  not  the  time,  ability  or  inclina¬ 
tion  to  work  out  problems  directly  within  the 
scope  of  accountancy.  Such  matters  belong  in  the 
realm  of  the  trained  accountant,  which  class  of 
men  have  developed  the  science  of  accountancy 
to  the  extent  that  the  needs  of  the  entire  field 
may  be  surveyed  and  a  competent  system  so  laid 
out  that  the  several  companies,  large  or  small, 
may  so  set  up  their  accounts  as  to  give  a  clear 
conception  of  the  true  situation  without  any  ex¬ 
cess  of  labor. 

May  the  time  speedily  come  when  the  advan¬ 
tages  of  standardized  systems  will  be  seen  and 
grasped. 

Coal  Mining  in  Montana. 

Montana  mines  produced  2,805,173  short  tons 
of  coal  in  1914,  valued  at  $4,913,191.  As  corn- 
pared  with  1913,  the  production  of  coal  in 
Montana  in  1914  showed  a  decrease,  according 
to  the  United  States  Geological  Survey  of  435,- 
800  tons  in  quantity,  and  $740,348  in  value. 
The  major  part  of  this  decrease  occurred  in 
Carbon  and  Musselshell  counties,  whose  coal 
is  used  mainly  by  railroads,  and  in  the  Great 
Falls  field,  in  Cascade  County,  which  supplies 
a  large  quantity  of  coal  to  the  copper  smelters 
of  Anaconda  and  Great  Falls.  Other  coal 
fields,  however,  such  as  the  Lewistown,  in 
Fergus  county,  which  supplies  the  domestic 
trade,  showed  a  small  increase  such  as  nor¬ 
mally  follows  an  increase  in  population. 

There  were  no  serious  interruptions  to  min¬ 
ing  operations  in  1914,  because  of  labor  trou¬ 
bles,  and  there  was  no  scarcity  of  labor.  A 
total  of  only  171  men  were  reported  on  strike, 
for  an  average  of  7  days  each.  The  quantity 
of  machine-mined  coal  increased  from  1,076,641 
tons  or  33.2  per  cent  of  the  total  product,  in 
1913,  to  1,213,051  tons,  or  43  per  cent  of  the 
total,  in  1914.  The  proportion  of  coal  shot  off 
the  solid  decreased  from  35  per  cent  (1,143,- 
364  tons)  in  1913,  to  32  per  cent  (895,279  tons) 
in  1914. 

The  number  of  men  employed  in  the  coal 
mines  of  the  state  in  1914,  was  3,350;  and  they 
worked  an  average  of  209  days,  as  against 
3,630  men  for  an  average  of  228  days,  in  1913. 
The  mine  workers  of  Montana  have  a  good 
record  for  efficiency,  the  state  in  1912  showing 
the  best  average  production  per  man  per  day 
among  all  the  coal-producing  states.  In  1914, 
the  average  production  per  man  for  the  year 
was  less  than  in  1913  (837  tons  against  893 
tons),  but  the  average  daily  output  by  each 
employe  was  4  tons  in  1914  as  against  3.92 
tons  in  1913,  and  4.03  tons  in  1912.  The  fatality 
record  maintained  by  the  Bureau  of  Mines 
shows  a  decrease  from  20  in  1913  to  8  in  1914. 


Standardized  Accounting  for  Illinois  Mines. 

By  A.  C.  Smith. 


[September  11 


204 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


Things  a  Retailer  Should  Know  of  His  Business 


Carrier’s  Responsibility. 

Far.  2.  Sec.  (.4) — Responsiuility  Defined: 

(  See  Hutchinson  on  Carriers,  Vol.  3,  Sec.  651  and 
1365).  Responsibility  of  a  carrier  is  that  of  an 
ordinary  transportation  agent  for  liire,  and  if  he 
fails  in  the  performance  of  this  duty  the  carrier 
becomes  liable  only  for  such  damage  as  the 
owner  has  suffered  by  this  negligence.  The 
owner  is  still  legally  bound  to  receive  the  goods 
when  tendered  at  destination,  although  the  carrier 
may  have  delayed  delivery  for  an  unreasonable 
length  of  time,  or  although  the  goods  may  be 
short  in  weight  or  damaged.  Unless  the  property 
is  wholly  worthless,  the  owner  or  consignee  can¬ 
not  legally  refuse  to  accept,  but  is  required  to 
take  delivery  and  make  claim  against  the  carrier 
for  the  loss  or  damage. 

Sec.  (,B) — Prompt  Action  Necessary.  The 
shipment  should  be  unloaded  promptly  as  any 
demurrage  that  accrues  while  the  consignee  is 
making  his  decision  must  be  paid  by  the  consignee 
and  cannot  be  refunded  under  the  law.  (/.  C.  C. 
Conference  Ruling  No.  451.) 

Sec.  (C) — Damages  for  Delay  in  Trans¬ 
portation.  The  carrier  is  not  bound  to  trans¬ 
port  shipment  by  any  particular  train  or  in  time 
for  any  particular  market,  but  is  obliged  to  trans¬ 
port  with  reasonable  dispatch.  If  by  unreason¬ 
able  delay  the  goods  have  deteriorated  or  the 
market  value  has  fallen,  the  carrier  is  liable  for 
the  difference  between  the  market  value  of  the 
goods  at  destination  at  the  time  when  they  should 
reasonably  have  arrived  and  the  value  at  the  time 
of  their  actual  delivery.  See  Hutchinson  on  Car¬ 
riers,  Vol.  3,  Sec.  1366.) 

Sec.  (D) — Basis  for  Loss  Where  Carrier 
Confiscated  the  Property  or  is  Guilty  of  Con¬ 
version  BY  Making  Delivery  to  the  Wrong 
Party.  Under  the  contract  for  transportation  the 
carrier  agrees  to  transport  to  destination  and 
deliver  to  the  consignee  named.  If,  therefore, 
the  carrier  confiscates  the  property  for  its  own 
use,  or  is  guilty  of  conversion,  it  has  abandoned 
the  bill  of  lading  contract  and  cannot  claim  the 
benefits  of  the  conditions  of  that  contract.  In 
such  cases  claim  need  not  he  based  on  the  invoice 
value  at  the  time  and  place  of  shipment,  but  the 
carrier  is  liable  for  the  full  value  of  the  goods 
at  destination  at  the  time  when  delivery  should 
have  beet;  made.  (See  Hutchinson  on  Carriers, 
Vol.  3,  Sec.  1374.) 

Sec.  (E) — Basis  for  Claims  Against  Rail¬ 
roads  FOR  Loss,  D.\mage  or  Delay.  If  property 
is  wrecked,  lost  or  damaged  while  in  transit,  the 
basis  of  the  carrier’s  liability  is  that  fixed  by  the 
bill  of  lading  contract,  which  the  courts  have  up¬ 
held.  This  provides  that  claims  shall  be  settled 
on  basis  of  the  value  of  the  property  (being  the 
hona  fide  invoice  price,  if  any,  to  the  consignee, 
including  the  freight  if  prepaid)  at  the  time  and 
place  of  shipment  under  this  bill  of  lading. 

Under  this  provision  the  claim  would  be  based 
on  the  invoice  value  at  the  time  and  place  of 
shipment;  but  in  Conference  Ruling  No.  387,  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission  rules  that  if  a 
shipment  was  made  several  weeks  later  than  the 
contract  of  sale,  and  the  invoice  price  was  based 
on  a  contract  made  some  time  prior  to  the  ship¬ 
ment,  the  invoice  price  need  not  be  accepted  in 
settlement  if  the  market  price  had  advanced  be¬ 
yond  the  price  fixed  by  the  contract  previously 
entered  into,  and  in  that  event  the  basis  for  claim 
would  1)6  the  market  value  of  the  commodity  at 
the  time  and  place  of  shipment  without  regard  to 
the  invoice. 

Sec.  (F) — Time  Limit  for  Filing  Loss,  Dam¬ 
age  OR  Delay  Claims.  Claims  for  loss,  damage 
or  delay  must  be  filed  within  four  months  from 
the  time  shipment  is  delivered  at  destination  or  if 
.shipment  is  not  delivered  at  destination,  then  the 
claim  must  be  filed  within  four  months  after  a 
reasonable  time  for  the  delivery  has  elapsed. 

Sec.  (G) — Notice  of  Claim.  If  for  any  rea¬ 
son  the  owner  of  the  property  is  unable  within 
the  four  months  period  to  secure  the  necessary 
information  or  papers  to  file  a  complete  claim  for 
loss,  damage  or  delay,  the  provision  of  the  bill 
of  lading  requiring  the  filing  of  the  claim  within 
the  four  months’  period  may  be  legally  complied 
with  if  the  owner  of  the  property,  within  the 
time  specified,  files  with  the  agent  either  at  desti¬ 
nation  or  point  of  shipment,  or  with  the  Claim 
Department  of  the  railroad,  a  written  notice  of  in¬ 
tended  claim,  describing  the  shipment  with  rea¬ 


sonable  definiteness.  (See  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission’s  Conference  Ruling  No.  456.) 

Sec.  (H) — Claims  for  Reparation  and  Over¬ 
charge  Which  Require  Presentation  to  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission.  The  statute 
of  limitation  on  claims  for  reparation  is  fixed  by 
the  Act  to  Regulate  Commerce,  which  states  that 
all  claims  of  this  character  must  be  filed  with  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission  within  two 
years  from  the  time  when  the  cause  of  action 
accrues,  and  the  Commission  has  ruled  that  the 
cause  of  action  accrues  when  the  property  is  de¬ 
livered  at  destination.  (See  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission  Conference  Rulings  Nos.  10,  306  and 
307.) 

In  Louisville  &  Nashville  vs.  Dickerson,  191 
Fed.  705,  it  was  held  that  a  letter  to  the  Commis¬ 
sion  within  ;*he  two  year  period,  setting  forth  the 
facts  and  containing  a  prayer  for  relief  by  way 
of  damages,  is  a  sufficient  complaint  to  stop  the 
running  of  the  statute  of  limitations. 

In  Davis  vs.  Mobile  &  Ohio,  194  Fed.  374,  it 
was  held  that  the  only  person  entitled  to  recover 
reparation  on  account  of  an  excessive  rate  is  the 
party  who  was  actually  compelled  to  pay  such 
rate  and  who  was  damaged  thereby. 

Sec.  (I) — Interest  on  Overcharge  Claims. 
(See  Interstate  Commerce  Commission’s  Confer¬ 
ence  Rulings  Nos.  379  and  464).  In  settlement  of 
an  overcharge  claim  the  claimant  is  entitled  to 
interest  thereon  at  the  rate  of  six  per  cent  per 
annum  from  the  date  of  the  improper  collection, 
except  that  in  the  settlement  of  an  overcharge 
claim  involving  a  dispute  as  to  the  correct  weight 
or  correct  classification,  the  claimant  is  entitled  to 
interest  thereon  only  from  the  date  of  presenta¬ 
tion  of  the  claim  to  the  carrier. 

The  Commission  is  of  the  opinion  that  when  a 
refund  is  made  by  the  carrier  within  thirty  days 
it  may  be  regarded  as  a  cash  transaction  upon 
which  interest  does  not  accrue. 

In  Case  No.  6538,  F.  S.  Scattergood  &  Co.  vs. 
L.  S.  &  M.  S.  R.  Co.,  shipment  made  in  1913 
resulting  in  an  overcharge  of  $6.16.  Briefly,  the 
case  is  that  the  overcharge  was  paid  on  April 
17,  1913,  and  finally  the  railroad  tendered  pay¬ 
ment  for  $6.16,  amount  of  claim  as  filed,  liut  the 
claimant  refused  this  amount  and  insisted  upon 
interest  being  paid.  The  railroad  declined.  The 
case  was  then  submitted  to  the  Commission  on 
August  14,  1914,  and  decided  by  the  Commission 
May  11,  1915,  and  they  ordered  the  L.  S.  &  M.  S. 
Ry.  to  pay  the  claim  with  interest  at  the  rate  of 
6  per  cent  per  annum  from  April  17,  1913,  to 
date,  stating ; 

“The  single  question  presented  is  whether  com¬ 
plainants  are  entitled  to  the  interest  claimed.  In 
Conference  Ruling  No.  464,  the  Commission  de¬ 
clared  in  effect  that  Carriers  should  pay  interest 
on  all  unsettled  claims  for  overcharges  from  the 
date  the  charges  are  improperly  collected. 

“Neither  the  facts  of  record  nor  the  arguments 
advanced  by  defendant  warrant  a  departure  from 
this  ruling.” 

Sec.  (J) — Fxtract  from  Section  20  of  Act  to 
Regulate  Commerce.  The  Carmack  Amend¬ 
ment  TO  THE  Hepburn  Rate  Law.  “That  any 
common  carrier,  railroad  or  transportation  com¬ 
pany  receiving  property  for  transportation  from 
a  point  in  one  State  to  a  point  in  another  State, 
shall  issue  a  receipt  or  hill  of  lading  therefor, 
and  shall  be  liable  to  the  lawful  holder  thereof 
for  any  loss,  damage  or  injury  to  such  property 
caused  by  it  or  by  any  common  carrier,  railroad 
or  transportation  Company  to  which  such  prop¬ 
erty  may  be  delivered  or  over  whose  line  or  lines 
such  property  may  pass,  and  no  contract,  receipt, 
rule  or  regulation  shall  exempt  such  common  car¬ 
rier,  railroad  or  transportation  company  from 
the  liability  hereby  imposed ;  provided,  that  noth¬ 
ing  in  this  section  shall  deprive  any  holder  of 
such  receipt  of  bill  of  lading  of  any  remedy 
or  right  of  action  which  he  has  under  the  ex¬ 
isting  law.” 


Demurrage. 

Par.  4.- — We  will  not  attempt  here  to  quote 
demurrage  rules,  owing  to  their  great  length 
and  further  that  these  tariffs  are  on  file  with 
all  agents  of  the  railroads,  or  can  be  easily  ob¬ 
tained.  We  will,  however,  quote  some  of  the  In¬ 
terstate  Commerce  Commission  Rulings. 

The  Commission  in  conference  ruling  No.  242. 
endorsed  the  demurrage  code  which  was  reported 


to  the  National  Association  of  Railway  Commis¬ 
sioners  and  by  that  Association  recommended  to 
the  state  and  interstate  commissions. 

Conference  Ruling  313,  April  10,  1911,  quotes 
demurrage  rules  in  part : 

Conference  Ruling  451,  January  6,  1914,  the 
Commission  HFLD,  the  uncertainty  of  a  con¬ 
signee  as  to  whether  or  not  he  will  accept  a 
damaged  shipment  does  not  justify  the  carrier 
in  waiving  the  demurrage  charges  accruing  on 
the  shipment  pending  his  decision. 

Crescent  Coal  &  Mining  Co.  vs.  B.  &  O.  R.  R. 
Co.  et  al.  (20  1.  C.  C.  Rep.  559)  No.  1906  Annual 
Report  1911. 

Following  Munroe  &  Sons  vs.  M.  C.  R.  R.  Co. 
(17  I.  C.  C.  Rep.  27),  Tioga  Coal  Co.  vs.  C.  R.  1. 
&  P.  Ry  Co.  (18  1.  C.  C.  Rep.  414),  HFLD, 
that  shipper  or  consignee  may  not  be  required 
to  pay  demurrage  charges  unless  the  carrier’s 
tariff  provided  for  same  in  clear  and  specific 
form  and  manner. 

Following  Commes  &  McGraw  vs.  C.  M.  & 
St.  P.  Ry  Co.  (13  1.  C.  C.  Rep.  192)  No.  1917, 
Annual  Report  1911,  held,  that  demurrage  may 
not  be  assessed  for  except  or  because  of  failure 
on  part  of  shipper  or  consignee  to  comply  with 
his  obligations. 


Ownership. 

Par.  1.  Sec.  (A) — Contract  of  Sale:  The 
acceptance  of  an  order  constitutes  a  contract  be¬ 
tween  the  buyer  and  the  seller,  that  is  not  subject 
to  cancellation  except  by  and  with  the  consent  of 
both  parties  thereto. 

Terms  and  Conditions:  The  conditions  under 
which  the  sale  is  made  and  the  order  accepted 
must  be  lived  up  to  and  a  printed  order  or  ac¬ 
ceptance  setting  forth  the  conditions  of  sale  are 
just  as  binding  as  a  written  contract  of  sale  and 
any  notations  written  upon  the  order  and  ac¬ 
ceptance  changing  the  printed  conditions  must  be 
done  with  the  consent  of  both  parties  thereto. 

Sec.  (B) — The  common  custom  is  to  sell  coal 
f.  o.  h.  cars  at  point  of  shipment. 

Sec.  (C) — When  the  Seller  or  shipper,  in 
accordance  with  the  contract  or  order  of  the 
buyer  or  consignee,  has  delivered  any  goods  to 
the  railroad  company,  the  title  passes  to  the  con¬ 
signee  as  soon  as  they  are  delivered  to  the  carrier 
by  the  shipper,  and  the  consignee,  being  there¬ 
after  the  Iqgal  owner,  is  the  proper  party  to  re¬ 
cover  from  the  carrier  in  case  of  any  loss  or 
damage.  The  courts  have  ruled  that  if  the  goods 
are  delivered  to  the  carrier  by  a  shipper  who  has 
orders  from  the  consignee  to  make  shipment,  the 
legal  presumption  will  be  that  the  goods  imme¬ 
diately  on  delivery  to  the  carrier  become  the  prop¬ 
erty  of  the  consignee,  and  as  the  owner  he  is  the 
proper  party  to  file  claim  or  bring  suit  to  recover 
for  loss  or  damage.  (See  Hutchinson  on  Carriers, 
Vol.  3,  Sec.  1317.) 

Sec.  (D) — The  Carrier’s  Receipt  or  Bill  of 
Lading  Is  Fvidence  of  Delivery  and  in  taking 
same  the  seller  or  shipper  is  only  acting  in  the 
capacity  of  agent  for  the  buyer  who  must  there¬ 
after  arrange  for  the  prompt  acceptance  and  un¬ 
loading  of  same  at  destination  or,  in  case  of 
shortage,  delay  or  damage,  look  to  the  carrier  for 
relief.  (See  Hutchinson  on  Carriers,  Vol.  3, 
Sections  1314  and  1317.) — Hand  Book  of  the  Cin¬ 
cinnati  Coal  E.rchange. 


Wm.  Dick’s  Assailant? 


Denver,  September  9. — (Special  Correspond¬ 
ence.) — Mike  Mersillis,  a  Greek  coal  miner,  has 
been  arrested  at  Salt  Lake  and  will  probably 
be  taken  to  Walsenburg  to  answer  a  charge 
of  complicity  in  the  murder  of  William  Dick, 
coal  operator  of  that  place,  last  February. 

Mr.  Dick  was  murdered  while  taking  a  large 
amount  of  money  in  an  automobile  from 
Walsenburg  to  the  Alliance  mine,  six  miles 
above  La  Veta,  by  five  men.  The  murderers 
failed  to  get  the  payroll  money,  which  Dick 
had  hidden  in  the  car,  but  they  robbed  his 
l)ody.  One  man  is  already  under  arrest  at 
Walsenburg,  and  the  identity  of  three  others 
has  been  established  and  it  is  believed  they 
will  soon  be  in  custody.  The  governor  has 
been  asked  to  issue  re<iuisition  papers  for 
Mersillis. 


No.  11] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


205 


Hocking  Valley  Operators  May  Close  Mines. 


Columbus,  Ohio,  September  9th. —  (Special 
Correspondence.) — A  meetin.g  of  an  unusual 
nature  was  held  here  Tuesday  of  this  week 
by  the  Hocking  Valley  Operators  Association. 
It  had  for  its  object  the  discussion  of  the  plan 
of  shutting  down  Hocking  Valley  mines  general¬ 
ly,  as  a  move  against  Ohio  United  Mine  Workers. 
The  cause  of  this  proposed  action  is  the  alleged 
breach  of  faith  on  the  part  of  the  union  officials 
in  granting  what  is  claimed  to  be  more  favorable 
terms  to  the  eastern  Ohio  field,  in  the  recent 
settlement  of  the  long  strike  there. 

Hocking  operators  signed  up  with  the  union  in 
July  of  1914  on  the  mine-run  scale,  with  the 
express  understanding,  it  is  stated,  that  in  making 
settlement  with  other  fields  which  held  out  the 
union  should  not  grant  any  concessions  over 
those  given  the  Hocking  district.  The  latter 
insists  that  eastern  Ohio  is  now  enjoying  a  dif¬ 
ferential  amounting  practically  to  ten  cents  a 
ton.  Appeal  was  made  to  the  union  to  adjust 
this  discrepancy.  At  a  meeting  of  its  executive 
board,  held  here  last  week,  no  action  for  such 
relief  was  taken.  On  the  contrary,  the  president 
and  secretary  gave  out  in  a  newspaper  interview 
the  statement  that  they  would  stand  pat  on  the 
scale  and  working  conditions  now  in  force. 


By  the  suspension,  it  is  hoped  to  bring  about 
such  discontent  among  the  Hocking  miners  that 
they  will  make  terms  with  the  operators  inde¬ 
pendent  of  the  union,  rather  than  remain  in  a 
state  of  destitution  and  idleness  while  eastern 
Ohio  is  at  work.  The  operators  do  not  base 
their  policy  on  a  retaliatory  spirit,  but  claim  that 
they  cannot  compete  with  the  more  favored  field. 

While  the  Hocking  domestic  market  is  becom¬ 
ing  strong  enough  to  keep  some  of  the  companies 
busy,  they  look  upon  this  as  temporary  and 
inadequate  for  the  prosperity  of  the  field,  as 
the  domestic  end  of  the  coal  trade  averages 
only  about  ten  per  cent  of  the  total  coal  demand. 
No  definite  action  was  taken  at  Tuesday’s  meet¬ 
ing,  but  the  project  is  to  be  considered  further. 

John  H.  Winder,  general  manager  of  the  Sun¬ 
day  Creek  Company,  is  taking  the  lead  in  the 
movement.  He  has  himself  set  the  mark  by 
closing  down  the  company’s  numerous  Ohio 
mines,  which  have  now  been  idle  a  month  or 
more.  In  the  meantime  its  sales  force  is  being 
kept  intact  through  the  jobbing  of  coal  pro¬ 
duced  outside  the  field.  The  theory  is  held 
that  there  is  considerable  weakening  of  loyalty 
on  the  part  of  the  Hocking  miners  with  regard 
to  the  action  of  their  officials,  and  that  this  will 
grow  if  there  is  prospect  of  an  idle  winter. 


Anthracite  Labor  Situation  Is  Intense. 


WiLKESBARRE,  Pa.,  September  9th. —  (Special 
Correspondence.)— “President  John  White  of  the 
United  Mine  Workers,  holds  the  keys  to  the  situ¬ 
ation.  White  is  the  man  that  the  whole  thing 
hinges  on.  If  White  says  that  the  fight  for 
what  the  miners  of  the  anthracite  regions  want 
is  to  be  a  fight  to  a  finish,  it  will  be  a  fight 
and  no  mistake  about  it.  If  he  is  sparring  for 
time  and  has  some  other  way  of  getting  what 
he  wants,  that  plan  will  be  carried  out.  White 
is  the  boss,  anybody  with  half  an  eye  can  see 
it.” 

This  was  the  observation  of  a  mine  official 
who  surveyed  the  situation  as  it  appears  on  the 
surface  at  the  Tri-District  convention  of  the 
miners  held  in  this  city  this  week. 

Further,  as  if  in  substantiation  of  what  he 
had  said,  this  observer  said : 

‘‘The  convention  opened  yesterday;  everything 
was  formality.  There  was  little  other  than  the 
routine  of  business  in  what  the  labor  leaders 
did  or  proposed.  White  was  not  here  until  this 
morning  and  until  he  got  ‘‘on  the  job”  there 
could  be  nothing  done.” 

To  the  hard  coal  operators  who  have  been 
watching  developments  that  give  an  indication  of 
what  may  be  expected  in  the  way  of  the  con¬ 
clusions  reached  at  the  convention,  the  stand  that 
White  takes,  means  a  forecast  as  to  what  has 


to  be  expected  between  the  present  and  April  1st. 

Recognition  of  the  union,  the  closed  shop  and 
the  check  off  are  the  three  salient  features 
that  have  to  be  considered.  So  far.  White,  in 
his  propaganda  that  he  has  followed  in  the 
hard  coal  fields  for  the  past  six  weeks,  and  in 
the  speeches  that  he  has  made  to  the  anthracite 
miners,  has  committed  himself  to  these  features 
and  has  said  that  he  stands  for  recognition  of  all 
three  demands. 

While  the  convention  has  been  started  and  is 
under  way  at  this  writing  it  is  hardly  thought 
that  the  work  of  the  delegates  will  be  completed 
in  two  or  three  days  more. 

Tuesday  morning  the  convention  was  opened 
by  Major  John  E.  Kosek  of  Wilkes-barre,  who 
was  introduced  by  Thomas  Kennedy,  president 
of  the  union’s  district  No.  7.  The  scale  com¬ 
mittee  and  the  credentials  committee  went  im¬ 
mediately  to  work  though  they  had  not  con¬ 
cluded  their  findings  in  the  evening  and  their 
reports  were  laid  over  until  Wednesday. 

Methods  to  settle  disputes  which  are  to  replace 
the  present  conciliation  boards  have  received  con¬ 
siderable  attention.  These  boards  have  been  in 
existence  since  1900  and  have  come  in  for  con¬ 
siderable  criticism  from  the  miners.  Long  delays 
in  settlement  are  the  serious  stumbling  blocks. 
A  thirty-day  limit  for  settlement  is  one  of  the 
things  that  President  White  has  offered. 


"JOHNSON 

COAL  Si  WOOD 
YARD 

CITY  PASR  AVf 


LEHIGH  VALLEY 
ANTHRACITE 

THE  COAL  THAT  SATISFIES. 


LEHIGH 


VALLE  V 


Yard  of  the  Johnson  Coal  Company  at  Toledo,  Ohio. 


An  enterprising  coal  concern  of  Toledo,  Ohio, 
which  believes  in  advertising,  and  which  has  now 
‘‘hung  its  banner  on  the  outer  walls”  by  putting 
up  a  big  fence  with  a  Lehigh  Valley  sign  on  it,  is 
the  Johnson  Coal  Company,  with  offices  in  the 
Spitzer  Iniilding.  This  is  a  young  firm  and  com¬ 


posed  of  two  hustling  members,  Andrew  J.  and 
.Arthur  L.  Johnson.  The  present  company  was 
formed  in  1907,  and  though  young,  it  has  by 
reason  of  hard  work  and  honest  dealing,  built  up 
a  good  and  growing  business  in  its  territory,  both 
wholesale  and  retail. 


Duluth  Coal  Receipts. 

Duluth,  Minn.,  September  9th. —  (Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — Figures  showing  the  receipts  of 
coal  at  the  docks  in  the  Duluth-Superior  harbor 
during  August  have  just  become  available  through 
the  office  of  the  Tomlinson  Company,  vessel 
agents  here,  and  they  show  that  up  to  the  end 
of  the  month  1,248,335  tons  less  have  been  re¬ 
ceived  than  during  the  corresponding  period  of 
1914.  Anthracite  coal  receipts  show  a  gain  of 


33,820  tons,  while 

bituminous 

shows  a 

falling 

off  of  1,282,155  tons. 

The  receipts  at  the 

various 

docks  follow : 

Anthracite. 

Bituminous. 

Total. 

Northwestern  Fuel  Co.. 

.  77,809 

.  32,200 

167,300 

245,100 

Pittsburgh  Coal  Co . 

156,300 

188,500 

Herwind  Fuel  Co . 

70,300 

70,300 

Osborne . 

5,600 

73,800 

79.400 

Lehigh  Valley . 

.  22,000 

22,000 

Island  Creek . 

.  10,000 

77,600 

87,600 

Clarkson  . 

3,000 

36,300 

39,300 

Carnegie  . 

.  25,100 

86,300 

111,400 

Reiss  . 

.  13,000 

53,000 

66,500 

Zenith  Furnace  Co . 

63.000 

03,000 

Hanna  . 

48,500 

48,500 

Reading  . 

.  33,600 

32,400 

66,000 

(jreat  Lakes . 

34,000 

34,000 

.Steel  Corporation . 

142,500 

142,500 

August  totals . 

Year’s  totals . 

.  222,300 

1,041,800 

1,204,100 

.  993,220 

3,811,945 

4,805,165 

To  .Sept.  1,  1914.. 

.  959,400 

5,094,100 

6,053,500 

Government  Loses  Suit. 


Denver,  September  9. — (Special  Correspond¬ 
ence.) — The  government  lost  its  suit  to  re¬ 
cover  2,280  acres  of  valuable  coal  lands  owned 
for  years  by  the  Porter  Fuel  Company  and 
located  near  Hesperus,  La  Plata  county,  when 
Judge  Trieber  of  Arkansas,  sitting  here  last 
week,  held  that  the  federal  attorneys  had  not 
established  the  charge  that  the  defendants 
knew  there  was  coal  on  the  lands  when  filings 
were  made. 

The  lands  are  valued  at  more  than  $500,000. 
Evidence  in  the  case  had  been  taken  for  two 
weeks.  Among  those  who  testified  was  Wil¬ 
liam  R.  Mason,  who,  with  Joseph  Vander- 
weide,  was  once  charged  with  the  murder  of 
Joseph  Walker,  federal  secret  service  agent, 
while  he  was  working  on  the  case  in  the  vicin¬ 
ity  of  the  Hesperus  mine. 

The  lands  are  now  owned  by  the  Lhiion  Pa¬ 
cific  Coal  Company  of  Omaha,  and  the  attor¬ 
neys  for  the  latter  corporation  defended  the 
suit.  The  government  probably  will  appeal 
the  case. 


W.  H.  Glasgow,  assistant  superintendent  of 
the  H.  C.  Frick  Coke  Company,  with  head- 
([uarters  at  Scottdale,  Pa.,  is  recently  in  receipt 
of  information  that  awards  have  been  offi¬ 
cially  fixed  by  the  international  jury  of  the 
Panama-Pacific  Exposition  to  cover  the  ex¬ 
hibit  of  the  United  States  Steel  Corporation 
and  its  subsidiary  companies.  Among  these 
awards  is  one  to  the  H.  C.  Frick  Coke  Com- 
|)any,  which  is  a  subsidiary  of  the  United 
.States  Steel  Corporation.  The  award  is  as 
follows:  ‘‘Medal  of  Honor — For  combined 

exhibit,  including  model  of  a  modern  coal  and 
coke  plant,  relief  map  of  Connellsville  region 
and  a  nine-foot  channel  section  representing 
thickness  of  coal  seam;  also  samples  of  coal 
from  mines  as  shown  below.  Five  sample  cubes 
showing  character  of  coal  from  the  mines  of 
the  United  States  Coal  and  Coke  Company, 
the  Bunsen  Coal  Company  and  the  National 
Mining  Company.”  In  explanation  it  might 
be  said  that  the  medal  of  honor  is  next  in  rat¬ 
ing  to  the  grand  prize,  of  which  there  is  but 
one  in  each  class.  It  was  awarded  to  the  ex¬ 
hibits  receiving  markings  ranging  from  95  to 
too,  inclusive;  100,  of  course,  was  used  as  indi¬ 
cating  perfection. 


The  announcement  is  made  by  Perry  Barker, 
the  well  known  fuel  engineer,  that  he  has 
opened  an  office  as  consulting  engineer  and 
fuel  expert  in  the  Oliver  building.  No.  141  Milk- 
street,  Boston.  Mr.  Barker  is  one  of  the  well 
known  fuel  experts  of  the  country.  He  was 
associated  with  the  Bureau  of  Mines  for  quite 
a  while  and  in  that  capacity  studied  coals  inti¬ 
mately.  Then  he  became  associated  with  a 
laboratory  in  Boston  and  now  has  opened  an 
office  for  himself.  Part  of  his  equipment  will 
be  a  very  complete  laboratorj'  for  the  testing 
of  coals,  etc. 


Julius  Hellweg,  secretary  of  the  Baltimore  Re¬ 
tail  Coal  Exchange,  is  sixty  years  of  age,  but 
still  willin.g  to  serve  his  country  as  a  warrior, 
lie  volunteered  the  jiast  week  to  attend  the 
military  instruction  camp  at  Glen  Burnie,  Md. 


206 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[September  11 


Energetic  Labor  Politics  in  Colorado 


Denver,  Colo.,  Sept.  9. — Members  of  the  Colo¬ 
rado  National  Guard  court  of  inquiry,  appointed 
by  Gov.  Carlson  at  the  request  of  several  militia 
officers  against  whom  charges  have  been  brought, 
recently  made  a  partial  report  to  the  governor  in 
which  they  allege  to  have  in  their  possession  evi¬ 
dence  in  the  form  of  letters  and  other  docu¬ 
ments  taken  from  the  Burns  Detective  agency 
here,  which,  they  claim,  show  a  general  con¬ 
spiracy  on  the  part  of  the  United  Mine  Work¬ 
ers  to  prevent  the  reorganization  of  the  state 
militia. 

They  particularly  mentioned  having  indis¬ 
putable  proof  that  the  United  Mine  Workers 
of  America  had  secured  a  detective  agency  to 
spy  on  the  movements  of  the  recruiting  offi¬ 
cers  and  that  the  mine  workers  and  a  detect¬ 
ive  agency  were  working  with  certain  public 
officials  to  hinder  recruiting. 

It  was  further  claimed  that  their  evidence 
included  certain  correspondence  upon  which 
was  based  their  knowledge  of  a  plot  to  secure 
the  indictment  of  public  officials  and  militia 
officials  for  the  purpose  of  trading  upon  such 
indictments  for  the  benefit  of  people  involved 


The  obligations  of  a  common  carrier  is  to 
correctly  and  accurately  weigh  coal  trans¬ 
ported  over  its  line  and  to  furnish  the  shipper 
true  and  accurate  weight  certificates  and  such 
common  carrier  is  accountable  for  the  care¬ 
lessness  and  negligence  of  its  agent,  whose 
duty  it  is  to  weigh  such  coal. 

Where  there  has  been  a  delay,  merely  in 
the  delivery  of  the  goods  to  the  consignee  by 
a  common  carrier,  and  not  a  conversion  of 
them,  the  measure  of  damages  is  ordinarily  the 
difference  between  the  value  of  the  goods  when 
they  were  delivered  and  when  they  should 
have  been  delivered;  to  which  may  be  added 
reasonable  expenses  caused  by  the  delay;  but 
if  there  has  been  a  conversion  of  them  by  the 
carrier  and  the  consignee  has  not  thereafter 
accepted  them,  he  is  entitled  to  recover  the 
value  of  the  goods  at  the  time  they  should 
have  been  delivered. 


When  a  railroad  company  presents  to  a  con¬ 
signee  a  bill  of  “demurrage”  charges,  the  cor¬ 
rectness  of  a  large  part  of  which  is  bona  fide 
disputed,  and  demands,  as  a  condition  of  con¬ 
tinuing  such  switching  facilities,  the  payment 
of  the  whole  bill  and  an  unconditional  promise 
to  pay  all  such  similar  bills  that  may  be  pre¬ 
sented  in  future,  the  refusal  of  such  consignee 
to  make  such  payment  and  promise  does  not 


and  under  indictment  in  the  so-called  “strike” 
cases. 

One  of  the  letters  the  court  of  inquiry 
claims  to  possfess  is  said  to  disclose  the  fact 
that  the  text  of  the  recent  decision  of  the 
state  Supreme  court  barring  Judge  Granby 
Hillyer  from  further  participation  in  cases 
growing  out  of  the  Colorado  coal  strike  was 
sent  to  the  Washington  office  of  the  detective 
agency  on  August  5th,  although  the  decision 
was  not  handed  down  until  August  16. 

Gov.  Carlson  said  that  he  had  been  reliably  in¬ 
formed  several  weeks  ago  that  a  detective  agency 
was  “exerting'  every  effort  to  prevent  the  enlist¬ 
ment  of  recruits  for  the  state  militia,”  and  that 
they  were  employed  by  the  United  Mine  Workers. 

John  McLennan,  president  of  the  United 
Mine  Workers’  local  tonight,  when  called  over 
the  telephone  regarding  the  seizing  of  evi¬ 
dence  from  the  local  office  of  the  Burns 
agency,  said: 

“It  is  true  that  a  detective  agency  has  been 
employed  by  the  United  Mine  Workers  to 
investigate  some  of  the  acts  of  the  Colorado 
national  guard  and  we  have  enough  evidence 
against  it  to  create  a  sensation  when  we  de¬ 
sire  to  give  it  out.” 


furnish  a  sufficient  legal  reason  to  entitle  the 
railroad  company  to  refuse  to  continue  such 
switching  facilities. 


A  common  carrier  who,  having  received 
goods  to  be  carried  to  a  designated  place, 
transports  them  to  another  place  to  prevent 
their  coming  to  the  possession  of  the  con¬ 
signee,  and  deprive  him  of  their  use  and  dis¬ 
position,  is  liable  for  conversion  of  the  goods. 
After  such  conversion,  the  consignee  is  under 
no  obligations  to  receive  the  goods;  and  it  is 
no  defense  to  his  action  for  their  value,  that 
they  were  tendered  to  him  after  the  conver¬ 
sion,  and  then  stolen  without  the  negligence 
of  the  carrier. 


The  conditions  of  a  bill  of  lading  control  the 
common  law  liability  of  the « carrier  subject 
to  the  qualifications  that  the  carrier  cannot 
relieve  himself  from  the  liability  for  his  own 
negligence. 


As  far  as  a  bill  of  lading  is  a  receipt  and 
not  a  contract,  its  terms  may  be  contradicted. 


A  carrier  is  bound  to  deliver  the  goods  to 
the  consignee;  and  if  he  delivers  them  to  an¬ 
other  person  he  is  liable  even  if  he  has  exer¬ 
cised  due  care. — Tri-State  Bulletin. 


3.  If  he  either  fails  to  inspect  within  a 
reasonable  time  or  fails  to  notify  the  shipper 
promptly,  he  will  be  held  as  having  accepted 
the  goods  and  must  pay  for  them. 

I  take  the  following  from  a  leading  case 
which  states  the  law  as  it  exists  all  over  the 
United  States: 

The  seller  is  under  obligation  to  afford 
the  buyer  opportunity  for  examination  of 
the  goods,  so  that  he  may  satisfy  himself 
that  they  are  in  accordance  with  the  con¬ 
tract.  The  buyer  has  the  right  of  inspec¬ 
tion  and  a  tender  under  circumstances  not 
permitting  of  an  inspection  is  not  suffi¬ 
cient  to  constitute  or  excuse  delivery  or 
to  put  the  buyer  in  default.  But  a  refusal 
to  inspect  where  a  reasonable  opportunity 
has  been  afforded  constitutes  a  breach  of 
contract  upon  the  part  of  the  purchaser. 
Only  a  reasonable  time  is  allowed  for  in¬ 
spection.  The  place  of  inspection  is  the 
place  of  delivery.  Taking  such  possession 
of  the  goods  as  is  necessary  to  make  an 
inspection  does  not  constitute  acceptance 
of  them.  The  buyer  must  notify  the  seller 
of  the  result  of  inspection. 

Many  of  the  cases  turn  on  what  is  a  reason¬ 
able  time  for  inspection.  There  is  no  rule 
about  this — it  depends  on  the  peculiar  facts  of 
each  case.  I  recall  one  case  in  which  a  firm 
bought  goods  that  were  to  be  delivered  by 
boat.  They  made  no  effort  to  inspect  when 
the  boat  arrived,  but  allowed  the  stuff  to  be 
landed  and  delivered  to  them.  Then  they  in¬ 
spected,  found  that  the  specifications  had  not 
been  complied  with,  and  rejected.  The  court 
said  they  were  too  late  with  their  inspection 
and  rejection.  Apparently  they  could  have  in¬ 
spected  before  the  boat  unloaded,  and  when 
they  let  it  go  until  everything  was  unloaded 
and  actually  carted  into  their  place,  they  did 
not  inspect  within  a  reasonable  time. 

There  are  also  several  cases  in  which  goods 
were  shipped  via  a  railroad  and  where  inspec¬ 
tion,  under  the  rules  of  the  railroad,  could  not 
be  made  in  the  freight  yard  or  anywhere  on 
the  railroad’s  premises.  In  these  cases  the 
consignees  took  the  goods  to  their  own  stores, 
which  under  the  circumstances  were  the  only 
places  available,  and  inspected  them  there. 
The  point  was  the  same — was  inspection  done 
within  a  reasonable  time,  or  was  it  waived  by 
taking  the  goods  into  the  store?  The  courts 
have  always  held  that  Inspection  being  im¬ 
practicable  anywhere  else,  the  consignee  did 
not  accept  the  goods  merely  by  taking  them 
into  his  store.  He  could  reject  after  inspec¬ 
tion. 

It  should  be  remembered  that  inspection  and 
rejection  are  not  of  any  avail  whatever  with¬ 
out  notification  to  the  shipper,  which  must  be 
just  as  prompt — in  fact  even  more  so,  if  any¬ 
thing — as  the  inspection. 

It  is  a  good  rule  to  get  around  to  inspecting 
goods  received  just  as  soon  as  possible  after 
they  are  received.  Prompt  action  as  to  this 
will  save  many  a  snarl,  if  the  goods  happen 
to  be  below  what  they  should  be. 

{Copyright,  August,  19/5,  by  Elton  J.  Buckley.) 


Information  for  Receivers  and  Shippers  of  Coal 


Inspecting  Goods  After  They  Are  Received.  a  Promising  Coal  Field. 


Some  more  law  on  the  buying  of  goods  is 
brought  forward  by  the  following  letter: 

Rochester,  N,  Y. 

Elton  J.  Buckley,  Esq. 

Dear  Sir:  We  are  having  a  fight  with  a 
New  York  house  over  whether  we  have 
to  pay  for  some  goods  which  they  shipped 
to  us  and  which  we  found  to  be  not 
according  to  specifications.  Perhaps  you 
can  get  something  out  of  it  for  your  col¬ 
umn,  and  at  the  same  time  give  us  some 
light. 

We  ordered  certain  goods  through  one 
of  this  firm’s  salesmen.  It  was  a  line  we 
had  been  handling,  which  a  year  or  so 
ago  had  first  been  bought  from  samples. 
All  the  shipments  had  been  up  to  standard 
except  the  last.  When  the  goods  arrived 
we  supposed  they  were  up  to  sample  as 
usual,  and  did  not  examine  them  at  once. 
About  ten  days  elapsed  between  the  time 
the  goods  were  received  and  the  time  we 
examined  them,  preparatory  to  delivery  to 
our  customers.  We  then  found  them  be¬ 
low  standard  and  wrote  the  shipper,  tell¬ 
ing  him  we  would  not  accept  them  and 
would  ship  them  back.  This  we  did,  but 
they  refused  to  receive  them  and  the  rail¬ 


road  company  is  now  threatening  to  sell 
them  for  the  freight.  Who  is  right? 
The  New  York  concern  say  the  goods  are 
all  right  and  in  accordance  with  the  con¬ 
tract,  and  that  we  accepted  them. 

Yours  respectfully, 

M -  Bros. 

This  is  a  familiar  situation  in  every  day 
business  and  is  governed  by  simple  and 
familiar  law.  Let  me  say  at  the  outset  that 
if  the  goods  really  are  up  to  standard,  this 
correspondent  will  have  to  pay  for  them,  of 
course.  They  are  justified  in  rejecting  them 
only  if  they  are  not  up  to  standard,  and  not 
even  then  if  they  have  been  too  slow  in  in¬ 
specting  and  rejecting. 

It  is  a  fundamental  rule,  almost  never  de¬ 
parted  from,  that  the  buyer  of  goods  has  a 
right  to  inspect  them  within  a  reasonable  time 
after  he  receives  them,  and  that  pending  that 
inspection,  he  cannot  be  held  as  having  ac¬ 
cepted  them.  These  points,  however,  are  of 
paramount  importance: 

1.  He  must  inspect  within,  a  time  that  is 
reasonable  under  all  the  circumstances  of  the 
case. 

2.  If  he  rejects  he  must  at  once  notify  the 
shipper. 


An  examination  of  the  coal  resources  of  the 
Pound  quadrangle,  which  includes  parts  of 
Pike  and  Letcher  counties,  Ky.,  and  of  Wise 
and  Dickenson  counties,  Va.,  has  been  made 
by  the  United  States  Geological  Survey,  the 
part  of  it  that  lies  in  Virginia  having  been 
examined  in  cooperation  with  the  Virginia 
Geological  Survey.  Until  recently  the  region 
was  entirely  undeveloped,  and  little  informa¬ 
tion  concerning  it  was  available,  but  it  has 
not  escaped  the  attention  of  the  coal  operators, 
for  some  of  the  largest  corporations  have  ac¬ 
quired  lands  in  this  region  with  a  view  to 
active  development.  The  quadrangle  probably 
contains  a  greater  number  of  coal  beds  than 
any  area  of  the  same  size  in  the  Appalachian 
coal  field  and  will  compare  favorably  with 
most  other  areas  in  that  field  in  the  thickness 
and  extent  of  its  beds.  Within  the  last  three 
years  railroad  communication  has  been  estab¬ 
lished  with  the  outside  world  and  in  the  Ken¬ 
tucky  area  14  mines  are  actively  shipping.  In 
the  Virginia  area  only  one  large  mine  has 
been  operated,  but  doubtless  others  will  be 
opened  in  the  near  future.  Mining  conditions 
are  highly  favorable  and  the  region  should  be¬ 
come  one  of  the  principal  coal-producing  cen¬ 
ters  of  the  central  Appalachian  coal  field. 


No.  11] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


207 


Coal  Trade  Needs. 


By  E.  W.  Holt. 

Treasurer  of  the  Holt  Coal  Company  of  Central  City,  Ky. 

Everything  you  state  in  your  recent  article  on 
coal  trade  conditions  is  true.  It  seems  the  more 
depressed  general  market  conditions  are,  the 
cheaper  the  coal  produced  is  offered  though  more 
costly  to  mine  owing  to  reduced  tonnage. 

It  also  seems  the  more  costly  labor,  material 
and  general  production  becomes,  the  more  des¬ 
perate  the  producer  gets  and  the  value  of  coal 
at  market  and  mines  further  reduced. 

Unless  some  good  common  horse  sense  is  so 
used  that  we  may  all  get  a  living  and  property 
investment  returns,  individual  effort  in  the  coal 
industry  will  be  a  thing  of  the  past,  and  the 
whole  list  will  be  under  the  direction  of  finan¬ 
ciers  instead  of  coal  men,  and  the  present  owners 
will  be  employes,  with  the  opportunity  of  seeing 
much  value  and  wealth  producing  property, 
where  before  was  but  work,  worry  and  credi¬ 
tors,  and  with  property  without  value  for  much 
money  and  years  of  best  effort  invested.  It  does 
seem  as  though  there  could  be  and  undoubtedly 
is  some  safe  and  sane  and  law-abiding  manage¬ 
ment  by  which  our  industry  as  a  whole  could  be 
economically,  profitably  and  intelligently  con¬ 
ducted  to  preserve  into  our  coal  mining  business 
its  prestige,  and  profit  necessary  for  it  to  prosper, 
as  a  financial  failure  of  a  business  of  such  im¬ 
mensity  is  certainly  to  a  great  disadvantage  to 
the  present  owners,  the  country  at  large  and  the 
future  coal  consumers,  as  the  latter  will  certain¬ 
ly  have  the  bill  to  foot  in  the  end. 

I  have  thought  these  things  over  to  a  great 
extent  and  it  seems  to  me  that  your  outline  of 
regulation  as  to  districts,  grades,  restriction  as  to 
sizes,  etc.,  can  be  worked  out,  production,  etc., 
evened  up  with  consumption  or  fluctuated  accord¬ 
ingly. 

To  get  these  things  all  will  take  some  educa¬ 
tion  to  get  the  uneducated  in  the  proper  channel 
of  thinking  will,  I  believe,  take  a  good  man  or 
two  of  the  proper  calibre,  convincing  talkers,  and 
with  all  data  carefully  compiled  and  in_  their 
possession  to  well  cover  each  producing  district, 
and,  as  the  life  insurance  companies  do,  talk  the 
proper  way  of  thinking  into  the  bulk  of  trade, 
which  will  probably  bring  results  in  the  future; 
there  is  too  much  cheap  contracting  just  now  for 
'much  hope  soon. 


By  a  Mine  Owner. 

I  think  the  whole  trouble  is  largely  on  account 
of  the  individuals  who  are  controlling  the  vari¬ 
ous  coal  companies  all  over  the  country. 

A  few  years  ago  there  was  a  great  rush  to 
get  into  the  business  on  account  of  the  profits 
of  the  anthracite  strike  year  bein.g  so  widely 
published.  It  brought  into  the  trade  people  who 
had  no  conception  of  what  the  coal  business 
was,  and  they  have  lost  money  from  the  start 
and  have  not  gained  anything  by  their  experi¬ 
ence.  They  are  now  generally  trying  to  sell 
out  and  it  is  only  a  question  of  time  until  some¬ 
thing  will  be  done  towards  the  grouping  of 
larger  companies. 

The  other  class  of  disturbers  are  those  men 
who  are  trying  to  hurry  the  ultimate  result  of 
these  consolidations  by  forcing  lower  prices,  so 
that  the  losses  will  be  heavier  to  these  people  who 
have  no  business  in  the  trade. 

It  would  seem  that  with  the  general  condi¬ 
tions  of  the  country,  resulting  from  the  war  and 
political  reasons,  that  by  the  time  the  next  up¬ 
ward  rise  of  the  trade  comes,  the  conditions  will 
be  very  much  better  for  the  fuel  industry. 


By  a  Western  Operator. 

There  is  no  question,  of  course,  that  systematic 
co-operation,  fortified  by  statistics  giving  facts 
and  figures  with  reference  to  coal  mines  and 
coal  production,  would  bring  enlightenment  to 
all  of  the  operators,  but  particularly  to  a  class 
who  do  not  keep  sufficient  records  to  know  what 
their  operating  cost  is.  And,  I  would  say  in 
connection  with  it,  that  there  isn’t  a  class  of 
business  men  that  I  know  of  anywhere  that 
have  such  a  large  percentage  of  them  so  com¬ 
pletely  uninformed  as  to  the  actual  working 
charges  of  their  property,  as  in  coal  mine  opera¬ 
tions. 

I  can  only  now  give  you  just  one  idea  to  think 
over,  and  one  which,  I  believe,  would  brin,g  to 
the  industry  as  a  single  subject,  more  genuine 
good  than  any  other,  and  that  is :  The  estab¬ 
lishment  of  a  uniform  system  of  aceounting  for 
coal  mines.  If  you  can  bring  that  about  you 


will  accomplish  more  for  the  investors  in  coal 
mine  property  than  any  other  publication  or  per¬ 
son  has  ever  done. 

The  fact  of  the  matter  is,  there  is  an  enormous 
number  of  small  operators  who  really  never  know 
what  their  actual  cost  of  production  of  coal  is. 
That  is  one  reason  why  they  sell  their  product 
cheaper  than  they  can  afford  to  do  it ;  in  doing 
so,  they  set  the  pace  for  everybody  else.  We 
know  to  a  certainty  every  month  exactly  what 
the  production  cost  is;  in  fact,  we  know  from 
day  to  day. 

Such  items  as  taxes,  insurance,  casualty  ex¬ 
pense  for  personal  injuries,  etc.,  are  charged  up 
monthly,  so  that  not  only  such  things  as  that 
and  the  actual  payroll  cost  of  supplies  go  into 
our  records,  but  depreciation,  legal,  and,  in  fact, 
every  item  of  every  kind  and  nature  concern¬ 
ing  the  cost  of  producing  coal  for  a  given  period 
— thirty  days — goes  into  our  records.  We  know 
how  much  supplies  we  have  on  hand,  and  every¬ 
thing  is  maintained  in  orderly  fashion. 

I  have  always  held  to  the  opinion  that  the 
sellin.g  end  would  be  far  less  troublesome  if  the 
operating  end  was  only  properly  taken  care  of: 

1.  In  proper  laws  for  development ; 

2.  Proper  laws  for  the  operation ; 

3.  Proper  and  severe  penalties  for  violations 
of  the  laws; 

4.  Proper  system  of  accounting,  by  which 
every  operator  would  know  just  what  his  coal 
costs,  and  not  drift  along  to  the  end  of  the  year, 


The  accompanying  illustration  is  from  a  photo¬ 
graph  of  the  car  dumper  built  last  year  for  the 
Pittsburgh  &  Conneaut  Dock  Company  (U.  S. 
Steel  Corporation)  at  Conneaut,  Ohio.  This  ma¬ 
chine  embodies  a  number  of  features  which  are 
an  improvement  over  any  machine  previousl:(' 
built.  Some  of  them  are  as  follows : 

The  machine  was  built  to  handle  100-ton  cars. 

It  is  provided  with  a  disappearing  haulage 
car,  so  that  the  haulage  car  runs  backward  under 
the  loaded  car  and  in  this  way  eliminates  the 
delay  in  former  practice  of  holding  the  loaded 
car  on  the  incline  until  the  haulage  car  had 
reached  the  pit. 

It  is  electrically  operated  in  all  the  smaller 
movements,  while  the  large  units  are  operated 
by  steam.  Electrical  operation,  which  is  a  new 
feature,  has  an  advantage  over  the  steam  opera¬ 
tion  in  that  the  man  located  on  the  end  of  the 
pan  is  able  to  control  all  movements  of  the  pan 
and  chute.  By  this  means  it  is  possible  to  de¬ 
liver  the  coal  in  the  hold,  with  minimum  break¬ 
age  and  delay,  while  in  the  steam  machine  the 
man  on  the  end  of  the  chute  controls  only  the 
telescopic  chute  and  the  trimmer,  and  it  is,  there¬ 
fore,  necessary,  when  he  is  required  to  change 


when  lawyers’  bills,  tax  bills,  insurance  bills,  and 
bills  for  personal  injuries,  find  their  way  into 
the  office  of  the  operator  all  in  a  bunch,  without 
a  dollar  to  pay  them.  Then  he  realizes  for  the 
first  time  that  the  coal  he  sold  for  twelve  months 
ought  to  have,  in  order  to  have  brought  him  out 
even,  been  sold  at  from  eight  to  ten  cents  per 
ton  more  than  he  sold  it  for. 

Go  on  and  campaign  on  the  subject  of  uni¬ 
form  accounting,  and  in  that  one  thing  alone 
you  will  do  the  industry  a  great  deal  of  good. 


Coal  Imports  of  Sweden. 


During  1914  the  amount  of  coal  imported  into 
.Sweden  amounted  to  $24,082,083,  or  practically 
the  same  amount  as  during  the  previous  year. 
Almost  all  the  coal  is  imported  from  Great  Brit¬ 
ain,  but  owing  to  the  export  prohibition  on  this 
article  by  the  British  Government,  Sweden  has 
been  forced  to  import  considerable  quantities 
from  Germany  and  the  United  States.  These 
latter  imports,  however,  are  small  as  compared 
with  the  large  amounts  imported  from  Cardiff 
and  Newcastle.  During  the  six  months  ended 
May,  1915,  125,000  tons  of  steam  coal  were  pur¬ 
chased  in  the  United  States  by  the  Swedish  State 
railways.  Considerable  quantities  of  Silesian  coal 
have  been  imported  for  the  purpose  of  mixing 
with  other  coal  and  with  coke.  The  city  gas 
works  of  Stockholm  is  now  using  a  certain 
amount  of  American  coal. 


the  elevation  of  either  end  of  the  pan,  to  signal 
the  operator  in  the  house  on  the  end  of  the 
machine  to  make  the  necessary  change.  This 
requires  so  much  delay  that  the  pan  is  usually 
placed  at  a  high  position  and  coal  allowed  to 
run,  but  with  the  improved  electrical  operation 
the  chute  operator  can  deliver  the  coal  exactly  as 
he  wishes. 

He  can  raise  or  lower  the  inner  end  of  the 
pan,  raise  and  lower  the  outer  end  of  the  pan, 
swing  the  telescope  back  and  forth  and  revolve 
the  trimmer.  All  these  operations  may  be  per¬ 
formed  simultaneously. 

It  is  also  provided  with  counterweights  so 
as  to  reduce  the  amount  of  power  required  to 
operate. 

This  machine  has  transferred  from  cars  to 
vessels  315  cars  in  seven  hours,  an  average  of 
forty-five  cars  per  hour.  It  has  also  transferred 
fifty-three  cars  in  one  hour. 

The  machine  is  constructed  entirely  of  steel, 
no  woodwork  being  used ;  even  the  window  sashes 
are  made  of  steel. 

All  possible  safety  devices  have  been  applied 
and  all  safety  rules  of  the  steel  corporation  were 
observed  in  the  construction. 


New  McMyler  Car  Dumper  for  the  Pittsburgh  &  Conneaut  Dock  Company. 


A  Car  Dumper  Operated  by  Electricity. 


208 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[September  11 


American  Mining  Congress. 


Tlie  following  is  the  provisional  program  of 
the  eighteenth  annual  session  of  the  American 
Mining  Congress  at  San  h'rancisco,  California,  on 
September  ;’0-22.  OfiFlcial  headquarters  are  at 
the  Palace  hotel,  where  the  registration  desk  will 
he  open  until  Monday  noon — thereafter  at  the  Ex¬ 
position  Memorial  Hall. 

MdN'DAY,  SKPTKMUKK  2(1. 


Morning  Session,  ro:oo  A.  it/. 

OpeninK  session,  Kxpositioii  Memorial  Aiulitorinm. 

Car!  .Scliolz. 


icli 


Invocation. 

Synopsis  of  president  s  annual  addre.ss, 

Clncago,  111.  .  , 

Two-minnte  responses  from  representatives  ot  .sue 
states  as  de.sire  opportunity  to  express  a  word  of  greet¬ 
ing  to  fellow  members  of  the  convention. 

Selection  of  Committee  on  Uesolutions. 

Disposition  of  program.  (It  is  jiroposed  that  the  con¬ 
vention  itself  shall  decide  upon  the  time  for  the  discus¬ 
sion  of  each  subject,  and  that  those  who  are  willing  to 
attend  such  discussions  shall  fix  the  time.  It  is  hoped 
hv  this  plan  that  no  speaker  will  be  called  upon  to 
aildress  empty  seats,  while  the  convention  members  are 
inspecting  the  exposition.) 

.Cljournment. 

.Afternoon  Session,  2:00  P.  M. 

I  Diiless  otherwise  ordered  by  the  convention  the  fol¬ 
lowing  program  will  be  carried  out.) 

Introduction  of  resolutions. 

Address — “What  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Mines 
Is  Doing  and  Hopes  to  Do  for  the  Metalliferous  Mining 
Industry.’’ — Van  II.  Manning,  Director  United  States 
Bureau  of  Mines.  ^  ■  c-  •  , 

Address — “Plain  Writing.’’— Dr.  George  Otis  Smith, 
Director  United  States  Geological  Surrey. 

Discussion. 

.\ddress — “Federal  Influence  in  the  Settlement  of  In¬ 
dustrial  Disputes.’’ — Dr.  Martin  D.  Foster,  Congressman 
from  Illinois,  Chairman  House  Committee  on  Mines  and 
Mining. 

Discussion. 

.\djournnient.  (No  evening  session.) 

TUESDAY,  SEPTEMBER  21. 

Morning  Session,  10:00  ,A.  M. 


Introduction  of  resolutions. 

Final  Report  of  Committee  on  Prevention  of  Mine 
.\ccidetits. — Dr.  W.  R.  Ingalls,  Chairman,  New  York  City. 

Report  of  Committee  on  Uniform  Mine  Reports. — 
Samuel  A.  Taylor,  Chairman.  Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

Report  of  Committee  on  Alaskan  Affairs. — Falcon  Jos- 
lin.  Chairman ,  Fairbanks,  Alaska. 

Report  of  Committee  on  Revision  of  Mineral  Land 
Laws. — E.  B.  Kirby,  Chairman,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

Discussion  under  five-minute  rule. 

I’aper — “Rights  of  Way  Over  the  Public  Domain.” — 
lion.  Charles  S.  Thomas,  United  States  Senator  from 
Colorado. 

,'\ddress — “The  Right  of  .Vppeal  from  Decisions  of  the 
Interior  Department  in  Cases  Where  the  Government  Is 
Charged  with  An  Interest.”— 11.  11.  Schwartz,  Portland, 
Ore. 

Discussion — State  versus  Federal  Leasing  of  Natural 
Resources  Where  Government  Control  Is  Essential  to 
Public  Welfare. 

Statement  by  the  secretary,  followed  by  open  discus¬ 
sion  under  five-minute  rule. 

Report  of  Committee  on  Resolutions. 


12:00  Noon. 


Memorial  exercises  in  honor  of  Dr.  Joseph  A.  Holmes, 
late  Director  of  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Mines,  chief 
inspiration  of  mine  safety  work  in  the  United  States, 
publicist,  humanitarian,  public  servant,  who  wore  out  his 
life  in  the  services  of  his  fellowmen. 

(Speakers  to  be  selected.) 

Report  of  Committee  on  Testimonial  to  Dr.  Holmes. 

Adjournment. 

Afternoon  Session,  2:^0  P.  il/. 

Address — “California’s  Water  Infiltration  Law.’’ — 
Fletcher  McN.  Hamilton,  State  Mineralogist,  San  Fran¬ 
cisco,  Cal. 

Discussion — Thomas  A.  (^’Donnell,  Los  Angeles,  Cal.; 
W.  W.  Orcutt,  Los  Angeles,  Cal.,  from  the  standpoint 
of  the  oil  operators;  Ralph  Arnold,  Los  Angeles,  Cal.: 
Harry  R.  Johnson,  Los  Angeles,  Cal.,  from  the  stand¬ 
point  of  the  geologist. 

Evening  Session,  7:^0  P.  M. 

Meeting  of  members  for  the  election  of  directors  and 
general  discussion  of  the  affairs  of  the  organization. 

WEDNESDAY,  SEPTEMBER  22. 

Morning  Session,  10:00  A.  M. 

Introduction  of  resolutions. 

Report  of  Committee  on  Resolutions. 

Report  of  Committee  on  Workmen’s  Comi)ensation. — 
J.  W.  Dawson,  Chairman,  Charleston,  W.  \’a. 

Report  of  C^ommittee  on  Freight  and  (^re  Treatment 
Rates. — Imer  Pett,  Chairman,  Salt  I^ke  City,  Utah. 

Paper — “The  Development  of  Mine  Taxation  in  Ari¬ 
zona.’’ — G.  IT.  Dowell,  Bisbee,  Arizona. 

Report  of  Committee  on  Mine  Taxation. — I).  L.  Webb, 
Chairman.  Denver,  Colo. 

Address — “Mining  on  Government  Indian  Reservations.’’ 
— F.  Lynwood  Garrison.  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Address — “Workmen’s  Compensation  Insurance  and  the 
Coal  Mining  Industry.” — Herbert  M.  Wilson,  Pittsburgh, 
Pa. 

Address — “The  New  Plan  of  Mining  Insurance.” — 
David  Ross,  Springfield,  Ill. 

Address — “Mining  Hazards  on  the  Pacific  Coast.” — 
Dr.  F.  L.  Hoffman,  Newark,  N.  J. 

Discussion  under  five-minute  rule. 

Afternoon  Session,  2:00  P.  M. 

Report  of  Committee  on  Mining  Investments. — W.  R. 
Allen,  Chairman,  Butte,  Mont. 

Address — “The  Iron  Resources  of  Utah.”- — Prof.  Fred 
J.  Pack,  Salt  Lake  City,  Utah. 

Address — “The  Future  of  the  American  Zinc  Indus¬ 
try.” — Otto  Ruhl,  Joplin,  Mo. 

Address — “Interesting  Phases  of  the  Anthracite  Coal 
Mining  Industry.” — Dr.  E.  Parker,  Wilkesbarre,  Pa. 

Address — “Federal  Control  of  the  Coal  Mining  Indus¬ 
try,”  including  a  discussion  of  the  Sherman  law,  the 
Clayton  bill,  and  the  Federal  trade  commission. — Rush  C. 
Butler,  Chicago,  Ill. 


Discussion  under  the  five-minute  rule. — Led  by  W.  L. 
Saunders,  New  York  City. 

Final  report  of  Committee  on  Resolutions. 

Adjournment. 

WEDNESDAY  EVENING. 

A  complimentary  bamiuet  will  be  tendered  to  Mr.  Van 
H.  Manning,  the  new  director  of  the  United  States 
lUireau  of  Mines.  All  mining  men  will  be  welcomed. 

(Arrangements  for  invitations  may  be  made  at  the  office 
of  tile  secretary  at  the  convention  head<iuarters,  Palace 
Hotel.) 


Newspapers  on  Parker. 


PuibAiiKi.PHiA,  Scpteml)er  3. —  {Sf’ccial  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — Daily  newspapers  are  funny  crit¬ 
ters.  They  are  like  a  really  and  truly  honest 
old  maid,  who,  when  asked  why  she  still  was 
single,  said : 

"Well,  I  picked  and  I  chosed  and  I  never  could 
find  anything  perfect  under  God’s  footstool.” 

“In  one  of  its  issues  of  last  week  the  Bulletin 
of  this  city  carried  an  editorial  on  the  appoint¬ 
ment  of  Edward  W.  Parker  as  head  of  the  An¬ 
thracite  Bureau  of  Information.  First  it  paid  a 
compliment  to  Mr.  Parker  and  then  cast  an  asper¬ 
sion  on  the  position  he  occupies  and  winds  up 
with  the  assumption  that  “naught  can  be  right 
if  coal  operators  are  mixed  up  with  it.” 

Here  is  the  editorial-; 

“The  selection  of  Edward  W.  Parker,  who  for 
a  quarter  of  a  century  has  prepared  the  annual 
reports  on  anthracite  and  bituminous  production 
for  the  United  States  Geological  Survey,  to  take 
charge  of  the  Anthracite  Bureau  of  Information, 
maintained  by  the  coal  producing  companies  at 
Wilkes-Barre,  might  he  a  gain  rather  than  a 
loss  to  the  public  interest,  if  he  were  to  be  given 
a  free  hand  in  the  collection  and  publication  of 
information  concerning  anthracite  production  and 
distribution. 

“The  .selection  has  been  made,  it  is  authorita¬ 
tively  explained,  because  of  Mr.  Parker’s  record 
for  accuracy  in  statistical  matters  during  the  past 
twenty-five  years  of  public  service  and  for  his 
intelligent  discussion  of  causes  and  effects,  which 
has  made  the  Geological  Survey  reports  models 
of  their  kind.  With  the  free,  unobstructed  access 
to  the  facts  which  his  new  office  might  he  sup¬ 
posed  to  afford  him,  his  opportunity  for  public 
service  should  exceed  any  afforded  in  the  Geo¬ 
logical  Survey.  His  long  training  and  his  own 
high  sense  of  fair  statement  may  he  looked  to  as 
a  guarantee  that  he  will  serve  the  public  well, 
even  in  private  employ,  but  it  would  be  far  more 
of  a  boom  if  he  were  to  be  turned,  foot-loose,  into 
the  field  of  anthracite  facts  and  were  enabled  to 
give  full  publicity  to  what  he  may  find  there.” 

Now  it  is  a  well  established  fact  that  in  the 
city  of  Philadelphia  there  is  not  a  newspaper 
that  is  willing  to  handle  a  news  item  in  an  un¬ 
biased  manner.  Everything  that  can  be  used  in 
anyway  shape  or  form  to  deliberately  cause  a 
reflection  on  one  of  the  biggest  industries  of  the 
state  and  the  men  who  put  their  money  in  this 
enterprise,  is  “peaches  and  cream”  from  the  edi¬ 
torial  writers  down  to  the  cub  reporter  who 
scents  a  coal  item. 

Ask  any  anthracite  man  who  has  had  dealings 
with  the  daily  newspapermen  in  Philadelphia  what 
has  been  his  conclusion  as  to  the  method  em¬ 
ployed  in  writing  news  articles.  The  writer  has 
met  many  who  have  vowed  their  intention  to 
say  nothing  when  matters  appertaining  to  their 
business  comes  along  in  the  news  items  of  the 
moment.  And  in  each  instance  there  has  been 
an  actual  case  where  deliberate  contra-version  of 
the  news  has  been  the  cause  of  the  resolution. 

No  better  inference  can  be  drawn  than  from 
the  fact  that  when  some  of  the  coal  men  and 
the  business  they  conduct  have  been  actually  black¬ 
guarded  in  lurid  stories  that  had  little  founda¬ 
tion  other  than  the  one-sided  light  of  the  re¬ 
porter’s  conception,  an  attempt  has  been  made  to 
set  the  writer  or  the  newspaper  corrected  and 
little  or  nothing  of  the  explanation  has  been  used. 

In  the  case  of  Mr.  Parker  the  true  stand  of 
the  newspapers  of  this  city  can  be  read  as  you 
run.  Perhaps  you  might  go  back  and  read  the 
editorial  over  again.  Maybe  the  point  will  be 
clearer. 


August  Anthracite  Output, 


Au.gust  anthracite  shipments  were  5,330,831  tons, 
against  5,483,740  tons  for  August  of  last  year. 
For  eight  months  the  decrease  totals  1,961,049  tons. 


Lowther  R.  Ferris,  formerly  of  Chicago  and 
later  with  the  Zenith  Furnace  Co.,  Duluth,  has 
organized  the  North  Portland  Coal  &  Dock  Com¬ 
pany,  Portland,  Ore.,  and  intends  to  do  a  geO- 
eral  coal  dock  business  at  that  point.  He  will 
handle  eastern  coals. 


Price  of  Coal  Act. 


In  its  final  form  the  English  Act  to  provide 
for  the  limitation  of  the  price  of  coal  reads : 

1.  (1)  Coal  at  the  pit’s  mouth  shall  not  be 

sold  or  offered  for  sale  directly  or  inciirectly  by 
the  owner  of  the  coal  or  on  his  behalf  at  a  price 
exceeding  by  more  than  the  standard  amount  per 
ton  the  price  of  coal  of  the  same  description, 
sold  in  similar  quantities,  and  under  similar  con¬ 
ditions  affecting  the  sale,  at  the  pit’s  mouth  at 
the  same  coal  mine  on  the  corresponding  date  (or 
as  near  thereto  as,  having  regard  to  the  course 
of  business,  may  be  practicable)  in  the  twelve 
months  ended  the  thirtieth  day  of  June,  nineteen 
iumdred  and  fourteen  (in  this  .’^ct  referred  to  as 
the  correspondin.g  price). 

(2)  The  standard  amount  shall  be  four  shill¬ 
ings:  Provided  that  the  Board  of  Trade  may, 
by  order,  if  they  are  satisfied,  as  respects  any 
class  of  coal  mines  specified  in  the  order  or  the 
coal  mines  in  any  district  so  specified,  that  owing 
to  special  circumstances  affecting  those  mines  the 
standard  amount  of  four  shillings  should  be  in¬ 
creased,  substitute  for  that  amount  such  higher 
sum  as  they  may  think  just  in  the  circumstances; 
and  as  respects  those  mines  this  Act  shall  have 
effect  as  if  the  higher  sum  so  substituted  were 
the  standard  amount. 

(3)  If  any  person  sells  or  offers  for  sale  any 
coal  in  contravention  of  this  section  he  shall  be 
liable  on  summary  conviction  to  a  fine  not  exceed¬ 
ing  one  hundred  pounds  or,  at  the  discretion  of 
the  court,  to  a  fine  not  exceeding  treble  the 
amount  by  which  the  sum  paid  or  payable  for  any 
coal  sold  by  him  in  contravention  of  this  section 
exceeds  the  maximum  sum  which  would  have 
been  paid  or  payable  for  the  coal  if  there  had 
been  no  contravention  of  this  section  :  Provided 
that  a  person  shall  not  be  liable  to  a  fine  under 
this  provision  if  he  shows  that  he  had  reasonable 
grounds  to  believe  that  he  was  not  committing 
an  offense. 

(4)  This  section  shall  apply  (both  as  respects 
the  price  at  which  coal  is  sold  or  offered  for  sale 
and  as  respects  the  corresponding  price)  to  a 
case  where  the  owner  of  coal  at  the  pit’s  mouth 
has  sold  or  offered  to  sell  that  coal  at  a  price 
which  includes  the  cost  of  railway  or  other  in¬ 
cidental  services  besides  the  actual  value  of  the 
coal  at  the  pit’s  mouth,  as  if  he  had  sold  or  of¬ 
fered  to  sell  it  at  the  pit’s  mouth  at  that  price 
reduced  by  an  amount  representing  the  cost  of 
those  services. 

(5)  It  is  hereby  declared  that  nothing  in  this 
section  shall  affect  the  rights  or  obligations  of 
any  person  under  any  contract  or  a.greement  for 
the  sale  of  coal  except,  in  cases  where  the  sale 
is  in  contravention  of  this  section,  as  respects  so 
much  of  the  price  as  exceeds  the  maximum  price 
which  could  have  been  charged  for  the  coal  if 
there  had  been  no  contravention  of  this  section. 

2.  (1)  Where  coal  is  conveyed  from  the  pit’s 
mouth  over  any  railway  in  trucks  not  belonging 
to  a  railway  company,  the  seller  of  such  coal 
shall  not  be  entitled  to  charge  for  the  use  of 
the  trucks  any  sum  exceeding  by  more  than  50 
per  cent  the  sum  which  the  railway  company  con¬ 
veying  the  coal  was  actually  chargin.g  for  the 
provision  of  trucks  at  the  commencement  of  this 
Act. 

(2)  If  any  person  charges  or  attempts  to 
charge  for  the  use  of  any  trucks  in  contraven¬ 
tion  of  this  section,  he  shall  be  liable  on  summary 
conviction  to  a  fine  not  exceeding  one  hundred 
pounds. 

3.  (1)  If  in  any  proceeding  any  question  is 
raised  as  to  the  correspondin.g  price  of  any  coal, 
or  as  to  the  cost  of  railway  or  other  incidental 
services,  or  as  to  the  sums  charged  for  the  use 
or  provision  of  trucks,  the  court  shall  refer  the 
question  for  determination  by  the  Board  of 
Trade,  and  the  decision  of  the  Board  shall  be 
final  and  conclusive  for  all  purposes. 

(2)  If  for  any  reason  there  are  not  adequate 
data  at  any  coal  mine  from  which  to  ascertain 
in  accordance  with  the  foregoing  provisions  of 
this  Act,  the  corresponding  price  at  that  mine, 
the  Board  of  Trade  may  fix  that  price,  having  re¬ 
gard  to  data  afforded  from  sales  of  coal  at  other 
mines. 

(3)  The  Board  of  Trade  may  require  the 
owner  of  any  coal  mine  to  furnish  such  informa¬ 
tion  as  appears  to  them  necessary. 


Quite  a  delegation  of  coal  dealers  from  Winona 
visited  the  Twin  Cities  this  week  in  attendance 
at  the  state  fair,  including  Geor.ge  Beck  of  the 
Western  Grain  &  Coal  Company;  Henry  Gillette 
of  the  Gillette-Solomon  Coal  (Company,  Steve 
(Idea  of  John  Odea,  and  Julius  Lind,  Jr.,  of  the 
Lind  Coal  Company. 


No.  Ill 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


209 


Taking  Advantage  of  the  News. 

-A  good  business  man  frequently  makes  use 
of  a  “nose  for  news.”  That  is  to  say,  he  trans¬ 
lates  news  developments  into  terms  of  his  own 
business,  and  in  the  event  that  he  can  score  a 
point  in  that  connection,  he  immediately  pro¬ 
ceeds  to  do  so. 

The  simplest  illustration  of  this  is  when  the 
shoe  dealer  sticks  a  sign  on  his  windows — “Ruh- 
hers” — when  the  rain  begins  to  fall.  Wet  pave¬ 
ments  call  attention  to  fractured  soles,  and  this 
is  “news”  to  the  shoeman. 

Coal  dealers  can  make  use  not  only  of  weather 
conditions  to  advertise  their  business — as  for 
instance  when  the  prediction  is  for  snowfall  and 
colder,  or  something  of  that  sort — ^but  of  various 
other  happenings. 

The  writer  recently  noted  that  in  Chattanooga, 
Tenn.,  the  sealer  of  weights  and  measures  is  get¬ 
ting  a  good  deal  of  newspaper  space  on  the 
strength  of  his  efforts  to  protect  the  consumer 
against  short  weights  on  the  part  of  the  coal 
dealers.  He  has  conferred  with  them,  explained 
the  law,  and  then  announced,  through  the  press, 
just  what  the  requirements  are,  so  that  the  con¬ 
sumer  can  advise  of  any  violations.  The  sealer 
does  not  charge  that  the  dealers  have  been  guilty 
of  giving  short  weights;  but,  just  the  same,  he 
brings  them  up  on  the  carpet,  reads  them  a 
lecture  on  commercial  honesty,  and  sends  them 
out  feeling  somewhat  conscience-stricken.  With¬ 
out  deserving  it,  they  have  been  put  on  the  de¬ 
fensive  ;  and  the  public,  without  knowing  any¬ 
thing  about  it,  gets  the  idea  that  perhaps  the 
official  sealer  is  camping  on  the  trail  of  some  of 
the  short-weight  fellows. 

An  aggressive  dealer,  instead  of  being  put 
at  a  disadvantage  by  a  development  of  this  sort, 
couid  make  a  feature  out  of  it  that  would  reflect 
credit  on  his  own  business.  He  could  advertise 
that  he  is  not  only  complying  with  the  law 
and  with  the  regulations  of  the  authorities  cheer¬ 
fully,  but  is  going  further.  He  could  explain  how 
the  scales  are  tested — not  only  as  frequently  as 
required,  but  more  frequently.  He  could  go 
on  to  explain  how  the  tare  weight  of  the  wagon 
is  determined,  and  how  it  is  reweighed  before 
every  loading.  He  could  show  that  instead  of 
being  prodded  into  doin.g  so  by  the  officials,  he 
had  anticipated  the  requirements,  and  gone  to  all 
necessary  lengths  to  protect  the  consumer  in  this 
respect. 

An  announcement  of  this  sort,  in  connection 
with  the  news  of  the  work  of  the  sealer,  would 
be  a  strong  argument  in  favor  of  doing  business 
with  that  particular  concern. 

And  that  is  only  one  instance  of  making  busi¬ 
ness-getters  out  of  news  items. 


Branches  a  “Necessary  Evil”? 

The  manager  of  a  large  retail  coal  company, 
which  has  four  branch  yards,  in  addition  to 
the  main  distributing  station,  said  recently  that 
the  operation  of  the  branches  is  a  “necessary 
evil.”  In  other  words,  in  his  opinion,  they  are 
necessary  to  a  large  distribution,  covering  the 
whole  community,  but  they  are  not  ideal,  from 
many  standpoints. 

“I  don’t  see  how  you  can  get  away  from 
branch  yards  in  a  large  city,”  he  said,  “if  you 
expect  to  be  able  to  sell  coal  to  anybody  in  the 
community  who  a.sks  for  it.  If  you  have  one 
yard  only,  no  matter  how  centrally  located  it 
may  he,  many  of  your  hauls  are  going  to  be  so 
long  that  they  cannot  possibly  be  profitable.  Even 
motor  trucks  would  not  solve  the  problem  com¬ 


pletely,  liecause  there  are  many  places,  in  the 
suburbs,  to  which  the  long  hauls  are  made,  more 
especially,  where  it  would  be  impossible  for  a 
motor  truck  to  make  the  delivery,  because  of  the 
poor  road  conditions. 

“The  branch  yard  works  fine  when  business  is 
good,  but  it  is  a  load  that  gets  mighty  heavy  when 
it  is  only  fair  or  is  poor.  The  yard  represents 
investment  and  expense,  in  the  form  of  foremen 
and  equipment,  which  are  especially  conspicuous 
when  there  is  no  work  for  them  to  do.  It  is 
simply  a  question  of  carrying  the  load  until  busi¬ 
ness  is  sufficiently  heavy  from  each  district  to 
keep  each  yard  busy.” 

In  this  connection,  it  seems  that  the  greatest 
successes  are  won  when  a  concern  is  operating 
a  line  of  yards  handling  a  number  of  staples,  like 
coal,  ice,  building  materials,  etc.  The  overhead 
expense  of  a  series  of  yards,  when  it  must  he 
figured  into  the  business  on  only  one  commodity, 
is  likely  to  prove  excessive.  That  is  why  more 
than  one  ambitious  coal  company  which  has 
established  branches  has  finally  eliminated  them 
as  costing  more  than  they  are  worth. 


Heading  Off  Errors. 

A  frequent  source  of  trouble  at  many  retail 
yards  is  sending  out  teams  to  the  address  of  a 
customer  who  ordered  his  coal  in  July,  say,  for 
delivery  in  September,  only  to  find  that  the 
family  is  still  away  on  vacation  and  that  it  is 
impossible  to  make  the  delivery. 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  most  of  the  storage 
business  is  put  on  the  books  with  the  date  of 
delivery  given  only  in  a  general  way,  it  is  de¬ 
sirable  to  telephone  the  customer  in  advance  of 
actual  delivery  of  the  coal  to  find  out  if  every¬ 
thing  is  all  right.  This  will  take  only  a  few 
minutes,  and  it  may  save  a  lot  of  trouble.  Even 
if  the  customer  originally  named  the  date  when 
he  wanted  his  coal,  conditions  may  have  arisen 
which  will  make  it  inconvenient  for  him  to  re¬ 
ceive  it  at  the  time  stated.  If  so,  the  chances 
are  that  the  dealer  has  not  been  notified  to  this 
effect,  and  the  only  way  for  him  to  find  out  is 
to  telephone. 

Special  instructions  regarding  getting  access 
to  the  coal  bin  should  also  be  secured  by  tele¬ 
phone,  unless  the  instructions  have  been  fully 
written  upon  the  original  order-card,  which  is 
the  best  plan  of  all.  If  the  customer  lives  in  a 
new  section  of  the  town,  where  the  streets  are 
not  of  the  best,  it  is  very  helpful  to  the  drivers 
to  know  which  is  the  most  satisfactory  road  to 
follow. 

In  other  words,  the  whole  proposition  of  giv¬ 
ing  satisfactory  service  to  the  customer  in  con¬ 
nection  with  deliveries  is  to  find  out  from  the 
customer  how,  when  and  where  the  coal  is  to 
he  delivered.  And  the  quick  way  to  find  out  these 
things  and  to  head  off  possible  mistakes  is  to 
telephone  and  ask  for  instructions. 


House  Organ  Material. 

One  of  the  legitimate  objections  frequently 
made  to  house  organs  in  the  coal  business  is  that 
the  matter  which  they  contain  is  frequently  irrel¬ 
evant,  and  consists  of  dissertations  on  every 
other  subject  but  that  about  which  it  is  sup¬ 
posed  to  treat. 

For  this  reason  a  little  article,  “What  Is  Coal?” 
ai)pearing  in  the  September  number  of  the  pub¬ 
lication  of  the  J.  A.  Mahlstedt  Lumber  &  Coal 
Company,  of  New  Rochelle,  N.  Y.,  is  interesting, 
and  may.  he  worth  using  in  other  dealers’  house 
organs.  It  is  as  follows : 


“Quite  interesting  when  you  think  of  it,  isn’t 
it  ? 

“What?  You  don’t  know  how  coal  is  formed? 
Then  listen. 

“At  the  time  known  as  the  Coal  Period  large 
areas  of  low  land  were  choked  with  vegetation, 
which  dried  at  the  bottom,  I)ut  kept  growing  at 
the  top. 

“The  plants  partially  decayed  and  the  weight  of 
the  vegetation  above  pressed  them  closely  to¬ 
gether.  Time  passed  and  these  areas  were  de¬ 
pressed  and  covered  with  sand  and  water.  After 
remaining  under  water  a  long  time,  they  were 
again  elevated  by  some  upheavel,  and  the  sand 
Iiecame  rock.  Over  this  rock  soil  accumulated, 
and  in  the  soil  there  flourished  more  vegetation 
similar  to  that  previously  destroyed. 

“In  time  another  upheavel  sank  this  below  the 
water  and  destroyed  it.  The  pressure  and  heat 
brought  about  by  these  changes  converted  the 
vegetable  matter  into  coal. 

“Sounds  simple,  doesn’t  it?  Almost  makes  you 
think  you  can  take  a  few  ferns,  a  little  sand 
and  a  bucket  of  water,  and  go  out  in  the  back 
yard  and  make  coal :  but  it  isn’t  worth  the  trouble 
when  you  can  buy  Mahlstedt’s  Guaranteed  Coal 
at  a  few  dollars  a  ton.” 


Determining  Truck  Sizes. 

One  of  the  important  questions  connected  with 
tlie  installation  of  a  truck  or  trucks  in  a  coal 
yard  is  determining  the  proper  load  capacity 
to  specify. 

The  character  of  the  business  and  the  number 
of  trucks  to  be  used  will  probably  have  a  good 
deal  to  do  with  determining  what  the  best  com¬ 
bination  would  be. 

For  a  yard  with  but  one  truck,  the  two-ton 
size  would  doubtless  be  the  most  practicable,  in¬ 
asmuch  as  most  of  the  orders  admit  of  delivery 
in  two-ton  lots.  Even  the  regular  business, 
consisting  of  single  loads  during  the  consuming 
season,  is  largely  two-ton  orders.  Besides,  as 
most  of  the  horse-drawn  equipment  is  likewise 
of  the  two-ton  variety,  that  would  seem  the 
natural  unit  to  use  in  changing  over  to  motor 
power. 

When  the  dealer  finds  it  possible  to  install 
more  than  one  truck,  however,  he  should  consider 
the  question  of  using  larger  sizes.  For  long 
hauls  such  a  truck  can  make  the  best  possible 
showing,  and  when  orders  of  considerable  size 
are  being  filled,  the  big  truck  can  dispose  of 
them  in  such  a  short  time  that  any  other  method 
seems  foolish. 

A  big  yard  in  an  eastern  state  has  three  trucks. 
Two  of  them  can  carry  two  tons  apiece,  and  the 
third  will  handle  five  tons.  The  first  two  take 
care  of  the  small  orders,  while  the  big  fellow 
simply  eats  into  the  coal  pile  and  gets  rid  of  the 
large  orders,  which  ordinarily  tie  up  smaller 
equipment  for  such  a  long  time  that  all  other 
work  is  interfered  with.  Of  course,  the  bigger 
the  truck,  the  greater  the  investment ;  Init  the 
showing  made  on  the  money  tied  up  makes  the 
proposition  well  worth  while. 


Serving  the  Public. 

“It  has  just  occurred  to  me,”  said  a  prominent 
coal  dealer,  who  has  made  a  great  many  im¬ 
provements  in  his  yard,  in  connection  with  the 
handling  and  delivery  of  coal  by  modern  meth¬ 
ods,  “that  the  members  of  the  trade  owe  the 
public  the  best  facilities  that  can  be  had.  In 
other  words,  it  is  up  to  us,  as  coal  dealers,  to 
install  equipment  that  will  enable  us  to  handle 
our  coal  at  a  minimum  of  cost  and  in  the  least 
possible  time,  so  that  we  can  sell  it  at  the  lowest 
possible  price  and  deliver  it  with  no  more  delay 
than  absolutely  necessary.  If  we  fail  to  do  this, 
the  price  charged  for  coal  may  represent  our 
actual  costs,  plus  only  a  moderate  profit,  and 
some  members  may  even  lose  money  at  the  price; 
yet  if  the  selling  price  could  be  lowered  by  use 
of  better  methods  and  more  up-to-date  equip¬ 
ment,  it  would  he  the  duty  of  the  trade  to  pro¬ 
vide  these  things.  We  owe  them  to  the  public.” 


According  to  the  reports  made  to  the  Bureau 
of  Mines  by  State  mine  inspectors  135  men 
in  all  were  killed  in  and  about  the  coal  mines 
in  the  United  States  during  June,  1915,  as  com¬ 
pared  with  100  during  June,  1914.  If  seven 
fatalities  in  June,  1914,  for  which  there  are  no 
comparable  figures  for  June,  1915,  be  deducted, 
the  figures  become  135  for  June,  1915,  and  183 
for  June  1914. 


210 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[September  11 


FUBI^ISHSD  EVERT  SATTTBDAT  BT  THE 
BEACH  BZAlCOin)  COHPAHT. 

Subscription  price,  $3.00  per  year,  postage  prepaid,  to 
any  postoffice  in  the  United  States.  _  Foreign  subscrip¬ 
tion  price,  $5.00  per  year.  Single  copies,  20  cents. 
Entered  at  Chicago  postoffice  as  second-class  matter. 


Address  all  communications  to 
THE  BEACH  DIAMOND  COMP  ANT  (INC) 

Main  office,  Manhattan  building,  Chicago. 


Branch  Offices. 

New  York,  29  Broadway. 
Philadelphia,  1400  Land  Title  building. 
Pittsburgh,  1602  Oliver  building. 


Saturday,  September  11,  1915. 


INDEX. 


Special  Articles. 

Page 


Vital  Facts  on  Coal  Storage  in  Three  Sections .  201 

Standardized  Accounting  for  Illinois  Mines .  203 

Coal  Mining  in  Montana . . , .  203 

Things  a  Retailer  Should  Know  of  His  Business.  .  .  204 

Hocking  Valley  Operators  May*  Close  Mines .  205 

Anthracite  Labor  Situation  Is  Intense . 205 

Duluth  Coal  Receipts. . .  205 

Energetic  Labor  Politics  in  Colorado .  206 

Information  for  Receivers  and  Shippers  of  Coal....  206 

Inspecting  Goods  After  They  Are  Received .  206 

A  Promising  Coal  Field .  206 

Coal  Trade  Needs . 307 

A  Car  Dumper  Operated  by  Electricity .  207 

Newspapers  on  Parker  .  208 

Price  of  Coal  Act .  208 

American  Mining  Congress .  203 

Field  of  the  Retail  Dealer .  209 

Editorial  .  210 

News  Local  to  Chicago .  312 

Coal  Output  in  1915 .  213 

Anthiacite  Coal  in  1914 .  213 

Bids  for  and  Contracts  Let  on  Coal .  212 

Facts  Which  Determine  Our  Export  Prospects .  213 

New  Orleans  Coal  Rates .  217 

Production  of  Coal  in  1914 .  15 

Market  Reports. 

General  Review  and  Chicago . .  214 

Pittsburgh,  Twin  Cities  and  Birmingham .  215 

Cincinnati,  Detroit  and  Omaha .  216 

Cleveland  and  Duluth .  217 

New  York  Trade .  318 

Philadelphia  and  Denver . 219 

New  England,  Buffalo  and  Baltimore .  220 

Hocking  Valley  . 15 


Duluth’s  Figures. 

Statistics  just  received  from  Duluth 
show  that  the  receipts  of  anthracite  coal 
up  to  the  1st  of  September  were  993,220 
tons.  This  compares  with  receipts  for 
the  corresponding  period  of  last  year  of 
959,400  tons.  This  shows  that  anthracite 
shipments  made  a  gain  of  23,820  tons. 

Up  to  September  first,  this  year’s  ship¬ 
ments  of  bituminous  coal  to  Duluth  were 
3,811,945  tons.  This  compares  with  ship¬ 
ments  to  the  corresponding  period  of  last 
year  of  5,094,100  tons.  This  shows  a  loss 
of  1,282,155  tons. 

Total  shipments  to  Duluth,  up  to  Sep¬ 
tember  first,  were  4,805,165  tons.  This 
compares  with  shipments  for  the  corre¬ 
sponding  period  of  last  year  of  6,053,500 
tons,  or  a  loss  of  1,248,335  tons. 

The  total  figures  show  that  falling  off 
in  bituminous  was  heavy  enough  to  over¬ 
come  the  small  gain  in  anthracite  ship¬ 
ments  and  still  show  a  reduction  in  the 
total  volume  of  1,248,335  tons.  In  these 
days,  when  we  are  accustomed  to  talk  of 
coal  production  and  coal  consumption  in 
so  many  hundreds  of  thousands  of  tons 
as  though  they  were  baskets  of  coal,  that 
figure  does  not  sound  very  large.  Yet, 
after  all,  a  million  and  a  quarter  tons  of 
coal  is  quite  a  pile.  To  have  one  of  the 
major  ports  on  the  upper  lakes  show  a 
falling  off  of  that  amount  gives  the  coal 
trade  quite  a  job  if  it  is  going  to  make  up 
that  shortage  before  the  year  is  out. 


In  this  connection,  it  must  be  remem¬ 
bered  that  the  lake  season  has  only  about 
two  months  and  a  half  to  run.  Making 
up  a  million  and  a  quarter  tons  of  coal  in 
that  time  means  that  the  normal  amount 
must  be  moved,  plus  about  500,000  tons 
a  month.  With  cars  short,  with  the  docks 
filled  with  coal,  with  the  upper  lake  rail¬ 
roads  busy  hauling  grain  and  hence  not 
able  to  move  much  coal  away  from  the 
docks,  it  does  not  seem  altogether  likely 
that  this  shortage  is  going  to  be  made  up. 

Of  course,  there  is  this  one  offset.  Many 
docks  have  quite  a  lot  of  coal  held  over 
from  last  year.  The  held-over  coal  may 
to  an  extent  make  up  the  shortage.  How¬ 
ever,  the  amount  of  coal  moved  by  lake 
last  year  contemplated  a  normal  .winter 
and  less  than  normal  business  activity.  If 
we  have  a  very  cold  winter,  which  is 
prophesied,  and  if  we  have  the  revival  of 
business,  which  is  also  prephesied,  the 
northwest  situation  may  be  none  too  easy. 

The  immediate  point,  in  connection 
with  the  northwest  figures,  is  not  that  we 
treat  of  one  distributing  district  alone,  be¬ 
cause  it  would  be  comparatively  easy  to 
satisfy  even  a  great  shortage  in  one  city. 
The  fact  is  that  Duluth  figures  are  repre, 
sentative ;  that  is,  there  is  a  coal  shortage 
everywhere.  That  general  shortage  aver¬ 
ages  fifteen  or  twenty-five  per  cerit  or 
more,  even  as  the  Duluth  figures  show  a 
shortage  of  fifteen  or  twenty  per  cent. 
While  making  up  the  shortage  at  Duluth, 
which  the  mines  must  do,  they  must  at 
the  same  time  make  up  a  similar  coal 
shortage  in  other  places. 

But,  in  the  other  places,  there  is  no 
storage  coal  to  rely  upon.  Elsewhere,  the 
storage  piles  have  been  stripped  down 
about  to  the  planking. 

Everything  considered,  the  fuel  situa¬ 
tion  for  this  winter  is  not  encouraging  for 
the  consumer.  It  certainly  is  not  encour¬ 
aging  when  the  growing  car  shortage  is 
taken  into  consideration. 


About  the  Weather. 

This  year  the  weather  has  been  playing 
tricks  upon  all  of  us.  We  all  started  away 
on  our  vacations  and  immediately  we  did 
the  heavens  opened  and  poured  down  a 
flood.  We  sloshed  around  for  the  days 
of  leave  in  water  and  mud  and  Anally, 
when  our  time  was  up,  returned  to  work 
to  find  the  weather  as  near  perfect  as  the 
summer  has  offered. 

After  that  experience,  we  hoped  for  a 
few  good  week  ends.  But,  alas !  Satur¬ 
days  and  Sundays  were  dismal  and  gen¬ 
erally  the  rain  fell.  When  Monday  came 
and  we  had  to  go  back  to  work,  the 
weather  was  fair  and  fine. 

The  farmer  had  about  as  disagreeable 
an  experience.  He  put  off  hauling  his 
grain  to  town  for  days  and  days  during 
which  it  rained.  Then  came  a  warm  spell 
when  the  roads  dried  up.  He  started  to 
town  with  his  grain,  expecting  to  haul 
home  a  supply  of  coal.  He  got  as  far  as 
town  when  another  shower  came,  making 
the  roads  too  soft  to  haul  the  coal ;  he  was 
pleased  if  he  got  home  with  his  empty 
wagon. 

And  yet,  while  the  summer  was  cold, 
it  was  not  cold  enough  to  make  people 
interested  in  buying  their  winter’s  supply 
of  fuel.  The  one  thing  they  were  most 
interested  in  was  getting  rid  of  the  surplus 


fall  of  water  and  fighting  the  mosquitoes. 
Thus  the  weather  has  played  tricks  all 
summer  on  the  individual  and  on  the  coal 
trade. 

Now  that  fall  is  coming,  we  are  won¬ 
dering  what  the  beastly  thing  is  going  to 
do  next.  Since  there  has  hardly  been  a 
warm  week  in  the  whole  season,  it  would 
be  characteristic  if  the  utterly  perverse 
weather  should  turn  warm  and  supply  an 
open  fall  and  thus  postpone  still  further 
the  buying  of  domestic  coal. 

No,  the  weather  this  summer  has  not 
gotten  upon  our  nerves.  It  has  not 
turned  us  into  sour  pessimists.  We  are 
not  prophets  of  evil.  Instead,  we  are 
merely  commenting  appropriately  on  the 
weather.  We  are  wondering  what  is  go¬ 
ing  to  be  the  situation  this  fall.  Indica¬ 
tions  so  far  in  September  are  that  “Indian 
summer”  will  be  all  the  summer  we  are 
to  have  this  year. 


A  Tip  to  Mr.  Walsh. 

The  papers  say  that  Erank  Walsh, 
chairman  of  the  Eederal  committee  on  in¬ 
dustrial  relations,  is  about  to  report  on 
the  Colorado  mine  strike.  His  will  be 
about  the  seventeenth  or  eighteenth  re¬ 
port  made  on  that  subject,  so  another  one 
or  two  will  not  matter  much. 

If  not  too  late,  there  is  a  matter  which 
we  would  like  to  call  to  his  attention  as 
bearing  upon  the  tenor  of  his  report.  In 
the  Colorado  labor  dispute  he  is  going 
to  have  to  consider  the  United  Mine 
Workers  of  America  as  an  organization; 
he  cannot  report  upon  the  Colorado  strike 
unless  he  does. 

Mr.  Walsh  is  inclined  to  glorify  all 
unions  and  to  villify  all  capitalists.  There¬ 
fore  he  is  likely  to  glorify  the  United 
Mine  Workers  of  America  in  his  Colorado 
report.  He  probably  thinks  that  he  has 
good  reason  for  doing  so,  because  John 
D.  Rockefeller,  a  capitalist,  is  at  least  a 
suppositious  opponent  of  the  mine  work¬ 
ers. 

Before  he  goes  too  far  in  making  little, 
or  even  imaginary,  tin  gods  of  the  mine 
workers’  officials,  we  wish  he  would,  in¬ 
quire  into  a  recent  incident  in  Arkansas. 
There  the  United  Mine  Workers  had  a 
brush  with  the  Bache-Denman  Company. 
Mr.  Bache,  who  set  out  to  break  up  that 
union,  may  not  be  the  most  discreet  man 
in  the  world.  Nevertheless,  he  is  neither 
a  Rockefeller  pawn  nor  a  frenzied  finan¬ 
cier  in  his  own  name.  In  fact,  he  is  now 
bankrupt.  We  do  not  say  that  the  offi¬ 
cials  of  the  United  Mine  Workers  did  it 
or  even  that  any  members  of  the  union 
are  guilty.  It  is  true  that  properties  of 
the  Bache-Denman  Company  were  burned 
down  and  in  some  rioting  several  persons 
were  killed.  No  one  in  that  territory  ex¬ 
cept  union  adherents  had  any  reason  for 
committing  the  crime. 

There  was  a  case  of  both  murder  and 
arson. 

Although  the  Arkansas  incident  is  simi¬ 
lar  to  those  in  Colorado,  we  do  not  say 
that  there  is  any  direct  relation  between 
the  two.  We  do  not  say  even  that  a  pol¬ 
icy  of  the  union  is  thus  exposed.  We 
only  suggest  that  Mr.  Walsh,  a  public 
official,  might  do  well  not  to  become  too 
enthusiastically  in  favor  of  labor  unionism 
until  the  obvious  suggestion  is  out  of  the 
air.  His  report,  otherwise,  might  convict 
him  of  bias. 


No.  11] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


211 


The  Wholesaler’s  Credit. 

In  many  respects,  the  coal  operator  is 
in  the  debtor  class.  Often  he  mines  coal 
on  a  royalty  basis.  Therefore,  he  is  in 
debt  to  the  landowner  for  even  the  coal 
which  he  works.  Many  times  he  buys 
machinery  and  pays  for  it  in  installments. 
Therefore  he  is  in  debt  to  the  machinery 
manufacturer  for  the  things  which  he  uses 
in  mining  coal.  Again,  the  operator  relies 
upon  the  bank  for  cash  to  meet  his  pay¬ 
rolls  and  other  obligations.  He  is  thus 
depending  upon  others  for  his  money.  In 
these  three  major  respects  the  operators 
are  in  the  debtor  class,  to  say  nothing,  of 
course,  of  the  obligation  which  the  aver¬ 
age  operator  owes  to  the  owners  of  his 
bonds  and  the  holders  of  his  stock. 

It  is  about  time,  it  seems  to  us,  that 
those  who  are  lending  money  to  the  coal 
operators  should  take  some  steps  to  make 
sure  that  they  are  going  to  get  their 
money  back.  The  bank,  for  example, 
should  insist  that  the  operator  run  his 
business  at  a  profit.  If  this  is  not  done, 
the  banker  should  call  the  loan.  The 
credit  man  of  the  bank  can  have  a  tre¬ 
mendous  influence  on  coal  if  he  only  has 
the  courage  to  insist  upon  his  right  as  a 
money  lender. 

A  bank,  we  will  say,  has  loaned  money 
to  a  coal  operator  to  meet  his  pay-rolls, 
et  cetera.  The  credit  man  should  make 
sure  that  the  coal  produced  by  that  com¬ 
pany  is  being  sold  at  a  sufficient  profit  to 
assure  that  the  principal  and  interest  are 
going  to  be  paid  or  his  first  duty  to  the 
bank  is  to  advise  the  officers  to  call  that 
loan. 

We  are  convinced  that  many  operators 
accept  the  current  prices  on  coal  because 
they  know  that  they  are  not  going  to  get 
into  trouble  with  the  bank  if  they  make 
no  money  for  a  while.  They  say  that 
they  cannot  get  a  better  price,  but  are 
conscious  often  that  they  are  not  making 
the  best  effort  to  improve  conditions.  In¬ 
fluenced  by  today’s  condition,  rather  than 
by  a  long-time  policy,  they  yield  a  trifle 
too  easily  to  the  buyer’s  suggestion  that 
they  make  a  cut.  If  they  kn^  that  they 
had  to  get  a  profitable  price  dr  have  their 
loans  called,  the  operator  would  soon  find 
a  way  to  get  a  profitable  price.  In  this 
connection,  there  is  this  to  be  said :  Not 
enough  mining  companies  are  indepen¬ 
dent  of  the  banks  to  overturn  the  pro¬ 
gram  if  the  banks  insisted  upon  a  profit¬ 
able  price  as  a  basis  for  loans. 

In  the  same  way,  the  land  owner  and 
the  machinery  producer  could  refuse  to 
let  their  material  be  used  unless  the  prod¬ 
uct  was  going  to  yield  such  a  profit  as 
would  insure  that  their  bills  be  paid.  The 
machinery  manufacturer,  for  example, 
could  say : 

“You  are  wearing  out  my  machine,  but 
are  not  getting  enough  for  your  coal  to 
make  sure  that  you  will  be  able  to  pay 
my  bill.  Therefore,  I  am  going  to  take 
my  machine  out  of  your  mine.” 

The  land  owner  could  say : 

“You  are  digging  up  and  shipping 
away  my  coal.  Yet  you  are  not  getting 
enough  for  it  to  assure  me  that  I  am  go¬ 
ing  to  be  paid.  Therefore,  you  may  mine 
no  more  of  my  coal.” 

That  is  to  say,  there  are  a  great  many 
ways  of  stopping  the  orgy  of  price  cutting 
which  has  prevailed  for  quite  a  while.  This 
can  be  done  without  damage  to  anyone 


and  without  forming  any  trust  or  entering 
into  any  trust  agreement.  The  only  thing 
necessary  is  a  few  courageous  men  to 
say : 

“You  may  go  to  war  with  your  own 
capital  and  munitions  all  you  please,  but 
you  cannot  carry  on  your  war  with  things 
which  belong  to  me.” 


Who  Makes  the  Money? 

Every  coal  man  is  convinced  that  we 
are  going  to  have,  pretty  soon  now,  a 
shortage  of  coal.  Every  railroad  man 
knows  that  we  are  running  into  a  shortage 
of  cars.  What  the  railroad  man  knows 
about  the  car  shortage  explains  what  the 
coal  man  knows  about  the  coal  shortage. 
This  is  so  because  the  coal  shortage  is 
going  to  result  from  the  car  shortage. 

Both  coal  men  and  railroad  men  know 
that  as  a  result  of  a  coal  and  car  shortage, 
we  are  going  to  have  higher  prices.  Do¬ 
mestic  coal  that  ordinarily  sells  for  $1.60 
to  $1.85  will  probably  be  selling  soon  for 
$2.25  or.  $2.50.  Indeed,  if  prices  do  not 
rise  above  the  latter  extraordinary  figure, 
it  will  be  a  surprising  thing.  Also,  screen¬ 
ings  which  normally  sell  for  sixty  to  sev¬ 
enty-five  cents  a  ton  in  the  fall  and  winter 
months  are  likely  to  rise  to  $1.00  a  ton 
or  better. 

These  figures  indicate  that  the  coal 
trade  is  likely  to  make  a  great  deal  of 
money.  It  is  very  easy  to  make  calcula¬ 
tions  as  to  how  much  this  is  going  to 
amount  to.  For  example,  we  will  take 
a  mine  of  three  thousand  tons  a  day  capa¬ 
city.  We  will  say  that  the  rise  in  price 
will  be  fifty  cents  a  ton.  That  means  that 
a  three-thousand-ton  mine  will  make  clear 
profit  over  and  above  what  is  ordinarily 
made  of  about  $1,500  a  day.  Multiply  that 
by  the  number  of  days  that  the  coal  short¬ 
age  is  likely  to  last  and,  as  Ezra  Kendall 
used  to  say,  it  looks  like  a  season  when 
“good  gravy”  will  be  overflowing  in  the 
bowl. 

But  no  man  in  the  coal  business  has 
ever  seen  this  thing  happen — except,  of 
course,  on  the  rarest  of  rare  occasions. 
For  example,  a  mine  of  three-thousand 
tons  capacity  does  not  produce,  during  the 
period  of  car  shortage,  three  thousand 
tons ;  ordinarily  it  gets  out  fifteen  hun¬ 
dred  tons.  Right  there  the  profit  is  cut 
in  two — assuming  there  is  a  profit. 

However,  this  coal  company,  rather 
than  being  at  liberty  to  sell  all  that  fif¬ 
teen  hundred  tons  at  a  high  price,  finds 
that  it  is  under  contract  to  deliver  to 
regular  customers  two  thousand  tons  a 
day.  The  car  shortage  cuts  the  production 
down  to  fifteen  hundred  tons  a  day  and 
it  is  short  on  its  contracts  about  five  hun¬ 
dred  tons  a  day.  There  the  profit  disap¬ 
pears.  Instead  of  an  enormous  profit  of 
$1,500  a  day,  the  mine  operator  finds  him¬ 
self  actually  facing  a  loss  because  he  has 
to  get  coal  from  somewhere  to  make  good 
his  contracts. 

Who,  then,  in  time  of  car  and  coal  short¬ 
age,  with  extraordinary  prices  ruling, 
makes  the  money?  Who  gets  the  “good 
gravy”?  In  the  first  place,  the  amount  of 
velvet  is  vastly  overestimated.  In  the 
second  place,  what  there  is  of  it  usually 
goes  to  the  small,  inconsequential  mine 
with  coal  so  poor  that  ordinarily  it  can¬ 
not  be  sold,  or  it  goes  to  the  jobber  who 
has  been  able  to  pick  up  a  few  cars  of 
coal  from  scattered  sources  at  a  low  price. 


In  other  words,  the  high  prices  in  coal 
are  mostly  fictitious.  They  apply  on  a 
very  small  volume  of  business. 


Matter  of  Credit. 

It  will  be  conceded  at  once  that  a  man’s 
credit  standing  rests  as  much  on  his  abil¬ 
ity  as  on  his  willingness  to  pay.  In  other 
words,  a  man  might  be  most  willing  to 
pay,  but  if  he  hasn’t  the  money,  he  can 
not  fulfill  his  obligation. 

It  will  be  conceded  also  that  a  man  has 
not  the  ability  to  pay  unless  his  business 
is  profitable  and  his  collections  are  being- 
made. 

Under  these  two  circumstances,  the 
credit  man  for  a  wholesaler  or  a  producing 
company  should  take  into  consideration 
the  profitableness  of  the  prospective  buy¬ 
er’s  business  and  all  things  which  relate 
thereto.  For  example,  if  the  credit  man 
finds  that  a  retailer  is  engaged  in  a  price 
war  with  his  neighbors,  he  must  make  an 
entirely  new  cast  of  that  man’s  credit 
standing.  The  dealer  may  have  been  for 
years  one  of  the  most  upright  business 
men  in  his  community.  He  may  have 
paid  his  bills  promptly  and  shown  every 
disposition  to  be  fair.  However,  the  price 
war  changes  his  whole  business  complex¬ 
ion.  It  does  not  change  his  character,  but 
it  does  alter  his  ability  to  pay. 

That  is,  when  his  warring  spirit  is 
aroused,  he  may  sell  his  coal  at  cost  or 
even  at  less  than  cost.  He  has  set  out 
on  a  campaign  for  tonnage  and  the 
chances  are  that  he  will  extend  credit  to 
persons  who  can  not  pay  up  promptly  or 
who  may  not  pay  at  all.  Such  things  hap¬ 
pen  often  in  such  insane  wars.  In  other 
words,  he  has  gone  to  war  with  his  neigh¬ 
bors,  and  the  purpose  of  that  war  is 
to  prevent  the  other  fellow  from  getting 
any  business  at  all.  One  expression  of 
such  a  war  is  to  dissipate  revenue.  An¬ 
other  expression  of  it  is  to  become  lax  in 
the  matter  of  credit.  These  two  things 
undermine  the  whole  business  standing 
of  that  retailer.  As  a  natural  consequence, 
they  must  change  his  credit  standing. 

Until  the  dealers  straighten  out  their 
local  difficulties  and  begin  to  do  business 
on  business  principles,  it  is  clearly  the 
proper  attitude  of  the  credit  man  of  the 
operator  to  refuse  to  extend  any  credit 
to  any  price-cutting  dealer.  As  a  matter 
of  fact,  such  is  the  only  stand  which  any 
credit  man  can  take. 

The  producer  should  let  the  retailers 
know  that  they  can  go  to  war  if  they 
want  to  and  can  fight  among  themselves 
all  they  please,  but  while  they  are  at  war 
they  must  pay  cash  for  the  coal.  In  other 
words,  the  operator  should  take  the  posi¬ 
tion  : 

“If  you  want  to  fight,  do  so  with  your 
own  munitions  and  not  mine.  If  you  want 
to  fight  with  mine,  you  must  do  the  way 
the  United  States  is  compelling  the  war¬ 
ring  powers  of  Europe  to  do — pay  cash 
for  what  you  get  from  me.” 

We  are  of  the  opinion  that  if  retail 
price  wars  were  conducted  solely  with 
the  retailer’s  own  cash,  there  would  be 
fewer  price  wars.  The  thing  that  keeps 
most  of  them  alive  is  that  they  are  fight¬ 
ing  not  with  their  own  capital,  but  with 
the  coal  forwarded  by  the  operating  com¬ 
pany.  The  most  effectual  way  to  stop 
it  is  to  demand  that  coal  be  paid  for  be¬ 
fore  it  is  given  away. 


212 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[September  11 


News  Local  to  Chicago. 


J.  F.  Emmet,  general  sales  agent  of  the  Cen¬ 
tral  Coal  &  Coke  Company,  Kansas  City,  Mo., 
was  in  Chicago  this  week  for  a  few  clays. 

The  Bickett  Coal  &  Coke  Company  report 
the  appointment  of  Fee  Abbott  as  Minneapolis 
sales  agent,  succeeding  Mark  Wentworth. 

Frank  Browning  returned  this  week  from  a 
trif)  to  the  Twin  Cities.  He  reports  dealers 
fairly  well  stocked  in  the  northwest,  but  very 
little  coal  has  been  put  in  consumers’  bins. 

Clark  Roberts,  of  E.  L.  lledstrom  &  Co.,  in 
the  Marcpielte  building,  is  away  on  a  short 
vacation  which  he  is  spending  at  his  summer 
place  at  Angola,  N.  Y. 

I'he  Buchanan  Coal  Company  has  appointed 
I'.  E.  Barlhelme  manager  of  their  Minneapolis 
office,  succeeding  James  Rend,  who  has  re¬ 
turned  to  the  Rend  Coal  &  Coke  Company. 

N.  S.  Barrett,  for  many  years  in  the  retail  coal 
husiness  at  Urbana,  Illinois,  has  sold  his  yard 
to  Brownfield  &  Turner,  who  now  conduct  two 
yards  in  that  city. 

George  B.  Harrington,  president  of  the  Chi¬ 
cago,  Wilmington  &  Franklin  Coal  Company, 
has  been  on  an  eastern  trip  for  ten  days.  The 
offices  of  the  company  in  the  McCormick  build¬ 
ing  are  being  completely  remodeled. 

T.  E.  B.  Siler,  of  Charleston,  W.  Va.,  while 
in  Chicago  this  week,  said  he  looked  for  a 
good  market  for  West  Virginia  coal  for  the 
next  six  months.  The  foreign  demand  taking 
tlie  surplus  tonnage,  coupled  with  a  car  short¬ 
age  and  a  scarcity  of  labor,  all  indicate  higher 
prices. 

Paul  James,  who  was  until  recently  repre¬ 
sentative  of  the  C.  Ci.  Blake  Coal  &  Coke 
Company,  with  headquarters  in  the  Lytton 
building,  but  who  resigned,  effective  August 
1st,  has  been  persuaded  to  abandon  his  inten¬ 
tion  to  retire  to  his  Virginia  farm  and  is  now 
representing  the  Pocahontas  Coal  Sales  Company 
in  Virginia  and  the  Carolinas. 

James  h'.  Callbreath,  secretary  of  the  .Xmerican 
Mining  Con.gress,  will  be  in  Chicago  the  latter 
part  of  this  week  and  the  first  of  next,  stopping 
off  here  on  his  way  to  San  Francisco  where  he 
is  to  complete  arrangements  for  the  annual  meet¬ 
ing  of  the  congress  and  especially  for  the  han- 
(|uet  which  is  to  be  given  by  the  congress  to 
Van  H.  Mannin.g,  the  new  director  of  mines. 

Rush  C.  Butler,  the  attorney  who  has  repre¬ 
sented  the  coal  trade  on  a  number  of  important 
occasions,  will  go  with  the  Chicago  party  to  San 
Francisco  to  attend  the  meeting  of  the  American 
Mining  Congress.  He  will  deliver  an  address  on 
the  federal  control  of  the  coal  industry,  a  sub¬ 
ject  which  he  has  studied  carefully  in  connection 
with  his  work  on  various  governmental  commis¬ 
sions. 

Word  comes  from  the  northwest  that  Low- 
ther  R.  Ferris,  who  some  years  ago  was  ac¬ 
tively  associated  with  the  coal  trade  in  Chi¬ 
cago,  but  who  more  recently  has  been  con¬ 
nected  with  the  Zenith  F'urnace  Company, 
has  formed  the  North  Portland  Coal  &  Dock 
Company  and  is  going  to  handle  eastern  coal 
in  Portland,  Ore.,  getting  his  receipts  by  the 
Panama  Canal  route. 

The  committee  of  the  Chicago  Coal  Mer¬ 
chants’  Association  is  preparing  a  memorial 
for  David  Broderick,  a  member  of  that  organ¬ 
ization  who  recently  died  as  a  result  of  a  lin¬ 
gering  illness,  at  his  home.  No.  3()49  Archer 
avenue.  Quite  a  number  of  members  of  the 
association  attended  the  funeral,  which  was 
held  from  St.  Agnes’  church  on  August  29th, 
and  now  the  association  is  preparing  to  place 
itself  on  record  as  appreciative  of  Mr.  Brod¬ 
erick’s  position  in  the  retail  trade. 

Announcement  has  just  been  received  over 
the  signature  of  H.  N.  Taylor,  vice-president 
of  the  Central  Coal  &  Coke  Company,  that 
E.  J.  Knickerbocker,  who  has  been  assistant 
to  the  vice-president,  has  been  promoted  to 
the  position  of  first  assistant  general  sales 
agent  of  the  coal  department,  taking  the  place 
of  A.  P.  Moore,  who  resigned.  It  will  be 
remembered  that  Mr.  Knickerbocker  was 
prominently  associated  with  the  coal  business 
in  Chicago  for  quite  a  while,  being  fuel  agent 
for  the  Rock  Island-’Frisco  lines,  then  with 
the  O’Gara  Coal  Company,  and  later  with  the 
Monon  Coal  Company. 

Van  H.  Manning,  director  of  the  United  States 
Bureau  of  Mines,  together  with  two  of  his  assist¬ 
ants — Mr.  Rice  and  Mr.  Swift — will  be  in  Chi- 
ca.go  on  Saturday  of  this  week  stopping  off  here 


on  his  way  to  San  Francisco  where  he  is  to 
attend  several  mining  meetings.  Arrangements 
are  being  made  under  the  auspices  of  the  Illinois 
Coal  Operators’  Association  for  some  of  the 
leading  operators  in  the  state  to  meet  Mr.  Man¬ 
ning  on  this  occasion  at  the  Union  League  Club 
where  an  informal  luncheon  will  be  held.  C.  M. 
Moderwell,  president  of  the  association,  will  be 
the  official  host  and  it  is  expected  that  those  pres¬ 
ent  will  embrace  the  leadin.g  operators  of  Illinois 
and  Indiana. 

The  party  of  coal  men  who  are  going  to  the 
meeting  of  the  American  Mining  Congress  at 
San  Francisco  will  leave  here  on  Tuesday 
evening  of  next  week.  As  previously  indicated, 
Carl  Scholz,  president  of  the  congress,  has 
been  trying  to  get  together  a  party  that  will 
fill  at  least  one  car,  and  maybe  two,  carrying 
coal  men  from  this  district  and  the  east  to 
San  Francisco.  The  indications  are  that  the 
party  will  take  up  two  cars  with  perhaps  room 
for  a  few  more  if  any  coal  man  decides  at  the 
last  minute  that  he  wants  to  go.  The  inten¬ 
tion  is  to  leave  here  over  the  Rock  Island  and 
spend  part  of  a  day  in  Salt  Lake  City  and  get 
into  San  Francisco  Saturday  morning.  The 
memorial  service  for  Dr.  Holmes  will  be  held 
on  September  21st  and  that  evening  the  con¬ 
gress  will  give  a  banquet  to  Dr.  Holmes’  suc¬ 
cessor,  Van  H.  Manning. 

Geo.  W.  Reed,  president  of  the  Lincoln- 
Springfield  Coal  Company,  calls  attention  to  a 
curious  situation  with  respect  to  screenings.  This 
time  a  year  ago  he  and  others  were  selling  fine 
coal  at  thirty  cents  a  ton  at  the  mines  and  were 
apparently  pleased  to  get  orders  at  that  figure. 
This  year  not  a  car-load  of  screenings  so  far  has 
been  sold  for  less  than  fifty  cents,  and  even  then 
for  only  a  day  at  a  time.  This  year  the  market 
is  fifty  to  sixty  cents,  or  twenty-five  cents  a  ton 
higher  than  they  were  last  year.  Mr.  Reed  says 
there  is  no  better  demand  this  year  than  there 
was  last  and  the  supply  is  no  less.  The  point 
of  difference  is  that  at  this  time  a  year  ago  if 
there  was  any  free  coal  on  hand  it  was  very 
easy  to  assume  that  there  was  really  more  of 
it  than  there  was.  This  year  various  statistical 
bodies  are  compiling  information  showing  about 
how  much  free  coal  is  being  produced,  there¬ 
fore,  it  is  no  longer  a  matter  of  guess,  the  sales 
agent  knows  in  detail  the  situation  confrontin.g 
him.  The  difference  between  an  ignorant  .guess 
and  the  facts  makes  a  difference  of  twenty-live 
cents  a  ton  or  more  in  the  price  of  the  coal. 

By  the  death  of  William  Hammerstroem, 
who  died  after  a  short  illness  September  2d, 
and  was  buried  at  Rosehill  last  Sunday  after¬ 
noon,  Chicago  lost  one  of  its  progressive  citi¬ 
zens.  After  a  brief  service  at  the  home.  No. 
1255  Elmdale  avenue,  the  body  was  taken  to 
Rosehill  chapel.  Mr.  Hammerstroem  was  a 
member  of  the  Garden  City  Lodge  No.  389, 
1.  O.  O.  F.,  and  for  twenty-three  years  was 
grand  treasurer  of  the  Arbeiter  Unterstutzung 
Verein.  Born  in  Tueckhude,  Pommern,  Ger¬ 
many,  in  1854,  he  came  to  America,  arriving 
with  his  parents  in  1858.  At  the  age  of  twenty- 
one  years  he  started  in  the  coal  business  at 
No.  760  North  Halsted  street  in  a  very  small 
way.  By  persistent  effort  and  hard  work  he 
succeeded  in  building  up  a  wonderful  business. 
In  1886  he  purchased  the  rail  yard  of  David 
Jamison  at  Clybourn  and  Garfield  avenues  and 
the  St.  Paul  tracks,  where  he  continued  suc¬ 
cessfully  until  some  years  ago,  when  he  re¬ 


tired  from  active  business.  He  achieved  suc- 
cuss,  not  by  overreaching  his  fellowmen,  or 
by  any  questionable  means,  but  through  hon¬ 
est  industry,  and  he  bequeathed  to  his  family 
not  only  an  abundance  of  this  world’s  goods, 
but  also  the  priceless  heritage  of  a  good  name. 
Surviving  him  are  the  widow  Minnie  (nee 
Thilo)  and  two  children,  Hulda  and  George. 


Coal  Output  in  1915. 


.  The  output  of  bituminous  coal  in  the  United 
States  for  the  first  six  months  of  1915  is  esti¬ 
mated  by  C.  E.  Lesher  of  the  United  States 
Geological  Survey  to  be  between  180,000,000 
and  190,000,000  short  tons,  the  rate  of  produc¬ 
tion  having  been  from  85  to  90  per  cent  of 
the  average  for  the  previous  year.  Thus  the 
bituminous  coal  production  during  this  six 
months’  period  has  been  considerably  less 
than  for  the  corresponding  period  in  1914,  and 
is  little,  if  any,  greater  than  the  output  dur¬ 
ing  the  last  half  of  that  year.  The  rate  of 
production  this  year  decreased  after  January, 
reached  low  ebb  in  March  and  April,  and  is 
now  on  the  increase.  The  states  west  of  the 
Mississippi  river,  which  in  1914  produced  less 
than  13  per  cent  of  the  total,  do  not  appear 
to  have  suffered  from  this  decrease  as  much 
as  the  Eastern  States — reports  from  certain 
districts  in  the  west  showing  an  increase  over 
1914.  This  is  attributed  to  the  increase  in 
metal  mining  and  smelting,  and  to,  greater 
railroad  activity.  In  the  east  the  loss  of 
bunker  trade  on  the  Atlantic  seaboard  and 
the  slowness  of  the  lake  season  have  been 
only  partly  offset  by  the  increasing  coal  ex¬ 
ports.  The  recent  activity  in  the  iron  busi¬ 
ness  has  been  slow  to  affect  the  coal  trade, 
although  coke  has  gained  considerably  dur¬ 
ing  the  last  two  months  and  for  the  rest  of 
1915  the  increased  output  should  continue. 

The  anthracite  producers  have  fared  better 
than  the  soft  coal  operators,  since  it  is  esti¬ 
mated  that  the  output  of  anthracite  has  fallen 
off  only  from  3  to  5  per  cent  below  the  aver¬ 
age  for  1914. 


Anthracite  Coal  in  1914. 


Pennsylvania  produced  81,090,631  long  tons 
(90,82'1,507  short  tons)  of  anthracite  in  1914, 
according  to  figures  made  public  by  the  United 
States  Geological  Survey,  the  value  of  the  out¬ 
put  at  the  mines  being  .$188,181,399.  This  repre¬ 
sents  but  a  slight  decrease  as  compared  with  the 
previous  year,  in  which  the  record  output  of 
anthracite  was  attained.  Anthracite  is  used  al¬ 
most  exclusively  as  a  domestic  fuel,  and  fluctua¬ 
tions  in  the  demand  depend  almost  entirely  upon 
the  temperature  during  the  winter.  The  main 
influence  on  supply  is  the  amount  of  labor  and 
the  time  lost  by  strikes.  Labor  was  abundant 
in  the  anthracite  regions  in  1914,  and  almost 
180,000  men  were  employed  in  the  production  of 
that  fuel.  Although  there  were  a  great  many 
strikes  and  a  large  number  of  men  were  affected, 
the  strikes  were  all  of  a  petty  nature  and  of 
short  duration,  26,115  men,  or  about  15  per  cent 
of  the  total,  being  involved  for  an  average  of 
7  days  each.  A  part  of  the  decrease  is  accounted 
for  by  the  fact  that  Canada  imported  almost  half 
a  million  long  tons  less  of  Pennsylvania  anthra¬ 
cite  than  in  1913. 


Bids  for  and  Contracts  Let  on  Coal. 


Bids  were  opened  on  September  4th  by  the 
600,000  tons  of  coal,  to  be  used  on  the  canal  for 
There  were  fourteen  bids,  as  follows: 

.1.  n.  Weaver  &  Co . 

B.  Nicol!  &  Co . 

Corona  Coal  &  Iron  Company . 

■Vrcliibald  McNeil  &  Sons  Co . 

Central  Coal  &  Coke  Company . 

Wm.  C.  Atwater  &  Co.,  Inc . 

B.  Nicoll  &  Co . 

Crozer-Pocahotnas  Company  . 

C.  G.  Blake  Company . 

Willard  Bros . 

Castner,  Curran  S:  Bullitt,  Inc . 

Pocahontas  Fi  el  Company . 

Chesapeake  &  Ohio  Coal  Company . 

New  River  Coal  Comp.-my . 

*Suhject  to  changed  specifications. 


Panama  Railroad  Company  for  500,000  to 
twelve  menths,  ending  September  16,  1916. 


Delivery. 
Philadelphia 
Newport  News 
Mobile 

Newport  News 
Pt.  Arthur,  Tex. 

Lambert’s  Point 
Newport  News 
Philadelphia 
Baltimore 
Lambert’s  Point 
Hampton  Roads 
Newport  News 
Sewall’s  Point 
Hampton  Roads 


Price. 

Tonnage. 

Coal. 

$2.60 

500,000 

Colver 

*  2.50 

50,000 

Belmont 

3.85 

100,000 

Corona 

2.89 

100,000 

New  River 

4.25 

200,000 

Arkansas 

Semi-Anthracite 

2.60 

300,000 

Pocahontas  No. 

2.64 

300,000 

Sewall 

2.60 

50,000 

Cambria 

2.53 

2.60 

100,000 

Pocahontas 

2.75 

120,000 

New  River 

2.84 

100,000 

New  River 

2.90 

600,000 

Pocahontas 

New  River 

2.85 

600,000 

Pocahontas 

New  River 

2.74 

180,000 

Admiralty 

2.72 

105,000 

.4dmiralty 

2.79 

120,000 

Admiralty 

2.85 

100,000 

New  River 

Hampton  Roads 

Sewall’s  Point 
Newport  News 
Newport  News 
Sewall’s  Point 


No.  11] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


213 


Facts  Which  Determine  Our  Export  Prospects. 


The  Export  Situation. 

LInofficial  figures  of  exports  of  bituminous  coal 
from  the  three  principal  tidewater  exporting  ports 
— Hampton  Roads,  Baltimore  and  Philadelphia — 
for  the  month  of  August,  show  shipments  of 
between  990,000  and  1,000,000  tons.  Official 
figures  may  make  the  total  over  1,000,00()  tons, 
which  would  make  August  the  third  month  in 
succession  to  see  export  shipments  in  excess  of 
1,000,000  tons. 

August  shipments  from  the  ports,  as  per  fi.gures 
now  available,  show  : 

Hampton  Roads  . 628,995  tons 

Haltimore  . 210,000  tons 

Philadelphia  . 156,000  tons 


994,995  tons 

This  compares  with  July  exports,  as  follows: 

Hampton  Roads  .  712,995  tons 

Baltimore  .  258,585  tons 

Philadelphia  .  171,027  tons 

1,142,567  tons 

h'or  the  three  months,  June,  July  and  August, 
our  exports  from  the  above-named  ports  have 
reached  approximately  3,200,000  tons,  or  withiti 
1,000,000  tons  of  the  total  exports  for  the  entire 
twelve  months  of  1914.  The  fact  that  August 
shipments  showed  a  decrease  as  compared  with 
July  does  not  necessarily  mean  a  slackening  of 
demand  for  export,  but  really  an  inability  to 
secure  vessels  within  the  month  for  loading  upon 
contracts  that  are  as  yet  unfilled.  As  indicating 
the  activity  this  month,  Baltimore,  during  the 
first  four  days  of  this  month,  shipped  55,597  tons, 
eleven  vessels  takin.g  this  tonnage. 

Reports  at  hand  show  a  corresponding  activity 
at  Hampton  Roads. 

While  no  new  orders  of  large  tonnage  are  re¬ 
ported  as  being  closed  during  the  past  week,  some 
business  has  been  secured,  and  inquiries  from 
practically  all  of  the  countries  to  which  we  are 
at  present  exporting  show  a  very  healthy  demand. 

Inquiries  for  American  coke  for  shipment  to 
the  Mediterranean  as  well  as  to  South  America, 
are  becoming  more  frequent,  and  France  is  said 
to  be  inquiring  for  several  lots,  aggregating  about 
50,000  tons  for  early  shipment. 

It  has  been  known  for  some  months  past  that 
Castner,  Curran  &  Bullitt,  Inc.,  have  enjoyed  a 
good  coke  trade  with  some  of  their  South  Ameri¬ 
can  connections.  Eventually  it  is  believed,  if 
vessel  tonnage  can  be  secured  upon  terms  that 
will  permit,  American  shippers  will  come  in  for 
a  lot  of  coke  business  that  Germany  formerly 
supplied. 


The  Welsh  Coal  Situation. 

Cable  advices  from  Wales  late  last  week  indi¬ 
cated  that  the  miners  had  been  satisfied  by  the 
latest  settlement  made  by  President  Runciman 
of  the  Board  of  Trade  and  had  returned  to  work. 

cable  on  Tuesday  of  this  week  stated  that  not¬ 
withstanding  the  settlement  made  by  arbitration 
of  last  week  between  representatives  of  tbe 
Government,  miners  and  the  owners,  fresh  trotible 
has  broken  out  over  the  employment  of  miners 
who  are  not  members  of  the  miners’  federation. 
On  that  day  2,500  men  struck  because  non-federa¬ 
tion  men  were  being  employed,  and  it  was  statefl 
that  further  trouble  was  feared. 

Latest  mail  advices  from  Cardiff  show  that 
the  restrictions  made  by  the  government  on 
shipments  to  foreign  countries  are  greatly  re- 
tardin.g  business.  While  licenses  for  exports  are 
said  to  be  made  more  freely  than  heretofore,  it 
is  stated  that  the  procedure  is  so  bound  up  with 
red  tape  formalities  that  delays  of  several  days 
frequently  occur,  which  causes  both  the  shipper 
and  the  vessel  owner  a  great  deal  of  trouble. 

Instances  have  been  cited  where  a  shipper  has 
been  granted  a  license  for  exports  to  a  particular 
port,  and  red  tape  methods  have  held  him  up 
for  three  days  before  he  could  commence  load¬ 
ing.  Instances  are  named  where  Cardiff  shippers 
have  been  fined  by  the  Customs  for  loading  with¬ 
out  perrnission,  who  had  elected  to  load  and  await 
the  issuing  of  licenses.  Shipments  from  Cardiff 
for  the  last  week  reported  amounted  to  351,748 
tons,  as  compared  with  161,207  tons  in  the  corre¬ 
sponding  week  of  last  year,  or  an  increase  of 
190,481  tons.  This  is  the  first  time  that  the  ex¬ 
ports  have  shown  an  increase  as  compared  with 
the  corresponding  period  since  the  outbreak  of 
the  war,  but  it  is  stated  that  about  a  year  a.go 
business  was  practically  at  a  standstill,  except 
on  Admiralty  account,  and  that  every  effort  was 
then  hein.g  made  to  assist  the  government  to  the 
exclusion  of  every  other  interest. 

France  has  shown  an  improvement,  but  the 


biggest  increase  has  been  to  South  American 
ports,  which  took  for  the  week  reported  over 
28,0(10  tons.  As  regards  prices,  the  market  has 
been  irregular  with  a  tendency  toward  easier. 
Best  and  second  Admiralties  are  still  out  of 
the  market,  being  retained  for  government  pur¬ 
poses.  For  ordinary  qualities  prices  range  from 
24s  to  25s,  with  slight  reductions  for  inferior 
grades.  Due  to  the  accumulation  in  stocks  of 
Monmouthshire  coals,  prices  of  these  coals  have 
cased.  Best  Black  Veins  are  about  23s  6d  to 
23s  9(1;  Western  Valleys,  22s  3d  to  22s  9d,  and 
Eastern  Valleys,  21s  9d  to  22s  3d.  The  small 
coal  market  has  been  on  the  decline  with  sub¬ 
stantial  concessions  being  made  in  order  to  clear 
up  loaded  wagons  that  have  accumulated  at  the 
piers.  Best  bunkers  are  20s  and  20s  6d ;  ordi¬ 
naries  about  2()s,  and  cargo  sorts  11s  to  12s  per 
ton. 


Hampton  Roads  August  Exports. 

Exports  of  bituminous  coal  from  Hampton 
Roads  for  the  month  of  .August  and  destinations 
by  countries,  was  as  follows  : 


('ouiitry —  Tonnage 

Italy  . 272,114 

Argentina  Republic  . 112,286 

Panama  .  40,300 

Brazil  .  39,070 

Cuba  .  32,150 

Uruguay  .  27,021 

France  .  23,694 

(Ireece  .  10,720 

Spain  .  10,194 

French  West  Africa .  0,650 

Jamaica  .  0,807 

Danish  West  Incles .  5,405 

Cape  X’^erde  Islands .  5,419 

Barbados  .  4,500 

Porto  Rico  .  4,110 

Portugal  .  3,993 

Mexico  .  2,157 

Chile  .  1,535 

England  .  1,479 

Ecuador  .  1,025 

San  Domingo  .  923 

Azores  .  711 


628,995 


Baltimore  August  Exports. 

Unofficial  figures  of  exports  of  bituminous  coal 
from  the  port  of  Baltimore  during  August,  1915, 
are  as  follows : 


Country — 
Argentine 
Sweden  .  .  , . 
Ecimdor  .  . 

Cuba  . 

Colombia  . . 

Italy  . 

■Spain  . 

Brazil  .... 

Egypt  - 

Panama  ... 
France  .  . 
Greece  .... 
Uruguay  .  . , 


Tonnage 
.  16,1,30 
.  36,714 
,  .  6,018 
.  .  17,2.52 
,  .  2,570 

,  .  79,906 
.  .  8,741 

.  8,150 

.  10,299 
.  3,123 

.  .  5,400 

.  4,407 

.  .  3,335 


Total  . 202,045 

Several  cargoes  unreported  will  probably  iti- 
crease  above  by  Ki.tidO  tons. 


Recent  Coal  Freight  Charters. 

Steamer  Gaertis  (Greek),  Virginia  to  River  Plata,  coal, 
34s.  Sept.'Oct. 

Steamer  Maritime  CBr.),  Atlantic  Range  to  San  Fran¬ 
cisco,  coal,  $4.25,  Sept. 

Steamer  -  *,  Atlantic  Range  to  San  F'rancisco, 

7,900  tons  coal,  $4.20,  Sept. -Oct. 

Steamer  Roddam  (Br.),  Virginia  to  Montevideo  or 
Buenos  Aires,  coal,  32s  6d  prompt. 

Steamer  St.  John  (Swed.),  Baltimore  to  Gothenburg, 
coal,  p.  t. 

Schooner  Iona  Tunnel,  Philadelphia  to  Cay  Francis, 
coal,  $3. 

Steamer  Skogstad  (Nor.),  Norfolk  to  Havana,  coal,  p.  t. 

Steamer  St.  Theodore  (Br.),  Baltimore  to  Genoa,  coal, 
p.  t.,  prompt. 

Steamer  Liiisi  (Span.),  Baltimore  to  Valencia,  coal,  p.  t. 

Bark  Bruce  Hawkins,  Philadelphia  to  Yabucoa,  coal,  $4. 

Schooner  Evelyn  W.  Hinkley,  Philadelphia  to  Guaya- 
iiilla,  P.  R.,  coal,  p.  t. 

Steamer  Erviken  (Nor.),  Baltimore  to  Rio  Grande  do 
Sul,  coal,  p.  t.,  spot. 

Steamer  Belgier  (Br.),  Baltimore  to  Marseilles,  coal, 
p.  t.,  spot. 

Steamer  Warren  (Br.),  Baltimore  to  Buenos  Aires,  coal, 
p.  t..  spot. 

Steamer  Antonios  Strathatos  (Greek),  Virginia  to  River 
Plata,  coal,  about  40s. 

Steamer  Aldersgate  (Br.),  Gantoise  (Belg.),  and  Veer- 
haven  (Dutch),  Virginia  to  River  Plata,  coal,  34s,  prompt. 

Steamer  Atland  (Swed.),  Baltimore  to  Stockholm,  coal, 
p.  ,t. 

Steamer  Bendew  (Br.),  Baltimore  to  Barcelona  or 
Valencia,  coal,  p.  t. 

Steamer  Prime  (Ital.),  Baltimore  to  west  coast  of 
Italy,  coal,  p.  t. 

Steamer  Doonholm  (Br.),  Virginia  to  west  coast  of 
Italy,  coal,  about  41s  Od,  Sept. 


Export  Trade  Briefs. 

Consul  L.  J.  Keena  of  Valparaiso,  Chile,  writes 
that  official  figures  of  the  imports  of  roal  and 


coke  into  Chile  for  1914  are  now  available,  giv¬ 
ing  the  amounts  for  the  individual  countries  from 
which  they  were  received.  The  coal  imports  by 
countries,  in  metric  tons  of  2,204.62  pounds,  were ; 
Great  Britain,  527,576 ;  Germany,  46,157 ;  Bel¬ 
gium,  17,208;  Holland,  2,621;  Australia,  516,889; 
LInited  States,  143,404;  India,  3,704;  total,  1,257,- 
559. 

The  coke  imports  were :  Great  Britain,  9,588 
metric  tons ;  Germany,  20,031  ;  Belgium,  4,647 ; 
Holland,  4,040;  Australia,  6,720;  United  States, 
1,885;  total,  46,011. 

At  a  recent  meetin.g  of  the  Cardiff  Chamber 
of  Commerce,  T.  E.  Watson,  the  president,  re¬ 
ferred  to  the  price  of  coal  (limitation)  act.  He 
said :  “When  the  authorities  were  increasing 

labor  costs  by  adding  to  the  wages  of  the  men, 
they  passe(i  a  hasty  and  ill-considered  measure 
limiting  prices  at  which  owners  might  sell  for 
home  consumption.  This  was  done  without  giv- 
in.g  the  local  colliery  owners  any  opportunity  of 
stating  their  position,  but  the  act  caused  no  obli¬ 
gation  of  the  owners  to  sell  at  any  particular 
price,  and  the  government  then  attempted  to 
remedy  this  defect  by  an  order  prohibiting  ex¬ 
ports  except  to  British  possessions.  When  a 
deputation  has  pointed  out  the  unfairness  of  this, 
the  government  agreed  to  grant  licenses  if  the 
coal  owners  formed  amon.g  themselves  a  mutual 
scheme  for  giving  an  adequate  supply  for  home 
consumption,  and  such  a  scheme  is  now  in  prepa¬ 
ration.”  He  described  the  modus  operandi  for 
the  granting  of  licenses  as  being  full  of  “red 
tape  of  obstruction.” 

According  to  the  Colliery  Guardian  of  London 
in  its  issue  of  August  27,  Russell  Rea,  chairman 
of  the  Coal  Exports  Committee  (of  London)  has 
made  answer  to  some  comment  upon  the  condi¬ 
tion  with  regard  to  the  issue  of  licenses  for  ex¬ 
port.  He  states  that  the  apprehension  of  increased 
difficulties  to  shippers  of  coal  are  groundless; 
that  exporters  will  consign  their  cargoes  to  re¬ 
sponsible  a.gents  as  heretofore,  and  that  upon 
this  shippers'  will  incur  no  additional  responsi- 
liilities,  and  that  the  limitation  of  exports  is 
designed,  as  has  been  previously  announced,  to 
ensure  sufficient  supplies  for  the  home  market ; 
and  one  idea  mooted  is  that  the  trade  should 
organize  for  export  purposes  and  avoid  competi¬ 
tion  between  merchants.  This  is  the  old  idea  of 
1).  A.  Thomas,  brought  out  in  his  pamphlet  pub¬ 
lished  a  few  years  ago ;  that  gentleman,  who  is 
the  chairman  of  the  (Cambrian  Combine,  and  now 
at  work  in  America  on  behalf  of  the  Munitions 
Department,  having  compiled  statistics  and  worked 
out  fully  a  scheme  whereby  competition  between 
coal  owners  should  be  restricted,  and  the  highest 
price  .gained  for  export,  rather  than  that  the 
present  system  of  competition,  with  consequent 
reduction  of  price,  should  be  continued. 

Latest  Cardiff  advices  show  that  prices  of  patent 
(briquet)  fuel  are  rather  easier  in  sympathy  with 
the  decline  of  small  coal,  best  grades  offering  at 
34s  6d  and  second  qualities  at  about  2s  6d  less. 
It  is  reported  that  about  30,000  tons  of  fuel  for 
the  French  railways  have  been  placed,  the  price 
believed  to  be  about  27s  per  ton. 

Welsh  coal  merchants  have  taken  decisive 
action  altering  the  system  of  credit  hitherto 
operating  in  the  export  trade  of  coal.  At  a 
meeting  of  exporters  and  sales  agents,  held  in 
Cardiff  on  July  22,  the  proposal  which  was 
mooted  a  few  weeks  back  came  up  for  further 
discussion.  Terms  that  have  been  prevalent 
were — net  cash  at  thirty  days,  or  cash  against 
invoice,  less  one-half  per  cent,  at  the  option 
of  the  seller;  and  the  greater  part  of  business 
has  been  on  the  latter  basis.  The  new  terms 
will  not  come  into  operation  until  January 
1,  1916,  so  that  practically  six  months’  notice 
is  given  of  the  change,  and  they  will  be — net 
cash  at  fourteen  days,  or  cash  against  invoice, 
less  one-half  per  cent,  at  the  option  of  the 
seller.  It  was  decided  by  a  majority  that  this 
change  in  conditions  of  business  should  be 
made,  but  there  were  opponents  who  argued 
that  this  was  not  the  time  to  make  such  a  dif¬ 
ference,  and  that  after  the  war  an  extension 
of  credit  might  he  necessary.  On  the  other 
hand,  it  was  contended  that  had  fourteen  days 
instead  of  thirty,  been  the  practice  at  the  out¬ 
break  of  the  war,  the  amount  owing  then  to 
Cardiff  firms  would  have  been  half  of  what  it 
was,  namely,  one  and  a  quarter  millions 
sterling,  and  that  after  the  war  the  giving  of 
credit  would  be  more  risky,  the  general  finan¬ 
cial  position  being  less  stable.  It  is  consid¬ 
ered  that  the  alteration  will  advantage  larger 
firms  as  against  the  smaller  men,  who  cannot 
command  so  much  capital. 


214 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[September  11 


General  Review. 

The  Car  Shortage  Which  Is  Growing  and 
a  Good  Demand  for  Steam  Coal 
Strengthen  Prices. 


The  national  coal  market  has  developed  a 
genuinely  good  tone  in  the  last  week.  Things 
which  were  only  an  indication  a  week  or  ten 
days  ago  are  now  developed  facts  in  connec¬ 
tion  with  coal  and  the  fall  trade  can  be  said  to 
have  gained  its  stride. 

For  example,  last  week  there  was  the  first 
suggestion  of  a  car  shortage.  This  week 
iiearly  every  market  reports  that  the  railroads 
are  having  more  or  less  trouble  to  move  both 
the  coal  and  the  grain  which  is  now  trying 
to  reach  its  market.  The  trouble  now,  as  then, 
is  more  a  shortage  of  locomotives  than  of  cars 
and  more  the  congestion  of  tracks  than  any¬ 
thing  else.  In  other  words,  the  carriers  are 
heginning  to  reap  the  harvest  for  which  they 
had  sown  for  the  last  three  or  four  years  and 
are  not  now  equipped  to  handle  the  rush  of 
business  that  is  being  offered. 

All  summer  there  has  been  talk  about  the 
possibility  of  a  labor  shortage  at  the  mines. 
In  some  districts  this  is  not  felt  at  all.  For 
example,  in  parts  of  western  Pennsylvania  and 
in  Ohio  where  the  miners  are  residents  of  long¬ 
standing,  the  shortage  is  not  being  felt.  FIow- 
ever,  in  the  newer  mining  districts  which  have 
been  depending  on  foreign  labor,  the  shortage 
is  caused  by  both  the  return  of  foreigners  to 
their  countries  and  the  failure  to  get  in  new 
men.  Recently  the  emigration  of  Italians  has 
been  extremely  heavy.  The  labor  shortage  is 
curtailing  production  and  this  is  having  an 
influence  on  prices. 

In  the  third  place  exports  of  coal  in  Au¬ 
gust  for  the  third  successive  month  reached 
the  attractive  figure  of  one  million  tons.  In¬ 
dications  so  far  in  September  are  that  this  will 
be  the  record  month  of  all  time  in'  the  matter 
of  coal  exportations.  This  naturally  subtracts 
from  the  volume  of  coal  available  for  home 
consumption. 

Reports  touching  the  lake  trade  do  not  agree 
altogether.  One  thing  seems  reasonably  ac¬ 
curate,  which  is  that  the  upper  lake  docks 
are  pretty  well  crowded  with  coal,  but  the 
movement  to  the  interior  is  slow.  At  the  same 
time  shipments  have  fallen  short  about  fifteen 
per  cent  as  measured  by  those  of  last  year 
and  there  is  a  belated  movement  to  try  and 
make  up  the  shortage.  Some  districts  report 
heavier  shipments  to  the  lakes,  others  only  a 
moderate  increase.  One  thing  is  reasonablj' 
sure,  which  is,  instead  of  the  lake  coal  move¬ 
ment  having  been  completed  by  the  end  of 
September,  as  has  been  the  case  in  recent 
years,  it  will  continue  through  until  the  close 
of  navigation  early  in  December.  This  will 
likewise  subtract  from  the  volume  of  tonnage 
available  for  the  all  rail  trade. 

Another  definite  influence  is  the  buying  of 
coal  by  retailers  for  delivery  to  the  house¬ 
holders.  The  shortage  there  is  quite  marked 
as  compared  with  other  years,  amounting  as 
a  mmimum  to  twenty-five  per  cent.  Coal  now 
going  to  retailers  is  in  larger  volume  than  at 
any  time  for  several  years,  and  the  buying 
movement  continues  despite  the  fact  that  prices 
are  twenty-five  cents  a  ton  higher  than  they 
were  in  July. 

The  best  indication  perhaps  in  the  whole 
market  is  the  strength  of  steam  coal  prices. 
Hardly  any  market  but  reports  a  rise  of  five 
cents  a  ton  on  mine  run  coal  and  in  some 
places  this  amounts  to  as  much  as  fifteen  cents 
a  ton.  In  the  east,  slack  coal  prices  are 
stronger  by  far  than  they  have  been  for  a 
number  of  years  at  this  season  and  there  seems 
to  be  a  great  shortage.  This  is  explained  in 
that  district  by  the  concurrent  buying  of  both 
the  stoker  equipped  steam  plants  and  the  coke 
ovens.  In  the  west  the  screenings  prices  are 
on  the  avera.ge  twenty-five  cents  a  ton  higher 
than  they  were  this  time  a  year  ago.  This 
is  accounted  for  in  major  part  by  a 
better  demand  recently  expressed.  '  This  is 
taken,  to  mean  by  those  who  have  studied  the 
situation  broadly,  that  the  improvement  in  the 
business  is  not  dependent  altogether  on  orders 
from  foreign  buyers  for  war  material,  but  that 
we  are  be^ginniiyg  to  have  something  like  the 
return  o^  prosperity  to  this  country. 

Bearing  upon  this_  same  point,  the  coke  busi¬ 
ness  has  been  growing  in  strength  for  the  last 
month.  Coke  is  now  quite  strong,  especially 


those  sizes  which  go  to  the  metallurgical  in¬ 
dustry.  If  one  were  to  judge  by  the  Pitts¬ 
burgh  district  alone,  he  would  conclude  that 
this  demand  came  from  the  steel  mills  which 
are  making  war  munitions.  However,  the  de¬ 
mand  for  coke  in  the  west  is  equally  strong 
and  there  it  is  not  from  furnaces,  but  from 
foundries.  This  means  that  castings  and  ma¬ 
chinery  parts  are  bein.g  made,  which  indicates 
an  improvement  in  internal  business. 


Chicago  Market. 

The  Buying  of  Domestic  Coal  Is  Fairly 
Active  and  Screenings  Are 
Unusually  Strong. 

Office  of  The  Black  Diamond, 
Chicago,  September  9. 

The  demand  for  coal  is  not  the  same  this  week 
as  it  was  last  in  character,  but  in  volume  it  shows 
no  falling  off.  Last  week  the  indications  were 
that  the  heavier  buying  of  domestic  coal  was 
dictated  by  the  belief  that  cold  weather  had  come 
to  stay.  This  week  the  demand  is  quite  as  heavy, 
but  the  weather  is  warm,  hence  the  explanation  of 
the  accumulating  orders  is  that  the  retailers  have 
begun  to  store  some  coal.  At  any  rate,  for  west¬ 
ern  coal  especially  the  demand  is  quite  active  and 
the  coals  are  sold  up  for  ten  days  or  two  weeks 
ahead  at  the  advanced  circular  price. 

The  best  indication,  however,  of  the  market 
strength  is  the  price  bein,g  paid  for  screenings. 
At  this  time  a  year  ago,  medium  grade  screen¬ 
ings  were  selling  for  thirty  cents  a  ton.  They 
sold  at  that  price  all  through  September.  Today 
the  same  screenings  are  sellin.g  for  fifty-five  and 
sixty  cents,  the  former  being  the  bottom  figure. 

In  several  directions  the  car  situation  is  be¬ 
coming  bothersome  and  in  all  districts  the  supply 
is  tightening  up.  The  difficulty  as  heretofore 
noted  is  not  mainly  the  absence  of  cars,  but  the 
shortage  of  motive  power. 

Anthracite  demand  has  picked  up  considerable 
within  the  week.  It  was  fairly  stron.g  last  week 
but  it  is  even  better  today.  The  market  would 
not  absorb  a  flood  of  coal  such  as  the  mines 
might  be  disposed  to  move  now  before  the  east¬ 
ern  car  situation  gets  tight,  but  it  is  taking  all 
offerings  without  much  difficulty  since  these 
offerings  are  modest. 

The  smokeless  coal  situation  is  a  trifle  better 
than  it  was.  The  market  is  firm  because  the  supply 
is  not  quite  equal  to  the  demand.  This  is  so 
because  the  operators  have  not  shipped  any  free 
coal  in  here  to  speak  of,  most  of  the  movement 
being  on  contract.  There  is  a  little  demand  for 
spot  coal  and  that  makes  the  market  strong. 
No  one  would  vouch  for  the  situation  if  a  differ¬ 
ent  policy  were  adopted  by  the  operators  and  if 
the  shipments  increased  heavily.  Lump  and  egg 
in  the  country  is  firm  at  circular  price  of  $2.25. 
There  is  always  a  very  small  demand  for  that 
coal  in  Chicago  and  just  now  that  seems  to  be 
over  stocked  so  that  the  prices  now  in  the  city 
are  easy.  The  prices  up  to  Thursday  were : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Smokeless —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Mine  run .  $3.45  $1.40 

Lump  and  egg .  4.05@4.30  2.00@2.25 

Somerset  county  mine  run  has  been  selling  to 
the  trade  at  prices  rangin.g  from  $1.15  to  $1.25. 
The  demand  has  been  only  fair  and  the  market 
has  been  prevented  from  breaking  by  keeping 
unsold  coal  off  the  market.  Lump  and  eg.g  are 
fairly  good  in  the  country  and  easy  in  the  city 
and  the  prices  range  all  the  way  from  $1.65  in 
Chica.go  to  $2.00  for  the  better  grade  coals  out¬ 
side.  Prices  up  to  Thursday  were : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Somerset  County —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Mine  ru.n  . $3.20@3.30  $1.1.5®!. 25 

Lump  and  egg .  3.75@4.05  1.75@2.00 

There  is  some  talk  in  an  advance  in  the 
Hocking  coal  price  before  the  end  of  the  month. 
The  home  demand  has  been  rather  heavy  of  late  , 
and  as  known,  production  there  has  been  cur¬ 
tailed.  Lake  trade  is  beginning  to  take  a  little 
coal  and  the  western  market  has  been  absorbing' 
more  than  has  moved  in  this  direction  all  sum¬ 
mer.  The  operators  think  that  prices  will  be 
moved  up  to  $1.60  and  a  circular  to  that  effect 
will  be  issued.  In  the  meanwhile  the  prices  up 
to  Thursday  were : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Hocking —  Chicago.  Mines. 

lJ4->nch  lump .  $3.15  $1.50 

Splint  coal  situation  has  not  changed  materially 
within  the  last  week.  Some  lots  of  coal  got  up 
to  demurrage  and  had  to  be  sacrificed  in  order 
to  move  them,  but  in  most  cases  the  minimum  is 
.$1.15  and  the  maximum  is  better  than  $1.30.  The 
prices  up  to  Thursday  were : 


.  F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Kanav/ha—  Chicago.  Mines. 

154-inch  'ump . $3.05@3.16  $1.15@1.26 

Eastern  Kentucky  coal  continues  stron.g  for 
reasons  heretofore  noted,  namely,  better  demand 
at  home,  prospect  of  labor  trouble  all  through  the 
field  and  a  better  demand  in  the  western  terri¬ 
tory.  The  prices  up  to  Thursday  were : 


,  F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Eastern  Kentucky—  Chicago.  Mines. 

Domestic  lump . $3.40@3.90  $1.50@2.00 

Kgs  .  3.25  1.35 


Franklin  county  operators  do  not  know  just 
exactly  how  to  explain  the  situation  which  has 
risen  within  the  last  week.  A  few  of  the  larger 
mines  are  sold  up  on  their  domestic  lump  for 
the  rest  of  this  month.  The  others  are  ten  days 
ahead.  Egg  and  No.  1  lump  coal  are  not  in  quite 
such  a  heavy  demand,  but  still  the  market  for 
them  is  strong.  Screenings  also  are  firm,  the 
season  of  the  year  considered,  at  sixty-five  to 
seventy  cents.  Many  of  the  operators  have  to 
contend  at  times  with  coal  sold  as  Franklin 
county  at  very  much  less  figures  than  these 
quoted,  especially  on  mine  run  coal.  Flowever, 
the  competition  does  not  seem  disturbin.g.  The 
prices  up  to  Thursday  were : 


Franklin  County — 

Lump  . 

Egg  . 

No.  1  nut . 

No.  2  nut . 

Mine  run . 

2inch  screenings.... 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Chicago.  Mines. 
$2.80  $1.75 

2.80  1.76 

2.80  1,75 

2.45  1.40 

2.15@2.20  1.10@1.16 

1.70@1.75  .65®. 70 


Now  that  'Williamson  county  operators  have 
advanced  the  prices  to  a  figure  where  the  opera¬ 
tion  of  the  mines  is  profitable,  the  old  trick  of 
substituting  an  off-grade  coal  for  Williamson 
county  has  been  resumed.  However,  the  major 
operators  are  getting,  according  to  their  own 
circular,  either  $1.60  or  $1.75  for  their  coal  and 
most  of  them  are  sold  up  on  the  popular  sizes 
for  at  least  ten  days.  The  mine  capacity  has  not 
been  increased  recently  to  a  lar.ge  extent  any¬ 
way  and  this  has  helped  to  keep  the  market  firm. 
The  prices  up  to  Thursday  were : 


Williamson  County —  Chicago. 

Eump  . $2.65@2.80 

Egg  .  2. 65  @2. 80 

No.  1  washed .  2.65@2.80 

No.  2  washed .  2.45 


F.  O.  B. 
Mines. 
$1.60@1.75 
1.60@1.75 
1.75 
1.40 


Saline  county  operators  have  had  a  .good  run 
of  domestic  orders  for  the  last  week  and  as  a 
result  they  are  comfortable  as  far  as  orders  are 
concerned  for  almost  two  weeks.  Screenings  also 
have  continued  strong,  the  price  being  around 
seventy  to  seventy-five  cents.  The  prices  up  to 
Thursday  were : 


Saline  County — 

Lump  . 

Mine  run . 

Screenings  . 

1  H-inch  lump.  . . . 


F.  p.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Chicago.  Mines. 
$2.80  $1.75 

2.20  1.15 

1.75@1.80  .70®  .75 

2.35  1.30 


Because  Springfield  operators  are  not  produc¬ 
ing  and  shipping  coal  unless  they  have  an  order 
for  it,  nearly  all  the  markets  are  bare  of  free 
coal  with  the  double  result  that  prices  are  firm 
and  the  buyers  are  more  inclined  to  do  business 
than  at  any  time  in  a  number  of  years.  Screen¬ 
ings  have  strengthened  up  about  a  nickel  a  ton 
within  the  last  week,  being  quoted  now  firm  at 
fifty-five  to  sixty  cents.  The  prices  up  to  Thurs¬ 
day  were : 


Springfield — 

Lump  . 

Egg  . 

Nut  . 

Mine  run . 

Screenings  .... 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Chicago.  Mines. 
$2.47  $1.65 

2.47  1.66 

2.47  1,65 

1.87  1.05 

1.37@1.42  .55®  .60 


Steam  coals  from  Knox  county  are  command¬ 
ing  a  good  sale,  the  market  being  active  on  those 
sizes  and  somewhat  better  on  domestic  coal.  The 


market  up  to  Thursday  was : 


Knox  County — 

Lump  . 

Egg  . 

Mine  run . 

Screening.s  . 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Chicago.  Mines. 
$2.37  $1.50 

2.37  1.50 

1.87  1.05 

1.62  .75 


Clinton  coal  is  unchanged  from  figures  quoted 
last  week,  but  the  volume  of  business  is  improv- 
in.g.  The  prices  up  to  Thursday  were ; 


Clinton — 
Domestic  lump. 

Egg  . 

Nut  . 

Mine  run . 

Screenings  .  . . 


F.  p.  B. 

F.  0.  B. 

Chicago. 

Mines. 

$2.27 

$1.50 

2.07 

1.36 

2.07 

1.30 

1.87 

1.10 

1.42 

.65 

With  foundry  coke  at  top  notch  of  demand 
and  with  the  sale  of  domestic  coke  growing,  that 
market  is  in  first-class  condition.  The  prices  un 
to  Thursday  were : 


r  ■  Chicago. 

Connellsville  . $4.85®5.00 

By-product,  foundry .  4.90®5.1O 

By-product,  egg  and  stove .  4.75 

By-product,  nut  .  4.75 

Gas  house  .  3.85®4.00 


No.  11] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


215 


Pittsburgh  Trade. 


Big  Mining  Companies  Are  Doing  a  Good 
Business  on  Contract,  But 
Small  Comi>anies  Suffer. 


Office  of  The  Black  Diamond, 
1503  Oliver  Building, 

Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  September  9. 

The  coal  trade  this  week  seems  to  have  suffered 
a  relapse,  and  to  have  resumed  the  comatose 
condition  that  it  has  been  under  for  some  time. 
Warmer  weather  is  partly  responsible  for  this, 
but  if  there  is  any  one  thing  that  stands  out  more 
conspicuously  than  any  other  in  the  business,  it 
is  the  feeling  of  confidence  that  prevails  among 
all  producers  as  to  the  future.  However,  a  dili¬ 
gent  quest  for  orders,  inquiries,  or  shipments 
fails  to  produce  the  thing  sou.ght. 

The  big  operators  are  busy  on  contract  deliv¬ 
eries,  but  the  smaller  ones  are  in  a  receptive  mood 
and  awaiting  industrial  demand,  other  than  war 
products.  In  fact,  it  looks  as  though  rather 
too  much  has  been  said  and  written  about  our 
export  trade,  and  too  little  attention  paid  to 
domesic  industrial  problems.  There  has  been  as 
yet  no  revival  of  lake  shipping — any  coal  that  is 
moving  in  that  direction  being  on  old  contracts 
or  on  a  “chance”  market.  The  fact  that  there  is 
a  surplus  of  free  coal  at  the  docks  contributes 
to  the  depressed  condition,  and  the  lack  of  ship- 
pin.g  orders. 

“Labor  Day”  and  its  observance  broke  into  the 
week,  of  course,  though  at  the  present  time  oper¬ 
ators  can  spare  a  day  and  not  complain  of  its 
after  effects.  At  some  workings,  labor  has  been 
somewhat  scarce  and  advertisements  in  the  daily 
prints  say  that  miners  are  wanted  here  and  there 
by  the  fifties  or  hundreds.  Yet  with  all  the  en¬ 
couraging  reports  from  the  steel  and  iron  indus¬ 
tries,  the  claim  that  labor  is  scarce,  and  the  general 
reports  of  prosperity,  it  seems  very  strange  that 
a  more  decided  showing  is  not  made  by  the  coal 
and  coke  industries.  While  the  market  for  these 
products  stands  firm,  the  amount  of  business  doin.g 
does  not  meet  the  expectations  that  reports  from 
other  lines  would  suggest. 

Warmer  weather  again  explains  the  slump  in 
retail  trade,  but  the  fact  was  evidenced  that  home 
consumption  was  disappointed  in  not  being  able 
to  fill  bins,  at  mid-summer’s  low  prices,  for  there 
has  been  a  steady  hardening  of  prices  all  along 
the  line. 

The  only  special  inquiry  that  one  hears  of  today 
seems  to  be  for  slack.  One  order  closed  yester¬ 
day  covered  5,000  tons  Youghio.gheny  gas  slack 
at  seventy-five  cents  for  September  delivery,  and 
it  is  reported  that  West  Virginia  slack  is  selling 
at  that  figure  at  lake  ports,  and  scarce.  One  oper¬ 
ator  remarked  this  week  that  unless  a  better 
demand  developed  for  screened  coal  he  would 
begin  crushing  his  product  to  meet  the  demand  for 
fine  coal. 

In  coke  the  shipments  from  the  Connellsville 
region  to  Pittsburgh  and  points  west  showed  a 
slight  increase  the  past  week  according  to  rail¬ 
road  reports,  and  while  the  demand  has  not  in- 
peased  as  would  be  expected,  it  is  rumored  that 
inquiry  from  several  large  eastern  furnaces  is 
out  and  that  they  are  preparing  to  go  into  blast 
in  the  near  future,  and  that  the  demand  for  fur¬ 
nace  coke  will  increase  accordingly.  Coke  prices 
have  not  shown  the  same  firmness  that  coal  has, 
but  operators  are  still  hopeful.  Some  off  brands 
were  offered  in  small  spot  lots,  as  low  as  $1.15 
and  $1.25  the  past  week  for  stockiag,  but  fll.GO 
is  being  quoted  for  spot  delivery  on  furnace 
coke  and  from  that  to  $1.75,  with  foundry  grades 
ranging  from  $2.25  in  some  Instances  to  regular 
grades  at  $3.40  to  $2.65. 


Pittsburgh  News  Items. 

H.  J.  Reilly  of  Minneapolis  has  been  appointed 
a  minin.g  engineer  in  the  Bureau  of  Mines  at 
Pittsburgh. 

Capt.  Alfred  Hicks,  a  Pittsburgh  coal  operator, 
has  made  a  contribution  of  $20,000  to  the  Metho¬ 
dist  church  of  Ducanville,  Pa.,  to  be  used  in  the 
erection  of  a  new  church. 

The  Union  Trust  Company,  further  than  or¬ 
ganizing  the  “Union  Coal  &  Coke  Company,”  have 
as  yet  taken  no  action  regarding  the  operation 
of  the  properties  of  the  Pittsburgh-Buffalo  Com¬ 
pany.  There  will  be  a  meeting  this  week  to 
discuss  this  proposition,  and  it  is  anticipated 
that  activities  will  soon  develop  at  the  various 
mines,  under  the  new  ownership,  direct  or  in¬ 
direct. 

Freight  rates  are  always  a  source  of  trouble, 
no  less  for  coal  than  other  tonnages.  Wednes¬ 


day  morning’s  Pittsburgh  Dispatch  says :  “Rail 
carriers  and  coal  operators  of  the  Pittsburgh 
district  alike  are  vitally  interested  in  the  efforts 
that  are  now  being  made  to  effect  an  equitable 
adjustment  of  freight  rates  on  the  mine  outputs 
of  the  several  districts  constituting  this  field, 
and  paricularly  in  the  potential  rates  both  to 
the  east  and  west.  A  noteworthy  development 
of  the  situation  is  the  attempt  that  is  being  made 
by  certain  interests  to  constitute  the  entire  Pitts¬ 
burgh  field  a  single  zone  of  production  and  es¬ 
tablish  common  rates  therefrom — a  plan  which 
would'  make  for  simplification  of  the  rate  ques¬ 
tion,  but  would  work  to  the  disadvantage  of 
certain  sections.  In  a  word,  an  average  rate  for 
the  entire  field  would  have  the  effect  of  penaliz¬ 
ing  the  poorer  grades  of  coal,  and  should  it  be 
adopted,  a  scramble  for  business  would  ensue 
inevitably  in  which  the  better  coals  with  a  lower 
mining  rate  would  have  a  decided  advanta.ge.  If, 
as  has  been  proposed,  a  zone  system  shall  be 
established,  each  with  a  fixed  differential  operat¬ 
ing  in  both  directions,  individual  markets  would 
ensue  automatically,  and  the  differential  Would 
be  the  penalty  for  encroaching  on  others’  pre¬ 
serves.” 


Twin  Cities  Trade. 


Minneapolis  and  St.  Paul,  September  9. — ■ 
(Special  Correspondence.) — This  is  the  week  of 
the  state  fair  in  the  Twin  Cities,  and  in  times 
past  when  the  coal  business  was  on  a  more  active 
basis,  marked  the  period  when  the  fall  activity 
commenced.  The  reason  for  this  is  not  difficult 
to  find.  During  state  fair  week,  the  railroad 
passen.ger  travel  is  always  enormous ;  freight 
trains  are  side-tracked  to  carry  human  loads,  and 
transportation  generally  gets  into  a  tangle.  Im¬ 
mediately  following  the  state  fair  the  heavy 
movement  of  grain  to  market  commences,  and 
the  tangle  in  transportation  in  past  years  has 
lasted  until  the  mid-winter  holiday  season. 

Thirty  days  a.go  it  looked  as  if  these  conditions 
might  be  expected  the  present  year.  Today  they 
are  not  quite  so  certain.  Frequent  rains  have 
delayed  threshing,  and  farmers  who  have  threshed 
and  can  do  so,  are  holding  back  their  grain  in 
preference  to  marketing  it  on  a  declining  price 
basis.  Receipts  of  wheat  and  other  grains  have 
been  heavy  in  this  market  for  the  past  week,  but 
a  great  many  farmers  are  now  planning  to  hold 
back  all  their  products  that  they  can,  believing 
the  market  will  show  an  upward  tendency  later 
if  the  foreign  wars  continue.  This  is  more  than 
likely  to  lessen  the  immmediate  burden  on  the 
railroads  and  prolong  the  period  of  shipment  so 
that  the  grain  movement  can  be  handled  to  bet¬ 
ter  advantage.  This  is  one  feature  of  the  situa¬ 
tion.  On  the  other  hand  there  is  a  tremendous 
crop  in  the  Dakotas  and  Minnesota,  and  possibly 
even  with  these  advantageous  conditions  rail 
lines  will  have  their  troubles  later  on,  which  will 
assist  in  putting  the  coal  business  back  to  the 
basis  that  prevailed  several  years  ago. 

Demand  for  coal  is  somewhat  more  active, 
but  there  are  many  dealers  in  this  territory  who 
are  only  ordering  as  they  actually  need  tonnage 
to  meet  current  demand.  Twin  City  retail  deal¬ 
ers  say  that  present  demand  compares  very  favor¬ 
ably  with  a  year  ago,  and  with  the  first  nippin.g 
frost  they  anticipate  they  will  have  all  the  busi¬ 
ness  they  can  handle.  Prices  on  dock  products 
remain  steady.  In  the  St.  Paul  trade,  dock 
screenings  are  being  offered  to  the  steam  trade 
at  lower  prices,  and  there  is  some  demoraliza¬ 
tion  in  that  direction.  Some  Hocking  screenings, 
it  is  reported,  have  been  offered  during  the  week 
at  $.3.50  for  wagon  delivery,  which  is  fully  50 
cents  below  the  circular  price. 

In  the  Indiana  and  Illinois  trade  there  are  no 
noteworthy  changes.  Prices  hold  to  a  steady 
level,  and  there  is  an  absence  of  free  coal  in 
transit.  Southern  Illinois  screenings  are  the 
weakest  item,  rangin.g  at  fifty  to  sixty  cents  f.  o. 
b.  mines.  Demand  for  domestic  sizes  is  not 
heavy. 

Prices  current  on  coals  sold  in  the  Twin  City 
market  are  as  follows : 


ANTHRACITE. 

F.  O.  B. 
Duluth 
and 

Superior 


Grate  .  $6.60 

Egg  .  6.86 

Stove  .  6.8.5 

Nut  .  7.10 

Pea  .  6.50 

Buckwheat  .  4-00 


BITUMINOUS. 

Splint,  screened  lump  and  stove.$3.30@3.40 


Splint,  dock  run .  $3.10 

Hocking,  screened  lump  and  stove.  3.30@3.40 

Ilocking,  dock  run .  3.00 

Youghiogheny,  gas,  lump  and  stove  3.30@3.40 


F.  O.  B. 
Minneapolis 
and 

St.  Paul 
$7.80 
8.05 
8.05 
8.30 
6.70 
6.20 


$.1.2G@4.36 

$4.06 

4.26@4.3G 

3.96 

4.2G@4.36 


Youghiogheny,  gas,  doek  run....  3.10 

Pittsburgh  vein,  lump .  3.30@3.40 

Pittsburgh  vein,  dock  run .  3.00 

Pocahontas,  screened  lump  or  egg  4.75 

Pocahontas,  screened  lump  and 

egg  mixed .  4.50 

Pocahontas,  mine-run  .  3.25 

Cannel,  lump .  5.25 

Smithing,  bulk .  4,25 

Srnithing,  in  100-lb.  sacks .  6.00 

Briquets,  anthracite .  5. 00 

Briquets,  smokeless .  5.00 


4.06 

4.26@4.36 

3.96 
5.71 

6.46 

4.21 

6.21 
5.21 

6.96 

5.96 
5.96 


In  the  Illinois  trade  the  range  of  prices  on 
southern  Illinois  product  on  the  various  sizes  is 
as  follows : 


Southern  Illinois  chunks . $1.65@1.75  $3.85@3.95 

Southern  Illinois  egg .  1.65@1.75  3.85@3.95 

Southern  Illinois  No.  1  nut .  1.65@1.75  3.85@3.95 

Southern  Illinois  No.  2  nut .  1.25@1.40  3.45@3  60 

Southern  Illinois  No.  3  nut . 1.10@1.25  3.30@3!45 

Southern  Illinois  run  of  mine...  1.15@1.25  3.35@3.45 

Southern  Illinois  2-in.  screenings  .60@  .70  2.80@2.90 

Southern  Illinois  includes  Franklin  county, 
Harrisburg  and  Williamson  county. 


Birmingham  Trade. 


Birmingham,  Alabama,  September  9th.— (Y/ie- 
cial  Correspondence.) — The  domestic  trade  shows 
more  strength  than  for  some  time  past.  Sales 
agents  say  that  a  good  buying  movement  has 
set  in.  More  buying  by  retail  yard  men  from 
outside  the  district  is  noted.  Good  buying  by 
local  consumers  who  buy  in  carload  lots  has 
begun.  One  of  the  large  mining  companies 
has  secured  sufficient  tonnage  as  to  announce 
a  withdraw'al  from  open  market  for  domestic 
coal  indefinitely.  It  is  anticipated  that  the 
distinct  tonnage  will  make  up  for  the  shortness 
of  sales,  which  has  been  the  state  of  trade 
most  of  the  year.  Domestic  trade  is  more 
satisfactory  than  for  many  months. 

The  steam  trade  shows  no  such  progress  as 
domestic  coal,  but  indications  in  some  direc¬ 
tions  point  to  better  trade  being  produced 
■within  the  next  few  months.  This  is  espe¬ 
cially  true  in  re.gard  to  the  Warrior  River 
movement.  The  Tennessee  Company  has  se¬ 
cured  such  satisfactory  business  in  this  direc¬ 
tion  that  with  its  own  supply  to  meet  has 
withdrawn  from  the  open  market  for  an  in¬ 
definite  period.  Most  of  this  tonnage  will 
be  used  for  bunker  business  at  New  Orleans. 

Two  other  large  producing  companies  are 
making  arrangements  to  ship  down  the  river. 
The  DeBardelaben  Coal  Company  announces 
that  it  will  be  ready  by  October  1st  to  ship 
bunker  coal  to  New  Orleans.  The  Empire 
Coal  Company  is  rapidly  perfecting  arrange¬ 
ments  to  ship  bunker  and  steam  coal  to  both 
New  Orleans  and  Mobile.  The  bunker  coal 
trade  for  New  Orleans  amounts  to  about  600,- 
000  tons  per  year. 

It  is  an  assured  fact  that  the  four  compa¬ 
nies  using  the  river  will  get  a  large  per  cent 
of  this  business.  It  is  very  probable  that  at 
least  half  of  this  trade  will  be  from  Alabama 
mines,  which  has  not  been  the  case  in  the 
past  few  years.  Coking  coal  is  being  mined 
with  large  tonnage  showing  up.  The  demand 
for  this  grade  of  coal  is  still  on  the  increase, 
as  two  more  furnaces  are  announced  to  blow 
in  shortly.  The  total  number  of  furnaces  in 
blast  is_  now  placed  at  twenty-six,  which  is 
about  eighty-five  per  cent  of  furnaces  of  the 
district. 

Ninety-five  per  cent  of  the  iron  makers  of  the 
district  use  coke  and  with  every  furnace  which 
is  put  in  blast  the  demand  for  coke  coal  is 
augmented. 

September  prices  are: 

Bibb  County  Domestic  Coal — 

C.iliaba  fancy  lump . 

Cahaba  No.  2  lump . 

Red  Ash  Cahaba  No.  2  lump.... 

Red  Ash  Cahaba  lump . 

Red  Ash  steam  size . 

Jefferson  County — 

Fancy  steam  Pratt . 

Run  of  mine  Pratt . 

Mary  Lee  lump . 

Black  Creek — 

Fancy  steam  lump . 

Mine  run . 

Washed  nut  . 

Washed  steam . 

Jefferson  Seam  Steam  Coal- 

Mine  run . 

Walker  County  Domestic — 

Carbon  Hill  lump . 

Carbon  Hill  egg . 

Horse  Creek  mine  run . 

Genuine  Corona — 

Lump  . 

Egg  .  . . . . 

Steam  sizes . 

■Shelby  County — 

Montevallo  domestic  prices  ranging  from  $2.75  to  $3.00. 
Blacksmith  coal,  washed  and  screened,  per  ton,  $2  to 
$2.25  at  mines. 


F.  O.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

Mines. 

Birmingham. 

$2.75 

$3.00 

2.50 

2.80 

2.50 

2.80 

2.75 

3.05 

1.20@1.35 

Frt.  rate  30c 

1.75 

2.00 

1.20@1.25 

1.45(ai.50 

1.40 

1..50@1.80 

1.75 

2.05 

1.35@1.40 

Frt.  rate  30c 

1.76 

2.05 

1.35@1.60 

Frt.  rate  30c 

1.15@1.25 

Frt.  rate  30c 

1.70 

2.00 

1.60 

2.00 

o 

o 

o 

Frt.  rate  40c 

1.85 

2.25 

1.75 

2.15 

1.25@1.35 

Frt.  rate  40c 

216 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[S^eptember  11 


Cincinnati  Trade. 


Rain  followed  by  hot  weather  has  put  the  coal 
business  “on  the  blink.”  The  rain  prevented  do¬ 
mestic  delivery  for  several  days.  The  hot  weather 
caused  the  buyers  to  lose  interest  in  coal.  Con¬ 
sequently,  every  letter  from  traveling  salesmen 
says  “the  weather  is  had  and  business  is  rotten.” 

Still,  demand  for  domestic  coal  is  increasing 
slowly,  while  an  increasing  number  of  coal  opera¬ 
tions  are  being  hampered  by  a  scarcity  of  coal 
cars.  This  scarcity  is  not  felt  to  such  a  degree 
in  the  Pocahontas  and  New  River  fields  as  in 
tlie  splint  districts.  In  the  smokeless  fields  the 
cars  are  rushed  to  the  seaboards  with  “loads”  and 
promptly  dumped  of  late,  and  the  empties  are 
rushed  back.  This  causes  the  cars  on  the  Nor¬ 
folk  &  Western  to  be  easier.  The  splint  opera¬ 
tors,  however,  have  to  scatter  their  cars  in  every 
direction,  making  it  a  slower  job  to  have  them 
returned.  Some  of  the  operations  have  had  to 
close  down  two  days  in  the  past  week  from  lack 
of  cars. 

The  labor  holiday,  Monday,  curtailed  the  pro¬ 
duction  somewhat  and  relieved  the  market  of  a 
considerable  weight.  It  also  decreased  demand 
for  steam  coal  at  the  industrial  plants.  The  situ¬ 
ation  was  about  as  broad  as  it  was  long.  The 
net  result,  however,  is  believed  to  be  beneficial 
to  the  market.  One  operation  has  lost  seventy- 
live  Italian  miners  in  the  past  two  weeks  because 
of  the  exodus  home  to  aid  in  the  big  war.  An¬ 
other  lost  thirty.  The  man  who  says  that  the 
European  war  has  had  no  effect  on  labor  at  the 
mines  is  misinformed.  In  the  past  six  weeks 
Italian  Consul  Charles  Ginnocchio  of  this  city 
has  passed  the  equivalent  of  an  entire  regiment 
of  1,200  men  forward  to  the  front  in  Italy,  most 
of  the  men  being  drawn  from  the  West  Virginia 
minin.g  region. 

Prices  are  holding  well.  Cincinnati  operators 
have  been  notified  that  Chicago  dealers  are  hold¬ 
ing  their  September  schedule  well  in  hand  and 
they  are  feeling  much  better  over  the  situation. 
This  refers  principally  to  smokeless  mine  run. 
Other  grades  are  holding  fairly  well  and  this  is 
causing  a  firm  market  together  with  the  revival 
of  lake  demand  in  the  past  few  days. 

Splint  prices  are  not  as  stable  as  the  smokeless 
prices  although  there  was  some  evidence  last 
week  that  they  probably  would  be  stiffer  in  Sep¬ 
tember.  This  is  not  quite  the  case  for  weather 
reasons  given  above,  and  splint  dealers  are  not 
so  sanguine  as  they  were  last  week. 


Cincinnati  Trade  News. 

J.  R.  Thomas,  president  of  the  Carbon  Fuel 
Company,  is  a  visitor  in  the  city  this  week. 

H.  P.  Jones  of  the  Jones-Parsons  Company, 
Barnabus,  W.  Va.,  was  a  visitor  in  the  city  among 
coal  men  in  the  past  week. 

Arnold  Gerstell,  of  Percey  Heilner  &  Son, 
stopped  off  a  day  at  the  offices  in  Cincinnati  on 
his  way  home  from  the  mines  to  Philadelphia. 

John  Laing,  president  of  the  Wyatt  Coal  Com¬ 
pany  and  allied  companies,  spent  several  days 
this  week  in  the  offices  of  the  company  here. 

At  Gallipolis  Monday  the  completion  of  Lock 
No.  20  in  the  Ohio  river,  at  that  city,  was  cele¬ 
brated  with  a  parade  and  addresses  by  distin¬ 
guished  citizens. 

L.  H.  Stone,  Cincinnati  representative  of  Jew¬ 
ett,  Bigelow  &  Brooks,  has  made  application  for 
membership  in  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  to  be 
assigned  to  the  Cincinnati  Coal  Exchange  Branch 
of  the  Chamber. 

F.  W.  Diebel,  Detroit  representative  of  the 
Pocahontas  Coal  Sales  Company  and  the  Glen 
Alum  Fuel  Company,  traveling  Michigan  for 
these  companies,  was  a  visitor  at  headquarters  a 
few  days  this  week. 

William  France,  representative  of  the  Algoma 
Steel  Company,  of  Sault  Ste.  Marie,  Mich.,  stopped 
off  in  the  city  a  day  last  week  as  he  was  passing 
through  on  his  way  to  New  York.  He  visited 
a  number  of  friends  in  the  coal  business  here. 

Herbert  Black,  vice-president  and  general  man- 
a.ger  of  the  Reliance  Iron  &  Coke  Company  of 
this  city  returned  this  week  from  a  business  visit 
to  New  York  City  considerably  encouraged  at 
the  evidences  he  saw  in  the  East  of  returning 
business  activity. 

Quin  Morton,  president  of  the  Imperial  Coal 
Company  of  Charleston,  W.  Va.,  and  of  the  Im¬ 
perial  Coal  Sales  Company  of  Cincinnati,  has 
been  confined  to  his  room  at  the  Sinton  Hotel 
for  over  a  week  under  care  of  a  physician.  He 
w’as  taken  ill  Monday,  August  30,  of  a  compli¬ 
cation  of  troubles  brought  on  by  a  cold.  He 


has  been  able  at  times  to  dictate  letters  to  his 
stenographer  and  even  to  step  outside  the  hotel 
until  lately  his  physician  has  advised  him  to 
remain  in  his  room.  It  is  hoped  and  expected  that 
he  will  be  able  to  return  home  in  a  few  days. 

Paul  L.  James,  formerly  representing  the  C.  G. 
Blake  Company  in  the  northwest,  has  become 
connected  with  the  Pocahontas  Coal  Sales  Com¬ 
pany  and  the  Glen  Alum  Fuel  Company  as  south¬ 
ern  representative.  Mr.  James  is  a  resident  of 
Virginia  and  this  arrangement  gives  him  head¬ 
quarters  at  home  and  territory  not  far  distant. 

Cincinnati  officials  of  the  Norfolk  &  Western 
Railway  have  been  notified  this  week  of  a  record 
coal  tonnage  dumped  at  Norfolk.  In  the  twenty 
hours  of  one  working  day  45,560  tons  were  loaded. 
In  August  shipments  from  Hampton  Roads  were 
1,561,284  tons  of  which  the  N.  &  W.  furnished 
790,860  tons,  the  C.  &  O,  467,147  tons  and  the 
Virginian  303,277  tons. 

H.  D.  Davis  has  resigned  his  position  of  travel¬ 
ing  salesman  with  the  Blue  Ash  Coal  Company, 
and  the  company  has  abandoned  the  northern 
territory  in  which  Mr.  Davis  travelled,  furnish- 
in.g  their  patrons  their  coal  through  jobbers  in 
that  territory  hereafter.  Mr.  Davis  was  formerly 
with  the  James  Shanklin  Company,  and  prior  to 
that  with  Mr.  Hinsch  of  the  Hinsch-Briscoe 
Company. 

Captain  Charles  J.  Menges  has  gone  from  this 
city  to  Galveston  to  take  the  contract  awarded 
him  for  replacing  sea-going  vessels  wrecked  and 
thrown  inland  by  the  great  tidal  wave  of  a  few 
weeks  ago,  some  of  them  being  landed  nearly  a 
mile  inland  in  the  city.  The  Monon.gahela  River 
Consolidated  Coal  &  Coke  Co.,  steamers  and 
rigging  are  used  by  Captain  Menges  in  the  work. 
Captain  Menges  was  formerly  harbor  master  in 
Cincinnati  for  the  Monongahela  Company.  Re¬ 
cently  he  was  transferred  to  a  similar  position 
in  New  Orleans  for  the  company,  but  was  visit¬ 
ing  in  this  city  when  called  to  Galveston. 

The  shipments  of  coal,  in  and  out,  as  shown 
by  the  books  of  the  Cincinnati  Chamber  of  Com¬ 
merce,  were  much  heavier  in  August  this  year 
than  they  were  in  the  month  last  year.  Receipts 
for  the  months  compared  were:  August,  1915 — 
Bituminous  coal,  rail  1,035,156  tons,  river  259,701, 
total  1,294,857  tons ;  anthracite,  528  tons ;  coke, 
7,554  tons.  August,  1914 — Bituminous,  rail  446,974 
tons,  river  76,591  tons,  total  523,565  tons;  anthra¬ 
cite,  74  tons;  coke,  4,865  tons.  Outshipments 
were:  August,  1915 — Bituminous,  rail  1,003,228, 
river  13,916,  total  1,017,144  tons;  anthracite,  33 
tons  ;  coke  3,334  tons.  August,  1914 — Bituminous* 
rail  277,671  tons,  river  15,539  tons,  total  293,210 
tons ;  anthracite,  248  tons ;  coke,  2,306  tons.  The 
river  was  in  much  better  shape  for  shipments 
during  August  this  year  than  in  the  month  last 
year.  Kanawha  shipments  this  year  were  re¬ 
stricted  for  about  3  weeks  by  the  closing  and 
repair  of  a  lock  in  the  river  below  Charleston. 


Detroit  Trade. 


Detroit,  Mich.,  September  9. — (Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — Conditions  in  the  Detroit  mar¬ 
ket  continue  generally  favorable.  Shippers 
seem  confident  that  the  improvement  which 
has  been  a  development  of  the  last  few  weeks 
in  the  steam  coal  trade  is  likely  to  gain  fur¬ 
ther  breadth,  bringing  a  gratifying  expansion 
of  business,  unless  some  setback,  now  un¬ 
foreseen,  becomes  a  factor  in  the  situation. 

Most  of  the  automobile  plants  and  large 
industrial  establishments  of  the  city  are  re¬ 
ported  to  be  showing  a  greater  degree  of  in¬ 
terest  in  the  acquisition  of  coal  than  has  lieen 
apparent  for  some  montlis.  There  is  a  more 
active  inquiry  apparently  developing  in  inter¬ 
ior  towns  of  the  state,  through  which  the  dis¬ 
tribution  of  coal  is  made  to  agricultural  sec¬ 
tions.  This  is  attributed  in  part  to  the  pro¬ 
gress  of  the  threshing  season  on  the  farms 
and  in  part  to  a  slightly  improved  condition 
of  business  in  the  smaller  towns,  which  are 
sliaring  in  the  prosperity  due  to  good  crop 
yield  in  the  surrounding  country. 

Though  domestic  coal  is  still  rather  difficult 
to  sell,  some  of  the  shippers  say  indications 
are  not  lacking  that  a  larger  volume  of  buy¬ 
ing  will  develop  soon.  Weather  conditions, 
which  always  are  an  important  factor  in  the 
local  market,  have  been  conducive  to  at  least 
a  moderate  use  of  fuel  to  offset  the  clinging 
dampness  which  attends  protracted  rainfall 
and  periods  when  the  atmosphere  is  heavily 
charged  with  humidity.  In  some  homes  a 
small  amount  of  coal  remained  from  last  win¬ 
ter’s  supply  but  tbe  buying  for  household  use 


indicates  the  necessity  of  obtaining  a  new 
supply  in  many  others. 

With  the  expiration  of  the  final  discount 
period,  orders  for  anthracite  are  seemingly 
reduced.  Distribution  from  the  retail  yards 
is  proceeding  in  larger  volume  to  household¬ 
ers  who  will  save  fifty  cents  a  ton  on  stove 
aiul  egg  sizes  delivered  before  October  1st. 
It  is  expected  further  orders  in  some  volume 
will  come  later  as  the  necessity  arises  to  re¬ 
plenish  the  stock  of  the  retailers.  The  gov¬ 
ernment’s  statistical  report  of  traffic  through 
the  St.  Marys  river  waterways  in  August 
shows  a  heavy  drop  in  movement  of  both  hard 
and  soft  coal  over  the  lake  route,  in  August. 
Hard  coal  shipments  through  the  canals  were 
279,948  tons  or  13,111  less  than  in  the  similar 
month  last  year  when  shipments  were  293,- 
059  tons  against  283,847  in  August,  1913. 
Soft  coal  shipments  aggregated  1,771,012  short 
tons  for  the  month,  a  loss  of  312,769  tons  com¬ 
pared  with  the  month  of  1914,  when  similar 
shipments  amounted  to  2,083,781  tons.  In 
August,  1913,  the  movement  was  2,566,320 
tons. 

Prices  in  the  local  market  on  mine  ship¬ 
ment  orders  are  as  follows: 


F.  O.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

West  Virginia  Gas — 

Mines. 

Detroit. 

Three-quarter  lump . 

2.60 

Mine  run . 

2.30 

Slack  . 

2.1502.25 

West  Virginia  Splint — 

lour-inch  lump  . 

...  1.00@1.2.5 

1.40  01.05 

Two-inch  lump . 

2.1502.30 

Three-quarter  . 

2.50 

Mine  run  . 

...  .90@1.00 

2.3002.40 

Nut,  pea  and  slack . 

.  .  .  .4.5@  .50 

1.85  01.90 

Smokeless — 

Lump  and  egg . 

2.25 

3.85 

Nut  . 

3.20 

Slack  . 

Open 

Mine  run . 

2.85 

Kentucky  Splint — 

Lump  . 

$3.0003.15 

I'-gg  . 

2.6502.80 

Nut,  pea  and  sl.ick . 

..50 

1.90 

Fairmount — 

1  hi’ee-:iuarter  steam  limp  ... 

.  .  .  .750  .85 

2.1502.25 

Mine  run  . 

2.0002.10 

Slack  . 

Open 

Hocking  Valley- — 

Shaker  three-inch  lump . 

1.50 

2.65 

Shaker  egg  and  nut . 

1.15 

2.30 

Domestic  lump . 

1.35 

2.50 

Three-quarter  lump  . 

...  1.25@1.30 

2.4002.45 

Mine  run . 

.  .  .  1.00@1.10 

2.1502.25 

Nut,  pea  and  slack . 

Open 

Pittsburgh  No.  8 — 

Three-quarter  lump . 

1.15 

2.30 

Mine  run . 

1.05 

2.20 

Slack  . 

Open 

Jackson  Hill — 

Domestic  lump  . 

...  2.2502.50 

3.4003.65 

Cambridge — 

Three-quarter  lump . 

1.20 

2.35 

Mine  run . 

1.10 

2.25 

Pomeroy — 

Two  and  three-inch  lump . 

1.60 

2.75 

Egg  . 

1.35 

2.50 

slack  . 

Open 

J.  H.  Cummiskey,  president  of  the  Ohio  & 
Michigan  Coal  Company,  of  Detroit,  return¬ 
ing  from  a  week  spent  in  Ohio  mining  dis¬ 
tricts,  says  the  shortage  of  mine  labor  and 
lack  of  adequate  car  supply  are  creating 
serious  prolilems  for  many  of  the  operators 
in  West  Virginia. 


Omaha  Trade. 


Omaha,  Nebr.,  September  9. —  (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — The  coal  business,  as  well  as  gen¬ 
eral  business  conditions,  has  been  quiet  for  the 
past  week.  Buyers  have  not  been  ordering  very 
heavy  since  the  first  of  the  month;  the  condition 
apparently  caused  by  advance  in  prices  effective 
September  1st. 

There  is  very  little  transit  coal  being  offered 
and  the  prices  are  rather  firm  on  the  following 
market : 

Mines  Omaha 


Southern  Kansas — 


Nut  . 

. $  1.85 

$  3.2(1 

2.70 

Slack  . 

.  1.35 

I'ranklin  County — 

Lump  . 

Egg  . 

Nut  . 

.  1.6001.75 

.  1.6001.75 

.  1.6001.75 

3.9004.1.5 

3.9004.1.5. 

3.9004.15 

Williamson  County — 

Tmmp  . . 

Egg  . 

.  1.4001.50 

.  1.4001.50 

3.8003.90 

3.8003.90 

Rock  Springs — 

.  2.15 

5.85 

Nut  ‘ . 

.  l.(>0 

5.35 

.Arkansas  Anthracite — 

.  3.70 

6.60 

Broken  sizes  . 

.  3.95 

6.85 

C.  W.  Russ,  of  Columbus,  and  Howard  Young, 
of  Yellow  Springs,  O.,  liave  taken  travelin.g  posi¬ 
tions  with  tlie  W.  J.  Hamilton  Coal  &  Coke  Com¬ 
pany,  Columbus. 


No.  11] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


217 


Cleveland  Trade. 


Cleveland,  Ohio,  September  9. — (Special 
Correspondence.) — It  is  possible  that  the  pro¬ 
duction  from  the  eastern  Ohio  field  is  increas¬ 
ing  slightly  with  the  advance  of  the  season, 
but  the  difference  is  not  particularly  notice¬ 
able  either  in  the  steam  or  lake  trade.  Al¬ 
though  some  coal  men  feel  that  the  lake  ship¬ 
ments  for  the  season  will  be  very  light,  others 
are  of  the  opinion  that  the  aggregate  will  be 
somewhat  of  a  surprise  at  the  close  of  naviga¬ 
tions  this  fall.  They  say  that  the  loading  ma¬ 
chines  are  making  better  records  than  most 
people  believe  and  that  the  shipments  are  bet¬ 
ter  than  would  have  been  expected  some  time 
ago. 

Coal  sold  for  lake  shipment  has  run  as  low 
as  $1  per  ton  the  past  week.  This  is  rather 
discouraging,  as  there  is  a  very  small  margin 
in  it,  but  at  the  same  time  it  keeps  the  mines 
going  and  that  is  something  in  view  of  the 
conditions  that  prevail  among  the  miners  in 
the  eastern  Ohio  district.  In  order  to  really 
make  money  the  price  should  be  quite  a  little 
above  that  figure. 

There  has  been  but  little  improvement  in 
the  demand  for  steam  coal  during  the  past 
week,  either  for  local  or  outside  consumption, 
Imt  at  the  same  time  the  supply  of  slack  has 
been  sufficiently  low  to  hold  prices  fairly 
firm.  No.  8  or  eastern  Ohio  slack  has  sold  at 
sixty-five  cents  at  the  mine,  which  means 
$1.55  f.  o.  b.  in  this  market.  But  little  Pitts¬ 
burgh  slack  has  found  its  way  to  the  market 
during  the  past  few  days,  but  it  was  quoted 
occasionally  at  fifty-five  cents  at  the  mines  or 
$1.55  here,  which  is  about  the  same  figure  that 
prevailed  last  week. 

No.  8  lump  coal  for  domestic  purposes  was 
quoted  at  $1.25  at  the  mines,  $1.05  for  three- 
quarters  and  $1  for  mine  run.  An  increased 
demand  from  outside  retailers  has  resulted 
in  stiffening  up  the  market  to  some  extent  in 
this  coal. 

Railroads  are  said  to  be  taking  less  coal 
than  could  be  expected,  in  view  of  the  pros¬ 
perity  that  seems  to  have  struck  the  steel  and 
iron  market.  Prices  of  railroad  coal  have 
been  beaten  down  until  there  is  little  profit 
in  the  business  at  present. 

Pocahontas  coals  seemingly  have  been  a 
little  off  the  past  week.  Offers  are  said  to 
have  been  made  in  the  market  at  $3.45  for  lump 
and  $2.70  for  run  of  mine.  The  freight  rate 
is  $1.45,  which  leaves  the  prices  at  the  mines 
$2  and  $1.25  respectively. 

Massillon  coal  has  retained  its  strength 
through  the  week  at  the  circular  prices.  Un¬ 
der  the  present  freight  rates  West  Virginia 
coals  have  made  some  inroads  on  the  Mas¬ 
sillon  product,  but  at  the  same  time  it  seems 
to  be  holding  its  own  against  them. 

Little  Fairmont  coal  has  been  offered  in  the 
market  during  the  past  week  and  any  figure 
quoted  would  hardly  indicate  a  real  selling 
price. 

There  has  been  a  fair  demand  for  anthracite 
coals  during  the  past  week,  as  a  result  of  the 
endeavor  of  retailers  to  take  care  of  their  win¬ 
ter  needs  and  the  more  rapid  deliveries  that 
have  been  made  during  the  past  two  weeks. 
The  circular  prices  for  anthracite  here  are 
the  same  as  last  year:  Chestnut,  $G.10;  egg 
and  stove,  $5.85,  and  grate,  $5.60,  f.  o.  b.  Buf¬ 
falo.  There  are  indications  of  a  much  stronger 
demand  for  anthracite  later  in  the  fall. 

Goshen  coal  has  been  in  good  demand 
through  the  week  with  quotations  of  $1.65  for 
three-inch  lump,  $1.50  for  1^-inch  and  $1.45 
for  three-quarters,  f.  o.  b.  tlie  mines. 


Cleveland  News  Notes. 

C.  L.  Ayers  of  the  C.  L.  Ayers  Coal  Com¬ 
pany  is  confined  to  his  home  by  illness. 

George  D.  Rowland,  sales  manager  of  the 
Richland  Coal  Company,  was  in  the  city 
W  ednesday. 

The  Bakewell  Coal  Company  has  closed  its 
Cleveland  office  for  the  present.  George  Gray 
was  the  local  manager. 

E.  W.  Watson,  of  the  Rosebud  Fuel  Com¬ 
pany,  Fairmont,  W.  Va.,  called  on  the  deal¬ 
ers  here  early  this  week. 

Among  the  well-known  coal  men  in  the  city 
during  the  past  week  was  Charles  A.  Bygate 
of  the  Theiss-Bygate  Company,  of  Pittsburgh. 

A  committee  of  miners  and  operators  held 
a  meeting  at  the  Hollenden  Hotel  Wednesday 


to  discuss  a  number  of  complaints  brought  !)y 
the  miners. 


Duluth  Trade. 


Duluth,  Minn.,  September  9. —  (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — That  there  will  soon  be  an  advance 
of  at  least  ten  cents  a  ton  on  bituminous  coal  is 
the  feeling  among  coal  men  here.  It  is  claimed 
that  the  only  reason  that  prevents  such  an  advance 
at  this  time  is  the  fact  that  the  docks  here  are 
crowded  with  coal  now  and  that  receipts,  of  late, 
have  been  fairly  liberal.  It  is  claimed,  however, 
that  this  condition  is  sure  to  change  before  lon.g. 

The  rush  of  iron  ore  to  Lake  Erie  ports,  which 
has,  seemingly,  started  in  earnest  and  will  con¬ 
tinue  from  now  on  until  the  end  of  the  season, 
is  bound  to  have  an  effect  on  the  shipping  of 
coal  from  below.  The  cars  that  are  used  to 
carry  ore  from  the  Lake  Erie  ports  to  the  fur¬ 
naces  are  the  cars  that  are  used  to  bring  coal 
from  the  mines  on  the  return  trip  to  Lake  Erie: 
and  it  has  always  been  the  rule  to  give  ore  the 
preference;  that  is,  when  an  ore  rush  is  on,  not 
much  time  is  wasted  in  loading  cars  with  coal 
for  the  return  trip,  empties  being  rushed  back 
to  the  lake  for  more  ore.  As  it  is  practically 
certain  that  iron  ore  will  be  sent  down  the  lakes 
in  large  (piantities  for  the  rest  of  the  season, 
it  is  not  believed  that  coal  is  going  to  have  much 
of  a  show. 

.Another  thing  that  is  expected  to  militate 
against  much  coal  being  shipped  for  the  rest  of 
the  season  is  the  fact  that  a  good  deal  of  diffi 
culty  is  being  experienced  in  .getting  men  to  mine 
the  coal.  Thousands  of  the  coal  mine  workers 
have  been  taken  back  to  Europe  to  enter  the 
armies  of  their  respective  countries,  and  this 
leaves  a  distinct  shortage  of  mining  help. 

Consequently,  it  is  pointed  out,  the  big  stock 
of  coal  on  hand  at  this  distrilmting  point  is  none 
too  big  in  view  of  tbe  probabilities  in  the  matter 
of  supply  and  demand  during  the  comiag  fall  and 
season. 

d'he  demand  for  soft  coal  is  on  the  rapid  in¬ 
crease  at  present,  all  of  the  docks  being  busy 
shipping  about  as  fast  as  they  can  get  cars,  and 
it  is  expected  that  by  the  time  that  the  cause 
of  the  present  heavy  demand — threshing — will 
have  abated,  the  regular  winter  and  industrial 
demand  will  have  resumed  normal  proportions 
and  the  tax  on  the  suppl\'  will  continue. 

The  demand  for  hard  coal  is  growin.g  rather 
rapidly  for  this  time  of  year.  It  was  not  ex¬ 
pected  to  develop  so  rapidly  or  so  early,  but 
the  coal  shippers  here  say  that  orders  are  be¬ 
ginning  to  pile  in  w'ith  unwonted  frequency  and 
size.  The  prosperity  now  felt  in  the  entire  north¬ 
west,  and  the  general  belief  in  the  certainty  of 
good  times  as  a  result  of  the  big  crop,  are  taken 
as  the  reasons  for  this  activity. 


Upper  Lake  News. 

The  railroads  have  been  buying  some  coal 
during  the  past  week,  but  not  as  much  as  was 
e.xpected.  It  was  supposed  that,  owing  to  the 
heavy  crops  this  year,  the  roads  would  buy  a 
good  deal  of  storage  coal  for  western  points  using 
the  empties  going  out  to  take  care  of  the  crops 
in  carrying  coal  to  the  various  storage  points. 
But  they  have  not  done  so.  Their  buying  is  of 
the  hand-to-mouth  plan.  Of  course  they  may 
change  their  tactics  later,  but  there  is  no  indica¬ 
tion  or  su.ggestion  of  a  different  method  of  laying 
in  a  supply. 

'I'here  was  a  short-lived  strike  on  the  Island 
Creek,  Carnegie  and  Great  Lakes  coal  docks  in 
Superior  on  Tuesday.  The  men  walked  out  when 
their  demands  for  a  return  to  last  fall’s  wa.ge 
scale  of  twenty-seven  and  one-half  cents  an  hour 
was  met  with  a  proposal  to  give  twenty-five  cents 
instead  of  the  twenty-two  and  one-half  cents  in 
force.  The  matter  was  soon  adjusted,  the  twent\  - 
seven  and  one-half  cents  scale  bein.g  restored 
and  all  docks  in  Duluth  and  Superior  acquiescing. 
The  twenty-two  and  one-half  cent  scale  was  put 
in  force  last  December  when  the  movement  of 
coal  out  of  here  dropped  off. 

Coal  unloading  fell  off  at  I'^ort  William  and 
Port  Arthur,  Out.,  during  the  last  week  in 
August.  Only  six  cargoes  were  unloaded  against 
nine  during  the  previous  week.  Five  were  bitum¬ 
inous  and  one  anthracite.  Four  were  in  Canadian 
bottoms  and  two  in  American.  At  the  first  of 
the  week,  five  cargoes,  four  of  them  bituminous, 
were  reported  en  route.  Car  shipments  from 
the  Canadian  Head  of  the  Lakes  are  reported  to 
be  on  the  steady  increase.  Every  car  available 
is  bein.g  rushed  west  to  bring  forward  the  new 
cro])  and  they  are  being  given  loads  wherever 
possible.  The  stocks  on  the  docks  at  Fort  Wil¬ 


liam  and  Port  Arthur  are  heavy  and  shipments 
will  have  to  get  considerably  above  normal  before 
any  serious  depletion  will  show. 

Among  the  coal  dock  operators  who  attended 
the  monthly  meetin.g  of  the  Northwestern  Coal 
Dock  Operators’  Association  last  week,  many  of 
the  men  from  outside  of  this  city  stayed  over 
several  days  and  attended  to  business  for  their 
respective  companies,  and  also  visited  among 
themselves  and  discussed  the  coal  situation  and 
its  probabilities  of  the  near  future  pretty  thor¬ 
oughly.  These  were:  J.  L.  McMahon  of  Mil¬ 
waukee  and  S.  H.  Robbins  of  Cleveland,  North¬ 
ern  Coal  &  Dock  Company;  R.  S,  McVeigh  of 
Cincinnati,  Island  Creek  Coal  Company;  E.  P. 
Merrill  and  W.  H.  Groverman  of  Minneapolis, 
Island  Creek  Coal  Company;  D.  S.  Austin  of 
Milwaukee,  Milwaukee  Western  Fuel  Company; 
W.  W.  Broughton  of  Minneapolis,  northwest 
Iiresident  of  the  Pittsburgh  Coal  Company;  A.  H. 
Roehl  of  Minneapolis,  auditor  of  the  Pittsburgh 
Coal  Company;  William  Collins  of  Cleveland, 
M.  A.  Hanna  Company;  H.  E.  Smith  of  St.  Paul, 
M.  A.  Hanna  Company;  Joel  Stoneroad  of  Pitts¬ 
burgh,  Carne.gie  Company;  C.  P.  White  of  Minne¬ 
apolis,  Carnegie  Company ;  Peter  Reiss  of  She¬ 
boygan,  Wis.,  Reiss  Coal  Company,  and  Messrs. 
Teller  and  Simpson  of  Milwaukee,  Milwaukee 
Western  Fuel  Company. 


New  Orleans  Coal  Rates. 


Local  industrial  men  have  not  given  up  hope 
for  the  southeastern  railroads’  determination 
not  to  advance  the  rates  on  coal  to  New  Or¬ 
leans  at  this  time,  even  though  permission  to 
do  so  has  been  given  by  the  interstate  com¬ 
merce  commission.  Several  days  ago  the 
’Frisco  lines  announced  that  tariffs  containing 
the  new  rates  would  go  into  effect  October 
1st.  Tuesday  it  was  announced  that  a  meet¬ 
ing  was  to  be  held  in  New  Orleans  in  a  few 
days  when  an  effort  would  be  made  by  the 
railroads  and  shippers  to  confine  the  advance 
of  15  cents  a  ton  to  coal  for  land  delivery 
only,  and  not  to  bunker  coal.  “If  the  rail¬ 
roads  find  it  to  their  interests  not  to  raise  the 
rates  on  coal  for  water  delivery,’’  declared  a 
prominent  railroad  man  “then  they  will  hardly 
raise  the  rates  for  land  delivery  at  New  Or¬ 
leans.  The  recent  decision  of  the  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission  in  this  case  specifically 
slated  that  no  discrimination  could  be  made 
by  the  railroads  between  coal  for  land  delivery 
and  coal  for  water  delivery.  The  commission 
stated  that  the  railroads  had  no  right  to  apply 
rates  differently  to  the  same  point  according 
to  the  use  that  would  be  made  of  the  coal. 
■So  the  commission,  itself,  states  that  the  rail¬ 
roads  may  not  advance  rates  on  coal  for  land 
delivery  and  at  the  same  time  leave  untouched 
the  rates  on  coal  for  water  delivery.  The 
hearing  of  the  coal  case  brought  out  the  fact 
that  of  the  approximately  11,000,000  tons  of 
bunker  coal  shipped  to  New  Orleans  every 
year,  only  about  twenty  per  cent  of  the  busi¬ 
ness  was  handled  by  the  railroads.  This 
twenty  per  cent  is  shipped  from  Alabama  mines 
and  the  eighty  per  cent  is  shipped  via  water 
from  the  Pittslnirgh  district.  If  the  railroads 
add  fifteen  cents  a  ton  to  the  $1.25  rate  they 
will  lose  all  of  a  good  part  of  the  twenty  per 
cent  bunker  coal  that  they  now  carry  to  New 
Orleans  every  year.  They  will  also  stand 
chances  of  losing  some  of  the  land  delivery 
business  that  is  now  theirs.  Since  they  cannot 
raise  the  rate  for  one  without  raising  it  for 
the  other,  I  have  hopes  that  possibly  the  rate 
may  not  be  raised  at  all  at  this  time.” 


According  to  the  “Times  of  Argentina,”  the 
steamship  Monkshaven,  which  recently  arrived 
with  a  cargo  of  coal  from  the  LJnited  States  for 
the  Great  Southern  Railway  Company,  discharged 
5,033  tons  in  a  period  of  about  five  and  one-haF 
days,  or  120  tons  per  hour.  This  is  considered 
exceptional.  The  largest  day’s  discharge  was 
1,161  tons.  In  making  this  discharge  four  electric 
cranes  were  used. 


The  Ibiited  States  Consul  at  Seville,  Spain, 
states  that  a  concession  has  been  .granted  to  the 
Cadiz  agent  of  the  Sociedad  Anonimna  Depositos 
h'lotentas,  the  Portuguese  Carbones  of  Barcelona, 
to  install  in  that  port  floating  coal  depots  for  lId’ 
sale  and  delivery  of  coal  direct  to  merchants  and 
ships.  The  concession  granted  is  not  to  con¬ 
stitute  a  monopoly,  and  no  ti.xed  period  is  cov¬ 
ered  by  the  iiermit,  and  the  Spanish  Minister 
reserves  the  right  to  grant  similar  concessions  to 
other  parties. 


218 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[September  11 


New  York  Trade. 

Anthracite  Trade  Very  Quiet  Following 
Holiday — Bituminous  Contract 
Movement  Good. 


Office  of  The  Black  Diamond, 
New  York,  September  9. 

The  past  week  is  a  poor  one  to  judge  a  market 
by.  Production,  distribution  and  prices  were  all 
disorganized  by  the  observance  of  Labor  Day 
holidays,  and  at  this  writing  the  trade  is  still 
feeling  the  effect  of  practically  three  days’  closing 
of  offices.  Up  to  about  Thursday  of  last  week 
the  anthracite  trade  in  the  east  had  shown  ma¬ 
terial  improvement,  but  since  that  time  no  new 
business  of  worth  has  been  consummated.  In¬ 
quiries  lag,  but  fortunately  for  the  trade  a  good 
number  of  shipping  orders  remained  unfilled 
and  this  week  finds  the  shippers  .generally  send¬ 
ing  forward  tonnage  to  complete  orders  accumu¬ 
lated  during  the  last  of  August. 

The  cool  weather  that  prevailed  up  to  the 
latter  part  of  last  week  had  stimulated  the  anthra¬ 
cite  buying  to  a  small  extent,  but  the  very  high 
temperatures  prevailin.g  this  week  have  brought 
about,  no  doubt,  considerable  delay  in  buying. 

Last  week  it  was  noticeable  in  most  every 
quarter  that  retail  dealers  were  doing  quite  a 
business  in  making  deliveries  to  consumers.  This 
was  taken  as  an  indication  that  consumers  had 
become  concerned  about  fall  and  winter  needs 
and  had  come  into  the  market  to  take  supplies 
while  conditions  were  most  favorable.  This  week 
retail  dealers  report  that  this  interest  has  slumped 
very  materially,  and  that  they  anticipate  that  it 
will  not  be  revived  until  the  weather  changes. 

The  official  production  figures  for  the  month 
of  August  have  not  as  yet  been  announced. 
August  was  the  third  of  a  very  low  anthracite 
production,  and  while  it  shows  some  im¬ 
provement  over  July,  it  is  estimated  that  the  total 
output  for  the  first  ei.ght  months  of  this  year  is 
nearly  two  million  tons  less  than  that  _  for  the 
first  eight  months  of  last  year.  Authorities  point 
out  that  this  will  mean  a  very  radical  shortage 
of  anthracite  at  certain  points  later  in  the  year, 
and  that  due  to  the  already  noticeable  shortage 
of  labor  in  the  mining  regions,  and  the  increased 
demand  for  railroad  equipment  for  other  indus¬ 
tries,  that  it  will  be  impossible  for  the  mining 
companies  to  produce  or  the  transportation  com¬ 
panies  to  ship,  to  the  markets  as  fast  as  may  be 
necessary  later  on  in  the  year.  In  Au.gust,  1914, 
shipments  of  anthracite  reached  5,483,743  tons. 
Some  coal  was  stocked  during  the  summer  months 
but  it  is  not  believed  that  the  tonnage  now  in 
store  is  in  sufficient  volume  to  take  care  of  the 
demands  that  will  be  made  on  the  storage  piles 
later  on.  If  we  have  anything  like  a  normal 
winter,  anthracite  consumption  will  show  a  ma¬ 
terial  increase  over  the  consumption  of  last 
winter,  due  largely  to  the  better  financial  situa¬ 
tion  that  consumers  find  themselves  in  at  this 
time. 

The  steam  size  situation  shows  but  little  change 
from  our  report  of  last  week.  Good  .grades  of 
rice  and  barley  are  still  very  scarce,  and  at  the 
New  York  tidewater  ports  many  cargoes  of  sur¬ 
plus  coals  that  were  in  the  market  in  the  last 
ten  days  have  been  cleared  up.  At  the  moment 
there  is  some  unsold  coal  loaded  in  boats  that 
may  be  obtained  at  considerable  concessions  from 
the  circular,  the  aggregate  tonnage  bein.g  very 
small.  It  is  noticed  that  there  is  not  so  much 
pea  coal  offering  as  was  formerly  the  case,  and 
on  good  grades  of  this  coal  an  advance  of  ten  to 
twenty-five  cents  per  ton  is  obtainable. 

In  the  matter  of  concessions  on  prepared  coals, 
some  sales  of  egg  have  been  made  during  the 
past  week  by  individuals  at  the  May  circular. 
However,  it  is  not  believed  that  much  coal  is 
being  sold  under  twenty  cents,  and  in  exceptional 
cases  thirty  cents  under  the  full  winter  circular 
that  went  into  effect  on  September  1st. 

On  September  1st,  the  full  winter  price  list 
went  into  effect  on  anthracite,  tidewater  prides 
being  about  as  follows : 

Upper  Lower 

Ports.  Ports. 


Broken  .  $5.10  $5.00 

Egg  .  5.35  6.25 

Stove  . 5.35  6.25 

Chestnut .  6.60  6.50 

Pea  .  3.55  3.45 


Special  .grades  of  Red  Ash  and  other  high 
grade  coals  at  the  lower  ports  sell  at  twenty- 
five  to  fifty  cents  per  ton  over  above  figures 


The  Bituminous  Situation. 

The  bituminous  trade  has  also  been  interrupted 
by  the  observance  of  the  Labor  Day  holiday. 


The  demand  has  not  materially  increased,  but 
contract  requirements  are  growing  from  week 
to  week,  and  shippers  who  have  practically  all 
their  tonnage  under  contract,  have  just  about  all 
they  can  do.  As  has  already  been  pointed  out, 
most  of  the  eastern  roads  are  putting  coal  into 
stock  piles  at  convenient  points  alon.g  their  lines, 
in  anticipation  of  an  acute  labor  and  car  short¬ 
age  later  on  in  the  fall.  While  coal  men  are 
doing  more  or  less  talk  about  labor  troubles 
anticipated  to  develop  on  April  1st  next,  when 
the  present  wage  agreement  between  the  bitumin¬ 
ous  operators  and  the  United  Mine  Workers  ex¬ 
pires,  so  far  consumers  have  been  but  little 
influenced  by  this  talk.  However,  some  of  them 
are  becoming  alarmed  over  the  fact  that  the 
mines  have  lost  a  lot  of  labor,  and  that  the  rail¬ 
roads  are  goin.g  to  be  crippled  for  equipment 
and,  perhaps,  locomotive  power  later  on.  These 
conditions,  no  doubt,  account  for  the  fact  that 
certain  consumers  are  calling  for  larger  ship¬ 
ments  on  contract. 

In  the  matter  of  prices,  no  improvement  is  to 
be  found.  Shippers  in  the  central  Pennsylvania 
fields  especially  seem  to  be  in  position  to  keep 
the  tidewater  markets  supplied  with  free  coals, 
the  average  grades  to  be  found  in  most  of  the 
tidewater  ports  at  about  the  range  of  prices  that 
prevailed  for  the  past  month.  There  is  much  less 
pressure  on  the  part  of  .gas  coal  shippers  to  make 
sales  as  formerly,  and  it  is  pointed  out  that  some 
of  these  shippers  have  been  able  to  contract  for 
practically  all  of  the  coal  that  they  can  ship.  Con¬ 
sequently,  slack  prices  are  firmer,  and  many 
shippers  are  entirely  out  of  the  market  of  this 
grade. 

The  export  movement  continues  heavy,  August 
exports  through  Philadelphia,  Baltimore  and 
Hampton  Roads  showing  around  1,000,000  tons, 
or  about  100,000  tons  less  than  exports  for  the 
month  of  July.  On  the  other  hand,  bunker  re¬ 
quirements  continue  very  good,  and  will  show 
a  very  handsome  increase  for  the  present  month. 

New  York  harbor  prices  are  practically  un¬ 
changed,  Inferior  grades  selling  at  $2.40  up;  good 
grades  of  Pennsylvania  from  $2.60  to  $2.75. 
Choice  grades  from  $2.80  to  $2.90. 


The  Vessel  Situation. 


The  vessel  situation  is  unchanged.  There  ap¬ 
pears  to  be  ample  tonnage  at  the  moment  for  such 
coal  as  is  moving  coastwise.  Most  of  this  busi¬ 
ness  is  being  done  under  time  charter.  More 
activity  for  small  vessels  for  off-shore  is  pre¬ 
dicted.  Rates  for  off-shore  trade  remain  un- 


chan,ged. 

We  quote  current  rates  on  freight  as  follows: 

From  Hampton  Roads  to  Boston,  eighty  to 
ninety  cents  is  about  the  range;  to  Portland 
and  points  east  of  Boston,  from  ninety  cents  to 
$1.  To  sound  ports,  eighty  to  eighty-five  cents. 
From  Philadelphia  to  New  England  points,  about 
five  cents  under  the  Hampton  Roads  rates. 

From  New  York  to  Bridgeport  or  New  Haven, 
thirty  cents;  to  New  London  and  Providence, 
forty  cents;  to  Fall  River  and  New  Bedford, 
forty-five  cents ;  to  Boston,  fifty-five  to  sixty 
cents. 

Current  quotations  on  bituminous  coal  in  spot 
lots  are: 


F.  o.  B. 

Somerset  County —  Harbor. 

Best  grades  . $2.85 

Medium  grades  .  2.60 

Ordinary  .  2.55 

Cambria  County — 

Best  Miller  vein .  3.00 

Medium  grades .  2.55 

Cheaper  grades  .  2.60 

Clearfield  County — 

Best  grade  .  3.00 

Ordinary  grades  .  2.50 

Indiana  County — 

Best  grade .  2.80 

Medium  grade  .  2.50 

Maryland — 

Georges  Creek  big  vein .  3.15 

West  Virginia  Splint — 

Ordinary  grades  . ;....  2.40 

Best  gas,  J^-inch  lump .  2.65 

Best  grade,  run  of  mine .  2.65 

Gas  slack  . 


F.  O.  B. 
Mines. 
$1.30 
1.10 
1.00 


1.40 

1.15 

1.05 


1.36 

1.00 


1.26 

.95 


1.65 


.75 

1.10 

.90 

.60@.76 


New  York  Trade  Briefs. 

Jason  Holbrook  of  the  Empire  Coal  Company 
of  Montreal,  Canada,  was  a  recent  visitor  to 
New  York. 

Frank  Ellison  of  C.  G.  Blake  &  Company  of 
Cincinnati  was  a  recent  visitor  to  the  eastern 
office  of  his  company. 

Colonel  R.  B.  Baker,  president  of  the  Sterling 
Coal  Company,  No.  29  Broadway,  returned  late 
last  week  from  a  vacation  of  two  weeks  spent 
at  Bretton  Woods. 


O.  W.  Gardner,  general  sales  agent  of  the 
Chesapeake  &  Ohio  Coal  &  Coke  Company,  with 
headquarters  at  Norfolk,  Va.,  was  a  recent  visitor 
to  the  New  York  offices. 

Howard  S.  Bowns  of  Pattison  &  Bowns,  No.  1 
Broadway,  leaves  on  the  tenth  for  Canada,  where 
he  will  spend  several  weeks  fishing.  Mr.  Bowns 
will  make  the  trip  to  Canada  in  his  automobile. 

T.  S.  Shoemaker,  president  of  the  Shoemaker 
Coal  Minin.g  Company  of  Philadelphia,  was  in 
New  York  on  Tuesday  en  route  home  from  Nan¬ 
tucket,  Mass.,  where  he  had  spent  a  vacation 
with  his  family. 

The  New  York  Coal  Trade  Golf  Association 
will  hold  a  one-day  tournament  on  Tuesday, 
September  14.  At  this  writing  two  Long  Island 
courses  were  under  consideration,  the  Oakland 
and  Nassau  clubs  having  extended  invitations  to 
use  their  courses. 

The  Central  Purchasing  Committee  of  New 
York  City  announce  that  proposals  may  Fe  se¬ 
cured  in  room  1226  Municipal  Building  for  3,000 
tons  of  buckwheat  coal  No.  1  for  Bellevue  and 
allied  hospitals.  Bids  will  be  opened  at  twelve 
noon,  Friday,  September  17,  in  room  1230,  Munci- 
pal  Building. 

C.  E.  Bockus,  president  of  the  Clinchfield  Coal 
Corporation,  was  up  from  his  Dante,  Virginia, 
headquarters  on  Monday.  It  is  understood  that 
business  in  the  southeast  is  showing  some  im¬ 
provement,  the  Clinchfield,  in  August,  surpass¬ 
ing  former  records  as  to  production,  every  ton 
of  which  went  into  actual  distribution  and  not 
into  stock. 

A  newspaper  dispatch  from  Mahanoy  Plane, 
Pa.,  states  that  the  Stanton  breaker  of  the  Ma- 
deria.  Hill  &  Co.  at  that  place  will  be  abandoned 
and  that  in  the  future  all  coal  will  be  prepared 
for  market  through  the  new  modern  breaker 
known  as  the  Lawrence.  New  workings  are  being 
opened  up  and  the  tonnage  will  be  largely  in¬ 
creased  within  a  few  years’  time. 

Lucien  Hill,  New  York  manager  of  the  Mer¬ 
chants  Coal  Company  of  Pennsylvania,  with  oper¬ 
ations  at  Boswell,  Somerset  county,  was  advised 
early  this  week  that  the  Orenda  mine  at  Bos¬ 
well,  which  was  closed  down  on  last  Tuesday 
due  to  an  explosion,  had  reopened  on  Monday, 
no  damage^  whatever  bein.g  done  to  the  mine  by 
the  explosion.  Both  the  coroners’  inquest  and 
the  State  Mine  Inspector’s  report  state  that  the 
accident  was  not  due  to  carelessness  on  the  part 
of  the  mining  company. 

Thomas  Stokes,  who  was  one  of  the  pioneers 
in  the  retail  coal  business  in  Manhattan,  and 
head  of  the  firm  of  Thomas  Stokes  &  Sons,  Inc., 
with  plants  at  several  points  on  the  west  side, 
died  on  Tuesday  night  of  this  week  at  his  home 
at  No.  122  West  77th  street.  He  was  in  his 
seventy-sixth  year.  ,  Mr.  Stokes  was  born  in 
Ireland  and  came  to  this  country  with  his  parents 
when  only  five  years  old.  He  had  been  in  the 
coal  business  in  New  York  for  just  a  little  over 
half  a  century.  He  was  a  director  of  the  West 
Side  bank,  a  trustee  of  the  North  River  Savings 
bank  and  interested  in  other  enterprises.  He  is 
survived  by  three  sons  and  four  daughters. 

The  Norfolk  &  Western  Railway  .is  said  to 
have  made  a  new  world’s  record  for  rapid  load¬ 
ing  of  coal  over  their  Lamberts  Point  pier  at 
Norfolk  on  Tuesday  of  last  week,  when  45,560 
tons  were  dumped  in  twenty  working  hours. 
The  day’s  shipments  consisted  of  931  cars,  which 
is  equivalent  to  seventeen  solid  trains  of  fifty- 
five  cars  each,  the  average  limit  for  a  coal  train. 
To  load  this  amount  of  coal,  it  was  necessary  to 
dump  a  car  of  coal  on  an  average  of  every  one 
and  a  quarter  minutes.  In  this  connection  it  is 
interesting  to  note  that  1,561,284  tons  of  coal 
were  dumped  over  the  Hampton  Roads  piers  in 
August.  Of  this,  the  Norfolk  &  Western  dumped 
790,860  tons;  the  Chesapeake  &  Onio,  467,147 
tons,  and  the  Virginian,  303,277  tons. 

New  York  coal  men,  especially  those  inter¬ 
ested  in  exporting,  were  very  much  interested  in 
a  publication  in  the  financial  column  of  The  Sun, 
issue  of  September  3rd,  to  the  effect  that  it 
was  reported  that  the  Virginia  Iron,  Coal  &  Coke 
Company,  with  headquarters  at  Roanoke,  Va., 
had  closed  a  contract  with  the  British  govern¬ 
ment  for  the  delivery  of  500,000  tons  of  bitumin¬ 
ous  coal  at  a  price  of  $4.85  a  ton  f.  o.  b.  So 
far  no  confirmation  has  come  from  any  of  the 
officers  of  the  Virginian  company  as  to  its  secur- 
in.g  of  any  foreign  contract.  In  any  event,  it  is 
not  at  all  likely  that  they  have  been  able  to 
secure  $4.85  per  ton  f.  o.  b.,  for  Pocahontas  and 
New  River  coals,  loaded  from  the  same  piers 
that  are  available,  at  $2.85. 


No.  11] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


219 


Philadelphia  Trade. 

Bituminous  Trade  Shows  a  Lull  Follow¬ 
ing  the  Recent  Spurt,  but  the  An¬ 
thracite  Market  Is  Strong. 


Office  of  The  Black  Diamond, 
1400  Land  Title  Building, 
Philadelphia,  September  9. 

Like  a  gasoline  engine  that  has  not  been  used 
for  some  time  and  wants  to  slip  back  to  its 
former  state  of  quietude,  the  local  coal  trade, 
after  three  or  four  weeks  of  good  going,  took 
a  notion  to  lay  off  for  a  few  days.  The  lull  was 
partially  laid  to  the  holiday  at  the  beginning  of 
the  week  and  partially  to  the  high  pressure 
at  which  coal  has  been  moving.  The  foregoing 
of  course  applies  to  the  soft  coal  trade.  In 
hard  coal  lines,  things  have  been  straightening 
out  and  better  prospects  are  brightening  in  rapid 
succession. 

The  bituminous  trade  has  met  the  little  slack¬ 
ness  with  a  different  spirit  than  governed  for 
more  than  a  year.  Instead  ol  taking  the  lull  as 
an  evidence  that  the  trade  was  slipping  back 
into  a  rut  there  was  a  determined  effort  to  get 
things  moving  and  some  good  blocks  of  coal  were 
disposed  of  about  mid-week.  Four  cardinal  argu¬ 
ments  have  been  advanced  by  the  local  trade  as 
to  the  cause  for  manufacturers  and  in  fact 
all  soft  coal  consumers  to  get  busy,  (a)  That 
there  is  a  labor  shortage  at  the  present  time  at 
the  mines  and  this  in  the  face  of  the  fact  that 
few  are  working  near  to  capacity,  (b)  That  al¬ 
ready  the  B.  &  O.  and  the  Pennsylvania  railroads 
have  been  forced  to  declare  a  shortage  of  cars, 
and  this  before  September  was  well  under  way 
— an  indication  of  what  must  be  expected  when 
coal  starts  moving  in  volume,  (c)  A  demand 
for  export  coal  that  should  take  up  the  over¬ 
plus  of  production  that  has  been  a  feature  of 
worriment.  (d)  Increased  industrial  activity  that 
is  using  and  demanding  more  coal  each  week. 
To  this  might  be  added  the  prospect  of  a  cold, 
hard  winter  that  weather  sharps  aver  is  on  the 
way  but  this  is  not  a  tangible  condition  and  the 
other  concrete  arguments  should  suffice. 

Prices  have  been  ruling  about  the  same  as  was 
quoted  in  this  journal  of  last  week.  No  conces¬ 
sions  have  been  made  on  spot  sales  and  con¬ 
tracts  are  not  being  sought  and  are  gingerly  con¬ 
sidered  by  the  companies  that  two  months  ago 
were  only  too  willing  to  spend  shoe  leather  in 
garnering  them. 

The  pier  business,  because  of  Labor  Day  being 
included  in  the  week,  was  not  in  as  heavy  vol¬ 
ume  as  the  preceding  week  but  with  several  boats 
ready  for  coaling  and  in  the  harbor,  the  figures 
for  the  current  week  will  go  considerably  up. 
August  figures  on  anthracite  and  bituminous 
shipments  show  that  164,9.52  tons  were  shipped 
from  the  various  terminals  compared  with  21,070 
tons  that  went  for  export  during  the  same  period 
of  1914. 

Anthracite  Situation. 

With  a  great  number  of  the  mines  in  the 
regions  on  full  time  and  with  the  general  busi¬ 
ness  showing  improvement  from  outside  sources 
there  has  been  a  general  clarification  of  the 
stagnation  that  had  been  the  lot  of  the  anthracite 
people  for  a  couple  of  months.  A  general  bet¬ 
terment  has  been  noted  in  all  of  the  sizes  and 
chestnut  and  pea,  which  were  the  weakest  of 
the  list  for  some  little  time,  have  regained  their 
footing. 

Shipments  to  New  England  ports  have  in¬ 
creased  in  volume  during  the  past  week  and  the 
general  indication  from  the  inquiries  which  have 
been  received  show  that  the  end  of  this  month 
will  see  hard  coal  moving  in  its  accustomed  vol¬ 
ume  to  the  upper  ocean  ports. 

Locally  there  has  been  a  better  inquiry  from 
the  retailers,  and,  while  most  of  the  yards  .are 
carrying  a  fairly  large  stock,  orders  have  been 
slowing  comine  in  that  are  eating  into  the  piles. 
Serious  consideration  of  the  situation  that  has 
been  a  thorn  in  the  side  of  the  retailers  who 
would  put  their  business  on  a  profitable  Jiasis 
and  stick  to  prices  that  are  productive  of  return, 
is  being  given.  Price  cutters  who  demoralized 
trade  last  spring  and  summer  are,  it  is  said, 
laying  their  lines  for  another  bid  for  publicity 
and  business.  Quotation  for  local  delivery,  egg, 
$7;  Stove,  $7.25;  Nut,  $7.50,  and  Pea,  $5.25,  are 
being  cut  twenty-five  to  seventy-five  cents  on  the 
ton  by  some  of  the  cutters.  It  is  even  hinted 
that  these  may  be  cut  even  more  in  the  drive 
that  is  being  prepared  by  those  who  are  not 


inclined  to  make  a  standard  price  for  local  de¬ 
liveries. 


Philadelphia  Trade  Notes. 

J.  A.  Boucher  of  the  Beaver  Run  Coal  Com¬ 
pany,  Beaverdale,  Pa.,  was  in  Philadelphia  on 
Tuesday  while  on  his  way  to  a  trip  to  New 
York. 

R.  Y.  Brown,  general  manager  of  the  Mor¬ 
rell  ville  Coal  Company  of  Johnstown,  Pa.,  was 
here  on  business  for  a  couple  of  days,  the  latter 
part  of  last  week. 

W.  J.  Chapman,  the  veteran  retailer  and  whole¬ 
saler  at  Baltimore,  dropped  in  to  see  a  few  of 
his  friends  in  this  city  while  passing  through 
on  his  way  to  the  sea  shore. 

Fredric  Land.street  of  the  Punxsutawney  Coal 
Company  left  Tuesday  for  a  business  trip  to 
New  England  cities  and  will  stop  off  at  New 
York  both  going  and  returning. 

Jil.  D.  Kelley,  president,  and  H.  P.  Kelley,  vice- 
president  of  the  Vulcan  Mining  Company,  at 
Snowshoe,  Pa.,  were  at  their  office  this  week, 
looking  over  the  eastern  situation. 

Alla  G.  Bodine.  who  formerly  was  connected 
with  the  Quemahoning  Coal  Company,  dropped 
in  on  friends  this  week.  He  was  looking  brown 
as  a  berry  from  a  summer  spent  on  the  Jersey 
Coast. 

H.  P.  Jordan,  whose  father  is  an  operator  in 
the  Keyser,  W.  Va.,  fields,  is  now  connected  with 
the  sales  department  of  the  Emmons  Coal  Min¬ 
ing  Company.  His  territory  will  be  the  city 
and  vicinity. 

W.  E.  Macurda,  of  the  Garfield  &  Procter  Coal 
Company  of  Boston,  visited  his  friends  in  the 
anthracite  trade  during  the  latter  part  of  last 
week.  He  had  just  concluded  a  visit  to  the 
hard  coal  fields. 

Kirkpatrick  &  Black,  retailers,  suffered  a  con¬ 
siderable  loss  on  Saturday  last  when  their  stables 
at  Twenty-fifth  and  Federal  streets  burned  to 
the  ground.  Several  head  of  horses  were  caught 
in  the  flames. 

Murray  B.  Cortright,  former  president  of  the 
Commercial  Coal  Mining  Company,  has  joined 
the  forces  of  the  Cortright  Coal  Company  and 
will  be  connected  with  the  steam  coal  depart¬ 
ment  of  that  concern. 

R.  Mellon,  who  was  formerly  connected  with 
the  offices  of  the  Davis  Coal  &  Coke  Company 
in  this  city,  but  who  is  now  located  in  Montreal, 
dropped  in  to  say  “How-de”  to  former  friends 
while  returning  from  a  sojourn  at  the  shore. 

R.  B.  Isner,  general  manager  of  the  Davis 
Colliery  Company  at  Elkins,  W.  Va.,  was  in 
Baltimore  the  latter  part  of  last  week,  paid 
a  visit  to  the  offices  of  the  company  here  on 
Wednesday  and  went  on  to  New  York. 

W.  E.  Koepker,  former  representative  of  The 
Black  Diamond,  was  about  town  during  the 
middle  of  the  week  wearing  a  broad  grin  and 
receiving  congratulations  of  his  coal  trade  ac¬ 
quaintances  upon  the  arrival  of  a  girl  baby  at 
his  home  in  Scranton. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Beaver  Run  Coal  Company 
held  Tuesday  in  the  office  of  the  Cortright  Coal 
Company,  W.  A.  Cortright  was  elected  secretary 
and  treasurer  of  the  company  in  the  place  of 
Frank  Cortright,  who  died  a  week  ago.  H.  K. 
Cortright  was  elected  vice-president  of  the  com¬ 
pany. 

Sydney  T.  Sharp,  who  has  conducted  a  coal 
brokerage  business  in  the  Drexel  Imilding  and 
in  the  Commercial  Trust  liuilding  for  the  last 
three  years,  has  formed  a  partnership  with  George 
T.  Johnson,  a  dealer  in  iron  and  steel  and  will 
operate  under  the  firm  name  of  Johnson,  Sharp 
&  Co.  in  the  future. 

Chief  Statistician  Armstrong  and  his  assistant 
in  the  Bureau  of  Anthracite  Statistics  gathered 
up  their  belongings  and  the  volume  of  data 
under  their  care  the  first  of  the  month  and 
moved  bag  and  baggage  to  Wilkesbarre  where 
the  headquarters  of  this  branch  of  the  hard 
coal  industry  will  be  maintained  from  this  time 
on.  With  the  establishment  of  the  Bureau  of 
Information  of  the  hard  coal  trade  in  that  city 
it  was  felt  that  better  action  could  be  had  by 
having  the  two  branches  in  the  same  city. 

At  Del-air,  N.  J.,  where  the  Pennsylvania  Rail¬ 
road’s  tracks  meet  in  junction  with  their  tracks 
to  New  York  City,  there  is  being  stored  an  im¬ 
mense  pile  of  coal  for  future  use  during  the 
year  and  the  beginning  of  next.  While  the  pile 
is  being  stored  bv  hand,  extreme  care  is  taken 
to  relieve  possibility  of  fire  damaging  it.  One 
observing  coal  man  remarked  “Some  men  can 


see  signs  in  a  ring  around  the  moon,  some  in 
stepping  under  a  step  ladder,  but  the  best  sign 
I  have  seen  in  a  long  time  is  the  immense  pile 
of  coal  that  the  Pennsy  is  stowing  away  hither, 
thither  and  yon.” 

George  C.  Foedisch,  manager  of  sales  for  the 
bituminous  department  of  Whitney  and  Kem- 
merer,  left  Wednesday  for  an  inspection  of  the 
mines  of  that  concern  in  Wise  county,  Va.  Be¬ 
fore  returning  to  Philadelphia  Mr.  Foedisch  will 
make  a  trip  to  Charlestown,  S.  C.,  where  he 
will  look  over  the  new  piers  that  have  been  built 
there  by  the  Southern  Railway.  The  intimation 
is  gathered  that  Whitney  &  Kemmerer  will  do 
considerable  export  business  from  the  Virginia 
mines  to  South  America  and  a  considerable 
amount  of  the  tonnage  will  go  through  this  newly 
opened  southern  port. 

Clair  P.  Burthner  of  the  C.  P.  Burthner  Coal 
Company,  went  and  done  it  last  Thursday.  Har¬ 
riet  B.  Leister  was  the  lucky  young  lady  who 
changed  her  name  to  Mrs.  Burthner.  The  cere¬ 
mony  was  performed  at  the  home  of  the  parents 
of  the  bride  and  the  “newly-weds”  have  taken 
apartments  in  the  Wynerva  in  Germantown.  Mr. 
Burthner,  until  a  few  months  ago  was  located 
in  Altoona,  Pa.,  and  though  a  new-comer,  as  a 
resident  of  Philadelphia,  he  had  a  host  of 
acquaintances  in  the  local  trade.  His  company 
has  extensive  operations  in  the  Punxsutawney 
district. 

Whether  it  is  the  new  spirit  of  things,  or 
whether  it  is  the  prospect  of  a  strenuous  winter 
ahead,  it  is  hard  to  tell  just  what  has  been  the 
cause  of  a  new  stunt  among  a  number  of  the 
coal  men  during  the  past  few  weeks.  Several 
of  them  have  joined  a  noon  day  class  at  the 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  that  puts  them  through  a  course 
of  sprouts  in  athletics  that  makes  them  “as 
hard  as  nails,”  as  one  of  the  enthusiasts  declared. 
Several  more  have  these  classes  under  consid¬ 
eration,  but  they  have  a  notion  that  business 
between  now  and  when  the  snow  flies  will  take 
off  enough  fat  to  make  the  Swedish  movements 
poor  in  comparison. 

Charles  W.  Mills,  who  was  appointed  on  an 
arbitration  board  by  President  Wilson  to  con¬ 
sider  the  miners’  strike  trouble  in  Colorado, 
said  that  it  is  quite  possible  that  he  and  his 
confreres,  Seth  Low  of  New  York  and  Patrick 
Gilday  of  the  Miners’  Union,  may  make  a  trip 
to  the  Colorado  fields  in  the  near  future,  maybe 
within  a  month,  to  .go  over  the  situation  at 
first  hand.  The  commission  has  gathered  a  con¬ 
siderable  amount  of  data  at  their  headquarters  in 
New  York  and  are  about  ready  to  go  to  the 
root  of  the  trouble.  Mr.  Low  has  been  engaged 
in  the  strenuous  task  of  framing  a  new  con¬ 
stitution  for  the  state  of  New  York  and  now 
that  this  has  been  about  concluded  the  full 
attention  of  the  commission  can  be  given  to 
the  labor  troubles  in  the  west. 


Denver  Trade. 


Denver,  September  9. — (Special  Correspond¬ 
ence.) — The  market  here  offers  very  little  en¬ 
couragement,  aside  from  an  increased  demand 
for  lignite.  Mines  in  the  northern  lignite  dis¬ 
trict  report  a  better  tonnage  than  for  many 
months  past,  and  the  output  will  run  almost 
fifty  per  cent  of  normal  capacity. 

The  increased  lignite  demand  is  due  to  a 
better  consumption  on  account  of  cool  nights 
and  local  storing  for  domestic  use.  Threshing 
in  northern  Colorado  has  also  been  a  factor 
in  the  better  demand. 

The  bituminous  output  is  light  as  compared 
with  last  week.  The  increase  of  twenty-five 
cents  a  ton  since  the  closing  of  the  storage 
season  has  had  a  deterring  influence  and  there 
seems  little  disposition  to  order  beyond  actual 
present  requirements.  Trinidad  reports  a  fair 
tonnage,  and  Routt  county  and  Walsenburg 
will  run  about  forty  per  cent  of  full  capacity 
during  the  week. 

Canon  City  mines  report  a  decidedly  better 
output — about  fifty  per  cent  of  normal.  Fre¬ 
mont  and  Rockvale  are  now  running,  having 
been  idle  several  months. 

There  is  plenty  of  northern  lignite  slack  and 
somewhat  of  a  surplus  of  bituminous.  Prices 
are  very  irregular,  li.gnite  selling  at  around 
ninety  cents  and  bituminous  from  twenty-five 
cents  upwards. 

Prices  for  lignite  coal  f.  o.  b.  mines  are  as 
follows:  For  Denver  delivery,  lump,  $2. .35 

to  $2.05;  mine  run,  $1.50  to  $1.65;  slack,  $1.05 
to  1.25.  For  country  delivery,  lump,  $2.50; 
mine  run.  $1.55  to  $1.05;  slack,  $1.05. 


220 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[September  11 


New  England  Trade 


Boston,  September  9. —  {Sl>ecial  Correspond¬ 
ence.) — The  Boston  &  Maine  Railroad  Cornpany 
is  in  the  market  for  3,200,000  tons  of  bituminous, 
deliveries  of  which  are  to  extend  over  a  period 
of  five  years.  Bids  for  the  coal  will  be  opened 
tomorrow,  but  it  will  probably  be  a  day  or  two 
before  it  is  known  who  secured  the  contract. 

Outside  of  the  Boston  &  Maine’s  call  for  bids, 
the  local  market  for  Pocahontas  and  New  River 
has  been  e.xtremely  quiet  during  the  past  week. 
.\t  Mystic  Wharf  the  same  unsatisfactory  con¬ 
ditions  have  prevailed  in  the  spot  market  that 
have  been  noted  in  previous  market  reports. 
Plenty  of  good  bituminous  can  be  had  there  for 
$3.00  per  ton  on  cars,  as  compared  with  $3.85  in 
the  early  part  of  the  coal  year.  Stocks  standing 
and  running  to  Hampton  Roads  ports  are  far 
in  excess  of  the  demand,  and  some  shippers  are 
reported  as  again  cutting  prices.  This  practice_  is 
not  general,  however,  for  the  bulk  of  the  ship¬ 
pers  are  very  optimistic  as  regards  the  future  of 
the  market.  They  point  out  that  there  is  today  a 
shortage  of  labor  at  the  mines,  that  this  will 
become  more  acute  as  the  fall  advances,  and  that 
there  is  bound  to  be  a  shorta,ge  of  cars  when 
the  movements  of  the  crops  are  in  full  s\ying. 
Some  shippers  go  so  far  as  to  predict  premiums 
on  soon  after  the  first  snow  storm.  Some  Penn¬ 
sylvania  bituminous,  which  was  on  demurrage, 
has  been  sold  recently  at  concessions,  but  the 
amount  was  too  small  to  be  a  market  factor. 
The  official  price  range  on  these  coals  is  un¬ 
changed  at  ninety  cents  to  $1.50  per  ton  on  cars 
at  the  mines. 

The  local  wholesale  anthracite  market  seems 
to  be  marking  time.  Some  new  business  has 
been  booked  since  the  holidays,  but  the  amount 
is  somewhat  disappointing.  "Most  houses  expect 
a  revival  of  business  alon.g  about  the  15th  of  the 
month,  but  admit  a  great  deal  will  depend  upon 
weather  conditions.  It  is  felt  that  many  of  the 
retail  dealers  have  been  holding  off  in  the  hopes 
that  prices  would  be  lower  as  a  result  of  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission’s  ruling  in  the 
anthracite  case.  Now  that  the  effective  date  of 
this  ruling  has  been  extended  to  December  1,  it 
is  believed  retailers  will  not  hold  off  lon,ger. 

But  the  retail  trade,  with  few  exceptions,  says 
the  household  demand  so  far  this  season  has 
been  unusually  backward,  and  that  they  have 
enough  coal  on  hand  to  carry  them  along  for  a 
month  at-  least.  Practically  all  August  bookings 
have  been  cleaned  up  by  the  wholesalers.  Noc- 
withstanding  the  lack  of  new  business,  anthracite 
prices  appear  to  be  on  a  very  firm  basis.  _  Inde¬ 
pendent  shippers  are  asking  the  same  prices  as 
quoted  by  the  big  fellows.  Stove  and  egg  are 
quoted  at  $5.85  along  side  Boston  Harbor,  nut  at 
$6.10  and  pea  at  $4.05  per  ton. 

The  marine  freight  rate  market  is  unchanged. 
The  average  asking  rate  from  Hampton  Roads 
ports  to  Boston  is  seventy-five  to  eighty  cents  per 
ton,  while  from  Baltimore  to  Boston  rates  run 
seven  to  ten  cents  a  ton  more.  From  New  York 
to  Boston  the  average  asking  rate  is  fifty  to  fifty- 
five  cents  per  ton. 


Boston  Trade  Notes. 

The  coal  elevator,  grain  and  hay  building  and 
barn  of  Clark  Bros.,  North  Cambridge,  were  re¬ 
cently  almost  totally  destroyed  by  fire.  It  is 
believed  the  damage  will  amount  to  at  least 
$50,000. 

Invitations  have  arrived  in  Boston  for  the 
launching  on  September  9th,  at  the  shipyard  of 
the  New  York  Ship  Buildin,g  Company  at  Cam¬ 
den,  N.  J.,  of  the  Coastwise  Transportation  Com¬ 
pany’s  new  steamer,  “Plymouth.” 

A  lar.ge  wharf  property  at  No.  239  to  245 
Medford  street,  Charlestown,  and  extending 
through  to  the  Mystic  River,  known  as  Keyes 
Wharf,  has  been  sold  to  George  Tousey.  The 
wharf  contains  58,867  square  feet  of  land.  It 
is  believed  that  Mr.  Tousey  bought  for  local  coal 
interests,  but  nothing  authentic  in  regard  to  the 
report  has  been  given  out. 


Buffalo  Trade. 

Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  September  9'. —  (Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — Anthracite  continues  to  move 
by  lake  in  fair  volume,  the  shipments  for  the 
past  week  being  112.300  tons,  as  follows:  Chi¬ 
cago,  36,000  tons;  Duluth-Superior,  29,900; 
Milwaukee,  29,200;  Waukegan.  7,000;  Sheboy¬ 
gan,  5,500;  Manitowoc,  4,300;  Blind  River,  400. 
It  will  not  take  very  heavy  shipments  this 
month  to  exceed  September  of  last  year,  for  it 
was  one  of  the  lightest  months  of  the  season. 


To  date  this  year  the  shipments  are  about 
350,000  tons  short  of  the  same  period  in  1914, 
and  it  seems  unlikely  that  this  will  be  made 
up.  At  the  same  time  the  companies  will  have 
a  big  demand  upon  them,  on  account  of  the 
possibilities  of  suspension  next  spring.  A 
large  number  of  boats  are  entering  here  with 
ore,  so  that  tonnage  is  plentiful  enough. 

An  increase  in  demand  from  dealers  is  re¬ 
ported  by  some  of  the  anthracite  companies. 
Trade  is  not  active,  but  retailers  are  in  a  good 
many  instances  finding  it  advisable  to  add  to 
their  supplies.  Two  reasons  hinder  this  plan 
from  being  followed  more  generally  than  it  is. 
For  one  thing  consumers  are  not  taking  coal, 
but  are  leaving  the  dealer  to  carry  full  sheds. 
Another  noticeable  feature  of  retail  trade  is 
the  request  for  credit  on  an  unusually  wide¬ 
spread  scale.  Coal  men  could  place  a  lot  of 
fuel  if  they  were  willing  to  take  bigger  chances 
on  getting  their  pay  for  it. 

The  chief  new  feature  of  the  bituminous 
trade  is  a  growing  shortage  of  cars.  It  has 
been  getting  increasingly  difficult  during  the 
past  few  weeks  for  operators  to  get  the  sort 
of  cars  they  want  with  any  degree  of  prompt¬ 
ness.  A  while  ago  they  were  able  to  order 
just  the  sort  of  equipment  needed  and  no 
trouble  existed  about  getting  it.  Nowadays 
they  are  glad  to  get  any  kind  of  cars.  Small 
gondolas  are  very  scarce.  Box  cars  are  also 
hard  to  find.  It  is  unusual  for  a  car  shortage 
to  develop  so  early  and  so  suddenly  as  the 
present  one,  and  the  situation  is  hardly  yet 
appreciated  by  many  coal  consumers.  They 
think  that  the  shippers  are  not  telling  the 
truth  when  they  say  cars  are  scarce,  but  any 
railroad  man  will  confirm  the  statement.  It  is 
said  that  the  Pennsylvania  railroad  has  no  idle 
cars,  e.xcept  broken-down  ones,  at  present. 

Under  the  influence  of  a  .growing  car  short¬ 
age  and  scarcity  of  labor,  the  coal  market  has 
been  gaining  strength.  The  best  evidence  of 
new  firmness  is  in  slack,  but  other  coal  is  also 
bringing  a  better  price. 


Buffalo  Trade  Briefs. 

B.  L.  Taylor,  president  of  the  McKnight 
Coal  Company,  Brockwayville,  was  a  visitor 
to  the  trade  here  this  week. 

W.  T.  Roberts,  western  sales  agent  of  Wil¬ 
liams  &  Peters,  has  returned  from  a  vacation 
trip  of  several  weeks  at  Long  Beach,  Long 
Island. 

C.  L.  Shaw,  dock  superintendent  for  the 
Lehigh  Valley  Coal  Sales  Company,  has  gone 
to  the  anthracite  mines  for  a  few  days’  busi¬ 
ness  trip. 

C.  F.  Westfall,  who  has  been  connected  with 
the  local  coal  trade  for  several  years,  has  be¬ 
come  a  member  of  the  sales  staff  of  Thorne, 
Neale  &  Co. 

Clark  T.  Roberts,  of  Hedstrom  &  Co.,  Chi¬ 
cago,  has  been  spending  some  days  at  his  cot¬ 
tage  at  Angola,  on  the  lake  shore,  and  visiting 
his  brothers  in  the  Buffalo  coal  trade. 

W.  F.  McClurg,  president  of  the  McClurg- 
Heldson  Coal  Company,  has  been  laid  up  for 
two  or  three  weeks  with  an  attack  of  rheuma¬ 
tism  and  has  gone  to  the  mineral  baths  at 
Alden,  this  county,  for  a  brief  stay. 

Buffalo  coal  salesmen  say  that  the  trade  in 
Hamilton,  Ont.,  is  in  a  very  uncertain  state, 
but  there  is  going  to  be  need  of  more  coal 
there  soon,  as  the  big  plant  of  the  Steel  Com¬ 
pany  of  Canada  is  running,  and  a  large  addi¬ 
tion  is  being  built  to  it. 

The  Lehigh  Valley  Railroad  Company  is 
storing  10,000  tons  of  bituminous  coal  at  Cort¬ 
land,  N.  Y.,  and  a  switch  is  being  constructed 
to  handle  it.  This  is  in  line  with  the  policy 
of  a  number  of  railroads  to  stock  coal  this 
fall. 

The  steamer.  White,  which  is  the  largest 
self-unloading  steamer  in  the  world,  accord¬ 
ing  to  vessel  men,  has  just  been  taking  on  a 
cargo  of  8,000  tons  of  coal  at  Erie,  Pa.,  for 
delivery  at  Menominee.  The  unloading  ap¬ 
paratus  takes  3,000  tons  of  coal  per  hour 
from  the  v'essel.  It  consists  of  a  wide  belt, 
which  carries  coal  a  distance  of  125  feet  over 
the  dock. 

The  Richland  Coal  Company  has  taken  of¬ 
fices  at  1140  and  1142  Prudential  building  and 
will  also  be  represented  at  Toronto  and  Ham¬ 
ilton.  The  company  succeeds  the  Stickney- 
Price  Coal  Company,  with  Roswell  S.  Price  as 
president;  George  D.  Rowland,  vice-president 
and  secretary,  and  G.  A.  Hughes,  treasurer. 
Bituminous  coal  will  be  handled  principally 


but  anthracite  will  also  be  sold.  The  com¬ 
pany  will  handle  the  product  of  the  Richland 
Coal  Company,  Wheeling,  W.  Va. 


Baltimore  Trade. 


Baltimore,  September  9. —  (Special  Correspond¬ 
ence.) — Everything  is  lookin.g  up  in  the  coal 
trade.  Export,  domestic  demand  for  manufac- 
turnin.g  purposes  and  the  first  line  of  inquiry  for 
the  fall  household  trade  are  all  beginning  to  hum. 
.•knother  month  and  the  coal  trade  is  likely  to  be 
in  one  of  the  busiest  periods  of  its  existence. 

The  point  has  now  been  reached  where  the  de¬ 
mand  is  keeping  up  with  the  production  of  the 
soft  coal  fields,  and  from  now  on  some  rises  in 
price  may  be  expected.  No  coal  producer  is 
longer  thinking  of  sacrificing  coal  in  any  consid¬ 
erable  quantities.  Coal  on  contracts  is  now  much 
stron.ger  than  the  immediate  market.  Everyone 
is  looking  to  a  bright  future  and  but  for  anxiety 
to-do  business  after  a  long  period  of  inaction  the 
fuel  would  be  held  tighter  than  is  now  the  case. 

Taking  up  exports  first,  it  is  noteworthy  that 
while  the  foreign  movement  from  this  port  for 
August,  which  totaled  215,796  tons,  did  not  equal 
the  June  or  July  tonna.ge,  it  was  a  very  large  ship¬ 
ment.  In  addition,  September  has  started  with 
a  rush.  Official  figures  from  the  custom  house 
for  the  first  four  working  days  of  September 
showed  a  total  of  over  55,000  tons  loaded  for  that 
period.  That  the  loadings  for  September  will 
run  between  250,000  and  300,000  tons  is  predicted. 
Italy  is  taking  the  large  part  of  this  foreign 
coal. 

Demand  for  coal  at  home  for  manufacturing 
purposes  is  improviag  steadily.  In  Baltimore  and 
vicinity  the  factories  are  pretty  busy  now,  and 
coal  contracts  are  being  called  on  in  steady  man¬ 
ner.  From  more  distant  ports  come  encouraging 
orders  and  inquiries,  also,  and  there  can  no  longer 
be  a  doubt  that  a  general  improvement  in  busi¬ 
ness  conditions  is  at  hand. 

From  mining  regions  come  reports  that  efforts 
are  now  being  made  to  increase  production  to 
meet  growing  demands.  Labor  shortage  is  more 
and  more  evident,  and  the  past  two  weeks  has 
especially  seen  a  large  movement  of  Italians  to 
the  coast  to  take  vessels  for  Europe.  These  men 
are  reservists  in  the  Italian  army  and  have  been 
called  to  the  colors. 

Car  supply  in  both  the  Fairmont  and  Somerset 
regions  has  not  been  of  the  best  for  ten  days  or 
so  past. 

Prices  at  the  mines  for  spot  to  the  trade  are 
some  ten  to  fifteen  cents  below  new  contract 
prices  in  most  cases.  The  spot  market  may  be 
quoted  about  as  follows 


'Fairmont — 

F.  0.  B. 

F.  0.  B. 

Mines. 

Baltimore. 

Three-quarter  .  . .  . 

. $0.85@  .90 

$2.28@2.33 

Run  of  mine . 

.  .80 

2.23 

Slack  . 

2.03@2.08 

Somerset — 

Best  . 

.  1.25@1.35 

2.43@2.53 

Good  . 

.  1.10@1.15 

2.28@2.33 

W.  M.  R.  R.— 

Freeport  . 

. 80@  .85 

1.98@2.03 

B.  &  0.— 

Freeport  . 

. 80@  .85 

1.98@2.03 

P.  R.  R.— 

Best  South  Fori;.. 

.  ].30@1.35 

2.48@2.53 

Miller  vein . 

.  1.10@1.15 

2.78(5)2.83 

Ordinary  . 

. 85@  .95 

2.03(82.13 

Householders 

who  failed  to  lav  in-  ; 

supplies  of 

anthracite  are  now  beginning  to  wake 

up  to  the 

fact.  Inquiries  are  growing  more  numerous  day 
by  day.  Fall  and  early  winter  prices  have  been 
set  by  the  Baltimore  Retail  Coal  Exchange,  al¬ 
though  with  severe  winter  weather  an  advance  of 
twenty-five  cents  a  ton  is  likely  to  be  added,  as 
in  former  years.  The  schedule  is  as  follows : 
Hard  coal— No.  1,  $7.10;  No.  2,  $7.35;  No.  3, 
$7.60;  nut,  $7.85;  pea,  $5.60.  Sunbury — No.  2, 
$7.60;  No.  3,  $7.85;  nut,  $8.10.  Lykens  Valley- 
No.  2,  $8.35;  No.  3,  $8.60;  nut,  $8.60. 


Some  Trade  Notes. 

Eoreign  purchasers  are  now  in  this  market  for 
about  300,000  tons  of  coal  for  winter  delivery. 
Several  local  firms  are  interested  in  this  pros¬ 
pective  business. 

The  board  of  directors  of  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio 
Railroad  is  expected  to  approve  next  week  the 
final  plans  for  the  new  coal  pier  of  that  road  at 
Curtis  Bay.  The  pier  will  have  a  capacity  of 
2,000  tons  per  hour  and  will  cost  about  $1,250,000. 

General  officers  and  superintendents  of  the 
various  departments  of  the  Consolidation  Coal 
Company  from  many  sections  of  this  country  and 
Canada  met  in  conference  here  the  past  week. 
The  company  officials  all  predicted  a  big  fall  and 
winter  business. 


1 

Phe  Black  Diamond 

Vol.  S5.  No.  12 

SEPTEMBER  18.  191S  S3.00  Per  Ye.r 

What  Will  Labor  Negotiations  Develop  in  1916? 


A  number  of  developments  in  the  last  month 
or  so  have  suggested  the  question :  “What  is  to 
be  the  labor  situation  next  spring?”  The  ques¬ 
tion  has  been  asked  by  a  number  of  leading 
operators  and  consumers.  Such  an  answer  as  is 
possible  is  pertinent  at  this  time. 

The  things  which  suggested  the  question  were : 

First,  John  P.  White  has  outlined  the  union’s 
program  for  the  anthracite  field.  It  is  trying  to 
get  a  monopoly  of  anthracite  mine  labor  before 
the  first  of  next  April. 

Second,  operators  are  beginning  to  appreciate 
that,  for  the  first  time  in  six  years,  the  labor  con¬ 
tracts  between  the  miners  and  operators  will  ex¬ 
pire  simultaneously  in  both  the  anthracite  and 
bituminous  fields. 

Third,  the  miners’  union  is  carrying  on  now  a 
vigorous  campaign  for  the  unionization  of  eastern 
Kentucky.  As  this  signifies,  efforts  will  probably 
be  revived  for  the  unionization  of  West  Vir¬ 
ginia. 

Fourth,  there  is  already  a  shortage  of  labor  in 
bituminous  mining  districts,  because  quite  a  num¬ 
ber  of  workers  have  returned  to  Europe  to  par¬ 
ticipate  in  the  war  and  because  we  have  had  no 
new  supplies  of  mine  labor  from  Europe  for 
almost  two  years. 

Fifth,  there  is  already  threatening  a  shortage 
of  coal  this  fall  as  a  direct  result  of  a  shortage 
of  motive  power  and  something  of  a  shortage  of 
cars  on  the  railroads.  This  suggests  that  if  we 
are  to  have  a  shortage  of  coal  extending  from 
October  to  January,  it  may  be  prolonged  if  the 
weather  is  severe  and  consequently  there  may  be 
no  time  to  stock  up  ahead  of  April  first,  as  is 
customarily  done. 

The  Far-sighted  Policy. 

These  five  things  have  most  naturally  aroused 
interest  in  what  is  likely  to  be  the  labor  situation 
next  spring  fully  four  months  ahead  of  time  when 
discussion  of  such  matters  is  usually  taken  up. 
That  is,  the  coal  operators  and  the  coal  buyers 
are  beginning  to  appreciate  that  these  are  ex¬ 
traordinary  times  and  that  both  the  producers 
and  consumers  must  be  far-sighted  and  fore¬ 
handed  in  dealing  with  the  distribution  of  coal 
for  this  year.  They  are  sure  to  have  trouble  with 
coal  supply  for  the  next  four  months.  If  there  is 
a  likelihood  of  a  general  strike  next  spring,  they 
may  have  more  serious  trouble  during  the  first 
five  months  of  next  year.  If  there  is  to  be  no 
strike  next  spring,  they  would  like  to  know  it  as 
that  would  cut  their  troubles  in  half  by  giving 
them  only  one  thing  to  worr}'  about  instead  of 
two.  On  the  latter  account,  the  people  who  are 
vitally  interested  in  coal  are  more  concerned  now 
about  the  labor  situation  than  commonly  they  are 
at  this  time  of  year. 

While  an  opinion  as  to  the  drift  of  things  is 
here  expressed,  it  is  put  out  with  the  definite 
understanding  that  it  is  merely  one  man’s  guess. 
This  is  so  because  developments  have  not  been 
positive  enough  to  indicate  any  unmistakable 
tendency.  Xo  one  can  say  for  sure  what  is 
going  to  develop  because  the  miners,  as  yet,  do 
not  know  what  they  are  going  to  demand,  and  of 
course,  the  operators  as  yet  do  not  know  what 
replies  they  are  going  to  make.  Without  any 
definite  proposal  and  without  any  catagorical  re¬ 
ply,  it  is  clearly  out  of  question  to  say  what 
the  result  of  any  conference  will  be. 

Trouble  Is  Ahead 

Still,  it  is  possible  to  outline  a  few  general 
principles  which  will  more  than  likely  apply. 
Those  principles  will  govern  both  the  miners  and 
the  operators  because  both  are  human  and  both 
are  likely  to  take  the  perfectly  human  position  on 
matters  now  occupying  the  mind  of  each.  On  the 
score  of  what  human  nature  will  do  under  given 
conditions  and  many  things  considered,  we  are, 
at  the  minute  much  inclined  to  this  opinion  : 

The  miners  will  make  excessive  demands  be¬ 
cause  conditions  favor  them. 

The  operators  are  and  will  be  in  no  position  to 
grant  anything.  Rather  they  should  ask  conces¬ 
sions. 


All  Facts  Considered,  the  Union  Will 
Make  Excessive  Demands  and  the  Oper¬ 
ators  Will  Resist — A  Long  Parley  Is 
Inevitable. 


Therefore,  we  may  have  a  serious  strike.  IMost 
surely,  we  will  have  a  prolonged  period  of  nego¬ 
tiation  during  which  there  will  be  a  suspension  of 
operators  in  the  major  portion  of  the  field. 

Having  expressed  such  decided  views,  it  is  in¬ 
cumbent  upon  us  to  substantiate  them,  if  possible. 
To  do  that  is  the  purpose  of  this  article.  We  will 
start  with  the  simplest  fundamental,  which  is  the 
unmistakable  advantage,  which  the  miners  have 
and  will  have  over  the  operators.  They  can 
hardly  be  expected  to  waive  such  an  advantage, 
hence  that  is  the  cru.x  of  the  situation. 

According  to  the  last  available  statistics — those 
of  1912 — the  coal  mines  of  the  United  States  em¬ 
ployed  72.5,000  men.  Of  these,  in  round  numbers, 
400,000  are  members  of  the  United  Wine  Workers 
of  America. 

It  has  been  estimated  that  20,000  miners  each 
year  are  graduated  out  of  the  mines  into  other 
lines  of  industry  and  that  it  is  necessary  to  obtain 
for  the  mines  each  year  40,000  new  miners  to  get 
out  just  the  increased  production,  due  to  growth 
of  population,  etc.  Therefore,  with  20,000  miners 
going  out  of  the  mines  and  with  40,000  men  needed 
to  mine  the  increased  output,  there  is  a  demand 
for  60,000  new  men  each  year  in  the  American 
coal  mines. 

Labor  Shortage  Is  a  Fact. 

Right  now,  the  coal  mines  are  losing  more  than 
their  regular  proportion  of  workers  to  other  lines 
of  industry.  That  is  to  say,  the  coal  mines  are 
running  on  slack  time  but  other  businesses,  such 
as  steel  mills  and  the  like,  are  running  to  full 
capacity  to  satisfy  foreign  orders.  They  are  draw¬ 
ing  on  nearby  supplies  of  labor.  Therefore,  they 
are  substracting  heavily  from  the  mine  workers 
who  naturally  are  seeking  more  attractive  fields 
of '  employment. 

Also  the  mines  have  been  losing  quite  heavily 
to  foreign  countries  because  of  the  war.  They 
are  not  getting  in  any  new  men  and  have  not  got¬ 
ten  any  for  the  last  year  and  a  half. 

Instead,  therefore,  of  losing  only  20,000  per 
year  through  graduation  of  other  lines  of  indus¬ 
try,  the  probabilities  are  that  the  mines  have  lost 
25,000  to  30,000  at  least.  Instead  of  getting  40,000 
new  miners  from  abroad,  the  mines  have  obtained 
none.  Therefore,  they  are  short  in  mine  workers 
about  75,000. 

Instead  of  725,000  men,  there  are  probably  less 
than  700,000  men  in  the  mines  at  a  time  when 
the  increased  production  would  call  for  more 
than  750,000  miners. 

This  creates  a  definite  shortage  of  labor  whicli 
is  only  offset  by  this  fact :  In  1912  the  average 
working  time  of  the  mines  of  America  was  225 
days.  The  potential  working  time  was  300  days. 
That  is,  by  working  the  additional  seventy-five 
days,  the  men  could  have  produced  one-third  more 
coal  than  they  did.  By  the  same  token,  the  mines 
could  have  gotten  out  the  same  production  with 
one-third  less  men  if  they  had  worked  full  time 
or  300  days.  In  other  words,  they  could  have 
gotten  out  the  same  production  with  600.000  men 
working  full  time,  that  they  did  get  out  with  725,- 
000  men  working  225  days  a  year. 

Short  Production  of  Mines. 

This  possibility,  however,  does  not  relieve  the 
situation  or  offset  the  shortage.  The  fact  of  the 
matter  is  that  instead  of  the  mines  working  full 
time  all  summer,  to  make  up  for  the  shortage  of 
labor,  they  have  been  working  less  time  than 
usual.  In  fact,  only  about  sixty  per  cent  of  the 
mines  have  been  in  operation  and  those  sixty  per 
cent  have  only  been  working  forty-five  or  fifty 
per  cent  of  the  time.  Thus  we  not  only  have  a 
shortage  of  labor,  but  a  shortage  of  working 


time.  As  a  natural  result,  we  have  a  very  marked 
shortage  of  coal. 

In  this  connection,  this  one  thing  must  be  re¬ 
membered.  The  subtraction  from  the  ranks  of 
the  miners  was  not  a  subtraction  from  the  ranks 
of  the  mine  workers  union.  [Most  of  those  who 
went  abroad  were,  in  the  main,  non-union  men. 
Thus  the  membership  of  the  miners  union  is  still 
in  round  numbers  400,000,  while  the  number  of 
men  at  work  has  been  reduced,  probably,  to 
700,000.  This  means  that  the  miners  union  has 
even  a  more  commanding  position  in  the  labor 
situation  than  it  had  before.  This  is  so  because 
the  union  controls  a  larger  percentage  of  the 
workers  than  it  did. 

How  Far  Will  They  Go? 

As  this  indicates,  the  miners’  union  is  in  a 
strong  if  not  indeed  a  commanding  position.  The 
question  is :  “What  use  will  the  union  make  of  its 
power?  How  far  will  the  officers  dare  go  in 
bringing  the  coal  trade  to  book,  as  it  is  inclined 
to  say?” 

It  must  be  remembered  that  the  union  has  a 
powerful  advantage  from  the  fact  that,  for  the 
first  time  in  six  years,  the  contracts  between  the 
anthracite  and  bituminous  miners  and  operators 
expire  simultaneously.  This  means  that  it  is  with¬ 
in  the  power  of  the  miners’  union  to  call  out  prac¬ 
tically  all  of  the  men  in  those  major  producing 
states  which  yield  fully  seventy-five  per  cent  of 
the  total  coal  production  of  America.  That  is, 
they  can  close  down  the  anthracite  mines  and 
principally  all  the  bituminous  mines  of  Pennsyl¬ 
vania.  They  can  close  down  a  number  of  mines 
of  West  Virginia  and  all  of  the  mines  of  Ohio, 
Indiana,  Illinois,  Iowa  and  Michigan.  If  they 
make  any  progress  in  eastern  Kentucky,  they  may 
cause  some  trouble  there.  Even  so,  by  closing 
the  mines  now  under  union  control,  they  could 
stop  the  production  in  the  states  which  yield  fully 
seventy-five  per  cent  of  the  nation’s  output. 

There  is  no  need  to  mince  words  about  this 
situatiefn.  It  is  in  the  power  of  the  miners  union 
and  John  P.  White  particularly,  to  paralyze  the 
coal  mining  industry  by  taking  an  arbitrary  stand 
and  by  insisting  upon  the  granting  of  the  union 
demands. 

Situations  of  this  kind  have  arisen  before.  One 
such  situation  arose  six  years  ago,  or  in  the 
spring  of  1910.  Then  the  argument  was  brought 
forward  that  the  thing  was  entirely  too  big  to 
happen.  It  was  said  then  that  if  a  general  strike 
had  been  called  it  would  have  brought  such  a 
tremendous  calamity  the  miners  would  have  lost 
the  moral  support  of  the  public  and,  therefore,  the 
battle. 

It  is  true  that  the  miners  waived  in  part  their 
advantage  at  that  time,  but  they  did  so,  not 
through  fear  of  public  opinion,  but  because  of 
other  considerations  which  it  is  not  necessary  to 
go  into  now. 

We  are  convinced,  on  the  contrary,  that  the 
union  is  indifferent  of  public  opinion  because  it 
believes  that  it  is  the  master  of  it.  We  are  not 
convinced  and  have  not  been,  that  the  union 
would,  for  an  instant,  stop  to  consider  what  the 
public  thought  about  its  acts  if  it  saw  that  by 
resisting  public  opinion  it  could  win  a  permanent 
advantage. 

What  the  Unions  Think 

In  order  to  get  the  attitude  of  labor  generally 
towards  such  a  colossal  thing  as  a  general  strike 
at  this  time,  it  is  only  necessary  to  make  a  brief 
reference  to  what  labor  has  done  in  recent  months 
in  other  parts  of  the  world.  As  every  one  knows, 
Germany’s  whole  hope  of  success  and  the  basis 
of  its  success  thus  far  is  its  astounding  supplies 
of  munitions  of  war.  Yet  the  German  workers  in 
the  big  gun  factories  were  willing  to  go  out  on 
strike  and  threatened  to  do  so  until  the  govern¬ 
ment  said  it  would  send  any  man  who  struck  to 
the  penitentiary  for  twenty  years. 

Also  England  was,  and  is,  the  source  of  coal 
supply  for  all  of  the  allied  countries.  The  con¬ 
tinuous  operation  of  the  mines  is  imperative  if 
England’s  greatest  war  is  to  be  carried  through. 


222 


THE  BLACK  DIA310ND 


[September  18 


Nevertheless  the  English  coal  miners  have  struck 
twice. 

Further,  Germany  and  Austria  have  been  carry¬ 
ing  on  a  propaganda  in  this  country  to  cause 
strikes  in  the  factories  which  supply  England, 
France,  and  Russia  with  war  munitions.  The 
propaganda — impossible  of  success  without  the 
support  of  our  unions— reached  such  a  stage  that 
it  was  necessary  for  our  government  to  ask  the 
recall  of  the  Austrian  ambassador  and  one  Ger¬ 
man  attache  is  to  be  sent  home.  The  American 
labor  was  apparently  perfectly  willing  to  throttle 
American  industry  for  no  better  reason  than  some 
labor  leaders  were  convinced  that  a  strike  would 
be  a  good  thing — for  them. 

With  ideas  such  as  these — thoroughly_  selfish 
as  they  are — permeating  labor  organizations 
around  the  world,  it  is  no  time  to  expect  _  the 
miners  union  of  America  to  adopt  any  altruistic 
attitude  and  hence  to  waive  any  advantage  which 
it  might  have,  that  the  prosperity  of  the  country 
can  be  continued. 

A  Plan  to  Confiscate. 

On  the  contrary,  the  miners  union  is  committed 
to  the  policy  of  confiscating  all  American  coal 
mines.  The  vice-president  of  that  organization 
has  gone  on  record  to  the  effect  that  by  embrac¬ 
ing  adv'antages  such  as  are  here  outlined  and  by 
making  them  the  occasion  for  the  constant  assess¬ 
ment  of  more  than  the  operators  can  afford  to 
pay,  the  miners  propose  to  induce  the  operators 
to  retire  from  the  mines  and  abandon  them  to 
the  union  to  be  worked  upon  a  co-operative  basis. 

All  the  circumstances  considered,  we  are  not 
of  the  opinion  that  the  miners  union  will  hesitate 
even  at  the  most  excessive  demands  or  the  most 
drastic  action  in  order  to  make  itself  master  of 
the  American  coal  mining  situation.  We  are,  on 
the  contrary,  disposed  to  believe  that  the  union 
will  take  full  advantage  of  the  present  situation 
to  get  what  it  wants. 

Mr.  White’s  Necessity. 

There  is  another  and  a  purely  personal  matter 
which  introdues  itself.  John  P.  White  has  been 
in  office  for  several  years  and  has  made  a  con¬ 
spicuous  failure  of  everything  that  he  has  tried 
seriously  to  do.  He  retired  ingloriously  from 
West  Virginia  which  he  said  he  was  going  to  mas¬ 
ter.  He  made  a  frontal  attack  on  eastern  Kentucky 
and  retired  almost  before  the  first  gun  was  fired. 
He  went  into  Colorado  and  created  civil  war 
with  the  result  only  that  some  of  his  followers 
have  been  indicted  and  convicted  on  a  charge  of 
murder  while  the  union  lost  the  fight  which  he 
made. 

In  the  joint  wage  conferences — a  fact  which 
his  followers  know  all  too  well — he  won  in  a 
small  way  not  because  of  any  strategy  or  skill 
on  his  part,  but  because  of  the  inherent  weakness 
of  the  opposition  and  of  the  spines  of  a  few  of 
the  operators’  leaders. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  Mr.  White  has  had  failure 
written  upon  his  brow  from  the  time  he  succeeded 
Lewis  until  now,  and  he  must  do  something  to 
recover  his  prestige  or  he  is  done.  This  is  a 
personal  matter  and  yet  it  bears  intimately  upon 
the  situation. 

Stand  of  the  Operators. 

Seeing  the  position  of  the  miners  and  their 
strategic  advantage,  their  action  in  the  forth¬ 
coming  conferences  can  with  reasonable  accuracy 
be  forcasted.  The  question  naturally  arises : 

“What  will  be  the  attitude  of  the  operators  to¬ 
wards  the  demand  which  the  miners  must  make?” 

There  can  be  but  one  answer  to  that  question. 
The  impoverished  condition  of  the  mines  leaves 
the  operators  no  choice  but  to  resist  the  miners 
even  in  “good  times.”  The  figures,  gathered  by 
the  Lhiited  States  Geological  Survey,  prove  that 
of  the  six  major  producing  states  in  the  union, 
only  one  did  so  good  as  to  break  even  in  the 
matter  of  selling  prices  compared  with  operating 
cost.  Five  of  the  states  came  out  of  a  good  year 
with  a  monetary  loss.  That  is,  the  average  of 
losses  completely  offset  the  average  of  profits, 
leaving  the  industry  of  the  states  actually,  but  not 
admittedly  insolvent. 

But  the  good  times  have  gone.  Last  winter  was 
a  distressing  one,  both  in  the  loss  of  tonnage  and 
in  the  loss  of  profit  on  coal.  The  companies  that 
heretofore  had  made  money,  lost  money.  Those 
that  had  lost  money,  lost  still  more. 

From  a  disappointing  winter  the  operators  went 
into  a  most  discouraging  summer.  They  lost  still 
further  in  tonnage  and  made  up  none  of  it  by 
any  increase  in  price.  It  is  not  an  extreme  state¬ 
ment  to  say  that  coal  trade  at  the  minute  is 
potentially  bankrupt.  Therefore,  to  ask  such  an 
industry  to  make  any  such  concessions  as  the 
strategetic  advantage  of  the  miners  would  in¬ 


dicate,  is  something  worse  than  suicide.  It  is  to 
ask  something  that  is  hopelessly  impossible.  The 
operators  have  not  the  money  to  fight  but  curious¬ 
ly  enough  they  are  so  poor  that  they  dare  not  re¬ 
fuse  to  fight.  On  the  latter  score  the  operators 
will  resist  vigorously  any  demand  which  the 
miners  may  make. 

This  means  to  say  that  for  two  reasons — one 
their  strategetic  advantage  and  the  other  the 
urgent  necessity  of  IMr.  White  to  save  his  face — 
the  miners  are  going  to  make  excessive  demands 
upon  the  operators  next  spring.  Because  they 
cannot  afford  to  grant  any  concessions,  the  oper¬ 
ators  are  going  to  resist  those  demands  to  the 
limit.  A  serious  conflict  is  thus  inevitable. 


Recently  John  P.  White  has  made  a*  vigorous 
campaign  in  the  anthracite  field  for  new  mem¬ 
bers  of  the  United  Mine  Workers  of  America. 
The  situation  thus  presented  is  one  of  more  than 
common  interest.  That  is,  there  is  more  at  stake 
at  present  than  merely  a  matter  of  recruiting  new 
members  for  the  miners’  union.  Even  a  cursory 
glance  at  the  situation  will  tell  the  whole  story. 

Just  recently,  as  is  commonly  known,  the  In¬ 
terstate  Commerce  Commission  went  elaborately 
into  the  matter  of  rates  on  anthracite  coal,  and 
decided,  as  is  well  known,  to  reduce  the  rates 
anywhere  from  fifteen  to  twenty-five  cents  a  ton 
on  the  average  in  the  territory  where  perhaps  as 
much  as  eighty  per  cent  of  this  coal  is  con¬ 
sumed..  These 'rates  do  not  take  effect  until  the 
first  of  October  and  there  is  a  good  deal  of  curi¬ 
osity  on  the  part  of  the  public  to  know  just  what 
disposition  will  be  made  of  that  fifteen  cents. 
For  example,  up  to  this  time  the  public  has 
wanted  to  know  whether  the  operators  would  ab¬ 
sorb  it  themselves  or  whether  they  would  pass  it 
on  to  the  retailer  to  absorb  it  or  whether  both 
the  operators  and  retailers  would  pass  it  on  to 
the  consumer  in  the  form  of  a  reduction  in  the 
delivered  price  of  coal. 

Now  by  a  curious  twist  of  affairs  a  fourth  ele¬ 
ment  has  been  introduced  into  the  situation.  The 
question  now  is:  “Will  the  operators,  retailers, 
and  consumers  all  be  cheated  out  of  this  fifteen 
cents  and  will  it  all  be  absorbed  by  the  miners 
through  an  increase  in  pay?”  The  latter  ques¬ 
tion  is  pertinent  when  the  facts  are  taken  into 
consideration.  As  is  commonly  known,  the  con¬ 
sumers  of  anthracite  coal  have  not  been  taking 
their  customary  amounts  during  the  summer.  As 
is  known,  production  of  anthracite  up  to  the  sum¬ 
mer  was  about  two  million  tons  short  of  what  it 
customarily  is.  There  is  no  reason  to  believe 
that  consumption  will  fall  short  two  million  tons 
this  year  and  hence  there  is  a  reasonable  assump¬ 
tion  that  this  shortage  must  be  made  up  between 
now  and  the  first  of  next  April.  This  means,  of 
course,  that  in  the  ensuing  six  months  there  is 
.going  to  be  a  constant  excess  of  demand  over 
supply.  Whenever  that  thing  happens,  the  prices 
always  are  above  what  might  be  considered 
normal.  In  other  times,  for  example,  anthracite 
prices  have  risen  to  premium  figures.  Especially 
the  independents  have  taken  advantage  of  the 
situation  to  get  a  premium  price  for  the  coal. 
There  is  no  reason  to  believe  that  the  so-called 
independents  will  not  duplicate  their  action  this 
year  even  though  the  so-called  companies  con¬ 
tinue  to  accept  the  same  price  that  they  have  here¬ 
tofore.  But  whether  there  is  a  premium  or  none, 
a  situation  is  almost  sure  to  exist  where  the  re¬ 
duction  in  freight  rates  will  not  be  passed  on  to 
anybody  by  the  coal  operators.  The  independents 
and  the  companies  alike,  for  at  least  six  months, 
or  until  the  first  of  next  April,  will  absorb  for 
themselves  the  fifteen  cents  a  ton  or  more  which 
is  the  measure  of  the  decrease  in  rates. 

By  a  curious  coincidence,  the  operators  will 
thus  preserve  an  advantage  in  the  matter  of 
profits  until  the  expiration  of  the  old  labor  con¬ 
tract  and  until  the  time  comes  for  negotiating 
the  new  one.  They  will  not  do  this  by  any  con¬ 
cert  of  action,  but  in  response  to  a  natural  trade 
condition  which  normally  would  indicate  a  rise 
in  price. 

When  the  first  of  next  April  comes  around  and 
when  this  advantage  has  not  been  passed  on  to 
either  the  retailer  or  the  consumer,  the  miners’ 
union  will  come  in  to  put  its  claims  against  those 
of  the  retailer  and  the  general  public.  The  union 
will  say,  in  substance  at  least,  “You  have  now  in 
the  delivered  price  a  profit  of  fifteen  or  twent\-- 
five  cents  a  ton  greater  than  you  used  to  have. 
The  prices  to  the  public  have  been  such  and  such 
for  years  and  there  is  no  need  of  change.  There¬ 
fore  give  us  the  fifteen  cents  as  our  pay  for  get¬ 
ting  out  the  coal.  We  propose  to  take  it  all.” 

Strengthening  this  demand  which  they  are  very 


Whether  it  results  merely  in  prolonged  negotia¬ 
tion,  or  whether  it  terminates  in  a  prolonged  and 
disastrous  strike  must  depend  upon  developments 
after  the  turn  of  the  year.  One  thing,  however, 
is  perfectly  apparent.  No  consumer  of  coal  can 
with  any  confidence,  assume  that  he  is  going  to 
have  a  sufficient  supply  after  the  first  of  next 
April  unless  he  begins  soon  to  arrange  for  it. 
That  after  all,  is  the  very  essence  of  the 
question :  “What  is  going  to  be  the  labor  situa¬ 
tion  next  spring?”  That  is  a  point  which  the 
operators  want  to  know  about.  It  is  a  point  that 
the  consumers  want  to  know  about.  The  facts 
considered,  it  seems  to  us  the  answer  given  is 
inevitable. 


prone  to  make,  the  miners  are  trying  to  gain  by 
force  a  monopoly  of  mine  labor  in  the  anthra¬ 
cite  field,  and  thus,  through  recognition  of  the 
union,  absorb  unto  themselves  the  results  of  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission’s  decision. 

We  have,  of  course,  no  positive  way  of  know¬ 
ing  what  the  operators  will  think  when  this  de¬ 
mand  is  made.  Those  operators  not  given  to 
discussin.g  issues  before  they  arise  or  to  dis¬ 
counting  the  future.  However,  the  opera¬ 
tors  are  disposed  to  say  that  if  they  are  to  be 
deprived  of  all  this  advantage  accruing  from  the 
Government’s  decision,  those  benefits  should  be 
equally  distributed  among  the  Government’s  sub¬ 
jects.  That  is,  the  commission  did  not  make  this 
decision  as  an  aid  to  the  miners’  union,  in  spite 
of  the  fact  that  the'  miners  have  one  of  their 
memliers  in  the  cabinet.  On  the  contrary,  if  they 
are  to  be  despoiled  by  the  Government,  the  con¬ 
sumer,  who  after  all  is  the  greater  majority  of 
America,  should  have  some  consideration  given 
to  his  claims. 

In  all  of  these  labor  disputes  the  operators 
stand  any  way  as  the  unpaid  agent  of  the  con¬ 
sumer,  resisting  the  demands  of  the  miner,  and 
the  operators  will  probably  continue  to  act  in  that 
capacity.  A  fight  which  is  going  to  be  precipi¬ 
tated  almost  surely  will  be  a  fight  of  the  public 
against  one  part  of  the  public  as  one  operator 
recently  expressed  it ;  that  small  part  of  the  pub¬ 
lic  wants  to  absorb  all  of  the  advantages  which 
the  Go-vernment  tried  to  .give  to  the  public  as  a 
whole. 

But  whatever  the  issue,  it  is  hard  to  believe 
that  the  miners  will  surrender  a  chance  to  .get 
this  ten  million  a  year  without  making  a  fight  for 
it  and  that  the  operators  will  resist  to  the  prover¬ 
bial  “last  ditch”  the  demands  of  the  Union.  There¬ 
fore  it  is  very  hard  to  believe  that  we  are  going 
to  get  through  next  spring’s  conference  in  the  an¬ 
thracite  field  without  a  great  struggle,  which  may 
develop  into  the  greatest  in  that  field.  This  is  so 
because  the  amount  involved  is  larger  than  it 
ever  has  been  before.  That  is,  ten  million  dollars 
a  year  is  quite  a  sum  to  fight  for. 

Indications  that  this  struggle  is  imminent  are 
that  such  railroads  as  the  Pennsylvania  and  New 
York  Central  are  already  storing  coal  and  that 
the  anthracite  mines  themselves  are  beginning  to 
put  stocks  in  piles,  while  the  larger  consumers  of 
anthracite  are  doing  the  same. 


New  York  Golf  Club. 


The  New  York  Coal  Trade  Golf  Association 
held  a  one-day  tournament  on  the  links  of  the 
Oakland  Golf  Club,  near  Bayside  on  Long  Island, 
on  Tuesday.  Owing  to  the  absence  of  a  great 
many  of  the  members  of  the  association  from 
the  city,  the  attendance  was  the  smallest  that 
has  yet  been  witnessed  at  any  of  the  tourna¬ 
ments.  Wallace  Eyre,  of  the  Knickerbocker  Fuel 
Company,  won  the  prize  for  the  thirty-six  hole 
medal  score  play;  C.  Law  Watkins,  of  the  Wat¬ 
kins  Coal  Company,  the  prize  for  the  kickers’ 
handicap  in  the  morning  play,  and  Marshall  Naun, 
of  the  Sterling  Coal  Company,  the  prize  for  the 
kickers’  handicap  for  the  afternoon  play. 

The  annual  two-day  fall  tournament  will  be 
held  on  the  golf  links  of  the  Seaview  Golf  Club, 
just  outside  of  Atlantic  City,  about  the  middle 
of  October.  It  is  expected  that  this  will  be  one 
of  the  biggest  tournaments  that  the  association 
has  yet  held.  It  is  anticipated  that  there  will 
be  a  very  large  attendance  of  Philadelphia  coal 
trade  golfers  at  this  tournament,  as  invitations 
have  been  presented  them  to  participate. 

J.  H.  Lumle\%  of  Peale,  Peacock  &  Kerr,  is 
one  of  the  most  recent  New  York  coal  trade 
golfers  to  join  the  association,  and  he  participated 
in  the  tournament. 


Preparing  for  a  Big  Anthracite  Strike. 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


223 


No.  13] 


Miners  Demand  20  Per  Cent  Anthracite  Increase. 


Wilkks-Rarke,  September  14. —  (St’ccidl  Carre- 
spondcnce.) — After  a  dress  rehearsal  that  has 
lasted  a  couple  of  months — in  the  shape  of 
speeches  and  the  spreading  of  the  hard  coal 
miners’  propaganda  under  the  direction  of 
President  White  of  the  United  Mine  Workers 
— the  first  of  the  play  has  been  concluded. 
This  even  might  be  taken  as  a  prologue,  for 
if  past  performances  can  be  taken  as  a  crite¬ 
rion,  there  is  plenty  of  action  to  follow. 

After  a  four  days’  session  that  lasted  through 
the  fore  part  of  last  week,  on  Friday  came 
the  nub  of  the  subject  under  discussion.  This 
is  in  the  form  of  the  demands  which  the  miners 
have  formulated  to  be  placed  before  the  coal 
operators  for  discussion. 

Several  features  of  the  demands  had  been 
anticipated.  Some  of  the  points  that  were  to 
prove  stumbling  stones  were  carefully  “cov¬ 
ered  up’’ — as  carefully  as  the  big  guns  abroad 
are  shielded.  The  demand  for  an  eight-hour 
day,  for  a  twenty  per  cent  increase,  and  for 
recognition  of  the  union,  loom  up  large  as 
obstacles  that  would  prevent  a  quick  adjudi¬ 
cation  of  the  matter  in  contention. 

These,  however,  are  not  near  the  thorns  in 
the  side  that  other  questions  that  are  envel¬ 
oped  in  the  demands.  While  there  are  ten 
points  at  issue  raised  by  the  miners  in  con¬ 
vention,  several  of  these  have  room  for  in¬ 
determinable  argument. 

List  of  Miners’  Demands 

The  full  list  of  demands  adopted  by  the 
convention  follows: 

1.  We  demand  that  the  next  contract  be 
for  a  period  of  two  years,  commencing  April 
1,  1916,  and  ending  March  31,  1918,  and  that 
the  making  of  individual  agreements  and  con¬ 
tracts  in  the  mining  of  coal  shall  be  prohib¬ 
ited. 

2.  We  demand  an  increase  of  20  per  cent  on 
all  wage  rates  now  being  paid  in  the  anthra¬ 
cite  coal  fields. 

3.  We  demand  an  eight-hour  work  day  for 
all  day  labor  employed  in  and  around  the 
mines,  the  present  rates  to  be  the  basis  upon 
which  the  advance  above  demanded  shall  ap¬ 
ply,  with  time  and  half  time  for  overtime  and 
double  time  for  Sundays  and  holidays, 

4.  We  demand  full  and  complete  recogni¬ 
tion  of  the  United  Mine  Workers  of  America 
in  districts  1,  7  and  9,  anthracite. 

5.  We  demand  a  more  simplified,  speedy 
and  satisfactory  method  of  adjusting  griev¬ 
ances, 

6.  We  demand  that  no  contract  miner  shall 
be  permitted  to  have  more  than  one  working 
place, 

7.  We  demand  that  the  selling  price  of  coal¬ 
mining  supplies  to  miners  be  fixed  on  a  more 
equitable  and  uniform  basis, 

8.  We  demand  that  wherever  coal  shall  be 
mined  on  the  car  basis,  it  shall  be_  weighed 
and  be  paid  for  on  a  mine-run  basis  by  the 
ton  of  2,240  pounds,  and  all  refuse  cleaned 
from  the  coal  (either  gobbed  or  loaded)  shall 
be  paid  for  on  at  least  an  equal  basis  as  is 
paid  for  the  coal, 

9.  We  demand  a  readjustment  of  the  ma¬ 
chine  mining  scale  to  the  extent  that  equitable 
rates  and  conditions  shall  obtain  as  a  basis 
for  this  system. 

10.  We  demand  that  the  arrangements  of 
detailed  wage  scales  and  the  settlement  of  in¬ 
ternal  questions,  both  as  regards  prices  and 
conditions,  be  referred  to  representatives  of 
the  operators  and  miners  of  each  district  to 
be  adjusted  on  an  equitable  basis. 

Make  Demands  Simple, 

From  the  moment  that  he  took  charge  of 
the  convention  on  Wednesday  until  it  closed 
on  Friday,  President  White  continually  im¬ 
pressed  on  the  delegates  and  the  various  com¬ 
mittees  that  there  was  a  world  of  meaning  in 
the  motto  “Be  Brief.”  To  this  end  he  im¬ 
pressed  them  with  the  importance  of  confining 
their  demands  only  to  those  things  that  the 
miners  insist  that  they  must  have. 

In  his  address  in  opening  the  convention 
White  said:  “This  is  an  exclusive  wage  con¬ 
vention,  and  in  canvassing  the  situation  we 
should  proceed  cautiously  and  approach  these 
problems  with  calm  deliberation.  Large  issues 
are  involved,  which  include  your  welfare  and 
likewise  the  welfare  of  the  public,  which  is  a 
great  and  important  factor  in  our  wage  ad¬ 
justments.” 

Throughout  the  whole  of  the  convention 


The  Union  Officials  Outline  Their  De¬ 
mands — The  Operators  Will  Fight  and 
Selection  of  a  New  Leader  of  the  Oper¬ 
ators  Is  Discussed. 


White  kept  a  weather  eye  on  the  actions  of 
the  committee  and  of  the  delegates  in  gen¬ 
eral,  that  there  should  be  nothing  written  into 
the  demands  that  would  in  anywise  impair  the 
opinion  of  the  general  public.  By  this  action 
he  has  shown  that  much  of  the  conferences 
that  are  to  come  may  be  expected  to  impress 
the  public  as  to  the  desirability  of  siding  with 
the  miners. 

When  the  committee  in  charge  of  the  draft¬ 
ing  of  the  demands  presented  them  to  the 
convention,  three  matters  were  brought  into 
the  limelight.  First  came  the  proposition  de¬ 
manding  recognition  of  the  union. 

Since  the  time  that  White  entered  on  his 
tour  of  the  hard  coal  regions  he  has  preached 
to  all  of  his  hearers  that  the  recognition  of 
the  union  must  be  one  of  the  questions  set¬ 
tled  at  the  time  that  a  new  agreement  is  en¬ 
tered  into.  On  this  one  demand  there  has 
been  any  number  of  statements  made  by  the 
operators  that  they  will  not  budge  one  inch 
from  the  stand  that  they  have  taken  for  the 
open  shop. 

So  far  as  the  shortening  of  the  term  of 
agreement  to  be  entered  into,  this  is  a  point 
that  has  always  been  considered  as  a  matter 
that  can  be  traded  upon.  That,  and  the  request 
for  an  increase  of  twenty  per  cent  raise  in 
wages,  are  said  to  be  the  weak  links  in  the 
chain.  Just  what  the  miners  conceive  to  be 
an  equitable  wage  adjustment  are  no  more 
shown  in  the  request  for  twenty  per  cent  more 
pay  than  if  they  had  asked  for  twice  the 
amount  they  are  now  receiving. 

Conciliation  Board, 

Clause  five  is  one  of  the  great  stumbling 
blocks.  Here  is  where  President  White 
showed  that  there  is  much  “under  the  cover” 
to  be  expected  before  there  is  an  adjustment 
of  the  question  at  issue.  P'rom  the  time  that 
the  convention  opened  it  was  a  moot  point 
as  to  how  far  the  delegates  should  proceed 
in  asking  for  a  change  in  the  adjustment  of 
grievances. 

When  this  clause  was  read  many  of  the 
delegates  rose  and  demanded  that  instead  of 
merely  demanding  a  “more  simplified,  speedy 
and  satisfactory  method  of  adjusting  griev¬ 
ances,”  a  demand  be  made  for  the  abolition 
of  the  present  conciliation  board  and  a  sub¬ 
stitute  plan  be  included  in  the  demands. 

To  these  suggestions  President  White  coun¬ 
seled  that  the  clause  be  allowed  to  stand.  He 
said  that  the  clause  was  broad  enough  to  allow 
the  negotiators  to  work  out  a  given  plan  to  be 
presented  to  the  operators  when  the  demands 
were  passed  upon.  And,  when  still  further 
pressed.  President  White  was  not  averse  to 
making  the  declaration  that  the  clause  in  no 
vyay  endorsed  the  present  system  of  arbitra¬ 
tion,  “but  it  means  the  abolition  of  the  present 
status  of  the  conciliation  board,”  were  the 
words  he  used. 

Again,  when  consideration  was  being  given 
to  the  last  clause  in  the  demands  by  the  miners 
President  White  was  given  an  opportunity  to 
forecast  the  attitude  of  the  miners  that  will 
be  taken  when  the  demands  are  submitted. 
He  put  forth  the  contention  that  wages  for 
certain  classes  of  workmen  in  certain  of  the 
fields  where  the  workings  were  different  than 
the  average,  were  purely  local  in  contention 
and  should  be  settled  by  conference  in  that 
particular  section.  “Many  of  the  inequalities 
and  difficulties  under  which  you  now  labor  will 
be  eliminated  and  when  section  10  has  the 
backing  of  your  local  union  it  will  bring  won¬ 
derful  uniformity.” 

In  conclusion,  and  in  expressing  his  hope 
that  much  of  the  plan  of  the  miners  would 
be  recognized.  President  White  said:  “We 
go  into  conference  with  the  operators  know¬ 
ing  more  about  working  conditions  than  ever 
before,  for  if  your  locals  have  done  their  duty 
we  shall  have  in  our  hands  statistics  to  prove 
every  inequality  and  condition  backed  with 
figures.  So  with  this  abundance  of  informa¬ 
tion  and  a  stronger  union,  we  shall  be  capable 
of  rejjresenting  the  anthracite  miners  in  a 
way  not  possible  before.  In  the  settlements 
of  the  past,  we  had  no  such  machinery  to  im¬ 


prove  conditions  as  you  have  now  and  will 
have  if  the  negotiations  are  successful,” 

President  White,  Secretary  William  H. 
Green  and  Vice-President  Frank  J.  Hayes 
were  named  as  the  committee  to  meet  the 
operators.  To  these  will  be  added  the  execu¬ 
tive  boards  of  the  three  district  anthracite 
organizations. 

The  letter  to  the  operators  has  been  sent 
and  suggestion  has  been  made  that  Philadel¬ 
phia  be  chosen  for  the  first  meeting  between 
the  men  and  their  employers.  At  this  meet¬ 
ing  subcommittees  will  be  given  the  task  of 
whipping  into  shape  an  agreement  as  is  satis¬ 
factory  to  the  representatives  of  the  union  and 
the  operators.  When  this  is  completed,  it 
must  again  go  before  the  miners’  delegates. 

The  Operators’  Leader. 

No  little  interest  is  evinced  in  the  person¬ 
ality  that  will  take  up  the  guiding  reins  for  the 
operators.  Quite  a  bit  of  guessing  is  being 
indulged  in  as  to  whether  or  no  the  situation 
will  create  a  new  man  to  become  the  recog¬ 
nized  head  of  the  anthracite  industry.  Since 
the  death  of  George  F.  Baer  no  one  individual¬ 
ity  has  superseded  others  in  the  conduct  of 
the  business  end  of  hard  coal  mining.  In 
some  quarters  it  is  thought  that  E.  T.  Stotes- 
bery,  the  Philadelphia  banker  and  head  of  the 
Reading  Company,  may  be  the  man  to  step 
to  the  forefront.  His  long  connection  with 
matters  appertaining  to  the  business  and  finan¬ 
cial  end  of  the  industry  would  give  him  an 
excellent  grasp  of  the  detail  that  must  be 
thoroughly  sifted  in  arriving  at  points  under 
consideration.  But  Mr.  Stotesbery  is  a  busy 
man  and  it  is  a  question  of  a  huge  sacrifice 
of  time  and  attention. 

Of  the  railroad  men  that  have  been  men¬ 
tioned  and  who  may  enter  the  limelight,  the 
names  of  Captain  May  of  the  Erie,  William 
G.  Bessler  of  the  Jersey  Central,  and  Presi¬ 
dent  Loree  of  the  D.,  L.  &  W,  have  appeared 
in  print, 

Percy  Maderia,  of  the  Maderia  Hill  Com¬ 
pany,  while  an  independent,  is  looked  upon  as 
a  man  of  large  caliber  and  one  who  might 
be  able  to  swing  the  operators’  end  to  a  satis¬ 
factory  turn.  President  Richards,  of  the  Read¬ 
ing  Coal  &  Iron  Company,  stands  high  in 
the  favor  of  the  men  and  may  be  a  factor. 

Since  the  demands  have  been  drafted  there 
has  been  a  pronounced  sentiment  shown  in  the 
anthracite  regions  that  all  speed  and  dispatch 
should  be  used  in  “clearing  the  decks  for  ac¬ 
tion.”  In  Wilkes-Barre,  the  business  men, 
acting  through  the  Chamber  of  Commerce, 
have  drafted  a  letter  to  the  miners’  officials 
and  the  representatives  of  coal  mining  con¬ 
cerns  asking  that  a  meeting  be  held  as  soon 
as  possibe,  that  general  business  be  not 
jeopardized. 


Naval  Board  Personnel. 


Secretary  Daniels  of  the  United  States  Navy 
Department,  who  recently  made  public  the  per¬ 
sonnel  of  the  new  Naval  Advisory  Board,  an¬ 
nounced  that  the  first  meeting  will  be  held  Octo¬ 
ber  6th,  and  that  Thomas  A,  Edison  will  pre¬ 
side.  In  looking  over  the  appointments  to  this 
board,  several  names  well  known  to  the  Amer¬ 
ican  coal  trade  are  found.  Among  the  members 
is  William  Lawrence  Saunders,  chairman  of  the 
Ingersoll-Rand  Company,  Mr.  Saunder’s  com¬ 
pany  for  many  years  being  prominent  in  the 
manufacture  of  air  compressors,  radialaxe  system 
of  coal  mining,  etc.  Another  membe.r  is  Spencer 
Miller,  of  the  Lid.gerwood  Manufacturing  Com¬ 
pany  of  New  York,  who  invented  the  rope  drive 
and  whose  cableways  at  the  Panama  Canal  helped 
towards  the  hasty  completion  of  that  great  water¬ 
way,  One  of  Mr.  Miller’s  recent  inventions  had 
to  do  with  the  marine  cableway  that'  makes  it 
possible  to  transship  coal  under  rapid  headway 
at  sea.  Another  of  his  inventions  having  to  do 
with  the  rapid  and  economical  transfer  of  coal, 
is  his  system  for  handling  coal  from  one  vessel 
to  another,  or  from  vessel  to  dock,  or  vice  versa, 
at  a  rapid  rate  and  with  the  use  of  fewer  men 
than  by  the  ordinary  method.  Thomas  Robins 
of  the  Robins  Conveying  Belt  Company,  has  also 
been  appointed  a  member  of  the  Naval  Advisory 
Board.  Mr.  Robins  is  the  inventor  of  numerous 
mechanical  devices,  including  the  belt  conveyor 
for  conveying  ore  and  coal,  for  which  he  was 
awarded  a  gold  medal  at  the  Paris  Exposition. 


224 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[September  18 


M.  N.  Bedford  &  Company’s  Bookkeeping  System. 


The  Black  Diamond  has  devoted  page  after 
page  to  the  subject  of  bookkeeping  systems  for 
retail  dealers.  Still  a  constant  flow  of  inquiries 
for  such  a  system  evidence  the  fact  that  there  is 
still  a  great  need  for  something  more  elastic  than 
has  been  published  and  for  something  to  fit  the 
retail  coal  trade. 

We  are  led  to  believe  that  the  many  systems 


to  the  scales,  and  is  used  as  a  check  against 
Sheet  No.  1,  and  a  memorandum  of  the  different 
teams  as  they  go  and  come  from  the  yard. 

Sheet  No.  .'t  is  the  most  essential  part  of  the 
transaction.  This  sheet  is  really  three  sheets, 
consisting  of  invoices  in  triplicate  filled  in  at  one 
writing.  These  sheets  measuring  five  and  one- 
half  by  eight  inches  in  size  are  very  effective,  as 


0  M.  N.  BEDFORD  &  CO.  ORDER  SHEET 

 Sepf.  s  loi 5 


No. 

NAME 

ADDRESS 

AMOUNT  AND  KIND 

PAID 

ORDERED  BY 

REMARKS 

1 

Alpena  Trust  Co* 

408  Main  St. 

30 

Tons  Scr.Soft 

C.O.D. 

Wm. Jones 

Straight  Delivery 

2 

J  .P. Johnston 

120  Clark  St. 

2 

"  Chestnut 

14.00 

Seef 

will  haul 

3 

E,  A. Jones 

1218  Mill  St. 

1 

"  Poca 

4.. SO 

Urs.J. 

Carry  job 

4 

Dlsinond  Foundry 

208  River  St. 

2 

"  Bloss 

Chg. 

Ryan 

Ro  chutes 

- - 

_ 

- - - 

— 

Sheet  No.  1.  Daily  Order  Sheet. 


at  the  end  of  the  month  in  making  out  accounts. 
No  second  invoice  is  sent  after  the  delivery  of 
the  first  one  with  the  load  or  mailing  it  the  day 
the  delivery  is  made. 

Use  of  this  triplicate  system  also  enables  the 
driver  to  know  just  where  he  is  going.  If  the 
bills  are  stamped  C.  O.  D.,  he  is  to  make  a  col¬ 
lection.  He  leaves  the  bill  if  it  is  a  charge  order. 

M.  N.  Bedford  &  Company  furnish  their  drivers 
with  a  neat  aluminum  binder  to  carry  these  bills, 


/Q^ 


Sheet  No.  4.  Ledger  Sheet. 


which  have  been  devised  by  account  book  manu¬ 
facturers  and  commercial  accountants  may  have 
been  practical  enou.gh  as  systems,  yet  they  have 
not  been  particularly  adapted  to  the  particular 
needs  of  the  coal  man.  In  other  words,  the  de¬ 
mands  of  the  coal  trades  are  peculiar  and  varied. 
Perhaps  no  one  system  can  fit  even  approximately 
in  several  communities. 

It  may  be  that  only  by  obtaining  and  publish- 


apparently  no  attention  is  paid  to  smaller  sized 
bills.  They  are  destroyed  or  thrown  away  in  a 
great  many  cases.  The  original  and  duplicate  in¬ 
voices  are  sent  out  with  the  load.  The  original 
copy  is  left  at  the  point  of  delivery,  and  the  du¬ 
plicate  copy  is  receipted  by  the  consumer  and 
returned  to  the  office.  At  the  end  of  the  day  this 
duplicate  copy  is  compared  with  the  third  copy 
kept  in  the  office,  and  if  any  additional  charge 


as  sometimes  as  many  as  four  different  orders 
are  on  one  load. 

The  copy  of  the  bill  signed  by  the  customer 
and  returned  to  the  office  by  the  driver  is  filed 
away  for  future  reference,  and  as  evidence  in 
case  any  dispute  should  arise  over  a  certain  order. 

Office  copies  which  are  retained  in  the  office 
are  kept  until  the  end  of  the  month,  when  t|ie 
trial  balance  is  taken  off.  These  copies  are  at- 


M.  N,  Bedford  &  Co. 


date  Sept.  B  1915 


PURCHASER 

CROSS 

TARE 

NET 

Alpena  Trust  Go 

.7500 

1500 

6000 

J.P. Johnston 

56  00 

1600 

4000 

B. A. Jones 

3120 

1120 

2000 

Ddamond  Foundry 

5800 

1800 

4000 

— 

Sheet  No.  2.  Scale  Memorandum. 


ing  a  description  of  different  systems  which  have 
lieen  devised  and  are  being  successfully  used  by 
several  coal  companies,  will  the  dealers  be  able 
to  gather  enough  ideas  to  design  a  simpler  and 
more  adaptable  system  for  their  own  use,  at  any 
rate,  that  is  what  we  propose  to  do. 

One  of  the  first  systems  which  has  come  in  is 
that  used  by  M.  N.  Bedford  &  Company  of  Al- 
liena,  Mich.  This  system  seems  to  contain  many 
characteristics  which  go  to  make  up  a  simple, 
easy  and  accurate  means  of  keeping  books  for 
coal  dealers. 

M.  N.  Bedford  &  Company  sell  to  residences, 
factories  and  to  a  marine  trade,  and  the  business 
is  practically  all  retail.  A  description  of  the  ac¬ 
counting  methods  of  this  company  is  as  follows : 

Sheet  No.  1  shown  herewith  is  a  daily  order 
sheet,  and  is  the  first  record  made  of  a  transac¬ 
tion.  It  enables  the  clerk  or  dealer  to  have  all 
the  day’s  orders  before  him,  in  such  a  way  that 
he  can  line  up  deliveries  going  in  one  direction. 
This  company  uses  horses  only  for  delivery  pur¬ 
poses,  and  found  this  form  of  order  sheet  an 
advantage  over  the  ordinary  order  book  in  which 
order  entries  are  usually  scattered  and  very  in¬ 
complete.  When  the  orders  are  all  filled,  these 
order  sheets  are  filed  away  in  a  binder  for  future 
reference. 

Sheet  No.  2  shown  herewith  is  the  second  part 
of  a  transaction,  and  is  just  a  memo  pad  attached 


M.  N.  BEDFORD  &  COMPANY 

...DCALEJ^S  IN... 

HARD  anc!  SOFT  COAL 


TTIEPHONE  220. 

Sold  to 
Street _ 


N? 


Alpena.  Mich. 


r 


DO  NOT  DESTKOY  THIS  DILI. 


1.2170. 


To  ^ooo  Lbs.  Soft  Coal 

PER  T. 

AMT. 

“  "  “  Lump  Coal 

“  “  Egg 

“  “  Stove  " 

"  Nut 

“  “  Pocahontas  “ 

“  *'  Blacksmith  “ 

“  “  Slack  " 

.  ..  _ 

— - 

— 

“  Carrying 

- 

Received  by 

Total 

oo 

a 

Delivered  by  / 

WE  DO  NOT  ITEMIZE  ACAIN 


Sheet  No.  3.  Invoices  in  Triplicate. 

or  change  is  noted  on  the  duplicate  copy,  the  of¬ 
fice  copy  is  accordingly  corrected. 

In  some  cases  the  original  invoice  is  not  left 
with  the  customer,  but  brought  back  to  the  office 
and  mailed  direct  to  the  buyer  (when  it  is  a  charge 
sale)  so  that  he  will  get  the  invoice  personally. 
The  boy  or  lady  at  the  home  does  not  always 
give  the  delivered  bills  to  the  purchaser,  but 
usually  hang  them  up  somewhere  and  forget  all 
about  them. 

Through  the  use  of  this  system  the  company 
knows  at  the  end  of  each  day  that  each  cus¬ 
tomer  has  his  bill,  thus  avoiding  a  lot  of  trouble 


Sheet  No.  5.  Statement  Blank. 


tached  to  the  monthly  statements  in  case  any  of 
the  bills  for  the  month’s  charges  have  been  lost. 

Sheet  No.  4  is  an  excellent  ledger  sheet  for 
the  coal  man.  It  permits  the  keeping  of  a  large 
number  of  entries  on  one  sheet.  The  reader  will 
note  that  the  charge  refers  to  the  invoice  num¬ 
ber  only,  as  each  invoice  contains  all  the  neces¬ 
sary  information,  and  no  itemizing  is  necessary. 

Statement  Sheet  No.  5  just  shows  the  invoice 
number.  Where  a  customer  buys  considerable 
coal  during  a  month,  office  copies  of  the  invoices 
are  attached  to  the  statement  for  debtors  to 
check. 

Sheet  No.  6  shows  the  Coal  Sales  Record  Book 
used  by  M.  N.  Bedford  &  Company.  There  are 
twenty-four  columns  and  it  contains  a  record  of 
every  sale  made  during  the  month,  at  the  end 
of  which  time  the  totals  are  posted  to  their 
proper  accounts  in  the  ledger.  The  reader  will 
note  that  this  company  carries  a  separate  hard, 
soft,  Pocahontas  and  Blacksmith  coal  account. 
M.  N.  Bedford  &  Company  have  found  it  just  as 
convenient  to  keep  these  accounts  separate,  and 
to  know  at  all  times  on  which  coal  they  are  mak¬ 
ing  or  losing  money.  The  cash  sales  are  put 
through  the  cash  book  at  the  end  of  the  month, 
and  the  charge  sales  journalized. 

Sheet  No.  7  is  a  sheet  from  the  summary 
book.  This  book  is  for  weights  and  totals  of 
charge  and  cash  sales. 


GOAL  SALES  RECORD 

CARTAGE  CHGES 

EGO 

s  T  0  V  E 

NOT 

SOFT  IpOCAHONTAS 

BLOSS 

Hd  Sft  PnC  Ble  1915 

T1(A 

Qa 

lb 

Tlc\. 

Wt. 

C  h| 

;e 

CSE 

h 

'Ic't 

Wt. 

Chp 

9 

Ca 

jh 

TIcM 

Wt. 

Oh, 

59 

Ca 

ih 

I’lc't 

Wt. 

Ch( 

;e 

Cas 

1 

Tic' 

.  Wt. 

Chg 

8* 

b 

00 

1.50 

Sep  6 

12170 

6000 

12 

00 

1.99 

.75 

5 

L2171 

4000 

14 

30 

.75 

100 

5 

12 IX 

2000 

4 

6  0 

4 

50 

1.® 

5 

12  IT 

4000 

ID 

00 

1£0 

.75 

1.00 

Sheet  No.  6.  Coal  Sales  Record. 


No.  12] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


225 


A  coal  purchase  record  shown  by  Sheet  No.  S 
is  also  contained  in  the  summary  book,  enabling 
the  clerk  or  dealer  to  obtain  the  information 
he  desires  under  one  cover.  At  the  end  of  the 
season  or  year,  the  different  amounts  of  coal  are 


totaled  and  checked  against  the  amounts  of  coal 
sold  and  stock  on  hand,  to  see  if  it  reasonably 
checks  with  the  inventory. 

All  letters  of  M.  N.  Bedford  &  Company  are 
copied  in  an  impression  book ;  this  with  their 
bookkeeping  system  gives  them  a  complete  and 


the  parties  doing  their  own  hauling.  Credit  is  al¬ 
lowed  at  the  rate  of  fifty  cents  per  ton  ordinary 
delivery  and  twenty-five  cents  a  ton  for  any  carry¬ 
ing  job.  M.  N.  Bedford  &  Company  has  one 
firm  doing  all  their  delivering. 


Summary. 

Certainly  there  is  much  in  the  above  system 
that  could  be  advantageously  used  in  the  system 
of  any  retail  coal  dealer  everywhere.  In  the  hope 
of  securing  as  many  different  systems  as  possible, 
we  ask  that  every  dealer,  whether  or  not  a  sub¬ 
scriber  of  The  Black  Diamond,  to  send  in  sheets 


or  pencil  sketches  of  the  system  and  books  he 
is  using. 

Through  the  co-operation  of  the  dealers,  we 
are  confident  that  we  will  arrive  at  a  system  by 
far  simpler  and  more  adaptable  to  retail  coal 
business  than  any  yet  devised.  To  do  this,  the 
cooperation  of  retailers  is  necessary. 


clear  shaft.  Obviously,  therefore,  the  resist¬ 
ance  of  the  smooth  experimental  gallery  is 
vastly  less  than  that  of  the  normal  mine  road 
and  less  than  that  of  the  experimental  mine 
employed  in  the  American  investigations. 

It  is  not  surprising,  therefore,  to  now  dis¬ 
cover  that  the  “one  to  one”  mixture  of  stone 
dust  and  coal  dust  found  sufficient  for  safety 
at  Eckmeals  is,  according  to  Mr.  Rice,  usually 
found  inadequate  for  the  same  purpose  in  an 
actual  mine.  It  is  not  necessary  to  ask  whether 
the  dust  and  the  gas  at  Pittsburgh  are  more 
sensitive  than  ours;  it  is  sufficient  to  recognize 
that  the  American  conditions  were  more  se¬ 
vere  and  more  nearly  like  those  which  obtaiA 
in  the  normal  mine  itself. 

The  object  of  our  experimental  stations  is 
not,  as  the  Home  Office  staff  appear  to  im¬ 
agine  and  as  Dr.  Wheeler  actually  stated  at 
the  institution  meeting,  to  prosecute  the  “ar¬ 
duous  investigation  of  the  phenomena  of  pure 
coal  dust  explosions,”  if  by  that  expression 
Dr.  Wheeler  means,  as  seems  evident  from  the 
context,  explosions  free  from  complicated  con¬ 
ditions.  Those  comparatively  simple  phenom¬ 
ena  can  be  predicted  from  theory  alone.  No 
one  questions  the  standard  theory  of  chemis¬ 
try,  and  the  Eskmeals  reports  have  so  far  told 
us  little  about  “pure  coal  dust  explosions” 


which  might  not  have  been  taken  from  granted 
at  the  very  outset.  The  real  object  of  those 
costly  installations — if  the  authorities  can  be 
brought  to  understand  it — is  not  so  much 
concerned  with  chemistry  of  pure  coal  dust 
explosions  under  simple  conditions.  It  is  prin¬ 
cipally  concerned  with  the  physical  conditions 
which  surround  the  complicated  case  of  the 
mine  explosion.  Those  conditions  can  never 
be  found  in  a  smooth  steel  tube.  They  may  be 
more  or  less  approximated  to  by  erecting  a 
few  posts  or  placing  an  annular  flange  within 
the  tube,  but  they  cannot  be  duplicated  by  any 
such  crude  methods.  The  rugged  perimeters 
and  jagged  surfaces  must  be  reproduced  as 
they  exist  in  the  average  roadways  and  rami¬ 
fications  of  the  normal  iuine.  The  recognition 
of  that  fact  by  the  American  Bureau  of  Mines 
accounts  for  the  bewildering  contradictions 
which  Mr.  Rice’s  account  throws  at  Eskmeals, 
where  the  fact  was  overlooked.  And,  in  our 
judgment,  the  recognition  by  the  American 
bureau  of  that  vital  fact  endows  their  pub¬ 
lished  results  with  great  authority.  Other¬ 
wise,  there  is  little  essential  difference  be¬ 
tween  the  results  recorded  from  America  on 
the  one  side  and  from  Europe  on  the  other. 

ff’hc  “tentative  point  of  view”  held  by  the 
American  Bureau  of  Mines  as  to  the  nature  of 
the  shock  wave  following  the  discharge  of  the 
cannon  may,  however,  assist  the  reader  to 
more  clearly  understand  the  philosophy  of  the 
so-called  retonation  waves,  which,  it  appears, 
is  still  a  mystery  to  some  enquirers,  although 
the  “kick”  of  a  rifle  is  explained  by  the  same 
principle.  Tlie  retonation  wave,  in  our  view, 
is  simply  the  resultant  of  two  opposite  forces, 
one,  that  of  the  shock  wave  due  to  the  firing 
of  the  cannon,  and  the  other  due  to  the  back 
pressjire  of  the  exploding  material,  which, 
like  any  other  explosive,  exerts  equal  force  in 
all  directions,  including  that  pointing  back  to 
the  seat  of  origin.  As  Mr.  Rice  himself  says, 
though  he  fails  to  make  the  application,  “If  the 
pressure  of  an  explosion  does  not  materially 
rise  in  its  course,  retonation  waves  are  not 
detected.”  Of  course  not;  retonation  cannot 
occur  until  the  back  pressure  of  the  advancing 
explosion  exceeds  the  opposite  pressure  of  the 
original  shock  wave  initiated  by  the  firing  of 
the  cannon. 

Prom  the  Iron  and  Coal  Trade  Rctnew  of  Lon 
don. 


New  Consolidation  Plants. 


The  Consolidation  Coal  Company  of  Fairmont, 
W.  Va.,  has  appointed  the  Allen  &  Garcia  Com¬ 
pany,  Chicago,  Ill.,  constructing  engineers,  in 
charge  of  the  design  and  construction  of  the 
tippits  and  screens,  and  also  electrification  of  the 
two  new  mines  being  sunk  by  the  coal  company 
at  Helen’s  Run,  West  Virginia. 

These  two  mines  will  have  duplicate  equipment 
and  are  being  designed  for  an  average  output  of 
4,000  tons  per  day.  The  shafts  are  to  be  curbed 
with  concrete  from  surface  to  sump,  with  steel 
buntons,  guides,  etc.  The  tipples  are  to  be  thor¬ 
oughly  modern  with  balanced  shaker  screens, 
Lenix  drive,  apron  feeders,  picking  table,  load¬ 
ing  booms,  etc.,  and  the  tower  is  the  well-known 
“A.  &  G.,”  “three-legged”  type.  The  mines  will 
be  electrically  operated,  the  power  furnished  by 
the  coal  company  from  their  large  station  located 
about  four  miles,  from  the  mines  and  delivered 
at  the  mine  at  22,000  volts  stepped  down  to  2,300. 

The  hoists  at  the  main  shafts  are  to  be  Ilgner 
type  with  Ward-Leonard  control  and  cylindro- 
conical  drums.  The  air  shaft  hoists  are  to  be 
steam  operated  because  of  the  necessity  of  using 
steam  to  drive  the  fans  and  thereby  secure  ex¬ 
haust  steam  to  humidify  the  air  at  the  down  cast. 

The  air  shaft  at  each  mine  is  to  be  equipped 
with  two  duplicate  independent  fans  to  insure 
continuity  of  air  supply  and  guard  against  break¬ 
down.  There  will  also  be  steel  towers  at  air  shaft 
and  cage  for  men  and  material. 

The  shafts  are  now  down  about  200  feet,  with 
300  feet  to  go  and  it  is  expected  to  begin  erec¬ 
tion  of  the  surface  plants  early  in  the  spring,  but 
the  Allen  &  Garcia  Company  will  probably  have 
the  desi.gns  and  specifications  ready  for  bids  late 
in  the  fall.  The  two  new  mines  will  cost  close 
to  a  million  dollars,  and  with  their  modern  equii)- 
ment  designed  for  efficiency,  permanence,  strength 
and  perfect  preparation  of  coal,  will  be  examples 
of  the  best  type  of  modern  American  coal  mines. 

E.  A.  Fellows,  formerly  with  the  Great  Lakes 
Coal  &  Dock  Company,  has  become  identified 
with  George  M.  Space  &  Son,  Lumber  Exchange, 
Minneapolis. 


>  GOAL  PURGUASE  REGORD  1915 


HARD 

DATE 

FROM 

KIND 

VIA 

I'OHS 

PR. 

AMOUNT 

?R.RT. 

AMT. 

INS 

PAID 

Apr.l 

U.S.Goal  Go 

Egg 

STR 

MAT 

700 

5.90 

4830.00 

.60 

350. 0( 

laoo 

Apr. 10 

SOFT 

AprlO 

Amer.Coal  Cc 

54 

Alpena 

700 

2.75 

1925.00 

.60 

420. QC 

2.5C 

1  Apr. 10 

POCA, 

Juni 

Poca  CoalGo 

Lp 

Pa .Gar 
41850 

40 

2.25 

90.00 

2.. 35 

94S)0 

June  10 

BLOSS 

Jun6 

Bloss  Goal  U5 

M.R. 

Pa. Gar 
L08150 

40 

1.95 

78.00 

2,25 

94 .0( 

)  --- 

June  10 

Sheet  No.  8.  Coal  Purchase  Record. 


correct  record  of  every  transaction  made  and 
any  correspondence  regarding  it. 

The  reader  will  note  that  on  the  cartage  ac¬ 
count,  the  charge  against  each  ticket  is  extended 
against  the  proper  account,  and  at  the  end  of 
the  month  each  column  totaled  and  charged  to 
respective  accounts  and  credited  off  in  total  to 


The  American  Coal  Dust  Investigations 


The  account,  given  by  Mr.  George  Rice  of 
the  American  coal  dusL  investigations  in  his 
paper  read  before  the  institution  of  Mining 
Engineers,  of  which  an  abstract  appeared  in 
our  last  issue,  is  of  unusual  importance.  It 
recounts  experimental  results  which,  for  the 
first  time,  we  believe,  have  been  obtained  un¬ 
der  conditions  which  duplicate  those  of  the 
actual  commercial  mine.  Without  disparaging 
the  excellent  work  done,  first  at  Altofts  and 
then  at  Eskmeals,  in  experimental  galleries,  it 
is  manifest  that  the  long,  straight,  smooth 
passage  of  the  experimental  gallery  furnishes 
very  different  conditions  from  those  afforded 
by  the  rugged  perimeters  and  constantly  vary¬ 
ing  cross-sections  observed  in  any  considerable 
length  of  normal  mine  road. 

It  is  remarkable  that  this  defect  in  our  own 
costly  experimental  stations  has  not  been 
more  clearly  perceived  and  more  loudly  con¬ 
demned  by  men  who  claim  to  be  at  once 
practical  and  scientific.  It  is  remarkable  be¬ 
cause  it  has  long  been  recognized  that  the 
violence  of  a  so-called  dust  explosion  increases 
with  the  resistance  it  finds  in  its  path,  owing 
to  the  increase  of  pressure  thus  generated. 
It  is  also  common  knowledge  that  the  resistive 
force  of  friction  in  a  rough  mine  road  is  many 
times  greater  than  that  found  in  a  smooth. 


S  D  M  M  A  R  T 


226 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[Sc])tcml)er  18 


August  Anthracite  Shipments. 


PiiiLADELi’HiA,  SeplemlxT  Hi. —  In  August  the 
anthracite  shipments  were  tii!'  tons,  as  com¬ 
pared  with  tons  in  same  mouth  last  year, 

a  decrease  of  laiJ.itlii  tons.  I'or  the  eight  months 
ended  August  I! I,  lt)l.'),  the  shipments  were  41,- 
S(i(),:j4()  tons,  as  against  4:i,s:'l,:!8‘) 
corresponding  period  of  1914, 

91)1, 049  tons. 

The  report  of  the  anthracite  bureau  of  infor¬ 
mation  is  as  follows :  , 

lluckwlieat  No.  t 
aiul  I.arger  Sizes. 


tons  in  the 
decrease  of  1,- 


Pliila.  it  keading  k.  \V 
Leliigh  Valley  k.  k.... 
C'eiitral  k.  k.  of  N.  J 
Dela.,  l.acka.  it  W.  k. 
Ilela.  S:  Hudson  Co... 
Pennsylvania  k.  k... 

Erie  k.  k . 

N.  V..  O.  &  VV.  k.  W 


k.. 


Pliila.  S.'  keading  k.  W . 

Leliigli  N'alley  k.  k . 

Central  k.  k.  of  N.  J . 

Dela.,  l.acka.  it  \V.  k.  k . 

Dela.  it  Hudson  Co . 

Pennsylvania  k.  k . 

Erie  k.  k . 

N.  Y.,  O.  it  VV,  k.  W . 


Pliila.  &  keading  k.  W 
Eeliigli  Valley  k.  k... 
Central  k.  k.  of  N.  J.. 
Dela.,  l.acka.  S:  VV.  k. 
Dela.  it  Hudson  Co..., 

Pennsylvania  k.  k . 

Erie  k.  k . 

N.  Y.,  ().  it  VV.  k.  VV. 


K..  .  . 


Pliila.  it  Reading  k.  VV. 
Leliigli  Valley  k.  k.... 
Central  k.  k.  of  N,  J.. 
Dela.,  l.acka.  it  VV.  k. 
I)ela.  &  Hudson  Co.... 

Pennsylvania  k.  k . 

Erie  k.  k . 

N.  Y.,  O.  it  VV.  k.  VV.. 


Phila.  it 


Central  k.  k.  ot  N.  .1.... 
Dela.,  l.acka.  it  VV.  k.  k.. 

Dela.  it  Hudson  Co . 

Pennsylvania  k.  k . 

Erie  k.  k . 

N.  Y.,  O.  it  VV.  k.  VV - 


VV.. 


k. 


Pliila.  it  keading  k. 
Leliigli  V'alley  k.  k.. 
Central  k.  k.  of  N.  j. 
Dela.,  l.acka.  it  VV.  k. 

Dela.  it  Hudson  Co . 

Pennsylavnia  k.  k . 

Erie  k.  k . 

N.  Y.,  ().  it  VV.  k.  VV... 


August, 

August, 

1915. 

1914. 

721,013 

790,372 

913,913 

958,790 

494,841 

514,473 

714,047 

089,938 

r)99,29S 

530,224 

354,087 

431,943 

r)72,0.)S 

000,817 

120,751 

170,714 

.  4,491,208 

4,093,277 

Sizes 

Below 

Huckwheal  No.  1. 

August, 

August, 

1915. 

1914. 

125,049 

114,271 

115,808 

120,370 

118,880 

122,994 

145,321 

129,910 

131,839 

88,838 

72,131 

65,636 

118,759 

133,533 

11,230 

14,908 

839,023 

790,400 

Total  Shipments. 

August, 

August. 

1915. 

1914. 

847,202 

904,043 

.  1,029,721 

1,079,172 

013,721 

037,407 

859,308 

819,848 

731,137 

619,002 

420,818 

497,579 

690,817 

734,350 

131,987 

191,022 

5,483,743 

Buckwlieat  No.  1 

and  Larger  Sizes. 

Year. 

Year. 

191.5. 

1914. 

0,220,271 

0,785,488 

7,518,800 

7,445,248 

4,137,282 

4,703,052 

5,007.228 

5,200,928 

4,471 ,565 

4,038,731 

3,193,077 

3,581,049 

4,294,380 

4,507,011 

1,193,528 

1,377,004 

.30,030,143 

37,759,711 

Sizes 

Below 

Buckwheat  No.  1 

Year. 

Year. 

1915. 

1914. 

879,816 

982,708 

835,374 

815,224 

.,  873,280 

972,393 

903,523 

1,044,197 

761,167 

007,888 

573,245 

539,778 

803,523 

874,567 

134,209 

164,863 

.  5,824,197 

6,061,678 

Total  .Shipments. 

Year. 

Year. 

1915. 

1914. 

.  7,100,087 

7,708,250 

.  8,354,180 

8,200,472 

5,735,443 

.  5,970,751 

0,245,125 

.  5,232,732 

4,700,619 

4,121,427 

5,441,578 

.  1,327,797 

1,542,467 

.41,800,340 

43,821,389 

Coal  on  Hand  at  Tidewater  Sliimiing  Ports — 

August  31,  191.5 . (iS.S.tSe  tons 

July  31,  1915 . (>3(>,384  tons 

increase  .  17,112  tons 


France’s  Coal  Shortage. 


In  a  recent  issue  of  the  Kaihvay  Age  Gazette, 
Walter  S.  Hiatt,  a  special  Huropean  correspond¬ 
ent,  analyzes  the  coal  situation  of  Europe  and 
comes  to  the  conclusion  that  .American  coal  will 
ultimately  ease  the  coal  shortage  of  h'rance.  Mr. 
Hiatt  believes  that  this  will  happen  despite  the 
high  cost  of  ocean  transportation,  and  will  also 
have  the  effect  of  keeping  down  prices  of  coal 
in  Europe. 

Mr.  Hiatt  iioints  out  that  llelgium  normally 
iiroduces  20,000, OOP  tons  of  coal  annually,  which 
is  more  than  enough  for  home  consumption. 
France  normally  produces  40,000,000  tons  of  coal, 
hut  consumes  (iO, 000, 000.  The  coal  which  repre¬ 
sents  here  excess  of  consumption  over  produc¬ 
tion  normally  conies  from  the  English  and  Bel¬ 


gian  coal  fields.  .At  the  present  time  all  the 
coal  du.g  in  Belgium  is  mined  c.xclusively  for  the 
Herman  interests,  and  b'rance’s  proiluction  he- 
cause  of  (ierman  occupation  of  the  mines  in 
northern  h'rance,  has  been  cut  to  20,000,000  tons. 
Wbere  h'rance  will  get  the  40,000,000  tons  of  coal 
which  constitute  her  shortage  this  year  is  the 
(luestion  which  is  worrying  the  Frenchman  as 
winter  draws  near. 

The  same  grade  of  coal  which  costs  .American 
interests  $1!  a  ton,  Mr.  Hiatt  points  out,  is  cost¬ 
ing  the  h'rench  railroads  $10  to  $12  a  ton.  The 
French  railroads  are  using  twice  as  much  coal 
in  war  times  as  in  ordinarj’  times.  They  will  not 
be  the  first  sufferers  in  the  coal  famine  which 
is  facing  the  continent.  The  jirivate  consumers, 
who  at  present  are  unahle  to  .get  deliveries  at 
any  price,  will  he  the  sufferers,  Mr.  Hiatt  says. 
The  general  effect  of  the  European  coal  famine 
may  be  felt  in  this  country,  too. 

'fhe  situation  is  thus  summarized  by  Mr.  Hiatt; 

“With  the  war  expected  to  last  until  next  year, 
the  coal  shortage  in  Europe  is  going  to  be  a  dis¬ 
tressing  subject  this  winter.  It  means  that  the 
railroads  will  have  a  hard  time  because  of  the 
increased  cost  of  coal ;  it  means  that  many  fam¬ 
ilies  will  have  to  go  without  heat ;  it  means  that 
coal  may  be  sli.ghtly  higher  in  price  in  the  United 
States  if  the  American  coal  merchants  are  able 
to  deliver  all  the  coal  they  have  contracted  to 
deliver  in  Europe.  If  .American  railroad  terminal 
methods  and  machinery  for  handling  coal  ra])idly 
and  in  large  quantities  existed  at  Italian  and 
I'rench  ports,  .American  coal  merchants  would 
this  year  sell  upward  of  ,)0,000,000  tons.” 

Italy  and  Russia  will  also  be  sufferers  as  a  re¬ 
sult  of  the  shortage,  Mr.  Hiatt  says.  Of  all  the 
countries  at  war,  England,  Germany  and  .Austria 
alone  will  be  unaffected  to  any  pressing  degree. 
Italy  produces  little  coal  and  Russia  produces  30,- 
000,000  tons.  Germany’s  average  annual  pro¬ 
duction  is  200,000,000.  She  will  produce  enou.gh 
for  home  consumption,  but  will  not  approximate 
the  average  figures.  .Austria’s  production  will  be 
sufficient  for  home  consumption. 

“The  railroads  of  Germany  certainly  will  not 
suffer  in  their  war  activities  from  lack  of  coal,” 
says  the  article,  “since  they  consume  in  normal 
times  but  slightly  over  41,000,000  tons  per  year. 
The  increased  consumption  of  coal  due  to  the 
intricate  war  movements  of  trains  will  not  raise 
this  figure  to  more  than  2.5,000,000.  In  Russia, 


however,  which  because  of  the  blockaded  seas, 
has  been  forced  to  bring  its  imports  of  all  kinds 
of  war  materials  from  the  Far  East  on  the  Si¬ 
berian  Railroad,  the  coal  (piestion  will  further 
hamper  the  railroads,  which  have  been  working 
none  too  smootbly. 

“The  situation  in  h'rance  is  typical  of  many 
'European  countries.  While  h'rance  has  of  course, 
all  the  seas  open  to  her,  to  date  she  has  been 
unable  to  imijort  or  obtain  at  reasonable  prices 
the  quantity  of  coal  required  either  for  her  rail¬ 
roads  or  for  her  civil  population.  .As  early  as 
last  December  coal  for  domestic  uses  almost 
doubled  in  jjrice,  goin.g  from  $(>  to  $11  a  ton, 
and  the  majority  of  families  went  without  heat 
rather  than  pay  the  extra  price.  The  railroads 
were  not  seriously  hampered  in  this  respect  be¬ 
cause  of  supplies  on  hand,  and  the  situation  was 
eased  somewhat  later  in  the  winter  by  English 
imports. 

“The  h'rench  railroads  normally  consume 
aljout  fifteen  per  cent,  or  nearly  9, (KlO, ()()()  tons 
of  the  total  of  (lo.ooo, ()()()  required  each  year  in 
h'rance.  The  other  eighty-five  per  cent  is  nor¬ 
mally  distributed  as  follows:  Private  use,  twenty 
per  cent;  industries  and  manufactures,  twenty- 
ci.ght  and  six-tenths  per  cent;  gas  factories,  seven 
and  one-half  per  cent;  mine  industries,  eight  and 
nine-tenths  jier  cent ;  metal  factories,  seventeen 
and  nine-tenths  per  cent ;  tugboats,  canal  barges 
and  ships,  two  and  one-fifth  per  cent.  This  year 
the  railroads  will  consume  about  twice  the  normal 
(piantity  because  of  the  necessity  of  rapid  quick 
movements  of  troops  which  require  more  than 
the  normal  number  of  engines,  either  attached 
to  trains  or  else  always  held  in  readiness  for 
unexpected  movements. 

“In  this  connection,  as  a  curious  fact  worthy 
of  note,  I  counted  one  day  recently  in  the  Paris 
yards  of  the  Western  railroad  no  less  than  forty- 
five  locomotives,  with  steam  up  and  merely  held 
in  reserve.  While  a  German  attack  on  Paris,  or 
even  a  general  movement  to  break  through  the 
lines  of  trenches  fifty  miles  from  Paris,  is  no 
longer  plausible,  the  military  authorities  are  to¬ 
day  ready  for  any  emergency.  For  this  reason 
they  hohl  in  reserve  an  army  at  Paris  variously 
estimated  at  from  100, 000  to  300,000  men,  ready 
either  to  defend  Paris  proper  or  to  be  launched 
rapidly  out  of  Paris  on  a  few  hours'  notice  to 
any  part  of  the  trench  line  that  may  be  over¬ 
whelmed.” 


Ohio  Rate  Situation  Is  Perplexing. 


Coi.UMiiUS,  Ohio,  September  15. —  {Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — Ohio  operators  who  are  behind 
the  case  now  pendin.g  before  the  State  Utilities 
Commission  to  secure  a  reduction  on  intrastate 
freight  rates  on  coal  profess  skepticism  on  the 
new  attitude  of  the  railroads.  The  announcement 
made  a  few  days  ago  by  M.  J.  Caples,  vice-presi¬ 
dent  of  the  Chesapeake  &  Ohio,  that  the  differ¬ 
ential  between  the  Ohio  and  West  A^irginia  coal 
will  be  voluntarily  increased  from  twenty-five  to 
forty  cents  a  ton  by  the  railroads,  it  is  claimed, 
is  a  .grand-stand  play.  The  group  of  operators 
in  question  say  the  move  has  no  other  purpose 
than  to  confuse  the  issue  now  before  the  com¬ 
mission.  They  state  further  that  the  fight  for 
state  regulation  of  rates  will  go  on  regardless 
of  such  influence. 

“The  railroads  are  insincere  in  this  action,” 
states  a  prominent  Hocking  operator.  “'I'he  pro¬ 
posal  to  increase  the  differential  by  raising  West 
Virginia  rates  instead  of  lowering  those  of  Ohio 
is  an  expedient  of  their  original  attitude  to  take 
the  ciuestion  out  of  the  hands  of  the  state  au¬ 
thorities  and  pass  it  up  to  the  Interstate  Com¬ 
merce  Commission.  They  know  that  any  attempt 
to  raise  rates  will  bring  them  in  conflict  with 
that  tribunal,  and  that  the  West  A'irginia  op¬ 
erators  will  fi.ght  the  matter  to  the  bitter  end. 
It  was  foreseen  by  the  railroads,  when  the  an¬ 
nouncement  was  made,  that  West  Virginia  would 
enjoin,  as  the  producers  of  that  state  are  pre¬ 
paring  to  do,  according  to  word  received  from 
Charleston.  The  new  rates,  even  if  allowed  to 
stand  by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission, 
could  not  be  ratified  under  a  year  or  two,  by 
wbicb  time  the  present  spirit  of  fight  would  he 
taken  out  of  the  Ohio  operators,  in  the  view 
of  the  railroads. 

“Moreover,  the  issue  before  the  Ohio  Utilities 
Commission  is  not  alone  for  an  increase  of  dif¬ 
ferential,  but  the  lowering  of  coal  rates.  They 
are  too  high,  and  are  working  injury  to  the 
industrial  develo])ment  of  the  state.  The  real 
point  is  that  if  the  Hockiag  Valley  railroad  has 


found  it  profitable  for  years  to  haul  West  Vir¬ 
ginia  coal  across  the  state  to  Toledo  at  the  ex¬ 
isting  rate  for  that  service,  it  should  he  made 
to  give  Ohio  coal  the  same  haul  at  a  like  rate, 
or  somewhere  near  it,  instead  of  charging  a  dou¬ 
ble  rate  for  the  latter.  This  should  logically  come 
by  lowering  Ohio  rates.  After  the  ruthless  dis¬ 
crimination  in  the  past,  it  is  not  reasonalile  to 
believe  that  the  railroads  have  suddenly  become 
conscience-stricken  over  unfair  differentials  to  the 
extent  that  they  would  voluntarily  seek  to  adjust 
same.  The  real  fact  of  the  matter  is  that  the 
Supreme  Court  decision  of  a  few  months  a.go 
upholding  the  authority  of  the  Ohio  Public  Util¬ 
ities  Commission  to  regulate  freight  rates  within 
the  state  has  given  Ohio  operators  an  effective 
weapon  for  self-defense.  I'he  railroads  realize 
this,  and  may  be  expected  to  employ  every  form 
of  subterfuge  to  stave  off  the  inevitable.” 

On  the  other  hand,  some  local  operators  are 
inclined  to  look  upon  the  action  of  the  railroads 
as  having  been  taken  in  good  faith,  althou.gh  it 
is  felt  that  the  differential  should  he  fifty,  instead 
of  forty,  cents,  ft  is  believed  that  under  the 
most  favorable  circumstances,  providing  the  new 
rate  should  not  he  enjoined,  the  change  could 
not  he  effected  on  lake  coal  until  about  the  first 
of  January.  The  Interstate  Commerce  regulations 
forbid  changes  of  through  coal  rates  during  the 
lake  season.  The  announcement  of  the  advance 
of  West  Virginia  coal  rates  on  tonnage  carried 
by  Ohio  roads  came  after  a  conference  of  rail¬ 
road  men  at  Washington,  D.  C.,  which  was  at¬ 
tended  by  Mr.  Caples.  His  headquarters  are  at 
the  general  offices  of  the  Hocking  Valley  railroad 
in  this  city. 

The  corps  of  experts  appointed  by  the  Ohio 
Utilities  Commission  to  .go  into  the  records  of 
this  carrier  for  data  bearing  upon  the  Lhiited 
Mine  Workers’  case  against  the  railroads,  with 
the  Sunday  Creek  Company  as  intervening  plaint¬ 
iff,  are  still  at  work  and  will  he  ready  for  the  re¬ 
sumption  of  the  hearing  on  October  5. 


227 


No;  12 


American  Coal  in  the  Canaries. 


(Consul  (leorge  K.  Stiles,  Teneriffe,  Canary  Islands, 
July  27.) 

The  war  has  thrown  open  to  American  pro¬ 
ducers  of  the  finer  .grades  of  Ininker  coal  two 
of  the  greatest  coaling  stations  of  the  .Atlantic — 
Tenerifife  and  Las  Palmas,  Canary  Islands.  Coal 
to  the  value  of  $.'),47.-),()()0  was  supplied  by  the 
Canary  Islands  to  ocean  traffic  during  1914,  and, 
despite  the  reduction  in  the  world’s  commercial 
tonnage,  the  present  year  is  reported^  by  coal 
dealers  to  have  shown  little  falling  off. 

llefore  the  war  American  coal  exporters  found 
it  impracticable  to  make  any  entry  into  this 
trade.  Only  during  the  existence  of  serious  coal 
strikes  in  England  have  car.goes  of  Arnerican 
coal  been  brought  here  from  time  to  time  to 
supply  the  temporary  lack  of  British-produced 
coal. 

This  year  the  increasing  difficulty  m  securing 
Cardiff  and  Durham  coal  has  enabled  enterpris¬ 
ing  -American  export  houses  to  send  here  a  num¬ 
ber  of  cargoes  of  high-class  steam  coal.  This 
coal  is  reported  to  have  .given  perfectt  satisfac¬ 
tion,  but  thus  far  the  big  buyer  still  persists 
in  the  attitude  of  considering  American  coal  as 
available  in  the  Canaries  only  for  emergency  use. 
It  will  be  necessary,  then,  for  -American  pro¬ 
ducers  to  make  unusual  efforts  to  secure  a  per¬ 
manent  hold  on  this  trade. 

Full  practical  details  of  a  minute  character 
are  essential  for  an  intelligent  effort,  but  it  is 
e.'iually  necessary  that  American  coal  exporters 
should  primarily  understand  that  the  English 
mine  owners  are  financially  interested  in  the  local 
firms.  Usually  dealers  here  are  mere  departments 
of  London  firms,  with  coaling  branches  in  many 
parts  of  the  world.  These  London  firms  are 
either  mine  owners  or  closely  affiliated  with  such 
enterprises. 

It  may  prove  necessary,  therefore,  to  secure 
direct  representation  of  -American  firms  in  Ten¬ 
eriffe  and  Las  Palmas  before  -American  coal  vvill 
be  given  a  fair  chance  to  show  its  superiority 
at  the  same  prices  asked  for  British  coal. 

Even  without  such  thoroughgoing  methods 
there  now  exists  the  opportunity  to  export  Amer¬ 
ican  bunker  coal  here.  The  contract  price  of 
coal  at  this  time  last  year  was  $7..')0  per  ton  for 
the  high  class  Cardiff  article.  This  coal  is  now 
bringing  $14. .')(),  and  dealers  admit  that  the  pros¬ 
pects  are  rather  for  an  increase  than  a  decrease 
in  prices. 

Under  such  circumstances  -American  bunker 
coal  can  be  laid  down  in  Canary  Island  ports  at 
an  undoubted  advantage  over  the  Welsh  article. 
.As  a  result,  approximately  .50,000  tons  of  this  coal 
were  imported  during  the  first  six  months  of 
l!)l.'),  at  a  saving  (so  I  am  informed  by  the  man¬ 
ager  of  the  company  importin.g  most  of  it)  of 
ai)out  $1  per  ton  as  compared  with  the  British 
product. 

This  represents  approximately  twenty  per  cent 
of  the  coal  imports  into  the  Canaries  for  the 
first  half  of  1915.  -As  against  an  importation 
of  absolutely  no  -American  coal  in  1914,  it  shows 
strikingly  what  a  consistent  comprehensive  effort 
could  bring  forth  for  the  exporters  of  the  United 
States. 

The  following  practical  details  of  port  condi¬ 
tions.  methods  of  transferring  cargoes,  port 
changes,  customary  credit  terms,  etc.,  will  enable 
exporters  to  figure  on  the  best  methods  to  em¬ 
ploy  in  going  after  this  traffic. 

The  coal  tonnage  imported  into  Teneriffe  dur¬ 
ing  1914,  according  to  combined  estimates  of 
the  larger  dealers,  was  2:19,000  lon.g  tons ;  that 
of  Las  Palmas  was  somewhat  larger,  being  esti¬ 
mated  at  271,000  long  tons. 

Both  Teneriffe  ami  Las  Palmas  are  deep-water 
ports,  the  depth  in  Teneriffe  Harbor  ranging 
from  twenty  fathoms  up,  while  at  Las  Palmas 
the  depth  is  far  greater  than  is  necessary  for 
tile  lar.gest  steamers  known. 

Cargoes  range  from  2,000  to  7,000  tons,  and 
other  than  full  cargoes  are  rarely  received  here, 
exceiit  a  few  shipments  of  gas  coal  for  the 
use  of  the  Teneriffe  and  Las  Palmas  gas  com¬ 
panies,  which  buy  occasional  small  lots.  -Anthra¬ 
cite  is  also  occasionally  purchased,  but  the  trade 
is  comparatively  unimportant,  being  estimated  at 
less  than  five  per  cent  of  the  entire  traffic.  Coke 
is  nractically  never  imported  into  this  market. 

The  unusual  manner  of  unloatling  coal  cargoes 
is  to  have  the  coal  shoveled  into  sacks  weighing 
about  200  pounds  each.  These  arc  transferred 
to  lighters  by  the  derricks  of  the  collier  at  the 
rate  of  five  sacks  to  each  shift  of  the  derrick, 
or  aoproximatelv  one-half  ton  to  each  movement 
of  the  crane.  The  ordinary  rate  of  unloading  is 


THE  BEACK  DIAMOND. 


250  tons  per  day,  but  as  high  as  000  tons  per 
day  have  been  unloaded.  This  could  lie  doubled 
by  night  shifts  if  exporters  desired  to  economize 
the  time  of  the  collier’s  charter. 

-All  coal  in  Teneriffe  and  Las  Palmas  is  un¬ 
loaded  into  lighters,  and  exporters  should  liase 
their  prices  on  contracts  requiring  them  merely 
to  deliver  their  cargoes  into  lighters.  The  local 
dealers  all  maintain  large  forces  of  men  to 
unload  and  handle  the  coal  they  purchase,  and  a 
section  of  the  port  is  occupied  by  scores  of 
lighters  for  this  service. 

The  storage  depots  on  shore  at  Teneriffe  ap¬ 
proximate  between  60,000  and  70,000  tons,  and 
practically  the  same  is  possessed  by  the  coaling 
firms  at  Las  Palmas. 

Foreign  or  -American  colliers  are  used  indiffer¬ 
ently  in  the  trade,  hut  the  lack  of  this  class  of 
vessels  fiying  the  -American  Hag  is  shown  by  the 
fact  that  only  one  such  has  visited  the  Canary 
Islands  during  the  first  half  of  1915. 

Freight  charges  for  collier  service  from  Eng¬ 
land  before  the  war  were  about  10s  (.i;2.4.3)  per 
ton,  but  have  not  more  titan  doubled.  As  high 
as  28s  ($6.86)  per  ton  was  paid  between  Cardiff 
and  Las  Palmas  early  this  year,  but  offers  at  20s 
($4.89)  were  reported  last  month. 

Local  prices  on  the  open  market  were  quoted 
at  $14  early  in  June,  and  by  the  middle  of  July 
had  risen  to  $14.50.  These  prices  are  c.  i.  f.  at 
the  Canary  Islands. 

The  larger  houses  here  are,  as  previously  indi¬ 
cated,  actually  branch  houses  of  London  firms 
and  know  little  of  the  credit  terms  obtained  by 
their  buying  representatives,  who  should  be  ad¬ 
dressed  in  the  central  offices  in  England.  No 
-American  firm  has  any  branch  office  (so  far  as 
can  he  learned)  in  either  Teneriffe  or  Las  Palmas, 
but  one  special  brand  of  well-known  American 
steam  coal  is  said  to  be  represented  in  Las  Palmas 
l)y  a  British  firm,  which  has  imported  much  of 
the  -American  coal  bought  during  the  present 
year. 


Fewer  Mine  Accidents. 

Harrisburg,  Pa.,  March  16. — Fatal  accidents  in 
the  bituminous  coal  field  in  1914  showed  a  de¬ 
crease  of  thirty-two  per  cent,  according  to  a  sum¬ 
mary  of  reports  just  issued  by  the  State  De¬ 
partment  of  Mines,  the  number  last  year  being 
41.3  as  compared  with  611  the  previous  year. 

According  to  the  official  figures  the  production 
of  soft  coal  last  year  was  145,884,530  or  27,081,129 
less  than  in  1912,  the  number  of  employes  last  year 


being  195,929  against  189,090  in  1913.  The  amount 
of  coal  produced  per  fatal  accident  last  year  was 
353,207  tons  against  a  rate  of  283,086  tons  in  1913, 
while  the  fatalities  per  thousand  employes  last 
year  was  2.10  against  3.22  in  1913. 

Fatalities  in  the  bituminous  fields  were  less  last 
year  than  in  any  year  since  1897,  which  is  at¬ 
tributed  at  the  department  to  closer  supervision 
exercised  by  State  inspectors  and  the  operation 
of  the  soft  coal  mine  code  adopted  in  1911. 

Details  of  the  summary  show  that  the  acci¬ 
dents  from  falls  of  rock  and  car  accidents 
amounted  to  84.96  per  cent  and  a  special  effort  to 
reduce  these  classes  of  accidents  has  been  ordered 
by  Chief  Roderick,  mine  foremen,  superintendents 
and  inspectors  being  ordered  to  enforce  the  most 
stringent  rules  and  to  secure  discipline  among 
the  men.  The  percentage  of  fatalities  from  falls 
of  rock,  coal,  roof,  slate,  etc.,  was  61.21,  while 
from  cars  23.75,  from  gas,  dust  explosions  and 
suffocation  2.11,  by  electrical  accidents  6.33  and 
all  other  causes  6.60. 


Daniel  Willard,  president  of  the  Baltimore  & 
Ohio  Railroad,  was  in  New  York  on  Tuesday, 
and  gave  out  the  following  statement ;  “All  our 
cars  are  in  use  for  the  first  time  in  two  years — 
since  the  fall  of  1913.  Our  traffic  has  increased 
.gradually  for  the  last  four  or  five  months  above 
preceding  months,  and  for  the  last  two  months 
has  been  ahead  of  a  year  ago,  but  not  ahead 
of  two  years  ago.  Agricultural  conditions 
throughout  the  B.  &  O.  territory  all  seem  to  be 
fully  up  to,  if  not  above,  the  average  for  this 
season  of  the  year,  and  the  outlook  in  that  direc¬ 
tion  is  good.  The  ore  movement  from  the  lakes 
is  heavy,  stimulated,  of  course,  by  the  renewed 
activity  in  the  steel  business.  1  am  optimistic — 
within  reasonable  bounds.” 


The  differential  between  the  eastern  Ohio  coal 
rate  and  that  of  West  Virginia,  under  the  propo¬ 
sition  made  by  the  railroads  recently,  is  thirty 
cents.  Operators  and  shippers  say  that  there 
should  be  a  general  differential  of  forty  cents 
to  bring  about  an  equality.  If  the  increase  is  not 
sufficient  to  enable  the  Ohio  operators  to  put 
their  coal  on  the  market  on  a  Itasis  of  equality 
with  that  of  West  Virginia,  nothing  is  accom¬ 
plished  by  tbe  change,  they  say.  Should  the 
differential  he  one  cent  a  ton  too  small,  it  had 
just  as  well  be  more  as  far  as  tbe  results  are 
concerned.  Tbe  increase  to  this  market  will  be 
aliout  five  cents  a  ton,  whereas  it  should  be  be¬ 
tween  ten  and  fifteen  cents  to  accomplish  the 
purpose  desired  by  the  producers. 


Coal  and  Coke  Movements. 


The  Department  of  Commerce,  through  the  Bureau  of  Foreign  and  Domestic  Commerce 
at  Washington,  has  just  issued  the  following  statement  of  tbe  movement  of  coal  and  coke 
over  thirteen  leading  Eastern  railroads  during  J 
and  1915; 


Class  and  Railroads — Antliracite — 

B.  &  O..  (a) . 

C.  &  O.  (a) . 

F-ric  ( b  I . 

Pennsylvania  (a,  c) . 

I'irginian  (a,  b) . 


Total,  ')  roads. 
Bituminous — 

B.  &  O.  (a) . 

B..  K.  &  P.  (a,  b). 

B.  &  Susci.  (a,  b) .  . 

C.  &  ().  ‘(a) . 

“  (c). 


F- 

II.  &  B  T.  M,  (a,  b). 

N.  V.  C.  R.  R.  (Buffalo  and  East)  (b). 


Fennsvlvania  (a.  c) . 
P.  L.  E.  (a.  b)... 
P.,  .S.  &  N.  (a.  b). 
Virginian  (a,  b) .  .  .  . 
Western  Maryland.. 


Total,  13  roads .  13 

Coke — 

B.  &  ().  (a) . 

B.,  R.  S:  P.  (a,  b) . 

B.  and  Snsii.  (a,  b) . 

C.  &  ().  (a) . 

N.  &  W.  (a,  b) . 

Pennsvlvania  (a.  c) . 

P.  S:  L,  E.  (a,  b) . 

Western  Maryland . 


Total,  8  roads. 


Total.  Coal  and  Coke,  13  Roads — 


Total.  G  montlis . . 

(a)  Includes  coal  received  from  connecting  lines. 

coal  bauled  free.  ...  .  , 

NOTE. — Tbe  Southern  Railway  Inuiled  231.712  short  tons  of  bitutninous  coal  during  May,  1!)1.',  and  1,328,51() 
short  tons  during  the  five  months  ending  May  31,  liH.). 


:  and  six 

months  ending  June 

:J(),  11)14 

Tu  ne - 

0  Months  En 

ding  Tune  30. 

1914. 

1915. 

1914. 

1915. 

— Short  Ton?. — 

— Short  Tons. — 

78,019 

79,700 

711,784 

090,594 

1,()(>9 

1.358 

7,893 

6,348 

820,750 

770,200 

4,468,839 

4.196,731 

8.55,247 

843,053 

5,054,277 

5,423,467 

84 

136 

342 

1,701,775 

1.700,437 

10,842,929 

10,233,462 

2,517,909 

3.051,305 

10,234,037 

14,781,587 

552,867 

022,873 

3,802,002 

3.635,333 

70, ,537 

72.647 

561,309 

510,470 

1,822.962 

2,024,639 

9,072,008 

10,118,0)6 

7,443 

5,340 

40.120 

50,068 

02,410 

00,151 

528,035 

459,927 

004.937 

(>83,077 

3,023,543 

4,184,311 

2,31.5,950 

2,713,277 

12,516,321 

13,761,153 

3,897,544 

3,004,703 

23,555,182 

20,261,777 

975.158 

998.200 

5,457,907 

4,337,45.3 

181.711 

102,400 

1,196,520 

1,002,139 

321,181 

301,932 

2,027,720 

1,898,071 

225,057 

260,653 

1,520,849 

1,604.677 

13,555,078 

14,627,803 

81,104,759 

7.’). 000, 228 

298,237 

329,130 

1.839,801 

1,0’>7.001 

24,207 

34,264 

142,001 

201,007 

35,294 

4  9,. 5 15 

164.803 

293,728 

29,392 

22.791 

207,755 

1  10.044 

87,921 

77,528 

580,008 

444,294 

793,463 

990.4  70 

5,227,385 

4.998,919 

394,508 

440,120 

2,69.5,577 

2,237.1.56 

4,001 

4.097 

38,505 

21,586 

1.007,023 

1,953,837 

10,895,658 

9,933,795 

.  .  IS. 157.998 

1.5,685,798 

.  .  15.446,830 

13,702,789 

.  .  20,233.213 

1  4.943.124 

.  .  15,497,444 

10,070.049 

.  .  H«.r>-^3  385 

I7.149.#*«« 

.  .  16.984,476 

18.282,077 

.  102. 84  3. 3  16 

95,833.50-) 

(b)  includes  company’s  coal.  (c)  Does  not  include  company’s 


22S 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


Pennsylvania  Car  Situation 


Phii.abei.phia,  September  16. — {Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — With  the  car  shortage  that  was 
noted  a  couple  of  weeks  ago  in  the  Central  Penn¬ 
sylvania  district  there  has  been  considerable  at¬ 
tention — more,  in  fact,  than  for  a  year  iiast — 
paid  to  the  coal  carrying  facilities  within  this 


state. 

Of  [irincipal  interest  was  the  report  that  came 
from  Pittsburgh  of  a  change  in  the  distrilnition 
of  the  coal  zones  of  this  state.  Late  last  week 
these  zones  were  offered  by  the  Pennsylvania 
railroad  to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission 
as  a  means  of  equalizing  several  of  the  rates  that 
have  been  in  force  and  have  been  a  bone  of  con¬ 
tention  among  the  operators.  Herewith  are  shown 
the  various  changes  that  have  been  offered  by  this 
company  and  which  the  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission  have  taken  under  advisement. 

Zone  one  would  comprise  the  Huntingdon, 
Broad  Top,  Tyrone,  Clearfield  and  Snow  Shoe 
sections  and  the  operations  on  the  main  line  to 
and  including  those  at  Gallatzin. 

Zone  two  would  extend  from  Gallatzin  to 
Derry  on  the  main  line  and  include  the  Indiana 
branch. 

Zone  three  would  extend  from  Derry  to  Jean¬ 
nette  and  include  all  mines  now  rated  as  local 
to  Latrobe  and  Greensburg  and  probably  the  mines 
between  Blairsville  and  Kiskiminetas  Junction. 

Zone  four  would  extend  from  Jeannette  to  Pitts¬ 
burgh  and  comprise  all  the  mines  on  the  Monon- 
gahela  division  and  east  of  the  Allegheny  river 
and  as  far  north  as  Kiskiminetas  Junction. 

Zone  five  would  extend  from  Pittsburgh  down 
the  Ohio  river  and  include  the  operations  of  the 
Panhandle  section,  together  with  those  on  the 
west  side  of  the  Allegheny  river  as  far  north  as 
Kiskiminetas  Junction. 

For  zone  one  eastward  to  Philadelphia  $1.3,5  per 
gross  ton  f.  o.  b.  vessel,  the  commercial  rate  to 
the  same  point  to  be  $1.60;  zone  two  eastbound 
rates  to  be  ten  cents  in  excess  of  those  of  zone 
one ;  zone  three  eastbound  rates  to  be  twenty 
cents  in  excess  of  the  basing  rates ;  namely,  those 
of  zone  one;  zone  four  eastbound  rates  to  rise 
forty  cents,  while  for  zone  five  the  raise  shall  be 
forty  cents  on  eastbound  shipments. 

Except  in  the  case  of  zone  four  there  is  little 
change  in  the  rates  as  they  now  apply,  the  big 
feature  being  in  the  definition  and  the  straighten¬ 
ing  of  the  zones. 

On  the  Pennsylvania  railroad  orders  have  been 
given  to  put  every  shop  car  into  repair  and  place 
them  on  the  lines  as  soon  as  possible.  At  the 
end  of  the  first  week  of  this  month  there  were 
16,663  cars  in  the  shops  undergoing  repairs. 
These  figures  are  for  the  lines  east  of  Pittsburgh. 
The  report  of  January  4  of  this  year  showed  that 
there  were  30,968  cars  idle  in  the  shops.  In  the 
fall  of  1912  was  the  last  acute  car  shortage  on 
the  Pennsylvania  lines  east  of  Pittsburgh.  It  is 
said  that  the  coal  storage  by  this  road  was  also 
for  the  purpose  of  releasing  as  many  coal  cars  as 
possible  from  the  actual  service  of  the  company. 
With  a  large  number  of  new  cars  that  have  been 
built  during  the  present  year  the  equipment  will 
be  in  better  shape  in  the  volume  than  it  was  at 
that  time.  Just  what  the  increase  in  available 
cars  are  in  round  numbers  has  not  been  disclosed, 
however. 

Another  set  of  striking  figures  on  the  cpal 
movement  at  the  present  time  is  furnished  by  the 
monthly  bulletin  of  the  railway  association.  Fol¬ 
lowing  are  the  figures  showing  the  actual  number 
'  of  idle  coal  cars  in  this  country  as  of  the  report 
of  September  1.  It  shows  that  the  largest  num¬ 
ber  are  now  out  on  the  tracks  that  has  been 
reported  since  October  of  last  year. 


Ttate 

Sept.  1,  1915. 
Aug.  1,  1915.. 
July  1,  1915.. 
Tune  1,  1915. . 
May  1,  1915.. 
April  1,  1915. 
March  1.  1915 
Feb.  1,  1915.. 
Nov.  1,  1914.. 
Oct.  1,  1914.. 
Sept.  1,  1914. 


Number  of 
idle  coal-cars 
.37,587 
74,074 
83,541 
.  105,779 

.  119,415 

.  145,030 

.  158,279 

.  133,99!) 

04.345 
37,224 
40,075 


National  Coal  Associaiton. 


Announcement  is  made  by  James  A.  Ballard 
of  Detroit,  Michigan,  president  of  the  National 
Coal  Association,  of  the  appointment  of  several 
committees  who  will  have  general  charge  of  the 
respective  departments  for  that  organization. 

Practical  work  has  already  been  inaugurated 
by  the  National  Coal  Association.  Two  leaflets 


have  so  far  been  issued  for  general  distribution 
one  on  “The  Cause  of  Smaller  Profits,”  and  the 
other  on  “The  Jobbers’  Cost  of  Doing  Business,” 
while  three  others  are  now  in  the  hands  of  the 
printers.  One  of  these  relates  the  harmful  effects 
of  price-cutting  to  all  concerned,  another  gives 
the  unreasonable  demands  to  be  presented  by  the 
anthracite  miners  to  the  operators  next  April, 
while  the  title  of  the  third  is  “Why  it  Pays  Re¬ 
tailers  to  Know  Their  Costs.” 

The  personnel  of  the  committees  so  far  ap¬ 
pointed  are  as  follows : 

.STANDARD  SYSTE.M  OF  ACCOUNTING 

H.  L.  -Sbepard  of  Sbepard  &  Ilutcbison,  coal  trade  ac¬ 
countants,  Chicago,  ebairman. 

A.  J.  Moorsbead,  president,  Madison  Coal  Corporation, 
St.  Douis,  Mo.  (mining). 

Homer  1).  Jones,  manager.  Western  F'nel  Company, 
C  hicago,  HI.  (retail). 

George  E.  Hutebison  of  Sbepard  &  Hntcbi.son,  coal 
trade  accountants,  Chicago  (wholesale). 

J.  G.  Tattersall,  president,  Pennsylvania  Retail  Coal 
Merchants’  Association,  Trenton,  N.  J. 

J.  R.  Reetam,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

COST  OF  HANDI.ING  COAL 

J.  R.  Mansbeld,  Chicago,  III.,  chairman. 

r.  P.  Rryan,  secretary,  Gray-Rryan-Sweeney  Coal  Com¬ 
pany,  Kansas  City,  Mo. 

Robert  J.  Webster  of  Webster-IIarvey,  Ltd.,  London, 
Ontario. 

G.  U.  Kierstead,  City  Coal  Company,  Hartford,  Conn. 

C.  L.  Moore,  Kankakee,  Ill. 

^  F.  A.  Dawes,  president.  Western  F'nel  Association, 
Spokane,  Wash. 

EDUCATIONAL  COMMITTEE 

Sydney  A.  Hale,  Western  representative.  Coal  Trade 
Journal,  Chicago,  HI.,  chairman. 

George  H.  Cooper,  Fittsheld,  Mass. 

J.  R.  Williams,  Knoxville,  Tenn. 

W.  C.  Adams,  G.  S.  A.,  Alabama  F'nel  &  Iron  Com¬ 
pany,  Birmingham,  Ala. 

(F.  M.  Callander,  Painesville,  Ohio. 

C.  Frank  Williamson,  Media,  Pa. 

LECTURE  BURFIAU 

W  illiam  A.  Clark,  Northampton,  Mass.,  president.  New 
England  Coal  Dealers’  Association,  chairman. 

F'enwick  C.  Atwill,  president,  Atwill-Makemson  Coal 
&  Coke  Company,  Chicago. 

(Fharles  K.  Scull,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Charles  F.  Kerchner,  president.  Hall  Bros.  S:  Co.,  Ralli- 
inore,  Md. 

J.  Arthur  Strunk,  Reading,  Pa. 

Arch  Coleman,  president.  City  FTiel  Company,  Minne¬ 
apolis,  Minn. 

D.  L.  Tuttle,  sales  agent,  P.  &  R.  Coal  &  Iron  Com¬ 
pany,  Buffalo,  N.  Y. 

PRESS  AND  PUBLICITY 

George  H.  Cushing,  Chicago,  Illinois  editor.  The  Black 
Diamond,  chairman. 

F'.  W.  Saward,  New  York  City,  general  manager.  Coal 
Trade  Journal. 

I.  C.  Cuvellier,  Minneapolis,  Minn.,  editor.  The  Coal 
Dealer. 

H.  J.  Straub,  Pittsburg,  Pa.,  editor.  The  Coal  Trade 
Bulletin. 

A.  J.  Casey,  Chicago,  Illinois  editor,  American  Coal 
Journal. 

A.  T.  Shurick,  New  York  City,  representing  The  Coal 
Age. 

LOCAL  ORGANIZATIONS 

H.  C.  McKinney  of  Midland  Coal  Company,  Kansas 
City,  Mo.,  chairman. 

B.  F.  Nigh,  secretary,  Michigan,  Ohio,  Indiana  Coal 
Association  Columbus,  Ohio. 

H.  L.  Laird,  secretary.  Northwest  Trafhc  Bureau, 
Minneapolis,  Minn. 

I.  Tv.  Runyan,  secretary,  Illinois  and  Wisconsin  Retail 
Coal  Dealers’  Association,  Chicago,  Ill. 

Wellington  M.  Bertolet,  secretary,  Pennsylvania  Re¬ 
tail  Coal  Merchants’  Association,  Reading,  Fa. 


Susquehanna  Changes. 


New  York,  N.  Y.,  September  16. —  (Special 
Telegram.) — George  H.  Bresset  has  resigned  as 
New  York  sales  manager  of  the  Susquehanna 
Coal  Company,  which  position  he  has  filled  since 
this  company  began  business. 

He  is  succeeded  by  Walter  Peterson,  who  until 
recently  was  with  the  Staples  Coal  Company.  Mr. 
Peterson  has  had  a  long  association  with  the 
Susquehanna  Coal  Company  and  the  selling  or- 
.ganizations  that  it  succeeded.  He  began  his  coal 
career  with  the  Franklin  Coal  Company,  which 
was  afterwards  taken  over  by  Stickney,  Conyng- 
ham  &  Co.  When  this  firm  was  succeeded  by  the 
Susquehanna  Coal  Company,  he  went  to  the 
Philadelphia  office,  later  going  with  Pittsburgh 
Coal  Company  at  Pittsburgh,  where  he  remained 
five  years.  He  then  came  east  and  has  been  con¬ 
nected  with  the  Staples  Coal  Company  until  his 
present  appointment. 


^  F.  J.  Milholland,  general  sales  manager  of  the 
Clyde  Coal  Cornpany,  is  renewing  his  youth  at 
his  former  home  in  Carrey,  Ohio,  on  a  vacation 
trip.  Mr.  Milholland  will  visit  lake  points  in  the 
interest  of  his  company  before  returning  to 
Pittsburgh. 


On  Thursday  workers  on  coal  iiiers  at  Eliza- 
Iiethport  and  Port  Johnston  went  on  a  strike, 
tying  up  these  piers,  which  handle  anthracite  al¬ 
most  exclusively. 


[September  18 


Virginia  Retail  Association. 


The  organization  of  a  Retail  Coal  Dealers’  As¬ 
sociation  in  Virginia  was  recently  brought  about 
at  a  meeting  held  at  Lynchburg,  Va.,  on  July  21, 
which  over  fifty  dealers  from  different  sections  of 
the  state  attended. 

Officers  elected  for  the  first  year  are  as  fol¬ 
lows:  J.  H.  Hill,  Norfolk,  president;  F.  S. 
Diuguid,  Lynchburg,  first  vice-president ;  R.  L. 
Peerman,  Danville,  second  vice-president,  and  H. 
W.  Harris,  Roanoke,  secretary  and  treasurer.  A 
photograph  of  Mr.  Harris  is  shown  herewith. 

The  interest  and  enthusiasm  displayed  at  the 
first  meeting  vouches  for  the  success  of  the  as¬ 
sociation  in  the  future,  and  that  no  doubt  this 
association  will  prove  the  means  of  accomplish¬ 


ing  many  benefits  for  the  coal  dealers  in  this 
state. 

The  declarations  of  purpose  as  adapted  by  the 
association  is  as  follows : 

‘We  realize  the  necessity  of  the  retail  coal 
dealer  in  every  community  and  we  are  inter¬ 
ested  in  the  promotion  of  the  general  welfare  and 
the  perpetuation  of  the  retail  coal  business. 

“We  recognize  the  right  of  every  person,  part¬ 
nership,  or  corporation  to  establish  and  maintain 
as  many  retail  yards  as  he,  they  or  it  may  see  fit. 

“We  recognize  the  right  of  the  mine  owner, 
wholesaler  and  shipper  to  sell  coal  in  whatever 
market,  to  whatever  purchaser,  and  at  whatever 
price  they  see  fit. 

“We  also  recognize  the  disastrous  consequences 
which  result  to  the  legitimate  retail  coal  dealer 
from  direct  competition  with  wholesalers  and 
shippers  and  we  appreciate  the  importance  to  the 
retail  dealer  of  accurate  information  as  to  the 
nature  and  extent  of  such  competition  where  any 
exists. 

‘■Recognizing  and  appreciating  the  advantage  of 
co-operation  in  securing  and  disseminating  any 
and  all  proper  information  for  our  mutual  con¬ 
venience,  benefit  and  protection,  we  have  organ¬ 
ized  this  association  and  have  adopted  the  fol¬ 
lowing  articles  for  the  government  of  our  affairs.” 

Norfolk  was  selected  as  the  next  meeting  place, 
which  meeting  will  be  held  in  July,  1916. 


Baltimore  and  Ohio  Car  Shortage. 


In  speaking  of  the  present  condition  and  fu¬ 
ture  outlook  for  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio,  Presi¬ 
dent  Daniel  Willard  in  an  interview  on  September 
15th  said:  “Our  August  tonnage  of  all  kinds 
was  about  ten  per  cent  ahead  of  a  year  ago. 
So  far  September  continues  to  show  improve¬ 
ment.  While  coal  traffic  is  .good,  the  gains  are 
not  confined  to  coal,  but  are  spread  over  a  wide 
range  of  commodities.  Our  surplus  cars  have 
now  all  been  drawn  into  use.  We  had  a  shortage 
of  100  coal  cars  on  the  entire  system.  That  is 
insignificant  as  shortage,  but  it  represents  a  de¬ 
cided  change  from  the  time  when  a  shipper  who 
asked  for  one  car  was  quickly  given  five  in  the 
hope  that  he  might  be  induced  to  load  two.  Pas¬ 
senger  traffic  is  still  off,  but  passenger  revenue 
for  August  may  not  look  so  bad  when  the  final 
figures  are  made  up  as  that  item  did  previously.” 


No.  12] 


229 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


Salesmanship — and  the  Salesman. 

The  real  salesman  will  find  opportunity  to 
demonstrate  his  ability,  no  matter  how  unprom¬ 
ising  the  work  in  which  he  is  engaged. 

Not  long  ago  the  writer  was  passing  a  Greek 
shoe-shining  emporium,  wearing  a  pair  of  new 
tan  shoes. 

“Get  ’em  shined  before  they  spot?”  suggested 
the  swarthy  “spieler”  standing  at  the  entrance. 

This  was  an  example  of  real  salesmanship,  be¬ 
cause  it  produced  an  argument  in  favor  of  using 
the  service  at  that  particular  moment.  And  yet 
some  coal  men  say  that  the  only  way  to  sell  their 
product  is  to  make  the  lowest  possible  price ! 

At  the  same  time  one  must  sympathize  with 
the  feelings  of  the  business  man  who  uses  all  of 
the  artifices  at  his  command,  only  to  find  that 
they  fall  flat.  The  situation  suggests  the  story 
of  the  baker  who  was  chided  for  not  using  better 
methods  in  selling  his  goods. 

“What’s  the  use?”  he  said  sadly.  “You  tell 
’em  you’ve  got  mince,  peach,  currant,  custard, 
apple  and  lemon  pie — and  they  always  end  up  by 
taking  apple.  What’s  the  use  of  talking  about 
the  rest?” 

Maybe  it’s  that  way  with  coal — only  one  argu¬ 
ment  will  deliver  the  goods. 


Looking  Ahead  a  Bit. 

A  coal  dealer  who  recently  had  occasion  to  in¬ 
stall  a  new  set  of  scales  was  not  content  merely 
to  replace  the  old  equipment,  though  he  planned 
to  continue  using  animal  power  in  handling  his 
coal.  Instead,  he  looked  ahead  a  few  years,  came 
to  the  conclusion  that  ultimately  all  of  the  mem¬ 
bers  of  the  trade  would  be  using  motor  trucks, 
and  ordered  scales  sufficiently  large  to  take  care 
of  any  that  he  might  install.  The  new  equipment 
is  18  feet  long  and  9  wide — ample  for  the  biggest 
trucks  there  are — and  its  capacity  is  15  tons. 

“This  is  far  beyond  our  needs  at  the  present 
time,”  he  said,  “but  it  won’t  be  many  years  be¬ 
fore  the  scales  will  be  needed  in  their  present 
capacity.  Of  course,  I  might  have  saved  a  little 
money  now  by  using  smaller  ones,  but  inasmuch 
as  I  would  probably  have  to  throw  them  out  in  a 
few  years,  at  considerable  loss,  I  came  to  the 
conclusion  that  I  had  better  anticipate  my  re¬ 
quirements  to  the  extent  of  installing  scales  big 
enough  to  handle  motor  trucks  as  well  as  wagons.” 

In  the  same  connection,  this  dealer,  who  oper¬ 
ates  his  own  blacksmith  shop,  is  having  the  black¬ 
smith  study  up  somewhat  on  the  design  of  motor 
trucks.  He  plans  to  have  him  look  after  repairs 
on  this  equipment,  when  it  is  installed,  and  he 
wants  him  to  be  preparing  to  take  care  of  the 
maintenance  of  the  machines  without  having  as 
much  difficulty  as  an  absolutely  “new  beginner” 
would. 

This  ability  to  look  aliead  and  plan  for  the  fu¬ 
ture,  incidentally,  is  what  distinguishes  the  big 
and  successful  business  man  from  the  mere 
plodder. 


The  Dirty  Coal  Yard. 

-A  good  many  retailers  seem  to  believe  that  a 
coal  yard  is  necessarily  dusty  and  dirty.  Conse¬ 
quently  they  allow  things  to  go  as  they  please, 
and  take  little  or  no  interest  in  efforts  to  im¬ 
prove  conditions.  Their  attitude  is  simply  to  grin 
and  hear  it,  because  it  is  something  that  can’t  lie 
helped.  This  idea  is  shown  not  only  in  the  con¬ 
dition  of  the  yard  itself,  but  the  office.  Usually 
the  building  is  shabby  and  ill-kept;  the  interior 
grimy  and  unprepossessing,  and  the  general  ap¬ 


pearance  far  from  attractive.  The  office  and  yard 
may  be  far  from  the  haunts  of  the  customers  of 
the  concern,  and  so  may  not  reflect  discredit  on 
the  company  from  their  standpoint;  but  how 
about  its  effect  on  those  connected  with  the  busi¬ 
ness? 

The  man  who  goes  about  a  coal-yard  which  is 
so  thick  with  dust — or  mud,  depending  on  the 
weather — that  it  comes  up  to  his  ankles,  is  con¬ 
stantly  fighting  the  conditions  under  which  he  is 
working.  He  is  like  the  man  down  in  a  caisson, 
digging  a  foundation  for  a  bridge :  he  is  doing  his 
work,  but  it  is  under  just  as  favorable  condi¬ 
tions  as  possible.  Office  men  are  not  improved, 
either  in  ability  or  disposition,  by  having  to  work 
in  the  dirt  all  the  time,  and  the  appearance  of 
statements  and  advertising  matter  sent  out  from 
an  office  overlaid  with  dust  is  seldom  as  good 
as  it  might  be. 

Now,  ideal  conditions  in  respect  to  cleanliness 
are  perhaps  impossible  of  attainment  in  a  coal¬ 
yard,  especially  one  handling  soft  coal,  which  is 
the  sort  the  writer  has  in  mind.  But  undoubtedly 
they  can  be  greatly  improved,  as  compared  with 
the  average  yard.  All  it  takes  is  a  little  thought, 
a  little  effort  and  a  lot  of  respect  for  one’s  self 
and  the  business. 

Take  for  instance  the  matter  of  dust.  This 
can  be  got  away  from  to  a  large  extent  by  pav¬ 
ing  the  yard.  Such  an  operation  need  not  be 
excessively  costly.  Second-hand  paving  blocks 
can  be  obtained  from  contractors  or  the  local 
municipal  authorities.  Old  blocks  can  be  laid  with 
the  worn  side  down,  and  when  they  are  laid  in 
cement  grouting,  a  splendid  and  permanent  pave¬ 
ment,  susceptible  of  being  kept  clean,  results. 
And  this  cleanliness  also  helps  in  enabling  the 
wagons  to  get  about  the  yard  with  a  minimum  of 
effort  on  the  part  of  the  livestock,  which  is  not 
the  case  when  the  roads  are  of  dirt,  and  become 
deep  with  mud  during  the  winter  season. 

The  street  in  front  of  the  yard  is  usually  al¬ 
lowed  to  get  dirtier  than  necessary.  This  is  be¬ 
cause  the  coalman  is  so  accustomed  to  seeing  the 
yard  that  the  street  presents  no  contrast.  One 
coal  dealer  decided  recently  that  as  long  as  he 
was  helping  to  support  the  street-cleaning  de¬ 
partment,  his  concern  might  as  well  get  some  of 
the  benefit.  He  “rode”  the  local  authorities  until 
they  put  a  crew  at  work  cleaning  the  street.  It 
was  the  first  time,  investigation  showed,  in  two 
years!  Industries  similar  to  coal-yards,  and  care¬ 
less  of  appearances,  occupied  the  remainder  of  the 
district,  and  the  city  authorities,  who,  like  other 
people,  follow  the  line  of  least  resistance,  used 
their  crews  in  other  sections  where  their  services 
were  demanded. 

Some  dealers  are  thoughtful  enough  of  the 
effect  of  care  and  good  housekeeping  on  the  pub¬ 
lic  and  their  own  employes  that  they  keep  lawns 
in  front  of  their  yards,  with  a  few  hardy  flowers, 
like  geraniums,  blooming  in  season.  Then  with 
the  yard  itself  paved,  and  a  hose  turned  on  every 
day  or  so  to  get  rid  of  the  accumulated  dust, 
the  premises  always  look  clean  and  attractive,  in 
spite  of  the  character  of  the  commodity  handled. 

If  you  believe  that  a  clean  coal-yard  is  out  of 
the  question  “try  it  on  the  dog.”  Alake  a  few 
efforts  along  the  lines  mentioned  and  see  how  you 
like  the  change.  It’s  dollars  to  doughnuts  you 
won’t  go  back  to  the  old  conditions. 

Use  a  Speaking  Tube. 

In  most  coal  offices  it  is  necessary,  at  the  time 
coal  is  being  weighed,  to  raise  the  window  in 
order  to  give  instructions  to  the  driver  as  to 
taking  off  or  putting  on  lumps.  In  cold  weather 


this  lets  in  big  chunks  of  frigid  atmosphere  which 
is  not  at  all  agreeable.  A  scales-clerk  in  a  mid¬ 
dle  western  city  has  fixed  this  up  by  arranging  a 
speaking  tube,  by  means  of  which  he  can  talk 
to  the  drivers  without  having  to  disturb  the  win¬ 
dow.  He  has  the  tube  fixed  with  the  transmitter 
outside,  near  the  driver’s  seat,  while  the  receiv¬ 
ing  end  is  on  a  cord  within  easy  reaching  dis¬ 
tance.  The  stunt  has  proved  so  effective  that  a 
good  many  other  offices  in  that  community  are 
now  similarly  equipped. 


Handling  Equipment  for  Small  Yards. 

The  average  small  dealer,  whose  coal  tonnage 
is  not  among  the  largest  in  his  community,  has 
the  idea  that  it  is  out  of  the  question  for  him  to 
attempt  to  install  mechanical  equipment  for  taking 
care  of  the  various  operations  of  getting  the  coal 
out  of  the  cars,  picking  it  up  again,  and  so  on. 
So  he  condemns  himself  to  the  use  of  expensive 
time  and  labor,  consuming  hand  methods  without 
even  attempting  to  work  out  a  scheme  tliat  would 
produce  short-cuts  in  handling. 

The  manufacturers  of  coal  handling  equipment, 
however,  have  been  giving  a  lot  of  attention  of 
late  to  the  problems  of  the  small  dealer,  and  it 
is  no  longer  true  that  it  takes  an  immense  volume 
of  business  in  order  to  support  a  yard  which  has 
installed  power-operated  machinery  for  handling 
coal.  Efficient  units  have  been  made  in  such 
small  sizes  that  a  dealer  with  even  a  minimum 
tonnage  can  support  their  operation  without 
straining  himself. 

A  retail  coal  dealer  with  a  fair-sized  yard  re¬ 
cently  installed  equipment  which  cost,  all  told, 
around  $.5,000.  He  found  that  he  greatly  re¬ 
duced  his  handling  expense,  increased  the  effi¬ 
ciency  of  his  teams  and  drivers,  and  gave  him¬ 
self  a  larger  margin  on  which  to  work.  Yet  the 
interest  on  the  money  tied  up  in  the  machinery  is 
only  $000  a  year,  or  about  $1  for  each  working 
day.  In  other  words,  at  an  expense  of  $1  a  day, 
which  is  purely  nominal,  compared  with  the  re¬ 
sults,  he  has  been  able  to  put  his  business  on  a 
basis  which  is  so  far  above  that  formerly  used 
that  there  is  really  no  comparison. 

“I  used  to  have  the  idea,  whenever  I  thought 
of  putting  in  machinery,”  confessed  this  dealer, 
with  a  smile,  “that  the  overhead  expense  of  the 
proposition  would  be  so  great  that  I  would  con¬ 
stantly  be  impelled  to  cut  prices  and  otherwise 
reduce  my  profits  in  order  to  keep  things  moving. 
But  it  has  proved,  in  experience,  just  the  oppo¬ 
site.  Instead  of  having  to  take  less  profit,  I  am 
sure  of  more,  because  I  have  cut  expense  at  the 
only  point  where  it  is  susceptible  of  any  material 
reduction — in  handling.  And  the  overhead  is  so 
slight  that  it  doesn’t  amount  to  anything  at  all.” 

Mechanical  methods  of  coal  handlin.g  will  one 
day  be  universal.  Until  that  day  comes,  the  con¬ 
cern  which  has  the  right  lay-out  of  equipment  is 
going  to  find  it  easy  to  make  money  at  prices  which 
mean  only  slov/  starvation  for  those  using  hand 
methods  exclusively.  The  moral  for  the  pro¬ 
gressive  dealer  ought  to  be  obvious. 


Sacking  Smithing  Coal. 

Large  producers  of  smithing  coal  arc  urging 
their  dealers  to  sack  it,  in  order  to  protect  the 
coal,  as  well  as  to  make  a  better  showing 
with  it. 

In  a  communication  on  this  subject,  one  of 
the  leading  concerns  selling  this  character  of 
fuel  says: 

“When  bagged,  smithing  coal  does  not  de¬ 
teriorate  in  quality,  whereas  oftentimes  the 
dealers’  smithing  coal  bins  are  in  close  pro.x- 
imity  to  other  coal  bins,  allowing  the  possi¬ 
bility,  if  in  bulk,  of  its  becoming  mixed  with 
other  coal  or  foreign  matter,  which  is  a  sure 
way  of  injuring  the  quality  of  the  smithin.g 
fuel.  Many  dealers  are  now  using  sacks,  which 
eliminate  this  danger.” 

•Same  of  the  smithing  coal  jobbers  are  pro¬ 
viding  a  sacking  service  at  cost,  putting  up 
the  coal  in  100-pound  and  200-pound  sacks, 
and  adding  only  the  cost  of  the  packages  and 
the  labor  of  sacking.  Consequently  the  dealer 
has  a  real  inducement  in  favor  of  sacking. 


The  big  benzol  plant  of  the  Tennessee  Coal, 
Iron  &  Railroad  Company  at  Fairfield,  .-Ma.,  is 
f-nmnletecl  and  was  given  a  try-out  on  I'riday  and 
started  off  very  satisfactorily.  The  plant  is  lo¬ 
cated  near  the  batteries  of  by-product  coke  ovens 
of  the  company,  from  which  it  gets  its  material  to 
manufacture  the  product.  The  plant  is  one  of 
the  largest  in  the  country,  with  a  daily  capacity  of 
1.1,000  gallons. 


230 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


FUBZiISHED  EVERY  SATURDAY  BY  THE 
BLACK  DIAMOND  COMPANY. 

Subscription  price,  $3.00  per  year,  postage  prepaid,  to 
any  postoffice  in  the  United  States.  Foreign  subscrip¬ 
tion  price,  $5.00  per  year.  Single  copies,  20  cents. 
Entered  a't  Chicago  postoffice  as  second-class  matter. 


.\ddress  all  communications  to 

THE  BLACK  DIAMOND  COMPANY  (INC) 

Main  office,  Manhattan  building,  Chicago. 


Branch  Offices. 

New  York,  29  Broadway. 
Philadelphia,  1400  Land  Title  building. 
Pittsburgh,  1502  Oliver  building. 


Saturday,  September  18,  1015. 


INDEX. 


Special  Articles. 

Page 


What  Will  Labor  Negotiations  Develop  in  lOlO?....  221 

Preparing  for  a  Big  Anthracite  Strike .  222 

New  York  (»olf  Club .  222 

Miners  Demand  a  20  Per  Cent  Anthracite  Increase.  .  223 

Naval  Board  Personnel . 223 

M.  N.  Bedford  &  Co.’s  Bookkeeping  System .  224 

American  Coal  Dust  Investigations .  225 

New  Consolidation  Plants .  225 

August  Anthracite  Shipments .  226 

France’s  Coal  Shortage . 226 

Ohio  Rate  Situation  Is  Perplexing .  226 

American  Coal  in  the  Canaries .  227 

Fewer  Mine  Accidents .  227 

Coal  and  Coke  Movements .  227 

Pennsylvania  Car  Situation .  228 

National  Coal  Association .  228 

Indiana  Production .  228 

X’irginia  Retail  Association .  228 

Field  of  the  Retail  Dealer .  220 

Editorial  .  230 

News  l.ocal  to  Chicago .  232 

.Small  Activities .  232 

Facts  Which  Determine  Our  Export  Prospects .  233 

Market  Reports. 

Oeneral  Review  and  Chicago .  234 

Pittsburgh,  Denver  and  Twin  Cities .  235 

Cincinnati,  Louisville,  Duluth  and  Omaha .  236 

Detroit,  St.  Louis  and  Cleveland .  237 

New  York .  238 

Philadelphia  and  Birmingham .  239 

New  England,  Buffalo  and  Baltimore .  240 

Hocking  Valley .  15 


The  Impending  Peril. 

For  the  last  year  in  Europe,  men  have 
been  devising  and  using  with  de^'ilish 
malignity  machines  and  things  which  will 
destroy  other  men.  .Some  of  the  descrip¬ 
tions  of  the  slaughter  sent  home  by  writ¬ 
ers  of  note  and  even  by  the  participants, 
have  pictured  unbelieveably  savage  situ¬ 
ations. 

Other  men,  outside  the  war  zone,  have 
been  struggling  to  find  some  real  issue 
in  the  war — some  great  cause  such  as  the 
struggle  for  liberty  in  France  and  Amer¬ 
ica  a  century  and  more  ago  or  such  as  the 
struggle  to  liberate  the  slaves  in  this 
country  fifty  years  ago.  They  have  not 
found  even  a  plausible  pretext  for  the 
war  except  that  the  Kaiser  had  a  great 
machine  which  he  wanted  to  try  out  be¬ 
fore  it  became  obsolete. 

Knowing  as  much  as  we  do  today  about 
that  struggle,  everyone  calls  it  an  insane 
war.  And  it  is  insane. 

Hut — and  here  is  the  point — the  mon- 
archs  may  have  been  mad  in  the  first 
place,  but  something  has  since  turned  the 
])eo])le  crazy,  too.  There  can  be  no  es¬ 
cape  from  that  conclusion.  What  is  that 
“Something”  ? 

Now.  Is  that  cause  strictly  local  to 
Europe?  Are  the  people  of  Europe  in¬ 
sane  and  the  people  of  America  immune? 
Is  it  a  case  of  the  spreading  of  an  epi¬ 


demic  of  insanity  through  one  half,  of  the 
world  while  leaving  the  other  half  wholly 
outside  its  influence?  If  that  is  true,  the 
mania  of  war  must  be  contagious  and  not 
infectious.  It  must  be  the  result  of  a 
poison  which  cannot  travel  over  seas. 

Or  is  it  possible  that  we,  too,  need  only 
something — a  mere  pretext,  it  may  be — 
to  throw  us  off  our  balance  also?  If  that 
be  true,  what  is  the  cause?  Is  it  of  the 
earth  #r  does  it  spring  from  the  stars? 
.Something  is  afoot,  surely.  We  may  not 
— if  we  become  insane — go  to  war  with 
soldiers  and  guns.  Indeed,  we  need  not. 
There  are  other  ways  that  we  may  ex¬ 
press  onr  insanity  and  thus  prove  our¬ 
selves  in  accord  with  Europe. 

For  example,  there  are  commercial  wars 
where  men  dissipate  their  fortunes  and 
their  business  in  a  wild  campaign  to  ruin 
the  other  fellow.  There  are  labor  strug¬ 
gles  where  the  employe  breaks  himself 
and  ruins  the  business  which  gives  him 
employment  to  the  end  only  that  the  labor 
union  head  may  supplant  the  employer 
and  become  the  controlling  factor  in  the 
business.  Or,  there  is  a  possibility  that 
the  labor  element  may  decide  to  refuse  to 
work  in  onr  factories  if  we  sell  the  ])rod- 
uct  to  European  people. 

These  things  are  all  insane.  Still,  we 
are  likely  to  do  them.  Isn’t  is  possible 
that  we  may,  at  any  minute,  precipitate 
one  of  these  wild  struggles?  The  ten¬ 
dency  of  the  times  is  that  way,  at  least. 
It  is  a  real  peril  in  America  because  there 
is  .so  much  wild  talk  afloat. 

The  greatest  struggle  that  any  Ameri¬ 
can  citizen  has  today  is  to  keep  sane. 


Is  It  Vindictive? 

Few  American  business  men  have  been 
under  attack  so  long  and  so  persistently 
as  have  the  anthracite  producers.  W'e 
are  wondering  why.  Maybe  if  we  look 
at  the  moral  standing  of  .some  of  those 
who  have  been  attacked,  the  answer  will 
fall  out. 

Undoubtedly,  the  assault  leaders  have 
been  the  daily  newspapers.  Some  of 
them  make  free  to  use  such  words  as 
“corruption”  and  “dishonest"  when  deal¬ 
ing  with  the  anthracite  mine  owners.  The 
only  man  permitted  to  use  such  language 
is  the  one  who  can  prove  his  charge  or 
who  stands  on  a  high  moral  plane.  The 
charge  was  not  proved,  according  to  the 
supreme  court.  On  the  other  score,  the 
Nazarene  suggested:  “Let  him  that  is 
without  fault  cast  the  first  stone.” 

Are,  then,  these  accusers  on  such  a  high 
moral  plane  they  can  speak  contemptu¬ 
ously  of  this  or  any  other  business? 
Daily  newspapers  are  sold,  net  to  the  pub¬ 
lisher,  for  half  a  cent  a  copy.  To  increase 
their  sales  and  to  get  more  half  cents, 
have  these  publishers  never  “colored"  a 
piece  of  news?  To  the  same  end,  have 
they  never  misrepresented  by  a  hair?  Are 
all  their  scandals  in  high  life  real  “high 
life”  scandals?  -Are  all  their  “rich”  men 
really  rich  and  as  prominent  as  they  say? 
In  a  word,  are  the  papers  scrupulously 
truthful,  which  is  the  essence  of  morality? 

Or,  to  get  the  inside  on  news,  have  they 
never  “plugged”  for  “their  man”  in  an 
election  against  the  man  friendly  to  their 
oi)])osition  ? 

The  writer  of  these  lines  served  some¬ 
thing  more  than  an  apjjrenticeship  on 
metropolitan  dailies.  Fie  has  gone  much 


[September  18 


further  than  even  that  indicates,  -if  -you 
please.  And  on  neither  of  these  questions 
can  he  absolve  them. 

They  do  not  attack  from  a  moral  eleva- 
vation.  Their  charges  have  been  dis¬ 
proved  in  court.  Why,  then,  the  attacks? 

Lawyers  have  held  the  second  line  of 
attack  upon  the  anthracite  companies. 
They  have  but  two  possible  lines  of  ac¬ 
tion.  One  is  that  a  law  is  being  violated. 
This  they  failed  to  prove.  The  other  is 
that  the  operators  are  guilty  of  moral  tur¬ 
pitude. 

Are  the  lawyers  so  without  blame  they 
can  raise  the  latter  issue?  For  example, 
if  they  know  beyond  a  doubt,  that  a  cause 
they  are  asked  to  advocate  in  a  court  is 
vicious  and  wrong,  will  they  refuse  to 
serve  even  when  a  good  fee  is  offered? 
Do  they  say:  “I  am  an  officer  of  this 
court.  I  cannot  plead  a  wrong  cause  in 
a  court  of  justice  or  a  court  of  equity?” 

Did  anyone  ever  know  of  a  case  where 
any  considerable  number  of  members  of 
the  bar  said :  “W’e  must  fight  on  the 
moral  side  of  a  case  or  not  at  all.  W^e 
can  act  in  no  other  way  because  our  con¬ 
victions  are  on  the  side  of  morals  and 
there  our  acts  must  be  also.”  On  the 
contrary,  is  it  not  true  that  anyone  with 
the  price  can  buy  the  skill  of  any  lawyer 
for  either  side  of  any  case?  Can  a  man 
who  sells  his  skill  and  his  position  in 
court  to  defeat  the  ends  of  justice  and 
who  does  so  for  money,  raise  a  charge  of 
moral  turpitude  against  anyone? 

The  unions  have  formed  the  third  line 
of  attack  against  the  anthracite  com- 
j)anies.  Isn't  it  true  that  every  union  is 
seeking  to  monopolize  the  supply  of  labor 
in  its  field?  Indeed,  is  not  that  the 
avowed  purpose  of  the  miner’s  union? 
Hasn’t  that  same  union  started  out  to 
monopolize  coal  mining,  as  well?  Doesn’t 
it  want  thus  a  complete  monopoly — one 
that  capital  never  dared  try?  To  that  end, 
hasn’t  this  very  union  been  able  to  put 
one  of  its  members  in  the  cabinet  and 
does  not  that  member  stand  even  there 
as  an  advocate  of  centralized  control  of 
all  labor?  Wdiat  would  you  call  that — 
virtue?  Is  it  virtue — when  there  is  a  fed¬ 
eral  statute  against  monopoly — to  place 
a  partisan  in  the  cabinet  and  then  have 
him,  under  the  protecting  wing  of  the 
Government,  advise  the  breaking  of  that 
law?  Being  thus  guilty  of  a  major  of¬ 
fense  against  the  nation,  on  what  ground 
does  the  union  stand  when  it  attacks  the 
anthracite  operators. 

Who,  then,  are  the  principal  accusers 
of  the  anthracite  companies?  They  are: 
The  daily  press  that  will  falsify  the  infor¬ 
mation  which  they  give  to  the  public  in 
order  to  sell  a  “sensation”  for  half  a  cent ; 
the  lawyers  who  will  sell  their  skill,  re¬ 
gardless  of  princijde  or  merit,  to  the  high¬ 
est  bidder,  and  the  labor  union,  which  de¬ 
fies  the  national  law  against  monopoly 
and  while  represented  in  the  president’s 
cabinet  tries  openly  to  get  one  for  itself. 

If  these  attacks  are  not  made  by  men 
who  look  down  from  a  high  plane,  why 
are  they  made?  We  believe  there  is 
something  in  this:  All  of  these  gentle¬ 
men  have  been  trving  to  convict  the  an- 
thracite  producers  of  something  and  have 
not  succeeded.  Maybe  they  are  just  a 
little  sour  over  their  defeat.  Maybe  some¬ 
thing  of  vindictiveness  has  crei)t  in.  It 
is  altogether  possible,  seeing  the  attack¬ 
ers  are  human  after  all. 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


231 


No.  12] 


Anthracite  Prices. 

We  have  read  pretty  nearly  everything 
that  has  l^een  written  about  the  anthra¬ 
cite  producers,  including  much  of  parti¬ 
sanship  against  them  which  has  crept  into 
government  papers.  After  having  studied 
every  phase  of  the  question,  we  are  con¬ 
vinced  that  the  core  of  the  question  of 
anthracite  ])rices  has  never  been  struck. 

For  example,  the  air  has  been  rent  by 
the  cries  of  those  who  talked  about  liozv 
the  prices  happened  to  haz'e  been  made. 
There  has  been  an  unending  amount  of 
discussion  of  hoze  the  diiision  of  the  price 
zvas  effected — the  railroads  getting  so 
much  for  freight  and  the  operators  get¬ 
ting  so  much  for  their  coal.  These  two 
themes  have  monopolized  the  discussion. 

But,  nobody  has  said  much,  if  anything, 
on  this  point:  Are  the  prices,  per  se,  right 
or  zerongf  Comparatively,  are  the  prices 
too  high  or  too  low? 

All  of  the  other  things  are  mere  inci¬ 
dentals  ;  they  do  not  count  for  much  in 
the  long  run.  The  one  cjuestion  which 
really  is  worth  discussing  is :  “Are  the 
prices  fair — ordinarily,  humanly  fair?  Are 
they  fair  when  compared  with  other 
things  which  also  were  common  necessi¬ 
ties? 

A  pound  of  bacon  sells  for,  we  will  say, 
thirty  cents.  That  is  $b00  a  ton. 

Ordinary  common  salt,  dug  out  of  the 
ground  as  is  coal  and  prepared  by  a  less 
exacting  process  than  is  anthracite,  sells 
for  a  cent  a  pound  everywhere.  That  is 
$20  a  ton. 

A  small  piece  of  felt,  made  out  of  off- 
grade  wool  and  some  bad  cotton,  pressed 
into  the  shape  of  a  woman’s  hat,  sells 
for  $20. 

Ordinary  cottrtn  stuff — so  cheap  and  so 
thin  that  chickens  can  pick  corn  through 
it — made  into  the  shape  of  a  woman’s 
dress  sells  all  the  way  from  $8  to  $100. 

No  one  questions  the  propriety  of  these 
prices.  The  government  has  never  made 
any  fuss  about  any  one  of  them.  No  one 
has  asked  whether  the  manufacturer  or 
the  railroad  got  more  than  its  share,  l  ire 
world  has  been  dumb  on  the  subject. 

But  anthracite  coal  has  been  the  center 
of  a  hubub.  It  bas  we  will  say,  sold  for 
$3.50  a  ton  at  the  mines.  That  is  about 
one-half  of  one  per  cent  the  ])rice  of  a 
ton  of  bacon.  It  is  about  one-sixth  the 
price  of  common  salt.  Only  a  man  skilled 
in  calculus  could  tell  what  percentage  it 
is  of  the  ])rice  of  the  cotton  made  into 
women  s  clothes. 

And  yet,  anthracite  prices  are  said  to 
be  unfair  while  the  other  prices  are  con¬ 
sidered  to  be  all  right.  ( )ne  price  is  chal¬ 
lenged  ;  the  other  is  not. 

Here  is  the  crux  of  the  whole  matter. 
Anthracite  prices  have  been  compared 
evidently  not  with  these  others,  but  with 
those  acce])ted  on  bituminous.  The  pop¬ 
ular  reasoning  has  been:  “If  bituminous 
coal  sells  for  $1.14,  on  the  average,  anth¬ 
racite  at  $3.50  must  be  too  high.’’ 

Isn’t  it  just  possible  that  the  ])rice  of 
bituminous  is  too  low?  Did  that  phase 
of  the  question  ever  strike  in?  The 
United  States  Geological  Survey  is  auth¬ 
ority  for  the  statement  that  only  one  of 
the  six  major  bituminous-coal  producing 
states  ever  came  out  with  as  much  as  the 
cost  of  production ;  the  others  have,  on 
the  average,  lost  money. 

Thus  a  comparison  between  anthracite 


and  bituminous  is  not  proper.  The  other 
com])arison — the  one  we  suggest — is 
proper.  That  is:  Which  is  the  fairest — 
six  tons  of  anthracite  coal  which  will  heat 
six  rooms  for  six  months  for  $20  or  a  half 
yard  of  cheap  felt,  pressed  into  the  sha])e 
of  one  woman’s  hat  to  wear  out  in  three 
months,  at  $20? 


A  Memorial  Is  Due. 

Dr.  Joseph  A.  Holmes  was,  until  his 
death,  the  director  of  the  Bureau  of 
iMines.  Two  facts  about  his  career  are 
well  known.  The  most  important  one 
was  that  he  died  because  he  had  worked 
too  hard  in  the  public  interest.  There 
can  be  no  doubt  about  that.  The  other 
was  that  he  had  while  in  the  public  serv¬ 
ice  a  small  salary.  That  is  fixed  by  law 
and  is  a  matter  of  record. 

AVhen  he  died  he  had  about  $4.25  in  the 
bank;  $41,000  of  life  insurance,  which  he 
had  managed  to  keep  alive  out  of  his  small 
salary ;  and  a  house  which  cost  about 
$20,000.  His  family  of  three  can,  by  prac¬ 
ticing  the  most  rigid  economy,  manage 
to  exist  on  the  income  of  the  modest 
amount  of  his  insurance.  But,  they  can¬ 
not  maintain  the  house  he  built  for  them. 

Yet  this  man  killed  himself  Iry  over¬ 
work  for  the  public.  He  did  it  to  save 
the  whole  people  money  on  the  cost  of 
their  heat  and  power;  to  save  the  mine 
workers  their  lives  and  from  injury,  and 
to  ."^ave  the  nation  a  ])roper  interest  in  its 
endowment  of  natural  resources. 

If  the  American  people,  the  benefici¬ 
aries  of  his  great  labor,  have  not  the  de¬ 
cency  to  make  up  to  his  family  something 
of  the  financial  loss  they  sustain  in  his 
death,  they  can  erect  a  monument  to  keep 
alive  his  memory,  if  only  as  an  example 
of  ])atriotism  to  young  Americans.  A 
nation  if  it  appreciates  loyalty  at  all,  can 
do  nothing  less,  surely. 


Accepting  Good  Things. 

It  seems  to  be  next  to  impossbile  for 
ordinary  human  nature  to  accept  all  of 
the  good  possibilities  of  any  situation. 
The  common  practice  is  either  to  discount 
the  good  and  therefore  get  only  part  of  it, 
or  to  be  so  sure  that  the  bad  must  remain, 
men  accept  it  when  good  is  in  sight. 

A  case  in  point  is  the  price  accepted  by 
coal  operators  on  one  lot  of  coal  recently 
sold  in  the  east.  The  producers  of  semi- 
bituminous  coal  had  an  opportunity  to  get 
a  fair  price  for  a  block  of  coal  sold  on 
yearly  contract  to  a  branch  of  the  govern¬ 
ment.  Everything,  both  at  home  and 
abroad,  suggested  the  good  price.  The 
coal  now  is  in  big  demand  abroad  and 
there  are  those  who  believe  that  the  de¬ 
mand  will  l.)e  far  bigger  before  it  is  less. 
.Also,  cars  now  are  scarce  and  the  move¬ 
ment  relatively  small.  Further,  labor  is 
short  now  at  the  mines,  and  is  growing 
shorter.  Winter  is  almost  here,  when  the 
demand  at  home  must  be  bigger.  If  there 
was  ever  a  combination  of  circumstances 
which  predicted  not  only  a  fair,  but  a 
premium,  price  for  that  coal,  that  com- 
l)inati(m  exists. 

'ST't,  in  the  face  of  what  is  a  golden  o])- 
])ortunity,  the  price  was  cut  twenty-live 
cents  a  ton,  or  from  $2.85  to  $2.b0. 

In  the  west  another  case  was  quite  as 
])uzzling.  A  big  tonnage  of  coal  was 
about  to  be  bought  on  yearly  contract. 
'I'he  buyer  needed  a  given  kind  of  coal  and 


could  use  nothing  else.  He  had  tried  out 
the  product  of  several  operators  and  had 
settled  upon  one  as  giving  him  the  best 
possible  results.  Then  he  bought  this 
tonnage  through  a  broker  who  was  serv¬ 
ing  him  in  another  and  an  intimate  ca¬ 
pacity.  The  broker  obtained  a  commis¬ 
sion  of  two  cents  a  ton. 

When  the  time  came  to  get  the  busi¬ 
ness  for  the  second  year,  the  operator  who 
produced  the  coal  decided  that  he  would 
cut  out  the  middle  man  and  sell  the  coal 
direct.  He  proposed  to  the  buyer  the 
smashing  of  the  old  arrangement  and  the 
making  of  a  new  one.  The  Iniyer  had 
been  using  the  commission  on  coal  to 
j)ay  an  obligation  to  the  broker.  He  did 
not  dare  tell  the  facts  about  the  matter. 
So  he  consented  to  receive  bids  on  his 
tonnage.  He  got  all  of  the  producers  of 
coals  which  fit  his  needs  into  competition. 
Before  the  contract  was  placed  the  man 
who  had  sold  the  coal  for  one  year  .sold 
it  for  the  second,  but  he  had  cut  his 
own  price  thirty  cents  a  ton.  He  did  this 
to  save  a  commission  of  two  cents  a  ton. 
Out  of  that  saving  of  thirty  cents  a  ton 
the  buyer  could  afford  to  pay  his  debt  to 
the  broker  in  another  way. 

It  is  hard  to  explain  such  things  unless 
it  is  true  that  human  nature,  even  when 
it  sees  that  good  is  obtainable,  is  so  de¬ 
voted  to  the  bad  it  takes  it  as  a  matter 
of  course. 


The  Man  Who  Knows. 

If  anyone  knows  what  the  car  situa¬ 
tion  is  likely  to  be  it  should  be  the  head 
of  a  great  railroad.  He  gets  reports  from 
all  parts  of  the  world,  every  day.  These 
show  the  amount  of  business  actually 
being  done  and  the  amount  in  pro,spect. 
Also,  he  gets  reports,  at  stated  periods, 
showing  the  carrying  capacity  of  his  line 
expressed  in  cars,  engines,  et  cetera.  He 
thus  has  the  expected  tonnage  and  a 
measure  of  the  equipment.  He  can  com¬ 
pare  one  with  the  other. 

Today  the  New  A^ork  Central  and  the 
Penn.sylvania  railroads  are  storing  coal. 
They  are  buying  it  in  big  lots  and  are 
putting  it  on  the  ground.  They  are  doing 
so  because  their  officers  are  convinced 
that  the  supply  of  cars,  a  little  later,  will 
not  be  sufficient  to  take  care  of  the  com¬ 
mercial  business  and  of  their  own  fuel 
requirements. 

Incidentally,  it  might  he  .said  that  if 
any  railroad  men  in  America  know  what 
the  situation  is,  the  officials  of  those  two 
railroads  should.  They  are  the  best  rail¬ 
ways  on  earth  and  they  are  both  well 
managed. 

Further,  these  two  carriers  are  not 
easily  moved  to  store  coal.  Both  of  them 
refused,  on  such  an  important  occasion 
as  the  threat  of  a  strike,  simultaneously, 
in  the  anthracite  and  bituminous  fields  in 
1910,  to  .store  coal.  They  are  not,  there¬ 
fore,  easily  frightened  by  a  cry  of  “wolf.” 

Yet,  despite  this  conservatism  which, 
ordinarily,  binds  them,  these  men  see 
danger  ahead  in  the  car  situation.  They 
are  buying  and  storing  coal  to  avoid  the 
coming  shortage.  Not  only  that,  but  they 
are  paying  a  premium  of  fifteen  cents  a 
ton  to  get  it  and  as  much  more  to  store  it. 

If  they  decide  in  that  way,  has  the  av¬ 
erage  retailer  and  steam  plant  owner  any 
better  information  which  would  warrant 
him  in  continuing  to  neglect  to  buy  stor¬ 
age  coal  in  quantity? 


232 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[September  18 


News  Local  to  Chicago. 


Rush  C.  Rutler,  the  attorney  who  is  to  address 
the  American  Alining  Congress  on  next  Wednes¬ 
day,  left  Chicago  on  Thursday  of  this  week  for 
San  Francisco. 

Frank  B.  Stewart,  general  sales  manager  for 
the  Winifrede  Coal  Company,  Cincinati,  was  in 
Chicago  this  week  getting  in  touch  with  the  local 
splint  coal  market. 

Kuper  Hood,  general  sales  manager  of  the 
Houston  Coal  Company,  Cincinnati,  was  con¬ 
ferring  with  his  local  representative.  Boh  Can- 
telou,  on  Tuesday. 

Uncle  Jimmie  Strachard,  superintendent  of  the 
Sonman  Shaft  Coal  Company,  of  Sonman,  Pa., 
was  in  Chicago  this  week  on  his  way  to  the 
Pacific  Coast,  where  he  has  gone  for  a  vacation. 

P.  H.  Rurlingham  of  Cincinnati  was  a  Chi¬ 
cago  visitor  this  week.  Air.  Burlingham  is  of 
the  belief  that  this  country  is  on  the  eve  of  one 
of  the  greatest  industrial  revivals  it  has  ever 
known.  Machine  tool  manufacturers  in  Cin¬ 
cinnati  are  all  working  full  time  with  enough 
orders  in  sight  to  take  care  of  them  for  nearly 
a  year. 

Lawrence  Buckley,  while  covering  a  number  of 
northern  Illinois  towns  for  the  Wilmington  Coal 
Alining  &  Alanufacturing  Company  last  week, 
noted  that  dealers’  yards  were  completely  stocked 
the  latter  part  of  August,  and,  as  a  result,  dealers 
are  not  buying  much  bituminous  coal.  Price  is 
absolutely  no  inducement  as  there  is  no  room 
for  the  coal. 

Edward  H.  Doyle,  manager  of  the  Aliddle  West 
Coal  Company,  while  in  Chicago  this  week,  said 
his  company  will  be  ready  to  ship  coal  from  their 
new  operation  at  Seco,  Ky.,  by  October  1st.  This 
new  product  will  be  marketed  under  the  name 
of  Tepee  coal.  It  is  part  of  the  famous  Elkhorn 
seam,  making  it  an  ideal  coal  for  the  iron,  steel 
and  gas  industries,  as  well  as  a  first  class  domes¬ 
tic  fuel. 

The  western  railways  have  asked  the  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission  to  grant  a  rehearin.g  of 
the  western  rate  case  on  all  commodities  on 
which  no  advances  were  allowed. 

The  Illinois  Coal  Operators’  .Association  and  the 
Public  Utilities  of  Illinois  have  also  petitioned 
the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  to  suspend 
the  rates  on  bituminous  coal  and  to  grant  a 
rehearing  of  that  case  also.  Attorneys  for  the 
various  interests  spent  the  last  few  days  of  this 
week  in  Washington  discussing  the  matter  with 
the  commission  and  a  decision  is  expected  in  a 
short  time. 

Arthur  J.  AlacBride,  assistant  general  manager 
of  the  Pocahontas  Fuel  Company,  with  head- 
fiuarters  at  No.  1  Broadway,  New  York,  was  a 
Chicago  visitor  within  the  week.  While  in  the 
west  he  made  a  trip  into  the  northwest  to  study 
conditions  there  and  is  rather  encouraged  by  the 
outlook.  He  says  movement  to  the  interior  has 
been  slow,  but  still  is  convinced  that  there  is 
finite  a  demand  which  will  have  to  be  satisfied  a 
little  later  on. 

On  last  Sunday,  James  F.  Callbreath,  secretary 
of  the  American  Alining  Congress  was  in  Chi¬ 
cago  for  a  day  on  his  way  to  San  Francisco, 
where  a  meeting  of  the  Congress  opens  on  next 
Alonday.  He  went  ahead  of  the  regular  party  in 
order  to  be  there  to  arrange  for  the  banquet  to 
be  given  on  the  21st  in  honor  of  Van  H.  Manning, 
the  director  of  the  Bureau  of  Alines.  The  Chi¬ 
cago  party,  headed  by  Carl  Scholz,  left  here  on 
Tuesday  night. 

.Among  the  week’s  visitors  in  Chicago  was  H. 
.A.  Kuhn  of  the  Pittsburgh-Westmoreland  Coal 
Company,  who  is  on  a  trip  in  the  west  to  study 
conditions.  He  says  the  eastern  situation  has 
been  improving  steadily,  because  some  of  the 
large  buyers  anticipating  some  trouble  with  cars, 
a  shortage  of  labor,  and  a  big  foreign  demand 
and  possible  labor  trouble  six  months  hence  are 
beginning  to  put  coal  in  storage.  Also  the  coke 
situation  has  been  improving  rapidly,  largely  be¬ 
cause  the  steel  mills  are  running  to  capacity  and 
are  taking  a  maximum  amount  of  coke. 

It  will  be  recalled  that  a  short  time  ago  there 
was  organized  the  Producers  Company,  which 
took  over  mines  controlled  by  the  J.  K.  Dering 
Coal  Company  in  Franklin  county.  This  week 
the  announcement  was  made  that  the  Producers 
Company  had  taken  over  the  mines  of  the  old 
Dering  Coal  Company.  These  mines,  it  will  be 
remembered  were  mainly  in  Indiana,  although 
some  of  them  are  in  the  Danville  district  of  Illi¬ 
nois.  By  this  transaction  the  receivership  of  the 
old  Dering  Coal  Company  is  terminated  and  all 
obligations  to  bond  holders  and  other  claimants 


have  been  satisfied  in  the  measure  and  the  proper¬ 
ties  have  been  placed  in  strong  hands.  Of  the 
Producers  Coal  Company,  F.  S.  Peabody  is  presi¬ 
dent.  An  arrangement  will  be  made  with  J.  K. 
Dering  to  handle  the  output  of  these  mines,  since 
naturally  he  is  more  familiar  with  the  coal  than 
anyone  else,  having  gotten  the  mines  together  in 
the  place  and  having  sold  the  output  for  so  long. 

Information  coming  from  Alilwaukee  this  week 
is  to  the  effect  that  the  Thompson  interests  are 
putting  their  blast  furnaces  in  operation  for  the 
first  time  in  about  four  years.  This  is  an  indi¬ 
cation  of  the  lively  demand  for  steel  that  is  every¬ 
where  apparent  now  and  is  of  interest  to  coal 
people  because  it  increases  the  demand  for  coke. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  all  of  the  steel  interests  in 
this  territory  are  now  running  to  full  capacity 
and  of  course  blast  furnaces  are  booming.  C.  D. 
Caldwell,  the  representative  of  the  Solvay  Process 
Company  puts  it :  “The  coke  situation  considered 
from  the  point  of  view  of  either  the  furnace  and 
foundry  trade  or  the  retail  trade  is  in  better 
position  now  than  it  has  been  at  any  time  in 
four  years.” 

Coal  men  interested  in  securing  a  membership 
in  the  Chicago  Association  of  Commerce  should 
get  in  touch  with  Thomas  Gough  in  the  S.  C. 
Schenck  office.  Tommy  is  endeavoring  to  get  a 
creditable  representation  of  coal  men  into  that 
organization  so  that  his  superior,  Charles  L. 
Dering,  who  is  president  of  the  association,  need 
not  apologize  for  the  lack  of  interest  shown  by 
his  fellow  tradesmen  in  that  progressive  institu¬ 
tion.  The  association  is  recognized  as  one  of 
the  strongest,  most  active  and  most  influential 
business  organizations  in  the  world.  Its  achieve¬ 
ments  have  inspired  the  organization — or  reor¬ 
ganization — of  hundreds  of  commercial  bodies  in 
other  cities,  many  of  which  have  adopted  in  whole 
or  in  part,  its  plan  of  organization  and  methods 
of  work.  The  interests  of  Chicago  business  men 
are,  in  many  matters  of  national  importance, 
shared  with  the  business  men  of  the  entire  coun¬ 
try.  The  association  is  a  factor  of  greatest  in¬ 
fluence  in  national  as  well  as  state  and  municipal 
affairs,  a  fact  evidenced  by  recent  leadership  of 
public  thought  in  national  issues  of  business  legis¬ 
lation  and  extension  of  foreign  trade. 

On  last  Saturady  at  noon,  the  Illinois  Coal 
Operators’  Association  gave  an  informal  luncheon 
to  Van  H.  Alanning,  the  director  of  the  bureau  of 
mines,  who  stopped  in  Chicago  a  day  on  his  way 
to  San  Francisco.  The  luncheon  was  arranged  to 
very  short  notice  and  thus  it  was  not  possible  to 
have  brought  to  Chicago  the  outside  coal  men  who 
would  have  been  very  glad  to  meet  Mr.  Alanning. 
Rather  the  banquet  was  under  the  auspices  of  the 
Illinois  association,  being  arranged  by  C.  M. 
Moderwell,  as  president,  but  there  was  included 
most  of  the  local  operators,  whether  they  were 
from  Illinois  or  Indiana,  and  some  professional 
men.  The  luncheon  was  held  at  the  Union  Lea,gue 
Club  and  only  very  short  addresses  were  made  by 
Air.  Aloderwell,  Air.  Manning,  Geo.  S.  Rice,  F.  W. 
DeWoIf,  and  W.  S.  Bogle.  Those  who  attended 
the  luncheon  were:  Air.  H.  C.  Adams  of  the 
Jones  &  Adams  Coal  Company;  Air.  Fred  Schroe- 
der  of  the  Purity  Coal  Company:  Mr.  W.  S.  Bogle 
of  the  W.  S.  Bogle  Company:  Air.  Jas._  Needham, 
vice-president  of  the  Illinois  Coal  Operators’  As¬ 
sociation  :  Air.  Geo.  B.  Harrington  of  the  Chi¬ 
cago,  Wilmington  &  Franklin  Coal  Company : 
Air.  G.  W.  Traer  of  the  Illinois  Coal  Operators’ 
Mutual  Employers  Liability  Insurance  Associa¬ 
tion  ;  Mr.  J.  Winchester  Holman,  president  of 
the  Alining  &  Engineering  World ;  Prof.  H.  H. 
Stoeks  of  the  Alining  Department,  University  of 
Illinois ;  Air.  Carl  Scholz  of  the  Rock  Island 
Coal  Alining  Company;  Air.  Van  H.  Alanning, 
director  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Mines,  Washington ; 
Air.  C.  AI.  Aloderwell  of  the  C.  AI.  Moderwell  Co. ; 
Mr.  Geo.  S.  Rice,  Bureau  of  Alines,  Pittsburgh  ; 
Air.  E.  W.  De  Wolf,  director  Illinois  Geological 
Survey,  Urbana,  Illinois:  Air.  Jno.  H.  Swift, 
Bureau  of  Mines,  Washington ;  Air.  Chas.  I. 
Pierce  of  the  Big  Creek  Collieries  Company; 
Air.  F.  C.  Honnold  of  the  Chicago  &  Big  Aluddy 
Coal  Company;  Mr.  H.  L.  Smith,  U.  S.  Bureau 
of  Alines,  Urbana,  Illinois,  and  Mr.  Geo.  H. 
Cushing  of  The  Bl.\ck  Diamond. 


Reports  have  been  circulated  that  Dauphin 
Island  might,  in  the  near  future,  be  taken  over 
by  the  Tennessee  Coal,  Iron  &  Railroad  Company, 
whose  main  offices  are  at  Birmingham,  and  used 
as  a  big  coaling  station  for  merchant  vessels,  is  a 
rumor  that  has  recently  gained  wide  circulation. 
However,  all  efforts  to  confirm  the  report  have 
been  without  results. 

George  Gordon  Crawford,  president  of  the 
Tennessee  company  denies  the  report. 


Small  Activities. 


F.  W.  Buckalew,  sales  agent  of  Whitney  & 
Kemmerer,  has  been  spending  a  few  days  on 
business  in  New  York. 

Coal  men  have  received  a  pretentious  invita¬ 
tion  from  the  Lehigh  Valley  Railway  to  be  pres¬ 
ent  at  the  opening  of  their  new  freight  offices  at 
.'i08  Bourse  building,  Philadelphia,  on  Alonday 
next.  A  luncheon  is  to  be  served. 

Frederick  W.  Remy,  expert  accountant  of 
the  Rocky  Mountain  Fuel  Company,  died 
Monday  afternoon  of  bronchial  asthma  at  his 
home  in  Denver.  He  is  survived  by  a  widow  and 
by  a  daughter,  Mrs.  W.  D.  Harvey  of  Bing¬ 
ham,  Alass.  He  had  been  a  resident  of  Colo¬ 
rado  thirteen  years. 

Frank  Freeman,  formerly  with  the  Northern 
Coal  &  Dock  Company,  as  salesman  in  western 
Alinnesota  and  South  Dakota,  has  become  man- 
a.ger  in  Minneapolis  for  the  Womack-Fooshe 
Coal  Company.  Air.  Freeman  was  formerly  with 
the  Pittsburgh  Coal  Company,  as  city  salesma'; 
and  has  had  experience  in  the  direction  of  his 
new  position. 

An  option  on  1,300  acres  of  coal  in  Luzerne 
township,  Fayette  county.  Pa.,  valued  at  $2,.')00,- 
000.  expired  last  Saturday  night.  C.  H.  Bolton  of 
Irwin,  Pa.,  was  the  agent  working  for  Pitts¬ 
burgh  interests.  The  coal  option  was  surrounded 
by  some  of  the  largest  coal  and  coke  interests 
in  the  territory  and  represented  nine  properties 
as  described  here  two  weeks  ago.  When  it  was 
learned  the  Pittsburgh  option  had  not  been  taken 
up  a  AIcKeesport  financier  asked  for  an  option 
on  the  same  tract  and  developments  are  looked 
for  later. 

Fred  Martin,  of  Omaha,  is  of  the  opinion  that 
there  will  be  somewhat  of  a  scramble  for  coal 
in  the  west  during  October  and  November.  The 
late  threshing  season  has  kept  the  dealers’  yards 
prettv  well  filled  up  with  threshing  coal  bought 
in  Alay  and  June  and  as  a  result  no  effort  has 
been  made  to  get  coal  to  the  consumers’  bins. 
The  continued  wet  weather  has  made  it  incon¬ 
venient  for  the  farmer  to  get  to  town  for  his 
coal  and  as  a  result  less  than  half  the  usual 
tonnage  has  been  handled  up  to  this  time.  Air. 
Alartin  expects  to  be  in  Chicago  for  several  days. 

The  Johnstown  (Pa.)  Democrat  of  Saturday, 
September  U,  contains  the  following  informa¬ 
tion  :  “Charles  E.  Specht,  who  announced  some 
weeks  ago  that  he  was  a  candidate  for  mayor, 
has  returned  from  New  York  with  the  explana¬ 
tion  that  he  dropped  out  of  the  race  because  he 
has  been  too  busy  in  New  York  City  taking 
orders  for  war  supplies.  He  sold  to  the  French 
government  200,000  tons  of  Pocahontas  coal  at 
a  very  fair  price,  and  .gave  the  same  government 
an  option  on  6,000  acres  of  coal  land  in  West 
Virginia.  He  expects  to  receive  a  cablegram  in 
a  short  time  to  the  effect  that  the  banner  deal 
has  been  closed.” 


Birmingham  News  Notes. 

It  is  stated  that  owing  to  the  demand  for  benzol, 
from  which  is  made  aniline  dyes  and  explosives, 
the  plant  will  be  run  to  its  full  capacity  for  many 
months  to  come.  The  completion  of  the  plant 
was  somewhat  delayed  by  the  heavy  rains  of  the 
past  several  weeks,  a  leak  developing  in  the  con¬ 
crete  basin.  This  was  successfully  stopped  and 
the  plant  put  in  operation. 

Twenty-five  teams  will  take  part  in  the  field 
day  demonstrations  and  contests  of  the  Alabama 
Safety  Associations  at  the  Alabama  state  fair, 
October  9.  This  was  announced  following  a 
meeting  of  the  association  at  the  city  hall  Satur¬ 
day  afternoon. 

A  committee  headed  by  C.  H.  Nesbitt,  Dr.  W. 
S.  Rountree,  F.  G.  Alorris,  AI.  H.  Fies,  and  J.  L. 
Davidson,  was  named  to  have  charge  of  the  ar¬ 
rangements  for  the  meet.  Two  teams,  one  of 
white  men  and  the  other  of  negroes,  will  com¬ 
pete  from  each  mining  division.  The  teams  will 
be  selected  by  eliminating  contests  and  prizes  will 
be  offered  to  the  trainers  of  the  winners. 

Dauphin  Island  has  a  landlocked  harbor  that  is 
just  five  miles  from  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  and  with 
a  line  of  railroad  now  being  extended  by  the 
Alobile  &  Ohio  road  to  the  island,  two  days  and 
a  half  time  will  be  saved  in  loading  and  unload¬ 
ing  cargoes.  The  island  is  now  controlled  by  in¬ 
terests  headed  by  J.  AI.  Dewberry  of  Birmingham, 
Alabama. 

Extensive  plans  have  been  made  for  the  largest 
coaling  station  in  the  south.  The  work  is  in 
progress  and  ere  long  everything  will  be  in  readi¬ 
ness  for  vessels  to  coal  from  this  point. 


No.  12 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


233 


Facts  Which  Determine  Our  Export  Prospects. 


The  Export  Situation. 

Last  week’s  export  shipments  of  bituminous 
coal  over  the  Atlantic  seaboard  showed  up  very 
well.  Baltimore  increased  its  shipments,  sending 
out  74,000  tons,  large  shipments  going  to  Italy, 
France,  Argentine  and  Sweden. 

Hampton  Roads  shipments  from  the  three  ports 
reached  127,578  tons,  Italy,  Brazil,  Argentine  and 
France  being  the  principal  destinations.  ^ 

On  Wednesday  a  cable  from  Pans  read ;  1  he 

American  coal  companies  are  marketing  consider- 
able  amount  of  their  product  in  France,  wl^re 
it  may  now  be  delivered  at  a  fair  profit.  One 
company  has  just  placed  an  order  for  2,000,000 
tons  and  at  prices  that  will  ultimately  land  it  in 
Paris  at  seventy-five  francs,  or  fifteen  dollars 
per  ton.  Retail  prices  now  reach  from  100 
francs  to  120  francs.” 

Some  of  the  representative  coal  exporters  who 
were  seen  by  The  Black  Diamond,  relative  to 
this  cable,  did  not  believe  such  a  contract  had 
been  closed.  It  is  known  that  big  interests  in 
Paris  have  been  working  for  months  past  in  an 
effort  to.  finance  and  cover  the  transportation  of 
an  enormous  quantity  of  American  coal  to  re¬ 
lieve  the  distressing  situation  in  southern  France 
and  particularly  in  Paris,  which  has  been  brought 
about  by  the  shortage  and  high  prices  of  coal. 
The  principal  trouble  in  completing  the  negotia¬ 
tions  on  this  deal  is  the  inability  of  the  principals 
to  cover  the  transportation  question. 

It  is  known  that  the  coal  situation  in  France  is 
fast  approaching  a  crisis,  and  unless  an  adequate 
tonnage  of  American  coal  can  be  secured,  that 
both  the  householder  and  manufacturing  interests 
are  likely  to  suffer  a  serious  coal  famine  before 
the  coming  winter  is  over. 


Recent  Coal  Freight  Charters. 

Steamer  Plymouth,  Philadelphia,  Baltimore  or  a  Vir¬ 
ginia  port  to  the  Mediterranean,  coal,  p.  t.  „  . 

Steamer  Tancred  (Nor.),  Newport  News  to  St.  Lucia, 
coal  p  t. 

Steamer  Sonora  (Mex.),  Baltimore  to  Cienfuegos,  Coal, 


^  Steamer  Gustav  Adolf  (Swed.),  Baltimore  to  Mahno, 
Sweden,  coal,  p.  t.,  spot.  c..  t  ,  > 

Steamer  Maud  (Nor.),  Philadelphia  to  St.  Johns, 
N.  F.,  coal  p.  t.  ^  , 

Steamer  Rauma  (Nor.),  Baltimore  to  Callao,  coal,  p.  t. 
Schooner  D.  W.  B.  (Br.),  Philadelphia  to  St.  John, 
N.  B.,  coal,  $1.60. 

Schooner  Frontenac,  a  Virginia  port  to  Rio  Janeiro, 

'^°Steame°' Francesca  Musner  (Ital.),  Baltimore  to  Pal¬ 
ermo,  coal,  p.  t.,  spot.  . 

Steamer  Thorsa  (Nor.),  Philadelphia  to  Sagua,  coal, 

'^'steamer  Orkild  (Dan.),  Philadelphia  to  Cuba,  coal. 


Steamer  Guiseppe  Accano  (Ital.),  Norfolk  to  west  coast 
Italy,  coal,  42s,  prompt.  „  ,  , 

Schooner  Jacksonville,  Philadelphia  to  Bermuda,  coal. 


Steamer  Ubbergen  (Dutch),  Baltimore  to  Tela  and 
Truxillo,  coal  and  rails,  p.  t. 

Steamer  Lysefjord  (Nor.),  Baltimore  to  Sagua  la 
Grande,  coal,  p.  t.,  spot.  ,  ,  _  ,  .  o  j-  u 

Steamer  Osterland  (Swed.),  Baltimore  to  a  Swedish 
port,  coal,  p.  t.,  spot. 

Steamer  Avona  (Nor.),  Baltimore  to  Sweden,  coal,  p.^  t. 
Schooner  Iona  Tunnell  (Fort.),  Philadelphia  to  Cay 
Francis,  coal,  p.  t. 


Foreign  Freight  Rates. 

W.  W.  Battie  &  Co.,  Produce  Exchange,  New 
York,  report  as  follows  under  date  of  September 
13; 

The  freight  market  is  considerably  firmer  than 
a  week  ago  owing  to  the  absorption  by  and  the 
continued  demand  for  the  grain  trade. 

Cotton  orders  are  also  appearing  in  the  market, 
and  a  few  charters  have  been  effected  for  cotton 
at  hi.gh  rates. 

But  few  steamers  were  closed  for  export  coal 
during  the  past  week  and  none  of  these  charters 
were  reported.  The  number  of  steamers  avail¬ 
able  for  export  coal  has  decreased  considerably. 

We  would  quote  freight  rates  on  coal  by 
steamer  as  follows : 


West  coast  of  Italy,  about . 42s  6d 

Marseilles  . 40s  to  41s 


Barcelona  or  other  good  Spanish  port,  about . 40s 

(Spanish  dues  foe  account  of  cargo.) 

NOTE. — Charters  for  Italy,  France  and  Spain  read: 
*‘Lay  days  to  commence  on  steamer’s  arrival  at  or  off 
port  of  discharge,  Is  per  net  register  ton  per  day  de¬ 


murrage.” 

Montevideo  . . . 33s  6d  to  34s 

Buenos  Aires  or  La  Plata,  about . . 34s 

(Above  quotations  on  Plate  coal  by  British  steamers. 
Neutral  steamers  are  more  difficult  to  obtain  and  the 
rates  are  always  higher.) 

Rosario,  about  . . . 35s 

Rio  de  Janeiro . 33s  6d  to  34s 

Santos  . 34s  to  35s 

((Consignees  paying  docas  dues.) 

Valparaiso  or  Callao  . $7.00  to  $7.50 

Havana  . $2.50  to  $2.75 

Cardenas  or  Sagua . $2.75  to  $3.00 

Cienfuegos  . $3.00  to  $3.50 


Port  of  Spain,  Trinidad,  about . $3.00 

St.  Lucia  . $3.50  to  $3.75 

St.  Thomas  . $3.00  to  $3.25 

Barbados,  about  . $3.75 

Kingston  . $2.75  to  $3.25 

Curacao  . $3.25  and  p.  c. 

Santiago  . $2.75  to  $3.25 

(luantanamo  . ■ . to  $3.25 

Demerara,  about  . $5.00 

Bermuda,  about  . $3.00 

Vera  Cruz  . $3.50  to  $3.75 

Tampico  . $3.50  to  $3.75 


Hampton  Roads  Exports. 

Exports  of  bituminous  coal  from  Hampton 
Roads  for  Au.gust,  1915,  and  comparisons,  are  as 
follows : 

, - 1914 - , 

,  Lambert’s  Sewall’s  Newport 


Country — 

Avonmouth,  England.... 

Buenos  Aires,  A.  R . 

Bridgetown,  Barbados.... 

Bagnoli,  Italy . 

Cardenas,  Cuba . 

Cienfuegos,  Cuba . 

Chaparra,  Cuba . 

Civita  Vecchia,  Italy.  .  .  . 
Cristobal,  Canal  Zone.... 

Curacoa  D.  W.  I . 

Dakar,  F.  W.  A . 

Gaeta,  Italy . 

Genoa,  Italy . 

Guayaquil,  Ecuador . 

Havana,  Cuba . 

Ilorta,  Gayal,  Azores.... 

Italy,  any  port . 

Kingston,  Jamaica . 

La  Plata,  A.  R . 

Leghorn,  Italy . 

Lisbon,  Portugal . 

Maddalena,  Italy . 

Marseilles,  France . 

Maranham,  Brazil . 

Montevideo,  Uruguay.... 

Naples,  Italy . 

Para,  Brazil . 

Pernambuco,  Brazil . 

Piraeus,  Greece . 

Porto  Vecchio,  Italy . 

Porto  Ferrajo,  Italy . 

Palermo,  Sicily . 

Puerto  Militar  A.  R.... 
Puerto  Plata,  S.  Domingo 
Rio  de  Janeiro,  Brazil... 

San  Juan,  P.  R . 

Savona,  Italy . 

Santiago,  Cuba . 

Spezia,  Italy . 

St.  Vincent,  C.  V.  I . 

St.  Nazaire,  France . 

Taranto,  Italy . 

Valparaiso,  (Jhile . 

Vera  Cruz,  Mexico . 

St.  Lucia,  B.  W.  I . 

Bahia,  Brazil . 

Santos,  Brazil . 

Iquique,  Chile . 

Gibraltar  . 

Las  Palmas,  C.  I . 

Toulon,  France . 

Stockholm,  Sweden . 

Aalesund,  Norway . 

St.  Thomas,  D.  W.  I.... 

Demerara,  B.  G . 

Trinidad,  B.  W.  I . 

Frey  Bentos,  A.  R . 


Point. 

Point. 

News. 

11,404 

1,538 

4,041 

19,943 

5,068 

6,203 

10,602 

4,396 

32,058 

10,048  1,695 


2,880 

12,091 


4,400 

5,980 

4,906 

5,170 

766 

14,623 

7,663 

12,649 

13,587 

6,994 

1,227 

1,414 

3,735 

6,455 

4,565 

5,411 

8,617 

7,060 

7,070 

5,768 

8,617 

5,742 

7,220 

5,505 

6,036 

5,410 

18!905 

13,018 

1,983 

Totals 


173,596 


Lambert’s 


Country —  Point. 

Avonmouth,  England . 

Buenos  Aires,  A.  R .  72,317 

Bridgetown,  Barbados....  4,500 

Bagnoli,  Italy .  8,920 

Cardenas,  Cuba . 

Cienfuegos,  Cuba .  . 


Civita  Vecchia,  Italy....  13,933 
Cristobal,  Canal  Zone...'.  46,300 

Curacao,  D.  W.  1 .  5,465 

Dakar,  F.  W.  A .  6,650 

Gaeta,  Italy . 

Genoa,  Italy .  55,627 

Guayaquil,  Ecuador .  1,025 

Havana,  Cuba .  2,759 

Horta,  Gayal,  Azores....  711 

Italy,  any  part .  21,930 

Kingston,  Jamaica .  5,867 

La  Plata,  A.R .  13,794 

Leghorn,  Italy .  12,394 

Lisbon,  Portugal .  3,993 

Maddalena.,  Italy .  14,037 

Marseilles,  France . 

Maranham,  Brazil .  1,040 

Montevideo,  Uruguay....  11,818 

Naples,  Italy .  21,708 

Para,  Brazil .  2,142 

Pernambuco,  Brazil .  4,280 

Piraeus,  Greece .  5,140 

Porto  Vecchio,  Italy .  5,145 

Porto  Ferrajo,  Italy .  8,750 

Palermo,  Sicily .  4,905 

Puerto  Militar,  A.  R . 


Rio  de  Janeiro,  Brazil...  14,003 

San  Juan,  P.  R .  4,116 

Savona,  Italy .  12,500 

Santiago,  Cuba . 

Spezia,  Italy . 

St.  Vincent,  C.  V.  I _  5,419 

St.  Nazaire,  France .  5,448 

Taranto.  Italy . 

Valparaiso,  Chile .  1,535 

Vera  Cruz,  Mexico .  2,157 

St.  Lucia,  B.  W.  I . 

Bahia,  Brazil . 

Santos,  Brazil . 

Inuiqtie,  Chile . 

Gibraltar  . 


32,068 

-191.5 - 

Sewall’s 

Point. 


4,606 


5,197 


2,029 


22,156 


88,516 


Newport 

News. 

1.479 

11,463 


5,254 

3,667 

3,202 

5,300 


3,053 

14,445 


9,966 


18,246 


15,803 


1,038 

716 

5,580 


9,812 

923 

18,728 


2,696 

32,428 


11,391 


Las  Palmas,  C.  I .  .  . 

Toulon,  France .  .  . 

Stockholm,  Sweden .  .  . 

.'\alesund,  Norway .  .  . 

St.  Thomas,  D.  W.  I .  .  . 

Demerara,  B.  G .  .  . 

Trinidad,  B.  W.  I .  .  . 

Frey  Bentos,  A.  R .  .  . 

Totals  .  400,328  33,988  175,190 

The  above  1915  figures  are  taken  from  custom 
house  records.  There  is  some  discrepancy  be¬ 
tween  the  above  figures  and  the  actual  Newport 
News  exports,  by  reason  of  several  steamers 
clearing  from  Newport  News  for  foreign  ports 
via  other  American  ports,  in  which  case  the  fig¬ 
ures  are  shown  in  the  custom  house  records  of 
the  last  port  of  clearance. 


Export  Trade  Briefs. 

A  late  communication  from  Consul-General 
Geor.ge  H.  Scidmore,  of  Yokohama,  Japan,  ex¬ 
plains  where  the  Inter-Island  Navigation  Com¬ 
pany  of  Honolulu  will  acquire  the  coal  that  will 
be  used  in  the  new  million  dollar  stora.ge  plant 
that  they  are  to  build  at  Honolulu.  Mr.  Scidmore 
reports  that  a  big  deal  is  reported  by  the  Japan 
Mail  between  the  Hokkaido  Tanko  Kalsen  Kaisha 
and  the  Inter  Island  NavigationCompany  at  Hon¬ 
olulu  for  the  supply  of  130,000  tons  of  Yubari 
coal.  The  first  shipment  has  just  been  made. 
This  is  the  first  big  export  of  Japanese  coal  to 
Hawaii,  which  has  heretofore  bought  Australian 
coal. 

Consul  Walter  H.  Schulz,  of  St.  Michaels, 
Azores,  reports  under  date  of  August  23  that  an¬ 
other  order  for  3,000  tons  of  American  coal  has 
been  placed  by  local  dealers  for  delivery  in 
schooners.  Several  schooners  have  been  em¬ 
ployed  in  the  trade  in  recent  months.  The  quick¬ 
est  voyage  was  twenty-five  days.  Freights  are 
$6  to  $7.50  per  ton. 

The  Bl.4ck  Diamond  learns  that  there  are 
several  agencies  that  are  at  work  upon  schemes 
to  export  large  quantities  of  American  coal  to 
France.  The  principal  problem  to  be  worked  out 
in  addition  to  the  shipping  problem,  is  that  of 
arranging  for  payments.  Coal  men  in  this  coun¬ 
try  are  impressed  with  France’s  urgent  need  for 
coal,  but  they  cannot  rush  headloag  in  the  game 
of  shipping  coal  abroad  until  they  are  assured 
of  payments. 

Scarcity  of  coal  in  Spain  has  reached  a  stage 
approximating  a  fuel  famine.  United  States  Am¬ 
bassador  Williard  today  cabled  the  Foreign  Com¬ 
merce  Bureau  that  the  fuel  shortage  threatens 
to  hamper  practically  every  industry  seriously 
and  pointed  out  that  an  unlimited  opportunity  is 
offered  American  coal  producers.  The  Spanish 
government  has  offered  special  inducements  to 
coal  producers  by  removing  all  customs  duties 
and  transportation  tax.  Spain’s  annual  consump¬ 
tion  of  coal  is  about  6,000,000  tons. 


Virginian  Loadings. 


The  Virginian  Railway  loadings  for  June 
were : 


Slab  Fork . 

Winding  Gulf . 

K.  G.  J.  &  E.  R.  R,,  via  Pax. 

Loup  Creek  Colliery  Co . 

MacAlpin  Coal  Co . 

E.  E.  White  Co.,  Glen  White! 

Raleigh  C.  &  C.  Co . 

E.  E.  White  Co.,  Stotesbury.  . 

•Gulf  Smokeless  Coal  Co . 

Sullivan  C.  &  C.  Co . 

Long  Branch  C.  Co . 

Wyoming  Coal  Co . ! 

The  New  River  Company: 

Carlisle  . . . 

Summerlee  . 

Lochgelly  . 

Sprague  . 

Beckley  . 

Mabscott  . 

Scarbro  .  . 

Cranberry  . 


Gulf  Coal  Co . 

Lynwin  Coal  Co . 

Bailey  Wood  Co . 

Meade-Pocahontas  Co . 

New  River  Collieries  Company: 

Eccles  . 

Sun  . 


Pemberton  Coal  Company: 

Big  Stick . 

Affinity  . 

Pemberton  . 


Willis  Branch . 

Mt.  Hope  C.  &  C.  Co . 

.Mgonquin  Coal  Co . 

Sugar  Creek  C.  &  Co . 

Trace  Fork  Coal  Co . 

Virginia  Smokeless  F.  Co,  .... 

Woodpeck  Coal  Co . . 

West  Virginia  Coal  Mining  Co 
Mullen’s  Smokeless  Fuel  Co... 
City  Coal  Co . 


Tons. 

25,763 

22,071 

21,998 

19,755 

17,647 

17,418 

15,232 

13,770 

10,060 

9,953 

9,794 

9,314 


8,850 

6,630 

4,849 

3,120 

3,039 

2,699 

1,156 

1,052 

- 31,368 

.  8,613 

.  7,081 

.  6,932 

.  6,313 

4,825 

3,798 

-  8,623 

10,060 

4,796 

4,287 

-  19,143 

.  3,986 

.  3,319 

.  2,344 

.  2,284 

.  2,178 

.  1,338 

.  1,098 

.  440 

.  401 

.  252 


Total 


801,932 


234 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


I  September  18 


General  Review. 

Every  Phase  of  the  Market  Is  Encourag¬ 
ing,  Showing  Upturns  in  Demand 
and  Prices. 

.•\n  optimistic  statement  about  coal  trade  con¬ 
ditions  for  this  week  is  not  oidy  not  out  of  place, 
hut  is  warranted  hy  the  facts.  There  has  not 
heen  a  time  in  two  or  three  years  when  current 
demand  was  better.  There  has  not  l)een  a  time  in 
seven  years  when  the  outlook  was  as  bright.  The 
eoal  trade,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  is  going  to  have 
more  difficulty  for  the  next  six  months,  to  satisfy 
the  demand  than  it  is  to  sell  coal.  This  arises 
from  the  fact  that  extraordinary  demands  arc 
coming  from  all  locations  at  once  and  from  the 
further  fact  that  every  agency  of  production  and 
di.stril)ution  is  encountering  fresh  difficulties 
every  little  while  that  slow  down  output  or  dis- 
trilmtion. 

matter  of  first  importance,  of  course,  is  the 
widespread  demand  for  coal.  Considering  the 
most  remote  thing  first,  the  export  trade  has  l)een 
developing  almost  alarming  proportions  in  the 
last  few  weeks.  As  one  man  put  it : 

“All  of  the  European  countries  have  a  big  de¬ 
mand  for  coal.  Germany’s  outi)Ut  is  shut  out  of 
other  markets.  A  major  portion  of  France’s 
mines  are  in  territory  occupied  hy  the  enemy. 
Ilclgium  is  in  the  same  position.  England  is  thus 
left  to  satisfy  practically  all  of  the  foreign  de¬ 
mand  and  is  having  difficulty  at  home,  first  hy 
the  loss  of  miners  to  the  army,  and  second,  hy  a 
tendency  on  the  part  of  those  who  remain  at  home 
to  go  out  on  strike.  ^Meanwhile  normal  consump¬ 
tion  is  increasing.  Railroad  trains,  transports 
and  battle  ships  are  constantly  kept  under  steam 
to  he  used  on  a  moment’s  notice.  The  consump¬ 
tion  of  coal  is  tremendous  even  when  these  vari¬ 
ous  agencies  are  inactive.  The  demand  is  more 
than  England  can  conveniently  supply.  The 
storage  piles,  which  have  aided  materially,  are 
now  exhausted.  America  must  make  up  the  de¬ 
ficit  :  when  that  time  comes  tremendous  volumes 
must  he  moved.  That  subtracts  consideralile 
from  the  available  quantity  for  home  distribu¬ 
tion. 

Meanwhile  at  no  time  since  1907  have  the  steel 
mills  and  allied  industries  of  America  run  on 
better  time.  The  consumption  of  coal  first  for 
coke  making  and  then  for  steam  in  these  various 
lines  of  industry  is  heavier  than  it  has  heen  for 
about  eight  years.  Furthermore,  foreign  countries 
have  heen  negotiating  within  the  week  for  a  loan 
of  a  billion  dollars  that  will  he  spent  in  this  coun¬ 
try  for  the  next  four  months.  That  amount  of 
money  is  going  to  increase  the  sjieed  of  outnut 
for  these  various  manufacturing  concerns.  This 
will  call  for  more  coal. 

In  addition  the  winter  season  is  approaching 
when  the  demand  for  domestic  coal  more  than 
triples  what  it  has  heen  for  the  jireceding  two 
months.  This  domestic  demand  is  going  to  he 
heavier  hy  far  than  at  any  time  for  the  last  four 
or  five  years.  .Already  it  is  assuming  greatly 
alarming  proportions  in  some  sections  of  the 
country.  .As  an  indication  the  ui)per  lake  trade 
which  expected  to  slow  down  about  now,  is  be¬ 
ginning  to  take  fresh  supplies  of  coal  and  sales 
of  large  tonnages  are  being  reported. 

Furthermore,  the  railroads  and  larger  indus¬ 
tries  do  not  like  the  labor  outlook,  especially  in 
the  east.  .As  a  consequence  they  are  buying  coal 
for  storage  puriioses  now,  not  e.xpecting  to  use  it 
until  the  first  of  .April,  next  year.  .All  of  these 
things  are  making  a  very  strong  market,  especially 
in  the  east  and  frequent  rises  of  prices  are  re- 
jiorted  from  some  of  the  leading  centers  with  in¬ 
dications  that  i)remiums  will  soon  he  paid. 

In  the  meanwhile  production  is  being  inter¬ 
fered  with.  In  the  first  place,  as  the  mines  try 
to  run  full  capacity  they  find  a  shortage  of  labor. 
Subtraction  of  labor  supply  has  been  three-fold 
in  character.  No  new  miners  have  heen  received 
from  abroad.  Some  who  were  here  have  gone 
home  to  fight  and  others  who  remained  have  left 
the  mines  to  work  in  steel  mills.  The  loss  is 
quite  serious  and  is  not  readily  made  up.  ATean- 
while  mine  ])roduction  is  cut  down  to  some  ex¬ 
tent. 

Also  transportation  difficulties  are  current.  The 
railroads  are  called  unon  to  move  large  quan¬ 
tities  of  grain  and,  in  the  east,  a  large  volume  of 
supplies  for  the  European  countries.  They  have 
not  the  motive  power  to  satisfy  that  tlemand  and 
also  to  move  coal.  This,  by  an  artificial  means, 
adds  strength  to  what  is  almost  a  runaway  mar¬ 
ket,  the  latter  being  brought  about  hy  an  increase 
in  demand. 


Chicago  Market. 

Buying  Is  Heavier  on  the  Whole,  but 
Prices  Are  Virtually  Unchanged. 


Office  of  The  Bi..\ck  Di.'iMond, 
Chicago,  Septemlier  Ifi. 

Tile  major  change  in  the  coal  market  in  Clii- 
cago  in  the  last  week  has  heen  in  the  increased 
'luying  of  domestic  sizes.  There  has  not  heen 
a  commensurate  increase  in  the  sale  of  steam 
coal.  'I'herefore  domestic  coal  is  .growing  stronger 
h  't  some  of  the  steam  sizes  are  not  quite  so 
stiff  as  they  were  a  week  ago. 

The  anthracite  situation  has  shown  consider¬ 
able  improvement.  The  retailers  have  appre- 
I'iated  the  logic  of  the  salesmen’s  ar.gumcnt  to 
the  effect  that  eastern  buying  is  delayed  as  the 
retailers  are  waiting  for  the  reduction  in  freight 
rates  to  go  into  effect.  In  the  meanwhile,  there 
is  plenty  of  coal  available  for  the  western  mar¬ 
ket,  a  fact  which  cannot  lie  assured  after  the 
first  of  October.  Also,  the  retailers  appreciate 
that  the  movement  to  the  western  interior  has 
lieen  very  light  for  the  last  few  months  and  an 
actual  shortage  exists  except  on  the  upper  lake 
docks. 

'I'he  smokeless  coal  situation  has  not  changed 
a  great  deal  in  the  last  week.  The  operators 
are  holding  firmly  to  circular  prices  hut  they 
are  able  to  do  so  only  because  the  coal  has  been 
kept  off  this  market.  There  is  no  free  coal  here 
to  speak  of  and  if  there  was,  the  sale  of  it  would 
be  difficult.  In  the  meanwhile  the  sales  have  been 
relatively  small  but  the  price  has  been  firm  at  the 
circular  price  of  $1.40  for  mine  run.  Eump  coal  has 
been  a  little  more  abundant  since  the  demand  for 
slack  has  been  larger.  The  circular  price  has  been 
maintained  but  in  some  places  some  of  the  coal 
has  been  sold  for  less.  The  prices  up  to  Thurs¬ 
day  were : 

F.  O.  R.  F.  O.  B. 

Smokeless —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Mine  run .  $3.45  $1.40 

I  ump  and  egg .  4.05@4.30  2.00@2.2.5 

Somerset  County  coal  has  been  occupying  about 
the  same  position  as  has  smokeless.  'I'he  price 
is  fixed  by  the  eastern  demand  and  not  by  the 
western  demand  and  Chicago  has  been  asked 
to  pay  that  price  or  not  to  take  that  coal.  In  the 
main,  the  western  demand  has  been  so  small  it 
seems  the  retailers  have  chosen  the  latter  alterna¬ 
tive.  That  is,  the  movement  has  been  relatively 
small  for  this  part  of  the  year  but  the  prices 
have  been  firm  at  $1.2.1  for  mine  run.  Eump  and 
esrg  coal  is  in  better  demand  at  prices  ranging 
all  the  way  from  $1.75  to  $2.00  or  better.  The 
prices  up  to  Thursday  were : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Somerset  County —  Chicago.  ^fiT^es. 

V.uzc  run  . $3.20@3.30  $1.15(®L2:) 

Lump  and  egg .  3.75@4.05  1.75@2.00 

The  Hockir.g  coal  market  has  shown  a  slightly 
heavier  movement,  but  no  price  change  has  been 
recorded  within  the  last  week.  In  fact,  some  of 
the  shipping’  companies  had  anticipated  a  better 
demand  and  had  sent  in  some  free  coal.  The 
prices  up  to  Thursday  were ; 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Hocking —  Chicago.  Mines. 

l'/4-inch  lump .  $3.15  $1.50 

The  splint  market  is  still  laboring  with  some¬ 
thing  of  an  over-supply  of  coal  when  compared 
with  the  immediate  requirements  of  the  trade. 

Even  so,  the  market  has  not  been  without  its 
redeeming  features,  the  price  on  the  average  be¬ 
ing  about  $1.25,  with  some  sales  for  less  and 
some  sales  for  more.  The  prices  u])  to  Thursday 
were : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Kanawha —  Chicago.  Mines. 

IJ^inch  Himp . $3.05@3.15  $1.15@1.26 

Offerin.gs  of  eastern  Kentucky  coal  are  variable. 
One  operator  with  a  well  known  coal  is  gettin.g 
$2.25  ;  others  are  getting  less.  The  latter  is  due, 
in  part,  to  the  fact  that  the  western  trade  is 
not  taking  any  high  grade  bituminous  coal  to 
the  extent  it  did  a  year  a.go.  The  prices  up 
to  Thursday  were  : 

F.  p.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Eastern  Kentucky —  Chicago.  ]\Tines. 

Domestic  lump . $3.40@  4.1 5  $l.r)0@2.2r) 

Egg  .  3.2r)@3.7r)  1.35^1. 8.1 

The  change  in  the  l''ranklin  county  situation  is 
altogether  one  of  tonnage  as  is  indicated  by  tbe 
fact  that  up  to  a  few  weeks  ago  the  mines  in 
that  district  were  running  on  the  average  about 
fifty  per  cent  productive  capacity.  In  the  last 
few  weeks  there  has  been  enou.gh  improvement 
in  demand  so  that  the  mines  are  running  to  about 
seventy-live  per  cent  productive  capacity.  That 
means  that  some  operators  are  sold  up  ahead. 
Others  are  still  in  a  position  where  some  of  their 
mines  arc  closed  down.  The  average  of  the 


field,  however,  is  pretty  close  to  seventy-five  per 
cent.  That  is  considered  a  very  good  record, 
everything  taken  into  account.  The  fine  coal 
situation  has  not  been  quite  so  strong  because 
naturally  the  increased  output  of  domestic  coal 
has  thrown  the  supply  and  demand  for  fine  coal 
slightly  out  of  balance.  However  the  recession 
has  been  as  marked  as  mi.ght  be  supposed  and 
five  cents  a  ton  will  measure  the  decline  in  the 
last  week.  Prices  up  to  Thursday  were: 


Franklin  County — 

I. ump  . 

Kgg  . 

No.  1  nut . 

No.  2  nut . 

Mine  run . . 

2-incli  screenings... 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Chicago.  Mines. 


$2.80 

2.80 

2.80 

2.45 

2.15@2!20 

1.55@ 


$1.75 
1.75 
1.75 
1.40 
1.10@1.15 
.50@  .00 


The  situation  in  Williamson  county  is  interest¬ 
ing,  intricate  and  significant.  The  best  known 
coals  are  selling  strongly  at  $1.75  and  the  mines 
are  sold  up  for  perhaps  ten  days  to  two  weeks 
ahead.  Some  of  the  other  coals  that  are  not 
so  well  known  are  selling  for  $1.()0  and  the 
mines  are  running  about  sixty  per  cent  of  ca- 
liacity.  In  places  some  of  the  smaller  mines  in 
order  to  .get  tonnage,  are  accepting  even  a  lower 
figure,  but  their  price  does  not  convince  the 
buyer  on  the  score  of  quality.  Steam  sizes  have 

been  moving  fairly  well,  everything  considered. 
Number  two,  three,  and  four  nut  have  not  been 
quite  as  strong  as  they  might  be,  but  neither  have 
they  been  weak.  The  indication  is  that  steam  de¬ 
mand  is  making  some  improvement.  The  prices 
up  to  'riiursday  were : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  n.  B. 

Williamson  County —  Chicago.  Mines. 

lump  . $2.65@2.80  $1.60@1.75 

Kgg  .  2.65@2.80  1.60@1.75 

No.  1  washed .  2.65@2.80  1.75 

No.  2  washed .  2.45  1.40 


Saline  county  coal  is  movin.g  mainly  to  the 
steam  trade  although  domestic  orders  have  been 
quite  heavy  in  the  last  ten  days.  In  common  with 
the  other  fine  coal  markets.  Saline  screenings 
have  gone  off  perhaps  five  cents  a  ton,  but  even 
so,  they  are  selling  around  seventy  cents  which 
is  a  good  figure  for  this  year.  The  prices  up  to 
Thursday  were : 


F.  0.  B. 

F.  0.  B. 

Saline  County — - 

Chicago. 

Mines. 

Lump  . 

$1.75 

Mine  run . 

.  2.20 

1.15 

Screenings  . 

.  1.7o 

.70 

i;4-inch  lump . 

.  2.35 

1.30 

Springfield  coal  has  had  an  evenly  balanced  de¬ 
mand  within  the  last  week.  That  is,  there  has 
been  an  increase  in  the  buying  on  domestic  coal. 
There  has  been  almost  as  much  of  an  increase  in 
the  demand  for  steam  coal.  The  market  has 
been  quite  satisfactory  with  the  exception  that 
screenin.gs  are  now  selling  for  fifty  or  fifty-five 
cents,  whereas  they  were  five  cents  a  ton  higher 
a  week  ago.  Some  cases  have  been  reported 
where  screenings  have  sold  for  less.  The  prices 
up  to  Thursday  were : 


Springfield — 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Chicago.  Mines. 


Lump  .  .  . . 

Fgg  . 

Nut  . 

Mine  run.. 
Screenings 


$2.47 
2.47 
2.47 
1.87 
1.32  @1.37 


$1.65 

1.05 

1.6.5 

1.05 


Knox  county  steam  coals  have  been  in  good 
demand  and  improvement  in  the  buying  of  do¬ 
mestic  coal  has  suggested  a  rise  in  price  which 
may  be  announced  soon  by  some  of  the  leadin.g 
ouerators  on  domestic  sizes.  The  prices  up  to 
Thursday  were: 


Knox  County — 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Chicago.  Mines. 


f-ump 
Fug  . 


Mine  run 


Screenings 


$2.37  $1.50 

2.37  1.50 

1.87  1.05 

1.02  .75 


Clinton  mines  which  had  sold  up  their  steam 
output  mainly  on  contract  have  gained  their  in¬ 
crease  in  production  mainly  through  an  increase 
in  domestic  orders  coming  from  points  in  Indiana 
mostly.  The  market  is  stronger  and  a  rise  in 
price  in  the  near  future  is  indicated.  'The  prices 


up  to  Thursday  were : 


F.  O.  B. 

F.  0.  B. 

Clinton — 

Chicago. 

Mines. 

Domestic  lump . 

.  $2.27 

$1.50 

Kgg  . 

.  2.07 

1.36 

Nut  . 

.  2.07 

1.30 

Mine  run . 

.  1.87 

1.10 

Screenings  . 

.65 

Coke  has  been  unchanged  within  the  last  week 
both  as  to  tonnage  and  prices  although  there  is  an 
upward  tendency  in  the  market  and  sellin.g  prices 
may  soon  be  higher.  The  prices  up  to  Thurs- 
dav  were : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 


Coke —  Chicago. 

Connellsville  . $4.85ffl5.00 

By-product,  foundry .  4.')0@5.10 

By-product,  egg  and  stove .  4.75 

Bv-product,  nut  .  4.75 

Gas  house  . .  3.85@4.00 


No.  12] 


235 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


Pittsburgh  Trade. 

Prospects  Both  on  Lake  and  Export  Coal 
Give  a  Better  Tone  to  the 
Entire  Trade. 


Office  of  The  Black  1)i.\.\u)NI), 
l.)0:i  Oliver  Building, 

PiTTSBUKOH,  Pa.,  September  10. 

While  there  has  been  no  marked  activity  in  the 
coal  market  of  this  district  the  past  week,  there 
has  been  considerable  interest  shown  in  future 
prospects,  and  a  number  of  interesting  events 
transpiring  that  have  attracted  the  attention  of 
the  trade.  Contrary  to  what  has  been  the  ex¬ 
perience  of  sellers  visiting  the  lake  trade,  there 
seems  to  be  a  marked  difference  in  the  attitude 
of  the  lake  buyer,  who  now  seems  very  willing 
to  listen,  and  is  even  beginning  to  ask  some  ques¬ 
tions  that  indicate  that  some  coal  may  be  wanted, 
and  that  soon  by  those  uncovered ;  while  ship¬ 
pers  under  contract  are  getting  quite  busy  on 
forwarding  orders,  the  expected  rush  to  get 
their  required  supply  through  before  navigation 
ceases,  apparently  having  started.  This  is  par¬ 
ticularly  the  case  in  the  Pairmont,  W.  Va.,  region, 
that  section  having  rate  advantages  over  Pitts¬ 
burgh  that  tell  particularly  during  a  season  such 
as  the  present. 

A  decided  shortage  of  car  capacity  has  fright¬ 
ened  some  "stand  off”  buyers  who  are  now  get¬ 
ting  a  little  nervous  as  to  quick  delivery,  and  are 
making  very  pointed  inquiry.  This  shortage  is 
becoming  more  marked  every  day,  and  will  have 
a  beneficial  tendency,  as  it  will  make  buyers  in 
general  a  little  more  active.  Pittsburgh-Pairmont 
operators  are  all  feeling  the  effect  of  this  car 
shortage  just  now,  though  the  situation  has  not 
become  acute  as  yet,  particularly  westward,  as 
for  some  unexplained  reason  general  freight  ton¬ 
nages  have  been  falling  off  west  to  quite  an 
extent. 

The  little  spurt  in  domestic  Imying  that  de¬ 
veloped  with  the  cold  spell  the  last  of  August 
and  September  1st,  has  received  a  severe  shock, 
from  a  week  of  the  hottest  weather  of  the  year, 
the  mercury  at  this  point  ranging  from  eighty- 
eight  to  ninety-two  degrees  for  several  days  past, 
putting  the  coal  man  and  bin  back  in  seclusion 
and  bringing  the  refrigerator  and  ice  man  into 
the  foreground.  Some  eastern  business  was 
offered  the  past  week,  and  one  operator  took 
contracts  amounting  to  .>01)  to  800  tons  daily  on 
renewals,  at  an  advance  of  ten  cents  per  ton  over 
last  September’s  figures,  but  the  sentiment  daily 
develops  that  it  is  wiser  for  some  operators  to 
conserve  their  output,  in  view  of  many  features 
of  the  market,  and  the  light  amount  of  stocking 
that  has  been  taking  place,  and  the  underlying 
influences  that  are  liable  to  lift  the  market  to 
points  considerably  above  today’s  very  irregular 
quotations,  which  are  very  nervous  and  likely  to 
remain  so,  while  the  present  tension  in  diplomatic 
circles  exists.  In  the  Connellsville  coal  region, 
and  throughout  West  Moreland,  Fayette  and 
Washington  counties,  more  and  more  action  is 
seen  and  an  increased  demand  for  labor  shows 
that  prospects  are  brightening. 

Payette  county  is  particularly  well  pleased  with 
the  turn  of  affairs  in  the  J.  V.  Thomson  inter¬ 
ests.  At  the  request  of  eighteen  attorneys,  rep¬ 
resenting  creditors.  Judge  J.  Q.  Van  Swearingen 
granted  Josiah  Vk  Thompson  an  extension  on 
the  receivership  decisions  until  next  March  14. 
The  action  of  the  further  extension  was  ojjposed 
by  only  two  attorneys. 

The  general  opinion  of  the  members  of  the 
bar  who  represent  clients  who  are  secured  and 
unsecured  creditors  of  Mr.  Thompson  was  that 
Mr.  Thompson  himself  is  the  whole  salvation  to 
the  financial  situation  there. 

"Thompson  is  my  hope,  and  he’s  your  hope, 
and  he’s  the  hope  of  your  clients  and  the  hope 
of  every  client  represented  here,”  said  W.  C. 
McKean.  “I  am  satisfied  that  he’s  accomplished 
in  untold  measure  more  than  any  one  else  can 
accomplish.” 

That  the  disturbing  of  Mr.  Thompson’s  affairs 
at  present  would  be  disastrous  not  only  to  his 
properties,  but  to  the  entire  community  was 
voiced  by  a  large  number  of  attorneys.  They 
stated  that  an  extension  would  be  for  the  best 
interests  of  the  entire  community. 

River  shippers  are  handicapped  by  the  low 
stages  of  water,  and  large  fleets  of  loaded  coal 
are  accumulating  in  the  lower  harbor  here,  await¬ 
ing  a  shipping  stage,  while  empties  are  anchored 
at  upper  docks,  ready  to  be  taken  up  to  the  third 
and  fourth  pools  for  loading  at  Monongahela 
river  tipples. 

Somewhat  more  action  has  developed  in  fur¬ 
nace  coke,  with  advancing  pig  iron  prices  in 


Pittsburgh,  $1.)  V'alley,  being  today’s  quotation 
in  this  district,  though  the  action  has  thus  far 
resulted  only  in  considerable  inquiry  coming  out 
for  191(),  and  the  question  of  price  is  the  i)oint 
of  difference  between  the  buyers  and  the  sellers. 
The  i)ast  week’s  quotations  maintain  on  spot, 
and  for  delivery  during  the  fourth  quarter,  though 
some  coke  for  October  and  Noveml)er  is  said 
to  have  been  sold  at  $:b  The  Sharpsville  Fur¬ 
nace  Company,  and  the  Shanango  Furnace  Com¬ 
pany  have  been  making  some  inquiry  for  li)H> 
coke  the  past  week,  but  producers  are  wary  of 
quoting  anything  but  a  decidedly  advancing  scale 
of  prices,  based  on  the  pig  iron  situation,  and 
no  deals  have  been  closed  that  we  hear  of,  though 
several  operators  are  figuring  for  the  business. 
Foundry  grades  are  not  weakening  any,  and  the 
tendency  is  toward  even  a  firmer  stand  for  any 
future  deliveries.  Additional  ovens  are  being  put 
into  operation  at  various  plants,  and  some  that 
have  been  idle  many  months  will  be  working 
first  of  the  coming  month. 

Orders  have  been  issued  to  begin  work  on  the 
cleaning  up  of  two  coke  plants  in  the  Connells¬ 
ville  region — Thompson  No.  belonging  to  the 
Thompson-Connellsville  Coke  Company,  and 
Tower  Flill  No.  2,  belonging  to  the  Tower  Hill- 
Connellsville  Coke  Companj'.  Two  hundred  ovens 
will  be  put  in  operation  at  the  first  plant  and 
they  are  expected  to  be  ready  to  fire  by  the  first 
of  October.  This  will  offer  employment  for 
about  800  men.  The  entire  plant  consists  of  400 
ovens  and  when  running  full  gives  employment 
to  about  .>00  men.  Thompson  No.  2  has  been 
idle  for  two  years. 

Tower  Hill  No.  2  will  be  put  into  operation 
just  as  soon  as  the  ovens  can  be  cleaned  out 
and  put  into  the  proper  shape  to  fire,  about  the 
first  of  next  month.  The  combined  capacity  of 
Tower  Hill  No.  1  and  No.  2  is  30,000  tons,  and 
when  Tower  Hill  No.  2  begins  operation  it  will 
do  so  to  the  extent  of  8, .500  tons.  This  is  about 
sixty  per  cent  of  its  entire  capacity.  , 


Personal  and  News  Items. 

George  A.  Magoon,  president  Commonwealth 
Fuel  Company,  is  home  from  a  summer  vacation 
spent  in  Canada. 

.4  contract  has  been  closed  by  the  Consolida¬ 
tion  Coal  Company  with  the  Egyptian  railways 
calling  for  the  delivery  of  00,000  tons  of  coal 
in  the  near  future. 

The  Berwind-White  Coal  Mining  Company  is 
beginning  to  produce  coal  to  be  shipped  to  Italy 
as  a  part  of  the  big  300,000-ton  order  recently 
awarded  to  the  concern. 

The  Hazel  Kirk  and  Dunkirk  mines  of  the 
Pittsburgh-Westmoreland  Coal  Company,  at 
Charleroi,  have  resumed  operations,  giving  em- 
p'.oyment  to  about  400  men. 

The  new  by-product  coke  plant  of  the  La  Belle 
Iron  Works  will  be  built  north  of  Follansbee  in 
Brooke  county,  W.  Va.  There  are  to  he  ninety- 
four  ovens  in  the  new  plant,  and  it  will  cover 
an  area  from  six  to  seven  acres.  It  will  employ 
between  17.>  and  200  men  and  will  have  a  pay¬ 
roll  estimated  between  $200, OOH  and  $300, OOO  a 
year.  The  directors  of  the  LaBelle  have  been 
working  on  plans  for  this  by-product  plant  for 
almost  a  year. 

Pennsylvania  charters  have  been  taken  out  by 
the  Elk  Brook  Coal  Company.  Capital  stock, 
$10,000.  Treasurer,  Charles  E.  Bradbury,  Scran¬ 
ton,  Pa.  Incorporators ;  John  G.  Mc.4skie,  Hu¬ 
bert  F.  Warner,  Thomas  P.  Bradbury,  Scranton, 
Pa.:  Harold  L.  Mc.4skie,  Blakely,  Pa.,  and  the 
Meadow  Hill  Coal  Company.  Capital  stock, 
$.>,000.  Treasurer,  W.  L.  Houck,  Scranton,  Pa. 
Incorporators:  Frank  P.  Benjamin,  Peckville, 
Pa.:  Alay  Houck,  Scranton,  Pa.:  Mabel  E.  Ben¬ 
jamin,  Peckville,  Pa. 


Denver  Trade. 


Denver,  September  10. — (Special  Correspond¬ 
ence.) — Market  conditions  show  considerable 
improvement  this  week  as  compared  with  that 
of  last  week.  The  lignite  business  is  particu¬ 
larly  encouraging  and  bituminous  is  in  much 
better  demand.  Of  course,  there  is  no  general 
rush,  but  the  increased  volume  is  sufficient  to 
indicate  that  the  jirofitable  season  is  rapidly 
approaching.  Western  Kansas  has  been  vis¬ 
ited  with  light  snow  and  the  weather  is  de¬ 
cidedly  more  to  the  coal  man’s  liking  through¬ 
out  this  entire  territory.  Consumers  are  stor¬ 
ing  quite  freely  now.  not  only  lignite,  but  bitu¬ 
minous  and  Colorado  anthracite  as  well. 

There  is  now  a  good  demand  for  threshing 
coal  in  northern  Colorado  and  southern  W’yo- 


ming,  and  this  has  resulted  in  a  better  lignite 
tonnage  than  at  any  time  since  e'arly  spring. 

Both  Trinidad  and  Walsenburg  districts  will 
show  an  increase  in  output  of  ten  per  cent 
oyer  last  week,  and  Canon  City  mines  will 
record  an  output  for  the  week  of  aliout  fifty 
per  cent  of  maximum  capacity.  Routt  county 
mines  are  running  full  time  and  are  feeling  the 
better  demand  to  their  full  share. 

Decidedly  cold  nights,  if  continued,  will  wipe 
out  an  indicated  surplus  of  all  grades  of  slack, 
and  prices  are  stronger  than  for  some  weeks. 

The  following  prices  are  ruling  for  lignite 
coal,  f.  o.  b.  mines:  For  Denver  delivery — 
Lump,  $2.35  to  $2.65:  mine  run.  $1.50  to  $1.65: 
slack,  $1.05  to  $1.25.  Country  points — Lump, 
$2.50:  mine  run,  $1.55  to  $1.65:  slack,  $1.05. 


T'win  Cities  Trade. 


Minneapolis  and  St.  Paul,  September  16. — 
(Special  Correspondence.) — Winter  is  almost  ap¬ 
parent  in  this  part  of  the  country.  The  daily 
newspapers  in  Minneapolis  this  week  contained 
articles  relating  to  a  prospective  "coal  shortage.” 
This  is  one  of  the  harbingers  of  colder  weather. 
Shortly  after  these  articles  appeared  there  was  a 
heavy  frost,  which  is  a  certain  indication  that  the 
advent  of  consuming  weather  for  fuel  is  at 
hand. 


While  accumulated  figures  contined  to  show 
that  the  northwestern  states  will  return  one  of 


the  heaviest  crops  on  record,  the  actual  ship- 
pir.g  of  farm  products  at  present  is  much  de¬ 
layed.  Wet  weather  for  nearly  a  week  has  pre¬ 
vented  threshing  in  many  localities,  and  unless 
the  weather  changes,  it  looks  as  if  some  difficulty 
would  be  encountered  in  some  sections  in  thresh¬ 
ing  all  the  crop  before  the  snow  falls.  The  mar¬ 
ket  for  agricultural  products  in  the  belligerent 
European  countries  is  waiting  on  the  billion  dol¬ 
lar  loan,  so  that  alto.gether  not  as  much  grain 
is  lieing  sent  forward  as  there  should  be.  The 
transportation  companies  are  in  a  good  position 
to  handle  a  larger  movement  of  all  commodities, 
and  therefore  no  difficulty  is  being  experienced  in 
getting  coal  forward  promptly. 

In  the  dock  trade,  prices  on  standard  .grades  of 
bituminous  lump  coal  continue  ragged.  Three  or 
four  companies  are  engaged  in  destructive  price 
cutting,  and  the  prices  have  nearly  reached  the 
undesirable  basis  realized  a  year  ago  for  these 
products.  On  the  other  hand  Illinois  and  Indiana 
soft  coals  are  being  held  steady  at  prices  very 
close  to  circular  quotations.  The  imminent  rate 
advance  of  ten  cents  a  ton  to  Minnesota  and 
Iowa  points  is  bringing  in  an  increased  number 
of  orders.  Dealers  are  delaying  the  shipment 
until  the  latter  part  of  the  month  as  much  as 
possible,  and  undoubtedly  the  movement  from 
the  mines  into  this  territory  the  last  ten  days 
or  two  weeks  of  the  month  will  be  heavy.  This 
will  result  in  an  accumulation  of  fairly  heavy 
stocks  by  the  time  the  advance  is  effective,  and 
until  there  is  consuming  weather  after  that  quite 
naturally  there  will  he  a  lull  in  business. 

Collections  are  extremely  backward  on  account 
of  failure  of  many  farmers  to  market  their  grain. 

Current  quotations  on  all  grades  of  coal  sold 
in  the  Twin  City  market  are  as  follows: 

■  ANTHH.ACITE. 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Duluth  Minneapolis 
and  and 

Superior  St.  Paul 


Grate  .  $6.60  $7.80 

Egg  .  6.85  8.05 

Stove  .  6.85  8.05 

Nut  .  7.10  8.30 

Pea  .  5.50  6.70 

Buckwheat  .  t.OO  5.20 


BITUMINOUS. 

Splint,  screened  lump  and  stove . $3.30@3.40  $1.20@4.36 

Splint,  dock  run .  $3.10  $4.06 

Hocking,  screened  lump  and  stove.  3.30@3.40  4.26@4.36 

Hocking,  dock  run .  3.00  3.96 

V'oughiogheny,  gas,  lump  and  stove  3.30@3.40  4.2C@4.36 

Voughiogheny,  gas,  dock  run....  3.10  4.06 

Pittsburgh  vein,  lump .  3.30@3.40  4.20@4.36 

Pittsburgh  vein,  dock  run .  3.00  3.96 

Pocahontas,  screened  lump  or  egg  4.75  5.71 

Pocahontas,  screened  lump  and 

egg  mixed .  4.50  5.46 

Pocahontas,  mine-run  .  3.25  4.21 

Cannel,  lump .  5.25  6.21 

Smithing,  bulk .  4.25  5.21 

.Smithing,  in  100-lb.  sacks .  6.00  6.9c 

Briquets,  anthracite .  5.00  5.96 

Briquets,  smokeless .  5.00  5.96 

III  the  Illinois  trade  the  range  of  prices  on 

southern  Illinois  product  on  the  various  sizes  is 


as  follows : 


Southern  Illinois  chunks . $1.05@  1.75  $3.S5@3.05 

Southern  Illinois  egg .  1.65@i.75  3.85@3.95 

Southern  Illinois  No.  1  nut .  1.65@1.75  3.85@3.95 

Southern  Illinois  No.  2  nut .  1.2.o@1.4()  3.4.5^3.00 

.So  jthern  Illinois  No.  3  nut .  1.10@1.25  3.30@3.4r) 

Southern  Illinois  run  of  mine...  1.15@1.25  3.35@3.4.5 

Southern  Illinois  2'in.  screenings  .60@  .70  2.80@2.90 

Southern  Illinois  includes  Franklin  county, 
Harrisburg  and  Williamson  county. 


236 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[September  18 


Cincinnati  Trade. 


While  the  Larger  Steam  Business  Has 
Been  Good,  the  Domestic 
Trade  Is  Quiet. 


Cincinnati,  Ohio,  September  16. —  {Si'ecial 
C'oyrcspojidciicc.') — The  situation  m  this  territory, 
while  somewhat  flattened  out  hy  the  hot  spell 
of  the  week,  has  been  reasonably  hrm,  taking 
into  consideration  all  the  factors  of  the  case. 
There  has  been  no  material  chan.ge  in  the  smoke¬ 
less  conditions  and  they  are  moving  along  smooth¬ 
ly  and  to  the  great  satisfaction  of  the  operators. 
The  prices  scheduled  for  September  have  been 
maintained  generally  and  the  lake  movement  and 
the  tidewater  delivery,  have  all  been  very  satis¬ 
factory.  .  ,  . 

The  domestic  demand  in  the  interior  and  to 
the  north  has  not  been  as  expected,  owing  prin¬ 
cipally  to  the  heat,  yet  many  of  the  contract 
dealers  have  not  ordered  their  shipments  sus¬ 
pended,  indicating  that  they  have  become  tired 
of  the  .waiting  game  and  are  preparing  to  stock 
to  the  full.  But  little  need  be  said,  therefore,  of 
the  smokeless  situation  except  that  it  is  held 
hack  somewhat  by  the  actual  shortage  of  cars, 
especially  along  the  Chesapeake  &  Ohio  Railway. 

The  splint  situation  is  becoming  much  better, 
hut  little  cheap  coal  being  in  the  market  to  em¬ 
barrass  the  operations  of  shippers.  A  few  small 
operations,  here  and  there,  feel  that  they  must 
dispose  of  their  coal  regardless  of  price,  but 
they  are  much  fewer  than  four  weeks  ago  and 
are  steadily  growing  fewer.  Some  of  the  large 
splint  operators  are  turning  their  attention  to  the 
export  trade  now,  and  South  America  is  being 
inspected  as  a  promising  field.  Fine  inquiries  are 
coming  from  that  section  of  the  continent  and 
some  shipments  have  already  been  arranged  and 
started.  Several  bids  were  registered  from  here 
also  on  the  Panama  trade.  In  general  it  may  be 
said  that  the  advance  in  price  on  splints  in  the 
past  sixty  days  has  been  about  fifteen  cents  on 
all  grades,  but  some  of  them  were  so  far  under 
the  price  that  should  have  been  required  that 
even  this  advance  brin.gs  little  relief.  Prepared 
sizes  are  going  to  the  lakes  in  better  volume  and 
it  is  estimated  by  traveling  salesmen  who  have 
come  out  of  the  lake  territory,  that  that  territory 
is  about  2,000,000  tons  shy  of  the  amount  usually 
stocked  there  and  that  in  event  of  a  cold  winter 
a  shortage  is  sure  to  be  felt  about  January.  It 
is  also  stated  by  operators  that  the  movement  of 
coal  to  the  northwest  is  probably  about  100  per 
cent  advance  over  August  in  the  same  period. 

Prices  of  this  week  may  be  quoted  as  follows : 
Winifrede:  4-inch  block,  $1.60;  2-inch  block, 

$1.50;  run  of  mine,  eighty-eight  to  ninety  cents; 
washed  nut,  $1.35  to  $1.45;  washed  egg,  $1.50; 
washed  pea,  $1 ;  nut  and  slack,  spot,  sixty-five 
cents,  contract,  seventy-five  to  eighty  cents.  Aver¬ 
age  West  Virginia  splint:  2-inch,  $1.40;  mine  run 
(stron.gX  eighty-five  to  ninety  cents;  inferior, 
fifty-live  cents;  nut  and  slack,  sixty-five  cents. 
In  the  Wyatt  field  the  prices  are:  4-inch  block, 
$1.60;  2-inch  block,  $1.45;  run  of  mine,  ninety 
cents ;  nut  and  slack,  seventy-five  cents.  In  an¬ 
other  nearby  field,  4-inch  block,  ordinary,  $1.25  to 
$1.40;  better,  $1.45  to  $1.70;  2-inch  block,  $1.05 
to  $1.15;  mine  run  slow  at  seventy-five  and  eighty- 
live  cents ;  nut  and  slack,  forty-five  to  fifty  cents ; 
4-inch  mine  run,  sixty  to  seventy-five  cents.  Now 
in  contrast  a  Kentucky  quotation  comes  in :  Large 
hlock,  $1.80;  washed  round,  $1.70;  run  of  mine, 
none  made;  washed  nut,  $1.50;  nut  and  slack 
absorbed  so  far  by  contract,  except  in  a  few  in¬ 
stances  where  it  is  readily  sold  at  seventy  to 
seventy-five  cents.  In  another  field  the  best  black 
brings  but  $1.25  and  Miller’s  Creek  is  sought 
eagerly  at  $2.10.  In  Logan  county,  W.  Va.,  the 
following  is  an  avera.ge  of  most  of  the  produc¬ 
tion  :  3-inch  block,  $1.25  to  $1.40;  1^-inch,  $1  to 
$1.15;  run  of  mine,  seventy-five  to  ninety  cents; 
egg  (weak),  seventy-five  to  ninety  cents;  nut 
and  slack,  forty-five  to  sixty  cents. 

The  car  shortage  is  no  phantom.  It  is  on  the 
mines.  The  labor  scarcity  is  becoming  emphatic, 
but  is  expected  to  disappear  when  the  fall  min¬ 
ing  opens  out.  Higher  prices  will  come,  accord- 
in.g  to  the  statement  of  leading  operators  here, 
with  the  very  first  indication  of  approaching  cold 
weather,  such  as  has  been  experienced  in  the  west, 
the  past  week.  While  a  few  contract  orders  were 
suspended  a  few  days  the  past  week,  some  con¬ 
tract  makers  “came  across’’  with  decent  contracts 
for  their  season’s  supply  of  domestic.  This  re¬ 
lieves  orders  for  steam  sizes,  in  many  cases,  and 
quickens  shipment  when  cars  can  be  had 


Cincinnati  Trade  News. 

Kuper  Hood  of  the  Houston  Coal  Co.,  and 
I'rank  B.  Stewart  of  the  Winifrede  Coal  Com¬ 
pany,  were  in  Chicago  this  week  looking  after 
Chicago  trade. 

W.  H.  Kerruish,  formerly  with  the  Norfolk 
&  Chesapeake  Coal  Company,  is  now  on  the  coal 
staff  of  the  Matthew  Addy  Company,  to  cover 
Ohio  territory. 

R.  S.  McVeigh,  vice-president  of  the  Island 
Creek  Coal  Sales  Company,  is  in  New  York  at¬ 
tending  a  conference  of  coal  men  on  the  rate 
proposition. 

E.  C.  Minor,  vice-president  and  general  man¬ 
ager  of  the  Reliance  Coal  &  Coke  Company,  re¬ 
turned  this  week  from  his  vacation  in  the  east, 
where  he  enjoyed  the  sea  breezes  at  Atlantic  City 
and  paid  New  York;  a  visit. 

Traveling  Auditor  H.  H.  Snoderly  of  the  head¬ 
quarters  office  at  Baltimore,  of  the  Consolidation 
Coal  Company,  is  in  the  city  making  the  annual 
audit  of  the  company’s  books  in  the  local  offices. 
He  will  remain  a  week. 

J.  E.  Soulsby,  a  well  known  coal  man  of  Crown 
Hill,  W.  Va.,  stopped  over  in  Cincinnati  a  few 
hours  the  latter  part  of  the  week  to  call  on 
Cayle  E.  Weber  of  the  Chesapeake  &  Ohio  Coal 
&  Coke  Company.  He  was  on  his  way  for  a  stay 
this  week  in  Chicago. 

The  railroads  of  this  territory  are  undoubtedly 
stocking  coal  along  their  lines  with  a  double 
purpose.  Ihe  first  is  to  secure  the  use  of  the 
car  equipment  while  it  can  be  done  and  the  sec¬ 
ond  is  to  have  the  coal  ready  for  any  emergency 
of  strike,  flood  or  severe  cold  weather. 

John  M.  Wright,  president  of  the  Raleigh  Coal 
&  Coke  Company,  returned  to  his  desk  Monday 
after  a  summer’s  vacation  at  Watch  Hill,  R.  L, 
where  he  could  run  down  to  the  coal  docks  along 
the  coast  and  keep  tally  on  the  export  situation 
when  necessary.  He  hrou.ght  his  family  home 
with  him. 

Quin  Morton,  president  of  the  Imperial  Coal 
Company,  of  Burnwell,  W.  Va.,  and  the  Imperial 
Coal  Sales  Company,  of  this  city,  who  was  taken 
ill  at  the  Sinton  Hotel  in  this  city  August  1, 
was  taken  home  to  Burnwell  Eriday  of  last  week 
and  is  reported  from  there  as  being  still  weak 
but  much  better  and  improving  slowly. 

The  Winifrede  Coal  Company  lost  a  barge 
laden  with  about  500  tons  of  coal  at  Hall’s  Land¬ 
ing,  just  across  the  river  from  Cincinnati  on  the 
Kentucky  side.  The  barge  had  been  damaged  by 
an  accident  a  few  weeks  ago,  having  been  run 
into  by  another  boat.  Before  it  could  be  re¬ 
paired  it  went  to  the  bottom.  Preparations  are 
being  made  to  raise  it. 

R.  A.  Hord,  general  sales  manager  of  the  Mid¬ 
dle  West  Coal  Company,  has  just  recovered  from 
a  severe  attack  of  paralysis  induced  by  too  close 
application  to  business.  He  had  taken  no  vaca¬ 
tion  in  a  number  of  years  and  had  decided  to  take 
one  this  year.  In  his  work  of  cleariq.g  up  con¬ 
tracts  preparatory  to  taking  the  vacation  he  over¬ 
exerted  himself.  He  will  be  compelled  to  take 
a  long  vacation  to  recuperate. 


Louisville  Market. 


Louisville,  Ky.,  September  16. —  (Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) —  Undoubted  improvement  in 
fundamental  business  conditions  has  been  go¬ 
ing  on  in  the  sections  dependent  on  Kentucky 
coal  tonnage  for  some  weeks  past,  but  the 
gradual  improvement  in  prices  and  demand 
has  been  halted  to  some  extent  by  the  unsea¬ 
sonably  hot  weather  prevailing  over  most  of 
the  south  and  much  of  the  north.  However, 
even  during  the  past  week  of  unseasonable 
heat,  prices  and  demand  have  at  least  held 
their  own,  and  with  the  advent  of  real  autumn 
weather  and  the  turn  of  the  month  into  Octo¬ 
ber.  coal  producers  are  optimistic  of  seeing 
materially  better  conditions. 

The  coal  production  in  eastern  Kentucky 
during  the  past  several  weeks  has  probably 
been  heavier  than  during  any  previous  period 
in  the  history  of  coal  mining  in  this  state. 
'I'hose  mines  which  have  run  sufficiently  dur¬ 
ing  the  previous  depressed  business  conditions 
to  retain  their  organizations  intact,  have  been 
moving  a  large  tonnage.  Car  shortage  so  far 
has  amounted  to  a  loss  of  only  one  day  per 
week  during  the  last  several  weeks,  but  it  is 
more  than  probable  that  with  the  heavy  de¬ 
mand  in  October,  the  Louisville  &  Nashville 
Railroad,  at  least,  will  fall  short  by  a  consid¬ 


erable  margin  of  supplyin.g  the  necessary  cars. 
Southern  Railway  and  Illinois  Central  mines 
may  also  expect  to  find  an  increasing  short¬ 
age  of  equipment. 

Producers  of  good  domestic  coal  are  now 
asking  from  $1.60  to  $2.10  for  block  coal  for 
the  remainder  of  September,  and  from  $1.75 
to  .$2.25  per  ton  for  the  month  of  October. 
Coals  of  old  established  reputation  seem  to 
be  moving  with  a  fair  degree  of  freedom  at 
these  figures,  but  many  mines  whose  product 
is  yet  unestablished  in  markets,  or  which  are 
lacking  in  sales  organizations,  are  putting  out 
coal  at  much  lower  prices  from  time  to  time, 
with  resultant  ill  effects  to  the  market  in  gen¬ 
eral.  Screenings  have  been  in  rather  plentiful 
supply,  but  have  not  been  sacrificed  during 
recent  weeks,  which,  in  view  of  the  heavy  pro¬ 
duction  of  same,  indicates  that  later  on,  should 
business  conditions  remain  as  at  present  or 
improve  further,  a  high  level  of  prices  for 
screenings  may  be  expected. 


Duluth  Trade. 


Duluth,  Minn.,  September  16. —  (Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — The  railroads  are  buying  coal 
much  more  freely  as  the  demand  for  more  motive 
power  is  developing  because  of  the  harvest.  Cars 
are  being  sent  freely  to  the  west  for  the  new 
crop  and  as  the  hauling  has  already  started  for 
the  elevators  at  this  end  of  the  line,  more  steam 
is  necessary.  But  the  buying  of  storage  coal 
liy  the  roads  is  evidently  not  to  be,  for  they 
are  still  following  the  piecemeal  policy. 

Business  from  the  west,  among  the  dealers 
is  showing  signs  of  growing,  and  it  is  fully 
expected  that  from  now  on  it  will  show  an  in¬ 
crease  for  the  reason  that  dealers  are  known 
to  be  only  lightly  supplied.  They  brought  next 
thing  to  nothing  last  year  and  have  delayed 
ordering  this  year  until  the  crop  situation  would 
develop  and  the  climatic  conditions  demanded 
attention.  The  result  is  that  they  have  pur¬ 
chased  nothing,  comparatively  speaking,  this  year, 
and  heavy  purchases  are  due.  The  assurance  of 
an  immense  crop  with  good  prices,  even  though 
grains  do  go  lower  than  they  are  now,  makes 
it  almost  certain  that  the  purchases  this  fall 
and  winter  will  be  fully  up  to  the  normal  of 
other  years. 

Receipts  of  late,  have  been  about  normal,  but 
reports  from  the  east  to  the  effect  that  more 
charters  of  tonnage  are  being  made  for  coal  to 
come  west  indicates  a  heavier  movement  during 
the  rest  of  the  navigation  season. 

The  anthracite  situation  is  brightening  and 
more  of  the  hard  coal  is  being  ordered  as  time 
goes  on.  Indications  are  that  a  fine  business  in 
hard  coal  will  develop  in  a  very  short  time. 

At  Fort  Williams  and  Port  Arthur,  Ont.,  last 
week,  coal  came  in  rather  slowly,  according  to 
advices  from  there.  Only  five  cargoes  of  soft 
coal  and  two  of  anthracite  were  received,  and 
only  two  more  were  reported  on  the  way.  Busi¬ 
ness  to  the  Canadian  west  was  on  the  increase, 
and  the  railroads  are  taking  a  good  deal  for  their 
own  use,  especially  the  Canadian  Northern. 


Omaha  Trade. 


Omaha,  Nebr.,  September  16. — (Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — Orders  for  coal  have  been  coming 
in  a  little  more  freely  the  last  week,  buyers  realiz¬ 
ing  the  fact  that  it  will  only  be  a  matter  of  a  few 
weeks  until  we  can  expect  winter  weather. 


Prices  are  firm ;  very 

little  transit 

coal  being 

offered.  The  following 

prices  prevail 

Mines 

Omaha 

Southern  Kansas — 

Nut  . 

_ $  1.85 

$  3.20 

Slack  . 

_  1.35 

2.70 

Franklin  County — 

Lump  . 

4.00@4.15 

Kgg  . 

4.00@4.1.5 

Nut  . 

4.00@4.15 

Williamson  County — 

I-ump . . 

.  1.45  @1.75 

3.85@4.15 

Kgg  . 

3.85@4.16 

Rock  Springs — 

Lump  . 

_  2.15 

5.85 

Nut  . 

_  l.GO 

5.35 

Arkansas  Anthracite — 

I.ump  . 

_  3.70 

0.60 

Broken  sizes  . 

_  3.95 

6.85 

Routt  County,  Colo. — 

Lump  . 

.  3.00 

G.75 

Nut  . 

.  2.25 

6.00 

Pea  . 

_  1.25 

5.00 

Walsenburg  District,  Colo. 

, — 

0.75 

Lump  . 

.  3.00 

Nut  . 

.  2.25 

6.00 

Pea  . 

.  1.25 

5.00 

Southern  Kansas  Table 

No.  12] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


237 


I 


Detroit  Trade. 


Detroit,  Mich.,  September  16. —  (Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — Without  large  activity  the  local 
market  continues  to  develop  along  lines  of  im¬ 
provement  in  so  far  as  regards  the  steam  coal 
trade,  but  weather  temperatures  of  the  July 
brand  during  the  last  few  days  have  put  con¬ 
siderable  of  a  crimp  in  the  domestic  coal  busi¬ 
ness. 

While  shippers  for  the  most  part  agree  that  the 
volume  of  business  being  transacted  in  steam  coal 
is  considerably  short  of  what  they  believe  should 
represent  normal  market  activity  at  this  time  of 
the  year,  they  are  inclined  to  regard  the  present 
situation  as  altogether  favorable  and  seemingly 
the  forerunner  of  larger  activity  later. 

The  demand  for  fine  coal  is  rather  strong  and 
some  of  the  shippers  are  experiencing  some  diffi¬ 
culty  in  getting  stock  around  in  time  to  meet  the 
requirements  of  their  customers.  Interest  in  the 
larger  sizes  is  less  active.  The  slow  progress  of 
the  market  toward  improvement  is  explained  by 
some  of  the  shippers  as  probably  due  to  the  fact 
that  many  of  the  consumers  are  loaded  up  with 
cheap  coal,  some  from  the  purchase  of  large  sup¬ 
plies  offered  at  low  prices  to  escape  demurrage 
and  others  because  of  the  eagerness  of  some  oper¬ 
ators  and  shippers  to  dispose  of  stock,  which  was 
closed  out  at  low  prices  under  contracts  that  are 
not  yet  terminated. 

Prices  are  being  maintained  well  around  sched¬ 
ule,  this  condition  applying  also  to  stocks  of 
smokeless  coal  as  well  as  Hocking  and  West 
Virginia  products.  The  firmer  tendency  of  the 
market  is  credited  not  only  to  a  slightly  broader 
inquiry,  but  with  equal  truth  to  a  lessened  amount 
of  consignment  stock.  The  consignment  coal  is 
here  yet  and  in  considerable  quantities,  but  it  is 
not  at  present  a  serious  obstacle  to  direct  ship¬ 
ment  business. 

Interest  in  domestic  coal  was  showing  a  very 
encouraging  improvement  as  the  result  of  cold 
weather  and  much  rainfall,  until  weather  condi¬ 
tions  reverted  to  midsummer  heat.  Because  of 
the  change  few  consumers  now  indicate  any  desire 
to  buy  or  even  learn  prices  on  the  stock  which 
they  will  later  require.  The  same  conditions 
apply  with  equal  force  to  the  anthracite  trade. 
Retail  dealers  who  have  been  hustling  to  distribute 
stock  are  again  dependent  on  a  few  dribbling 
orders  to  keep  teams  and  yard  forces  employed. 

Despite  the  reiterated  assertions  of  impending 
changes  for  the  better  in  the  lake  movement  of 
coal,  there  has  been  little  increase  in  activity. 
Most  of  the  large  freighters  find  coal  cargoes  an 
impossibility.  For  small  carriers  coal  is  more 
plentiful,  though  many  of  these  are  obliged  to 
wait  or  make  the  upbound  trips  light.  Greater 
activity  in  shipment  by  rail  from  docks  at  the 
head  of  the  lakes  is  reported  to  be  developing. 
This,  in  time,  will  result  in  heavier  shipments 
from  Lake  Erie  ports. 

Prices  in  the  local  market  on  mine  shipment 
orders  are  as  follows : 


F.  O.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

West  Virginia  Gas — 

Mines. 

Detroit. 

Three-quarter  lump . 

2.50 

Mine  run . 

2.30 

Slack  . 

2.15@2.25 

West  Virginia  Splint — 

Four-inch  lump  . . 

1.90@2.13 

Two-inch  lump  . 

_  1.25@1.40 

2.15@2.30 

Three-quarter  . 

_  1.10 

2.50 

Mine  run  . . 

_  1.00 

2.40 

Nut,  pea  and  slack . 

1.95@3.05 

Smokeless — 

Lump  and  egg  . 

2.25 

3.85 

Nut  . 

1.75 

3.35 

Slack  . 

Open 

Mine  run  . 

-  1.25 

2.85 

Kentucky  Splint — 

Lump  . . . 

3.00@3.15 

Kgg  . 

2.65  @2. 80 
2.05 

Nut,  pea  and  slack . 

Fairmount— 

Three-quarter  steam  lump . 

. 85@  .95 

2.25@2.36 

Mine  run . 

. 70@  .80 

2.10@2.20 

Slack  . 

Open 

Hocking  Valley — 

Shaker  three-inch  lump . 

_  1.50 

2.65 

Shaker  egg  and  nut . 

-  1.15 

2.30 

Domestic  lump  . 

_  1.40 

2.55 

Three-quarter  lump . 

_  1.25@1.30 

2.40@2.45 

Mine  run . 

2.15@2.25 

Nut,  pea  and  slack . 

Open 

Pittsburgh  No.  8 — 

Three-quarter  lump . . 

1.15 

2.30 

Mine  run . 

2.20 

Slack  . 

Open 

Jackson  Hill — 

Domestic  lump . 

3.65 

Cambridge — 

Three-quarter  lump . 

_  1.20 

2.35 

Mine  run . . 

_  1.10 

2.25 

Pomeroy — 

Two  and  three-inch  lump . . 

_  1.60 

2.76 

Egg  . 

1.35 

2.50 

Slack  . 

Open 

Michigan  Builders  Supply  Company  was  lowest 
of  six  bidders  that  submitted  proposals  to  the  De¬ 
troit  recreation  commission  for  supplying  300  tons 
of  stove  or  egg  anthracite  or  smokeless  bitu¬ 


minous  coal  for  use  of  the  Clara  public  bath¬ 
house.  The  bidders  and  prices  were : 

Anthracite, 

S.  and  E.  Smokeless. 


*Michigan  Builders’  Supply  Co .  $<5.66  $4.14 

T.  T.  Sinclair  .  7.15  4.90 

K.  L.  Aylward  .  6.70  4. .30 

United  Fuel  &  Supply  Co .  6.75  4.50 

P.  Koenig  Coal  Co .  6.70  4.20 

Parker  Bros.  Co.,  Ltd .  7.00  5.50 


•Recipient  of  contract. 

L.  C.  Sabin,  superintendent  of  the  United 
States  canals  in  St.  Marys  river,  under  direction 
of  Lieut.  Col.  Mason  M.  Patrick,  corps  of  en¬ 
gineers  U.  S.  A.,  in  charge  of  Detroit  district, 
has  awarded  to  George  Kemp,  Sault  Ste.  Marie, 
Mich.,  the  contract  for  supplying  about  200  tons 
of  three-quarter  lump  on  government  boats  or 
scows,  Sault  Ste.  Marie.  The  bid  was  $2.90.  The 
Perry  Coal  Company  bid  the  same  price.  The 
Port  Royal  Dock  Company  bid  $3.00. 

Receiving  of  bids  for  supplying  twenty-five  tons 
of  chestnut  and  2,500  tons  of  anthracite  to  the 
board  of  auditors  of  Wayne  county,  Mich.,  term¬ 
inated  at  11  a.  m.,  Thursday,  September  16. 

F.  E.  Reeves,  secretary  of  the  Detroit  Coal 
Exchange  returned  to  Detroit  Thursday  from  a 
short  business  trip  in  the  south. 


St.  Louis  Trade. 


St.  Louis,  Mo.,  September  16. — (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — The  most  important  happening  in 
the  trade  this  week  is  the  announcement  of  the 
sustaining  of  the  five  and  one-half-cent  increase 
in  freight  rate  to  East  St.  Louis  by  the  Illinois 
Railroad  &  Warehouse  Commission.  Some 
months  ago  rates  to  both  St.  Louis  and  East  St. 
Louis  were  advanced  five  and  one-half  cents  per 
ton  and  approved  by  the  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission.  The  St.  Louis  advance  went  into 
effect,  but  the  East  St.  Louis  rate  being  purely 
an  Illinois  state  proposition  was  suspended  by 
the  Illinois  state  railroad  and  warehouse  com¬ 
mission.  This  produced  considerable  confusion 
as  the  St.  Louis  and  East  St.  Louis  rates  were 
constructed  on  a  different  basis,  making  quite  a 
discrimination  against  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

Standard  coal  is  moving  well.  Prices  remain 
about  the  same.  The  hottest  spell  of  weather  of 
the  summer  is  now  upon  us  and  has  slowed  up 
business  locally  a  little.  Screenings  have  eased 
off  a  bit  more  in  the  last  week.  Current  prices 
on  standard  coal  are  as  follows ; 


Standard  Coal 
6-inch  lump  .  .  . 
6x3-inch  egg  .  . 
2-inch  lump  .  .  . 
Steam  egg  .  . . . 

No.  1  nut  . 

No.  2  nut  . 

Mine  run  . 

Screenings  . . .  . 


F.  0.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

Mine. 

St.  Louis. 

.  .$1.20 

$1.77}4 

.  .  1.10 

1.67(4 

..  1.00 

1.57J4 

1.47(4 

.  .  1.00 

1.57(4 

.  .  .80 

1.37(4 

.  .  .85 

1.42(4 

.97(4 

Demand  for  the  Mt.  Olive  and  Staunton  group 
coals  is  much  better. 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Mine.  St.  Louis. 


6-inch  lump  . $1.40  $1.97J4 

2-inch  lump  .  1.20  l.TTJ/j 

Screenings  . 40  .9754 


Williamson  county  coals  are  in  excellent  de¬ 
mand  and  price  is  being  held  right  up  to  circular. 
Egg  is  not  quite  as  active  as  lump,  but  the  de¬ 
mand  keeps  abreast  of  the  supply. 

F.  o.  li.  F.  O.  B. 

Mine.  St.  Louis. 

6-inch  lump  or  egg .  1.60@1.7.5  2.22^2  @2.4754 

3x2-inch  nut  .  1.50@1.75  2. 32}4  @2.4754 

Screenings  .  .50  1.2254 


Franklin  county  is  going  full  blast.  Demand 
on  domestic  coal  is  very  strong.  Had  it  not  been 
for  the  little  breathing  spell  made  by  the  hot 
spell  Franklin  county  operators  would  be  com¬ 
pletely  snowed  under,  as  it  is  they  are  all  several 
weeks  behind  with  orders.  The  smaller  sizes  are 
a  little  troublesome  to  move  as  such  a  tremendous 
tonnage  is  being  produced. 


6-inch  lump,  egg  or  nut 

No.  2  stove  . 

•Screenings  . 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Mine  St.  Louis. 

..$1.75  $2.4754 

.  .  1.40  2.1254 

.  .  .60  1.3254 


Anthracite  is  moving  briskly,  Chestnut  is  short. 
Anthracite — 


F.  O.  B.  St.  Louis. 

Chestnut  . $7.55 

•Stove  or  egg .  7.30 

Crate  .  7.05 

Smokeless — 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Mine  St.  Louis. 

Lump  or  egg  . $2.25  $4.75 

Gas  House  Coke —  F.  O.  B.  St.  Louis. 

Gas  house  coke  . $4.25 

l!y-product  coke  (all  sizes) .  4.50 


The  prices  on  Illinois  soft  coal  f.  o.  b.  East 
St.  Louis,  Madison,  Venice  or  Granite  City,  Ill., 
are  2554  cents  lower  than  the  above  quoted  St. 
Louis  prices. 


Cleveland  Trade. 


Cleveland,  Ohio,  September  15. —  (Special 
Correspondence.) — Little,  or  no,  improvement  has 
been  noted  in  the  coal  business  during  the  past 
week.  Steam  consumers  are  going  lightly  on 
their  contracts,  it  is  said,  while  the  amount  ot 
spot  coal  purchased  has  not  been  encouraging. 
The  opinion  has  prevailed  that  most  of  the  fac¬ 
tories  in  this  city  and  surrounding  territory  are 
running  on  almost  full  time,  but  jobbers  and  op¬ 
erators  catering  especially  to  this  class  of  trade 
say,  if  they  are,  they  must  be  using  other  kinds 
of  fuel.  Some  disappointment  has  prevailed  be¬ 
cause  of  this  condition,  since  it  was  generally 
believed  some  time  ago  that  business  would  show 
increased  life  by  the  middle  of  September,  any¬ 
way.  ’ 

On  the  other  hand,  some  of  the  lar.ge  pro¬ 
ducers  in  the  eastern  Ohio  field  believe  that  there 
will  be  an  awakening  later  on.  This  view  is 
partially  due  to  an  impending  car  shortage  on 
all  the  principal  railroads  entering  that  field.  It 
IS  argued  that  if  the  shortage  becomes  acute,  the 
railroads  will  haul  a  much  larger  amount  ot 
Ohio  coal,  because  of  the  possibility  of  a  short 
haul  and  prompt  return  of  the  cars,  even  thoagh 
the  rate  may  be  lower  than  for  the  West  vTr- 
ginia  product.  I  his  will  enable  the  producers 
to  regain  their  business  and  open  the  market  in 
a  way  that  nothing  else  will  except  an  increase 
in  the  differential. 

The  lake  situation  has  shown  little  change  dur¬ 
ing  the  past  week.  It  is  said  that  a  few  oi 
the  shippers  have  noted  a  slightly  better  demand, 
but  the  approaching  car  shorta.ge  has  resultea 
in  a  decrease  in  receipts,  if  anything.  Small 
boats  have  been  successful  in  securing  cargoes, 
but  a  number  of  the  larger  ones  have  been  com¬ 
pelled  to  go  up  light  for  ore.  No.  8  three-quar¬ 
ter  coal  for  lake  shipment  is  still  being  pur¬ 
chased  at  $1  per  ton,  it  is  said,  although  some 
producers  have  refused  that  figure,  preferring 
to  keep  the  coal  in  the  ground. 

The  light  receipt  of  slack  from  the  various 
fields  has  operated  to  maintain  firm  prices,  bu. 
the  demand  has  not  shown  any  increase  for  any 
of  the  grades  handled  in  this  market.  Eastern 
Ohio  slack  has  sold  during  the  past  week  arounu 
$1.55  or  sixty-five  cents  at  the  mines.  Pittsbungn 
slack  has  ranged  between  fifty-five  and  sixty  cents 
at  the  mines,  with  a  freight  rate  of  $1  to  this 
market.  Youghiogheny  slack  is  quoted  at  sixty- 
five  cents  at  the  mines,  with  the  same  freight 
rate.  While  there  is  little  Fairmount  slack  in 
the  market,  the  price  for  the  week  has  been  in 
the  neighborhood  of  fifty  cents  at  the  mines, 
with  a  freight  rate  of  $1.15  to  this  market. 

Goshen  coal  has  been  in  lighter  demand  than 
usual  for  the  past  few  days,  perhaps  because 
of  the  prevailing  warm  weather.  It  has  been 
quoted  from  $2.20  to  $2.30  for  the  three-quarter 
and  ifl.TS  for  mine  run  on  track  in  this  market, 
the  freight  rate  being  seventy  cents. 

Some  Cambridge  coal  has  been  handled  here 
this  season.  The  quotation  for  the  past  few  days 
on  three-quarter  size  has  been  $1.70  on  track 
here,  with  a  freight  rate  of  ninety  cents. 

Quotations  on  Pocahontas  have  not  varied  ma¬ 
terially  durin.g  the  week,  although  the  demand 
has  not  been  particularly  strong  because  of  the 
hot  weather.  Lump  is  selling  from  $2  to  $2.2." 
and  run  of  mine  from  $1.20  to  $1.40  at  the 
mines,  with  a  freight  rate  of  $1.45. 

Retail  business  had  been  very  active  for  t' 
weeks,  but  the  mid-summer  heat  of  the  past 
few  days  has  caused  a  lull  in  the  orders  and 
in  anxiety  for  the  delivery  of  coal  purchased 
earlier  in  the  season. 


Cleveland  News  Notes 

J.  J.  Haslett,  sales  agent  of  the  Henderson 
Coal  Company,  Pittsburgh,  was  in  this  market 
Tuesday. 

No  improvement  has  been  noted  in  the  condi¬ 
tion  of  C.  L.  Ayers  of  the  C.  L.  Ayers  Coal  Com¬ 
pany,  who  is  confined  at  his  home  by  illness. 

C.  J.  Andrews,  formerly  general  sales  agent  of 
the  Sunday  Creek  Coal  Company  and  now  in 
the  jobbin.g  business  in  Detroit,  called  on  the 
coal  men  here  early  in  the  week. 

The  movement  of  ore  from  the  Ashtabula  docks 
is  very  heavy  and  it  is  said  that  there  is  an 
impending  car  shorta.ge.  The  ore  is  going  to 
the  Pittsburgh  and  Youngstown  mills.  During 
the  first  week  of  this  month  the  New  York- 
Central  road  handled  5,000  loaded  cars  to  these 
two  points,  the  aggregate  tonna,ge  being  250,000. 


238 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


New  York  Trade. 

Hot  Weather  Retards  Anthracite  Buy¬ 
ing — Bituminous  Movement 
Much  Heavier 


Office  of  Thu  I’lack  I^iamond, 
New  York,  Sei)teml:)er  10. 

The  intensely  hot  weather,  at  tliis  writing  of 
more  than  a  week’s  duration,  has  greatly  re¬ 
tarded  anthracite  l)uying,  lioth  on  the  part  of 
the  consumer  and  the  retail  dealer.  The  active 
spurt  of  buying  that  commenced  about  two  weeks 
ago,  was  therefore  shortlived.  This  week  finds 
consumers  huyin.g  iu  very  limited  quantities,  and 
this  is  rellected  in  the  wholesale  market. 

There  is  very  little  change  in  prices  on  spot 
sales,  and  at  New  York  tidewater  ports,  there 
is  e\-idently  a  (piantity  of  loaded  coal  on  boats 
awaiting  ])urchasers.  'i'here  is  more  coal  pressing 
for  sale  tlian  the  buying  public  appear  to  want  at 
the  moment,  tliough  prices  on  individual  coals  are 
nearer  the  winter  circular  than  they  have  been 
for  some  time.  Some  individuals  are  over-ship¬ 
ping  the  tidewater  market,  and  this  is  preventing 
those  dealers  who  would  like  to  see  business  done 
at  the  winter  circular,  from  securin.g  an  advance 
in  prices.  I'urthermore,  the  Jewish  holidays  have 
had  no  little  effect  on  making  the  New  York 
market  especially  dull.  In  certain  sections  of 
New  York  city,  there  is  a  very  heav^y  peddler 
trade,  and  wdien  these  merchants  stop  to  observe 
their  certain  holidays,  it  makes  business  very  dull 
with  certain  of  the  large  retail  concerns  who 
have  distributing  plants  in  these  sections  of  the 
city. 

The  statement  of  shipments  of  anthracite  coal 
for  the  month  of  August  was  announced  last 
week,  showing  a  movement  of  .5,330,831  tons,  as 
compared  with  5,483,743  tons  for  August  of  1914. 
I'or  the  first  eight  months  of  this  year,  ship¬ 
ments  reached  41, 800,341  tons,  as  compared  with 
43,021,389  tons  for  the  corresponding  period  of 
1914,  or  a  decrease  of  1,961,049  tons. 

This  week,  most  of  the  operations  are  working- 
on  about  a  five  day  per  week  schedule,  and  un¬ 
less  buyers  become  more  concerned  about  taking 
anthracite  within  the  next  month  or  so  than  they 
are  at  the  moment,  it  is  not  believed  that  the 
companies  will  be  able  to  operate  on  a  much 
better  schedule  unless  it  is  decided  to  store  large 
(luantities  of  coal  for  requirements  later  on. 

With  labor  commencing  to  become  short  in 
the  anthracite  fields,  it  is  not  believed  that  the 
operators  can  very  easily  make  up  the  shortage 
in  production,  that  so  far  this  year  amounts  to 
around  2,(K)0,(K)()  tons.  The  trade  is  facing  a 
shortage  of  stocks,  and  both  at  tidewater  markets 
and  at  most  of  the  lar.ge  stocking  centers  in  the 
consuming  markets,  and  this  makes  many  of 
them  predict  that  consumers  of  anthracite  coal 
this  winter  are  going  to  face  a  very  serious  short¬ 
age.  During  the  past  several  winter  seasons  our 
railroad  transportation  has  been  very  free,  due 
to  the  lack  of  business  in  other  lines,  and  al¬ 
ready  many  railroads  announce  that  practically 
all  their  equipment  is  busy.  The  continuation 
of  this  prosperity  on  their  part,  which  is  fully 
to  be  expected,  due  to  the  immense  crops  and  the 
movement  of  very  large  tonnages  of  munitions 
for  the  European  warring  nations,  indicate  that 
there  is  going  to  be  practically  no  surplus  trans¬ 
portation  during  the  winter  months  at  least. 
Therefore,  the  trade  argue  that  now  is  the  logical 
time  to  move  anthracite. 

The  steam  size  situation  is  very  little  changed. 
The  demand  for  these  coals  is  not  increased. 
rVices  are  easy  on  inferior  grades  and  very 
stron.g  on  the  choice  grades,  which  are  very 
short  for  spot  market  purposes.  On  September 
1st,  the  full  winter  price  list  went  into  effect  on 
anthracite,  tidewater  prices  being  about  as  fol¬ 
lows  : 

Upper  Lower 

Ports.  Ports. 


Broken  .  $.5.10  $5.00 

Kgg  .  5.3.5  5.25 

Stove  .  5.35  5,25 

Chestnut  .  5.60  5,50 

Pea  .  3.55  3.45 


Special  grades  of  Red  -Ash  and  other  high 
grade  coals  at  the  lower  ports  sell  at  twenty- 
five  to  fifty  cents  per  ton  over  above  figures. 

Spot  prices  in  individual  coals  at  lower  ports 
are  about  as  follows : 


Pgg 

Stove 

Nut 

!*ea 

I>uck 


$4.90  and  up 
5.00  and  up 
5.00  and  up 
3.25  and  up 
2.10  and  iij) 


Kice  .  1,70  and  up 

Hailey  . f.  .  .  .  1.50  and  up 


The  Bituminous  Situation. 

The  liituminous  situaliou  continues  to  show 
improvement.  This  is  due  to  the  fact  that  many 
large  coal  consumers  are  calling  each  week  for 
lar.ger  shipments,  and  the  hunker  and  export 
trades  are  also  takin.g  large  (piantities  of  coal. 
The  spot  trade  in  most  sections  is  dull.  How¬ 
ever  the  situation  is  believed  to  be  greatly  im¬ 
proved  from  the  fact  that  a  great  many  small 
operators  that  heretofore  have  been  urging  buyers 
to  take  their  coal  at  almost  any  price,  are  now 
in  most  instances,  out  of  the  market,  especially 
on  good  .grades  of  coal.  In  the  past  few  weeks 
they  have  been  able  to  secure  a  sufficient  num¬ 
ber  of  orders  to  keep  their  mines  going  on  pretty 
good  time,  and  this  is  taking  out  of  the  market 
a  lot  of  surplus  coal  that  would  otherwise  he 
effecting  spot  prices. 

A  car  shortage  is  bein.g  noticed  on  some  of 
the  biggest  coal  carrying  roads.  This  is  true  on 
l)oth  the  Pennsylvania  and  Baltimore  &  Ohio  sys¬ 
tems.  President  Willard  of  the  B.  &  O.  stated 
on  Tuesday  that  although  his  road  had  only  a 
small  shortage  of  coal  cars  on  that  day,  that 
there  was  not  an  idle  car  on  the  system.  While 
the  shortage  of  coal  cars  was  insi.gnificant,  that 
it  w'as  a  very  good  comparison  with  the  state 
of  business  as  existed  some  weeks  ago  when  if 
a  coal  operator  would  ask  for  one  car,  the  rail¬ 
road  would  supply  five,  hoping  that  he  would 
load  two. 

So  far.  New'  England  consumers  seem  to  be 
less  concerned  about  storing  coal,  or  increasing 
their  receipts,  than  consumers  in  other  sections 
of  the  country.  The  movement  of  coal  into  New 
En.gland,  both  by  water  and  all-rail  does  not 
seem  to  improve  with  the  demand  that  comes 
from  other  sections. 

The  export  movement  continues  good,  Balti¬ 
more  during  the  last  week  loading  appro.ximately 
75,000  tons,  and  Hampton  Roads  ports  showing 
loadings  of  around  13(),0(>()  tons.  Bunker  require¬ 
ments  for  vessels  taking  export  cargoes  are  very 
heavy,  while  more  tramp  steamers  are  reporting 
at  American  ports,  many  of  them  calling  for 
grain  cargoes,  this  movement  now  commencing 
to  show  up. 

The  general  business  situation  as  concerns  the 
lar.ge  consumption  of  coal  has  improved  this  week 
due  to  the  fact  that  many  of  the  railroads  have 
started  in  to  buy  locomotives  and  other  equip¬ 
ment.  Railroad  tonnages  of  all  descriptions  are 
becoming  heavier  and  this  means  an  increased 
use  of  coal  for  locomotive  purposes.  Railroads 
throughout  the  east,  w'ith  the  exception  of  the 
New  England  lines,  are  storing  coal  at  many 
points,  looking  towards  being  prepared  to  keep 
their  lines  operatin.g  freely  should  a  serious  coal 
shortage  occur  during  the  present  winter. 

At  the  New  York  harbor  ports  there  is  no 
large  supply  of  coal  pressing  for  sale,  although 
there  are  accumulations  of  certain  .grades  of  in¬ 
ferior  coals,  that  can  be  bought  at  cheap  prices. 
Ciood  grades  of  Pennsylvania  coal  sell  at  $2.75 
to  $2.90 ;  ordinary  grades  at  $2.55  to  $2.05,  while 
inferior  grades  of  West  Virginia  coal  can  be  pur¬ 
chased  at  $2.35  and  up.  Slack  continues  very 
strong. 

The  Vessel  Situation. 

There  appears  to  he  an  ample  supply  of  ves¬ 
sels  of  all  description  for  current  coastw'ise  busi¬ 
ness.  An  advance  in  rates  is  anticipated  on  ves¬ 
sels  for  off-shore  business,  as  a  great  many  tramp 
steamers  are  now  bein.g  attracted  by  grain  char¬ 
ters. 

We  quote  current  rates  on  freight  as  follows; 

From  Hampton  Roads  to  Boston,  eighty  to 
ninety  cents  is  about  the  range:  to  Portland 
and  points  east  of  Boston,  from  ninety  cents  to 
$1.  To  sound  ports,  eighty  to  eighty-five  cents. 
From  Philadelphia  to  New  England  points,  alitout 
five  cents  under  the  Hampton  Roads  rates. 

b'rom  New  York  to  Bridgeport  or  New  Haven, 
thirty  cents;  to  New  London  and  Providence, 


forty  cents ;  to  Fall 

River 

and  New 

Bedford, 

forty-five  cents ;  to 

Boston, 

liftv-five 

to  sixty 

cents. 

Current  quotations 

on  bituminous  coal  in  spot 

lots  are : 

Somerset  County — 

F.  0.  B. 
Harbor. 

F.  0.  B. 
Mines. 

Best  grades . 

$1.30 

Medium  grades . 

1.10 

Ordinary  . 

1.00 

Cambria  County — 

Hest  Miller  vein . . 

1.45 

Medium  grades  . 

.  2.70 

1.15 

Cheaper  grades . 

.  2.60 

1.05 

Clearfield  County — 

Best  grade . 

1.35 

Ordinary  grades . 

1.00 

[September  18 


Indiana  County — 


Best  grade .  2.80  1  25 

Medium  grade .  2.50  .95 

Maryland — 

Georges  Creek  big  vein .  3.15  i.65 

West  Virginia  Splint — 

Ordinary  grades  .  2.40  .85 

Best  g.-s,  }4-inrh  lump .  2.65  l.lO 

Best  grade,  run  of  mine .  2.65  .90 

Gas  slack . 60@  .75 


New  York  Trade  Briefs. 

George  AI.  Dexter,  of  Dexter  &  Carpenter,  Inc., 
No.  12  Broadway,  spent  Monday  in  Pittsburgh. 

Joseph  Gorman,  of  Gorman-Leonard  Coal  Com- 
liany,  of  Worcester,  Alass.,  was  a  New  York 
visitor  on  Monday. 

J.  A.  Hill,  president  of  the  Knickerbocker  Fuel 
Company,  No.  1  Broadway,  returned  late  last 
week  from  a  vacation  spent  in  Maine. 

J.  A.  Renahan,  vice-president  of  the  Smokeless 
I'uel  Company,  of  No.  1  Broadway,  is  visiting 
the  West  Virginia  mining  re.gions  this  week. 

J.  M.  Leonard,  .general  sales  agent  of  the 
Brothers  Valley  Coal  Company,  No.  90  West 
street,  spent  several  days  at  the  mines  of  his 
company  in  Somerset  county,  Pennsylvania,  this 
week. 

W.  H.  Carpenter,  of  Dexter  &  Carpenter,  Inc., 
No.  12  Broadway,  who  has  been  in  En.gland, 
I'rance,  Italy  and  other  European  countries  for 
the  past  three  months,  is  now  en  route  to  South 
America. 

W.  B.  AIcQueen,  of  the  Alden  Coal  Minin.g 
Company,  No.  1  Broadway,  sailed  on  the  steam¬ 
ship  New  York  on  Saturday  for  London.  Mr. 
McQueen  will  be  abroad  several  months  looking- 
after  Imnker  contracts  and  export  business  for 
his  company. 

The  Buck  Ridge  colliery,  of  which  Pattison  & 
Bowns  of  No.  1  Broadway,  New  York,  are  large¬ 
ly  interested,  and  whose  product  they  handle,  re¬ 
sumed  operations  on  August  20,  after  a  shut¬ 
down  during  some  of  the  summer  months  for 
improvements. 

Remltrandt  Peale,  the  well  known  bituminous 
operator,  with  headquarters  at  the  Grand  Central 
Terminal,  New  York,  who  spends  his  summers 
near  his  operations  at  St.  Benedict,  Pa.,  was  at 
the  New  York  office  several  days  last  week,  and 
will  spend  more  of  his  time  in  the  city  from 
now  on. 

R.  L.  Thomas,  for  quite  a  number  of  years 
located  in  New  York  as  manager  of  the  New 
York  office  of  the  Bader  Coal  Company  of  Bos¬ 
ton,  has  severed  hi$  connection  with  this  com¬ 
pany,  and  resigned  the  position  of  vice-president 
which  he  filled.  Mr.  Thomas  is  spending  the 
month  of  September  on  a  farm  in  Columlna 
county.  New  York.  His  future  plans  have  not 
been  announced. 

Willis  H.  Brown,  who  some  weeks  ago  re¬ 
signed  as  vice-president  of  The  Skeele  Coal  Com¬ 
pany,  has  purchased  an  interest  in  the  Seiler- 
Blanchard  Company,  of  No.  1  Broadway,  and  has 
l)een  elected  a  vice-president  of  that  company, 
rile  Seiler-Blanchard  Company  has  arranged  to 
take  lar.ger  floor  space,  and  a  large  suite  of 
offices  is  now  being  arranged  for  them  on  the 
ninth  floor.  Mr.  Brown  has  had  a  very  wide 
experience  in  the  coal  trade,  and  his  new  con¬ 
nection  with  a  company  headed  by  some  very 
able  young  men,  will  no  doubt  result  most  ad¬ 
vantageously  to  all  of  them. 

The  August  table  of  anthracite  shipments  made 
public  by  the  Anthracite  Information  Bureau 
last  week,  shows  tidewater  stocks  on  July  31 
of  653,496  tons.  It  was  pointed  out  that  in  case 
of  interruption  in  the  supply  of  anthracite  from 
the  mines,  the  city  of  New  York  would  within 
two  weeks  be  without  a  supply  of  fuel.  Ac¬ 
cording  to  the  United  States  Geological  Survey, 
the  normal  consumption  of  anthracite  in  New 
York  alone  is  about  11,500,000  tons  a  year,  or 
nearly  1,000,000  tons  a  month,  and  the  normal 
supply  of  coal  oi-i  hand  at  all  tidewater  ports  is 
not  more  than  660,000  tons,  or  barely  enough 
to  supiily  this  city’s  needs  for  two  weeks.  While 
a  considerable  tonnage  of  coal  is  kept  in  stor- 
a.ge  at  points  near  the  mines,  this  coal  would 
have  to  be  reloaded  in  cars  and  reshipped,  and 
would  be  subject  to  almost  the  same  delays  as 
the  coal  coming  directly  from  the  mines. 


The  Chesapeake  and  Ohio  lines  during  July 
carried  to  tidewater  2,055,975  tons  of  bituminous 
coal,  against  1,1^01,229  durin.g  July,  1914.  Coke 
traffic  during  the  same  month  totaled  21,930  tons, 
against  25,o:i3  for  July,  1914, 


No.  12] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


239 


Philadelphia  Trade. 

Warm  Weather  Brings  a  Lull  in  Buying 
Just  When  Conditions  Were 
Most  Promising. 

Office  of  The  Bl.-'lCK  Diamond 
1400  Land  Title  Building, 
Philadelphia,  September  16. 

The  weather  man  was  the  chief  point  of  attack 
and  with  just  cause  this  week.  Just  when  things 
were  brightening  up  and  taking  a  turn  toward 
active  business  with  the  hard  coal  people,  old 
General  Humidity  butted  in  and  wrecked  things 
generally.  Cool  nights  had  turned  the  minds  of 
the  coal  buyers  in  the  homes  toward  their  coal 
bin  and  there  was  quite  a  little  activity  noted 
ten  days  ago,  but  this  has  disappeared  to  a  marked 
degree.  Retailers  are  not  in  the  least  askance 
in  saying  that  they  are  up  with  their  deliveries 
and  the  local  business  to  be  done  is  of  the  spot 
order  character — and  this  is  not  probable  with 
the  mercury  making  new  high  records  and  the 
heat  running  ninety  in  the  shade. 

Pea  coal,  which  has  been  the  under  dog  for 
lo  these  many  months  is  again  assuming  the  cen¬ 
ter  of  the  spot  light.  Both  the  companies  and 
the  independents  have  evinced  a  strong  disposi¬ 
tion  to  advance  the  price  on  this  size  twenty-five 
cents  a  ton  with  the  first  of  October.  Storage 
stocks  and  the  anticipated  heavy  demand  when 
the  small  coal  buyer  enters  the  market  is  given 
as  the  cause.  While  the  circular  price  on  this 
size  of  anthracite  has  never  changed  during  the 
year,  the  price  was  dropped  fifty  cents  on  the  ton 
with  the  first  of  April,  as  was  all  other  sizes. 
Since  that  time  the  demand  for  pea  coal  has  been 
draggy  and  the  set  price  rarely  ranged  more 
than  $2  a  ton.  Now  that  the  size  is  firmer  and  its 
activity  increases  with  each  of  the  fall  months,  jt 
is  felt  that  the  circular  price  ought  to  come  in 
line. 

Only  one  bright  spot  has  appeared  in  the  busi¬ 
ness  of  the  week  and  that  has  been  the  increased 
demand  for  steam  sizes.  Buckwheat  coal  has 
been  in  good  shape  and  the  movement  has  been 
well  in  accord  with  the  tonnage  of  former  years. 

Movement  to  New  England  over  the  Port 
Richmond  coal  piers  showed  a  little  less  tonnage 
for  the  week  as  compared  with  the  amount  that 
went  over  the  side  for  the  corresponding  week 
of  last  year.  Warmer  weather  to  the  north  has 
the  same  effect  as  locally  and  cut  down  on  the 
buying  orders. 

Bituminous  Situation. 

M'hile  the  general  complexion  in  the  soft  coal 
trade  has  changed  little  in  the  past  week,  the  re¬ 
port  from  various  sources  has  been  that  the 
market  was  inclined  to  be  spotty.  Some_  of  the 
heavy  shippers  of  bituminous  have  been  increas¬ 
ing  the  output  of  their  mines  and  have  handled 
the  increase  with  little  or  no  trouble.  Few  con¬ 
cessions  in  price  have  been  heard  of.  This  one 
change  in  itself  is  indicative.  While  quoted 
prices  have  changed  little  the  concessions  that 
formerly  were  allowed  figured  to  a  great  extent 
on  the  price  to  the  consumer.  With  the  firm 
market  that  started  about  three  weeks  ago,  this 
was  gradually  dropped  and  established  prices 
were  held  to.  Now  the  prices  asked  must  be  had 
or  the  buyer  must  look  elsewhere  for  his  supply. 
Little  or  no  contract  coal  is  on  the  market  and 
the  consumers  who  have  been  tardy  in  getting 
their  orders  placed  for  their  fall  and  winter 
supply  find  now  that  they  will  have  only  the  spot 
market  to  depend  upon. 

Scarcitv  of  cars  in  the  Clearfield  and  Somerset 
districts  held  back  some  shipments  early  in  the 
week  and  Baltimore  &  Ohio  operators  had  their 
allotments  shortened.  The  labor  situation  is  still 
the  big  query,  some  of  the  mines  already  re¬ 
porting  that  they  are  pinched  for  men. 

At  the  piers  there  is  little  coal  standing  that 
is  anywhere  near  the  time  limit.  This  in  the 
face  of  the  fact  that  the  export  shipments  are 
light  and  bunkerage  has  not  been  as  active  as  a 
couple  of  weeks  ago,  is  taken  as  an  indication  that 
local  and  close  to  home  consumption  has  been  of 
a  good  character. 

Quotations  standing  are :  Somerset,  best,  $1.35 
to  $1.45;  medium,  $1,20  to  $1.30;  ordinary,  qinety- 
five  cents  to  $1.15.  Fairmont  slack  was  firmer  this 
week  with  a  nickel  advance  on  the  ton  making  a 
range  of  fifty-five  cents  to  sixty-five  cents ;  low 
sulphur  gas,  $1.10  to  $1.20;  mine  run,  seventy  to 
eighty  cents ;  three-quarters,  eighty-five  cents  to 
$1.00.  Western  ^Maryland  coals  range  eighty-five 
to  ninety-five  cents  for  spot  shipments.  Greens- 
burg  offerings  are  firm  with  run  of  mine  quoted 


at  $1.20  to  $1.30  and  screened  at  $1.35.  Spot  ship¬ 
ments  for  Clearfield  have  been  made  at  $1.25  to 
$1.35  for  good  iVIiller  vein. 


Philadelphia  Trade  Briefs. 

Senator  Horace  A.  Tompkins  of  Portage  was 
among  the  operators  who  visited  Philadelphia 
this  week. 

Joseph  Hickley.  chief  of  the  bookkeeping  de¬ 
partment  of  the  Glen  Brook  Coal  Company,  spent 
his  vacation  at  the  shore  this  week. 

S.  M.  Martin,  of  the  firm  bearing  his  name  and 
his  office  force  will  spend  Sunday  and  Monday  in 
Pike  county  on  a  fishing  expedition. 

W.  A.  M'ebb  of  the  Empire  Coal  Alining  Com¬ 
pany  was  away  from  his  office  this  week  on  a 
visit  to  the  mines  of  the  company  in  Cambria 
county. 

J.  L.  Collin,  who  represented  the  Pittsburgh- 
Buffalo  Company  in  this  market  for  the  last  eight 
years,  made  a  trip  to  the  gas  coal  fields  of  West 
Virginia  last  week. 

Willis  H.  Brown,  formerly  with  the  Skeele 
Coal  Company,  but  now  with  the  Seiler  Blanchard 
Company,  was  among  the  trade  visitors  of  the 
week. 

H.  H.  Hodge,  auditor  of  the  Quemahoning 
Coal  Company  and  of  Somerset,  Pa.,  made  a 
short  call  on  the  local  office  Wednesday.  With 
Airs.  Hodge  he  was  on  his  way  to  the  seashore. 

Joseph  Gorman  of  the  Gorman  Leonard  Com¬ 
pany  of  Worcester,  Alass.,  was  among  the  trade 
during  the  week  and  said  that  prospects  in  that 
section  were  brightening  with  each  week  that 
spelled  the  approach  of  winter. 

H.  C.  Barr,  sales  agent  for  J.  S.  Wentz  & 
Company  was  west  the  latter  part  of  last  week. 
While  in  Pittsburgh  he  suffered  a  swelling  of  one 
of  his  legs  and  was  forced  to  return  home.  The 
injury  was  better  Alonday  and  he  was  able  to  be 
about  Tuesday. 

George  D.  Spates,  president  of  the  ATaryland 
Coal  &  Coke  Company,  and  Airs.  Spates,  will 
sail  the  last  of  this  week  for  Liverpool  on  the 
St.  Louis.  Air.  Spates  intends  to  visit  several 
points  in  France,  relative  to  placing  New  River 
coal  for  his  company. 

Cambria  county  operators  who  have  been  in 
the  regions  lately  say  that  the  press  for  labor 
has  been  noticeable  in  the  past  couple  of  weeks. 
Agents  for  the  steel  companies  have  been  scour¬ 
ing  that  section  for  men  and  miners  have  been 
offered  attractive  wages  to  enter  their  employ. 

A  sudden  call  for  15,000  tons  of  coal  for  the 
navy  made  on  the  Quemahoning  Coal  Company 
early  this  week  caused  a  small  flurry  in  the  local 
harbor.  A  goodly  part  of  the  Atlantic  fleet  put 
into  this  port  for  coal  and  with  no  advance  no¬ 
tice  of  the  requirements  there  was  a  general 
scurry  to  fill  the  order. 

The  Susquehanna  Coal  Company  have  issued 
invitations  for  their  sixth  annual  contest  of  the 
first  aid  corps,  which  will  be  held  at  Shamokin 
on  Saturday,  September  25.  The  field  day  will  be 
held  at  Edgewood  Park.  Special  trains  for  the 
guests  will  be  provided  at  Wilkes-Barre,  Potts- 
ville  and  Lj-kens. 

The  “Safety  First”  field  day  of  the  Philadelphia 
&  Reading  Coal  &  Iron  Company  will  be  held  this 
Saturday,  September  18,  at  the  Lakeside  Park 
near  Tamaqua.  and  teams  from  all  of  the  mines 
will  be  on  hand  to  give  a  demonstration  of  their 
work.  Quite  a  large  party  of  officials  of  the 
sales  force  from  the  local  offices  will  go  up  there 
on  a  special  car. 

Several  of  the  local  coal  concerns  have  used 
the  demands  made  by  the  hard  and  soft  coal 
miners  of  Pennsylvania  as  a  business  argument 
why  coal  should  be  bought  now.  Whether  it  is 
the  cold  bare  facts  that  confronts  the  consumers 
or  whether  it  is  that  they  realize  the  conditions 
they  face,  yet.  there  have  been  a  good  crop  of 
orders  as  the  result  of  this  form  of  campaign. 

Several  new  concrete  coal  pockets  will  be  put 
into  commission  this  fall  with  the  coming  of 
the  heavy  retail  trade.  Isaac  Nicholson,  who  has 
a  new  yard  and  pockets  at  Carpenter  station,  will 
stock  this  new  plant  within  the  next  week  or  so. 
Other  new  plants  are  those  of  the  Atlantic  Fuel 
Company,  at  52nd  and  Baltimore  ave ;  W.  C. 
Shipley  at  .Allen’s  Station,  Alt.  Airy;  L.  K.  Pur- 
ket  &  Brother  at  Wayne  and  Gucker  Bros,  at 
Chestnut  Hill,  Germantown. 

In  the  United  States  court  on  Friday  last,  cred¬ 
itors  with  claims  aggregating  $198,000  asked  that 
the  Eastern  Pennsylvania  Coal  Company  be  ad¬ 
judged  an  involuntary  bankrupt.  A  meeting  of 
the  board  of  directors  held  on  September  7  re¬ 


sulted  in  the  adoption  of  a  resolution  admitting 
that  the  firm  was  insolvent.  No  estimate  of  the 
assets  or  liabilities  has  been  given  to  court.  It 
is  expected  that  a  receiver  will  be  appointed  this 
week.  Captain  O.  Malioux,  president  of  the 
concern,  is  the  chief  creditor  with  a  claim  for 
$192,000  as  money  loaned.  The  Eastern  Penn¬ 
sylvania  Coal  Company  has  an  anthracite  mine 
near  Aliddleport,  Pa.,  and  its  annual  tonnage  was 
placed  at  120,000  and  employed  about  200  men. 

The  Imperial  Coal  Company  has  taken  a  suite 
of  offices  in  the  New  Weidner  building.  This  is 
a  new  company  and  is  a  co-partnership  with  the 
officers  as  follows :  Charles  A.  Owen,  Johnstown, 
president;  James  P.  Thomas,  vice-president; 
Phillip  E.  Thomas,  treasurer,  and  H.  A.  Ling, 
secretary.  The  company  will  market  the  output 
of  the  mines  of  the  Shade  Creek  Coal  Company 
and  the  Smokeless  Coal  Company  of  Pennsyl¬ 
vania.  The  officers  of  the  two  companies  are 
identified  with  the  new  selling  agency.  They  will 
also  handle  coals  from  the  West  Virginia  ter¬ 
ritory.  The  Smokeless  and  Shade  Creek  Com¬ 
panies  formerly  had  offices  in  the  Real  Estate 
Trust  building.  Within  the  next  few  months  the 
Imperial  Company  will  open  several  tracts  on 
which  borings  are  now  being  made  near  Johns¬ 
town. 


Birmingham  Trade. 


Birmingham,  Ala.,  September  16. —  (Special 
Correspondence.) — The  extreme  warm  weather 
which  has  prevailed  in  the  district  the  past  few 
days  has  caused  some  slackage  of  orders  for 
domestic  coal  from  consumer.  When  consumer 
either  fails  or  refuses  to  order,  the  yardman  does 
same  and  in  course  of  time  this  condition  gets  to 
the  operator.  This  is  the  state  of  domestic  mar¬ 
ket  at  present,  and  it  is  not  as  good  as  it  was  the 
earlier  part  of  the  month,  when  the  weather  was 
cooler,  and  some  disappointment  is  expressed  by 
coal  producers. 

The  steam  and  bunker  trade  is  in  fair  condi¬ 
tion.  It  takes  a  large  consumption  to  use  all  of 
the  coal  which  can  be  produced  in  this  district, 
and  the  demand  for  steam  and  bunker  coal  is  not 
always  up  to  the  production ;  though  with  the 
companies  which  are  using  river  transportation, 
and  have  contracts,  the  trade  is  in  good  shape 
and  a  nice  tonnage  going  south. 

Coking  coal  is  having  a  fine  business,  as  the 
consequence  of  the  steady  operations  of  furnaces 
using  coke  and  the  by-product  coke  ovens  which 
use  coking  coal.  The  starting  up  of  come  old  bee¬ 
hive  ovens,  which  have  not  been  in  use  for  many 
months  has  produced  a  good  steady  demand  for 
washed  coal,  and  the  larger  companies  of  the 
district,  especially  furnace  people  have  been  pro¬ 
ducing  large  quantities  of  coking  coal,  for  in¬ 
stance  the  Bessie  Alines  of  the  Sloss-Sheffield 
Steel  &  Iron  Company,  recently  produced  more 
than  2,000  tons  of  coal  in  one  day,  against  1,700 
tons  as  a  daily  average. 

The  Edgewater  and  Bayview  mines,  as  well  as 
Docena  of  the  Tennessee  Coal.  Iron  &  Railroad 
Company,  are  producing  record  outputs.  The 
Sayreton  mines  of  the  Republic  Iron  &  Steel  Com¬ 
pany,  the  Banner  and  other  big  mines  of  the 
Pratt  Consolidated  Coal  Company,  have  been 
doing  well  also. 

The  Empire  mines  and  the  Sipsey  mines  of  the 
Empire  and  DeBardeleben  Coal  Companies  are 
losing  but  little  time  each  week  in  getting  out 
coal,  while  other  companies  with  big  mines  are 
doing  as  well  as  might  be  e.xpected  at  this  time. 
It  is  onh'  the  smaller  mines  which  are  not  ex¬ 
periencing  the  full  force  of  the  large  war  order 
for  steel  and  iron,  now  being  filled  in  the  district. 

September  prices : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 


Bibb  County  Domestic  Coal — 

Mines. 

Birmingham. 

Red  ash  Cahaba  lump . 

$2.75 

$3.05 

Red  ash  Cahaba  lump . . 

2.50 

2.80 

Red  Ash  steam  size . 

.  1.20@1.35 

Frt.  rate  30c 

Jefferson  County — 

Fancy  steam  Pratt . 

1.75 

2.00 

Run  of  mine  Pratt . 

.  1.20@1.25 

1.45(3)1.50 

Marv  Lee  lump . 

.  1.40@1.50 

1.80@1.90 

Black  Creek — 

Fancy  steam  lump . 

1.75 

2.05 

Washed  nut  . 

1.75 

2.05 

Vt'ashed  steam . 

Frt.  rate  30c 

Mine  run . 

.  1.35@1.40 

Frt.  rate  30c 

Tefferson  Seam  Steam  Coal — 

Mine  run . 

.  1.15@1.25 

Frt.  rate  30c 

Walker  County  Domestic — 

Carbon  Hill  lump . 

1.70 

2.00 

Carbon  Hill  egg . 

1.60 

2.00 

Horse  Creek  mine  run . 

.  1.00@1.20 

Frt.  rate  40c 

Genuine  Corona — 

Lump  . 

1,85 

2.25 

F-g?  . 

1.75 

2.15 

Steam  sizes . 

.  1.25@1.35 

Frt.  rate  40c 

Shelby  County  Domestic  Coal — 

Cahaba  fancy  lump .  2.75  3.00 

Cabaha  No.  2  lump .  2.50  2.80 

Montevallo  domestic  prices  ranging  from  $2.75  to  $3.00. 
Blacksmith  coal,  washed  and  screened,  per  ton.  $2  to 
$2.25  at  mines,  with  different  rates  to  various  points. 


240 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[September  18 


New  England  Trade 

Boston,  Mass.,  September  16. —  {Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) —  I  he  .N  ew  Kngland  tidewater  bi¬ 
tuminous  trade  have  been  very  much  interested 
in  the  fact  that  the  .Mexican  Petroleum  Com¬ 
pany  have  during  the  past  several  weeks  opened 
depots  at  both  Providence  and  Portland,  for 
distrilniting  oil,  which  is  being  brought  in  ves¬ 
sels  from  their  wells  in  Mexico.  -Ndvices  from 
Portland,  .Me.,  state  that  as  far  as  the  coal  trade 
there  know,  they  have  made  but  one  important 
contract,  this  with  the  International  Paper  Oom- 
panv.  .\ccordin.g  to  rumors,  this  contract  will 
displace  the  use  of  approximately  100,000  tonsv 
of  bituminous  coal  each  year.  From  Providence 
comes  the  information  that  they  are  making  some 
deliveries  of  oil  from  their  station,  but  up  to  the 
present  time  have  taken  no  contracts.  They 
nave  secured  opportunities  for  making  trials  ol 
their  product  in  comparison  with  coal  in  certain 
instances,  and  the  trade  say  it  is  too  early  to 
see  whether  this  oil  is  to  replace  coal  to  any 
extent.  So  far  none  of  the  manufacturers  have 
had  sufficient  experience  w’ith  which  to  ^  make  a 
comparison.  It  is  stated  that  one  inanufactiiring 
plaiit  in  Providence  has  burned  oil  since  .\pril, 
taking  a  Texas  product,  and  that  they  are  no; 
ready  yet  to  state  if  it  is  a  success  as  compared 
with  coal.  How'cver,  there  are  a  number  of 
manufacturing  concerns  in  the  Providence  ter¬ 
ritory  wdio  are  about  ready  to  use  oil.  Hereto¬ 
fore 'the  use  of  oil  in  New  England  tpritory  for 
steam  making  purposes  has  been  restricted  owin.g 
to  the  fact  that  manufacturers  would  not  go  to 
the  expense  of  changing  their  furnaces  to  burn 
oil  when  they  were  not  guaranteed  oil  prices  for 
more  than  a  year.  Now  conditions  have  changed 
since  the  oil  people  are  said  to  be  making  five 
and  ten  year  contracts  at  stipulated  prices. 

The  bituminous  situation  is  not  greatly  changed 
this  week.  Receipts  of  coal  from  the  southern 
ports  to  Boston  is  only  fair,  and  spot  inquiries 
are  very  limited.  Contract  movement  is  believed 
to  be  better  in  certain  directions,  though  not  up 
to  the  expectancy  of  the  trade  who  have  very 
great  hopes  of  seeing  business  stimulated  during 
the  early  part  of  September. 

The  heavy  export  movement  has  prevented  sup¬ 
plies  from  accumulating  at  Baltimore  and  at 
Hampton  Roads,  and  it  is  also  relieving  some 
of  the  pressure  of  Pennsylvania  coals  that  come 
into  this  market  ordinarily  through  Philadelphia. 

The  anthracite  trade  has  been  hampered  con¬ 
siderably  by  unseasonable  weather.  Present  stocks 
at  New  Eagland  ports  are  not  heavy,  while  a 
few  weeks  of  cool  weather  would  mean  a  great 
'deal  towards  the  distribution  of  those  stocks  that 
have  accumulated  at  interior  points. 

Retail  selling  is  largely  controlled  by  the 
weather,  and  dealers  say  that  as  soon  as  the 
present  hot  wave  passes,  they  anticipate  great 
activity  in  the  Anthracite  trade.  Individual  oper¬ 
ators  are  not  so  solicitous  for  orders  as  was 
formerly  the  case,  and  the  prices  that  they  are 
making  to  New  England  buyers,  give  an  indica¬ 
tion  that  they  are  trying  to  line  up  their  prices 
with  those  of  the  companies.  However,  when  one 
has  quite  a  tonnage  of  coal  on  hand,  and  demur¬ 
rage  in  approaching,  discounts  are  freely  made 
to  remove  tonnage. 


S.  I).  Forbes,  for  a  number  of  years  past  gen¬ 
eral  sales  a.gent  of  the  New  England  Coal  &  Coke 
Company,  has  resigned  to  accept  an  important 
position  with  one  of  Boston’s  prominent  whole¬ 
sale  houses.  .\n  announcement  of  his  new  con¬ 
nection  is  anticipated  in  the  next  few  days.  It 
is  understood  that  Mr.  Edward  Page,  one  of  the 
vice-presidents  of  the  company,  will  look  after 
the  sales  department  temporarily. 


Buffalo  Trade. 


Buffai.o.  N.  Y..  September  16. — (Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — The  shipment  of  anthracite  by 
lake  is  not  making  much  headway  at  present, 
being  below  the  usual  volume  for  this  time  of 
year.  The  total  for  the  past  week  was  109,6.50 
tons,  as  follows:  Chicago,  43,300;  Duluth- 
Superior,  40,350;  Milwaukee,  17,200;  Sheboy¬ 
gan,  .5.800;  Manitowoc,  3,000.  The  coal  is  go¬ 
ing  principally  to  the  three  largest  ports  and 
smaller  ones  are  apparently  being  neglected 
till  toward  the  end  of  the  season. 

The  unusually  warm  September  weather  has 
put  a  damper  on  the  demand  from  dealers  and 
scarcely  anything  is  now  being  done.  During 
the  recent  cooler  weather  there  was  some  stir 


in  the  trade,  but  the  past  week  has  been  very 
quiet.  The  interest  among  dealers  seems 
likely  to  be  postponed  until  there  is  another 
cool  period. 

The  bituminous  trade  has  also  had  a  re¬ 
lapse  during  the  past  week  or  two  and  shows 
but  little  activity.  The  feeling  is,  how'ever, 
better  than  some  weeks  ago  and  prices  are  on 
a  somewhat  firmer  basis.  The  slack  market  is 
up  quite  a  little  from  what  it  was  a  month  or 
two  ago  and  the  supply  available  is  not  at  all 
heavy.  The  average  shipper  has  no  big 
amount  of  slack  on  hand  and  is  holding  what 
he  has  for  a  fair  price.  The  outlook  for  trade 
this  month  is  considered  improved,  as  indus¬ 
tries  are  getting  in  a  stronger  situation.  Steel 
plants  in  this  territory  still  have  plenty  of 
orders  and  are  running  full  time,  or  close 
to  it. 

Operators  are  finding  that  cars  are  getting 
less  numerous,  the  chief  trouble  being  to  get 
small  gondolas.  The  different  roads  are  fur¬ 
nishing  the  mines  with  cars  on  a  pro  rata  basis 
and  at  times  there  is  much  difficulty  in  getting 
the  cars  needed.  Labor  is  growing  scarce  also 
at  some  of  the  mines  and  much  trouble  is 
likely  to  be  experienced  this  winter,  if  the  coal 
business  gets  active,  for  working  forces  will 
not  be  adequate.  Mines  which  have  lately  in¬ 
creased  their  working  time  have  found  it  hard 
to  get  what  men  were  needed  and  this  condi¬ 
tion  will  probably  be  more  marked  from 
now  on. 

The  coke  market  shows  more  firmness  than 
a  few  weeks  ago,  although  handlers  of  coke 
here  have  not  lately  marked  up  their  asking 
prices.  Foundry  coke  is  especially  firm.  It 
is  quoted  here  at  .$4.25  for  prompt  delivery, 
with  much  stiffness  apparent  to  prices  on  fu¬ 
ture  deliveries. 


Buffalo  Trade  Briefs. 

E.  H.  Read,  sales  agent  of  the  Delaware, 
Lackawanna  &  Western  Coal  Company,  has 
returned  from  a  vacation  trip  to  Quebec. 

J.  S.  Hamilton,  northern  sales  agent  of  the 
Lehigh  Valley  Coal  Sales  Company,  is  spend¬ 
ing  most  of  the  week  in  Detroit,  looking  after 
business. 

Of  the  forty-eight  candidates  who  will  run 
for  councilman  at  the  first  commission  govern¬ 
ment  election  to  be  held  here  in  November, 
one  is  a  coal  dealer — .-Mderman  William  G. 
Humphrey. 

Arthur  Kuppinger,  sales  manager  of  the 
Valley  Smokeless  Coal  Company,  Philadel¬ 
phia,  was  a  visitor  here  a  few  days  ago.  He 
said  that  the  foundry  coke  market  was  show¬ 
ing  considerable  improvement 

A  Buffalo  coal  shipper  reports  a  visit  from 
a  leading  New  York  financial  agent  in  the 
interest  of  placing  orders  for  a  large  quantity 
of  war  material,  which  he  is  in  hope  of  find¬ 
ing  a  manufacturer  for  in  this  city. 

The  Buffalo  &  Susquehanna  Railroad  was 
bid  in  at  public  auction  on  September  13  by 
Morton  G.  Bogue  of  New  York,  who  repre¬ 
sented  the  bondholders.  His  bid  was  $300,- 
000.  It  is  not  definitely  known  what  is  to  be¬ 
come  of  the  road. 

The  contract  for  furnishing  slack  coal  to 
the  Buffalo  State  hospital  for  six  months  from 
October  1st,  amounting  to  about  10,000  tons, 
has  been  awarded  to  the  Erick  Coal  &  Coke 
Company,  of  this  city,  at  $2.18.  The  same 
company  had  the  contract  for  the  previous 
period. 

Two  tunnels  have  just  been  completed  on 
the  Allegheny  Valley  division  of  the  Penn¬ 
sylvania  Railroad  and  opened  to  freight  traffic. 
They  are  located  at  Woodhill  and  Kennerdell 
and  by  their  use  nine  miles  of  running  dis¬ 
tance  is  cut  off.  A  third  tunnel,  located  at 
East  Brady,  will  be  ready  for  use  in  about 
three  months,  according  to  officials. 

The  Lehigh  Valley  Railroad  Company  is 
advertising  the  sale  of  a  car  of  fifty-five  tons 
of  bituminous  coal  at  public  auction  on  Sep¬ 
tember  24.  The  coal  has  been  held  as  un¬ 
claimed  freight  over  a  year.  It  was  shipped 
by  A.  Judy  of  Lucinda.  Pa.,  to  the  Morlock 
Collieries  Company,  reconsigned  to  the  West¬ 
ern  New  York  Euel  Company,  and  again  re¬ 
consigned  to  the  Buffalo  Fertilizer  Company. 


.\nnouncement  is  made  here  that  the  Egerton 
Coal  Corporation  has  been  organized  at  .Abing¬ 
don,  Va.,  with  a  paid  capital  of  $100,000.  The 
company  owns  valuable  coal  lands  which  it  is 
planned  to  lease  to  operating  concerns. 


Baltimore  Trade. 


Baltimore,  AId.,  September  16. —  (Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — During  a  week  when  the  United 
States  Government  reported  the  lowest  for  gen¬ 
eral  exports  since  the  start  of  the  European  war, 
Baltimore  took  just  the  opposite  turn  as  regards 
the  sending  out  of  fuel  to  foreign  countries.  For 
the  six-day  working  period  ending  with  Septem¬ 
ber  11,  there  was  e.xported  from  this  port  a 
total  of  74,186  tons  of  cargo  coal.  For  the  first 
nine  working  days  of  the  month  the  total  to  ex¬ 
port  coal  from  this  port  reached  over,  130,000 
tons.  While  official  figures  are  not  yet  obtain¬ 
able  for  a  few  days  of  the  time,  it  is  confidently 
believed  that  the  first  half  of  September  has  seen 
a  movement  of  considerably  more  than  150,000 
tons,  and  the  trade  would  not  be  at  all  surprised 
to  see  a  new  port  record  for  a  month  set  before 
September  is  rounded  out. 

Aleanwhile  the  coal  trade  outside  of  export 
husiness  is  somewhat  at  a  standstill.  In  the  soft 
coal  trade  the  demand  is  now  pretty  steady  and 
about  equal  to  production  for  the  time  being, 
while  prices  have  now  remained  steady  for  the 
past  two  weeks.  Labor  troubles  are  becoming 
more  apparent  from  a  viewpoint  of  lack  of  avail- 


able  material,  and  this 

situation  is  sure 

to  cut  a 

considerable  figure  in 

price  conditions 

for  coal 

before  long. 

F.  0.  B. 

F.  0.  B. 

Fairmont — 

Mines. 

Baltimore. 

Tin ee  quarter  . 

. $0.S5@  .90 

$2.23@2.28 

Run  of  mine . 

2.18@2.23 

Slack  . 

1.98@2.03 

Somerset — 

Best  . 

2.43@2.4S 

Good  . 

.  1.10@1.15 

2.28@2.33 

W.  M.  R.  R.— 

Freeport  . 

. 75@  .80 

1.93@1.98 

B.  &  0.— 

Freeport  . 

1.93@1.9S 

P.  R.  R.— 

Best  South  Fork . 

2.48@2.53 

Miller  Vein  . 

.  1.10@1.15 

2.78@2.S3 

Ordinary  . 

2.03@2.13 

A  lull  has  followed  the  hot  wave  into  the  anthra¬ 
cite  business.  Coal  men  for  the  most  part  report 
but  few  orders  going  on  their  books  for  household 
storage  for  the  fall  and  winter.  It  seems  to  take 
cool  weather  to  turn  the  thoughts  of  most  of 
these  late  purchasers  to  coal  needs.  Most  of  the 
j’ards  are  endeavoring  to  maintain  full  stock  of 
smaller  sizes,  as  a  heavj'  early  demand  in  that 
line  is  expected.  The  kitchen  range  is  generally 
started  ahead  of  the  larger  heating  apparatus  in 
this  section,  thus  developing  an  early  call  for  nut 
and  pea  coals. 

Speaking  of  scarcity  of  labor,  occasioned  partly 
bv  the  great  rush  of  Italians  to  the  colors  during 
the  past  few  weeks ;  scarcity  along  other  lines  is 
becoming  evident.  Scarcity  of  cars  was  felt  last 
week  in  both  the  Fairmont  and  Somerset  dis¬ 
tricts  under  an  improved  tonnage  movement  that 
is  now  taking  place.  It  is  easy  to  see  that  with  a 
genuine  business  revival  this  fall  that  cars  will 
be  as  scarce  as  the  proverbial  hen’s  teeth,  de¬ 
spite  the  large  amount  of  new  equipment  that  is 
now  being  constructed,  especially  for  the  coal 
carrying  roads. 

Vessel  scarcity  is  a  feature  in  this  general 
scarcity  cry.  Despite  the  fact  that  a  great  ton¬ 
nage  was  moved  from  Baltimore  to  foreign  ports 
the  past  week,  it  would  have  been  much  larger 
had  available  bottoms  been  found  for  some  of 
the  business  offered  here. 


Some  Trade  Events. 

The  trade  is  much  interested  in  a  renewal  of 
the  project  to  dredge  the  channel  to  the  Curtis 
Ray  coal  piers  to  a  depth  of  thirty-five  feet.  Sev¬ 
eral  members  of  congress,  who  opposed  the  move 
before  are  understood  to  have  been  won  over. 

In  his  annua!  report  to  the  governor  of  Mary¬ 
land,  State  Alining  Inspector  William  Walters, 
shows  that  the  production  for  the  fiscal  year  end¬ 
ing  Alay  1,  was  3,688,611  tons,  a  loss  of  551,033 
tons  as  compared  with  the  previous  fiscal  year. 
This  was  credited  as  caused  by  shut  downs  in 
part  or  in  whole  as  a  result  of  dull  times  indus¬ 
trially. 

.A  meeting  of  Fairmont  operators  here  the  past 
week  took  up  the  question  of  a  reconstruction  of 
the  differential  rates  for  coal  shipments  from 
Ohio,  Kentucky  and  West  Virginia  to  the  north¬ 
west.  West  Virginia  operators  hold  that  a  re¬ 
construction  of  rates  along  the  lines  asked  by  the 
railroads  would  be  ruinous  to  their  interests, 
and  a  fight  will  probably  be  made  before  _  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission  on  the  subject. 
The  meetin,g,  held  here  at  the  office  of  the  Con¬ 
solidation  Coal  Company,  will  be  followed  by 
another  meeting  this  week  at  Fairmont,  to  con¬ 
sider  action. 


The  Black  Diamond 


Vol.  55.  No.  13 

CHICAGO 

COLUMBUS 

SEPTEMBER  23,  1913 

NEW  YORK 
PITTSBURGH 

$3.00  Per  Year 

iTests  Showing  the  Flexibility  of  House  Furnaces. 


Along  last  spring — it  was  cold  and  raw,  if  you 
rcmemljer — I  rnoved  into  a  house  in  the  suburbs 
of  Chicago.  It  was  my  first  experience  with  a 
house  furnace  for  something  like  twenty  years. 
In  the  meanwhile  I  had  been  writing  a  good  deal 
about  the  theory  and  practice  of  combustion  as  ap¬ 
plied  to  larger  units,  but  I  had  overlooked  the 
equally  great  possibilities  in  a  household  furnace. 

Soon  after  moving  in  I  decided  to  use  my  small 
plant  as  a  sort  of  an  experimental  station.  After 
seeing  some  of  the  possibilities,  I  decided  to  re¬ 
port  to  our  readers  from  time  to  time  the  results 
of  any  experiments  here  carried  on.  This  article 
is  the  first  of  such  reports;  others  will  come  later, 
no  doubt. 

To  begin  with,  the  house  is  relatively  small, 
having  seven  rooms  and  practically  no  attic.  It  is 
rather  difficult  to  heat  because  it  has  sixty  \vin- 
dows;  the  air  has  many  points  through  which  it 
can  enter.  This  does  not  make  the  easiest  heating 
problem.  This  is  offset,  in  a  small  measure,  by 
the  fact  that  the  surrounding  territory  is  full  of 
trees  which  break  the  force  of  the  wind. 

The  heating  system  is  one  of  the  American 
Radiator  hot  water  types.  The  fire  pot  is  cylin¬ 
drical,  being  about  twenty  inches  across  and  near¬ 
ly  three  feet  from  the  fire  grate  to  the  water 
coils,  which  are  at  the  top  of  the  cylinder. 

Begins  Buying  Coal  Early. 

The  first  thing  I  had  to  do  was  to  buy  some 
coal ;  the  people  who  had  moved  out  to  make 
room  for  me  left  an  empty  bin.  As  I  was  too 
new  to  'the  game  to  do  otherwise,  I  followed 
their  lead  and  got  in  one  ton  of  anthracite  range 
for  the  furnace  and  for  the  hot  water  heater  a 
ton  of  anthracite  pea  coal. 

For  the  first  two  or  three  weeks  we  just  about 
hobbled  along.  Although  it  was  never  really  cold, 
we  never  much  more  than  had  moderate  comfort 
in  the  lower  part  of  the  house;  there  was  prac¬ 
tically  no  radiation  in  the  upper  rooms.  It  seemed 
for  a  time  that,  perhaps,  the  fuel  bed  was  not 
thick  enough,  as  I  had  fired  only  to  a  level  with 
the  feed  door.  That  meant  I  had  maintained  a 
fuel  bed  about  eighteen  inches  thick. 

The  experiment  was  tried  of  increasing  the 
thickness  of  the  fuel  bed  to  twenty-four  inches 
or  to  fully  six  inches  above  the  lower  level  of  the 
feed  door.  This  increased  the  heat  in  the  lower 
part  of  the  house,  but  the  upstairs  rooms  were 
still  raw  and  cold,  especially  at  night.  This 
seemed,  at  first,  to  indicate  that  anthracite  was 
not  a  fuel  for  that  furnace.  I  was  just  about 
ready  to  abandon  it  when  I  looked  at  the  water 
indicator.  This  shows  how  new  I  was  to  such  a 
plant.  I  found  that  part  of  the  water  had  been 
boiled  away ;  it  was  fifteen  per  cent,  at  least,  be¬ 
low  what  it  should  have  been.  That  is,  with  a 
hot  water  plant,  the  expansion  due  to  the  heat 
would  not  force  the  hot  water  to  circulate  any 
further  than  through  the  lower  part  of  the 
house.  At  least,  that  was  my  theory  and  I  proved 
it  correct  when  the  water  supply  was  increased. 
Then  the  fuel  bed  was  reduced  to  eighteen 
inches,  as  it  had  been  in  the  first  place,  and  I 
had  all  the  heat  anyone  could  desire  in  such 
weather. 

An  Accidental  Discovery. 

Then  as  the  result  of  an  accident,  I  made  a 
discovery.  A  man  working  about  the  place  was 
asked  to  shovel  in  some  coal  when  he  went  down¬ 
stairs.  He  did  so,  and  inside  of  fifteen  minutes 
or  so  the  house  was  piping  hot;  it  was  necessary 
to  open  the  windows  in  order  to  cool  it  down. 
The  water  could  be  heard  boiling  in  the  pipes. 
I  went  downstairs  and  found  the  furnace  un¬ 
naturally  hot. 

It  developed  that  the  man  had  thrown  in  upon 
a  bed  of  range  coal  two  shovel sful  of  the  pea 
coal.  It  seems  that  this  had  slowed  down  the 
draft  just  enough  to  make  each  particle  of  air 
burn  a  particle  of  coal.  Therefore  we  were  get¬ 
ting  much  more  heat  from  the  same  volume  of 
fuel  than  we  had  been  getting  before. 

I  learned  that,  for  cold  days  when  an  intense 
fire  is  needed,  a  mixture  of  range  coal  and  pea 


An  Intimate  Account  of  What  Was  Done 
With  One  Furnace  Using  Three  Kinds  of 
Coal  in  Four  Sizes. 


coal  in  that  kind  of  a  furnace  would  make  a  tre¬ 
mendously  hot  fire.  Incidentally  I  was  using 
“Cross  Creek”  anthracite  of  both  sizes.  I  have 
not  tried,  as  yet,  any  other  kinds  of  anthracite, 
but  may  do  so  before  the  winter  is  over.  I  may 
try  other  sizes,  too. 

Beginning  the  Experiments. 

Along  about  the  middle  of  May  I  decided  to 
try  some  experiments.  The  theory  upon  which 
I  proceeded  was  this :  In  that  kind  of  a  fire  pot 
it  is  not  economical  to  put  in  more  fuel  than 
will  just  about  reach  the  level  of  the  feed  door. 
That  being  done,  there  is  still  a  good  fifteen 
inches  or  more  between  the  fuel  bed  and  the  low¬ 
er  ring  of  the  water  tubes.  It  is  a  good  two  feet 
from  the  fuel  bed  to  the  top  ring  of  the  water 
tubes.  I  figured  that,  to  get  the  greatest  efficiency, 
a  fuel  should  have  some  flame.  It  need  not  have 
a  long  flame,  but  it  should  have  some.  That  is,  I 
wanted  the  coal  to  burn  above  the  fuel  bed  as 
well  as  on  it. 

The  first  idea  was  to  get  smokeless  coal.  I 
did  not  care  to  try  the  mine  run  because  that 
presents  some  draft  difficulties  which  I  did  not 
want,  just  then,  to  work  over,  although  I  may 
later.  What  I  wanted  to  do  was  to  keep  the  same 
draft  that  I  had  and  see  what  the  result  would  be 
by  handling  various  coals  of  similar  sise  but  of 
other  grades.  This  suggested  the  use  of  Poca¬ 
hontas  or  New  River  nut  coal. 

An  inquiry,  however,  as  to  the  price  proved 
that  there  would  not  be  any  saving  in  using  that 
size,  as  the  retailer  wanted  about  $7.25  per  ton 
for  Pocahontas  nut.  I  abandoned  that  size,  as 
a  consequence. 

The  next  thing  was  to  get  a  fuel  that  had 
some  flame  but  at  the  same  time  would  burn 
without  creating  any  dense  black  smoke.  That 
was  quite  a  problem,  seeing  the  small  amount  of 
draft  available.  I  figured  it  out  in  this  way : 

Illinois  bituminous  coal  contains  thirty-six  per 
cent  volatile.  Coke  contains  practically  no  vola¬ 
tile  at  all.  Therefore  a  half  and  half  mixture  of 
coke  and  Illinois  coal  would  give  me  about  eight¬ 
een  per  cent  volatile,  which  is  about  the  same 
as  Pocahontas  nut.  I  decided  therefore  to  use 
a  half  and  half  mixture  of  coke  and  Franklin 
county  coal. 

I  got  one  ton  of  Christopher  number  two  nut 
as  being  closely  comparable  in  size  to  anthracite 
range  and  a  ton  of  Solvay  pea  coke,  that  being 
comparable  in  size  to  the  anthracite  pea  coal. 
That  mixture  would  give  me  the  same  result,  as 
I  figured,  as  anthracite  range  and  pea  coal. 

A  Curious  Blunder. 

The  first  experience  was  quite  interesting.  I 
came  home  one  evening  to  find  a  first-rate  bed  of 
live  coal  as  the  result  of  a  day’s  firing  of  anthra- 
site  range.  It  made  a  splendid  foundation  for  the 
experiment  which  I  wanted  to  make.  Upon  this 
I  shoveled  about  three  shovelfuls  of  pea  coke 
and  on  top  of  that  I  put  a  shovel  and  a  half  of 
Christopher  number  two  nut  coal.  Then  I  opened 
the  ash  door,  closed  the  feed  door  and,  taking 
my  youngster,  went  out  for  a  walk. 

I  came  back  in  twenty  minutes  only  to  find  the 
servant  terror-stricken,  my  wife  out  in  the  yard, 
the  house  full  of  smoke,  and  a  neighbor  or  so 
about  to  go  to  war.  It  seems  that  very  shortly 
after  I  had  left  the  house  there  had  been  an  ex¬ 
plosion  in  the  top  part  of  the  furnace.  This  I 
could  not,  at  first,  explain.  When  I  looked  at  the 
furnace,  the  explanation  was  perfectly  simple.  I 
had  opened  the  draft  below,  but  had  not  opened 
the  damper.  Thus  I  had  given  the  bed  of  anthra¬ 
cite  the  air  that  it  needed  and  it  began  to  burn 
furiously.  But  there  was  nqt  enough  air  to  burn 


also  the  fresh  bed  of  coke  and  bituminous  coal. 
All  it  had  been  able  to  do  was  to  stew  off  their 
gases.  These  had  accumulated  in  spaces  between 
the  water  pipes  because  there  had  been  no  outlet 
for  them,  the  damper  being  closed.  After  a  while 
a  tongue  of  flame  had  shot  up  from  the  fuel  bed 
and,  of  course,  ignited  the  gases.  The  result  was 
the  small  explosion  noted.  This  blew  the  lid  of 
the  furnace  and  the  check  draft  open.  This,  with¬ 
out  doing  any  real  damage,  had  frightened  the 
women  and  had  filled  the  house  with  smoke. 

Then  I  saw  not  only  my  fundamental  mistake, 
but  how  to  correct  it.  To  burn  volatile  matter 
it  is  necessary  to  have  something  with  which  to 
burn  it.  That  requires  an  exposed  bed  of  live 
fuel  below  it.  I  saw  that  I  could  not  cover  com¬ 
pletely  my  live  bed  of  coals  and  still  burn  the 
gases  which  stew  off  first  or  before  the  carbon 
catches  fire. 

In  accordance  with  this  revised  theory,  I 
changed  the  practice  completely  on  the  second  at¬ 
tempt.  This  time  I  made  sure  that  the  damper 
was  open.  I  opened  the  ash  doors  formerly  and  I 
also  opened  the  draft  slide  in  the  feed  door.  That 
gave  me  not  only  air  up  through  the  fuel  bed, 
but  over  the  top  of  it. 

That  having  been  done,  I  fired  the  coke  on 
the  live  coals  and  let  it  burn  about  fifteen  min¬ 
utes.  When  it  was  in  a  ruddy  glow,  I  fired 
some  bituminous  coal. 

I  did  not  cover  completely  the  bed  of  coals. 
Leaving  the  drafts  as  they  were,  I  went  away  for 
about  fifteen  minutes  and  came  back  to  fire  the 
bituminous  coal  a  second  time.  After  another 
fifteen  minutes  I  closed  the  ash  pit  door  and 
the  draft  slide  in  the  feed  door.  Then  I  left 
the  fire  alone.  This  was  at  about  half-past  six 
o’clock  at  night.  A  little  after  eleven  when  I 
was  about  ready  to  retire,  I  went  down  to  see 
the  fire  and  it  was  burning  beautifully;  there 
was  still  enough  fuel  to  last,  perhaps,  two  hours 
more.  I  threw  on  a  few  shovelfuls  of  bituminous 
coal,  left  the  drafts  open  again  for  fifteen  min¬ 
utes  and  then  banked  it  for  the  night  with  about 
two  shovelfuls  of  ashes.  The  following  morning 
a  hot  fuel  bed  was  found  at  seven  o’clock. 

Today,  when  I  want  to  use  this  combination  of 
Franklin  county  number  two  nut  and  pea  coke  I 
fire  it  in  about  this  way:  Arising  at  half-past  six 
I  shake  down  the  ashes  and  fire  about  three 
.shovelfuls  of  coke.  Leaving  the  ash  door  open, 
I  take  time  for  a  shave  and  bath — about  a  half 
hour.  Then  I  fire  a  full  shovelful  of  bituminous 
coal.  At  this  time  I  open  the  draft  slide  in  the 
feed  door.  After  breakfast  I  fire  another  shovel¬ 
ful  of  bituminous  coal  and  leave  the  drafts  as 
they  are  for  about  fifteen  minutes.  Such  a  fire, 
made  in  ordinary  weather,  is  good  until  three  or 
four  o’clock  in  the  afternoon.  A  little  heavier 
firing  would  make  it  good  until  evening. 

With  an  outside  temperature  ranging  between 
forty  and  sixty,  this  kind  of  a  fire  will  keep  a 
house,  such  as  described,  at  an  even  temperature 
of  about  seventy  to  seventy-eight  degrees,  from 
about  half  past  seven  in  the  morning  until  three 
or  four  o’clock  in  the  afternoon. 

An  Interesting  Experiment. 

Along  in  the  middle  of  the  summer  I  had  a 
very  interesting  experience  with  fuel.  On  the 
night  of  the  third  of  August,  if  I  remember  cor¬ 
rectly,  there  was,  over  the  north  portion  of  Chi¬ 
cago,  a  veritable  cloudburst.  All  the  storm  water 
sewers  were  filled  to  overflowing  and  the  streets 
were  running  full  for  hours.  It  was  a  common 
experience  of  the  householders  to  find  their  yards 
under  anywhere  from  three  to  six  inches  of  water. 
This  soon  soaked  through  the  basement  walls.  In 
addition,  the  sewers  backed  up,  flooding  the  base¬ 
ments  through  the  drain  pipes.  In  my  l)a,sement 
there  was  from  two  and  one-half  to  three  feet  of 
water.  This  put  out  the  fire  in  the  hot  water 
heater  and  flooded  the  coal  room  so  that  my  five 
tons  of  coal  was  under  water  that  was  muddy  and 
dirty. 

At  the  same  time  the  house  was  damp.  Since 


242 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[September  25 


we  had  a  young  child,  a  fire  was  considered  nec¬ 
essary  in  order  to  dry  out  the  place.  The  prob¬ 
lem  was  what  kind  of  fuel  to  use. 

To  add  to  the  difficulty,  most  of  the  kindling 
had  been  in  the  flood.  Still  a  few  sticks  of  rea¬ 
sonably  dry  kindling  were  available. 

Just  a  week  or  so  before  that  time,  F.  C. 
Atwill  had  sent  me  a  100-pound  bag  of  Vulcan 
coke,  asking  that  I  try  it.  It  was  setting  along¬ 
side  the  furnace,  but  like  everything  else  was 
under  water.  1  waited  until  the  water  had  re¬ 
ceded  to  aliout  a  half  inch  below  the  fire  grate 
and,  therefore,  about  four  inches  below  the  top 
of  this  bag  of  coke. 

Having  had  an  interesting  experience  with  coke 
early  in  the  year,  I  decided  to  give  “Fen’s”  con- 
trihutiop  a  trial  under  most  difficult  conditions.  I 
piled  what  dry  kindling  was  available  on  a 
(piantity  of  paper  on  the  grate  and  then  put  the 
moist  kindling  on  top.  Then,  with  my  hands,  I 
dug  out  some  of  this  coke  from  the  water  and 
threw  it  on  top  of  the  kindling.  I  fired  about  the 
etiuivalent  of  three  shovelfuls  and,  with  many  mis¬ 
givings,  touched  the  "match  to  the  paper.  I  opened 
all  of  the  drafts  wide. 

After  about  ten  minutes  I  dug  out  some  more 
of  that  wet  coke  and  piled  on  about  three  more 
sliovelfuls.  I  went  back  after  ten  minutes  more 
and  found  that  the  water  was  boiling  in  the  pipes. 


Something  over  a  year  ago  Clifford  D.  Caldwell 
— a  thin  man  who  moves  with  the  nervous  energy 
of  a  tiger,  who  has  a  keen,  bright  eye  and  who 
talks  with  the  dialect  of  the  South — cpiit  the 
Fittsburgh-Buffalo  company  in  Pittsburgh,  and 
moved  to  Chicago  to  do  a  bit  of  missionary  work 
for  the  Solvay  Coke  people.  His  principal  mis¬ 
sion  in  life  was  to  teach  the  people  in  the  west 
how  to  burn  coke  and,  thereby,  to  make  them  like 
it.  His  desire  was  that  they  should  become  per¬ 
manent  customers  of  the  coke  ovens  which  were 
daily  turning  out  thousands  of  tons  of  this  new 
fuel. 

His  was  not  particularly  an  easy  job.  In  the 
first  place,  as  the  old  proverb  has  it,  it’s  not  an 
easy  task  to  teach  an  old  dog  a  new  trick.  It  is 
not  an  easy  thing  to  get  people  weaned  away  from 
using  one  coal  and  to  using  something  different. 
That  is  an  elementary  difficulty  which  is  inherent 
in  human  nature. 

There  was  this  other :  Coke  had  been  tested 
lavishly  throughout  the  west.  If  the  facts  must 
be  told,  the  marketing  method  previously  em¬ 
ployed  was  crude  and  unintelligent.  The  people 
who  manufactured  coke  had  created  a  desire  for 
it  by  saying  that  it  was  as  smokeless  and  as  clean 
as  anthracite,  burned  as  long,  and  would  cost  less. 
Having  flashed  that  advertisement  before  buyers 
in  every  city  in  the  west,  the  makers  of  this  new 
fuel  had  left  the  consumers  to  struggle  with  it  in 
their  furnaces.  The  public  had  struggled  and  had 
failed.  Some  had  bought  and  tried  it,  only  to 
burn  out  the  lining  of  their  furnaces.  Therefore, 
they  had  paid  more  to  repair  the  furnace  than 
they  had  saved  on  their  fuel  bills.  Others  had 
fired  it  too  thinly  and  consequently  the  fuel  bed 
had  burned  out  quickly,  leaving  them  with  no  fire 
at  all,  when  they  thought  they  should  have  a  good 
fire  for  several  hours  to  come. 

In  a  very  word,  the  fuel  had  proved  a  distinct 
disappointment,  and  the  producers  had  spent  good 
money  for  advertising  only  to  buy  ill  will.  There, 
is  recalled,  in  this  connection,  a  meeting  held  in 
Chicago  where  the  retailers  told  their  experiences 
with  this  fuel.  The  statement  was  then  made 
that  of  twenty-five  who  tried  to  burn  coke,  only 
one  had  ever  become  a  permanent  customer,  or 
who  had  ever  come  hack,  voluntarily,  and  had 
asked  to  have  coke  shipped  him  the  second  time. 
That  is  to  say,  there  was  a  jinx  on  coke  all 
through  the  west.  Whole  cities  had  tried  it  for 
one  season  and  then  had  abandoned  in  the  next 
season.  Creat  big  blocks  of  consumers  had  yield¬ 
ed  to  the  advertisement  only  to  throw  it  out  after 
trial.  No  few  retail  dealers  had  cut  it  off  of  the 
list  of  retail  fuels,  first,  because  it  did  not  give 
satisfaction  to  the  cu.stomers,  and,  second,  because 
it  was  so  light  that  it  increased  their  carrying 
charge.  They  said :  “What  is  the  use  of  han¬ 
dling  this  coke  and  making  a  special  effort  to  sell 
it  when  we  are  losing  friends  and  money  by 
doing  so?” 

So  the  problem  confronting  Mr.  Caldwell  was 
no  small  one.  He  was  one  man  .shut  up  in  one 
office  in  a  great  big  buihling  in  Chicago.  Behind 
him  were  ovens  turning  out  thousands  of  tons  of 
coke  a  day.  In  front  of  him  was  a  big  market 
with  a  large  percentage  of  people  prejudiced 
against  his  product.  His  business  was  a  good  deal 


In  less  than  an  hour  the  house  was  beginning  to 
dry  out.  This  coke  was  the  egg  size,  which  may 
account  for  the  quick  results  obtained,  as  there 
was  ample  room  for  the  circulation  of  air  through 
the  thick  fuel  bed. 

Concerning  Other  Tests. 

This  is  the  first  installment  of  what  may  prove 
an  interesting  series  of  articles  on  what  may  be 
done  with  an  ordinary  household  furnace.  There 
is  no  intention  to  say  that  what  applied  to  this 
one  furnace  will  prove  true  universally.  In  fact, 
it  must  be  kept  in  mind  that  I  have  had  a  given 
condition  of  radiation,  a  given  furnace,  and  have 
only  experimented  with  three  kinds  of  coal  in 
five  sizes.  As  indicated,  I  propose  to  use  this  fur¬ 
nace  as  a  sort  of  experimental  plant  and  other 
articles  will  be  written  as  other  experiments  have 
been  completed.  At  present  the  disposition  is  to 
believe  that  there  is  far  more  flexibility  in  a 
household  furnace  than  a  great  many  people  be¬ 
lieve. 

Incidentally,  if  any  retailer  wants  to  ask  any 
question  I  will  try  to  answer  them.  If  the  data 
is  not  at  hand,  I  will  make  the  experiments. 

Also,  if  any  retailer  has  made  similar  experi¬ 
ments,  I  should  be  very  glad  to  know  about  them, 
because  that  would  broaden  the  discussion. 

The  Editor. 


like  that  of  a  missionary  who  goes  among  pig 
headed  Chinese  and  tries  to  win  them  away  from 
Confucianism. 

Yet  he  assailed  the  obstacle  systematically  and 
concentrated  his  effort.  He  knew,  in  the  fir.st 
place,  that  one  man  could  not  hope  to  win  the 
whole  territory  in  any  one  year.  Therefore,  he 
would  have  to  win  one  section  at  a  time ;  after 
getting  his  idea  to  working  automatically  there  in 
one  i)lace,  he  could  go  on  to  another.  Since  he 


C.  D.  Caldwell. 


was  already  in  Chicago,  he  decided  that  the  best 
place  to  try  out  his  plan  was  in  Chicago  itself. 

Having  narrowed  down  his  zone,  he  narrowed  it 
still  further.  He  saw  that  at  the  start  he  would 
have  to  convince  the  retail  dealer.  To  this  end 
he  made  a  definite  campaign.  He  first  let  it  be 
known  that  he  was  proposing  to  work  hand  in 
hand  with  the  retailer  in  convincing  and  educat¬ 
ing  the  buyer.  That  is,  he  proposed  to  constitute 
himself  a  part  of  the  retailer’s  service  department. 
And  he  did  it  in  this  way : 

Pie  told  the  retailers  that  if  they  would  send 
in  the  names  of  those  who  had  bought  coke  the 
company  would  pay  the  retailer  twenty-five  cents 
a  ton  for  every  ton  of  coke  bought  by  any  cus¬ 
tomer  so  named.  Also,  the  Solvay  Company 
would  send  a  skilled  man  to  that  customer  to 
show  him  how  to  use  coke  to  the  very  best  advan¬ 
tage.  This  man  would  show  the  buyer  how  to 
make  a  fire;  how  to  adjust  the  dampers  to  get  a 
certain  amount  of  heat  in  any  kind  of  weather; 
how  to  bank  the  fire  at  night,  and  all  about  it. 
This  projjosal  not  only  increased  temporarily  the 
jirofit  on  the  coke  to  the  retailer,  but  it  gave  his 
customers  the  idea  that  he  had  a  service  depart¬ 
ment  which  was  looking  after  their  interests. 

At  first  Mr.  Caldwell  had  on  his  staff  just  one 
man  with  a  small  automobile,  who  traveled  about 
the  city  making  demonstrations  of  how  to  use 


coke.  For  the  first  few  weeks  this  one  man  could 
do  all  the  work.  Then  the  list  of  names  began  to 
come  in.  One  company  alone  on  one  day  sent  in 
as  many  as  150  names.  Other  companies  on  dif¬ 
ferent  days  sent  in  as  many  as  twenty-five  to  fifty 
names.  Thus  there  grew  to  be  a  need  for  not  one 
man,  but  many.  In  brief,  before  six  months  had 
elapsed,  the  staff  of  experts  had  been  increased 
from  one  to  fifteen.  The  second  season  is  just 
opening  and  now  the  company  has  twenty-five 
demonstrators  in  Chicago  alone  and  is  about  ready 
to  take  up  a  similar  campaign  in  other  districts. 

The  payment  of  twenty-live  cents  a  ton  to  the 
retailers  applied  only  during  the  first  season.  The 
company  wanted  it  to  be  understood  that  this  was 
not  a  cut  in  price,  but  it  was  an  inducement  to  get 
the  retailers  to  thinking  about  coke  and  to  trying 
it  out.  Although  no  payment  is  now  paid,  the 
dealers  are  appreciating  the  value  of  the  service 
and  are  sending  in  long  lists  of  names  almost 
every  day.  They  know  now  that  the  service  of  an 
expert  is  worth  far  more  than  the  amount  of 
money  they  got  back  from  the  company  for  turn¬ 
ing  in  the  list  of  names. 

And  the  result.  Within  six  months  the  tonnage 
of  coke  handled  in  Chicago  proper  was  more 
than  doubled.  The  summer,  which  has  just 
passed,  saw  an  unprecedented  sale  of  coke  to  the 
liouseholders.  The  fall  started  in  with  a  rush  of 
orders.  New  customers  are  interested  in  the  fuel 
almost  every  day  and  new  persons  are  learning 
almost  every  day  how  to  use  it. 

Considering  the  difficulties  which  confronted 
him  at  the  outset  the  success  of  this  campaign  is 
truly  marvelous.  It  only  shows  what  can  be 
done  when  any  one  starts  seriou.sly  and  intelli¬ 
gently  to  put  a  fuel  of  merit  upon  any  market. 


Indiana  Production. 


In  1914  the  mines  of  Indiana  yielded  16,641,132 
tons  of  coal,  having  a  value  of  $18,290,928,  ac¬ 
cording  to  a  statement  by  C.  E.  Lesher  just 
given  out  by  the  United  States  Geological  Sur¬ 
vey.  This  shows  a  slight  decrease  from  the  1913 
figures  of  524,539  tons,  or  three  per  cent  in  quan¬ 
tity,  and  $710,953  or  3.7  per  cent  in  value.  Out 
of  nineteen  coal-producin.g  counties  in  Indiana 
six  showed  an  increase  in  1914,  all  the  increases 
being  small  except  that  in  Vigo  county,  which 
in  1914  had  an  output  greater  than  in  1913  by 
more  than  530,000  tons.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
neighboring  counties,  Greene,  Clay,  Knox  and 
Parke  counties,  each  showed  a  decrease  of  over 
100,000  tons.  The  average  price  per  ton  for 
the  state  was  $1.10  as  compared  with  $1.11  for 
1913. 

The  production  of  machine-mined  coal  in  1914 
amounted  to  9,360,683  short  tons,  or  56.2  per  cent 
of  the  total,  as  compared  with  9,737,425  tons 
or  fifty-seven  per  cent  in  1913.  There  was,  how¬ 
ever,  no  decrease  in  the  proportion  of  the  product 
shot  off  the  solid,  the  figures  being  5,175,229 
tons  in  1913  against  4,968,065  tons  in  1914,  ap¬ 
proximately  thirty  per  cent  in  both  years.  The 
quantity  of  hand-mined  coal  decreased  from 
eleven  per  cent  to  10.6  per  cent  in  1914,  and  the 
number  of  mining  machines  in  use  increased  from 
732  in  1913  to  751  in  1914. 

The  Bureau  of  Mines  reported  forty-four  fatal 
accidents  in  the  mines  of  Indiana  during  1914,  a 
decrease  of  twenty-two  from  those  reported  in 
1913.  This  brought  the  death  rate  per  thousand 
from  2.97  in  1913  to  1.97  for  1914. 


The  Winifrede  Coal  Company  has  just  reop¬ 
ened  its  Belmont  mine  after  six  weeks’  shut¬ 
down  owing  to  a  strike.  The  strike  was  caused 
by  the  discharge  by  the  company  of  five  agitators 
who  interfered  with  the  working  of  the  mine  by 
General  Manager  Frank  R.  Stewart.  The  action 
of  these  men  was  so  clearly  in  violation  of  the 
agreement  with  the  miners  that  nothing  could 
be  done  in  the  matter  by  the  miners  when  Mr. 
Stewart  applied  the  Pennsylvania  plan  in  settle¬ 
ment  of  the  trouble.  Pie  announced  that  the 
mine  would  be  closed  down  until  these  men 
moved  off  the  Winifrede  property  and  that  two 
days  for  one  of  delay  in  getting  off  would  l)e 
added  for  a  reminder.  The  recalcitrants  moved 
off  the  property  in  three  weeks  after  the  strike 
was  inaugurated  and  in  three  weeks  afterward, 
Monday  this  week,  the  mines  started  in  full 
operation  with  a  full  complement  of  miners. 


All  three  plants  of  the  Oliver  Iron  &  Steel 
Company  in  the  Connellsville  region  are  now  on 
full  time.  The  Oliver  interests  have  been  work¬ 
ing  five  days  heretofore,  but  demand  for  addi¬ 
tional  coke  by  the  furnaces  of  the  company  made 
it  necessary  to  speed  up. 


Putting  a  New  Fuel  on  the  Commercial  Map. 


No.  13] _  THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 

The  Regeneration  of  the  Galesburg  District. 


Any  man  who  has  traveled  the  territory  a  lit¬ 
tle  to  the  west  of  Chicago  realizes  that,  up  to  a 
short  time  ago,  it  was  the  old  story  of  too  many 
small  concerns  trying  to  live  off  the  coal  business 
in  a  small  community.  Hence  there  was  the 
resultant  bitterness  when  one  fellow  started  to 
crowd  some  other  fellow  out. 

In  describing  this  situation,  one  man  who,  inci¬ 
dentally,  had  lived  on  a  farm,  said  it  reminded 
him  very  much  of  ten  pigs  trying  to  feed  at  a 
trough  which  was  only  big  enough  for  five  and 
when  there  was  only  food  enough  for  five.  One 
would  charge  the  line  and  break  through  it  to  the 
trough,  only  to  push  some  other  one  out,  of 
course.  It  would  be  complacently  filling  its  stom¬ 
ach  when  the  displaced  pig  would  charge  the  line 
and  push  another  one  out.  Thus  all  the  pigs  were 
never  feeding  at  the  same  time,  but  there  was  a 
constant  fight  at  the  trough  and  a  constant  fight 
behind  the  trough  for  a  place.  Naturally,  he 
said,  the  pigs  were  not  in  an  amiable  frame  of 
mind  toward  each  other.  Also,  what  little  each 
one  ate,  he  used  up  in  his  fight  to  getnnore. 

Perhaps  the  simile  is  a  trifle  forceful  and  does 
not  state  accurately  all  phases  of  the  coal  case. 
Yet,  it  is  true  that  all  through  that  district  there 
was  intense  trade  rivalry,  most  of  the  money 
taken  in  on  trade  went  out  to  pay  the  cost  of  war. 
As  a  result  of  hard  feelings,  every  fellow  believed 
everything  that  was  said  of  the  other  fellow. 
Men  in  the  retail  coal  trade  in  that  district  came 
to  believe  that  their  business  expressed  moral 
degradation  in  its  superlative  degree. 

The  situation  was  not  only  disagreeable,  but  it 
was  disastrous  in  a  financial  sense.  The  retailer 
did  not  fix  his  own  prices,  but  let  the  consumer 
do  it.  And  the  consumer  did  so  by  merely  mak¬ 
ing  a  misstatement  about  what  the  other  fellow 
had  proposed  to  charge.  Since  each  retailer  was 
in  a  mood  to  believe  anything  about  his  competi¬ 
tor,  he  readily  believed  the  buyer,  even  though 
the  latter  said  the  competitor  was  accepting  a 
price  less  the  mine  price  plus  the  freight  rate. 
The  buyers  lied  gently  in  order  to  save  a  few 
pennies  per  ton  on  the  price  of  their  coal. 

Thus  the  retailer  gave  away  his  service  and  his 
profit.  He  extended  credit  where  the  “buyer”  had 
no  right  to  credit.  He  proved,  in  the  end,  a  very 
bad  credit  risk  for  the  operator  whose  coal  he 
was  handling. 

While  this  applies  broadly  to  a  big  district  in 
the  west,  and  while  in  a  sense  it  is  true  generally 
of  the  retail  situation  the  nation  over,  it  was  par¬ 
ticularly  true  in  a  small  district  of  which  Gales¬ 
burg,  Ill.,  was  the  center.  Then  came  one  little 
incident  and  one  man  that  has  changed  the  whole 
complexion  of  things.  If  you  will  read  over  again 
what  has  just  been  said  and  then  will  imagine 
the  exact  reverse  of  that  situation,  you  will  know 
precisely  what  is  the  situation  in  and  around 
Galesburg  today.  The  man  who  primarily  is  re¬ 
sponsible  for  this  change  is  Charles  V.  Tapper, 
sales  manager  of  the  Brereton  Coal  Company  of 
Galesburg. 

After  finding  what  this  remarkable  young  man 
has  done,  statement  of  his  achievement  was  made, 
as  a  hypothetical  question,  to  a  number  of  coal 
men  in  and  around  Chicago.  With  one  accord, 
they  said ; 

“It  is  improbable  and  impossible.  It  never  did 
happen  and  it  never  can  happen.  No  such  thing  is 
possible  in  the  coal  trade.  In  the  first  place,  if  an 
operator  tried  to  do  that  sort  of  thing,  the  retail¬ 
ers  would  not  stand  for  it.  And,  if  the  retailers 
did  stand  for  it,  some  other  operator  would  come 
in  and  kick  over  the  whole  arrangement  by  sow¬ 
ing  seeds  of  discord.  Tliere  is  no  possibility  of 
such  a  reform  in  the  coal  trade,  because  human 
nature  there  is  too  rampant  to  make  any  such 
thing  possible.” 

Nevertheless  it  has  happened  and  this  is  the 
.story  of  it ; 

Charles  V.  Tapper  is  a  man  about  thirty  years 
of  age — one  of  those  fellows  who  is  full  of  vim, 
moves  about  quickly,  has  a  great  deal  of  physical 
and  moral  courage  and  is  the  kind  of  a  dreamer 
who  believes  that  a  dream  is  worth  nothing  unless 
it  can  lie  made  a  reality.  He  saw  the  situation  in 
Galesburg  and  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the 
only  reason  it  continued  to  exist  was  that  no  one 
man  understood  the  situation  as  a  whole,  hut 
rather  that  each  man  only  understood  one  part  of 
it  only.  Judging  from  that  one  part,  he  got  a 
misconception  of  the  whole.  lie  then  said  to  him¬ 
self  ; 

“The  point  in  Gale.sburg  is  that  the  retail  coal 
men  are  all  of  one  clan,  but  do  not  know  it.  They 
have  got  at  least  a  tentative  organization,  but  they 


never  use  it.  The  buyer  has  sensed  this  fact  and 
plays  one  against  the  other.  It  is  the  old  case  of 
David  throwing  the  stone  in  among  the  Philis¬ 
tines  and  of  starting  them  to  fighting  each  other. 
The  consumers  sit  on  the  side  lines  and  charge  the 
retailers  of  price  cutting  and  they  in  turn  start 
real  price  cutting.  The  retailers  are  destroying 
themselves  at  the  suggestion  of  the  consumers  and 
do  not  know  why  they  are  doing  it.” 

Having  come  to  that  conclusion,  Mr.  Tapper 
started  out  to  get  the  Galesburg  dealers  to  under¬ 
stand  the  situation.  P'irst,  his  point  of  view  was 
that  unless  the  retailer  could  be  straightened  out, 
there  never  would  be  a  good  market  there  for  his 
coal ;  he  never  could  hope  to  get  a  fair  mine  price. 
That  was  not  disinterested,  but  it  was  fair  from  a 
commercial  point  of  view. 

So  he  started  to  talking  to  the  retailers  about 
the  two  ways  of  making  money.  One,  as  he  said, 
was  to  make  a  little  on  each  ton  and  sell  a  great 
number  of  tons.  The  difficulty  there  was  that  in 
order  to  sell  the  great  number  of  tons,  each  re¬ 
tailer  would  have  to  crowd  some  other  dealer  out 
of  the  market.  That  was  inviting  a  fight.  The 
other  way  was  for  each  retailer  to  make  the  same 
amount  of  money  off  a  smaller  tonnage  by  get¬ 
ting  a  larger  margin  per  ton.  The  only  obstacle 
in  the  way  of  that  program  was  to  get  each  retail¬ 
er  to  consent  that  while  he  was  making  money 
the  other  retailers  also  should  make  monej".  In 
other  words,  his  problem  was  to  convince  the  re¬ 
tailer  not  to  act  as  a  dog  in  the  manger. 

Naturally  it  took  months  to  bridge  this  obstacle 
and  to  get  the  retailers  to  see  the  possibility  of 
another  line  of  action.  Nevertheless  he  kept 
preaching  it  and  finally  got  all  of  the  retailers  into 
such  a  mood  that  they  would  consent  to  attend  a 
dinner  which  he  gave.  When  he  got  them  all  to¬ 
gether,  he  was  privileged,  as  a  host,  to  say  what 
he  pleased.  Then  he  told  the  whole  story  in  all 
of  its  ramifications  and  they  all  saw  the  point. 
Among  other  things,  Air.  Tapper  is  a  good  talker. 

It  was  not  long  after  that  until  the  retailers  of 
Galesburg  saw  the  advantage  of  such  meetings 
and  they  began  holding  dinners  at  stated  inter¬ 
vals.  Each  man  paid  his  own  shot  and  they  got 
acquainted  and  talked  things  over.  At  those  ^meet¬ 
ings  the  principal  topic  of  discussion  was :  “How 


Paying  Commissions 

The  following  letter,  received  from  an  In¬ 
dianapolis,  Ind.,  reader  raises  an  interesting  point 
regarding  the  payment  of  salesmen.  Of  course, 
the  law  is  the  same  whether  it  be  a  salesman 
on  the  road  or  a  retail  salesman  who  goes 
among  customers  to  get  orders  or  a  clerk  be¬ 
hind  the  counter  who  gets  a  commission  on  what 
he  sells : 

“We  are  having  an  argument  with  one  of  our 
salesmen  which  may  require  us  to  change  our 
whole  method  of  doing  business,  but  before  goin.g 
to  such  length  we  feel  like  submitting  the  ques¬ 
tion  to  you.  We  employ  several  outside  men, 
who  are  paid  by  receiving  a  share  of  the  profits 
on  their  orders.  There  has  been  more  or  less 
friction  between  us  over  whether  anything  was 
due  them  on  orders  which  were  canceled,  but 
the  matter  has  never  reached  a  head  until  the 
present  time. 

“One  of  the  salesmen  now  demands  to  receiye 
regular  commission  on  all  orders  he  sends  in 
which  we  accept,  whether  they  are  afterward 
canceled  or  not.  He  states  that  he  has  been 
told  by  a  lawyer  that  he  can  collect  those  from 
us. 

“You  can  see  that  it  would  not  be  good  busi¬ 
ness  for  us  to  pay  a  salesman  for  obtaining 
orders  which  we  do  not  fill,  and  we  could  not 
afford  to  do  that  and  would  not.  We  are  de¬ 
sirous  of  avoiding  all  controversy  with  our  sales¬ 
men,  however,  and  hope  you  can  throw  some 
light  on  the  matter.” 

This  is  another  complication  arisin.g  from  the 
loose  and  indiscriminate  habit  of  cancelling  or¬ 
ders  which  obtains  more  or  less  all  over  the 
United  States.  I  can  tell  this  correspondent 
how  he  can  solve  his  difficulty  with  his  sales¬ 
man,  but  he  will  probably  not  adopt  it,  because 
he  will  not  consider  it  good  business  to  do  so. 
All  he  needs  to  do  is  to  refuse  to  accept  can¬ 
cellations  of  orders.  If  he  will  do  that,  and 
will  stand  by  it,  all  the  orders  his  salesmen 
get  which  are  accepted  will  he  filled  and  the 
salesmen  will,  of  course,  get  their  pay. 


243 

4 


is  the  buyer  trying  to  put  one  over  on  us?”  They 
succeeded  in  developing  quite  a  number  of  ingen¬ 
ious  ways  and  devices  by  which  the  buyer  was 
throwing  stones  in  among  the  Philistines. 

After  a  while  the  situation  at  Galesburg  changed 
completely.  The  old  dissensions  were  gone  and 
the  retailers  were  so  friendly  with  each  other  that 
even  in  business  hours  they  would  call  on  the 
telephone  to  check  up  on  a  statement  made  by  a 
prospective  buyer  of  coal. 

In  detail,  they  formed  an  organization  to  col¬ 
lect  credit  information.  They  got  behind  a  new 
city  ordinance  which  compelled  the  giving  of  full 
weight  of  2,000  pounds  per  ton.  They  aroused  the 
public  on  the  question  of  mixture  of  coals  and 
the  suhstitution  of  a  low  grade  for  a  high  grade 
coal.  They  educated  public  sentiment  to  the  point 
where,  if  a  man  sold  anything,  he  was  compelled 
to  deliver  it.  These  things  automatically  cut  out 
the  snowbirds  and  made  it  clear  to  any  man  where 
he  sold  coal  below  cost  he  was  only  inviting 
bankruptcy. 

From  that  time  the  development  was  easy  and 
rapid.  Pretty  soon  in  Galesburg  there  was  an¬ 
other  meeting.  This  was  not  attended  only  by  the 
retailers  of  Galesburg,  but  by  those  from  all  the 
surrounding  counties  who  had  come  over  to  find 
out  what  had  made  the  change.  They  had  a  din¬ 
ner  one  night  at  which  thirty-three  retailers  were 
present,  representing  not  only  all  those  in  Gales¬ 
burg,  but  all  of  those  in  Monmouth,  Abingdon, 
Knoxville,  and  in  De  Long.  This  time  there  was 
not  only  present  the  father  of  the  movement — 
Mr.  Tapper — but  they  also  invited  in  I.  L.  Runyan, 
secretary  of  the  Illinois-Wisconsin  Association. 
He  also  had  a  few  words  to  say  on  the  general 
theory  on  which  the  Galesburg  dealers  were  oper¬ 
ating. 

Today,  as  a  result,  there  is  a  zone  in  that  part 
of  Illinois  where  innocent  cooperation  exists 
among  the  retailers.  There  are  local  associations 
at  Monmouth,  Abingdon,  Knoxville  and  De  Long, 
and  they  are  all  working  in  harmony  with  the  or¬ 
ganization  at  Galesburg. 

This  is  the  story  of  how  the  Galesburg  district 
got  regeneration.  Incidentally,  it  is  the  story  of 
how  other  districts  can  get  the  same  results.  The 
only  thing  that  is  needed  in  the  other  districts  is 
some  man  with  energy,  courage  and  a  few  ideals 
such  as  has  Charles  V.  Tapper  and  who  has  the 
patience  to  work  until  an  ideal  is  realized. 


on  Canceled  Orders. 

But  he  will  probably  not  do  that,  so  let  us 
see  what  his  status  is  under  the  present  method. 

As  I  have  explained,  all  courts  would  proba¬ 
bly  read  into  every  ordinary  contract  of  pur¬ 
chase  today  the  custom  allowing  cancellation  at 
will.  That  is,  if  a  seller  who  had  previously 
allowed  indiscriminate  cancellation  suddenly  re¬ 
fused  to  accept  cancellation  of  a  given  order 
without  warning,  the  court  would  say : 

“Mr.  Seller,  you  can’t  do  that.  All  your  pre¬ 
vious  relations  with  your  buyer  allowed  cancel¬ 
lations,  and  you  must  therefore  change  those 
relations  by  notice  that  henceforth  you  will  not 
allow  cancellation.  Until  you  do  that  you  can¬ 
not  strictly  hold  him  to  his  orders.” 

Moreover,  the  courts  would  also  hold  a  sales¬ 
man  charged  with  notice  of  this  custom.  A  sales¬ 
man  who  does  business  right  in  the  midst  of  the 
canceling  custom,  who  sees  his  own  customers 
canceling  orders  time  after  time  and  getting 
away  with  it,  of  course  knows  that  any  order 
he  gets  may  not  be  filled.  My  judgment  is  that 
he  could  not  collect  commissions  on  canceled 
orders,  for  his  employer  is  entitled  to  expect — 
unless  the  salesman  tells  him  different — that  he 
is  going  along  with  the  canceling  custom  like 
everybody  else,  and  that  he  will  for  himself 
treat  as  actual  orders  only  such  as  the  buyer 
stands  by. 

Therefore,  where  employer,  salesman  and 
buyer  have  been  going  along  under  the  prevail¬ 
ing  custom,  the  employer  could  not  hold  his 
customer  to  an  order  without  first  warning  him, 
nor  could  the  salesman  hold  his  employer  for 
commissions  on  canceled  orders  without  first 
warnin.g  him. 

Particularly  is  this  the  case  with  a  salesman 
who  has  never  heretofore  claimed  commissions 
on  canceled  orders,  or  who  if  he  has  claimed 
them  has  not  enforced  his  claim. 

But  if  a  salesman  warned  his  employer  that 
hereafter  he  would  not  be  a  party  to  any  can¬ 
celing  of  orders,  that  the  orders  he  obtained 
were  obtained  in  good  faith,  that  the  employer 
could  enforce  them  if  he  would,  and  that  if 
he  chose  not  to  do  so,  the  salesman  would  still 


[September  25 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


expect  commissions,  then  I  believe  the  salesman 
could  collect  every  cent.  The  employer  could 
no  longer  plead  custom  of  the  trade,  for  the 
salesman  had  notified  him  that  he  would  no 
longer  be  bound  by  custom  of  the  trade. 

The  only  thing  for  an  employer  to  do  in  such 
a  case  would  be  one  of  three:  1.  Take  the 
same  attitude  with  his  customers  and  refuse 
cancellations.  2.  Pay  commissions  whether  or¬ 


ders  arc  filled  or  not.  3.  Discharge  the  sales¬ 
man. 

I  think  I  should  say  that  if  there  were  no 
custoin  of  the  trade  to  change  it,  a  salesman’s 
commissions  would  be  due  and  payable  the  min¬ 
ute  he  had  obtained  an  order  and  his  employer 
had  accepted  it.  He  would  not  even  need  to 
wait  until  it  was  filled. 

{Copyright,  July,  igi^,  by  Elton  I.  Buckley.) 


How  Retailers  Should  Advertise  Their  Coal. 


A  dealer  in  northern  Illinois,  who  requests  that 
we  do  not  publish  his  name,  writes; 

“I  liave  just  read  your  criticism  of  George  H. 
Rudy  &  Company’s  advertisement,  and  am  exceed¬ 
ingly  interested  in  this  article.  I  would  appreci¬ 
ate  an  expression  of  your  opinion  of  my  own 
advertisement,  recently  used  in  our  own  local 
newspaper.” 

A  copy  of  the  advertisement  is  reproduced  here¬ 
with.  Originally  it  measured  4j4x4  inches. 

One  of  the  first  things  to  consider  about  any 
advertisement  is  what  advertising  men  call  ‘‘the 
layout”— the  type  arrangement.  The  type  arrange¬ 
ment  in  this  “ad”  balances,  yet  it  is  a  little  too 
crowded — not  sufficient  white  space  around  the 
text  matter  to  set  it  off.  I  would  suggest  that 
where  so  much  type  matter  is  used,  the  adver¬ 
tiser  use  a  little  larger  space  so  that  the  reading 
matter  will  have  a  wider  margin  of  white  space. 
However,  the  value  of  this  layout  is  “fair.” 

The  next  point  to  consider  is  what  an  adver¬ 
tising  man  calls  “the  catch  line” — the  line  de¬ 
signed  to  catch  the  eye  of  the  reader  and  to  cause 
his  interest.  “Guaranteed  Coke”  is  a  good  one. 
“Guaranteed”  anything  always  has  a  tendency  to 


Guaranteed  Coke 


Every  dealer  tells  you  the  coke  he  sells  is  better  than 
the  other  fellow  sells.  When  a  dealer  tells  yon  he  has  the 
best  and  only  coke  he  is  either  fooling  himself  or  trying  to 
fool  you.  The  coke  we  sell  carries  the  following  guarantee 
■which  you  find  on  every  ticket: 

This  load  is  guaranteed  both  quality  and  weight.  It 
for  any  reason  you  are  not  satisfied  we  will  gladly  remove 
It  without  cost  to  you  and  refund  your  money. 

ATTRACTIVE  SEASON  CONTRACT 
ON  THIS  BASIS 

Ask  to  have  our  representative  call, 

BOTH  PHONES  43 

Advertiser’s  name  omitted  by  request. 


The  “Guaranteed  Coke”  Ad. 

attract  attention,  because  of  the  curiosity  in  the 
average  human  to  find  what  is  guaranteed  and 
what  the  guarantee  means.  We  might  estimate 
the  quality  of  the  “catch  line”  as  “good.” 

As  the  fundamental  requirements  of  any  adver¬ 
tisement  are  to  attract,  to  interest,  to  convince 
and  to  cause  immediate  action,  the  next  point  to 
consider  is  whether  or  not  our  advertisement  gets 
and  holds  the  interest  of  the  reader. 


Does  this  advertisement  interest  the  reader?  Is 
the  reading  matter  interesting?  There  is  a  point 
—I  am  cranky,  perhaps— I  do  not  like.  That  is 
the  mention  of  the  other  fellow  and  the  compari¬ 
son  of  your  product  with  his.  There  is  an  old 
saying,  “Every  knock  is  a  boost.”  Whether  or 
not  that  is  true,  advertising  men  and  advertisers 
prefer  to  avoid  any  mention  of  the  other  fellow; 
also  any  comparison  with  his  product  or  goods. 

Tlie  human  being  in  comparing  himself  or  any 
of  his  goods  usually  makes  the  comparison  with 
a  standard.  Where  a  comparison  is  invited,  the 
reader  has  a  tendency  to  accept  the  other  fellow’s 
product  as  the  standard.  You  are  advertising 
yourself  and  your  products — not  the  other  man 
nor  his  goods. 

I  belie-ye  that  telling  of  the  uses  of  coke,  and 
wherein  its  use  would  prove  a  more  satisfactory 
and  economical  fuel  for  the  reader  to  burn,  would 
prove  just  as  interesting,  and  would  certainly  be 
more  in  line  with  what  you  are  trying  to  make 
your  advertising  do — to  increase  your  sales  and 
not  to  decrease  those  of  your  competitors. 

But  there  is  a  point  I  do  like,  and  that  is  the 
guarantee.  The  reader  can  not  get  by  it.  It 
meets  him  half  way,  and  leaves  the  rest  of  the 
journey  for  him  to  make.  It  proves  to  the  reader 
that  unless  this  dealer’s  product  did  come  up  to 
all  the  claims  made  for  it,  he  could  not  afford  to 
make  such  a  proposition  as  removing  the  coke 
without  cost  and  refunding  the  consumer’s 
money.  It  is  a  most  convincing  argument,  and  I 
would  estimate  its  worth  as  “excellent.” 

“Attractive  Season  Contract  on  This  Basis. 
Ask  to  Have  Our  Representative  Call.  Both 
phones  43.”  What  more  is  necessary?  We  have 
attracted  the  attention  of  the  reader,  interested 
him,  and  have  convinced  him  of  the  worth  of  our 
product,  and  right  here,  this  attractive  contract 
basis  proposition  makes  us  investigate  and  want 
to  look  into  it.  And,  here  is  an  easy  way  to  do 
it,  “Ask  to  have  our  representative  call.  Both 
phones  43.”  It  creates  a  desire  on  the  part  of  the 
reader  to  act,  and  prompts  his  doing  so  at  the 
mornent.  I  would  estimate  the  value  of  these 
closing,  these  action-causing  sentences,  as  “excel¬ 
lent,”  and  the  entire  advertisement  as  “good.” 

My  general  criticism  would  be  that  the  adver¬ 
tisement  was  not  explicit  enough.  It  takes  too 
much  for  granted  and  that  the  reader  is  familiar 
with  the  uses  of  coke  and  its  qualities.  Now 
the  reader  reads  a  paper  to  inform  himself,  and 
reads  the  advertisements  for  the  same  purpose. 
He  wants  to  inform  himself  regarding  new  and 
more  profitable  methods  and  ways  to  a  more  eco¬ 
nomical  buying.  So  the  advertisement  that  says 
something,  tells  something  and  helps  the  reader 
to  a  more  satisfactory  supplying  of  his  needs,  is 
the  advertisement  that  produces  the  greatest 
returns.  The  Ad  Critic. 


An  Bffective  Collection  System. 


“Failure  has  been  laid  to  poor  collections.” 
“Inability  to  collect  its  outstanding  accounts  has 
forced  the  company  into  bankruptcy.”  These  are 
the  stock  expressions  which  explain  most  bank¬ 
ruptcies  in  the  retail  coal  business. 

It  is  a  fact  that  outstanding  and  past  due  ac¬ 
counts  have  caused  more  failures  and  greater 
losses  in  the  retail  coal  business  than  any  other 
thing  or  things.  It  would  seem  that  every  coal 
dealer  should  by  this  time  have  worked  out  a  plan 
to  save  his  financial  bacon.  Whether  he  is  or 
not,  he  should  be  interested  in  any  system,  meth¬ 
od  or  scheme  by  which  he  could  avoid  and  pre¬ 
vent  such  losses. 

One  such  sy.stem  has  just  come  to  notice.  It  is 
simple,  consisting  of  a  file  of  envelopes  indexed 
in  alphabetical  order.  The  cabinet  contains  100, 
200  or  500  envelopes,  according  to  the  number  of 
outstanding  accounts  the  dealer  has  upon  his 
books.  These  envelopes  are  filed  in  alphabetical 
order. 

When  the  consumer’s  account  is  sixty  or  ninety 
days  old,  the  envelope  is  filled  out  and  filed  in  the 
cabinet.  With  the  filling  in  of  the  envelope,  a  bill 
is  made  out  for  the  consumer,  and  a  sticker  is 


pasted  on  the  bill  which  reads ;  “No  doubt  this 
account  which  is  past  due  has  escaped  your  notice. 
Kindly  oblige  by  an  early  settlement.” 

A  metal  clasp  is  then  put  at  the  top  of  the  en¬ 
velope  at  a  date  on  which  the  second  notice  is  to 
be  sent,  unless  the  consumer  remits.  The  fasten¬ 
ing  of  these  metal  clasps  to  the  envelope  enables 
the  operator  of  the  system  to  see  at  a  glance 
each  day  those  accounts  which  are  to  receive  an¬ 
other  notice  on  that  date. 

Unless  the  consumer  remits,  a  second  bill  is 
sent  him  seven,  ten  or  fifteen  days  after  the  filling 
out  of  the  envelope,  with  the  following  sticker 
attached  to  his  bill:  “Your  attention  was  called 
to  this  account  several  days  ago.  We  now  de¬ 
sire  to  close  same  without  further  delay,  and  feel 
sure  that  we  can  rely  on  a  prompt  remittance.” 
The  metal  clasp  is  then  moved  forward  to  the  de¬ 
sired  date.  With  no  remittance  from  the  con¬ 
sumer  in  the  meantime,  a  third  bill  is  sent  him 
with  the  third  sticker  attached,  which  reads:  “Sev¬ 
eral  demands  have  been  made  for  payment  of  this 
account,  and  unless  it  receives  attention  before 
(such  a  date),  we  will  be  forced  to  place  same  in 
other  hands,  which  will  be  embarrassing  to  both 


VJl  US.. 


xiu.  lb  uitri  again  movea  torward. 

Unless  the  consumer  remits  in  the  meantime, 
a  fourth  notice  is  sent  him  insisting  on  immedi¬ 
ate  payment,  and  advising  that  unless  same  is 
made  the  account  will  be  placed  in  a  well-known 
creditors’  association,  and  the  clasp  moved  for¬ 
ward. 

No  remittance  from  said  consumer,  the  fifth 
and  final  notice  is  sent,  which  is  a  notice  from 
a  credit  association  stating  that  the  account  has 
been  placed  in  their  hands,  and  unless  immediate 
remittance  is  made  to  the  dealer,  who  is  a  mem¬ 
ber  of  the  association,  this  association  will  com¬ 
mence  action. 

If  the  dealers  do  not  wish  to  use  these  forms 
of  notices,  there  are  a  series  of  twelve  letters 


i 


i<  II  i>  I) 


u  II  ir  11 


I.  C.  A. 

Nome  o/'Deblor. . 


a  »  ti  »  »  ii  »  »  ii 

ColleclioD  System 


Town.. 


.  State., 


Sifttl . . 

Amount  Due  $ . Ledger . Page . Dole  of  Aec'l,. 

tVrole  'Debtor . . . Made  Draft _ 

Sent  for  Collection  to . . . Dale  Sent . . 

Remarl{s: . •. . 


Ill  Nolke  sent . . 2nd _ .... 

5lb  notice  to  be  sent  in  plain  encelcpe 


Envelope  Which  Assists  Collector. 


arranged  m  booklet  form  and  contained  in  the 
cabinet,  which  he  might  use  with  equally  as  good 
results. 

The  Sayers  System,  which  is  here  described,  is 
a  persistent  follow-up  an  old  account  until  settle¬ 
ment  has  been  made. 

One  of  the  features  of  this  system  is  a  blank 
forrn,  which  is  filled  out  by  every  applicant  for 
credit.  It  requires  the  filling  in  of  the  appli¬ 
cant’s  name,  address,  liusiness,  occupation,  wheth¬ 
er  or  not  he  owns  real  estate,  and  if  so,  its  value ; 
the  name  of  firms  he  has  recently  dealt  with  and 
the  names  of  references.  The  filling  in  of  this 
blank  is  supposed  to  have  a  good  moral  effect  on 
the  applicant,  as  he  is  led  to  believe  that  where  a 
company  employs  such  careful  methods  in  ex¬ 
tending  credit,  certainly  such  a  company  must 
employ  an  effective  collection  system,  and  hence 
that  any  attempt  to  get  out  of  paying  for  coal 
will  prove  useless  and  costly. 


Coal  in  Canada. 


The  preliminary  report  of  Mr.  John  McLeish, 
Chief  of  the  Division  of  Mineral  Resources  and 
Statistics  of  Canada,  of  the  Canadian  mineral 
production  for  1914  shows  the  total  production 
of  coal  as  13,594,984  tons,  valued  at  $33,433,108. 
as  against  15,012,178  tons,  valued  at  $37,3.34,940 
in  1913,  being  a  decrease  of  nine  and  four-tenths 
per  cent  in  quantity  and  ten  and  four-tenths 
per  cent  in  value.  The  production  in  Nova 
Scotia  was  7,338,790  tons,  a  decrease  of  641,283 
tons.  The  Alberta  production  was  3,667,816 
tons,  a  decrease  of  346,939  tons;  and  British 
Columbia  produced  2,238,339  tons,  the  decrease 
being  476,081  tons.  Saskatchewan,  with  a  pro¬ 
duction  of  232,541  tons,  shows  an  increase  of 
19,644  tons;  and  New  Brunswick  reports  a  pro¬ 
duction  of  104,055  tons,  an  increase  of  33,744 
tons.  The  production  of  the  Yukon  was  13,443 
tons,  a  decrease  of  6,279  tons.  The  exports 
of  coal  in  1914  were  1,423,126  tons,  valued  at 
$3,880,175,  as  compared  with  exports  of  1,562,- 
020  tons,  valued  at  $3,961,351  in  1913,  a  decrease 
of  eight  and  eighty-nine  hundredths  per  cent. 
Imports  of  coal  during  1914  were  14,721,057 
tons,  valued  at  $39,801,498,  as  compared  with  a 
total  of  18,201,953  tons,  valued  at  $47,949,119  in 
1913.  The  apparent  consumption  of  coal  during 
the  year  was  26,809,778  tons,  as  against  a  con¬ 
sumption  of  31,582,545  tons  in  1913.  Of  the 
consumption  in  1914  about  forty-five  and  four- 
tenths  per  cent  was  from  Canadian  mines,  and 
fifty-four  and  six-tenths  per  cent  imported.  The 
total  output  of  oven  coke  during  the  year  was 
1,015,253  tons,  made  from  1,533,365  tons  of  coal, 
of  which  1,030,053  tons  were  mined  in  Canada 
and  503,312  tons  imported.  In  1913  the  total 
output  was  1,517,133  tons.  At  the  end  of  the 
year  there  were  797  coke  ovens  in  operation 
and  2,297  idle.  The  total  production  of  pig 
iron  in  Canadian  blast  furnaces  in  1914  was 
783,164  tons,  valuad  at  approximately  $10,002,- 
856,  as  compared  with  1,128,967  tons,  valued  at 
$16,540,012  in  1913.  The  output  shows  a  falling 
off  of  thirty  and  six-tenths  per  cent,  and  is  the 
smallest  since  1909. 


No.  13] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


245 


Three  Railways  Increase  Coal  Rates  to  Tide.  Association  News. 


The  three  railroads  liaving  eoal  piers  at  Hamp¬ 
ton  Roads  have  given  notice  to  shippers  that 
effective  January  1,  litlG,  rates  on  coal  intended 
for  bunker  purposes,  will  take  the  local  rate 
of  $1.50  per  net  ton,  as  against  the  rate  of  $1.50 
per  gross  ton  that  applies  on  coal  destined  “be¬ 
yond  the  capes.”  This  will  mean,  according  to 
the  men  interested  in  bunkering  at  Hampton 
Roads,  an  increase  of  twenty-eight  cents  per  ton 
on  hunker  coals.  At  the  present  time,  bunker 
coal  loaded  on  vessels  coming  to  Hampton  Roads 
for  coal  or  other  cargoes,  takes  the  $1.40  per 
long  ton  rate. 

Coal  men  are  wondering  what  the  effect  of  the 
new  rate  will  be.  Most  bunker  contracts,  espe¬ 
cially  as  apply  to  tramp  or  cargo  steamers,  that 
make  up  the  principal  users  of  bunker  coals  at 
the  Roads,  are  made  from  January  1st  to  Decem¬ 
ber  31st. 

At  present,  Hampton  Roads  has  a  distinct  ad¬ 
vantage  over  the  other  Atlantic  coal  ports  in 
the  matter  of  bunkers.  The  Pocahontas  and  New 
River  coals  are  conceded  to  be  the  best  for 
bunker  purposes,  commanding  in  competitive 
markets  a  differential  of  fifteen  to  twenty-five 
cents  per  ton.  Moreover,  coal  is  loaded  direct 
from  piers  into  the  bunkers  of  steamers  at  the 
Hampton  Roads  piers,  whereas  in  Baltimore, 
Philadelphia  and  New  York,  in  most  instances, 
they  have  to  be  lightered  alongside  steamers 
that  may  be  many  miles  away  from  the  piers 
where  the  coal  is  received.  This  has  meant  that 
steamers  that  would  load  cargoes,  say  in  New 
York  or  Philadelphia,  and  if  going  to  South 
America,  or  to  the  Pacific,  would  take  only 
enough  bunkers  at  their  cargo  loading  ports, 
to  take  them  to  Hampton  Roads,  where  they 
would  lay  in  enough  bunkers  to  complete  their 
voyage.  An  advance  of  twenty-eight  cents  a  ton 
will  doubtless  make  many  of  them  take  all  their 
bunker  coal  at  the  farther  east  ports  where  they 
take  cargoes,  and  coal  men  interested  in  bunker¬ 
ing  in  New  York,  Philadelphia  and  Baltimore, 
are  expected  to  increase  their  business  at  the 
expense  of  the  Hampton  Roads  bunker  interest. 

This,  they  argue,  will  be  the  result  unless  the 
Baltimore  &  Ohio,  Pennsylvania  and  Western 
Maryland  roads  increase  their  rates  on  bunker 
coals  to  Baltimore,  Philadelphia  and  New  York. 

The  Black  Diamond  asked  some  of  the  coal 
traffic  officials  of  the  roads  named  if  such  ad¬ 
vances  were  being  considered.  H.  M.  Matthews, 
coal  traffic  manager  of  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio,  the 
first  to  reply,  wired ; 

“Yours  date  concerning  bunker  coal.  No  change 
under  consideration  present  time.” 

The  bunker  trade  at  Hampton  Roads  ports  is 
now  running  around  1,500,000  tons  per  year,  and 
is  rapidly  increasing.  In  1913,  it  amounted  to 
1,194,163  tons,  of  which  221,933  tons  were  sup¬ 
plied  to  coastwise  vessels  and  972,230  tons  to 
vessels  engaged  in  foreign  trade.  ' 

A  copy  of  the  notice  being  sent  out  by  the  rail¬ 
roads,  giving  their  reasons  for  the  advance,  is 
as  follows : 

"Please  be  informed  that,  effective  January  1, 
1916,  as  regards  coal  other  than  that  for  the 
United  States  Government,  and  effective  July  1, 
1916,  as  regards  coal  for  the  United  States  Gov¬ 
ernment,  we  will  make  the  following  changes, 
and  for  reasons  hereinafter  shown,  in  rates  and 
charges  affecting  coal  delivered  at  Norfolk: 

“The  rate  of  $1.40  per  ton  of  3,240  pounds  will 
apply  only  on  coal  that  is  trans-shipped  to  vessels 
for  delivery  to  points  outside  the  capes  of  Vir¬ 
ginia  or  for  delivery  to  points  on  the  Albemarle, 
Pamlico  and  Currituck  Sounds  and  tributaries 
thereto. 

“On  all  other  coal  the  rate  will  be  $1.50  per 
ton  of  2,000  pounds. 

“This  change  is  made  to  conform  with  the  rul¬ 
ing  of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  that 
“coal  placed  on  a  vessel  for  use  as  fuel  on 
that  vessel  cannot  be  regarded  as  a  coastwise 
or  export  movement  of  that  commodity.”  (Basin 
Supply  Co.  vs.  T.  &  F.  S.  Ry.  Co.,  33,  I.  C.  C., 
157.) 

The  Commission  in  this  case  says  further  that 

“an  export  or  coastwise  movement  of  a  com¬ 
modity  from  a  port  implies  delivery  at  some  other 
port.  The  ownership  of  the  coal  passed  to  the 
ship’s  owners  when  it  was  loaded  into  the  bunkers 
and  it  thereupon  ceased  to  be  an  article  of  com¬ 
merce,  as  would  a  piece  of  machinery  installed 
on  the  vessel  as  part  of  its  equipment.” 

The  Commission  points  out  in  this  case  the 
fact  that 

“The  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  has 


held  that  lubricating  oil  placed  on  board  for  use 
and  consumed  in  use  on  a  vessel  bound  for  a 
foreign  port  is  not  exported.  (Swan  &  Finch 
Co.  vs.  N.  S.  190,  U.  S.,  143)  the  court  said,  at 
page  114:  Whatever  primary  meaning  may  be  in¬ 
dicated  by  its  derivation,  the  word  ‘export’  as 
used  in  the  constitution  and  laws  of  the  United 
States,  generally  means  the  transportation  of 
goods  from  this  to  a  foreign  country.” 

More  recently  the  Commission  has  reported  a 
similar  finding  ( Coal  and  Coke  rates  in  the 
Southeast,  35  I.  C.  C.,  187).  Here,  in  dealing 
with  the  rates  of  the  rail  lines  on  coal  to  New 
Orleans,  a  situation  where  the  rail  lines  wanted 
to  establish  a  less  rate  on  bunker  coal  than  on 
coal  used  on  land,  the  Commission  says : 

"It  may  be  that  the  rail  lines  cannot  haul  any 
considerable  quantity  of  bunker  coal  to  New 
Orleans  at  a  rate  higher  than  $1.35  for  they  now 
haul  at  that  rate  less  than  one-fourth  of  the 
bunker  coal.  It  may  be  that  they  can  retain  the 
land  business  at  a  rate  higher  than  $1.25  for  at 
that  rate  they  have  taken  practically  all  of  the 
land  business  away  from  the  water  lines.  They 
must,  however,  choose  that  rate  on  coal  to  New 
Orleans  which  they  deem  to  be  to  their  best 
interests.  They  must  not  make  rates  dependent 
upon  the  use  to  which  the  commodity  is  to  be 
put.  (In  the  matter  of  Restricted  Rates,  2'0  1.  C. 
C,  426 ;  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  vs. 

B.  &  O.  R.  R.,  225  U.  S.,  326.)  There  is  no  more 
justification  for  a  lower  rate  on  coal  used  for 
fuel  in  the  boats  than  there  would  be  on  coal 
for  use  on  the  railroads.  The  rate  to  New  Or¬ 
leans  on  coal  moving  beyond  in  transportation 
may,  of  course,  be  less  than  that  on  coal  having 
destination  at  New  Orleans.  But  having  named  a 
rate  to  New  Orleans  the  carrier  may  not  con¬ 
cern  itself  as  to  the  use  that  is  made  of  the 
coal.” 

“Concurrently  with  this  change  in  rate  on 
bunker  coal  the  port  charges  of  $30  for  foreign 
vessels  and  $11  for  coastwise  vessels  will  be 
cancelled.  (Note:  This  charge  has  always 
Iieen  borne  by  supplier  of  coal.) 

"The  charges  for  docking  and  undocking  ves¬ 
sels  taking  coal  for  the  United  States  Govern¬ 
ment  will  be  as  follows: 

“For  docking:  Same  charge  for  undocking. 

“Cargo  or  cargo  and  bunker : 

Vessels  under  steam . 1  cent  per  ton  net  register 

Vessels  without  steam . cents  per  ton  net  registei 

“The  charges  for  docking  and  undocking  bunker 
vessels  are,  the  arbitrary  charge  of  $20  for  ves¬ 
sels  with  steam  and  the  usual  additional  charge 
for  vessels  without  steam.  These  have  been 
the  charges  at  Hampton  Roads  piers  for  many 
years  and  were  adopted  at  a  time  when  the 
average  vessel  was  materially  smaller  than  at 
present..  Handling  the  large  vessels  of  the  pres¬ 
ent  day  for  these  charges  works  a  hardship 
upon  the  company  performing  the  docking  serv¬ 
ices  and  is  a  discrimination  against  the  smaller 
vessels.  To  meet  this  situation  the  charges  for 
docking  and  undocking  vessels  taking  only  bunker 
coal  will  be  based  upon  the  vessel’s  net  register 
as  follows: 

Vessels  under  steam . 1  cent  per  ton  net  register 

Vessels  without  steam . 1  ^  cents  per  ton  net  register 

“These  charges  cover  the  handling  both  in  and 
out. 

“It  is  our  understanding  that  vessel  fuel  con¬ 
tracts  (other  than  United  States  Government) 
are  made  from  January  first  of  each  year  and 
that  all  United  States  Government  coal  con¬ 
tracts  are  made  from  July  first  of  each  year. 
This  explains  the  two  dates  of  January  1,  1916, 
and  July  1,  1916.” 


R.  H.  Large,  general  coal  freight  agent  of  the 
Pennsylvania  Railroad,  advises  The  Black  Dia¬ 
mond  that  the  railroad  does  not  contemplate  a 
change  in  rates  on  bituminous  coal  to  Baltimore 
or  Philadelphia,  either  for  local  delivery  or  for 
transshipment.  This  is  in  reply  to  a  query 
whether  they  would  make  changes  in  rates  on 
bunker  coal  in  keeping  with  advances  made  by 
roads  running  into  Hampton  Roads. 


Walter  W.  Greene,  one  of  New  York’s  best 
known  anthracite  salesmen,  died  on  Sunday  last. 
His  first  connection  was  with  the  firm  of  Leonard- 
Youngman.  For  many  years  he  was  with  Ward 
&  01yi)hant,  who  handled  the  Delaware  and  Hud¬ 
son  Company’s  coal,  and  when  they  gave  up  this 
agency  some  five  years  ago  he  joined  the  forces 
of  Pattison  and  Bowns.  His  ill  health  for  the 
past  two  years  had  incapacitated  him  for  active 
work. 


Secretary  B.  h'.  Nigh  of  the  Michigan-Ohio- 
Indiana  Coal  Association  reports  that  matters  are 
moving  along  nicely,  and  that  prospects  are  very 
encouraging.  He  further  states  that  the  Associa¬ 
tion  has  secured  thirty-seven  new  members  in  the 
past  sixty  days,  and  has  collected  over  $800  in 
railroad  claims  for  its  members.  Mr.  Nigh’s  opin¬ 
ion  is  that  conditions  are  much  better  than  at  this 
time  a  year  ago. 

A  September  twenty-second  report  from 
I.  L.  Runyan,  secretary  of  the  Illinois  & 
Wisconsin  Retail  Coal  Dealers’  Association, 
states : 

“While  a  more  hopeful  feeling  prevails,  there 
has  been  no  great  activity  among  the  retail¬ 
ers.  The  wet  weather  has  been  a  handicap 
in  making  deliveries  to  the  consumer,  and 
ihis,  of  course,  has  withheld  orders  from  re¬ 
tailers  to  replenish  their  stock.  Complaints 
of  slow  collections  also  continue. 

“Our  association  is  making  progress,  and 
continues  to  have  gratifying  success  in  the 
collection  of  claims  for  its  members.  Not¬ 
withstanding  'the  adverse  conditions  which 
have  prevailed  in  the  trade  for  so  long,  the 
belief  in  association  endeavor  is  apparently 
gaining  ground  as  indicated  by  the  following 
list  of  firms  who  have  enlisted  in  the  cause 
for  trade  betterment  as  new  members  of  this 
association  since  June  first: 

Kiplinger  &  Son,  Freeport,  Ill. 

Empire  Coal  Company,  Superior,  Wis. 

T.  J.  McConnell,  Superior,  Wis. 

F.  R.  Carter,  Peoria,  Ill. 

Rogers-Ruger  Lumber  Company,  Superior, 
Wis. 

C.  E.  King  &  Son,  White  Hall,  Ill. 
Diffenbaugh  Coal  &  Ice  Company,  Mon¬ 
mouth,  Ill. 

Johnson  Fuel  Company,  Galesburg,  Ill. 

W.  H.  Russell,  Gillespie,  Ill. 

Onie-Caudry,  Gillespie,  Ill. 

Fred  Scherer,  Ottawa,  Ill. 

Ottawa  Lumber  &  Coal  Company,  Ottawa, 
Ill. 

Johnston  Fuel  &  Warehouse  Company, 
Baraboo,  Wis. 

Ballentine  Coal  &  Ice  Company,  Toulon,  Ill. 
J.  M.  Dempsey,  Galesburg,  Ill. 

The  Lord  Fuel  Company,  Monmouth,  Ill. 

B.  A.  Allaman,  Monmouth,  Ill. 

Zack  Twyman,  Monmouth,  Ill. 

W.  E.  West,  Yates  City,  Ill. 

W.  E.  Emery,  Galva.  Ill. 

W.  J.  Daiiibold,  Bloomington,  Ill. 

Siems  Brothers,  Dallas  City,  Ill. 

Rosenstiel  &  Co.,  Freeport,  Ill. 

Lightner  Coal  &  Supply  Company,  Mon¬ 
mouth,  Ill. 

O.  A.  Winter  &  Son,  Superior,  Wis. 

C.  U.  Bower,  Covel,  Ill. 

Monmouth  Lumber  Company,  Monmouth, 
Ill. 

M.  M.  Clark,  Havana,  Ill. 

William  Ringle  &  Co.,  Cambridge,  Ill. 

W.  E.  Lyon  &  Co.,  Cartha.ge,  Ill. 

H.  E.  Zeman,  Wyeville,  Wis. 

Matteson  Lumber  &  Coal  Company,  Mat- 
teson.  Ill. 

William  Donley,  Superior,  Wis. 

D.  Hemstock,  Sparta,  Wis. 

Brink  Fuel  Company,  Prairie  Du  Chien, 
Wis.” 


Announcement  has  been  'made  that  the  T.  L. 
Smith  Company  of  Milwaukee  has  purchased  the 
exclusive  manufacturing  and  selling  rights  of  the 
Albrecht  excavator  and  loader  and  are  in  posi¬ 
tion  to  make  prompt  shipments  of  these  machines. 
The  Albrecht  excavator  and  loader  is  an  exca¬ 
vating  and  loading  device  half-way  between  a 
hand  shovel  and  a  steam  shovel  and  will  do  the 
work  of  both.  A  12  H.  P.  motor  provides  ample 
power  to  load  twenty  cubic  yards  of  coal  per  hour 
and  will  handle  the  coal  one  hundred  feet  away 
from  the  machine  at  the  rate  of  about  one  trip 
per  minute.  Two  men  are  required  to  operate  the 
device,  one  man  required  to  handle  the  scraper 
and  the  other  to  operate  the  machine.  This  exca¬ 
vator  and  loader  can  be  used  for  excavating  for 
big  foundations,  basements  and  drainage  ditches 
for  back  filling  and  loading  coal,  sand,  gravel  and 
similar  materials. 

“Service”  is  the  title  of  an  attractive  and  neat 
little  booklet  recently  issued  by  the  Cairo  City 
Coal  Company  and  dedicated  to  its  many  cus¬ 
tomers.  This  gives  a  history  of  the  company  and 
its  purpose,  and  also  contains  a  few  pages  of 
humor. 


246 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[September  25 


The  Reading’s  First  Aid  Field  Day. 


PoTTSviLLE,  September  22. —  (Slyecial  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — The  eleventli  amnial  “First  Aid” 
field  day  of  the  Philadelphia  &  Reading  Coal  & 
Iron  Company  was  held  at  Lakeside  Park,  be¬ 
tween  Tamaqua  and  iMahony  City  on  Saturday 
afternoon  last.  Over  1,400  persons  participated 
in  the  outing.  Every  turn  on  the  program — ■ 
and  it  was  long  and  intricate — was  carried  out 
with  precision  and  with  the  excellent  dispatch 
that  could  be  likened  onlj’  to  the  performance  of 
a  circus  where 
every  pair  of  hands 
knows  just  what 
to  do  and  when 
to  do  it. 

The  men  who 
have  taken  up  this 
first  aid  work  ran 
well  into  the  hun¬ 
dreds  so  far  as 
those  who  actually 
participated  were 
concerned.  Clumsy 
fingered  miners 
they  were — prob¬ 
ably  it  would  be 
more  to  the  truth 
to  say  “miners 
with  clumsy  look¬ 
ing  hands” — and 
they  wrapped 
thousands  of  yards 
of  gauze  bandages 
with  a  dexterity 
equalled  only  by 
the  ambulance  at¬ 
tendants  and  corps 
under  actual  fire  abroad. 

Every  man  was  drilled  to  a  nicety.  There  was 
no  fumbling  of  the  bandage  rolls,  no  stage  fright 
on  the  surface  though  these  men  were  from  the 
underground;  every  twist  of  the  cotton  in  their 
hands  was  exactitude  in  itself.  The  declaration 
that  is  so  often  seen  that  the  first  aid  bandage 
put  on  by  the  first  aid  workers  are  so  perfect 
that  hospital  doctors  find  no  necessity  to  remove 
them  before  the  occasion  requires,  was  more  than 
proved. 

Now  it  may  be,  and  it  has  been  told  the  writer, 
that  first  aid  field  days  have  become  so  common 
that  there  is  little  or  no  "news”  in  them.  News 
is  a  peculiar  thing.  Far  be  it  from  taking  up 
space  to  argue  the  fundamentals.  Yet,  though 
this  is  extraneous,  a  highly  important  question 
is  to  be  injected  into  the  “safety  first”  problem 
of  the  mining  industry  in  this  state  with  the 
coming  of  the  new  year.  Just  what  effect  the 
question  will  have  is  a  mighty  serious  problem 
and  therefore  is  "news.” 

“How  is  the  workmen’s  compensation  law  go¬ 
ing  to  affect  the  excellent  results  that  have  been 
obtained  through  interesting  the  miners  in  the 
first  aid  work?” 

There  you  have  it. 

That  question  was  asked,  not  once  but  a  half 
dozen  times,  of  men  who  are  prominent  in  the 
technical  and  operative  end  of  the  industry.  Not 
one  would  venture  an  opinion  for  personal  quota¬ 
tion.  The  general  answer  was  that  time  had 
worked  out  questions  of  that  kind  before  and 
new  phases  to  the  industry  created  new  condi¬ 
tions  that  were  always  met  satisfactorily. 

One  head  of  the  operating  department  of  an¬ 
thracite  mines  went  a  bit  farther : 

"I  can’t  see  where  the  operation  of  the  work¬ 


man’s  compensation  law  will  in  any  wise  affect 
the  conduct  of  our  first  aid  work.  It  is  true 
that  this  end  of  our  service  is  costly  and  that 
we  spend  a  great  deal  of  time  and  energy  in 
preparing  for  emergencies.  Our  first  thought  is 
always  toward  our  men.  If  we  had  a  valuable 
piece  of  machinery  that  was  liable  to  be  seriously 
injured  because  there  was  no  way  to  fix  it  when 
it  was  in  some  wise  slightly  damaged,  we  would 
be  held  to  be  short  sighted  and  poor  in  business 
judgment.  How  more  important  still  is  our  effort 
to  keep  our  men  in  shape  and  take  care  of  them 
when  the  hazards  of  their  occupation  overtake 
them? 

“I  can  honestly  say  that  no  matter  what  oner¬ 
ous  requirements  are  placed  upon  us  by  the  work¬ 
man’s  compensation  law,  our  first  aid  will  be 
kept  up  to  the  status  that  has  been  maintained 
in  the  past.” 

Another  expression  of  opinion  was  this : 

“From  a  purely  humanitarian  viewpoint,  the 
first  aid  work  in  the  mines  must  proceed ;  it 
never  can  recede.  The  way  that  I  look  upon 
the  compensation  law  is  that  it  is  collective,  for 
the  good,  the  bad  and  the  indifferent.  With 
first  aid  work,  it  is  different.  Individualism  enters 
strongly  and  largely  into  the  scheme  of  assistance. 
It  is  for  the  individual  and  by  the  individual. 
The  higher  that  the  miners  raise  their  first  aid 
work,  the  better  it  is  as  a  protection  for  each 
and  every  man.  Too  many  angles  of  uplift 
are  connected  with  first  aid  work  to  have  it 
stopped  in  any  way.” 

And  if  any  reader  doubts  that  considerable 
amount  of  native  ability  and  knowledge  of  anat¬ 
omy  is  not  required  and  must  be  studied  to  be¬ 
come  an  adept  in  first  aid  work  let  him  glance 
over  this  list  of  demonstrations  that  were  re¬ 
quired  at  the  Reading  field  day : 

1.  Rescue  from  electrical  contact.  Resuscitate, 
demonstrate  Sylvester  and  Shafer  methods  (Time 
allowance,  six  minutes). 

2.  Dress  burns  of  head,  face,  chest,  arm  and 
hand.  Two  gauze  and  ten  two  and  one-half 
inch  bandages  and  ten  squares  of  gauze  (time 
allowance,  fifteen  minutes). 

3.  Apply  spiral  reverse  bandage  to  foot,  leg, 
thigh  and  spice  hip.  Ten  two  and  one-half  inch 
bandages  (time  allowance,  twenty  minutes). 

4.  Dress  fracture  of  ribs,  collar  bone  and  arm. 
one  three-inch  and  four  two  and  one-half-inch 
bandages  (time  allowance,  six  minutes). 

5.  Dress  fracture  of  right  lower  jaw  and  lacera¬ 
tion  of  left  ear.  Two  two-inch  gauze  bandages 
(time  allowance,  six  minutes). 

G.  Dress  laceration  of  buttocks  and  fracture  of 
spine.  Nine  four-inch  bandages  and  splints  and 
blankets  (time  allowance,  fifteen  minutes). 

7.  Dress  dislocation  of  knee  and  compound 
fracture  of  leg,  upper  third.  Six  two  and  one- 
half-inch  bandages,  four  gauze  squares  and  tour¬ 
niquet  splints  (time  allowance,  ten  minutes). 

8.  Dress  fracture  of  skull  and  injury  to  eye. 
Two,  two  and  one-half-inch  gauze  bandages,  two 
gauze  squares  (time  allowance,  six  minutes). 

9.  Dress  crush  of  foot  and  laceration  of  knee. 
Three  two  and  one-half-inch  bandages,  two  gauze 
squares,  splints  (time  allowance,  ten  minutes). 

10.  Patient  found  in  his  house  unconscious 
from  inhalation  of  illuminating  gas,  demonstrate 
the  use  of  pulmotor,  oxygen  tank  and  inhalator 
(time  allowance,  ten  minutes). 

Now  the  first  aid  corps  does  not  pick  out  which 
particular  demonstration  in  which  it  is  proficient. 
It  may  be  alloted  any  one  of  the  ten.  Conse¬ 


quently  the  team  members  must  be  “up”  on  all  of 
the  work. 

The  judges,  Drs.  J.  B.  Rogers,  T.  C.  Fegley 
and  G.  F.  Bretz,  made  close  examination  of  all 
the  work  and  it  was  as  critical  as  though  they 
were  professors  examining  medical  students. 

When  the  various  corps  had  been  graded  ac¬ 
cording  to  the  work  done,  there  came  the  final 
demonstration  in  litter  work  that  for  military 
precision  and  curtailment  of  lost  effort  was  a 
marvel.  In  this  part  of  the  work,  an  ambulance 
of  the  company,  with  mule  motive  power  that 
tickled  the  eye  of  any  lover  of  good  mule-flesh, 
gave  a  realistic  touch  to  the  performance. 

The  corps  from  Brookside  mine  were  awarded 
the  blue  ribbon  and  pennant  for  their  excellent 
work.  Pine  Knot  was  second  and  Wadesville, 
third,  and  the  other  mine  corps  that  were  in  the 
“ton  ten”  were  North  Franklin,  Suffolk  Inside, 
Alaska,  West  Shenandoah,  Alahony  City  Inside, 
Draper  Outside  and  Bast  City. 

Dr.  George  Halberstadt,  who  is  affectionately 
known  as  the  “Daddy  of  the  First  Aid  Work” 
in  the  territory  covered  by  the  Reading  mines. 


Robert  J.  Montgomery,  Sales  Agent  of  the 
Reading  and  Governor  Curtis  of  Maine 


was  master  of  ceremonies  and  it  was  through 
his  competent  handling  that  there  was  not  a 
hitch  in  the  whole  of  the  program. 

E.  T.  Stotesbery,  president  of  the  Reading 
Company,  graced  the  occasion  and  accompany¬ 
ing  him  was  Mrs.  Stotesbery.  When  the  award 
was  made  to  the  Brookside  Corps,  she  pinned 
the  ribbons  on  the  “boys.” 

President  Richards  of  the  Philadelphia  &  Read¬ 
ing  Coal  &  Iron  Company,  then  addressed  those 
present  and  said  that  he  was  delighted  with  the 
excellent  showing  that  had  been  made  by  the 
various  corps  and  the  interest  that  had  been 
awakened.  He  then  introduced  Governor  Curtis 
of  Maine,  who.  President  Richards  said  “had 
won  his  way  into  the  governor’s  chair  of  his 
state  through  dispensing  the  sunshine  and  warmth 
that  went  along  with  Reading  coal.” 

As  to  the  social  ends  of  the  field  day,  there 
were  many.  It  included  a  dinner  for  the  whole 
fourteen  hundred  participants  under  the  tree  in 
the  grove  of  the  park.  Music  that  seemed  with¬ 
out  end  and  provided  by  three  bands.  And  if 
some  big  band  is  looking  for  soloist  talent,  here 
is  a  sly  tip.  Capture  the  husky  fellow  who  can 
do  wonders  with  the  trombone  on  the  Elmore 
band.  He  is  a  wonder.  Boat  riding  for  those 
who  desired  it,  in  fact  all  appointments  with  an 
eye  toward  making  it  a  “day  of  days.” 


i 


E.  T.  Stotesbery. 


The  Judges  Said  that  This  Bandage  Was  Perfect. 


Expert  Ambulance  Work  of  the  Miners’  Corps. 


247 


No  13]  _ THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


'  Government  Regulation  and  Modern  Business.* 


An  Authoritative  Word. 

Mr.  Butler  is  a  member  of  the 
Federal  Trade  Commission  Ad¬ 
visory  Committee  of  the  Chamber 
of  Commerce  of  the  United  States. 
What  he  has  to  say  of  the  new  atti¬ 
tude  of  the  Government  is  not, 
therefore,  speculation,  nor  a  long¬ 
distance  view.  He  knows.  That 
makes  this  document  of  immense 
value. 


It  is  the  fashion  to  decry  government  regu¬ 
lation.  It  is  repeated  ad  nauseam  that  honest 
industry  has  found  little  or  nothing  helpful  in 
legislative  enactments  and  is  in  a  state  of  col¬ 
lapse  under  the  strain  of  regulatory  statutes. 
The  act  to  regulate  commerce,  the  Elkins  law, 
the  Pure  Food  and  Drug  Act,  the  Clayton  and 
Federal  Trade  Commission  laws,  are  cited  as 
specific  instances  of  legislative  oppression 
of  business.  It  is  asserted  that  these  laws 
were  enacted  upon  the  assumption  that  busi¬ 
ness  is  dishonest  and  that  they  were,  there¬ 
fore,  intended  to  be  and  have  resulted  in  being 
destructive  and  not  constructive  in  their  effect 
upon  business. 

However  little  truth  there  may  be  in  these 
charges  and  however  weak  may  be  the  logic 
of  the  argument  which  supports  them,  they 
have  been  so  frequently  and  so  vehemently 
stated  that  they  find  unwitting  endorsement 
in  the  minds  of  many  people.  The  Sherman 
law,  too,  is  condemned  as  a  regulatory  stat¬ 
ute.  Why  should  the  sins  of  the  Sherman  law 
be  invoked  in  condemning  regulation.  The 
Sherman  law  does  not  provide  for  regulation. 
It  is  declarator}' — not  regulatory.  Had  it  con¬ 
tained  regulatory  provisions  we  should  have 
long  since  witnessed  the  solution  of  many 
problems  of  regulation  that  are  still  unsolved. 
The  real  relation  of  the  Sherman  law  to  regu¬ 
lation  and  the  possibility  of  their  co-ordination 
without  further  legislative  enactment  will,  I 
hope,  be  made  clear  as  we  proceed. 

Regulation  is  Constructive. 

But  is  it  true  that  the  strictly  regulatory 
statutes  have  been  destructive  either  in  intent 
or  results?  The  earliest  law  of  which  com¬ 
plaint  is  made  is  the  act  to  regulate  commerce, 
passed  in  1887.  Amendments  to  the  act  have 
eliminated  entirely  the  strongly  entrenched 
system  of  direct  rebating.  If  this  one  item 
does  not  make  the  act  a  piece  of  constructive 
regulation,  I  shall  have  to  be  convinced  of  it 
by  the  word  of  some  one  other  than  the  man 
who  no  longer  receives  the  rebates. 

Morally,  as  well  as  legally,  the  act  has  been 
intensively  and  broadly  constructive.  If  there 
lie,  as  it  seems  to  many  there  is,  occasion  to 
complain  that  the  act  is  destructive  in  that  by 
reason  of  regulation  thereunder  some  carriers 
are  not  receiving  the  full  measure  of  just  and 
reasonable  rates  to  which  they  feel  themselves 
entitled,  such  condition  only  reflects  the  pres¬ 
ent  status  of  evolutionary  process  which  must 
be  experienced  during  the  period  of  readjust¬ 
ment  of  the  physical  and  financial  affairs  of 
such  of  the  carriers  as  have  been  looted,  robbed 
and  plundered  because,  if  you  please,  of  the 
very  lack  of  regulatory  legislation  making  such 
practices  possible.  The  railroads  whose  man¬ 
agement  has  been  capable  and  honest  are  bene¬ 
fiting  rather  tlian  suffering  by  reason  of  regu¬ 
lation. 

Other  Constructive  Acts. 

What  of  the  Pure  Food  and  Drug  act  of 
1906?  It  has  made  the  pretenders,  the  falsi¬ 
fiers,  the  dishonest  venders  of  dishonest  goods 
either  quit  business  entirely  or  tell  the  public 
the  truth  about  the  articles  they  offer  for  sale. 

What  of  our  National  banks?  They  always 
have  been  subject  to  federal  regulation  to  the 
minutest  detail. 

Isn’t  it,  after  all,  more  or  less  a  question  of 
viewpoint?  Does  not  our  like  or  dislike  for  a 
thing  depend  a  great  deal  upon  whether  or  not 
we  are  accustomed  to  it?  Can  you  imagine 
any  line  of  business  that  is  conducted  more 

,  parts  of  an  address  before  the  American 

t-ongress  at  .San  Francisco,  September  2], 

I  An  attorney  of  Chicago. 


By  Rush  C.  Butler. f 

The  Principles  of  Regulation  and  the  Pur¬ 
poses  of  New  Laws  Are  Outlined  and 
Discussed — The  New  Attitude  of  Gov¬ 
ernment. 


honestly  or  legitimately  or  that  results  in 
giving  better  service  to  its  customers  or  in 
paying  better  dividends  to  its  owners  than 
the  business  of  the  banks  regulated  by  the 
federal  government? 

Consideration  of  other  regulatory  statutes 
would  further  show  that  their  intent  was  help¬ 
fulness — destructive,  if  you  please,  of  evil  prac¬ 
tices  or  evil  results,  but  broadly,  humanely 
constructive.  The  Safety  Appliance  act.  no 
doubt,  placed  much  death-dealing  railroad 
equipment  on  the  junk  pile.  If  this  is  destruct¬ 
ive,  let  the  detractors  of  regulation  make  the 
most  of  it. 

Regulation  is  constructive.  Its  fate  is  not 
to  be  determined  by  the  voice  or  votes  of 
those  from  whom  it  has  taken  or  to  whom  it 
has  denied  undue  privilege.  Regulatory  stat¬ 
utes  no  more  assume  business  essentially  dis¬ 
honest  than  statutes  making  stealing  a  crime 


Rush  C.  Butler. 


assume  all  men  to  be  thieves.  Because  the 
Rock  Island  was  purchased  with  criminal  in¬ 
tent  and  some  years  later  thrust  into  a  scan- 
<lalous  receivership  is  no  reason  why  the  Bur¬ 
lington,  the  North  Western  or  the  Santa  Fe 
should  be  considered  outlaws.  Argument 
based  upon  such  assumption  is  the  first  re¬ 
sort  of  the  business  man  with  dishonest  mo¬ 
tives. 

Commissions  Composed  of  Experts. 

If  those  of  you  here  assembled  were  certain 
that  in  the  progress  of  governmental  regula¬ 
tion  it  would  sooner  or  later  be  brought  about 
that  the  mining  industry  would  be  regulated 
by  a  board  of  responsible  business  men,  the 
majority  of  whose  members  were  fairly  rep¬ 
resentative  of  the  mining  industry,  there  can 
be  little  doubt  that  you  would  pledge  your 
support  to  any  just  and  proper  means  to  the 
accomplishment  of  that  end.  1  have  faith  that 
such  an  outcome  is  reasonably  to  be  antici¬ 
pated.  .Such  is  clearly  the  tendency  of  the 
times.  I  believe  that  ultimately  regulation 
of  all  kinds  will  be  placed  in  the  hands  of 
those  familiar  with  and  friendly  to  the  indus¬ 
try  regulated.  The  personnel  of  the  present 
Federal  Trade  Commission  gives  such  a 
promise. 

I  believe  that  the  idea  of  regulation  now 
entertained  by  the  comparatively  few,  namely, 
that  it  must  be  expert,  efficient,  helpful  and 
conducted  along  sane,  business  lines,  will  be¬ 
come  the  idea,  and  the  ideal  of  all  our  people. 
Such  a  type  of  regulation  does  not  mean  pa¬ 
ternalism.  It  means  that  each  line  of  industry 
and  each  person  engaged  in  it  will  have  the 
widest  latitude  for  individual  action.  Such 
form  of  regulation  does  not  mean  inquisition. 


It  does  not  mean  annoyance  by  official  inves¬ 
tigators.  Espionage  is  not  a  part  of  the  sys¬ 
tem.  The  National  banks  have  never  had  occa¬ 
sion  to  complain  of  the  fact  that  federal  ex¬ 
aminers  had  freest  access  to  their  books.  In¬ 
dustrial  corporations  under  the  kind  of  regu¬ 
lation  they  can  assist  in  bringing  about  will 
have  as  little  fear  of  examination  as  do  the 
National  banks. 

Attitude  of  Business. 

That  all  regulation  is  justified  no  one  will 
claim.  That  it  can  be  improved  none  will 
deny.  But  it  is  here  to  stay.  Commissions 
are  to  become  more  largely  concerned  with 
business.  The  extent  to  which  they  may  be¬ 
come  helpful  depends  in  large  measure  upon 
the  spirit  manifested  towards  them  by  busi¬ 
ness.  It  was  not  long  after  the  Federal  Trade 
Commission  law  and  the  Clayton  law  became 
effective  that  Mr.  Wheeler,  former  president 
of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  the  United 
States,  urged  in  his  own  forceful  and  convinc¬ 
ing  manner  that  the  business  men  of  the 
United  States  lend  their  hearty  support  to 
the  efforts  of  the  Federal  Trade  Commission 
to  make  the  new  laws  helpful  to  business. 
Mr.  Wheeler  said: 

“To  make  my  point  clear, — I  want  to  sup¬ 
pose  that  immediately  after  the  appointment 
of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  in 
1887  the  railroads,  instead  of  contending 
against  the  proposed  regulation,  had  recog¬ 
nized  the  right  of  the  government  to  inter¬ 
vene,  and  had,  through  a  well-intentioned  and 
broad-minded  committee,  given  co-operation 
to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  from 
the  beginning  of  its  deliberations.  Such  co¬ 
operation  would,  I  contend,  have  smoothed 
out  many  of  the  rough  places,  have  saved  the 
commission  from  many  errors,  the  railroads 
from  infinite  loss  and  the  nation  from  a  sorry 
exhibition  of  dishonest  flotation  and  inefficient 
operation.” 

Applying  this  illustration  to  the  relationship 
then  about  to  be  established  between  indus¬ 
trial  business  and  the  Federal  Trade  Commis¬ 
sion,  Mr.  Wheeler  stated  it  seemed  to  him 
particularly  necessary  that  business  should  or¬ 
ganize  to  co-operate  with  the  commission 
rather  than  assume  the  attitude  of  being  crit¬ 
ically  indifferent  or  positively  obstructive.  It 
was  due  largely  to  Mr.  Wheeler’s  initiative 
and  efforts  that  the  Federal  Trade  Committee 
of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  the  United 
States  was  formed. 

Business  may  best  co-operate  with  the  gov¬ 
ernment  by  accepting  the  legislation  now  on 
the  statute  books  as  reflecting  the  best  opin¬ 
ion  of  the  time  and  by  adjusting  itself  to  the 
new  order  of  things.  The  laws  are  not  perfect 
and  perhaps  never  will  be,  but  business  men 
may  now  have  a  larger  voice  than  ever  before 
in  bringing  about  amendments  to  the  laws 
along  lines  shown  by  their  experience  to  be 
necessary.  Business  men  are  today  co-operat¬ 
ing  with  each  other  more  intimately  than  ever 
before.  There  are  literally  thousands  of  or¬ 
ganizations  of  business  men  throughout  the 
country.  Their  purposes  are  lawful  and  laud¬ 
able,  and  their  tendency  is  all  toward  better¬ 
ing  not  only  industrial  hut  all  human  condi¬ 
tions.  Their  contact  with  regulating  bodies 
brings  to  legislative  and  executive  officials  ap¬ 
preciation  of  the  fallacies  and  weaknesses  of 
existing  laws  and  points  out  the  proper  basis 
for  amendatory  enactments. 

A  recommendation  made  by  a  federal  com¬ 
mission  to  Congress  for  the  amendment  of  a 
regulatory  statute  carries  with  it  great  weiglit. 
If  a  commission  sympathetically  reflects  to  the 
legislative  body  the  necessity  for  amenda¬ 
tory  legislation,  how  much  more  easily  will 
it  be  obtained.  Not  only  this,  but  a  commis¬ 
sion  may  often  by  its  own  conduct  so  exert 
its  powers  in  a  proper  manner  as  really  to 
afford  relief  not  provided  by  direct  statutory 
enactment.  The  importance  of  harmonious 
co-operation  between  regulator  and  regulated 
is,  therefore,  all  the  more  apparent. 

Power  of  the  Federal  Trade  Commission. 

Specifically,  as  to  the  ability  of  the  Federal 
Trade  Commission  to  help  business,  it  is  first 
to  be  noted  with  gratification  that  the  attitude 
of  the  commission  is  entirely  favorable  and 
friendly. 

Some  doubt  has  been  expressed  whether  the 
powers  of  the  commission  are  broad  enough 


248 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[September  25 


really  to  enable  it  to  i)e  helpful.  Fersoiially, 
1  do  not  share  in  that  doubt. 

The  connnission  is  authorized  to  exercise 
functions  of  two  different  kinds.  The  first 
may  be  called  judicial,  in  the  exercise  of 
which  it  files  complaints,  holds  hearings  and 
enters  orders.  In  the  exercise  of  its  judicial 
functions  the  commission  is  given  the  oppor¬ 
tunity  of  passing  upon  complaints  concerning 
every  conceivable  form  of  alleged  unlawful 
business  practices.  Each  case  considered  by 
the  commission  will  naturally  be  decided  by 
it,  an  order  will  be  entered  either  dismissing 
the  complaint  or  granting  relief,  and  a  full 
and  complete  opinion  will  be  prepared  and, 
published  hy  the  commission,  setting  forth  its 
reasons  for  its  conclusions. 

It  will  not  be  long,  therefore,  until  the  ideas 
of  the  commission  with  reference  to  what 
facts  do  and  what  facts  do  not  constitute 
violations  of  the  law  will  be  known  to  the 
public. 

The  findings  of  facts  are  declared  by  the 
law  to  be  binding  upon  the  courts.  As  with 
the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission,  that  or¬ 
der  of  the  Federal  Trade  Commission  will  be 
rare,  indeed,  which  the  courts  will  modify  or 
annul.  As  the  commission  is  composed  of 
business  men,  business  men  will  pass  upon 
business  practices.  Owing  to  the  conclusive¬ 
ness  of  its  findings  of  fact,  the  commission  has 
been  quite  properly  referred  to  as  the  supreme 
court  of  business. 

The  other  function  of  the  commission  may 
be  called  inquisitorial.  The  use  of  the  word  in 
this  connection  may  not  be  altogether  happy, 
for  neither  the  Clayton  law  nor  the  Federal 
Trade  Commission  law  is  intended  to  set  up 
the  trade  commission  as  an  inquisitorial  body 
whose  duty  it  is  to  conduct  an  inquisition  or 
to  ferret  out  crime.  Rather,  the  attitude  as¬ 
sumed  by  the  commission  in  making  investiga¬ 
tions  may  more  properly  be  regarded  as  sim¬ 
ilar  to  that  of  the  Treasury  Department  in  mak¬ 
ing  examinations  of  National  banks.  The  com¬ 
mission’s  powers  of  investigation  apply  to  cor¬ 
porations  only.  The  commission  has  no 
power  to  investigate  the  business  of  indi¬ 
viduals  or  partnerships. 

Section  6,  paragraph  (e)  of  the  trade  com¬ 
mission  law  provides  that  the  commission 
may  investigate  and  make  recommendations 
for  the  readjustment  of  the  business  of  any  cor¬ 
poration  alleged  to  be  violating  the  anti-trust 
acts  in  order  that  the  corporation  may  there¬ 
after  maintain  its  organization,  management 
and  conduct  of  business  in  accordance  with 
law.  This  provision  is  for  the  specific  purpose 
of  permitting  any  corporation  violating  the 
law  to  readjust  its  business  without  a  decree 
of  court,  even  before  the  filing  of  a  suit.  It 
enables  the  commission  to  establish  definite 
guides  for  the  future  conduct  of  the  particular 
l)usiness. 

Classification  of  Business. 

Paragraph  (g)  authorizes  the  commission  to 
classify  corporations.  This  permits  the  com¬ 
mission  to  require  reports  from  only  such  cor¬ 
porations  as  it  may  deem  advisable  and  thereby 
relieve  a  large  number  of  corporations  with 
which  it  may  well  know  in  advance  it  will 
have  no  concern,  from  the  expense  and  annoy¬ 
ance  of  making  unnecessary  reports. 

This  power  of  classification  is  unlimited, 
thereby  permitting  the  commission  to  make  as 
many  divisions  and  subdivisions  in  classifying, 
even  within  a  single  industry,  as  it  may  feel 
proper  or  necessary  to  make  in  order  effect¬ 
ively  to  accomplish  desired  ends. 

Paragraph  (h)  provides  that  the  commission 
shall  investigate  trade  conditions  in  and  with 
foreign  countries  and  report  to  Congress 
thereon  with  its  recommendations.  This  pro¬ 
vision  is  for  the  evident  purpose  of  promoting 
our  foreign  trade. 

It  is  especially  to  be  noted  that  violations  of 
the  Federal  Trade  Commission  law  and  the 
Clayton  law  are  not  made  criminal  offenses, 
clearly  indicating  that  Congress  considered 
criminal  provisions  undesirable  and  unneces¬ 
sary. 

Uniform  Cost  Accounting. 

In  addition  to  the  judical  and  inquisitorial 
functions  which  may  be  exercised  by  the  com¬ 
mission,  it  naturally,  as  an  administrative 
body,  has  effected  a  business  organization  for 
the  purpose  of  enabling  it  to  perform  its  duties. 
To  illustrate:  Very  soon  after  the  commission 
organized  it  caused  to  be  given  wide  publicity 
a  statement  prepared  by  Vice-Chairman  Hur¬ 
ley  concerning  uniform  cost  accounting  sys¬ 
tems.  The  commission  is  convinced  that  much 


unfair  competition  is  due  to  ignorance  of  the 
cost  ol  production.  The  commission  consid¬ 
ered  that  it  could  be  constructively  helpful  to 
business  by  standing  sponsor  for  the  idea  of 
uniform  cost  accounting  systems. 

The  question  is  often  asked,  “Is  there  any 
lawful  basis  upon  which  competitors  may  co¬ 
operate  in  the  actual  carrying  on  of  their 
business?”  .Assuredly,  yes.  While  the  legal 
limitations  on  such  co-operation  constitute  one 
of  the  greatest  menaces  to  business,  there  are 
several  plans  of  co-operation  in  effect,  some 
of  which  have  received  the  tacit,  if  not  the 
expressed,  approval  of  the  government.  There 
is  the  open  competition  plan,  the  closed  trans¬ 
action  plan  and  the  common  selling  agency 
plan.  Still  other  plans  are  believed  to  be  legal 
when  applied  to  industries  substantially  all  of 
whose  members,  due  to  stress  of  conditions 
either  temporary  or  permanent,  are  selling  at 
less  than  cost  of  production. 

Any  industry  desiring  the  assistance  of  the 
commission  will  probably  have  to  devise  its 
own  plan,  whether  it  be  for  co-operation  of 
competing  industries,  or  whether  it  be  with  ref¬ 
erence  to  the  inner  workings  of  an  individual 
industry.  It  is  not  probable  that  the  commis¬ 
sion  will  assist  in  the  lormation  of  a  plan,  but 
if  the  workings  of  a  specific  plan  are  presented 
to  the  commission,  there  is  reason  to  believe 
that  they  will  be  given  careful  and  expert  in¬ 
vestigation  and  that  in  due  course  the  com¬ 
mission  will  make  its  report  thereon,  either 
approving  or  disapproving  part  or  all  thereof. 

The  Commission  and  the  Sherman  Law. 

While  Congress  has  declared  specifically 
that  the  Federal  Trade  Commission  law  should 
not  be  construed  to  alter,  modify  or  repeal  the 
Sherman  law,  it  is  apparent  that  if  the  views 
herein  expressed  properly  interpret  the  com¬ 
mission’s  powers,  the  drastic  provisions  of  the 
Sherman  law,  while  standing  unaltered  and  un¬ 
amended  on  the  statute  books,  will  need  to 
be  invoked  only  for  the  punishment  of  flagrant 
violations.  When  guides  for  business  have 
been  well  established  by  the  commission,  the 
man  who  violates  the  Sherman  law  will  do  so 
at  his  own  peril  and,  if  prosecuted  criminally 
therefor,  will  receive  little  sympathy  from  his 
fellow  business  men. 

In  the  Clayton  law.  Congress  expressed  its 
emphatic  disapproval  of  four  specific  things, 
namely: 

First.  Price  discriminatioi^  between  two 
persons  buying  under  exactly  similar  circum¬ 
stances  and  conditions. 

Second.  So-called  tying  contracts  requiring 
the  purchaser  to  agree  to  handle  no  goods  of  a 
competitor  of  the  seller. 

Third.  The  ownership  of  stock  by  one  cor¬ 
poration  in  another  whereby  competition  is 
lessened. 

Fourth.  Interlocking  directors  under  certain 
conditions. 

These  things  are  flatly  declared  unlawful 
and  the  Federal  Trade  Commission  is  author¬ 
ized  and  directed  to  file  complaint  against  vio¬ 
lators  of  these  provisions  and  require  discon¬ 
tinuance  of  the  practices.  The  things  thus  con¬ 
demned  might  have  been  included  within  the 
unfair  methods  of  competition  which  were  de¬ 
clared  unlawful  in  the  trade  commission  act. 
but  evidently  Congress  deemed  each  of  the 
things  injurious  to  the  public  and  did  not  wish 
to  leave  it  open  to  the  commission  to  find  that 
any  one  of  the  four  acts  specifically  condemned 
was  proper  or  lawful  or  to  be  in  any  way  ex¬ 
cused  and,  therefore,  placed  its  stamp  of  spe¬ 
cial  disapproval  upon  each  and  all  of  them. 

Labor  Exemption  Clause. 

Much  might  be  said  with  reference  to  the 
labor  exemption  clause  of  the  Clayton  law. 
Whether  the  effect  of  the  clause  will  be  help¬ 
ful  or  harmful  to  labor  remains  to  be  seen. 
Likewise,  whether  it  will  be  helpful  or  harmful 
to  business  is  uncertain.  To  whatever  extent 
it  proves  to  be  unduly  helpful  to  labor,  it  will 
to  that  same  extent  necessarily  be  unduly 
harmful  to  industry.  If  it  proves  unduly  help¬ 
ful  to  labor,  it  is  fair  to  assume  either  that  it 
will  be  repealed  or  that  it  will  be  used  as  an 
entering  wedge  to  bring  about  the  enactment 
of  a  similar  provision  definitely  and  specifically 
enabling  industry  to  co-operate  along  similar 
lines  of  mutual  helpfulness. 

Unfair  Methods  of  Competition. 

The  Federal  Trade  Commission  law  lays 
down  the  hroad  rule  that  unfair  methods  of 
competition  in  commerce  are  unlawful  and 
gives  the  commission  the  power  to  ascertain  in 


specific  instances  whether  or  not  any  method 
complained  of  is  unfair.  If  the  commission  de¬ 
termines  that  a  method  is  unfair,  it  is  permitted 
lo  file  a  complaint  against  the  offending  party 
(inly  in  the  event  it  further  appears  that  the 
iiling  of  a  (;omplaint  would  be  in  the  interest 
of  the  public.  This  is  an  exceedingly  liberal 
provision  of  the  law. 

It  expressly  indicates  congressional  approval 
of  the  idea  that  petty  fights  among  compet¬ 
itors,  even  though  they  may  involve  the  em¬ 
ployment  of  unfair  methods  of  competition, 
are  n(Dt  of  sufficient  importance  to  invoke  the 
attention  of  the  government,  unless  interests 
other  than  those  of  the  immediate  parties  to 
the  controversy  are  involved. 

The  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  by/ 
judicial  interpretation  has  placed  substantially 
the  same  limitation  upon  the  application  of  the 
Sherman  law,  namely,  that  it  cannot  be  in¬ 
voked  for  the  protection  of  the  interests  of 
an  individual,  but  only  on  behalf  of  the  public. 
In  the  case  most  recently  decided  by  the  Su¬ 
preme  Court  involving  the  Sherman  law,  viz.. 
United  States  vs.  Delaware,  Lackawanna  & 
Western  Railroad,  238  U.  S.,  516,  decideci  June 
21,  1915,  the  Supreme  Court  says  that  the 
anti-trust  act  “is  not  concerned  with  the  in¬ 
terest  of  the  parties  but  with  the  interest  of 
the  public.”  The  Sherman  law  is  general  in 
its  terms  and  is  not  limited  by  express  lan¬ 
guage  to  such  restraints  of  trade  or  monopo¬ 
lies  as  are  harmful  to  the  public,  but,  as  stated, 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  by  ju¬ 
dicial  interpretation  has  so  limited  it,  and,  no 
doubt,  properly. 

A  Governing  Principle. 

The  great  truth  that  the  welfare  of  the  in¬ 
dividual  is  the  welfare  of  the  nation  is  coming 
to  be  more  and  more  recognized  every  day. 
The  financial  misfortune  of  a  particular  indus¬ 
try  is  becoming  more  and  more  a  matter  of 
public  concern.  Where  an  entire  industry  suf¬ 
fers  while  the  remainder  of  the  business  world 
enjoys  even  moderate  prosperity,  there  is  in¬ 
dication  that  something  is  wrong  with  our 
laws  or  with  our  methods  of  enforcing  them. 

If  the  mining  industry  languishes  while  the 
manufacturing  industries  prosper,  there  is  evi-i 
dence  of  weakness  in  the  machinery  of  govern¬ 
ment. 

Broad,  helpful,  sympathetic  co-operation  of 
business  men  with  each  other  and  with  regu¬ 
lating  bodies  will  make  the  problems  of  self- 
government  less  difficult  of  solution  and  insure, 
a  greater  measure  of  continuous  business  pros¬ 
perity. 


Honolulu  Coaling  Plant. 


A  new  coaling  plant  for  Honolulu,  to  be  ten 
times  the  size  of  the  present  one,  will  be  erected 
by  the  Inter-Island  Steam  Navigation  Company 
on  the  Kalihi  side  of  the  harbor.  As  announced 
in  The  Black  Diamond  some  weeks  ago,  the 
Inter-Island  Company  had  just  closed  a  contract 
for  the  construction  of  the  plant  with  the  C.  W. 
Hunt  Company  of  New  York  City.  Construc¬ 
tion  will  proceed  rapidly.  By  the  time  the  dredg¬ 
ing  has  been  finished  the  plant  material  will  have 
arrived  and  the  towers  may  be  erected  simultan¬ 
eously  with  the  dock.  It  is  planned  to  have 
the  plant  completed  and  in  operation  by  July  1st 
of  next  year. 

The  new  station  will  have  165,000  tons  storage  ca¬ 
pacity  (the  capacity  of  the  present  plant  being  25,- 
000  tons)  and  will  consist  of  two  unloading  towers, 
each  with  a  capacity  of  200  tons  per  hour.  There 
will  be  a  traveling  bridge  with  a  span  of  160 
feet,  carrying  coal-reclaiming  machinery  with  a 
capacity  of  250  tons  an  hour.  There  will  be  in¬ 
stalled  a  coal  reloading  equipment  to  coal  vessels 
of  any  size  alongside  the  dock.  The  coaling 
berths  will  accommodate  seven  vessels  alongside 
the  pier.  Six  may  be  coaled  at  the  same  time. 
.Any  vessel  that  can  enter  the  harbor  can  be 
accommodated. 

At  the  end  of  the  pier  will  be  large  elevated 
storage  bunkers  for  immediate  delivery  to  ves¬ 
sels  at  the  dock.  The  coal  as  it  passes  into 
vessels  will  be  weighed  by  a  registering  apparatus. 
The  entire  system  will  be  electrically  operated, 
including  the  coal  transfer  system  with  its  cars. 
The  wharf  will  be  of  the  most  modern  and  per¬ 
manent  type.  The  material  in  it  will  be  rein¬ 
forced  concrete.  The  cost  of  the  improvement 
is  apportioned  in  the  following  manner :  Land, 
$350,000;  dredging  work,  $200,000;  wharf,  $150,- 
000  or  $200,000;  plant,  $200,000  or  $250,000. 

The  Inter-Islan(i  Company  have  made  a  con¬ 
tract  to  take  a  large  tonnage  of  Japanese  coal. 


No.  13] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


249 


A  Cheap  and  Effective  Sign. 

A  sign  that  is  always  effective,  even  though 
it  is  used  in  a  good  many  localities,  is  easily 
available  to  the  average  coal  dealer.  It  con¬ 
sists  of  making  a  background  of  coal  dust, 
covering  a  plot  the  size  of  which  will  depend 
on  the  height  of  the  letters  and  the  number  of 
words  to  be  used  in  the  sign.  The  letters 
themselves  should  be  composed  of  marble 
chips  or  some  other  extremely  white  stone. 
Usually  these  chips  can  be  obtained  without 
cost  from  any  monument  or  stone-cutting 
shop. 

In  order  to  be  most  effective,  the  ground  on 
which  the  sign  is  made  should  be  built  up, 
rising  toward  the  rear,  so  that  the  name  of 
the  company  or  the  coal  which  is  being  adver¬ 
tised  will  “stick  out.”  The  writer  recently 
sav/  such  a  sign  which  was  surrounded  by  a 
lawn  in  front  of  a  coal  yard,  and  it  looked 
good.  If  the  yard  is  passed  by  many  people, 
or  is  seen  from  passing  trains  and  street  cars, 
it  will  furnish  general  publicity  just  as  valu¬ 
able  as  though  the  retailer  had  spent  .a  lot  of 
mone-y  for  an  electric  sign,  though,  of  course, 
the  latter  would  work  at  night  as  well  as 
during  the  day. 


Building  Up  Specialty  Trade. 

One  of  the  best  ways  to  build  up  a  trade  on 
any  specialty  is  to  push  one  thing  all  the  time. 

This  applies  to  handling  smithing  coal.  Here 
is  an  item  which  the  average  retailer  does  not 
pay  much  attention  to,  hut  it  is  capable  of 
being  made  a  good  profit-maker,  if  it  is  han¬ 
dled  right.  Right  handling  consists,  first  of 
all,  in  getting  the  coal  that  suits  the  smiths 
of  the  territory  in  which  the  dealer  is  located 
and,  second,  in  pushing  it  as  a  quality  propo¬ 
sition. 

On  the  first  score,  considerable  experiment¬ 
ing  may  be  necessary.  This  is  not  to  say 
that  there  are  many  inferior  smithing  coals  on 
the  market,  but  the  fact  is  that  the  require¬ 
ments  of  the  blacksmiths  are  likely  to  vary, 
and  a  coal  that  will  “get  by”  with  one  smith 
may  be  declared  unsatisfactory  by  some  more 
particular  operator  somewhere  else.  Hence, 
the  dealer  should  test  different  coals  in  use, 
and  when  he  has  got  the  one  that  pleases  the 
majority  of  his  trade,  he  should  stick  to  it  to 
the  finish.  He  can’t  afford  to  change. 

Now,  having  a  coal  that  he  knows  is  right, 
he  can  properly  feature  it,  preferably  by  name, 
and  talk  it  up  as  a  high-grade  smithing  coal. 
If  the  concern  putting  out  the  coal  has  given 
it  a  trade  name,  which  the  dealer  plans  to  use 
as  well,  some  arrangement  for  exclusive  repre¬ 
sentation  in  that  territory  may  be  made  by 
the  retailer;  otherwise,  the  advantage  of  ad¬ 
vertising  the  name  will  be  lost,  inasmuch  as 
any  other  dealer  could  fill  an  order  for  that 
kind  of  coal  But  as  it  usually  works  out  to 
the  mutual  advantage  of  the  operator  and  the 
dealer  to  advertise  a  good  smithing  coal  under 
the  trade  name,  an  exclusive  sales  proposition 
will  usually  be  found  acceptable  to  both 
parties. 

As  to  profits  in  selling  smithing  coal,  the 
trouble  is  largely  that  dealers  fail  to  empha¬ 
size  quality  enough.  .Some  of  them  are  not 
delivering  it,  in  the  first  place;  and  others  listen 
to  the  demands  of  the  smiths  for  a  cheap  coal, 
instead  of  making  them  listen  to  a  selling  talk 
in  behalf  of  a  quality  variety.  If  the  latter 
policy  is  followed,  and  the  folly  of  using  an 
impure  coal  for  welding  metal  with  is  prop¬ 


erl3f  emphasized,  the  smiths  will  be  willing  to 
pay  a  few  cents  a  hundred  more  in  order  to 
get  a  coal  that  the  dealer  is  willing  to  stand 
back  of  in  point  of  qualit>^ 

In  short,  the  application  of  merchandising 
principles  to  selling  smithing  coal  will  make 
this  specialty  a  good  money-maker,  instead  of 
a  neglected  side  issue  which  detracts  from, 
rather  than  adds,  to  the  profits  and  prestige  of 
the  retailer. 


Disadvantageous  to  Incorporate. 

retailer  who  read  the  article  in  this  de¬ 
partment  on  the  subject  of  incorporating  took 
issue  with  its  conclusions  on  one  rather  im¬ 
portant  ground. 

“Most  business  men  find  it  convenient  to  go 
to  the  bank  now  and  then  and  ask  for  accom¬ 
modations,”  he  said.  “When  John  Smith,  coal 
dealer,  goes  there  to  borrow  money,  the 
banker  considers  him  as  a  credit  risk  and  real¬ 
izes  that  he,  as  an  individual,  is  responsible  for 
the  payment  of  the  note.  He  knows  that  all 
that  Smith  possesses  can  be  attached  to  sat¬ 
isfy  this  lialDility. 

“But  if  Smith  incorporates  for,  say,  $10,000, 
tlie  banker  knows  that  the  note  signed  by  the 
Smith  Coal  Company  is  good  only  to  the  ex¬ 
tent  of  the  assets  of  the  corporation.  In  fact, 
that  is  one  of  the  reasons  given  in  the  article 
for  incorporating — limiting  tlic  individual’s 
liabilities,  and  getting  away  from  the  responsi- 
l)ilities  of  the  business.  The  bank,  however, 
is  likely  to  offset  that  by  curtailing  the  credit 
of  the  corporation,  as  contrasted  with  that  of 
tlie  individual.” 

While  this  superficially  may  seem  important, 
in  reality  it  is  not  as  important  as  it  looks.  Iir 
the  first  place,  the  average  banker  knows  that 
there  is  a  big  “moral  hazard”  in  lending 
money.  He  lends  more  on  the  moral  charac¬ 
ter  and  standing  of  the  individual  than  merely 
by  looking  at  a  statement  of  capitalization. 
If  he  knows  that  John  Smith  owns  the  Smith 
Coal  Company,  practically  speaking,  he  will 
lend  on  the  strength  of  Smith’s  good  name 
and  general  reputation  for  reliability,  even 
though  the  loan  is  made  to  the  Smith  Coal 
Company.  Besides,  in  case  of  need,  John 
Smith  can  endorse  the  note,  and  thus  add  his 
individual  credit  to  that  of  the  company.  But 
the  liability  would  be  limited  to  that  particu¬ 
lar  note,  instead  of  having  to  apply  to  every 
obligation  of  the  business,  as  when  it  is  run  in¬ 
dividually. 

Another  phase  of  the  question  is  to  be  con¬ 
sidered  in  connection  with  partnerships.  When 
two  men  go  into  business  together,  without  in¬ 
corporating,  they  must  and  do  trust  each  other 
implicitly.  Yet  everybody  knows  of  cases 
where  a  crooked  partner  has  wrecked  a  busi¬ 
ness  and  ruined  the  man  who  trusted  him. 
Why  should  any  man  take  such  chances,  when 
the  interests  of  the  business  can  be  more  ac¬ 
curately  taken  care  of  and  one’s  individual 
property  protected  from  the  mistakes  or  negli¬ 
gence  of  the  partner,  Irj'  means  of  the  distribu¬ 
tion  of  stock? 

Incorporating  means  more  formality  and 
red  tape,  of  course,  Imt  in  the  average  indivi¬ 
dual  business  there  is  too  much  informality  for 
ilie  concern’s  own  good. 

Posting  the  Public  on  the  Market. 

When  the  first  frost  is  recorded,  and  later, 
when  the  first  flurry  of  snow  makes  pcojile 
realize  that  cold  weather  has  really  arrived. 


the  dealers  always  have  a  big  run  of  business. 

Why? 

Because  the  fact  that  they  need  coal  is 
brought  home  in  a  forceful  way  to  hundreds  of 
careless  consumers,  who,  like  the  famous 
grasshopper,  are  so  improvident  that  they  fail 
to  anticipate  the  needs  of  the  future. 

The  same  idea  can  be  used  to  develop  busi¬ 
ness  at  the 'time  when  trade  is  usually  needed 
most,  that  is,  just  after  the  summer  storage 
season  is  over,  and  before  actual  consump¬ 
tion  begins,  by  keeping  the  public  informed  re¬ 
garding  coal  market  conditions.  This  is  more 
“news,”  the  use  of  which  was  suggested  some 
time  ago,  and  often  its  publication  will  rouse 
consumers  to  the  realization  that  they  are 
overlooking  a  bet  in  postponing  the  purchase 
of  coal  for  winter  use. 

An  Ohio  Valley  dealer  used  what  amounted 
to  a  report  on  market  conditions  recently  in  a 
newspaper  ad,  and  the  number  of  telephone 
orders  that  resulted  showed  that  he  had  hit 
the  right  note.  In  his  ad  he  included  the  fol¬ 
lowing:  “Mine  labor  is  short,  because  of  men 
going  back  home  to  fight;  the  exportation  of 
coal  is  growing  by  leaps  and  bounds,  and  will 
increase  more  rapidly  with  the  approach  of 
winter.  Weather  observers  predict  a  long 
cold  winter — are  you  prepared?” 

Many  issues  of  The  Bl.\ck  Di.xmond  con¬ 
tain  important  forecasts  of  market  conditions 
pointing  to  higher  prices,  and  a  good  plan 
would  be  to  bulletin  these  in  the  windows,  or 
reproduce  them  in  newspaper  ads.  Coming 
from  an  authoritative  source,  they  would  im¬ 
press  the  reader  with  the  fact  that  the  pres¬ 
ent  is  the  most  advantageous  time  to  buy 
coal  and  to  get  under  cover  before  disadvan¬ 
tageous  conditions  develop. 


Study  Heating  Problem. 

The  more  a  coalman  knows  about  the  use 
of  his  coal,  the  better  service  he  can  give  his 
customers.  That  is  to  say,  the  more  he  knows 
about  the  problem  of  heating  a  dwelling,  the 
better  able  he  will  be  to  take  care  of  com¬ 
plaints  and  requests  for  information  about  the 
use  of  his  coal.  Often  the  coal  is  blamed  for 
poor  heating  results  when  the  method  is  en¬ 
tirely  at  fault. 

The  fact  that  heating  is  a  technical  proposition, 
and  that  it  must  be  dealt  with  in  a  technical  and 
expert  way,  was  demonstrated  by  a  reverse  Eng¬ 
lish  process  recently  in  a  city  where  gas  heat¬ 
ing  has  been  introduced,  and  is  displacing  coal 
furnaces  to  some  extent.  The  sales  manager 
of  the  gas  company  decided,  as  a  novel  means 
of  hamlling  the  proposition,  to  have  school¬ 
boys  undertake  tbe  solicitation  of  consumers, 
with  the  idea  that  they  would  get  after  their 
parents  and  friends  and  persuade  them  to  give 
gas  a  trial. 

Although  it  has  been  said — for  publication — 
that  this  plan  was  a  great  success,  the  writer 
has  positive  information  that  it  fell  flat.  It 
has  been  continued  by  the  company  more  be¬ 
cause  of  the  advertising  value  of  the  stunt 
than  because  it  has  been  selling  gas  instal¬ 
lations  by  means  of  the  “boy  salesmen.”  The 
weakness  of  the  idea  was  developed  promptly, 
in  that  it  was  impossible  to  educate  the  boys 
to  discuss  such  a  complicated  and  technical 
question  as  to  the  reasons  for  substituting 
gas  for  coal,  if  any,  and  their  solicitation 
amounted  to  little  mere  than  nagging  their 
friends  and  acquaintances  for  orders.  A  few 
real  prospects  may  have  been  developed,  but 
the  results  were  not  comparable  to  what  might 
have  been  done  by  the  use  of  experienced, 
liigh-grade  salesmen. 

All  of  which  goes  to  emphasize  the  proposi¬ 
tion  that  to  sell  heating  appliances,  fuel  or 
anything  else  connected  with  the  proposi¬ 
tion  of  keeping  a  heme  comfortably  warm 
during  the  winter,  the  salesmen  must  know 
the  game  from  A  to  Z,  no  matter  whether  he 
■represents  you,  the  furnace  dealer  or  the  gas 
company. 

In  this  connection,  many  gas  appliance 
dealers  feature  apparently  as  an  exclusive  talk- 
in,g-point  in  favor  of  their  apparatus  the  fact 
that  it  may  lie  controlled  by  the  use  of  thermo¬ 
static  devices,  so  that  the  user  can  go  to  bed 
at  night,  with  the  gas  turned  low,  and  have 
it  aut'tmatically  increase  tlie  heat  tibout  an 
liour  before  rising. 

.^s  a  matter  of  fact,  the  use  of  tliermostals 
on  coal-burning  devices  is  just  as  effective, 
;ind  the  successful  exploitation  of  such  appli¬ 
ances  in  connection  with  coal-furnaces  by  coal 
dealers — the  logical  people  to  handle  them — 
has  been  described  in  this  department. 


250 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[September  25 


fubi.ishz:d  every  Saturday  by  the 
BEACK  DIAMOND  COMPANY. 

Subscription  price,  $3.00  per  year,  postage  prepaid,  to 
any  postoffice  in  the  United  States.  Foreign  subscrip¬ 
tion  price,  $5.00  per  year.  Single  copies,  20  cents. 
Entered  at  Chicago  postoffice  as  second-class  matter. 


Address  all  communications  to 

THE  BEACK  DIAMOND  COMPANY  (INC) 

Main  office,  Manhattan  building,  Chicago. 


Branch  Offices. 

New  York,  29  Broadway. 
Philadelphia,  1400  Land  Title  building. 
Pittsburgh,  1502  Oliver  building. 


Saturday,  September  25,  1915. 


INDEX. 


Special  Articles. 

Page 


Tests  Showing  the  Flexibility  of  House  Furnaces....  241 

Putting  a  New  Fuel  on  the  Commercial  Map .  242 

Indiana  Production .  242 

The  Regeneration  of  the  Galesburg  District .  243 

Paying  Commissions  on  Canceled  Orders .  243 

How  Retailers  Should  Advertise  Their  Coal .  244 

An  Effective  Collection  System . ■.  244 

Coal  in  Canada .  244 

Three  Railways  Increase  Coal  Rates  to  Tide .  245 

Association  News .  245 

The  Reading’s  First  Aid  Field  Day .  240 

Government  Regulation  and  Modern  Business .  247 

Honolulu  Coaling  Plant .  248 

Field  of  the  Retail  Dealer .  249 

Editorial  .  250 

The  Retailers’  Attitude  Towards  Line  of  Fuels......  251 

News  Local  to  Chicago .  252 

Men  Prominent  in  the  Coal  Trade’s  Eye .  252 

Facts  Which  Determine  Our  Export  Prospects .  253 

Reading  Revenue .  259 

Market  Reports. 

General  Review  and  Chicago .  254 

Pittsburgh  and  Cleveland .  255 

Cincinnati,  Birmingham  and  Omaha .  250 

Louisville,  Denver,  Duluth  and  St.  Louis .  257 

New  York .  258 

Philadelphia  .  259 

New  England,  Buffalo  and  '^Tltimore .  260 

Hocking  Valley .  15 


A  Simple  Retail  Problem. 

The  problem  of  the  retail  coal  trade, 
which  sometimes  seems  to  be  so  mysti¬ 
fying,  is  exceedingly  simple  after  all.  It 
can  be  expressed  in  a  very  few  words. 
We  will  assume  that  the  retailer  has  fifty 
thousand  dollars  invested  in  his  business. 
He  wants  to  make  that  money,  we  will 
.say,  earn  him  ten  per  cent  or  $5,000  a 
year.  How  to  do  it  is  all  the  problem 
there  is.  Only  two  ways  are  known  in 
which  this  can  be  done. 

First,  the  retailer  can  get  the  $5,000  by 
getting  a  margin  of  profit  of  ten  cents  a 
ton  on  fifty  thousand  tons  of  coal.  That 
is,  he  can  get  a  small  margin  per  ton  and 
do  a  tremendous  business. 

Second,  the  dealer  can  get  his  $5,000  by 
handling  10,000  tons  of  coal  and  charging 
enough  to  yield  a  profit  of  fifty  cents  a 
ton.  That  is,  he  can  handle  a  small  vol¬ 
ume  of  business,  but  get  a  good  margin 
of  profit  on  each  ton. 

Those  are  the  only  two  known  ways  of 
making  a  given  amount  of  money  out  of 
the  coal  business.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
there  are  no  other  ways.  The  individual 
retailer  must  elect  which  of  the  two  he 
is  going  to  try.  If  he  goes  after  tonnage, 
he  is  likely  to  be  disappointed,  first,  be¬ 
cause  his  community  may  not  yield  him 
that  amount  of  business  and,  second,  be¬ 
cause,  if  it  were  possible,  he  would  have 
to  take  tonnage  away  from  somebody  else. 


It  is  not  safe  to  proceed  along  the  latter 
line ;  it  always  starts  a  fight. 

The  only  serious  obstacle  to  getting 
quite  a  profit  on  a  small  volume  of  busi¬ 
ness  is  the  dealer  himself.  If  he  gets  a 
good  margin,  the  retailer  must  name 
prices  which  will  let  his  competitors  live; 
he  would  have  to  be  content  not  to  make 
all  the  money.  That,  perhaps,  is  the 
hardest  job  that  any  man  has  to  face — to 
let  somebody  else  make  money  while  he 
is  making  some  for  himself. 

Still,  the  point  made  at  the  outset  is 
proved.  The  retail  problem  is  simple — 
mighty  simple.  In  essence,  it  is :  “If  you 
would  make  money,  don’t  be  a  hog.” 


A  Sound  Conclusion. 

The  American  Mining  Congress  held 
its  convention  in  San  Francisco  this  week. 
Carl  Scholz,  upon  completing  his  second 
year  as  president,  stated  the  purpose  of 
the  organization.  He  summarized  one 
conclusion  in  substance  as  follows : 

“The  social  and  economic  phases  of 
mining  are  being  discussed  broadly,  and 
especially  in  the  halls  of  congress  and  of 
the  state  legislatures.  The  disposition  of 
politicians  is  and  has  been  to  adopt  con¬ 
cerning  such  matters  the  view  of  those 
who  represent  the  largest  number  of  votes 
— in  an  organized  sense.  They  adopt,  for 
example,  the  view  of  the  miner  as  op¬ 
posed  to  the  view  of  the  operator. 

“The  American  Mining  Congress  is  not 
an  antagonist  of  labor,  nor  a  protagonist 
of  capital.  It  stands  firm  on  the  principle 
that  these  are  co-ordinate  forces  in  busi¬ 
ness.  Also,  it  insists  that  the  government 
of  the  United  States  shall  show  no  par¬ 
tiality  to  either  force.” 

If  Mr.  Scholz  had  done  nothing  else — 
and  he  made  a  wonderful  record  as  an 
executive — he  gave  the  Congress  a  slogan 
and  the  government  of  the  United  States 
a  theory  on  economic  and  social  c^uestions. 
All  of  us  can  get  behind  that  doctrine  and 
say  that  it  must  be  accepted  by  the  gov¬ 
ernment  as  final  and  binding.  That  is, 
ours  is  a  government  of  all  the  people. 
Therefore  it  is  the  government  of  capital 
as  well  as  of  labor. 

By  the  same  token,  it  is  the  government 
of  labor  as  well  as  of  capital.  For  this 
reason  Mr.  Scholz’s  theory  is  per¬ 
fectly  sound.  No  government  is  safe 
which  deviates  from  it. 


“Grand  Army  Talk”  in  Coal. 

H.  A.  Kuhn  of  Pittsburgh  has  coined 
a  meaningful  expression.  He  labels  cer¬ 
tain  lines  of  argument  and  certain  tech¬ 
nical  expressions  of  the  trades  and  pro¬ 
fessions  as  “Grand  Army  Talk.” 

For  example,  if  a  doctor  prescribes  com¬ 
mon  salt  under  its  latin  name,  that  is  the 
Grand  Army  talk — the  mystery  stufif — of 
medicine.  If  he  gets  you  to  take  it  and 
to  pay  him  $5.00  for  his  services,  that  is 
making  the  system  good.  If  a  retail  dry 
goods  house  sells  a  woman  three  yards 
and  a  half  of  cotton  made  into  the  form 
of  a  dress  and  persuades  her  to  pay  $25.00 
or  $30.00  for  it  because  she  is  getting 
“lines,”  the  extortion  exacted  in  the  name 
of  “lines”  is  another  case  where  the  Grand 
Army  talk  of  the  dry  goods  trade  is  doing 
yeoman  service.  If  a  man,  who  does  not 
know  anything  about  anything,  holds  a 
position  as  an  official  in  the  mines  be¬ 


cause  he  can  talk  the  jargon  which  pre¬ 
vails  below  ground,  the  discussion  which 
mystifies  but  means  nothing,  is  the  Grand 
Army  talk  of  the  mines.  So  we  might 
go  on  with  the  technicalities  of  the  law, 
of  the  marine  business,  of  banking  and  a 
few  other  things.  We  would  soon  find 
that  the  mystery  which  is  contained  in 
twenty-five  or  fifty  words  of  their  lingo 
is  the  only  thing  which  persuades  the 
Imyer  to  pay  a  big  price  for  mediocre 
service. 

It  may  be  that  coal  prices,  generally, 
are  low  because  coal  men  have  never  had 
the  ingenuity  to  invent  any  Grand  Army 
talk  of  their  own.  There  was  a  chance 
at  one  time  for  the  coal  men  to  surround 
their  business  by  a  choice  variety  of  mys¬ 
tery  talk  and  really  make  some  money  out 
of  it.  A  crowd  of  chemists,  sitting  in 
London,  decided,  in  future,  to  measure 
the  value  of  coal  by  the  British  thermal 
units  it  contained.  That  was  a  golden 
opportunity. 

However,  the  coal  trade  was  not  wise 
enough  or  did  not  have  the  commercial 
gumption  to  grasp  the  opportunity.  In¬ 
stead  of  absorbing  the  B.  t.  u.  basis  and 
of  beginning  to  coin  money  by  springing 
a  line  of  mystery  talk,  the  operators 
fought  even  the  idea.  They  allowed  the 
buyers  of  coal  instead  to  use  it  as  a 
weapon  to  club  the  coal  trade  over  the 
head  with.  The  coal  salesmen  instead  of 
using  it  as  a  scheme  to  boost  the  price, 
used  it  as  an  ingenious  way  to  cut  the 
price.  Thus  the  coal  trade  had  a  beauti¬ 
ful  opportunity  to  get  a  full  line  of  Grand 
Army  talk  and  threw  it  out  of  the  window. 

As  5  result  the  trade  is  on  the  same  old 
basis  it  has  occupied  for  a  century — the 
only  thing  which  attracts  an  order  is  the 
statement :  “I  will  cut  that  fellow’s  price.” 


A  Pertinent  Observation. 

In  a  summary  of  the  British  coal  situ¬ 
ation,  the  Wall  Street  Journal  makes  this 
significant  assertion : 

“The  miners  are  receiving  record  wages 
with  war  bonuses,  are  working  short  time, 
as  they  are  able  to  make  much  in  lessened 
hours.  More  wages  are  thus  decreasing 
production  materially.” 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  England’s  miners, 
instead  of  working  their  full  stint  of  eight 
hours  a  day,  are  making  as  much  money 
as  they  formerly  did  while  working  six 
hours  a  day ;  sometimes  they  work  only 
four  hours  a  day.  That  is,  the  miners  won 
their  increase  in  wages  by  their  statement 
that  the  war  had  increased  the  cost  of 
living.  When  they  got  the  higher  pay, 
however,  they  belied  their  own  plea  of 
poverty  by  curtailing  the  hours  of  work 
so  that  they  now  make  the  same  amount 
as  they  did  at  the  old  rate. 

This  situation  is  not  peculiar  to  Eng¬ 
land  or  to  the  present  minute.  Precisely 
the  same  thing  has  been  seen  in  American 
mines  many  times.  The  miners  in  Amer¬ 
ica  have  declared  that  they  cannot  live  on 
their  wages  and  have  been  given  ad¬ 
vances.  But  when  they  got  the  higher 
rate  they  instantly  lopped  off  their  work¬ 
ing  time  so  that  in  the  end  they  were  mak¬ 
ing  the  same  amount  they  formerly  had 
made.  Thus  the  miner  seems  not  to  be 
interested  in  more  money  but  in  less  work. 
That  is  the  point  that  we  must  all  keep 
in  mind  when  disposed  to  sympathize  too 
much  with  the  “down-trodden”  miner. 


251 


No.  13]  _ THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 

The  Retailer’s  Attitude  Towards  Line  of  Fuels. 


Every  once  in  a  while  the  question  comes 
up:  “VVhar  coal  shall  the  retailer  buy? 

What  arrangement  shall  he  make  with  the 
producing  company?  How  far  shall  he  go 
as  the  advocate  of  the  product  of  a  certain 
producing  company?  What  is  the  correct 
attitude  of  the  retailer  towards  special  agen¬ 
cies?”  and  so  on. 

A.  J.  Bunge,  president  of  Bunge  Bros. 
Coal  Company  of  Chicago,  has  reduced  this 
to  a  simple  formula.  In  substance  he  says : 

“I  am  a  retail  merchant  in  coal.  I  buy  the 
coals  which  I  think  will  sell.  I  try  to  sell 
the  coal  which  I  think  my  customers  can  use 
to  best  advantage.  I  never,  however,  forget 
the  main  point  which  is  that  1  have  my  own 
money  invested  in  this  business.  It  is  my 
money  and  I  have  to  earn  dividends  on  it. 
It  is  my  company  that  is  going 'to  prosper 
or  suffer  if  I  make  or  do  not  make  the  right 
selection  of  coals.  It  is  my  trade  that  is  go¬ 
ing  to  grow  if  I  do  the  right  thing  and  it 
is  my  trade  that  is  going  to  fall  off  if  I  do 
the  wrong  thing.  Therefore,  I  am  not  ad¬ 
vocating  anybody’s  product.  I  am  not  com¬ 
mitting  myself  as  a  representative  of  any  con¬ 
cern  but  my  own.  If  any  producer  wants  to 
acquaint  the  trade  with  his  coal,  he  can  do 
it  at  his  own  expense,  but  not  mine. 

“As  a  merchant  I  have  two  obligations. 
One  of  them  is  to  myself  and  that  is  to  buy 
coal  as  cheaply  as  I  can,  and  sell  it  at  as 
good  a  margin  as  I  can.  That  is  the  obliga¬ 
tion  which  I  owe  to  myself  as  a  business 
man.  The  other  is  the  obligation  to  select, 
out  of  the  numerous  offerings  of  coal  the 
ones  which  will  meet  the  local  conditions  and 
give  the  best  service,  the  price  considered. 
That  does  not  mean  that  any  one  coal  will 
fit  all  requirements,  because  I  know  it  won’t. 
I  must  have  different  coals  to  meet  different 
demands  and  different  tastes.  My  yard  is  a 
sort  of  department  store  in  coal.” 

Mr.  Bunge  has  another  expression  which 
in  detail  tells  how  he  carries  out  his  plan. 
He  says: 

“It  is  a  waste  of  time  and  money  to  put 
a  2:.30  horse  into  a  2:13  race;  but  if  you 
have  a  2:38  horse  and  there  is  a  2:30  race, 
go  to  it.” 

In  other  words,  a  dealer  who  is  a  merchant 
in  coal  is  wasting  both  his  time  and  his 
money  if  he  tries  to  force  an  inferior  coal 
on  his  trade  as  a  substitute  for  some  good 
coal  already  in  use,  especially  if  he  tries 
to  get  a  price  for  the  poor  coal  that  is  be¬ 
ing  charged  for  the  good  coal.  Mr.  Bunge 
does  not  believe  that  'the  average  house¬ 
holder  is  a  mutt  and  will  take  anything  that 
the  retailer  wants  to  hand  on  to  him  regard¬ 
less  of  whether  or  not  it  has  any  merit. 

If  he  wants  to  substitute,  therefore,  a 
cheaper  grade  of  coal  for  one  that  is  already 
in  use,  he  makes  sure  that  the  saving  is  in  freight 
rate,  and  not  in  the  quality.  There  is  one  of 
the  big  points  in  the  whole  Bunge  scheme  of 
buying  and  sellings  coals. 

1-Ie  thinks — to  go  into  details  a  bit — 
that  if  the  coal  costs  .$3.00  at  the  mines 
and  if  the  freight  rate  is  $3.00  he  is 
going  to  have  to  invest  $4.00  in  a  ton  of 


coal  in  order  to  make  whatever  margin  of 
profit  he  thinks  is  right.  If  he  wants,  for 
example,  to  make  twenty-five  cents  a  ton, 
he  has  to  invest  $4.00  to  make  twenty-five 
cents;  his  profit  is  one-sixteenth  of  the 
amount  which  he  puts  up. 

If  he  can  get  a  similar  grade  of  coal  which 
sells  at  the  mine  for  $1.50  and  moves  it  to 
market  at  a  freight  rate  of  $1.00,  he  has  in¬ 
vested  only  $3.50  in  order  to  make  his  twenty- 
five  cents.  Therefore,  the  profit  is  one- 
tenth  of  the  amount  invested.  Thus  he  makes 
a  bigger  percentage  of  profit  on  his  money 
bj'  handling  the  latter  and  not  the  former 
coal. 

However,  as  he  says,  it  is  mighty  poor 
policy  to  try  to  increase  the  percentage  of 
profit  by  trying  to  substitute  a  poor  coal 
for  a  good  one. 

As  illustrating  Mr.  jBunge’s  point  about 
not  becoming  the  special  representative  of 
any  one  particular  producing  company,  he 
has  adopted  for  one  grade  of  bituminous 
coal  the  name  of  “Quaker  Bootless.”  Any 
one  can  look  all  through  the  trade  names 
adopted  by  the  operating  companies  and  find 
no  where  any  reference  to  that  name.  In 
fact,  that  is  a  copyrighted  name  for  the  prod- 


A  Bunge  Bill  Board. 

net  which  moves  out  of  Mr.  Bunge’s  yard 
only.  His  supply  of  this  coal  is  bought  from 
one  of  the  western  operators  whose  product 
is  quite  well  known  under  another  trade 
name.  Mr.  Bunge  could  very  easily  have 
taken  advantage  of  the  advertising  which  the 
producing  company  has  done  extending  over 
a  period  of  years.  However,  if  he  did  that, 
he  would  be  playing  the  other  fellow’s  game. 
He  would  be  committing  himself  to  the  other 
fellow’s  product  for  an  indefinite  period  in 
the  future.  This  might  prove  embarrassing. 

For  example,  the  producing  company  might 
decide  to  deteriorate  the  product.  If  Mr. 
Bunge  was  com.mitted  to  that  coal  by  the  ex¬ 
penditure  of  a  lot  of  money  for  advertising, 
he  would  have  to  pass  on  the  deteriorated 
coal.  This  would  destroy  the  good  will  which 
had  cost  him  so  much  money. 

Also  the  producing  company  might,  at 
some  time,  say: 

“You  have  spent  entirely  too  much  money 


to  abandon  the  use  of  our  coal,  so  we  are 
going  to  advance  the  price  on  you.” 

Mr.  Bunge  would  be  up  against  the  propo¬ 
sition  there  of  either  paying  the  price  de¬ 
manded  or  abandoning  his  investment  for 
good  will. 

He  doesn’t  care  to  commit  himself  to  any 
one  that  far.  So  he  has  given  to  a  coal  of 
a  certain  grade  his  own  name  of  “Quaker 
Sootless.”  A  couple  of  illustrations  herewith 
show  how  he  advertises  that  coal  throughout 
Chicago. 

Being  thus  secure  in  the  fact  that  he  has 
a  long  time  program  which  will  work  out  to 
his  increasing  advantage,  Mr.  Bunge  can  af¬ 
ford  to  spend  more  money  for  good  will  by 
giving  service  to  the  householder.  Thus,  he 
advertises  that  if  this  coal  is  not  satisfactory 
it  will  be  taken  out  and  the  money  refunded, 
no  charge  being  made  for  the  coal  used.  Fie 
has  been  doing  this  for  a  number  of  years, 
and  says  that  on  only  three  occasions  has  it 
been  necessary  for  him  to  take  out  any  kind 
of  coal. 

Further,  he  can  afford  to  b^iy  good  will  by 
giving  such  good  service  as  showing  the 
householder  how  to  use  any  particular  fuel. 
One  incident  will  illustrate  how  he  goes 
about  giving  this  service.  A  woman  who 
had  bought  some  of  his  coal  recently  com¬ 
plained  that  it  would  not  hold  fire  over  night 
and  that  frequently,  when  she  thought  she 
was  going  to  have  a  good  fire  throughout 
the  day,  it  went  out  on  her.  Mr.  Bunge  sent 
out  his  demonstrator  who  soon  discovered 
that  the  whole  trouble  was  in  the  regulation 
of  the  drafts.  That  is,  when  the  woman 
thought  she  had  banked  the  fire  for  the  night, 
she  left  the  draft  on  as  she  would  during 
the  day.  Naturally  the  fuel  bed  was  burned 
out  b}"^  morning.  This  same  thing  had  hap¬ 
pened  during  the  day.  Fie  told  her  how  to 
regulate  the  draft  and  the  trouble  was  ended. 

Another  investment  which  Mr.  Bunge  makes 
in  good  will,  seeing  he  is  so  secure  in  his 
permanent  advantage,  is  that  he  offers  to 
send  any  customer  fifty,  one  hundred,  or  one 
thousand  pounds  of  this  coal  for  trial.  This 
is  just  one  way  of  getting  the  coal  introduced 
in  small  lots  among  customers,  who  under 
ordinary  circumstances  buy  much  larger 
quantities. 

Another  trade  name  which  Mr.  Bun,ge  has 
created  is  “New  Era  Chestnut.”  This  sug¬ 
gests,  at  first,  an  anthracite  coal,  but  it  is 
not.  It  is  a  smokeless  coal  which  Mr.  Bunge 
has  handled  for  several  years.  You  can  also 
look  among  the  trade  names  of  producers  and 
not  find  this  name  mentioned.  It  is  a  copy¬ 
righted  trade  name  of  a  certain  grade  of  coal 
moving  out  of  Mr.  Bunge’s  yards. 

He  found  a  short  while  ago  that  this  coal 
would  work  very  well  in  an  ordinary  hot 
water  heater.  It  was  a  substitute  for  a  coal 
that  ordinarily  sells  at  a  much  higher  price. 
There  the  same  old  practice  was  followed. 
He  substituted  the  coal  that  would  give  equal 
satisfaction,  but  selling  at  a  lower  price  for 
one  that  had  been  selling  at  a  higher  price. 
That  is,  his  substitution  was  in  price  and  not 
in  quality.  He  has  his  demonstrators  out  to 
prove  this  point  also. 

The  other  retailers,  in  other  parts  of  the 
country,  may  not  be  convinced  that  this  in¬ 
dividualistic  campaign  is  a  pronounced  suc¬ 
cess.  However,  Mr.  Bunge  started  with  one 
yard  and  now  has  five.  He  started  with  a 
modest  luisiness,  and  now  he  is  the  largest 
individual  dealer  in  Chicago.  He  started  sell¬ 
ing  anywhere  that  general  advertising  carried, 
but  delivered  the  coal  from  the  yards  of 
other  people.  He  ended  by  letting  his  yards 
follow  his  business  as  his  customers  spread 
to  all  parts  of  Chicago.  Thus  his  individ¬ 
ualistic  campaign  has  won  on  every  point, 
and  he  has  carried  it  on  long  enough  so  that 
It  can  be  recommended  to  any  one. 


In  meetings  at  Fairmont,  Charleston  and  other 
points  in  West  Virginia  the  various  operators’ 
associations  of  that  state  have  denounced  the 
plan  of  proposed  freight  rate  increase  on  West 
Virginia  coal  to  the  west  and  northwest.  The 
Central  West  Virginia  Coal  Operators’  As.socia- 
tion,  the  Kanawha  Coal  Shippers’  Association 
and  the  Splint  and  Gas  Coal  Association  are 
among  those  taking  action.  The  plan  will  be 
vigorously  fought  before  the  Interstate  Com¬ 
merce  Commission,  as  it  is  claimed  that  the  move 
would  be  ruinous  to  West  Virginia  interests  and 
would  close  many  mines. 


At  night— You  fix  your  furnace 
with  a  few  shovels  of 


In  the  morning — 
You  have  a  warm 
house  and  a  live  fire. 


sGoal 


“Burns  clean!”  Abundance  of  heat  for  little  money. 

I — r-v  r — !  I — 1  r~i  ^  i - 1  exclusive 

AGENTS 

Phone  West  1871 


One  of  Bunge  Bros.’  Street  Car  Advertisements. 


252 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[September  25 


Men  Prominent  in  the  Coal  Trade’s  Eye 


News  Local  to  Chicago. 


Reports  from  Washington  this  week  said  that 
the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  had  vacated 
its  order  which  put  the  new  western  rates  in 
effect  on  September  30.  The  report  said  that  the 
rates  were  suspended  for  sixty  days,  within  which 
time  the  commission  would  decide  whether  it 
would  grant  a  rehearing  asked  hy  the  railways 
on  rates  on  some  commodities  and  by  the  oper¬ 
ators  on  rates  on  coal.  Two  railway  officials  in 
Chicago  said  on  Friday  that  this  report  is  in 
error.  Instead,  the  rates  will  take  effect  as  in¬ 
dicated.  On  h'riday,  a  meeting  of  coal  men  and 
railway  officials  was  held  to  see  if  in  some  way 
the  action  of  the  railways  could  be  modified. 

C.  D.  Caldwell  was  in  Cincinnati  this  week. 

Gordon  Buchanan  comments  that  collections  are 
improving. 

J.  K.  Bering  is  spending  the  week  end  on 
his  farm  at  Lake  Villa,  Ill. 

A.  J.  Moorshead,  the  general  manager  of 
the  Madison  Coal  Corporation  of  St.  Louis, 
spent  the  latter  part  of  the  week  calling  on 
the  trade. 

The  Knox  county  Indiana  operators  got  to¬ 
gether  at  Terre  Haute  the  latter  part  of  last 
week  and  formed  an  association  which  will  main¬ 
tain  a  statistical  bureau  similar  to  those  now 
being  maintained  by  the  three  associations  of 
Illinois. 

The  announcement  is  made  by  Colonel  Frank 
Ellison,  general  manager  of  the  C.  G.  Blake  Com¬ 
pany,  that  effective  October  first  H.  M.  Taylor  is 
employed  as  salesman  of  that  company  in  the 
Chicago  territory.  Mr.  Taylor  succeeds  Paul 
James,  who  is  now  traveling  in  the  southeast, 
representing  another  company. 

W.  R.  Kernohan,  western  representative  of  the 
Pocahontas  Coal  Sales  Company,  left  the  latter 
part  of  last  week  for  a  trip  to  San  Francisco 
where  he  will  spend  a  month.  Incidentally  he 
is  going  to  take  in  the  exposition  while  in  the 
west.  He  was  accompanied  by  Mrs.  Kernohan, 
who  is  in  California  to  visit  her  parents. 

W.  J.  Dillon  suggests  that  the  hoof  and  mouth 
disease  is  hurting  the  coast  trade.  That  is, 
whole  farms  are  quarantined.  The  farmers  can¬ 
not  sell  their  produce  or  move  it  to  market. 
Other  farmers  must  make  long  detours  to  avoid 
the  plague  spots.  Thus  traffic  between  town  and 
country  is  stopped  and  the  sale  of  coal  to  farm¬ 
ers  is  nil.  He  thus  proves  his  point. 

One  of  the  visitors  in  Qiicago  the  latter  part 
of  last  week  was  W.  J.  Snyder  of  the  American 
Coal  Mining  Company  with  headquarters  at 
Brazil,  Indiana.  He  is  quite  encouraged  over 
the  outlook  for  coal  from  that  field  for  this 
year  and  believes  that  if  the  operators  can  really 
come  to  an  appreciation  of  what  it  costs  them 
to  produce  coal  and  can  use  that  as  a  basis  for 
prices,  there  will  some  profit  from  the  business. 

The  gossip  in  the  Chicago  trade  for  this  week 
has  concerned  itself  mainly  with  the  status  of 
smokeless  coal  prices.  It  became  common  knowl¬ 
edge  early  in  the  week  that  quite  a  lot  of  mine 
run  was  being  sold  for  $1.25  and  that  some  lump 
and  egg  was  being  sold  for  $1.75,  while  quite  a  lot 
of  it  was  going  at  $2.00.  Those  who  are  inter¬ 
ested  in  this  market  are  trying  to  find  the  cause. 
The  price  cutting  might  have  started  from  either 
one  of  two  things.  Those  who  have  good  mem¬ 
ories,  recall  that  in  1911  some  of  the  eastern 
operators  cut  the  price  on  the  Panama  Railroad 
contract  and  this  resulted  directly  in  a  price 
war  in  Chicago.  Just  recently  the  price  was 
cut  again  on  this  same  contract  and  there  are 
some  who  believe  that  a  situation  is  developing 
in  Chicago  similar  to  that  of  1911.  Others  are 
not  quite  so  sure  that  the  Panama  contract  has 
anything  to  do  with  it.  They  point  out,  in  the 
first  place,  that  quite  a  lot  of  lake  coal  has  been 
sold  below  circular  this  year,  a  fact  which  is 
becoming  known.  Also  the  circular  price  arrange¬ 
ments  were  disturbed  in  August  allowing  the 
retailers  to  fill  up  their  bins  with  cheap  coal. 
Now  that  they  have  bought  all  the  coal  they 
want,  they  are  not  interested  in  paying  a  higher 
price.  There  are  some  in  Gticago  who  believe 
that  the  latter  is  the  real  underlying  influence. 
Whatever  may  be  the  cause,  the  fact  remains 
that  smokeless  prices  arc  off  in  Chicago  for  the 
time  being. 


Homer  H.  Allen. 

The  announcement  has  just  been  made  that 
Homer  H.  .'Mien,  who  has  been  connected  with 
the  Susquehanna  Coal  Company  for  the  last 
twelve  years,  has  been  appointed  sales  agent  for 
W.  A.  Gosline  &  Company  of  Toledo,  Ohio,  with 
headquarters  at  305  Majestic  building,  Detroit, 
Michigan.  He  opened  his  office  on  September  22 
and  will  have  charge  of  the  business  in  the  state 
of  Michigan.  Mr.  Allen  will  have  an  assistant, 
who  will  be  named  at  a  later  date. 

J.  W.  Meyers,  who  has  been  connected  with 
W.  A.  Gosline  &  Company  for  the  last  twelve 
years,  with  headquarters  at  Lafayette,  has  moved 
his  headquarters  to  3048  North  Illinois  street, 
Indianapolis,  and  will  cover  southern  and  central 
Indiana. 

It  is  also  announced  that  C.  O.  Wendell  has 
joined  the  W.  A.  Gosline  sales  force,  this  taking 
effect  September  20,  and  will  make  his  head¬ 
quarters  at  Fort  Wayne,  covering  northern  In¬ 
diana. 

Homer  H.  Allen,  who  becomes  the  head  of  the 
Detroit  office,  is  one  of  the  interesting  salesmen 
in  the  anthracite  field.  He  is  a  bachelor  of 
science  in  chemistry,  having  received  that  degree 
from  the  Penn.sylvania  State  College  in  1897.  In 
1904  he  entered  the  coal  business  with  the  W.  L. 
Scott  Company,  working  for  Clarence  Thompson, 
who  was  then  general  sales  agent.  A  year  later, 
or  in  1905,  he  went  with  the  Susquehanna  Coal 
Company,  of  which  Mr.  Thompson  was  general 
western  agent.  He  has  continued  since  in  that 
capacity. 

Now  he  has  joined  the  force  of  W.  Gosline 
&  Company,  working  under  H.  J.  Heywood,  presi¬ 
dent  of  that  concern.  This  firm  acts  as  dis¬ 
tributing  agents  for  “Old  Company  Lehigh’’  coal, 
produced  by  the  Lehigh  Valley  Coal  &  Navigation 
Company.  It  is,  as  is  known,  the  oldest  anthra¬ 
cite  producer,  having  been  established  in  1820. 


Herbert  M.  Wilson. 

Herbert  M.  Wilson,  director  of  the  Department 
of  Inspection  and  Safety  of  the  Associated  In¬ 
surance  Companies,  formerly  of  the  Bureau  of 
Mines,  is  in  San  Francisco,  September  16  to  25, 
participating  in  the  various  engineering  con¬ 
gresses.  He  will  be  actively  concerned  in  the 
first  aid  and  mine  rescue  demonstrations  and 
contests  of  the  board  of  managers  of  which  he 
is  chairman.  He  is  also  scheduled  to  read  papers 
on  mine  safety  and  on  workmen’s  compensation 
before  the  mining  sections  of  the  International 
Engineering  Congress,  the  American  Mining 
Congress,  and  the  World’s  Insurance  Congress. 

Going  to  and  coming  from  the  Pacific  Coast, 
Mr.  Wilson  will  visit  various  coal  mining  states 
for  the  purpose  of  perfecting  arrangements  for 
inspection  of  mines  for  insurance  by  the  Asso¬ 
ciated  Companies  under  workmen’s  compensa¬ 
tion. 


Thomas  J.  Cossey. 

Thomas  J.  Cossey  is  secretary  of  the  Dan¬ 
ville  (Ill.)  Crystal  Ice  Company.  In  between 
his  jobs  of  handling  ice  in  the  summer  and  coal 
in  the  winter,  Mr.  Cossey  is  something  by  way 
of  an  association  man  connected  with  the  Illi¬ 
nois  &  Wisconsin  Retail  Coal  Dealers’  Associa¬ 
tion.  He  is  a  director  of  that  organization  and 
one  of  its  principal  advisers.  He  has  been  one 
of  the  men  behind  the  guns  in  the  big  organiza¬ 
tion  and  has  been  depended  upon  both  for  work 
and  cash  when  any  common  cause  in  the  coal 
trade  called  for  either.  His  place  of  business 
is  at  No.  106  Washington  avenue,  Danville,  Ill. 

Mr.  Cossey  was  born  at  Gessie,  Ind.,  No¬ 
vember  5,  1880.  He  obtained  his  preliminary 
education  in  the  common  schools  of  Gessie  and 
then  finished  it  off  in  the  school  of  practical 
experience.  One  of  the  jobs  he  has  held  which 
he  puts  down  to  a  part  of  his  educational  ca¬ 
reer  was  that  of  vice-president  of  the  Mer¬ 
chant’s  Credit  Exchange  of  Danville.  There 
he  learned  a  lot  of  things  about  how  to  keep 
money  when  you  have  it  by  not  letting  people 
have  things  when  they  have  neither  the  money 
nor  the  intention  to  pay. 

Mr.  Cossey  is  one  of  the  men  who  did  not 
graduate  into  the  coal  business  from  the  rail¬ 
road.  On  the  contrary,  he  came  to  it  from  the 
farm  where  he  was  born  and  raised.  He  left 
the  farm,  however,  on  December  1,  1900,  or 
when  he  was  just  a  little  past  ten  years  of  age. 
When  he  was  fourteen,  or  on  June  1,  1904,  he 


took  a  position  with  the  Ike  Stern  Company  as 
a  stock-keeper.  A  short  time  thereafter  he  left 
that  concern  to  take  a  position  as  buyer  for  the 
May  Company  of  St.  Louis.  On  the  first  of 
September,  1904,  he  left  the  latter  concern  and 
returned  to  the  Ike  Stern  Company  as  general 
office  man. 

Two  years  later,  having  had  a  training  in 
merchandising,  he  decided  to  go  into  business 
for  himself,  and  organized  the  Cossey  Coal 
Company  in  March,  1906.  This  business  was 
continued  until  1912  when,  in  connection  with 
H.  C.  Dies  of  Clinton,  Ind.,  he  organized  the 
Danville  Crystal  Ice  Company  and  started  in 
to  the  manufacture  of  ice.  The  output  of  their 
plant  now  is  sixty-five  tons  per  day. 

Mr.  Cossey  has  always  been  interested  in  as¬ 
sociation  affairs  and  on  two  occasions  was 
elected  as  vice-president. 


C.  C.  Corey,  a  wholesaler  in  coal  and  coke, 
with  headquarters  in  the  Majestic  building,  De¬ 
troit,  announces  that  in  order  to  handle  the  rap¬ 
idly  increasing  business  in  western  Michigan  to 
better  advantage,  E.  J.  Conroy,  formerly  sales 
agent  for  Castner,  Curran  &  Bullitt,  has  been  ap¬ 
pointed  resident  manager  at  Grand  Rapids,  Mich¬ 
igan. 


Some  Bull  Moose  Miners. 


WiLKESBARRE,  September  22. — From  a  letter 
that  was  published  in  one  of  the  local  papers,  it 
would  appear  that  President  John  P.  White  of 
the  United  Mine  Workers  has  found  that  there 
is  a  “Bull  Moose”  element  in  District  No.  1  that 
needs  a  squelching.^  In  this  letter  he  was  forced 
to  “sit  down  on”  some  of  the  “progressives,”  who 
have  been  mussing  things  up  and  rattling  the 
dry  bones  of  dissatisfaction  in  the  courts.  The 
“progressives,”  through  Thomas  Holton  of  Dor- 
rancetown,  brought  suit  last  Friday  against  Peter 
O’Donnell  of  Wilkesbarre  to  prevent  him  from 
performmg  his  duties  as  executive.  Holton 
charges  that  O’Donnell  was  elected  by  fraud. 

In  reviewing  the  case.  White  has  stated  in  his 
letter  that  such  matters  are  for  whipping  out 
within  the  courts  of  the  organization  of  the 
men  before  redress  is’  sought  in  the  civil  courts. 

Evidently  White  is  yet  to  find  out  that  it  is 
not  all  “beer  and  skittles”  in  holding  the  men 
of  the  hard  coal  regions  in  line. 


In  commenting  on  the  inactivity  of  any  transac¬ 
tion  in  American  co^l  shares  on  the  stock  ex¬ 
change,  the  New  York  Times  in  its  issue  of 
September  21  says;  “Steadfast  among  the  rapidly 
changing  scenes  of  the  stock  market  drama  is  one 
factor  of  stock  exchange  affairs  which  changes 
not  at  all.  That  is  the  bid  price  for  American 
coal  shares.  Day  after  day  and  month  after 
month  it  remains  at  eighty  with  no  offering  fi.gure 
following  it.  It  has  been  so  long — several  years 
at  least — since  there  was  a  transaction  in  Amer¬ 
ican  coal  on  the  exchange  that,  doubtless,  many 
members  do  not  know  what  the  company  is.  The 
company  mines  and  sells  soft  coal  from  extensive 
fields  in  M'est  Virginia,  pays  dividends  of  six  per 
cent  a  year  and  has  paid  large  extras.  There  are 
onff-  60,000  shares  all-told,  all  closely  held,  and  it 
is  not  often  that  sales  occur  in  the  open  market 
outside  the  Exchan.ge.” 


Default  havin,g  been  made  in  the  payment  of 
l)onds  of  the  Branchland  Land  Coal  Company,  a 
West  Virginia  mining  company,  issued  in  1907, 
and  secured  by  a  deed  of  trust  on  the  company’s 
real  estate,  the  Equitable  Trust  Company  of  New 
York  has  advertised  the  property  for  sale  on 
Wednesday,  October  20.  The  bonds  are  for  $150.- 
000,  being  150 — six  per  cent  twenty-year,  first  mort¬ 
gage  gold  bonds,  at  the  denomination  of  $1,000 
each.  The  estimated  value  of  the  property  is 
between  $250,000  and  $300,000. 


It  became  known  this  week  that  the  Sunday 
Creek  Company  is  now  installing  its  six  inch 
screens  in  its  mines  in  the  Hocking  district  and 
very  soon  will  be  offering  six  inch  lump  to  the 
western  trade.  No  circular  has  been  put  out  .so 
far,  but  the  statement  is  made  that  this  coal 
will  sell  at  $1.75  at  the  mines  or  $3.40  delivered 
into  Chicago.-  The  resultant  situation  promises 
to  be  interesting  as  this  coal  will  be  in  competi¬ 
tion,  at  equal  price,  with  three  inch  lump  from 
some  of  the  other  mines  in  the  field. 


No.  13] 


The  Export  Situation. 

Demand  for  export  coal  continues  large,  with 
shippers  being  restricted  in  their  shipments  by 
inadequate  supply  of  vessels.  Large  orders  are 
now  under  negotiation,  principally  for  European 
.shipment  that  are  delayed  in  consummation  due 
to  the  uncertainty  of  vessels,  or  the  inability 
to  arrange  charters  to  cover  the  tonnages  that 
figure  in  the  contract. 

Alost  offers  want  c.  i.  f.  bids,  and  there  are 
l)ut  a  precious  few  of  the  American  exporters 
who  want  to  take  chances  on  transportation  under 
present  conditions. 

The  rumor  pul)lished  last  week  that  France  had 
placed  an  order  for  2,000,000  tons  with  American 
shippers,  so  far  lacks  confirmation.  Also,  it 
has  not  been  possible  to  locate  the  source  of  an 
inquiry  this  week  for  “1,500,000  tons  of  Poca¬ 
hontas.” 

Some  business  is  closing  though,  all  the  time, 
and  shipments  are  going  forward  in  fairly  large 
volume. 

A  small  lot  of  anthracite  has  been  shipped  to 
Greece.  This  consisted  of  some  nut  and  egg. 
There  have  been  some  queries  from  France 
and  other  European  countries,  but  so  far 
no  anthracite  is  known  to  have  been  shipped  to 
any  of  them. 

Prices  of  New  River  and  Pocahontas  at  Hamp¬ 
ton  Roads  are  firm  at  $2.8.5  f.  o.  b.  At  Baltimore 
and  Philadelphia,  the  high  grade  coals  are  much 
firmer. 


The  Welsh  Coal  Situation. 

Latest  mail  advices  from  Cardiff  show  that 
the  coal  trade  has  been  greatly  disorganized 
l)oth  by  strikes  of  miners  and  the  uncertainty 
which  prevails  as  to  the  settlement.  Also  ex¬ 
porting  is  still  hampered  by  the  restriction  placed 
i)y  the  government  in  issuing  licenses.  Further 
restriction  has  been  placed  upon  exports  by  the 
admiralty,  which  issued  an  order  prohiliiting  the 
sailing  of  British  and  allied  vessels  for  forty- 
eight  hours,  and  this  restriction  it  appears  in 
the  case  of  Cardiff,  has  been  continued  beyond 
that  period.  The  delay  in  chartering  has  been 
due  to  the  fact  that  ship  owners  have  been  un¬ 
willing  to  tie  up  their  boats  when  there  was  an 
uncertainty  as  to  when  they  would  be  allowed 
to  proceed.  Shipments  for  the  last  week  re¬ 
ported  from  Cardiff  amount  to  348,022'  tons, 
compared  with  204,809  tons  in  the  corresponding 
week  of  last  year.  It  should  be  borne  in  mind 
that  the  comparison  with  the  corresponding  week 
of  last  year,  was  during  a  period  when  the  trade 
was  greatly  disturbed  over  the  outbreak  of  the 
war,  and  shipping  being  greatly  perturbed  be¬ 
cause  of  the  fact  that  the  seas  at  that  time  were 
not  thoroughly  cleared  of  the  enemy’s  warships. 
Prices  have  been  irregular.  Best  Admiralties  are 
still  being  taken  by  the  government ;  superior  sec¬ 
onds  range  from  24s  to  26s,  and  ordinaries  at 
22s  to  24s.  Monmouthshire  coals  are  easy,  best 
Black  Veins  selling  at  24s  to  24s  6d ;  Western 
\’alleys  at  23s  and  Easterns  at  21s  to  2'Os.  Small 
coals  were  weaker  owing  to  the  inadequate  sup- 
l)ly  of  tonnage.  Best  bunkers  were  offered  at 
18s  and  19s;  ordinaries  at  16s  6d  to  17s  fid. 


Baltimore  Coal  Exports. 

Official  statement  of  bituminous  coal  exported 
from  the  port  of  Baltimore  during  the  month 
of  August,  1915; 

Countries —  Tons. 

France  . • .  r>,445 

(jreece  .  4,407 

Italy  .  87.547 

Spain  .  8,741 

Sweden  .  36,507 

I^anama  . .  3,123 

(Til)a  .  17,3)7 

Arj?entine  .  21,349 

Hrazil  .  4,056 

(”olomI)ia  .  2,600 

Kciiador  .  6,019 

I'ruguay  .  3,335 

Fgypt  .  10,214 

210,760 


Welsh  Freight  Rates. 

b'ixtiires  from  Cardiff  for  the  week  ending 
September  lOtli  liave  l)een  as  follows:  To  Bor¬ 
deaux,  26  fcs. :  Civita  Vecchia,  31s  9d ;  Genoa, 
29s  6(1  to  31.s;  Las  Palmas,  17s;  Lisbon,  18s  6cl 
to  I9.s;  Marseilles,  32  and  .3:!  fcs.;  Naples,  29s 
to  30s;  Port  Said,  .'i2s  and  32s  6d ;  Rouen,  Ifis  9d 
and  17s;  Rosario,  25s  fid. 

b'ixtures  from  the  Tyne  for  the  same  period 
were  as  follows:  To  Boulogne,  16s  fid  and  23s; 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


Genoa,  30.s  and  30s  fid;  Lisbon,  22's  fid;  Las 
Palmas,  21s;  Rouen,  17s  9d  to  21s;  Savona,  30s 
and  30s  fid. 


Recent  Coal  Freight  Charters. 

Steamer  I.  P,  Jasteen  (Dan.),  Virginia  to  Buenos 
Aires,  coal,  33s,  prompt. 

Barks  Socotra  (Nor.),  Briar  (Nor.),  Kalliope  (Nor.) 
and  Finland  (Russ.),  Philadelphia  to  Pernambuco  or 
Rio  de  Janeiro,  coal,  $6.25.  “October.” 

Schooner  Dorothy,  Norfolk  to  Pernambuco,  coal,  $0.50. 
“September.” 

Steamer  Osterland  (Br.),  Baltimore  to  Swedeh,  coal, 
private  terms. 

Steamer  Lysefjord  (Nor.),  Baltimore  to  Sagua,  coal, 
private  terms. 

Steamer  Linda  Fell  (Br.),  Philadelphia  to  Havana, 
coal,  private  terms. 

Steamer  Northern  (Br.),  Philadelphia  to  Marseilles, 
coal,  private  terms. 

Steamer  Dowgate  (Br.),  Virginia  to  La  Plata,  coal, 
33s  Gd.  “September-October.” 

Schooner  Dorothy,  Norfolk  to  Pernambuco,  coal,  $7. 
“October.” 

Schooner  Annie  Lord,  Philadelphia  to  Moncton,  N.  B., 
450  tons  coal,  $1.70. 

Schooner,  James  II.  I-oyt,  Philadelphia  to  Calais,  725 
tons  coal,  $1.30. 

Steamer  Modiva  (Nor.),  Philadelphia  to  Guatanamo, 
coal,  private  terms. 

Schooner  Henry  S.  Little,  Baltimore  to  Point-a-pitre, 
1,600  tons  coal,  $3.75. 

Schooner  Warren  Adams,  Philadelphia  to  Labucoa,  P. 
R..  coal,  $4. 

Steamer  Dionyssios  Strathatos  (Greek),  Atlantic  range 
to  west  coast  Italy,  coal,  43s  6d,  “prompt.” 

Schooner  Florence  Creadick,  Philadelphia  to  Cardenas, 
1,200  tons  coal,  private  terms. 


English  Coal  Exports. 

Exports  of  coal,  coke  and  manufactured  fuel 
from  the  United  Kingdom  during  August  and 
the  first  completed  eight  months  of  1913,  1914 


and  1915: 

.\ug., 

Aug., 

Aug., 

Country. 

1913. 

1914 

1915. 

Russia  . 

769,794 

169,353 

5,923 

Sweden  . 

379,47.5 

198.347 

135,875 

Norway  . 

154,887 

253,467 

260,812 

Denmark  . 

248,746 

243,019 

320,754 

798,177 

132,026 

Netherlands  . 

168,862 

165,296 

212,381 

148,132 

31  727 

France  . 

946,378 

562,783 

1,542,530 

Portugal,  Azores  and 

Madeira  . 

9.5,924 

77,729 

71, n7 

Spain  and  Canaries... 

259,847 

172,578 

162,800 

Italy  . 

665,618 

444,779 

419,810 

Austria-Hungary  . 

64,286 

17,602 

(Jreece  . 

36,080 

29,353 

9,819 

23,283 

14,347 

Turkey  . 

24^787 

41,450 

3,767 

Algeria  . 

116,754 

28,647 

56,083 

Portuguese  W.  Africa. 

13,390 

15,013 

8,681 

Chile  . 

21,039 

17,720 

2,611 

Brazil  . 

111,504 

48,983 

52,429 

Uruguay  . 

72,006 

39,103 

i9,m 

Argentine  Republic.  .  .  . 

290,741 

98,344 

130,576 

Channel  Islands . 

16,004 

11,354 

12,998 

Gibraltar  . 

29,161 

15,544 

39,768 

Malta  . 

39,292 

19,418 

9.230 

Egypt  (including  An- 

glo-Egyptian  Sudan) . 

196,796 

161,645 

140,462 

Aden  and  Dependencies 

17,684 

British  India  . 

10,057 

1,646 

5 

7,037 

5,232 

Other  countries  . 

93;421 

54,141 

24,416 

Total — 

Anthracite  . 

231,590 

106,210 

137,163 

Steam  . 

4.197,809 

2,078,754 

2,516,658 

Gas  . 

962,574 

668,454 

710,512 

Household  . 

137,375 

85,660 

125,470 

Otlier  sorts  . 

289,814 

131,664 

160,669 

5,819,162 

3,070,742 

3,650,472 

Coke  . 

113,423 

68,498 

89,574 

Manufactured  fuel  .  . . 

140,278 

70,159 

113,748 

6,072,863 

3,209,399 

3,853,794 

‘first 

EIGHT  MONTHS. 

Total — 

Anthracite  . 

1,934,680 

1,722,152 

1 .537,429 

Steam  . 

31,926,928 

21,285,770 

Gas  . 

7,587,554 

7,535,840 

4,995,210 

Household  . 

1,160,811 

975,974 

743,436 

Other  sorts  . 

2,349,201 

2,096,267 

1,154,520 

Total  . 

48,320,608 

44,257,161 

29,522,179 

('oke  . 

712,698 

694,061 

576,218 

Manufactured  fuel  -  • . 

1,363,324 

1,324,9.17 

1,165,114 

50,396,630 

46,276,159 

30,962,900 

Note. — The  above  figures  do  not  include  Admiralty  and 
certain  other  shipments. 


Export  Trade  Briefs. 

English  coal  exporters  are  having  their  troubles 
in  securing  licenses,  as  witness  the  Colliery 
Guardian  of  London,  in  its  issue  of  September 
3rd :  “.A.t  Wednesday’s  meeting  of  the  council 
of  the  Newcastle  Chamber  of  Commerce,  the 
secretary,  Mr.  Herbert  Shaw,  criticised  the  ad¬ 
ministration  of  the  War  Trade  Department,  and 
gave  the  following  instance  of  its  inefficiency  : — 
On  July  ()th,  a  Newcastle  firm  made  ajtplication 
for  a  license.  On  the  7tli,  the  application  was 
acknowledged,  but  nothing  further  was  heard  of 
it  until  July  2'4tli,  when  the  War  Trade  Depart¬ 
ment  asked  for  a  guarantee  as  to  the  consignee, 


253 


and  also  whether  the  consignment  had  the  ap¬ 
proval  of  the  neutral  minister  of  London.  On 
.August  3d,  the  guarantee  was  sent,  and  nothing 
further  was  heard  until  the  19th,  when  the  firm 
put  in  another  application,  the  second  repeating 
all  the  particulars  contained  in  the  first  and,  in 
addition,  the  actual  name  of  the  boat  in  which 
it  was  proposed  to  ship  the  cargo.  That  was 
acknowledged  on  the  20th,  and,  on  August  21st, 
the  War  Trade  Department  wrote  a  long  letter 
asking  for  the  same  information  which  had  been 
sought  on  July  24th,  and  had  been  sent  to  them 
on  August  3cl.  They  had,'  therefore,  had  this 
information  in  their  possession  three  weeks.  The 
business  was  not  yet  transacted.  Mr.  Thaw  de¬ 
clared  that  there  were  thousands  of  reply-paid 
wires  lying  unanswered  .at  the  War  Trade  De¬ 
partment,  which  was  good  for  the  revenue,  but 
bad  for  those  who  sent  them.” 

France’s  railways  and  industries  are  appar¬ 
ently,  being  favored  as  much  as  possible  by  Eng- 
lancl  as  regards  supplies  of  coal.  The  Colliery 
Guardian  of  London  in  its  issue  of  September  3d, 
says;  “The  Etat  Railway  has  accomplished  a 
splendid  feat  in  bringing  coal  to  the  most  im¬ 
portant  state  industries  in  France.  Evoking  the 
Alliance,  an  emissary  of  the  railway  was  able 
to  obtain  two  million  tons  of  coal  from  the 
British  Admiralty  on  “the  most-favored-nation” 
terms.  The  Admiralty  event  lent  ships  to  con¬ 
vey  the  precious  freight  to  France.  The  whole 
of  the  consignment  is  now  resting  in  France, 
the  major  part  in  great  stacks  which  have  been 
formed  at  various  points.  To  these  stacks  come 
the  military  and  naval  authorities  who  have  need 
of  the  combustible  for  purposes  of  national  de¬ 
fense.  After  the  munitions  factories  come  the 
gas  and  electricity  corporations  and  the  munic¬ 
ipalities.  In  consequence  of  this  provision  a  con¬ 
siderable  diminution  in  the  price  of  coal  is 
anticipated.  The  present  figure  to  the  private 
consumer  in  Paris  is  as  high  as  $20  per  ton.” 

A  London  cable  on  September  18th  said  that 
unless  Sweden  is  willing  to  grant  concessions  to 
Britain  in  order  that  certain  shipments  can  be 
sent  through  Sweden  to  Russia,  there  will  he 
a  continued  embargo  against  Sweden  by  Great 
Britain.  This  policy  is  now  taking  the  form  of 
withholding  coal.  The  cable  said  that  Sweden  is 
desirous  of  getting  concessions,  but  up  to  the 
present  has  been  unwilling  to  grant  them.  Sweden 
needs  coal  liadly.  Great  Britain  considers  coal 
rather  a  precious  article  just  now,  but  there 
would  he  enough  to  spare  Sweden  some  should 
she  have  a  change  of  heart.  Monday’s  cables  told 
of  a  loan  by  Sweden  to  Germany  of  $10,000,000 
in  return  for  Germany’s  consent  to  export  coal 
and  other  commodities  to  Sweden. 

During  August  3,853,794  tons  of  coal,  coke  and 
manufactured  f,uel  were  exported  from  the  United 
Kingdom  at  a  value  of  3,471,990  pounds,  as  com¬ 
pared  with  3,209,399  tons,  valued  at  2,132,329 
pounds,  in  August,  1914,  and  6,072,863  tons,  val¬ 
ued  at  4,242,381  pounds  in  August,  1913.  The 
aggregate  exports  during  the  period  January  to 
.August  reached  30,962,900  tons,  valued  at  25- 
454,699  pounds,  as  against  46,276,159  tons,  valued 
at  31,863,624  pounds,  and  50,396,630  tons,  valued 
at  35,201,466  pounds,  in  the  corresponding  periods 
respectively  of  1914  and  1913. 

For  the  first  six  months  of  1915,  England  pro¬ 
duced  127,826,000  tons  of  coal,  as  compared  with 
140,274,000  tons  for  the  same  period  of  1914, 
a  decrease  of  12,448,000  tons.  For  the  first  half 
year  ending  June,  1913,  the  output  was  145,923,000 
tons,  for  the  half  year  ending  December  31,  1913, 
141,489,000  tons.  For  the  first  six  months  of  this 
year,  Wales  produced  26,111,000  tons,  as  com¬ 
pared  with  28,316,000  tons  in  the  same  period  of 
1914. 


The  Panther  Run  Coal  Company  of  Pardus, 
Pa.,  is  preparing  to  open  the  Pardus  mine  this 
month  on  account  of  the  increasing  demand  for 
bituminous  coal,  and  within  a  few  weeks  it  is  ex¬ 
pected  to  he  running  at  full  capacity.  The  output 
when  last  operated,  was  about  500  tons  a  day. 
The  mine  was  at  one  time  controlled  l)y  B.  F. 
Cartwright  of  Buffalo,  who  afterward  went  into 
silver  minin.g  at  Cobalt. 


I'lic  llutcliinson  Hawk  Company,  has  pur¬ 
chased  the  yards  of  P.  A.  Spracklen  (de¬ 
ceased)  in  Trenton,  N.  J.,  and  will  continue 
the  luisiiiess  under  the  new  firm  name.  .An¬ 
other  transfer  of  coal  yard  l)usiness  was  tlie 
sale  of  the  P.  J.  Fppclc  retail  interests  to 
llar\ey  Reading.  Mr.  Reading  was  chief  clerk 
for  Fppele  for  many  years.  Tlie  annual  turn 
over  of  these  yards  is  al)OUt  10,000  tons. 


Facts  Which  Determine  Our  Export  Prospects. 


254 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[September  25 


General  Review. 

Re-adjustment  in  Coal  to  Accommodate  a 
Larger  Tonnage  Is  Being  Effected 
— Prices  Tend  Upward. 

W'ithin  the  last  week  the  coal  trade,  in  a  na¬ 
tional  sense,  passed  into  its  most  interesting  stage 
of  the  year.  Up  to  now  the  trade  has  been  con¬ 
cerned  mostly  with  getting  better  prices  than  pre¬ 
vailed  during  the  summer  months  on  rather  a 
moderate  volume  of  Imsiness.  In  the  last  week 
or  ten  days,  however,  the  volume  of  l)usiness  has 
gained  considerable  in  every  department.  This 
has  necessitated  that  the  operating  companies 
change  their  policies  and  they  increased  their  out¬ 
put  considerably. 

The  decision  to  increase  the  output  seems  to 
have  been  made  concurrently  in  about  all  the  pro¬ 
ducing  fields.  The  last  week,  theretore,  has  seen 
speeding  up  of  mine  production  in  nearly  every 
di.strict.  As  a  consequence,  there  has  been,  at 
times,  exhibitions  of  price  uncertainty  in  most  of 
the  leading  coal  centers.  However,  it  is  an  en¬ 
couraging  factor  that  this  radical  readjustment 
did  not  disturb  prices  for  more  than  a  week  or 
ten  days  at  the  outside.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the 
rearrangement  of  market  prices  has  been  about 
completed  and  now  the  operators  are  doing  a  bet¬ 
ter  volume  of  business  and  also  are  getting  better 
prices  than  they  were. 

A  first  rate  example  of  this  change  comes  from 
the  west.  The  Illinois  operators  made  two  suc¬ 
cessive  advances  in  prices.  The  first  one  came  in 
August  and  the  second  one  in  September.  The 
mines,  at  the  time  the  first  increase  was  declared, 
were  running  to  about  fifty  per  cent  of  capacity. 
Today  they  are  getting  tlie  better  prices  while 
running  to  about  eighty  per  cent  of  capacity. 
This,  everything  considered,  is  decidedly  encour¬ 
aging. 

.Also  in  the  east  the  mines  for  a  time  were 
charging  higher  prices  while  running  to  only  fifty 
per  cent  of  capacity.  This  is  known  to  be  true 
in  the  smokeless  coal  field.  Today  the  mines  are 
running  full  and  yet  there  has  been  only  a  tem¬ 
porary  disturbance  in  the  general  price  basis. 

One  of  the  most  hopeful  indications  of  the 
trade  is  that  the  steam  business,  especially  in  the 
east,  has  been  increasing  quite  rapidly.  There  was 
a  disposition  to  fear,  at  first,  that  the  excessive 
activity  of  the  steel  mills  in  supplying  war  orders 
for  war  munitions  would  act  as  a  blockade  to  the* 
return  of  prosperity  at  home.  That  is,  it  was 
feared  that  the  producers  of  steel  would  get  such 
fancy  prices  for  their  product  abVoad  they  would 
not  he  willing  to  sell  at  anything  like  a  fair  price 
to  consumers  at  home.  It  was  feared,  therefore, 
that  the  high  steel  prices  would  blockade  the  re¬ 
turn  of  prosperity  to  home  factories. 

However,  the  best  improvement  in  demand  re¬ 
cently  has  come  from  the  east,  which  is,  after  all, 
the  biggest  consumer  of  steel.  This  demand  has 
come  not  from  abroad,  but  from  eastern  mills  and 
factories.  This  is  taken  to  indicate  that  while 
the  steel  mills  are  doing  a  tremendous  business  in 
war  munitions,  they  are  not  letting  this  interfere 
with  home  business.  Instead,  they  are  continuing 
to  adopt  their  old  policy  of  separating  their 
foreign  from  their  domestic  price  policies. 

As  a  matter  of  detail,  in  the  market  in  the  east 
there  is  a  big  increase  in  anthracite  orders,  the 
dealers  buying  as  the  winter  months  approach. 
In  that  section  there  has  been,  generally,  a  good 
demand  for  steam  coal  and  an  especially  heavy 
demand  for  slack  for  coke  making.  In  the  mid¬ 
dle  district,  there  has  been  a  good  demand  from 
retailers  for  domestic  coal,  a  fair  shipment  of 
coal  up  the  lakes,  and  a  steady  increase  in  orders 
for  steam  coal  from  factories.  In  the  west,  do¬ 
mestic  orders  are  increasing,  but  preference  is  ex¬ 
pressed  for  the  western  coals.  While  a  fair 
volume  of  business  is  being  done  in  some  eastern 
domestic  fuels,  both  prices  and  tonnage  for  this 
week  are  disappointing,  with  one  or  two  excep¬ 
tions.  In  the  east  the  increase  in  tonnage  is  being 
gained  at  something  like  a  sacrifice  of  price,  but 
this,  as  indicated,  is  a  temporary  matter. 

Everything  considered,  the  national  market  is 
in  first-class  condition,  due  to  the  fact  that  a 
very  large  volume  of  coal  is  being  turned  out 
and  the  prices  are  holding  quite  firm. 

In  the  east  the  car  situation  is  becoming  an¬ 
noying  and  as  one  writer  puts  it,  the  mines  are 
being  put  on  .short  rations  of  cars.  .Also,  in  the 
east,  the  labor  situation  is  annoying  because  the 
mines  are  all  finding  themselves  short  of  workers. 


Chicago  Market. 


The  Buying  of  Western.  Coal  Continues 
to  Improve — Eastern  Coal 
Is  Easier. 


Office  of  The  Bl.\ck  Diamond, 
Chicago,  September  23. 

There  is  a  clear  and  well  defined  dividing 
line  in  the  Chicago  market  this  week.  East¬ 
ern  coals  are  easier  and  in  fact  soft  with  one 
or  two  exceptions.  Western  coals  are  firm  and 
stronger  with  no  exception. 

There  is  another  difference  also.  Domestic 
coals  are  in  demand  and  steam  coals  are  not 
quite  so  strong,  largely  because  production  has 
increased  without  there  being  any  corresponding 
increase  in  demand. 

The  car  situation  is  not  bothersome  except  in 
spots.  Collections  are  better,  the  improvement 
in  that  direction  being  marked. 

Generally  speaking,  the  buying  from  the  cities 
is  active;  the  country  trade  is  not  satisfactory 
for  many  reasons. 

Anthracite  coal  has  had  a  lull  within  the  week. 
As  one  agent  put  it :  “There  was  a  bulge  for 
a  time,  but  now  there  has  come  a  reaction.”  In 
part  this  is  easily  accounted  for.  The  weather 
was  threatening  for  a  while,  then  turned  cold. 
Those  who  had  no  coal  had  to  buy  some;  that 
accounts  for  the  recent  spurt  in  demand.  Then 
the  weather  turned  warm  and  buying  stopped. 
That  accounts  for  the  lull. 

Smokeless  coal  has  been  far  from  satisfactory. 
Whether  it  is  the  result  of  a  low  price  made  on 
a  big  tonnage  in  the  east,  or  whether  it  is  the  re¬ 
sult  of  a  local  situation  in  Chicago  in  August, 
it  is  now  a  fact  that  the  market  is  soft.  Cir¬ 
cular  price  on  mine  run  for  example  is  $1.40,  but 
quite  a  lot  of  good  coal  can  be  had  for  $1.35. 
Circular  price  on  lump  and  egg  is  $2.25,  but  any 
dealer  can  get  almost  any  amount  he  wants  for 
$3.00  and  some  coals  are  sold  for  as  low  as 
$1.75.  The  low  prices  on  lump  and  egg  are  no 
doubt  the  direct  result  of  the  better  demand  for 
slack.  The  prices  up  to  Thursday  were : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Smokeless—  Chicago.  Mines. 

.Mine  run . $3.3n@3.46  $1.25@1.4n 

Lump  and  egg .  4.05@4.30  2.00@2.25 

Not  a  great  deal  of  Somerset  County  coal  has 
been  sold  within  the  week.  The  market  there 
is  only  fair.  Naturally,  with  smokeless  prices 
off,  Somerset  county  operators  cannot  get  a  high 
figure.  For  this  reason  $1.15  to  $1.25  is  a  good 
price.  The  prices  up  to  Thursday  were : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Somerset  County —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Mine  ru.n  . $3.20@3.30  $1.15@1.2h 

Lump  and  egg .  3.70@4.0o  I.65@3.00 

The  dealers  are  buying  the  Hocking  coal  now 
that  they  should  have  bought  in  August.  That 
naturally  makes  the  market  quite  strong.  In 
addition,  some  mines  are  closed  down  for  repairs 
and  others  are  changing  from  small  to  large 
screens.  These  two  things  shorten  the  supply 
of  coal.  The  prices  also  are  varied.  Some  op¬ 
erators  are  adhering  to  $1.50;  others  are  asking 
and  getting  $1.75  for  three  inch  lump.  The 
prices  up  to  Thursday  were ; 

F.  p.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Hocking —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Domestic  lump . $3.15@3.40  $1.50@1.75 

Splint  coal  on  the  whole  has  been  stronger 
liecause  of  better  demand  in  other  directions. 
Still,  with  the  market  on  other  eastern  coals  de¬ 
moralized,  the  operators  have  found  it  difficult 
to  advance  prices.  Those  prevailing  up  to  Thurs¬ 
day  are  unchanged  as  follows: 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Kanawha —  Chicago.  Mines. 

154inch  'ump . $3.05@3.15  $1.15@1.25 

The  market  on  eastern  Kentucky  coal  is  indi¬ 
cated  by  the  price  on  domestic  lump  which  in¬ 
cludes  block.  One  producer  is  about  sold  up 
at  $2.35 ;  another  has  quite  a  run  of  orders  at 
$2.05 ;  another  concern  is  doing  a  peddling  busi¬ 
ness  at  $1.90  or  less.  All  told,  the  volume  of 
business  is  fair.  The  prices  up  to  Thursday  were: 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Eastern  Kentucky —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Domestic  lump . $3.r)5@4.15  $1.75@2.2.') 

Egg  .  3.25@3.75  1.35@1.85 

In  the  main,  the  Franklin  county  situation  is 
unchanged  from  last  week.  The  major  opera¬ 
tors  are,  on  lump,  egg,  and  number  one  nut, 
adhering  to  circular  of  $1.75  in  the  country. 
However  offerings  at  $1.60  are  heard  here  and 
there.  The  market  on  screenings  covers  a  pretty 
wide  range.  The  major  operators  are  quoting 
sixty  cents  in  Chicago  and  seventy  cents  in  the 


country.  Other  operators  are  quoting  fifty  cents 
in  Chicago  and  sixty  cents  in  the  country.  Some 
big  blocks  of  screenings  have  been  sold  at  all 
of  these  prices.  The  prices  up  to  Thursday 

were : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Franklin  County—  Chicago.  Mines. 

Lli'i'P  . $2.65@2.80  $1.60@1.75 

I'-gg  .  2.65@2.8()  1.60@1.7o 

«o.  1  nut .  2.65@2.80  1.00@1.75 

No.  2  nut .  2.45  1.40 

Mine  run .  2.15@2.20  1.10(ai.l5 

2-inch  screenings .  1.55(®1.65  .50@  .60 

The  William.son  county  operators  have  been 
quoting  the  same  variability  of  prices  heretofore 
noted.  The  major  operators  are  holding  for  $1.75 
and  getting  it.  The  others  are  asking  $1.60  for 
the  domestic  sizes  and  some  of  them  are  accept¬ 
ing  $1.50.  The  small  sizes  are  easy  because  of 
the  general  tendency  to  over-produce  the  steam 
demand.  The  prices  up  to  Thursday  were : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Williamson  County —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Lump  . ?2.65@2.80  $1.60  01.75 

Egg  .  2.6502.80  1.6001.75 

No,  1  washed .  2.6502.80  1.75 

No.  2  washed .  2.45  1.40 

A  fair  range  of  price  on  Saline  county  domestic 
coal  would  be  from  $1.60  to  $1.75.  This  is  so  de¬ 
spite  the  fact  that  the  operators  are  trying  to 

maintain  the  circular  of  $1.75.  What  is  true  of 

Saline  county  is  true  of  all  three  of  the  south¬ 
ern  counties,  namely,  the  operators  have  been 
increasing  their  output,  but  have  been  doing  so 
at  an  occasional  sacrifice  of  price.  That  is,  the 
mines  that  were,  a  short  time  ago,  running  to 
fifty  per  cent  capacity,  are  now  running  from 
seventy-five  to  eighty  per  cent.  Saline  county 
screenings  are  fairly  strong  from  sixty  to  seventy 
cents,  the  former  price  being  for  Chicago  de¬ 
livery  only.  The  prices  up  to  Thursday  were : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Saline  County—  Chicago.  Mines. 

Lump  . $2.65@2.80  $1.60@1.75 

Mine  run .  2.20  1.16 

Screenings  .  l.G5@1.75  .60@  .70 

Ik* -inch  lump .  2.35  1.30 

Central  Illinois  coal  has  been  fairly  firm  as  to 

all  sizes  except  screenings.  A  little  cutting  on 
the  egg  coal  price  has  been  seen  here  and  there. 
However,  the  operators  have  more  nearly  re¬ 
tained  the  circular  than  have  those  in  any  other 
part  of  the  country.  Screenings  have  been  easy. 
Prices  from  thirty-five  to  forty  cents  would  just 
about  cover  what  is  being  done  generally.  The 
prices  up  to  Thursday  were : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Springfield—  Chicago.  Mines. 

Lump  .  $2.47  $1.65 

Egg  .  2.32@2.47  1.50@1.65 

Nut  .  2.47  1.65 

Mine  run .  1.87  1.05 

Screenings  .  1.17@1.22  .35@  .40 

Knox  county  domestic  coal  prices  have  not 

changed.  The  operators  are  serving  a  territory 
close  to  the  mines  and  are  not  putting  much  of 
this  coal  on  the  Chicago  market.  Screenings, 
of  course,  have  eased  off,  but  not  so  much  so 
as  some  other  coals.  The  prices  up  to  Thurs¬ 
day  were : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Knox  County —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Lump  .  $2.37  $1.50 

Egg  .  2.37  1.50 

Mine  run .  1.87  1.05 

Screenings  .  1.52  .65 

In  the  Clinton  field,  the  number  four  vein  coal 
alone  is  going  to  the  domestic  trade.  This  is 
liringing  $1.65  to  $1.75.  The  number  five  and 
number  six  vein  coal  is  devoted  to  the  steam 

trade  and  the  prices  there  are  a  little  lower, 
screenings  commanding  about  sixty  to  sixty-five 
cents.  The  prices  up  to  Thursday  were : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Clinton — •  Chicago.  Mines. 

No.  4  domestic  lump . $2.42@2.57  $1.63@1.7.) 

No.  4  egg..... .  2.12  1.35 

Nut  .  2.12  1.35 

Mine  run .  1.87  1.10 

Screenings  .  1.37@1.42  .60@  .65 

The  coke  market  has  firmed  up  somewhat  with¬ 
in  the  last  week  for  the  furnace  and  foundry 

grades.  There  is  something  of  a  shortage  of 

western  cokes  and  the  eastern  operators  may  soon 
find  a  market  here  again.  Domestic  sizes  have 

not  been  so  strong.  The  prices  up  to  Thurs¬ 

day  were : 

F.  O.  B. 

Coke —  Chicago. 

Connellsville  . $4.85@5.00 

By-product,  foundry .  4.90@6.10 

By-product,  egg  and  stove .  4.75 

By-product,  nut  .  4.75 

Gas  house  .  3.85@4.00 


The  Berwind  coal  dock  at  Duluth  has  just  set 
another  unloading  record  by  unloading  the 
steamer  J.  H.  Sheadle  of  10,350  tons  of  bitumi¬ 
nous  coal  from  the  time  she  tied  up  at  the  dock, 
1  p.  m.,  and  when  she  cast  loose  at  9  that 
night. 


No.  13] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


255 


Pittsburgh  Trade. 

Domestic  Buyers  Are  Beginning  to  Cover 
Their  Needs,  but  Halt  Over 
the  Firm  Prices. 


Office  of  The  Black  Diamond, 
Oliver  Building, 

Pittsburgh,  September  23. 

Unquestionably  the  market  is  dominated  by  the 
war.  It  dominates  the  steel  and  iron  trade,  and 
on  these  hinges  almost  all  other  lines  and  par¬ 
ticularly  coal  and  coke.  With  continued  heavy 
Imying  of  war  materials,  however,  domestic  buy¬ 
ers  are  beginning  to  awake  to  their  own  inter¬ 
ests,  and  requirements,  but  are  at  the  same  time 
hesitating,  owing  to  firmness,  and  advancing  prices. 
The  coal  trade  firmly  believe  that  unless  domes¬ 
tic  consumers  protect  themselves  very  soon  they 
will  have  overstayed  opportunity.  The  heavy  de¬ 
mand  that  the  large  steel  and  iron  trade  are  ex¬ 
acting  now,  on  their  coal  contracts  is  keeping 
many  of  the  larger  mine  operators  very  busy  ship¬ 
ping  their  requirements,  and  holdin.g  prices  very 
firm,  the  tendency  being  toward  advances — all 
along.  Several  large  producers  stated  today  that 
they  had  no  coal  for  sale  at  present  figures,  and 
while  no  large  tonna.ges  are  being  talked  of — in 
the  way  of  new  business,  the  season  is  near  when 
domestic  trade  must  be  supplied,  and  producers 
who  are  busy  on  contract  deliveries  seem  de¬ 
termined  to  get  higher  figures  for  new  business. 
This  condition  benefits  the  smaller  operator,  and 
there  are  general  indications  all  along  the  line  of 
steady  and  sure  improvement. 

A  number  of  railroads  are  huyin.g  and  stocking 
coal,  even  in  instances  where  it  is  known  that 
they  have  sufficient  coal  to  carry  them  until  the 
expiration  of  contracts  holding  until  April,  191G. 
This  step,  it  is  stated,  is  being  taken  to  prepare 
for  the  emergency  of  labor  troubles,  including 
strikes,  scarcity  and  the  uncertainty  of  war  de¬ 
velopments  in  the  future. 

With  increasing  foreign  demand  the  interior 
producers  will  be  called  upon  to  meet  domestic 
trade  to  a  lar.ger  extent,  and  while  this  partic¬ 
ular  locality,  owing  to  the  very  general  use  of 
natural  gas,  does  not  respond  so  quickly  to  the 
appeal  for  coal  that  the  approach  of  cooler 
weather  brings,  yet  the  retail  consumption  is  a 
factor  even  here,  and  is  now  entering  the  market 
in  a  limited  way,  and  it  is  evident  that  stocks  in 
consumers  hands  are  low.  No  decided  price  ad¬ 
vances  have  been  made  in  a  general  way — but  it 
is  known  that  schedules  are  in  preparation  for 
1916,  and  that  action  on  the  same  is  more  .gen¬ 
erally  uniform  than  has  been  the  rule  for  some 
time.  Today  the  market  might  be  quoted  as 
below : 


Pittsburgh  District — 

Slack  . 

Mine  run . 

screened . 

5/4  screened . . 

West  Virginia  District — 

Slack  . 

Mine  run . . 

44  screened . 

5/4  screened . 


F.  O.  B.  Mine. 
. .  .5i50.75@  .80 
.  .  .  1.10@1.15 
...  1.20  @1.25 
...  1.30@1.40 


.50 

1.00 

1.10 

1.20 


Through  West  Virginia  the  car  shortage  has  be¬ 
come  quite  acute  and  is  also  felt  to  an  alarming 
extent  in  the  Pittsburgh  region  as  well.  Increased 
mine  activity  is  calling  for  more  and  more  lalior 
and  the  supply  is  becoming  exhausted  rapidly,  and 
this  feature  alone  creates  some  uneasiness  in  the 
matter  of  quick  delivery. 

At  the  Annabelle  mines  of  the  Four  States  Foal 
Company  in  West  Virginia,  due  to  the  increased 
business — operations  will  be  resumed  today,  giv¬ 
ing  employment  to  over  l,ono  men  and  this  is  by 
order  of  the  court,  and  operations  are  to  con¬ 
tinue  from  now  on. 

The  receivers  of  the  Meadowlands  Coal  Com¬ 
pany,  Pittsburgh,  have  placed  the  output  of  their 
mines  in  the  hands  of  the  Cleveland  &  Western 
Coal  Company  as  selling  agents,  and  the  mines 
are  again  operating  in  full. 

This  company  is  also  handling  the  product  of 
the  IMontour  &  Lake  Erie  Coal  Company  mines, 
which  are  now  working  to  capacity.  These  mines 
are  located  in  Alle.gheny  county,  and  from  the 
Westmoreland,  Green  and  Fayette  county  districts 
the  report  comes  that  they  have  sold  all  the  coal 
that  they  can  produce  from  now  until  Christmas, 
and  are  not  taking  orders  for  delivery  before 
that  time. 

Forward  buying  while  not  heavy,  is  becoming 
more  active,  and  considerable  inquiry  is  being 
made  by  various  interests,  some  of  these,  like  the 
railroads  apparently  anticipating  future  difficulty 
owing  to  the  war  complications,  and  rumored 
labor  difficulties. 


At  the  plants  of  the  Westiaghouse  interests  at 
East  Pittsburgh,  trouble  has  arisen  in  the  machin¬ 
ists  organization,  and  the  company  has  been  noti¬ 
fied  of  their  demand  for  the  reinstating  of  dis¬ 
charged  employes,  for  an  eight-hour  working  day 
and  an  advance  of  20  per  cent  in  wa.ges,  with  time 
and  a  half  for  over  time.  The  company  have 
been  given  until  Thursday  night,  the  23rd,  to 
answer — before  the  union  takes  further  action. 
These  plants  are  rushed  on  war  munitions,  and 
the  outcome  is  looked  forward  to  with  anxiety,  no 
one  knows  how  the  company  will  meet  the  pro¬ 
positions  set  forth. 

In  the  coke  trade  nothing  of  a  new  character 
has  appeared  on  the  surface  of  the  past  week. 
The  production  is  approaching  normal,  and  a 
strong  undercurrent  is  felt  that  bears  oiit  the  as¬ 
sertion  of  optimists  of  the  long  dull  season,  ap¬ 
parently  now  a  thing  of  the  past  that  1916  coke 
would  command  much  higher  prices.  The  pig 
iron  market  and  the  foundry  situation,  both  bear 
this  out,  and  while  advanced  prices  on  regular 
and  sliding  scale  basis,  are  now  being  held  to  for 
the  last  quarter,  still  higher  figures  are  quoted  for 
19]  6,  and  it  seems  to  be  a  safe  bet  that  they  will 
be  maintained,  as  no  forward  deliveries  are  being 
considered  at  today’s  quotations. 

The  market  is  quoted  as  below : 


Spot  furnace . $1.60@1.75 

Furnace  to  January  1 .  1,75@2.00 

Prompt  foundry .  2.30@2.fio 

Contract  foundry .  2.40@2.60 


Personal  and  News  Items. 

At  the  United  States  receiver’s  sale,  George 
C.  Watt  of  Braddock,  Pa.,  purchased  the  works  of 
the  Dexter  Coal  Company  at  Brilliant,  Ohio,  for 
the  sum  of  $9,100. 

L.  W.  Brown,  superintendent  of  the  Richland 
Coal  Company  of  South  Warwood,  West  Va.,  has 
left  for  Bolivia,  South  America,  where  he  will 
open  a  tin  mine  with  West  Virginia  capitalists. 
Mr.  Brown  starts  on  a  journey  which  will  cover 
6,000  miles. 

AI.  M.  Greist,  sales  manager  Carnegie  Coal 
Company  is  again  at  the  company’s  office  in  the 
Park  building,  after  a  vacation  of  some  weeks. 

The  Union  Collieries  Company  of  Pittsburgh 
has  filed  a  notice  at  Harrisburg,  of  an  increase 
in  debt  to  $1,000,000. 

The  H.  C.  Frick  Coke  Company  has  been 
awarded  a  gold  medal  by  the  superior  jury  of  the 
Panama-Pacific  International  Exposition  for  its 
splendid  exhibit  as  a  subsidiary  of  the  United 
States  Steel  Corporation.  The  gold  medal  rep¬ 
resents  a  marking  of  from  95  to  100,  and  ranks 
second  to  the  .grand  prize,  of  which  there  is  but 
one  in  each  class. 

A  spirited  meeting  of  the  Central  West  Virginia 
Coal  Operators’  Association  was  held  at  Fair¬ 
mont,  West  Va.  last  week.  The  operators  are  or¬ 
ganizing  against  the  proposed  increase  in  freight 
rates  from  West  Vir.ginia  to  western  markets 
and  to  the  lakes.  A  committee  was  appointed  to 
gather  information  relative  to  the  proposed 
^change.  This  information  will  be  the  basis  for  a 
protest  to  be  made  before  the  Interstate  Com¬ 
merce  Commission.  * 

Work  has  actually  begun  on  a  new  sixty-mile 
extension  of  the  Virginian  railroad  from  Mullen 
to  Mann,  West  Va.,  piercing  the  state’s  richest 
coal  territory  in  the  wdnds  of  Wyoming  county. 
The  line  for  the  first  time  will  connect  the  Vir- 
.ginian  with  the  main  Guyan  river,  the  ultimate 
plan  being  an  extension  to  Huntington  to  give 
a  lake  as  well  as  a  tidewater  market.  The  exten¬ 
sion  connects  the  Virginian  also  with  the  Logan 
county  field.  It  is  said  fifty  miles  of  the  extension 
will  pass  drift  mines. 


Cleveland  Trade. 


Clev'ei.and  Ohio,  .September  2^.— (Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — There  has  been  practically  no 
change  in  the  lake  shipping  business  for  the  past 
week.  Coal  is  coming  forward  from  the  mines 
at  about  the  same  rate  as  usual.  However,  it  is 
said  that  there  is  some  scarcity  in  vessel  ton¬ 
nage  and  that  boats,  in  their  hurry  for  grain 
business,  are  in  many  instances  going  up  light. 
It  has  been  predicted  by  the  local  press  that  the 
coal  rates  will  have  to  be  pushed  up  late  in  the 
season,  if  shippers  complete  their  orders.  Usually 
there  is  a  rush  at  the  close,  but  whether  this 
will  be  true  this  season  remains  to  be  seen.  Some 
of  the  large  shippers  do  not  seem  troubled  in  the 
least  over  anything  that  may  take  place,  so  it 
is  possible  that  the  business  is  in  such  a  shape 
that  they  will  not  be  bothered  by  lack  of  ton¬ 
nage  during  the  later  weeks. 

While  there  has  been  no  noticeable  change  in 


the  steam  business,  the  amount  of  small  sizes 
in  the  market  has  not  been  over-plentiful.  In 
fact,  early  this  week  slack  was  in  better  demand 
than  usual  and  those  who  had  a  surplus  were 
not  in  a  hurry  to  dispose  of  it  at  the  prevailing 
prices,  which  were  considered  very  fair  at  that. 
Prices  have  been  firm,  with  little  tendency  to  bid 
for  spot  business,  even  in  good-sized  orders.  The 
fact  that  the  supply  has  not  been  large,  however, 
is  the  only  thing  that  has  maintained  the  prices, 
since  the  volume  of  business  has  been  nothing 
like  what  might  reasonably  have  been  expected 
for  the  past  several  weeks. 

There  has  been  a  very  light  demand  for  No. 
8  vein  coal  in  any  of  the  sizes  except  slack. 
The  latter  has  held  its  own  with  other  grades 
on  the  market.  Prices  quoted  are  as  follows: 


Three-quarters 
Mine  run . .  . . 
Slack  . 


F.  O.  n.  F.  O.  B. 
Mines.  Cleveland. 
$0.90  .$1.80 

.80  1.70 

.70  1.60 


In  Pittsburgh  coals  no  lump  or  run  of  mine 
sizes  have  been  offered  on  the  local  market  dur¬ 
ing  the  past  week.  Slack,  however,  has  been 
in  fair  demand  and  the  price  has  remained  firm. 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Mines.  Cleveland. 
Slack  . $0.65(»  .70  $1.65@1.70 

Owing  to  the  cool  weather  Monday  the 
demand  for  Pocahontas  coal  showed  consider¬ 
able  strength  and  inquiries  were  plentiful  from 
both  the  local  and  surrounding  markets. 


Lump 

Egg  . 


Run  of  mine 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Mines.  Cleveland. 
$2.25  $3.70 

2.25  3.70 

1.40  2.85 


The  same  might  be  said  of  Massilon  coal  which 
is  largely  used  for  domestic  purposes. 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Mines.  Cleveland. 


Lump  .  $2.50  $3.20 

Nut  .  2. .50  3.20 

Slack  .  .80  1.50 


Goshen  lump  was  not  especially  active  this 
past  week,  but  there  was  some  demand  for  slack 
at  $1.50  on  track  here,  the  freight  rate  being 
TO  cents. 

It  is  possible  that  Cambridge  coal  moved  in 
larger  quantities  the  past  week  than  usual  and 
the  prices  held  fairly  firm. 


Three-quarters 
Run  of  mine. 
Slack  . 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Mines.  Cleveland. 
$0.90  $1.S0 

.80  1.70 

.70  1.60 


Considerable  P'airmont  coal  is  said  to  be  going 
to  the  lakes,  but  aside  from  a  small  quantity  of 
slack,  not  much  of  it  was  handled  in  this  mar¬ 
ket  the  past  week.  Slack  was  quoted  from  $1.65 
to  $1.70  on  track  here.  The  rate  to  Cleveland 
is  .$1.15  and  to  the  lake  ninety  cents. 

Quite  a  bit  of  Kentucky  coal  is  being  handled 
through  the  jobbing  offices  here  and  during  the 
past  week  even  a  larger  tonnage  than  usual  was 
taken.  The  average  price  for  4-inch  block  for 
the  week  has  been  around  $3.10. 

All  coals  for  domestic  purposes,  including  the 
smokeless  and  anthracite  brands,  were  in  very 
good  demand  early  in  the  week,  as  a  result  of 
the  cold  wave  that  swept  the  country  Monday.  It 
is  said  that  dealers  in  the  small  towns  of  north¬ 
ern  Ohio  have  smaller  stocks  than  usual  and 
that  there  is  some  danger  of  their  being  unable 
to  take  care  of  their  needs  later  on,  unless  there 
is  a  change  shortly. 


Cleveland  News  Notes. 

George  T.  Odbert,  of  the  Odbert  Coal  Com¬ 
pany,  Detroit,  was  in  the  city  early  in  the  week. 

Fred  Mulholland  of  the  Clyde  Coal  Company, 
Pittsburgh,  called  on  the  coal  men  here  a  few 
days  ago. 

C.  L.  Ayers,  who  has  been  confined  to  his  home 
with  an  abscess  in  the  nose,  was  able  to  be  at 
his  office  a  portion  of  the  time  this  week. 

John  K.  Barker,  manager  of  the  coal  depart¬ 
ment  of  G.  P.  Bassett,  Jr.,  Pittsburgh,  was  a 
business  visitor  here  the  latter  part  of  last 
week. 

Because  of  the  insistent  call  for  the  reservists 
I)y  the  European  countries,  many  miners  in  this 
state  and  West  Virginia  have  returned  to  their 
native  lands  to  engage  in  the  war.  Operators 
say  that,  so  far,  this  has  made  no  great  differ¬ 
ence,  but  that  it  will  probably  be  noticed  when 
there  is  a  special  demand  for  coal. 


C.  T.  Kuhn,  well  known  in  the  retail  coal 
trade  in  Allentown,  Pa.,  has  acquired  the  coal 
plant  of  the  Kern  Coal  &  Ice  Company  of 
that  city,  and  will  operate  it  under  his  own 
name  in  future. 


256 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[September  25 


Cincinnati  Trade. 


Cincinnati,  O.,  September  23. —  (Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — The  cold  wave  of  this  week  helped 
business.  The  result  was  the  cancelling  of  can¬ 
cellations  of  orders  and  the  placing  of  orders  for 
domestic,  together  with  less  disposition  to  cpies- 
tion  prices.  These  remarks  are  especially  directed 
toward  the  splint  market. 

Splint  lump  is  disposed  of  as  fast  as  cars  can 
be  obtained  to  deliver  it.  A  few  West  Virginia 
mines  are  out  of  the  market  and  will  not  take 
orders  for  delivery  earlier  than  October  15.  Some 
of  the  West  Virginia  operations,  especially  the 
large  ones,  report  that  prices  are  much  firmer 
and  stronger  and  that  some  grades  of  product 
are  practically  receiving  a  premium  on  the  gen¬ 
eral  market.  E.gg  coal  in  the  West  Virginia  field 
is  right  up  with  lump  in  demand  and  price  and 
the  washed  product  is  receiving  a  premium. 

This  better  position  of  domestic  prepared  sizes 
has  released  a  large  supply  of  steam  coal  which 
has  been  drifting  into  the  market.  Had  this 
taken  place  thirty  days  ago  it  would  have  broken 
the  market.  As  it  is,  it  has  been  absorbed  at 
slowly  bettering  prices.  About  fifty  cars  floated 
into  the  market  here  on  top  of  a  lar.ge  movement 
of  consigned  and  delivery  coal  early  this  week 
and  for  a  short  time  dealers  were  fearful  that  it 
would  cause  trouble.  In  fact,  the  free  coal  was 
absorbed  by  the  dealers  themselves  in  one  and 
two-car  lots  and  instead  of  hurting  the  market 
it  really  helped  out  delivery. 

Prices  are  in  fair  shape  in  the  splint,  some  of 
the  quotations  being  as  follows :  Logan  county 
product,  4-inch  lump,  $1.60;  2-inch  lump,  $1.25  to 
$1.35;  run  of  mine,  ninety  cents  to  $1;  nut  and 
slack,  fifty  to  sixty  cents;  egg,  $1.  But  little  spot 
is  offered  in  this  .grade.  In  better  and  more 
widely  known  products.  Main  Island  Creek  lump 
commands  $1.75 ;  other  products  in  proportion, 
with  nut  and  slack  out  of  the  market.  Cinderella 
lump  brings  $1.90  to  $2 ;  egg  and  stove,  $1.40  to 
$1.50 ;  run  of  mine,  ninety  cents  to  $1 ;  nut  and 
slack,  seventy-five  to  eighty  cents,  with  very  little 
disposition  to  take  less  than  $1  for  mine  ritn. 
Specimens  of  Kentucky  quotations  are:  Block, 
largely  sold  up  for  nearly  two  months,  October 
lump  quoted  at  $1.80  and  thereabout:  run  of 
mine  not  made  in  general;  washed  nut,  $1.50; 
nut  and  slack  around  seventy-five  cents,  with  a 
differential  of  about  five  cents  a  ton  both  ways, 
for  sli.ghtly  lower  and  for  the  better  grades.  Mil¬ 
kers  Creek  grades  in  both  fields,  Kentucky  and 
West  Virginia,  are  from  $2.10  in  Kentucky  to 
$2.20  in  West  Virginia. 

The  lake  movement  is  gaining  momentum  again, 
several  local  operations  finishin.g  cargoes  this 
week  for  up-lake  points. 

The  smokeless  situation  is  unchanged  except 
for  a  better  demand  for  domestic  in  this  central 
district  which  has  been  very  dilatory  in  that  re¬ 
spect  in  the  past  six  months.  The  tidewater 
movement  is  still  strong,  only  being  halted  during 
the  negotiations  for  war  funds  by  the  Allies  in 
New  York. 


Coal  Trade  News. 

Calvin  E.  Holmes  of  the  Bawley-Darst  Coal 
Company,  Knoxville,  Tenn.,  and  O.  Smith,  the 
Richmond.  Va.,  representative  of  the  company, 
were  in  Cincinnati  this  week  looking  over  the 
territory  here. 

R.  H.  England,  general  manager  of  the  Blue 
Creek  Coal  &  Land  Company,  with  headquarters 
in  Charleston,  W.  Va.,  paid  a  visit  to  friends  for 
a  few  hours  as  he  passed  through  Cincinnati  en- 
route  to  New  York  the  latter  part  of  last  week. 

The  C.  &  O.  officials  in  this  city  have  given 
out  the  figures  of  the  July  coal  traffic  complete. 
They  show  that  during  the  month  the  tidewater 
traffic  consisted  of  2,055,975  tons  of  both  bitu¬ 
minous  and  anthracite  coal,  against  1,801,229  in 
July,  1914.  It  also  showed  that  the  coke  traffic 
durin.g  the  period  was  only  21,930  tons,  against 
25,0,33  in  July,  1914. 

Among  the  visitors  among  coal  men  in  this  city 
this  week  were  C.  D.  Caldwell  of  Chicago,  rep¬ 
resenting  the  By-Products  Coke  Company;  John 
McClanahan  of  the  Milburn  Coal  &  Coke  Com¬ 
pany,  Milburn,  W.  Va. ;  G.  Harry  Caperton  of  tbe 
New  River  Coal  Company;  Matt  Puckett  of  tbe 
Cabin  Creek  Consolidated  Coal  Company.,  and 
1.  R.  Tbomas  of  the  Carbon  ITiel  Company. 

C.  1).  Weeks  of  the  Milwaukee  Coke  &  Gas 
Company,  and  A.  C.  Carver  of  Charleston,  coal 
inspector  for  the  company,  were  in  Cincinnati  the 
latter  part  of  last  week,  together  with  W.  P. 
Schaufer  of  the  M.  A.  PTanna  Company,  Cleve¬ 
land,  Ohio.  Mr.  Weeks  and  Mr,  Carver  came  to 


discuss  company  business  and  the  latter  paid  a 
brief  visit  to  his  brother,  W.  V'.  Carver  of  Percy 
Heilner  &  Son. 

Among  the  chan.ges  noted  this  week  in  the 
trade  is  that  of  V.  G.  Miller  of  Columbus,  who 
was  formerly  connected  with  the  Royal  Collieries 
Company  of  Toledo,  Ohio.  Mr.  Miller  started  out 
d'uesday  for  the  Webb  Fuel  Company  of  this  city, 
and  will  cover  northern  Ohio  and  northeast  In¬ 
diana  for  the  latter  company.  E.  E.  Keller,  form¬ 
erly  with  the  Webb  Fuel  Company,  has  become 
connected  with  the  Bell  Coal  &  Mining  Company 
of  this  city  also. 

To  the  multiplying  coal  companies  in  the  rapidly 
developing  Kentucky  districts  were  added  this 
week  two  more  in  Bell  county.  They  are  the 
Creech  Coal  Company,  with  a  capital  stock  of 
$200,000  and  the  Banner  Fork  Coal  Company,  with 
a  capital  of  $100,000.  Both  will  operate  on  VVallins 
Creek.  The  Creech  Coal  Company  is  not  yet  fully 
organized,  but  Robert  Creech  of  Pineville,  will 
be  president  and  manager  and  the  company  is 
composed  entirely  of  Pineville  men.  W.  J.  Cun¬ 
ningham,  also  of  Pineville,  is  president  of  the 
Vanner  Fork  Coal  Company,  and  L.  P.  Johnson 
of  Harlan,  is  secretary  and  treasurer.  This  com¬ 
pany  has  already  begun  development. 

H.  Coolid.ge,  general  sales  manager  of  the 
Imperial  Coal  Sales  Company  of  this  city,  an  in¬ 
corporation  for  the  purpose  of  disposing  of  the 
production  of  the  Imperial  Coal  Company  of 
Burnwell,  Vv.  Va..  has  resigned  his  connection 
with  the  company,  effective  November  1.  An  op¬ 
portunity  to  dispose  of  the  entire  production  of 
the  company  to  a  sales  agency  came  about  and 
the  sale  was  made  at  a  good  figure.  The  Cin¬ 
cinnati  company  will  look  after  contracts  and 
orders  already  booked,  Mr.  Coolidge  has  several 
opportunities  to  choose  from,  but  has  not  com¬ 
mitted  himself.  His  home  is  in  Dayton,  Ohio.  He 
is  well-known  throughout  this  territory  and  the 
central  west,  and  would  be  a  welcome  addition  to 
the  forces  of  any  West  Virginia  corporation. 

Cincinnati  operators  producing  coal  in  West 
Virginia  are  very  much  exercised  over  the  at¬ 
tempt  of  the  Ohio  Public  Utilities  Commission, 
the  railroads  of  Ohio  territory  and  the  operators 
of  Ohio  territory,  to  add  a  further  handicap  in 
the  market  on  West  Virginia  coal  in  favor  of 
Ohio  coal.  The  first  matter  of  grievance  is  the 
paying  of  a  differential  of  twenty-five  cents  per 
ton  to  the  freight  tariff  of  the  roads  operating 
in  Ohio,  and  now  comes  an  attempt  to  place  a 
further  differential  of  fifteen  cents  to  that,  mak¬ 
ing  a  full  handicap  of  forty  cents  per  ton  on  a 
Toledo  basis.  This,  the  West  Vir.ginians  claim, 
is  a  prohibitive  tariff  and  an  unfair  advantage  to 
Ohio  coals  and  they  are  organizing  a  fight  against 
it.  Committees  have  been  named  to  carry  on  the 
fight  until  a  decision  is  reached.  The  West  Vir¬ 
ginia  operators  are  further  indi.gnant  that  the 
governor  of  Ohio  and  the  state  administration 
have  interfered  and  are  urging  Ohioans  to  buy 
Ohio  coal  in  preference  to  any  other,  the  governor 
having  printed  on  state  stationery,  the  legend, 
“Buy  Ohio  Coal,”  at  state  expense  usin.g  funds 
contributed  by  the  taxation  of  the  West  Virginia 
mines  in  corporation  tax  and  also  the  personal 
ta.x  of  the  operators  themselves  living  in  Ohio, 
against  their  business.  The  result  is  indignation 
and  disgust  with  a  disposition  on  the  part  of  some 
to  leave  the  state. 


Birmingham  Trade. 

Birminch.am,  Ala.,  September  23. — -(Special 
Correspondence.) — The  retail  domestic  coal  trade 
shows  a  better  tone.  The  sales-agents  report 
business  only  fair,  with  moderate  tonnage  being 
sold. 

Steam  coal  shows  only  fair  business  with  some 
good  tonnage  going  towards  gulf  ports.  Rail¬ 
roads  are  taking  only  moderate  tonnage.'  Coking 
coal  is  making  the  best  showing.  As  more 
furnaces  are  now  in  blast  than  for  three  years 
and  as  the  demand  for  coke  is  large,  there  is 
a  large  consumption  of  coking  coal.  As  a  whole, 
the  trade  on  all  coals  is  a  decided  improvement 
over  six  months  ago.  More  men  are  now  at 
work  in  the  mines  than  has  been  the  case  for 
more  than  a  year.  With  indications  as  they  are 
at  present,  the  last  three  months  of  the  year 
.should  be  productive  of  good  results  for  tbe 
coal  mining  industry. 

car  sliortage  is  apprehended  in  the  coal 
fields  of  Alabama.  Walter  Moore,  of  the  Em¬ 
pire  Coal  Company  and  other  coal  mining  cor¬ 
porations,  Monday  morning  expressed  the  belief 
that  from  now  on  the  railroads  would  be  called 
upon  to  furnish  more  and  more  cars,  and  a 
shortage  is  expected.  Mr.  Moore  said: 


"The  coal  business  is  picking  up.  There  is 
no  doubt  of  it.  Were  conditions  the  same  as 
they  have  been  for  some  time  in  the  past  it  would 
place  a  burden  on  many  of  us  that  could  not 
lie  borne.  We  are  very  much  encouraged  over 
the  prospects  and  the  actual  improvement  in  the 
trade. 

“As  to  the  Empire  Coal  Company  shipping 
coal  down  the  Warrior  river,  this  has  been  repeated 
time  and  time  again.  We  expect  to  get  into 
that  trade,  at  the  proper  time.  No  special  effort 
is  being  made  to  rush  the  new  transportation 
facilities.” 


“The  retail  business  has  begun  to  pick  up  tre¬ 
mendously,”  said  M.  G.  Guggenheim.  “In  the 
last  few  weeks  there  has  been  a  great  improve¬ 
ment,  even  though  cool  weather  has  not  come. 

I  believe  this  is  due  to  the  large  number  of 
bouses  being  rented.  The  householders  are  lay¬ 
ing  in  their  supplies  of  coal  now,  and  I  believe 
there  will  be  a  big  increase  shown  in  the  busi¬ 
ness  this  year.” 

September  Prices. 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Bibb  County  Domestic  Coal —  Mines.  Birmingham. 

P.eil  Ash  Cahaba  lump .  $2.75  $3.05 

Red  -Ash  Cahaba  lump .  2.50  2.80 

Red  Ash  steam  size .  1.20@1.35  Frt.  rate  30c 

Jefferson  County — 

Fancy  steam  Pratt .  1.76  2.00 

Run  of  mine  Pratt .  1.20@1.25  1.45@1.60 

Mary  Lee  lump .  1.40@1.50  1.80@1.90 

Black  Creek — 

Fancy  steam  lump .  1.75  2.05 

Washed  nut  .  1.75  2.05 

Washed  steam .  1.33@1.60  Frt.  rate  30c 

Mine  run .  1,35@1.40  Frt.  rate  30c 

Jefferson  Seam  Steam  Coal — 

Mine  run .  1.15@1.25  Frt.  rate  30c 

Walker  County  Domestic- 

Carbon  Hill  lump .  1.70  2.00 

Carbon  Hill  egg .  1.60  2.00 

Horse  Creek  mine  run .  1.00@1.20  Frt.  rate  40c 

Genuine  Corona — 

Dump  .  1.85  2.25 

Egg  . .  1.75  2.15 

Steam  sizes . 1.25@1.35  Frt.  rate  40c 

Shelby  County  Domestic  Coal — 

Cahaba  fancy  lump .  2.75  3.00 

Cahaba  No.  2  lump .  2.50  2.80 

Montevallo  domestic  prices  ranging  from  $2.75  to  $3.00. 
Blacksmith  coal,  washed  and  screened,  per  ton,  $2  to 
$2.25  at  mines,  with  different  rates  to  various  points. 


The  legislature  of  the  state  has  passed  a  bill 
authorizing  the  expenditure  of  $250,000  for  the 
equipping  of  the  State  University  coal  lands  with 
mining  machinery,  the  purpose  of  which  is  to 
work  the  state  convicts  in  mining  coal. 


Omaha  Trade. 


Omaha,  Nebr.,  September  23. —  (Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — The  demand  for  coal  seems  to 
be  increasing  quite  materially  on  account  of  the 
continued  cool  weather  and  also  on  account  of  the 
advance  in  freight  rates  on  soft  coal  into  this  ter¬ 
ritory  effective  September  30. 


There  seems  to  be  no  change  in  prices,  the  fol¬ 
lowing  prevailing : 


Southern  Kansas — 

Mines 

$1  85 

Omaha 

1  35 

Franklin  County — 

Lump  . 

.  1.60(5)1.75 

4.00(5)4.15 

Egg  . 

.  1.60(5  1  75 

4.0n-.^4.15 

Nut  . 

.  1.60(@1.75 

4.00@4.15 

Williamson  County— 

Lump  . 

.  1.45@1.6n 

3.85@4.00 

Egg  . 

.  1.45(5)1.60 

3.85@4.00 

Rock  Springs — 

Lump  . 

2.15 

5.85 

Nut  . 

1.60 

5.35 

Arkansas  Anthracite — 

Lump  . 

3.70 

6.60 

Broken  sizes  . 

3.95 

6.85 

Routt  County,  Colo. — 

Lump  . 

3.00 

6.75 

Nut  . 

2.25 

6.00 

Pea  . 

1.25 

5.00 

Walsenburg  District,  Colo. — 

Lump  . 

3.00 

6.75 

Nut  . 

2.25 

6.00 

Pea  . 

1.25 

5.00 

John  K.  Kerr  has  filed  incorporation  papers  to 
carry  on  a  business  in  coal,  lumber  and  oil,  with 
capital  stock  of  $10,000.  Directors  are  John  K. 
and  L.  E.  Kerr  and  Mark  W.  Comstock.  The 
office  is  at  39  Erie  street.  Mr.  Kerr  has  long 
been  connected  with  the  Buffalo  coal  trade,  hav¬ 
ing  formerly  had  an  office  in  the  Ellicott  Square 
building.  He  is  president  and  general  manager 
of  the  new  company. 


The  coal  yards  of  Emer.son  &  Morgan  at  Cen¬ 
tral  avenue  and  Gough  street,  Baltimore,  have 
been  sold  to  the  metal  dealing  firm  of  H.  Klaff  & 
Co.  By  October  15,  the  coal  firm  will  be  located  in 
splendid  new  yards  near  Jefferson  place  and 
Twenty-third  street,  in  which  neighborhood  the 
Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad  is  establishing  ex¬ 
tensive  coal  yards  and  chute  facilities. 


No.  13] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


257 


Louisville  Market. 

L.oujsvjli.e.  Ky.,  September  —  (Sl’cciul  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — Chilly  autumn  weather  has  arrived 
and  the  necessity  of  lighting  tires  has  stimulated 
the  movement  of  domestic  coal,  which  shows  a 
tendency  toward  firmer  and  advancing  prices,  and 
has  also  increased  the  production  of  screenings 
which  are  in  over  plentiful  supply.  However, 
the  market,  as  a  whole,  offers  great  encourage¬ 
ment  for  discouraged  coal  operators  who  are 
looking  forward  to  excellent  business  after  the 
first  of  October. 

Wholesale  prices  on  domestic  coal  are-  very 
nearly  normal  in  this  section  of  this  time  of  year, 
quotations  for  October  delivery  ranging  from 
$1.75  to  $2.25  a  ton  on  block  coal  with  the  cus¬ 
tomary  differentials  governing  prices  of  egg  and 
lump  sizes.  High-grade  nut  and  slack  is  currently 
selling  at  from  fifty  to  seventy  cents  a  ton  for 
spot  delivery,  and  the  contract  basis  is  ranging 
around  60  cents  a  ton.  There  is  little  demand 
for  steam  run  of  mines  or  any  steam  sizes  except 
nut  and  slack,  and  the  difficulty  of  disposing  of 
this  resulting  steam  coal  is  apt  to  continue  unless 
car  shortage  becomes  more  acute,  or  consumption 
radically  expands. 

Increasing  traffic  on  the  railroads  has  caused  the 
Southern  Railroad  to  call  on  its  operators  in  the 
Middlesboro  section  for  the  maximum  tonnage 
provided  under  their  contract,  but  as  before  noted, 
this  maximum  was  decreased  during  the  present 
year  and  does  not  afford  these  operators  full  time 
employment.  The  shortage  of  cars  on  the  South¬ 
ern  Railroad  and  also  on  the  Illinois  Central  has 
become  acute,  while  Louisville  &  Nashville  oper¬ 
ators  are  losing  an  average  of  one  day  per  week 
on  account  of  lack  of  cars,  though  some  mines 
report  idleness  of  two  days  during  the  past  week. 

Transportation  officials  of  roads  serving  the 
Kentucky  territory  are  now  looking  jealously 
after  the  return  of  every  coal  car,  and  the  work 
of  repairing  shop  cars  is  actively  prosecuted. 
General  industrial  activity  seems  to  be  on  a  satis¬ 
factory  basis,  as  for  the  past  three  or  four  weeks, 
and  altogether  the  outlook  is  by  no  means  dis¬ 
couraging. 

Local  retail  dealers,  however,  are  still  in  the 
dumps  with  prices  still  prevailing,  which  afford 
no  possible  margin  of  profit,  and  no  immediate 
outlook  for  advancing  same.  The  local  dealers 
continue  putting  out  a  considerable  volume  of  re¬ 
tail  coal  at  twenty-five  to  fifty  cents  a  ton  less 
than  the  average  prices  for  this  time  of  year,  and 
have  apparently  grown  tired  of  fruitless  efforts  to 
remedy  their  condition.  Eastern  Kentucky  ship¬ 
pers  are  interested  in  the  announcement  that  the 
West  Virginia  roads  have  been  authorized  by  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission  to  advance 
rates  to  Ohio,  Michigan  and  Indiana  territory- 
fifteen  cents  a  ton,  but  as  yet  the  Louisville  & 
Nashville  has  not  indicated  whether  or  not  it 
would  participate  in  this  advance,  providing  the 
advance  finally  .goes  through.  The  impression 
seems  to  prevail  that  such  an  advance  would  not 
be  disadvantageous  to  the  sale  of  eastern  Ken¬ 
tucky  domestic  coal,  but  might  curtail  their  mar¬ 
ket  for  steam  sizes  in  certain  localities  to  the 
great  advantage  of  the  Ohio  producers. 

Denver  Trade. 


Denver,  September  23. — {Special  Correspond¬ 
ence.) — John  D.  Rockefeller,  Jr.,  is  in  Colorado 
this  week,  investigating  industrial  conditions  and 
inspecting  coal  properties  of  the  Colorado  Fuel 
&  Iron  Company.  His  visit  has  attracted  wide¬ 
spread  interest. 

Mr.  Rockefeller  is  endeavoring  to  secure  first¬ 
hand  information,  and  he  is  succeeding  remark¬ 
ably  well  in  his  efforts  to  bring  about  a  friendly 
feeling  between  himself  and  his  company  and 
their  employes.  There  are  those  who  can  see 
no  further  than  the  sensational  side  and  spectac¬ 
ular  features  of  his  investigation.  There  is  also 
another  element  seeking  to  belittle  his  evident 
honest  efforts — a  class  or  clique  which  insists 
that  Rockefeller’s  coming  was  known  in  advance 
and  that  pre-arranged  program  of  what  he  may 
see  and  what  he  may  be  told  is  being  carried  out 
to  the  letter. 

Mr.  Rockefeller  got  in  Trinidad  Monday  and 
immediately  got  busy.  He  began  with  an  inspec¬ 
tion  of  the  coal  camp  at  Berwind.  His  investiga¬ 
tion  there  was  thorough.  He  visited  the  miners, 
their  wives  and  children  in  their  homes,  plying 
them  with  questions  covering  wages,  cost  of 
living,  quality  of  food,  condition  of  their  houses 
and  everything  pertaining  to  their  welfare.  The 
company  stores  received  his  attention  and  he 
visited  the  teacher  and  pupils  in  their  school. 
To  test  the  quality  of  their  food  and  to  become 


better  acquainted  with  the  men  he  ate  with  them 
at  their  boarding  house. 

He  followed  the  same  tactics  at  Valdez  on 
Tuesday,  placing  himself  on  a  common  level  with 
the  miners  and  telling  them  to  be  frank  and  o()en 
with  him  and  that  he  was  seeking  to  better  their 
condition  wherever  possil)le.  He  inspected  the 
I'rederick  mine  for  fully  three  hours  and,  wear¬ 
ing  overalls,  a  miner’s  hat  and  lamp,  entered  the 
workings  with  the  men.  He  watched  them  at 
their  work  and  finally  asked  for  a  pick  for  him¬ 
self.  Then  he  dug  coal  for  fully  twenty  minutes 
and  left  the  mine  dirty  and  grimy,  in  striking 
contrast  to  the  immaculately  clean  Mr.  Rocke¬ 
feller  of  New  York. 

After  leaving  the  mine  he  visited  about  twenty 
houses  in  the  village  and  afterward  ate  lunch 
with  his  party  at  the  camp  boarding  house.  He 
left  there  during  the  afternoon  for  Segundo, 
where  he  was  to  continue  his  personal  investiga¬ 
tions. 

Mr.  Rockefeller  has  a  genius  for  making 
friends,  and  has  shown  himself  to  be  wonder¬ 
fully  familiar  with  every  phase  of  coal  mining. 
He  is  certainly  gaining  the  friendship  of  his 
men  and  securing  the  information  he  sought. 
His  visit  should  be  productive  of  great  good. 


The  Denver  Markets. 

Denver,  September  2'3. —  {Special  Correspond¬ 
ence.) — Market  conditions  here  this  week  are  still 
improving  and  some  gains  are  noted  in  over 
the  better  showing  reported  last  week.  Weather 
changes  and  the  general  disposition  of  consumers 
to  loosen  up  in  their  buying  are  the  main  in¬ 
centive  for  larger  sales  and  an  increased  ton¬ 
nage. 

The  lignite  situation  is  getting  stronger  almost 
daily.  Threshing  is  now  general  in  this  section 
and  the  sugar  factory  season  with  its  heavy 
demands  will  soon  begin.  There  is  also  consider¬ 
able  storing  of  lignite.  Storing  of  anthracite 

so  far  this  season  is  said  to  be  heavier  than  for 
several  years  for  a  similar  period. 

Bituminous  tonnage  for  the  state  will  run  almost 
ten  per  cent  above  that  of  last  week.  Trinidad 
and  Walsenburg  both  report  a  larger  output,  and 
Routt  county  operators  are  busy  on  a  stronger 

and  steadily  increasing  demand. 

Prices  for  all  grades  of  slack  are  steady  to 

stronger,  and  lower  temperatures,  especially 
colder  nights,  has  maintained  an  even  balance 
between  the  supply  and  the  demand.  Even  with 
the  sudden  increased  lump  production  of  lignite, 
there  is  no  surplus. 

Prices  for  lignite  coal  f.  o.  b.  mines  are  as 
follows :  Denver  delivery,  lump,  $2.35  to  $2.65  ; 
mine  run,  $1.50  to  $1.65;  slack,  $1.05  to  $1.25. 
Points  outside  of  Denver,  lump,  $2.50 ;  mine  run, 
$1.55  to  $1.65;  slack,  $1.65. 


Duluth  Trade. 


Duluth,  ^Iinn.,  September  23. —  {Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — Coal  shipments  from  the  head 
of  the  lakes  are  keeping  up  in  about  the  same 
proportion  that  they  have  been  for  about  two 
months,  the  time  of  year  considered,  and  com- 
l)are  well  with  the  shipping  gain  of  last  year. 
For  instance  during  August  of  1914,  there  was 
a  gain  in  shipments  over  July  of  5,250  cars  of 
all  kinds  of  coal,  and  during  the  same  month 
this  year,  there  was  a  gain  of  5,220  cars. 

During  the  past  month,  18,075  cars  of  all  kinds 
of  coal  were  shipped  from  this  point  for  dis¬ 
tribution  through  the  northwest,  and  in  August, 
1914,  20,349  cars  were  shipped  out.  This  makes 
car  shipments  to  the  end  of  August  for  this 
year,  compared  to  shipments  during  the  similar 
period  last  year,  as  follows: 

No.  Cars. 


1014  .  141,379 

1915  .  128,563 

Deficit,  1915  .  12,816 


b'iguring  thirty-two  tons  to  a  car,  the  ship¬ 
ments  in  tons  of  the  two  years  were : 


Tons. 

toil  .  4,.534,128 

1915  .  4,007,616 


.Shortage,  1915 .  526,512 

Coal  companies  as  a  wliole  report  that  while 
the  demand  is  growing  from  almost  every  part 
of  the  northwest  for  coal  supplies,  and  that  orders 
are  coming  in  much  better  than  they  did  last 
year,  the  demand  from  St.  Paul  and  Minneapolis 
is  inexplicably  light.  Few  orders  have  been  re¬ 
ceived  and  there  is  little  inquiry.  Just  why  this 
condition  exists,  the  coal  men  do  not  understand 
for  the  Twin  City  people  cannot  be  loaded  up. 

Country  business  is  much  better  than  it  was 
a  week  ago,  and  infinitely  better  than  a  month 
ago.  It  is  predicted  that  the  gain  of  August  over 


July  in  shipments  of  all  kinds  of  coal  from  the 
liead  of  the  lakes  will  be  outclassed  by  the 
shipments  in  .September  over  .August.  Much 
more  room  is  being  made  at  the  docks  here, 
but  coal  cargoes  arc  coming  slowly.  Some  of 
the  big  docks  have  not  had  a  ship  tied  up  to 
them  for  three  weeks. 

Railroads  are  taking  coal  more  freely  than 
at  any  other  time  this  season.  The  past  week 
has  seen  a  lot  of  the  stuff  taken  for  their 
use  in  moving  the  heavy  trains  of  grain  that 
are  coming  out  of  the  country  to  the  terminal 
elevators.  But  as  yet  the  grain  receipts  have 
been  a  disappointment,  being  nowhere  as  large 
as  was  expected  by  this  time.  They  register  only 
about  the  same  as  last  year  at  this  time.  How¬ 
ever  a  change  in  that  regard  is  expected  before 
the  week  is  out,  and  when  the  rolling  stock 
really  gets  into  action,  more  coal  than  formerly 
will  be  in  demand. 


St.  Louis  Trade. 


St.  Louis,  Mo.,  September  23. —  {Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — Buying  is  quite  active  in  a  whole¬ 
sale  way,  though  dealers  state  that  business  is 
bolding  off  and  that  they  expect  a  big  rush  later. 
If  the  dealers’  opinion  is  justified  that  “they  are 
only  nibbling”  now  we  will  have  one  of  those  old- 
fashioned  Octobers  and  some  prices.  Business  is 
much  better  than  it  was  this  time  last  year  and 
prices  much  better.  Domestic  prices  are  as  high 
and  firmer  and  steam  sizes  are  much  higher  than 
last  year.  It  is  felt  in  some  quarters  that  screen¬ 
ings  have  now  about  reached  their  bottom  point 
(this  is  generally  reached  the  latter  part  of  Sep¬ 
tember)  and  they  are  now  worth  from  40  to  55 
cents,  according  to  the  grade,  whereas  this  time 
last  year  they  were  only  worth  from  10  to  25 
cents. 

Standard  coal  is  moving  well  and  the  mines 
of  the  district  are  now  running  about  three-quar¬ 
ters  time,  which  is  very  good  for  this  district. 

Current  prices  on  standard  coal  are  as  follows: 


Standard  Coal 
6-inch  lump  .  . . 
6x3-inch  egg  .  . 
2-inch  lump  .  . . 
Steam  egg  .... 

No.  1  nut  . 

No.  2  nut  . 

Mine  run  . 

Screenings  .  . .  . 


F.  0.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

Mine. 

St.  Louis. 

.  .$1.20 

$1.77 14 

. .  1.10 

1.6714 

..  1.00 

1.5714 

.  .  .90 

1.4714 

.  .  1.00 

1.5714 

.  .  .80 

1.3714 

.  .  .85 

1.4214 

.  .  .40 

.97 -A 

.Staunton  and  Mt.  Olive  mines  are  doing  well 
and  are  finding  a  good  and  ready  market  both 
here  and  to  the  north. 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Mine.  St.  Louis. 


6-inch  lump  . $1.40  $1.97}4 

2-inch  lump  .  1.20  1.7714 

Screenings  . 40  .97}4 


Williamson  county  mines  are  all  behind  with 
orders  and  are  finding  a  very  wide  market  for 
their  coal.  It  is  moving  readily  in  the  far  south 
as  far  as  Louisiana  and  also  in  the  west  and  the 
north.  The  Williamson  county  operators  seem 
to  have  awakened  and  are  getting  up  to  date. 
They  are  all  preparing  their  coal  much  better  and 
using  better  salesmanship  and  advertising.  They 
have  increased  their  relative  market  price  quite 
a  bit  until  there  is  very  little  difference,  if  any, 
between  their  prices  and  Franklin  county.  They 
seem  to  be  coming  back  into  their  own. 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Mine.  .St.  Louis. 

0-inch  lump  or  egg .  1.60@1.75  2.2214 @2.4714 

3x2-inch  nut  .  1.50@1.75  2.3214  @2.4714 

Screenings  .  .50  1.2214 


Franklin  county  operators  have  more  business 
than  they  can  handle  on  lump.  Other  domestic 
sizes  are  moving  abreast  of  production,  but  there 
is  no  accumulation  of  egg  or  No.  1  nut  orders, 
consequently  operators  are  pushing  for  business 
somewhat  on  these  sizes  and  dodging  lump  or¬ 
ders.  The  higher  priced  steam  sizes,  such  as  Nos. 
2,  3  and  4,  are  dragging. 


F.  O.  B. 


Mine 

6-inch  lump,  egg  or  nut . $1.75 

No.  2  stove  .  1.40 

Screenings  . 60 


F.  O.  B. 
St.  Louis. 
$2.4714 
2.1214 
1.3214 


Anthracite  is  in  good  demand  on  all  sizes  with 
chestnut  a  little  short. 


Anthracite —  F.  O.  B.  St.  Louis. 

Chestnut  . $7.55 

Stove  or  egg .  7.30 

('iiate  .  7.05 

Smokeless —  V.  O.  R.  F.  O.  R.^ 

Mine  St.  Louis. 

TMimp  or  egg  . $2.25  $4.75 

Gas  House  Coke —  F.  G.  R.  St.  Louis. 

Gas  house  coke  . $4.25 

Ry-product  coke  (all  sizes) .  4.50 


The  prices  on  Illinois  soft  coal  f.  o,  b.  East 
St.  Louis,  Madison,  Venice  or  Granite  City,  Ill., 
are  2514  cents  lower  than  the  above  quoted  St. 
Lotiis  prices. 


258 


THE  BEACK  DIAMOND 


[September  25 


New  York  Trade. 

Delayed  Mild  Weather  Promises  Stim¬ 
ulus  to  Anthracite — Bitumi¬ 
nous  Stronger. 

Office  of  The  Black  Diamond, 
New  York,  September  23. 

At  this  writing  the  anthracite  market  has  lieen 
slight!}’  improved  hy  the  milder  weather  that  put 
in  appearance  on  Tuesday.  Up  to  that  time  the 
weather  had  been  oppressively  hot  for  this  season 
of  the  year,  and  consequently  the  fall  trade  in 
anthracite  had  been  delayed  hy  fully  two  weeks. 
Reports  received  hy  the  selling  agencies  on 
Wednesday  indicate  a  better  demand  for  coal 
from  many  points,  hut  the  market  is  still  lacking 
the  snap  that  is  usually  manifest  at  this  season  of 
the  year. 

In  the  west  a  great  deal  of  anthracite  coal  is 
needed,  and  the  companies  are  urging  customers 
in  that  territory  to  take  larger  shipments  now 
while  transportation  conditions  are  easy.  In  the 
east  it  is  apparently  impossible  to  interest  con¬ 
sumers  in  taking  on  anthracite  unless  they  have 
an  actual  need  for  it  at  the  time.  This  market 
responds  very  closely  to  the  weather  and  if  it  is 
hot,  as  was  the  case  for  about  two  weeks,  sales¬ 
men  find  their  customers  very  indifferent. 

The  all-rail  trade  has  been  very  quiet,  and  this 
has  been  true  especially  in  certain  parts  of  New 
En.gland.  In  New  York  state  there  is  a  better 
demand  in  some  sections,  but  the  tonnages  mov¬ 
ing  are  below  normal  in  most  instances.  The 
tidewater  trade  has  been  sluggish,  and  at  New 
York  harbor  ports  several  of  the  ports  have  been 
tied  up  by  strikes.  Fortunately  there  was  no  pres¬ 
sure  to  get  coal  loaded,  and  by  the  end  of  the 
present  week  it  is  hoped  that  these  labor  troubles 
will  be  smoothed  over,  and  that  there  will  be  no 
further  interruption.  Most  of  the  New  York 
harbor  ports  are  plentifully  supplied  with  domes¬ 
tic  sizes  of  coal,  with  stove  being  the  most  fav¬ 
ored  size  by  buyers.  Individuals  coals  are  not  as 
pressing  as  formerly  and  prices  are  becomin.g 
stiffer  each  week.  There  are  some  who  predict 
that  October,  by  reason  of  the  increased  de¬ 
mand  for  coal,  will  find  the  full  winter  circular  in 
full  effect  in  most  every  direction.  It  is  pointed 
out  that  the  anthracite  roads  are  going  to  find  it 
difficult  to  move  coal  as  easily  from  now  on  as 
they  have  been  doing  throughout  the  summer. 
Several  of  these  roads  are  what  are  known  as 
trunk  lines,  forming  important  connections  be¬ 
tween  the  western  lines  and  tidewater,  and  that  a 
great  deal  of  the  equipment  and  locomotive  power 
will  be  utilized  from  now  on  in  movin.g  grain 
and  other  products  that  come  to  tidewater  for 
trans-shipment.  The  important  source  of  coal 
carrying  roads  of  the  east  are  already  beginning 
to  put  shippers  on  a  percentage  car  basis,  and  as 
the  anthracite  roads  have  not  been  purchasing  any 
apijreciable  amount  of  new  equipment  during  the 
past  several  years,  it  is  argued  that  they  too  may 
find  coal  cars  scarce  before  very  lon.g,  unless  con¬ 
necting  lines  that  take  coal  for  all-rail  distribution 
show  unusual  promptness  in  returning  empty  cars. 
Therefore,  there  are  some  who  predict  that  the 
anthracite  companies  are  not  going  to  be  able  dur¬ 
ing  the  remaining  months  of  the  year  to  make  up 
for  the  shortage  of  production  that  so  far  this 
year  amounts  to  about  2,000,000  tons.  From  Octo¬ 
ber  on  it  is  predicted  that  if  they  mine  and  dis¬ 
tribute  0,225,000  tons  of  coal  per  month,  which 
will  be  what  is  usually  considered  maximum  capa¬ 
city,  they  will  be  doin.g  well. 

The  steam  sizes  are  not  materially  changed  in 
price  since  last  week.  Most  of  the  local  ports  are 
plentifully  supplied  with  inferior  coals,  with  the 
high  grades  in  very  scant  supply.  Most  of  the 
latter  are  taken  upon  contracts,  which  at  this  time 
of  the  year  are  calling  for  maximum  shipments. 

New  York  prices: 

Upper  I.ower 

Ports.  Ports. 


Broken  .  $5.10  $5.00 

Egg  .  .5.35  5.25 

Stove  .  5.35  5.25 

Chestnut  .  5.00  5.50 

Pea  .  3.55  3.45 


Special  grades  of  Red  Ash  and  other  high  grade 
coals  at  the  lower  ports  sell  at  twenty-five  to 
fifty  cents  per  ton  over  above  fi.gures. 

Spot  prices  in  individual  coals  at  lower  ports 
are  about  as  follows : 


Egg  . $4.90  and  up 

Stove  .  5.00  and  up 

Nut  .  5.00  and  up 

Pea  .  3.25  and  up 

Buck  .  2.10  and  up 

Rice  .  and  up 

Barley  . I-  ■  ■  ■  1'50  and  up 


The  Bituminous  Situation. 

The  eastern  bituminous  situation  shows  further 


improvement  this  week  in  that  a  great  many  pro¬ 
ducers  are  absolutely  refusing  to  consider  new 
contracts  or  to  make  shop  shipments.  Not  that 
they  do  not  want  this  extra  business,  but  they 
find  it  impossible  with  labor  tightening,  and  car 
supply  already  becoming  short,  to  take  on  further 
commitments.  A  survey  of  the  Pennsylvania  pro¬ 
ducing  fields  finds  that  labor  is  becoming  shorter 
each  week,  a  .great  many  miners  being  attracted  to 
the  steel  and  other  industries  that  are  promising 
steady  employment  and  at  better  wages  than  the 
miner  feels  that  he  can  make  around  the  mines. 
In  Somerset  county  practically  all  of  the  mines 
are  working  as  full  as  their  supply  of  labor  and 
cars  will  permit.  This  condition  is  true  also  of 
Cambria  county,  while  Clearfield  and  Indiana 
counties  are  showing  up  much  better  than  form¬ 
erly.  Some  of  the  large  operators  of  the  latter 
counties  have  not  contracted  for  any  business  since 
the  first  of  August.  They  will  be  satisfied  from 
this  time  on  to  take  care  of  their  contracts,  as  they 
appreciate  the  fact  that  labor  is  growin.g  very 
scarce  and  is  too  uncertain,  and  furthermore 
that  the  railroads  are  more  likely  to  have  a  short¬ 
age  of  cars  from  now  on  than  to  have  a  surplus. 
They  feel  that  should  they  have  any  surplus  coal 
at  any  time,  the  spot  market  will  offer  an  attract¬ 
ive  outlet. 

In  the  export  market  there  is  a  big  call  for 
American  coal,  with  numerous  negotiations  for 
large  tonnage  being  held  up  by  the  inability  of 
the  parties  conductin.g  the  negotiations  to  make 
satisfactory  terms  for  transportation.  Last  week 
exports  from  Baltimore  fell  off  radically  due  to 
the  fact  that  vessels  were  slow  in  reporting  for 
loading.  Hampton  Roads  ’W'as  about  up  to  nor¬ 
mal.  The  bunker  demand  is  growing  at  practically 
all  of  the  ports.  Hampton  Roads  supplies  of  coal 
are  just  about  up  to  normal,  and  shippers  from 
the  Pocahontas  and  New  River  fields  are  finding 
labor  none  too  plentiful,  as  is  the  case  of  the 
shippers  in  the  Pennsylvania  fields.  1'he  three 
railroads  having  terminals  at  Hampton  Roads 
have  announced  an  increase  in  the  freight  rate  on 
bunker  coals,  effective  January  1,  and  this  may 
affect  the  business  of  the  ports  of  Baltimore, 
Phildelphia  and  New  York.  This  ciuestion  is 
fully  covered  in  a  special  article  in  this  issue. 

Aline  prices  of  Pennsylvania  coal  arc  much 
firmer  than  are  the  prices  at  New  York  tide¬ 
water  ports.  Most  of  the  producers  in  central 
Pennsylvania  who  are  in  position  to  ship  spot 
coal  are  askin.g  five  and  ten  cents  a  ton  over 
former  quotations,  and  this  is  taken  as  an  indica¬ 
tion  that  prices  from  this  time  on  will  incline 
upward. 

At  New  York  tidewater  ports  there  is  ample 
supply  of  some  of  the  cheap  and  medium  grades 
of  coal,  with  the  high  grades  in  very  small  offer¬ 
ing.  On  West  Virginia  coals  the  range  is  $2.40 
up;  on  medium  grades  of  Pennsylvania  from 
$2.00  up,  and  on  choice  .grades  $2.80  to  $3.  Slack 
is  firm  at  sixty-five  cents  at  the  mines  on  West 
Virginia  and  eighty  to  ninety  cents  on  Pennsyl¬ 
vania. 

The  Vessel  Situation. 


The  coastwise  vessel  situation  is  just  about 
easy.  Rates  from  Hampton  Roads  to  Boston  are 
inclined  to  be  a  little  weak,  while  rates  to  the 
Sound  are  just  about  the  same.  There  is  no 
change  in  rates  from  Philadelphia  and  Baltimore 
to  Sound  points,  and  points  east  of  the  Capes. 

We  quote  current  rates  on  freight  as  follows : 

From  Hampton  Roads  to  Boston,  eighty  to 
ninety  cents  is  about  the  range;  to  Portland  and 
points  east  of  Boston,  from  ninety  cents  to  $1.00. 
To  sound  ports,  eighty  to  ei.ghty-five  cents.  From 
Philadelphia  to  New  England  points,  about  five 
cents  under  the  Hampton  Roads  rates. 

From  New  York  to  Bridgeport  or  New  Haven, 
thirty  cents;  to  New  London  and  Providence, 
forty  cents;  to  Fall  River  and  New  Bedford, 
forty-five  cents ;  to  Boston,  fifty-five  to  sixty  cents. 

Current  quotations  on  bituminous  coal  in  spot 
lots  are : 


F.  0.  B. 

F.  0.  B. 

Somerset  County — 

Harbor. 

Mines. 

Best  grades . 

. $2.85 

$1.30 

Medium  grades . 

.  2.60 

1.10 

Ordinary  . 

1.00 

Cambria  County- 
Best  iMiller  vein . 

.  3.00 

1.45 

Medium  grades  . 

.  2.70 

1.15 

Cheaper  grades . 

.  2.60 

1.05 

Clearfield  County — 

Best  grade .  3.00  1.35 

Ordinary  grades .  2.50  1.00 

Indiana  County — 


Best  grade .  2.80  1.25 

Medium  grade .  2.50  .95 


Maryland — 


Georges  Creek  big  vein . 

.  3.15 

1.65 

West  Virginia  Splint — 
Ordinary  grades  . 

.  2.40 

.85 

Best  |i-inrh  lump . 

Best  grade,  run  of  mine . 

.  2.65 

1.10 

.90 

Gas  slack . 

.60@  .75 

New  York  Trade  Briefs. 

T.  J.  Sullivan,  a  well-known  retail  coal  dealer 
of  Springfield,  Mass.,  was  in  New  York  on  Mon¬ 
day. 

Robert  K.  Cassatt,  eastern  manager  of  the 
Keystone  Coal  &  Coke  Company  of  Philadelphia, 
was  in  New  York  this  week. 

Daniel  Anthony,  assistant  general  coal  agent 
of  the  Lehigh  &  Wilkes-Barre  Coal  Company,  re¬ 
turned  on  Monday  from  a  vacation  spent  at  Lake 
Placid,  N.  Y. 

John  Lochrie,  the  well-known  operator  at  Wind- 
ber,  Pa.,  is  now  shipping  coal  from  his  new  mine 
at  Central  City.  The  operating  company  is  known 
as  the  Reitz  Coal  Company. 

G.  N.  Snider,  assistant  coal  traffic  manager  of 
the  New  York  Central  Lines,  who  was  ill  for 
several  weeks,  was  able  to  be  back  at  his  desk 
this  week. 

A.  E.  Metlach,  manager  of  the  steamship  de¬ 
partment  of  the  Pennsylvania  Coal  &  Coke  Cor¬ 
poration,  is  back  from  his  vacation,  which  was 
spent  on  a  motor  trip  through  the  Adirondacks. 

At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Virginia  Iron, 
Coal  &  Coke  Company,  having  large  coal  and  iron 
interests  in  Virginia,  James  B.  Mahon  and  D.  B. 
Hull,  Jr.,  were  elected  directors  to  succeed  Bill¬ 
ings  P.  Learned  and  Henry  K.  McHarg. 

Announcement  will  be  made  early  next  week  of 
the  date  and  place  for  holding  the  annual  fall 
two-day  tournament  of  the  New  York  Coal  Trade 
Golf  Association.  Two  courses  are  now  under 
consideration,  the  Shawnee  at  Delaware  Water 
Gap  and  the  Seaview  at  Atlantic  City. 

Charles  H.  Dayton,  assistant  general  coal  agent 
of  the  Lehigh  Coal  &  Navigation  Company  of 
Philadelphia,  and  E.  J.  Skeele,  president  of  the 
Skeele  Coal  Company  of  New  York,  are  on  a 
western  trip  this  week,  visiting  those  centres 
where  the  Old  Company’s  Lehigh  is  findin.g  a 
large  market. 

Several  of  the  coal  loading  ports  in  New  York 
harbor  have  been  visited  by  strikes  during  the 
past  two  weeks.  On  last  Wednesday  the  dock 
workers  at  Port  Johnson  went  out,  and  prac¬ 
tically  no  anthracite  was  loaded  at  this  port  up 
to  Tuesday  of  this  week.  There  was  a  strike  at 
Port  Liberty,  which  was  soon  settled  up. 

On  Friday,  September  17,  bids  w’ere  received 
in  New  York  for  supplying  coal  for  Bellevue 
and  Allied  Hospitals.  The  requirements  call  for 
3,000  tons  of  No.  1  buckwheat.  Bidders  were  as 
follows :  Meeker  &  Company,  $3.08  per  ton ; 
Burns  Bros.,  .$2.92 ;  Pattison  &  Bowns,  $2.69 ; 
Chas.  D.  Norton  &  Co.,  $2.81. 

The  annual  clam  bake  outing  of  the  New  York 
Coal  Merchants’  Association  will  be  held  this 
Thursday  afternoon  at  Tallapoosa  Inn,  on  Pel¬ 
ham  Bay.  This  outing  is  usually  attended  by  a  full 
representation  of  the  retail  coal  trade  of  New 
York,  with  many  of  the  wholesale  trade  present 
as  their  .guests.  A  baseball  game  is  usually  one 
of  the  star  attractions. 

The  Reynoldsville  (Pa.)  Star  is  the  authority 
for  the  statement  that  the  Pardus  mine  in  that 
section  will  resume  operations  on  October  1.  E. 
R.  Newton,  Jr.,  manager  of  the  Pardus  mine 
states  that  the  improved  demand  for  coal  and 
orders  for  former  customers  warrant  them  in 
startin.g  up  the  mine,  and  the  prospects  are  that 
this  will  be  run  on  full  time. 

J.  H.  Davison,  New  York  manager  of  Weston 
Dodson  &  Company,  Inc.,  No.  17  Battery  place, 
was  compelled  to  go  to  the  hospital  on  last  Satur¬ 
day,  sufferin.g  from  appendix  troubles.  He_  was 
operated  on  several  years  ago  for  appendicitis, 
and  following  this  is  was  thought  that  all  his 
troubles  of  tliis  nature  were  over.  His  many 
friends  in  the  coal  trade  look  for  his  rapid  re¬ 
covery. 

At  the  mines  of  the  Maple  Ridge  Coal  Com¬ 
pany,  in  Somerset  county,  Pennsylvania,  of  which 
W.  A.  Marshall  &  Company  of  No.  1  Broadway, 
New  York,  are  sales  agents,  a  new  tipple  and 
screening  table  were  put  in  operation  on  last 
Monday.  This  company  is  finding  a  ready  sale 
for  its  product,  and  the  new  installations  of  equip¬ 
ment  will  enable  them  to  put  it  on  the  market  in 
the  best  possible  shape. 

It  is  understood  that  the  Panama  Railroad  has 
awarded  contracts  for  approximately  600,000  tons 
of  coal  to  be  furnished  for  Canal  purposes  for 
the  year  September,  1915,  to  September,  1916,  to 
Crozer-Pocahontas  Company  of  Philadelphia  and 
W.  C.  Atwater  &  Company  of  New  York.  These 
bids  were  opened  on  September  3,  the  Crozer- 
Pocaliontas  Company  bidding  on  100,000  tons,  and 
W.  C.  Atwater  &  Company  on  the  entire  amount. 


No.  13] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


259 


Philadelphia  Trade. 

Car  Supply  Begins  to  Tighten  at  the 
Time  When  Orders  for  Coal 
Are  More  Plentiful. 


Office  of  The  Black  Diamond, 
1400  Land  Title  Building, 
Philadelphia,  September  23. 

Placing  of  B.  &  O.  operators  on  a  percentage 
basis  for  their  car  supply,  the  latter  part  of 
last  week,  was  the  big  news  that  has  helped 
out  the  soft  coal  situation.  The  first  of  the 
week  saw  considerable  activity  and  many  buy¬ 
ing  orders  placed,  and  the  conseciuent  effect 
of  this  was  to  stiffen  prices  all  along  the 

line.  Quite  a  number  of  the  mines  in  the 

central  part  of  the  state  are  reporting  that 

their  output  for  the  remainder  of  the  nionth 
and  for  October  has  been  sold  up  and  this  also 
has  tended  to  send  consumers  scurrying  for 
spot  coal  that  may  be  available. 

One  thing  that  is  gratifying  to  soft  coal 
men,  is  the  fact  that  their  repeated  warnings 
to  the  coal  buyers  is  at  last  “sinking  in.” 

One  of  the  local  papers  this  week  carried 
quite  an  editorial,  declaring  that  the  shortage 
of  labor  and  cars  was  not  a  bugaboo,  but  an 
actual  fact,  and  that  if  prices  were  to  double 
in  a  short  time  it  was  nothing  more  or  less 
than  a  rise  in  values  due  to  conditions  that 
cannot  be  averted.  Another  newspaper  after 
making  a  canvass  of  the  labor  situation,  has 
sent  out  blanks  to  the  coal  operators  here 
asking  what  they  thought  of  the  coal  situa¬ 
tion  that  apparently  was  at  hand. 

Most  of  the  local  coal  men  are  of  the 
opinion  that  prices  may  hold  fairly  steady 
until  the  first  of  the  year  rather  than  take 
an  immediate  jump  when  the  capacity  of 
movement  in  October  and  November  is  on. 
They  point  out  that  some  of  the  heavy  users 
of  coal,  have  been  quietly  stocking  up,  and 
if  they  can  get  an  ordinary  supply  for  their 
purposes,  things  may  be  held  in  check.  Again 
it  is  asserted  that  the  storage  of  coal  by  the 
big  railways  will  allow  quite  a  number  of 
cars  to  ‘be  used  in  the  regular  trade  that 
otherwise  had  to  be  given  over  to  the  carriers. 

From  the  piers  there  has  been  moved  sev¬ 
eral  large  cargoes  of  coal  destined  for  abroad. 
Monday,  for  instance,  saw  a  movement  of 
over  10,000  tons  for  foreign  shipment.  There 
is  no  accumulation  of  cars  there  at  the  pres¬ 
ent  time. 

Anthracite  Situation. 

Pea  coal  has  been  the  favored  member  of 
the  sizes  in  the  hard  coal  trade  during  the 
past  week.  At  this  writing  the  wholesalers 
have  had  no  reflection  from  the  extra  busi¬ 
ness  that  was  started  up  with  .the  return  of 
cooler  weather.  Retailers,  however,  were 
busy  as  beavers  the  middle  of  the  week  fill¬ 
ing  up  small  orders  for  empty  coal  bins. 
Chestnut  sizes  have  also  shown  a  disposi¬ 
tion  to  be  better  in  demand  and  the  nut  coal 
has  been  ordered  freely.  A  continuation  of 
the  cool  spell  is  all  that  the  wholesalers  and 
retailers  ask  to  place  the  business  back  to 
it’s  normal  condition  for  this  time  of  year. 

New  Engfand  has  been  a  little  slow  in  tak¬ 
ing  coal  from  this  source,  and  the  movement 
over  the  piers  on  anthracite  for  the  past  week 
has  been  lighter  than  has  been  noted  for 
some  time.  Buying  orders,  however,  were 
received  in  heavier  volume  at  midweek  and 
the  heav3‘  shipments  that  will  follow,  it  is 
said,  will  make  up  a  tonnage  that  will  com¬ 
pare  favorably  '.with  corresponding  months 
of  other  years. 


Philadelphia  Trade  Notes. 

I.  Elmer  Perry,  retailer  from  Wilmington, 
was  a  trade  visitor  seen  on  Monday. 

Burt  Gellatly  of  Gellatly  &  Co.,  of  Pitts- 
bur.gh,  was  one  of  the  trade  visitors  of  the 
week. 

Howard  Adams  of  the  .S.  M.  Hamilton  Com- 
panv  of  Baltimore,  was  in  Philadelphia  on 
Inisiness  on  Tuesday. 

F.  iVIcCann  of  E.  M.  Alden  &  Co.,  Boston, 
spent  a  couple  of  days  this  week  visiting  with 
the  anthracite  coal  trade  of  this  city. 

S.  L.  Yerkes,  who  represents  a  number  of 
operators  in  the  Birmingham,  .\labama  fields, 
was  one  of  the  visitors  to  the  trade  this 
week. 

W.  Thomas,  president  of  the  Elat  Top 
Fuel  Company  of  Bramwell,  W.  Va.,  spent 
Wednesda3‘  'u  this  city.  Another  West  Vir¬ 


ginia  operator  who  was  here  was  Mr.  T.  E. 
Houston,  president  of  the  Houston  Coal  Com¬ 
pany  of  Cincinnati. 

The  Cortright  Coal  Company  have  been  ap¬ 
pointed  the  exclusive  sales  agents  for  the 
output  of  the  mines  of  the  Hill  Top  Coal 
Company  an  Indiana  county  operation. 

John  J.  Kirke  of  A.  Pardee  &  Co.,  who 
has  been  under  the  weather  for  several  weeks 
past,  has  recovered  from  his  illness  and  is 
able  to  be  back  in  the  harness  once  more. 

Dr.  Walter  S.  Blaisdell,  secretary-treasurer 
of  the  Punxsutawney  Coal  Mining  Company 
of  Punxsutawney,  was  a  caller  at  the  local 
office  of  the  company  during  the  week. 

The  brothers  Stauffer,  in  charge  of  the  af¬ 
fairs  of  the  B.  Nicoll  Company  here,  were 
away  during  the  week.  J.  C.  was  up  in  the 
hard  coal  fields  and  Harry  was  in  New  York. 

C.  C.  Wolf,  representative  of  the  Davis  Col¬ 
liery  Compaii}'  at  Columbus,  Ohio,  dropped 
into  the  local  offices  of  the  company  this 
week.  Mr.  Wolf  had  been  spending  his  va¬ 
cation  at  New  England  points  and  wound  up 
with  a  tour  of  Atlantic  City. 

Percy  C.  Maderia  narrowly  escaped  seri¬ 
ous  injury  in  an  automobile  crash,  when  his 
car  collided  with  that  of  a  doctor  near  Jenk- 
intown.  He  was  thrown  out,  but  beyond  a 
few  minor  hurts  he  was  none  the  worse  for 
his  experience. 

Henry  Liveright,  an  Osceola  Mills  operator 
from  the  Clearfield  district,  took  a  look  at  the 
liusiness  conditions  in  the  east  this  week.  An¬ 
other  visitor  from  the  operating  end  was 
Fran'K  Smith,  manager  of  the  Hillsdale  Coal 
Company  of  Hesbon,  I’a. 

The  Youghahela  Coal  Company  of  Pitts¬ 
burgh,  have  established  an  office  in  this  city 
at  room  305  Real  Estate  Trust  building.  L. 

J.  Gray  is  in  charge  and  will  take  care  of  the 
business  of  the  company  on  the  seaboard. 
G.  H.  G.  Gray,  his  brother,  who  is  general 
manager  of  the  company  was  in  town  for  a 
couple  of  days  last  week. 

Quite  a  number  of  local  and  close-by  coal 
men  were  present  at  the  opening  of  the  new 
freight  offices  of  the  Lehigh  Valley  Railroad 
Company  in  the  Bourse  building  on  Monday. 
With  the  opening  of  these  offices  the  an¬ 
nouncement  was  made  that  there  would  be 
an  active  campaign  made  for  business  with 
a  local  deliverjL 

Friday  of  this  week  the  collier  Franklin, 
owned  bj'  the  Coastwise  Transportation  Com- 
panj'  of  Boston,  will  go  into  commission  and 
will  leave  this  port  for  Baltimore,  where  she 
will  lie  loaded  with  coal  for  export  to  the 
^Mediterranean.  The  trial  trip  of  the  9,000 
ton  vessel  was  held  early  in  the  week  and  ac¬ 
ceptance  was  ordered  by  the  owners. 

The  local  Chamber  of  Commerce  has  added 
a  feature  that  will  be  of  great  value  to  coal 
men,  who  have  an  eye  to  export  business.  A 
foreign  trade  bureau  has  been  added  to  its 
equipment.  N.  F.  Poe,  who  represented  business 
houses  in  South  America,  will  be  in  active 
charge  of  the  department.  Reports  and  in¬ 
formation  on  foreign  conditions  will  be  on 
file  for  the  use  of  those  who  desire  it. 

Philadephia  coal  companies  which  have  been 
using  Newport  News  as  a  shipping  point 
were  much  interested  in  an  advice  from  the 
Norfolk  &  Western  railway  announcing 
changes  in  the  terminal  charges  at  their  piers. 
Formerly  the  rates  were  .$1.40  freight  with 
terminal  charges  of  $30  for  bunkering  foreign 
boats  and  $11  for  those  in  the  coastwise  trade. 
The  new  rate  that  applies  is  now  $1.50 
on  the  net  ton  and  $1.()8  on  the  gross.  This 
will  amount  to  an  increase  of  22  to  23  cents 
on  the  gross  ton. 

Wholesalers  of  anthracite  who  make  inter¬ 
state  shipments,  have  been  holding  a  close 
car  to  the  ground  for  any  intimation  of  what 
officials  of  the  traffic  departments  of  the  rail¬ 
ways  have  arrived  at  in  their  conferences  over 
the  new  rates  that  have  been  established  by 
the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission.  While 
the  new  rates  do  not  go  into  effect  until 
Dec.  1,  there  is  a  possibility  of  an  appeal, 
and  if  the  new  rates  do  go  into  effect  it  is 
liound  to  affect  prices  made  on  the  old  stand¬ 
ards. 

The  Philadelphia  golfers  are  on  the  qui 
vive  for  the  particulars  as  to  the  golfing  con¬ 
test  to  be  held  by  members  of  the  New  York 
trade  at  the  .Seaview  Golf  Club  about  the  mid¬ 
dle  of  September.  The  lone  representative 
of  Philadelphia’s  golfers,  who  attended  the 


Lakewood  meeting  last  spring,  is  doing  his 
best  to  get  a  fair  representation  of  the  de¬ 
votees  to  be  present  at  the  fall  contests.  Phil- 
aldephia  is  not  without  a  good  showing  in 
•golf  material.  Some  of  the  local  players  have 
figured  in  national  contests.  Within  the  next 
few  days,  tlie  following  list  of  players  will  be 
approached  with  a  view  to  getting  their 
promise  to  participate.  Phil  Castner  of  Cast- 
ner,  Curran  &  Bullitt,  Howard  Perrin  of  the 
Susquehanna  Coal  Cotnpany,  A.  J.  Carty,  T. 

K.  Jenkins  of  the  B.  Nicoll  Company,  Jack 
Barnes  of  Barnes  &  Tucker,  Arnold  Service, 
Mr.  Carlisle  of  the  Blair  Parke  Coal  Com¬ 
pany,  Charles  Corr  of  the  Rogers-Corr  Com¬ 
pany  and  Mr.  Jardine  of  Pilling  &  Crane. 

The  death  of  W.  Durrel  Shuster  at  his  home 
in  Palmyra,  N.  J.,  removed  one  of  the  figures 
that  had  much  to  do  with  the  coal  trade  of 
this  city  years  ago.  The  early  part  of  his 
life  was  spent  in  selling  coal.  Over  a  quarter 
of  a  century  ago,  he  formed  the  wholesale 
firm  of  Rhodes  &  Shuster,  and  after  varying 
success  the  firm  finally  went  into  the  hands 
of  a  receiver.  After  this  he  operated  as  a 
retailer  under  the  firm  name  of  Shuster  & 
Co.,  and  when  this  was  liquidated,  this  busi¬ 
ness  was  the  nucleus  of  the  retail  firm  of 
J.  W.  Edmonds  &  Co.,  which  a  couple  of 
years  ago  was  absorbed  by  the  George  B. 
Newton  Coal  Company.  Mr.  Shuster  was  of 
the  belief  that  concerted  action  by  coal  men 
was  of  greater  benefit  than  individual  action. 
Fie  was  one  of  the  incorporators  of  the  Phila¬ 
delphia  Coal  Exchange  and  served  as  the 
first  president  of  that  organization.  He  was 
sixty-three  years  of  age,  and  was  in  the  in¬ 
surance  business  in  the  closing  days  of  his 
career.  He  leaves  four  sons.  A  number  of 
the  older  men  of  the  trade  attended  his  funeral 
which  was  held  at  Palmyra  on  Wednesday. 


Reading  Revenue. 

Philadelphi.a,  September  22. —  {Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — Slackening  in  the  coal  business 
was  given  as  the  underlying  cause  of  a  reduc¬ 
tion  in  the  revenue  of  the  Reading  Company,  the 
holding  company  of  the  Philadelphia  and  Reading 
Railway  Company  and  the  Philadelphia  and  Read¬ 
ing  Coal  and  Iron  Company,  in  the  annual  re¬ 
port  for  the  year  ending  June  30,  and  which 
has  been  recently  made  public. 

The  revenue  from  the  coal  traffic  decreased 
$1,391,895  as  compared  with  1914  or  equivalent 
to  6.22  per  cent  and  the  sales  of  the  anthracite 
coal  marketed  by  the  Philadelphia  and  Reading 
Coal  and  Iron  Company,  amounted  to  $28,476,166, 
a  decrease  of  $2,470,178.  The  sales  of  bituminous 
coal  were  $1,028,001,  a  decrease  of  $178,672.  The 
total  receipts  of  the  coal  company  were  $30,086,- 
512,  a  decrease  of  $2,617,470. 

The  coal  lands  of  the  company  are  valued 
at  $47,859,302,  in  this  report : 

Edward  T.  Stotesbury,  president  of  the  Read¬ 
ing  Company,  speaking  of  the  recent  decision  of 
the  circuit  court,  which  found  for  the  company 
in  the  Government  suit  charging  violation  of  the 
anti-trust  law,  says  in  his  report;  “It  is  gratify¬ 
ing  that  the  plan  of  reorganization  adopted  in 
1896  was  an  honest  attempt  to  cope  with  a  per¬ 
plexing  financial  situation  so  as  to  save  exceed¬ 
ingly  valuable  property  for  many  persons  whose 
investments  were  in  serious  danger  and  an  at¬ 
tempt  to  solve  difficult  legal  problems  with  scrup¬ 
ulous  regard  for  the  law.’  The  claim  of  the  gov¬ 
ernment  that  the  reorganization  accompFished  in 
1896  ‘was  a  mere  subterfuge  and  sham’  is  de¬ 
cisively  overruled  and  it  is  held  that  the  com¬ 
modities  clause  of  the  Hepburn  bill  has  not  been 
violated  by  the  .Reading  companies.” 

With  respect  to  that  part  of  the  decision  which 
suggested  that  separation  of  the  Central  Railroad 
of  New  Jersey  from  the  Lehigh  and  Wilkes-Barre 
Coal  Company  be  considered,  and  a  decree  pre¬ 
pared.  Mr.  Stotesbury  says:  “Owing  to  the  fact 
that  Judge  McPherson’s  decision  was  not  handed 
down  until  after  counsel  interested  in  the  case 
had,  in  many  instances,  left  their  offices  for  their 
summer  vacations,  no  decree  has  as  yet  been 
prepared.  The  decree  will  doubtless  be  prepared 
in  the  not  distant  future,  when  consultation  be¬ 
tween  counsel  for  the  government  and  the  de¬ 
fendants  can  be  had.” 


The  new  coal  pier  to  be  built  at  Baltimore  by 
the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad  will  cost  about 
$1,800, 000,  and  will  have  a  capacity  estimated  in 
the  official  statement  as  10,000,000  tons  a  year.  It 
will  be  the  large.st  coal  pier  on  the  Atlantic  sea¬ 
board.  The  pier  will  be  700  feet  long  and  115 
feet  wide. 


260 


New  England  Trade 


UosToN,  SepteniljiT  :i:>. —  {S'l^ecidl  Correspond¬ 
ence.) — The  big  news  feature  of  the  New  Kng- 
land  coal  market  tliis  week  was  the  announce¬ 
ment  hy  the  I’oston  &  Maine  Railroad  Company 
that  it  had  postponed  indefinitely  the  award  for 
the  several  millions  of  tons  of  bituminous,  bids 
for  which  were  opened  a  week  or  so  ago.  No 
specilic  reason  was  given  for  the  action  of  the 
railroad.  Rumor  has  it  that  the  liids  submitted 
were  very  much  higher  than  the  railroad  had 
expected,  and  that  tlie  company  intends  to  ask 
for  new  bids  within  the  near  future. 

Local  and  nearby  receipts  of  bituminous  dur¬ 
ing  the  past  week  or  ten  days  have  been  fairly 
large.  Most  of  this  coal  was  consigned  to  con¬ 
tract  consumers,  who  for  one  reason  or  another 
wished  for  deferred  deliveries.  Rather  than  lose 
a  customer  local  wholesalers  have  acquiesced  to 
consumers’  demands.  The  result  has  been  that  of¬ 
ferings  at  Mystic  Wharf  have  been  considerably  in 
excess  of  recpiirements  and  prices  have  suffered 
correspondingly.  Most  reported  sales  of  New 
River  and  Pocahontas  reported  at  that  point 
have  been  on  a  basis  of  $:i.60  per  ton  f.  o.  b.  cars, 
but  it  is  an  open  secret  that  some  lots  have 
changed  hands  for  less  money. 

Stocks  standing  and  running  to  Hampton  Roads 
ports  are  still  in  excess  of  requirements,  and 
while  the  official  f.  o.  b.  price  is  still  $2.85  per 

ton,  some  shippers  have  made  no  bones  of  cut¬ 
ting  prices  in  order  to  move  coal.  Notwithstand¬ 
ing  this  price  cutting  and  the  condition  of  the 
Mystic  Wharf  market  local  dealers  seem  quite 
optimistic  regarding  the  future.  ,  They  point  out 
that  fewer  and  fewer  consumers  are  using  water 
power  each  day  owing  to  the  dry  hot  weather, 
that  their  stocks  of  bituminous  are  lower  than 
they  have  been  before  in  a  long  time  and  that 
they  will  be  obliged  to  come  into  the  market 
for  fresh  supplies  before  a  great  while.  Then 

too,  general  business  conditions  in  this  section 
of  the  country  are  steadily  growing  better,  which 
spells  for  a  greater  consumption  of  bituminous. 
They  say,  also,  that  ruling  prices  do  not  begin 
to  tell  of  the  activity  of  the  market — that  a  great 
deal  of  soft  coal  has  been  shipped  from  southern 
ports  during  the  past  six  months,  and  that  the 
situation  is  a  great  deal  healthier  than  most  peo¬ 
ple  realize. 

The  recent  hot  spell  put  a  crimp  in  the  local 
hard  coal  business,  but  since  then  business  has 
picked  up  wonderfully.  Practically  all  of  the 
New  England  retail  trade  are  operating  at  ca¬ 
pacity  and  stocks  in  yards  are  being  fast  de¬ 
pleted.  The  demand  is  for  cargo  lots  as  well 
as  car-lots  and  embraces  practically  everything 
but  broken  which  is  usually  quiet  at  this  season 
of  the  year.  A  good  demand  for  buckwheats 
has  sprung  up  in  Providence,  Fall  River  and 
other  Sound  points,  but  the  supply  is  small  and 
prices  are  very  strong.  No.  3  buckwheats  are 
selling  on  a  basis  of  $1.80  per  ton  f.  o.  b.  New 
York,  and  birdseye  at  $2. 

Stove  and  egg  sell  rapidly  at  $5.85  per  ton 
alongside  Boston  Harbor,  nut  at  $6.10  and  pea 
at  $4.05.  Independent  shippers  are  getting  full 
circular  prices  both  here  and  at  all-rail  points. 
One  of  the  largest  independent  operators  says ; 
“You  will  not  hear  much  more  talk  about  inde¬ 
pendent  shippers  cutting  prices  during  the  re¬ 
mainder  of  1915,  at  least.”  Loadings  at  mines 
and  at  tidewater  points  are  fairly  prompt,  not¬ 
withstanding  the  fact  that  the  mines  are  still 
operating  on  reduced  schedules.  No  car  shortage 
is  reported  as  yet,  but  the  time  is  fast  drawing 
near  when  such  stories  will  come  to  hand.  The 
demand  for  anthracite  from  the  provinces  is 
fairly  encouraging.  Pennsylvania  bituminous  is 
unchanged  at  ninety  cents  to  $1.50  per  ton. 

Very  favorable  shipping  conditions  has  brought 
about  a  larger  offering  of  space  from  southern 
ports  and  as  a  result  vessel  rates  are  a  shade 
easier.  The  averaging  asking  rate  from  Hamp¬ 
ton  Roads  to  Boston  is  seventy-five  to  eighty  ceirts 
per  ton.  From  Baltimore  to  Boston  rates  range 
from  seven  to  ten  cents  a  ton  more.  All  of 
the  barges  carrying  anthracite  appear  to  have 
been  put  in  first  class  condition  during  the  re¬ 
cent  quiet  spell  of  the  market.  Space  for  an¬ 
thracite  from  New  York  to  Boston  is  still  fifty 
to  fifty-five  cents  per  ton;  from  Philadelphia  to 
Boston  it  is  about  seventy-five  cents ;  from  New 
York  to  Providence  it  is  forty  cents  and  to  Paw¬ 
tucket,  forty-five  cents. 

New  England  Trade  Notes 

The  New  England  Coal  &  Coke  Company’s 
steamer  Brandon  en  route  from  Boston  to  I.am- 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


herts  Point  was  obliged  to  put  hack  to  Bo.ston 
owing  to  a  disarrangement  of  her  stearing  gear. 
'Phe  Brandon  was  one  of  the  steamers  brought 
around  from  the  Creat  Lakes  recently. 

.Simeon  Crumb,  local  representative  of  Diekson 
&  Eddy,  has  offered  a  i)rize  of  $25  to  be  com¬ 
peted  for  by  sixteen  of  the  best  checker  players 
of  New  England  at  a  meeting  of  the  Boston 
Checker  Club  at  the  American  House  on  Co¬ 
lumbus  Day.  Mr.  Crumb  is  an  ardent  checker 
fan. 

A  Vermont  charter  has  been  granted  H.  W. 
Myers  &  Sons,  Inc.,  of  Bennington,  dealers  in 
coal,  wood  and  grain.  The  company  has  no 
capital,  1,000  shares  of  stock  representing  the 
property  and  rights.  The  incorporators  of  the 
concern  are;  Henry  W.  Myers,  William  H.  My¬ 
ers,  and  William  H.  Watt,  all  of  Bennington,  Vt., 
and  Frederick  M.  M<yers  of  Pittsfield,  Mass. 

The  pair  of  horses,  wagon  and  two  sets  of 
harness,  all  valued  at  $1,000,  stolen  from  the 
Brighton  Coal  Company  on  September  18,  have 
been  recovered  by  the  Portland  police. 

hollowing  are  the  receipts  of  anthracite  and 
bituminous  at  Boston  during  August  and  those 
for  the  eight  months  ended  Aug.  31,  together 
with  comparisons  (in  tons); 


.\NTHRACITE. 


August — 

Hy  sea,  domestic  .  , 
Hy  rail  . 

191, t. 

-  IS.l.SSO 

1914. 

157,430 

.33,909 

Decrease. 

21,547 

21,422 

Total  . 

Since  January  1— 

148,370 

191,315 

42,909 

Hy  sea,  domestic  .  . 

970,997 

1,144,732 

107,735 

Hy  rail  . 

127,583 

15,824 

Total  . 

...  1,088,750 
BITUMINOU.S. 

1,272,315 

183,559 

August — 

Hy  sea,  domestic  .  . 

370,319 

437,072 

66,753 

Hy  sea.  foreign  . .  . 

27,798 

14,000 

*13,798 

By  rail  . 

(5,150 

3,140 

*3,004 

Total  . 

...  404,2C7 

454.218 

49.951 

Since  January  1— 

Hy  sea,  domestic  . . 

.  .  .  3,119,110 

3,312,320 

193,210 

Hy  sea,  foreign  .  . . . 

28  4,9.'3 

118,788 

*166,165 

By  rail  . 

53,927 

38,141 

*15,780 

Total  . 

.  .  .  3,457,990 

3,409,255 

11,259 

*  Increase. 

Buffalo  Trade. 


Buff.vlo,  N.  Y.,  September  22. —  (Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — The  anthracite  lake  trade  has  not 
started  up  to  any  extent,  the  present  shipments 
being  about  the  lightest  of  the  whole  season  to 
date.  Alany  of  the  boats  leave  here  light,  going 
after  ore,  and  preferring  not  to  wait  for  loads  of 
coal.  The  last  week’s  shipments  were  80,950  tons, 
as  follows  :  Duluth-Superior,  35,800  tons ;  Chicago, 
24,800 ;  Wauke,gan,  7,900 ;  Green  Bay,  7,000 ;  Sault 
Ste.  Marie,  Ont.,  3,900;  Racine,  1,550.  It  all  de¬ 
pends  upon  how  fast  the  coal  moves  away  from 
the  docks  at  the  other  end  of  the  lakes  whether  a 
revival  of  activity  will  occur  soon  in  the  lake 
trade.  It  is  said  that  coal  has  lately  been  moving 
away  but  slowly  from  the  docks. 

Very  little  business  is  being  done  in  supplying 
coal  dealers  at  present  and  the  buying  is  about 
as  light  as  for  some  time.  Last  week  the  warm 
weather  was  blamed  to  a  large  extent  for  the 
lack  of  life  to  trade,  but  a  little  colder  weather 
this  week  does  not  appear  to  start  thin.gs  moving 
to  any  extent.  Dealers  find  that  their  customers 
are  indifferent  and  until  some  real  cold  weather 
comes  along  business  is  likely  to  be  unsatisfactory. 
The  usual  big  demand  is  looked  for  this  winter 
and  there  may  be  some  trouble  in  supplying  deal¬ 
ers  with  all  the  coal  needed  without  considerable 
delay. 

The  bituminous  demand  continues  better  than 
a  few  weeks  ago.  Warm  weather  has  retarded 
further  improvement  with  many  offices,  but  the 
general  report  is  that  business  is  looking  better. 
The  scarcity  of  small  cars  is  quite  noticeable  and 
it  is  also  attended  with  a  slow  movement  of  coal 
from  the  mines,  shippers  sometimes  sayin.g  that  it 
takes  about  twice  as  long  as  usual  to  get  the  coal 
delivered.  .Y  shortage  of  men  is  complained  of 
by  quite  a  few  operators,  the  miners  still  going 
al)road  to  fight  for  their  native  countries.  Coal 
production  has  also  been  curtailed  lately  by  the 
numerous  holidays,  as  well  as  the  spirit  of  unrest 
amon.g  the  miners,  who  are  expecting  that  labor 
troubles  will  occur  next  spring. 

The  coal  market  holds  firmer  than  a  short 
while  ago,  with  much  strength  developing  in 
slack.  Few  contracts  are  now  being  taken  for 
slack  except  at  stiff  prices,  for  it  is  the  common 
opinion  that  a  premium  will  rule  in  slack  during 
the  winter.  Consignment  coal  has  not  been  com¬ 
ing  onto  the  market  quite  so  freely  as  usual. 


[September  25 


Buffalo  Trade  Briefs. 

W.  C.  Blod.gett,  sales  agent  of  Dickson  &  Eddy 
has  gone  to  Chicago  and  the  northwest  on  a  busi¬ 
ness  trip. 

1).  E.  Russell,  vice-president  of  the  D.  L.  & 
W.  (foal  Company  returned  this  week  from  a 
vacation  of  several  weeks  in  New  Brunswick, 
Canada. 

George  H.  Fox  of  the  Cunningham  Coal  Com¬ 
pany,  Chicora,  Pa.,  and  C.  D.  Junkins  of  the  North 
American  Coal  Company,  Morgantown,  W.  Va., 
lately  called  on  the  trade  here. 

President  E.  J.  Skeele  of  the  Skeele  Coal  Com¬ 
pany,  and  C.  H.  Dayton,  assistant  general  coal 
agent  of  the  Lehigh  Coal  &  Navigation  Company, 
were  visitors  here  part  of  this  week. 

President  William  F.  McClurg  of  the  McClurg- 
Helsdon  Coal  Company  has  returned  from  a  stay 
at  the  Alden  mineral  baths,  this  county,  where 
he  went  after  a  severe  attack  of  rheumatism. 

Harry  V.  Woodward  has  been  elected  trustee  of 
the  affairs  of  the  bankrupt  George  T.  Foster  Coal 
Company  of  Rochester.  Both  the  assets  and  lia¬ 
bilities  of  the  company  are  stated  to  be  slightly 
under  $20,000. 

George  E.  Henry,  who  is  president  of  the  Alle¬ 
gheny  Valley  Operators’  Association,  has  been  re¬ 
elected  president  of  the  Keystone  Mining  Com¬ 
pany  which  operates  the  Sarah  Furnace  and 
Sterling  mines. 


Baltimore  Trade. 


Baltimore,  September  23. —  (Special  Corres¬ 
pondence.) — Alixed  feelings  as  to  the  coal  situa¬ 
tion  here  were  found  in  a  trip  through  the 
trade  offices.  Following  a  week  of  unusually 
heavy  exporting  of  coal,  there  developed  the  past 
week  one  of  great  loss  as  compared  with  many 
weeks  previous.  During  the  six  day  working 
period  ending  September  18,  less  than  20,000  tons 
of  coal  was  moved  from  this  port  on  export 
account.  In  the  trade  there  was  the  general 
explanation  that  vessel  bottoms  were  scarce,  and 
this  was  borne  out  in  part  by  some  reports  that 
shippers  who  had  intended  sending  out  coal  on 
foreign  account  the  past  week  found  it  impossible 
to  make  charters  at  anything  like  fair  rates. 
There  were  some  rumors  of  cancellations  because 
of  dissatisfaction  or  misunderstandings,  but  these 
were  not  verified  to  any  serious  extent. 

Then  there  was  considerable  complaint  of  car 
shortage.  Operators  along  both  Pennsylvania 
and  Baltimore  &  Ohio  lines  in  many  cases  com¬ 
plained  that  they  were  not  receiving  their  full 
quota  of  cars,  and  that  the  tonnage  movement 
would  have  been  much  greater  if  this  element 
of  failure  had  not  entered  the  situation.  The 
trade  is  looking  rather  askance  at  prospects  for 
the  near  future. 

Satisfaction  was  taken,  however,  in  the  fact 
that  the  price  list  was  well  maintained  except 
in  one  instance,  and  that  some  slight  advances 
were  recorded  for  some  of  the  better  grade  - 
fuels.  Slack  broke  somewhat,  and  offerings  at 
sixty  cents  were  noted.  Heavier  movement  of 
screened  coal  to  the  northwest  to  take  care  of 
stocking  before  winter  sets  in,  thus  causing  an 
over-production  of  slack,  was  the  cause  assigned 
for  the  drop.  Demand  for  the  fuel  for  general 
industrial  purposes  has  held  well. 

Prices  to  the  trade  may  be  quoted  about  as 
follows : 


Fairmont — 

F.  0.  B. 
Mines. 

. $0.85®  .90 

F.  O.  B. 
Baltimore. 
$2.23@2.28 
2  23 

80 

.  00 

1  08 

Somerset — 

Best  . 

Good  . 

W.  M.  R.  R.— 

.  1.10@1.15 

. 80  (®  85 

2.  (3®2.53 
2.28@2.33 

1.98@2.03 

1.98@2.03 

2.4S@2.53 

2.7802.83 

2.03@2.13 

B.'&  0.— 

Freeport  . 

P.  R.  R.— 

Best  South  Fork . 

Miller  vein . 

Ordinary  . 

. 80@  .85 

.  ].30@1.35 

.  1.10@1.]5 

It  is  rather  difficult  to  get  up  much  enthusiasm 
from  hard  coal  men  here  just  now.  The  recent 
very  hot  spell  knocked  some  awakening  house¬ 
hold  trade  into  a  cocked-hat  for  most  of  them. 
Of  course  this  business  will  come,  but  it  is  not 
pleasant  to  contemplate  it  as  coming  all  in  a  bunch. 
Many  of  the  dealers  too  are  beginning  to  figure 
advance  effects  on  the  market  should  the  next 
year  be  ushered  in  with  a  practical  certainty  for 
strikes  when  the  miners’  agreements  expire  in 
the  spring.  It  is  hard  to  get  customers  to  figure 
ahead  on  such  contingencies,  but  it  makes  the 
coal  men  do  a  lot  of  guessing. 


The  Black  Diamond 


Vol.  55. 

No.  14 

SSaVfips  OCTOBER  2.  1915  $3.00  Per  Year 

The  : 

Rea! 

1  ] 

[ssue  in  West  Virginia-Ohio  Quarrel. 

There  is  now  in  progress  a  great  row  between 
the  operators  of  Ohio  and  the  operators  of  West 
Virginia.  It  is  likely  to  spread.  This,  then,  is 
the  time  to  inquire:  What  is  it  all  about? 

The  news  can  be  summed  up  in  two  short  para¬ 
graphs,  as  follows : 

“Within  the  next  thirty  days  all  coal-carrying 
Ohio,  Pennsylvania  and  West  Virginia  railroads 
will  file  with  the  interstate  commerce  commission 
at  Washington  new  schedules  of  rates  increas¬ 
ing  by  sixty  per  cent  the  differentials  in  favor  of 
Ohio  coal  as  against  West  Virginia  coal.  This 
agreement,  following  a  conference  between  execu¬ 
tive  heads  of  these  railroads  with  the  commis¬ 
sion  was  announced  September  9th  at  Columbus, 
Ohio,  on  his  return  from  Washington  by  Vice- 
president  M.  J.  Caples,  of  the  Chesapeake  &  Ohio 
and  the  Hocking  Valley  railroads. 

“By  the  terms  of  the  agreement,  Toledo  is  to 
be  made  the  basing  point  for  fixing  new  rates  on 
coal  shipped  from  Ohio  and  West  Virginia  mines 
to  points  in  Ohio,  Michigan  and  Indiana.  The 
rate  on  West  Virginia  bituminous  coal  to  Toledo 
is  to  be  forty  cents  greater,  according  to  the 
agreement,  than  the  rate  from  Ohio  mines.  The 
rates  on  West  Virginia  coal  to  all  other  points 
in  Ohio,  Michigan  and  Indiana  are  to  be  propor¬ 
tionately  increased.” 

Recently,  a  meeting  of  all  West  Virginia  oper¬ 
ators  was  held  at  Huntington.  The  following 
resolutions  were  adopted : 

“The  effort  of  the  railroad  companies  to  in¬ 
crease  freight  rates  fifteen  (15)  cents  per  ton 
on  all  coal  mined  and  shipped  from  this  state  into 
the  markets  west  and  north  and  northwest,  has 
raised  an  issue,  which  directly  affects  the  coal 
mining  industry  and  indirectly  affects  every  other 
industry,  commercial  enterprise  or  financial  insti¬ 
tution  within  the  confines  of  the  state. 

“The  proposed  action  of  the  railroad  com¬ 
panies  to  advance  freight  rates  on  coal  fifteen 
(15)  cents  per  ton  will  place  an  embargo  on  coal 
production  in  West  Virginia  and  cause  a  sus¬ 
pension  of  the  mines  shippin.g  coal  west  or  north. 

“What  is  of  greater  importance  to  the  people 
of  West  Virginia,  the  contemplated  advance  in 
freight  rates  will  strike  a  serious  blow  at  every 
home  within  the  state.  It  would  impede,  if  not 
destroy,  the  industrial  and  commercial  .growth 
of  a  great  commonwealth  and  reduce  to  extreme 
poverty  and  misery  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
industrious  and  thrifty  wage-earners  and  Ameri¬ 
can  citizens. 

“The  coal  mining  industry  of  West  Virginia 
has  been  developed  and  grown  to  enormous  pro¬ 
portions,  not  because  of  any  special  favor  shown 
the  mining  industry  of  the  state  by  the  railroad 
companies ;  not  because  of  any  advantage  in 
freight  rates ;  not  because  the  mine  workers  earn 
less  wages  than  in  any  other  coal  producing 
states:  not  because  of  special  transportation 
facilities,  but  simply  because  the  operatin.g  coal 
men  of  West  Virginia  have  persistently  demon¬ 
strated  the  superior  quality  of  West  Virginia 
coal  and  the  exceptional  opportunity  for  mine 
workers  to  earn  a  high  standard  of  wages. 

“We  contend  that  there  is  not  an  operation 
within  this  association,  or  within  the  state,  whose 
profit  amounts  to  the  sum  of  fifteen  (15)  cents 
per  ton,  hut  on  the  contrary  is  much  less  than 
that  sum  where  profit  is  shown  at  all,  and  that 
the  consequence  of  such  increase  would  be  either 
to  force  the  sale  of  the  product  at  a  loss,  or 
eliminate  West  Virginia  coal  entirely  from  the 
markets  affected  by  the  proposed  differential. 

“We  have  no  quarrel  with  the  operators  of 
our  sister  coal-mining  states,  but  we  have  a 
right  to  resent  bein,g  imposed  upon  by  what 
seems  to  be  the  arbitrary  decision  of  the  railroad 
companies  to  single  out  and  discriminate  against 
West  Virginia  coal  producers.  We  have  a  right 
to  resist,  by  every  intelligent  and  legal  means 
within  our  power,  any  attempt  of  the  railroad 
companies  to  increase  the  freight  rates  fifteen 
(15)  cents  per  ton  on  West  Virginia  coal.  We 
have  a  right  to  protest  against  the  action  of  the 
railroads  in  their  attempt  to  compel  West  Vir¬ 
ginia  coal  shippers  to  pay  forty  (40)  cents  per 


The  Favored  Field  Used  Its  Advantage  to 
the  Full  and  the  Victim  Found  a  Way  to 
Get  a  Handicap — When  Prices  Rule. 

ton  more  freight  than  our  competitors  pay  to 
transport  coal  into  the  general  markets. 

“We  cannot  fully  comprehend  why  all  the  rail¬ 
roads  hauling  coal  tonna.ge  from  West  Virginia 
to  the  northern  and  western  markets  have  jointly 
agreed  to  attempt  to  enforce  an  advance  of 
fifteen  (15)  cents  per  ton  in  freight  rate  on  coal 
shipped  from  this  state,  unless  there  is  a  domi¬ 
nating  influence  which  has  compelled  all  the  rail¬ 
road  companies  to  act  as  a  unit. 

“We,  the  representatives  of  the  operating  coal 
companies,  with  mines  on  the  M.  &  K.  Ry.  and 
its  tributary  branches  from  Gauley  Junction  to 
the  Ohio  river ;  on  the  C.  &  O.  Ry.  and  its  tribu¬ 
tary  branches  from  Gauley  Junction  to  Hunting- 
ton  and  on  the  Coal  &  Coke  railroad  from 
Gassaway  to  Charleston,  in  meeting  assembled, 
reco,gnize  the  seriousness  of  the  situation, 

“In  the  interest  of  thousands  of  mine  workers 
employed  in  the  development  of  the  industry ;  in 
the  interest  of  the  thriving  commercial  enter¬ 
prises  of  the  state ;  in  the  interest  of  the  farmers 
and  wage  earners  of  other  industries  of  West 
Virginia,  we  protest  against  the  arbitrary  action 
of  the  railroad  companies  in  their  effort  to  in¬ 
crease  the  freight  rate  on  West  Virginia  coal, 
and  we  hereby  declare  and  resolve, 

“First.  That  the  aCtion  of  railroad  companies 
to  advance  freight  rates  on  West  Vir.ginia  coal 
to  be  unfair,  unreasonable,  and  unjust  to  the  coal 
mining  industry  of  our  state. 

“Second.  That  the  proposed  action  of  the 
railroad  companies  to  be  the  worst  form  of 
discrimination  and  destructive  to  a  great  industry 
in  which  millions  of  capital  has  been  invested 
and  giving  employment  to  tens  of  thousands  of 
people. 

“Third.  That  we  shall  oppose  by  every  in¬ 
telligent  and  legal  means  within  our  power,  any 
attempt  of  the  railroads  to  sin.gle  out  West  Vir¬ 
ginia  coal  producers  for  discrimination  in  an 
attempt  to  increase  freight  rates  on  the  product 
of  our  mines. 

“Fourth.  That  wc  appeal  to  every  individual, 
commercial  and  financial  institution  in  the  state 
of  West  Virginia  to  join  with  us  in  protesting 
against  and  resisting  the  proposed  freight  rates 
on  coal  produced  in  West  Vir.ginia  and  shipped 
out  of  the  state. 

“Fifth.  I'hat  a  copy  of  these  resolutions  be 
given  to  the  press,  to  the  state  board  of  trade,  to 
the  boards  of  trades  and  chambers  of  commerce 
of  the  various  cities  and  towns  within  the  state.” 

What  the  Point  Is. 

These  things — the  news  item  and  the  resolu¬ 
tion — give  the  facts.  The  railroad  intention  is 
made  clear ;  the  differential  against  West  Vir¬ 
ginia  will  be  made  larger.  Also  the  disposition 
of  the  West  Virginia  operators  is  evident;  all 
the  forces,  political  and  commercial,  of  that  state 
are  going  into  action.  That  is,  there  is  going  to 
be  a  long  and  hard  fight  between  Ohio  and  West 
Virginia  before  the  various  commissions.  With 
a  question  of  freight  rates  as  the  bone  of  con¬ 
tention,  these  adjoining  commonwealths  are,  in  a 
sense,  going  to  war.  At  least  the  will  of  West 
Virginia  will  be  pitted  against  the  will  of  Ohio. 
That  is  what  the  issue  means,  really. 

But  what,  after  all,  is  tb.e  real  milk  in  the 
cocoanut?  What  is  it  all  about?  An  affair  of 
this  sort  never  reached  a  point  of  involving  all 
the  machinery  of  two  states  without  some  big 
cause.  What,  then,  started  it?  The  crux  of  the 
situation  in  all  probability  will  be  found  to  lie 
bere  in  this  simple  human  principle. 

Whenever  any  man  has  an  advantage  over 
another  man,  and  used  it  not  to  enrich  himself, 
but  to  impoverish  the  other,  he  invites  a  fight. 
The  odds  may  be  against  the  man  assailed,  but 
if  there  is  any  ingenuity  left  in  him  or  any  desire 
for  reprisal  he  is  going  to  find  a  way. 


West  Virginia  is  a  wonderful  state.  It  has 
more  coal  than  any  other  state.  It  has  more  and 
better  grades  of  coal  than  any  other.  It  has 
thicker  veins  than  any  competitor.  There  can 
be  no  doubt  about  those  facts.  Thus  West  Vir¬ 
ginia  is  naturally  and  preeminently  the  greatest 
coal  producing  district  in  America ;  in  some  re¬ 
spects  it  has  no  superior  in  the  world. 

Also  West  Virginia  is  relatively  new  as  coal 
producing  states  go.  Most  of  the  mines  have 
not  been  worked  for  long.  Therefore  they  still 
are  working  under  most  favorable  conditions. 

All  these  things  considered.  West  Virginia 
operators  should  be  making  money  and  lots  of  it. 
But  the  real  coal  men  there  have  not  made  money 
for  a  very  good  reason.  West  Virginia  has  no 
business  but  coal  mining,  since  everyone  wanted 
to  get  rich,  everybody  tried  to  produce  coal.  Tom, 
Dick  and  Harry  opened  a  mine  and  said  they 
were  operators.  They  made  up,  candidly,  a  mot¬ 
ley  crew  recruited  from  almost  every  other  line. 
Most  of  them  are  small.  These  little  fellows  are 
unsophisticated  as  business  men,  and  are  not 
governed  by  business  principles,  because  they  do 
not  know  what  such  things  are. 

These  small  men  plunged  into  the  coal  trade 
and  played  the  bull  in  the  china  shop,  as  will 
appear  presently. 

A  Point  Overlooked. 

Ohio  is  an  older  coal  producing  state.  It  was 
shipping  coal  twenty-five  years  before  West  Vir¬ 
ginia  started  and  sixty  years  before  newer  fields 
began.  The  coals  of  Ohio  are  not  so  good;  the 
mining  conditions  are  not  nearly  so  favorable ; 
many  of  the  mines  are  quite  old  and  have  been 
producing  for  a  long,  long  time.  The  average 
cost  of  production  for  many  reasons  necessarily 
is  high.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  only  thing  that 
the  C)hio  mines  had  was  a  market.  They  did 
have  that  because  Ohio  is  one  of  the  richest  and 
best  states  in  the  union. 

The  inexperienced  small  operator  of  West 
Virginia  coveted  the  Ohio  market.  These  novices 
in  business  made  one  fatal  mistake.  They  said 
that  the  .American’s  cupidity  will  devour  every¬ 
thing  and  shut  his  eyes  to  anything.  They  de¬ 
cided  to  make  an  open  and  frank  appeal  to  Ohio’s 
cupidity.  They  wanted  Ohio’s  market  and  in 
exchange  for  it  were  willing  to  give  the  consumer 
the  advantages  which  West  Virginia  had  been 
given  by  nature.  That  is,  the  relative  newness 
of  the  mines — hence  low  cost  of  production — 
larger  yield  per  man  per  day — therefore  lower 
cost  per  ton — and  splendid  roof  and  floor  condi¬ 
tions — making  for  clean  mining  were  thrown  into 
one  pot.  They  cut  the  cost  of  producing  coal 
considerably  below  what  the  Ohio  operators  could 
possibly  duplicate. 

The  West  Virginia  operator  might  have  put 
some  of  his  advantages  in  his  pocket  as  profit. 
He  would  have  done  so  had  he  been  older  and 
wiser.  Instead  he  proceeded  to  give  them  all  to 
the  consumer  in  exchange  for  his  order.  If  Ohio 
was  trying  to  get  $1.20  for  coal,  W’est  Virginia 
was  willing  to  take  coal  orders  for  $1.00.  If 
Ohio  tried  to  get  $1.00,  West  Virginia  took  eighty 
cents.  If  Ohio  cut  to  eighty  cents.  West  Virginia 
cut  to  sixty-five  cents.  There  was  no  escape  from 
that.  Ohio  was  losing  and  West  Virginia  was 
gaining,  the  business.  The  transfer  was  made  so 
steadily  that  soon  Ohio  would  have  had  none. 

.After  a  while,  Ohio  awoke  and  started  to  fight. 
The  operators  began  to  realize  that  the  bottom 
was  going  from  under  their  investment.  The 
miners  began  to  realize  that  their  work  was  dis¬ 
appearing.  The  railroads  saw  that  their  tonnage 
was  disappearing.  Everyone  began  to  be  con¬ 
cerned  at  tile  same  time. 

These  things  the  small  West  Virginia  operator 
overlooked.  It  never  occurred  to  him  that  a 
state  political  organization  would  want  nothing 
better  than  a  fight  to  see  that  all  Ohio  business 
should  be  kept  intact  and  defended  against  the 
attacks  of  outsiders.  Disregarding  this  point,  the 
West  Virginia  operator  continued  his  depreda¬ 
tions  incident  to  cut  price.  They  thought  that 
the  time  would  never  come  when  all  of  Ohio 


262 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[October  2 


would  rise  as  it  has  now,  to  demand  a  differential 
that  would  make  competition  even.  Apparently 
the  small  West  Virginia  operators  supposed  that 
they  could  drive  Ohio  out  of  business  and  get 
away  with  it. 

The  Broader  Bearing. 

If  this  were  merely  a  matter  between  Ohio  and 
West  Virginia  it  would  not  I)e  discussed  here. 
However,  it  is  far  more  than  a  local  ruction.  It 
is  a  cross  section  of  the  general  tendency  of  the 
entire  coal  trade  and  the  cause  of  most  of  the 
ills.  For  example,  Ohio  is  fighting  West  Virginia 
to  get  a  forty-cent  advantage  in  freight  rate  in¬ 
stead  of  twenty-five  cents.  The  question  im¬ 
mediately  is : 

“What  will  Ohio  do  with  that  extra  fifteen 
cents  a  ton  when  and  if  it  gets  it?  Will  it  be 
content  with  the  business  it  now  has  and  put  at 
least  a  part  of  this  advantage  in  its  own  pocket? 
Or,  will  it  do  the  same  as  West  Virginia  and  use 
that  fifteen  cents  to  begin  to  take  the  tonnage 
away  from  West  Virginia? 

If  the  latter  is  the  case,  the  shoe  has  been 
merely  transferred  from  one  foot  to  the  other. 
And  the  trade  is  no  better  off  than  it  was  in  the 
first  place.  That  is,  if  West  Virginia  has  carried 
on  a  predatory  campaign  against  Ohio,  it  is  not 
a  solution  for  Ohio  to  begin  to  carry  on  the  same 
sort  of  war  against  West  Virginia.  The  transfer 
of  advantages  does  not  warrant  the  man  who  has 
it  in  future  to  use  it  to  despoil  the  other  fellow 
any  more  than  that  was  the  case  in  the  past. 

The  thing  has  even  a  broader  application.  What 
is  done  to  Ohio  will  more  than  likely  be  done  to 
western  Pennsylvania,  since  the  situation  of  the 
two  states  is  almost  identical.  Therefore,  if  Ohio 
gets  a  forty-cent  instead  of  a  twenty-five  cent 
differential  against  West  Virginia,  western  Penn¬ 
sylvania  will  likely  get  the  same.  If  Ohio  adopts 
a  predatory  attitude  towards  West  Virginia’s 
business,  western  Pennsylvania  is  likely  to  do  the 
same  thing.  With  two  such  powerful  states  pitted 
against  West  Virginia,  the  destruction  of  the  coal 
business  of  that  state  can  very  easily  be  fore¬ 
seen.  This  again  is  merely  a  matter  of  trans¬ 
ferring  the  shoe  from  one  foot  to  the  other.  It 
dislodges  the  advantage  from  one  place  and  puts 
it  in  another  place  without  getting  anywhere  in 
the  matter  of  solving  the  problem. 

Influence  on  the  West. 

Even  so,  the  difficulty  does  not  end  there.  By 
getting  a  fifteen-cent  advantage  in  the  rates  with¬ 
in  Ohio,  it  and  western  Pennsylvania  will  have 
that  much  of  an  advantage  in  the  movement  of 
coal  to  the  lakes.  As  they  get  that  advantage  to 
the  lower  lake  ports,  it  is  automatically  trans¬ 
ferred  to  the  upper  lake  ports.  Therefore,  Ohio 
and  western  Pennsylvania  have  fifteen  cents  a 
ton  advantage  over  their  western  competitors  in 
the  northwestern  market.  The  vital  question  is ; 

What  are  they  going  to  do  with  that  advantage? 

If  they  i:se  it  to  enrich  themselves,  nobody  will 
complain  and  there  will  be  peace  in  the  coal 
family.  But,  if  they  use  it  to  despoil  the  western 
operator  of  his  business  in  the  northwest,  we  will 
have  presently  another  such  situation  as  has  now 
arisen  between  West  Virginia  and  Ohio.  That 
is,  the  eastern  operators  will  be  stripping  the 
western  operators  of  their  market  and  the  west¬ 
ern  operators  will  be  forced  to  fight  in  order  to 
retain  their  share  of  the  business. 

Everything  considered,  the  situation  is  of  pretty 
good  size  and  the  matter  involved  is  of  immense 
importance.  This  whole  matter  will  have  to  be 
settled  some  time  and,  as  the  Illinois  operators 
have  often  declared,  nothing  is  ever  settled  until 
it  is  settled  right.  It  is  never  going  to  be  settled 
right  so  long  as  an  operator  refuses  to  use  his 
advantage  to  enrich  himself  and  insists  upon 
using  it  to  despoil  the  other  fellow  of  his  busi¬ 
ness.  In  order  to  get  to  the  solution,  therefore, 
we  must  change  the  whole  ambition  of  the  coal 
trade.  That  is,  we  must  get  away  from  the  craze 
for  tonnage  and  substitute  a  desire  for  profit. 


Philadelphia  Harbor. 


Philadelphia — meaning,  of  course,  those 
who  guard  the  interests  of  the  city  as  a  port — 
has  felt  keenly  the  criticism  made  by  govern¬ 
ment  officials  that  deep  draught  colliers  of  the 
navy  would  not  be  sent  there  for  coal  until 
there  is  assured  a  sufficient  channel. 

Bids  were  opened  the  middle  of  August  for 
dredging  the  channel  of  the  Delaware  river 
between  Port  Richmond  and  deep  water.  This 
work  is  to  be  done  by  the  city  and  will  cost 
in  the  neighborhood  of  $100,000. 

It  has  been  contended  by  the  Navy  Depart¬ 
ment  that  the  channel  in  the  upper  Delaware 


was  not  deep  enough.  The  contemplated  work 
will  give  Philadelphia  a  thirty-foot  channel 
from  Port  Richmond  to  the  sea  at  low  water. 
.'Vs  there  is  a  tide  of  eight  feet,  vessels  draw¬ 
ing  thirty-eight  feet  of  water  could  come  up 
safely  on  high  tide. 

The  United  States  Government  is  excavat¬ 
ing  the  turning  basin  in  front  of  the  Port 
Richmond  piers  and  when  this  is  completed 
large  boats  will  be  able  to  leave  or  reach  this 
basin  with  full  cargoes  at  any  stage  of  the  tide. 
This  is  part  of  the  thirty-five-foot  channel  for 
I’hiladelphia  that  has  been  authorized  by  Con¬ 
gress. 


New  Pier  at  Curtis  Bay. 


It  is  said  to  be  the  intention  of  the  Balti¬ 
more  &  Ohio  railroad  officials  to  proceed  at 
once  with  the  construction  of  the  large  coal 
pier  in  the  Curtis  Bay  terminal,  authorized  by 
the  hoard  of  directors  at  the  monthly  meeting 
held  in  New  York  last  week. 

The  new  pier,  which  will  be  an  important 
addition  to  the  railway  facilities  of  Baltimore, 
will  cost  approximately  $1,500,000  and  will  re¬ 
quire  at  least  eighteen  months  to  complete  it, 
so  that  the  final  details  of  the  plans  will  be 
gone  over  and  bids  asked  on  the  structure 
without  delay. 

With  the  new  pier,  whose  capacity  will  be 
10,000,000  tons  a  year,  Baltimore  will  be  placed 
in  a  strong  position  to  secure  a  large  share 
of  the  export  coal  trade.  Not  only  will  the 
city  be  thus  placed  in  the  front  rank  as  a  coal 
port,  but  its  general  importance  as  a  shipping 
center  will  be  emphasized. 

The  new  pier  at  Curtis  Bay  marks  the  com¬ 
pletion  of  a  plan  which  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio 
railroad  has  had  under  consideration  for  some 
time  of  enlarging  its  Baltimore  terminals. 
Careful  study  has  been  given  by  the  officials 
to  modern  coal  terminals,  with  the  result  that 
the  new  pier  will  be  the  last  word  in  struc¬ 
tures  of  its  kind  and  embody  many  features 
which  will  be  new. 

Unlike  the  present  pier  at  Curtis  Bay  and 
most  of  the  others  on  the  Atlantic  seaboard, 
the  new  structure  will  be  designed  on  the  unit 
plan  with  individual  car  uftloaders  of  large 
capacity  which  can  be  worked  singly  on  vessels 
docked  on  either  side  of  the  pier  or  the  entire 
loading  capacity  can  be  directed  to  the  load¬ 
ing  of  one  ship. 

The  new  pier  will  be  fireproof  throughout 
and  of  steel  construction.  It  will  be  700  feet 
long  by  1J5  feet  wide.  In  preparing  the  plans 
for  the  new  pier,  which  were  submitted  to 
President  Willard,  Francis  Lee  Stuart,  chief 
engineer,  determined  upon  new  devices,  which, 
while  insuring  great  speed  in  loading  vessels 
will  prevent  breakage  of  coal  while  being 
emptied  into  the  holds  of  vessels.  Breakage  will 


be  overcome  by  means  of  a  system  of  belts 
leading  to  movable  towers,  which  will  load  in¬ 
to  vesels  on  either  side  of  the  pier  by  means  of 
shuttles  and  belts  on  these  towers. 

The  individual  car  dumpers  will  be  able 
to  handle  cars  fifty-three  feet  long  and  unload 
forty  100-ton  cars  an  hour.  The  belts  will  be 
run  at  speeds  varying  from  250  feet  to  500  feet 
a  minute.  Therefore  the  capacity  of  the  pier 
will  be  from  3,000  tons  to  6,000  tons  an  hour 
according  to  the  necessity  for  rapid  loading. 
This  IS  greater  than  the  capacity  of  any  struc¬ 
ture  of  the  kind  yet  built.  It  will  be  possible 
to  load  two  vessels  on  opposite  sides  of  the 
pier  with  one  or  two  dumpers  comprising  the 
units  of  the  pier,  or  it  will  be  possible  to  load 
the  output  of  two  car  dumpers  into  one  vessel. 

Officials  of  the  railroad  point  to  the  large 
increase  in  coal  traffic  handled  at  Curtis  Bay 
during  the  present  year  as  providing  the  neces¬ 
sity  for  the  new  pier.  To  July  31,  according 
to  statistics  of  the  road,  the  coal  handled  at 
Curtis  Bay  had  exceeded  the  entire  tonnage 
handled  during  1914. 


July  Coal  Exports. 


The  Department  of  Commerce,  through  the 
Bureau  of  Foreign  and  Domestic  Commerce  at 
Washington  has  just  issued  a  statement  covering 
the  exports  of  domestic  coal  and  coke  from  the 
United  States  and  bunker  coal  laden  on  vessels 
engaged  in  the  foreign  trade  at  the  specified  dis¬ 
tricts,  during  the  month  of  July,  1915.  It  follows: 


Maine  and  New  Hampsh 

Maryland  . 

Massachusetts  . 

New  York . 

Philadelphia  . 

Porto  Rico . 

ire  831 

5,458 

Virginia  . 

Florida  . 

Mobile  . 

New  Orleans . 

36 

Arizona  . 

El  Paso .  .. 

Laredo  . 

San  Francisco . 

Southern  California... 

4 

Washington  . 

Buffalo  . . 

Dakota  . 

Duluth  and  Superior... 

28 

Michigan  . 

95 

Ohio  . 

Rochester  . 

68,442 

St.  Lawrence . 

Vermont  . . 

690 

TONS. 

Total  . 

.  273,206 

Coal- 


258,.585 

3,021 

167,321 

75 

765,778 

558 

1,037 

1,929 

10,357 

1,363 

31 

25 

321 

161,490 

1,984 

1,357 

32,257 

714,767 

82,871 

21,038 

328 


2,226,493 


Coke. 

12,072 


1,636 

26 


701 


19 

3,094 

10,934 

32 

13 


3,191 

29,585 

123 

27 

5,537 

550 

681 

1,535 

69 


69,825 


BUNKER  COAL. 

Districts —  Gross  Tons. 

Maryland  .  53,113 

New  York .  289,202 

Philadelphia  ., .  47,053 

Virginia  .  177,499 


Shipments  of  Anthracite  Coal  By  Sizes. 


•A.  statement  just  issued  by  the  Anthracite  Bu¬ 
reau  of  Information  at  Wilkes-Barre  gives  the 
distribution  of  the  shipments  of  anthracite  during 
1914  according  to  the  sizes  shipped  from  the  dif¬ 
ferent  regions.  It  shows  that  of  the  68,342,601 
tons  sent  to  market  in  1914,  41,976,907  tons,  or 
61.42  per  cent,  were  of  the  prepared  or  domestic 
sizes,  and  26,365,694  tons,  or  38.58  per  cent,  con¬ 
sisted  of  pea  and  smaller  sizes.  One  of  the  in¬ 
teresting  features  of  the  statement  is  the  larger 
proportion  of  prepared  sizes  and  the  smaller  pro¬ 
portion  of  steam  sizes  shipped  by  the  Wyoming 
region  as  compared  with  the  Lehigh  and  Schuyl¬ 
kill  regions. 

The  shipments  of  stove  and  chestnut  coal,  the 
two  highest  priced  grades,  from  the  Wyoming 
region  constituted  46.66  per  cent  of  the  total  from 
that  region,  whereas  the  shipments  of  these  sizes 
from  the  Lehigh  and  Schuylkill  regions  consti¬ 
tuted  only  39.07  and  39.45  per  cent  respectively  of 


the  totals  from  these  districts.  The  shipments  of 
pea  and  smaller  from  the  Wyoming  district  con¬ 
stituted  35.38  per  cent  of  its  total  as  compared 
with  42.7  per  cent  from  the  Lehigh  and  43.64  per 
cent  from  the  Schuylkill.  These  figures  exem¬ 
plify  the  more  favorable  mining  conditions  that 
obtain  in  the  Wyoming  or  northern  region. 

There  was  a  slight  increase  in  the  percentage 
of  small  sizes  in  1914  (38.58  per  cent)  as  com¬ 
pared  with  1913  (38.26  per  cent),  but  with  the 
exception  of  1913  the  percentage  of  small  sizes 
in  1914  was  the  smallest  in  several  years  and 
points  to  the  gradual  disappearance  of  the  culm 
banks  from  which  the  greater  part  of  this  portion 
of  the  product  has  been  obtained.  The  output 
of  “washery”  coal,  as  that  from  the  culm  banks 
is  designated,  reached  its  maximum  in  1909,  when 
41.76  per  cent  of  the  total  production  consisted 
of  the  small  sizes.  By  1912  it  had  dropped  to 
39.23  per  cent  and  in  1913  it  was  38.26  per  cent. 


STATEMENT  SHOWING  PERCENTAGES  OF  THE  VARIOUS  SIZES  OF  ANTHRACITE  SHIPPED  FROM 

THE  SEVERAL  REGIONS  DURING  YEAR  1914. 


r— Wyoming  Region— > 

/—Lehigh  Region — , 

^Schuylkill  Region— > 

- Total- 

Tons. 

Per  Cent. 

Per  Cent. 

Tons. 

Per  Cent. 

Tons.  Per  Cent. 

Lump  . 

.  78,605 

.19 

27,755 

.31 

70,028 

.38 

176,388 

.26 

Broken  . 

5.04 

468,830 

5.16 

934,070 

5.05 

3,458,123 

5.06 

Egg  . 

.  .  5,188,774 

12.73 

1,167,515 

12.85 

2,118,487 

11.46 

8,474,776 

12.40 

Stove  . 

.  8,987,458 

22.05 

1,696,741 

18.67 

3,419,831 

18.49 

14,104,030 

20.64 

Chestnut  . 

. 10,032,2,55 

24.61 

1,854,383 

.  20.41 

3,876,952 

20.96 

15,763,590 

23.06 

Pea  . 

11.11 

1,148,966 

12.64 

2,344,120 

12.68 

8,021,600 

11.74 

Buckwheat  No. 
Smaller  than 

1 .  4,430,737 

buckwheat 

10.87 

1,285,262 

14.14 

3,203,990 

17.32 

8,919,989 

13.05 

No.  1 . 

13.40 

1,437,659 

15.82 

2,527,209 

13.66 

9,424,105 

13.79 

40,760,803 

100.00 

9,087,111 

100.00 

18,494,687 

100.00 

68,342,601 

100.00 

No.  14] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


263 


Year’s  Work  of  the  American  Mining  Congress.* 


An  appreciation  of  the  fitness  of  things  de¬ 
termined  the  American  Mining  Congress  to 
hold  its  meeting  in  San  Francisco  this  year, 
and  to  participate  in  the  Exposition,  which 
celebrates  the  completion  of  the  Panama  Canal. 

Mining  has  had  much  to  do  with  the  de¬ 
velopment  of  the  West  and  hence  with  the 
creation  of  those  conditions  which  made  the 
canal,  in  a  home  sense,  advisable.  We  may 
well  say  that  mining  is,  in  fact,  responsible 
for  the  discovery  of  the  Pacific  Coast,  or  at 
best  its  rediscovery  under  more  favorable  con¬ 
ditions.  Until  gold  was  found  in  California, 
the  vastness  of  the  western  prairies,  the  snow¬ 
capped  ridges  of  the  Rockies,  and  the  alkali 
deserts  presented  a  series  of  barriers  to  the 
early  settlers  which  they  were  not  keen  to  try 
to  surmount.  To  cross  all  three  with  primi¬ 
tive  transportation  facilities  was  a  problem 
as  difficult  and  as  hazardous  as  the  sailing  of 
the  unknown  seas  by  Columbus  some  400  years 
ago.  The  discovery  of  gold,  however,  brought 
a  great  number  of  people  to  the  Pacific  slope, 
and  California’s  cities  grew  out  of  those  min¬ 
ing  camps.  This  magnificent  city  is  one  of 
the  results. 

Thus  mining  is  the  foster  parent  of  modern 
California  and,  indeed,  the  underlying  industry 
of  the  west.  That  is  to  say,  the  miners  and 
prospectors  soon  learned  to  appreciate  Cali¬ 
fornia’s  wonderful  climate  and  soon  learned 
the  capabilities  of  its  soil.  This  led  directly 
to  that  great  agricultural  and  horticultural  de¬ 
velopment  which  has  become  famous  the  world 
over. 

With  the  double  productivity  of  the  state 
proved,  the  railroads  indulged  in  competitive 
campaigns  looking  to  the  construction  of 
transcontinental  lines  to  bring  in  the  equip¬ 
ment  to  be  used  in  the  mines  and  to  carry 
away  the  products  of  the  soil.  Thus  began 
the  trade  exchange  on  which  California  grew. 

These  facts  are  mentioned  because,  as  min¬ 
ers,  we  are  proud  of  the  strong  influence  which 
our  industry  has  exerted  upon  a  community 
so  productive  of  great  wealth  that  it  finally 
called  for  and  brought  about  the  construction 
of  the  Panama  Canal. 

We  have  an  interest  in  the  completion  of 
the  Panama  Canal  as  an  engineering  feat, 
namely,  that  in  the  execution  of  the. work  min¬ 
ing  methods  were  used,  such  as  dredging, 
sludging  and  blasting.  And,  without  the  use 
of  cement,  which  is  also  a  product  of  mining, 
it  would  have  been  impossible  to  complete 
this  \york  without  excessive  cost  and  delay. 

California  is  truly  a  great  mining  state,  rank¬ 
ing  as  it  does  the  fifth  producer  of  the  United 
tSates,  with  an  annual  value  of  the  produc¬ 
tion  of  over  $100,000,000.  This  is  more  than 
the  output  of  twenty  other  states.  And  the 
growth  from  nothing  to  this  commanding  posi¬ 
tion  has  been  accomplished  in  less  than  sev¬ 
enty  years.  It  is,  therefore,  proper  that  the 
highest  tribute  should  be  paid  to  the  repre¬ 
sentatives  of  the  mining  industry  in  this  state. 

We  are  becoming  accustomed  to  deal  in  very 
large  figures  in  this  country,  but  few  not  con¬ 
nected  with  the  mining  industry  realize  that 
the  value  of  the  mineral  products  of  the  Uinted 
States  in  1913  was  in  excess  of  ,$2,500,000,000. 

This  convention  at  San  Francisco  was  called 
mainly  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  together 
men  interested  in  mining  that  they  may  appre¬ 
ciate  that  their  purposes  and  their  problems 
are  one,  even  though  their  technicalities  and 
their  local  conditions  differ.  To  this  end  we 
afford  opportunity  for  brief  discussions,  believing 
that  with  the  ground  cleared  here  of  any  and  all 
misgivin.gs  the  work  will  be  taken  up  more 
actively  and  with  more  purpose  when  we  return 
to  our  respective  homes.  With  this  in  view,  the 
li.st  of  addresses  has  been  confined  to  the  most 
urgent  and  important  subjects.  In  keeping,  this 
statement  of  your  president  Is  restricted  to  a 
brief  review  of  the  accomplishments  of  the  year 
and  to  a  few  .suggestions  touching  future  needs. 

The  year  just  closing  has  been  one  of  many 
and  grave  perplexities.  The  European  war,  which 
so  seriously  depressed  the  metal  producing  in¬ 
dustry  during  the  closing  months  of  1914,  re¬ 
sulted  in  a  healthy  reaction  to  the  copper  and 
other  metal  industries  in  1915.  At  the  same  time 
general  business  has  endured  a  depression  which 
had  a  detrimental  and  blighting  effect  upon  the 
coal  indu.stry.  This  is  cspecialy  true  of  the  Cen- 

*President's  report  to  the  .5merican  Milling  Congress 
at  San  Francisco,  September  21,  1915. 


By  Carl  Scholz. 


Many  Things  Have  Been  Done  for  the 
Mining  Industry  But  Much  Remains  to 
Be  Done — Policy  Outlined. 


tral  Western  States.  The  exports  of  coal  from 
the  eastern  fields,  or  those  adjacent  to  the  sea¬ 
board,  and  the  sales  of  coal  to  makers  of  war 
materials,  have  in  part  offset  the  domestic  trade 
losses. 

To  relieve  their  distress,  strenuous  efforts  have 
been  made  by  the  coal  operators  of  Illinois  and 
Indiana  to  devise  and  adopt  permissible  coopera¬ 
tive  methods  that  would  introduce  economies  and 
eliminate  the  disastrous  and  wasteful  forms  of 
competition,  while  leaving  the  competitive  spirit 
full  room  in  which  to  grow  healthfully. 

The  increased  use  of  water  power,  fuel  oil  and 
gas,  the  consolidation  of  light  plants,  and  the 
establishment  of  electrical  central  power  stations, 
have  seriously  curtailed  the  use  of  coal  in  various 
sections.  These  things,  in  addition  to  the  un¬ 
settled  trade  conditions  and  to  the  influences 
growing  out  of  the  European  and  Mexican  war 
situations,  have  brought  about  a  serious  situa¬ 


tion  for  many  coal  fields:  they  have  affected 
employers  and  employes  alike.  The  aid  of  the 
Federal  Trade  Commission,  which  came  into 
existence  on  April  1,  has  been  invoked  in  an 
effort  to  find  a  solution  for  these  problems.  But 
the  Commission  feels  that,  as  now  constituted 
and  endowed,  it  has  no  power  to  deal  effectively 
with  the  situation.  Even  so,  it  is  deeply  in  sym¬ 
pathy  with  the  efforts  of  the  coal  owners. 

This  convention  will  be  addressed  by  the  ablest 
men  in  the  country  on  the  question  of  govern¬ 
mental  regulation  of  business,  hence  it  is  not 
necessary  to  elaborate  that  subject  here.  Suffice 
it  to  say  that  it  is  the  evident  tendency  that  we 
arc  to  become  a  government  by  commissions ; 
whether  this  will  meet  our  complex  needs  in  one 
of  the  grave  questions  of  the  hour.  Its  very 
gravity  suggests  that  it  should  be  the  duty  of 
every  citizen  to  consider  carefully  this  subject  as 
the  one  most  vital  to  his  welfare  and  to  the  ver^ 
existence  of  our  form  of  government.  Mean¬ 
while,  the  enactment  of  the  Clayton  bill,  which  in 
a  sense  permits  labor  to  do  the  very  thing  which 
the  Sherman  act  denies  to  capital,  suggests  a 
growing  political  tendency  to  distinguish  between 
forms  of  employment,  degrees  of  wealth  and  the 
voting  strength  of  the  adherents  of  certain  ideas 
which — seeing  the  indefinite  and  uncertain  attit- 
tude  of  the  court.s — strikes  at  the  very  foundation 
of  our  government.  This  Congress  has  lieen 
neither  an  antagonist  of  labor  nor  a  protagonist 
of  capital.  But  it  does  stand  firm  on  the  doctrine 
that  our  government  must  show  partiality  to 
neither.  It  insists  that  the  national  Congress  and 
the  state  legislatures  shall  consider  these  economic 
subjects  in  terms  of  enduring  principle  and  not 
in  terms  of  relative  voting  strength  of  certain 
partisans. 


It  is  not  our  belief  that  the  report  of  the  Com- 
rnission  on  Industrial  Relations  as  recently  pub¬ 
lished  was  expressive  fairly  of  the  facts  consid¬ 
ered  nor  of  any  attitude  which  our  government 
can  take.  Its  publication  as  a  public  document 
can  work  only  mischief,  and  in  consequence  it  is 
deplored. 

Perhaps  no  social  or  economic  subject  has  been 
so  generously  discussed  as  the  propaganda  for 
workmen’s  compensation  acts.  Laws  on  this  sub¬ 
ject  have  been  operative  in  a  number  of  states 
for  several  years.  This  subject  has  been  dis¬ 
cussed  frequently  on  this  floor,  and  undoubtedly 
the  statements  here  made  have  given  helpful 
direction  to  many  efforts  to  make  these  laws 
sane.  Even  so,  there  is  great  lack  of  uniformity 
and  there  is  need  that  we  address  ourselves  to 
that  subject  at  once.  For  example,  it  is  clear 
now  that  the  compulsory  feature,  injected  into 
the  laws  of  several  states,  does  not  meet  the 
approval  of  either  the  employers  or  the  employes. 
This  needs  to  be  changed. 

Also,  employers  generally  believe  that  the  in¬ 
dustry  should  bear  the  cost  of  its  accidents,  but 
in  many  instances  the  decisions  made  by  state 
commissions  are  manifestly  unreasonable  and  re¬ 
sult  in  litigation  and  ill  will,  which  is  not  desired 
by  the  employers  and  cannot  be  beneficial  to  the 
employes.  A  better  way  than  now  exists  gen¬ 
erally  must  be  found  for  collecting  and  admin¬ 
istering  any  fund  collected  for  this  purpose. 

The  attitude  of  the  government  in  endeavoring 
to  obtain  information  which  will  assist  it  to  find 
a  solution  for  some  of  our  vexing  industrial  prob¬ 
lems  is  deserving  of  our  commendation  and 
should  have  our  cooperation.  The  activities  of 
the  Federal  Trade  Commission  are  especially 
commendable  in  many  directions,  but  in  no  one 
way  more  so  than  when  it  advised  industries 
generally  to  adopt  standardized  accounting  for 
the  ready  and  accurate  comparison  of  competing 
units  and  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  costs. 

The  cooperation  existing  between  the  Bureau 
of  Mines  and  the  Geological  Survey  and  the  min¬ 
ing  industry  should  be  furthered  by  asking  suit¬ 
able  appropriations  for  this  work.  In  addition  to 
the  safety  and  life  saving  features  and  rescue 
work,  the  complete  utilization  of  our  mineral  re¬ 
sources  should  be  encouraged.  The  great  need 
for  coal  tar  products  and  its  adoption  for  the 
separation  of  ores  by  the  flotation  process  and 
other  problems  resulting  in  greater  economy  are 
deserving  of  the  close.st  attention.  Cooperation 
with  the  Federal  Trade  Commission  in  solving 
the  problems  of  fair  and  unfair  competition  and 
an  extension  of  trade  relations  is  desired. 

The  question  of  control  of  the  mineral  re¬ 
sources,  now  withdrawn  by  the  government,  is  of 
the  utmost  importance.  The  present  status  is 
seemingly  unsatisfactory  to  a  great  number,  and 
it  would  seem  advisable  to  bring  the  needs  of  the 
affected  areas  fairly  before  congress  to  settle  the 
present  chaos  with  as  little  delay  as  possible  and 
with  justice  and  fairness  to  those  directly  af¬ 
fected. 

Reference  to  the  development  of  the  mining  in¬ 
dustry  and  the  conservation  of  life  and  limb  to 
those  engaged  therein  would  not  be '  complete 
without  recalling  the  untimely  death  of  the  first 
director  of  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Mines, 
who,  as  a  life  member  of  this  congress,  was  one 
of  its  staunchest  supporters.  A  special  session 
will  be  held  on  Tuesday,  September  21,  in  com¬ 
memoration  of  Dr.  Joseph  A.  Holmes. 

Death  has  also  claimed  other  prominent  mem¬ 
bers  during  the  year.  The  west,  in  the  death  of 
Colonel  Thomas  Cruse,  has  lost  a  prominent  fig¬ 
ure  in  the  metal  mining  industry ;  the  southwest, 
Mr.  James  Elliott,  who  was  our  vice-president 
for  Oklahoma  and  one  of  the  leading  figures  in 
that  section. 

It  is  gratifying  to  say  that  notwithstanding  the 
serious  business  depression,  the  finances  of  the 
American  Mining  Congress  are  in  a  healthy  con¬ 
dition,  and  this  in  the  face  of  the  great  drains 
upon  our  resources  resulting  from  the  expenses 
arising  from  the  publication  of  the  “Mining  Con¬ 
gress  Journal.”  This  has  proved  a  valuable  aid 
to  this  organization,  if  we  are  to  judge  by  the 
many  favorable  comments  received. 

The  organization  of  several  new  state  chapters 
prompts  the  opinion  that  we  are  making  head¬ 
way,  but  it  is  evident  that  only  by  continued  and 
unceasing  efforts  will  we  be  able  to  accomplish 
our  aim. 

The  cordial  co-operation  accorded  me  by  the 
membership  and  the  directors  and  officers  is 
gratefully  acknowledged. 


264 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[October  2 


Haven’t  Coal  Men  the  Guts  to  Get  Good  Prices? 


Phii.adelphia,  September  30. —  (Sfyecial  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — About  a  year  ago  William  Allen 
White,  the  sage  of  Emporia  and  newspaper  man 
extraordinary,  wrote  a  magazine  article  relating 
to  the  aridity  of  Kansas  in  a  booze  sense. 
“Willum”  took  up  about  a  half  column  apologiz¬ 
ing  for  and  paving  the  way,  to  use  an  inelegant 
but  forceful  old  English  phrase,  to  the  effect  that 
any  state  could  become  dry  “if  it  had  the  guts 
to  do  so.” 

Is  that  what  is  the  matter  with  coal  prices  at 
present?  Haven’t  coal  men  the  guts  to  get  a 
.good  price? 

Let’s  get  this  thing  straight  before  we  start  to 
rattle  the  dead  bones.  If  this  is  going  to  be  an 
argument,  a  discussion  or  a  sermon,  it  is  a  pretty 
good  thing  to  start  out  with  a  given  foundation 
and  the  quickest  way  to  get  that  is  to  build  it. 

For  nigh  onto  three  years,  coal  men  have  been 
taking  their  coal  from  the  earth,  placing  it  on 
cars  and  trusting  to  the  good  Lord  and  tlie  sellin.g 
force  to  break  even.  Distress,  from  low  prices, 
was  the  regular  thing;  an  upward  turn  in  price 
was  as  welcome  as  a  missionary  at  a  cannibal 
feast. 

Then  came  the  war  last  year.  It  was  tough 
sledding  before  that,  but  it  was  a  hang  sight 
worse  afterward.  For  a  year,  the  jobber  and  the 
consumer— if  they  had  the  sense  that  was  given 
little  geese — have  had  a  picnic.  It  has  been  prac¬ 
tically  a  consumer’s  market  with  prices  practi¬ 
cally  what  they  wanted  to  make  them. 

The  Price  Tendencies. 

There  have  been  times  when  the  anthracite  man 
could  look  on  his  bituminous  brother  with  a 
pitying  smile.  That  was  when  the  latter  was 
being  pinched  by  over  production  and  the  other 
things  that  send  the  prices  to  the  bottom.  This 
spring  and  summer,  even  the  hard  coal  man  has 
found  it  hard  to  get  prices.  Time  was  when  the 
so-called  anthracite  circular  price  was  inviolate. 
The  ten  cents  more  on  the  ton,  starting  with  May 
1st,  was  added  as  regularly  as  the  change  in  date 
was  made  on  letters. 

This  year,  while  it  does  not  show  on  the 
surface,  quite  a  jag  of  hard  coal  has  been  sold 
as  late  as  the  middle  of  August  at  what  is  known 
as  “April  circular,  tax  off.” 

A  little  strengthening  of  bituminous  prices  has 
been  seen  lately,  but  it  has  been  a  halting,  hesi¬ 
tating,  half-hearted  sort  of  rise.  The  coal  oper¬ 
ators  have  been  like  a  lot  of  bad  boys  surprised 
in  a  farmer’s  apple  orchard :  they  have  been  un¬ 
decided  whether  to  stand  still  and  be  caught  or 
leg  it  and  take  a  chance. 

Having  thus  the  facts, '  as  to  the  producers’ 
policies,  how  do  those  policies  conform  to  the 
other  facts — the  state  of  demand  and  the  supply 
of  labor,  cars  and  coal? 

The  Labor  Situation. 

Take  the  labor  question.  It  has  been  figured 
that,  in  normal  times,  at  least  1,000  families  went 
to  the  coal  districts  per  week.  The  war  cut  that 
off  practically. 

And,  the  war  did  more  than  cut  off  the  source 
of  supply;  it  started  subtracting  from  the  supply 
already  here.  At  first  it  was  a  dribble — a  hundred 
or  so  men  a  week  went  back  to  the  fatherlands 
to  fight.  But,  since  Italy’s  entrance  into  the 
war,  the  dribble  has  become  a  steady  and  ever- 
increasing  stream?  Within  the  last  couple  of 
weeks  it  has  been  nothing  for  the  newspapers  at 
the  eastern  seaboard  to  record  the  fact  that 
1,300  or  1,.500  reservists  “sailed  yesterday  on  the 
liner  So-and-so.”  Suppose  we  say  that  five  hun¬ 
dred  of  this  number  came  from  the  coal  regions. 
That  means  that  fully  1,500  men  are  lost  each 
week  to  the  coal  fields. 

And  there  is  another  feature.  Since  the  steel 
mills  and  other  industries  which  use  common 
labor  have  started  booming,  the  call  to  higher 
wages  and  more  steady  work  has  been  heard 
at  the  mines.  Quite  a  number  of  the  miners  have 
heard  and  responded  to  the  call. 

If  the  mines  of  the  state  of  Pennsylvania  were 
called  upon  tomorrozv  to  zvork  to  capacity,  not 
two-thirds  enough  men  could  be  found  to  man 
them. 

That  seems  a  pretty  broad  statement,  but  a 
concrete  case  proves  it  does  not  overstate  the 
situation.  A  mine  in  the  bituminous  section  of 
Pennsylvania — working  the  B.  Miller  vein — has 
been  running  on  half  time  for  nearly  ten  months. 
The  sales  manager,  who  does  not  pose  as  a 


With  Every  Condition  in  Their  Favor, 
They  Are  Still  Cutting  Their  Prices 
Down  to  a  Low  Level — A  Few  Facts. 

seventh  son  of  a  seventh  son,  believed  that  he 
saw  more  advantageous  prices  in  sight  with  the 
coming  of  September.  So  he  determined  to 
“speed  up”  on  the  sales  end  and  then  see  what 
the  operating  end  could  do  in  the  way  of  “fallin.g 
into  line.” 

This  mine  has  produced  7,000  tons  a  week. 
At  half  time,  it  was  producing  2,100  tons  a  week. 
Three  weeks  ago  full  time  was  ordered  and  the 
production  was  2,400  tons — an  increase  of  300 
tons  on  the  week.  The  superintendent  had  the 
under-cutters  to  get  down  the  coal  not  enough 
men. 

The  second  week  a  call  was  issued  for  more 
men  or  enough  to  bring  the  shifts  up  to  their 
former  quotas.  Sixty  men  were  all  that  were 
to  be  had.  Where  did  they  come  from?  From 
five  other  mines  in  the  vicinity  that  were  work¬ 
ing  half  time.  When  the  other  five  mines  tried 
to  get  men  to  take  their  places,  they  found  that 
the  neighborhood  supply  was  at  bed  rock. 

It  is  an  open  secret  that  the  labor  contractors 
of  Pittsburgh  and  West  Virginia  cities,  where 
mine  labor  can  be  had  normally  without  any 
ado,  have  gone  for  weeks  without  supplying  one- 
fifth  of  the  requirements  of  some  of  the  mines. 

And  April  1st  sees  the  opening  guns  trained 
on  the  wage  scale  question.  In  Pennsylvania, 
both  anthracite  and  soft  coal  miners  will  come 
forth  and  state  their  case.  The  emmisaries  of 
labor  are  already  on  the  ground.  The  “itch”  is 
being  spread.  At  the  time  that  this  article  was 
being  written  it  was  told  the  writer  that  the 
men  of  a  non-union  mine  had  walked  out.  They 
had  not  asked  for  any  union  recognition — they 
wanted  better  wages  and  a  guarantee  against 
short  time.  The  short  time  of  the  past  couple 
of  years  has  caused  more  discontent  than  any 
other  factor. 

The  Car  Situation. 

The  car  situation  has  always  been  a  potent 
factor  in  the  prices  of  coal.  Last  week  the  daily 
papers  commented  that  the  railways  were  waking 
up — when  it  was  too  late — and  that  continuous 
inquiry  was  being  made  of  the  steel  mills  as  to 
their  ability  to  turn  out  railway  supplies — cars 
and  rails.  Only  one  railway — among  the  eastern 
coal  carriers — has  even  tried  to  keep  its  rolling 
stock  up  to  standard.  Some  of  the  others  this 
summer  tried  to  patch  up  their  equipment.  They 
did  the  best  they  could,  but  still  it  was  a  patch- 
work  job  that  was  done. 

The  West  Virginian  carriers — where  originates 
so  much  tonnage — have  kept  pretty  well  in  pace 
with  the  increased  coal  business  from  their  fields. 
But,  how  about  the  lines  which  complete  the 
delivery — the  Ohio  roads,  for  example?  The 
floods  of  1913  set  them  away  back  and  the  money 
stringency  since  has  kept  them  from  adopting 
a  program  of  progress.  That  is,  they  fell  behind 
and  have  not  recovered.  That  is  generally  true. 

Here  is  another  thing  to  consider :  Many 
journals  are  devoted  to  practical  railroading, 
riie  feature  of  these  ordinarily  is  the  news  of 
big  buying.  The  feature  of  these  papers  today 
is  not  the  orders  for  new  rolling  stock,  but  rather 
the  lack  of  comment  thereon. 

It  would  seem  that  any  stress  or  any  extraor¬ 
dinary  demand  on  the  railways  will  place  them 
in  a  worse  tie-up  than  has  ever  Iieen  seen.  Do 
the  railways  know  this?  Here  is  an  extract  from 
a  news  despatch,  printed  in  one  of  the  conserva- 
'tive  dailies  in  Philadelphia  under  a  Pittsburgh 
date  line ; 

“According  to  reliable  information  all  the  big 
trunk  lines  as  well  as  the  smaller  railroads  are 
now  storing  coal  against  any  contingency  that 
may  arise  as  a  result  of  the  heavy  demand  for 
export  coal  and  the  threatened  shortage  of  labor 
due  to  the  return  of  thousands  of  foreign-born 
miners  to  their  native  lands.  *  *  *  Since  July 
1st  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad,  the  Baltimore  & 
Ohio,  the  Bessemer  &  Lake  Erie,  the  Buffalo, 
Rochester  &  Pittsburgh,  the  Pittsburgh  &  Lake 
Erie,  as  well  as  smaller  lines,  have  been  accumu¬ 
lating  a  fairly  large  percentage  of  coal  mined  in 
the  Pittsburgh  district.  At  all  of  the  big  coal¬ 
storing  stations  of  these  companies  hundreds  of 
cars  are  arriving  weekly,  and  the  stocks  at  many 
points  are  be.ginning  to  assume  large  proportions. 
Although  officials  of  the  different  companies  re¬ 


fuse  to  assign  any  particular  reason  for  the  stor¬ 
ing  of  fuel,  none  denies  the  fact  that  it  is  being 
done.” 

How  well  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  thinks  of 
its  preparedness  for  emergency  is  shown  by  a 
later  despatch  from  Sunbury,  Pa.,  which  states 
that  this  trunk  line  is  converting  abandoned  yards 
at  the  lower  end  of  that  city  into  storage  places 
for  coal. 

It  might  be  well  also  to  remember  that  one 
of  the  biggest  grain  crops  ever  harvested  will 
move  to  the  seaboard  this  year.  Also,  the  steel 
industry,  which  last  fall  was  working  at  forty- 
five  per  cent  of  normal,  will  this  year  make  heavy 
demands  on  railways  for  equipment. 

Influence  of  Exports. 

It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  within  the  last 
thirty  days  various  contracts  have  been  made  for 
export  coal  that  will  take  a  considerable  tonnage 
from  the  market. 

One  of  the  stock  explanations  of  why  coal  has 
been  sold  at  prices  named  by  consumers  has  been 
that  there  has  been  over-production.  This,  it 
has  been  argned,  has  been  increased  heavily  in 
the  last  couple  of  years  by  the  opening  of  new 
mines  now  ready  to  pour  a  tremendous  tonnage 
on  the  market.  This  looks  ominous,  but — 

Only  recently  and  in  only  one  city,  a  half 
dozen  sales  managers  have  shown  the  writer 
legitimate  inquiries  that  would  total  600,000  tons. 

This  measures  in  a  way  the  larger  demand. 

Also,  the  list  of  chartered  vessels  for  the  last 
month  shows  that  a  goodly  increase  in  coal  going 
abroad  is  a  fact. 

Add  to  this,  a  restriction  upon  shipments  of 
coal,  that  may  come  at  any  time,  from  Great 
Britain,  and  it  can  be  seen  that  whatever  over¬ 
plus  there  is  at  home  will  have  a  market  to 
absorb  it  abroad. 

Why  the  Low  Prices? 

With,  as  shown,  production  curtailed  and  orders 
increasing,  it  is  time  to  inquire :  Why  these 
wobbly  and  uncertain  prices?  Upon  sober  and 
impartial  observation,  this  cause  is  given  :  The 
coal  operator  and  his  sales  force  have  leaned 
so  long  on  the  arm  of  the  consumer  and  have, 
for  so  long,  let  him  do  the  buying  instead  of  their 
being  annoyed  to  do  the  selling  that  they  can’t 
change  in  a  hurry.  In  fact,  rather  than  becoming 
as  aggressive  as  their  condition  warrants,  the 
coal  men  are  waiting  for  the  user  of  coal  to 
show  timidity  before  they  advance  their  price. 

What  of  the  Weather? 

One  other  factor  enters,  but  that  is  a  subject 
for  speculation  only :  What  will  the  weather  be 
during  the  winter  months?  There  is  a  saying 
among  stock  brokers  that  “he  who  bets  on  the 
weather  is  doomed  to  the  bottomless  pit.”  Even 
so,  it  is  well  to  take  into  consideration  that  for 
two  years  we  have  had  mild  winters.  This  article 
goes  no  further ;  the  reader’s  imagination  must 
complete  the  prophecy  to  his  own  liking. 

In  the  matter  of  raising  the  price  of  coal  to 
the  public,  it  might  be  well  to  keep  in  mind  that : 
The  banks  are  groaning  with  money;  that  work¬ 
ingmen  are  scarce  and  are  making  slathers  of 
money ;  that  the  west  with  long  prices  for  grain 
and  plenty  of  it,  has  money;  and  that  .general 
business  is  good. 

Why,  then,  is  it  that  coal  prices  have  not 
shown  a  response  to  conditions?  Is  it  up  to  the 
coal  man  ? 

His  cost  of  mining  has  been  advancing.  Labor 
is  getting  ready  to  make  another  demand  for 
more  wages  and  goodness  knows  what  else.  The 
steel  man  is  .getting  his  profit,  the  steamship 
men  are  getting  theirs.  Even  manufacturers  are 
not  overlooking  a  chance  to  make  up  for  lean 
years.  What  is  the  shadow  that  the  coal  man 
is  stumbling  over?  Is  it  a  case  such  as  William 
Allen  White  described — that  he  hasn’t  the  .guts 
to  get  what  is  coming  to  him? 


As  indicating  the  immense  quantities  of  steel 
required  in  making  munitions,  it  is  stated  that 
each  nine-inch  shell  calls  for  300  pounds  of  steel ; 
each  twelve-inch  shell  1,000  pounds ;  each  eleven- 
inch  shell  620  pounds ;  the  ten  and  three-quarter- 
inch,  shell  610  pounds,  while  the  sixteen-inch 
shells  will  weigh  one  ton  each.  This  estimate  is 
made  on  an  inquiry  from  Franch  for  135,000  tons 
of  steel  for  use  in  making  a  total  of  773,000 
.shells.  These,  when  loaded,  will  cost  about  $25,- 
000,000,  the  steel  alone  being  valued  at  $6,750,000. 


No.  14] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


265 


Putting  American  Coal  on  Argentine’s  Market 


An  article  appearing  in  a  recent  issue  of  “The 
Americas,’’  a  magazine  published  monthly  by  the 
National  City  Bank  of  New  York,  contains  much 
valuable  information  regarding  the  Argentine  coal 
situation.  It  contains  also  some  timely  sugges¬ 
tions  on  the  increased  possibilities  of  our  export¬ 
ing  coal  to  that  country. 

Some  of  the  statements  and  suggestions  are 
open  to  criticism.  For  example,  the  railways  are, 
of  course,  the  largest  users  of  coal  in  Ar.gentina, 
but  the  article  does  not  mention  the  next  largest 
consumers  of  coal,  viz.,  the  steamships  taking 
on  bunker  coal. 

While  it  is  true  that  Argentina  is  not  as  yet 
a  coal-prodUcing  country,  she  has,  undoubtedly 
large  coal-bearing  areas  which  are  being  developed 
slowly. 

The  petroleum  industry  deserves  more  extended 
mention.  Under  date  of  April  8th,  La  Nacion 
gives  the  following  data : 

“The  oil  deposits  at  Comodore  Rivadavia, 
owned  and  worked  by  the  government,  comprises 
twenty-one  wells,  eight  of  which  are  producing. 
These  deposits  are  ri.ght  on  the  coast  and  most 
advantageously  located. 

“The  wells  are  all  gushers,  with  a  strong  flow 
of  gas,  oil  being  found  at  various  depths,  from 
630  to  653  meters.  The  Argentine  is  planning 
to  increase  production  largely  and  to  encourage 
the  use  of  oil  as  fuel. 

“From  these  deposits  95  million  cubic  meters 
of  oil  was  produced  from  1907  to  March  26, 
1915. 

“There  are  also  eleven  wells  owned  by  private 
companies,  three  of  which  are  producing. 

“It  will  probably  be  some  years  before  the  use 
of  fuel  oil  is  extended,  but  it  is  a  coming  factor 
that  must  be  reckoned  with.” 

The  Use  of  Coal. 

The  annual  imports  of  coal  into  Argentine 
were,  in  1913,  4,046,278  metric  tons,  3,693,572 
from  Great  Britain,  but  in  1914  they  fell  off 
considerably,  to  3,124,312  tons  of  which 


Tons. 

From  Great  Britain .  2,883,064 

From  United  States .  241,248 

For  the  first  four  months  of  1915 : 

Tons. 

From  Great  Britain .  730,559 

From  United  States .  148,999 

Total  .  879,558 


At  this  rate,  1915  will  show  a  still  greater  de¬ 
crease,  not  much  over  sixty  per  cent  of  the  1913 
total. 

It  is  quite  true,  as  seen  from  the  above,  that 
Great  Britain  has  had  and  still  has  a  practical 
monopoly  of  the  Argentine  coal  trade.  The 
reasons  for  this  monopoly  may  be  summed  up 
commercially  in  four  words — Price,  Quality, 
Credits,  Supply. 

Friendship,  pull,  custom  of  usage,  furnace 
equipment  must  also  be  fought  by  the  United 
States  exporter. 

Discussing  the  reasons  for  the  British  monop¬ 
oly,  the  article  under  consideration  give : 

1.  Different  furnace  equipment. 

2.  Different  customs  in  furnace  equipment. 

3.  Influence  of  British  capital. 

4.  Higher  freight  rates  and  scarcity  of  ships 
from  United  States. 

5.  Return  cargoes  always  available  to  Great 
Britain  and  not  to  United  States. 

1.  The  reason  that  grate  bars  suitable  for 
Cardiff  (why  not  say  British)  coal  are  not  always 
suitable  to  United  States  coal  is  that  most  of  the 
Cardiff  or  British  coal  is  screened  “large”  coal, 
while  the  North  American  steam  coal  that  has 
been  shipped  to  the  Argentine  was  not  screened 
at  all,  being  run-of-mine  or  “through  and 
through,”  as  the  British  call  it. 

Of  the  British  coal  shipped  to  the  Argentine 
in  1914,  2,883,064  tons,  2,429,260  tons  were  large 
coal,  71,426  tons,  small  coal  or  slack  and  7,270 
tons  “through  and  through.” 

It  is  also  true  that  the  men  who  burn  the  coal 
are  not  accustomed  to  strongly  coking  coals,  such 
as  New  River  and  Pocahontas,  which,  they  claim, 
give  the  firemen  more  work  than  do  the  Welsh 
coals. 

Influence  of  British  Capital. 

2.  There  can  be  no  question  that  the  influence 
of  British  capital  has  much  to  do  with  the  use 
of  British  coal  in  the  Argentine  directly  and 
indirectly,  as  will  be  quickly  found  out  by  anyone 
tryin.g  to  sell  coal  to  British  controlled  com¬ 
panies.  Some  of  the  large  British  coal  interests 
are,  in  fact,  largely  interested  in  Argentine  enter¬ 
prises. 


By  F.  R.  Wadleigh. 

Freight  Rates  and  the  English  Coal  Situ¬ 
ation  Favor  Us  Now,  But  We  Need  Re¬ 
turn  Cargoes  for  Ships  and  South  Ameri¬ 
can  Docks. 


In  fact,  to  sell  a  large  tonnage  in  the  Argen¬ 
tine,  a  visit  to  London  would  be  absolutely  neces¬ 
sary  and  one  to  the  Argentine  advisable,  but  not 
likely  to  be  successful. 

As  the  article  says,  there  are  other  coal-usin.g 
interests  besides  the  British ;  Italian,  German. 
French,  Belgian  and  North  American,  some  of 
which  at  least  would  buy  coal  from  the  United 
States. 

The  reason  such  interests  have  not  bought 
United  States  coal  has  not  always  been  because 
of  price. 

Of  course,  every  one  knows  that  the  f.  o.  b. 
tidewater  prices  of  United  States  coals  are  below 
those  of  the  best  Welsh  coals,  but  the  writer  of 
the  article  makes  the  mistake  of  classing  to¬ 
gether  the  prices  of  all  British  coals.  Now  there 
are  other  British  coals  exported  besides  Welsh, 
even  to  South  America;  moreover,  there  are  dif¬ 
ferent  kinds  and  grades  of  Welsh  coal. 

In  1913,  498,811  tons  of  coal  other  than  Welsh 
was  shipped  to  Argentine  from  Great  Britain. 
In  1914,  the  average  f.  o.  b.  price  of  the  British 
lar.ge  coal  shipped  to  the  Argentine  was  $4.21 
per  long  ton;  but  there  was  also  71,426  tons  of 
smalls,  the  average  price  of  which  was  $4.01. 
During  the  first  four  months  of  this  year  the 
average  f.  o.  b.  price  of  British  large  coal  to  the 
Argentine  was  $4.59;  of  small  coal,  $4.32. 

Important  Price  Changes. 

It  is  not,  however,  the  export  price  that  should 
be  considered  in  this  connection,  but  the  export 
price  plus  the  ocean  freight  and  insurance.  When 
the  war  be.gan,  freights  from  Cardiff  to  Buenos 
Aires  were  $3.16,  from  the  United  States  $3.40. 


Price  of  coal,  f.  o.  b.  Hampton  roads . $2.70 

$2.70  -f-  $3.40  ;=  $6.10 

Price  of  Welsh  large  coal .  4.25 

$4.25  -f-  $3.16  =  $7.41 
ON  JANUARY  1,  1915. 

Cardiff  to  Buenos  Aires . . $3.95 

Hampton  Roads  to  Buenos  Aires .  6.07 

Price  of  coal,  f.  o.  b.  Hampton  Roads .  2.70 

$2.70  -h  $6.07  =  $8.77 

Price  of  Welsh  seconds,  large .  4.37 

$4.37  +  $3.95  =  $8.32 
MAY  15,  1915. 

Cardiff  to  Buenos  Aires . $6.32 

Hampton  Roads  to  Buenos  Aires .  8.50 

Price  of  coal,  f.  o.  b.  Hampton  Roads .  2.70 

$2.70  -f-  $8.50  =  $11.20 

Price  of  Welsh  seconds,  large .  8.75 

$8.75  4-  $6.32  =  $15.07 
JUNE  1,  1915. 

Cardiff  to  Buenos  Aires . . $6.44 

Hampton  Road  to  Buenos  Aires .  8.87 

Price  of  coal,  f.  o.  b.  Hampton  Roads .  2.70 

$2.70  -f  $8.87  =  $11. .57 


Price  of  Welsh  seconds,  f.  o.  b.  Cardiff  (May  21) .  .  8.50 
$6.44  +  $8.50  =  $14.94 

The  above  figures  will  show  that  in  _  normal 
times  our  small  exports  must  be  explained  by 
something  other  than  price;  they  also  show  the 
reason  for  the  recent  increase  in  our  exports  to 
South  America. 

The  article  states  that  analyses  of  “Many  North 
American  coals”  show  no  reason  for  their  not 
being  used  to  a  greater  extent  in  South  America, 
etc.  Now  there  are  very  few  North  American 
coals  that  “have  competed  successfully  in  many 
foreign  markets.”  Leaving  out  gas  coals,  there 
are  only  about  four  United  States  coals  that 
have  been  successful  in  foreign  markets  and  these 
only  when  their  delivered  price  was  lower  than 
that  of  the  better  grades  of  Welsh  coals.  “Some 
of  them  present  most,  if  not  all,  the  essential 
characteristics  of  Cardiff  coal.” 

A  Matter  of  Quality. 

Let  us  consider  the  analysis  question.  What 
are  the  “essential  charactistics  of  Cardiff  coal” 
in  this  respect?  Cardiff  coals,  as  exported,  con¬ 
tain  from  11  to  30  per  cent  volatile  matter,  from 
.7  to  1.25  per  cent  sulphur,  from  3.5  to  10  per 
cent  ash,  from  14,400  to  15,300  B.  T.  U. 

Compare  the  following  actual  analyses,  all  of 


coals  as  shipped,  not  picked  or  mine  samples : 

1.  2.  3.  4.  5. 

Moisture  .  2.83  2.63  .83  1.46  .73 

Volatile  matter...  20.93  18.25  15.22  15.70  29.13 

Fixed  carbon .  71.43  73.87  80.60  77.94  63.24 

Ash  .  4.81  5.25  3.40  4.84  4,90 

Sulphur  .  .746  .62  .89  1.04  .56 

K.  T.  U .  14911*  14021*  15244  14798  14749 


*Dry. 


1.  New  Kiver.  Average  analysis  of  nine  cargoes, 
about  50,000  tons,  sainpleil  and  analysis  by  U.  S.  Bureau 
of  Mines. 

2.  Pocahontas.  Average  analysis  of  seventy-five  car¬ 
goes,  sampled  and  analysis  by  U.  S.  Bureau  oi  Mines. 

3.  Welsh  first  class  admiralty.  Analysis  of  actual 
shipment,  large  coal. 

4.  Welsh,  second  class.  Analysis  of  actual  shipment, 
large  coal. 

5.  Best  Monmouthshire.  Analysis  of  actual  shipment, 
large  coal. 

Analysis  of  other  British  coals  exported  to 
Argentine  are  given  below ;  the  best  of  them  sells 


today  for  $5.77 

f.  0.  b.  loading 

port  (Hull  or 

Tyne  ports)  : 
Best  York¬ 

Northumber¬ 

Durham 

shire  Steam. 

land  Large. 

Unscreened. 

Dry 

1.50 

3V.85 

28.37 

30.13 

'  64.56 

67.67 

62.27 

2.59 

3.40 

6.10 

90 

.86 

.92 

14610 

14887 

14270 

Moreover,  as 

stated  above,  all 

of  the  British 

steam  coals  shipped  to  South  America  are  not 
Welsh  coals,  quite  a  large  tonnage  comin.g  from 
the  Northumberland  and  Durham  districts ;  these 
coals  are  higher  in  volatile  matter  than  the  Welsh 
coals,  not  as  high  in  heating  value,  but  are  harder, 
just  as  well  prepared  and  considerably  cheaper, 
the  best  grades  of  large  coal  (screened)  sellin.g, 
normally,  at  13s  f.  o.  b.  Tyne  ports,  the  present 
price  being  25s. 

The  American  Offering. 

It  is  quite  true,  of  course,  that  “many  North 
.\merican  coals,”  the  majority,  in  fact,  “contain 
a  high  percentage  of  volatile  combustible  matter.” 

It  is  not  true  that  such  coals  are  only  suitable 
for  use  within  short  distances  and  not  suitable 
for  ocean  transportation,  on  account  of  risk  from 
fires.  The  amount  of  volatile  matter  in  coal  has 
nothing,  of  itself,  to  do  with  the  liability  to 
spontaneous  combustion  of  any  coal.  What  about 
the  continued  use  for  the  last  three  years  of 
Fairmont  coal  in  Egypt?  This  coal  contains  as 
hi.gh  as  thirty-eight  per  cent  volatile  matter.  Of 
the  half  million  tons  of  Australian  coal  annually 
imported  into  Chile  and  stored  there  in  large 
piles  for  months?  Much  of  this  coal  runs  over 
forty  per  cent  volatile.  The  writer  has  lately 
received  a  sample  of  Australian  gas  coal  as  used 
by  the  Gas  Company  at  Valparaiso,  which  yielded 
forty-three  per  cent  volatile  matter.  All  of  the 
coal  used  in  South  America  for  making  gas  is 
high  volatile  coal — from  thirty  to  forty-two  per 
cent  volatile  matter. 

Some-  of  the  low  volatile  (fifteen  to  twenty-two 
per  cent)  coals  in  the  eastern  United  States  are 
notorious  for  their  liability  to  spontaneous  com¬ 
bustion.  At  Key  West  and  in  the  Isthmus  of 
Panama  fires  from  spontaneous  combustion  are 
by  no  means  infrequent.  Nor  is  Welsh  coal  free 
from  this  trouble. 

Other  Big  Differences. 

As  to  physical  characteristics,  the  structure  of 
the  United  States  coals  that  have  made  up  the 
bulk  of  our  overseas  exports  is  quite  different 
from  that  of  any  of  the  Welsh  export  coals;  the 
latter  are  harder,  have  a  different  fracture  and 
their  combustion  characteristics  are  also  differ¬ 
ent. 

As  to  preparation  of  coal,  comparisons  are  all 
in  favor  of  the  British  coals;  the  latter  are  more 
carefully  mined,  the  Welsh  coals  without  the  use 
of  explosives,  all  pick-mined  by  the  best  miners 
in  the  world  as  regard  carefulness,  cleanliness 
and  avoidance  of  breakage  or  shatterin.g.  They 
are  thoroughly  cleaned,  and  the  large  coal  screened 
at  least  once  and  often  twice. 

The  bulk  of  the  United  States  coals  shipped 
to  South  America  is  run-of-mine,  contains  usually 
from  sixty  to  seventy  per  cent  slack  and  the 
cleaning  or  picking  out  of  slate  and  other  im¬ 
purities  is  often  not  given  sufficient  care  and 
attention. 

The  article  states  that  this  objection  (liability 
to  spontaneous  combustion)  does  not  apply  to  all 
North  American  coals;  that  this  is  shown  by  the 
fact  that  “There  are  several  coal  depots,  for 
example,  in  the  Carribean  and  West  Indian  ports 
where  North  American  coal  is  sold  both  for 
bunker  use  and  industrial  purposes.” 

This  is  true.  In  fact,  the  statement  could  be 
made  stronger  (and  more  accurate)  by  sayin.g 
that  all  of  the  coal  depots  at  the  West  Indies 
are  handling  United  States  coals  exclusively. 
But,  this  is  due  solely  to  the  fact  that  United 
States  coals  can  be  placed  in  these  ports  at  a 
much  lower  price  than  can  British  coals. 

The  succeeding  paragraph  in  the  article.  “All 
other  factors  being  equal,”  etc.,  does  not  give  all 
(Concluded  on  page  267.) 


266 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[October  2 


The  teams  which  competed  in  the  first  aid  contest  of  the  Susquehanna  Coal  Company  at  Shamokin. 

First  Aid  Field  Day  of  Susquehanna  Coal  Company. 


Shamokin,  Pa.,  September  29. —  {Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — “Safety  P'irst — First  Aid — Com¬ 
pensation.”  This  was  tlie  keynote  that  Presi¬ 
dent  Morris  Williams,  of  the  Su.scpiehanna  Coal 
Company,  asked  the  2,()(i()  or  more  persons  who 
attended  the  h'irst  Aid  licld  day  at  Fdgewood 
Park,  this  city,  to  carry  away  with  them,  last 
Saturday. 

If  there  has  been  any  doubt  in  the  hard  coal 
regions  as  to  the  effect  of  workmen’s  compensa¬ 
tion  or  first  aid  work,  i\lr.  Williams  put  all  doubts 
as  to  where  the  company  he  heads  stands.  More 
than  that,  Mr.  Williams,  in  his  little  talk  to  the 
men  interested  in  first  aid  work,  stands  out  as  a 
declaration  that  anthracite  operators,  in  the  whole, 
welcome  the  coming  of  compensation  as  a  fur¬ 
ther  safeguarding  of  the  man  underground.  It 
was  so  full  of  the  meat  of  meaning  that  it  can 
he  considered  the  big  thing  of  the  day.  Mr.  Wil¬ 
liams  said : 

"We  are  old  worthies,  the  miners  of  twenty- 
five  years  ago,  those  who  have  passed  into  the 
Creat  Beyond,  to  he  asked  in  their  day  what 
would  he  the  success  of  first  aid,  safety  first  and 
workman’s  compensation,  they  would  say  that 
such  things  cannot  he.  And  yet  here  we  have  a 
realization  of  all  of  those  things  that  they  thought 
well-nigh  impossible.  You  have  a  right  to  look 
after  your  brother  and  see  if  he  is  safe.  It  is 
the  official’s  first  duty  to  see  that  you  work  in 
safety,  and  it  is  your  own  duty  to  see  that  your 
own  work  is  done  in  safety. 

"1  can  well  remember,  when  I  was  a  hoy,  the 
case  of  a  man  who  lived  next  door  to  me,  who 
was  injured  in  a  mine  accident.  I  can  still  hear 
his  shrieks  of  agony  when  he  was  brought  home, 
and  every  move  grated  his  broken  hones  togeth¬ 
er.  I  can  also  remember  the  distress  of  that 
man’s  family  while  he  was  being  nursed  hack  to 
health. 

"I  am  proud  to  think  that  no  man  can  fall  in 
this  day  without  having  aid,  aid  that  means  eas¬ 
ing  his  pain  and  caring  for  his  broken  bones  un¬ 
til  medical  assistance  is  given.  And,  thank  good¬ 
ness,  after  January  1st  no  wife  or  children  will 
have  to  get  out  and  work  and  slave  and  the  in¬ 
jured  will  no  longer  have  to  depend  on  charity. 
Compensation  will  wipe  all  of  that  out. 


Morris  Williams  Outlines  the  Company’s 
Policy — Miners  Invent  New  Devices  for 
Taking  Care  of  Injured  Mine  Workers. 


“It  is  nothing  but  common  justice  and  what  is 
due  to  humanity. 

"Compensation  rounds  out  that  which  is  neces¬ 
sary  for  the  well-being  of  our  employes.  Carry 
away  with  you  this  thought  and  ponder  over  what 
it  means — ‘Safety  First — First  Aid — Compensa¬ 
tion.’  ’  ’ 

The  first  aid  work  of  the  Susquehanna  Coal 
Company  is  one  of  the  big  events  of  the  region. 
Three  special  trains,  one  from  Pottsville,  from 
Wilke.sliarre  and  from  Lykens,  brought  the  hun¬ 
dreds  of  miners  who  were  proud  of  their  ability 
to  care  for  the  hurts  of  others  to  the  field  of 
competition. 

hive  long  rows  of  canvas  spread  across  the 
field,  so  that  the  spectators  in  the  grandstand  had 
ample  opportunity  to  see  the  work,  was  the 
scheme  employed  by  the  judges  to  oversee  the 
bandaging. 

In  the  course  of  the  competition  these  rough 
fellows  “from  down  below”  gave  the  gentlemen 
of  materia  medica  a  few  jolts  in  the  way  of 
devices  used  in  their  work. 

One  man  had  invented  a  contraption  for  hold¬ 
ing  an  unconscious  man’s  tongue  out  to  prevent 
strangulation  while  in  the  state  of  coma.  This 
was  in  the  form  of  a  music  clasp,  to  hold  the 
tongue,  the  plummet  on  a  piece  of  string  to  -give 
the  weight  and  a  piece  of  wood  grooved  on  each 
end  to  hold  the  teeth  apart. 

Another  had  fashioned  a  small  slat  into  a  spade¬ 
shaped  stick  with  which  to  pass  bandages  .under 
an  inert  form,  the  idea  lieing  that  much  pain 
was  caused  a  patient  by  raising  him  each  time 
that  the  bandage  had  to  go  under  his  body. 

A  third,  Sam  Thomas  by  name,  deftly  whacked 
a  cotton  square  bandage  a  few  times  with  the 
scissors,  producing  sixteen  slits  in  all,  so  that 
this  triangular  bandage  was  turned  into  eight 
separate  pieces,  made  a  wrapiting  for  the  hand 
and  a  sling  beside.  And  the  doctors  who  ex¬ 
amined  this  ingenious  wrapping  declared  that  it 


was  not  alone  highly  useful,  hut  a  discovery 
that  the  medical  profession  might  well  take 
note  of. 

Even  little  tads  of  breaker  boys  had  new  short 
cuts  for  the  treatment  of  injured  cases  that  they 
discussed  with  the  doctors  and  pointed  out  what 
they  thought  to  he  betterments  in  methods  of 
treatment. 

The  company  itself  is  keen  on  these  things,  for 
there  was  on  exhibition  invalid  chairs  and  cots 
that  proved  to  he  improvements  on  former  styles 
used  in  first  aid  work,  and  a  special  stretcher  that 
has  proved  its  value  in  carrying  hurt  men  down 
precipitous  slopes  in  the  mines. 

The  events  for  competition  were  as  follows ; 

Problems  and  Time  Allowances. 

ONK-.MAX  KVKNTS. 

1.  A  man  is  found  unconscious  with  left  hand  in  con- 
tact  with  an  electric  wire.  Heniove  to  a  place  of  vSafety, 
perform  artificial  respiration  by  prone  method;  dress  burn 
on  palm  of  left  hand.  Time,  .">  minutes. 

2.  A  man  is  found  unconscious  on  the  gangway,  over¬ 
come  with  gas;  make  a  wrist  carry  to  a  place  of  safety, 
jind  restore,  liy  Sylvester  method  of  artibcial  respiration. 
Time,  .')  minutes. 

After  a  premature  blast,  a  man  is  found  with  bolli 
eyes  tilled  with  dirt,  and  wound  of  the  chin;  lead  to  a 
place  of  safety,  and  dress  injuries.  Time,  5  minutes. 

TWO-MAX  EVENTS. 

1.  Wound  of  the  right  temple,  the  left  shoulder, 
the  left  elbow,  and  of  the  entire  left  hand.  Time,  lo 
minutes. 

2.  Simple  fracture  of  the  fifth  and  sixth  ribs,  right 
side;  laceration  of  all  the  fingers  of  the  left  hand.  Time, 
12  minutes. 

Note. — Use  Holler  bandages  for  fingers  only. 

3.  Sinijile  fracture  of  the  right  collar  bone;  wound  of 
the  jialin  of  the  left  hand,  bleeding  in  spurts.  Time,  10 
min  utes. 

THHEE-MAN  EVENTS. 

1.  Burns  of  head,  neck  and  both  upper  extremities. 
Time,  lo  minutes. 

Note. — Use  one  layer  of  plain  gauze  to  represent  four 
layers  of  picric  acid  gauze. 

2.  Compound  fracture  of  the  middle  third  of  left  arm; 
simple  f.'*acture  of  same  forearm,  and  compound  fracture 
of  the  middle  third  of  right  thigh.  Time,  15  minutes. 

3.  Sprain  of  the  right  knee;  lacerated  wound  on  back 
of  left  wrist;  lacerated  wound  of  the  middle  third  of  left 
thigh,  bleeding  in  sinirts.  Time,  12  minutes. 

FULL  TEAM  EVENTS. 

1.  Fracture  of  the  pelvis,  with  lacerated  wounds  of 
side  of  the  head,  bleeding  in  spurts.  Time,  12  minutes. 

2.  Compound  fracture  of  the  left  leg;  dislocation  of 
the  right  hip;  laceration  of  the  sole  of  the  right  foot, 
bleeding  in  spurts.  Time,  20  minutes. 


iiihifivB 

^^HUpHHPiQ 

m 

Mill 

The  crowds  that  attended  the  big  first  aid  field  day  of  the  Susquehanna  Coal  Company  at  Shamokin. 


THE  BLACK  I>IAM()ND 


267 


No.  14] 


3.  Fracture  of  spine;  laceration  of  entire  length  of 
right  forearm;  lacerated  wound  of  entire  length  of  left 
foot  and  ankle.  Time,  15  minutes. 

Note. — Upon  completion  of  dressing  in  each  Full  Team 
Event,  place  on  stretcher,  call  time,  carry  by  stretcher 
past  reviewing  stand  and  back  to  the  station. 

The  hoys’  teams  will  compete  on  a  separate  one  of 
these  prohkms,  at  the  same  time,  for  a  separate  prize. 

SFECT.XL  ()NE-.\I.\N  EVENT. 

A  special  prize  will  he  given  for  the  best  original 
adaptation  of  one  or  two  triangular  bandages  for  any 
lirst  aid  jiurpose  whatsoever. 

Each  team  shall  select  which  one  of  its  memhers'  spe¬ 
cial  problem  shall  he  entitled  to  enter  this  event.  Time, 
■i  minutes. 

The  judgc.s  of  the  events,  Drs.  J.  B.  Rogers  of 
Pottsville,  I).  M.  Lake  of  Kingston  and  Dr. 
James  \V.  Gest  of  Wilkesbarre,  made  the  follow¬ 
ing  awards:  One-man  events  :  First,  Peniusylva- 
nia  colliery,  outside;  second.  Hickory  Ridge,  out¬ 
side.  Two-men  events:  First,  Hickory  Ridge, 
inside;  second,  William  Penn,  outside.  Three- 
men  events:  Naticoke,  No.  1  N.  shaft.  The  spe¬ 
cial  one-man  event  went  to  the  team  from  No.  4 
slope  of  the  Naticoke  colliery,  and  the  big  event 
of  the  day,  that  for  the  full  team,  went  to  Hickory 
Ridge,  outside,  composed  of  P.  H.  Maginnis,  cap¬ 
tain ;  Charles  Williams,  John  Ginter,  Peter  Aler- 
ta,  Joe  Stanshock,  Henry  Willard  and  Dave  Lit¬ 
tle,  subject.  This  last  is  for  a  silver  cup  and  to 
each  member  and  the  training  surgeon  is  awarded 
gold  fobs. 

In  the  breaker  boys’  contest,  the  team  from  the 
Pennsylvania  breaker  was  first,  and  Hickory 
Ridge  second.  Not  a  few  of  the  spectators  were 
anxious  to  see  the  little  fellows  from  the  Lytle 


colliery  win.  They  organized  six  months  ago, 
and  because  their  surgeon  had  been  ill  practically 
all  of  their  training  was  self-taught. 

Dr.  J.  M.  Maurer  was  the  master  of  ceremonies 
during  the  first  aid  contest  and  saw  to  it  that  the 
whole  program  was  worked  through  “as  smooth 
as  glass.” 

At  noon  guests,  contestants  (and  those  who 
came  with  them)  marched  into  the  grove,  where 
luncheon  was  served.  It  could  hardly  be  called 
that — it  was  a  grand  picnic,  with  all  of  the  good 
fellowship  that  goes  along  with  a  picnic  event. 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  first  aid  contests  all 
of  the  participants,  headed  by  two  bands,  marched 
around  the  grounds  and  wound  up  in  front  of  a 
speakers’  stand  that  had  been  erected  in  front  of 
the  grandstand  of  the  park.  General  Daugherty 
acted  as  chairman,  and  the  first  short  talk  was 
made  by  General  Manager  R.  A.  Quinn.  He  de¬ 
clared  that  the  officials  must  stir  themselves  if 
they  hope  to  keep  pace  with  the  example  set  by 
the  men  in  safety  work.  Lie  told  the  employes 
that  a  lungmotor  had  been  placed  in  each  one  of 
the  collieries  with  a  competent  man  to  use  the 
device  in  cases  of  accident.  It  was  the  purpose  of 
the  company,  he  said,  to  spend  both  money  and 
time  in  getting  anything  that  would  aid  in  this 
work.  Figures  cpioted  by  Mr.  Quinn  .shows  that 
of  the  13,000  employes  engaged  in  mining,  the 
following  were  connected  with  this  work:  Two 
hundred  instructed  in  use  of  the  mine  rescue 
helmet,  325  in  active  first  aid  work,  fifty  who 
were  actively  engaged  in  safety  fir.st  work  and 
475  officials  and  others  who  were  engaged  in 
carrying  out  safety  first  work.  From  January  1 
to  September  1,  1914,  there  were  thirty-two  fatal 
accidents  and  only  seventeen  in  the  same  period 
in  1915. 

Resides  President  Williams,  whose  speech  is 
quoted  above.  Judge  Fuller  of  Wilkesbarre  gave 
the  “hoys”  a  talk. 

.\n  especially  interesting  part  of  the  affair  was 
an  exhibit  of  safety  first  and  first  aid  appliances 


arranged  under  the  direction  of  Charles  K.  Klo- 
man,  chief  clerk  to  General  Manager  Quinn.  A 
large  streamer  over  this  declared,  “Over  1,000 
men  are  employed  to  look  after  your  safety.  Help 
them  by  being  careful  of  yourself  and  your  fel¬ 
low-workmen.”  Various  photographs  were  shown 
showing  devices  for  the  betterment  of  safety  in 
the  mines,  a  safety  suggestion  box,  in  which  the 
miners  are  asked  to  drop  any  pointers  they  have 
to  offer — blue  prints  of  devices  that  have  been 
found  to  save  life  and  limb  and  a  collection  of 
photos  showing  what  the  company  has  been  do¬ 
ing  in  making  the  homes  of  their  employes  more 
comfortable. 


The  Steel  Trade. 

PHii.ADELPHtA,  September  29. —  (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — The  whole  of  the  east  has  gone 
steel  mad.  That  was  the  e.xpression  of  a  leading 
lianker  and  it  seems  well  to  take  in  the  situation. 
The  taking  over  of  the  Midvale  plant  by  the 
Corey  and  Rockefeller  interests,  the  Baldwin  war 
(jrder,  the  possibility  of  the  control  of  the  Cam¬ 
bria  Steel  Company  passing  from  the  control  of 
the  Pennsylvania  railroad,  all  have  had  their  ef¬ 
fect  upon  the  money  market  and  have  made  his¬ 
tory  in  dollars  and  cents. 

(jn  the  other  hand  the  coal  men  of  eastern 
Pennsylvania  have  all  looked  upon  steel  for  many 
years  as  one  of  the  guiding  stars  of  the  coal  busi¬ 


ness,  both  because  of  the  coal  and  its  product  used 
in  steel  manufacture,  and  also  from  the  viewpoint 
of  the  car  supply — for  every  car  of  steel  takes 
five  cars  to  haul  the  ‘‘makin’s”  to  the  furnaces. 

The  steel  people  have  announced  that  they  have 
orders  that  will  take  them  up  to  the  first  of  Janu¬ 
ary,  1917,  to  complete.  Just  how  much  is  the  vol¬ 
ume  of  this  business  and  in  tangible  figures  as  it 
stands  at  the  present  time  is  shown  by  the  follow¬ 
ing  summary,  which  was  compiled  by  the  Public 
Ledger  from  trade,  technical  and  trade  paper 
sources : 

“A  summary  of  the  volume  of  the  business 
shows  that  since  the  first  of  Septernber  the  total 
rail  orders  placed  aggregate  153,050  tons.  Shrap¬ 
nel  and  other  war  contracts,  now  being  figured  on 
by  mills,  call  for  a  total  of  250,000  tons  of  billets, 
l)ars  and  blooms  for  deliveries  early  in  1916. 
Structural  steel  contracts,  amounting  to  10,325 
tons,  were  placed  in  the  last  seven  days.  During 
this  period  the  locomotive  business  jumped  for¬ 
ward.  The  Baldwin  Locomotive  Works  received 
orders  for  fifty-three,  and  the  Lima  Locomotive 
Company  for  eight.  Buyers  were  in  the  market 
for  45,000  tons  of  pig  iron  also,  during  the  week. 

“Approximately  75,000  tons  of  rails  were  con¬ 
tracted  for  within  a  week.  The  Southern  Rail¬ 
way  took  5,000  tons  from  the  Pennsylvania  Steel 
Company,  and  the  Lackawanna  Railroad  ordered 
5,000  tons  each  from  the  Lackawanna  Steel  Com¬ 
pany  and  the  Pennsylvania  Steel  Company.  The 
Seaboard  Air  Line  closed  with  the  Tennessee 
Coal  &  Iron  Company  for  7,000  tons.  The  Rus¬ 
sian  government  gave  the  Lackawanna  Steel 
Company  an  order  for  10,000  tons,  and  the 
‘Clover  Leaf’  system  took  3,000  tons,  dividing  the 
business  with  the  Lackawanna,  Cambria  and  the 
Carnegie  .Steel  companies. 

"Since  the  first  of  September  the  total  rail  ton¬ 
nage  placed  by  roads  in  the  United  .States  aggre¬ 
gated  111,100  tons,  while  the  Alaska  Railroad  |)ur- 
chased  4,95o  tons  from  the  Colorado  h'nel  I'v  Iron 


Company.  These,  with  the  Russian  order  and 
small  tonnages  taken  by  the  Carnegie  Steel  Com¬ 
pany,  brings  the  business  booked  so  far  this 
month  up  to  153,050  tons. 

"Inquiries  from  makers  of  shrapnel  and  other 
war  supplies,  which  now  are  being  ligured  by 
mills,  call  for  a  total  of  250,000  tons  of  l)illets, 
bars  and  blooms  for  delivery  during  the  first  three 
months  of  next  year.  The  mills  are  too  busy  to 
ligure  on  1915  deliveries  now;  but  other  iiupuries 
are  looked  for  before  the  current  quarter  enils,  or 
less  than  two  weeks,  covering  from  250, ooo  to 
300,000  tons  of  steel. 

“The  American  Brake  Shoe  &  h'oundry  Com¬ 
pany  this  week  is  inquiring  for  20,000  tons  of 
shell  bars,  and  Pennsylvania  car  builders  are 
seeking  50,000  tons  of  billets.  Italy  is  in  the  mar¬ 
ket  for  10,000  tons  of  nineteen  and  twenty-one 
inch  ingots.  Smaller  inquiries  from  shellmakers 
total  about  11,000  tons.  It  also  was  reported  yes¬ 
terday  that  the  French  government  agents  at 
Pittsburgh  are  endeavoring  to  close  for  50,00o 
tons  of  forging  billets  for  delivery  this  year.” 


The  Argentine  Market. 

(Concluded  from  page  265.) 
of  the  facts,  to  say  the  least.  Whatever  may  be 
the  case  now,  “all  other  factors”  have  not  been 
equal. 

There  are  other  reasons  than  lack  of  ships 
why  North  American  coals  have  not  secured  a 
stronger  position  in  the  Argentine — different 
quality  of  coal,  poor  preparation,  no  storage  or 
handling  facilities,  no  banking  facilities,  refusal 
to  give  credit,  lack  of  knowledge  of  conditions, 
no  agents  to  push  the  sale  of  coal,  these  have 
all  been  a.gainst  United  States  coals. 

As  regard  the  shipping  question,  it  may  all  be 
summed  up  in  three  words — no  return  cargoes. 
It  makes  no  difference  what  the  nationality  of 
a  tramp  is  and  whether  we  own  the  ships  or  not ; 
if  return  cargoes  are  assured,  there  will  be  no 
difficulty  in  getting  the  ships. 

Now,  as  the  article  states,  this  situation  is 
being  .gradually  improved,  owing  to  the  increas¬ 
ing  commercial  movement  from  the  Argentine  to 
the  Lhiited  States. 

The  Need  of  Depots. 

As  the  article  goes  on  to  say,  one  great  need 
of  the  United  States  coal  trade  in  the  Argentine 
(and  elsewhere  in  South  .Xmerica)  is  a  coal  depot 
at  some  central  point,  as  well  as  dischargin.g 
facilities. 

Not  every  buyer  can  handle  a  full  cargo  and 
even  when  they  can  are  not  willing  to  buy  a  cargo 
unless  they  have  tested  the  coal. 

A  storage  depot  would  enable  the  Ihiited  States 
exporter  to  handle  small  orders  and  to  get  his 
coal  tested  by  different  users ;  spot  coal  could 
be  sold  many  times  where  a  cargo  could  not. 

The  “peculiar  situation”  spoken  of  as  bein.g  ad¬ 
vantageous  to  our  coals,  namely,  the  refusal  of 
British  coal  shippers  to  sell  coal  to  industries 
controlled  by  Germans  will,  no  doubt,  be  intensi¬ 
fied  by  the  recent  order  of  the  British  govern¬ 
ment  not  to  allow  coal  to  be  exported  to  any 
neutral  country,  e.xcept  by  special  license  for  eacli 
cargo. 

The  whole  situation  in  the  Argentine  as  regards 
coal  is  well  summed  up  in  the  last  paragraph 
of  the  article : 

“If  we  can  sell  the  Argentine  users  as  .good 
coal  at  the  same  or  a  lower  price  or  an  inferior 
hut  satisfactory  coal  at  a  commensurately  lower 
price  and  if  we  can  guarantee  the  supply,  with 
satisfactory  financial  arrangements,  then  the  said 
users  will  always  be  ready  to  consider  the  i)ur- 
chase  of  our  coal.” 


Retail  Association  News. 


T.  O.  Rusbee,  chairman  of  the  executive  com¬ 
mittee  of  a  local  retail  coal  association  in  Knox¬ 
ville.  Tenn.,  reports  that  this  association  is 
accomplishing  much  satisfactory  work  for  the 
dealers  of  that  city.  Meetings  are  held  at  regu¬ 
lar  dates  each  month,  at  which  time  various  mat¬ 
ters  of  interest  to  the  members  are  discussed. 
.Mr.  Busbee  promises  a  more  complete  report  of 
this  association  and  local  business  conditions  at  a 
later  date. 

.Secretary  L  L.  Run\:in  of  the  Illinois-W’iscon- 
sin  Coal  Dealers  .Association,  reports  the  follow¬ 
ing  firms  who  have  recently  become  mendiers  of 
this  association:  R.  J.  Latter,  Harvard,  Ill,,  and 
the  City  L'uel  Company,  M.  &  C.  Coal  Comi)any, 
.Miser  &  W  ard,  Samuel  Raney,  .Sr.,  J.  R.  Welsh 
and  Jrdm  Whittemore,  all  of  llecatur.  111.  Meet¬ 
ings  were  held  at  Harvard  .‘>eptcmher  24  and  at 
Dec;itur  .September  27. 


One  of  the  prize  winning  ambulance  teams  of  the  Susquehanna  Company. 


268 _  THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 

Perry  County  First  Aid  Contest 


(S/'cciul  Corrcst’ondcncc) 

On  Wednesday,  Septemljer  2r.’,  a  first-aid  con¬ 
test  was  held  in  Pinckneyville,  Perry  County, 
Illinois,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Perry  County 
h'air  Association  and  the  Illinois  Mine  Rescue 
Station  Commission.  The  day  was  ideal  for  such 
an  e.xhihition  and  a  good-sized  erowd  watched 
it  with  much  interest  as  it  was  the  first  contest 
of  this  nature  to  he  held  in  southwestern  Illinois. 
The  exhibition  began  about  3  :30  in  the  after- 


A  Team  Contest. 


noon  and  was  opened  by  a  demonstration  to  show 
the  use  of  rescue  apparatus  and  first  aid  methods 
in  connection  with  a  mine  explosion.  A  gallery 
had  been  constructed  of  timber  and  tar  paper  to 
represent  five  rooms  in  a  mine,  Fi.g.  1.  An  ex¬ 
plosion  was  produced  in  the  room  farthest  inby 
and  a  notice  of  it  was  immediately  communicated 
to  the  foreman  on  the  surface,  wdro  telephoned 
for  assistance,  supposedly  to  the  Benton  Mine 
Rescue  Station,  which  is  the  station  from  wdiich 
mines  in  the  neighborhood  of  Pinckneyville 


Individual  Contest  in  Progress 


would  naturally  be  served.  Very  soon  an  auto¬ 
mobile  dashed  up  with  the  rescue  team  from 
Benton  and  was  closely  followed  by  an  ambu¬ 
lance.  The  team  quickly  donned  the  oxygen 
breathing  apparatus,  which  was  tested  out  in  a 
small  chamber. 

In  this  the  fumes  W'ere  very  thick,  and  this 
demonstration  was  quite  spectacular  and  showed 
how  men  can  penetrate  a  very  smoky  atmosphere 
when  wearing  the  oxygen  apparatus.  As  the 
apparatus  was  found  to  be  in  good  working  order. 


the  team  of  five  took  positions  aloag  the  life 
line  and  penetrated  the  smoky  mine  gallery  to 
the  interior  point  where  the  explosion  was  sup¬ 
posed  to  have  occurred,  and  very  soon  one  per¬ 
son  was  brought  put  on  a  stretcher  supposedly 
injured  and  another  supposed  to  be  killed.  Both 
of  these  were  placed  in  the  ambulance  and  taken 
away. 

Before  the  explosion  occurred,  the  day  shift 
went  into  the  mine  after  instructions  from  the 
foreman  at  the  entrance  and  a  very  realistic 
altercation  took  place  in  regard  to  certain  duties 
that  each  was  expected  to  perform,  and  the  way 
in  which  the  duty  was  to  be  performed. 

The  first-aid  contest  consisted  first  of  a  con¬ 
test  between  five  teams  as  follows : 

Big  Creek  Coal  Company  of  St.  David. 

Wilson  Richer  Mine,  Pinckneyville. 

Mine  Bureau  of  Inspection,  Peoria. 

Producers  Coal  Company,  West  Frankfort. 

Majestic  Coal  Company,  DuQuoin. 

Big  Muddy  Coal  &  Iron  Company,  Herrin. 

Gillespie  Independent  First  Aid  Association, 
Gillespie. 

The  problem  .given  to  all  the  teams  was  as 
follows : 

“Compound  fracture  of  left  thigh.  Wound 
three  inches  long  in  calf  of  right  leg.  Cut  on 
outer  surface  of  right  forearm  with  profuse 
bleeding.  Treat  and  carry  patient  on  an  im¬ 
provised  stretcher  twenty-five  yards.”  Ten 
minutes  was  allowed  for  the  contest. 


Contestant  Waiting  for  Judge. 


The  first  prize  was  awarded  to  the  team  from 
the  Producers  Coal  Company,  West  Frankfort. 
The  teams  from  the  Majestic  and  Big  Muddy 
Coal  companies  tied  for  second  place  and  later 
worked  off  the  tie  with  the  problem : 

“Treat  a  person  with  a  crushed  pelvis.” 

The  team  from  Herrin,  Bi.g  Muddy  Coal  & 
Iron  Company  was  awarded  second  prize  and  the 
team  of  the  Majestic  Coal  Company  from 
DuQuoin  the  third  prize. 

'file  problem  in  the  “One  Man  Event”  was  the 
following : 

“Man  has  been  struck  by  fall  of  slate,  produc¬ 
ing  the  following  injuries:  Left  ear  torn  off, 
contused  wound  of  right  eye,  lacerated  scalp 
wound  four  inches  long  on  right  side  of  head. 
Treat.” 

In  this  contest  about  eighteen  took  part  and 
three  contestants  tied,  haviag  the  same  mark. 
To  settle  the  tie  another  problem  was  given,  viz.: 
“Thumb  and  index  finger  cut  off  with  severe 
bleeding,  showing  bright  arterial  blood.”  The 
winners  in  this  contest  were  the  following : 

1st.  Messrs.  Burnett  and  Yuell  of  Herrin. 

2nd.  Messrs.  Nolte  and  Dunning  of  DuQuoin. 

3rd.  Messrs.  Avoskee  and  Campbell  of  Pinck¬ 
neyville. 

The  officials  of  the  contest  were:  Jud.ges,  Dr. 
G.  F.  Mead,  Pinckneyville;  Dr.  Byford  Webb, 
West  Frankfort;  Dr.  W.  Daggert,  DuQuoin; 
recorder,  H.  I.  Smith,  Urbana;  announcer,  G.  T. 
Powell,  Evansville,  Indiana. 

'I'he  medals  awarded  were  provided  by  the 
Illinois  Mine  Rescue  Station  Commission  and  the 


[October  2 


Perry  County  Fair  Association.  The  general 
arrangements  were  made  by  Mr.  Thomas  Jere¬ 
miah,  General  IManagcr  Willisville  Coal  Company, 
a  member  of  the  Illinois  Mine  Rescue  Station 
Commission  and  also  one  of  the  managers  of 
the  Perry  County  Fair  Association.  The  local 
arran.gements  were  made  by  Mr.  Jas.  Towal, 
superintendent  of  the  Benton  Rescue  Station,  and 
Mr.  Chas.  Swan,  in  change  of  the  DuQuoin  sub¬ 
station  of  the  Illinois  mine  rescue  service. 

The  work  of  the  teams  and  of  the  individuals 
was  most  creditable  and  showed  careful  training 
and  i)ractice. 


Murray  B.  Courtright. 


The  announcement  made  by  the  Cortright  Coal 
Company  two  weeks  ago  that  Murray  B.  Court- 
right  would  become  a  member  of  that  firm  brings 
into  the  limelight  a  man  who  was  born  and 
brought  up  in  the  coal  business.  From  the  time 
that  he  was  “knee  high  to  a  grasshopper”  Mr. 
Courtright  has  been  interested  and  closely  allied 
with  the  coal  trade. 

When  he  was  a  bit  of  a  boy,  fourteen  years  of 
age,  Mr.  Courtright  had  his  first  taste  of  the 
coal  trade.  He  was  for  a  time  an  office  boy  for 
the  Mitchell  Coal  &  Coke  Company  at  Gallitzin, 
Pa.,  and  soon  afterward  was  made  one  of  the 
pay  roll  clerks.  By  close  application  and  studious¬ 
ness  he  was  advanced  to  assistant  to  the  general 
manager  at  the  age  of  twenty. 

For  several  years  he  enjoyed  this  position  and 


Murray  B.  Courtright. 


succeeded  to  the  title  when  the  Mitchell  com¬ 
pany  became  a  part  of  the  Pennsylvania  Coal 
&  Coke  Company.  In  the  late  nineties  Mr. 
Courtright  branched  out  for  himself  and  under 
the  firm  name  of  M.  B.  Courtright  &  Co.  he 
operated  five  large  company  stores  in  Cambria 
county. 

In  1903,  when  the  Commercial  Coal  Mining 
Company  was  formed,  he  was  active  in  its  or¬ 
ganization,  and  was  elected  to  the  presidency  of 
tliat  concern.  This  post  he  held  until  September 
of  the  present  year,  when  he  sold  out  his  inter¬ 
ests  and  retired. 

During  his  career  Mr.  Courtright  has  been  asso- 
’  ciated  with  J.  L.  Mitchell,  the  well-known  central 
Pennsylvania  operator,  in  various  of  his  deals  in 
the  west.  He  is  now  the  vice-president  of  the 
Keystone  Mining  &  Manufacturing  Company,  of 
Henderson,  Ky.,  and  also  vice-president  of  the 
Clover  Leaf  Coal  Mining  Company,  of  Coffeen, 
Ill. 

With  the  death  of  Frank  Barton  Courtright, 
Mr.  Courtright,  who  is  a  distant  cousin  and  also 
a  brother-in-law,  decided  to  return  to  the  mer¬ 
chandising  end  of  the  eoal  trade,  and  after  eon- 
siderable  thought  accepted  the  offer  to  become 
allied  with  this  firm. 


The  Central  Fairmont  Coal  Company,  Clarks¬ 
burg,  W.  Va.,  has  just  elosed  a  yearly  contract 
with  a  railroad  company  for  the  latter’s  entire 
requirements  of  coal  and  is  now  hiring  about  100 
additional  miners.  The  company  has  already  pur¬ 
chased  additional  live  stock  for  the  purpose  of 
taking  care  of  the  increased  production.  The  coal 
company  recently  added  to  its  previous  large  fa¬ 
cilities  at  its  Snake  Hill  mine  in  order  to  take 
care  of  the  new  production,  as  well  as  its  estab¬ 
lished  trade. 


269 


No.  14] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


Featuring  Clean  Coal. 

Not  long  ago  the  suggestion  was  made  that  a 
clean  coal  yard  is  helpful  and  that  it  is  worth 
while,  from  every  standpoint,  to  keep  dirt  down 
to  a  minimum.  Since  then  the  writer  has  seen  a 
dealer  who  is  not  only  trying  to  maintain  “good 
housekeeping”  in  his  yard,  but  who  advertises 
his  coal,  which  is  bituminous,  as  “clean  coal.” 

The  announcements  of  this  house  on  the  sub¬ 
ject  boldly  assert  that  by  using  this  particular 
coal,  a  cleaner  house,  cleaner  children,  etc.,  will 
result.  The  argument  is  out  of  the  ordinary, 
though  based  on  more  familiar  points  which  deal¬ 
ers  are  constantly  using,  such  as  that  their  coal 
is  well  screened,  contains  only  a  small  amount  of 
ash,  etc.,  all  of  which  help  to  reduce  the  amount 
of  dust  and  dirt  to  the  lowest  possible  figure. 

“We  have  found  that  laying  emphasis  on 
handling  clean  coal  is  a  good  feature,”  said  the 
manager  of  this  company.  “We  could  stop  by 
saying  that  our  coal  is  nice  and  blocky,  and  is 
carefully  screened,  so  as  to  eliminate  nut  and 
slack,  and  that  it  burns  clean,  without  clinkers, 
and  with  little  ash.  But  while  those  qualities  are 
all  good,  the  net  result  to  the  consumer  is  less 
dirt,  and  getting  away  from  dirt  is  one  of  the 
main  efforts  which  housekeepers  are  bending 
themselves  to  at  present. 

“In  fact,  the  gas  company  in  this  town  has  been 
attacking  the  use  of  coal  for  heating  purposes 
not  on  the  ground  that  it  is  too  costly,  but  that  it 
is  too  dirty.  The  householder  is  approached  with 
a  proposition  to  get  away  from  the  dirt  which  the 
gas  manufacturer  insists  is  inevitable  with  coal, 
.^nd  though  gas  is  more  costly,  and  requires  the 
installation  of  new  and  expensive  equipment, 
many  people  are  won  over  to  it  simply  on  this 
and  the  allied  ground  of  saving  labor. 

“By  talking  about  clean  coal,  and  then  by  de¬ 
livering  it — for  we  really  do  give  enough  atten¬ 
tion  to  this  feature  to  be  sure  that  we  can  do 
what  we  promise — we  show  the  consumer  that 
coal  need  not  be  dirty  to  handle,  and  that  the 
house  of  the  coal  user  need  not  necessarily  be  a 
repository  for  coal  soot  and  dust.” 

In  this  connection,  it  may  be  worth  adding  that 
this  dealer  got  a  good  deal  of  human  interest  into 
his  advertising  by  using  the  reproduction  of  a 
photograph  of  his  three  youngsters  sitting  on  a 
big  block  of  coal.  The  fact  that  the  coal  is  clean 
enough  to  enable  children  to  play  around  it  with¬ 
out  getting  dirty  was  a  strong  enough  argument 
to  reach  everybody,  while  the  appearance  of  the 
kiddies  in  a  coal  ad  helped,  of  course,  to  draw 
attention  to  it.  A  good  illustration,  in  fact,  is 
always  worth  while  as  an  eye-catcher. 


Keeping  Step  with  Progress. 

Every  coal  dealer  succeeds  or  fails  largely  as 
he  makes  use  of  his  experience.  If  he  absorbs 
it  unconsciously,  without  attempting  to  classify 
it  in  any  way,  or  to  reason  toward  certain  logical 
conclusions  from  the  facts  which  he  has  gathered 
in  his  daily  work,  his  business  is  not  going  to 
move  forward  rapidly.  In  fact,  it  is  likely  to  get 
so  deep  into  the  rut  as  to  be  buried.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  coal  man  who  appreciates  th^ 
fact  that  his  business  is  “experience  university.” 
and  that  he  has  an  opportunity  to  become  a  better 
business  man  and  a  more  successful  merchant  by 
studying  the  questions  that  are  presented  to  him 
daily,  is  bound  to  make  improvement  and  to  have 
a  more  profitable  business. 

Take,  for  instance,  the  little  point  of  screening. 
The  consumer  who  buys  a  domestic  grade  of 
coal,  say  lump  or  block,  or  whatever  is  offered 
in  a  particular  market,  is  of  course  interested  in 


getting  it  free  from  lower  grades,  and  dealers 
(iideavor  to  meet  that  demand  effectively.  One 
dealer  in  a  certain  city  always  advertised  that  his 
coal  was  “hand  screened,”  this  phrase  apparently 
suggesting  greater  care,  more  expense — which 
was  a  fact— and  better  results  as  to  the  grade 
delivered  to  the  consumer. 

Now,  had  this  dealer  been  like  a  great  many 
others,  he  would  have  gone  ahead  all  his  business 
life  screening  coal  by  hand,  and  making  a  talking- 
point  of  it.  But  he  had  an  opportunity  one  day 
to  watch  this  process  handled  mechanically,  and 
he  saw  that  it  was  not  only  done  more  quickly, 
more  economically  and  more  easily,  by  reason  of 
being  automatic,  but  that  the  result  to  the  con¬ 
sumer  was  better,  because  the  coal  was  screened 
more  accurately.  The  sizes  were  separated  by 
machinery  much  more  exactly  than  it  was  possi¬ 
ble  to  do  by  hand. 

The  coal  dealer  lost  no  time  in  making  use  of 
this  item  of  experience,  but  promptly  began  to 
look  around  for  equipment  by  means  of  which  to 
screen  his  coal  mechanically,  as  well  as  take  care 
of  the  other  handling  processes.  And  the  results 
have  more  than  justified  them.selves. 


Get  Up  a  Name  Contest. 

One  of  the  most  familiar  advertising  and  sell¬ 
ing  stunts  in  the  book,  and  one  which  is  used  less 
frequently  in  the  coal  business  than  anywhere 
else,  is  a  contest  to  choose  a  trade  name  for  a 
product. 

The  advantages  of  the  plan  are  that  people  like 
a  contest,  especially  when  there  is  any  money  at¬ 
tached,  and  will  devote  a  lot  of  thought  to  study¬ 
ing  out  a  good  name.  This  being  so,  such 
concentrated  thought  on  the  subject  of  coal — your 
coal — will  make  a  good  many  consumers  so  fa¬ 
miliar  with  it  that  they  are  very  likely  to  think 
of  it  when  they  go  to  buy.  And,  of  course,  it  is 
often  possible  to  pick  a  much  better  name  by 
competitive  methods  than  in  any  other  way. 

A  certain  well-known  operator  has  recently  put 
on  a  contest  in  which  retailers  have  been  invited 
to  submit  names  for  a  new  domestic  coal  which 
the  concern  is  to  market.  Why  shouldn’t  the 
local  dealer  use  the  same  idea,  if  he  wants  to 
handle  a  brand  of  his  own?  He  can  start  out  by 
describing  the  coal  which  is  to  be  named,  and  of 
course  the  description  will  be  favorable  to  it, 
and  will  serve  the  purpose  of  a  good  advertise¬ 
ment,  as  well  as  a  contest  announcement. 

Very  likely  prominent  local  citizens — say  the 
advertising  managers  of  the  newspapers  which 
carry  the  ads  concerning  the  contest — will  agree 
to  serve  as  judges.  If  the  stunt  is  given  a  suffi¬ 
cient  amount  of  publicity,  and  if  the  prizes  are 
worth  while,  the  dealer  will  get  more  suggestions 
than  he  dreamed  the  limitations  of  human  inven¬ 
tion  would  permit.  If  his  office  or  yard  happens 
to  be  conveniently  located  he  may  require  that 
suggestions  be  brought  there  in  person,  instead 
of  mailed,  another  point  which  will  help  to  fix 
the  concern  in  the  mind  of  the  contestant,  who, 
in  most  cases,  is  also  a  consumer. 

The  name  contest  idea  has  been  used  in  a 
single  city  during  the  past  three  months  by  a 
shoe  dealer,  seeking  a  name  for  a  brand  of  boys’ 
shoes ;  a  music  store,  looking  for  a  new  handle, 
and  a  women’s  garment  shop,  which  wanted  sug¬ 
gestions  of  a  euphonious  nature  for  a  basement 
store  which  it  was  starting.  The  rcstdts  were 
said  to  be  excellent  in  all  cases. 

Enforce  Discount  Dates. 

“One  of  the  fundamental  features  of  using  a 
cash  discount  plan,”  said  a  dealer  who  has  been 


doing  business  on  that  basis  for  several  seasons, 
“is  to  insist  on  the  time  limitation  placed  on  the 
discount  being  observed.  If  this  is  not  done  the 
plan  falls  to  the  ground,  and  you  are  allowing  a 
discount,  in  effect,  on  open  accounts.  The  object 
which  the  discount  was  intended  to  serve  is  de¬ 
feated,  and  you  are  simply  passing  over  the  extra 
coin,  which  as  likely  as  not  is  the  larger  part  of 
\our  profit,  without  any  recompense.” 

The  reference,  of  course,  is  to  the  operation  of 
the  plan  where  the  dealer  does  not  sell  the  coal 
c.  o.  d.,  but  permits  the  customer  to  get  the  dis¬ 
count  if  the  bill  is  paid  within  ten  days  from  its 
delivery.  Ordinarily,  on  soft  coal  sales,  a  dis¬ 
count  of  twenty-five  cents  a  ton  is  allowed,  and 
this  is  certainly  sufficient  to  make  it  an  object 
for  the  customer  to  respond  promptly.  However, 
there  are  some  people  who  seem  to  like  to  “beat 
the  game”  in  one  way  or  another,  and  they  allow 
the  bill  to  run  past  the  discount  date,  and  then 
remit  for  the  net  amount.  The  only  thing  to  do 
in  that  case  is  to  send  the  check  back. 

A  very  good  way  to  call  the  attention  of  the 
customer  to  the  fact  that  the  discount  is  to  be 
applied  only  under  certain  conditions,  which  are 
specifically  set  forth,  is  to  use  a  rubber  stamp, 
exactly  the  width  of  the  bill.  The  tonnage  and 
the  price  are  indicated  above,  with  the  gross 
amount  given,  and  the  bill  then  stamped  in  blank 
below,  as  follows : 

“This  bill  is  subject  to  a  discount  of  twenty-five 
cents  a  ton  or  $ .  if  paid  on  or  before . 


The  amount  of  the  discount  is  entered  in  the 
column  at  the  right,  and  deducted  from  the  gross 
charge,  while  the  date  is  written  in  as  indicated. 
There  is  no  way  for  the  customer  to  misunder¬ 
stand  the  terms  of  sale,  and  when  he  writes  a 
check  to  cover  the  charge  he  is  bound  to  see 
whether  or  not  the  date  is  within  the  time  limit. 
\Mien  this  plan  is  used,  the  customer  who  tries 
to  “put  one  over”  by  taking  the  discount  can  be 
pulled  up  short,  and  can’t  justly  claim  that  he 
isn’t  getting  all  that  is  coming  to  him,  either. 


The  Coal  Dealer  in  Disguise. 

A  man  who  went  about  disguised,  wearing  a 
wig  and  a  false  beard,  would  be  considered  by 
the  police  department  to  be  a  suspicious  character. 
In  order  to  merit  the  confidence  and  respect  of 
the  public,  one  must  be  out  in  the  open  at  all 
times. 

The  dealer  who  has  wagons  which  are  so  un¬ 
presentable  that  he  is  ashamed  to  put  his  name 
on  them  is  really  disguising  his  business.  Instead 
of  having  an  asset  he  is  content  to  allow  it  to 
lie  a  negative  factor,  at  best,  and  a  handicap,  at 
worst. 

Now  and  then  one  sees  a  delivery  outfit  which 
is  almost  a  disgrace  to  the  business.  The  animals 
are  not  in  condition,  the  harness  is  ready  to  fall 
to  pieces,  the  wagon  is  old  and  unpainted,  and 
is  reinforced  with  a  couple  of  pieces  of  old  plank, 
and  the  general  appearance  of  the  wagon  is  no 
lietter  than  that  of  the  garbage  outfits  that  some 
cities  permit  to  be  used  in  their  name.  When 
you  see  a  coal  wagon  of  that  sort,  it’s  dollars  to 
cents  that  the  dealer  hasn’t  his  name-plate  on  it. 
He  would  be  foolish  to  use  it,  because  he  knows 
that  the  wagon  doesn’t  do  him  credit. 

The  dealer  who  makes  a  point  of  keeping  his 
delivery  equipment,  whether  horse-drawn  or 
motor-driven,  in  the  best  possible  condition  has 
a  big  advertisement,  and  one  that  is  attracting 
favorable  attention  to  his  name  and  business  all 
over  the  community  in  which  he  lives.  His  name¬ 
plate  goes  on  the  wagon-bed  and  on  the  harness 
with  pride.  He  doesn’t  want  to  hide  behind  the 
disguise  of  anonymity,  because  he  has  something 
to  be  proud  of. 

If  you  have  any  delivery  outfits  that  you  are 
ashamed  of  trade  them  off  and  get  something 
you  can  afford  to  own. 

C.  E.  Bockus,  president  of  the  Clinchfield  Coal 
Ccjrporation,  who  was  in  New  York  from  his 
headquarters  at  Dante,  Va.,  late  last  week,  stated 
that  the  coal  trade  in  the  southeast  is  now  very  ac¬ 
tive.  Mr.  Bockus  finds  that  many  cotton  manufac¬ 
turers  especially,  who  have  heretofore  refused  to 
make  contracts,  are  now  very  willing  to  contract, 
but  arc  finding  that  operators  are  not  inclined  to 
take  on  any  more  business  at  the  range  of  prices 
that  prevailed  last  spring,  when  most  of  the  cot¬ 
ton  mill  contracts  were  made.  As  has  already 
been  stated  in  these  columns,  the  production  of 
the  Clinchfield  Coal  Corporation  for  August  was 
(he  largest  in  its  history,  and  Mr.  Bockus  stated 
that  the  production  for  September  was  running 
even  ahead  of  the  August  figures,  and  that  fur¬ 
thermore,  they  had  been  compelled  to  take  con¬ 
siderable  coal  from  their  storage  pile  at  Bostic 
to  take  care  of  pressing  orders. 


270 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


[October  2 


FUBIiISHED  EVERY  SATURDAY  BY  THE 
BEACR  DIAMOND  COMPANY. 

Subscription  price,  $3.00  per  year,  postage  prepaid,  to 
any  postoffice  in  the  United  States.  Foreign  subscrip¬ 
tion  price,  $5.00  per  year.  Single  copies,  20  cents. 
Entered  at  Chicago  postoffice  as  second-class  matter. 


•Address  all  communications  to 

THE  BEACH  DIAMOND  COMPANY  (INC.) 

Main  office,  Manhattan  building,  Chicago. 


Branch  Offices. 

New  York,  29  Broadway. 
Philadelphia,  1400  Land  Title  building. 
Pittsburgh,  1502  Oliver  building. 


Saturday,  October  2,  1915. 


INDEX. 


Special  Articles. 

Page 


The  Keal  Issue  in  West  Virginia-Ohio  Quarrel .  261 

Philadelphia  Harbor .  262 

New  Pier  at  Curtis  Bay .  262 

.Shipments  of  Anthracite  Coal  by  Sires .  262 

Year's  Work  of  the  -American  Alining  Congress....  203 
Haven't  Coal  Men  the  fiuts  to  Get  Good  Prices?....  264 

Putting  American  Coal  on  -Argentine’s  Market .  265 

First  -Aid  Field  Hay  of  Susquehanna  Coal  Company-  260 

The  Steel  Trade .  267 

Retail  -Association  News .  267 

Perry  County  First  Aid  Contest .  268 

Murray  B.  Courtright . 268 

Field  of  the  Retail  Dealer .  269 

Editorial  . . . -  2i0 

News  Local  to  Chicago . 272 

Facts  Which  Hetermine  Our  Export  Prospects .  273 


Market  Reports. 


General  Review  and  Chicago . 274 

Pittsburgh.  Duluth  and  St.  Loiiis .  275 

Cincinnati  and  Louisville .  276 

Detroit,  Birmingham  and  Denver .  277 

New  York .  278 

Philadelphia  and  Baltimore .  279 

New  England,  Buffalo  and  Omaha . 280 

Hocking  A’alley . 15 


Mine  Clearing  House. 

The  Black  Diaaiond  proposes  to  con¬ 
duct  a  new  department  which  might  prop- 
erl\-  be  called  a  clearing  house  of  mine 
ideas.  This  department  will  offer  to  prac¬ 
tical  mining  men  an  opportunity  to  ask 
(juestions  about  things  which  bother  them 
and  to  engage  in  a  free  interchange  of  opin¬ 
ion  with  others  connected  with  the  coal 
industry. 

Since  this  department  Avill  deal  with 
neither  the  past  nor  the  future,  hut  Avith 
the  present,  we  will  print  only  the  point  of 
the  discussion.  Therefore,  the  articles  will 
he  short  and  their  preparation  should  not 
take  much  of  the  time  of  the  busy  mining 
men. 

Since  the  desire  and  intention  is  to  treat 
only  of  problems  which  arise  right  now, 
we  must  keep  in  close  touch  Avith  the  mines. 
To  that  end,  all  readers  of  The  Bl.ack 
Dlamond  are  urged  to  suggest — by  ques¬ 
tions,  if  desired — topics  upon  Avhich  they 
Avant  information.  If  any  one  cares  to  ad¬ 
vance  information,  so  much  the  better.  No 
one  need  hesitate  to  Avrite  because  he  does 
not  consider  himself  an  experienced  Avriter. 
It  is  his  experience  and  his  ideas  that  Ave 
want  and  not  necessarily  his  literary  style. 
If  the  suggestion  is  good  and,  if  necessary, 
the  editor  Avill  put  the  material  into  proper 
form  for  publication. 

-^hout  every  plant  there  are  some  jioints 
that  would  interest  others  situated  similarly. 
There  are  points  in  operation  or  equipment 


of  Avhich  the  mining  men  are  particularly 
proud  and  to  Avhich  they  attribute  much  of 
their  success.  We  Avant  to  knoAv  about  such 
tilings. 

Sujipose,  for  example,  that  your  friend 
John  Jones  visits  you  at  the  mine  or  that 
you  meet  Bill  Williams  doAvn  tOAvn  at  night. 
If  you  have  done  anything  particularly  Avell 
at  the  mine  during  the  day,  or  are  having 
any  particular  trouble,  you  tell  John  or  Bill 
about  it.  If  your  electrician  has  devised 
some  neAv  signal  or  other  device,  or  if  the 
driver  boss  has  a  particularly  good  system, 
you  tell  him  and  he,  then,  tells  you  Avhat  is 
going  on  at  his  mine.  What  Ave  Avant  you 
to  do  is  to  think  of  The  Black  Diaaiond 
as  John  and  Bill  and  to  Avrite  to  us  just  as 
you  Avould  talk  to  them.  In  this  Avay  your 
syccess  or  your  trouble  Avill  be  told  not  only 
to  one  but  to  the  thousands  Avho  read 
The  Black  Diamond  each  Aveek. 

Undoubtedly  a  number  Avho  have  had 
similar  trouble  Avill  send  in  their  experi¬ 
ences  and  you  Avill  thus  get  the  benefit  of 
many  men  in  many  localities. 

Try  it  at  least  and  see  Avhat  happens.  It 
will  take  only  a  feAV  minutes  of  your  time 
and  may  save  you  hours  in  future,  even  if 
you  get  only  one  suggestion  that  is  helpful. 
To  save  time,  Ave  suggest  that  you  send 
letters  addressed  to  “Correspondence  De- 
jiartment.  The  Bl-Ack  Diaaiond,  Manhat¬ 
tan  building,  Chicago,  Illinois.” 


A  Charge  to  Keep. 

^Vhat  is  about  to  be  said  is  neither  so¬ 
cialistic  chatter,  nor  economic  flubdub.  On 
the  contrary,  it  is  the  sort  of  common 
sense  Avhich  every  real  business  man  has 
used  Avhen  fixing  his  policy.  Recruits  may 
try  as  they  may  but  they  cannot  get  aAvay 
from  it. 

There  never  has  been  and  never  Avill  be 
a  case  Avbere  any  man,  by  his  OAvn  effort 
alone,  got  together  a  property  or  a  busi¬ 
ness  Avortb  $100,000.  It  is  inconceivable 
and  impossible  that  any  man,  by  his  OAvn 
effort  alone,  should  eA'er  get  together  a 
])roperty  or  a  business  AA’orth  $1,000,000. 
HoAvever,  most  of  us  think  Ave  are  poor  if 
Ave  control  property  Avorth  $100,000  only. 
In  these  days,  a  man  thinks  he  is  of  little 
consequence  unless  he  controls  a  business 
Avorth  $1,000,000. 

Regardless  of  the  contempt  in  Avhich  Ave 
have  come  to  hold  such  an  enormous  sum, 
it  still  is  true  that  $100,000  is  an  aAvful  lot 
of  money:  $1,000,000  is  an  aAvful  lot  more 
money.  Either  sum  is  aAve-inspiring,  be¬ 
cause  it  represents  the  accumulation  of  the 
life  effort  of  so  many  peojile.  It  took  the 
earnest  and  prolonged  effort  of  many  to 
get  so  much  property  together. 

A  man,  therefore,  Avho  is  placed  in 
charge  of  so  small  a  property  as  one  Avorth 
$100,000,  or  so  great  a  property  as  one 
Avorth  $1,000,000  has  entrusted  to  his  care 
the  accumulation  of  the  best  effort  of 
many  jieople  through  a  long  period  of 
time.  His,  therefore,  is  a  sacred  charge. 
It  is  not  a  thing  to  be  toyed  Avith  or  to  be 
damaged  by  a  Avanton  or  thoughtless  act. 

Seeing  these  things,  no  individual — 
Avhether  he  poses  as  the  “oAvner”  of  the 
jiroperty  or  not — has  any  right  to  consider 
any  such  accumulation  of  Avealth  as  a  per¬ 
sonal  asset  to  be  dealt  with  as  he  sees  fit. 
For  example,  an  individual  posing  as  the 
"OAvner”  of  a  property  occasionally  gets 
peeA-ed  at  a  competitor  for  some  imagined 
offense.  He  decides  to  go  to  war,  using 


this  precious  property  as  his  Aveapon.  As 
a  matter  of  fact,  is  he  at  liberty  to  adopt 
a  policy  Avhich  must  jeopardize  if  not 
destroy  this  great  Avealth  and  Avith  it,  of 
course,  the  Avork  of  many  people,  when 
the  only  purpose  is  to  express  his  disap- 
proA'al  of  some  other  felloAv? 

We  are,  indeed,  beginning  to  doubt 
Avhether  a  manager  has  a  right  to  accept  a 
price  for  the  products  of  such  a  concern 
as  Avill  jeopardize  if  not  destroy  that  A-alue 
and  thus  jeopardize  or  destroy  the  life 
Avork  of  other  people.  This  is  especially 
true  Avhen  Ave  realize  hoAV  much  money 
belonging  to  other  people  is  invested  in  a 
modern  business. 

We  are  induced  to  believe  that  a  busi¬ 
ness  representing  eA-en  so  little  as  $100,000 
must  be  considered  sacred,  because  it  took 
the  life  effort  of  so  many  to  build  it.  There¬ 
fore,  it  cannot  be  ruled  by  individual 
jiassion  and  prejudice,  but  rather  by  fixed 
business  principles  Avhich  have  been  built 
up  through  centuries,  during  Avhich  just 
such  matters  as  are  here  mentioned  were 
taken  into  consideration. 


Breaking  Even. 

It  is  comparatively  easy,  if  coal  operator 
goes  about  it  properly,  to  make  a  profit  and 
certainly  to  avoid  insolvency.  However,  to 
do  so,  be  must  start  right  if  he  Avants  to  end 
right.  That  is,  he  must  finance  to  suit 
profit. 

We  Avill  say,  for  example,  that  market 
conditions  are  such  that  he  can  be  sure  of 
only  ten  cents  a  ton  on  his  coal.  Under 
those  circumstances  he  must  finance  and 
develop  on  that  basis  and  is  safe  on  no 
other.  His  method  of  figuring  is  about  as 
folloAvs : 

Out  of  that  ten  cents  a  ton  margin  must 
he  taken  enough  to  create  a  sinking  fund 
to  retire  the  bonds.  We  Avill  say  that 
amounts  to  three  cents  a  ton.  There  must 
be  taken  another  amount,  say  tAvo  cents  a 
ton,  to  pay  the  interest  on  the  bonds.  There 
must  be  subtra;cted  another  amount,  say  one 
cent  a  ton,  for  depreciation  of  plant  and 
equipment.  That  makes,  all  told,  a  deduc¬ 
tion  of  six  cents  a  ton  from  the  gross  mar¬ 
gin.  Six  cents  is  three-fifths  of  ten  cents; 
therefore,  three-fifths  of  all  the  money  taken 
in  as  margin  goes  to  capital  account.  It 
means  that  so  far  as  the  stockholders  of  the 
company  are  concerned,  three-fifths  of  the 
property  is  not  paying  them  a  penny;  three- 
fifths  of  the  Avork  is  done  Avithout  any  re¬ 
turn  to  them.  They  are  interested  in  only 
tAvo-fifths  of  the  plant. 

This  three-fifths  and  tAVo-fifths  division 
must,  so  long  as  the  margin  remains  at  ten 
cents  a  ton,  be  carried  through  every  de¬ 
partment  of  the  mining  corporation.  For 
example,  the  company  we  Avill  say,  has  one 
thousand  acres  of  coal  land.  Three-fifths 
of  that,  or  six  hundred  acres,  belongs  to  the 
bondholders  and  must  be  set  aside  for  that 
particular  purpose.  Four  hundred  acres 
alone  belong  to  stockholders.  If  the  oper¬ 
ators  are  going  to  be  content  Avith  the  ten- 
cent  margin,  they  must  say  that  the  stock¬ 
holders  OAvn  only  four  hundred  acres. 

If  the  tipple  and  top  Avorks  cost  $100,000, 
then  $60,000  of  that  belongs  to  the  bond¬ 
holders:  therefore,  the  equity  of  that  com¬ 
pany  in  that  top  Avorks  is  only  $40,000. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  only  way  that  the 
stockholders  can  get  any  larger  equity  is 
by  increasing  the  price.  If  the  average 
margin  is  increased  to  twelve  cents  a  ton. 


No.  14] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


271 


the  division  between  the  bondholders  and 
the  stockholders  is  fifty-fifty.  If  by  any 
species  of  legerdemain  the  profit  can  be 
increased  to  eighteen  cents  a  ton,  the  divi¬ 
sion  is  one-third  to  the  bondholders  and 
two-thirds  to  the  stockholders.  That  is,  of 
the  thousand  acres  of  coal  land,  the  bond¬ 
holders  would  control  but  333,  while  the 
stockholders  would  control  666. 

This  is  just  a  point  for  some  of  the  oper¬ 
ators  to  figure  over.  They  have  been  in  the 
habit  of  considering  that  they  are  masters 
over  the  whole  mine  and  could  do  with  it 
about  as  they  pleased.  They  can  do  that 
only  if  they  overlook  the  rights  of  those 
others  who  have  an  equity  therein, 
namely,  the  bondholders. 

The  safer  course,  to  be  sure,  is  to  finance 
on  a  less  pretentious  basis,  and,  therefore, 
leave  a  larger  margin  for  the  stockholders 
who  take  the  big  risk.  That  is,  the  bond¬ 
holders  money  is  secured  by  the  coal  land ; 
the  investment  always  is  safe.  The  stock¬ 
holders  money  is  secured  only  by  earning 
capacity.  To  give  the  latter  a  chance, 
financing  should  be  more  conservative. 
That  only  is  the  road  to  safety  and  profit. 


The  Inevitable  Results 

Everv  young  man  makes  one  mistake.  He 
starts  life  on  the  theory  that  the  world  be¬ 
longs  to  the  young  people  or  which  is  the 
same  thing  to  those  who  can  move  the  fast¬ 
est.  To  him  speed  is  all  there  is.  He 
startes  to  compete  on  speed  alone.  He 
wants  to  throw  out  the  middle  aged  and 
the  old  men  because  they  have  begun  to 
slow  down.  Usually  speed  is  his  god  and 
he  tries  to  make  that  the  ruling  force  in  the 
business  world. 

Incidentally,  he  creates  a  lot  of  trouble 
by  it  and  only  finds  out  his  mistake  when 
the  other  and  older  men  bring  experience 
and  cunning  to  ofifset  the  advantage  of  his 
sprightliness.  Then  the  youngster  finds 
that  he  has  only  had  one  thing  to  his  ad¬ 
vantage.  There  are  other  things  which 
make  his  one  of  little  value  comparatively. 
That  is,  skill  and  cleverness  which  come 
with  experience  can  outwit  mere  ifnimal 
alacrity  at  any  time. 

We  get  in  business  jmecisely  the  same 
sort  of  an  exhibition  when  a  new  mining 
field  starts  to  producing  and  shipping  coal. 
'I'he  new  field  says  that  the  older  ones  have 
slowed  down  and  are  ready  for  the  scrap 
heap.  Therefore,  the  old  market  belongs 
to  the  young  mine  or  the  one  that  has  the 
greatest  speed  possibilities  and  hence  the 
largest  productive  capacity.  Youth,  there, 
is  expressed  in  low  cost  of  production  and 
large  yield.  ,So  the  youthful  coal  mine 
starts  in  on  the  same  old  quarrel  with  age 
that  has  been  seen  since  the  beginning  of 
time. 

And  the  young  mining  field  soon  runs  up 
against  the  same  proposition  as  does  the 
young  man.  The  older  fields  may  have 
slowed  down  a  little,  but  with  it  they  have 
gained  experience  and  hence  skill.  They 
know  more  than  one  way  how  to  do  a  thing. 
They  know,  in  a  word,  that  you  can  get  a 
market  without  eternally  cutting  the  price 
to  win  it.  They  know,  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
that  cutting  of  price  to  win  the  market  is 
the  least  valuable  method  of  them  all. 

So,  in  the  end,  the  older  mine  comes  to 
|)lay  its  accumulated  cx])erience  and  its  skill 
in  marketing  against  the  tonnage  record  and 
speed  of  the  newer  mining  district.  And 
the  latter  gets  a  tremendous  set-back  from 
which  it  takes  vears  to  recover. 


Many  a  young  man  who  has  relied  on 
speed  alone  has  got  such  a  tremendous 
thrashing  from  the  older  fellow  that  he  has 
never  gotten  over  it.  Many  of  the  new 
coal  fields  which  start  out  to  appeal  on  speed 
and  low  cost  of  production  alone,  have  made 
such  a  bad  record  for  themselves  that  they 
have  never  recovered.  In  fact,  they  have 
committed  themselves  to  low  prices,  which 
they  could  not  escape  when  the  costs  in¬ 
creased. 

If  a  young  mine  wants  to  make  money, 
it  should  take  advantage  of  the  skill  and 
cleverness  of  the  older  fields  in  getting  a 
market  and  then  taking  advantage  of  its 
speed  of  production  to  increase  its  profit 
per  ton.  To  adopt  another  policy  is  likely 
to  lead  to  a  fight  which  always  means  the 
destruction  of  something.  In  a  fight  one  or 
the  other  is  whipped,  and  generally  it  is  not 
the  veteran  who  loses. 


Coke  Making. 

America  has  recently  become  interested 
in  coke  making,  for  two  reasons.  One  is 
that  anthracite  coal  will  not  satisfy  all 
the  household  demands.  And,  as  the 
people  want  smokeless  fuel,  coke  is  con¬ 
sidered  the  proper  thing.  The  other  is 
that  we  need  the  by-products  and  hence 
must  have  the  gas  from  which  to  get 
them.  We  do  not  care  to  go  on  forever 
buying  our  by-products  from  other  coun¬ 
tries. 

Every  chemist  in  America  is  figuring 
on  a  new  process  of  coke  making.  The 
best  theory  on  this  subject  is  suggested 
casually  by  H.  A.  Kuhn  of  Pittsburgh. 
He  says  that  the  difficulty  has  been  that 
coke  making  was  considered  a  chemical 
process  only.  Hence  it  was  undertaken, 
mainly,  by  the  chemists.  They  knew  a 
great  deal  about  the  composition  of  coal, 
but  they  did  not  know  an  awful  lot  about 
fitting  the  appliances  to  their  chemistry. 

Therefore,  we  were  long  on  chemistry 
and  short  on  mechanics.  It  seems,  from 
what  he  has  found  out,  that  we  got  a 
certain  mechanical  process  which  would 
make  the  coke.  We  even  got  a  process 
which  would  give  us  a  certain  amount  of 
gas.  But  we  have  sacrificed  most  of  the 
valuable  by-products  because  of  our 
clumsy  mechanical  system.  He  says  that 
the  chemistry  of  coal  is  pretty  well 
known,  hence  the  thing  we  need  is  the 
proper  mechanical  appliance. 

He  has  not  worked  out  his  plan  in  de¬ 
tail,  but  his  theory  is  so  sound  that  we  are 
rather  inclined  to  expect  some  big  results 
when  he  has  had  a  chance  to  experiment. 


The  Miners’  Debt. 

I'his  week  there  was  a  meeting  of  the 
miners  in  the  Blocking  Valley  district  in 
( )hio.  The  operators  were  contending  that 
the  miners  union  had  given  better  terms  in 
eastern  Ohio  than  were  previously  given  in 
the  Hocking  Valley  district.  They  asked 
for  better  terms. 

The  miners  would  not  consent  to  a  read¬ 
justment  of  the  wage  scale.  While  this  was 
under  discussion.  International  Secretary 
Green  of  the  union  appeared  before  the 
miners  and  made  a  long  statement.  He  did 
not  say  as  much,  but  his  tone  seemed  to 
indicate  that  he  would  advise  the  miners  to 
make  concessions  and  thus  allow  the  mines 
to  continue  to  run,  rather  thaii  the  miners 
go  out  on  a  strike,  or  the  operators  be  forced 
to  a  lockout. 


His  pointed  statement  was  that  the  Inter¬ 
national  Union  is  notv  in  debt  to  the  extent 
of  one  inillion  dollars  and  cannot  be  ex¬ 
pected  to  pay  any  benefits. 

The  point  of  interest  to  all  coal  men  is 
the  admission  of  the  union  officials  that  the 
organization  is  in  debt  one  million  dollars. 
A  great  many  miners  have  had  no  work  at 
all  or  .short-time  work  for  the  last  year. 
Naturally  they  have  ])aid  a  very  small 
amount  of  money  into  the  union  treasury. 
At  the  same  time  the  union  has  been  spend¬ 
ing  money  lavishly  on  various  strikes  and 
propaganda.  The  complete  exhaustion  of 
the  treasury  and  the  resort  to  borrowed 
money  is  a  natural  consequence. 

Now  the  miners  in  different  sections  are 
embarrassing  the  international  union  by  tak¬ 
ing  such  stands  as  the  Ohio  miners  have 
just  taken.  This  promises  to  keep  the 
union  poor  through  the  winter  months. 

'I'he  big  question  in  view  of  these  facts  is : 
What  will  be  the  disposition  of  the  union 
next  spring  at  the  expiration  of  the  wage 
contracts?  With  no  money  in  the  treas¬ 
ury  and  with  a  big  debt  hanging  over  its 
head,  is  the  union  in  a  position  to  try  to 
fight  the  anthracite  and  bituminous  fields 
at  the  same  time?  There  is  one  ])oint 
which  must  not  be  left  out  of  considera¬ 
tion  when  discussing  labor  pros])ects. 


Payable  in  Dollars. 

This  has  been  a  remarkable  week  if  one 
views  it  from  the  standpoint  of  develop¬ 
ments  in  the  European  war.  On  the  firing 
line  the  l)ig  thing  was  the  change  of  policy 
by  the  allies.  Recently  Lord  Kitchener  de¬ 
clared  that  “the  Germans  have  shot  their 
bolt.”  Eollowing  that  declaration  the  allies 
made  an  assault  upon  the  German  forces 
and  made  astounding  gains  the  first  few 
days. 

The  newspajjers  on  Monday  and  Tues¬ 
day  made  the  announcement  that  the  allies 
have  negotiated  a  loan  of  $500,000,000  to 
mature  in  five  years  and  to  bear  interest  at 
five  and  one-half  per  cent.  It  is  to  be  con- 
vertable  at  that  time  at  the  option  of  the 
investor  into  bonds  bearing  four  and  one- 
half  per  cent  interest.  Payni&nt  is  to  be 
made  in  dollars. 

The  crux  of  the  whole  situation  is  the  last 
statement,  namely,  that  “payment  is  to  be 
made  in  dollars.”  Everyone  who  has  done 
any  export  business  or  who  has  tried  to  do 
any,  appreciates  what  this  means.  Here¬ 
tofore,  when  the  American  wanted  to  buy 
or  sell  abroad,  he  had  to  take  his  American 
dollars  and  buy  pounds  sterling.  Then  he 
had  to  take  the  pounds  sterling  and  buy  the 
coin  of  the  place  where  he  expected  to  do 
business.  Always  there  was  one  exchange 
to  pay.  Sometimes  there  were  as  many  as 
four  or  five  exchanges  to  i)ay.  This  con¬ 
stant  payment  of  exchange  ate  into  possible 
])rofit  of  the  American  concerns  heavily. 
Indeed,  often  the  Englishmen  could  take  the 
business  by  just  the  margin  that  we  were 
handicapped  by  the  heavy  payment  of  ex¬ 
change. 

The  terms  on  which  the  allies  are  going 
to  borrow  money  from  us  are  most  favor¬ 
able  to  the  United  States  in  that  they  de¬ 
throne  the  pound  sterling  and  enthrone  the 
American  dollar  as  the  leading  factor  in 
the  international  money  market.  Recent 
changes  have  indicated  that  the  United 
States  is  now  the  lender  nation  of  the 
world.  The  establishment  of  the  American 
dollar  as  the  foundation  of  exchange  has 
jiroved  that  point. 


272 


[October  2 


News  Local  to  Chicago. 


W.  E.  Rotliennel  has  been  appointed  local  sales 
agent  by  Jewett,  Bigelow  &  Brooks. 

I. eo  Romanski.  president  of  the  Atlas  Coal  & 
Coke  Companj^  was  in  Coluiribiis,  Ohio,  on  Tues¬ 
day  of  this  week. 

Ernest  C.  Pratt,  northwestern  sales  manager 
for  the  Purity  Coal  Company,  with  headquarters 
in  Alinneapolis,  was  a  Chicago  visitor  this  week. 

At  the  recent  meeting  of  the  American  Mining 
Congress,  C.  M.  Aloderwell,  president  of  C.  AI. 
Aloderwell  &  Co.,  was  elected  one  of  the  di¬ 
rectors. 

IT.  E.  Patrick,  general  sales  agent  of  C.  Al. 
Aloderwell  &  Company,  left  on  Tuesday  of  this 
week  for  Sioux  Falls,  intending  to  go  from  there 
to  Alinneapolis.  He  will  spend,  in  all,  several 
days  in  the  northwest  studying  conditions. 

The  E.  Puttkammer  Coal  Company  have  taken 
over  the  entire  output  of  the  Glenridge  mine  in 
Alarion  county,  Illinois.  The  operation  has  a  pro¬ 
duction  of  2,500  tons  per  day,  with  shipping  fa¬ 
cilities  over  the  Burlington  and  Illinois  Central 
railways. 

J.  K.  Dering,  whose  interest  in  live  stock  is 
second  only  to  coal,  spent  a  portion  of  the  week 
at  Waterloo,  la.,  attending  the  National  Dairy 
Cattle  Congress.  On  account  of  the  hoof  and 
mouth  disease,  which  is  so  prevalent,  Mr.  Dering 
was  unable  to  exhibit  any  of  his  prize  herd. 

There  is  a  much  better  feeling  among  dealers 
in  the  steel  belt  around  South  Chicago,  Gary, 
Hammond  and  Harvey.  Dealers  report  all  mills 
working  full  time  with  every  able-bodied  man  on 
some  firm’s  pay  roll.  This  is  encouraging,  as 
this  section  has  been  a  very  weak  spot  on  the 
credit  maj)  for  over  a  year. 

It  is  now  said  that  F.  S.  Peabody  will  soon  be 
elected  president  of  the  Pennsylvania  Coal  &  Sup¬ 
ply  Company  of  Milwaukee.  This  concern  is 
undergoing  a  reorganization.  Among  other 
things  the  capital  stock  will  be  increased  to 
$1  ,.'500,000,  or  an  increase  of  $610,000.  It  is  pro¬ 
posed  soon  to  build  a  new  dock,  the  estimated 
cost  of  which  is  $150,000. 

Captain  T.  A.  Lemmon,  vice-president  of  the 
Chicago,  Wilmington  &  Franklin  Coal  Company, 
is  in  Washington  this  week  attending  the  fiftieth 
anniversary  of  the  grand  review  of  the  armies 
of  the  Potomac  and  Tennessee  at  the  conclusion 
of  the  Civil  War.  Captain  Lemmon  is  a  mem¬ 
ber  of  Columbia  Post  No.  706,  of  the  Grand 
Arm)',  and  is  representative  of  that  post  at  the 
VV’ashington  review. 

William  J.  Dillon  maintains  that  the  mild 
weather  of  the  past  month  will  in  the  long  run 
outweigh  the  temporary  disadvantage  caused  by 
the  cessation  of  dealers  buying.  “Farmer”  Dil¬ 
lon  gets  his  crop  information  first-hand  from  his 
Libertyville  farm,  where  the  corn  crop  has  bene¬ 
fited  immensely  by  the  warm  September  weather. 
Air.  Dillon  is  of  the  opinion  that  the  added 
wealth  to  the  agricultural  community  will  even¬ 
tually  redound  to  the  benefit  of  the  coal  trade 
in  the  season. 

Alembers  of  the  coal  trade  were  surprised  this 
week  to  receive  announcements  that  A.  J.  Ma¬ 
loney,  district  sales  agent  of  the  Chicago,  Wil¬ 
mington  &  Franklin  Coal  Company,  had  married 
AIiss  Caroline  Frances  Breider  of  3911  Gladys 
avenue.  The  bride  is  the  daughter  of  Air.  and 
Airs.  Philip  John  Breider.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Maloney 
are  now  away  on  a  short  honeymoon  trip,  to  be 
gone  until  October  5th  or  6th.  Cards  announce 
that  they  will  be  at  home  after  November  15th  at 
7, 39  Irving  Park  boulevard. 

meeting  of  the  Chicago  Coal  Merchants’ 
.\ssociation  was  held  on  Tuesday  afternoon  of 
this  week.  Secretary  Kendall  reported  the  names 
of  seventeen  new  members  who  recently  have 
been  received  in  the  organization.  This  was  in 
addition  to  eleven  members  recently  received. 
President  Elmstrom  called  attention  to  the  fact 
that  a  short  time  ago  the  association  had  set  two 
hundred  members  as  the  mark  it  wanted  to  reach. 
He  called  attention  to  the  further  fact  that  now 
the  membership  has  reached  two  hundred  and  ten 
and  he  says  that  the  new  goal  of  association  is 
two  hundred  fifty  members. 

E.  D.  Scott,  western  sales  agent  for  the  Skeele 
Coal  Company,  speaking  of  anthracite  market 
conditions,  says  that  never  in  the  history  of  his 
twenty-two  years  in  the  coal  trade  has  he  noted 
the  indifference  of  both  consumers  and  dealers  to 
their  coal  requirements  that  has  applied  to  the 
trade  for  two  months.  Air.  Scott  figures  this  is 
due  to  the  mind  of  the  householder  being  occupied 
elsewhere,  particularly  with  the  European  war, 
and  as  a  result  coal  has  been  left  entirely  out 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


of  his  calculations.  The  only  thing  that  will 
change  this  state  of  affairs  is  a  little  frosty  weath¬ 
er,  which  will  cause  a  rush  to  dealers’  yards 
by  practically  all  the  coal-using  public. 

At  the  regular  meeting  of  the  Chicago  Coal 
Alerchants’  Association  on  Tuesday  afternoon  a 
suggestion  was  made  that  it  might  be  a  good 
thing  to  have  some  kind  of  a  dinner  for  the  coal 
men,  particularly  as  a  means  of  welcoming  into 
the  association  the  new  members  and  in  a  sense 
a  sort  of  rally  to  start  interest  in  the  associa¬ 
tion  work  for  the  fall.  It  was  agreed  that  the 
committee  on  speakers  should  arrange  for  a  ses¬ 
sion  some  evening  down  town  and  to  arrange 
for  it  in  the  near  future.  Definite  announcement 
of  plans  will  be  made  shortly,  as  the  committee 
will  get  together  the  latter  part  of  this  week. 
The  committee  on  speakers  consists  of  Leo 
Romanski,  Arthur  AL  Hull  and  George  H. 
Cushing. 

The  producers  of  coal  in  Sangamon  county, 
Illinois,  are  not  exactly  satisfied  with  being 
classed  as  “Springfield  district,”  which  they  say 
now  is  too  inclusive.  That  is,  the  operators  in 
Sangamon  county  are  abandoning  the  old  policy 
of  getting  rid  of  the  coal  regardless  of  price,  but 
on  the  contrary  are  getting  the  price  first  before 
letting  go  of  the  coal.  They  rather  insist  that 
maybe  all  of  the  producers  in  the  four  counties 
included  in  the  “Springfield  district”  are  not  of 
the  same  opinion.  As  emphasizing  the  distinction, 
Sangamon  county  operators  this  week  put  out  a 
new  price  which  named  $1.75  on  lump,  $1.60  on 
egg  and  nut,  and  $1.50  on  steam  lump.  Inci¬ 
dentally  the  Sangamon  county  operators  are  the 
only  ones  in  Illinois  who  on  the  first  of  October 
announced  any  increase  in  price. 

On  Thursday  of  this  week,  F.  C.  Honnold 
made  the  announcement  that  he  had  just  received 
word  from  Rush  C.  Butler  that  the  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission  has  refused  to  interfere 
with  the  establishment  of  advance  rates  on  coal 
as  ordered  in  the  recent  decision  of  the  commis¬ 
sion  in  the  western  rate  case.  These  new  rates, 
therefore,  went  into  effect  on  Thursday  of  this 
week.  Dr.  Honnold  says  that  the  matter  of  the 
petition  for  a  rehearing  of  the  case  is  to  be  taken 
up  by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  on 
October  4th.  It  will  be  recalled  that  recently  the 
railways  asked  the  commission  to  grant  a  rehear¬ 
ing  on  all  commodities  on  which  the  rates  had  not 
been  advanced.  On  the  same  day  the  coal  oper¬ 
ators  and  the  Public  Utilities  Commission  of  Illi¬ 
nois  also  petitioned  the  commission  to  grant  a  re¬ 
hearing  of  the  rates  on  coal.  The  operators  were 
represented  in  this  hearing  by  Mr.  Butler,  who 
has  advised  Dr.  Honnold  as  we  have  indicated. 

The  weather  sharps  in  the  Old  Colony  build¬ 
ing  have  watched  the  weather  with  keen  interest 
over  the  21st  of  September  to  know  just  what 
the  weather  for  the  succeeding  three  months  is 
going  to  be.  They  have  the  theory,  it  will  be 
remembered,  that  the  direction  of  the  prevailing 
wind  at  the  time  the  season  changes  indicates 
what  the  weather  is  going  to  be  for  the  next 
three  months.  They  found  that  up  until  four 
o’clock  on  September  20th  the  wind  was  out  of 
the  southeast,  then  it  changed  definitely  into  the 
northwest  and  remained  there  for  two  days. 
This  would  indicate  that  the  prevailing  wind  of 
the  next  three  months  is  going  to  be  out  of  the 
northwest  and  therefore  the  weather  is  going  to 
be  cold  and  dry.  This  gave  a  great  many  of  the 
coal  men  a  good  deal  of  comfort  since  there 
was  a  belief  that  owing  to  the  cold  wet  summer 
we  would  likely  have  a  warm  dry  fall  in  order 
to  about  strike  the  average  of  conditions. 
Whether  or  not  the  weather  man  concides  with 
the  opinion  of  the  weather  sharps  in  the  Old 
Colony  building  remains  to  be  seen. 

B.  L.  Shepard,  secretary,  announces  that  the 
final  meeting  of  the  Coal  Trade  Golf  Associa¬ 
tion  will  be  held  on  Friday,  October  8,  at  the 
Exmoor  Country  Club,  Highland  Park,  Ill.  The 
schedule  of  events  and  pairings  in  the  final 
matches,  all  of  which  will  be  at  thirty-six  holes, 
follows:  Black  Diamond — Championship,  R.  A. 
Gardner  and  E.  T.  Franklin ;  president’s  trophy, 
presented  by  Air.  Henry  P.  Pope,  president  of  the 
association;  G.  S.  Patterson  and  E.  F.  Smith; 
Lemmon  trophy,  presented  by  Air.  C.  F.  Lem¬ 
mon,  H.  Al.  Hall  and  N.  B.  Birkland ;  Hostler 
trophy,  presented  by  Air.  C.  E.  Hostler,  G.  S. 
Wood  and  W.  C.  Hill.  The  event  for  the  day’s 
play  will  be  an  eighteen  hole  medal  play  handicap 
class  tournament,  choice  of  either  morning  or 
afternoon  round.  Class  A,  h.andicaps,  1-10;  class 
B,  handicaps,  11-20;  class  C,  handicaps,  21-30. 
Prizes  for  low  gross  and  low  net  of  each  class. 
Every  one  will  be  expected  to  stay  to  dinner  after 
which  the  ceremony  of  awarding  of  the  prizes  and 
trophies  will  take  place.  Trains  leave  C.  &  N.  W. 


R.  R.  8:00,  8:15,  9:15,  and  11:00.  The  eight 
o’clock  is  the  best  as  it  is  a  very  fast  train,  arriv¬ 
ing  in  Highland  Park  at  8  :40.  As  this  is  the  final 
event  of  the  year  a  full  attendance  of  all  members 
is  requested. 

In  the  issue  of  the  Chicago  Tribune  of  Thurs¬ 
day  morning,  Henry  Al.  Hyde  had  an  article 
on  the  compilation  of  the  new  Illinois  laws  in 
which  he  calls  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  new 
wash  house  law  is  inoperative  because  it  was 
only  passed  by  one  branch  of  the  assembly.  The 
airious  thing  about  this,  according  to  Air.  Hyde, 
is  that  the  law  apparently  was  passed  and  re¬ 
ceived  the  approval  of  the  governor,  although  it 
was  officially  acted  on  by  only  one  branch  of  the 
assembly.  On  this  subject.  Air.  Hyde  says:  “This 
particular  bill  provided  for  the  establishment  of 
a  certain  number  of  wash  rooms  in  connection 
with  each  coal  mine  in  the  state.  The  bill  went 
to  the  governor  and  actually  received  the  ap¬ 
proval  of  the  chief  executive  of  the  state.  At 
least  one  coal  mine  owner,  who  had  heard  indi¬ 
rectly  that  such  a  bill  had  become  law  and  who 
did  not  wish  to  suffer  the  penalty  which  would 
follow  the  man  who  failed  to  obey  it,  made  a  des¬ 
perate  and  determined  effort  to  get  a  copy  of  it. 
Finally  he  discovered  that  though  the  bill  had 
been  announced  as  passed  and  had  received  the 
august  approval  of  the  governor,  the  great  care 
exercised  in  compiling  the  session  laws,  had  re¬ 
vealed  the  startling  fact  that  it  had  actually  been 
passed  by  only  one  of  the  two  houses  of  the 
general  assembly  and  was  consequently  not  a  law 
at  all.  Since  that  discovery  saved  him  a  matter 
of  $2,000,  he  is  inclined  to  feel  that  the  long  de¬ 
lay  may  have  some  justification.” 


New  York  Clambake. 


The  annual  clambake  and  outing  of  the  New 
York  Coal  Alerchants  Association  was  held  on 
Thursday  evening,  the  23rd  of  September,  at 
Tallapoosa  Inn,  off  LRlham  Bay  on  Long  Island 
Sound. 

It  was  a  very  bright  crisp  afternoon  and  the 
attendance  was  perhaps  the  largest  that  has  been 
witnessed  at  any  of  these  annual  events  in  recent 
years.  The  coal  men  gathered  shortly  after  noon, 
and  for  two  hours  enjoyed  a  game  of  baseball. 

Shortly  after  three  the  bake  was  served,  and 
this  kept  everyone  fully  occupied  until  five  o’clock. 

The  bake  was  voted  on  all  hands  to  be  the  best 
that  has  yet  been  given  by  the  association.  The 
menu  consisted  of  clams,  both  hard  and  soft,  in 
unlimited  quantities,  fish,  spare  ribs,  chicken, 
sweet  potatoes,  lobster,  corn,  with  watermelon  for 
the  finish. 

Among  those  present  were :  William  Brennan, 
AL  L.  Bird,  Bradley  &  Mahoney,  G.  D.  Curtis, 
Henry  Breunich  &  Son,  G.  R.  Esdorn,  Fred. 
Kothe,  William  H.  Dartt,  Charles  Haaren,  Leo 
Haaren,  John  Dobbins,  Leo  Dobbins,  Thomas  F. 
FarriMl,  William  J.  Shea,  A.  J.  Forman,  Joseph 
Gordon,  John  J.  Gordon,  Arthur  F.  Rice,  Warren 
.A.  Leonard,  John  Leonard,  Benjamin  B.  Alarco, 
Julius  Alarco,  Henry  Meyer,  Mr.  Miller,  James 
Graham,  Fred.  Rheinfrank,  Edward  Robitzek, 
Edwin  Robitzek,  Augustus  Robitzek,  Fred. 
Schwiers,  Roderick  Stephens,  H.  J.  Fraser,  N. 
L.  Stokes,  L.  H.  Spier,  Louis  S.  Weber,  E.  AIc- 
Loughlin,  William  WTber,  Alva  Trimmer,  Theo¬ 
dore  S.  Trimmer,  Percy  Thorn,  Fred.  Gehrung, 
George  J.  Eltz,  Charles  Thedford,  James  Thed- 
ford,  Henry  G.  Streat,  Jr.,  Charles  F.  Davies, 
Cornelius  Cadmus,  Walter  B.  Johnson,  W.  S. 
Rowland,  Charles  S.  Smith,  J.  H.  Abbott,  Joseph 
Wright,  Thomas  J.  Howland,  R.  AL  Bryan,  J. 
P.  Alaloney,  Charles  Randolph,  John  J.  Ferranto, 
F.  Gormley,  George  Haiss,  Gardner  Pattison, 

E.  R.  Brevoort,  Daniel  Anthony,  C.  W.  Proctor, 

F.  J.  Honan,  G.  E.  Dickinson,  Ralph  Grover, 
Oscar  H.  Chellborg,  John  Carroll,  Abel  Alischel, 
Archie  Davidson,  Daniel  Brodhead,  E.  Kahn,  W. 
F.  Armstrong,  A.  E.  Aletlach,  George  Klippel, 
Drew  Ditmar,  Henry  Stevenson. 

Miners  Are  Imprisoned. 

WiLKESB.\RRE,  Pa.,  September  27. — Eleven  mine 
workers  were  entombed  today  at  the  Coaldale 
colliery  of  the  Lehigh  Coal  &  Navigation  Com¬ 
pany  as  the  result  of  a  fall  of  rock. 

The  fall  was  caused  by  a  heavy  blast  and  ex¬ 
tends  for  fully  300  feet,  blocking  the  single  pas¬ 
sage  leading  to  the  chamber  in  which  the  men 
were  at  work.  Hope  of  reaching  any  of  the  men 
alive  has  been  given  up. 

O.  J.  Watt,  a  well-known  flour  and  feed  dealer 
of  AIa,son  City,  la.,  has  entered  the  coal  business. 
He  has  a  modern  yard  under  construction  on  the 
Chicago  &  Great  Western  Railway,  where  he  will 
handle  a  complete  line  of  bituminous  coals. 


No.  14] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


273 


Facts  Which  Determine  Our  Export  Prospects. 


The  Export  Situation. 

American  exporters  are  just  now  facing  a 
shortage  of  vessels  for  taking  cargoes,  and  an  in¬ 
crease  in  rates,  especially  to  the  Mediterranean. 
Rates  to  Italy  have  advanced  4s.  in  the  past  week 
and  also  to  South  American  ports  from  Is.  to  2s. 

.As  was  anticipated,  steamers  that  have  here¬ 
tofore  been  offering  for  coal  cargoes,  are  now 
being  attracted  to  grain  and  cotton,  while  a  great 
fleet  is  required  in  taking  war  munitions,  which 
was  not  such  an  important  factor  up  until  the  last 
few  months.  When  one  considers  that  Russia  is 
now  shipping  vast  quantities  of  steel  rails,  loco¬ 
motives,  railroad  cars  and  all  kinds  of  war  muni¬ 
tions  from  New  A^ork  to  such  distant  ports  as 
Archangel  and  Vladivastok,  it  is  conceivable 
just  how  tonnage  can  be  diverted  by  these  long 
time  voyages. 

Inquiries  for  foreign  coal  shipments  are  still 
very  heavy. 

New  York  coal  men  were  very  much  interested 
on  Wednesday  at  the  announcement  which  came 
from  Washington,  which  was  in  the  shape  of  a 
cable  from  American  Consul  Skinner  at  London, 
stating  that  the  Bristol  Channel  had  been  closed 
to  navigation  by  the  British  government  until 
further  notice,  giving  the  probable  presence  of 
German  submarines  in  the  vicinity  as  the  reason. 

Further  cables  are  expected  to  throw  some 
light  on  this  drastic  order.  The  prohibition  of 
navigation  in  the  Bristol  channel  would  mean  the 
tying  up  of  all  of  the  Welsh  coal  ports,  and  this 
would  in  turn  greatly  hamper  the  French  and 
other  governments  that  are  just  now  relying  upon 
Wales  to  supply  them  with  fuel. 

Coal  men  who  know  the  situation  of  the  Welsh 
coal  docks  and  are  familiar  with  them,  say  that 
were  the  German  submarines  able  to  get  close  to 
the  coal  ports,  say  one  as  important  as  Cardiff, 
that  they  could  do  enormous  damage  to  the 
docks. 

September  exports  are  not  expected  to  show 
up  as  well  as  for  August  or  the  two  previous 
months  due  to  the  shortage  of  vessels. 


Coal  Trade  at  Cienfuegos. 

R.  M.  Bartleman,  American  consul  at  Cien¬ 
fuegos,  Cuba,  writes  The  Bl.\ck  Diamond  under 
date  of  September  22,  as  follows : 

“The  coal  consumption  at  this  port  has  not 
been  reduced  by  reason  of  the  war.  General  busi¬ 
ness  has  been  better  by  twenty  per  cent.  Only 
American  coals  are  imported  here.  Prices  vary 
during  the  year,  $1.50  per  ton.  Price  per  ton 
here  today  is  $7.00. 

“We  have  but  one  dock  here  (Cuban  Central 
Railway)  which  is  some  700  feet  in  length.  The 
depth  of  water  at  dock  is  twenty-five  to  twenty- 
seven  feet.  There  has  been  no  change  in  this 
dock.  Imports  here  for  the  calendar  year  1914, 
all  from  the  United  States,  were  460  tons  of 
anthracite,  and  76,172  tons  of  bituminous.” 


Soft  Coal  Exports. 

Hampton  Balti-  Phila- 


inn — ■  Roads  more  delphia  Total 

August  . 294,180  52,786  55,786  402,635 

September  . 432,685  128,178  58,545  619,408 

October  . 196,423  85,152  57,042  338,617 

November  . 163,550  75,998  58,136  297,674 

December  . 132,946  50,712  51,037  234,695 

1915— 

Tanuary  . 117,607  89,779  40,648  248,034 

I'ebruary  . 150,417  79,029  32,794  262,240 

March  . 262,687  76,888  48,646  339,575 

Ai)ril  . 444,239  193,293  60,207  697,739 

May  . 4  45,917  232,866  107,645  786,428 

Tune  . 608,599  305,917  122,379  1,036,895 

Tuly  . 712,955  258,585  167,321  1,138,861 

August  . 628,995  210,760  154,965  994,720 


Total . 7,406,920 


For  the  calendar  years  1913  and  1914,  exports 
from  the  above  named  ports  were  around  4,200,- 
000  tons  for  each  j-ear. 

A  small  quantity  of  bituminous  is  also  exported 
from  New  York  and  several  of  the  other  Atlantic 
seaboard  ports.  Charleston  will  now  become  a 
factor,  as  new  coal  piers  have  recently  been  put 
in  operation  there. 


Foreign  Freight  Rates. 

W.  W.  Battie  &  Co.’s  Produce  Exchange,  New 
A’ork,  report  as  follows  under  date  of  Septem¬ 
ber  27; 

The  freight  market  is  stronger  than  a  week 
ago,  and  steamers  are  in  demand  for  grain  at 
higher  figures  than  recently  paid.  It  is  rumored 
that  three  steamers  have  been  chartered  for  coals 
to  the  west  coast  of  Italy  at  46s,  and  but  few 


steamers  are  offering  for  coals,  as  the  owners 
prefer  grain  at  rates  now  obtainable,  but  occa¬ 
sionally  we  have  boats  willing  to  accept  coals  at 
less  than  market  rates. 

We  would  quote  freight  rates  on  coal  by 
steamer  as  follows: 

West  coast  of  Italy,  about  46s;  Marseilles,  about  44s; 
Barcelona  or  other  good  Spanish  ports,  about  43s  (Span¬ 
ish  dues  for  account  of  cargo). 

Note. — Charters  for  Italy,  France  and  Spain  read: 
“Lay  days  to  commence  on  steamer’s  arrival  at  or  off 
port  of  discharge,  Is  per  net  register  ton  per  day  de¬ 
murrage.” 

Montevideo,  about  34s;  Buenos  Aires  or  La  Plata, 
34s  to  34s  6d. 

(Above  quotations  on  Plate  coal  by  British  steamers. 
Neutral  steamers  are  more  difficult  to  obtain  and  the  rates 
are  always  higher.) 

Rosario,  35s  to  36s;  Rio  de  Janeiro,  34s  6d  to  35s; 
Santos,  35s  to  36s  (consignees  paying  docas  dues). 

Valparaiso  or  Callao,  $7.25  to  $7.50;  Havana,  $2.50  to 
$2.75;  Cardenas  or  Sagua,  $2.75  to  $3;  Cienfuegos,  $3  to 
$3.50;  Port  of  Spain,  Trinidad,  about  $3.75;  St.  Lucia, 
$3.50  to  $3.75;  St.  Thomas,  $3.25  to  $3.50;  Barbados, 
abotit  $3.75;  Kingston,  $2.75  to  $3.25;  Curacao,  $3.25  and 
p.  c.;  Santiago,  $2.75  to  $3.25;  Guantanamo,  $2.75  to 
$3.25;  Demerara,  $5  to  $5.50;  Bermuda,  about  $3;  Vera 
Cruz,  $3.50  to  $3.75;  Tampico,  $3.50  to  $3.75. 


Recent  Coal  Freight  Charters. 

Steamer  Unbe  Mendi  (Span.),  Baltimore  or  Virginia 
to  west  coast  Italy,  coal,  p.  t. 

Steamers  Caterena  Accame  (Ital.),  and  Mar  Cor  (Ital.), 
Baltimore  to  Genoa,  coal.  p.  t. 

Steamer  Thrasyvoulas  (Greek),  Baltimore  or  Virginia  to 
west  coast  Italy,  coal,  42s  6d,  October. 

Steamer  Kankadee,  Baltimore  to  Buenos  Aires,  coal, 
p.  t. 

Steamer  Moldegaard.  Philadelphia  to  Havana,  coal,  p.  t. 

Steamer  Grekland  (Swed.),  Viiiginia  to  River  Plata, 
coal  and  coke,  p.  t. 

Steamer  Anna  (Nor.),  Philadelphia  to  St.  Johns,  N.  F., 
coal,  p.  t. 

Schooner  John  B.  Biemiller,  Philadelphia  or  Baltimore 
to  Point-a-Pitre,  coal.  $3.75. 

Schooner  Fannie  Palmer,  Baltimore  to  San  Juan,  P.  R., 
coal,  p.  t. 

Steamer  Nairn  (Br.),  Hampton  Roads  to  Suez,  coal, 
p.  t. 

Steamer  Chasehill  (Br.),  Baltimore  to  Genoa,  coal,  42s. 

Schooner  Annia,  Philadelphia  to  Casilda,  coal,  p.  L 

Schooner  W.  H.  Summer,  Philadelphia  to  south  side  of 
Cuba,  coal,  p.  t. 

Schooner  Frances  M.,  Philadelphia  to  Cay  Francis, 
coal,  p.  t. 

Bark  San  Gieuseppi  (Ital.),  Baltimore  to  Genoa,  coal, 
p.  t. 

Schooner  William  Booth,  Philadelphia  to  Calais,  coal, 
$1.30. 


Philadelphia  August  Exports. 

Official  figures  show  exportations  of  coal  from 
Philadelphia  during  the  month  of  August,  1915, 
as  follows : 


Anthracite,  Bituminous, 


Country — 

France  . 

Tons 

.  884 

Tons 

26,315 

Italy  . 

6,046 

10,686 

Spain  . 

16,923 

13,260 

731 

Bermuda  . 

.  2,950 

Costa  Rica . 

3.105 

801 

Cuba  . 

Fr.  W.  Indies . 

Brazil  . 

Fr.  W,  Africa . 

56,188 

7,164 

4.489 

5,792 

Total . 

154,965 

Export  Trade  Briefs. 

The  Cardiff  correspondent  of  the  Liverpool 
(Eng.)  Journal  of  Commerce  writes  to  his  paper 
as  follows :  “This  week  Lord  St.  Aldwyn,  the 
independent  chairman  of  the  Coal  Conciliation 
Board,  awarded  the  miners  an  increase  of  twelve 
and  one-half  per  cent  on  the  new  standard  of 
wages.  This  makes  an  increase  of  seventy-two 
and  one-half  per  cent  above  the  old  standard, 
whilst  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  the  miners 
also  draw  a  war  bonus  of  seventeen  and  one-half 
per  cent.  The  absolute  minimum  wage  of  a 
W'elsh  collier  now  stands  at  two  pounds,  fourteen 
shillings  and  eleven  and  a  quarter  pence  (nearly 
$14)  per  week.  They  are  the  highest  paid  work¬ 
men  of  their  class  in  the  world,  and  on  many  col¬ 
liery  wage  sheets  eight  pounds  ($40)  and  nine 
pounds  ($45)  per  week  is  in  no  wise  unusual. 
The  contract  season  is  rapidly  approaching  and 
under  normal  circumstances  operators  would  be 
testing  the  market  for  the  probable  ideas  as  to 
prices  for  the  delivery  of  coals  over  the  ensuing 
year.  The  market  outlook  is,  however,  charged 
with  so  much  uncertainty  that  few  collieries  care 
t«  seriously  consider  contracting  over  a  long 
|)eriod  ahead.  In  times  of  peace,  market  condi¬ 
tions  over  a  period  ahead  are  gauged  with  a 
nicety  that  speaks  volumes  for  the  perspicacity  of 
those  sellers  whose  function  it  is  to  arrange  for 
the  disposal  of  a  large  portion  of  their  future  out¬ 
put.  At  the  present  time  values  are  depressed. 


and  naturally  efforts  are  being  made  to  cover 
business  recently  fixed  up.  Collieries,  however, 
are  cautious  and  very  little  has  been  done.  So 
far,  however,  indications  point  to  the  fact  that 
substantial  advances  are  anticipated  upon  expir¬ 
ing  contracts.  With  the  high  rate  of  wages  and 
colliery  costs,  it  is  imperative  for  the  collieries  to 
increase  their  prices  in  order  to  make  a  return  to 
the  proprietary.  Advances  of  from  seven 
shillings  to  eight  shillings  per  ton  above  expiring 
contracts  have  been  indicated,  and  with  the  great 
uncertainty  as  to  the  probable  duration  of  the 
war  and  the  question  of  tonnage  supplies  mer¬ 
chants  were  disinclined  to  commit  themselves  for 
long  periods  ahead.  One  thing  is  absolutely  cer¬ 
tain  ;  Consumers  must  make  up  their  minds  that 
coals  will  cost  them  more.” 

The  Bureau  of  Foreign  and  Domestic  Com¬ 
merce,  Department  of  Commerce,  has  just  re¬ 
ceived  from  Consul  Lathrop  at  Cardiff  a  summary 
of  the  financial  year  to  June  30,  1915,  for  a  num¬ 
ber  of  collieries  in  Wales.  Insoles,  Ltd.,  whose 
average  output  is  800,000  tons,  dropped  to  545,000 
tons,  but  its  annual  dividend  was  increased  from 
six  per  cent  to  ten  per  cent,  because  its  profits 
per  ton  increased  from  fifteen  to  twenty-nine 
cents.  The  Fernhill  Collieries,  Ltd.,  continued 
its  sixteen  per  cent  on  common  stock,  although  its 
output  of  550,000  tons  was  118,000  tons  less  than 
the  year  before.  Its  profits,  however,  increased 
from  $156,000  to  $191,000,  and  profit  per  ton 
mined  increased  from  twenty-three  to  thirty-four 
cents.  The  Windsor  Steam  Coal  Company  raised 
420,000  tons  of  coal  at  a  profit  of  fifty  cents  per 
ton.  This  concern  has  been  doing  development 
work,  but  has  now  paid  off  arrears  and  can 
henceforth  apply  dividends  to  common  stock. 

Advices  from  Genoa  state  that  considerable  de¬ 
lay  is  being  experienced  by  vessels  arriving  there 
with  coal  cargoes.  The  congestion  is  very  serious 
and  there  is  at  present  little  to  warrant  the  hope 
of  immediate  improvement.  The  cause  of  the 
failure  to  give  discharge  is  assigned  to  the  Italian 
government.  They  ordered  large  quantities  of 
coal  for  delivery  at  Spezia  and  to  augment  the 
discharging  equipment  of  that  port,  com¬ 
mandeered  200  lighters  from  Genoa,  together 
with  a  large  number  of  wagons.  Vessels  dis¬ 
charging  at  the  latter  port  have  to  bear  the  brunt 
of  the  shortage  in  lighters  and  rolling  stock. 
Berths  are  obtained  without  delay,  the  contrary 
being  the  case  at  Spezia  where  big  cargoes  of 
■American  coal  have  arrived.  Owners,  therefore, 
should  be  careful  to  see  that  their  demurrage 
clauses  protect  them.  A  cargo  of  North’s  navi¬ 
gation  is  reported  to  have  been  sold  at  fifty-six 
shillings  and  Cardiff  seconds  are  about  the  same 
price.  Newcastle  best  gas  coals  are  quoted  at 
fift}'  shillings  and  seconds  two  shillings  less,  while 
there  is  a  keen  demand  for  foundry  coke  and 
business  has  been  effected  at  seventy-one  shillings 
c.  i.  f. 

Doctor  Leineweber,  an  assistant  librarian  at 
the  Congressional  library  of  Washington,  who  re¬ 
turned  from  Russia  last  week,  said  that  Warsaw 
was  lost  to  the  Russians  through  the  breaking 
down  of  the  Russian  railway  system,  due  to  a 
shortage  of  coal.  Mr.  Leineweber  said  that  trains 
would  be  running  along,  and  the  locomotives 
would  go  dead  because  there  was  not  sufficient 
coal  on  the  tenders  to  keep  them  going.  In  some 
instances  tracks  would  be  blocked  three  days  be¬ 
fore  a  wheel  would  be  turned.  This  kept  the 
Russians  from  securing  ammunition,  although 
there  appeared  to  be  ample  munitions  that  could 
not  be  moved,  due  to  the  breakdown  in  the  trans¬ 
portation  system. 

Prices  on  patent  fuel  (briquettes)  at  Cardiff 
are  very  strong.  Quotations  range  from  thirty- 
three  shillings  to  thirty-five  shillings.  The  major 
portion  of  the  production  of  patent  fuel  in  Wales 
is  now  being  taken  by  the  government,  it  is  stated, 
because  these  briquettes  have  earned  the  great 
reputation  for  smokelessness,  high  calorific  power 
and  great  resistance  to  climatic  changes.  Welsh 
producers,  therefore,  have  a  very  small  surplus 
for  disposal  above  their  government  contracts. 

Lamberts  Bros.,  Ltd.,  the  well  known  coal  ex¬ 
porters  of  London  and  Cardiff,  who  are  repre¬ 
sented  in  America  by  the  Smokeless  Fuel  Com¬ 
pany,  have  declared  a  dividend  of  ten  per  cent 
and  a  bonus  of  ten  per  cent  for  the  year  ending 
June  30,  making  twenty  per  cent.  Dividends  for 
this  company  for  five  years  have  been  as  follows : 
19]  1,  six  per  cent;  1912,  ten  per  cent;  1913,  fifteen 
per  cent;  1914,  ten  per  cent;  1915,  twenty  per 
cent. 


Tbe  Capital  Coal  Company  is  a  new  Pitts¬ 
burgh  organization.  Capital,  $250,000.  Incorpora¬ 
tors;  W.  J.  C.  Hays,  W.  J.  Birmingham,  Wil¬ 
liam  E.  Hays,  IT.  W.  Breitweiser  and  A.  AI.  Love. 


274 


[October  2 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


General  Review. 


The  Weather  and  Better  Business  Out¬ 
look  Increase  the  Demand 
for  Coal. 

'I'lierc  IS,  the  country  over,  a  better  demand  for 
coal  this  week  than  was  reported  even  two  weeks 
ago  when  the  big  upturn  in  the  trade  for  this  fall 
came.  At  that  time  a  few  trade  centers  were 
still  conservative  even  if  not  openlv  pessimistic. 
Today  those  backward  districts  are  Tailing  in  line 
with  the  rest  of  the  markets  and  everyone  now 
reports  conditions  as  decidedly  better. 

To  explain  the  coal  situation,  it  is  necessary  to 
deal  in  brief  with  the  general  business  situation. 
Lb>  to  now  pretty  nearly  every  thing  has  worked 
against  .\merican  trade.  We  had  good  crops, 
but  the  farmers  culd  not  move  the  produce  to 
town  because  of  bad  weather  and  quarantines  due 
to  the  hoof  and  mouth  disease.  The  steel  mills 
were  running  full,  but  little  of  their  product  was 
used  in  this  country,  most  of  it  being  shipped 
abroad.  The  coal  trade  had  big  orders  from 
abroad  and  big  orders  from  makers  of  war  muni¬ 
tions  at  home,  but  there  was  no  other  demand 
to  take  up  the  enormous  possible  production. 
There  was  a  demand  for  men  at  fair  wages  in 
some  places,  but  the  labor  market  all  the  while 
was  glutted  with  idle  men.  Thus,  while  we  had 
all  of  the  things  that  make  for  prosperity,  there 
was  always  a  fly  in  the  ointment  and  the  operator 
could  not  realize  the  full  benefit  of  the  favorable 
conditions. 

Now.  however,  the  whole  situation  has  changed. 
The  farmers  not  only  have  the  grain  but  they  are 
selling  it.  Thus  the  railroads  are  geting  the  busi¬ 
ness  of  moving  it.  The  steel  mills  not  only  have 
foreign  orders,  but  they  have  orders  from  home 
because  home  factories  are  busy.  The  coal  trade 
not  only  has  a  good  export  demand,  but  it  has 
ab'^o  really  a  tremendous  home  demand  coming 
at  once  from  the  steam  trade  and  the  belated 
buying  of  the  householder. 

On  top  of  all  these  improved  conditions,  a  mere 
statement  of  which  is  enough  to  convince  the 
average  reader,  we  have  had  this  week  another 
favorable  circumstance  in  the  negotiating  of  a 
tremendous  loan  by  the  allied  powers  of  Europe. 
Wc  are  assured,  on  eminent  authority,  that  the 
American  banks  are  not  loaning  this  money  be¬ 
cause  the  war  risk  is  a  particularly  good  one,  or 
because  it  is  good  banking  in  any  sense,  but  be¬ 
cause  it  is  going  to  be  good  for  the  country  in 
a  commercial  sense.  That  is,  money  loaned  to 
Europe  and  France  is  not  to  help  the  countries 
at  war,  but  is  to  make  a  market  for  American- 
produced  goods.  That  is  an  assured  fact  under 
the  terms  of  the  loan.  This  loan  will  give  a 
tremendous  impetus  to  .\merican  trade  because 
of  the  buying  which  the  allies  will  do  here.  The 
bankers  are  seeing  to  it  that  the  psychological 
effect  at  home  of  this  loan  is  all  that  it  should  be. 

In  detail,  nearly  every  section  of  the  country 
has  seen  a  big  upturn  in  the  demand  for  coal 
within  the  last  week.  Nearly  all  the  section  north 
of  the  Ohio  and  Potomac  rivers  had  a  cool  spell. 
It  was  not  cold  at  any  place,  but  still  it  was  cool 
enough  to  necessitate  fires.  This  has  compelled 
the  householder  to  buy  and  in  turn  this  buying 
has  been  reflected  upon  the  wholesale  market  be¬ 
cause  the  dealers  were  not  very  well  stocked. 
In  a  word,  the  retail  buying  has  finally  begun  in 
nearly  every  section  and  the  operators  are  selling 
coal  now  which  perhaps  they  should  have  sold 
several  months  ago.  Even  so,  the  demand  is  here. 

In  addition,  there  has  been  quite  a  pronounced 
uiiturn  in  the  demand  for  steam  coal.  In  the  east 
the  normal  inqjrovement  in  the  trade  is  being 
helped  along  by  storage  buying  by  the  large  in¬ 
terests,  which  is  on  a  big  scale.  In  the  west  the 
factory  i)rograms  have  been  filled  out  as  they 
liave  not  been  for  three  or  four  years  and  buying 
of  steam  coal  is  perhaps  more  general  now  than 
it  has  been  at  any  time  in  that  period. 

In  places  the  car  shortage  is  beginning  to  assert 
itself  as  a  serious  factor.  Tn  some  parts  of  West 
Virginia,  for  example,  the  railroads  have  been 
short  of  cars  and  have  been  taking  more  than 
their  usual  cpiota  to  move  the  com|)any’s  coal. 
This  is  limiting  the  movement  out  of  that  state. 
In  other  districts  the  shortage  is  not  so  apparent 
as  it  was  expected  to  be  at  this  time,  but  still  the 
railroads  arc  far  from  having  a  full  car  supply. 

The  movement  to  the  lakes  continues  to  be 
quite  heavy.  The  trade,  in  fact,  in  that  direction 
is  in  better  condition  than  it  has  been  for  quite  a 
while.  All  these  things  considered,  the  national 
coal  trade  is  in  a  prosperous  condition  and  in 
fact  could  not  ask  for  a  better  situation  unless 
it  might  be  an  improvement  in  prices  in  ])laces. 


Chicago  Market. 


Demand  Continues  to  Increase  and  Prices 
in  Places  Are 
Stronger. 


Office  of  The  Black  Dia.mond, 
Chicaoo,  September  30. 

.\nthracite  coal  is  a  little  bit  stronger  all 
through  the  western  territory.  Sales  agents  have 
I)reached  extensively  that  after  the  first  of  Octo¬ 
ber  the  east  would  be  likely  to  have  a  rush  of 
orders  such  as  would  deprive  the  west  of  coal 
for  some  time.  Retailers  within  the  last  ten  days 
have  been  ordering  coal  that  they  expect  to  need 
inside  of  the  next  two  weeks.  This  buying  has 
made  the  anthracite  situation  stronger  than  it 
was,  but  even  yet  it  is  not  up  to  expectations. 

Smokeless  coal  has  improved  but  the  operators 
arc  not  yet  out  of  the  woods.  Real  estate  agencies 
have  been  buying  to  some  extent  for  the  last 
week  and  this  is  taking  some  coal  from  the  re¬ 
tail  yards.  However,  the  retailers  are  not  con¬ 
vinced  on  the  score  of  prices  as  yet  and  are  buy¬ 
ing  cautiously.  They  take  in  what  coal  they  need 
when  they  can  get  it  at  a  fair  price,  but  they  are 
not  interested  in  mine  run  and  circular  figures. 
Luni])  and  egg  have  been  about  as  easy  as  was 
reported  last  week.  Perhaps  not  so  much  coal 
was  sold  at  $1.7.5  as  heretofore,  but  the  majority 
of  sales  have  been  made  in  the  neighborhood  of 
$2.00.  The  prices  up  to  Thursday  were  : 

F.  O.  n.  F.  O.  B. 

Smokeless —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Mine  run . $3.30(^3.45  $1.25(ia)1.40 

l.uni])  and  egg .  3.80@1.3()  1.7r)(a'2.2r) 

Somerset  county  coal  has  been  moving  in  fair 
volume  with  the  prices  remaining  about  as  they 
have  been.  That  is,  mine  run  is  commanding  any¬ 
where  from  $1.1.5  to  $1.2.5  according  to  quality 
and  the  lump  and  egg  have  been  commanding 
anywhere  from  $1.05  to  $2.00,  prices  varying  with 
both  the  quality  and  the  preparation.  The  prices 
iqi  to  Thursday  were : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Somerset  Countv —  Chicago.  Mines. 

ytine  ru.r  . $3.20@.5.30  $1.1.‘)@1.2.'> 

Lump  and  egg . 3.70(®4.05  1.65@2.00 

The  Hocking  Valley  situation  continues  to  be 
fairly  strong.  The  dealers  have  continued  to  buy 
at  rather  a  livelier  pace,  but  it  is  apparent  that 
they  are  buying  to  satisfy  immediate  orders  in¬ 
stead  of  trying  to  stock  up  for  the  remainder  of 
the  fall  and  winter  months.  Prices  have  continued 
to  be  variable,  ranging  all  the  way  from  $1.50  to 
$1.75  on  the  three-inch  lump.  The  prices  up  to 
Thursday  were : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Hocking —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Domestic  lump . $3.15@3.40  $1.50@1.75 

There  is  reported  from  the  territory  west  of 
Chicago  quite  a  lively  demand  for  splint  coal  and 
this  has  caused  the  situation  to  improve  quite  a 
good  deal.  The  docks,  it  seems,  are  beginning 
to  get  slightly  better  prices  and  this  is  helping 
the  all  rail  situation.  The  result  has  been  that 
the  average  i)rice  has  moved  up  a  little.  While 
some  coals  have  sold  at  the  old  figures,  producers 
of  the  better  coals  are  getting  $1.50.  The  prices 
up  to  Thursday  were  : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

i<anav/ha —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Ikf-inch  lump . !f3.ir)@3.40  $1.2o@1.50 

The  eastern  Kentucky  situation  has  been  im- 
jiroving  within  the  last  week.  The  prices  have 
not  changed  a  great  deal  except  that  they  are 
stronger  all  along  the  line.  Still  the  tonnage 
moved  is  pretty  heavy  and  it  is  a  curious  fact  that 
those  who  are  holding  for  the  highest  prices  are 
sold  up  so  that  they  are  about  out  of  the  market 
for  the  time  being.  Best  grades  of  block  and 
lump  coal  are  commanding  $2.25  at  the  mines, 
some  of  the  other  operators  are  getting  $2.05  and 
still  others  are  holding  for  $1.90  at  the  mines; 
some  are  accejiting  less.  The  jirices  np  to  Thurs- 
dav  were ; 

F.  p.  B.  F.  O.  B 

Fastern  Kentucky —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Domestic  lump . $3.65  @4. 15  $1.75  @2.25 

Egg  .  3.25@3.75  1.35@1.85 

Some  of  the  Franklin  county  operators  have 
gone  over  the  situation  very  carefully  within  the 
last  week  to  decide  what  their  price  policy  for 
October  is  going  to  be.  No  one  of  them  has 
decided  for  the  time  being  to  make  any  change 
in  price.  The  situation  seems  to  be  that  some  of 
the  operators  have  sold  up  so  far  ahead  that  they 
have  retired  from  the  market  temporarily.  Oth¬ 
ers  are  pretty  well  sold  up,  but  are  still  taking 
orders  for  delivery  in  ten  days  or  two  weeks 
hence.  Still  others  in  that  field  are  in  need  of 
business  which  they  are  canvassing  for  at  prices 
not  quite  up  to  circular  figure.  Screenings  are 


a  little  stronger  than  they  were.  In  Chicago  the 
price  varies  on  small  lots,  but  in  the  country  the 
minimum  price  is  sixty  cents  a  ton  at  the  mines 
and  the  operators  mainly  are  holding  for  seventy 
cents.  The  prices  up  to  Thursday  were : 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Franklin  County —  Chicago.  Mines. 

l.ump  .  $2.,sn  $1.7.) 

Fgg  .  2.8(1  1.7.-) 

No.  1  nut .  2., SO  1.77) 

No.  2  nut .  2.45  1.40 

Mine  run .  2.15@2.20  1.10@1.15 

2-inch  screenings .  l.O.") (o’ 1.7.)  .(i0(@  .70 

Williamson  county  prices  remain  unchanged 
and  no  new  circulars  are  going  out  on  the  first 
of  October.  The  reason  apparently  is  that  the 
mines  are  running  much  fuller  than  they  were  a 
short  time  ago,  but  still  are  doing  only  about 
eighty  to  eighty-five  per  cent  capacity  and  it  is  not 
possible  to  get  much  better  figures  than  at  present 
until  the  mines  are  running  full.  The  market 
continues  to  be  that  some  operators  are  getting 
$1.75  and  others  are  quoting  $1.60.  Steam  sizes 
are  not  quite  so  strong  as  they  were.  The  prices 
up  to  Thursday  were : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Williamson  County —  Chicago.  Mines. 

hump  . $2.65@2.80  $1.60(gl.75 

Egg  .  2.65@2.80  1.60(gl.75 

No.  1  washed .  2.80  1.7.5 

No.  2  washed .  2.45  1.40 


Saline  county  prices  this  week  have  continued 
to  be  about  the  same  as  they  were  a  week  ago. 
That  is,  on  a  major  part  of  the  business  $1.75  is 
the  price  on  the  domestic  sizes.  Here  and  there, 

this  price  is  cut  under  on  a  few  small  sales  of 
distress  coal.  Prices  as  low  as  $1.60  have  been 
heard  on  that  business.  The  fine  coal  situation 
has  firmed  iqi  somewhat,  the  minimum  prices  on 
screenings  being  sixty  cents  and  most  of  the 
operators  holding  for  seventi'  cents.  The  prices 
up  to  Thursday  were : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Saline  County —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Lump  . $2.65@2.80  $1.60@1.75 

Mine  run .  2.20  1.16 

Screenings .  1.65@1.75  .60(®  .70 

lJ4inch  lump .  2.35  1.30 


The  operators  in  Sangamon  county  in  central 
Illinois  have  announced  the  new  circular  price  to 
take  effect  October  1.  According  to  the  new  cir¬ 
cular  the  six-inch  lump  is  quoted  at  $1.75,  nut 
and  egg  at  $1.()0,  and  steam  lump  at  $1.50.  These 
prices  will  apply  to  some  of  the  other  counties 
in  the  central  Illinois  field,  but  so  far  all  of  the 
operators  have  not  adopted  them.  Central  Illi¬ 
nois  screenings  have  been  a  little  firmer  this  week 
with  prices  ranging  around  about  forty  cents. 
The  prices  up  to  Thursday  were : 


C'entral  Illinois- 

Lump  . 

Egg  . 

Nut  . 

Mine  run . 

Screenings  . 


F.  O.  B. 

Chicago. 

$2.47 

2.32(®2.47 

2.47 

1.87 

1.22 


F.  O.  B. 
Mines. 
$1.65 
1.50(®1.65 
1.65 
1.05 
.40 


Knox  county  coal,  of  course,  is  devoted  ex¬ 
clusively  to  the  steam  trade.  The  principal  feat¬ 
ure  of  that  market  is  screenings  on  which  some 
of  the  producers  are  getting  as  much  as  ninety 
cents  a  ton,  while  the  others  are  accepting  the 
Chicago  prices  of  sixty  to  sixty-five  cents.  The 
])rice  is  quite  variable  on  this  size.  Very  little 
attention  is  paid  to  domestic  business  with  prices 


still  at  $1.50.  The  prices 

up  to  Thursday 

were : 

F.  0.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

Knox  County — 

Chicago. 

Mines. 

Lump  . 

_  $2.37 

$1.5C 

Egg  . 

_  2.37 

1.5C 

Mine  run . 

_  1.87 

l.OS 

Screenings  . 

_  1.52 

.65 

In  the  Clinton  field  the  demand  for  number 
four  coal  for  domestic  purposes  is  still  strong 
and  prices  range  from  $1.60  to  $1.65  with  all  of¬ 
ferings  of  coal  taken.  The  number  five  and  six 
coals  are  mostly  for  steam  purposes  and  prices 
there  have  not  changed  from  what  they  were. 
Screenings  being  fairly  firm  at  sixty  to  sixty-five 
cents.  The  prices  up  to  Thursday  were : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Clinton —  Chicago.  Mines. 

No.  4  domestic  lump . $2.42@2.57  $1.65@1.75 

No.  4  egg .  2.12  1.35 

Nut  . 2.12  1.35 

No.  5  and  (>  mine  run .  1.87  1.10 

No.  5  and  6  screenings .  1.37@1.42  .f)0@  .05 

The  circular  price  on  by-product  coke  is  $4.S5, 
but  concessions  of  twenty  cents  a  ton  have  been 
made  and  the  market  is  far  from  firm.  Gas 
house  coke  is  quoted  at  $3.85,  but  the  prices  there 
have  also  been  as  low  as  $3.65.  Furnace  and 
foundry  cokes  are  fairly  firm  and  some  few  ship¬ 
ments  of  eastern  coke  into  the  western  market 
have  been  made.  The  prices  up  to  Thursday 


were : 

F.  O.  B. 

Coke —  Chicago. 

Connellsville  . $4.85(®5.00 

By-product,  foundry .  4.90@5.10 

By-product,  egg  and  stove .  4.05@4.85 

By-product,  nut .  4.65(^4.85 

flas  house.,, .  3.65(®3.75 


No.  14J 


275 


Pittsburgh  Trade. 

The  Coal  and  Coke  Trade  Take  a  Turn 
for  the  Better — All  Branches 
Are  Better. 


Office  of  The  P>i..\ck  Ui.iMONi), 

T'iO.'J  Oliver  P>uilding, 

PiTTSiiUROH,  Pa.,  September  20,  1915. 

A  decided  turn  for  the  l)etter  in  both  coal 
and  coke  is  shown  in  this  market  by  steadily 
increasing  demand  and  advancing  prices.  Quota¬ 
tions  made  in  this  column  last  week  may  be  said 
to  fairly  represent  the  market  today,  hut  in¬ 
creased  strength  is  seen  and  1916  is  going  to  see 
both  branches  of  the  trade  in  a  highly  prosper¬ 
ous  condition.  Unquestionably  the  seller  is  com¬ 
ing  into  his  own — of  course,  there  are  sellers  of 
coal  and  coal  to  sell,  where  there  are  no  buyers, 
and  there  are  buyers  where  there  are  no  sellers — 
but  they  are  separated  by  the  wall  of  advancing 
prices  for  future  deliveries,  and  it  seems  hard  for 
the  buyer  to  realize  that  the  market  has  passed 
out  of  his  hands.  The  producer,  however,  sees 
that  with  the  market  to  be  dominated  for  a  long 
time  by  an  unprecedented  and  continually  increas¬ 
ing  export  demand,  the  prices  of  1915  are  not  to 
be  considered  for  the  future  deliveries  and  is 
holding  firm  for  advancing  figures. 

Both  coal  and  coke  producers  are  feeling  the 
car  shortage,  and  while  all  ovens  or  all  mines 
are  not  active,  those  that  are,  are  having  diffi¬ 
culty  to  get  help  sufficient  to  deliver  the  goods. 
Colder  weather  has  added  its  influence  to  strength¬ 
en  prices,  and  while  no  large  tonnages  are  being 
called  for,  the  demand  on  contract  and  spot  in¬ 
dustrial  consumption,  with  increasing  retail  call, 
has  made  a  steady  and  firm  situation  out  of  one 
long  weak  and  uncertain.  Slack  continues  to  be 
a  leading  factor  and  sales  have  been  made  f.  o.  b. 
Pittsburgh  the  past  week  at  as  high  as  90  cents, 
and  not  plentiful  at  that.  Some  furnace  coke  for 
early  1916  delivery  has  been  sold  at  $2.25,  but 
producers  are  making  sliding  scale  contracts  that, 
with  the  pig  iron  market  moving  as  it  has  been 
of  late,  will  show  materially  higher  prices.  The 
percentage  of  activity  among  merchant  operators 
is  increasing  slowly,  although  some  operators  are 
candid  in  admitting  that  they  are  not  desirous  of 
a  greater  output  until  higher  prices  are  secured. 
Another  cog«nt  reason  is  the  labor  supply,  which 
is  now  very  nearly  at  capacity. 

No  new  operations  were  reported  this  week, 
although  the  W.  J.  Rainey  Company  will  fire 
their  100  new  rectangular  ovens  at  the  Allison 
works  immediately  upon  their  completion  in  the 
early  part  of  October.  In  all  the  Rainey  Company 
will  have  500  ovens  in  operation  in  Allison  with 
the  construction  of  the  new  ovens. 

Ovens  of  the  Waltersburg  Coal  &  Coke  Com¬ 
pany  are  in  readiness  to  be  fired,  and  about  eighty 
of  these  will  be  put  into  operation  as  soon  as 
men  sufficient  in  number  to  conduct  the  working 
of  the  plant  have  been  secured. 

A  persistent  rumor  has  gained  currency  the 
past  week  that  a  merger  of  some  of  the  large 
Pittsburgh  coal  concerns  was  being  effected  by 
an  eastern  syndicate,  but  inquiry  fails  to  locate 
the  source  or  the  concerns,  and  further  than 
l)cing  the  periodical  revival  of  an  old  story  there 
is  apparently  nothing  to  it. 

The  Marianna  and  other  mining  properties  of 
the  Pittsburgh-Buffalo  Company  now  in  the 
hands  of  the  Union  Coal  &  Coke  Company  as 
holders  for  the  Union  Trust  Company,  of  Pitts¬ 
burgh,  are  all  idle  awaiting  the  result  of  pend¬ 
ing  negotiations  that  are  reported  to  have  a  fa¬ 
vorable  outlook,  and  it  is  expected  the  plants  will 
become  active  in  the  near  future,  though  it  will 
require  time  to  get  them  into  working  condition 
again. 

Lake  shipments  from  this  district  have  been 
somewhat  heavier  of  late,  but  largely  on  con¬ 
tract,  and  while  car  capacity  for  rail  shipping 
is  .somewhat  troublesome,  there  is  no  difficulty  in 
securing  vessel  tonnage  capacity  for  coal. 

All  the  larger  steel  and  iron  mills  are  taking 
heavily  increased  shipments  on  contracts,  and 
there  seems  to  be  little  or  no  coal  on  sidings  any 
place. 

The  West  Virginia  freight  rate  question  is 
causing  much  comment  in  coal  circles  here,  and 
while  it  is  in  some  instances  favorable  to  the 
Pittsburgh  operator,  yet  much  Pittsburgh  capital 
is  invested  in  West  Virginia  coal  operations, 
hence  it  operates  against  local  interests  as  well. 


Personal  and  News  Items. 

N.  P.  1  lyndman,  general  sales  agent  of  the 
Washington  Coal  &  Coke  Company,  is  in  Buf¬ 
falo  this  week  in  the  interest  of  his  company. 
The  Jefferson  Coal  &  Coke  Company,  Parkers- 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


•burg,  W.  Va.,  has  been  incorporated  with  $300,- 
000  capital  stock  to  develop  coal  properties. 

J.  Norman  Sherer  has  been  appointed  sales 
agent  for  the  Producers’  Coke  Company  of  Union- 
town  in  place  of  Richard  Peters,  Jr.,  who  recent¬ 
ly  went  with  the  William  J.  Rainey  interest. 

The  Pittsburgh  Coal  Company  has  declared 
the  usual  quarterly  dividend  of  per  cent  on 
the  ])referred  stock,  payable  October  25  to  hold¬ 
ers  of  record  October  15. 

Ralph  Baggaley,  aged  08,  whose  business  genius 
habilitated  some  of  the  greate.st  corporations  in 
this  section,  died  suddenly  last  week.  For  the 
past  two  months  he  had  been  suffering  from  an 
ailment  of  the  heart  and  to  this  his  demise  is 
attributable.  Mr.  Baggaley  was  interested  in 
many  enterprises. 

After  the  panic  of  1873  he  purchased  more 
than  27,000  acres  of  valuable  land  property  in 
the  Lake  Superior  region.  After  his  managerial 
aptitude  had  met  with  success  in  this  new  chan¬ 
nel  and  the  mines  had  proved  very  rich,  they 
attracted  the  attention  of  the  United  States  Steel 
Corporation,  which  now  leases  and  operates 
them.  In  1880  he  acquired  title  to  much  land  in 
the  Connellsville  region  and  built  what  is  known 
as  the  model  coke-making  plant.  He  and  Dr. 
Hostetter  of  this  city  formed  a  coke  company 
which  was  known  as  the  Hostetter-Connellsville 
Company,  and  Mr.  Baggaley  also  owned  the  Pu¬ 
ritan  Coke  Company,  which  he  leased  to  a  sub¬ 
sidiary  of  the  United  States  Steel  Corporation. 

While  the  past  week  saw  a  slight  gain  in  the  ex¬ 
port  movement  as  compared  with  the  week  pre¬ 
vious,  when  less  than  20,000  tons  were  loaded 
here  for  foreign  account,  it  was  still  much  below 
recent  weekly  records.  The  loading  for  the  week 
totaled  27,810  tons. 

There  is  also  a  better  tone  to  tbe  coke  mar¬ 
ket.  The  demands  of  the  steel  industries  are 
such  that  coke  is  a  rising  figure.  West  Vir¬ 
ginia  forty-eight-hour  is  calling  for  from  $1.60  to 
$1.70,  with  seventy-two-hour  worth  $2.10  to  $2.25. 
Connellsville  forty-eight-hour  is  bringing  from 
$1.75  to  $1.85  and  seventy-two-hour  $2.30  to  $2'.40. 


Some  Trade  Notes. 

A  warning  for  all  shippers,  including  coal  men, 
to  load  and  unload  cars  promptly  so  as  to  avoid 
a  serious  car  famine  this  fall,  has  been  sent  out 
by  the  Maryland  Public  Service  Commission. 

Tbe  first  of  a  series  of  three  big  colliers  just 
built  for  the  Coastwise  Transportation  Com¬ 
pany  of  Boston,  and  under  time  charter  to  the 
Consolidation  Coal  Company,  loaded  her  maiden 
cargo  here  the  past  week.  The  Franklin,  as  the 
new  boat  is  named,  took  on  8,600  tons  for  Alex¬ 
andria,  Egypt. 

Emerson  &  Morgan,  one  of  the  most  repre¬ 
sentative  coal  firms  here,  have  sold  their  old 
yards  on  Central  avenue  and  will,  about  the  mid¬ 
dle  of  November,  be  located  in  splendid  new 
yards  at  Jefferson  place  and  Twenty-third  street. 
The  Baltimore  &  Ohio  Railroad  has  recently 
erected  three  great  trestles  there,  and  has  leased 
two  of  them  to  the  Emerson  &  Morgan  firm. 


Duluth  Trade. 

Duluth,  IMinn.,  September  30. —  (Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — Coal  dock  men  at  this  point  are 
inclined  to  the  belief  that  the  movement  this 
way  from  Lake  Erie  ports  has  passed  its  highest 
point,  for  the  reason  that  the  demand  in  the  east 
and  middle  west  is  taking  about  all  the  coal  that 
is  being  produced  and  that  there  is  no  anxiety- 
on  the  part  of  shippers  to  send  coal  to  this  part 
of  the  country.  There  have  been  a  good  many 
charters  made,  however,  and  the  end  of  the 
,shi|)ping  sea.son  for  coal  has  not  arrived  yet, 
nor  do  they  say  so,  but  they  claim  that  the  re¬ 
ceipts  will  show  a  falling  off  as  compared  to 
what  has  been  expected  and  what  other  years 
have  shown. 

However,  there  is  no  danger  of  a  .shortage 
of  coal,  they  claim,  for  with  the  hang-over  from 
last  season  and  the  amount  of  coal  that  has  al¬ 
ready  been  received  there  is  an  ample  supply  on 
hand  to  fill  all  needs. 

Business  is  good  these  days,  and  a  great  deal 
of  shipping  is  going  on  from  this  point.  Much 
room  is  being  made  on  the  docks  for  such  coal 
as  arrives  from  the  east,  and  some  of  the  docks 
arc  still  waiting  for  the  first  arrivals  in  several 
weeks.  One  thing  that  has  retarded  a  liberal 
.shipment  of  coal  to  northwest  points  is  the  fact 
that  the  grain  has  been  much  slower  coming  in 
than  anybody  looked  for.  Receipts  of  grain  have 
been  amazingly  short  in  view  of  the  huge  crop 
that  is  being  harvested,  and  as  compared  to  what 
grain  men  expected.  Everybody  was  “set”  to 


receive  a  rush ;  but  it  has  not  come.  That  has  the 
rolling  stock  of  the  railroads  tied  up  further 
west,  and  until  the  cars  get  in  here  there  will 
not  be  much  loading  out  of  coal.  As  soon  as  the 
grain  receipts  grow  more  coal  will  go  out.  In 
the  meantime,  only  normal  shipping  is  going  on 
ffrom  the  coal  docks  here.  It  is  believed  that  wet 
weather  is  the  primary  cause  in  the  delay  of  grain 
movement ;  for  there  has  been  a  great  deal  of  rain. 

At  Fort  William  and  Port  Arthur,  Ontario, 
coal  is  arriving  at  what  seems  to  be  a  fixed  rate 
of  seven  to  eight  cargoes  a  week,  and  the  dock 
men  there  feel  that  that  will  be  about  the  run 
until  the  end  of  the  season.  Car  shipments  at 
those  points  show  an  increase  over  previous 
weeks,  l)Ut  are  not  yet  regarded  as  “big.” 

Recently  complaints  were  filed  with  the  Inter¬ 
state  Commerce  Commission  alleging  overcharges 
on  shipments  of  coal  from  the  head  of  the  lakes 
to  points  in  Minnesota,  aggregating  several  thou¬ 
sands  of  dollars,  against  the  railroads  running  out 
of  here.  Among  the  complainants  was  mentioned 
the  Hoover  Grain  Company  of  Duluth.  Samuel 
Hoover,  president  of  the  company,  denies  any 
connection  with  the  matter.  He  says  that  his 
company  does  not  deal  in  coal  and  is  therefore 
not  interested.  He  says  that  some  Minneapolis 
man,  evidently  interested  in  getting  up  the  case, 
tried,  by  long-distance  telephone,  to  induce  him 
to  enter  the  case,  and  that  this  man  evidently  did 
not  believe  Mr.  Hoover’s  statement  that  he  was 
not  in  the  coal  business  and  not  interested,  for  he 
has  used  the  company’s  name  anyway. 


St.  Louis  Trade. 


St.  Louis,  Mo.,  September  30. —  (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — Trade  in  a  wholesale  way  has  been 
very  lirisk  for  tbe  past  week,  due  to  the  rate  ad¬ 
vance  on  October  1st.  Dealers,  both  in  town  and 
the  country,  have  bought  pretty  heavily  to  pro¬ 
tect  against  this  increase.  As  a  general  rule,  there 
does  not  seem  to  be  very  much  coal  sold  for 
(October  shi])ment  and  all  prospects  are  that  there 
will  be  heavy  buying  in  early  October.  Domes¬ 
tic  sizes  are  holding  up  to  prices  set  throughout 
the  month,  and  all  indications  are  that  they  will 
continue  the  same  for  some  time  to  come.  There 
seems  to  be  no  likelihood  of  any  reductions  in 
Iirices,  inclining  rather  to  advance  a  little  more 
after  the  15th  of  October.  Fine  coal  is  holding 
its  own  and  every  prospect  is  that  the  screenings 
will  not  see  a  reduction  any  more  this  year. 

Standard  coals  are  moving  well.  The  mines  are 
running  better  than  half  time  at  present.  Current 
prices  as  follows: 


F.  O.  B. 


Standard  Coal  Mine. 

6-inch  lump  . $1.20 

6x3-inch  egg  .  1.10 

2-inch  lump  .  1.00 

Steam  egg  . 90 

No.  1  nut  .  1.00 

No.  2  nut  . 80 

Mine  run  . 85 

Screenings  . 40 


F.  O.  B. 

St.  Louis. 

$1.77}4 

1.67/2 

l.ST’A 

1.47/ 

1.57/2 

1.37/ 

1.42/ 

.97/ 


Williamson  ctnmty  coals  are  in  the  same  relative 
position  as  they  were  last  week :  however,  it  would 
not  he  surprising  to  see  more  current  orders  com¬ 
ing  during  the  next  two  weeks  than  have  come 
in  for  the  last  three  or  four  days.  This  is  brought 
on  by  tbe  fact  that  just  now  everyone  is  waiting 
for  coal  to  be  shipped  that  was  bought  to  protect 
the  rate  increase.  Of  course,  for  the  (last  few 
days  buying  has  been  a  little  slack,  as  the  mines 
have  not  been  inclined  to  sell  a  great  deal  of  coal 
for  October  shipment.  This  is  especially  so  of  the 
domestic  sizes : 


F.  ().  B.  F.  O.  15. 

Mine.  St.  Louis. 

O-inch  lump  or  egg .  1.60@1.75  2.22 @2.47 

3x2-incli  nut  .  1.50@1.7.5  2.32  @2.4734 

Screenings  .  .50  1.2234 


Franklin  county  coals  arc  about  in  the  same 
position  as  the  Williamson  county,  as  far  as  the 
sizes  sold  are  concerned.  Plenty  of  orders  on 
hand  for  the  domestic  sizes,  with  the  fine  coal 
dragging  a  little : 


F.  O.  B. 


Mine 

6-incli  lump,  egg  or  nut . $1.75 

No.  2  stove  .  1.40 

Screenings  . 6(1 


F.  O.  B. 
St.  I. Olds. 
$2.47/ 
2.12/ 
1.32/ 


Anthracite  is  in  good  demand  and  movement 

very  good : 

Anthracite —  F.  O.  li.  St.  Louis. 

(Miestnut  . $7.65 

Stove  or  egg .  7.30 

Grate  .  7.05 

Smokeless —  F.  O.  B.  O.  B. 

Mine  St.  Louis. 

r^ump  or  egg  . $2.25  $4.75 

Gas  House  Coke —  F.  O.  B.  St.  Louis. 

Gas  house  coke  . _ . $4.25 

I?y-product  coke  (all  sizes) .  4.50 


The  iirices  on  Illinois  soft  coal  f.  o.  b.  East 
St.  Louis,  Madison,  Venice  or  Granite  City,  Ill., 
are  25J4  cents  lower  than  the  above  quoted  St. 
Louis  prices. 


276 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[October  2 


Cincinnati  Trade. 

Retailers  Are  Selling  More  Coal  Because 
of  Frosty  Weather  and  the  Market 
Is  Stronger. 

CixciNNATi,  Ohio,  September  30. —  (Special 
Correspondence.) — The  feature  of  the  coal  trade 
this  week  is  the  activity  in  retail  distribution  as 
reported  by  salesmen  coming  for  a  brief  visit 
to  headquarters.  They  report  that  the  frosty 
tinge  to  the  atmosphere,  which  came  in  with  the 
week  and  which  continued  almost  through  it,  has 
turned  the  thoughts  of  the  farmer  and  the  arti¬ 
san  to  the  fact  that  it  is  nearing  time  when  the 
evenings  at  home  will  not  be  as  pleasant  as 
tliey  have  been  for  some  time  and  that  a  little 
artificial  heat  is  necessary.  This  has  started 
retail  demand  and  the  supplies  of  the  dealer  are 
beginning  to  melt  away.  Those  who  have  had 
the  foresight  to  be  prepared  for  the  rush  are 
reaping  the  reward,  while  the  “other  fellow”  is 
frantically  trying  to  catch  the  ear  of  the  opera¬ 
tor  at  whom  he  has  laughed  and  cried  “wolf” 
when  the  operator  has  tried  to  assure  him  that 
fall  weather  would  come  soon,  that  winter  would 
be  along,  that  car  shortage  would  be  as  sure  as 
death  and  taxes,  and  that  labor  scarcity  would 
interfere  with  late  delivery.  Salesmen  report 
that  dealers  have  been  found  overseeing  loading 
for  retail  delivery  with  wagons  waiting  their 
turn  and  the  coal  pile  rapidly  diminishing.  “Yes, 
send  me  three  cars,  five  cars,  ten  cars  right  along. 
If  this  keeps  up  I  will  need  them  as  quick  as 
you  can  get  them  in.”  This  is  generally  the  an¬ 
swer  when  the  old  question  is  asked,  “Shall  I 
send  you  some  more  coal”  ? 

This  quickening  of  retail  delivery,  of  course, 
will  soon  reach  the  wholesaler  and  the  producer 
and  there  is  no  doubt  there  will  be  as  brisk  a 
movement  as  the  car  supply  will  permit.  This 
shortage  has  practically  nullified  the  scarcity  of 
labor  and  the  mines  are  now  pretty  generally  re¬ 
turning  to  full  force  and  full  shifts  on  at  least 
four  days  a  week.  Sometimes  but  three  days 
can  be  accomplished  on  account  of  car  delivery. 
The  mines  are  hampered  sometimes  by  the  pecu¬ 
liar  situations  that  may  arise  in  the  “no  bill,  no 
car  delivery”  feature  of  the  situation  which  is 
now  enforced  to  the  letter.  When  the  shifting 
train  comes  and  finds  even  a  single  “no  bill”  car 
it  passes  along  until  that  car  is  off  the  siding. 
The  rule  is  rigidly  enforced,  and  it  has  helped  the 
situation  considerably.  All  this  is  true  to  the 
splint  situation. 

The  smokeless  situation  is  different.  It  has 
never  been  very  bad  in  the  season,  but  at  times 
the  delivery  of  slack  has  been  retarded  by  tem¬ 
porary  lack  of  a  place  in  which  to  drop  the  re¬ 
sultant  lump  and  egg  coal.  Sometimes,  then, 
lump  and  egg  have  been  placed  on  track  or  ad¬ 
vertised  as  spot.  Generally  the  very  announce¬ 
ment  that  there  was  free  lump  or  egg  in  the 
market  caused  some  dealer  who  was  in  the  re¬ 
verse  situation  to  jump  for  it,  and  the  market 
has  not  been  at  any  time  embarrassed  except  tem¬ 
porarily  by  their  presence.  Now  the  domestic  de¬ 
mand  for  small  deliveries  is  drawing  on  the  mar¬ 
ket,  and  there  is  a  smoother,  easier  and  more 
satisfactory  situation  even  than  has  been  felt 
throughout  the  market  the  entire  season.  The 
chances  are  that  with  the  same  drags  to  delivery, 
shortage  of  cars  and  scarcity  of  labor,  which  the 
splint  producers  are  wrestling  with,  the  smoke¬ 
less  market  will  tighten  on  domestic,  and  pre¬ 
mium  coal  will  be  a  fact  in  a  short  time. 

Prices  are  a  little  stiffer  now  in  the  market 
for  the  splint  production,  some  Kentucky  opera¬ 
tions  quoting  $1.65  to  $1.75  for  four-inch  block 
and  the  best  nut  and  slack  sixty  to  sixty-five  cents. 
The  latter  is  spot  shipment  and  will  strengthen  as 
manufacturing  supplies  begin  to  lessen,  due  to 
car  stringency.  Manufacturing  is  gradually  be¬ 
coming  stronger,  and  it  is  a  belief  among  opera¬ 
tors  that  nut  and  slack  will  be  at  much  higher 
figures  inside  of  thirty  days.  As  it  is,  some  spot 
forty-cent  slack  has  advanced  to  fifty  cents  within 
a  day  or  two.  West  Virginia  lump,  in  some  re¬ 
gions,  has  advanced  and  one  or  two  operations 
liave  advanced  prices  all  along  the  line  from  five  to 
ten  cents  per  ton,  with  a  view  to  another  ad¬ 
vance  by  the  10th.  One  and  one-half-inch  lump 
in  some  of  these  fields  now  is  commanding  eighty 
to  eighty-five  cents,  and  is  tightening  in  supply. 
Some  of  the  Logan  county  product,  quoted  last 
week  at  $1.60,  is  now  $1.65,  with  two-inch  lump 
$1.30  to  $1.35  and  run  of  mine  ninety-five  cents  to 
$1.05.  bigg  is  quoted  at  the  .=ame  figure,  $1,  be¬ 
cause  demand  for  it  has  not  improved.  Nut  and 
slack  also  hang  around  sixty  cents  in  this  product, 
and  it  is  tliis  that  has  caused  the  advance  in  the 
domestic  sizes,  the  mines  not  caring  to  mine 


sufficient  domestic  to  cause  further  embarrass¬ 
ment  in  nut  and  slack. 

A  large  trainload  of  Italian  recruits  will  start 
from  this  city  Sunday  for  the  war  fields,  many 
of  them  West  Virginia  miners,  still  further  de¬ 
pleting  the  skilled  mining  forces.  This  will  bring 
the  total  from  here  to  close  to  a  regiment  and  a 
half,  of  1,500  men,  probably  the  majority  being 
miners.  From  other  points  there  have  been  other 
exoduses  in  proportion. 


Cincinnati  Trade  News. 

Captain  George  W.  Budd  was  in  Washington, 
1).  C.,  this  week  to  attend  the  forty-ninth  en¬ 
campment  of  the  G.  A.  R.  Captain  Budd  had 
just  been  elected  president  of  the  Fifth  Ohio  Vol¬ 
unteer  Cavalry  Association.  He  was  accompanied 
to  Washington  by  Mrs.  Budd. 

Roy  O.  Ileyser,  representing  the  Solvay  com¬ 
panies  with  offices  in  this  city,  has  bought  him¬ 
self  an  auto  runabout,  which  he  is  breaking  in 
for  his  purposes.  Mr.  Heyser  does  considerable 
traveling  in  this  section  for  the  companies,  and 
he  will  take  advantage  of  the  new  machine  for 
nearby  trips. 

Emmet  C.  Peebles,  who  for  several  months  has 
represented  the  White  Oak  Coal  Company  in  the 
Cincinnati  territory,  having  reopened  offices  for 
the  company  here  after  they  had  been  closed  for 
some  months,  has  resigned  his  position  with  the 
company  and  will  make  new  connections  when 
he  has  had  a  short  vacation.  Several  other  op¬ 
portunities  have  presented  themselves,  one  of 
which  he  will  probably  take  advantage  of.  The 
headquarters  of  the  company  are  at  MacDonald, 
W.  Va. 

Edward  Klinenberg,  a  retail  coal  man  of  Chi¬ 
cago,  was  a  viistor  in  the  city  Friday  last  week 
and  was  introduced  on  the  Coal  Exchange  by  M. 
E.  Lynn,  of  the  Campbell’s  Creek  Coal  Company. 

Tows  of  coal  are  still  coming  in  from  the 
Kanawha  district  by  river,  the  two  rivers  having 
sufficient  depth  to  allow  the  passage  of  vessels 
from  that  district  down.  The  upper  Ohio  is  not 
in  good  condition  for  the  passage  of  Pittsburgh 
coal,  but  coal  is  massing  up  there  for  the  fall 
rise,  when  large  tonnages  will  be  brought  down 
for  all  river  points. 

Various  business  organizations  of  the  cities 
of  West  Virginia  are  showing  a  disposition  to 
take  up  the  matter  of  an  increase  of  rate  of 
freight  for  the  transportation  of  West  Virginia 
coal  in  favor  of  Ohio  coal,  and  the  Qarksburg 
Board  of  Trade  and  the  Business  Men’s  League 
of  that  city  have  drafted  strong  resolutions  call¬ 
ing  on  all  business  men  and  financial  men  of  the 
state  to  aid  in  the  matter  of  preventing  discrimi¬ 
natory  rates  such  as  are  proposed  in  aid  of  Ohio 
coal.  These  bodies  declare  the  proposed  raise 
of  fifteen  cents  as  discriminatory  and  unjust. 

The  Hutchinson  Coal  Company,  with  headquar¬ 
ters  in  Fairmont,  W.  Va.,  and  its  principal  sell¬ 
ing  agency  in  Cleveland,  has  opened  up  offices 
in  Cincinnati,  in  charge  of  Mr.  Lee  Hutchinson, 
who  began  business  at  2602  Union  Central  Life 
Imilding  Monday.  His  stenographer  was  not  able 
to  be  in  the  office  until  yesterday,  October  1.  This 
is  the  gateway  for  the  product  of  the  company 
toward  the  north  and  northwest  and  the  coal  has 
been  gradually  gaining  way  in  the  territory  sur¬ 
rounding  Cincinnati,  so  that  it  has  been  felt  for 
some  time  that  an  office  should  be  opened  here. 

The  many  friends  of  Captain  W.  S.  Howell, 
who  for  ten  years  has  been  treasurer  and  mem¬ 
ber  of  the  board  of  directors  of  the  Halmar  Coal 
Mining  Company,  were  taken  by  surprise  when 
it  was  announced  a  few  days  ago  that  he  had 
disposed  of  his  stock  and  resigned  his  positions 
with  the  company  and  had  retired  from  any  con¬ 
nection  with  it.  Captain  Howell  has  stated  that 
he  desired  to  seek  other  connections  with  a  view 
to  retiring  entirely  from  business  at  some  time 
in  the  near  future.  He  announces  that  he  ex¬ 
pects  to  enter  the  coal  trade  along  other  lines. 
Captain  Howell  is  among-  the  best  known  coal 
men  of  the  city  and  has  many  friends  all  over 
the  country. 

A  peculiar  action  has  been  taken  by  the  United 
States  Workers’  executive  board,  in  the  appoint¬ 
ment  of  a  committee  to  try  to  bring  about  an 
amendment  to  the  Sherman  anti-trust  law  pro- 
liibiting  coal  operators  from  increasing  prices  to 
correspond  with  increases  in  production  cost, 
brought  about  by  demands  of  labor  for  increased 
rates  for  mining.  The  committee  consists  of 
President  John  P.  White,  Vice-President  Frank 
J.  Hays  and  Secretary  William  Green,  and  it  has 
been  instructed  to  go  before  the  operators  of 
West  Virginia  and  ask  the  appointment  of  a  com¬ 
mittee  to  act  jointly  in  the  matter.  The  idea 


seems  to  be  that  prevention  of  an  increase  in  the 
price  of  Ohio  coal  under  the  proposed  increase 
of  rate  for  carrying  West  Virginia  coal  can  thus 
be  accomplished.  As  the  object  of  the  increase  of 
railroad  rates  to  hamper  competitors  is  certain 
to  allow  an  increase  of  price  in  the  coal  bene¬ 
fited  so  increased  wages  and  other  expenses  can 
be  borne,  the  action  of  the  committee  would  seem 
to  be  useless  one  way  or  the  other,  and  it  is  not 
deemed  likely  that  the  operators  will  take  up 
such  a  scheme,  which  would  tie  them  up  in  fu¬ 
ture  like  situations  and  gradually  bring  about 
abandonment  of  the  mines  or  their  absorption  by 
the  mine  workers. 

Information  from  the  Fairmont  region  indi¬ 
cates  that  the  Four  States  Coal  &  Coke  Com¬ 
pany  will  resume  operations  following  settlement 
of  financial  conditions  which  threw  the  Pitts- 
burgh-Buffalo  Company  into  a  receivership  and 
lirought  about  its  sale  recently.  The  Four  States 
company  was  a  part  of  the  Pittsburgh-Buffalo 
Company,  yet  not  in  the  sense  that  it  could  be 
made  responsible  for  all  the  financial  dealings  of 
the  holding  company.  Both  had  joint  offices  in 
Cincinnati  until  about  a  month  ago,  when,  after 
the  sale  of  the  Pittsburgh-Buffalo  Company,  they 
were  closed  and  the  furniture  which  belonged  to 
the  Four  States  company  was  stored.  This  com¬ 
pany  now  announces  that  it  will  arrange  for  450 
more  miners  and  that  it  will  reopen  with  about 
550  men,  if  they  can  be  had,  which  is  doubtful 
in  the  present  state  of  labor  in  all  the  West 
Virginia  districts.  The  first  mine  to  be  reopened 
is  the  Annabelle  mine,  near  Clarksburg.  It  was 
.shut  down  in  August,  pending  an  adjustment  of 
its  affairs.  W.  J.  Wolfe,  general  manager,  has 
announced  that  the  mines  will  go  into  full  oper¬ 
ation  at  once  and  that  by  Monday,  October  4th, 
all  will  be  fully  manned.  It  is  not  known  just 
what  the  situatio;i  is  as  to  control,  but  it  is  sur¬ 
mised  that  the  operations  have  gone  back  into 
the  hands  of  the  original  company,  which  leased 
to  the  Jones  interests  before  those  interests  be¬ 
came  involved.  It  is  claimed  that  the  combina¬ 
tion  was  working  smoothly  and  well  until  the  dis¬ 
astrous  explosion  in  the  Marianna  mine  in  Penn¬ 
sylvania  a  few  years  ago.  This  disaster  brought 
on  financial  difficulties,  growing  more  and  more 
involved,  until  matters  came  to  a  crisis  in  the 
receivership  at  Pittsburgh. 


Louisville  Mark'et. 


Louisville,  Ky.,  September  30.— (Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — A  temporary  slump  in  the  coal 
trade,  probably  due  in  part  to  a  period  of  exces¬ 
sively  hot  mid-September  weather,  has  appar¬ 
ently  come  practically  to  an  end  and  prospects 
seem  favorable  for  continual  improvement  in  coal 
trade  conditions  at  this  time. 

Steam  coal  of  all  grades,  but  particularly 
screenings,  is  still  a  drug  on  the  market,  and  con¬ 
siderable  coal  of  this  character  both  from  eastern 
Kentucky  and  western  Kentucky  is  on  track  on 
demurrage  and  selling  at  bargain  counter  prices. 
The  market  for  domestic  sizes,  however,  is  firmer 
than  a  week  ago  and  prospects  indicate  condi¬ 
tions  justifying  an  advance  of  price  on  all  good 
domestic  coal  on  and  after  October  1. 

There  has  been  little  or  no  change  in  the  situa¬ 
tion  in  regard  to  car  supply,  most  mines  being 
.short  of  cars  one  or  two  days  a  week  throughout 
September,  but  loading  a  tonnage  of  coal  which 
will  probably  be  found  to  break  any  previous 
monthly  records  for  quite  a  number  of  the  larger 
operating  companies.  Partly  due  to  this  enlarged 
movement  of  coal,  consumption  of  fuel  by  coal¬ 
carrying  railroads  in  this  section  has  increased 
substantially,  the  Southern  Railway  continuing  to 
take  the  maximum  contract  amount  from  its  oper¬ 
ators  in  the  Middlesboro  and  other  districts,  and 
the  Illinois  Central  and  Louisville  &  Nashville 
are  also  taking  more  coal  than  at  any  recent 
period,  although  having  very  large  stocks  accumu¬ 
lated. 

It  is  the  belief  of  this  writer  that  stocks  of 
both  steam  and  domestic  coal  are  unusually  light, 
both  in  country  and  city  points,  and  that  with  a 
continuance  of  general  business  conditions  as  at 
present,  a  dependable  market  for  domestic  coal 
at  good  prices  and  a  fairly  satisfactory  market 
for  steam  sizes  should  be  available  to  operators 
throughout  the  present  winter,  of  course,  with 
the  usual  fluctuations  due  to  temporary  condi¬ 
tions  of  weather,  etc. 

Advancing  prices  of  cotton  and  other  com¬ 
modities,  of  interest  particularly  to  the  southern 
states,  is  having  a  beneficial  effect  on  business  in 
these  states  which  mine  no  coal,  but  consume  a 
large  portion  of  the  output  of  the  eastern  Ken- 
tucky-Tennessee  field,  and  operators  may  derive 
considerable  encouragement  in  that  section. 


No.  14] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


277 


Detroit  Trade. 


Uetkoit,  Mich.,  September  30. —  (Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — Improved  conditions  which  have 
been  a  feature  of  the  Detroit  market  for  steam 
coal  in  the  recent  past  are  well  maintained. 
Though  of  slow  development,  the  better  feeling 
and  more  favorable  aspect  of  the  market  appear 
to  be  steadily  growing  with  a  broadening  demand 
and  attendant  steadying  of  prices. 

In  some  measure  the  expansion  of  industrial 
activity  in  various  lines  of  manufacturing  is  be¬ 
ing  reflected  in  increasing  inquiry  for  stock. 
Orders  continue  of  rather  small  size,  though  their 
repetition,  at  not  infrequent  intervals,  makes  the 
aggregate  of  sales  a  substantial  tonnage.  The 
amount  of  business  coming  to  shippers  from  in¬ 
terior  points  in  the  state  also  shows  a  gratifying 
gain,  attributed  in  part  to  improving  general  busi¬ 
ness  conditions  following  larger  demand  for 
various  manufactured  commodities  from  agricul¬ 
tural  sections  which  have  been  enriched  by  large 
fruit  and  crop  production. 

Throughout  the  earlier  part  of  last  week  do¬ 
mestic  coal  was  in  very  little  demand.  High 
temperatures  have  since  given  place  to  decidedly 
chilly  weather,  with  frost  a  nightly  possibility, 
the  result  being  to  impart  considerable  stimulus 
to  the  inquiry  coming  from  householders.  This 
betterment  of  the  situation  is,  however,  chiefly 
beneficial  at  present  to  the  retail  dealers,  although 
continuance  of  the  cold  weather,  which  now 
seems  likely,  is  expected  to  bring  additional  busi¬ 
ness  to  the  shippers  and  jobbers  in  the  very  near 
future. 

Various  conditions  in  the  mining  districts,  in¬ 
cluding  labor  difficulties,  shortage  of  labor  and 
scarcity  of  cars,  have  combined  in  effecting  a 
material  reduction  in  the  amount  of  consignment 
coal  that  is  being  sent  into  Detroit.  There  is  con¬ 
signment  coal  here  in  considerable  amount,  more 
than  enough  of  it,  according  to  shippers  who  re¬ 
strict  their  operations  principally  to  sales  on  a 
direct  mine  shipment  basis,  but,  under  present 
conditions  the  coal  on  consignment  is  far  less 
troublesome  than  a  few  weeks  ago  and  the  neces¬ 
sity  for  making  sales  at  cut  prices  does  not  exert 
such  an  unsettling  influence  on  the  price  of  coal 
handled  on  a  direct  shipment  plan.  Consumers 
are  not  able,  as  they  were,  to  go  into  the  market 
and  buy  cheap  coal,  whenever  the  spirit  moves 
them. 

Retail  yards  are  busy  with  the  distribution  of 
anthracite,  but  the  orders  for  additional  supply 
are  materializing  less  rapidly  than  the  shippers 
desire. 


Prices  in  the  local 

market  on  mine 

shipment 

orders  are  as  follows 

F.  O.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

West  Virginia  Gas — 

Mines. 

Detroit. 

Three-quarter  lump . 

.  1.10 

2.50 

Mine  run . 

.  .90 

2.30 

Slack  . 

. 75®  .85 

2.15@2.25 

West  Virginia  Splint — • 

Four-inch  lump  . 

1.90@2.1.‘) 

Two-inch  lump  . 

2.15@2.30 

Three-quarter  . 

.  1.10 

2.50 

Mine  run  . 

.  1.00 

2.40 

Nut,  pea  and  slack . 

1.95@3.05 

Smokeless — ' 

Lump  and  egg  . 

.  2.25 

3.85 

Nut  . 

.  1.75 

3.35 

Slack  . 

Open 

Mine  run  . 

.  1.25 

2.85 

Kentucky  Splint — 

Lump  . 

3.00@3.15 

Egg  . 

2.65@2.8n 

Nut,  pea  and  slack . 

2.05 

Fairmount — 

Three-quarter  steam  lump. 

2.25@2.35 

Mine  run . 

2.10@2.20 

Slack  . 

Open 

Hocking  Valley — 

Shaker  three-inch  lump... 

.  1.50 

2.65 

Shaker  egg  and  nut . 

.  1.15 

2.30 

Domestic  lump  . 

.  1.40 

2.55 

Three-quarter  lump . 

.  1.25@1.30 

2.40@2.45 

Mine  run . 

.  1.00@1.10 

2.15@2.25 

Nut,  pea  and  slack . 

Open 

Pittsburgh  No.  8 — • 

Three-quarter  lump . 

.  1.15 

2.30 

Mine  run . 

.  1.05 

2.20 

Slack  . 

Open 

Jackson  Hill — 

Domestic  lump . 

.  2.50 

3.65 

Cambridge — 

Three-quarter  lump . 

.  1.20 

2.35 

Mine  run . 

.  1.10 

2.25 

Pomeroy — 

Two  and  three-inch  lump.  . 

.  1.60 

2.75 

Egg  . 

.  1.35 

2.50 

Slack  . 

Open 

Detroit  Coal  Bids. 

Detroit,  Mich.,  September  30. —  {Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — P.  Koenig  Coal  Company  of  De¬ 
troit  is  rated  lowest  of  four  firms,  whose  bids 
for  coal  supply  were  opened  by  the  board  of 
auditors  of  Wayne  county,  Mich.  The  bids  were 
asked  on  a  basis  of  about  2, .500  tons  of  anthracite, 
stove  or  egg  size,  or  an  equal  amount  of  bitu¬ 
minous  smokeless  coal  and  for  twenty-five  tons 


of  chestnut,  delivery  to  be  made  at  Wayne 
county’s  office  building,  detention  home  and  the 
jail.  The  Koenig  company’s  bid  is  about  ten 
cents  lower  than  the  price  at  which  the  same 
company  supplied  the  auditor’s  last  year.  Pay¬ 
ment  is  on  the  b.  t.  u.  basis,  with  premium  for 
excess  and  discount  charged  to  any  deficiency  of 
b.  t.  u.  from  the  standard  of  14,000.  The  bidders 
and  prices  were : 

Bit. 

Anth.  Smoke-  Anth. 


Firm  and  coal —  S.  &  E.  less  Chesn. 

P.  Koenig  Coal  Co.,  Meadowbrook  nut  ....  $2.80  .... 

United  Fuel  &  Supply  Co.,  Richwood 

nut,  Red  Jacket . ^ .  $7.20 

United  Fuel  &  Supply  Co.,  Smithers 

Creek  nut  and  slack .  2.65  .... 

R.  L.  Aylwar,  Island  Creek,  Holden, 

W.  Va.,  lump .  3.25  .... 

R.  L.  Aylwar,  Blue  Gem,  wash  pea 

and  slack,  Ky . ' .  2.90  .... 

R.  L.  Aylwar,  Kentucky  nut,  pea  and 
slack .  2.70  .... 

R.  L.  Avlwar,  W.  Va.  nut,  pea  and 

slack.  Is.  Cr .  2.75  .... 

R.  L.  Aylwar,  anthracite,  Pittston,  Pa.  $7.25  ....  7.50 

Parker  Bros.  Co.,  Ltd.,  White  Star 
nut.  W.  Va .  3.25  .... 

Parker  Bros.  Co..  Ltd.,  anthracite, 

Scranton  .  7.75 


Birmingham  Trade. 


Birmingham,  Ala.,  September  30. —  (Special 
Correspondence.) — The  domestic  coal  trade  is  still 
making  a  good  showing  and  most  salesmen  report 
business  good.  One  large  company  has  orders 
for  two  months  ahead.  Another  has  orders  for  a 
month.  Most  of  the  large  producing  companies 
are  getting  out  very  nearly  full  capacity.  It  is 
only  the  small  producer  from  whom  any  com¬ 
plaint  comes. 

Steam  coal,  while  trade  is  in  fair  condition,  has 
not  shown  any  large  movement  of  coal.  Though 
there  is  some  slight  improvement  beginning  to 
show  up.  Most  of  the  cotton  mills  have  begun 
operations  and  a  limited  demand  is  had  from 
this  source.  The  bunker  trade  towards  the  gulf 
still  goes  on  with  a  fair  tonnage. 

Coking  coal  is  making  a  fine  showing,  as  most 
of  the  iron  furnaces  of  the  district  are  in  blast. 
The  demand  for  coke  is  large  and  hence  a  large 
demand  for  coking  coal.  The  Tennessee  Com¬ 
pany  is  adding  another  benzol  plant,  this  making 
a  fourth  for  the  district  within  the  past  five 
months.  As  these  plants  are  good  consumers  of 
coking  coal,  this  class  of  mining  is  in  very  excel¬ 
lent  condition.  This  company  also  announces 
that  all  of  its  mines  will  be  put  in  operation  Octo¬ 
ber  1,  thus  showing  that  its  own  demands  are 
large,  besides  having  some  good  outside  business. 

“The  mining  industry  throughout  Alabama  is 
something  unusual,  and  has  done  much  to  keep 
Alabama  very  much  alive  during  the  past  few 
months,”  said  C.  H.  Nesbitt,  chief  mine  inspector. 
He  further  says  that  with  the  present  indications 
mine  coal  will  be  produced  in  Alabama  for  1915 
and  will  far  exceed  that  of  1914.  “Our  rep'orts  al¬ 
ready  show  a  good  increase,”  he  said,  “and  I 
expect  the  production  for  the  last  quarter  of  the 
year  to  show  a  great  improvement  over  any  pre¬ 
vious  quarter  this  year.” 

Mr.  Nesbitt  states  that  many  more  mines  are 
operating  throughout  the  state  than  were  operat¬ 
ing  at  this  time  last  year,  and  that  many  which 
were  then  operating  on  a  fifty  per  cent  basis  are 
now  running  full  blast. 


September  Prices. 

F.  O.  B.  F.  p.  B. 

Bibb  County  Domestic  Coal —  Mines.  Birmingham. 

Red  Ash  C'aliabd  lump .  $2.75  $3.05 

Red  Ash  Cahaba  lump .  2.50  2.80 

Red  Ash  steam  size .  1.20@1.35  Frt.  rate  30c 

Jefferson  County — 

Fancy  steam  Pratt .  1.75  2.00 

Run  of  mine  Pratt .  1.20@1.25  1.45@>1.50 

Mary  Lee  lump .  1.40@1.50  1.80@1.90 

Black  Creek — 

Fancy  steam  lump .  1.75  2.05 

Washed  nut  .  1.75  2.05 

Washed  steam .  1.35@1.60  Frt.  rate  30c 

Mine  run .  1.35@1.40  Frt.  rate  30c 

Jefferson  Steam  Coal — 

Mine  run .  1.15@1.25  Frt.  rate  30c 

Walker  County  Domestic — 

Carboi:  Hill  lump .  1.70  2.00 

Carbon  Hill  egg .  1.60  2.00 

Horse  Creek  mine  run .  1.00@1.20  Frt.  rate  40c 

Genuine  Corona — 

Lump  .  1.85  2.25 

Egg  .  1.75  2.15 

Steam  sizes .  1.25@1.35  Frt.  rate  40c 

Shelby  County  Domestic  C'oal — 

Cahaba  fancy  lump .  2.75  3.00 

Cahaba  No.  2  lump .  2.50  2.80 

Montevallo  domestic  prices  ranging  from  $2.75  to  S^3.00. 
Blacksmith  coal,  washed  and  screened,  per  ton.  $2  to 
$2.25  at  mines,  with  different  rates  to  various  points. 


C.  II.  Nesbitt,  chief  mine  inspector,  will  make 
a  trip  into  Walker  county  this  week  to  witness 
the  opening  operations  of  the  Sunlight  Company, 
and  as  this  process  has  been  very  little  used  in 
Alabama,  much  interest  is  centered  in  the  open¬ 
ing  of  these  mines. 


“The  strip  mining  process,  after  it  becomes 
more  widely  employed,  will  mean  a  great  for¬ 
ward  movement  for  the  mining  industry  in  Ala¬ 
bama,”  said  Nesbitt.  “While  the  process  can  only 
be  employed  where  the  coal  has  an  earth  cover 
of  from  twenty-five  to  forty  feet,  there  are  great 
tracts  of  mining  land  of  this  nature  in  Alabama.” 


More  than  960  acres  of  land  in  Tuscaloosa 
county  was  sold  by  the  Alabama  Company  to  the 
Central  Iron  &  Coal  Company,  the  latter  com¬ 
pany  desiring  to  increase  its  holdings  in  prepara¬ 
tion  for  development  in  the  future. 

The  announcement  of  the  sale  of  the  properties 
in  Tuscaloosa  county  comes  from  Baltimore, 
where  the  greater  portion,  or  practically  all,  of 
the  stock  in  the  Alabama  company  is  held. 

The  deal  is  said  to  have  involved  a  considera¬ 
tion  of  about  $80,000,  and  the  lands  are  adjacent 
to  the  Kellerman  properties  of  the  Central  Com¬ 
pany.  The  lands  are  not  convenient  to  the  other 
properties  of  the  Alabama  Company,  and  for  that 
reason  the  sale  is  believed  to  have  been  advan¬ 
tageous  for  the  latter  company. 

The  Canal  Export  Coal  Company  has  leased  its 
holdings  to  Tidmore  &  Jordan,  who  are  now  mak¬ 
ing  improvements  so  that  a  tonnage  of  ,  400  tons 
per  day  can  be  produced.  Also,  arranged  so  this 
can  be  increased,  when  needed.  This  tract  lies 
not  far  from  Acton  in  Shelby  county,  and  not  far 
from  mines  of  Alabama  Fuel  &  Iron  Company. 


Denver  Trade. 


Denver,  Colo.,  September  30. —  (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — Cold  rains  and  continued  cool 
nights  as  gentle  reminders  of  the  approaching 
winter  have  been  followed  by  steadily  increasing 
activity  as  regards  the  production  and  marketing 
of  coal  here  this  week.  While  the  lignite  district 
leads  in  production,  outside  of  Trinidad,  Walsen- 
burg  and  Routt  county,  as  well  as  the  Canon  City 
district,  are  making  a  much  better  tonnage. 

Local  retailers  all  report  a  larger  volume  of 
business  this  week  than  at  any  time  since  last 
spring.  Storing  of  all  grades  for  domestic  use 
continues  and  weather  conditions  are  responsible 
for  a  good  demand  for  immediate  requirements. 

Harvesting  of  small  grain  has  been  delayed  in 
some  sections  of  the  state  on  account  of  labor 
shortage.  At  Pueblo  prisoners  in  the  city  jail 
were  given  their  freedom  last  week  on  their 
promise  to  assist  the  farmers.  In  most  sections 
of  the  state,  however,  and  also  in  Wyoming, 
cutting  has  been  completed  and  threshing  is  well 
under  way.  The  threshing  demand  and  the  start¬ 
ing  of  some  of  the  sugar  factories  have  con¬ 
tributed  largely  to  a  heavy  lignite  output. 

There  seems  to  be  a  good  demand,  sufficient  to 
take  care  of  the  slack  from  the  larger  lump  out¬ 
put  of  lignite  and  bituminous.  Prices  are  stronger 
and  well  maintained. 

Prices  for  lignite  coal  f.  o.  b.  mines  are  as  fol¬ 
lows :  For  Denver  delivery — lump,  $3.35  to  $2.65: 
mine-run,  $1.50  to  $1.65;  slack,  $1.05  to  $1.25.  For 
points  outside  of  Denver — lump,  $2.50 ;  mine-run, 
$1.55  to  $1.65;  slack,  $1.05. 


New  Vein  of  Coal. 

Denver,  Colo.,  September  30. —  (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — fifteen-foot  vein  of  semi-bitu¬ 
minous  coal  is  reported  to  have  been  discovered 
in  the  Broomfield  district,  next  to  the  lignite 
fields  of  Lafayette,  Louisville,  Superior  and 
Marshall.  The  discovery  is  considered  of  great 
importance. 

The  vein  was  said  to  have  been  encountered  at 
a  depth  of  several  hundred  feet  in  the  course  of 
an  artesian  well  excavation.  Heavy  diamond 
drills  were  being  used,  the  cores  of  which  revealed 
traces  of  coal  at  a  depth  of  about  seventy-five 
feet.  The  drills  made  comparatively  rapid  prog¬ 
ress  through  the  strata  below  until  they  struck 
the  hard  coal  vein  100  feet  lower.  Here  the 
drilling  was  slowed  considerably  and  an  investi¬ 
gation  made  of  the  cores  through  which  the  waste 
of  the  drill  hole  is  carried.  Small  chips  of  coal 
appeared  with  rock,  but  with  an  additional  foot 
of  drilling  the  waste  became  solid  coal.  The 
drill  was  sent  down  thirteen  or  fourteen  feet 
beyond  this  point  before  rock  chips  again  ap¬ 
peared  in  the  core. 

Several  samples  of  the  coal  have  shown  by 
analysis  that  it  is  almost  as  hard  as  anthracite. 


H.  E.  Fitz,  of  Fort  Dodge,  la.,  has  sold  his 
retail  coal  business  to  Edward  W.  Collins,  who 
will  carry  a  complete  line  of  bituminous  and 
antbracite  coal. 


278 


THE  BEA(  K  DIAMOND 


New  York  Trade. 

Anthracite  Trade  Grows  Stronger  With 
Milder  Weather — Bituminous 
Active. 


Office  of  The  Black  Diamond, 
New  York,  September  ?>(),  1915. 

'Hie  last  week  of  September,  with  mucb  cooler 
weather,  brought  a  great  deal  of  improvement 
to  the  anthracite  trade,  both  wholesale  and  re¬ 
tail.  Last  week  wholesale  buying  became  more 
active,  and  as  the  weather  has  grown  more  sea¬ 
sonable  buying  for  domestic  consumption  has  also 
been  greatly  stimulated.  Consumers  are  showing 
some  concern  now  about  their  coal  needs. 

Last  week  mo.st  of  the  anthracite  operations 
were  working  on  short  time.  This  week  some 
of  the  companies  report  that  they  are  working 
on  full  time  for  the  first  time  since  last  spring. 
Some  of  them  see  ample  business  in  sight  to 
continue  on  a  full-time  schedule  for  some  weeks 
at  least.  The  greatest  improvement  in  the  trade 
comes  from  the  line  dealers,  and  while  there  has 
been  a  very  noticeable  pick-up  in  the  tidewater 
trade,  it  is  still  lacking  the  snap  that  is  so  much 
in  evidence  in  the  line  trade.  The  better  de¬ 
mand  for  coal  from  all  quarters  is  gradually 
l)riuging  domestic  size  prices  up  to  the  full  winter 
circular.  As  trade  Irecomes  more  active  the  indi¬ 
viduals  are  gradually  bringing  their  prices  up  so 
that  the  full  winter  schedule  is  now  nearer  reali¬ 
zation  than  many  in  the  trade  deemed  possible. 
.A.nd  while  instances  are  given  where  buyers  inti¬ 
mate  that  they  have  been  offered  very  heavy  con¬ 
cessions,  it  is  usually  found  that  these  prospective 
bargain  seekers  in  the  end  are  inclined  to  pay 
prices  more  in  line  with  the  circular.  Individual 
concessions  from  the  circular  which  now  average 
twenty  cents  per  ton  get  full  prices  on  certain 
favored  sizes,  allowing  concessions  on  the  less 
favored. 

Up  to  the  moment  the  car  supply  for  the  anthra¬ 
cite  coals  has  lieen  very  good,  but  with  the  line 
trade  showing  more  activity  and  railroads  becom¬ 
ing  congested  with  other  tonnage  of  a  pressing 
nature,  it  is  e.xpected  that  from  this  time  on 
transportation  conditions  will  not  lie  so  easy,  as 
a  great  deal  of  very  heavy  war  stuff  is  now  mov¬ 
ing  over  some  of  the  important  eastern  anthra¬ 
cite  carrying  roads  and  their  connections  as  well. 
.A.nd,  moreover,  there  is  a  growing  shortage  of 
labor  of  all  kinds,  so  that  it  will  only  require 
a  slip  of  a  cog  here  and  there  to  bring  about  a 
freight  congestion.  Another  condition  to  be 
watched  is  that  of  cars.  While  the  great  bulk 
of  anthracite  is  moved  in  bopper-liottom  cars, 
there  are  still  a  great  many  retail  coal  dealers 
scattered  here  and  there  who  do  not  have  plants 
that  are  equipped  to  handle  hopper-bottom  cars, 
and  who  want  low-side  cars  from  which  coal  can 
be  discharged  by  hand.  These  cars  have  been 
growing  scarcer  from  year  to  year,  and  just  now 
the  railroads  that  have  cars  of  this  description 
on  hand  are  finding  thousands  of  calls  for  them 
for  other  freight. 

The  labor  situation  is  being  watched  very  close¬ 
ly,  and  as  the  public  begins  to  realize  the  gravity 
of  the  situation  as  it  appears  to  some  of  the  best 
informed  men  of  the  trade,  there  will  no  doubt 
be  a  great  increase  in  buying  thereby. 

The  steam  size  situation  at  tidewater  especially 
is  considerably  changed.  These  sizes  are  grow¬ 
ing  scarcer,  that  is,  more  of  them  are  being  taken 
upon  contract  requirements,  leaving  small  sur¬ 
pluses  for  spot  trade.  Therefore,  those  jobbers 
who  have  contracts  on  these  sizes  are  covering 
certain  monthly  deliveries  and  those  who  have  been 
buying  in  the  open  market,  are  finding  it  much 
harder  now  than  ever  before  to  secure  suitable 
grades  of  buckwheat  that  they  can  apply  upon 
their  contracts,  and  at  prices  in  line  with  which 
these  contracts  were  taken.  At  New  York  tide¬ 
water  ports  choice  grades  of  all  the  steam  sizes 
are  now  selling  at  full  circular.  Some  of  the 
inferior  buckwheats  can  now  be  purchased  at 
twenty  to  twenty-five  cents  off,  with  medium 
grades  of  rice  .selling  at  twenty  cents  off  circular 
and  barley  at  ten  to  fifteen  cents.  For  the  first 
time  in  months  pea  coal  is  very  active,  and  it  is 
very  difficult  to  secure  choice  grades  of  it  for 
prompt  shipment.  Inferior  grades  can  be  pur- 
ebased  at  twenty-five  to  thirty  cents  off  circular. 

New  \'ork  prices: 

l’l)I)er  I.ower 

l*orts.  Ports. 


P>roken  .  $o.l() 

Kgg  . 0.37) 

Stove .  7). 3.3  5.23 

Chestnut  .  5,60  5.50 

Pea  .  3,55  3.45 


Special  grades  of  Red  Ash  and  other  high  grade 
coals  at  the  lower  ports  sell  at  twenty-five  to 
fifty  cents  per  ton  over  above  figures. 


Spot  prices  in  individual  coals  at  lower  ports 
are  about  as  follows : 


Kgg  . and  up 

^tove  .  ,).(I5  and  up 

Nut  .  o.OO  and  up 

I’ra  .  and  up 

I’.urk  .  '-’.'-’.'i  and  n|i 

I'ice  .  1.7.")  .and  up 

I'arU-y  .  and  U]) 


The  Bituminous  Situation. 

The  eastern  bituminous  trade  continues  ter 
gather  strength  from  week  to  week.  This  week 
finds  the  situation  considerably  stronger,  and  mine 
".prices  somewhat  stiffer,  with  some  improvement 
noticed  in  tidewater  i)rices.  Salesmen  report  that 
they  find  large  buyers  in  a  more  amiable  mood 
than  heretofore.  Those  who  are  not  i)rotected 
by  contracts  are  more  receptive  when  the  coal 
salesman  calls.  The  buying  public  are  beginning 
to  realize  that  coal  for  steam-making  is  getting 
scarcer,  and  that  it  is  not  going  to  be  so  plentiful 
this  fall  and  winter,  as  has  been  the  case  through¬ 
out  the  summer.  Many  of  the  large  producers 
who  have  large  contracts  are  not  seeking  spot 
business.  Right  now  they  are  being  pressed  to 
take  care  of  contract  requirements,  and  quite  a 
few  of  them  are  beginning  to  realize  that  the 
labor  situation  and  the  car  sliortage  from  now  on 
are  going  to  be  two  most  vital  factors  in  con¬ 
trolling  output.  Labor  is  becoming  much  scarcer, 
as  mines  are  in  position,  due  to  their  increased 
orders  to  run  to  capacity,  and  it  is  no  doubt 
due  to  this  fact  that  many  of  the  small  opera¬ 
tors  throughout  the  central  Pennsylvania  fields 
who  have  all  along  been  flooding  the  markets 
with  spot  coals  are  now  putting  a  better  price 
on  their  coal,  and  if  they  do  not  secure  it  are 
not  rushing  surplus  production  to  tidewater  in 
anticipation  of  finding  a  ready  market  for  it 
here. 

The  export  movement  is  still  hampered  for 
lack  of  vessels,  Baltimore  especially  showing  a 
falling  off  last  week.  In  fact,  only  six  steamers 
reported  for  cargoes.  Hampton  Roads  shipments 
continue  very  well  in  line  with  the  high  records 
previously  made.  Bunkering  business  at  all  ports 
is  very  fair,  and  at  New  York  especially  it  is 
very  active,  due  to  the  fact  that  a  great  deal  of 
heavy  war  munitions  are  now  being  shipped 
from  this  port.  A  great  deal  of  stuff  is  being 
loaded  for  Russian  account,  shipments  being 
made  to  Vladivostok  and  Archangel,  and  steam¬ 
ers  that  are  taking  these  cargoes  are  taking  very 
large  bunkers.  One  bunkering  interest  reported 
this  week  that  they  had  sixteen  steamers  in  sight 
for  bunkers  whose  requirements  would  run  all 
the  way  from  500  to  1,500  tons  each.  And  other 
bunkering  firms  seem  to  be  equally  as  well  fa¬ 
vored. 

The  car  supi)ly  is  very  scarce  on  both  the  Balti¬ 
more  &  Ohio  and  Pennsylvania  systems.  Many 
mines  in  central  Pennsylvania  are  reporting  that 
they  are  not  securing  more  than  a  fifty  per  cent 
supply.  This,  no  doubt,  really  means  that  they 
are  receiving  alwut  the  same  number  of  cars  that 
they  received  duriirg  the  summer,  Init,  due  to  the 
larger  requirements  just  now,  the  cars  furnished 
them  by  the  railroads  are  falling  very  short  of 
their  needs.  As  an  indication  of  the  heavy  in¬ 
crease  of  tonnages  on  some  of  the  eastern  roads, 
the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  Railroad  in  August  han¬ 
dled  3,009,028  tons,  as  compared  with  2,769,453 
tons  for  the  corresponding  month  of  1914,  or  a 
gain  of  239,585  tons.  In  the  same  month  coke 
traffic  increased  102,975  tons. 

New  York  harbor  ports  have  some  free  coal, 
but  not  an  oversupply.  Prices  are  firmer,  choice 
grades  commanding  five  and  ten  cents  over  the 
average  prices  prevailing  for  some  time. 

The  Vessel  Situation. 

The  coastwise  vessel  situation  is  practically  un¬ 
changed.  There  is  ample  tonnage  for  current 
coastwise  business.  Former  rates  are  just  about 
easy. 

In  the  export  trade  rates  to  Italy  have  increased 
about  4s  in  tbe  past  week  or  ten  days,  while  rates 
to  South  America  have  increased  from  Is  to  2s. 
VVe  quote  current  rates  on  freight  as  follows: 

b'rom  Hampton  Roads  to  Boston,  eighty  to 
ninety  cents  is  about  tbe  range ;  to  Portland  and 
points  east  of  Boston,  from  ninety  cents  to  $1.01). 
To  sound  ports,  eighty  to  eighty-five  cents.  From 
Philadelphia  to  New  England  points,  about  five 
cents  under  the  Hampton  Roads  rates. 

From  New  York  to  Bridgeport  or  New  Haven, 
thirty  cents;  to  New  London  and  Providence, 

forty  cents;  to  Fall  River  and  New  Bedford, 
forty-five  cents;  to  Boston,  fifty-five  to  si.xty  cents. 

Current  quotations  on  bituminous  coal  in  spot 
lots  are : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Somerset  County —  Harbor.  Mines. 

Best  grades . $2.85  $1.30 

.Medium  grades .  2.0.5  1.1.5 

Ordinary  .  2. .55  1.05 


[October  2 

Cambria  County — 

Best  Miller  vein . 

_  3.00 

1.45 

Medium  grades  . 

_  2.70 

1.15 

Cheaper  grades . 

_ 2. CO 

1.05 

Clearfield  County — 

Best  grade . 

1.35 

Ordinary  grades . 

1.00 

Indiana  County — 

Best  grade . 

1.25 

Medium  grade . 

.95 

Maryland — 

Georges  Creek  big  vein . 

_  3.15 

1.05 

West  Virginia  S])linl — 

Ordinary  grades  . 

.87, 

Best  ^-inrh  lump . 

1.10 

Best  grade,  run  of  mine . 

_  2.r,5 

.90 

Gas  slack . . 

.C0@  .75 

New  York  Trade  Briefs. 

George  A.  Mcllroy  of  Parrish,  Phillips  &  Co., 
of  No.  1  Broadway,  returned  on  Monday  from  a 
visit  to  the  Panama-Pacific  Exposition. 

E.  V.  Sidell,  the  well-known  Poughkeepsie,  N. 
Y.,  coal  dealer,  was  a  New  York  visitor  on 
Wednesday. 

F.  R.  Wadleigh,  the  well-known  coal  expert  of 
Philadelphia,  sailed  from  New  York  on  Wednes¬ 
day  on  the  S.  S.  Rotterdam  for  a  European  trip. 

Lucien  Hill,  New  York  manager  of  the  Mer¬ 
chants’  Coal  Company  of  Pennsylvania,  is  re¬ 
joicing  upon  the  arrival  of  a  son  at  his  home  at 
Short  hi  ills,  N.  J. 

F.  M.  Adsit,  general  freight  and  passenger 
agent  of  the  Virginian  Railway,  with  headquar¬ 
ters  at  Norfolk,  Va.,  was  in  New  York  on  klon- 
day  calling  on  some  of  the  shippers  over  his  line. 

S.  D.  Fobes,  newly-appointed  manager  of  sales 
for  S.  P.  Burton  &  Co.,  50  Congress  street,  Bos¬ 
ton,  was  in  New  York  late  last  week  on  his  re¬ 
turn  to  Boston  from  the  central  Pennsylvania 
regions. 

A  New  York  state  charter  has  been  granted 
the  Richmond  Hill  Coal  &  Ice  Company  of 
Queens,  with  a  capital  stock  of  $50,000.  Incorpo¬ 
rators  are  Charles  W.  Rorothea  and  Henry  Myers, 
bpth  of  Queens. 

Application  has  been  made  to  the  New  York 
Stock  Exchange  to  list  $1,813,900  of  seven  per  cent 
cumulative  preferred  stock  and  $5,500,000  of 
common  stock  of  Burns  Brothers,  New  York 
City’s  great  retail  coal  corporation.  The  pre¬ 
ferred  is  now  selling  at  from  $102  to  $104  per 
share  and  the  common  at  $78  to  $81. 

The  many  friends  of  Henry  Plauth,  bookkeeper 
of  A.  W  Hillelirand  &  Co.,  No.  1  Broadway,  were 
pained  to  learn  on  Tuesday  of  the  death  of  his 
ii'ne-year-old  son,  who  was  killed  by  an  automo¬ 
bile  near  his  home  in  Brooklyn.  The  young  fel¬ 
low  was  on  roller  skates  and  had  ran  out  into 
the  street  to  get  a  hat  belonging  to  his  smaller 
Imother  when  the  automobile  struck  him. 

Diedrich  Denker  of  the  well-known  New  York 
retail  coal  firm  of  Meyer-Denker-Sinram  Com¬ 
pany,  who  was  taken  seriously  ill  at  Denver, 
Colo.,  some  time  ago  while  on  his  way  to  the  Pa¬ 
cific  coast,  and  who  was  hurried  back  to  New 
York,  was  doing  very  well  this  week.  He  is  at  his 
home  and  his  condition  is  considered  very  fa¬ 
vorable. 

P.  B.  Hutchinson  of  the  J.  C.  Haddock  Coal 
Company,  of  No.  17  Battery  place,  who  met  with 
a  very  serious  accident  about  a  week  ago,  is  do¬ 
ing  very  well  this  week.  Mr.  Flutchinson  acci¬ 
dentally  fell  from  the  window  of  his  apartment, 
some  three  stories  high,  landing  on  a  spike  fence, 
which  resulted  in  the  breaking  of  two  ribs  and  a 
compound  fracture  of  an  arm.  The  spikes  made 
two  large  holes  in  his  back.  His  improvement 
bas  been  most  rapid. 

Advices  from  Somerset,  Pa.,  state  that  the  first 
Western  Maryland  freight  train  to  run  over  the 
Somerset  &  Cambria  branch  of  the  Baltimore  & 
Ohio  Railroad  went  through  Saturday  from  the 
Jenner  coal  field.  The  train  was  operating  un¬ 
der  a  traffic  agreement  whereby  the  Baltimore  & 
Ohio  tracks  will  be  used  for  hauling  additional 
tonnage  of  coal  from  new  mines  of  the  Con¬ 
solidation  Coal  Company  in  the  Jenner  field. 
These  trains  are  diverted  to  the  We.stern  Mary¬ 
land  main  line  at  Rockwood. 

The  annual  fall  tournament  of  the  New  York 
Coal  Trade  Golf  Association  will  be  held  at  the 
Seaview  Club  course,  near  Atlantic  City,  on  Sat¬ 
urday  and  Sunday,  October  16th  and  17th.  At 
tliis  tournament  it  is  expected  that  a  good  num¬ 
ber  of  golfers  from  tbe  Pennsylvania  coal  trade 
will  participate.  A  very  large  attendance  is  ex¬ 
pected  from  the  New  York  association,  and  it  is 
hoped  to  make  this  tournament  one  of  the  most 
successful  that  the  association  has  yet  held.  C.  B. 
I'lungen  of  the  Keystone  Coal  &  Coke  Company 
and  F.  J.  Llonan  of  the  Skeele  Coal  Company  are 
the  most  recent  applicants  for  membership. 


No.  14] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


279 


Philadelphia  Trade. 

The  Coal  Trade  Gets  a  Boost  in  Every 
Department — Prices  Are  on  the 
Upturn. 


Office  of  The  Bl.xck  Di.wiond, 
1400  Land  Title  Building, 
Phil.\delphi.\,  September  29. 

b'or  many  long  weary  month.s  the  sympathizers 
of  the  Allies  have  been  waiting  for  the  “hig 
push,”  but  the  weariness  of  waiting  for  this  ac¬ 
tion  has  been  nothing  compared  with  the  hopes 
of  the  coal  men  that  a  '“big  shove”  would  occur 
that  would  send  prices  to  a  better  level.  The 
changes  in  quotations  of  the  last  few  days  bear 
the  earmarks  of  better  returns.  The  heaviest 
contributing  quantities  that  have  been  responsible, 
locally,  for  an  upturn  has  been  heavy  stocking 
and  shortage  of  railway  cars.  Healthier  still  than 
these  two  is  the  steady  forcing  of  the  consumer 
to  acknowledgment  of  the  fact  that  he  “no  longer 
rules  the  roost.”  Late  comers  who  defiantly  pro¬ 
claimed,  only  a  matter  of  two  months  ago,  that 
they  would  contract  when  they  got  doggoned 
good  and  ready,  have  seen  the  error  of  their  way, 
now,  when  it  is  too  late.  Not  alone  is  it  hard  to 
find  any  of  the  coal  firms  who  are  willing  to  take 
on  the  burden  of  supply  to  April  1  of  next  year, 
but  in  some  quarters  orders  are  to  turn  down 
“spot  sales”  unless  there  are  actually  cars  at  de¬ 
livery  point  that  can  be  turned  over  to  the  buyer. 

And  prices  have  felt  the  effect  of  this  change  in 
conditions.  In  the  Somerset  fields  the  order  of 
the  B.  &  O.  given  on  September  22  that  cars 
would  go  on  a  percentage  basis,  was  followed  by 
a  severe  shortage  at  the  mines  that  cut  heavily 
into  working  time.  For  this  kind  of  coal  the  fol¬ 
lowing  quotations  were  made  for  spot  delivery. 
Ordinary  $1.00,  fair  $1.20  and  $1.30,  best  $1.35 
and  $1.45.  No  contract  figures  quoted. 

Because  of  the  better  mode  of  delivery  over  the 
B.,  R.  &  P.  and  an  excellent  supply  of  cars,  the 
Reynoldsville-Punxsutawney  district  has  not  felt 
a  tightening  as  yet  of  movement  of  coal.  Reflec¬ 
tion  of  price  stiffening,  however,  is  shown  in  the 
figures  quoted  for  immediate  delivery.  Slack 
sells  eighty  and  ninety  cents,  run  of  mine,  $1.15 
and  $1.25;  three-quarter  screened  lump,  $1.25  and 
$1.50,  and  smithing,  $1.25  and  $1.35. 

The  Greensburg  district  has  been  called  upon 
heavily  for  stocking  purposes  by  the  railways,  be¬ 
sides  some  heavy  deliveries  to  tidewater  points. 
There  is  little  free  coal  offered  from  this  section 
and  that  which  can  be  moved  is  held  at  $1.25  and 
$1.35  for  run  of  mine,  and  $1.35  and  up  for 
screened. 

Even  short  period  contracts  on  the  Western 
Maryland  have  been  restricted  during  the  past 
week.  Some  of  the  operators  have  come  to  the 
conclusion  that  they  want  lee-way  in  event  that 
a  sky  high  market  will  follow.  Spot  sales  have 
been  made  from  eighty-five  cents  up  to  a  dollar 
during  the  week. 

Clearfield  coals  are  showing  the  effect  of  a  car 
shortage  already  and  Miller  vein  for  spot  ship¬ 
ments  have  been  held  at  $1.30  and  up. 

■At  tidewater,  charters  from  this  port  have  been 
hard  to  get  with  most  of  the  free  bottoms  tying 
up  in  the  grain  trade.  Two  boats  went  under 
contract  during  the  week  for  the  western  range 
in  Italy  at  42  and  43  shillings.  However,  both 
here  and  at  Baltimore,  considerable  heavy  loading 
is  in  progress,  and  with  the  cars  that  are  being 
released  by  the  railroads  that  have  been  stocking, 
quite  a  number  of  cars  will  be  released  for  return 
to  the  mines  over  next  Sunday. 

The  Anthracite  Situation. 

Stove  coal  stepped  away  out  as  the  leader  in 
the  local  trade  this  week  and  some  of  the  smaller 
operators  had  quite  a  time  arranging  to  take  care 
of  their  orders.  This  size  was  held  strictly  to 
circular  price  and  some  of  the  better  grades  were 
even  a  little  better.  A  change  in  the  weather  sent 
the  hoi-polli  squinting  at  their  coal  bins  and  the 
movement  in  the  “poor  man’s  fuel” — the  pea  size 
— increased  in  consequence.  While  this  coal  has 
been  sold  fifty  cents  on  the  ton  below  circular, 
since  late  in  .\pril,  there  has  been  a  noticeable 
stiffening  in  price  and  even  the  independents  have 
been  holding  pea  at  $2.05  to  $2.15.  It  is  expected 
that  there  will  be  a  flat  raise  to  $2.25  a  ton  within 
the  next  few  days  by  the  companies. 

Egg  sizes  at  this  time  of  year  are  always  draggy 
and  have  to  be  sold  at  a  concession.  The  under¬ 
lying  cause  seems  to  be  that  the  big  institutions, 
which  are  the  heaviest  users  of  the  size,  stock  up 
heavily  in  the  spring  and  are  not  in  the  market 
again  until  January  or  h'ehruary. 


Most  of  the  mines  are  running  full  time  and 
the  overplus  is  being  stocked.  In  anticipation  of 
the  monthly  report  of  the  Bureau  of  Anthracite 
Statistics,  it  is  learned  the  production  for  Sep¬ 
tember  will  run  close  to  the  ligure  set  by  la.st 
year’s  work. 

Following  are  the  Reading  circular  figures,  plus 
the  state  tax,  for  the  coming  month  : 

Locust 


Mountain 

Lorberry 

.Mahanoy 

and 

and 

I..yk’.s 

and 

Schuylkill 

Schuylkill  Valley 

Shenan 

While 

Bed 

Red 

Sizes — 

(loali. 

Ash. 

Shamokin 

Ash. 

Ash. 

Lump  .... 

$3.50 

Steamboat  . 

:L50 

Broken  . .  . 

3.50 

$3.75 

$4.10 

Egg  . 

3.75 

$3.75 

4.00 

4.35 

Stove  . 

.  .  .  .  4.00 

4.00 

4.00 

4.25 

4. GO 

Chestnut  .  . 

_  4.15 

4.1.5 

4.15 

4.25 

4.60 

I’ea  . 

_  2.50 

2.50 

2.50 

2.00 

2.75 

Buckwheat 

_  1.50 

1.50 

1.50 

1.00 

2.35 

Philadelphia  News  Notes. 

Murray  B.  Courtright,  of  the  Cortright  Coal 
Company,  was  in  New  York  on  Wednesday. 

J.  Fred  Betts  of  the  Goshen  Coal  Company  of 
Clearfield,  was  one  of  the  trade  visitors  of  the 
week. 

Arnold  Gerstelle,  sales  manager  for  Percy 
Heilner  &  Sons,  was  in  Boston  the  forepart  of 
the  week. 

George  Tyler,  who  is  connected  with  the  John 
Lochrie  Coal  Mining  Company  at  Windber,  was 
a  trade  visitor. 

H.  K.  Burkett,  president  of  the  .Atlantic 
Crushed  Coke  Company  of  Greensburg,  Pa.,  was 
a  trade  visitor  of  the  week. 

Fred  Lockhart,  who  represents  the  Hillman 
mining  interests  in  New  York,  was  seen  among 
the  trade  on  Tuesday. 

W.  J.  Kuntz  of  the  Operators  Coal  Company 
of  Johnstown,  Pa.,  was  in  the  city  for  a  few 
hours  on  Friday  of  last  week. 

H.  C.  Beury  and  Mr.  H.  H.  Lineaweaver  of 
Lineaweaver  &  Co.,  left  early  in  the^week  in  auto¬ 
mobiles  for  a  tour  of  New  England. 

J.  W.  Swain  of  Swain  Brothers,  who  has  been 
spending  several  weeks  in  vacation  in  the  Adiron- 
dacks,  is  expected  to  return  this  week. 

Air.  Jardin,  head  of  the  coal  department  of 
Pilling  &  Crane,  visited  the  properties  of  the 
company  and  the  Big  Bend  mine  last  week. 

.Arthur  Kuppinger,  sales  manager  of  the  Valley 
Smokeless  Coal  Company,  was  in  the  regions  the 
forepart  of  the  week  and  returned  on  Thursday. 

Floyd  Chadwick,  the  amiable  manager  of  the 
local  office  of  the  lAavis  Colliery  Company,  spent 
a  few  days  of  the  week  with  the  New  York  trade. 

Charles  A.  Owen  of  Johnstown,  president  of 
the  Imperial  Coal  Company,  paid  a  visit  to  the 
local  offices  of  the  company  this  week  and  also 
made  a  run  over  to  New  York. 

Bids  will  be  opened  by  the  director  of  supplies 
of  the  city  of  Pennsylvania  for  coal  to  be  sup¬ 
plied  to  all  departments  of  .  the  city,  inclusive  of 
the  waterworks  department,  on  October  5  at  the 
city  hall. 

W.  H.  Adams,  chief  clerk  of  the  Crozer-Poca- 
hontas  Coal  Company,  spent  a  week  at  Norfolk 
going  over  the  change  in  freight  rates  as  will 
apply  over  the  Norfolk  &  Vestern  to  that  port, 
in  the  near  future. 

E.  B.  AIcCue,  who  was  formerly  of  the  sales 
force  of  J.  Blair  Kennerly,  and  R.  R.  Hender- 
shott,  who  was  with  B.  Nicoll  &  Co.  for  some 
time,  have  joined  the  force  of  Swayne  &  Co., 
whose  offices  are  in  the  Land  Title  building. 

The  East  Bear  Ridge  Colliery,  for  which  H.  H. 
Lineaweaver  &  Co.  are  the  selling  agents,  made  its 
first  shipment  of  coal  over  the  new  breaker  this 
week.  The  total  production  was  about  500  tons 
a  day  and  this  will  be  doubled  as  soon  as  the 
plant  gets  well  under  way. 

With  the  ’Phillies  way  out  in  front  and  win¬ 
ners  of  the  National  league  baseball  contest,  re¬ 
quests  are  coming  into  every  coal  man’s  office  to 
get  tickets  for  out  of  town  associates  and  friends. 
.All  sorts  of  schemes  and  devices  are  being  ex¬ 
ploited  to  satisfy  the  requests  and  some  of  the 
popular  young  men  of  the  trade  say  they  expect 
to  be  grey  headed  before  the  affair  is  over. 

.A  meeting  of  the  sentries  of  the  Order  Ko- 
Koal  was  held  in  the  office  of  .Ayers  Brothers  in 
the  Pennsylvania  building  on  Tuesday,  at  which 
there  was  a  good  attendance.  The  question  of 
siqiporting  the  National  Coal  .Association  was  the 
principal  topic  touched  upon  and  it  was  decided 
that  this  was  a  question  that  should  be  thoroughly 
gone  over  by  tbe  entire  membership  before  any 
definite  action  was  taken.  The  sentries  concluded 


to  call  a  general  meeting,  which  will  be  held  at 
the  Hotel  Roosevelt  on  October  21,  and  the  point 
at  issue  will  be  thoroughly  reviewed  and  whipped 
out. 

I'herc  is  a  perceptible  sbortage  of  small  tDimagi' 
cars  at  tbe  present  time,  and  dealers  and  agents 
who  have  orders  for  cars  carrying  thirty-five  to 
forty-five  tons  are  having  quite  a  time  in  getting 
this  equipment.  The  railways’  answer  has  been 
that  the  smaller  cars  were  intended  for  the  pig 
iron  business  and  now  that  this  trade  is  running 
ninety-seven  per  cent  of  capacity,  all  of  this  style 
of  car  must  be  turned  into  that  channel. 

“Twenty  thousand  Ijags  of  coal  to  be  given 
away.”  This  sign  in  flaring  red,  tacked  and  tied 
on  various  automobiles  belonging  to  the  Mason- 
Hcflin  Coal  Company,  has  caused  no  end  of  talk 
as  a  means  of  advertisement.  The  bags,  however, 
would  not  quite  come  up  to  specifications  for 
charitable  purposes,  but  they  are  sizeable  enough 
to  give  those  who  obtain  them  an  idea  of  the 
quality  of  the  coal  that  these  retailers  have  to 
offer. 

Howard  Perrin,  local  sales  manager  of  the  Sus¬ 
quehanna  Coal  Company,  was  about  the  busiest 
man  in  forty-seven  counties  this  week.  Besides 
taking  care  of  the  heavy  fall  business  of  the 
company  he  was  one  of  the  directing  heads  of  the 
big  golf  meet  at  the  Merion  Golf  Club  and  par¬ 
ticipated  in  the  tryouts  for  the  championship. 
There  is  also  a  good  tip  out  to  the  effect  that  Mr. 
Perrin  may  be  elected  to  the  presidency  of  the 
National  Golf  .Association. 

Major  General  E.  Bowman  Daugherty,  who 
has  been  at  the  head  of  the  militia  forces  of  this 
state  for  the  past  five  years,  will  retire  from  the 
service  on  Thursday  next.  General  Daugherty 
comes  from  a  family  that  has  made  military  his¬ 
tory  in  the  state  as  well  as  having  been  identified 
with  its  mining  interests  for  a  couple  of  genera¬ 
tions.  The  state  law  of  limitation  was  the  only 
cause  for  General  Daugherty’s  retirement.  He  is 
one  of  the  active  heads  in  the  operating  end  of 
the  Susfiuehanna  Coal  Company’s  properties. 


Baltimore  Trade. 


B.iiLTi.MORE,  Ohio,  September  30. —  (Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — L’ncler  increasing  pressure  for 
fuel  to  the  west  and  northwest,  and  a  better  tone 
eastward  on  all  except  the  export  trade,  the  situa¬ 
tion  at  the  mines  of  West  Virginia,  Maryland 
and  Pennsylvania  is  tightening.  Real  scarcity  con¬ 
ditions  as  to  the  mine  labor  supply  and  as  to  cars 
are  developing.  Labor  leaders  in  the  mining  dis¬ 
tricts  agree  with  operating  interests  that  a  labor 
famine  is  in  prospect  if  the  drain  of  the  call  of 
war  and  to  various  war-boom  industries  keeps  up 
at  mining  centers. 

Locally  the  industrial  situation  here  is  steadily 
improving.  All  classes  of  iron  and  steel  works 
here  are  now  working  to  the  limit,  shipbuilding 
yards  are  deluged  with  work  and  various  other 
industries  are  reflecting  a  better  feeling.  More 
business  is  going  on  the  books  of  local  coal  men 
for  deliveries  here  than  for  months  past. 

Better  prices  are  beginning  to  prevail  at  the 
mines,  although  more  improvements  in  that  line 
would  be  acceptable  to  operating  interests.  Ship¬ 
pers  and  middlemen  are  now  better  satisfied  with 
conditions,  as  more  customers  finding  fuel  really 
necessary  are  coming  to  the  front  and  profits  in 
that  way  are  better. 

Prices  to  tbe  trade  may  be  quoted  about  as 
follows : 


F.  O.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

Fairmont — 

Mines. 

Baltimore. 

1  hree-quarter  . 

Run  oi  mine . 

$2.38@2.43 

.  .85 

2.28 

Slack  . 

2.08@2.13 

Somerset — 

Best  . 

.  1.35 

2.53 

(jood  . 

.  1.20 

2.38 

W.  M.  R.  R.— 

Freeport  . 

. 85@  .90 

2.03@3.08 

B.  &  O.— 

Freeport  . 

. 85  @  .90 

2.03@2.03 

P.  R.  R.— 

Best  South  b'ork . 

.  1.40 

2.58 

Miller  vein . 

2.S3@2.S8 

Ordinary  .  . 

2.03@2.13 

In  an  endeavor  to  provide  for  needs  of  miners 
for  homes,  the  Brothers  Valley  Coal  Company, 
with  operations  in  Somerset  county,  Pennsylvania, 
who  have  headquarters  at  No.  90  West  street. 
New  York,  are  erecting  eighteen  more  new  dwell¬ 
ings  at  their  mines  at  MacDonaldton.  They  are 
also  improving  their  mining  section  by  increasing 
the  capacity  of  their  lighting  plant  and  are  mak¬ 
ing  many  other  improvements  that  make  for  bet¬ 
ter  living  on  the  part  of  the  miners.  The  mines 
have  been  working  full  for  some  time  and  the 
company  has  every  prospect  for  an  active  business 
throughout  the  coming  winter. 


280 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[October  2 


New  England  Trade 


Boston,  September  30. —  (Special  Correspond¬ 
ence. )~Toda.y,  the  last  day  of  the  month,  finds 
the  local  wholesale  and  retail  anthracite  dealers 
more  cheerful  than  they  have  been  before  in 
months.  The  wholesale  bituminous  dealers,  while 
not  crowing  over  current  sales,  appear  extremely 
hopeful  regarding  the  immediate  future. 

With  very  few  exceptions,  local  wholesale  an¬ 
thracite  houses  report  the  best  past  week’s  busi¬ 
ness  that  has  been  recorded  in  a  very  long  period. 
And  the  best  part  of  the  news  is  that  the  buying 
of  cargo  lots  has  been  fully  as  active  as  car-lot 
bookings.  A  good-sized  tonnage  in  cargo  lots  has 
been  booked  for  delivery  at  Boston,  Providence, 
Lynn,  Beverly,  Portsmouth  and  Portland.  New 
Haven  and  Boston  and  Albany  all-rail  point  dis¬ 
tributers  seem  to  have  been  a  little  more  aggres¬ 
sive  in  buying  than  those  at  Boston  and  Maine 
points.  The  demand  has  embraced  all  prepared 
sizes  and  lapped  over  into  some  of  the  other 
grades.  Buckwheats,  for  instance,  have  been  in 
excellent  demand,  especially  from  sound  ports,  but 
local  dealers  in  a  number  of  cases  have  been 
obliged  to  turn  down  business,  owing  to  their 
inability  to  deliver  the  goods.  Some  houses  claim 
that  certain  grades  of  buckwheats  are  really 
scarce  and  intimate  that  an  advance  in  prices  for 
them  would  be  justifiable. 

The  working  schedules  of  mines  has  not  been 
increased  noticeably,  but  probably  will  be  begin¬ 
ning  tomorrow.  Stocks  at  tidewater  shipping 
points  are  not  excessive,  and  as  there  is  no  short¬ 
age  in  barges  or  cars,  shipments  have  been  and 
are  made  in  fairly  good  time.  As  the  year  draws 
to  a  close,  however,  there  is  bound  to  be  a  short¬ 
age  in  cars,  and  owing  to  this  fact  local  houses 
are  urging  retail  dealers  and  other  consumers  to 
cover  their  requirements  before  it  is  too  late. 
Offerings  at  Mystic  Wharf  have  not  been  plenti¬ 
ful,  nor  are  they  liable  to  be  for  some  time  to 
come,  for  a  majority  of  houses  report  that  they 
will  have  all  they  can  do  to  fill  contract  orders 
for  the  next  month  at  least.  Some  dealers  go  so 
far  as  to  predict  premium  coal  at  Mystic  Wharf 
before  snow  flies.  Stove  and  egg  find  a  ready 
market  at  $5.85  per  ton,  alongside  Boston  Har¬ 
bor,  and  nut  at  $0.10.  Pea  is  moving  rather  slow¬ 
ly,  but  is  unchanged  at  $4.05,  Boston  Harbor. 
Birdseye  buckwheats  command  $2  per  ton  f.  o.  b. 
New  York  and  No.  3,  $1.80.  Aside  from  Port¬ 
land,  very  little  business  has  been  done  in  Maine, 
but  the  provinces  trade  has  improved  very  satis¬ 
factorily  since  last  reports.  Not  a  word  has  been 
heard  here  in  regard  to  possible  price  reductions 
in  anthracite  since  the  Interstate  Commerce  Com¬ 
mission  announced  the  extension  of  effectiveness 
of  their  recent  ruling  on  freight  rates  until  De¬ 
cember  I. 

While  no  noticeable  improvement  in  the  demand 
for  bituminous  is  noted  here,  the  market  is  senti¬ 
mentally  firmer.  Firmer,  because  of  greater  in¬ 
dustrial  activity  throughout  New  England  and  be¬ 
cause  of  the  general  belief  that  trade  conditions 
will  warrant  an  advance  in  prices  before  another 
month  has  passed.  At  Mystic  Wharf,  for  in¬ 
stance,  the  market  for  Pocahontas  and  New  River 
is  now  quoted  at  $3.68  per  ton  f.  o.  b.  cars,  but  it 
is  very  doubtful  if  much  tonnage  has  been  booked 
at  more  than  $3.60.  It  is  a  fact,  however,  that 
shippers  are  much  more  reluctant  to  accept  the 
lower  figure  than  they  were  a  week  ago.  The 
f.  o.  b.  Hampton  Roads  market  for  these  coals 
is  reported  as  steadier  at  $2.85  per  ton.  That  is, 
there  is  less  disposition  on  the  part  of  shippers 
to  cut  prices.  Supplies  of  southern  coals  at 
Hampton  Roads  ports  are  still  large,  but  not  to 
the  extent  that  they  have  been. 

Georges  Creek  at  Mystic  Wharf  is  offered  and 
has  been  sold  at  $3.90  to  $4.00  per  ton,  mostly  the 
latter  price.  Pennsylvania  bituminous  is  still  quot¬ 
ed  on  a  basis  of  ninety  cents  to  $1.50  per  ton,  and 
some  local  houses  claim  business  is  slightly  better. 
One  house  in  particular  reports  that  it  has  been 
quite  successful  in  bidding  against  Nova  Scotia 
coals  and  has  secured  good  prices.  The  awarding 
of  the  Boston  &  Maine  bituminous  contract  is 
apparently  a  dead  issue.  The  company  says  the 
award  has  been  postponed  indefinitely.  No  other 
large  orders  are  in  view  at  the  moment. 

The  marine  freight  rate  market  presents  few 
new  features.  The  offerings  of  bituminous  space 
are  larger  than  requirements,  but  rates  hold  up 
remarkably  well.  They  are  generally  seventy-five 
to  eighty  cents  per  ton  from  Hampton  Roads  to 
Boston,  and  seven  to  ten  cents  per  ton  from  Balti¬ 
more.  Anthracite  rates  from  New  York  to  Bos¬ 
ton  are  fifty  and  fifty-five  cents  per  ton. 

Boston  Trade  Notes. 

Tlie  Boston  Towboat  Company,  a  subsidiary  of 
the  Massachusetts  Gas  Companies,  has  sold  the 


tug  Orion  to  Ryan  Company  of  Port  Arthur, 
Texas.  The  boat  was  built  in  1906,  and  was  one 
of  the  largest  of  the  towboat  fleet. 

The  Boston  Coal  Company’s  old  wharf  at  .\1- 
bany  street,  backing  on  the  South  Cove,  is  lac¬ 
ing  dismantled. 

P'ormal  announcement  is  made  that  Mr.  S.  D. 
Fobes,  for  many  years  connected  with  the  New 
England  Coal  &  Coke  Company  as  sales  man¬ 
ager,  is  now  associated  with  S.  P.  Burton  &  Co., 
No.  50  Congress  street,  as  manager  of  sales. 

The  John  J.  McCarthy  Company  of  Easton  has 
been  granted  a  Massachusetts  charter.  The  com¬ 
pany  has  a  capital  of  $25,000,  and  is  to  engage  in 
a  coal  and  wood  business.  The  incorporators  are 
Mary  V.  McCarthy,  Mary  M.  Kelleher  and  Alice 
L.  McCarthy. 

The  local  receipts  of  anthracite  from  April  1 
to  August  31,  inclusive,  were  747,685  tons,  or 
178,218  tons  less  than  those  for  the  same  period 
last  year  and  68,467  less  than  those  for  the  same 
time  in  1913.  The  receipts  of  anthracite  were 
2,018,359  tons,  a  decrease  of  178,193  and  239,935 
tons,  respectively. 

Six  men,  riding  in  a  jitney  bus,  recently  ran  into 
a  truck  of  the  Edison  Electric  Illuminating  Com¬ 
pany  of  Brockton  standing  at  the  side  of  a  road. 
The  bus  was  quite  badly  wrecked  and  the  six 
men  more  or  less  damaged.  The  Brockton  jokers 
are  saying  it  does  not  pay  to  run  up  against  the 
Illuminating  company. 

Two  men,  Arthur  Given  and  Ollie  Murray, 
while  at  work  in  the  coal  pocket  of  the  Exford 
Paper  Mill,  at  Rumford,  Me.,  were  buried  by  fall¬ 
ing  bituminous.  Given  lived  but  a  short  time 
after  being  dug  out  from  the  huge  heap.  Mur¬ 
ray  received  but  slight  injuries.  A  man  engaged 
in  digging  out  the  men  was  struck  on  the  head 
by  a  large  lump  of  coal  and  rendered  unconscious 
for  some  time. 

Machael  Capollo,  who  runs  a  coal,  wood  and 
ice  store  in  Roxbury,  was  recently  robbed  about 
midnight  of  about  $400  by  two  men,  according 
to  his  story  to  the  Boston  police.  Michael  closed 
his  store  at  11 :30  p.  m. ;  the  two  men  asked  him 
for  a  drink  of  water,  took  it,  then  his  money  and 
locked  him  up  in  the  ice  chest.  Coal  dealers 
should  take  notice  and  not  keep  their  places  of 
business  open  so  late  at  night. 

The  combined  net  earnings  available  for  divi¬ 
dends  of  the  Massachusetts  Gas  Companies  for 
August  were  $188,548,  or  $31,154  more  than  those 
for  the  corresponding  month  last  year.  The  sub¬ 
sidiary  companies  and  the  parent  company  have 
declared  the  usual  quarterly  dividends.  Following 
are  the  earnings  of  the  coal  department  for  Au¬ 
gust,  with  comparisons  (in  tons)  : 

N.  E.  C.  and  Coke . $32,488  $53,405  $  58,701) 

N.  E.  Coal .  56,090  22,774  42,956 

Federal  Coal .  8,748  6,565  3,273 

Boston  Towboat .  2,318  4,801  3,710 

Total . $99,645  $87,547  $108,0.')1 


Buffalo  Trade. 


Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  September  30. — The  anthracite 
shipments  by  lake  for  the  past  week  showed  some 
improvement,  the  total  reaching  100,750  tons, 
which  cleared  as  follows :  Duluth-Superior,  36,- 
800  tons;  Milwaukee,  32,100;  Chicago,  26,400; 
Lake  Linden,  2,800;  Green  Bay,  1,350;  Depere, 
1,300.  The  docks  at  the  other  end  of  the  lakes 
are  reported  by  shippers  to  be  well  supplied  with 
coal  and  further  shipments  are  being  held  up  to 
a  large  extent  for  lack  of  dock  room.  Large 
vessels  are  now  leaving  here  light  in  many  in¬ 
stances.  The  shippers  say  there  is  a  scarcity  of 
small  tonnage,  so  that  it  is  not  an  easy  matter  to 
supply  coal  to  some  of  the  smaller  ports.  For 
this  reason  the  freight  rates  are  expected  to  be 
on  a  higher  level  this  fall. 

Not  much  is  being  done  in  selling  anthracite 
to  dealers.  Many  of  them  have  little  or  no  shed 
room  to  take  the  coal.  They  find  their  customers 
are  making  but  few  demands  upon  them,  but  an 
increase  in  trade  is  looked  for  this  coming  month. 
The  weather  has  been  favorable  to  coal  selling 
for  the  past  few  days,  and  stocks  in  dealers’  Ijins 
have  been  reduced  somewhat.  Independent  com¬ 
panies  are  expecting  a  good  month  and  say  that 
business  has  picked  up  with  them  during  the  past 
two  weeks. 

The  bituminous  trade  continues  on  a  steady 
basis  and  prices  are  tending  toward  more 
strength.  Operators  are  raising  their  prices  from 
5  to  10  cents  per  ton,  regarding  the  outlook  for 
business  for  the  remainder  of  the  year  as  much 
improved.  This  additional  strength  in  the  mar¬ 
ket  is  leading  to  a  larger  amount  of  buying,  and 
there  is  a  better  demand  for  the  different  sizes 
than  a  short  time  ago,  when  a  large  part  of  the 


inquiry  was  for  slack.  There  is  still  a  pretty 
good  business  doing  in  slack,  with  very  little 
surplus  offered  at  any  time.  The  largest  con¬ 
cerns  which  frequently  have  plenty  of  slack  to 
sell  are  now  well  sold  up  on  it. 

It  is  noted  that  some  stocking  up  is  being  done 
by  purchasers  in  anticipation  of  a  further  short¬ 
age  of  cars  and  a  slower  movement  of  coal.  The 
outlook  is  for  a  considerable  car  scarcity  this 
winter  and  already  small  gondolas  are  reported 
to  be  hard  to  get.  Railroad  movement  of  coal 
is  somewhat  slower  than  it  has  been,  largely  be¬ 
cause  the  roads  now  have  a  large  quantity  of 
freight  of  all  kinds  to  handle.  Men  are  none  too 
plentiful  at  the  mines  and  increasing  difficulty  in 
getting  miners  is  expected. 


Buffalo  Trade  Briefs. 

Fred  J.  Durdan,  sales  agent  of  the  B.  S.  Ham- 
mill  Fuel  Company,  has  returned  from  a  business 
trip  of  several  days  to  Pittsburgh  and  vicinity. 

C.  J.  Renwick,  sales  agent  of  the  Keystone 
Coal  &  Coke  Company,  has  returned  from  a 
business  trip  to  New  York  and  other  eastern 
cities. 

E.  S.  Keay,  sales  agent  of  the  Skeele  Coal  Com¬ 
pany,  has  returned  from  a  business  trip  to  Chi¬ 
cago,  where  he  accompanied  President  E.  J. 
Skeele. 

Grant  H.  Jones,  vice-president  of  the  Shawmut 
Coal  &  Coke  Company,  is  spending  two  weeks 
on  an  autornobile  trip  through  the  state,  accom¬ 
panied  by  his  family. 

The  Lackawanna  Steel  Company  is  reported  to 
be  working  very  close  to  capacity,  having  received 
a  large  rail  order  for  foreign  shipment,  as  well 
as  one  for  war  supplies. 

A  new  wholesale  coal  office  is  to  be  started  in 
the  downtown  district  by  W.  J.  O’Shanecy,  who 
for  some  time  past  has  been  on  the  sales  force 
of  Thorne,  Neale  &  Co.  in  this  territory. 

F.  L.  Garrison  has  resigned  his  position  as 
sales  agent  here  for  the  Pittsburgh-Westmore- 
land  Coal  Company,  which  he  has  held  for  the 
past  year,  and  has  gone  to  Fostoria,  O.,  where  he 
will  enter  into  the  packing  business. 

The  Horace  A.  Noble  memorial  chapel  is  to 
I)e  dedicated  by  the  Knights  Templar  of  this  sec¬ 
tion  of  the  state  on  October  30th,  at  which  time 
a  grand  commandery  dinner  will  take  place.  The 
building  was  erected  in  memory  of  the  former 
head  of  the  coal  firm  of  Frank  Williams  &  Co., 
who  was  a  prominent  member  of  the  Masonic 
fraternity. 

The  Lehigh  Valley  Railroad  Company  has 
about  completed  the  new  coal-handling  plant 
which  has  been  in  process  of  construction  for 
some  time.  It  is  a  modern  steel  and  concrete 
ground-level  plant  for  handling  coal  into  vessels 
and  is  operated  by  electricity.  It  consists  of  two 
rocking  cradles  for  unloading  box  cars  and  four 
fixed  hoppers  for  unloading  open  cars.  The  coal 
will  be  conveyed  by  apron  flights  to  a  telescopic 
chute  in  the  boat  which  is  being  loaded.  It  is 
expected  that  500  cars  can  be  unloaded  in  ten 
hours.  Besides  quick  handling  for  vessels,  the 
plant  insures  freedom  from  breakage  of  coal.  The 
first  car  is  likely  to  be  unloaded  this  week. 


Omaha  Trade. 


Omaha,  Neb.,  September  30. —  (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — The  market  has  been  firm  with  a 
good  demand  for  domestic  coal,  very  little  coal 
of  any  kind  being  offered  in  transit.  Shipments 
have  been  heavy  with  the  exception  of  Kansas 
nut  coal. 

General  business  conditions  are  slightly  im¬ 
proved  on  account  of  weather  conditions  being 
more  or  less  favorable  to  the  corn  crop. 

The  following  market  prices  prevailing: 


Southern  Kansas — • 

Mines 

$2.00 

Omaha 

1  35 

Franklin  County — 

Lump  . 

Egg  . 

Nut  . 

Williamson  County — 

.  1.60(3)1.75 
.  1.60(3  1  75 
.  1.00(®1.75 

.  1.45^)1.60 

4.00(34.15 
4. 00^.34. 15 
4.00@4.15 

3.S5@4.00 

3.S5@4.00 

5.85 

5.35 

Egg  ‘ . 

Rock  Springs — 

Lump  . 

Nut  . 

.  1.45@1.00 

2.15 

1.60 

Arkansas  Anthracite — 
r.ump  . . 

3.70 

3.95 

6.60 

6.85 

Routt  County,  Colo. — 

Lump  . 

3.00 

2.25 

6.75 

6.00 

1.25 

5.00 

Walsenburg  District,  Colo. — 

3.00 

6.75 

Nut  *  . 

2.25 

6.00 

Pea  . 

1.25 

5.00 

rc  • 

1 

Phe  Black  Diamond 

Vol.  5S.  No.  13 

OCTOBER  9.  1913  $3.00  Ter  Year 

Rockefeller’s  Social  Plan  for  Colorado  Mines. 


The  trip  of  John  D.  Rockefeller,  Jr.,  to  the 
coal  mines  of  Colorado  came  to  a  conclusion 
on  Saturday  of  last  week.  The  closing  incident 
of  it  was  a  meeting  presided  over  by  the 
capitalist  himself  and  attended  by  the  officers 
of  the  Colorado  Fuel  &  Iron  Company  and 
representatives  of  the  miners. 

The  concrete  result  of  this  meeting  was  the 
presentation  by  Mr.  Rockefeller  of  a  plan  for 
regulating  in  future  the  relations  between  the 
company  and  its  employes.  Appended  to 
that  plan  was  a  form  of  agreement,  of  which 
the  following  is  a  copy: 

The  Proposed  Agreement. 

“It  is  mutuallj"  understood  and  agreed  that, 
in  addition  to  the  rights  and  privileges  _  guar¬ 
anteed  the  employes  and  the  company  in  the 
industrial  representation  plan  herewith,  the  fol¬ 
lowing  stipulations  respecting  employment,  liv¬ 
ing  and  working  conditions  shall  govern  the 
parties  hereto  from  the  date  of  their  signatures 
hereon  to  Jan.  1,  1918,  and  shall  continue  there¬ 
after  subject  to  revision  upon  ninety  days’ 
notice  by  either  of  the  parties. 

“The  charge  to  employes  for  dwellings  with¬ 
out  bath  shall  not  exceed  $3  per  room  per 
month. 

“The  present  uniform  charge  of  40  cents 
per  electric  light  per  month,  with  free  light 
on  porches,  shall  not  be  increased. 

“There  shall  be  no  charge  for  domestic  wa¬ 
ter  except  in  cases  where  the  company  is 
obliged  to  purchase  the  same;  in  such  cases 
the  charges  shall  be  substantially  the  cost  to 
the  company. 

“The  rates  to  be  charged  employes  for  pow¬ 
der  and  domestic  coal  shall  be  substantially 
their  cost  to  the  company. 

“To  encourage  employes  to  cultivate  flower 
and  vegetable  gardens,  the  company  agrees  to 
fence  free  of  charge  each  house  lot  owned 
by  it. 

“The  company  will  continue  its  practice  of 
removing  garbage  free  of  charge. 

“As  the  need  becomes  manifest,  the  cornpany 
will  continue  its  present  policy  of  providing  as 
rapidly  as  possible  suitable  bathhouses  and 
social  centers  in  the  nature  of  clubhouses  for 
the  employes  at  the  several  mining  camps. 

“Eight  hours  shall  constitute  a  day’s  work 
for  all  underground  employes.  This  shall 
means  eight  hours  exclusive  of  the  noon  and 
the  time  required  to  go  and  come  from  the 
mine  opening  to  the  place  of  employment. 

“Nine  hours  shall  constitute  a  day’s  work 
for  all  outside  labor,  except  firemen  and  engi¬ 
neers. 

“All  employes  shall  be  paid  semi-monthly 
by  check. 

“No  deductions  shall  be  made  from  earnings, 
except  where  authorized  by  employes. 

“No  change  affecting  conditions  of  employ¬ 
ment,  with  respect  to  wages  or  hours,_  shall 
be  made  without  giving  thirty  days’  notice,  as 
provided  by  statute. 

“The  schedule  of  wages  and  the  working 
conditions  now  in  force  in  the  several  districts 
shall  continue  without  reduction,  but  if  prior 
to  Jan.  1,  1918,  a  general  increase  shall  be 
granted  in  competitive  districts  in  which  the 
company  does  not  conduct  operations,  a  pro¬ 
portional  increase  shall  be  made. 

“For  this  purpose  a  joint  meeting  of  the 
miners’  representatives  and  proper  officers  of 
the  company  shall  be  called  within  thirty  days 
after  the  increase  in  competitive  districts  is 
effective  to  discuss  and  determine  a  rnethod 
for  fixing  the  schedule  in  the  new  districts 
affected.’’ 

The  Bigger  Plan. 

Ahead  of  this  proposed  agreement  was  an 
elaborate  document,  referred  to  by  Samuel 
Gompers  as  “the  constitution  of  Mr.  Rocke¬ 
feller’s  union.”  It  is  something  more,  how¬ 
ever,  than  merely  a  union  plan.  It  takes  into 
consideration  not  only  wages  and  the  forcing 
of  the  operator  to  surrender  to  the  miners. 


It  Blocks  Out  the  Unions,  But  Auto¬ 
matically  Increases  Wages  to  Equal 
Those  in  Competitive  Fields — A  Tactical 
Mistake  or  Two. 


It  touches  on  every  phase  of  life  in  the  mining 
camp.  For  example,  there  is  to  be  a  general 
organization  which  is  to  be  subdivided  four 
or  five  ways. 

One  subdivision  is  a  joint  committee  which 
shall  work  all  the  while  on  industrial  co-opera¬ 
tion  and  conciliation. 

Another  subdivision  is  the  joint  committee 
on  safety  and  accidents. 

A  third  subdivision  is  a  committee  on  san¬ 
itation,  health,  and  housing. 

The  fourth  subdivision  is  a  joint  committee 
on  recreation  and  education. 

The  sub-committees,  of  course,  are  appointed 
by  the  general  organization.  This  latter  is 
gotten  together  on  the  representation  plan. 
That  is,  there  is  to  be  elected  to  the  “general 
assembly”  one  miner  representing  each  150 
wage  earners.  It  is  assumed  that  these  wage 
earners  shall  be  employes  of  the  Colorado  Fuel 
&  Iron  Company.  One  man  who  has  studied 
the  plan  very  carefully  made  this  week  the 
following  statement: 

“The  big  features  in  Rockefeller’s  substitute 
for  the  United  Mine  Workers  of  America  are 
the  contractual  rights  of  the  men  and  the 
right  to  belong  to  any  union  they  choose. 

“They  also  have  final  appeal  from  all  of  the 
elaborate  courts  provided  by  Mr.  Rockefeller 
to  the  Colorado  State  Industrial  Commission. 
The  findings  of  this  body  are  not  reviewable 
and  consequently  are  binding  on  both  the  em¬ 
ployer  and  employes. 

“The  contract,  if  approved  by  the  referen¬ 
dum  vote,  will  run  for  two  years  from  the  first 
of  next  January  and  will  then  run  indefinitely 
unless  terminated,  after  notice  of  thirty  days, 
by  either  side  of  the  contract. 

“The  men  receive,  by  the  terms  of  the  con¬ 
tract,  practically  all  the  demands  made  by  the 
United  Mine  Workers  of  America,  except  the 
recognition  of  the  union.  The  men  are  assured 
against  a  reduction  of  wages  for  the  term  of 
two  years.  But  they  are  not  limited  to  those 
wages,  because  if  a  competitive  field  gets  an 
advance,  the  men  also  will  get  an  advance.” 

Attitude  of  the  Miners. 

The  referendum  vote  which  is  being  taken 
this  week  indicates  that  the  miners  are  voting 
for  the  plan  almost  unanimously.  For  exam¬ 
ple,  up  until  Monday  night  the  following  votes 
had  been  taken:  Berwind — for,  140;  against, 
9;  Tobasco — for,  138;  against,  25;  Rouse — for, 
139;  against,  6;  Lester — for,  97;  against,  9.  The 
vote  is  all  the  more  striking  in  view  of  the 
fact  that  in  many  of  these  camps  there  are 
some  members  of  the  United  Mine  Workers. 

The  attitude  of  the  union  is  particularly  in¬ 
teresting  in  view  of  two  clauses  that  are  in 
the  statement  which  precedes  the  agreement. 
One  of  those  clauses  says: 

“There  shall  be  no  discrimination  by  the 
company  or  by  any  of  its  employes  on  ac¬ 
count  of  membership  or  non-membership  in 
any  society,  fraternity,  or  union.” 

The  peculiar  phrasing  of  this  paragraph— 
“no  discrimination  on  account  of  membership 
or  non-membership” — commits  the  company 
and  the  whole  plan  to  an  open  shop.  Another 
clause  in  the  preamble  says: 

“The  right  to  hire  and  discharge  the  man¬ 
agers  of  the  properties  and  the  directors  of 
the  working  forces  shall  be  vested  exclusively 
m  the  company  and,  as  especially  restricted, 
this  right  shall  not  be  abridged  by  anything 
contained  therein.” 

The  clause  is  rather  clumsily  worded,  but 
it  means  that  the  company  intends  to  manage 
its  own  business. 


Regardless  of  these  two  things  which  put  a 
fence  around  the  mine  workers’  union  and  tell 
exactly  what  it  can  and  cannot  do,  the  vote, 
as  indicated  in  camp  so  far,  is  overwhelmingly 
in  favor  of  the  plan.  As  might  be  supposed, 
the  officers  of  the  United  Mine  Workers  are 
very  bitter  against  the  whole  idea.  They  do 
not  want  to  see  anything  put  into  effect  which 
does  not  pre-suppose  the  complete  mastery  of 
the  mines  by  the  union.  Perhaps  the  best  ex¬ 
pression  of  the  union  notion  is  contained  in 
the  sarcastic  comment  by  Samuel  Gompers, 
which  is  as  follows: 

“So  Mr.  Rockefeller  has  formed  a  union — 
a  union  of  his  employes  of  his  Colorado  Fuel 
&  Iron  Company — and  perhaps  imagines  he 
has  solved  the  problem  of  just  relations  be¬ 
tween  himself  and  his  employes.  But  with  all 
his  wealth  and  all  his  brains,  and  the  brains 
that  he  could  buy  and  suborn,  he  has  missed 
his  mark. 

“Imagine  an  organization  of  miners  formed 
by  the  richest  man  in  the  world,  who  employs 
its  members.  What  influence  can  such  a 
pseudo  union  have  to  insist  upon  remedying 
of  a  grievous  wrong  or  the  attainment  of  a 
real  right? 

“And  what  about  the  representatives  of  the 
men  ‘sitting  around  the  table’  with  Mr.  Rocke¬ 
feller  and  his  angelic  representatives  out  in 
Colorado,  should  the  miners’  spokesman  have 
temerity  of  insistence  in  the  rightful  demands 
of  the  miners?” 

What  the  Union  Says. 

Also  a  committee  representing  the  miners’ 
union  issued  a  statement  on  last  Sunday.  It 
said  that  “a  certain  degree  of  social  better¬ 
ment”  was  included  in  the  program,  but  held 
that  it  was  “a  poor  substitute  for  the  privileges 
that  can  only  be  secured  through  industrial 
democracy  and  collective  action  on  the  part 
of  the  wage  workers.”  The  committee  then 
claimed  credit  for  “forcing”  Mr.  Rockefeller  to 
adopt  this  program  and  then  went  on  to  say: 

“Exposed  in  their  nakedness  by  the  dis¬ 
closures  of  a  federal  investigation,”  continued 
the  committee’s  statement,  “discredited  in  the 
eyes  of  every  fair-minded  man  and  woman, 
stained  by  the  awful  crime  of  Ludlow,  it  finally 
dawned  upon  the  coal  operators  that  an  effort 
must  be  made  to  redeem  themselves  in  the 
public  mind. 

“The  document  arbitrarily  fixes  living  and 
working  conditions  until  January,  1918,  with 
a  proviso  that  for  any  increase  in  wages 
granted  in  competitive  districts  a  proportional 
increase  shall  be  made;  no  doubt  with  the  end 
in  view  of  safeguarding  the  competitive  ad¬ 
vantage  the  company  now  has  over  the  Wy¬ 
oming,  Montana  and  other  adjacent  union 
fields,  where  the  union  scale  is  much  higher 
than  in  Colorado. 

“The  evils  that  are  fundamental  will  be  erad¬ 
icated  only  when  the  men  are  represented  by 
a  labor  organization  powerful  enough  to  com¬ 
pel  recognition  of  the  industrial,  political  and 
civic  rights  of  its  members,  and  capable  of 
writing  these  principles  into  the  joint  agree¬ 
ment  along  with  the  rights  claimed  by  the  em¬ 
ployer.” 

As  further  evidencing  the  “paternal”  con¬ 
trol  the  company  exercised  over  the  plan,  the 
committee  pointed  out  that  the  plan  as  drawn 
up  by  the  officials  was  printed  several  days  be¬ 
fore  this  afternoon’s  Pueblo  meeting  and  that 
the  approval  of  the  miners’  representatives  was 
merely  a  matter  of  form. 

In  unfolding  details  of  his  new  scheme  to 
the  miners’  delegates  Rockefeller  denounced 
certain  labor  leaders,  without  mentioning  their 
names,  as  “wicked  and  vicious”  and  the  “worst 
enemies  of  the  laboring  man  in  this  country.” 

“Because  of  the  misrepresentation,”  he  said, 
“that  certain  untruthful  leaders  spread  over 
this  country,  men  marched  by  my  office  in. 

(Concluded  on  page  289.) 


282 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[October  9 


Members  of  the  American  Mining  Congress. 


American  Mining  Congress  Plans  an  Exposition. 


The  American  Mining  Congress  will  hold 
its  convention  next  year  in  Chicago.  The 
principal  feature  of  that  convention  will  be 
a  mining  show,  or  exposition  which  will  ex¬ 
ceed  m  scope  anything  of  the  sort  that  has 
ever  been  atteiiipted  in  the  mining  industry. 
This  was  decided  at  the  meeting  in  San  Fran¬ 
cisco  on  September  23. 

The  story  of  how  this  decision  happened 
to  be  made,  is  decidedly  interesting  and  im¬ 
portant.  Two  years  ago,  the  American  Min¬ 
ing  Congress  was  to  hold  a  convention  in 
Philadelphia.  It  had  under  consideration 
some  mighty  important  things  and  wanted  to 
get  the  mining  men  there  so  that  the  pro¬ 
posed  programs  could  be  discussed  and  mapped 
out.  It  was  recognized  from  the  start  that 
it  is  difficult  to  get  the  mining  men  together 
at  any  central  point  for  discussion  alone;  they 
may  like  to  talk  but  thej"  will  not  travel  far 
to  indulge  their  taste.  So,  it  was  realized 
that  there  must  be  some  other  attraction.  The 
question  was:  What  shall  it  be? 

Just  about  the  time,  this  discussion  was 
up.  The  New  England  Coal  Association  held 
a  convention  at  Boston.  One  of  the  biggest 
drawing  cards  of  that  convention  was  the 
machinery  exhibit. 

This  not  only  pleased  the  exhibitors  im¬ 
mensely,  but  it  attracted  quite  a  number  of 
retailers  to  the  convention.  This  indicated 
to  mining  congress  men  the  attractive  power 
of  an  exhibition. 

Even  prior  to  that  time,  or  in  1911,  the 
Mining  Congress  in  Chicago  had  put  a  ma¬ 
chinery  exhibit  at  the  Hotel  La  Salle.  This 
also  had  proved  both  attractive  and  popular. 
Still,  it  was  on  a  very  small  scale. 

With  these  things  in  mind,  it  was  sug¬ 
gested  to  the  officers  of  the  Mining  Congress 
that  a  representative  mining  exposition  would 
be  a  mighty  good  thing.  They  tried  it  out 
in  Philadelphia,  but  the  plan  was  success¬ 
ful  only  in  part.  This  was  due  to  the  fact 
that  not  enough  time  was  given  the  exhibitors 
to  get  together  anything  like  a  representa¬ 
tive  exhibit  of  their  goods.  Also,  the  min¬ 
ing  men  generally  knew  very  little  about  it. 

Along  this  summer,  the  future  of  the  ?ilin- 
ing  Congress  was  discussed  very  seriously 
by  the  officers.  The  idea  of  an  old-fashioned 
convention  did  not  seem  to  appeal  to  them 
as  strongly  as  it  once  had.  They  thought  they 
sav.-  a  growing  lack  of  popular  interest  in 
discussions  of  economic  and  technical  sub- 


Its  Convention  at  Chicago  Next  Year 
Will  Center  in  a  Show  Never  Equaled 
by  the  Mining  Industry — Scholz  Re¬ 
elected  President. 


jects.  After  discussing  the  question  broadly, 
they  believed  that  instead  of  merely  inviting 
the  people  interested  in  the  mining  business 
to  get  together  and  discuss  their  troubles,  the 
gathering  should  take  on  a  more  spectacular 
character.  They  decided  it  would  be  well  to 
invite  the  public  into  the  meetings  so  that, 
by  a  spectacle,  they  could  come  to  under¬ 
stand  something  of  the  intricacies  and  diffi¬ 
culties  of  the  mining  business. 

It  was  seen  then  that  the  best  plan  would 
probably  be  to  hold  a  great  mining  show. 
This  would  give  an  opportunity  for  manu¬ 
facturers  of  all  kinds  of  machinery  to  put 
their  devices  on  display,  and  thus  call  the  at¬ 
tention  of  the  mining  men  to  the  various 
stages  of  mechanical  progress.  Also  it  would 
be  an  attractive  thing  if  some  exhibit  could 
be  gotten  up  to  tell  the  people  themselves 
how  mining  is  being  done;  how  coal  is  han¬ 
dled  at  various  stages  and,  particularly,  how 
coal  is  burned. 

W'ith  this  point  in  mind,  the  question  arose 
as  to  where  was  the  best  place  for  holding 
such  a  show.  It  was  concluded  that  since 
Chicago  is  centrally  situated  and  is  admira¬ 
bly  served  by  transportation  lines,  and  since 
it  is  a  natural  point  of  interest  to  people 
from  all  over  the  country,  that  was  the  place 
to  hold  the  exposition.  This  plan  was  sug¬ 
gested  by  secretary  Callbreath,  and  was  put 
up  to  president  Scholz  for  decision. 

However,  Mr.  Scholz  had  been  through 
the  meeting  of  the  Congress  in  Chicago  in 
1911,  and  had  done  a  great  deal  towards  mak¬ 
ing  that  the  best  convention  the  Congress 
had  ever  held.  He  knew  the  amount  of  work 
that  was  involved  and  the  expense  incident 
to  such  an  exhibition.  Naturally  he  did  not 
want  to  go  into  this  undertaking  unless  he 
was  convinced  that  Chicago  wanted  the  show 
and  that  those  who  would  be  asked  to  pa¬ 
tronize  the  exhibit  were  in  accord  with  the 
movement.  He  decided,  therefore,  to  make 
some  inquiries  and,  in  a  way,  to  sound  out 
Chicago’s  seiitiment  on  that  question. 

The  first  man  to  whom  he  appealed  was 


C.  L.  Dering,  president  of  the  Chicago  As¬ 
sociation  of  Commerce.  Mr.  Dering  was  con¬ 
vinced  that  the  association  would  be  perfectly 
willing  to  go  behind  a  big  exhibition  of  this 
kind.  Then  it  was  suggested  that  the  best 
way  to  do  would  be  to  sound  out  the  manu¬ 
facturers  of  mining  machinery.  In  accord¬ 
ance,  the  Association  of  Commerce  wrote  a 
number  of  letters  to  these  concerns  asking 
them  their  attitude  on  such  an  effort.  They 
responded  almost  unaminously  saying  that 
they  were  in  favor  of  it  and  that  they  would 
support  it. 

With  this  data  in  hand.  President  Scholz 
laid  the  whole  matter  before  the  Mining  Con¬ 
gress  convention  in  San  Francisco,  and  asked 
an  expression  from  every  man  in  the  room. 
No  objections  were  offered,  but  on  the  con¬ 
trary  quite  a  great  many  approved  of  the 
whole  plan.  In  consequence,  it  was  unami¬ 
nously  decided  that  the  next  meeting  should 
be  at  Chicago  and  the  principal  features  should 
be  a  mining  exposition. 

The  meeting  which  has  just  closed  at  San 
Francisco  was  tremendously  interesting  on  a 
number  of  accounts.  One  of  the  questions 
which  had  come  up  for  discussion  was  as  to 
how  the  Congress  stood  on  the  question  of 
what  IS  known  in  the  west  as  the  apex  law. 

That  law,  in  substance,  is  that  if  a  vein  of 
mineral  outcrops  on  the  surface  of  a  man’s 
land,  he  owns  the  vein  wherever  it  may  lead. 
That  is,  it  may  start  on  his  surface  claim,  but 
it  may  very  soon  cross  his  lateral  lines  and 
go  over  on  a  claim  controlled  by  someone 
else.  Still  if  the  vein  outcrops  within  his  lines, 
he  owns  it  and  can  follow  it  wherever  it 
leads.  The  Mining  Congress  made  its  posi¬ 
tion  perfectly  clear  by  saying  that  it  was 
againsr  the  apex  law.  On  the  contrary,  it 
is  m  favor  of  the  law  which  applies  to  all 
other  mineral  districts:  that  is,  a  man  owns 
what  is  found  only  within  his  own  lateral 
lines.  This  stand  by  the  Congress  brought 
to  its  support  a  great  many  western  mining 
men  who  have  been  fi.ghting  the  apex  law. 
.A.S  a  matter  of  fact,  this  stand  was  the  one 
thing  which  has  solidified  the  support  of  the 
metal  mining  men  behind  the  Mining  Con¬ 
gress.  * 

Another  question  which  came  up  for  con¬ 
sideration  was  the  matter  of  “safety  first.’’ 
The  discussion  on  this  was  quite  lively.  For 
example,  some  of  the  insurance  companies  and 
some  of  the  men  representing  the  Bureau  of 


Members  of  the  American  Mining  Congress  Attending  a  Banquet  Given  to  Van  H.  Manning,  New  Director  of  the  Bureau  of  Mines. 


No.  15] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


283 


Photographed  at  the  San  Francisco  Meeting,  September  21,  1915. 


Mines  were  disposed  to  take  the  stand  that 
many  industrial  accidents  are  due  to  negligence 
on  the  part  of  the  company  or  its  officers. 
They  were  not  opposing  the  mining  men,  but 
were  really  pleading  for  more  equipment  to 
assure  safety.  The  practical  mining  men 
jumped  to  their  own  defense  by  saying  that 
mine  accidents  could  be  limited  very  mate¬ 
rially  if  the  men  would  only  do  a  little  by 
way  of  protecting  themselves.  That  is,  they 
held  that  safety  appliances  are  useless  unless 
the  men  are  keen  to  look  out  for  themselves. 
For  example,  a  very  strong  statement  was 
made  by  John  P.  Reese,  that  sixty  per  cent 
of  the  so-called  inevitable  accidents  could  be 
prevented  if  the  men  would  subject  them¬ 
selves  to  discipline  and  would  heed  the  ad¬ 
vice  and  the  warning  of  the  officers  and  look 
out  for  their  own  welfare. 

One  of  the  most  affecting  things  at  the 
whole  meeting  of  the  Congress  was  the  memo¬ 
rial  service  given  to  Dr.  Holmes.  It  will  be 
remembered  that  the  plan  was  to  set  aside 
one  session  as  such  a  memorial.  It  was  in¬ 
tended  that  addresses  should  be  made  by 
each  member  of  the  Holmes  Memorial  Com¬ 
mittee.  It  was  the  intention  also,  to  hold  a 
meeting  of  this  Memorial  Committee  after 
the  service  and  there  to  decide  upon  the 
character  of  some  permanent  testimonial  to 
Dr.  Holmes. 

At  the  memorial  service,  Van  H.  Manning 
read  a  historical  sketch  of  the  late  director 
of  the  mines.  Also  several  extremely  im¬ 
pressive  addresses  were  made,  one  of  the  most 
so  being  made  by  Mr.  Callbreath,  the  secre¬ 
tary  of  the  Congress,  who  had  worked  with 
Dr.  Holmes  so  long  and  so  intimately. 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  meeting,  it  was 
decided  that  instead  of  taking  action  right 
there  on  the  character  of  the  permanent  me¬ 
morial,  the  committee  should  leave  that  mat¬ 


ter  with  a  sub-committee  which  was  appointed. 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  session  of  the  Min¬ 
ing  Congress,  there  came  the  election  of 
officers  for  the  ensuing  year.  Carl  Scholz  was 
elected  president  over  his  protest.  He  said, 
in  the  first,  that  he  had  given  more  of  his 
time  than  he  thought  he  should  to  this  kind 
of  work.  He  asked  to  be  relieved  from  this 
office,  not  because  he  was  not  interested  in 
the  work,  but  because  he  thought  a  change 
would  be  good  for  the  organization  and  be¬ 
cause  he  did  not  feel  justified  in  devoting  more 
of  his  time  to  it. 

However,  the  Congress  out  of  consideration 
of  the  other  matters  decided  to  overrule  Mr. 
Scholz  and  elected  him  for  the  third  year. 
The  principal  consideration  of  the  Congress 
was:  The  decision  had  already  been  reached 


Allentown,  Pa.,  October  4. —  {Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — -“Every  town  has  its  retailing 
problem.  Some  are  serious,  some  insignifi¬ 
cant,  but  those  hardest  to  efface  or  erase  are 
those  caused  by  a  condition  for  which  no 
one  seems  responsible.” 

This  is  taken  as  a  quotation  from  a  recent 
article  in  one  of  the  leading  magazines,  and 
by  one  of  the  foremost  business  writers  of 
the  country.  Allentown  folks  have  been  la¬ 
boring  under  a  condition  that  was  thrust  upon 
them  a  matter  of  ten  years  ago,  their  coal 
merchants  have  awakened  to  the  fact  that 
they  in  particular  have  had  to  battle  a  long 
time  with  the  condition,  and  while  no  par¬ 
ticular  effort  was  made  to  combat  it,  it  is 
gradually  extinguishing  itself. 

About  ten  years  ago,  the  Lehigh  Valley 


to  hold  the  next  meeting  at  Chicago,  and  to 
stage  a  great  mining  show.  Mr.  Scholz,  liv¬ 
ing  in  Chicago,  and  having  done  so  much  to 
arrange  for  this  exposition,  would  naturally 
be  the  man  to  carry  out  the  plan.  Also  he 
would  be  relieved  from  a  certain  amount  of 
work  by  the  fact  that  Mr.  Callbreath  ex¬ 
pects  to  spend  quite  a  lot  of  time  in  Chicago 
m  the  next  year,  and  by  the  further  fact  that 
C.  M.  Moderwell  has  been  made  a  director  and 
will  naturally  do  quite  a  good  deal  of  work 
to  assist  Mr.  Scholz  and  Mr.  Callbreath  in 
preparing  for  the  next  convention. 

Mr.  Scholz  finally  consented  because  he 
said  Chicago  has  so  many  earnest  coal  men, 
who  would  be  glad  to  help  him  out.  There¬ 
fore,  he  felt  that  the  work  for  the  next  year 
would  not  take  up  too  much  of  his  time. 


railroad  built  a  loop  line  that  encircled  the 
good  city.  Now  a  loop  line  under  ordinary 
conditions  is  one  of  the  neatest  little  assets 
that  any  city  can  have. 

But  loop  lines  have  to  earn  their  own 
bread  and  butter  and  to  bring  in  revenue 
there  must  be  revenue  producers.  Today 
Allentown  has  a  population  of  about  50,000 
souls.  Ten  years  ago,  the  town  folks  were 
not  so  numerous.  But  the  advent  of  the  loop 
line  brought  on  the  scene  an  extra  number 
of  coal  dealers.  Anybody  could  sell  coal, 
seemed  to  be  an  accepted  axiom.  And  a  con¬ 
tributing  cause  was  a  representative  of  the 
railway,  who  encouraged  as  many  persons 
as  wanted  to  get  in  the  game  to  “set  up 
a  yard.” 

Well,  to  make  a  long  story  short,  about 
five  years  ago  there  were  forty-five  coal 
dealers  supplying  the  wants  of  this  city  of 
fifty  thousand — about  fifteen  too  many  ac¬ 
cording  to  ordinary  calculations.  Some  made 
a  living  and  some  “wished”  their  yards  on 
to  successors  for  about  five  years.  Then  there 
came  a  pause  and  a  disposition  to  analyze  the 
condition.  Since  that  time  there  has  been 
a  reduction  in  the  number  of  retail  dealers 
to  about  thirty-five  in  all. 

The  man  who  thinks  that  retailing  coal  in 
Allentown  is  an  open  and  shut  cinch,  if  he 
is  cautious  in  any  way,  may  find  that  he  is 
due  for  an  eye-opener,  when  he  goes  inquir¬ 
ing  as  to  prospects  of  success.  He  is  told 
of  the  hard  task  that  the  ten  who  fell  by  the 
wa3^side  have  tried  to  surmount  and  failed. 

Allentown  retailers  have  many  times  looked 
at  other  cities  and  wondered  why  their  volume 
of  business  per  firm  has  not  appreciably  in¬ 
creased.  Someone  found  the  answer  about 
five  years  ago,  and  it  is  no  trade  secret  among 
those  who  have  inquired. 

Incidentally  in  Easton,  Pa.,  the  city  dads 
thought  it  was  good  sport  to  place  the  re¬ 
tail  coal  dealers  on  the  carpet  some  few 
weeks  ago,  and  demand  to  know  why  the 
price  per  ton  for  summer  deliveries  were 
higher  in  that  town  than  in  Allentown.  When 
the  matter  was  sifted  to  the  bottom,  one  Al¬ 
lentown  dealer  was  invited  to  come  to  Easton 
and  tell  how  it  was  that  he  could  deliver 
coal  to  the  householders  at  such  a  price  as 
it  was  alleged  in  Easton  that  he  was  doing. 

The  Allentown  dealer  accepted  the  invita¬ 
tion  and  it  is  said  that  his  principal  explana¬ 
tion  was  that  he  was  cutting  the  price  of 
coal  as  a  matter  of  advertisement.  Business 
conditions  were  so  keen,  he  said,  he  had  sold 
coal  without  a  profit  with  the  hope  of  realiz¬ 
ing  on  future  orders. 


The  New  Vork  coal  merchants  annually  hold  a  clamhake  at  some  point  on  the  shore.  The  regnilar 
outinff  was  held  this  year  at  Tallapoosa  Inn  on  Pelham  Bay,  Bong-  Island,  on  September  23d.  This  is 
a  reproduction  of  a  photograph  taken  at  that  time. 


A  City  Without  Hope. 


284 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[October  9 


Eastern  Ohio  Operators  Want  Lower  Rates. 


Cleveland,  Ohio,  Otober  7.— (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — At  a  conference  in  X\\t  Leader-News 
building  last  ^Monday  officials  of  the  New  York 
Central,  Pennsylvania,  W  heeling  &  Lake  Erie  and 
Baltimore  &  Ohio  Railroads  were  informed  by  the 
operators  of  the  eastern  Ohio  field  that  if  the  dif¬ 
ferential  between  the  Ohio  and  West  Virginia 
fields  is  not  increased  by  next  Monday,  the  matter 
will  he  taken  to  the  state  public  utilities  commis¬ 
sion  at  once  for  adjustment.  Eor  some  months 
negotiations  have  been  in  jirogress  between  the 
operators  and  the  railroad  officials  on  this  point, 
hut  One  delay  after  another  has  taken  [iTace  and 
nothing  has  ever  come  of  them.  Now  the  oper¬ 
ators  have  come  to  a  point  where  they  feel  that 
something  must  be  done. 

The  rate  on  all-rail  coal  between  the  eastern 
Ohio  field  and  Cleveland  is  ninety  cents,  while  the 
rate  from  the  h'airmont  field  to  Cleveland  is  $1.15, 
a  difference  which  the  Ohio  operators  claim  is  not 
in  proportion  to  the  difference  in  distance.  On  a 
mileage  basis  they  assert  that  the  eastern  Ohio 
rate  should  be  around  seventy  cents. 

Eastern  Ohio  operators  feel  that  the  roads 
should  make  a  reduction  to  a  basis  equivalent  to 
that  allowed  the  Hocking  Valley  operators  on  coal 
shipped  to  Toledo.  They  secured  a  reduction  of 
fifteen  cents  from  the  old  rate  of  $1  through  the 
public  utilities  commission,  and  the  new  rate  has 
iieen  in  force  for  some  time,  having  been  sus¬ 
tained  by  a  decision  of  the  supreme  court. 

The  lower  cost  of  mining  and  other  favorable 


conditions  in  the  Fairmont  field  very  much  more 
than  offsets  the  difference  of  twenty-five  cents  fin 
the  freight  rate,  it  is  claimed,  and  makes  it  irhpos- 
sihle  to  market  the  eastern  Ohio  coal  at  a  price 
that  will  jiay  the  high  mining  rate  and  yield  cVen 
a  small  profit. 

Since  the  roads  reaching  this  market  receive  the 
coal  from  roads  operating  through  Wek  Vir¬ 
ginia,  representatives  of  the  latter  attended  the 
conference.  They  objected  to  either  an  increase 
in  the  rate  from  Fairmont  or  a  reduction  in  the 
rate  from  the  Ohio  field,  especially  to  the  latter,  if 
they  are  asked  to  maintain  the  West  Virginia  rate. 

The  ojierators  have  employed  Judge  O.  P.  Goth- 
lin,  formerly  a  member  of  the  public  utilities  com¬ 
mission,  to  secure  data  and  prepare  a  petition  to 
he  submitted  to  the  commission.  This  will  he 
ready  and  in  case  the  railroads  do  not  make  a 
satisfactory  adjustment  of  the  matter,  it  is  alto¬ 
gether  probable  that  it  will  he  presented  next 
Alonday.  The  railroad  representatives  asked  for 
more  time,  because  of  a  meeting  of  their  execu¬ 
tive  officials  scheduled  to  take  place  in  New  York 
on  Tuesday  of  this  week. 

It  is  said  the  operators  were  given  to  under¬ 
stand  that  a  reduction  would  be  made  in  their 
rates  at  the  time  the  Hocking  Valley  case  was 
decided,  hut  nothing  was  ever  done  about  it, 
although  the  field  has  suffered  from  competition 
with  W^est  Virginia  because  of  the  favorable  con¬ 
ditions  under  which  the  operators  in  that  state  are 
doing  business. 


The  Latest  Chapter  in  Price-Fixing  Litigation. 


Anotlier  most  interesting  chapter  has  been 
added  to  the  already  copious  legal  literature 
on  ])rice-fixing,  particularly  as  to  the  right  of 
the  manufacturer  to  tell  the  trade  what  they 
shall  sell  his  product  for.  It  comes  through 
the  case  of  the  American  Graphophone  Com¬ 
pany  \s.  the  Boston  Store  of  Chicago,  a  cut- 
price  department  store,  which  has  just  been 
decided.  One  of  the  counsel  in  the  case  has 
been  kind  enough  to  send  me  a  copy  of  the  de¬ 
cision,  and  I  feel  like  discussing  it  briefly,  for 
I  want  the  readers  of  these  articles  to  he  up 
to  date  on  this  most  important  question. 

The  point  of  the  case  was  whether  a  manu¬ 
facturer,  selling  a  patented  article  to  a  retailer 
direct,  could  legally  contract  with  that  re¬ 
tailer,  before  he  sold  him,  to  resell  only  at  a 
fixed  price,  and,  if  the  retailer  broke  the  agree¬ 
ment,  could  the  manufacturer  enforce  it  by 
getting  an  injunction  (the  only  really  effective 
way)  or  must  he  sue  for  damages,  or  was  the 
contract  wholly  unenforceable  liecause  in  re¬ 
straint  of  competition? 

The  American  Graphophone  Company  makes 
patented  talking  machines,  or  controls  the 
patents  on  them,  1  don’t  know  which,  and  it 
matters  not  which.  This  company  sold  its 
graphophones  to  the  Boston  Store,  a  typical 
cut-price  department  store,  hut  before  it  did 
so  it  made  the  Boston  Store  agree  to  resell 
only  at  certain  prices  which  the  American 
Company  had  fixed.  The  Boston  Store  signed 
the  written  agreement,  got  the  goods,  and  then 
cut  the  life  out  of  them.  Application  for  in¬ 
junction  was  promptly  filed  by  the  American 
Graphophone  Company,  on  the  legal  theory 
that  the  American  Company  has  a  legal  pat¬ 
ented  monopoly  of  its  talking  machines,  and 
therefore  had  a  right  to  sell  dealers  on  its  own 
terms.  Where  a  dealer  agreed  to  those  terms 
and  got  the  goods  on  the  strength  of  its 
agreement,  it  could  not  fairly  he  allowed  to 
break  its  agreement  and  disorganize  the  manu¬ 
facturer’s  business. 

'I'hc  Boston  Store  defended  on  the  ground 
laid  down  (on  different  facts)  in  some  of  the 
United  States  Supreme  Court  decisions,  viz., 
that  the  American  Graphophone  Company 
wdien  it  sold  its  machines,  parted  with  title  to 
them,  and  with  title  went  all  power  to  control 
the  ])rice.  Therefore  the  price-fixing  agree¬ 
ment  was  illegal,  and  the  Boston  Store  could 
make  such  an  agreement,  get  merchandise  on 
the  strength  of  having  made  it,  and  then  do 
as  it  liked. 

If  this  doctrine  should  he  upheld,  the  manu¬ 
facturer  would  he  at  the  absolute  mercy  of 
every  cutter.  The  only  thing  he  could  do 
would  he  to  refuse  to  sell  at  all. 

But  the  United  States  Court  for  the  North¬ 
ern  Illinois  District  did  not  uphold  this  doc¬ 


trine.  In  fact  it  scotched  it  forever  unless  it 
is  reversed  on  appeal.  The  court  in  this  case 
decided  that  a  manufacturer  owning  a  patented 
(and  by  the  same  token  a  trade-marked  or  a 
copyrighted)  article,  can  tie  up  the  jobber  or 
the  retailer  to  whom  he  sells,  to  resell  it  at  a 
fixed  price,  and  if  the  dealer  violates  the  agree¬ 
ment,  he  can  be  stopped  by  injunction.  The 
price-fixing  agreement,  however,  cannot  he 
made  by  any  notice,  pasted  on  the  package. 
It  must  he  done  by  regular  contract,  signed 
and  agreed  to  by  both  parties. 

The  court’s  final  conclusion,  which  really 
contains  the  gist  of  the  decision,  is: 

“That  an  agent  or  vendee  of  a  patentee  (that 
is,  any  one  who  buys  patented  merchandise 
from  the  owner  of  the  patent),  may,  by  direct 
covenant  or  agreement,  he  hound  to  the  ob¬ 
servance  of  price  restriction,  imposed  as  a 
condition  on  which  exclusive  right  of  sale  by 
the  patentee  i.s  being  exercised.’’ 

At  first  glance  this  seems  in  conflict  with 
certain  well  known  decisions  of  the  United 
States  Supreme  Court,  but  tne  Illinois  United 
States  Court  shows  clearly  that  it  is  not.  The 
United  States  Supreme  Court  decided  in  sev¬ 
eral  recent  cases,  the  most  notable  of  which 
was  Bauer  vs.  O’Donnell  (the  Sanatogen  case), 
that  owning  a  patent  or  trade-mark  or  copy¬ 
right  did  not  alone  give  the  right  to  fix  the 
resale  price,  and  it  said  further  that  the  resale 
price  could  not  be  controlled  merely  by  the 
printing  of  a  notice  on  the  package.  The 
notice  scheme  was  a  favorite  with  manufac¬ 
turers  until  the  Supreme  Court  said  it  was 
worthless.  There  was  nothing  in  any  of  the 
decisions  referred  to  which  even  impliedly 
denied  a  manufacturer’s  right  to  tie  up  a  buyer 
to  resale  at  a  certain  figure,  proinded  it  was 
done  properly.  The  court  in  the  graphophone 
case  says  it  is  done  properly  and  legally  when 
the  seller  and  the  buyer  make  a  formal  con¬ 
tract  to  that  effect,  and  it  further  says  that 
such  a  contract  is  legal  and  will  he  enforced. 

The  effect  of  this  decision  on  the  sale  of  ar¬ 
ticles  which  are  not  patented,  though  protected 
by  trade-marking  the  brand  or  by  copyright¬ 
ing,  is  exceedingly  interesting.  The  court’s 
theory  is  that  the  owner  of  a  patented  article 
has  been  given  a  monopoly,  and  he  can  sell  all 
or  a  part  of  it.  If  he  sells  a  restricted  right 
of  sale  under  it,  the  restriction  may  be  an 
agreement  to  resell  at  a  certain  price. 

Now  this,  it  seems  to  me,  lets  in  any  article 
to  which  the  seller  has  a  legal  monopoly 
whether  a  patented  monopoly  or  not.  It  lets 
in  Kellogg’s  Toasted  Corn  Flakes,  because 
the  manufacturer  has  an  absolute  monopoly  in 
Kellogg’s  Toasted  Corn  Flakes.  It  lets  in 
any  trade-marked  or  proprietary  article,  be¬ 
cause  the  seller  of  it  has  an  absolute  monopoly 


in  it,  just  as  the  New  York  Court  rec'ently  said 
the  Cream  of  Wheat  Company  had  in  Crearh 
of  Wheat — not  in  the  article  so  much  as  in  the 
brand.  Therefore,  if  the  seller  of  a  patented 
article  can  legally  bind  his  buyer  to  resell  at 
a  fixed  price,  as  this  United  States  Court  sayS 
he  can,  I  am  unable  to  escape  the  conclusion 
that  any  seller  who,  for  any  reason,  has  -a 
proper  monopoly  in  his  product,  can  do  like¬ 
wise.  ■  ' 

(Copyright.  October,  igij.'by  Elton  J.  Buckley.) 


New  York  State  Association. 


'I'hc  annual  meeting  of  the  New  York  State 
&  Western  Pennsylvania  Coal  Merchants’  As¬ 
sociation  will  he  held  at  Syracuse.  N.  Y.,  on 
October  2,‘’d  and  IJ.'id.  'I'he  meetings  will  he 
held  in  the  hall  room  of  the  hotel  Onondaga. 
It  was  originally  announced  that  they  would 
he  held  at  the  Onondaga  County  Court  House. 

A  very  interesting  preliminary  notice  of  the 
meccting  has  been  mailed  to  coal  dealers 
throughout  the  state,  and  the  program  will  he 
announced  on  the  10th.  In  the  circular  an¬ 
nouncing  the  meeting  the  coal  dealer  is  asked 
eight  questions  as  follows: 

No.  1. — Will  YOU  he  interested?  If  an 
arrangement  can  be  made  to  absorb  the 
product  of  the  independent  operators  so  that 
both  operator  and  dealer  will  be  treated  with 
fairness,  thus  eliminating  much  of  the  present 
disturbing  element  in  the  trade,  would  YOU 
he  interested? 

No.  2. — Will  YOU  be  interested  if  this  or¬ 
ganization  can  furnish  YOU  a  sound  protec¬ 
tive  insurance  giving  you  every  advantage 
offered  by  any  compensation  insurance,  and 
at  half  the  cost  of  present  state  or  ol(i  line 
rates,  would  you  be  interested? 

No.  3. — Will  YOU  be  interested  if  a  sys¬ 
tem  for  accurately  determining  coal  costs — 
costs  to  sell,  costs  of  maintenance,  costs  of 
doing  business — can  he  worked  out,  giving 
each  dealer  an  exact  basis  for  figuring  your 
selling  price,  would  YOU  be  interested? 

No.  4. — Will  YOU  be  interested  if  the  col¬ 
lection  of  slow  accounts  can  be  handled  by 
the  organization  at  the  exact  cost  of  collec¬ 
tion,  would  YOU  he  interested? 

No.  ,5. — Will  YOU  be  interested  if  a  re¬ 
search  bureau  can  he  established,  keeping  you 
in  touch  with  legislation  affecting  dealers,  and 
having  power  to  combat  hills  which  are  un¬ 
just,  a  bureau  which  at  all  times  stands  ready 
to  protect  dealers’  interests  from  UNFAIR 
treatment,  would  YOU  he  interested? 

No.  6. — If  collective  buying  of  yard  or  office 
equipment  can  be  made  practical,  would  YOU 
be  interested? 

No.  7. — If  the  organization  can  have  a  dip¬ 
lomatic  traveling  secretary  or  commissioner 
who  will  periodically  visit  different  localities 
in  the  interest  of  harmony,  would  YOU  be 
interested? 

The  circular  continues:  “We  can  as  an  or¬ 
ganization.”  (That’s  the  slogan.)  If  we  can 
have  a  strong  body  working  as  a  unit  for  the 
betterment  of  conditions  pertaining  to  retail 
coal  selling,  we  can  as  an  organization  acconi- 
]dish  all  of  these  and  other  desired  things.” 

The  first  meeting  will  he  held  on  the  after¬ 
noon  of  the  22d.  A  session  will  be  held  that 
evening  and  one  the  next  morning.  About 
one  o’clock  on  the  23d  a  dinner  will  he  served 
on  the  roof  garden  of  the  Onondaga,  which 
is  enclosed  and  steam  heated,  and  at  this 
dinner  there  will  probably  be  a  vaudeville  en¬ 
tertainment.  It  is  aimed  to  conclude  the  ses¬ 
sions  about  five  p.  m.  on  the  23d,  so  those 
attending  the  meeting  can  return  to  their 
homes  that  evening. 

Hon.  M.  N.  Clement,  former  excise  coip- 
missioner  of  the  state  of  New  York  and  noyv 
general  manager  of  the  Merchants’  Mutual 

Insurance  Company,  has,  in  addition  to  his 
many  other  activities,  agreed  to  act  as  com¬ 
missioner  for  the  association.  The  association 
has  also  employed  Mr.  James  T.  Ringueberg 
as  field  secretary.  Mr.  Ringueberg  will  com¬ 
mence  his  duties  in  that  position  on  October 
15th.  It  is  intended  that  he  shall  visit  as  soon 
as  possible  every  city  or  hamlet  in  the  state 

where  anthracite  coal  is  sold,  get  in  touch 

with  the  dealers  and  to  aid  them  in  every 

way  possible.  These  appointments  will  re¬ 
lieve  the  elected  officers  of  the  association 
of  duties  which  they  have  not  been  properly 
able  to  perform  because  of  their  business  in¬ 
terests. 


No.  15] 


Smithing  Business  Getting  Away. 

The  writer  recently  ran  across  an  adver¬ 
tisement  of  a  flour  and  feed  dealer  in  a  Ken¬ 
tucky  town,  who  also  announced  that  he  had 
a  stock  of  smithing  coal.  The  town  is  big 
enough  to  support  a  coal-yard,  and  probably 
has  one;  and  the  moral,  if  there  is  any,  is  that 
some  coal  dealers  in  that  territory  have  gone 
to  sleep  on  the  smithing  coal  deal  and  have 
allowed  a  chap  in  an  entirely  different  line  to 
take  hold  of  it  and  create  a  business  in  that 
line. 

Of  course,  there  is  nothing  to  prevent  any¬ 
body  who  wants  to  from  going  into  the  coal 
business,  but  the  natural  place  to  look  for  coal 
of  any  kind,  from  the  standpoint  of  the  buyer, 
is  in  a  coal-yard.  When  the  time  comes  that 
a  consumer  of  smithing  coal  must  go  to  a  feed 
store  for  his  supply,  it  is  evident,  in  the  words 
of  our  friend  Hamlet,  that  something  is  rot¬ 
ten  in  Denmark.  The  subject  of  smithing 
coal  and  its  possibilities  has  Iteen  discussed  in 
this  department  heretofore,  and  it  might  be 
worth  while  for  dealers  who  doubt  the  advis¬ 
ability  of  pushing  and  featuring  this  important 
specialty  to  refer  to  those  particular  para¬ 
graphs,  which  may  throw  some  light  on  the 
proposition. 


Ownership  of  ’Phone  Numbers. 

Most  telephone  companies  publish  in  their 
directories  something  to  the  effect  that  the 
numbers  are  the  property  of  the  companies, 
and  that  the  subscriber  should  not  advertise 
them,  as  they  are  subject  to  change  without 
notice.  This  was  probably  inserted,  however, 
for  the  purpose  of  establishing  a  good  “alibi” 
in  case  a  change  was  made  and  the  user  of  the 
phone  attempted  to  claim  damages  for  it.  In 
practice,  the  average  telephone  company  is 
anxious  to  take  as  good  care  of  its  subscribers 
as  possible,  and  taking  care  of  business  phone 
users  include  protecting  them  in  the  use  and 
enjoyment  of  a  particular  number. 

The  coal  dealer  who  gets  most  of  his  retail 
business  over  the  telephone  is  vitally  inter¬ 
ested  in  having  this  number  given  as  much 
publicity  as  possible,  and  there  is  no  reason 
why  he  should  be  deterred  from  printing  it 
in  all  his  advertisements,  on  his  billheads,  on 
his  wagons,  etc.  When  a  consumer  can  think 
of  a  certain  telephone  number  without  effort 
it  is  almost  a  cinch  that  that  is  the  number 
which  will  be  called  when  he  is  in  the  mar¬ 
ket  for  the  product  sold  by  the  concern  in 
that  line.  Of  course,  familiarity  with  phone 
numbers  is  acquired  chiefly  by  practice  in  call¬ 
ing  them,  but  there  is  nothing  like  featuring 
them  in  advertising  also. 

Incidentally,  it  would  be  a  good  idea  to  em¬ 
phasize  the  fact  that  the  coal  dealer  has  “plenty 
of  phones,”  so  that  the  consumer  will  realize 
that  the  coal  office  can  be  reached  without 
much  danger  of  delay. 

The  Combination  That  Counts. 

Reference  has  been  made  frequently  by 
students  of  the  coal  business  to  the  tact  that 
the  use  of  mechanical  equipment  for  handling 
coal  in  the  yard  is  a  good  thing.  Coal  deal¬ 
ers  have  also  heard  many  times  that  it  is 
profitable  to  use  motor  trucks.  But  the  point 
has  not  always  been  properly  emphasized  that 
it  is  the  combination  of  these  two  general 
classes  of  equipment  that  produces  really  the 
most  effective  results  for  the  coalman. 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


The  yard  which  has  elevators  or  loading 
hoppers,  by  means  of  which  the  long  delay 
which  is  ordinarily  suffered  in  filling  the 
wagons  is  eliminated  almost  entirely,  has 
taken  one  step  in  the  right  direction;  but  if  it 
is  still  using  horse  or  mule-drawn  wagons,  it 
is  really  discounting  the  capacity  of  the 
business.  The  extent  to  which  business  can 
be  done  with  the  number  of  teams  in  use  has 
been  increased  b}"  the  use  of  the  loading  equip¬ 
ment,  but  it  is  still  far  from  the  maximum. 

Xow,  on  the  other  hand,  a  dealer  who  must 
load  his  wagons  by  hand  can  hardly  afford  to 
substitute  motor  trucks  for  them,  for  the  time 
required  to  fill  a  truck  in  that  fashion  is  almost 
prohibitive.  The  average  truck  is  an  expensive 
piece  of  machinery,  and  the  only  way  to  get 
returns  on  the  investment  is  to  keep  that 
machinery  in  motion.  While  the  truck  is  in 
the  yard  or  at  the  point  of  delivery,  it  is  doing 
nothing  more  than  could  be  done  with  a 
wagon:  it  is  in  transit  that  it  must  make  good, 
bv  means  of  reducing  the  time  of  delivery. 
Therefore  the  dealer  who  has  no  advanced 
means  of  loading  his  delivery  equipment  is 
not  in  an  advantageous  position  to  use  trucks. 
He  might  be  able  to  put  them  in  and  make  a 
better  showing  that  if  he  continued  to  use 
animal  power,  but  it  is  certain  that  the  results 
would  be  far  from  brilliant,  compared  with  the 
possibilities. 

The  greatest  opportunity  lies  in  combining 
these  two  classes  of  equipment.  Mechanical 
loading  and  unloading  facilities  in  the  yard 
reduce  the  time  of  handling  the  coal  there, 
while  the  truck  reduces  the  time  of  getting  it 
into  the  hands  of  the  consumer.  Working  to¬ 
gether  they  supplement  each  other.  Alone, 
they  are  unable  to  show  to  the  best  advantage. 

The  dealer  who  has  one  without  the  other 
should  consider  the  merits  of  bringing  these 
two  features  into  close  proximity,  for  his 
profits  through  the  operation  of  each  kind  of 
equipment  will  be  greatly  increased  by  the 
use  of  the  other  kind. 


The  Trade  Representatives. 

When  you  send  out  a  salesman  or  a  col¬ 
lector  or  anybody  else  employed  by  your  con¬ 
cern,  do  you  fully  realize  that  he  is  your  ac¬ 
credited  representative,  your  ambassador  ex¬ 
traordinary  to  the  court  of  Business?  Do  you 
appreciate  the  importance  which  attaches  to 
his  job,  simply  because  of  that  one  funda¬ 
mental  fact,  that  he  is  speaking  for  you  to 
your  customers? 

Sometimes  one  sees  salesmen  and  other  coal 
company  employes  out  on  the  street  talking 
to  customers,  and  the  impression  that  they 
arc  making  is  ’way  below  par.  Either  they 
lack  personality,  or  their  general  appearance 
is  unprepossessing.  In  that  event,  the  card 
which  they  carry  is  of  no  value  in  raising  them 
in  the  estimation  of  the  customer;  rather,  it  is 
the  other  way — the  company  is  lowered  in  his 
estimation. 

The  dealer  who  is  looking  for  “cheap  help” 
in  the  form  of  people  to  do  the  routine  work 
involved  in  running  the  business  is  going  to 
get  cheap  help.  It  will  be  cheap  in  every  sense 
of  the  word.  And  the  results  will  be  just 
about  what  might  have  been  expected. 

In  this  connection  readers  of  'ITie  Black 
Diamond  may  be  interested  in  the  remarks  of 
a  dealer  in  women’s  garments  in  a  large  city 
of  the  middle  west.  This  dealer,  who  has 


285 


made  a  great  success  after  having  been  in 
business  for  only  a  few  years,  said  that  he 
had  carried  along  the  best  members  of  his 
selling  organization,  making  few  changes  in 
the  staff,  but  training  each  employe  as  to  just 
how  to  do  the  work  he  wanted  done. 

“I  have  a  force  of  selling  stars,”  he  said. 
"There  isn’t  a  cheap  girl  in  the  lot.  My  pay¬ 
roll  is  bigger  than  that  of  any  other  store  in 
town,  number  of  salespeople  considered — but 
so  are  my  sales.  Cheap  help  on  the  floor  is 
the  biggest  handicap  any  merchant  can  have.” 

Of  course,  that’s  the  women’s  garment  business, 
and  the  coal  business  is — you  know,  different ! 

How  much  different? 


Keeping  Coal  Under  Sheds. 

Some  retailers  have  sheds  under  which  their 
coal  is  stored,  as  a  protection  from  the 
W'eather.  The  cost  of  the  sheds  varies  with 
their  size,  of  course,  but  the  expense  of  erecting 
coverage  for  a  rather  large  tonnage  of  coal  prob¬ 
ably  would  not  be  over  $4,000  or  $.5,000,  on  which 
interest  would  be  $20  or  $25  a  month.  In  other 
words,  the  cost  would  not  be  prohibitive,  if  the 
results  were  worth  while.  The  biggest  advantage 
in  having  sheds  is  that  the  coal  may  be  handled 
conveniently  in  wet  weather.  Of  cours?.  when 
the  dealer’s  drivers  are  handling  it,  it  may  not 
make  much  difference  whether  they  like  to 
have  it  wet  or  not.  But  how  about  the  dealer’s 
customer?  If  the  coal  gets  into  his  bins  with 
the  dust  sticking  to  the  lumps  in  the  form  of 
mud,  it  is  not  going  to  look  as  good  to  him 
as  if  it  were  clean  and  bright,  and  it  is  not 
going  to  be  as  clean  to  handle. 

Another  thing,  in  most  cities  there  is  a  fair 
call  for  coal  from  farmers  and  others  who  live 
in  the  country,  and  who  have  their  own  teams. 
Farmers  can  often  come  to  town  on  wet  days, 
when  they  would  have  work  to  do  at  home  if 
it  were  clear  and  dry.  With  a  shed,  a  dealer 
can  furnish  comfortable  facilities  for  loading 
the  farmers’  wagons,  and  the  latter  can  load 
up  without  getting  wet,  and  without  getting 
unreasonably  dirty  from  handling  wet  coal. 
And  this  advantage  would  probably  be  suf¬ 
ficient  to  determine  which  of  two  dealers 
similarly  situated  would  get  the  business. 
Taken  altogether,  it  looks  as  if  there  are  a 
number  of  advantages  to  be  found  in  keeping 
coal  covered,  and  if  sheds  are  the  best  way 
to  maange  this,  the  expense  should  not  seem 
beyond  reason. 


Are  the  Drivers  Hopeless? 

In  a  good  many  towns,  especially  in  the 
Ohio  valley  and  cities  further  south,  coal  de¬ 
livery  wagons  are  driven  almost  e.xclusively 
by  negroes.  This  also  applies  to  the  handling 
of  trucks,  where  they  are  used.  In  most  cases 
the  negroes  are  absolutely  ignorant,  many  of 
them  being  unable  to  read  or  write,  and  they 
are  compelled  to  rely  on  chance  passersby  for 
help  in  interpreting  the  delivery  tickets  which 
they  receive  from  the  office.  These  men,  nat¬ 
urally,  do  not  know  much  about  the  broad  field 
of  salesmanship,  and  their  idea  of  handling 
their  work  is  to  get  the  coal  into  the  bin  and 
get  back  to  the  yard  just  as  fast  as  possible, 
in  order  to  get  another  load,  as  they  are 
usually  paid  so  much  a  ton.  Of  course,  it  is 
desirable  that  the  drivers  cut  down  the  time 
involved  in  making  a  delivery,  but  there  are  other 
things — such  as  the  way  the  coal  is  put  in — that 
are  important. 

Alany  dealers  regard  their  drivers  as  hope¬ 
less,  as  far  as  improving  their  methods  are 
concerned.  But  perhaps  they  have  never  been 
appealed  to  along  the  right  lines.  One  re¬ 
tailer  is  thinking  of  trying  to  develop  “com¬ 
pany  spirit”  and  espirit  de  corps  among  his 
dusky  helpers  by  furnishing  them  with  uni¬ 
forms  consisting  of  khaki  one-piece  overalls 
and  caps  of  the  same  material.  The  uniforms 
would  be  emblazoned  across  the  back  with  the 
name  of  the  company  and  its  leading  brand  of 
coal,  and  the  caps  would  also  help  to  advertise 
the  business.  Such  a  plan  is  used  successfully, 
even  with  negroes,  in  other  lines,  and  might 
have  possibilities  in  the  coal  trade.  The  driver 
would  at  least  get  the  suggestion  that  he  had 
to  live  up  to  his  uniform,  and  to  make  it  a 
badge  of  honor  by  giving  every  customer  the 
best  possible  treatment. 

.4nd  it  is  evident  that  the  dealer  who  made 
a  better  organization  out  of  his  drivers  would 
have  an  asset  instead  of  a  liability,  which  his 
men  often  are  under  present  conditions. 


286 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[October  9 


Choosing  the  Christmas  Remembrancer. 


Now  with  the  coming  of  the  holiday  season  and 
the  usual  distribution  of  Christmas  compliments 
by  merchants,  those  retail  dealers  who  have  not 
yet  selected  their  remembrance  are  searching  for 
some  novelty  to  distribute  among  their  regular 
and  prospective  customers.  The  man  who  con¬ 
ducts  this  department  wants  to  say  a  vvord  or  two 
to  the  retailers  about  the  proper  selection  of  these 
novelties. 

The  Christmas  compliment  is  an  advertisement 
pure  and  simple,  and  the  coal  dealer  must  keep 
this  fact  before  him  in  making  his  choice.  He 
must  secure  some  novelty  that  will  keep  his  name 
and  his  coal  before  the  regular  and  prospective 
customer  for  a  long  time  to  come.  He  must 
choose  some  novelty  that  will  be  valued  by  the 
coal  buyer ;  something  he  will  keep  and  not  throw 
away  or  give  to  some  one  of  his  friends. 

Suppose  we — you  and  I — look  over  the  different 
novelties  on  the  market,  and  see  which  of  the 
types  would  be  the  more  advantageous  and  effect¬ 
ive  one  for  the  dealer  to  use.  , 

The  Calendar. 


tributing  a  good  one  would  find  ninety-live  per 
cent  of  those  distributed  hanging  over  the  kitchen 
range. 

What  is  more  appropriate  than  an  article  to 
contain  something  that  is  used  every  time  a  fire 
is  made  with  your  coal?  How  many  times  a  day 
does  the  housewife  go  to  her  match  safe?  How 
many  times  during  the  evening  does  the  husband 
light  his  pipe  or  cigar?  Just  enough  times  to 
make  your  name  on  that  match  safe  a  most  pro¬ 
ductive  advertisement  and  effective  reminder  of 
your  name. 

I  like  the  match  safe  idea. 

The  Whisk  Broom. 

How  many  times  does  the  housewife  or  hus¬ 
band  wish  he  had  a  whisk  broom  after  seeing  to 
the  fire  or  taking  the  ashes  out?  Of  course,  the 
fact  that  a  whisk  broom  is  necessary  in  tending 
to  a  fire  where  your  coal  is  being  burned  does  not 
create  a  favorable  impression,  but  I  believe  that 
the  average  man  or  woman  would  be  of  a  most 
critical  turn  of  mind  to  consider  any  such  a  con¬ 


nection.  Yes,  I  think  the  whisk  broom  an  excel¬ 
lent  idea. 

The  Daily  Reminder. 

There  are  several  daily  reminders  on  the  mar¬ 
ket  which  are  designed  to  help  the  housewife  to 
remember  those  articles  of  which  she  may  be  in 
need.  Some  of  these  reminders  consist  of  a  long 
list  of  household  needs,  such  as  groceries,  fruits, 
vegetables,  etc.,  which  can  be  checked  in  some  way 
when  needed.  Coal  could  be  advantageously  added 
to  this  list.  Then  there  is  another  form  which  is 
several  sheets  of  memo  paper,  or  an  ordinary 
piece  of  slate,  upon  which  the  housewife  writes 
her  daily  needs.  Coal  could  also  be  brought  to 
her  mind  every  time  she  went  to  the  reminder. 

What  does  the  husband  usually  do  when  he 
finds  his  supply  of  coal  almost  gone?  He  almost 
invariably  tells  his  wife  to  order  some  more  coal. 
Though  he  may  attend  to  the  fires,  she  does  the 
actual  buying.  What  does  the  housewife  do  when 
she  sees  that  more  coal  must  be  bought?  She 
makes  a  mental  note  of  the  item  and  informs  her 
husband  of  the  fact  upon  his  return  home. 

Of  all  the  forms  of  Christmas  novelties  on  the 
market,  I  much  prefer  the  daily  reminder  for  the 
retail  coal  dealer.  The  Ad  Critic. 


The  calendar  being  so  appropriate  and  so  op¬ 
portune  has  become  one  of  the  most  comrnon 
forms  of  Christmas  compliments,  and  just  be¬ 
cause  it  is  so  common  I  prefer  something  differ¬ 
ent.  Wouldn’t  you?  ,  r  .  c 

Unless  the  calendar  is  sent  out  at  the  first  ot 
the  year  it  will  not  be  kept.  Consequently,  all 
those  merchants  giving  away  calendars  distribiffe 
them  during  the  holidays,  with  the  result  that  the 
customer  usually  receives  from  five  to  ten  of 
them,  hanging  up  one  or  two  of  the  most  attract¬ 
ive  ones  and  throwing  the  rest  away.  t 

Then  why  not  an  attractive  calendar?  Just 
this:  You  are  a  coal  dealer  and  your  object  in 
giving  away  any  novelty  is  to  keep  your  name  be¬ 
fore  the  coal  buyer.  Who  does  the  most  buying 
in  your  community,  the  housewife  or  the  hus¬ 
band?  If  the  housewife  does,  then  the  pretty 
calendar  may  remind  her  to  buy  coal  from 
whenever  in  need  of  it.  But,  we  doubt  very  much 
whether  she  will  be  looking  at  your  calendar 
when  phoning  or  mailing  in  her  order.  If  the 
husband  does  the  buying,  then  the  calendar  hang¬ 
ing  in  his  office,  workshop  or  barn  may  bring 
your  name  to  his  mind  when  ordering  coal,  but 
investigation  will  prove  to  you  that  oiit  of  the 
two  or  three  calendars  hanging  upon  his  walls 
he  does  not  know  the  name  of  the  firm  or  any¬ 
one  of  them  without  referring  to  them. 

No,  I  do  not  favor  the  calendar  for  the  retail 
coal  dealer. 

The  Memorandum  Book. 

The  memorandum  book,  because  it  is  useful  and 
carried  in  the  pocket  of  the  recipient,  is  another 
common  form  of  a  Christmas  compliment,  and 
like  the  calendar,  because  of  its  commonness,  we 
would  prefer  to  get  away  from  the  customary 

Your  experience  in  the  retail  coal  business  has 
taught  you  that  the  woman  does  a  large  perce^nt- 
age  of  the  coal  buying,  but  what  need  would  a 
woman  have  for  a  memorandum  book?  Thus  in 
giving  away  memorandum  books  you  may  keep 
your  name  before  the  men,  but  you  are  overlook- 
ing  probably  your  biggest  coal  buyer  the  house¬ 


wife.  .  ,  .  ui 

No,  the  memorandum  book  does  not  meet  witli 

my  approval. 

The  Pocket  Book. 


The  jiocket  book,  because  of  the  assumption 
that  every  time  the  owner  buys  anything  he  opens 
his  purse,  has  become  another  of  the  usual  forms 
of  Christmas  compliments.  But  like  the  calen¬ 
dar  and  memorandum  book  it  is  too  common,  and 
like  the  memorandum  book  it  does  not  appeal  to 
the  housewife. 

Pencils. 


I  believe  pencils  impossible  as  Christmas  com¬ 
pliments  because  of  their  short  life,  and  because 
of  the  tendency  to  create  a  wrong  impression 
because  of  their  cheapness. 

There  are  many  other  novelties  on  the  market 
such  as  paper  weights,  pocket  mirrors,  letter  open¬ 
ers,  small  combs,  etc.,  which  would  not  do  at  all 
because  they  are  not  valued  by  the  type  of  man 
or  woman  who  does  the  coal  buying. 

We  have  spent  quite  a  little  time  in  discussing 
those  novelties  which  do  not  seem  satisfactory 
ones  for  the  retail  dealer,  now  let  us  look  at 
those  which  might  be  more  effectively  used. 

The  Kitchen  Match  Safe. 

Unless  kitchen  match  safes  have  already  been 
distributed  in  your  community  by  some  merchant, 
we  would  be  willing  to  wager  that  the  dealer  dis¬ 


A  New  Rescreener  at  Rend  City,  Ill. 


Coal  operators  getting  a  large  percentage  of 
small  coal  under  present  mining  methods  have 
found  it  necessary  to  install  rescreening  plants 
which  will  enable  them  to  secure  better  prices  for 
their  fine  coal.  One  of  the  most  modern  types  of 
rescreening  plants  was  found  recently  by  the 
writer  at  the  No.  2  Mine  of  W.  P.  Rend  Coal  & 
Coke  Company,  located  at  Rend  City,  Ill. 

The  plant  is  designed  for  making  four  sizes  of 
coal  as  follows:  No.  1  nut,  or  3x2  inches;  No.  2 
nut,  or  2xll4  inches;  No.  3  nut,  or  inches; 

No.  4  and  No.  5  nut,  or  >>ich  and  under. 

The  coal  is  taken  from  the  main  screens  and 
carried  by  gravity  into  the  boot  of  a  large  con¬ 
tinuous  discharge  elevator  located  immediately 
over  the  nut  track.  This  elevator  is  fully  enclosed 
and  vertical,  elevates  the  coal  into  a  bifurcated 
chute,  and  delivers  it  as  may  be  desired  to  either 
or  both  of  the  Targe  rotary  screens. 

The  elevator  buckets  are  24x18x42  inches.  The 
screens  are  six  feet  in  diameter,  and  twenty-four 
feet  long,  and  are  jacketed  for  about  three-fourths 
of  their  length. 

The  screens  are  located  in  the  head  house  of 
the  rescreener  and  are  cut  off  by  a  corrugated 
iron  partition  from  the  picking  shed,  which  ex¬ 
tends  over  the  bins.  From  the  rotary  screens  the 
No.  1  nut  is  carried  directly  onto  two  rubber  pick¬ 
ing  belts,  which  move  at  a  slow  speed  and  carry 
the  coal  into  the  No.  1  bin.  The  coal  is  thor¬ 
oughly  cleaned  on  these  belts  and  is  lowered, 
with  a  minimum  amount  of  breakage,  into  the  bin 
by  means  of  a  Humphrey  ladder  with  steel  frame 
and  wooden  treads. 

The  No.  2  coal  is  delivered  onto  a  short  belt 


beneath  the  floor  and  taken  directly  to  the  No.  2 
bin.  No.  3  coal  is  delivered  to  No.  3  bin  through 
a  gravity  chute. 

No.  4  and  No.  5  are  stored  immediately  under 
the  screens  and  the  walls  of  the  bin  are  built  up 
so  as  to  afford  considerable  additional  storage 
capacity.  The  plant  is  operated  by  independent 
motors  of  the  enclosed  ventilated  type.  One  motor 
operates  the  elevator  and  another  motor  the 
screens,  picking  tables  and  belts.  The  bins  are  of 
the  well  known  circular  type  with  conical  bottoms. 
The  bins  for  the  Nos.  1,  2  and  3  coal  will  hold 
about  150  tons  of  coal,  and  bin  for  No.  4  and 
No.  5  coal  will  hold  about  220  tons. 

The  arrangements  for  loading  the  coal  are 
complete  in  every  respect.  The  coal  is  drawn  out 
of  the  bins  by  means  of  slide  gates  and  in  the 
case  of  No.  1,  No.  2  and  No.  3  the  coal  is  passed 
over  lip  screens  of  appropriate  size,  and  the  under¬ 
size  and  degradation  removed  by  separate  screen 
conveyors  operated  by  1  H.  P.  motors. 

The  degradation  is  carried  by  means  of  a  flight 
conveyor  to  the  elevator  boot,  and  this  conveyor  is 
also  arranged  so  that  it  can  take  coal  from  any 
of  the  bins,  in  addition  to  the  degradation,  and 
deliver  it  to  the  boiler  house  conveyor,  which 
crosses  it  at  right  angles  next  to  the  elevator 
boot. 

The  floors  in  the  rescreener  are  of  concrete. 
The  entire  structure  is  steel  and  corrugated  iron. 
The  plant,  which  was  designed  and  constructed 
by  the  Allen  &  Garcia  Company,  Chicago,  has 
been  in  operation  only  a  few  months,  but  has 
already  made  an  excellent  reputation  for  its 
product. 


The  new  rescreening  plant  built  for  the  Rend  Coal  &  Coke  Company. 


No.  15] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


287 


Outline  Plan  of  the  Manitowoc  Land  &  Fuel  Company’s  Plant. 


Anthracite  Plant  of  the  Manitowoc  Land  &  F uel  Co. 


The  Manitowoc  Land  &  Fuel  Company  at 
Manitowoc,  Wis.,  has  recently  completed  a  steel 
storage  building  for  anthracite  coal,  with  a  ca¬ 
pacity  of  20,000  tons. 

The  wooden  building  that  was  already  on  the 
property  has  a  capacity  of  10,000  tons.  The 
screen  house  was  enlarged,  and  the  screening 
capacity  increased  last  fall  so  that  now  the  com¬ 
pany  can  rescreen  and  load  out  for  retail  and  car 
business  at  the  rate  of  600  tons  a  day. 

With  30,000  tons  covered  storage,  a  modern 
screening  plant,  and  good  loading  accommodations, 
the  company  is  in  first  class  shape  to  take  care 
of  its  customers  promptly  and  satisfactorily. 

The  coal  is  unloaded  from  the  boats  by  means 
of  three  unloading  rigs  and  is  distributed  in  the 
old  building  in  cars  moved  by  hand.  These  same 
rigs  unload  the  coal  for  the  new  building.  There 
is  a  thirty  inch  belt  conveyor  running  over  the 
car  platform  in  the  old  building  at  a  height  of 
thirty  feet  from  the  ground,  up  an  incline  to  a 
height  of  fifty  feet  in  the  new  building  and  then 
horizontally,  discharging  the  coal  through  a  mov¬ 
able  tripper  at  any  desired  point. 

For  reclaiming  or  picking  up  the  coal  from  the 
new  storage  there  is  a  twenty-four  inch  belt  con¬ 
veyor  running  in  a  wooden  tunnel  lengthwise  of 
the  building,  discharging  into  a  Harrison  conveyor 
in  the'  old  building  and  thence  up  into  the  screen 
house  to  be  resized  by  a  revolving  screen  before 
being  sold. 

The  new  building,  the  trusses  of  which  com¬ 


pletely  span  the  coal  pile  with  no  posts  or  other 
obstructions  in  the  coal,  is  considered  the  best 
type  of  construction  for  an  anthracite  storage 
plant.  The  roof  is  on  a  slope  of  approximately 
twenty-seven  deegrees,  which  is  the  angle  of 
repose  of  the  prepared  sizes  of  anthracite,  so  that 
the  coal  fills  the  building  as  it  flows  from  the 
tripper  with  no  trimming  required. 

After  the  natural  run  off,  for  handling  the  coal 
to  the  belt  conveyor  in  the  tunnel,  a  scraping  out¬ 
fit  is  used.  The  motor  and  scraper  drums  are 
on  a  platform  suspended  from  the  trusses  over 
the  coal  pile  in  the  center  of  the  building. 

In  getting  up  the  preliminary  plans  and  esti¬ 
mates  for  this  new  plant  various  types  of  con¬ 
struction  and  machinery  were  considered.  It  was 
rather  interesting  as  well  as  surprising  to  find 
that  a  flat  shed,  all  wood  construction,  with  an 
elevated  cable  car  system  for  distributing  the 
coal,  would  have  been  very  little  cheaper  than  the 
plan  adopted. 

A  cost  of  $1.50  to  $2  a  ton  for  a  complete 
plant  of  this  kind  is  considered  good,  and  the 
cost  of  this  new  storage  of  the  Manitowoc  Land 
&  Fuel  Company  is  well  within  the  latter  figure, 
with  a  first  class  job  in  every  respect. 

The  contracts  were  let  on  a  competitive  basis. 
The  Lackawanna  Bridge  Company  of  Buffalo,  the 
Link-Belt  Company  of  Chicago,  and  Wales-Camp- 
bell  Company  of  Minneapolis  furnishing  and 
erecting  the  building,  machinery  and  lumber  work 
respectively. 


Death  of  Captain  Menges. 


Cincinnati,  Ohio,  October  7. —  {Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — The  report  of  the  death  of  Captain 
Charles  J.  Menges,  one  of  the  ablest  and  best 
known  river  men  in  this  section  of  the  United 
States,  came  as  a  terrible  shock  to  the  coal  men 
of  the  city  and  especially  to  members  of  the  Cin¬ 
cinnati  Coal  Exchange,  of  which  he  was  a  mem¬ 
ber. 

Captain  Menges  was  harbormaster  for  years  in 
this  city  for  the  Monongahela  River  Consolidated 
Coal  &  Coke  Company,  and  later  general  manager 
of  transportation,  and  was  well  known  and  well 
liked  by  a  large  circle  of  business  men  outside  the 
river  and  coal  and  coke  business.  He  had  a  fine 
home  in  Kentucky,  just  across  the  river  from  Cin¬ 
cinnati.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Chamber  of 
Commerce  and  also  held  affiliation  with  several 
secret  orders.  His  ability  in  the  management  of 
river  boats  and  men  was  such  that  when  the  Euro¬ 
pean  war  broke  out  and  it  became  apparent  that 
there  would  be  a  big  export  demand  and  the  New 
Orleans  properties  of  the  company  would  come 
into  large  use,  the  Pittsburgh  company  decided  to 
send  Captain  Menges  to  New  Orleans  to  straight¬ 
en  out  their  affairs  in  that  port  and  get  everything 
in  shipshape  position  to  take  care  of  any  demand. 
If  Captain  Menges  should  like  the  position,  he 
would  have  a  permanent  place  there,  but  if  he 
should  not,  he  was  to  return  to  his  home  in  Cin¬ 
cinnati. 

When  the  big  storm  came  which  devastated 
Galveston,  Captain  Menges  was  in  Cincinnati.  Big 
shipping  had  been  borne  inward  onto  land  and 
other  vessels,  including  the  government  transport 
McClellan,  went  to  the  bottom.  But  one  man  in 
the  country  was  known  who  could  restore  the 
shipping  and  raise  the  transport.  Captain  Mengea 
was  called  to  the  task  and  the  raising  of  the 
transport  occupied  fifty-eight  hours,  a  record 
achievement,  and  the  vessels  were  brought  from 
inland  and  restored  to  the  waters  in  a  very  short 
space  of  time. 

Captain  Menges  had  just  returned  to  New 
Orleans  where  it  was  fated  that  he  should  en¬ 
counter  another  storm,  more  violent  than  that 
which  had  devastated  Galveston. 

The  pathetic  part  of  the  story,  aside  from 
his  death,  was  that  he  had  accomplished  all  that 
had  been'  asked  of  him  and  that,  for  reasons  of 
his  own,  he  desired  to  return  to  Cincinnati,  and 
his  return  was  planned  for  Sunday,  October  2d, 
four  days  after  his  untimely  taking  away.  For 
several  days  confirmation  of  the  report  of  his 
death  was  anxiously  awaited  by  his  family  and 
friends  in  Cincinnati,  hope  remaining  that  per¬ 
haps  he  had  escaped,  somehow.  Hope  has  been 
abandoned  and  this  week  notice  of  his  death 
was  posted  in  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  and 
the  company  he  served  offered  a  reward  of  $50 
for  the  recovery  of  the  body. 

The  Coal  Exchange  took  action  this  week  on 
the  death,  and  President  E.  J.  Howe  appointed  a 
committee  consisting  of  Thomas  H.  Richardson, 
chairman,  and  Joe  Tuohy  and  Etavid  T.  Evans. 
The  committee  drafted  resolutions  which  will  be 
sent  to  the  family  and  also  placed  on  the  records 
of  the  Exchange.  The  resolutions  follow : 

“It  is  indeed  a  sad  duty  allotted  us  to  spread 
upon  the  minutes  of  the  Cincinnati  Coal  Ex- 
chan.ge,  affiliated  with  the  Cincinnati  Chamber 
of  Commerce,  the  untimely  death  of  one  of  our 
Directors  and  foremost  Members,  Charles  J. 
Menges. 

“Since  the  formation  of  the  Coal  Exchange, 
Charles  J.  Menges  had  been  a  most  active  and 
earnest  worker  in  the  promotion  and  welfare 
of  our  association.  It  was  ever  a  pleasure  to 
meet  with  him  in  the  executive  capacity  he  oc¬ 
cupied  with  us,  as  his  counsel  and  judgment  were 
always  sane  and  sound,  and  we  will  miss  him 
from  our  midst  more  than  we  can  express.  Ever 
genial  of  disposition,  he  surrounded  himself  in 
life  with  friends,  in  whose  hearts,  he  instilled 
affection  and  admiration  that  will  last,  eternally. 

“It  is,  however,  a  source  of  consolation  to  his 
many  friends  to  feel  that  they  enjoyed  the  friend¬ 
ship  of  such  a  man  while  he  lived,  and  when  he 
was  called  it  was  in  the  heroic  discharge  of  his 
duties.  He  never  knew  what  it  was  to  shrink 
from  duty,  no  matter  how  perilous  its  nature, 
and  it  was  amidst  these  surroundin.gs,  that  he 
gave  up  his  life. 

“We,  the  members  of  this  committee,  and  the 
Cincinnati  Coal  Exchange,  extend  to  his  family 
our  heartfelt  sympathy  in  this  great  bereavement. 
“‘Long  lin.ger  the  memory  of  him,  friend  of 

our  better  days, 

‘None  knew  him  but  to  love  him.  none  loved  him 

but  to  praise.’  ” 


View  of  Dock  Showing  Old  Wooden  Structure  and  New  Building  Completed. 


288 


[October  9 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


New  York  Golf  Tournament. 

The  New  York  Coal  Trade  Golf  Association 
has  sent  out  announcement  to  its  members  of 
the  dates  of  the  fall  tournament,  viz.:  October 
Kith  and  17th.  The  place  of  the  meeting  is 
the  Seaview  Golf  Club  at  Absecon,  N.  J.,  about 
fen  miles  this  side  of  Atlantic  City. 

The  way  by  motor  is  across  Staten  Island 
ferry  to  Perth  Amboy,  then  to  West  Key- 
port,  thence  through  Freeport,  Lakewood  and 
Toms  River  to  Absecon,  approximately  110 
miles  from  New  York. 

Those  going  by  rail  are  requested  to  take 
the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  to  Absecon,  where 
a  club  bus  will  meet  the  train  on  request  to 
the  committee. 

The  rates  at  the  Seaview  Golf  Club  will  be 
.$:!  and  $:{  a  day  for  single  rooms:  meals  will 
be  a-la-carte.  Suitable  accommodations  may 
be  had  at  the  Seaview  club  house  for  mem¬ 
bers’  families. 

The.  events  wdll  be  as  follows:  Saturday 
morning,  18-hole  qualifying  round  medal  play, 
handicap  for  medal.  Contestants  will  be  di¬ 
vided  into  flights  of  eight  based  on  gross 
score. 

Saturday  afternoon — First  round  match 
play.  Contestants  will  be  given  three-quarters 
of  the  difference  of  their  handicaps. 

Sunday  morning — Second  round  match  play. 
.  Sunday  afternoon — Final  round  match  play. 
.\lso  18-hole  handicap  any  time  Sunday  for 
all  but  finalists. 


New  Coal  Carrying  Boats. 


A  newspaper  special  from  Bangor,  ^le.,  to  the 
Boston  Transcript  is  of  interest  to  the  shipping 
companies  and  especially  to  the  coal  trade  who 
are  interested  in  colliers.  This  dispatch  reads: 

“Just  as  shipowners  had  made  up  their  minds 
that  the  new  heavy-carrying,  self-trimming  steam 
colliers,  that  Atlantic  coast  yards  have  been  turn¬ 
ing  out  during  the  last  few  years,  were  the  last 
word  in  cargo-carrying,  and  that  this  type  of 
vessel  would  dominate  the  coastwise  trade,  word 
comes  that  the  shipbuilders  of  the  Great  Lakes 
have  devised  a  craft  that  will  have  distinct  advan¬ 
tages  over  both  the  modern  steamer  and  the  big 
schooner  which  the  steamer  is  rapidly  displacing. 

“This  lake  type,  of  which  Atlantic  coast  inter¬ 
ests  have  ordered  a  considerable  number,  is  a 
steel-built  five-masted  schooner  with  a  full 
spread  of  sail  and  also  a  powerful  engine  of  the 
Swedish  crude  oil  pattern,  so  that  she  will  be 
able  to  make  fair  speed  in  almost  any  sort  of 
weather  and  also  save  towage  bills,  which  latter 
item  amounts  to  thousands  of  dollars  yearly  for 
high  vessels.  These  auxiliary  five-masters  will 
be  of  about  3,000  tons,  fit  for  off-shore  as  well 
as  coastwise  business,  and  are  figured  to  be  the 
most  economical  craft  yet  devised  for  general 
freighting. 

“When  the  boom  in  off-shore  freights  occa¬ 
sioned  by  the  war  is  over,  and  the  big  schooners 
get  back  to  the  coast  again,  they  will  meet  their 
new  rivals.  There  can  be  but  one  result  of  the 
contest  between  sail  and  science — the  disappear¬ 
ance  of  the  overgrown  sailing  schooner,  or,  as 
the  old  salts  call  them,  ships  in  disguise.  That 
this  is  the  expectation  of  shipowners  is  indicat¬ 
ed  by  the  fact  that  only  three  schooners  are  now 
in  process  of  construction  in  Maine,  none  of 
them  large,  and  that  there  are  few,  if  any,  orders 
in  sight  for  sailing  cargo  carriers  of  any  size 
or  rig.” 


Communications. 


Editor  The  Black  Diamond: 

Your  editorial,  “A  Charge  to  Keep,”  in  to¬ 
day’s  issue  of  The  Black  Diamond  is  indeed 
refreshing  in  that  it  points  in  a  direction  hith¬ 
erto  unnoticed  by  the  conservative  trade  press. 
Passing  by  the  ac'ademic  question  as  to 
whether  an  individual  in  the  short  span  of  a 
lifetime  can  accumulate  a  million  dollars  hon¬ 
estly,  it  is  well  to  be  reminded  that  any  aggre¬ 
gation  of  capital  in  single  hands  cannot  very 
much  longer  be  regarded  as  absolute  posses¬ 
sion.  Even  the  law  forbids  the  owner  of 
money  to  destroy  it.  Recognizing  thereby  the 
principle  that  the  possession  of  wealthy  by  the 
individual  is  rather  a  trusteeship  which  has 
gravitated  to  the  possessor  through  natural 
selection. 

It  appears  then  that  society  is  beginnmg  to 
recognize  these  laws  and  will  not  permit  the 
legal  owner  to  waste  the  wealth  selfishly  for 


his  individual  gain  or  pleasure.  Therefore,  the 
thought  suggested  in  the  editorial  is  a  gentle 
reminder  that  all  human  activity  is  inter-re- 
I'ated  and  that  the  individual,  of  necessity,  is 
compelled  to  be  interested  in  society  just  as 
much  as  society  is  interested  in  the  welfare  of 
the  individual.  Yours  truly, 

L.  Romanski, 

President  of  the  Atlas  Coal  &  Coke  Company, 
Old  Colony  building,  Chicago. 


Chas.  Horning  Dead. 

Charles  Horning,  Jr.,  one  of  the  pioneer  sales¬ 
men  in  the  New  York  anthracite  trade,  and  up 
to  the  time  of  his  death  connected  with  the  Sus- 
(luehanna  Coal  Company,  of  No.  1  Broadway, 
died  at  his  home.  No.  3  Cjlenada  place,  Brooklyn, 
on  Sunday,  at  the  age  of  fifty-one.  Mr.  Horning 
had  been  in  poor  health  for  about  six  months, 
and  had  been  absent  from  his  office  for  at  least 
four  months.  Recently  he  was  so  much  improved 
that  he  was  able  to  make  one  or  two  trips  to 
No.  1  Broadway,  and  it  was  hoped  by  his  many 
friends  that  his  improvement  was  permanent. 

When  quite  a  boy,  Mr.  Horning  entered  the 
coal  firm  of  W.  M.  Davidson  &  Co.,  at  No.  Ill 
Broadway.  Some  years  later  he  left  this  com¬ 
pany  to  go  with  Percy  Heilner  &  Son,  leaving 
the  Heilner  firm  in  189:3  to  go  with  Stickney  & 
Conyngham,  who  at  that  time  were  selling  the 
anthracite  coal  from  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad’s 
mines.  In  190-1  when  the  Susquehanna  Coal 
Company  was  formed,  it  took  over  the  Stickney 
&  Conyngham  coals,  and  Mr.  Hornin.g  continued 
his  connection  with  the  new  company.  In  1908 
he  was  appointed  office  manager  of  the  Susque¬ 
hanna,  which  position  he  filled  until  ill-health 
made  it  necessary  for  him  to  retire  from  active 
business. 

The  funeral  services  were  held  on  Tuesday 
evening  at  his  late  home  in  Brooklyn,  being  at¬ 
tended  by  many  of  his  close  associates  in  the 
coal  trade. 


Peace  in  Colorado. 


Denver,  October  7th. —  (Special  Correspond¬ 
ence.) — Since  the  acceptance  Alonday  by  the  di¬ 
rectors  of  the  Colorado  Fuel  &  Iron  Company  of 
the  Rockefeller  industrial  plan  and  its  probable 
adoption  by  the  company’s  miners  through  a  ref¬ 
erendum  vote,  the  all-absorbing  topic  of  discus¬ 
sion  is  the  probable  action  of  the  governor  in 
ordering  the  dismissal  of  almost  400  criminal 
cases  against  the  former  coal  mine  strikers. 
Governor  Carlson  has  made  no  official  announce¬ 
ment,  but  he  is  expected  to  do  so  soon. 

Developments  of  the  last  two  weeks  have 
pointed  to  the  possibility  of  such  action.  At  that 
time  it  was  known  that  the  United  Mine  Work¬ 
ers  were  considering  the  advisability  of  seeking 
the  indictment  of  state  officials  and  coal  company 
officers  with  the  avowed  intention  of  using  them 
to  secure  the  dismissal  of  certain  cases  against 
union  officers  and  members.  It  is  believed  that 
if  the  governor  decides  to  yield  to  the  demand  of 
prominent  citizens,  his  action  will  result  in  quash- 
in.g  of  all  indictments,  the  dismissal  of  all  pend¬ 
ing  cases  and  probable  pardon  of  the  five  men 
already  convicted,  including  John  Lawson. 

It  is  believed  that  permanent  peace  can  not  be 
expected  unless  the  state’s  industrial  slate  is 
wiped  clean,  and  that  now  is  the  opportune  time 
for  such  action. 


Bermudan  Coal  Trade. 


Carl  R.  Loop,  -American  consul  at  Hamilton, 
Bermuda,  writes  The  Bl.\ck  Diamond  under 
date  of  September  33. 

“The  most  obvious  effect  of  the  war  has  been 
the  increase  of  freight  rates  and  consequently 
increased  prices  of  coal.  The  consumption  of 
coal  has  not  decreased,  but  on  the  contrary,  has 
increased  slightly  over  that  consumed  in  1913, 
as  may  be  seen  by  reference  to  the  table  of  im¬ 
ports  set  out  below.” 

Mr.  Loop  goes  on  to  state  that  .general  busi¬ 
ness  conditions  in  Bermuda  are  more  favorable 
than  during  the  early  part  of  last  year.  The 
dock  authorities  and  the  British  .\dmiralty  have 
spent  more  money  in  Bermuda  than  has  hitherto 
been  the  case.  The  tourist  trade  fell  off  con¬ 
siderably  during  the  last  season,  but  for  the  past 
few  months  has  been  almost  normal.  What  the 
prospects  are  for  a  good  winter  tourist  trade 
depends  upon  the  steamship  facilities.  The  pres¬ 
ent  accommodation  is  certainly  not  sufficient  for 
a  normal  tourist  season,  and  the  colony  is  now 


negotiating  with  steamship  companies  with  a  view 
of  securin.g  more  adequate  service  during  the 
winter  months. 

American  coal  has  been  imported  since  the 
outbreak  of  the  war,  when  the  government  took 
over  all  the  Welsh  coals  in  Bermuda.  The  pre¬ 
dominant  .American  coal  consumed  is  Pocahontas, 
and  a  small  quantity  of  anthracite  is  imported 
every  year  and  sold  for  use  in  homes  and  to 
the  Bermuda  Electric  Light,  Power  and  Traction 
Company.  When  war  was  declared,  Pocahontas 
coal  was  landed  in  Bermuda  at  $5  per  ton ;  this 
price  increasing  in  varying  amounts  until  now  it 
stands  at  from  $(3.50  to  $6.75  per  ton.  During 
I'ebruary  the  price  reached  as  high  as  $7.25  and 
$7.50.  These  fi.gures  were  due  almost  entirel}’ 
to  the  increase  in  freight  rates  and  the  difficult\’ 
in  obtaining  transportation.  It  is  estimated  that 
about  seventy-five  per  cent  of  the  coal  imported 
into  Bermuda  is  sold  to  ships.  In  normal  times 
the  price  of  coal  delivered  on  board  ship  is  about 
$8.40,  but  during  the  past  winter  the  price  was 
increased  to  as  much  as  $11.38  per  ton.  Now  it 
stands  at  about  $10.08  per  ton. 

Importations  for  the  years  19i:!  and  1914  were 
as  follows : 

1913  1914  . 

Countries.  Gross  tons.  Value.  Gross  tons.  Value. 
United  States  .  .  11,951  .  $44,991  12,16:1  $40,499 
United  Kingdom  33  190  1,000  6,886 


Trade  News. 


Mr.  W.  E.  Hardy  has  recently  been  appointed 
sales  manager  of  the  Boston  Belting  Company, 
Boston,  Mass.  Mr.  Hardy  was  formerly  con¬ 
nected  with  the  Diamond  Rubber  Company  and 
the  B.  F.  Goodrich  Company. 

•  The  Kenova  Mine  Car  Company,  Huntington, 
W.  Va.,  has  recently  been  incorporated  with  a 
capital  of  $100,000,  all  of  which  will  be  paid  in 
as  needed.  Officers  of  the  company  are  C.  K. 
Myers,  president  and  general  manager;  T.  F. 
Bailey,  Jr.,  vice-president,  and  W.  T.  Green,  sec¬ 
retary  and  treasurer. 

The  company  is  now  occupying  the  plant  for¬ 
merly  owned  by  the  Independent  Steel  Company, 
which  covers  nine  acres  of  ground,  with  side 
tracks  from  the  B.  &  O.,  C.  &  O.  and  N.  &  W. 
railways  on  the  property.  They  expect  to  com¬ 
mence  operation  about  October  15. 

The  Golden-.Nnderson  Valve  Specialty  Com¬ 
pany,  Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  are  distributing  blue  prints 
describing  their  new  Automatic  Double  Cushioned 
Type  “B”  Non-Return  Valve.  This  valve  is  per¬ 
fectly  cushioned  in  both  the  opening  and  closing 
to  prevent  hammering  or  shattering,  and  is  sim¬ 
ple  in  design.  Further  particulars  will  be  fur¬ 
nished  any  reader  of  this  paper  upon  request  to 
the  above  company. 

The  Gardner  Governor  Company,  Quincy,  Ill., 
are  distributing  circulars  and  catalogues  describ¬ 
ing  this  company’s  air  lift  pumps,  steam  sep¬ 
arators,  air  compressors  and  vacuum  pumps  and 
governors.  This  literature  will  be  sent  any 
reader  of  The  Black  Diamond  upon  application 
to  this  company. 

A  “Safety  First”  manual  has  just  been  issued 
by  the  Colonial  Supply  Company,  Pittsburgh,  Pa., 
describing  this  company’s  “first  aid”  equipment, 
safety  lamps,  fire  prevention  apparatus,  warning 
signs,  meters,  recorders  and  other  mine  supplies. 
Every  mine  operator  should  send  for  a  copy  of 
this  manual  unless  he  has  already  received  one. 


Coal  Land  Transfer. 


Denver,  October  7th. —  (Special  Correspond¬ 
ence.) — Deeds  were  recorded  at  Steamboat  Sprin.gs 
this  week  for  the  transfer  of  480  acres  of  un¬ 
developed  coal  land  two  miles  northwest  of  the 
Harris  mine,  for  a  consideration  of  $48,000.  The 
land  is  located  near  the  Moffat  railroad,  and  ad¬ 
joins  the  property  recently  sold  by  John  F.  Cam¬ 
pion-  of  Leadville  to  the  International  Fuel  Com¬ 
pany,  which  is  now  opening  a  large  mine  on  it. 
Wolf  Campion  is  the  purchaser  and  it  is  said 
that  it  is  his  intention  to  further  add  to  his  coal 
land  investments  in  Routt  county.  The  coal 
produced  in  that  section  is  of  an  almost  unsur¬ 
passed  quality. 


Hampton  Roads  Exports. 

During  September  railroads  terminating  at 
Hampton  Roads  dumped  bituminous  coal  as 
follows:  Norfolk  &  Western,  at  Lamberts 

Point,  723,670  tons.  Chesapeake  &  Ohio,  at 
Newport  News,  373,880  tons.  Virginian  Rail¬ 
way,  at  Sewalls  Point,  311,674  tons.  This 
makes  a  total  of  1,408,194  tons  for  the  month. 

Of  this  amount  approximately  582,943  tons 
went  into  export. 


No.  15] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


289 


Rockefeller’s  Social  Plan. 

(Concluded  from  page  281.) 

New  York  shouting,  ‘If  you  see  John  D. 
Rockefeller,  Jr.,  shoot  him  down  like  a  dog.’  ” 

Following  a  preliminary  statement  by  J.  F. 
Wclborn,  president  of  the  Colorado  Fuel  & 
Iron  Company,  who  expressed  the  hope  that 
there  never  will  be  a  recurrence  of  tlje  re¬ 
cent  .“disturbance,”  Mr.  Rockefeller  pid: 

“This  is  a  red  letter  day  in  my  life.  For 
the  first  time  in  my  life  I  have  been  given 
the  opportunity  to  meet  face  to  face  the  rep¬ 
resentatives  of  workers  employed  by  the  com¬ 
pany., 

“i  shall  remember  this  day  until  my  dying 
day.  I  have  met  the  men  working  in  the 
mines,  have  met  your  families.  I  have  gone 
into  your  homes  and  talked  to  your  wives.  1 
have  tried  to  see  for  myself  everything  there 
is  to  see  in  this  camp  that  would  aid  us  to 
a  better  understanding  of  the  whole  situation. 

“We  meet  here  today  as  friends  to  discuss 
our  common  interests.  It  is  by  your  courtesy 
that  I  am  here.  I  am  neither  a  representa¬ 
tive  of  the  employes  nor  an  officer  of  .  this 
splendid  company,  but  I  represent  the  stock¬ 
holders — the  men  who  furnish  the  money  to 
make  the  things  go. 

“There  are  four  things  that  constitute  a 
company  or  corporation.  They  are: 

“First,  the  stockholders.  They  furnish  the 
capital  with  which  the  enterprise  may  be 
carried  on.  They  also  name  the  directors. 

“Second,  the  directors.  Their  duty  is  to 
see  that  the  chief  officers  are  carefully  and 
wisel}'  selected  to  plan  out  the  larger  policies 
and  play  the  financial  side. 

“Third,  the  officers,  who  supervise  the  cur¬ 
rent  operations  on  the  ground. 

“Fourth,  the  employes,  who  contribute  their 
skill  to  the  advancement  of  the  common  in¬ 
terests.  And  no  one  interest  of  the  four  can 
be  advanced  to  the  sacrifice  of  the  other 
three  without  destroying  the  whole  structure. 

“When  any  one  of  these  four  selfishly  con¬ 
sider  their  own  interests  alone,  sooner  or  later 
disaster  will  follow.” 

He  then  placed  a  small  table  before  him. 
This  table  was  supposed  to  be  square  and 
level  and  supported  by  four  legs  of  equal  im¬ 
portance.  With  this  he  illustrated  his  views 
on  the  relation  of  capital  to  labor,  and  labor  to 
capital.  He  also  took  a  handful  of  small 
coins  from  his  pocket  and  placed  them  on 
the  table. 

“You  will  observe,  men,”  he  continued, 
“this  table  is  square.  Every  corporation,  to 
to  be  successful,  must  be  on  the  square.  You 
also  will  notice  the  table  is  level,  being  equally 
supported  by  each  of  the  four  legs — the  stock¬ 
holders,  directors,  officers  and  employes. 

“No  corporation  ought  to  succeed  that  is 
not  on  the  level  and  if  all  four  of  the  interests 
are  on  the  level  then  we  begin  to  pile  up 
earnings.” 

And  he  rattled  the  coins  on  the  little  table. 

Wages  the  First  Dividend. 

“Now,”  he  went  on,  “who  has  the  first 
crack  at  the  earnings?  The  employes,  of 
course.  You  come  ahead  of  all  others.  You 
take  out  of  this  pile  what  belongs  to  you 
first,  and  I  want  to  impress  this  upon  you — ■ 
that  there  has  never  been  a  two  weeks  since 
my  father  and  I  have  been  connected  with 
this  company  that  you  have  not  received  your 
wages. 

“After  you,  the  officers  are  given  their  share 
of  the  earnings,  then  the  directors  get  their 
fees,  and  lastly  come  the  stockholders.  You 
see  the  men  who  furnish  the  capital  are  the 
last  to  be  counted  in  when  the  profits  are 
divided  up.” 

Fie  had  skillfully  manipulated  the  little  ta¬ 
ble  so  that  by  the  time  he  had  paid  off  the 
directors  there  was  nothing  left  for  the 
stockholders.  The  top  of  the  table  was  bare. 

“Why,  he  exclaimed,”  “there  is  nothing  left 
in  this  corporation  for  the  stockholders.  This 
must  be  the  Colorado  Fuel  &  Iron  Company. 

“Men,  in  all  the  fourteen  years  that  father 
and  I  have  been  connected  with  this  corpora¬ 
tion,  it  has  not  paid  one  cent  on  the  common 
stock  investment.  Our  common  stock  has  not 
had  one  cent  of  return. 

“Now,  you  men  have  not  been  told  that, 
have  you?  You  have  not  been  used  to  hear¬ 
ing  that  side  of  the  case,  have  you?  No. 
As  many  of  you  who  have  heard  that  raise 
your  hands.” 

About  six  out  the  thirty  held  up  their 
hands. 

“Not  many,  for  sure,”  he  observed. 


‘‘What  you  have  been  told,”  he  continued, 
“is  that  th.e  Rockefellers  are  the  biggest 
scoundrels  who  ever  lived,  that  they  have 
been  sweeping  into  their  strong  boxes  mil¬ 
lions  m  earnings  from  the  Colorado  Fuel  & 
Iron  Company,  while  they  have  been  oppres¬ 
sing  you. 

"All  over  this  country  from  ocean  to  ocean, 
it  has  been  heralded  that  we  have  been  mak¬ 
ing  great  profits  while  trying  to  grind  you 
down.  That’s  the  kind  of  dope  they  have 
been  giving  you.  They  spread  this  talk  so 
widely  that  men  marched  by  my  office  in  New 
York  and  shouted:  ‘If  you  see  John  D.  Rocke¬ 
feller,  Jr.,  shoot  him  down  like  a  dog.’ 

“And  all  this  time,  in  all  these  fourteen 
years,  the  Rockefellers  have  not  received  a 
cent  of  income  on  the  $34,000,000  of  com¬ 
mon  stock.  Put  that  in  your  pipe  and  smoke 
it,  men.” 

The  Rockefeller  Trip. 

Perhaps  nothing  that  has  occurred  recently 
in  America  has  caused  or  will  cause  as  much 
discussion  as  this  act  of  Mr.  Rockefeller.  In 
the  first  place,  the  mere  fact  that  he  went 
to  Colorado  aroused  criticism.  On  that  score, 
there  is  this  to  be  said. 

The  west  is  the  one  place  remaining  in 
effete  and  flabby  America  where  physical  and 
moral  courage  is  appreciated.  In  fact,  the  men 
there  have  no  respect  for  anything  else.  The 
western  man  has  not  much  use  for  a  man 
who  fights  from  ambush;  perhaps  they  had 
a  trifle  too  much  of  that  from  the  Indians. 
More  than  likely  the  bitterness  during  and 
after  the  fighting  around  Ludlow,  nearly  two 
years  ago,  can  be  traced  to  the  fact  that  the 
western  men  could  not  stomach  the  fighting 
method  of  the  imported  miners  who  hid  be¬ 
hind  women  during  the  battle  and  mutilated 
dead  bodies  of  the  wounded  afterwards. 

Seeing  the  temper  of  the  western  people  and 
the  fact  that  western  public  opinion  had  to 
be  won.  the  physical  bravery  of  Mr.  Rocke¬ 
feller  in  going  into  the  mining  districts  after 
his  life  had  been  threatened  was  the  best 
thine  possible  for  his  cause.  Indeed,  men 
familiar  with  the  western  mining  conditions 
sav  that  lack  of  intimate  contact  between  the 
officers  of  the  company  and  the  working  force 
was  one  real  cause  of  the  labor  difficulty.  It 
is  too  late  to  talk  about  such  things  now,  but 
the  notion  does  emphasize  the  fact  that  Mr. 
Rockefeller  did  the  right  thing  when  he  went 
into  the  mining  camp. 

As  to  whether  he  did  the  right  thing  when 
he  put  out  the  “plan”  is  open  to  dispute.  He 
had  said  many  times  that  he  was  represented 
in  Colorado  by  men  who  were  perfectly  capa¬ 
ble  of  handling  the  situation  and  that  he  did 
not  propose  to  go  over  their  heads.  His 
later  statement  says  that  the  stockholders  are. 
in  effect,  subordinate  first  to  the  directors  and 
second  to  the  officers  of  the  company.  At 
the  opening  of  last  Saturday’s  meeting  he 
said  that  he  represented  the  stockholders  only. 

It  would  have  been  in  keeping  with  his 
previous  stand,  therefore,  if  the  plan  for  bet¬ 
terment  of  local  conditions  had  originated 
with  the  officers  of  the  company,  and  had 
been  supported  by  the  directors  and  the  stock¬ 
holders.  Air.  Rockefeller  could  have  origi¬ 
nated  the  idea  just  the  same.  Also,  he  could 
have  used  a  better  way  than  he  did  of  put¬ 
ting  it  out. 

It  was  clearly  a  tactical  mistake  to  reverse 
this  process,  and  for  the  principal  stockholder 
to  outline  a  plan  in  a  public  meeting,  which 
the  directors  and  officers  had  to  adopt  whether 
they  liked  it  or  not.  The  mistake  was  not 
in  the  fact  that  the  major  stockholder  out¬ 
lined  the  plan:  he  is  in  control  and  may  do  as 
he  pleases.  It  was  in  the  fact  that  he  sub¬ 
stituted  himself  for  his  officers,  who  were  un¬ 
der  fire,  and  that  he  presided  over  the  meet¬ 
ing,  which  in  a  sense  reversed  them. 

This  grave  mistake  in  tactics  is  no  doubt 
traceable  to  a  man  by  the  name  of  C.  J.  Hicks. 
He  is  something  of  a  welfare  worker,  who 
was  loaned  to  the  Rockefellers  by  the  In¬ 
ternational  Harvester  Company.  Mr.  Hicks 
is  apparently  the  man  who  conceived  Air. 
Rockefeller’s  plan. 

Mr.  Rockefeller,  carried  away  by  enthusiasm 
of  a  plan  which  seems  so  fair,  has  probably 
embarrassed  his  officers  and  directors  for  all 
time  by  giving  his  approval  of  Air.  Hicks’ 
idea  in  the  way  he  did.  He  gave  the  people 
of  Colorado  the  impression  that  those  officers 
are  mere  figureheads  and  that  Mr.  Rockefeller 
after  all.  is  the  dominating  force,  even  in 
matters  of  detail.  Such  a  situation — even 


though  a  blunder  of  a  well-meaning  faddist- 
gives  point  to  the  accusations  of  Frank  Walsh 
and  others  that  Rockefeller,  after  all,  is  the 
man  responsible  for  t^e  Colorado  war. 

We  wish  to  be  understood  in  this  matter. 
There  is  nothing  but  good  in  the  plan  itself! 
It  is  a  perfectly  splendid  •  idea,  and  is  '  all 
riglit.  The  plan  does  not,  as  it  may  seem, 
acknowledge  the  accusations  of  any  of  the 
enemies  of  the  Company.  It  does  not  acknowl¬ 
edge  that  the  hopelessly  selfish  plan  of  the 
mine  workers  union  h;^d  any  merit  in  it.  It 
doesn’t  give,  even  anything,  which  Colorado 
mines  didn’t  have,  before.  No  one  can  quarrel 
with  the  plan. 

But  with  the  manner  -.of  putting  out  that 
new  plan,  no  one  except  Mr.  Rockefeller’s 
enemies  can  a.gree.  It  was  the  manner  of 
announcing  it  that  to  the  mind  of  the  un¬ 
thinking  will  give  the  impression  that  the 
miners  won,  and  that  Air.  Rockefeller,  in  per¬ 
son  after  an  inspection,  confesses  that  he  has 
been  wrong  all  along. 

The  grave  danger  is  that  the  mere  manner 
of  putting  the  new  plan  into  effect  will  teach 
the  miners  that  they  can  go  over  the  heads  of 
even  the  presidents  of  the  Rockefeller  com¬ 
panies.  directly  back  to  Mr.  Rockefeller  in 
New  York. 

While  the  plan,  therefore,  may  be  quite  sat¬ 
isfactory  in  every  particular,  the  manner  of 
putting  it  out  was,  in  a  sense,  unfortunate. 


Rates  on  Coal  to  River  Points. 


The  possibilities  of  the  Warrior  river  coal 
trade  were  further  emphasized  recently,  when  the 
state  public  utilities  commission,  sitting  in  Tusca¬ 
loosa,  .granted  the  Frisco  Railroad  the  right  to 
establish  a  proportionate  rate  of  eighteen  cents 
on  coal  from  points  along  its  line  to  points  on 
the  river.  The  order  is  to  go  in  effect  in  ten 
days. 

The  application  for  this  rate  on  the  part  of 
the  road  means  that  it  has  taken  cognizance  of 
the  importance  of  the  river  traffic  and  intends 
to  cooperate  with  the  mines  along  its  route  in 
furthering  the  business.  A  tipple  is  already  be¬ 
ing  built  at  Cordova  for  handling  the  river  busi¬ 
ness  of  Walker  county  mines.  These  and  nu¬ 
merous  other  collieries  in  a  position  to  cater 
to  the  river  trade,  are  on  the  Frisco  system, 
and  the  road  would  earn  a  considerable  revenue 
in  handling  the  coal  from  mine  to  river. 

It  is  deemed  probable  that  other  railroads  ply¬ 
ing  in  the  same  territory  will  join  the  Frisco 
in  putting  on  the  lower  rates. 

The  railroads  operating  from  Alabama  coal 
mines  to  New  Orleans  are  “up  in  the  air” 
as  to  the  increase  in  the  freight  rate  on  coal 
from  $1.25  to  $1.40,  and  although  October  1st 
(Friday)  was  originally  scheduled  as  the  day 
for  the  new  rates  to  go  into  effect,  tariffs  con¬ 
taining  the  advanced  rates  have  not  been  is¬ 
sued.  And  according  to  local  industrial  men, 
the  railroads  are  not  likely  to  issue  the  new 
tariffs. 

Two  of  the  largest  plants  at  New  Orleans  that 
consume  coal,  anticipating  the  higher  rail  rate 
on  coal,  contracted  for  several  years’  supply  of 
crude  oil  for  fuel  in  place  of  coal. 

Facing  this  heavy  loss  in  coal  traffic,  and 
much  heavier  prospective  losses,  together  with 
the  inevitable  loss  of  rail-hauled  bunker  coal 
traffic  from  Alabama  mines  to  New  Orleans, 
the  railroads  are  uncertain  what  to  do,  and  the 
rates  were  not  placed  in  effect  October  1st,  as 
was  originally  planned  and  so  announced. 

Alabama  mines  now  get  a  proportion  of  the 
huge  bunker  coal  business  at  New  Orleans.  With 
the  opening  up  of  the  Warrior  river  to  Birming¬ 
ham,  Alabama  was  enabled  to  ship  bunker  coal 
to  New  Orleans  in  even  greater  volume.  Alost 
of  the  bunker  coal  at  New  Orleans,  however, 
comes  from  Pittsburgh  by  river. 

What  bunker  coal  traffic  is  handled  into  New 
Orleans  from  Alabama  by  the  railroads  would 
be  lost  if  the  rate  were  raised  fifteen  cents  a 
ton.  The  commission’s  order,  granting  the  in¬ 
crease,  stated  specifically  that  the  railroads  could 
not  discriminate  as  between  bunker  and  land 
delivery  coal,  and  if  the  rate  were  raised  on 
land  delivery  coal  it  would  also  have  to  be  raised 
on  bunker  coal. 

When  the  commission  granted  the  increase, 
two  of  the  largest  coal  consuming  plants  at 
New  Orleans  immediately  entered  into  long¬ 
term  contracts  for  a  supply  of  crude  oil  for 
fuel.  The  firing  system  at  the  |)lants  was  changed. 

Local  industrial  men  feel  certain  that  the  rail¬ 
roads  will  not  raise  the  rate. 


290 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[October  9 


FUBIiISHED  EVERT  SATUBDAT  BY  THE 
BIiACK  DIAMONB  COMPAHT. 

Subscription  price,  $3.00  per  year,  postage  prepaid,  to 
any  postoffice  in  the  United  States.  Foreign  subscrip¬ 
tion  price,  $5.00  per  year.  Single  copies,  20  cents. 
Entered  at  Chicago  postoffice  as  second-class  matter. 


Address  all  communications  to 

THE  BI.ACK  DIAMOND  COMPANY  (INC.) 
Main  office,  Manhattan  building,  Chicago. 


Branch  Offices. 

New  York,  29  Broadway. 
Philadelphia,  1400  Land  Title  building. 
Pittsburgh,  1502  Oliver  building. 


Saturday,  October  9,  1915. 


INDEX. 


Special  Articles. 

Page 


Rockefeller’s  Social  Plans  for  Colorado  Mines .  281 

American  Mining  Congress  Plans  on  Exposition....  282 

A  City  Without  Hope .  283 

Eastern'  Ohio  Operators  Want  Lower  Rates .  284 

The  Latest  Chapter  in  Price  Fixing  Litigation .  284 

New  York  State  Association .  284 

Field  of  the  Retail  Dealer .  285 

Choosing  the  Christmas  Remembrancer .  286 

A  New  Rescreener  at  Rend  City,  III .  286 

Anthracite  Plant  of  Manitowoc  Land  &  Fuel  Co....  287 

Death  of  Captain  Menges .  287 

New  York  Golf  Tournament .  288 

New  Coal  Carrying  Boats .  288 

Communications  .  283 

Charles  Horning  Dead .  288 

Trade  News .  288 

Rates  on  Coal  to  River  Points .  289 

Editorial  .  290 

News  Local  to  Chicago .  292 

Small  Activities  in  Many  Coal  Centers .  292 

Facts  Which  Determine  Our  Export  Prospects .  293 

Market  Reports. 

General  Review  and  Chicago .  294 

Pittsburgh,  Indianapolis  and  Omaha .  295 

Cincinnati,  Cleveland  and  Twin  Cities... .  296 

St.  Louis,  Detroit,  Louisville  and  Birmingham .  297 

New  York . 298 

Philadelphia  and  Baltimore .  299 

New  England,  Buffalo,  Denver  and  Duluth .  300 

Hocking  Valley .  15 


John  D.  Rockefeller,  Jr. 

John  D.  Rockefeller,  Jr.,  is  an  interest¬ 
ing  young  man,  made  so,  first,  by  the  fact 
that  he  inherits  his  father’s  great  wealth, 
and  second,  by  the  fact  that  he  is  proving 
that  the  mere  possession  of  money  can 
be  no  substitute  for  experience. 

The  recent  visit  of  the  young  man  to 
Colorado  is  a  case  in  point.  Some  months 
ago  Mr.  Rockefeller  said  in  effect: 

“We  have  such  large  amounts  of  money 
invested,  we  must  naturally  place  it  in 
many  industries  at  many  places.  We  can¬ 
not  know  all  about  everything  in  detail ; 
in  fact,  money  alone  is  not  concerned  with 
the  details  of  management.  All  we  in 
New  York  can  do  is  to  look  out  for  the 
larger  policies.  We  must  leave  to  the 
men  at  the  mines  the  carrying  out  of  our 
plans. 

“In  Colorado  we  are  well  and  ably  rep¬ 
resented  by  skilled  men.  They  must 
manage  the  mining  properties  and  answer 
to  us  by  their  results.  We  in  New  York 
cannot  interfere  with  their  acts  unless  we 
want  to  substitute  ourselves  for  them  and 
become  responsible  for  the  success  or  fail¬ 
ure  of  their  plans.” 

That  boiled  down,  in  substance,  is  what 
Mr.  Rockefeller  said  in  his  various  state¬ 
ments.  It  was  in  fact,  the  only  stand 
which  mere  money  can  take.  But  having 
done  his  plain  duty,  Mr.  Rockefeller  went 
on  a  trip  of  inspection  to  his  Colorado 


mines.  Before  he  went,  his  representa¬ 
tives  had  been  all  powerful.  When  che 
dispute  arose  these  vigorous  managers 
said  to  the  miners  in  substance : 

“Only  three  issues  are  involved  in  this 
labor  dispute.  One  is:  ‘Has  the  law 
been  obeyed?’  We  have  not  been  elected 
by  the  state  to  enforce  the  law.  But  we 
have  done  more  than  the  law  demands  or 
ever  will  demand.  If  there  is  any  criticism 
of  our  acts  we  cannot  condemn  and  pun¬ 
ish  ourselves ;  the  state  officials  must  do 
that.  They  have  not  acted  against  us,  so 
we  assume  that  no  charge  against  us 
exists. 

“The  second  issue  is:  ‘Are  we  paying 
our  men  a  fair  wage?’  We  have  studied 
the  average  wage  of  Colorado.  We  find 
that,  we  are  paying  more  than  any  one  in 
the  state,  and,  therefore,  cannot  pay  still 
more  now. 

“The  third  issue  is:  ‘Shall  we  continue 
to  manage  the  properties,  or  shall  we  turn 
the  management  over  to  the  United  Mine 
Workers  of  America.’  Our  contention  is 
that  a  great  many  people  have  invested  a 
great  deal  of  money  in  these  Colorado 
coal  mines.  They  have  selected  us  to 
manage  the  properties.  They  have  not 
empowered  us  to  relinquish  that  manage¬ 
ment.  The  union  officials  have  failed  to 
show  us  any  authority  from  the  stock¬ 
holders  for  the  transfer  of  control  which 
they  propose.  They  do  not  try  to  prove 
that  their  management  would  be  in  the  in¬ 
terest  to  the  stockholders ;  rather,  they 
clearly  indicate  that  it  would  be  of  inter¬ 
est  only  to  the  miners’  union.  Therefore, 
we  must  resist  that  claim.” 

This  was  a  logical  conclusion  for  the 
managers.  It  is  inconceivable  that  they 
should  take  any  other. 

Mr.  Rockefeller’s  statement  of  last  Sat¬ 
urday,  taken  in  conjunction  with  what  the 
managers  previously  had  said  and  what 
Mr.  Rockefeller  had  said,  made  the  man¬ 
ager  appear  in  an  embarrassing  position  to 
say  the  least. 

If  this  thing  had  been  done  properly, 
the  only  new  program  in  the  Colorado 
coal  mines  would  have  been  mapped  out 
by  the  managers.  If  the  program  was  to 
be  changed,  they  were  the  ones  to  change 
it. 

In  doing  otherwise  the  youth  and  inex¬ 
perience  of  Mr.  Rockefeller,  Jr.,  displayed 
itself.  He  went  into  Colorado  on  a  spec¬ 
tacular  trip.  This  he  had  a  perfect  right 
to  do;  in  fact,  it  was  all  right.  He  carried 
along  with  him  a  theoretical  fellow  who 
is  interested  in  welfare  work.  This  also 
he  had  a  perfect  right  to  do.  Having 
looked  over  the  whole  situation,  Mr. 
Rockefeller’s  companion  had  a  great  idea. 
We  suspect  he  had  it  all  mapped  out 
ahead  of  time.  This  idea  was  a  complete 
scheme  by  which  the  relations  between 
the  miners  and  the  company  should  be 
regulated  in  future.  Incidentally  it  was  a 
good  plan,  x'klso  Mr.  Rockefeller  thought 
it  was  good  because  he  adopted  it  on  the 
spot. 

Acting  under  an  impulse,  evidently,  a 
meeting  was  called.  On  one  side  sat  the 
officers  of  the  company;  on  the  other  side 
sat  the  miners.  Mr.  Rockefeller,  the  prin¬ 
cipal  stockholder,  outlined  the  plan  which 
had  been  given  him  by  his  companion. 
The  officers  accepted  it  because  there  was 
nothing  else  to  do.  It  was  advantageous 
to  them  and,  naturally,  the  miners  ac¬ 
cepted  it. 


By  that  simple  act  Mr.  Rockefeller  did 
two  things  which  must  end  in  mischief : 

First,  he  stripped  the  officers  of  the 
mining  company  of  their  authority  and 
incidentally  reversed  himself  completely 
on  the  position  he  had  taken  when,  in 
New  York,  he  passed  on  the  same  matter. 
When  he  gave  out  that  plan,  he  no  longer 
represented  mere  money,  but  instead  in¬ 
serted  himself  into  the  detailed  manage¬ 
ment  of  the  mine.  That  act  was  a  blun¬ 
der.  We  can  call  it  nothing  else. 

Second,  Mr.  Rockefeller  made  a  decision 
for  his  own  companies  which  must  em¬ 
barrass  the  managers  of  all  other  proper¬ 
ties  in  that  field.  In  other  words,  he  set 
an  extragavant  pace  for  them.  This  is  a 
thing  which  any  man  with  money  would 
hesitate  to  do  especially  when  he  had  said 
that  the  common  stock  of  his  own  com¬ 
pany  had  never  paid  a  dollar  in  dividends. 
What  he  did  was,  in  effect,  to  deprive 
other  stockholders  of  a  hope  of  getting  a 
dividend. 

Everyone  believes  that  Mr.  Rockefeller 
is  a  sincere  young  man.  His  record 
throughout  has  been  that  of  one  who 
wants  to  do  the  right  thing.  At  the  same 
time  his  recent  act  discloses  him  as  a  man 
of  no  experience  and  far  from  being  skilled 
in  the  practical  workings  of  business. 
When  he  has  lived  a  little  longer  he  will 
have  had  more  experience.  Then,  with  his 
good  intentions,  he  will  turn  out  to  be  a 
very  useful  citizen.  Right  now  he  should 
move  slowly  because  his  judgment  isn’t 
ripe. 


Getting  Real  Safety. 

Some  recent  discussions  indicate  that 
those  interested  in  “safety  first”  are  talk¬ 
ing  to  cross  purposes  and  may  unintention¬ 
ally  slow  down  the  process  of  getting 
safety.  The  point  of  dispute  is  about  this. 

Theoretical  men  say  that,  regardless  of 
cost,  the  coal  operator  should  put  safety 
appliances  in  the  mines. 

Practical  men  say  that  there  is  not 
enough  money  to  do  this  and  besides  it  is 
a  waste  of  money  until  the  miners  learn  to 
look  out  for  themselves. 

As  a  matter  of  fact  these  two  things  are 
complementary,  rather  than  antagonistic. 
However,  the  practical  men  are  right  in  so 
far  as  they  go.  That  is,  they  are  right  in 
saying  that  safety  begins  with  the  in¬ 
dividual.  No  man  can  disregard  his  own 
safety  and  hope  to  escape  injury  no  matter 
by  how  many  appliances  he  is  surrounded. 
If  he  is  a  free  agent  at  all  and  if  he  moves 
about,  he  must  use  his  eyes  and  brains 
to  protect  himself.  So,  unless  thd  man 
protects  himself  there  is  no  chance  that 
he  can  by  using  machinery  escape  acci¬ 
dent. 

Also  the  theoretical  men  are  right  when 
they  say  that  the  mines  need  devices  to 
promote  safety.  That  is,  a  man  may  be 
the  most  artful  dodger  on  earth  and  may 
be  the  most  cautious  man  alive,  but  dodg¬ 
ing  and  cautiousness  will  not  save  him  if 
the  mine  explodes  because  of  dust  or  be¬ 
cause  the  gas  has  not  been  brushed  away. 
Also  no  amount  of  precaution  can  save  a 
man  who  is  compelled  to  work  in  a  mine 
where  the  roof  is  on  the  point  of  falling. 

Both  sides  are  right  in  the  positions 
they  take,  though  neither  side  is  right  if 
it  assumes  that  what  it  proposes  is  the 
only  thing  that  should  be  done. 


No.  15] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


291 


Coal’s  Red  School  House. 

Someone  said  just  the  other  day,  in 
speaking  about  the  associations  of  oper¬ 
ators  which  are  now  being  formed  all 
over  the  country,  that  such  things  are 
not  an  ultimate  and  therefore  are  not 
permanent,  nor  a  final  solution  of  coal’s 
difficulties. 

We  might  go  very  much  further  than 
that.  We  might  say  to  the  gentleman 
who  made  that  comment  that  nothing  in 
this  world  is  permanent,  nor  is  anything 
a  solution  of  anything.  Life  itself  is  a 
mighty  uncertain  thing.  San  Francisco 
found  out  a  short  time  ago,  that  the  thing 
we  call  terra  firma  can  be  the  most  un¬ 
stable  thing  imaginable.  We  are  accus¬ 
tomed  to  look  on  banks  as  sturdy  and 
strong,  only  to  have  that  idea  blasted  out 
of  our  minds  when  something  happens 
which  makes  the  banks  seem  as  unstable 
as  quicksilver.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  we 
are  in  a  whirlpool  of  transition  and 
change.  Nothing  is  ever  the  ultimate  of 
anything.  We  are  living  a  life  composed 
of  a  series  of  temporary  expedients,  each 
of  which  serves  our  purpose  for  a  little 
while  and  then  passes  on  to  give  place 
to  something  that  will  serve  us  through 
the  next  emergency.  That  much  for  the 
broader  view  of  the  subject. 

The  coal  association  is  undoubtedly  not 
an  ultimate  for  the  trade.  It  probably 
will  not  prove  permanent.  We  would  all 
feel  sad  if  it  did.  But  the  coal  associa¬ 
tions  are  filling  a  tremendously  im¬ 
portant  gap  in  coal  trade  afifairs.  They 
are  bridging  the  distance  between  ignor¬ 
ance  and  wisdom  in  coal  production  and 
sale.  They  are  practically  the  “little  red 
school  houses”  which  are  lifting  the  coal 
trade  out  of  that  stupid  period  when  no¬ 
body  knew  the  cost  of  anything,  into  that 
period  when  everybody  knows  the  cost 
of  everything. 

As  these  associations  fulfill  their  mis¬ 
sion  of  educating  the  trade,  undoubtedly 
they  will  pass  out  of  existence  and  give 
place  to  something  that  is  better.  In  the 
meanwhile,  they  are  indispensable  and 
are  proving  their  intrinsic  worth  every 
day. 


The  Value  of  a  Customer. 

All  customers  have  two  values.  One 
is  that  which  he  places  upon  himself. 
The  other  is  that  which  the  merchant 
places  upon  him  as  a  buyer.  If  you  rate 
a  customer  at  his  own  value,  you  must 
rate  him  rather  highly.  If  you  rate  him 
according  to  the  merchant’s  estimate,  you 
usually  find  that  his  value  is  the  amount 
that  it  cost  to  put  him  on  the  merchant’s 
books,  plus  the  amount  which  his  busi¬ 
ness  is  likely  to  return  in  the  course  of 
a  year. 

Under  some  modern  conditions,  both 
of  these  estimates  of  the  value  of  a  cus¬ 
tomer  are  disregarded  because  the  esti¬ 
mate  is  made  by  neither  principal,  but 
by  the  office  force  of  the  merchant.  That 
is,  the  modern  office  has  been  card  in¬ 
dexed,  and  cross  card  indexed  until  the 
customer  ceases  to  be  a  personality.  In¬ 
stead,  he  has  become  a  red,  pink,  yellow 
or  some  other  colored  card.  About  the 
only  thing  the  office  knows  about  him  is 
that  he  buys  or  does  not  buy  and  pays  or 
does  not  pay.  That  information  is  told 
by  the  color  of  the  card. 

That  is  all  very  fine  from  the  stand¬ 


point  of  office  system,  and  perhaps  it 
simplifies  details  a  lot.  But,  it  does  not 
take  care  of  a  matter  which  is  sacred  to 
the  customer — his  individuality.  Nor 
does  it  assure  the  man  who  ordered  his 
clerks  to  install  the  card  index  that  he 
is  going  to  get  back  the  price  that  he 
paid  to  get  that  man’s  name  on  that  card. 

The  owner  of  the  business,  of  course, 
is  interested  in  the  customer  from  the 
standpoint  of  revenue  only.  This  makes 
him  keen  for  something  besides  a  card 
record.  For  example,  one  retail  concern 
in  Chicago  found  out  a  few  years  ago 
that  it  cost  about  ten  dollars  to  get  a  new 
account  on  the  books.  This  merchant’s 
instructions  to  his  clerks  were  to  hold 
that  customer  until  his  business  had  paid 
that  cost  or  more.  , 

The  customers  of  a  wholesale  house, 
perhaps,  cost  that  merchant  a  great  deal 
more  than  $10.00.  Therefore  the  cus¬ 
tomers  who  are  embalmed  in  cards  rep¬ 
resent  to  a  business  an  outlay  of  a  great 
deal  of  money.  The  operator’s  interest 
in  those  cards  is  in  seeing,  first,  that  he 
gets  back  what  it  cost  him  to  get  those 
names  on  his  books  and,  second,  that 
that  card — or  the  man  behind  it — helps 
to  support  the  organization  in  the  way 
it — or  he — should. 

It  occurs  to  us  that  the  way  to  do  both 
things  is  to  cease  to  consider  the  cus¬ 
tomer  as  merely  a  card  of  a  certain  color. 
Instead,  it  would  be  well  to  consider  him 
according  to  something  of  his  own  esti¬ 
mate  of  his  value.  That  restores  at  once 
the  personal  relation  between  the  buyer 
and  seller,  and  therefore  vitalizes  the 
card  index  system. 


The  Money  Situation. 

For  a  matter  of  several  months  the 
reserves  in  the  banks  have  shown  such 
relation  to  loans  as  to  indicate  to  bankers 
that  America  was  not  using,  as  it  should, 
its  credit  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  on 
ordinary  business.  In  other  words,  the 
banks  stood  ready  to  accommodate  bor¬ 
rowers  to  much  larger  extent  than  they 
were,  and  even  were  anxious  to  do  so. 
This  situation  is  not  explained  solely  by 
the  fact  that  the  banks  wanted  the  busi¬ 
ness.  Rather  the  bankers  took  that  atti¬ 
tude  because  the  country  needed  the  in¬ 
dustry  which  the  borrowed  money  would 
stir  up. 

Then  came  the  commissioners  of  the 
allies  from  Europe  and  proposed  to  bor¬ 
row  $5(X),000,000  from  this  country.  They 
proposed  to  spend  it  here  for  food,  sup¬ 
plies,  etc.,  for  the  army  of  the  allies. 
This  promised  to  give  American  finance 
precisely  the  thing  that  it  was  looking 
for,  but  which  the  bankers  could  not  get 
through  the  borrowing  of  money  by  indi¬ 
viduals.  That  is,  the  banks  increased 
their  loans  and  all  of  that  money  went 
to  increase  the  merchandising  business 
of  American  concerns.  It  was  simply  the 
employment  of  the  loaning  power  of 
banks  to  encourage  American  business. 
The  bankers  therefore  were  fully  justi¬ 
fied  in  extending  the  foreign  loan  if  only 
to  increase  the  business  of  the  country. 
That,  we  understand,  was  their  main  pur¬ 
pose  in  making  the  loan. 

However,  the  banks  did  not  go  into 
this  loan  particularly  as  a  banking  ven¬ 
ture,  but  more  as  an  underwriting  propo¬ 
sition.  That  is,  they  wanted  to  lend  the 


money  to  Europe,  but  they  wanted  the 
American  people  to  take  it  off  their 
hands,  buying  the  notes  as  an  invest¬ 
ment.  The  banks  consequently  made  the 
loan  and  crippled  their  lending  power  to 
do  it.  But  the  people  did  not  respond  as 
they  should.  Instead,  those  who  had  the 
money  were  somewhat  more  inclined  to 
speculate  in  the  stocks  of  the  companies 
that  were  going  to  sell  the  stuff  to  Eu¬ 
rope  than  they  were  to  put  up  their  share 
of  this  half-billion  of  dollars. 

The  bankers  were  consequently  facing 
the  proposition  that  the  people  were 
about  to  abandon  the  European  loan  to 
the  banks,  while  the  money  which  should 
have  gone  to  take  up  the  loan  was 
thrown  upon  the  stock  market  in  a  wild 
speculative  campaign  that  was  doing  no 
one  any  good.  As  a  consequence,  the 
board  of  governors  of  the  stock  exchange, 
early  this  week,  decided  to  quash  the 
wild  speculation  in  certain  stocks.  To 
that  end  they  asked  the  brokers  to  double 
the  margins  that  they  were  exacting  on 
these  shares. 

With  the  stock  market  returning  to 
normal  under  this  influence,  the  patriot¬ 
ism  of  the  American  people  will  very 
soon  express  itself.  Also  their  good 
judgment  will  help  them  decide.  The 
result  will  be  that  the  foreign  loans  will 
be  subscribed  for  and  taken  off  the  hands 
of  the  bankers,  who  will  then  have  their 
resources  in  liquid  form  again  so  they 
can  extend  aid  to  reviving  business  at 
home. 


Coal  for  the  Navy. 

Our  geographical  location  has  a  material 
influence  upon  the  construction  of  our  ves¬ 
sels  of  war.  The  factors  in  our  geograph¬ 
ical  position  that  make  for  this  difference 
are  our  isolation  and  the  long  stretches 
between  the  literal  of  the  United  States 
and  the  ports  of  its  insular  possessions. 
Our  comparatively  few  and  widely  separ¬ 
ated  coaling  stations,  coupled  with  this 
isolation,  have  made  it  necessary  for  our 
naval  constructors  to  devote  especial  at¬ 
tention  to  affording  ships  the  greatest  pos¬ 
sible  coal  carrying  capacity. 

To  permit  the  necessary  weight  of  coal 
to  be  carried  our  builders  have  been  com¬ 
pelled  to  limit  to  the  utmost  the  weight 
of  the  armor  and  of  machinery,  thereby 
sacrificing,  to  some  extent,  the  vital  qual¬ 
ities  of  protection  and  speed.  The  neces¬ 
sity  of  limiting  the  weight  of,  and  space 
occupied  by  the  boilers,  has  forced  the  in¬ 
stallation  of  boilers  of  light  weight  and 
compact  design  with  limited  combustion 
space.  The  want  of  coaling  stations  also 
makes  it  imperative  that  the  coal  of  the 
United  States  navy  should  be  of  the  best 
kind,  so  that  the  coal  burning  vessels  will 
have  the  maximum  steaming  radius. 

In  explaining  this  Lieut.  Comander  J. 
O.  Richardson,  U.  S.  N.,  in  the  Journal 
of  the  American  Society  of  Naval  Engin¬ 
eers,  argues  against  training  men  to  burn 
western  coal  to  the  exclusion  of  eastern 
coal,  for  such  men  would  have  to  forget 
what  they  now  know  about  the  use  of 
navy  standard  steaming  coal,  and  it  would 
result  in  reduced  naval  preparedness,  be¬ 
cause  in  time  of  war  the  best  obtainable 
coal  must  be  used  and  the  men  must  be 
qualified  to  produce  the  maximum  effi¬ 
ciency  with  this  coal. 

— Army  and  Nai’y  Journal, 


292 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[October  9 


News  Local  to  Chicago. 

Travelers  now  in  the  west  send  back  reports 
from  north  and  south  that  collections  are  im¬ 
proving. 

W.  J.  Carney,  president  of  the  Carney  Coal 
Company,  will  be  in  Wyoming  for  two  weeks 
looking  after  his  operations  in  that  section. 

'I'he  Mueller  Coal  Company,  with  a  yard  on 
the  northwest  side,  filed  this  week  a  petition  in 
bankruptcy.  It  scheduled  assets  of  $9,530.66  and 
liabilities  of  $47,902.66. 

C.  A.  Winne,  formerly  a  member  of  the 
firm  of  Eljah  &  Winne,  Cedar  Rapids,  Iowa, 
has  returned  to  Chicago,  where  he  will  re¬ 
enter  the  coal  business. 

W.  J.  Walsh,  general  manager  of  the  Spring 
Creek  Coal  Company  of  Springfield,  Ill.,  was 
visiting  the  trade  this  week.  Mr.  Walsh  re¬ 
ports  that  the  Sangamon  county  operators 
are  holding  to  prices  quoted  unusually  well. 

Secretary  I.  L.  Runyan  spent  a  portion  of 
the  week  in  Louisville,  Ky.  Mr.  Runyan 
termed  this  visit  his  vacation,  which,  by  the 
way,  is  the  first  one  he  has  enjoyed  in  his 
three  years  as  secretary  of  the  Illinois  &  Wis¬ 
consin  Retail  Dealers’  Association. 

Carl  Scholz,  president  of  the  Rock  Island 
Coal  Company,  and  incidentally  of  the  Ameri¬ 
can  Mining  Congress,  returned  to  Chicago  on 
Sunday  morning  from  his  western  trip.  He 
took  the  northern  route  home  via  the  Canadian 
Pacific  from  San  Francisco,  where  he  had 
been  attending  the  convention. 

According  to  reports  from  Washington,  mem¬ 
bers  of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  are 
having  a  hard  time  to  decide  what  they  will  do 
about  granting  a  rehearing  on  rates  in  the  west. 
They  do  not  seem  to  want  another  hearing.  At 
the  same  time  they  do  not  just  like  to  come  out 
and  say  that  the  incident  is  closed.  The  question 
was  to  have  been  decided  on  October  4th,  but  it 
wasn’t. 

Geo.  W.  Reed  of  the  Lincoln-Springfield 
Coal  Company  notified  his  friends  last  week 
that  he  had  bought  two  season  tickets  for  the 
city  baseball  series  and  consequently  would 
be  on  the  job  this  week  only  in  the  mornings. 
'I'rue  to  his  promise,  he  disappeared  from  his 
office  on  Wednesday  afternoon  and  anyone 
desiring  a  critical  report  of  the  .games  can  be 
accommodated. 

Van.  H.  Manning,  director  of  the  Bureau  of 
Mines,  was  a  visitor  to  the  Chicago  trade  on 
Wednesday  of  this  week.  He  stopped  off  on 
his  way  back  to  Washington  from  San  Fran¬ 
cisco,  where  he  attended  several  mining  meet¬ 
ings.  He  announces  rather  important  changes 
of  policy  in  connection  with  the  bureau  in 
this  particular ;  The  bureau  heads  of  depart¬ 
ments  will  be  located  hereafter  in  Washing¬ 
ton  instead  of  being  located  in  different  parts 
of  the  country  as  they  have  heretofore.  They 
will  form  sort  of  a  cabinet  for  the  director  and 
thus  the  work  of  the  bureau  will  be  simplified 
by  being  centralized.  Mr.  Manning  left  on 
Wednesday  night  for  the  east  intending  to  stop 
in  Pittsburgh  on  his  way  home. 

Roy  Makemson  gives  it  as  his  opinion  after 
a  recent  trip  over  the  big  territory  in  the 
middle  west  that  not  more  than  twenty-five 
per  cent  of  the  normal  volume  of  retail  coal 
business  has  been  done  for  this  year.  He 
says  that  seventy-five  per  cent  of  it  is  still 
to  be  done.  This  means  that  the  trade  is 
going  to  have  a  lively  demand  all  through  the 
remainder  of  this  year.  What  helps  this  im¬ 
pression  along  is  the  fact  that  a  great  many 
of  the  retailers  have  not  obtained  their  money 
for  coal  which  they  sold  and  delivered  last 
year.  As  a  consequence,  the  dealers  are  not 
selling  the  coal  on  credit  this  year,  unless 
they  see  some  ready  money.  This  promises 
to  result  in  a  peddling  coal  business  all  win¬ 
ter.  and  incidentally  a  steady  demand  from  the 
retailers  on  the  wholesale  market. 


Frank  Nelson,  Jr.,  president  of  the  Bryan  Coal 
Corporation  and  of  the  Empire  Coal  Company, 
with  headquarters  at  Birmingham,  Ala.,  was  in 
New  York  last  week.  Mr.  Nelson  is  quoted  by  the 
Times  as  sayin.g :  “The  business  situation  now  is 
excellent.  You  see  the  furnaces,  foundries,  and 
steel  mills  are  the  biggest  users  of  coal,  and  they 
had  been  skimping  for  a  long  time.  They  and 
the  railroads  had  really  led  a  sort  of  hand-to- 
mouth  existence.  But  when  they  began  to  get 
orders,  that  started  the  demand  for  our  product. 
General  business  in  Alabama  is  .good,  and  the 
people  are  optimistic.” 


Small  Activities  in 


Detroit  Local  News. 

W.  T;  Roberts,  western  sales  manager  of  Wil¬ 
liams  &  Peters,  with  headquarters  in  Buffalo, 
visited  Detroit  coal  men  a  few  days  ago. 

Highland  Park,  suburb  of  Detroit,  has  passed 
an  ordinance  prohibiting  sale  of  wet  coke,  the 
penalty  being  a  fine  of  $10  to  $100  for  violation 
of  the  rule. 

Ford  Motor  Company,  Detroit,  is  receiving 
proposals  on  about  14,000  tons  of  nut,  pea  and 
slack  and  on  about  25,000  tons  of  mine  run,  to 
be  delivered  at  the  company’s  plant  in  Highland 
Park. 

Two  additions  recently  were  made  to  the  sales 
force  of  the  Southland  Coal  Company,  Detroit. 
E.  A.  Phelps,  formerly  with  the  Michigan  Coal 
Company,  has  been  assigned  to  the  state  terri¬ 
tory,  and  W.  W.  Clements  of  Cincinnati  is  now 
covering  Kentucky,  southern  Ohio  and  Indiana 
for  the  company. 

Jacob  Borin  of  Borin  Bros.,  retail  coal  dealers 
at  Westminster  avenue  and  the  Grand  Trunk 
Railroad,  Detroit,  faced  a  44-caliber  automatic 
in  the  hand  of  a  would-be  robber,  who  entered 
the  office  Monday.  Seizing  the  weapon,  Borin 
called  his  brother.  They  obtained  the  revolver, 
but  the  hold-up  man  escaped. 


Cleveland  News  Notes. 

Robert  Kline,  well  known  in  the  coal  business 
here,  is  now  with  the  Myers  Coal  Company. 

B.  W.  Wistar,  northern  sales  agent  of  the  Ba¬ 
der  Coal  Company,  Buffalo,  was  in  the  city  early 
this  week. 

J.  K.  Barber,  manager  of  the  local  department 
of  G.  P.  Bassett,  Jr.,  Pittsburgh,  was  in  the  city 
a  few  days  ago. 

'W.  J.  Houston  of  the  Mlercer  Iron  &  Coal 
Company,  Stoneboro,  Pa.,  called  on  the  local 
dealers  this  week. 

It  is  said  that  quite  a  little  West  Virginia  slack 
has  been  shipped  in  box  cars  during  the  past 
week,  wherever  customers  could  handle  it  in  this 
way.  Had  this  not  been  done,  it  is  probable  that 
the  coal  could  not  have  been  shipped  at  all. 

Joseph  Good,  for  some  years  manager  of  the 
Cleveland  branch  of  the  Pittsburgh-Buffalo  Com¬ 
pany,  has  become  general  sales  agent  of  the  Na¬ 
tional  Coal  Company,  whose  offices  are  on  the 
fifteenth  floor  of  the  Rockefeller  building. 

The  Van  Epps  Coal  Company  reports  a  mate¬ 
rially  increased  activity  in  the  anthracite  market, 
with  some  difficulty  in  securing  prompt  shipment, 
because  of  the  car  shortage.  This  company  has 
also  had  a  heavy  demand  for  the  domestic  coals 
handled; 


Buffalo  Trade  Briefs. 

H.  G.  O’Brien  has  succeeded  F.  L.  Garrison, 
resigned,  as  sales  agent  of  the  Pittsburgh-West- 
moreland  Coal  Company,  coming  here  from  the 
company’s  home  office. 

C.  J.  Renwick,  manager  of  the  Keystone  Coal 
&  Coke  Company’s  office,  has  gone  to  the  Pan¬ 
ama-Pacific  Exposition.  He  will  return  by  way 
of  New  Orleans,  takin.g  the  ocean  route  to  New 
York  from  there. 

Irving  S.  Underhill,  president  of  the  Underhill 
Coal  Company,  is  this  week  in  charge  of  the 
campaign  of  Knowlton  Mixer,  who  is  running 
in  next  Tuesday’s  primaries  for  councilman.  Mr. 
Underhill  is  a  member  of  the  Municipal  League, 
which  has  endorsed  several  candidates  in  the 
coming  election. 

A  meeting  of  the  Western  New  York  Canal 
Referendum  Association  was  held  at  the  Chamber 
of  Commerce  on  Wednesday.  Various  Buffalo 
organizations  of  business  men  attended.  One  of 
those  appointed  by  the  mayor  to  represent  this 
city  was  D.  L.  Tuttle,  sales  a.gent  of  the  Phila¬ 
delphia  &  Reading  Coal  &  Iron  Company.  The 
purpose  of  the  meeting  was  to  start  a  campaign 
for  a  canal  bond  issue. 

The  new  Cadogan  mines  of  the  Alle.gheny 
River  Mining  Company,  a  branch  of  the  Shaw- 
mut  Company,'  were  opened  this  month.  When 
fully  developed  the  mines  will  turn  out  about 
5,000  tons  a  day.  They  are  located  on  the  Alle¬ 
gheny  river,  six  miles  below  Kittanning.  The 
town  of  Cadogan  now  has  eighty  houses  and 
a  superintendent’s  residence,  doctor’s  office,  hotel, 
etc.,  have  been  completed  on  a  commandin.g  site 
overlooking  the  river.  Schools,  churches  and 
playgrounds  will  be  provided  and  about  fifty 
more  dwellings  will  be  added  as  soon  as  the 


Many  Coal  Centers. 


mines  approach  full  capacity.  The  entire  equip¬ 
ment  is  of  the  latest  type,  operated  by  electricity. 

William  H.  Hufstader,  vice-president  and  gen¬ 
eral  manager  of  the  J.  B.  Jenkins  Coal  &  Coke 
Company,  died  at  his  home  here  on  October  4th, 
after  an  illness  of  several  months.  He  was  forty- 
eight  years  old  and  leaves  a  wife  and  four  sons, 
Thomas,  William,  Orton  and  Robert,  besides  a 
sister,  Mrs.  Geor.ge  N.  Finch,  of  Maybie,  W.  Va. 
Mr.  Hufstader  had  been  in  the  coal  trade  for  a 
number  of  years,  with  the  Shawmut-Pittsburgh- 
Buffalo  and  Jenkins  companies.  Previously  he 
had  been  superintendent  of  the  P.,  S.  &  N.  Rail¬ 
road  with  headquarters  at  Hornell.  He  was  a 
faithful,  conscientious  worker  for  the  various 
companies  with  which  he  was  engaged  and  had 
steadily  risen  in  a  business  way,  winning  not  only 
the  respect  and  good  will  of  all  his  associates 
but  the  friendship  of  many,  both  in  and  out  of 
the  coal  trade. 


A  number  of  additional  appointments  have  been 
made  by  the  Ohio  mining  department,  which  is 
one  of  the  departments  under  the  Ohio  Industrial 
Commission.  Only  two  of  the  deputy  inspectors 
in  the  various  sub-districts  in  Ohio  have  been 
retained.  They  are  Robert  Wheatley  in  District 
No.  12  and  L.  D.  Devore  in  District  No.  10. 
Recent  appointees  are :  Daniel  Jones  of  Coal, 
succeeding  John  Burke  in  District  No.  1;  James 
Dugan  of  Murray  City,  succeeding  Morris  All- 
baugh  in  District  No.  2;  John  S.  Cox  of  Glouster, 
succeeding  Andrew  Ginnan  in  District  No.  5;  J. 
P.  Davis  of  Alliance,  succeeding  Evan  Lewis  in 
District  No.  7;  Lot  Jenkins  of  Martins  Ferry, 
succeeding  William  H.  Werker  in  District  No.  8; 
B.  S.  Smith  of  Byesville,  succeeding  J.  A.  Collins 
in  District  No.  4,  and  Samuel  James  of  Mag¬ 
nolia,  succeeding  Dennis  Sullivan  in  District 
No.  6. 


All  the  coal  interests  of  West  Virginia  are 
said  to  be  up  in  arms  against  the  proposed  in¬ 
crease  from  twenty-five  to  forty  cents  differen¬ 
tial  in  rate  on  shipments  of  coal  from  West 
Virginia  to  western  markets.  Coal  mine  own¬ 
ers  and  the  miners  themselves  are  said  to  be 
aroused  to  what  they  deem  an  unjust  and 
unfair  discrimination  against  one  of  the  state’s 
important  industries.  Commercial  and  civic 
bodies  have  taken  up  the  matter  and  meetings 
are  being  held  to  stir  public  opinion.  Funds 
have  been  subscribed  to  fight  the  proposed 
tariff  which  the  carriers  of  West  Virginia  will 
ask  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  to 
approve. 


There  is  a  labor  shortage  throughout  the  an¬ 
thracite  fields,  says  the  Mahanoy  America.  The 
companies  are  hiring  men  just  now  for  whom  they 
had  no  places  six  months  ago.  Some  aged  work¬ 
ers  who  had  trouble  in  gettiag  jobs  because  of 
their  advanced  years,  are  being  taken  on  at  many 
of  the  collieries.  One  of  the  companies  has 
given  work  to  a  man  who  believed  that  he  had 
been  blacklisted  forever.  Never  before  has  labor 
been  so  scarce  in  the  hard  coal  belt.  The  Eu¬ 
ropean  war  is  given  as  one  cause,  immigrat*  )n 
being  almost  completely  shut  off  since  the  strug¬ 
gle  began  and  thousands  of  men  have  returned 
to  fight  for  their  native  lands. 


The  Keystone  Consolidated  Publishing  Com¬ 
pany,  of  Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  has  just  issued  the  sec¬ 
ond  edition  of  its  coal  field  directory  and  mining 
catalogue.  The  publication  gives  the  coal  opera¬ 
tor  a  condensed  description  of  all  classes  and 
types  of  machinery  and  equipment  used  in  and 
about  coal  mines.  The  directory  section  contains 
a  list  of  mining  operations  and  officials  with  ad¬ 
dresses. 


Hugh  Munro  of  St.  Paul,  secretary-treasurer 
of  the  Clarkson  Coal  &  Dock  Company,  who 
died  at  his  St.  Paul  home  a  few  days  ago,  was 
formerly  a  resident  of  Duluth,  and  was  in 
the  coal  business  here  up  to  fifteen  years  ago. 
He  was  very  well  known  and  quite  a  number 
of  coal  men  and  others  from  Duluth  attended 
his  funeral. 


Anthracite  Shipments. 


New  York,  October  8. —  {Special  Telegram.) — 
.\nthracite  shipments  for  September  were  5,518,- 
771  as  compared  with  6,246,192  for  September 
last  year.  For  nine  months  they  show  a  decrease 
of  2,688,470  tons  as  compared  with  the  corre- 
spondiag  months  of  last  year. 


No.  15] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


293 


Facts  Which  Determine  Our  Export  Prospects. 


The  Export  Situation. 

The  shortage  of  vessels  for  taking  export  coal 
cargoes  is  likely  to  bring  about  a  very  radical 
curtailment  of  exports  of  American  coals  during 
the  next  few  months,  unless  relief  is  received 
from  sources  that  shippers  do  not  anticipate  at 
the  moment. 

So  far  the  exports  for  the  month  of  September 
are  incomplete,  but  they  are  expected  to  show  a 
total  of  about  830,000  tons  exported  through 
Hampton  Roads,  Baltimore  and  Philadelphia,  as 
compared  with  692,408  tons  for  the  same  month 
of  last  year.  Tt  will  be  recalled  that  September 
of  1914  was  a  record  month  for  exports,  as  it 
was  the  second  month  following  the  commence¬ 
ment  of  the  great  European  war,  and  a  great 
deal  of  business  was  placed  in  this  country  be¬ 
cause  of  the  fact  that  the  shipping  from  England 
was  during  the  first  few  months  of  the  war 
greatly  demoralized.  The  present  shortage  of 
vessels  for  carrying  coal  is  due  to  the  fact  that 
a  great  many  vessels  are  being  required  for 
handling  the  munitions  that  are  goirug  to  the 
warring  countries,  as  witnessed  by  the  movement 
of  a  great  deal  of  munitions  through  New  York 
•harbor  to  Vladivostock,  which  voyage  is  so  very 
lon.g  that  it  ties  up  a  ship  for  months.  Further¬ 
more,  the  grain  movement  is  on,  as  is  also  the 
cotton  movement,  and  these  commodities  pay 
handsome  rates  that  naturally  influence  tonnage. 

Export  from  Hampton  Roads  ports  for  Sep¬ 
tember  ran  around  582,943  tons,  as  compared  with 
432,685  tons  for  September,  1914.  Incomplete 
reports  from  Baltimore  show  exports  of  Sep¬ 
tember  of  200,000,  as  compared  with  128,178  tons 
in  September,  1914.  Philadelphia  exports  are 
estimated  as  150,000  tons  for  this  year,  as  com¬ 
pared  with  58,545  tons  for  September  last  year. 

Some  of  the  coal  exporting  companies  that 
have  Greek  steamers  under  charter,  have  had 
several  cancellations  of  steamers  that  were  to 
report  during  October,  due  to  the  fact  that  the 
Greek  government  has  called  in  a  great  many  of 
its  merchant  steamers  to  be  used  no  doubt  as 
transport  and  munition  ships.  The  cables  last 
week  announced  that  the  withdrawing  of  Greek 
cargo  steamers  from  the  Cardiff-Mediterranean 
service  had  meant  an  increase  of  about  ten 
shillings  a  ton  on  coal  freight  rates  from  Cardiff 
to  the  Mediterranean.  Tuesday’s  cables  stated 
that  Greek  ships  at  Italian  ports  had  been  re¬ 
called.  Notwithstanding  these  withdrawals,  some 
of  the  large  export  companies  report  that  they 
have  enough  steamers  under  charter  to  arrive 
for  loadin.g  during  October  to  make  their  October 
business  show  considerably  larger  than  their  Sep¬ 
tember  business. 

A  diagnosis  of  the  exports  for  September 
shows  that  Italy  continues  to  receive  a  very 
large  percentage  of  the  coal  that  is  going  from 
this  country,  especially  heavy  loads  going  from 
Baltimore  and  Hampton  Roads.  Argentine  and 
Brazil  are  also  receiving  good  quantities.  Ship¬ 
ments  have  increased  very  radically  to  Chile, 
which  took  30,193  tons  from  Hampton  Roads. 
Shipments  continue  in  good  volume  to  France, 
Sweden,  Spain,  Azores  and  Egypt.  One  cargo 
of  3,464  tons  was  shipped  from  Baltimore  to 
Russia,  which  is  unusual. 

Portuguese  interests  are  said  to  be  inquiring  in 
this  country  for  considerable  tonnage. 


Hampton  Roads  September  Exports. 

Exports  of  bituminous  coal  from  the  three 
Hampton  Roads  ports  for  September,  1915,  with 
comparisons  for  September,  1914,  are  as  fol¬ 
lows  ; 


Lambert’s 

Point. 


3,049 

22,820 


9,145 


Country — 

.-\ugusta,  Italy . 

Antofagasta,  Chile . 

Barbados,  B.  W.  I . 

Buenos  Aires,  .‘\rgentine 

Bahia,  Brazil... . 

Caleta  Colosa,  Chile . 

Colon,  Panama . 

Curacao,  D.  W.  I . 

Cienfuegos,  Cuba . 

Dakar,  F.  W.  A .  5,162 

Genoa,  Italy  .  34,276 

Guayamas,  Mexico . 

Havana,  Cuba . 

Kingston,  Jamaica  .  . 

Italian  port . 

Lisbon,  Portugal . 

Leghorn,  Italy . 

Naples.  Italy . 

Magdalena,  Italy . 

Marseilles.  France . 

Montevideo,  Uruguay.. 

Palermo,  Sicily . 

Port  Said,  Egypt . 


-1914 - 

Newport 

News. 


Sewall’s 

Point. 


8,107 

12,463 


25,990 


4,929 

6,746 

4,878 


5,442 

4,520 


4,593 


14,274 


18,870 


6,657 

3,i2.5 


Spezia,  Italy 
.St.  Thomas,  D.  W.  1.. 
St.  Georges,  Bermuda. 
St.  Michaels,  Azores.  . 
Stockholm,  Sweden.... 

Ceara,  Brazil . 

■Sagua,  Cuba . 

.Syracuse,  Italv . 

.Santiago,  Cuba . 

San  Juan,  Porto  Rico. 
St.  Lucia,  B.  \V.  I .  . . 

Gaeta,  Italy . 

Taltal,  Chile . 

Boma,  Congo . 

Torre  Annunziata, 
Bergen,  Norway.  .  .  . 
Vera  Cruz,  Mexico. 

Quebec,  Canada . 

Valparaiso,  Chile.... 

Manila.  P.  I . 

La  Plata,  Argentine 
Demerara,  B.  G.  . .  . 
Cristobal,  Canal  Zon 
Campana,  Argentine. 

Gibraltar  .  . .  .  . . 

Gothenburg,  Sweden 

Cagliari,  Italy . 

Huelva,  Spain . 

Mazatalan,  Mexico.. 


taly . 


Totals 


Country — 

Augusta,  Italy . 

.\ntofagasta,  Chile . 

Barbados,  B.  W.  I . 

Buenos  Aires,  Argentine 

Bahia,  Brazil . 

Caleta  Colosa,  Chile . 

Colon,  Panama . 

Curacao,  I).  W.  I . 

Cienfuegos,  Cuba . 

Dakar,  F.  W.  . 

Genoa,  Italy . 

Guayamas,  Mexico  .... 

Havana,  Cuba.. . 

Kingston,  Jamaica . 

Italian  port . 

Lisbon,  Portugal . 

Leghorn,  Italy . 

Naples,  Italy . 

Magdalena,  Italy . 

Marseilles,  France . 

.Montevideo,  Uruguay... 

Palermo,  Sicily . 

Fort  Said,  Egypt . 

Pira;us,  Greece . 

Ponto  Delgada,  .Azores.. 
Porto  Cabello,  A’enezuela 
Port  of  Spain,  Trinidad 

Pernambuco,  Brazil . 

Puerto  Ferrajo,  Italy... 

Para,  Brazil . 

Rio  Grande  du  Sol,  Brazil 
Rio  de  Janeiro,  Brazil.. 

Savona,  Italy . 

Spezia,  Italy . 

St.  Thomas,  D.  W,  I... 
St.  Georges,  Bermuda... 
St.  Michaels,  Azores.... 

Stockholm,  Sweden . 

Caera,  Brazil . 

Sagua,  Cuba . 

•Syracuse,  Italy . 

■Santiago,  Cuba . 

•San  Juan,  Porto  Rico... 

St.  Lucia,  B.  W.  I . 

Gaeta,  Italy . 

Taltal,  Chile . 

Boma,  Congo. . 

Torre  .Annunziata,  Italy. 
Bergen,  Norway . 


PirjEus,  Greece . 

Ponto  Delgada,  Azores.. 
Porto  Cabello,  Venezuela 
Port  of  Spain,  Trinidad. 

48,107 

4,500 

Puerto  Ferrajo,  Italy... 

Rio  Grande  du  Sol,  Brazil 
Rio  de  Janeiio,  Brazil... 
Savona,  Italy . 

25,295 

5,006 

2,100 

6,011 

7,006 


16,540 

4,008 

6,000 

11,625 

7,194 

5,161 

5,943 


7,545 


6,691 

5,636 

7,004 

4,545 


680 

3,209 

4,677 

3,236 

4,543 

4,967 


3,467 

6,443 


1,988 

6,621 


292,396 


Lambert's 

Point. 


6,305 

4.607 

16,048 

4,117 

6,477 

57,020 

5,486 

4,308 

18,666 

56.166 

2,013 

13,717 

1,978 

16,450 

6,023 

18,724 

26,551 


4,768 

8,897 

9,600 

1,446 

2,296 

4.707 
4,113 

13,350 

8,414 

12,423 

10,585 

4,432 

1.000 

961 

1,636 

6.707 


4,502 


6,164 
'  7, .520 
'i5,79’3 
6,627 


12,069 

2,960 

11,690 

4,275 


5,992 


8,810 


766 


6,4  82 
5,850 


3,300 


126,707 

-191.5- 
Newport 
News. 
6,400 


13,762 

Sewall’s 

Point. 


13,277 


3,620 


2,175 

9,749 


1,912 

8,788 

7,018 


984 


6,195 

5,4.51 


3,742 


Seven 


Vera  Cruz,  ilexico.... 

Quebec,  Canada . 

Valparaiso,  Chile . 

Manila,  P.  1 . 

La  Plata,  Argentine... 

Demerara,  B.  G . 

Cristobal,  Canal  Zone.  . 
Campana,  Argentine.... 

Gibraltar  . 

Gothenburg,  Sweden... 

Cagliari,  Italy . 

Huelva,  Spain . 

Mazatalan,  Mexico . 


3,215 

2,571 


3,005 


5,353 

4,327 


57,203 


Totals  .  373,801  149,739 

Destinations  of  exports  of  bituminous  coal  from 

Hampton  Roads  ports  for  September,  were  as 

follows ; 

Country —  Tonnage. 

Italy  .  236,063 

Panama  . 57,020 

C  uba  .  52,653 

Argentine  .  45,460 

Brazil  .  41,289 

CTile  . .  30.193 

French  West  Africa . 

France  . 

Trinidad  . 

Greece  . 

Egypt  . 

Sweden  . 

Danish  West  Indies . 

Portugal  . 

St.  Lucia,  B.  W.  I . 

Mexico  . 

Barbados,  B.  W.  I . 

Uruguay  . 

.Azores  . 

Venezuela  . 

Tamaica,  B.  W.  I . 

Bermuda  . 


18,666 

11,690 

10.699 

9,600 

8,897 

6,707 

6,486 

6,023 

5,4.51 

5,228 

5,109 

4,275 

3,082 

2,296 

1,978 

961 


Baltimore  September  Exports. 

complete  statement  of  exports  of  bituminous 
from  Baltimore  for  the  month  of  Septem- 
1915,  show  destinations  and  tonnage  as  fol- 


In 
coal 
her, 
lows : 

Country — 

Italy  . 

Sweden 
France  . .  .  . 

Cuba  . 

Spain  . 

Egypt  . 

Costa  Rica. 
Argentine  . . 

Brazil  . 

Peru  . 

Russia  . 

Panama 
•Martinique  . 
Venezuela  .  . 


Tonnage. 

72,825 

38,666 

17,499 

16,405 

10,330 

7,031 

6.882 

9,49!) 

6,858 

4,000 

3,464 

2,949 

919 

337 


Total  .  197,664 


Recent  Coal  Freight  Charters. 

P,  Smith.  Philadelphia  to 


P>o 


Cay 

en,  Philadelphia  to  Calais, 
Philadelphia  to  Calais,  coal. 

Montevideo. 


Schooner  Melbourne 
Francis,  coal.  p.  t. 

Schooner  Fanny  C. 
coal,  $1.35. 

Schooner  William  Booth, 

$1.30 

Steamer  Monkstone  (Br.),  Virginia  to 
coal,  30s,  option  Buenos  Aires,  37s,  October. 

Steamers  Kaupanger  (Nor.),  and  llano  Jensen  (Dan.), 
Baltimore  to  Gothenburg,  coal.  p.  t. 

Steamer  Sangstad  (Nor.),  Baltimore  to  Port  Limon. 
coal.  p.  t. 

Schooner  Clara  E.,  Randall,  Philadelphia  to  Fajardo, 
P.  R.,  coal,  p.  t. 

Schooner  Phineas  M,  Sprague,  Philadelphia  to  Man* 
zanilla,  coal,  $3.75. 

Steamer  Chasehill  (Hr.).  Baltimore  to  Genoa,  coal,  p.  t. 

Steamer  Muskegon,  Atlantic  Range  to  Port  ^lilton, 
coal,  p.  t. 

Steamer 
coal,  p.  t. 

Steamer 
p.  t. 


Tryn  (Nor.),  Philadelphia  to  Cienfuegos, 
San  Guiseppe  (Ital.),  Baltimore  to  Italy,  coal, 


•July- 


Months  Coal  Exports. 

TONS. 

- . , - Seven 


Months  Ending 
1914 

Quantity.  Value. 


July - 

1915 

Quantity.  Value, 


1914  1915  1913 

Quantity.  Value.  Quantity.  Value.  Quantity.  A^alue 

Coal — 

•Bituminous  . 1,339,987  $3,151,064  2,226,493  $5,754,223  2.448,913  $12,855,806  2,211,664  $11,543,636  1,997,817  $10,348,321 

Anthracite  .  338„997  $1,803,990  273,206  $1 ,430,224 - 


Exported  to — 

Canada  . 

Other  countries.. 


328,175  $1,754,765 
10,822  49,225 


2,411,892  $12,676,788  2,175,407  $11,361,393 
267,712  $1,110,361  37,021  179,018  36,257  182,243 

5,494  19,863 - -  - 

- - - -  10,008,012  $25,641,223  7,090,084  $17,548,483 


1,968,404  $10,216,856 
29,413  131,465 


8,587,735  $22,563,356 


Exported  to- 


Italy  . 

502,750  $1,488,941 

1,611,791 

$4,862,571 

Canada  . 

.1,005,859  $2,161,651  1 

,016,413 

2,163,387 

7,120,245  $17,477,803  4,525,830  $ 

9,927,825 

3,790,586 

8,123,772 

Panama  . 

17,450 

47,115 

52,805 

143,708 

321,507 

869,832 

168,898 

454,938 

280,027 

766,837 

Mexico  . 

.  38,571 

132,858 

14,138 

66,976 

350,961 

1,004,007 

190,363 

708,294 

197,739 

908,121 

Cuba  . 

77,880 

222,312 

91,162 

240,713 

772,366 

2,072,767 

616,574 

1,722,103 

620,237 

1,717,876 

(Jther  West  In- 

dies  and  Ber- 

muda  . 

.  42,267 

122,865 

43,959 

133,801 

377,464 

1,088.090 

355,274 

1.050,579 

266,258 

819,472 

Argentina  . 

1.5,320 

41,493 

114,162 

340,661 

48,626 

135,214 

112.408 

.327,236 

533,891 

1.609,219 

Brazil  . 

4,612 

16,893 

84,813 

257,601 

187,555 

592,851 

100,530 

329,837 

429,969 

1,298,992 

26.689 

82,525 

45,594 

134,908 

99,834 

294,073 

O^’her  countries. 

.  138,028 

405,877 

279,602 

835;910 

829,288 

2,400,659 

974,613 

2,892,763 

727.403 

2,162,423 

Total  coal.... 

.1.678.984  $4,955,054  2,499,699  $7,184,447 

12,456,925  $38,497,029  9,301,748  $29,092,119  10,585,552  $32,911,677 

Coke  . 

57,648 

$215,384 

69,825 

$277,518 

550,751 

$2,055,172 

408,441 

$1,520,369 

430,604 

$1,653,292 

*The  above  figures  do  not  include  fuel  or  bunker  coal  laden  on  vessels  engaged  in  the  foreign  trade,  which  aggre¬ 
gated  during  the  month  and  seven  mcnths  ending  July  as  follows:  July.  1914,  681.370  tons,  valued  at  $2,243,396; 
Inly,  1915,  712,880  tons,  valued  at  $2,397,518;  seven  months  Tu’y.  1913,  4,409,307  tons,  valued  at  $14,375,557;  1914, 
5.525,876  tons,  valued  at  $14,964,154;  1915,  4,354,037  tons,  valued  at  $14,651,753. 

IFigurvS  are  for  6  months,  January  to  June,  inclusive. 

JFigures  cover  period  beginning  July  1. 


294 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[October  9 


General  Review. 


The  Buying  of  Domestic  Coal  Generally 
Is  Heavier — Steam  Coal  Is  Fair 
and  Cars  Are  Scarce. 

Some  of  the  abnormal  features  of  the  market 
that  liave  been  bothersome  for  the  last  month 
have  toned  down  a  little.  If  the  trade  were  de¬ 
pendent  upon  that,  as  heretofore,  the  situation 
would  be  easier.  However,  as  an  offset,  there  has 
come  a  very  much  bigger  demand  for  domestic 
coal  in  all  parts  of  the  country.  Thus  the  oper¬ 
ators  have  gained  in  the  latter  direction  far  more 
than  they  lost  in  the  former  and  the  whole  mar¬ 
ket  as  a  consequence  is  decidedly  stronger. 

.Also,  it  is  true  that  while  the  trade  has  lost 
some  tonnage  in  the  matter  of  exports,  it  has 
.gained  at  home  more  than  it  lost  abroad.  Thus 
in  the  steam  department,  the  operators  have  had 
a  net  increase  in  business. 

In  the  matter  of  price,  the  situation  pretty 
.generally  has  strengthened  up.  In  the  first  place, 
the  danger  of  a  shortage  of  anthracite  has 
strengthened  the  market  there.  The  home  de¬ 
mand  has  removed  all  suggestion  of  price  wars 
from  the  smokeless  field.  In  the  east  the  im¬ 
provement  in  the  domestic  demand  has  so 
strengthened  that  situation,  even  the  operators 
who  were  cuttin.g  prices  are  now  standing  out  for 
circular  figure  or  asking  premiums. 

The  car  situation,  especially  in  the  east,  is  be¬ 
coming  quite  bothersome.  A  short  time  ago  the 
Baltimore  &  Ohio  Railroad,  for  one  example, 
gave  notice  that  the  car  allotment  plan  for  this 
fall  was  goin.g  into  effect.  This  announcement 
is  never  made  until  the  car  situation  becomes 
threatening.  At  the  same  time,  this  week  that 
and  other  railroads  have  notified  the  operators 
that  they  would  have  to  be  content  with  only  a 
percentage  of  the  cars  instead  of  a  full  allotment. 
This  means  the  danger  zone  has  been  entered.  In 
some  places  in  West  Virginia,  the  report  is  that 
some  of  the  railroads  are  only  able  to  furnish 
enough  cars  to  keep  the  mines  runnin.g  about 
forty  per  cent  of  the  time.  In  the  west  the  car 
shortage  is  not  serious  so  far,  but  the  railroads 
are  beginning  to  appeal  to  the  operators  to  load 
cars  to  full  capacity,  to  move  them  quickly,  and 
to  give  as  direct  billing  as  possible  in  order  to 
avoid  the  congestion  of  equipment  and  later  a 
shortage  of  cars.  That  is,  even  in  the  west,  the 
pinch  is  beginning  to  be  felt.  The  reason  for  this 
undoubtedly  is  that  while  the  crop  movement  was 
held  up  for  quite  a  while  on  account  of  wet 
weather,  the  roads  now  being  in  good  condition, 
the  grain  movement  is  started.  This  tightens  the 
engine  and  car  situation. 

Admittedly,  the  movement  of  the  coal  to  the 
lakes  is,  for  this  year,  below  normal  and  there 
was  some  belief  that  the  coal  operators  would  try 
to  amend  affairs  toward  the  end  of  the  season 
of  navigation.  If  that  were  the  intention  of  the 
operators,  the  movement  would  now  be  under 
way,  as  the  season  has  only  six  weeks  to  run. 
Some  operators  are  indeed  disposed  to  ship  coal 
and  some  of  the  docks  are  inclined  to  buy  it. 
The  difficulty  now  is  to  get  boats.  This  is  the 
season  when  the  grain  movem.ent  is  heaviest  and 
since  upper  lake  shippers  are  payin.g  six  cents 
a  bushel  for  transportation,  the  boats  are  going 
into  that  trade,  rather  than  stop  to  take  coal  on 
the  up-bound  trip. 

.■\fter  all,  the  determining  factor  in  the  whole 
market  has  been  the  weather.  From  east  to  west 
the  temperature  has  been  rather  low  or  enough 
to  make  a  fire  necessary.  The  lower  temperature 
has  been  accompanied  mainly  by  high  winds, 
which  increased  the  consumption  of  coal.  Every¬ 
thing  considered,  the  operators  are  having  a 
good  market  at  prices  which  are  more  than  fair. 


•A.  H.  Coolidge,  sales  manager  of  the  Imperial 
Coal  Sales  Company,  severed  his  connection  Oc¬ 
tober  1st,  instead  of  November  1st,  the  condition 
of  his  wife  making  it  necessary  that  he  should 
be  at  her  bedside  in  Dayton,  Ohio.  She  under¬ 
went  an  operation  this  week  at  a  Dayton  hos¬ 
pital  and  the  latest  information  is  to  the  effect 
that  the  operation  is  successful  and  that  the 
patient  is  improving.  Due  to  the  retirement 
of  Mr.  Coolid.ge  from  the  offices  of  the  Imperial 
Coal  Sales  Company,  Quinn  Morton,  president 
of  the  company  and  of  the  Imperial  Coal  Com¬ 
pany,  of  Burnwell,  W.  Va.,  was  at  the  Cincinnati 
offices  last  week.  Mr.  Morton  was  an  invalid  for 
a  month  in  the  Sinton  Hotel  of  Cincinnati  in 
.August,  but  has  recovered  and  will  divide  his 
time  between  the  Burnwell  offices  and  Cincinnati. 


Chicago  Market. 

Buying  Has  Eased  Up  a  Little  After  the 
Rate  Changes,  But  Prices 
Are  Firm. 


Office  of  The  Black  Diamond, 
Chicago,  October  7th. 

The  position  of  the  Chicago  market  is  almost 
exactly  the  reverse  of  what  it  was  two  weeks 
ago.  Then  the  stren.gth  was  in  the  western  coals 
and  the  weakness  was  in  tlie  eastern  coals.  To¬ 
day  the  eastern  coals  are  quite  stronger  and  the 
western  coals  are  not  quite  so  strong.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  the  demand  all  told,  has  increased 
considerably,  but  western  buying  is  not  quite  so 
heavy  as  it  was  because  the  freight  rates  have 
now  gone  into  effect.  Up  until  the  first  of  Octo¬ 
ber  the  retailers  were  buying  to  get  advantage 
of  the  low  freight  rate.  For  the  first  couple 
of  weeks  of  this  month  they  are  moving  out 
their  stocks  instead  of  buying  new  supplies.  That 
gives  the  eastern  coal  on  which  no  freight  rate 
changes  have  been  made  a  slight  call  on  the  mar¬ 
ket  for  the  time  being. 

Anthracite  coal  has  begun  to  pick  up  quite  a 
good  deal.  The  operators  have  reported  a  pro¬ 
gressive  shortage  of  production  at  the  mines 
until  now  the  output  is  two  and  one-half  million 
tons  behind  what  it  was  this  time  last  year.  With 
the  first  of  October  the  buyin.g  movement  started 
in  real  earnest  and  not  only  are  prices  firmer, 
but  sales  are  very  much  heavier. 

The  smokeless  coal  is  back  to  the  point  where 
it  is  again  practically  a  one-priced  coal.  The 
cold  weather  of  the  last  week  caused  the  real 
estate  agents  to  buy  coal  for  their  flat  buildings 
and  this  threw  the  retailers  upon  the  market  for 
fresh  supplies.  This  took  up  the  relatively  small 
supply  of  free  coal  and  as  a  consequence,  the 
market  is  today  firm  at  circular  price  of  $1.40 
on  mine  run.  Lump  and  egg  are  still  a  little  easy 
but  the  price  has  not  broken  below  $3.00  a  ton 
for  the  last  week.  The  prices  up  to  Thursday 
were : 

F.  p.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Smokeless —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Mine  run  .  $3.45  $1.40 

Lump  and  egg .  4.05@4.30  2.00@2.25 

Somerset  county  coal  is  pretty  firm.  Even  the 

smaller  concerns  are  now  gettiag  $1.35  and  the 
larger  operators  who  happen  to  control  the  bet¬ 
ter  grades  of  coal,  are  getting  a  minimum  of 
$1.40.  On  lump  and  egg,  the  larger  operators 
are  holding  for  $3.10  or  better,  although  here  and 
there  some  sales  are  made  for  $3.00.  Prices  up 
to  Thursday  were : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Somerset  County —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Mine  run . $3.30@3.40  $1.25@1.40 

Lump  and  egg .  3.80@4.30  1.75@2.2.5 

Owing  to  a  curious  custom  among  the  retailers 
in  Chicago,  the  Hocking  market  has  not  been 
quite  so  stron.g  this  week.  They  change  from 
summer  to  winter  circular  price  on  the  first 
of  October,  the  difference  being  fifty  cents  a 
ton.  Prior  to  the  change,  the  buying  was  quite 
heavy.  After  that  change  the  market  eased  off 
a  little.  For  three-inch  lump  the  price  for  last 
week  has  been  in  the  main  $1.75,  although  some 
operators  are  taking  less  Occasionally,  the  price 
.going  down  to  $1.60.  The  market  up  to  Thurs¬ 
day  was : 

F.  p.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Hocking —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Domestic  lump . $3.15@3.40  $1.50@1.75 

The  splint  situation  is  just  a  little  mixed.  The 
operators  have  recently  had  a  very  extraordinary 
demand  for  coal  which  warrants  them  in  holding 
for  $1.50  a  ton  at  the  mines  as  a  minimum  on 
splint  coal  in  box  cars.  Most  of  this  coal  of 
course  is  for  shipment  through  Chicago  to  the 
west.  There  the  all-rail  coal  is  encountering  dock 
coal  which  was  sold  by  the  same  mines  to  the 
(locks  during  the  summer  at  very  much  lower 
prices.  In  consequence,  the  dock  prices  are  fif¬ 
teen  to  twenty-five  cents  a  ton  below  the  all¬ 
rail  price.  Even  so,  a  fair  volume  of  business 
has  been  done.  The  prices  up  to  Thursday  were : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Xanav/ha —  Chicago.  Mines. 

It4-inch  lump . $3.15(®3.40  $1.25@1.50 

Eastern  Kentucky  coal  shows  a  very  good  de¬ 
mand  for  the  better  .grades  but  the  same  variabil¬ 
ity  of  price  as  heretofore,  has  been  noted.  Some 
of  the  off-grade  coals  are  selling  for  $1.65,  usually 
such  coals  are  inferior  preparations.  Better  pre¬ 
pared  and  best  known  coals  are  commancling 
$2,  while  the  leader  of  the  market  is  command¬ 
ing  $3.35.  The  prices  up  to  Thursday  were : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B 

Eastern  Kentucky —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Domestic  lump . $3.6.5@4.15  $1.75<®2.25 

Egg  .  3.25@3.75  1.35@1.85 


The  Franklin  county  situation  under  any  nor¬ 
mal  condition  of  production  would  be  considered 
exceptionally  strong.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  an 
appalling  volume  of  that  coal  has  been  moving 
to  market  lately,  at  prices  that  are  considered 
more  than  fair.  The  only  handicap  under  which 
the  market  is  suffering  is  not  one  of  normal 
growth  of  demand,  but  an  abnormal  growth  of 
production.  The  doubling  of  productive  capacity 
in  places  and  a  steady  increase  in  productive 
capacity  in  other  places  has  given  the  market 
a  mighty  task  to  absorb  the,  output.  Even  so, 
lump  and  number  one  nut  are  firm  in  the  coun¬ 
try  at  $1.75  and  egg  here  and  there  is  sold  at 
$1.60,  but  in  the  main  is  firm  at  $1.75.  The  num¬ 
ber  two  nut  is  in  most  places  about  firm.  Screen¬ 
ings  after  a  period  of  weakness  a  short  time 
ago,  have  strengthened  up,  selling  at  fifty  cents  a 
ton  in  the  city  and  sixty  cents  in  the  country. 
Prices  up  to  Thursday  were : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Franklin  County —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Lump  .  $2.80  $1.75 

Egg  .  2.80  1.75 

No.  1  nut .  2.80  1.75 

No.  2  nut .  2.45  1.40 

Mine  run .  2.15@2.20  1.10@1.15 

2-inch  screenings  .  1.55(ai.63  .50@  .60 

Williamson  county  coal  has  had  a  better  de¬ 

mand  within  the  last  week.  A  few  of  the  mines 
are  runnin.g  to  capacity,  but  of  course  the  field 
cannot  do  that  because  we  are  not  in  any  such 
extraordinary  times  as  would  warrant  keeping 
all  the  mines  busy.  The  better  operators  have 
held  firmly  to  circular  of  $1.75  and  a  few  of  the 
mines  which  might  be  said  to  be  in  the  second 
division  have  switched  over  from  the  $1.60  cir¬ 
cular  to  the  higher  one  of  $1.75.  Even  the 
smaller  operators  are  not  reported  as  getting 
below  $1.60.  The  smaller  sizes  are  not  moving 
quite  so  well,  due  to  slowness  of  the  steam  trade. 
The  prices  up  to  Thursday  were : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Williamson  County —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Lump  . $2.65(®2.80  $1.60@1.76 

Egg  .  2.65(®2.80  1.60@1.75 

No.  1  washed .  2.80  1.75 

No.  2  washed .  2.45  1.40 

Saline  county  continues  to  devote  itself  mainly 
to  steam  coal  with  most  emphasis  on  steam  lump 
at  $1.30  to  $1.30  and  screenings  about  fifty  cents. 
There  has  been  a  steady  increase  in  demand  for 
lump  coal  with  the  prices  strengthening  up  to 
$1.75.  Prices  up  to  Thursday  were: 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Saline  County —  Chirago.  Mines. 

Lump  . $2.65<®2.80  $1.60@1.75 

Mine  run .  2.20 

Screenings  .  1.55@1.65 

154-inch  lump .  2.35 

The  market  on  Sangamon  county  lump  coal  is 
firm  at  $1.75.  The  egg  is  not  moving  quite  so 
well,  but  the  nut  coal  is  firm.  Screenings  have 
strengthened  up  somewhat  within  the  last  week, 
going  to  forty-five  cents  in  most  places  and  to 
fifty  cents  in  some.  The  prices  up  to  Thursday 
were : 

F.  O.  B. 

Central  Illinois —  Chicago. 

Lump  . $2.47 

Egg  .  2.32@2.47 

Nut  .  2.47 

Mine  run .  1.87 

Screenings  .  1.22 

Knox  county  coal  continues  to  be  devoted  to 
the  steam  coal,  namely  with  screenings  at  sixty- 
five  to  seventy  cents  and  mine  run  not  firm  at 
$1.05  to  $1.10.  The  prices  up  to  Thursday  were. 


1.16 

50(^  .60 
'1.30 


F.  O.  B. 
Mines. 
$1.65 
1.50@1.65 
1.65 
l.OS 
.40 


F.  0.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

Knox  County— 

Chicago. 

Mines. 

Lump  . 

.  $2.37 

$1.5C 

Eeg  . 

1.68 

Mine  run . 

.  1.87 

l.Oi 

Screenings  . 

.  1.52 

.65 

The  demand  for 

the 

number  four 

coal  from 

the  Clinton  field  by 

the  domestic  trade  has  in- 

creased  preceptibly  within  the  last  week,  the  best 

indication  of  the  market  is  the  increasing  de- 

mand  for  the  number  five  and  six  coal  for  do- 

niestic  purposes.  The 

prices  up  to 

Thursday 

were : 

F.  O.  B. 

F.  0.  B. 

Clinton — 

Chicago. 

Mines. 

No.  4  domestic  lump... 

. $2.42@2.57 

$1.65  (®1. 75 

No.  4  egg . 

.  2.12 

1.35 

Nut  . 

1.35 

No.  5  and  6  mine  run. 

.  1.87 

1.10 

No.  5  and  6  screenings 

.  1.37@1.42 

,60(®  .65 

The  coke  market 

is 

stronger.  The 

Connells- 

ville  foundry  coke  is  now  sellin.g  at  $2.25  to  $2.40, 
and  furnace  coke  $1.90  to  $2.00.  By-product  coke 
is  firm  at  $5,  while  the  domestic  sizes  of  by¬ 
product  are  just  a  trifle  easy  at  $4.65  to  $4.75. 
Gas  house  is  reported  a  little  stronger  than  last 
week.  The  prices  Up  to  Thursday  were : 

F.  O.  B. 
Chicago. 

.$4.85(316.00 
.  4.90@5.10 
.  4.fi5(®4.7.’i 
.  4.05(^4.75 
.  3.90(®4.00 


Coke — 

Connellsville  . 

By-proHiirt.  foundry . 

TV'prjduct,  eggr  and  stove. 

T^v-product  nut  . 

das  house  . 


No.  15] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


295 


Pittsburgh  Trade. 

Shipments  on  Contracts  Are  Heavy  and 
Some  Good  Spot  Sales  Have 
Just  Been  Made. 


Office  of  The  Black  Diamond, 
1502  Oliver  Building, 

Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  October  6,  1915. 

While  there  has  been  no  pronounced  general 
activity  in  the  Pittsburgh  coal  market  the  past 
week,  some  very  good  business  has  been  done 
in  spot  coal,  and  decidedly  larger  deliveries  on 
contracts.  Prices  have  not  varied  greatly  from 
quotations  of  some  weeks  past,  but  producers 
are  not  anxious  to  book  orders  at  current 
figures.  In  a  number  of  instances  coal  opera¬ 
tors  will  not  consider  1916  business  except  at 
sharp  advances,  the  larger  concerns  quoting 
.$1.25  to  $1.30  for  mine  run,  $1.35  to  $1.40  for 
three-quarters,  and  $1.40  to  $1.50  for  five-quar¬ 
ters  lump  coal,  slack  bringing  eighty  cents  to 
eighty-five  cents  when  it  can  be  had,  but  a 
decided  scarcity  is  felt. 

There  is  a  general  and  emphatic  complaint 
of  car  shortage,  and  scarcity  of  labor  in  both 
coal  and  coke,  and  with  slow  but  steadily 
advancing  prices  in  both  lines  the  situation 
may  be  likened  to  that  of  the  war  in  Europe — 
with  the  producer  representing  the  Allies  and 
deciding  to  turn  the  tide  a  little  from  the  way 
it  has  been  running. 

Generally  the  war  products  business  is  still 
the  dominating  factor,  and  the  rush  of  busi¬ 
ness  is  confined  to  the  manufacture  of  war 
supplies  and  related  products,  the  merchant 
producers  of  both  coal  and  coke  as  yet  not 
feeling  to  any  great  extent  the  boom  or  the 
demand  for  domestic  industrial  consumption. 
Foreign  inquiry  holds  up  well,  but  there  seems 
to  be  less  general  publicity  in  connection  with 
this  class  of  buying. 

Railroads  have  been  more  pronounced  buy¬ 
ers  and  the  stocking  process  seems  to  be 
continuing.  The  car  shortage  is  explained  in 
various  ways,  but  the  most  generally  ex¬ 
pressed  opinion  is  that  large  numbers  of  cars 
of  all  types  have  been  laid  up  for  months  past, 
out  of  repair,  and  no  effort  apparently  on  the 
part  of  the  railroads  being  made  to  put  them 
in  commission,  though  it  is  said  considerably 
increased  orders  for  general  supplies  and 
equipment  indicate  that  something  is  to  be 
done. 

Lake  coal  trade  continues  very  light  though 
ore  shipments  are  reported  as  exceptionally 
heavy — another  explanation  of  car  scarcity. 

Heavy  rains  over  the  water  sheds  the  past 
week  placed  the  Ohio  river  at  a  coal  shipping 
stage,  the  first  time  in  months,  and  the  river 
shipping  coal  companies  started  something 
over  a  million  bushels  of  coal  toward  southern 
markets  last  Sunday  and  Monday  on  the  crest 
of  the  rise. 

The  Monongahela  River  Consolidated  Coal 
&  Coke  Company  started  a  fleet  composed 
of  the  towboats  Tom  Dodsworth,  Charlie 
Brown  and  Harry  Brown,  with  thirty-five 
barges  of  coal,  ten  steel  barges  and  fifteen 
fuel  boats,  which  carried  approximately  750,000 
bushels  of  coal.  The  Diamond  Coal  &  Coke 
Company  started  the  towboat  A.  R.  Budd 
with  seventeen  barges  of  coal,  amounting  to 
about  255,000  bushels. 

A  barge  in  tow  of  the  towboat  Volcano  of 
the  Diamond  Coal  &  Coke  Company  was 
swept  against  the  wall  of  Lock  No.  5  at 
Brownsville,  Pa.,  and  7,000  bushels  of  coal 
were  lost  last  Friday,  a  fleet  of  eleven  barges 
being  towed  by  the  steamer  at  that  time. 
The  Monongahela  river  rose  about  one  foot 
an  hour  at  Brownsville.  These  fleets  have 
met  with  much  trouble  since  their  departure 
from  the  Pittsburgh  harbor.  Only  the  fact 
that  the  wickets  were  down,  due  to  the  high 
water  in  the  Ohio  river,  saved  the  towboat 
A.  R.  Budd  from  damage  or  destruction  Sun¬ 
day  afternoon,  when  it  was  swept  over  three 
dams,  with  its  tow  of  ten  barges  and  two 
flats  of  coal,  after  becoming  helpless  through 
the  breaking  of  its  wheelshaft.  As  it  was, 
extreme  difficulty  was  encountered  by  three 
other  towboats,  the  Iron  City,  Sam  Barnum 
and  Twilight,  who  joined  in  a  thrilling  race 
from  Pittsburgh  harbor  to  Sewickley  to  save 
the  helpless  craft. 

Several  tows  of  coal  sent  out  of  this  harbor 
on  the  present  rise  have  been  forced  to  tie 
up  at  Dam  No.  14,  near  Woodlawn,  where  the 
pass  is  now  too  narrow  to  permit  the  tows  to 
pass  through,  according  to  reports  reaching 


here  today.  Officials  of  the  transportation  de¬ 
partments  of  the  shipping  coal  companies  here, 
together  with  Government  officials,  started  im¬ 
mediately  for  No.  14.  The  channel  here  is 
now  available  only  near  the  lock  wall  on  the 
Ohio  shore,  the  abutment,  weir  and  bear  traps 
being  surrounded  by  cofferdams.  It  is  pos¬ 
sible  that  the  trouble  may  be  remedied  before 
the  rise  passes,  as  heavy  rains  over  the  water¬ 
sheds  of  the  Allegheny  checked  the  falling  of 
the  rivers. 

Many  rumors  have  been  current  for  two 
weeks  past  coupling  the  name  of  the  Pitts¬ 
burgh  Coal  Company  with  the  Midvale  Steel 
and  Bethlehem  Steel  Company,  implying  that 
the  coal  interests  would  be  controlled  by  the 
new  steel  organization.  These  reports  seem 
to  have  no  reliable  source,  and  a  call  at  the 
offices  of  the  coal  company  resulted  in  the 
statement  that  if  such  movement  was  contem¬ 
plated  or  under  way,  they  had  absolutely  no 
knowledge  of  it,  and  that  if  any  stock  transac¬ 
tions  to  that  end  were  being  manipulated  they 
were  not  aware  of  the  circumstances.  To  ac¬ 
complish  anything  of  this  kind  would  mean  the 
absorption  of  a  very  large  amount  of  Pitts¬ 
burgh  coal  stock,  by  any  syndicate  or  inter¬ 
ests  that  would  be  interested,  and  while  no 
one  seems  to  be  in  a  position  to  affirm  or 
deny  rumors,  they  are  given  little  credence  in 
coal  circles.  Other  coal  interests  have  also 
been  mentioned  in  connection  with  the  new 
steel  organization,  but  the  location  of  their 
holdings  precludes  the  possibility  of  such  a 
consummation. 

The  coke  market  continues  to  show  increas¬ 
ing  strength,  though  no  new  figures  have  been 
advanced  as  yet  on  1915.  Reports  are  plenti¬ 
ful  that  additional  furnaces,  both  east  and  west, 
are  to  be  blown  in  soon,  but  no  definite  action 
seems  to  be  taken,  though  some  new  inquiry 
for  furnace  coke  is  out.  Operators  have 
cleaned  up  all  surplus  or  accumulated  coke 
that  has  been  on  hand,  and  the  same  labor 
and  car  troubles  that  apply  to  coal  will  have 
a  tendency  to  continue  to  stiffen  coke  prices. 
One  producer  informs  us  that  last  week  only 
a  trifle  over  one-half  of  their  car  demand  was 
met  by  certain  railroads. 


Personal  and  News  Items. 

The  plant  of  the  Echard  Coal  &  Coke  Com¬ 
pany,  at  Star  Junction,  near  Connellsville,  has 
been  put  in  operation  after  having  been  idle 
for  about  two  years. 

John  M.  Jamison,  president  of  the  Jamison 
Coal  &  Coke  Company,  who  has  been  spending 
several  weeks  in  France  in  the  interests  of 
his  company,  returned  home  on  Thursday  of 
last  week. 

The  Central  Fairmont  Coal  Company  of 
West  Virginia  has  just  closed  a  yearly  con¬ 
tract  with  a  railroad  company  for  the  latter’s 
entire  requirements  of  coal  and  is  now  hiring 
about  100  additional  miners. 

'File  coal  operations  in  the  Hilliard  district, 
Butler  county.  Pa.,  is  improving  over  the 
summer  months,  a  number  of  good  contracts 
having  been  secured  during  the  past  several 
weeks,  and  present  possibilities  are  that  more 
miners  will  be  employed  in  this  district  during 
the  winter  season  than  ever  before. 

The  Bannock  Coal  Company  of  Bellaire, 
Ohio,  has  incorporated  with  a  capital  stock 
of  $75,000.  The  incorporators  are  A.  J.  Mor¬ 
gan,  W.  J.  Morgan,  Herbert  McVay,  Alma 
Dittrich  and  Fred  Spriggs.  The  company  has 
leased  a  number  of  acres  of  coal  at  Bannock 
on  the  Cleveland,  Lorain  and  Wheeling  divi¬ 
sion  of  the  B.  &  O.  and  work  of  mining  coal 
will  start  in  a  few  weeks.  The  principal 
owner  is  A.  J.  Morgan  of  this  city,  proprietor 
of  the  Edgehill  mine. 


Indianapolis  Trade. 

Indianapolis,  Ind.,  October  7. —  {Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — The  demand  for  domestic  coal 
in  Indiana  is  very  good  but  the  demand  for 
steam  is  poor.  The  retailers  here  advanced  the 
price  of  all  domestic  coal  25  cents  a  ton.  Steam 
coal  is  selling  at  summer  prices  and  very  little 
more  is  being  moved  than  was  the  case  sev¬ 
eral  weeks  ago. 

Operators  say  that  the  trade  in  steam  coal 
is  very  disappointing.  They  had  anticipated 
better  business  by  this  time  of  the  year,  but  it 
has  failed  to  materialize.  The  stories  they  tell 
about  the  movement  of  steam  coal  do  not  tally 
with  the  big  reports  of  prosperity  in  the  east¬ 


ern  markets  where  there  is  a  bulge  in  busi¬ 
ness  because  of  the  war  orders.  There  are  a 
few  factories  in  Indiana  with  war  orders  but 
it  appears  that  they  are  not  sufficient  to  bring 
the  demand  for  steam  coal  up  to  normal. 

The  demand  for  domestic  coal,  however,  is 
as  good  or  better  than  it  was  at  this  time  a 
year  ago.  All  of  the  operating  companies  are 
busy  filling  their  orders  for  domestic.  There 
is  the  usual  amount  of  free  coal  on  the  mar¬ 
ket  but  the  prices  are  steady,  being  about  the 
same  as  they  were  this  time  last  year.  Best 
No.  4  domestic  is  selling  as  high  as  $1.65  a  ton 
at  the  mines.  Other  grades  range  from  $1.40  a 
ton  at  the  mines  to  $1.50  and  $1.60.  The 
demand  for  screenings  is  a  disappointment. 
Some  No.  4  screenings  are  selling  around  sev¬ 
enty  cents  a  ton  at  the  mines,  with  Nos.  5 
and  6  about  ten  cents  lower.  Some  very,  in¬ 
ferior  grades  of  screenings  have  been  sold  on 
the  open  market  lately  as  low  as  forty  cents  a 
ton. 


Inch  and  a  quarter  steam  lump  is  weak.  In 
fact  all  broken  coal  is  weak.  Operators  say, 
however,  that  the  outlook  for  all  lines  is  im¬ 
proving  and  that  business  is  bound  to  im¬ 
prove  within  a  short  time.  The  retailers  here 
are  having  difficulty  in  getting  Pocahontas  and 
other  eastern  coals  and  the  indications  are 
that  there  will  be  further  advances  soon  in 
these  grades. 


The  wholesalers  in  Indiana  are  offering  coal 
at  the  following  prices: 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Indiana —  Mines.  Indianapolis. 

Mine  run.  No.  4 . $1.10@1.20  $1.6001.60 

Mine  run  Nos.  5  and  6 .  1,0.1©1.1.1  1..’)5©1.6.‘5 

Nut  .  1.20@1.30  1.70©!. 80 

Kgg  .  1.30@1.40  1.80©1.9n 

I’/J-inch  steam  lump .  1.25@1.35  l.TSOl.S.l 

No.  4  screenings . 70©  .75  1.20@1.25 

Nos.  5  and  6  screenings . 55©  .65  1.05©1.15 

2H-inch  domestic  No.  4 .  1.50©1.55  2.00©2.n5 

No.  4  domestic .  1.60@1.65  2.10©2.15 

Nos.  5  and  6  domestic .  1.40©1.60  1.90©2.in 

Brazil  block  domestic .  2.25@2.50  2.73@2.50 

No.  1  washed  coal .  1.75  2.25 

No.  2  washed  coal .  .  1.05  2.15 

Southern  Indiana  Field — 

No.  5  mine  run .  1.05@1.10  . 

Domestic  lump .  1.40©1.50  . 

The  Indianapolis  retail  dealers  this  week  posted  the 
following  schedule  of  prices: 


Per  Ton. 


I-inton  No.  4  forked . $3.25 

Indiana  lump  forked .  S.nn 

Indiana  lump  and  egg,  screened .  2.75 

Kanawha  lump,  forked .  4.2,5 

Ohio  Hocking,  lump  .  4.25 

Ohio  Hocking,  washed  egg .  4.50 

Kentucky  lump .  4.50 

Ohio  Jackson  lump,  forked .  5.00 

Blosshurg  smithing .  5.50 

Cannel  lump .  6,00 

Pocahontas  forked  lump .  6.00 

Pocahontas  shoveled  lump .  5.50 

Pocahontas  mine  run . 4,50 

Pocahontas,  nut  and  slack .  3.75 

.\nthracite,  chestnut .  8.25 

Anthracite,  stove  and  egg .  8.00 

Anthracite,  grate .  7.75 

Connellsville  coke .  6.00 

Indianapolis  by-product  coke,  egg  and  nut .  6.00 

Pea  coke .  5. 00 


EXTRA  DELIVERY  CHARGE. 


Bags,  50c  a  ton  extra,  ground  floor  or  dumped  in 
cellar. 

Bags,  75c  a  ton  extra,  carried  into  cellar. 

Charge  for  chute  or  wheelbarrow,  25c  a  ton. 

Coke,  bags,  COc;  bags  in  cellar,  80c. 


Omaha  Trade. 


Omaha,  Neb.,  October  7th. —  (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — There  is  not  very  much  demand  for 
coal  this  week,  the  condition  undoubtedly  result¬ 
ing  from  the  rush  to  get  in  ahead  of  the  advance 
in  freight  rates  the  latter  part  of  September.  It 
is  clear  and  warm,  which  has  had  the  effect  of 
easing  up  the  demand  for  steam  coal. 

General  business  conditions  are  slightly  im¬ 
proved  on  account  of  weather  conditions  being 
favorable  for  the  corn  crop. 

The  following  market  prices  prevail : 


Mines 

Omaha 

Southern  Kansas — 

Nut  . 

$2.00 

$3.45 

Slack  . 

1.35 

2.80 

Franklin  County — 

Lump  . 

.  1.60©  1.75 

4. 10©  1.25 

Egg  . 

.  1. 60©  1.75 

4.10@4.25 

Nut  . 

.  I.60@1.75 

4,10@4.25 

Williamson  County — 

T.ump  . 

3.95@4.10 

Egg  . 

.  1.45@1.60 

3.95  ©4. 10 

Rock  Springs — 

Lump  . 

2.10 

5.8.5 

Nut  . 

1.60 

5.35 

Arkansas  Anthracite — 

Lump  . 

3.70 

6,60 

Broken  sizes  . 

3.95 

0.85 

Routt  County,  Colo. — 

Lump  . 

3.00 

6.75 

Nut  . 

2.25 

6.00 

Pea  . 

1.25 

5.00 

Walsenburg  District,  Colo. — 

lump  . 

3.00 

6.75 

Nut  . 

2.25 

6.00 

Pea  . 

1.25 

5.00 

THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[October  9 


296 


Cincinnati  Trade. 

The  Demand  for  All  Domestic  Coals  Is 
Stronger  But  the  Steam  Trade 
Is  Easy. 

Cincinnati,  Ohio,  Octolier  7th. —  (St’cciol  Cor- 
vcspoudcticc .) — The  week  hus  seen  the  fuel  situa- 
tion  heconiing  brighter  with  improving  prices  and 
better  demand.  The  car  situation,  however,  is 
becomiag  very  tight  in  some  districts.  1'he  lalior 
situation  has  united  with  the  car  situation  to 
hold  production  down.  There  is  just  enough 
working  force  to  supply  the  labor  to  till  the  cars 
allotted  in  a  run  of  half  to  three- fourths  day,  all 
week,  or  three  and  four  days,  all  day,  in  the 

week.  .  ^  . 

The  smokeless  situation  is  fair  and  satisfying 
to  the  operators,  the  only  change  being  an  ad¬ 
vance  ill  the  schedule  of  prices  for  October,  of 
Pocahontas  and  New  River  slack  to  $I.15.  The 
September  price  was  $l  and  it  was  believed  that 
the  October  price  would  remain  at  that  figure. 
The  list  holds  fairly  well  but  a  little  degression 
was  reported  from  outside  tbe  city,  in  whicb 
it  was  charged  that  lump  and  egg  had  been  shaded 
in  price  by  a  prominent  producing  firm.  How¬ 
ever  that  may  be,  the  shading  was  not  general 
and  the  firm  reports  that  there  is  no  foundation 
for  the  suspicion.  There  is  a  disposition,  on 
the  other  hand,  to  advance  prices  all  around  after 
October  1.),  by  tbe  smokeless  producers. 

The  splint  producers  of  the  better  .grade  of  coal 
are  talking  of  an  advance  on  and  after  October 
lOtb.  'I'he  splint  situation  would  be  very  much 
more  satisfactory  were  it  not  for  a  few  jobbers 
who  are  after  the  brokerage  only. 

West  Vir.ginia  operators  are  having  more 
trouble  to  bold  the  market  steady,  than  are  the 
Kentucky  operators.  Tn  some  of  the  West  Vir¬ 
ginia  fields  it  is  found  that  the  quotations  of  $1.40 
and  $1..")()  for  lump  are  still  in  force.  Tn  Ken¬ 
tucky  the  situation  is  so  much  liettcr  that  the 
quotations  look  really  well  in  print.  Along  the 
1..  &•  N.  Railway,  block  for  October,  when  it  can 
be  had,  is  generally  sold  at  $;i  in  all  the  high 
grade  coals.  Washed  e.gg  is  quoted  at  $l.7.'>: 
washed  nut,  $1.60;  washed  nut  and  slack,  spot, 
eighty  and  eighty-five  cents,  but  most  of  it 
is  under  contract  at  these  prices.  All  high  grade 
coals  are  brin.ging  these  prices  without  trouble 
this  week,  principally  because  most  of  the  block 
and  egg  is  sold  up  to  about  December  1,7.  The 
demand  for  slack  is  loosening  more  and  more 
block  and  egg.  Tn  the  Tdarlan  and  Hazard  dis¬ 
tricts  the  followin.g  prices  obtain,  this  week  : 
Pdock,  .$1.7.")  to  $1.00;  egg,  $1..)0;  nut  and  slack, 
spot,  seventy  cents.  The  tendency  in  these  dis¬ 
tricts  is  to  advance  next  week  from  five  to  ten 
cents  per  ton  all  around. 

Tn  West  Virginia,  Fairmont  coaT  is  quoted 
as  follows:  lk2-inch  lump,  $1.40;  mine  run,  $1  ; 
nut  and  slack  sold  up.  Hillers  Creek  coal  is 
([noted :  Four-inch  block,  $2.3.7  for  October ; 
li^-inch.  $2.20;  egg,  $1.!).7;  nut,  $1.60;  and  nut 
and  slack,  eighty  cents.  These  quotations 
are  rejiresentative  quotations  for  most  of  the 
fields,  the  Logan  county  product  being  about  as 
([noted  last  week.  These  quotations  are  all  f. 
o.  I).  the  mines. 


Cincinnati  Trade  News. 

The  TTamilton,  Ohio,  waterworks  contract  has 
lieen  awarded  to  the  Reliance  Coal  &  Coke  Com- 
[lany,  the  jirice  bein.g  $1.84  per  ton  for  nut  and 
slack,  delivered.  The  tonnage  is  around  11,000 
tons  and  the  conditions  entered  into,  are  a  per¬ 
centage  of  seven  in  ash  and  a  R.  T.  U.  of  1.3, .700, 
under  value  to  be  penalized  and  overvalue  to  be 
awarded  a  [iremium.  There  were  but  six  bids, 
the  Reliance  Coal  Company  being  the  only  out¬ 
side  bidder,  tbe  others  being  local  concerns. 

Ca()tain  W.  S.  Howell,  formerly  treasurer  of 
tbe  Halmar  Coal  Mining  Company,  is  very  much 
worried  about  bis  son,  W.  Lyle  Howell,  a  chemist 
in  the  government  offices  at  New  Orleans.  Cap¬ 
tain  Howell  has  been  tryin.g  for  ten  days  to  get 
into  communication  with  his  son,  or  some  friend 
of  his,  in  New  Orleans,  but  all  his  efforts  have 
been  futile.  He  fears  that  perhaps  he  might 
have  Iteen  on  the  street  during  the  storm,  which 
carried  Ca[)tain  Henges  to  his  death,  and  may 
have  been  killed  or  severely  injured. 

The  Seco  mines  of  the  Middle  West  Coal  Com¬ 
pany  have  just  started  shi()ment  of  [iroduct.  hav¬ 
ing  opened  with  the  latest  and  most  modern  equip¬ 
ment,  loading  booms  and  other  labor  savers 
being  included.  Fhe  mines  are  at  Seco,  and  are 
mana.ged  by  the  subsidiary  company,  the  South 


Eastern  Coal  Company,  from  which  the  mines 
and  the  town  take  their  name.  The  coal  is  a  fine 
gas  and  coking  [iroduct  and  is  gaining  a  reputa¬ 
tion  in  those  lines.  It  was  the  aim  of  the 
company  to  .get  started  October  1st,  but  little 
had  been  done  on  that  date  but  cutting  out 
some  coal  for  loading. 

The  Campbell's  Creek  Coal  Company,  J.  T. 
Hatfield  Company,  and  the  Otto  Marinet  Com¬ 
pany  have  been  busy  this  week  towing  down  coal 
from  the  Kanawha  river  district  on  the  present 
rise  in  the  Kanawha  extending  to  the  lower  Ohio. 
The  river  companies  have  a  large  stored  pro¬ 
duction  which  would  carry  them  a  long  way 
into  the  winter  were  there  no  other  rise  in  the 
river  for  some  weeks.  Fhe  storm,  at  New  Or¬ 
leans,  however,  greatly  depleted  the  stores  of 
coal  there,  many  bar.ges  going  down  and  some¬ 
thing  over  $1,500, 000  loss  being  sustained  by  the 
great  river  companies.  Tt  is  the  plan  of  the 
Pittsburgh  and  Kanawha  companies  to  restore 
the  supply  in  that  port,  if  possible,  before  the 
rivers  close  to  navigation  this  winter.  The  Louis¬ 
ville  supply  is  to  lie  replenished,  also,  much  of 
the  [iroduct  there  having  been  distributed. 


Cleveland  Trade. 

Cleveland,  Ohio,  October  7. —  (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — The  shortage  of  cars  on  the  various 
railroads  between  this  city  and  the  coal  fields 
has  resulted  in  lightening  up  the  market  quite 
[lerceptibly.  It  is  doubtful  whether  there  has 
been  a  real  change  in  the  demand  for  any  of 
the  steam  coals  for  the  past  two  weeks,  but 
possibly  there  is  not  so  much  stock  in  the  market 
and  this,  of  course,  has  its  effect  on  prices,  which 
show  more  firmness  than  for  some  time  past. 

There  is  no  tendency  upon  the  part  of  lake 
shii)pers  to  rush  their  output  into  the  northwest¬ 
ern  market,  although  reports  indicate  that  the 
receijits  up  to  this  time  are  far  short  of  what 
might  be  considered  normal.  However,  coal  is 
coming  forward  to  the  loading  ports  in  about 
the  same  volume  as  for  the  [last  several  weeks. 
There  may  be  some  little  trouble  in  securing 
boats,  but  complaints  are  few  and  far  between. 

Local  jobbers  are  complaining  of  a  rather  se¬ 
vere  car  .shortage  on  all  roads  reaching  this  city. 
This  was  predicted  some  time  ago,  and  from 
(irsopects  at  present  little  im[)rovement  may  be 
expected  until  the  demand  from  grain  shippers 
subsides  quite  materially.  Steel  and  iron  products 
are  making  demands  on  some  of  the  roads  also. 
The  greater  activity  of  the  railroads,  however, 
may  be  expected  to  produce  an  increase  in  the 
consumption  of  railroad  fuel,  and  this  offers 
some  compensation. 

With  the  exception  of  slack,  no  change  has 
been  noted  in  the  demand  for  No.  8  coal  within 
the  past  week  or  two.  Slack,  however,  has  shown 
considerable  strength.  Quotations  are  as  follows : 

F.  (1.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

No.  8  District —  Mines.  Cleveland. 

Three-ouarters  .  $1.00  $1.90 

Run  of  mine .  .90  1.80 

Slack  .  .80  l.TO 

But  little  Pittsliurgh  slack  is  now  coming  into 
the  market,  and  practically  none  of  the  larger 
sizes  is  seen.  The  demand  from  the  lake  and 
the  east  is  taking  up  the  car  supply.  Slack  prices 
have  stiffened  materially. 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Pittsburgh  District —  Mines.  Cleveland. 

-Slack  .  $0.70  $1.70 

Youghiogheny  slack  is  very  firm  at  eighty  cents 
at  the  mines  and  is  scarce  in  this  market. 

The  demand  for  Pocahontas  coal  has  continued 
to  increase  with  the  advance  of  the  season,  and 
as  a  result  of  the  cool  weather  which  has  pre¬ 
vailed  for  several  days.  Prices,  however,  are  not 
far  different  from  the  figures  given  some  time 
ago. 

F.  o.  B.  F.  O.  B. 


Smokeless —  Mines.  Cleveland. 

1-ump  .  $2.25  $3.70 

Kgg  .  2.25  3.70 

Run  of  mine .  1.40  l.-^O 


Massillon  coal  has  been  in  heavy  demand,  both 
because  of  the  anxiety  of  dealers  for  additional 
supplies  and  the  scarcity  of  cars; 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 


Massillon —  Mines.  Cleveland. 

Lump  .  $2. .70  $,3.20 

Nut  .  2.50  3.20 

Slack  .  .80  l..-)0 


Go.shen  coal  has  enjoyed  a  demand  proportion¬ 
ate  to  that  of  other  fuels,  with  an  increase  in 
the  price  of  slack  from  $1.50  to  $1.60  f.  o.  h.  city. 

Quotations  on  Cambridge  coal  showed  an  in¬ 
crease  on  all  the  sizes ; 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Cambridge —  Mines.  Cleveland. 

Tliree-(|uarters  .  $1.05  $1.9.5 

Run  of  mine .  .05  1.85 

Slack  .  -80  1.70 

But  little  Fairmont  slack  is  finding  its  way  into 


this  market  at  the  present  time,  because  of  the  de¬ 
mand  from  the  east.  Quotations  were  firm  the 
past  week  at  sixty-five  to  seventy  cents  at  the 
mines,  or  $1.70  to  $1.85  on  track  here. 

Anthracite  coal  showed  considerable  of  a 
scarcity  the  past  week,  with  an  increased  de¬ 
mand.  It  is  probable  that  the  producers  will  have 
all  they  can  do  to  take  care  of  the  late  business, 
if  retailers  in  other  sections  have  delayed  plac¬ 
ing  their  orders  as  they  have  in  the  northern  part 
of  this  state. 


Twin  Cities  Trade. 


-Minneapolis  and  St.  Paul,  October  7. —  (Spe¬ 
cial  Correspondence.) — Drizzling  rain  in  the 
northwest  for  a  week  or  more,  acompanied  by 
cbilly  weather  has  started  nearly  every  stove  and 
furnace  to  working,  with  the  result  that  business 
with  both  shippers  and  retailers  is  very  good.  In 
the  Twin  Cities  the  demand  commencetl  very  sud¬ 
denly,  and  many  of  the  dealers  were  obliged  to 
go  into  the  market  for  extra  teams  and  teamsters 
in  order  to  make  deliveries  promptly.  On  the 
other  hand  the  shipping  companies  have  been 
able  to  supply  a  lar.ge  amount  of  coal  promptly, 
Itecause  the  car  supply  has  been  good  at  the 
docks  and  at  the  mines,  and  have  given  good 
service  to  all  their  customers. 

Various  influences  are  at  work  which  are 
strengthening  the  market  on  dock  soft  coals  and 
in  some  quarters,  if  there  is  a  real  old-fashioned 
w'inter,  the  fear  is  entertained  there  may  not  be 
sufficient  coal  to  meet  the  demand.  The  open 
rate  on  vessels  for  soft  and  hard  coal  loading 
at  Lake' Erie  ports  has  strengthened  perceptibly. 
East  bound  ore  is  competing  for  vessel  tonnage, 
in  order  to  accumulate  sufficient  ore  tonnage  to 
meet  the  requirements  of  the  steel  companies. 
Vessels  not  bound  by  season  charters  in  some 
instances  are  returning  up  the  lakes  light,  on 
account  of  the  higher  rate  they  can  obtain  for 
ore  loadin.g  as  compared  with  west  bound  coal. 
Tt  now  looks  as  if  the  forwardings  of  coal  the 
latter  part  of  the  season  would  be  less  than 
expectation  due  to  this  condition  in  the  carry¬ 
ing  trade,  and  as  a  result,  the  shipping  companies 
are  holding  for  a  steadier  price  basis  on  their 
product,  and  are  willing  to  permit  highly  com¬ 
petitive  business  to  .go  to  the  “other  fellow.” 
This  same  influence  is  extending  to  the  steam 
trade  in  the  Twin  Cities,  making  the  market 
much  steadier  and  confining  quotations  to  nar¬ 
rower  limits. 

Collections  in  the  northw'est  are  uniformly  re¬ 
ported  slow.  On  account  of  the  downward 
tendency  of  grain,  farmers  are  not  marketiiLg 
their  crop,  but  are  waiting,  hoping  the  market  will 
strengthen,  the  consequence  being  that  they  are 
not  as  able  to  meet  their  obligations  as  they 
usually  are  at  this  season  of  the  year.  On  ac¬ 
count  of  the  crop  bein.g  held  back,  however,  trans¬ 
portation  companies  are  better  able  to  handle 
the  volume  of  other  business  coming  to  them, 
and  so  far  there  have  been  no  transportation 
troubles. 

Current  prices  on  coal  of  all  grades  sold  in  the 
Twin  Cities  are  as  follows; 


ANTHRACITE. 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Duluth  Minneapolis 
ancl  and 

Superior  St.  Paul 


Grate  .  $6.60  $7.80 

Egg  .  6.86  8.05 

Stove  .  6.85  8.05 

Nut  .  7.10  8.30 

Pea  .  6.50  6.70 

Buckwheat  .  4.00  5.20 


BITUMINOUS. 


Splint,  screened  lump  and  stove.$3.30(®3.40 


Splint,  dock  run .  3.10 

Hocking,  screened  lump  and  stove  3.30@3.40 

Hocking,  dock  run .  3.00 

Youghiogheny,  gas,  lump  and  stove  3.30(®3.40 

Youghiogheny,  gas,  dock  run .  3.10 

Pittsburgh  vein,  lump .  3.30@3.40 

Pittsburgh  vein,  dock  run . . .  3.00 

Poc.ihontis,  screened  lump  or  egg  4.75 

Pocahontas,  screened  lump  and 

egg  mixed.  . . .  4.50 

Pocahontas,  mine  run .  3.25 

Cannel,  lump .  5.25 

Smithing,  bulk .  4.25 

Smithing,  in  100-lb.  sacks .  6.00 

Briquets,  anthracite .  5.00 

Briquets,  smokeless .  5.00 


$4.26(34.36 

4.06 

4.26@4.36 

3.90 

4.26@4.36 

4.06 

4.26@4.36 

3.96 

5.71 


5.46 

4.21 

6.21 
5.21 

6.96 

5.96 
5.96 


Tn  the  Illinois  trade  the  range  of  prices  on 
southern  Illinois  product  on  the  various  sizes  is 


as  follows: 


Southern  Illinois  chunks  . $1.65@1.75  $3.95@4.05 

Southern  Illinois  egg  .  1.65@1.75  3.95@4.05 

Southern  Illinois  No.  1  nut . I.(i5@1.75  3.95@4,0.) 

Southern  Illinois  No.  2  nut . 1.25@1,40  3.55(®3.70 

Southern  Illinois  No.  3  nut . 1.10(3)1.25  3.40^3.a5 

Southern  Illinois  run  of  mine...  1.15@1.25  3.45(33,55 

Southern  Illinois  2-in.  screenings  .00(3  .70  3.00(3)4.00 

Southern  Illinois  includes  Franklin  county, 
Harrisburg  and  Williamson  county. 


No.  15] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


297 


St.  Louis  Trade. 


St.  Louis,  Mo.,  October  7. — (Special  Corres¬ 
pondence.) — In  spite  of  the  fact  that  dealers 
throughout  the  country  have  been  stocking 
heavily  the  last  ten  days  in  September  owing 
to  the  advanced  freight  rate,  there  seems  to  be 
no  let-up  in  buying  on  the  first  of  October. 
On  the  other  hand  in  order  to  discount  the  ad¬ 
vance  in  freight  rate  operators  did  not  ad¬ 
vance  their  prices  as  much  on  the  first  of 
October  as  is  the  general  rule  at  this  time  of 


year. 

The  Franklin  county  price  remains  station¬ 
ary  and  a  number  of  other  coals  in  sympathy, 
either  remained  the  same  or  advanced  only 
very  slightly.  It  has  been,  the  general  hahit 
in  the  past  to  advance  prices  about  twenty- 
five  cents  a  ton  on  October  the  first.  How¬ 
ever,  business  has  been  coming  in  a  very 
^pleasing  manner,  and  an  ad\'ance  can  be  looked 
for  about  the  middle  of  the  month.  All  the 
operators  report  an  unusually  good  run  of 
domestic  business,  orders  for  domestic  lump 
are  considerably  outrunning  the  supply,  and 
nearly  «very  one  is  behind  in  their  orders. 
Egg  is  also  moving  better,  and  nearly  every 
one  is  looking  for  the  best  October  we  have 
had  in  several  years. 

One  of  the  most  pleasing  facts  is  that  the 
steam  sizes  seem  to  be  holding  up  remarkably 
well,  which  is  undoubtedly  a  sign  that  indus¬ 
trial  activity  is  much  greater  than  at  this  time 
last  year.  The  movement  of  lump  is  better 
than  it  was  at  this  time  last  year.  The  car 
supply  is  absolutely  full  on  every  road.  Con¬ 
sequently  the  tonnage  of  steam  sizes  is  greater 
than  at  this  time  last  year.  Notwithstanding 
this  fact  they  are  being  absorbed  a  great  deal 
more  readily,  and  it  is  the  general  opinion  that 
the  bottom  has  now  been  reached. 

Standard  coals  are  moving  well.  Prices  were 
advanced  considerably  on  October  first.  Cur¬ 
rent  prices  as  follows: 


F.  O.  B. 


Standard  Coal  Mine. 

6-inch  lump . $1.30 

6x3-inch  egg .  1.2.1 

2-inch  lump .  1.05 

Steam  egg  . 90 

No.  1  nut .  1.15 

No.  2  nut . 80 

Mine  run  . 86 

Screenings  . 40 


F.  O.  B. 

St.  Louis. 

$1.87;^ 
1.82 
1.62  54 
1.47!4 
1.72/2 
1.37/ 
1.42/ 
.97/ 


Williamson  county  coals  are  moving  well, 
on  both  steam  and  domestic  sizes.  Prices 
on  the  whole  remain  about  the  same.  The 
operators  find  themselves  in  a  stronger  posi¬ 
tion  than  they  were  ten  days  ago.  They  have 
more  orders  on  hand: 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Mine.  St.  Louis. 

6-inch  lump  or  egg .  1.60@1.75  2.22^@2.4754 

3x2-inch  nut  .  1.50@1.75  2.32i4@2.47H 

Screenings  .  .50  1.22J4 


Franklin  county  coals  are  moving  exceed¬ 
ingly  well.  Operators  are  from  a  month  to 
three  weeks  behind  on  orders.  Egg  and  nut 
orders  are  not  quite  as  numerous  as  lump,  but 
keep  considerably  ahead  of  the  production: 


F.  O.  B. 


Mine 

6-inch  lump,  egg  or  nut . $1.75 

No.  2  stove  .  1.40 

Screenings  . 60 


F.  O.  B. 
St.  Louis. 
$2.47/ 
2.12/ 
1.32/ 


Anthracite  is  in  excellent  demand,  especially 
chestnut: 


Anthracite —  F.  O.  B.  St.  Louis. 

Chestnut  . $7.55 

Stove  or  egg .  7.30 

Grate  . 7.05 

Mine  St.  Louis. 

Smokeless—  F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Lump  or  egg  . $2.25  $4.75 

Gas  House  Coke —  F.  O.  B.  St.  Louis. 

Gas  house  coke  . $4.26 

By-product  coke  (all  sizes) .  4.50 


The  prices  on  Illinois  soft  coal,  f.  o.  b.  East  St.  Louis, 
Madison,  Venice  or  Granite  City,  III.,  are  20  cents  lower 
than  the  above  quoted  St.  Louis  prices. 


Detroit  Trade. 


Detroit,  Mich.,  October  7. —  (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — Moderate  activity  is  still  a  pleasing 
feature  of  the  Detroit  market  for  steam  coal, 
with  demand  strongest  for  the  fine  sizes.  Sales 
are  principally  for  small  amounts,  though  collec¬ 
tively  they  represent  quite  a  satisfactory  tonnage 
rather  well  distributed. 

Activity  of  manufacturing  and  industrial  es¬ 
tablishments,  which  is  now,  in  most  instances, 
well  maintained,  appears  to  be  creating  a  steady 
consumption,  while  improvement  is  also  report¬ 
ed  in  the  matter  of  demand  from  interior  towns 
of  the  state. 

Inquiry  for  domestic  sizes  is  developing  to.  a 
larger  volume  and  retail  dealers  are  handling  an 


increasing  number  of  orders,  but  the  business 
has  not  yet  arrived  at  a  point  where  shippers 
are  benefiting  materially.  Chill  temperature  at 
present,  with  the  prospect  of  colder  weather 
the  latter  part  of  the  week,  lends  an  encouraging 
aspect  to  the  situation. 

Though  not  productive  of  the  disturbing  con¬ 
ditions  which  prevailed  earlier  in  the  season, 
when  prices  were  almost  wholly  unsettled,  con¬ 
signment  stock  is  still  present  in  the  market  in 
considerable  quantities.  It  appears,  however,  to 
be  more  readily  cleared  away  and  opportuni¬ 
ties  of  obtaining  coal  at  reduced  prices  are  said 
to  be  infrequent. 

Full  winter  prices  are  now  effective  on  anthra¬ 
cite  delivered  to  domestic  consumers,  the  retail 
dealers’  prices  having  been  advanced  October  1 
to  $8  a  ton  on  stove  and  egg  sizes  and  $8.2.5 
a  ton  on  chestnut.  Distribution  of  the  season’s 
supply  is  going  forward  steadily,  but  has  not 
brought  any  considerable  volume  of  business  to 
shippers.  Reports  of  car  shortage  in  the  east 


are  causing  anxiety  to  some. 

Prices  in  the  local  market 

on  mine 

shipment 

orders  are  as  follows: 

F.  O.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

West  Virginia  Gas — 

Mines. 

Detroit. 

I'hree-quarter  lump . 

$1.0(1 

$2.40 

Mine  run . 

.90 

2.30 

Slack  . 

.()0@  .75 

2.00(g2.]3 

West  Virginia  Splint — ■ 

Four-inch  lump  . 

1.50@1.75 

1.90@2.1.5 

Two-inch  lump  . 

1.25(®1.40 

2.15(32.30 

Three-quarter  . 

1.00 

2.40 

Mine  run . 

.90 

2.30 

Nut,  pea  and  slack . 

.55@  .65 

1.96@3.05 

Smokeless — 

Lump  and  egg  . 

2.25 

3.85 

Nut  . 

1.75 

3.35 

Slack  . 

Open 

Open 

Mine  run . 

1.40 

3.00 

Kentucky  Splint — 

Lump  . 

1.60@1.75 

3.00@3.15 

Egg  . 

1.25@1.40 

2.65@2.80 

Nut,  pea  and  slack . 

.65 

2.05 

Fairmount — 

Three-quarter  steam  lump . 

.85@  .95 

2.25(g2.36 

Mine  run . 

.70@  .80 

2.10@2.20 

Slack  . 

Open 

Open 

Hocking  Valley — 

Shaker  three-inch  lump . 

1.50 

2.65 

Shaker  egg  and  nut . 

1.15 

2.30 

Domestic  lump  . 

1.40 

2.65 

Three-quarter  lump . 

1.25(gl.30 

2.40@2.45 

Mine  run . 

1.00@1.10 

2.15(®2.25 

Nut,  pea  and  slack . 

Open 

Open 

Pittsburgh  No.  8 — • 

Three-quarter  lump . 

1.15 

2.30 

Mine  run . 

1.05 

2.20 

Slack  . 

Open 

Open 

Jackson  Hill — 

Domestic  lump . 

2.60 

3.65 

Cambridge — - 

Three-quarter  lump . 

1.20 

2.35 

Mine  run . 

1.10 

2.25 

Pomeroy — 

Two  and  three-inch  lump . 

1.60 

2.75 

Egg  . 

1.35 

2.50 

Slack  . 

Open 

Open 

Louisville  Market. 


Louisville,  October  7th. —  (Special  Correspond¬ 
ence.) — A  sudden  tightening  up  of  car  supply 
has  been  manifest  in  this  section  during  the  past 
week.  That  is,  there  has  been  acute  shortage  on 
the  Southern  Railway  and  the  Middlesboro  Dis¬ 
trict  for  some  weeks  past.  During  the  past  week, 
however,  the  Louisville  &  Nashville  Railroad  fell 
down  badly  in  car  supply,  some  of  its  mines  bein.g 
idle  for  lack  of  empties  on  two  and  one-half  out 
of  the  six  working  days  of  the  week. 

While  demand  for  neither  domestic  nor  steam 
coal  is  especially  heavy  at  this  time,  the  car  situa¬ 
tion  is  naturally  inducing  higher  prices,  and  nfak- 
ing  operators  wary  of  entering  into  long  term 
contracts  at  low  figures.  It  is  felt  that  with  the 
advent  of  real  winter  weather,  necessitating  the 
general  use  of  coal  for  heating  purposes  that 
there  will  be  a  flurry  of  belated  buying  that  will 
be  hard  to  satisfy. 

One  of  the  principal  matters  of  interest  to  the 
coal  trade  in  this  section  at  the  present  time  is 
the  freight  rate  battle  among  the  Ohio,  Pennsyl¬ 
vania,  and  West  Virginia  operators  and  railroads, 
the  outcome  of  which  will  vitally  effect  the  future 
of  eastern  Kentucky  coals,  particularly  steam  and 
gas  coals,  in  the  markets  of  Ohio,  Michigan  and 
Indiana.  When  this  matter  was  first  broached 
to  eastern  Kentucky  operators  and  they  were 
given  to  understand  that  the  only  question  in¬ 
volved  was  a  widening  of  the  differential  in 
favor  of  the  Ohio  mines,  there  was  little  con¬ 
cern  felt  over  thq  situation,  but  as  soon  as  it 
became  apparent  that  the  Pittsburgh,  Fairmont 
and  Piedmont  Districts  were  to  secure  a  favor¬ 
able  differential,  it  was  at' once  reco.gnized  that 
this  would  enable  these  Ohio  and  Pennsylvania 
mines  to  sweep  away  the  markets  that  eastern 
Kentucky  coals  have  been  developing  principally 
during  the  last  two  or  three  years,  and  that  such 
adjustment  would  he  a  set-back  which  the  Ken¬ 
tucky  industry  would  be  long  in  recovering  from. 


For  the  past  several  years  eastern  Kentucky 
mines  having  an  outlet  via  the  Louisville  and 
Nashville  or  Southern  Railway  into  southern  and 
southeastern  territory  have  been  under  pressure 
of  competition  from  mines  in  the  western  corner 
of  Virginia.  Th6  recently  developed  tonna.ge  of 
the  Clinchfield  Mining  Corporation  and  other 
large  producers  in  the  “Pocket  Section’’  of  Vir¬ 
ginia,  with  their  high  quality  of  steam  coal  and 
low  producing  cost,  havin.g  made  life  very  hard 
for  the  operators  of  the  Coal  Creek,  Jellico  and 
Pineville  sections. 

It  is  the  fervent  hope  of  eastern  Kentucky 
operators  that  the  Louisville  and  Nashville  Rail¬ 
road,  which  apparently  is  the  only  one  of  the 
railroads  involved  which  has  no  special  interest 
to  serve  other  than  the  welfare  of  its  stock¬ 
holders  and  its  operators,  will  decline  to  par¬ 
ticipate  in  the  adjustment,  in  which  event,  there 
seems  to  be  hope  that  the  publication  of  the 
tariff  will  not  be  made  by  the  West  Virginia 
carriers,  and  that  the  controversy  will  be  kept 
out  of  the  hands  of  the  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission,  at  least  temporarily. 

Prices  on  domestic  block  coal  for  October 
shipment  range  all  the  way  from  $1.50  to  $2.25  a 
ton  with  a  similar  variation  for  nut,  egg  and 
lump  sizes.  Nut  and  slack  coal  of  high  .grade 
is  selling  from  forty  to  sixty  cents  f.  o.  b.  mines 
with  low  grade  coals  selling  from  twenty-five 
cents  a  ton  down  to  nothing.  In  view  of  the 
severity  of  car  shortage  within  the  past  week, 
however,  it  is  thought  that  surplus  accumulation 
of  screenings  will  be  quickly  cleaned  up  and  that 
it  will  not  be  necessary  to  sacrifice  these  grades 
further,  at  least  until  car  supply  becomes  more 
nearly  normal. 


Birmingham  Trade. 


Birmingh.\m,  Ala.,  October  7. — The  fall 
months  have  brought  better  demand  for  domes¬ 
tic  coal.  The  operator  is  in  better  spirits  be¬ 
cause  the  yard  men  are  placing  orders.  The 
yard  man  rejoices  because  the  consumer  is  need¬ 
ing  coal  and  he  is  filling  long-delayed  orders. 
Prices  are  good  and  most  of  mines  are  running 
very  nearly  on  full  time.  Several  domestic  mines 
are  receiving  all  the  orders  they  can  fill ;  with 
others  the  demand  is  not  so  brisk. 

Steam  coal  trade  is  not  so  good  as  the  domes¬ 
tic  demand.  Bunker  trade  to  New  Orleans,  Mo¬ 
bile  and  Pensacola  has  been  held  up  for  a  few 
days  on  account  of  the  hurricane.  The  loss  in 
coal  has  been  enormous.  It  is  reported  that 
one  New  Orleans  firm  in  getting  most  of  its 
steam  coal  from  Pennsylvania,  down  the  Ohio 
and  Mississippi  rivers,  lost  about  800,000  tons 
which  was  on  barges.  For  several  days,  all  the 
railroads  to  these  gulf  ports  were  out  of  busi¬ 
ness  because  of  being  inundated.  The  Louisville 
&  Na.shville  Railroad  is  again  ready  for  business 
and  shipments  of  coal  will  go  forward  by  this 
road. 

The  De  Bardeleben  Coal  Company  was  the 
only  company  not  losing  its  barged  coal.  This 
company  saved  about  1,100  tons.  It  is  estimated 
that  the  New  Orleans  Coal  Company’s  losses 
were  close  to  a  million  and  a  half  dollars.  Much 
of  this  large  tonnage  of  steam  coal  lost  will  be 
supplied  from  Alabama  because  of  quicker  fa¬ 
cilities,  both  as  to  railroads  and  Warrior  river 
transportation. 

Coke  is  in  fairly  good  demand,  with  many  in¬ 
quiries  coming  in  for  smelter  coke,  some  of 
which,  if  placed,  will  be  of  large  volume.  Trade 
in  foundry  coke  is  only  fair  and  companies  mak¬ 
ing  this  class  of  coke  could  supply  a  large  de¬ 
mand.  Price  is  fairly  good,  ranging  from  $.3  to 
$3.25  f.  o.  b.  cars  at  point  of  shipment. 


F.  O.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

Ribb  County  Domestic  Coal — 

Mines. 

Birmingham. 

Red  ash  Cahaba  lump . 

$3.00 

$3,30 

Red  ash  Cahaba  lump . 

2.75 

3.10 

Red  Ash  steam  size . 

.  .  1.20®1.35 

Frt.  rate  30c 

Jefferson  County — 

Fancy  steam  Pratt . 

1.75 

2.00 

Run  of  mine  Pratt . 

.  1.20  01.25 

1.4501.50 

Mary  Lee  lump . 

.  1.4001.50 

1.80  01.90 

Black  Creek — 

Fancy  steam  lump . 

1.75 

2.05 

Washed  nut  . 

1.75 

2.05 

Washeu  Steam .  1.35@1.60  Frt.  rate  30c 

Mine  run .  1.35@1.40  Frt.  rate  30c 

Jefferson  Steam  Coal — 

Mine  run .  1.15@1.25  Frt.  rate  30c 

Walker  County  Domestic — 

Carbon  TIill  lump .  1.7.5  2.15 

Carbon  Hill  egc; .  1.65  2,0.5 

Horse  Creek  mine  run .  1.00@1.20  Frt.  rate  40c 

Genuine  Corona — 

Lump  .  2.00  2.40 

Egg  .  1.00  2.35 

Steam  sizes . . .  •  •  •  1.25@1,35  Frt.  rate  40c 

Sbelbv  Gounty  Domestic  Coal — 

('ahaba  fancy  lump  .  3,0.Q  .  ,  ,  3  30 

Cahaba  No.  2  lump  . ^  2,75  3  05 

Monievallo  domestic  prices  ranging  frotm  $3.lWDt'p 
Rlacksmith  coal,  washed  and  screened.- .per  tOTT...  $aiito 
$2.25  at  mines,  with  different  rates  to  v^Hous  points.^, 


298 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[October  9 


New  York  Trade. 


Anthracite  So  Much  Improved  Operators 
Work  Full — Bituminous 
Stronger. 


Office  of  The  Black  Diamond, 
New  York,  October  7. 

This  week  finds  the  general  anthracite  coal 
trade  in  good  condition.  Many  producers  are 
working  their  mines  on  full  time,  and  judging 
from  the  number  of  orders  on  hand  and  the 
live  inquiries  coming  for  tonnage,  they  anticipate 
no  trouble  in  working  full  time  throughout  the 
present  month.  This  is  interesting  in  view  of  the 
fact  that  many  of  the  mines  worked  on  short  time 
in  September,  and  as  the  result  produced  con¬ 
siderably  less  coal  than  during  September,  1914. 

The  weather  conditions  last  week  were  very 
favorable  towards  anthracite  buying,  and  the  re¬ 
sponse  that  came  from  the  consumers  was  so 
very  large  in  all  directions  as  to  be  reflected  very 
favorably  on  the  wholesale  trade. 

This  week  finds  the  >all-rail  trade  most  active, 
with  a  very  heavy  demand  from  this  trade  for 
chestnut  coal.  It  is  said  that  certain  producers 
have  all  the  chestnut  that  they  can  mine  taken 
care  of  by  contracts  and  new  orders,  so  that 
this  size  will  not  be  pressing  for  sale  in  the  near 
future.  Stove  coal  is  of  course  moving  very 
freely,  as  this  has  been  the  most  favored  size 
throughout  the  summer.  Egg  is  the  least  active, 
although  this  size  is  not  in  as  free  offering  as 
formerly,  and  what  concessions  one  hears  of,  are 
usually  very  small. 

There  is  a  better  demand  for  coal  for  lake 
shipment,  with  shippers  findin.g  the  vessel  situa¬ 
tion  tightening  up  considerably  due  to  the  large 
number  of  American  vessels  on  the  lakes  that 
are  now  eagaged  in  transporting  grain  for  Ca¬ 
nadian  destinations.  Many  of  the  Canadian  ships 
were  taken  through  the  Welland  canal  during  the 
early  part  of  the  year,  to  engage  in  the  Atlantic 
trade,  and  this  brought  about  such  a  shortage  of 
vessels  recently  that  the  Canadian  government 
issued  an  order  permitting  American  owned  ves¬ 
sels  to  take  grain  from  Canadian  ports  to  Ca¬ 
nadian  ports.  This  has  brought  about  a  shortage 
of  vessels  for  coal  charter. 

New  York  harbor  trade  is  more  active,  and 
surplus  stocks  of  the  prepared  sizes  are  greatly 
diminished  as  compared  with  several  weeks  ago. 
Less  individual  coal  is  offering  than  formerly, 
and  in  most  instances,  individuals  are  getting  their 
prices  up  to  circular  or  very  near  to  it.  Where 
one  formerly  heard  of  concessions  of  from  thirty 
to  fifty  cents  a  ton,  they  now  range  from  ten  to 
twenty  cents. 

As  winter  approaches,  the  supplies  of  steam 
sizes  begin  to  diminish,  that  is  for  spot  sale,  and 
certain  large  consumers  of  the  rice  and  buck¬ 
wheat  sizes  especially,  are  not  finding  them  offer¬ 
ing  so  freely  as  formerly,  especially  at  reduced 
prices.  Choice  grades  of  all  three  of  the  steam 
sizes  are  practically  out  of  the  market  as  these 
are  largely  taken  upon  contract.  Medium  grades 
are  not  so  plentiful,  while  inferior  coals  are  also 
lacking  in  abundance.  Where  one  formerly  heard 
of  rice  coal  selliag  at  $1.80  to  $2,  some  of  the 
inferior  coals  cannot  be  purchased  now  under 
$2.05  and  barley  coal  ranges  from  $1.75  up,  and 
No.  1  buckwheat  at  $2.40  up.  Pea  coal  is  now  in 
very  short  supply,  and  about  the  cheapest  one 
hears  at  the  lower  ports  is  $3.15  to  $3.25  per  ton. 
I'he  full  circular  prices  are  being  obtained  at  all 
of  the  upper  ports  on  all  of  the  choice  grades. 

New  York  prices: 

Upper  Lower 

„  ,  Ports.  Ports. 


Broken  .  $.5.10  $5.00 

Egg  .  5.35  5.25 

Stove  .  5.35  5.25 

Chestnut  .  5.60  5.50 

Pea  .  3.55  3.45 


Special  grades  of  red  ash  and  other  high  grade 
coals  at  the  lower  ports  sell  at  twenty-five  to 
fifty  cents  per  ton  over  above  figures. 

Spot  prices  in  individual  coals  at  lower  ports 
are  about  as  follows : 


Egg  . 

Stove 

Nut  . 

Pea 

Buck 

Rice 

Barley 


io.Oo  and  up 

5.20  and  up 

5.20  and  up 

3.25  and  un 

2.25  and  up 
2.00  and  up 
2.65  and  up 


The  Bituminous  Situation. 


The  eastern  bituminous  situation  has  not  shown 
any  material  changes  during  this  week.  In  some 
instances  car  supply  is  reported  as  being  much 
better;  on  the  other  hand  reports  shows  that 


supplies  of  cars  are  insufficient.  One  operator 
will  report  that  he  has  ample  cars  for  two  or 
three  days,  and  then  they  will  run  short.  On 
the  whole  the  car  supply  is  believed  to  be  much 
improved  over  last  week,  but  how  long  this  situa¬ 
tion  will  last  no  one  cares  to  predict. 

Contract  coals  are  moving  very  freely,  and 
most  of  the  producers  of  the  good  coals  are  out 
of  the  market  as  far  as  makiag  new  contracts 
are  concerned.  Reports  as  to  labor  show  that 
it  is  growing  scarcer  from  week  to  week.  The 
iron  and  steel  plants  are  still  attracting  a  great 
deal  of  labor,  as  are  the  coke  furnaces,  while  the 
European  nations  at  war  are  continually  calling 
on  reservists  in  this  country,  of  whom  many 
are  found  in  and  around  the  mines.  The  en¬ 
trance  of  Greece  and  Bulgaria  into  the  European 
war  activities,  will  no  doubt  cause  a  great  many 
of  the  former  nationality  in  this  country  to 
return  to  their  native  country  if  transportation 
is  provided. 

The  lack  of  vessels  for  taking  export  cargoes 
is  becoming  acute.  This  will  likely  bring  about 
a  serious  let-up  in  the  export  activity  during  the 
next  several  months,  unless  relief  comes  from 
an  unexpected  source.  While  a  great  many  cargo 
steamers  are  coming  to  this  country  seeking 
cargoes,  coal  shippers  have  been  unable  to  charter 
them,  for  the  reason  that  their  owners  anticipate 
such  fluctuations  in  ocean  freights  by  the  time 
the  steamer  reports  at  American  ports,  that  grain 
or  cotton  charters  may  prove  more  attractive  than 
coal. 

Export  shipments  for  September  were  consid¬ 
erably  lower  than  those  of  August,  for  the  reason 
that  the  vessel  supply  ran  short.  Bunkering  re¬ 
quirements  are  still  very  heavy,  and  are  taking 
a  good  tonnage  of  coal  at  practically  all  of  the 
American  ports  at  this  time.  The  closing  of  the 
Panama  Canal  for  a  month,  will  have  some  in¬ 
fluence  on  the  bunker  trade.  This  influence  will 
mean  an  increase  in  bunkers,  as  a  great  number 
of  ships  who  use  the  canal,  will  now  go  around 
the  Horn  in  entering  the  Pacific  or  through  the 
Suez  Canal,  requiring  heavier  bunkers. 

New  York  harbor  ports  supplies  of  unsold  coal 
are  light.  One  does  not  hear  of  so  much  cheap 
coal,  and  while  harbor  prices  are  not  in  keeping 
with  mine  prices,  which  advance  from  five  to  ten 
cents  a  ton,  they  are  much  stronger.  This  week 
medium  grades  of  Pennsylvania  coals  command 
$2.65  to  $2.75,  with  choice  grades  selling  at  $2.85. 
Slack  is  strong  at  seventy  to  seventy-five  cents 
at  the  mines,  long  rate. 

The  Vessel  Situation. 

Coastwise  vessel  rates  are  some  firmer,  though 
prices  have  not  advanced.  At  the  moment  there 
seems  to  be  ample  tonnage  available  for  such 
business  as  is  offering.  It  is  expected  that  the 
shortage  of  steamers  for  export  business  will 
soon  bring  about  a  great  demand  for  schooners 
for  off-shore  business  that  may  attract  some  of 
the  schooners  that  are  now  engaged  in  coastwise 
transportation. 

The  off-shore  vessel  situation  has  grown  very 
acute,  and  this  situation  is  fully  covered  on  the 
export  page  of  this  issue. 

We  quote  current  rates  for  freight  as  follows; 

From  Hampton  Roads  to  Boston,  eighty  to 
ninety  cents  is  about  the  range;  to  Portland  and 
points  east  of  Boston,  from  ninety  cents  to  $1.00. 
To  sound  ports,  eighty  to  eighty-five  cents.  From 
Philadelphia  to  New  England  points,  about  five 
cents  under  the  Hampton  Roads  rates. 

From  New  York  to  Bridgeport  or  New  Haven, 
thirty  cents ;  to  New  London  and  Providence, 


forty  cents ;  to  Fall 

River  and  New 

Bedford, 

forty-five  cents ;  to 

Boston,  fifty-five 

to  sixty 

cents. 

Current  quotations 

on  bituminous  coal  in  spot 

lots  are : 

F.  0.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

Somerset  County — 

Harbor. 

Mines. 

Uest  grades . 

$1.30 

Ordinary  . . 

1.05 

Medium  grades . 

1.15 

Cambria  County — 

Best  Miller  vein . 

.  3.00 

1.45 

Medium  grades  . 

.  2.70 

1.15 

Cheaper  grades . 

.  2.60 

1.05 

Clearfield  County — 

Best  grade . 

1.35 

Ordinary  grades . 

.  2.50 

1.00 

Indiana  County — 

Best  grade . 

1.25 

Medium  grade  . 

.  2.55 

1.00 

Maryland — 

Georges  Creek  big  vein. 

.  3.15 

1.65 

West  Virginia  Splint — 

Ordinary  grades  . 

.85 

Best  Rrs,  Ji-inrh  lump. 

.  2.65 

1.10 

Best  grade,  run  of  mine 

.  2.65 

.90 

Gas  slack  . 

65.  @75 

New  York  Trade  Briefs. 

A.  W.  Callaway,  president  of  the  Davis  Coal  & 
Coke  Company,  was  up  from  Baltimore  on  Tues¬ 
day. 

Howard  S.  Bowns,  of  Pattison  &  Bowns,  No. 
1  Broadway,  returned  on  Tuesday  from  a  Ca¬ 
nadian  hunting  and  fishing  trip. 

Frederick  E.  and  Thomas  B.  Hasler,  of  Hasler 
Brothers,  Produce  Exchange  building,  are  on  a 
huntin.g  trip  up  in  Maine. 

A.  W.  Hillebrand,  of  A.  W.  Hillebrand  &  Co., 
No.  1  Broadway,  returned  late  last  week  from  a 
hunting  trip  in  Canada. 

A.  L.  Dickerman,  Jr.,  of  Dickerman  &  Englis, 
No.  42  Broadway,  was  out  of  town  several  days 
this  week,  returnin.g  to  his  desk  on  Thursday. 

J.  H.  Wheelwright,  president  of  the  Consolida¬ 
tion  Coal  Company,  with  headquarters  in  Balti¬ 
more,  was  in  the  New  York  offices  on  Tuesday. 

The  Seiler-Blanchard  Company,  of  No.  1  Broad¬ 
way,  has  moved  into  much  larger  quarters  on  the 
ninth  floor.  This  move  was  necessitated  by  the 
company’s  expansion  of  business. 

President  E.  B.  Thomas,  of  the  Lehigh  Valley 
Coal  Company,  spent  several  days  in  the  anthra¬ 
cite  regions  last  week,  inspecting  the  various  op¬ 
erations  of  his  company. 

The  Philadelphia  &  Reading  is  the  first  of  the 
anthracite  carrying  railroads  to  announce  its  an¬ 
thracite  tonnage  for  September,  which  was  about 
895,000  tons,  as  compared  with  1,101,000  in  Sep¬ 
tember,  1914,  a  decrease  of  206,000  tons. 

Charles  E.  Lester,  of  Hartwell,  Lester  &  Glit¬ 
ter,  Inc.,  of  No.  1  Broadway,  who  went  abroad 
some  six  weeks  ago,  is  writing  some  interesting 
letters  to  the  members  of  his  company  from  the 
European  countries  that  he  is  visiting. 

W.  H.  Carpenter,  of  Dexter  &  Carpenter,  No. 
12  Broadway,  has  reached  Brazil.  Mr.  Carpenter 
went  abroad  the  latter  part  of  May,  and  spent 
the  summer  in  Europe.  He  went  direct  from 
France  to  South  America. 

Hugh  L.  Kirby,  sales  manager  of  the  Vernon 
Metal  &  Produce  Company,  of  No.  90  West 
street,  has  been  spending  considerable  of  his  time 
at  his  mines  in  West  Vir.ginia  during  the  past 
several  weeks,  working  on  some  large  tonnage 
propositions. 

F.  W.  Foedisch,  of  F.  W.  Foedisch  &  Com¬ 
pany,  Philadelphia,  was  calliag  on  the  trade  in 
New  York  on  Tuesday.  Mr.  Foedisch’s  office  in 
Philadelphia  will  be  the  mecca  for  out  of  town 
coal  men  in  Philadelphia  the  latter  part  of  the 
week  to  see  the  world’s  series  ball  games.  For 
the  past  week  Mr.  Foedisch  has  been  dividing 
his  time  between  selling  coal  and  securing  base¬ 
ball  tickets  for  his  many  out  of  town  friends. 

George  A.  Mcllroy,  of  Parrish,  Phillips  &  Co., 
of  No.  1  Broadway,  has  the  sympathy  of  his 
many  friends  in  the  coal  trade  over  the  death  of 
his  mother,  Mrs.  Mary  1.  Mcllroy,  which  oc¬ 
curred  on  last  Saturday  at  her  home.  No.  473 
Bramhall  avenue,  Jersey  City.  Mrs.  Mcllroy, 
who  had  reached  the  ripe  age  of  ninety  years, 
had  been  in  very  good  health  until  only  a  few 
days  before  her  death. 

R.  C.  Hill,  of  Madeira,  Hill  &  Co.,  No.  143 
Liberty  street,  left  on  Thursday  morning  of  this 
week  for  British  Columbia  to  hunt  mountain  sheep. 
Mr.  Hill  will  be  accompanied  by  Mr.  Henry  P. 
Davison,  of  J.  P.  Morgan  &  Company,  who  is 
also  very  fond  of  hunting.  Mr.  Hill  and  Mr. 
Davison  have  been  very  close  friends  for  many 
years,  and  there  is  no  financial  significance  to  be 
attached  to  their  present  expedition. 

Circulars  have  been  received  by  the  New  York 
coal  trade  here  from  the  receivers  of  the  Four 
States  Coal  &  Coke  Company,  Pittsburgh,  Pa., 
Under  date  of  October  1st,  announcing  that  they 
have  appointed  Messrs.  B.  Nicoll  &  Company  of 
New  York  as  exclusive  eastern  sales  agents  for 
the  coal  pioduced  by  the  Annabelle  mine  of  that 
company  in  the  Fairmont  regions  of  West  Vir¬ 
ginia.  This  is  one  of  the  most  modern  mines 
in  the  gas  coal  fields  of  West  Vir.ginia,  and  its 
product  is  well  known  throughout  the  east. 

W.  S.  Kies,  head  of  the  foreign  trade  depart¬ 
ment  of  the  National  City  Bank,  who  has  directed 
the  organization  of  numerous  branch  banks  in 
South  America  for  this  large  financial  institution 
during  the  past  year,  was  recently  elected  one  of 
the  vice-presidents  of  the  institution.  Mr.  Kies 
since  taking  up  the  position  of  head  of  the  for¬ 
eign  department  of  the  National  City  has  come 
in  contact  with  many  coal  men,  and  the  news  of 
his  advancement  is  of  course  very  welcome  to 
them. 


No.  15] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


299 


Philadelphia  Trade. 

Cars  Are  Scarce,  Deliveries  Are  Slow  and 
the  Demand  for  Steam  Coal 
Is  Better. 

Office  of  The  Black  Diamond, 
1400  Land  Title  Building, 
Philadelphia,  October  6. 

Car  supply  has  been  the  keystone  of  condi¬ 
tions  that  has  at  last  proved  out  the  hopes  of 
the  coal  men  of  this  section  that  prices  were 
due  and  bound  to  rise.  The  shortage  in  vari¬ 
ous  of  the  districts  shipping  bituminous  coal 
to  this  city  as  a  tidewater  point,  has  become 
acute.  From  Somerset  county  operators  on 
the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  lines  have  reported  that 
even  the  percentage  allotment  of  cars  to  their 
mines  had  been  cut  down.  The  average  dis¬ 
tribution  for  the  past  ten  days  has  only  been 
about  seventy-five  per  cent  of  the  number 
promised.  Monday  is  supposed  to  be  “ban¬ 
ner  day”  so  far  as  empties  are  concerned  and 
this  week  the  delivery  of  empties  fell  way 
below  usual.  The  result  has  been  that  a  rise 
of  ten  to  fifteen  cents  a  ton  has  followed  at 
this  point,  with  quotations  generally  firm  and 
inclined  to  further  up-turns. 

The  pier  situation,  which  is  always  a  cri¬ 
terion  of  the  condition  of  the  soft  coal  market, 
has  been  virtually  cleared  of  free  coal.  There  are 
odd  blocks  of  coal  standing  there  but  are  being 
held  firmly  at  prices  that  the  buyers  are  not 
disposed  to  pay,  rather  than  any  inability  to 
sell.  One  peculiar  phase  to  this  rise  in  price  is 
that  New  England,  so  far,  has  not  been  a 
heavy  contender  in  this  market.  A  betterment 
in  price  is  usually  followed  by  activity  from 
that  direction,  but  this  has  not  been  notable 
up  to  the  present  writing. 

Gondola  and  small  tonnage  cars  are  hard  to 
get  by  the  shippers.  A  railroad  man  of  author¬ 
ity  stated  that  the  sex  were  being  placed  in 
the  steel  trade  and  with  the  present  situa¬ 
tion  to  face  promises  of  deliveries  in  either 
of  this  size  cars  should  be  made  with  this  in 
view. 

Fairmont  slack  has  been  up  to  its  old  capers 
and  the  price  has  jumped  above  the  seventy- 
five  cent  a  ton  mark.  In  the  face  of  suspension 
of  some  of  the  large  mills  in  the  cement  dis¬ 
trict,  demand  from  other  sources  has  taken  all 
of  this  coal  that  has  been  offered  at  increased 
prices.  Coupled  with  the  fact  that  the  mines 
are  not  “making”  this  grade,  local  dealers  look 
for  a  further  advance.  Westmoreland  gas 
slack  has  been  on  an  upturn  also.  Fifteen  to 
twenty  cents  a  ton  over  the  prices  of  a 
month  ago  have  been  registered  on  top 
grades. 

Spot  sales  from  the  following  districts  were 
about  this  range  at  mid-week.  Greensburg, 
$1.25  to  $1.35  for  mine  run,  $1.40  for  screened. 
Reynoldsville-Punxsutawney,  slack  eighty-five 
to  ninety-five  cents;  run  of  mine,  $1.20  to  $1.25; 
three-quarter  screened  lump,  $1.30;  smithing, 
$1.30  to  $1.35.  Western  Maryland  coals,  ninety 
cents  to  $1.05.  Clearfield,  run  of  mine,  $1.30 
and  up.  Somerset,  ordinary  $1,  fair  $1.25  to 
$1.30,  best  $1.40  and  up. 

Anthracite  Situation. 

With  the  first  of  October  come  and  gone, 
the  increase  in  pea  size  coal  is  still  in  the  bal¬ 
ance.  The  warm  weather  in  September  stepped 
in  to  wreck  the  plans  that  had  been  made. 
Some  of  the  independent  dealers  are  asking 
$2.10  and  $2.15  for  pea  coal  but  up  to  the 
present  time  there  has  been  no  change  from 
the  $2  price  made  by  the  companies.  One 
feature  that  stands  out  to  bar  the  way  to  rais¬ 
ing  the  price  on  pea  coal  is  in  the  form  of 
sales  that  have  been  made  even  below  the  $2 
mark  by  the  independents,  and  on  which  de¬ 
liveries  have  not  been  completed.  The  demand 
for  this  size  has  shown  considerable  increase 
during  the  past  week  and  deliveries  have  been 
heavier  than  for  any  individual  week  since 
last  June. 

Stove  coal  continues  to  be  the  leader,  with 
nut  and  chestnut  also  well  to  the  forefront. 
The  only  size  that  has  not  been  well  taken  has 
been  egg  and  this  is  controlled  by  a  season¬ 
able  reason. 

The  mines  are  all  working  full  time  and 
shipments  over  the  piers  to  coast  points  north 
has  been  up  to  the  volume  usual  to  this  part 
of  the  year. 


Philadelphia  News  Notes. 

Arnold  Gersetlle,  sales  manager  for  Percy 
Heilner  &  Son,  is  away  on  a  trip  to  the  west 
this  week. 

Robert  P.  Magee,  local  manager  of  sales  for 
the  Knickerbocker  Fuel  Company,  spent  the 
fore  part  of  the  week  on  a  visit  to  the  mines 
of  the  company  in  Somerset  county. 

I.  A.  Boucher,  superintendent  of  the  Beaver 
Run  mines  at  Beaverdale.  in  Somerset  county, 
paid  a  visit  to  the  headquarters  of  that  cor¬ 
poration  in  the  Pennsylvania  building. 

Murray  B.  Courtright  and  H.  B.  Cornog  of 
the  Cortright  Coal  Company  were  in  West 
Virginia  this  week  on  a  tour  of  inspection  of 
the  mining  properties  which  the  local  com¬ 
pany  is  sales  agent  for. 

Next  Monday  the  annual  meeting  of  the 
Philadelphia  &  Reading  Coal  &  Iron  Com¬ 
pany  will  be  held  in  its  offices  in  the  Terminal 
building  in  this  city.  The  president  and  six 
directors  to  serve  for  the  ensuing  year  will  be 
elected  at  this  session. 

Abraham  Mayer  died  at  his  home,  3211 
Fountain  street,  at  the  ripe  old  age  of  eighty- 
three.  He  was  a  pioneer  in  the  coal  business 
in  this  city,  but  retired  from  actual  participa¬ 
tion  in  it  several  years  ago.  He  was  greatly 
Interested  in  Austrian  emigration  and  was  one 
of  the  founders  of  the  Austro-Hungarian  Bene¬ 
ficial  Association.  He  was  buried  Tuesday. 

Considerable  interest  is  being  shown  in  the 
meeting  called  by  the  Ko-Koals  at  the  Hotel 
Roosevelt  on  October  21.  Some  of  the  stal¬ 
warts  of  the  old  organization  are  still  of  the 
belief  that  more  can  be  accomplished  and 
more  interest  created  by  clinging  to  the  social 
end  that  has  been  -one  of  the  fundamentals  of 
Ko-Koal.  There  promises  to  be  a  lively  argu¬ 
ment  as  to  the  best  course  to  pursue  in  the 
future. 

George  E.  Coughlin,  city  and  southern  sales 
agent  for  the  Philadelphia  &  Reading  Coal 
&  Iron  Company,  thought  that  his  birth- 
date  was  a  deep,  dark  secret  and  as  for  the 
number  of  his  years,  every  one  of  them  are 
years  young.  But  somewhere  some  of  his 
good  friends  discovered  the  day  and  date  and 
to  celebrate  they  swooped  down  on  Mr. 
Coughlin’s  home  and  declared  a  birthday  party. 
Some  of  the  Philadelphia  coal  men  who  were 
in  the  “secret”  were  Frank  W.  Kennedy,  Wal¬ 
ter  C.  Shipley,  Andrew  McKee  and  Walter 
Mason. 

Henry  Wharton,  who  has  been  connected 
with  the  Westmoreland  Coal  Company  for  the 
past  thirty-one  years,  resigned  his  position, 
effective  the  first  of  this  month.  Mr.  Wharton 
over  ten  years  ago  was  elected  secretary  of 
the  Westmoreland  Company  and  those  prop¬ 
erties  allied  with  it.  In  this  capacity  he  was 
also  the  sales  manager  of  the  company.  The 
change  that  has  been  made  will  also  result  in 
a  change  in  the  sales  force.  C.  B.  Nichol,  who 
was  Mr.  Wharton’s  assistant  for  many  years, 
will  take  charge  of  this  department.  Mr. 
Wharton  is  the  president  of  the  Montrose- 
Pocahontas  Coal  Company,  with  holdings  in 
McDonnell  county,  West  Virginia.  He  has 
taken  offices  at  265  Drexel  building  and  will 
devote  the  most  of  his  time  to  directing  these 
properties.  He  also  contemplates  connections 
that  will  give  him  the  sale  of  gas  coal  in  this 
territory. 

Political  botheration  that  comes  of  the  mayor 
being  of  one  stripe  and  the  council  of  another 
political  faith,  resulted  in  the '  appropriation 
for  fuel  for  city  plans  being  allotted  insuffi¬ 
cient  funds  to  care  for  the  coal  to  be  used  for 
the  year.  To  care  for  supplies  for  the  rest  of 
the  year  bids  were  opened  at  the  city  hall  on 
Tuesday.  The  largest  deliveries  were  of  bitu¬ 
minous,  of  which  6,400  tons  were  to  go  to 
Lardner’s  Point  and  3,400  tons  to  the  Torres- 
dale  pumping  station.  The  following  is  a  com¬ 
pilation  of  the  prices  that  were  offered  in  the 
bids; 


•Lardner’s— ^ 

Point.  ^Torresdale- 


Bidder — 

Rail. 

Water. 

Rail. 

Water. 

Lmmons  C.  M.  lo . 

2.63 

2.48 

2.63 

2.48 

B,  Nicoll  &  Co . 

2.90 

2.7.5 

2.90 

2.76 

Swa-yne  &  Co . 

2.0.5 

2.80 

2.65 

2.50 

Pennsylvania  C.  it  C.  Co.. 

2.95 

2.80 

2.95 

2.81 

W.  11.  B.  &  Co . 

2.80 

2.55 

2.85 

2.. 55 

Weston-Uodson  Co . 

.3.09 

2.94 

3.14 

2.94 

Greensburg  C.  &  C.  Co... 

2.89 

2.89 

2.74 

T.  Pierpont  &  Sons . 

2.90 

2.75 

2.90 

2.75 

S.  M.  Martin  &  Co . 

2.90 

2.5.3 

2.95 

2.53 

George  B.  Newton  &  Co.. 

3.23 

3.23 

Kogers-Corr  Coal  Co . 

2.64 

2.49 

2.64 

2.49 

The  following  were  the  low  bids  on  the 
principal  anthracite  deliveries:  200  tons  pea 


coal  to  Mingo  Creek  pumping  station,  $4.70  a 
ton,  Emmons  Coal  Mining  Company;  100  tons 
washed  pea.  No.  3  grade,  to  Belmont  filters, 
$4.10,  Emmons  Coal  Mining  Company;  100 
tons  pea,  washed,  No.  3  grade,  Queen  Lane 
Filters,  $4.19,  Philadelphia  &  Reading  Coal  & 
Iron  Company;  1,500  tons  pea,  washed.  No.  3 
grade,  Belmont  Pumping  Station,  $3.56,  Em¬ 
mons  Coal  Mining  Company;  200  tons  No.  3 
buckwheat,  Queens  Lane,  $2.68,  Emmons  Coal 
Mining  Company,  and  500  tons  to  Roxborough 
Auxiliary  at  $3.09,  Emmons  Coal  Mining  Com¬ 
pany.  — 

Baltimore  Trade. 


Baltimore,  Md.,  October  7th. —  {Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — The  coal  trade  here  in  all  its 
branches  is  fast  settling  down  to  a  typical  fall 
condition.  As  orders  begin  to  come  in  for  fuel 
of  all  grades,  the  trade  begins  to  .grumble  more 
and  more  at  short  car  supply,  shortage  of  labor  at 
the  mines,  etc.,  etc. 

Business  is  undoubtedly  improving.  Consider¬ 
ing  the  poor  summer  just  put  behind  it  may  be 
said  to  be  quite  satisfactory  at  present.  Anthra¬ 
cite  dealers  here  report  that  a  pretty  good  fall 
trade  is  now  being  done  and  that  with  the  first 
touch  of  real  cold  weather  that  they  will  undoubt¬ 
edly  be  almost  swamped  with  immediate  delivery 
business,  as  more  cellars  are  empty  at  this  time 
than  for  a  like  period  for  a  number  of  years 
past. 

The  highest  winter  schedule  has  been  put  in 
effect  here.  This  is  a  little  earlier  than  in  some 
past  seasons,  and  covers  the  twenty-five  cents 
added  each  winter  to  cover  increase  cost  of 
hauling  in  heavy  weather.  This  new  schedule, 
to  which  twenty-five  cents  is  also  added  where 
deliveries  are  by  basket  or  bags,  is  as  follows : 

No.  1  hard,  $7.35;  No.  2,  $7.60;  No.  3,  $7.85; 
nut,  $8.10 ;  pea,  $5.85,  and  buckwheat,  $4.50.  Sun- 
bury.  No.  2,  $7.85;  No.  3,  $8.10;  nut,  $8.35.  Lykens 
Valley,  No._  2,  $8.60;  No.  3,  $8.85;  nut,  $8.85. 

From  a  bituminous  viewpoint  things  grow  daily 
more  satisfactory.  Demand  is  such  now  that  the 
mines  are  having  difficulty  in  keeping  up  with 
business  in  the  face  of  the  poor  car  movement. 
Prices  are  slowly  stiffening.  From  now  on  the 
upward  movement  is  expected  to  continue. 

Prices  to  the  trade  may  be  quoted  about  as 
follows ; 


Fairmont — 

Three-quarter  . 

F.  0.  B. 
Mines. 

F.  0.  B. 
Baltimore. 

Run  of  mine . 

Slack  . 

Somerset — 

Best  . 

Good  . 

iC.06 

W.  M.  R.  R.— 

Freeport  . 

B.  &  0.— 

Freeport  . 

P.  R.  R.— 

Best  South  Fork . 

Miller  vein . 

Ordinary  . 

2.03@2.03 

2.03@2.03 

2  58 
2.88@2!93 

2.03@2.13 

While  the  closing  weeks  of  September  were 
not  so  satisfactory  in  the  matter  of  export  move¬ 
ment  from  Baltimore,  a  pretty  good  record  was 
made  for  the  month,  as  a  total  of  202,287  tons 
was  shipped  on  foreign  account.  The  last  week 
of  the  month  saw  a  movement  of  but  20,287  tons. 
Italy  again  took  the '  largest  amount  of  coal 
sent  out  on  export. 


Some  Trade  Events. 

■  The  Western  Maryland  Railroad  has  received 
bids  on  1,000  steel  hopper  cars  of  seventy-ton 
capacity  to  take  care  of  'its  increasiag  coal 
haulage. 

The  Maryland  Steel  Company  is  now  very 
busy.  An  order  for  12,000  tons  of  ninety-pound 
rails  for  the  Charleston  Southern  Railroad  was 
received  last  week. 

A  big  coal  tipple  has  been  built  by  the  Balti¬ 
more  &  Ohio  Railroad  at  the  Huntingdon  yards 
in  this  city.  The  improvement  cost  about  $150,- 
000.  The  coal  goes  into  a  compartment  arrange¬ 
ment,  from  which  it  is  released  as  needed,  thus 
avoidin.g  double  handling. 


A  well  known  anthracite  operator  who  came 
down  from  the  regions  this  week,  augmented  the 
evidence  that  the  anthracite  companies  were  in¬ 
clined  to  store  stocks  of  steam  coals  especially, 
in  anticipation  of  labor  trouble  next  April  1st. 
This  is  rather  difficult  at  this  time  because  of  the 
much  better  demand  for  steam  sizes  that  has 
sprung  up  in  all  directions.  At  the  same  time 
it  must  be  appreciated  that  the  companies  have 
got  to  carry  reserve  stocks  of  these  sizes  on  hand 
at  the  mines  especially,  to  keep  their  pumps  going 
should  a  suspension  occur  early  in  the  spring. 


300 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[October  9 


New  England  Trade 


Boston,  October  7. —  {Special  Correspond¬ 
ence.) — The  long  expected  price  war  in  bitumi¬ 
nous  has  started.  Just  where  it  will  end  and 
the  number  of  bituminous  operators  that  will 
be  obliged  to  abandon  this,  field  is  of  course 
a  matter  of  guesswork.  The  first  gun  has  been 
fired  by  the  newly  reorganized  Darrow-Mann 
Company,  who  have  announced  their  1916 
prices  as  on  a  basis  of  $3.60  per  ton  f.  o.  b. 
Mystic  Wharf.  This  is  based  on  a  $2.83  price 
f.  o.  b.  Hampton  Roads  ports. 

On  this  basis  New  River  and  Pocahontas 
should  sell  at  $3.37  per  ton  alongside  Boston 
Harbor,  for  it  costs  twenty-three  cents  per 
ton  to  carry  coal  from  the  Harbor  to  Mystic 
Wharf  and  unload  it.  The  difference  between 
the  $3.60  Mystic  Wharf  price  and  the  $2.80 
f.  o.  b.  Hampton  Roads  ports  is  eighty  cents. 
Subtracting  the  twenty-three  cents — the  Mys¬ 
tic  Wharf  unloading  charges — from  the  eighty 
cents,  leaves  fifty-seven,  which  represents  Dar- 
row-Mann’s  freight  rate  basis.  Inasmuch  as 
it  is  difficult  to  get  space  from  Hampton 
Roads  ports  to  Boston  for  less  than  seventy- 
five  cents,  many  of  the  local  selling  firms  are 
wondering  where  they  are  going  to  get  off. 
The  announcement  by  Darrow-Mann  is  re¬ 
ported  to  have  been  followed  by  one  from  the 
New  England  Coal  &  Coke  Company  which 
indicated  that  this  corporation  would  protect 
its  customers  as  to  service  and  price.  These 
two  concerns,  together  with  the  Consolida¬ 
tion,  the  Sprague,  Burton  and  Stetson  con¬ 
cerns,  are  the  most  important  in  New  Eng¬ 
land.  While  the  Consolidation’s  price  sched¬ 
ule  may  be  influenced  more  or  less  by  the  re¬ 
duction  in  New  River  and  Pocahontas  made 
by  other  firms,  the  change  will  not  be  as 
drastic  for  the  company  deals  principally  in 
Georgia  Creek  and  like  coals.  But  with  the 
other  big  factors  fighting  each  other,  small 
operators  who  do  not  control  vessel  ton¬ 
nage  will  find  it  difficult  to  compete  here  for 
business  and  for  that  reason  are  apprehensive 
as  to  the  future. 

As  compared  with  a  week  ago,  the  local 
whole  bituminous  market  has  not  changed 
noticeably,  although  some  houses  profess  the 
Mystic  Wharf  market  is  perhaps  a  shade 
firmer  owing  to  smaller  receipts.  New  River 
and  Pocahontas  are  reported  as  having  sold 
at  that  point  recently  at  $3.60  to  $3.70  per  ton 
on  cars,  mostly  the  lower  price.  A  year  ago 
these  same  grades  of  coal  were  bringing  $3.75 
per  ton  or  better.  Contract  coals  are  arriving 
in  fair  'volume,  and  there  is  practically  no 
cancellations  in  deliveries  of  these  for  business 
among  the  manufacturing  consumers  is  stead¬ 
ily  increasing.  Then  too,  the  cooler  weather 
has  brought  about  a  marked  increase  in  the 
consumption  of  bituminous  by  hotels,  office 
buildings  and  apartment  houses,  and  some  of 
the  retail  firms  have  been  caught  with  small 
stocks  on  hand.  Georges  Creek  at  Mystic 
Wharf  is  $3.90  to  $4  per  ton  on  cars,  mostly 
$3.90,  and  not  especially  active. 

Stocks  of  bituminous  at  southern  shipping 
ports  are  still  in  excess  of  the  demand,  but  are 
considerably  smaller  than  reported  a  fort¬ 
night  ago.  Some  shortage  of  cars  is  reported 
by  operators  in  the  Maryland  and  West  Vir¬ 
ginia  fields.  This  car  shortage  and  some  labor 
shortage  has  resulted  in  a  slightly  firmer  tone 
in  Pennsylvania  bituminous,  although  the  offi¬ 
cial  market  is  still  quoted  from  ninety  cents 
to  $1.50  per  ton  on  cars  at  the  mines.  Certain 
it  is,  however,  that  much  poorer  coal  can  not 
be  had  for  ninety  cents  than  was  the  case  a 
week  or  so  ago.  Some  extra  fine  coals  are  re¬ 
ported  as  having  been  sold  here  at  5  to  10 
cents  per  ton  more  than  quoted  last  week,  but 
the  amount  was  too  small  to  be  a  real  market 
factor. 

Local  wholesale  anthracite  firms  say  business 
is  all  that  could  be  expected.  The  demand  is 
not  only  brisk,  but  embraces  nut,  stove,  egg, 
broken  and  buckwheats.  Pea  coal  is  appar¬ 
ently  the  only  quiet  thing  on  the  list  and  goes 
begging  at  $4.05  per  ton  alongside  Boston 
Harbor.  Cargo  as  well  as  car-lots  are  selling, 
from  Sound  points  to  Portsmouth,  N.  H. 
Maine  continues  to  buy  sparingly,  most  retail 
dealers  located  in  that  state  having  covered 
their  requirements  a  month  or  more  ago. 
While  some  anthracite  is  being  shipped  to 
the  Provinces  each  week,  the  movement  is 
somewhat  disappointing,  according  to  ship¬ 
pers,  a  fact  largely  due  to  a  lack  of  vessel 
space. 


The  September  output  of  hard  coal  was 
much  smaller  than  it  was  in  the  corresponding 
month  of  last  year,  and  stocks  at  tidewater 
shipping  points  have  been  reduced  materially. 
This  fact,  together  with  an  expected  short  car 
supply  and  predictions  of  a  still  heavier  de¬ 
mand  for  coal  before  snow  flies  all  make  cer¬ 
tain  local  firms  very  bullish  on  the  winter 
market.  Some  dealers  go  so  far  as  to  express 
no  doubt  but  that  certain  of  the  prepared  sizes 
will  be  selling  at  a  premium  on  or  before  Jan¬ 
uary  1st.  Stove  and  egg,  alongside  Boston 
Harbor,  are  still  quoted  by  the  important  firms 
at  $5.85,  and  nut  at  $6.10  per  ton.  Independent 
shippers  have  no  difficulty  in  securing  full  cir¬ 
cular  prices  for  whatever  little  they  offer  on 
the  New  England  market.  Buckwheats  are  in 
short  supply,  on  a  basis  of  $1.80  f.  o.  b.  New 
York  for  No.  3,  and  twenty  cents  more  for 
birdseye. 

The  marine  freight  rate  market  is  firmer, 
owing  to  favorable  shipping  conditions  and  a 
decrease  in  space  offerings.  From  Hampton 
Roads  ports  to  Boston  very  little  space  is 
obtainable  for  less  than  eighty  cents,  and  from 
that  price  rates  run  as  high  as  ninety  cents. 
From  New  York  to  Boston^fifty  and  fifty-five 
cents  .per  ton  is  asked,  from  New  York  to 
Pawtucket  forty-five  and  from  New  York  to 
Providence  forty  cents.  The  Boston  Tow  Boat 
Company,  a  subsidiary  of  the  Massachusetts 
Gas  Companies,  has  sold  another  tug,  the  “Un¬ 
derwriter,”  to  Smith  &  Perry  of  New  York. 
The  tug  was  one  of  the  oldest  in  the  employ  of 
the  Tow  Boat  Company. 


Buffalo  Trade. 


Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  October  7th. —  (Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — Lake  shipments  of  anthracite  for 
September  were  411,750  tons,  as  compared  with 
428,426  in  the  sarq,e  month  of  last  year.  The  sea¬ 
son’s  shipments  to  October  1st  were  2,791,075 
tons,  a.gainst  3,156,781  in  the  same  period  of  1914. 
The  September  shipments  were  on  a  pretty  small 
scale  this  year  and  the  present  month  will  not 
show  any  improvement,  unless  the  showing  is 
better  than  .that  already  made.  For  the  past  week 
the  shipments  were  101,020  tons,  as  follows : 
Duluth-Superior,  46,600;  Chicago,  21,700;  Mil¬ 
waukee,  16,000 ;  Fort  William,  8,000 ;  Manitowoc, 
3,300;  Kenosha,  2,300;  Sault  Ste.  Marie,  Ont., 
2,200 ;  Waukegan,  920. 

The  anthracite  trade  has  begun  to  pick  up  and 
dealers  are  beginnia?  to  show  more  interest  than 
for  some  months.  The  somewhat  cooler  weather 
has  had  something  to  do  with  this  more  extensive 
demand,  but  there  is  a  growing  feeling  that  coal 
is  not  going  to  be  plentiful  for  many  weeks 
ahead  and  that  cars  are  not  going  to  be  had  as 
easily  as  has  been  the  case.  In  fact,  there  is  al¬ 
ready  some  tightening  of  the  car  supply.  Box 
cars  are  being  used  to  a  lar.ge  extent  in  the  grain 
trade  and  for  the  movement  of  other  freight. 
Dealers  are  being  advised  to  get  in  coal  as  early 
as  possible,  for  there  is  sure  to  be  a  large  demand 
before  very  lon.g  and  it  will  be  hard  to  fill. 

Bituminous  business  is  holding  up  steadily  and 
orders  are  in  considerably  larger  volume  than  a 
couple  of  months  ago.  Prices  are  showing  a 
stiffening  tendency,  especially  in  slack,  which  is 
now  sellin.g  at  about  $2  to  $2.15  for  the  best 
grades.  Occasional  cars  are  being  wanted  by  a 
large  number  of  customers,  and  where  contracts 
exist  there  is  a  good  movement.  Buyers  have 
begun  to  stock  up  to  some  extent,  believing  that 
the  car  supply  is  not  going  to  be  adequate  long. 
The  lack  of  small  gondola  cars  is  already  com¬ 
plained  of  by  most  operators  and  they  are  find¬ 
ing  that  coal  is  not  coming  through  from  the 
mines  nearly  as  quickly  as  usual.  In  fact,  on 
many  shipments  about  double  the  time  is  re¬ 
quired.  There  is  the  same  lack  of  miners  re¬ 
ported  as  has  been  the  case  for  some  time,  and 
even  where  a  full  staff  of  miners  is  present  there 
is  not  quite  the  usual  efficiency,  for  the  talk  of 
strikes  is  frequently  heard  and  at  some  opera¬ 
tions  strikes  are  actually  on.  Labor  troubles 
threaten  to  grow  worse  from  now  until  next 
spriag. 


Denver  Trade. 


Denver,  October  7th. —  {Special  Correspond¬ 
ence.) — Jobbers  and  retailers  report  a  very  satis¬ 
factory  volume  of  business  this  week,  and  re¬ 
turns  from  producin,g  sections  indicate  that  the 
output  will  run  about  the  same  as  last  week.  It 
is  believed  that  the  Trinidad  and  Walsenburg  dis¬ 


tricts  will  even  make  a  larger  tonnage  than  last 
week. 

Storing  of  all  grades  for  domestic  use  con¬ 
tinues,  and  the  demand  has  been  very  brisk  for 
threshing.  Threshing  operations  in  the  dry  farm¬ 
ing  section  of  the  state  have  not  yet  been  finished 
and  the  same  is  true  of  northern  Colorado  and 
southern  Wyoming.  Much  lignite  is  being  sent 
out  for  this  purpose.  The  lignite  production  for 
the  week  will  exceed  60  per  cent  of  normal. 

Prices  for  slack  are  steady  to  unchanged,  with 
a  demand  for  all  grades  that  is  very  satisfactory. 
There  are  indications  of  a  possible  surplus  on 
Routt  county,  where  the  lump  production  is 
steadily  increasing. 

Lignite  prices  f.  o.  b.  mines  are  as  follows: 
For  Denver  delivered,  lump,  $2.35  to  $2.65;  mine 
run,  $1.50  to  $1.65;  slack,  $1.05  to  $1.25.  For 
points  outside  of  Denver,  lump,  $2.50;  mine  run, 
$1.55  to  $1.65;  slack,  $1.05. 


Duluth  Trade. 


Duluth,  Minn.,  October  7.— (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — There  does  not  seem  to  be  much 
chance  of  last  year’s  coal  receipts  at  the  Head 
of  the  Lakes  being  equalled  this  year.  In 
fact,  there  is  no  such  expectation.  The  figures 
of  receipts  to  date  show  a  big  difference  from 
last  year,  the  margin  between  the  receipts  up 
to  the  first  of  this  month  and  the  total  of  last 
year  being  too  large  to  be  overcome  in  the 
short  time  that  remains  of  the  lake  season. 

Up  to  the  first  of  the  present  month  there 
have  been  received  at  this  point,  via  the  lakes, 
5,879,365  tons  of  all  kinds  of  coal,  as  against 
7,380,100  tons  in  the  same  time  last  year,  a 
difference  in  favor  of  1914  of  1,510,735  to*ns. 
The  total  receipts  of  the  season  of  1914 
amounting  to  9,488,297  tons,  and  to  make  up 
the  difference  between  that  figure  and  what 
has  already  been  received  this  year  the  ships 
would  have  to  bring  up  from  Lake  Erie  3,608,- 
932  tons  during  the  next  two  months,  an 
amount  not  only  improbable,  but  impossible. 

Receipts  during  September,  just  past,  were 
as  follows,  assigned  to  the  various  companies: 

Anthra¬ 
cite.  Bituminous.  Total 

Northwestern  Fuel  Co _  40,000  126,000  166,000 

Pittsburgh  Coal  Co .  29,000  79,000  108,000 

Berwind  Fuel  Co .  50,000  50,000 

U.  S.  Steel  Corporation .  149,000  149,000 

Carnegie  Fuel  Co .  116,500  116,500 

Hanna  Coal  Co .  9,000  66,500  75,500 

Zenith  Furnace  Co .  79,500  79,500 

Northern  Coal  &  Dock  Co.  7,000  62,000  .69,000 

Clarkson  Coal  Co .  13,000  38,000  51,000 

Island  Creek  .  58,000  58,000 

Boston  Coal  Co .  12,000  13,000  25,000 

Great  Lakes  .  31,000  31,000 

Lehigh  Valley  .  13,000  .  13,000 

Reading  .  6,000  39,000  45,000 

Reiss  Coal  Co .  7,000  30,700  37,700 


Total  September .  136,000  938,000  1,074,200 

September,  1914 .  81,846  1,177,330  1,259,176 

Total  to  Oct.  1,  1915 . 1,129,220  4,750,145  5,879,365 

Total  to  Oct.  1,  1914 . 1,070,800  6,309,300  7,380,100 

Business  in  the  country  supplied  from  the 
docks  at  this  point  has  increased  to  such  an 
extent  during  the  last  week  or  two  that  coal 
men  here  say  that  the  business  of  this  season 
bids  fair  to  far  outclass  the  fall  business  of 
even  year  before  last.  Thus  far,  it  is  away  in 
advance  of  the  business  a  year  ago,  as  was 
to  be  expected,  for  last  year  there  was  little 
demand.  Shipments  are  going  out  consider¬ 
ably  better  than  they  did  up  to  a  week  ago, 
for  the  grain  movement  has  set  in  in  earnest 
and  cars  are  now  available  for  coal  shipments 
to  northwestern  points.  The  figures  showing 
shipments  of  the  past  month  are  not  yet  avail¬ 
able,  but  it  is  unofficially  given  out  that  they 
show  up  well,  and,  of  course,  much  better 
than  last  year.  Inquiries  are  pouring  into  the 
general  offices  much  faster  than  the  supply 
of  cars  permits  the  filling  of  orders. 

Coal  arrivals  at  Fort  William  and  Port 
Arthur,  Ont.,  have  fallen  off  considerably  in 
the  last  ten  days.  The  probable  reason  is 
that  with  the  immense  increase  in  freight 
rates  on  grain,  boats  do  not  care  to  wait  to 
load  coal  at  the  lower  lakes,  but  hurry  back 
to  the  western  end  to  get  more  cargoes.  This 
is  probably  true  of  the  situation  at  this  point 
as  well.  Tonnage  is  being  booked  to  carry 
grain  at  six  cents,  the  highest  rate  that  has 
prevailed  any  year  since  the  larger  type  of 
craft  has  come  into  the  business.  In  the  old 
days  as  high  as  thirteen  and  fifteen  cents  was 
paid,  but  that  was  when  boats  were  scarcer 
and  smaller.  At  the  six-cent  rate  there  is  a 
big  enough  profit  in  carrying  grain  to  have 
the  boats  come  back  light  and  still  be  ahead. 
With  the  lack  of  interest  in  shipping  coal 
from  Lake  Erie,  which  exists  just  now,  there 
is  not  much  chance  of  evenin.g  up  the  rate. 


Phe  Black  Diamond 

Vol.  55.  No.  16  ggi 

Rumbus  OCTOBER  16,  1915  PhtsIuSoh  $3.00  Per  Year 

Port  of  Baltimore— The  Reason  Why  It  Grew. 


What  of  Baltimore  as  a  coal  port?  Is  it  all 
that  it  should  be?  Has  it  served  its  tributary 
coal  fields  well  or  has  it  allowed  them  to  suffer 
while  other  coal  fields  gained  because  their  ports 
served  them  better?  Or,  has  Baltimore  served  as 
well  as  any  other  American  port  but  still  lost 
business  for  its  tributary  coal  mines  because 
some  foreign  coal  ports  served  their  coal  mines 
better? 

Suppose  we  reverse  the  process  for  a  minute. 
Is  the  Baltimore  port  all  that  can  be  expected 
but  is  it  handicapped  by  the  policy  of  the  mines  ? 
Does  it  suffer  any  from  the  character  of  the  men 
who  do  its  bunkering  and  export  business  ? 

There  is  no  intention  here  to  take  the  port 
apart  to  see  what  is  is  made  of.  No  “third  de¬ 
gree”  methods  are  to  be  employed.  The  writer 
is  just  curious.  A  short  while  ago  he  put  Phila¬ 
delphia  under  the  glass  and  found  something 
interesting.  That  is,  it  has  a  landlocked  harbor 
and  ample  railroad  facilities.  It  has  a  source  of 
supply  on  one  side  and  a  market  on  the  other. 
It  has  lost  only  because  Philadelphia  men  haven’t 
been  as  keen  as  they  might  \Vith  that  fact  in 
mind  there  is  natural  curiosity  as  to  Baltimore. 
Just  wherein  does  it  succeed  or  fail? 

Baltimore  is  like  all  coal  ports.  It  has  a  period 
when  things  were  quiet  but  now  it  is  booming. 
But,  unlike  all  of  them,  it  once  was  master  and 
might  almost  have  controlled  the  situation.  Thus 
its  period  of  somnolence  was  costly.  Maybe  this 
is  due  to  the  fact  its  men  were  slow  to  realize 
the  value  of  machinery. 

Even  so,  from  the  time  that  coal  burning 
steamers  found  it  necessary  to  make  land  on  the 
eastern  coast  to  get  fuel  Baltimore  has  been  do¬ 
ing  bunkering  business.  It  gained  trade  easily 
because  it  had  the  two  essentials — an  almost  per¬ 
fect  harbor  and  an  abundant  supply  of  excellent 
coal.  In  the  beginning  the  Georges  Creek  district 
was  producing  the  fuel  for  these  boats.  And 
Georges  Creek  has  America’s  best  coal,  while 
other  fields  feeding  through  the  same  port  have 
never  failed  to  yield  really  more  coal  than  is 
necessary. 

Thus  one  question  is  answered.  Baltimore  has 
a  source  of  supply  behind  it. 

As  to  a  market  beyond.  There  was  first  the 
bunkering  business — which  flattened  out  a  little 
when  the  other  ports  grew.  Also  there  came  first 
a  small  and  then  a  big  and  recently  a  whopping 
demand  from  foreign  ports.  Thus  it  has  a  mar- 


Nature  Made  it  a  Natural  Harbor — The 
City  and  the  Flow  of  Commerce  Added 
the  Facilities  Which  Make  It  a  Port. 


ket  and  a  good  one.  Still  the  competition  of 
other  ports  in  America  and  from  other  coal  pro¬ 
ducing  countries  in  the  Mediterranean  and  lower 
European  ports  pointed  out  the  fact  that  Balti¬ 
more  had  a  fight  on  hand  even  if  it  was  “a 
straight  shoot  across  the  pond”  and  a  saving  in 
many  miles  of  ocean  travel  for  those  who  had 
coal  to  export.  Baltimore  thought  deeply  over 
the  problem — and  kept  on  thinking.  But  some¬ 
thing  happened  that  brought  her  up  with  a  short 
shrift.  The  big  fire  of  1904  changed  the  whole 
harbor  line  on  one  side  of  the  pear-shaped  bay 
that  is  the  harbor  proper. 

Two  of  the  railways,  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio 
and  the  Western  Maryland,  has  seen  the  ad¬ 
vantage  of  having  coal  piers  for  export  purposes 
and  the  former  has  established  it’s  pier  on  Curtis 
Bay  and  the  latter  at  Port  Covington.  This  gave 
the  connecting  link  between  the  market — the 
mechanical  devices. 

Coal  companies  had  promised  export  business 
that  would  give  tonnage  to  keep  these  properties 
fully  employed.  The  fire  bred  a  new  Baltimore 
spirit  and  the  coal  companies  did  their  part,  but 
the  tonnage,  while  showing  perceptible  increases 
year  after  year,  did  not  threaten  any  of  the  other 
ports  to  a  very  great  degree  until  the  coming  of 
the  European  war. 

Then  things  started  to  hum.  The  tonnage 
leaped  forward  in  most  surprising  figures.  Ship¬ 
ping  interests  that  looked  on  coal  for  export  as 
only  incidental  found  that  coal  was  taking  the 
time-honored  place  which  some  other  things  had 
claimed  as  their  own.  Were  figures  obtainable 
for  1915  it  might  be  found  that  coal  had  reached 
its  pinnacle  in  volume — and  the  hopes  that  had 
been  entertained  a  decade  ago  were  at  last 
realized.  This  completed  the  program — the  port 
actually  had  the  business. 

So,  another  epoch  is  on  the  way — Baltimore 
has  great  expectations.  The  coal  business  has 
outgrown  itself  on  the  Curtis  Bay  pier  and  a  new 
costly  structure  must  take  its  place.  The  Penn¬ 
sylvania  Railroad  has  decided  to  become  a  factor 
in  coal  exporting  from  this  harbor  and  it  has 


plans  and  has  started  to  build  a  pier  that  will 
cost  over  a  million  dollars  to  take  care  of  traffic 
originating  on  its  lines  and  seeking  a  Baltimore 
outlet. 

Right  here  it  might  be  said  that  the  railroads 
are  not  the  only  factor  in  this  bid  for  position 
of  Baltimore’s  coal  trade.  Over  ten  million  of 
dollars  has  been  or  will  be  spent  by  the  city  in 
harbor  improvements.  Mayor  Preston,  who  in 
several  terms  of  office  has  worked  to  make  his 
city  a  seaport  of  the  first  class,  is  another  factor. 
Or,  as  Herbert  Sheridan  of  the  Traffic  Bureau  > 
of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  put  it: 

“First  the  big  fire  and  second  Mayor  Preston 
made  Baltimore  as  a  port.” 

He  might  have  added  also  that  Baltimore,  from 
the  lighthouse  keeper,  way  down  the  river,  to  the 
biggest  boat  owner  on  the  docks,  is  keenly  alive 
to  the  possibilities  of  the  port.  And  Baltimore  is 
up  and  doing.  Everyone  you  meet  is  a  booster. 
Thus,  the  last  point  is  answered — Baltimore  has 
all  the  requisites  of  a  port  and  the  men. 

Then  there  is  one  thing  more  that  is  a  tre¬ 
mendous  leverage  toward  bringing  coal  trade 
from  foreign  parts  to  the  piers  of  the  Monu¬ 
mental  City.  This  is  a  little  matter  of  railroad 
preference. 

Baltimore  lies  173  statute  m.iles  from  the  Cape 
Henry  lighthouse,  the  first  point  of  call  on  the 
Chesapeake  Bay.  Her  geographical  position  to 
New  England  points  also  adds  many  miles.  On 
the  strength  of  this  there  has  been  allowed  a 
seven-cent  differential  on  consignments  of  coal 
for  delivery  “outside  the  capes”  from  the  Somer¬ 
set  coal  fields  in  Pennsylvania  and  from  the 
Georges  Creek  district  in  Maryland  as  against 
the  rates  that  apply  for  delivery  at  the  port  of 
Philadelphia. 

It  seems  a  well  established  fact  that  coal  move¬ 
ment  by  boat  is  not  as  expensive  as  by  rail. 
Still,  there  are  other  things,  such  as  pilotage  and 
other  charges  that  are  supposed  to  absorb  the 
seven  cents  difference.  However,  the  differential 
has  been  one  of  the  biggest  leverages  that  has 
benefited  this  port  so  far  as  exportation  of  coal 
is  concerned. 

The  Coal  Supply. 

Three  districts  are  drawn  on  to  supply  the  coal 
shipped  from  that  harbor.  First  is  Somerset 
county,  Pennsylvania,  which  takes  a  rate  of  $1.60 
for  track  delivery,  $1.35  for  pier  delivery  within 
the  capes  and  $1.18  for  outside  the  capes.  The 


An  Ocean-going  Collier  Loading  at  the  Curtis  Bay  Coal  Pier  of  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  Railway. 


302 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[October  16 


Georges  Creek  zone  of  Maryland  takes  the  same 
rate.  The  Pittsburgh  and  Fairmont,  \V.  Va., 
zone  takes  a  rate  of  twenty-live  cents  on  the  ton 
higher  than  those  above  mentioned. 

And,  these  freight  rates  are  net  alongside. 
There  is  no  "port  terminal  charge,”  "dockage,” 
nor  any  other  forms  of  assessment  that  should  be 
counted  in  as  railway  charge. 

Even  pilotage  is  reduced  to  the  simplest  form, 
h'rom  any  "taking  on  point”  except  under  special 
arrangement  the  set  scale  is  as  folows : 

"h'or  vessels  drawing  fifteen  feet  or  over  $5  per 
foot:  for  vessels  drawing  twelve  to  fifteen  feet, 
$4  per  foot;  for  vessels  drawing  less  than  twelve 
feet,  $.3.j0  per  foot. 

P)Oth  the  pilots  association  of  Philadelphia 
and  of  the  Hampton  Roads  territory  are  of  the 
belief  that  the  Baltimore  pilots  work  too  cheap. 
It  has  been  pointed  out  that  in  the  Philadelphia 
harbor  there  is  103  miles  of  river  course  on  the 
Delaware  and  the  charges  are  compared  as  fol¬ 
lows  from  extreme  hailing  points:  Ten  foot  ves¬ 
sels,  $44  inward  and  $40  outward  on  the  Dela¬ 
ware  and  $35  on  the  Chesapeake;  twelve-foot 
vessels,  $5:2.80  inward  and  $48  outward  on  the 
Delaware  and  $48  either  way  on  the  Chesapeake; 
twenty-five-foot  vessels,  $137.50  inward  and  $125 
outward  on  the  Delaware  and  $125  on  the  Chesa¬ 
peake.  It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  the 
Chesapeake  takes  170  miles  of  river  course  to 
Baltimore. 

The  Delaware  pilots  declare  that  their  brothers 
of  the  Chesapeake  have  only  to  set  their  course 
toward  Baltimore  and  change  their  bearing  once 
from  hailing  point  to  the  piers  while  their  way 
is  bestrewn  with  all  sorts  of  sand  bars  and  devi¬ 
ous  courses  with  a  dredged  channel  to  follow  as 
the  river  narrows  down  toward  the  city  of  Phila¬ 
delphia. 

Again,  taking  the  other  angle  of  comparison 
on  pilotage  it  seems  that  the  members  of  this 
fraternity  who  are  operating  at  Hampton  Roads 
are  not  letting  aii}'  grass  grow  under  their  feet 
in  these  prosperous  times  of  war  and  heavy  coal 
export.  Said  a  Baltimore  observer : 

‘‘Pilotage  is  looked  on  as  a  mild  form  of  graft 
countenanced  by  our  government  as  a  toll  against 
foreign  trade.  Baltimore  has  been  circumspect 
about  it.  Even  the  pilots'  association  will  allow 


special  arrangements.  But  in  Hampton  Road,  ye 
gods,  if  there  is  not  a  few  independent  fortunes 
built  up  during  these  times  of  stress  it  is  not 
because  the  pilots  have  overlooked  any  form  of 
getting  theirs  while  the  getting  is  good.” 

The  foregoing  has  outlined  that  which  has  con¬ 
tributed  to  make  Baltimore  a  coal  harbor  of 
prestige  within  the  past  fifteen  years.  Now  as 
to  the  actual  equipment  in  the  harbor  for  handling 
the  coal  that  seeks  an  outlet  through  her  harbor, 
h'irst  and  foremost  it  should  be  held  in  mind  by 
the  reader  that  Baltimore  through  its  railways 
and  through  the  men  that  see  to  the  trans-ship¬ 
ment  of  coal  have  one  point  in  view  in  the  export 
trade,  and  that  to  see  that  the  coal  through  the 
port  gets  to  its  destination  in  the  lumpy  form  that 
it  comes  from  the  mines  in  central  Pennsylvania 
and  eastern  part  of  West  Virginia.  This  point 
alone  makes  the  shipment  a  little  different  to 
handle  than  the  transfer  of  coal  from  a  territory 
where  the  product  is  harder. 


Baltimore  and  Ohio  Piers. 

Two  features  stand  out  in  the  equipment  of 
coal  terminals  for  the  B.  &  O.  One  is  that  the 
three  piers  which  are  now  in  use  mark  the  stages 
of  development  of  the  coal  business  of  the  port 
and  the  second  is  that  this  railway  is  getting 
ready  to  lift  a  monument  to  an  epoch  yet  to 
come. 

Curtis  Bay  is  the  huh  of  the  industry,  so  far 
as  this  road’s  coal  terminals  is  concerned.  The 
pier  placed  there  over  a  dozen  years  ago  was  to 
all  intents  and  purposes  of  the  engineers  who 
constructed  it,  built  to  last  any  increases  in  ton¬ 
nage  that  could  be  anticipated  in  the  future. 
Now,  however,  it  has  been  found  that  this  is 
inadequate  and  expensive  to  operate  and  it  will 
have  to  give  way  to  a  giant  pier  that  will  have 
every  modern  device  to  take  care  of  the  ever 
increasing  tonnage  of  this  road. 

The  present  pier  at  Curtis  Bay  is  800  feet  in 
length  with  four  lines  of  tracks  on  the  top.  It 
is  sufficiently  large  to  allow  four  vessels  to  load 
at  one  time — two  to  each  side.  The  pier  is 
equipped  with  twenty-five  pockets  on  each  side  of 
the  pier  and  with  the  chutes  so  arranged  to  per¬ 
mit  free  action  of  about  1.000  tons  an  hour. 


which  can  be  sent  into  the  holds  of  the  vessels 
loading  on  either  side. 

Speed  has  been  one  of  the  requirements  at  this 
pier.  Some  of  the  records  that  have  been  made 
in  coal  loading  that  stand  out  on  the  eastern  sea¬ 
board  as  being  top  notch  work  were  as  follows; 
The  loading  of  the  collier  Neptune  on  July  21, 
IDll,  which  was  loaded  with  13,000  tons  of  coal 
and  2,200  tons  in  the  bunkers,  all  of  which  went 
in  during  one  working  day.  Then  as  for  speed 
rather  than  quantity  the  same  collier  on  Novem¬ 
ber  18,  1912,  loaded  7,473  tons  in  three  hours  and 
forty-five  minutes. 

The  receiving  yards  at  Curtis  Bay  has  a  capac¬ 
ity  of  2,500  cars,  and  as  this  yard  is  used  entirely 
in  the  coal  business  it  might  be  said  that  this  is 
a  total  capacity  for  coal.  Even  this  is  not  thought 
sufficient  to  take  care  of  the  increasing  business 
and  there  will  be  a  spreading  of  the  trackage  as 
soon  as  the  new  pier  goes  into  operation. 

Of  the  tonnage  handled  over  the  present  pier 
actual  figures  are  meagre.  Just  why,  it  has  been 
a  little  hard  to  determine,  yet  there  is  a  disposi¬ 
tion  on  the  part  of  the  railways  running  into 
Baltimore  to  reserve  actual  counts.  During  the 
past  eight  months  an  average  close  to  350,000  a 
month  has  gone  over  the  piers,  or,  figuring  on 
natural  increases  for  the  remaining  months,  the 
total  tonnage  for  the  year,  B.  &  O.  officials  say, 
should  amount  to  about  3,200,000. 

As  has  been  stated  previously,  part  of  Balti¬ 
more’s  coal  business  is  realization  and  part  ex¬ 
pectation.  In  that  the  officers  of  the  B.  &.  O. 
railway  have  authorized  and  the  plans  have 
been  completed  for  the  new  coal  piers  it  is 
only  fair  to  consider  them  already  as  a  part 
of  the  port's^oal  handling  facilities.  It  was 
decided  on  September  10  of  this  year  that 
the  new  pier  should  be  proceeded  with,  that 
it  should  cost  in  the  neighborhood  of  $1,500,000, 
and  have  a  total  capacity  close  to  10,000,000 
tons  of  coal  per  year.  With  a  mind  to  the 
proper  handling  of  the  coals  hauled  by  this 
railway,  Francis  Lee  Stuart,  the  chief  engineer, 
and  his  assistant,  M.  A.  Long,  chief  architect, 
spent  over  two  years  examining  the  structures  in 
existence  that  would  best  fit  the  coals  that  leave 
the  Baltimore  harbor.  One  type  of  pier  and  its 
equipment  that  was  located  in  Nova  Scotia  gave 
them  a  basis  from  which  the  approved  plans  were 
evolved. 

In  design  the  pier  will  consist  of  two  car 
durnpers  inshore,  built  in  units  and  equipped  with 
rapid  moving  lielts  leading  to  movable  towers 
on  the  piers.  These  can  be  used  for  loading  into 
vessels  on  either  side,  or,  the  entire  loading 
ppacity  can  be  directed  to  one  vessel.  This  pier 
is  to  be  700  feet  long  and  115  feet  wide.  The 
car  dumpers  will  be  capable  of  handling  cars 
fifty-three  feet  long  and  unloading  forty  100-ton 
cars  i)er  hour.  The  belts  used  for  conveying 
the  coal  will  be  run  at  speeds  varying  from  250 
to  500  feet  per  minute,  which  will  allow  a  loading 
capacity  of  from  3,000  to  0,000  tons  per  hour. 

Right  here  it  might  he  stated  that  the  com¬ 
pleteness  of  this  equipment  will  be  a  tremendous 
bid  for  increased  tonnages  in  export  coal.  By 
the  fact  that  there  is  a  sufficient  depth  to  allow 
free  access  and  egress  of  boats  under  their  own 
steam,  a  lessening  in  loading  time,  time  which 
figures  greatly  against  the  long  trip  up  the 
Chesapeake  Bay,  Baltimore  will  make  her  bow 
as  a  close  competitor  with  some  of  the  places 
closer  to  the  open  water. 

While  the  foregoing  applies  to  the  arrange¬ 
ment  of  and  preparation  for  handling  export  coal, 
there  is  another  feature  to  the  coal  handling 
equipment  of  this  road.  This  is  the  two  piers 
at  Locust  Point.  These  are  used  for  what  is 
known  as  har1)or  trade. 

Locust  Point,  as  a  terminal,  dates  back  to  1848. 
The  B.  &■  O.  entered  the  trans-Atlantic  trade  with 
a  line  of  four  of  its  own  boats  in  1865  and  Locust 
Point  was  a  storm  center  of  competition  for 
three  years.  It  is  situated  behind  Fort  McHenry 
on  the  left  side  of  the  entrance  and  has  a  point 
of  vantage  in  the  inner  harbor.  The  unique 
feature  of  the  placing  of  two  coal  piers  in  this 
location  shows  the  growth  of  coal  handling  as  a 
specialized  feature  of  shipping.  The  days  were 
when  coal,  grain,  ore  and  all  other  forms  of 
merchandise  could  l)e  cluttered  together,  but  now 
is  a  day  of  specializing,  each  must  be  given  its 
own  point  of  vantage.  Though  superseded  in  the 
export  trade  1iy  Curtis  Bay,  the  Locust  Point  coal 
piers  are  still  in  active  use,  because  Baltimore 
conditions  have  made  them  so.  One  of  these 
piers  is  used  for  bituminous  and  the  other  for 
anthracite  shipments,  and  their  particular  use  is 
for  supplies  of  domestic,  harbor  coal  and  fuel  for 
the  bunkers  of  coastwise  and  ocean  vessels. 

Each  of  these  piers  has  a  berth  room  of  200 
feet  and  is  sufficient  in  length  to  allow  two  boats 


The  Baltimore  &  Ohio’s  Curtis  Bay  Pier,  Wh  ich  Holds  the  World’s  Record  for  Loading. 


No.  16] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


303 


to  load  at  one  time.  The  total  amount  of  coal 
passing  over  Locust  Point  averages  about  55,000 
tons  a  month  or  700,000  tons  a  year. 

Western  Maryland  Piers. 

In  1004  the  Western  Maryland  Railroad  made 
its  bid  for  coal  export  business  and  to  pave  the 
way  erected  at  Port  Covington  a  coal  pier  de¬ 
signed  to  be  as  complete  as  could  be  asked  for 
pair  of  Allis  Chalmer’s  slide  valve  hoisting  en- 
break  of  the  war  in  Europe  in  1014  the  tonnage 
over  these  piers  came  in  tits  and  starts  and  can 
hardly  be  gauged.  For  the  past  twelve  months 
an  average  of  125,000  tons  a  month  have  been 
going  over  its  side  and,  according  to  the  agents 
of  the  road,  even  these  figures  are  lialde  to  ex¬ 
pansion. 

This  pier  is  an  immense  affair  with  a  total 
length  of  1,283  feet,  though  5, 53  feet  of  this  is 
taken  up  in  the  length  from  the  bulkhead  to  the 
toe  of  the  incline.  In  all  it  has  an  elevation  of 
70  feet  above  the  mean  low  tide.  It  is  of  pile 
and  timber  construction. 

Its  coal  handling  equipment  is  of  forty  Link- 
Belt  patent  coal  chutes — twenty  to  each  side  of 
the  pier ;  three  150  horse-power  engines  and  a 
pair  of  Allis  Chalmers’  slide  valve  hoisting  en¬ 
gines  with  a  single  drum.  This  gives  an  unload¬ 
ing  capacity  of  twenty-four  fifty-ton  cars  an 
hour. 

The  method  employed  in  unloading  the  cars  is 
designed  to  minimize  breakage  of  the  coal  to  as 
great  a  degree  as  possible.  The  system  employed 
is  to  place  cars  on  the  load  tracks  to  the  coal 
pier  and  then  send  them  down  by  gravity,  one 
at  a  time,  so  that  they  pass  over  the  scales  which 
automatically  weighs  each  of  the  cars  in  transit. 
.-\s  the  car  passes  over  the  “barney  pit”  a  signal 
is  given  to  the  engineer  in  the  power  house,  and 
this  brings  a  barney  car  out  of  the  pit,  which 
pushes  the  car  to  the  top  of  the  incline,  where  it 
can  be  switched  to  either  side  of  the  pier.  The 
car  is  run  down  to  the  coal  pockets  by  gravity, 
unloaded,  and  then  by  gravity  it  is  run  on  the 
transfer  table,  which,  as  soon  as  the  car  is  on, 
automatically  starts  the  car  down  the  empty  track, 
which  is  in  the  center  of  the  pier. 

The  Pennsylvania  Piers. 

While  piers  of  no  great  capacity  and  no  con¬ 
siderable  breadth  either  for  cars  or  ship’s  berth, 
sufficed  for  such  railways  as  the  “Northern  Cen¬ 
tral”  and  the  “Philadelphia,  Baltimore  &  West¬ 
ern,”  these  structures  were  hardly  of  the  size, 
location  or  dignity  to  do  justice  to  the  Pennsyl¬ 
vania  railroad.  So  it  is  that  the  three  |)iers  now 
in  use  have  Ijeen  willed  to  the  Pennsylvania  by 
roads  which  are  its  subsidiaries. 

However,  this  state  of  things  are  not  to  remain 


as  they  are.  For  several  years  the  Pennsylvania 
railroad  has  been  “talking”  about  building  coal 
piers  that  would  give  it  capacity  to  handle  about 
any  size  or  condition  of  coal  shipment  that  might 
come  its  way  for  transference  from  the  Balti¬ 
more  harbor.  Now  the  piers  are  almost  an  ac¬ 
complished  fact.  Almost,  for  excavation  of  land 
in  the  section  of  Baltimore  known  as  Canton  has 
already  been  started  and  the  Maryland  Dredging 
Company  is  doing  its  contract  part  to  get  ready 
for  the  $1,000, 000  coal  piers  that  have  been 
awarded  to  Arthur  IMcMullen  of  New  York  to 
build. 

Several  sets  of  plans  were  drafted  for  this  new 
structure  and  there  were  many  “hitches”  in  the 
negotiations  with  the  city  officials  before  all  was 
in  order  to  go  ahead.  The  present  plan  calls  for 
a  pier  942  feet  in  length  and  GO  feet  wide  and 
with  a  depth  of  30  feet  at  mean  low  tide.  The 
system  to  be  used  in  carriage  of  the  coal  from 
the  cars  to  the  holds  is  the  result  of  years  of 
research  by  the  engineers  of  the  Pennsylvania 
who  had  this  work  in  hand.  They  have  hit  upon 
a  plan  of  dumping  similar  to  that  used  by  this 
railroad  at  Erie,  Pa.,  and  the  coal  from  this  will 
be  received  in  a  hopper  that  will  feed  into  smaller 
car  units  of  about  4  tons  each.  An  automatic 
cable  device  w'ill  be  used  to  carry  the  coal  from 
these  units  to  the  chutes  that  takes  the  coal  to 
the  holds  of  the  vessels. 

It  is  expected  that  these  piers  will  be  completed 
and  ready  for  use  late  in  the  fall  of  1910. 

But  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  has  three  coal 
piers  in  active  use  at  the  present  time.  And,  if 
history  is  right,  it  might  have  had  four.  Thereby 
hangs  a  tale.  Prior  to  1870  Havre  D’Grace  was 
quite  the  coal  center  for  Chesapeake  Bay  busi¬ 
ness.  The  barges  and  boats  from  the  canals  used 
to  bring  the  coal  to  that  point,  where  it  was 
jdaced  aboard  the  bigger  vessels.  The  railroads 
wdth  Baltimore  terminals  were  making  a  bid  for 
the  haulage  of  "black  diamonds”  and  the  P.  B. 
&  \\’.  R  R.  built  a  coal  pier  at  Lower  Canton. 
For  two  or  three  years  it  stood  there  waiting  for 
business  that  never  came  and  finally  the  idea  of 
utilizing  the  piling  and  construction  for  a  grain 
elevator  was  put  into  effect.  W'hTTc  it  was  to  all 
intents  and  purposes  a  coal  ])ier  not  a  ton  of  coal 
ever  went  over  it. 

The  three  piers  now  in  use  are  known  as  South 
Clinton  street — or  the  Canton  Piers — and  the 
Boston  Street  Piers  Nos.  3  and  4. 

The  Canton  piers  were  purchased  from  the 
Baker  Whitely  Coal  Comi)any  in  1903  and  shortly 
afterv/ard  in  a  tire  these  were  burned  in  part  and 
rebuilt.  These  are  forty-eight  feet  wide  and  780 
feet  long,  are  equipped  with  two  tracks  of  a 
capacity  of  sixty  cars  and  a  chute  system  of  de¬ 
livering  the  coal  into  hunkers. 

The  Boston  street  piers  are  used  for  local 


anthracite  trade.  No.  3  is  fifty  feet  wdde  and 
has  a  length  of  400  feet  and  has  three  tracks  of 
equipment  and  capacity  on  top  of  thirty  cars. 
No.  4  has  a  length  of  400  feet  and  is  105  feet 
wide,  with  a  top  capacity  of  fifty-five  cars.  Both 
of  these  piers  use  a  gravity  system  for  placing 
cars  over  the  chutes.  They  are  also  equipped 
with  pockets  for  the  storage  of  coal  and  these 
are  leased  to  local  retailers  wdio  utilize  them  for 
harbor  delivery  and  delivery  to  river  boats. 

Using  the  Coal  Piers. 

With  its  tremendous  line  of  water  front  under 
the  control  of  the  city  both  business  firms  and 
retail  coal  dealers  take  advantage  of  the  pier 
delivery  for  cheaper  coal  than  they  could  get  by 
having  it  delivered  “on  the  line.”  This  has  been 
one  of  the  reasons  for  Baltimore  making  more 
practical  than  ornamental  use  of  small  docks. 

True,  even  the  heavier  users  of  coal  have 
stuck  to  “a  mule,  a  nigger  and  a  wheelbarrow,” 
as  the  modus  operand!  in  taking  care  of  fuel  when 
it  is  placed  on  the  wharves.  Nevertheless,  grab 
buckets  and  other  machinery  is  coming  to  the 
front.  The  number  of  small  craft  that  engage 
in  the  carriage  to  and  fro  is  a  small  flotilla  in 
itself. 

As  to  the  sizeableness  of  the  wharves  that  goes 
toward  receiving  coal  the  following  list  of  firms 
having  this  water-front  facility  is  convincing: 

In  the  section  known  as  the  Sea  Wall  and 
Custis  Bay :  Rasin  Monumental  Company,  Roy¬ 
ster  Guano  Company,  Martin  Wagner  Company, 
The  United  States  Asphalt  Company,  The  Stand¬ 
ard  Guano  Company,  Swift  &  Co.  (fertilizer 
;)lant)  and  the  Davison  Chemical  Company. 

At  Sparrows  Point,  nine  miles  below  the  city, 
the  Maryland  Steel  Company  has  a  good  wharf¬ 
age  system  and  lighter  a  large  amount  of  the  coal 
that  is  used  in  its  plant. 

In  the  Spring  Garden  section:  The  American 
Ice  Company,  Becker  Bros..  Thomson  Chemical 
Company,  Consolidated  Gas  &  Electric  Company, 
Swindell  Bros.,  Carr  Lowry  Glass  Company, 
Baltimore  Vitrified  Brick  Company,  Tin  Decorat¬ 
ing  (Company,  J.  S.  Young  and  the  Davison 
Chemical  Company.  Of  the  foregoing  the 
wharves  of  the  gas  and  electric  company  are 
equipped  with  grab  buckets  for  carriage  of  the 
coal. 

At  the  Baltimore  harbor  ( iqjper  docks),  the 
McComas  Coal  Wharf :  The  American  Ice  Com¬ 
pany,  Reeders  Wharf,  the  Baltimore  Drydock 
Company,  Numsen  &  Co.,  W.  S.  Cahill  Company, 
Platt  &  Co.,  Toch  Packing  Company;  Piedmont, 
Mt.  Airy  Guano  Company,  Armour  Fertilizer 
Plant,  G.  Ober  &  Sons. 

In  Canton  and  the  lower  docks  is  the  Block 
Street  Warehouse,  W.  D.  Gill  Lumber  Company, 
Anderson  Lumber  Company,  Miller’s  Wharf, 
Lord  Mott  &  Co.,  Roberts  Bros.,  Southern  Pack¬ 
ing  Company,  Miller  Bros.  Company,  Booth 
Packing  Company,  D.  E.  Foote  Company,  J.  L. 
Langrili,  Webster  Butterfield  National  Preserv¬ 
ing  Company,  Gibbs  Packing  Company,  W.  W. 
Boyer  Company,  Canton  Box  Company,  Kirwin 
Shaw  Company,  H.  J.  McGrath  Company,  Canton 
Lumber  Company,  J.  S.  Young  Company,  Sped- 
den  Shipbuilding  Company,  Standard  Oil  Com¬ 
pany,  Roberts  Bros.,  Baltimore  Pulverizer  Com¬ 
pany.  D.  B.  IMartin  Manufacturing  Company, 
General  Manufacturing  Company,  Griffith  & 
Boyd,  Herbert  Fertilizer  Company,  Double  A 
Company,  Baugh  Chemical  Company,  Miller  Fer¬ 
tilizer  Company  and  the  Chesapeake  Shell  Com¬ 
pany. 

And,  while  practically  all  of  the  named  firms 
above  liave  facilities  for  receiving  the  coal  that 
is  used  in  their  own  plants,  (luite  a  number  of 
them  have  agreements  with  retailers  for  the  trans¬ 
ference  of  coal  from  their  docks  so  that  a  great 
many  of  them  enter  into,  indirectly,  the  retail 
coal  supply  of  the  city. 

It  would  not  do  in  passing  to  overlook  the  big 
coal  pier  of  the  Consolidation  Coal  Company, 
which  is  used  for  fueling  of  shi])s,  harbor  busi¬ 
ness  and  many  of  the  hundred  and  one  purposes 
that  such  a  pier  could  be  put  to  in  a  harbor  in 
which  coal  plays  such  a  part,  In  addition  to  this 
pier  the  com|)any  has  several  tugs  and  boats  that 
are  kept  in  the  best  of  trim  and  are  used  as  an 
adjunct  to  their  local  business. 

The  Lighterage  Business. 

l.ightcrage  and  stevedoring  in  the  harbor  is 
controlled  i)ractically  by  two  firms,  the  Rapid 
Coaling'  &  Transfer  Company  and  another  firm 
which  is  controlled  by  the"  Baker  Whiteley  Coal 
Company.  The  set  rates  range  from  eleven  cents 
to  fifteen  cents  a  ton  for  lighterage,  depending  on 
(Concluded  on  page  307.) 


304 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[October  16 


More  About  “What  Is  a  Dollar’s  Worth  of  Coal?” 


The  accompanying  chart  is  published  in  re¬ 
sponse  to  numerous  recpiests  from  different 
cities  for  an  amplification  of  the  table  illus¬ 
trating  an  article  entitled  “What  Is  a  Dollar’s 
Worth  of  Coal?’’  which  appeared  in  The  Black 
Diamond’s  steam  coal  issue  last  March. 

Given  the  evaporative  power,  or  perform¬ 
ance,  of  two  or  more  coals  and  the  price  of 
either,  one  can  easily  determine  their  rela¬ 
tive  values.  Merely  extend  a  line  from  the 
price  to  the  column  headed  with  the  num¬ 
ber  of  pounds  of  water  one  pound  of  the 
coal  will  evaporate  and  you  will  find  there 
the  cost  in  cents  for  each  1,000  pounds  of 
water  evaporated.  Then  to  compare  with  a 
higher  or  lower  performance  coal,  reverse  the 
process — select  the  column  showing  its  evapo¬ 
ration  and  run  down  this  column  until  you 
get  practically  the  same  cost  per  thousand 
pounds  evaporated  and  extend  the  line  back 
to  the  price  column  and  you  have  the  price 

*Of  the  O’Gara  Coal  Company,  Chicago. 


By  E.  H.  Irwin* 

Figures  Carefully  Compiled  Prove  That 
It  Is  Money  and  Labor  Saved  to  Use 
Good  Coal  and  Pay  the  Price  Asked  for  It. 

at  which  this  coal  should  sell  to  give  the 
same  performance  value,  as  will  be  shown 
later  on. 

The  formula  for  making  up  the  chart,  or 
adding  to  it,  if  you  desire,  is  also  very  simple. 
Thus,  if  a  pound  of  coal  will  evaporate 
pounds  of  water  it  would  require  117.6  pounds 
of  coal  to  evaporate  1,000  pounds  of  water, 
and,  if  2,000  pounds  of  coal  costs  $1.80,  one 
pound  will  cost  .09  of  a  cent,  so  117.6  pounds 
would  cost  117. 6x. 09=10.584  cents,  or  prac¬ 
tically  10.6  cents,  as  shown  in  the  chart. 

For  further  illustration,  let  us  take  three 


varieties  of  coal  whose  performance  under 
identical  conditions  at  the  United  States  Gov¬ 
ernment  Testing  Plant  at  St.  Louis  in  1907, 
and  what  are  regarded  as  fair  analyses  from 
State  Geolog.ical  or  other  reliable  sources,  are 
known : 

Class  A.  Evaporates  834  pounds  of  water, 
ash  content  10%. 

Class  B.  Evaporates  734  pounds  of  water, 
ash  content  14%. 

Class  C.  Evaporates  6^4  pounds  of  water, 
ash  content  18%  to  20%. 

Class  A  sells  for  $1.80  a  ton;  the  chart 
shows  it  will  cost  10.9  cents  to  evaporate  1,000 
pounds  of  water,  using  121.1  pounds  of  coal. 

Class  B  should  sell  at  about  $1.60,  at  which 
price  the  cost  to  evaporate  1,000  pounds  of 
water  is  10.7  cents,  and  will  require  133.3 
pounds  of  coal. 

Class  C  would  not  be  worth  more  than 
$1.40,  for  at  this  figure  it  would  cost  10.8 

(Concluded  on  page  309.) 


THE  COAL  COST  OF  PROUUCINO.  STEAM. 


PRICE  OP 

EVAPQ 

r/0 

N 

PER  POUND 

or 

COAL  FROm 

ANBAT  ZiZ°  F. 

Coal 

s.oo 

6.  so 

4.00 

615 

(y.S-O 

A76 

7  00 

725 

ISO 

776 

S.OO 

S.25 

860 

87s 

9oo 

9.16 

9.So\9.7S 

to  00 

70  25 

7050 

tons 

//.oo 

HIS 

tt  50 

11.76 

/Zoo 

2.600  res 

:o5 

'T 

IN 

CE 

NJt 

1 

"0 

E\ 

'A  f 

^0  1 

RA- 

YE 

fOO 

0  / 

A/D 

S  Of 

■  WATEf 

\  from  AND/ 

M  E 

$/.  0  0 

10.0 

9  JO 

833 

s.oo 

7  70 

742 

7.14 

6  90 

4.44 

4.7v5 

Ais 

688 

6.73 

SSA 

6.40 

527 

5/3 

s.oo 

488 

47  A 

4  AS 

4  66 

4.44 

436 

42A 

4/7 

/■ZS 

/ZS 

HZ 

to 

to  0 

742 

926 

893 

4’ 42 

833 

8  07 

7  82 

jsA 

736 

7.75 

6  9S 

A76 

4.57 

A. 41 

4  25 

A. to 

6.9 A 

6.8/ 

6.AS 

6.6 A 

5.4U- 

6.32 

6.2/ 

I.H-O 

/‘P.O 

/2n 

//.7 

11.2 

/0.8 

10.4 

9.99 

9U 

9.33 

903 

8  75 

S.Hi 

8.13 

<f  00 

778 

7.57 

734 

7./S 

700 

AS3 

4  67 

4.5/ 

434 

4  22 

A  09 

6  9A 

— 

6.83 

/. 

iH-.i 

/3  ! 

/2  / 

//4 

HI. 

ion 

10  4 

lo  0 

744 

936 

96A 

878 

563 

Si9 

80s 

7.84 

7.  A3 

7.43 

7.26 

7.08 

A9l 

A.74 

6  69 

4  44 

4  3/ 

4.77 

6.04 

1.^0 

16.0 

126 

IZ.O 

US 

III 

10.7 

10.4 

/oo 

9.88 

938 

9./0 

882 

867 

S.3S 

8/2 

7-90 

7.70 

760 

732 

7/6 

A.97 

6.82 

4.44 

6,53 

4.34' 

4  26 

l.'SS 

IS.S 

141 

J2  9 

t24 

11.9 

11.6 

//./ 

/0.7 

10  3 

10.0 

9.A9 

931 

9.0/ 

8  8A 

St! 

8.38 

8./ 6 

7  94 

7  76 

7. 6 A 

7.38 

72/ 

7  03 

A89 

A. 14 

A69 

ti.46 

l.i^O 

/6.0 

14  6 

/3.4 

ns 

123 

Hi 

11.4 

no 

70.7 

103 

10  0 

7.47 

9.4! 

9/4 

8  89 

8  AS 

842 

8.20 

800 

7-8/ 

742 

7  44 

727 

7.// 

69A 

6.8/ 

6  44 

/  AS 

/L6 

16.0 

/3.6 

131 

/2  7 

12  2 

118 

11.4 

no 

/o.L 

70.3 

/o.o 

9.70 

9.J-3 

7/4 

8  92 

8A8 

84A 

8.26 

506 

7  84 

767 

760 

733 

7/8 

7  oZ 

6.87 

J.IO 

iq.o 

16.6 

14.1 

I3(c 

13  1 

n.u 

12.1 

//.7 

//.3 

n.  0 

70.4 

70.3 

too 

9  If 

9.‘/4 

9./ 9 

834 

871 

8  60 

8  30 

8/0 

7.90 

7.71 

1  66 

7.39 

723 

708 

l.is 

m.-s 

15.9 

l4.6 

14.0 

136 

13  0 

12.5 

12.1 

7/7 

77.5 

10.9 

loA 

to.Z 

too 

9  73 

947 

7  22 

8  98 

8  76 

8.64 

834 

S./4 

7.96 

778 

7  At 

746 

729 

i.to 

li.o 

164 

16.0 

14.4 

13.9 

13.3 

12.9 

12-4 

72.0 

7/4 

n  3 

/0.9 

to.  A 

to  3 

/O.O 

9  73 

9.47 

923 

9.00 

8  78 

8  67 

8  37 

8/8 

8.00 

7.83 

7.44 

760 

iU 

16.8 

164 

148 

14,2 

13  7 

13.1 

128 

I7.Z 

11.9 

77.4 

//■Z 

to.9 

to. A 

/0  3 

too 

9.73 

9.48 

926 

9.03 

8  81 

8.A0 

8  4/ 

8.11 

8.06 

7.87 

7.  70 

1.90 

19.0 

/7.3 

IS.  9 

161 

14.  A 

14.1 

I3.(, 

13.1 

72  7 

72  3 

//  9 

77.5 

tt.2 

/  0.9 

70  4 

to.3 

999 

974 

9.60 

929 

9  oS 

8  84 

8  A3 

8.44 

829 

8  08 

7.9/ 

1.9  S 

I9.S 

ni 

IL.3 

ISA 

16.0 

144 

13.9 

13.4 

13.0 

72  4 

n  2 

//8 

7/  5 

//  / 

70.4 

/o.S 

/o3 

7.77 

9.76 

962 

9.2% 

9  07 

8  H 

8.67 

848 

830 

8./2 

%.0O 

zoo 

m 

/4,7 

lA.O 

164 

14.8 

143 

138 

133 

12  9 

72.5 

72.7 

7/7 

I/.4 

//./ 

10.8 

/0.6 

70  3 

/o.o 

9.7  A 

963 

9.30 

9.09 

8.89 

870 

8.6/ 

833 

I.OS 

20.5 

J86 

/?/ 

IL4 

16% 

162 

14  4 

141 

13.  A 

132 

72  S 

72  ^ 

72  0 

ttn 

t/.4 

tt.t 

to% 

to,6 

70,2 

too 

9.77 

963 

932 

9.n 

8.91 

8.72 

8.64 

Z.io 

2/0 

19.1 

n.6 

IL8 

74  2 

16  A 

16.0 

14.6 

14.0 

136 

13.1 

727 

72,3 

tlo 

11.7 

7/3 

/!  0 

/0.8 

70.5 

70  2 

too 

977 

964 

9  33 

9/3 

8  94 

8.  76 

Z.lS 

2./.5 

19.6 

/  7  9 

n.2 

IL6 

16.9 

/S.3 

14.8 

14.3 

13  9 

13.4 

73.  0 

72  4 

/Z3 

t/.9 

7/4 

77-3 

77  0 

/O  7 

/O.S 

70  2 

/O.o 

9.77 

9.6A 

936 

9/6 

8  96 

2  zo 

110 

Zoo 

18.4 

/7.4 

169 

lU 

16.7 

/6.2 

/47 

142 

13.7 

73.3 

72.7 

72.4 

72  2 

7/7 

t/.A 

7/3 

t/.o 

/07 

/06 

70.2 

/o.o 

9.78 

9.67 

93A 

9. /A 

Z.IS 

2Z.S 

20.4 

18  8 

ISO 

17.3 

/47 

141 

16.6 

/SO 

/46 

/4  / 

73.7 

/-3.x 

72.? 

/26 

72  2 

//.% 

77.5 

7/2. 

t/.o 

/on 

to  6 

to  2 

/o.o 

9.79 

9.67 

9.3  7 

2  v3o 

2^0 

20.9 

19.2 

18  4 

/7.7 

17.0 

lb. 4- 

/s.S 

163 

148 

14.4 

75.7 

13.6 

J3./ 

/2.S 

/2.4 

72  7 

77.4 

775 

77.2 

/to 

/07 

/0.6 

to. 2 

/o.o 

9  79 

9.5S 

23.6 

2!  4 

/f.4 

18.8 

18.1 

17.4 

/4  7 

/4.2 

167 

/S.2 

147 

77  2 

/3.8 

/3.4 

73.7 

tin 

/Z.4 

/2  0 

tt  8 

tt.6 

tt.  2 

/t.o 

70  7 

to  4 

70  2 

/o  0 

979 

1.^0 

Z90 

21.8 

2o  0 

/  9  2 

18.6 

17.8 

n.i 

/4.4 

IbO 

16.6 

/SO 

/4.6 

/4.t 

/3.7 

73  3 

/3.0 

72  4 

72,3 

/2  0 

m 

US 

tt.2 

tt  0 

ton 

to  4 

70.2 

700 

zss 

24.6 

22.3 

206 

/f.4 

189 

18.1 

n.6 

IA.9 

163 

16.8 

/S.3 

/4S 

/4.4 

140 

73.4 

/3.2 

/2.f 

72.4 

72  2 

tl.O 

ttn 

/t.4 

tt.t 

to  9 

to  7 

70  4 

70  2 

Z.So 

26.0 

izM 

208 

20.0 

19.2 

186 

n.9 

n.i 

7  4.7 

74.7 

16.  A 

/6/ 

/47 

/43 

/3.7 

73.5 

/3.I 

72,? 

725 

tx.i 

//■9 

t/.A 

11.4 

tt.  7 

/o9 

to.A 

/0.4 

iss 

Z6S 

23  ^ 

21.3 

20.4 

I9.i 

18.9 

18.1 

77.4 

1 7.0 

li.4 

75f 

16.4 

/SO 

/4A 

/4.2 

/3S 

/3.4 

73.7 

/z8 

/2.4 

72./ 

/t.9 

t/.A 

77.3 

//,/ 

10.9 

/o.A 

260 

24.0 

23.7 

21.7 

20.8 

20.0 

19-2 

ISA 

n.9 

17.3 

16.8 

74.2 

/6.7 

/S.3 

J49 

/4.4 

t4t 

n.7 

73,3 

73,0 

72. 7 

72  3 

/l.t 

tt  8 

t/.A 

7/3 

tt.t 

to.8 

26S 

ZLS 

24.1 

22.1 

21.2 

20.4 

n.A 

18  9 

183 

777 

n.i 

74.4 

/A  0 

/S.A 

/6.t 

/4.7 

143 

/3.9 

73.4 

733 

t2.9 

72,5 

72  3 

72.0 

//8 

/t.6 

t/.3 

t/.o 

Z7o 

27.0 

246 

22.6 

2./.  4 

20.8 

20.0 

193 

ISA 

18.0 

n.4 

74.7 

74.3 

/6.9 

/6.4 

/6.0 

/4.A 

142 

/3.8 

/3.6 

73  2- 

72.7 

72.5 

72.3 

tl.O 

7/7 

t/.6 

tt.2 

27S 

27.6 

260 

23  0 

22.0 

21.2 

20.3 

19. A 

19.0 

18.3 

n.7 

77.2 

74.4 

/A.l 

tS.l 

/6.3 

/4.9 

/46 

t4.l 

73.7 

t3.4 

7-7.7 

/2.S 

72.5 

72  2 

77.  7 

//  7 

t/.4 

2  SO 

28.0 

264 

13.4 

21.4 

Z/.4 

20.7 

20  0 

19.3 

18.7 

18.1 

77.5 

7  70 

/AS 

74  0 

/S.A 

/6.t 

/4.7 

t44 

/4.0 

73  7 

73.3 

73.0 

72.7 

72. *74 

/2.2 

119 

tt-l 

2  8s 

18.6 

26.9 

23.8 

228 

2/9 

21.1 

20.3 

19.7 

190 

18.4 

/7.8 

77.3 

/i.8 

74-3 

/si 

t6.4 

ts.o 

/4.A 

/4.3 

73.? 

73.4 

73.3 

73.0 

72  7 

IZ..4 

72.7 

119 

1.90 

Z4o 

Z6  4 

24.2 

23.1 

2.2.3 

2/6 

20.7 

20.0 

19.3 

18  7 

18.1 

77.4 

77./ 

74.4 

/4./ 

ts.n 

163 

/4.9 

/4.6 

/4.2 

73.  S 

13.6 

73.2 

72  y 

72.4 

72.3 

72./ 

Z.9S 

296 

24.8 

24  i 

Z3.C 

22  7 

Z/.8 

2i.l 

20  4 

19.7 

193 

18.4 

/7.9 

7  7.-3 

747 

/A.4 

/S.9 

/66 

/6.t 

/4.8 

t44 

t4  0 

/3.7 

13.4 

73.7 

72  f 

/7L,i 

72.3 

3.00 

30.0 

27.4 

26.0 

240 

23.0 

222 

2/.4 

20.8 

20  0 

19.4 

18.8 

181 

77.4 

77.7 

74  7 

74  2 

/6f 

/6.4 

/So 

t4  4 

/4.3 

/40 

/3.A 

/3.3 

J3.0 

/X.8 

72. vT 

3.ZS 

.1?6 

?9.L 

7-T 

24o 

26.0 

241 

23. 1 

22.4 

2/.7 

no 

10.3 

77.7 

77./ 

18.A 

18.1 

774 

7  7.7 

74.7 

t6.9 

/6.6 

/6.t 

t4:8 

14.4 

t4t 

/3.8 

13.6 

3.  so 

36.0 

31.8 

29.1 

2.8.0 

27.0 

ZLo 

26.0 

14.2 

134 

22.4 

Z/.8 

21.2 

20.4 

2joo 

I9.S 

t8.9 

t8.4 

t8.0 

/7.5 

77.7 

/A.7 

/4.3 

t6.9 

tsA 

/«5.2 

/60 

/4.A 

No.  16] 


305 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


Is  This  the  Solution? 

One  of  the  most  intelligent  retailers  in  a  large 
market  of  the  middle  west,  who  has  been  study¬ 
ing  for  a  good  many  years  the  problem  of  getting 
a  profit  out  of  the  tonnage  he  handles,  believes 
that  he  has  finally  arrived  at  the  inevitable  con¬ 
clusion. 

This  is  it:  Consolidation. 

"There  are  simply  too  many  dealers  in  the  field, 
in  consideration  of  the  possible  business  to  be 
had,”  is  the  way  he  puts  it. 

“Coal  consumption  is  definitely  limited.  Take 
any  other  article  used  by  the  public  in  general, 
and  you  will  find  that  the  consumption  can  be  in¬ 
creased  by  advertising,  clever  sales  methods,  etc. 
This  applies  to  food  products,  clothing,  furniture 
and  the  like.  But  not  so  with  coal.  The  public 
in  your  community  is  going  to  use  a  certain 
amount,  determined  by  circumstances  over  which 
you,  the  dealer,  have  no  control.  If  you  are 
sharp  and  aggressive  you  will  probably  get  more 
than  your  pro  rata  of  the  business,  and  somebody 
else  will  get  less.  But  the  sum  total  will  be  fixed. 

“Now,  in  this  and  a  good  many  other  towns 
I  have  looked  into,  the  tendency  has  been  to  in¬ 
crease  the  number  of  dealers.  The  business,  like 
any  other  staple  line,  looks  like  the  proverbial 
cinch  to  the  outsider.  He  reasons  that  people 
must  buy  coal.  He  knows  a  great  many  people 
fairly  well;  therefore  he  can  sell  them  coal. 
Quod  erat  demonstrandum!  He  doesn’t  stop  to 
ask  himself  whether  he  can  make  money  on  the 
coal  he  sells ;  he  takes  it  for  granted,  and  assumes 
without  question  that  there  is  a  profit  involved  in 
every  operation  in  the  coal  yard. 

“Well,  even  if  we  veterans  of  the  trade  were 
to  go  to  him  and  gently  inform  him  of  the  diffi¬ 
culties  of  the  situation,  he  would  give  us  the 
laugh  and  go  ahead  and  get  his  experience  at 
greater  or  less  cost.  Many  of  these  newcomers 
drop  by  the  wayside  in  short  order — but  others 
are  coming  in  all  the  time,  and  the  result  is  that 
there  is  always  more  competition  than  the  amount 
of  the  business  to  be  had  justifies.  With  much 
of  it  uninformed,  and  with  many  prices  quoted 
that  are  absurdly  low,  it  is  plain  that  the  chances 
for  profit  for  the  legitimate,  established,  intelli¬ 
gent  dealer  are  not  always  as  good  as  they 
should  be.” 


The  Get-together  Idea. 

The  state  of  affairs  described  by  the  dealer 
quoted  above  is  not  overdrawn,  at  least  in  a  great 
many  communities  with  which  the  writer  is 
familiar.  And  where  this  is  so,  the  inevitable 
result  is  that  few  of  the  yards  are  operating  at 
maximum  efficiency.  That  is,  many  of  them  have 
big  fixed  expenses,  which  can  only  be  met  by 
keeping  all  equipment  and  employes  working  all 
the_  tim.e.  If  they  work  only  part  of  the  time — 
which  is  sure  to  be  the  case  if  there  is  too  much 
competition  and  too  many  dealers  are  canvassing 
the  trade — then  instead  of  the  volume  of  busi¬ 
ness  being  sufficient  to  support  the  organization 
and  leave  a  profit  it  becomes  too  little  even  to 
take  care  of  expenses,  and  there  is  a  loss  to  be 
confronted  at  the  end  of  the  season. 

Of  course,  it  may  be  explained  parenthetically, 
many  big  selling  organizations  in  leading  con¬ 
suming  markets  are  operating  at  a  loss  by  some 
producing  concerns  which  are  looking  not  for 
profits  from  the  sale  of  the  coal  at  retail  but  for 
tonnage  with  which  to  keep  the  mines  busy.  And 
if  there  is  a  minus  instead  of  a  plus  quanfitv  at 
the  end  of  the  year  this  is  charged  to  selling 
expenses  at  the  mine,  and  the  retail  end  is  per¬ 
mitted  to  break  even.  But  the  ordinary  retailer 


cannot  do  this.  He  must  sink  or  swim,  according 
to  the  results  of  his  business,  judged  as  a  purely 
distributing  operation.  Of  course,  the  operator 
would  be  only  too  glad  to  make  a  profit  on  his 
retail  business  if  he  could  do  it. 

“Getting  together”  has  often  been  referred  to 
as  a  business  panacea,  and  getting  together  for 
the  purpose  of  discussing  trade  conditions  and 
stimulating  the  dealers  to  the  extent  of  maintain¬ 
ing  a  moderately  profitable  price  has  been  prac¬ 
ticed  to  some  extent  in  numerous  markets.  But 
it  has  been  found  that  one  of  the  most  difficult 
things  in  the  world  to  put  across  is  a  price  agree¬ 
ment  that  will  stick,  from  any  standpoint.  If  it 
is  perfectly  legal,  because  it  is  reached  by  means 
of  cost  accounting  methods,  which  show  every 
dealer  what  he  must  charge  to  come  out  even,  it 
is  likely  to  break  down  because  of  the  desire 
of  each  dealer  to  hold  his  own  business  and  take 
just  a  little  from  his  neighbor. 

What  of  Consolidation? 

The  modern  idea  of  business  efficiency,  as  sug¬ 
gested  above,  is  to  keep  every  piece  of  equipment 
working  constantly.  In  other  words,  there 
should  be  no  waste  of  labor  or  effort  of  any 
kind.  The  ideal  plant  is  one  which  is  able  to 
handle  a  maximum  tonnage  all  the  time. 

I  f  several  yards  are  running  in  the  same  sec¬ 
tion,  without  modern  equipment,  and  one  yard, 
with  up-to-date  handling  machinery,  were  to  be 
substituted  for  them,  it  is  evident  that,  considered 
simply  from  the  standpoint  of  efficiency,  the  lat¬ 
ter  would  be  greatly  to  be  desired. 

-And,  if  this  process  were  to  be  repeated  every¬ 
where,  the  results  would  be  similarly  impressive. 
Wherever  there  is  excess  competition,  not  accom¬ 
panied  by  the  use  of  the  best  possible  equipment, 
consolidation  seems  to  present  all  sorts  of  oppor¬ 
tunities  for  saving  money  in  all  directions,  first 
by  eliminating  unnecessary  facilities  in  the  way 
of  yards  and  employes,  and  second  by  cutting 
down  the  cost  of  handling  the  coal,  both  by  the 
use  of  better  equipment  for  doing  the  work  and 
by  keeping  this  equipment  operating  at  full  capac¬ 
ity  all  or  nearly  all  of  the  time. 

In  communities  where  there  are  too  many 
dealers,  and  everybody  is  on  a  starvation  basis, 
there  is  little  incentive,  it  is  true,  to  put  in  the 
modern  kind  of  coal-handling  plants  which  ap¬ 
peal  to  the  intelligence  of  every  thoughtful  dealer 
as  being  what  he  ought  to  have.  His  profits  don’t 
justify  him  in  making  the  expenditure.  Hence 
he  frequently  goes  along  with  make-shift  facili¬ 
ties,  doing  everything  by  hand,  instead  of  by 
mechanical  means,  and  piling  up  expenses  which 
make  doubly  sure  the  assurance  that  he  won’t 
have  anything  left  when  he  gets  through. 

In  other  words,  the  dealer  in  such  a  field  is 
being  ground  between  the  upper  and  the  nether 
mill-stones.  He  needs  better  equipment  for 
handling  his  commodity,  but  he  can’t  afford  it 
because  his  profits  are  too  small.  His  profits  are 
small  because  he  hasn’t  the  right  kind  of  cquij)- 
ment,  and  the  right  kind  of  ecpiipment  would 
involve  too  great  an  investment.  And,  there  it 
goes,  around  and  around  in  the  same  old  circle 
of  inadequate,  antiquated  methods  and  stagnated 
ideas. 

If  consolidation  would  at  once  supply  the  vol¬ 
ume  on  which  to  base  the  right  kind  of  plant, 
as  it  is  plausibly  argued  would  certainly  be  the 
case,  it  looks  as  though  the  idea  woidd  be  well 
worth  trying  out.  It  would  make  i)racticablc 
improvements  in  ways  of  doing  things  whidi  are 
now  appreciated  as  desirable,  but  are  postponed 
because  trade  conditions  do  not  seem  to  warrant 
heavy  investments. 


Cutting  Down  the  Force. 

The  dealer  who  has  been  selling  and  handling 
coal  for  fifteen  or  twenty  years,  with  employes 
who  are  similarly  expert  in  that  line,  and  that 
only,  would  hardly  welcome  the  suggestion  that 
he  gracefully  retire  from  the  field  in  favor  of 
some  corporation  which  would  benevolently 
assimilate  him  and  his  business,  and  give  him  in 
return  stock  in  the  company. 

Yet,  if  said  dealer  is  barely  making  enough 
above  operating  expenses  to  pay  the  cost  of  liv¬ 
ing,  wliich  means  that  he  is  breaking  even  and 
not  making  any  money  on  the  investment  which 
he  has  in  his  yard,  equipment,  stock,  accounts, 
etc.,  would  not  that  plan  be  a  better  one  than 
he  is  using  now? 

If  he  has  $10,000  in  the  business,  and  is  taking 
out  $1,500  in  the  form  of  salary,  without  getting 
any  dividends  on  his  $10,000;  seven  per  cent  on 
the  latter  would  be  $700,  and  he  would  only  have 
to  make  $800  in  any  sort  of  employment  he  might 
take  up  to  equal  his  present  showing,  while  his 
stock  would  undoubtedly  have  greater  value  in  a 
forced  sale,  as  a  holding  in  a  going  and  profitable 
enterprise,  than  his  outfit  would  have  if  placed 
upon  the  market  with  conditions  as  they  are. 

Of  course,  not  every  dealer  going  into  a  con¬ 
solidation  of  yards  would  be  reduced  to  a  condi¬ 
tion  of  innocuous  desuetude,  as  far  as  taking 
part  in  the  trade  is  concerned.  Some  would  be 
needed  as  sales  managers,  others  as  solicitors, 
etc. ;  but  the  point  is  that  the  proprietor  of  a 
business  which  is  barely  breaking  even  now  would 
have  a  better  proposition  by  exchanging  his  prop¬ 
erty  for  stock  in  a  profitable  company,  even  if 
he  had  to  give  up  his  present  work  and  take 
employment  elsewhere. 


Opportunities  for  Savings. 

A  dealer  who  has  been  considering,  in  a  tenta¬ 
tive  way,  the  possibilities  of  consolidating  some 
of  the  leading  yards  in  his  community,  recently 
figured  the  proposition  out  in  some  detail,  for  his 
own  satisfaction,  and  to  convince  himself  that 
there  could  be  more  money  made  under  that 
arrangement  than  with  the  concerns  referred  to 
operating  independently  of  each  other. 

He  found  that  economies  could  be  made  in  the 
following  ways : 

Duplication  of  yards  would  be  eliminated — 
yards  being  located  at  strategic  points,  and  each 
yard  taking  the  hauls  in  that  territory. 

Thousands  of  dollars  could  be  saved  in  rentals 
on  these  yards  and  in  cutting  off  employes  for¬ 
merly  used  in  conducting  them,  who  no  longer 
would  be  needed. 

Up-to-date  handling  equipment,  reinforced  with 
motor  trucks  for  delivery  purposes,  could  be  put 
in,  reducing  the  cost  of  moving  every  ton  of  coal 
put  through  the  yards  and  making  it  safe  from 
the  attacks  of  competitors  not  so  equipped. 

Better  prices  could  be  obtained  from  operators, 
by  virtue  of  the  larger  tonnage  required. 

.Sales  expenses  would  be  reduced  in  view  of 
the  present  duplication  of  effort  by  solicitors. 

•Sales  prices  could  be  better  maintained,  as  the 
Gonsolidated  company  would  be  looked  to  to 
establish  market  prices  because  of  its  control  of 
the  lion’s  share  of  the  tonnage. 

Making  due  allowances  for  all  of  the  items 
which  he  included  in  his  statement,  the  dealer 
was  amazed  to  find  on  recapitulating  that  the 
plan  he  had  mapped  out  would  mean  a  difference 
of  $250,000  a  year  in  favor  of  the  consolidation 
of  the  concerns  which  he  had  originally  listed. 

After  that  he  became,  quite  naturally,  an 
enthusiast  on  the  subject. 

What  do  you  think  of  it? 

This  series  of  short  articles  is  not  to  be 
considered  as  an  editorial  advocating  whole¬ 
sale  consolidations.  The  Black  Diamond 
makes  no  recommendations  on  such  sub¬ 
jects.  Instead,  it  is  a  .series  of  articles 
written  by  a  reporter.  He  is  giving  zvliat 
the  retailers  think;  not  his  ozvn  opinions. — 
The  Editor. 


The  Jewett,  Bigelow  &  Brooks  Company  has 
added  to  the  equipment  of  its  local  offices  an  auto¬ 
mobile  runabout  for  the  use  of  the  salesmen  of 
the  company  in  nearby  territory.  I'he  idea  is  be¬ 
coming  popular  and  is  likely  to  be  followed  bv 
quite  a  number  of  the  coal  companies.  Retail 
companies  have  equipped  themselves  with  large 
delivery  auto  trucks,  and  the  auto  idea  is  also 
becoming  quite  popular. 


306 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[October  16 


Cutting  Fuel  Bill  and  Yet  Heating  the  House. 


"Sa\’ing  Fuel  hi  Heating  a  House”  is  tlie 
title  of  a  paper  just  issued  by  the  Bureau  of 
Mines.  Its  authors  are  L.  P.  Breckenridge 
and  S.  B.  Flagg. 

As  a  prelude  to  specific  comment  on  the 
good  parts  of  the  paper,  there  are  a  few  words 
we  would  like  to  say  about  technical  papers  in 
general.  Before  doing  so,  we  want  to  go  on 
record.  Van  H.  Manning,  the  new  director 
of  the  bureau,  has  a  hard  place  to  fill.  He 
fills  the  shoes  of  Dr.  Holmes,  whom  the  coal 
people  idolized.  While  granting  that  this  is 
a  handicap,  we  venture  the  opinion  that  a 
certain  warm,  confiding  and  friendly  note  in 
Mr.  Manning’s  southern  disposition  will,  be¬ 
fore  long,  make  the  coal  people  extremely 
fond  of  him.  They  may  not  deify  him,  as  they 
did  Holmes,  but  they  will  get  behind  him  and 
work.  That  is  just  as  well,  because  it  is  what 
Mr.  Manning  wants. 

.\lso  about  the  authors  of  this  paper.  There 
isn't  a  finer  specimen  of  American  manhood 
extant  than  L.  P.  Breckenridge.  And  as  for 
"Sammy”  Flagg,  the  nickname  is  enough.  He 
passes  current  with  coal  men  everywhere. 

Now  that  we  are  talking  among  friends, 
may  we  inquire:  Why  on  earth  is  it  neces¬ 
sary  to  start  all  technical  papers  with  the  be¬ 
ginning  of  time  and  write  a  history  of  that 
subject  in  hand  from  the  stone  age  to  now? 
Fuel  economy  is  a  twentieth  century  question. 
What  we  want  to  know  is  not  that  the  stove 
succeeded  the  open  chimney  and  that  radia¬ 
tors  followed  the  stove.  Modern  America  un¬ 
derstands  tliat,  we  believe.  What  we  do  want 
to  know  is  how  to  make  the  infernal  furnace 
liehave  and  eat  less  coal  or  give  more  heat. 
.\nd  we  want  that  information  without  prelim¬ 
inaries. 

Still,  we  know  the  peculiarities  _  of  writers 
and  the  curiously  antiquated  notion  of  the 
government.  The  writers  want  to  write  that 
stone  age  stuff.  This  feeling  we  appreciate  be¬ 
cause  we  write  it  ourselves,  sometimes,  and 
think  then  nothing  else  will  do.  Also,  the 
government  goes  on  the  theory  that  no  one 
knows  anything  and  must  be  told.  Suppose 
we  compromise.  If  it  must  lie  written,  put  it 
in  book  form  once  and  for  all  and  have  done 
with  it.  Later,  if  necessary,  the  book  can  be 
referred  to  in  the  technical  papers.  Then,  if 
anyone  hasn’t  learned  the  folklore  of  coal,  he 
can  get  a  copy  of  the  book  from  the  superin¬ 
tendent  of  documents  and  read  his  head  off. 
But,  let’s  make  the  technical  papers  a  little 
more  to  the  point  Ijy  getting  more  quickly  at 
what  is  to  be  said. 

This  particular  technical  paper  on  house 
furnaces  has  wide  interest.  It  tells  how  to 
measure  the  furnace  and  from  the  dimensions 
to  tell  what  sort  of  a  coal  will  fit  it.  The  di¬ 
mensions  tell,  also,  how  long  the  fuel  bed 
should  last.  The  paper  goes  into  a  lot  of 
other  important  matters,  but  we  will  let  it 
speak  for  itself.  The  vital  parts  of  it  are: 

Size  of  Boiler  and  Furnace. 

The  type  and  size  of  boiler  or  furnace  se¬ 
lected  is  also  an  impoitant  but  not  generally 
recognized  factor  in  determining  fuel  con¬ 
sumption  and  convenience  of  operation.  Un¬ 
til  the  last  five  years  both  makers  and  buyers 
of  house-heating  boilers  and  furnaces  gave 
little  thought  to  the  fuel  to  be  burned.  This 
neglect  was  a  natural  consequence  of  anthra¬ 
cite  coal  being  generally  used  both  in  the  east, 
where  much  of  the  heating  apparatus  was 
made,  and  in  many  places  farther  west,  and 
tests  to  determine  the  boiler  or  furnace  ca- 
))acity  required  to  heat  dwellings  of  various 
sizes  were  conducted  with  this  fuel.  In  fact, 
the  ratings  published  today  for  much  heat¬ 
ing  equipment  are  based  on  the  use  of  one 
of  the  larger  sizes  of  anthracite.  The  sizes 
ordinarily  used  for  domestic  service  weigh  ap¬ 
proximately  55  pounds  to  the  cubic  foot, 
whereas  bituminous  coals  weigh  from  47  to 
52  pounds  and  coke  from  30  to  40  pounds  to 
the  cubic  foot. 

To  warm  the  air  in  a  house  and  to  supply 
the  heat  lost  from  the  windows  and  walls  a 
certain  quantity  of  fuel  must  be  burned  in  the 
heater,  this  quantity  dependin.g  on  the  heat 
value  of  the  fuel,  the  efficiency  with  which  it 
is  utilized,  and  on  other  factors.  If  to  sup- 
l)ly  the  necessary  heat  recpiires  the  consump¬ 
tion  of  20  pounds  of  fuel  per  hour  and  the 
boiler  or  furnace  is  to  keep  this  up  for  eight 
hours  without  attention,  it  is  evident  that  the  fire 
pot  must  be  large  enough  to  hold  100  iiounds 


The  Bureau  of  Mines  Issues  a  Paper 
Written  by  Prof.  Breckenridge — This 
Gives  Many  Practical  Hints  on  How  Coal 
of  Various  Kinds  Should  Be  Fired. 


of  fuel,  and  in  addition  the  quantity  necessary 
to  rekindle  a  fresh  charge,  this  quantity  being 
ordinarily  assumed  to  be  20  per  cent  of  the 
quantity  of  fuel  in  the  fire  pot  after  the  firing, 
or  in  this  case,  40  pounds.  Hence  the  fire  pot 
must  hold  200  pounds  of  fuel  and  still  leave 
space  for  combustion. 

If  anthracite  coal,  bituminous  coal  and  coke 
are  available  and  each  has  such  heating  value 
that  20  pounds  of  it  will  be  required  per  hour 
to  supply  heat,  the  fire  pot  space  occupied  by 
an  eight-hour  charge  of  each  fuel  may  be 
figured  by  dividing  200  by  the  weight  per 
cubic  foot  of  each  fuel,  the  space  thus  calcu¬ 
lated  being  approximately  3.0  cubic  feet  for 
anthracite,  4.0  cubic  feet  for  bituminous  coal, 
and  5.7  cubic  feet  for  coke.  Therefore,  if  the 
fire  pot  were  designed  for  anthracite,  it  would 
hold  coke  enough  for  a  firing  of  approximately 
five  hours  instead  of  eight. 

Depth  of  Fire  Pot. 

Not  only  is  the  capacity  of  the  fire  pot  im¬ 
portant,  Init  its  depth  should  receive  consid¬ 
eration.  If  the  full  rated  load  is  to  be  carried 
without  attention  to  the  fire  for  a  minimum 
period  of  eight  hours,  the  depth  of  the  fuel 
bed  should  be  at  least  12  inches.  A  heater 
that  is  to  burn  coke  should  be  designed  for  a 
greater  depth — probably  24  inches — on  ac¬ 
count  of  the  bulkiness  of  the  fuel  and  the  dif¬ 
ferent  combustion  conditions  required  for 
burning  it  satisfactorily.  In  fact,  one  of  the 
largest  uianufactnrers  of  boilers  for  heating 
iiouses  I).v  steam  or  hot  water  now  designs 
such  equipment  for  a  fuel  bed  18  inches  deep 
when  anthracite  is  to  be  used.  As  regards 
necessary  size  of  fire  pot,  another  detail  that 
affects  both  economy  and  convenience  of  op¬ 
eration  is  the  combustion  space  above  the  fuel 
bed. 

Any  unburned  combustible  gases  that  leave 
the  fire  pot  are  rapidly  cooled  in  passing  over 
the  heat-absorbing  surfaces  between  the  fire 
pot  and  the  smoke  pipe,  and  their  temperature 
is  quickly  brought  below  that  necessary  for 
ignition.  If  either  anthracite  coal  or  coke  is 
to  be  burned,  a  relatively  small  combustion 
space  above  the  fuel  bed  will  be  required,  be¬ 
cause  combustion  takes  place  in  or  close  to  the 
fuel  bed.  If  liituminous  coal  is  to  be  used, 
however,  more  space  should  be  provided  for 
burning  the  combustible  gases  rising  from  the 
fuel  bed,  or  a  considerable  part  of  these  gases 
will  escape  unburned,  the  flue  surfaces  will 
liecome  coated  with  soot,  and  the  heat  losses 
will  be  large. 

Passages  from  Fire  Pot  to  Smoke  Pipe. 

Another  important  detail,  if  liituminous  coal 
IS  to  be  used,  is  the  cross  section  for  the  gas 
passages  between  the  fire  pot  and  the  smoke 
pipe.  If  the  passages  are  not  large  enough  the 
draft  may  be  cut  down  by  the.  accumulation 
of  soot  in  the  flues  possibly  to  such  an  extent 
that  the  fire  will  go  out.  Also,  if  bituminous 
coal  is  to  be  used,  the  flues  should  be  of  such 
size  and  so  arranged  as  to  invite  frequent  and 
easy  cleaning. 

Care  of  Furnace. 

Many  furnaces  or  boilers  are  operated  in  a 
haphazard  way — drafts  are  opened  or  coal  is 
put  on  when  the  house  becomes  cool,  and  then 
the  fire  is  allowed  to  burn  rapidly  until  either 
the  rooms  are  too  warm  or  the  fuel  bed  is 
burned  down  too  far  to  kindle  properly  a  new 
charge  of  coal. 

Such  firin,g  is  always  wasteful.  The  heater 
should  receive  regular  attention,  and  if  the 
demands  for  heat  are  intelligently  anticipated, 
as  they  ordinarily  can  be,  the  house  can  be 
warmed  with  minimum  trouble  and  fuel.  When 
the  rooms  become  too  warm  the  fire  should 
be  checked  by  stopping  the  admission  of  air 
under  the  grate  and  decreasing  the  draft  by 
opening  the  "check  damper.”  If,  as  often  is 
done,  tlie  ash-pit  damper  or  the  ash-pit  door 
be  allowed  to  remain  open  and  the  draft  re¬ 
duced  by  opening  the  fire  door,  the  combus¬ 
tion  of  the  fuel  continues,  although  at  a  slower 


rate,  but  the  cold  air  entering  the  fire  door 
chills  the  heater  so  that  little  heat  is  realized 
from  the  coal. 

Sometimes  the  draft  is  so  strong  that  the 
difficulty  of  controlling  the  fire  is  increased, 
especially  when  the  demand  for  heat  is  small 
or  the  fire  is  to  be  banked.  To  facilitate  con¬ 
trol  under  such  conditions  it  is  usually  advis¬ 
able  to  have,  besides  the  check  damper,  a  plain 
damper  in  the  smoke  pipe.  This  damper  should 
fit  the  smoke  pipe  loosely  and  must  never  be 
entirely  closed;  during  most  of  the  heating 
season  it  can  be  kept  partly  closed,  but  during 
severe  weather,  when  more  heat  is  required,  it 
can  be  opened  wide.  Sometimes  the  draft  may 
be  sufficient  to  burn  the  necessary  quantity  of 
the  particular  fuel  used.  If  such  a  condition 
is  always  noticed  in  severe  weather,  the  heater 
may  be  too  small,  the  smoke  pipe  may  be 
choked  or  be  poorly  fitted  to  the  heater  or  to 
the  chimney,  or  the  chimney  may  be  too  small 
or  be  obstructed  by  soot  or  debris.  As  to  the 
size  of  smoke  pipe  and  chimney,  one  authority 
says  that  the  cross-section  area  of  the  smoke 
pipe  should  be  one-eighth  of  the  grate  area, 
that  the  diameter  of  a  round  chimney  should 
be  two  inches  more  than  that  of  the  smoke 
pipe,  and  that  if  the  chimney  be  square,  the 
inside  length  of  a  side  should  be  inches 
more  than  the  diameter  of  the  smoke  pipe. 

If  the  draft  trouble  proves  to  be  due  to 
leaky  conditions  or  to  obstructions,  it  can 
readily  be  corrected.  If  the  heater  or  the 
chimney  be  too  small,  the  difficulties  may  be 
lessened  by  either  firing  more  frequently  and 
keeping  the  fuel  bed  thinner,  or  by  using 
larger  coal,  of  fairly  uniform  size,  in  order  that 
the  air  may  more  easily  flow  through  the  fuel 
bed.  Conversely,  if  the  draft  is  very  strong,  a 
smaller  size  of  coal  may  possibly  be  used  to 
good  advantage. 

Firing  Anthracite. 

To  get  the  best  results  in  firing  anthracite 
the  following  recommendations  are  made: 

Keep  the  fuel  bed  thick  so  that  it  will  not 
burn  through  in  spots  and  admit  a  large  ex¬ 
cess  of  air. 

If  there  is  a  bright  bed  of  coals  over  the 
entire  grate,  as  there  should  be  before  a  heavy 
charge  is  fired,  some  of  the  burning  coal  should 
l)c  pushed  to  one  side  or  end  of  the  grate — 
the  part  nearest  the  opening  where  the  gases 
leave  the  fire  pot — ami  the  hed  of  live  coal 
made  thicker  there.  Then  fire  the  fresh  charge 
so  as  to  make  the  bed  of  approximately  uni¬ 
form  thickness  and  yet  leave  visible  a  bright 
spot  of  live  coal  to  ignite  the  comhustible 
gases  coming  off  the  freshly-fired  fuel.  In  this 
way  combustible  gases  from  the  coal  will  be 
burned  gradually  and  will  not  accumulate 
in  the  fire  pot  and  burn  with  an  explosion. 

If  the  fire  is  low,  take  care  not  to  put  it  out 
liy  throwing  on  too  much  fresh  fuel.  Fire 
lightly,  and  allow  each  firing  to  become  ig¬ 
nited  before  fresh  coal  is  thrown  on. 

Firing  Bituminous  Coal. 

The  wide  differences  among  bituminous 
coals  make  it  impossible  to  give  more  than 
general  suggestions  for  firing  them.  How¬ 
ever,  certain  points  of  difference  between  the 
methods  of  firing  these  coals  and  anthracite 
may  be  pointed  out. 

Do  not  spread  fresh  coal  over  the  entire 
surface  of  the  fire.  Bituminous  coal  requires 
more  air  immediately  after  firing  than  does 
anthracite  coal  or  coke,  and  covering  the  en¬ 
tire  fire  not  only  decreases  the  flow  of  air 
through  the  fuel  bed,  but  also  lowers  the 
temperature  in  the  fire  pot  enough  to  cause 
incomplete  combustion  of  the  volatile  matter 
distilled  from  the  coal,  and,  consequently,  a 
loss  of  heat  up  the  chimney. 

Use  some  coking  method  of  firing;  that  is, 
work  the  partly  burned  coal,  from  which  the 
gas  has  been  driven,  to  one  part  of  the  fire 
and  throw  the  fresh  coal  on  the  remaining 
portion.  The  fresh  fuel  then  ignites  slowly, 
the  combustible  gas  is  driven  off  gradually, 
and  the  live  coals  that  are  exposed  on  one 
part  of  the  fire  heat  this  gas  and  the  air 
coming  through  the  fuel  bed  so  that  more  of 
the  gas  is  burned  before  it  leaves  the  fire 
pot.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  fresh  coal  is 
spread  uniformly  over  the  entire  surface  of 
the  fire,  much  of  the  gas  driven  off  is  not  ig¬ 
nited  and  escapes  unburned. 

Keep  the  flue  surfaces  clean  and  the  clean¬ 
ing  doors  tightly  closed.  The  cleaning  of  the 


No.  16] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


307 


flues  should  be  given  regular  and  frequent  at¬ 
tention  or  it  is  apt  to  be  overlooked  entirely. 

Banking  the  Fire. 

When  preparing  the  fire  to  last  overnight 
or  for  a  similar  length  of  time,  push  some  of 
the  burning  coal  aside  and  fire  the  fresh  charge 
so  as  to  leave  a  bright  spot  visible  to  ignite 
the  distilled  gases.  The  drafts  should  then  be 
allowed  to  stand  open  for  a  short  period,  pos¬ 
sibly  half  an  hour,  before  they  are  closed  for 
the  night,  so  that  part  of  the  volatile  matter 
or  gases  in  the  coal  can  be  driven  off  before 
the  air  supply  is  greatly  reduced.  In  adjust¬ 
ing  the  air  supply  for  the  night,  use  the  ash¬ 
pit  damper  or  slide  and  the  check  damper  in 
the  smoke  pipe.  If  the  ash  pit  is  tight,  the 
firing  door  can  and  should  be  kept  closed,  or 
part  of  the  heat  of  the  fuel  will  be  wasted  in 
heating  the  cold  air  entering  above  the  fire. 

Firing  Coke. 

Coke  can  not  be  burned  in  the  same  way  as 
either  anthracite  or  bituminous  coal;  the 
heater  should  be  specially  designed  for  burn¬ 
ing  it  or  satisfactory  results  may  not  be  ob¬ 
tained.  Under  a  low  draft  coke  ignites  less 
readily  than  either  anthracite  or  bituminous 
coal.  If  the  demand  for  heat  is  small,  open 
the  draft  doors  or  slides  and  let  at  least  part 
of  the  fuel  charge  become  thoroughly  ignited, 
then  close  them  and  cut  off  the  air  supply. 
Experience  alone  will  show  how  long  the  fire 
may  be  left  in  this  condition;  it  will  build  up 
quickly  on  the  reopening  of  the  draft  slide,  but 
if  left  too  long  it  will  go  out. 

In  preparing  the  fire  for  the  night,  do  not 
cover  the  fuel  bed  with  the  fresh  charge  and 
then  set  the  draft,  but  wait  for  the  fuel  to 
become  ignited,  otherwise  the  fire  may  die  out. 
After  firing  the  charge,  open  the  draft  slides 
or  door  and  allow  the  coke  to  become  fairly 
well  ignited,  then  restrict  the  draft  enough  to 
insure  the  fuel  bed  being  in  the  desired  condi¬ 
tion  in  the  morning.  The  extent  to  which  the 
draft  .should  be  restricted  must  be  learned  by 
experience. 


Port  of  Baltimore. 

(Concluded  from  page  303.) 
the  distance  and  the  business  agreement  that 
governs.  As  Baltimore  is  one  of  the  best 
equipped  harbors  in  which  bunkerage  can  be 
arranged  from  the  piers  there  is  not  so  much 
"alongside”  loading  of  coal  as  there  is  in  other 
ports.  What  stevedoring  is  done  takes  a  usual 
rate  of  thirty-five  to  forty-five  cents  on  the  ton. 

And  upon  this  smaller  craft  in  the  coal  loading 
and  delivering  problem  it  might  be  well  to  state 
that  quite  a  number  of  the  commercial  concerns 
who  have  wharves  in  the  Baltimore  harbor  do 
much  of  their  own  coal  transference.  They  own 
their  scows,  barges  and  other  bottoms  and  have 
them  towed  by  various  means  from  the  point  of 
loading  to  discharging.  The  towing  rates  within 
the  city  limits  ranges  for  scows  from  $1.50  to 
$3.50. 

The  Chesapeake  "Skip-jacks”  also  play  a  part 
in  coal  deliveries.  These  luggers  go  into  all  sort 
of  places  and  carry  all  sort  of  freight,  so  when 
a  ton  or  a  dozen  tons  of  coal  is  needed  by  some 
out-of-the-way  place  or  person  what  better 
freight  could  they  haul  on  a  down  the  river  trip. 


About  the  Statistics. 

Actual  figures  as  to  the  growth  of  the  coal 
business  from  Baltimore  are  about  the  hardest, 
cussed  little  details  to  dig  up.  Usually  when  one 
is  nosing  about  for  news,  statistics  is  the  opening 
bomb  that  the  other  fellow  wants  to  fire  at  you. 
Long  trailing  columns,  telling  much  in  actualities 
and  little  that  the  layman  has  time  or  inclination 
to  digest,  are  not  part  nor  parcel  of  the  Balti¬ 
more  scheme.  "Here  is  what  we  are  doing  now. 
It  is  a  whale  of  a  business.  We  don’t  care  what 
we  were  doing  ten  years  ago.  We  are  concerned 
with  the  present.”  This  is  the  general  attitude. 

September  figures  of  this  year,  when  the  coal 
exports  reached  the  grand  total  of  201,239  tons, 
without  any  consideration  for  the  amount  that 
was  sent  coastwise  or  used  “in  the  harbor,”  is  a 
fair  sample.  This  was  under  the  August  ship¬ 
ments  of  202,627  tons. 

This  last  was  the  high  tide  of  exports  from 
the  port  for  all  time.  In  May  there  was  general 
comment  made  when  197,794  tons  were  shipped, 
and  those  who  were  interested  "rose  to  remark” 
that  a  new  record  had  been  established.  The 
previous  high  figures  were  made  on  September 
shipments  of  1914  when  128,761  tons  went  over 
the  side  destined  for  foreign  ports. 


The  scope  of  the  export  trade  of  Baltimore  is 
also  shown  by  the  figures,  in  tonnage,  of  destina¬ 
tion  which  were  as  follows :  Italy,  74,823 ; 
Sweden,  36,499;  Spain,  13,792;  France,  17,499; 
Argentina,  10,782 ;  Brazil,  6,857 ;  Costa  Rica, 
6,919;  Egypt,  7,031;  Martinique,  919;  Venzuela, 
337;  Honduras,  1,377;  Peru,  4,604;  Cuba,  16,800, 
and  Panama,  3,000. 

The  bunkering  trade  that  Baltimore  takes  care 
of  can  be  judged  also  from  the  September  record, 
when  ninety-six  vessels  under  foreign  registry 
arrived  and  eleven  under  the  Stars  and  Stripes. 

From  the  nearest  figures  that  can  be  obtained 
this  harbor  is  now  doing  between  five  and  six 
million  tons  of  coal  business  annually.  With  two 
piers  that  will  permit  of  the  handling  of  ten  or 
more  millions  of  tons  extra  in  the  course  of 
another  year  can  it  be  said  otherwise  that  Balti¬ 
more  is  high  in  her  hopes  and  placed  much  in  her 
future  expectations? 

Uncle  Sam,  however,  keeps  track  of  the  coal 
that  passes  out  from  his  borders  and  from  the 
source  at  the  Custom  House  the  following  figures 
were  shown  as  the  tonnage  of  coal  that  has  moved 
from,  this  harbor  for  the  past  ten  years: 


Year — 
1905  ... 
i9oe  . . . . 

1907  ... 

1908  . .  . 

1909  ... 
IfilO  .  .  . 
1911  ... 
1913  ... 

1913  ... 

1914  .  .  . 


Coal,  Tons. 
. .  341,107 

. .  458,083 

.  .  559,880 

.  .  347,489 

.  .  332,016 

.  .  502,040 

.  .  628,522 

.  .  632,398 

.  .  873,413 

.  .  945,308 


Rate  Hearing  Postponed. 


Columbus,  Ohio,  October  14. —  {Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.)- — Hearing  of  the  coal  rate  case  in 
which  the  Hocking  Valley  Railway  Company  is 
defendant,  scheduled  for  resumption  October  12, 
has  gone  over  until  the  19th  inst.  With  both 
sides  given  ample  time  to  prepare,  it  is  believed 
to  be  the  temper  of  the  Utilities  Commission  that 
the  matter  be  thrashed  out  thoroughly  and  with¬ 
out  unnecessary  delay,  once  the  proceedings  start 
again,  to  the  end  that  the  commission  may  get 
rid  of  this  vexed  question  for  a  long  time  to 
come.  The  prosecution  will  base  its  case  on  what 
has  been  found  in  the  examination  made  by  the 
committee  of  experts  who  spent  a  month  or  more 
going  over  the  records  at  the  railroad  company’s 
general  offices. 

It  is  stated  that  this  committee  will  claim  that 
coal  can  be  hauled  from  Nelsonville  to  the  fol¬ 
lowing  points  at  actual  cost  per  ton  herewith 
given:  To  Toledo,  cost  45.68  cents,  a  distance  of 
181  miles,  present  rate  eighty-five  cents;  to  Fos- 
toria,  39.71  cents,  150  miles,  present  rate  eighty 
cents ;  to  Marion,  31.5  cents,  107  miles,  present 
rate  seventy  cents ;  to  Delaware,  25.83  cents, 
eighty-five  miles,  present  rate  seventy  cents ;  to* 
Columbus,  20.55  cents,  sixty-one  miles,  present 
rate  sixty  cents.  A  charge  of  1.88  cents  per  ton 
is  added  to  the  Toledo  haul  cost  when  the  coal 
is  unloaded  at  the  lake  docks. 

Action  of  the  railroads  in  recently  announcing 
an  increase  of  differential  from  twenty-five  cents 
to  forty  cents  in  favor  of  Ohio  coal,  as  opposed 
to  West  Virginia,  by  advancing  rates  in  the  lat¬ 
ter  state,  is  expected  to  have  no  bearing  on  the 
hearing.  The  plaintiffs  claim  that  what  they  want 
is  a  reduction  on  Ohio  rates.  So  far  it  has 
not  been  made  known  what  other  coal  com¬ 
panies  are  behind  the  Sunday  Creek  Company, 
which  intervened  in  the  action  originally  brought 
by  officers  of  the  Ohio  United  Mine  Workers, 
and  virtually  taken  the  action  out  of  the  hands 
of  these  plaintiffs. 


Labor  Outlook  in  Ohio. 


Columbus,  Ohio,  October  14. —  (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — Thousands  of  miners  in  the  Hock¬ 
ing  Valley  would  seem  to  be  in  for  an  endurance 
contest  the  coming  winter.  The  biggest  factor 
in  that  field,  the  Sunday  Creek  Company,  an¬ 
nounce  that  mines  will  continue  to  remain  closed 
unless  they  can  treat  directly  with  their  men  on 
a  mining  scale  that  will  eliminate  alleged  dis¬ 
crimination  in  favor  of  eastern  Ohio.  It  is  stated 
that  the  New  Pittsburgh  and  other  companies  are 
likely  to  close  down  on  the  same  issue.  At  the 
present  time  nineteen  big  mines  are  closed  down, 
and  the  per  cent  of  idleness  for  the  winter  is  esti¬ 
mated  at  eighty  per  cent  of  the  usual  output  of 
the  valley. 

With  an  empty  treasury,  the  officers  of  the 
United  Mine  Workers  are  much  concerned  over 
the  situation.  The  national  authorities  of  the 


union  have  been  investigating  labor  conditions  in 
the  valley  within  the  past  few  days,  and  are 
seeking  to  devise  relief  measures  that  will  pre¬ 
vent  suffering  during  the  cold  weather  and  at 
the  same  time  hold  the  union  forces  intact.  Al¬ 
though  needs  at  many  points  are  as  urgent  as  at 
any  time  heretofore,  public  relief  measures 
through  the  adjutant  general’s  office  seem  to 
have  languished.  The  appeal  made  a  few  months 
ago  brought  seventeen  carloads  of  provisions 
from  different  cities  and  a  number  of  miscellane¬ 
ous  shipment.  These  donations  were  valued  at 
about  $2,000,  and  were  distributed  among  some 
14,000  people. 


T.  P.  Fowler  Is  Dead. 


Thomas  P.  Fowler,  former  president  of  the 
New  York,  Ontario  &  Western  Railroad,  died  on 
Tuesday  of  this  week  at  Warwick,  N.  Y.  Mr. 
Fowler  was  born  in  Newburgh,  N.  Y.,  on  Octo¬ 
ber  26,  1851.  He  .graduated  from  the  Columbia 
law  school  in  1874,  and  was  admitted  to  prac¬ 
tice  in  the  same  year..  He  practiced  law  in  New 
York  City  for  five  years  before  he  took  Up  rail¬ 
road  work,  being  appointed  receiver  of  the  She- 
nango  &  Allegheny  Railroad  in  1884.  Two  years 
after  his  appointment  as  receiver  of  this  rail¬ 
road,  he  returned  the  property  to  the  stockhold¬ 
ers  in  a  greatly  improved  condition,  financially 
and  otherwise,  and  the  United  States  court  for 
the  western  district  of  Pennsylvania,  in  discharg- 
in.g  the  receiver,  ordered  the  statement  to  be 
made  a  part  of  the  order  of  discharge  and  record 
under  court,  that  the  receivership  in  question 
had  been  of  the  most  satisfactory  character  and 
that  the  receiver  had  “discharged  very  arduous 
duties  with  fidelity,  great  intelligence  and 
with  promptness,  and  was  entitled  to  the  grati¬ 
tude  of  the  creditors,  the  stockholders,  the  banks 
and  of  the  court.”  This  railroad  afterwards  be¬ 
came  a  part  of  the  Bessemer  &  Lake  Erie  line 
between  Pittsburgh  and  Conneaut  harbor.  Mr. 
Fowler  also  served  as  receiver  of  the  Mercer 
Coal  Company,  which  owned  large  tracts  of  bitu¬ 
minous  coal  land  in  Pennsylvania,  the  securities 
of  which  were  largely  owned  in  England. 

In  1885  he  was  retained  by  a  committee  of  the 
stockholders  in  England  and  Holland,  who  were 
largely  interested  in  the  New  York,  Ontario  & 
Western  Railway.  That  company  had  become 
involved  with  the  West  Shore  Railroad  in  many 
directions  and  had  .guaranteed  terminals  and 
other  obligations  amounting  to  a  very  large  sum. 
The  West  Shore  road  was  bankrupt  and  in  the 
hands  of  the  receivers  and  the  future  of  the 
Ontario  &  Western  at  that  time  was  far  from 
being  bright  and  encoura.ging.  The  stock  was 
selling  at  $5  and  $6  a  share,  and  the  bonds  could 
not  find  a  market  at  any  price.  Mr.  Fowler’s  first 
efforts  after  takin.g  hold  of  the  property  was  to 
direct  it  towards  litigation.  Through  negotiation 
and  diplomacy  he  finally  succeeded  in  securing  a 
release  from  many  onerous  guarantees  and  when 
the  West  Shore  Railroad  was  taken  over  by  the 
New  York  Central,  the  position  of  the  New 
York,  Ontario  &  Western  was  strengthened  and 
through  important  contracts  its  future  was  as¬ 
sured. 

In  1890  a  coal  line  connectiag  the  Ontario  & 
Western  main  line  with  Scranton  and  the  an¬ 
thracite  coal  fields  was  constructed,  Mr.  Fowler 
finding  necessary  capital  for  the  project.  This 
connection  added  very  largely  to  the  value  of 
the  Ontario  &  Western  properties,  soon  there¬ 
after  increasing  the  company’s  gross  earnings  by 
lOO  per  cent  and  its  net  400  per  cent.  Mr.  Fow¬ 
ler  was  active  as  head  of  the  Ontario  &  Western 
until  1912,  when  he  resigned.  He  passed  through 
two  or  three  very  exciting  anthracite  strikes,  but 
was  always  regarded  as  one  of  the  ablest  offi¬ 
cials  interested  in  anthracite  carrying  roads. 


Fayette  Mine  Sold. 


Word  comes  from  Clarksburg,  W.  Va.,  that 
the  property  of  the  Fayette  Coal  Company  at 
Dola  was  sold  last  week  to  H.  B.  Dowler,  of 
Clearfield,  Pa.  The  sale  was  made  by  J.  Edgar 
Long.  The  mine  is  said  to  contain  1,250,000,000 
tons  of  unmined  coal  and  has  modern  top  works. 
The  coal  is  mined  by  compressed  air  machinery 
and  has  been  getting  out  500  tons  a  day.  The 
coal  is  Pittsburgh  vein  seven  and  one-half  feet 
thick.  It  is  the  intention  of  the  producers,  ac¬ 
cording  to  announcement,  to  increase  the  output 
to  1,000  tons  a  day.  Mr.  Dowler,  who  purchased 
the  property,  was  formerly  general  superintend¬ 
ent  of  the  Penn-Mary  coal  mine  at  Heilwood,  Pa. 


308 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


[October  16 


The  Mine  Clearing  House. 


Inspection  of  Coal  Properties. 

Editor  Black  Diamond: 

In  order  to  promote  a  rivalry  in  np-keep  of 
the  different  mining  plants'  under  the  direction 
of  the  Pennsylvania  Coal  Company  and  the  Hill¬ 
side  Coal  &  Iron  Company,  which  companies  are 
under  one  general  management,  the  management 
has  carried  on  for  a  number  of  years  a  system 
of  competitive  inspection  which  should  interest 
the  readers  of  Black  Diamond. 

At  some  convenient  time  during  the  spring, 
usually  beginning  about  April  1st,  all  the  col¬ 
lieries  of  these  two  coal  companies  are  thor¬ 
oughly  inspected  by  all  of  the  district  superin¬ 
tendents,  principal  engineers,  coal  inspectors,  the 
general  suiierintendent  of  each  of  the  coal  com- 
jianies  and  the  general  manager  of  both  com¬ 
panies.  The  time  given  to  the  inspection  of  each 
colliery  depends  somewhat  upon  the  size  of  the 
operation,  but  each  colliery  receives  at  least  one 
day  of  inspection  and  this  inspection  includes 
every  operating  detail,  both  underground  and  on 
the  surface. 

After  all  of  the  collieries  belonging  to  the 
company  have  been  inspected,  each  niember  of 
the  inspection  party  makes  out  a  detailed  report 
to  the  general  manager  in  which  report  he  is  ex¬ 
pected  to  criticize  freely  the  properties  inspected 
and  also  to  make  any  suggestions  that  he  thinks 
would  better  the  conditions  and  improve  the  op¬ 
eration  of  the  properties.  Based  upon  these  in¬ 
dividual  reports  a  general  inspection  report  is 
then  made  out  in  the  office  of  the  general  man¬ 
ager  and  each  general  item  of  each  property  in¬ 
spected  is  graded  upon  a  basis  of  100.  Each 
item  thus  graded  is  also  commented  upon,  the 
defects  pointed  out,  if  there  are  any,  and  com¬ 
mendation  bestowed  if  it  is  warranted.  At  the 
end  of  the  detailed  report  general  criticisms  are 
given  applicable  to  all  of  the  different  collieries 
under  the  same  management,  these  being  the 
general  criticisms  and  suggestions  of  the  general 
manager  Such  an  inspection  means  that  at  least 
once  every  year  everything  about  a  colliery  is 
put  into  as  good  shape  as  possible,  but  the  man¬ 
agement  distinctly  stipulates  that  the  regular  op¬ 
eration  of  the  colliery  shall  not  be  interfered  with 
in  order  to  make  a  favorable  showing  upon  in¬ 
spection. 

After  the  inspection  has  been  concluded  all  the 
members  of  the  inspection  party  are  the  guests 
of  the  management  at  an  outing  and  dinner. 

The  following  are  examples  of  how  the  com¬ 
ments  are  made,  the  number  in  the  parenthesis 
being  the  grade  awarded  upon  the  basis  of  100  as 
perfection : 

Fire  appliances-.  (75)  Not  in  as  good  shape  as 
they  should  be. 

Boilers:  (91)  Not  nearly  so  good  as  last  year. 
Certain  points  severely  criticized  by  many  in  the 
party.  The  recording  chart  showed  seventy-five 
pounds  pressure,  while  steam  gauges  registered 
eighty.  Unusual  in  boilers  of  this  capacity.  It 
may  possibly  be  due  to  location  of  gauges  be¬ 
tween  boilers.  Three  water  gauge  glasses  out 
and  those  in  place  too  dirty  to  be  usable.  Con¬ 
ditions  should  be  greatly  improved. 

Mine  workings:  (98)  Mine  deserves  very  high 
rating,  as  mining  was  being  carried  on  so  as  to 
obtain  a  higher  percentage  of  coal  than  usual 
and  this  is  done  without  sejueezes  and  with  a 
minimum  loss  of  life.  This  colliery  is  particu¬ 
larly  to  be  commended  for  its  high  showing  in 
the  underground  operations. 

Stable:  (85)  Poorly  ventilated.  Not  white¬ 
washed.  Water  lacking  in  troughs.  Stable  con¬ 
ditions  should  be  greatly  improved. 

New  Harness  for  Mules. 

Editor  Black  Diamond: 

A  new  design  of  harness  for  mine  mules  has 
recently  been  brought  out  by  J.  W.  McCabe, 
stable  inspector  of  the  Lehigh  Valley  Coal  Com¬ 
pany.  This  harness  gives  additional  comfort  to 
the  mule,  is  more  economical  to  make,  and  in¬ 
creases  the  safety  of  the  mule  by  shielding  the 
entire  crown  and  the  front  of  the  face  and  eyes, 
this  protection  being  particularly  useful  in  low 
coal  where  the  mules  are  apt  to  strike  the  fore¬ 
head  against  the  roof.  The  bridle  also  protects 
the  side  of  the  head  above  the  jaw,  which  is  a 
particularly  vulnerable  point,  for  a  mule  injured 
at  this  point,  can  not  masticate  its  food  and, 
therefore,  declines.  Although  the  same  amount 
of  material  is  used  in  the  new  head  gear  and 
bridle,  the  new  harness  can  be  made  much  more 
quickly  than  the  old  by  the  use  of  tubular  cop¬ 
per  rivets  instead  of  hand  stitching.  The  cor¬ 


rectly  adjusted  collar  is  also  shown  fitting  tightly 
about  the  neck  so  that  it  will  not  sag  and  is  well 
connected  to  the  hames  when  the  mule  lowers 
his  head. 

Only  one-half  of  the  usual  amount  of  leather 
is  used  in  the  back  band,  which  is  also  made  with 


The  Mule’s  Harness 

one-fourth  the  labor;  the  ends  are  fitted  with 
triangular  irons  connecting  them  to  the  traces 
and  belly  band.  These  irons  replace  the  rein¬ 
forced  double  leather  loops,  generally  used  to 
suspend  the  traces,  and  thus  save  leather  and  in¬ 
crease  the  life  of  the  harness.  Chain  traces  are 
used  instead  of  leather.  The  breeching  is  con¬ 
nected  to  the  traces  by  carrying  chains,  which 


New  Mule  Headgear. 

run  slightly  forward  while  the  traces  hang  slack, 
but  when  the  mule  is  pulling  the  carrying  chain 
should  hang  vertically.  The  breeching  and  hip- 
straps  are  all  smaller  than  the  style  formerly  used, 
and  in  addition  to  saving  a  considerable  amount 
of  leather,  can  be  made  much  quicker  than  the 
breeching  formerly  used.  Stable  Boss. 


Last  Change  in  Rates. 

Cleveland  Ohio,  October  12. —  (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — Information  has  been  received  here 
to  the  effect  that  the  Louisville  &  Nashville 
Railroad  Company  has  assented  to  the  proposed 
increased  in  the  differential  between  the  eastern 
Ohio  and  West  Virginia  rates.  This  road,  it  was 


September — 


said,  is  the  only  one  that  had  continued  to  hold 
out  against  the  advance.  The  tariffs  have  been 
printed  and  will  be  filed  with  the  Ohio  Public 
Utilities  Commission  within  a  few  days,  it  is 
said.  The  eastern  Ohio  operators  held  a  meeting 
Monday,  when  this  matter  was  discussed.  Al¬ 
though  plans  had  been  made  to  file  a  complaint 
with  the  commission  on  that  day,  if  the  decision 
of  the  roads  had  not  been  received,  this  step  was 
delayed  when  it  was  learned  that  the  roads  were 
so  close  to  an  agreement.  Everything  is  in  read¬ 
iness,  however,  and  action  will  follow  further 
delay  in  filing  the  tariffs. 

The  increase  on  the  rates  to  Cleveland  amounts 
to  seven  cents  per  ton  and  fifteen  cents  on  the 
rates  to  Toledo,  with  proportionate  increases  to 
other  points.  As  the  B'airmont  rate  to  Cleveland 
is  now  $1.15,  the  increase  will  make  it  $1.22,  while 
the  Pocahontas  rate  will  be  $1.52  instead  of  $1.45. 
The  same  increase  will  be  made  from  eastern 
Kentucky  points. 

W  Idle  this  increase  is  not  sufficient  to  equalize 
the  difference  in  freight  and  cost  of  production 
between  the  eastern  Ohio  and  West  Virginia 
coals,  it  will  probably  place  the  Ohio  product  in 
a  better  position  in  relation  to  the  markets. 

September  Anthracite  Output. 

The  shipments  of  anthracite  in  September  as 
compiled  by  the  Anthracite  Bureau  of  Informa¬ 
tion  amounted  to  5,518,771  long  tons,  an  increase 
of  187,940  tons  as  compared  with  the  previous 
month,  and  a  decrease  of  927,421  tons  as  com¬ 
pared  with  September,  1914. 

The  total  shipments  for  the  nine  months  of 
1915,  ending  with  September,  have  amounted  to 
47,079,111  tons,  as  compared  with  50,067,581  tons 
for  the  same  period  in  1914,  and  51,281,885  tons 
in  191?,. 

The  decrease  of  2,688,470  tons  in  the  shipments 
from  1914  to  1915  indicates  that  much  of  a  short¬ 
age  in  the  fuel  supply  for  the  coming  winter,  and 
according  to  reports  from  sales  agencies  and 
dealers,  in  the  principal  markets  the  shortage  is 
largely  in  the  cellars  of  domestic  consumers  who 
have  been  less  forehanded  than  customary  and 
have  not  taken  advantage  of  the  summer  dis¬ 
counts  to  provide  their  winter  supply.  There  is, 
because  of  these  conditions,  excellent  reason  for 
the  belief  that  before  winter  is  over  something 
of  a  fuel  famine  will  be  experienced.  Domestic 
consumers  who  have  not  stocked  their  cellars 
should  do  so  without  loss  of  time.  The  capacity 
of  the  anthracite  mines  is  limited,  and  it  is 
almost  impossible  to  make  up  between  now  and 
the  first  of  January  the  deficiency  of  output  due 
to  the  small  purchases  of  coal  during  the  past 
summer. 

The  promised  scarcity  of  anthracite  fuel  applies 
to  the  steam  sizes  as  well  as  to  the  domestic 
sizes,  and  a  word  of  warning  along  this  line  is 
opportune.  The  total  tonnage  produced  during 
the  summer  was  much  below  normal,  and  as  the 
colliery  consumption  when  the  mines  are  work¬ 
ing  half  time  is  nearly  as  much  as  when  working 
full  time  a  larger  percentage  than  normal  of  the 
smaller  sizes  produced  has  been  consumed  at  the 
mines.  If  bituminous  coal  is  scarce  and  high 
priced  it  will  tend  to  increase  the  demand  for 
anthracite  at  a  time  when  the  supply  is  inade¬ 
quate  to  meet  normal  requirements.  Bituminous 
coal  probably  will  be  scarce,  largely  because  of 
the  shortage  of  labor  at  the  mines,  caused  by  the 
exodus  of  mine  workers  to  the  scenes  of  war  in 
Europe. 

It  would  be  well,  therefore,  for  consumers  of 
steam  sizes  to  lay  in  as  much  as  possible  before 
severe  winter  weather  arrives. 

Production  figures  are : 

-Total  Shipments- 


Lehigh  Valley  R.  R . 

Central  R.  R.  of  New  Jersey . 

Delaware,  Lackawanna  &  Western  R.  R. 

Delaware  &  Hudson  Co . 

Pennsylvania  R.  R . 

Erie  R.  R . 

N.  Y.,  O.  &  W.  R.  W . 


Year — 

Philadelphia  &  Reading  R.  \ 

Lehigh  Valley  R.  R . 

Central  R  R.  of  New  Jersey. 
Delaware,  Lackawanna  &  V\  e: 

Delaware  &  Hudson  Co . 

Pennsylvania  R.  R . 

Erie  R.  R . 

N.  Y.,  O.  &  W.  R.  W . 


191.5.* 

1914.* 

1915,t 

1914. t 

1915. 

1914. 

768,165 

969,096 

127,553 

132,200 

895,718 

1,101,296 

965,840 

1,125,305 

127,437 

165,022 

1,093,283 

1,290,327 

498,009 

666,961 

128,228 

167.6'43 

626,237 

824,604 

688,963 

758,198 

131,477 

134,900 

820,440 

893,098 

604,821 

565,646 

132,771 

82,328 

737,592  . 

647,974 

388,801 

497,0*2 

78,786 

78,8.56 

467,687 

575,898 

595,506 

597,710  . 

123,245 

130,240 

718,751 

727,950 

141,522 

165,787 

17,641 

19,258 

159,163 

185,045 

4,651,633 

5,345,745 

867,138 

900,447 

5,518,771 

6,246,192 

6,988,436 

7,754,584 

1,007,369 

1,114,968 

7,995,805 

8,869,552 

8,484,652 

8,570,553 

962,811 

980,246 

9,447,463 

9,550,799 

4,635,291 

5,430,013 

1,001,508 

1,130,036 

5,636,799 

6,560,049 

5,696,191 

5,959,126 

1,095,000 

1,179,097 

6,791,191 

7,138,223 

4,604,377 

893,938 

750,216 

5,970,324 

5,354,593 

4,078,691 

652,031 

618,6.34 

4,233,909 

4,697,325 

4,889,892 

5,164,721 

926,768 

1,004,807 

5,816,660 

6,169,528 

1,335,050 

1,543,391 

151,910 

184,121 

1,4.36,960 

1,727,512 

40,687,776 

43,105,456 

6,691,335 

6,962,125 

47,379,111 

50,067, .581 

Totals  . 40,687.776 

COAL  ON  HAND  AT  TIDEWATER  SHIPPING  PORTS. 

September  .‘10,  1915 .  . 

August  31,  1915... .  . 


. .  633,338  tons 

.  653,496  tons 

Decrease  . 20,158  tons 

*‘Buckwheat  No.  1  and  larger  sizes.  tSizes  below  buckwheat  No.  1. 


No.  16] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


309 


News  Local  to  Chicago. 


Karl  Jun.gbluth,  Jr.,  vice-president  of  the  Har¬ 
lan  Coal  Company  with  headquarters  in  the 
Starks  Building,  Louisville,  Ky.,  was  a  visitor  to 
the  Chicago  trade  on  Tuesday  of  this  week. 

E.  M.  Peters,  president  of  the  Hamilton-Otto 
Coke  Company  of  Hamilton,  Ohio,  was  in  Chi¬ 
cago  this  week  to  attend  a  meeting  of  the  coal 
men  and  the  railroads,  relative  to  a  proposed  ad¬ 
vance  on  coke  to  take  effect  on  November  1st. 

James  F.  Callbreath,  secretary  of  the  Ameri¬ 
can  Mining  Congress,  will  be  in  Chicago  on 
Monday  of  next  week.  It  will  be  recalled  that 
the  Congress  is  to  hold  a  great  mining  exposi¬ 
tion  in  Chicago  at  the  time  of  the  next  annual 
meeting.  One  of  the  purposes  of  Mr.  Call- 
breath’s  visit  at  present  is  to  arrange  for  the 
appointment  of  the  committee  which  will  have  ^ 
charge  of  the  exposition  a  year  hence. 

Rush  C.  Butler,  the  Chicago  attorney  who  has 
been  so  much  interested  in  coal  cases  of  late, 
went  down  to  Springfield  on  Monday  night,  ■ 
where  he  was  one  of  the  principal  speakers  at  the 
banquet  of  the  Illinois  Coal  Operators’  Associa¬ 
tion.  His  theme  was  the  powers  of  the  Federal 
Trade  Commission  and  the  proposal  to  make  an 
assault  on  the  Sherman  Anti-Trust  Law.  His  ad¬ 
vice  was  that  the  powers  on  the  Trade  Commis¬ 
sion  at  present  are  so  large  they  have  not  yet  been 
fully  tested.  He  thought  it  inadvisable  to  do 
anything  to  the  Sherman  Law  until  the  helpful 
character  of  the  commission  can  be  ascertained 
by  the  further  development  of  powers  which 
Congress  has  given  the  commission.  He  was 
inclined  to  advise  against  the  change  in  the 
criminal  statute  since  business  does  not  want  to 
appear  in  the  light  of  advocating  that  the  govern¬ 
ment  grant  business  the  power  to  do  what  is  now 
considered  a  criminal  thing.  Rather,  he  thought 
the  law  against  criminal  action  should  stand  to 
catch  those  who  want  to  do  something  which  is 
not  contemplated  by  the  helpful  plans  which  the 
Trade  Commission  is  expected  to  put  into  effect. 

At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Illinois  Coal  Op¬ 
erators’  Association,  which  was  held  in  Sprin.g- 
field.  Ill.,  on  Monday  and  Tuesday  of  this  week, 

C.  M.  Moderwell  was  re-elected  president,  and  as 
a  matter  of  fact  the  entire  list  of  officers  was 
re-elected  for  the  ensuing  year.  Some  routine 
matters  were  under  discussion,  among  other 
things  being  whether  the  association  should  con¬ 
tinue  its  affiliation  with  the  American  Mining 
Congress  and  whether  it  should  conform  to  the 
suggestion  of  the  miners  that  the  coal  trade  attack 
the  Sherman  Anti-Trust  Law  and  ask  Congress 
to  so  modify  as  to  emasculate  it.  The  association 
without  practically  any  discussion  of  the  matter 
decided  that  it  wanted  to  retain  its  affiliation  with 
the  American  Mining  Congress  and  an  appropria¬ 
tion  was  voted  to  pay  its  share  of  the  expense 
of  the  Congress  for  the  ensuing  year.  On  the 
matter  of  joining  the  miners  to  attack  the  Sher¬ 
man  Anti-Trust  Law,  the  Association  decided  to 
appoint  a  committee  which  would  meet  with  the 
other  operators  at  the  Blackstone  Hotel  in  Chi¬ 
cago  on  Thursday  of  this .  week.  On  Monday 
night  the  annual  banquet  of  the  association  was 
held,  and  as  customary,  it  was  one  of  the  coal 
events  in  Illinois  for  the  year.  Mr.  Moderwell 
acted  as  toastmaster,  and  the  occasion  was  as 
felicitous  as  usual. 

Some  time  ago  the  international  officials  of 
the  United  Mine  Workers  of  America  sent  a 
letter  to  many  of  the  leading  operators  in  the 
country  and  to  all  of  the  coal  operators’  asso¬ 
ciations,  suggesting  that  the  union  and  the  coal 
operators  join  in  the  movement  to  make  an  ap¬ 
peal  to  Congress  at  its  forthcoming  session  to 
change  the  Sherman  Anti-Trust  Law  in  such  a 
way  as  to  remove  all  hindrances  to  proper  combi¬ 
nations  in  the  coal  trade  when  the  purpose  is  not 
vicious  or  monopolistic  in  tendency.  There  was 
no  way  to  get  the  consensus  of  opinion  without  a 
meeting  of  the  representatives  from  coal  opera¬ 
tors’  associations.  Accordingly,  on  the  suggestion 
of  Charles  S.  Keith,  president  of  the  Southwest¬ 
ern  Coal  Operators’  Association,  a  meetin.g  was 
held  at  the  Blackstone  Hotel  in  Chicago  on 
Thursday  of  this  week.  Mr.  Keith  and  Mr. 
Fleming  represented  the  Southwestern  Coal  Op¬ 
erators’  Association ;  Carl  Scholz  represented  the 
Illinois  Association;  Hugh  Shirkie  and  J.  C. 
Kolsem  represented  Indiana;  C.  B.  Ebbert  of 
Chicago  was  authorized  to  represent  the  West 
Virginia  operators  and  H.  C.  Adams  was  there 
to  represent  Ohio. 

A  very  important  meeting  of  the  Chicago  Coal 
Merchants’  Association  was  held  on  Tuesday  of 
this  week.  The  purpose  of  the  meeting  was  to 
discuss,  among  other  things,  the  readjustment  of 


coke  rates  from  by-product  and  gas-house  plants 
in  Central  Freight  Association  territory.  Higher 
rates  from  Hamilton,  Ohio,  thirty-five  cents, 
from  Indianapolis  twenty  cents,  and  from  Evans¬ 
ville  thirty-five  cents  and  other  points  to  Chi- 
ca.go  have  been  published  in  tariffs  which  are  to 
become  effective  November  1st.  This  advance  is 
a  part  of  the  general  readjustment  of  coke  rates 
which  has  been  under  discussion  for  the  last 
three  years.  After  repeated  conferences  railroads 
and  the  coke  people  had  about  agreed,  it  was 
supposed,  on  the  plan  of  action.  The  Coal  Mer¬ 
chants’  Association  in  order  to  inform  the  mem¬ 
bers  as  to  what  was  in  progress  asked  Mr.  Har¬ 
per  of  the  New  York  Central  Lines  and  other 
representatives  to  be  present  and  explain  the 
situation.  Mr.  Harper  said  that  the  railroads 
were  trying  to  work  out  a  zone  system.  They 
arranged  rates  which  would  be  fair  to  everyone. 
.\s  near  as  they  could  arrive  at  a  basis,  the  rail¬ 
roads  had  taken  into  consideration  the  freight 
rate  paid  on  the  coal  from  the  mines  to  the  coke 
oven  and  then  the  distance  from  the  coke  oven  to 
the  principal  markets  to  be  reached.  They  had 
worked  out  a  zone  system  where  they  figured 
that  nearly  everyone  was  on  an  equal  basis,  not 
only  as  far  as  Chicago  is  concerned,  but  all  the 
territory  in  the  west.  After  an  elaborate  dis¬ 
cussion  the  association  decided  to  appoint  a  com¬ 
mittee  composed  of  P.  C.  Richards,  of  Richards- 
Evans  &  Co. ;  J.  L,  Makemson,  of  the  Atwill- 
Makemson  Coal  &  Coke  Company,  and  C.  D. 
Caldwell,  of  the  Solvay  Process  Company,  to  dis¬ 
cuss  the  matter  and  see  whether  a  formal 
protest  by  the  Chicago  Coal  Merchants’  Asso¬ 
ciation  should  b'e  made.  This  committee  held  a 
meeting  in  Chicago  on  Thursday  which  was  at¬ 
tended  by  some  of  the  members  of  coke  produc¬ 
ing  companies. 

At  the  last  meeting  of  the  Chicago  Coal 
i\Ierchants’  Association,  the  following  new  mem¬ 
bers  were  added  to  the  list ;  South  Robey  Coal 
Company,  William  Mensching  Coal  Company, 
Vander  Wagen  Bros.,  Euwema  Coal  Company, 
Cicero  Fuel  &  Building  Material  Company,  V.  C. 
Gardner,  Roseland  Coal,  Wood  &  Ice  Company, 
John  Har.garten  Sons,  Bunning  Coal  Company, 
Peterson  Bros.,  North  Side  Fuel  Company,  O. 
Jay  Smith,  Windsor  Park  Coal  Company,  Cir¬ 
cuit  Supply  Company,  E.  E.  Kendall  Company, 
E.  C.  Donnellan  Lumber  Company. 


The  Switching  Case. 


Concerning  the  closing  of  a  famous  Chicago 
case,  N.  H.  Kendall,  commissioner  of  the  Chi¬ 
cago  Coal  Merchants’  Association,  says ; 

“Members  will  recall  that  during  the  past 
three  years  a  great  deal  has  been  said  at  asso¬ 
ciation  meetings  and  a  number  of  general  letters 
issued,  relative  to  the  proposed  increases  in  coal 
rates  to  industries  located  on  the  C.  M.  &  St.  P. 
Ry.  in  the  Chicago  switching  district,  the  case 
being  commonly  known  as  the  Inner  Zone 
Sv^itching  Case.  The  effective  date  of  the  pro¬ 
posed  increase  was  December  15,  1913. 

“After  deliberation  and  investigation  into  the 
situation,  the  association  filed  a  protest  with  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission  against  the  ad¬ 
vances  in  interstate  rates,  and  with  the  Railroad 
and  Warehouse  Commission  of  Illinois  as  to  in¬ 
trastate  rates.  Both  cases  were  given  prompt 
hearing  and  commissions  were  also  prompt  in 
rendering  their  decisions. 

“The  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  or¬ 
dered  that  the  advanced  tariffs  be  cancelled,  and 
that  the  lower  rate  remain  in  effect.  There  was 
no  appeal  from  this  decision  on  the  part  of  the 
C.  AL  &  St.  P.  Ry.,  and  the  industries  located 
in  the  district  above  mentioned,  have  been  en¬ 
joying  the  lower  basis,  effecting  a  saving  of  ap¬ 
proximately  seven  and  one-half  to  eight  cents 
per  ton  on  their  entire  interstate  tonnage  han¬ 
dled  during  the  past  three  years. 

“The  Railroad  and  Warehouse  Commission  of 
Illinois  also  rendered  a  decision,  the  substance 
of  v/hich  is  identical  with  that  of  the  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission,  i.  e.,  that  the  request  for 
advance  in  rates  be  declined.  From  this  decision 
the  C.  M.  &  St.  P.  Ry.  appealed,  and  after  nearly 
a  year  the  case  was  tried  in  the  Circuit  court  of 
Sangamon  county,  where  the  association  was 
again  successful. 

“The  C.  M.  &  St.  P.  Ry.  being  given  the  right, 
under  the  law  to  appeal  from  this  court,  did  so, 
and  the  case  was  finally  handled  in  the  Supreme 
Court  of  Illinois  some  months  ago.  The  asso¬ 
ciation  again  succeeded  in  securing  a  favorable 
decision. 

“The  C.  M.  &  St.  P.  Ry.  has  advised  that  it 
will  obey  the  order  of  the  Railroad  and  Ware¬ 


house-  Commission  as  upheld  by  the  Circuit  and 
Supreme  courts,  and  accept  claims  for  the  over¬ 
charge  which  it  has  been  collecting  for  some 
time  past.” 


G.  H.  Lill,  Jr.,  Dies. 


Word  was  received  on  Thursday  that  George 
H.  Lill,  Jr.,  of  Chicago,  had  died  at  9:30  a.  m. 
that  day  at  Pasadena,  Cal.,  where  he  has  been 
spending  much  of  his  time  for  the  last  year  or 
more.  Heart  failure  is  given  as  the  cause.  He 
was  forty-seven  years  of  age. 

“Bert”  Lill  was  one  of  the  best  known  coal 
men  in  Chicago.  He  was  associated  for  a  number 
of  years  with  his  father,  George  H.  Lill,  Sr.,  in 
the  coal  business  on  the  north  side  of  Chicago. 
The  corporate  name  of  the  concern  was  the  Lill 
Coal  Company. 

Then  there  was  formed  the  Lill-Robinson  Coal 
Company,  a  large  corporation  made  up  of  a 
consolidation  of  some  five  different  retail  com¬ 
panies.  Of  this  Mr.  Lill  was  the  vice-president 
and  the  executive  force. 

This  company  was  sold  out  to  the  City  Fuel 
Company,  which  was  then  its  largest  competitor. 
“Bert”  Lill  went  with  the  larger  concern,  filling 
an  executive  position  and  being  one  of  the  vice- 
presidents  and  one  of  the  directors. 

Shortly  after  the  Consumers  Company  was 
formed  Mr.  Lill  retired  from  it.  He  became  in¬ 
terested  in  real  estate  in  Chicago  and  the  west 
and  was  quite  happy  in  his  new  selection.  He 
was  so  much  'encouraged  by  the  western  pros¬ 
pects  that  he  announced  his  intention  to  move 
there  to  stay.  More  recently  he  was  interested 
in  an  irrigation  project. 


Dollar’s  Worth  of  Coal. 

(Concluded  from  page  304.) 
cents  to  evaporate  the  1,000  pounds  of  water, 
with  154  pounds  of  coal. 

This  demonstrates  the  relative  value  from 
a  price  and  performance  point  of  view,  with 
Class  B  showing  a  trifle  more  economy  than 
either  the  lower  or  higher  priced  coal. 

There  are,  however,  other  factors  to  be 
considered  in  determining  which  is  the  more 
economical  fuel  for  the  plant  to  buy.  In  the 
first  place,  the  more  coal  you  use  the  more 
bin  room  must  be  provided  and  the  more 
material  you  are  obliged  to  handle.  If  your 
plant  has  been  using  100  tons  a  day  of  Class 
A  coal  and  word  comes  from  the  big  office 
that  expenses  must  be  reduced,  you  decide 
to  try  to  buy  coal  cheaper,  or  cheaper  coal. 

Of  the  Class  A  coal  you  handle  in  100  tons 
of  coal,  and  you  handle  out  10%  or  10  tons  of 
ashes,  a  total  of  110  tons  of  material  you  are 
obliged  to  handle  each  day. 

To  evaporate  the  same  amount  of  water 
with  Class  B  coal  you  handle  in  110  tons  of 
coal  and  must  dispose  of  15.4  tons  of  ashes, 
a  total  handling  of  125.4  tons  of  material. 

And  with  Class  C  coal  you  are  obliged  to 
handle  in  127  tons  of  coal  from  which  would 
result  at  least  18%  or  22.86  tons  of  ashes,  mak¬ 
ing  a  total  of  practically  150  tons  of  material 
handled. 

This  means  that  to  use  the  lower  priced  coal 
would  necessitate  providing  for  the  handling 
and  disposing  of  40  tons  a  day  more  material, 
or  by  using  the  medium  priced  coal  15  tons 
a  day  more  material,  than  with  the  use  of  the 
high  priced  coal.  It  costs  money  to  handle 
material,  whether  it  is  coal  or  ashes. 

Moreover,  the  decreased  wear  and  tear  of 
the  plant  equipment,  increased  efficiency  due 
to  satisfied  employes,  ability  to  force  the  plant 
in  emergencies,  and  still  other  factors,  which 
while  they  cannot  be  measured  so  accurately 
as  the  price  and  performance,  would  make 
it  appear  that  the  use  of  the  higher-priced 
more  efficient  coal  would  be  the  more  econom¬ 
ical  at  the  range  of  prices  mentioned. 


O.  W.  Gardner,  sales  manager  of  the  Chesa¬ 
peake  &  Ohio  Coal  &  Coke  Company,  has  moved 
his  office  from  Norfolk  to  New  York,  where  he 
is  quartered  in  the  general  offices  of  the  company 
in  the  new  Equitable  building.  No.  120  Broad¬ 
way.  The  Norfolk  office  is  still  retained  to  look 
after  shipments  and  bunkers  at  that  point  and  at 
Newport  News. 


The  Island  Creek  Coal  Company  produced 
214,110  tons  last  month,  as  compared  with  about 
220,000  in  August  and  178,300  tons  in  July. 


310 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[October  16 


FUBIiISHED  EVERY  SATURDAY  BY  THE 
BEACH  DIAMOND  COMPANY. 

Subscription  price,  $3.00  per  year,  postage  prepaid,  to 
any  postoffice  in  the  United  States.  Foreign  subscrip¬ 
tion  price.  $5.00  per  year.  Single  copies,  20  cents. 
Entered  at  Chicago  postoffice  as  second-class  matter. 


Address  all  communications  to 

THE  BEACH  DIAMOND  COMPANY  (INC) 

Main  office,  Manhattan  building,  Chicago. 


Branch  Offices. 

New  York,  29  Broadway. 
Philadelphia,  1400  Land  Title  building. 
Pittsburgh,  1502  Oliver  building. 


Saturday,  October  16,  1915. 


INDEX. 


Special  Articles. 

Page 


Fort  of  Baltimore — The  Reason  Why  It  Grew .  301 

More  About  What  Is  a  Dollar’s  Worth  of  Coal....  304 

Field  of  the  Retail  Dealer .  305 

Cutting  Fuel  Bill  and  Yet  Heating  the"  House .  306 

Rate  Hearing  Postponed .  307 

Labor  Outlook  in  Ohio .  307 

T.  P.  Fowler  Is  Dead .  307 


The  Mine  Clearing  House... 

Last  Change  in  Rates . 

September  Anthracite  Output 

News  Local  to  Chicago . 

The  Switching  Case . 


G.  H.  Lill,  Jr.,  Dies .  309 

Editorial  . 

Facts  Which  Determine  Our  Export  Prospects .  312 


Mine  and  Service  of  the  T.  C.  Kellar  Coal  Company  320 


Market  Reports. 

General  Review  and  Chicago . . 

Pittsburgh,  St.  Louis  and  Duluth . 

Indianapolis,  Twin  Cities  and  Birmingham... 

New  York . 

Philadelphia  . 

New  England,  Baltimore,  Buffalo  and  Denver 
Hocking  Valley . 


313 

314 

316 

317 

318 

319 
324 


Two  Roads  to  a  Goal. 

The  coal  trade  is  proving  again  that  no 
cooperative  movement  among  producers 
ever  was  or  ever  will  be  worth  anything 
unless  the  men  in  it  commit  their  convic¬ 
tions  to  it  as  well  as  their  word. 

The  old  saying  is  that  no  law  was  ever 
framed  through  which  an  ingenious  man 
could  not  drive  a  coach  and  four  if  so  dis¬ 
posed.  Also  it  is  impossible  to  frame  a 
cooperative  movement  in  such  a  way  to 
shut  both  the  front  and  the  back  door  un¬ 
less  the  men  in  it  want  the  back  door  shut. 

By  way  of  illustration,  all  coal  men  have 
been  studying  carefully  of  late  the  cost  of 
producing  coal.  A  majority  of  them  today 
really  know  what  it  is.  As  they  have  learned 
the  cost,  there  is  a  growing  disposition  to 
consider  any  man  an  outlaw  who  sells  for 
less  than  that  cost.  No  man  likes  to  ap¬ 
pear  in  that  light  in  the  trade.  So,  moral 
suasion  is  doing  a  lot. 

Still  the  itch  to  take  a  fling  is  bothersome. 
That  is,  the  old  habit  is  strong  and  coal  men 
will  be  caught  with  unsold  coal  on  track 
which  they  are  tempted  to  move  for  less 
than  cost  of  production.  They  don’t  want 
to  be  known  as  that  sort  of  a  fellow  and 
they  don’t  want  competitors  to  say  the  ob¬ 
vious  thing  about  them.  So  they  get  the 
cut  price,  but  arrange  to  do  it  without  any¬ 
one  knowing. 

What  follows  tells  one  new  way.  The 
railways  today  have  cars  which  have  a  car¬ 
rying  capacity  of  fifty  tons.  The  operator 


is  expected  to  load  these  to  ten  per  cent 
more  than  rated  capacity.  That  allows  them 
to  carry  fifty-five  tons.  Many  operators 
have  big  customers  who  own  scales.  They 
loatl  these  cars  with  all  they  can  contain 
and  then  bill  them  out  at  merely  capacity 
of  fifty-five  tons.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
they  will  hold  fifty-seven  and  one-half,  fifty- 
eight,  and,  sometimes,  sixty  tons.  The  cut 
in  price  due  to  overweight  amounts  to 
enough  to  control  the  market.  The  cut  is 
the  equivalent  of  an  offer  that  every  fif¬ 
teenth  car  will  be  given  away  free. 

And  so  it  is  that  unless  a  coal  man  has 
a  will  to  get  a  price  equal  to  the  cost  of 
production  for  his  coal,  he  can  always  find 
a  way  to  cut  under  that  figure.  Thus  he 
can  get  the  edge,  at  least  as  far  as  tonnage 
is  concerned,  on  the  man  who  is  trying  to 
fix  the  cost  of  production  as  his  minimum 
price. 

Just  why  anyone  should  insist  upon  sell¬ 
ing  coal  for  less  than  cost  and  why  he 
will  go  to  all  the  trouble  to  develop  such 
ingenious  ways  of  doing  it,  is  more  than  we 
can  understand. 


Half-Penny  Dishonesty. 

We  have  spoken  heretofore  about  the 
newspaper  practice  of  creating  a  sensation 
by  telling  only  a  part  of  the  truth.  We 
have  shown  that  the  only  known  purpose 
is  to  sell  a  few  papers  at  a  net  price  of  one- 
half  cent  a  copy  to  the  publisher. 

Recently  such  a  conspicuous  example  of 
the  right  newspaper  spirit  as  The  Chicago 
Herald — edited  by  James  Keeley — printed 
an  editorial  on  the  same  subject.  He  cited 
this  case :  A  member  of  the  school  board, 
after  going  over  his  territory  carefully,  se¬ 
lected  a  site  for  a  new  school  house.  It 
happened  that  he  owned  a  piece  of  land  in 
that  block.  Rather  than  try  to  sell  it  to  the 
board,  he  offered  to  donate  it.  When  a 
sensational  daily  printed  the  story  the  offer 
to  donate  was  not  mentioned,  but  instead  it 
was  charged  that  the  site  was  chosen  be¬ 
cause  this  man  could  sell  at  a  big  price.  Mr. 
Keeley  exposed  this  cheap  sensationalism 
and  grilled  it.  For  that  act  of  clean  jour¬ 
nalism  will  he  please  consider  our  subscrip¬ 
tion  perpetual. 

The  east  presents,  today,  many  examples 
of  this  half-penny  sensationalism.  The 
method  is  the  same — half  the  truth  is  made 
to  tell  a  whole  lie.  Philadelphia  is  the  home 
of  some  of  them.  Since  the  anthracite  trade 
is  the  biggest  thing  in  their  territory  and 
since  “a  shoulder  strap  always  offers  a 
shining  mark,”  it  has  borne  the  brunt  of 
their  attacks. 

The  unmoral  attitude  of  such  papers  is 
indicated  by  an  article  published  in  the 
Philadelphia  Public  Ledger  one  day  last 
week.  A  short  time  before,  we  had  writ¬ 
ten  an  article  on  the  prospects.  We  cited 
the  fact  that  the  reduction  in  anthracite 
rates  would  amount  on  eastern  business  to 
approximately  $10,000,000  a  year.  We  said 
that  ordinarily  the  trade  would,  through 
competition,  pass  this  on  to  the  retailers, 
who  in  turn  would  pass  it  on  to  the  consum¬ 
ers.  However,  we  said,  the  people  bought  no 
anthracite  this  summer  and  hence  produc¬ 
tion  up  to  the  first  of  October  was  short 
nearly  2,750,000  tons.  This  would  suggest, 
ordinarily,  premium  prices  through  the  win¬ 
ter.  This  year,  we  believed,  the  operators 
would  be  satisfied  to  allow  the  price  to  re¬ 
main  stable  until  the  first  of  next  April. 
Thus,  the  ten  million  dollar  saving  in 


freight  rates  will  have  to  be  disposed  of  next 
spring  instead  of  now.  We  suggested  that 
the  miners  will  try  to  get  it  all  for  them¬ 
selves. 

The  Public  Ledger  instead  of  giving  our 
reasons  for  the  closing  statement — the 
only  decent  thing  to  do — simply  published 
the  conclusion.  It  made  a  sensation  of  the 
“fact”  that  the  operators  were  planning  to 
absorb  for  themselves  the  ten  million  dol¬ 
lars’  saving  due  to  a  cut  in  freight  rates. 
Modern  science,  with  all  its  skill  in  such 
matters,  has  no  instrument  minute  enough 
to  measure  the  littleness  of  a  man  who  will 
tell  that  kind  of  a  lie  to  get  a  half-penny. 

Our  esteemed  contemporary,  edited  by 
Mr.  Saward,  is  sometimes  guilty  of  the 
same  offense.  However,  he  may  be  ex¬ 
cused  on  the  score  that  he  gets  six  cents  a 
copy  instead  of  a  half-penny.  His  price  is 
higher  at  least. 

For  example,  not  long  ago  we  were  argu¬ 
ing  for  a  larger  margin  of  profit  and  said 
that  if  it  were  only  ten  cents  a  ton  on  coal, 
the  fixed  charges  would  eat  up  six  cents, 
leaving  to  those  who  did  all  the  work  and 
took  all  the  risks  only  four  cents.  In  order 
to  make  a  fifty-fifty  division  between  bond¬ 
holders  and  stockholders,  we  showed  that 
the  margin  would  have  to  be  increased  to 
twelve  cents  and  so  on. 

Rather  than  permitting  the  context  to  ex¬ 
plain  the  conclusion.  Friend  Saward  re¬ 
sorted  to  the  old  trick  of  the  half-penny 
brigade  and  pounced  upon  the  conclusion 
only.  Scorning  this  as  ridiculous,  he  asked 
if  anyone  had  ever  heard  of  a  court  divid¬ 
ing  a  bankrupt  property  between  the  bond¬ 
holders  and  the  stockholders  on  a  pro  rata 
basis. 

But,  whether  the  offender  is  a  cheap 
newspaper  in  Chicago,  a  warped  daily  in 
Philadelphia,  or  a  disappointed  trade  paper 
in  New  York,  the  practice  is  the  same.  The 
whole  system  is  an  imposition  upon  the 
public  and  the  whole  purpose  is  to  get  a 
little  money  together  by  selling  misleading 
information.  It  is  the  one  thing  that  is 
damning  the  newspaper  business.  Inci¬ 
dentally  it  is  the  principal  cause  of  our 
social  unrest. 


A  Fleck  of  Inconsistency. 

A  business  man  of  Chicago  was  riding 
on  a  street  car  not  long  ago.  A  burly  Irish¬ 
man  who  sat  in  the  next  seat  to  him  started 
a  conversation.  The  big  fellow  was  about 
“three  sheets  in  the  wind”  with  bad  whis¬ 
key  ;  was  rolling  heavily  on  the  seat  and 
was  inclined  to  talk  about  every  conceivable 
subject.  Finally,  he  switched  to  religion 
and  closed  that  discourse  with : 

“There  is  one  thing  I’ve  noticed.  More 
people  today  are  hating  each  other  for  the 
love  of  God  than  for  all  other  reasons  to¬ 
gether.” 

That  bit  of  inconsistency — hating  each 
other  because  of  differences  of  religious 
opinion — comes  pretty  near  to  being  typical 
of  the  mental  warp  of  the  coal  trade.  Coal 
men  actually  are  spending  their  time,  their 
energy,  and  their  ingenuity  in  devising  ways 
to  beat  the  other  fellow  by  cutting  the  price 
below  cost  of  production  without  letting 
any  one  else  know  anything  about  it.  What 
they  are  doing  is  planning  secretly  their  own 
financial  ruin  in  order  to  outdo  the  other 
fellow  on  the  score  of  tonnage. 

If  the  coal  men  used  as  much  ingenuity 
to  dispose  of  their  coal  at  a  profitable  price 
as  they  do  to  increase  the  tonnage  which 


No.  16] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


311 


is  moved  at  a  loss,  the  coal  business  would 
be  one  of  the  most  wonderful  industries 
in  America. 

We  are  going  to  produce  pretty  soon, 
close  to  600,000,000  tons  of  coal  a  year. 
If  we  could  get  a  clear  profit  of  ten  cents 
a  ton,  it  would  mean  $60,000,000  a  year  for 
the  coal  operators.  If  we  could  get  as 
much  as  twenty-five  cents  a  ton,  it  would 
amount  to  $150,000,000  a  year. 

That  mean,  if  a  coal  operator  produces 
1,000,000  tons  a  year,  he  could  at  twenty- 
five  cents  a  ton  get  $250,000  a  year  as  a 
profit.  That  would  pay  him  back  pretty 
nearly  the  whole  cost  of  his  top  works  and 
development  each  year. 

We  are  measuring  the  possible  profit 
only  to  indicate  by  contrast  what  is  the 
present  result  of  misdirected  ambition  or 
what  it  means  to  use  one’s  skill  to  cut  the 
price  instead  of  to  increase  the  profit. 

Of  all  the  inconsistent  things  imaginable, 
the  most  so  is  for  the  coal  man  to  spend 
his  ingenuity  on  schemes  by  which  secretly 
he  is  going  to  rob  himself  and  those  friends 
who  have  invested  money  behind  him. 


Fruit  of  Extortion. 

The  station  of  the  Chicago  &  Northwest¬ 
ern  Railway  in  Chicago  is  on  one  comer, 
that  of  the  Pennsylvania  Railway  is  diagon¬ 
ally  across  the  street  on  the  other  comer. 
From  baggage  entrance  to  baggage  en¬ 
trance  is  perhaps  one  hundred  yards. 
The  Parmelee  Transfer  Company,  which 
has  a  monopoly  of  such  things  in  Chi¬ 
cago,  charges  fifty  cents  for  transferring  a 
trunk  from  one  station  to  another.  They 
can  collect  it  because  they  have  a  monopoly. 
Also,  they  can  explain  it  by  making  such  a 
specious  pretext  as  a  need  to  maintain  uni¬ 
formity  of  price.  Still,  that  does  not  con¬ 
ceal  the  fact  that  any  such  a  charge  for 
any  such  service  is  extortion. 

One  of  these  fine  days,  the  voice  of  the 
people  of  Chicago  and  of  the  patrons  of 
those  two  railroads  will  be  heard  on  this 
subject.  And  when  it  is,  the  comment  will 
not  be  any  more  pleasant  to  hear  than  have 
the  other  public  utterances  on  rebates,  stock 
watering  and  the  like.  The  railroads  will 
suffer  because  public  opinion  will  condemn 
them  for  having  allowed  such  a  thing.  The 
Parmelee  Transfer  Company  will  likely  be 
wiped  out.  When  the  time  of  reckoning 
comes,  the  world  will  hear  many  loud  com¬ 
plaints  to  the  effect  that  the  people  are 
unjust  to  large  corporations.  We  are  all 
hearing  much  of  that  sort  of  thing  now. 

The  point  which  the  complainants  will 
overlook  is  that  the  people,  if  they  are  un¬ 
just,  will  be  so  while  rebelling  against  the 
unjust  practices  of  the  company  during 
years.  It  will  be,  indeed,  merely  the  trans¬ 
ference  of  the  shoe  to  the  other  foot. 

Another  thing  which  will  be  overlooked 
by  the  complainant  is  that  the  Parmelee 
Transfer  Company  is  nothing  more  than  a 
glorified  express  wagon.  There  is  no  more 
divinity  in  such  a  wagon  with  the  Parmelee 
name  painted  on  it,  than  there  is  in  an 
ordinary  or  garden  variety  of  such  wagon 
with  no  name  on  it.  The  ordinary  express- 
man  would  transfer  that  trunk  for  ten 
cents  and  make  money.  Because  it  is  a  big¬ 
ger  concern  arid  has  more  business  to  do, 
the  Parmelee  Company  ought  to  make  still 
more  money  than  the  expressman  can  by 
doing  it  for  ten  cents.  But  because  it  has 
a  monopoly — gained  only  by  the  connivance 


of  railway  officers — what  is  a  normal  charge 
is  multiplied  by  five.  That  is  extortion. 

In  this,  there  is  something  more  than  a 
matter  which  concerns  Chicago  and  the  rail¬ 
ways.  Extortion  is  an  unjust  charge  for 
a  small  service.  Those  of  us  who  are  try¬ 
ing  to  get  rich  by  charging  too  much  for 
little  things  want  to  remember  this.  If  we 
have  an  advantage  and  work  it  too  hard, 
the  people  may  stand  for  it  while  they  must, 
but  they  will  find  another  way  around. 


Coal  Trade  Goats. 

The  followers  of  an  ancient  religion  had 
a  custom  according  to  which,  once  a  year, 
they  selected  a  goat  that  was  without  blem¬ 
ish.  Then  they  tied  the  sins  of  the  whole 
community  to  its  horns  and  turned  it  loose 
in  the  wilderness.  It  was  a  convenient  way 
the  ancients  had  of  getting  away  from  the 
consequences  of  past  misdeeds. 

The  coal  trade  has  adopted  two  goats 
without  blemish  and  tries  to  have  them 
wander  off  into  the  wilderness  with  the  sins 
of  the  whole  trade  and  lose  them. 

The  first  goat  is  the  domestic  sizes  of 
coal.  The  goatee,  so  to  speak,  is  the  Amer¬ 
ican  householder.  The  common  trade  prac¬ 
tice  is  to  sin  against  the  mining  corporation 
by  selling  the  steam  coal  for  less  than  cost 
of  production  and  then  to  make  up  the 
loss  by  selling  the  domestic  sizes  at  an  un¬ 
conscionably  high  price.  In  this  way  op¬ 
erators  try  to  bring  up  the  average.  There 
is  only  one  drawback  to  that  scheme  and 
that  is  the  lame  duck  kills  the  live  one  in 
the  end.  That  is,  cheap  prices  on  steam 
coal  beget  cheap  prices  on  domestic  and 
the  trade  ends  in  poverty. 

The  other  goat  is  the  “country.”  That 
has  to  pay  a  high  price  that  the  people  who 
live  in  the  larger  cities  may  get  their  coal 
at  a  low  cost.  Just  why  the  country  peo¬ 
ple  should  pay  part  of  the  coal  bill  of  the 
city  people,  we  have  never  been  able  to 
figure  out.  Still  that  is  the  practice.  There 
also  a  lame  duck  is  killing  the  live  one. 
That  is,  cheap  prices  in  the  city  in  the  end 
mean  also  cheap  prices  in  the  country.  This 
happens  because  the  jobber  buys  cheap  coal 
in  the  city  and  uses  it  to  undersell  the  op¬ 
erator  in  the  country.  Thus  a  producer’s 
own  coal  is  his  strongest  competitor  in  the 
country. 

If  we  are  going  to  make  the  coal  trade 
profitable,  we  must  get  away  from  the  idea 
of  making  a  goat  out  of  any  class  of  buyers 
or  of  any  section  of  the  country.. 


Loud  Noises. 

Some  months  ago,  a  convention  of  coal 
men  was  held.  When  the  time  came  to  elect 
the  president,  one  man  arose  to  deliver  a 
speech.  It  was  one  of  the  kind  expected 
when  a  prospective  president  of  the  United 
States  is  to  be  named. 

While  the  convention  was  in  progress 
and  while  the  crowd  was  there  to  see  and 
to  comment,  this  orator  was  one  of  the 
busiest  little  bees  in  America.  He  wore 
out  the  floor  of  the  hotel  lobby,  his  shoes 
and  his  clothes  while  rushing  from  place 
to  place.  He  was  a  whirlwind  when  he 
had  an  audience.  When  there  was  no  more 
opportunity  to  absorb  the  spot  light  he 
packed  his  grip  and  went  home. 

Now  it  happens  that  this  hustler  lives  in 
a  town  where  twenty  other  dealers  are  try¬ 
ing  to  sell  coal.  He  is  the  only  one  of  the 


whole  lot  who  is  a  member  of  that  organ¬ 
ization.  And,  he  persistently  refuses  to 
do  anything  to  persuade  any  of  the  other 
nineteen  to  join.  When  any  movement  for 
trade  betterment  is  proposed,  he  refuses  to 
take  any  part  in  it  if  it  means  any  additional 
work  for  him.  This  man  is  one  of  the 
“loud  noises”  of  business. 

We  have  quite  a  number  of  such  men  in 
the  coal  trade,  unfortunately.  Indeed,  if 
we  were  familiar  with  other  lines  of  busi¬ 
ness,  we  would  probably  find  the  same  thing 
true  generally.  Many  men  love  to  talk  but 
they  do  hate  to  work. 

The  favorite  line  of  action  of  such  men 
is  to  sit  in  a  convention  and  make  speeches 
in  which  they  recommend  that  something 
be  done.  They  sit  in  their  offices  and  write 
letters  telling  what  the  other  fellow  ought 
to  do.  But,  when  it  comes  to  doing  it  they 
always  ask  to  be  excused  or  disappear. 
They  are  never  found  on  the  firing  line 
themselves. 

Seeing  this  propensity,  we  are  disposed 
to  recommend  that,  in  future,  the  coal  trade 
refuse  to  allow  any  man  to  announce  a  pro¬ 
gram  unless  he  is  willing  to  be  the  first  in 
line  to  help  carry  it  out. 


Near  Sighted  Thinking. 

Many  men  have  analyzed  the  coal  trade 
to  try  to  find  what  is  the  matter  with  it. 
Many  things  have  been  found  to  be  wrong, 
but  perhaps  the  biggest  difficulty  of  them  all 
has  been  overlooked.  That  is,  we  have  all 
been  guilty  of  near  sighted  thinking  in  re¬ 
spect  to  the  coal  business. 

For  example,  when  it  comes  to  putting 
money  into  a  coal  mine,  nearly  everyone 
can  become  eloquent  while  telling  why  it 
should  go  in.  They  know  how  to  get  it 
in.  They  know  many  ways  in  which  to 
employ  it  when  it  is  there.  But,  that  is 
about  as  far  as  they  go.  Very  few  people 
have  ever  stopped  to  think  seriously  how 
that  money  is  going  to  be  gotten  out  again. 
That  is,  the  coal  enthusiast  can  see  the  in¬ 
vestment,  but  does  not  try  to  see  the  re¬ 
turn.  They  never  reckon  on  all  the  cir¬ 
cumstances  which  might  and  indeed  must 
arise.  As  a  consequence,  we  adopt  perfect¬ 
ly  idiotic  plans  and  actually  invest  real 
money  behind  them  when  even  a  little  care¬ 
ful  thinking  would  have  proved  that  the 
plan  could  not  possibly  win. 

This  is  a  time  when  a  great  many  asso¬ 
ciations  of  business  men  are  being  formed. 
These  associations  have  every  conceivable 
purpose.  The  secret  of  them  all,  however, 
is  self-interest.  That  self-interest,  of  course, 
finds  its  root  in  the  primary  instinct  of 
self-preservation.  But  most  of  us,  when 
talking  in  the  abstract  about  self-interest 
do  not  see  the  lead  which  makes  it  synony¬ 
mous  with  self-preservation.  Therefore 
we  gloss  over  self-interest  when  talking 
about  our  associations  and  go  ahead  spend¬ 
ing  money  on  an  idealistic  program  that  is 
no  good  unless  it  can  carry  through  for 
a  number  of  years.  Then  comes  the  crucial 
hour  when  the  instinct  of  self-preservation 
dominates  some  member  of  the  association. 
He  doesn’t  act  voluntarily.  Fie  goes  to  his 
goal  goaded  by  a  passion  which  he  does 
not  understand  any  more  than  he  under¬ 
stands  his  own  life.  He  cannot  master  it 
because  it  is  grounded  in  everything  that 
lives. 

No  association  is  properly  formed  unless 
it  has  thought  ahead  to  that  time  and  has 
provided  against  it. 


312- 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[October  16 


Facts  Which  Determine  Our  Export  Prospects. 


The  Export  Situation. 

The  export  coal  trade  is  suffering  from  a  lack 
of  vessels.  While  shipments  so  far  this  month 
have  not  fallen  off  so  very  radically,  it  is  an¬ 
ticipated  that  there  will  be  a  marked  decrease 
before  the  end  of  the  month  as  compared  with 
former  record  months,  due  to  the  lack  of  ton¬ 
nage.  Some  of  the  big  exporting  companies  say 
that  if  vessels  under  charter  to  arrive  this  month 
report,  that  their  shipments  will  show  up  fairly 
large.  On  the  other  hand  there  have  been  a 
number  of  cancellations  of  Greek  steamers  and 
many  vessels  that  formerly  offered  for  coal,  have 
been  drawn  into  the  grain  and  miscellaneous 
goods  trade  because  of  the  attractive  rates  offer¬ 
ing. 

The  record  of  charters  for  coal  made  during 
the  past  week  show  only  three  fixtures.  Some 
charters  were  said  to  have  been  made  privately 
that  do  not  show  in  the  daily  publication  of  fix¬ 
tures. 

While  vessels  are  offering  to  the  west  coast  of 
Italy  at  .55s  and  60s,  it  is  said  that  coal  men  will 
not  pay  these  rates  at  the  present  time,  except 
under  most  urgent  call.  It  appears  that  vessel 
owners  are  seeking  around  to  get  the  most  at¬ 
tractive  charters,  and  some  of  the  coal  shippers 
are  inclined  to  believe  that  they  will  weaken  on 
their  rates  unless  the  dearth  of  vessels  makes  it 
possible  for  them  to  maintain  the  quotations  that 
they  put  out  during  the  past  week. 

Coal  is  in  ample  supply  at  Hampton  Roads, 
and  $2.85  per  ton  is  the  prevailing  price  on  New 
River  and  Pocahontas. 

Some  of  the  gas  coal  shippers  who  ship  into 
export  markets  are  said  to  have  withdrawn  quo¬ 
tations  because  of  the  better  domestic  business 
that  is  taking  their  full  production  at  the  mo¬ 
ment. 


Coal  Situation  in  Wales. 

Concerning  the  recent  withdrawal  of  Greek 
tramp  steamers  from  the  general  trade,  the  Liv¬ 
erpool  Journal  of  Commerce  in  its  issue  of  Octo¬ 
ber  1  has  the  following  Cardiff  correspondence : 

“Exceptional  inactivity  characterized  the  coal 
trade  this  week,  the  market  being  completely  up¬ 
set  as  a  consequence  of  the  scarcity  of  vessels 
accentuated  by  the  Greek  government  requisi¬ 
tioning  all  Greek  steamers.  The  tonnage  posi¬ 
tion  was  unsatisfactory  before  the  Greek  order 
was  given,  and  the  holding  up  of  all  the  Greek 
vessels  in  the  docks  caused  a  most  severe  dislo¬ 
cation  of  business.  With  a  vast  amount  of  ton¬ 
nage  taken  off  the  market  by  the  admiralty 
authorities,  exporters  for  some  months  past  have 
had  to  rely  to  a  large  extent  upon  Greek  vessels. 
Probably  no  other  port  in  the  kingdom  was  af¬ 
fected  to  a  greater  degree  than  Cardiff  by  the 
order  from  the  Greek  embassy,  and  it  came  as 
an  unpleasant  surprise  to  coal  exporters  to 
realize  the  extent  to  which  they  were  dependent 
upon  Greek  tonnage  for  the  carriage  of  coals  to 
the  Mediterranean.  The  trade  between  the  Welsh 
ports  and  the  Mediterranean  has  been  largely  in 
the  hands  of  Greek  shipowners,  quite  50  per  cent 
of  the  voyages  to  the  Mediterranean  being  made 
in  Greek  boats. 

“The  order  was  issued  on  Monday,  and  vessels 
which  were  practically  ready  to  load  had  orders 
to  immediately  proceed  to  Piraeus.  Vessels 
which  were  partly  loaded  had  to  discharge  their 
cargo  and  proceed,  whilst  all  charters  were  can¬ 
celled.  One  large  exporting  firm  had  arranged 
for  the  loading  of  twenty-eight  Greek  steamers 
during  the  next  three  weeks,  and  consequently 
their  arrangements  were  hopelessly  disorganized. 
About  twenty-four  vessels  were  affected  in  the 
ports  of  Cardiff,  Barry  and  Newport.  Conse¬ 
quently,  shippers  found  themselves  in  a  most 
awkward  predicament,  and  collieries  found  diffi¬ 
culty  in  keeping  their  pits  going,  owing  to  the 
pronounced  scarcity  of  tonnage  and  the  increas¬ 
ing  stocks  of  coal.  Merchants  made  representa¬ 
tions  to  the  Greek  authorities,  with  the  result  that 
vessels  which  were  already  loaded  were  permitted 
to  sail,  provided  their  destination  was  the 
Mediterranean.  This  concession  in  no  wise 
alleviated  the  general  position  for  a  large  amount 
of  Greek  tonnage  was  anticipated  to  arrive  this 
week. 

“The  effect  upon  the  coal  market  was  most 
pronounced.  Collieries  were  anxiously  looking 
forward  to  increased  supplies  of  vessels  arriving 
this  week  in  order  to  clear  their  heavy  standing 
stocks.  For  since  the  miners’  wages  agreement 
has  been  signed,  production  has  been  made  upon  a 
heavy  scale,  and  with  no  increase  in  the  demand 


supplies  of  free  coals  accumulated.  Greece  had 
last  year  433  steamers  of  892,990  gross  tons,  but 
at  the  present  time  probably  has  over  940,000 
gross  tons  of  steam  shipping,  several  second 
hand  boats  having  been  bought  since  the  war 
and  the  period  of  high  freight  rates.  Quite  the 
largest^  proportion  of  the  tramp  steamer  class  of 
Greece’s  mercantile  marine  has  been  trading 'be¬ 
tween  the  Welsh  ports  and  the  Mediterranean, 
and  the  removal  of  this  tonnage  is  likely  to  have 
a  considerable  effect  upon  the  Welsh  coal  trade. 
At  the  present  time  colliery  stoppages  are  in¬ 
evitable,  for  a  vast  amount  of  coal  is  now  held 
up  in  wagons — and  wagons  are  extremely  scarce. 
Each  day  since  the  opening  of  the  week,  there¬ 
fore  witnessed  sharp  declines  in  the  prices  of 
coals.  New  business  was  practically  at  a  stand¬ 
still,  inquiries  were  few,  and  the  outlook  most 
uncertain.  Values  were  difficult,  if  not  impossi¬ 
ble  to  range  and  depended  wholly  upon  the  in¬ 
dividual  circumstances  of  each  colliery.  Sellers 
had  no  idea  as  to  how  soon  they  would  be  in 
difficulties  in  the  endeavor  to  keep  their  collieries 
going.  Values  were  never  so  irregular,  and  buy¬ 
ers  who  were  fortunate  enough  to  be  in  position 
to  command  prompt  tonnage  could  get  on  at 
shillings  below  the  prices  quoted  this  last  week. 
Ordinary  second  Admiralty  coals  which  were 
quoted  at  around  about  22s,  could  be  had  in 
place,  for  20s,  whilst  19s  6d  was  reported  as  paid 
for  a  prompt  lot.” 


Costa  Rica  Coal  Trade. 

The  American  consul  at  Port  Limon,  Costa 
Rica,  writes  The  Black  Diamond  under  date  of 
September  29,  1915,  as  follows: 

“The  quantity  of  coal  used  here  per  annum  is 
about  50,000  tons,  that  it  is  all  imported  from 
Baltimore  in  chartered  steamships  by  the  North¬ 
ern  Railway  Company  of  Costa  Rica. 

“There  have  been  no  improvements  made  to 
the  docks  and  discharging  equipment  during  the 
past  year  and  it  generally  takes  a  ship  about  one 
week  to  discharge  a  cargo 'of  4,000  tons. 

“The  European  war  has  had  no  effect  on  the 
coal  trade  here,  as  it  is  only  used  for  the  rail¬ 
way  shops  and  locomotives,  and  none  of  those 
have  closed,  or  retired  from  the  service.” 


Reading  Bituminous  Movement. 

Shipments  of  bituminous  coal  over  the  Phila¬ 
delphia  Reading  Railway,  for  August,  were 
1,521,727  tons.  The  monthly  tonnages  have  been 
as  follows : 


January 
February 
March  .  . 
April  .  .  . 
May  .... 
Tune 

July  .... 

August 

September 

October  . 

November 

December 


1915. 
1,295,959 
1,137,989 
1,405,337 
1, '298,169 
1,349,795 
1,395,226 
1,415,515 
1,521.727 


1914. 

1,530,088 

1,259,151 

1,661,769 

1,170,550 

1,101,288 

1,230,022 

1,274,944 

1,349,816 

1,349,439 

1,355,519 

1,181,162 

1,280,646 


1913. 

1,624,294 

1,404,176 

1,469,633 

1,358,002 

1,393,670 

1,293,971 

1,353,084 

1,488,260 

1,455,660 

1,519,473 

1,401,414 

1,564,340 


1912. 

1,088,679 

1,174,856 

1,532,204 

1,416,019 

1,449,126 

1,141,479 

1,152,236 

1,145,644 

1,184,549 

1,259,669 

1,251,337 

1,330,643 


French  Coal  Output  in  1914. 

[Commercial  Attache  C.  W.  A.  Veditz,  Paris,  Sept.  10.] 
French  coal  production  in  1914  amounted  to 
29,786,505  metric  tons,  compared  with  40,843,618 
tons  in  1913.  The  coal  output  for  the  first  half 
of  1914  amounted  to  more  than  half  of  the  total 
production  for  the  year  1913.  The  detailed  fig¬ 
ures  for  the  coal  mining  regions  of  France  are 
as  follows  for  1913  and  1914: 


TONS. 

Coal  Basins — 

Nord  and  Pas-de-Calais . 

Loire  and  Haute-Loire . 

Card  and  Herault . 

Tarn  and  .'\veyron . 

Isere  . 

Saone-et-I^oire  . 

Bouches-du-Rhone  . 

-All  other . 

Total  . 


1913.  1914. 

27,389,307  17,800,308 

3,966,618  3,487,644 

2,332,091  2,045,378 

1,974,804  1,810,466 

362,662  317,351 

2,210.091  2,048,200 

694,054  619,313 

1,913,991  1,657,845 

40,843,618  29,786,505 


In  1914  France  imported  from  Great  Britain 
10,759,058  tons  of  coal,  18,883  tons  of  coke  and 
116,549  tons  of  manufactured  fuel  (agglomeres). 


Foreign  Freight  Rates, 

\V.  W.  Battie  &  Co.’s  Produce  Exchange,  New 
York,  report  as  follows  under  date  of  October  11: 

We  chartered  a  large  number  of  steamers  for 
export  coal  during  the  past  week,  but  we  are  not 
reporting  any  of  these  fixtures.  The  last  charters 
for  grain  to  Italian  ports  were  at  66s  and  ship¬ 
pers  are  endeavoring  to  secure  concessions  in 
this  rate,  but  this  far  without  success.  There 


have  been  no  charters  for  Italian  coal  since  our 
last  report,  as  shippers  are  not  inclined  to  meet 
owners’  views.  Coal  rates  to  Brazil  and  to  the 
Plate  are  very  firm,  and  it  is  reported  that  a 
steamer  has  been  chartered  to  load  coal  at  Vir¬ 
ginia  for  Rio  at  40s,  which  rather  surprises  us, 
as  we  have  steamers  willing  to  accept  a  lower 
figure.  We  understand  that  some  remarkably 
high  rates  have  been  paid  from  Cardiff  to  the 
Plate. 

West  Indian  freights  are  firm  and  advancing. 

We  would  quote  freight  rates  on  coal  by 
steamer  as  follows : 


West  Coast  of  Italy .  55s  to  60s 

iVxsrscillcs  . . .  50s  to  55s 

Barcelona  or  other  good  Spanish  port......  48s  to  53s 

(Spanish  dues  for  account  of  cargo.) 

Note:  Charters  for  Italy,  France  and  Spain  read: 

Lay  days  to  commence  on  steamer’s  arrival  at  or  off 

port  of  discharge  Is  per  net  register  ton  per  day  demur¬ 

rage.” 

Montevideo  .  36s  to  40s 

lluenos  Aires  or  La  Plata .  37s  to  40s 

Rosario  . .  38s  to  42s 

Kio  de  Janeiro .  36s  to  38s' 

Santos  (consignees  paying  docas  dues) .  36s  to  38s 

Valparaiso  or  Callao,  about .  $7  50 

Havana  .  2.50@3.00 

Cardenas  or  Sagua .  2.75  @3.25 

Cienfuegos  .  3.00@3.60 

Port  of  Spain,  Trinidad .  3.75@4.00 

St.  Lucia .  3.50@3.75 

St.  Thomas .  3.25@3.50 

Barbados  .  3.75@4.00 

Kingston  .  3,00@3.25 

Curacao,  and  p.  c .  3.25@3.60 

Santiago  .  3.25@3.50 

Guantanamo  .  3.25  @3.50 

Demerara  .  6.00  @6.60 

Bermuda  .  3.00@3.25 

Vera  Cruz,  about .  5.50 

Tampico,  about .  6.50 


Recent  Coal  Freight  Charters. 

Steamer  Plymouth,  a  Virginia  port  or  Baltimore  to 
Mediterranean,  7,000  tons  coal,  p.  t. 

Steamer  Ulrik  Holm  (Dan.),  Philadelphia  to  Port  Bar- 
rias,  coal,  p.  t. 

Steamer  Brampton  (Br.),  Philadelphia  to  Italy,  coal, 
p.  t. 


Export  Trade  Briefs. 

The  Cardiff  correspondent  of  the  Liverpool 
Journal  of  Commerce,  says:  “The  season  when 
large  contracts  are  arranged  for  delivery  over 
six,  nine  and  twelve  months  ahead,  has  now  prac¬ 
tically  arrived.  Very  little  business  has  so  far 
been  reported  and  the  majority  of  collieries  were 
disinclined  to  quote  for  delivery  over  long 
periods  ahead  during  the  present  uncertainty. 
Further  details  are  to  hand  with  respect  to  the 
Paris,  Lyons  &  Mediterranean  Railway  contract 
for  400,000  tons  of  small  coals.  Messrs.  Pyman, 
Watson,  Franklin,  Thomas  &  Co.,  the  Federated 
Coal  &  Shipping  Company,  and  Tabb  &  Burlit- 
sen,  have  secured  100,000  tons  each  at  a  price 
which  leaves  fifteen  shillings  to  eighteen  shillings 
for  the  coal.  The  authorities  have  stipulated 
upon  an  ash  percentage  of  nine  per  cent.  In  ad¬ 
dition  45,000  tons  of  through  coals  has  been 
placed  with  Messrs  C.  L.  Clay,  shipment  at  Port 
Talbot,  whilst  large  supplies  of  patent  fuel  have 
been  contracted  for,  particulars  of  which  are 
given  below.  The  Paris  &  Orleans  Railways 
have  |)laced  orders  ■  with  South  Wales,  York¬ 
shire  and  Newcastle  firms  for  supplies  over  next 
year,  but  particulars  were  hard  to  secure.  For 
some  time  South  Wales  coal  owners  have  been 
endeavoring  to  reduce  the  periods  of  credit  so 
as  to  come  into  line  with  the  practice  which  ob¬ 
tains  in  other  districts.  The  subject  is  one  which 
has  engaged  the  attention  of  the  Cardiff  Chamber 
of  Commerce  for  some  time  before  the  outbreak 
of  war,  and  opinions  on  the  advisability,  of 
shortening  the  credit  are  most  wide.  At  a  meet¬ 
ing  of  colliery  owners  held  on  Wednesday  it 
was  decided  that  ‘notice  be  given  that  for  all 
contracts  and  sales  of  coals  entered  into  on  and 
after  the  first  day  of  January,  1916,  the  terms  of 
payment  will  be  net  cash  at  fourteen  days  or  cash 
against  invoice  less  one-quarter  per  cent  at  the 
option  of  the  seller.’  This  means  that  buyers 
have  to  pay  cash  in  a  fortnight  instead  of  in  a 
month  as  at  present  obtains.  At  a  discussion  on 
the  subject  by  the  members  of  the  Cardiff  Cham¬ 
ber  of  Commerce  last  month  a  resolution  was 
passed  that  members  considered  the  time  inop¬ 
portune  for  such  a  change,  and  asked  the  coal 
owners  to  reconsider  the  matter.  The  coal  own¬ 
ers  at  Wednesday’s  meeting  decided  to  adhere 
to  the  new  terms  which  will  be  put  into  operation 
at  the  commencement  of  next  year.” 

The  Danish  navy  has  recently  received  2,600 
tons  of  American  steam  coal  from  the  Atlantic 
coast.  This  shipment  is  an  experiment,  and  if 
the  coal  equals  the  Welsh  coal  in  its  steaming 
(jualities  and  present  conditions  continue  in  Eng¬ 
land  more  business  may  be  expected.  The  coal 
was  laid  down  in  Copenhagen  c.  i.  f.  at  about 
fifty-five  shillings'  ($13.38)'  per  ton. 


No.  16] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


313 


General  Review. 


The  Trade  Is  Encouraged  by  Larger 
Orders  and  by  Better 
Prices  Generally. 


'  .A  little  sometliing  in  the  tone  of  the  market 
reports  for  this -week  indicates  that  the  trade  is 
taking  seriously  the  reports  of  better  business 
conditions.  The  reports  reflect  this  improved 
sentiment.  Heretofore,  the  reports  have  been 
hopeful  enough,  but  they  have  not  been  quite 
convincing.  This  week  they  are  all  quite  genuine. 

There  has  been  the  matter  of  a  car  shortage. 
For  two  months  the  trade  has  been  talking  about 
such  a  possibility,  but  no  one  was  quite  ready  to 
believe  it  possible.  This  week  West  Virginia  has 
known  it  is  a  reality.  There  was  coal  to  move 
to  the  east,  to  tidewater  and  to  the  west,  but  the 
railroads  were  able  to  give  only  a  fifty  per  cent 
supply.  Also,  in  the  west,  the  first  real  sugges¬ 
tion  of  a  shortage  is  beginning  to  appear. 

In  the  matter  of  demand  for  steam  coal  the 
situation  has  also  been  encouraging.  Up  to  now 
the  steam  trade  has  been  just  fairly  active.  The 
factories  which  were  filling  orders  for  war  muni¬ 
tions  have  been  buying  coal,  but  the  general  run 
of  businesses  has  not  been  working  to  normal 
time.  This  last  week  one  gets  the  impression 
that  business  has  really  started  up  with  some¬ 
thing  like  old  time  vigor.  At  least  every  sec¬ 
tion  reports  a  good  demand  for  the  steam  sizes. 
Even  in  the  west,  where  business  has  not  been 
very  .brisk,  the  better  demand  for  screenings 
moved  the  price  up  about  five  cents  a  ton.  This 
came  after  a  sale  ranging  close  to  75,000  tons  had 
removed  the  free  coal  from  the  market. 

An  indication  in  the  same  general  direction  is 
the  present  trend  in  the  coke  market.  This  week 
the  price  moved  up  a  dime  easily,  even  in  the 
outlying  districts.  So  long  as  the  demand  for 
coke  was  mainly  in  the  Pittsburgh  district  the 
upturn  in  demand  and  price  was  of  no  particular 
significance ;  it  was  supposed  to  result  directly 
from  the  making  of  war  material  by  the  steel 
mills.  However,  the  price  is  advancing  even  west 
of  Chicago.  This  shows  that  the  foundries 
through  that  territory  are  using  all  of  the  coke 
made  at  home  and  are  buying  some  from  the 
eastern  ovens. 

The  weather,  nafurallv,  has  had  some  influence. 
This  has  not  been  uniform,  but  pretty  generally 
the  temperatiires  have  been  low  enough  to  make 
a  fire  quite  comfortable.  Since  the  householders 
were  notoriously  unprepared  for  the  winter,  in 
the  matter  of  fuel  supply,  the  change  in  climatic 
conditions  brought  an  instant  demand  for  coal 
upon  the  wholesalers  and  producers. 

The  small  production  of  anthracite  up  to 
October  1st  is  assuming  an  alarming  aspect. 
Figuring  for  the  calendar  year,  the  production 
up  to  that  date  was  nearly  2,750,000  tons  short  of 
that  of  last  year.  This  means,  in  the  main,  that 
the  people  had  no  coal  held  over  from  last  year 
and  have  not  stocked  anything  like  the  normal 
amounts  for  this  year.  The  shortage  in  this 
direction,  complicated  by  a  growing  shortage  of 
cars,  may  prove  serious  for  some  of  those  who 
have  been  depending  upon  that  coal. 

The  one  district  of  the  country  that  is  causing 
general  uneasiness  in  coal  circles  is  the  north¬ 
west.  There  the  people  have  been  indifferent  to 
their  coal  supply.  The  docks,  disappointed  in  last 
year’s  business,  have  not  followed  an  aggressive 
campaign  for  this  season.  Also,  the  railroads  are 
just  now  beginning  a  quite  belated  movement  of 
grain  to  the  market.  Everything  threatens  to 
combine  to  limit  the  supply  of  coal  moving  into 
that  territory.  If  the  weather  should  continue 
mild  the  northwest  situation  may  be  comfortable. 
But  no  coal  man  is  willing  to  vouch  for  the  out¬ 
come  if  the  winter  should  prove  severe. 

The  financial  situation,  generally,  seems  to  be 
much  improved.  The  banks  not  only  have  money 
to  lend  but,  what  is  more  to  the  point,  they  are 
getting  the  courage  to  lend  it.  This  is  one  thing 
that  IS  helping  business  generally.  Another  re¬ 
sult  is  that  collections  are  easier,  since  business 
men  can  pay  out  their  money  instead  of  being 
forced  to  use  it  to  do  their  own  financing. 

These  things  explain  the  concrete  development 
in  the  trade,  which  is  that  prices  are  stronger 
and  the  operators  have  a  larger  volume  of  busi¬ 
ness. 


Contracts  for  p2,500  tons  of  steel  rails  for 
quic.v  delivery  have  been  let  by  the  Raltirrrore  & 
Cthio  Railroad  to  the  Maryland  Steel  Company, 
the  Cambria  Steel  Company,  the  Carnegie  Steel 
Company  and  the  Illinois  Steel  Company. 


Chicago  Market. 

Weakness  in  Screenings  Disappears  and 
the  Market  All  Told 
Is  Stronger. 


Office  of  The  Bl.ack  Dia.moni), 
Chicago,  October  14. 

The  biggest  influence  on  the  Chicago  market 
this  week  is  the  removal  of  any  suggestion  of 
weakness  from  the  fine  coal  market.  Two 
factors  have  been  pulling  in  opposite  direc¬ 
tions  for  the  last  month  or  so  with  the  result 
that  ' prices  have  fluctuated  rather  widely  and 
the  general  disposition  of  the  market  was  soft. 
That  is,  the  large  buyers  of  screenings  have,  of 
course,  been  busy  trying  to  bear  the  market 
and  they  have  been  aided  by  the  number  of 
brokers  who  have  sold  screenings  short.  The 
resultant  situation  was  rather  trying  to  the 
operators  who  were  trying  to  hold  domestic 
prices  at  a  moderate  level  and  still  bring  the 
screenings  prices  up  to  a  point  where  the  mine 
run  price  would  average  a  profit.  A  very 
careful  survey  of  the  situation  was  made  this 
week.  Those  who  were  long  on  screenings 
made  some  big  sales  to  others  who  were  short 
and  in  this  way  something  like  sixty  to  sev¬ 
enty-five  thousand  tons  of  fine  coal  was  taken 
off  the  market. 

Anthracite  coal  has  improved  quite  a  good 
deal  in  demand  within  the  last  week.  Dealers 
apparently  are  impressed  by  the  fact  that  pro¬ 
duction  up  to  the  first  of  October  is  short 
practically  3,750,000  tons.  There  is  small  hope 
that  this  can  be  made  up  by  the  first  of  Janu¬ 
ary.  There  is  a  likelihood  of  shortage  and 

this  is  causing  the  retailers  to  supply  them¬ 

selves  while  they  can. 

In  smokeless  coal  the  car  situation  is  the 
principal  factor.  Reports  from  'West  'Virginia 
are  that  the  leading  railroads  there  are  able 
to  supply  only  fifty  per  cent  of  the  cars  de¬ 
manded.  This  is  making  a  very  definite  short¬ 
age  of  coal  in  the  east  and  especially  in  the 

west.  The  eastern  demand  is  arbitrary  and 

therefore  must  be  supplied.  The  operators 
have  an  option  of  selling  coal  in  the  west,  but 
are  not  selling  it  and  .naturally  the  west  is 
experiencing  the  greater  part  of  the  shortage. 
There  is  no  great  need  for  that  coal  just  now, 
but  the  supply  is  short  of  what  the  need  is. 
If  the  demand  should  by  reason  of  a  change 
in  the  weather  become  normal  for  this  time  of 
year,  the  coal  would  very  quickly  go  to  pre¬ 
mium  prices. 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Smokeless —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Mine  run  .■ .  $3.45  $1.40 

Lump  and  egg .  4.30  2.25 

The  car  shortage  in  Somerset  county  is  not 
so  severe  as  that  in  West  Virginia,  but  still 
it  is  a  factor  and  as  a  consequence,  much  of 
the  weakness  in  the  market  noted  heretofore 
in  spots,  has  disappeared  among  the  small 

producers.  The  larger  concerns  are  holding 
firmly  to  circular  price  of  mine  run  at  $1.40 
and  lump  and  egg  from  $2.10  to  $2.25.  The 
prices  up  to  Thursday  were: 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Somerset  County —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Mine  run . $3.30@3.40  $1.25@1.40 

Lump  and  egg .  3.80@4.30  1.75@2.25 

The  Hocking  market,  after  the  recent  lull, 
has  picked  up  again  and  is  now  almost  as 
strong  as  it  was  the  latter  part  of  September. 
The  demand  is  steady  and  in  good  volume, 
but  nothing  spectacular  or  extraordinary. 
Nearly  all  of  the  producers  have  abandoned 
the  lower  price  and  are  now  holding  for  $1.75 
at  the  mines.  The  prices  up  to  Thursday 
were: 

F.  O.  B,  F.  O.  B. 

Hocking —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Domestic  lump .  $3.40  $1.75 

The  splint  market  is  about  as  it  was.  The 
mines  have  a  good  demand  in  the  east  and  are 
short  of  cars.  Eor  that  reason  they  are  hold¬ 
ing  firm  for  circular  price  of  $1.50  to  $1.60. 
In  the  west,  however,  the  docks  are  not  both¬ 
ered  by  a  car  shortage  and  have  a  great  deal 
of  coal  on  hand. 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Kanav/ha —  Chicago.  Mines. 

1^-inch  lump . $3.15@3.40  $1.25@1.50 

The  eastern  Kentucky  situation  is  getting  a 
little  stronger.  The  mines  are  having  some 
difficulty  with  labor  which  shortens  the  supply 
a  little.  However,  possible  production  is  so 
enormous  it  demands  a  lively  market  all  the 
time  to  absorb  it.  Even  so,  the  bottom  price 
is  perhaps  $1.75  while  some  of  the  best  known 
coals  are  commanding  $2.00  to  $2.25. 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B 

Eastern  Kentucky —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Domestic  lump . $3.65@4.15  $1.75@2.25 

Egg  . .  3.25@3.75  1.35@1.85 

Eranklin  county  operators  have  been  hav¬ 
ing  a  good  steady  demand  for  domestic  coal 
within  the  last  week.  Eor  a  time  the  latter 
part  of  last  week  there  was  an  accumulation 
of  unsold  coal  and  this  required  some  of  the 
mines  to  shut  down  for  a  day  or  so.  By  the 
first  part  of  this  week,  the  accumulation  was 
cleaned  up  to  today  the  mines  were  running 
up  to  about  seventy-five  per  cent  of  capacity. 
The  screenings  market  for  a  time  was  rather 
inclined  to  be  soft,  first  because  it  was  under 
great  pressure  by  the  buyers  and  second,  be¬ 
cause  the  supply  was  increased  due  to  the  larger 
production  of  lump.  The  market  is  now  firm, 
with  prices  quoted  at  a  minimum  of  fifty  cents 
in  the  city  and  a  minimum  of  sixty  cents  in  the 
country.  Prices  up  to  Thursday  were : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Franklin  County —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Dump  .  $2.80  $1.75 

Egg  .  2.80  1.75 

No.  1  nut .  2.80  1.75 

No.  2  nut .  2,45  1.40 

Mine  run . .• _ 2.15@2.20  1.10@1.16 

2-inch  screenings  .  1.55@1.65  .50@  .60 

'Williamson  county  market  is  not  quite  so 
strong  as  it  was  last  week.  The  weather  has 
interfered  with  the  free  movement  of  coal. 
Even  so,  the  larger  producers  are  holding 
firmly  for  $1.75  because  they  have  enough 
business  on  their  books  to  keep  them  running 
for  another  two  weeks.  Some  of  the  smaller 
producers  are  moving  lively  to  make  sales,  but 
so  far  have  not  been  forced  to  shave  the  price. 
Fine  coal  has  been  moving  a  little  better.  The 
market  up  to  Thursday  was : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Williamson  County —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Lump  . $2.65@2.80  $1.60@1.75 

Egg  .  2.65@2.80  1.60@1.7n 

No.  1  washed .  2.80  1.75 

No.  2  washed .  2.45  1.40 

With  the  exception  of  a  few  cars  now  and 
then  from  one  of  the  producers  the  Saline  county 
operators  are  out  of  the  screenings  market  for 
sixty  days.  They  have  sold  up  their  output 
on  contract.  This  strengthens  the  market  up 
to  a  minimum  of  sixty  cents.  The  other  steam 
preparations  have  been  practically  unchanged  as 
to  price,  the  demand  being  fair.  Lump  coal 
has  been  moving  in  satisfactory  volume.  The 
prices  up  to  Thursday  were: 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Saline  County —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Lump  . $2.65@2.80  $1.60@1.75 

Mine  run .  2.20  1.16 

.Screenings  .  1.65  .60 

154-inch  lump .  2.35  1.30 

The  market  on  central  Illinois  screenings  has 
been  fairly  firm  at  forty  cents  within  the  last 
week  with  a  tendency  towards  higher  prices. 
The  stiffening  up  of  the  southern  Illinois  mar¬ 
ket  helped  the  central  field  materially.  Sanga¬ 
mon  county  domestic  coal  has  been  firm  at 
$1.75.  Prices  up  to  Thursday  were: 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Central  Illinois —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Lump  .  $2.47  $1.65 

Egg  .  2.32@2.47  1.50@1.65 

Nut  .  2.47  1.65 

Mine  run .  1.87  1.05 

Screenings  .  1.22  .40 

Not  very  many  Knox  county  screenings 
have  been  coming  into  this  market,  most  of 
them  being  sold  on  contract  for  much  higher 
prices  in  the  home  territory.  Such  as  come  in 
here  are  commanding  sixty-five  to  seventy 
cents.  Prices  up  to  Thursday  were: 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Knox  County —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Lump  .  $2.37  $1.50 

Egg  .  2.37  1.50 

Mine  run  .  1.87  1.05 

Screenings  .  1.52  .65 

The  Clinton  field  has  had  a  fair  demand  for 
domestic  coal  at  prices  ranging  between  $1.65 
and  $1.75  and  the  market  for  screenings  has 
improved  somewhat,  being  in  the  neighbor¬ 

hood  of  fifty  to  fifty-five  cents.  The  prices  up 
to  Thursday  were: 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Clinton —  Chicago.  Mines. 

No.  4  domestic  lump . $2.42@2.57  $1.65<®1.75 

No.  4  egg .  2.12  1.35 

Nut  . 2.12  1.35 

No.  5  and  6  mine  run .  1.87  1.10 

No.  5  and  C  screenings .  1.27@1.32  .50@  .55 

The  coke  market  has  been  a  little  stronger. 
The  by-product  foundry  advanced  about  ten 
to  fifteen  cents  and  the  domestic  sizes  strength¬ 
ened  up  at  least  ten  cents  a  ton.  Gas  house  is 
on  the  average  about  ten  cents  higher  than 
it  was.  The  prices  up  to  Thursday  were: 

F.  O.  B. 

Coke—  Chicago. 

Connellsville  . $4.86@6.00 

By-product,  foiiudry .  5.00@5.25 

By-product,  egg  and  stove .  4.75 

By-product,  nut .  1-75 

(!as  house .  4.00@.4.10 


314 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[October  16 


Pittsburgh  Trade. 

Steam  Coal  Is  Moving  Freely  on  Con¬ 
tract  and  the  Demand  for  Slack 
Is  Heavier. 

Office  of  The  Black  Diamond, 
1503  Oliver  Buildin.g, 

Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  October  14. 

Generally  speaking,  it  seems  entirely  safe  to 
say  that  the  coal  and  coke  market  has  an  excel¬ 
lent  tone,  and  is  in  a  far  better  condition  than 
it  has  experienced  for  months  past.  The  week 
just  gone  has  shown  a  tendency  toward  higher 
prices,  and  marked  advances  have  been  made  in 
many  instances  on  spot  sales. 

Specifically,  shipments  on  contract  have  largely 
increased,  the  demand  of  munition-making  plants 
making  it  pretty  hard  for  operators  to  keep  the 
pace  desired.  At  the  same  time  domestic  demand 
has  been  steadily  broadening  for  industrial  con¬ 
sumption  and  colder  weather  has  added  an  im¬ 
petus  to  the  retail  business  that  the  local  trade 
are  very  glad  to  see. 

The  cry  for  slack,  of  any  or  all  grades  is  heard 
far  and  wide — the  fact  that  the  large  demand  is 
for  mine  run  makes  slack  a  scarce  commodity. 
New  stoking  methods  have  lar.gely  increased  this 
demand  and  a  number  of  plants,  including  the 
Westinghouse  electric  interests,  are  making 
broad  inquiry  for  anything  obtainable,  gas  or 
steam  of  whatever  .grade.  The  car  question  is 
becoming  more  and  more  a  factor,  and  a  short¬ 
age  of  labor  at  many  points  assuming  a  serious 
phase,  and  this  is  a  hard  case  to  diagnose,  for 
where  a  mine  has  its  full  quota  today,  a  disin¬ 
clination  to  work  is  shown  by  many,  and  they 
drop  off  here  and  there  without  warning,  know¬ 
ing  they  can  easily  .get  work  again  when  so  in¬ 
clined,  and  it  is  very  hard  for  operators  to  con¬ 
trol  such  a  situation,  and  with  the  outlook  ahead 
for  an  unprecedented  demand,  as  domestic  busi¬ 
ness  continues  to  expand  there  is  a  situation  de¬ 
veloping  that  will  call  for  wise  manipulation. 

The  lake  trade  continues  to  be  a  disappoint¬ 
ment  so  far  as  new  business  is  concerned,  but 
shinping  orders  on  contract  are  increasing  mate¬ 
rially  as  time  becomes  more  limited.  As  to  quo¬ 
tations,  today’s  figures  might  be  quoted  as  fol¬ 
lows,  f.  o.  b.  mines ; 


.Slack — when  it  can  be  had . $0.80@1.00 

Mine  run  of  various  grades .  1.20@1.40 

Three-quarter,  screened  .  1.30@1.50 

Five-quarter,  screened  .  1.40@1.60 


For  early  1916  shipment  quotations  are  not 
very  clearly  established,  but  some  hi.gher  marks 
than  here  stated  have  been  made,  although  no 
extended  deliveries  have  been  booked — most  of 
the  larger  concerns  being  covered  up  to  April  1st. 

The  Crucible  Steel  Company  closed  with  the 
Keystone  Coal  &  Coke  Company,  the  present 
week  for  one  year  supply  of  Mine  Run  for  one 
of  their  eastern  plants,  amounting  to  about  40,- 
000  tons  Westmoreland  gas  coal  at  an  advance 
over  present  fi.gures,  and  the  general  report  is 
that  stiffening  prices  are  being  obtained  on  all 
grades  of  coal. 

Coke  holds  its  own,  though  furnaces  do  not 
seem  to  be  jumpin.g  over  themselves  to  place  or¬ 
ders  for  future  supply.  One  good  contract  closed 
the  past  week  by  the  Consolidated  Coke  Com¬ 
pany,  Pittsburgh,  for  the  first  half  of  1916, 
brought  $3.35.  Spot  furnace  can  be  had  for  al¬ 
most  anywhere  from  $1.75  to  $3.00,  price  bein.g 
largely  governed  by  necessity  on  either  side.  No¬ 
vember  and  December  delivery  would  possibly 
hold  to  $3.00  to  $2.35  subject  to  the  same  condi¬ 
tions.  Announcement  was  made  Monday  by  the 
H.  C.  Frick  Coke  Company  that  five  hundred  ad¬ 
ditional  coke  ovens  were  fired  last  week.  At  Bit- 
ner,  where  the  plant  has  been  idle  for  more  than 
a  year,  two  hundred  or  three  hundred  ovens  have 
been  blown  in.  It  was  stated  that  the  FI.  C.  Frick 
Company  is  running  eighty-five  per  cent  capacity, 
working  full  time,  six  days  a  week.  This  week 
seven  hundred  and  fifty  additional  coke  ovens 
will  be  fired  in  eighteen  plants  and  the  company 
will  run  ninety  per  cent  of  capacity. 

The  demand  for  foundry  coke  is  not  so  pro¬ 
nounced.  The  activities  of  the  foundry  trade 
have  not  increased  as  has  that  of  the  steel  mills. 
While  in  some  branches  of  the  trade,  and  in 
some  districts,  foundries  are  running  full  capac¬ 
ity,  largely  on  special  work,  others  are  not  so 
fortunate  and  the  avera.ge,  it  is  said,  is  not  over 
sixty-five  per  cent  of  capacity  basis. 

The  pig  iron  market  has  been  generally  quiet. 
Most  sellers  are  pretty  well  covered  for  their 
capacities  over  the  remainder  of  the  year  and  are 
not  disposed  to  sell  very  heavily  for  extended 
delivery.  In  the  majority  of  grades  prices  have 


been  stationary,  but  show  a  marked  firmness,  and 
coke  is  in  many  instances  being  sold  on  the  slid¬ 
ing  scale  basis,  regulated  by  the  price  of  pig  iron, 
and  little  disposition  being  shown  to  sell  far  into 
1916. 


Pittsburgh  News  Items. 

A  charter  has  been  granted  the  Pittsburgh  Coal 
Land  Company.  Capital,  $200,000.  Treasurer, 
William  Miller,  7225  Meade  street,  Pittsburgh, 
Pa.  Incorporators;  M.  H.  Taylor,  Erie,  Pa.; 
W.  K.  Field,  Columbus,  Ohio;  F.  M.  Wallace, 
Erie,  Pa. ;  J.  A.  Donaldson,  Emsworth,  Pa.,  and 
J.  B.  L.  Hornber,ger,  Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

In  the  Pittsburgh  district  more  than  nine  hun¬ 
dred  by-product  ovens  have  been  completed  re¬ 
cently  or  are  in  course  of  construction,  at  an 
a,ggregate  cost  of  $15,720,000.  It  was  stated  yes¬ 
terday  that  the  by-product  ovens  specified  will, 
when  all  are  completed,  consume  about  13,000 
tons  of  coal  daily. 

The  Frick  Coke  Company  will  fire  780  addi¬ 
tional  coke  ovens  this  week.  The  plants  to  be 
put  in  action  include  the  Adelaide,  Brinkerton, 
Buffington,  Calumet,  Continental,  Continental  No. 
2,  Continental  No.  3,  Dorothy,  Hecla,  Kyle,  Mar¬ 
guerite,  Standard,  United,  York  Run,  Hostetter, 
Whitney,  Leisenring  No.  2,  Lemont  and  Bitner. 

Charles  L.  Doyle,  2126  Oliver  building,  Pitts¬ 
burgh,  has  been  made  salesmanager  for  the  Con¬ 
solidated  Coke  Company,  the  product  of  which 
was  formerly  sold  by  the  Pickands-Magee  Com¬ 
pany,  with  which  he  was  identified,  the  Pickands- 
Magee  Company  practically  retiring  from  the 
field. 

Work  has  been  started  at  the  LaBelle  Mine 
No .  4,  of  the  West  Virginia-Pittsburgh  Coal 
Company,  near  Wellsburg,  W.  Va.,  on  a  steel 
tipple  which  is  being  erected  to  take  the  place 
of  the  wooden  structure  now  in  use.  The  work 
at  the  present  time  is  being  done  at  the  part  of 
the  tipple  that  crosses  the  tracks  of  the  Pan- 
Handle  traction  lines.  It  will  be  joined  to  some 
steel  structural  work  that  was  done  at  the  tipple 
some  time  ago.  The  tipple  at  the  Gilchrist  Mines 
No.  3  and  the  Locust  Grove  Mines  of  the  same 
company  have  been  improved  in  the  same  way. 


St.  Louis  Trade. 


St.  Louis,  Mo.,  October  13. —  {Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — Buying  on  domestic  coal  has  been 
very  heavy  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  weather 
has  been  unusually  warm  for  this  season  of  the 
year.  This  indicates  that  our  prediction  made 
during  the  summer  months  that  consumers  were 
not  buyin.g  coal  and  would  therefore  buy  with  a 
rush  later  on  is  coming  true. 

The  coal  yards  claim  that  their  business  has 
been  so  heavy  that  they  have  had  great  difficulty 
in  making  deliveries.  In  fact  it  is  a  Godsend 
that  the  weather  has  been  very  mild,  because  had 
it  been  cold  the  coal  yards  would  have  been  ab¬ 
solutely  swamped  and  unable  to  cope  with  the 
situation. 

The  demand  for  car  load  coal  has  been  very 
pleasing  and  very  steady  on  all  domestic  sizes. 
A  slight  car  shorta.ge  has  developed  on  several 
railroads,  though  nothing  serious.  In  view  of 
the  tremendous  movement  of  domestic  coal, 
screenings  and  steam  sizes  have  held  up  very 
well.  A  slight  drop  of  five  cents  a  ton  has  been 
noticed  this  last  week  on  screenings  and  nut. 

Standard  coal  is  moving  well.  Price  on  lump 
has  come  up  a  little  bit  and  the  month  gives 
promise  of  growing  better  as  it  gets  older. 

The  current  prices  are  as  follows : 


Standard  Coal 
6-inch  lump.  . . . 
6x3-inch  egg. . . 
2-inch  lump. .  . . 
Steam  egg  . . . . 

No.  1  nut . 

No.  2  nut  . 

Mine  run  . 

Screenings  .  . . . 


F.  0.  B. 

F.  0.  B. 

Mine. 

St.  Louis. 

$1.6754 

1.8254 

..  1.05 

1.6254 

1.4754 

1.72  54 

..  .80 

1.3754 

1.4254 

.9754 

Stanton  and  Mt.  Olive  coals  are  all  moving 
well.  Dealers  have  all  they  can  do  locally  and 
quite  a  tonna.ge  is  going  north. 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Mine.  St.  Louis. 


6-inch  lump  . $1.50  $2.07^ 

2-inch  lump  .  1.25  1.82^ 

Screenings  . 40  .9754 


Williamson  county  coals  are  stiffening  up  in 
price.  Egg,  which  was  draggin.g  considerably 
last  month,  is  now  moving  much  better.  Prices 
on  the  higher  .grades  of  coal  remain  about  the 
same.  The  mines,  which  were  making  liberal 
concessions  ten  days  ago,  are  now  holding  very 
close  to  the  circular. 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Mine.  St.  Louis. 

6-inch  lump  or  egg .  1.60@1.76  2.22 @2.47}4 

Sx2-inch  nut  .  1.60@1.75  2.32}^  @2.4754 

Screenings  .  .60  1.2254 

Franklin  county  coals  are  moving  very  well. 
All  sizes  are  now  movin.g  freely.  Egg  is  in  good 
demand  and  also  No.  1  nut. 


6-inch  lump,  egg  or  nut 

No.  2  stove  . 

Screenings  . 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Mine  St.  Louis. 

..$1.75  $2.4754 

. .  1.40  2.1254 

. .  .60  1.3254 


The  demand  on  anthracite  is  very  good.  Chest¬ 
nut  is  now  getting  quite  short. 


Anthracite —  F.  O.  B.  St.  Louis. 

Chestnut  . $7.55 

Stove  or  egg .  7.30 

Grate  .  7,05 

Smokeless —  F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Mine  St.  Louis. 

Lump  or  egg  . $2.25  $4.75 

Gas  House  Coke —  F.  O.  B.  St.  Louis. 

Gas  house  coke  . $4.26 

By-product  coke  (all  sizes) .  4.50 


The  prices  on  Illinois  soft  coal,  f.  0.  b.  East  St.  Louis, 
Madison,  Venice  or  Granite  City,  Ill.,  are  20  cents  lower 
than  the  above  quoted  St.  Louis  prices. 


Duluth  Trade. 


Duluth,  Minn.,  October  14. —  {Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — The  only  coal  company  having  gen¬ 
eral  headquarters  at  the  Head  of  the  Lakes  is 
not  a  price-cutter,  according  to  the  officials.  This 
statement  was  made  in  reply  to  an  article  in  The 
Black  Diamond,  issue  before  last.  The  company 
does  not  want  its  name  mentioned,  but  in  view 
of  the  fact  that  it  is  the  only  coal  company  with 
headquarters  here  it  might  as  well  be.  However, 
its  officials  declare  that  it  does  not  cut  prices,  and 
where  it  cannot  get  business  without  that  ex¬ 
pedient  it  passes  up  the  business — in  every  in¬ 
stance,  is  the  declaration. 

The  Lehigh  Valley  Coal  Company,  chief  deal¬ 
ers  in  anthracite  coal  at  the  Head  of  the  Lakes, 
has  leased  the  property  and  equipment  of  the 
Sunday  Creek  Coal  Company  on  the  Superior 
side  of  the  bay,  and  is  using  the  docks  of  the 
latter  company  for  storing  hard  coal.  The  Sun¬ 
day  Creek  Company,  an  Ohio  concern,  suspended 
business  here  because  of  the  rate  trouble  in  which 
it  is  involved  in  Ohio,  and  has  been  reducing  its 
stocks  all  summer.  The  stocks  were  virtually 
cleaned  up  when  the  lease  to  the  Lehigh  Valley 
was  made.  Just  how  long  the  lease  extends 
neither  Supt.  Emmert  of  the  Lehigh  Valley  or 
Supt.  O’Neill  of  the  Sunday  Creek  will  say;  but 
a  good  deal  of  hard  coal  is  being  piled  up  on 
the  docks.  These  docks  formerly  belonged  to  the 
old  St.  Paul  &  Western  Coal  Company. 

Business  in  hard  coal  has  hardly  started  yet, 
although  many  more  orders  have  been  received 
to  date  than  at  the  same  time  last  year.  Inquiry 
is  liberal,  however,  and  it  is  generally  expected 
that  by  the  end  of  this  month  shipments  will  be¬ 
come  heavier  and  will  increase  from  then  on. 

The  docks  on  both  sides  of  the  bay  are  pretty 
well  filled  up  with  soft  coal  now,  despite  the  fact 
that  receipts  have  fallen  off  of  late,  and  coal 
dock  superintendents  declare  that  they  are  in  ex¬ 
cellent  position  for  a  heavy  winter  of  shipment. 
Shipments  have  grown  immensely  during  the  last 
month  is  the  general  statement.  Figures  showing 
the  actual  shipments  during  September  will  not 
be  available  before  next  week,  but  it  is  expected 
that  they  will  show  a  generous  increase  over  the 
month  last  year. 

The  steamer  J.  J.  McWilliams  came  to  this 
port  yesterday  with  a  cargo  of  coal,  but  was  im¬ 
mediately  ordered  to  take  the  cargo  to  Fort 
William.  Whether  the  McWilliams  came  here 
because  of  a  mistake  in  orders  received  at  the 
Sault  or  was  diverted  to  fill  a  need  at  the 
Canadian  port  could  not  be  learned. 

The  steamer  James  B.  Neilson,  upbound  with 
coal  for  the  Duluth,  Missabe  &  Northern  Rail¬ 
road  Company’s  dock,  ran  on  the  rocks  at  Point 
Isabel,  Lake  Superior,  last  Friday  night  in  a 
heavy  snowstorm.  Tuesday  her  hold  filled  and 
her  stern  sank  in  eighteen  feet  of  water.  The 
wrecker.  Favorite,  is  at  work  on  her  and  expects 
to  bring  the  steamer  into  port  in  a  few  days. 

Probabilities  of  many  more  cargoes  of  coal 
coming  up  this  season  are  even  more  remote  than 
a  short  time  ago,  for  the  reason  that  rates  on 
ore  and  coal  have  climbed  to  a  point  where  they 
are  prohibitive  of  coal  carrying.  Only  contract 
cargoes  will  come,  for  with  the  grain  rate  at  five 
and  five  and  one-half  cents,  and  ore  shippers  bid¬ 
ding  as  high  as  $1.30  for  wild  boats,  coal  stands 
very  little  chance,  and  the  dealers  are  indifferent 
anyway. 


No.  16] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


315 


Cincinnati  Trade. 


A  Change  of  Climatic  Conditions  Has 
Given  Added  Vim  to  the  Do¬ 
mestic  Market. 


CiNCiNN.\Ti,  Ohio,  October  14. —  (Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — With  a  little  more  frost  in  the 
atmosphere  and  indications  of  a  somewhat  early 
winter  season,  punch  and  vim  have  been  ejected 
into  the  coal  situation  in  this  district  and  coal 
operators  and  dealers  are  a  little  more  cheerful. 
Scarcity  of  labor,  which  is  becoming  more  and 
more  apparent,  together  with  a  most  stringent 
condition  of  car  service,  have  combined,  exactly 
as  has  been  prophesied,  to  alarm  the  laggard 
dealers  and  to  cause  a  rush  of  orders  which  can¬ 
not  possibly  be  filled.  Every  mail  is  filled  with 
orders  for  coal  of  all  grades  and  kinds,  from  one 
car  to  fifty  cars,  accompanied  by  an  insistent  note 
that  the  party  giving  the  order  desires  prompt 
delivery  and  no  questions  asked  as  to  price,  in 
reason.  Some  of  the  companies,  notably  the 
Chesapeake  &  Ohio  Coal  &  Coke  Company,  have 
had  printed  a  form  letter  calling  attention  to  the 
predictions  of  the  firm,  some  time  ago,  that  the 
situation  now  here  was  on  the  road,  and  an¬ 
nouncing  that  it  would  be  impossible  to  fill  orders 
under  from  ten  days  to  four  weeks.  This  situ¬ 
ation,  which  is  repeated  with  more  or  less  aggra¬ 
vating  features  by  almost  every  finn  in  this  ter¬ 
ritory,  has  caused  quite  a  commotion  among  un¬ 
protected  retail  dealers. 

On  the  other  hand  those  who  have  contracts 
are  sitting  easy  while  the  operators  are  sweating 
and  toiling  to  get,  at  least  reasonable,  delivery, 
but  the  great  majority  of  operations  are  behind 
on  delivery  from  five  to  fifteen  days.  Most  of 
the  operations  are  running  in  periods  of  half  a 
day,  perhaps,  a  full  day  once  in  a  while  and  to  a 
total  of  from  two  to  four  days  per  week,  with 
even  that  situation  embarrassed  by  a  scarcity  of 
labor.  One  operation  has  engaged  a  number  of 
negro  laborers  who  are  trying  to  learn  the  busi¬ 
ness  of  mining  and  delivering  coal.  It  is  reported 
as  not  being  popular  with  many  of  them,  but  they 
are  doing  fairly  well.  Most  of  the  skilled 
mechanics  in  the  outside  forces  have  gone  to 
cities  where  opportunities  exist  to  engage  in 
manufacture  of  war  munitions  at  much  better 
wages  and  where  they  can  enjoy  the  privileges 
of  amusement  in  the  cities.  This  cuts  much 
more  of  a  figure  than  at  first  would  seem  possi¬ 
ble,  people  generally  being  of  the  opinion  that 
the  draft  of  men  from  the  mines  for  service  in 
the  parent  country  at  war,  accounts  for  the  heavy 
depletion  of  mining  forces. 

While  the  above  statement  of  facts  is  true  of 
West  Virginia,  it  is  also  true  of  Kentucky,  but 
to  a  somewhat  lesser  extent.  In  that  field  there 
has  been  a  better  situation  for  some  time  as  to 
demand  for  product.  Along  the  Louisville  & 
Nashville  Railway  the  mines  are  in  good  shape 
generally.  All  high  grade  coals  are  bringing  for 
October  delivery,  $2,  with  the  possible  production 
sold  up  for  two  months,  or  about  December  10. 
Washed  egg  is  going  as  fast  as  manufactured  at 
$1.7.5,  and  washed  nut  at  $1.60.  Spot  nut  and 
slack  goes  at  better  than  eighty  cents  and  con¬ 
tract  has  risen  to  eighty-five  and  ninety  cents. 
Very  little  cheap  coal  is  in  the  market  of  either 
the  West  Virginia  or  the  Kentucky  product,  job¬ 
bers  gradually  retiring  from  the  handling  of  in¬ 
ferior  products  and  being  unable  to  get  their  re¬ 
quirements  of  the  superior  grades.  Tracks  are 
pretty  well  cleared  up,  especially  on  nut  and  slack 
which  have  grown  somewhat  under  demand  and 
which,  two  months  ago,  could  have  been  bought 
in  almost  any  bulk  at  forty  and  fifty  cents  and 
perhaps  lower.  Now  nut  and  slack  are  firm  at 
sixty-five  and  seventy-five  cents,  and  must  be 
brought  from  the  mines  at  that. 

Monday  morning  the  Wyatt  Coal  Company 
added  ten  cents  to  the  prices  of  their  products, 
quoting  Main  Island  block  of  the  West  Virginia 
fields  at  $1.85 ;  egg  for  domestic  use,  $1.25,  for 
-Steam  purposes  $1.20 ;  nut  and  slack,  seventy- 
five  cents  and  mine  run  firm  at  $1.  In  other 
average  grades  and  fields  four-inch  block  is 
quoted  at  $1.60;  two-inch,  $1.35  and  $1.40;  mine 
run,  $1 ;  gas.  eighty-five  cents ;  average  nut  and 
slack,  sixty-five  cents,  with  all  steam  products 
becoming  firmer  because  of  increasing  demand 
for  contract  delivery. 

Smokeless  products  are  moving  along  smoothly 
with  very  little  solicitation  now  for  placing  of 
spot  coal.  The  schedule  is  maintained  with  less 
difficulty,  and  the  main  thought  of  operations 
now  is  to  make  sure  of  contract  delivery  which 
has  fallen  behind  because  of  suspensions  some¬ 
where  along  the  line.  Difficulties  with  the  car 


service  are  now  the  rule  and  operators  see  con¬ 
tinuous  and  gradually  increasing  struggles  to 
maintain  their  deliveries.  They  are  not  worry¬ 
ing  much  over  it,  having  for  six  weeks  called  the 
attention  of  dilatory  Stockers  to  the  approaching 
situation.  They  are  now  “letting  the  other  fel¬ 
low  walk  the  floor.” 


O.  W.  Gardner,  general  manager  of  the  Chesa¬ 
peake  &  Ohio  Coal  &  Coke  Company,  was  in  the 
city  the  past  week  on  his  way  to  Gallipolis  for 
the  sad  purpose  of  attending  the  funeral  of  his 
father,  S.  J.  Gardner,  a  well  known  citizen  of 
that  city. 


Detroit  Trade. 


Detroit,  Mich.,  October  14. —  (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — With  a  more  active  inquiry  seem- 
in.gly  developing  in  the  steam  coal  trade,  the  situ¬ 
ation  in  the  Detroit  market  is  described  as  tak¬ 
ing  a  very  encouraging  trend.  While  consumers 
do  not  seem  to  be  buying  in  large  quantities,  the 
small  orders  are  being  booked  re.gularly  and  in 
such  numbers  as  to  indicate  that  the  attitude  of 
consumers  is  generally  favorable.  Shippers  say 
the  outlook  is  very  encouraging  and  some  ex¬ 
press  the  belief  that  a  good  market  is  likely  to 
continue  all  through  the  winter. 

Part  of  the  improvement  is  credited  to  the 
better  condition  of  .general  business  and  the 
larger  activity  in  many  manufacturing  lines,  fol¬ 
lowing  a  more  liberal  demand  for  products  of 
the  factories. 

Fine  coal  is  in  especially  active  demand  and 
some  of  the  shippers  say  they  are  experiencing 
some  difficulty  in  supplying  a  sufficient  quanity  to 
meet  requirements  of  customers.  In  this  connec¬ 
tion  complaint  is  also  beginning  to  be  heard  over 
delays  in  receipt  of  shipments,  this  difficulty  be¬ 
ing  charged  to  shortage  of  cars  in  West  Vir¬ 
ginia  mining  districts. 

After  developing  considerable  activity,  the  do¬ 
mestic  coal  trade  has  taken  an  easier  turn,  re¬ 
flecting  the  return  of  higher  temperature  than 
prevailed  throughout  last  week.  Orders  have 
diminished,  but  shippers  are  looking  forward  to 
certain  improvement  in  that  branch  of  the  busi¬ 
ness  as  soon  as  the  frost  again  takes  a  stronger 
hand  in  weather  conditions. 

Such  consignment  coal  is  still  being  shipped 
into  Detroit,  but  with  the  better  situation  here, 
this  stock  is  giving  little  trouble  and  not  very 
much  of  it  seems  to  be  put  on  the  market  at 
prices  materially  below  those  prevailing  on  mine 
shipment  orders.  Lump  and  egg  are  the  most 
plentiful,  but  even  these  sizes  are  not  burden¬ 
some. 

In  the  anthracite  trade,  the  bulk  of  the  busi¬ 
ness  is  still  being  transacted  by  the  retail  yards, 
while  shippers  are  receivin.g  only  a  few  orders. 
This  circumstance  is,  in  a  way  favorable  for  local 
consumers,  as  much  difficulty  is  reported  in  ob¬ 
taining  cars  for  delivery  of  shipments  from  the 
anthracite  region. 

Shipment  of  coal  over  the  lake  route  continues 
in  volume  considerably  below  that  usual  at  this 
season.  Most  of  the  stock  is  being  carried  on 
the  upbound  trips  of  freighters  employed  in  the 
iron  ore  trade.  Nearly  all  independent  carriers 
are  now  handling  grain  and  accelerating  dis- 


patch  by  avoiding  coal 

cargoes. 

shipment 

Prices  in  the  local 

market  on  mine 

orders  are  as  follows : 

F.  0.  B. 

F.  0.  B. 

West  Virginia  Gas — 

Mines. 

Detroit. 

Three-quarter  lump . 

.  $1.00 

$2.40 

Mine  run . 

.  .90 

2.30 

Slack  . 

. 60®  .75 

3.00@2.15 

West  Virginia  Splint — • 

Four-inch  lump  . 

.  1.50@1.75 

1.90@2.15 

Two-inch  lump  . 

.  1.25@1.40 

2.15@2.30 

Three-quarter  . 

.  1.10 

2.50 

Mine  run . 

.  .90 

2.30 

Nut,  pea  and  slack . 

1.95@3.05 

Smokeless — 

Lump  and  egg  . 

.  2.25 

3.85 

Nut  . 

.  1.75 

3.35 

Slack  . . 

Open 

Mine  run . 

.  i.40 

3.00 

Kentucky  Splint — 

Lump  . 

. 1.60@1.75 

3.00@3.15 

Egg  . 

.  1.25@1.40 

2.65@2.80 

Nut,  pea  and  slack . 

.  .65 

2.05 

Fairmount — 

Three-quarter  steam  lump. 

. 85@  .95 

2.25@2.36 

Mine  run . 

. 70@  .80 

2.10@2.20 

Slack  . 

Open 

Hocking  Valley — - 

Shaker  three-inch  lump  . 

.  1.60 

2.75 

Shaker  egg  and  nut . 

.  1.15 

2.30 

Domestic  lump  . 

.  1.50 

2.66 

Three-quarter  lump  . 

.  1.35 

2.50 

Mine  run . 

.  1.00@1.10 

2.15@3.25 

Nut,  pea  and  slack . 

Open 

Pittsburgh  No.  8 — 

Three-quarter  lump  . 

.  1.05 

2.20 

Mine  run  . 

.  .95 

2.10 

Slack  . 

Open 

Jackson  Hill — 

Domestic  lump . 

8.65 

Cambridge — 

Three-quarter  lump . 

Mine  run . 

Pomeroy — 

Two  and  three-inch  lump 
Egg  . 


Slack 


1.20 

1.10 

1.60 

1.35 

Open 


2.35 

2.25 

2.76 

2.60 

Open 


Cleveland  Trade. 


ChEVEL.'tND,  Ohio,  October  14. —  (Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — Lake  coal  has  been  coming  for¬ 
ward  rather  slowly  the  past  week,  owing  to  the 
shorta.ge  of  cars  that  has  developed  on  most  of 
the  roads,  and  there  is  little  prospect  of  im¬ 
provement  for  some  time  to  come.  Then  there 
seems  to  be  a  lack  of  vessel  tonnage  as  well. 
Boats  will  not  wait  to  load  coal  while  grain  car¬ 
goes  are  awaiting  them  at  attractive  rates.  It  is 
said  that  shippers  paid  fifty  cents  a  ton,  an  ad¬ 
vance  of  twenty  cents,  for  a  small  vessel  to  load 
for  Little  Currant  this  week.  This  was  an  ex¬ 
ceptional  case,  however,  and  the  temptation  is 
not  sufficient  to  warrant  this  figure  on  large  car- 
.goes  to  other  points.  Small  vessels  are  scarce 
and  occasionally  command  a  premium,  especially 
where  their  destination  is  a  point  difficult  to 
reach  or  where  trouble  is  encountered  in  dis¬ 
charging  cargoes. 

There  has  been  no  advance  in  the  price  of  coal 
for  lake  shipment.  It  is  said  that  plenty  of  No.  8 
coal  can  be  purchased  at  any  time  for  $1  per  ton, 
and  some  have  sold  for  even  less  in  order  to 
keep  their  mines  in  operation.  The  mines,  in 
many  instances,  have  been  running  rather  spas¬ 
modically  the  past  week,  both  because  they  could 
not  secure  a  sufficient  number  of  cars  and  from 
the  fact  that  the  demand  for  lake  coal  has  not 
lieen  strong. 

A  number  of  jobbers  have  been  compelled  the 
past  week  to  order  slack  shipped  in  box  cars  to 
fill  their  orders,  as  other  cars  could  not  be  se¬ 
cured.  The  Pennsylvania  Lines,  it  is  said,  have 
taken  most  of  the  steel  gondolas  for  the  iron 
trade  and  the  domestic  trade  has  been  compelled 
to  accept  their  coal  in  hoppers.  This  causes  a 
hardship  in  unloadin.g,  but  under  the  circum¬ 
stances  it  can  not  be  averted. 

There  has  been  a  little  better  demand  for  the 
larger  sizes  from  the  No.  8  district  the  past 
week,  and  slack  has  shown  increased  strength. 

I'his,  together  with  the  tendency  on  the  part  of 
the  jobbers  to  hold  what  they  have,  pushed  the 
price  up  at  least  five  cents  a  ton.  Orders  are 
being  filled  first  and  spot  sales  made  afterward. 
Quotations  are  as  follows : 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

No.  8  District —  Mines.  Cleveland. 

Three-quarters  . $1.05@1.10  $1.95@2.00 

Run  of  mine  .  .95  1.85 

Slack  . 4 .  .85  1.75 


While  there  has  been  some  demand  for  Pitts¬ 
burgh  slack,  the  orders  are  somewhat  slow  in 
delivery.  Other  sizes  have  not  been  active  in 
the  market. 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Pittsburgh  District —  Mines.  Cleveland. 

Slack  . $0.70@0.80  $1.70@1.80 


Youghio.gheny  slack  has  shown  quite  a  little 
strength  and  is  quoted  at  ninety  cents,  an  ad¬ 
vance  of  ten  cents  over  a  week  back.  It  is  firm 
at  that  price,  with  indications  of  going  higher. 

Orders  for  Pocahontas  coal  are  coming  in 
.greater  number  and  usually  they  are  much  larger 
than  for  some  time  back.  With  the  exception  of 
slack,  however,  the  quotations  are  about  the  same 
as  they  have  been  for  several  weeks.  Slack  is 
selling  five  cents  per  ton  higher. 


Smokeless — • 
Lump  . 

Egg  . 

Slack  . 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Mines.  Cleveland. 
$2.25  $3.70 

2.25  3.70 

1.45  2.90 


The  demand  for  Massillon  coal  has  been  well 
maintained  and,  if  anything,  is  stronger  than  at 
any  previous  time  this  season. 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 


Massillon —  Mines.  Cleveland. 

Lump  .  $2.50  $3.20 

Nut  .  3.50  3.20 

Run  of  mine  .  .90  1.60 


Goshen  slack  has  shown  more  strength  than 
for  some  time  and  was  quoted  last  week  at  from 
ninety  to  ninety-five  cents  at  the  mines  or  $1.60 
to  $1.65  on  track  here. 

Cambridge  coal  showed  an  increase  on  slack 
onlv  durin.g  the  past  week. 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Cambridge—  Mines.  Cleveland. 

Three-quarters  .  $1.05  $1.95 

Run  of  mine .  *05  1.85 

Slack  .  -85  1.75 

Fairmont  slack  was  stronger  and  showed  an 
increase  in  the  quotations  of  at  least  five  cents  a 
ton,  making  it  from  $1.75  to  $1.80  on  track  in 
this  market. 

Kentucky  4-inch  block  sold  in  this  market  from 
$1.90  to  $2,  the  freight  rate  being  $1.25. 


316 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[October  16 


Indianapolis  Trade. 


Indianapolis,  Ind.,  October  \-l.-~(Sf’ccial  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — The  coal  trade  in  Indiana  is 
steady  if  not  quite  as  satisfactory  as  usual  for 
October.  The  demand  for  domestic  grade  is 
very  good.  Most  of  the  mines  are  bein,g  op¬ 
erated.  'I'he  output  of  domestic  is  larger  than  it 
was  at  this  time  a  year  ago.  Few  retailers  had 
stocks  on  hand  and  the  result  is  that  they  arc 
sending  in  rush  orders  to  the  operators.  Domes¬ 
tic  coal  is  steady  to  strong  and  bids  fair  to  go 
lii.gher  the  first  real,  old-fashioned  cold  snap  that 
comes  along.  There  is  not  enough  domestic  coal 
in  the  bins  of  the  retail  yards  to  last  long.  Re¬ 
tailers  are  finding  it  difficult  to  get  their  orders 
filled  by  the  Eastern  coal  companies  which  helped 
out  with  the  Indiana  grades.  The  demand  for 
steam  coal  is  stron.g  enough,  but  the  funny  thing 
about  the  market  is  that  the  prices  are  low. 
Summer  prices  prevail  for  steam  coal.  Operators 
and  dealers  say  that  the  demand  for  steam  coal 
is  improving  right  along,  but  that  the  prices  are 
not  going  Up.  However,  the  situation  is  much 
better  than  it  has  been  for  several  months.  The 
head  of  one  of  the  largest  banks  at  Anderson, 
a  manufacturiag  center,  stated  here  this  week 
that  the  factories  are  increasing  their  weekly 
l)ayrolls  and  the  business  conditions  in  his  city 
are  improving.  They  are  better,  he  said,  than 
they  have  been  in  a  long  time.  The  Indiana 
Bankers’  Association  held  its  state  convention 
here  this  week  and  it  was  significant  that  the 
average  banker  was  in  a  more  clieerful  frame 
of  mind  about  conditions  in  Indiana.  In  fact  the 
outlook  is  better  than  it  was  at  this  time  a  year 
ago,  and  it  is  re.garded  as  likely  that  there  will  be 
an  improvement  in  the  demand  and  prices  soon 
for  steam  grades.  However,  it  should  be  stated 
that  the  situation  is  not  so  bad  right  now. 

The  following  prices  are  being  quoted  by  the 
wholesalers : 


Indiana — 

Mine  run.  No.  4 . 

Mine  run  Nos.  5  and  6 
Nut  . 


l‘/^*inch  steam  lump . 

No.  4  screenings.  ^  . 

Nos.  5  and  6  screenings.  .  . 
2 -inch  domestic  No.  4... 

No.  4  domestic . . . 

Nos.  5  and  6  domestic.... 

Brazil  block  domestic . 

No.  1  washed  coal . 

No.  2  washed  coal . 

Southern  Indiana  Field — 

No.  5  mine  run . 

Domestic  lump . 


F.  0.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

Mines. 

Indianapolis. 

_ $1.10(31.20 

$1.60@1.60 

1.55@1.65 

_  1.20@1.30 

1.70@1.80 

1.80@1.90 

_  1.25(31.35 

1.75(31.85 

. 70@  .75 

1.20(31.25 

. 55(®  .65 

1.05@1.15 

_  1.50@1.55 

2.00@2.05 

2.10(32.15 

-  1.40@1.60 

1.90(32,10 

_  2.25(32.50 

2.75(32.50 

_  1.75 

2.25 

_  1.65 

2.15 

. .  1  in 

_  1.40(31.50  . 

One  of  the  most  daring  holdups  in  Indiana 
in  recent  years  was  perpetrated  last  Saturday  at 
the  Lattas  Creek  Coal  Company  mine  in  Greene 
county.  Two  bandits  held  up  Earl  Smith,  pay¬ 
master  of  the  company,  and  took  away  $8,300. 
Smith  was  held  up  at  the  point  of  a  .gun.  The 
robbers  made  their  escape  on  a  motorcycle.  The 
mine  is  a  subsidiary  of  the  Vandalia  Coal  Com¬ 
pany  which  offered  a  reward  of  $500  for  the 
capture  of  the  bandits.  One  man  believed  to 


have  been  involved  has  been  arrested  at  Terre 


Haute. 


Twin  Cities  Trade. 


Minneapolis  and  St.  Paul,  October  14. — 
(Special  Correspondence.) — Everybody  in  every 
branch  of  the  fuel  business  is  busy,  and  the  vol¬ 
ume  of  deliveries  to  consumers  during  the  past 
week  has  been  very  heavy.  The  first  cold  weather 
of  the  month  found  dealers  poorly  stocked  to 
meet  the  situation.  On  top  of  this,  consumers 
had  not  ordered  much  coal  in  anticipation  of 
their  requirements,  the  result  being  that  there 
was  a  rush  of  orders,  such  as  has  not  been  ex¬ 
perienced  during  the  past  two  years.  Some  deal¬ 
ers  sold  out  their  entire  stock  of  coal  within  a 
))criod  of  three  or  four  days,  and  the  wholesale 
interests  have  been  rushed  with  orders  by  tele¬ 
phone  and  telegram;  Dealers  who  handle  Illi¬ 
nois  and  Indiana  coal,  however,  are  the  worst 
sufferers.  Unless  there  is  the  regulation  Indian 
summer,  or  the  dealer  had  one  or  more  cars  in 
transit,  when  his  stock  was  depleted,  it  means  he 
is  to  be  out  of  coal  for  ten  days  or  two  weeks 
until  new  shipments  arrive. 

This  return  of  prosperity  in  the  coal  business 
has  been  very  welcome.  Last  winter  and  fall 
there  was  no  such  spurt  of  orders,  and  the  pres¬ 
sure  all  came  from  the  man  who  had  coal  to  sell. 
I'or  a  brief  interval,  at  least,  the  tendency  has 
been  the  other  way.  Some  dealers  were  so  over¬ 
loaded  with  orders  they  could  not  secure  suffi¬ 
cient  men  and  teams  to  take  care  of  them. 

This  activity  has  not  influenced  the  railroad 
carriers.  Movement  of  coal  has  slowed,  up  a 


trifle  and  some  of  the  southern  Illinois  mines  ex¬ 
perienced  a  shortage  of  cars  for  several  days, 
but  the  situation  has  not  been  anywhere  near  as 
acute  as  that  experienced  four  and  five  years  ago 
at  this  season  of  the  year. 

Dock  prices  on  soft  coal  continue  to  be  steady, 
and  bargains  are  not  as  easily  obtainable  as  they 
were  a  few  weeks  ago.  The  Black  Diamond  last 
week  called  attention  to  a  situation  which  is 
proving  a  source  of  considerable  worry  to  dock 
managers,  namely  the  shortage  of  vessels  on  the 
great  lakes  for  coal  loading.  This  situation  has 
grown  a  trifle  worse,  and  the  fear  that  it  will 
be  a  factor  of  considerable  importance,  if  the 
winter  is  abnormally  cold,  is  more  general  than 
it  was  a  week  ago. 

Current  prices  on  coal  sold  in  this  market  are 
as  follows : 

ANTHRACITE. 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Duluth  Minneapolis 
and  and 

Superior  St.  Paul 


Grate  .  $6.60  $7.80 

Egg  .  6.86  8.06 

Stove  .  6.85  8.06 

Nut  .  7.10  8.30 

Pea  .  6.60  6.70 

Buckwheat  .  4.00  6.20 


BITUMINOUS. 

Splint,  screened  lump  and  stove.  $3.30@3.40 

Splint,  dock  run .  3.10 

Hocking,  screened  lump  and  stove  3.30@3.40 

Hocking,  dock  run .  3.00 

Youghiogheny,  gas,  lump  and  stove  3.30@3.40 

Youghiogheny,  gas,  dock  run .  3.10 

Pittsburgh  vein,  lump .  3.30@3.40 

Pittsburgh  vein,  dock  run .  3.00 

Pocahontis,  screened  lump  or  egg  4.75 

Pocahontas,  screened  lump  and 

egg  mixed .  4.60 

Pocahontas,  mine  run .  3.25 

Cannel,  lump .  5.25 

Smithing,  bulk .  4.25 

Smithing,  in  100-lb.  saeks .  6.00 

Briquets,  anthracite .  5.00 

Briquets,  smokeless .  5.00 


$4.26@4.36 

4.06 

4.26@4.36 

3.96 

4.26@4.36 

4.06 

4.26@4.36 

3.96 

5.71 


5.46 

4.21 

6.21 
5.21 

6.96 

5.96 

6.96 


In  the  Illinois  trade  the  range  of  prices  on 
southern  Illinois  product  on  the  various  sizes  is 
as  follows: 


Southern  Illinois  chunks  . $1.65@1.75  $3.95@4.05 

Southern  Illinois  egg  .  1.65@1.75  3.95@4.05 

Southern  Illinois  No.  1  nut . 1.65@1.75  3.95@4,05 

Southern  Illinois  No.  2  nut .  1.40@1.50  3.70@3.80 

Southern  Illinois  No.  3  nut . 1.10@1.25  3.40@3.55 

Southern  Illinois  run  of  mine...  1.15@1.25  3,45@3.55 

Southern  Illinois  2-in.  screenings  .60@  .70  3.90@4.00 

Southern  Illinois  includes  Franklin  county, 
Harrisburg  and  Williamson  county. 


Interests  very  closely  identified  with  the  by¬ 
product  coke  company  of  Milwaukee  are  seeking 
a  site  in  St.  Paul  for  the  location  of  a  by-product 
coking  plant.  Several  locations  have  been  con¬ 
sidered,  but  none  is  considered  entirely  satisfac¬ 
tory.  The  new  company  wants  to  purchase  about 
fifty  acres  with  trackage  and  running  water.  If 
the  plans  in  hand  are  realized,  the  ultimate  in¬ 
vestment  will  be  about  two  million  dollars.  The 
gas  output,  it  is  claimed,  will  be  sold  to  the  St. 
Paul  Gas  Light  Company.  M.  E.  Schlesinger  of 
Milwaukee  is  at  the  head  of  the  new  enterprise. 
It  is  expected  if  the  new  coking  plant  is  erected 
it  will  require  at  least  two  years  before  the  pro¬ 
duction  reaches  capacity. 

Fenwick  C.  Atwill  of  the  Atwill-Makemson 
Company,  Chicago,  has  been  in  Minneapolis  and 
St.  Paul  several  days  on  a  business  trip. 


Birmingham  Trade. 


Birmingham,  Ala.,  October  14. —  (Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — Domestic  coal  is  still  doing  good 
business  and  demand  good  with  both  the  opera¬ 
tor  and  yard  men.  The  consumer  is  putting  in 
the  winter’s  supply  in  fairly  good  sized  lots. 

Steam  coal  is  only  fair  and  the  demand  is  not 
as  large  as  has  been  anticipated.  Many  users  of 
steam  coal  have  put  in  coal  saving  devices.  This 
is  especially  true  in  regard  to  the  railroads,  which 
have  put  on  large  engines  of  which  one  does  the 
work  which  formerly  required  two,  thus  reduc¬ 
ing  a  saving  in  steam  coal. 

Blacksmith  coal  is  holdin.g  to  a  fairly  good 
trade.  Coking  coal  is  having  a  remarkable  show¬ 
ing  with  the  number  of  furnaces  now  in  blast. 
It  is  estimated  that  the  number  of  tons  used  per 
day  is  very  nearly  twelve  hundred. 

Coal  mining  in  Alabama  is  gradually  increas¬ 
ing,  and  more  men  are  now  bein,g  given  employ¬ 
ment  at  and  around  the  mines  in  this  state  than 
for  two  years.  Announcement  that  the  No.  6 
mines  of  the  Tennessee  Coal,  Iron  and  Railroad 
Company  at  Adger,  in  the  Blue  Creek  regions, 
in  the  lower  part  of  the  county,  will  resume 
operations  at  soon  as  they  can  lie  gotten  ready, 
it  is  given  out  that  the  beehive  coke  ovens  be¬ 
tween  Adger  and  Johns  will  be  started  up,  and 
also  that  the  bi.g  coal  washer,  one  of  the  largest 
in  the  stat?,-  at  Pratt  City,  will  be  placed  in  op¬ 


eration  also.  The  washer  has  been  idle  for  two 
years.  The  bins  at  this  washer  have  a  capacity 
of  50,000  tons  of  coal,  and  it  is  understood  that 
these  bins  will  be  kept  filled  all  the  time  and  the 
washing  kept  up  steadily.  The  Tennessee  Coal, 
Iron  and  Railroad  Company  is  out  of  the  market 
so  far  as  coal  and  coke  are  concerned  for  deliv¬ 
ery  this  year,  but  the  increase  in  the  production 
of  the  raw  material  is  necessary  in  the  face  of 
the  increased  make  in  iron  and  other  products 
and  the  prospects  of  continued  development. 

Prices  for  October  and  the  balance  of  the  year : 


Bibb  County  Domestic  Coal — 

Red  ash  Cahaba  lump . 

Red  ash  Cahaba  lump . 

Red  Ash  steam  size . 

Jefferson  County — 

Fancy  steam  Pratt . 

Run  of  mine  Pratt . 

Mary  Lee  lump . 

Black  Creek — 

Fancy  steam  lump . 

Washed  nut  . 

Washed  steam . 

Mine  run . 

Jefferson  Steam  Coal — 

Mine  run . 

Walker  County  Domestic — 

Carbon  Hill  lump . 

Carbon  Hill  egg . 

Horse  Creek  mine  run . 

Genuine  Corona — 

Lump  . 

Egg  •  • ; . 

Steam  sizes . 

Shelby  County  Domestic  Coal — • 

Cahaba  fancy  lump  . 

Cahaba  No.  2  lump  . 


F.  O.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

Mines. 

Birmingham. 

$3.00 

$3.30 

2.75 

3.10 

1.20@1.35 

Frt.  rate  30c 

1.75 

2.00 

1.20@1.25 

1.45@1.60 

1.40@1.50 

1.80@1.90 

1.76 

2.05 

1.75 

2.05 

1.35@1.60 

Frt.  rate  30c 

1.35(31.40 

Frt.  rate  30c 

1.15(31.25 

Frt.  rate  30c 

1.75 

2,15 

1.65 

2.05 

1.00@1.20 

Frt.  rate  40c 

2.00 

2.40 

1,90 

2.35 

1.25@1.35 

Frt.  rate  40c 

3.00 

3.30 

2.75 

3.05 

Montevallo  domestic  prices  ranging  from  $3.00 
to  $3.25  blacksmith  coal,  washed  and  screened, 
per  ton  $2.00  to  $2.25  at  mines  with  different 
rates  to  various  points. 

A  reduction  of  only  six  cents  per  ton  is  al¬ 
lowed  by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission 
on  coal  from  the  Birmingham  district  to  New 
Orleans  where  the  coal  is  for  bunker  purposes. 

Following  the  grantin.g  of  the  increase  of  fif¬ 
teen  cents  per  ton  on  coal  from  the  Birmingham 
district  to  New  Orleans,  making  the  rate  $1.40 
per  ton,  a  loud  complaint  was  raised  by  the  Ala- 
Iiama  coal  operators  and  it  was  shown  that  the 
Pennsylvania  operators  who  move  their  coal  to 
New  Orleans  by  water  would  have  all  the  ad¬ 
vantage.  Then  the  railroads  attempted  to  ab¬ 
sorb  the  fifteen  cent  increase  in  the  switching 
and  tippling  charges  in  New  Orleans  on  bunker 
coal,  but  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission 
disallowed  this  and  fixed  a  rebate  of  six  cents, 
the  amount  that  is  charged  for  tipple  handling  of 
coal  to  barges  at  the  water  front. 

Alabama  coal  operators  are  somewhat  dis¬ 
tressed  at  the  new  tariffs  just  out,  which  allow 
only  a  six  cent  difference  in  the  bunker  coal  to 
New  Orleans,  and  stron.ger  attention  is  being 
placed  in  the  Warrior  River  transportation  facili¬ 
ties.  It  is  not  improbable  that  effort  will  be 
made  to  handle  as  many  thousand  tons  of  coal 
down  the  Warrior  River  as  possible. 


Want  Rates  Changed. 

Denver,  October  14. —  (Special  Correspond¬ 
ence.) — Suit  has  been  filed  with  the  state  public 
utilities  commission  by  the  Grand  Junction  Min¬ 
ing  and  Fuel  Company  and  by  the  Palisade  Coal 
&  Supply  Company  to  compel  the  Denver  &  Rio 
Grande  Railroad  to  establish  more  equitable  rates 
for  hauling  coal  from  the  Cameo  mines  in  Mesa 
county,  operated  by  these  companies,  and  to  com¬ 
pel  the  railroad  to  publish  coal  tariffs  from  Den¬ 
ver  to  Salida. 

The  petitioners  allege  that  the  rates  which  they 
are  compelled  to  pay  are  unjust,  and  also  that  the 
railroad  gives  such  rates  to  operators  at  Bowie, 
Somerset  and  Crested  Butte,  in  this  state,  and  at 
Thompson,  Utah,  that  they  are  unable  to  compete 
for  Denver  business.  No  date  has  yet  been  set 
for  the  hearing. 


Default  having  been  made  in  the  payment  of 
bonds  of  the  Branchland  Coal  Company,  Fay¬ 
etteville,  W.  Va.,  issued  in  1907,  and  secured 
by  a  deed  of  trust  on  the  company’s  real 
estate,  the  Equitable  Trust  Company  of  New 
York  has  advertised  the  property  which  is 
situated  in  Lincoln  county  for  sale  on  Wednes¬ 
day,  October  20.  The  bonds  are  for  $150,000, 
being  150  six  per  cent  twenty  years,  first 
mortgage  gold  bonds  of  the  denomination  of 
$1,000  each,  while  the  estimated  value  of  the 
property  is  between  $250,000  and  $300,000. 

B.  F.  Mills,  Cleveland  sales  a.gent  of  the  Pitts- 
burgh-Westmoreland  Coal  Company,  is  a  can¬ 
didate  for  the  office  of  mayor  of  Lakewood,  one 
of  Cleveland’s  big  suburban  towns.  Mr.  Mills 
is  making  an  active  campaign  and  during  the 
past  week  has  delivered  addresses  in  different 
parts  of  the  town. 


N'o.  16] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


317 


New  York  Trade. 

Anthracite  Trade  Showing  More  Snap — 
Bituminous  Boom 
Predicted. 


Office  of  The  Black  Diamond, 
New  Yokk,  October  14. 

Throughout  the  east  the  anthracite  trade  is 
very  active,  and  advices  from  the  west  show 
that  a  great  deal  more  anthracite  will  be  re¬ 
quired  before  the  lake  navigation  season  closes. 
In  fact,  there  is  a  heavy  demand  for  anthracite 
from  all  sections,  and  as  the  result  operations 
are  now  being  worked  on  practically  full  time. 
Box  cars  for  western  all-rail  shipment  are  very 
scarce. 

As  the  demand  increases,  it  is  found  that  the 
producers  are  not  going  to  be  able  to  increase 
production  materially.  In  fact,  it  is  very  evi¬ 
dent  that  they  are  not  going  to  be  able  to 
produce  coal  as  freely  as  they  were  doing  dur¬ 
ing  the  last  months  of  last  year,  unless  there 
is  considerable  change  in  the  labor  situation. 

War  has  brought  about  a  scarcity  of  labor 
in  the  anthracite  regions,  just  as  it  has  in  the 
bituminous  regions,  and  now  that  the  operators 
have  reason  to  tighten  up  on  production,  they 
are  beginning  to  realize  just  how  many  men 
have  been  drawn  away  from  the  regions  dur¬ 
ing  the  past  year. 

Shipments  of  anthracite  for  September  were 
made  public  last  week,  and  these  show  for 
the  nine  months  of  1915,  ending  with  Septem¬ 
ber  30,  total  shipments  amounting  to  47,379,- 
111  tons,  as  compared  with  50,067,580  tons  for 
the  same  period  of  1914,  or  a  decrease  of 
2,688,470  tons  of  shipments  from  the  corre¬ 
sponding  period  of  1914.  September  ship¬ 
ments  show  a  decrease  of  727,421  tons  as  com¬ 
pared  with  September,  1914.  Coal  on  hand  at 
tidewater  shipping  ports  on  September  30 
amounted  to  633,338  tons,  as  compared  with 
653,496  tons  on  August  31,  showing  a  decrease 
of  20,158  tons. 

At  New  York  harbor  ports  there  is  prac¬ 
tically  no  surplus  of  the  domestic  sizes,  and 
the  demand  for  these  sizes  has  grown  so  dur¬ 
ing  the  past  few  weeks  that  the  full  winter 
circular  may  now  be  said  to  be  in  effect.  In¬ 
dividuals  are  quoting  egg  at  ten  cents  off  cir¬ 
cular,  but  these  instance  are  not  so  numerous. 
Some  of  these  same  individuals  have  been  able 
to  sell  stove  coal  at  an  advance  of  ten  cents 
over  the  circular.  Chestnut  coal  is  in  heavy 
demand,  and  some  of  the  individual  producers 
are  sold  up  on  the  size  for  a  month  ahead. 

The  steam  size  situation  continues  to  be  in¬ 
teresting,  especially  to  those  people  who  con¬ 
tracted  during  the  summer  months  for  heavy 
tonnages  of  these  sizes  at  low  prices.  They 
are  now  finding  it  very  difficult  to  secure  coal 
at  a  price  that  will  permit  them  to  come  out 
even  on  their  contracts.  High  grade  buck¬ 
wheats  are  in  good  demand  and  in  very 
light  offering.  They  sell  at  the  full  circular 
price.  Of  the  inferior  coals  $2.25  and  up 
is  about  the  range  on  No.  1,  $2  and  up  on 
No.  2,  and  $1.80  and  up  on  No.  3.  Pea  coal 
is  very  scarce  and  sells  for  $3.25  up,  according 
to  grade  and  port  of  delivery. 

New  York  prices: 

Upper  Lower 

Ports.  Ports. 


Broken  .  .$5.10  $5.00 

Egg  .  5.35  5.25 

Stove  .  5.35  5.25 

Chestnut  .  6.60  5.60 

Pea  .  3.55  3.45 


Special  grades  of  red  ash  and  other  high 
grade  coals  at  the  lower  ports  sell  at  twenty- 
five  to  fifty  cents  per  ton  over  above  figures. 

Spot  prices  in  individual  coals  at  lower  ports 
are  about  as  follows: 


Egg  . 

Stove 

Nut  . 

Pea  . 

Buck 

Rice 

Barley 


. $5.05  and  up 

.  5.20  and  up 

.  5.20  and  up 

.  3.25  and  up 

.  2.25  and  up 

.  2.00  and  up 

.  1.75  and  up 

The  Bituminous  Situation 


The  bituminous  demand  in  the  east  is  in¬ 
creasing  from  week  to  week,  and  this  week 
finds  the  market  showing  more  strength  than 
heretofore.  Some  of  the  well  posted  men  in 
the  trade  predict  that  in  the  course  of  a  few 
weeks  we  are  going  to  face  a  very  serious 
shortage  of  bituminous,  and  that  prices  may 
advance  radically  over  night. 

Contract  coals  are  moving  just  as  freely  as 
production  and  transportation  will  permit. 
Most  of  the  large  contract  users,  want  their 


full  monthly  quotas,  and  a  great  many  of 
them  that  only  took  a  portion  of  their  contract 
tonnage  during  the  summer  months,  are  now 
asking  for  shipments  that  will  go  far  towards 
making  up  the  loss  of  tonnage  during  the 
dull  period.  Manufacturing  generally  through¬ 
out  the  east  is  now  on  a  seventy-five  to  100 
per  cent  basis,  and  certain  favored  plants  that 
have  large  war  contracts  are  in  many  instances, 
working  day  and  night,  call  for  heavier  coal 
shipments.  Some  of  the  very  largest  pro¬ 
ducers  are  said  to  have  withdrawn  quotations, 
as  they  have  plenty  of  contract  business  to  take 
their  entire  output  at  the  present  time. 

Car  supply  on  B.  &  O.  has  been  very  bad 
in  Somerset  county  especially. 

Export  shipments  have  fallen  off,  due  to 
the  shortage  of  vessels.  This  situation  is  very 
interesting  and  is  fully  covered  on  our  export 
page  of  this  issue.  Bunker  requirements  are 
very  heavy  at  this  time,  and  some  of  the  sup¬ 
pliers  of  these  coals  at  the  Atlantic  ports  be¬ 
lieve  that  this  trade  will  be  stimulated  no  little 
bit  by  the  diversion  of  steamers  from  the 
Panama  Canal.  As  steamers  will  have  to  go 
longer  routes  to  reach  their  foreign  destina¬ 
tions  it  is  predicted  that  bunker  needs  at  the 
Atlantic  ports  will  be  heavier  than  would  be 
the  case  if  they  were  to  use  the  Panama  Canal 
route. 

At  the  New  York  harbor  ports  spot  coals 
are  in  very  light  supply,  and  prices  are  con¬ 
siderably  firmer.  Very  little  Quemahoning 
coal  is  offering,  and  this  sells  readily  at  $2.85 
and  $2.90.  Medium  grades  of  Pennsylvania 
sell  at  $2.65  and  up,  while  $2.50  is  about  the 
price  on  inferior  grades  of  West  Virginia. 
Slack  coal  is  selling  at  seventy-five  cents  and 
up  at  the  mines,  according  to  the  region. 

The  Vessel  Situation. 

The  coastwise  vessels  are  in  ample  supply 
at  the  moment,  but  there  are  evidences  that 
a  shortage  may  come  about  at  any  moment. 
It  is  expected  that  some  of  the  steamers  and 
schooners  that  are  now  taking  coastwise  coal 
may  be  drawn  into  the  export  trade,  due  to 
the  stiffening  of  export  rates.  Moreover,  the 
movement  of  coal  from  the  southern  ports  of 
New  England  is  showing  signs  of  increase, 
and  it  is  expected  that  there  will  be  a  much 
heavier  demand  for  vessel  tonnage  from  this 
time  on  than  has  been  the  case  heretofore  this 
year. 

Export  freight  rates  have  advanced  very 
radically  both  to  the  Mediterranean  and  South 
America. 

We  quote  current  rates  on  freight  as  fol¬ 
lows: 

From  Hampton  Roads  to  Boston,  eighty  to 
ninety  cents  is  about  the  range;  to  Portland 
and  points  east  of  Boston,  from  ninety  cents  to 
$1.  To  sound  ports,  eighty  to  eighty-five  cents. 
From  Philadelphia  to  New  England  points, 
about  five  cents  under  the  Hampton  Roads 
rates. 

From  New  York  to  Bridgeport  or  New 
Haven,  thirty  cents;  to  New  London  and 
Providence,  forty  cents;  to  Fall  River  and 
New  Bedford,  forty-five  cents;  to  Boston,  fifty- 
five  to  sixty  cents. 

Current  quotations  on  bituminous  coal  in 
spot  lots  are: 


F.  O.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

Somerset  County — 

Harbor. 

Mines. 

Best  grades . 

$1.30 

Ordinary  . 

1.05 

Medium  grades . . 

1.15 

Cambria  County — 

Best  Miller  vein . 

.  3.00 

1.45 

Medium  grades  . 

.  2.70 

1.15 

Cheaper  grades . 

.  2.60 

1.05 

Clearfield  County — 

Best  grade . 

1.35 

Ordinary  grades . 

1.00 

Indiana  County — 

Best  grade . 

1.25 

Medium  grade  . 

1.00 

Maryland — 

Georges  Creek  big  vein . 

.  3.15 

1.65 

West  Virginia  Splint — 

Ordinary  grades  . 

.  2.40 

.85 

Best  o.?s,  Ji-inrh  lump . 

Best  grade,  run  of  mine . 

.  2.65 

1.10 

.  2.65 

.90 

Gas  slack . 

.75@1.00 

New  York  Trade  Briefs. 

Practically  all  of  the  wholesale  offices  in 
the  lower  part  of  Manhattan  were  closed  on 
Tuesday  in  observance  of  Columbus  Day, 
which  is  a  legal  holiday  in  New  York  state. 

Charles  McCaffrey,  of  Owen  McCaffrey  & 
Sons,  well  known  transportation  people  of  No. 
1  Broadway,  recently  spent  a  week’s  vacation 
in  cruising  and  fishing  on  Long  Island  Sound. 

W.  S.  Alden,  of  the  Alden  Coal  Mining 
Company,  No.  1  Broadway,  and  E.  D.  Enny, 
of  the  New  York  &  Philadelphia  Coal  &  Coke 


Co.,  Produce  Exchange,  left  on  Wednesday 
for  a  trip  to  Knoxville,  Tenn. 

J.  H.  Davison,  New  York  manager  for 
Weston  Dodson  &  Co.,  Inc.,  No.  17  Battery 
place,  who  was  laid  up  for  several  weeks  for 
an  operation,  was  able  to  get  back  at  his  office 
late  last  week,  and  is  spending  several  hours 
each  day  at  his  duties. 

Chief  Roderick,  of  the  Pennsylvania  State 
Department  of  Mines,  has  named  James  J. 
Stickler  of  Lansford,  Pa.,  as  inspector  for  the 
Pottsville  district.  He  will  assume  the  posi¬ 
tion  made  vacant  by  the  death  of  Inspector 
John  Curran  of  Pottsville. 

Last  week  the  miners  at  Ebbervale  No.  7 
mine  of  the  G.  B.  Markle  Company  of  Jeddo 
went  out  on  a  strike.  About  150  men  quit 
work  because  one  of  their  members  decided 
he  had  been  discriminated  in  the  work  that 
he  was  doing  and  he  quit  the  mine. 

Car  shortage  is  now  being  felt  in  the  an¬ 
thracite  regions.  Towards  the  latter  part  of 
last  week  several  mines  of  one  of  the  big 
operating  companies  were  closed  because  there 
was  not  a  sufficient  number  of  cars  available. 
One  reason  ascribed  for  the  shortage  at  this 
time  is  the  fact  that  a  great  deal  of  coal  is 
moving  towards  the  lakes,  and  cars  are  not 
returning  to  the  mines  promptly.  Box  cars 
for  all-rail  western  shipment  are  very  scarce. 

The  Lehigh  Valley  Railroad  Company  on 
Tuesday  announced  the  retirement  of  Charles 
S.  Lee,  passenger  traffic  manager,  to  take 
effect  October  31.  Mr.  Lee  has  been  in  con¬ 
tinuous  charge  of  the  passenger  traffic  of  the 
Lehigh  Valley  for  twenty-two  years.  The  po¬ 
sition  of  traffic  passenger  manager  will  be 
abolished.  George  H.  Lee,  who  on  August  1st 
became  general  passenger  agent,  will  in  the 
future  have  entire  charge  of  the  passenger  de¬ 
partment. 

The  Hazleton  Sentinel,  published  in  Hazle¬ 
ton,  in  the  heart  of  the  anthracite  region, 
states  that  representatives  of  the  DuPont  Pow¬ 
der  Company  of  Wilmington,  Del.,  have  been 
in  the  anthracite  coal  regions  during  the  past 
several  weeks  looking  for  machinists  and  pipe¬ 
fitters  for  service  in  the  power  company’s 
numerous  plants  which  are  working  day  and 
night  on  war  orders.  It  is  stated  that  quite 
a  number  of  young  men  from  the  anthracite 
regions  have  accepted  positions  with  the  pow¬ 
der  company  at  pay  from  $18  to  $25  per  week. 

Comment  was  made  in  some  of  the  bitu¬ 
minous  offices  at  No.  1  Broadway  this  week 
at  the  dearth  of  out  of  town  visitors.  Penn¬ 
sylvania  bituminous  operators  who  usually 
make  visits  to  New  York  city,  are  credited 
with  visiting  Philadelphia  during  the  past 
week  to  witness  the  ball  games.  On  the  other 
hand  it  is  also  pointed  out  that  many  of  these 
operators  just  now  have  about  all  the  busi¬ 
ness  they  want,  and  do  not  have  to  come  to 
New  York  to  seek  outlet  for  coals  that  they 
can  produce  in  excess  of  their  contract  re¬ 
quirements. 

New  York’s  coal  men  interested  in  exports 
who  have  been  interviewed  are  quite  in  the 
dark  relative  to  the  big  deal  in  West  Virginia 
coals  that  Charles  E.  Specht,  of  Johnstown, 
Pa.,  is  reputed,  according  to  the  Johnstown 
papers,  to  have  closed  recently.  It  was  stated 
in  these  papers  last  week  that  Mr.  Specht  had 
come  to  New  York  to  close  with  the  French 
government  a  deal  which  would  mean  the 
shipping  of  200,000  tons  of  Pocahontas  and 
New  River  coals  by  November  1st,  as  well  as 
the  purchase  of  4,100  acres  of  coal  land  in 
Pocahontas  county.  West  Virginia.  Accord¬ 
ing  to  these  sources  of  information,  the  deal 
was  started  in  New  York  some  time  ago,  be¬ 
tween  a  representative  of  the  French  govern¬ 
ment  and  Mr.  Specht. 

The  closing  of  the  Panama  Canal  by  slides 
for  several  months  will  no  doubt  have  con¬ 
siderable  effect  on  the  export  and  bunker  coal 
trade.  It  will  also  cause  considerable  delay 
in  the  plans  of  Charles  M.  Schwab,  for  obtain¬ 
ing  ore  from  the  Chilean  ore  properties  for 
his  blast  furnaces  at  Bethlehem.  Before  the 
slides,  this  company  had  landed  two  cargoes 
of  ore  at  the  new  docks  which  the  Lehigh 
Valley  Railroad  is  constructing  at  Bayonne  on 
New  York  harbor  for  the  handling  of  this 
business.  These  docks,  now  300  feet  long,  arc 
about  half  finished.  It  is  understood  that  ship¬ 
ments  of  the  ore  will  be  held  up  until  the  canal  is 
reopened  for  transportation,  as  transportation 
charges  around  the  Horn  would  be  too  heavy 
to  make  it  possible  to  import  the  ore  at  fhis 
time. 


318 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[October  16 


Philadelphia  Trade. 

Because  Business  Is  Better,  There  Is  a 
Better  Demand  for  Steam  Coal — 
Anthracite  Firm. 

Office  of  The  Black  Diamond, 
1400  Land  Title  Building, 
Philadelphia,  October  14. 

Even  the  skeptics  seem  convinced  that  business 
is  booming  and  the  .general  sourness  of  pessi¬ 
mism  has  been  scattered  so  far  as  the  bulk  of 
the  local  trade  is  concerned. 

Anthracite  business  has  yet  to  feel  the  full 
flush  of  the  betterment  in  conditions,  but  the 
effect  of  the  up  turn  has  already  been  felt  in 
several  of  the  sizes.  So  far  the  weather  has 
been  the  disturbing  element,  but  Indian  summer 
or  whatever  name  you  want  to  call  warm  fall 
days,  cannot  last  forever,  and  the  winter’s  need 
for  coal  is  as  sure  as  death  and  taxes. 

There  has  been  a  notable  increase  in  inquiry 
for  pea  sized  coal  and  quite  a  volume  is  now  on 
the  way  to  the  yards  of  the  retail  dealers.  Some 
of  the  independents  are  holding  this  size  at  $2.15 
and  declare  that  they  have  no  occasion  to  sell 
lower  than  this  their  estimated  cost  of  produc¬ 
tion.  Most  of  the  company’s  coal  can  be  bought 
around  $2.05,  and  it  has  been  hinted  that  this 
price  has  been  made  for  deliveries  up  to  the 
first  of  the  year.  However,  it  is  pointed  out  by 
the  representatives  of  the  companies  that  this 
price  is  subject  to  change  without  notice,  so 
that  should  the  increased  demand  come  in  any 
great  volume  the  dealers  who  have  their  orders 
in  will  be  the  only  ones  to  share  in  the  advan- 
ta.ge. 

Egg  coal  is  the  only  size  “off  color.”  In  some 
of  the  mines  there  has  been  resizing  of  egg  coal 
done,  but  so  far  there  has  been  enough  latitude 
in  price  to  make  this  advanta.geous  and  quite  an 
amount  of  egg  is  going  into  the  bins  for  stor¬ 
age.  Chestnut  and  nut  coal  are  the  leaders  and 
stove  size  has  also  had  a  good  run. 

The  merry  little  price  war  that  has  been  a 
thorn  in  the  side  of  the  local  retailers  for  many 
moons  is  a.gain  out  in  full  force.  Cuts  ranging 
from  fifty  cents  on  the  ton  and  more  has  been 
the  cause  of  moving  no  more  coal  than  ordi¬ 
nary  (so  one  side  says),  but  has  caused  consid¬ 
erable  animosity  in  the  districts  and  zones  where 
the  price-cutters  operate. 


The  Bituminous  Situation. 

The  past  week  has  seen  the  soft  coal  men  in 
clover.  Free  coal  at  the  piers  has  been  an  asset 
during  the  past  ten  days  instead  of  a  disadvan¬ 
tage.  What  cars  could  be  had  were  taken  at 
prices  that  showed  an  advance  over  that  asked 
a  few  days  ago.  Western  Maryland  coal  which 
sold  a  few  weeks  ago  around  seventy-five  and 
eighty-five  cents  brought  $1.12i4  to  $1.15  a  ton 
the  opening  of  this  week.  Other  coal  with  Som¬ 
erset  county  as  originating  points  showed  healthy 
advances  and  were  hard  to  obtain. 

The  car  shortage  has  hit  the  trade  with  a 
heavy  jolt.  There  are  those  who  can  see  a 
break  in  this  situation  as  soon  as  the  railroads 
have  finished  with  their  stocking.  It  was  at  first 
understood  that  this  would  be  completed  by 
October  1st.  Then  the  time  was  extended  to 
November  1st,  and  it  was  learned  this  week  that 
the  Pennsylvania  railway  had  extended  their  time 
until  the  second  week  in  November.  Be  that  as 
it  may,  every  steel  mill  in  this  state  is  runnin.g 
full  time  and  are  taking  their  toll  of  cars  and 
cold  weather  is  bound  to  have  an  effect  in  the 
moving  of  traffic — and  there  you  are! 

One  of  the  effects  of  the  stocking  has  been  to 
virtually  withdraw  all  quotations  from  the 
Greensburg  field.  Concerns  that  have  been  using 
this  kind  of  coal  have  found  in  the  past  ten  days 
that  there  is  none  on  the  market. 

Fairmont  slack  is  another  grade  of  coal  that 
has  disappeared  from  the  quotation  lists.  Quo¬ 
tations  ran.eing  eighty  to  eighty-five  cents  have 
failed  to  bring  forth  any  of  this  coal  that  is  in 
such  high  favor  in  the  cement  district. 

Most  of  the  mines  in  the  central  Pennsylvania 
district  that  still  had  coal  to  offer  a  couple  of 
weeks  ago  have  announced  that  they  are  sold  up 
for  the  month  and  some  have  had  their  tonnage 
for  November  snapped  up. 

One  thing  that  has  been  a  little  in  the  mys¬ 
terious  to  the  local  trade  has  been  the  absence 
of  New  England  as  a  factor  in  this  up-,going 
market.  It  was  offered  as  a  prediction  that  were 
demands  to  come  from  the  upper  ports  there 
would  be  no  holding  the  prices  that  have  been 
bobbing  upwards  for  the  past  couple  of  weeks. 


Loading  over  the  piers  has  fallen  off  to  a  de¬ 
gree  in  the  past  week.  The  lack  of  charters  and 
the  heavy  demand  for  grain  boats  has  been  the 
cause. 


Philadelphia  News  Notes. 

R.  O.  Dunne,  president  of  the  Dunne  Coal  & 
Coke  Company  of  Pittsburgh,  was  a  trade  visitor 
on  Tuesday. 

A.  W.  Calloway,  president  of  the  Davis  Coal 
and  Coke  Company,  was  in  the  local  offices  of 
B.  Nicoll  &  Co.  last  week. 

J..  H.  Alport,  field  man  for  Whitney  &  Kem- 
merer,  whose  home  is  in  Barnesboro,  Pa.,  was 
in  Philadelphia  this  week. 

S.  A.  Carson,  general  manager  of  the  Southern 
Connellsville  Coke  Company  of  Uniontown,  Pa., 
was  in  Philadelphia  this  week. 

L.  A.  Hamilton,  formerly  salesmanager  of  the 
local  office  of  the  Watkins  Coal  Company,  has 
joined  the  local  sales  force  of  B.  Nicoll  &  Co. 

Seth  C.  Hetherington,  of  Hetherington  &  Co., 
has  been  appointed  a  member  of  the  Foreign 
Trade  Committee  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce. 

H.  K.  Stauffer  of  the  local  office  of  B.  Nicoll  & 
Co.  was  on  a  western  trip  which  included  a  two 
days’  stop  in  Pittsburgh  the  fore  part  of  this 
week. 

M.  F.  McDermott,  general  salesmanager  of  the 
Four  States  Coal  Company  of  Pittsburgh,  was 
in  this  city  last  week  looking  over  the  Eastern 
situation. 

James  A.  Hill,  president  of  the  Knickerbocker 
Fuel  Company  of  New  York  City,  was  a  visitor 
at  the  local  office  of  the  company  on  Monday 
of  this  week. 

A.  M.  Pershing,  secretary  of  the  Mountain 
Coal  Company  and  who  is  connected  with  sev¬ 
eral  other  companies  operating  in  the  Greensbur.g 
district,  was  in  this  city  early  this  week. 

Salesmanager  Gates  of  J.  Tatnall  Lea  &  Co. 
was  a  visitor  to  the  mining  district  in  Cambria 
county  last  week  and  made  a  survey  of  condi¬ 
tions  as  they  have  changed  in  the  past  couple 
of  weeks. 

Walter  A.  Alden,  of  the  Alden  Coal  Mining 
Company  of  New  York  City,  was  noted  among 
the  influx  of  coal  men  and  those  of  other  lines 
who  found  this  city  a  lodestone  of  attraction  on 
the  opening  day  of  the  world’s  baseball  series. 

Edward  Harding,  manager  of  the  local  office 
of  the  Blaine  Mining  Company,  was  called  to 
Baltimore  the  latter  part  of  last  week  on  a  sad 
mission.  He  attended  the  funeral  of  his  mother- 
-in-law,  who  was  buried  in  that  city  on  Thurs¬ 
day. 

Charles  Ownes,  president  of  the  Shade  Creek 
Coal  Mining  Company,  and  J.  Thomas  of  the 
Smokeless  Coal  Company,  both  of  Johnstown 
and  who  are  interested  in  the  Imperial  Coal 
Company  with  headquarters  in  this  city,  were 
visitors  to  the  local  office  Tuesday. 

A.  K.  Wri.ght,  of  the  Grampian  Coal  Mining 
Company,  of  Clearfield,  was  in  this  city  early  in 
the  week.  He  declared  that  the  shortage  of  men 
and  cars  in  that  section  had  reached  an  acute 
stage  and  a  great  many  of  the  operators  were 
away  behind  on  their  allotment  of  cars. 

Freight  charters  for  the  coal  trade  are  tighten¬ 
ing  up  once  more  to  a  point  almost  prohibitive. 
With  charters  being  made  at  outside  figures  for 
any  and  all  vessels  that  will  carry  grain,  only 
“tubs”  can  be  found  for  coal  transportation.  Lo¬ 
cal  companies  who  have  tried  to  .get  bottoms 
this  week  have  been  asked  exorbitant  figures. 

Edgar  Cortright,  who  for  the  past  eight  years 
has  been  superintendent  of  the  Great  Northern’s 
lignite  mines  near  Redlock,  Montana,  arrived  in 
this  city  last  Friday  on  the  way  to  visit  his 
parents,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  N.  D.  Cortright  of  Mauch 
Chunk.  He  is  on  a  leave  of  absence  from  the 
company  he  has  been  with  and  it  may  be  that 
he  will  decide  to  remain  in  the  East. 

The  collier  Plymouth,  sister  ship  of  the 
Franklin,  made  her  trial  trip  on  Wednesday  of 
this  week  and  all  being  found  right,  she  will  be 
on  her  way  to  the  Mediterranean  within  a  week, 
a  cargo  being  ready  for  her  in  Baltimore.  She 
has  a  capacity  of  9,400  gross  tons  and  is  the 
second  of  eight  colliers  that  is  being  built  for 
the  Coastwise  Transportation  Company  of  Bos¬ 
ton  to  take  to  the  water. 

Charles  W.  Mills  of  the  Oimax  Coal  Company 
has  had  further  honors  thrust  upon  him.  He 
was  appointed  by  Secretary  Wilson  of  the  De¬ 
partment  of  Labor,  as  an  arbiter  in  the  trouble 
that  has  caused  considerable  dissension  between 
the  machinists  and  their  employers  in  Pittsburgh. 


Mr.  Mills  is  a  member  of  the  commission  ap¬ 
pointed  by  President  Wilson  to  inquire  into  the 
Colorado  miners’  strike,  and  on  which  his  asso¬ 
ciates  are  Seth  Low  and  Patrick  Gilday. 

At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Philadelphia  and 
Reading  Coal  and  Iron  Company  held  in  their 
offices  in  the  Terminal  Building  on  Monday  of 
the  current  week.  President  Richards  and  the 
entire  board  of  directors  were  re-elected  to  the 
offices  already  held.  The  only  chaages  made  in 
the  personnel  of  the  associated  companies  was  the 
election  of  George  C.  Coughlin,  city  and  south¬ 
ern  sales  agent,  to  the  board  of  the  Tremont 
Coal  Company,  and  Warren  B.  Smith,  line  sales 
agent  to  the  board  of  the  Delaware  Coal  Com¬ 
pany,  and  the  Preston  Coal  and  Improvement 
Company. 

A  concentrated  effort  developed  in  the  middle 
of  the  week  to  place  a  team  to  represent  this 
city  in  the  golf  tournament  to  be  held  at  the  Sea 
View  Qub  near  Atlantic  City  next  Saturday  and 
Sunday  and  at  which  the  golfers  of  the  New 
York  trade  intend  to  show  their  prowess.  While 
the  movement  was  a  little  slow  in  getting  under 
way,  by  Wednesday  of  this  week  seven  or  eight 
of  the  wielders  of  the  brassie  and  the  niblick  had 
consented  to  forming  a  team  to  give  the  proud 
and  haughty  New  Yorkers  a  tussle  for  honors. 

Vernon  Taylor,  secretary  of  the  Cambria 
Smokeless  Coal  Company  of  Brockwayville,  was 
one  of  the  trade  visitors  of  the  week. 

An  appropriation  of  $200,000  for  additional 
coal  for  use  at  the  waterworks  and  other  city 
plants  has  been  held  up  by  common  council  of 
this  city  against  the  recommendation  of  the 
mayor  that  the  necessary  action  be  taken.  Per¬ 
haps  in  no  other  city  has  there  been  such  sub¬ 
terfuge  employed  as  here  to  get  coal  without 
actual  money  to  pay  for  it.  The  city  in  getting 
credit  for  this  commodity  does  so  on  what  is 
known  as  a  “donation  plan.”  Of  this  the  mayor 
said  to  council;  “To  purchase  coal  on  the  “dona¬ 
tion  plan”  is  not  only  a  violation  of  law  and  all 
business  principles  and  it  leaves  the  city  entirely 
at  the  mercy  of  the  contractors.”  Coal  is  being 
received  at  several  of  the  pumping  stations  on 
the  donation  plan,  otherwise  the  city  might  be 
out  of  water  in  many  districts.  Of  this  the  mayor 
has  said :  “This  administration  has  been  tryiag 
to  change  this,  not  only  because  it  is  a  great  loss 
to  the  taxpayers,  but  because  it  is  a  flagrantly 
loose  way  of  conducting  municipal  affairs.” 

Baseball  enthusiasts  were  in  evidence  last  Fri¬ 
day  and  Saturday  and  again  at  midweek  when 
the  deciding  games  of  the  world’s  series  were 
being  played  in  this  city.  Some  of  the  dyed-in- 
the-wool  fans  who  were  in  our  midst  were  W.  F. 
Coale  of  the  Georges  Creek  Coal  Company,  Car¬ 
rol  Patterson  of  the  Carrol-Cross  Coal  Company 
of  Bloomington,  Md.,  T.  F.  Kelly  of  the  Kato 
Coal  Company  of  Kato,  Pa.,  who  chaperoned  a 
party  made  up  of  Messrs.  Hoover  and  Peters, 
and  Dr.  Tibbens  of  Kato  and  C.  H.  Long  of 
Mill  Hall,  Pa.  William  T.  Greer,  traffic  manager 
of  the  Lehigh  Valley,  was  another  of  the  rabid 
ones.  H.  Kelly  of  the  Vulcan  Coal  Company  of 
Snowshoe,  who  was  on  an  auto  trip  to  the  Pan¬ 
ama  exposition  with  his  wife,  found  that  this 
means  of  locomotion  was  not  fast  enough  to 
get  him  back  in  time  for  the  series,  so  he  shipped 
his  “boat”  home  rather  than  take  a  chance  on 
missing  the  “opener.”  F.  W.  Foedisch,  as  usual, 
kept  open  house  for  the  baseballists  and  took  the 
trip  to  Boston  to  root  for  the  home  team. 


Indications  are  that  quite  a  number  of  the 
large  consumers  of  steam  coal  around  greater 
New  York  city,  will  stock  some  bituminous 
coal  during  the  next  several  months,  in  an¬ 
ticipation  of  labor  troubles  in  the  spring.  So 
far  coal  consumers  around  New  York  city 
have  been  very  reticent  about  stocking  be¬ 
cause  of  the  fact  that  the  harbor  for  months 
has  been  so  plentifully  supplied  with  unsold 
coal  all  the  time  and  salesmen  are  so  clamor¬ 
ous  to  dispose  of  these  unsold  lots  of  coal  at 
ridiculously  low  prices.  During  the  past  sev¬ 
eral  weeks  the  coal  supply  of  New  York  har¬ 
bor  ports  has  materially  reduced,  and  sales¬ 
men  have  not  been  pressing  bargain  lots  on 
consumers,  and  this  has  no  doubt  resulted  in 
the  changed  attitude  of  those  purchasers  who 
are  not  looking  about  to  make  arrangements  to 
store  coal  in  anticipation  of  labor  and  other 
troubles. 


The  Baltimore  &  Ohio  Railroad  has  bought 
part  of  the  Baltimore  Car  and  Foundry  Com¬ 
pany  grounds  at  Curtis  Bay  to  give  new  trackage 
in  connection  with  the  $1,500,000  coal  pier  to 
be  built  there. 


No.  16] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


319 


New  England  Trade 


Boston,  October  14. —  {Special  Correspond¬ 
ence.) — Boston  has  not  recovered  from  the  $3.60 
f.  o.  b.  cars  Mystic  Wharf  bomb  thrown  into  the 
wholesale  bituminous  trade  district  by  the  Dar- 
rpw-Mann  Company  a  week  or  so  ago.  Dealers 
are  quoting  privately  all  kinds  of  prices  as  a  re¬ 
sult  of  this  bomb,  and  some  of  the  largest  houses, 
while  adjusting  themselves  to  the  new  conditions, 
are,  in  the  language  of  the  sporting  world,  “stall- 
ingr”  for  time  to  get  “their  second  wind.”  Presi¬ 
dent  Grant  of  the  New  England  Coal  &  Coke 
Company  has  sent  out  the  following  letter  to  cus¬ 
tomers  :  “Gentlemen ;  On  account  of  the  uncer¬ 
tain  future  of  the  coal  market,  we  have  already 
been  approached  by  some  of  our  customers  with 
regard  to  closing  contracts  with  them  for  the 
j-ear  commencing  April  1,  1916.  By  reason  of 
our  extensive  storage  and  handling  facilities  at 
Everett  Wharf,  together  with  our  large  fleet  of 
steamers,  tugs  and  barges,  in  conjunction  with 
steel  cars  utilized  from  mines  to  tides,  and  our 
numerous  sources  of  supply  of  coal,  we  can  as¬ 
sure  our  customers  of  receiving  their  fuel  as 
called  for  in  the  future  as  in  the  past.  If  you 
are  considering  making  a  contract  for  coal  for 
future  delivery,  we  solicit  an  opportunity  to  sub¬ 
mit  our  price  and  terms  before  you  take  definite 
action.”  The  Darrow-Mann  Company  are  not 
giving  out  any  figures,  but  it  is  understood  that 
they  have  booked  a  large  tonnage  for  next  sea¬ 
son.  Their  two  steamers,  to  be  delivered  next 
spring,  aside  from  their  barges,  are  capable  of 
supplying  very  nearly  one-fifth  of  the  coal  im¬ 
ported  into  Boston  each  year. 

The  official  spot  f.  o.  b.  car  Mystic  Wharf  mar¬ 
ket  for  New  River  and  Pocahontas  is  $3.60  to 
$3.70  per  ton,  but  it  is  an  open  secret  that  coal 
has  been  offered  recently  at  considerably  less 
than  $3.60.  Georges  Creek  coal  at  that  point 
seems  to  hold  up  well  at  $3.90  to  $4.00,  although 
not  a  great  deal  is  selling,  owing,  no  doubt,  to  the 
unsettled  condition  of  other  kinds.  The  bitu¬ 
minous  market,  however,  has  its  bright  side.  The 
contract  demand  is  even  better  than  it  was  a 
week  ago,  owing  to  a  further  improvement  in 
general  business  throughout  New  England.  The 
war  ammunition  business  in  this  section  of  the 
country  is  simply  booming,  which  spells  a  greater 
consumption  of  bituminous.  Advices  from  the 
Fairmont,  W.  Va.,  district  are  that  coal  there  will 
unquestionably  be  selling  at  $2.00  to  $3.00  per  ton 
at  the  mines  within  the  near  future.  The  Con¬ 
solidation  Coal  Company,  it  is  understood,  has 
temporarily  withdrawn  quotations,  indicating 
that  the  company  is  sold  ahead  for  some  time. 
This  company  has  done  an  enormous  export  busi¬ 
ness,  especially  to  Italy,  where  they  have  even 
been  supplying  the  lighting  company  of  Rome. 
The  demand  for  all-rail  Pennsylvania  coal  is 
fairly  good  here  on  a  basis  of  ninety  cents  to 
$1.50  per  ton  at  the  mines,  but  the  cargo  business 
is  rather  flat. 

Retail  dealers  are  very  busy  delivering  anthra¬ 
cite  to  household  consumers.  They  appear  ex¬ 
tremely  anxious  to  keep  their  bins  well  filled, 
which  would  indicate  that  consumers’  demands 
have  by  no  means  been  filled.  Wholesale  anthra¬ 
cite  dealers  claim  that  business  is  better  than  it 
was  in  October  last  year.  It  has  been  several 
months  since  the  buying  has  run  ahead  of  last 
year,  and  naturally  the  trade  is  greatly  encour¬ 
aged.  The  demand  seems  to  run  largely  to  stove 
and  egg,  and  the  important  selling  agents  claim 
prices  for  these  grades  are  very  strong.  Inde¬ 
pendent  shippers  are  not  cutting  prices  openly, 
but  we  know  of  one  instance  where  a  Cape 
Cod  manufacturer  has  turned  down  a  big  com¬ 
pany  dealer  because  he  could  buy  cheaper  else¬ 
where.  If  there  is  any  weakness,  it  is  in  nut, 
the  supply  of  which  at  the  moment  is  in  excess 
of  the  demand.  Cargo  sales  during  the  past  week 
have  been  confined  largely  to  Boston,  Lynn,  Bev¬ 
erly  and  Pawtucket.  All-rail  buying  appears  to 
have  been  scattered  over  a  wide  area.  The  down 
east  demand  has  improved,  but  Maine  distrib¬ 
utors  are  still  backward  in  re-orders.  Car  short¬ 
age  at  the  mines  is  beginning  to  be  reported  and 
it  is  generally  believed  here  that  early  snows 
would  practically  tie  up  the  trade.  Pea  coal, 
locally,  is  moving  better,  but  cannot  be  called 
really  active.  It  sells  at  $4.05  per  ton  alongside 
Boston  Harbor,  stove  and  egg  at  $5.85  and  nut 
at  $6.10.  At  Mystic  Wharf,  stove  and  egg  are 
generally  quoted  at  $6.20  per  ton  on  cars,  and 
nut  $6.45.  At  Portsmouth  these  grades  com¬ 
mand  fifteen  cents  per  ton  more.  . 

The  amount  of  vessel  space  offering  has 
shrunk  considerably  during  the  past  week,  and  as 
a  result  the  marine  freight  rate  market  is  really 
firmer,  although  not  noticeably  higher.  From 


Hampton  Roads  ports  the  general  asking  price 
is  from  seventy-five  to  eighty-five  cents  per  ton, 
while  from  New  York  to  Boston  it  is  fifty  to 
fifty-five  cents  per  ton. 


New  England  Trade  Notes. 

A  Lowell  man  recently  won  a  ton  of  coal  by 
drawing  it  in  a  wagon  over  a  stretch  of  road 
about  a  mile  long. 

The  Harlem  Wood  &  Coal  Company  of  Bridge¬ 
port,  Conn.,  has  changed  its  name  to  the  Harlem 
Valley  Wood  &  Coal  Co. 

The  schooner  Brownstone  of  Hartford,  during 
the  recent  heavy  weather,  founded  off  the  Con¬ 
necticut  coast.  No  trace  of  the  captain,  his  wife 
and  crew  have  been  found. 

Following  are  the  receipts  of  anthracite  and 
bituminous  at  Boston  during  September  and  the 
nine  months  ended  September  30,  together  with 
comparisons  (in  tons): 


ANTHRACITE. 


September — 

1915. 

1914. 

Decrease. 

By  sea,  domestic. 
By  rail . 

.  146,683 

177,117 

30,434 

20,039 

8,157 

Total  . 

Nine  months — 

.  158,565 

197,156 

38,591 

By  sea,  domestic.  . 
By  rail . 

. 1,123,680 

1,321,849 

198,169 

.  123,581 

147,622 

24,041 

Total  . 

. 1,247,261 

BITUMINOUS. 

1,469,471 

222,210 

September — 

1915. 

1914. 

Decrease. 

By  sea,  domestic.. 

.  383,109 

451,941 

68,832 

By  sea,  foreign... 

.  27,946 

.  6,553 

14,129 

*13,817 

By  rail . 

3,846 

*2,707 

Total  . 

Nine  months — 

.  417,608 

469,916 

52,308 

By  sea,  domestic. 

. 3,502,225 

3,764,267 

262,042 

By  sea,  foreign .  .  . 

.  312,899 

132,971 

*179,928 

By  rail . 

41,987 

*18,493 

Total  . 3,875,604  3,939,171  163,467 


^Increase. 


Baltimore  Trade. 


Baltimore,  Md.,  October  14. —  {Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — Every  branch  of  the  coal  trade  is 
now  hustling.  Anthracite  handlers  here  are  be¬ 
ing  pushed  by  customers  for  deliveries,  the  rush 
starting  when  the  past  week  brought  in  some 
genuinely  cool  weather  that  required  the  start¬ 
ing  of  heating  apparatus  in  home  and  place  of 
business.  Bituminous  producers  are  busy  en¬ 
deavoring  to  get  out  coal  as  rapidly  as  possible 
with  the  reduced  mine  forces  brought  about  by 
the  drain  from  European  war  on  reservists  and 
to  move  the  fuel  promptly  under  the  urging  of 
customers  and  in  the  face  of  a  more  drastic 
car  shortage.  Agencies  here  are  busy  trying  to 
get  mine  connections  to  give  them  the  coal  on 
orders  they  find  piling  in  now.  Many  coal  opera¬ 
tions  have  notified  agencies  to  withdraw  quota¬ 
tions  temporarily  or  to  restrict  sales  to  old-line 
customers  and  the  result  is  that  just  at  a  time 
when  more  favorable  prices  become  possible  that 
coal  men  are  restricted  in  sales. 

As  a  result  of  above  conditions  and  the  grow¬ 
ing  demand  from  industrial  consumers  as  nearly 
every  branch  of  manufacture  is  awakening,  prices 
for  coal  that  is  still  available  are  stiffening. 

Prices  to  the  trade  may  be  quoted  about  as 
follows : 


F.  0.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

Fairmont — 

Mines. 

Baltimore. 

Three-quarter  . 

Run  01  mine . 

$2.38@2.43 

.  .85 

2.28 

Slack  . 

2.18®2.18 

Somerset — 

Best  . 

2.6* 

Good  . 

2.88 

W.  M.  R,  R.— 

Freeport  . 

2.03@2.03 

B.  &  0,— 

Freeport  . 

. 85®  .90 

2.03®2.03 

P.  R.  R.— 

Best  South  Fork . 

.  1.40 

2.58 

Miller  vein . 

.  1.20@1.26 

2.88@2.93 

Ordinary  . 

. 90@1.00 

2.08@2.13 

One  of  the  big  complaints  of  the  coal  trade 
here  at  present,  at  least  that  portion  of  it  inter¬ 
ested  in  foreijgn  sales  of  fuel,  is  that  the  grain 
shippers  continue  to  absorb  practically  all  of  the 
available  bottoms  reporting  here  unattached,  and 
that  the  export  movements  from  Baltimore  have 
been  held  down  as  a  result.  During  the  past 
week  a  total  of  27,564  tons  was  loaded  here  for 
foreign  delivery,  and  this  would  have  been  at 
least  doubled,  say  shippers  here,  had  bottoms 
been  available.  Only  one  charter  was  announced 
here  during  the  week,  and  that  for  the  Mediter¬ 
ranean. 

In  an  interesting  statement  concerning  the 
business  of  the  Consolidation  Coal  Company, 
President  Jerre  H.  Wheelwright,  in  reality  hands 
out  a  summary  of  general  coal  conditions.  First 
he  points  out  that  despite  industrial  depression  at 


home  that  the  export  trade  of  the  Consolidation, 
which  has  totaled  about  2,000,000  tons  since  Jan¬ 
uary  1,  brings  the  total  of  coal  handled  by  that 
concern  up  to  about  9,000,000  tons  for  the  nine 
months,  or  1,000,000  tons  a  month,  a  record 
breaking  production.  He  speaks  of  the  labor 
shortage  due  by  foreigners  returning  to  Europe, 
and  of  car  shortage,  and  then  announced  that  his 
concern  has  temporarily  withdrawn  quotations 
from  the  open  market  so  as  to  care  for  the  de¬ 
mands  of  contracts  already  on  the  books. 


Buffalo  Trade. 


Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  October  14. —  {Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — The  anthracite  shipments  by  lake 
showed  an  increase  during  the  past  week,  being 
126,200  tons,  which  is  the  largest  record  made 
in  some  weeks  past.  The  figures  are  hardly  up 
to  the  normal  for  this  time  of  year  and  the  rea¬ 
son  is  of  course  the  large  supply  of  coal  remain¬ 
ing  on  the  docks  at  the  other  end  of  the  lakes. 
Of  last  week’s  shipments,  Duluth-Superior  took 
60,900  tons;  Chicago,  38,100;  Milwaukee,  15,800; 
Green  Bay,  5,800;  Sheboygan,  5,600. 

The  demand  from  dealers  is  now  on  a  larger 
scale  and  the  companies  are  all  having  a  pretty 
fair  run  of  business,  a  good  deal  better  than  that 
of  a  month  ago.  One  noticeable  feature  of  the 
market  is  the  tightening  of  the  car  supply,  owing 
largely  to  the  increased  flow  of  grain  to  the  sea¬ 
board.  This  movement  will  last  for  some  time,  it 
is  said,  and  cars  will  become  increasingly  hard 
to  get.  The  coal  is  not  coming  from  the  mines 
nearly  as  promptly  as  a  few  weeks  ago,  though 
dealers  are  not  making  much  complaint  as  yet  of 
delays  to  their  shipments.  The  companies’  repre¬ 
sentatives  state  that  from  now  on  it  will  be  a 
wise  idea  for  dealers  to  place  their  orders,  be¬ 
cause  later  it  will  not  be  so  easy  to  get  coal  when 
wanted. 

The  bituminous  demand  has  been  rriaking  a 
good  gain  recently  and  there  is  now  evidence  of 
quite  a  little  industrial  improvement.  The  out¬ 
look  is  for  considerably  better  business  from 
now  until  the  end  of  the  year,  although  the  con¬ 
ditions  in  Canada  are  a  good  ways  from  being 
satisfactory.  If  the  Canadian  market  picks  up, 
there  will  be  small  cause  for  complaint  among 
coal  men,  and  the  prediction  is  made  that  it  will 
improve  this  fall,  on  account  of  the  heavy  wheat 
crop  and  increased  activity  among  industries. 

Cars  are  getting  scarcer  and  this  causes  a  good 
deal  of  delay  to  shipments.  The  railroads  ad¬ 
mit  that  they  are  unable  to  supply  cars  as  freely 
as  a  few  weeks  ago  and  they  are  placing  them 
on  a  pro  rata  basis.  Some  operations  have  had  to 
close  down  for  lack  of  cars  for  a  day  or  two. 
This  shortage,  together  with  the  lack  of  labor,  is 
resulting  in  a  stiffening  in  coal  prices  and  these 
are  now  much  firmer  than  they  were.  The  out¬ 
look  is  for  a  premium  on  slack  coal  within  a 
short  time,  as  it  is  already  hard  to  get  in  quan¬ 
tity  and  is  selling  up  to  top  prices. 


Denver  Trade. 


Denver,  October  14. —  {Special  Correspond¬ 
ence.)— Stesidy  gains  in  the  volume  of  business 
is  reported  this  week  by  leading  retailers  and 
jobbers.  Decidedly  lower  temperatures  are  rul¬ 
ing  in  the  mountain  section  and  the  nights  are 
cold.  The  week  was  ushered  in  by  a  half-inch 
blanket  of  snow  and  local  retailers  have  been 
busy  ever  since. 

Within  a  fortnight  most  of  the  sugar  factories 
will  be  running  full  blast  and  this  is  giving  a  real 
impetus  to  the  lignite  business.  In  the  northern 
district  the  mines  are  running  full  time,  and  sev¬ 
eral  operators  have  lately  increased  their  force. 
Lignite  mines  in  other  sections  are  also  busy. 

The  Trinidad  output  is  heavier  this  week  than 
for  some  time.  That  district  is  leading  the  state 
in  production,  with  Walsenburg  a  close  second. 
The  mines  recently  started  in  the  Canon  City 
district  are  also  making  nearly  full  time,  and 
substantial  increases  are  noted  in  the  district’s 
tonnage.  '■ 

Reports  from  Routt  county  state  that  they  are 
behind  on  the  filling  of  orders,  owing  to  the  sud¬ 
den  increased  demand  with  the  advent  of  colder 
weather. 

There  is  a  good  demand  for  all  grades  of  slack 
this  week,  and  prices  are  very  firm.  There  is  no 
immediate  prospect  of  any  surplus. 

The  following  prices  are  ruling  for  lignite  coal, 
f.  o.  b.  mines  :  For  Denver  delivered,  lump,  $2.35 
to  $2.65  ;  mine  run,  $1.50  to  $1.65 ;  slack,  $1.05  to 
$1.25.  For  points  outside  of  Denver,  lump,  $2.50; 
mine  run,  $1.55  to  $1.65 ;  slack,  $1.05. 


320 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[October  16 


3 

An  Assortment  of  Sizes  of  Hiawatha  Coal  Ready  for  Market. 

The  T.  C.  Keller  Coal  Company’s  mines  have  a  prodnctive  capacity  of  4,000  tons  per  day.  More  than  3,000  tons  of  this  is  held  in  reserve  for  a  selected  list  of 
retail  dealers  who  handle  only  domestic  coal.  This  photog'raph  shows  some  of  that  coal  loaded  at  the  mines  and  ready  for  market. 


The  Mine  and  Service  of  T.  C.  Keller  and  Company. 


Prior  to  1906,  the  .T.  C.  Keller  Coal  Com¬ 
pany  was  producing  coal  in  Indiana.  It  had 
mines  in  the  Sullivan,  and  later  in  the  Clin¬ 
ton  districts.  It  produced,  therefore,  at  times 
from  the  Number  Five  and  the  Number  Six 
veins,  and  later  from  the  Number  Four  vein. 
These  mines  it  sold  for  a  reason.  Then  Mr. 
Keller  and  Mr.  Steffens  bought  acreage  in 
Franklin  county,  Illinois.  This  was  also  for 
a  reason,  which  Mr.  Steffens,  who  markets  the 
Keller  coal,  e.xplains  as  follows: 

"From  the  Number  Five  and 
Number  Six  veins  in  Indiana  we 
got  a  good  coal,  but  it  was  not  dis¬ 
tinctive.  It  was  a  steam  coal  which 
every  mine  in  Indiana  and  Illinois 
had  in  abundance.  We  could  get 
nowhere  by  having  merely  what 
everyone  else  had:  we  were  in  an 
entirely  too  numerous  company. 

In  the  Clinton  field  we  produced 
Number  Four  coal.  This  is  good 
and  is  elastic  enough  to  satisfy 
both  the  domestic  and  steam  trade 
in  a  way.  But  it  was  not  distinct¬ 
ively  either.  So  neither  of  our 
coals  .got  far  enough  out  of  the 
ordinary  to  satisfy  us  exactly. 

“What  we  were  looking  for  was 
a  coal  that  occupied  a  class  by  it¬ 
self — a  coal  that  was  pre-eminently 
good  for  some  particular  purpose. 

That  was  why  we  bought  in  Frank¬ 
lin  county  Illinois.  Even  so,  we 
didn’t  buy  anywhere  in  Franklin 
county.  Rather,  we  bought  only 
the  cream  of  that  field,  so  far  as 
our  purpose  was  concerned. 

“What  we  wanted  was  a  western 
counterpart  of  Pocahontas  coal — 
one  equally  good  for  coking  and 
domestic  use.  We  found  one  de¬ 
posit  that  stands  alone  in  that 
field.  It  is  pre-eminently  a  domes¬ 
tic  fuel;  we  have  proved  that.  Also, 
it  is  preeminently  a  coking  coal. 

These  qualities  gave  us  our  dis¬ 
tinctive  features  and  therefore  the 
coal  we  wanted. 

"Our  coal  makes  a  coke  that 
runs  less  than  one  per  cent  in  sul- 


Hiawatha  Coal. 

With  7,000  Acres  of  Coal  Land  and  4,000 
Tons  a  Day  of  Output,  the  Company  Spe¬ 
cializes  on  Domestic  Coal — How  This  Is 
Done. 


phur  and  is  extremely  low  in  phosphorus.  This 
makes  of  it  a  metallurgical  coke.  Those  are 


A  Carload  of  Hiawatha  Coal. 


the  two  reasons  we  bought  7,000  acres  of  this 
coal  land.” 

This  quotation  tells  the  whole  story.  The 
T.  C.  Keller  Coal  Company  owns  7,000  acres 
of  coal  land  in  the  heart  of  Franklin  county, 
Illinois.  It  has  sunk  one  mine,  with  a  pro¬ 
ductive  capacity  of  about  4,000  tons  a  day. 
Today  it  is  producing  domestic  coal.  Some 
day  it  and  another  mine  or  two  may  be  pro¬ 
ducing  coking  coal. 

There  is  not  now  and  never  has 
been  a  dollar  of  bonded  indebted¬ 
ness  on  the  company.  While  it  is 
a  corporation,  100  per  cent  of  the 
stock  is  owned  by  Mr.  Keller  and 
Mr.  Steffens.  It  is  really  a  part¬ 
nership  that  has  taken  out  incor¬ 
poration  papers.  These  two  men 
selected  the  coal  because  they  be¬ 
lieve  it  is  the  best  product  of 
Franklin  county.  They  say  that 
their  opinion  is  vindicated  by  the 
fact  that  the  United  States  Steel 
Corporation’s  holdings  completely 
surround  their  7,000-acre  tract. 
This  latter  was  bought  after  they 
had  acquired  their  land  and  proved 
its  value. 

The  present  policy  of  this  close¬ 
ly  held  company  is  clearly  outlined 
in  this.  With  the  exception  of  a 
few  steam  contracts,  for  screen¬ 
ings.  the  output  of  the  mine  is  re¬ 
served  wholly  for  the  domestic 
trade.  By  using  the  same  careful 
reasoning  that  led  them  to  con¬ 
clude  that  this  particular  acreage 
would  yield  primarily  a  domestic 
fuel  and,  when  a  need  arose,  a  cok¬ 
ing  coal,  they  set  about  to  carry 
their  plans  into  effect.  They 
opened  a  mine  with  enough  capac¬ 
ity  to  satisfy  any  reasonable  pres- 
8nt  demand,  present  competition 
considered.  They  can  increase  that 
capacity  at  will.  Next,  they  divid¬ 
ed  up  the  work.  Mr.  Keller  spe- 
cliaizes  on  production.  Mr.  Stef¬ 
fens  concentrates  on  sales. 


The  Keller  Coal  Company  makes  a  specialty  of  domestic  coal.  That  being'  true, 
its  “leader”  is  the  domestic  lump.  This  photograph  is  of  a  carload  of  -that 
coal  ready  for  market. 


No.  16] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


321 


The  Top  works  of  the  T.  C.  Keller  Coal  Company  at  Sesser,  Illinois. 

This  plant,  which  was  erected  in  1906,  has  all  of  the  features  of  the  best  mines  in  the  bituminous  field.  It  has  the  steel  tipple  for  the  preparation  of  the  eg'g' 
and  lump.  For  the  preparation  of  the  smaller  sizes,  the  conveyor  carries  the  three-inch  coal  to  the  rescreeninEP  plant  where  a  set  of  shaker  screens  is 
installed.  The  cylindrical  hoppers  have  a  larg'e  storag'e  capacity  and  will  permit  the  loading  of  cars  in  a  few  minutes. 


The  Sales  Policy. 

Since  at  present  the  first  aim  of  the  com¬ 
pany  is  to  sell  domestic  coal,  its  first  con¬ 
cern  naturally  is  to  please  and  satisfy  the 
retail  dealers.  To  do  that  demands  two 
things.  The  dealers  must  get  a  coal  which 
they  can  pass  on  without  apology  and  they 
must  be  sure  of  a  dependable  supply,  or  “coal 
under  all  weather,  business  and  railroad  con¬ 
ditions.” 

This  was  the  problem  which  Mr.  Steffens, 
as  sales  manager  of  the  Keller  Company,  had 
to  solve.  He  had  to  give  personal  service  to 
the  retailers.  That  is,  there  must  be  such  an 
intimate  relation  between  the  Keller  Coal 
Company  and  the  trade  that  to  all  intents 


they  were  practically  complementary  parts 
of  one  big  agency  for  distribution.  Mr.  Stef¬ 
fens  knew  that  this  intensified  personal  serv¬ 
ice  could  not  be  given  by  one  man  to  all  deal¬ 
ers  in  so  big  a  territory  as  the  west.  A  con¬ 
cern  owned  and  managed  by  two  men  could 
not  be  the  common  servant  of  everybody  in 
eighteen  states  and  hope  to  satisfy  anyone. 

On  the  contrary,  the  Keller  Company  must 
concentrate  on  relatively  a  few  customers 
who  were  to  be  served.  Accordingly  Mr. 
Steffens  began  to  select  from  the  vast  num¬ 
ber  of  retail  dealers  those  who  could  appre¬ 
ciate  good  coal  and  those  who  really  wanted 
to  be  served  properly.  In  keeping  with  this 
policy,  the  purpose  of  the  advertising  of  his 


organization  is  not  to  add  great  numbers  of 
buyers,  but  to  add  a  few  here  and  there  who 
can  appreciate  a  good  coal  moving  regularly 
at  fair  prices  from  one  source  of  supply.  It 
does  not  want  numbers  of  buyers,  but  rather 
quality. 

Seeing  what  the  big  plan  is,  Mr.  Steffens 
conducts  his  sales  department  peculiarly  when 
compared  with  the  general  trade  practice. 
He  has  no  salesman  in  Chicago.  In  reality, 
he  does  not  appeal  to  the  domestic  trade  in 
Chicago.  The  only  coal  ever  sold  there  is  an 
odd  lot  of  screenings  now  and  then.  He  has 
an  office  in  Chicago,  but  its  function  is  man¬ 
agerial.  From  there  he  sells  coal  over  a  big 


An  Interior  of  the  Power  House. 


In  keeping'  with  all  other  parts  of  the  plant,  the  power  house  is  modem  in 
every  particular  and  is  suhstantlal.  It  'will  he  noticed  that  there  are  both 
electrical  and  compressed  air  machines,  since  the  company  fits  its  equip¬ 
ment  below  ground  to  the  conditions  there  encountered. 


Supports  of  the  Main  Haulageway. 

The  interesting  feature  in  this  picture  is  the  series  of  steel  “I”  beams  which 
support  the  roof.  No  expense  has  been  spared  to  make  this  entry  as  near 
permanent  as  possible.  The  theory  is  that  substantial  roof  supports  alone 
assure  uninterrupted  working  and  hence  a  dependable  supply  of  coal. 


322 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[October  16 


Hiawatha  Coal  in  Its  Native  Haunts — the  Keller  Seam. 

The  claim  is  made  hy  the  T.  C.  Keller  Coal  Company  that  its  vein  is  in  the  best  part  of  Franklin  county,  IlUnois,  and  that  the  vein  here  is  as  clean  as  any 
coal  found  anywhere  in  the  west.  The  picture  which  shows  no  partingr  hears  out  the  statement. 


western  territory,  using  the  long  distance  tele¬ 
phone  and  telegraph  extensively. 

All  of  the  salesmen  of  the  company  are 
stationed  in  what  are  known  as  the  outlying 
districts.  They  are  not  mere  tonnage  grab¬ 
bers;  they  are  not  looking  out  only  for  the 
single-car  order.  They  do  not  “cover  terri¬ 
tory.”  Instead,  they  try  always  and  only  to 
bring  in  a  few  new  customers  who  are  going 
to  be  permanent  “accounts”  on  the  producing 
company’s  books. 

A  first  rate  example  of  what  this  policy 
means  is  afforded  by  the  office  which  is  main¬ 
tained  at  Omaha,  Nebraska.  The  man  who 
travels  Nebraska  and  western  Iowa  does  not 
rush  wildly  over  the  whole  territory,  making 
hurried  calls  on  dealers  between  trains.  In¬ 
stead,  he  goes  over  the  territory  leisurely  and 
thoroughly.  On  these  trips,  before  he  asks 
a  man  to  buy  his  coal,  he  makes  sure  that  his 
credit  is  good;  that  he  has  marketing  facili¬ 
ties  which  are  the  kind  which  suggest  relia¬ 
bility;  and  that  the  retailer  is  the  kind  that 
the  Keller  Coal  Company  wants  as  an  agent.  In 
other  words,  he  makes  sure  that  the  man  would 
fit  into  the  growing  Keller  family  of  retail 
dealers.  Such  information  about  a  retailer  can¬ 
not  be  picked  up  “lictween  trains”  in  one  day. 
For  this  reason,  the  Keller  representative  does 
not  go  over  his  field  in  a  rush  and  on  a  mad 
quest  for  orders.  He  moves  deliberately.  And, 
when  he  returns  to  his  office,  he  has  usually 
added  some  new  “accounts.”  Incidentally  the 
use  of  the  word  “accounts”  instead  of  “or¬ 
ders”  in  the  office  explains  the  whole  policy 
of  the  Keller  Coal  Company.  Mr.  Steffens 
wants  “accounts”  rather  than  individual  orders. 
This  is  a  logical  development  of  the  policy 
which  aims  to  serve  a  few  well,  rather  than 
to  try  to  serve  everyone  indifferently. 

if  this  policy  is  as  good  as  it  sounds,  it 
must  have  a  definite  expression  of  some  kind. 


It  has,  and  that  expression  is  this — in  the 
words  of  the  head  of  the  sales  force: 

“There  has  never  been  a  time  since  1906 
when  a  regular  customer  of  the  Keller  Coal 
Company  has  been  allowed  to  run  short  of 
fuel,  no  matter  what  the  circumstances.  The 
severe  winter  of  19H  was  no  exception.  The 
times  when  car  shortages  came  did  not  alter 
the  case.  When  the  demand  for  coal  has  Ijeen 
extraordinary  as  it  is  just  prior  to  a  strike, 
the  rule  holds  good.  It  does  not  make  any 
difference  what  the  circumstances,  the  Keller 
Coal  Company  in  twenty-five  years  has  not 
disappointed  any  regular  customers  nor  thrown 
one  of  its  regular  patrons  on  the  mercies  of 
the  open  market.” 

It  is  said,  too,  that  customers  appreciate  this 
service  and  hence  that  the  company  loses  no 
“accounts.” 

The  Production  Program. 

Having  such  a  decided  sales  policy,  the  Kel¬ 
ler  Coal  Company  must  have  one  to  match  it 
at  the  mines.  This  policy  must  be  one  which, 
automatically,  will  permit  the  company  to  do 
wliat  its  sales  representatives  are  saying  that  it 
can  do.  Since  the  company  says,  for  example, 
that  it  produces  mainly  domestic  coal,  the  mine 
equipment  should  be  designed  to  produce 
mainly  the  domestic  sizes  of  the  very  best 
|)reparation.  This  presupposes  an  arrange¬ 
ment  of  screens  which  will  size  the  coal  as 
the  domestic  user  wants.  It  presupposes  also 
a  character  of  underground  equipment  which 
will  yield  the  maximum  percentage  of  the 
domestic  sizes. 

To  see  that  precisely  this  is  done,  the  min¬ 
ing  department  is  under  the  personal  super¬ 
vision  of  T.  C.  Keller.  Those  who  have  vis¬ 
ited  him  at  the  mines  may  have  gained  the 
impression  that,  for  the  president  of  a  con¬ 
cern,  he  devotes  entirely  too  much  attention 


to  details.  It  is  true  that  not  a  detail  around 
the  mines  escapes  him.  Some  believe  that  his 
policy  is  a  mistaken  one  because  when  he  is 
at  the  mines,  he  is  all  over  the  workings  all 
the  time  and  is  inquiring  into  what  everyone, 
from  the  trapper  boy  up  to  the  superintend¬ 
ent,  is  doing. 

If  this  be  a  “mistaken  zeal,”  as  some  com¬ 
peting  presidents  of  mining  companies  might 
say,  there  is  at  least  purposeful  method  in  it. 
For  example,  Mr.  Keller  knows  that  the  nat¬ 
ural  bent  of  a  miner  is  to  follow  the  line  of 
least  resistance.  Miners  the  world  over  are 
alike  in  that  particular.  They  do  a  thing  in 
the  easiest  way,  regardless  of  consequences. 
If  the  consequences  are  the  degredation  of  the 
coal,  the  miner  is  not  concerned. 

Also,  the  practical  miner  is  a  nomad.  He 
travels  from  place  to  place,  all  the  while,  and 
in  his  travels  picks  up  ways  of  doing  things 
from  nearly  every  mining  camp.  The  result 
is  that  all  miners  have  come  to  do  things 
about  in  the  same  way.  This  constant  shifting 
about  of  the  working  force  establishes  indeed 
a  sort  of  common  mining  practice.  If  an 
operator  has  a  distinctive  way  of  doing  things, 
he  must  wean  the  practical  miner  away  from 
this  composite  practice  of  his  craft. 

Mr.  Keller  has  his  mind  fixed  on  the  pro¬ 
duction  of  domestic  coal  only  and  upon  giving 
it  the  best  preparation.  Since  he  wants  to 
sell  domestic  coal  only,  he  wants  to  get  the 
maximum  yield  of  that  size  from  the  mines. 
To  do  that,  he  must  be  constantly  keying  up 
his  miners  and  hence  interfering  in  details 
around  the  mines.  That  e.xplains  why  Mr. 
Keller  pays  so  much  attention  to  what  others 
consider  the  smaller  matters.  Still,  when  one 
sees  that  the  whole  policy  of  the  company 
swings  around  preparation  of  domestic  coal, 
these  are  not  “small  matters”  after  all. 

To  help  him  carry  out  his  policy,  Mr.  Kel¬ 
ler  has  mine  equipment  designed  to  produce 
the  maximum  amount  of  the  domestic  sizes  of 
coal  with  the  best  preparation.  For  example, 
the  coal  is  taken  from  the  seam  in  some 


No.  16] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


323 


places  with  compressed  air  machines.  But, 
where  those  will  work  the  best,  electric  under¬ 
cutting  machines  are  used.  He  has  found  by 
experience  that  a  vein  will  vary  inside  the 
limits  of  a  modern  mine.  Accordingly,  he  has 
fitted  the  mechanical  equipment  precisely  to 
the  needs  of  the  vein. 

This  having  been  done,  he  supplies  electric 
lighting  in  the  rooms  so  the  men  can  work 
and  clean  the  coal  there  under  l)CSt  conditions. 
Naturally,  he  has  electric  haulage  to  get  the 
coal  quickly  and  cheaply  to  the  shaft  bottom. 


The  Mine  Equipment. 

The  Keller  mine  was  opened  in  1  !)()(>,  the 
first  coal  being  shipped  to  market  in  the  fall 
of  that  year.  The  plant  now  in  use  was  built 
at  that  time.  Since  then,  a  great  many  things 
which  are  styled  refinements  of  preparation 
have  been  introduced  into  mines  generally 
and  much  is  said  about  them.  It  is  interest¬ 
ing  to  note  that  while  he  uses  a  dififerent 
method,  the  mechanical  skill  of  Mr.  Keller 
enabled  him  to  provide  ten  years  ago  devices 
which  will  do  precisely  the  same  thing  others 
are  now  spending  so  much  money  to  do, 
namely,  to  get  a  maximum  of  domestic  sizes 
and  to  clean  those  sizes  thoroughly. 

To  avoid  degradation,  the  coal  is  lowered 
gently  upon  the  shaker  screens.  There  it  is 
sized  into  six-inch  lump,  six  by  three-inch  egg, 
three  by  two-inch  nut,  two  by  one  and  one- 
half-inch  stove,  one  and  one-Iialf-inch  liy  three- 
quarter-inch  chestnut,  all  of  which  are  avail¬ 
able  for  various  uses  around  the  household. 


For  example,  the  smaller  sized  coal  is  known 
to  I)e  good  for  hot  water  heaters. 

The  company  does  not  make  an  appeal  to 
the  steam  trade,  except  when  it  must  move 
the  smaller  sizes  resulting  from  the  produc¬ 
tion  of  lump.  Thus  it  makes  two-inch,  or  one 
and  one-half-inch,  or  three-quarter-inch  screen- 
ings. 

Having  thus  arranged  to  get  the  maximum 
yield  of  domestic  coal,  the  Keller  Coal  Com¬ 
pany  jjroceeds  to  make  all  needed  arrange¬ 
ments  to  assure  the  kiml  of  service  that  the 
retailers  want. 

One  of  the  first  things  insisted  upon  by  the 
dealer  is,  of  course,  the  accuracy  of  weight. 
The  Keller  mine  is  located  on  the  Chicago, 
Burlington  &  Quincy  Railroad.  This  line  is 
extremely  careful  to  see  that  the  marked  tare 
of  the  car  is  accurate.  This  it  assures  by  put¬ 
ting  the  empty  cars  over  its  scales  at  regular 
intervals.  When  that  is  necessary,  it  changes 
the  stenciled  tare  on  the  side  of  the  car.  The 
Keller  Coal  Company  depends  upon  the  Bur¬ 
lington  road,  in  the  main,  to  see  that  the  sten¬ 
ciled  tare  is  correct.  However,  before  it  ac¬ 
cepts  a  tare  weight,  it  makes  sure  that  the  car 
is  clean.  Having  done  that,  it  notes  the  date 
when  the  last  tare  weight  was  taken.  If  tliis 
was  more  than  four  months  before  the  date 
the  car  is  to  be  loaded,  the  empty  car  is  put 
over  the  company’s  track  scales  and  is  weighed. 
If,  however,  the  tare  weight  has  Iteen  ascer¬ 
tained  witliin  four  months,  the  tipple  man  con¬ 
siders  that  it  is  correct  and  the  car  is  placed 
for  loading. 

After  being  loaded,  the  car  is  weighed  on 
a  track  scale  which  is  half  way  between  the 


tipple  and  the  storage  yard.  These  scales  are 
balanced  every  morning  and  are  carefully 
cleaned  after  every  car  passes  over  them.  Once 
a  month,  at  least,  they  are  subjected  to  a 
thorough  inspection  and  are  repaired  if  neces¬ 
sary. 

Tlie  Keller  Coal  Conqiany  also  knows  that 
a  retailer  is  anxious  to  get  his  supply  of  coal 
regularly.  To  assure  such  a  result,  cars  for 
the  transportation  of  the  coal  must  be  avail- 
:ible.  .\lso  the  compau}'  must  have  room 
enough  at  the  mine  to  accommodate  all  the 
cars  it  is  going  to  load.  .At  the  Keller  mine, 
there  is  an  empty  car  track  which  will  accom¬ 
modate  100  cars.  In  the  Sesser  yard,  available 
to  this  company,  there  is  room  for  1.50  emp¬ 
ties.  Below  the  Keller  tipple  there  is  room 
for  100  loaded  cars,  and  in  the  Sesser  yard 
there  is  room  for  200  loaded  cars.  This  gives 
all  the  storage  room  that  could  possibly  be 
used. 


Transportation  B'acilities. 

The  mine  is  located  on  the  Chicago,  Bur¬ 
lington  &  Quincy  Railroad  only.  However, 
that  is  one  of  the  best  equipped  coal  carrying 
roads  in  the  west  and  affords  a  market  not 
only  to  points  local  to  its  own  line,  I)Ut  to  all 
jioints  local  to  connecting  carriers. 

The  output  of  the  T.  C.  Keller  Coal  Com¬ 
pany  is  marketed  under  the  name  of  Hia¬ 
watha  coal. 

[This  article  by  The  I.lack  Diamonh  is  designated  an 
advertisement  in  compliance  with  the  Postal  I-aws  of  the 
I'nited  States  as  revised  August  24,  lhl2.1 


Another  View  of  the  Vein  in  the  Keller  Mine  at  Sesser,  Illinois. 


324 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[October  16 


The  Hocking  Valley  Coal  Trade. 


CoLUMHUs,  Ohio,  October  14. —  (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — There  is  continued  stiffening  of  tlie 
Hocking  market,  particularly  on  domestic  sizes. 
No  mines  need  to  remain  idle  for  lack  of  busi¬ 
ness,  but  a  number,  including  the  big  Sunday 
Creek  interests,  are  taking  the  stand  that  there 
is  no  money  in  the  Hocking  coal  trade  under 
existing  labor  and  freight  rate  conditions,  and 
are  letting  the  season  go  by  default.  This  atti¬ 
tude  makes  stronger  demands  on  mines  that  are 
active.  Capacity  production  is  the  rule.  Steam 
orders  are  gaining  steadily,  if  slowly,  in  volume. 
On  no  sizes,  how’ever,  are  prices  on  old-time 
prosperity  basis.  An  early  advance  on  domestic 
is  talked  of.  The  present  schedule,  herewith 
appended  and  in  force  up  to  Thursday,  is  firm  ; 


Hocking  Valley — 

3-inch  lump . 

^'inch  lump . 

Lgg  . 

Mine  run . 

Nut,  pea  and  slack. 

Coarse  slack . 

Washed  Coals — 

Egg  . 

Stove  . 


F.  O.  B. 
Columbus. 
$2.20 
1.95 
1.60 
1.75@1.80 
1.20@1.25 
1.10@i.l5 


F.  O.  B. 
Mines. 
$1.60 
1.35 
1.00 
1.15@1.25 
.60@  .65 
.50®  .55 


2.35  1.75 

2.20  1.60 


Pomeroy,  which  is  largely  a  domestic  product, 
is  feeling  the  thrill  of  a  strong  rnarket.  Dealers, 
who  have  been  tardy  about  providing  for  Pome¬ 
roy  customers,  are  now  urging  up  shipments. 
Mines  are  working  steadily,  and  in  some  instances 
salesmen  are  instructed  to  accept  no  orders  after 
October  15  at  present  prices.  Present  quotations 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Pomeroy —  Columbus.  Mines. 

2  and  3-inch  lump . $2.25@2.30  $1.60@1.65 

1^-inch  lump .  2.15@2.20  1.50@1.55 

Mine  run .  1.75@1.80 

Nut,  pea  and  slack .  1.20@1.30  .55@  .65 

The  best  grades  of  standard  splint  are  in  more 
active  demand  at  slightly  better  prices  than  have 
prevailed  before  this  year.  On  the  other  hand 
some  fields  are  working  quite  short  time,  and  find 
it  impractical  to  increase  circular.  Screenings 
are  firmer  than  they  were  a  week  ago.  Herewith 
arc  prices  corrected  up  to  Thursday ; 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

West  Virginia  Splint —  Columbus.  Mines. 

2-inch  lump . $2.35@2.40  $1.40@1.50 

•K-inch  lump .  2.25  1.30 

Mine  run .  1.80@1.90  .35®  .95 

Low  ash  nut,  pea  and  slack...  .  1.55®1.65  .60®  .70 

High  ash  nut,  pea  and  slack .  1.35@1.45  .40®  .50 

1  Fancy  domestics  are  strong  at  the  maximum 
quotation.  Some  producers  having  sales  offices 
here  are  calling  their  men  in  from  the  road  on 
account  of  being  sold  up.  If  the  demand  con¬ 
tinues  to  grow  in  the  same  proportion  as  during 
the  past  week  or  two  an  advance  in  prices  is  one 
of  the  early  certainties.  Current  quotations  are : 


White  Ash — 

Columbus. 

Mines. 

3-inch  lump . 

.  2.65 

1.75 

l!4-ir>ch  lump . 

.  2.40 

1.50 

Egg  . 

1.26 

Red  Ash — 

Chunks  . 

.  2.75 

1.85 

Egg  . 

.  2.50 

1.60 

Screenings  . 

.60 

Columbus  retailers  are  enjoying  a  good  trade 
in  spite  of  a  persistent  natural  gas  campaign  that 
has  been  run  in  the  newspapers  for  several 
months  past.  Prices  are:  Pocahontas  lump, 
$4.50;  Pocahontas  mine-run,  $3.75;  white  and  red 
ash  lump,  $3.75;  splint  lump,  $3.50;  Hocking 
lump,  $3.25. 


Columbus  News  Notes. 

J.  Earl  Myers,  manager  of  the  Whitney-Kem- 
merer  Company,  Pittsburgh,  was  a  recent  visitor. 


E.  F.  Murchey,  of  the  Morris  Coal  Company, 
Cleveland,  was  in  town  last  week. 

V.  G.  Miller,  of  the  Webb  Fuel  Company,  Cin¬ 
cinnati,  was  recently  calling  upon  the  trade  here. 

J.  iVl.  Leonard,  sales  manager  of  the  Brothers 
Valley  Coal  Company,  was  one  of  last  week’s 
arrivals. 

R.  S.  McGee,  of  the  Carbon  Fuel  Company, 
Cincinnati,  was  looking  after  business  here  last 
week. 

Edward  E.  Chester,  of  the  J.  H.  Hillman  & 
Sons  Company,  was  a  recent  caller  upon  the 
Columbus  jobbing  trade. 

A  Simons,  of  Redfield,  president  of  A. 
.Simons  &  Son,  paid  a  visit  to  headquarters  of 
the  firm  here  last  week, 

H.  W.  Kelly,  retailer  dealer  of  Angola,  Ind., 
was  a  caller  last  week  at  the  headquarters  of  the 
M-O-I  Coal  Association,  of  which  he  is  one  of 
the  directors. 

The  Gibson-Spence  Coal  Company  have  re¬ 
moved  from  the  eighth  floor  to  the  eleventh  floor 
of  the  Columbus  Savings  &  Trust  building,  the 
change  giving  them  double  their  former  office 
space. 

F.  M.  Andrews,  C.  W.  Huddleson,  E.  E. 
Learned,  Dwight  Howard  and  M.  E.  Andrews 
are  incorporators  of  the  Banner  Coal  &  Coke 
Company  of  Columbus.  The  capital  stock  is 
$10,000.  ' 

C.  M.  Anderson,  western  sales  manager  of  the 
Elk  River  Coal  &  Lumber  Company,  returned 
on  Saturday  last  from  a  trip  to  the  mines  at 
Dundon,  W.  Va.,  on  which  he  was  accompanied 
liy  his  force  of  traveling  men. 

E.  E.  Hazelton,  manager  of  the  Hazelton  estate, 
having  coal  interests  in  the  Hocking  valley,  has 
taken  a  road  position  with  the  Dean  Coal  Com¬ 
pany.  Frank  S.  Stimmel,  formerly  of  the  retail 
firm  of  Stimmel  Brothers,  Columbus,  has  gone 
with  the  Dean  company  as  city  salesman. 

The  Ohio  Board  of  Administration  has  awarded 
to  the  Ohio  &  Pennsylvania  Coal  Company, 
Cleveland,  contract  for  approximately  1,000  tons 
of  mine-run,  at  the  price  of  $1.79,  delivered  on 
siding  of  the  Cleveland  State  Hospital,  for  use 
in  that  institution.  The  coal  is  to  be  Ohio  mined. 

Earl  Welker,  who  some  weeks  ago  absconded 
with  $577  funds  of  the  Columbus  Builders  Sup¬ 
ply  &  Coal  Company,  instead  of  depositing  them 
in  bank,  is  reported  to  be  under  arrest  at  Port¬ 
land,  Ore.  He  was  a  trusted  employe,  and  the 
manager  was  at  first  inclined  to  the  theory  of 
foul  play  when  the  young  man  disappeared. 

As  part  of  the  financing  scheme  of  the  new  coal 
line  being  built  between  Columbus  and  the  Ohio 
river,  authority  has  been  asked  of  the  Ohio 
Utilities  Commission  to  issue  $1,000,000  five  per 
cent  thirty  year  gold  bonds.  Request  is  also 
made  for  increase  of  the  capital  stock  from 
$50,000  to  $3,450,000.  The  company  states  that 
it  has  already  made  an  outlay  of  $1,364,000  and 
expects  to  expend  an  additional  $3,450,000. 

The  Franklin  county  courts  has  decided  in 
favor  of  the  New  York  Coal  Company  in  a  suit 
for  royalities  on  coal  lands  leased  to  the  Sunday 
Creek  Company.  The  plaintiff  was  given  a  judg¬ 
ment  for  $4,936  with  accumulated  interest  on  a 
royalty  basis  of  7J4  cents  per  ton.  Other  suits 
of  like  nature,  involving  the  same  parties,  are 
pending.  The  coal  properties  involved  are  near 
Orbiston,  in  the  Hocking  valley. 


Martin  Ebersbach,  president  of  the  Puritan 
Coal  Company,  Pomeroy,  and  R.  L.  France,  sec¬ 
retary  of  the  Detroit  office,  were  in  conference 
here  at  sales  headquarters  Monday  with  Sales 
Manager  Kuhns.  The  Puritan  is  the  largest  pro¬ 
ducer  of  the  Pomeroy  field,  and  has  kept  going 
steadily  during  the  entire  year.  The  last  ship¬ 
ment  was  recently  made  on  a  70,000  ton  lake 
contract. 


Complying  with  the  postal  law  of  August  24,  1912,  The 
Black  Diamond  submits  the  following  information  to  its 
readers:  This  journal  is  published  weekly  at  1112  Man¬ 
hattan  building,  Chicago,  Illinois.  President  and  business 
manager,  A.  T.  Murphy,  1112  Manhattan  building,  Chi¬ 
cago,  Illinois.;  editor,  G.  H.  Cushing,  1112  Manhattan 
building  Chicago,  Illinois.  Publisher,  The  Black  Dia¬ 
mond  Company,  1112  Manhattan  building,  Chicago,  Illi¬ 
nois.  Stockholders,  A.  T.  Murphy,  1112  Manhattan 
building,  Chicago,  Illinois;  Samuel  Kersten,  654  West 
Jackson  boulevard,  Chicago,  Illinois;  John  O’Neil,  226 
La  Salle  street,  Chicago,  Illinois.  There  is  no  outstand¬ 
ing  bond  issue  or  mortgage  of  any  kind  on  the  publica¬ 
tion.  (Signed)  The  Black  Diamond  Company,  A.  T. 
Murphy,  president. 

Sworn  to  and  subscribed  before  me  this  20th  day  of 
September,  1915. — G.  L.  Toale,  Notary  Public. 


We  are  always  pleased  to  receive  inquiries 
on  Hocking,  Pomeroy,  West  Virginia  and 
Kentucky  steam  and  domestic  coal. 

The  Seidenfeld-Hammond  Coal  Company 

Murray,  Ohio 


NEW  YORK  COAL  COMPANY 

COLUMBUS,  OHIO 

Miners  and  Shippers  of  Specially 

Prepared  Domestic  Coals 
Also  Manhattan  Washed  Coals 


THE  PEACOCK  COAL  CO. 

Sole  operators  of 

Genuine  Peacock  Pomeroy  Coal 

Capacity,  3,000  tons  dally 

Harrison  Building  Columbus,  Ohio 


The  Gibson-Spence- Coal  CoJS 

Producers  and  Shippers 

“Banner”  Hocking  “Blue  Ridge”  White  Ash  3 
“Valley”  Cambridg'e .  “Pine  Mountain”  Kentucky  I 
Anthracite — Pocahontas— Smithing  * 

Cols  Savings  b  Trust  Building  -  Columbus,  Ohio 


SUNDAY  CREEK 

COAL  COMPANY 

Outleok  Building,  Columbus,  Ohio 


The  Lorain  Goal  &  Dock  Co. 

Columbus,  Ohio 

Capacity  10,000  tons  No.  8  Pbg. 

Coal  Daily 


PEALE,  PE 

OP 


AGO 


REMBRANDT  PEALE,  President 

H.  W.  HENRY,  Vice-President  and  Traffic 
Manager 

Wm.  B.  OAKES,  Treasurer 

GRAND  CENTRAL  TERMINAL 

NEW  YORK 


BITUMINOUS 

VICTOR 


E.  E.  WALLING,  Vice-President 
NORTH  AMERICAN  BLDG., 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 


COAL 


u.S.  patent  Off 


&  KERR 

NEW  YORK 


ANTHRACITE 

COAL 

GAS  COAL 

and  COKE 


Mention  The  B^-ack  Diamond  when  writing  advertisers. 


i  ■ 

1 

Phe  Black  Diamond 

VoL  55.  No.  17 

OCTOBER  23,  1915  $3.00  Per  Year 

Do  Coal  Men  Want  to  Kill  the  Sherman  Act? 


Officials  of  the  United  INIine  Workers  of  Amer¬ 
ica  have  suggested  to  the  operating  associations 
and  to  individual  operators  that  a  joint  move¬ 
ment  be  undertaken  to  persuade  Congress  to 
modify  the  Sherman  anti-trust  law. 

This  proposal  the  operators  are  considering 
seriously.  Indeed,  it  will  stand  elaborate  study. 
While  the  proposal  in  all  its  phases  must  be 
analyzed,  perhaps  the  most  important  thing  at 
the  minute  is  the  fact  that  for  the  first  time  the 
operators  and  miners  are  to  join  forces  in  any 
legislative  campaign.  That  in  itself  is  promising 
and  an  opportunity  which  should  be  embraced 
while  the  mood  holds.  It  is  something  at  least, 
which  should  be  encouraged  to  continue  as  a 
factor  in  coal.  Assuming  that  joint  action  will 
come,  the  circumstance  raises  two  questions. 

First,  in  view  of  the  modified  legislative  pro¬ 
gram  of  the  government,  is  this  the  proper  time 
to  attack  the  Sherman  anti-trust  law? 

Second,  if  not  that,  is  some  other  program 
more  promising? 

The  first  thing  to  consider  in  any  attempt  to 
answer  these  questions  is  what  the  coal  trade 
really  wants  to  do.  Under  that  heading  there 
are  two  wants — those  of  the  operators  and  those 
of  the  miners.  At  a  certain  point  these  wants 
dovetail.  Before  that  point  is  reached,  however, 
they  seem  to  run  in  quite  opposite  channels.  That 
being  true,  we  will  study  them  separately. 

What  the  Operators  Want. 

Primarily  what  the  operators  want  is  to  make 
money  out  of  the  coal  business.  They  have 
created  both  small  and  large  corporations,  capi¬ 
talized  for  both  small  and  large  sums  of  money. 
These  corporations  exist  for  profit  only.  The 
operators  want  to  make  them  profitable. 

Secondarily,  the  operators  are  confronted  by  a 
series  of  demands  which  are  more  or  less  social 
in  character.  For  example,  the  miners  insist  that 
they  should  be  paid  not  only  a  living  wage,  but 
enough  to  make  possible  some  of  the  pleasures 
of  life ;  the  miners  are  demanding  better  living 
conditions,  i.  e.,  better  sanitary  conditions,  enter¬ 
tainment  in  the  mining  camps ;  the  miners  de¬ 
mand  safety,  which  means  the  use  of  more  appli¬ 
ances  in  mining;  the  miners  demand  compensa¬ 
tion  for  those  that  are  injured  and  even  pensions 
for  those  who  have  grown  old  in  the  service. 
The  operators  would  grant  all  of  these  demands 
if  they  could.  Thus  the  secondary  want  of  the 
mining  corporations  is  money  enough  to  meet 
these  social  obligations  without  robbing  the  stock¬ 
holders. 

These  two  needs  call  for  larger  coal  revenue. 
Thus  the  two  wants  of  the  coal  operator  unite  to 
spell  a  desire  for  more  money.  The  question  is : 
How  is  this  money  going  to  be  obtained? 

As  elaborately  argued  heretofore,  the  coal 
operator  is  confronted  by  an  almost  impossible 
proposition  in  the  fact  that  a  coal  supply  which 
is  to  last  this  country  for  approximately  one 
thousand  years  is  made  available  for  immediate 
production.  In  order,  therefore,  to  get  the  large 
revenue  it  is  necessary  to  control  the  business. 
There  are  only  two  ways  to  do  this,  so  far  as  has 
been  publicly  discussed. 

One  of  the  ways  is  to  form  a  bituminous  coal 
monopoly  under  private  capital.  The  other  is  to 
procure  a  change  of  the  laws  as  will  permit  those 
in  the  business  to  co-operate. 

Heretofore  the  Sherman  anti-trust  law  has 
stood  as  a  barrier  against  the  realization  of  either 
one  of  these  plans.  Therefore,  on  the  face  of  it, 
the  proposed  campaign  of  the  miners  against  the 
Sherman  law  seems  to  be  a  step  towards  the  solu¬ 
tion  of  coal  trade  ideals. 

What  the  Miners  Want. 

In  America  the  whole  labor  situation  is  in  an 
intensified  transition  period  from  what  it  was 
toward  what  is  to  be.  As  is  the  case  in  any 
transition  period,  the  time  is  one  of  storm  when 
the  real  issue  is  not  clear.  Still,  what  in  general 
the  laborer  wants  is  to  get  away  from  the  old 
conditions  where  brain  or  cunning  got  practically 


The  Proposal  Is  Made  by  the  Miners, 
But  a  Need  to  Make  Cooperation  Safe 
May  Dictate  That  the  Obnoxious  Old 
Law  Shall  Stand. 


all  and  when  the  worker  got  merely  enough  to 
allow  him  to  “get  by.” 

Primarily,  what  the  miner  wants  is  what  every 
other  worker  wants,  namely,  a  different  division 
of  coal  trade  revenue. 

In  the  matter  of  detail,  the  miner  wants  enough 
money  to  give  him  a  better  standard  of  living;  to 
give  him  better  living  conditions;  more  safety  in 
the  mines,  compensation  for  his  injuries  with¬ 
out  having  to  fight  for  it,  and,  when  he  has  served 
long  and  faithfully,  a  pension  to  serve  him  in  his 
old  age.  Therefore,  the  miner  in  the  ultimate, 
wants  the  coal  business  to  earn  more  money  so 
he  may  get  more. 

After  the  details  have  been  thrashed  out,  the 
ultimate  wish  of  the  miner  is  the  ultimate  wish 
of  the  operator,  namely,  that  the  coal  mining 
business  should  be  made  more  profitable.  How¬ 
ever,  the  miner  is  confronted  by  precisely  the 
same  trouble  as  the  operator.  The  Sherman  law 
has  stood  in  the  way.  It  lias  threatened  that 
complete  organization  of  the  miners  which  alone 
could  force  the  operators  to  grant  the  union  de¬ 
mands.  .41so,  it  has  prevented  the  organization 
of  the  operators,  and  thus  has  prevented  them 
from  combining  to  collect  from  the  public, 
through  united  effort,  the  money  which  the  min¬ 
ers  want.  These  two  things  account  for  the 
miners’  interest  in  having  the  Sherman  anti-trust 
law  m.odified. 

The  Sherman  Anti-Trust  Law. 

The  Sherman  law,  which  thus  becomes  the  cen¬ 
ter  of  interest  to  both  the  operators  and  miners, 
is  easily  divisible  into  two  parts.  The  first  part 
consists  of  the  first  three  _  paragraphs,  which 
clearly  tie  the  law  to  the  criminal  code.  These 
paragraphs  make  it  a  felony  to  gain  a  monopoly 
of  anything,  or  even  to  attempt  to  gain  a 
monopoly. 

The  second  part  of  the  law  goes  into  detail. 
It  is  said  there  that  it  is  unlawful  for  producers 
to  agree  or  to  even  allow  other  minds  to  meet 
on  a  proposition  in  such  a  way  as  to  affect  the 
price  of  anything  to  the  whole  people.  This  law 
has  been  considered  heretofore  as  a  most  effective 
barrier  to  anything  like  an  agreement  of  the  coal 
people  upon  anything. 

So  long  as  the  Sherman  law  stood  as  the  only 
statute  which  regulated  business,  this  paper 
voiced  the  sentiment  of  all  coal  operators  and 
practically  when  it  considered  the  Sherman  law 
as  impossible.  We  have  held,  and  still  hold,  that 
standing  alone,  it  tried  to  prevent  the  monopoly 
but  instead  actually  procured  it.  That  is,  busi¬ 
ness  must  have  a  master.  The  coal  trade  must 
also  have  a  master.  It  is  impossible  to  give  the 
coal  business  a  master  when  from  5,000  to  10,000 
different  concerns  are  going  each  as  it  pleases. 
With  the  individual  wish  expressed  in  the  unit  of 
industry,  there  is  possible  no  program  for  that 
industry  as  a  whole.  Therefore,  the  nation  must 
make  choice  of  two  things.  It  must  be  content 
to  have  no  coal  trade  program  or  it  must  modify 
the  law  which  compels  each  unit  to  remain  sep¬ 
arate  and  apart  from  all  others. 

When  fusion  of  these  small  units  on  common 
points  could  not  be  made  possible  by  agreement 
and  still  obey  the  law,  and  since  something  in 
unison  must  be  done,  the  only  way  to  get  a  trade 
program  was  to  lessen  the  number  of  individual 
units  by  purchase  or  consolidation.  The  ultimate 
end  of  consolidation,  of  course,  is  one  compre¬ 
hensive  organization.  This  means  monopoly.  On 
this  account  we  have  said  that  the  Sherman  law 
in  the  end  procured  the  monopoly  which  at  the 
beginning  it  tried  to  avert. 

However,  that  was  true  only  so  long  as  the 
Sherman  anti-trust  law  stood  as  the  only  regu¬ 


latory  statute.  Within  the  span  of  the  present 
administration  the  Sherman  law  has  been  supple¬ 
mented  by  two  others.  One  is  the  Clayton  bill 
and  the  other  is  the  Trade  Commission  bill.  The 
latter  is  supposed  to  be  helpful  to  business  by 
permitting  certain  kinds  of  co-operation  among 
producing  units,  etc.  The  question  now  to  be 
considered  is  whether  the  passage  of  these  other 
two  laws  does  not  so  change  the  attitude  of  the 
government  as  to  make  it  unnecessary  and  really 
inadvisable  1o  do  away  with  the  Sherman  law. 

That  is,  heretofore  the  Sherman  act  was  the 
only  regulatory  statute.  Therefore,  it  made  any 
attempt  to  reach  an  agreement  on  anything  a 
criminal  act.  If  an  act  even  headed  toward 
monopoly  or  in  any  way  restrained  trade  it  was 
as  much  of  an  offense  as  it  was  to  monopolize 
an  industry. 

Now,  however,  by  the  passage  of  the  Clayton 
bill  and  the  Trade  Commission  bill,  the  Sherman 
law  becomes  the  law  which  regulates  only  the 
illegal  combinations  of  capital.  It  today  stands 
as  a  statute  which  can  be  used  when  necessary 
to  correct  the  practices  of  those  who  do  not  want 
to  co-operate.  It  stands  mainly  as  the  corrective 
of  those  institutions  which  want  to  destroy  the 
smaller  concerns  that  they  may  have  undisputed 
sway. 

The  theory  of  the  new  laws  is  that  the  small 
units  of  business  may  co-operate  to  make  their 
enterprise  profitable  without  making  it  oppressive 
to  the  people  as  a  whole. 

So  long  as  these  three  laws  stand  as  they  now 
are,  the  probabilities  .ire  that  business  men  will 
co-operate  under  government  regulation  because 
the}'  must.  But,  while  co-operating,  they  will 
stop  far  short  of  monopoly  because  they  do  not 
care  to  encounter  the  penal  clauses  of  the  Sher¬ 
man  law.  Thus  necessity  will  force  co-operation, 
but  fear  of  the  Sherman  law  will  throttle  any 
effort  at  driving  a  little  fellow  out  of  business. 

A  Danger  Zone. 

The  great  danger  is  that  if  the  Sherman  law 
were  done  away  with  the  enforced  co-operation 
under  the  Trade  Commission  act  would  very 
quickly  run  into  a  monopoly.  Seeing  this  danger, 
many  of  the  smaller  operators  are  finding  them¬ 
selves  opposed  to  any  change.  They  prefer  to 
keep  the  Sherman  act  in  force  as  a  corrective 
measure  and  as  really  a  powerful  instrument  to 
drive  men  into  regulated  co-operation. 

The  Possible  Alternative. 

Those  who  see  the  coal  trade  in  its  larger 
aspects  are  convinced  that  while  we  are  well 

started  towards  a  program  which  will  save  the 

coal  trade  from  itself,  we  have  not  yet  arrived 
at  a  satisfying  goal.  That  is,  the  major  difficulty 
of  the  trade  remains  unsolved.  This  difficulty 

is  that  the  supply  of  coal  wliich  must  last  the 

country  for  a  thousand  years  is  still  available  for 
immediate  production.  Therefore  coal  men  may 
co-operate  as  much  as  they  please,  but  if  by  co¬ 
operation  they  succeed  in  making  the  present 
business  profitable  they  will  only  invite  the  open¬ 
ing  up  of  new  mines  to  destroy  that  possibility  of 
profit.  Thus  the  mere  act  of  making  the  busi¬ 
ness  profitable  by  co-operation  will  destroy  the 
effect  of  the  agreement  by  increasing  competi¬ 
tion. 

There  is  need,  therefore,  of  some  control  of 
coal  deposits  in  such  a  way  that  production  may 
he  limited.  This,  because  of  the  size  of  the  de¬ 
posits,  is  impossible  by  the  use  of  capital.  The 
only  ihing  which  can  possibly  attain  that  result 
is  for  the  government  itself  to  hold  the  coal  land 
in  reserve  as  part  of  the  public  domain  and  de¬ 
clare  that  in  future  no  mine  shall  be  opened  until 
the  nation  declares  there  is  a  use  for  it. 

This  suggests  a  possible  alternative  course 
which  the  miners  and  operators  working  together 
can  procure.  That  is,  they  can  carry  on  their 
legislative  campaign,  not  in  trying  to  emasculate 
the  Sherman  act,  but  they  can  seek  to  persuade 
Congress  to  take  the  initial  steps  leading  towards 
a  forced  restriction  of  coal  production. 


326 


THE  BLA(  K  DIAMOND 


[October  23 


Can  Coal  Be  Carried  on  Upper  Mississippi? 


Only  recently  the  Interstate  Commerce  Com¬ 
mission  made  a  ruling  which  seems  to  threaten 
to  give  eastern  coal  the  predominance  in  north¬ 
western  markets  because  the  freight  rate  now 
shows  a  differential  against  western  coal.  The 
fact  which  determined  this  was  an  order  per¬ 
mitting  an  increase  in  freight  rates  on  -western 
coal  of  ten  cents  a  ton,  without  the  railroads 
announcing  a  corresponding  increase  in  freight 
rates  on  eastern  coal. 

To  those  not  intimately  familiar  with  the  coal 
business,  it  seems  strange  that  coal  could  be 
hauled  from  West  Virginia,  Pennsylvania,  and 
Ohio  to  Minnesota  and,  regardless  of  a  higher 
average  mine  price,  undersell  coal  from  Indiana 
and  Illinois.  The  supremacy,  however,  is  ex¬ 
plained  by  the  fact  that  eastern  coal  has  a  rail, 
water,  and  all-rail  haul,  whereas  western  coal 
has  an  all-rail  haul. 

Being  confronted  by  the  alternative  of  losing 
the  northwestern  market  or  finding  some  other 
way  to  get  the  coal  there,  some  of  the  western 
operators  are  beginning  to  suggest; 

Why  not  a  rail,  water  and  rail  haul  on  western 
coal  also?  That  is,  why  not  take  Illinois  coal, 
especially,  over  the  Mississippi  river;  dump  it  on 
barges;  move  it  to  the  northwest;  transfer  it  to 
the  railroads,  and  thus  complete  the  movement? 

There  would  seem  to  be  no  obstacle  in  the  way 
of  such  a  movement  because  eastern  coal  is  mov¬ 
ing  by  rail  to  Lake  Erie,  by  lake  to  the  north¬ 
west,  and  by  rail  again  to  the  interior. _ 

The  western  proposal  brings  up  for  discussion 
a  most  interesting  subject.  From  the  Kanawha 
district  in  West  Virginia,  from  the  Pittsburgh 
district  in  Pennsylvania,  and  from  the  Fairmont 
district  in  West  Virginia,  coal  has  been  moving 
down  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  rivers  for  fifty 
^r  sixty  years.  This  seems  to  make  the  move¬ 
ment  a  success  and  at  least  possible.  However, 
recently  one  large  company  bought  a  mine  be¬ 
cause  it  had  a  river  connection.  A  little  later  it 
sold  it  again  because  the  river  is  a  failure  in 
the  opinion  of  this  operator. 

Another  mine  owner  comments  that  the  largest 
river  shipper  has  never  paid  a  dividend.  A  third 
mine  owner  comments  to  the  effect  that  although 
the  Kanawha  river  has  been  navigable  for  over 
a  half  century,  the  new  mines  which  are  being 
opened  in  that  district  are  shipping  by  all-rail 
only. 

In  view  of  these  facts,  the  natural  comment 
is  made,  by  Illinois  operators,  namely : 

“If  the  coal  producing  districts  which  have  been 
using  the  river  routes  for  so  long  find  them 
impossible  and  now  want  to  abandon  them,  why 
should  Illinois  undertake  it-  Especially  why 
should  Illinois  undertake  navigation  on  the  upper 
reaches  of  the  Mississippi  river  when  the  lower 
portions — which  naturally  are  better,  being  deeper 
— have  already  proved  a  failure?”  There  is  quite 
a  good  deal  of  pertinent  logic  in  that  question. 

However,  before  considering  it  as  either  final 
or  binding,  it  is  perhaps  best  to  become  acquainted 
with  an  interesting  discussion  of  this  subject 
by  J.  H.  Bernhard,  a  member  of  the  American 
Society  of  Civil  Engineers.  It  seems  that  in 
March  of  this  year,  Wm.  W.  Harts,  a  member 
of  that  society,  read  a  paper  on  “rivers  and  rail¬ 
roads  in  the  United  States.”  Some  of  his  notions 
did  not  exactly  appeal  to  Mr.  Bernhard,  who 
wrote  a  letter  to  the  society  which  is  far  more 
important  than  the  paper  which  provoked  it. 

Mr.  Bernhard,  incidentally,  is  a  gentleman  from 
Holland  who  was  attracted  to  this  country  by 
the  tremendous  and  apparent  opportunities  for 
water  transportation  here.  He  has  been  instru¬ 
mental  in  perfecting  a  design  of  boat  which 
will  fit  our  streams.  With  it,  he  is  reviving  the 
Warrior  river  traffic  in  Alabama  with  noteworthy 
results.  Recently  he  has  undertaken  to  adapt 
barges  to  the  needs  of  the  Mississippi  river  and 
has  made  an  experimental  and  demonstration  trip 
up  that  stream.  In  the  paper  in  question  he  dis¬ 
cusses  these  various  enterprises  and  gives  some 
facts  and  figures. 

Among  other  things  his  opening  statement  chal¬ 
lenges  attention  immediately  when  he  quotes 
Charles  S.  Riche,  lieutenant  colonel  of  the  Corps 
of  Engineers  of  the  United  States  Army,  as 
pointing  out  in  1912  that  “there  are  forty-three 
different  kinds  of  lock  dimensions  and  twenty-six 
various  channel  dimensions  in  the  United  States.” 
Then  he  proceeds; 

“As  stated  by  the  writer  in  an  address  before 
the  River  Terminal  Conference  in  St.  Louis  in 
1914,  ‘God  alone  could  build  a  boat  that  would 
meet  economically  such  a  variance  of  conditions.’ 


When  Freight  Rates  are  Thrown  Out  of 
Line  by  Railroad  Action,  the  Coal  Men 
Consider  Using  the  River — What  Bern- 
hard  Says. 

The  railroads,  on  the  other  hand,  have  a  •uniform 
track  and  permit  a  uniform  height,  •  length  and 
width  of  car,  so  that  a  railroad  car  can  go  any¬ 
where  in  the  Ihiited  States,  Mexico  and  Canada. 

“The  author,  remarking  that  the  traffic  on  the 
majority  of  our  inland  water  routes  has  de¬ 
creased,  states,  ‘It  is  apparent  that  the  present 
condition  of  our  water  routes,  as  to  the  depth 
and  availability  of  their  channels,  is  in  advance 
of  the  use  being  made  of  them.’  Does  this  mean 
that,  in  his  estimation,  further  improvement  is 
not  necessary?  If  this  argument  held  true,  the 
poorer  the  roadbed  or  the  poorer  the  street,  the 
less  the  reason  for  improvement.  The  author 
wishes  us  to  believe  such  when  he  states  in  his 
next  sentence ; 

“  ‘Whenever  streams  do  not  show  an  increasing 


traffic  which  is  at  least  approaching  the  increase 
in  commerce  in  the  region  traversed,  it  shows 
that  the  usefulness  of  the  stream  in  question  is 
declining,  and  the  necessity  for  continuing  large 
expenditures  is  open  to  doubt.’ 

“The  writer’s  contention  is  that  the  only  re¬ 
sult  of  such  decline  should  be  the  immediate  in¬ 
vestigation  of  its  cause. 

“Although  entirely  in  accord  with  Major  Bur¬ 
gess,  who  places  the  cause  of  the  decline  on  the 
railroad  rate,  the  writer  would  like  to  add  to 
this  reason  other  equally  important  ones.  Next 
to  the  rate-anarchism,  poor  river  terminals,  ob¬ 
solete  boats,  the  absence  of  proper  connecting 
links  between  existing  routes,  poor  navigation 
laws  and  regulations.  Government  assistance, 
banking  facilities,  and  insurance  rates  are  equally 
important  as  causes  for  the  decline  of  water 
transportation. 

“The  rate  situation  in  the  United  States  is  a 
natural  result  of  former  railroad  abuse.  The 
rail  rates  form  a  most  natural  and  impossible 
fabric  based  on  two  faulty  foundations;  First, 
‘charge  what  the  traffic  will  stand’ ;  and  second, 
‘any  rate  to  meet  water  competition.’ 

“It  is  almost  entirely  correct  to  say  that  there 
is  no  rail  rate  in  the  United  States  based  on 
cost  plus  profit,  although  the  aggregate — the  gross 
receipts  of  the  railroad — is  calculated  in  that 
way.  In  the  preliminary  report  just  published 
by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  for  the 
fiscal  year  ending  June  30,  1914,  the  average  cost 
of  operating,  for  the  railroads  in  the  United 
States,  was  given  as  72.21  per  cent  of  the  gross 
receipts,  and  the  average  receipts  were  0.733  cent 
per  ton-mile.  The  rail  distance  between  New 
Orleans  and  St.  Louis  is  700  miles,  which  would 
give,  as  the  average  charge,  based  on  0.733  cent 
per  ton-mile,  $5.13.  With  these  facts  at  hand, 
examine  some  of  the  following  rates  in  effect  be¬ 
tween  New  Orleans  and  St.  Louis. 

“The  rate  for  bran  is  $2.10;  beef,  $5.00;  beer, 
$4.20;  bridge  materials,  $3.50;  canned  goods, 
$5.20;  cement,  $3.50;  coffee,  $4.60;  condensed 
milk,  $4.20 ;  flour,  $2.80 ;  grain,  $1.80 ;  lumber, 
$4.00;  molasses,  $4.10;  nails,  $4.40;  nitrate  of 
soda,  $3.40  ;  paint,  $4.60  ;  rice,  $4.80  ;  salt,  $4.30  ; 
soap,  $4.60;  sugar,  $3.40,  and  vehicles,  $5.00. 

“As  will  be  seen  from  the  foregoing,  all  these 
charges  are  well  below  the  average,  but  then 
there  might  be  water  service  between  New  Or¬ 
leans  and  St.  Louis. 


“Although  rebates  are  forbidden  by  state  or 
Federal  statutes,  railroads  grant  them  quite  as 
much  today  as  at  any  time  in  the  past,  the  only 
distinction  being  that  formerly  they  were  granted 
to  individuals  surreptitiously,  and  now  they  are 
granted  to  cities  and  towns  openly;  the  former 
became  illegal,  the  latter  is  legalized.  These  re¬ 
bates  arise  from  the  unjust  practice  of  railroads 
in  basing  rates  to  river  points  on  water  com¬ 
petition. 

“The  railroads  say  they  must  be  allowed  to 
meet  competition  of  the  boats,  otherwise  the  boats 
will  take  their  business  between  river  points.  The 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission  admits  this 
claim,  and  allows  the  railroads  to  haul  freight 
to  river  points  at  a  loss,  and  then  recoup  them¬ 
selves  for  this  loss  by  exorbitant  charges  to  off- 
fiver  points.  From  these  facts,  one  of  two 
things  must  be  true ;  either  the  railroads  lose 
money  on  all  hauls  to  river  points,  or  they  get 
excessive  returns  on  hauls  to  off-river  points. 
It  is  plainly  a  rebate  case — ‘robbing  Peter  to  pay 
Paul.’  The  river  towns  are  having  their  freight 
hauled  at  the  expense  of  the  off-river  towns, 
and  pay  for  this  privilege  with  the  loss  of  still 


lower  rates  by  boats ;  and  the  public  loses  all 
around.” 

Mr.  Bernhard  on  another  occasion  said  that 
he  doesn’t  believe  the  waterways  of  America  are 
at  fault.  The  fault  lies  with  the  equipment  which 
we  endeavor  to  use  on  them.  That  is,  we  have 
been  trying  to  do  water  borne  commerce  without 
either  the  boats  or  the  docks  which  fit  into  mod¬ 
ern  conditions.  He  believes  that  the  boat  must 
come  first.  On  this  score,  he  says  that  the  design 
of  the  boat  must  be,  first,  adjusted  to  the  char¬ 
acter  of  the  material  it  is  going  to  have  to  handle 
and,  second,  it  must  conform  to  channel  condi¬ 
tions. 

In  speaking  about  the  docks,  he  reaches  the 
obvious  conclusion — which  has  been  proved  on 
the  lakes  and  on  the  Atlantic  Coast — that  a  dock 
must  conform  to  the  kind  of  boat  which  it  must 
load  and  unload.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that 
the  success  of  lake  transportation  is  due  entirely 
to  the  harmonizing  of  boats  and  the  docks.  There 
can  be  no  doubt  that  the  rapid  growth  of  water¬ 
borne  commerce  in  the  east  is  due  to  the  fact 
that  we  first  got  the  boats  to  carry  coal  only, 
and  then  got  docks  which  would  load  and  unload 
the  coal  with  something  approaching  true  effi¬ 
ciency. 

On  both  scores,  Mr.  Bernhard  is  inclined  to 
insist  that  if  we  want  to  make  the  inland  rivers 
attractive,  we  must  do  in  a  measure  the  same 
things  there  that  we  have  done  on  the  lakes  and 
on  the  Atlantic.  We  must  get  the  boats  to  fit 
the  commerce,  and  then  get  the  docks  to  fit 
the  boats. 

Where  the  Government  Fails 

In  his  comment  on  the  Government  attitude 
towards  water-borne  commerce,  Mr.  Bernhard 
is  inclined  to  be  caustic  and  to  accuse  the  Fed¬ 
eral  Government  of  a  complete  lack  of  ability 
to  analyze  its  own  action.  For  example,  he  says 
that  the  one  branch  of  the  Government  will 
spend  hundreds  of  millions  of  dollars  to  improve 
the  inland  waterways  while  at  the  same  time  an¬ 
other  branch  of  the  Government  is  adopting  a 
policy  which  must  kill  the  water-borne  commerce. 
That  is,  the  rivers  and  harbors  committee  makes 
preparation  for  waterway  improvements  and  the 
engineering  corps  of  the  army  is  kept  constantly 
busy  making  improvements.  Then  the  Inter¬ 
state  Commerce  Commission  not  only  permits, 
but  encourages  the  railroads  to  name  rates  in 


A  Type  of  Coal  Barge  on  the  Warrior  River. 


THE  I5LACK  DIAMOND 


327 


No.  17] 


competition  with  river  traffic  which  will  kill  the 
river  business. 

The  Experimental  Trip 

Speaking  about  a  portion  of  the  experimental 
trip  up  the  Mississippi  river,  Mr.  Bernhard  in 
his  paper  says : 

“These  high  terminal  expenses  are  a  serious 
menace  to  water  transportation  with  the  old- 
fashioned  stern  or  side-wheeler,  and  are  even 
more  unproportionate  and  out  of  all  reason  where 
modern  craft  are  used.  The  1,000-ton,  self-pro¬ 
pelled  barge  that  went  to  St.  P’aul  from  New 
Orleans  in  August,  1914,  brought  this  forcibly  to 
light.  The  most  serious  handicaps  this  barge 
encountered  were  terminals ;  in  almost  every  in¬ 
stance  it  cost  more  to  load  and  unload  the  cargo 
than  to  carry  it  to  the  place  of  destination. 

“The  New  Orleans  freight  was  received, 
watched,  and  loaded,  including  the  receiving 
clerk’s  time,  for  a  total  of  twenty-six  and  one- 
half  cents  per  ton.  The  time  consumed  for  load¬ 
ing  was  five  hours,  or  forty-six  and  one-half  tons 
per  hour,  during  which  time  the  barge  expenses 
increase  at  the  rate  of  $3.86  per  hour,  or  a  total 
of  $19.30. 

“At  Jeffries,  La.,  554.6  tons  of  lumber  were  re¬ 
ceived,  being  loaded  and  unloaded  by  the  ship¬ 
per.  The  loading  took  from  Thursday  at  three 
o’clock  in  the  afternoon,  until  Monday  at  ten 
o’clock  in  the  morning,  working  night  and  day 
and  Sunday,  a  total  of  ninety-one  hours,  or  six 
and  one-tenths  tons  per  hour.  The  loading  cost 
the  shipper  twenty-seven  cents  per  ton.  Loading 
the  lumber  on  the  barge  cost,  in  time  lost,  ninety- 
one  hours,  or  $351.26.  The  entire  cost  of  load¬ 
ing  and  unloading,  to  the  shipper,  was  $245.72, 
and  this,  together  with  the  time  loss  to  the  barge, 
expressed  in  dollars  and  cents,  makes  a  grand 
total  of  $807.35,  as  compared  with  the  transporta¬ 
tion  of  the  entire  lumber  cargo  of  554.6  tons  for 
$998.37,  or  $1.80  per  ton  to  carry  the  lumber 
1,000  miles,  and  $1.46  to  carry  it  to  and  from  the 
barge. 

“VVith  any  proper  semblance  of  an  opportunity, 
this  lumber  should  have  been  loaded  on  the 
barge  in  twelve  hours,  causing  a  saving  in  this 
item  alone  of  seventy-nine  hours,  $305,  and  it 
is  safe  to  say  that  what  now  cost  $807.35  to  load 


and  unload  should  not  have  cost  more  than  $210, 
under  fair  conditions,  permitting  an  increase 
or  decrease  in  rate  of  sixty  per  cent. 

“.A.t  Hannibal,  Missouri,  200  tons  of  cement 
were  loaded,  at  a  total  cost  to  the  shipper  of 
$73,  or  36.5  cents  per  ton.  This  was  done  in 
seven  hours,  or  at  the  rate  of  twenty-eight  and 
one-half  tons  per  hour.  As  the  best  “terminal 
facilities’’  were  found  here,  a  short  description 
follows,  the  writer’s  criticisms  being  such  as  are 
justified  by  usual  and  average  conditions  in 
Europe. 

“Hannibal  is  on  the  Mississippi,  has  a  popula¬ 
tion  of  about  14,000,  and  has  a  fairly  flat  and 
low  bank.  The  city  seems  to  be  prosperous, 
and  its  streets  are  well  paved  and  clean.  The 
railroad  station  is  practically  on  the  river.  The 
main  line  and  some  switch  tracks  of  the  Burling¬ 
ton  Railroad  are  near  the  “river  terminal,’’  being 
about  eighty  feet  from  the  water’s  edge.  This  is 
partly  due  to  the  fact  that  the  river  hank  does 
not  run  in  a  straight  line,  hut  is  irregular.  From 
the  switch  track  nearest  to  the  water,  the  hank 
has  an  easy  slope  to  the  river.  The  hank  is 
paved  with  irregular  cobble-stones  on  which  it 
is  very  difficult  to  walk,  so  that  there  is  little 


wonder  that  the  laborers  who  loaded  the  cement, 
and  crossed  this  path  every  minute  for  seven 
hours,  were  far  from  efficient. 

“The  bank  is  approximately  four  feet  above 
the  water  level,  the  side  having  an  inclination  of 
about  fifteen  degrees  from  the  vertical.  This 
bank  is  made  up  of  stone  blocks  which  appar¬ 
ently  were  meant  to  be  thrown  neatly  on  top  of 
each  other  and  thus  form  a  bank,  but  the  work 
had  been  poorly  done,  for  some  of  the  stones 
were  lying  in  the  river  in  front  of  the  wharf, 
and  one^  could  see  the  rock  blocks  on  the  bot¬ 
tom,  close  to  the  bank,  so  that  any  barge  coming 
near  the  bank  and  being  gradually  loaded,  would 
settle  down  on  these  sharp  blocks,  to  the  great 
detriment  of  the  barge  bottom,  and  preventing  a 
quick  departure  after  the  boat  was  loaded. 

“Just  at  what  would  be  called  the  head  of 
this  ‘river  terminal,’  is  the  wharf  shed  of  the 
Streckfus  Line.  This  projects  into  the  river  about 
twenty-five  or  thirty  feet,  and  in  the  angle  formed 
between  this  wharf-house  and  the  quay,  there 
are  some  piles  which  are  now  rotten.  To  the 
south  of  this  bank,  about  '150  feet  from  the 
Streckfus  wharf,  there  is  another  wooden  shed, 
but  on  the  bank,  and  at  that  point  the  river 
terminal  practically  stops.  A  number  of  small 
and  very  frail  motor  craft  and  rowboats  are 
anchored  nearby,  the  outermost  one  about  thirty 
feet  from  the  river  bank. 

“The  writer  desires  to  state  that  he  is  not 
exaggerating,  but  is  really  describing  what  he 
believes  was  the  best  landing  place  on  the  Mis¬ 
sissippi  river  at  that  date  (August,  1914),  with 
the  exception  of  New  Orleans,  and  equal  to 
those  at  St.  Paul  or  St.  Louis. 

“On  this  bank  the  barge  was  to  receive  200 
tons  of  cement,  at  a  rate  of  fifty  cents  per  ton 
less  than  that  by  rail — or  at  two-thirds  of  the 
rail  rate.  It  might  be  stated  here  that,  besides 
the  loss  in  time  to  the  barge,  the  shipper,  who 
saved  $100  on  his  200  tons  by  freight  rate  dif¬ 
ferences,  paid  $103  for  loading  and  unloading, 
causing  in  the  final  transaction  a  loss  to  him  of 
$3,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  rail  rate 
for  a  distance  of  400  miles  was  reduced  thirty- 
three  per  cent  by  the  barge. 

“Owing  to  the  slope  of  the  wall  and  the  visible 
rock  at  the  bottom  of  the  river,  the  barge  was 


lying  about  three  feet  out  from  the  bank;  luckily 
her  bow  happened  to  be  at  just  about  the  same 
height  as  the  river  bank.  The  Atlas  Cement 
Company,  which  was  to  load  the  cement,  had 
arranged  everything  to  the  best  of  its  ability. 
The  cement  was  in  eight  box  cars  on  the  side 
track.  To  bridge  the  three  feet  gap  between 
the  barge  and  the  shore,  a  temporary  platform 
was  constructed. 

“The  contract  of  transportation  made  with  the 
.^tlas  Cement  Company  stipulated  that  the  barge 
would  carry  no  terminal  facilities,  or  any  fa¬ 
cilities  whatsoever  for  the  handling  of  freight 
(not  even  a  gangplank)  and  that  the  loading  and 
unloading  was  to  he  at  the  expense  of  shipper 
and  consignee.  The  only  gang-plank  on  the 
barge  was  a  two  by  ten  inch  board  for  the  crew. 

“'The  cement  was  taken  from  the  cars  and 
placed  on  horse-drawn  dump-carts,  which  were 
then  drawn  across  the  eighty  feet  of  bank  to  the 
platform,  where  they  were  dumped;  there  the 
liags  of  cement  were  loaded  on  hand  trucks  and 
rolled  on  deck  to  the  place  provided.  This  meth¬ 
od  of  loading  (at  the  best  terminal  on  the  Mis¬ 
sissippi  river  except  New  Orleans)  was  the 
cheapest  and  occupied  the  least  time. 


“While  the  barge  was  being  loaded,  a  deck¬ 
hand  was  kept  busy  sounding  for  rocks,  in  order 
to  prevent  the  barge  from  sticking  on  one  of 
them. 

“A  switching  engine  was  kept  in  waiting  to 
move  the  box  cars  up  to  the  place  where  they 
could  be  unloaded.  The  loading  was  done  at 
the  rate  of  twenty-eight  tons  per  hour.  The 
wages  of  the  engine  driver  and  fireman  amounted 
to,  say,  eighty-four  cents  per  hour;  or,  only  on 
their  account,  the  cost  of  loading  increased  three 
cents  per  ton ;  or,  on  the  tonnage  moved  in 
this  instance  alone,  their  idle  time  would  have 
paid  interest  for  the  entire  year  on  $100  worth 
of  terminal  equipment. 

“On  the  overhead  charges  of  the  barge,  the 
hook  charges,  hull  insurance,  and  liability  insur¬ 
ance,  are  affected  directly  by  the  time  of  loading. 
Indirectly,  the  traveling  expenses  and  administra¬ 
tion  charges  are  increased ;  to  this  is  to  be  added 
the  proper  proportion  of  wages,  and  fuel  for 
light,  subsistence,  supplies,  and  tarpaulin  hire, 
which  gives  the  amount  to  be  used  in  calculating 
the  money  loss  during  the  loading  and  unloading. 
For  fifty-hour  days  and  eight  hours,  this  gives : 


Overhead  book  charge  . $  819.18 

Hull  insurance  .  221.68 

Liability  insurance  .  25.13 

Wages  .  2,244!i3 

Traveling  and  administration  expenses .  1,017.52 

.  29.10 

.Subsistence  .  400.00 

Deck  supplies  .  270.72 


^  $5,027.52 

or  $3.86  per  hour. 

“The  total  cost  of  loading  and  unloading  the 
barge  on  this  trip  was  $1,733.12,  or  sixty-three 
per  cent  of  the  gross  freight  receipts. 

“As  a  final  word  about  the  problem  of  inland 
navigation,  the  quarantine  regulations  which  have 
to  be  contended  with  are  worthy  of  a  few  re¬ 
marks.  Should  there  be  bubonic  plague  in  New 
Orleans,  and  should  a  vessel  leave  for  foreign 
harbors  with  a  health  and  inspection  certificate 
from  the  Federal  health  officers,  then  such  ves¬ 
sel  will  see  such  certificate  honored  wherever  it 
goes;  but  should  the  authorities  in  the  first  har¬ 
bor  it  touches  desire  to  have  it  go  through  cer¬ 
tain  formalities,  then  at  least  all  subsequent  har¬ 
bors  will  not  further  bother  the  vessel  regarding 
its  stay  in  New  Orleans;  but  should  a  craft  turn 
its  prow  upstream,  and  dare  to  remain  within 
the  jurisditcion  of  the  United  States  officials,  then 
any  city  or  state  health  officer,  regardless  of  any 
reasons  to  the  contrary,  and  indifferent  as  to 
the  number  of  former  inspections  and  fumiga¬ 
tions,  may,  on  the  boat’s  arrival  within  his  “sphere 
of  influence,’’  stop,  inspect  and  fumigate  to  his 
heart’s  content;  and  so  it  came  about  that  this 
steel  barge,  which  was  in  New  Orleans  only  six 
hours  during  the  daytime,  while  the  loading  was 
in  progress,  and  had  been  officially  declared  “ab¬ 
solutely  rat-proof,’’  was  frequently  detained  by 
the  various  health  officials  along  the  route  until 
the  very  end  of  its  journey.  At  St.  Paul,  1,921 
miles  from  New  Orleans,  thirty-five  days  after 
its  departure,  it  received  its  last  health  inspec¬ 
tion,  although  it  had  lain  five  days  off  Jeffries, 
three  days  at  St.  Louis,  and  shorter  periods  at 
various  other  places,  had  been  officially  fumi¬ 
gated,  and  had  had  hundreds  of  visitors.  The 
writer  firmly  believes  that  it  escaped  more  seri¬ 
ous  delay  because  many  officials  were  puzzled 
as  to  how  to  fumigate  such  an  air-tight  steel 
structure,  which  had  an  open  engine-room  and 
pilot-house,  carried  its  freight  out  in  the  open 
on  deck,  had  its  hold  sealed  with  water-tight 
1)ulkheads,  and  had  a  deck  without  hatches.  It 
is  possible  that  some  of  these  inspections  were 
due  more  to  curiosity  about  the  construction  of 
the  barge  than  to  sanitary  reasons. 

“The  barge  left  on  July  6th,  at  four  in  the 
afternoon,  and  returned  on  August  29th,  at  two 
in  the  afternoon,  a  total  of  fifty-four  days  and 
eight  hours,  including  loading  and  unloading;  and 
during  that  time  covered  3,843  miles,  spending  240 
hours  and  forty-five  minutes  in  loading  and  un¬ 
loading  1,182  tons.  She  lost  eight  hours  and  four 
minutes  on  account  of  engine  trouble,  was 
grounded  for  174  hours  and  ten  minutes,  or  wait¬ 
ing  for  the  pilots  to  ascertain  the  location  of  the 
channel,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  at  no 
time  was  a  less  depth  than  six  feet  found. 

'The  barge  carried  coffee,  rice,  sugar,  cement, 
molasses,  lumber,  flour,  paper,  and  chemicals. 
Out  of  the  total  of  1,921,000  up-stream  ton-miles 
capacity,  it  delivered  1,066,986  ton-miles,  and  of 
the  1,921,000  down-stream  ton-miles,  it  carried 
183,181  ton-miles,  or  a  total  for  the  round  trip 
of  thirty-two  per  cent  of  the  barge’s  capacity. 
The  total  gross  receipts  were  $2,762.57,  or  2.2  L 
mills  per  ton-mile;  the  same  freight  moved  by 
(Concluded  on  page  332) 


Coal  Barge  at  a  Dock  on  Warrior  River. 


328 


THE  BEA(  K  DIA^rOND. 


[October  23 


The  Coke  Industry  in  1914 


The  production  of  coke  in  1914  was  the  small¬ 
est,  except  in  1908,  in  ten  years,  or  since  1905, 
and  amounted  to  34,555,914  short  tons,  valued  at 
$88,334,217.  Compared  with  1913,  when  the  pro¬ 
duction  was  46,299,530  short  tons,  valued  at  $128,- 
922,273,  the  output  in  1914  decreased  11,743,616 
short  tons,  or  25.4  per  cent,  in  quantity  and  $40,- 
588,056,  or  31.5  per  cent,  in  value. 

The  value  of  coke  has  a  marked  tendency  to 
follow  the  rate  of  production,  answering  in  a  gen¬ 
eral  way  to  the  law  of  supply  and  demand. 
Prices  in  1914  fell  gradually,  with  slackening  de¬ 
mand  and  decline  in  output,  from  the  beginning 
of  the  year  to  the  end,  the  result  bein.g  an  aver¬ 
age  value  obtained  at  the  ovens  of  $2.56,  as  com¬ 
pared  with  $2.78  in  1913.  The  decline  in  value 
was  shared  almost  equally  by  beehive  and  by¬ 
product  coke,  the  former  declining  from  $2.39 
to  $2.15,  or  ten  per  cent,  and  the  latter  from  $3.82 
to  $3.39,  or  eleven  per  cent. 

The  cost  of  coal  to  the  manufactured  per  ton 
of  coke  produced  in  1914  was  $2,166,  or  prac¬ 
tically  the  same  as  in  1913  ($2,169),  and  this  fact, 
considered  with  the  decrease  in  average  value  for 
the  coke,  indicates  that  the  actual  returns  to  the 
producers  were  relatively  less  in  1914  than  in 
1913. 

Of  the  34,555,914  tons  of  coke  made  in  1914  in 
the  United  States,  23,335,971  tons  were  beehive 
or  oven  coke,  valued  at  $50,254,050,  and  11,219,- 
943  tons,  valued  at  $38,080,167,  were  by-product 
or  retort  coke.  In  1913  the  production  of  oven 
coke  was  33,584,830  tons,  valued  at  $80,284,421, 
and  that  of  retort  coke  was  12,714,700  tons, 
valued  at  $48,637,852.  From  this  it  appears  that 
only  12.7  per  cent  of  the  decrease  in  quantity  was 
in  by-product  coke  and  87.3  per  cent  was  in  oven 
coke. 

The  decrease  in  the  production  of  retort  Coke 
in  1914  was  1,494,757  short  tons,  or  11.8  per  cent; 
the  beehive  output  decreased  10,248,859  tons,  or 
30.5  per  cent.  With  the  exception  of  two  years, 
1908  and  1914,  the  production  of  by-product  coke 
has  increased  each  year  since  the  first  ovens  were 
completed  at  Syracuse,  N.  Y.,  in  1893.  Except 
in  1909  the  percentage  of  by-product  coke  to  the 
total  has  increased  each  year ;  in  1901  it  was  5.4 ; 
in  1910  it  was  17.1;  in  1912  it  was  25.3;  in  1913 
it  was  27.5;  and  in  1914,  32.5.  The  average 
value  per  ton  for  oven  coke  in  1914  was  $2.15 
a.gainst  $2.39  in  1913.  The  average  value  for 
retort  coke  was  $3.39  in  1914  as  compared  with 
$3.82  in  1913.  As  explained  in  previous  reports, 
the  higher  value  of  retort  coke  is  due  not  to  the 
superior  quality  of  that  product  but  to  the  fact 
that  the  retort  ovens  are  located  at  considerable 
distances  from  the  coal  mines  and  at  or  near  the 
centers  of  consumption  where  markets  for  the 
gas  and  other  by-products  as  well  as  for  the  coke 
are  available.  Hence  the  expenses  of  transporta¬ 
tion  are  borne  by  the  coal  and  are  added  to  the 
value  of  the  coal  as  charged  into  the  ovens.  An 
equivalent  value  is  necessarily  added  to  the  coke. 
The  beehive  and  similar  types  of  ovens  are,  on 
the  other  hand,  located  in  the  immediate  vicinity 
of  the  mines  and  the  expenses  of  transportation 
are  borne  by  the  coke,  and  the  beehive  coke  thus 
costs  the  ultimate  consumer  as  much  as  the  ap¬ 
parently  higher-valued  retort  coke. 

Connellsville  coke  has  for  many  years  been  the 
standard  furnace  coke  of  the  United  States  and 
the  Connellsville  re.gion  is  the  only  one  for  which 
weekly  reports  on  the  trade  conditions  are  made 
to  the  technical  journals.  The  Connellsville 
Courier  presents  each  week  a  comprehensive  re¬ 
view  of  conditions  affecting  the  demand  and  the 
prices  for  the  commodity  which  has  been  the 
mainstay  of  the  region. 

The  coal  consumed  in  the  manufacture  of  coke 
in  1914  was  51,623,750  short  tons,  valued  at  $74,- 
949,565,  as  compared  with  69,239,190  tons,  valued 
at  $100,561,439  in  1913.  The  value  of  the  coke 
made  in  1914  was  $88,334,217,  the  difference  be¬ 
tween  the  cost  of  the  coal  and  the  value  of  the 
coke  made  from  it  being  $13,384,652,  which,  less 
the  cost  of  manufacture  and  expenses  of  admin¬ 
istration,  represents  the  profits  on  the  coke-mak¬ 
ing  operations.  In  1913  the  value  of  the  coke 
was  $128,922,273,  and  the  difference  between  that 
and  the  cost  of  the  coal  was  $28,360,834. 

In  1913  there  was  a  net  increase  of  420  in  the 
total  number  of  ovens,  although  2,833  ovens,  all 
of  the  beehive  type,  were  abandoned  during  that 
year.  At  the  close  of  1914  there  were  2,895  less 
ovens  in  existence  than  at  the  be,ginning  of  the 
year.  There  were  192  retort  ovens  constructed 
during  the  year,  out  of  a  total  of  779,  so  that  the 
new  installations  of  beehive  or  partial  combustion 
type  aggregated  587.  The  total  number  of  ovens 


and  retorts  in  operation  in  the  United  States  de¬ 
creased  in  1914  from  102,650  to  99,755,  a  net  loss 
of  2,895.  As  the  retort  ovens  showed  an  increase 
of  121,  there  was  a  net  decrease  of  3,016  in  the 
number  of  beehive  ovens  in  existence  in  1914 
compared  with  1913.  In  addition  to  the  number 
of  ovens  abandoned  during  1914  there  were  45,117 
idle,  of  which  667  were  retorts  and  44,450  were 
beehive  ovens.  The  44,450  idle  beehive  ovens 
included  21,801,  which  were  the  entire  equipment 
of  177  idle  establishments.  The  statement  re- 
gardin.g  the  number  of  idle  ovens  represents  only 
those  which  were  idle  during  the  entire  year  and 
does  not  include  any  ovens  which  were  idle  dur¬ 
ing  a  portion  of  the  time  only  and  which  con¬ 
tributed  to  the  output  in  1914.  The  number  of 
ovens  and  retorts  in  blast  during  the  whole  or  a 
portion  of  1914  was  54,638,  as  compared  with  72,- 
008  active  ovens  and  retorts  in  1913.  The  54,638 
active  ovens  and  retorts  included  5,142  retorts 
and  49,496  beehive  ovens.  As  the  5,142  retorts 
produced  a  total  of  11,219,943  tons  of  coke,  the 
average  production  for  each  retort  was  nearly 
2,200  tons;  the  49,496  beehive  ovens  produced  23,- 
335,971  tons,  or  an  average  of  a  little  over  470 
tons  per  oven.  In  1913  there  were  5,531  retorts 
which  produced  an  avera.ge  of  2,300  tons  per  oven, 
and  66,477  beehive  ovens  which  produced  an  aver¬ 
age  of  505  tons  per  oven.  The  new  ones  in  course 
of  construction  at  the  close  of  1914  numbered 
1,249,  of  which  644  were  retorts  and  605  were 
beehive  ovens. 

The  tendency  to  consolidate  into  large  units  is 
exhibited  in  the  manufacture  of  coke,  as  in  other 
branches  of  industry,  and  the  number  of  coke¬ 
making  establishments  has  shown  a  steady  de¬ 
crease  since  1909,  when,  on  December  31,  there 
were  579  coke-making  establishments  in  the 
United  States.  At  the  close  of  1910  the  number 
of  establishments  had  decreased  to  578,  at  the 
close  of  1911  to  570,  in  1912  to  559,  in  1913  to  551, 
and  in  1914  to  536.  Although  the  total  number 
of  establishments  in  the  United  States  decreased 
15  in  1914,  the  number  of  by-product  plants  in¬ 
creased  four,  whereas  the  plants  usin.g  beehive 
ovens  decreased  19.  There  were  5  establishments 
with  a  total  of  231  ovens  ‘under  construction  at 
the  close  of  1914.  Four  of  the  new  establish¬ 
ments  with  a  total  of  171  ovens  were  retort  oven 
plants. 

The  statistics  of  production  of  coke  in  1913  and 
1914  are  presented,  by  states,  in  the  following 
tables : 


Production  in  Previous  Years. 

The  first  record  of  the  quantity  of  coke  made 
in  the  United  States  was  in  1880,  when,  accord¬ 
ing  to  the  report  of  the  Tenth  United  States 
Census,  the  production  is  stated  to  have  been 
3,338,300  short  tons.  The  annual  production  since 
1880  has  been  published  in  this  series  of  reports, 
the  present  chapter  completing  the  record  of 
thirty-five  years,  which  is  shown  in  the  follow¬ 
ing  table: 

QU.\NTITY  OF  COKE  PRODUCED  IN  THE  UNITED 
STATES,  1880-1914,  IN  SHORT  TONS. 


1880  . 

1898 

1881  . 

.  4.113,760 

1599  . . . 

1882  . 

.  4,793,321 

1900  .  .  . 

1883  . 

.  5,464,721 

1901  ... 

1884  . 

1902  ... 

1885  . 

1903  ... 

1886  . 

.  6,845,369 

1904  ... 

1887  . 

1905  ... 

1888  . 

1900 

1889  . 

1907  . .  . 

1890  . 

1908  ... 

1891  . 

1909  ... 

1802  . 

. 12,010,829 

1010  .  .  . 

1893  . 

1911 

1894  . 

1912  ... 

1895  . 

. 13,333,714 

1913  .  .  . 

1896  . 

1914  ... 

1897  . 

. 13,288,984 

. 19 

. 20 

. 21 

. 25 

. 25 

. 23 

. 32 

. 36 

. 40 


.39 

.41, 

.35 


,047,209 

,668,569 

,.533,348 

,795,883 

,401,730 

,274,281 

,661,106 

,231,129 

,401,217 

,779,564 

,033,518 

,315,065 

,708,810 

,551,489 

,983,599 

,299,530 

,555,914 


Of  the  fifteen  coke-producing  states  for  which 
the  statistics  may  be  separately  published,  there 
were  three  in  which  the  production  increased  in 
1914,  and  twelve  in  which  the  output  decreased. 
More  than  seventy  per  cent  of  the  total  decrease 
was  in  Pennsylvania,  which  showed  a  decrease 
of  8,495,051  short  tons  out  of  a  total  for  the 
United  States  of  11,743,616  tons.  The  largest 
percenta.ge  of  decrease  was  in  Georgia,  which 
was  18,230  tons,  or  42.7  per  cent,  less  than  in 
1913.  Virginia  with  a  decrease  of  40.1  per  cent 
and  New  York  with  39.7  per  cent  followed 
Georgia  in  order  of  percentage  of  decrease. 
Ohio  with  a  gain  of  169,792  tons,  or  48.3  per 
cent;  Kentucky,  with  126,875,  or  forty  per  cent; 
and  Washington,  with  8,702  tons,  or  11.4  per 
cent,  were  the  only  States  reported  separately 
that  recorded  increases  in  1914. 

In  the  following  table  is  shown  the  produc¬ 
tion  of  coke  by  states  durin.g  the  last  five  years, 
with  the  increase  and  decrease  in  1914  as  com¬ 
pared  with  1913  : 


State — 

Alabama  . 

Colorado  . 

Georgia  . 

Illinois  . 

Indiana  . 

Kansas  . 

Kentucky  . 

Missouri  . 

Montana  . 

New  Jersey.  .  • 
New  Mexico... 

New  York . 

Ohio  .  . . 

Oklahoma  ^  • 

Pennsylvania  . 
Tennessee  .  .  •  . 

Virginia  . 

Washington  .  . 
West  Virginia. 

Maryland . 

Massachusetts .  . 

Michigan . 

Minnesota . 

Utah.... . 

Wisconsin . 


Establish¬ 

ments. 


4fi 

1.5 

2 

4 

f> 

1 

y 

3 
1 

4 
4 
7 
2 

2T() 

1.5 

18 

f) 

124 


Total 


551 


Alabama  .  38 

Colorado  .  14 

Georgia  .  2 

Illinois  .  4 

Indiana  . 

Kansas  . 

Kentucky  . 

Missouri  . 

Montana  . 

New  Jersey . 

New  Mexico . 

New  York . . 

Ohio  . 

Oklahoma  . 

Pennsylvania  . 

Tennessee  . 

Virginia  .  1” 

Washington  . .  ^ 

West  Virginia . ^ 

Maryland . 

Massachusetts . 

Michigan . 

Minnesota . 

Utah.... . 

Wisconsin . 


1 

9 

.3 

1 

4 
1 

5 
o 

274 

14 


10 


Total 


530 


'URE  OF 

COKE, 

BY  STATES, 

IN  1913 

AND  1914. 

1913. 

Yield 

/ - Ovens - N 

of  Coal 

Coke 

Total 

Built. 

Building. 

Coal  I'sed 

in  Coke, 

Produced 

Value 

bhort  ions. 

Pet. 

Short  Tons. 

of  Coke. 

per  Ton. 

10,284 

20 

5,218,323 

63.6 

3,323,664 

$  9,627,170 

$2.90 

3,588 

1,349,743 

65.1 

879,461 

2,815,134 

3.20 

251 

82,871 

51.5 

42,747 

186,304 

4.35 

568 

58 

2,481,198 

74.9 

1,859,553 

8,593,581 

4.62 

749 

2 

41 

3,535,136 

77.1 

2,727,025 

13,182,136 

4.83 

1,049 

100 

512,245 

61.9 

317,084 

753,897 

2'38 

56 

351 

150 

339,351 

75.4 

255,792 

695,041 

772 

1,030 

788,172 

59.4 

467,945 

1,548,536 

3.31 

555 

1.067,207 

71.1 

758,486 

3,301,400 

4.35 

471 

ii9 

507,417 

69.3 

351,846 

1,231,554 

3.50 

200 

55,058 

582 

43,195,801 

66.6 

28,753,444 

67,929,864 

'2].36 

2,427 

694,085 

52.5 

364,578 

925,430 

2.50 

5,695 

ioo 

2.015,259 

64.7 

1,303,603 

2,840,275 

2.18 

331 

118,786 

64.2 

76,221 

432,770 

5.68 

17,826 

35 

4,034,251 

61.3 

2,472,752 

5,504,416 

2.23 

2,005 

210 

3,299,345 

71.1 

2,345,329 

9,354,765 

3.99 

102,650 

1,321 

69,239,190 

66.9 

46,299,530 

.$128,922,273 

$2.78 

1914. 

9,285 

4,678,196 

65.9 

3,084,149 

$  8,408,443 

$2.73 

3,573 

1,048,251 

63.5 

666,083 

2,203,031 

3.30 

201 

45,298 

54.1 

24,517 

100,529 

4.10 

580 

40 

1,932,132 

73.8 

1,425,168 

5,858,700 

4.11 

780 

2 

33 

3,125,207 

72. S 

2,276,652 

9,055,937 

3.98 

1,151 

672,624 

66.0 

443,959 

971,060 

2.19 

56 

351 

150 

328,921 

77.6 

255,283 

680,972 

2.67 

1,030 

660,501 

54.9 

362,572 

1,228,045 

3.39 

555 

ioo 

659,418 

69.0 

457,370 

1,726,133 

3.77 

538 

51 

745,097 

70.0 

521,638 

1,678,686 

3.21 

260 

54,075 

867 

30,286.961 

66.9 

20,258,393 

42,447,886 

2.10 

2,303 

12 

487,446 

54.2 

264,127 

642,573 

2.43 

5,435 

1,319,901 

59.2 

780,984 

1,582,419 

2.02 

336 

133.349 

63.7 

84,923 

472,.531 

5.56 

17,120 

2,316,309 

01.6 

1,427,962 

2,847,284 

1.99 

2.015 

90 

.3,181,139 

69. S 

2,222,134 

8,429,988 

1 

i  3 

90,755 

1.249 

51.623,750 

66.9 

34,555,914 

$88,334,217 

$2.56 

No.  17] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


329 


QUANTITY  OF  COKE  PRODUCED  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES,  1910-1914,  BY  STATES,  IN  SHORT  TONS, 

WITH  INCREASE  AND  DECREASE  IN  1914.  , - Decrease - ^ 


State — 

1910. 

1911. 

1912. 

1913. 

1914. 

Quantity. 

Pet. 

Alabama  . 

.  3,249,027 

2,761,521 

2.975,489 

3,323,664 

3,084,149 

239,515 

7.2 

Colorado 

• 

.  tl.346,211 

951,748 

972,941 

879,461 

666,083 

213,378 

24.3 

Georgia  . 

.  43,814 

37,553 

43,158 

42,747 

24,517 

18,230 

42.7 

Illinois  . 

.  1.. '■>14, 504 

1,610,212 

1,764,944 

1,859,553 

1,425,168 

434,385 

24.5 

Indiana  . 

.  t 

.  .  . .  J 

916,411 

t 

2,616,339 

t 

191,555 

2,727,025 

2,276,652 

450,373 

16.5 

Kentucky  . 

66,099 

317,084 

443,959 

■*126,875 

*40.0 

New  Jersey .  .  •  • 
New  Mexico .  .  . 

.  t 

t 

270,429 

255,792 

255,283 

509 

.02 

.  401,040 

381,927 

413,906 

467,945 

362,572 

105,373 

22.5 

New  York . 

.  652,459 

686,172 

794,618- 

758,486 

457,370 

301,116 

39.7 

Ohio  . 

.  282,315 

311,382 

388,669 

351,846 

521,638 

*169,792 

*48.3 

Pennsylvania  .  . 

.  26,315,607 

21,923,935 

27,438,693 

28,753,444 

20,258,393 

8,495,051 

29.5 

Tennessee  . 

.  322,756 

330,418 

370,076 

364,578 

264,127 

100,451 

27.6 

Utah  . 

.  § 

t 

t 

t 

t 

t 

t 

Virginia  . 

.  1,493,655 

910,411 

967,947 

1,303,603 

780,984 

522,619 

40.1 

Washington 

.  59,937 

40,180 

49,260 

76,221 

84,923 

*8,702 

*11.4 

West  Virginia.. 

2,291,049 

2,465,986 

2,259,589 

2,472,752 

1,427,962 

2,222,134 

1,044,790 

42.3 

Other  states.  .  •  • 

.  2,169,772 

2,332,471 

2,345,329 

123,195 

5.3 

Total  . 

35,551,489 

43,983,599 

46,299,530 

34,555,914 

11,743,616 

25.4 

^Increase  in  quantity  of  coke  produced,  1914. 
tincludes  Utah. 

^Included  with  other  states  having  less  than  three  producers. 
§Included  with  Colorado. 


In  the  following  table  is  given  a  statement  of 
the  establishments,  the  number  of  ovens  built 
and  building,  the  quantity  of  coal  used,  the  per¬ 
centage  yield  of  coal  in  coke,  the  quantity  and 
the  value  of  the  coke  produced,  and  the  average 
value  per  ton  for  the  years  1880,  1890,  1900,  and 
from  1910  to  1914,  inclusive : 

Value  of  Coke  Produced. 

As  has  already  been  indicated,  the  prices  for 
coke  during  1914  averaged  lower  than  in  1913, 
and  every  state  with  the  exception  of  Colorado, 
New  Mexico,  and  Wisconsin,  showed  a  larger 
percentage  of  loss  or  a  less  percentage  of  gain 
in  the  value  than  in  the  quantity  of  the  coke 
produced.  The  total  value  of  the  coke  pro¬ 
duced  in  the  United  States  decreased  from  $128,- 
922,273  in  1913  to  $88,334,217  in  1914,  a  loss  of 
$40,588,056,  or  31.5  per  cent.  The  percentage  of 
decrease  in  quantity  was  25.4  per  cent.  Nearly 
two-thirds  of  the  total  decrease  m  value  occurred 
in  Pennsylvania,  whose  production  for  1914  was 


valued  at  $25,481,978  less  than  that  of  1913. 
Indiana  was  second  in  order  of  decreased  value, 
with  a  fallin.g  off  of  $4,126,199  in  1914  as  com¬ 
pared  with  1913.  The  value  of  the  output  of 
Illinois  and  West  Virginia  decreased  more  than 
$2,000,000  each,  and  that  of  Alabama,  Virginia, 
and  New  York  more  than  $1,000,000  each.  The 
value  of  the  retort  coke  produced  was  $38,080,- 
167,  a  loss  of  $10,557,685,  or  21.7  per  c'ent  in 
1914,  as  compared  with  1913,  and  that  of  oven 
or  beehive  coke  was  $50,254,050,  a  decline  of 
$30,030,371,  or  37.4  per  cent.  In  quantity,  retort 
coke  showed  a  decrease  of  11.8  per  cent,  and 
oven  coke  of  30.5  per  cent. 

In  the  following  tables  are  presented  state¬ 
ments  showing  the  value  of  the  coke  produced 
in  the  several  states  for  the  last  five  years,  with 
the  quantity  and  percentage  of  increase  and  de¬ 
crease  in  1914  as  compared  with  1913,  and  the 
total  value  of  the  coke  produced  in  the  United 
States  in  each  year  since  1880. 


STATISTICS 

OF  THE  MANUFACTURE 

OF  COKE 

IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  IN 

1880,  1890,  1910-14. 

Percentage 

Value  of 

Yield 

Coke 

'iota!  Value 

Coke  at 

Establish- 

Coal  Used, 

of  Coal 

Produced, 

of  Coke 

Ovens, 

Year — 

ments. 

Built. 

Building. 

Short  Tons. 

in  Coke. 

Short  Tons. 

at  Ovens. 

per  Ton. 

1880 . 

.  186 

12,372 

1,159 

5,237,741 

63.0 

3,338,300 

$  6,631,267 

$1.99 

1890 . 

.  253 

37,158 

1,547 

18,005,209 

64.0 

11,508,021 

23,215,302 

2.02 

1900 . 

58,484 

5,804 

32,113,553 

63.9 

20,533,348 

47,443,331 

2.31 

1910 . 

. 578 

104,440 

2,567 

63,088,327 

66.1 

41,708,810 

99,742,701 

2.39 

1911 . 

.  570 

103,879 

2,254 

53,278,248 

66.7 

35,551,489 

84,130,849 

2.37 

1912 . 

.  559 

102,230 

2,783 

65,577,862 

67.1 

43,983,599 

111,805,113 

2.54 

1913 . 

.  551 

102,650 

1,321 

69,239,190 

66.9 

46,299,530 

128,922,273 

2.78 

1914 . 

.  536 

99,755 

1,249 

51,623,750 

66.9 

34,555,914 

88,334,217 

2.56 

Bearing  of  the  Kellogg  Price-Fixing  Decision. 


Recently  another  court  decision  has  been 
handed  down  on  the  ever-fascinating  question  of 
price-fixing.  In  order  to  see  how  it  affected  the 
general  situation,  as  explained  from  time  to 
time  in  these  articles,  I  have  obtained  a  copy  of 
the  decree,  and  also  a  statement  from  the  manu¬ 
facturer  against  whom  the  decision  was  ren¬ 
dered.  The  case  was  that  brought  by  the  United 
States  Government  against  the  Kellogg  Toasted 
Corn  Flakes  Company  in  the  United  States  Court 
of  the  Southern  District  of  Michigan. 

Several  months  ago  the  Government  began 
suit  against  the  Kellogg  Company  on  the  ground 
that  its  method  of  selling  its  corn  flakes  was  a 
violation  of  the  anti-trust  acts  and  an  interfer¬ 
ence  with  competition.  The  plan  which  the 
Government  objected  to  was  this;  The  Kellogg 
Company  sells  corn  flakes  in  cartons.  Its  in¬ 
variable  price  to  the  retailer  in  any  quantity  is 
$2.80  per  case,  and  the  fixed  price  to  the  con¬ 
sumer  is  ten  cents  a  carton.  The  Kellogg  Com¬ 
pany  got  a  patent  on  its  carton,  having  no  con¬ 
nection  with  its  corn  flakes,  and  claimed  that 
this  gave  it  all  rights  that  any  patentee  had  to 
fix  the  price  at  which  its  product  should  be  sold 
by  jobber  and  retailer. 

At  that  time  it  controlled  the  jobber  by  mak¬ 
ing  him  agree  to  resell  only  at  $2.80  and  threat¬ 
ening  him  with  penalties  if  he  did  not,  and  it 
controlled  the  retailer  by  notifying  him  and  prac¬ 
tically  making  him  agree  to  resell  only  at  ten 
cents.  In  addition  to  this,  every  package  bore 
this  notice : 

“This  package  and  its  contents  are  sold  con¬ 
ditionally  by  us  with  the  distinct  understanding, 
which  understanding  is  a  condition  of  the  sale, 
that  the  package  and  contents  shall  not  be  re¬ 
tailed  nor  advertised,  nor  offered  for  sale  at  less 
than  ten  cents  per  package.  Retailing  the  pack¬ 
ages  at  less  than  ten  cents  per  package  is  a 
violation  of  the  conditions  of  sale,  and  is  an 
infringement  on  our  patent  rights,  and  renders 
the  vender  liable  to  prosecution  as  an  infringer. 


Kellogg  Toasted  Corn  Flake  Co.,  Battle  Creek, 
Mich.’’ 

Both  jobber  and  retailer  were  notified  that  if 
they  broke  the  price  they  would  be  cut  off.  In 
one  case  a  buyer  did  break  the  price  and  was 
sued  by  the  Kellogg  Company  in  a  state  court, 
which  upheld  the  legality  of  the  plan  by  grant¬ 
ing  an  injunction. 

There  were  some  legal  skirmishes  over  the 
Government’s  case,  and  the  Kellogg  Company 
finally  agreed  that  the  court  should  make  a  decree 
against  it  enjoining  it  as  follows: 

“(a)  From  requiring  jobbers  to  enter  into  any 
agreement  or  understanding  to  resell  toasted 
corn  flakes  purchased  from  defendants  at  a  price 
fixed  by  defendants,  and  from  suggesting  to  said 
jobbers,  in  writing  or  otherwise,  that  if  they 
fail  or  refuse  to  observe  said  fixed  price  they 
will  be  cut  off  from  a  further  supply  of  said 
product. 

“(b)  From  exacting  in  any  manner  from  re¬ 
tailers  of  toasted  corn  flakes  any  agreement  or 
understanding  that  they  shall  sell  the  same  at  a 
price  fixed  by  defendants,  and  from  suggesting 
to  said  retailers,  in  writing  or  otherwise,  that 
if  they  fail  or  refuse  to  observe  said  fixed  price 
they  will  be  cut  off  from  a  further  supply  of 
said  product. 

“(c)  From  packing  or  selling  said  toasted  corn 
flakes  in  cartons  or  boxes  having  thereon  the  fol¬ 
lowing  notice,  to  wit:  (text  of  this  notice  ap¬ 
pears  above.)’’ 

The  Kellogg  Company  very  kindly  sent  me  the 
following  statement  giving  their  interpretation — 
and  I  suppose  their  counsel’s — of  the  decree : 

“We  fought  the  case  vigorously  and  recently, 
after  consultation  with  the  best  legal  advice  that 
we  could  secure  and  with  others  interested  in 
price  maintenance,  came  to  an  agreement  with 
the  United  States  attorneys  upon  an  amicable 
settlement  and  an  agreed  decree  that  enjoins 
certain  practices  which  the  Government  officials 


view  with  disfavor  and  which  we  have  not  used 
for  some  years. 

“It,  however,  preserves  to  us  our  basic  sales 
right  of  selecting  our  customers,  providing  there 
is  no  conspiracy,  agreement  or  understanding 
with  others  in  reference  to  whom  we  shall  select. 
The  decision  enjoins  us  from  requiring  either 
jobbers  or  retailers  to  enter  into  an  agreement 
or  understanding  to  resell  the  Toasted  Corn 
Flakes  purchased  from  us  at  a  price  fixed  by 
us,  and  from  stating  that  if  they  fail  to  observe 
said  fixed  price  they  will  be  cut  off  from  further 
supply.  It  further  enjoins  us  from  printing  on 
our  boxes  and  cartons  the  notice  which  formerly 
appeared  there. 

“For  some  years,  as  you  know,  we  have  had 
no  contracts  with  jobbers  or  retailers  aside  from 
the  patent  notice  on  our  cartons  as  to  resale 
price,  and  as  we  have  had  no  such  contract  we 
obviously  have  not  endeavored  to  enforce  such; 
and  in  view  of  this  widely  known  fact  the  con¬ 
sent  decree  only  prohibits  old  and  abandoned 
methods. 

“The  patent  notice  we  will  discontinue,  al¬ 
though  when  we  adopted  this  notice  it  was  upon 
competent  legal  advice  and  in  good  faith,  be¬ 
lieving  it  to  be  lawful.  Since,  however,  the 
court  believes  it  not  legally  justified,  we  agreed 
to  abandon  it.’’ 

Now  let  us  see  how  all  this  fits  into  the 
situation  as  to  the  price-fixing  law,  as  it  existed 
before.  It  does  not  affect  it  at  all.  When  the 
suit  was  begun,  the  Kellogg  Company  sold  only 
to  jobbers,  which  indeed  is  its  present  practice. 
It  was  going  to  jobbers  and  making  them  sign 
an  agreement — it  stopped  this  some  time  ago — 
on  penalty  of  being  cut  off,  to  resell  at  $2.80.  It 
could  not  go  to  all  the  retailers,  since  it  did 
not  sell  them,  but  it  made  it  clear  to  retailers 
in  various  ways,  which  included  the  notice  re¬ 
produced  above,  that  they  must  resell  at  ten 
cents,  or  they  would  find  their  supplies  cut  off. 
The  latter  result  the  Kellogg  Company  would 
bring  about  by  forcing  the  jobber  who  had  sold 
the  cutter  to  cut  him  off. 

The  court  says  now  that  the  Kellogg  Company 
and  of  course  any  other  manufacturer,  may  not 
require  jobbers  to  sign  or  make  agreements  to 
resell  at  a  certain  price,  and  may  not  threaten 
those  jobbers  to  cut  them  off  if  they  do  not  so 
resell.  Nor  may  it  notify  retailers  to  sell  at  a 
certain  price  or  threaten  to  interfere  with  those 
retailers’  supplies  if  they  do  not.  But  what  does 
all  this  amount  to,  in  the  way  of  taking  from 
the  Kellogg  Company  any  power  that  it  had 
before  to  stop  cutting?  Nothing,  as  I  see  it, 
for  the  Kellogg  Company’s  right  to  choose  its 
own  customers,  to  sell  or  not  to  sell,  has  not 
been  and  cannot  be  interfered  with.  The  job¬ 
bers  all  know  what  price  the  Kellogg  Company 
expects  them  to  sell  corn  flakes  for ;  suppose 
one  of  them  sells  at  $2.65  or  $2.70?  No  arrange¬ 
ment  has  been  made  between  the  jobber  and 
the  Kellogg  Company  that  the  price  should  not 
be  cut — there  is  neither  contract,  suggestion  nor 
the  hint  of  it.  But  the  Kellogg  Company  merely 
exercises  its  fundamental  right  of  choosing  its 
customers  and  cuts  the  jobber  off.  And  as  the 
jobber  knows  it  will  do  that,  and  probably  doesn’t 
wish  to  be  cut  off,  the  same  result  is  accom¬ 
plished  without  an  agreement  or  a  threat,  and 
he  holds  the  price. 

As  to  the  retailer — the  Kellogg  Company  doesn’t 
sell  retailers — the  company  has  the  same  rights 
that  it  had  before  to  stop  retail  cutting  and  to 
interfere  with  the  supplies  of  a  retail  cutter.  It 
had  no  real  right  before  and  it  has  none  now-— 
except  to  learn  the  name  of  the  jobber  who  is 
selling  the  cutter  and  to  cut  that  jobber  off.  It 
can  do  that  just  as  freely  today  under  the  above 
decree  as  it  could  before,  and  nobody  can  ques¬ 
tion  it  in  the  slightest  degree.  In  other  words, 
what  a  manufacturer  may  not  do  by  agreement, 
understanding,  suggestion  or  threat,  it  can_  do 
just  as  effectively  through  his  fundamental  right 
of  choosing  his  own  customers. 

That  is  why  in  my  judgment  the  latest  decree 
not  only  has  no  special  bearing  on  the  price¬ 
fixing  situation,  but  will  probably  have  none  on 
the  Kellogg  Company’s  methods  of  selling  its 
product,  or  the  methods  of  any  other  manu¬ 
facturer. 

(Copyright,  October,  1915,  by  Elton  J.  Buckley.) 


Eight  cargoes  of  bituminous  and  none  of 
anthracite  arrived  at  Fort  William,  Ont.,  last 
week,  three  being  in  American  stpmers  and  the 
others  in  Canadian  bottoms.  Dispatch  is_  fast. 
Car  shipments  to  western  Canada  are  still  in¬ 
creasing  and  while  stocks  are  being  held  down, 
it  is  said  in  advices  from  the  Canadian  head  of 
the  lakes  that  there  is  no  danger  of  shortage. 


330 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[October  23 


The  Mine  Clearing  House. 


“First  Aid”  Put  Into  Practice. 

A  great  deal  lias  been  written  on  the  subject 
of  first  aid  to  the  injured,  about  the  apparatus 
used,  the  efficiency  of  the  various  teams  and  the 
annual  outing  given  by  the  large  mining  com¬ 
panies  to  further  the  interests  in  this  nohle  move¬ 
ment.  However,  very  little  has  been  said  con¬ 
cerning  the  actual  work  done. 

ill  Foster's  tunnel,  a  water  level  opening  of  the 
Lehigh  Coal  &  Navigation  Company,  nine  men 
were  entombed  for  a  period  of  six  days  and  five 
hours,  behind  a  compact  mass  of  coal,  timber  and 
other  debris,  by  a  rush  of  water  from  an  aban¬ 
doned  working.  One  of  the  men  had  his  dinner 
pail  with  him.  There  was  also  a  small  amount 
of  “miner's  sunshine,”  a  tallow  compound  which 
is  burned  in  miners’  lamps.  This  comprised  the 
supiily  of  nourishment  on  which  the  men  existed 
during  the  time  they  were  entombed. 

Immediately  after  word  had  been  given  out 
that  an  accident  had  occurred  rescue  parties  and 
first  aid  corps  were  formed  to  open  up  the  closed 
gangway  and  to  be  in  readiness  to  give  such  aid 
as  was  necessary  in  the  rescue  work.  After 
six  days  and  five  hours  of  nerve  wrecking  en¬ 
deavors,  the  men  were  located  up  a  chute,  all 
alive  but  somewhat  weakened  from  the  lack  of 
nourishment  and  the  terrible  strain.  Upon  be¬ 
ing  taken  from  the  chute  a  cup  of  \varm  coffee 
and  when  necessary  a  hypodermic  injection  was 
given  to  each  man  by  the  company  physician, 
who  in  turn  wrote  on  a  slip  of  paper  what  treat¬ 
ment  had  been  given  each  man.  This  paper  was 
given  to  the  captain  of  the  stretcher  squad  and 
was  finally  delivered  to  the  physician  in  charge 
of  the  Panther  Valley  hospital  where  the  men 
were  taken  to  recuperate. 

The  work  of  the  rescue  scpiad  was  so  efficient 
that  not  a  single  life  was  lost  and  the  men  are 
now  able  to  take  solid  food,  in  fact  some  of 
them  have  been  permitted  to  leave  the  hospital. 

The  above  example  shows  that  the  efforts  of 
the  men  who  give  training  in  this  line  are  by 
no  means  wasted. 

IS.4AC  M.  D.VVIES, 
Mine  Inspector. 


Miners’  Advisory  Safety  Committee. 

The  following  is  an  account  of  safety  measures 
that  have  been  put  into  effective  use  in  Vermilion 
county,  Illinois: 

The  Bunsen  Coal  Company  has  installed  a  safe¬ 
ty  committee  at  each  mine  consisting  of  three 
miners  who  go  through  the  mine  and  make  a 
complete  inspection  and  then  make  to  the  com¬ 
pany  recommendations  as  to  safety  or  any^  other 
improvements  that  may  come  to  the  notice  of 
the  committee.  Any  recommendations  made  by 
this  safety  committee  are  taken  up  by  the  com- 
l)any  for  consideration. 

One  recommendation  made  by  this  committee 
that  strikes  the  writer  as  being  very  efficient  was 
that  all  empty  powder  kegs  should  be  kept  from 
the  sides  of  the  entry,  so  that  drivers  and  trip 
riders  in  stepping  off  the  cars  would  not  be  likely 
to  be  injured  by  tripping  over  cans  and  falling 
under  the  cars. 

VERMILLION. 

The  above  suggestion  is  well  worthy  of  serious 
consideration  by  all  companies  as  a  large  num- 
l)er  of  accidents  occur  through  failure  to  keep 
the  sides  of  the  passageways  clear  of  obstruc¬ 
tions  and  many  men  are  injured  in  jumping  off 
the  cars  through  coming  in  contact  with  such 
ol)structions. 

Improvement  in  Indiana  Mines. 

In  the  past  few  years  there  has  been  a  very 
marked  improvement  in  the  newer  coal  mines 
of  Indiana,  in  the  way  of  equipment  and  safety 
devices.  Compressed  air  punching  machines  and 
the  electric  breast  machine  are  fast  being  dis¬ 
placed  I)y  the  electric  continuous  cutters.  Surface 
plants  of  many  new  mines  are  constructed  of 
iire-proof  material  such  as  brick,  iron  and  con¬ 
crete,  which  greatly  protects  life  and  property 
and  gives  excellent  service.  Hoisting  shafts  are 
made  large  in  order  to  accommodate  large  cars, 
and  in  some  instances  are  cased  with  concrete  to 
render  them  fireproof.  The  electric  motor  haul¬ 
age,  from  the  point  of  economy  and  production, 
far  surpasses  other  haulage  systems,  its_  greatest 
handicap  lieing  the  dangerous  trolley  wire:  it  is 
to  be  hoped  that  the  storage  motor  will  be  so 
perfected  in  the  near  future  that  the  trolley  can 
he  eliminated;  however,  many  coal  companies  are 


now  protecting  with  guard  boards  all  non-insu- 
lated  electric  wires  where  employes  have  to 
pass  under  them  in  going  to  and  from  their 
work,  thereby  reducing  accidents.  Some  new 
companies  are  constructing  stoppings  on  the 
main  haulage,  of  brick  or  concrete,  thereby  sav¬ 
ing  a  great  quantity  of  air  and  providing  protec¬ 
tion  against  fire.  Wooden  road  is  fast  giving 
way  to  steel,  which  in  the  long  run  is  cheaper, 
and  also  reduces  wrecks  and  prevents  many  acci¬ 
dents.  The  horse,  mule  and  pony  are  being 
brushed  aside  by  the  gathering  motor.  An  auto¬ 
matic  steel  door  is  being  used  in  the  Ayrshire 
coal  mines  of  Pike  county,  that  does  away  with 
the  trapper  and  gives  excellent  service.  The 
telephone  from  top  to  bottom  and  inside  the 
mine  is  very  convenient  and  worth  much  more 
than  it  costs.  The  bottom  and  all  partings  should 
be  spacious  and  seven  or  more  feet  high  and 
well  lighted  and  timbered.  After  a  mine  is 
cejuipped  inside  and  out  with  all  the  modern  im¬ 
provements  it  is  yet  uj)  to  the  superintendent  and 
mine  boss  to  perfect  a  thorough  organization  of 
their  day  and  monthly  employes,  being  careful 
to  employ  only  efficient  and  reliable  persons. 

JOHN  C.  WRIGHT, 

Mine  Inspector,  Hoonville,  Ind. 

Making  a  Flying  Switch. 

The  following  device  to  prevent  accidents  to 
trip  riders  when  making  a  dying  switch  has 
given  increased  efficiency  and  safety  at  the  Madi¬ 
son  Coal  Corporation  No.  2  Mine. 

There  is  no  question  that  the  position  of  the 
trip  rider  when  he  has  to  go  ahead  of  the  motor 
to  turn  the  switch  point  for  the  motor  to  take 
the  loaded  track  and  the  empties  down  the  empty 
track  while  making  a  dying  switch  is  one  of 
peril,  from  the  fact  that  in  getting  off  the  motor 
while  it  is  in  motion,  he  is  liable  to  fall  while 
running  ahead  of  the  motor  and  also  he  may 
be  struck  by  the  empties  going  at  a  dying  speed 
when  they  have  been  detached  from  the  motor. 

The  Madison  Coal  Corporation  at  the  No.  2 
Mine  has  solved  this  difficulty  in  a  simple  and 
a  practical  way  which  practically  eliminates  the 
danger  and  gives  increased  efficiency ;  as  the 
trip  rider  does  not  have  to  get  off  the  motor  to 
make  a  dying  switch. 

On  the  outside  of  the  outer  rail  of  the  loaded 
track  there  is  an  upright  piece  with  a  small  wheel 
on  top  and  this  contrivance  is  connected  to  the 
two  points  of  the  switch.  The  height  of  the 
wheel  above  the  rail  is  such  that  the  frame  of 
the  motor  depresses  the  wheel  when  the  motor 
passes  over  it  and  this  motion  is  communicated 
to  the  switch  points  by  rods  that  close  them  so 
that  the  motor  goes  over  to  the  loaded  track,  and 
as  soon  as  the  motor  has  passed  over  the  points 
the  weight  is  released  and  the  points  come  back 
to  their  former  position  allowing  the  empties  to 
take  the  empty  track,  the  points  being  always 
open  to  the  empty  track.  This  is  so  simple  and 
gives  such  satisfaction  that  the  Madison  Coal 
Corporation,  which  is  noted  for  the  safety  pre¬ 
cautions  in  its  mines,  deserves  full  credit  for 
the  device. 

W.  L.  MORG.^N. 


Practice  Is  Better  Than  Precept. 

In  the  safety-first  campaign  precepts  in  the 
form  of  danger  signals  of  various  kinds,  sup¬ 
plemented  liy  personal  instructions  serve  a  very 
good  purpose  and  are  necessary.  However,  any 
and  all  such  means  will  not  be  effective  nor  serve 
their  purpose  if  the  boss  himself  is  not  scrupu¬ 
lously  observant  of  all  the  safety  regulations  laid 
down  by  the  company  and  does  not  make  it  a 
point  to  observe  not  alone  the  letter  of  the  in¬ 
structions,  but  goes  beyond  the  letter  and  in 
the  true  spirit  of  the  safety-first  movement  is 
])erhaps  over-cautious  in  looking  out  for  danger. 

This  may  seem  like  a  very  trite  statement  and 
one  that  is  entirely  superfluous  to  make,  for  nat¬ 
urally  the  one  who  issues  safety  instructions 
might  be  expected  to  be  the  one  most  careful 
in  carrying  them  out.  However,  the  old  maxim 
that  "practice  is  better  than  precept”  is  violated 
far  too  frequently  by  mine  officials  who  often  do 
not  observe  their  own  rules  and  say  at  least, 
l)y  their  actions,  “do  as  I  say,  not  as  I  do.” 

Several  years  ago  the  United  States  Bureau 
of  Mines  invited  a  number  of  foreign  mining 
officials  to  visit  the  coal  mining  regions  of  .\mer- 
ica  to  advise  in  regard  to  safety  methods.  This 
visit  was  made  shortly  after  the  series  of  great 


disasters  beginning  with  the  one  at  Monongah, 
West  Virginia,  and  when  the  eyes  of  the  entire 
United  States  were  focused  upon  the  coal  mining 
industry. 

In  a  certain  section  of  the  country,  during 
the  visit  of  inspection,  a  party  consisting  of  the 
foreign  experts,  several  state  mine  inspectors, 
the  president  of  one  of  the  largest  coal  companies 
in  the  United  States,  the  general  mining  superin¬ 
tendent  of  the  same  company,  a  numlier  of  under 
officials  of  the  same  company,  and  officials  of 
the  United  States  Bureau  of  Alines  was  visiting 
a  certain  mine.  A  very  animated  discussion  about 
certain  mining  practices  was  started  and  the 
party  sat  down  at  the  face  of  a  room  to  carry 
on  the  argument.  The  fire  boss,  whose  specific 
duty  it  was  to  inspect  all  places  into  which  the 
party  went  and  to  look  after  the  safety  of  the 
party  called  attention  to  a  large  piece  of  over- 
banging  slate  under  which  the  party  was  sitting 
and  one  end  of  which  had  already  separated  sev¬ 
eral  inches  from  the  roof.  He  was  told  by  the 
high  officials  in  the  party  that  they  would  be 
there  only  a  moment,  hut  the  argument  waxed 
hot  and  was  protracted  and  when  the  fire  boss 
gave  a  second  warning  he  was  told  in  polite 
language  to  “go  way  back  and  sit  down,”  which 
being  a  sensible  man  he  did. 

This  is  no  doubt  an  extreme  case,  but  it  typifies 
a  too  common  practice  and  the  mine  boss  or 
mine  official  too  often  takes  chances  that  he 
warns  his  men  to  avoid,  and  thus  sets  them  the 
bad  example  of  breaking  rules. 

In  many  cases  men  are  but  children  of  a  larger 
growth  and  they  will  follow  an  e.xample  much 
more  readily  than  they  will  a  rule  or  regulation 
in  printed  form. 

Pittsburgh,  Pa.  precei-t. 


First  Aid  Box  for  Pitching  Mine. 

F.ditor  Bl.-xck  Dlxmond  : 

A  first-aid  box  designed  for  use  in  mines 
where  it  is  necessary  to  take  material  up  or  down 
ladders  or  through  very  narrow  passage  ways  in 
order  to  reach  an  injured  person,  has  been  de¬ 
signed  by  Air.  S.  E.  I)avis,  captain  of  the  Berk¬ 
eley,  Alont.,  first-aid  team.  Although  it  may  not 
be  particularly  applicable  in  coal  mines,  particu¬ 
larly  where  the  seam  is  flat,  there  are  instances 
in  many  of  the  mines  of  the  Rocky  Mountains 
and  in  the  pitching  seams  of  the  anthracite 
region  of  eastern  Pennsylvania  and  the  bitu¬ 
minous  mines  of  central  Pennsylvania  and  pos¬ 
sibly  also  in  Oklahoma  where  the  apparatus 
might  be  useful. 

The  box  in  which  the  apparatus  is  stored  is 
made  of  one-half  inch  lumber  and  the  interior 
dimensions  are  four  inches  square  by  forty-two 
inches  long.  It  is  hinged  lengthwise  in  the  cen¬ 
ter  of  one  side,  so  that  when  open  there  are  two 
parts,  each  two  inches  deep.  In  one  section  are 
stored  the  splints,  which  are  of  two  sizes.  First, 
three  splints  one-half  inch  by  four  inches  by 
three  feet  six  inches,  and  second,  two  splints 
one-half  inch  by  four  inches  by  one  foot  four 
inches.  The  other  half  of  the  box  contains  a 
stick  for  making  a  tourniquet,  five  yards  of  four- 
inch  roll  banda.ge ;  picric  acid  gauze,  one  pack¬ 
age  ;  plain  gauze,  one  pack.age ;  triangular  first- 
aid  bandages,  si.xteen ;  also  an  apparatus  made  of 
bent  wire  to  be  used  in  pressing  bandages  under 
an  injured  part.  The  entire  equipment  weighs 
about  ten  pounds  and  by  means  of  lacing  leather 
one  inch  wide,  four  feet  six  inches  long  passing 
through  loops  on  the  top  of  the  box,  it  is  possible 
to  carry  it  in  the  hand  or  slung  over  the  shoulder 
as  desired. 

In  connection  with  the  same  apparatus  a  novel 
long  splint  made  up  of  two  short  splints  has  been 
devised.  To  accomplish  this  a  number  of  holes 
are  drilled  at  equal  distances  center  to  center 
through  the  two  short  splints  and  they  are  then 
fastened  together  by  means  of  bandage  lacing 
or  anj'  like  material,  similarly  to  an  extension 
fire  or  painter’s  ladder.  In  this  way  a  splint  of 
different  lengths  is  rendered  available. 

MONTANA. 


The  New  York  Sun,  in  its  issue  of  Tuesday, 
said:  “There  is  evidence  that  steel  companies 
are  having  some  difficulty  in  securing  an  am¬ 
ple  supply  of  coal  for  steam  and  smelting  pur¬ 
poses  and  have  been  buying  various  lots  of 
low-grade  fuel  which  would  not  be  used  under 
ordinary  circumstances.  Coal  merchants  re¬ 
port  the  sales  of  100  cars  of  coal  high  in 
volatile  and  ash  to  eastern  steel  companies  in 
the  last  two  days.  Such  coal  a  few  months 
ago  sold  at  ninety  cents  to  ninety-five  cents 
a  ton,  but  today  is  commanding  .$1.20  a  ton 
for  early  shipment.” 


No.  17] 


331 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOM). 
Rate  Hearing  Is  Resumed  in  Ohio. 


Columbus,  Ohio,  October  'Zl. —  (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — Action  against  the  Hocking  Valley 
Railway  Company,  with  the  Sunday  Creek  Coal 
Company  as  chief  plaintiff,  in  the  attack  against 
intrastate  coal  rates,  was  resumed  before  the 
Public  Utilities  Commission  on  Tuesday.  After 
a  preliminary  bout  in  August,  adjournment  had 
been  taken  to  give  time  for  preparation.  The 
small  hearing  room  of  the  commission  was  unable 
to  accommodate  all  of  the  coal  and  railroad  men 
who  had  been  attracted  to  the  reopening  of  the 
proceedings. 

Before  the  plaintiff  introduced  its  first  im¬ 
portant  testimony,  consisting  of  the  report  of  the 
committee  of  rate  experts  appointed  by  the  com¬ 
mission  to  go  over  the  office  records  of  the  rail¬ 
road  company,  the  chief  counsel  of  the  latter, 
announced  that  he  would  probably  ask  for  an¬ 
other  postponement  when  this  document  had  been 
submitted.  His  grounds  were  that  since  the 
plaintiff  had  submitted  to  the  defendant  a  sum¬ 
mary  of  its  findings  there  had  not  been  time 
enough  for  him  to  check  up  on  the  statements 
contained  therein.  He  would  not  consider  this 
competent  evidence  until  the  check  had  been  com¬ 
pleted.  The  commission  ruled  that  this  would  be 
a  matter  to  pass  upon  after  the  report  was 
heard. 

H.  B.  Arnold,  of  counsel  for  the  Sunday  Creek 
Company,  first  examined  a  clerk  from  the  traffic 
department  of  the  same,  who  stated  that  the 
company  had  twenty-four  mines  in  Ohio,  of 
which  ten  were  on  the  Hocking  Valley,  nine  on 
the  Toledo  &  Ohio  Central,  two  on  the  Baltimore 
&  Ohio,  and  three  on  the  Zanesville  &  Western. 
The  total  capacity  of  these  mines  was  placed 
at  22,800  tons  a  day.  Through  H.  J.  Reese, 
secretary  and  treasurer  of  the  company  for  sorne 
years  past,  effort  was  made  to  .show  that  this 
corporation  was  owned  by  the  Hocking  Valley 
previous  to  its  recent  reorganization,  hut  the  com¬ 
mission  sustained  the  defendant’s  objection.  C. 
E.  Morton,  a  Columbus  attorney,  testified  that  he 
had  served  as  counsel  for  the  New  Pittsburgh 
Coal  Company  in  a  rate  action  before  the  Inter¬ 
state  Commerce  Commission  in  1912,  and  that 
under  his  examination  General  Superintendent 
Connors,  of  the  Hocking  Valley  Railway  Com¬ 
pany,  had  stated  that  the  cost  of  hauling  coal 
from  Nelsonville  to  Toledo  was  two  mills  per 
ton  per  mile. 

The  report  of  the  examiners  was  then  submit¬ 
ted  in  manuscript  form  as  an  exhibit.  C.  W. 
Hillman,  chief  expert,  took  the  stand.  His  direct 
examination  consumed  the  remainder  of  the  day. 
As  establishing  Mr.  Hillman’s  competency  for 
the  work  on  which  he  had  been  engaged.  Attor¬ 
ney  George  P.  Boyle,  of  Chicago,  of  counsel  for 
the  Sunday  Creek  Company,  drew  from  him  the 
statement  that  he  was  president  of  the  Mutual 
Audit  Company,  having  headquarters  at  Louis¬ 
ville,  Ky.,  and  a  long  list  of  cases  in  which  he 
had  served  before  the  Interstate  Commerce  Com¬ 
mission  and  state  commissions  was  recited.  In¬ 
cidentally  Mr.  Hillman  gave  his  railroad  expe¬ 
rience,  beginning  with  the  engineering  department 
of  the  Cumberland  Valley,  in  1875,  and  including 
important  positions  with  railroads,  notably  the 
Northern  Pacific  and  the  Rock  Island,  covering 
a  period  of  many  years. 

The  testimony  of  Mr.  Hillman  consisted  mainly 
of  a  technical  explanation  of  his  methods  in 
handling  rate  cases  and  to  a  dissection  of  the 
exhibit  to  which  reference  has  been  made.  Coun¬ 
sel  sought  to  show  that  work  in  the  present  case 
had  been  along  the  lines  that  had  been  approved 
by  various  tribunals  in  important  cases  elsewhere. 
The  exhibit  covered  thirteen  large  pages  of  close¬ 
ly  typewritten  manuscript,  with  hundreds  of  sepa¬ 
rate  calculations.  It  showed  in  minute  detail 
every  step  leading  up  to  the  summary  which  is 
herewith  given. 

I'ollowing  the  close  of  the  direct  testimony 
of  I^Ir.  Hillman,  which  was  concluded  shortly 
before  noon  Wednesday,  John  1'.  Willson,  chief 
counsel  for  the  railroad,  started  in  on  a  gruelling 
cross-examination  of  the  witness.  He  first  gained 


4f).fi7fir).")n 

Add  lock  and  wharves  (for  lake  coal  only) .  1.88929.5 


from  Mr.  Hillman  the  admission  that  he  had 
been  retained  in  the  case  by  the  Sunday  Creek 
Company,  at  the  time  the  latter  intervened  in 
the  hearing  in  August,  and  that  while  serving  as 
a  member  of  the  board  of  examiners  appointed 
liy  the  commission  he  w'as,  with  the  knowledge 
and  consent  of  that  body,  drawing  pay  from 
the  source  named. 

Asked  as  to  the  amount  of  his  compensation, 
the  witness  declined  to  answer.  The  commission 
held  the  question  to  be  competent.  Mr.  Hillman 
then  stated  that  he  received  $50  a  day  and  all 
expenses.  To  date  he  had  drawn  $1,200.  This 
was  approximately  one-third  of  the  total  amount 
for  expert  work  to  be  paid  the  Mutual  Audit 
Company.  This  sum  would  cover  the  salaries  of 
the  three  assistants  engaged  with  him  in  the  ex¬ 
amination,  which  were  in  addition  to  Mr.  Hill¬ 
man’s  personal  fee  of  $50  per  day  net.  He 
admitted  that  this  pay  was  going  on  while  he  was 
on  the  witness  stand. 

The  railroad  company  attaches  great  importance 
to  the  foregoing  as  grounds  for  error  should 
the  case  be  appealed  to  the  courts.  It  will  be 
recalled  that  at  the  beginning  of  the  hearing,  in 
August,  the  company  denied  access  to  its  office 
records,  but  order  for  examination  was  made 
liy  the  commission.  The  matter  then  hinged  on 
how  and  by  whom  the  data  should  be  taken. 
The  plaintiffs  and  defendants  failing  to  agree 
on  these  points,  the  commission  took  the  prob¬ 
lem  in  hand,  and  stated  that  it  would  appoint  a 
force  of  examiners  that  would  be  fair  to  both 
sides.  Subsequently  it  named  one  of  its  own 
department  heads  as  chairman,  and  Mr.  Hillman 
and  three  of  his  force  comprised  the  remainder 
of  the  force.  The  railroad  entered  strenuous 
objections  to  Mr.  Hillman  and  his  associates,  but 
was  overruled.  The  commission  had  announced 
at  the  early  stage  of  the  hearing  that  it  had 
no  funds  with  which  to  employ  experts.  On  the 
score  of  economy  it  made  use  of  those  under 
pay  of  the  plaintiff,  and  took  the  ground  that  in 
passing  upon  whatever  report  might  be  submitted, 
it  would  not  allow,  by  reason  of  this  makeshift, 
any  prejudice  to  the  interests  of  the  defendants. 

With  Mr.  Hillman  still  on  the  stand  through¬ 
out  the  remainder  of  the  day,  the  report  was 
gone  over  item  by  item,  as  in  the  case  of  the 
direct  examination.  The  drift  of  Mr.  Wilson’s 
cross-examination  was  to  make  it  appear  that  all 
the  calculations  adduced  were  with  a  natural 
bias  against  railroads,  the  many  rate  cases  in 
which  Mr.  Hillman  had  been  retained  as  expert 
having  used  him  in  this  manner.  His  system  of 
cost  separation  and  compiling,  to  show  the  total 
expense  that  entered  into  a  haul,  was  attacked 
vigorously,  as  reflecting  his  own  theories,  rather 
than  being  based  on  sound  mathematical  science. 


PanamaCanal  Announcement 


^laj.  F.  C.  Boggs,  Corps  of  Engineers,  chief 
of  the  Washington  office  of  the  Panama  Canal, 
makes  the  following  announcement : 

“A  cablegram  dated  October  12  has  been  re¬ 
ceived  from  the  governor  of  the  Panama  Canal, 
advising  that  continued  movements  of  sliding 
material  make  it  impossible  to  predict  any  ap¬ 
proximate  date  of  reopening  the  canal.  The 
governor  states  he  does  not  advise  sailing  via  the 
Panama  route  until  further  notice,  which  will  be 
given  as  soon  as  material  is  removed  sufficiently 
to  insure  stable  conditions.” 

A  second  cablegram,  dated  October  12,  has 
been  received  from  the  governor  of  the  Panama 
Canal,  as  follows : 

“Referring  to  your  cable  of  the  11th  instant, 
mass  of  material  involved  in  the  break  of  October 
14,  1914,  which  has  been  sliding  gradually  into 
l)rism,  moved  precipitately.  This,  combined  with 
a  similar  movement  from  the  lireak  which  oc¬ 
curred  just  opposite,  on  the  west  bank,  in  .\ugust, 
causes  present  conditions.  Length  of  channel  in- 


39. 712B57  31.498725  2f>.18(i343  2n.90(i3f>7 


volved,  1, .'!()()  feet,  of  which  200  feet  has  present 
width  of  only  twenty-five  feet  and  depth  of  three 
to  fifteen  feet.  For  week  ending  October  9, 
209,000  cubic  yards  of  material  were  dredged,  but, 
as  the  movement  continued,  the  result  has  been 
to  maintain  only  wliat  slides  left  in  first  instance. 
Canal  is  therefore  physically  closed  temporarily. 
On  the  east  side  bank  is  upward  of  300  feet  above 
canal  level  and  on  the  west  side  varies  from  300 
to  400  feet  above.  Material  in  settling  and  mov¬ 
ing  creates  earth  waves,  with  deep  depressions 
liehind,  these  being  some  five  to  six  hundred  feet 
from  the  canal  prism,  with  elevations  of  sixty  to 
eight}-  feet  above  water  surface.  These  waves 
undoubtedly  counterbalance  weight  of  broken 
mass  on  either  side,  and  when  removed  may  cause 
another  similar  movement;  hence  impossibility  of 
making  any  prediction  as  to  date  of  reopening 
until  after  waves  w-hich  now  block  the  channel 
have  been  removed  and  action  of  remaining  ma¬ 
terial  determined.  Heavy  rains  materially  affect 
movement.  Whether  light-draft  ships  can  pass 
in  advance  of  thirty-feet-draft  ships  must  depend 
on  conditions  when  reasonably  secure  channel  is 
attained.” 


Welsh  Miners’  V\/agcs. 


1  \  ice-Consul  \\  illiam  L.  Jenkins,  Swansea,  Sept.  15.] 

The  independent  chairman  of  the  South  Wales 
coal  conciliation  board,  on  September  14,  1915, 
gave  his  decision  on  the  application  of  the  South 
W  ales  Miners’  Federation  for  an  increase  in  the 
wage  rate.  The  miners  applied  for  a  twelve  and 
five-tenths  per  cent  advance,  and  the  mine  owners 
made  a  counter  offer  of  five  per  cent.  As  the 
parties  were  unable  to  agree,  the  independent 
chairman  was  called  in  for  a  deciding  vote.  He 
granted  the  workmen  their  full  demands. 

In  money  terms  the  minimum  wage  of  the  coal 
miner  prior  to  the  new  award  was  $11.88  a  week. 
W’ith  the  present  twelve  and  five-tenths  per  cent 
addition,  this  minimum  will  be  raised  to  $13. 3(5 
a  week.  A  local  newspaper  makes  the  following 
comnient;  "Miners  in  the  coal  field  are  at  pres- 
pit  in  a  prosperous  state,  especially  when  it  is 
borne  in  mind  that  not  more  than  two  per  cent 
of  the  coal  hewers  are  down  to  the  minimum 
limit.  The  money  earned  by  the  lowest  paid 
laborer  in  the  coal  field,  as  apart  from  the  various 
other  more  highly  paid  classes,  will  now  be  $8.89 
per  week.” 


Twin  Cities  Coke  Plant. 


.•\rticles  of  incorporation  of  the  W  estern  States 
Coke  Company,  with  a  capitalization  of  $2,000,00<), 
have  been  filed  with  the  secretary  of  state  of 
Minnesota. 

The  company  will  erect  a  by-product  plant  at 
the  Twin  Cities  the  exact  size  for  which  has  not 
yet  been  determined.  Options  on  several  large 
properties  are  held  by  the  company  and  a  final 
selection  is  to  be  made  within  a  day  or  two.  It 
is  expected  that  the  plant  employing  several  hun¬ 
dred  men,  will  be  in  operation  within  a  year. 

The  illuminating  gas  as  generated  will  be  dis¬ 
posed  of  to  the  St.  Paul  Gas  Company.  A  certain 
percentage  of  the  gas  will  be  used  in  the  manu¬ 
facture  of  coke. 

The  use  of  by-product  coke  for  fuel  both  in 
manufacturing  plants  and  in  homes  is  new  in 
the  northwest,  although  it  has  been  successfully 
employed  in  the  east  and  middle  west.  It  is 
claimed  forty  per  cent  of  the  fuel  used  today  in 
^Milwaukee  is  by-product  coke. 

W  hat  is  known  to  the  coke  world  as  the  Schles- 
inger  interests,  owners  of  the  Milwaukee  coke 
plant,  are  the  princii)al  stockholders  of  the  Minne¬ 
apolis  corporation.  Associated  with  the  Schles- 
ingers  is  Win.  A.  Read  &  Company,  New  York 
City,  one  of  the  largest  eastern  financial  institu¬ 
tions. 

The  coal  to  he  used  in  the  new  coke  ovens  will 
lie  carried  iirincipall}-  from  West  Virginia,  by  rail 
to  the  great  lakes,  thence  over  the  water  route 
to  Duluth  and  hy  rail  again  to  Minneapolis. 
About  1,000  tons  of  coal  will  be  coked  daily  into 
700  tons  of  coke.  For  the  latter  it  is  claimed 
that  it  jiossesses  greater  heating  units  than  coal, 
is  practically  smokeless  and  dustless  and  sells  for 
much  less  than  coal. 

The  officers  of  the  company  are :  Henry  J. 
Schlesinger,  president ;  A.  Schlesingcr,  vice- 
president  ami  treasurer;  and  Edwin  G.  W’ilmer, 
secretary.  The  directors,  in  addition  to  the  offi¬ 
cers  are  LI.  H.  Springford,  William  Bannen  and 
George  H.  Prince.  With  the  exception  of  Mr. 
Prince,  all  are  from  Milwaukee. 


IIOCKIXG  VAU.KV  KAIl.WAY  COMPANY— COSTS  IN  CENTS  PER  TON  EROM  NEESONVILI. 

TO  SUNDRY  POINTS  I I.LX'STR.XTINC,  APPEICATION  OF  COSTS  UNITS. 

Toledo,  Fostoria,  Marion,  Delaware, 

„  180  miles.  150  miles.  107  miles.  ,85  miles. 

Dross  weight— line  . 19.412830  10.177395  11.539879  9.107190 

Cross  weight — yards,  maintenance .  1.784785  1.427828  1.070871  1.070871 

« heels  .  2.680.307  2.080367  2.080307  2.080307 

Car  miles  . 13.307444  11.139530  7.940203  0.312404 

Loaded  cars  . 042386  .042380  .042380  .042386 

Assembling  .  2.475305  2.475305  2.475305  2.175305 

1  ards— operations  .  0.313473  5.10S78  5.143054  3.837710 


E  DISTRICT 

Columbus 
(Jlound  St.) 
01  miles. 
0.578807 
.713914 
2.080307 
4.530078 
.042380 
2.475305 
3.285450 


332 


THE  BEACK  DIAMOND 


[October  23 


New  York  Golf  Tournament.- 


The  New  York  Trade  Golf  Association  held 
its  third  annual  fall  tournament  on  the  links 
of  the  Seaview  Golf  Club,  near  Atlantic  City, 
N.  J.,  on  Saturday  and  Sunday,  October  16 
and  17. 

This  is  a  very  interesting  new  course,  opened 
some  two  years  ago,  bordering  on  Absecon 
bay,  a  tributary  of  the  Atlantic.  The  club¬ 
house,  which  was  the  stopping  place  of  the 
golfers  and  their  guests,  is  one  of  the  finest 
to  be  found  in  the  east. 

The  attendance  was  small.  Doubtless  the 
distance  from  New  York  had  something  to 
do  with  this.  The  association  now  has  a 
membership  of  around  fifty,  and  just  a  fourth 
of  these  were  in  attendance.  The  guests  num¬ 
bered  about  six. 

Wallace  Eyre  of  Knickerbocker  Fuel  Com¬ 
pany,  won  the  low  net  prize  for  medal  play 
in  the  qualifying  round  on  Saturday  morning. 
Marshall  Nairn  had  the  lowest  gross  score, 
eighty.  This  prize  was  a  handsome  gold  med¬ 
al  fob. 

E.  Kelly  Rothstein  of  B.  Nicoll  &  Co.,  was 
the  winner  of  the  prize  in  the  first  eight.  This 
was  a  silver  vase.  Winner  of  the  runner-up 
prize  was  Walter  Peterson  of  Susquehanna 
Coal  Company.  This  was  a  sterling  silver 
cigarette  case. 

The  winner  of  the  second  eight  was  A.  E. 
Metlach  of  the  Pennsylvania  Coal  &  Coke 
Corporation.  This  was  a  silver  mounted  flask. 
J.  E.  Parsons  of  Consolidation  Coal  Company 
won  a  silver  mounted  thermos  bottle  as  run¬ 
ner-up. 

In  the  third  eight  Col.  R.  B.  Baker  of  Ster¬ 
ling  Coal  Company,  won  first  prize,  a  silver 
cigarette  case.  J.  W.  Searles  of  Pennsylvania 
Coal  &  Coke  Corporation,  runner-up,  got  a 
silver  mounted  carafe. 

In  the  eighteen-hole  handicap,  Marshall 
Naun  of  Sterling  Coal  Company  won  first 
prize,  a  silver  mounted  cigar  jar;  W.  H.  Tem¬ 
ple  of  the  same  company,  winning  second 
prize,  a  silver  tray. 

The  visitors’  prize,  a  handsome  cup,  was 
won  by  J.  S.  W.  Holton  of  the  Sterling  Coal 
Company,  Philadelphia. 


Norfolk  C8i,  Western  Tonnage. 


The  Norfolk  &  Western  Railway  hauled  2,910,- 
2'21  tons  of  coal  in  September,  compared  with 
.3,005,618  tons  in  August,  and  2,509,916  tons  in 
September,  1914.  The  September,  1914,  tonnage 
was  the  record  until  June  of  this  year. 

Comparison  of  the  last  four  months  of  this 
year  with  the  corresponding  months  of  last  year, 
show  as  follows : 

Month —  1914.  1915. 

une  . 2, .315, 956  2,680,465 

uly  . 2,503,062  2,854,445 

August  . 2,450,808  3,005,618 

September  . 2,509,916  2,910,227 

Total . 9,779,742  11,450,749 

An  increase  of  1,871,007  tons  in  thus  shown 

in  four  months’  time.  And  this  is  in  spite  of  the 

fact,  too,  that  June,  July,  August  and  September 
of  1914  were  the  largest  months’  shipments  of 
the  year.  However,  for  the  whole  year,  by  com¬ 
parisons,  the  Norfolk  &  Western’s  tonnage  for 
1915  will  be  about  two  months  ahead  of  last 
year.  In  other  words,  the  road’s  shipment  in 
1914,  its  banner  year,  was  25,471,969  tons,  whereas 
by  the  end  of  October  the  shipment  for  this  year 
will  be  nearly  or  quite  as  large  as  for  the  whole 
of  last  year. 

The  Norfolk  &  Western  comptroller’s  report 
shows  the  shipments  from  the  various  fields  it 
serves  as  follows: 


I’ocohontas  field  . 1,620,302 

Tug  River  district .  354,918 

Thacker  district  .  230,198 

Kenova  district  .  89,921 

(-linch  Valley  district .  144,234 

Other  N.  &  \V.  territory .  3,798 


Total  N.  &  W.  fields . 2,443,404 

Williamson  and  Pond  Creek  R.  R.  Co .  87,152 

Tug.  River  &  Ky.  R.  R.  Co .  54,662 

All  other  railroads .  324,913 


Grand  total . 2,910,221 


Charleston  Piers  Opening. 


On  the  15th  instant,  the  first  cargo  of  coal 
loaded  into  a  steamship  over  the  new  South¬ 
ern  Railway  coal  piers  at  Charleston,  S.  C., 
was  placed  in  the  holds  of  the  steamship  In¬ 
ternational,  which  is  owned  by  the  Clinch- 
field  Coal  Corporation. 


This  steamer  was  brought  around  from  the 
Great  Lakes  some  months  ago,  and  it  has 
been  used  heretofore  in  service  between  Hamp¬ 
ton  Roads  and  Galveston.  The  cargo  taken 
on  the  15th  amounted  to  2,500  tons,  and  175 
tons  of  bunkers.  Fifty-four  fifty-ton  Clinch- 
field  gondolas  were  required  to  make  up  the 
cargo  and  bunkers.  This  cargo  was  shipped 
to  Tampa,  Fla. 


Enoch  Carver  Dies. 


Enoch  Carver,  a  well  known  coal  man  of  the 
older  times  in  Cincinnati,  Chicago  and  West 
Virginia,  and  lately  district  inspector  in  the 
West  Virginia  state  mining  department,  and  also 
a  colonel  on  the  staff  of  Governor  Hatfield  of 
West  Virginia,  died  last  Saturday  from  injuries 
sustained  in  an  accident  last  week  while  about 
his  duty. 

Col.  Carver  was  inspecting  the  Longacre  mines 
of  the  Sunday  Creek  Coal  Company  when  he 
was  crushed  by  a  runaway  motor  car  in  an  entry 
of  the  mines.  He  had  just  recuperated  from  a 
long  sickness  and  his  constitution  being  thus 
weakened  could  not  resist  the  shock.  His  death 
came  at  the  Kanawha  Valley  hospital  at  Charles¬ 
ton,  and  the  funeral  and  burial  was  largely  at¬ 
tended  in  Charleston  Monday. 

Col.  Carver  was  an  Englishman  born,  was  sixty 
years  of  age,  and  had  been  connected  with  coal 
mining  most  of  his  life.  He  came  to  America 
at  eight  years  of  age  and  moved  to  West  Vir¬ 
ginia  at  twenty-two  years  of  age.  He  was  en¬ 
gaged  in  the  coal  business  in  Chicago  from  1888 
to  1892  and  in  the  latter  year  he  moved  to 
Charleston,  W.  Va.,  becoming  engaged  in  mine 
operation  there.  He  was  well  known  and  highly 
esteemed  by  coal  men  wherever  known.  The 
funeral  was  largely  attended  by  state  officials 
and  coal  men  from  all  over  the  country. 

Col.  Carver  had  three  sons  in  the  coal  busi¬ 
ness — Enoch,  Jr.,  of  the  New  River  Coal  Com¬ 
pany,  Chicago ;  W.  W.,  of  Percy  Heilner  &  Son, 
Cincinnati,  and  David,  of  the  Milwaukee  Coke 
&  Gas  Company,  Milwaukee. 

“I  well  remember  Mr.  Carver,”  said  Mr.  Charles 
L.  Dering  of  the  S.  C.  Schenck  Company.  “When 
I  was  a  youngster  on  the  street  hunting  coal 
orders  he  and  his  brother  had  an  office  and  yard 
here  under  the  name  of  Carver  Bros.,  from  which 
they  sold  West  Virginia  and  other  coals.  I 
always  looked  forward  with  pleasure  to  a  call 
at  Mr.  Carver’s  office.  He  was  one  of  those 
cheery,  genial  gentlemen  whom  it  was  not  alone 
a  plea.sure  to  meet  and  to  know,  but  his  words 
of  wisdom  and  encouragement  to  a  struggling 
■young  salesman  were  at  once  a  help  and  an  in¬ 
spiration.  Mr.  Carver  was  of  that  sterling,  rugged 
type  of  the  older  coal  days,  who  set  a  mark 
of  high  integrity  in  business,  and  he  was  an 
honor  to  it  to  the  end  of  his  days.  A  man  not 
only  greatly  respected  but  well  beloved  among 
his  fellows.  He  was  a  splendid  inspiration  to 
those  manly  sons  of  his  who  are  growing  up  and 
making  a  place  for  themselves  in  the  coal  busi¬ 
ness.  His  life  will  be  a  beautiful  memory  to 
them.” 


National  Coal  Association. 


The  National  Coal  Association  takes  the  place 
of  and  is  the  continuation  of  the  Order  Kokoal. 
But  it  is  far  more  than  a  change  in  name. 

It  combines  all  the  social  and  fraternal  features 
which  made  Kokoal  so  popular  and  yet  is  carry¬ 
ing  on  a  definite  work  that  will  secure  practical 
benefits  to  each  member  as  well  as  do  much  for 
the  coal  trade  as  a  whole. 

For  thirty  days  longer,  anyone  who  has  been 
a  member  of  the  Kokoals  will  be  accepted  as  a 
charter  member  of  the  National  Coal  Associa¬ 
tion  upon  payment  of  the  first  year’s  annual  dues 
of  $5.  After  that  date  the  charter  list  will 
be  closed  and  a  membership  fee  required  in  addi¬ 
tion  to  the  annual  dues. 

Next  month  a  membership  handbook  will  be 
published  in  convenient  vest  pocket  form  con¬ 
taining  the  names  and  firms  of  all  those  who  are 
members  of  the  National  Coal  Association.  This 
handbook  will  be  a  ready  reference  list  of  promi¬ 
nent  coal  men  and  will  undoubtedly  be  frequently 
referred  to.  You  ought  to  have  your  name  and 
company  represented. 

Several  important  articles  have  already  been 
sent  to  members  covering  “The  Jobbers’  Cost  of 
Selling  Coal,”  “The  Anthracite  Miners’  Demands 
for  Next  April,”  “The  Cause  of  Smaller  Profits,” 
“Why  It  Pays  Retailers  to  Know  Their  Costs” 
and  “The  Costly  Effect  of  Price  Cutting.” 


You  will  find  it  worth  $5.70  just  to  receive 
the  information  that  the  National  Coal  Associa¬ 
tion  is  sending  to  its  members  at  frequent  inter¬ 
vals  while  the  many  other  advantages  will  make 
you  feel  that  a  membership  in  the  N.  C.  A.  is 
your  best  business  investment  of  the  year. 

ARTHUR  M.  HULL, 
Secretary-T  reasurer. 


Coal  on  Upper  Mississippi. 

(Concluded  from  page  327.) 
rail  would  have  cost  $4,932.98;  thus  the  water 
rate  caused  a  saving  of  $2,170.41,  or  forty-five  per 
cent  of  the  rail  rate,  which  was  an  average  of 
5.98  rnills  per  ton-mile,  as  against  2.21  mills  per 
ton-mile  by  water  or  four  mills  per  ton-mile  over 
the  same  mileage  (the  rail  distance  being  shorter 
than  the  watef  distance). 

“The  total  expenses  of  the  barge  were  high, 
and  some  items  were  out  of  all  proportion  on 
account  of  the  lack  of  organization  and  other 
consequences  of  this  “isolated”  trip  (guests,  extra 
crew,  etc.).  For  instance,  the  extra  pilots,  needed 
because  the  crew  was  totally  unfamiliar  with  the 
route,  received  for  this  single  trip  in  wages 
$1,014.13,  or  $18.67  per  day,  an  item  entirely 
in  addition  to  the  usual  pay-roll. 

“Heavy  expenses,  incurred  through  slow  load¬ 
ing,  etc.,  to  a  large  extent  caused  by  the  fact 
that  this  was  an  isolated  trip,  all  make  the  ex¬ 
penses  extraordinarily  high.  Under  usual  con¬ 
ditions,  with  a  regular  service  and  more  boats 
than  one  to  carry  all  the  overhead  and  administra¬ 
tion  charges,  the  total  expenses  would  have  been 
less  than  $3,500,  but  the  total  expenses  for  this 
3,842-mile  journey  were  $5,740.42. 

“The  overhead  charges,  including  six  per  cent 
interest  on  investment,  six  per  cent  deprecia¬ 
tion,  one-half  per  cent  for  repairs  not  covered 
by  insurance,  harbor  dues,  taxes,  traveling  ex¬ 
penses,  and  traffic  manager  (who,  on  account  of 
this  trip,  was  six  weeks  on  the  road),  his  wages, 
advertisements,  photographs,  traveling  expenses 
of  general  manager,  office  and  administration  ex¬ 
penses,  telegrams,  telephone,  soliciting  expenses, 
salary  of  clerks,  etc.,  gives  a  total  of  $2,011.66. 

“The  following  are  the  details  of  the  cost  of 
the  trip ; 


Fuel  . $  261.37 

Deck  supplies  .  270.72 

Subsistence  .  400.00 

Engine  room  supplies  .  140.00 

Wages  of  crew,  including  supercargo  at  $150  per 

month  .  1,230.00 

Extra  pilots  .  1,014.13 

Hull,  liability,  workmen’s  compensation,  cargo 

and  freight  insurance .  412.34 

Overhead  charges  .  2,011.66 


$5,740.22 

or  a  total  of  1.65  mills  per  ton-mile  of  carrying 
capacity. 

“Had  the  barge  been  fully  loaded  both  ways, 
the  gross  receipts  would  have  been  $8,491.00, 
at  the  rate  of  2.21  mills  per  ton-mile  (the  average 
of  her  freight  charges),  yielding  a  profit  of 
$2,750.78,  even  under  these  adverse  conditions, 
on  this  single  trip,  and  this,  notwithstanding  the 
fact,  that,  in  mills  per  ton-mile,  the  freight  rate 
of  the  barge  was  thirty-seven  per  cent  of  the 
rail  rate,  so  that  on  the  lumber  alone  the  barge 
saved  the  shipper  $1,300.52,  making  a  rate  of 
$998.65,  as  compared  with  a  rail  rate  of  $2,300.17, 
or  $2,750.78  profit  on  a  single  trip,  or  eight  and 
one-half  per  cent  on  the  investment.” 


Baltimore  Coal  Tonnage. 


A  recent  compilation  of  figures  on  shipments  of 
coal  over  the  three  railroads  entering  Baltimore 
shows  the  increase  in  tonnage  as  follows : 


.STATEMENT  OF  BITUMINOUS  AND  ANTHRACITE 
COAL  TONNAGE  (IN  TONS  OF  2,240  POUNDS) 
TO  BALTIMORE,  MD. 

BITUMINOUS  COAL,  TONS. 

Year  ending  June  30 —  1914.  1915. 

Track  delivery . *.***. . .***.'■  833,481  853,456 

Transshipped  to  destinations  inside 

capes  of  the  Chesapeake . .  941,328  835,724 

Transshipped  to  destinations  outside 

capes  of  the  Chesapeake . 3,381,500  4,062,484 

ANTHRACITE  COAL,  TONS. 

Brought  to  Baltimore,  includes  track 

delivery  and  transshipment .  798,501  828,909 


New  coal  deposits  have  lately  been  discovered 
at  Benezette,  Elk  county.  Pa.,  not  far  from  the 
mine  of  the  Penfield  Coal  Company,  at  Weed- 
ville,  and  the  Shawmut  Mining  Company’s  opera¬ 
tions  at  Byrnedale  and  Force.  It  is  reported  that 
capitalists  who  have  secured  a  good  many  acres 
in  the  neighborhood  will  organize  a  coal  com¬ 
pany  and  start  producing  coal  within  the  next 
few  months.  The  mines  in  the  vicinity  are  all 
busy  and  a  shortage  of  men  exists. 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


333 


No.  17] 


Consolidation  of  Facilities  Only. 

The  discussion  of  the  general  question  of  the 
advantages  of  consolidating  businesses  in  com¬ 
munities  where  there  are  too  many  yards,  which 
appeared  last  week  in  The  Black  Diamond,  was 
commented  on  by  a  dealer  in  a  river  town  with 
respect  to  the  possibility  of  working  out  at  least 
one  feature  of  consolidation,  that  is,  the  joint 
use  of  handling  facilities. 

“For  instance,”  he  said,  “I  know  of  five  or 
six  concerns  that  are  operating  floats  for  handling 
river  coal.  Each  of  them  has  its  own  float  tender 
and  other  employes,  and  all  of  them  use  the  old- 
fashioned  plan  of  loading  their  wagon  direct 
from  the  barges,  and  also  getting  their  coal  into 
their  yards  the  same  way.  The  plan  is  at  once 
crude,  time-consuming  and  expensive. 

“It  might  be  exceedingly  difficult  to  convince 
any  one  of  these  dealers,  if  it  came  down  to  a 
question  of  consolidating,  that  he  should  retire, 
for  the  good  of  the  business,  and  let  somebody 
else  take  care  of  the  trade  that  he  has  painfully 
and  laboriously  built  up  over  a  period  of  years ; 
but  it  would  be  much  easier  to  get  his  o.  k.  on 
a  plan  to  join  with  other  dealers  similarly  situ¬ 
ated  in  the  establishment  of  a  modern  coal¬ 
handling  plant  to  be  used  by  all  of  them  on  a 
pro  rata  basis. 

“In  the  case  I  have  mentioned,  the  half  dozen 
concerns  are  all  handling  the  same  kind  of  coal, 
and  they  could  easily  keep  an  elevator  busy, 
provided  it  had  the  tonnage  of  all  of  them.  But 
conditions  now  are  such  that  the  single  ele¬ 
vator  which  has  been  in  use  for  handling  river 
coal  from  time  to  time  is  no  longer  in  operation, 
the  reason  being  that  not  enough  business  was 
offered.  And  with  this  labor-saving  equipment 
standing  idle,  the  other  concerns  I  speak  of  are 
worrying  along  without  any  mechanical  loading 
facilities  whatever.  A  condition  of  this  kind 
certainly  suggests  that  the  coal  dealers  here  need 
the  services  of  a  live  efficiency  en.gineer ! 

“If  they  could  get  together  on  the  use  of 
this  elevator,  whereby  each  paid  so  much  per 
ton  for  handling  the  coal  and  all  shared  in  the 
dividends  on  the  business  of  running  the  ele¬ 
vator,  if  there  were  any,  it  would  be  a  kind  of 
consolidation  which  is  feasible,  practical,  profit¬ 
able  and  not'af’all  hard  on  the  individual  member 
of  the  trade.” 


A  Movement  for  Better  Help. 

All  sorts  of  “better”  movements  have  been 
started  in  this  country  during  the  past  few 
years :  There  have  been  plans  for  better  babies, 
better  cities,  better  apples  and  better  everything 
else  worth  while.  All  the  movements  are  good 
and  worthy  of  support. 

What  coal  dealers  need,  as  much  as  anything 
else,  is  better  help,  meaning  the  rough  labor  used 
in  handling  and  delivering  the  coal.  This  is  a 
general  statement,  and  so  is  subject  to  excep¬ 
tions.  There  may  be  retailers  who  have  splendid 
drivers,  who  are  well  able  to  represent  them 
properly;  but  taking  it  by  and  large,  the  trade 
is  using,  and  possibly  is  forced  to  use,  cheap 
and  unintelligent  labor,  which  does  not  do  much 
good  as  far  as  strengthening  the  position  of  the 
dealer  with  his  customer  is  concerned. 

In  the  case  of  a  yard  where  the  coal  must 
be  moved  by  hand  at  every  stage,  and  where 
every  wagon  must  be  loaded  a  forkful  at  a 
time,  the  job  assigned  to  the  wagon-driver  is  a 
tough  proposition.  It  is  hard  work  to  shovel 
coal,  and  naturally  the  dealer  gets  as  employes 
for  this  class  of  work  only  those  who  are  not 


fit  for  anything  better.  In  a  great  many  cities 
the  lowest  class  of  negro  labor  is  used,  and 
most  of  the  negroes  are  about  on  a  par  with 
the  mules  they  drive. 

A  leading  dealer  who  recently  established  me¬ 
chanical  facilities  for  handling  the  coal,  and  who 
substituted  pulling  a  rope  and  opening  a  chute 
for  shoveling  coal  into  the  wagon  by  hand,  has 
found,  to  his  interested  surprise,  that  this  simple 
change  has  made  his  yard  a  most  popular  one 
with  coal-wagon  drivers.  Everybody  is  anxious 
to  work  for  him,  because  the  job  has  been  robbed 
of  its  worst  feature.  The  extremely  laborious 
task  of  loading  by  hand  has  been  eliminated, 
and  loading  now  is  simply  and  easily  performed. 
Therefore  the  dealer  has  his  pick  of  the  negroes 
who  work  around  the  coal-yards  in  his  town. 

As  a  man  can  handle  many  more  loads  of  coal 
under  this  arrangement  than  formerly,  the  drivers, 
are  able  to  earn  more,  even  at  the  reduced  scale 
which  the  dealer  using  mechanical  devices  natu¬ 
rally  established.  Since  the  pay  is  thus  made 
more  attractive,  while  the  actual  labor  required 
is  less,  it  follows  that  the  dealer,  as  an  employer 
of  labor,  has  been  advanced  several  degrees, 
and  that  he  can  enter  the  market  for  a  better 
class  of  help  than  he  has  been  entitled  to  here¬ 
tofore. 

Capital  seeks  the  most  attractive  and  remuner¬ 
ative  market,  and  labor  is  the  same  way.  Those 
who  have  labor  to  sell  want  to  sell  it  for  the 
most  money  and  the  best  possible  working  condi¬ 
tions.  The  dealer  with  up-to-date  equipment  is 
not  only  saving  money  and  getting  the  various 
other  advantages  which  are  usually  commented 
on,  but  he  is  putting  himself  in  a  position  to 
command  service  of  a  highly  improved  character, 
compared  with  that  which  he  has  been  getting. 

From  the  standpoint  of  creating  good-will  and 
holding  trade,  this  is  well  worth  emphasizing. 


More  Intelligent  Drivers  Needed. 

It  is  a  fact  that  more  intelligent  men  are 
needed  in  handling  coal  deliveries.  The  driver 
of  a  wagon  can  really  be  a  salesman  of  the  com¬ 
pany’s  product,  if  he  is  up  to  his  job.  In  many 
lines  of  business  the  drivers  are  regarded  as 
salesmen,  and  are  so  denominated.  Wholesale 
bakers,  launderers  and  others  are  among  those 
who  have  found  that  their  drivers  can  be  trained 
along  lines  which  will  take  advantage  of  their 
natural  ability,  and  make  them  worth  more  than 
they  are  worth  when  they  confine  their  efforts 
to  the  purely  mechanical  task  of  getting  the 
goods  from  the  customer  to  the  plant  and  back 
again. 

The  coal  business  is  getting  to  a  stage  where 
greater  responsibilities  are  likely  to  be  imposed 
on  the  driver.  Take,  for  instance,  the  develop¬ 
ment  of  the  cash  system,  which  is  taking  hold 
in  all  parts  of  the  country,  where  the  coal  is 
sold  c.  o.  d. ;  as  happens  in  a  great  many  cases, 
it  is  up  to  the  driver  to  make  the  collection,  to 
explain  the  nature  of  the  charge  to  the  customer, 
and  to  get  the  money  safely  back  to  the  office. 
No  particular  feature  of  this  transaction  is  tre¬ 
mendously  difficult,  and  yet  handling  it  does 
require  some  intelligence.  The  more  intelligent 
the  driver  is,  the  better  impression  he  will  make 
— for  his  employer — on  the  customer. 

Suppose  the  driver,  considering  him  now  from 
the  standpoint  of  his  possibilities  as  a  salesman, 
were  to  deliver  a  load  of  coal  in  a  neighborhood 
where  he  saw  that  a  new  family  was  moving 
in.  If  he  had  the  ability  and  the  knowledge,  he 
could  go  into  that  house,  explain  his  connection 


with  the  business  and  solicit  an  order.  Inas¬ 
much  as  coal  is  one  of  the  first  things  needed, 
it  would  be  almost  a  certainty  that  he  would 
get  the  order.  And  if  this  happened,  a  permanent 
account  would  probably  have  been  added  to  the 
books  of  the  coal  dealer. 

In  communities  where  a  fairly  high  grade  of 
help  is  already  being  used,  much  of  the  foregoing 
is  not  apropos;  but  that  part  of  it  relating  to 
making  a  salesman  of  the  driver  is  decidedly 
relevant.  If  the  drivers  were  trained  to  watch 
for  chances  for  getting  business,  it  would  be  a 
big  advantage,  even  if  they  did  no  more  than 
make  a  report  to  the  office  of  business-getting 
opportunities  which  they  run  across.  The  coal¬ 
man  himself  sees  chances  for  new  trade  every 
time  he  leaves  his  office,  and  his  employes  have 
similar  opportunities.  It  is  up  to  him  to  train 
them  to  take  advantage  of  these  opportunities. 


A  Chance  for  the  Coal  Man. 

Business  men  in  all  lines  are  looking  for 
chances  to  advertise  in  an  effective  way.  They 
are  on  the  lookout  for  new  stunts,  novel  means 
of  presenting  their  proposition,  and  unusual  ways 
of  stating  the  same  old  familiar  things.  If  any¬ 
body  can  suggest  a  new  point  or  a  clever  way  of 
going  after  the  customer,  the  merchant  in  prac¬ 
tically  every  field  will  express  his  appreciation 
substantially. 

Selling  real  estate  is  a  difficult  task,  requiring 
patience,  wide  knowledge  of  conditions,  and  a 
thorough  acquaintance.  Real  estate  men  have 
become,  especially  during  the  past  few  years,  big 
and  successful  advertisers,  because  they  have 
found  out  that  it  pays  to  advertise  in  a  big 
way.  All  sorts  of  “stunt”  features  have  been 
developed  in  connection  with  real  estate  opera¬ 
tions,  each  intended  to  give  the  proposition  suf¬ 
ficient  “punch”  to  make  it  attractive. 

In  one  or  two  cities  where  the  writer  has  been 
recently  it  has  been  observed  that  real  estate 
men  advertise  that  home^  which  are  for  sale 
have  the  coal-bins  fijled,  and  that  the  houses  are 
ready  to  be  used.  This  is  true  especially  of  new 
houses,  just  cornpleted.  It  often  proves  desirable 
to  have  a  fire  in  the  furnace,  in  order  that  the 
house  may  be  warm  and  cheerful,  and  the  intel¬ 
ligent  real  estate  man,  seeing  that  to  go  a  step 
further  would  cost  only  a  few  dollars,  and  would 
have  a  big  effect  on  the  prospective  purchaser, 
has  had  the  whole  bin  filled.  On  a  house  worth 
several  thousand  dollars,  the  cost  of  the  coal  is 
such  a  small  percentage  as  to  be  a  negligible 
factor,  while  going  into  a  house  with  the  coal 
supply  already  taken  care  of  undoubtedly  ap¬ 
peals  to  the  man  who  is  going  to  buy  the 
house.  In  one  instance,  a  $7,500  sale  was  made 
on  the  strength  of  this  feature,  the  buyer  being 
unable  to  decide  between  two  houses  of  equal 
desirability  until  this  feature  was  presented  to 
him. 

A  coal  dealer  could  probably  present  this  sug¬ 
gestion  to  real  estate  men  and  builders  who  are 
putting  houses  on  the  market  with  every  chance 
of  making  a  good  impression.  The  advantage  of 
the  stunt  as  a  “talking  point”  would  readily  be 
appreciated,  and  even  after  the  novelty  wore  off, 
it  would  be  such  a  popular  feature,  from  the 
standpoint  of  the  buyer  of  the  property,  that 
practically  all  of  those  with  homes  for  sale  would 
find  it  necessary  to  provide  the  initial  coal  sup¬ 
ply.  In  addition  to  getting  this  business,  the 
dealer  could  post  his  sign  prominently  about  the 
coal  bin,  so  that  the  occupant  of  the  house  could 
see  who  had  furnished  the  fuel,  and  would  thus 
have  the  suggestion  to  continue  to  provide  him¬ 
self  from  that  source. 

The  point  that  the  coalman  should  emphasize 
in  approaching  home-builders  on  this  subject  is 
that  it  would  bring  out  more  prospects,  and  that 
the  cost,  figured  on  the  value  of  the  house,  would 
be  a  very  small  fraction  of  one  per  cent. 


Protect  the  Driver. 

Coal  dealers  who  operate  motor  trucks  should 
consider  the  advisability  of  providing  cabs  which 
will  protect  their  men  from  the  rigors  of  wintry 
weather.  It  is  impracticable  in  most  instances 
to  do  much  in  this  direction  with  horse-drawn 
equipment,  but  motor  trucks  can  easily  be  fixed 
so  that  the  man  at  the  wheel  will  be  comfortable. 
An  opening  can  be  made  so  that  the  heat  of 
the  engine  will  enter  the  cab,  and  if  this  is  en¬ 
closed  completely,  the  driver  will  be  snug  and 
warm.  That  this  will  add  to  his  efficiency,  and 
thus  be  worth  while  from  the  standpoint  of  the 
owner,  is  evident. 


334 


Till]  BLA(Tv  DIAIMONI) 


[October  23 


PUBI.ISHED  EVERY  SATURDAY  BY  THE 
BEACK  DIAMOND  COMPANY. 

Subscription  price,  $3.00  per  year,  postage  prepaid,  to 
any  postoffice  in  the  United  States.  Foreign  subscrip¬ 
tion  price,  $5.00  per  year.  Single  copies,  20  cents. 
Entered  at  Chicago  postoffice  as  second-class  matter. 


Address  all  communications  to 

THE  BEACH  DIAMOND  COMPANY  (INC) 

Main  office,  Manhattan  building,  Chicago. 


Branch  Offices. 

New  York,  29  Broadway. 
Philadelphia,  1400  Land  Title  building. 
Pittsburgh,  1502  Oliver  building. 


Saturday,  October  23,  1915. 


INDEX. 


Special  Articles. 

Page 


Do  Coal  Men  Want  to  Kill  the  Sherman  .\ct?....  3-’.) 

Can  Coal  Be  Carried  on  Upper  Mississijipi  ? .  320 

The  Coke  Industry  in  1914 .  32S 

Bearing  of  the  Kellogg  Price-Fixing  Decision .  329 

Mine  Clearing  House  . . - . 

Rate  Hearing  Is  Resumed  in  Ohio .  331 

Panama  Canal  Announcement  .  331 

Welsh  Miners’  Wages  .  331 

Twin  Cities  Coke  Plant .  331 

New  York  Golf  Tournament .  332 

Norfolk  &  Western  Tonnage .  332 

Enoch  Carver  Dies  .  332 

National  Coal  Association  .  332 

Baltimore  Coal  Tonnage  .  332 

Field  of  the  Retail  Dealer .  333 

Editorial  .  334 

News  Local  to  Chicago .  33(i 

Small  Activities  .  3311 

Facts  Which  Determine  Our  Export  Prospects .  337 

Market  Reports. 

General  Review  and  Chicago .  33S 

Pittsburgh  and  Duluth  .  339 

Cincinnati,  Detroit  and  Birmingham. .  34(1 

Cleveland,  Indianapolis  and  Twin  Cities .  341 

New  York  .  342 

Philadeliihia  and  Denver  .  343 

New  England,  Baltimore,  Buffalo  and  Omaha .  344 

Hocking  Valley  .  1-’) 


Old  Enemies  Made  Friends. 

The  title  of  this  editorial  is  an  attractive 
one  to  write  to.  It  is  susceptible  of  many 
illustrations.  Rather  than  taking  the  ob¬ 
vious  slant  at  it — considering  how  by  re¬ 
moving  disagreements  from  our  one-time 
enemies  we  can  get  u])on  terms  of  the  most 
cordial  friendship — ive  prefer  to  discuss 
the  situation  created  by  the  suggestion  of 
the  mine  workers.  They  propose  that  since 
every  business  man  has  considered  the 
Sherman  act  his  enemy,  coal  men  should 
make  an  assault  upon  it  and  kill  it. 

Rather  than  consenting  at  once  to  so  in¬ 
teresting  a  jiroposal,  we  find  ourselves  in¬ 
clined  to  hold  back  and  to  ask  even  whether 
this  old  and  common  enemy  of  all  business 
men  has  not  been  transformed  by  recent 
events  into  a  warm  friend  and  a  well- 
meaning  ally. 

'I'he  Sherman  act  7c«5'  for  years  consid¬ 
ered  a  bug-l)ear  and  a  back  breaker.  That 
was  when  the  whole  country  was  obsessed 
with  the  idea  that  virtue  resided  in  bigness 
alone.  In  those  days  the  very  idea  of  big¬ 
ness  was  attractive  because  the  people  then 
did  not  care  to  pay  the  bill  createil  by  the 
extravagance  resulting  from  jiermitting 
small  men  to  get  their  liusiness  education  at 
])ublic  expense.  The  jieople  thought  that 
system  was  rather  hard  on  the  consumer. 
So,  for  a  long  time,  they  wanted  to  have 
only  big  companies  in  which  men  could  be 
trained  to  do  big  things.  After  an  individ¬ 
ual  had  grown  big,  he  could  form  another 


big  comjiany  in  competition  with  the  one 
which  had  trained  him.  It  was  a  very  at¬ 
tractive  doctrine  which  was  preached  in 
those  days  of  large  thinking.  It  was  said 
that  not  only  could  America  be  given  good 
service  cheaply  hut  the  export  field  could 
be  brought  under  our  control. 

In  those  days  of  our  mental  extravagance 
the  Sherman  anti-trust  law  was  considered 
the  enemy  of  all  mankind  because  it  in¬ 
veighed  against  the  formation  of  any  such 
large  corporations  because  they  are  con¬ 
ducive  to  monopoly.  In  those  days  every 
business  man  hated  the  .Sherman  law  most 
cordially. 

In  these  later  days,  the  people  have  seem¬ 
ingly  esjioused  a  wholly  different  doctrine 
about  the  size  of  corporations.  They  no 
longer  want  the  hig  ones  under  unit  control 
but  small  ones  imcler  multiple  control.  And 
so,  the  popular  attitude  toward  the  Sher¬ 
man  act  has  changed.  That  is,  the  people 
are  not  quite  so  keen  for  big  corporations 
as  once  they  were,  but  are  coming  to  be 
more  sympathetic  with  the  small  men. 
They  don’t  think  it  so  much  of  a  crime  for 
a  small  man  to  get  his  experience  at  public 
expense. 

One  thing  that  changed  public  opinion 
was  a  growing  realization  that  big  busi¬ 
nesses  are  all  right  if  we  have  big  men  to 
handle  them.  Rut,  we  have  a  limited  sup¬ 
ply  of  big  men.  Therefore,  our  national 
preference  today  is  for  small  businesses, 
run  by  small  men,  who  get  their  education 
from  co-operative  movements. 

4'his  newer  idea  makes  the  Sherman  act 
a  friend  rather  than  an  enemy.  That  is,  it 
still  stands  as  a  threat  to  the  man  who 
wants  to  monopolize.  Also  it  keeps  co-op¬ 
eration  down,  whereas  it  might  want  to  as¬ 
sume  large  proportions  if  all  restraint  were 
withdrawn. 

The  theory  is  that  very  few  persons  will 
be  good  unless  there  is  some  coercion  or 
some  fear.  Coal  men  believe  that  co-oper¬ 
ation  is  a  good  thing.  However,  there 
must  be  fear  of  something  or  co-operation 
will  not  be  an  abiding  force.  Therefore, 
the  operators  want  to  continue  the  fear  of 
the  Sherman  law  as  a  check  on  mono]iolv. 


Paternal  Financing. 

Many  good  and  earnest  coal  men  become 
deeply  concerned  every  now  and  then  lest 
ours  develop  into  a  paternal  government. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  it  is  far  more  jiaternal 
today  than  most  of  them  will  believe  possi¬ 
ble.  And  it  is  going  to  be  more  so  before  it 
is  less.  Men  fail  to  realize  the  extent  to 
which  paternalism  has  gone,  merely  be¬ 
cause  they  fail  to  co-ordinate  the  informa¬ 
tion  they  have. 

For  example,  everyone  knows  that  we 
have  the  income  tax  law.  What  they  over¬ 
look  is  that  the  collection  of  that  ta.x  is  a 
mere  incident.  The  vital  fact  is  that  in 
order  to  make  sure  that  all  persons  pay  the 
tax,  the  government  has  a  right  to  send  its 
examiners  into  a  corporation’s  office  to  go 
over  the  books.  Thus  the  government  can 
get  any  information  that  it  may  want  about 
any  business. 

Coal  men  also  fail  to  consider  the  jiater- 
nal  aspect  of  the  Trade  Commission  bill.  It 
is  going  to  teach  uniform  accounting.  It 
will  even  send  experts  into  private  business 
to  teach  how  accounting  should  be  done. 
Ry  having  its  .system  of  uniform  account¬ 
ing  in  a  business  it  can  get  information 
classified  as  the  government  wants  it.  Also, 


the  law  creating  the  Federal  Reserve 
Roard  is  essentially  paternal.  This  board 
is  now  discounting  the  commercial  paper  of 
private  concerns.  In  order  to  do  that,  the 
government  must  know  quite  a  good  deal 
about  the  business  of  the  concern  whose 
jiaper  it  handles. 

These  seem  to  be  rather  elaborate  steps 
in  the  direction  of  controlling  private  busi¬ 
ness,  but  the  big  development  has  never 
been  brought  out.  L’'^ntil  the  passage  of  the 
bill  creating  the  hAderal  Reserve  Roard, 
the  government  was  merely  maintaining  a 
system  of  espionage  over  private  banks.  It 
interfered  in  no  way  with  the  function  of 
hanking.  With  the  jiassage  of  that  law, 
the  government  went  into  the  banking  busi¬ 
ness.  Ranking  is  no  longer  a  private  busi¬ 
ness  only.  It  is  private  so  far  as  collecting 
the  deposits  and  negotiating  the  loans  is 
concerned,  but  it  is  a  public  matter  when 
it  comes  to  that  holy  of  holies  of  the  bank¬ 
ing  Inisiness — the  rediscounting  of  commer¬ 
cial  paper.  That  is,  we  have  no  longer  a 
]trivate  hank,  but  a  hybrid  organization. 

Some  business  men  are  almost  sure  to  re¬ 
sent  this  interference  of  the  government 
because  by  so.  doing  it  will  gain  intimate 
knowledge  of  their  business.  They  con¬ 
sider  it  all  right  and  proper  to  tell  the 
secrets  of  their  business  to  the  private 
banker,  but  they  don’t  care  to  tell  them  to 
the  government. 

Perhaps  the  reason  is  they  are  doing 
things  of  which  they  are  ashamed.  That 
,is,  their  acts  may  not  be  exactly  corrupt, 
but  still  not  orthodox  when  considered 
from  the  moral  or  ethical  point  of  view. 
In  a  word,  some  of  them  have  been  making 
money  a  little  surreptitiously.  Of  course 
if  the  government  becomes  acquainted  with 
these  side-door  and  back-door  methods  a 
way  will  be  found  to  correct  them. 

Rut  there  is  still  another  angle  to  the  sit-, 
nation.  The  government,  so  long  as  it  has 
stood  on  the  side  lines  of  the  business  and 
knew  nothing  about  it,  was  inclined  to 
adopt  an  idealistic  idea  of  what  business 
should  do.  Having  no  conceiition  of  busi¬ 
ness  difficulties,  it  was  inclined  to  lay  ex¬ 
traordinary  burdens  on  business.  Maybe 
if  the  government  gets  a  few  more  facts,  it 
may  be  a  little  more  sensible. 

In  other  words,  paternal  financing  may 
tone  u])  the  morals  of  business  and  tone 
down  the  impracticality  of  the  government 
and  result  in  a  pretty  fair  compromise. 


Talkers  in  Business 

You  can  almost  tell,  from  the  amount  of 
talking  a  man  does,  just  what  is  his  status. 
If  he  talks  a  great  deal,  he  either  is  not 
using  his  faculties  to  the  best  advantage  in 
the  job  at  hand,  or  he  has  latent  possibilities 
which  have  not  yet  been  called  into  full  ac¬ 
tion.  If  he  has  the  ability  to  talk,  but  does 
not,  he  probably  has  arrived  at  a  full  reali¬ 
zation  of  his  capabilities  and  is  devoting 
100  per  cent  of  his  energies  to  the  work  at 
hand. 

Conspicuous  examples  jmesent  them¬ 
selves.  Theodore  Roosevelt  is  probably 
the  greatest  talker  of  all  time.  Two  things 
are  true  about  his  career. 

First,  he  was  never  conqdetely  on  any 
job.  I'hat  is  to  say,  he  never  did  all  that 
he  was  capable  of  doing  with  any  one  situ¬ 
ation.  Perhaps  he  was  too  much  interested 
in  talking  about  it  to  quit  talking  and  get 
down  to  detailed  work. 

Second,  no  man  who  has  come  into 
])rominence  in  America  has  had  greater 


thp:  black  diamond 


335 


No.  17] 


possibilities  than  Roosevelt.  His  capacity 
for  knowing  things  and  for  covering  a 
great  amount  of  territory  in  his  mental  in¬ 
vestigations  is  astounding.  He  has  an  al¬ 
most  unlimited  capacity  for  acquiring  in¬ 
formation.  This  faculty  alone  proves  that 
Roosevelt  is  one  of  the  greatest  men  of 
America. 

But,  his  voluminous  utterances  prove 
also  that  he  either  had  not  arrived  at  a  po¬ 
sition  where  he  could  use  all  of  his  abilities, 
or  being  in  that  position  he  has  not  used  his 
great  ability  to  the  best  advantage.  Per¬ 
haps  both  things  are  true. 

The  most  conspicuous  example  of  the 
silent  man  was  J.  P.  Morgan.  The  few 
things  that  he  has  been  quoted  as  saying 
prove  that  he  had  the  ability  to  talk.  Still, 
he  said  very  little.  His  record  of  achieve¬ 
ment  shows  that  perhaps  no  man  ever  came 
nearer  realizing  100  per  cent  of  his  ca¬ 
pacity.  The  organization  of  the  com¬ 
munity  of  interests  of  railroad  control,  the 
Steel  Corporation,  the  International  Mer¬ 
cantile  Marine,  and  the  other  combinations 
are  clear  proof  of  his  enormous  capacity. 
It  is  also  proof  of  the  fact  that  he  devoted 
himself  exclusively  to  doing  things  instead 
of  talking  about  them. 

In  a  much  smaller  way,  any  observant 
coal  man  can  go  through  his  list  of  friends 
and  get  a  lot  of  diversion  by  trying  to  de¬ 
cide  whether  the  volcanic  talkers  are  merely 
wasting  time,  or  are  expressing  latent  abil¬ 
ity  of  large  order.  By  observing  the  silent 
ones  in  the  trade,  they  can  speculate 
whether  the  gentleman  is  merely  tongue- 
tied,  or  whether  he  is  devoting  himself  in¬ 
tensely  to  the  job  at  hand. 


Seeking  a  Master. 

Any  one  in  position  to  watch  the  develop¬ 
ments  of  the  coal  trade  must  have  con¬ 
cluded  that  the  dominating  desire  of  the 
industry  is  for  a  master.  It  wants  that 
more  than  it  wants  anything  else.  It  wants 
a  system  of  control  and  if  that  is  not  pos¬ 
sible  it  wants  personal  control. 

I'or  years  all  coal  men  have  talked  this 
subject  all  of  the  time;  consequently,  they 
think  of  it  constantly.  It  has  become  al¬ 
most  an  obsession  with  them  and  they 
would  abandon  pretty  nearly  every  other 
program  in  order  to  get  just  this  one  thing 
— a  system  or  a  person  to  control  the  busi¬ 
ness. 

d'he  fact  which  every  one  appreciates  is 
that  the  coal  industry  is  a  great  body  with¬ 
out  a  head.  It  is  like  one  of  those  vege¬ 
table  organisms  of  which  we  hear ;  it  has 
no  heart  and  no  center  of  influence.  In¬ 
stead  there  is  a  sort  of  life  center  in  every 
atom  of  its  entire  being.  The  coal  trade  is 
precisely  like  that.  Every  place  where  there 
is  a  coal  office  there  is  also  a  master  of 
some  small  part  of  the  business.  These 
isolated  centers  of  control  are  in  no  sense 
and  in  no  way  related  to  each  other.  They 
do  not  even  act  in  conjunction  with  each 
other,  or  out  of  consideration  for  each 
other.  They  are  distinct  and  separate  en¬ 
tities,  each  pursuing  his  own  way  as  it 
])leases  him  to  do  from  minute  to  minute. 
L  nder  the  circum.stances  there  is  no  trade 
program  and  cannot  he. 

.411  coal  men  are  possessed  of  the  human 
longing  for,  first,  relations  with  other  hu¬ 
mans  and,  second,  for  a  form  of  control. 
It  is  this  longing  which,  expressed  in  our 
community  life,  caused  us  to  create  the  Fed¬ 
eral  Hovernment  for  our  political  mastery. 


Having  it,  w'e  endowed  it  wdth  far  more 
power  mentally  than  we  could  do  or  did  by 
the  constitution.  We  did  that  because  w^e 
w'anted  a  master  for  the  whole  people  and 
knew'  that  we  could  not  get  along  without 
it.  The  coal  trade  is  looking  for  precisely 
some  such  form  of  control.  It  would  be 
perfectly  willing  to  give  supremacy  to  any 
system  or  any  person  wdio  could  prove  it¬ 
self  or  himself  the  master  of  the  trade. 

If  any  one  doubts  this  conclusion,  we 
invite  him  to  read  over  the  addresses  made 
before  any  number  of  trade  conventions  in 
the  last  ten  years.  If  this  is  not  the  domi¬ 
nating  desire  of  them  all,  w'e  have  lost  our 
ability  to  understand  the  meaning  of  plain 
human  speech. 


A  Day  in  Autumn. 

Such  w'cather  as  we  are  having  may  not 
be  good  for  the  coal  business,  but  such  days 
as  these  are  good  for  the  human  soul.  They 
give  a  man  a  chance  to  run  out  of  hopples 
and  feel  free.  In  summer  man  is  kept  bu.sy 
fighting  the  heat,  the  mosquitoes,  and  the 
army  of  bugs.  This  subtracts  much  of 
his  vital  energy  from  life’s  real  purpose  and 
devotes  it  to  nonessentials.  In  the  winter 
time  he  is  fighting  the  cold.  He  is  sub¬ 
tracting  from  his  big  work  a  part  of  his 
store  of  vital  energy  and  devotes  it  to  a 
struggle  for  ordinary  physical  comfort.  In 
the  spring,  generally,  he  is  fighting  the  rain. 
Thus  in  nearly  all  seasons  a  man  is  physic¬ 
ally  and  mentally  below  i)ar  before  he  even 
begins  to  work,  because  so  much  of  his 
energy  is  subtracted  from  the  immediate 
thing  in  hand. 

But  in  days  like  these  man  is  left  master 
of  all  his  faculties  for  the  accomplishment 
of  the  w'ork  at  hand.  It  is  not  w'arm  enough 
for  discomfort.  It  is  not  cold  enough  to 
invite  resistance.  The  insects  which  have 
annoyed  have  gone  for  the  year.  And  every 
outlook  on  nature  tones  up  rather  than 
tones  dowm  the  man’s  physical  organism. 
Therefore,  in  times  like  these,  a  man  is, 
and  should  be,  his  best. 


Union  Extravagance. 

One  of  our  lively  contemporaries  in 
Oklahoma  remarks  in  caustic  fashion  upon 
the  fact  that  it  cost  $15,000— $800  a  day — 
to  oust  one  Peter  Hanraty  from  the  presi¬ 
dency  of  District  Twenty-(3ne  of  the 
United  Mine  Workers. 

C)ne  coal  operator  made  comment  to  the 
efifect  that  this  explains  wdiy  the  miners’ 
union  is  now'  poor.  He  started  with  the  fact 
that  this  small  convention  in  Oklahoma  cost- 
$800  a  day.  Then  he  enumerated  the  more 
elaborate  and  costly  conventions  in  the  va¬ 
rious  eastern  states  and  ended  by  comjnit- 
ing  the  enormous  expense  of  holding  an 
international  convention.  He  was  a  trifle 
dis])Osed  to  criticise  the  union  for  sending 
so  many  delegates  to  so  many  state  conven¬ 
tions. 

Rather  than  criticise  this  tendency,  w'e 
are  very  much  disposed  to  encourage  it. 
We  suggest,  instead  of  delegate  conven¬ 
tions,  that  they  get  together  as  a  commit¬ 
tee  of  the  whole  ;  that  is,  that  they  have 
all  of  the  miners  assemble  at  state  con¬ 
ventions  and  most  of  them  attend  the 
international  conventions.  We  suggest 
that  the  union  jjay  both  mileage  and  per 
diem  while  the  men  arc  thus  regaling 
themselves.  If  we  can  ])ersuade  the  union 
to  spend  its  money  in  that  w'ay,  it  will 


not  have  so  much  money  to  use  to  wdiip 
the  operators  every  few  months.  There¬ 
fore,  let  us  all  get  together  and  boost  for 
a  miners’  convention  of  the  whole. 


Coal  Thoughtlessness. 

No  industry  has  ever  had  as  many  or  as 
severe  critics  as  has  coal.  The  most  severe 
of  them  all  are  men  engaged  in  the  coal 
trade.  Coal  men  are  always  saying  of  other 
coal  men  that  they  are  a  thoughtless  crowd 
— that  the  men  in  the  business  cannot  see 
beyond  the  points  of  their  own  noses.  Any 
coal  man  wdll  proceed  to  elaborate  his  view's 
by  reciting  any  number  of  instances  which 
seem  to  ])rove  his  conclusion.  Candidly, 
some  of  the  evidence  is  convincing. 

Still,  leaving  all  passion  aside,  isn’t  it  pos¬ 
sible  that  there  may  be  good  cause  for  this 
apparent  thoughtlessness  of,  coal  men? 
Isn’t  it,  for  example,  just  another  way  of 
saying  that  the  coal  producers  are  uj) 
against  a  proposition  w'hich  discourages  all 
of  them?  Isn’t  it  possible  that  instead  of 
trying  to  do  the  thoughtful  thing  and  the 
far-sighted  thing,  they  know  it  is  useless 
and  must  ])lunge  ahead  in  a  disheartened 
w'ay,  hoping  that  something  almost  miracu¬ 
lous  will  get  them  out  of  their  ever-present 
dilemma  ? 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  no  man  can  think 
seriously  about  coal  production  as  it  stands 
today  w'ithout  becoming  more  or  less  dis¬ 
couraged.  I'ew  men  can  face  one  fact 
alone  about  coal ;  follow  it  to  its  logical  con¬ 
clusion,  and  fail  to  be  disheartened  at  the 
outlook.  .Some  statisticians  say  that  the 
supply  of  coal  w'ill  last  for  a  thousand 
years,  even  though  the  ])opulation  increases 
at  the  same  rate  as  has  been  the  case  in  re¬ 
cent  decades.  Others  limit  the  supply  to 
150,  200  or  250  years.  The  length  of  time 
the  coal  supply  will  last  does  not  make  any 
difiference.  The  determining  fact  is  that 
whether  we  have  a  hundred  years’  supply, 
or  a  thousand  years’  sup])ly,  all  of  it,  under 
present  regulation.s — or  lack  of  them — can 
be  opened  up  w'ithin  a  year’s  time  and  made 
available  for  immediate  use.  That  is,  if 
the  coal  business  today  were,  by  any 
scheme  or  device,  to  be  made  universally 
profitable,  it  w’ould  be  possible  to  duplicate 
within  the  next  year  the  existing  product¬ 
ive  capacity  in  any  one  field.  It  would  be 
possible  nearly  to  double  the  output  in  the 
w'hole  producing  district.  Indeed  that  is 
probable.  Therefore,  if  any  operator  ever 
gets  to  'a  jjoint  w'here  he  can  be  sure  of  a 
profit,  the  fact  of  his  ])rofit  will  wreck  or 
jeopardize  his  business  by  inviting  any 
number  of  new  competitors.  In  essence,  the 
object  of  these  competitors  will  be  to  chal¬ 
lenge  his  right  and  ability  to  collect  the 
money  which  spells  his  profit. 

It  is  this  fact  which  eternally  is  in  the 
back  of  the  head  of  every  coal  man.  They 
meet  it  every  time  they  think  of  tomorrow. 
Under  the  circumstances,  there  is  not  much 
room  for  practical  idealism  in  the  coal 
trade.  Nor  as  a  matter  of  fact  is  there  rea¬ 
son  for  any  far-sighted  thinking.  Most  coal 
men  don’t  w'ant  to  think  too  far  into  the 
future.  If  they  try  it,  they  can  find  noth¬ 
ing  that  will  w'arrant  that  enthusiasm  w'hich 
most  of  them  have  to  i)Ut  into  their  busi¬ 
ness  every  day  to  move  the  ])rc.=ent  ton¬ 
nage. 

Berhai)s  this  explains  the  a])parent  lack 
of  forethought — or  any  serious  thought  at 
all,  on  the  i)art  of  coal  men. 


[October  23 


336 


News  Local  to  Chicago. 


Carl  Scholz,  president  of  the  Rock  Island 
Coal  Mining  Company,  left  on  Frida}'  night  for 
a  *^rip  to  Oklahoma. 

L.  O.  Stanton,  general  sales  agent  of  the 
Clinton  Coal  Company,  with  headquarters  in 
the  Old  Colony  Building,  was  on  a  trip  over 
the  territory  this  week. 

Enoch  Carver,  western  representative  of  the 
New  River  Coal  Company,  with  headquarters 
in  the  Fisher  Building,  was  called  to  Charles¬ 
ton,  W.  Va.,  on  Friday  of  last  week,  due  to  the 
death  of  his  father  as  a  result  of  a  mine  acci¬ 
dent.  He  is  not  expected  to  return  to  Chicago 
until  Monday. 

W.  R.  Kernohan,  western  representative  of 
the  Pocahontas  Coal  Sales  Conipany,  with 
headquarters  in  the  Fisher  Building,  retiirned 
the  latter  part  of  last  week  from  his  trip  to 
California,  where  he  spent  four  weeks.  While 
there  he  was  paying  a  visit  to  the  relatives 
of  his  wife  and  incidentally  taking  in  the  expo¬ 
sition. 

The  propert}^  of  the  Dering  Coal  Company 
of  Delaware,  in  Vermillion  county,  Indiana, 
and  in  Fayette  township,  Vigo  county,  Indi¬ 
ana,  which  was  sold  last  May  on  foreclosure 
sale  to  Henry  Russell  Platt  of  Chicago,  has 
been  purchased  by  the  J.  K.  Dering  Coal  Com¬ 
pany.  These  properties  include  the  old  No. 
6  mine,  near  Durkee’s  Ferry;  the  old  Willow 
Grove  property,  just  west  of  Clinton;  320 
acres  about  a  mile  south  of  Durkee’s  Ferry, 
and  some  other  isolated  tracts.  Work  will 
be  begun  at  once  to  sink  shaft  at  the  old  No. 
6  mine  to  the  fourth  seam  of  coal  and  the 
company  expects  to  be  taking  out  coal  with¬ 
in  sixty  days. 

The  speakers'  committee  of  the  Chicago  Coal 
Merchants’  Association,  of  which  Leo  Ro- 
manski  is  chairman,  held  a  meeting  on  Friday 
afternoon  of  last  week  to  arrange  for  the  forth¬ 
coming  dinner  of  the  association.  It  is  now 
planned,  unless  something  interferes,  to  hold 
this  dinner  on  the  evening  of  the  second  Tues¬ 
day  of  November.  At  that  time  there  will 
probably  be  some  moving  pictures,  some  music 
by  a  quartet  that  has  won  quite  a  reputa¬ 
tion  as  an  entertainer,  and  there  will  be  just 
one  address,  which  will  be  a  presentation  of 
the  record  of  the  Chicago  Coal  Merchants’ 
.A.ssociation  on  what  it  has  done  for  the  coal 
trade  in  the  last  year  or  two. 

James  F.  Callbreath,  secretary  of  the  Ameri¬ 
can  Mining  Congress,  arrived  in  Chicago  on 
Wednesday  of  this  week  from  his  western  trip 
and  stopped  for  two  days  on  his  way  to  Wash¬ 
ington.  VVJiile  here,  he  made  some  preliminary 
and  tentative  arrangements  for  the  mining  ex¬ 
position,  which  is  to  be  held  in  Chicago  about  the 
first  of  December  next  year.  He  is  concern¬ 
ing  himself  quite  a  good  deal  with  the  organi¬ 
zation  which  is  to  be  effected  in  Chicago  be¬ 
cause  this  will  be  one  of  the  major  efforts  of 
the  congress.  Mr.  Callbreath  announces  that 
he  expects  to  spend  the  better  part  of  this  year 
in  Chicago  making  arrangements  for  the  ex¬ 
position  and  conducting  the  details  of  the 
work. 

Charles  L.  Dering,  Chicago  manager  for 
S.  C.  Schenck,  in  commenting  upon  the  anthra¬ 
cite  situation,  made  one  statement  which  is 
proof  conclusive  that  the  coal  market  this 
year  is  a  weather  affair.  He  called  attention 
to  the  fact  that  until  recently  there  was  quite 
a  large  and  bothersome  accumulation  of  coal 
on  wheels  at  all  of  the  western  distributing 
points.  The  companies  did  not  know  just  ex¬ 
actly  how  they  were  going  to  move  this  with¬ 
out  paying  too  much  demurrage.  However, 
there  came  a  spell  of  freezing  weather  and  the 
entire  accumulation  was  cleaned  up  in  thirty- 
six  hours.  On  the  heels  of  all  of  that  came 
a  warm  spell  for  the  last  few  days,  and  or¬ 
ders  have  fallen  off  again.  In  this  same  con¬ 
nection,  salesmen  in  the  Pocahontas  field  call 
attention  to  a  similar  situation  in  the  western 
market.  Recently  there  was  quite  an  accu¬ 
mulation  of  smokeless  coal  at  the  hold  points 
around  Chicago.  For  a  while  the  smokeless 
companies  had  to  pay  a  dollar  or  two  demur- 
ra.ge  on  each  car  in  order  to  avoid  cutting  the 
price  of  coal.  However,  in  the  last  few  days 
the  operators  curtailed  production  and  the  de¬ 
mand  has  quickened  a  little,  so  that  now  in¬ 
stead  of  paying  demurrage,  the  railroads  are 
getting  reconsigning  orders  carrying  car  num¬ 
bers  within  two  days  after  the  car  in  ques¬ 
tion  has  left  the  mines. 

On  Saturday  night  of  this  week  the  Kan- 
tishna  Club  will  hold  the  first  of  a  series  of 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND, 


informal  dinners  at  the  Hotel  Planters  at 
7  p.  m.  sharp.  This  club  will  be  addressed 
by  the  Hon.  James  C.  O’Brien,  assistant 
state’s  attorney  of  Chicago.  The  genesis  of 
the  Kantishna  Club  will  be  remembered.  That 
is,  a  short  time  ago  a  number  of  the  New  River 
coal  operators  invited  a  number  of  Chicago  re¬ 
tailers  to  .go  to  the  New  River  field  and  inspect 
the  mines.  The  purpose  of  the  trip  was  to  give 
the  New  River  coal  an  identity  of  its  own  in  the 
western  market.  Those  who  went  on  this  trip 
subsequently  held  a  dinner  at  the  Hotel  Planters 
and  arranged  to  form  the  Kantishna  Club,  the 
name  being  that  of  the  car  in  which  the  party 
went  to  West  Virginia.  Subsequently  the  club  has 
espoused  larger  ideas,  as  it  now  aspires  to  become 
the  social  club  of  the  coal  trade  and  ultimately 
to  have  quarters  of  its  own.  For  the  present 
it  is  going  to  be  content  with  a  number  of  in¬ 
formal  dinners  throughout  the  winter,  the 
number,  perhaps,  running  into  six  or  seven. 
To  pay  for  these  dinners  ahead  of  time,  the 
members  of  the  trade  are  asked  to  pay  $15.00 
per  capita.  This  is  the  adoption  in  Chicago  of 
the  plan  by  which  the  Kokoal  koruskations  in 
Philadelphia  were  financed  a  year  or  two  ago. 
If  the  temporary  organization  proves  attrac¬ 
tive,  the  club  will  be  given  definite  organiza¬ 
tion  next  fall.  In  the  meanwhile,  organizers 
of  the  club  are  soliciting  members  from  the 
coal  trade  generally,  and  now  have  a  mem¬ 
bership  of  about  fifty,  and  divided  about  half 
and  half  between  wholesalers  and  retailers. 


Car  Shortage  on  C.  &  O. 


The  car  shortage  on  the  Chesapeake  &  Ohio 
Railway  became  so  serious  that  officials  of 
the  road  held  a  meeting  in  Charleston,  W.  Va., 
on  last  Saturday  to  try  to  find  a  solution  to 
the  present  shortage. 

At  the  meeting  among  those  present  were: 
J.  Paul  Stephens,  general  manager  of  the 
Chesapeake  &  Ohio  Railroad;  Baker  Harris, 
superintendent  of  the  Hinton  division;  L.  B. 
.411en,  superintendent  of  the  Huntington  divi¬ 
sion,  and  J.  W.  Herron,  chairman  of  the  allot¬ 
ment  commission  of  the  road. 

The  car  shortage,  it  was  explained,  is  due 
to  the  shipment  of  coal  to  the  northwest;  al¬ 
ready  more  than  1,000  cars  are  there  and  have 
not  been  returned.  They  have  been  seized 
liy  the  Pere  Marquette  Railroad  and  are  being 
used  in  the  beet  sugar  industry.  They  are 
loaded  with  sugar  beets  en  route  to  the 
factories.  They  are  ideal  receptacles  for  this 
commodity.  But  in  the  meantime  the  coal  in¬ 
dustry  on  the  Chesapeake  &  Ohio  is  injured. 
The  Pere  Marquette  pays  the  Chesapeake  & 
Ohio  forty-five  cents  a  day  for  the  use  of  the 
cars,  but  collects  $1  a  day  from  the  shippers 
for  demurrage,  thereby  clearing  fifty-five  cents 
a  day  besides  having  the  use  of  the  cars  dur¬ 
ing  a  period  when  they  are  needed. 

Another  thing  which  causes  the  shortage  is 
the  long  haul  to  the  northwest  and  the  regu¬ 
lar  length  of  time  it  requires  for  them  to  be 
returned.  Still  another  reason  is  the  number 
of  bad  order  cars  the  road  has.  It  is  explained 
l5y  the  operators  that  bad  order  cars  are  those 
not  fit  to  use  and  which  are  in  bad  order  as 
a  result  of  intrenchment  of  a  few  years  ago, 
following  the  outbreak  of  the  European  war 
when  the  appropriation  for  this  feature  was 
very  small. 

The  shortage  would  not  have  been  noticed 
a  year  ago,  but  business  has  increased  so  much 
in  a  year  that  every  car  is  now  needed  and 
even  the  roads  recognize  the  arrival  of  good 
times. 


To  Stop  Theft  of  Coal. 


Members  of  the  Detroit  Coal  Exchange  are 
endeavoring  to  correct  the  long  standing  abuse 
of  permitting  theft  of  coal  from  cars  on  railroad 
tracks.  Most  of  this  theft  is  charged  to  per¬ 
sons  of  foreign  birth,  living  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  railroad  yards  and  sidings.  F.  E.  Reeves, 
secretary  of  the  exchange,  has  obtained  the  co¬ 
operation  of  representatives  of  various  railroads 
and  of  the  police  department,  while  the  police 
judges  and  prosecuting  attorney’s  office  have  ex¬ 
pressed  an  inclination  to  aid  in  the  reform.  Sev¬ 
eral  persons  detected  taking  coal  from  stock  piles 
and  cars  have  been  brought  into  police  court  and 
fined,  the  amount  in  the  case  of  the  first  ar¬ 
raignment  being  $10.  It  is  proposed  to  continue 
the  campaign  vigorously. 


Small  Activities. 


George  D.  Rowland,  vice-president  and  secre¬ 
tary  of  the  Richland  Coal  Company,  is  spending  a 
large  part  of  his  time  in  Cleveland  at  present 
looking  after  lake  shipments.  He  is  expected  to 
visit  the  Buffalo  office  this  week. 

L.  J.  Bradley,  traveling  man  for  the  Quema- 
honing  Coal  Company,  suffered  a  painful  ac¬ 
cident  in  Winchester,  Va.,  early  this  week.  He 
was  getting  out  of  an  auto  and  tripped  on 
the  step  falling  heavily  on  a  curbing  in  the 
street.  Two  broken  ribs  resulted. 

Lake  Ontario  seems  to  be  losing,  rather  than 
gaining,  coal  and  other  tonnage.  It  is  announced 
that  the  Rutland  Transit  Company  has  sold  its 
last  two  steamships,  the  Rutland  and  the  Ogdens- 
burg,  and  they  will  be  transferred  to  the  Pacific 
Coast.  Some  of  the  boats  of  this  line  were 
sold  to  Atlantic  Coast  coal  companies  and  car¬ 
ried  coal  when  nothing  better  offered. 

A  meeting  of  some  of  the  Buffalo  coal  men 
was  held  last  Saturday  at  the  office  of  J.  T. 
Roberts  for  the  purpose  of  forming  a  bowling 
club.  It  is  hoped  to  form  a  good-sized  organiza¬ 
tion  and  quite  a  few  men  are  already  members. 
The  securing  of  an  available  bowling  alley  is 
something  of  a  problem,  for  it  is  found  that 
most  of  them  are  already  engaged  practically  all 
the  time. 

Ohio  C.  Barber,  head  of  the  Cleveland,  Akron 
&  Canton  Terminal  Railway  Company,  has  plans 
a  coal  handling  plant  on  Cleveland’s  lake  front, 
if  his  company  is  granted  a  franchise  to  build 
a  four-track  subway  under  East  Fifty-fifth  street, 
from  the  lake  to  Morgan  Run  in  Cleveland.  This 
will  open  the  way  to  all  roads  approaching  the 
city  from  the  south  and  southeast  directly  to 
the  lake  front  at  the  foot  of  East  Fifty-fifth 
street.  The  franchise  was  passed  by  the  city 
council  some  time  ago  and  will  be  submitted 
to  a  referendum  vote  at  the  fall  election.  Mr. 
Barber  said  his  company  will  erect  a  steel  and 
concrete  loading  plant  that  will  have  a  capacity 
for  loading  four  10,000-ton  boats  per  day,  if  the 
franchise  is  granted. 

As  yet  the  railroads  have  not  filed  their  new 
schedules,  showing  increased  differentials  between 
Ohio  and  West  Virginia,  with  the  Ohio  utilities 
commission,  but  it  is  said  that  they  are  being 
prepared  for  that  purpose.  There  is  a  possibility, 
of  course,  that  the  West  Virginia  operators  will 
file  a  demand  with  the  Interstate  Commerce  Com¬ 
mission  for  a  suspension  of  the  rates,  when  they 
are  ready  to  put  into  operation,  but  this  remains 
to  be  seen.  While  this  would  delay  matters,  the 
operators  of  the  eastern  Ohio  district  feel  that 
the  advantages  in  favor  of  West  Virginia  are 
now  so  great  and  the  differential  so  small  in 
comparison  with  the  difference  in  the  length  of 
haul,  that  they  will  eventually  fail  in  their  pur¬ 
pose.  A  suspension  would  do  little  good  under 
the  circumstances,  it  is  believed. 

J.  P.  White,  international  president  of  the 
United  Mine  Workers  of  America,  is  busy  at 
the  present  time  in  the  central  Pennsylvania  bi¬ 
tuminous  districts.  Mr.  White  was  very  active 
in  the  Cambria  county  section  during  last  week. 
One  of  the  biggest  meetings  that  he  attended  was 
at  Beaversdale  on  Friday,  the  15th.  Here  he 
spoke  to  about  2,500  miners.  In  his  address  he 
confined  his  remarks  to  an  answer  of  the  accusa¬ 
tions  of  his  enemies  who  were  opposed  to  the 
organization  of  labor,  giving  in  that  talk  his 
version  of  the  strike  in  Colorado.  He  pointed 
out  that  when  he  assumed  the  presidency  of 
the  mine  workers’  organization  four  years  ago, 
it  had  only  17,000  members  in  the  anthracite 
fields,  but  now  the  total  membership  in  the  an¬ 
thracite  districts  amounts  to  155,000. 

The  appellate  court  has  sustained  the  contention 
of  the  Erie  Canal  Coal  Company  regarding  the 
law  of  1907  regulating  the  width  of  entryways 
to  coal  mines.  The  court  at  Princeton  instructed 
the  jury  to  find  for  H.  T.  Elder,  administrator 
of  the  estate  of  John  Byers,  who  was  killed  at 
the  mine.  The  higher  court  held  that  this  was 
an  error.  The  court  finds  that  the  law  does 
not  require  a  coal  mine,  relaying  a  track  after 
the  passage  of  the  law  in  an  old  entryway,  to 
widen  the  way  to  the  width  required  by  the  law 
in  controversy.  It  is  the  first  time  that  the  law 
has  been  construed  regarding  old  ways  which 
have  been  repaired  and  the  court  holds  the 
law  should  be  construed  to  protect  the  worker 
for  all  ways  constructed  after  the  law  was  passed, 
but  should  not  put  the  difficult  task  of  attempting 
to  reconstruct  old  ways  on  the  owner. 


No.  17] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


337 


Facts  Which  Determine  Our  Export  Prospects. 


The  Export  Situation. 

The  shipment  of  export  coals  through  the  At¬ 
lantic  seaboard  ports  has  slumped  very  heavily 
during  the  past  few  weeks,  owing  to  the  scarcity 
of  vessels.  Very  few  steamers  are  to  be  ob¬ 
tained  for  coal  charters  now,  as  their  owners 
are  securing  such  fancy  prices  for  grain  and 
war  munitions,  that  they  are  only  taking  coal 
charters  when  rates  obtain  that  are  practically 
prohibitive.  Most  of  the  coal  now  goin.g  into  ex¬ 
port  is  being  shipped  in  bottoms  that  were  under 
time  charter,  or  were  chartered  sometime  before 
the  recent  high  freight  rates  became  effective. 

This  week  charters  to  Italy  are  talked  of  at  60s 
to  65s,  50s  to  55s  to  Spanish  ports,  and  55s  to 
60s  to  French  ports.  To  South  American  ports 
the  range  is  from  38s  to  42's. 

Advices  from  Cardiff  show  that  freight  rates 
have  advanced  there  materially,  since  the  Greek 
merchant  steamers  were  withdrawn  from  general 
trade.  Late  mail  reports  indicate  that  vessel 
owners  are  asking  40s  from  Cardiff  to  the  River 
Plate,  rates  to  the  Mediterranean  range  from 
about  32s  to  38s. 

Some  few  inquiries  are  now  being  entertained 
by  American  coal  exporters,  but  there  is  not  the 
great  demand  for  coal  that  existed  several  months 
ago.  However,  the  situation  may  change  any  day, 
and  it  is  recognized  that  practically  all  of  the 
foreign  countries  that  have  to  import  coal,  have 
very  bare  supplies. 

Twenty  light  cargoes,  totaling  125,000  tons, 
was  shipped  from  Hampton  Roads  last  week. 
Italy  took  ten  of  these  cargoes,  or  approximately 
65,000  tons. 


Exports  to  South  America. 

Due  to  the  shortage  of  ships  and  the  practically 
prohibitive  freight  rates  now  being  asked  on  ex¬ 
port  coal,  American  shipments  to  South  Amer¬ 
ican  countries  have  begun  to  decline. 

In  this  respect,  it  is  interesting  to  note  that 
Wales  is  sending  a  greatly  decreased  tonnage  to 
South  America,  as  shown  by  the  table  below. 
This,  in  connection  with  American  curtailment 
in  shipments,  would  indicate  that  the  South  Amer¬ 
ican  countries  are  very  barren  of  coal  at  the 
moment,  or  else  their  field  needs  have  been 
radically  reduced. 

Exports  from  the  Welsh  ports  for  the  first 
eight  months  of  this  year,  up  to  August  31,  show 
shipments  as  follows: 

Decrease 
From  Same 

Country — •  8  Mos.  1915.  Period,  1914. 

Argentine  . .'.  944,479  10,596 

Brazil  .  320,371  422,750 

Uruguay  . 176,526  212,092 

Chile  .  36,229  185,754 


1,477,635  1,031,192 

This  shows  a  decrease  of  1,031,192  tons  for  the 
first  eight  months  of  this  year  as  compared 
with  the  same  period  in  1914. 


Coal  Trade  at  Tampico,  Mexico. 

The  American  vice-consul  at  Tampico,  Mexico, 
writes  The  Black  Diamond  regarding  the  coal 
trade  there  as  follows: 

“Owing  to  the  fact  that  crude  oil  is  used  al¬ 
most  exclusively  as  fuel  in  Tampico  and  vicinity, 
the  demand  here  for  coal  is  very  limited. 

“However,  the  Agencia  Comercial  y  Meritima 
import  about  5,000  tons  per  month  for  the  con¬ 
sumption  of  the  American  gunboats  anchored 
here. 

“There  have  been  no  improvements  made  in 
the  coal  docks  during  the  past  five  years  at  this 
port.  Owing  to  the  fact  that  the  records  of 
the  custom  house  were  destroyed  previous  to 
the  entry  of  the  Carranza  forces  into  Tampico, 
it  is  now  impossible  to  get  any  statistics  in  re¬ 
gard  to  the  importation  of  coal.” 


Santiago,  Cuba,  Trade. 

P.  Morrell  Griffith,  American  consul  at  San¬ 
tiago  de  Cuba,  writes  The  Black  Diamond  under 
date  of  October  5th : 

“About  60,000  tons  of  bituminous  coal  is  im¬ 
ported  annually.  This  coal  is  consumed  by  the 
Cuba  Copper  Company,  Juragua  Iron  Company, 
Santiago  Railway  Light  &  Power  Company,  San¬ 
tiago  Brewing  &  Ice  Company,  and  several  small 
consumers.  The  cost  of  same  is  about  $6  per 
ton  landed  in  Santiago.  The  Cuba  Railroad  im¬ 
ports  coal  through  Antilla,  and  the  Spanish-Amer- 
ican  Iron  Company,  which  imports  about  10,000 
tons  annually  to  their  own  docks  at  Daiquiri,  a 


subport  of  Santiago  de  Cuba,  is  not  included  in 
the  60,000  tons  above  mentioned. 

“There  is  little  demand  for  coke,  only  about 
400  tons  being  imported  annually.” 


United  States  Coke  Exports. 

Bulletin  11.25  just  issued  by  the  Department 
of  the  Interior,  and  prepared  by  C.  E.  Lesher,  of 
the  Geological  Survey,  says  of  the  export  trade  in 
coke: 

“The  quantity  of  coke  exported  from  the 
United  States  increased  steadily  from  1900  to 
1907.  Since  1907  the  value  of  the  exports  has 
alternately  increased  and  decreased  although  with 
slmight  fluctuations  it  has  remained  practically 
stationary  during  the  last  six  years.  The  exports 
in  1914  were  the  lowest  since  1904. 

The  exports  of  coke  during  the  last  six  years 
are  shown  in  the  following  table,  the  quantities 
being  reduced  to  short  tons : 


Year — - 

1909  ... 

1910  ... 

1911  . . . 

1912  . . . 

1913  ... 

1914  .  . . 


Quantity. 

1,002,916 

984,618 

1,023,727 

912,576 

987,395 

663,585 


Baltimore  September  Exports. 

Statement  of  bituminous  coal  exported  from 
the  port  of  Baltimore  during  the  month  of  Sep¬ 
tember,  1915,  taken  from  the  custom  house  rec¬ 
ords  at  Baltimore: 


Country —  Tonnage. 

France  .  17,499 

Italy  .  75,081 

Spain  .  13,792 

Sweden  .  36,499 

Costa  Rica .  6,882 

Honduras  .  1,377 

Panama  .  2,949 

Cuba  .  16,315 

French  West  Indies .  919 

Argentine  . ' .  10,783 

Brazil  .  6,858 

Peru  .  4,604 

Venezuela  . .  .  337 

Egypt  .  7,031 


Total  . .  200,926 


Welsh  Coal  Exports. 


The  returns  published  by  the  British  Board 
of  Trade  are  now  available,  and  the  following 
table  shows  the  amount  of  coal  exported  from 
the  Bristol  Channel  (Welsh  ports)  to  foreign 
countries  and  British  possessions  during  August 
last  compared  with  the  corresponding  month  of 
last  year. 


August— 

Russia  . .  .  .  . 

Sweden  . 

Norway  . 

Denmark  . 

Belgium  . 

France  . 

Algeria  . 

Portugal  . 

Spain  . 

Canary  Islands . 

Italy  . I 

Austria-Hungary  . 

Greece  . 

Roumania  . 

Turkey  (Asiatic) . 

Tunis  . 

Chiii  . 

Brazil  . 

Uruguay  . ._ . 

Argentine  Republic . 

Gibraltar  . 

Malta  and  Gozo . 

Egypt  . . 

Anglo-Egyptian  Sudan . 

Ceylon  and  dependencies... 


-Tons- 


1915. 

1914. 

17,089 

7,100 

7,684 

6,973 

11,695 

959 

8,832 

11,043 

604,291 

296,678 

25,705 

20,086 

37,746 

39,516 

54,653 

73,595 

4,698 

8,836 

220,288 

254,466 

5,711 

5,437 

11,554 

5,381 

3,767 

22,253 

2,090 

12,086 

1,187 

13,773 

27,557 

30,654 

15,115 

20,234 

105,137 

81,129 

13,105 

6,477 

4,693 

9,330 

69,205 

88,151 

11,564 

5,232 

The  following  table  shows  the  total  shipments 
for  the  eight  months  of  the  year,  together  with 
the  increase  or  decrease  as  the  case  may  be, 
compared  with  the  corresponding  period  of  1914 : 


Eight  months  ended  August,  tons — 

Russia  . 

Sweden  . 

Norway  . 

Denmark  . 

Germany  . 

Netherlands  . 

Java  . 

Other  Dutch  possessions . 

Belgium  . 

France  . 

Algeria  . 

French  Somaliland . 

Madagascar  . 

Reunion  (Bourbon) . 

Portugal  . 

Azores  . 

Madeira  . 

Spain  . 

Canary  Islands . 

Italy  . 

Italian  East  Africa . 

Austria-Hungary  . 

Greece  . 

Bulgaria  . 

Roumania  . 


4,704 

57,366 

63,161 

27,638 


22,720 

6,550 


5,717,285 

298,547 

97,575 

13,554 


500,913 

27,381 

36,452 

551,767 

154,856 

2,159,542 

5,043 


162,419 


Turkey  (European) .  6,557 

Turkey  (Asiatic) .  3,767 


Decrease 

355,831 

59,836 

35,955 

2,595 

174,423 

34,854 

7,062 

23,327 

225,003 

*1,062,948 

108,797 

*36,158 

1,258 

5,498 

85,085 

*12,585 

14,176 

320,106 

173,776 

1,269,657 

4,317 

127,749 

185,008 

63,238 

183.535 

101,208 

159,828 


Tripoli  . 

Tunis  .  69,180 

Peru  . 

Chile  .  36,229 

Brazil  .  320,371 

Uruguay  .  176,526 

Argentine  Republic .  944,479 

Channel  Islands .  27,833 

Malta  and  Gozo . 

Gibraltar  . 131,968 

Egypt  .  540,263 

Cape  of  Good  Hope . :.  5,545 

Anglo-Egyptian  Sudan .  20,753 

Mauritius  and  dependencies .  8,813 

Aden  and  dependencies .  99,052 

British  India .  13,912 

Straits  Settlements .  1,561 

Ceylon  and  dependencies .  36,169 

Hong  Kong . 

Canada  .  394 

Bermudas  . 

British  West  India  islands .  2,573 

West  Africa  (British) .  36,294 

West  Africa  (French) .  97,575 

West  Africa  (Portuguese) .  91,842 


8,035 

41,761 

12,718 

185,754 

422,750 

212,092 

10,596 

16,254 

147,567 

16,016 

719,642 

19,898 

11,436 

4,641 

*3,327 

75,213 

15,146 

157,896 

10,366 

756 

10,530 

9,593 

9,924 

*36,158 

*21,250 


*Increase. 

Recent  Coal  Freight  Charters. 

Schr.  Marguerite,  Norfolk  to  St.  John,  N.  B.,  coal,  p.  t. 

Schr.  Edgar  W.  Murdoch,  Norfolk  to  Canary  Islands, 
coal,  p.  t. 

Schr.  J.  T.  Maxwell,  Baltimore  to  Surinam,  coal,  ji.  t. 

Schr.  Pendleton  Sisters,  Philadelphia  to  Surinam,  coal, 
p.  t. 

Schr.  Evelyn  W.  Hinkly,  Philadelphia  to  Porto  Rico, 
coal,  $3. 

Schr.  W.  E.  Downes,  Philadelphia  to  Fort  de  France, 
coal,  p.  t. 

Str.  Hesperos  (Nor.),  Virginia  to  River  Plata,  coal, 
$8.15;  500  tons  discharge.  “Prompt.” 

Str.  Plymouth,  Baltimore  to  Egypt,  coal,  $15.50;  7,000 
tons  cargo. 

Schr.  Dorothy  Palmer,  Norfolk  to  west  coast  of  Italy, 
coal,  $10. 

Schrs._  Ruth  B.  Cobb  and  Alice  B.  Phillips,  Baltimore 
to  Martinique,  coal,  p.  t. 

Schr.  J.  Frank  Searney,  Philadelphia  to  St.  John, 
N.  B.,  600  tons  coal,  p.  t. 

Schr.  Annie,  Philadelphia  to  Casilda,  1,000  tons  coal,  $4. 


German  Coal  Combine. 

The  weekly  report  of  general  conditions  in 
Germany  during  the  European  war  as  published 
by  the  American  Association  of  Commerce  and 
Trade  at  Berlin,  under  date  of  September  25, 
1915,  says: 

“In  order  to  prevent  an  obligatory  combine  of 
German  coal  mine  owners,  which  threatened  the 
dissolved  coal  syndicate,  the  efforts  for  reorgan¬ 
ization  have  been  successful. 

“The  outlook  of  the  coal  trade,  therefore,  has 
become  brighter  and  business  proceeds  in  its 
accustomed  channels.  The  demand  for  coal  and 
coke  continues  unchanged ;  especially  in  view  of 
the  approaching  winter,  the  demand  for  anthra¬ 
cite  is  very  great.  In  spite  of  increased  output 
of  mines,  the  private  demand  cannot  be  met, 
as  the  greater  part  of  the  output  is  'shipped  to 
briquette  mills  and  cokeries,  the  latter,  however, 
not  operating  as  yet  to  their  full  capacity. 

“Considering  that  as  a  result  of  enlarging 
cokeries  and  establishing  new  plants,  the  output 
of  coke  has  considerably  increased,  a  shipment 
of  eighty  per  cent  of  the  production  reaches  the 
maximum  as  recorded  in  1913. 

“The  impossibility  of  further  substantial  in¬ 
crease  of  coal  production  does  not  permit  a  fur¬ 
ther  increase  of  coke  production,  for  which 
reason  the  large  stored  supplies  of  coke  are  grad¬ 
ually  reduced. 

“Coal  exports  to  Holland  are  keeping  up  in 
a  limited  measure,  so  that  the  demand  from 
Holland  is  almost  as  large  as  before. 

“The  export  of  coal  to  Belgium  having  for 
some  time  been  limited,  considerable  shipments 
of  industrial  coal  as  well  as  of  household  coal 
and  briquettes  from  Belgium  to  western  Germany 
have  been  made.  Even  greater  than  the  demand 
for  coal  is  the  demand  for  by-products  of  cok¬ 
eries,  and  benzole,  especially^  cannot  be  furnished 
in  sufficiently  large  quantities.  Tar  and  tar 
products  are  finding  a  ready  market. 

“The  difficulties  in  the  supply  of  labor,  espe¬ 
cially  of  skilled  help,  are  not  as  yet  removed, 
and  although  miners  from  Poland  are  now  em¬ 
ployed  in  German  mines,  a  noteworthy  increase 
of  coal  production  cannot  be  figured  with  at 
present. 

“Nevertheless,  the  German  Fuel  supply  can  be 
viewed  as  entirely  satisfactory,  even  if  in  some 
grades  of  fuel  a  scarcity  is  now  and  then  felt.” 


The  Swedish  State  Railway  management  has 
just  purchased  in  Westphalia,  Germany,  20,000 
tons  of  coal  briquets  and  72,000  tons  of  coke  for 
use  as  locomotive  fuel.  A  circular  has-  been 
issued  to  all  the  district  managers  giving  in¬ 
structions  in  regard  to  their  use.  The  coal  will 
be  used  alone,  but  a  mixture  of  coal  and  briquets 
may  be  undertaken  later,  as  experiments  in  Den¬ 
mark  tend  to  show  that  such  a  mixture,  with 
English  coal  is  a  success.  _  It  is  stated  that  in 
mixing  about  equal  proportions  of  coke  and  coal 
briquets  will  be  used. 


338 


[October  23 


THE  15EACK  HIAMOXD. 


General  Review. 

The  Demand  for  Coal  Is  Good,  While 
Car  and  Labor  Supplies  Are  Short. 
Exports  Are  Small. 

The  coal  situation  this  week  is  made  inter¬ 
esting  and  tl'.e  trade  is  made  profitalde,  mainly 
because  the  railroad  car  supply  and  the  sup¬ 
ply  of  labor  have  not  kept  pace  with  the 
activi'ies  of  the  coal  mining  companies  in 
arranging'  for  increased  output.  that  is  to 
to  say,  the  operators  have  multiplied  the  mines 
and  elaborated  mine  development  enough  to 
take  care  of  the  present  very  large  demand 
for  coal  and  much  more.  They  are  pre¬ 
vented  from  running  these  mines  no  capacity, 
lirst,  because  the  railroads  have  not  increased 
the  supply  of  coal  cars  and,  second,  because 
the  labor  situation  has  been  far  from  sat¬ 
isfactory. 

The  coal  car  situation  has  been  growing- 
more  and  more  serious  for  the  last  three 
or  four  weeks.  On  certain  lines  in  the  east, 
the  best  the  railroads  can  promise  is  to 
give  the  coal  mines  a  fifty  per  cent  supply. 
In  the  majority  of  cases,  what  they  actually 
do  is  to  give  them  a  thirty-five  per  cent  sup¬ 
ply.  This  is  measured  by  the  requests  of  the 
operators  for  cars.  In  some  places  they 
are  giving  only  a  twenty-five  per  cent 
supply.  This  does  not  mean  that  the 
railroads  can  only  haul  twenty-five  to  thirty- 
five  per  cent  of  the  coal  that  is  being  con¬ 
sumed,  because  that  would  mean  that  the 
country  was  subsisting  mainly  on  coal  pre¬ 
viously  placed  in  storage  piles.  It  does  mean 
that  it  is  only  twenty-five  to  thirty-five  per 
cent  of  what  the  operators  think  they  could 
ship  and  sell  if  they  had  the  cars.  Inci- 
dently,  that  is  more  even  than  the  mines 
could  produce. 

There  is  no  doubt  a  shortage  of  cars  as 
compared  with  possible  mine  production  and 
we  should  say  that  that  amounts  to  about 
fifty  per  cent  or  in  that  neighborhood.  How¬ 
ever.  there  is  no  indication  that  the  market 
could  absorb  such  an  amount  of  coal  as  could 
be  produced.  Thus  the  seeming  shortage  of 
cars  is  of  decided  benefit  to  the  trade  as  pro¬ 
tecting  it  against  itself. 

As  to  whether  the  shortage  of  cars  is  real 
as  concerns  the  demand  is  another  question. 
Perhaps  a  percentage  of  coal  is  being  sub¬ 
tracted  from  storage  and  burned  now,  but 
if  that  amounts  to  ten  per  cent  of  the  total 
volume  of  consumption  it  is  enormous.  We 
doubt  whether  it  amounts  to  as  much  as  five 
per  cent.  Even  so,  a  very  small  shortage  is 
sufficient  to  influence  the  price  quite  mate¬ 
rially. 

The  labor  shortage  in  some  districts  is  be¬ 
coming  quite  acute.  Recent  statements  were 
to  the  effect  that  the  sailings  of  emigrants 
was  in  recent  months  far  heavier  than  the 
arrival  of  immigrants.  This  means  that  there 
was  a  net  loss  of  workers  in  America.  Re¬ 
ports  from  one  coal  producing  district  of  West 
Virginia  shows  that  it  contains  .3,000  Greeks, 
who  are  subject  to  a  call  to  arms  and  who 
may  leave  at  any  time.  Recent  sailings  of 
Italians  have  been  heavy.  Previously  the  mis¬ 
cellaneous  losses  of  laborers  had  in  the  aggre¬ 
gate  been  large.  The  net  result  is  a  shortage 
of  labor  at  the  mines  for  which  reason,  the 
productive  capacity  of  these  mines  has  been 
decreased. 

As  to  the  coal  movements,  the  last  week 
or  so  brought  some  interesting  developments. 
The  movement  to  tidewater  for  e.xport  has  fallen 
off  quite  sharply,  not  because  there  is  a  lack 
of  demand  abroad,  but  because  vessels  can¬ 
not  be  had  to  effect  the  movement.  Like¬ 
wise  the  demand  for  steam  coal  in  New  Eng¬ 
land,  which  seemed  so  promising  has  not 
kept  up.  In  other  portions  of  the  east,  how¬ 
ever,  the  demand  is  keen  and  the  operators 
cannot  supply  it. 

The  lake  trade  has  been  disappointing  be¬ 
cause  the  operators  could  sell  coal,  but  can¬ 
not  ship  it  unless  they  pay  premium  prices 
for  vessels  which  are  attracted  by  the  high 
rates  in  the  grain  trade.  This  they  are  not 
disposed  to  do.  Even  so.  the  Pittsburgh  dis¬ 
trict  is  booming,  the  mines  being  sold  up 
for  the  remainder  of  this  year  and  any  sur¬ 
plus  demand  for  coal  will  have  to  be  satisfied 
from  Ohio  or  West  Virginia.  In  the  latter 
place  the  labor  is  short,  so  that  Ohio  will 
get  the  business  if  any  is  done. 

In  the  west  the  situation  in  some  districts 


IS  acute.  The  farmers  have  delayed  the  move¬ 
ment  of  the  grain,  due  to  the  wet  weather. 
The  movement  is  now  started  and  this  is 
complicating  the  situation  all  around,  first 
by  subtracting  from  the  car  supply  and,  sec¬ 
ond,  bj’  making  money  short  in  some  of  the 
rural  districts.  It  promises  to  concentrate 
a  demand  for  coal  that  is  now  being  held  up 
into  the  later  months.  As  this  indicates,  the 
west  is  the  only  point  in  the  national  mar¬ 
ket  where  the  coal  trade  is  not  in  a  very 
strong  position. 

Chicago  Market. 

Warm  Weather  Interferes  With  Buying, 
but  Prices  Are  Firmer. 

Screenings  Are  Strong. 


Office  of  The  Bl.\ck  Di.vmond, 
Chic.\go,  October  21. 


The  immediate  situation  in  coal  is  a  trifle 
easy  because  of  the  weather.  The  technical  situa¬ 
tion  of  the  market  is  strong  because  of  small 
supplies  in  storage;  a  present  and  a  threatening 
shortage  of  cars ;  and,  in  some  places,  a  shortage 
of  labor. 

Taking  a  quick  survey  of  the  whole  market, 
anthracite  was  good  but  is  now  easy.  Smokeless 
has  a  fair  demand,  but  is  influenced  most  by  the 
car  shortage.  Illinois  and  Indiana  coals  had  a 
good  demand,  but  the  softening  of  the  weather 
lessened  it.  Screenings  are  firm  because  of 
smaller  lump  production  and  because  of  recent 
heavy  sales,  some  of  which  are  intended  for 
storage  purposes. 

The  Franklin  county  situation,  everything  con¬ 
sidered,  is  in  good  condition.  Domestic  orders 
eased  off  a  little  during  the  warm  days  the  first 
part  of  this  week.  It  left  the  mines,  however, 
with  enough  orders  to  keep  them  going  for  an¬ 
other  ten  days  and  a  probable  change  of  the 
weather  in  that  length  of  time  will  likely  restore 
the  strength  which  the  market  enjoyed  until 
INIonday.  The  domestic  market  is  primarily  a 
weather  market  and  will  follow  fluctuations  in 
temperature  rather  closely.  The  steam  market  is 
stronger.  Fifty  cents  is  now  rock  l)ottom  on 
screenings  and  in  Chicago  the  price  ranges  up 
to  sixty  cents,  while  in  the  country  sixty  cents 
is  the  minimum,  with  higher  prices  obtaining. 
Prices  up  to  Thursday  were : 


F.  O.  B. 

Franklin  County —  Chicago. 

bump  .  $2.80 

Fgg  .  2.80 

No.  1  nut .  2.80 

Np.  2  nut .  2.45 

Mine  run .  2.15@2.20 

2-inch  screenings  .  1.55@1.65 


F.  n.  B. 
Mines. 
$1.75 
1.75 
1.75 
1.40 
1.10@1.15 
.50@  .60 


The  western  coals  are  firm  not  so  much  so  on 
account  of  current  buying  as  on  account  of 
prospects.  For  example.  Saline  county  operators 
had  a  good  demand  for  domestic  coal,  but  that 
has  eased  off.  The  smaller  production  of  lump 
has  lessened  the  production  of  fine  coal.  That, 
with  a  better  demand,  has  strengthened  that 
market  to  a  minimum  of  fifty  cents.  The  situa¬ 
tion  is  also  improved  by  prospects  of  labor 
trouble  next  spring  as  some  of  the  buyers  are 
already  making  inquiry  for  storage  coal.  Lately 
some  of  the  producers  have  refused  to  contract 
at  seventy-five  cents  a  ton  for  fine  coal  until 
the  first  of  next  April.  The  Saline  county  mar¬ 
ket  is,  therefore,  firm  and  prices  up  to  Thurs¬ 
day  were : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Saline  County — •  Chicago.  Mines. 

Lump  . $2.65@2.80  $1.60@1.75 

Mine  run .  2.20  1.15 

iScreeniiigs  . 1.55J4@l-6)  .50@  .60 

lJ4-inch  lump .  2.35  1.30 


The  Carterville  operators  are  having  a  pretty 
fair  run  of  orders,  but,  of  course,  the  domestic 
sizes  are  influenced  by  the  warmer  weather. 
Leading  companies  have  orders  ahead  for  ten 
days;  the  others  are  selling  their  output  from 
day  to  day.  Prices  on  these  sizes  vary  from 
$1.60  to  $1.75  according  to  the  circulars  of  dif¬ 
ferent  companies.  Steam  sizes  are  not  moving 
nuite  so  well,  being  placed  with  some  difficulty. 
The  car  supply  has  been  none  too  good,  some  of 
the  mines  being  closed  down  a  day  last  week 
because  no  cars  were  available.  There  is  n-o  sur¬ 
plus  of  cars  at  any  time.  The  prices  up  to 
Thursday  were : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Williamson  County —  Chicago.  Mines. 

lump  . $2.65@2.80  $1.60@1.75 

Egg  .  2.65@2.80  1.60@1.7.5 

No.  t  washed .  2.80  1.75 

No.  2  washed .  2.45  1.40 

The  Clinton.  Indiana,  field  is  bothered  a  little 
by  large  possible  production  and  by  pending  in¬ 


creases  in  output.  Still  the  market  on  Number 
Four  vein  domestic  coal  is  fairly  good  at  $1.65 
to  $1.75  while  the  steam  demand  is  improving 

at  prices  heretofore  quoted.  Prices  up  to  Thurs¬ 
day  were : 

F.  o.  B.  F.  q.  B. 

Clinton —  Chicago.  Mines. 

No.  4  domestic  lump . $2.42@2.57  $1.65@1.75 

No.  4  egg .  2.12  1.35 

Nut  .  2.12  1.35 

No.  5  and  6  mine  run .  1.87  1.10 

No.  5  and  6  screenings .  1.37®1.42  .60@i  .65 


Central  Illinois  coal  is  quoted  at  a  variable 
price.  On  screenings  forty  cents  is  the  rock  bot¬ 
tom  for  the  entire  field.  Better  prices  have  been 
obtained  in  places,  these  ranging  up  to  fifty  cents. 
Sangamon  county  domestic  sizes  are  holding  firm 
at  $1.65  for  lump,  although  the  egg  at  times  is 
ea.sy.  The  prices  up  to  Thursday  were : 


Central  Illinois — 

F.  0.  B. 
Chicago. 

F.  p.  B. 
Mines. 

Lump  . 

$1.65 

Lgg  . 

1.50@1.65 

Nut  . 

.  2.47 

1.65 

Mine  run  . 

.  1.87 

1.05 

Screenings  . 

.  1.S2 

.40 

Knox  county 

coal  is 

quotably  unchanged  both 

as  to  price  and  volume  of  business.  The  market 

up  to  Thursday 

Knox  County — 

was : 

F.  O.  B. 
Chicago. 

F.  O.  B. 

Mines. 

Lump  . 

$1.50 

Egg  . 

1.50 

Mine  run  . 

.  1.87 

1.05 

Screenings  . 

.  1.52 

.65 

Anthracite  coal  has  been  a  little  easier  within 
the  last  four  or  five  days.  October  started  with 
a  rush,  but  the  warm  weather  eased  off  buying. 
It  is  a  weather  market  as  is  indicated  by  the 
fact  that  recently  there  was  quite  a  heavy  ac¬ 
cumulation  of  coal  in  the  east  which  was  cleaned 
up  in  thirty-six  hours  when  freezing  weather 
came.  The  present  lull  is  due  to  the  weather. 

Smokeless  operators  are  having  about  a  fifty 
per  cent  car  supply.  With  a  fair  run  of  orders 
in  the  east,  they  haven’t  much  coal  for  western 
delivery.  This  dovetails  into  a  western  situation 
where  the  demand  is  easy  because  of  the  weather. 
Supply  and  demand  are  about  at  a  balance  with 
prices  firm  at  circular  of  $1.40  for  mine  run  and 
becoming  firm  on  lump  and  egg  at  $2.25  although 
some  coal  is  still  sold  at  $2.  The  prices  up  to 
Thursday  were : 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Smokeless —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Mine  run  .  $3.45  $1.40 

Lump  and  egg .  4.05@4.30  2.00@2.25 


Major  producers  in  Somerset  county  are  both¬ 
ered  by  a  car  shortage.  The  railroads  talk  about 
a  fifty  per  cent  supply,  but  lately  have  been  giving 
only  twenty-five.  Some  producers  are  out  of 
the  market  and  those  that  are  still  selling  coal, 
are  holding  for  $1.40  for  mine  run  and  $2.25  for 
lump.  The  prices  up  to  Thursday  were : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  p.  B. 

Somerset  County —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Mine  run .  $3.40  $1.40 

I-ump  and  egg . $4.05@4.30  $2. 00@2. 25 


The  Hocking  market  is  just  a  little  easier  this 
week  because  of  the  weather.  However  there  has 
been  no  free  coal  on  band  and  prices  remain  firm 
at  from  $1.60  to  $1.75.  The  prices  up  to  Thurs¬ 
day  were : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Hocking —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Domestic  Jump . $3.25@3.40  $1.60@1.75 

The  splint  coal  situation  is  in  the  main  un¬ 
changed  from  what  it  has  been.  That  is,  some 
dock  coal  has  been  selling  at  $1.25,  but  shipments 
direct  by  all-rail  are  commanding  from  $1.50  to 
$1.60,  the  latter  in  box  cars.  The  priees  up  to 
Thursday  were : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
i4ana\vha —  Chicago.  Mines. 

1 '4 -inch  lump . $3.15@3.40  $1.25@1.50 

The  eastern  Kentucky  situation  was  weakened 
a  little  l)y  the  warm  weather  hut,  in  the  main, 
the  prices  are  stronger.  The  minimum  price  is 
$1.75  and  the  maximum  price  is  $2.25  for  block 
and  lump  combined.  Tbe  prices  up  to  Thursday 
were : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  n 
Eastern  Kentucky —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Domestic  lump . $3.65@4.15  $1.75@2.25 

Egg  .  3.25@3.75  1.35@1.85 


The  coke  market  has  been  a  trifle  easier  due 
to  the  weather  which  influences,  of  course,  only 
the  domestic  sizes.  Furnace  and  foundry  coke 
are  still  strong.  Especially  in  foundry  coke  the 
demand  is  improving.  Prices  up  to  Thursday 
were : 

F.  O.  B. 

Coke —  Chicago. 

Connellsville  . $4.85  (3i  .5.00 

By-product,  foundry .  4.fln@5.10 

By-product,  egg  and  stove .  4.6.'>(®4.7.5 

By-product,  nut .  4.65@4.75 

(las  house .  3.90@4,OO 


No.  17] 


THE  BLACK  I>IAMONl> 


339 


Pittsburgh  Trade. 

Most  Operators  Are  Sold  Up  Until  the 
End  of  the  Year — Coke  Prices  Are 
Firm  and  Rising. 

Office  of  The  Black  Diamond, 
1502  Oliver  Building, 

Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  October  20,  1015. 

Operators  are  in  many  cases  sold  up  to  ca¬ 
pacity  for  the  current  year,  and  show  little  dis¬ 
position  to  book  heavily  for  extended  forward 
shipment,  as  indications  are  that  consumption 
for  the  first  half  of  next  year  will  excel  all 
previous  records,  and  as  indications  also  point 
to  much  higher  prices,  the  producers,  who  prac¬ 
tically  control  the  situation,  are  willing  to  await 
developments.  In  fact,  “await  developments”  is 
about  all  they  can  do,  for  all  are  working  to  the 
limit  of  car  and  labor  capacity,  and  did  not  the 
one  offset  the  other  there  would  be  more  trouble 
than  at  present  in  delivery.  As  it  is,  the  car 
shortage  enables  the  operator  to  handle  the  labor 
situation. 

Lake  shipments  are  being  rushed  to  the  limit, 
and  the  immense  demand  on  contracts  by  local 
manufacturing  plants  is  keeping  the  trade  taxed 
to  capacity.  It  is  said  that  war  orders  from 
Europe  are  swamping  Pittsburgh  manufacturers. 
Not  only  this,  but  the  quotations  accepted  by 
the  agents  of  the  belligerent  powers  are  forcing 
the  prices  of  materials  to  a  record  figure  for 
Pittsburgh  patrons  of  domestic  industries,  and 
the  demand,  strengthens  the  coal  market  to  the 
extent  that  quotations  are  only  made  from  day 
to  day.  If  quotable  at  all  the  following  might 
be  fairly  representative  of  the  market : 


Slack,  f.  0.  b.  mines . $1.00@1.10 

Mine  run  of  various  grades .  1.20@1.40 

Three-quarter,  screened .  1.30@1.50 

Five-quarter,  screened .  1.40@1.60 


Slack  is  still  the  important  factor,  and  very 
scarce.  Buyers  that  turned  down  eighty  cent 
slack  contracts  two  and  three  months  ago  are 
glad  to  pay  $1  today,  but  fail  to  find  their 
requirements. 

The  whole  question  today  seems  to  be  not 
orders,  but  how  to  fill  them,  every  producer  be¬ 
ing  in  the  same  boat  as  to  cars  and  labor,  and 
the  demand  calling  for  the  limit  of  productive 
capacity. 

The  Pennsylvania  Railroad  is  reported  to  be 
storing  200,000  tons  of  coal  at  Altoona,  as  well 
as  large  quantities  at  other  points  in  anticipa¬ 
tion  of  contingencies,  when  the  working  condi¬ 
tion  agreement  expires  next  spring.  Some  of 
the  coal  is  being  delivered  by  Pittsburgh  opera¬ 
tors  from  mines  in  Westmoreland  and  other 
counties  east  of  Pittsburgh. 

The  financial  troubles  of  J.  V.  Thompson,  the 
Uniontown  banker  and  coal  operator,  do  not 
seem  to  be  ending  as  smoothly  as  it  was  hoped. 
The  Supreme  Court  has  decided  against  Judge 
Van  Swearingen  of  the  Fayette  County  Court  on 
petition  of  Wm.  Funk,  a  creditor,  and  ordered 
Judge  Van  Swearingen  to  hand  down  his  de¬ 
cisions  at  once  instead  of  waiting  until  IMarch 
14,  1916.  Last  Friday  Judge  Van  Swearingen 
made  answer  to  ,the  petition  saying  that  he  had 
withheld  his  decisions  at  the  request  of  prac¬ 
tically  every  attorney  representing  creditors  of 
Thompson,  who  believed  that  the  handing  down 
of  decisions  at  this  time  would  work  detriment 
to  the  creditors.  The  court  had  said  he  would 
hand  down  his  decisions  March  14,  1916.  Mr. 
Thompson  has  been  confident  he  could  get  mat¬ 
ters  adjusted  during  November,  and  public 
opinion  seems  to  be  with  him,  but  this  action 
of  the  supreme  court  will  more  than  likely  make 
new  complications  detrimental  to  his  own  as  well 
as  the  interests  of  many  of  the  creditors. 

Both  furnace  and  foundry  coke  have  strength¬ 
ened  materially  the  past  week,  and  considerable 
large  inquiry  has  been  made.  One  firm  quoted 
on  blocks  aggregating  near  100,000  tons  furnace 
coke  monthly  for  the  first  half,  and  the  price 
held  to  $2.35  or  over,  largely  on  the  sliding 
scale  basis. 

One  block  of  30,000  tons  monthly  at  another 
point  was  closed  at  approximately  $2.35  for  the 
first  half,  and  one  of  15,000  between  that  figure 
and  $2.40,  while  a  third  of  15,000  tons  was  turned 
down  on  account  of  price.  Spot  demand  is  be¬ 
ing  met  today  at  $2  to  $2.25  and  some  are  asking 
as  high  as  $2.40  on  best  grades.  It  is  stated  that 
foundry  is  bringing  $2.60  and  $2.65  with  $3  in 
sight  in  the  near  future.  The  coming  holidays 
with  their  accompanying  annoyances  to  the  pro¬ 
ducer,  are  already  having  an  effect  in  a  labor 
way,  as  shortages  are  sure  to  develop  and  failure 
to  deliver  on  contract  increases  the  spot  demand. 


and  stiffens  the  spot  price,  and  some  coke  is 
being  stored  to  meet  this  expected  demand.  It 
is  almost  a  foregone  conclusion  too,  in  the  coal 
trade,  that  increased  wages  will  have  to  be  met, 
April  1st,  when  working  agreements  are  re¬ 
newed,  and  producers  here  are  carefully  guard¬ 
ing  themselves  against  the  future  by  making  no 
definite  prices  for  forward  delivery,  one  opera¬ 
tor  saying  that  he  would  quote  no  figures,  suffi¬ 
cient  unto  the  day,  being  the  troubles  thereof. 


Pittsburgh  Personals. 

R.  S.  Richardson  of  the  Richardson  Coal  Min¬ 
ing  Company  is  spending  a  week  in  the  West 
Virginia  mining  region. 

Mr.  Theiss,  of  the  Theiss-Bygate  Coal  &  Coke 
Company,  who,  with  his  son,  has  been  spending 
some  weeks  in  Canada,  is  at  his  office  in  the 
Oliver  building  again  this  week. 

S.  C.  Gailey,  vice-president  of  the  Pittsburgh 
Coal  Company,  who  has  been  at  New  Orleans 
for  some  weeks  looking  after  the  salvage  of 
coal  that  was  sunk  during  the  late  storm  there, 
is  expected  home  this  week,  the  results  of  his 
trip  proving  quite  satisfactory. 

J.  K.  Barbour,. sales  manager  coal  department 
of  the  G.  B.  Bassett  Company,  spent  part  of 
this  week  in  West  Virginia  in  the  interests  of  his 
company. 

N.  P.  Hyndman  of  the  Washington  Coal  & 
Coke  Company  of  Dawson,  Pa.,  whose  offices 
are  in  the  First  National  Bank  building,  this 
city,  is  making  an  extended  visit  east  by  way 
of  recreation. 


Nearby  News  Items. 

.\n  order  for  a  million  tons  of  soft  coal  placed 
at  DuBois  by  the  Erie  Railroad,  has  caused 
extra  crews  to  be  added  and  has  started  a  busi¬ 
ness  boom. 

John  Harding,  identified  with  the  Connellsville 
coke  industry  for  a  number  of  years,  has  as¬ 
sumed  the  superintendency  of  the  Garwood  plant 
of  the  Aetna  Coal  &  Coke  Company.  He  suc¬ 
ceeds  C.  L.  Patterson. 

The  Republic  Iron  &  Steel  Company  will  com¬ 
plete  a  new  battery  of  seventy-five  liy-product 
coke  ovens  within  the  next  thirty  days.  The 
additions  will  give  the  company  143  ovens,  con¬ 
tracts  for  which  were  awarded  the  H.  Koppers 
Company  of  Pittsburgh. 

Plans  for  the  erection  of  400  new  coke  ovens 
for  the  Allicia  works  of  the  W.  Harry  Brown 
Company  at  Charleroi,  Pa.,  are  drawn  and  are 
about  to  be  put  into  effect.  Work  on  the  new 
ovens,  it  is  expected,  will  commence  ne.xt  month. 

The  Big  Supply  Company,  one  of  the  John  H. 
Jones’  interests,  has  this  month  paid  twenty  per 
cent  of  its  indebtedness,  which  is  in  addition  to 
thirty  per  cent  paid  last  November,  or  a  total 
of  fifty  per  cent  on  its  indebtedness  from  the 
profits  under  the  receivership.  One  of  the  other 
companies,  the  White  Rock  Supply  Company, 
this  week  paid  1214  cent  on  its  indebtedness. 

One  of  the  most  valuable  coal  tracts  in  Somer¬ 
set  county,  known  as  the  George  Reiman  tract 
and  located  in  Jenner  township,  has  been  sold  to 
the  United  Coal  Company,  with  operations  at 
Jerome.  The  Reiman  tract  contains  128  acres 
of  the  best  kind  of  coal.  The  Jerome  field  of 
the  Lhiited  Coal  Company  joins  the  new  tract 
purchased  by  that  company. 

Large  payments  on  Greene  county  coal  acre¬ 
age  were  made  in  Wanesburg,  by  the  Cleveland 
Cliffs  Iron  Company,  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  which 
is  the  owner  of  an  extensive  block  of  coal  land 
in  Jefferson  and  Morgan  townships,  purchased 
from  J.  V.  Thompson,  some  time  ago.  Three 
mortgages  were  satisfied,  $90,000  being  paid  to 
Mrs.  Mary  Grimes  Hawkins  of  Jefferson;  $12,000 
to  Sarah  E.  McClenathan  and  Rex.  Moredock  of 
Jefferson,  and  a  mortgage  of  $235,000  payable 
to  J.  V.  Thompson  and  several  associates  of 
Uniontown. 

.'\t  an  annual  meeting  of  the  stockholders  of 
the  Fink  Coal  &  Coke  Company,  directors  were 
chosen  for  the  coming  year  and  officers  of  the 
board  were  elected.  The  concern  is  a  holding 
/  company,  with  a  good  sized  acreage  in  the  Con¬ 
nellsville  district.  Directors  for  the  ensuing  year 
are  N.  A.  Rist,  Robert  McBurney,  J.  C.  Moore, 
C.  L.  V.  Bute,  David  Patterson,  David  Junk, 
S.  W.  Dunn  and  J.  M.  Core.  N.  A.  Rist  was 
chosen  president  of  the  board,  with  C.  L.  V. 
Bute,  vice-president ;  Robert  McBurney,  secre¬ 
tary ;  and  J.  M.  Core,  treasurer.  Messrs.  Rist 
and  Bute  were  appointed  auditors. 


Duluth  Trade. 


Duluth,  AIinn.,  October  21— {Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — Shipments  of  coal  from  the  head 
of  the  lakes  to  the  territory  tributary  to  this 
distributing  point,  are  showing  greater  gains  this 
year,  according  to  the  monthly  figures  of  the 
Western  Weighing  and  Inspection  bureau,  than 
■those  of  last  year  developed.  For  instance,  the 
coal  shipments  to  the  northwest  during  Septem¬ 
ber  of  this  year  showed  an  increase  over  the 
shipments  made  in  August  of  6,637  cars,  as 
against  an  increase  of  3,998  cars  a  year  ago. 
.■\lso  the  shipments  in  September,  1915,  were  365 
cars  more  than  those  of  September,  1914,  and 
678  cars  more  than  in  September,  1913. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  inquiry  for  coal  is 
much  stronger  than  it  has  been  in  two  years 
previous,  and  it  is  expected  that  the  total  ship¬ 
ment  this  fall  will  rank  well  with  the  largest  falls 
of  several  years  when  the  totals  are  summed  up. 
Every  indication  is  that  way  just  now.  The  coal 
dock  managers  say  that  the  demand  bids  fair  to 
be  a  record-breaker,  to  judge  by  the  orders  being 
received  so  early  in  the  fall,  and  by  what  the 
traveling  salesmen  have  to  say  about  business 
prospects. 

Car  shipments  this  year  and  last  in  the  month 


of  September  were : 

191.5  .  24.712 

1914  .  24.347 

Increase  .  365 

Car  shipments  for  the  year  to  September  30, 
with  comparative  figures  for  last  year : 

1915  .  166,091 

1914  .  152,910 

Increase  .  13,181 


Shipments  figured  in  tons,  using  as  a  basis 
thirty-two  tons  to  a  car,  for  the  year  up  to 
September  30,  together  with  shipnients  of  an 
equal  period  last  year : 


1915  .  5,034,912 

1914  . • .  4,486,720 


Increase  .  548,192 

up  to  September  30,  according  to  the  figures 
just  issued  for  the  year  today,  and  for  the  last 
two  months  in  particular,  by  the  United  States 
engineer’s  office  here,  the  receipts  of  soft  coal 
are  1,296,581  tons  less  than  in  the  similar  period 
last  year,  and  68,992  tons  more  of  hard  coal  have 
been  received.  The  total  shortage,  by  comparison 
with  last  year,  is  1,227,589  tons. 

Hard  coal  is  being  shipped  in  larger  quantities 
than  last  year — even  more  so  since  the  first  of 
the  month — to  offset  any  shortage  that  may  oc¬ 
cur  in  case  of  a  strike  at  the  mines.  It  is  claimed 
that  there  is  pretty  nearly  enough  soft  coal  at 
the  head  of  the  lakes  to  fill  the  wants  of  the 
northwest  until  next  spring,  and  that  chief  at¬ 
tention  will  be  paid  to  the  shipping  up  the  lakes 
of  anthracite. 

Receipts  up  to  the  end  of  September  this  year 
and  last  were  as  follows : 


Tons,  Tons,  Tons, 

Soft.  Hard.  Total. 

1915  .  4.742,483  1.149,317  5.891,800 

1914  6.039,064  1.080,325  7,109,389 

Difference . -(-1,296,581  — 68,992  —1,227,589 


Receipts  of  the  various  classifications  of  bi¬ 
tuminous  coal  to  September  30,  of  last  year 
and  this,  follow : 


Voughioglieny 
Hocking  .... 
Pocahontas  . 

Splint  . 

Cannel  . 

.Smithing  .  . . 
Fast  Ohio  .  . 
Tennessee  .  . 


Tons.  Tons, 

1914.  1915. 

4.163,423  2,809,857 

244,873  130,108 

574,128  624,93.s 

953,150  881,508 

13,763  76,333 

27,801  12,516 

01,917  202,156 

.  5,067 


Coal  companies  that  make  a  specialty  of  bri- 
(piets  reported  an  increased  demand  for  them 
this  fall,  and  claim  that  shipments  have  started 
early.  A  better  quality  of  briquets  is  claimed  to 
be  manufactured  this  year  than  before  and  it 
is  expected  that  the  trade  in  them  will  approach 
more  to  a  standard  than  in  the  past. 

The  coal  dock  of  the  Duluth,  Missabc  &■  North¬ 
ern  road,  a  subsidiary  company  of  the  United 
States  Steel  Corporation,  is  receiving  heavily 
just  now,  and  for  the  last  half  of  September 
and  the  first  half  of  the  current  month  an  aver¬ 
age  of  about  a  boat  a  day  has  been  unloaded 
there.  This  coal  will  be  used  mostly  by  the 
new  steel  plant  of  the  Minnesota  Steel  Company, 
which  will  begin  activities  on  November  10th. 
This  plant  will,  thereafter,  figure  largely  in  the 
matter  of  coal  recei|)ts  at  this  point  and  in  coal 
consumption.  I'his  plant,  which  has  taken  sev¬ 
eral  years  to  i)uild,  now  represents  an  investment 
of  approximately  $20,0()0,0()0,  and  when  fully 
completed  will  represent  about  $5,000,()00  more. 


340 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[October  23 


Cincinnati  Trade. 


Because  Labor  and  Cars  Are  Scarce,  the 
Market  Has  a  Good  Tone, 

With  Prices  Rising. 

Cincinnati,  Ohio,  October  21. —  (Special  Cor-- 
rcspondence.) — The  situation  is  tightening  for 
almost  ever}’  grade  of  coal.  Prices  are  advanc¬ 
ing  and  splint,  nut  and  slack  are  approaching  a 
premium.  Mine  run  is  advancing  in  value.  The 
only  grade  now  dragging  is  large  block  from 
West  Virginia.  This  is  probably  due  to  the 
uncertainties  of  the  weather  which  for  one  or 
two  days  is  tinged  with  frost  and  then  turns 
warm.  Demand  is  growing  largely  in  both  do¬ 
mestic  and  steam  coals  and  contract  making  is 
not  a  hard  proposition. 

The  car  supply  is  more  “spotted”  than  last 
week.  That  is,  some  of  the  smaller  operations 
with  smaller  needs  are  receiving  practically  from 
a  two-thirds  to  a  full  supply.  Large  operations 
in  most  instances  are  receiving  half  to  one-third 
supply.  One  big  company  which  requires  200 
and  250  cars  weekly  received  sixty-seven  cars 
last  week  and  scarcely  any  more  this  week.  This 
has  thrown  the  company  back  in  its  contract 
delivery. 

The  labor  situation  is  aggravated.  Efforts  to 
get  additional  labor  by  advertising  and  other 
methods  are  proving  unavailing. 

Kentucky  coal  for  the  most  part  is  sold  up  in 
every  size,  but  a  few  operations  have  some  of 
one  size,  or  another,  to  place  on  the  spot  market. 
West  Virginia  production  is  still  very  large  and 
would  embarrass  the  market  more,  could  it  be 
moved  here.  Car  and  labor  shortage  is  curtail¬ 
ing  production  and  thus  relieving  the  market  of 
part  of  its  unwelcome  load.  Railroad  rules  are 
aiding  also  in  the  matter,  especially  in  the  rule 
relating  to  “no  bill”  cars,  empties  being  refused 
on  “no  bill”  tracks.  In  the  smokeless  fields  all 
is  serene,  as  a  general  thing.  Domestic  demand 
is  absorbing  the  larger  sizes  and  steam  demand 
is  gradually  widening  and  developing  more  and 
more  favorably. 


Cincinnati  Trade  Briefs. 

Mrs.  Krehe,  wife  of  Frank  Krehe,  a  well 
known  coal  man  of  St.  Bernard,  a  suburb  of 
Cincinnati,  was  buried  Monday  morning.  Cin¬ 
cinnati  coal  men  extended  their  sympathy. 

Mary  E.  Vorheis  of  Cincinnati,  and  Augustus 
M.  Damarin  and  Harry  H.  Scudder  of  Ports¬ 
mouth,  Ohio,  have  leased  to  the  Puritan  Brick 
Company  of  Hamden,  Ohio,  900  acres  of  coal 
land  near  Hamden  at  $S00  per  annum  for  six 
years,  with  a  privilege  of  purchase  at  $36,000  at 
any  time  during  the  life  of  the  lease.  It  is 
understood,  however,  that  the  lessee  will  soon 
begin  development  of  the  coal  prospect. 

The  Consolidation  Coal  Company  is  sinking 
four  new  five  hundred  foot  shafts  into  its  coal 
deposits  at  Helen’s  Run,  W.  Va.,  and  it  is  ex¬ 
pected  that  shipment  of  coal  from  these  workings 
will  begin  about  the  first  of  the  year,  perhaps  by 
December  15.  This  tonnage  will  be  developed 
and  distributed  over  the  eight-mile  extension  of 
the  Western  Maryland  Railway  extended  by  spe¬ 
cial  agreement  with  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  Rail¬ 
way  Company,  and  the  coal  company,  and  it  is 
estimated  to  mean  eventually  an  additional  ton¬ 
nage  for  the  Western  Maryland  of  about  4,000,000 
tons  in  the  Fairmont  re.gion  and  4,000,000  tons 
additional  in  the  Jenner  field  in  Pennsylvania. 
The  Consolidation  Company  recently  negotiated  a 
note  financing  which  brought  in  $7,000,000  to  be 
used  in  extension  and  development  work,  the 
notes  to  be  paid  in  two  years. 

At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Kanawha  Coal 
Operators’  Association  last  week  in  Cincinnati, 
the  following  officers  were  elected  to  serve  the 
association  the  ensuing  year :  President,  E.  O. 
Dana ;  vice-president,  T.  J.  Hatfield,  Covington, 
Ky. ;  secretary,  David  T.  Evans ;  executive  com¬ 
mittee,  Frank  O.  Harris,  West  Virginia,  chair¬ 
man  ;  Edward  Schonebaum ;  Michael  Gallagher, 
Cleveland;  John  H.  Winder,  Columbus;  Frank 
B.  Stewart;  G.  H.  Powell,  West  Virginia;  J.  W; 
Dawson,  West  Virginia.  Routine  matters  were 
the  principal  business  transacted.  A  discussion 
of  the  railroad  rate  situation  resulted  in  the 
adoption  of  a  resolution  to  secure  counsel  to 
co-operate  with  the  counsel  of  other  organiza¬ 
tions  and  with  the  state  of  West  Virginia  and 
of  several  of  the  cities  and  city  organizations, 
in  the  state,  in  a  fight  to  defeat  the  rate  propo¬ 


sition  before  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commis¬ 
sion. 

Earl  Henry,  chief  inspector  of  the  Department 
of  Mines  of  West  Virginia,  reports  this  week 
that  he  has  visited  the  mining  regions  in  the 
northern  part  of  the  state  and  finds  that  it  is 
impossible  for  the  mine  operators  to  find  a  suffi¬ 
cient  number  of  men  to  work  the  mines  to  the 
capacity  demanded  by  the  orders,  or  even  to  the 
capacity  required  by  the  meager  car  supply.  He 
also  said  that  unless  the  labor  supply  increases 
the  coal  mining  industry  would  not  be  the  only 
industry  to  suffer  from  a  decreased  production. 
.As  a  result  mines  are  advertising  for  miners 
and  helpers  in  the  state.  It  is  reported  at  Greek 
headquarters  here  that  about  8,000  Greeks,  min¬ 
ers  and  others,  in  this  district  are  in  readiness 
for  the  call  to  arms  should  the  Greek  nation 
enter  the  European  war,  which  seems  a  foregone 
conclusion.  Several  thousand  Italians,  mostly 
miners,  have  left  the  West  Virginia  fields  for 
the  front.  Americans  and  negroes  take  to  min¬ 
ing  only  when  necessity  compels. 


Detroit  Trade. 


Detroit,  Mich.,  October  21. —  (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.') — Interest  of  coal  buyers,  both  in  the 
steam  and  domestic  product,  appears  to  be  in¬ 
creasing  steadily,  though  the  development  of  the 
better  situation  continues  of  rather  slow  growth. 

Orders  and  inquiries  for  steam  coal  are  com¬ 
ing  to  shippers  in  a  way  that  indicates  quite  a 
general  interest  among  consumers  not  only  in 
Detroit  but  in  the  interior  towns  of  the  state 
which  usually  obtain  their  supply  through  De¬ 
troit  offices.  The  size  of  the  orders  continues 
small  in  most  instances,  giving  indication  that 
the  coal  users  are  making  little  or  no  effort  to 
get  a  reserve  stock. 

While  the  reports  of  car  shortage  that  are  be¬ 
ing  received  from  various  mining  districts  of 
Ohio  and  W’est  Virginia  have  supplied  shippers 
with  material  for  much  advice  against  the  risk 
of  continuing  the  day-to-day  system  of  buying, 
the  consumers  seem  not  to  have  been  strongly 
influenced  toward  stocking  up.  The  fact  that 
a  large  proportion  of  manufacturing  establish^ 
ments  have  only  limited  facilities  for  storing 
coal  is  an  explanation  of  the  attitude  of  some, 
but  in  the  case  of  others,  who  are  able,  to  take 
care  of  a  surplus  supply,  the  occasion  for  hold¬ 
ing  off  is  less  apparent. 

The  fine  coals  are  in  strongest  demand  and 
some  of  the  shippers  report  that  it  is  becoming 
less  easy  to  obtain  sufficient  supplv  of  fine  coal  to 
fill  orders  of  their  customers.  The  situation  in 
this  respect  is  not  of  a  nature  to  cause  special 
anxiety,  however,  as  the  stock  can  be  had. 

Weather  conditions  have  continued  warmer 
than  is  conducive  to  activity  in  the  domestic 
coal  trade,  but  a  slight  improvement  is  said  to 
he  noticeable  which,  with  any  extended  interval 
of  low  temperature,  undoubtedly  would  work 
into  a  much  more  active  demand. 

With  shipments  of  consignment  coal  cintinu- 
ing,  but  not  in  excessive  quantities,  most  of  this 
stock  is  being  sold  at  prices  not  materially  lower 
than  are  given  on  mine  shipment  orders.  There 
are  occasional  sales  at  lower  prices,  but  these 
transactions  are  limited  practically  altogether  to 
lump  and  egg  sizes.  On  direct  shipment  busi¬ 
ness  prices  are  unchanged. 

Shortage  of  cars  in  the  anthracite  districts 
is  causing  delays  in  delivery  of  orders.  While 
retail  yards  are  steadily  filling  orders  the  stocks 
which  they  put  in  during  the  summer  have  not 
been  depleted  to  a  point  where  the  dealers  are 
ready  to  renew  them  and  the  volume  of  busi¬ 
ness  coming  to  shippers  is  light. 

In  the  lake  trade  there  seems  to  be  a  larger 
movement  of  anthracite  than  during  the  latter 
part  of  September,  but  shipments  of  bituminous 
coal  show  little  increase.  Reports  from  the  head 
of  the  lakes  indicate  the  supply  of  soft  coal  al¬ 
ready  on  hand  is  likely  to  be  sufficient  for  the 
winter. 


Prices  in  the  local 

market  on  mine 

shipment 

orders  are  as  follows 

F.  O.  B. 

F.  0.  B. 

West  Virginia  Gas — 

Mines. 

Detroit. 

Three-quarter  lump . 

.  $1.00 

$2.40 

Mine  run . 

2.30 

Slack  . 

. 60®  .75 

2.00@2.15 

West  Virginia  Splint — 

Four-inch  lump  . 

1.90@2.15 

Two-inch  lump  . 

2.15@2.30 

Three-quarter  . 

2.50 

Mine  run . 

2.30 

Nut,  pea  and  slack . 

1.95@3.05 

Smokeless — 

Lump  and  egg  . 

3.85 

Nut  . 

3.35 

Slack  . 

Open 

Mine  run . 

3.00 

Kentucky  Splint — 

Lump  . 

Egg  . 

Nut,  pea  and  slack . 

Fairmount — 

Three-quarter  steam  lump 

Mine  run . 

Slack  . 

Hocking  Valley — 
•Shaker  three-inch  lump 
Shaker  egg  and  nut.... 

Domestic  lump  . 

Three-quarter  lump  . 

Mine  run . 

Nut,  pea  and  slack . 

Pittsburgh  No.  8 — 
Three-quarter  lump  .... 

Mine  run  . 

Slack  . 

Jackson  Hill — 

Domestic  lump . 

Cambridge — 

Three-quarter  lump . 

Mine  run . 


Pomeroy — 

Two  and  three-inch  lump 


1.60@1.75 

1.25@1.40 

.66 

.85®  .95 
.70®  .80 
Open 

1.60 

1.15 

1.50 
1.35 

1.00®1.10 

Open 

1.05 

.95 

Open 

2.50 

1.20 

1.10 

1.60 

1.35 

Open 


3.00®3.16 

2.65@2.80 

2.05 

2.25®2.36 

2.10®2.20 

Open 

2.75 

2.30 

2.65 
2.50 

2.15®2.25 

Open 

2.20 

2.10 

Open 

8.65 

2.36 

2.25 

2.75 

2.50 

Open 


Birmingham  Trade. 


Birmingham,  Ala.,  October  21. —  (Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — All  of  the  large  coal  producing 
companies  are  mining  practically  at  full  time. 
The  smaller  companies  are  getting  in  some  good 
orders. 

Steam  coal  trade  is  fair,  and  a  good  tonnage 
is  going  towards  gulf  ports.  The  DeBardeleben 
Coal  Company  sent  one  thousand  tons  down  the 
river  the  past  week,  while  the  Pratt  Consolidated 
Coal  Company  and  the  Tennessee  Company,  are 
making  some  fairly  good  shipments. 

Domestic  trade  is  good  with  most  of  the 
oroducing  companies  and  the  retail  trade  is 
brisk. 

Blacksmith  coal  is  fair  and  few  orders  are 
coming  from  distant  points. 

Demand  for  coking  coal  is  the  most  pro¬ 
nounced.  The  very  large  demand  for  iron  has 
caused  the  increase.  Coke  ovens  which  have 
not  been  in  use  for  several  years  are  now  being 
repaired  to  fire  up.  While  four  benzol  plants 
have  been  erected  within  the  last  six  months, 
they  can  not  supply  the  demand  for  the  coke 
which  is  needed  for  iron  making,  so  the  old  bee¬ 
hives  which  were  practically  laid  aside  are  now 
being  made  ready  for  use. 

The  production  of  coal  is  larger  than  for  eigh¬ 
teen  months.  The  volume  of  production  has  so 
materially  increased  it  leads  the  state  mine  in¬ 
spector  to  look  for  a  larger  production  for  1915, 
than  for  1914.  He  states  that  the  coal  produc¬ 
tion  in  Alabama  for  1915  may  go  above  16,000,000 


tons. 

A  report  has  been  current  that  inducements 
may  present  themselves  for  the  construction 
of  another  big  by-product  coke  oven  plant  in  the 
Birmingham  district  on  which  between  $1,000,- 
000  and  $.3,000,000  will  be  expended,  includ¬ 
ing  additional  recovery  plants.  Developments 
have  not  proceeded  far  enough  to  warrant  any 
extended  notice  thereof,  but  a  very  large  deal 
is  brewing,  which  may  be  made  public  soon. 

Prices  for  October  are : 

F.  p.  B.  F.  p.  B. 

Bibb  Countv  Domestic  Coal —  Mines.  Birminftbam. 

Red  ash  Cahaba  lump .  $3.00  $3.50 

Red  ash  Cahaba  lump .  2.75  3.10 

Red  Ash  steam  size .  1.20®1.35  Frt.  rate  30c 


Jefferson  County — 

Fancy  steam  Pratt . 

Run  of  mine  Pratt . 

Mary  Lee  lump . 

Black  Creek — 

Fancy  steam  lump . 

Washed  nut  . 

Washed  steam . 

Mine  run . 

Jefferson  Steam  Coal — 
Mine  run . 


1.75  2.20 

1.20@1.25  1.45®1.60 

1.40®1.50  1.80@1.90 


1.75  2.05 

1.76  2.05 
1.35®1.60  Frt.  rate  30e 
1.35@1.40  Frt.  rate  30c 


1.15@1.25  Frt.  rate  30c 


Walker  County  Domestic — 

Carbon  Hill  lump .  1.75  2.15 

Carbon  Hill  egg .  1.65  2.05 

Horse  Creek  mine  run .  1.00@1.20  Frt.  rate  40c 

Genuine  Corona — 

I-ump  .  2.00  2.40 

Egg  .  1.90  2.35 

Steam  sizes .  1.25®1.35  Frt.  rate  40c 

Shelby  County  Domestic  Coal — • 

Cahaba  fancy  lump  .  3.00  3.30 

Cahaba  No.  2  lump  .  2.75  3.05 

Montevallo  domestic  prices  range  from  $3.00  to  $3.25. 
Blacksmith  coal,  washed  and  screened,  per  ton,  $2.00  to 
$2.25  at  mines,  with  different  rates  to  various  points. 


Notes  About  Birmingham. 

Fire,  discovered  in  the  Banner  mines  where 
state  convicts  are  worked,  caused  considerable 
excitement  Sunday  afternoon.  Heroic  measures 
were  taken  and  resulted  in  the  blaze  being  ex¬ 
tinguished  without  much  damage  to  the  mines. 

No  men  were  in  the  mines  at  the  time  of  the 
discovery  of  the  fire.  About  $1,000  damage  was 
done. 


No.  17] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


341 


Cleveland  Trade. 


Cleveland,  Ohio,  October  31. —  (Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — Considerable  weakness  has  been 
shown  in  the  coal  market  here  during  the  past 
week.  While  prices  were  not  affected  to  any 
extent,  the  demand  dropped  off  and  there  was 
difficulty  in  moving  the  stocks  on  hand.  Pro¬ 
ducers  and  jobbers  have  held  their  coal  rather 
than  accept  prices  that  meant  a  loss  and  this 
served  to  prevent  any  demoralization  whatever. 

Lake  coal  is  moving  slowly  and  only  contract 
boats  will  accept  cargoes  in  the  face  of  the  rates 
that  are  paid  for  grain.  Other  boats  demand 
rates  that  are  prohibitive.  Just  what  will_  result 
from  this  condition  is  a  problem,  but  it  is  pos¬ 
sible  that  a  sufficient  amount  of  coal  to  take  care 
of  orders  will  be  taken  up  before  the  end  of  the 
season. 

Some  producers  are  offering  a  premium  for 
boats  that  will  take  cargoes  for  storage  at  upper 
lake  points.  Already  some  of  this  business  has 
been  taken  and  there  will  probably  be  more  of 
it  later  in  the  season.  There  are  a  number  of 
advantages  connected  with  the  storage  of  coal 
in  boats  both  to  the  shippers  and  the  boat  owners. 

It  is  said  that  points  at  the  head  of  the  lakes 
are  short  fully  1,000,000  tons  in  receipts  in 
comparison  with  the  amount  of  coal  shipped  last 
year  and  the  year  before.  However,  most  of 
the  docks  had  large  amounts  of  coal  left  over 
at  the  opening  of  the  season  and  it  is  probable 
that  this  will  offset  any  loss  in  shipment  this 


season. 

Canadian  ports,  such  as  Port  Arthur  and  Fort 
William,  are  taking  much  less  coal  this  season 
than  last,  because  of  the  surplus  from  last  sea¬ 
son’s  shipments  and  the  uncertain  conditions  in 
that  country  at  the  present  time.  This,  of  course, 
affects  the  business  done  in  the  fields  usually 
supplying  those  markets. 

Railroad  consumption  has  increased  somewhat 
within  the  past  few  weeks,  but  perhaps  not 
as  much  as  might  be  expected.  Improvements 
in  locomotive  furnaces  and  the  manner  of  firing 
has  resulted  in  securing  greater  efficiency  from 
the  fuel  and  this,  of  course,  means  a  smaller 
amount  per  engine  when  running  regularly. 

There  has  been  no  change  in  the  car  situation. 
Many  mines  are  compelled  to  run  short  time,  be¬ 
cause  they  cannot  secure  the  cars  necessary  to 
handle  their  output.  While  this  results  in  strength¬ 
ening  prices,  it  cuts  the  supply  short  and  cur¬ 
tails  the  amount  of  trading  usually  done. 

Mines  in  the  No.  8  district  are  running  on 
short  time  and  are  able  to  ship  only  as  cars  are 
supplied.  Prices,  however,  are  about  the  same 
as  last  week  on  all  sizes. 


F.  o.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

No.  8  District —  Mines.  Cleveland. 

Three-quarters  . $1.05@1.10  $1.95@2.00 

Run  of  mine  .  .95  1.85 

Slack  . 4 .  .85  1.75 


No  great  amount  of  Pittsburgh  slack  has  been 
handled  here  the  past  week  and  other  sizes  were 
not  active. 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Pittsburgh  District —  Mines.  Cleveland. 

Slack  . $0.70@0.80  $1.70@1.80 


Youghiogheny  slack  just  about  kept  pace  with 
the  Pittsburgh  product  and  was  quoted  in  this 
market  at  ninety  cents  at  the  mines. 

Mild  weather  had  its  effect  on  domestic  busi¬ 
ness  and  for  this  reason  Pocahontas  and  other 
smokeless  coals  were  rather  a  drug  on  the  mar¬ 
ket.  This  condition  is  only  temporary,  however, 
and  did  not  affect  the  prices.  A  little  cold 
weather  will  bring  a  heavy  demand,  it  is  believed, 
as  the  stocks  are  not  large. 


Smokeless — 

Lump  . 

Egg  . . . 

Run  of  mine. . 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Mines.  Cleveland. 
$2.25  $3.70 

2.25  3.70 

1.45  2.90 


Massillon  mines  are  from  two  to  three  weeks 
behind  with  their  orders,  it  is  said,  and  retailers 
are  anxious  for  deliveries. 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 


Massillon —  Mines.  Cleveland. 

Lump  .  $2.50  $3.20 

Nut  .  2.50  3.20 

Slack  .  .90  1.60 


Cambridge  coal,  all  sizes,  showed  considerable 
strength  and  there  was  an  advance  of  at  least 
five  cents  a  ton  in  the  prices  of  larger  sizes. 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Cambridge —  Mines.  Cleveland. 

Three-quarters  .  $1.10  $2.00 

Run  of  mine .  1.00  1.90 

Slack  .  .85  1.75 


Goshen  slack  sold  around  last  week’s  prices, 
from  $1.60  to  $1.65  on  track  here. 

Only  a  very  small  amount  of  Fairmont  slack 
has  reached  this  market  during  the  past  week 
and  prices  ranged  from  $1.90  to  $1.95. 


Kentucky  4-inch  block  remained  stationary  at 
$1.90  to  $2,  with  a  freight  rate  of  $1.25. 


Cleveland  News  Notes. 

James  DeWolf,  manager  of  the  Detroit  office  of 
the  New  Pittsburgh  Coal  Company,  was  in  this 
market  early  in  the  week. 

A.  S.  Austin,  president  of  the  Kanawha  Fuel 
Company  of  Milwaukee,  Wis.,  was  in  this  city 
last  Friday  and  Saturday. 

O.  O.  Smith,  western  representative  of  the 
Bewley-Darst  Coal  Company,  Knoxville,  Tenn., 
called  on  the  coal  men  here  Tuesday. 

F.  A.  Prendergast,  president  of  the  Baltimore 
&  Ohio  Coal  Company  of  this  city,  returned  last 
Saturday  evening  from  a  trip  to  Chicago  and 
Milwaukee. 


Indianapolis  Trade. 


Indianapolis,  Ind.,  October  21. —  (Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — The  coal  trade  is  more  satisfac¬ 
tory  than  it  was  a  month  ago.  The  demand  for 
steam  coal  is  improving  right  along.  The  reports 
from  the  manufacturing  centers  'in  Indiana  are 
of  a  more  encouraging  nature.  There  is  a  great 
deal  more  activity  among  industrial  concerns 
than  there  was  a  month  or  two  ago. 

One  of  the  encouraging  signs  of  the  times 
here  was  the  posting  of  an  order  this  week  by 
the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  Company  authorizing 
its  local  officials  to  employ  all  the  help  needed 
to  operate  the  car  repair  shops  to  capacity.  There 
is  an  apparent  improvement  of  the  business  of 
the  railroads  in  Indiana  which  means  that  the 
lines  of  industry  that  form  a  large  part  of 
the  source  of  demand  for  steam  coal  are  going 
to  enjoy  a  season  of  renewed  prosperity.  The 
financial  situation  in  Indiana  is  as  satisfactory  as 
it  has  been  for  several  months — or  years  for 
that  matter.  There  is  an  abundance  of  money 
in  the  banks  for  legitimate  enterprise.  The 
farmers  have  harvested  a  big  crop  and  prices 
are  high  for  farm  products.  Under  the  cir¬ 
cumstances  it  would  appear  reasonable  to  predict 
that  there  will  be  a  great  deal  more  money  in 
Indiana  than  usual  this  winter.  The  general 
business  outlook  is  improving  and  as  a  matter 
of  course  it  ought  to  help  the  coal  operators 
and  dealers.  The  movement  of  steam  coal  is 
increasing  and  while  prices  are  not  increasing 
they  are  steady. 

Domestic  coal  is  strong.  The  retailers  are  en¬ 
joying  a  nice  run  of  orders.  Screenings  are 
fairly  strong.  The  demand  is  still  slow  for  nut 
and  inch  and  a  quarter  steam  coal.  The  move¬ 
ment  of  coal  into  Indiana  from  Pennsylvania  and 
West  Virginia  is  about  normal  for  October.  The 
demqnd  for  anthracite  and  other  smokeless  coal 
is  strong  here  and  at  other  large  cities  in  the 
state.  The  following  prices  are  being  quoted  by 
the  wholesalers ; 


Indiana — 

Mine  run,  No.  4 . 

Mine  run  Nos.  5  and  6.... 

Nut  . 

Egg  . 

1^-inch  steam  lump . 

No.  4  screenings . 

Nos.  5  and  6  screenings.  .  . 
214-inch  domestic  No.  4... 

No.  4  domestic . . 

Nos.  6  and  6  domestic.... 

Brazil  block  domestic . 

No.  1  washed  coal.  .  . . 

No.  2  washed  coal .  .. 

Southern  Indiana  Field — 

No.  5  mine  run . 

Domestic  lump . 


F.  0.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

Mines. 

Indianapolis. 

_ $t.l0@1.20 

$1.60@1.60 

1.55@1.65 

_  1.20@1.30 

1.70@1.80 

_  1.30@1.40 

l.S0@1.90 

_  1.25@1.35 

1.75@1.85 

. 70@  .75 

1.20@1.25 

. 55@  .65 

1.05@1.15 

_  I.50@1.55 

2.00@2.05 

_  1.60@1.65 

3.10@2.15 

1.90@2.10 

2.75@2.50 

_  1.75 

2.25 

_  1.65 

2.15 

.  1  0.5  iS)  1  I  n 

_  1.40@1.50  . 

The  retailers  are  quoting  the  following  prices 
here:  Linton  No.  4  lump,  forked,  $3.25;  Indiana 
lump,  forked,  $3.00;  Indiana  lump  and  egg, 
screened,  $2.75;  Kanawha  lump,  forked,  $4.25; 
Ohio  Hocking  lump,  forked,  $4.25 ;  Ohio  Hock¬ 
ing  washed  egg,  $4.50 ;  Kentucky,  lump,  $4.50 ; 
Ohio  Jackson  lump,  forked,  $5.00;  Blosburg, 
smithing,  $5.50 ;  Cannel  lump,  $6.00 ;  Pocahontas, 
forked  lump,  $6.00;  Pocahontas,  shoveled  lump, 
$5.50 ;  Pocahontas,  mine  run,  $4.50 ;  Pocahontas, 
nut  and  slack,  $3.75;  Anthracite,  chestnut,  $8.25; 
Anthracite,  stove  and  egg,  $8.00;  Anthracite, 
grate,  $7.75 ;  Connellsville  coke,  $6.00 ;  Indian- 
ajiolis  by-product  coke  (all  sizes),  $6.00. 

Extra  Delivery  Charges — Bags,  50c  a  ton  extra, 
ground  floor  or  dumped  in  cellar.  Bags,  75c  a 
ton  extra,  carried  into  cellar.  Charge  for  chute 
or  wheelbarrows,  25c  a  ton.  Coke,  bags,  00c, 
bags  in  cellar  80c. 


The  Chamber  of  Commerce  at  Columbus,  Ind., 
has  filed  a  petition  with  the  public  service  com¬ 


mission  for  a  revision  in  coal  rates  from  the 
Indiana  field  alleging  that,  the  Columbus  manu¬ 
facturers  are  discriminated  against  by  the  rail¬ 
roads. 


Twin  Cities  Trade. 


Minneapolis  and  St.  Paul,  October  21. —  (Spe- 
cial  Correspondence.) — Fears  are  being  enter¬ 
tained  on  the  part  of  the  managers  of  the  large 
docks  at  Duluth  and  Superior  that  the  supply 
of  soft  coal  will  be  insufficient  to  meet  the  de¬ 
mand  if  there  is  a  cold  hard  winter  in  the  north¬ 
west.  The  vessel  situation  to  which  reference 
has  been  made  in  this  column  continues  bad. 
Some  of  the  dock  managers  are  of  the  opinion 
that  it  is  slightly  worse  and  do  not  anticipate 
there  will  be  any  improvement  during  the  present 
season  of  navigation. 

This  is  one  feature  that  is  causing  uneasiness. 
Another  exists  in  connection  with  the  movement 
of  coal.  The  trade  throughout  the  northwest 
has  taken  in  much  less  coal  than  usual  this  year. 
Dealers’  yards  were  poorly  supplied  when  the 
first  cold  weather  came.  Now  there  is  again  a 
lull  in  business  on  account  of  Indian  summer, 
and  movement  is  very  light.  The  docks  are  full 
of  coal,  but,  due  to  the  fact  that  stocks  in 
dealers’  yards  and  consumers’  hands  are  so  light, 
the  business,  when  it  does  come  again,  will  come 
with  a  rush,  and  the  deficiency  in  the  stocks  re¬ 
ferred  to  will  have  to  be  made  up. 

Another  factor  of  importance  is  the  delay  in 
moving  the  crops.  Threshing  has  been  delayed 
from  three  to  four  weeks,  owing  to  the  wet 
weather.  Now  there  is  a  scarcity  of  labor. 
Farmers  who  have  threshed  are  holding  their 
grain.  This  crop  must  move  sometime,  and  as 
it  is  a  tremendous  one,  grave  fears  are  enter¬ 
tained  when  the  movement  commences,  the  rail¬ 
roads  will  be  badly  congested.  Moreover,  if  they 
could  move  part  of  the  crop  now  they  would 
take  coal  off  the  docks  and  this  would  make  a 
place  where  late  shipments  could  be  taken  care 
of.  As  it  is,  the  railroads  are  not  taking  all 
their  contract  coal  for  engine  use,  and  the  docks 
are  obliged  to  carry  this  excess  tonnage,  which 
will  prevent  them  from  increasing  their  tonnage. 

Altogether,  if  the  winter  is  cold,  it  is  evident 
there  is  some  basis  for  apprehension  on  the  part 
of  dock  companies  that  they  will  not  have  suffi¬ 
cient  tonnage  to  meet  their  requirements. 

In  the  all-rail  Indiana  and  Illinois  trade  prices 
are  steady  at  the  price  basis  quoted  in  this 
column.  Demand,  however,  has  shown  a  slacken¬ 
ing  tendency  on  account  of  the  weather.  Dealers 
who  were  in  a  hurry  for  coal  a  week  or  ten 
days  ago  have  forgotten  the  situation  that  de¬ 
veloped  at  that  time.  If  the  weather  should 
suddenly  turn  cold  again  there  would  be  the 
same  rush  of  orders  for  all  descripions  of  fuel. 

Current  circular  prices  and  quotations  on  all 
grades  of  coal  sold  in  the  Twin  Cities  are  as 
follows : 

ANTHRACITE. 


Grate  . 

Egg  . 

Stove  . 

F.  O.  B. 
Duluth 
and 

Superior 

F.  O.  B. 
Minneapolis 
and 

St.  Paul 
$7.80 
8.05 
8.05 
8.30 
6.70 
6.20 

Nut  . 

Pea  . 

Buckwheat  . 

BITUMINOUS. 

Splint,  screened  lump  and  stove.$3.30@3.40 

$4.26@4.36 

Spimt,  dock  run . 

3.10 

4.06 

Hocking,  screened  lump  and  stove 

3.30@3.40 

4.26@4.36 

Hocking,  dock  run . 

3.00 

3.96 

Youghiogneny,  gas,  lump  and  stove 

3.30@3.40 

4.26@4.36 

Youghiogheny,  gas,  dock  run . 

3.10 

4.06 

Pittsburgh  vein,  lump . 

3.30@3.40 

4.26@4.36 

Pittsburgh  vein,  dock  run . 

Poc.ihontis,  screened  lump  or  egg 
Pocahontas,  screened  lump  and 

3.00 

3.96 

4.75 

5.71 

egg  mixed . 

4.50 

5.46 

Pocahontas,  mine  run . 

3.25 

4.21 

Cannel,  lump . 

5.25 

6.21 

Smithing,  bulk . 

4.25 

5.21 

Smithing,  in  100-lb.  sacks . 

6.00 

6.96 

Briquets,  anthracite . 

5.00 

5.96 

Briquets,  smokeless . 

5.00 

5.96 

In  the  Illinois  trade  the 

range  of 

prices  on 

southern  Illinois  product  on  the  various  sizes  is 
as  follows : 

Southern  Illinois  chunks  . $1.65@1.75  $3.95@4.05 

Southern  Illinois  egg  .  1.65@1.75  3.95@4.05 

Southern  Illinois  No.  1  nut . 1.65@1.75  3.95@4.05 

Southern  Illinois  No.  2  nut .  I.40@1.50  3.70@3.80 

Southern  Illinois  No.  3  nut . 1.10@1.25  3.40@3.55 

Southern  Illinois  run  of  mine...  t.l5@1.25  3.45@3.55 

Southern  Illinois  2-in.  screenings  .60@  .70  3.90@4.00 

Southern  Illinois  includes  Franklin  county, 
Harrisburg  and  Williamson  county. 

Collections  are  showing  a  decided  improve¬ 
ment.  Banks  were  prepared  for  a  heavy  crop 
movement  and  when  it  did  not  materialize  they 
diverted  funds  in  reserve  for  that  purpose  into 
the  regular  channels  of  trade. 


342 


THE  BEA(  K  DIAMOND 


[October  23 


New  York  Trade. 


Mild  Weather  Does  Not  Deter  Anthra¬ 
cite — Bituminous  Prices 
Advance  Slightly. 


Office  of  The  Black,  Diamond, 
New  York,  October  21. 

The  anthracite  trade  this  week  is  in  a  very 
healthy  state,  although  the  very  mild  weather 
prevailing  generally  throughout  the  anthracite 
consuming  territory  has  materially  restricted 
household  consumption.  Notwithstanding  the 
let-up  in  domestic  buying,  retailers  have  been 
buying  heavily,  and  the  wholesale  trade  is  active 
in  almost  every  direction. 

The  better  demand  which  started  up  sever¬ 
al  weeks  ago,  has  enabled  the  mines  to  work 
on  full  time.  This  does  not  mean  that  they 
are  getting  out  a  maximum  capacity,  as  car 
shortage  has  shown  up  in  the  regions,  and 
labo'r  is  also  scarce.  Shippers  who  ship  con¬ 
siderable  coal  all  west  in  box  cars  are  finding 
it  difficult  to  obtain  sufficient  cars  to  take 
care  of  their  orders.  Also  there  is  some  de¬ 
lay  in  shipments  east,  due  to  lack  of  cars, 
especially  of  the  smaller  type  that  many  of 
the  retail  dealers  require. 

Operators  do  not  see  any  hope  of  a  mate¬ 
rial  increase  in  production  betw'een  now  and 
the  first  of  the  year.  This  means  that  the 
calendar  year  will  end  showing  a  decrease  of 
approximately  2,500,000  tons,  as  compared  with 
last  year,  if  not  more.  The  shortage  of  pro¬ 
duction  for  the  first  nine  months  of  the  year, 
as  compared  with  the  corresponding  months 
of  1914,  show  approximately  2,650.000  tons. 

It  is  now  exceptional  that  one  hears  of  pre¬ 
pared  coal  being  sold  off  circular.  One  or 
two  odd  lots  of  chestnut  were  said  to  have 
been  sold  at  New  York  harbor  ports  this 
week  at  concessions  from  the  circular,  but 
these  instances  are  rare.  In  niost  every  di¬ 
rection,  individuals  are  securing  full  winter 
circular  prices.  Especially  is  this  true  in  the 
all-rail  tfade.  Some  of  the  individual  opera¬ 
tors  are  finding  this  outlet  so  good  that  they 
are  materially  reducing  their  shipments  to 
tidewater. 

The  steam  size  situation  shows  more 
strength  from  week  to  week.  All  of  the  buck¬ 
wheats  are  active,  and  the  bargain  hunter  has 
great  difficulty  in  finding  cheap  steam  coal  at 
New  York  harbor  ports  just  now.  A  great 
many  large  steam  contracts  around  New  York 
city,  especially  on  city  business,  are  usually 
taken  on  during  the  summer  months  at  low 
prices,  when  the  markets  are  glutted  with  un¬ 
sold  coal,  and  contractors  who  took  business 


of  this  nature  face  a  serious  situation 

unless 

they  took  precautions 

to  cover  their 

needs 

on  time  contract. 

New  York  prices: 

Upper 

Lower 

Ports. 

Ports. 

Broken  . 

$5.00 

.  5.35 

Stove  . 

5.25 

Chestnut . 

.  5.60 

5.50 

Pea  . 

.  3.55 

3.45 

Special  grades  of  red  ash  and  other  high- 
grade  coals  at  the  lower  ports  sell  at  twenty- 
five  to  fifty  cents  per  ton  over  above  figures. 

Spot  prices  in  individual  coals  at  lower  ports 
are  about  as  follows; 


Egg  . $5.05  and  up 

Stove  .  5.20  and  uj) 

Nut  .  5.20  and  up 

Pea  .  ^-25  and  up 

lUick  .  2.30  and  up 

Rice  .  2.00  and  up 

!;arley  .  1.75  and  up 


The  Bituminous  Situation. 

There  is  more  activity  in  bituminous  coal, 
and  as  requirements  have  grown  prices  have 
increased  correspondingly.  Contract  require¬ 
ments  are  much  heavier,  and  as  labor  is  short, 
especially  in  the  Pennsylvania  regions,  and 
car  supply  inadequate  on  most  lines,  many  of 
the  principal  operators  are  just  about  able  to 
take  care  of  their  contract  requirements. 

Mine  prices  have  stiffened  materially.  Much 
buying  is  being  done  by  middle  houses  that 
have  contracts  to  take  care  of,  and  many  of 
the  small  operators  are  finding  these  a  bet¬ 
ter  source  for  business  than  the  consumers 
direct. 

Complaints  are  also  heard  that  the  railroads 
are  not  moving  coal  as  promptly  as  shippers 
would  like.  The  principal  bituminous  coal¬ 
carrying  roads  of  the  east  announce  moving 
a  lot  of  other  business,  some  of  it,  especially 
the  war  munitions,  is  very  pressing.  In  addi¬ 
tion  to  the  purchase  of  millions  of  dollars’ 


worth  of  war  munitions,  a  great  deal  of  iron 
and  steel  has  been  purchased  by  the  warring 
countries  for  export,  and  the  movement  of 
these  heavy  materials  is  beginning  to  lie  felt 
by  the  transportation  companies. 

Coke  business  is  very  active,  and  some  of 
the  coal  companies  tliat  Iiave  coke  ovens  could 
secure  a  great  deal  of  coke  business  at  this 
time  if  they  were  in  position  to  obtain  the 
labor  that  is  required  to  make  it. 

Export  trade  is  suffering  from  a  shortage 
of  vessels.  On  the  other  hand,  bunker  re- 
(luirements  at  all  of  the  Atlantic  and  Gulf 
ports  are  very  heavy  at  this  time,  and  those 
interested  in  bunkers  are  finding  themselves 
very  busy, 

.\t  the  New  York  harbor  ports  there  is  not 
much  free  coal  oI)tainable.  Prices  advanced  during 
the  past  week,  and  now  $2.55  to  $2.60  is  given 
as  the  minimum  price  for  the  low-grade  coals. 
Good  grades  are  selling  at  $2.85  to  $2.90,  and 
choice  grades  at  $3  to  $3.25. 

Slack  coal  is  in  great  demand,  and  seventy- 
five  cents  is  about  the  minimum  price  one 
hears  named  for  it. 

The  Vessel  Situation. 

The  coastwise  vessel  situation  has  not 
changed.  At  the  moment  there  appears  to  be 
ample  liottoms  to  take  such  coals  as  are  mov¬ 
ing  coastwise. 

The  off-shore  situation  is  very  tense,  due  to 
the  very  high  freight  rates  that  are  being  of¬ 
fered  for  grain  and  cotton  trades.  Coal  ship¬ 
pers  that  transact  export  business  are  being 
hampered  due  to  their  inability  to  secure  ves¬ 
sels  at  prices  that  will  enable  them  to  compete 
for  business. 

We  quote  current  rates  on  freight  as  fol¬ 
lows  : 

From  Hampton  Roads  to  Boston,  eighty  to 
ninety  cents  is  about  the  range:  to  Portland 
and  points  east  of  Boston,  from  ninety  cents  to 
$1.  To  sound  ports,  eighty  to  eighty-five 
cents.  From  Philadelphia  to  New  England 
points,  about  five  cents  under  the  Hampton 
Roads  rates. 

From  New  York  to  Bridgeport  or  New 
Haven,  thirty  cents;  to  New  London  and 
Providence,  forty  cents;  to  Fall  River  and 
New  Bedford,  forty-five  cents;  to  Boston,  fif- 


ty-five  to  sixty  cents. 

Current  quotations 

on  bituminous 

coal  m 

spot  lots  are: 

F.  O.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

Somerset  County — 

Harbor. 

Mines. 

ttest  grades . 

$1.10 

Ordinary  . 

1.20 

Medium  grades . 

1.15 

Cambria  County — 

Rest  Miller  vein . 

.  3.00 

1.45 

Medium  grades  . 

.  2.80 

1.25 

Cheaper  grades  . 

.  2.70 

1.15 

Clearfield  County — 

Best  grade . 

.  3.00 

1.35 

(Ordinary  grades  . 

.  2.65 

1.10 

Indiana  County — 

Best  grade . 

1.25 

Medium  grade  . 

.  2.05 

1.10 

Maryland — 

Georges  Creek  big  vein... 

.  3.15 

1.65 

West  Virginia  Splint — 

Ordinary  grades  . 

1.00 

Best  gas,  f^-inch  lumi).... 

1.15 

Best  grade,  run  of  mine.  . 

. .  8.65 

.00 

Gas  shack . 

.75@1.00 

New  York  Trade  Briefs. 

A.  B.  Luce  of  Madeira,  Hill  &  Co.,  No.  143 
Liberty  street,  visited  Schenectady  on  Mon¬ 
day. 

N.  C.  Ashcom,  Boston  manager  for  B.  Ni- 
coll  &  Co.,  came  to  New  York  last  week  and 
participated  in  a  two-day  tournament  of  the 
New  York  Coal  Trade  Golf  Association,  held 
at  Seaview,  N.  J. 

Cecil  W.  Proctor,  manager  of  the  bitumin¬ 
ous  department  of  the  Skeele  Coal  Company, 
No.  90  West  street,  sailed  on  Saturday  for 
Sweden.  Mr.  Proctor  will  spend  some  time  in 
Sweden,  Norway  and  Denmark,  in  the  inter¬ 
est  of  his  company. 

Crowell  &  Thurlaw  Steamship  Company  of 
Boston  announce  the  launching  on  Saturday, 
October  23  of  the  new  steamship  Stephen  R. 
Jones,  that  they  are  having  built  at  the  ship¬ 
yard  of  the  Newport  News  Shipbuilding  & 
Dry  Dock  Company  at  Newport  News,  Va. 

S.  J.  Bohannon,  New  York  manager  of  the 
Piedmont  &  Georges  Creek  Coal  Company, 
No.  30  Church  street,  left  last  Saturday  for 
a  short  vacation  of  ten  days  or  two  weeks 
for  Newnan,  Ga.  W.  D.  Bohannon,  his  broth¬ 
er,  is  taking  care  of  the  office  until  he  returns. 

A.  C.  Stickle  of  the  Evans  Coal  &  Coke  Com¬ 


pany,  Connellsville,  Pa.,  was  in  New  York 
on  Tuesday  en  route  home  from  Bermuda. 
Mr.  Stickle  spent  ten  days  at  that  resort  in 
recuperating.  He  reports  the  coal  and  coke 
business  in  the  Connellsville  region  as  being 
very  active. 

Quite  a  number  of  the  Nevv  River  and  Poca¬ 
hontas  coal  operators  were  in  New  York  dur¬ 
ing  the  past  week.  It  is  said  that  their  confer¬ 
ence  here  had  largely  to  do  with  the  West 
Virginia  freight  rate  question,  which  just  now 
is  paramount  in  the  attention  of  the  people 
interested  in  coal  in  that  state. 

Long  overdue,  the  British  steamship  Linda 
Fell,  which  sailed  from  Philadelphia  on  Sep¬ 
tember  20  for  Cienfuegos,  has  been  given  up 
for  lost.  She  was  commanded  by  Captain 
Tunwell  and  was  laden  with  4,700  tons  of  coal. 
The  crew  numbered  thirty  men.  There  is  lit¬ 
tle  doubt  that  she  foundered  in  the  September 
hurricane. 

The  steamer  L.  V.  Stoddard,  built  on  the 
Great  Lakes  for  the  Atlantic  coastwise  coal 
trade,  was  recently  brought  to  Neyv  York  to 
undergo  extensive  structural  alterations.  It  is 
reported  that  the  Stoddard  is  to  be  cut  in  two 
and  lengthened  out  by  the  addition  of  fifty 
feet  amidships,  giving  her  a  capacity  of  about 
5,000  tons,  an  increase  of  about  twenty-five 
per  cent. 

It  is  stated  in  the  Johnstown  papers  that 
C.  C.  Schmucker  of  Boswell,  in  Somerset 
county  has  closed  a  deal  by  which  he  trans¬ 
fers  the  coal  under  the  George  Reiman  tract 
of  128  acres  to  the  United  Coal  Company,  the 
consideration  being  private.  The  tract  ad¬ 
joins  the  Jerome  field  of  the  United  Coal 
Company,  and  its  possession  has  been  desired 
for  a  long  time.  The  figure  is  said  to  have 
been  such  a  fancy  one  as  to  set  a  record  price 
for  coal  in  that  section  of  Somerset  county. 

The  common  and  preferred  stock  of  Burns 
Brothers,  New  York’s  leading  retail  coal  con¬ 
cern,  were  listed  on  the  New  York  Stock 
Exchange  last  week.  Of  the  preferred  stock 
there  is  $1,820,000  outstanding,  while  the  com¬ 
mon  stock  issue  amounts  to  $5,500,000.  There 
are  no  bonds  or  floating  indebtedness.  It  is 
stated  that  the  earnings  of  1915,  amounting 
to  $820,000,  are  equivalent  to  forty-five  per 
cent  on  the  preferred  stock,  which  pays  seven 
per  cent  dividends.  The  common  stock  pays 
five  per  cent,  and  when  it  was  listed  on  the 
curb  it  was  selling  at  from  eighty-one  to 
eighty-two.  It  opened  on  the  stock  exchange 
at  ninety-one,  and  on  Tuesday  sold  up  to 
ninety-four  and  one-half.  It  is  stated  that  the 
common  stock  is  now  earning  at  the  rate  of 
twelve  per  cent. 

A  new  steamship  line  for  coastwise  service 
has  been  incorporated  under  the  Delaware 
laws,  with  capital  stock  of  $3,000,000.  It  is 
called  the  American  Merchant  Marine  Com¬ 
pany,  and  it  is  said  it  plans  ultimately  to  enter 
the  South  American  trade.  It  is  understood 
that  the  management  of  the  new  company  will 
be  under  the  direction  of  Bowring  &  Co.,  ship¬ 
ping  agents  in  New  York,  who  represent  large 
English  capitalists,  who  are  allied  in  the  new 
company  with  American  shipping  ^nd  financial 
interests.  The  contracts  are  soon  to  be  placed, 
it  is  reported,  for  the  construction  of  four 
freight  steamers  of  4,000  tons  cargo  carrying 
capacity  each.  Among  those  mentioned  as 
prospective  directors  are  Lewis  L.  Clarke, 
president  of  the  American  Exchange  National 
Bank  of  New  York;  E.  W.  Bowring,  treasurer 
of  Bowring  &  Co.;  Edward  W.  Lane,  presi¬ 
dent  of  the  Atlantic  National  Bank,  Jackson¬ 
ville,  Fla.,  and  Lawrence  B.  Stoddard,  vice- 
president  of  Bowring  &  Co. 

The  financial  editor  of  the  Nev/  York  Trib¬ 
une  sums  up  the  car  situation  as  follows:  “If 
general  business  has  continued  to  improve  in 
October  as  it  did  in  September,  there  is  no 
longer  such  a  thing  as  a  surplus  of  idle  cars 
on  the  railroads.  There  is  known  to  be  a 
shortage  of  cars  for  certain  industries,  one  of 
them  soft  coal  mining.  A  famine  of  cars 
generally  is  predicted  within  a  month.  When 
the  railroads  should  have  been  preparing 
against  such  a  centingency  they  could  not  af- 
fo'd  to  buy  the  cars.  Credit  cost  too  much. 
Now,  when  they  are  beginning  to  buy,  they 
are  in  danger  of  being  too  late.  Time  and 
again  the  equipment  companies  have  been 
embarrassed  in  the  past  by  orders  coming 
from  every  direction  at  once.  If  the  orders 
come  now,  the  equipment  companies  as  a 
whole  will  be  in  a  worse  position  to  fill  them 
promptly  than  they  have  been  for  years.  They 
are  too  busy  making  shrapnel  and  high  explo¬ 
sive  shells.” 


343 


No.  17] 


Philadelphia  Trade. 

Producers  Are  Retiring  From  the  Market 
Because  a  Car  Shortage  Cuts  Out¬ 
put — Buyers  Unconcerned. 

Office  of  The  Black  Diamond, 

1400  Land  Title  Building, 
Phil.\delphia,  October  21. 

One  of  the  surprising  angles  that  has  been 
produced  by  the  car  shortage  and  the  general 
up-turn  to  the  bituminous  coal  business  here, 
has  been  the  apparent  indifference  of  the  smaller 
consumer  to  worry  one  little  dog-gone  whit.  Man 
after  man,  who  is  dealing  direct  with  the  species, 
tells  that  the  most  ot  the  one-to-ten-car-a- 
week,  buyers  have  a  supercilious  smile  when 
they  are  told  that  it  is  hard  to  get  coal.  More 
than  that  they  rub  it  in  by  telling  the  sales¬ 
men  that  it  listens  like  some  of  the  other  sales 
arguments  that  they  advanced  in  May  and 
June.  Did  they  know  that  there  are  virtually 
no  quotations  on  coal  from  the  Greensburg 
territory,  that  a  great  many  of  the  operators 
in  the  Somerset  held  have  refused  quotations 
on  spot  shipments  they  might  see  the  thing 
in  a  different  light. 

The  middle  houses  whose  specialty  is  get¬ 
ting  a  coal  to  ht  the  needs  of  a  prospect  have 
been  having  a  deuce  of  a  time  landing  coal 
after  landing  orders.  Cars  are  short  and 
the  people  on  whom  the  weight  of  this  falls 
heaviest — the  men  at  the  mines — have  un¬ 
usual  ideas  as  to  what  they  should  get  for 
their  coal.  Quemahoning  and  Somerset  op¬ 
erators  are  asking  .$1.35  with  Miller  vein  a 
nickel  to  a  dime  higher.  Western  Mary¬ 
land  offerings  have  been  around  $1.15. 

Midweek  saw  a  little  loosening  of  the 
stringency  in  free  coal  at  the  Greenwich  piers. 
About  1,000  tons  were  offered-  for  sale  with 
a  range  of  $1.15  to  $1.25  to  the  jobbers  and  a 
dime  more  on  the  ton  to  consumers.  At  Fort 
Richmond  the  situation  was  tightening  by  a 
large  amount  of  the  coal  there  going  into 
export  and  heavy  bunkerage. 

Opinion  is  divided  as  to  the  length  of  time 
that  the  car  situation  will  have  a  bearing  upon 
tbe  market.  Some  of  the  middle  houses  are 
inclined  to  believe  that  as  soon  as  the  rail¬ 
roads  withdraw  from  the  stocking  market  and 
have  thrown  back  their  cars  into  the  coal 
traffic  there  will  be  an  immediate  change. 
.Again  there  is  an  intimation  that  the  Balti¬ 
more  &  Ohio  will  have  about  5,000  cars  to 
throw  into  the  coal  trade  as  soon  as  the 
movement  of  ore  from  the  lakes  is  over.  On 
the  other  hand  there  are  those  who  argue 
that  all  coal  concerns  are  behind  in  their 
orders  and  their  customers  will  have  to  be 
satisfied  with  heavier  shipments  as  soon  as 
cars  are  free,  that  the  colder  weather  will 
gum  things  up  at  terminals  and  on  the  lines, 
that  stocking  will  have  to  be  started  in  Janu¬ 
ary  in  preparation  for  strenuous  times  in 
April,  and,  that  car  conditions  of  a  month 
or  two  will  be  worse  than  at  present.  As  the 
fair  faker  says  “you  pays  your  money  and 
takes  your  choice.” 

Anthracite  Situation. 

Under  the  head  of  Quips  and  Jests  one  of 
the  local  papers  the  other  night  printed  this 
“The  coal  man  is  begining  to  look  rather 
anxiously  at  the  weather  bureau.”  Some  of 
the  hard  coal  contingent  are  of  the  belief 
that  this  is  too  serious  a  matter  for  any  paper 
to  run  in  it’s  joke  column.  The  weather 
has  been  doing  all  that  it  can  to  imply  that 
"there  aint  no  such  animal”  as  winter — and 
anthracite  men,  from  retailer  to  operator, 
have  been  suffering  accordingly.  A  few  frosty 
mornings  would  be  welcomed  as  notbing  else 
would. 

Pea  coal  is  back  to  it’s  old  place,  tbe  head 
of  the  list  so  far  as  demand  is  concerned. 
The  independents  are  doing  their  best  to  force 
a  $2.25  quotation  on  this  size  by  November 
1st.  In  fact,  this  is  the  price  that  has  been 
set  and  held  to  for  any  deliveries  to  be  made 
after  the  coming  of  the  next  month  and  pres¬ 
ent  prices  range  from  $2.15  up. 

The  companies  are  holding  to  the  set  range 
of  $2  to  $2.10  for  pea  sizes,  though  it  is  with 
tbe  proviso  that  the  quotations  are  subject 
to  immediate  acceptance.  Tbe  independents 
say  that  they  have  hopes  that  the  price  will 
be  raised  lyv  tbeir  bigger  competitors. 

Stove  and  chestnut  sizes  have  shown  a  lit¬ 
tle  better  inclination  in  demand  and  some  of 
the  late  comers  have  been  doing  a  little  stock¬ 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


ing  of  their  bins  at  home.  However,  most 
of  the  local  yards  have  a  capacity  stock  of 
coal  on  hand,  and  until  this  is  moved  the 
general  movement  is  bound  to  be  slow.  Price 
cutting  is  still  in  order  in  West  Philadelphia 
and  Kensington,  as  well  as  most  of  the  sub¬ 
urbs,  but  “all  the  slashing  of  prices  and  in¬ 
ducements  that  is  to  be  offered  in  that  line 
will  not  do  half  as  much  as  a  stinging  cold 
week”  as  one  middle  man  put  it. 


Philadelphia  News  Notes. 

F.  J.  Homan  of  the  Skeele  Coal  Company 
of  New  York,  visited  the  local  hard  coal  trade 
on  Tuesday. 

Superintendent  Buchannon  of  the  Oak  Ridge 
Colliery  in  the  Pottsville  district,  was  one 
of  the  trade  visitors  of  the  week. 

C.  P.  Burtner  of  C.  P.  Burtner  &  Co.,  spent 
three  days  in  Central  Pennsylvania  looking 
over  the  company’s  properties  in  the  Punx- 
sutawney  and  Altoona  districts. 

George  Pauli,  vice-president  of  the  Com¬ 
monwealth  Fuel  Company  of  Pittsburgh,  was 
among  the  trade  visitors  of  the  tail  end  of 
last  week. 

Charles  Ten  Weeges  of  the  Diamond  Coal 
and  Ice  Company  of  Wilmington,  Del.,  called 
on  his  trade  connections  locally  the  latter  part 
of  last  week. 

D.  B.  Zimmerman,  president  of  the  Quema¬ 
honing  Coal  Company,  whose  headquarters 
are  in  Somerset,  was  in  New  York  and  Wash¬ 
ington  this  week,  and  was  expected  at  the 
offices  of  the  company  here  later  on. 

N.  D.  Cortright,  president,  and  W.  A.  Cort- 
right  treasurer  of  the  Beaver  Run  Coal  Com¬ 
pany,  made  a  trip  of  inspection  to  the  com¬ 
pany’s  mines  at  Beaverdale,  the  fore  part  of 
the  week. 

Walter  Eastlak  of  Merchantville,  N.  J.,  is 
ill  at  his  home  suffering  from  pneumonia. 
Mr.  Eastlak  is  one  of  the  prominent  Ko-Koals 
of  the  local  breaker  and  one  of  his  friends  said 
that  his  illness  did  not  bother  him  so  much 
as  the  fact  that  he  .  would  miss  the  “big  do¬ 
ings”  of  Thursday  evening. 

Patrick  Zane  of  the  F.  W.  Foedisch  &  Co., 
forces  made  a  trip  to  the  mines  last  week 
visiting  Scalp  Level,  Windber,  Johnstown  and 
Altoona  and  otherway  points.  After  the 
strenuous  days  of  the  wind  up  of  the  World’s 
series,  the  change,  he  says,  came  as  a  wel¬ 
come  relief. 

J.  W.  Searles,  sales  manager  for  the  Penn- 
sidvania  Coal  and  Coke  Corporation,  dropped 
in  to  see  local  friends  and  made  a  visit  to 
the  Philadelphia  office  of  his  company  while 
returning  from  the  golf  tournament  that  the 
New  York  coal  men  held  at  Seaview,  Saturday 
and  Sunday  of  the  week. 

C.  H.  Price  of  Reading,  was  NOT  “one  of 
those  present”  at  the  closing  of  the  baseball 
championship  of  1915 — and  thereby  bangs  a 
tale.  It  seems  that  Mr.  Price  had  instructed 
a  round  half  dozen  persons  connected  with 
the  coal  trade  to  get  him  tickets  and  notify 
him  by  telephone.  The  anxious  days  slipped 
round  without  any  call  from  those  he  relied 
on.  Did  Mr.  Price  forget  the  request  that 
he  made — he  did  not! 

Quite  a  number  of  men  interested  in  the 
operating  end  of  the  coal  trade  visited  the 
exhibits  and  the  meetings  of  the  National 
Safety  Council,  which  was  held  at  the  Belle¬ 
vue  Stratford  the  fore  part  of  the  week.  While 
most  of  the  consideration  given  by  the  speak¬ 
ers  and  the  devices  shown  in  the  exhibit 
were  for  betterment  in  railroad  and  public 
affairs,  yet  there  was  much  which  could  be 
applied  to  First  Aid  work  at  tbe  mines. 

W.  H.  Reed  of  the  Reed  Colliery  Com¬ 
pany,  whose  home  is  in  Dudley,  Pa.,  was  in 
this  city  early  this  week.  He  recently  made 
a  visit  to  the  Broad  Top  section,  and  says 
lalior  is  getting  scarcer  there  and  some  of 
the  mines  have  been  facing  an  actual  short¬ 
age.  Broad  Top  is  one  of  the  old  mining 
sections  and  its  labor  is  of  tbe  settled  char¬ 
acter  so  that  this  can  be  taken  as  a  good  in¬ 
dication  of  general  conditions. 

The  placing  of  the  order  of  the  Western 
Maryland  railway  for  1,000  seventy-ton  coal  cars 
recently,  is  bound  to  produce  a  new  clement 
in  the  tidewater  coal  trade  as  affects  this  port. 
Smaller  sized  cars  have  been  the  rule,  and 
with  the  new  carriers  of  larger  proportions 
coming  here  from  this  line  it  is  to  be  sup¬ 
posed  that  there  will  be  a  call  for  cars  of 
larger  tonnage  from  the  Pennsylvania  and 


the  B.  &  O.  The  Western  Maryland  has 
been  one  of  the  eastern  roads  that  have  rarely 
suffered  from  a  shortage  of  coal  cars,  but 
the  recent  squeeze  has  caught  them,  as  well 
as  their  larger  competitors. 

Speaking  of  golf  the  other  day  and  of  the 
New  York  coal  trade’s  tournament  at  Sea- 
view  in  particular,  one  enthusiast  in  the  game 
of  old  Scotia  felt  constrained  to  say  “  It  looks 
as  though  there  can’t  be  a  team  of  golfers 
gathered  together  to  give  those  fellows  a 
contest.  However,  it  is  not  because  Philadel¬ 
phia  has  not  the  material  and  I  am  willing  to 
wager  that  one  good  match  would  take  a 
lot  of  the  ambition  out  of  the  New  Yorkers  if 
it  could  ever  be  arranged.  I,  for  one,  believe 
that  if  the  Philadelphia  men  were  to  do  the 
challenging  there  might  be  a  different  spirit 
shown  and  we  might  get  somewhere.  It  is 
about  time  that  we  got  together,  but  it  looks 
as  though  we  need  some  one  to  show  us  the 
way  and  start  the  thing  going.” 

The  news  that  Harry  K.  Stauffer,  repre¬ 
sentative  of  B.  Nicoll  &  Co.,  had  been  taken 
ill  in  Elmira,  N.  Y.,  and  had  been  forced  to 
his  bed  in  a  hospital  there,  which  was  re¬ 
ceived  here  last  F'riday,  came  as  a  shock  to 
the  friends  of  this  popular  coal  man.  Mr. 
Stauffer  had  not  been  feeling  at  his  best  for 
some  weeks,  but  left  ten  days  ago  on  a  trip 
to  Pittsburgh.  When  he  arrived  later  in  El¬ 
mira,  he  could  not  stand  the  pain  he  was 
suffering  any  longer  and  was  ordered  to  the 
hospital  by  the  first  physician  that  was  called. 
At  first  his  malady  was  diagnosed  as  gall¬ 
stones.  So  serious  was  his  condition  that  his 
brother  J.  C.  Stauffer,  the  local  manager  for 
the  Nicoll  Company  was  called  to  his  bedside 
and  has  remained  there  since. 

With  the  withdrawal  of  boats  under  the 
Greek  flag  from  the  export  trade,  the  tre¬ 
mendous  strain  made  upon  the  shipping  to 
foreign  ports  in  the  grain  trade  and  the  press¬ 
ing  into  service  of  all  sort  of  “tubs”  into  ore 
carriage,  bottoms  from  the  coal  trade  are 
about  in  the  “hen’s  teeth”  class.  On  Tuesday 
of  this  week,  six  charters  were  snatched  up 
in  the  schooner  class  at  fancy  rates  for  ton¬ 
nage  from  this  port.  Following  is  the  list: 

Schooners. 

Pendelton  Sisters,  Philadelphia  to  Parama¬ 
ribo,  1,250  tons  of  coal,  private  terms. 

J.  Frank  Seavey,  Philadelphia  to  St.  John, 
N.  B.,  600  tons  of  coal,  private  terms. 

Annie,  Philadelphia  to  Casilda,  1,000  tons  of 
coal,  $4. 

Helvetia,  Philadelphia  to  Jacksonville,  800 
tons  of  coal,  $1.10. 

Clara  A.  Donnell,  Philadelphia  to  Mayport, 
1,700  tons  of  coal,  private  terms. 

Ella  M.  Willey,  same,  1,000  tons  of  coal, 
private  terms. 


Denver  Trade. 


Denver,  October  21. —  {Special  Correspondence.) 
— Although  milder  weather  has  prevailed  through¬ 
out  this  entire  section  for  several  days,  severe 
reminders  of  winter  have  already  occurred,  and 
all  ends  of  the  coal  trade  report  a  good  volume 
of  business  this  week.  Until  the  past  few  days 
the  nights  have  been  cold  all  over  Wyoming 
and  Colorado,  with  a  few  days  of  damp,  chilly 
rains.  As  a  result  there  seems  to  be  no  slacken¬ 
ing  in  the  storing  of  coal  for  domestic  pur¬ 
poses  and  there  has  been  a  fair  demand  for 
immediate  requirements. 

Lignite  production  will  fall  a  little  under  that 
of  last  week,  but  northern  operators  report  a 
very  satisfactory  tonnage.  Sugar  factories  are 
nearly  all  running  full  time  now,  and  this  alone 
will  insure  a  good  otttput  for  several  weeks  to 
come. 

The  Trinidad  district  was  behind  on  orders 
at  one  time  this  week  and  are  very  busy  on 
steam  contracts.  Walsenburg  mines  will  record 
an  output  seventy-five  per  cent  of  normal  for 
the  week ;  Canon  City  about  sixty -five  per  cent, 
and  Routt  county  mines  are  all  running  full 
time.  Anthracite  producers  state  that  there  is 
a  heavy  demand  for  that  grade  already,  because 
of  a  general  desire  to  place  orders  early  enough 
to  avoid  the  delay  in  filling  that  was  experienced 
last  winter. 

Prices  for  all  grades  of  slack  are  steady  and 
unchanged.  The  heavy  increase  in  lump  produc¬ 
tion  has  not  overtaken  the  very  good  demand. 

The  following  prices  for  lignite  are  ruling  f. 
o  .1).  mines :  For  Denver  delivery,  lump,  $2.35  to 
$2.05;  mine  run,  $1.50  to  $1.65;  slack,  $1.05  to 
$1.25.  Points  outside  of  Denver,  lump,  ,$2.50; 
mine  run,  $1.55  to  $1.65;  slack,  $1.05. 


344 


[October  23 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


New  England  Trade 


I'osToN,  October  21. —  (Special  Correspondence.) 
— Aside  from  a  slight  slowing  up  in  new  busi¬ 
ness  owing  to  unseasonably  warm  weather,  con¬ 
ditions  governing  the  local  wholesale  anthracite 
and  bituminous  markets  have  not  changed  ma¬ 
terially  since  last  reports. 

Now  that  the  bituminous  trade  is  thoroughly 
aroused  over  the  recent  action  by  Darrow-Mann 
in  making  a  sweeping  reduction  in  1916  prices, 
all  sorts  of  rumors  are  going  the  rounds,  some 
of  which  have  absolutely  no  foundations,  while 
others  contain  possibilities.  Darrow-Mann  offi¬ 
cials  have  nothing  to  say,  but  one  of  them  inti¬ 
mates  that  their  New  England  campaign  has  not 
yet  started.  In  the  meantime  their  new  property 
in  Charlestown  on  the  Mystic  river  is  fast  being 
put  into  shape  for  business.  One  rumor  has  it 
that  the  recent  delay  by  the  city  of  Boston  in 
awarding  its  winter  bituminous  contracts,  and 
the  indefinite  postponement  of  awards  by  the 
Boston  &  Maine  Railroad  were  due  to  the  Dar¬ 
row-Mann  campaign.  This  rumor  evidently  has 
some  foundation,  but  none  of  the  parties  con¬ 
cerned  will  make  a  positive  statement  in  regard 
to  the  matter. 

In  the  meantime  contract  coals  are  coming 
along  fairly  freely  and  cancellations  of  deliveries 
are  few  and  far  between.  The  result  has  been 
a  slightly  better  demand  for  New  River  and 
Pocahontas  at  the  Mystic  Wharf  spot  market 
where  offerings  have  been  small.  Prices  at  Mystic, 
however,  continue  to  fluctuate  widely  notwith¬ 
standing  the  official  price  of  $3.60  and  $3.70  per 
ton  f.  o.  b.  cars.  Georges  Creek  coal  at  Mystic 
Wharf  has  been  selling  more  freely  at  $3.90  to 
$4  per  ton,  mostly  the  top  price,  but  cannot  be 
called  really  active.  Most  of  the  Georges  Creek 
coal  sold  in  New  England  is  moved  from  Ports¬ 
mouth.  All-rail  Pennsylvania  bituminous  is  mov¬ 
ing  better,  especially  to  western  and  central 
Mas.sachusetts  points  like  Worcester  and  Spring- 
field  where  almost  everybody  who  owns  a  factory 
is  making  war  munitions  for  the  Allies.  The 
cargo  business  continued  highly  unsatisfactory. 
Pennsylvania  coals  are  quoted  as  strong  on  a 
basis  of  ninety  cents  to  $1.50  per  ton  on  cars  at 
the  mines.  The  pronounced  increased  activity 
in  the  .steel  trade  has  helped  to  strengthen  the 
southern  bituminous  markets. 

The  unusually  warm  weather  has  influenced  the 
anthracite  trade  more  than  the  bituminous.  A 
year  ago  this  time  the  weather  was  cold  and 
the  household  consumption  enormous.  While 
business  has  slacked  up  some,  most  local  whole¬ 
sale  houses  say  it  is  all  that  could  be  expected 
under  ruling  conditions.  The  trade  has  by  no 
means  lost  its  optimism  and  is  looking  forward 
to  a  good  business  next  month  and  through  De¬ 
cember.  At  Mystic  Wharf  stove  and  egg  can  be 
had  for  $6.20  per  ton  on  cars,  and  nut  for  $6.45. 
.\longside  Boston  Harbor  prices  are ;  Stove  and 
egg,  $5.85 ;  nut,  $6.10 ;  pea,  $4.05  per  ton. 

The  warmer  weather  has  been  highly  favorable 
for  the  movement  of  all  kinds  of  coal  by  water 
and  tbe  marine  freight  rate  market  is  more  active 
than  it  has  been  in  some  time.  As  a  result  rates 
from  Hampton  Roads  ports  to  Boston  are  firmer, 
althou.gh  not  quotably  higher.  They  are  seventy- 
five  to  eighty-five  cents  per  ton,  mostly  eighty  and 
eighty-five.  Vessel  owners  are  predicting  higher 
rates  by  another  week.  From  New  York  to  Bos¬ 
ton  rates  are  unchanged  at  fifty  to  fifty-five  cents 
per  ton.  The  Coastwise  Transportation  Company 
of  Boston  has  ordered  a  12,000-ton  steamer  from 
the  New  York  Shipbuilding  Company  with  which 
it  already  had  contracted  for  six  boats.  The  boat 
just  ordered  will  be  the  largest  of  all.  The 
firm  will  probably  in  the  near  future  order  still 
another  steamer — a  9,000-ton  boat. 

Reports  of  car  shortage  are  more  numerous. 
The  New  Haven  Railroad  recently  issued  a 
notice  to  the  effect  that  all  New  England  indus¬ 
trial  concerns  should  bear  in  mind  that  the  car 
shortage  will  grow  more  acute  each  week  from 
now  on. 


Baltimore  Trade. 


Baltimore,  Md.,  October  21. —  (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — Tight  as  a  drum.  That  about  ex¬ 
plains  the  local  coal  situation.  Practically  all 
the  more  desirable  coals  have  been  withdrawn 
from  quotation  temporarily.  Cars  are  as  scarce 
as  the  proverbial  hen’s  teeth.  Every  coal  pro¬ 
ducer  in  Pennsylvania,  West  Virginia  and  Mary¬ 
land  is  crying  in  vain  for  more  rolling  stock. 
Supiily  at  some  of  the  mines  on  particular  days 


is  said  to  have  been  not  more  than  one-fifth  of 
actual  requirements. 

The  result  has  been  in  many  cases  that  pro¬ 
ducers  and  distributors  generally  have  fallen  far¬ 
ther  back  on  contract  supply  during  the  past 
week,  rather  than  having  caught  up.  Very  little 
fuel,  except  certain  less  desirable  grades,  are  on 
the  open  market  now  in  any  quantity.  Prices 
for  immediate  coal  have  not  advanced  greatly, 
apparently  largely  for  the  reason  that  this  free 
coal  is  so  limited  as  not  to  cut  any  great  figure. 
Labor  conditions  seem,  also,  to  be  growing  worse, 
rather  than  better.  All  coal  producing  terri¬ 
tories  in  this  section  are  now  short  of  men, 
and  coal  companies  that  ordinarily  do  not  wish 
to  discuss  any  labor  shortage  or  other  trouble, 
no  longer  make  secret  of  the  seriousness  of  the 
condition.  Letters  of  explanation  that  are  pour¬ 
ing  out  as  to  why  deliveries  have  not  been  made 
as  promised  give  both  car  shortage  and  labor 
scarcity  as  the  primary  causes. 

While  prices  offered  and  accepted  are  naturally 
rather  uncertain  in  the  present  restricted  market, 
they  may  be  quoted  to  the  trade  about  as  fol¬ 
lows  : 


Fairmont — 
Three-quarter  .  . 
Run  of  mine.  .  . 

Slack  . 

Somerset — 

Best  . 

Good  . 

W.  M.  R.  R.— 
Freeport  . 


F.  O.  B. 
Mines. 
$0.95@1.00 
.90 

.  .75®  .80 

1.35 

1.20 

.  .95@1.00 


F.  O.  B. 
Baltimore. 
$2.38@2.43 
2.33 
2.18@2.23 


2.53 

2.38 

2.13@2.18 


P.  R.  R.— 

Best  South  Fork 

Miller  vein . 

Ordinary  . 


1.40  2.58 

1.25  2.93 

1.00  2,18 


In  the  face  of  steadily  improving  industrial 
conditions  and  bettering  demand  for  coal,  the 
fuel  men  here  are  quite  optimistic  despite  the 
present  car  troubles.  They  feel  that  the  rail¬ 
roads,  when  the  grain  rush  is  over  and  when 
regulation  of  the  heavy  ore  hauling  is  better 
controlled,  will  be  able  to  move  cars  for  coal 
more  promptly.  Many  cars  have  been  tied  up 
at  tidewater  here,  for  instance,  by  reason  of 
slow  reporting  of  vessel  bottoms,  the  grain  trade 
requirements  having  made  it  difficult  to  close 
coal  charters  as  needed. 

Lack  of  vessel  bottoms  has  restricted  foreign 
shipments  of  coal.  The  past  week  saw  but  a 
movement  of  20,234  tons.  Bunker  sales  have  been 
heavy 'recently  because  of  the  big  grain  fleet  mov¬ 
ing  from  this  port. 

The  retail  hard  coal  dealers  here  are  busy. 
The  rush  of  fall  orders  for  household  consump¬ 
tion  is  now  on.  Most  of  the  hooks  of  coal  men 
here  are  full  of  orders,  and  deliveries  have  been 
fairly  prompt,  despite  poor  car  movement,  as 
yard  supplies  have  been  called  upon. 


Some  Trade  Briefs. 

Five  coal  charters  were  announced  here  the 
present  week,  the  largest  number  for  some  time. 

In  anticipation  of  big  business  ahead  most  of 
the  coal  operations  are  planning  extensions.  The 
Consolidation  Coal  Company  has  decided  to  de¬ 
velop  a  big  tract  held  at  Bingamon,  near  Wyatt, 
West  Virginia. 

A  suit  has  been  brought  under  the  will  of  Jane 
11.  Nicholas,  against  the  Philadelphia^  &  Reading 
Coal  &  Iron  Company,  for  accounting  on  the 
operation  of  a  mine  property  in  Schuylkill  county, 
Pennsylvania.  It  is  claimed  that  one-sixth  of  the 
property  belongs  to  the  Nicholas  estate,  but  that 
no  accounting  or  return  has  been  made  on  it 
since  1890. 

Earl  Henry,  chief  of  the  West  Virginia  De¬ 
partment  of  Mines,  who  was  a  visitor  here  the 
present  week,  repeated  a  previous  warning,  that 
labor  shortage  at  the  mines  would  soon  prove 
the  greatest  industrial  problem. 


Buffalo  Trade. 


Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  October  21. —  (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.)— The  shipments  of  anthracite  by 
lake  last  week  amounted  to  94,640  tons,  which 
is  a  slight  falling  off  from  some  preceding 
weeks.  The  coal  cleared  as  follows;  Duluth- 
Superior,  41,000;  Milwaukee,  25,900;  Chicago, 
19,340;  Ashland,  3,000;  Fort  William,  2,500; 
Waukegan,  1,600;  Racine,  1,300.  There  is  no 
big  demand  for  coal  up  the  lakes  and  loading  is 
not  going  on  extensively  this  month,  so  that  the 
total  will  probably  not  come  up  to  the  same 
month  of  last  year. 

A  pretty  good  demand  is  coming  in  from  deal¬ 
ers  at  present  and  it  is  accompanied  by  a  short¬ 
age  of  cars,  so  that  shipments _  are  not  being  de¬ 
livered  quite  as  rapidly  as  wished  for.  In  all 


probability  the  car  shortage  will  continue  quite 
marked  for  some  time  to  come  and  the  com¬ 
panies  are  advising  their  customers  to  take  their 
coal  as  early  as  possible.  Most  all  sizes  are  now 
in  fair  demand,  though  the  country  districts  are 
not  getting  in  as  much  chestnut  as  sometimes 
at  this  season. 

The  bituminous  demand  is  in  a  healthy  state 
and  much  better  than  some  weeks  ago.  The 
larger  companies  are  not  anxious  for  present 
orders  and  it  is  said  they  have  been  withdrawing 
their  salesmen  from  the  road,  besides  putting  up 
prices  fifteen  to  twenty-five  cents.  This  is  an 
indication  that  they  are  getting  in  an  independent 
position  as  to  orders  and  feel  that  quotations 
are  going  to  be  much  stiffer  before  many  weeks. 
Already  there  is  considerable  firmness  to  the 
market  and  coal  is  not  so  plentiful  in  the  local 
market  as  often  times  during  the  past  few 
months.  Very  little  slack  is  being  brought  in, 
except  for  the  filling  of  orders,  so  that  prices 
have  been  maintaining  much  strength.  Mining 
is  going  on  actively,  so  far  as  a  shortage  of  cars 
and  labor  will  permit,  and  these  two  factors 
enter  into  the  situation  to  a  large  extent.  A 
good  many  more  men  could  be  put  to  work  in 
some  districts  if  they  were  to  be  had.  The  car 
supply  is  about  one-third  short  of  what  it  has 
been. 

The  coke  market  has  developed  much  firmness 
and  there  is  now  a  better  demand  in  this  sec¬ 
tion.  Some  producers  have  withdrawn  their  quo¬ 
tations  on  stock  coke  and  the  supply  is  short  of 
what  it  usually  is.  All  grades  of  coke  are  now 
maintaining  much  strength,  and  while  prices  have 
not  been  advanced  in  the  past  week  or  two  they 
are  ten  to  fifteen  cents  higher  than  was  the  case 
a  month  or  two  ago,  with  a  prospect  of  further 
rise  soon. 


Buffalo  Trade  Briefs. 

W.  R.  Crowthers,  of  the  Cleveland  &  Western 
Coal  Company,"  Pittsburgh,  was  a  visitor  to  the 
coal  trade  here  last  week. 

William  F.  McClurg,  president  of  the  McClurg- 
Helsdon  Coal  Company,  is  back  at  the  office 
again  after  a  siege  of  some  weeks  with  rheu¬ 
matism.  ,  He  still  finds  a  pair  of  crutches  con¬ 
venient  in 'getting  about. 

Arthur  E.  Hedstrom  is  general  chairman  of 
the  Laymen’s  Missionary  Movement,  which  is 
holding  numerous  meetings  in  Buffalo  churches 
at  present.  E.  H.  Read,  sales  agent  of  the  D.  L. 
&  W.  Coal  Company,  and  M.  S.  Burns,  of  Palen 
&  Burns,  are  also  acting  as  committeemen. 

William  F.  Meyer,  a  lifelong  resident  of  Buf¬ 
falo,  died  on  October  18,  aged  seventy-one  years. 
He  leaves  a  wife  and  daughter.  Before  going 
into  business  he  joined  the  army  and  went 
through  the  Civil  War,  and  on  his  return  he 
l)ecame  a  city  coal  dealer  for  about  fifteen  years. 
.\t  the  close  of  this  time  he  was  appointed  city 
coal  inspector  and  looked  after  all  the  coal 
bought  by  the  city  for  schools  and  other  pur¬ 
poses.  This  position  he  maintained  for  a  long 
time.  He  was  a  man  very  much  respected  and 
had  many  friends. 


Omaha  Trade. 


Omaha,  Nebr.,  October  21. —  (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — A  week  of  good  weather  has  had 
the  effect  of  stimulating  general  business  condi¬ 
tions  in  this  territory  and  all  lines  of  industry 
are  fairly  busy. 

Farmers  are  very  busy  with  their  fall  plowing 
and  as  a  result  the  wheat  remains  in  the  stack. 
The  weather  is  hardly  cold  enough  to  make  heat 
necessary  and  as  a  result  very  little  coal  is  mov¬ 
ing  out  of  the  dealers’  bins.  The  coal  market 
is  firm  due  to  a  fair  demand  for  storage  pur¬ 
poses.  Plenty  of  all  kinds  of  coal  is  available 
with  the  exception  of  the  slight  scarcity  in  Kan¬ 


sas  nut  coal. 

Southern  Kansas — • 

Nut  . 

Slack  . 

Franklin  County — 
Lump  . 


Williamson  County — 

Lump  . 

Egg  ••••••■. . 

Rock  Springs — 

Lump  . 

Nut  . 

Arkansas  Anthracite — 

Lump  .  . . 

Broken  sizes . 

Colorado,  Routt  County, 
burg  and  Canon  City — 

Lump  . 

Nut  . 

Pea  . 


F.  9.  B 
Mines. 

.  $2.00 

.  1.35 

. $1.60@1.75 

.  1.60@1.75 

.  1.60@1.75 

.  1.45@1.60 

.  1.45@1.60 

.  2.50 

.  1.75 

.  3.85 

.  4.10 

Walsen- 


3.00 

2.25 

1.25 


F.  O.  B. 
Omaha. 
$3.45 
2.80 

$4.10@4.25 

4.10@4.25 

4.10@4.25 

3.95@4.10 

3.95@4.10 

6.25 

6.50 

6.85 

7.10 


6.76 

6.00 

5.0p 


. 

1 

Phe  Black  Diamond 

Vol.  5f 

»  No  18 

J.  i'NU.  lO  (-;OL 

OCTOBER  30,  1915  $3.00  Per  Year 

Draft  the  Important  Factor  in  A  House  Furnace. 


A  month  ago  we  printed  an  article  about  de¬ 
termining  by  experimenting  the  flexibility  of  a 
household  furnace.  This  attracted  widespread 
attention,  because,  in  print,  the  subject  is  prac¬ 
tically  new.  Quite  a  number  of  comments  have 
come  from  those  who  also  have  done  some  ex¬ 
perimenting.  George  Reed,  president  of  the  Lin- 
coln-Springfield  Coal  Company,  was  one  of  the 
first.  He  recites  this  incident: 

“Some  two  or  three  years  ago  I  had  just 
moved  into  a  new  house.  The  family  decided 
to  go  away  for  three  or  four  days,  and,  as  it 
was  cold,  there  was  danger  that  the  water  pipes 
would  freeze.  So  the  fire  was  drawn  and  the 
water  was  taken  out  of  the  hot  water  system. 

“After  an  absence  of  four  days  we  returned 
home.  The  weather  meanwhile  had  become 
much  colder,  going  close  to  zero.  The  first  thing 
we  did,  of  course,  was  to  build  a  fire.  In  a  very 
short  time  the  water  was  up  to  190  degrees, 
which  is  supposed  to  give  all  the  heat  that  an 
ordinary  house  needs,  even  in  zero  weather. 
However,  the  house  remained  miserably  cold. 
The  family  hovered  over  the  radiators  for  a 
while  and  then  went  to  bed  early.  The  fire  was 
left  going  full  blast  all  night  in  the  hope  that 
the  house  might  be  warm  the  next  morning. 

“When  we  arose,  however,  the  place  was  still 
cold  as  it  had  been.  While  breakfast  was  being 
prepared  I  stepped  out  on  the  porch  to  ^t  the 
morning  paper  and  left  the  door  open  behind 
me.  I  was  no  sooner  in  the  house  than  the 
whole  place  became  burning  hot. 

“The  explanation,  of  course,  is  perfectly  simple. 
The  air  in  the  house  had  not  been  disturbed  for 
three  or  four  days.  The  house  was  filled  with 
dead  air.  Immediately  the  air  was  enlivened 
by  some  fresh  air,  the  house  became  hot.” 

This  is  one  point — not  a  big  one,  however— 
for  tile  retailer  to  watch  when  the  customer  is 
complaining  about  the  coal.  The  coal  may  be 
the  best  and  the  furnace  doing  the  best  work, 
but  even  so  the  best  combination  of  coal  and 
furnaces  cannot  heat  dead  air.  On  this  account 
many  people  believe  that  a  hot  air  furnace  is 
the  best  because  it  always  brings  fresh  air  into 
the  house. 

Some  modern  heating  systems  have  a  com¬ 
bination  of  hot  air  and  hot  water.  The  hot 
water  is  used  in  that  part  of  the  house  where 
the  draft  is  likely  to  be  strong  and  the  hot  air 
to  be  used  in  the  protected  rooms.  This  com¬ 
bination  heating  system  has  the  double  virtue  of 
giving  the  householder  full  value  from  the  heat 
generated  in  the  furnace,  and  because  ^  the  air 
is  constantly  being  renewed,  a  more  efficient  dis¬ 
semination  of  the  heat. 

Burning  New  River  Coal. 

George  Stahmer,  in  charge  of  the  bituminous 
department  of  Mitchell  &  Dillon  Coal  Company, 
has  begun  to  experiment  with  the  furnace  in  his 
home  at  Maywood,  Ill.  His  house  has  a  ground 
floor  space  of  sixty  by  thirty  feet.  This  is  di¬ 
vided  into  six  rooms.  It  is  a  bungalow.  In 
addition  one  very  large  room  upstairs  is  kept 
constantly  heated.  The  house  has  an  American 
radiator  hot  water  heating  system.  The  furnace 
has  a  cylindrical  fire  pot  twenty-four  inches 
across.  This  is  a  low  type  of  furnace.  The 
hot  water  coils  are  immediately  above  the  fire 
pot. 

Mr.  Stahmer  uses  New  River  coal.  His  ex¬ 
periments  have  been  extensive,  but  he  has  hit 
upon  a  tiring  which  is  worthy  a  trial.  So  far, 
the  lowest  temperature  has  been  forty.  At  times, 
the  wind  has  been  rather  high.  Concerning  his 
experiment  he  said : 

"In  getting  the  fire  started  I  simply  put  in 
some  kindling  and  shoveled  in  some  of  the  mine 
run  coal.  Naturally  some  of  the  fine  coal  fell 
into  the  ash  pit.  As  no  ashes  were  there  it 
was  easy  to  shovel  this  out  and  put  it  into  the 
fire  again.  If  I  were  starting  a  fire  again  T 
would  use  only  lump  coal  at  first. 

“Instead  of  spreading  the  coal  on  as  a  blanket, 
as  most  people  do,  I  fire  it  in  a  pile  in  the  center. 


This  Can  Be  Controlled  by  the  Size  of 
Coal  Used  or  by  the  Dampers — Several 
Hints  on  Heating  a  House. 


I  find  that  this  gets  away  from  any  suggestion 
of  smoke.  There  is  always  an  exposed  surface 
of  live  coals  to  ignite  the  gases  as  they  come 
off.  I  plan  to  leave  about  three  inches  of  live 
coals  around  the  pile  of  green  coal  in  the  center. 
That  gives  me  a  pile  of  fresh  coal  about 
eighteen  inches  across  at  the  base  and  tapering 
to  a  rounded  peak. 

“When  fired  in  this  kind  of  way  it  does  not 
take  much  coal  to  keep  a  furnace  going  at  a 
comfortable  heat  for  twelve  hours.  I  do  it  right 
along  with  three  shovelfuls. 

“When  the  weather  gets  colder  I  will  probably 
put  on  six  shovelfuls.  Still,  I  expect  to  con¬ 
tinue  to  fire  in  the  same  way,  namely,  with  all 
of  the  fresh  coal  in  a  pile  in-  the  center,  because 
that  seems  to  be  the  way  the  smokeless  coal  will 
burn  to  best  advantage. 

“My  furnace  is  good,  but  the  draft  is  not.  When 
the  wind  is  out  of  the  northwest,  north,  or  north¬ 
east,  I  get  the  best  draft.  When  the  wind  is  in 
any  other  direction  I  hardly  get  any  draft  at 
all.” 

Influence  of  Size. 

Since  the  first  article  on  this  subject  was  writ¬ 
ten  the  editor  of  this  paper  has  continued  his 
experiments  with  his  own  furnace.  There  were 
three  days  when  the  temperature  dropped  down 
to  forty  and  when  the  wind  was  especially  strong 
and  cutting. 

The  house  in  question  is  poorly  built.  It  offers 
practically  no  resistance  to  the  wind.  Thus  the 
heat  radiated  by  the  pipes  is  quickly  blown  away. 
Tliat  defect,  of  course,  is  remediable  by  the  use 
of  weather  strips  on  the  windows. 

In  an  attempt  to  warm  the  house  anthracite 
range  coal  was  used  at  first.  Without  a  wanton 
waste  of  coal  it  was  out  of  the  question  to  raise 
the  temperature  of  the  water  above  about  170 
degrees.  Fully  twenty  degrees  more  were  needed 
to  keep  the  house  warm.  A  fuel  bed  of  about 
seven  or  eight  inches  in  thickness  was  main¬ 
tained,  the  ash  pit  door  was  left  open,  the  ashes 
were  shaken  down  until  bright  coals  were  show¬ 
ing  through  the  grate  bars,  and  the  damper  was 
up.  The  conditions  were  ideal  for  a  good  fire 
and  yet  the  anthracite  range  did  not  respond.  As 
it  proved  later,  it  could  not  under  those  condi¬ 
tions. 

This  does  not  mean  to  say  that  there  was  not 
enough  heat  in  the  anthracite  coal.  It  does  not 
imply  that  anything  was  wrong  with  the  furnace. 
On  the  contrary,  it  soon  was  proved  that  the  plant 
and  the  coal  were  both  first  class  but  the  sise 
was  wrong.  That  is,  the  chimney  is  peculiarly 
constructed  and  gives  really  too  much  draft  for 
a  house.  There  is  enough  natural  draft  to  run 
a  low  pressure  plant  in  a  six  apartment  building. 

Due  to  the  strength  of  the  draft,  the  air  was 
drawn  through  this  fuel  bed  too  fast  and  hence 
it  had  a  tendency  to  cool  down  the  fire,  rather 
than  increase  it.  This  point  was  proved  the  first 
evening,  when,  with  the  wind  still  high  and  other 
conditions  unchanged,  some  pea  anthracite  was 
thrown  in  with  the  range.  This  checked  the 
draft  enough  to  make  it  do  all  the  work  of  burn¬ 
ing  coal  that  it  was  supposed  to  do.  Accord¬ 
ingly,  the  temperature  of  the  water  soon  rose  to 
100  degrees  and  then  up  to  200.  At  that  point 
the  fire  was  checked.  With  this  fire  it  would 
have  been  very  easy  to  boil  the  water  in  a  few 
minutes. 

This  indicated  unmistakably  that,  in  this  par¬ 
ticular  furnace,  the  control  of  the  draft  was  the 
principal  thing.  It  indicated  that  so  long  as  that 
draft  was  controlled  the  results  were  forthcom¬ 
ing.  It  made  no  difference  whether  this  control 
was  gained  by  an  assortment  of  sizes  of  anthra¬ 
cite  or  by  different  sizes  of  other  coals  made. 


.So  long  as  it  was  controlled,  the  heat  was  ob¬ 
tained. 

When  this  theory  had  been  indicated  by  the 
use  of  one  coal,  experiments  were  made  to  prove 
it  Ijy  using  other  coals.  Some  excellent  results 
had  previously  been  obtained  while  using  Frank¬ 
lin  county  Number  Two  nut.  Most  persons  be¬ 
lieve  that  this  coal  is  really  too  small  for  do¬ 
mestic  use.  In  popular  belief  it  is  a  steam  coal. 
However,  with  the  draft  as  strong  as  in  this 
particular  furnace  it  proved  too  large.  That  is, 
on  the  third  day,  with  the  temperature  still  at 
forty  and  the  wind  still  high,  Franklin  county 
Number  Two  nut  was  fired  alone  the  first  thing 
in  the  morning.  The  same  conditions  were  ob¬ 
served  as  on  the  preceding  day.  That  is,  the 
live  coals  were  to  be  seen  through  the  grate 
bars,  the  draft  passages  were  wide  open,  and  the 
coal  was  given  every  opportunity  to  do  the  best 
that  it  could.  However,  it  soon  was  seen  that  it 
could  make  very  little  headway  unless  the  thick¬ 
ness  of  the  fuel  bed  was  increased  all  out  of 
proportion  to  economy.  The  one  concrete  result 
was  an  enormous  amount  of  smoke,  but  no  ma¬ 
terial  increase  in  the  heat. 

Instructions  were  left  that  if  the  fire  did  not 
respond  before  eleven  o’clock  to  throw  in  some 
of  the  pea  coke  that  had  been  used  in  earlier 
experiments.  For  the  first  two  hours  the  water 
temperature  was  about  170  degrees.  The  fuel 
bed  was  about  eight  inches  thick. 

This  indicated  that  too  much  air  was  passing 
through.  Consequently,  a  little  before  eleven 
o’clock  some  of  the  pea  coke  was  thrown  in. 
This  stopped  some  of  the  chinks  in  the  fire  and 
instantly  the  temperature  rose  to  about  190  de¬ 
grees. 

These  two  experiments  proved  that,  in  this 
particular  furnace,  the  principal  danger  was  an 
oversupply  of  air.  The  condition  may  be  found 
in  other  household  furnaces.  Still,  it  must  be 
said  that  this  is  an  exception  to  the  rule.  There¬ 
fore,  the  retail  dealer  will  need  to  be  very  care¬ 
ful  in  applHng  the  results  of  this  e.xperiment, 
because  in  most  houses  the  tendency  is  in  the 
other  direction.  That  is,  most  houses  have  too 
little  draft  instead  of  too  much.  What  he  will 
need  to  do,  as  a  general  rule,  is  to  supply  a  lar¬ 
ger,  rather  than  a  smaller  coal  to  get  the  great¬ 
est  benefit  of  the  available  draft. 

In  this  particular  case,  it  was  necessary  to 
check  the  draft  by  the  use  of  the  smaller  sizes 
of  coal. 

The  experiment  proves  the  tremendous  im¬ 
portance  of  draft  in  the  furnace.  It  indicates 
that  this  has  to  be  controlled  by  the  size  of  coal 
used.  On  that  principle  the  retailer  can  pro¬ 
ceed  with  absolute  safety,  knowing  that  he  can 
make  nearly  any  furnace  do  good  work  if  he 
only  uses  a  little  intelligence  in  fitting  the  sizes 
of  coal  to  the  amount  of  draft  available.  This, 
however,  must  be  found  out  by  experiment 
rather  than  by  any  means  known  to  science,  un¬ 
less,  of  course,  he  wants  to  go  to  the  expense 
of  putting  on  a  draft  gauge. 

Unintelligent  Firing. 

After  the  trying  conditions  of  those  three  days 
had  passed,  the  weather  moderated  considerably, 
but  there  was  still  need  for  a  fire.  Some  other 
experiments  were  tried  merely  to  test  out  some 
conclusions  previously  reached.  One  of  the  early 
conclusions  was  that  bituminous  coal  and  coke, 
if  they  are  to  be  fired  without  creating  any 
smoke,  must  he  handled  very  carefully.  'I'his  is 
to  say  that  the  bed  of  live  coals  must  never  be 
completely  covered  by  green  coal.  This  is  ti> 
the  point  in  Mr.  Stahmer’s  method  of  firing.  To 
establish  that  point  beyond  a  peradventure,  the 
furnace,  one  Sunday  morning,  was  fired  in  a 
reckless  fashion.  There  was  a  good  bed  of  glow¬ 
ing  coals  some  seven  or  eight  inches  below  the 
level  of  the  fire  door.  This  was  completely  cov¬ 
ered  by  alternate  shovelfuls  of  pea  coke  and 
Number  Two  Franklin  county  nut.  The  drafts 
were  left  wide  open,  including  the  draft  slide 

(Concluded  on  page  3.53) 


* 


lllMUtlllimilttllllilllltllllllllllilllllllllllllllllll^llJllllltlllllllllllllllllllKllllllMI 


346 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[October  30 


News  and  Hints  About  Retail  Advertising. 


A  November  Suggestion 


Ever  since  our  Pilgrim  forefathers  were  able 
to  break  their  long  fast  and  in  commemora¬ 
tion  set  aside  one  day  in  each  year  to  give 
thanks  for  that  which  they  had  received,  the 
American  citizen  thinks  of  “drum  sticks”  and 
cranberry  sauce  at  the  mere  mention  of  No¬ 
vember.  , 

November  stands  out  from  other  months  for 
other  reasons,  too.  It  is  the  twilight  time  of 
the  year.  To  the  farmer,  it  marks  the  com¬ 
pletion  of  the  year’s  work  with  the  harvest- 


The  man  who  conducts  this  department  sub¬ 
mits  an  advertising  suggestion  herewith.  It 
shows  retail  coal  dealers  just  how  effectively 
they  can  connect  their  advertising  with  the 
month — November. 

The  turkey  advertisement  shown  herewith 
would  make  an  attractive  newspaper  adver¬ 
tisement  or  mailing  card.  Of  course,  it  ap¬ 
peals  to  the  housewife,  the  cook,  but  as  the 
woman  is  a  large  buyer  of  cooking  as  well  as 
other  domestic  coals,  this  advertisement  ap- 


For  a  turkey 

roasted  just 

right  cook 

it  with 


EXCELSIOR  COAL 

EXCELSIOR  COAL  is  an  excellent  one  for  cooking  and  baking  purposes.  It  lights  quickly,  makes  a  hot  and 
steady  fire,  burns  slowly,  and  causes  no  smoke  or  soot  in  the  kitchen. 

It  is  also  just  as  satisfactory  a  coal  for  furnaces,  hot  water  heaters,  stoves,  as  it  is  for  kichen  ranges. 

Let  us  send  send  you  a  small  amount  for  trial  on  our  “NOT  SATISFIED — NO  PAY”  basis.  Phone  or  write  the 


PHONE 

339 


EXCELSIOR  COAL  CO. 


hard  and 

SOFT  COAL 


'iiMiiiitiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiHiiiiniMiniuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiininiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiintiniiiiiiiMiiiiiiiMimiiimii  iiiiiiinMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii>iiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiir. 


ing  and  storing  of  the  year’s  crops.  No  won¬ 
der  November  offers  so  many  advantages  to 
advertising  writers  for  attractive  and  appro¬ 
priate  advertising  copy.  The  linking  of  adver¬ 
tisements  with  Thanksgiving  day  touches  a  re¬ 
sponsive  chord  in  the  mind  of  the  buyer. 


First  Anniversary  of 
The  Dublin  Ave.  Coal  Co. 

One  year  ago  today  wc  made  ouv  initial  bow  to  the  people  of  Columbus 
with  the  best  coal  on  the  niaiKet  at  the  lowest  nrlce8>  We  adopted  the 
name  of 

THE  DUBLIN  AVE.  COAL  CO. 


% 


by  starting  in  business  on  .Dubl'n  .\ve. 

The  people  soon  found  out  that  our  Prices  were  the  lowest,  but  were 
verv  much  In  doubt  as  to  tlie  (juaUty  of  our  coal.  We  have  worked  very 
hard  In  order  to  convince  each  coal  consumer  that  we  are  able  to  give  the 
very  best  grades  of  coal  at  the  lowest  urfeos. 

Today  wc  have  nearly  2000  customers  on  our  list 

and  each  consumer  who  has  given  us  an  order  for  their  supply  of  coai  hai- 
found  out  that  wc  are  able  to  give  Kootl  coal  at  low  prices  and  have  re¬ 
ordered. 

We  are  selling  coal  at  50c  less  on  the  ton 
How  can  we  do  this? 

FIRST— -"Wt?  buy  for  ensh  and  sell  for  cash. 

SECOND — We  have  no  agents  or  solicitors  to  add  25c  on 
the  ton  for  their  service. 

THIRD — We  have  no  bad  accounts  on  our  books  to  collect. 

If  von  take  all  this  Into  consldcrs^tion.  you  can  see  how  we  can  sell 
for  less  and  sive  vou  a  Rood  Rr.ade,-ot'  coal-  Tha  assistance  of  tlio^  pur¬ 
chasing  public  has  Increased  our  business  to  such  a  capacity  that  wc  were 
ohllRed  to  take  up  larger  tiuarlers  which  we  now  occupy  at 

332  WEST  BROAD  STREET 


OUR  MOTTO  IS: 

"A  SQUARE  DEAL” 

For  this  event  our  llrst  anniversary  wc  will  sell  coal  at  the  following: 
prices  on 

WEDNESDAY.  SEPT.  8  and 
THURSDAY.  SEPT.  9: 

W.  Va.' Splint,  re-sc.rccncd,  five  from  slate  and  clinkci’a, 
at  $>1.00  per  ton. 

Pomeroy  Lump,  rc-screenod,  froo  from  slate  and  clinkers, 
at  $2.85  per  ton. 

You  Can  place  your  onler  on  the^e  two  davs  tof  future  dc-ilvery.  No 
rotrlcHons— buv  anv  amount  you  please."  Wc  will  deliver  any  plate  In 
the  city  In  lhr«i-t®n  lot  sor  more  at  the  above  prices. 

Remember  these  prices  .ire  good  for  the  two  days 


advertised. 

This  coal  Is  the  same  erade  that  you  are  paying  more  money  for  else- 

honor  of  our  anplvorsary.  we  "will  give  one  fon  of  coal  free  toSach 
of  the  five  customers  who  placed  their  orders  on  our  opening  day  lost  vear: 

Traphagan,  Mr.  Jehn  Fink,» 

739  S.  Front  St.  1027  City  Pork  Ave. 

J.  Lavinc,  Robert  Blankc, 

-.Srsi  'w'fvgcr  St.  701  S.  Parsons. 

Mr.  Gurevitz, 

578  E.  Livingston. 


Yours  for  square  dealing, 


Dublin  Ave.  Coal  Co. 


Cit.  4276. 


332  WEST  BROAD  ST. 

C.  H.  Furman,  Mgr 

Main  4.347.  Res.  M.  1958. 


peals  to  a  very  desirable  class  of  coal  buyers 
and  prospective  customers. 

The  writer  believes  that  the  general  arrange¬ 
ment  of  the  advertisement  is  attractive  and 
that  it  will  catch  the  eye  of  the  average  woman 
reader.  He  further  believes  that  it  will  hold 
the  reader’s  interest,  and  convince  her  of  the 
worth  of  the  coal  advertised.  He  thinks  that 
the  last  paragraph  will  tend  to  create  a  desire 
in  the  coal  buyer  for  immediate  action  and  to 
give  the  coal  an  early  trial. 

Should  dealers  desire  to  use  this  advertise¬ 
ment  for  their  own  purposes,  The  Black 
Diamond  will  gladly  furnish  any  dealer  so  re¬ 
questing  with  an  engraving  of  the  turkey  illus¬ 
tration  at  cost. 


Ad  of  the  Dublin  Avenue  Coal  Company. 


Among  Columbus  Dealers. 

The  fact  that  the  capital  city  in  Ohio  hap¬ 
pens  to  bear  the  same  name  as  that  of  the 
discoverer  of  this  country  seems  to  have  in,- 
spired  the  coal  merchants  of  this  city  to  dis¬ 
cover  new  ways  of  promoting  their  business 
and  bettering  trade  conditions. 

That  this  is  the  case  is  demonstrated 
by  some  of  the  things  different  Columbus  re¬ 
tail  coal  dealers  are  doing  at  the  present  time. 

The  advertisement  shown  herewith  is 
unique,  not  because  it  contains  anything  out 
of  the  ordinary  from  an  advertising  standpoint, 
l)ut  from  the  fact  that  it  advertises  a  novel 
selling  plan  in  a  novel  way. 

The  Dublin  Avenue  Coal  Company  seizes 
tlie  opportunity  offered  by  its  first  anniversary 
to  use  this  fact  as  a  lever  in  attracting  the 
reader’s  attention  and  to  explain  their  selling 
plan  to  him. 

One  of  the  most  startling  and  yet  most  con¬ 
vincing  arguments  brought  out  in  the  adver¬ 
tisement  is  the  fact  that  this  company  is  sell¬ 
ing  coal  at  fifty  cents  less  per  ton.  The  com¬ 
pany  does  not  stop  with  the  mere  mention  of 
the  fact,  and  thereby  have  it  lose  its  force, 
but  goes  further  to  explain  how  they  are  able 
to  make  this  reduction  in  price. 

Just  to  show  that  the  casli  plan  is  meeting 
with  favor  among  the  coal  buyers  of  Colum¬ 
bus,  this  company  tells  of  the  necessity  for 
larger  quarters  and  of  the  erection  of  a  new 
plant  to  accommodate  the  increased  amount 
of  business. 

The  fact  that  this  concern  is  “out  and  out” 
with  the  selling  plan,  and  that  the  offering 
of  coal  at  lower  prices  is  not  merely  “say  so,” 
it  publishes  its  prices  on  two  coals. 

'Another  unique  feature,  and  one  which  a 
new  coal  company  might  advantageously  use, 


is  the  fact  that  this  company  will  give  a  ton 
of  coal  free  to  those  people  having  placed  their 
order  with  the  Dublin  Avenue  Coal  Company 
on  their  opening  day. 

C.  H.  Furman,  manager  of  the  company, 
explains  why  this  company  happened  to  take 
up  their  present  cash  basis  plan  in  the  fol¬ 
lowing: 

“Just  a  little  over  a  year  ago  we  entered 
the  coal  business  in  this  city,  with  a  selling 
capacity  of  eight  tons  a  day.  To  handle  this 
tonnage  we  employed  four  solicitors  and  sold 
coal  on  a  credit  basis.  On  December  34,  1914, 
we  discharged  all  of  our  solicitors  (which,  by 
the  way,  must  have  been  a  most  acceptable 
Christmas  gift  for  the  solicitors)  and  started 
to  advertise  our  coal  in  the  local  papers  and 
to  sell  on  a  cash  basis  only,  and  the  success 
with  which  we  have  met  is  demonstrated  by 
the  fact  that  we  are  building  a  new  yard  and 
plant  to  accommodate  our  increased  amount  of 
business.” 

Mr.  Furman  told  the  writer  that  he  would 
gladly  give  the  benefits  of  his  experience  in 
establishing  and  executing  a  cash  basis  plan 
to  any  dealer  desiring  to  put  his  business  on 
a  similar  basis. 

Here  is  a  firm  that  realized  the  benefits  de¬ 
rived  in  operating  a  retail  coal  business  on  a 
cash  basis,  and  whose  analysis  of  the  problem 
of  doing  so  seems  to  have  been  a  correct  one, 
and  one  that  other  dealers  might  advantage¬ 
ously  follow. 

When  gas  comes  in,  the  coal  dealer  usually 
goes  out,  at  least  some  of  them  do;  but  not 
so  with  Homer  C.  Gill,  a  coal  dealer  of  Colum¬ 
bus,  Ohio.  In  fact,  Mr.  Gill  uses  the  most 
vital  argument  in  favor  of  the  use  of  gas  as 
fuel  as  a  foundation  for  his  own  argument 
in  selling  coal — the  cost  argument. 

“You  ask  me  what  my  advertising  policy 
is,”  says  Mr.  Gill.  “I  will  say  that  is  to  ad¬ 
vertise  the  fact  that  we  are  trying  to  please 
the  customer  in  every  respect,  quality  first  and 
price  second.  The  average  consumer  does  not 
know,  neither  does  he  care,  what  the  coal 
dealer’s  profit  per  ton  is,  but  he  does  know 
and  does  care  about  the  difference  in  quality 
in  coal,  hence  our  always  preaching  quality 
first. 

“Now  when  you  compare  the  cost  of  coal 
with  that  of  gas  you  will  find  that  coal  is  from 


Coal  Cheaper  Than  Gas. 

If  we  can  prove  to  you  beyond 
i|uestion  of  a  doubt  that  you  can  get 
100  per  cent  more  heat  efficiency  from 
genuine  Pocahontas  coal  than  from  gas 
at  the  same  price,  don’t  you  think  it 
would  be  real  economy  to  burn  coal? 
In  addition  to  getting  more  heat  units 
ttor  every  dollar  spent,  you  won't  have 
to  live  in  the  fear  of  shivering  ail 
winter  from  a  low  pressure  of  gas, 
bursti^d  gas  mains  or  possibly  no  gas  at 
all.  There  is  hardly. a  week  goes  by 
that  yoti  ,don’t  see  news  items  from  all 
parts  of  the  country  that  read^  “Gas 
Give^)  Oui-.’’  You  should  worry,  with 
your  coal  ^-lin  ful  of  genuine  Pocahon- 
ta.s  coal.  As;<  Hr.-mer  C.  Gill,  Citz.  7800, 
Bell  Main  i90  5. — Adv.' 


V 


Why  Take  Chanc;es? 

On  the  heating  of  >’aur  hom-  tiii,s  win¬ 
ter,  when  genuine  “Pocahontas  coal’’  is 
more  plentiful  than  ever.  Pocahontas  is 
the  ideal  fuel,  no  smoke,  iio  soot,  little 
ash  and  volumes  of  hear.  In  fact,  we 
can  prove  to  you  beyond  n  doiibr,  that 
every  dollar  spent  for  Pocahontas  coal 
produces  100  per  cent  more  heat  edi- 
ciency,  than  the  same  amount  spent 
for  gas.  And '  then  you  don’t  take 
chances  on  the  sudden  chill  cf  \  om- 
home,  from  the  low  pres.surc  of  gas 
or  possibly  no  gas  at  all.  Thiipc  iliis 
over,  then  c.all  Homer  C.  Gill,  Cilizen 
7S0G;  Main  2907. — Adv. 

_ j 

Ads  Used  by  Homer  C.  Gill. 


100  to  125  per  cent  cheaper.  Why?  Because, 
in  a  foot  of  gas  there  is  only  980  B.  t.  u.’s, 
whereas  in  a  pound  of  Hocking  there  are  at 
last  12,000  B.  t.  u.’s,  or  more,  and  in  a  pound 
of  No.  3  Pocahontas  you  have  15,500  B.  t.  u.’s. 
Figuring  gas  at  thirty  cents  per  thousand 
against  Hocking  or  Pocahontas  you  will  find 


No.  18] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


347 


that  the  user  of  gas  uses  several  dollars’  worth 
of  it  before  his  neighbor  uses  a  ton  of  good 
coal. 

“Twenty-five  thousand  feet  of  gas  will  equal 
a  ton  of  Hocking,  and  31,900  feet  of  gas  will 
equal  a  ton  of  Pocahontas,  and  when  you  con¬ 
sider  the  fact  that  gas  costs  thirty  cents  a 
thousand  feet  you  will  readily  see  that  it  is  a 
very  expensive  fuel  as  compared  to  coal  and 
for  general  household  purposes  and  use  in 
furnaces.” 

Mr.  Gill’s  advertising  is  unique  in  the  fact 


WHY  TAKE  A  CHANCE? 


mip- 
ter. 
Its 
Jic 
/res 
AS  of 
'  US€ 


Ai  XVi.l  .K-ld  •• 

-ond  jbaptiet  church  WcdncsiUay 
afternoon  at  1:30. 

ATE  COLD  BREAKFASTS. 

Newark  Residents  Without  Gas  For 

Few  Hours  Early  Monday — Main 
Was  Broken. 

KEWARIC.  OHIO.  OCT.  i:._Now- 
ark  people,  a  great  majority  of  whom 
depend  on  natural  gas  for  light  and 
fuel,  awoke  this  morning  to  a  gasle.ss 
condition,  owing  to  a  brea'H  In  the 
main  north  of  the  city  about  4  o’clock 
this  morning.  But  few  people  were 
prepared  for  such  an  emergency  and 
as  a  result  many  went  without  break¬ 
fast,  and  several  manufacturing  es¬ 
tablishments  were  unabl©  to  operate 
untllr^^5:30,  when  the  gns  came  on,  the 
repair  'Having  been  made. 

INJURIES  ARE  FATAL. 

Henry  •r,  Gard*^  Who  Was 

•  n 


C'» 

C( 


“SAFEIY  FIRST” 

BURN  COAL 

—the  Only  Reliable  Fuel.  1095^  Cheaper  Than  Gas. 


Advertising  Being  Done  by  the  Columbus 
Dealers. 


that  he  uses  “reader”  space  as  shown  by  the 
two  advertisements  herewith. 

This  dealer  bases  his  selling  and  advertising 
argument  upon  a  sound  knowledge  of  the  coal 
that  he  sells  and  upon  a  sound  knowledge  of 
competitive  fuels  as  well.  The  value  in  dealers 
knowing  all  about  the  coal  that  they  sell  is 
evidenced  by  the  success  of  this  dealer  in  the 
above  case. 

Gas  has  come  to  Columbus  and  considering 
that  it  is  a  “thirty  cents  per  thousand  feet” 
gas  rate,  you  will  realize  that  it  is  pretty  “stiff 
competition”  for  the  retail  coal  dealers  there. 

But  the  coal  dealers  are  not  lying  down 
and  letting  gas  walk  over  them.  They  have 
formed  an  association  for  the  express  purpose 


$10  REWARD 

A  Reward  of  $10  will  be  paid 
for  the  arrest  and  conviction 
of  a  n  y  person  or  persons 
caught  stealing  coal  from 
this  yard,  car  or  wagon. 

This  coal  is  protected  by  the 

COAL  DEALERS  MUTUAL  PRO¬ 
TECTIVE  ASSOCIATION 

Bell  Main  2625  Citizens  3945 


Sign  Used  in  Columbus. 

of  collecting  data  and  information  concerning 
the  use  of  gas  in  other  cities,  and  it  is  need¬ 
less  to  say  that  most  of  the  information  col¬ 
lected  is  not  of  a  complimentary  nature  for 
the  use  of  gas  as  a  fuel. 

Cases  where  gas  has  failed  are  published  in 
advertisements,  a  sample  of  one  of  them  be¬ 
ing  shown  herewith. 

A  Coal  Dealers’  Mutual  Protective  Associa¬ 
tion  has  been  formed  in  Columbus,  Ohio,  for 
the  purpose  of  preventing  the  stealing  of  coal 
from  cars,  sheds  and  wagons. 

This  association  is  furnishing  its  members 
with  printed  cards,  as  shown  herewith,  and 


which  are  tacked  up  at  various  places  in  the 
dealer’s  yard. 

As  there  is  much  stealing  of  coal  going  on 
over  the  country,  it  seems  that  this  plan  might 
be  a  good  one  for  other  city  and  state  coal 
associations  to  adopt. 


A  Danville  Dealer’s  Advertisement. 

One  of  the  most  attractive  and  effective  ad¬ 
vertisements  that  has  ever  come  to  the  notice 
of  the  Ad  Critic  is  one  recently  used  by  Wil¬ 
liam  B.  Halbert,  a  retail  dealer  at  Danville,  Ill. 

The  original  size  of  the  advertisement  shown 
herewith  was  13x15  inches,  and  appeared  in 
the  Danville  Commercial  News. 

Analyzing  this  advertisement  from  an  al- 
vertising  standpoint,  we  would  say  that  the 
general  arrangement  is  attractive  and  the  type 
matter  well  balanced  with  plenty  of  white 
space  around  it. 

The  catch-line,  “Who’s  Your  Coal  Man?” 
together  with  the  attractive  background  and 
illustration  is  bound  to  catch  the  eye  of  the 
reader  and  hold  his  interest.  The  opening 
paragraph  is  a  good  introduction.  It  gets 
right  down  to  business  and  wastes  none  of 
the  reader’s  time. 

The  arguments  presented  in  the  following 
paragraphs  are  right  to  the  point.  They  are 
concise,  terse  and  convincing.  They  convince 
the  reader  of  the  worth  of  the  coal  and  of  the 
satisfaction  in  employing  such  courteous  serv¬ 
ice  and  treatment  as  is  offered  by  the  adver¬ 
tiser.  They  create  action  and  a  desire  in  the 
coal  buyer  to  give  the  coal  an  early  trial. 

Though  we  do  not  know  of  the  actual  re¬ 
sults  this  advertisement  produced  we  are  cer¬ 
tain  this  strong  appeal  for  a  trial  from  pros¬ 
pective  customers  gave  every  reader  of  this 


A  Convincing  Advertisement. 

advertisement  the  impression  that  here  was 
a  concern  who  appreciated  customers,  and  who 
evidenced  this  firm’s  desire  for  more  business 
by  this  large  and  well  prepared  advertisement 
— a  live  and  progressive  firm. 

As  we  say,  this  is  one  of  the  most  attractive 
advertisements  that  has  ever  come  to  notice, 
and  one  that  other  dealers  can  well  follow  as 
an  example  of  real  advertising.  The  Ad  Critic. 


Emigration  vs.  Immigration. 


As  there  is  so  much  talk  about  an  impending 
shortage  of  labor,  it  is  well  to  pay  attention  to 
statistics  of  immigration  as  well  as  to  those  of 
emigration.  It  is  well  known  that  immigration 
has  been  light  ever  since  the  European  war  broke 
out,  and  this  factor  must  be  given  full  weight  in 
any  discussion  as  to  the  prospects  of  a  paucity 
of  new  supplies  of  labor.  Likewise,  it  is  becom¬ 
ing  evident  that  predictions  of  a  rather  marked 
increase  in  emigration  are  at  length  being  borne 
out.  This  outward  movement  has  not  been  suffi¬ 
ciently  heavy  to  merit  especial  attention,  nor  has 
it  been  so  marked  as  to  warrant  statements  that 
the  country  is  losing  thousands  and  thousands  of 
aliens.  It  is  true  that  the  figures  run  somewhat 
against  gains  for  this  country,  and  now  that  Ital¬ 
ians  are  going  home,  presumably  to  join  the  col¬ 
ors,  emigration  has  assumed  quite  large  propor¬ 


tions.  Yet  the  exodus  of  all  classes,  as  revealed 
by  official  statistics  published  within  the  week,  is 
still  below  that  of  peace  times.  Even  with  light 
immigration,  the  United  States  has  gained  more 
human  beings  from  other  countries  than  it  lost, 
immigration  in  nine  of  the  fourteen  months  July, 
1914,  to  August,  1915,  having  exceeded  emigra¬ 
tion.  Indeed,  the  outflow  during  the  fiscal  year 
ended  June  30  last  aggregated  only  384,174  per¬ 
sons,  whereas  in  the  preceding  year  it  amounted 
to  033,805,  while  in  the  fiscal  year  1913  the  total 
was  611,924,  and  in  1912  it  was  015,292,  these 
sums  being  exclusive  of  arrivals  of  United  States 
citizens.  Stated  in  another  way,  the  outbound 
movement  in  normal  times  has  averaged  over 
50,000  a  month,  while  in  the  first  year  of  the  war 
it  was  about  32,000  a  month.  But  in  August  emi¬ 
gration  increased  to  41,737,  the  largest  total  re¬ 
ported  since  December  of  last  year,  and  one  that 
reflects  an  increase  of  156  per  cent,  over  the 
small  movement  noted  in  July,  when  only  16,015 
persons  left  this  country.  This  quite  remark¬ 
able  rise  in  emigration  was  due  to  Ihe  fact  that 
over  25,000  Italians  departed  from  the  United 
States  during  August,  their  exodus  in  this  re¬ 
spect  being  far  and  away  the  most  noteworthv 
for  any  of  the  races. 


creased  a  little  over  July,  21,949  immigrant  aliens 
and  5,949  non-immigrant  aliens  having  been  ad¬ 
mitted.  Thus,  the  grand  total  of  those  coming 
in  was  27,413,  and  as  41,737  persons,  exclusive 
of  United  States  citizens,  departed,  the  country 
lost  on  the  ebb  and  flow  14,324  persons.  Total 
immigration  for  August  declined  47  per  cent, 
from  that  month  last  year  and  decreased  81  per 
cent,  from  August,  1914.  Besides  the  Italians 
the  country  lost  more  of  the  English  and  Portu¬ 
guese  races  than  it  gained,  the  respective  sums 
for  August  being  199,  139  and  468.  During 
Aiig'ust  this  country  received  more  professional 
persons  and  more  skilled  hands  than  it  lost,  but 
the  outflow  of  laborers  greatly  exceeded  the  in- 
ratio  being  approximately  five  to  one. 
British  North  America  is  sending  us  more  immi¬ 
grants  than  any  other  section  of  the  globe. 

The  following  table  shows  . 

grant 
named 


Jan.  . 
Kell.  . 
March 
.'\pril 
May  . 
.tune 
July  . 
Aug. 
Sept. 
Oct.  . 
Nov. 
Dec. 

Total 


aliens  during  each  month 

of  the 

1915 

1914 

1913 

1912 

..  15,481 

44,708 

46,441 

38,453 

.  13,873 

46,873 

59,156 

45,380 

.  .  19,263 

92,621 

95,958 

91,185 

.  .  24,532 

119,885 

136,371 

99,839 

.  .  26,069 

107,796 

137,262 

113,635 

.  .  22,598 

71,728 

176,261 

92,425 

.  .  21,504 

60,377 

138,244 

78,101 

..  21,949 

37,700 

126,180 

82,377 

29,143 

136,247 

105,611 

30,416 

134,140 

108,300 

26,298 

104,671 

94,739 

20,944 

95,387 

76,315 

.  .165,269 

688,495 

1,387,318 

1,026,360 

immi- 

years 

1911 

36.361 
42,826 
81,687 
98,036 

95.361 
71,019 
51,737 
50,110 
62,599 
69,418 
61,765 
61,626 

782,545 


This  table  sets  forth  the  number  of  non-immi¬ 
grant  alien  arrivals : 


Tan . 

1915 
.  5,203 

Feb . 

.  4,831 

March  .  . 

7,072 

April  .  .  . 

.  7,233 

May  •  •  • 

6,294 

June  .  .  . 

.  5,901 

tuly  .  .  .  . 

.  5,593 

Aug.  .  . . 

.  5,464 

.Sept.  .  . . 

Oct . 

Nov . 

tlec . 

Total  . 

.  47,601 

0(1.  tot. 

.212,870 

1914 

1913 

8,442 

8,794 

9,242 

12,199 

16,302 

24,283 

22,322 

38,808 

19,052 

27,430 

13,366 

22,196 

11,638 

16,358 

13,525 

16,475 

15,481 

20,441 

14.825 

18,927 

9,027 

12,360 

6,514 

11,314 

159,736 

229,585 

848,231 

1,616,903 

1912 

1911 

8,367 

7,243 

9,521 

8,670 

19,763 

15,230 

27,162 

18,841 

19,022 

14,714 

15,810 

10,933 

12,417 

9,989 

15,424 

13,242 

22,855 

16,194 

20,288 

17,470 

13,348 

12,382 

11,293 

10,061 

195,270 

154,969 

1,221,630 

937,51  1 

Total  emigration  during  the  months  named  is 
indicated  below : 


1915  1914  1913 

Jamiary  .  31,556  69,218  67,035 

February  .  14,188  34,722  30,119 

March  .  15,167  28,777  30,867 

April  .  17,670  50,234  45,526 

May  .  17,624  ,57,783  62,349 

June  .  21,532  78,207  58,186 

Tulv  .  16.015  ,54,885  62,702 

August  .  41,7,17  54,112  49,095 

September .  34,757  37,900 

October  .  39,410  54,609 

November  .  40,748  53,971 

Ilccember  .  45,525  56,587 


Total  . 175,489  588,378  598,946 

Arrivals  and  departures  of  certain  races  of 


aliens  during  the  first  thirteen  months  of  the  Eu¬ 
ropean  war,  August,  1914,  to  August,  191.5,  in¬ 
clusive,  are  given  hereunder : 


Arrived 

Departed 

Change 

Oermaii  . 

.  24.091 

7,885 

I  16,206 

French  . 

.  18,558 

12,105 

1  6,453 

Russian  . 

14,708 

D  10,044 

Fnglish  . 

55,414 

I  8,m 

Irish  . 

9,868 

I  22,940 

Scotch  . 

.  22,115 

11,529 

I  10,886 

Italians  (’soutli') . 

.  50,100 

14.5,330 

n  95,230 

Italians  (north) . 

.  12.253 

13,255 

D  1,002 

Polish  . 

.  6,1(8 

5,537 

I  611 

fTebrew  . 

2,217 

I  6,222 

Creek  . 

.  18,537 

13.146 

I  5,391 

348 


THE  BEA(  K  DIAMOND 


[October  30 


Plant  of  Taggart  &  Co.  at  Savannah,  Ga. 


Due  to  the  growing  importance  of  Savannah, 
Ga.,  as  a  coal  market,  both  for  tlie  local  dis¬ 
tribution  of  coal  for  domestic  and  steam  making 
purposes,  and  for  providing  coal  for  bunkers, 
Taggart  &  Co.  have  increased  their  facilities  for 
discharging,  storing  and  reclaiming  coal  so  as  to 
keep  pace  with  the  progress  that  their  city  is 
making. 

The  cuts  that  accompany  this  article  show  some 
recent  installations  at  their  plant  whieh  fronts 
on  the  Savannah  river.  Savannah  is  located 
about  eighteen  miles  inland  from  the  ocean  and 
Taggart  &  Co.  are  in  position  to  receive  coal  both 
by  water  and  all-rail.  Coal  coming  all-rail 
originates  in  the  Virginia  fields  and  the  Alabama 
fields. 

Before  the  present  improvements  were  put  in, 
coal  at  the  Taggart  plant  was  handled  by  loco¬ 
motive  cranes  with  grab  buckets.  Inasmuch  as 
it  was  desired  to  increase  the  capacity  of  the 
plant  by  100  per  cent,  it  was  decided  to  use  a 
conveyor  system  for  taking  coal  from  the  rail- 


The  Inclined  Conveyor. 

road  cars  and  dropping  it  into  storage,  or  directly 
into  chutes  that  could  be  trained  so  as  to  dis¬ 
charge  into  the  holds  or  bunkers  of  vessels  along¬ 
side.  Accordingly  two  conveyor  systems  were 
installed. 

For  both  machines  there  is  a  double  track  hop¬ 
per  arranged  so  that  coal  can  be  taken  from  two 
switches — the  hoppers  being  protected  by  gratings 
so  that  the  extremely  large  lumps  of  coal  cannot 
pass  to  the  conveyor,  these  being  broken  by  the 
operator  dumping  the  cars.  From  the  track  hop¬ 
per,  the  coal  passes  to  the  conveyor,  which  is 
made  up  of  a  double  strand  of  roller  bushed 
chain  with  corrugated  pans  hung  between. 
From  the  track  hopper  the  conveyor  travels  on  a 
horizontal  for  about  forty  feet,  then  travels  on 
an  incline  to  a  thirty-five  foot  elevation,  dis¬ 
charging  into  barges,  tugs  and  dredges. 

The  conveyors  will  unload  four  fifty-ton  cars 
of  run-of-mme  coal  per  hour  at  a  speed  of  sixty 
feet  per  minute,  and  are  arranged  so  that  it  is 
not  necessary  to  make  any  shifts  after  the  cars 
are  passed  over  the  hoppers,  which  was  necessary 
on  account  of  the  side  tracks  having  only  space 
enough  to  accommodate  eight  cars  in  the  yard. 

The  coal  is  fed  to  the  conveyors  by  reciprocat¬ 
ing  feeders  that  control  the  coal  at  a  uniform 
feed,  and  does  not  allow  any  overloading  of  con¬ 
veyors. 

Each  conveyor  is  operated  Ijy  a  fifteen-horse¬ 
power  electric  motor,  direct  connected,  located 
on  the  towers,  while  the  starting  box  is  conveni¬ 
ent  to  the  operators. 

The  complete  arrangement  was  designed, 
manufactured  and  installed  by  the  Gifford-Wood 
Company,  Hudson,  N.  Y. 

Some  very  interesting  facts  about  Taggart  iS; 
Co.  was  given  at  a  recent  dinner  of  the  Rotar> 
Club  of  Savannah  by  J.  P.  Taggart,  a  member 
of  the  firm.  Mr.  Taggart  said: 

“The  firm  which  I  have  the  honor  to  represent 
in  the  Rotary  Club  was  established  by  my  father, 
Col.  G.  I.  Taggart,  in  January,  1866;  we  will, 
therefore,  be  celebrating  our  fiftieth  anniversary 


in  business  this  coming  year.  The  capital  con¬ 
sisted  of  a  good  business  repute  established  in 
Philadelphia  prior  to  the  war  and  a  small  amount 
of  salary  saved  as  an  officer  in  the  United  States 
army. 

“A  wharf  was  rented  at  the  foot  of  East 
Broad  street.  A  small  office  was  built,  consisting 
of  one  room,  the  front  part  of  which  was  used 
for  an  office,  the  back  part  for  sleeping  and  cook¬ 
ing  quarters.  This  was  before  the  days  of  the 
telephone.  Col.  Taggart  placed  small  boxes  on 
the  otitsidc  of  drug  stores  and  other  stores  on  the 
|)rominent  streets,  the  outside  of  the  boxes 
marked  ‘Coal  Orders — Taggart.’  Arising  in  the 
morning.  Col.  Taggart  would  make  the  rounds  of 
these  boxes  and  gather  the  orders,  take  them 
down  to  his  dock,  load  his  coal  himself  on  the 
wagon  and  deliver  it  to  his  customers.  He  used 
for  delivery  a  Percheron  horse,  brought  from 
Philadelphia.  This  splendid  animal  attracted 
much  attention  and  was  driven  by  the  Colonel. 
This  was  remarkable  because  of  the  fact  that  he 
was  the  first  white  man  to  do  such  work  as  driv¬ 
ing  a  coal  cart,  this  work  being  always  done  by 
negroes. 

“Anthracite  coal  was  practically  an  unknown 
product  to  the  people  of  Savannah  at  the  time 
and  was  at  first  called  ‘black  rocks’  by  them ;  in 
many  instances  it  was  necessary  for  Col.  Taggart 
to  go  to  the  house  and  instruct  the  user  how  to 
burn  this. class  of  coal.  One  of  his  first  cus¬ 
tomers  was  an  Englishman  by  the  name  of 
.\ndrew  Low,  one  of  Savannah’s  prominent  citi¬ 
zens  at  the  time,  who  afterwards  became  a 
steady  customer  of  my  father’s  coal,  as  he  much 
admired  the  energy  displayed  by  my  father  in 
doing  work  which,  up  to  that  time,  was  left  for 
the  negroes  to  do  and  not  considered  fit  for  a 
southern  gentleman. 

“.At  that  time  schooners  brought  cargoes  of 
coal  to  Savannah,  consisting  of  from  300  to  400 
tons,  whereas  now  their  capacity  is  from  1,000 
to  2,000  tons.  This  gives  some  idea  of  the  ship¬ 
building  in  those  days. 

“After  running  this  business  two  or  three 
years  from  the  office  on  the  dock,  the  business 
grew  until  it  was  necessary  for  him  to  move 
bis  office.  He  then  moved  to  28  Bay  street  cast. 
Two  telephones  were  secured  from  a  friend  in 
Philadelpbia.  These  were  the  first  telephones 
ever  brought  into  the  state  of  Georgia,  antedat¬ 
ing  the  establishment  of  Charlie  Beck’s  telephone 
exchange. 

“As  business  progressed  steam  coal  was  han¬ 
dled  and  marine  business  sought.  At  the  same 
time  Col.  Taggart  had  saved  enough  money  to 
buy  and  pay  for  the  wharf  he  had  formerly  been 
renting,  renting  half  of  it  to  a  new  coal  firm 
just  begun  under  the  style  of  Dixon  &  Murphy. 

“Upon  coming  of  age  my  brother  and  I  were 
taken  into  the  business,  our  father  retiring  about 
two  years  before  his  death  and  disposing  of  his 
interest  to  us. 

“In  1910  the  progress  of  Savannah  as  a  sea¬ 
port  had  so  impressed  us  that  we  decided  to  re¬ 
linquish  the  retail  part  of  our  business  and  bend 
all  efforts  towards  the  wholesale  and  shipping 
branch  of  the  business.  W’e  installed  locomotive 
cranes  of  a  capacity  of  twenty  tons  each  and 


began  most  energetically  an  effort  to  secure  a 
large  steamship  bunkering  business,  by  putting 
in  these  cranes  and  thereby  minimizing  the  cost 
of  handling  coal.  After  working  through  the 
city  council  of  Savannah  we  succeeded  in  secur¬ 
ing  the  consent  of  railroads  owning  terminals  at 
Savannah  to  abolish  the  wharfage  on  coal  when 
taken  by  steamers  for  bunker  fuel.  This  we  con¬ 
sidered  an  important  step,  as  this  wharfage 
charge  would  have  prevented  us  materially  from 
competing  with  other  ports. 

"In  3913  after  much  effort  and  many  dis¬ 
appointments,  we  were  successful  in  securing  for 
Savannah  from  the  Southern  Railwa}^  a  bunker 
freight  rate  of  fifteen  cents  per  ton  over  the 
Hampton  Roads  rate,  and  right  here  we  wish  to 
express  our  gratitude  to  the  Southern  Railway 
for  making  it  possible  for  us  to  put  Savannah  on 
the  map  as  a  coal  bunkering  port.  With  abso¬ 
lutely  no  desire  to  appear  egotistical  I  can  tell 
you  that  the  securing  of  this  rate  was  due  en¬ 
tirely  to  my  efforts  and  representations  person¬ 
ally  to  the  railroad  and  on'y  after  much  work 
and  argument  with  them  on  my  part.  After  se¬ 
curing  this  bunker  rate  from  the  Virginia  mines, 
the  Clinchfield,  Alabama,  Tennessee  and  Ken¬ 
tucky  coal  fields  were  also  given  this  rate.  By 
reason  of  this  low  freight  rate  it  enabled  us  to 
compete  with  Hampton  Roads  and  other  north¬ 
ern  coaling  ports  and  bunker  steamers  with  much 
larger  quantities  of  coal — in  fact  giving  them 
complete  bunker  requirements  for  the  voyage 
proceeding  on— several  years  back  it  being  con¬ 
sidered  a  large  order  for  a  steamer  to  take  200 
or  300  tons,  whereas  they  now  are  taking  any¬ 
thing  from  800  to  1,000  tons.  On  this  bunker 
rate  we  are  bringing  down  coal  for  steamers’ 
consumption  by  cars  direct  from  the  mines  to  this 
port,  whereas  formerly  the  coal  was  shipped  to 
some  northern  seaport  and  then  reshipped  by 
sailing  vessels  to  Savannah ;  this  latter  method, 
as  you  can  see,  is  absolutely  antiquated  and  un¬ 
necessary. 

“It  is  an  error  of  public  opinion  that  steamers 
leave  Savannah  for  bunker  replenishment  on  ac¬ 
count  of  being  unable  to  get  coal  at  this  port  at 
competitive  prices  with  other  ports  on  the  At¬ 
lantic  coast.  As  a  matter  of  fact  the  only  rea¬ 
son  why  steamers  leave  Savannah  to  go  to  other 
ports  for  coal  is  because  of  cargo  conditions  or 
being  so  heavily  loaded  with  cargo  that  by  taking 
coal  bunkers  at  Savannah  they  would  be  unable 
to  proceed  over  the  bar  and  out  to  sea  on  account 
of  the  excess  draft.  This,  however,  will  in  time 
be  corrected  by  the  government  giving  Savannah 
the  deeper  water  that  her  commerce  in  justice 
demands. 

“It  will  possibly  surprise  you  to  know  that  a 
steamer  can  coal  at  Savannah  for  approximately 
the  same  price  as  Norfolk  or  Newport  News, 
notwithstanding  the  fact  that  at  Savannah  we 
have  a  fifteen  cents  higher  freight  rate  than  these 
ports  and  the  coal  must  be  lightered  and  put  into 
the  steamers’  bunkers  while  they  are  loading 
cargo,  while  at  Norfolk  or  Newport  News  a 
steamer  goes  alongside  of  the  coal  pocket  and 
makes  this  lighterage  charge  unnecessary. 

“In  the  spring  of  1914  we  built  four  coal 
barges  which  would  enable  us  to  barge  coal  to 
Jackson\  ille.  Charleston  and  intermediary  points, 
or  to  use  in  the  harbor  here  for  bunkering 
steamers.” 


The  Dock  Equipment  of  Taggart  &  Co.  at  Savannah,  Ga. 


No.  18] 


THE  BEACK  DIAMOND 


349 


Anthracite  Coal  Facts. 

In  talking  with  various  sales  agents  and  whole¬ 
sale  dealers  throughout  the  west — that  is,  west 
of  Buffalo — the  one  complaint  heard  more  often 
than  any  other  is : 

“The  coal  is  wet  and  dull  and  the  trade  will 
not  take  it.’ 

This  complaint  refers  to  coal  shipped  in  ves¬ 
sels  from  Buffalo.  These  same  agents  and  deal¬ 
ers  often  go  so  far  as  to  say:  “We  want  a  car¬ 
go  of  stove  or  nut  or  whatever  size  it  may  be 
if  you  can  ship  us  dry  coal.” 

Starting  at  the  mines,  probably  considerably 
more  than  half  of  all  the  coal  produced  is  pre¬ 
pared  at  so  called  wet  breakers.  That  is,  the 
slate  and  bone  are  separated  from  the  coal  by 
means  of  water  in  the  operation  of  jigging. 

After  being  sized  and  cleaned,  the  coal  is  loaded 
into  railroad  cars,  about  eighty  per  cent  of  which 
are  open  cars  and  only  twenty  per  cent  box 
cars.  There  is  sufficient  time  during  transporta¬ 
tion  for  the  coal  to  dry  out  considerably  pro¬ 
vided  it  is  not  rained  on.  As  Buffalo  has  fre¬ 
quent  rains,  the  open  car  coal  is  often  soaked 
just  before  being  loaded  into  vessels. 

As  is  well  known,  the  coal  is  handled  very 
roughly  in  the  present  operation  of  loading  onto 
boats  at  Buffalo.  As  it  is  handled  it  is  broken 
and  being  wet  the  dust  and  smaller  particles 
adhere  to  the  larger  pieces,  and  of  course  give 
the  whole  cargo  a  decidedly  dull  appearance. 
It  dries  very  little  in  the  boat,  is  dug  out  when 
it  reaches  its  destination  and  is  stored  at  once 
in  large  piles  in  the  storage  sheds,  where  it  dries 
slowly.  Since  cargoes  are  being  unloaded  at  in¬ 
tervals  into  these  storage  sheds  from  April  to 
the  1st  of  December,  the  loading  and  shipping 
out  of  cars  of  wet  dull  coal  is  unavoidable. 

The  coal,  whether  wet  and  dull,  or  dry  and 
bright,  is  absolutely  the  same  quality. 

In  hearing  many  men  talk  in  the  west,  one 
would  get  the  impression  that  slate  and  bone  is 
put  in  or  taken  out  of  the  coal  after  it  leaves 
the  mines. 

The  coal  that  is  shipped  from  the  mines  in  box 
cars  does  dry  out  on  the  road,  and,  of  course, 
often  it  does  not  rain  for  days,  so  that  a  whole 
cargo  made  up  of  both  open  and  box  car  coal 
may  be  almost  perfectly  dry.  This,  however,  is 
entirely  luck  and,  as  can  be  seen  from  the  fore¬ 
going,  under  present  conditions  the  question  of 
whether  the  coal  is  wet  or  dry  cannot  be  con¬ 
trolled  by  the  operators  at  Buffalo  or  anywhere. 
It  is,  then,  unreasonable  for  the  dealer  or  con¬ 
sumer  to  refuse  or  complain  of  coal  merely  be¬ 
cause  it  is  wet  and  dull.  The  salesmen  through¬ 
out  the  western  country  should  spend  all  the 
time  and  energy  necessary  to  educate  the  peo¬ 
ple  to  the  fact  that  this  dull  coal  is  exactly  as 
good,  in  fact,  exactly  the  same  quality  as  the 
dry,  bright  coal. 


Type  and  Size  of  Scale  to  Buy. 

The  introduction  of  the  auto  truck  for  deliv¬ 
ering  coal  is  proving  beneficial  to  the  scale  man¬ 
ufacturers  but  costly  for  the  coal  dealer  owning 
a  yard. 

In  the  older  yards,  the  wagon  scales  with  ca¬ 
pacities  of  from  six  to  twelve  tons  are  rapidly 
being  condemned  and  replaced  by  modern  scales, 
of  much  larger  capacity;  while  the  new  yards  are 
practically  all  being  equipped  with  modern  large 
capacity  scales. 

Some  such  remark  as  this  is  often  heard :  “My 
wagon  scales  will  no  longer  do  their  work;  what 
shall  I  put  in,”  or  “I  am  building  a  new  retail 


coal  plant,  what  size  and  type  of  scales  would 
you  suggest?” 

It  seems  to  be  the  consensus  of  opinion  that 
what  is  known  as  the  auto  truck  or  track  pat¬ 
tern  type  of  scale  is  the  correct  thing  to  buy, 
with  a  weighing  capacity  of  twenty  tons.  This 
scale  is  built  like  a  railroad  track  scale  and  full 
steel  construction  should  be  specified.  In  this 
full  steel  construction  wood  is  used  only  for 
the  nailing  pieces  on  top  of  the  structure  steel 
beams,  and  the  plank  platform. 

In  these  scales  the  weight  is  all  carried  on 
concrete  piers  inside  the  foundation  walls  instead 
of  being  hung  on  the  walls  at  the  four  corners 
of  the  pit. 

There  is  a  difference  of  opinion  as  to  the  size 
of  platform.  Most  of  the  old  scales  are  from 
seven  to  eight  feet  wide  and  sixteen  or  twenty- 
two  feet  long.  On  the  sixteen-foot  scales  the 
wagon  is  weighted  without  the  horses,  while 
on  the  twenty-two-foot  scales  both  wagon  and 
horses  are  weighed.  Weighing  both  wagon  and 
horses  seems  to  be  more  universally  used 
throughout  the  country  than  weighing  the  wagon 
only.  It  is  the  opinion  of  many  that  a  sixteen- 
foot  platform  is  a  little  short  for  trucks,  and 
practically  all  agree  that  scales  should  be  nine 
or  even  ten  feet  wide.  One  of  the  large  hard 
coal  companies  is  now  installing  twenty-ton  scales 
with  9xl8-foot  platforms  in  some  localities  and 
in  other  localities  scales  with  9x22-foot  plat¬ 
forms. 

As  a  suggestion  a  scale  order  should  read 
somewhat  as  follows :  “1  20-ton  auto  truck 

scale  with  full  steel  construction,  9x22-ft.  plat¬ 
form  built  of  white  oak,  scale  to  be  furnished 
and  erected  complete,  including  concrete  founda¬ 
tion.  concrete  to  be  1-3-5  mixture.”  Such  a  scale 
built  by  one  of  the  responsible  manufacturers 
should  cost  complete,  including  the  foundation, 
between  $500  and  $.’)50. 


A  Brown  Collaboration. 

Residents  along  West  Madison  avenue  are  get¬ 
ting  all  fussed  up  about  a  couple  of  chickens  in 
Brown’s  new  coal  office,  opposite  W.  91st  street. 
They  are  not  ordinary  chickens — they  are  stuffed. 
One  is  covering  a  nest  of  eggs,  in  a  bunch  of 
hard  coal,  and  the  other  is  evidently  waiting  a 
chance  to  do  likewise.  In  the  window  is  a  sign 
which  reads  “We,  too,  would  like  to  lay  in  your 
coal.” 

Some  folks  ask  if  they  are  “hard-boiled  eggs,” 
by  reason  of  the  hard  coal.  Others  want  to  know 
if  Brown  is  going  to  “cut-cut-cut  the  price  of 
coal.”  Some  say  that  as  the  chickens  are  stuffed. 
Brown  is  trying  to  stuff  the  public.  Some  say 
“If  you’re  going  to  buy  coal.  Brown  would  like 
to  ‘pullet’.”  Others  have  an  idea  that  Brown  is 
going  into  the  poultry-feed  business,  and  others 
think  that  Brown  has  a  “hen  on”  in  his  new  coal 
yard. 

Others  “cackle-ate”  that  Brown  is  going  to 
lay  for  his  competitors — but  in  that  case  he  won’t 
have  any  chance  to  crow,  for  there  is  no  rooster 
in  the  window.  As  Brown  has  always  handled 
“egg  coal,”  many  are  wondering  what  the  nest 
in  the  window  has  to  do  with  business  generally 
being  “slack.” 

Personally,  we  can’t  figure  it  out.  If  the  hens 
indicate  anything,  it  looks  as  if  the  virtue  of  the 
argument  lay  in  advertising  a  warm  nest  in 
which  the  hens  coal-laborate  with  Brown  on  a 
hard  proposition.  It  is  a  coal  day  when  Brown 
can’t  hatch  out  something  new,  and  although  we 
can’t  figure  out  eggs-actly  the  relation  between 
the  hens  and  the  anthracite,  it  strikes  us  that  as 


Brown  wants  to  “lay  in  the  coal,”  and  the  hens 
are  brown-leghorns,  which  are  good  layers,  it 
is  a  pretty  good  sample  of  doing  things  up  brown. 
— Kid  Ackutt  in  the  Cleveland  Review. 


Selecting  a  Trade  Name. 

How  the  animals  got  their  names  is  one  of  the 
first  sources  of  wonder  to  the  average  young 
child.  The  naming  of  battleships  and  Pullman 
cars  is  equally  interesting  to  older  people,  though 
it  is  a  safe  prediction  that  the  present  Kuropean 
war  has  opened  up  sufficient  sources  of  supply 
to  provide  names  for  all  the  ships  and  all  the 
cars  that  will  be  made  for  years  to  come. 

•Available  trade  names  for  coal,  however,  are 
by  no  means  plentiful.  The  requirements  for  a 
good  coal  trade  name  are :  That  it  must  denote 
unusual  excellence  of  quality;  that  it  must  lend 
itself  to  pictorial  representation  in  the  form  of 
an  emblem  of  some  kind ;  and  that  it  must  not  be 
incongruous.  It  should  catch  both  the  eye  and 
the  ear.  It  must  avoid  the  sentimental,  because 
there  is  nothing  sentimental  about  coal ;  it  must 
avoid  the  grandiloquent,  because  there  is  nothing 
very  impressive  about  coal  in  a  commercial  sense ; 
it  must  avoid  the  ludicrous,  because  that  would 
gradually  come  to  bore  or  disgust  both  the  sales¬ 
men,  who  would  be  burdened  with  the  job  of 
talking  up  the  product,  as  well  as  the  buyers, 
who  would  have  to  have  the  name  fired  at  them 
by  the  salesmen.  In  short,  there  must  be  suffi¬ 
cient  dignity  and  conservatism  about  the  name, 
so  that  neither  salesmen  nor  buyers  would  sicken 
on  it.  In  other  words,  it  must  be  a  name  that 
would  “wear”  well. 

The  force  of  The  Harlan  Coal  Company  of 
Louisville,  Ky.,  from  the  president  to  the  office 
boy,  and  including  all  the  bookkeepers,  typists, 
and  clerks,  have  been  pondering  the  philosophy 
of  trade  names  and  other  names  during  the  past 
two  months.  The  company  in  August  instituted 
a  “suggest-a-name  contest,”  to  secure  a  trade 
name  to  distinguish  the  product  of  their  mines 
in  Southeastern  Kentucky  from  other  good,  bad 
and  indifferent  coals  which  are  being  put  on  the 
market  by  various  mining  operations  in  Harlan, 
Bell,  Perry  and  other  counties. 

The  Harlan  Coal  Company,  or  rather,  its  asso¬ 
ciated  companies,  which  direct  and  manage  the 
mining  operations,  opened  up  mines  in  Harlan 
County  several  years  ago,  being  pioneers  in  that 
newly  opened  field.  When  their  interests  ac¬ 
quired  land  in  that  section  there  was  not  a  sin¬ 
gle  other  mining  operation,  and  when  they  put 
the  first  of  their  product  on  the  market,  it  seemed 
simple  and  natural  to  sell  it  as  “Harlan  coal.” 
Its  reputation  and  demand  increased  steadily  and 
rapidly.  Meanwhile,  other  mines  were  opened 
up  here  and  there  in  Harlan  county,  several  dif¬ 
ferent  seams  being  operated,  and  every  conceiv¬ 
able  method  of  mining  and  preparation  being 
employed,  with  the  consequent  wide  variation 
in  the  commercial  value  of  the  product. 

Then  the  Harlan  Coal  Company  felt  constrained 
to  further  identify  their  coal,  and  they  did  so 
by  calling  it  “S.  &  M.  Harlan  Coal,”  the  initials 
being  those  of  two  members  of  the  company  who 
were  largely  interested  in  the  original  develop¬ 
ment  work.  However,  this  did  not  seem  satis¬ 
factory,  as  good,  bad  and  indifferent  coals  in 
greater  number  and  to  a  greater  tonnage,  were 
continually  being  put  before  the  trade  so  that  it 
was  finally  decided  that  there  was  no  escape  from 
the  duty  of  selecting  a  distinctive  trade  name 
which  would  designate  specifically  the  coal  pro¬ 
duced  by  The  Harlan  Coal  Company  mines. 

As  the  company  sells  this  coal  in  sixteen  differ¬ 
ent  states,  invitations  to  suggest  a  name  were  sent 
to  4,400  retail  coal  dealers  in  Florida,  Georgia, 
South  Carolina,  North  Carolina,  Tennessee,  Ken¬ 
tucky,  Indiana,  Michigan,  Ohio,  Missouri,  Ne¬ 
braska,  Wisconsin,  North  Dakota  and  Minnesota. 
-A  carload  of  block  coal  was,  offered  as  a  prize 
to  the  dealer  who  first  suggested  the  name  ac¬ 
cepted  by  the  company. 

Names  poured  into  the  Louisville  office  by  the 
hundreds.  Day  after  day  these  names  came  in, 
frequently  backed  up  by  letters  and  arguments 
as  to  their  advertising  merits.  The  suggestors 
used  every  possible  device  of  the  imagination. 
They  took  the  names  of  the  mines,  of  the  com¬ 
pany,  and  of  the  members  of  the  company,  and 
spelled  them  backwards,  forwards  and  upside 
down.  They  made  all  kinds  of  combinations  of 
syllables,  taken  from  the  various  names  and  com¬ 
posited  into  one  more  or  less  harmonious  word. 
They  ransacked  geographies  for  names  of  rivers, 
counties,  mountains,  seas,  volcanoes ;  canvassed 
the  heavens  for  stars ;  dragged  rivers  and  oceans 
for  fish ;  searched  the  air  for  birds ;  and  delved 
into  the  recesses  of  the  earth  for  every  gem  and 
(Concluded  on  page  353.) 


350 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[October  30 


The  Hocking  Valley  Rate  Hearing  Postponed. 


Columbus,  Ohio,  October  28. —  {Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.') — At  the  close  of  the  usual  afternoon 
session  on  Wednesday  a  long  adjournment  of  the 
Hocking  Valley  rate  hearing  was  taken,  the  date 
for  further  hearing  being  fixed  for  November 
22.  Lack  of  time  for  preparation  was  pleaded  by 
both  the  Hocking  Valley  and  the  Toledo  &  Ohio 
Central  railways.  It  was  argued  that  they  had 
not  had  sufficient  opportunity  for  checking  up 
figures  in  the  exhibits  submitted  by  the  plaintiff. 
In  fixing  a  new  date,  the  Commission  gave  more 
time  than  was  asked  for,  suiting  its  own  conven¬ 
ience  in  taking  care  of  other  cases. 

Mr.  Hillman  took  the  stand  again  on  Wednes¬ 
day  morning,  explaining  on  direct  examination 
a  series  of  exhibits  showing  the  result  of  the 
examiners’  inquiry  into  the  cost  of  hauling  coal 
over  the  Toledo  &  Ohio  Central  from  the  as¬ 
sembling  point  of  Corning  to  Toledo.  The  sys¬ 
tem  of  determining  the  amount  and  proportion 
of  the  various  factors  entering  into  the  haul  was 
similar  to  that  used  in  connection  with  the  Hock¬ 
ing  Valley  exhibits.  The  distance  between  Corn¬ 
ing  and  Toledo  by  the  Eastern,  or  short,  division 
is  184  miles,  and  the  present  coal  rate  per  ton  is 
$1.  By  Mr.  Hillman’s  figures  the  actual  cost  of 
hauling  a  ton  of  coal  between  the  two  points, 
including  assembling  charges  at  Corning  and  ter¬ 
minal  charges  at  Toledo,  is  47.87  cents.  By  the 
same  averages  it  was  set  forth  that  the  rate  from 
Corning  to  Columbus,  based  on  actual  cost,  is 
24.19  cents.  The  rate  now  in  existence  is  sixty- 
five  cents. 

The  entire  day  was  consumed  in  examining 
Mr.  Hillman  by  Attorney  Boyle,  of  the  Sunday 
Creek  Company.  The  latter  has  no  other  wit¬ 
nesses  to  introduce,  but  three  remain  yet  to  be 
examined  on  redirect.  The  Hocking  Vally’s  de¬ 
fense  will  begin  very  shortly  after  the  hearing  is 
resumed  in  November. 


Mr.  Hopkins  Examined 

Columbus,  Ohio,  October  23. —  {Special^Corre- 
spondence.) — An  entire  day  was  given  to  W.  M. 
Hopkins,  of  Chicago,  the  first  witness  called  Fri¬ 
day  morning.  He  stated  that  he  was  a  rate  ex¬ 
pert,  employed  by  the  Sunday  Creek  Company, 
but  having  no  connection  with  the  board  of  ex¬ 
aminers  appointed  by  the  commission.  Several 
exhibits  prepared  by  him  were  introduced  as  evi¬ 
dence.  Their  special  object  was  to  show  by  di- 
.  rect  reasoning  that  the  Hocking  Valley  coal  rate 
from  Nelsonville  to  Toledo  was  too  high.  It 
was  his  conclusion  that  the  rate  should  be  sixty- 
seven  cents,  instead  of  eighty-five  cents. 

The  witness  claimed  an  experience  of  twenty- 
seven  years  in  railroading,  his  longest  connec¬ 
tion  being  with  the  Minneapolis  &  St.  Louis  rail¬ 
way,  of  which  he  was  freight  agent.  His  last 
position  had  been  with  the  traffic  bureau  of  the 
Chicago  Board  of  Trade. 

Taking  the  year  ending  June  30,  1914,  the  ex¬ 
hibits  set  forth  the  following  with  respect  to  the 
Hocking  Valley  railway:  Total  revenue  tons  of 
freight,  10,487,048  tons;  total  revenue  tons  of 
coal,  7,272,194  tons,  the  per  cent  of  coal  to  the 
per  cent  of  freight  being  sixty-nine.  Total 
freight  revenue  $5,601,381.91 ;  total  coal  revenue, 
$3,653,122.41,  the  per  cent  of  coal  revenue  to 
freight  revenue  being  sixty-five.  With  regard  to 
coal  revenue  it  was  stated  that  54.16  per  cent  of 
the  total  was  on  local  coal,  which  had  only  40.72 
per  cent  of  the  tonnage. 

He  arrived  at  his  figure  of  sixty-seven  cents 
as  being  a  just  rate  by  applying  to  the  Nelson- 
ville-Toledo  haul  the  ton-mile  expense  and  profit 
which  accrued  from  an  equal  distribution  over 
all  the  tonnage  of  both  foreign  and  domestic  coal 
hauled  for  the  distance  under  consideration. 

In  the  hands  of  Mr.  Wilson,  chief  counsel  for 
the  railroad,  Mr.  Hopkins  admitted  that  his  fig¬ 
ures  regarding  assembling  and  terminal  expense 
were  not  the  result  of  his  personal  investigation, 
but  had  been  taken  from  the  reports  of  other 
experts  submitted  as  evidence  in  former  cases 
governing  the  same  haul  under  dispute.  In  the 
matter  of  tables  concerning  other  lines,  on  hauls 
of  about  the  same  distance  as  that  between  Nel¬ 
sonville  and  Toledo  and  used  to  show  the  alleged 
injustice  of  the  latter,  Mr.  Hopkins  was  handled 
quite  severely  by  the  attorney.  This  was  partic¬ 
ularly  true  in  the  matter  of  hauls  into  Chicago 
from  certain  Illinois  and  Indiana  points.  By 
omitting  the  terminal  rate  which  prevails  there, 
Mr.  Hopkins  was  accused  of  knowingly  quoting 
a  proportional  rate  for  a  through  rate. 

The  commission  adjourned  until  Tuesday 
morning.  The  most  important  incident  of  the 


day,  though  forming  no  part  of  the  records  in 
the  present  case,  was  the  filing  with  the  commis¬ 
sion  of  rate  cases  by  operators  of  other  fields. 
The  Pittsburgh  Vein  Operators’  Association  en¬ 
tered  formal  complaints  against  the  Wheeling  & 
Lake  Erie,  Baltimore  &  Ohio,  the  Pennsylvania 
and  the  New  York  Central  Lines.  The  petition 
was  signed  by  W.  R.  Woodford,  of  Cleveland, 
president.  The  Cambria  Mining  Company,  op¬ 
erating  in  Belmont  county,  took  similar  action 
against  the  Pennsylvania.  O.  P.  Gothlin,  of  Day- 
ton,  a  former  member  of  the  old  Ohio  Railroad 
Commission,  acted  on  behalf  of  the  plaintiffs. 
These  petitions  are  interpreted  to  mean  that  the 
Sunday  Creek  Company  is  not  fighting  lone¬ 
handed,  but  that  the  campaign  for  lower  rates 
is  to  be  state  wide. 


Columbus,  Ohio,  October  22. —  (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — Cross-examination  of  Mr.  Hillman, 
rate  expert,  was  concluded  late  Thursday  after¬ 
noon.  He  had  been  on  the  stand  the  greater  part 
of  three  days.  Aside  from  the  facts  having  been 
brought  out  of  his  services  being  paid  by  the 
Sunday  Creek  Company  and  the  sum  received, 
nothing  of  special  interest  developed  under  the 
fire  of  the  defense.  The  time  was  almost  wholly 
taken  up  with  a  technical  discussion  of  the  ex¬ 
aminers’  report,  piecemeal.  A  recess  was  taken 
until  Tuesday  morning.  It  was  announced  by 
the  prosecution  that  the  redirect  examination  of 
Mr.  Hillman  would  be  deferred  until  later,  and 
that  it  would  call  W.  M.  Hopkins  to  the  stand. 

During  the  week  the  lobby,  while  not  as  large 
as  on  the  first  day,  has  held  up  well.  There  have 
been  comparatively  few  coal  men  present,  in 
fact,  no  representative  operators  from  out  of 
town.  A  number  are  expected  to  be  on  hand 
later,  according  to  the  theory  that  the  action  of 
the  Sunday  Creek  Company  is  backed  by  other 
large  coal  companies  of  the  state,  and  that  the 
rate  fight  is  to  be  general.  Visitors  have  been 
chiefly  attorneys  and  railroad  traffic  men,  here 
for  the  purpose  of  observation.  Judge  S.  H. 
West,  of  Cleveland,  and  William  N.  King,  of 
Columbus,  have  been  present,  taking  notes  in 
the  interests  of  the  Toledo  &  Ohio  Central.  This 
road  is  partly  defendant  in  the  action  against  the 
Hocking  Valley,  as  it  was  formerly  a  part  of 
the  Hocking  Valley  system,  though  now  owned 
by  the  New  York  Central  lines,  and  over  it  was 
returned  to  the  mines  a  large  majority  of  the 
empties  from  the  Toledo  docks.  A  separate  ex¬ 
hibit  in  connection  with  this  road  has  been  pre¬ 
pared  by  the  examiners  and  will  be  submitted  to 
the  commission  during  the  course  of  the  hearing. 

Judge  George  B.  Okey,  chief  counsel  for  the 
United  Mine  Workers’  officials,  the  original 
plaintiffs  in  the  case,  and  his  associate  C.  _  A. 
Radcliffe,  a  former  secretary  of  the  commission, 
have  been  in  constant  attendance,  though  taking 
no  active  part.  The  Mine  Workers  have  been 
officially  represented  by  President  John  Moore 
and  Secretary  G.  W.  Savage.  Among  traffic  men 
present  were  two  from  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio, 
comprising  H.  A.  Cochran,  Baltimore,  coal 
freight  agent,  and  C.  R.  Wright,  Cleveland,  coal 
and  coke  agent.  E.  Briggs,  of  the  Wheeling  & 
Lake  Erie,  was  also  a  Cleveland  visitor. 


A  “Sensation”  Nipped. 


Phil.vdelphia,  October  27. —  (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — A  fellow  named  Barker,  one  time 
chief  engineer  of  the  Bureau  of  Charities  in  this 
city  started  a  mud  slinging  campaign  directed 
politically  at  the  Rogers-Corr  Company,  who  in 
1914  furnished  Lykens  Valley  buckwheat  coal  to 
the  general  hospital.  The  gang-papers,  since  last 
Saturday  morning  fairly  frothed  over  in  the 
story.  Barker’s  affidavit  making  most  serious  al¬ 
legations  against  a  member  of  the  coal  company 
were  printed  in  detail.  He  even  had  the  temerity 
to  declare  that  he  had  been  offered  money  to 
"keep  his  mouth  shut.” 

The  upshot  of  the  charges  and  counter  charges 
that  flew  thick  and  fast  was  for  both  sides  to 
make  an  appeal  to  the  legislature  to  use  the 
money  that  had  been  set  aside  to  probe  retail  coal 
prices  and  conditions  in  this  and  other  sections 
of  the  state.  That  evidently  was  not  in  the 
program  for  the  speaker  of  the  house  has  de¬ 
clared  that  such  an  investigation  could  not  be 
gotten  under  way. 

Barker  had  declared  that  the  hard  coal  sup¬ 
plied  the  hospital  was  of  such  a  grade  that  he 
had  to  put  fourteen  boilers  in  operation  while 
only  twelve  should  have  been  used. 


Over  a  period  of  nine  months,  which  Barker 
alleged  a  poor  grade  of  coal  was  used.  Dr.  S. 
Lewis  Ziegler,  director  of  the  hospital,  traced  the 
records  and  found  that  1,200  tons  less  than  the 
year  previous  had  been  used.  The  coaj  man  so 
far  has  been  vindicated  in  the  eyes  of  the  people 
and  Barker,  “the  man-out-of-a-job,”  has  not  been 
able  to  make  a  case. 

Only  in  September  the  Rogers-Corr  Company 
was  awarded  a  contract  for  coal  furnished  the 
city  pumping  station  at  Lanier’s  Point.  This  is 
to  be  placed  “on  the  donation  plan,”  which  means 
that  even  though  city  councils  have  not  appro¬ 
priated  money  to  pay  for  the  coal,  the  coal  com¬ 
pany  is  willing  to  trust  the  city  and  hope  to  be 
paid  for  their  coal — some  day. 


R.  S.  F.  Feeney  Marries. 


This  Saturday,  at  the  East  Baptist  Church, 
Philadelphia,  Pa.,  Mr.  R.  S.  F.  Feeney  will  be- 
corne  a  benedict.  The  happy  young  lady  is  Miss 
Edith  Griffith,  one  of  the  most  winsome  of  the 
Quaker  city’s  young  ladies. 

Immediately  after  the  ceremony  the  happy  pair 


will  board  the  Florida  Limited  to  spend  a  honey¬ 
moon  along  the  east  coast  of  that  state  and  in 
Cuba. 

The  groom  is  a  member  of  the  firm  of  H.  H. 
Lineaweaver  &  Co.  and  is  its  office  manager.  He 
has  been  connected  with  the  Lineaweaver  Com¬ 
pany  for  the  past  six  years. 


Tax  Law  Unconstiutional. 


The  act  of  the  Pennsylvania  legislature 
levying  a  tax  of  two  and  one-half  per  cent 
on  anthracite  coal  was  declared  iinconstitu- 
tional  by  the  Pennsylvania  supreme  court 
at  Pittsburgh  on  Thursday. 

The  coal  companies  have  collected  about 
nine  million  dollars  since  this  act  went  into 
effect. 

Justice  Stezvart  in  his  decision  said  in 
part: 

“When  the  necessary  effect  of  the  legis¬ 
lation  is  to  create  inequality  of  burden  as 
zve  here  see  it,  are  those  complaining  of 
the  justice  to  receive  no  other  anszver  than 
that  zvhile  the  constitution  promises  them 
equality  in  the  matter  of  taxation  that  be¬ 
cause  it  failed  to  place  restriction  upon  the 
legislature’s  right  to  distribute  the  tax  it 
collects  that  therefore  the  ptirpose  of  the 
legislation  is  not  to  be  inquired  into?  If 
constitutional  requirements  are  to  be  cir¬ 
cumvented  by  such  simple  and  easy  process 
of  reasoning  the  question  may  yet  be  asked 
derisively  of  the  constitution  ‘zvhat  is  alt 
this  zvorthf’  ” 


No.  18] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


351 


What  Dealers  In  Many  Cities  Are  Doing. 


Alabama. 

Huntsville. — The  Munn  Coal  Company  of  this 
city  has  recently  purchased  the  property  of  the 
Spring  City  Coal  Company. 

Arkansas. 

Little  Rock. — The  Thomas-Adams  Fuel  Com¬ 
pany  was  recently  organized  in  this  city  with  a 
capital  of  $10,000. 

Connecticut. 

Bridgeport. — The  Harlem  Wood  &  Coal  Co., 
with  a  capital  of  $3,000,  has  recently  been  or¬ 
ganized  in  this  city. 

Illinois. 

Rockford. — Barker  &  Whipple  is  a  new  firm  of 
this  city,  engaged  in  the  retail  coal,  lumber, 
cement  and  building  material  business. 

Rutland. — The  Hakes-Lyon  Coal  Co.,  with  a 
capital  of  $5,000,  has  recently  been  organized. 

Sterling. — The  People’s  Ice  &  Coal  Company 
will  now  handle  coal  along  with  ice. 

Tilden. — The  Tilden  Coal  Co.  is  a  new  corpo¬ 
ration  of  this  city  with  capital  stock  of  $1,000. 

Jacksonville. — J.  A.  Paschall  &  Company  have 
purchased  the  retail  coal  business  of  J.  F.  Green 
&  Company. 

Moline. — The  Moline  Fuel  Company  will  suc¬ 
ceed  in  the  retail  coal  business  of  Shallberg 
Brothers,  having  purchased  the  business  a  short 
time  ago. 

Melvin. — Chas.  Inkster  of  this  city  will  enter 
the  retail  coal  and  grain  business,  having  bought 
the  interests  of  McClure  &  Brotherton  of  Guth¬ 
rie,  Illinois. 

Bloomington. — Charles  Cunning,  having  bought 
out  the  Conkel  Coal  Co.,  is  going  to  handle  all 
grades  of  coal  this  winter  on  a  very  large  scale. 

Monmouth. — Bowker-Smith  Co.,  with  offices 
located  on  S.  Third  street  and  Fifth  avenue,  is 
the  name  of  the  old  Layton  Fuel  &  Material  Co., 
the  latter  being  bought  out  by  Mr.  N.  D.  Bowker 
and  J.  S.  Smith  of  this  city. 

Atlanta. — Mr.  James  1.  McKown  will  enter  the 
retail  coal  and  grain  business,  having  recently 
taken  over  the  interest  of  Mr.  J.  A.  King  of  the 
firm  of  Applegate  &  King.  Hereafter  the  com¬ 
pany  will  operate  under  the  name  of  Applegate 
&  McKown. 

Atwater — Business  is  good  here  and  collec¬ 
tions  are  fair.  Crops  extra  good,  but  much 
grain  is  spoiling  in  the  fields. — -W.  L.  Enslow. 

McVey — S.  W.  Barnes  is  “snow-birding”  at 
this  point. 

Rockford — E.  H.  Warren  has  entered  the 
coal  and  transfer  business  here,  with  a  yard 
on  the  C.  &  N.  W.  R.  R. 

Indiana. 

Mooresville. — E.  M.  Alexander  has  entered  the 
retail  coal  business  lately. 

Bristol. — V.  Griner  &  Son  have  taken  over  the 
business  of  the  V.  Griner  Lumber  &  Coal  Co. 

South  Bend. — The  Community  Coal  Company 
has  recently  been  incorporated  with  a  capital  of 
$5,000. 

Indianapolis. — The  Reliance  Coal  &  Grain  Co. 
with  capital  stock  of  $10,000  has  recently  been 
organized. 

South  Bend.- — W.  O.  Schlabach  has  recently 
moved  to  this  city  from  Ligonier,  Ind. 

Gas  City. — The  Elevator  Coal  Co.  has  pur¬ 
chased  the  yards  and  retail  coal  business  of  J. 
S.  Lowe  &  Son,  and  Jas.  Crawford  &  Son. 

Elkhart. — The  Calvert  &  Krai  Coal  Company, 
with  yards  located  on  the  New  York  Central 
Railroad,  is  a  new  business  of  this  city. 

Buckeye — J.  H.  Smith  &  Son  have  purchased 
the  grain  and  coal  business  formerly  owned 
by  S.  S.  Faust.  Mr.  Faust  operated  the  busi¬ 
ness  for  over  fifteen  years.  The  new  owners 
are  erecting  a  new  coal  yard  and  25,000-bushel 
grain  elevator. 

Brookville — Manufacturing  plants  here  are 
running  full  time,  and  as  crops  are  good  and 
prices  high,  most  of  the  coal  dealers  here  are 
“wearing  a  smile  that  won’t  come  off.” — Fred 
C.  Werst  of  Peter  Werst  &  Co. 

Iowa. 

Clarinda. — C.  F.  McPherrin  will  succeed  O.  A. 
Graham  in  the  retail  coal  business. 

Lake  City. — L.  D.  Weirick  has  succeeded 
James  Bruce  in  the  retail  coal  business. 

St.  Charles — Smith  &  Son  Lumber  Co.  have  re¬ 
cently  purchased  the  retail  coal  business  of  N. 
O.  Anson. 

Essex. — The  Essex  Lumber  &  Fuel  Company 


has  purchased  the  retail  coal  and  lumber  yard 
of  Rotton  &  Nelson. 

Waterloo. — The  Diamond  Coal  Company, 
owned  by  Mr.  E.  F.  Watkins,  will  succeed  G.  W. 
Bunn  &  Sons  in  the  retail  coal  business. 

Waterloo. — B.  H.  Byvank,  of  the  Byvank 
Transfer  &  Storage  Co.,  will  succeed  Kurtt  & 
Voelker  Co.  in  the  retail  coal  busineiss,  having 
purchased  same  recently. 

Mason  City. — O.  J.  Watt,  who  has  been  en¬ 
gaged  in  the  retail  feed  and  flour  business  in 
this  city,  has  added  coal  to  his  list  of  products. 

Kansas. 

Randolph. — The  Union  Lumber  Company  has 
bought  out  the  retail  coal  and  lumber  business  of 
the  Randolph  Lumber  Co. 

Kentucky. 

Louisville. — The  Elbert  Coal  Company  has  been 
incorporated  with  a  capital  of  $5,000. 

Louisville. — The  Asbury-Kenney  Coal  Co.,  with 
capital  stock  of  $10,000,  has  been  organized  re¬ 
cently. 

Massachusetts. 

Ipswich.^ — Wm.  G.  Horton  has  purchased  the 
coal  and  wood  business  of  C.  C.  Caldwell. 

Bedford. — The  Middlesex  Coal  &  Grain  Co., 
with  a  capital  of  $25,000,  is  a  new  corporation  of 
this  city. 

Florence. — W.  N.  Potter  Sons  &  Co.  have  pur¬ 
chased  the  retail  coal,  grain  and  cement  busi¬ 
ness  of  Mrs.  Chas.  O.  Parsons. 

Easton. — The  John  J.  McCarthy  Co.  is  the  name 
of  a  new  company  recently  organized  here  with 
a  capital  of  $25,000,  and  to  deal  in  coal. 

Boston. — Staples  &  Bell,  Inc.,  has  been  organ¬ 
ized  lately.  The  products  of  the  company  are 
grain,  fuel,  and  hay.  The  capital  is  $101,200. 

Michigan. 

Bellvue. — The  Bellvue  Lumber  &  Coal  Com¬ 
pany  has  bought  out  the  Hager  Lumber  &  Coal 
Company. 

Jackson. — The  Fletcher  Coal  Company,  with 
capital  stock  of  $500,  was  recently  organized. 

Ludington. — Johnson  Brothers,  a  new  concern 
of  this  city,  have  located  their  retail  coal  yard 
in  South  Charles  street. 

Greenville. — Greenville  Coal  Company  is  the 
name  of  a  new  firm  which  recently  bought  out 
Smith  &  Booth  in  the  retail  coal  business. 

North  Adams. — F.  1.  Williams  has  taken  his 
son  into  business  with  him.  The  business  will 
be  conducted  under  the  name  of  F.  1.  Williams 
&  Son. 

Minnesota. 

Rochester. — The  Kruse  Lumber  &  Coal  Com¬ 
pany  has  recently  entered  the  retail  coal  and  lum¬ 
ber  business. 

Faribault. — President  Theo.  Thom  of  the  Farm¬ 
ers’  Co-operative  Elevator  Co.,  purchased  the 
wood  and  coal  business  of  Ferdinand  Cromer. 
The  business  will  be  conducted  with  that  of  the 
elevator  company. 

Missouri. 

Springfield. — W.  W.  Bacon  Feed  &  Fuel  Com¬ 
pany  is  now  carrying  on  the  retail  coal  business 
formerly  owned  by  W.  1.  Rhodes. 

Charleston. — A.  W.  Robertson  Coal  Co.  is  the 
name  given  the  old  Hart  &  Robertson  company 
on  the  retirement  of  Mr.  Hart. 

Nebraska. 

York. — John  F.  Groshan  has  engaged  in  the 
retail  coal,  grain,  and  lumber  business,  having 
bought  out  the  Van  Wickle  Grain  &  Lumber 
Co. 

New  Jersey. 

Elizabeth. — Nathan  Finkel  &  Son  is  a  new  re¬ 
tail  coal  and  lumber  business  of  this  city. 

Trenton. — Hutchinson-Hawk  Company  have 
purchased  the  coal  business  of  Peter  Spracklen 
of  this  city. 

Jersey  City. — E.  A.  Kiesewetter  Coal  Co.  is 
a  new  corporation  of  this  city.  The  capital  is 
$80,000. 

New  York. 

Highland. — The  Johnston  Coal  Co.  has  re¬ 
cently  been  organized  with  capital  of  $10,000. 

Schuylerville. — H.  E.  Wanmer  &  Company  is 
a  new  coal  and  wood  business  of  this  city. 

Whitestone. — Keeler’s  Coal  Pockets  is  a  new 
corporation  of  this  city.  Capital,  $5,000. 

Port  Richmond. — The  Timmerman  Coal  &  Ice 
Co.,  with  capital  of  $10,000,  has  recently  been  in¬ 
corporated. 


Queens. — Richmond  Hills  Coal  &  Ice  Co.  was 
incorporated  with  capital  stock  of  $50,000. 

Highland.— The  Johnston  Coal  Company  has 
lately  been  incorporated  with  capital  stock  of 
$10,000. 

Great  Neck. — The  Elmhurst  Coal  Company  has 
recently  been  incorporated  with  capital  stock  of 
$125,000. 

Massina. — Henry  Allen  Feed  Co.  has  recently 
purchased  the  coal  business  of  the  Rutherford 
Coal  Company. 

Beach  Ridge.- — W.  J.  Miller  has  recently  pur¬ 
chased  the  retail  coal  business  of  Arthur  L. 
Mower  of  this  city. 

Buffalo. — Loyal  Spring  &  Sons,  located  at  24 
Ramsdell  avenue,  is  now  conducting  the  coal  busi¬ 
ness  formerly  owned  by  N.  F.  Berndt. 

Buffalo. — John  K.  Kerr,  Inc.,  is  a  new  organiza¬ 
tion  of  this  city.  Lumber  and  coal  will  be  the 
products  handled.  The  capital  stock  is  $10,000. 

Dolgeville. — The  Dolgeville  Coal  Company, 
owned  by  William  J.  Gibson,  will  carry  on  the 
retail  coal  business  formerly  owned  by  F.  J.  Beck 
&  Co. 

Babylon. — The  Suffolk  Lumber  Company  has 
recently  been  incorporated  to  handle  coal  and 
lumber  and  agricultural  implements  and  machin¬ 
ery.  Capital  stock  $15,000. 

Mt.  Vernon. — Getes  &  Robitzek,  Inc.,  is  a  new 
corporation  of  this  city.  The  products  of  this 
company  will  be  coal  and  wood.  The  office  and 
yards  are  located  at  44  North  Railroad  avenue. 

Ohio. 

Xenia. — Chas.  R.  Bales  has  recently  purchased 
the  retail  coal,  grain  and  feed  business  of  Dewey 
Bros. 

Antwerp. — D.  F.  Toms  of  Garrettsville,  O.,  has 
purchased  the  retail  coal  and  ice  business  of  A. 
A.  Pointer  of  this  city. 

Madison. — The  Madison  Coal  &  Supply  Co., 
which  has  been  organized  recently  to  conduct  a 
retail  business,  was  incorporated  for  $15,000. 

Olmsted  Falls. — The  Olmsted  Falls  Coal  & 
Lumber  Company,  with  capital  stock  of  from 
$5,000  to  $15,000,  has  lately  been  organized. 

Pennsylvania. 

Philadelphia. — Jarden  Coal  Company,  with  a 
capital  of  $10,000,  is  one  of  the  new  corporations 
of  this  city. 

Reading. — John  C.  Cook  is  a  new  name  added 
to  the  list  of  retail  coal,  grain  and  lumber  deal¬ 
ers  of  this  city. 

York. — The  American  Ice  &  Coal  Company  has 
been  organized  lately  by  J.  Edgar  Holland  with 
yards  located  on  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  at 
State  and  Hay  streets. 

South  Carolina. 

Springfield. — Springfield  Fuel  Company  has  just 
been  incorporated.  The  capital  of  the  company 
is  $5,000. 

Charleston.-— The  Campbell  Fuel  Company  is  a 
new  corporation  of  this  city  with  capital  stock 
of  $10,000. 

South  Dakota 

Chester. — The  Chester  Grain  Company,  owned 
by  Mr.  S.  Gregory,  has  recently  purchased  the  re¬ 
tail  coal  and  grain  business  of  W.  H.  Kellogg  & 
Son. 

Veblen. — L.  C.  Brekke,  O.  P.  Akre  and  L.  T. 
Bruods  have  filed  incorporation  papers  for  the 
Farmers’  Co-operative  Grain  &  Fuel  Co.  The 
capital  stock  will  be  $35,000. 

Tennessee. 

Jackson. — A.  M.  Burns  has  recently  started  in 
the  retail  coal  and  wood  business  in  this  city. 

Knoxville. — The  Mutual  Service  Coal  Co.,  with 
capital  of  $15,000,  has  been  organized  lately. 

Memphis. — The  Sipsey  Coal  Sales  Company  is 
a  new  jobbing  company  recently  incorporated  for 
$5,000.  The  firm  will  handle  and  sell  coal,  coke 
and  fuel  of  all  kinds,  wholesale  and  retail. 

Texas. 

Plainview. — Allen  &  Bonner  have  started  in 
the  retail  coal  and  grain  business,  having  leased 
the  yards  of  Shipley  &  Shipley. 

Wisconsin. 

Lander. — The  Lander  Coal,  Feed  &  Auto  Com¬ 
pany  has  recently  been  formed  in  this  city. 

Plymouth. — The  Plymouth  Lumber  &  Fuel  Co. 
has  lately  been  organized  for  $45,000. 

Green  Valley. — The  Green  Valley  Lumber  & 
Fuel  Company  is  a  new  corporation  of  this  city 
with  a  capital  of  $15,000. 

Eau  Claire. — Charles  Wendt  will  handle  coal  in 
connection  with  his  wood  business  hereafter. 


352 


THE  BEACK  DIAMOND 


[October  30 


Annual  Meeting  of  New  York  State  Association. 


The  annual  meeting  of  the  New  York  State 
&  Western  Pennsylvania  Coal  Merchants’  As¬ 
sociation  was  held  in  Syracuse  on  Friday  and 
Saturday  last  week.  The  attendance  was  large. 

Promptly  at  three  o’clock  on  I'ridiiy  after¬ 
noon,  h'.  II.  Peach,  president  of  the  tissocia- 
tion  ctilled  the  convention  to  order, 

'I'he  report  of  Chas.  B.  Staats,  treasurer, 
told  of  the  finances  of  the  association  from 
.lime  1st,  P>I4  to  September  1st,  11)1.').  On 
Jttne  3rd,  1914,  there  was  a  lialance  on  hatul 
of  $9.1,'),  and  membership  fees  collected  since 
of  $1,15.'),  brought  the  total  up  to  $1,11)4.17, 
while  ex])endittires  from  June,  1914  to  August, 
1915  totalled  $1,149.15,  leaving  a  balance  on 
hand  on  September  1st  of  $15.02. 

M.  N.  Clement,  general  manager  of  the 
Coal  Merchants  Mutual  Insurance  Company 
and  commissioner  of  the  association,  made  a 
talk  on  Compensation  Insurance.  The  New 
York  State  compensation  insurance  act  went 
into  effect  on  July  1st,  1914.  During  the 
past  year,  the  coal  dealers  formed  their  own 
mutual  insurance  company,  and  a  great  many 
of  the  dealers  began  insuring  in  this  fund, 
effective  from  July  1st,  1915.  Mr.  Clement, 
who  has  been  identified  with  the  mutual  in¬ 
surance  association  operated  by  the  brewery 
interests,  was  chosen  to  head  the  mutual  in¬ 
surance  company  organized  by  the  coal  men. 
In  effect,  Mr.  Clement  said;  “Alutual  insur¬ 
ance  is  cheaper  than  insurance  in  stock  com¬ 
panies.  It  is  very  much  cheaper  than  in¬ 
surance  in  the  State  Fund.  The  rate  for  in¬ 
surance  as  fixed  by  the  state,  which  must 
be  the  same  for  all  insurance  companies,  is 
$3.50  per  $100  payroll  for  coal  dealers.  In¬ 
juries  to  employes  of  coal  companies  are 
rare.”  Mr.  Clement  said  that  while  the  mu¬ 
tual  association  formed  by  the  coal  dealers 
had  only  been  in  existence  since  July  1st,  and 
that  his  report  would  only  cover  that  period, 
it  shows  that  premiums  amounting  to  $28,000 
had  been  received,  and  that  one-fourth  of 
this,  or  $7,000  would  be  considered,  there¬ 
fore,  as  covering  the  receipts  for  the  first  three 
months.  During  this  period,  the  total  expen¬ 
ditures  including  all  losses,  doctor  and  hos¬ 
pital  bills,  operating  expenses,  salaries,  etc., 
and  in  fact  all  charges,  amounted  to  $2,110, 
leaving  a  balance  of  $4,890,  which  could  be 
re.garded  as  profit  for  the  first  quarter. 

Mr.  Clement  thought  that  insurance  in  the 
mutual  company  could  be  carried  for  one- 
half  of  what  the  State  Fund  would  charge 
to  carry  the  same  insurance.  This  showing 
already  made  was  a  credit  to  the  association. 
The  co-operation  of  the  coal  dealers  was 
needed  to  have  the  legislature  modify  the 
present  compensation  act,  which  had  been 
dictated  by  organized  labor. 

Arthur  F.  Rice,  commissioner  of  the  New 
York  City  Coal  Merchants’  Association,  read 
a  paper  on  wholesale  competition.  Mr.  Rice 
in  his  talk  made  some  very  interesting  state¬ 
ments  regarding  a  recent  investigation  made 
of  the  New  York  Coal  Merchants’  Associa¬ 
tion  and  its  work,  which  resulted  in  a  clean 
bill  of  health  being  given  it.  He  went  on 
to  show  what  had  been  accomplished  for  the 
New  York  dealers  through  the  co-operation 
of  the  wholesale  companies. 

A  paper  by  Frank  FI.  Beach,  president  of 
the  association  on  “Cost  of  Doing  Business,” 
called  for  a  lot  of  discussion. 

To  enumerate  what  it  cost  a  dealer  to  do 
business,  he  outlined  some  of  the  costs,  as 
follows: 

Taking  a  plant  to  do  say  10,000  tons  per 
year.  Capital  required  would  be  $10,000  at 
a  minimum.  In  some  cities  it  might  run  five 
times  this.  Say  at  $10,000,  this  would  mean 
an  interest  charge  of  $500  per  year,  or  five 
cents  per  ton.  Depreciation  of  plant,  figuring 
the  life  at  twenty  years,  would  mean  $500 
more  per  year,  or  another  five  cents  per  ton. 
Cost  of  delivery,  Mr.  Beach  said  would  run 
between  forty  and  seventy-five  cents  per  ton. 
He  would  give  fifty  cents  as  an  average.  A 
weigher  would  mean  nine  cents  per  ton.  An¬ 
other  man  to  help  the  weigher,  would  cost 
nine  cents  per  ton  rriore.  Compensation  in¬ 
surance  two  cents  per  ton.  Other  charges,  as 
follows:  General  office  expenses,  twelve  cents. 
An  outside  man  to  solicit  orders  and  look 
after  collections,  ten  cents.  For  advertising. 


Plans  of  Organizing  an  Insurance  De¬ 
partment  Were  Discussed — A  Long  List 
of  Interesting  Addresses  and  Reports. 

five  cents.  Proprietor’s  salary,  fifteen  cents. 
Bad  accounts,  two  cents.  Shrinkage  of  coal, 
discounts  to  customers,  etc.,  five  cents.  All 
in  all,  Mr.  Beach  figured  $1.58  per  ton  as  the 
cost  of  handling  a  ton  of  coal  in  the  average 
retail  yard. 

“A  dealer’s  profits,”  he  said,  “should  be 
added  on  after  j'ou  know  what  it  costs  you 
to  put  coal  in  your  customers  bin,” 

On  Friday  evening  the  meml)ers  of  the  as¬ 
sociation  were  guests  of  the  Lehigh  Valley 
Coal  Sales  Company,  Delaware,  Lackawanna 
&  Western  Coal  Company,  The  Philadelphia 
&  Reading  Coal  &  I  ron  Company,  Messrs. 
Dickson  &  Eddy,  Williams  &  Peters,  Mills- 
paugh  &  Green  of  Syracuse,  and  McEwean 
Coal  Company  of  Albany,  and  the  Schenectady 
Coal  Company  of  Schenectady,  at  a  banquet, 
which  was  held  in  the  ball  room  of  the  Onon¬ 
daga.  Two  hundred  and  fifty  attended  this 
banquet.  Vice-president  H.  G.  Dewey,  pre¬ 
sided  as  toastmaster. 

•  At  the  Saturday  morning  session,  Edward 
Schmidt,  president  of  the  Long  Island  Coal 
Dealers’  and  Building  Material  Association, 
talked  on  organization.  Mr.  Schmidt  pro¬ 
posed  a  plan  for  building  up  the  state  organ¬ 
ization  into  a  very  useful  body,  organizing  the 
cities  and  country  separately,  dividing  the 
state  into  zones,  so  to  speak.  Mr.  Schmidt 
said  that  local  conditions  were  not  ideal,  due 
to  the  fact  that  the  coal  dealers  were  usually 
unacquainted  with  their  competitors. 

Mr.  Schmidt  believes  that  a  great  deal  can 
be  accomplished  for  the  association  by  having 
local  meetings.  There  are  a  lot  of  problems 
that  are  sectional,  which  he  believes  can  be 
solved  by  having  the  dealers  of  a  iiarticular 
section  work  together. 

Following  his  talk  there  was  a  general  dis¬ 
cussion,  in  which  his  plan  for  organizing  the 
state  according  to  zones,  was  favorably  com¬ 
mented  upon, 

Charles  Dorrance,  general  superintendent  of 
the  Hudson  Coal  Company,  made  a  talk  on 
costs  of  operating.  Twice  a  month  said  Mr. 
Dorrance,  an  analyzed  cost  sheet  covering 
each  of  the  twenty-eight  operations  of  the 
Hudson  Coal  Company,  was  placed  on  his 
desk.  On  these  sheets  appear  J50  separate 
items  of  cost.  He  knows  to  a  fraction  what 
it  costs  to  mine  a  ton  of  coal,  and  when 
these  cost  sheets  are  presented,  they  are 
studied  closely  to  find  if  there  has  been  an 
increase,  and  if  so,  plans  are  immediately 
formed  to  overcome  this  increase.  The  mines 
that  are  under  his  supervision  produce  betweep 
five  and  six  million  tons  annually.  Shortly, 
Air.  Dorrance  believes,  they  will  have  a  cost 
sheet  presented  more  frequently,  weekly  or 
even  bi-weekly.  In  the  cement  trade  he  said 
operators  have  a  daily  ,  cost  sheet.  He  said 
that  in  coal  mining  the  difference  between 
profit  and  loss  is  becoming  smaller  and 
smaller. 

Air.  Dorrance  said  that  there  were  two 
great  coal  reserves  in  the  anthracite  field,  one 
in  the  northern  field  and  the  other  in  the 
southern  field.  The  southern  field  has  the 
larger  of  the  reserves,  this  field  having  large 
veins,  in  narrow  valleys,  with  heavy  pitches, 
rhese  veins  go  down  to  2,000  and  3,000  feet, 
and  the  problem  of  mining  coal  at  these  lower 
depths  is  still  to  be  solved.  Dealers  can  rest 
assured,  he  said,  that  it  is  going  to  cost  more 
to  mine  these  lower  measures  than  it  is  cost- 
m,g  to  mine  coal  today. 

In  the  northern  field  the  coal  measures  are 
in  wide  flat  basins,  but  the  veins  are  thin. 
The  great  problem  at  present  in  the  northern 
field  is  that  of  transportation.  Also  in  the 
northern  field  they  are  now  mining  small  veins 
from  twenty-ei.ght  to  thirty  inches,  which  were 
not  feasible  to  mine  some  years  ago.  In  min¬ 
ing  these  thin  veins,  contract  miners  have 
to  be  paid  higher  rates. 

Mr.  Dorrance  said  that  the  new  Pennsyl¬ 
vania  compensation  act  will  cost  the  Fludson 
Coal  Company  approximately  $500,000,  which 


\\'ill  mean  ten  cents  a  ton  on  their  produc¬ 
tion.  Nearly  fifty  per  cent  of  this  is  steam 
coal  which  must  sell  in  competition  with  bi¬ 
tuminous  coal,  and  it  is  but  fair  to  assume 
that  the  cost  of  insurance  must  be  placed 
against  the  domestic  sizes,  which  would  mean 
an  increase  in  price  of  about  twenty  cents  a 
ton. 

I  he  pumping  problem  is  becoming  more 
serious,  said  Air.  Dorrance.  This  is  due  to 
the  fact  that  there  are  now  many  subsidences 
of  surface,  and  more  water  is  getting  into  the 
mines.  Throughout  regions  he  said  that  the 
amount  of  water  pumped  out  of  the  mines  av¬ 
eraged  thirteen  tons  to  each  ton  of  coal,  and 
this  is  gradually  becoming  heavier. 

In  mining  a  thirty-inch  vein,  he  said,  that 
they  face  very  serious  cost  problems.  They 
have  to  drive  the  gangways  full  standard 
height,  and  to  do  this,  they  have  to  take  out 
two  of  three  feet  of  bottom  rock,  which  is 
rock  contractors  work.  This  is  expensive  and 
slow.  Also  in  some  of  these  thin  veins,  forty 
to  fifty  per  cent  of  the  coal  has  to  be  left 
in  the  ground  to  support  the  surface. 

Another  serious  problem  is  the  transporta¬ 
tion  of  coal  underground.  While  the  thin 
veins  are  being  worked  out  and  gangways  are 
being  driven  further,  trackage  has  to  be  in¬ 
creased.  At  their  Olyphant  plant  there  are 
125  miles  of  railroad  underground.  This 
means  that  twenty-five  men  are  kept  con¬ 
stantly  at  work  to  keep  this  track  in  condi¬ 
tion  so  that  it  can  be  used.  It  is  very  ex¬ 
pensive  to  keep  trackage  underground,  be¬ 
cause  the  acid  mine  water  does  a  great  deal 
of  damage  to  the  rail  and  connections.  At 
the  Colebrook  mine,  they  have  fifty-two  miles 
of  track  underground.  At  their  twenty-eight 
operations  they  have  as  much  railroad  track 
underground  as  has  the  entire  Delaware  & 
Hudson  system  on  tlie  surface. 

Air.  Dorrance  said  that  the  dealers  should 
appreciate  that  the  anthracite  companies  can¬ 
not  give  them  the  same  grade  of  coal  that 
was  mined  thirty  years  ago.  It  is  impossible 
today  to  give  the  bri.ght,  glossy  coal  that 
was  shipped  in  the  past.  The  quality  and  ap¬ 
pearance  has  become  poorer.  The  cream  of 
the  coal  has  already  been  shipped.  It  is  ap¬ 
preciated  that  all  the  coal  that  goes  to  mar¬ 
ket  is  not  perfect,  but  he  told  of  the  great 
difficulties  that  the  operators  now  have  in 
mining  coal  from  .great  depths.  The  compa¬ 
nies  have  to  make  allowances  for  coal  that  is 
not  up  to  standard,  and  it  means  an  extra  cost 
on  all  coal,  as  all  allowances  go  on  the  cost 
sheet. 

Mr.  Dorrance  believes  that  very  shortly  an 
increase  in  the  price  of  coal  at  the  mine  must 
come  aliout  due  to  the  increase  in  operating 
costs. 

Recently  the  association  elected  Air.  J.  F. 
Ringueber.g  to  be  field  secretary.  Mr.  Ringue- 
ber.g  came  with  the  association  just  about  a 
month  ago.  In  the  future  he  will  travel 
throughout  the  state,  and  his  work  will  be  to 
increase  the  membership.  At  the  Saturday 
morning  session.  Air.  Rin.gueberg  read  a  paper 
on  “system.” 

The  election  of  officers  and  directors  for 
the  ensuin.g  3'ear  resulted  as  follows: 

F’resident,  Frank  H.  Beach.  Binghamton, 
N.  Y.;  first  vice-president,  H.  G.  Dewey, 
Gloversville,  N.  Y.;  second  vice-president, 
Carl  L.  .-Amos,  Syracuse,  N.  Y.;  treasurer, 
C.  B.  .Staats,  Albany,  N.  Y.;  secretary,  L.  V. 
Shepard,  Elmira,  N.  Y. 

The  directors  elected  were:  J.  E.  Van 
Deusen,  Gowanda,  N.  Y.;  J.  Scott  Baldwin, 
IHmira,  N.  Y.;  Fred  Davey,  Amsterdam,  N.  AC; 
W.  11.  Upson,  Lockport,  N.  AC;  C.  G.  Hickett, 
Auburn,  N.  Y.;  M.  T.  Bannigan,  Utica,  N.  A’.; 
A\C  C.  Baxter,  Troy,  N.  Y.:  B.  LC  Taylor, 
Olean  N.  AC;  E.  \C  Sidell,  Poughkeepsie, 
N.  AC;  .A.  A.  Do.vle,  Rochester,  N.  Y. ;  E.  B. 
.Ashton,  Saratoga,  N.  Y.;  R.  A.  Downey. 
Oswego,  N.  A^.;‘  and  James  Gaffers,  Schnec- 
tady,  N,  AC 

Upon  the  invitation  of  E.  B.  Ashton  of 
■Saratoga  .Springs,  this  city,  was  selected  for 
the  place  of  the  next  annual  meeting. 

Following  the  Saturday  morning  session,  all 
of  the  dealers  were  guests  of  the  Hudson  Coal 
Company  at  a  delightful  luncheon  which  was 
served  at  the  Onondaga. 


No.  18] 


THE  BEACK  DIAMOND 


353 


PRICE  OP  COAL 
IN  DOLIARS  PER 
TON  OF  2,000 
POUNDS 

(A) 


-IOC 
-  110 
•  120 

•  130 

•  140 

•  150 
16C 

170 
■  180 
•190 
''■j^P'.OO 


TOTAL  COST 
OF  COAX 
(B)  (C) 


WEIGHT  OF  COAL- 
IN  POUNDS 
(D)  (S) 

100  ‘ 


--  250 


•  $3.00 

3.50 

'  *14.00 

450 

-  |5.00 
350 

•  $6.00 


1<P 

lOj^ 


15j< 

25j^ 

30^ 

40f 

50^ 

60^ 
'  70j^ 
80^ 

90^ 

1.00 


1.50 


2.00 

2.50 

3.0 


60^ 

70^ 

80^ 

90^ 

11.00 


$1.50 


150  -- 


^  ^  ioo.--  - 


•$2T00 

$2  .60 
$3.00 

$4.00 

$6.00^ 

'$6 .00 
$7.00 
$8.00 

$9.00 

$10.00 

$15.00 

$20.00 

$25.00 

$30.00 


250 

300- 

350 

400- 

450 

500- 

550 

600, 

700- 

800. 

900m 

1000^ 


This  Chart  Figures  the  Price  on  Odd-Sized  Lots  of  Coal. 


The  chart  reproduced  herewith  will  be 
found  useful  by  all  coal  men  for  computing 
the  cost  of  any  weight  of  coal  at  any  price 
per  ton. 

All  the  dealer  needs  is  a  straightedge,  or  a 
string  that  can  be  pulled  straight,  as  indicated 
by  dotted  lines  on  the  chart,  by  means  of 
which  he  can  solve  two  problems. 

For  instance,  at  $3  per  ton,  .300  pounds  of 
coal  will  cost  thirty  cents.  It  is  important 
to  note  that  columns  “B”  and  “D”  are  used 


Draft  the  Important  Factor. 

(Concluded  from  page  345.) 
in  the  feed  door.  Then  the  progress  of  the  fire 
was  watched  for  about  a  half  hour. 

For  the  first  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes  there 
were  miniature  explosions  at  the  rate  of  one 
about  every  thirty  seconds.  The  furnace,  in 
fact,  behaved  very  much  like  a  slow  moving 
locomotive.  Little  puffs  of  smoke  came  out  of 
the  draft  slide  in  the  feed  door  at  regular  in¬ 
tervals.  All  the  while  a  volume  of  smoke  was 
pouring  up  the  chimney.  This  did  not  all  come 
from  the  bituminous  coal.  Rather,  the  color 
of  part  of  it  indicated  that  some  of  it  came 
from  the  coke.  This  fact  was  afterwards  proved 
by  firing  the  coke  alone  in  the  same  way.  It 
was  true  that  the  coke  gave  off  quite  a  volume 
of  smoke  when  the  fire  was  smothered. 

There  was  not  much  point  to  this  experiment 
other  than  to  indicate  what  already  had  been 
said,  that  intelligent  firing  of  a  household  furnace, 
with  anything  but  anthracite,  demands  that  the 


together.  Or,  using  column  “E”  for  3,000 
pounds  of  coal,  we  use  column  “C”  and  find 
that  the  cost  of  3,000  pounds  is  $3. 

Again,  3,300  pounds  at  $3.50  per  ton  costs 
$5.77.  Do  you  see?  Always  use  columns 
■‘C”  and  “E”  together,  anl  “B”  and  “D”  to¬ 
gether.  Using  “B”  and  “D”  we  find  that  330 
pounds  at  $3.50  per  ton  will  cost  about  fifty- 
eight  cents.  The  eight  cents  is  “estimated” 
easily  with  the  eye. 

Just  a  little  practice  with  the  chart  and  you’ll 
he  an  expert.  N.  G.  Near. 


glowing  bed  of  coal  shall  not  be  covered  com¬ 
pletely  at  any  time. 

Losing  the  Fine  Coal. 

Mr.  Stahmer  proves  a  point  which  had  come 
up  before.  He  says  that  in  starting  a  fire  he 
lost  quite  a  percentage  of  the  fine  coal  through 
the  grate  bars  for  the  first  hour.  Of  course,  it 
it  possible  to  handle  that  matter  in  the  way  he 
did,  namely,  to  let  the  coal  fall  through  into 
a  clean  ash  pit  and  then  shovel  it  again  into 
the  fire.  That,  however,  is  not  a  good  method. 
Perhaps  a  better  one  is  that  employed  some 
years  ago  by  Edward  H.  Taylor,  who  used 
some  large  coal  to  get  a  bed  or  coke  on  his 
grate  bars  and  then  fired  the  fine  coal  on  top. 
The  coke  prevents  the  fine  coal  from  falling 
through.  This  can  he  done  in  any  number  of 
ways.  If  mine  rim  coal  is  used,  it  is  always 
l)ossible  to  pick  out  some  large  sized  pieces.  If 
the  small  sized  coal  only  is  used,  it  perhaps  will 
he  best  to  get  a  small  amount  of  large  sized 
coal  to  use  in  starting  the  fire. 


In  connection  with  Mr.  Stahmer’s  experiment, 
quite  a  number  of  objections  have  been  made  to 
the  use  of  New  River  or  Pocahontas  coal  be¬ 
cause,  while  it  gives  an  ideal  fire,  it  is  so  easy 
to  track  the  coal  through  the  house.  Mr.  Stahmer 
and  others  make  this  suggestion. 

“The  delivered  price  of  smokeless  mine  run 
is  so  much  below  that  of  any  coal  which  com¬ 
pares  with  it  in  value,  a  householder  can  well 
afford  to  buy  a  loose  fitting  pair  of  overshoes 
which  he  can  put  on  over  his  house  shoes  when 
he  goes  to  fire  his  furnace.  The  firing  having 
been  done,  these  can  be  taken  off  and  left  in 
the  basement,  while  he  goes  upstairs  with  clean 
shoes.  The  dirt,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  has  no  ob¬ 
jection  when  it  can  so  easily  and  cheaply  be 
overcome. 

“The  other  objection  to  the  coal  is  the  fact 
that  the  dust  from  it  is  inclined  to  rise  from 
shoveling  and  fly  through  the  house.  This  can 
be  overcome  by  the  use,  every  few  days,  of  an 
ordinary  sprinkling  can  of  water.  That  not 
only  keeps  down  the  dust,  but  actually  makes 
the  coal  burn  better.” 


Field  of  the  Retailer. 

(.Concluded  from  page  349.) 
every  precious  stone  or  metal  known  to  science. 
Kentucky  history  was  searched  for  the  names 
of  distinguished  presidents,  governors,  secretaries 
of  state,  explorers  and  authors.  Altogether  some 
900  names  were  suggested  by  coal  dealers  and 
carefully  tabulated  by  the  office  force. 

From  the  beginning  the  name  “Black  Beauty” 
seemed  to  attract  consideration.  All  the  judges, 
from  the  president  to  the  office  boy,  had  read 
the  book,  “Black  Beauty.”  Evidently,  also,  a 
lot  of  the  coal  dealers  had  read  the  book,  for  be¬ 
fore  the  end  of  the  contest  nine  different  dealers 
from  different  states  had  all  suggested  this  name. 
Possibly  the  recollection  of  the  book  influenced 
the  judges  to  some  extent  in  their  attraction  for 
the  name  of  the  horse  who  told  such  a  simple 
and  convincing  story  in  the  interest  of  kindness 
towards  animals,  but  possibly  also  the  fact  that 
a  big  Louisville  race  meeting  was  on,  with  the 
city  filled  with  men  who  had  traveled  for  thou¬ 
sands  of  miles  from  east,  north,  west  and  south, 
to  witness  Kentucky’s  historic  sport  at  its  most 
historic  race  course,  brought  to  mind  the  fact 
that  the  horse  is  significant  of  a  Kentucky  tra¬ 
dition  which  has  spread  not  only  throughout  the 
country,  but  all  over  the  world.  The  “Black 
Beauty”  advocates,  therefore,  argued  that  the  fig¬ 
ure  of  a  thoroughbred  race  horse  was  an  en¬ 
tirely  appropriate  emblem  to  apply  to  a  thorough¬ 
bred  Kentucky  commercial  product,  and  that  this 
emblem  joined  with  the  pleasing  name  of  “Black 
Beauty’’  best  answered  the  requirements  of  the 
contest. 

The  first  to  suggest  the  name  Black  Beauty 
were  Messrs.  Fisher  Brothers  of  New  Paris,  Ind., 
and  L.  &  N.  63589,  containing  block  coal,  was 
shipped  to  them. 


Western  Maryland  Car  Order 


The  Western  Maryland  Railway  Company 
has  placed  with  the  Pullman  Company  an 
order  for  2,000  hopper  cars,  to  cost  approxi¬ 
mately  $3,000,000.  This  is  one  of  the  largest 
car  orders  placed  by  any  of  the  eastern  roads 
for  some  time.  It  shows  what  this  company 
expects  in  the  way  of  increasing  its  coal  and 
other  tonnage  from  the  opening  of  the  mines 
of  the  Consolidation  Coal  Company  and  on 
the  coal  tracts  the  company  itself  controls. 
The  company  is  building  branch  lines  to  reach 
the  new  openings  of  the  Consolidation  Com¬ 
pany,  both  in  \Vest  Virginia  and  in  Penn¬ 
sylvania. 

The  present  order  is  for  steel  hopper  cars 
and  the  contract  was  secured  by  the  Pullman 
Company  in  competition  with  the  other  car 
building  concerns.,  ft  is  said  the  railway 
officials  will  endeavor  to  push  the  delivery  of 
the  cars  as  the  supply  is  hardly  sufficient  on 
any  of  the  roads  in  that  territory  to  meet  the 
steadily  growing  demands. 

The  new  equipment  will  place  the  Western 
Maryland  in  .good  position  for  the  handling 
of  this  traffic  which  it  is  now  getting  in 
volume. 


J.  J.  Burke,  who  for  eight  years  was  con¬ 
nected  with  the  marine  department  of  the  New 
England  Coal  &  Coke  Company,  has  resigned  to 
accept  a  position  of  Boston  representative  of  C. 
W.  Chadwick  &  Co.,  a  New  York  ship  broker¬ 
age  concern. 


354 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND, 


[October  30 


PUBIiISHED  EVEBY  SATURDAY  BY  THE 
BIiACE  DIAMOND  COMPANY. 

Subscription  price,  $3.00  per  year,  postage  prepaid,  to 
any  postoffice  in  the  United  States.  Foreign  subscrip¬ 
tion  price,  $5.00  per  year.  Single  copies,  20  cents. 
Entered  at  Chicago  postoffice  as  second-class  matter. 

Address  all  communications  to 

THE  BEACH  DIAMOND  COMPANY  (INC.) 

Main  office,  Manhattan  building,  Chicago. 


Branch  Offices. 

New  York,  29  Broadway. 
Philadelphia,  1400  Land  Title  building. 
Pittsburgh,  1502  Oliver  building. 


Saturday,  October  30,  1915. 


INDEX. 


Special  Articles. 

Page 


Draft  the  Important  Factor  in  a  House  Furnace....  345 

News  and  Hints  About  Retail  Advertising .  346 

Emigration  vs.  Immigration .  347 

Plant  of  Taggart  &  Co.  at  Savannah,  Ga .  348 

Field  of  the  Retail  Dealer .  349 

Hocking  Valley  Rate  Hearing  Postponed .  350 

A  “Sensation”  Nipped .  350 

R.  S.  F.  Feeney  Marries .  350 

Tax  Law  Unconstitutional .  350 

What  Dealers  in  Many  Cities  Are  Doing .  351 

Annual  Meeting  of  New  York  State  Association....  352 
This  Chart  Figures  the  Price  on  Odd-Sized  Lots  of 

(ioal  .  353 

Editorial  .  354 

Labor  Outlook  in  Central  Pennsylvania .  355 

Association  Reports .  355 

News  Local  to  Chicago .  356 

Death  of  S.  J.  Patterson .  356 

Facts  Which  Determine  Clur  Export  Prospects .  357 

■Army  of  Coal  Miners .  15 

Market  Reports. 

General  Review  and  Chicago . 358 

Pittsburgh,  Indianapolis  and  St.  Louis .  359 

Denver  and  Oklahoma .  360 

Detroit,  Cleveland  and  Birmingham .  361 

New  York .  362 

Philadelphia  and  Duluth .  363 

New  England,  Buffalo  and  Baltimore .  364 

Hocking  Valley .  15 


Making  the  Furnace  Behave. 

A  month  ago  we  printed  an  article  sug¬ 
gesting  that  the  ordinary  household  fur¬ 
nace  has  great  flexibility  which  can  be 
jiroved  and  improved  by  a  little  experi¬ 
menting.  The  natural  suggestion  was  that 
the  retailers  should  get  acquainted  with  the 
furnaces  in  which  their  coal  is  to  be  burned. 

Before  urging  this  suggestion  further  it 
is,  perhaps,  well  to  take  into  account  the 
matter  of  policy  involved.  Most  retailers 
will  say:  “What  is  the  use  of  teaching  the 
householder  fuel  economy,  when  by  doing 
so  we  may  teach  him  to  save  a  ton  or  so  of 
coal  in  the  winter  and  therefore  cut  our¬ 
selves  out  of  that  business?  That  is  edu¬ 
cating  the  customer  at  our  own  expense.” 

On  the  contrary,  isn’t  it  possible  that  if 
the  householder  buys  your  coal  and  does 
not  get  a  warm  house,  he  will  conclude  that 
your  coal  and  not  his  furnace  is  at  fault  ? 
W'ill  he  not  go  some  place  else  to  buy  some 
other  coal?  You  thus  will  lose  not  only  a 
ton  or  so  in  the  year,  but  all  of  his  business. 

The  householder  is  going  to  get  more 
comfort  and  satisfaction  out  of  his  furnace 
than  he  has  been  getting.  No  dealer  can 
stand  between  him  and  that  result.  If  the 
dealer  does  not  help  the  householder  to  get 
that  greater  comfort  he  is  going  to  the  re¬ 
tailer  who  will.  That  is  the  other  side  of 
the  argument. 

Now  about  furnace  flexibility.  It  will  be 
found  on  study  that  this  is  not  in  the  fur¬ 


nace  itself,  but  in  the  conditions  surround¬ 
ing  the  furnace.  The  Are  pot  does  not  burn 
the  coal.  It  can’t.  The  size  of  the  fire  pot 
means  nothing  at  all  except  that  it  indicates 
how  much  coal  can  be  fired  at  one  time,  and 
hence  how  long  it  will  hold  a  fire. 

The  conditions  surrounding  the  fire  pot 
are  everything.  That  is,  in  order  to  burn 
coal  you  must  have  air.  To  get  air 
you  must  have  “draft.”  One  house  will 
have  a  good,  even  draft  all  of  the  time ;  an¬ 
other  will  only  have  a  good  draft  when  the 
wind  is  blowing  from  a  certain  direction. 
One  will  give  a  strong  draft ;  another  a 
weak  one.  The  draft  is  the  principal  factor 
in  a  furnace. 

If  the  draft  is  strong  and  if  a  large  sized 
coal  is  used,  the  likelihood  is  that  the  air 
will  pass  through  the  fire  pot  without  doing 
any  real  work,  wherefore  the  householder 
will  have  a  big  fuel  bill  but  no  heat.  If  he 
wants  more  heat  and  smaller  fuel  bill,  he 
must  use  some  small  coal  with  his  big  in 
order  to  slow  down  the  air  movement. 

But,  if  the  draft  is  weak,  the  obvious 
suggestion  is  to  use  a  larger  size  of  coal. 
That  will  give  the  right  mixture  of  coal  and 
air  and  therefore  will  give  fuel  economy, 
or  more  heat  for  the  money.  If  the  draft 
is  not  good,  it  is  money  saved  in  the  long 
run  to  fix  it. 

This  matter  of  draft  is  one  which  can¬ 
not  be  decided  by  any  known  rule.  It  is 
impossible  to  measure  the  chimney  and  tell 
by  the  height  and  the  diameter  how  much 
air  will  be  pulled  through  the  fire  pot.  Such 
measurements,  although  most  carefully 
taken,  mean  nothing.  They  are  supposed 
to  mean  everything  but,  unfortunately,  they 
do  not.  It  is  impossible,  therefore,  by  tak¬ 
ing  measurements  to  tell  what  size  of  coal 
should  be  used  in  a  furnace. 

The  only  thing  to  do,  really,  is  to  try 
the  furnace  out.  It  should  be  tried  first 
with  large  coal,  because,  as  a  rule,  the  draft 
is  weak.  If  that  does  not  fit,  then  moderate¬ 
sized  coal  should  be  tried.  Later  various 
mixtures  of  sizes  can  be  tested  to  see  which 
one  gives  the  best  results. 

Our  own  experiments  suggest  that  when 
the  draft  is  quite  strong,  different  sized 
coal  should  be  used  for  different  tempera¬ 
tures.  That  is,  size  of  coal  should  be  used 
in  addition  to  damper  and  check  draft  to 
control  the  air.  For  example,  when  a  slow 
fire  is  desired,  we  use  large  sized  anthra¬ 
cite  coal  exclusively  and  open  the  check 
draft.  When  a  hotter  fire  is  desired,  we 
supply  more  air  and  mix  in  some  small  coal 
with  the  large. 

Another  suggestion  presents  itself  so 
soon  as  a  man  starts  to  experiment.  Many 
furnaces  are  really  efficient  but  they  never 
really  warm  a  house.  That  is,  they  may 
deliver  hot  air  to  the  ducts  or  hot  water 
to  the  pipes  and  still  the  place  is  not  warm. 
The  fault  clearly  is  not  in  the  furnace,  but 
in  the  windows  which  let  in  enough  cold 
air  to  blow  all  the  heat  away.  If  the  re¬ 
tailer  finds  that  difficulty,  it  is  up  to  him  to 
suggest  not  that  the  people  burn  more  coal 
but  that  they  put  on  weather  strips.  Often 
that  is  the  only  way  that  he  will  convince 
the  customer  that  he  is  not  delivering  a 
poor  quality  of  coal. 

This  question  of  furnace  flexibility  and 
fuel  economy  is  one  which  appeals  strongly 
to  the  householder.  The  retailer  is  going 
to  make  a  permanent  customer  only  by 
making  definite  and  money-saving  sugges¬ 
tions  along  these  lines. 


Two  Opposing  Courses. 

Heretofore  most  of  the  retail  dealers 
have  had  only  one  purpose  behind  their 
business  program — to  increase  the  price  of 
coal  so  that  they  can  get  the  desired  profit 
while  handling  a  moderate  tonnage.  In 
fact,  “getting  the  price”  has  been  the  sole 
aim  and  only  ambition  of  all  business  men. 
A  man  is  not  considered  a  good  merchant 
unless  he  can  get  a  big  price  for  his  wares 
and  make  the  people  like  to  pay  it. 

In  pursuing  such  a  course  in  business, 
two  serious  obstacles  are  to  be  overcome. 
Consequently  two  serious  objections  exist 
to  the  program  itself.  One  of  these  is  that 
it  requires  a  large  amount  of  wizardry  to 
convince  a  buyer  to  pay  a  big  price  for  a 
thing  and  really  like  to  pay  it.  Only  a  very 
few  men  in  all  the  history  of  business  have 
ever  been  able  to  do  it,  even  though  literally 
millions  have  tried.  A  most  conspicuous 
example  of  such  success — conspicuous  be¬ 
cause  he  had  to  divide  honors  with  so  few 
— was  the  late  Marshall  Field. 

His  store  can  not  only  “get  the  price,” 
but  actually  makes  the  people  like  to  pay  it. 
Most  men,  when  they  try  to  duplicate  his 
success,  succeed  in  making  the  customers 
hopelessly  dissatisfied  and  cause  them  to 
cry  out,  “extortion.” 

The  difference  is  this :  Marshall  Field 
made  his  store  a  great  spectacle.  He  sold  it 
to  the  people  over  and  over  again.  Thus 
they  paid  for  the  show  and  not  for  the 
goods.  Other  men  tried  to  get  the  price 
for  the  goods  alone.  They  did  not  provide 
the  show  and  hence  failed. 

The  second  serious  objection  is:  When 
a  man  succeeds  in  “getting  the  price”  he 
invites  ruinous  competition.  Marshall 
Field  evaded  them  only  because  he  spent 
so  much  money  on  his  magnificent  store. 
No  one  but  another  of  his  kind  could  dupli¬ 
cate  his  investment  and  display. 

What  safeguarded  Field  &  Company, 
however,  does  not  protect  the  average  re¬ 
tail  coal  man.  He  has  nothing  magnificent 
about  his  yard  and  equipment  to  make  that 
display  which  will  attract  the  people.  On 
the  contrary,  his  few  sheds  and  wagons  can 
be  duplicated  by  anyone  with  any  capital  at 
all.  Therefore,  when  the  coal  man  gets  a 
good  profit,  he  has  no  way  to  protect  it. 
And  the  fact  of  profit  alone  is  enough  to 
invite  an  overwhelming  flood  of  competi¬ 
tion. 

The  alternate  course  open  to  the  coal 
merchant  is  to  cut  the  cost  of  handling  coal 
and  then  to  cut  the  price  down  to  a  point 
where  no  man  can  meet  it  unless  he  em¬ 
ploys  similar  ingenuity  in  management  and 
like  devices  for  handling  coal.  The  only 
objection  to  such  a  plan  is  that  to  so  equip 
a  yard  the  retailer  must  have  some  money. 

The  retailer,  when  he  trys  to  “get  the 
price,”  is  wooing  a  fickle  goddess.  That  is, 
he  is  running  counter  to  the  wishes  and 
inclinations  of  the  people.  He  is  trying  to 
get  them  to  pay  a  big  price  for  a  thing  when 
their  natural  inclination  is  to  pay  a  small 
price.  He  is  under  constant  necessity, 
therefore,  to  charm  them  in  order  to  keep 
them  in  a  mood  to  buy  at  his  price.  He 
knows  all  the  while  that  they  are  likely  at 
any  moment  to  cut  and  run,  leaving  him 
without  patronage. 

The  man  who  cuts  both  cost  and  price 
and  uses  that  as  his  big  appeal  is  wooing  a 
constant  goddess  because  he  is  falling  in 
line  with  the  innate  desire  of  humanity 
which  is  to  get  everything  at  a  minimum 
price. 


No.  18] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


355 


Labor  Outlook  in  Central  Pennsylvania  Field.  Association  Reports. 


Philadelphia,  October  27— (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — The  presence  of  John  P.  White, 
international  president  of  the  United  Mine  Work¬ 
ers  of  America  in  the  Central  Pennsylvania  fields, 
has  turned  the  full  glare  of  the  limelight  on  that 
section.  Right  at  this  particular  time  when  cars 
are  scarce  and  the  men  to  work  the  mines  are 
thinning  out  and  the  orders  for  immediate  de¬ 
liveries  are  pouring  into  the  selling  agencies,  a 
horse-fly  in  the  soup  is  about  as  welcome,  in 
thought,  as  what  the  possible  effect  of  the  ener¬ 
getic  Jawn  P.  spells  out. 

With  the  central  Pemisylvania  operators  it  is  a 
serious  matter.  The  first  streak  of  profit  that  has 
come  their  way,  since  goodness  knows  when,  is 
within  hand’s  grasp.  Yet  there  is  the  menace  of 
April  1st  (when  the  agreement  expires)  always 
confronting  them. 

White  is  putting  in  “his  best  licks”  right  at  the 
present  time  to  gather  as  many  of  the  miners 
in  District  No.  2  under  the  wing  of  the  union, 
and  the  word  has  gone  forth,  as  soon  as  the 
foundation  is  laid  the  meeting  of  the  delegates 
will  be  held  and  the  extent  of  the  demands  ex¬ 
posed. 

Eastern  consumers  of  bituminous  coal  from 
central  Pennsylvania  have  been  inclined  to  dis¬ 
count  the  possibility  of  a  strike  in  this  section. 
Within  the  past  couple  of  weeks  there  has  been  a 
great  change  in  the  sentiment.  This  has  been 
traceable  to  a  source.  The  Pennsylvania  has 
locked  up  more  money  than  is  the  capitalization 
of  a  national  bank  or  two  in  coal  piles  that  they 
have  stocked  for  emergency’s  sake. 

Again,  the  very  condition  of  prosperity  before 
alluded  to,  is  another  factor  in  the  situation  that 
may  be  called  a  harbinger  of  strikes.  Men  who 
are  glad  of  work  are  not  men  who  lay  down  their 
picks.  And  that  brings  this  particular  discussion 
to  the  point  of  argument  pro  and  con. 

While  many  of  the  persons  interviewed 
were  of  the  opinion  that  there  would  be  a 
strike,  yet  they  gave  as  their  reason,  “because 
it  is  to  be  expected.”  For  forty  years  wiseacres 
predicted  a  European  war,  but  he  would  have 
been  the  seventh  son  of  a  prophet  who  could 
have  named  the  Sarejevo  incident  as  being  the 
firebrand. 

Those  who  gave  their  opinions  that  there  will 
be  no  strike  have  been  more  specific.  Here  is 
set  down  the  points  of  argument  on  which  they 
are  willing  to  base  their  case : 

First,  the  financial  condition  of  the  United 
Mine  Workers.  It  has  been  repeatedly  shown 
that  their  treasury  was  sadly  depleted,  and  that 
District  No.  3  has  not  been,  at  all  backward  in 
the  heavy  loans  that  it  has  made  to  the  national 
organization  in  the  long  weary  fights  that  have 
been  made  in  Ohio  and  Colorado.  Of  itself  the 
district  could  not  sustain  a  strike  at  this  time 
with  40,000  or  more  men  to  take  care  of. 

Second,  for  over  two  years  the  miners  have 
been  on  short  time  and  on  poor  wages  and  this 
has  been  even  more  acute  in  the  past  year.  The 
disposition  is  to  go  ahead  and  work  a  full  day 
now  that  there  is  a  prospect  of  labor  and  car 
shortage  and  industrial  conditions  that  will  war¬ 
rant  full  time  for  those  who  want  to  work. 

Third,  wages  are  as  high  as  can  be  stretched 
by  the  bituminous  operators.  At  the  present  time 
pick  mining  is  on  a  basis  of  seventy-two  cents  a 
ton.  machine  mining  at  forty-five,  and  day  labor 
at  thirty-three  cents  an  hour.  While  the  size  of 
the  veins  are  smaller  in  District  No.  2  than  in 
other  sections,  this,  however,  is  said  to  be  as 
high  if  not  a  higher  wage  than  is  paid  anywhere 
in  the  other  union  coal  fields.  Again  there  is  a 
limitation  that  even  labor  must  regard,  and  that 
is  competition.  Non-union  and  even  union  fields 
within  railroad  rate  zones  nearby  will  have  the 
whip-hand  if  the  mining  cost  is  increased  to  any 
perceptible  degree. 

Fourth,  a  lack  of  cooperation  between  the  men 
in  District  No.  2  and  the  anthracite  union  work¬ 
men.  It  is  claimed  that  in  the  central  Pennsyl¬ 
vania  district  there  is  still  a  keen  remembrance 
of  the  contributions  that  were  made  to  the  hard 
coal  workers  during  the  strike  of  1902  and  the 
failure  of  the  anthracite  men  to  reciprocate  when 
came  on  the  strike  of  1900. 

Fifth— a  sociological  reason — that  much  of  the 
“galavanting”  element  in  the  miner’s  ranks  has 
been  done  away  with  and  that  the  bulk  of  the 
men  that  are  now  in  District  No.  3  are  horne 
loving  through  long  association  and  are  not  dis¬ 
posed  to  go  off  at  half-cock. 

To  these  might  be  added  a  long  string  of  in¬ 
dividual  ideas,  but  it  is  not  the  individual  idea  of 
one  particular  area  that  can  he  jilaced  in  the  bal¬ 
ance  where  the  aggregate  totals  more  than  70,000 
men  to  be  affected. 


Now  let’s  take  the  reverse  side  of  the  ques¬ 
tion.  Let’s  see  what  those  who  can  smell  strike 
in  the  air  base  their  conclusions  on. 

First,  they  say  that  this  is  presidential  year, 
one  time  that  statesmen  and  professional  poli¬ 
ticians  are  inclined  to  do  everything  to  satiate 
labor  when  it  goes  on  a  rampage. 

Second,  that  the  shortage  in  men  and  the  bet¬ 
terment  of  industrial  conditions  gives  labor  the 
opening  long  sought  to  put  pressure  on  big  af¬ 
fairs  that  must  have  coal  to  produce  goods  that 
make  profit. 

Third,  that  the  expiration  of  the  anthracite 
agreement  coming  at  this  time  is  a  whip  that  will 
drive  the  operators  into  line,  both  in  the  hard 
and  soft  coal  regions. 

Fourth,  perfection  of  organization  in  the  bitu¬ 
minous  field,  full  working  time  and  a  long  “stock¬ 
ing”  season  means  plenty  of  money  passing  into 
the  coffers  of  the  unions  so  that  when  a  time 
comes  to  strike  there  will  be  a  rejuvenated  bank 
roll  that  will  amply  provide  the  sinews  of  war 
for  those  whose  interests  it  is  to  engineer  a 
strike. 

That  James  Purcell,  president  of  District  No. 
3,  is  a  radical  and  that  his  following  are  willing 
to  match  wits  with  the  employers  of  labor. 

While  this  takes  in  generalities  it  might  be 
well  to  look  at  the  things  that  are  being  whipped 
out  in  the  labor  camps  at  the  present  time.  Rec¬ 
ognition  of  the  union  is  one  of  the  things  that 
the  men  say  that  they  want  most.  It  is  estimated 
that  there  are  about  40,000  union  miners  in  the 
field  and  about  30,000  more  who  are  not  in  the 
ranks.  Of  this  last  number  there  are  about  one- 
half,  or  1.5,000,  who  submit  to  the  check-off,  leav¬ 
ing  a  like  number  who  are  working  in  mines 
where  unionism  is  not  tolerated.  And,  it  might 
be  said  in  passing,  that  a  large  number  of  this 
last  number  are  working  for  a  company  that  the 
labor  leaders  have  sought  for  years  to  unionize. 
That  these  could  be  or  would  be  forced  into 
their  ranks  would  be  considered  by  union  leaders 
a  great  feat. 

Next  the  labor  people  want  to  see  the  evil  of 
pick  mining  at  machine  rates  done  away  with. 
In  District  No.  2  this  is  said  to  be  most  flagrant. 
Miners  who  have  been  forced  into  this  sort  of 
work  declare  that  they  will  fight  to  the  bitter  end 
to  break  up  the  practice. 

As  in  the  hard  coal  fields  there  is  a  demand  for 
a  new  system  of  arbitration.  The  present  um¬ 
pire,  the  labor  men  say,  has  not  come  up  to  ex¬ 
pectations,  and  with  this  is  a  long  and  tiresome 
list  of  complaints. 

Payment  for  dead  work — taking  down  tops, 
lifting  bottoms,  etc. — is  another  form  of  conten¬ 
tion,  though  this  is  not  enough  for  the  men  to 
go  on  strike  for,  but  is  something  to  fight  over. 

That  the  men  have  “stuck  with  the  bosses” 
when  times  were  slim  and  when  there  was  not 
enough  money  coming  in  to  the  families  to  make 
life  worth  living,  and  now  that  better  prices  are 
paid  for  coal,  they  claim  they  are  entitled  to  an 
increase. 

So  much  for  the  men.  The  Clearfield  Bitu¬ 
minous  Operators’  Association,  with  offices  in  the 
Kurtz  building,  Clearfield,  and  with  B.  M.  Clark, 
Clearfield,  as  president ;  C.  H.  Rowland,  Phillips- 
burg,  vice-president,  and  John  C.  Forsyth,  secre¬ 
tary-treasurer,  have  different  views  on  the  mat¬ 
ter.  There  has  been  a  healthy  rally  to  the  mem¬ 
bership  of  the  association  within  the  past  few 
months  and  it  is  promised  that  there  will  be 
plentv  of  opposition  to  any  radical  program  that 
the  men  may  advance. 


Receipts  of  coal  in  the  city,  according  to  re¬ 
ports  filed  with  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  dur¬ 
ing  September  were  2,136,139  tons  of  bituminous 
of  which  72,174  tons  were  by  river  and  3,063,955 
tons  were  by  rail.  This  compares  with  receipts 
in  September,  1914,  of  1,978,632  tons  of  which 
7,343  tons  were  by  river  and  1,971,289  tons 'were 
by  rail.  In  September  this  year  receipts  of 
anthracite  were  614  tons  and  coke  6,279  tons, 
compared  with  164  tons  of  anthracite  and  4,571 
tons  of  coke  in  September  last  year.  The  ship¬ 
ments  out  of  the  city  compare  as  follows ;  Sep¬ 
tember  this  year,  583,483  tons  bituminous,  23,833 
tons  by  river  and  559,660  tons  by  rail,  compared 
with  453,817  tons  of  bituminous,  8,369  by  river 
and  445,448  by  rail  in  September  last  year. 
Anthracite  shipments  in  September  this  year 
were  572  tons  and  also  there  were  5,494  tons  of 
coke,  while  in  September  last  year  509  tons  of 
anthracite  and  2,424  tons  of  coke  were  shipped 
out. 


Knoxville  Association. 

T.  O.  Busbee  of  the  Knoxville  Retail  Coal 
Dealers’  Credit  Association,  reports  that  the 
general  business  outlook  for  the  coming  season 
in  his  city  and  vicinity  is  very  bright,  and  that 
this  association  is  accomplishing  much  good 
for  its  members.  He  further  says; 

“For  the  last  two  winters  coal  dealers  of 
Knoxville  have  not  found  business  conditions 
in  this  city  favorable  for  making  any  money 
to  speak  of,  but  I  believe  the  majority  of 
dealers  are  anticipating  a  good  business 
through  the  coming  winter. 

“Virtually,  all  the  retailers  in  Knoxville  are 
now  getting  fair  prices  for  their  coal  and  are 
just  waiting  for  the  first  touch  of  real  winter 
weather  when  coal  will  take  another  advance. 

“The  association  is  in  a  very  good  condi¬ 
tion,  both  financially  and  in  co-operation 
among  the  members.  I  say  in  good  condition 
for  the  reason  that  it  is  very  difficult  to  keep 
all  the  association  members  in  line,  and  it  re¬ 
quires  a  great  deal  of  work  and  diplomacy 
on  the  part  of  the  secretary  to  keep  all  the 
members  enthused  with  the  right  spirit.  The 
two  things  that  I  consider  most  necessary  for 
the  welfare  of  any  association  are  the  social 
meetings  and  adjusting  all  complaints  immedi¬ 
ately  that  are  made  to  the  secretary. 

‘“The  secretary  has  special  police  powers 
and  looks  after  the  weighing  of  all  coal,  to 
see  that  all  parties  that  sell  fuel  comply  with 
the  city  ordinance  governing  the  sale  of  this 
commodity.  He  keeps  close  tab  on  every  car 
that  is  consigned  to  individuals,  and  if  he 
finds  that  this  particular  person  uses  a  por¬ 
tion  of  the  car  and  sells  the  balance  to  his 
friends  and  neighbors,  in  violation  of  the  city 
ordinance,  the  guilty  party  is  dealt  with  ac¬ 
cording  to  law.  This  method  has  proved 
effective  this  year  and  next  season  we  expect 
to  keep  the  carload  business,  other  than 
through  the  legitimate  dealer,  down  to  a  mini¬ 
mum.” 


M.-O.-I.  Association. 

Secretary  B.  F.  Nigh  of  the  Michigan-Ohio- 
Indiana  Coal  Association  reports  the  fact  that 
this  association  has  taken  in  sixteen  new  mem¬ 
bers  within  the  last  thirty  days,  and  expects  even 
a  larger  number  of  new  members  during  the 
next  month  as  a  vigorous  membership  cam¬ 
paign  is  being  carried  on. 

He  further  reports  that  the  claim  depart¬ 
ment  of  the  association  is  meeting  with  un¬ 
usual  success,  and  that  it  has  just  made  ad¬ 
justments  in  twenty  different  claims  amount¬ 
ing  to  about  .$400. 

Mr.  Nigh  says :  “Coal  conditions  seem  to 
be  in  great  deal  better  shape  than  they  were 
at  this  time  last  year.  There  has  commenced 
to  be  a  little  shortage  in  cars  on  some  of  the 
roads,  and  this  with  the  coming  of  winter  has 
created  a  demand  which,  of  course,  is  very  en¬ 
couraging  for  the  dealers.  Prices  are  rather 
firm,  and  there  seems  to  be  more  stability  in 
the  retail  market.” 


E.  F.  Whitnall. 


Edward  W’hitnall,  who  has  been  identified 
with  the  coal  and  building  material  business 
in  ^Milwaukee  for  the  last  twenty-five  years, 
is  president  of  the  Whitnall  Coal  &  Supply 
company.  He  has  associated  with  him,  Sum¬ 
ner  T.  Whitnall  as  vice-president,  John  T. 
Whitnall  as  secretary,  Charles  H.  Swan  as 
treasurer.,  Harold  E.  Whitnall,  J.  B.  Whitnall, 
Aid.  Robert  J.  Kempf,  Robert  S.  Fischer  and 
William  L.  Gradt.  A  well  equipped  office  and 
display  room  at  217  Caswell  block  furnishes 
every  facility  for  rendering  efficient  service  to 
all  of  their  patrons. 


W.  E.  Beaty,  for  a  number  of  years  presi¬ 
dent  of  the  Dow  Coal  Company,  of  McAlester, 
Oklahoma,  which  company  was  placed  in  the 
hands  of  receivers  last  March,  has  within  the 
week  secured  the  output  of  Pocahontas  Coal 
Company’s  mines  at  Haileyville,  and  will  place 
the  output  through  the  M.  B.  Schofield  Com¬ 
pany,  Oklahoma  City.  The  Pocahontas  mines, 
producing  an  excellent  grade  of  Wilburton 
vein  coal,  have  been  idle  for  some  months,  but 
will  resume  operations  immediately. 


356 


THE  BI.ACK  DIAMOND 


[October  30 


News  Local  to  Chicago. 


A  number  of  suits  have  been  entered  against 
b'red  P.  Howe,  who  has  operated  a  coal  yard 
at  Pullman  for  a  number  of  years. 

Henry  E.  Patrick,  general  sales  agent  of 
C.  M.  Moderwell  &  Co.,  was  in  St.  Louis  on 
Tuesday.  He  says  business  there  is  improv¬ 
ing  because  the  factories  are  running  fuller 
time. 

C.  A.  Reynolds,  formerly  with  the  Sunny- 
side  Coal  Company,  has  joined  the  sales  force 
of  the  New  Kentucky  Coal  Company,  and  has 
been  assigned  to  points  on  the  Burlington 
road  in  Illinois. 

The  Roberts  &  Shaefer  Company,  Chicago, 
closed  a  contract  Wednesday  with  the  Camp¬ 
bell’s  Creek  Coal  Company  of  Cincinnati,  Ohio, 
for  a  300-ton  per  hour  Marcus  patent  picking 
table  screen  equipment  for  immediate  instal¬ 
lation  at  Putney,  W.  Va. 

Gale  Conn,  general  sales  agent  for  the  Gil¬ 
more  &  Solomon  Coal  Mining  Company  at 
Davenport,  Iowa,  moved  his  family  and  house¬ 
hold  goods  to  his  new  Iowa  home  last  week, 
but  before  he  had  a  chance  to  get  settled  a 
fire  destroyed  his  new  home  and  its  entire 
contents. 

L.  Romanski,  president  of  the  Atlas  Coal 
&  Coke  Company,  left  the  early  part  of  this 
week  for  a  trip  to  the  mines  of  the  Wisconsin 
Steel  Company  in  Harlan  county,  Kentucky. 
He  stopped  off  a  day  in  Louisville.  Mr. 
Romanski  is  representative  in  the  northwest 
of  these  particular  mines. 

It  will  be  interesting  news  to  the  creditors 
of  the  defunct  Mueller  Brothers  Coal  Com¬ 
pany  to  know  that  the  assets  of  that  concern 
were  sold  this  week  to  the  California  Avenue 
Coal  Company.  It  will  be  remembered  when 
the  Mueller  Company  filed  a  petition  in  bank¬ 
ruptcy  they  scheduled  assets  of  $9,533.66  with 
liabilities  aggregating  $47,902.66. 

F.  C.  Atwill  returned  the  latter  part  of 
last  w'eek  from  an  extended  trip  into  the 
northwest  and  reports  conditions  there  are 
growing  more  satisfactory  all  the  time.  Col¬ 
lections  are  better  because  the  movement  of 
money  is  easier,  the  factories  generally  are 
running  on  better  time,  and  while  retailers 
are  not  buying  coal  extensively,  they  are 
planning  to  do  so  as  soon  as  weather  condi¬ 
tions  warrant. 

The  Chicago  &  Alton  is  experiencing  an 
acute  shortage  in  freight  equipment  for  the 
lirst  time  in  several  years.  The  Blooming¬ 
ton  car  shops  are  working  with  a  maximum 
force  and  hours  to  turn  out  cars,  but  the  de¬ 
mand  IS  far  greater  than  the  supply.  Even 
with  the  mild  weather,  there  is  a  heavy  de¬ 
mand  for  coal  cars,  and  when  cold  weather 
sets  in  the  shortage  promises  to  be  serious. 
The  Illinois  Central  is  also  beginning  to  feel 
the  car  stringency  and  for  the  first  time  in 
several  years  is  checking  up  the  rated  capacity 
of  the  mines  on  its  road. 

A.  B.  Currie  of  Omaha,  was  in  Chicago  this 
W'eek  for  a  few  days.  Mr.  Currie  says  dealers 
have  been  backw’ard  this  year  in  Nebraska  in 
ordering  their  coal  requirements,  due  to  the 
fact  that  the  consumers  have  been  lax  in  get¬ 
ting  their  bins  stored  with  coal  early  in  the 
season.  Because  of  the  exceptionally  wet 
weather  which  has  been  experienced  this  year, 
customers  have  objected  to  permitting  the 
coal  dealer  to  drive  across  portions  of  their 
yards,  as  the  wheels  cut  deep  ruts  in  the  soft 
.ground.  Many  prefer  to  wait  until  the  ground 
has  frozen  before  having  the  heavy  coal 
wagons  backed  up  to  the  coal  bins.  With 
seasonable  w'eather,  Mr.  Currie  expects  quite 
a  rush  for  supplies  during  November. 

Clarence  !£.  Patrick,  representative  of  C. 
M.  Moderwell  &  Co.,  at  Rockford,  Illinois, 
spent  Wednesday  in  the  home  office  in  the 
McCormick  building.  In  speaking  of  condi¬ 
tions  in  Rockford,  he  says  that  the  factories 
there  have  not  been  in  better  condition  in 
the  last  four  years  than  they  are  right  now. 
Some  of  the  leading  factories  in  that  point 
are  sold  up  for  four  months  ahead  of  time, 
w'hereas  a  short  time  ago  they  were  running 
on  a  hand  to  mouth  basis,  w'hile  making  a 
terrific  Struggle  to  get  practically  every  order. 
He  called  the  name  of  leading  manufacturing 
concerns  in  that  center  and  recited  the  con¬ 
dition  of  each  and  this  lead  to  the  conclusion 
that  the  difficulty  now’  is  not  to  get  orders, 


but  to  get  skilled  workers.  Naturally  this  is 
increasing  the  demand  for  coal  in  that  terri¬ 
tory,  and  the  situation  is  very  much  improved. 

Frank  E.  Doherty,  -president  of  The  Black 
Star  Coal  Company  left  Chicago,  October  25, 
tor  the  Pacific  Coast.  He  sent  a  message 
enroute  from  Ncw'ton,  Kansas,  which  should 
bring  cheer  to  tlie  coal  shipper  who  might  be 
in  doubt  as  to  the  w'eather  we  will  have  for 
the  next  five  months.  According  to  Mr. 
Doherty  he  interviewed  an  old  duck  hunter 
who  had  just  come  in  from  a  successful  trip 
who  said:  “Just  look  at  that  ‘fur.’’’  “It’s 
twice  as  long  as  it  was  this  time  last  year, 
and  longer  than  I  can  remember  for  a  good 
many  years  back.  “When  the  ‘fur’  on  ducks 
and  similar  migratory  fowl  gets  as  long  as 
that  you  may  be  sure  there’s  a  pretty  stifif 
winter  ahead.  The  first  advance  of  winter 
will  arrive  within  the  next  two  weeks.’’ 

The  regular  meeting  of  the  Chicago  Coal 
Merchants’  Association  was  held  at  the  rooms 
in  the  Plymouth  building,  on  Tuesday  after¬ 
noon  of  this  week.  Several  matters  of  inter¬ 
est  came  up.  Among  other  things  there  was 
a  discussion  of  the  proper  zone  in  which  the 
association  could  work  and  gather  members 
and  it  was  concluded  that  this  could  prop¬ 
erly  include  the  Chicago  switching  district. 
Homer  Jones  also  brought  up  the  question  of 
.getting  together  some  of  the  executives  to 
talk  about  details  of  retail  accounting  and  a 
meeting  was  arranged  for  Friday  afternoon  of 
this  week.  The  committee  on  speakers  re¬ 
ported  that  the  next  meeting  of  the  associa¬ 
tion  on  November  9th,  will  be  an  evening 
meeting,  when  a  dinner  will  be  served  at 
some  point  to  be  announced  later  and  when 
an  entertaining  program  will  be  given.  More 
detailed  information  about  which  will  be 
given  later.  There  was  also  an  interesting 
discussion  of  the  weight  -estion  leading 
to  the  suggestion  that  some  way  should  be 
found  by  which  the  retailers  could  pass  on  to 
the  consumers  the  apparent  shortages  in  coal 
as  delivered  in  the  average  retail  yard. 

One  sales  agency  which  handles  quite  a 
.good  deal  of  coke  made  the  statement  on 
Wednesday  of.  this  week,  that  the  coke  mar¬ 
ket  as  concerns  furnace  and  foundry  sizes  is 
showing  a  runaway  tendency.  From  all  re¬ 
ports  nothing  like  the  present  situation  has 
been  seen  for  years,  not  even  in  the  boom 
times  in  the  steel  trade  of  1903,  As  a  matter 
of  fact  there  is  at  present  a  demand  for 
more  coke  than  the  ovens  can  put  out.  This 
is  traceable  first,  to  the  tremendous  demand 
for  war  materials  from  Europe,  and  second, 
to  the  increasing  production  of  iron  and  steel 
products  for  use  in  this  country.  Coke  oven 
output  is  not  ilexible  enough  to  meet  all 
of  the  requirements,  and  as  a  consequence 
the  price  of  coke  is  rising  rapidly.  Within 
the  last  week  fifty  cents  a  ton  was  added  to 
the  delivered  price  of  furnace  and  foundry 
grades,  and  in  some  cases  coke  is  selling  at 
$1  a  ton  higher  than  it  was  last  week.  These 
prices  are  not  guaranteed  beyond  the  day  on 
which  they  are  quoted  because  very  much 
higher  prices  are  expected  to  prevail  in  a 
short  time.  In  fact  there  are  predictions  now 
that  furnace  and  foundry  coke  will,  within 
the  next  month,  go  to  $5  a  ton  at  the  oven. 

On  Saturday  night  of  last  week  the  Kan- 
tishna  Club  held  a  meeting  and  dinner  at  the 
Hotel  Planters.  This  organization  proceeded 
from  the  start  to  prove  that  it  is  both  cos¬ 
mopolitan  and  neutral  as  a  few  facts  will  in¬ 
dicate.  The  bill-of-fare  had  an  English  roast. 
French  peas  and  German  fried  potatoes.  On 
the  program  were  men  bearing  such  names 
as  Fitzgerald,  O’Brien,  O’Malley,  McCahey  and 
Bigane,  while  in  the  audience  were  Koeber, 
Wiesse,  Stahmer,  Hildebrandt  and  Klinenberg, 
to  say  nothing  of  an  odd  mixture  of  other 
nationalities  such  as  is  represented  by  the 
name  of  Peterson.  While  there  was  an  abun¬ 
dance  of  Irish  oratory  and  Irish  song.  The 
club  proved  it  is  neutral  by  singing  Die 
Wacht  Am  Rhein  under  the  leadership  of 
Koeber,  Stahmer  and  Wiesse.  The  dinner  and 
the  program  w’ere  most  unusual  when  viewed 
from  the  standpoint  of  what  is  customary  in 
coal  trade  gatherings.  In  the  first  place  fully 
seventy-five  per  cent  of  those  present  rep¬ 
resented  members  of  the  trade  who  are  seldom 
seen  at  ordinary  coal  trade  gatherings.  The 
Kantislma  Club  has  brought  out  repre.senta- 
tivcs  of  the  trade  not  heretofore  seen  often 
in  any  other  .general  movements.  The  en¬ 


tertainment  was  also  unusual.  That  is,  while 
Charles  Jessup  lead  the  singing  of  the  ragtime 
songs  with  which  most  of  the  men  were 
familiar,  the  program  itself  ran  more  to  the 
lyrics,  which  gave  a  more  sober  tone  to  the 
entertainment.  William  Fitzgerald  of  the 
(-'hesapeake  S:  Ohio  Railway  made  an  address 
on  cars.  He  talked  about  the  car  situation 
from  a  historical  point  of  view,  and  while 
ordinarily’,  this  would  be  stupid,  he  handled 
the  subject  in  such  a  way  as  to  make  it  most 
interesting.  There  was  no  touch  of  oratory 
at  all  in  what  he  had  to  say,  but  there  was 
much  of  interest  which  caused  the  audience 
to  follow  his  remarks.  Hon.  James  C.  O’Brien, 
assistant  states  attorney  of  Chicago  also  de¬ 
livered  an  address.  He  spoke  about  what  the 
states  attorney’s  office  is  doing  in  the  way 
of  checking  up  on  thieves  who  pilfer  coal 
and  other  things  from  cars.  E.  R.  Foley  acted 
as  toastmaster.  The  understanding  is  that 
this  is  to  be  one  of  five  similar  dinners  to 
l)e  held  by  this  club  within  a  year  and  the 
club  is  to  be  congratulated  on  the  success  of 
its  first  undertaking. 


Death  of  S.  J.  Patterson. 


Word  came  from  Dayton,  Ohio,  the  latter 
part  of  last  week  that  Stephen  J.  Patterson 
had  died  at  the  age  of  seventy-five  years.  He 
was,  as  everyone  knows,  one  of  the  best 
known  coal  men  in  Ohio,  and  for  that  matter, 
the  country,  having  been  engaged  in  the  coal 
business  for  upwards  of  thirty  years. 

Mr.  Patterson’s  first  business  in  the  coal 
trade  was  as  a  retail  coal  dealer,  but  he  sub¬ 
sequently  expanded  that  to  include  the  agency 
lor  the  anthracite  coal  produced  on  the  Penn¬ 
sylvania  Railroad  known  as  the  Susquehanna 
Coal.  His  agency  not  only  included  his  own 
immediate  neighborhood,  but  quite  a  territory 
north  and  south. 

In  more  recent  years,  Mr.  Patterson  has 
been  known  for  his  connection  with  Weyan- 
oke  Coal  &  Coke  Company,  a  West  Virginia 
Iiroducing  concern,  and  prior  to  that  time  and 
until  his  death,  he  was  one  of  the  leading  op¬ 
erators  in  the  Jackson  Hill  field  of  Ohio. 
Other  producing  companies  in  which  he  was 
interested  were  the  S.  J.  Patterson  Pocahontas 
Company  and  the  White  Star  Mining  Com¬ 
pany. 

Mr.  Patterson  was  always  interested  in  re¬ 
tail  coal  associations,  and  was  the  organizer 
of  one  of  the  first  of  them  in  the  west,  which 
was  known  as  the 'Western  Coal  Dealers’  As¬ 
sociation.  He  subsequent!}'  was  interested  in 
the  Wholesale  and  Retail  Coal  Dealers’  As¬ 
sociation  of  Ohio,  and  naturally  was  inter¬ 
ested  in  its  successor,  the  Michigan,  Ohio,  In¬ 
diana  Coal  Association. 

Mr.  Patterson  was  a  brother  of  John  H. 
Patterson,  the  founder  of  the  National  Cash 
Register  Company,  in  which  he  was  interested 
in  a  small  w'ay,  financially.  At  his  death,  Mr. 
Patterson  left  his  business  to  his  son,  Dunn 
Patterson,  who  has  been  associated  with  him 
for  a  number  of  years. 

John  W.  Lowe  in  the  Old  Colony  building, 
had  beer,  associated  with  Mr.  Patterson  for 
quite  a  number  of  years,  being  financially  in¬ 
terested  in  some  of  his  mines  and  being  the 
western  sales  representative  of  his  company. 
He  went  to  Dayton  to  attend  the  funeral, 
which  was  held  on  Monday  of  this  week. 


The  Daniel  Boone  Coal  Company,  which  was 
recently  formed  to  take  over  the  North  Fork 
Coal  Company  and  the  Ross-Petry  Coal  Com¬ 
pany  of  Hazard,  Ky.,  is  planning  to  increase  its 
output.  This  company,  in  addition  to  purchas¬ 
ing  the  above  mining  plants,  has  taken  over  1,200 
acres  of  coal  land,  which  carries  the  genuine 
Hazard  No.  4  seam  of  block  coal.  This  company 
has  recently  made  a  contract  with  the  Scottdale 
Machine  &  Manufacturing  Company,  Scottdale. 
Pa.  for  a  modern  loading  plant,  which  will  have 
a  capacity  of  2,000  tons  per  day.  The  tipple  will 
span  the  main  line  of  the  Lexington  Eastern 
Railway  and  the  coal  will  be  open  on  both  sides 
of  the  railway  and  brought  to  one  tipple. 
Chas.  G.  Bowman,  Hazard,  Kentucky  is  president 
of  the  company;  H.  H.  Heiner  and  Geo.  H. 
Barker,  of  The  Maynard  Coal  Company,  Co¬ 
lumbus,  Ohio,  are  general  manager  and  secre¬ 
tary,  respectively.  The  product  of  The  Daniel 
Boone  Coal  Company,  is  marketed  exclusively 
liy  The  Maynard  Coal  Company,  Columbus,  Ohio. 


No.  18J 


THE  BEACK  DIA3IOND 


357 


Facts  Which  Determine  Our  Export  Prospects. 


The  Export  Situation 

The  movement  of  bituminous  coal  into  ex¬ 
port  via  the  Atlantic  seaboard  ports  is  held 
in  check  now,  due  to  the  shortage  of  vessels. 
High  freights  prevail  both  from  American  and 
Welsh  ports  Init  on  the  other  hand,  Welsh 
coal  prices  have  slumped  heavily,  so  that 
they  still  retain  an  advantage,  especially  for 
European  business. 

Welsh  ports  are  very  bare  of  ships,  due  to 
the  withdrawal  of  the  Greek  merchant  fleet, 
and  freight  rates  have  advanced.  This  short¬ 
age  of  boats  has  brought  about  an  overproduc¬ 
tion  of  coal,  so  that  second  admiralties  are  now 
obtainable  at  19s  to  19s  6d,  as  against  24s  to 
25s  several  weeks  ago,  and  32s  to  34s  only  a 
few  months  ago.  Other  Welsh  coals  can  be 
obtained  from  17s  6d  to  18s  6d. 

Cardiff  shippers  are  now  paying  freights 
about  as  follows: 

To  Genoa,  39s  to  40s;  to  Port  Said,  45s;  to 
Marseilles,  47  fcs;  to  Boulogne,  17s;  to  Pa¬ 
lermo,  40s;  to  the  Platte,  40s. 

American  shippers  are  called  on  to  pay  65s 
to  70s  to  the  West  Coast  of  Italy;  60s  to  65s 
to  Marseilles;  55s  to  65s  to  Spanish  ports;  40s 
to  50s  to  South  American  destinations. 

English  newspapers  and  trade  papers,  alarmed 
at  the  shortage  of  tonnage,  are  suggesting  that 
the  government  take  action  to  compel  the  re¬ 
turn  to  English  ports  of  numerous  British 
tramp  steamers  that  are  now  engaged  in  trad¬ 
ing  between  America  and  South  America  and 
the  Mediterranean.  One  reason  given  for  the 
desire  on  the  part  of  British  ship-owners  to 
trade  from  the  United  States,  is  that  they  fear 
requisition  of  their  vessels  by  the  government 
if  they  traded  from  home  ports. 

Coal  prices  are  just  about  steady  at  the  coal 
loading  ports;  New  River  and  Pocahontas  be¬ 
ing  held  at  ,$2.85  at  Hampton  Roads,  and  good 
Pennsylvania  coals  at  $2.60  at  Baltimore. 


The  Welsh  Coal  Trade. 

The  Cardiff  correspondent  of  the  Liverpool 
Journal  of  Coninverce,  in  its  issue  of  October 
15th,  says  of  the  Welsh  coal  situation: 

“The  most  important  factor  dominating  the 
market  at  the  present  time  is  the  tonnage  posi¬ 
tion.  The  withdrawal  of  Greek  tonnage  came 
at  a  most  inopportune  time.  Tonnage  was 
needed  in  abundance  to  carry  grain  to  Europe, 
and  high  freight  rates  caused  a  large  number 
of  vessels  to  take  on  long  distance  charters. 
Consequently,  with  the  large  amount  of  ton¬ 
nage  under  admiralty  control,  there  are  not 
sufficient  bottoms  in  active  commission  for 
the  world’s  oversea  trade  and  the  shortage 
of  tonnage  at  the  Bristol  Channel  ports  has 
adversely  affected  the  coal  trade.  The  very 
high  freight  rates  ruling  from  Cardiff  have 
restricted  business,  and  stocks  of  coal  have 
accumulated  to  such  an  extent  that  intermit¬ 
tent  colliery  stoppages  were  more  frequent. 
The  shortage  of  tonnage  is  not  confined  to 
the  Bristol  Channel  ports;  it  is  world  wide,  and 
has  affected  all  export  centers.  The  situation 
with  regard  to  the  Welsh  coal  trade  is  now 
becoming  serious,  and  it  is  suggested  that  the 
government  authorities  should  compel  British 
shipowners  to  trade  between  Great  flritain  and 
neutral  countries  rather  than  between  neutral 
countries  only.  A  return  to  firmer  conditions 
on  the  Cardiff  coal  market  is  only  possible 
when  the  existing  heavy  stocks  have  been 
cleared,  and  for  such  clearance  a  more  ade¬ 
quate  supply  of  tonnage  is  needed. 

“As  regards  business  for  loading  ahead 
transactions  were  few.  Buyers  were  disin¬ 
clined  during  the  present  time  to  arrange  for 
their  future  requirements,  looking,  in  fact,  to 
still  easier  conditions,  and  taking  hand-to- 
mouth  supplies.  The  high  freight  rates  ruling 
and  the  difficulty  in  securing  tonnage  were  also 
factors  which  prevented  much  business  of  im¬ 
portance  being  fixed  up.  As  regards  business 
over  next  year,  very  little  has  yet  been  fixed 
up,  and  it  is  highly  probable  that  few  buyers 
or  sellers  would  care  to  commit  themselves 
over  long  periods  ahead  during  the  present 
abnormal  times.  No  inquiries  for  forward 
loading  were  reported  this  week. 

“Superior  Admiralty  classes  were  nominal, 
supplies  being  retained  by  the  authorities.  Or¬ 
dinary  seconds,  however,  were  plentiful  and 
quotations  ruled  at  19s  to  20,s.  Sellers,  how¬ 
ever,  were  prepared  to  accept  below  these  fig¬ 
ures,  and  18s  about  represented  the  real  mar¬ 
ket  value.  Ordinary  coals  were  in  proportion. 


Dry  coals  were  about  the  only  steady  counter, 
these  coals  being  in  good  demand  as  a  sub¬ 
stitute  for  the  very  high-priced  Swansea  an¬ 
thracites.  Best  sorts  ruled  at  23s  to  24s,  and 
ordinaries  from  21s  upwards.  House  coals 
were  nominally  unchanged,  but  general  weak¬ 
ness  was  observed  in  bituminous  descriptions.’’ 


Recent  Coal  Freight  Charters 

Str.  Andrea  Castle  (Ital.),  Baltimore  to  Leghorn,  coal, 
p.  t. 

Str.  Moldegaard,  Baltimore  to  Havana,  coal,  p.  t. 

Str.  Atland  (Swed.),  Baltimore  to  Sweden,  coal,  p.  t. 

Str.  Fauna  (Dutch),  Hampton  Roads  to  Trinidad,  coal, 
1^-  . 

Str.  Poviga  (Ital.),  Philadelphia  to^  Savona,  coal,  p.  t. 

Str.  llarflete  (Br.),  Baltimore  to  Genoa  coal,  p.  t. 

Sell.  Came  K.  Loop,  Norfolk  to  San  Domingo  City, 
coal,  p.  t. 

Str.  Washington  (Br.),  Philadelphia  to  Genoa,  coke 
and  coal,  p.  t. 

Sch.  Geo.  E.  Dudley,  New  York  to  Macoris,  coal,  p.  t. 

Sell.  J.  Manchester  Haynes,  Philadelphia  to  Cay  Fran¬ 
cis,  coal,  p.  t. 

Sch.  R.  T.  Murphy,  Philadelphia  to  Martinique,  coal,  $3. 


Philadelphia  September  Exports 

Exports  of  coal  from  Philadelphia  during 
the  month  of  September,  1915,  were  as  fol¬ 
lows  : 


Country —  Anthracite.  Bituminous. 

France  .  ....  7,407 

Italy  .  2,100 

Sweden  .  4,284  .... 

Canada  .  1,298  75 

Guatemala  .  ....  2,788 

Newfoundland  .  1,500  .... 

Cuba  .  4,470  40,435 

Fr.  W.  Indies .  ....  4,640 

Brazil  .  ...  5,773 

Venezuela  .  ■  ■■  1,130 

Porto  Rico .  ■  ■  •  •  3,135 


Tot.-il .  11,5.52  •  64,348 


Curacao  Coal  Trade. 

The  American  consul  at  Curacao,  W.  I., 
writes  The  Black  Diamond,  as  follows: 

“There  is  given  below  the  exportation  (sale 
to  steamers)  of  coal  in  Curacao  since  Jan.  1st, 
1914,  in  quarters,  together  with  the  value  of 
this  coal.  Only  American  coal  is  sold  here. 
Quantities  are  metrical  tons  of  2,204.6  each: 

, - 1914 - , 


Period —  Ton.s.  Value.  Tons.  Value. 

First  quarter . 10,363  $  53,058  11,250  $  62,758 

•Second  quarter . 10,183  .52,951  11,736  65,473 

Third  quarter .  15,606  86,103  12,496  79,472 


Total . 36,152  $192,112  35,482  $207,703 

Fourth  quarter . 11,476  63,807 


Total— year . 47,628  $255,919 


“During  the  third  quarter  of  1914,  there 
were  two  Dutch  warships  here,  while  this  year 
there  was  none;  furtliermore,  since  Sept.  12, 
1914,  the  sale  of  coal  to  steamers  is  restricted 
by  law  to  what  they  may  need  strictly  for 
their  own  use. 

“General  business  is  somewhat  dull,  but  not 
very  greatly  reduced.  No  improvements  have 
been  made  within  the  year  facilitating  the  dis¬ 
charge  of  ships.” 


Pennsylvania  Tonnage. 

The  Pennsylvania  Railroad  Company  issues 
the  following  statement  of  coal  and  coke  car¬ 
ried  on  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  Company’s 
lines  east  of  Pittsburgh  and  Erie,  for  the 
month  and  period  ended  September  30,  1915: 


Jan. 1  to 

Sept.,  Sept.  30, 

191.5.  Increase.  1915.  Increase. 

Anthracite  coal, 

short  tons .  783,307  *200,135  7,603,051  *417,054 

Bitminous  coal, 

short  tons . 3,901,402  *148,700  31,678,900  *2,185,742 

Coke,  short  tons.l, 152,668  419,189  8,378,576  816,718 

Total . 5,837,377  70.354  47,660,527  *1,786,078 


*  Denotes  decrease. 


Florence,  Italy,  Trade. 

The  American  consul  at  Florence.  Italy, 
writes  The  Black  Diamond,  as  follows: 

Anthracite  or  Welsh  coal  has  risen  in  price 
from  $12  per  ton  on  August  1st,  1914,  to  $21 
on  Sept.  30,  1915.  This  consular  district  is 
not  a  separate  customs  district  and  its  im¬ 
ports  of  coal  can  be  estimated  only.  Italy’s 
imports  of  coal  in  the  year  just  prior  to  the 
war  were  approximately  11,000,000  tons.  This 
consular  district  comprises  one-tenth  of  its 
population  and  area.  Coal  dealers  state  that 
high  prices  and  difficulties  of  other  kinds  have 
reduced  consumption  of  coal  about  forty  per 


cent.  No  American  coal  is  sold  in  this  dis¬ 
trict.  Efforts  have  been  made  to  obtain  it 
but  the  refusal  of  American  companies  to  quote 
c.  i.  f.  prices  instead  of  f.  o.  b.  prices  prevents 
business  and  our  exporters  have  lost  a  great 
opportunity  to  enter  this  market  on  a  large 
scale.  English  coal  is  always  quoted  c.  i.  f.  at 
some  Italian  port.  General  business  has  been 
greatly  depressed  since  the  beginning  of  the 
European  war  and  has  not  recovered  to  any 
great  extent.  Only  factories  and  houses  mak¬ 
ing  supplies  for  the  army  and  navy  are  busy.” 


Venezuelan  Coal  Trade. 

The  American  consul  at  La  Guaira,  Venez¬ 
uela,  writes  The  Black  Diamond,  as  follows: 

“The  situation  in  regard  to  coal  has  not  un¬ 
dergone  any  recent  change. 

“The  only  sort  of  coal  imported  to  La  Guaira 
continues  to  be  ‘Crown’  block  fuel  from  Car¬ 
diff,  which  sells  here  for  about  seventeen  dol¬ 
lars  per  ton  and  in  Caracas  for  $24.00.  The 
only  importer  is  the  La  Guaira  Harbor  Cor¬ 
poration,  that  company  and  the  La  Guaira- 
Caracas  railway  being  the  principal  consumers. 
They  have  never  manifested  any  intention  of 
changing  from  the  block  fuel,  and  to  handle 
a  cargo  of  loose  coal  in  this  port  would  prob¬ 
ably  be  attended  with  difficulty. 

“Some  anthracite  for  use  of  gas  producer 
plants  is  imported  in  sacks.  There  are  no 
statistics  available  as  none  have  been  published 
since  the  middle  of  1914.” 


Tells  of  American  Plans. 

Australian  correspondence  to  the  Colliery 
Guardian  of  London  reads  as  follows: 

“The  Trade  Commissioner  for  New  South 
Wales  in  America  has  been  making  inquiry 
as  to  the  effects  of  the  Panama  Canal  on  the 
west  coast  of  America  coal  trade  as  it  affects 
New  South  Wales,  and  states  that  the  prohibi¬ 
tion  of  the  export  of  Australian  coal  to  all 
but  those  countries  which  were  British  pos¬ 
sessions  or  those  of  the  allies  has  given  a 
distinct  trade  opening  which  interests  in  the 
eastern  states  had  been  quick  to  see.  Already 
coal  from  the  eastern  states  had  been  going 
to  South  America,  but  not  yet  in  large  quan¬ 
tities,  owing  to  the  lack  of  shipping.  There 
was  at  present  a  great  scheme  on  hand  to 
build  fifty  modern  ships  to  ply  between  ports 
of  South  America,  Central  America  and  the 
United  States.  Half  the  cost  of  the  enterprise 
was  to  be  financed  in  South  America.  The 
ships  would  be  allotted  to  ports  in  South 
America  on  the  basis  that  1,000,000  tons  of  coal 
per  annum  be  contracted  for.  The  establish¬ 
ment  of  such  a  line  would  be  serious  to  Aus¬ 
tralian  trade  in  coal,  and  would  affect  in  the 
matter  of  return  freights  Australian  opportuni¬ 
ties  in  the  LInited  States.  Many  of  the  South 
American  countries  were  producers  of  raw 
material,  food  products  and  metals  which  the 
United  States  would  take  in  return  for  coal 
and  manufactured  products.  The  Trade  Com¬ 
missioner  does  not  regard  the  prohibition  of 
the  export  of  coal  as  a  factor  in  the  matter, 
being  satisfied  that  under  any  circumstances 
Australia  is  destined  to  lose  her  coal  trade 
with  the  west  coast  of  South  America.” 

Panama  Canal  Opening. 

Panama,  October  26. — “Within  three  weeks 
or  a  month  the  channel  of  the  Panama  Canal 
will  be  open  again  to  navigation,”  said  Donald 
F.  McDonald,  formerly  geologist  of  the  canal 
commission,  who  arrived  here  recently.  “From 
that  time  on  the  dredges  can  keep  ahead  of 
the  slides,  provided  something  utterly  unfore¬ 
seen  does  not  happen.  The  work  now  going 
on  is  the  most  effective  that  can  he  done  in 
the  circumstances.” 

Major-General  Goethals,  governor  of  the 
Canal  Zone,  conferred  today  with  Mr.  McDon¬ 
ald  and  the  latter  made  his  prediction  as  a 
result  of  liis  study  of  the  earth  slides  into  the 
cliannel  during  tlie  last  mouth. 


The  value  of  the  coal  production  for  1914 
for  the  Union  of  .'^outh  Africa  showed  a  slight 
gain  over  that  of  the  preceding  year,  the  total 
value  of  the  sales  amounting  to  $10,992,914.  as 
compared  with  $10,903,186  for  1913.  The 
Transvaal  and  Natal  Provinces  are  the  largest 
producers  of  coal,  the  Transvaal  sales  for  1914 
amounting  to  $5,600,000  and  those  of  Natal  to 
$4,311,324,  while  the  value  of  the  Orange  Free 
.State  output  was  a  little  under  $1,000,000.  n'he 
sum  realized  on  the  coal  product  of  the  Cape 
Colony  was  only  a  little  in  excess  of  $150,000. 


358 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[October  30 


General  Review. 


The  Coal  Business  Is  Booming  Because 
Business  Generally  Is  on 
the  Upturn. 


Two  things  are  giving  the  coal  trade  an  ap¬ 
pearance  and  a  reality  of  prosperity  such  as 
Pas  not  been  seen  for  about  four  years.  One 
of  them  IS  a  general  upturn  in  general  busi¬ 
ness,  which  is  now  felt  from  the  Atlantic  to 
the  Rocky  Mountains.  The  other  is  the  in- 
llucnce  of  the  policy  pursued  by  buyers  all 
summer  to  delay  purchases. 

'I'he  most  gratifying  feature  of  the  market 
this  week  is  evidence  of  a  decided  improve¬ 
ment  in  business  conditions.  Those  who  have 
l)een  watching  the  trade  for  some  months  have 
seen  that  general  business  was  coming  out 
from  under  the  lethargy,  which  has  bound 
;t  for  three  or  four  years.  Indeed,  the  coal 
trade  and  husiness,  as  a  whole,  have  not  had 
much  vim  for  the  last  seven  or  eight  years. 
.All  through  this  month,  however,  manufac¬ 
turing  concerns  have  been  enlarging  their 
production  programs  in  a  way  that  has  not 
been  seen  since  1898.  In  immediate  response 
to  this  better  feeling  of  business  conditions, 
there  has  come  also  quickening  of  financial 
operations.  Banks  are  permitting  the  expan¬ 
sion  of  financial  programs  in  a  way  that  has 
not  lieen  encouraged  for  a  number  of  years. 
.Some  l)ig  financing  that  is  now  being  done 
is  an  indication  of  the  attitude  of  the  banks 
on  that  question. 

Now  the  coke  business  is  beginning  to  boom. 
This  speaks  at  once  of  the  activities  in  the 
iron  and  steel  trade.  It  has  been  known  for 
some  time  that  iron  and  steel  activities  have 
been  greater  than  heretofore,  but  this  was 
attributed  first  to  the  influence  of  orders  for 
war  munitions  from  abroad.  Lately,  how¬ 
ever,  the  sales  to  foreign  buyers  have  been 
augmented  by  sales  to  domestic  factories.  This 
is  indicated  by  the  buying  by  the  railroads  in 
the  first  place,  and  then  by  the  factories 
through  New  England  and  later  buying  by 
factories  in  Ohio  and  Indiana,  and  recently 
by  heavy  specifications  from  factories  in  Illi¬ 
nois  and  Iowa.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the 
tremendous  demand  for  iron  and  the  sudden 
opening  up  of  furnaces  and  foundries  has 
come  faster  than  coke  ovens  could  be  put 
into  shape  and  supplied  with  men.  As  a  result 
in  some  places  coke  is  a  dollar  a  ton  higher 
than  it  was  last  week,  and  pretty  generally 
coke  prices  are  up  this  week  fifty  cents  from 
what  they  were  a  week  ago. 

All  of  this,  of  course,  reacts  upon  the  coal 
trade  bringing  a  decidedly  better  demand  for 
the  steam  sizes  of  coal.  Nearly  everywhere 
there  is  enough  demand  to  absorb  the  larger 
offerings,  which  are  incident  to  the  production 
of  the  seasonable  supply  of  domestic  coal. 
One  of  the  best  indications  in  this  direction  is 
tile  price  of  fine  coal,  which  normally  at  this 
time  of  year  run  off  rather  sharply. 

.Another  influence  making  for  better  prices 
on  steam  fuel  is  the  shortage  of  railway  equip¬ 
ment  which  in  the  east  is  especially  pro¬ 
nounced.  This  is  helped  along  by  the  short¬ 
age  of  labor  at  some  of  the  eastern  mines. 

.A  secondary  influence  upon  the  market  has 
been  the  effect  of  the  belated  buyiiTg  of  do¬ 
mestic  coal.  In  this  review  it  has  been 
pointed  out  quite  a  number  of  times,  that 
owing  to  the  money  shortage  and  other  things 
the  people  were  not  buying  last  summer  the 
customary  amount  of  coal.  Several  months 
ago,  it  was  predicted  that  there  might  be  some 
distresses  for  domestic  coal  this  year.  The 
weather  has  remained  favorable  for  the  house¬ 
holders,  up  to  now,  but  even  under  these 
favorable  conditions  the  supply  of  coal  is  not 
more  than  enough  to  go  around.  The  tech¬ 
nical  position  of  the  market  is  that  with  con¬ 
sumption  below  normal,  supply  and  demand 
are  today  at  about  a  balance.  This  makes  its 
own  prophesy  as  to  the ,  future.  That  is, 
weather  of  this  kind  cannot  possible  endure 
through  the  winter  and,  therefore,  there  is 
going  to  be  a  bigger  and  stronger  demand  for 
coal.  That  being  the  case,  there  is  no  escape 
from  the  conclusion  that  we  must  have  a  coal 
shortage  unless  conditions  change  rapidly  in 
the  meanwhile.  The  fact  of  the  present  bal¬ 
ance  between  supply  and  demand  and  the  as¬ 
sured  fact  of  a  coming  shortage  of  coal  work 
together  to  induce  the  operators  to  get  a 
stron,g  price  now. 


Chicago  Market. 


Buying  of  Domestic  Coal  Is  Heavy — 
Prices  Are  Firm  and  Screenings 
Are  in  Good  Condition. 


Office  of  The  Black  Diamond, 
Chicago,  October  28. 

In  times  such  as  these  it  is  not  proper  to  con¬ 
sider  the  Chicago  coal  market  solely  from  the 
standpoint  of  those  things  which  influence  prices 
and  demand  strictly  within  the  geographical 
limits  of  one  city  alone,  but  rather  to  try  to  con¬ 
sider  the  various  influences  which  bear  down 
upon  the  whole  big  producing  district  of  which 
Chicago  is  the  distributing  center.  Looking  at  it 
in  that  broader  light,  the  number  of  develop¬ 
ments  are  quite  important.  In  Chicago  proper 
there  are  some  spectacular  improvements  in  the 
production  programs  of  certain  classes  of  fac¬ 
tories.  In  the  bigger  territory,  which  embraces 
northern  and  central  Illinois,  all  of  Iowa,  part  of 
Wisconsin  and  the  northwestern  states  there  is 
growing  evidence  that  factories  which  operate  on 
a  smaller  scale  are  having  the  best  business  they 
have  had  for  the  last  four  years.  This  means, 
of  course,  an  increased  demand  for  steam  coal. 

In  this  same  larger  zone  it  is  also  true  that 
the  farmers  have  been  delayed  by  rains  and  other 
causes  in  the  matter  of  moving  their  grain  to 
market.  Several  important  embargoes  have  been 
removed  with  the  result  that  the  farmers  are 
taking  advantage  of  the  fine  weather  to  get  their 
crops  to  market.  This  has  a  two-fold  effect  to 
increase  the  buying  of  coal  by  railroads  and  in¬ 
creases  the  sale  of  coal  by  retailers. 

.Another  major  influence  bearing  down  upon 
this  district  is  that  the  eastern  mines  which  sup¬ 
ply  a  certain  amount  of  coal  to  these  western 
consumers  are  being  forced  to  get  along  with 
a  short  supply  of  cars. 

As  an  e.xample,  Franklin  county  coal,  which  is 
showing  a  marvelous  increase  in  production  this 
year,  is  selling  in  relatively  small  volume  to  the 
domestic  trade  in  Chicago  and  when  it  does  sell, 
is  moving  at  price  concessions  considered  from 
the  point  of  view  of  circular.  Purely  local  rea¬ 
sons,  such  as  wars  among  retailers,  explain  the 
necessity  to  cut  the  price  inside  the  city.  In  the 
country,  however,  where  demand  for  prepara¬ 
tion  is  more  exacting,  and  where  the  larger  in¬ 
fluences  are  felt,  the  demand  for  coal  is  strong 
and  prices  are  firm.  Indeed,  the  technical  situa¬ 
tion  of  the  country  market  is  such  that  only  a 
few  days  of  cold  weather  will  be  necessary  per¬ 
haps  to  bring  the  prices  to  premium  level. 

The  screenings  market  has  been  stronger,  fifty 
cents  being  the  absolute  minimum  in  the  city, 
with  fifty-five  cents  in  most  cases  and  sixty  cents 
being  the  minimum  in  the  country.  Prices  up  to 
Thursday  were ; 


Fr.inklin  County — 

Lump  . 

Kgg  . 

No.  1  nut . 

No.  2  nut . 

Mine  run . 

2-incli  screenings.  .  .  . 


F.  O.  B. 
Chicago. 
$2.80 
2.80 
2.80 
2.4a 

2.t5@2.20 

I.55@1.65 


F.  O.  B. 
Mines. 
$1.75 
1.75 
1.75 
1.40 
1.10@1.15 
.50@  .60 


The  Williamson  county  operators  in  the  larger 
territory  are  selling  coal  for  somewhat  variable 
prices,  but  at  the  same  time  the  technical  posi¬ 
tion  of  the  market  is  strong.  That  is,  the  re¬ 
tailers  are  beginning  to  move  out  coal  to  the 
Lrmer  trade  and  are  taking  in  more  to  replenish 
their  stocks.  It  is  a  weather  market,  however, 
which  means  that  a  few  days  of  cold  weather 
would  probably  advance  all  prices  to  a  minimum 
of  $1.75  if  not  higher.  Even  in  Chicago  the  de¬ 
mand  for  this  coal  is  increasing  for  the  domestic 
trade  because  of  the  equipping  of  apartment 
houses  with  down-draft  furnaces  which  can  use 
the  washed  sizes.  The  fine  coals  are  moving 
better  than  they  were  last  week,  because  manu¬ 
facturing  business  generally  is  heavier  than  it 
was.  The  prices  up  to  Thursday  were : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Williamson  County —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Lump  . $2.65@2.80  $1.60@1.75 

Egg  .  2.65@2.Sn  l.G0@1.75 

No.  1  washed .  2.80  1.75 

No.  2  washed .  2.45  1.40 

Saline  county  coal  is  quotably  unchanged,  both 
as  to  prices  and  conditions  from  what  it  was  last 
week.  There  is  a  slight  tendency  to  greater 
strength  in  screenings.  Prices  up  to  Thursday 

were :  „ 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Saline  County —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Lump  . $2.65@2.80  $1.60@1.75 

Mine  run .  2.20  1.15 

Screenings  . Lo5^@1.6.5  ..50@  .60 

lli-inch  lump .  2.35  1.30 

The  warm  weather  influenced  central  Illinois 
coal  a  little.  Heretofore  the  mines  have  been 
behind  on  orders  for  domestic  coal,  but  this  week 


have  caught  up  and  some  few  have  unsold  coal 
on  track  at  the  mines.  The  weather  explains  the 
situation.  Screenings,  however,  are  a  trifle  easier 
than  they  were  last  week.  Then  the  prevailing 
price  was  about  fifty  cents,  but  today  some  of 
the  coal  can  be  had  for  forty-five  cents.  Prices 
up  to  Thursday  were : 


Central  Illinois- — 

Lump  . 

Egg  . 

Nut  . 

Mine  run . 

Screenings  . 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Chicago.  Mines. 

$2.57  $1.75 

2.32@2.47  1.50@1.65 

2.47  1.65 

1.87  1.05 

1.27@1.32  .45@  .50 


Clinton,  Ind.,  operators  are  still  devoting  the 
major  portion  of  their  tonnage  to  the  steam 
trade  and  are  getting  a  better  demand  from  the 
factories  in  their  own  state.  Not  much  of  that 
coal  is  moved  to  Chicago.  The  prices  on  screen¬ 
ings  range  from  fifty-five  to  sixty  cents.  The 
prices  up  to  Thursday  were : 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Clinton —  Chicago.  Mines. 

No.  4  domestic  lump . $2.42@2.57  $1.65@1.75 

No.  4  egg .  2.12  1.35 

Nut  .  2.12  1.35 

No.  5  and  G  mine  run .  1.87  1.10 

No.  5  and  G  screenings .  1.37@1.42  .60@  .65 


Knox  county  operators  are  geting  better  steam 
husiness  from  the  home  trade,  but  the  domestic 


business  is  about  firm. 

The  prices  up 

to  Thurs- 

day  were : 

F,  0.  B, 

F.  0.  B. 

Knox  C  ounty — 

Chicago. 

Mines. 

Lump  . . 

.  $2.37 

$1.50 

Egg  . 

.  2.37 

1.50 

Mine  run . 

1.05 

Screenings . . 

.  1.52 

.65 

Anthracite  is  about 

the  same  as  it 

was  last 

week,  showing  perhaps  a  little  improvement. 

*  Then  the  warm  weather  had  slowed  down  the 
sales.  That  continues  to  be  true,  with  the  ex¬ 
ception  that  this  week  orders  are  a  trifle  heavier. 

The  spot  demand  for  smokeless  coal  is  very  light. 
The  operators  have  made  a  few  sales  occasionally 
of  mine  run  in  Chicago  at  $1.40,  but  most  of  the 
business  is  in  so-called  smokeless  coal,  which  is 
off-grade  at  a  lower  price.  Some  of  this  off- 
grade  coal  moves  at  $1.20  and  prices  range 
from  there  up  to  circular.  Lump  and  egg  are 
a  trifle  easy  because  of  the  weather,  prices  rang¬ 
ing  from  $2  up  to  an  occasional  car  sold  at  cir¬ 
cular  of  $2.25.  The  prices  up  to  Thursday  were : 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Smokeless —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Mine  run .  $3.45  $1.40 

Lump  and  egg .  4.0.)@4.30  2.00@2.25 


Producers  of  the  better  grades  of  Somerset 
county  coal  are  practically  out  of  the  market 
because  of  the  short  car  supply  and  the  slow 
movement.  On  that  account,  more  than  because 
the  demand  is  strong,  the  prices  are  firm  at 
circular,  with  the  exception  of  lump  and  egg, 
which  in  the  country  are  a  little  easiL  Prices 
up  to  Thursday  were : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Somerset  County —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Mine  run .  $3.40  $1.40 

Lump  and  egg .  4.0.'3@4.30  2.00@2.2r) 

Genuine  high-grade  Hocking  is  selling  at  $1.75 
in  Chicago.  Off-grade  Hocking  is  selling  in  the 
surrounding  territory  at  $1.60.  The  movement 

is  not  booming,  but  is  better  than  it  was.  The 
prices  up  to  Thursday  were : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Hocking —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Domestic  lump . $3.25@3.40  $1.60@L75 


The  movement  of  splint  coal  is  governed  by 
the  car  shortage,  which  is  becoming  more  pro¬ 
nounced  this  week.  None  of  this  coal  is  sold  in 
Chicago,  but  the  outlying  territory  is  taking  some 
at  $1.50,  for  open  cars,  and  $1.60  for  box  cars. 
Prices  up  to  Thursday  were : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Kanawha —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Il4*inch  lumi) . $3.15@3.40  $1.25@1.50 


The  eastern  Kentucky  situation  is  stronger, 
first,  because  of  car  and  labor  difficulties  at  the 
mines,  and,  second,  because  the  demand  in  the 
big  distributing  zone  has  finally  caught  up  with 
the  supply.  The  prices  up  to  Thursday  were: 


Eastern  Kentucky — 
Domestic  lump . 

Egg  . 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Chicago.  Mines. 
$3.65@4.15  $1.75@2.25 

3.25@3.75  1.35@1.85 


The  coke  jnarket  has  a  runaway  tendency. 
Connellsville  coke  is  quoted  at  $5.50,  with  the 
understanding  that  these  prices  will  not  be  pro¬ 
tected  longer  than  from  hour  to  hour  and  with 
predictions  that  double  the  present  oven  price 
may  be  obtained  within  a  week  or  so.  This 
makes  equally  strong  the  price  on  by-product 
foundry  and  furnace  coke  and  it  has  a  tendency 
to  firm  up  the  domestic  sizes  to  $5.25.  The  prices 
up  to  Thursday  were:  t-  r, 

r .  U.  jj. 

Coke- 

Connellsville  . 

By-product,  foundry .  o-®',.' 

By-product,  egg  and  stove .  a.4.> 

By-product,  nut . 

Gas  house . 


No.  18] 


Pittsburgh  Trade. 

The  Coal  Trade  Is  on  a  Basis  of  Solid 
Prosperity  and  Coke  Prices  Show 
a  Runaway  Tendency 

OiSce  of  The  Black  Diamond, 

1503  Oliver  Building, 

Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  October  28. 

The  coal  trade  of  this  district  is  experiencing 
about  the  liveliest  sensations  that  it  has  under¬ 
gone  for  the  past  year.  An  unprecedented  de¬ 
mand;  a  healthy  advance  in  prices,  firmly  main¬ 
tained,  with  all  indications  pointing  to  still  higher 
figures  in  the  near  future;  a  decided  shortage 
of  cars;  and,  a  labor  situation  that  is  causing 
considerable  annoyance,  combine  to  keep  the  eyes 
of  the  trade  pretty  wide  open.  While  the  pre¬ 
sent  conditions  may  prove  temporary  and  a  re¬ 
lapse  set  in,  the  symptons  are  that  the  changed 
conditions  are  here  to  stay  at  least  for  some 
months  to  come. 

Considerable  inquiry  is  abroad  for  almost  all 
grades  of  coal,  in  addition  to  continued  heavy 
requirements  on  contract,  and  it  is  pretty  hard 
to  locate  the  market.  Different  localities  are 
in  shape  to  deliver  or  not  to  deliver  coal  ac¬ 
cording  to  the  immediate  local  conditions,  differ¬ 
ences  in  freight,  and  shipping  facilities. 

Gondola  cars  are  not  to  be  thought  of,  it 
seems,  and  much  complaint  is  heard  of  in  both 
coal  and  coke  shipping  centers.  Considerable  in¬ 
quiry  has  been  out  the  past  week  for  lake  coal, 
and_  it  looks  as  though  there  would  be  a  skirmish 
during  the  next  few  weeks  to  get  a  supply 
through,  by  those  who  are  not  yet  covered— and 
here  again  both  car  and  vessel  capacity  seem 
lacking — largely  attributed  to  heavy  ^rain  ship¬ 
ping  in  the  northwest. 

The  Jones  &  Laughlin  Steel  Company  are  in 
the  market  today  for  forty  thousand  tons  of 
low  sulphur  coking  coal,  for  their  by-product 
ovens,  in  South  Pittsburgh,  and  many  smaller 
lot  inquiries  are  made  for  both  slack  and  lump 
coal. 

The  retail  trade,  owing  to  free  buying  a  month 
ago,  during  a  cold  snap,  and  warm  weather 
since,  is  not  as  active  as  usual  at  this  date,  and 
the  continued  warm  spell  will  lighten  November 
buying  considerably,  as  bins  are  still  pretty  well 
filled  up. 

As  stated  above,  a  market  price  is  hard  to 
quote,  some  operators  naming  much  higher  fig¬ 
ures  than  others.  Those  that  have  no  free  coal 
generally  quote  the  higher,  and  those  that  have 
coal  to  sell,  the  lower.  As  near  as  can  be  learned 
the  quotable  market  would  be  as  follows,  f.  o.  b 
,  mines ; 

Slack  . . $0.80®  .90 

Kun  of  mine .  1  1,5®  1  OS 

54  screened  lump .  llssfllO 

0/4  screened  lump .  1.40@1.50 

Some  of  the  larger  producers  quote  an  average 
of  ten  cents  a  ton  above  these  figures,  and  buyers 
claim  to  be  making  purchases  at  slightly  less. 
Pan  Handle  slack  has  been  sold  the  past  week 
at  seventy  and  seventy-five  cents,  but  other  slack 
seems  scarce,  and  $1  is  said  to  be  the  asking 
figure  by  many. 

The  coke  market  has  had  many  surprises  dur¬ 
ing  the  week  past,  an  increased  demand  having 
developed  and  prices  fluctuating  between  $2.50 
for  spot  furnace,  and  .$3.75,  with  contract  averag¬ 
ing  $2.50,  the  difference  between  spot  and  con¬ 
tract  being  explained  by  the  present  labor  situa¬ 
tion.  One  producer  said  this  morning  he  had 
closed  for  10,000  tons  spot  furnace  at  $3  and 
mat  his  asking  price  on  contract  was  $2.85. 
foundry  coke  also  shows  sharp  advances  accord- 
quotations  made  today  by  producers  of 
old  basin  Connellsville  standard  coke,  spot  being 
held  at  $2.65  to  $2.75  and  contract  at  $3  to  $3.50 
for  first  quarter.  Crushed  coke  of  all  sizes  can 
be  quoted  at  $3.50  to  $3.75,  the  larger  sizes  com¬ 
manding  the  higher  figure.  The  Connellsville 
region  is  practically  sold  up  to  capacity,  and 
even  stock  coke,  or  cullings,  is  bringing  $2.25 
and  hard  to  get.  The  continued  advances  in  pig 
iron,  and  the  steadily  increasing  prices  of  all 
iron  and  steel  products,  has  brought  coke  back 
producer  that  could  supply 
15,000  or  20,p00  tons  per  month  now  could  have 
practically  his  own  price. 


Personal  and  News  Items. 

Abe  Austin,  president  of  the  Kanawha  Fuel 
t^ompany  of  Milwaukee,  .spent  some  days  in  Pitts¬ 
burgh  this  week. 

The  Delmont  Gas  Coal  Company  of  Delmont, 
i^a.,  with  offices  m  the  Park  building,  Pittsburgh, 


THE  BLACK  DIAM01VT> 

will  begin  marketing  their  output  of  about  600 
tons  daily,  November  15,  their  new  tipple  now 
nearing  completion. 

J-  E.  Vincent,  general  sales  manager  of  the 
Bertha  Coal  Company,  has  been  spending  some 
days  in  Ohio  in  the  interests  of  this  company. 

A  young  son  arrived  at  the  home  of  W.  G. 
Ireland,  general  sales  manager  of  the  Jamison 
Coal  &  Coke  Company,  on  the  23d  inst.,  and  to 
this  fact  Mr.  Ireland  attributes  the  big  boom 
m  both  coal  and  coke. 

The  Rich  Hill  Coal^  &  Coke  Company,  located 
near  Outcrop,  Pa.,  with  120  ovens,  will  operate 
at  full  capacity  just  as  soon  as  men  can  be  se¬ 
cured  to  run  in  full.  The  company  have  in¬ 
creased  their  ovens  in  blast  to  sixty-four  at  the 
present  time  and  have  orders  for  running  in 
full.  ® 

It  is  reported  that  the  Frick  Coke  Company 
has  closed  a  large  contract  with  the  West  Penn 
TracticMi  Company  for  power  for  use  in  its  mines 
in  the  Connellsville  District.  This  contract  would 
add  over  $100,000  to  the  annual  income  of  the 
traction  company.  The  officers  of  the  company 
state  that  while  negotiations  are  on  they  have 
not  yet  been  closed. 

West  Virginia  has  granted  charters  to  two 
new  coal  companies,  the  Lundale  Coal  Company 
Huntington,  W.  Va.  Capital,  $200,000.  Incor¬ 
porators:  George  W.  Jones,  Red  Star,  W  Va  • 
George  M.  Jone^,  Oak  Hill,  W.  Va  •  Aneus 
McDonald,  V.  L  Black  and’  O.  P  Fi’tzgeraTd 
of  Charleston,  W.  Va. ;  and  the  Pickshin  Coal 
Company,  -Stone  Creek,  W.  Va.  Capital,  $50,000 
Iiicorporators :  J.  C.  Sullivan,  Tralee,  W.  Va  • 
S’"-  J-  Wood,  Sullivan,  W.  Va.;  D.  Forest 
W^Va  Ostego, 

Alleging  that  the  Connellsville  Coke  Company 
removed  Connellsville  coking  coal  from  under 
the  Schumaker  farm,  in  Upper  Tryone  town¬ 
ship,  the  H.  C.  Frick  Coke  Company,  through  its 
TOunsel,  Sturgis  &  Morrow,  today  filed  a  suit 
in  trespass  against  the  Connellsville  Coke  Com¬ 
pany  for  treble  damages.  It  is  alleged  that  from 
June  1,  191^  to  the  present  time,  the  Connells¬ 
ville  Coke  Company  removed  43,663  bushels  of 
coal  from  under  the  Schumaker  farm,  the  prop¬ 
erty  of  the  H.  C.  Frick  Coke  Company.  The 
value  of  the  coal  taken  is  given  as  $873:26,  and 

by  the  law,  or 

$2,619.78,  IS  asked  in  the  suit  filed  today. 

Indianapolis  Trade. 

Indianapolis,  Ind.,  October  28.~(Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — The  demand  for  steam  coal  in 
Indiana  is  improving  steadily.  The  prices  have 
not  advanced,  but  they  are  steady  and  there  is  a 
greater  degree  of  optimism  among  the  dealers 
and  operators  than  there  was  at  this  time  last 
year.  Most  of  the  mine  run  coal  is  being  sold 
at  contract  prices.  The  tonnage  of  mine  run  is 
increasing  and  is  much  larger  than  it  was  in 
October,  1914. 

The  demand  for  Indiana  coal  among  the  Chi- 
cago  buyers  is  quite  satisfactory;  that  is,  con¬ 
sidering  the  conditions  that  have  existed  for  the 
last  few  months.  The  movement  of  Indiana 
coal  to  Chicago  is  better  than  it  was  a  few  weeks 
ago.^  All  of  the  industrial  centers  are  showing 
an  improved  demand  for  steam  coal.  Several 
big  plants  are  about  to  close  war  orders  that  will 
help  the  demand  for  steam  coal.  One  concern 
here  is  about  to  close  for  a  million  dollars’ 
worth  of  automobile  trucks  for  one  of  the  Euro¬ 
pean  nations.  _  Other  factories  throughout  the 
state  are  getting  the  benefit  of  war  orders,  but 
the  grptest  factor  is  the  big  corn  crop  that  is 
being  harvested._  The  smaller  cities  and  towns 
bid  fair  to  be  in  much  better  shape  than  they 
were  last  winter,  which  will  help  the  coal  trade— 
especially  the  demand  for  domestic.  The  trade 
in  domestic  here  is  steady. 

Some  of  the  retailers  are  having  difficulty  in 
hlhng  their  orders  for_  domestic  coal,  particularly 
mtf  West  Virginia_  and  Pennsylvania  coal, 
there  IS  no  trouble  getting  plenty  of  Indiana  coal 
tor  the  reason  that  transportation  facilities  are 
good.  There  is  the  usual  amount  of  free  coal 
on  the  rnarket  for  October  and  it  is  selling  read¬ 
ily  at  prices  that  are  considered  fairly  good  if  not 
strong. 

The  following  prices  are  being  quoted  by  the 
wholesalers ; 

T  F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

.  Mines.  Indianapolis. 

Mine  run.  No.  4...  . $1.10@1.20  $1.60®!. 60 

Mine  run  Nos.  5  and  6 .  1.05@1.15  1.55@1.65 

S'?'  .  1.20@1..30  1.70@1.80 

. , .  1.30@1.40  1.80@1.90 

14-inch  steam  lump .  1.25@1.35  1.76@1  85 

No.  4  screenings . 70@  ,75  1.20@1  25 


359 


and  6  domestic.:::;::::  tiolllo  ifoisto 

No.  2  washed  coal .  j'gg  I'®® 

Southern  Indiana  Field- 

Domestic  "lump.-  ; . 

caiTi'tal  $fnnn  Oakland  City,  Ind.^ 

capital  $1,000,  has  filed  articles  of  incorporation 


St.  Louis  Trade. 

erS)  Correspond- 

ence.)— The  summer  weather  we  have  been  hav¬ 
ing  for  he  past  ten  days  has  put  quite  a  crimo 
in  the  domestic  demand  for  coal.  Nearly  all 
of  the  mines  in  Franklin  and  Williamson  coun¬ 
ties,  however,  had  enough  orders  on  hand  to  run 
them  through  this  period  up  to  date.  But  if  this 
warm  weather  continues  for  another  week  the 
operators  wi  have  to  curtail  their  output.  In 
fact  nearly  all  the  operators  have  signified  their 
intention  of  doing  this  in  order  to  meet  the 
Mtuation.  It  seems  to  be  the  logical  thing  to  do 
The  prices  are  holding  up  well  and  all  operators 
feel  tha  it  would  be  very  foolish  to  break  die 
prices  at  this  time  of  the  year  on  account  of  a 
Jew  days  of  warm  weather.  They  feel  that  it 
IS  wiser  to  curtafl  output  rather  tliL  do  this 
urthermore  tffie  price  on  screenings  and  fine 
coal  is  so  low  that  a  break  in  price  on  domestic 

The  mine  run  aver- 
^  ^he  present  time  is  very  low 

‘o'V"  have  had  a  verv 
slack  business  for  the  few  days,  but  as  the  buv- 
ing  seems  to  be  entirely  seasL’able  they  expect 
sets  in  minute  the  cold  weather 

the  other  hand,  stiffened  up  a 
ttle  bit,  owing  to  the  slightly  smaller  produc- 
t  on,_  and  most  of  the  operators  are  of  the 
opinion  that  we  are  over  the  hill  in  regard  to 
the  screening  proposition,  and  from  now  on  prices 
win  improve  rather  than  decline. 

Rnces  in  general  remain  about  the  same  The 
prices  on  Standard  coal  are  as  follows: 

Standard  Coa,- 

. •ji;  w. 

No.  1  nuf . . u??  ih'a 

Mine  run .  ’f? 

. ;4o 

Staunton  and  Mt.  Olive  coals  are  moving  read¬ 
ily,  both  locally  and  through  the  north. 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

■  ,  ,  Mine.  St.  Louis. 

Williamson  county  coals  are  in  good  demand 
wm-  ^  Pi'ices  are  unchanged.  Screenings  from 
Williamson  county  are  in  much  better  shape  than 
they  were  a  month  ago. 

N  O-  B.  F.  O.  B. 

C  ■  1,  ,  Mine.  St.  Louis 

cc  egg . $1.60@1.75  $2.2254  @2.4754 

lc?ee”ntgs""‘: ! ! ! ! i i i '-.Fo 

Franklin  county  mines  are  all  running  full  time 
and  are  finding  a  ready  market  for  lump  Ege 
IS  lagging  a  little  and  No.  1  is  also.  However 
prices  are  being  rigidly  maintained  and  if  the 
warm  weather  continues  it  is  likely  that  the  out¬ 
put  win  be  cut  down  a  little  to  meet  the  situa¬ 
tion.  Fine  coals  from  Franklin  county  are  firm 
Ihe  operators  have  adopted  the  policy  of  dump¬ 
ing  the  fine  coals  on  the  ground  and  large  piles 
are  now  accumulating,  on  the  No.  5  and  small 
nut  sizes. 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Mine.  St.  Louis. 

6-mch  lump,  egg  or  nut . $1.75  $2.4754 

Screenings  . go  1.3254 

Anthracite  is  in  good  demand  in  the  country 
on  the  chestnut  size  particularly.  Locally  de¬ 
mand  has  eased  off  a  little,  though  it  is  still 
fair. 

Anthracite—  F.  O.  B.  St.  Louis. 

Chestnut  .  $7 't 

^  . . 

C  ,  ,  F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Smokeless—  Mine.  St.  Loui« 

Lump  or  egg  . $0.25  $4.75 

Gas  House  Coke—  F.  O.  B.  St.  Louis. 

tias  house  coke .  $4  26 

By-product  coke  (all  sizes) . !'.!!!  9. .  4.'50 

Idle  prices  9n  Illinois  soft  coal,  f.  o.  b.  East  St.  Louis, 
Madison,  Venice  or  Granite  City,  Ill.,  are  20  cents  lower 
tlian  the  above  quoted  St,  Louis  prices. 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


3t)0 


[October  30 


Denver  Trade. 


Denver,  October  28. —  {Special  Correspond¬ 
ence.)— There  has  been  much  discussion  recently 
in  coal  trade  circles  regarding  a  proposed  merger 
of  large  operating  concerns,  including  the  Vic- 
tor-American  Fuel  Company  and  others  of  equal 
importance  but  not  including  the  Colorado  Fuel 
&  Iron  Company.  That  the  matter  has  been  un¬ 
der  consideration  for  some  time  is  not  denied  by 
those  interested,  and  contemplated  plans  for  the 
consolidation  arc,  it  is  said,  now  receiving  the 
attention  of  legal  experts. 

J.  C.  Osgood,  president  of  the  Victor- Ameri¬ 
can,  declares  that  the  purpose  of  the  consolida¬ 
tion  will  be  to  reduce  the  cost  of  management, 
increase  efficiency  in  operation,  lower  cost  of  pro¬ 
duction  and  thus  extend  the  market  for  Colorado 
coal  into  territory  now  supplied  from  other 
states.  As  the  proposed  merger  does  not  include 
the  Colorado  Fuel  &  Iron  Company,  which  pro¬ 
duces  thirty-five  per  cent  of  the  state  s  tonnage, 
competition  will  still  prevail  and  no  rnonopoly 
would  exist.  Before  leaving  for  New  York,  he 
is.sued  the  following  statement: 

■‘The  coal  mining  industry  of  Colorado  is  m  a 
very  unsatisfactory  condition.  Few  of  the  oper¬ 
ators  are  realizing  any  profit  from  the  business, 
and  some  are  operating  at  a  loss.  This  is  not  a 
result  of  the  recent  strike,  but  of  conditions 
which  would  have  existed  if  the  strike  had  not 
occurred.  On  account,  however,  of  the  losses 
incurred  during  the  strike  some  of  the  operators 
are  not  in  a  financial  position,  to  continue  much 
longer  under  existing  conditions,  and  unless 
soniething  is  done  to  remedy  the  situation  wide- 
spread  disaster  may  result  to  one  of  the  most 
important  industries  of  the  state,  which,  in  the 
nature  of  things,  will  unfavorably  affect  all  of  the 
other  industries  of  the  state  and  increase  the 
already  unfavorable  opinion  of  eastern  bankers 
.toward  investments  in  Colorado. 

“The  reasons  for  the  depression  in  the  coal 
business  are  many,  but  the  principal  ones  are: 

•‘First— Increased  cost  of  mining  without  any 
adequate  increase  and  in  many  cases  a  reduction 
in  selling  prices.  In  the  ten  years,  1905  to  1915, 
the  cost  of  mining  has  increased  a  little  more 
than  forty  cents  per  ton  on  the  average,  the 
larger  part  of  which  has  resulted  from  two  vol- 
untarv  increases  in  mining  price  and  wage  scale 
given  to  the  employes  in  1907  and  1912,  and  the 
reduction  of  working  hours  twenty-five  per  cent 
by  the  operation  ■  of  the  eight-hour  law  at  the 
former  dailv  rate  of  wages. 

“Other  increases  in  cost  have  been  the  expense 
incurred  in  complying  with  the  mining  law 
adopted  in  1910  and  in  promoting  the  safety  of 
the  mines ;  the  recently  adopted  employes’  com- 
pensation  law,  which  is  now  adding  materially  to 
mining  costs;  the  increased  cost  of  mine  timbers 
and  other  mine  supplies  and  the  smaller  tonnage 
and  idle  time  brought  about  by  the  fact  that  the 
productive  capacity  of  the  mines  of  the  state  is 
far  in  excess  of  the  demand  from  the  territory  in 
which  Colorado  coal  can  be  marketed. 

“The  railroads,  under  the  terms  of  their  con¬ 
tracts,  have  paid  a  portion  of  the  increased  cost 
of  mining,  but  there  has  been  no  general  increase 
in  the  price  of  coal  for  domestic  consunjiption  and 
in  many  cases  there  have  been  reductions. 

“Second— Opening  and  development  of  new 
mines.  During  the  ten  years,  1905  to  1915,  no 
new  markets  have  been  opened  which  could  be 
supplied  from  Colorado  mines,  and  the  competi¬ 
tion  from  other  states— Wyoming,  New  Mexico, 
Kansas,  Oklahoma,  Missouri  and  Illinois— has 
driven  Colorado  coal  from  much  of  the  most  de¬ 
sirable  territory  it  formerly  supplied.  Natural 
gas  and  oil  have  taken  the  place  of  coal  in  many 
parts  of  the  southwest  formerly  supplied  from 
Colorado.  The  most  serious  element  in  bringing 
about  the  existing  over-capacity  has  been  the 
mines  opened  in  Routt  county,  which  are  now- 
producing  from  80,000  to  100,000  tons  per  an¬ 
num,  all  of  which  has  to  find  a  market  in  terri¬ 
tory  which  was  already  fully  supplied  by  mines 
which  had  previously  been  opened  in  other  parts 

of  the  .state.  ,  r-  ,  , 

“To  further  complicate  matters,  the  Colorado 
public  utilities  commission  has,  by  a  recent  ruling 
authorized  the  making  of  rates  on  coal  mined  in 
western  Colorado  regardless  of  geograp^^iical  lo¬ 
cation  and  distance,  which,  if  put  m  effect,  will 
bring  a  very  large  additional  tonnage  into  eastern 
markets  already  supplied. 

“It  has  been  suggested  as  a  remedy  for  this  de- 
plorable  situation  to  consolidate  a  number  of  the 
mines  under  one  management.^  Such  consolida- 
tion  would  have  to  be  made  strictly  in  accordance 
with  the  provisions  of  the  Sherman  anti-trust 
law.  and  would  prove  to  be  of  materia  advantage 
to  the  employes  and  the  public,  as  well  as  to  the 
coal  mine  operators. 


“It  would  not  be  the  purpose  of  such  a  consoli¬ 
dation  to  increase  the  normal  price  of  coal  to  the 
consumer,  but  its  advantage  would  be  gained 
from  reduced  cost  of  management,  increased  effi¬ 
ciency  in  operation,  consequent  lower  costs  of 
production  and  the  extension  of  the  market  for 
Colorado  coal  into  territory  now  supplied  from 
other  states  so  that  mines  can  be  kept  in  full  op¬ 
eration  and  the  tonnage  produced  in  the  state  ma¬ 
terially  increased. 

“The  employes  would  be  benefited  by  having 
steadier  work  and  larger  yearly  earnings. 

"The  public  would  be  benefited  directly  by  an 
assurance  of  an  adequate  coal  supply  at  normal 
prices  and  indirectly  by  the  prosperity  of  one  of 
the  most  important  industries  of  the  state. 

"The  consolidation  would  not  result  in  any 
monopoly,  as  it  would  not  include  the  Colorado 
Fuel  &  Iron  Company,  now  producing  about 
thirty-five  per  cent  of  the  tonnage,  nor  a  number 
of  other  companies  in  different  parts  of  the  state. 
The  consolidation  would  still  have  to  market  its 
coal  in  sharp  competition  with  coal  mined  in 
Wyoming,  New  Mexico,  Kansas,  Missouri,  Okla¬ 
homa  and  Illinois,  and  that  mined  in  Colorado 
by  the  Colorado  Fuel  &  Iron  Company  and  other 
companies. 

“In  a  recent  decision  of  the  highest  court  m 
England,  which  upheld  the  consolidation  of 
tically  all  the  mines  in  two  coal  fields  in  Aus¬ 
tralia,  this  language  is  used : 

“  ‘It  can  never  be  of  real  benefit  to  consumers 
of  coal  that  colliery  proprietors  should  carry  on 
their  business  at  a  loss.  *  *  *  Where  these  condi¬ 
tions  prevail,  the  less  remunerative  coffienes  will 
be  closed  down,  there  will  be  great  loss  of  capital, 
miners  will  be  thrown  out  of  employment,  lep 
coal  will  be  produced  and  prices  will  consequently 
rise.  *  *  *  The  consumers  of  coal  will  lose  in  the 
long  run  if  the  colliery  proprietors  do  not  make 
fair  profits  or  the  miners  do  not  receive  fair 
wages.  There  is  in  this  respect  a  solidarity  of 
interest  between  all  members  of  the  public. 

“Nothing  is  being  done  toward  effecting  such 
consolidation  except  a  careful  investigation, 
which  is  now  in  progress,  of  the  advantages  to  be 

“It  is  almost  needless  to  say  that  neither  Mr. 
Rockefeller  nor  the  Colorado  Fuel  &  Iron  Com¬ 
pany  have  been  or  will  be  consulted  about  this 
matter,  and  that  they  will  not  be  interested  di¬ 
rectly  nor  indirectly  in  the  consolidation,  if  one 
is  effected.” 


Oklahoma  Trade. 


Oklahoma  City,  Okla.,  October  28.  (Spe¬ 
cial  Correspondence.) — The  threshing  season,  on 
which  Oklahoma  operators  and  sales  agencies 
depend  so  much  to  “pull  them  through  the 
summer  months,  has  been  a  keen  disappoint¬ 
ment  to  most  of  them.  The  trouble  was  imt 
due  to  a  short  wheat  crop,  for  never  before  m 
the  state’s  agricultural  history,  extending  over 
a  period  of  twenty-six  years,  had  there  been 
such  a  bountiful  yield  of  small  grain.  But  no 
sooner  had  the  grain  begun  to  ripen  than  a 
series  of  heavy  rains  set  m,  continuing  almost 
to  the  present  time.  The  excessive  dampness 
prevented  all  threshing  operations,  except  dur- 
ino-  the  short  periods  of  sunshine  between  the 
rams  The  result  is  that  much— perhaps 
thirty-five  per  cent— of  the  entire  crop  still 
remains  in  the  fields,  unthreshed,_  and  mostly 
worthless.  Of  the  remaining  sixty-five  per 
cent,  not  more  than  half  was  threshed  m  dry 
condition.  . 

The  consequence  is  far  reaching,  io  begin 
with,  there  was  a  falling  off  in  the  amount 
of  coal  needed  for  threshing  purposes,  a  fall¬ 
ing  off  directly  in  proportion  to  the  amount 
of  unthreshed  wheat,  in  fact.  Also,  the  mills 
(and  these  burn  coal  for  fuel)  over  Oklahoma 
are  running  half  time  and  less,  owing  to  the 
scarcity  of  milling  wheat  within  the  state  and 
the  difficulty  of  buying  outside  wheat  because 
of  little  grain  being  thrown  on  markets  in 
other  wheat  growing  sections.  Then  naturally 
enough  the  railroads,  by  reason  of  having  less 
o-rain  and  grain  products  to  handle  to  and  trom 
mills,  are  using  considerably  less  locomotive 

^'^'lii  fact,  the  weather  man  had  a  sure  enough 
t^rudge  against  the  coal  industry  in  this  section 
all  summer  long.  Ordinarily  Oklahoma  sun¬ 
shine  furnishes  five  and  many  times  six  good 
months  for  the  ice  plants.  This  summer  was 
rarely  cool,  and  less  than  one-half  the  usual 
amount  of  ice  was  made  and  sold  in  the  stale 

Ibis  season.  .  . 

Also,  the  cotton  crop  was  injured  materially 
by  the  extremely  cool  sum_mcr  weather  ami 
excessive  moisture.  Cotton  is  planted  m  May 


and  is  ready  to  pick  the  last  of  August  or  first 
of  September  in  this  latitude.  It  is,  as  most 
everyone  knows,  a  dry  weather  crop.  No  cot¬ 
ton  was  picked  in  Oklahoma  this  fall  until 
after  the  first  of  October,  and  neither  quality 
nor  yield  are  good.  During  normal  years  there 
are  about  five  thousand  cars  of  coal  used 
(mostly  run-of-mine,  nut  and  pea)  in  the  cot¬ 
ton  gins  and  oil  mills  of  the  state.  This  year 
the  amount  will  be  cut  in  half. 

Members  of  the  coal  fraternity  have  been 
named  the  most  hopeful  people  on  earth.  To 
them  there  is  a  snow-storm  lining  to  every 
cloud,  from  October  till  May.  The  M.  H.  P. 
O.  E.’s  in  Oklahoma  are  loyal  to  the  clan! 
In  fact,  during  these  warm  October  days,  with 
the  thermometer  registering  around  80  during 
the  daytime,  coal  dealers,  operators  and  sales 
agencies  have  read  somewhere  that  the  Chey¬ 
enne  tribe  of  Indians,  over  in  the  western  part 
of  the  state,  are  busy  building  brush  wind¬ 
breaks  around  their  tepees  in  anticipation  of 
a  very  severe  winter,  which  their  medicine¬ 
men  have  foreseen  in  many  signs,  and  because 
of  this  fact  are  putting  great  store  in  the 
future.  One  of  the  large  sales  agency  man¬ 
agers  said  a  few  days  ago:  “The  Indians  are 
predicting  a  cold,  severe  winter,  and  they 
usually  get  it  down  about  right.” 

Due  to  the  fact  that  the  prices  on  all  grades 
of  Oklahoma  coal  reached  the  “high  water” 
mark  October  1st,  and  will  continue  unchanged 
until  April  next,  and  further  to  the  warm 
weather  prevalent  at  the  present  time,  there 
is  a  surplus  of  McAlester  and  Wilburton  lump 
at  most  of  the  mines.  The  smaller  grades  are 
moving  out  promptly,  going  mostly  to  gins 
and  cotton  oil  mills,  in  Oklahoma  and  Texas. 

List  is  being  strictly  adhered  to  by  all  sales 
companies.  The  price  list  for  the  field  is  given 
below: 


McAlester — 
Domestic  lump.  .  . 
Commercial  lump. 

Nut  . 

■Slack  . •  ■ . 

Chestnut  . 

Mine  run . 

Wilburton — 
Domestic  lump.  . 
Commercial  lump, 

Nut  . 

Mine  run . 

Chestnut  . 

Slack  . 

Ilenryetta — 
Domestic_  lump.. 
Commercial  lump 

Mine  run . 

Nut  . 

Slack  . 

Sans  Bois — 

Fancy  lumn . 

Domestic  lump.  . 

Nut  mix . 

Slack  . 

Mine  run . 


$4.25 

3.75 
3.00 
1.10 
2.35 

2.75 


$3.75 

3.25 
2.75 
2.35 

2.25 
1.10 


$3.25 

2.75 

2.00 

2.50 
.00 

$3.00 

2.75 

1.50 
1.25 
2.00 


Oklahoma  Personal  Items. 

The  Southern  Fuel  Company  of  McAlester 
is  now  operating  the  mine  and  washer  at  Sa¬ 
vanna,  formerly  operated  by  the  Dow  Coal 
Company. 

The  M.  B.  Schofield  Company  is  furnish¬ 
ing  most  of  the  state  coal  this  season.  They 
are  now  supplying  1,000  tons  of  Sans  Bois 
semi-anthracite  mine  run  to  the  state  university 
at  Norman. 

Ernest  Ingram,  formerly  assistant  sales 
manager  for  the  Creek  Coal  &  Mining  Com- 
pany,  Henryetta,  Oklahoma,  has  accepted  a 
similar  position  in  the  division  office  of  the 
Fidelity  Fuel  Company,  Oklahoma  City.  Mr 
Ingram  is  a  live  wire  in  the  coal  game  and  will 
bring  many  friends  to  the  company  with  which 
he  is  now  associated. 

Recent  heavy  rains  in  eastern  Oklah9ina, 
resulting  in  extreme  high  water  in  the  vicinity 
of  McAlester,  has  been  the  cause  of  cessation 
of  operations  in  no  less  than  three  large  rnines 
in  the  McAlester  district,  due  to  water  getting 
into  the  workings.  One  mine,  Adamson  No.  2, 
will  likely  not  produce  any  coal  for  thirty 
days. 

Oklahoma  City  dealers  are  preparing  a 
unique  billboard  advertising  campaign,  in  air 
effort  to  educate  people  away  froni  gas  as  a 
heating  fuel.  Billboards,  attractively  pictured 
and  lettered,  are  being  prepared  by  a  local 
poster  advertising  company.  Each  contains  a 
different  approach  to  the  subject.  The  written 
matter  is  short  and  suggestive,  with  these 
words  appearing  conspicuously  on  each  board. 
"Burn  Coal.”  None  of  the  dealers  names  ap¬ 
pear  on  the  signs,  but  some  eight  or  ten  of  the 
leading  coal  merchants  are  pro  rating  the  ex¬ 
pense  and  expect  to  profit  thereby. 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


361 


No.  18] 


Detroit  Trade. 


Detroit,  Mich.,  October  28. —  {Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — Something  of  an  easing  off  in  de¬ 
mand  for  both  steam  and  domestic  coal  has  de¬ 
veloped  during  the  week,  being  most  noticeable 
to  domestic  sizes. 

The  occasion  for  diminished  activity  in  the 
steam  coal  trade  is  not  quite  apparent  unless  it 
happens  that  a  considerable  number  of  the  large 
consumers  may  have  acquired  supplies  which  re¬ 
lieve  them  of  the  necessity  of  buying  for  a  few 
days.  The  situation  does  not,  however,  repre¬ 
sent  a  serious  falling  off  in  business  and  some 
of  the  shippers  expect  it  may  precede  a  period 
of  enlarged  activity  that  will  more  than  offset 
whatever  decrease  they  may  sustain  in  present 
sales. 

In  general,  business  is  good  and  seems  to  give 
every  indication  of  continuing  on  a  satisfactory 
basis  through  the  winter.  Fine  coals  are  most 
active  and  some  of  the  shippers  complain  they 
are  having  difficulty  in  obtaining  enough  stock 
to  supply  their  customers.  The  situation  is  com¬ 
plicated  somewhat  by  car  shortage  along  the 
lines  of  the  C.  &  O.  and  Erie  &  Western,  while 
there  are  reports  also  of  inadequate  car  supply 
on  Pennsylvania  lines  in  the  Pocahontas  mining 
district. 

The  loss  of  interest  in  domestic  sizes,  in  the 
opinion  of  shippers  is  wholly  attributable  to  the 
continued  warm  weather.  Temperature  condi¬ 
tions  of  the  week  have  been  strongly  suggestive 
of  Indian  summer,  though  the  nights  are  suffi¬ 
ciently  chilly  to  make  a  fire  quite  desirable  for 
comfort,  even  if  only  a  small  amount  of  fuel  is 
used. 

With  consumers  of  domestic  coal  holding  back 
on  their  orders,  the  retailers  are  not  coming  into 
the  market  in  any  great  number.  Any  sudden 
change  of  temperature  to  more  wintery  weather 
might  produce  considerable  inconvenience  to  re¬ 
tailers  whose  stocks  are  low  and  probably  would 
cause  more  serious  difficulty  for  consumers  who 
have  neglected  getting  a  fuel  supply. 

Practically  the  same  conditions  are  noted  in  the 
anthracite  trade.  The  retail  yards  are  appar¬ 
ently  far  behind  on  delivery,  owing  to  the  with¬ 
holding  of  orders  Iw  consumers  and  the  business 
coming  to  shippers  is  meager,  the  amount  being 
sufficient,  however,  to  demonstrate  that  serious 
conditions  may  be  expected  in  case  of  any  more 
pronounced  shortage  of  cars  in  the  east.  Con¬ 
signment  coal  is  arriving  only  in  moderate  quan¬ 
tities  and  except  for  lump  and  egg  sizes  is  sold 
without  serious  delay.  The  sales  at  sacrifice 
prices  are  infrequent,  although  not  altogether 
eliminated. 

In  the  lake  trade  very  little  change  is  ap¬ 
parent.  .Some  of  the  shippers  are  endeavoring 
to  increase  their  shipments,  but  the  demand  for 
carriers  in  the  grain  trade  has  left  few  freighters 
available  for  moving  coal. 

Prices  in  the  local  market  on  mine  shipment 
orders  are  as  follows : 


West  Virginia  Gas — 

Three-quarter  lump . 

Mine  run . 

Slack  . 

West  Virginia  Splint — 

Four-inch  lump . 

Two-inch  lump . 

Three-quarter  . 

Mine  run . 

Nut,  pea  and  slack . 

Smokeless — 

Lump  and  egg  . 

Nut  . 

Slack  . 

Mine  run . 

Kentucky  Splint — 

Lump  . 

Egg  . 

Nut,  pea  and  slack . 

Fairmount — 

Three-quarter  steam  lump 

Mine  run . 

Slack  . 

Hocking  Valley — 
-Shaker  three-inch  lump 
Shaker  egg  and  nut.... 

Domestic  lump  . 

Three-quarter  lump . 

Mine  run . 

Nut,  pea  and  slack . 

Pittsburgh  No.  8 — 
Three-quarter  lump  .... 

Mine  run  . 

Slack  . 

Jackson  Hill — 

Domestic  lump . 

Cambridge — 

Three-quarter  lump . 

Mine  run . 

Pomeroy — 

Two  and  three-inch  lump. 

Egg  . 

Stack  . 


F.  O.  B. 
Mines. 
$1.00 
.90 

.60®  .75 

1.45@1.75 

1.20@1.40 

1.10 

.90 

.55®  .05 

2.25 

1.75 

Open 

1.40 

1.60®1.75 

1.25@1.40 

.65 

.86®  .95 
.70®  .80 
Open 

1.60 

1.15 

1.50 
1.35 

1.00®1.10 

Open 

1.05 

.95 

Open 

2.50 

1.20 

1.10 

1.60 

1.35 

Open 


F.  O.  B. 
Detroit. 
$2.40 
2.30 
2.00®2.15 

2.85@3.15 

2.60@2.80 

2.50 

2.30 

1.95®2.05 


3.85 

3.35 

Open 

3.00 

3.00®3.15 

2.65®2.80 

2.05 

2.25@2.36 

2.10®2.20 

Open 

2.75 

2.30 

2.65 

2.40 

2.15®2.25 

Open 

2.20 

2.10 

Open 


3.65 


2.35 

2.25 

2.75 

2.50 

Open 


W.  E.  Besancon  is  chairman  of  a  special  com¬ 
mittee  of  six  appointed  by  the  Detroit  Coal  Ex¬ 
change  to  confer  with  the  village  council  of 
Highland  Park  to  obtain  a  hearing  for  the  coal 


men  before  the  village  takes  final  action  on  the 
pending  ordinance,  by  wdiich  it  is  proposed  to 
punish  by  fine  any  dealer  delivering  to  customers 
in  the  village  anthracite  or  bituminous  coal  con¬ 
taining  more  than  five  per  cent  moisture,  furnace 
coke  with  more  than  eight  per  cent  moisture  and 
small  coke  containing  more  than  ten  per  cent 
moisture.  At  the  last  meeting  of  the  village 
council  one  of  its  members  suggested  adoption 
of  a  rule  requiring  sale  of  coke  by  measure  in¬ 
stead  of  by  weight. 

After  having  served  for  some  time  as  a  repre¬ 
sentative  in  Detroit  of  the  Sunday  Creek  Coal 
Company,  James  A.  Greenwald  has  engaged  in 
business  for  himself.  He  has  opened  an  office  at 
toil  Majestic  building. 

Business  of  the  Matthew  Eddy  Company  of 
Cincinnati  is  now  being  handled  in  Detroit  by 
I'rank  Zay. 


Cleveland  Trade. 


Clevel.vnd,  Ohio,  October  2vs. —  {Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — The  past  week  was  a  surprisingly 
dull  one  in  coal  circles.  Apparently  the  demand 
dropped  off  suddenly,  while  the  supply  increased 
from  accumulated  shipments  which  were  late  in 
arriving.  Another  feature  has  also  entered  into 
the  situation  which  may  complicate  it  for  some 
time,  unless  there  should  be  a  big  drop  in  the 
temperature.  Jobbers  made  their  usual  provision 
for  cold  weather  and  a  consequent  increase  in 
demand  at  this  time  of  the  year,  but  instead  the 
past  few  days  have  been  rather  on  the  warm  order 
and  the  demand  did  not  develop.  This  has  had 
as  much  to  do  with  the  over-accumulation  of  coal 
as  anything  else  and  it  will  probably  be  difficult 
to  govern,  since  the  orders  have  been  placed  and 
preparations  made  to  fill  them.  Then,  too,  there 
would  be  some  danger  in  Jialting  the  supply  be¬ 
cause  of  the  possible  drop  in  temperature  which 
should  not  be  far  away. 

Coal  is  still  going  up  the  lakes  at  about  the 
usual  rate  for  the  season.  Little  tonnage  is  be¬ 
ing  offered  and  there  is  yet  no  tendency  to  pay 
a  premium  except  in  special  cases.  There  may 
lie  a  rush  at  the  end  of  the  season,  but  this  is  by 
no  means  certain.  It  will  all  be  governed  by 
business  conditions  which  look  very  encouraging, 
in  a  general  way,  at  this  time. 

It  is  understood  that  the  amount  of  lake  coal 
moving  from  the  Pittsburgh  district  will  com¬ 
pare  very  favorably  with  last  season.  Unless 
some  unforeseen  difficulty  presents  itself  it  is 
expected  that  this  will  continue  until  the  close  of 
navigation.  While  there  was  still  a  supply  left 
over  at  the  upper  lake  ports  in  the  spring,  it 
moved  with  sufficient  rapidity  during  the  summer 
months  to  furnish  a  good  amount  of  dock  capac¬ 
ity  for  the  present  shipping  season. 

The  demand  for  domestic  coals  was  very  light 
the  past  week,  owing  to  the  prevailing  warm 
weather.  Jobbers  have  been  able  to  catch  up 
with  their  orders  in  delivery  and  are  now  look¬ 
ing  for  new  business.  While  the  Massillon  pro¬ 
ducers  may  still  be  somewhat  behind,  many  of 
them  have  brought  their  deliveries  up  to  within 
a  few  days.  Some  of  the  mines  are  not  running 
to  full  capacity,  however,  and  the  car  situation 
is  still  proving  troublesome. 

Quotations  on  the  various  coals  in  this  market 


today  are  as  follows : 

F.  O.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

No.  8  District —  ^ 

Mines. 

Cleveland. 

Three-quarters  . . 

$1.95®2.00 

Run  of  mine  . 

1.85 

Slack  . 

Pittsburgh  District — 

1.65 

-Slack  . 

1.70®1.80 

Voughiogheny — 

Slack  . 

.  .85 

1.85 

Smokeless — 

Lump  . 

3.55 

Egg  . 

.  2.10 

3.55 

Run  of  mine . 

.  1.30 

2.75 

Massillon — 

Lump  . 

.  2.50 

3.20 

Nut  . 

.  2.50 

3.20 

Slack  . 

_  .90 

1.6C 

Cambridge — 

'I  hree-quarters  . 

Run  of  mine . 

.  1.10 

2.00 

.  1.00 

1.90 

Slack  . 

1.75 

Goshen — 

Slack . 

1.60®1.65 

Fairmont — 

Slack  . 

1.90 

Kentucky — 

4-inch  block . 

.  1.90@2.00 

3.15@3.2r) 

Oklahoma  City  schools  are  being  heated 
with  coal  again  this  year.  This  time  against 
ten-cent  gas.  In  other  w'ords,  the  gas  coni- 
pany  proposed  putting  gas  for  all  the  city 
schools,  thirty-five  in  all,  through  one  meter, 
at  ten  cents  per  thousand  feet.  Their  offer, 
however,  was  refused  by  the  Board  of  Educa¬ 
tion  because  of  the  uncertainty  of  fuel  during 
cold  weather  in  case  of  breakage  of  gas  mains. 


Birmingham  Trade. 


Bir.mingh.am,  Al.\.,  October  28. —  {Special 
L  orrespondence.) — There  is  no  question  as  to 
the  general  improved  mining  conditions,  but 
some  of  the  coal  men  are  not  fully  satisfied  with 
the  existing  tonnage,  as  it  has  not  met  fullest 
expectations.  The  real  fact  is  that  Alabania  can 
miiTe  a  far  larger  tonnage  than  she  has  a  devel¬ 
oped  trade,  and  those  who  are  a  little  pessismis- 
tic,  are  the  ones  who  have  expected  a  full  capac¬ 
ity  to  the  fullest  and  largest  tonnage  which  could 
possibly  be  gotten  out.  Eor  instance,  with  the 
number  of  mines  now  operating,  between  20,000,- 
000  and  25, 000, 000  tons  could  be  produced  for  the 
year,  while  the  market  demand  is  only  from 
15,000,000  to  17,000,000  tons.  Thus  it  is,  that 
some  are  not  yet  satisfied  with  business  which 
is  in  hand.  A  further  proof  of  better  feeling  is 
the  fact  that  one  of  the  large  mining  companies 
has  restored  a  twenty  per  cent  wage  cut  which 
was  made  about  the  advent  of  the  war. 

The  development  of  trade  still  goes  on  down 
the  Warrior  river  and  a  goodly  tonnage  is  now 
going  to  gulf  ports  by  that  route. 

Steam  coal  trade  is  fairly  good  and  with  the 
cotton  oil  mills  all  over  the  south  running  quite 
a  good  tonnage  is  supplied  for  this  purpose.  The 
demand  for  the  bunker  trade  to  the  ports  is  good, 
though  not  so  large  as  it  would  be  if  more  ships 
were  running,  but  there  is  some  increase  in  this 
business,  too. 

Domestic  trade  is  holding  up  well  with  good 
trade  in  hand  by  both  operator  and  retail  man. 

Blacksmith  coal  trade  is  only  fair.  There  is  a 
steady  production  of  coke  in  this  district.  The 
by-product  ovens  are  losing  no  time  in  their  op¬ 
eration,  and  the  coke  demand  is  sufficient  to 
eliminate  any  accumulation  of  any  consequence 
in  this  district.  With  the  heavy  production  of 
pig  iron,  the  steady  operation  of  foundries  and 
machine  shops  and  other  plants  where  coke  is 
consumed,  the  maximum  output  almost  is  war¬ 
ranted.  Good  prices  obtain  for  coke. 

The  Summit  Coal  Company  of  Summit, 
Walker  County,  has  been  incorporated  with  au¬ 
thorized  capital  stock  of  $25,000.00  by  James  L. 
Davidson,  E.  1).  Reynolds,  James  Gallacker,  all 
of  Birmingham.  This  mine  is  opened  on  the 
Black  Creek  seam  of  coal.  Machines  and  equip¬ 
ment  will  be  put  in  to  mines  from  one  hundred 
and  fifty  to  tw'o  hundred  tons  per  day. 

A  large  deal  in  coal  lands  has  been  concluded 
in  Cullman  county.  A  tract  of  2,840  acres  was 
bought.  The  property  was  owned  by  the  Stouts 
Mountain  Coal  &  Coke  Company,  a  corporation 
controlled  by  Birmingham  interests.  W.  L.  Sims, 
as  trustee,  is  the  purchaser.  All  mining  interests 
have  been  leased,  and  getting  out  coal  from  Black 
Creek  seam  will  be  begun  soon.  W'hen  formerly 
worked  this  company  had  a  capacity  of  three 
hundred  to  five  hundred  tons  per  day. 

It  is  expected  that  the  mine  will  be  brought  up 
to  about  that  amount  of  tonnage. 

Prices  for  October  and  the  balance  of  the 
year : 


F.  O.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

Bibb  County  Domestic  Coal — 

Mines. 

Birmingham. 

Red  ash  Cahaba  lump . 

$3.00 

$3.50 

Red  ash  Cahaba  lump . 

2.75 

3.10 

Red  Ash  steam  size . 

.  .  1.20®1.35 

Frt.  rate  30c 

Jefferson  County — 

kancy  steam  Pratt . 

1.75 

2.00 

Run  of  mine  Pratt . 

.  1.20@1.25 

1.45®1.60 

Mary  Lee  lump . 

.  1.40®1.50 

1.80®1.90 

Black  Creek — 

Fancy  steam  lump . 

1.76 

2.05 

Washed  nut  . 

1.75 

2.05' 

Washed  steam . 

.  .  1.35®1.60 

Frt.  rate  30c 

Mine  run . 

,  .  1.85®1.40 

Frt.  rate  30c 

Jefferson  Steam  Coal — 

Mine  run .  1.15®1.25  Frt.  rate  30c 

Walker  County  Domestic  (  oal — 

Carbon  Hill  lump .  1.75  2.15 

Carbon  Hill  egg .  1.65  2.05 

Horse  Creek  mine  run .  1.00®1.20  Frt.  rate  40c 

Genuine  Corona — 

Lump  . 2.00  2.40 

Egg  .  1.90  2.35 

Steam  sizes .  1.25®1.35  Frt.  rate  40c 

Shelby  County  Domestic  Coal — 

Cahaba  fancy  lump  .  3.00  3.30 

Cahaba  No.  2  lump  .  2.75  3.05 

Montevallo  domestic  prices  range  from  $3.00  to  $3.25. 
Blacksmith  coal,  washed  and  screened,  per  ton,  $2.00  to 
$2.25  at  mines,  with  different  rates  to  various  points. 


The  car  shortage,  which  is  general  over  the 
United  States,  is  beginning  to  be  felt  in  Okla¬ 
homa.  The  Hickory  Coal  &  Mining  Company, 
of  Tulsa,  Oklalioma,  are  some  ten  days  behind 
with  orders,  due  to  inability  to  procure  emp¬ 
ties  from  the  “Katy”  road. 


On  November  1st,  E.  R.  Clayton,  manager 
of  the  sales  for  the  Harlan  Coal  Company  will 
become  associated  with  the  Wallins  Creek 
Sales  Company,  as  sales  manager,  with  offices 
at  I’ineville,  Ky. 


362 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[October  30 


New  York  Trade. 


Demand  for  Anthracite  Is  Affected  by 
the  Mild  Weather — Bituminous 
Demand  Is  Strong 

Office  of  The  Black  Diamond, 

New  York,  October  28. 

Although  the  mild  weather  prevailing  for  the 
past  week  or  ten  days  has  diverted  attention  from 
retail  buying  of  anthracite,  the  trade  continues 
very  active,  especially  in  the  production  end.  The 
spurt  in  buying  that  began  several  weeks  ago  left 
the  companies  with  plenty  of  shipping  orders  on 
hand  when  the  lull  in  demand  set  in  late  last 
week.  What  is  needed  now  is  a  few  days  of  cold 
weather  to  start  retail  buying,  but  there  is  no 
question  but  that  the  trade  will  be  so  busy  in 
the  next  few  weeks  as  to  keep  the  operations 
going  on  full  time. 

-At  the  moment,  those  companies  that  ship  coal 
west  via  the  lakes,  are  concerned  about  getting 
forward  sufficient  coal  between  now  and  the  close 
of  navigation  to  take  care  of  their  western  needs. 
The  lake  season  will  close  in  four  weeks,  and 
it  is  believed  by  those  who  have  studied  the  situa¬ 
tion  that  a  great  deal  of  anthracite  should  yet 
go  forward  to  the  docks  on  the  upper  lakes.  At 
the  moment  vessels  for  lake  transportation  are 
scarce,  brought  about  by  the  transferring  of  nu¬ 
merous  lake  boats  to  the  Atlantic  coastwise  and 
off-shore  trade  during  the  early  months  of  the 
year ;  also  the  diversion  of  numerous  boats  to 
carry  grain.  The  grain  rates  have  been  so  at¬ 
tractive  that  many  coal  steamers  have  engaged 
in  this  work.  Moreover,  the  docks  at  the  head 
of  the  lakes  are  said  to  be  well  supplied  with 
coal,  which  means  that  they  will  have  to  dis¬ 
tribute  largely  during  the  month  to  be  in  posi¬ 
tion  to  discharge  cargoes  that  arrive. 

In  the  east  the  all-rail  trade  is  active,  and 
large  quantities  of  coal  are  going  all-rail  in  every 
direction.  Business  at  tide  is  not  so  active,  but 
most  of  the  coals  are  moving  freely  with  very 
few  lots  of  domestic  sizes  being  sold  off  cir¬ 
cular.  Such  sales  as  one  hears  about  at  con¬ 
cessions  are  usually  remote,  once  in  a  while  a 
lot  of  coal  getting  near  the  demurrage  stage  at 
tidewater,  and  the  shipper,  in  his  effort  to  move 
it  quickly,  makes  an  attractive  concession. 

Stove  is  in  good  demand.  So  is  chestnut,  and 
egg  is  also  moving  pretty  freely. 

In  the  steam  sizes  there  is  not  the  pressure  to 
secure  coal  as  was  the  case  during  the  past 
several  weeks,  but  there  is  no  accumulation  at 
any  of  the  ports,  and  former  prices  are  being 
pretty  well  maintained.  There  is  a  steady  market 
for  the  good  grades  of  No.  1,  2  and  3,  and  pea 
coal  is  also  in  good  demand.  Some  of  the  ship¬ 
pers  are  not  accepting  orders,  except  for  steel 
hopper  cars.  There  is  a  dearth  of  low  side  cars, 
and  a  great  many  of  these  are  constantly  called 
for  by  retail  dealers  at  all-rail  points. 

In  New  York  city  the  excellent  demand  for 
harbor  boats  may  shortly  affect  harbor  freight 
rates.  Many  boats  are  now  being  needed  for 
other  purposes,  and  as  great  deal  of  anthracite 
coal  is  moved  on  time  charters,  it  is  only  once  in 
a  while  there  is  a  call  for  spot  vessels.  To  give 
a  few  instances  of  the  advance  of  harbor  rates, 
a  900-ton  barge  that  during  the  summer  months 
would  charter  for  $4.50  a  day,  now  secures  $9, 
and  a  300  to  400-ton  barge  that  got  $3  during 
the  summer  is  now  securing  $6  and  $7.  Flat 
scows  are  securing  all  the  way  from  $15  to  $20 
per  day.  The  rates  for  the  Sound  are  prac¬ 
tically  unchanged.  Practically  no  coal  is  now 


moving  to  the  Provinces. 
New  York  prices: 

Broken  . 

Upper 

Ports. 

Lower 

Ports. 

$5.00 

5.25 

5.25 

5.50 

3.45 

5  60 

Pea  . 

Special  grades  of  red  ash  and  other  high-grade 
coals  at  the  lower  ports  sell  at  twenty-five  to 
fifty  cents  per  ton  over  above  figures. 

Spot  prices  in  individual  coals  at  lower  ports 
are  about  as  follows : 

. $5.05  and  up 

Stove  . 5.20  and  up 

J^ut  .  5.20  and  up 

Pea  .  3.25  and  up 

Ouck  .  2.30  and  up 

Pice  .  2.00  and  up 

Harley  .  1.75ondup 

The  Bituminous  Situation. 

The  bituminous  production  continues  on  a  full 
scale,  which  means  at  the  moment  it  is  up  to 
car  supply.  Cars  are  scarce  on  most  of  the  east¬ 


ern  bituminous  roads,  and  the  situation  is  not 
improving.  It  was  believed  sometime  ago  that 
as  soon  as  the  large  railroads  in  the  east  quit 
stocking  coal,  that  a  lot  of  cars  would  be  liber¬ 
ated,  and  these  would  be  used  for  commercial 
purposes.  It  appears  that  in  the  meantime  a 
great  many  of  the  low  side  cars  have  been  drawn 
into  other  lines,  so  that  the  steel  hopper  cars  are 
now  about  the  only  ones  used  exclusively  in 
coal.  To  add  to  the  shortage  of  cars,  we  have 
frequent  interruptions  in  transportation  when  the 
cars  are  loaded,  due  to  the  very  heavy  ship¬ 
ments  of  all  kinds  of  products  to  the  seaboard 
for  export.  One  of  the  New  York  tidewater 
roads  last  week  had  to  declare  an  embargo  on 
all  freight,  so  badly  had  its  terminals  been  con¬ 
gested  with  merchandise  to  be  transferred  to 
ships. 

The  spot  market  has  not  materially  improved. 
On  the  other  hand  contract  movement  is  just 
about  as  active  as  could  be  expected.  The  ab¬ 
sence  of  any  unusual  buying  on  the  part  of  con¬ 
sumers  at  this  time  is  held  due  to  the  fact  that 
practically  all  of  the  principal  users  of  coal  for 
steam  making  purposes  are  under  contract,  and 
this  means  that  they  are  either  securing  coal 
direct  from  the  operators  or  from  middle  houses. 
So  far  the  middle  houses  have  been  able  to  take 
care  of  their  contracts,  but  the  moment  they 
find  themselves  unable  to  obtain  coal  at  satis¬ 
factory  prices  it  is  anticipated  that  they  will  fail 
in  their  deliveries,  and  this  will  start  a  lot  of  buy¬ 
ing  from  the  consumers  direct. 

Mine  prices  have  improved  so  that  $1.15  is  the 
minimum  for  Pennsylvania  coals.  This  means 
$2.70  f.  o.  b.  vessels.  New  York  harbor.  There 
is  very  little  free  coal  at  the  local  piers,  and 
choice  grades  are  held  at  $2.80  and  up,  with 
fancy  grades  quoted  at  $3  and  up.  Slack  is 
quoted  all  the  way  from  seventy-five  cents  to 
$1.10,  according  to  the  region  and  freight  rate. 

The  export  trade  is  still  hampered  through 
the  lack  of  vessels.  The  demand  for  export  is 
healthy,  but  buyers  do  not  want  to  pay  the  pres¬ 
ent  prevailing  rates  of  freight,  which  mean  in 
case  of  shipments  to  the  Mediterranean  of  about 
six  times  the  price  of  the  coal  f.  o.  b.  vessels,  and 
about  three  to  four  times  the  price  of  coal  f.  o.  b. 
vessels  if  for  South  American  destination. 

The  Vessel  Situation. 

The  coastwise  vessel  situation  is  easy.  The 
weather  has  been  ideal  for"  the  movement  of 
boats  and  barges  coastwise,  so  that  prompt 
schedules  are  being  made.  As  the  bulk  of  the 
coal  moving  into  New  England  is  in  vessels  con¬ 
trolled  by  the  coal  companies  or  else  under  time 
charter,  there  is  very  little  call  at  the  moment 
for  spot  tonnage. 

The  off-shore  question  is  fully  covered  on  our 
export  page. 

We  quote  current  rates  on  freight  as  follows : 

From  Hampton  Roads  to  Boston,  eighty  to 
ninety  cents  is  about  the  range;  to  Portland  and 
points  east  of  Boston,  from  ninety  cents  to  $1. 
To  sound  ports,  eighty  to  eighty-five  cents.  From 
Philadelphia  to  New  England  points,  about  five 
cents  under  the  Hampton  Roads  rates. 

From  New  York  to  Bridgeport  or  New  Haven, 
thirty  cents ;  to  New  London  and  Providence, 
forty  cents;  to  Fall  River  and  New  Bedford, 
forty-five  cents;  to  Boston,  fifty-five  to  sixty 
cents. 

Current  quotations  on  bituminous  coal  in  spot 
lots  are  : 


F.  O.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

Somerset  County — 

Harbor. 

Mines. 

Best  grades . 

$1.40 

Ordinary  . 

.  2.70 

1.20 

Medium  grades . 

1.15 

Cambria  County — 

Best  Miller  vein . 

.  3.00 

1.45 

Medium  grades . 

.  2.80 

1.25 

Cheaper  grades . 

.  2.70 

1.15 

Clearfield  County — 

Best  grade . 

1.35 

Ordinary  grades . 

.  2.70 

1.15 

Indiana  County — 

Best  grade . 

1.25 

Medium  grade . 

1.15 

Maryland — 

Georges  Creek  big  vein . 

.  3.15 

1.65 

West  Virginia  Splint — 

Ordinary  grades . 

.  2.55 

1.00 

Best  gas.  ^-inch  lump . 

.  2.75 

1.15 

Best  grade,  run  of  mine . 

.90 

Gas  slack . 

.75@1.10 

New  York  Trade  Briefs. 

A.'  Sidney  Davison,  of  A.  Sidney  Davison 
Coal  Company,  No.  1  Broadway,  visited  Pitts- 
burgh  and  the  central  Pennsylvania  mining  re¬ 
gions  last  week. 

The  firm  of  Hazen  &  Smith,  No.  1  Broad¬ 
way,  has  been  dissolved.  W.  C.  Smith  has 
purchased  the  interest  of  Edward  L.  Hazen, 
and  will  continue  the  business  under  his  own 


name.  This  firm  started  in  the  wholesale 
business  at  No.  1  Broadway  about  a  year  ago. 

W.  R.  Coyle,  general  sales  manager  of  Wes¬ 
ton,  Dodson  &  Co.,  Inc.,  passed  through  New 
York  on  Tuesday,  en  route  to  Bethlehem  from 
Newport,  R.  I.,  where  he  spent  the  week-end. 

Alalcolm  L.  Carl,  who  was  formerly  with 
Dickerman  &  Englis  at  No.  42  Broadway,  has 
opened  up  an  office  on  his  own  account  at 
No.  50  Church  street.  He  will  deal  largely  in 
bituminous. 

C.  E.  Bockus,  president  of  the  Clinchfield 
Coal  Corporation,  was  up  from  Dante,  Va.. 
several  days  this  week.  Mr.  Bockus  reports 
that  the  xoal  trade  in  the  southeast  is  so 
active,  that  the  Carolina,  Clinchfield  &  Ohio 
R,  R,  will  be  compelled  to  use  all  of  its  sur¬ 
plus  coal  cars,  quite  a  number  of  which  were 
loaned  to  other  railroads  during  the  slack 
season, 

George  W.  Hoban,  who  graduated  from  the 
Lehigh  University  in  the  class  of  1915,  has  re¬ 
cently  been  appointed  salesman  for  Long 
Island  and  Staten  Island  for  Weston,  Dodson 
&  Co,,  Inc,,  reporting  to  the  New  York  office. 
For  some  months  past  Mr.  Hoban  has  been 
connected  with  the  Bethlehem  office,  and  was 
given  the  usual  schooling  in  the  mines  of  the 
company  whose  output  Weston,  Dodson  &  Co. 
sell. 

Frank  J.  Honan,  vice-president  of  the  Skeele 
Coal  Company,  No.  90  West  street.  New  York, 
surprised  quite  a  number  of  his  friends  last 
week  when  he  announced  that  he  had  been 
married  in  June  last  to  Miss  Julia  Buckley, 
formerly  of  Binghamton,  N.  Y.  Mr.  Honan 
comes  from  Binghamton,  and  he  and  his  wife 
were  school  mates.  They  have  been  making 
their  home  on  Washington  Heights  in  New 
York  City. 

News  was  circulated  in  New  York  on  Mon¬ 
day  of  the  death  Sunday  of  William  Hockings, 
salesman  of  Weston,  Dodson  &  Co.,  Inc.,  with 
headquarters  at  Lansdale,  Pa.  Mr.  Hockings 
and  his  wife  were  crossing  a  railroad  track  in 
an  automobile,  when  their  car  was  struck  by 
some  freight  cars  that  were  supposedly  stand¬ 
ing  still  on  a  sidetrack.  Mr.  Hockings  and 
his  wife  were  instantly  killed.  They  had  been 
married  less  than  a  year. 

Announcement  was  made  this  week  that  the 
Clinchfield  Coal  Corporation  had  purchased 
another  lake  steamer,  which  has  just  been 
built.  This  steamer  is  the  twin  ship  of  the 
“International,”  which  was  purchased  by  the 
Clinchfield  early  in  the  spring,  and  which  has 
been  in  service  since  May  taking  coal  between 
Ihe  southern  ports  and  Galveston.  The  new 
steamer  will  be  brought  around  immediately. 
It  will  be  named  the  “Clinchfield”  and  will  be 
used  exclusively  to  take  coal  between  Charles¬ 
ton  and  Cuba,  where  the  Clinchfield  has  built 
up  quite  a  representative  business. 

F.  W.  Pray,  president,  and  W.  E.  Macurda, 
treasurer  of  the  Garfield  &  Proctor  Coal  Com¬ 
pany  of  Boston,  were  at  their  New  York  office 
on  Tuesday.  The  New  Bedford  plant  of  the 
Garfield  &  Proctor  Company  was  recently 
sold  to  the  Pocahontas  Fuel  Company,  and  it 
will  be  used  by  this  corporation  commencing 
with  the  new  coal  year.  The  New  Bedford 
plant  is  one  of  the  most  up  to  date  coal  re¬ 
ceiving,  storing  and  distributing  plants  located 
on  New  England  waters.  It  is  a  strategic 
point  for  distributing  bituminous  coal  to  a 
very  populous  manufacturing  territory.  More¬ 
over,  it  has  an  advantage  by  receiving  coal 
by  water,  due  to  the  fact  that  it  located  on 
a  protected  bay,  and  ships  that  bring  coal 
from  the  southern  ports  do  not  have  to  go 
around  Cape  Cod. 

Some  of  the  newspapers  last  week  published 
a  story  that  the  control  of  the  Virginia  Iron, 
Coal  &  Coke  Company,  with  headquarters  at 
Roanoke,  Va.,  would  likely  pass  to  interests 
controlling  the  Clinchfield  Coal  Corporation. 
The  Black  Diamond  learns  that  there  is  no 
foundation  for  that  rumor.  Stock  of  the  Vir¬ 
ginia  Iron,  Coal  &  Coke  Company  has  been 
very  active  on  the  New  York  stock  exchange 
recently,  taking  a  new  advance  this  week.  One 
rumor  has  it  that  the  Virginia  Iron,  Coal  & 
Coke  Company  are  making  millions  out  of  car- 
l)on  contracts,  and  that  they  also  have  a  large 
lienzol  contract.  This  company  has  very  large 
and  valuable  coal  and  iron  properties  in  the 
western  section  of  Virginia,  and  it  is  under¬ 
stood  that  all  of  the  plants  are  being  worked 
to  full  capacity. 


No.  18] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


363 


Philadelphia  Trade. 

Anthracite  Slows  Down  Because  of 
Warm  Weather — Bituminous 
Supply  Is  Precarious 

Office  of  The  Bl.^ck -Diamond, 
1400  Land  Title  Building, 
Philadelphia,  October  27. 

The  hard  coal  people  were  about  ready  to  sit 
down  for  their  long  period  of  seasonable  busi¬ 
ness  when  the  weather  interrupted  this  week  and 
they  have  been  called  on  to  take  another  seventh 
inning  stretch.  The  tang  of  the  fall  air  that 
sent  many  a  householder  cellarward  to  examine 
the  coal  bin  was  replaced  by  warm  sunshiny 
days,  so  that  the  three  opening  days  of  the  week 
saw  a  falling  off  in  the  orders  from  the  retailers. 
The  host  of  small  yards  in  Philadelphia  feel  the 
holding  up  of  domestic  orders  quicker  possibly 
than  any  other  city  in  the  country,  and  here 
again,  with  its  close  proximity  to  the  points  of 
production,  the  reflection  is  felt  as  quick  by  both 
producers  and  middle  houses. 

The  anthracite  market,,  here,  is  always  smitten 
with  freakish  angles.  There  is  no  reason  for 
the  falling  off,  more  in  one  size  than  another, 
except  those  directly  governed  by  seasonable  buy¬ 
ing.  However,  stove  coal  was  the  size  this  week 
that  was  particularly  ignored  by  the  retailers  and 
as  a  result  the  wholesale  and  middle  houses  were 
“pushing”  this  especial  size  with  more  vigor  than 
usual.  Pea  coal  is  now  the  king-bee  and  most 
of  the  activity  centered  about  this.  The  weather, 
once  more,  has  hurt  not  a  little  what  hopes  the 
independent  had  of  moving  this  size  to  a  25-cent 
advance  from  the  $2  mark  with  the  coming  of 
the  new  month.  Just  as  freakish  is  a  revival  in 
demand  for  egg  coal.  Some  of  the  dealers  say 
that  this  is  due  to  the  first  cool  nights  that  opens 
up  trade  with  late  comers  who  want  that  coal  for 
their  grates.  Buckwheat  sizes  also  are  in  de¬ 
mand,  due  to  increased  industrial  activity  and 
orders  placed  by  office  and  apartment  buildings 
for  winter  supplies. 

The  congestion  of  freight  traffic  in  and  about 
the  New  York  harbor  has  been  responsible  for 
slow  movement  of  all-rail  anthracite  to  New 
England  points.  An  embargo  over  the  Jersey 
Central  helped  to  tie  things  up  while  it  lasted. 
Movement  by  barge  to  ports  of  the  upper  coast 
has  been  heavy  during  the  past  week  and  in¬ 
creasing  activity  is  logical  from  now  on. 

The  Bituminous  Situation. 

This  radiates  entirely  around  the  car  and  labor 
conditions  which  shift  from  day  to  day.  A  few 
more  cars  on  allotments  at  the  mines  change 
the  entire  complexion  in  the  individual  sense. 
There  has  been  nothing,  however,  to  change  the 
general  phase  of  the  trade.  The  middle  houses 
here  are  “up  against”  the  same  old  problem  that 
would  put  gray  hair  in  the  head  of  a  saint.  The 
operators,  they  say,  are  up  to  their  old  tricks  and 
fail  to  meet  the  requirements  of  agreements  en¬ 
tered  into.  The  shortage  of  cars  has  turned 
things  around  with  the  middleman  between  the 
consumer  and  the  operator  and  his  life  is  that 
of  “one  darned  thing  after  another”  these  days. 

One  big  consumer  of  coal  in  Philadelphia  is 
not  stocking  coal,  despite  the  fact  that  as  big  and 
bigger  concerns  are  keeping  an  eagle  eye  on  their 
coal  pile.  They  give  no  explanation.  They  say 
that  they  are  willing  to  stand  back  of  their  guess 
that  there  is  no  occasion  for  preparedness.  An 
interesting  point  made  by  men  who  know  of 
this  case  is  this :  “Could  they  stock  up  to  their 
requirements  now  if  they  would?” 

It  is  tonnage,  now,  as  against  cars.  Plenty  of 
coal  can  be  had  in  car  shipments.  In  other  words, 
but  for  tonnage  orders  to  be  spread  over  given 
time  there  is  little  or  none  offered.  Likewise 
the  consumer,  who  was  accustomed  to  the  visits 
of  three  to  a  half  dozen  salesmen  in  a  day,  has 
been  asking  “What  has  become  of  all  these  gen¬ 
tlemen  who  were  pestering  me  only  a  short  time 
ago?”  Explanation  is  given  in  the  fact  that  it  is 
customary  for  the  bigger  concerns  to  sell  uj)  to 
sixty  per  cent  of  their  output  on  contract.  With 
a  car  supply  that  ranges  only  about  .55  per  cent 
of  normal,,  it  is  easy  to  see  why  the  salesmen 
have  not  been  pushing  coal  at  this  stage  of  the 
game. 

The  consumer  must  bear  his  part,  and  the 
local  trade  would  welcome  with  open  arms  some¬ 
body  who  could  put  into  being  a  plan  of  co¬ 
operation  to  lift  the  burden.  As  an  instance 
the  consumer  who  wants  to  hustle  along  coal 
for  his  own  pile  for  storage  and  orders  1,000 
tons  a  month,  where  he  could  get  along  with 


say  550  tons,  bars  out  the  man  that  must  have 
coal  for  immediate  use.  ^ 

At  the  piers  there  is  little  free  coal.  Western 
Maryland  in  small  lots  can  be  bought  at  $1.15. 
Higher  grade  coals  are  held'  from  $1.15  to  $1.35. 
Movement  into  bunkers  was  heavy  during  the 
week  and  the  export  movement  has  been  well  up 
with  the  general  increase  that  was  shown  this 
fall. 


Philadelphia  News  Notes 

David  Atherton  of  Atherton  and  Barnes,  opera¬ 
tors  at  Philipsburg,  was  one  of  the  trade  visitors 
of  the  week. 

F.  H.  Wigton  of  the  Morrisdale  Coal  Com¬ 
pany  spent  a  couple  of  days  this  week  at  the 
company’s  operations  at  Morrisdale,  Pa. 

A.  S.  McQueen,  representing  B.  Nicoll  &  Co. 
in  Pittsburgh,  was  a  caller  at  the  local  office 
this  week  on  his  way  to  headquarters  in  New 
York. 

\\'.  H.  Moore,  who  has  represented  Dexter  & 
Carpenter  in  this  market  for  the  past  six  months, 
has  been  succeeded  in  the  management  of  the 
office  by  W.  M.  Whitney. 

Harry  K.  Courtright  of  the  Cortright  Coal 
Company  was  a  New  York  visitor  of  the  week. 
His  father,  N.  D.  Courtright  of  Mauch  Chunk  was 
in  Philadelphia  on  Wednesday. 

Louis  C.  Emmons,  of  the  Emmons  Coal  Min¬ 
ing  Company,  was  in  the  central  Pennsylvania 
producing  district  this  week.  He  was  accom¬ 
panied  by  H.  P.  Jordan  of  the  company’s  sales 
force. 

William  J.  Faux,  president  of  the  Logan  Coal 
Company,  has  been  laid  up  at  his  home  for  the 
past  couple  of  weeks  with  a  heavy  cold,  and,  it 
was  reported  the  middle  of  the  week,  that  he 
had  taken  quite  a  turn  for  the  worse. 

Carrol  Patterson  of  the  Carrol-Cross  Coal 
Company  of  Bloomington,  Md.,  was  in  town 
Monday.  For  some  weeks  Mr.  Patterson  has 
been  troubled  with  a  throat  affliction  and  his 
visit  was  spent  mostly  with  a  specialist. 

W.  J.  Brown,  secretary  of  the  Philadelphia  & 
Reading  Coal  &  Iron  Company,  has  been  indis¬ 
posed  and  under  the  weather  for  the  past  couple 
of  weeks  and  has  decided  to  take  a  rest  for  the 
coming  month  away  from  the  trials  of  business. 

John  J.  Monaghan,  former  district  superin¬ 
tendent  for  the  Philadelphia  &  Reading  Coal  & 
Iron  Company,  died  at  his  home  in  Shenandoah 
on  Sunday  last.  He  had  retired  from  active  duty 
some  years  ago.  Mr.  Monoghan  was  sixty-five 
years  of  age. 

John  Kuhn,  line  salesman  for  the  Van  Wickle 
estate,  took  an  automobile  party  of  customers  to 
Hazelton,  where  the  company’s  mines  are  located, 
on  Sunday  and  Monday  last.  A  Ford  and  a 
careful  driver  lengthened  out  the  trip  a  little 
longer  than  was  intended. 

Harry  Stauffer  of  the  B.  Nicoll  forces,  who 
has  been  ill  in  a  hospital  at  Elmira  N.  Y.,  has 
been  reported  in  a  better  condition  and  is  fight¬ 
ing  back  to  good  health.  J.  C.  Stauffer,  his 
brother,  who  was  with  him  during  the  crisis, 
returned  to  the  local  office  Monday. 

Mrs.  Emily  K.  Baer,  relict  of  George  F. 
Baer,  president  o'f  the  Philadelphia  &  Reading 
Coal  &  Iron  Company,  died  at  her  home  in 
Reading  on  Thursday  night  last.  She  was  mar¬ 
ried  in  1866  and  her  home  originally  was  in 
Somerset,  Pa.  After  the  death  of  Mr.  Baer  she 
left  Philadelphia  and  had  resided  in  Reading. 

Headed  by  President  Warriner,  officers  and 
directors  of  the  Lehigh  Coal  &  Navigation  Com¬ 
pany  made  a  trip  of  inspection  to  the  coal  and 
railway  properties  of  the  company  in  the  regions, 
on  P'riday  last.  The  new  transportation  yards 
at  Pen  Argyle  were  the  especial  points  of  inter¬ 
est  to  the  party.  The  inspection  was  concluded 
in  a  day. 

William  Hockings,  a  salesman  for  Weston 
Dodson  &  Co.,  and  his  wife,  were  instantly  killed 
on  Saturday  last  in  a  horrible  automobile  acci¬ 
dent  at  Lansdale.  He  tried  to  pass  on  a  cross¬ 
ing  in  front  of  an  on-coming  train  and  the  auto 
was  demolished.  He  had  represented  Weston, 
Dodson  &  Co.  at  the  Bethlehem  office  as  a  sales¬ 
man  for  some  time  and  was  recently  transferred 
to  their  Philadelphia  office.  His  home  was  in 
Bangor,  Pa.,  and  the  funeral  of  both  he  and  his 
wife  was  held  there  on  Tuesday. 

Contracts  for  coal  for  the  city  pumping  sta¬ 
tions  until  the  last  of  the  year  were  held  up  on 
Tuesday  last  because  the  city  council  made  no 
appropriation  of  money  to  care  for  the  supply. 
It  is  the  conclusion  of  the  director  of  supplies 


that  the  contracts  will  finally  have  to  be  awarded 
"on  the  donation  plan.”  In  other  words,  the 
city  will  have  to  ask  credit  from  the  coal  com¬ 
panies  until  money  is  appropriated. 

Last  Saturday  the  collier  Virginia,  which  was 
built  by  the  New  York  Shipbuilding  Company  at 
Camden  for  the  Pocahontas  Coal  Company,  was 
launched  at  the  shipyard  with  customary  honors. 
The  new  boat  is  7,000  tons  capacity  and  will  be 
used  in  coastwise  trade  between  Hampton  roads 
and  New  England  points.  The  new  boat  is  the 
third  to  slip  from  the  ways  in  as  many  months 
and  be  placed  directly  in  the  coal  trade. 

Three  up-state  banks  joined  in  legal  action 
against  Irish  Brothers  last  week  to  recover 
$11,533  which  is  alleged  to  have  been  secured 
against  Ned  Irish,  the  surviving  member  of  the 
firm,  contrary  to_  the  bankruptcy  laws  of  the 
state.  The  firm  is,  at  the  present  time,  in  the 
hands  of  a  receiver.  The  note  transactions 
which  were  the  cause  of  the  action  concern  an 
allowance  by  judgment  secured  by  Mrs.  Ned 
Irish.  These  are  quite  complicated. 

It  appears  that  the  Norristown  Trust  Com¬ 
pany  holds  a  promissory-note,  dated  December 
16,  1912,  payable  on  demand  of  the  Lattimore 
Company  for  $1,000,  payable  to  the  order  of 
Ned  Irish  and  J.  Burd  Irish.  This  was  endorsed 
by  them  and  paid  by  the  Norristown  Trust  Com¬ 
pany  for  a  consideration  before  maturity.  The 
Montgomery  National  Bank,  another  of  the  peti¬ 
tioning  creditors,  holds  a  note  drawn  by  the 
Buch  Ridge  Coal  Company,  dated  September  8, 
1914,  payable  in  four  months.  This  note  is  for 
$10,000  and  it  was  paid  before  maturity.  An¬ 
other  creditor,  the  Moshannon  National  Bank, 
is  the  holder  of  a  note  for  $7,.500,  dated  June  10, 
1914,  drawn  by  the  Indiana  Coal  Company  and 
was  payable  to  Irish  Brothers.  At  the  time  of 
the  appointment  of  receivers  for  the  firm,  Sep¬ 
tember  22,  1914,  the  firm’s  assets  were  given  as 
approximately  $1,000,000  and  the  liabilities 
$750,000. 


Duluth  Trade. 


Duluth,  AIinn.,  October  28— (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — Making  of  coke  has  begun  at  the 
nevv  steel  plant  of  the  Minnesota  Steel  Company, 
which  will  begin  turning  out  steel  billets  on 
November  10.  The  first  coke  turned  out  was 
on  Alonday  of  this  week,  and  it  is  planned  to 
have  each  of  the  ovens  that  will  be  operated  for 
the  next  three  weeks  turn  out  a  quota  of  ten 
tons  each,  daily.  A  stockpile  of  5,000  tons  will 
be  ready  before  the  steel  plant  begins  its  work. 
A  large  part  of  the  coal  that  is  coming  to  this 
port  just  now  is  going  to  the  steel  plant.  It  is 
unloaded  at  the  dock  of  the  Duluth,  Missabe  & 
Northern  Railway,  that  being,  like  the  plant,  a 
subsidiary  of  the  United  States  Steel  corpora¬ 
tion,  and  is  taken  to  the  plant  in  cars,  a  matter 
of  about  five  miles  distant. 

Contrary  to  expectation,  the  arrival  of  coal  has 
fallen  oft’  in  the  last  two  weeks,  and  so  has  the 
shipment  to  northwestern  points.  The  latter 
feature  is  the  most  puzzling.  Y’ith  cold  weather 
setting  in  it  was  expected  that  there  would  be  a 
brisking  up,  but  the  shipments  are  showing  a 
decided  sag  as  compared  to  what  they  were. 
Hard  coal  is  keeping  up  better  than  soft  coal. 
As  to  arrivals  of  coal,  it  is  believed  that  the 
weather  on  the  lakes  has  had  a  good  deal  to  do 
with  the  slacking  up.  A  good  many  ships  have 
had  to  seek  shelter  here  and  there,  and  arrivals 
have  been  slow  in  all  lines. 

Anent  the  falling  off  in  bituminous  and  the 
steadiness  in  shipping  of  hard  coal,  F.  L.  Young, 
vice-president  of  the  Clarkson  Coal  &  Dock  Com¬ 
pany  here,  sprung  an  atrocious  pun  yesterday. 
While  this  is  not  a  joke  column,  it  is  felt  that 
it  would  be  a  case  of  making  the  punishment  fit 
the  crime  to  hang  this  where  it  belongs.  Air. 
Young  had  discanted  on  the  falling  off  in  ship¬ 
ments  of  soft  coal,  but  said  that  hard  coal  was 
going  all  right.  It  was  observed  that  he  prob¬ 
ably  was  satisfied  so  long  as  hard  coal  kept  up, 
wasn’t  he?  “Not  by  a^i  anthracite,”  said  Mr. 
Young. 

The  Zenith  Furnace  Company  is  putting  in 
considerable  new  equipment  this  fall,  necessitated 
by  growing  business  and  the  fact  that  it  has 
started  dealing  in  hard  coal,  which  was  not 
handled  before.  Among  other  things  a  new  150- 
ton  scale  is  being  installed,  which  is  of  fifty  tons 
more  capacity  than  the  old  one,  which  is  being 
replaced. 

The  probability  is  that  an  advance  in  coal 
prices  will  be  announced  here  about  the  first  of 
November.  Nothing  definite  has  been  announced 
as  yet,  but  the  indications  are  that  way. 


364 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[October  30 


New  England  Trade 


Boston,  October  28. —  (Special  Correspond¬ 
ence.) — The  warm  unsea.sonable  weather  has  dis¬ 
appeared  and  the  demand  for  anthracite,  accord¬ 
ing  to  local  wholesale  houses,  is  hack  to  normal. 
With  the  end  of  the  month  but  two  days  away 
there  is  every  indication  that  October  bookings, 
notwithstanding  the  temporary  check  in  business, 
will  compare  very  favorably  with  those  for  the 
corresi)onding  month  last  year.  Considerable 
October  business  will  be  carried  over  into 
.November. 

At  the  moment  the  demand  runs  more  to  stove 
than  anything  else  and  it  sells  at  $.").85  per  ton 
alongside  Boston  Harbor  and  at  $6.20  on  cars  at 
Mystic  Wharf.  Egg  is  moving  slowly  and  while 
(juoted  openly  on  the  same  basis  as  stove,  a  buyer 
might  possibly  secure  slight  concessions  on  large 
tonnages  if  he  hunted  around  enough.  Nut  is 
next  to  stove  in  popularity.  In  fact  many  orders 
l)laced  here  during  the  past  week  have  called  for 
equal  amounts  of  stove  and  nut.  Nut  is  $6.10 
alongside  Boston  Harbor  and  $6.45  on  cars  at 
Mystic  Wharf.  Broken  is  quiet  as  is  usual  at  this 
season  of  the  year.  Pea  is  in  better  demand  than 
it  has  been  before  in  a  long  time,  but  cannot  be 
considered  real  active;  it  brings  $4.05  per  ton 
alongside  Boston  Harbor.  Buckwheats  continue 
in  demand,  but  are  scarce  and  very  firm.  Manu¬ 
facturers  located  on  Sound  water  points  are  evi¬ 
dently  the  best  buyers  of  buckwheats. 

Southern  and  western  Massachusetts,  Rhode 
Island  and  Connecticut  all-rail  distributors  con¬ 
tinue  an  anthracite  market  factor,  while  Massa¬ 
chusetts  seaboard  points  have  been  the  largest 
buyers  of  cargo  lots  during  the  past  week.  Maine 
is  buying  very  sparingly,  and  New  Hampshire 
and  Vermont  only  in  a  hand-to-mouth  way. 
Local  wholesalers  say  there  is  plenty  of  coal  at 
the  mines,  but  the  supply  of  cars  to  get  it  to  ship- 
l)ing  points  is  getting  smaller  and  smaller  each 
day.  A  serious  car  shortage  is  now  assured,  and 
early  and  heavy  snows  would  practically  tie  up 
the  anthracite  business.  Trade  with  the  Provinces 
holds  up  remarkably  well,  notwithstanding  the 
fact  that  Dominion  mines  are  making  record  out¬ 
puts. 

The  wholesale  bituminous  situation  is  much  the 
same  as  it  was  a  week  ago.  With  regard  to  the 
1916-17  season  almost  everybody  is  still  up  in  the 
air.  In  the  meantime  a  fairly  large  tonnage  is 
arriving  daily  at  New  England  points  and  this  is 
being  readily  absorbed.  Massachusetts  manufac¬ 
turers,  in  a  great  many  instances,  have  been  and 
are  anticipating  any  inability  to  secure  supplies 
during  November,  December  and  January  owing 
to  car  shortage  or  stormy  weather.  Aloney  is  so 
cheap  and  plentiful,  reliable  concerns  have  no  dif¬ 
ficulty  in  securing  all  the  money  they  want  to 
carry  large  coal  supplies. 

One  hears  less  and  less  talk  about  price  reduc¬ 
tions  at  Alystic  Wharf  and  actual  sales  of  spot 
New  River  and  Pocahontas  have  been  made  at 
that  point  during  the  past  week  at  $3.70  to  $3.75 
per  ton  on  cars,  but  most  lots  have  brought 
nearer  $3.68,  against  $3.65  a  fortnight  ago. 
Oeorges  Creek  is  moving  better  at  Mystic  at 
$13. 90  and  $4  per  ton,  and  at  Portsmouth  is  very 
active.  New  contract  business  is  not  brisk  by 
any  means,  but  is  so  much  better  than  it  was  a 
month  ago,  dealers  are  quite  encouraged.  At 
Hampton  Roads  ports  the  official  price  for  south¬ 
ern  coals  continues  $2.85  f.  o.  b.,  but  there  is  still 
more  or  less  price  cutting  going  on  by  certain 
.shippers.  All-rail  Pennsylvania  is  moving  fairly 
satisfactorily  on  a  basis  of  ninety  cents  to  $1.50 
per  ton  on  cars  at  the  mine.  The  cargo  business 
is  practically  at  a  standstill  so  far  as  new  orders 
are  concerned. 

The  marine  freight  rate  market  is  unchanged. 
The  weather  has  been  ideal  for  transportation, 
but  the  demand  for  coal  has  not  been  sufficiently 
large  to  cause  a  shortage  of  ocean  space  which 
can  be  had  from  seventy -five  to  eighty  cents  from 
Hampton  Roads  ports  to  Boston.  Rates  from 
New  York  to  Boston  are  unchanged  at  fifty  to 
fifty-five  cents  per  ton. 


Boston  Trade  Notes. 

h'reight  handlers  on  all  railroads  running  into 
Boston  are  out  on  strike.  Stationary  engineers 
have  signified  their  intention  of  asking  for  more 
money.  If  they  should  strike  it  would  tie  up 
Alystic  Wharf. 

The  W.  L.  Palmer  Company,  of  Aledway,  with 
a  capital  of  $75,000,  has  been  granted  a  Massa¬ 
chusetts  charter.  The  firm  deals  in  hay,  grain 
and  fuel.  The  incorporators  are :  Edgar  J. 
Leland,  Benjamin  P.  Emerson,  Charles  A.  Digney 
and  Walter  L.  Palmer. 

The  largest  steam  collier  ever  built  in  this 


country  for  the  merchant  service  has  been  or¬ 
dered  by  the  Darrow-Mann  Company.  The  boat 
will  have  a  capacity  of  12,500  tons  of  coal  and 
will  be  ready  for  delivery  next  June.  She  will 
cost  $750,000  and  will  ply  between  Boston  and 
southern  ports. 

President  Cantley  of  the  Nova  Scotia  Steel  & 
Coal  Company,  in  a  statement  recently  given  out 
said  the  company  is  negotiating  for  large  foreign 
business,  and  to  provide  increased  working  capi¬ 
tal  the  directors  are  considering  a  sale  of  treas¬ 
ury  securities.  The  output  of  coal  for  September 
was  the  largest  for  any  month  in  the  company’s 
history. 


Buffalo  Trade. 


Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  October  28. —  (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — Anthracite  shipments  by  lake  for 
the  past  week  were  on  a  largely  increased  scale, 
both  in  total  and  number  of  cargoes,  and 
amounted  to  156,451  tons.  The  largest  part  of 
the  coal  went  to  Duluth-Superior,  which  took 
70,300  tons,  with  54,400  for  Milwaukee,  24,000  for 
Chicago,  7,000  for  Sheboygan,  500  for  Port 
Huron  and  251  for  Little  Current.  The  total 
number  of  cargoes  was  twenty-five.  Freight 
rates  are  holding  stiff,  especially  with  small  boats, 
for  these  are  now  scarce.  Many  of  the  larger 
vessels  are  leaving  here  without  cargoes,  because 
they  are  finding  plenty  of  down  freight  to  bring 
and  do  not  care  to  delay  here  for  coal. 

The  demand  from  dealers  has  dropped  off 
some  on  account  of  mild  weather,  but  there  is 
still  a  fair  tonnage  moving.  The  movement  of 
coal  from  the  mines  has  slowed  up  because  of  the 
shortage  of  cars.  There  are  few  box  cars  to  be 
had  just  at  present,  because  so  many  of  them  are 
going  into  the  grain  trade.  At  present  the  move¬ 
ment  of  grain  from  this  port  calls  for  1,500  cars 
daily,  and  other  railroad  freight  also  is  moving 
in  large  volume. 

The  bituminous  demand  is  large,  considering 
the  shortage  of  cars  and  of  labor,  and  prices 
have  been  advanced  during  the  past  week  or 
two.  It  is  not  so  easy  to  make  prompt  shipments 
as  a  few  weeks  ago  and  coal  now  takes  about 
twice  as  long  to  reach  destination.  Everybody  is 
counting  on  a  stiff  market  for  some  time  ahead, 
and  operators  are  not  desirous  of  tieing  up  coal 
unless  an  advance  is  paid.  Slack  is  bringing  $2.15 
here,  with  a  prospect  of  selling  ten  cents  higher 
in  the  near  future.  Three-quarter  coal  is  quoted 
at  $2.65  to  $2.70.  The  Canadian  market  is  still 
slow,  but  the  inquiry  for  coal  on  this  side  of  the 
line  is  good  and  mines  are  generally  working  at 
as  full  capacity  as  cars  and  labor  will  permit. 

The  coke  market  is  now  stronger  than  for 
some  time.  Stock  coke  is  not  procurable  with¬ 
out  a  special  request  for  quotations  and  many 
producers  say  they  have  none  to  offer.  For 
seventy-two-hour  foundry  coke  the  ovens  are 
making  a  price  of  $4.50  delivered  here. 


Buffalo  Trade  Briefs. 

Edward  D.  Snyder  has  bought  out  the  coal 
business  of  Alichael  J.  Seeger  at  Lancaster,  this 
county. 

F.  W.  Niederlan'der,  sales  representative  of  the 
Lehigh  Valley  Coal  Sales  Company,  Cleveland, 
was  at  the  local  office  of  the  company  part  of  last 
week. 

W.  W.  Snyder,  president  of  the  Concrete  Stone 
&  Coal  Co.,  Niagara  Falls,  has  gone  to  the  Pacific 
coast  to  visit  relatives  at  Pasadena,  and  take  in 
the  exposition. 

The  D.  L.  &  W.  Coal  Co.  has  started  work  on 
its  new  slip  adjoining  the  present  location  of  the 
coal  trestle  on  North  pier,  which  must  be  given 
up  by  order  of  the  government. 

E,  J.  Frauenheim,  Jr.,  president  of  the  Logans- 
port  Coal  Company,  was  here  this  week,  having 
driven  from  Pittsburgh  in  his  automobile.  He  re¬ 
ported  a  strong  market  for  coal  in  that  city. 

It  is  expected  that  the  output  of  the  new 
Cadogan  mine  of  the  Shawmut  Mining  Company 
will  reach  500  tons  a  day  by  November  1st.  Then, 
if  the  market  continues  active,  the  amount  will 
be  increased  quite  rapidly. 

E.  T.  Bline,  sales  agent  of  the  Pennsy  Coal 
Company,  returned  on  Thursday  from  Franklin, 
Pa.,  where  he  went  on  account  of  the  serious  ill¬ 
ness  of  George  P.  Cronk,  treasurer  and  general 
manager  of  the  company,  who  has  been  suffering 
with  typhoid  fever. 

Frank  H.  Goodyear,  wjjo  is  connected  with  the 
Goodyear  lumber  and  coal  interests,  was  married 
on  October  23  to  Miss  Dorothy  Knox,  the  cere¬ 
mony  being  performed  at  the  home  of  the  bride’s 
mother,  Mrs.  S.  H.  Knox,  by  the  Rev.  A.  V.  V. 


Raymond.  -After  an  eastern  wedding  trip  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Goodyear  will  spend  the  winter  in 
California. 

J.  W.  Trounce,  .sales  agent  of  the  Buffalo  & 
Susquehanna  Coal  &  Coke  Co.;  J.  R.  Barnett, 
assi.stant  sales  agent  of  the  Shawmut  Coal  & 
Coke  Co.,  and  J.  T.  Roberts,  general  sales  agent 
of  the  Widnoon  Coal  Mining  Company,  were  in 
attendance  last  Friday  at  the  annual  meeting  of 
the  New  York  State  and  Western  Penn.sylvania 
Coal  Merchants’  Association  at  Syracuse. 

W.  C.  Blodgett,  western  agent  of  Dickson  & 
h'.ddy,  whose  territory  includes  Oswego,  says  that 
the  lake  shipments  from  that  port  are  increasing 
year  by  year.  An  item  to  the  contrary  was  lately 
published,  evidently  coming  from  a  source  that 
was  not  well-informed  on  the  subject.  Oswego 
is  making  an  effort  to  profit  by  the  enlargement 
of  the  Welland  canal,  though  nothing  very  active 
appears  to  have  been  done  since  a  meeting  was 
held  on  that  subject  several  months  ago. 


Baltimore  Trade. 


Baltimore,  October  28. —  (Special  Correspond¬ 
ence.) — Too  much  business  for  the  supply; 
prosperity  too  great  for  the  measure  of  coal  to 
he  di.spensed.  That  tells  the  tale  of  the  fuel 
trade  here  just  at  present.  If  the  trade  thought 
cars  were  scarce  the  week  before  last,  the  con¬ 
ditions  of  last  week  made  those  of  the  former 
period  look  like  a  reign  of  plenty.  Many  dis¬ 
tricts  were  almost  without  cars  on  certain  days 
of  the  past  week.  In  others,  where  hundreds  of 
cars  had  been  requisitioned,  the  number  delivered 
ran  from  thirty  to  fifty. 

Every  mine  interest  and  every  shipper  of  coal 
was  trying  to  figure  out  how  to  meet  contract 
obligations.  Nearly  every  order  was  back  on  de¬ 
livery.  Under  such  circumstances  numerous 
fuels  were  entirely  out  of  the  open  market.  It 
was  only  the  occasional  small  independent  who 
had  not  tied  up  his  supply  that  seemed  to  have 
coal  to  offer. 

Under  the  circumstances  the  fixing  of  a  price 
list  was  rather  uncertain.  Some  of  the  quota¬ 
tions  are  practically  “what  they  would  be  if  the 
coal  was  to  be  had.”  The  list  is  about  as  fol- 


» 

F.  O.  B. 

F.  0.  B. 

Fairmont — 

Mines. 

Baltimore. 

Three-quarter  . 

. $1.00@1.10 

$2.43@2.53 

Run  of  mine . 

.  .90 

3.33 

Slack  . 

2.23 

Somerset — 

Best  . 

.  1.45 

2.63 

(iood  . 

.  1.35 

2.43 

W.  M.  R.  R.— 

r  reeport  . 

.  1.00 

2.18 

P.  R.  R.— 

Best  South  Fork . 

2.58 

Miller  vein . 

.  1.25 

2.93 

f)rdinary  . 

.  1.05 

2.23 

Everj"  effort  was  bent  by  the  railroads  to  give 
the  port  a  fair  supply  of  fuel  for  tidewater 
movement.  Beautiful  weather  conditions  and  a 
let  down  in  grain  shipments  allowed  more  ves¬ 
sels  to  report  here  for  coal  than  for  some  time 
past.  Every  car  with  coal  that  could  be  handled 
promptly  for  this  trade  was  thrown  that  way. 
The  result  was  that  the  past  week  saw  a  gain  of 
good  proportions  in  the  export  business  as  com¬ 
pared  with  several  weeks  previous.  A  total  of 
32,636  tons  was  moved  from  here  for  foreign 
ports.  Ten  new  charters  were  announced  during 
the  week,  the  largest  number  for  several  weeks, 
as  vessel  bottoms  have  been  extremely  scarce. 

Anthracite  men  here  are  probably  happier  than 
their  bituminous  brothers,  for  they  are  better 
able  to  supply  the  growing  immediate  demand  be¬ 
cause  of  pretty  good  yard  storage.  Supplies  in 
some  cases  are  being  depleted  at  a  time  when 
they  are  often  held  intact  in  favor  of  deliveries 
direct  from  cars,  but  the  hope  is  expressed  that 
the  car  situation  will  improve  so  that  this  drain 
can  be  made  good  before  needed  for  supply  in 
tight  winter  weather. 

Pushed  hard  by  the  growing  coal  tonnage  of¬ 
fered,  the  Western  Maryland  Railroad  has  or¬ 
dered  2,000  more  steel  hopper  cars.  The  con¬ 
tract  was  let  to  the  Pullman  Company,  and  rep¬ 
resents  an  outlay  of  nearly  $2,000,000. 

The  A.  H.  Bull  Steamship  Company  has  placed 
contracts  for  three  new  steamers  with  the  Mary¬ 
land  Steel  Company.  There  are  now  nine 
steamers  under  contract  at  the  plant  and  the 
marine  department  activit}'  is  thus  assured  for 
some  months  to  come. 


Lehigh  &  Wilkes-Barre  Coal  Company  is 
said  to  be  in  the  market  for  500  tons  of  struc¬ 
tural  steel  for  the  purpose  of  building  a  coal 
handling  plant  at  Ashley,  Pa. 


1 

rHE  Black  Diamond  | 

Vol.  55.  No.  19 

NOVEMBER  6,  1915  $3.00  Per  Year 

Question  Growing  Out  of  Anthracite  Tax  Decision. 


PHII.ADELPHIA,  November  3. —  (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — Along  in  1913  the  Pennsylvania 
state  legislature  passed  an  act  demanding  a  two 
and  one-half  per  cent  tax  on  the  value  of  coal 
at  the  mouth  of  the  anthracite  mines.  It  did 
not  matter  whether  this  coal  was  to  be  used  in 
the  state  of  Pennsylvania,  in  New  England  or 
in  Canada,  or  where.  It  did  not  matter  whether 
there  were  Federal  laws  regarding  impost  taxes 
of  the  state,  or  not.  These  legislators  looked  with 
hungry  eyes  on  the  coal  producers  and  they  were 
going  to  have  an  extra  tax  whether  or  no.  It 
did  not  matter  whether  the  coal  companies  already 
are  taxed  for  their  holdings  of  property ;  not  at 
all.  The  whole  thing  was  whipped  out  in  the 
halls  of  legislature  and  the  anthracite  state  tax 
law  was  passed. 

Then  came  the  hard  coal  men  with  a  suit  to 
test  the  constitutionality  of  such  a  tax.  Several 
suits  were  filed,  but  the  merits  of  the  case  were 
directed  through  that  entered  by  the  Alden  Coal 
Company.  In  the  Dauphin  county  courts — at 
Harrisburg — the  first  hearing  was  held  in  the 
court  of  common  pleas.  The  presiding  judges 
held  that  the  state  tax  was  constitutional. 

While  these  proceedings  were  on,  the  state 
legislature  of  1915  was  in  session.  There  was 
belief  in  secret  that  the  state  had  a  weak  case. 
Still  the  greedy  eyes  of  the  legislators  were 
turned  hard  coalward.  It  had  been  the  intention 
of  the  first  tax  law  to  apply  the  funds  derived 
from  the  tax  to  betterment  of  the  state  roads. 
The  gentlemen  from  the  hard  coal  regions  said 
that  they  wanted  this  changed.  They  wanted 
a  division  of  the  funds  so  that  the  greatest  pro¬ 
portion  of  the  return  from  the  tax  would  be  spent 
on  roadway  work  within  the  counties  in  which 
the  mines  are  situated.  After  much  wrangling, 
a  fifty-fifty  basis  was  agreed  upon.  Fifty  per 
cent  of  the  coal  tax  should  be  spent  in  the  coun¬ 
ties  in  which  the  funds  originated  and  fifty  per 
cent  spent  in  other  counties.  The  amount  of  the 
tax  continued  to  be  two  and  a  half  per  cent. 

Then  came  the  sitting  of  the  supreme  court  of 
the  state  in  Pittsburgh  on  October  27,  1915.  At 
that  time  Judge  Stewart  handed  down  his  opinion 
on  the  coal  tax  in  which  appears  the  following 
declaration : 

“When  the  necessary  effect  of  the  legislation 
is  to  create  inequality  of  burden  as  we  here  see 
it,  are  those  complaining  of  the  injustice  to  re¬ 
ceive  no  other  answer  than  that,  while  the  con¬ 
stitution  promises  them  equality  in  the  matter  of 
taxation,  that  because  it  failed  to  place  restric¬ 
tion  upon  the  legislature’s  right  to  distribute  the 
tax  it  collects,  that  therefore  the  purpose  of  the 
legislation  is  not  to  be  inquired  into?  If  con¬ 
stitutional  requirements  are  to  be  circumvented 
bv  such  simple  and  easy  process  of  reasoning,  the 
question  may  yet  be  asked  derisively  of  the  con¬ 
stitution,  ‘What  is  all  this  worth?”’ 

Incidentally  the  act  levying  a  tax  on  anthracite 
coal  mined  within  the  state,  as  passed  by  the  legis¬ 
lature  of  1913,  was  declared  unconstitutional  and 
inoperative. 

No  suit  has  been  entered  to  test  the  new  act  of 
1915,  so  that  this  is  still  in  force.  It  may  be  that 
the  long  process  of  law  that  finally  ended  in  the 
decision  above  will  have  to  be  gone  through  again. 

Meanwhile,  the  newspapers  of  the  state  are  ad¬ 
vocating  the  use  of  anything  from  thumb  screws 
to  a  black  jack  to  recover  from  the  coal  pro¬ 
ducer  the  estimated  nine  millions  of  dollars  that 
the  tax  is  supposed  to  have  produced.  Coal  men, 
from  retailers  to  producers,  have  been  libeled 
without  stint  in  this  campaign  to  stir  up  senti¬ 
ment  for  a  refund. 

Incidentally,  they  say  nothing  about  the  gentle¬ 
men  who  placed  a  tax  on  every  ton  of  hard  coal 
used  since  the  law  of  1913  went  into  effect.  Are 
they  or  the  coal  operators  responsible  for  the 
law? 

Incidentally,  not  enough  members  of  the  assem¬ 
bly  are  elected  from  the  hard  coal  regions  to  pass 
such  a  law.  They  must  have  the  aid  and  as¬ 
sistance  of  the  members  from  the  city  where  an¬ 
thracite  is  the  universal  fuel.  If  the  hard  coal 


While  the  1913  Law  Is  Killed,  Its  Dupli¬ 
cate  of  1915  Lives — Money  Paid  By  Con¬ 
sumers  Is  Claimed  By  the  State — 
Intricacies  of  Making  a  Refund. 

tax  is  such  a  vital  issue,  why  not  call  to  account 
those  who  brought  it  into  being  as  well  as  the 
coal  man  who  merely  did  what  the  state  told 
them  to  do? 

One  more  question  arises:  The  attorney-gen¬ 
eral  of  the  state  has  said  almost  every  day  since 
the  tax  law  was  declared  unconstitutional : 

“Still,  we’ll  make  the  coal  companies  pay,  pay, 
pay.”  _  I 

Since  he  is  so  eager  to  get  the  money,  why  has 
he  not  long  ago  cleared  the  doubt  as  to  the  con¬ 
stitutionality  of  the  law  of  1915?  That  matter 
is  still  unsettled. 

Regarding  the  collection  of  the  tax,  an  edi¬ 
torial  of  the  Philadelphia  Bulletin  says : 

“The  anthracite  tax  is  without  justification. 
The  state  of  Pennsylvania,  rich  and  resourceful, 
doesn’t  need  money  badly  enough  to  resort  to  such 
iniquitous  processes  of  assessment.  If  the  courts 
do  not  finally  reject  the  scheme,  public  sentiment 
should  be  persistently  agitated  to  accomplish  its 
repeal  by  the  next  legislature,  even  though  the 
non-coal-producing  sections  of  the  state  mu.st 
overcome  the  greed  of  the  coal  counties  which 
made  the  enactment  of  the  tax  law  possible. 

The  action  taken  by  the  auditor-general  of 
the  state  would  not  indicate  that  public  officials 
think  the  way  the  Bulletin  does. 

For  example,  in  the  dry  tomes  of  the  state 
statutes  there  is  what  is  known  as  an  escheat 
law.  The  legal  lights  say  that  this  can  be  applied 
to  the  coal  tax  and  that  suit  can  be  entered  to 
return  the  money  to  the  state. 

Thus  on  Monday  of  this  week  there  appeared 
the  following  statement  from  Attorney-General 
Powell : 

“The  informations  are  made  by  L.  Floyd  Pless, 
assistant  deputy  auditor  general,  who  filed  them 
with  the  chief  clerk  after  the  department  opened 
for  business  on  Friday,  the  day  following  an¬ 
nouncement  of  the  supreme  court’s  decision. 
There  are  138  in  all,  that  being  the  number  of 
operators  who  filed  reports  under  the  act  of 
1913. 

“This  action  was  taken  in  the  interest  of  the 
state,  and  in  each  information  the  assistant  deputy 
waived  all  claim  to  fee  or  compensation  as  in¬ 
formant.  He  signed  each,  not  as  an  official,  but 
as  a  citizen.  If  any  of  the  amounts  thus  covered 
are  escheatable,  the  filing  of  these  informations 
precludes  such  action  by  persons  moved  by  de¬ 
sire  for  personal  gain,  and  insures  to  the  state 
a  larger  net  amount  than  would  be  realized  if 
the  shares  had  to  be  paid. 

“If  the  act  had  been  sustained,  a  total  amount 
approximating  $g, 000,000  would  have  been  pay¬ 
able  by  the  operators.  Whether  any  of  the 
amounts  that  would  have  been  payable'  do  not 
belong  to  the  operators,  but  to  unknown  buyers 
of  their  product,  is  a  question  that,  under  the  cir¬ 
cumstances,  is  at  least  debatable.  The  whole 
matter  will  be  laid  before  the  attorney-general, 
and  the  department  will  be  guided  by  his  opinion. 

“Should  he  advise  prosecution  of  the  informa¬ 
tions,  each  case  will  present  a  separate  problem. 
The  situation  is  not  one  in  which  it  can  be  said 
that  if  one  amount  covered  by  an  information  is 
escheatable  all  are  escheatable.” 

Imagine  the  result!  One  hundred  and  thirty- 
eight  actions,  each  to  be  tried  with  thousands  of 
interveners  in  each  action.  The  Jarndyce  vs. 
Jarndyce  case  that  Dickens  made  famous  would 
not  be  a  circumstance  compared  with  the  length 
of  time  that  it  would  take  to  thrash  out  all  this 
grist. 

However,  the  supreme  court  declares  that  the 
state  cannot  collect  this  tax,  because  funda¬ 
mentally  the  law  that  demanded  it  was  wrong. 
Rut  the  state  officers  declare  that  they  will  get 
the  money.  Isn’t  this  question  proper? 


Since  the  money  cannot  be  collected  legally, 
will  the  hard  coal  operators  be  sandbagged  to 
the  tune  of  nine  million  dollars? 

By  toilsome  bookkeeping,  which  the  state  de¬ 
manded  in  trying  to  get  its  pound  of  flesh,  sev¬ 
eral  of  the  coal  companies  have  kept  track  abso¬ 
lutely  of  every  ton  of  coal  mined  and  on  which 
the  state  tax  has  been  paid  and  by  whom.  Thus 
when  all  of  this  senseless  effort  at  taxing  is 
ended  the  money  can  be  turned  back  to  the  re¬ 
tailer  or  consumer  to  which  the  companies  sold 
their  coal.  Whether  the  retailer  can  return  the 
money  to  the  individual  buyer  is  a  different 
matter. 

Next  comes  the  constitutional  question  that 
was  raised  in  the  suit.  As  an  example:  If  the 
A.  Coal  Company  were  selling  to  the  B.  Retail 
Coal  Company  in  Boston,  and  by  reason  of  the 
state  tax  the  Boston  company  had  to  pay  an 
excess,  can  the  state  of  Pennsylvania  commandeer 
money  that  came  in  taxes  from  without  its  bor¬ 
ders?  If  the  Boston  company  has  its  bills  to 
show  that  it  paid  an  amount  above  the  regulated 
price  of  coal  to  satisfy  a  state  tax  that  was 
unconstitutional,  has  not  the  Boston  company  the 
right  to  demand  its  money  and  to  sue  for  it  if 
necessary?  So,  then,  the  state  is  going  to  put  a 
double  tax  on  the  coal  company.  By  a  process 
of  escheatment  they  are  going  to  take  away  from 
the  coal  people  the  amount  that  the  tax  would 
have  produced  and  the  courts  will  give  the  re¬ 
tailer,  consumer  and  what  not,  the  amount  col¬ 
lected  by  the  law. 

And  there  is  nothing  to  indicate  that  the  ultF 
mate  consumer  will  not  demand  a  refund  Al¬ 
ready  Director  of  Supplies  Loeb  of  the  city  of 
Philadelphia,  has  declared  that  lie  will  force  every 
retailer  who  has  supplied  coal  to  the  city  since 
the  tax  was  slapped  on  to  pay  back  every  penny 
that  has  been  obtained  through  that  medium.  "He 
estimated  that  about  $30,060  or  $.35,000  should  be 
returned  to  the  city. 

Here  comes  trooping  another  host  of  troubles. 
The  nine  millions  that  the  state  proposes  to  use 
Its  escheat  machinery  to  get,  exists— but  it  does 
not.  That  is,  no  settlements  have  been  made  on 
the  tax  for  1914  or  for  1915.  The  total  amount 
that  was  paid  in  to  the  state  treasury  was  $19,965. 
This  represents  payments  by  five  operators,  the 
largest  of  which  was  $18,500.  Now  it  is  a  good 
thing  to  catch  your  rabbit  before  you  fry  it.  In 
other  words,  the  tangible  funds  that  the  state  has 
to  work  on  is  greatly  reduced  for  actual  action. 

And,  another  thing.  Consumer  A.  has  kept  his 
bills  and  wants  his  money  back  from  retailer  B. 
But  retailer  B.  must  get  his  money  from  middle 
house  C.  and  then  there  is  operator  D.  who  ori¬ 
ginally  set  the  money  aside.  What  a  tiresome 
process  of  collection. 

Where  will  the  state  come  in  when  it  tries  to 
escheat  the  money  that  is  rightfully  due  to  the 
careful  buyers  of  coal  who  have  kept  the  evidence 
that  they  paid  money  for  a  tax? 

Coal  buyers  from  all  quarters  of  the  country 
and  even  a  few  foreign  buyers  of  hard  coal  have 
a  finger  in  this  pie.  They  have  no  reason  to  pay 
tax  to  the  state  of  Pennsylvania  when  the  su¬ 
preme  court  of  the  commonwealth  says  that  an¬ 
thracite  can’t  be  taxed.  They  will  want  their 
money.  What  will  they  think  of  the  system  that 
held  them  out  of  their  coin  for  almost  two  years 
and  a  prospect  of  many  years  more? 

So  many  angles  can  be  presented  in  the  case 
that  it  would  take  a  well-sized  volume  of  tackle 
them  all.  For  instance,  what  about  the  coal  that 
is  dredged  from  the  Susquehanna  river?  What 
about  the  coal  that  was  in  the  washeries  prior  to 
June  1,  when  the  1915  law  went  into  effect  and 
which  is  taxed  as  well  as  the  coal  that  is  mined? 

When  is  the  farce  going  to  be  called  off?  The 
muddle  would  he  funny  if  it  were  not  so  serious. 
The  1915  blunder  is  as  serious  as  was  its  1913 
half-brother.  And  the  auditor  general’s  escheat 
proposition  is  nothing  to  be  snickered  at.  Mar¬ 
keting  coal,  goodness  knows,  has  enough  angles 
to  produce  gray  hairs,  but  when  the  law  steps  in 
and  makes  a  farce  of  the  whole  thing,  what 
then  ? 


366 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND.  [November  6 


A  Fold  in  Anthracite  Vein  Saves 


Coal  stripping  is  becoming  a  very  popular 
commercial  enterprise,  but  a  stripping  in  which 
all  the  risk  is  taken  by  the  contractor  is  some¬ 
thing  of  a  novelty.  Commonly  the  amount  of 
coal  in  the  ground  is  known  or  can  be  easily 
estimated,  so  that  there  is  no  great  uncertainty 
on  that  score.  Then  the  owner  or  lessee  of  the 
property  invests  in  the  necessary  steam  shovels, 
track,  cars  and  other  equipment  and  proceeds  to 
strip  off  the  overburden  and  ship  the  coal — in 
which  case  it  may  be  said  that  there  is  no  risk 
at  all  if  the  preliminary  investigations  have  been 
made  complete  enough.  Of  course,  there  may 
be  some  rock  harder  than  was  expected,  or  some 
clay  that  will  not  stay  piled,  but  generally  speak¬ 
ing  and  admitting  some  exceptions,  the  under¬ 
taking  is  free  from  the  gambling  element. 


Thickness  of  Big  Seam. 


Or  perhaps  the  owner  or  lessee,  in  case  he  can 
not  raise  the  money  for  the  equipment,  or  lacks 
experience,  or  wishes  to  limit  his  activities,  may 
contract  with  some  one  for  the  removal  of  the 
overburden.  In  this  case  the  contractor  is  usu¬ 
ally  paid  a  certain  price  per  yard  for  the  removal 
of  the  overburden  and  has  no  interest  in  the  coal. 
The  contractor  knows  what  stripping  costs  and 
his  price  includes  the  cost  and  profit,  so  that  he 
runs  little  risk.  The  operator  takes  a  chance  on 
the  market  conditions.  In  either  case  there  are 
few  uncertainties  and  such  as  exist  are  divided. 
There  may  be  errors  in  judgment,  changes  in 
market  conditions,  or  accidents,  but  the  actual 
conditions  of  the  stripping  are  known. 

At  Ebervale,  Pa.,  near  Hazelton,  there  is  a 
case  which  involved  a  real  gamble.  Here  the 
Big  or  Mammoth  Bed  outcrops  on  the  edges  of 
a  basin  whose  long  axis  is  more  nearly  east  and 
west  than  north  and  south.  The  stripping  is  on 
the  southern  side  of  this  basin.  This  coal  had 
beeii  worked  in  the  early  days  of  anthracite 
mining,  so  long  ago  and  under  such  conditions 
that  there  could  be  no  certainty  of  the  amount  of 
coal  removed. 

The  coal  near  the  outcrop  dips  at  about  50 
degrees  and  is  from  25  to  30  feet  thick.  This 
is  the  famous  Jeddo  coal,  which  is  of  such  ex-, 
cellent  quality  and  reputation  that  almost  any¬ 
thing  from  the  district  commands  a  premium  in 
the  market.  Just  below  the  Big  Bed  and  sep¬ 
arated  from  it  by  a  divider  about  13  inches 
thick  is  the  Wharton  Bed  from  4  to  5  feet  thick. 
The  latter  bed  was  not  considered  worth  mining 
in  the  early  days  so  it  was  left  untouched.  The 
Big  Bed  was  worked  out,  but  “worked  out”  had 
a  very  different  meaning  then  and  it  was  known 
that  a  good  deal  of  coal  was  left  in  the  ground. 

The  property  was  in  the  hands  of  the  G.  B. 
Markle  Company  and  they  wished  to  recover  the 
coal  but,  having  no  certain  knowledge  of  the 
amount  remaining,  they  hesitated  to  let  a  con¬ 
tract  for  the  stripping  on  the  usual  terms,  that 
is  at  so  much  a  yard  for  the  removal  of  the 


An  Unexpected  Development  After  Work 
Is  Well  Under  Way  Makes  an  Opera¬ 
tion  of  G,  B.  Markle  Company  Highly 
Profitable. 


overburden,  which  would  leave  them  the  risk  of 
finding  enough  coal  to  make  the  venture  profit¬ 
able. 

The  situation  came  to  the  attention  of  Messrs. 
Benjamin  and*  Butler,  practically  the  Central 
Pennsylvania  Quarry,  Stripping  and  Construction 
Company,  who  have  been  stripping  coal  lands  for 
several  years  and  have  carried  out  some  of  the 


Another  View  of  Vein. 


most  extensive  of  the  anthracite  strippings. 
These  men  looked  over  the  ground  and  made  a 
bargain  with  the  G.  B.  Markle  Company  of  a 
kind  which  is  very  rare  if  not  unique  in  coal 
stripping.  Practically  they  undertook  a  salvage 
proposition,  getting  nothing  at  all  for  removing 
the  overburden,  but  receiving  a  certain  sum  per 
ton  for  coal  delivered  at  the  breaker. 


Stripping  Plan. 

Of  course,  they  had  something  on  which  to 
base  their  judgment.  They  knew  that  it  would 
have  been  impossible  to  drive  the  breasts  to  the 
surface  without  letting  in  earth  and  water  and 
they  thought  that,  in  all  probability,  the  breasts 
were  not  driven  to  the  full  thickness  of  the  bed, 
but  some  coal  was  left  for  a  roof.  Then  too, 
the  cave  holes  on  the  surface  gave  an  idea  of 
where  breasts  had  been  driven.  They  knew 
that  the  Wharton  Bed  was  untouched.  Also 
they  had  plenty  of  equipment  and  a  repair  shop 
of  their  own  in  which  they  could  repair  or  re¬ 
build  any  of  their  machinery,  so  that  there  would 
be  no  long  delays  occasioned  by  the  failure  of 
any  part  of  the  equipment.  Besides  these  things 
there  were  some  fifteen  years  of  successful  ex¬ 
perience. 

Under  these  conditions  operations  were  com¬ 
menced  and  more  than  $200,000  was  expended 
before  a  ton  of  coal  was  delivered.  Now  it  is 
proved  that  there  is  even  more  coal  available 
than  the  contractors  expected  and  their  chance 
of  making  a  profit  out  of  the  undertaking  is  even 
better  than  they  thought  when  they  risked  nearly 
a  year’s  time  and  abort  a  quarter  of  a  million 
dollars  on  their  judgment. 

Not  only  did  they  find  that  the  coal  near  the 
surface  was  largely  unworked,  as  they  had  sup¬ 
posed,  but  that  there  was  a  roll  in  the  coal  which 
threw  the  possible  stripping  limit  far  beyond 
where  it  was  supposed  to  be.  As  has  been  said, 
the  coal  dips  about  50  degrees  and  if  this  dip 
had  been  uninterrupted  the  profitable  stripping 
depth,  which  the  contractors  estimate  at  120  feet, 
would  have  been  reached  very  quickly.  This 
anticline,  which  is  not  far  from  the  outcrop,  con¬ 
tains  a  large  quantity  of  practically  virgin  coal  and 
displaces  the  point  at  which  thickness  of  over¬ 
burden  makes  stripping  unprofitable.  Beyond 
this  the  coal  dips  at  about  45  degrees. 

Stripping_  is  done  with  Marion  steam  shovels 
of  which  eight  are  now  employed,  six  Model  Cl 
and  two  Model  40.  The  Model  61  shovel  has  a 
dipper  which  holds  about  2j^  cubic  yards  of 
material.  The  average  daily  work  of  a  shovel  is 
about  250  cars,  holding  4  cubic  yards  of  material. 
The  highest  day’s  output  of  the  coal  shovels  was 
466  cars. 

A  large  part  of  the  overburden  is  soft  enough 
to  be  dug  without  blasting,  yet  there  remains  a 
considerable  amount  which  must  be  broken  with 
explosives.  No  very  hard  rock  has  been  en¬ 
countered,  though  in  another  stripping  adjoining 
this  some  has  been  found  which  is  very  hard. 
The  overburden  removed  is  dumped  near  the 
strippings,  but  far  enough  away  to  be  sure  that 
the  depth  of  coal  below  the  surface  would  make 
stripping  at  this  point  unprofitable,  in  fact,  most 
of  the  overburden  is  dumped  on  ground  where 
the  depth  of  coal  is  about  1,200  feet.  At  the 
present  time  about  two  million  cubic  yards  of 
overburden  have  been  removed  and  about  a  half- 


Ebervale  Stripping  Indicating  the  Grades  of  Tracks. 


No.  19] 


367 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


million  tons  of  coal  ha^•e  been  delivered  at  the 
breaker.  Besides  this  there  is  a  refuse  dump 
which  it  is  estimated  contains  75,000  tons  of  coal. 
It  is  impossible  to  load  coal  with  a  shovel  with¬ 
out  mixing  some 'rock  with  it,  and  cars  which 
contain  too  much  rock  to  be  acceptable  at  the 


breaker  are  dumped  here  with  the  idea  that  this 
shall  later  be  reclaimed  by  washing.  At  present 
the  Markle  company  has  an  inspector  watching 
each  shovel  which  is  loading  coal  and  any  car 
which  he  thinks  not  clean  enough  is  rejected 
by  him  and  goes  to  this  refuse  dump. 


The  Federal  Trade  Commission  announces 
that  it  will  soon  send  out  30,000  letters  of  inquiry, 
followed  up  by  a  brief  schedule,  as  a  part  of  the 
investigation  of  conditions  that  affect  American 
foreign  trade.  Congress  has  empowered  the  Corn- 
mission  to  make  an  investigation  of  these  condi¬ 
tions  and  to  report  the  facts  with  such  recom¬ 
mendations  as  it  deems  advisable. 

The  war  in  Europe  has  so  affected  the  trade  of 
the  world  that  American  enterprise  has  a  pecu¬ 
liar  opportunity  to  supply  the  wants  of  foreign 
markets  and  to  secure  a  greatly  enlarged  share 
of  their  trade.  The  Commission,  therefore, 
deems  it  to  be  its  duty  to  complete  with  all  pos¬ 
sible  dispatch  an  investigation  which  may  assist 
Congress  in  determining  what  action  may  be 
required  in  the  public  interest  for  the  promotion 
of  American  foreign  trade. 

By  public  hearings  throughout  the  country  and 
by  other  means  the  Commission  has  been  gather¬ 
ing  facts  and  information  as  a  basis  for  its  report 
to  Congress.  It  now  wishes  to  obtain  information 
from  a  large  number  of  men  who  were  unable 
to  annear  at  the  hearings.  For  this  purpose  these 
letters  and  schedules  will  be  sent  out. 

About  20,000  letters  will  go  to  American  manu¬ 
facturers  and  producers,  and  about  10,000  will 
be  sent  to  other  authorities  on  foreign  trade  con¬ 
ditions,  such  as  export  commission  merchants, 
manufacturers’  export  agents,  importers,  dornes- 
tic  merchants,  publicists,  lawyers,  economists, 
bankers,  engineers,  etc. 

A  return  postcard  accompanying  the  letter  is 
designed  to  give  the  Commission  a  broad  yes  or 
no  referendum  on  the  advisability  of  export  com¬ 
binations,  and  to  put  it  in  touch  with  those  who 
are  willing  to  assist  the  Commission  by  furnish¬ 
ing  further  facts  and  suggestions.  To  those  who 
state  that  they  will  cooperate  with  the  Commis¬ 
sion  in  furnishing  facts,  etc.,  the  schedule  of  in¬ 
quiries  will  be  sent,  covering  the  topics  on  which 
the  Commission  desires  information. 

Through  this  letter  of  inquiry  and  schedule 
the  Commission  particularly  desires  to  get  the 
facts  from  many  different  points  of  view  and 
from  all  sides  of  controverted  questions.  Thus, 
the  20,000  names  of  manufacturers  and  producers 
include  every  important  branch  of  American  in¬ 
dustrial  enterprise  and  represent  every  shade  of 
opinion  in  regard  to  the  present  problems  of  our 
foreign  trade.  The  list  takes  in  big  business  and 
little  business;  companies  that  are  old  in  export¬ 
ing  and  firms  that  are  new ;  interests  that  want 
combinations  among  American  manufacturers  for 
export  trade  and  men  who  are  opposed  to  such 
organizations ;  manufacturers  of  specialties  and 
producers  of  staples ;  concerns  whose  foreign 
trade  is  limited  to  South  America  or  Europe  and 
those  whose  products  are  sold  all  over  the  globe. 

The  10,000  other  persons  to  whom  the  letters 
of  inquirv  will  be  sent  include  even  greater  di¬ 
versity  of  interest  and  thought.  By  obtaining 
facts  and  suggestions  in  this  manner  from  a  large 
number  nf  persons  with  different  experiences  and 
poini.=-  of  vicv,'  the  Commission  expects  to  secure 
a  great  body  of  valuable  information. 

The  schedules  were  prepared  after  careful  con¬ 
sideration  of  the  facts  developed  thus  far  in  the 
investigation.  In  drafting  the  inquiries  the  Com¬ 
mission  has  consulted  noted  economists  and  ex- 


Very  little  trouble  has  been  caused  by  water  as 
most  of  that  which  falls  or  drains  into  the  pit 
finds  an  access  to  the  old  workings  and  is  later 
pumped  out  from  one  -of  the  mines  working  the 
same  beds  at  lower  levels.  However,  between 
the  local  anticline  and  the  outcrop  there  is  a 
basin  in  which  some  water  collects.  This  is 
pumped  out  over  the  anticline  and  is  drained 
down  into  the  workings.  It  is  so  acid  that  it  is 
sometimes  necessary  to  renew  parts  of  pumps 
every  day. 

Coal  and  rock  are  handled  in  side-dump  cars 
by  small  locomotives  built  by  the  Vulcan  Iron 
Works  of  Wilkes-Barre.  These  locomotives  are 
of  about  twenty  tons  weight.  They  are  called 
upon  to  perform  very  hard  service  as  the  track 
grade  in  some  places  is  as  much  as  ten  per  cent. 
There  are  thirty-six  of  the  locomotives  in  this 
stripping  or  “section.”  There  are  250  cars  each 
holding  four  cubic  yards.  Two  hundred  are 
used  for  coal  and  fifty  for  rock.  It  is  possible 
to  handle  the  rock  in  comparatively  few  cars  be¬ 
cause  the  haul  is  short. 

On  the  whole  the  arrangement  is  working  very 
well.  The  G.  B.  Markle  Company  is  getting  its 
coal,  and  much  more  of  it  than  it  expected,  and 
Messrs.  Benjamin  and  Butler  are  making  more 
money  than  they  e.xpected.  It  is  a  rare  gamble 
in  which  both  sides  win. 


perts,  leading  business  men  in  many  important 
lines,  and  representatives  of  the  Chamber  of 
Commerce  of  the  United  States,  the  National 
Association  of  Manufacturers,  the  American 
Manufacturers’  Export  Association,  the  National 
Foreign  Trade  Council,  and  other  organizations 
interested  in  the  extension  of  export  trade. 

The  schedules  are  brief  and  have  been  pre¬ 
pared  to  facilitate  convenience  in  replying.  Since 
foreign  trade  is  of  especial  interest  just  now,  the 
Commission  is  expecting  a  prompt  response  to 
this  request  for  suggestions  and  information. 

Some  of  the  inquiries  are  designed  to  ascertain 
the  general  understanding  of  business  men  as  to 


Some  New  Law  on 


Some  law  as  to  buying  and  selling  merchandise 
that  is  practically  new  to  this  country  has  just 
been  made  by  the  United  States  court  for  the 
northern  district  of  Illinois.  The  decision  has 
a  much  wider  influence  than  the  decision  of  a 
state  court  would  have. 

The  question  involved  was  this :  When  A  sells 

B,  a  dealer,  certain  merchandise  with  a  specific 
guarantee  that  it  is  of  certain  (piality,  and  B, 
relying  on  the  guarantee,  sells  it  to  a  customer, 

C,  with  the  same  guarantee,  and  C  uses  it  and 
finds  it  is  not  what  it  was  represented  to  be,  of 
course  C  can  at  once  come  back  on  B  and  col¬ 
lect  damages.  But  heretofore  the  law  has  al¬ 
ways  been  supposed  to  be  that  before  B  could 
go  back  on  A  for  his  damages,  he,  B,  must  have 
paid  C  the  damages  which  C  claimed  of  B,  and 
if  B  never  paid  C,  B  could  never  collect  any¬ 
thing  from  A. 

The  United  States  court,  in  the  case  I  refer 
to,  has  changed  all  this.  It  decides  that  B  can 
go  after  A  right  away,  before  he  has  paid  C, 
and  even  though  he  may  never  pay  C.  This 
upon  the  theory  that  B’s  liability  to  pay  C  is 
sufficient  ground  for  his  suit  against  A. 

This  is  exceedingly  radical  law,  in  my  judg¬ 
ment,  and  will  introduce  a  new  element  into 
thousands  of  mercantile  transactions. 

The  facts  in  the  Illinois  case  are  interesting. 
The  merchandise  involved  was  cucumber  seed, 
but  readers  will  understand  that  the  law  is  the 
same  no  matter  what  it  was.  A  wholesale 
dealer  in  seed  sold  to  a  retailer  a  quantity  of 
seed  which  he  represented  to  be  “improved  Chi¬ 
cago  pickling.”  The  retailer  in  turn  sold  it  to  a 
grower  under  the  same  warranty — that  it  was 
“improved  Chicago  pickling.”  The  grower  plant¬ 
ed  it,  but  found  when  his  crop  came  up  that  the 
seed  was  not  what  it  was  represented  to  be.  lie 
accordingly  notified  the  retailer  of  what  had  hap¬ 
pened,  but  made  no  effort  to  enforce  his  claim 
for  damages  and  might  never  have  enforced  it, 
according  to  the  evidence. 

The  status  then  was  that  the  retailer  was  fac¬ 
ing  liability  for  the  damage  sustained  by  the 
grower,  although  he  had  not  yet  been  damagcfl, 
and  would  not  be,  unless  the  grower  got  after  him 
and  made  him  pay.  Of  course  the  cause  of  the 
damage  was  the  false  guarantee  which  was  given 


whether  the  antitrust  laws  prohibit  export  com¬ 
binations  among  American  manufacturers,  and 
the  views  of  men  generally  as  to  whether  such 
combinations  are  in  the  public  interest.  Other 
questions  are  expected  to  develop  highly  interest¬ 
ing  information  in  regard  to  “dumping”  by  for¬ 
eigners,  either  in  the  United  States  or  in  other 
markets.  Information  is  also  sought  concerning 
the  operations  of  foreign  combinations,  and  other 
conditions  which  affect  American  export  trade. 

The  Commission  desires  full  and  frank  state¬ 
ments  in  reply,  and  the  inquiries  have  been  drafted 
with  this  purpose  in  view.  Thus  the  persons 
answering  may  designate  any  portions  of  his 
reply  which  he  wishes  held  confidential  and  the 
Commission  will  respect  his  wishes  in  this  regard. 

Where  the  answers  received  suggest  that  addi¬ 
tional  valuable  details  and  facts  are  available 
the  Commission  will  supplement  the  schedules 
with  a  few  further  inquiries  which  will  elicit  fuller 
statements.  All  this  work  will  be  quickly  rounded 
out  and  completed  by  visits  from  agents  of  the 
Cornmission,  in  a  few  cases,  if  the  study  of  the 
replies  shows  this  course  to  be  desirable. 

In  announcing  the  commencement  of  this  work 
the  Commission  was  careful  to  state  that  the 
schedule  inquiries  are  only  one  part  of  its  study 
of  conditions  which  may  affect  American  export 
trade.  In  addition  to  the  schedule  inquiries  and 
the  series  of  public  hearings  which  have  been 
held,  this  study  as  planned  includes  several  other 
important  divisions.  For  some  time  employees  of 
the  Commission  have  been  engaged  on  systematic 
research  \vork  covering  trade  and  financial  pa¬ 
pers,  official  publications  and  reports  of  the 
United  States  and  foreign  governments,  and  other 
published  material.  This  has  included  not  only 
publications  in  English,  but  also  those  in  German, 
Erench,  Italian  and  other  foreign  languages.  In 
addition,  agents  will  be  sent  abroad  to  study  con¬ 
ditions  on  the  ground.  In  this  part  of  its  work 
the  Commission  will  also  receive  assistance  from 
the  Department  of  State  through  the  United 
States  Consuls,  and  from  the  Department  of 
Commerce  through  the  Commercial  Attaches. 
Through  these  different  divisions  of  the  work  the 
Commission  is  conducting  an  extensive  investiga¬ 
tion  and  hopes  to  make  a  comprehensive  report 
to  Congress. 


Buying  and  Selling. 


by  the  original  seller,  and  which  was  carried  on 
by  the  retailer  to  his  customer,  the  grower. 

The  courts  have  always  agreed  that  the  minute 
the  retailer  settled  his  customer’s  claim  of  dam¬ 
age,  he,  the  retailer,  could  make  similar  claim 
upon  the  original  seller.  Up  to  this  time,  how¬ 
ever,  they  have  not  generally  ruled  that  the  re¬ 
tailer  could  go  back  on  the  original  seller  before 
he  had  actually  sustained  the  damage  that  he 
claimed.  The  Illinois  court,  however,  ruled  that 
he  could,  and  gave  him  damages.  Naturally 
the  grower  can  now  immediately  demand  his  dam¬ 
ages  from  the  retailer,  and  the  latter,  unless  he 
goes  bankrupt,  will  have  to  pay  them. 

Here  is  another  possibility :  Let  us  say  that 
the  retailer  in  the  above  case  recovers  his  dam¬ 
ages  in  full  from  the  original  seller.  He  then 
succeeds  in  settling  his  own  liability  to  the 
grower  for  fifty  per  cent  of  its  face — again  he 
will  be  in  the  position  of  having  collected  dam¬ 
ages  that  he  had  not  sustained. 

This  decision,  in  its  application  to  all  lines  of 
mercantile  business,  has  almost  unlimited  possi¬ 
bilities.  If  a  grocer  sells  canned  molasses,  packed 
by  a  manufacturer,  to  a  customer,  and  the  tin 
explodes  and  injures  the  customer,  the  grocer  can 
sue  the  manufacturer — if  there  was  a  guarantee 
that  the  tin  would  not  explode — before  he  lias 
been  sued  himself  and  when  he  might  never  be 
sued. 

In  my  humble  opinion,  the  new  law  is  bad  law. 
It  seems  unanswerable  that  no  man  should  be  per¬ 
mitted  to  collect  money  from  me  merely  on  a 
chance  of  havinsr  to  pay  it  out  to  someliody  else. 
The  time  to  collect  damages  is  when  there  are 
damages. 

(col’YRir.HT,  NOVEMBER,  1015,  BY  EETON  J.  lU'CKI.EY.) 


The  Pittston  fPa.)  Gazette  states  that  large 
(|uantities  of  coal  are  bein.g  put  into  storage  at 
several  points  along  the  Lehigh  Valley  Railroad. 
The  Gazette  states  that  at  the  Coxton  yard  about 
lo.ono  tons  of  bituminous  and  20,000  tons  of  an¬ 
thracite  buckwheat  will  be  stored.  This  is  in¬ 
tended  for  the  use  of  the  company’s  locomotives 
running  out  of  Coxton.  Another  report  states 
that  large  quantities  of  fuel  are  to  be  stored  at 
other  terminal  points  along  the  line,  notably  at 
Delano  and  Manchester. 


Trade  Commission  Extending  Export  Inquiry. 


THE  BLACK  DIAIMOND. 


'  [November  6 


The  briquetting  plant. 

presses  are  fed  to  an  eigliteen-inch  belt  conveyor 
running  in  a  tunnel  from  the  briquetting  plant  to 
the  storage  building.  Here  the  conveyor  delivers 
to  a  bucket  elevator,  which  discharges  the  bri¬ 
quettes  at  the  top  by  means  of  a  four-way  chute 
to  the  various  compartments  of  the  bunker. 


New  Furnace  Room  Device. 


Boiler  efficiency  depends  upon  heat  libera¬ 
tion  within  the  furnace  and  heat  absorption 
by  the  boiler.  These  two  operations  have  been 
shown  dependent  in  turn  upon  variables  in¬ 
volving  pounds  of  air,  pounds  of  fuel,  gas  tem¬ 
peratures,  baffling,  soot,  scale  and  other  much 
discussed  questions  of  combustion  themselves 
dependent  on  draft,  fuel  bed,  and  relative  ca¬ 
pacities  of  grate  surface  and  absorption  sur¬ 
faces. 

The  greatest  problem  of  all  has  been  the 
human  element,  for  efficiency  is  after  all  the 
most  exact  balancing  of  all  these  mechanical 
factors  within  the  compass  of  the  intelligence 
or  knowledge  of  the  fireman. 

A  new  recorder,  known  as  the  Wilsey^ 
placed  within  view  of  the  fireman  upon  the 
front  of  the  furnace,  automatically  and  in¬ 
stantly  informs  him  of  the  effects,  good  or 
bad,  of  any  or  all  changes  or  adjustments, 
whether  in  the  fuel  itself,  the  method  of  fir¬ 
ing,  the  combustion,  or  the  absorntion.  This 
information  is  not  only  indicated,  but  recorded 
on  a  regular  time-chart,  so  that  the  fireman 
may  maintain  an  even  standard  of  efficiency. 
The  instrument  would  betray  every  faulty  con¬ 
dition  of  operation,  such  as  holes  in  the  fire, 
soot,  scale,  cracked  baffling,  improper  thick¬ 
ness  of  fires,  or  air  leakage,  as  well  as  show 
the  comparative  values  of  wet  and  dry  firing, 
fuels,  and  men.  It  is  even  stated  that  after 
continued  use  it  is  possible  for  the  engineer 
to  closely  estimate,  through  the  contour  of  the 
recorder  curve,  the  nature  of  the  fault  which  is 
responsible  for  a  drop  in  efficiency. 

Thus,  instead  of  depending  upon  the  fire¬ 
man’s  guess  for  boiler  room  efficiency,  the 
chief  engineer  may  set  a  certain  standard  to  be 
maintained  on  the  recorder  at  all  times  as 
closely  as  possible  and  rest  secure  that  in  hold¬ 
ing  to  it  the  men  must  fire  thinly  and  prop¬ 


erly,  leave  side  doors  closed,  and  so  save  fuel. 
Any  departure  from  this  standard  is  instantly 
apparent  on  the  recorder,  and  the  trouble  may 
be  traced  quickly  to  its  cause,  whether  this 
be  a  mechanical  or  personal  fault.  Mechan¬ 
ically,  two  platinum  loops  are  placed,  one  in 
the  combustion  chamber,  the  other  in  the 
boiler  outlet,  so  as  to  form  the  two  sides  of 
a  Wheatstone  bridge,  which  is  simply  a  device 
for  recording  ratios  of  electrical  currents.  In 
the  circuit  across  this  bridge  is  a  galvanom¬ 
eter  provided  with  a  series  resistance  and 
shunt.  A  shnnt  current  is  passed  through  the 
bridge,  and  as  the  resistance  of  the  patinum 


The  inclined  conveyor. 

elevates  and  discharges  it  through  a  chute  upon  a 
fourteen-inch  belt  conveyor.  This  conveyor  is 
eighty-four  feet  long,  and  is  equipped  with  a  Rob¬ 
ins  hand  propelled  tripper  for  discharging  the 
material  from  the  conveyor.  The  Robins  hand 
propelled  tripper  is  essentially  the  same  as  the 


Conveyor  over  storage  pipe. 

Robins  automatic  tripper,  except  that  it  is  moved 
from  point  to  point  by  means  of  a  hand  crank 
geared  to  one  of  the  axles.  The  fourteen-inch 
belt  conveyor,  tripper,  and  storage  pile  underneath 
are  shown. 

Reclaiming  is  accomplished  by  means  of  a  four¬ 
teen-inch  belt  conveyor,  ninety  feet  long,  in  a  con- 


The  Mingo  Coal  Corporation  has  closed  its 
office  in  the  Columbus  Savings  &  Trust  Com¬ 
pany  and  opened  headquarters  in  Cleveland.  The 
enterprise  is  composed  of  Eastern  men,  who  have 
an  original  co-operative  plan  for  developing  a 
large  tract  of  West  Virginia  coal  land,  each 
shareholders,  however  small,  being  given  a  fee 
simple  title  to  a  portion  of  the  land.  > 


Plant  of  the  Coal  Boulet  Company. 


The  Recorder. 

sides  varies  with  the  temperature,  the  bridge 
is  thrown  out  of  balance  in  proportion  with 
any  ratio  of  difference  in  the  temperature  be¬ 
tween  the  combustion  zone  and  the  boiler 
uptake. 

By  making  the  resistance  coils  in  series  in¬ 
versely  proportionate  to  the  specific  heats  of 
the  furnace  gases,  the  needle  of  the  galva¬ 
nometer  will  be  deflected  in  the  ratio  of  the 
combined  effect  of  the  temperature  and  specific 
heats  at  these  two  points.  Radiation  and 
other  losses  being  compensated  for  by  means 
of  coil  and  shunt,  it  is  apparent  that  with 
proper  graduation  of  the  dial  and  calibration 
of  the  galvanometer,  the  reading  of  the  dial 
will  be  the  exact  combined  efficiency  of  boiler 
and  furnace.  The  movements  of  the  needle 
are  recorded  on  the  recording  gauge  as  well. 

It  is  evident,  then,  that  the  recorder  auto¬ 
matically  and  accurately  takes  the  various 
data  necessary  to  the  computation  of  efficiency 


The  Dial  Chart. 

and  completes  the  task  by  showing  the  ratio 
of  the  heat  utilized  to  the  initial  heat  lib¬ 
erated  in  the  furnace,  which  result  is  the  true 
combined  efficiency  of  boiler  and  furnace. 

It  is  further  evident  that  in  actual  practice 
such  exact  calibration  would  not  be  needed. 
Radiation  losses  are  close  to  constant,  and  may 
be  regarded  as  inevitably  present.  Sudden  in¬ 
crease  of  such  loss  would  instantly  be  noticed 
on  the  recorder,  and  it  is  usually  the  case  that 
such  losses  can  be  eradicated. 


One  of  several  successful  conveying  systems  in 
operation  at  briquetting  plants  is  that  of  the  Coal 
Boulet  Company,  New  York  City.  The  equip¬ 
ment  here,  handling  coal  dust  and  briquettes,  pos¬ 
sesses  uniciue  features  of  interest. 

The  coal  dust  is  dumped  by  carts  into  a  hopper 
at  the  foot  of  the  belt  and  bucket  elevator,  which 


Crete  tunnel  underneath  the  storage  pile.  Gates 
in  the  roof  of  the  tunnel  feed  the  coal  dust 
through  the  chutes  to  the  tunnel  conveyor,  which 
delivers  it  to  a  second  belt  and  bucket  elevator, 
inclined  at  an  angle  of  forty-five  degrees.  The 
buckets  of  this .  elevator  are  equipped  with  clips, 
which  run  on  guides  and  prevent  the  elevator  belt 
from  sagging.  The  coal  is  discharged  from  it 
through  a  chute  to  the  shaking  screen.  The  over¬ 
size  material  passes  to  a  crusher,  and  the  screen¬ 
ings,  together  with  this  re-crushed  coal,  are  then 
taken  by  a  screw  conveyor  to  a  bucket  elevator. 
This  in  turn  delivers  the  coal  dust  to  the  mixer 
and  moulding  presses. 

The  finished  briquettes  from  the  moulding 


No.  191 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


369 


Making  ’Em  Look  in  the  Window. 

The  coal  dealer,  who  is  confronted  with  the 
ever-present  problem  of  making  his  windows,  if 
he  has  windows,  which  may  be  seen  from  the 
street  by  any  considerable  number  of  people,  at¬ 
tractive  to  passersby,  may  have  come  to  the  con¬ 
clusion  that  it  is  a  hopeless  task.  But  this  is 
certainly  not  the  case,  if  he  will  give  the  ques¬ 
tion  a  little  thought. 

For  instance,  one  dealer,  who  happened  to  no¬ 
tice  in  a  car  of  coal,  which  was  delivered  at  his 
yard,  an  especially  large  block,  had  it  placed  in 
the  window  with  this  placard,  “How  Much  Does 
This  Lump  of  Coal  .VVei.gh?”  A  great  many  peo¬ 
ple  stopped  and  made  a  guess,  although  there, 
was  no  prize  offered  in  connection  with  it,  and 
some  of  them  even  came  into  the  office  to  record 
their  estimate,  and  to  see  how  close  they  had 
come  to  the  correct  amount. 

This  was  a  rather  small  town,  and  people  in 
communities  of  this  sort  are  more  easily  in¬ 
terested  than  in  larger  cities ;  but,  at  all  events, 
the  dealer  heard  so  much  from  his  simple  little 
display  that  he  finally  found  it  desirable  to  put 
an  advertisement  in  the  weekly  paper  giving  the 
exact  size  and  wei.ght  of  the  lump.  He  was  a 
good  enough  merchant,  also,  to  go  further  and 
explain  that  the  domestic  coal  which  he  deliv¬ 
ered  was  the  lumpy,  blocky  sort,  including  a  lot 
of  big  lumps  like  that  on  display. 


Making  a  Virtue  of  Necessity. 

The  small  dealer,  doin.g  a  coal  business  on  a 
“shoe-string,”  is  often  berated  as  being  a  “snow¬ 
bird,”  and  as  having  no  permanency  or  reliabil¬ 
ity.  Often  this  is  the  case;  but  it  is  certain  that 
the  dealer,  who  is  able  to  handle  only  a  couple 
of  cars  of  coal  at  a  time  has  no  easy  task  “get¬ 
ting  by”  on  this  mar.gin.  The  man  who  can  suc¬ 
ceed,  stay  in  the  business,  and  gradually  enlarge 
his  volume  must  have  some  good  stuff  in  him. 

-A.  concern  which  is  now  doing  a  restricted 
business  has  recently  been  makin.g  capital  of  its 
necessities  by  featuring  the  freshness  of  its  stock. 
Instead  of  saying,  “We  are  able  to  carry  only 
a  little  coal  on  our  yard  at  a  time,”  which  would 
not  have  been  much  of  a  recommendation,  this 
dealer  suggested  diplomatically  in  his  newspaper 
announcements,  “Why  buy  weather-worn  coal 
when  we  can  deliver  you  coal  fresh  from  the 
mines?” 

Now,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  dealer  admitted 
that  he  did  not  know  whether  coal  deteriorated 
in  stora.ge,  other  than  in  breaking  down,  or  not ; 
but  he  knew  that  coal  just  from  the  mines  was 
l)righter  and  cleaner  than  it  would  be  later,  and 
iie  appreciated  the  fact  that  this  suggestion  would 
appeal  also  to  the  “man  in  the  street.”  Aside 
from  possible  objections  to  the  argument  on  tech¬ 
nical  grounds,  featurin.g  this  idea,  certainly 
showed  ability  to  make  use  of  a  condition  which 
might  have  been  interpreted  as  a  handicap.  Deal¬ 
ers,  who  feel  that  they  are  laboring  at  a  disad¬ 
vantage  in  this,  that  or  some  other  way  should 
look  at  the  proposition  from  some  other  angle; 
maybe  they  can  squeeze  a  “talking-point”  out 
of  it. 


Make  Good  on  Promises. 

The  homely  old  virtues  are  the  ones  that  peo¬ 
ple  insist  upon  most  emphatically. 

Punctuality,  for  instance;  it  is  a  safe  bet  that 
Adam  started  talking  about  its  merits  shortly 
after  Eve  developed  a  tendency  to  change  her  fig- 
leaf  costume  too  frequently. 

Everybody  likes  to  have  business  engagements 


met  prom])tly,  and  even  those  who  are  some¬ 
times  late  themselves  appreciate  and  sometimes 
insist  strenuously  upon  punctuality  in  others. 

The  coalman,  who  promises  a  load  “this  after¬ 
noon,”  and  .gets  it  to  the  customer  the  next  morn¬ 
ing,  has  fallen  down  on  the  job,  and  has  run 
the  risk  of  offending  the  customer,  and  perhaps 
giving  inconvenience.  The  task  of  getting  it 
out  the  afternoon  it  was  asked  for  may  have 
been  beyond  human  powers,  and  simply  impos¬ 
sible;  but  if  this  was  the  case,  the  prospect 
should  have  been  foreseen,  and  the  delivery  prom¬ 
ised  with  sufficient  qualification  to  furnish  a  rea¬ 
sonable  alibi  for  the  dealer  in  case  of  complaint. 


Why  Motor  Trucks? 

A  coal  dealer  in  an  eastern  city,  who  uses 
motor  trucks  almost  exclusively  for  delivery  pur¬ 
poses,  recently  told  his  customers  frankly  why  he 
has  substituted  mechanical  for  animal  power  in 
this  department  of  his  business. 

“We  want  you  to  know,”  he  said,  “why  we  use 
motor  trucks. 

“It  is  partly  your  affair,  and  you  ought  to  be 
interested. 

“With  horse-drawn  wagons  a  limited  number  of 
deliveries  a  day  is  possible;  the  severe  winter 
weather  still  further  reduces  this  number;  the 
horse  shoes  and  steel  tires  of  the  wagons  cut 
up  the  driveways ;  and  all  these  things  together 
interfere  with  our  ideals  of  service. 

“Then  there’s  the  humanitarian  side  of  it; 
think  of  the  poor,  half-frozen  horses  plodding 
and  slipping  alon,g  through  the  winter  storms. 

“With  motor  trucks,  it  is  possible  to  make 
twice  as  many  deliveries  at  a  less  cost,  even  in 
the  worst  weather,  and  our  service  is  thus  much 
more  dependable. 

“Many  of  our  customers  request  us  specially  to 
deliver  their  coal  Iiy  truck.” 

An  interesting  point  brought  out  in  the  above, 
and  one  that  would  not  occur,  probably,  to  the 
man  on  the  outside,  is  that  the  substitution  of 
rubber  tires  for  steel  tires  and  horseshoes  saves 
the  driveways  of  customers;  and  the  sort  of  cus¬ 
tomers  who  have  driveways  are  the  very  people 
who  would  kick  at  their  mutilation  and  appre¬ 
ciate  the  change  when  trucks  were  substituted. 


Knowing  As  Much  As  the  Boss. 

A  certain  business  concern,  not  in  the  coal 
business,  recently  described  itself  as  a  place 
“where  everybody  knows  as  much  as  his  boss.” 

This  is  tantamount  to  saying  that  everybody 
has  the  ability  to  become  a  boss  if  the  occasion 
should  demand.  Or,  as  Napoleon  put  it,  every 
soldier  of  France  carries  a  baton  in  his  knap¬ 
sack  ! 

One  of  the  tendencies  of  coal  dealers,  some¬ 
times,  is  to  try  to  keep  subordinates  subordinate. 
Sometimes  a  dealer  is  so  energetic  and  ambitious 
that  he  wants  to  do  it  all  himself,  permitting 
his  hirelings  to  take  care  of  the  purely  routine, 
mechanical  end  of  the  work,  and  playing  the  part 
of  bystanders  when  there  is  anything  to  be  done 
retiuiring  initiative,  judgment  and  other  good 
qualities. 

Now,  these  qualities  as  a  rule  must  be  de- 
velo!)ed  by  cultivation,  just  as  one’s  biceps  grow 
as  the  result  of  exercise.  The  employe,  who 
never  gets  a  chance  to  decide  a  thing  for  himself, 
and  who  is  always  required  to  get  instructions 
liefore  doing  a  thing,  is  not  one  who  can  be  de¬ 
scribed  as  “knowing  as  much  as  the  boss” ;  in 
other  words,  he  couldn’t  possilily  substitute  for 
the  boss  if  the  latter  fell  down  and  broke  a  leg 


or  happened  to  be  laid  up  for  si.x  weeks  with 
typhoid  or  pneumonia. 

A  baseball  team  is  declared  by  those  who  ought 
to  know  to  be  no  stronger  than  its  substitutes. 
^\'hen  Connie  Mack  broke  up  his  famous  infield, 
he  had  no  Baker,  Barry  or  Collins  in  reserve 
to  take  the  places  of  those  sons  of  Swat;  and 
hence  the  Athletics  last  season  dropped  down 
to  the  lowest  notch,  and  stayed  there  as  long  as 
the  schedule  would  let  them. 

How  would  you  like  for  your  coal  l)usiness  to 
Ijecome  a  tail-ender  in  the  Business  League  just 
because  you  were  prevented  from  being  at  the 
helm  for  a  few  weeks  or  a  few  months?  Have 
you  got  able  substitutes  ?  Are  you  giving  your 
men  a  chance  to  grow — mentally — and  to  in¬ 
crease  their  capacity  as  to  judgment  and  discre¬ 
tion? 


The  “News”  Element  Again. 

Recently  it  was  suggested  in  this  department 
that  coal  dealers  make  greater  use  of  news  and 
market  developments  to  induce  immediate  buying. 
Since  that  appeared  the  writer  has  run  across  the 
following  announcement,  which  is  quite  timely, 
and  is  a  model  for  those  who  may  be  looking  for 
“copy”  of  that  sort: 

“To  our  customers: 

“The  coal  situation  at  this  time  is  far  from  nor¬ 
mal,  and  since  you  are  directly  concerned,  we 
deem  it  our  duty  to  give  you  the  facts. 

“Miners  going  to  Eim^ne  to  fiphf  and  others 
seeking  the  high  wages  paid  munition  workers 
have  brought  about  a  scarcity  of  coal  producers. 

“During  the  past  few  months  the  decrease  in 
anthracite  shipments  compared  with  the  corre¬ 
sponding  period  of  last  year  has  run  into  the 
millions  of  ton«. 

“Railroad  equipment  is  in  bad  repair ;  and  rail¬ 
road  facilities  will  soon  be  overtaxed  by  mov¬ 
ing  the  enormous  crops  that  are  already  late, 
and  by  movine  the  greatly  increased  mill  and 
foundry  outputs. 

“No  coal  dealer  knows  whether  he  can  get 
enough  coal  next  winter  to  supply  his  custo¬ 
mers  ;  and  no  dealer  has  more  than  a  fraction  of 
the  necessary  storage  space  for  buying  coal  now 
and  holding  it — not  even  we. 

“We  therefore  advise  our  customers  to  lay  in 
their  coal  at  the  earliest  possible  moment.  Fu¬ 
ture  prices  cannot  be  predicted  with  certainty — 
but  every  indication  points  to  an  increase. 

“We  will  take  care  of  all  orders  with  greatest 
possible  promptness.” 

The  coal  dealer  who  knows  the  editors  of  his 
local  papers  as  he  should  make  it  a  point  to  know 
them  can  often  arrange,  by  diplomatically  re¬ 
ferring  to  the  facts,  to  have  important  news  items 
about  the  situation  printed.  The  news  is  worth 
running,  and  is  valuable  information  for  the  pub¬ 
lic,  and  at  the  same  time  is  a  legitimate  boost  for 
the  coal  dealer. 

Life  of  an  Anthracite  Plant. 

•  A  plant  built  of  wood  should  be  charged  off 
or  depreciated  at  the  rate  of  about  4  per  cent  a 
year  and  one  built  of  steel  or  other  fireproof  ma¬ 
terial  at  the  rate  of  about  3  per  cent  a  year. 

At  the  end  of  twenty-five  years  the  wooden 
structure  may  be  decayed  and  falling  down ;  the 
building  may  be  too  low  to  accommodate  the 
larger  wagons  and  trucks ;  the  system  of  hand- 
lin.g  the  coal  may  be  so  out  of  date  that  the 
plant  can  no  longer  be  used ;  or  which  is  often 
the  case  particularly  in  retail  plants,  the  growth 
and  changes  in  the  city  are  such  that  the  busi¬ 
ness  has  left  the  particular  location.  Whatever 
the  cause,  the  result  is  the  same,  the  plant  can 
no  longer  be  operated  profitably  and  must  be 
replaced  by  a  new  one  or  the  business  handled 
from  a  different  location. 

With  twenty-five  years  as  the  life  of  a  wooden 
plant,  one  constructed  of  steel  or  other  fireproof 
material  appears  to  have  a  life  of  about  33  yea^s. 
In  the  case  of  the  fireproof  plant  the  end  of  its 
usefulness  is  generally  on  account  of  the  entire 
equipment  being  out  of  date  or  the  business  leav¬ 
ing  the  locality  rather  than  from  the  material  of 
which  it  is  constructed  being  worn  out  or  rusted 
out. 

The  above  conclusions  are  based  not  on  theory, 
but  on  observation  and  inspection  of  a  large 
number  of  coal  plants  throughout  the  country. 

There  are,  of  course,  many  exceptions  to 
this  age  limit  where  plants  have  been  kept  in 
operation  for  a  number  of  years  beyond  their 
natural  life,  and  others  were  what  was  thou.ght 
to  be  an  up-to-date  outfit  when  built,  has  been 
condemned  and  entirely  replaced  in  13  to  15 
years.  It  will  be  found,  however,  that  4  per  cent 
and  3  per  cent  annual  depreciation  for  wood  and 
fireproof  construction,  respectively,  represents 
very  closely  the  actual  life  of  anthracite  coal 
plants. 


370 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[November  6 


Spirit  of  Safety  First. 

Iwcry  now  and  then  you  see  in  the  daily  press 
a  brief  news  item  which  reads,  as  a  rule,  some¬ 
thing:  like  this;  "About  a  week  ago  John  Jones 
stepped  on  a  nail.  Two  days  later  infection  set 
in.  lie  died  early  this  morning  of  blood  poison¬ 
ing.” 

You,  the  man  on  the  job,  you  who  may  liappen 
to  read  this  article,  can  prevent  a  number  of 
j)ainful  accidents,  which  only  too  often  result  in 
serious  if  not  fatal  consequences,  if  you  would 
only  stop  for  a  moment  when  the  occasion  pre¬ 
sents  itself  and  do  the  same  thing  Jim  I-Iod.ge, 
an  employe  at  the  Boston  &  Montana  Reduction 
Works,  did. 

A  lot  of  boards  that  went  into  the  makeup  of 
concrete  forms  were  piled  up  in  the  yard.  One 
of  the  boards,  with  a  number  of  nails  all  project¬ 
ing  upward,  slipped  off  the  pile  and  fell  along¬ 
side  of,  a  passage  way  that  is  used  quite  ex¬ 
tensively  during  construction  work. 

We  happened  to  come  alon.g,  saw  the  plank 
with  the  ugly  and  dangerous  looking  nails,  and 
began  to  w'onder  what  success  we  had  attained 
in  educating  the  man  on  the  job  to  do  a  little 
looking  out  for  himself  and  the  "other  fellow.” 

It  occurred  to  us  that  the  man  who  would  stop 
and  turn  over  that  plank  is  a  man  worth  know’- 
ing;  he  is  a  man  everybody  in  the  employ  of  the 
mining  company  ought  to  be  acquainted  with.  So 
we  rigged  up  a  camera,  installed  it  in  the  chief 
clerk’s  office,  and  there  we  were  waiting  for  the 
man. 

Sure  enough,  along  comes  Jim.  He  has  his 
eye  fixed  on  the  board.  He  comes  alondside  of  it, 
stops,  stoops,  turns  the  plank  over  and  plods  on 
to  his  work. 

The  sense  of  duty  which  prompted  Jim  Hodge 
to  stop  on  his  way  to  work  and  turn  over  the 
plank  with  the  projecting  nails  is  nothing  else 
Init  the  spirit  of  Safety  First. 

J.  L.  Price. 


Accidents  vs.  Profits. 

In  my  thirty-two  years  of  experience  in  and 
around  coal  mines,  it  has  always  been  clear  to 
me  that  the  system  of  mana.gement  was  what  in¬ 
creased  safety,  and  also  gave  a  greater  output  to 
the  mine.  I  have  visited  some  mines  where  they 
do  not  spare  time  or  money  in  making  the  mines 
safe,  and  I  find  that  these  people  have  a  greater 
tonnage  and  less  accidents  to  their  workmen  than 
those  operations  do  where  they  do  not  keep  their 
mines  up  to  the  requirements,  and  dra.g  along 
just  any  way  to  get  a  car  of  coal,  and  never  spend 
a  dollar  to  fix  up  roads,  electric  lines  or  any 
other  part  of  their  equipment,  but  permit  the 
mine  to  get  into  a  dangerous  condition.  These 
companies,  when  running  under  these  conditions, 
think  they  are  cutting  down  expenses  and  get¬ 
ting  cheap  coal,  but  I  find  that  at  the  end  of  the 
year,  when  it  comes  time  for  the  annual  report, 
the  people  who  keep  their  plants  in  good  condition, 
and  are  ready  to  do  anything  reasonable  that  the 
mine  inspector  recommends  for  safety  to  the 
employes,  have  the  lowest  cost  and  the  fewest 
accidents. 

A  West  Virgini.-v  Miner. 


Using  Mining  Machines. 

Fditor,  The  Black  Diamond: 

In  view  of  the  note  in  The  Black  Diamond 
of  recent  date  regarding  the  introduction  of  min¬ 
ing  machines  into  the  anthracite  region,  it  may 
be  interesting  to  recall  some  of  the  early  tests 
made  with  these  machines  in  the  anthracite  mines, 
in  the  summer  of  1901  machines  were  tried  in 
the  Marcy  seam  at  the  Mount  Lookout  Colliery, 
and  certain  data  were  then  obtained  by  J.  B. 
'I'liorne,  operating  the  colliery.  The  coal  was 
about  four  feet  in  thickness  and  there  was  an 
upper  bench  one  foot  thick,  directly  under  which 


was  one  foot  of  bone  underlaid  by  a  bottom 
bench  of  two  feet  of  coal.  Two  types  of  Jeffrey 
machines  were  tried,  one  compressed  air,  machine 
16-D  pattern  undercutting  to  a  depth  of  five  feet 
and  a  width  of  forty-four  inches.  Experiments 
were  also  made  with  a  17- A  electric  machine 
with  the  same  size  undercut.  The  electric  ma¬ 
chine  .gave  a  large  amount  of  dust  and'  was  dis¬ 
carded  and  while  the  air  machine  probably  made 
as  much  dust  the  exhaust  air  cleared  out  the 
dust  and  made  it  possilde  for  the  men  to  work. 

Another  element  was  the  high  voltage  used  at 
the  colliery  (500  volts)  and  although  for  the  rea¬ 
son  given  the  electric  machine  was  discarded  in 
these  early  experiments  it  really  gave  better  cut¬ 
ting. 

The  experiments  made  at  that  time  showed 
that  the  cars  from  the  machine  mining  contained 
on  an  average  2,803  pounds  of  coal  and  158 
pounds  of  culm  as  against  2,953  pounds  of  coal 
and  fifty-two  pounds  of  culm.  By  the  methods 
of  mining  commonly  used  the  cuttings  across  the 
face  amounted  to  2,262  pounds,  consisting  of  179 
pounds  of  stove  and  larger  size,  212  pounds  of 
chestnut,  289  pounds  of  pea,  353  pounds  of  buck¬ 
wheat  No.  1,  417  pounds  of  buckwheat  No.  2, 
and  812  pounds  of  culm.  This  work  was  done 
with  a  five-tooth  chain.  Later  with  a  three- 
tooth  chain  better  results  were  obtained,  as  more 
coarse  coal  was  gotten. 

At  the  time  these  experiments  were  made  there 
was  much  labor  agitation  in  the  region  and  it 
was  difficult  to  get  laborers  to  load  after  the  ma¬ 
chines,  hence  no  extended  effort  was  made  to 
introduce  the  machines. 

Machine. 


Tracy  First-Aid  Society 

The  Lochray  mine  of  the  Anaconda  Copper 
Mining  Company’s  coal  department  is  situated  at 
Tracy,  Mont.,  and  is  the  only  mine  operating  at 
that  place'.  The  Tracy  First-Aid  Society  was 
formed  for  the  purpose  of  taking  care  of  the 
safety  first  and  first-aid  work  at  the  mine  and 
it  has  a  membership  of  about  thirty  miners, 
who  reside  at  Tracy.  ~ 

Meetings  are  held  twice  a  month  and  are  partly 
business  and  partly  social  in  character.  Mem¬ 
bers  are  elected  by  secret  ballot  and  a  two-thirds 
vote  is  necessary  for  election.  Candidates  who 
have  been  successful  are  notified  of  their  elec¬ 
tion  by  the  following  note,  which  outlines  the 
purposes  of  the  society : 

“You  have  been  accepted  as  a  candidate  for 
admission  into  this  society. 

"Our  object  is  not  only  to  help  our  fellow 
workers  in  time  of  trouble  and  accident,  but  also 
to  prevent  injury  to,  or  disease  of,  our  fellow 
beings  and  ourselves  in  every  possible  way  and 
by  all  possible  means. 

“Those  of  us  who  work  in  and  around  mines 
are  exposed  to  a  certain  element  of  danger  at  all 
times.  If  we  do  not  take  unnecessary  risks  the 
danger  is  slight.  If  we  do  take  risks  the  danger 
increases  in  proportion  to  the  chances  we  are 
taking,  and  accident  is  liable  to  overtake  us.  We 
are,  therefore,  united  in  making  our  watchword 
"safety  first.”  We  are  resolved  to  take  every 
care  in  our  daily  work  to  prevent  misfortune  to 
our  fellow  men  and  to  ourselves.  For  e.xample, 
by  examination  of  any  place  that  is  liable  to  be 
in  a  dangerous  condition  before  beginning  work 
there,  we  can  prevent  suffering,  or  even  death. 
By  warning  our  brother,  who  is  perhaps  unaware 
of  danger,  or  who  may  he  foolishly  taking  a 
chance,  we  may  be  the  means  of  averting  catas¬ 
trophe. 

“The  second  object  we  have  in  view  is  the 
prevention  of  disease  by  doing  what  lies  in  our 
power  to  improve  the  hygienic  or  sanitary  con¬ 
ditions  in  our  community. 

"We  are  further  resolved  to  render  first  aid 
to  any  one  who  may  he  injured  at  any  time  or 


idace,  and  to  study  and  promote  interest  in  the 
humane  handling  of  the  injured  and  sick.” 

Durin.g  meetings  that  have  been  held  in  the 
past  the  matters  that  have  been  discussed  have 
been:  The  proper  use  of  fuse  and  squibs.  The 
proper methods  of  lighting  shots  and  the  adop¬ 
tion  of  a  regulation  forbidding  miners  from  go- 
in.g  back  immediately  after  a  shot  is  fired  to  see 
the  effect  of  the  shot.  Many  men  have  been 
caught  by  delayed  firing  on  account  of  this  prac¬ 
tise.  Letters  from  Mr.  Sanderson,  State  Mine 
Inspector,  giving  accounts  of  accidents  that  have 
happened  in  other  mines  and  suggestions  on 
methods  of  preventin.g  similar  accidents,  are  read 
and  discussed. 

In  accordance  with  the  recommendations  of 
the  society,  the  company  has  had  red  lights 
placed  on  all  haulage  tracks  at  crossings  used 
by  the  men,  and  has  had  automatic  cut-outs 
placed  on  the  trolley  wire  circuit  at  all  partings 
and  crossings  used  by  them. 

The  future  will,  it  is  hoped,  see  the  construc¬ 
tion  of  a  hall  that  will  provide  a  meeting  place 
for  the  society  and  serve  as  a  social  center  for 
the  community. 


Mining  Machines  in  Anthracite  Region. 

A  large  number  of  coal  cutting  machines  are 
being  installed  in  the  anthracite  region,  espe¬ 
cially  near  Scranton. 

Mining  men  have  always  been  skeptical  as  to 
the  practicability  of  these  machines  in  hard  coal, 
claiming  that  they  could  not  stand  the  rough 
usage  required  by  reason  of  the  nature  of  the 
coal.  But  within  the  three  years  they  have  been 
in  use  here,  they  have  passed  the  experimental 
stage  and  within  a  few  years  they  will  be  used 
extensively. 

Aside  from  the  great  saving  in  the  cost  of 
mining,  they  very  materially  reduce  the  accidents 
caused  by  blasting,  for  the  reason  that  it  does 
not  require  as  much  powder  to  blast  coal  after  it 
has  been  undermined.  In  addition  to  this,  since 
the  charges  are  lighter,  the  blasts  do  not  shat¬ 
ter  the  roof  as  in  the  case  of  hand  mining  where 
heavy  charges  are  necessary,  consequently  acci¬ 
dents  by  falls  of  roof  are  reduced. 

YOURS  FOR  SAFETY. 


Posting  Report  of  Accidents. 

Practically  all  of  the  states  in  which  coal  is 
nnned  require  that  a  report  of  each  accident, 
whether  minor  or  serious,  be  made  to  some  state 
official,  either  the  head  of  the  state  department 
of  mines  or  the  state  industrial  commission. 

The  writer  has  frequently  wondered,  and  has 
asked  many  superintendents,  whether  the  posting 
of  a  copy  of  this  report,  giving  all  the  details  of 
the  accident,  in  a  conspicuous  place  about  the 
mine,  might  not  have  the  effect  of  reducing  the 
number  of  accidents.  It  would  probably  work  in 
two  ways;  First,  a  man  who  sees  just  what 
conditions  caused  an  accident  to  his  fellow-work¬ 
ers  will  probably  endeavor  to  avoid  a  repetition 
of  such  conditions  in  his  own  working  place;  and, 
second,  the  idea  of  "keep  your  name  off  the 
board”  might  lead  a  man  to  take  more  care.  No 
man  wants  to  see  a  report  of  an  accident,  which 
may  have  happened  entirely  through  his  own 
negligence  or  carelessness,  posted  in  a  place 
where  all  his  fellows  can  see  it,  and  know  from 
the  statements  that  he  alone  was  to  blame  for 
his  injuries. 

No  matter  whether  the  result  is  obtained 
through  a  real  desire  to  make  and  keep  things 
safe,  or  because  of  a  fear  of  ridicule  or  censure 
from  a  man’s  fellow-workers,  if  such  a  plan 
brings  about  greater  safety  in  a  mine  it  seems 
that  it  would  be  well'  worth  the  small  sum  re¬ 
quired  for  the  installation  and  upkeep  of  the 
bulletin  board.  L.  E.  C. 


Louisville  &  Nashville  Rates. 


Chattanooga,  Tenn..  November  4. — The 
Louisville  &  Nashville  Railroad,  in  issuing  two 
new  coal  tariffs,  one  quoting  the  increased  $1.40 
rate  on  coal  for  land  delivery  from  Alabama  mines 
in  New  Orleans,  and  one  quoting  the  old  rate  of 
$L25  on  bunker  coal,  will  test  the  opinion  of  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission  expressed  in 
the  decision  on  the  coal  rate  case  that  the  rail¬ 
roads  might  not  concern  themselves  as  to  the 
use  to  be  made  of  coal  shipped  to  New  Orleans 
by  making  two  separate  rates,  one  for  land  de¬ 
livery  and  one  for  bunker  coai. 

Tariffs  have  been  issued  by  the  other  railroads 
interested  in  the  case,  including  the  Southern, 
Alabama  Great  Southern  and  h'risco  lines,  mak¬ 
ing  the  increase  of  fifteen  cents  a  ton  on  land 
delivery. 


371 


No.  19] 


Columbus,  Ohio,  November  4. —  {Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — An  important  development  in  the 
Ohio  rate  case  came  last  week,  when  it  was  an¬ 
nounced  by  the  commission  that  the  pleading  tiled 
by  the  Pittsburgh  Vein  Operators’  Association 
against  the  several  railroads  serving  that  held 
would  be  made  a  part  of  the  general  hearing 
now  in  progress.  This  gives  that  association  the 
same  status  as  the  Sunday  Creek  Company,  which 
intervened  in  the  action  of  the  Ohio  United  Mine 
Workers  against  all  coal-carrying  roads  of  the 
state. 

By  such  ruling  any  readjustment  of  rates  af¬ 
fecting  the  Hocking  and  eastern  Ohio  helds,  as 
well  as  others  that  may  intervene,  will  be  made 
at  the  same  time.  The  way  is  also  thus  opened 
up  for  a  hearing  that  may  go  on  for  many  weeks. 
Thus  the  Sunday  Creek  Company  has  won  a  point 
by  attracting  to  its  rate  light  other  influential 
coal  interests. 

The  commission’s  attitude  in  the  matter  was 
disclosed  near  the  hour  of  adjournment.  Mr. 
Boyle  had  stated  that  with  the  redirect  examina¬ 
tion  of  Mr.  Hopkins,  rate  e-xpert,  on  Wednesday 
morning,  the  Sunday  Creek  Company  would  close 
its  case  against  the  Hocking  Valley  railway.  It 
was  ready  to  hear  the  evidence  of  the  defense 
or  to  proceed  with  its  separate  case  against  the 
Toledo  &  Ohio  Central,  which  had  been  made  a 
party  defendant  when  the  intervention  suit  was 
filed. 

Solicitor  Wilson  replied  that  the  Hocking  Val¬ 
ley  did  not  desire  to  offer  its  defense  until  the 
T.  &  O.  C.  exhibits  were  in,  as  some  of  the  sta¬ 
tistics  to  be  submitted  applied  to  both  lines.  W. 
K.  King,  attorney,  a  Toledo  &  Ohio  Central  repre¬ 
sentative  who  had  been  present  during  the  hear¬ 
ing,  asked  on  behalf  of  C.  T.  Lewis  of  Toledo, 
counsel-general  for  the  road,  that  longer  time  be 
given  to  check  up  on  advance  copies  of  the  ex¬ 
hibits  that  were  to  be  filed,  stating  that  these 
copies  had  been  furnished  by  the  rate  experts  for 
the  plaintiffs  only  on  the  preceding  Tuesday, 
h'urther,  Frank  Lewis,  son  of  the  solicitor,  who 
was  to  conduct  the  defense,  was  at  Atlantic  City 
in  attendance  upon  a  sick  wife. 

The  chairman  of  the  commission  then  asked  if 
witnesses  in  the  pleadings  of  other  parties  to 
the  hearing  were  in  readiness,  so  that  there  might 
be  no  delay  m  the  proceedings,  and  announced 
that  the  Pittsburgh  Vein  case  would  be  consid¬ 
ered  as  part  of  the  present  hearing.  No  counsel 
for  these  plaintiffs  was  present.  The  commis¬ 
sion  stated  that  it  had  postponed  other  important 
matters  to  give  this  hearing  right  of  way,  and 
was  anxious  to  push  it  through  as  rapidly  as  pos- 


Editor  The  Black  Diamond; 

Replying  to  your  favor  of  September  27,  in 
which  you  request  a  brief  statement  telling  how 
we  have  secured  our  large  output,  etc.,  permit 
me  to  say  that  I  hesitate  to  make  such  a  state¬ 
ment,  for  the  reason  that  it  looks  like  a  fellow 
tooting  his  own  horn,  but  I  make  the  effort  in 
response  to  your  argument  that  it  might  be  of 
interest  to  other  busy  men  and  for  the  present 
adopt  the  motto  of  an  old-time  miner  friend  of 
mine,  which  was,  “He  that  tooteth  not  his  own 
horn,  the  same  shall  not  be  tooted.’’ 

I  took  charge  of  the  Superior  mines  November 
1,  1910,  and  the  equipment  of  the  mines  is  essen¬ 
tially  the  same  now  as  it  was  at  that  time.  The 
results  have  been  secured  by  “closer  supervision,” 
by  finding  the  lost  motion,  and  then  removing 
the  causes.  We  have  not  found  them  all  and 
have  not  yet  removed  all  that  have  been  found, 
but  we  are  still  at  it. 

Our  hoisting  equipment  is  a  24x36  inch  Litch¬ 
field  engine.  The  cage  is  of  the  Oleson  self¬ 
dumping  type.  We  found  it  necessary  to  speed 
up  our  hoisting,  put  on  a  con  drum,  take  off  the 
disc  throttle  and  put  on  a  quick-acting  throttle. 
These  changes  gave  the  engine  a  chance  to  give 
quicker  service.  The  hourly  hoist  is  now  report¬ 
ed  to  both  top  and  bottom  men,  and  the  hoisting 
engineer  and  the  compressor  man  or  stationary 
engineer  change  jobs  at  the  end  of  each  hour. 
Automatic  counting  machines  are  now  attached 
to  the  throttle. 

The  next  place  to  receive  our  attention  was  the 
bottom  of  the  mine.  The  caging  was  not  at  all 
satisfactory,  it  not  being  possible  to  depend  on  a 
steady  hoist  because  of  cars  being  in  the  sump, 
etc.  This  situation  was  not  relieved  until  we 
tore  up  all  of  the  tracks,  regraded  the  bottom 
and  installed  the  Mining  Safety  Device  caging  ma- 


TIIE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


sible.  Decision  in  regard  to  a  postponement  was 
taken  under  advisement  until  Wednesday  morn¬ 
ing. 

Mr.  Hillman,  chief  rate  expert,  was  on  the 
stand  nearly  all  of  Tuesday,  on  redirect  and  re¬ 
cross-examination.  Questioned  by  Mr.  Boyle,  he 
stated  that  he  had  been  employed  in  cases  simi¬ 
lar  to  the  one  now  in  progress,  by  twelve  state 
utilities  commissions ;  that  only  five  states  in 
the  Union,  to  his  knowledge,  had  their  own  rate 
exiierts ;  and  in  view  of  the  fact  that  all  rail¬ 
roads  had  rate  experts  among  their  regular  em¬ 
ployes,  the  professional  rate  expert  was  neces¬ 
sary  in  bringing  out  the  facts  on  behalf  of  plaint¬ 
iffs  before  public  commissions  not  provided  with 
such.  It  was  disclosed  that  the  total  salaries 
and  expenses  of  the  witness  and  the  men  of  his 
force  who  had  examined  the  Hocking  Valley  rec¬ 
ords  at  the  instance  of  the  Ohio  commission  was 
about  $100  a  day. 

William  W.  Daniel  of  Columbus  testified  that 
his  railroad  experience  covered  a  period  of 
twenty-seven  years,  mostly  in  the  traffic  depart¬ 
ment.  For  ten  years  he  was  freight  agent  of 
the  old  Columbus,  Shawnee  &  Hocking  road,  and 
his  last  position  had  been  with  the  Baltimore  & 
Ohio  as  coal  and  coke  agent.  Later  he  had 
been  in  the  coal  business,  from  which  he  was  now 
retired.  Part  of  his  time  was  being  given  to  rate 
expert  work.  In  such  capacity  he  had  helped  pre¬ 
pare  statistics  submitted  to  the  Ohio  legislature 
last  winter,  in  the  unsuccessful  effort  then  made 
to  secure  the  passage  of  a  law  regulating  intra¬ 
state  coal  traffic.  He  had  been  retained  by  the 
Sunday  Creek  Company  in  the  present  case. 

Several  exhibits  compiled  by  Mr.  Daniel  were 
offered  as  evidence.  Their  object  was  to  get  be¬ 
fore  the  commission  the  freight  rate  on  coal  from 
various  fields  in  West  Virginia  and  Kentucky 
turned  over  to  the  Hocking  Valley  and  delivered 
by  it  at  Toledo,  and  to  show  the  proportionate 
rate  on  the  Nelsonville-Toledo  haul,  as  paid  by 
Ohio  coals.  West  Virginia  and  Kentucky  coal 
bearing  a  $1.25  per  ton  rate  to  Toledo  would,  he 
claimed,  on  an  equal  ton-mile  basis,  make  the  rate 
from  Nelsonville  to  Toledo  on  Ohio  coal  sixty- 
three  cents.  From  the  Pocahontas  field,  with  a 
$1.45  rate,  the  same  method  of  calculation  would 
give  Ohio  coal  a  fifty-two-cent  rate,  and  Thacker 
coal,  which  has  a  Toledo  rate  of  $1.25,  enjoys 
the  Nelsonville-Toledo  haul,  based  on  ton  miles 
from  original  point  of  consignment,  of  sixty-one 
cents.  It  was  contended  that  Ohio  coal  should 
have  the  benefit  of  these  same  proportionate  fig¬ 
ures,  instead  of  being  compelled  to  pay  eighty-five 
cents  per  ton  on  the  haul  from  Nelsonville  to 
Toledo. 


chine.  A  car  release  was  also  put  in  to  allow 
the  empty  car  to  run  off  of  the  cage. 

A  "leak”  was  then  found  on  top  in  the  mov¬ 
ing  of  the  railroad  cars.  In  warm  weather  the 
cars  would  run  too  easily  and  in  cold  weather 
they  probably  wouldn’t  run  at  all.  This  was 
cured  by  putting  in  F'airmont  car  retarders  and 
electric  car  pullers  of  our  own  manufacture. 

Our  energies  were  then  directed  to  getting  the 
coal  to  the  bottom  and  found  that  the  haulage 
was  at  fault,  there  being  too  many  cars  off  the 
track,  etc.  The  main  line  haulage  roads  were 
brushed,  graded  and  straightened,  and  in  order 
that  the  motormen  should  know  that  they  were 
secure  in  going  at  the  best  possible  speed,  arc 
headlights  were  placed  on  the  motors.  The  stand¬ 
ard  size  of  haulage  motors  was  raised  from 
twelve-ton  to  fifteen-ton.  We  are  installing  roll¬ 
er-bearing  cars  as  fast  as  possible  without  throw¬ 
ing  away  any  of  our  old  usable  equipment. 

The  management  of  each  mine  is  in  the  hands 
of  a  mine  manager  with  four  assistants,  who  arc 
known  as  district  managers,  each  mine  being  di¬ 
vided  into  four  sections  and  every  working  place 
is  visited  every  day  by  the  foreman  in  charge  of 
that  section.  A  mining  engineer  is  also  a  mem¬ 
ber  of  each  organization.  The  coal  is  mined 
by  both  air  and  electric  machines  in  what  is 
known  as  the  No.  6  seam;  the  air  machines  are 
being  discarded,  however,  in  favor  of  the  elec¬ 
tric.  The  haulage  is  electric,  the  gathering  being 
done  by  both  mules  and  motors. 

The  record  for  one  day  of  eight  hours  hoist 
for  each  mine  is  as  follow's  : 

.Mine  No.  1 .  4,605  tons 

Mine  No.  a .  5,133  tons 

Mine  No.  3 .  5,195  tons 

.\nd  the  record  for  the  three  mines  in  one 
day  of  eight  hours  hoist  is  14,208  tons.  The  above 


records  were  made  in  the  past  year,  and  we  ex¬ 
pect  to  break  all  of  them  within  the  present  year. 
The  following  statement  shows  the  tonnage  re¬ 
sults  for  the  fiscal  years  ending  June  20,  1911 
to  1915; 


Daily 

Days 

Average. 

W  orked. 

Pet." 

No.  1  tonnage . 

_  072,314 

2,929 

22914 

9 

Xo.  2  tonnage.  .  .  • 

_  721,921 

3,267 

221 

3 

No.  3  tonnage .... 

.  . .  .  793, ()2() 

3,411 

232 

S 

Total  . 

.  .  .  .2,187,261 

r~ 

Daily 

Days 

Average. 

\\  orked. 

Pel.” 

No.  1  tonnage .... 

....  673,7  17 

2,999 

224y^ 

2 

No.  2  tonnage.  . .  .' 

.  ...  7yi,.S36 

3,471 

328/8 

f> 

No.  3  tonnage.  ... 

_  838,022 

3,629 

230% 

9 

Total  . 

.  .  .  .2,303,575 

t 

Daily 

Days 

Average. 

Worked. 

Pet.* 

No.  1  tonnage.  .  .  . 

_  681,852 

3,215 

212'A 

7 

No.  2  tonnage .... 

3,835 

215% 

11 

No.  3  tonnage.  .  .  . 

_  837,798 

3,896 

215.% 

8 

Total  . 

_ 2,347,938 

Daily 

Days 

Average. 

Worked. 

Pet.* 

No.  I  tonnage.  .  .  . 

_  754,992 

3,465 

217% 

8 

No.  2  tonnage.  . .  . 

_  887,919 

3,944 

225% 

3 

No.  3  tonnage.  .  ■  . 

.  .  .  .  890,986 

3,960 

224 

2 

Total  . 

_ 2,533,897 

Daily 

Days 

Average. 

Worked. 

PcL* 

No.  1  tonnage.  .  •  • 

3,882 

232% 

n 

No.  2  tonnage.  . .  . 

.  .  .  .  869,319 

4,198 

207.^ 

6 

No.  3  tonnage.  . .  . 

_  763,318 

4,091 

186^5 

3 

*I'ei  cent  increase  laily  production  over  previous  year. 

While  I  realize  that  something  has  been  ac¬ 
complished  in  the  way  of  tonnage  and  also  re¬ 
duced  costs,  yet  I  have  impressed  on  my  organi¬ 
zation  that  the  most  important  thing  is  ”niini- 
mum  injuries”  before  “maximum  tonnage.”  The 
motto  of  our  official  family  is  “Safety,  Efficiency 
and  Economy.”  John  P.  Ref.se, 

General  Manager  of  the  Superior  Coal  Com¬ 
pany,  Gillespie,  Ill. 


Rhode  Island  Coal. 


The  presence  of  coal  in  Rhode  Island  was 
known  as  early  as  1760,  but  none  of  the  attempts 
made  to  utilize  it  have  met  with  success.  The 
coal  beds  of  the  state  are  unusually  difficult  to 
mine,  and  the  attempt  to  burn  the  coal  or  to 
treat  it  as  other  coals  have  been  treated  has 
been  unsuccessful. 

To  understand  why  this  should  be  so,  it  is 
necessary  to  have  a  general  idea  of  the  geology 
of  the  region.  The  coal  beds  and  associated 
rocks  of  this  area,  according  to  a  report  by 
George  H.  Ashley  just  issued  by  the  United  States 
Geological  Survey  as  Bulletin  615,  have  been  sub¬ 
jected  to  intense  horizontal  pressure  that  has 
not  only  affected  the  internal  structure  of  the 
coal  but  has  compressed  the  beds  and  other  rocks 
into  great  folds.  Th^  coal,  which  is  relatively 
soft,  has  yielded  more  than  the  surrounding  rocks, 
so  that  the  beds  have  lost  their  original  regularity 
and  now  occur  in  pockets,  irregular  in  size  and 
shape,  separated  by  more  or  less  extensive  areas 
of  thin  coal  or  areas  from  which  the  coal  has 
l)een  entirely  squeezed  out.  The  varying  inten¬ 
sity  of  the  pressure  from  place  to  place  has  also 
resulted  in  considerable  difference  in  the  quality 
of  the  coal,  which  ranges  from  anthracite  to 
graphite,  containing  moderately  high  ash  to  very 
high  ash  and  usually  showing  a  high  percentage 
of  moisture  when  first  mined. 

The  best  coal  found  in  the  Rhode  Island  field 
approaches  Pennsylvania  anthracite  in  color,  frac¬ 
ture,  and  luster ;  the  poorest  coal  is  full  of  dis¬ 
tinctly  visible  quartz  veins  of  considerable  thick¬ 
ness  and  e.xtent.  Owing  to  its  high  ash  and  high 
moisture  content  Rhode  Island  coal  does  not  have 
the  heat-giving  capacity  of  the  average  bitumi¬ 
nous  coals.  It  is  reported  to  ignite  very  slowly, 
but  when  once  ignited  it  burns  very  rapidly  and 
gives  an  intense  heat;  it  thus  burns  itself  out 
quickly  and  requires  more  attention  in  firing  than 
other  coals. 

At  the  present  time  the  best  outlook  for  Rhode 
Island  coal  is  in  the  production  of  electric  power 
at  the  mines,  either  in  steam  engines  or  by  means 
of  specially  devised  producer-gas  or  water-gas 
plants.  It  appears,  however,  that  this  can  not  be 
done  with  financial  success  until  it  can  be  shown 
that  Rhode  Island  coal  can  be  mined  and  delivered 
at  the  furnace  for  less  than  one-half  the  whole¬ 
sale  price  of  competing  coals  in  Providence  and 
Boston. 


Hocking  Valley  Rate  Hearing. 


Hoisting  Record  of  Superior  Coal  Company. 


372 


THE  BEA(  K  DIAMOND 


[November  6 


A  Resume  of  the  Ohio  Rate  Fight. 


Columbus,  Ohio,  November  3. —  (St'ecial  Cor- 
rcst’ondencc.) — Interruption  in  the  fight  of  Ohio 
coal  producers  before  the  State  Utilities  Com¬ 
mission  to  secure  lower  intrastate  freight  rates, 
affords  opportunity  to  take  note  of  the  progress 
made  to  date  in  this  effort — one  which  largely  af¬ 
fects  the  coal  interests  of  West  Virginia,  Ken¬ 
tucky  and  Pennsylvania,  as  well  as  those  of  Ohio. 
.4s  announced  last  week,  the  commission  yielded 
to  the  request  of  the  defendant  railroads,  which 
desired  further  time  to  prepare  their  case,  and 
adjournment  was  taken  on  the  :2Tth  ult.  until 
November  32. 

It  will  be  recalled  that  last  spring  the  Supreme 
Court  of  Ohio  in  passing  upon  a  test  case  that 
had  been  hanging  fire  for  three  years,  estab¬ 
lished  the  constitutional  right  of  the  State 
Utilities  Commission  to  regulate  intrastate  rail¬ 
road  rates,  h'oreseeing  that  this  decision  would 
likely  precipitate  a  general  coal  rate  fight  through¬ 
out  the  state,  the  railroads  of  Ohio  took  the 
initiative  in  a  get-together  movement  of  railroad 
and  coal  interests. 

After  several  joint-conferences  by  prominent 
representatives  of  each,  in  which  the  railroads 
conceded  that  there  should  be  some  readjustment 
of  rates  to  meet  changed  conditions,  the  two 
interests  failed  to  come  to  any  kind  of  agree¬ 
ment.  The  rock  upon  which  they  hopelessly 
siilit  was  that  the  railroads  wanted  to  take  the 
matter  before  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commis¬ 
sion,  while  the  coal  men  insisted  upon  it  being 
handled  by  the  State  Utilities  Commission. 
Justly  or  otherwise,  Ohio  producers,  who  have 
been  in  bad  straits  for  several  years  past,  attri¬ 
buted  the  bulk  of  their  troubles  to  alleged  dis¬ 
crimination  against  them  by  the  railroads  on 
the  ton-mile  rate,  as  compared  with  the  rate 
given  out-of-state  coals,  more  particularly  those 
of  West  Virginia. 

The  ne.xt  move  in  the  Ohio  situation  was  the 
filing  of  a  suit  before  the  Utilities  Commission 
by  the  Ohio  United  Mine  Workers  union.  All 
railroads  of  the  state  were  made  parties-defend- 
ant.  The  charge  of  unfairness  toward  Ohio  coal 
was  urged,  and  the  commission  was  asked  to 
investigate  the  evil  and  apply  the  remedy.  As 
was  natural,  the  Hocking  Valley  railway  was 
chosen  by  the  plaintiffs  as  the  one  upon  which 
test  should  be  made.  This  is  the  chief  artery 
through  which  West  Virginia  coal  reaches  the 
lake  docks.  Armitage,  a  station  near  Nelson- 
ville,  is  the  point  at  which  the  Hocking  Valley 
receives  this  tonnage  from  the  Kanawha  &  Mich¬ 
igan.  The  vulnerable  point  of  attack  is  the  sup¬ 
posed  fact  that  the  Hocking  Valley  hauls  this 
coal  from  Armitage  to  Toledo,  and  has  for  years, 
at  an  estimated  rate  of  about  3'.)  cents,  whereas 
it  charges  85  cents  for  Ohio  coal  originating  at 
Nelsonville,  and  up  until  recently  has  been  charg¬ 
ing  $1  per  ton. 

.‘\n  important  point  won  by  the  plaintiffs  was 
overriding  the  attitude  of  the  Hocking  Valley 
in  refusing  to  allow  its  records  to  be  examined. 
The  commission  ruled  that  these  records  were 
necessary  evidence.  The  next  development  was 
intervention  in  the  case  as  plaintiff  by  the  Sunday 
Creek  Coal  Company,  revealing  the  fact  that  the 
operators  were  back  of  the  miners’  action.  Their 
pleading  was  filed  soon  after  the  hearing  began 
in  August.  Plaintiffs  and  defendants  failing  to 
agree  on  the  plan  of  taking  data  from  the  rec¬ 
ords,  the  commission  appointed  a  board  of  exam¬ 
iners.  The  plaintiffs  would  seem  to  have  scored 
again  when  the  Corps  of  rate  experts  originally 
employed  for  the  case  by  the  Sunday  Creek  Com¬ 
pany  were  named  as  the  examiners,  with  the  ad¬ 
dition  of  an  employe  of  the  commission.  All 
the  time  asked  for  by  the  plaintiffs,  a  period  of 
about  six  weeks,  was  allowed  them  in  making  the 
examination,  the  commission  adjourning  until 
this  work  could  be  completed. 

The  six  days  during  which  the  hearing  was 
in  progress  again,  just  previous  to  the  late  post- 
lionement  at  the  instance  of  the  railroads,  were 
consumed  for  the  most  part  in  taking  the  testi¬ 
mony  of  the  rate  experts,  placed  upon  the  stand 
to  explain  the  statistical  exhibits  which  had  been 
jdaced  in  evidence.  The  sum  of  all  this  was  the 
effort  to  show  the  exact  cost  of  transporting  a 
ton  of  coal  from  Nelsonville  to  Toledo,  and  to 
jioint  out  to  the  commission  what  would  be  the 
actual  rate,  including  profit,  on  this  haul  if  the 
total  coal  revenue,  as  shown  by  the  railroad’s 
records,  was  etiualized  so  as  to  apply  impartially 
to  both  foreign  and  Ohio  coal. 

It  was  the  contention  of  the  experts  that  this 
equalization  would  give  Ohio  coal  a  rate  from 
Nelsonville  to  Toledo,  including  assembling  and 
terminal  charges,  of  a  fraction  less  than  70  cents. 


The  goal  aimed  at  by  the  Hocking  operators 
is  the  securing  of  a  75  cent  rate,  which  would 
mean  a  differential  against  the  real  competing 
West  Virginia  fields  of  50  cents  per  ton.  With 
this  advantage  allowed  on  the  Toledo  haul,  it 
would  naturally  follow,  in  the  opinion  of  Ohio 
operators  generally,  that  the  commission  could 
do  no  less  than  grant  a  proportionate  differential 
on  all  roads  to  all  points  throughout  the  state. 

Thus  the  defense  which  the  Hocking  Valley 
railway  may  be  able  to  put  up  in  the  case  is  of  as 
much  importance  to  other  coal-carrying  lines  as 
a  favorable  decision  for  the  Sunday  Creek  Com¬ 
pany  would  be  to  other  coal  producers.  The 
plaintiffs  have  practically  completed  their  testi¬ 
mony.  Much  interest  centers  in  the  tactics  of 
the  defendants.  The  railroads  are  robbed  of 
what  has  heretofore  been  their  chief  reliance — 
the  claim  that  the  commission  lacked  jurisdic¬ 
tion.  Effort  will  no  doubt  be  made,  as  fore¬ 
shadowed  in  the  cross-e.xamination,  to  break  the 
force  of  the  experts’  testimony,  on  the  ground 
that  the  analysis  and  assignment  of  the  various 
elements  entering  into  the  exhibits  are  theoreti¬ 
cal,  rather  than  practical.  The  strongest  card 


Philadelphia,  November  4. —  {Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — “Within  ninety  days  from  the  entry 
of  this  degree  or  in  case  an  appeal  be  taken  there¬ 
from  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States 
and  duly  prosecuted,  then  within  ninety  days  after 
the  filing  in  this  court  of  the  mandate  of  the 
supreme  court  affirming  the  decree — the  defend¬ 
ants  shall  submit  to  this  court  a  plan  for  the  dis¬ 
posal  by  the  Central  Railroad  Company,  of  all 
the  stock,  bonds  or  other  securities  of  the  Lehigh 
&  Wilkes-Barre  Coal  Company,  now  owned  or 
in  any  manner  controlled  by  it ;  the  plan  to  be 
such  as  will  effectually  dissolve  the  unlawful 
combination  and  create  a  situation  in  harmony 
with  law. 

“If  the  defendants  shall  fail  to  present  a  plan 
within  the  period  stated,  or  if  the  plan  sub¬ 
mitted  shall  be  rejected,  this  court  will  take  such 
further  steps  by  receivership  or  otherwise  as 
may  then  seem  necessary,  to  dispose  of  the 
stock.” 

Foregoing  is  the  order  contained  in  the  decree 
of  Judges  McPherson,  Buffington  and  Hunt,  sit¬ 
ting  as  a  circuit  court  of  appeals  in  this  city  last 
week.  Their  judgment  was  the  latest  chapter  in 
the  suit  tof  the  government  to  dissolve  what  its 
attorneys  have  called  “the  anthracite  coal  trust.” 

Last  July  when  the  judges  submitted  their 
review  of  the  case  they  held  that  the  holding 
of  Central  Railway  of  New  Jersey  stock — which 
in  turn  held  the  stock  of  the  Lehigh  &  Wilkes- 
Barre  Coal  Company — and  the  holding  of  the 
Philadelphia  &  Reading  Coal  &  Iron  Company 
stock,  by  the  Reading  Company  was  in  restraint 
of  trade. 

In  October  attorneys  for  the  comiianies  con¬ 
cerned  offered  three  plans  of  reorganization  to 
the  judges  for  their  consideration.  Attorneys 
for  the  Central  Railway  and  the  Lehigh  & 
Wilkes-Barre  Companies  protested  against  the 
divorcement  between  these.  This  was  one  of  the 
plans  submitted. 

In  handing  down  their  decree  the  judges  de¬ 
clare  that  the  union  of  the  Philadelphia  &  Read¬ 
ing  Coal  &  Iron  Company  and  the  Lehigh  & 
Wilkes-Barre  Coal  Company,  through  the  instru¬ 
mentality  of  the  Reading  Company,  a  holding 
corporation  which  owns  the  entire  capital  stock 
of  the  Philadelphia  &-  Reading  Coal  &  Iron 
Company  and  a  majority  of  the  capital  stock  of 
the  Central  Railway  of  New  Jersey  Company, 
the  last  named  company  owning  the  majority  of 
the  capital  stock  of  the  Lehigh  &  Wilkes-Barre 
Coal  Company,  is  a  combination  in  restraint  of 
trade  and  violates  the  anti-trust  act  of  18<.)(). 

Pending  the  disposal  of  such  securities,  the 
Central  Railway,  the  Reading  Company  and  all 
corporations  controlled  by  them  are  enjoined  from 
voting  or  attempting  to  vote  on  any  stock  of 
the  Lehigh  &  Wilkes-Barre  Coal  Company.  Even 
railroad  arrangements  and  leases  are  directed 
by  the  decrees  of  the  judges  vvh'o  state: 

“All  clauses,  stipulations  or  covenants  in  leases 
of  coal  lands  made  by  the  Reading  Coal  &  Iron 
Company  or  by  the  Lehigh  &  Wilkes-Barre  Coal 
Company  or  by  any  subsidiary  company  of  either 
that  require  the 'lessees  to  ship  coal  over  any 
particular  railroad  or  over  such  route  as  may  be 
designated  by  any  railroad  coinjiany,  are  hereby 


of  the  defense,  though,  is  expected  to  lie  in  the 
alleged  fact  that  the  experts  did  not  attempt  to 
take  into  account  the  matter  of  railroad  financing, 
which  has  a  vital  bearing  on  the  whole  proposi¬ 
tion.  .Ks  an  illustration,  it  is  believed  that  the 
railroad  will  seek  to  make  it  appear  that  the 
revenue  which  it  realizes  from  West  Virginia 
coal,  taken  at  a  necessarily  low  rate  in  order  to 
meet  competition,  is  an  essential  factor  in  sus¬ 
taining  the  road’s  financial  burdens  involved  in 
the  primary  object  of  efficiently  serving  Ohio  coal 
producers. 

The  railroad  hopes  to  make  a  strong  case  be¬ 
fore  the  commission,  to  the  *end  that  a  rate- 
reduction,  if  any,  may  be  small.  It  is  believed 
by  some  coal  men  that  a  slight  reduction  would 
be  accepted  without  further  contest,  but  that 
before  submitting  to  a  se\-enty-five  cent  rate  the 
railroad  would  go  into  the  courts  and  attempt 
to  show  that  the  commission’s  ruling  was  con¬ 
fiscatory. 

Intervention  in  the  case  by  the  Pittsburgh  Vein 
Operators  .Association  of  Ohio,  which  controls 
most  of  the  mines  in  Jefferson  and  Belmont 
counties,  and  their  request  that  the  commission 
require  the  railroads  entering  that  field  to  file 
information  on  their  costs  and  profits,  gives  the 
present  hearing  a  much  greater  significance  than 
appeared  on  the  surface  at  the  outset. 


declared  to  \-iolate  the  anti-trust  act  of  1890,  and, 
therefore,  to  be  void,  and  the  coal  companies 
and  the  railroad  companies  that  are  parties  to 
this  decree,  their  officers,  directors,  agents  and 
employes  are  hereby  enjoined  from  enforcing  or 
attempting  to  enforce  or  threatening  to  enforce 
such  clauses,  stipulations  or  covenants.” 

It  is  declared  that  the  government  is  entitled 
to  recover  from  the  Reading  Company  so  much 
of  the  farable  costs  in  the  bonds  and  securities. 

This  court  dismissed  the  charge  against  the 
Lehigh  and  Susquehanna  railroads  and  the  Le¬ 
high  Coal  &  Navigation  Company  and  the  Cen¬ 
tral  Railroad  in  which  was  concerned  a  lease 
concerning  coal  traffic.  Suits  against  the  Lehigh 
Coal  &  Navigation  Company  and  the  Lehigh  Coal 
and  New  England  Railway  were  also  dismissed. 


A  Holmes  Memorial. 


The  Colorado  State  School  of  Mines  has 
through  its  president,  William  B.  Phillips,  an¬ 
nounced  that  it  has  created  the  Joseph  Austin 
Holmes  professorship  of  safety  and  efficiency 
engineering,  and  that  the  board  of  trustees  has 
appointed  to  that  professorship,  James  Cole  Rob¬ 
erts,  who  heretofore  has  been  connected  with 
the  Bureau  of  Mines  of  Denver. 

In  connection  with  this  movement  in  the 
school,  Mr.  Phillips  makes  a  suggestion  which 
must  appeal  to  the  coal  men  as  being  both  prac¬ 
tical  and  extremely  sensible.  He  says  that  such 
professorships  are  the  best  possible  kind  of  a 
memorial  to  Dr.  Holmes  who  undoubtedly  has 
done  more  than  any  other  man  living  or  dead 
for  the  coal  mining  industry.  That  is,  the  school 
is  prepared  to  equip  this  new  chair  with  all  of 
the  best  apparatus  and  appliances  so  that  noth¬ 
ing  will  he  lacking  for  adequate  instruction.  The 
school  is  doing  its  part  to  carry  on  the  work 
which  Dr.  Holmes  started,  namely  the  work  of 
promoting  safety  and  of  teaching  it  so  that 
an  endless  chain  of  safety  advocates  and  ef-  - 
ficiency  enthusiasts  may  be  going  out  into  the 
coal  fields. 

He  makes  another  very  practical  suggestion 
which  is  that,  if  the  committee  on  the  Dr.  Holmes 
memorial  can  see  fit,  it  could  by  making  an  ap¬ 
propriation  of  $50,000,  assure  scholarships  to  at 
least  five  persons  annually.  That  is,  a  sum  of 
$50,000  invested  would  yield  $2,500  a  year.  This 
would  pay  for  five  scholarships  at  $500  each 
in  this  particular  school.  Thus  through  this  one 
avenue  alone,  five  trained  and  efficient  men  would 
be  going  out  every  year  to  spread  their  influence 
for  the  work  which  Dr.  Holmes  when  in  life 
did  sb  much.  The  suggestion  appeals  tremen¬ 
dously  because  it  starts  an  endless  chain  of  in¬ 
fluence  in  a  direction  where  influence  is  much 
needed. 


The  D.  L.  &  W.  coal  trestle  in  Buffalo  will 
probably  be  torn  down  about  the  middle  of  the 
month,  as  it  is  stated  that  the  dredge  which  is 
preparing  for  the  new  trestle  will  reach  it  about 
that  time.  The  plan  is  to  erect  a  car  dump  and 
probably  a  boxcar  unloader  in  place  of  the  pres¬ 
ent  wooden  trestle  and  to  be  ready  for  work  next 
year. 


A  New  Chapter  of  the  Anthracite  Litigation. 


No.  19] 


TPIE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


373 


Prospects  of  Coal  Strike. 


The  prospect  of  a  strike  in  the  anthracite 
region  next  April  is  looming  up.  The  same 
forces  that  lined  up  in  1902  are  sharpening  their 
knives.  The  battle  this  time,  if  one  is  to  believe 
the  officials  of  the  United  Mine  Workers’  Union, 
will  be  for  blood.  The  innocent  bystander,  the 
general  public,  as  usual,  will  be  plentifully  spat¬ 
tered  with  gore,  some  of  it  his  own,  for  the  fly¬ 
ing  cutlerv  is  hard  to  dodge. 

The  stake  this  time  is  an  increase  of  $20,000,000 
a  year  in  wages.  Additional  demands  are  that 
the  next  contract  be  for  a  term  of  two  years; 
that  individual  agreements  and  contracts  in  the 
mining  of  coal  be  prohibited;  that  an  eight-hour 
day  be  instituted;  that  a  “satisfactory”  method 
of  settling  grievances  be  established;  and,  last, 
l)ut  far  from  the  least,  that  sine  qua  non  in  strike 
amenities,  full  and  complete  recognition  of  the 
union.  Here  are  the  same  old  rocks  over  which 
the  Anthracite  Coal  Commission  had  to  bump  its 
way,  an  expensive  proceeding  almost  ephemeral 
in  its  effects.  Every  miner,  every  operator, _  every 
employer,  every  householder  participated  in  the 
dancing  that  preceded  the  sitting  of  the  commis¬ 
sion  and  paid  dearly  for  his  entertainment. 

Will  there  be  another  strike  next  spring?  ‘Not 
for  a  day,”  says  President  White  of  the  mine 
workers — that  is,  if  all  his  demands  are  met. 
Mr.  White  is  of  a  pleasant  turn  of  mind.  He 
plies  a  congenial  occupation  and  he  likes  to  make 
work  for  himself.  But  he  is  entirely  too  opti¬ 
mistic.  ■ 

With  due  and  full  notice  of  what  is  lixely  to 
happen,  why  should  we  go  through  the  agonies 
of  another  coal  strike?  Why  not  anticipate  the 
effect  of  the  expiration  of  the  present  agreement 
and  have  the  merits  of  the  budding  controversy 
passed  on  in  advance  of  complete  development? 
Surely  there  is  no  dearth  of  professional  investi¬ 
gators  who  would  be  willing  to  sacrifice  their 
leisure  in  return  for  sure  pay  from  the  public 
purse  and  a  liberal  education  in  coal  mining. 
Winter  is  coming  on  and  soft  jobs  are  still  scarce. 

A  congressional  delegation,  hand  picked  from 
the  agricultural  hamlets  of  the  south,  and  utterly 
impartial  as  regards  preconceptions  of  the  issues, 
but  with  the  frenetic  Mr.  Walsh  of  the  Industrial 
Relations  Commission  as  counsellor  and  guide, 
might  even  be  induced  to  assume  the  job.  The 
next  election  is  far  enough  off  to  have  the  moans 
of  the  operators  forgotten,  yet  near  enough  to 
preserve  the  shine  on  the  halos  of  a  new  set  of 
adjusters  of  the  rights  of  the  “downtrodden. 

But  the  matter  is  too  serious  to  go  by  de¬ 
fault.  If  there  ever  was  an  opportunity  for  ef¬ 
fective  arbitration  it  is  here  before  our  eyes. — 
Nezv  York  Sun. 


Indiana  First  Aid  Meet. 


Bicknell,  Ind.,  November  4. —  {Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — The  first  state  meet  of  the  miners 
held  here  Saturday  seem  to  have  left  a  pleasing 
taste  with  the  miners  and  the  operators.  It  was 
one  of  the  most  enjoyable  events  held  in  the 
Indiana  coal  field  in  recent  years.  The  feeling 
between  the  miners  and  their  employers  seemed  to 
be  better  than  ever  before.  There  was  a  great 
deal  of  close  competition  for  the  prizes  offered. 
All  of  the  mines  in  this  part  of  the  field  were 
closed  down  and  more  than  3,000  people  were 
present. 

The  attendance  was  even  larger  than  at  the 
national  meeting  at  Terre  Haute  a  few  months 
ago  under  the  auspices  of  the  United  States  Bu¬ 
reau  of  Mines.  The  contests  showed  that  many 
of  the  miners  have  studied  the  best  methods  for 
rendering  first  aid  to  the  injured.  The  winning 
teams  were  the  following : 


First  Prize— Team  No.  21,  Oliphant-Wasson  Company, 
No.  2,  Bruceville. 

Second— Team  No.  16,  Knox  Coal  Company,  Bicknell. 

Third— Team  No.  8,  Green  Valley  Coal  Company, 
Jasonville.  ^  ^  vt 

Fourth— Team  No.  6,  Jackson  Hill  Coal  Company,  No. 
2,  Sullivan.  ^  ^  ,  r- 

Fifth — Team  No.  15,  Indian  Creek  Coal  Company, 
Bickneil. 

Sixth — Team  No.  2,  Miami  Coal  Company,  No.  1, 
Clinton.  .  .  ^  ^ 

Seventh — Team  No.  3,  Miami  Coal  Company,  No.  2, 
Clinton.  .  .  -vr  /- 

Eighth — Team  No.  9,  Vandalia  Mine,  No.  15,  Cass. 

Ninth — Team  No.  14,  J.  Woolley  Coal  Company,  Pax- 

Tenth — Team  No.  23,  American  Coal  Mining  Com¬ 
pany,  No.  2,  Bicknell. 

Eleventh — Team  No.  5,  Vandalia  Coal  Company,  No. 
82,  Bicknell.  ^  _ 

Twelfth— Team  No.  24,  Tecumseh  Coal  Mining  Com¬ 
pany,  No.  82,  Bicknell. 

Thirteenth— Team  No.  1,  J.  K.  Dering  Coal  Company, 
Clinton. 

Fourteenth — Team  No.  12,  Vandalia  Mine  No.  0. 
T. inton.  .  . 

Fifteenth — Team  No.  22,  American  Coal  Mining  Com¬ 
pany,  Bicknell. 


Sixteenth — Team  No.  11,  Vandalia  Mine  No.  11  local, 
Dugger. 

Seventeenth — Team  No.  13,  Woolley  Coal  Company, 
Paxton. 

Eighteenth — Team  No.  19,  Knox  Coal  Company,  Bick¬ 
nell. 

Nineteenth — Team  No.  7,  Calora  Coal  Company,  Jason¬ 
ville. 

Twentieth — Team  No.  25,  Pow ellcttes,  Bicknell. 

Twenty-first — Team  No.  4,  Richirds  Lower  Vein,  No. 
1,  Terre  Kauce. 

Twenty-second — Team  No.  26,  Old  Bicknell  Mine,  Bick¬ 
nell. 

Although  tile  matter  of  binding  up  imaginary 
wounds  and  treating  patients  for  fancied  mishaps 
may  be  called  prosaic  and  utterly  lacking  in  senti¬ 
ment,  there  was  a  large  attendance  of  spectators, 
other  than  members  of  the  families  of  miners  and 
operators,  and  the  crowd  remained  until  night  to 
see  the  finish  of  the  contests.  Here  is  the  list  of 
problems  submitted  to  the  teams  for  demonstra¬ 
tion  : 

Driver  falls  under  car,  sustaining  following  injuries: 
Compound  fracture  of  right  forearm  four  inches  above 
wrist,  very  slight  bleeding;  severe  laceration  over  right 
knee  cap;  practically  no  bleeding.  Treat. 

Fall  of  slate  on  entry  causes  trolley  wire  to  fall  on 
back  of  right  shoulder  of  motorman;  severe  burn,  un¬ 
conscious.  Dress  and  treat  for  electrical  shock.  Trans¬ 
port  fifty  feet  on  improvised  stretcher. 

Fire  boss  in  making  his  rounds  runs  into  an  un¬ 
expected  pocket  of  gas,  which  is  set  off  by  naked  light 
he  is  wearing.  Sustains  burns  of  entire  body  above 
waist  line.  Conscious.  Treat. 

Trip  rider  knocked  off  motor,  run  over  by  empty  car; 
sustains  following  injuries:  Compound  fracture  of  thigh 
four  inches  above  left  knee,  severe  hemorrhage,  simple 
fracture  in  middle  of  right  leg.  Conscious.  Treat. 

Cager  caught  between  cage  and  brow  timbers.  Sus¬ 
tains  following  injuries:  Severe  laceration  of  right  ear, 
fracture  of  sixth,  seventh  and  eighth  ribs  on  right  side 
of  chest.  Laceration  of  abdominal  wall  just  above  left 
hip.  Conscious.  Treat. 

Physicians  from  the  various  mines  and  repre¬ 
sentatives  of  the  bureau  of  mines  judged  the  con¬ 
tests. 


Kentucky  Mining  Institute. 


Ivan  P.  Tashof,  secretary,  announces  that  Lex¬ 
ington  has  secured  the  winter  meeting  of  the 
Kentucky  Mining  Institute.  This  organization, 
with  a  membership  of  350,  will  convene  Friday 
and  Saturday,  December  3rd  and  4th.  Prominent 
mine  operators,  mine  managers,  superintendents 


and  engineers  from  all  parts  of  the  state  of  Ken¬ 
tucky  are  expected  to  attend. 

This  is  the  first  time  since  May,  1914,  that 
Lexington  has  had  the  privilege  of  entertaining 
this  organization,  Louisville  having  secured  the 
December,  1914,  meeting,  and  Pineville  the  May, 
1915,  meeting. 

The  program  for  this  meeting  is  now  in  the 
process  of  formation,  and  will  be  announced  as 
soon  as  it  is  completed.  The  Phoenix  Hotel  of 
Lexington  will  be  headquarters. 

Mr.  Tashof,  secretary  of  the  institute,  has  an¬ 
nounced  the  following  committees  for  the  meet¬ 
ing:  Committee  on  papers,  J.  E.  Butler,  Stearns, 
Ky. ;  Ivan  P.  Tashof,  Lexington,  Ky.  Committee 
on  entertainment.  Professor  C.  J.  Norwood,  Ed¬ 
win  L.  Quarles,  R.  D.  Quickel,  Milton  Sanchez, 
Ivan  P.  Tashof. 


Taggart  Sues  Sanitarium. 


Norristown,  Pa.,  November  4. — Grantham  1. 
Taggart,  who  is  connected  with  the  Taggart  Coal 
Company  at  Savannah,  Ga.,  entered  suit  in  the 
courts  here  on  Saturday  last  against  the  keeper 
of  a  sanitarium.  Dr.  F.  S.  Ludlum,  asking  $50,000 
damages.  In  his  bill  of  particulars  Mr.  Taggart 
alleges  that  in  December,  1913,  while  broken  in 
health  from  business  worries  he  became  a  pa¬ 
tient  at  the  place  of  the  doctor  at  Merion.  He 
states  that  beside  annoyance  he  was  a  victim  of 
negligence  and  was  phy.sically  restrained  from 
leaving  the  place. 


Boland  Gets  $45,000. 


Scranton,  November  4. — By  a  decision 
handed  down  by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Com¬ 
mission  last  week  W.  P.  Boland  of  the  Marian 
Coal  Company  declares  that  he  has  been  granted 
reparation  to  the  amount  of  $45,000  against  the 
Delaware,  Lackawanna  &  Western  Railroad. 
This  is  the  result  of  a  long  drawn  out  legal  action 
that  was  started  in  October,  1911,  in  which  a 
change  was  made  in  the  freight  rates  from 
Taylor,  Pa.,  the  loading  point  of  the  Marian  Coal 
Company. 


U.  S.  Coal  Exports. 


Coal  and  Coke —  1914. 

Coal — •  Quantity. 

Anthracite  . tons...  453,30.) 


E.xported  to —  . .  , 

Canada  .  452,538 

Argentina  . . 

Brazil  . 

Uruguay  . 

Other  countries .  2,707 

Bituminous  . tons ...  1,955,170 

Exported  to — 

Italy  . . . . 

^.anada  . ...1,513,090 

Panama  . 22  007 

Mexico  . .  . 24  J05 

Cuba  . 79  5;j7 

Other  West  Indies  and  Bermuda . 60,550 

Argentina  . .  25,811 

Prazil  . .  5  4,695 

Uruguay  . io,920 

Other  countries . 103  795 

Total  coal . tons  .2  410 -481 


Coke  . tons...  43,220 


Value. 

$2,396,365 

Quantity. 

307,147 

Value. 

$1,602,614 

$2,382,171 

14,194 

293,318 

1,740 

2,372 

600 

9,117 

$1,536,316 

10,811 

9,139 

3,333 

43,015 

$4,661,102 

2,000,848 

$5,080,157 

382,154 

$1,129,440 

$3,306,321 

947,069 

1,955,411 

58,698 

49,423 

136,679 

108,699 

18,507 

82,000 

217,109 

114,299 

315.698 

184,886 

42,347 

134,344 

82,124 

128,823 

392,715 

172,871 

53,002 

153,902 

32,518 

30,956 

89,235 

497,870 

234,268 

690,733 

$7,057,407 

2,307,995 

$6,682,771 

$  180,648 

83,085 

$  319,536 

Coal  and  coke- 
Coal — 

Anthracite 


Exported  to — 

Canada  . 

Argentina  . 

Brazil  . 

Uruguay  . 

Other  countries. 


Bituminous  . tons. 


Exported  to — 

Italy  . 

Canada  . 

Panama  . 

Mexico  . 

Cuba  . 

Other  West  Indies  and  Bermuda. 

Argentina  . 

Brazil  . 

Uruguay  . 

Other  countries . 


191.5 


-Eight  Months  Ending  August- 
1914. 


.tons.  . 


Total  coal . tons.. 


Coke 


. tons. 

The  above  figures  do  not  include 
trade,  which  aggregated  during  the  month,  and 

1914,  512,700  tons,  valued  at  $1,725,410;  August, 
ending  August,  1913,  5,079,189  tons,  valued 

1915,  5,027,027  tons,  valued  at  $16,926,237. 

Figures  are  for  six  months,  January  to  June,  inclusive. 
Figures  cover  period  heginning  July  1. 


Quantity. 

2,847,443 

Value. 

$15,028,774 

Quantity. 

2,666,969 

Value. 

$13,940,001 

Quantity. 

2,304,964 

2,800,112 

$14,803,765 

2,627,945 

$1.3,743,564 

2,261,722 

2,335 

2,415 

605 

47,331 

225,009 

39,024 

196,437 

37,887 

11,834,511 

$30,057,981 

9,045,260 

$22,209,5185 

10,588,583 

2,023,945 

4,737,655 

329,450 

216,246 

734,536 

308,605 

662,714 

482,971 

130,790 

961,671 

8,652,472 

351,850 

377,098 

868,114 

419,406 

48,626 

200,088 

5,163 

911,601 

$21,045,640 

953,267 

1,082,884 

2,340,264 

1,210,131 

135,214 

636,219 

14,992 

2,639,364 

6,038,936 

190,965 

215,068 

696,111 

415,824 

138,219 

155,225 

56,514 

1,138,408 

$13,234,146 

513,630 

816,993 

1,939,212 

1,235,405 

409,360 

502,708 

107,426 

3,390,639 

14,681,954 

$45,086,755 

11,712,229 

$36,149,586 

12,893,547 

607,7671 

$  2,260,621 

456,661 

$  1,701,017 

513,679 

1915. 

Value. 
$11,960,935 


14,108 

9,518 

3.367 

170,680 


$  5, 
10, 


992,011 

079,183 

903,516 

990,121 

033,574 

953,816 

001,934 

452,894 

383,308 

,353,1.56 


$  1,972,728 

fuel  or  bunker  coal  laden  on  vessels  engaged  in  the  foreign 
eight  months  ending  .4ngust,  as  follows:  .August, 
1915,  672,990  tons,  valued  at  $2,274,484;  eight  months 
at  $16,488,649;  1014,  5,038,576  tons,  valued  at  $16,689,570; 


374 


[November  6 


FUBIiISHED  BVE&T  SATTTBDAT  BT  THB 
BBACK  BIAMOin)  COMFAinr. 

Subscription  price,  $3.00  per  year,  postage  prepaid,  to 
any  postoffice  in  the  United  States.  Foreign  subscrip¬ 
tion  price,  $5.00  per  year.  Single  copies,  20  cents. 
Entered  at  Chicago  postoffice  as  second-class  matter. 

Address  all  communications  to 

THE  BEACH  DIAMONB  COUP  AITS’  (INC) 

Main  office,  Manhattan  building,  Chicago. 


Branch  Offices. 

New  York,  29  Broadway. 
Philadelphia,  1400  Land  Title  building. 
Pittsburgh,  1502  Oliver  building. 


Saturday,  November  6,  1915. 


INDEX. 


Special  Articles. 

Page 


Ouestion  Growing  Out  of  Anthracite  Tax  Decision..  365 
Fold  in  Anthracite  \'ein  Saves  Stripping  Plan....  366 

Trade  Commission  Extending  Kxtiort  Inquiry .  367 

Some  New  Law  on  Buying  and  Selling .  367 

Plant  of  the  Coal  Boulet  Company .  368 

New  Furnace  Room  Device .  308 

Field  of  the  Retail  Dealer .  369 

Mine  Clearing  House .  370 

Louisville  and  Nashville  Rates .  370 

Hocking  Valley  Rate  Hearing .  371 

Hoisting  Record  of  Superior  Coal  Company .  371 

Rh  )de  Island  Coal .  371 

A  Resume  of  the  Ohio  Rate  Fight .  372 

A  New  Chapter  of  the  Anthracite  T-itigation .  372 

A  Holmes  Memorial .  372 

Prospects  of  Coal  Strike .  373 

Indiana  First  Aid  Meet .  373 

Kentucky  Mining  Institute . 373 

Taggart  Sues  Sanitarium .  373 

U.  S.  Coal  Exports .  373 

Editorial  .  374 

News  Local  to  Chicago .  376 

Small  Activities .  376 

Facts  Which  Determine  Our  Export  Piospects .  377 

Market  Reports. 

General  Review  and  Chicago .  378 

Pittsburgh  and  Birmingham .  379 

Cincinnati,  Denver  and  Detroit .  380 

Cleveland,  Indianapolis  and  St.  Louis .  381 

New  York .  382 

Philadelphia  and  Buffalo .  383 

New  England,  Baltimore,  Duluth  and  Southwest.  .  .  .  384 
Hocking  Valley .  15 


A  One-Sided  Proposition. 

I'he  Illinois  coal  operators,  until  this 
year,  sold  their  coal  for  almost  anything 
they  could  get  for  it.  They  printed  a  cir¬ 
cular  of  prices  which,  in  June,  called  for 
$1.35;  in  July  and  part  of  August  for 
$1.50;  for  a  part  of  August  $1.65  to  $1.75  : 
and  after  the  first  of  September,  for  $1.75 
to  $2.25. 

Candidly,  these  circular  jirices  were 
masterpieces  of  coal  fiction.  They  looked 
well  on  a  printed  slip,  and  would  have 
looked  even  better  on  the  order  book. 
But  the  matter  of  transferring  them 
from  one  to  the  other  was  considered  one 
of  the  impossibilities.  Instead  of  circular 
price,  some  of  the  operators  were  satis¬ 
fied  if  they  got  anything  better  than 
$1.00.  There  were  jilaces,  jiarticidarly  in 
Nebraska,  where  this  coal  got  u])  to  de¬ 
murrage  and  was  sold  week  in  anil  week 
out  for  as  low  as  ninety  cents  and  $1.00 
a  ton. 

'Phis  year  the  operators  were  con¬ 
fronted  by  a  new  situation.  They  had 
lost  tonnage  because  of  the  depression  in 
business.  They  were  facing  the  i)roposal 
that  they  should  continue  to  lose  busi¬ 
ness  and  also  money  on  what  coal  they 
shipped  by  selling  it  for  less  than  cost  of 
production.  Even  the  most  sturdy  coal 
company  could  not  endure  this  drain  for 
any  length  of  time  and  in  consequence 
some  remediable  measures  had  to  be 


THE  BLAC  K  DIAMOND^ 

taken.  So  the  operators  began  to  adhere 
to  circular.  That  is,  when  the  circular 
price  was  $1.35  that  was  also  the  selling- 
price.  Consequently,  when  the  circular 
price  advanced  to  $1.50  and  subsequently 
to  $1.75,  the  retailers  had  to  pay  it. 

Nowq  the  retail  dealer  in  Iowa  and  Ne¬ 
braska  who  has  been  getting  coal  for 
ninety  cents  and  $1.00  a  ton  says  that  he 
cannot  see  it  at  $1.75  a  ton.  I'fc  cannot 
even  see  it  at  $1.50.  I'he  reason  is  clear. 
He  has  been  basing  his  prices  to  his  cus¬ 
tomers  on  circular,  but  buying  at  the 
market.  Thus  he  has  pocketed  the  dif¬ 
ference  between  the  actual  selling  price 
and  the  circular  price.  Me  has  been  mak¬ 
ing,  in  a  word,  the  normal  profit  on  coal 
plus  the  sixty  to  eighty-five  cents  a  ton 
that  the  operator  cut  under  his  own  cir¬ 
cular  price.  Naturally,  the  retailer  hav¬ 
ing  enjoyed  such  a  bonanza,  does  not 
care  to  have  it  taken  from  him. 

The  retailers  are  doing  a  perfectly  hu¬ 
man  thing  under  the  circumstances.  They 
say  to  the  Illinois  operators  that  unless 
they  return  to  the  the  old  practice  of 
cutting  coal  prices  below  the  cost  of  pro¬ 
duction,  the  yards  will  no  longer  handle 
Illinois  coal  but  will  turn  to  Colorado 
and  Wyoming  coals.  This  they  can 
easily  do  because  the  two  coals  are  about 
on  a  freight  rate  parity  in  that  market. 
In  this  fact  they  have  a  tremendous  le\- 
erage  to  use  against  the  Illinois  opera¬ 
tors,  and  they  do  not  hesitate  to  use  it. 
It  is  w’orthy  of  note  that  the  club  is 
being  used  solely  to  beat  the  price  down 
below  cost  of  production. 

Perhai)S  under  the  theory  that  “busi¬ 
ness  is  business”  such  a  merciless  atti- 
titude  is  justifiable.  However,  there  is 
one  |4oint  which  must  be  taken  into  con¬ 
sideration.  At  ninety  cents  or  $1.00  a 
ton.  domestic  coal  from  Illinois  is  selling- 
far  below  actual  cost  of  production.  It 
costs  not  less  than  $1.00  a  ton,  and  often 
above  $1.05  a  ton,  to  produce  tniiie  run 
coal  in  Illinois.  To  get  the  mine  run  scll- 
iny  l>ricc.  it  is  necessary  to  average  the 
lump  and  fine  coal  prices.  The  average 
price  of  screenings — these  make  uj)  more 
than  forty  per  cent  of  the  production — is 
about  seventy-five  cents  a  ton.  If  all  the 
“prepared  sizes”  of  coal  sold  at  $1.50,  the 
mine  run  price  would  be  $1.20.  However, 
all  the  prepared  sizes  do  not  sell  for  any¬ 
thing  like  that  and,  under  the  old  rule, 
even  lump  sold  for  no  such  attractive 
price.  P'or  example,  when  lump  is  $1.50, 
the  egg  and  nut  are  selling  for  much  less. 

Clearly,  if  the  retailers  insist  on  getting 
their  coal  for  ninety  cents  or  $1.00,  they 
are  insisting  that  the  operators  shall  sell 
the  mine  run  on  the  average  at  eighty- 
four  cents  a  ton.  'Phis,  at  best,  is  a  loss 
of  sixteen  cents.  It  will  probal)ly  mean 
a  loss  of  twenty-one  cents  a  ton  or  more. 

The  (piestion,  of  course,  is:  “Are  the 
western  retailers  going  to  demand  that 
the  Illinois  o])erators  shall  lose  sixteen 
cents  a  ton,  or  go  without  their  busi¬ 
ness  ?” 

To  take  any  such  stand  is  short-sight¬ 
ed.  It  is  worse;  it  is  one-sided.  It  says 
that  the  operators  shall  lose  money  that 
the  retailers  may  make  much.  It  says 
that  the  men  who  support  the  retail  busi¬ 
ness  by  giving  them  their  supply  of  coal 
shall  be  ruined  .systematically  that  the  re¬ 
tailer  may  ])rofit  for  a  short  time.  In  the 
end,  of  course,  the  retailer  must  go  dowm 
along  with  his  source  of  supply  and  thus 


the  whole  trade  wdll  be  involved  in  ruin. 
The  present  program  is  nothing  more 
than  a  slow  process  in  trade  suicide. 


Supplying  City  Coal  Needs. 

In  these  days,  with  school  buildings  to 
heat,  public  plants  to  run,  fire  depart¬ 
ments  to  be  kept  going,  and  other  de¬ 
partments  to  be  run,  modern  cities  are 
quite  heavy  buyers  of  coal,  and  the  city’s 
attitude  toward  the  coal  man  is  a  trifle 
peculiar. 

The  municipality  almost  invariably 
presents  itself  to  its  source  of  coal  sup¬ 
ply  as  an  eleemosynary  institution  which 
must  be  given  special  consideration  in  the 
matter  of  price.  In  a  word,  coal  to  the 
city  must  be  sold  cheaper  than  to  any¬ 
body  else.  Just  why  that  should  be  no 
one  has  ever  been  able  to  figure  out.  In 
addition,  the  coal  dealer  is  asked  to  live 
up  to  the  most  rigid  specifications.  In 
most  cases  he  is  penalized  for  any  loss 
of  intrinsic  value  of  the  coal.  In  some 
places,  as  in  New  York  and  Philadelphia, 
he  is  sometimes  penalized  three  or  four 
times  for  the  same  offense.  To  offset 
this  excessive  penalty,  the  coal  man  gets 
no  reward  at  all  if  he  supplies  a  coal  su¬ 
perior  to  that  specified.  Further,  the  city 
demands  that  he  shall  put  up  a  sum  of 
money  in  cash  or  an  indemnifying  bond 
that  w-ill  make  sure  that  the  city  is  going 
to  get  coal  or  lose  no  money  while  buying 
elsewhere.  All  things  considered,  the  city 
is  rather  an  exacting  customer. 

At  the  same  time,  every  municipality  in 
America  is  constantly  wondering  why  no 
more  coal  men  bid  on  city  business.  The 
constant  effort  of  American  cities  is  to 
try  some  device  by  which  the  coal  men 
can  be  induced  to  bid  against  each  other 
for  the  city  contract  and  therefore  cut  the 
price  still  further.  City  ofificials  are  con¬ 
stantly  wondering  why  coal  men  will  not 
rise  to  the  public  bait. 

The  things  just  said  explain  in  part 
why  coal  men  are  backward,  but  Phila¬ 
delphia,  today,  is  presenting  another  very 
definite  reason.  Now,  one  coal  man  has 
supplied  the  city  with  his  coal,  accepting 
the  low  price  and  enduring  the  trials  in¬ 
cident  to  rigid  specifications.  He  is  prac¬ 
tically  supplying  the  city  its  fuel  and  is 
getting  back  only  out  of  pocket  cost,  for 
which,  incidentally,  he  has  to  wait  some¬ 
times  sixty  to  ninety  days  or  more.  Thus 
he  actually  loses  interest  on  the  money 
that  he  has  invested. 

P)Ut  that  is  not  the  end  of  his  troubles. 
I'oday  the  politicians  are  in  a  fight  ambng 
themselves  in  Philadelphia,  and  this  man, 
in  addition  to  his  monetary  loss,  has  been 
stigmatized  as  practically  a  robber  and 
grafter  by  some  politicians,  who  seem 
to  have  no  other  way  of  expressing 
themselves  than  by  using  such  terms. 

Philadelphia  thus  tells,  by  examjfle, 
why  the  coal  man  is  not  keen  for  city 
business.  He  does  not  care  to  do  a  big- 
volume  of  business  at  actual  cost  or  less 
and,  in  addition,  run  the  risk  of  having 
his  character  wrecked  by  a  lot  of  loose- 
tongued  politicians. 

In  a  word,  the  thing  that  bothers  the  coal 
man  is  this :  He  has  been  a  follower  of 
sharp  practice  and  it  has  become  a  habit. 
He  will  not  trust  anyone  and  in  consequence 
no  one  will  trust  him.  A  little  reform  in 
personal  conduct  would  help  much. 


No.  19] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


375 


Protesting  Too  Much. 

One  of  the  characters  in  Hamlet  is  made 
to  say:  “Me  thinks  she  doth  protest  too 
much.”  After  reading  many  statements 
made  by  coal  retailers  concerning  their  serv¬ 
ice  and  after  comparing  these  statements 
with  the  actual  performances,  we  are  in¬ 
clined  to  believe  that  the  same  thing  could 
be  said  about  the  coal  trade. 

As  a  practice,  many  retailers  use  high- 
sounding  phrases  and  big  words  which  they 
do  not  understand  and  which  promise  things 
that  the  retailer  is  incapable  of  doing. 

By  way  of  illustration,  one  retail  dealer 
recently  bought  an  auto  truck.  He  at  once 
sent  a  lot  of  circular  letters  to  the  people 
of  his  community.  With  this  letter  was 
sent  a  picture  of  the  truck.  The  letter 
contained  a  statement  to  this  efifect :  “By 
having  this  truck,  we  are  able  to  give  you 
quick  service  and  clean  deliveries  of  coal.” 
One-half  of  that  statement  was  perfectly 
true  and  could  be  substantiated.  He  could 
make  quick  deliveries.  The  other  half  was 
not  true  and  really  silly.  The  truck  has 
nothing  to  do  with  the  cleanness  of  the 
“delivery”  of  coal.  It  does  not  make  a 
particle  of  difference  whether  coal  is 
dumped  or  carried  in  out  of  the  body  of 
a  horse-drawn  wagon  or  out  of  the  body 
of  a  conveyance  driven  by  a  gasoline  engine. 
The  motive  power  has  nothing  whatever 
to  do  with  the  discharge  of  coal.  There¬ 
fore,  the  motor  truck  could  not  insure 
“clean  delivery.”  It  was  the  men  that  were 
on  the  motor  truck  which  governed  that 
matter.  The  truck  itself  was  not  even  a 
factor. 

It  is  bad  policy  to  over  advertise  a  service 
— to  say  more  about  it  than  the  circum¬ 
stances  warrant.  It  is  a  worse  policy  to 
advertise  a  bad  service.  As  an  illustration, 
one  of  the  metropolitan  newspapers  had 
allowed  its  writing  staff  to  deteriorate :  it 
did  not  have  a  single  virile  writer  in  its 
employ.  Without  correcting  this  defect,  it 
made  a  tremendous  appeal  to  the  people 
and  spent  between  $75,000  and  $100,000  on 
a  circulation  campaign.  This  brought  the 
paper  to  the  attention  of  nearly  everyone 
only,  however,  to  call  attention  to  the  fact 
that  it  contained  nothing  worth  reading. 
Therefore  the  money  was  spent  mainly  to 
advance  the  interests  of  its  competitors, 
which  did  have  a  few  writers. 

If  a  retail  dealer  advertises  that  he 
has  something  and  has  nothing  of  the  sort, 
the  mere  fact  of  his  advertisement  will  not 
overcome  the  evidence  of  the  man’s  own 
eyes.  Instead  it  will  increase  the  buyer's 
desire  for  what  the  retailer  said  he  had 
and  send  the  man  elsewhere  to  get  it.  Thus 
telling  an  untruth  about  one’s  service  to 
gain  patronage  is  really  spending  money  to 
drive  customers  away.  Such  advertising  is 
protesting  too  much. 


Removing  Ashes. 

Burn  coal  and  you  will  get  ashes.  There 
is  no  way  to  avoid  it.  For  every  shovelful 
of  coal  put  in  at  the  feed  door,  a  certain 
amount  of  ash  must  come  out  of  the  pit. 
The  coal  is  put  into  the  basement  by  the 
coal  man.  Who  sees  to  it  that  the  ashes 
are  taken  away?  Who  finishes  the  fuel 
job? 

In  some  of  the  smaller  communities,  the 
village  organization  has  no  system  of 
garbage  disposal ;  both  the  garbage  and  the 
ashes  are  taken  away  by  contract  with  some 
private  concern.  Under  those  conditions. 


the  man  who  takes  the  garbage  away  does 
so  to  get  feed  for  his  hogs ;  he  assesses  a 
nominal  charge  for  disposing  of  the  ashes. 
In  some  of  the  larger  cities,  the  garbage  is 
taken  away  by  the  municipality,  but  the 
ashes  are  left  for  the  householder  to  dis¬ 
pose  of.  In  the  still  larger  cities,  both  the 
ashes  and  garbage  are  taken  away  by  the 
city  itself. 

In  some  of  the  medium-sized  cities,  there 
may  be  a  sideline  business  for  the  retailer 
in  undertaking  to  haul  the  ashes  away.  It 
would  hardly  do  to  agree  to  remove  them 
only  from  his  customers,- because  that  would 
be  an  inefficient  way  of  doing  things  and 
also  it  would  soon  lead  to  a  new  device  for 
cutting  prices  on  coal.  The  retailer  might, 
however,  employ. a  part  of  his  equipment 
a  good  part  of  the  time  in  gathering  up  the 
ashes  from  at  least  one  section  of  the  town. 
He  would  find  the  people  willing  to  pay 
fifty  cents  to  a  dollar  a  month  to  have  that 
done.  The  collection,  under  most  condi¬ 
tions,  is  a  simple  matter.  The  ashes  are 
put  into  a  receptacle  which  can  be  carried 
to  the  wagon  and  dumped.  At  a  dollar  a 
month  the  price  for  hauling  the  ashes  away 
will  be  anywhere  from  one-half  cent  to  one 
cent  a  pound  or  from  $10.00  to  $20.00  a 
ton.  All  of  this  is  a  charge  for  service  and 
not,  as  in  the  case  of  coal,  the  charge  for 
the  commodity  itself  plus  the  freight  rate 
and  the  selling  expense.  There  is  really 
more  money  in  hauling  away  ashes  at  such, 
a  price  than  there  is  in  doing  a  retail  coal 
business. 

This  is  merely  a  suggestion  to  some  few 
retailers  who  may  lie  so  situated  that  they 
can  profit  by  it. 


Responsibility  for  Breakage. 

[Contributed.] 

Is  the  operator  who  has  spent  a  large 
amount  of  money  in  equipment  for  the 
careful  loading  of  coal  and  who  uses 
every  precaution  that  the  percentage  of 
breakage  be  as  small  as  possible,  is  he 
responsible  for  breakage  in  coal?  Or  is 
the  dealer  to  blame? 

Everywhere  one  goes  he  hears  com¬ 
plaints  from  the  dealers  upon  the  amount 
of  breakage  in  coal  and  the  losses  accru¬ 
ing  therefrom.  Is  the  dealer  as  careful 
in  unloading  the  coal  as  the  operator  is 
in  loading  it?  Investigation  shows  that 
the  dealer  is  not. 

During  that  time  of  year  when  the 
dealer  is  receiving  the  most  coal  labor  is 
invariably  scarce  and  he  is  only  too  glad 
to  pick  up  the  first  man  that  comes  along, 
when  the  very  fact  that  this  man  is  an 
idle  workman  evidences  his  worth.  These 
men  which  the  dealer  hires  are  usually 
paid  by  the  ton  and  have  no  other  incen¬ 
tive  than  to  get  the  coal  out  of  the  car 
and  into  the  bin  in  the  least  possible  time 
and  regardless  of  how  much  breakage 
they  incur.  You  dealers  tvho  are  hiring 
these  men  know  the  tendency  on  the  part 
of  the  workmen  to  ])ick  up  the  largest 
chunks  and  either  break  them  up  and 
heave  them  onto  the  pile,  or  into  the  bin, 
causing  a  fall  from  six  to  fifteen  feet, 
whereas  the  operator  strives  to  reduce 
the  fall  of  coal  from  the  chute  into  the 
car  to  less  than  two  feet. 

It  is  these  workmen,  this  extra  help 
and  the  dealer’s  lack  of  unloading  facili¬ 
ties  that  cause  the  breakage  in  coal  and 
causes  at  least  a  loss  of  ten  cents  or  more 
per  ton  to  the  dealer. 


As  a  remedy  for  this  common  com¬ 
plaint,  let  us  suggest  that  dealers  pay 
their  extra  help  by  the  hour,  install  un¬ 
loading  facilities  to  reduce  the  cost  and 
insure  the  least  amount  of  breakage  to 
the  coal  that  they  handle. 


Don’t  Confess  a  Weakness. 

No  merchant  should  ever,  even  by  im¬ 
plication,  confess  any  weakness.  It  is 
bad  enough  to  have  them  wdthout  adver¬ 
tising  the  fact. 

There  is  a  curious  bit  of  psychology 
which  explains  why  the  populace  do  not 
like  an  apology.  First,  they  think  that 
the  man  is  whining,  and  they  do  not  like 
a  beggar.  Second,  and  principally,  they 
have  been  “talked  to  death”  and  do  not 
want  the  whys  and  wherefores  of  any¬ 
thing.  It  is  impossible  to  make  an  apology 
without  talking  a  great  deal.  That  puts 
the  apologizer  out  of  harmony  with  his 
audience. 

Applying  this  to  coal,  the  people  are 
not  interested  much  in  details,  anyway. 
What  they  want  is  the  coal.  Further 
than  that  they  only  care  enough  to  know 
that  the  man  with  whom  they  place  an 
order  can  deliver  what  they  buy.  They 
want  to  know,  of  course,  what  price  the 
retailer  charges  for  his  service  and  the 
coal.  That  is  about  as  far  as  they  care 
to  go. 

If,  having  answered  the  real  question, 
he  starts  in  to  say  that  he  would  like  to 
make  the  price  cheaper,  but  cannot  be¬ 
cause  the  railroads  are  unreasonable  with 
freight  rates ;  the  mines  give  dishonest 
weights ;  tlie  ruffians  along  the  line  are 
stealing  his  coal ;  the  cost  of  selling  is 
high  because  of  competition ;  the  team¬ 
sters  are  inefficient,  wasteful,  and  so  on, 
the  people  become  disgusted.  They 
shrug  their  shoulders  and  pass  on.  \Vhat 
he  was  aiming  at  was  some  competitor, 
but  they  do  not  know  that.  They  think 
he  is  merely  whining.  That  always  loses 
friends. 

The  trouble  with  the  apologizer  is  that 
he  has  a  too  near  view  of  his  troubles.  He 
thinks  too  much  about  how  the  other  fel¬ 
low  stands.  While  thinking  that  way, 
he  unconsciously  tries  to  knock  the  cither 
fellow  rather  than  to  sell  his  own  goods. 

Every  retail  man  has  seen  how  the  op¬ 
posite  plan  works.  He  has  seen  a  coal 
salesman  enter  his  office  with  his  head 
up  and  a  prosperous  appearance.  He  has 
listened  to  this  man  while  he  made  all 
kind  of  glowing  declarations  about  him¬ 
self  and  the  company  which  he  serves. 
The  retailer  says  to  himself  that  he  is  not 
misled  by  that  kind  of  “glory  be”  bunk, 
but  just  the  same  he  gives  the  order  to 
that  sort  of  fellow.  At  that,  the  salesman 
may  be  “shooting  the  bunk.”  Me  may 
even  be  the  most  egotistical  ass  on  earth. 
But,  he  has  the  faculty  of  getting  away 
with  it. 

Still  it  is  not  the  fact  of  his  egotism, 
but  the  fact  that  he  does  not  apologize, 
which  brings  him  his  friends  in  the  trade. 
The  simple  reason  is  that  an  egotist  never 
has  any  troubles  to  tell ;  if  he  did  have  he 
would  not  tell  them.  Therefore  he  never 
bores  anyone  with  statements  about  why 
he  failed  to  do  such  and  such  a  thing. 
He  is  a  constitutional  optimist,  and  that 
is  what  the  people  like. 


376 


THE  BEACK  DIAMOND 


[November  6 


News  Local  to  Chicago. 


C.  A.  Bickett  of  the  Bickett  Coal  &  Coke 
Company  was  in  Pittsburgh  the  latter  part  of 
last  week. 

One  of  the  Chicago  visitors  on  Tuesday  was 
1’.  M.  Lobas  of  the  P.  M.  Lobas  Company  of 
Milwaukee. 

D.  \V.  Buchanan  of  the  Old  Ben  Mining 
Corporation  spent  the  early  part  of  this  week 
at  the  mines  in  Franklin  countj'. 

Farwell  Gascoigne,  sales  manager  of  the  Ed¬ 
wards  &  Bradford  Lumber  Company,  is  spend- 
a  well-earned  vacation  on  the  Pacific  coast. 

A.  R.  Thomas  of  Fremont,  Neli.,  purchasing 
agent  for  the  Nye,  Schneider,  Fowler  string 
of  yards,  was  in  Chicago  this  week  looking 
over  conditions  in  the  local  market. 

The  Chicago  friends  of  the  Clarkson  Coal 
&  Dock  Company  of  St.  Paul  received  the  an¬ 
nouncement  early  this  week  that  Hugh  Munro, 
its  secretary-treasurer,  had  died  the  latter 
part  of  last  week. 

W.  L.  McClay,  with  Flutchins  &  Hyatt  Com¬ 
pany,  Lincoln,  Neb.,  states  that  southern  Illi¬ 
nois  coal  is  making  rapid  strides  in  the  Ne¬ 
braska  capital,  and  he  looks  to  a  steady  in¬ 
crease  in  consumption  in  his  state. 

The  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  No¬ 
vember  3d  dismissed  the  complaint  brought 
by  the  Consumers’  Company  against  the  Chi¬ 
cago  and  Northwestern  Railway  Company  on 
account  of  alleged  discriminations  against  it  in 
the  matter  of  switching  rates. 

Robert  E.  Carr,  purchasing  agent  for  the 
■American  Smelting  &  Refining  Company  at 
Omaha,  while  in  Chicago  this  week  said  his 
company  was  using  both  coal  and  oil  as  fuel, 
and  as  a  result  of  their  experiments  with  oil 
he  felt  sure  he  would  continue  buying  coal  for 
some  time  to  come. 

Warren  R.  Roberts,  president,  and  Edward 

E.  Barrett,  vice  president,  of  the  Roberts  & 
Schaefer  Company,  have  just  returned  from 
Canada,  where  they  signed  a  contract  with  a 
large  coal  company  there  for  the  designing 
and  construction  of  an  electrically  operated 
anthracite  coal  dock  bridge  and  storage  plant. 

D.  S.  Willis  was  visiting  the  mines  for  a  few 
days  in  southern  Illinois.  Mr.  Willis  is  a  close 
student  of  operating  conditions  and  says  he 
believes  the  time  has  arrived  when  the  oper¬ 
ator  will  insist  on  getting  a  fair  price  for  his 
product.  He  incidentally  remarked  that  a  little 
seasonable  weather  would  help  the  operator 
uphold  his  contention  that  he  should  get  a 
decent  price  for  his  coal. 

James  F.  Callbreath,  secretary  of  the  Amer¬ 
ican  Mining  Congress  in  Washington,  an¬ 
nounced  his  intention  to  visit  Chicago  again 
on  Monday  of  next  week,  the  purpose  being 
to  perfect  some  of  the  arrangements  he  is 
making  for  the  mining  exposition  which  will 
be  held  in  Chicago  the  latter  part  of  next  year. 

H.  A.  Kuhn  of  the  Pittsburgh-Westmore- 
land  Coal  Company,  Pittsburgh,  was  in  Chi¬ 
cago  on  Monday  and  Tuesday  of  this  week. 

John  H.  Walker  of  Springfield,  president  of 
the  Illinois  Federation  of  Labor,  has  been 
elected  chairman  of  the  new  state  commission 
to  investigate  the  causes  of  unemployment. 
Graham .  Taylor  of  Chicago  was  elected  vice 
president  and  John  Wallace  Dunnan  of  Pax¬ 
ton,  secretary.  Much  of  the  investigating  will 
be  made  through  the  state  free  employment 
bureaus  in  Chicago,  Peoria,  Springfield,  Rock¬ 
ford,  Rock  Island  and  East  St.  Louis. 

■\.  W.  Weller  of  West  Point,  Neb.,  treasurer 
of  Weller  Brothers,  a  line  yard  concern,  with 
main  offices  in  Omaha,  was  in  Chicago  this 
week  for  a  few  days.  Mr.  Weller  says  the 
agents  for  the  warring  nations  of  Europe  have 
bought  up  a  large  number  of  horses  in  Jiis 
state  at  a  good  price.  This  extra  revenue, 
coupled  with  the  high  grain  prices,  has  placed 
the  farmers  in  an  enviable  position  which 
should  help  the  coal  business,  providing,  of 
course,  the  weather  is  cold  enough  this  winter 
to  make  coal  burning  a  necessity. 

Frank  O.  McCaffrey,  vice  president  of  Mc¬ 
Caffrey  Brothers  Company,  Omaha,  passed 
through  Chicago  this  week  on  his  way  to  the 
southern  Illinois  mining  field.  On  his  return 
Mr.  McCaffrey  spoke  eloquently  of  the  prepa¬ 
ration  methods  in  vogue  at  the  Franklin 
county  mines.  He  also  brought  back  a  world 
of  information  on  the  cost  of  producing  coal 
in  that  field  which  would  prove  interesting  to 
operators  if  they  were  available.  He  states 
that  Nebraska  will  be  a  battle  ground  between 


Illinois  and  Wyoming  coals,  with  the  victory 
going  to  the  district  that  will  make  the  best 
price.  “Mac”  says  he  is  going  to  be  neutral 
in  the  coming  combat,  as  he  has  profitable 
connections  in  both  directions. 

The  United  States  supreme  court  has  up¬ 
held  a  verdict  of  a  jury  in  the  United  States 
court  for  the  eastern  district  of  Illinois,  finding 
the  Vandalia  Railroad  guilty  of  rebating.  The 
court  declined  to  review  an  opinion  of  the 
United  States  Circuit  Court  of  Appeals,  which 
affirmed  the  jury’s  verdict.  The  Vandalia  was 
charged  with  having  lent  .isSfiO.OOO  to  the 
Lumaghi  Coal  Company  at  a  rate  of  interest 
less  than  it  paid  to  obtain  the  money  in  order 
to  make  the  loan.  .According  to  the  jury’s 
finding,  the  railroad  lent  the  money  at  two 
per  cent,  while  it  paid  a  St.  Louis  bank  four 
per  cent  in  order  to  get  it.  .Also,  according 
to  the  jury’s  finding,  which  was  upheld  by  the 
court  today,  the  difference  of  the  amount  re¬ 
ceived  from  that  paid  for  the  loan  constituted 
a  rebate  on  shipments  of  coal  from  the  Lum¬ 
aghi  mines. 

The  By-Products  Coke  Corporation,  with 
plants  at  South  Chicago,  will  absorb  the  Fed¬ 
eral  Furnace  Company,  also  located  in  the 
Calumet  district.  The  latter  company  will  be 
dissolved.  Terms  of  the  deal  provide  for  an 
exchange  of  the  coke  concern’s  stock  on  a 
basis  of  three-fourths  of  a  share  for  each 
share  of  the  furnace  company’s  capital.  The 
By-Products  Coke  stock  is  quoted  on  around 
$145  per  share.  The  Federal’s  outstanding 
stock  amounts  to  $1,785,000,  and  the  exchange 
arrangements  call  for  $1,338,750  of  By-Prod¬ 
ucts  stock.  Of  the  latter’s  $5,000,000  author¬ 
ized  capital  only  $1,103,400  remains  unissued, 
so  it  is  planned  to  increase  the  authorization 
to  $10,000,000.  Shares  in  addition  to  the 
amount  necessary  to  complete  the  merger  will 
be  issued  and  sold  to  present  stockholders,  the 
proceeds  being  used  to  cover  the  cost  of  ex¬ 
tensions  to  the  plant,  now  being  made. 

Gordon  Buchanan  was  talking  this  week  to 
a  coal  man  who  has  made  extensive  investiga¬ 
tions  into  conditions  in  the  northwest.  .As  a 
result  he  says  that  the  people  up  there  are 
quite  anxious  that  cold  weather  shall  not  set 
in  just  yet  because  it  might  prove  disastrous 
all  around.  For  one  thing,  the  rains  of  the 
summer  delayed  harvesting,  and  much  of  the 
wheat  in  the  northwest  is  now  being  thrashed. 
According  to  estimates,  this  is  not  much  more 
than  fifty  iier  cent  done.  Open  weather  is 
needed  so  that  the  thrashing  can  be  finished, 
and  particularly  so  that  the  grain  can  be 
moved  to  market  and  the  farmers  can  get 
some  of  the  coal  hauled  back  home  before 
there  is  an  urgent  need  for  it.  If  cold  weather 
does  not  hold  off  the  whole  northwest  is  likely 
to  be  in  serious  difficulty  on  account  of  not 
having  more  coal.  The  farmers  in  the  north¬ 
west,  according  to  Mr.  Buchanan’s  investiga¬ 
tion,  are  not  stocked  up  well  or  for  any  long 
siege  due  to  cold  weather.  While  what  he 
says  applies  mainly  to  the  northwest,  other 
investigators  are  of  the  opinion  that  the  same 
situation  obtains  to  a  greater  or  lesser  extent 
all  through  the  western  country,  and  there  is 
a  danger  of  a  serious  shortage  of  coal  so  soon 
as  cold  weather  sets  in. 

There  is  quite  a  good  deal  of  speculation 
these  days  as  to  what  the  winter  is  going  to  be. 
The  first  prophets  to  make  themselves  heard 
were  the  Mesa  Verde  Indians  in  one  of  the 
western  reservations.  They  made  themselves 
conspicuous  as  prophets  last  spring,  when  they 
predicted  that  the  summer  would  be  cold  and 
extremely  wet.  Every  one  knows  that  that 
prophecy  has  been  lived  up  to  in  every  detail. 
These  same  Indians  now  make  the  statement 
that  the  coming  winter  is  going  to  be  unu¬ 
sually  cold.  This  same  prophecy  is  made  by 
observers  of  nature,  and  especially  by  the  duck 
hunters.  Last  week  we  quoted  one  of  them 
as  saying  that  the  ducks  were  this  fall  clothed 
very  warmly,  indicating  that  they  are  pre¬ 
pared  for  a  very  long,  cold  winter.  Other 
indications  point  in  the  same  direction.  Now 
comes  the  Coal  Hill  Coal  Company  of  Omaha. 
Neb.,  which  is  gathering  information  from  a 
great  many  different  sources.  It  has  sent  out 
a  postal  card  on  which  it  schedules  six  specific 
questions  which  it  asks  of  the  recipient  of 
this  card.  These  are;  “Are  corn  husks  thick 
or  thin?  Are  corn  husks  long  or  short?  Is 
the  bark  on  trees  thick  or  thin?  .Are  squirrels 
storing  up  a  supply?  Is  fur  on  animals  or 
birds  thick-  or  thin?  .Arc  the  muskrat  houses 
high  or  low?” 

The  speakers’  committee  of  the  Chicago  Coal 
Alerchants’  association,  of  which  L.  Romanski 


is  chairman,  makes  the  announcement  that  the 
dinner  of  the  association  which  was  scheduled 
for  November  9th  is  being  postponed  until 
November  16,  because  certain  arrangements 
could  not  be  made  in  time  for  the  meeting  on 
the  9th.  Two  very  attractive  features  have 
already  been  arranged  for.  One  of  them  is  an 
entertainment  by  the  Oxford  male  quartet, 
which  is  known  to  be  one  of  the  best  of  its 
kind  in  the  west.  Those  who  have  heard  it 
say  that  as  a  matter  of  fact  it  has  few  equals 
and  hardly  any  superior  as  entertainers  for  a 
gathering  of  this  sort.  To  hear  this  quartet 
is  worth  attending  the  banquet  alone.  In  addi¬ 
tion  to  that  there  will  be  an  interesting  and 
important  address  by  M.  F.  Gallagher.  He 
is  general  counsel  for  the  association  and  has 
had  quite  a  lot  to  do  with  the  important  work 
of  the  association  in  the  last  two  or  three 
years.  In  view  of  the  fact  that  this  is  going 
to  be  a  meeting  which  will  receive  formally 
into  the  association  something  like  seventy-five 
new  members,  it  is  considered  important  that 
they  and  the  others  get  in  one  terse  state¬ 
ment,  an  outline  of  just  what  the  association 
has  done,  and  therefore  what  it  means  to  the 
members.  It  is  going  to  be  the  purpose  of 
Mr.  Gallagher’s  address  to  outline  the  work  of 
the  association,  not  from  a  statistical  point  of 
view,  but  in  an  entertaining  and  instructive 
way. 


Small  Activities. 


Detroit  Local  News. 

The  George  Hall  Coal  Company  of  Ogdensburg, 
N.  Y.,  has  given  the  Detroit  Shipbuilding  Com¬ 
pany  an  order  for  construction  of  a  steel  bulk 
freighter  of  Welland  canal  size  for  use  in  the 
coal  trade  on  Lake  Ontario  and  St.  Lawrence 
river.  The  steamer  is  to  be  delivered  in  June, 
1916,  and  is  to  be  a  duplicate  of  the  Adrian 
Iselin,  built  by  the  same  company  for  the  George 
Hall  Company  two  years  ago. 

At  a  largely  attended  meeting  and  dinner  for 
members  of  the  Detroit  Coal  Exchange  at  the 
Hotel  Cadillac,  Thursday  evening,  there  was 
much  discussion  of  the  ordinance  pending  before 
the  village  council  of  Highland  Park,  a  Detroit 
suburb,  to  prevent  delivery  of  coal  and  coke 
in  the  village,  unless  the  stock  contains  less  than 
a  specified  percentage  of  moisture.  The  progress 
being  made  in  prevention  of  the  theft  of  coal 
from  cars  and  railroad  tracks  in  the  campaign 
conducted  by  F.  E.  Reeves,  the  exchange’s  secre¬ 
tary,  also  roused  much  interest. 


Bpston  Trade  Notes 

The  barge,  .Atlantic,  with  a  carrying  capacity 
of  3,500  tons,  built  for  the  Staples  Transporta¬ 
tion  Company  of  Fall  River,  was  recently 
launched  at  Bath,  IMe. 

The  steamer,  Stephen  R.  Jones,  is  fast  nearing 
completion  at  the  Newport  News  Shipbuilding 
Company’s  yard.  The  boat  is  bein.g  built  for 
Crowell  &  Thurlow  of  Bo.ston. 

The  September  earnings  available  for  dividends 
of  the  coal  department  of  the  IMassachusetts  Gas 
Companies  were  $95,899 ;  for  the  same  period  last 
year  were  $96,343,  and  in  1913,  $122,330.  In  the 
three  months  ended  September  30,  earnings  were 
$295,670,  as  against  $276,244  last  year,  and  $331,- 
875  in  1913. 


Some  Trade  Notes 

W.  .A.  Merrill,  president  of  W.  .A,  Merrill  & 
Co.,  Garrett,  Pa.,  was  a  visitor  at  local  offices. 

Air.  .Appleton  of  Dexter  &  Carpenter,  New 
A'ork,  was  here  to  siiperintend  some  export  ship¬ 
ments. 

During  the  past  week  but  three  vessel  charters 
were  noted  for  loading  here,  the  smallest  num¬ 
ber  for  some  time  past. 

Coa.stwise  charters  are  few  and  far  between. 
Alost  of  the  movement  both  north  and  south 
is  by  company-owned  steamers  or  vessels  on 
time  charters. 

The  Baltimore  &  Ohio  railroad  has  ordered 
thirty  Mallet  engines  and  2,900  more  steel  hopper 
cars."  This  makes  4,000  coal  cars  now  under  con¬ 
tract  for  that  road. 

The  growing  importance  of  the  Western 
Alaryland  railroad  as  a  coal  carrier  is  shown  by 
the  statement  just  is.sued  for  the  fiscal  year 
ended  July  1  last.  During  that  period  the  total 
coal  tonnage  of  the  road  ran  to  7,730,558  tons, 
a  gain  over  the  previous  fiscal  year  of  1,236,690 
tons.  This  was  all  the  more  remarkable  in  view 
of  the  p(  or  coal  .situation  generally. 


No.  19] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


377 


Facts  Which  Determine 


The  Export  Situation. 

Exports  of  bituminous  coal  over  Atlantic  sea¬ 
board  ports  continue  to  decline,  due  to  the  lack 
of  vessels.  This  shortage  is  becoming  more 
acute  each  week.  Moreover,  according  to  cables 
from  England  this  week,  the  British  government 
will  requisition  more  of  its  merchantmen  for  its 
service ;  government  requirements  having  in¬ 
creased  due  to  the  growing  importance  of  the 
transportation  of  troops  and  munitions  to  the 
Dardanelles  and  the  Balkans.  In  an  emergency, 
it  is  stated,  England  may  regulate  the  employ¬ 
ment  of  shipping  in  the  carriage  of  cargoes  be¬ 
tween  foreign  ports  by  a  license  system. 

Early,  but  not  official,  reports  show  October 
bituminous  exports  from  Hampton  Roads  and 
Baltimore,  with  comparisons,  as  follows : 


V.7^  V7LL.9  XIlLlCdSC* 

Hampton  Roads .  441,643  196,423  235,220 

Baltimore  .  130,984  85,152  45,832 

Total .  572,627  281,575  281 ,052 


Philadelphia  figures  for  October  of  this  year 
are  not  yet  obtainable.  In  October,  J914,  Phila¬ 
delphia  exports  were  57,043  tons. 

Coal  is  not  in  heavy  supply  in  tide,  although 
the  export  movement  is  so  greatly  restricted 
for  lack  of  tonnage.  Car  and  labor  shortage 
and  a  better  domestic  demand  keeps  the  tide¬ 
water  supply  well  in  line  with  current  needs. 


Hampton  Roads  October  Exports. 

Exports  of  coal  from  Hampton  Roads  for 
October,  1915,  with  comparison  for  October,  1914, 
were  as  follows ; 

f.amberts  Point. 


Country —  1914.  1915. 

Antofagasta,  Chile .  6,6S0 

liarbados,  B.  W'.  1 .  2,253  9,207 

Buenos  Aires,  Arg .  7,300  0,691 

Bombay,  India .  3,010  .... 

Cristobal,  C.  Z .  21,950  49,030 

Curacao,  D.  W.  1 .  5,374 

Catania.  Italy .  4,850 

Civita  Vecchia,  Italy .  9,1.51 

Dakar,  French  West  Africa .  12,830 

Georgetown,  Demerara,  B.  (! .  2,501 

Genoa,  Italy .  0,600  48,177 

Gibraltar  .  8,800  .... 

Havana,  Cuba .  16,101  7,988 

Italy — any  port .  54,530 

Iquique,  Chile .  4,070  500 

Kingston,  Jamaica .  3,200  3,660 

Leghorn,  Italy .  3,874 

Manila,  P.  1 .  6,503  .... 

Naples,  Italy .  9,060 

Pernambuco,  Brazil .  8,598 

Puerto  Ferrajo,  Italy .  12,646 

Puerto  Plata,  S.  D .  805 

Palermo,  Italy .  4,733 

Reggio  Calabrio,  Italy .  4,000 

Rio  de  Janeiro,  Brazil .  3,863  6,398 

Santa  Cruz,  Teneriffe,  G.  C.  1 .  2,011 

Suez  Canal .  5,840 

Spezia,  Italy .  5,268  4,349 

San  Juan,  P.  R .  1,351  3,025 

Trinidad,  B.  W.  1 .  5,635 

Torre  Annunziata,  Italy .  15,314 

Totals .  90,885  307,469 

Newport  News, 

Country — ■  1914.  1913. 

Augusta,  Italy .  3,034 

Barbados,  B.  W,  1 .  1,92.8 

Brindisi,  Italy .  15,315  .... 

Cienfuegcs,  Cuba . ••  ....  2,825 

Callao,  Peru .  2,303 

Cardenas,  Cuba .  2“  500 

Georgetown,  Demerara,  B.  G .  4,473  900 

Genoa,  Italy .  14,598 

Havana,  Cuba .  9,182  13,594' 

Jucara,  Cuba .  891  .... 

Mazarrcn,  Spain .  1,504 

Montevideo,  Uruguay .  10,824  0,527 

Naples,  Italy .  5,386 

Para,  Brazil .  2,942  1,856 

Puerto  Mexico,  Mexico .  1,656 

Puntas  Arenas,  Chile .  7,326  .... 

Rio  de  Janeiro,  Brazil .  10,378  1,826 

Spzzia,  Italy .  6,330 

San  Juan,  P.  R .  1,266  .... 

Santiago,  Cuba .  3.365  2,625 

Sagua,  Cuba .  1,940  1,452 

Seville,  Spain .  1,556 

St.  Lucia,  B.  W.  1 .  4,591  5,540 

Trinidad,  B.  W.  1 .  6,934  6,377 

Taranto,  Italy .  5,194  5,163 

Cayo  Francis,  Cuba .  1,446  .... 

Totals .  86,067  90,019 

Sewalls  Point, 

Country—  1914.  1915. 

Bahia  Blanca,  .Arg .  4,967 

Bahia,  Brazil .  4,467  .... 

(ienoa,  Italy .  4,763 

Havana,  Cuba .  3,006  3,228 

Kingston,  Jamaica .  800 

Montevideo.  Uruguay .  3,811 

Para.  Brazil .  857  .... 

Pernambuco,  Brazil .  900 

P.nlermo.  Italy .  5,811 

Rio  de  Janeiro,  Brazil .  4,910  10,599 

St.  Lucia,  B.  W.  1 .  9,186 

Chaparra,  Cuba .  4,409  .... 

Totals .  19,984  44,155 


Total  for  the  three  ports  for  October,  1915, 


Our  Export  Prospects. 


441,64.3  tons,  as  compared  with  196,936  tons  for 
October,  1914,  showing  an  increase  over  last 
year  of  344,680  tons. 


Baltimore  October  Exports. 

Exports  of  coal  from  Baltimore  during  the 
month  of  Octolier  were  as  follows : 

Country —  Tonnage. 

Italy  .  52,657 

Sweden  . 32,282 

Cuba  .  23,702 

.Argentine  .  8,105 

Egypt  .  7,035 

Spain  .  3,107 

Martinique  .  1,719 

Guatamala  .  1,528 

Dutch  Guiana .  849 


Total . 130,984 


English  Coal  Exports. 

Exports  of  coal,  coke  and  manufactured  fuel 
from  the  United  Kingdom  during  September  and 
the  first  nine  completed  months  of  1913,  1914  and 
1915 : 


Country — 

1913. 

1914. 

1915. 

Russia  . 

.  .  .  668,472 

17,398 

3,173 

Sweden  . 

...  394,314 

633,546 

195,722 

Norway  . 

...  174,861 

233,7.54 

224,461 

Denmark  . 

405,842 

291,764 

.  .  .  833,326 

Netherlands  . 

.  .  .  154,904 

276,031 

174,990 

...  164,448 

44  416 

France  . 

509,667 

1,087,755 

Portugal,  Azores  and 

Ma- 

deira  . 

.  .  .  160,840 

87,177 

96,766 

Spain  and  Canaries.... 

.  .  .  270,678 

227,401 

155,553 

Italy  . 

697,693 

558,638 

53,761 

Greece  . 

19,264 

6,856 

30,103 

.  .  5l’501 

Algeria  . 

.  .  j  66]505 

39,733 

91,738 

Portuguese  West  Africa.  .  18,624 

37,824 

5,405 

Chile  . 

...  27,204 

8,040 

271 

Brazil  . 

59,528 

11,951 

Uruguay  . 

65,642 

18,866 

22,120 

Argentine  Republic.  .  .  . 

...  267,142 

153,016 

132,448 

Channel  Islands . 

19,915 

14,840 

Gibraltar  . 

.  ..  14,940 

24,447 

27,689 

Malta  . 

13,649 

5,927 

Egypt  (incl.  .Anglo-Egyntian 

Sudan)  . 

...  258,232 

133,177 

136,000 

Aden  and  dependencies 

_  22,930 

22,125 

5,095 

British  India . 

...  8,827 

9,222 

5,005 

25,601 

17,969 

Other  countries . 

89,488 

37,860 

Total — • 

Anthracite  . 

_  2.54,811 

113,014 

177,614 

-  Steam  . 

2,722,537 

2,708,633 

Gas  . 

.  .  .  996,158 

789,910 

658,695 

Household  . 

_  175,022 

132,622 

120,599 

Other  sorts . 

-  304,078 

101.105 

226,492 

Total  . 

_ 6,197,180 

3,859,188 

3,892,033 

Coke  . 

130,264 

108,471 

Manufactured  fuel . 

.  .  .  .  179,041 

107,001 

96,133 

Total  of  coal,  coke 

and 

manufactured  fuel.  . 

4,096,453 

4,096,637 

First  Nine  Months. 

Total — 

1913. 

1914. 

1915. 

Anthracite  . 

.  2,189,491 

1,835,166 

1,520,857 

Steam  . 

.39,755,473  1 

34,649,465 

23,994,403 

8,325,750 

5,653,905 

Household  . 

.  1,335,833 

1,108,596 

864,035 

Other  sorts . 

.  2,653,279 

2,197,372 

1,381,012 

Total  . 

.54,517,788 

48,116,349 

33,414,212 

Coke  . 

.  838,055 

824,325 

684,689 

Manufactured  fuel .... 

.  1,542,365 

1,431,938 

960,636 

Total  of  coal,  coke  and 

manufactured  fuel.. 

.56,898,208 

50,372,012 

Note. — The  hgures  in  the  above 

tables  do  not  include 

Admiralty  and  certain 

other  shipme 

•nts. 

Coal  Scarcity  in 

Spain. 

The  comparative  lack  of  supplies  of  coal  in 
Spain  forms  the  subject  of  an  article  published 
by  the  Spanish  “Econoviista,"  which  states  that 
in  normal  times  about  one-half  of  the  coal  re¬ 
quired  is  procured  from  Great  Britain.  But  in 
the  first  quarter  of  1915  the  imports  from  that 
source  declined  by  over  450,000  tons,  and  it  is 
assumed  that  the  deficiency  as  compared  with 
the  customary  imports  will  exceed  2,000,000  tons 
for  the  whole  of  the  year.  It  is  considered  that 
the  deficiency  cannot  he  repaired  either  by  a  re¬ 
duction  in  the  consumption,  which  will  cause 
certain  industries  to  restrict  their  activity,  or  by 
imports  from  the  Unted  States,  or  by  the  use 
of  stocks  which  were  accumulated  prior  to  the 
war.  During  the  first  quarter  of  1915  the  im¬ 
ports  of  English  coal  amounted  to  500,000  tons 
as  compared  with  992,000  tons  in  each  of  the  cor- 
responiling  quarters  1914  and  1913,  and  it  is 
expected  the  reduction  will  become  accentuated. 
The  Spanish  newspaper  has  now  asked  the  gov¬ 
ernment  to  impose  a  total  prohibition  on  the  ex¬ 
ports  of  native  coal  and  to  stimulate  the  home 
production  with  all  possible  means.  The  in¬ 
dustrial  consumption  of  coal  in  Spain,  contrary 


to  expectations,  has  by  no  means  diminished.  No 
doubt  certain  industries  have  reduced  the  ton¬ 
nage  used,  but  others  have  increased  quantity. 
The  economies  effected  on  the  railways  have  been 
counterbalanced  by  the  greater  consumption  of 
the  shipping  companies,  whilst  the  decrease  in 
the  district  of  Huelva  has  been  offset  by  an  in¬ 
crease  in  Barcelona. 


Norway’s  Coal  Imports. 

The  coal  and  coke  imports  into  Norway  during 
the  first  half  of  this  year  amounted  to  1,641,00(1 
tons  as  against  1,356,000  tons  in  the  correspond¬ 
ing  period  of  1914. 

English  Exports  to  South  America. 

English  coal  exports  to  South  America  for 
September  of  the  years  1913,  1914  and  1915, 
were  as  follows : 


Country—  1915.  1914.  1913. 

Chile  .  271  8,040  27,204 

Brazil  .  11,951  59,528  158,896 

LHuguay  .  22,120  18,866  65,642 

Argentine  . 132,448  153,016  267,142 


166,790  239,450  518,884 


Barcelona,  Spain,  Coal  Trade. 

Carl  Bailey  Hurst,  American  Consular  General 
at  Barcelona,  Spain,  writes  The  Black  Diamond, 
under  date  of  October  11th,  as  follows: 

“I  beg  to  quote  the  official  statistics  of  the 
Spanish  government  as  to  the  importation  in 
metric  tons  of  2,204.6  pounds  each  of  coal  and 
coke  during  the  months  of  July,  1913,  1914,  and 
1915,  and  during  the  first  seven  months  of  the 
same  years 

During  July. 

1913.  1914.  1915. 

Coal,  metric  tons . 220,758  205,522  215,310 

Coke,  metric  tons .  22,869  47,869  23,577 

January  to  July,  Inclusive. 

1913.  1914.  1915. 

Coal,  metric  tons . 1,627,290  1,534,617  971,706 

Coke,  metric  tons .  206,167  239,559  117,789 

“For  the  first  weeks  of  the  war  the  lack  of 
coal  supplies  threatened  to  paralyze  industries 
in  various  parts  of  Spain,  but  the  conditions 
were  not  such  as  to  hamper  business  in  general 
and  have  improved  with  the  continuous  and 
steady  importations  of  coal  from  the  foreign 
sources  which  have  been  most  relied  upon. 
American  coal  has  here  come  into  competition 
with  coal  from  Wales  which  formerly  supplied, 
to  a  very  large  extent,  the  Spanish  market. 
Partly  owing  to  the  greatly  increased  freight 
rates,  Welsh  coal  is  at  present  quoted  at  the  same 
price  as  coal  from  the  United  States,  which  is 
comparatively  new  in  the  Spanish  market. 
Figures  as  to  extent  of  the  imports  into  Spain 
of  coal  of  foreign  origin  are  not  available  by 
countries,  but  would  undoubtedly  show  a  great 
increase  during  the  past  year  in  the  amount  of 
coal  imported  from  the  United  States.  At  pres¬ 
ent  the  prices  quoted  in  Barcelona  for  Welsh, 
American  and  Spanish  coals  are  respectively 
from  $13.30  to  $14.25,  and  .$10.45  to  $12.35,  all  per 
metric  ton  of  2,204.6  pounds  each,  placed  on 
wharf.  The  American  coal  referred  to  is  known 
here  as  West  Maryland  gas  coal.  In  June  the 
prices  for  these  coals  were,  respectively,  from 
$14.40  to  $16.44,  $13.87,  and  from  $11.97  to  $13.87. 

“The  general  industrial  conditions  in  Spain 
are,  under  existing  circumstances,  not  unfavor¬ 
able  to  development  in  spite  of  the  war,  which 
has  had  the  effect  of  stimulating  certain  branches 
of  industry,  while  it  has  naturally  affected  others 
disastrously.  It  can  hardly  be  doubted  that  the 
war  has  more  or  less  indirectly  tended  to  develop 
the  use  of  electric  power  in  industries,  due  in 
part  to  the  important  hydro-electric  facilities 
offered  in  this  the  chief  industrial  region  of  the 
country.” 


Recent  Coal  Freight  Charters. 

Steamer  Alfred  Noble  (Nor.).  Virginia  to  Montevideo 
or  La  Plata,  coal,  $9.12,  November. 

Ship  Nova  (Urug.),  Philadelphia  to  Puenos  Aires,  coal, 
$9  and  port  charges. 

Schooner  Fannie  Palmer,  Raltimore  to  Porto  Rico,  coal, 
p.  t. 

Steamer  Achlibster  (Br.),  Atlantic  Range  to  west  coast 
Italy,  coal,  about  65  s,  November. 

Steamer  New  Sweden  (Swed.),  Philadelphia  to  Sweden, 
coal,  p.  t.  ' 

Bark  Novo  (Nor.),  Philadelphia  to  Buenos  Aires,  coal, 
$8,  free  discharge. 

Schooner  Edward  J.  Lawrence,  Virginia  to  Barcelona, 
coal,  $10. 

Schooner  Harwood  Palmer,  Virginia  to  Lisbon,  coal, 

$10. 

Schooner  Dorthy  Palmer,  Hampton  Roads  to  Italy, 
coal,  $10. 

Steamer  St.  Theodore  (Rr.'),  Baltimore  to  Genoa,  coni, 
p.  t. 

Steamer  Mimer  (Br.),  Baltimore  to  Mexico,  coal,  p.  t. 

Schooner  Frank  P.  Braincrd.  Philadelphia  to  Marti¬ 
nique,  800  tons  coal,  p.  t. 

Steamer  Tenbergen  (Dutch).  Philadelphia  to  Havana, 
coal.  p.  t.,  prompt. 


378 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


[November  6 


General  Review. 

Steam  Business  Is  Increasing  But  Demand 
for  Domestic  Coal  Is  Held  Back 
by  the  Weather 

Coal  market  developments  for  this  week  are 
demonstrating  again  that  since  the  trade 
prosperity  depends  upon  buying  from  both  the 
domestic  and  steam  departments,  neither  one 
alone  can  support  the  trade  in  prosperity.  That 

is,  this  week  the  steam  business  everywhere  has 
been  more  brisk  than  at  any  time  in  a  year  at 
least,  if  not  in  several  years.  However,  over  a 
wide  territory  there  has  been  a  subnormal  de¬ 
mand  for  domestic  coal.  This  of  course  is  trace¬ 
able  directly  back  to  the  weather.  Lack  of  sale 
of  the  domestic  sizes  has  on  the  average,  thrown 
a  larger  volume  into  the  steam  market  and  with 
the  exception  of  certain  points,  has  had  a  ten¬ 
dency  to  ease  the  steam  coal  situation.  While 
therefore  the  coal  market  is  in  good  condition, 
it  lacks  the  buoyancy  and  vigor  which  it  would 
have  if  both  departments  were  absorbing  equal 
ttmnages. 

The  developments  in  the  steam  trade  are  de¬ 
cidedly  interesting.  A  short  time  ago  the  export 
market  was  about  the  only  department  of  the 
trade  that  was  commanding  any  interest  or 
aroused  enthusiasm.  That  was  taking  an  increas¬ 
ing  amount  of  coal  and  thus  was  relieving  the 
home  markets.  There  is  still  a  possibility  of  sell¬ 
ing  big  amounts  of  coal  abroad,  and  perhaps  more 
than  was  sold  a  few  months  ago.  The  first  dif¬ 
ficulty,  however,  is  to  get  boats,  the  second  dif¬ 
ficulty  is  to  get  the  doal  and  the  cars  to  move 

it.  .  • 

Promising  as  the  export  trade  may  be,  it  is 
not  the  dominant  factor  in  the  trade  because 
liome  demand  in  the  meantime  has  become  more 
important.  In  the  Pittsburgh  district  which  is 
made  prosperous  by  business  from  the  steam 
trade,  the  situation  is  almost  unprecedentedly  brisk. 
Coke  ovens  are  running  to  as  nearly  full  capacity 
as  they  can,  the  labor  and  car  supplies  being  con¬ 
sidered.  Because  they  cannot  run  quite  to  ca¬ 
pacity,  prices  are  rising  and  showing  a  runaway 
tendency.  The  demand  for  coal  for  coke  mak¬ 
ing  of  course  is  good,  therefore,  Pittsburgh  fac¬ 
tories  and  those  in  the  surrounding  territory 
are  also  taking  much  more  coal  then  they  were 
and  the  railroads  are  buying  not  only  for  imme¬ 
diate  use,  but  for  storage  purposes.  All  things 
considered,  the  market  is  in  extraordinarily  good 
position. 

The  same  situation  is  seen  in  the  east  where 
as  Philadelphia  reports,  even  the  ofif-grade  coals 
are  twenty-five  to  thirty  cents  a  ton  higher  than 
they  were  six  weeks  ago.  The  only  weak  spot  in 
the  eastern  market  is  New  England  and  that  is 
so  not  because  the  demand  is  light,  but  because 
the  sales  agencies  are  indulging  in  a  price  war. 

In  the  west,  the  steam  demand  is  improving 
steadily.  For  example,  there  is  need  for  much 
more  coal  in  the  northwest  than  has  been  car¬ 
ried  there  by  the  lakes  and  it  is  doubtful  whether 
that  coal  will  be  moved  because  vessels  are  in 
tremendous  demand  for  grain  and  ore  movement 
and  are  getting  such  attractive  rates  that  they 
are  not  stopping  for  coal.  This  may  bring  on  a 
shortage  in  the  northwest  later,  but  that  is  merely 
incidental.  The  big  factor  is  increased  demand 
for  steam  coal  in  the  northwest  for  railroads 
and  other  i)urposes.  Through  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illi¬ 
nois,  and  Iowa,  the  demand  for  steam  coal  has 
been  considerably  heavier  in  the  last  few  weeks 
than  it  was  heretofore.  This  is  not  putting  up 
prices,  however,  because  in  the  same  territory  the 
demand  for  domestic  coal  is  small,  therefore  the 
operators  are  diverting  to  the  steam  trade  a  good 
part  of  the  coal  that  should  be  going  to  the  do¬ 
mestic  trade.  Everything  considered,  the  steam 
market  is  strong  but  domestic  is  technically  weak. 
That  is,  there  is  a  shortage  of  coal  everywhere 
and  this  is  going  to  mean  a  clamorous  demand 
for  it  later.  Coal  operators  appreciate  this  fact 
and  also  the  fact  that  car  and  labor  supply  will 
interfere  with  deliveries.  They  are  not  sacrificing 
their  coal  now  in  order  to  pass  it  on  an  unwill¬ 
ing  market,  but  are  holding  it  in  reserve  to  get  the 
better  prices  which  are  unavoidable. 


Donald  E.  Conn,  formerly  connected  with 
the  Great  Northern  &  Soo  Line  as  combustion 
engineer,  has  accepted  the  position  of  com¬ 
bustion  engineer  with  the  Wyatt  Coal  Com¬ 
pany  and  has  taken  charge  of  the  laboratory 
of  the  company  in  Cincinnati,  beginning  work 
Monday.  Mr.  Conn  is  a  graduate  of  Ann  Arbor 
university  and  also  of  Cornell  university  and 
comes  highly  recommended. 


Chicago  Market. 


Buying  Is  Slowed  Down  Because  of  the 
Weather  and  Screenings  Prices  Have 
a  Tendency  to  Be  Firm. 


Office  of  The  Bl.vck  Di.vmond, 
Chicago,  November  4. 

Market  conditions  in  the  territory  for  which 
Chicago  is  the  distributing  point  are  not  satis¬ 
factory  either  to  the  retail  dealer  or  the  coal 
producer.  The  weather  has  been  quite  warm, 
consequently  coal  consumiition  has  been  reduced 
to  an  absolute  minimum  for  domestic  purposes. 
.\s  a  result  the  mines  either  have  accumulated 
unsold  coal  at  the  mines  or  have  been  compelled 
to  slow  down  production. 

The  steam  coal  situation  in  the  meantime  has 
weakened  a  little  while  lump  production  has  been 
curtailed  by  small  domestic  demand.  Screenings 
output  has  also  been  lessened  and  the  price  is  a 
trifle  stronger.  However  many  of  the  domestic 
sizes  have  been  sold  in  substitution  for  regular 
steam  sizes  and  thus  the  steam  department  of 
coal  is  not  overly  strong. 

In  technical  detail  the  market  is  in  good  posi¬ 
tion.  That  is,  the  steam  consumption  is  increas¬ 
ing  all  th£  while,  production  is  being  limited  by 
both  labor  and  car  shortage,  and  the  stocks  on 
hand  are  on  the  average  quite  small.  This  makes 
the  situation  technically  strong  and  to  realize  this 
strength,  needs  only  a  touch  of  cold  weather. 

The  Franklin  county  market  has  been  much 
easier  within  the  last  week.  At  the  beginning 
of  the  week  operators  had  quite  a  lot  of  no-bill 
coal  on  track  at  the  mines.  This  situation  was 
corrected  by  the  sharp  curtailing  of  production 
for  a  day  or  so  and  by  the  more  cautious  produc¬ 
tion  program  since.  Still  there  is  no  lively  de¬ 
mand  from  retailers  and  all  sales  are  made  with 
difficulty.  Further,  there  is  some  rebellion  on 
the  part  of  the  retailers  on  account  of  the  hi.gh 
average  price  which  is  now  being  asked  by  the 
operators  and  there  is  some  delay  in  buying  on 
that  account.  Screenings  are  just  fair,  but  the 
operators  are  holding  firmly  for  a  minimum  of 
fifty  cents  in  Chica.go  and  sixty  cents  in  the 
country.  Prices  up  to  Thursday  were ; 


F.  O.  B. 

Franklin  County —  Chicago. 

I.ump  . $2.65@e.80 

Egg  .  2.55@2.86 

No.  1  nut .  2.65@2.80 

No.  2  nut .  2.5.5 

Mine  run .  2.15@2.20 

2-inch  screenings .  1.55@1.65 


F.  O.  B. 
Mines. 
$1.60@1.75 
1.50@  1.75 
1,60@1.75 
1.50 
1.10@1.15 
.50®  .60 


The  Williamson  county  situation  is  almost 
precisely  the  same  as  that  in  Franklin  county. 
That  is,  weather  slowed  down  the  demand  for 
domestic  coal  and  the  effort  of  the  operators  to 
run  the  mines  to  capacity  supplied  enough  coal 
for  the  steam  market  to  overcrowd  it  and  weak¬ 
ened  the  prices.  The  tone  of  the  market  gener¬ 
ally  is  soft,  but  that  is  being  corrected  by  the 
sharp  curtailing  of  output.  There  has  been  some 
shading  of  prices  by  smaller  concerns,  but  the 
major  operators  are  still  adheriag  to  the  prices 
which  are  quoted  herewith.  The  market  up  to 
Thursday  was : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Williamson  County —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Lump  . $2.65@2.80  $1.60@1.75 

Egg  .  2.65@2.80  1.60@1.75 

No.  1  washed .  2.80  1.75 

No.  2  washed .  2.45  1.40 


The  Saline  county  market  has  been  fairly  firm 
up  until  now,  because  a  number  of  mines  in  that 
field  have  been  idle.  However,  the  tendency  is 
to  increase  production  and  with  the  slow  demand 
for  domestic  coal  and  the  overcrowding  of  the 
steam  coal  market  the  situation  is  not  the  very 
best.  Screenings  are  fairly  strong  at  from  fifty 
to  sixty  cents.  The  prices  up  to  Thursday  were : 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Saline  County Chicago.  Mines. 

Lump  . $2.65@2.80  $1.60@1.75 

■Mine  run .  2.20  1.15 

.Screenings  . 1.55.)^ @1.65  .50®  .60 

l!4'inch  lump .  2.35  1.30 

The  demand  for  domestic  coal  from  Central 
Illinois  is  very  light.  Some  operators  have  cut 
the  price  to  as  low  as  $1.50  in  an  effort  to  move 
output,  but  the  Sangamon  county  operators  ad¬ 
hered  to  circular  of  $1.75,  suffering  a  loss  of  busi¬ 
ness  in  consequence.  Screenings  market  is  just 
about  steady  at  prices  previously  quoted.  The 
prices  up  to  Thursday  were; 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Central  Illinois —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Lump  .  $2.57  $1.75 

Keg  .  2.32@2.47  1.50@1.65 

Nut  ; .  2.47  1.65 

Mine  run .  l-$7  1.05 

Screenings  .  1.22@1.32  .40®  .50 

Clinton,  Ind.,  operators  have  suffered  a  loss 
of  domestic  orders,  due  to  the  soft  weather,  but 


this  has  influenced  operators  mainly  in  the  Num¬ 
ber  Four  vein.  Steam  demands  are  improving 
and  this  holds  up  the  price  on  Number  Five  and 
Six'  coals.  The  prices  up  to  Thursday  were : 

,,,.  ,  F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Clinton  Chicago.  Mines. 

No.  4  domestic  lump . $2.42@2.57  $1.65@1  75 

^  2.12  1.35 

iNo.  o  and  6  mine  run .  1,37  j 

No.  5  and  6  screenings .  1.37®1.’42  .60®  !65 

Since  Knox  county  coal  is  going  mostly  to  the 
steam  trade,  that  market  is  fairly  firm,  although 
of  course  the  competition  affordedi  by  other 

fields  has  a  weakening  tendenev  in  spots.  Prices  up 
to  Thursday  were : 

r-  .  F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

T  Chicago.  Mines. 

.  $2.37  $1.50 

Mine  run .  187 

Screenings .  ]  50  gg 

Anthracite  sales  agencies  got  some  unsold 
coal  m  this  market  within  the  last  week  and  had 
to  move  lively  in  order  to  dispose  of  it  before 
car  service  charges  accumulated.  In  the  main,  the 
market  is  very  dull  because  of  the  warm  weather 
and  because  the  householders  are  not  buying 
Prices  have  not  been  strong,  naturally,  but  so  far 
as  known,  have  not  weakened  over  the  big  terri¬ 
tory  reached  through  Chicago. 

The  smokeless  situation  is  almost  precisely  the 
same  as  it  was  a  week  ago.  That  is,  the  major 
operators  are  holding  for  $1.40  for  mine  run  coal 
and  are  getting  it  because  smaller  production  and 
a  shortage  of  cars  restrict  shipments  of  coal 
which  have  been  previously  sold  or  called  for  on 
contract.  Any  movement  of  this  coal  would 
have  to  be  sold  at  a  sacrifice  because  the  demand 
is  now  just  about  at  the  minimum.  Some  off- 
.grade  coal  is  on  the  market  occasionally  and  this 
sells  from  $1.20  to  $1.25.  None  of  the  better 
grades  can  be  had  at  any  such  figure.  Lump  has 
been  a  little  soft  in  the  countrj',  selling  at  $1.90 
to  $2.00.  Egg  on  the  contrary  has  been  firm 
■filing  from  $2.10  to  $2.25.  The  market  up  to 
Thursday  was  : 

„  ,  ,  F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Smokeless—  Chicago.  Mines. 

,^l'"erun. .  $3.45  .$440 

Lump  and  egg .  3.95@4.30  1.90@2.25 

The  Somerset  county  market  is  influenced 
mostly  by  car  supply.  Since  that  is  short,  and 
since  there  is  a  good  demand  in  the  east,  not 
much  of  that  coal  is  comin.g  west.  In  conse¬ 
quence  the  mines  run  price  is  firm  at  $1.40  and 
lump  and  egg  are  firm  at  $2.25.  The  egg  especi¬ 
ally  being  short  of  the  demand.  The  prices  up  to 
Thursday  were : 

„  ^  F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Somerset  County—  Chicago.  Mines. 

Mine  run .  $3.40  $1.40 

Lump  and  egg .  4.05®4.30  2.00®2.25 

Hocking  coal  has  been  influenced  by  the  weather, 
the  better  grades  are  in  short  supply  and  the 
prices  firm  at  $1.75.  Some  other  coals,  however, 
are  obtainable  at  $1.50  to  $1.60.  The  prices  up 
to  Thursday  were : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Hocking —  Chicago.  Mines. 

.  Domestic  lump . $3.15®3.40  $1.50@1.75 

The  splint  market  has  been  a  little  easier  be¬ 

cause  of  the  weather,  but  this  easy  tendency  has 
been  offset  as  far  as  price  is  concerned  by  the 
known  shortage  of  both  cars  and  labor  at  the 
mines.  While  a  large  volume  of  business  is  mov- 
in.g,  $1.50  on  the  shipments  direct  from  the  mines 
is  the  minimum,  with  $1.60  charged  for  the  coal 
moved  in  box  cars.  The  market  up  to  Thursday 
was : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Kanawha —  Chicago.  Mines. 

1'4-inch  lump . $3.40@3.50  $1.50@1.60 

Eastern  Kentucky  operators  are  finding  a  good 
market  and  prices  pretty  generally  have  strength¬ 
ened  up ;  $1.90  on  block  and  lump  is  about  the 
minimum  and  most  concerns  are  not  askin.g  more 
than  $2,  although  the  better  known  coals  are  sell¬ 
ing  for  $2.25.  Prices  up  to  Thursday  were; 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Eastern  Kentucky —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Dr.nestic  lump . $3.80@4.15  $L90@2.25 

Egg  .  3.25®3.75  1.35®1.35 

The  runaway  tendency  of  the  coke  market  got 
a  check  this  week  when  the  consumers  stopped 
buying  at  the  fancy  prices  charged  by  the  opera¬ 
tors.  However,  the  demand  must  be  satisfied  and 
a  rise  in  prices  is  predicted  because  it  is  impos¬ 
sible  to  .get  enough  men  to  man  the  coke  ovens 
and  because  the  supply  of  cars  is  sure  to  be  short 
of  requirements.  Labor  and  cars  are  thus  the 
determining  factors  in  prices.  The  market  up 
to  Thursday  was ; 

F.  O.  B. 

Coke—  Chicago. 

Connellsville  . $5.50 

By-product,  foundry .  5.50 

By-product,  egg  and  stove .  4.75 

By-product,  nut  .  4.75 

Gas  house .  4.00 


No.  19] 


379 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


Pittsburgh  Trade. 

Demand  for  Coke  Is  Heavy  and  the  Sup¬ 
ply  of  Cars  and  Men  Is  Short — 

Coal  Prices  Strong. 

Office  of  The  Black  Diamond, 
l.)()2  Oliver  Building, 

Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  November  n,  I'll.'). 

Nearly  all  the  forces  that  may  be  counted 
upon  as  having  anything  to  do  with  the  coal 
and  coke  market,  seem  to  be  converging  at  a 
point,  that  leaves  no  doubt  but  that  a  strong 
market  exists  for  these  products,  and  that 
greater  activity  is  sure  to  develop  in  the  imme¬ 
diate  future.  There  seems  to  be  no  free  coal 
or  coke  for  spot  delivery, — the  lake  trade 
pushing  for  coal,  and  the  iron  and  steel  trade 
instead  of  taking  the  minimum  as  usual  on 
contract,  are  exacting  the  maximum,  and  this 
with  car  and  labor  shortages,  has  put  pro¬ 
ducers  to  the  bad  on  deliveries  and  causing 
much  inquiry  for  spot  delivery — with  the  effect 
that  prices  are  hardening  all  along  the  line, 
and  many  operators  are  out  of  the  market. 

Some  coal  producers  claim  to  see  material 
advances  in  price  in  the  near  future,  and  coke 
producers  are  talking  of  $5.00  coke  three 
months  from  now.  These  same  optimists  preT 
dieted  $3.00  coke  sixty  days  ago — and  today 
their  predictions  are  practically  fulfilled. 

In  coal,  as  stated,  numerous  producers  are 
sold  up,  and  taking  no  orders.  Any  gas  slack 
that  can  be  found  is  bringing  80c  to  90c,  and 
$1.00  is  quoted  freely.  Pan  Handle  slack 
ranges  75  to  80c,  with  mine  run,  three  quarter, 
and  five  quarter  screened  coal — quoted  at 
$1.35,  $1.35,  and  $1.45  respectively.  Some 

stocking  of  coal  is  reported  in  anticipation  of 
continued  advances. 

Last  week  some  operators  failed  to  get  more 
than  40  to  50%  of  car  requirements,  and  this 
against  consumers  calling  for  almost  double 
shipments  on  specifications. 

Monday  last  being  “All  Saints  Day,”  a  reli¬ 
gious  holiday  with  many,  production  was  ma¬ 
terially  cut  down,  which  caused  still  further 
inconvenience. 

Coke  producers  find  the  labor  question  more 
difficult  than  the  coal  operator  and  predict  that 
advanced  prices  for  labor  will  develop  even 
before  the  first  of  the  year,  all  these  factors 
tending  to  hold  prices  firm,  with  upward  trend. 

Spot  furnace  coke  is  bringing  $2.75  and  $2.85 
with  foundry  ranging  from  $3.00  to  $3.25.  The 
advance  in  pig  iron  has  put  sliding  scale  coke 
at  $2.40  figure,  and  a  further  advance  of  30c 
is  anticipated — the  contracts  calling  for  one- 
fifth  of  the  advance  in  pig. 

Some  inquiry  has  been  made  by  a  large 
Cleveland  interest  for  40,000  tons  furnace  coke 
for  the  first  quarter,  which  indicates  that  their 
present  requirements  are  not  being  met  by 
contracting  producers,  evidently  on  account  of 
the  labor  situation. 

A  number  of  rumors  have  been  afloat  for 
some  months  past,  regarding  mergers  of  large 
Pittsburgh  coal  interests,  the  past  week  devel¬ 
oping  a  new  one — quoted  below — supposedly 
originating  in  Philadelphia  and  appearing  in 
the  Pittsburgh  dailies. 

“It  is  understood  that  the  most  important 
railroads  entering  Pittsburgh,  and  the  Pitts¬ 
burgh  Coal  Company,  with  other  large  bi¬ 
tuminous  interests,  are  laying  plans  to  disinte¬ 
grate  the  Wabash-Pittsburgh  Terminal  System 
of  railroad  lines  and  coal  properties,  and  then 
virtually  to  annex  them. 

“The  coal  combination  proposed  would  take 
in  the  Pittsburgh  Terminal  Railroad  &  Coal 
Company’s  valuable  coal  lands  and  operating 
mines,  the  Pittsburgh  Buffalo  Company,  the 
Pittsburgh  &  Westmoreland  Coal  Company, 
the  United  Coa!l  Company,  the  Carnegie  Coal 
Company,  and  perhaps  others.  It  is  under¬ 
stood  that  such  new  company,  which  would 
have  a  producing  capacity  of  20,000,000  tons 
of  coal  a  year,  is  to  be  dominated  by  the 
Pittsburgh  Coal  Company.” 

A  call  at  the  headquarters  of  some  of  the 
companies  named  failed  to  get  a  confirmation 
of  the  above — in  fact,  it’  w'as  claimed  they 
knew  nothing  at  all  about  such  a  scheme.  It 
was  stated,  however,  by  one  party  that  “some¬ 
thing  was  evidently  going  on.’’  .^t  another 

office  ’twas  stated  that  a  number  of  wealthy 
Jewish  capitalists  in  the  cast  had  been  over 
looking  these  coal  properties  and  that  this 
fact  could  possibly  have  some  bearing  on  the 
above  quoted  proposition,  but  all  deny  any 
actual  knowledge  of  the  above  statements.  This 
rumor,  together  with  the  reports  of  two  weeks 


ago,  including  the  Bethlehem  Steel  interests  in 
a  similar  combine  of  Pittsburgh  companies, 
has  been  the  cause  of  much  inquiry  among  the 
trade,  and  yet,  nothing  of  a  tangible  nature 
can  be  found  on  which  an  opinion  could  be 
hazarded. 

River  interests  are  at  a  standstill  again  on 
account  of  low  water, — and  but  little  coal 
seems  to  be  accumulating  in  this  harbor,  the 
demand  from  other  directions  diverting  ship¬ 
ments  to  rail  when  it  can  be  accomplished. 

Local  domestic  trade  has  not  developed  to 
any  great  extent,  according  to  retailers’  state¬ 
ments,  but  a  decided  drop  in  the  temperature 
today,  if  continued,  will  undoubtedly  be  re¬ 
flected  in  an  increased  demand  for  coal  for 
home  consumption. 


Personal  and  News  Items. 

E.  A.  Upstill,  selling  agent  of  the  Keystone 
Coal  &  Coke  Company,  at  Cleveland,  spent 
some  days  in  Pittsburgh  this  week. 

The  Cannonsburg  (Pa.)  Gas  Coal  Company, 
which  sunk  a  shaft  north  of  the  Standard 
mill,  is  driving  its  entries  and  getting  ready 
to  mine  coal  on  an  extensive  scale.  The  shaft 
is  168  feet  deep,  and  eight  entries  have  been 
driven.  A  tipple  has  been  built,  and  some  coal 
is  being  taken  out. 

Two  miners  imprisoned  by  the  slide  in  the 
mine  of  Ford  Colliery  at  Curtsville  yesterday 
dug  themselves  out  this  morning,  thereby  re¬ 
viving  the  hope  that  Frank  Morgan,  the  fore¬ 
man  and  other  miners  may  be  reached  and  all 
be  rescued.  How  many  men  are  in  the  mine 
IS  not  known.  Thus  far  the  company  has  not 
been  able  to  check  up  the  men  with  any  de¬ 
gree  of  certainty. 

The  officers  of  the  Ohio  River  and  Great 
Lakes  Coal  Company  elected  officers  as  fol¬ 
lows:  T.  S.  Lackey,  president;  R.  W.  Gilmore, 
vice  president,  and  A.  D.  Williams,  secretary 
and  treasurer.  Other  members  of  the  board  of 
directors  are  Charles  Boehler,  J.  L.  Callard, 
Ray  V.  Hennen,  H.  L.  Silcox,  A.  W.  Cottom, 
Ida  T.  Hayes  and  Joseph  Gault.  This  com¬ 
pany  holds  a  tract  of  3,000  acres  along  the 
Ohio  river.  A  diamond  drill  test  well  bored 
on  the  land  two  weeks  ago  disclosed  a  six-foot 
ten-inch  vein,  of  which  si.x  inches  represents 
roof  coal. 

Construction  work  on  the  Chartiers  South¬ 
ern  Railroad,  a  branch  proposed  to  extend 
from  Van  Eman  to  Marianna,  which  was  sus¬ 
pended  late  last  year,  owing  to  industrial 
depression,  is  to  be  resumed  at  once  and  the 
work  pushed  to  completion.  The  roadbed  was 
graded  last  year,  bridges  constructed  at  points 
along  the  line  and  a  tunnel  driven  near  Glyde, 
but  there  is  yet  much  work  to  be  done.  The 
road  will  open  up  a  rich  coal  field  through  the 
Linden  valley  and  south  as  far  as  Ten  Mile 
creek.  It  is  being  built  by  the  Pennsylvania 
system. 

That  the  Consolidation  Coal  Company  will 
commence  immediately  to  develop  its  fiinga- 
mon  tract  of  coal,  lying  in  the  vicinity  of 
Wyatt,  in  this  county,  was  an  announcement 
made  at  the  Fairmont,  W.  Va.,  offices  of  the 
company.  To  get  the  coal  to  the  markets  the 
Western  Maryland  Railway  Company  will  con¬ 
struct  a  spur  from  the  M.  R.  division  of  the 
Baltimore  &  Ohio  Railroad  at  the  mouth  of 
Bingamon  creek,  to  Wyatt,  a  distance  of  eight 
miles.  Three  mines  will  be  opened  on  the 
tract  and  they  will  be  the  largest  and  most 
modern  in  the  Clarksburg  and  Fairmont  re¬ 
gion,  giving  employment,  when  at  their  normal 
capacity,  to  a  thousand  or  more  men. 

Plans  for  the  erection  of  400  new  ovens  for 
the  Alicia  works  of  W.  Harry  Brown,  near 
Brownsville,  have  been  drawn.  It  is  under¬ 
stood  that  some  changes  will  be  made  in  the 
engineer’s  plan  and  the  work  on  the  new  ovens 
will  hardly  commence  until  the  first  of  next 
month.  The  Alicia  works  are  among  the  most 
up-to-date,  independent  plants  in  Fayette 
county.  It  has  one  of  the  large  cranes  that 
carry  coal  to  the  river,  where  it  is  deposited 
into  waiting  barges  and  shipped  down  the 
river.  The  new  opening  at  Ali<;ia  No.  2  has 
been  cleaned  and  the  main  heading  is  now 
being  extended  to  the  boundry  line  and  it  is  in 
excellent  condition  for  the  development  of  the 
large  coal  acreage  that  is  owned  by  this  com¬ 
pany. 


M.  B.  Schofield,  president,  M.  B.  Schofield  Com¬ 
pany,  Oklahoma  City,  spent  several  days  last 
week  in  McAlester  calling  on  operators  who  suii- 
ply  his  company  its  tonnage  of  coal.  Mr.  Scho¬ 
field  predicts  a  fine  winter’s  business. 


Birmingham  Trade. 


Birmingham,  Ala.,  November  4. —  (Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — The  coal  operators  report  a  steady 
business  as  compared  with  what  has  been,  but 
there  is  room  for  improvement.  The  market  is 
a  little  quiet  again,  due,  no  doubi,  to  the  weath¬ 
er.  Domestic  coal  has  had  a  slump. 

Steam  coal  demand  is  not  as  large  as  the  out¬ 
put,  but  is  in  fair  condition.  The  railroad  de¬ 
mand  is  increasing.  Most  of  the  cotton  oil 
mills  are  all  running. 

■‘The  coal  business  is  feeling  the  effect  of  a 
little  depression,”  says  J.  L.  Davidson  of  the 
Alabama  Coal  Operators’  Association,  “but  there 
is  hope  of  an  early  recovery.  The  weather  con¬ 
ditions  have  great  effect,  and  the  increase  in 
freight  rates  on  coal  into  Louisiana  from  the 
Alabama  fields  also  has  had  some  effect.  How¬ 
ever,  the  river  transportation  facilities  are  com¬ 
ing  to  the  rescue  of  Alabama  operators  to  some 
extent,  but  many  consumers  have  always  been 
receiving  their  supplies  of  coal  via  rail  and  are 
still  looking  to  that  mode  of  delivery. 

Coking  coal  is  still  in  good  demand,  with  fur¬ 
naces  taking  large  tonnages.  Blacksmith  trade 
is  only  fair. 

Intimation  is  given  in  coal  circles  that  the 
Sloss-Sheffield  Steel  &  Iron  Company  a  little 
later  will  participate  in  the  Warrior  river  trans¬ 
portation  movement  from  this  section  into  New 
Orleans.  A  trip  made  by  J.  W.  McQueen,  vice- 
president  of  the  company,  up  the  river  from  Mo¬ 
bile  to  Tuscaloosa  last  week,  as  one  of  the  guests 
of  E.  L.  Paulley  of  the  Standard  Oil  Company 
in  a  yacht  brought  to  mind  the  possibilities  of 
the  river  facilities.  Mr.  McQueen,  having  made 
the  trip  before,  acted  as  pilot.  Estimates  were 
made  that  by  adding  a  few  more  feet  to  the  locks 
a  ten-foot  draught  could  be  attained  on  the  river. 
There  is  a  steady  downward  movement  of  coal 
on  the  river. 

Figures  in  hand  on  coal  production  indicate 
that  the  Alabama  mines  will  show  an  aggre¬ 
gate  output  in  1915  equal  to,  if  not  better,  than 
those  of  1912,  when  16,513,040  tons  were  mined. 
Chief  State  Mine  Inspector  C.  H.  Nesbit  this 
year  is  not  looking  for  the  high-water  mark  at¬ 
tained  in  1914  of  17,907,284  tons,  as  the  coal 
business  has  been  rather  dull. 

Inspector  Nesbitt  went  to  Walker  county  on 
Tuesday  to  make  a  full  inspection  of  the  strip 
mining  that  has  been  started  there.  The  pro- 
('uction  is  being  increased  and  it  promises  to  be 
of  consequence.  The  coal,  too,  it  is  understood, 
is  proving  to  be  of  good  quality. 

“Of  all  the  large  industries  in  the  Birmingham 
district,  coal  mining  has  been  the  slowest  in  start¬ 
ing  on  the  line  to  improvement,  but  at  last  there 
are  signs  of  better  business  for  the  operators,” 
said  H.  E.  McCormick.  “Railroad  traffic  is 
increasing,  and  when  the  railroads  are  busy 
the  demand  for  coal  output,  as  a  matter  of 
course,  increases.  I  am  expecting  to  see  a  very 
decided  imp-ovement  in  the  coal  trade  during 
the  next  few  weeks.” 

Coke  continues  interesting  and  there  is  a  steady 
production  wherever  possible.  The  by-product 
plants  are  in  full  operation  and  there  is  a  de¬ 
mand  for  every  product.  The  repairs  to  the  big 
benzol  plant  of  the  Tennessee  Coal,  Iron  &  Rail¬ 
road  Company  at  Fairfield  of  the  damage  done 
through  the  explosion  two  weeks  ago  have  been 
rushed  and  the  interruption  will  soon  be  for¬ 
gotten. 

Prices  for  October  and  the  balance  of  the  year : 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Bibb  County  Domestic  Coal —  Mines.  Birmingham. 

Red  ash  Cahaba  lump .  $3. (Id  $3.30 

Red  ash  Cahaba  lump .  2.7.‘>  3.10 

Red  Ash  steam  size .  1.20(®1.35  Frt.  rate  30c 

Jefferson  County — 

Fancy  steam  Pratt .  1.75  2.00 

Run  of  mine  Pratt .  1.20(^1.25  1.45@1.50 

Mary  Lee  lump .  1.40@1.50  1.80(gl.90 

Black  Creek — 

Fancy  steam  lump .  1.75  2.05 

Washed  nut  .  1.76  2.05 

Washed  steam .  1.35(®1.60  Frt.  rate  30e 

Mine  run .  1.35@1.40  Frt.  rate  30c 

Jefferson  Steam  Coal — 

Mine  run .  1.15(31.25  Frt.  rate  30c 

Walker  County  Domestic  Coal — 

Carbon  Hill  lump  .  1.75  2.15 

Carbon  Hill  egg .  1.65  2.05 

Horse  Creek  mine  run .  1.00@1.20  Frt.  rate  40c 

Genuine  Corona — 

Lump  .  2.00  2.40 

Egg  .  1.90  2.35 

Steam  sizes .  1.25@1.35  Frt.  rate  40c 

Shelby  County  Domestic  Coal — 

Cahaba  fancy  lump  .  3.00  3.30 

Cahaba  No.  2  lump  .  2.75  8.05 

Montevallo  domestic  prices  ranging  from  $3.00  to  $3.25, 
Blacksmith  coal,  washed  and  screened,  per  ton,  $2.00  »o 
$2.25  at  mines,  with  different  rates  to  various  points. 


W.  E.  Beaty  of  McAlester,  formerly  president 
of  the  defunct  Dow  Coal  ConiDany,  was  in  Okla¬ 
homa  City  last  week.  Mr.  Beaty  shows  signs 
of  getting  back  into  the  wholesale  game. 


380 


rilE  BLACK  I>IA3IOM) 


[November  6 


Cincinnati  Trade. 


A  Vast  Improvement  in  Industrial  Condi¬ 
tions  Has  Increased  Tonnage  and 
Advanced  Coal  Prices. 

CiNC'i.N’NATi,  Ohio,  Novemlifr  4. — 
Correspondence.) — W  hile  the  past  week  lias  been 
one  of  beautiful  Indian  summer,  and  while  at 
times  the  temperature  has  been  pretty  high, 
the  trade  here  has  not  felt  any  dimimiation 
of  demand  for  coal,  except  in  some  few  cases. 
It  was  apparent  that  the  dealers  had  made  up 
their  minds  that  this  is  the  time  to  prepare 
for  their  winter  trade,  and  they  have  been 
insistent  on  buying  and  signing  up  contracts 
and  completing  preparations  for  the  rush  that 
is  imminent.  In  a  few  fields  some  easing  up 
of  demand  for  lump  coal  has  been  noted,  but 
the  demand  for  other  grades,  especially  run  of 
mine,  has  offset  the  slump.  In  fact,  in  some 
places  lump  demand  has  been  discouraged,  the 
demand  for  run  of  minelieing  so  strong  that  it 
was  more  profitable  to  let  run  of  mine  take 
the  precedence. 

The  first  easing  down  of  demand  for  lump 
coal  was  felt  in  the  smokeless  districts  this 
week,  but  contract  demand  was  heavier  and 
absorbed  the  production.  The  smokeless 
trade  is  in  good  shape,  how'ever. 

Until  now  the  splint  operator  has  not  been 
able  to  breathe  normally,  some  trouble  or 
other  confronting  him.  Even  now  a  short  car 
supply  is  preventing  him  from  reaping  a  har¬ 
vest.  As  a  general  thing  demand  has  been 
strong  and  steady,  regardless  of  the  weather 
appearance.  Delivery  has  been  only  fair,  even 
of  contract  requirements,  most  of  the  opera¬ 
tions  being  behind  from  one  to  three  weeks. 

Prices  have  been  from  ten  to  twenty-five 
cents  in  advance  over  September  prices  and 
free  coal  of  almost  every  grade  has  disap¬ 
peared.  Operators  are  still  holding  out  of  the 
market  and  looking  to  delivery  and  car  supply, 
and  large  consumers,  beginning  to  be  uneasy, 
are  looking  about  for  operators  who  are  will¬ 
ing  to  contract  to  take  care  of  their  require¬ 
ments. 

The  general  business  situation  in  this  district 
is  excellent.  The  financial  market  is  very 
strong  now  and  demand  for  money  for  com¬ 
mercial  and  industrial  business  is  rising  in  a 
gratifying  way.  Workmen  are,  more  and  more, 
going  into  employment,  and  the  activity  in 
steel  and  iron  is  now  gradually  spreading 
among  other  industrial  plants.  The  stock  mar¬ 
kets  are  discounting  the  situation  six  months 
ahead,  indicating  that  a  business  revival  is  here 
and  will  continue  a  year  at  least,  or  until  the 
war  is  over.  All  this  is  bringing  money  into 
the  coffers  of  the  coal  man,  and  for  the  first 
time  in  a  twelve-month,  he  is  beginning  to  perk 
up  and  “get  into  the  game.” 

In  the  meantime  the  car  supply,  which  eased 
up  the  past  week,  but  not  to  a  point  of  relief, 
is  a  factor  of  benefit  to  prices.  The  labor 
supply  is  dwindling  in  almost  every  field.  The 
tonnage  is  shrinking,  but  the  purse  of  the  coal 
operator  is  swelling  with  more  profits.  Labor 
is  not  employed  constantly  and  this  engenders 
restlessness,  and  the  miners  are  shifting  from 
place  to  place  looking  for  steady  work  and 
finding  it  not,  as  a  general  thing. 


Cincinnati  Trade  News. 

C.  D.  Weeks  of  the  Milwaukee  Coke  &  Gas 
Company  was  a  visitor  in  the  city  this  week. 

W.  M.  Puckett  of  the  Cabin  Creek  Consoli¬ 
dated  Coal  Company,  and  Quinn  Morton  of 
the  Imperial  Coal  Company  were  among  the 
visitors  in  Cincinnati  Tuesday. 

Among  well-known  coal  men  visiting  Cin¬ 
cinnati  this  week  were  Col.  Sam  Patterson  and 
George  Patterson  of  Sycamore.  W.  Va.;  Capt. 
Bud  Bailey  of  Williamson,  C.  M.  Gates  of 
Williamson,  and  M.  Shoew,  a  w'ell-known 
operator  of  the  West  Virginia  fields. 

Henry  C.  Geyer,  sixty  years  of  age,  a  coal 
salesman  in  the  employ  of  the  Rapp  Coal  Min¬ 
ing  Company  of  this  city,  was  killed,  and 
George  Rapp,  president  of  the  company,  in¬ 
jured,  but  not  seriously,  in  an  automobile  acci¬ 
dent  Monday  morning  north  of  the  city.  Mr. 
Rapp  was  driving  the  machine,  when  the  steer¬ 
ing  gear  broke  and  the  auto  climbed  a  bank 
and  fell  over  backward  on  the  occupants.  Mr. 
Rapp  was  rescued  a  short  time  later,  and  his 
companion,  who  was  thrown  across  him,  was 
found  dead. 

'Fhe  White  .\sh  coal  operators  of  West 


Virginia  had  a  meeting  a  few  days  ago  in 
Cincinnati,  holding  a  conference  over  a  dinner 
at  the  Business  Men’s  club.  The  conference 
related  to  the  matter  of  car  supply  and  other 
matters  of  railroad  and  coal  business.  No  defi¬ 
nite  action  was  taken,  all  consideration  of  such 
matters  being  deferred  until  after  the  rate 
decision,  if  there  should  be  any,  is  asked  for 
and  given.  It  is  understood  that  there  is  con¬ 
siderable  dissatisfaction  at  the  car  situation 
among  operators,  and  it  was  with  the  intention 
of  voicing  this  the  conference  was  held. 

An  important  conference  was  held  here 
.Saturday  in  reference  to  the  application  for  a 
further  widening  of  differential  between  Ohio 
and  West  Virginia  coals.  This  conference  was 
called  by  Hon.  Z.  Taylor  Vincent  of  Hunting- 
ton,  W.  Va.,  who  is  in  charge  of  the  defense 
of  West  Virginia  operators  and  the  business 
of  the  state  in  reference  to  the  proposed  appli¬ 
cation  of  the  four  coal  carrying  railroads  of 
West  Virginia  and  Kentucky  for  a  further  dif¬ 
ferential  of  fifteen  cents  in  the  carrying  rate  of 
West  Virginia  coal  into  the  northwest.  The 
conference  was  held  over  a  fine  luncheon  at 
Sinton  hotel.  It  was  attended  by  ten  or  twelve 
representative  coal  operators  of  the  field  af¬ 
fected  by  the  proposed  rate  raise.  Mr.  Vin¬ 
cent  explained  the  situation  and  stated  that 
if  the  proposed  fifteen  cents  additional  differ¬ 
ential  were  granted  and  the  Ohio  coal  opera¬ 
tors  were  allowed  the  decrease  of  rate  asked 
for  in  Ohio,  the  differential  between  Ohio  and 
West  Virginia  coals  would  be  the  twenty-five 
cents  already  given,  plus  fifteen  cents  proposed 
by  the  railroads  outside  of  Ohio,  plus  the  five 
or  ten  cents  decrease  applied  for  in  Ohio, 
making  the  actual  differential  somewhere 
around  sixty  or  sixty-five  cents.  The  opera¬ 
tors  decided  that  they  would  enter  the  fight 
in  Ohio  in  all  probability.  Mr.  Vincent  being 
authorized  to  look  into  the  situation  and  report 
as  to  the  advisability  of  trying  to  defeat  the 
proposed  reduction  in  Ohio,  as  well  as  to 
defeat  the  proposed  addition  to  the  differential 
by  the  interstate  commerce  commission.  Mr. 
Vincent  represents  the  West  Virginia  Coal 
Operators’  Association,  the  Chamber  of  Com¬ 
merce  of  Huntington  and  a  number  of  other 
West  Virginia  coal  associations  and  business 
men’s  organizations,  and  is  in  charge  of  the 
details  of  the  fight  against  the  fifteen-cent 
Iiroposition.  He  is  aided  by  a  number  of  other 
eminent  counsel  from  the  various  towns  and 
cities  of  West  Virginia,  who  will  take  charge 
of  special  branches  of  the  defense,  as  well  as 
by  the  legal  firms  of  Brown,  Jackson  &  Knight 
of  Charleston,  and  Littleford,  James,  Ballard 
&  Frost  of  Washington,  D.  C.  Operators 
present  at  the  Sinton  hotel  conference  were: 
C.  R.  Moriarty  of  the  Cabin  Creek  Consoli¬ 
dated  Coal  Company;  E.  J.  Howe,  president 
of  the  Cincinnati  Coal  Exchange  and  repre¬ 
sentative  of  the  Pocahontas  Fuel  Company; 
Thomas  H.  Richardson,  representing  the  Con¬ 
solidation  Coal  Company;  Kuper  Hood  of  the 
Houston  Coal  Company;  R.  A.  Colter  of  the 
C.  G.  Blake  Company;  L.  M.  Webb  of  the 
Webb  Fuel  Company;  R.  H.  Bartlit  of  the 
Darby  Coal  Company;  D.  H.  Jenks  of  the 
Producers’  Coal  Company;  Mr.  Cunningham 
of  Huntington;  J.  M.  Wright  of  the  Raleigh 
Coal  &  Coke  Company,  and  others;  also  Mr. 
Guy  M.  Freer,  manager  of  the  Traffic  Associ¬ 
ation  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  Cincin¬ 
nati,  and  Mr.  Vincent. 


Denver  Trade. 


Denver,  November  4. —  (Special  Correspond¬ 
ence.)— Continued  warm  weather  in  this  section 
for  almost  two  weeks  has  resulted  in  a  dull 
market  here  and  the  snappy  vitality  of  _  three 
weeks  ago  has  been  almost  completely  dissipated. 
At  that  time  leading  concerns  were  actually  be¬ 
hind  on  the  filling  of  orders  and  the  recent 
dullness  has  given  them  a  good  opportunity  to 
catch  up. 

Locally  there  seems  to  be  a  fairly  steady  de¬ 
mand  for  storage  coal  by  domestic  users,  and 
this  has  greatly  aided  the  retailers.  This  de¬ 
mand  also  extends  to  country  trade,  but  is  not 
so  insistent. 

The  Trinidad  and  Walsenburg  tonnage  is  lead¬ 
ing  other  districts  this  week,  with  the  lignite  out¬ 
put  a  close  second.  The  Trinidad  operators  are 
busy  on  steam  contracts  and  the  steel  mills  are 
working  day  and  night  on  war  orders.  The  lig¬ 
nite  output  is  going  largely  to  fill  late  threshing 
requirements  and  to  supply  the  sugar  factories, 
all  of  which  are  now  in  full  operation.  Routt 
county  is  said  to  be  well  up  on  back  orders. 

IJgTiite  slack  is  moving  slowly  this  week,  but 


better  than  bituminous.  The  supply  of  the  latter 
rather  exceeds  the  demand.  Prices  remain  un¬ 
changed. 

The  following  prices  are  ruling  for  lignite  coal, 
f.  o.  b.  mines :  For  Denver  delivery,  lump,  $2.35 
to  $2.65 ;  mine  run,  $1.50  to  $1.65 ;  slack,  $1.05  to 
$1.25.  For  points  outside  of  Denver,  lump,  $2.50; 
mine  run,  $1.55  to  $1.65;  slack,  $1.05 


Detroit  Trade. 


Detroit,  Mich.,  November  1. —  {.Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — With  the  steam  coal  trade  show¬ 
ing  less  activity  than  two  weeks  ago,  there  has 
been  little  increase  in  the  amount  of  business 
being  transacted  in  domestic  coal  . 

The  situation  in  the  steam  coal  market  is  ex¬ 
pected  to  show  a  change  for  the  better  speedily. 
With  increasing  activity  developing  in  lines  of 
general  business  and  among  the  manufacturing 
establishments  of  the  city,  the  shippers  argue  the 
present  lighter  demand  for  coal  cannot  long 
continue,  as  iew  of  the  consumers  have  stocks 
of  any  special  magnitude. 

Buying  of  fine  coal  continues  more  active  than 
the  market  for  larger  sizes.  Dealers  are  still 
able  to  supply  sufficient  fine  coal  to  meet  needs 
of  their  customers,  although  this  stock  is  less 
plentiful  than  other  coal,  while  shortage  of  rail¬ 
road  rolling  stock  is  growing  in  importance  as  a 
factor  in  the  situation. 

Weather  conditions  have  remained  unfavorable 
to  extension  of  the  domestic  coal  trade,  warm 
temperature  throughout  the  day  and  only  moder¬ 
ately  cold  nights  making  it  possible  for  many  con¬ 
sumers  to  economize  on  fuel  or  dispense  entirely 
with  its  use.  Lower  temperature  is  adding  a 
more  frosty  touch  to  the  atmosphere  this  week 
and  may  stimulate  activity  in  domestic  coal. 

Retail  dealers  find  the  distribution  of  anthracite 
is  backward.  The  theory  is  advanced  that  some 
of  those  who  usually  buy  early  were  deterred 
from  doing  so  by  lack  of  available  funds,  due  to 
the  unsatisfactory  condition  of  general  business, 
during  the  first  part  of  the  year  and  that  others 
have  held  off  on  placing  orders  because  of  the 
warmth  of  the  weather.  The  tirders  coming  to 
shippers  are  described  as  fewer  in  number  and 
representing  a  lesser  tonnage  than  usual  at  this 
time  of  the  year. 

On  the  lakes  the  coal  trade  is  apparently  side¬ 
tracked  by  the  strong  demand  for  freighters  to 
move  grain  and  iron  ore  down  the  lakes.  High 
rates  offered  wild  carriers  to  handle  grain  and 
increased  committments  of  ore  shippers  combine 
in  creating  a  demand  for  as  speedy  dispatch  as 
possible  in  both  lines,  the  result  being  that  ex¬ 
cept  for  vessels  under  contract,  little  tonnage 
is  offered  to  move  coal.  The  rate  on  hard  coal 
from  Buffalo  to  side  jiorts  on  Lake  Michigan 
was  advanced  from  30  to  .50  cents  a  ton  during 
the  week  in  the  effort  to  get  boats  for  a  route 


which  offers  little  grain  or  ore  for  the  return 

trip. 

No  advance  m  rates 

of 

freight  on 

soft  coal 

has  been  reported  yet. 

except  in  the  case  of  a 

few  small  cargoes  to 

out 

of  the  way 

delivery 

points. 

Prices  in  the  local  market  on  mine 

shipment 

orders  are  as  follows : 

West  Virginia  Gas — 
Three-quarter  lump . 

F.  O.  B. 
Mines. 
$1.00 

F.  O.  B. 
Detroit. 
$2.40 

Mine  run . 

.90 

2.30 

Slack  . 

.60®  .75 

2.00®2.15 

West  Virginia  Splint — 

Four-inch  lump . 

.  1.45@1.75 

2.85@3.15 

Two-inch  lump . 

.  .  1.20@1.40 

2.60@2.80 

Three-quarter  . 

1.10 

2.50 

Mine  run . 

.90 

2.30 

Nut,  pea  and  slack . 

.55@  .65 

1.95@2.05 

Smokeless — 

Lump  and  egg  . 

2.25 

3.85 

Nut  . 

1.75 

3.36 

Slack  . . 

.  Open 

Open 

Mine  run . 

1.40 

3.00 

Kentucky  Splint— 

Lump  . 

3.00®3.15 

Egg  . 

.  1.25@1.40 

2.66®2.80 

Nut.  pea  and  slack . 

.65 

2.05 

Fairmount — 

Three-quarter  steam  lump.  . 

.  .85®  .95 

t.26®3.3S 

Mine  run . 

.  .70®  .80 

2.10®2.*0 

Slack  . . 

.  Open 

Open 

Hocking  Valley — 

Shaker  three-inch  lump  .  . 

1.60 

2.75 

Shaker  egg  and  nut . 

1.15 

3.30 

Domestic  lump  . 

1.50 

2.65 

Three-quarter  lump . 

1.35 

2.40 

Mine  run . 

.  1.90@1.10 

2.15®2.26 

Nut.  pea  and  slack . 

Open 

Open 

Pittsburgh  No.  8 — 

Three-quarter  lump  . 

1.05 

2.20 

Mine  run  . 

.95 

2.10 

Slack  . 

Open 

Open 

Jackson  Hill — 

Domestic  lump . 

2.50 

3.65 

Cambridge — 

Three-quarter  lump . 

1.20 

2.53 

Mine  run . 

1.10 

2. *5 

Pomeroy — 

Two  and  three-inch  lump.  . . 

1.60 

2.76 

Egg  . 

1.35 

2.60 

Slack  . 

Open 

Open 

No.  191 


THE  BLACK  DIA3IOM) 


381 


Cleveland  Trade. 


Clevel.\nii,  Ohio,  November  4. —  (Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — Although  there  has  been  a  suffi¬ 
cient  amount  of  business  to  go  around,  as  the 
situation  was  expressed  in  one  office,  it  has  al¬ 
tered  market  conditions  very  little,  except  as  it 
pertains  to  the  various  slacks  which  are  quoted 
generally  five  cents  higher  than  a  week  ago.  Steam 
lump  has  shown  no  change  either  way,  and  pro¬ 
ducers  and  jobbers  are  rather  uncertain  as  to  the 
future  unless  there  should  be  a  change  in  weather 
conditions  that  would  necessitate  an  increase  in 
consumption.  It  is  possible  that  the  advance 
in  slack  prices  is  partly  due,  at  least,  to  the  de¬ 
mand  for  the  supply  on  the  market  to  complete 
a  large  contract  of  one  of  the  Cleveland  offices. 
This,  hov.'ever,  was  for  a  particular  kind  of  coal, 
but  probably  had  an  effect  on  all. 

The  prevailing  soft  weather  for  the  past  week 
or  more  has  had  a  demoralizing  effect  on  do¬ 
mestic  coals.  While  it  is  believed  that  the  stocks 
are  not  up  to  the  average,  dealers  have  failed  to 
take  advantage  of  the  present  conditions  to  com¬ 
plete  them.  All  grades  and  kinds  of  domestic 
coal  are  showing  the  effects  of  this  situation. 

The  anthracite  situation  was  well  illustrated 
in  a  circular  letter  mailed  to  dealers  this  week 
by  John  S.  Van  Epps,  who  is  one  of  the  best 
posted  anthracite  men  in  the  country.  He  states 
that  the  stocks  are  3,000,000  tons  below  normal 
in  a  given  territory  and  that  some  of  the  dealers 
will  find  themselves  short  if  they  do  not  take  care 
of  their  needs  soon.  While  the  fall  has  been 
very  mild,  it  is  hardly  probable  that  the  weather 
of  last  winter  will  be  duplicated  later  on.  There 
is  no  desire,  of  course,  on  the  part  of  producers 
to  stock  retailers  beyond  their  needs,  but  it  is 
always  difficult  to  deliver  anthracite  on  short 
order  in  severe  weather. 

It  is  said  that  lake  shippers  are  offering  a 
somewhat  better  figure  than  in  the  past  in  order 
to  clear  up  surplus  coal  and  liberate  cars  at  the 
different  ports.  However,  the  price  is  still  low. 
Little  tonnage  is  being  offered  and  coal  is  for 
tlie  most  part  going  forward  in  contract  boats. 

The  market  for  Coshocton  coal  this  season  has 
been  fairly  satisfactory,  although  the  weather 
has  interfered  with  the  best  results.  Quotations 
today  are  as  follows: 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Coshocton —  Mines.  Cleveland. 

I-ump,  4-incli  screened . $1.7()@1.75  $2.4n@2.45 

I'T-inch  .  I.fi0@l.fi5  2.3()@2.35 

Kgg  and  nut .  l..S0@1.3.5  2.00@2.p5 

There  is  a  greater  demand  for  No.  8  coals  at 

the  prices  quoted  than  for  some  time  past,  but  it 
has  not  been  sufficient  to  change  the  market  fig¬ 
ures  to  any  extent,  with  the  exception  of  slack, 
which  is  firm  at  five  cents  higher  than  a  week  ago. 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

No.  8  District —  Mines.  Cleveland. 

Three-quarters  . $1.05@1.10  $1.95@2.00 

Run  of  mine  .  .95  1.85 

Slack  .  .80  1.70 

Pittsburgh  slack  has  shown  more  strength  than 
usual  the  past  week,  and  is  generally  quoted  at 
higher  prices  than  prevailed  a  few  days  ago.  No 
other  sizes  are  active  on  this  market  at  the  pres¬ 
ent  time,  except  in  the  lake  movement. 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Pittsburgh  District —  Mines.  Cleveland. 

Slack  . $0.80@  .90  $1.80@1.90 

Youghiogheny  slack  remains  at  a  standstill  so 
far  as  price  is  concerned,  without  any  change  in 
the  market  figures  from  a  week  ago. 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Youghiogheny —  Mines.  Cleveland. 

Slack  .  .85  1.85 

The  weather  for  the  past  week  has  militated 
against  the  sale  of  smokeless  coals.  While  the 
retailers  are  perhaps  carrying  light  stocks,  they 
are  not  exerting  themselves  to  secure  supplies. 
The  prices  remain  on  the  lower  level  reached  a 
week  ago. 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Smokeless—  Mines.  Cleveland. 

I.ump  .  $2.10  $3.55 

Kgg  .  2.10  3.55 

Run  of  mine .  1.30  2.75 

Weather  conditions  have  enal)led  Massillon  pro¬ 
ducers  to  catch  up  pretty  well  with  their  orders. 
Otherwise  there  has  been  practically  no  change 
in  the  market. 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Massillon —  .Mines.  Cleveland. 

Bump  .  $2.50  $3.20 

Nut  .  2.50  3.20 

Slack  .  .90  1.60 

While  Cambridge  slack  has  been  in  fair  de¬ 
mand,  the  reported  quotation  is  about  the  same 
as  last  week,  and  there  has  been  no  change 

whatever  in  the  larger  sizes. 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Cambridge —  Mines.  Cleveland. 

I'hree-nuarters  .  $1.10  $2.00 

Run  of  mine .  1.00  1.90 

Slack  .  .00  1.80 


There  has  been  no  particularly  active  movement 
in  Goshen  coals,  with  the  exception  of  slack, 
which  has  held  its  own  with  the  other  slacks  in 
the  market. 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Coshen —  Mines.  Cleveland. 

Slack  .  1.60@1.65 


Fairmont  slack,  while  but  little  of  it  is  being  re¬ 
ceived  in  this  market,  because  of  the  continued 
demand  from  the  east,  quoted  at  the  same  fig¬ 
ures  it  commanded  a  week  ago. 

F.  O.  B.  F.  (X  B. 

Fairmont — ■  Mines.  Cleveland. 

Slack  .  1.90 

There  has  been  little  change  in  the  situation 
as  pertains  to  Kentucky  coals. 

F.  ().  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Kentucky —  Mines.  Cleveland. 

4-incb  block.... . $1.90^2.00  $3.15@3.25 


Cleveland  News  and  Personals. 

George  G.  Rowland  of  the  Richland  Coal  Com¬ 
pany,  Wheeling,  W.  Va.,  was  in  the  city  Wednes¬ 
day. 

C.  W.  Troll  of  the  Troll  Coal  Mining  Com¬ 
pany  has  returned  from  St.  Clairsville,  where  he 
spent  the  past  month  in  overseeing  preparations 
for  clearing  up  the  second  of  the  company’s 
tiiree  mines  for  operation. 

Capt.  J.  M.  Drake  of  the  Drake  Coal  Company 
left  Monday  for  his  winter  home  in  the  Isle  of 
Pines.  Captain  Drake  for  the  past  several  years 
has  spent  his  winters  on  the  island,  where  he 
owns  eonsiderable  property. 

Virgil  .).  Terrill,  former  state  senator,  was  de¬ 
feated  for  municipal  judge  in  Cleveland.  He 
opposed  the  amendment  of  the  coal  screen  bill 
last  winter  and  the  coal  colony  here  was  solid 
in  opposition  to  his  election. 

li.  F.  Alills,  Cleveland  sales  agent  of  the  Pitts¬ 
burgh  &  Westmoreland  Coal  Company,  is  a  splen¬ 
did  codl  man,  but  he  met  with  hot  competition 
in  his  race  for  mayor  in  Lakewood  and  finally 
left  the  honors  with  the  present  incumbent.  Mr. 
Aiill.s  has  developed  into  a  good  speaker  and  con¬ 
ducted  liis  campaign  like  a  veteran. 

What  is  known  as  the  Barber  franchise  was 
approved  by  the  voters  at  the  election  Tuesday. 
This  gives  the  Cleveland,  Canton  &  Akron  Ter¬ 
minal  Railroad  Company  a  right  to  construct  a 
four-track  subway  under  East  Fifty-fifth  street, 
which  will  give  all  railroads  entering  the  city 
from  the  south  and  southeast  a  route  through 
the  city  to  the  lake  front,  where  the  company 
is  planning  to  erect  a  large  coal  loading  plant 
and  grain  elevator.  So  far,  all  freight  boats  have 
been  compelled  to  dock  in  the  Cuyahoga  river 
and  railroads  often  found  difficulty  in  getting  coal 
lo  tlie  loading  plants.  This  will  lie  a  great  im¬ 
provement.  Ohio  C.  Barber,  head  of  the  great 
match  manufacturing  business  at  Barberton,  Ohio, 
is  the  president  of  the  company. 


Indianapolis  Trade. 


Indianapolis,  Ind.,  November  4. — (Special 
Correspondence.) — Sensitive  to  weather  condi¬ 
tions,  the  coal  trade  in  Indiana  has  suffered  dur¬ 
ing  the  last  few  days.  The  demand  for  domes¬ 
tic  call  has  fallen  off  perceptibly.  Many  opera¬ 
tors  report  that  retailers  are  countermanding  or¬ 
ders  for  immediate  delivery.  The  operators  have 
lieen  behind  in  their  orders  for  domestic,  as  the 
retailers  had  been  making  strong  demands  on 
them.  However,  the  weather  has  favored  the 
consumer  during  the  past  few  days,  and  the  con¬ 
sumption  of  domestic  coal  has  fallen  off.  Most 
of  the  mines  are  being  operated  as  most  of  the 
mining  companies  were  behind  in  their  orders 
when  the  warm  weather  arrived. 

The  demand  for  steam  coal  is  about  the  same 
as  it  was  last  month.  It  is  fairly  good,  but  not 

what  it  is  reputed  to  be  or  ought  to  be  for  this 

time  of  the  year.  Some  of  the  operators  and 
jobbers  are  still  inclined  to  be  pessimistic  about 
business  conditions,  doubting  seriously  whether 
the  much  talked-of  boom  is  upon  us  or  is  about 

to  come.  There  is  a  lietter  tone  to  all  lines  of 

business  as  compared  to  this  time  a  year  ago  or 
even  six  months  ago,  but  some  shrewd  mercantile 
business  men  saying  they  are  getting  by  in  good 
shape  because  they  are  operating  on  a  less  ex¬ 
pensive  scale.  It  is  a  fact  that  there  are  more 
empty  houses  here  than  there  have  been  for  a 
long  time,  which  naturally  militates  against  a 
steady  and  strong  demand  for  domestic  coal. 
Mine  run  is  still  selling  from  $1.00  to  $1.30  a 
ton  at  the  mines,  according  to  the  grade.  As 
high  as  seventy  and  sevent'^-five  cents  a  ton  is 
being  paid  for  best  screenings  at  the  mines,  but 
the  demand  is  not  abnormal.  Best  domestic  brings 
.IH.OO  at  the  mines,  but  most  of  the  sales  range 


from  $1.40  to  $1.50.  The  following  prices  are 
being  quoted  by  the  wholesalers : 


K.  O.  B. 

F'.  O.  B. 

Indiana— 

Mines.  I 

ndianapolis. 

Mine  run.  No.  4 . 

.  .  .$1.10@1.20 

$1.60@1.60 

Mine  run,  Nos,  5  and  . 

.  .  .  1.05@1,15 

1.55@1.65 

Nut  . 

1.70@1.80 

Kgg  . 

1.80@1.90 

H  4 -inch  steam  lump . 

1.75@1.85 

No.  4  screenings . 

1.20@1.25 

Nos.  5  and  0  screenings . 

.  .  ,  .55 @  .65 

1.05@1.15 

2j4-inch  domestic  No.  4 . 

.  .  .  1.50@1.55 

2.00  @2.05 

No.  4  domestic . 

...  1.60@1.65 

2.10@2.15 

Nos.  5  and  6  domestic . 

...  ].40@1.60 

1.90@2.10 

Brazil  block  domestic . 

...  2.25@2.5n 

2.75@2.50 

No.  1  washed  coal . 

1.75 

2.2.) 

No,  2  washed  coal . 

1.6.') 

2.15 

Southern  Indiana  Field — 

.  .  .  1.05@  1.10 

Domestic  lump . 

_  1.40@].50 

The  retailers  are  quoting  the  following  prices 
per  ton:  Linton  No.  4  forked,  $3.25;  Indiana 
lump  forked,  $3.00 ;  Indiana  lump  and  egg, 
screened,  $3.75 ;  Kanawha  lump,  forked,  $4.25 ; 
Ohio  Hocking,  lump,  $4.25 ;  Ohio  Hocking,  wash 
egg,  $4.50 ;  Kentucky  lump,  $4.50 ;  Ohio  Jackson 
lump,  forked,  $5.00;  Blossburg  smithing,  $5.50; 
Cannel  lump,  $6.00 ;  Pocahontas  forked,  lump, 
$6.00 ;  Pocahontas  shoveled  lump,  $5.50 ;  Pocahon¬ 
tas  mine  run,  $4.50 ;  Pocahontas  nut  and  slack, 
$3.75  ;  anthracite,  chestnut,  $8.25  ;  anthracite,  stove 
and  egg,  $8.00 ;  anthracite,  grate,  $7.75 ;  Con- 
nellsville  coke,  $6.00 ;  Indianapolis  by-product 
coke  (all  sizes),  $6.00.  Extra  delivery  charges: 
Bags,  fifty  cents  a  ton  extra,  ground  floor,  or 
dumped  in  cellar ;  bags,  seventy-five  cents  a  ton 
extra,  carried  into  cellar ;  charge  for  chute  or 
wheelbarrow,  twenty-five  cents  a  ton ;  coke,  bags, 
sixty  cents ;  liags  in  cellar,  eighty  cents. 


St.  Louis  Trade. 


St.  Louis,  Mo.,  November  4. —  (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — Business  is  quite  dull  owing  to  the 
unusually  warm  weather,  and  nothing  much  can 
be  expected  from  the  domestic  trade  until  a 
weather  change  comes.  Operators  on  the  whole 
are  maintaining  prices  and  curtailing  outputs  to 
meet  the  situation,  and  there  is  really  nothing 
else  to  do  but  to  sit  tight  until  the  weather  breaks. 
It  is  remarkable  how  well  the  mines  have  been 
able  to  run,  considering  the  weather. 

Industrial  conditions  are  undoubtedly  much 
better  and  improving.  Steam  demand  and  rail¬ 
road  demand  is  much  heavier  than  for  several 


years. 

Screenings  and  fine  coals  are  up  from  ten  to 
fifteen  cents  per  ton  and  advancing.  Number 
two  nut  is  very  strong. 

Standard  mines  are  on  the  whole  doing  better 
right  now  than  the  high-grade  mines  in  souhtern 
Illinois. 

Current  prices  are  as  follows : 


Standard  Coal —  Mine. 

6-inch  lump . $1.30 

0x3-inch  egg .  1.25 

2-inch  lump .  1.05 

Steam  egg . 90 

No.  1  nut .  1.15 

No.  2  nut . 80 

Mine  run . 85 

Screenings  . 40 


F.  O.  B. 

St.  Louis. 

$1.87J4 

1.82J4 

1.62 

1.47J4 

1.72 

1.37J4 

1.42J4 

.97^ 


The  demand  for  Staunton  locally  is  off  a  lit¬ 
tle  for  domestic,  but  the  big  demand  which  is 
for  heating  and  apartment  contracts  is  still 
ahead. 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Mine.  St.  Louis. 


6-inch  lump . $1.50  $2.07^ 

2-inch  lump .  1.25  1.82^5 

Screenings . 40  .97J4 


Williamson  county  coals  are  not  moving  quite 
as  freely  as  they  were,  and  some  operators  are 
curtailing  outputs  and  a  few  are  cutting  the 
price  to  keep  moving. 

F.  9.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Mine.  St.  Louis. 

6-inch  lump  or  egg . $1.40@1.75  $2.02;4  @2.47;/^ 

3.x2-inch  nut .  1.20@1.75  1.92^2  @2.47^2 

Screenings  .  .50  1.22^ 

In  Franklin  county  operators  are  holding  the 
price  rigidly  and  are  curtailing  the  outputs  some¬ 
what  to  meet  the  market  demands. 


6-inch  lump,  egg  or  nut 

No.  2  stove . 

Screenings  . 


V.  ().  r*.  F.  ().  IF 

Mine.  St.  Louis. 

.$1.75  $2.47^2 

.  1.50  2.22H 

.  .60  1.32J4 


-Anthracite  is  moving  well  in  the  country,  btit 
is  dull  locally. 


Anthracite —  F.  0.  B.  St.  Louis. 

Chestnut  . . $7.55 

Stove  or  egg .  7,30 

Grate  .  7.05 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Mine.  St.  Louis. 

Lump  or  egg . $2.25  $4.75 

Gas  House  Coke —  F.  ().  B.  St.  Louis. 

Gas  house  coke . $4.25 

By-product  coke  (all  sizes) .  4.50 


The  prices  on  Illinois  soft  coal,  f.  o.  b.  East  St.  Louis. 
Madison,  Venice  or  Granite  City,  111.,  are  20  cents  lower 
than  the  above  (jiiotcd  St.  Louis  prices. 


382 


THE  EEAC'K  DIAMONIX 


[November  6 


New  York  Trade. 

Mild  Weather  Dulls  Anthracite  Demand 
— Bad  Car  Supply  for  Bitu¬ 
minous  Producers. 

Office  of  The  Black  Diamond, 
New  York,  November  4. 

'I’he  antliracite  trade  lias  passed  through  a 
week  of  mild  weather,  and  consequently  there 
has  l)een  less  activity  in  the  retail  trade. 
Distribution  to  consumers  has  been  in  fairly 
good  volume,  but  retailers  have  complained 
that  buying  on  the  part  of  householders  lacked 
snap,  and  consequently  they  have  not  been 
making  inroads  into  their  stocks  that  they 
should  be  doing  at  this  season. 

On  the  other  hand,  most  of  the  producers 
liave  had  ample  orders  to  keep  their  mines 
going  on  full  time.  The  all-rail  trade  has 
lieen  much  better  that  the  tidewater  trade,  and 
also,  there  is  a  good  call  for  coal  for  ship¬ 
ments  west  via  the  Lakes,  and  considerable 
all-rail  coal  for  western  destination  is  also  go¬ 
ing  forward.  The  movement  of  the  latter  is 
materially  lessened,  due  to  the  lack  of  proper 
equipment. 

From  this  time  on,  it  is  appreciated  that 
the  distribution  of  anthracite  will  be  largely 
hampered  by  the  lack  of  cars  and  locomotives. 
While  the  anthracite  originating  railroads  are 
lielieved  to  be  in  much  better  shape  so  far 
as  equipment  and  locomotives  gp,  than  are 
the  connecting  lines,  these  lines  are  just  now 
being  taxed  by  heavy  shipments  of  war  muni¬ 
tions,  and  there  is  a  great  deal  of  conges¬ 
tion  principally  at  junctions  and  tidewater 
points.  Also,  coal  cars  going  on  the  connect¬ 
ing  lines,  do  not  meet  with  the  prompt  trans¬ 
portation  that  was  the  rule  up  to  several 
weeks  ago.  No  doubt  from  this  time  on  a 
great  many  c^rs  on  'the  anthracite  roads 
that  will  be  detained  on  the  connecting  lines 
for  many  days  beyond  the  usual  time  of  de¬ 
tention,  and  these  delays  will  reflect  in  a 
short  car  supply  at  the  mines. 

Practically  all  of  the  producers  are  getting 
full  circular  prices  on  stove,  egg,  chestnut 
and  pea.  These  sizes  are  moving  pretty 
evenly,  and  concessions  on  these  coals,  even 
by  individuals  are  rare.  Such  concesions  as 
come  about,  are  usually  on  odd  lots  that  are 
at  tidewater  points,  that  are  left  over  after 
cargoes  are  still  out  and  demurrage  is  ac¬ 
cruing.  To  avoid  unnecessary  demurrage 
charges,  sellers  sometimes  think  that  it  is 
expedient  to  accept  concessions. 

In  the  steam  sizes,  there  has  developed  a 
little  weakness  in  rice  coal  at  tidewater,  and 
some  sales  are  said  to  have  been  within  the 
past  week  at  .$1.90  per  ton.  Good  rice  coal 
is  short  at  the  upper  ports,  but  the  supply 
of  inferior  rice  at  the  lower  ports  seems  to 
be  ample  for  all  requirements  at  the  moment. 
No.  1  buckwheat  and  barley  continue  strong, 
while  pea  coal  is  selling  very  near  the  full 
circular  price. 

The  statement  of  shipments  of  anthracite 
for  the  month  of  October  will  be  made  public 
later  in  the  week.  Tidewater  stocks  are  be¬ 
lieved  to  have  decreased. 

Upper  Lower 

Ports.  Ports. 


Rroken  .  $5.10  $L00 

Kgg  .  5.35  5.25 

Stove  .  5.35  5.25 

Chestnut  .  5.60  5.50 

Pea  .  3.55  3.45 


Special  grades  of  red  ash  and  other  high- 
grade  coals  at  the  lower  ports  sell  at  twenty- 
five  to  fifty  cents  per  ton  over  above  figures. 

Spot  prices  in  individual  coals  at  lower 
ports  are  about  as  follows; 


Egg  . $5.05  and  up 

.Stove  .  5.20  and  up 

Nut  .  5.20  and  up 

Pea  .  3.25  and  up 

P.uck  .  2.30  and  up 

Pice  .  2.00  and  up 

P)arley  .  1.75  and  up 


The  Bituminous  Situation. 

Bituminous  production  is  being  restricted  in 
most  fields  by  a  shortage  of  cars.  Moreover, 
there  is  complaint  on  no  few  of  the  bituminous 
carrying  roads  that  the  movement  is  very  slow, 
once  coal  is  loaded.  These  two  agencies  are 
working  towards  a  service  shortage  of  coal 
that  may  develop  most  any  day  now. 

Operators,  who  are  analyzing  the  produc¬ 
tion  end  of  the  business  very  closely  now, 
find  it  impossible  to  increase  production  no 
matter  how  urgent  may  be  their  require¬ 
ments  for  tonnage.  Either  labor  is  scarce  or 


cars  are  scarce.  In  many  instances  there  is  a 
shortage  of  both.  I'n  many  cases,  operators 
cannot  take  on  any  spot  business,  no  matter 
how  fancy  the  price  may  seem. 

On  the  price  question,  mine  prices  are  just 
as  stiff  as  they  were  a  week  ago,  although  the 
spot  demand  cannot  be  said  to  have  improved. 
As  has  been  stated  before  in  these  columns, 
the  principal  consumers  of  steam  coals  seem 
to  be  pretty  well  covered  by  contracts.  Many 
of  these  are  made  direct  with  the  operating 
companies.  No  small  tonnage  is  represented 
by  the  middle  house,  some  of  whom  in  turn 
protect  themselves  by  contracting  in  turn  with 
the  producing  companies.  On  the  other  hand, 
there  are  some  middle  houses  that  scalp  the 
market.  These  are  not  at  the  moment  find¬ 
ing  conditions  to  their  liking. 

At  New  York  harbor  ports,  there  is  no  un¬ 
usual  accumulation  coal.  Spot  lots  of  the 
choice  grades  are  in  very  light  offering.  Me¬ 
dium  grades  are  also  short,  while  the  inferior 
coals  are  so  scarce  that  they  command  around 
$3.70  to  $2.75  f.  o.  b.  harbor  ports.  Good 
grades  of  Pennsylvania  sell  at  $3.80  to  $2.85; 
with  fancy  grades  commanding  from  $2.90  to 
$3.10. 

The  Vessel  Situation. 

Coastwise  rates  are  some  firmer.  There  has 
been  a  good  advance  in  rates  between  Hamp¬ 
ton  Roads  and  Boston.  Rates  from  Baltimore 
and  Philadelphia  to  Boston  and  sound  points, 
are  also  firmer.  From  New  York  to  sound 
points  rates  are  also  stronger. 

Off  shore  rates  are  in  many  instances  so 
high  as  to  be  prohibitive,  consequently  ex¬ 
ports  of  coal  have  been  materially  reduced. 

We  quote  current  rates  on  freight  as  fol¬ 
lows  : 

From  Hampton  Roads  to  Boston,  eighty- 
five  cents  to  $1  is  about  the  range;  to  Port¬ 
land  and  points  east  of  Boston,  from  ninety- 
five  cents  to  $1.10.  To  sound  points,  eighty 
to  eighty-five  cents.  From  Philadelphia  to 
New  England  points,  about  five  cents  under 
the  Hampton  Roads  rates. 

From  New  York  to  sound  points  as  follows: 
Bridgeport,  thirty-five  cents;  New  Haven, 
forty-five  cents;  Providence,  fifty  cents;  New 
Bedford,  fifty-five  cents.  To  Boston,  around 
cape,  sixty  to  seventy  cents;  through  canal, 
seventy-five  to  eighty  cents.  Harbor  rates 
twenty  to  twenty-five  cents. 

Current  quotations  on  bituminous  coal  in 
spot  lots  are: 


Somerset  County — 

Best  grades . 

F.  O.  B. 
Harbor. 

.  .  .$2.90 

F.  O.  B. 
Mines. 
$1.40 

Ordinary  . 

1.20 

Medium  grades . 

. .  .  2.65 

1.15 

Cambria  County — 

Best  Miller  vein . 

...  3.00 

1.45 

Medium  grades . 

1.25 

Cheaper  grades . 

1.15 

Clearfield  County — 

Best  grade . 

...  3.00 

1.35 

Ordinary  grades . 

1.15 

Indiana  County — 

Best  grade . 

1.25 

Medium  grade . 

. .  .  2.70 

1.15 

Maryland — 

Georges  Creek  big  vein... 

. .  .  3.15 

1.65 

West  Virginia — 

Ordinary  grades . 

.  .  .  2.55 

1.00 

Best  gas,  -J^-inch  lump.  .  .  . 
Best  grade,  run  of  mine.. 

.  .  .  2.90 

1.30 

.  .  .  2.70 

.‘)5 

Gas  slack . 

.75@1.10 

New  York 

Trade 

Briefs 

E.  M.  Sanders  of 

C. 

H. 

Sprague 

&  Son 

Company  of  Boston,  was 

in  New  York  several 

days  this  week. 

Jesse  L.  Eddy  of  Dickson  &  Eddy,  No.  17 
Battery  place,  has  gone  to  Hot  Springs,  Va., 
for  a  two  weeks’  stay. 

George  F.  Glitter  of  Hartwell,  Lester  & 
Glitter,  Inc.,  of  No.  1  Broadway,  visited  the 
anthracite  regions  on  Monday. 

E.  E.  White  of  Glen  White,  W.  Va.,  presi¬ 
dent  of  the  E.  E.  White  Coal  Mining  Com¬ 
pany,  was  a  New  York  visitor  this  week. 

P'rank  W.  Smith,  a  salesman  connected  with 
the  New  York  office  of  H.  H.  Lineaweaver 
&  Co.,  is  shortly  to  join  the  benedict  class. 

Unless  closed  sooner  by  the  ice,  the  Erie, 
Champlain,  Oswego  and  Black  Rock  canals, 
New  York,  will  be  closed  to  navigation  at 
noon  on  November  30. 

W.  F.  Meyers,  for  the  past  ten  years,  fuel 
inspector  of  the  New  Haven  Railroad,  with 
headquarters  in  New  York,  has  tendered  his 
resignation  to  take  effect  on  the  first. 

The  Reading  Company  has  contracted  with 
the  Palmer  Shipyard  Company  of  Noank, 
Conn.,  for  the  cons'^ruction  of  several  addi¬ 


tional  barges  for  the  Philadelphia  and  New 
England  coal  carrying  trade. 

Anthracite  shippers  who  send  considerable 
coal  east  to  sound  points  and  around  the 
Cape  to  points  east,  report  a  scarcity  of  boats 
for  this  purpose.  Harbor  boats  are  also  scarce, 
due  to  the  heavy  demand  for  all  classes  of 
boats  in  New  York  harbor  for  grain  and  mer¬ 
chandise  purposes. 

h'ifteen  salesmen  of  the  Weston  Dodson 
&  Co.,  Inc.,  were  entertained  on  last  Satur¬ 
day,  by  W.  R.  Coyle,  general  sales  manager, 
at  the  Bethlehem  Club  at  Bethlehem,  Pa.  The 
salesmen  from  the  various  branch  offices  were 
in  attendance.  In  the  aftermoon  the  iparty 
witnessed  a  football  game  at  the  Lehigh  Uni¬ 
versity. 

Charles  Heyl,  representing  J.  Hudson,  a 
wholesale  coal  merchant  of  Bordeaux,  France, 
is  now  on  his  second  visit  to  America  this 
year.  Mr.  Heyl  reports  that  the  coal  situation 
in  Prance  is  much  easier  now  than  when  he 
was  over  in  the  spring.  He  reports  now,  a 
very  pressing  demand  on  the  part  of  French 
manufacturers  for  steel  and  iron  suitable  for 
making  munitions.  , 

Ihe  Brothers  Valley  Coal  Company  of  No. 
90  West  street,  New  York,  have  recently 
opened  up  a  new  mine  in  Somerset  county,  ad¬ 
joining  their  other  operations.  This  mine  is 
known  as  Penmar  No.  4,  from  which  the 
Miller  or  “B”  vein  coal  is  being  taken.  So 
far  this  coal  is  showing  up  true  to  the  high 
standard  of  this  well  known  seam.  The  com¬ 
pany,  owing  to  numerous  improvements  to 
its  plants  made  the  past  few  years,  is  giving 
careful  preparation,  which  insures  to  their 
customers  a  highly  prepared  product. 

The  Pittston  (Pa.)  Gazette  states  that  Weston 
Dodson  &  Co.,  Inc.,  of  Bethlehem,  Pa,,  who 
are  large  operators  in  anthracite  throughout 
the  Schuylkill  region,  have  just  placed  an  or¬ 
der  for  the  construction  of  forty-one  residences 
in  East  Bethlehem,  Pa.  It  is  said  that  this 
company  owns  a  large  tract  of  land  in  East 
Bethlehem,  and  has  this  plotted  out  in  such 
a  way  that  when  built  up  will  result  in  mak¬ 
ing  this  section  one  of  grea  civic  beauty. 
The  Bethlehem  Steel  Works  are  said  to  be 
within  ten  minutes  walk  from  this  property. 
The  contract  involves  the  expenditure  of 
$100,000. 

D.  A.  Thomas,  the  Welsh  coal  operator, 
who  is  so  well  known  to  Americans  by  this 
time,  and  who  has  been  in  this  country  since 
the  first  of  July  as  a  representative  of  David 
Llyod-George,  England’s  Minister  of  Muni¬ 
tions,  returned  from  Ottawa,  Canada,  on  Mon¬ 
day,  where  he  has  been  making  his  head¬ 
quarters  for  some  time  past,  and  has  just  un¬ 
dergone  a  slight  operation  for  a  nose  trouble 
at  a  private  hospital  in  New  York  city.  It 
is  understood  that  Mr.  Thomas’  duties  in  this 
country  in  regards  to  supervision  of  munitions 
purposes,  are  now  largely  routined,  and  that 
he  will  shortly  return  to  England  after  placing 
competent  men  in  charge  of  several  of  the 
bureaus  that  he  has  established  in  the  United 
States  and  Canada. 

Recently  a  dozen  New  York  business  men 
have  formed  a  new  society.  This  society  is 
to  be  known  as  “The  Delectable  Society  of 
the  Dotards  of  1848’’ — and  each  dozen  of  men 
who  have  made  themselves  prominent  in  the 
business  or  the  professional  world,  are  to  be 
its  charter  members.  These  men,  all  of 
whom  are  prominent  figures  in  their  respective 
businesses,  are  all  known  to  be  sturdy,  clear¬ 
eyed  and  light-hearted  at  their  age  of  sixty- 
seven.  This  society  is  going  to  give  a  din¬ 
ner  soon  to  celebrate  the  year  in  which  the 
members  were  born.  Edward  J.  Berwind, 
president  of  the  Berwind-White  Coal  Adining 
Company,  and  interested  very  prominently  in 
many  of  the  large  railroads,  banking  and  other 
industrial  concerns,  is  a  member  of  the  so¬ 
ciety,  and  has  been  assigned  the  title  of  “Offi¬ 
cial  Miner  of  the  Club.”  Mr.  Berwind  was 
born  on  June  17,  1848. 


Few  New  England  retail  dealers  or  large  con¬ 
sumers  attached  much  significance  to  the  decision 
recently  handed  down  by  the  Pennsylvania  su¬ 
preme  court  to  the  effect  that  the  tax  imposed 
on  coal  mined  in  that  state  was  unconstitutional. 
The  general  belief  here  is  that  the  state  will 
appeal  to  the  United  States  supreme  court,  and 
that  rebates  are  many,  many  months  away. 


No.  19] 


383 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


Philadelphia  Trade. 

While  Anthracite  Moves  Slowly  Because 
the  Weather  Is  Warm,  Bituminous 
Demand  Is  Booming. 

Office  of  The  Biack  Diamond, 
1400  Land  Title  Building, 
Philadelphia,  November  4. 

When  the  figures  accumulated  by  the  Bureau 
of  Anthracite  Statistics  at  Wilkes-Barre  are 
made  public  some  time  next  week,  it  will  be  seen 
that  the  production  for  the  month  of  October  in 
the  hard  coal  regions  was  about  6,ir)0,000  tons  as 
against  a  production  of  0,044,470  tons  for  the 
corresponding  period  in  1914.  This  decrease  of 
fully  a  half  million  tons,  brings  the  shortage  up 
to  a  total  of  three  million  so  far  for  the  year 
as  against  the  amount  that  was  shipped  in  1914. 
It  is  said  by  some  operators  that  a  million  and 
a  half  of  tire  shortage  could  be  made  up  were 
it  possible  to  put  on  sufficient  steam  to  bring  the 
production  up  to  the  maximum.  November  and 
December,  however,  are  so  sprinkled  with  holi¬ 
days  that  the  miners  will  demand  and  take  that 
this  is  highly  improbable  and  impossible.  In 
fact,  there  are  some  of  the  belief  that  the  entry 
of  the  New  Year  will  see  the  shortage  heightened 
even,  rather  than  cut  down. 

While  this  does  not  mean  any  crimp  for  the 
immedate  future,  there  are  dealers  who  can  see 
what  it  spells  for  the  future.  The  nearer  draws 
April  1st  when  the  labor  difficulties  must  be  ad¬ 
justed  the  heavier  demand  will  be  for  coal  that 
can  be  moved.  The  elimination  of  the  stocks 
in  storage  has  been  one  of  the  questions  that  has 
given  forth  many  angles.  This  year’s  decrease 
in  production,  the  attitude  of  labor  and  a  hard, 
frosty  winter,  may  solve  the  problem  sooner  than 
some  folk  think. 

Speaking  of  the  weather,  that  is  the  queen  bee 
that  governs  the  local  situation.  The  demand 
for  pea  coal,  as  was  anticipated  in  this  column 
some  time  ago,  has  been  sufficient  that  the  com¬ 
panies  have  placed  the  price  at  $2.25  a  ton.  While 
the  circular  shows  $2.50  as  the  range  sales 
since  last  April  have  been  made  on  a  $2  to  $2.10 
basis.  The  local  demand  has  fluctuated  with  the 
cool  and  the  warmer  days.  Snappy  weather, 
while  this  is  being  written,  has  sent  in  many 
orders  from  the  retailers  to  the  middle  and 
producing  houses. 

Steam  sizes,  from  buckwheat  No.  1  on  down, 
have  been  in  better  demand  and  are  really  the 
leaders  in  the  market.  Office  buildings  and  apart¬ 
ment  houses  have  been  a  material  factor  in  this 
flurry.  Nut  size  coal  also  has  been  well  to  the 
forefront  and  some  of  the  houses  have  been 
kept  on  the  jump  to  fill  requirements.  Other  than 
the  change  noted  in  the  price  of  pea  coal,  the 
prices  of  the  circular  still  obtain.  These  are  as 
follows,  as  shown  by  the  Philadelphia  and  Read¬ 
ing  Coal  and  Iron  Company’s  list: 


Locust 

Mountain  Lorberry 

Mahanoy  and  and  Lyk’s 

and  Schuylkill  Schuylkill  Valley 

Shenan-  White  lied  Red 

Sizes —  doah.  Ash.  Shamokin.  Ash.  Ash. 

Lump  . s^3.50  $3.50  ....  ....  .... 

Steamboat .  3.50  3,50  ....  ....  .... 

I’roken  .......  3.50  3.50  ....  $3.75  $4.10 

Egg  .  3.75  3.75  $3.75  4.00  4.35 

Stove  .  4.00  4.00  4.00  4.2.5  4.60 

Chestnut  .  4.15  4.15  4.15  4.25  4.60 

Pea  .  2.50  2.50  2.50  2.60  2.75 

Ruckwheat  ....  1.50  1.50  1.50  1.60^  2.35 


The  Bituminous  Situation. 

In  the  soft  coal  lines  this  has  become  strictly 
a  “broker’s  market.”  What  has  been  known  as 
the  “cheap  coals”  have  been  steadily  rising  in 
■price  until  they  are  now  in  the  range  of  those 
that  were  bringing  twenty  to  thirty  cents  higher 
a  matter  of  two  months  ago.  Contract  require¬ 
ments  have  been  the  cause  of  this.  When  the 
cheap  coals  reach  a  price  that  the  contracting 
houses  can  no  longer  take  them  over  and  make 
a  profit  on  them,  it  is  expected  that  the  consumer 
will  have  to  do  his  own  buying  and  this  new' 
factor  will  send  prices  to  a  higher  level.  The 
very  fact  that  salesmen  find  it  as  hard  to  sell 
coal  as  before  is  indicative  that  the  contracts 
that  were  entered  into  last  spring  are  being  lived 
up  to.  Eliminate  the  cheap  coals  and  the  con¬ 
sumers  will  find  that  the  clause  in  the  contract 
referring  to  “car  shortage”  will  be  put  into 
operation  in  more  instances  than  one. 

Significant  is  the  sales  that  have  been  made  of 
Western  Maryland  coals  around  $1.20  within  the 
week.  These  were  spot  sales  and  little  can  even 
be  had  for  November  shipments  lower  than  this. 
West  Virginia  offerings  also  took  to  aeroplaning. 


Quotations  on  slack  and  mine  run  are  at  an 
even  dollar  and  $1.15  is  asked  for  %-inch  screened 
lump. 

Greensburg  coals  are  still  out  of  the  market 
and  the  operators  under  contract  to  the  Penn- 
s\lvania  railroad  for  storage  coals  are  bending 
every  effort  to  get  their  coal  into  the  piles  before 
the  middle  of  the  month.  Car  shortage  in  the 
Somerset  field  has  moved  the  prices  on  these 
coals  upward.  Best  is  quoted  at  $1.30  to  $1.50, 
contingent  on  an  excess  supply  of  cars  over  con¬ 
tract  requirements,  medium  $1.15  to  $1.25  and 
ordinary  $1.10.  Sales  at  the  piers  on  ordinary 
are  a  nickel  to  a  dime  higher. 

An  indication  of  advance  in  the  price  of  high- 
class  coal  w'as  shown  this  week  on  the  quotations 
of  Georges  Creek,  Big  Vein.  The  usual  price 
on  this  has  been  $1.70,  but  inquiries  were  met 
with  a  price  of  $1.85  with  little  to  offer. 

At  the  piers  there  seems  to  be  a  free  quantity 
of  coal  to  offer.  Bunker  business  has  been  up 
to  the  standard  while  the  exports  for  the  past 
w'eek  have  fallen  off  quite  a  little. 


Change  of  Labor  Aspect. 

Philadelphia,  November  3. — The  following 
news  despatch  from  Hazleton  indicates  to  those 
who  have  been  keeping  a  weather  eye  on  the 
labor  conditions  in  the  regions  that  there  will 
be  a  new  angle  to  be  considered  in  the  settle¬ 
ment  to  be  made  about  April  1st.  Just  what  has 
to  be  reckoned  with  from  the  steam  shovelers 
has  not  been  quite  figured  out : 

“The  appointment  of  Enoch  Howells,  a  pioneer 
steam  shovel  engineer  of  Hazleton,  as  organizer 
of  the  United  Mine  Workers  by  International 
President  John  P.  White,  marks  the  taking  over 
of  the  Steam  Shovelmen’s  Lmion  by  the  miners’ 
organization.” 

Philadelphia  News  Notes. 

Mr.  Peacock  of  Peacock  Campbell  &  Kinzer 
was  away  on  a  trip  to  the  mines  this  week. 

Frank  Honan,  vice-president  of  the  Skeele 
Coal  Company  of  New  York  was  a  mid-week 
visitor. 

Mr.  Chestnut  of  the  Crescent  Coal  Company 
of  New  York  was  one  of  the  trade  visitors  of 
the  early  week. 

Mr.  H.  K.  Cortright  of  the  Cortright  Coal 
Company  spent  the  early  part  of  the  week  at 
the  company’s  mines  at  Beaverdale,  Pa. 

John  Thomas,  Jr.,  of  the  Cramer  Coal,  Coke 
and  Stone  Company  of  Johnstown,  Pa.,  was 
among  those  “in  our  midst”  during  the  week. 

The  following  has  appeared  among  the  judg¬ 
ments  awarded  in  the  local  courts :  “Old  Lick 
Run  Coal  &  Coke  Company  to  Mary  C.  Dothard, 
for  want  of  an  answer  $181.02.” 

William  J.  Faux  of  the  Logan  Coal  Company, 
who  has  been  ill  at  his  home  for  the  past  two 
weeks,  is  progressing  nicely  and  expects  to  be 
about  as  usual  within  the  next  few  days. 

Election  day,  Tuesday,  was  a  legal  holiday  in 
this  neck  of  the  woods,  and  was  a  general  dis¬ 
ruption  to  business.  Some  of  the  coal  offices 
kept  open  until  noon  and  then  gave  it  up  as  a 
bad  job. 

Howard  Yeager  of  Patton,  Pa.,  who  operates 
the  Beaver  Coal  Company  and  other  producing 
properties,  looked  over  trade  conditions  through 
the  Philadelphia  periscope  during  the  fore  part 
of  the  week. 

There  has  been  a  general  absence  of  trade 
visitors  from  the  producing  districts  during  the 
past  few  weeks.  “What’s  the  use  of  coming  to 
trade  centers,”  said  one  operator,  “when  the  mid¬ 
dle  and  jobbing  houses  are  hunting  you  up  to 
give  you  orders  ?” 

G.  M.  D.  Cam  of  George  Bush  &  Son  of 
Wilmington,  Del.,  who  was  in  town  Tuesday 
said  that  the  coal  business  about  that  city  never 
was  better.  “The  du  Pont  plants  and  the  im¬ 
mense  powder  factories  across  the  river  have 
given  us  an  era  of  prosperity  that  never  has 
l)een  equalled  about  Wilmington,”  he  said. 

Within  the  ne.xt  couple  of  weeks  there  will 
be  a  meeting  of  the  sentries  of  the  Philadel¬ 
phia  breaker  of  the  Order  Ko-Koal  to  arrange 
for  the  annual  meeting  of  the  local  association. 
At  this  time  it  is  expected  that  these  trustees  of 
the  organization  here  will  take  direct  action 
on  the  question  of  joining  out  with  the  National 
Coal  Association  or  not. 

The  George  B.  Newton  Coal  Company,  ihe 
big  retail  concern  of  this  city,  passed  its  usual 
half-yearly  dividend  of  three  and  one-half  per 
cent  due  the  first  of 'this  month.  In  explana¬ 


tion,  it  vyas  declared  to  the  stockholders  that 
poor  business  conditions  of  the  preceding  six 
months  had  been  responsible  for  the  action. 
This  dividend  is  paid  on  $1,750,000  of  first  pre¬ 
ferred  stock.  The  annual  meeting  of  the  com- 
panv  will  be  held  on  the  22nd  inst. 

Thursday  night  there  will  be  a  meeting  of  the 
Select  and  Common  Councils  of  this  city  at 
which  finances  will  be  one  of  the  main  topics  of 
discussion.  Most  of  the  waterworks  stations  are 
on  a  hand-to-mouth  basis  for  a  coal  supply  be¬ 
cause  councils  have  refused  to  grant  money  to 
take  care  of  payments  for  coal  supplied.  All  is 
speculation  at  this  writing,  though  the  main  ven¬ 
ture  is  that  councils  will  appropriate  money  to 
pay  for  the  coal  now  that  the  Republican  crowd 
have  been  elected. 

The  consumer  who  yells  for  full  contract  re¬ 
quirements  and  some  more  is  about  as  popular 
with  the  coal  men  here  at  this  time  as  an  end- 
seat  hog  in  a  street  car.  Several  of  the  dealers 
discussing  the  situation  have  stated  that  they 
have  men  on  their  books  who  have  filled  up  on 
coal  and  then  politely  stopped  shipments-  for  a 
week  or  even  longer.  The  swing  of  business 
has  been  such  that  these  persons  have  been 
satiated  up  to  the  present  time.  However,  there 
is  still  a  hard,  cold  winter  to  be  reckoned  with 
and  such  provoking  customers  may  have  cause 
yet  to  reckon  with  conditions  where  the  coal  man 
can  even  things  up. 


Buffalo  Trade. 


Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  November  4. —  (Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — The  movement  of  anthracite  by- 
lake  from  this  port  was  on  a  smaller  scale  dur¬ 
ing  October  than  for  the  same  month  last  year. 
The  shipments  were  521,171  tons,  as  compared 
with  538,250.  For  this  lake  season  to  November 
1st  the  shipments  were  3,312,246  tons,  against 
3,69.5,031  in  the  same  period  of  last  year.  This 
is  a  decline  of  about  thirteen  per  cent.  In  all 
probability  the  year  will  close  with  less  shipments 
than  those  of  1914.  For  the  past  week  the  ship¬ 
ments  were  114,600  tons,  as  follows:  Duluth- 
Superior,  40,100  tons;  Milwaukee,  31,500;  Chi¬ 
cago,  26,200;  Waukegan,  8,200;  Escanaba  3,300; 
I'ort  William,  2,600;  Green  Bay,  1,500;  Racine, 
1,200.  Alt  present  a  large  proportion  of  the  ves¬ 
sels  are  sailing  from  here  light. 

The  anthracite  demand  is  not  very  heavy  at 
present,  but  quite  a  large  quantity  of  coal  is 
being  sold  and  the  different  grades  are  all  getting 
a  fair  share  of  the  business.  Chestnut  has  been 
more  active  during  the  past  two  or  three  weeks 
than  for  some  time,  and  the  country  dealers  are 
now  reporting  a  pretty  good  demand  for  it. 
The  shortage  of  cars  is  still  in  evidence,  and 
this  makes  deliveries  considerably  slower  than 
usual.  Many  dealers  have  a  fair  amount  of  coat 
still  On  hand,  and  no  rush  from  the  consumers 
is  expected  until  colder  weather  arrives.  The 
weather  has  been  quite  favorable  to  the  re¬ 
tailer  lately  and  this  has  helped  business  to  quite 
an  e.xtent. 

In  the  bituminous  trade  everybody  reports  that 
the  rnarket  is  strong,  but  that  the,  demand  is  in¬ 
creasing  but  slowly.  Prices  have  shown  an  ad¬ 
vance,  but  this  is  due  largely  to  the  fact  that  cars 
and  labor  are  scarcer  than  usual.  No  large  vol¬ 
ume  of  coal  is  being  ordered,  and  some  shippers 
say  they  have  seen  no  improvement  in  trade 
during  the  past  two  or  three  weeks.  There  is, 
however,  a  great  improvement  over  summer  con¬ 
ditions  in  sales  as  well  as  prices.  The  Canadian 
market  is  slowly  improving  and  there  is  also  a 
better  demand  from  the  east.  But  sellers  re¬ 
member  former  seasons  when  business  was  much 
better  than  it  is  at  present. 

The  coke  market  is  stronger  than  for  a  long 
time  and  producers  are  not  inclined  to  make 
quotations  on  stock  coke  without  a  special  re¬ 
quest.  There  is  but  little  difference  between 
stock  coke  prices  and  those  for  48-hour  furnace 
and  as  high  as  $4.15  has  lately  been  paid  for 
each  in  this  market.  Foundry  coke  has  sold 
latel\-  up  to  $5. 

Buffalo  Trade  Briefs. 

Harry  Rogers,  of  St.  Catharines,  Out.,  and  Wal¬ 
lace  Dougherty,  of  Oswego,  were  late  visitors 
to  the  anthracite  trade  here. 

George  P.  Cronk,  general  manager  of  the 
Pennsy  Coal  Company,  was  still  reported  ser¬ 
iously  ill  this  week  at  his  home  at  h'ranklin, 
Pa. 

p-riends  of  Stewart  H.  Stanton,  of  the  sales 
force  of  the  Richland  Coal  Company,  regret  to 
learn  of  the  sudden  death  of  his  wife,  following 
an  ni)eration  last  week. 


384 


THE  BEACK  DIAMOND 


[Noveml)er  6 


New  England  Trade 


Boston,  November  4. —  {Special  Correspond¬ 
ence.) — The  feature  of  the  New  En.gland  coal 
market  during  the  past  week  was  the  announce¬ 
ment  by  the  Darrow-AIann  Company  of  a  further 
reduction  of  ten  cents  per  ton  on  standard  grades 
of  New  River  and  Pocahontas  for  delivery  be¬ 
ginning  April  1,  next.  It  was  just  about  a  month 
;igo  that  the  same  concern  threw  a  bomb  into 
the  trade  in  the  form  of  $3.60  per  ton  for  next 
season’s  coals.  The  trade  had  not  recovered 
from  the  first  shock,  and  the  second  has  been 
thorou.ghly  demoralizing.  'I'he  new  price  of  $3.50 
per  ton,  delivered  at  Mystic  Wharf,  means  that 
competitors  must  figure  on  a  forty-five  cent  water 
rate  from  Hampton  Roads  ports  to  Boston,  which 
is  an  impossibility  for  the  smaller  concerns. 

The  New  England  Coal  &  Coke  Company  and 
the  Pocahantas  Coal  Company  of  Portland  are 
said  to  have  signified  their  willingness  to  meet 
new  price  conditions,  but  they  have  not  named 
any  prices,  nor  have  any  of  the  other  large  New 
En.gland  bituminous  concerns  issued  circulars  on 
the  subject.  Everybody,  to  use  a  trade  expres¬ 
sion,  is  “sitting  tight.”  The  Darrow-Mann  Com¬ 
pany  oflficials  will  not  comment  on  the  situation ; 
they  simply  refer  everybody  to  their  last  circu¬ 
lar.  But  gossip  has  it  that  there  will  be  further 
reductions  announced. 

Bituminous  operators  are  inclined  to  look  upon 
the  present  price-war  as  a  purely  New  England 
affair,  but  the  most  reliable  authorities  in  Boston 
believe  that  in  the  end  it  will  influence  the  entire 
bituminous  trade  of  the  United  States.  There  is 
one  phase  of  the  situation  that  many  persons  are 
likely  to  overlook  and  that  is  that  the  firms  en- 
ga.ged  in  the  price-war  are  already  beginning 
to  make  overtures  to  operators  with  a  view  to 
securing  an  adequate  supply  of  bituminous  to 
insure  the  resumption  of  the  battle.  Operators, 
to  insure  their  own  safety,  are  no  doubt  insist¬ 
ing  upon  getting  the  very  best  terms  when  sign¬ 
ing  contracts.  Local  firms,  in  making  contracts 
for  next  season’s  deliveries,  are  inserting  a  clause 
which  gives  the  consumer  the  benefit  of  any 
further  price  decline  that  may  be  made  in  the 
future.  The  clause  is  an  open  confession  that 
the  end  is  not  in  sight  yet. 

The  movement  of  bituminous  from  southern 
ports  to  New  England  during  the  past  week  has 
not  been  up  to  normal,  yet  an  improvement  in 
the  contract  demand,  particularly  the  all-rail,  is 
noted  by  most  local  firms.  Supplies  at  Hampton 
Roads  ports  continue  far  in  excess  of  the  de¬ 
mand,  and  for  that  reason  there  are  some  ship¬ 
pers  who  are  willing  to  shade  the  official  $2.85 
f.  o.  b.  price  in  order  to  secure  contracts.  There 
is  no  improvement  in  the  spot  New  River  and 
Pocahontas  at  Mystic  Wharf  and  prices  there  are 
still  unsettled  at  $3.68  to  $3.75  per  ton  on  cars. 
Pennsylvania  bituminous  is  a  shade  firmer,  espe¬ 
cially  on  the  poorer  grades,  as  a  result  of  in¬ 
creased  purchases  by  the  large  railroads  of  the 
country.  They  are  now  quoted  on  a  basis  of 
$4.05  to  $1.50  on  cars  at  the  mines. 

-Although  the  weather  continues  unseasonably 
warm,  the  demand  for  anthracite  holds  up  re¬ 
markably  well.  It  is  quite  certain,  however,  that 
the  official  receipts  for  October  as  issued  by  the 
Boston  Chamber  of  Commerce,  will  be  disappoint¬ 
ing  as  compared  with  the  same  month  last  year. 
The  figures  should  be  available  before  another 
week  passes.  October  bookings  were  pretty  well 
cleaned  up,  so  comparatively  little  coal  was  car¬ 
ried  over  into  November.  The  demand  today 
runs  very  langely  to  stove,  the  supply  of  which 
is  not  abundant.  Most  wholesale  houses  try  to 
induce  customers  to  take  egg  and  nut  when  order¬ 
ing  stove,  but  trade  conditions  have  been  such 
that  such  buying  is  not  forced.  Egg  seems  to  be 
the  most  plentiful  of  prepared  sizes.  Pea  coal 
is  in  better  demand  and  very  firm  at  $4.05  per 
ton  alongside  Boston  Harbor.  Stove  and  egg  are 
$5.85  and  nut  $6.10,  while  at  Mystic  Wharf,  stove 
and  egg  are  $6.20  and  nut  $6.45.  Buckwheats 
are  arriving  more  freely,  but  everything  is  sold 
well  ahead  and  the  market  for  them  is  in  an  ex¬ 
tremely  healthy  condition.  In  fact  few  dealers 
care  to  make  new  contracts  for  them.  No.  3 
buckwheats  are  selling  on  a  basis  of  $1.80  per 
ton  New  York,  No.  2  at  $2.30,  No.  1  at  $2.80, 
and  birdsegg  at  $2  per  ton. 

The  anthracite  freight  rate  market  is  firm  and 
unchanged  on  a  basis  of  fiftv  to  fifty-five  cents 
per  ton  from  New  York  to  Boston.  The  south¬ 
ern  freight  rate  market,  on  the  other  hand,  is 
firmer  on  a  basis  of  eighty-five  cents  to  $1  per 
ton  from  Hampton  Roads  ports  to  Boston.  The 
six  masted  schooner,  Edward  J.  Lawrence,  one 
of  the  J.  S.  Winslow  &  Co.  fleet,  of  Boston,  re¬ 
cently  sailed  from  Norfolk  with  5,000  tons  of 


coal  for  Barcelona,  Spain.  Owing  to  the  scarcity 
of  tonnage  space  the  owners  received  $52,500  for 
the  charter.  The  five  masted  schooner,  Harwood 
Palmer,  also  of  Boston,  has  been  chartered  for 
$25,000,  to  carry  4,000  tons  of  coal  from  Nor¬ 
folk  to  Lisbon,  Portugal.  The  steamer,  Stephen 
R.  Jones,  now  building  at  Newport  News  for 
Crowell  &  Thurlow  of  Boston,  has  been  char¬ 
tered  at  the  rate  of  $30,000  per  month,  but  the 
boat  will  not  be  ready  for  delivery  before  the 
middle  of  this  month.  Space  rates  from  Hamp¬ 
ton  Roads  ports  to  Italy  average  around  70  shil¬ 
lings,  as  compared  with  1 1  or  12  shillings  in  nor¬ 
mal  years.  It  is  little  wonder  then,  that  the  New 
En.gland  freight  rate  market  continues  on  its 
present  level. 


Baltimore  Trade. 


Baltimore,  Md.,  November  4. —  (Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — The  situation  that  faces  the  coal 
man  here  and  elsewhere  is  the  most  complex 
that  has  come  to  perplex  the  trade  for  many 
months.  Orders  are  now  pouring  into  every  coal 
]Moducing  or  distributing  agency,  and  even  those 
who  have  unattached  fuel  cannot  take  advantage 
of  the  revival  of  industrial,  railroad  and  other 
demand  for  coal,  because  they  cannot  get  roll¬ 
ing  stock  in  which  to  move  their  products. 

in  the  Fairmont  region  the  past  week  the  sup¬ 
ply  in  proportion  to  requirements  dropped  at 
times  to  less  than  forty  per  cent  and  seldom 
ran  over  sixty  per  cent  of  needs,  so  that  the 
week  did  not  show  much  more  than  a  fifty  per 
cent  supply.  In  the  Somerset  and  other  regions 
of  interest  to  coal  men  here,  it  ran  somewhat 
better,  hut  far  below  the  requirements  of  the 
trade.  The  result  was  that  still  more  coal  pro¬ 
ducing  concerns,  which  have  fallen  back  even  on 
their  urgent  contract  supply  needs,  have  with¬ 
drawn  from  sales  in  the  open  market.  Few 
coals  were  offering  in  any  quality,  and  most  of 
those  still  available  were  of  the  less  desirable 
class. 

Prices  under  such  conditions  were  rather  hard 
to  set.  Surplusages  that  arose  from  time  to 
time  at  tide  or  other  terminal  points  went  to  the 
trade  fairly  reasonably  when  general  conditions 
were  considered.  Prices  to  the  trade  were  about 


as  follows,  where  sales 

were  made  at 

all; 

F.  O.  B. 

F.  0.  B. 

F'ainnont — 

Mines. 

Baltimore. 

Three-(|uarter  . 

$2.48@2.53 

Kun  of  mine . 

.  .1)5 

2.38 

Slack  . 

.  1.00 

2.43 

Somerset — 

Best  . 

.  1.4.') 

2.63 

Good  . 

.  1.2.') 

2.43 

W.  M.  R.  R.— 

Freeport  . 

.  1  10 

2.28 

F.  R.  R.— 

Best  South  Fork . 

.  1.40 

2.58 

Miller  vein . 

.  1.30 

2.48 

Ordinary  . 

.  1.10 

If  vessel  bottoms  were  available  here  just  now 
the  export  figures  would  show  a  healthy  increase, 
despite  trouble  in  getting  cars  generally,  as  the 
railroads  are  frequently  giving  right  of  way  to 
such  movement.  The  grain  trade  here,  however, 
l)y  liberal  charter  rates,  is  absorbing  most  of 
the  unattached  vessel  tonnage  that  reports.  There 
was  a  small  increase  in  the  foreign  coal  move¬ 
ment  the  past  week,  despite  this  condition.  I)ur- 
in.g  the  six-day  working  period  a  total  of  more 
than  37,000  tons  was  loaded  for  export. 

Anthracite  men  are  quite  busy  for  the  most 
part.  The  many  empty  cellars  over  the  city 
and  suburbs,  a  larger  proportion  than  in  years 
past  apparently,  are  beginning  to  call  heavily  for 
siqiplifs.  The  first  real  winter  weather  should 
see  a  scramble,  and  then  the  yard  supplies  may 
not  be  always  sufficient  to  meet  demands  if  cars 
retnain  short  of  supply. 


Duluth  Trade. 


Duluth,  Minn.,  November  4. —  (Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — What  effect  the  coming  in  force 
of  the  new  seamen’s  act,  effective  today,  will 
liave  upon  shipping  of  coal  for  the  rest  of  the 
season  is  problematical.  It  has  been  feared  .for 
some  time  that  all  lines  would  suffer  as  there 
are  few  of  the  boats  on  the  Great  Lakes  equipped 
to  take  care  of  the  three  shifts  of  crew  that  are 
necessary  under  the  new  law.  By  next  season 
all  boats  will  have  made  the  necessary  altera¬ 
tions  and  will  be  ready  for  business  when  the 
spring  opens,  and  the  only  question  is  as  to  the 
remainder  of  the  current  season. 

For  the  past  week,  almost  all  dock  superin¬ 
tendents  report,  coal  has  been  arriving  from 
lower  lake  ports  more  briskly  than  for  a  month 
previous.  This  is  true  regarding  all  kinds  of 
coal.  But  from  now  on,  is  the  general  expec¬ 
tation,  the  receipts  will  thin  out  rapidly,  and  the 


virtual  end  of  the  coal  season  on  the  Great  Lakes 
is  believed  to  he  not  far  distant.  This  feeling 
is  due  not  only  to  the  fact  that  the  docks  arc 
pretty  well  stocked  for  the  coming  winter  and 
will  not  need  a  great  deal  more  coal,  but  also 
because  of  the  fact  that  boats  are  not  going  to 
spend  so  very  much  time  waiting  for  coal  cargoes 
at  Lake  Erie  when  there  is  so  much  of  the 
northwest  crop  still  to  move  before  the  pro¬ 
hibitive  season  on  the  lakes  arrives.  The  move¬ 
ment  of  the  grain  is  more  important  in  the  eyes 
of  the  vessel  owners  at  this  time  than  the  move¬ 
ment  of  coal. 

Shipments  from  this  point  have  fallen  off 
heavily  during  the  past  week.  .About  the  only 
reason  that  can  lie  assigned  is  that  dealers  in 
the  northwest  have  stocked  up  heavily  early  in 
the  season,  and  with  the  continuation  of  mild 
weather  have  not  been  disposing  of  a  great  deal 
of  their  holdings ;  also  that  threshing  seems  to 
be  pretty  well  through.  However,  it  is  reported, 
towns  along  the  Soo  line  are  taking  coal  more 
liberally  than  along  any  other  section  of  the 
territory  tributary  to  this  point. 

Improvements  to  the  extent  of  about  $90,000 
are  to  be  made  this  winter  on  the  Hanna  dock 
in  Superior.  The  dock  will  be  modernized  with 
the  latest  machinery,  steel  rigs  replacing  the 
wooden  ones,  and  the  wooden  dock  will  be  faced 
with  concrete.  This  work  will  begin  at  once. 

The  United  States  engineer  has  just  sent  out 
a  statement  making  two  corrections  in  the  figures 
announced  at  the  end  of  September  regarding 
coal  receipts  up  to  that  time.  The  only  changes 
are  that  up  to  September  30,  881, .508  tons  of  splint 
coal  had  been  received  instead  of  906,879  tons; 
and  76,333  tons  of  cannel  had  been  received  in 
place  of  50,944  tons. 


Southwest  Trade. 


Oklahoma  City,  Okla.,  November  4. —  (Spe¬ 
cial  Correspondence.) — Warm  weather  marked 
the  entire  month  of  October  in  Oklahoma  and 
Texas.  Coal  people,  having  the  prophetic  vision, 
are  not  grumbling.  They  realize  that  warm  weath¬ 
er  is  just  what  is  needed.  Farmers  in  the  north¬ 
ern  part  of  Oklahoma,  which  is  a  small-grain 
country,  are  busy  from  sun  to  sun  planting  wheat, 
getting  in  the  last  crop  of  alfalfa — the  sixth  in 
many  instances — and  putting  up  ensilage  before 
the  first  killing  frost. 

The  farmers  in  the  southern  half  of  the  state, 
known  as  the  cotton  belt,  are  busy  picking  cotton. 
The  cotton  crop  is  generally  from  thirty  to  forty 
days  late  over  the  cotton  states,  which  necessi¬ 
tates  warm  weather  until  the  middle  of  Novem¬ 
ber  to  insure  anything  like  a  full  crop.  A  heavy 
frost  earlier  than  that  would  kill  the  unopened 
bolls,  resulting  in  a  loss  of  twenty  per  cent  of 
the  potential  crop.  On  August  25  it  was  indi¬ 
cated  by  the  state  board  of  agriculture  report 
that  Oklahoma’s  cotton  crop  this  year  would 
amount  to  750,000  liales ;  last  year  it  was  1,261,- 
000.  The  acreage  this  season  was  reduced  twen¬ 
ty-eight  per  cent,  due  to  the  very  low  price  last 
year.  It  is  believed  by  many  that  the  reduced 
yield  will  return  more  money  than  last  year’s 
production,  to  the  then  low  price  prevailing. 

Natural  gas  and  oil  are  nightmares  to  coal 
men  in  this  state.  Every  town  in  Oklahoma  with 
a  population  greater  than  5,000  are  supplied  with 
natural  gas,  except  four — and  there  are  some¬ 
thing  near  twenty  such  towns.  Because  of  the 
continued  activity  in  the  oil  fields  of  the  state, 
gas  wells  are  brought  in  almost  daily.  This 
insures  ample  pressure  at  all  points  where  mains 
are  built,  and  also  makes  possilde  the  low  prices 
at  which  gas  is  sold,  averaging  seven  cents  for 
manufacturing  purposes  and  eighteen  cents  for 
private  use,  over  the  state. 

Little  domestic  coal  is  moving  just  now.  Most 
dealers  have  already  supplied  their  large  consum¬ 
ers,  filling  their  bins  early  in  September.  This 
done,  they  filled  their  own  yards,  expecting  to 
order  thenceforth  as  the  coal  was  needed.  The 
warm  weather  now  being  experienced  is  result¬ 
ing  in  a  good  many  cancellations,  for  these  rea- 
.sons.  However,  there  are  no  large  stocks  on 
cars  at  any  Oklahoma  mines  at  this  writing, 
whereas  last  week  there  were  near  100  cars  at 
the  various  mines  in  the  McAlester  field. 

If  this  winter  turns  out  to  be  severe,  as  is 
predicted  by  the  Indians,  as  well  as  the  more 
authenticated  reports  from  other  sources,  there 
will  be  a  great  shortage  of  McAlester  and  VVil- 
burton  coal,  and  dealers  will  be  forced  to  sub¬ 
stitute  with  the  inferior  coals  and  coal  from  the 
strip  pit  mines.  This  is  owing  to  the  fact  that 
the  production  in  the  McAlester  district  will  be 
reduced  at  least  one-third,  due  to  a  number  of  the 
large  operating  companies  having  gone  into  re¬ 
ceiver’s  hands  during  the  past  year. 


[The  Black  Diamond 

VoL  55.  No.  20  ^Slumbus  NOVEMBER  13,  1915  ?i^^sb8rgh  ^i^3.00  Per  Year 


Future  of  a  Troubled  Trade— Today’s  Opportunity. 


The  unmistakable  evidences  are  that  the 
United  States  is  on  the  eve  of  another  such  an 
upturn  in  business  as  that  which  started  in 
1808.  This,  unless  financial  men  fail  to  keep 
step,  must  develop  another  period  of  large 
‘inanemg  such  as  came  in  litOl)  and  thereabout. 
It  is  not  at  all  likely  that  our  new  financial 
campaign  will  find  expression  in  another  series 
of  large  consolidations,  mainly  because  the 
great  opportunities  have  been  seized.  Instead, 
the  financing  of  great  merchandising  plans  is 
likely  to  take  first  place.  Our  export  aspira¬ 
tions  suggest  this. 

An  Opportunity. 

Even  so,  America’s  biggest  and  most  prom¬ 
ising  business  is  still  disorganized:  is  prac¬ 
tically  in  wholesale  ruin  and  at  the  same  time 
offers  a  possible  financial  reward  larger  than 
that  given  even  by  steel.  Bituminous  coal  has 
in  it  the  making  of  America’s  next  great  finan¬ 
cier.  It  will  be  no  miracle  if  he  does  come: 
it  will  be  unbelievable  if  he  doesn’t,  seeing 
that  everything  is  ready  to  his  hand,  even  in¬ 
cluding  every  device  needed  in  the  manipula¬ 
tions  before  and  after  the  financing.  There¬ 
fore,  if  America  has  any  man  of  the  caliber 
from  which  financiers  are  made,  the  next  few 
years  must  produce  another  J.  P.  Morgan  and 
hence  must  see  large  changes  in  the  bitu¬ 
minous  coal  trade. 

To  measure  the  possibilities  of  the  situation 
it  is  not  necessary  to  go  into  the  inevitable 
new  mechanical  departures  in  coal-trade  ac¬ 
tivities,  even  though  therein  lie  possibilities  of 
great  wealth.  Instead,  it  is  enough  to  show 
the  money  to  be  made_  by  reversing  the  exist¬ 
ing  bad  business  practices. 

No  industry  ever  offered  an  opportunity  to 
the  financier  until  it  got  into  trouble.  The 
facts  are  that  the  bituminous  coal  industry  is 
in  serious  trouble  now.  For  example,  figures 
compiled  in  1911  show  that  there  is  invested 
in  the  bituminous  coal  industry  east  of  the 
Rocky  mountains  $1,050,000,000.  The  earnings 
on  this  money  were  then  estimated  at  about 
one  per  cent  per  year,  or  a  trifle  more.  Since 
the  money  “invested”  evidently  included  bonds 
as  well  as  stocks,  the  one  per  cent  earned  is 
clearly  the  average  of  the  bond  interest  and 
return  on  stocks.  Since  fully  half  of  the  in¬ 
vestment,  or  about  .$500,000,000,  is  in  six  per 
cent  bonds,  the  stock  interest  was  clearly  rep¬ 
resented  by  a  wholesale  loss. 

Sectional  Struggle. 

To  add  to  the  demoralization  incident  to  a 
lack  of  profit,  there  has  developed  serious  sec¬ 
tional  strifes.  The  inevitable  result  will  be  to 
deplete  the  revenue  of  the  coal  trade  still 
further.  This  situation  is  closely  comparable 
to  that  which  prevailed  among  the  railroads 
immediately  before  the  community  of_  inter¬ 
ests  of  railway  control  was  formed.  It  is  even 
more  closely  analogous  to  conditions  in  the 
steel  industry  just  prior  to  the  formation  of 
the  Steel  Corporation.  .To  indicate  the  extent 
and  seriousness  of  this  warfare,  it  need  only 
be  recalled  that  Ohio  and  western  Pennsyl¬ 
vania  are  now  fighting  West  Virginia  before 
the  commissions  in  a  vain  hope  of  getting  a 
market  advantage  by  a  change  in  freight 
rates.  An  industry  is  mighty  poor  when  it 
pins  its  hope  to  such  things.  Eastern  Ken¬ 
tucky  is  today  fighting  the  whole  combination 
of  eastern  states,  and  they  in  turn  are  fighting 
it.  Illinois  and  Indiana  are,  before  the  com¬ 
missions  and  in  every  other  way,  fighting  the 
whole  eastern  coterie,  including  Kentucky. 
It  is  a  death  struggle  which  is  now  in  progress 
with  investments  at  stake  which  arc  truly 
astounding  in  their  proportions. 

The  only  vita!  difference  between  this  situa¬ 
tion  in  coal  and  that  in  the  steel  trade  of  the 
late  nineties  is  that,  in  steel,  the  fighting  units 
had  come  to  be  of  some  size;  in  the  bituminous 
coal  industry  they  arc,  in  the  main,  still  small. 


A  Discussion  of  the  Coal  Situation  and  a 
Suggestion  of  a  Way  to  Solve  Some  Diffi¬ 
culties — A  Man  of  Personality  Is  Needed. 


The  first  and  most  natural  suggestion  is 
that  financing  take  the  form  of  trustification. 
That,  in  the  sense  heretofore  considered,  is 
discouraged  by  the  elementary  fact  of  the  sup¬ 
ply  of  coal.  For  example,  the  United  States 
Geological  Survey  has  estimated  that  the  coal 
reserve  of  the  United  States  and  Alaska 
amounts  to  4,188,700,000,000  short  tons  of  2,000 
pounds.  If  there  is  excluded  from  this  the 
deposits  of  the  western  states  and  Alaska,  it 
is  found  that  in  the  territory  east  of  the  Rocky 
mountains  there  is  probably  a  coal  reserve 
approximating  2,000,000,000,000  short  tons.  Of 
iliis,  over  seventy-five  per  cent  is  within  easy 
reach  of  any  man’s  pick  and  shovel;  is  close  to 
transportation;  is  near  to  its  biggest  market, 
and  can  be  opened  at  relatively  a  very  low 
cost. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  present  unprofit¬ 
able  condition  of  the  coal  trade  arises  from 
the  fact  that  so  great  a  part  of  the  nation’s 
coal  reserve — which  is  supposed  to  support  a 
population  up  to  250,000,000  persons  for  a  thou¬ 
sand  years  or  more — can  be  opened  up  in¬ 
stantly  in  response  to  any  sudden  increased 
demand. 

The  discouraging  feature  heretofore  has 
been  that  to  nullify  this  possible  competition  it 
has  been  thought  necessary  to  control  this 
land.  Indeed,  capital  has  been  found  with  the 
temerity  to  enter  upon  such  an  undertaking 
in  so  far  at  least  that  whole  deposits  of  coal 
have  been  brought  under  control. 

To  measure  this  task,  it  is  necessary  only 
to  take  into  account  the  fact  that  2,000,000,000,- 
000  tons  of  this  coal  are  available  in  the  east¬ 
ern  territory  alone.  If  we  figure  the  value  of 
the  coal  at  so  little  as  one  cent  in  the  ground 
— less  than  the  Tennessee  Coal  and  Iron  paid 
for  its  coal — we  find  that  to  buy  the  coal 
acreage  would  require  a  capitalization  of  $20,- 
000,000,000 — rou.ghly,  thirteen  times  the  capital¬ 
ization  of  the  Steel  Corporation.  If  this  land 
were  capitalized  at  six  per  cent  and  if  the  re¬ 
sultant  interest — $1,200,000,000  per  year — were 
assessed  against  a  production  of  000,000,000 
tons  a  year,  the  interest  charge  alone  would 
be  $2  per  ton. 

Co-operation  Impracticable. 

Seeing  the  hopeless  impossibility  of  such  a 
financial  undertaking  and  the  futility  of  any 
smaller  plan,  many  are  disposed  to  abandon 
finance  and  to  pin  their  faith  to  a  species  of 
co-operation  among  the  present  producing 
units — to  a  sort  of  gentlemen’s  agreement. 

There  are  two  serious  objections  to  such  a 
plan : 

First,  a  gentlemen’s  agreement  may  be  good 
among  genrlemen,  but  few  are  willing  to  abide 
by  it. 

Second,  no  gentlemen’s  agreement  among 
present  producers  could,  prevent  other  persons 
from  opening  the  abundant  coal  measures  and 
working  outside  the  agreement.  Thus  any  such, 
agreement  would  defeat  its  own  ends,  because 
l)y  making  coal  production  universally  profit¬ 
able  .it  would  only  invite  many  new  compe¬ 
titions. 

.Seeing  the  need  of  some  form  of  control.  I 
have  at  various  times  suggested  a  device  which 
has  the  peculiar  merit  that  it  does  no  injury  to 
anyone  and  yet  is  beneficial  to  labor,  capital, 
the  consumer,  and  posterity.  It  takes  root 
in  one  compelling  fact,  namely: 

We  have  twenty-eight  coal-producing  states, 
but  forty-eight  coal-consuming  states.  There¬ 
fore,  it  is  impossible  to  consider  that  any  one 
state  can  control  its  coal  supply  or  its  coal 
business  unless  we  concede  the  unconceiv¬ 


able  ultimate  that  one  state  might  deprive  an¬ 
other  of  coal.  Regulation  of  coal  production 
must,  therefore,  be  as  broad  as  the  need  foi 
coal.  This  demands  federal  control  of  some 
kind. 

A  Plan. 

Assuming  national  control,  my  suggestion 
has  been  that  it  is  unsound  to  assume  that 
the  whole  supply  of  any  inexhaustible  material 
Mdiich  IS  supposed  to  last  one  thousand  years 
should  be  considered  as  available  for  produc¬ 
tion  at  any  one  time  or  all  the  time.  I  have 
recommendeci  that,  instead  of  any  person  be¬ 
ing  at  liberty  to  produce  coal  from  his  acres 
at  any  time  he  sees  fit,  the  government  should 
limit  the  right  to  produce  to  the  needs  of  the 
time  and  the  surrounding  districts.  As  a  pre¬ 
liminary  to  such  a  stand,  it  should  declare  the 
entire  coal  area  to  be  a  part  of  public  domain. 

.Vs  a  matter  of  detail,  I  liave  also  suggested, 
at  times,  that  the  government  could  very  well’ 
It  only  as  a_  means  of  entailing  this  estate,  as 
It  were,  cHvide  all  business  into  at  least  two 
classes.  One  of  these  should  be  made  up  of 
the  extractive  or  destructive  industries,  such 
as  coal  and  minerals.  The  other,  of  course, 
would  include  all  reproductive  industries  or 
those  Avorking  in  raw  materials  the  supply  of 
which  IS  constantly  renewing  itself. 

Such  a  conception  is  so  flexible,  the  federal 
government  could  do  anything  it  pleased.  For 
instance,  the  preponderance  of  coal  would  al- 
w_ays  be  held  in  reserve  and  under  full  control 
of  tne  government.  Thus  the  authorities  could 
lay  burdens  of  taxation  and  social  obligations 
upon  the  mines  and  empower  them  so  to  or¬ 
ganize  that  the  consumer  would  automatically 
the  bill.  At  the  same  time,  it  would  be 
able  to  hold  such  combinations  always  in 
check.  It  could,  in  fact,  ruin  any  such  com¬ 
bination  instanter  by_  merely  releasing  some 
of  the  coal  land  held  in  reserve.  The  produc¬ 
tion  from  the  released  land  would  break  the 
monopoly. 

With  such  control  of  the  situation,  the 
question  of  what  is  good  policy  could  decide 
whether  in  future  the  nation  would  allow 
co-operation  among  small  producing  units  or 
whether  it  would  encourage  control  of  whole 
producing  districts  by  large  capital. 

Advantages. 

If  the  nation  wished  to  be  extremely  liberal, 
it  could  encourage  all  of  the  small  men  now 
producing  coal  to  continue  to  do  so,  arriving 
at  their  prices  by  trade  conventions.  They 
would  embalm  the  extravagant  methods  and 
the  wastefulness  which  have  grown  up  under 
the  old  system.  .-Ulso,  it  would  encourage  the 
present  system  by  which  small  men  with  no 
knovcledge  launch  themselves  in  business  and 
.get  their  commercial  education  at  public  ex¬ 
pense.  If  that  is  the  wish  of  the  nation,  it  can 
easil\  lie  expressed  in  a  plan  of  co-operation 
which  will  continue  all  the  small  operators  in 
control  of  their  present  acreages  and  mines. 
The  advantage  of  such  a  system  is  that  it 
makes  coal  expensive  and  hence  encourages 
the  consumer  to  study  fuel  economy  through 
furnace  efficiency. 

The  alternative  plan,  of  course,  would  be  for 
the  .government  to  encourage  large  capital  to 
control  and  manage  the  mines  in  large  units. 
Whole  districts,  in  fact,  could  be  placed  under 
the  control  of  skilled  men.  Since  their  selec¬ 
tion  would  be  left  to  large  financial  interests, 
naturally  they  would  be  those  who  had  proved 
their  ability  to  produce  and  market  coal 
cheaply  while  working  for  other  large  units, 
.^uch  a  plan  would  be  the  antithesis  of  the 
co-operative  system,  because  the  real  produc¬ 
ers  would  get  their  education  while  serving  as 
department  heads  of  bi.g  companies  and  at  cor¬ 
poration  expense.  The  steady  and  great 
.growth  of  coal  demand  would  make  room  for 

(Concluded  on  page  .lO,"!) 


386 


THE  BLA(  K  DIAMOND 


[November  13 


Big  Ship  Building  Company  Is  Forming. 


The  east  looks  for  great  prosperity  for  some 
.rears  to  come  due  to  the  extensive  luiilding  in 
all  lines  using  steel  and  necessarilv  coal.  The 
government  stands  committed  to  a  plan  which 
'vill  mean  practically  the  doubling  of  our  war 
fleet  during  the  next  five  years;  our  army  is 
I'l  be  accordingly  increased  and  an  enormous  pro¬ 
duction  of  war  munitions  will  naturally  follow. 

The  railroads  will  naturally  profit  from  an 
expansion  of  the  steel,  iron,  coal  and  coke  busi¬ 
ness.  which  means  that  the  lienelits  that  will 
accrue  from  an  expansion  of  our  naval  and  mili¬ 
tary  exiienditures  will  be  passed  along  from  one 
industry  to  another.  Ifach  industry,  like  the 
ga’nliler’s  kittv,  will  receive  some  benefit. 

.Moreover,  the  end  of  the  European  war  is  not 
yet  in  sight.  As  long  as  it  lasts,  the  United 
.''tates  will  have  to  supply  enormous  (juantities  of 
munitions.  As  soon  as  peace  is  declared,  it  is 
the  general  opinion  that  the  United  States  will 
be  taxed  to  furnish  a  sufficient  amount  of  steel 
and  other  wares  to  rebuild  devastated  Europe. 
.\o  matter  which  way  the  hfuropean  war  cat 
jumps,  this  countrv  stands  to  profit. 

Therefore,  it  is  not  out  of  the  line  of  reason 
to  learn  that  the  wise  Mr.  Schwah  is  planning 
to  make  for  the  Bethlehem  Steel  Corporation,  the 
greatest  shipbuilding  organization  in  the  country. 
I■^nancia^  - 1 incrica,  in  speaking  on  this  subject, 
says: 

'Tn  the  number  of  shipyard  ways  which  will 
form  Bethlehem  properties,  according  to  the 
plans.  Mr,  Schwab  will  have  one  of  the  leading 
organizations  of  the  world,  although  in  the  size 
of  merchant  vessels  to  be  constructed,  his  works 
will  still  be  exceeded  by  such  organizations  as  the 
British  firms  of  llarland  Wolff,  and  of  Work¬ 
man,  Clark  &  Co.,  and  the  Vulcan  yards  at  Ham¬ 
burg. 

"The  acquisition  of  the  Pennsylvania  Steel 
Company  is  one  of  the  leading  steps  by  iMr. 
Schwab  in  his  present  plans.  A  rebuilding  and 
an  early  placing  in  operation  of  the  Crescent 
shijiyarcis  on  the  Arthur  Kill,  at  Elizabethport, 
X.  .1.,  will  be  another.  The  Crescent  shipyards 
were,  at  one  time,  among  the  leading  builders 
in  this  country  of  cruisers,  torpedo  boats,  sub¬ 
marines,  and  other  war  craft,  executing  con¬ 
tracts  for  the  United  States,  for  Russia,  and 
other  governments.  Since  1907,  the  Crescent 
Shipyard  Corporation  has  been  consolidated  with 
the  Samuel  L.  iMoore  &  Sons  Corporation,  a 
subsidiary  of  the  Bethlehem  Steel  Corporation. 

“The  Aloore  plant  consists  of  iron  foundries, 
machine  shops,  -etc.  It  has  extensive  facilities 
for  marine  repair  work  and,  according  to  the 
plains,  which  were  brought  to  light  Saturday, 
extensions  to  its  plants  are  to  be  begun  at  an 
early  date,  entailing  expenditure  of  $1,500,0(1(1.  In 
conncciion  with  this  work,  the  Crescent  yards 
will  (piickly  he  put  in  shape  to  resume  operations, 
being  fitted  up  particularly  for  the  work  of 
handling  submarine  orders  in  conjunction  with 
the  Submarine  Boat  Corporation. 

“The  Fore  River  yards  and  the  Union  Iron 
Works  of  the  Bethlehem  have  been  used,  thus 
far.  for  the  building  of  hulls  on  the  orders 
placed  with  the  Submarine  Boat  Corporation, 
but  will  prove  inadequate  for  the  handling  of 
the  orders  placed  on  the  books  in  the  last  few 
months,  largely  through  Mr.  Schwab’s  efforts, 
and  additional  orders  now  under  negotiation,  the 
closing  of  which  appears  assured.  In  the  latter 
are  included  negotiations  with  Japan,  and  with 
one  of  the  neutral  nations  of  Europe. 

“Acquisition  of  the  Pennsylvania  Steel  Com¬ 
pany  gives  the  Bethlehem  Steel  Corporation  the 
Sparrow’s  Point  shipyards  which  have  turned 
out  the  highest  class  freight  vessels  constructed 
in  any  American  yards.  All  the  vessels  of  the 
.\merican-Hawaiian  Steani.ship  Line,  which  takes 
first  rank  as  freight  carriers  in  coastwise  trade, 
were  turned  out  from,  these  yards.  The  yards 
have  also  done  extensive  government  work.  The 
Sparrow’s  Point  yards  belong  to  the  Maryland 
Steel  Comiiany,  in  its  turn  controlled  by  the 
Pennsylvania  Steel  Company. 

".Xn  inkling  of  Mr.  Schwab’s  ambitious  plans 
for  the  actpiisition  and  development  of  shipyards 
was  first  afforded  a  few  years  ago  when  an¬ 
nouncement  was  made  of  the  purchase  by  the 
Bethlehem  of  the  Fore  River  yards  at  Quincy, 
Mass.  The  entire  list  of  shipbuilding  plants 
which  the  Bethlehem  Steel  Corporation  now 
owns,  following  the  acquisition  of  the  Pennsyl¬ 
vania  Steel  Company  is  as  follows:  Sparrow’s 
Point  yards  at  Sparrow’s  Point,  Md.;  Union  Iron 
Works  Drydock  Company,  San  Francisco:  Har¬ 
lan  &  Hollingsworth  yards  at  Wilmington,  Del.; 


Fore  River  yards  at  Quincy,  Mass.;  and  Crescent 
yards  (at  present  inoperative)  at  Elizabethport, 
X’.  J. 

“That  Mr.  Schwab  has  acquired  other  ship¬ 
yard  properties  has  been  persistently  rumored,  for 
months,  his  name  having  been  most  frequently 
coupled  with  the  reported  change  of  control  of 
William  Cramp  &  Sons  Ship  &  Engine  Building 
Company.  ,  The  Bethlehem  Steel  Corporation 
and  the  Cramp  yards  have  for  years  worked 
together  on  contracts  for  vessels  for  the  United 
States,  for  Argentina  and  other  governments. 
The  Cramp  is  the  largest  single  shipbuilding  plant 
in  the  country. 

“The  Roach  shipyards  at  Chester,  Pa.,  recently 
Iiassed  to  new  owners,  the  identity  of  whom  has 
not  been  made  known,  and  there  has  been  a 
similar  air  of  mystery  regarding  deals  put  through 
affecting  shipyards  on  the  Gulf,  in  which  Mr. 
Schwab’s  name  not  unnaturally  has  appeared,  but 
there  has  been  no  instance  in  which  the  rumors 
of  ac(|uisiti(m  hy  Mr.  Schwab  have  been  so  per¬ 
sistent  and  have  had  the  appearance  of  as  much 
basis  as  with  regard  to  the  reported  deal  on  the 
Cramp  works. 


The  loading  of  coal  has  become  an  art.  Degra¬ 
dation  or  breakage  is  the  bugbear  of  everyone 
connected  with  coat  production  or  sale.  Conse¬ 
quently  every  improvement  in  loading  methods  is 
eagerly  watched.  The  Christopher  Coal  Mining 
Company,  at  Christopher,  111.,  has  recently  com¬ 
pleted  a  new  plant  which  will  bear  discussion  be¬ 
cause  it  is  especially  designed  to  load  coal  quickly 
and  without  breakage. 

The  plant  in  question  has  a  capacity  of  4,000 
tons  per  eight  hour  day.  The  usual  mining  shaker 
screen  equipment  is  supplemented  by  a  loading 
boom  for  large  lump  coal  and  two  picking  belts  of 
the  pan  conveyor  type,  each  four  feet  broad. 
These  tables  as  well  as  the  loading  boom  are  ar¬ 
ranged  so  as  to  deliver  coal  to  open  cars  or  to  a 
four-foot  pan  cross  conveyor  running  parallel 
with  the  screen  above  the  car  tracks  and  delivers 
the  coal  to  the  box  car  loader.  Box  cars  are 
loaded  on  a  fifth  track  by  a  Manierre  loader. 

To  convey  the  coal  to  this  loader,  the  coal  from 
the  two  picking  belts  is  switched  onto  the  cross 
conveyor  by  merely  closing  or  opening  a  flop  gate 
without  stopping  the  screen.  In  the  case  of  the 
lump  coal,  this  is  done  by  raising  the  loading 
boom  so  as  to  deliver  the  coal  to  the  cross  con- 


“Nothing  further  could  be  learned  at  the  offices 
of  the  Bethlehem  Steel  Corporation  Saturday 
regarding  the  purchase  of  the  Pennsylvania  Steel 
(.ompany.  It  is  believed  in  steel  circles  that 
there  will  be  no  merger  of  the  two  concerns, 
but  that  they  will  be  operated  separately.  It  is 
pointed  out  that  there  are  many  benefits  to 
separate  operations  and  that  the  Bethlehem  Steel 
interests  will  take  advantage  of  these. 

"By  far  the  most  importance  is  attached  by 
steel  men  to  the  fact  that  the  deal  gives  the 
Bethlehem  Corporation  the  Sparrow’s  Point  ship 
lilaiit  of  the  Maryland  Steel  Company.  It  is 
said  that  this  addition  will,  in  time,  prove  the 
most  profitable  in  the  transaction,  especially  in 
connection  with  the  Chilean  ore  properties  of 
the  Bethlehem  concern. 

“That  the  Bethlehem  corporation,  which  has 
iluring  the  last  few  years  been  a  big  factor  in 
the  steel  trade,  will  become  even  a  larger  one 
because  of  this  deal,  is  not  doubted  by  any  inter¬ 
est.  It  is  the  belief  that  Mr.  Schwab’s  plans 
call  for  further  enlargements  which  will  eventual¬ 
ly  take  in  every  branch  of  the  steel  business. 
Whether  this  will  be  done  through  acquisitions 
of  other  properties  or  by  additions  to  the  present 
plants  is  not  known.” 


veyor  or  hy  depressing  the  same  if  the  open  cars 
are  to  be  loaded.  The  screenings  are  carried  by 
conveyors  to  a  storage  hopper,  from  which  open 
cars  can  be  loaded,  or  they  can  be  diverted  to  a 
conveyor  carrying  them  to  the  storage  bins  above 
the  boilers. 

The  loader  itself  is  of  the  Manierre  standard 
stationary  steel  apron  type  with  what  they  call 
their  overslung  locking  arms,  ball  bearing  screw 
jack,  and  power  tilted  loader  equipped  with  30 
H.  P.  totally  enclosed  slip  ring  motor.  The  chute 
is  of  the  Manierre  standard  swivel  type  for  carry¬ 
ing  the  coal  from  the  end  of  the  cross  conveyor 
to  the  loader  in  all  positions  while  loading.  The 
machine  is  arranged  to  fill  the  center  of  the  car, 
thus  increasing  very  greatly  the  tonnage  handled 
at  slow  belt  speed,  insuring  a  minimum  of  break¬ 
age,  When  fully  loaded  this  loader  has  a  capac¬ 
ity  of  six  thirty-ton  cars  per  hour,  provided  that 
not  more  than  two  minutes  is  taken  in  spotting 
cars.  As  above  stated,  the  whole  arrangement 
has  been  laid  out  to  insure  clean  coal  and  freedom 
from  degradation.  But  in  doing  so,  it  can  be 
seen,  the  flexibility  of  the  whole  plant  is  ideal,  as 
any  grade  or  combination  of  grades,  can  be  loaded 
for  box  car  shipment  at  any  desired  speed. 


New  type  of  Loader  installed  for  Christopher  Coal  Mining  Company. 


A  New  Type  of  Box  Car  Loader. 


THE  BEA(  K  DIAMOM) 


387 


No.  20] 


Lehigh  Valley  Annual  Report. 


The  Lehigh  Valley  Railroad  Company  earned 
a  net  income  of  $6,322,444.96  for  the  fiscal  year 
ending  June  30,  last,  a  decrease  of  $734,214.73 
under  last  year.  The  sixty-first  annual  report  of 
the  Railroad  Company  was  recently  made  public 
It  shows  operating  revenues  for  the  fiscal 
vear  of  $42,525,962.02,  an  increase  of  $355,315.24 
over  last  year.  Operating  expenses  were  $29,947,- 
387.54,  a  decrease  of  $140,517.66,  giving  a  net 
operating  revenue  for  the  year  of  $12,578,574.48, 
an  increase  of  $495,832.90. 

In  comparing  these  figures  with  those  of  last 
year,  it  should  be  recalled  that  a  $685,080.00  divi¬ 
dend  on  Temple  Iron  Company  stock  owned  by 
the  Lehigh  Valley  was  included  in  its  year’s  in¬ 
come  l)y  order  of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Com¬ 
mission.  Naturally,  there  is  no  such  dividend  this 
year.  Comparison  of  the  figures  for  this  year 
v/ith  last  and  previous  years  also  is  complicated 
by  a  rule  put  into  effect  a  year  ago  by  the  Com¬ 
mission,  changing  bookkeeping  methods  in  cer¬ 
tain  accounts.  To  form  a  basis  for  comparison, 
the  figures  given  out  in  1914  have  been  adjusted  to 
the  new  method.  Particularly  interesting,  in  the 
operating  expenses  is  a  $421,871.94  reduction  in 
transportation  expenses.  That  the  company’s 
equipment  is  being  kept  to  the  best  possible  stand¬ 
ard  is  indicated  by  an  increase  of  $537,698.13  in 
that  account. 

After  paying  four  quarterly  dividends  of  two 
and  one-half  per  cent  each  on  the  common  and 
preferred  stocks,  amounting  to  $6,060,800,  and 
making  various  adjustments,  the  profit  and  loss 
account  of  the  company  on  June  30,  1915,  showed 
a  credit  of  $23,692,716.83. 

No  increase  in  the  funded  debt  of  the  company 
was  made  during  the  year.  Thus  far  the  im¬ 
provements  which  have  been  made  in  connection 
with  the  new  freight  and  passenger  terminals  at 
Buffalo  have  been  financed  out  of  the  current 
cash  resources  of  the  company.  It  is  proposed, 
however,  at  a  later  date  to  make  a  specific  issue 
of  bonds  to  cover  the  major  portion  of  this  ex¬ 
penditure.  Capital  obligations,  consisting  of  col¬ 
lateral  trust  bonds  and  equipment  trusts  to  the 
amount  of  $2,800,000  were  retired  during  the 
year. 

The  year’s  revenue  from  the  handling  of  mer¬ 
chandise  freight  amounted  to  $16,005,501.45,  an 
increase  of  $463,615.55  over  last  year.  The  reve¬ 
nue  from  the  transportation  of  coal  and  coke 
amounted  to  $19,195,755.50,  an  increase  of  $667,- 
509,06,  as  compared  with  the  previous  year.  The 
average  revenue  per  ton  was  116.30  cents.  Last 
year  it  was  114.43  cents.  The  number  of  tons 
carried  one  mile  was  5,326,328,902,  an  increase 
of  140,128,336,  and  the  revenue  received  per  train 
mile  was  $4.10,  an  increase  of  one  cent  a  mile. 
The  average  train  load  of  freight  was  620.72  tons. 

A  remarkable  feature  of  the  report,  and  one 
indicating  the  business  depression  of  the  last  year, 
appears  under  the  head  of  “other  income,”  being 
known  as  "hire  of  equipment.”  In  other  years 
this  has  shown  a  credit — in  1914  it  was  $325,440.01, 
but  in  the  year  just  ended,  a  debit  balance  of 
$68,807.74  was  shown,  a  decrease  of  $394,247.75. 
Hire  of  equipment  represents  mainly  the  use  of 
freight  cars  of  other  lines  on  the  Lehigh  Valley 
and  of  Lehigh  Valley  cars  on  other  lines,  and  the 
figures  indicate  the  general  stagnation  in  the 
movement  of  freight. 

Passenger  earnings  during  the  year  showed  a 
considerable  decrease,  due,  it  is  said,  principally 
to  the  suspension  of  immigration  business,  a  large 
part  of  which  annually  has  gone  to  the  Lehigh 
Valley.  The  earnings  from  passenger  traffic 
amounted  to  $4,043,799.00,  a  decrease  of  $751,- 
348.44  from  the  previous  twelve  months. 

The  total  number  of  passengers  carried  was 
5,206,972,  a  decrease  of  522,070  under  1914.  The 
average  revenue  from  passengers  per  train  mile 
was  1.875  cents,  a  decrease  of  .068  cents. 

“Your  company  has  pursued  a  fairly  aggres¬ 
sive  policy  in  the  matter  of  expenditures  for  the 
development  and  improvement  of  its  property,” 
says  President  E.  B.  Thomas,  in  the  report.  “The 
appropriations  for  the  year  were  also  very  liberal 
for  the  maintenance  of  the  permanent  way  and 
equipment.  Your  board  of  directors  has  believed 
it  to  be  for  the  best  interest  of  the  stockholders 
to  pursue  this  policy  of  liberal  maintenance  and 
conservative  development  for  the  future,  notwith¬ 
standing  the  fact  that  the  revenues  were  some¬ 
what  affected  during  part  of  the  fiscal  year  as  a 
result  of  the  disturbed  business  and  financial 
condition  of'  the  country  resulting  from  the 
European  situation.” 

Important  improvements  now  under  way,  named 
by  President  Thomas,  include  the  new  passenger 
and  freight  terminals  and  a  modern  steel  and  con¬ 


crete  coal  dock,  all  of  which  are  now  building 
in  Buffalo.  The  coal  dock  will  be  ready  for  use 
in  a  few  weeks  and  the  freight  station  by  No¬ 
vember  1st.  In  and  about  New  York  City  impor¬ 
tant  improvements  are  now  in  progress.  A  1,060- 
foot  dock  equipped  with  modern  ore-handling  ma¬ 
chinery  together  with  necessary  yard  tracks  is 
building  at  Constable  Hook,  near  Bayonne,  on 
New  York  bay.  It  will  be  finished  early  in  the 
spring  of  1916.  A  730-foot  steel  and  concrete 
pier  is  being  erected  at  the  foot  of  Rector  street 
on  the  North  River,  which  will  be  ready  for  op¬ 
eration  about  January  1,  1916.  A  two-story  cov¬ 
ered  steel  pier,  located  between  Gouverneur  and 
Jackson  streets  on  the  East  River,  intended  par¬ 
ticularly  for  the  flour  trade  is  building,  and  a  steel 
hay  warehouse  at  149th  street  and  the  Harlem 
River  will  soon  be  ready.  During  the  year  im¬ 
portant  extensions  and  improvements  were  made 
at  pier  5,  Wallabout  Basin,  Brooklyn.  A  fifty- 
stall  fireproof  engine  house  is  building  at  Sayre, 
Pa.,  and  additional  car  repair  yards  at  Coxton, 
Pa.,  are  being  constructed.  Switch  yards  at  South 
Plainfield,  Perth  Amboy  and  Newark  recently 
were  enlarged. 

Equipment  purchased  during  the  year  includes 
eight  locomotives,  forty  steel  passenger  coaches, 
twenty-five  steel  baggage  cars,  two  150-ton  steam 
derricks,  two  snow  plows,  and  eleven  gasoline 
motor  cars  for  the  use  of  section,  bridge,  signal 
and  telegraph  gangs.  The  Lehigh  Valley  now  has 
a  total  of  110  of  such  motor  cars  in  use  on  its 
line.  Orders  have  already  been  placed  for  ten 
Pacific  type  passenger  locomotives,  five  switching 
locomotives  and  twenty-five  milk  cars.  During 
the  year  fifty-three  heavy  consolidation  type 
freight  locomotives  were  rebuilt  and  equipped 
with  super-heaters,  new  cylinders  and  other  mod¬ 
ern  features  calculated  to  reduce  fuel  consump¬ 
tion  and  increase  efficiency. 

President  Thomas  again  calls  the  attention  of 
the  stockholders  to  the  steady  increase  in  tax 
accruals,  which  he  points  out,  have  increased 
at  a  rate  out  of  proportion  to  the  increase  in 
revenues.  The  total  taxes  of  the  Lehigh  Valley 
now  amount  to  4.23  per  cent  of  the  company’s 
gross  operating  revenues.  In  the  last  ten  years 
operating  revenues  have  increased  29.69  per  cent, 
while  taxes  have  increased  154.21  per  cent. 

At  the  same  time  that  the  railroad  report  was 
made  public,  F.  M.  Chase,  Vice-President  and 
General  Manager  of  the  Lehigh  Valley  Coal  Com¬ 
pany,  also  made  public  his  annual  report  for  the 
same  period.  It  showed  a  total  net  income  of  the 
coal  company  from  all  sources,  after  deducting 
charges  for  royalties,  sinking  funds,  depreciation 
of  the  property  and  interest  on  the  funded  debt, 
of  $1,022,814.91,  an  increase  of  $457,955.47.  The 
production  of  anthracite  coal  from  the  mines 
owned  and  leased  by  the  Lehigh  Valley  Coal  Com¬ 
pany,  including  that  mined  by  tenants,  was  8,088,- 
901  gross  tons,  an  increase  of  211,511  tons.  In  the 
bituminous  mines  owned  by  the  company  258,205 
gross  tons  were  mined,  an  increase  of  5,474  tons. 
The  sum  of  $517,542  was  expended  for  additions 
and  betterments  during  the  year. 

The  steel  fire-proof  breaker  at  Packer  No.  5 
colliery,  referred  to  in  the  last  annual  report,  was 
completed  and  is  now  in  successful  operation. 
Other  improvements  at  this  colliery,  including  a 
substantial  addition  to  the  boiler  plant  and  a  new 
steel  head-frame  over  the  shaft,  have  been  com¬ 
pleted,  and  a  new  steel  fire-proof  ventilating  fan 
is  now  in  course  of  construction.  At  Packer  No. 
4  colliery  the  alterations  to  the  breaker  and  the 
concentration  of  the  underground  pumping  are 
well  under  way  and  will  be  completed  during  the 
coming  year.  An  addition  to  the  boiler  plant  at 
Dorrance  colliery  has  been  made  to  provide  the 
increased  amount  of  steam  required  because  of 
the  extension  of  underground  operations. 

Prospecting  on  the  Broadwell  lands  in  Lacka¬ 
wanna  County  is  now  under  way  with  a  view 
to  commencing  mining  operations  thereon  and 
taking  the  coal  to  Heidelberg  colliery  for  prepara¬ 
tion. 

To  reduce  still  further  the  risk  of  destruction 
by  fire,  a  complete  spray  system  was  introduced 
at  each  of  the  frame  breakers  and,  as  a  result  of 
tests  made  under  the  observation  of  representa¬ 
tives  of  the  insurance  companies,  a  substantial 
reduction  was  made  in  the  premiums  paid  for  fire 
insurance.  The  operations  on  the  bituminous  coal 
lands  at  Snow  Shoe  arc  being  steadily  develoi)ed 
to  permit  of  greater  efficiency.  As  soon  as  the 
power  line,  now  under  construction,  is  com¬ 
pleted,  electric  haulage  will  be  substituted  for 
mules  and  electric  coal  cutting  machinery  will  be 
introduced  in  place  of  pick  mining.  The  properties 
at  West  Harrison  street,  Chicago,  and  Fillmore 
aveinie,  Buffalo,  which  were  no  longer  required 
in  the  conduct  of  the  Company’s  business,  were 
sold  during  the  year. 


Satisfying  the  Miners. 


The  Hisylvania  Coal  Company  of  Columbus. 
Ohio,  inserts  the  blank,  of  which  the  illustration 
herewith  is  a  reproduction,  in  all  the  pay  envel¬ 
opes  of  the  miners.  As  this  shows,  the  miner  is 
credited  with  everything  that  he  did  and  for  each 
piece  of  work  the  price  agreed  upon  in  the  scale 
contract  is  put  down  in  the  column  devoted  to  that 
subject. 

In  the  case  where  no  price  is  fixed  by  the  scale, 
but  where  the  price  is  arrived  at  by  understand- 
in.g  of  the  individual,  that  matter  is  put  under  the 
column  devoted  to  "price.” 

Under  the  column  devoted  to  credits,  there  is 


The  Hisylvania  Coal  Co. 

Due  


No. 


For  Labor  perlornicil  to  bale  ot 


Tons,  bais 

Loading 

Price  Credits 

Slate  (Sj/ 

Yards  Entry 

.3332 

Bbls.  water  @ 

.10 

Wet  coal  @ 

0244 

Break  Thro.  @ 

.06 

Room  coal  @ 

.40 

Entry  coal  ^ 

.489 

Checks  Ret. 

Extras 

tMB 

c» 

Room  coal  @ 

.07 

Entry  “  @ 

.097 

Extras 

Da;  work 

Labor 

Labor  © 

TOTAL  CREDITS 


Powder 


Store 


Coal 


Rent 


Checks 


U.  M.  W.  of  A. 


Initiation  • 


Collection 


£  ! 


TOTAL  DEDUCTIONS 


Balance  due 


Store  overdrawn 


The  Hisylvania  Slip. 


stated  precisely  the  amount  of  work  that  was 
done.  The  amount  due  the  miner  for  each  item 
is  stipulated  in  the  third  column.  Under  the  cir¬ 
cumstances  there  is  no  possible  chance  for  a  mis¬ 
understanding  between  the  miner  and  the  com¬ 
pany  as  to  what  is  due. 

Below  there  is  a  detailed  statement  of  all  deduc¬ 
tions  from  the  total  due  for  work  done.  That  is, 
there  is  a  deduction  for  the  powder  bought,  for 
the  amount  due  the  store,  for  the  price  of  coal 
purchased,  for  the  rent  of  the  house,  for  checks 
issued  to  the  worker,  for  the  dues  to  the  miners’ 
union,  and  other  incidental  items.  The  whole 
statement  is  very  compact  and  can  easily  be  un¬ 
derstood  and  figured  out  in  a  short  time  by  any 
miner  who  is  able  to  read  and  write. 

Exactly  the  same  information  as  is  carried  on 
the  slip  is  also  printed  on  the  pay  envelope  itself. 


-After  a  continuous  e.xistence  in  the  same 
(piarters  for  over  forty-five  years,  the  retail  con¬ 
cern  known  as  M.  -A.  Suydam  &  Co.  has  taken 
a  new  office  location,  lit  South  Third  street,  on 
the  street  floor  of  the  Hartman  building,  Colum¬ 
bus,  Ohio.  William  S.  Connor,  the  present  pro- 
jirietor,  went  with  the  Suydam  interests  as  a  lad 
forty-two  years  ago,  when  AT.  -A.  Suydam.  a  pio¬ 
neer  Hocking  valley  operator,  shipped  coal  to 
Columlnis  by  canal.  He  has  remained  with  the 
business  ever  since,  advancing  to  the  position  of 
manager,  and  finally  to  sole  owner.  I'or  (piite  a 
long  period  he  was  prominent  in  local  city  gov¬ 
ernment,  and  was  one  of  the  wheel-horses  of  the 
old  Ohio  Wholesale  &  Retail  Coal  Dealers  Asso¬ 
ciation.  -Although  by  no  means  an  old  man, 
"Billy”  Connor  is  recognized  as  the  Nestor  of 
the  Columbus  retail  coal  business,  and  his  mod¬ 
ern  new  location  will  add  to  his  prestige. 


The  Lehigh  Valley  Coal  Company  has  under 
consideration  the  building  of  a  $2()(),PO0  breaker, 
the  work  on  which  will  be  commenced  next 
spring.  This  equipment  is  necessary  to  handle 
the  new  stripiiing  operations  which  have  been 
started  in  this  vicinity. 


388 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[November  13 


The  Koenig  Truck  Under  the  Loading  Chutes  of  the  Pocket. 


One  of  the  Koenig  Trucks  in  Front  of  the  Company’s  Office. 


Koenig  Trucks  Make  Branch  Yards  Unnecessary. 


The  P.  Koenig  Coal  Company  of  Detroit  lias 
installed  the  motor  truck  and  eliminated  the 
hranch  yard.  With  six  commercial  vehicles,  of 
four  and  five  tons’  capacity,  in  addition  to  large 
horse  and  wagon  equipment,  this  company  has 
found  it  possible  to  cover  the  entire  territory  of 
the  growing  city  of  Detroit  and  its  suburbs  from 
a  central  yard,  located  near  the  geographical  cen¬ 
ter  of  the  city,  on  the  main  line  of  the  Crand 
Trunk  Railroad. 

The  latest  acquisition  of  this  company  in  the 
way  of  motor  driven  vehicles  was  the  purchase  of 
a  four-ton  Packard  worm  drive  truck  equipped 
with  regular  steel  dumping  body  oiierated  by 
Wood  hydraulic  hoists.  This  truck  has  been  in 
operation  only  a  comparatively  short  time  hut, 
like  the  other  power  wagons  owned  by  the  Koenig 
Company,  has  fully  demonstrated  its  value  as  a 
quick,  economical  and  reliable  transportation 
means.  One  picture  herewith  shows  the  truck 


receiving  its  four-ton  load  from  the  overhead  bin 
in  the  yard  of  the  P.  Koenig  Company,  which  is 
regarded  as  one  of  the  most  modern  labor-sav¬ 
ing  installations  of  coal-handling  machinery  in 
this  section  of  the  country. 

.\nother  photograph  shows  the  truck  in  front 
of  the  Koenig  yard  office  ready  to  start  on  a  de¬ 
livery  trip  three  and  one-half  miles  distant. 

.Mr.  Norman  Koenig,  one  of  the  members  of 
the  firm,  is  authority  for  the  statement  that  the 
truck  does  the  work  of  four  two-horse  teams, 
and  does  it  at  a  lower  cost  than  the  horses  could 
accomplish.  Trips  of  six  to  eight  miles  from  the 
central  yard  are  in  the  every-day  work  of  this 
truck  and  no  longer  regarded  by  the  Koenig  Com¬ 
pany  as  a  burden. 

"We  are  getting  along  very  nicely  without  the 
e.xpense  of  the  branch  yards  and  the  trucks  are 
giving  us  more  than  satisfactory  service,"  said 
Mr.  Koenig. 


Losing  Money  on  Handling  Coal  at  Retail 


too,  this  advertisement  costs  something  and  other 
selling  expense  costs  still  more.  Also  there  is 
interest  on  the  investment  in  the  yard;  interest  on 
the  investment  in  the  coal ;  overhead  expense,  in¬ 
cluding  salaries:  loss  by  degradation  of  the  coal, 
etc.,  which  must  bring  the  cost  of  doin,g  business 
up  to  ninety  cents  or  $1.00  a  ton. 

Even  assuming  that  cartage  and  overhead  ex¬ 
pense  costs  so  little  as  eighty  cents  there  is,  with 
a  margin  of  only  thirty  cents,  a  clear  loss  of  fifty 
cents  a  ton.  .apparently  the  minimum  loss  is 
hi.gher  than  that,  running  to  sixty  cents  if  not  to 
seventy-five  cents  a  ton. 

That  raises  this  insistent  question  of  arithmetic ; 
"How  can  a  retail  concern  lose  seventy-five  cents 
a  ton  and  then  afford  to  guarantee  weight,  quality 
of  coal,  and  service  which  this  advertisement  guar¬ 
antees?”  There  is  a  loose  joint  in  this  harness 
somewhere  and  every  sensible  coalman  wonders 
what  it  is. 

Of  course  the  e.xplanation  is  not  hard  to  find. 
The  retail  dealers  of  Louisville  are  in  a  price  war. 
They  have  carried  this  to  the  extent  of  losing 
from  fifty  to  seventy-five  cents  a  ton  on  all  the 
coal  handled  in  the  busiest  retail  time  of  the  year. 


Coal-Mine  Fatalities  in  August. 


There  is  reproduced  herewith  an  advertise¬ 
ment  which  appeared  in  one  of  the  daily  news¬ 
papers  of  Louisville,  Ky.,  a  few  days  ago.  This 
raises  a  simple  matter  of  arithmetic  that  has 
been  puzzling  to  most  of  the  coal  trade  for  a 
number  of  years. 

The  advertisement  says  clearly  that  the  de¬ 
livered  price  of  coal  to  the  householder  is  to  be 
$.3.60  for  domestic  lump.  It  says  also  that  a  dis¬ 
count  of  twenty-five  cents  a  ton  will  be  allowed 
those  who  pay  their  account  within  ten  days. 
This  makes  the  net  price  of  coal  to  the  house¬ 
holder  $3.3.').  That  is  the  plain  wording  of  the 
advertisement.  There  can  be  no  mistake  about 
that  figure. 

.About  other  figures  there  is  no  mistake  either. 
The  brands  of  coal  here  advertised  have  been 


Wilton’’  Jellico  ... 
^^Pioneer”  Straight  Creek 

Round  Or  Family  (Willon  or  Pioneer) 


sellin.g  during  the  fall  and  are  now  selling  at 
$3  a  ton  at  the  mines.  That  is  what  the  retail 
dealers  are  paying  for  the  coal. 

-Also  there  is  no  mistake  about  the  freight  rate. 
That  is  fixed  by  the  tariff  and  filed  by  the  Inter¬ 
state  Commerce  Commission  and  cannot  be  devi¬ 
ated  from.  The  freight  rate  from  the  mines  of 
the  Jellico  field  to  Louisville  is  $1.0.‘). 

.Adding  together  the  sellin.g  price  of  the  coal  of 
$2.00  a  ton  at  the  mine  and  the  freight  rate  of 
$1.0.>  makes  the  delivered  price  of  the  coal  f.  o.  b. 
the  retail  yard  $3.05. 

Deduct  this  $3.05  from  the  net  price  to  the  pur¬ 
chaser  of  $3.35  and  you  have  left  thirty  cents  a 
ton.  This  must  cover  cartage  which,  on  the  aver¬ 
age,  costs  at  least  lifty  cents.  There  is  a  clear  loss 
of  twenty  cents  a  ton  on  carta.ge  alone,  'fhen. 


CHARGE  PRICK  VET  PRICE 

«O.60  Ton\  .. 

)  We  Give  Discount  25c 

$3*®®  **  Ton.  Pay  10  Days  n  $3'^® 
^3.50  )  Alter  Detivory  ($3*25 


Compiled  by  Albert  H.  Fay. 

.According  to  the  reports  made  to  the  Bureau 
of  .Mines  by  state  mine  inspectors  162  men  in 
all  were  killed  in  and  about  the  coal  mines  in 
the  United  States  during  August,  1915,  as  com¬ 
pared  with  180  during  .August,  1914. 

If  eleven  fatalities  in  .August,  1914,  for  which 
there  are  no  comparable  figures  for  .August, 
1915,  be  deducted,  the  figures  become  162  for 
.August,  1915,  and  169  for  .August,  1914. 

.An  explosion  of  gas  on  .August  31,  at  Orenda 
No.  2  mine,  Boswell,  Pa.,  resulted  in  the  death 
of  19  men. 


The  Roberts  &  Schaefer  Company,  Chicago,  an¬ 
nounce  the  award  of  the  following  new  coal 
mining  plant  contracts:  Messrs.  Peale,  Peacock 
&  Kerr,  of  New  York,  a  two-track  steel  tipple 
with  car  haul,  using  Marcus  patent  picking  table 
screen,  for  Mine  No.  0,  Winburne,  Pa.;  Russell 
Coal  Mining  Company,  Russellville,  Pa.,  .equip¬ 
ment  for  Marcus  patent  picking  table  screen  for 
Mine  No.  24.  This  company  is  also  owned  by 
Peale,  Peacock  &  Kerr.  The  National  Fuel  Com¬ 
pany,  of  Denver,  Colo.,  have  awarded  a  contract 
for  a  new  wood  tipple  at  Shamrock  mine,  Colo¬ 
rado.  The  Cabin  Creek  Consolidated  Coal  Com¬ 
pany,  of  Charleston,  AV.  A'^a.,  have  awarded  a 
contract  for  a  Marcus  coal  tipple  equipment  for 
in.stallation  at  Kayford,  AAA  Va.  Mr.  George  L. 
Carter,  president  of  the  Carter  Coal  Company, 
Coalwood,  \A^.  Va.,  has  authorized  the  Roberts  & 
Schaefer  Company  to  proceed  with  the  building 
of  a  large  Marcus  patent  coal  tipple  with  load¬ 
ing  booms,  which  was  contracted  for  some  months 
ago,  for  the  new  mine  recently  sunk  at  Coal- 
wood,  known  as  the  Olga  mine.  This  will  be  one 
of  the  largest  installations  in  West  Virginia.  The 
Carter  Coal  Company  also  gave  the  Roberts  & 
Schaefer  Company  a  contract  last  week  for  a 
new  Marcus  wood  tipple  for  Nora  mine  at  Coal- 
wood,  W.  Va. 


ALSO  PITTSBURGH,  SMOKELESS^  ANTHRACITE 

BYRNE  &  SPEED  COAL  CO.  and 


JELLICO-LAUREL  COAL  AGENCY 


CoosoifdatBd 


S89.  315 


WATSON.  Manaeer. 


OFTICE,  413  W.  /ETFKBSON 


The  Advertisement  Which  Discloses  a  Heavy  Loss  on  Retail  Coal. 


Buying  COAL  From  the  Oldest  COAL  Firm  In  the  City 

GUARANTEES  WE1GHTSu"e  SPECIFIED  r  SERVICE 


No.  20] 


389 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


Grasping  an  Opportunity. 

Reference  was  made  in  this  department  recently 
to  some  real  estate  dealers  who,  in  order  to 
make  their  houses  more  attractive,  buy  the  coal 
and  start  the  heating  plants,  thereby  becoming- 
live  prospects  for  coal  sales. 

A  stunt  along  this  line,  but  more  effective,  from 
an  advertising  standpoint,  was  recently  used  by  a 
dealer  in  an  Ohio  valley  city.  A  realty  and  build¬ 
ing  firm  had  just  completed  a  handsome  residence 
in  a  popular  suburb,  and  had  decided  to  attract 
attention  to  it  by  furnishing  it  completely.  The 
entire  house  was  fitted  up,  the  floors  were  cov¬ 
ered  with  handsome  rugs,  the  pantry  was  sup¬ 
plied  with  groceries  and  the  coal-bin  was  like¬ 
wise  filled.  The  names  of  all  those  furnishing 
goods  or  materials  for  the  house  were  given  pub¬ 
licity  in  a  folder  issued  by  the  builders.  The 
house  itself  was  advertised  in  the  newspapers  as 
“The  Marvel  Home,”  and  the  public  was  invited 
to  come  and  see  it.  The  house  was  kept  open 
night  and  day,  and  several  hundred  people  went 
through  each  day,  noting  not  only  the  attractive 
way  in  which  the  house  had  been  furnished,  but 
likewise  getting  a  favorable  impression  of  the 
people  who  had  supplied  the  equipment  and  mate¬ 
rials. 

The  coal  dealer  who  filled  the  bin  said  that  he 
had  furnished  the  coal  without  charge,  as  an  ad¬ 
vertisement,  and  it  really  looked  as  if  he  secured 
his  money’s  worth.  In  the  first  place,  those  who 
came  to  look  had  their  eyes  wide  open,  ready  to 
receive  all  the  information  they  could  about  the 
handsome  new  house.  In  the  next  place,  seeing 
the  filled  coal  bin  always  attracted  comment,  be¬ 
cause  it  looked  so  unusual  in  a  new  house.  The 
card  of  the  coal  concern  was  tacked  on  the  side 
of  the  bin,  and  it  was  impossible  to  overlook  it. 
The  dealer  received  enough  comments  to  feel 
justified  in  having  made  the  outlay  represented 
by  the  value  of  the  coal. 

“Stunt”  advertising  is  not  always  a  good  thing, 
but  in  this  case,  where  the  favorable  attention  of 
a  large  number  of  desirable  coal  buyers  was  se¬ 
cured,  it  looked  like  an  excellent  proposition. 

Coal  and  Smoke  Consumers. 

The  coal  dealer  who  is  succeeding  is  the  man 
who  is  keeping  abreast  of  the  times  with  refer¬ 
ence  to  everything  affecting  the  use  of  his  prod¬ 
uct.  He  cannot  afford  to  be  indifferent  to  smoke 
regulation,  for  one  thing,  nor  ignorant  about  the 
best  types  of  smoke  consumers. 

In  a  certain  city  where  public  sentiment  is  not 
as  active  as  it  should  be,  people  operating  boilers 
for  power  and  heating  purposes  are  allowed  to 
do  pretty  much  as  they  please,  as  far  as  smoke 
emission  was  concerned.  That  is,  the  nominal 
regulation  does  not  amount  to  anything,  and  few 
people  put  in  consumers  unless  they  want  to. 
Now,  apparently,  this  makes  things  easy  for  the 
coal  dealer.  One  might  almost  regard  this  as  an 
ideal  town  in  which  to  sell  soft  coal. 

But  while  a  big  concern  which  is  not  officially 
regulated  from  the  city  hall  may  be  slow,  in  the 
absence  of  any  other  consideration,  to  change  its 
boilers  so  as  to  reduce  tlie  amount  of  smoke 
given  off,  it  very  often  thinks  a  good  deal  of  the 
opinion  of  its  neighbors.  Such  an  instance  de¬ 
veloped  in  this  case.  One  corporation,  which  was 
one  of  the  worst  offenders  regarding  the  smoke 
evil,  is  located  in  the  heart  of  the  city,  and  the 
situation  attracted  the  attention  of  a  good  many 
influential  people,  who  felt  personally  affronted 
because  of  the  smoke  and  soot  that  the  company 
poured  into  their  windows. 

They  went  around  to  see  the  concern,  and 


asked  it  please  not  to  do  that  any  more.  The 
head  of  the  company  happens  to  he  a  man  of 
rather  broad  gauge,  and  instead  of  resting  on  his 
legal  rights  and  defying  the  citizens  to  do  their 
worst,  he  promptly  told  them  that  the  smoke^  evil 
would  be  immediately  done  away  with.  Natu¬ 
rally,  they  went  away  feeling  that  the  corporation 
was  public-spirited  and  that  the  head  of  it  was  a 
good  fellow. 

The  point  the  coal  dealer  is  interested  in,  how¬ 
ever,  is  that  this  concern  made  a  contract  with 
the  local  gas  company,  and  has  been  heating  its 
lioilers  with  that  kind  of  fuel  instead  of  coal.  If 
the  town  had  been  a  little  more  active  in  smoke 
regulation,  and  had  not  permitted  the  disadvan¬ 
tages  of  coal  in  this  respect  to  be  given  so  much 
unfavorable  publicity,  the  company  referred  to 
would  still  be  a  big  and  regular  consumer, 
whereas  it  has  gone  off  the  books  of  the  local 
dealers  permanently. 

Do  you  get  the  connection? 

Why  Not  Sell  Wood,  Too? 

In  these  days  of  colonial  homes,  open  fireplaces, 
etc,  the  use  of  wood  is  increasing.  This  is  in  addi¬ 
tion,  of  course,  to  the  “kindling”  wood,  which  is 
needed  in  almost  every  household,  particularly 
that  which  is  not  equipped  with  a  furnace. 

The  coal  dealer  ought  to  make  himself  “fuel 
headquarters.”  That  means  that  he  ought  to  be 
able  to  furnish  wood  as  well  as  coal,  if  his  cus¬ 
tomers  want  it.  The  average  person  depends  on 
old  boxes,  crates  and  the  like  for  his  supply  of 
kindling,  or  calls  up  some  woodworking  plant  and 
asks  for  a  load  of  wood,  when  he  would  be  much 
better  pleased  if  he  could  have  his  regular  coal 
dealer  supply  him  at  the  same  time  that  the  coal  is 
delivered. 

To  show  that  there  is  enough  business  to  be 
worth  going  after,  there  are  a  good  many  con¬ 
cerns  which  handle  wood  for  fuel  exclusively. 
Saws  operated  by  power  are  used  to  cut  the  wood 
to  size,  so  that  anything  from  kindling  to  open- 
fireplace  dimensions  can  be  furnished. 

In  towns  where  timber  may  be  had  easily,  it 
would  be  worth  while  to  saw  up  logs,  with  the 
bark  on,  so  that  those  who  like  things  of  an  old 
fashioned  kind  could  have  their  log  fires,  the  sort 
that  were  familiar  a  generation  ago. 

But,  anyhow,  there  is  money  in  wood,  and  the 
business  ought  to  be  organized  by  the  coal  dealer. 


Classify  Your  Mailing-List. 

A  paper  salesman  happened  to  drop  in  on  a 
prominent  coal  dealer  the  other  day.  He  was 
interested,  of  cour.se,  in  selling  him  something  in 
that  line ;  but,  like  most  salesmen,  he  had  an  idea 
or  two  that  he  was  perfectly  willing  to  hand  over 
to  the  dealer. 

Direct  advertising  came  up  in  the  course  of  the 
conversation,  and  the  dealer  proudly  called  atten¬ 
tion  to  his  card  index  of  names,  used  as  a  mail¬ 
ing-list,  which  was  frequently  worked  with  ad¬ 
vertising  matter  of  various  kinds,  ranging  from 
price  (piotations  to  calendars. 

“Have  you  got  it  classified?”  the  salesman 
asked. 

“Whadd'ye  mean,  classified?”  the  coalman 
asked.  This  was  a  new  one  on  him. 

"Well,”  continued  the  salesman,  “down  at  our 
idace  the  advertising  manager  has  one  of  the  best 
mailing-lists  you  ever  saw.  But  it’s  classified  in 
about  a  dozen  different  ways.  W’e  sell  the  print¬ 
ers  a  lot  of  stuff,  of  course,  and  they  are  split 
up  into  those  who  operate  their  own  composing 
machines,  those  who  do  binding,  those  who  have 
their  presswork  done  under  their  own  roofs,  etc. 


Then  there  is  a  special  list  for  retail  dealers  who 
sell  paper,  and  another  list  for  factories  which 
use  paper  in  their  business.  Consumers  like  your¬ 
self  are  divided  and  subdivided,  and  the  result  is 
lliat  whenever  the  house  wants  to  advertise  an\ 
special  kind  of  paper  the  particular  list  which  is 
interested  in  that  commodity  is  used,  and  we  don’t 
have  to  waste  postage  on  the  rest.” 

.After  the  paper  man  had  gone  the  coal  dealer 
began  to  tbink. 

“I've  got  all  sorts  of  consumers  in  that  file,”  he 
said  to  himself.  “There  are  people  who  use  stoves 
and  grates  exclusively — the  sort  to  whom  ‘Holds 
fire  over  night’  means  a  lot :  then  there  are  those 
with  hot-air  furnaces  and  those  with  hot  water 
and  steam  heating  plants.  Then  come  the  busi¬ 
ness  houses,  some  of  which  have  boilers  for 
power  and  some  for  heating  only.  But  in  their 
cases  the  amount  of  coal  used  and  the  kind  are 
llie  important  items. 

"I  believe  there  are  enough  classes  of  coal  buy¬ 
ers  to  make  it  worth  while  to  select  them.  Then 
when  I  want  to  advertise  a  coal  that  will  make 
good  for  use  in  a  heating  stove  I  won’t  be  talk¬ 
ing  to  people  who  use  furnaces;  and  when  I  am 
getting  up  a  steam  coal  letter,  I  won’t  have  to  go 
to  any  special  trouble  to  weed  out  the  domestic 
consumers.” 

The  idea  that  this  dealer  got  from  the  man  who 
wanted  to  sell  him  something  suggests,  too,  that 
there  may  be  lots  of  people  who  come  into  your 
office,  and  are  turned  away  without  being  given  a 
chance  to  express  themselves,  when  they  could 
give  equally  valuable  hints  and  sometimes  direct 
information  worth  having. 


“The  Tie  That  Binds.” 

Service  has  sometimes  been  referred  to  as  “the 
tie  that  binds.”  Certain  it  is  that  the  customer 
who  realizes  that  his  dealer  is  giving  him  good 
service  is  going  to  be  mighty  hard  for  competi¬ 
tors  to  pry  away. 

The  dealer  who  is  wondering  how  in  the  world 
he  can  develop  service  that  in  any  degree  is  dif¬ 
ferent  from  what  everybody  else  is  furnishing 
should  remember  that  the  main  thing  is  to  put 
himself  in  the  customer’s  place.  When  he  is  han¬ 
dling  a  proposition,  especially  if  it  is  slightly  out 
of  the  ordinary,  a  reflection  as  to  whether  the 
method  used  will  be  convenient  to  the  customer 
will  often  suggest  a  change  in  the  method. 

The  other  day  the  telephone  in  a  coal  office 
rang,  and  the  dealer  found  a  customer  on  the  end 
of  the  line.  He  wanted  five  tons  of  lump  and 
live  of  nut  and  slack.  He  gave  the  name  and 
address  and  was  about  to  hang  up  the  phone, 
when  the  dealer  had  an  idea. 

“Hello!”  he  said.  “Pardon  me,  but  how  did 
you  intend  to  use  this  coal?” 

“I’m  going  to  use  the  nut  and  slack  for  a  fur¬ 
nace  and  the  lump  for  grates  and  stoves,”  said 
the  customer.  “Why  ?” 

“I  \yas  just  thinking,”  explained  the  dealer, 
“that  in  that  event  we  had  better  keep  the  two 
grades  separate.  Have  you  a  partition  in  your 
coal-bin  ?” 

"By  George,  I  hadn’t  thought  of  that,”  re¬ 
turned  the  customer.  “I’ll  put  it  in  right  away, 
and  then  you  can  pile  the  nut  and  slack  on  one 
side  and  the  lump  on  the  other.” 

This  was  “service,”  disguised  as  common  sense. 
^  et  there  are  certain  dealers  who,  with  an  order 
of  this  kind,  would  go  ahead  and  deliver  the  two 
grades  indiscriminately,  piling  it  altogether  in 
the  bin,  so  that  if  the  customer  wanted  to  get  a 
hod  of  big  lumps  for  an  open  fire  upstanrs,  he 
would  have  to  start  a  mining  operation  to  get 
under  the  nut  and  slack.  Of  course,  the  dealer 
always  has  the  alibi,  “I  had  no  instructions  about 
it,”  but  the  concern  with  the  service  anticipates 
some  of  the  points  that  the  customer  overlooks. 


A  Neat  Way  of  Putting  It. 

•A  successful  retailer  who  was  having  trouble 
getting  out  his  orders  promptly  enough  put  a  card 
in  the  paper  explaining  the  reason.  The  wording 
of  the  card  showed  that  he  should  have  been  a 
diplonffit,  for  instead  of  the  inability  of  the  con¬ 
cern  to  keep  up  with  the  rush  of  orders  seeming 
to  be  a  reflection  upon  it,  the  ad  made  it  a  big 
boost.  This  is  what  he  said : 

‘‘Our  efforts  to  give  our  customers  good  coal 
and  good  service  have  been  so  emphatically  appre¬ 
ciated  that  we  find  it  impossible  to  get  enough 
labor  to  fill  all  orders  in  full  with  our  usual 
promptness. 

“We  will,  of  course,  see  that  everybody  gets 
enough  coal  to  tide  them  over,  and  then  deliver 
tile  balance  as  fast  as  possible. 

“Send  us  your  order,  and  though  we  may  not 
be  able  immediately  to  deliver  it  in  full,  we  will 
certainly  get  it  to  you  as  fast  as  you  need  it.” 


390 


_ _  THE  BLACK  I>IAMOND. _ [November  13 

Details  of  the  Rockefeller  Plan  in  Colorado. 


Quite  a  while  ago  much  was  said  about  the 
plan  which  Jolin  D.  Rockefeller,  Jr.,  and  his  asso¬ 
ciates  presented  to  the  miners  in  Colorado  at  the 
meeting  when  the  miners’  representatives  got 
together  with  the  eastern  financier.  The  plan 
which  he  proposed  was,  at  that  time,  outlined  in 
skeleton  form.  Since  then  it  has  been  reduced  to 
a  pamphlet  and  has  been  distributed.  A  copy  of 
that  pamphlet  has  come  to  the  office  of  The 
Black  Diamond. 

Because  there  is  in  this  undertaking  a  lot  of 
things  that  are  likely  to  influence  coal  producing 
districts  elsewhere,  there  is  presented  herewith 
the  plan  stripped  only  of  its  superfluous  verbiage. 
That  plan  is  as  follows : 

1.  Employes  shall  annually  elect  from  among 
their  number  representatives  to  act  on  their 
behalf  with  respect  to  matters  pertaining  to  their 
employment,  working  and  living  conditions,  the 
adjustment  of  differences. 

2.  The  annual  meetings  of  employes  for  the 
election  of  their  representatives  shall  be  held 
simultaneously  at  the  several  mining  camps  on 
the  second  .Saturday  in  January.  The  meetings 
shall  be  called  by  direction  of  the  president  of 
the  company.  Notices  of  the  meetings,  indicat¬ 
ing  their  time  and  place,  as  well  as  the  number 
of  representatives  to  be  elected,  shall  be  publicly 
posted  at  each  camp  a  week  in  advance. 

3.  Each  meeting  for  the  election  of  employes’ 
representatives  shall  choose  its  own  chairman 
and  secretary, 

4.  Representation  of  employes  in  each  camp 
shall  be  on  the  basis  of  one  representative  to 
every  one  hundred  and  fifty  wage-earners,  but 
each  camp,  whatever  its  number  of  employes, 
shall  be  entitled  to  at  least  two  representatives. 

5.  To  facilitate  the  nomination  and  election  of 
employes’  representatives,  and  to  insure  freedom 
of  choice,  both  nomination  and  election  shall  be 
by  secret  ballot,  under  conditions  calculated  to 
insure  an  impartial  count.  The  company  shall 
provide  ballot  boxes  and  blank  ballots,  differing 
in  form,  for  purposes  of  nomination  and  election. 

6.  The  chairman  shall  appoint  three  tellers, 
who  shall  take  charge  of  the  ballot  box  contain¬ 
ing  the  nomination  votes,  and,  with  the  aid  of 
the  secretary,  they  shall  make  out  the  list  of  the 
duly  nominated  candidates,  which  shall  be  an¬ 
nounced  by  the  chairman.  The  meeting  shall  then 
proceed  to  elect  representatives  by  secret  ballot, 
from  among  the  number  of  candidates  announced, 
the  same  tellers  having  charge  of  the  balloting. 

7.  The  chairman  of  the  meeting  shall  preserve 
for  a  period  of  one  week  both  the  nomination  and 
election  ballots.  Should  an  appeal  be  made  to 
the  president  within  seven  days  in  regard  to  the 
validity  of  the  nomination  or  election,  upon  a 
request  in  writing- signed  by  twenty-five  employes 
present  at  the  meeting,  the  chairman  shall  deliver 
the  ballots  to  the  president  of  the  company  for 
recount.  Should  no  such  request  be  received 
within  that  time  the  chairman  shall  destroy  the 
ballots. 

8.  At  annual  meetings  for  the  election  of  rep¬ 
resentatives,  employes  may  consider  and  make 
recommendations  concerning  any  matters  pertain¬ 
ing  to  their  employment,  working  or  living  con¬ 
ditions,  or  arising  out  of  existing  industrial  rela¬ 
tions,  including  such  as  they  may  desire  to  have 
their  representatives  discuss  with  the  president 
and  officers  of  the  company  at  the  annual  joint 
conference  of  the  company’s  officers  and  employes. 

1.  To  facilitate  the  purposes  herein  set  forth, 
the  camps  of  the  company  shall  be  divided  into 
five  or  more  districts,  as  follows:  The  Trinidad 
District,  comprising  all  mines  and  coke  oven 
plants  in  Las  Animas  County;  the  Walsenburg 
District,  comprising  all  mines  in  Huerfano 
County:  the  Canon  District,  comprising  all  mines 
in  Fremont  County;  the  Western  District,  com¬ 
prising  all  mines  and  coke  oven  plants  located 
on  the  Western  Slope;  the  Sunrise  District,  com¬ 
prising  the  iron  mines  located  in  Wyoming. 

2.  District  conferences  shall  be  held  in  each  of 
the  several  districts  above  mentioned  at  the  call 
of  the  president,  at  places  to  be  designated  by 
him,  not  later  than  two  weeks  following  the  an¬ 
nual  election  of  representatives,  and  at  intervals 
of  not  more  than  four  months  thereafter,  as  the 
operating  officers  of  the  company,  or  a  majority 
of  the  representatives  of  the  employes  in  each  of 
the  several  districts,  may  find  desirable.  The  pur¬ 
pose  of  these  district  conferences  shall  be  to  dis¬ 
cuss  freely  matters  of  mutual  interest  and  con¬ 
cern  to  the  company  and  its  employes. 

3.  At  the  district  conferences  the  company 
shall  be  represented  by  its  president  or  his  repre¬ 
sentative  and  such  other  officials  as  the  president 


The  Document  Read  at  the  Recent  Meet¬ 
ing  of  the  Financier  and  His  Employes  Is 
Printed  and  'Distributed — An  Extract  of 
the  Provisions. 


may  designate.  The  employes  shall  be  represented 
by  their  elected  representatives.  The  company’s 
representatives  shall  not  exceed  in  number  the 
representatives  of  the  employes.  The  company 
shall  provide  at  its  own  expense  appropriate 
places  of  meeting  for  the  conference. 

4.  The  district  conferences  shall  be  presided 
over  by  the  president  of  the  company,  or  such 
executive  officer  as  he  may  designate. 

5.  The  first  district  conferences  held  in  each 
year  shall  select  the  following  joint  committees 
on  industrial  relations  for  each  district: 

(a)  Joint  committee  on  industrial  cooperation 
and  conciliation :  to  be  composed  of  six  members. 

(b)  Joint  committee  on  safety  and  accidents:  to 
be  composed  of  six  members. 

(c)  Joint  committee  on  sanitation,  health  and 
housing:  to  be  composed  of  six  members. 

( d)  Joint  committee  on  recreation  and  educa¬ 
tion  :  to  be  composed  of  six  members. 

6.  In  selecting  the  members  of  the  several  joint 
committees  on  industrial  relations,  the  employes’ 
representatives  shall,  as  respects  each  committee, 
designate  three  members  and  the  president  of  the 
company  or  his  representative,  three  members. 

11.  In  addition  to  the  district  conferences  in 
each  of  the  several  districts,  there  shall  be  held 
in  the  month  of  December  an  annual  joint  meet¬ 
ing,  at  a  time  and  place  to  be  designated  by  the 
president  of  the  company,  to  be  attended  by  the 
president  and  such  officers  of  the  company  as  he 
may  select  and  by  all  the  employes’  representa¬ 
tives  of  the  several  districts. 

There  shall  be  on  the  part  of  the  company  and 
its  employes  a  strict  observance  of  the  federal 
and  state  laws  respecting  mining  and  labor  and 
of  the  company’s  rules  and  regulations  supple¬ 
menting  the  same. 

The  scale  of  wages  and  the  rules  in  regard  to 
working  conditions  shall  be  posted  in  a  conspicu¬ 
ous  place  at  or  near  every  mine. 

There  shall  be  no  discrimination  by  the  com¬ 
pany  or  by  any  of  its  employes  on  account  of 
membership  or  non-membership  in  any  society, 
fraternity  or  union. 

The  right  to  hire  and  discharge,  the  manage¬ 
ment  of  the  properties,  and  the  direction  of  the 
working  forces,  shall  be  vested  exclusively  in  the 
company,  and,  except  as  expressly  restricted,  this 
right  shall  not  be  abridged  by  anything  contained 
herein. 

There  shall  be  posted  at  each  property  a  list  of 
offenses  for  commission  of  which  by  any  employe 
dismissal  may  result  without  notice.  For  other 
offenses,  employes  shall  not  be  discharged  without 
first  having  been  notified  that  a  repetition  of  the 
offense  will  be  cause  for  dismissal.  A  copy  of  this 
notification  shall,  at  the  time  of  its  being  given 
to  an  employe,  be  sent  also  to  the  president’s 
industrial  representative  and  retained  by  him  for 
purposes  of  future  reference.  Nothing  herein 
shall  abridge  the  right  of  the  company  to  relieve 
employes  from  duty  because  of  lack  of  work. 
Where  relief  from  duty  through  lack  of  work  be¬ 
comes  necessary,  men  with  families  shall,  all 
things  being  equal,  be  given  preference. 

Employes  shall  have  the  right  to  hold  meetings 
at  appropriate  places  on  company  property  or  else¬ 
where  as  they  may  desire  outside  ’Of  working 
hours  or  on  idle  days. 

Employes  shall  not  be  obliged  to  trade  at  the 
company  stores. 

As  provided  by  statute,  miners  have  the  right 
to  employ  checkweighmen. 

Subject  to  provisions  hereinafter  mentioned, 
every  employe  shall  have  the  right  of  ultimate 
appeal  to  the  president  of  the  company  concern¬ 
ing  any  condition  or  treatment  to  which  he  may 
be  subjected  and  which  he  may  deem  unfair. 

It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  president’s  indus¬ 
trial  representative  to  respond  promptly  to  any 
request  from  employes’  representatives  for  his 
presence  at  any  of  the  camps  and  to  visit  all  of 
them  as  often  as  possible,  but  not  less  frequently 
than  once  every  three  months. 

Before  presenting  any  grievance  to  the  presi¬ 
dent,  the  president’s  industrial  representative,  or 
other  of  the  higher  officers  of  the  company,  em¬ 
ployes  shall  first  seek  to  have  differences  or  the 
conditions  complained  about  adjusted  by  confer¬ 


ence,  in  person  or  through  their  representatives, 
with  the  mine  superintendent. 

Where  the  president’s  industrial  representative 
or  one  of  the  higher  officials  of  the  company 
fails  to  adjust  a  difference  satisfactorily,  upon 
request  to  the  president  by  the  employes’  repre¬ 
sentatives  or  upon  the  initiative  of  the  presi¬ 
dent  himself,  the  difference  shall  be  referred  to 
the  joint  committee  on  industrial  cooperation  and 
conciliation  of  the  district  and  the  decision  of  thfe 
majority  of  such  joint  committee  shall  be  binding 
upon  all  parties.  .  , 

Should  the  joint  committee  on  industrial  coop¬ 
eration  and  conciliation  to  which  a  difference  may 
have  been  referred  fail  to  reach  a  majority  deci¬ 
sion  in  respect  thereto,  if  a  majority  of  its  mem¬ 
bers  so  agree,  the  joint  committee  may  select  as 
umpire  a  third  person,  who  shall  sit  in  conference 
with  the  committee  and  whose  decision  shall  be 
binding  upon  all  parties. 

To  protect  against  the  possibility  of  unjust 
treatment  because  of  any  action  taken  or  to  be 
taken  by  them  on  behalf  of  one  or  more  of  the 
company’s  employes,  any  employes’  representative 
believing  himself  to  be  discriminated  against  for 
such  a  cause  shall  have  the  same  right  of  appeal 
to  the  officers  of  the  company  or  to  the  joint  com¬ 
mittee  on  industrial  cooperation  and  conciliation 
in  his  district  as  is  accorded  every  other  employe 
of  the  company.  Having  exercised  this  right  in 
the  consecutive  order  indicated  without  obtaining 
satisfaction,  for  thirty  days  thereafter  he  shall 
have  the  further  right  of  appeal  to  the  industrial 
commission  of  the  state  of  Colorado. 

The  president’s  executive  assistant,  in  addition 
to  other  duties,  shall,  on  behalf  of  the  president, 
supervise  the  administration  of  the  company’s 
policies  respecting  social  and  industrial  better¬ 
ment. 

In  the  discharge  of  his  duties  the  president’s 
executive  assistant  shall  from  time  to  time  confer 
with  the  several  joint  committees,  on  industrial 
co-operaion  and  conciliation,  on  safety  and  acci¬ 
dents,  on  sanitation,  health  and  housing,  and  on 
recreation  and  education,  appointed  at  the  annual 
joint  conferences,  as  to  improvements  or  changes 
likely  to  be  of  mutual  advantage  to  the  company 
and  its  employes. 

In  addition  to  consulting,  from  time  to  time,  the 
several  joint  committees  or  their  individual  mem¬ 
bers,  the  president’s  executive  assistant  shall  be 
the  chairman  of  a  permanent  advisory  board  on 
social  and  industrial  betterment. 

The  advisory  board  on  social  and  industrial 
betterment  shall  be  composed  of  such  of  the  com¬ 
pany’s  officers  as  the  president  may  designate. 

The  advisory  board  shall  meet  at  least  once  in 
every  six  months,  and  may  convene  for  special 
meetings  upon  the  call  of  the  chairman. 

Improvements  respecting  social  and  industrial 
betterment  shall,  after  approval  by  the  president, 
be  carried  out  through  the  regular  company  or¬ 
ganization. 

In  camps  where  arrangements  for  doctors  and 
hospitals  have  already  been  made  and  are  satis¬ 
factory,  such  arrangements  shall  continue. 

In  making  any  new  arrangement  for  a  doctor, 
the  employes’  representatives  in  the  camps  con¬ 
cerned,  the  president’s  executive  assistant  and  the 
chief  medical  officer  shall  select  a  doctor,  and  en¬ 
ter  into  an  agreement  with  him,  which  shall  be 
signed  by  all  four  parties. 

The  company  shall  publish,  under  the  direction 
of  the  president’s  executive  assistant,  a  periodical 
which  shall  be  a  means  of  communication  be¬ 
tween  the  management,  the  employes  and  the  pub¬ 
lic,  concerning  the  policies  and  activities  of  the 
company. 


Active  operation  of  their  9,200  acre  coal  tract 
along  the  Ohio  river  in  Marshal  and  Wetzel 
counties.  West  Virginia,  will  be  taken  up  at  the 
next  annual  session  of  the  Whetstone  Coal  & 
Coke  Company,  it  was  decided  at  the  annual 
meeting  of  the  stockholders.  The  holdings  of 
the  company  are  located  along  the  Ohio  river 
and  occupy  an  advantageous  position  for  ship¬ 
ment  to  foreign  countries,  which  is  just  now 
forming  a  large  part  of  West  Virginia  coal  sales. 
About  twenty-five  stockholders  from  Pittsburgh, 
Blairsville  and  Uniontown  attended  the  meeting. 
Board  of  directors  for  the  year  were  elected  as 
follows:  William  G.  Fletcher,  Blairsville; 

Andrew  Brown,  Fayette  City;  R.  W.  Dawson, 
Daniel  Sturgeon  and  A.  D.  Williams,  Union- 
town.  At  a  meeting  of  the  board  directly  fol¬ 
lowing  the  stockholders’  session,  Mr.  Sturgeon 
was  chosen  president ;  Mr.  Dawson,  vice-presi¬ 
dent,  and  Mr.  Williams,  secretary. 


No.  20] 


391 


THE  I?LA(^K  DIAMOND. 


Maintenance  of  Output  at  Large  Long-wall  Mines 


The  St.  Paul  Coal  Company’s  mines,  located 
at  Granville  and  Cherry,  Ill.,  are  in  the  northern 
Illinois  coal  field  and  in  what  is  locally  known  as 
the  third  vein,  hut  geographically,  as  number  two 
seam.  As  all  of  the  output  is  used  for  fuel  by 
the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  Railway  Com¬ 
pany  the  mines  are  run  at  practically  full  capac¬ 
ity  all  of  the  time.  This  is  a  large  factor  in  the 
economic  operations  of  a  long  wall  mine  and  as 
it  also  enables  us  to  hold  men  who,  if  work  were 
not  steady,  would  not  stay  we  are  able  to  build 
up  a  good  organization  and  maintain  it. 

The  output  of  both  mines  has  increased  stead¬ 
ily  and  uniformly.  The  coal  averages  about 
three  feet  three  inches  in  thickness  and  is  over¬ 
laid  by  a  bed  of  soapstone,  varying  in  thickness 
from  0'  to  12'.  Next  above  the  soapstone  is  a 
bed  of  black  slate.  Under  the  coal  we  usually 
have  a  clay  mining,  but  at  times  this  is  replaced 
by  a  sandstone,  in  which  case  the  men  usually 
mine  in  the  soapstone  above  the  coal. 

The  mines  are  developed  on  the  forty-five  de¬ 
gree  longwall  system ;  five  main  gangways  each 
side  of  the  bottom  lead  away  from  one  another 
by  forty-five  degree  angles.  This  makes  the 
angles  between  the  extreme  right  and  the  extreme 
left  gangway  180  degrees.  Off  these  five  main 
gangways  cross-roads  are  driven  every  seventy- 
live  yards,  right  and  left,  at  forty-five  degrees. 
Off  these  cross-roads  rooms  are  driven  at  forty- 
five  degrees  and  are  so  spaced  that  each  will  have 
a  working  face  of  forty-two  feet. 

With  hand  mining  the  working  force  pro¬ 
gresses  about  one  foot  for  every  working  day 
and  as  the  face  is  roughly  circular  the  rate  of 
increase  of  the  output  of  a  longwall  mine  bears 
a  fixed  ratio  to  the  increase  in  diameter  of  the 
working  face.  Assuming  a  progress  of  one  foot 
a  day,  working  places  at  present  are  increasing  at 
the  rate  of  about  thirty-seven  a  year  or  the  out¬ 
put  is  increasing  at  the  rate  of  about  185  tons  a 
day. 

The  best  results  are  obtained  if  all  working 
places  progress  as  uniformly  as  possible.  Mining 
conditions  are  about  an  average  or  possibly  a  lit¬ 
tle  below  the  average  and  in  order  to  reach  and 
maintain  the  maximum  output,  one  must  neces¬ 
sarily  have  a  good  organization  and  in  selecting 
the  various  men  for  the  different  positions  con¬ 
siderable  knowledge  of  human  nature  is  required. 
It  is  also  necessary  to  treat  them  with  fairness 
and  consideration,  in  order  to  hold  them ;  never 
promising  anything  that  cannot  be  or  will  not  be 
given,  and  if  they  are  told  to  do  something  they 
should  be  made  to  do  it.  Discipline  and  order 
must  be  maintained  at  all  times.  It  is  a  consid¬ 
erable  problem  to  get  the  right  man  in  the  right 
place  and  to  keep  him  there  and  a  great  deal  of 
patience  and  watchfulness  is  required. 

All  haulage  is  done  with  mules.  The  gathering 
animals  bring  the  coal  from  the  face  to  the  ten 
main  partings  or  lyes,  one  on  each  of  the  ten 
main  roads,  located  about  2,000  feet  from  the  foot 
of  the  shaft.  The  outside  teams,  mostly  three 
and  four  spike  or  tandem  teams,  take  the  trips 
from  the  lyes  to  the  bottom.  This  outside  haul¬ 
age  at  Granville  is  approaching  a  stage  now 
where  we  believe  a  saving  may  be  effected  by  in¬ 
troducing  some  form  of  mechanical  haulage. 
The  bottom  is  double  tracked  on  each  side  of  the 
shaft.  Each  bottom  is  capable  of  holding  about 
twenty-five  loaded  and  twenty-five  empty  pit  cars. 

We  have  underground  fireproof  barns,  one  on 
each  side  of  the  shaft  at  each  mine  and  each  barn 
has  a  capacity  of  about  forty  animals.  At  Gran¬ 
ville  at  the  present  time  are  about  seventy  mules 
and  at  Cherry  about  sixty-five. 

The  Granville  shaft,  sunk  in  1904,  is  497  feet 
deep  from  the  tipple  floor  to  the  bottom  of  the 
coal  seam.  One  car  at  a  time  is  hoisted  by  Litch¬ 
field  24x42  first  motion  hoisting  engine  with  an 
eight  foot  drum.  The  boiler  plant  consists  of 
three  Marine  type  and  three  Erie  City  horizontal 
return  flue  boilers  of  150  horsepower  each.  A 
Nicholson  engine  stop  and  a  Humble  detaching 
hook  prevent  overwinding  and  excessive  hoisting 
speeds  at  starting  or  stopping  with  men  or  with 
coal.  The  average  output  is  about  1,700  tons  in 
eight  hours,  which  is  practically  the  hoisting  ca¬ 
pacity.  We  have  averaged  for  three  months  2.,19 
cars  per  minute  for  every  working  minute  in  the 
day,  making  no  deductions  for  men  trips.  As  we 
had  reached  our  hoisting  limit  several  years  ago, 
the  only  way  to  increase  our  output  without  ex¬ 
tensive  changes  in  the  shaft  or  tower,  necessi¬ 
tating  a  shut  down,  was  to  get  more  coal  on  each 
car  hoisted.  This  was  done  by  improving  the 
grade  and  making  the  roadways  higher,  so  that 
now  we  get  an  average  car  of  over  3,800  pounds 
of  coal  net,  and  occasionally  a  car  weighing  5,000 


pounds  net.  As  our  pit  cars  level  full  hold  thir¬ 
ty-seven  feet,  one  can  get  a  fair  idea  of  the  top 
that  must  be  put  on  this  car,  which  is  six  feet 
long,  three  feet  wide  and  two  feet  high,  to  hold 
5,000  pounds  of  coal. 

About  every  fourth  car  hoisted  is  a  car  of  rock. 
To  keep  the  rock,  which  needs  to  be  hoisted, 
down  to  a  minimum,  is  one  of  our  great  problems 
and  with  the  present  method  of  hand  mining  there 
seems  to  be  no  way  of  getting  around  it.  'This 
rock  is  produced  by  the  undermining  of  the  coal, 
also  by  grading  and  brushing  the  roads,  and  by 
cleaning  up  falls  on  the  roads  and  at  the  faces ; 
and  represents  surplus  rock  after  all  possible  has 
been  stowed  away  in  the  gob  at  the  working 
places.  No  machinery  is  required  to  handle  the 
cars  at  the  bottom  of  the  shaft.  Two  cagers 
and  a  spragger  on  each  side  are  employed.  After 
the  loaded  car  has  reached  the  tipple  landing,  it 
is  bumped  off  the  cage  by  a  steam  ram.  The  coal 
is  dumped  on  a  Phillips  cross-over  dump,  while 
the  rock  is  run  over  the  Phillips  tipple  and 
dumped  into  the  rock  chute  at  the  lower  end  of 
which  the  rock  is  loaded  into  a  specially  designed 
five  ton  rock  car,  which  is  pulled  up  a  twenty- 
five  degree  incline  and  dumped  automatically  by 
means  of  a  trip  between  the  rails  at  the  upper 
end  of  the  rock  dump.  This  trip  releases  two 
side  doors  thus  discharging  the  rock.  The  side 
doors  are  automatically  locked  again  as  the  rock 
car  slips  into  its  berth  at  the  foot  of  the  incline 
under  the  gate  of  the  rock  chute. 

On  the  tipple  floor  we  employ  one  eager  to 
operate  the  steam  ram  and  transfer  tables,  two 
coal  dumpers,  two  oilers  and  two  or  three  rock 
men.  The  coal  is  dumped  into  two  hoppers  sus¬ 
pended  from  scales  and  weighed  in  a  cabin  built 
directly  under  the  tipple  floor.  The  emptv  cars 
are  returned  from  the  Phillips  dump  to  the  shaft 
by  means  of  a  gravity  kick-back,  running  on  a 
transfer  table  after  being  oiled.  This  transfer 
table  raises  the  car  vertically  about  five  feet  and 
transports  it  horizontally  about  six  feet  to  a  posi¬ 
tion  directly  opposite  the  shaft  mouth  ready  to 
be  pushed  on  a  cage  by  the  steam  ram.  There 
are  two  such  transfer  tables  and  rams,  one  oppo¬ 
site  each  cageway. 

Only  two  sizes  of  coal  are  made,  lump  and 
screenings.  The  screenings  are  shipped  to  a  coal 
washer  while  the  railroad  takes  all  of  the  lump. 
At  Granville  the  screenings  consist  of  all  coal  that 
goes  through  a  seven-eighth  inch  bar  screen  and 
at  Cherry  all  the  coal  that  goes  through  a  three 
inch  circular  opening  shaking  screen.  A  con¬ 
siderable  portion  of  the  lump  coal  is  loaded  in 
closed  cars  and  a  gravity  box  car  loader  is  used 
for  this  purpose. 

We  employ  850  men  and  have  about  430  work¬ 
ing  places  at  Granville,  while  at  Cherry,  with 
practically  the  same  mining  conditions,  we  employ 
825  men  and  have  320  working  places. 

At  Cherry  the  hoist  is  523  feet  from  the  tipple 
floor  to  the  bottom  of  the  coal  seam  and  a  tan¬ 
dem  cage  is  used,  hoisting  two  cars  at  a  time. 
The  hoisting  equipment,  boiler  house  and  machine 
shop  are  practically  the  same  as  at  Granville. 
The  output  from  the  spring  of  1910  has  not  yet 
reached  the  limit  of  its  hoisting  capacity,  which 
we  estimate  around  2,400  tons  of  coal  a  day  with 
Its  proportionate  share  of  rock.  Assuming  an 
average  yearly  increase  of  185  tons  of  coal  a  day 
per  year,  it  would  require  about  four  and  one- 
third  years  to  gain  the  additional  800  tons  daily. 

E.  F.  Brenn, 

Chief  Engineer  of  Mines,  St.  Paul  Co. 


The  Anthracite  Tax. 


H.\rrisburg,  P.A.,  November  10— Auditor  Gen¬ 
eral  Powell  has  not  changed  his  mind  on  the 
proposition  to  place  the  escheat  laws  of  the  state 
into  motion  to  collect  the  amount  that  has  been 
charged  by  coal  companies  in  anticipation  of  pay¬ 
ment  of  the  two  and  one-half  per  cent  tax  on 
anthracite.- 

A  notice  was  issued  the  first  of  the  week  by 
the  Philadelphia  &  Reading  Coal  &  Iron  Com¬ 
pany  that  it  had  records  of  all  money  collected  to 
pay  the  tax  and  that  refunds  would  be  made  “as 
soon  as  the  state  signified  that  collection  would 
not  be  attempted.”  The  Temple  Coal  Company 
of  Scranton  also  has  declared  that  its  clerks  are 
busy  on  its  books  and  collections  of  the  state 
tax  would  be  returned  to  customers. 

The  auditor-general  holds  to  his  contention 
that  there  must  be  shown  that  the  money  has 
been  paid  back  to  the  original  persons  from  whom 
it  was  derived — the  consumers — else  the  state  law 
allowing  a  process  of  escheatment  can  and  will 
be  placed  in  effect. 


He  has  filed  information  against  138  companies 
and  has  placed  the  matter  before  Attorney-Gen¬ 
eral  Brown,  who,  so  far,  has  not  offered  an  opin¬ 
ion  on  this  new  process  of  gathering  a  tax  from 
a  law  declared  unconstitutional  by  the  highest 
tribunal  of  the  state. 


A  New  Silo  Pocket. 


An  efficient  type  of  silo  coal  pocket  that  has 
recently  come  to  the  notice  of  The  Black  Dia- 
-MOND  is  that  of  the  Henry  M.  Tuttle  Company 
at  Bennington,  Vt.,  and  which  is  shown  in  the 
accompanying  illustration. 

This  pocket  consists  of  a  battery  of  four  silos, 
three  of  which  are  twenty  feet  in  diameter  by 
thirty-four  feet  high,  the  fourth  one  being  only 
sixteen  feet  in  diameter,  but  of  the  same  height 
as  the  other  three.  The  storage  capacity  of  the 
plant  is  about  1,500  tons. 

The  coal  is  elevated  from  the  car  into  the  bins 


An  Efficient  Storage  Plant. 


by  being  dumped  into  a  steel  lined  concrete  hop¬ 
per  and  sliding  into  a  steel  boot.  It  is  then  ele¬ 
vated  by  continuous  buckets  to  a  point  over  the 
liins,  from  which  it  is  distributed  both  ways 
through  several  chutes  and  valves,  being  lowered 
gently  to  the  coal  in  the  different  bins  by  “zig¬ 
zags”  or  coal  ladders.  These  zig-zags  or  coal 
ladders  are  a  series  of  projections  or  steps  pro¬ 
truding  out  from  both  sides  of  the  silo,  the  coal 
falling  first  on  the  one,  then  to  the  one  below  it, 
and  so  on  down  to  the  top  of  the  pile.  The  power 
is  furnished  by  a  ten  horsepower  electric  motor. 

The  machinery  for  this  plant  was  furnished  by 
The  Gifford-Wood  Company  and  the  silos  by 
The  Creamery  Package  Manufacturing  Company. 


Boston’s  Coal  Receipts. 


Following  are  the  receipts  of  anthracite  and 
bituminous  at  Boston  for  October  and  from  Jan¬ 
uary  1  to  October  31,  1915,  together  with  com¬ 
parisons  : 

Dct.—  , - - ^ - 1914 - : - \ 

Anthracite.  Itituniinous.  Anthracite.  Bituminous. 


Sea,  dom.  143, jit  414,933  146,456  364,075 

Sea,  for .  34',599  .  30,850 

Kail  -  11,305  2,945  14,574  3,143 


Totals..  154,919  453,477  161,030  388,068 

From  January  1st — 

Sea,  dom. 1,267, 294  3,917,158  1,468,305  4,128,342 

Sea,  for .  347,498  .  '  153;767 

Rail  -  134-,88G  64,425  162,190  45,130 


Totals.  .1,402,180  4,329,081  1,630,501  4,327,239 


Articles  of  incorporation  of  the  Northwestern 
Coal  &  Coke  Company  were  filed  Tuesday  with 
the  secretary  of  state  of  Colorado.  The  company 
will  operate  in  Routt  county,  with  its  principal 
office  at  Steamboat  Springs.  Harry  Laverty,  Jack 
Lewis,  Clay  Monson,  D.  J.  Davies,  James  A. 
Brobeck,  Charles  Baird  and  R.  A.  Bareuther  are 
named  as  directors.  The  company  is  capitalized 
at  $100,000. 


H.  H.  Lineaweaver  &  Co.  held  their  monthly 
salesmen’s  meeting  at  their  New  York  office  on 
Saturday  afternoon,  and  five  salesmen  from  this 
territory  attended,  together  with  Mr.  Crane,  New 
York  manager.  They  first  assembled  and  liad 
dinner,  after  which  they  returned  to  the  office,  and 
liad  a  business  di.scussion.  Selling  experiences 
were  exchanged  and  the  selling  end  of  the  game 
was  discussed  in  general.  The  market  and  its 
future  condition  was  also  discussed.  They  ad¬ 
journed  about  four  o’clock. 


392 


THE  KLACK  DIAMOND 


[Novem'ber  13 


Auto  Truck  Question  Again  When  Does  It  Pay? 


The  ever  present  iiupiiries  in  a  retail  yard  are: 

"Can  I  use  an  ante  truck  to  advantage?  If  I 
can,  what  kind  and  size  should  I  buy?  What 
equipment  shall  1  use  with  it  ?  W  hat  sort  of 
loads  shall  1  give  it  ?” 

The  best  answer,  of  course,  is  that  made  by  deal¬ 
ers  who  have  experience.  Hut  while  they  talk 
freely,  they  make  no  recommendations.  They 
say  merely : 

“Use  your  own  judgment,  hit  the  car  to  your 
own  conditions.” 

In  detail,  dealers  of  experience  make  some 
interesting  suggestions,  these  being  in  respon.se 
to  a  letter  of  inquiry  sent  out  some  time  ago.  W^e 
(piote : 

Edward  1.  Rice,  Syracuse,  N.  Y. — “During  the 
past  three  years  we  have  used  two  ton  Pack¬ 
ard  trucks  and  find  them  a  great  help  to  our  busi¬ 
ness  ;  in  fact,  we  hardly  know  how  we  could  get 
along  without  them. 

“W'e  do  not  thifik  you  can  advise  and  recom¬ 
mend  trucks  to  your  subscribers,  as  conditions 
vary  greatly  in  different  localities,  and  each  dealer 
must  look  into  the  matter  and  form  an  opinion 
of  his  own;  in  fact,  he  should  use  his  own  judg¬ 
ment,  taking  everything  into  consideration.” 

Rathhun  &  Kraft,  Battle  Creek,  Mich. — “When 
full  loads  can  he  drawn  and  with  reasonably  good 
places  to  unload,  we  think  trucks  might  be  used 
to  advantage.” 

Columbia  Brick  &  Coal  Co.,  Takoma  Park,  D. 
C. — “W’e  have  been  using  a  one  ton  and  a  two 
ton  Wilcox  truck  for  two  years.  W’e  are  very- 
well  satisfied  with  both,  but  have  had  the  best 
results  from  the  one  ton  truck.  In  addition  to 
trucks  we  have  nine  horses.  When  we  add  to 
our  equiiiment  it  will  he  trucks  and  not  horses ; 
hut  we  w'ould  not  dispense  with  any  of  our  horses 
to  replace  them  with  trucks.” 

C.  G.  Martin  Coal  Company,  St.  Paul,  Minn. — 
“W’e  only  operate  at  the  present  time  one  truck 
and  have  not  got  our  records  in  such  shape  that 
we  are  able  to  give  any  definite  or  reliable  infor¬ 
mation,  but  from  casual  observation  of  our  opera¬ 
tions  with  same,  1  do  not  believe  there  is  much 
saving  for  a  company  in  operating  only  one  truck, 
over  the  cost  of  team  operations.” 

,  Van  Tassell  &  Draper,  Cheyenne,  W’yo. — “W’e 
have  had  a  motor  truck  for  the  past  year  and  feel 
that  it  has  been  a  paying  investment.  W’e  would 
not  be  without  one  and  in  time  will  add  others, 
as  it  costs  less  to  run  a  truck  than  it  does  to  feed 
horses  and  deliveries  can  be  made  much  quicker. 
Rush  orders  at  the  close  of  the  day  can  be  han¬ 
dled  much  quicker  with  a  truck  than  with  a  team 
that  has  been  working  hard  all  day,  as  the  truck 
never  gets  tired  and  it  is  as  fresh  at  night  as 
when  it  started  in  the  morning,  which  is  quite 
an  item.” 

Conditions  Must  Govern 

Brosius  &  Smedley  Company,  W  ilmington,  Del. 
— “So  many  features  enter  into  the  consideration 
of  this  question  that  it  cannot  he  answered  with¬ 
out  reckoning  with  these  conditions.  Briefly 
speaking,  the  city  coal  dealer  with  a  good  driver 
and  a  reasonably  fair  tonnage,  or  if  he  handles 
other  commodities  in  connection  with  his  busi¬ 
ness,  will  undoubtedly  find  it  will  pay.  Further¬ 
more,  he  will  soon  find  it  compulsory  to  install 
a  truck  to  keep  up  to  the  growing  requirements 
of  trade.  Likewise  in  the  country,  if  a  dealer  is 
located  where  a  fairly  good  system  of  improved 
roads  exist,  we  would  say  yes.  To  the  dealer 
more  isolated,  with  nothing  but  dirt  roads  to  haul 
over,  we  would  advise  sticking  to  the  horses.” 

Broadway  Coal  &  Coke  Comi)any,  Memphis, 
Tenn. — “WT  use  motor  trucks  principally  in  our 
ice  business.  W’e  haul  some  coal  with  them  dur¬ 
ing  the  winter  season,  hut  the  most  of  our  coal 
is  delivered  in  wagons  and  carts  drawn  by  horse 
I)ower.  The  handling  of  coal  in  trucks  econom¬ 
ically  depends  entirely  upon  local  conditions.  W’e 
have  not  found  it,  thus  far,  of  advantage  to  han¬ 
dle  all  of  our  product  in  motor  trucks.” 

Wilcox  &  Ziegler,  Baltimore,  Md. — “W’e  have 
found  from  practical  experience  that  the  small 
two  ton  unit  auto  truck  is  undoubtedly  a  paying 
proposition  for  coal  merchants.  The  trucks  of 
larger  capacities,  if  conditions  are  favorable,  are 
also  more  economical  than  horses,  but  in  our  case, 
having  used  them  principally  for  long  hauls  with 
abominable  road  conditions,  on  work  requiring 
much  labor  and  consequently  losing  much  time, 
we  are  not  so  favorably  disposed  toward  them.” 

E.  L.  Carpenter,  Salt  Lake  City,  Utah  (Castle 
X'alley  Coal  Company,  Consolidated  b'uel  Com¬ 
pany,  Black  Hawk  Coal  Company,  Panther  Coal 
Company) — “Our  experience  with  motor  trucks 


Retailers  From  Many  Cities  Have  Their 
Experience — Many  Ideas  Are  Given  But 
All  Agree  That  Circumstances  Alter 
Cases — A  Few  Opinions. 


has  not  been  very  favorable  to  their  adoption  in 
this  locality.  Each  retail  coal  dealer  will  have  to 
settle  that  question  for  himself.  If  the  dealer  is 
in  a  ])aved  district  with  coal  holes  in  the  side¬ 
walk,  or  has  a  large  sacked  coal  business,  or  has 
a  large  contract  with  a  long  haul  over  good  roads, 
such  as  obtain  in  Los  Angeles,  then  he  should 
decide  in  favor  of  motor  trucks.  If,  however,  he 
has  a  large  domestic  trade  where  he  has  to  de¬ 
liver  to  the  rear  of  dwellings  through  narrow, 
unpaved  alleys,  he  had  better  pin  his  faith  on 
horseflesh. 

“As  this  question  is  one  of  environment,  we 
hesitate  to  answer.  Our  locality  is  certainly  not 
a  motor  truck  one  at  the  present  time,  hut  chang¬ 
ing  conditions  may  remove  the  present  objections 
so  that  a  certain  locality,  adapted  only  for  teams 
today,  may  be  suitable  for  trucks  next  year.” 

Extends  Selling  Zone 

L.  Brizzolara  &  Son,  Inc.,  San  Francisco,  Cal. 
—“Our  truck  has  been  giving  very  good  service, 
especially  for  long  hauls  averaging  about  equal 
in  tonnage  to  three  3-ton  wagons  per  day  and 
enabling  us  to  compete  for  suburban  tonnage 
which  we  were  unable  to  reach  with  teams.  We 
do  not  find  the  truck  to  be  profitable  for  short 
hauls  in  this  city  account  congestion  of  the  busi¬ 
ness  section  and  the  hills.” 

R.  P.  &  W.  E.  Starr,  Ltd.,  St.  John,  N.  B.,  F. 
P.  Starr,  President. — “W'e  have  not  found  motor 
trucks  a  profitable  venture.  There  is,  doubtless, 
some  indirect  benefit  as  an  advertisement  and  in 
the  rush  season  we  find  them  very  convenient, 
but  they  are  not,  in  our  experience,  a  paying 
proposition. 

“Saint  John  is  a  very  hilly  city  and  the  streets 
are  rough  and  very  hard  on  tires ;  in  addition  to 
which  gasoline  is  more  expensive  here  than  where 
you  are  and  hay  and  oats  are  much  cheaper  with 
us  than  in  Boston  and  New  York,  all  of  which 
tells  against  the  motor  truck  and  in  favor  of  the 
horse  drawn  vehicle. 

“Another  point  is  that  the  trucks  have  to  be 
laid  up  during  three  months  in  the  year,  as  they 
cannot  he  successfully  run  in  the  snow.” 

Hampton  Coal  Company,  Salt  Lake  (uty,  LTah. 
— “We  couldn’t  make  them  pay  on  bad  roads. 
They  might  be  all  right  with  good  roads.” 

Olney  &  Payne  Bros.,  Pawtucket,  R.  I. — “Much 
depends  upon  the  amount  of  tonnage  handled  and 
the  local  conditions. 

“If  the  dealer  has  a  good  volume  of  business 
and  good  hauling  conditions,  we  believe  he  would 
find  it  advantageous  to  install  motor  trucks,  espe¬ 
cially  so  if  it  was  a  question  of  whether  he  should 
renew  his  horse-drawn  equipment  or  use  motor 
trucks.  With  proper  care  and  supervision  we 
believe  that  it  would  pay  in  most  cases.” 

Pacific  Fuel  Company,  Tacoma,  Wash. — “W’e 
find  the  trucks  more  advantageous  in  our  coun¬ 
try,  more  especially  in  the  winter  season.  There 
are  days  when  we  cannot  navigate  on  our  asphalt 
pavements  with  horses.  This  is  the  most  critical 
time  of  our  business.  We  are  well  pleased  with 
our  trucks,  but  of  course  we  have  need  of  horses 
also,  as  they  will  go  in  places  where  trucks  will 
get  stalled.” 

Must  Keep  Moving 

Pittmans  &  Dean  Co.,  Detroit,  Mich. — “W’e  use 
the  trucks  for  long  hauls  only.  The  (juestion  of 
the  value  of  trucks  depends  entirely  on  how  con¬ 
tinually  they  can  be  used,  and  it  seems  to  the 
writer  as  though  no  two  institutions  handled 
them  exactly  alike.  W  hat  might  be  satisfactory 
to  us  would  not  be  to  others  and  vice  versa.” 

Portsmouth  Coal  &  Ice  Company,  Portsmouth, 
Va. — “W'e  have  an  auto  truck,  but  so  far  have  not 
used  it  in  our  coal  department,  as  the  wheel  base 
is  too  long  for  our  scales.  Do  not  find  it  a 
money  saver  in  the  ice  business,  but  local  condi¬ 
tions  may  have  much  to  do  with  it,  as  there  are 
several  bridges  that  are  unsafe  for  a  heavily 
loaded  truck  and  therefore  our  sphere  of  opera¬ 
tion  is  somewhat  restricted.” 

E.  J.  Babcock,  Boston,  IMass.— “I  have  two 
five-ton  Pierce-Arrow  trucks  and  they  do  not  pay 
as  compared  with  teams.  They  are  of  good  serv¬ 
ice  when  I  am  busy  and  they  do  not  cost  anything 
when  idle.  I  do  not  think  they  are  a  success  in 


a  small  business  of  30,()()0  tons,  but  they  are  a 
convenience  during  rush  times.” 

Enterprise  b'uel  Company,  Baltimore,  Md. — 
"We  have  been  using  a  three-ton  Gramm  truck 
for  the  last  five  years  and  regret  to  advise  th^t 
they  have  been  a  source  of  considerable  expense, 
rather  than  profit.  It  may  be  that  the  truck  of 
last  year  might  prove  a  profitable  investment  to 
coal  dealers,  but  we  are  perfectly  willing  to  let 
the  other  fellow  try  the  experiment  this  time.” 

O.  F.  Williamson,  Media,  Pa. — “I  think  the 
average  retail  yard  in  small  towns  or  in  the  coun¬ 
try  could  use  auto  trucks  to  advantage,  but  think 
the  one  and  one-half  or  two-ton  truck  the  best 
size.” 

Geo.  C.  Buckley  Company,  Menlo,  Iowa. — “1 
believe  in  cities  where  streets  are  paved  it  will 
l)ay  to  run  motor  trucks  for  coal,  but  on  dirt 
roads  you  can  not  run  them  in  muddy  times  and 
our  experience  is  that  it  costs  too  much  to  use 
trucks.  W'ould  rather  make  sure  by  using  team.” 

1 1.  (3.  Seiffert  Lumber  Company,  Davenport, 
Iowa. — “Lbiless  the  roads  or  streets  are  paved  or 
macadamized  the  trucks  are  no  good.  W’e  use 
our  trucks  mostly  for  our  lumber  deliveries  and 
haul  very  little  coal.  It  depends  a  great  deal  on 
the  roads  and  of  course  on  the  amount  of  busi¬ 
ness.  For  large  contracts  and  quick  delivery 
trucks  pay.” 

Jagels  &  Beilis,  Hoboken,  N.  J. — “From  our 
experience  we  have  found  that  the  cost  per  ton 
has  been  a  trifle  more  than  we  have  been  able  to 
deliver  coal  for  with  horses.  W'e  feel,  however, 
that  if  it  were  possible  for  a  coal  company  to 
make  its  entire  transportation  system  by  auto 
that  the  cost  could  be  materially  reduced,  but  this 
company  has  hesitated  to  adopt  that  method  of 
delivery  for  the  reason  that  during  heavy  snow¬ 
storms  the  automobiles  do  not  give  reliable  serv¬ 
ice.” 

Atlantic  Ice  &  Coal  Corporation,  Athens,  Ga. — 
“W’e  find  trucks  are  profitable  where  the  towns 
and  cities  have  well  paved  streets.  We  are  not 
able  to  use  them  to  much  advantage  at  this  branch 
owing  to  the  fact  that  we  have  many  unpaved 
long  red  hills  to  travel,  but  in  comparatively  level 
paved  towns  we  believe  it  is  the  best  solution  of 
prompt  and  economical  delivery.” 

The  Klages  Coal  &  Ice  Co.,  .Akron,  Ohio. — “We 
have  some  trucks,  but  use  them  most  of  the  time 
to  deliver  ice  to  the  drivers  on  their  various 
routes  and  to  supply  large  wholesale  customers. 
W'’hen  it  comes  to  using  them  in  the  retail  coal 
business,  from  our  experience,  they  are  not  a 
thorough  success,  as  we  deliver  most  of  the  coal 
into  the  cellar,  and  it  is  very  hard  to  get  in  and 
out  of  yards  with  a  truck.  In  territories  where 
the  coal  is  dumped  on  the  street  they  might  be 
more  successful.” 

Bickett  Coal  &  Coke  Company,  McCormick 
Bldg.,  Chicago,  Ill. — “We  have  a  great  many 
large  steam  contracts  and  if  the  plant  is  so  situ¬ 
ated  that  delivery  can  be  made  by  trucks  we  find 
it  very  much  more  satisfactory  and  less  expensive 
than  when  delivered  by  wagon.  We  have  also 
used  trucks  in  our  yard  for  the  delivery  of  do¬ 
mestic  coal — finding  it  more  economical  than 
wagon  delivery,  especially  for  long  hauls. 

“However,  when  delivery  is  made  in  ton  lots 
within  a  certain  radius  of  our  yard  we  use 
wagons. 

“Another  thing  must  be  taken  into  considera¬ 
tion  and  that  is  the  condition  of  the  streets  and 
alleys  where  deliveries  are  to  be  made.  Paved 
streets  are  necessary  in  using  trucks ;  otherwise 
they  are  not  successful  during  the  winter  months. 

“We  might  also  add  that  we  have  just  leased  a 
large  piece  of  property  on  the  south  side  of  the 
city  of  Chicago  and  we  propose  to  use  trucks  en¬ 
tirely  for  delivery  from  this  yard.  It  is  located 
in  a  section  of  the  city  where  deliveries  are  mostly 
made  from  the  main  streets,  either  in  bags  or  by 
dumping  in  the  street  and  wheeling  in.  For  such 
service  we  certainly  can  recommend  them.” 


A  cable  from  Cardiff  on  Monday,  November 
8th  read  as  follows:  “The  Rhondda  district 
miners,  numbering  50,000,  have  decided  to  ten¬ 
der  a  fortnight’s  notice  on  November  15  that 
they  will  stop  work  until  all  the  men  employed 
in  the  collieries  join  the  South  Wales  Miners’ 
Federation.  Official  notice  has  been  posted 
in  all  coal  mines  stating  that  such  a  large 
number  of  miners  have  joined  the  army  that 
‘the  supply  of  coal,  which  is  of  vital  national 
interest,  is  seriously  affected.  Hereafter  coal 
miners  offering  themselves  as  recruits  will  be 
accepted  only  on  condition  that  they  continue 
to  work  in  the  mines  until  called  upon.” 


No.  20] 


393 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 

Protest  Against  Raise  in  Powder  Prices.  Appeals  Anthracite  Decision. 


A  meeting  was  held  in  the  offices  of  the  Old 
Ben  Mining  Corporation,  Chicago,  November  8th, 
for  the  purpose  of  conferring  with  representa¬ 
tives  of  powder  companies  regarding  the  recent 
substantial  advances  in  the  price  of  explosives 
and  to  secure  from  them  definite  data  as  to  the 
cause  of  these  advances  and  tangible  evidence  of 
a  sort  that  would  warrant  such  extra  cost  to  the 
operators  during  the  period  of  a  wage  scale  with 
the  miners,  who  under  the  terms  of  their  contract 
cannot  be  compelled  to  pay  a  higher  price  for 
explosives  which  they  use  in  the  mining  of  coal. 

The  sentiment  of  the  operators  in  connection 
with  the  situation  was  clearly  set  forth  in  the 
following  resolution  passed  at  a  meeting  held 
earlier  in  the  day  : 

'Tn  view  of  the  thorough  knowledge  of  the  man 
ufacturers  of  explosives  with  reference  to  the 
contract  relationship  existing  between  Illinois  coal 
operators  and  their  workmen ;  that  under  the 
terms  of  such  contract  the  price  of  explosives 
cannot,  without  the  consent  and  agreement  of  the 
miners,  be  advanced  prior  to  March  31,  1916 ;  that 
it  is  practically  impossible  to  secure  such  agree¬ 
ment  prior  to  date  specified,  that  permissibles,  on 
account  of  their  relative  effectiveness  as  com¬ 
pared  with  black  powder,  are  already  being  pro¬ 
vided  to  the  miners  at  approximately  exact  cost 
to  the  operators ;  and  finally  in  view  of  the  sub¬ 
stantial  volume  of  permissible  explosives  used  by 
the  Franklin  county  operators,  it  is  the  sentiment 
of  these  operators  that  the  manufacturers  should 
not  feel  warranted  in  advancing  the  price  on  such 
permissibles  except,  AND  ONLY  in  the  event 
that  their  protection  of  former  prices  contem¬ 
plates  direct  loss  on  basis  of  production  cost  and 
without  reference  to  whether  or  not  their  profit 
would  be  impaired  or  entirely  yielded.  That  an 
exceptional  and  unusual  condition  has  increased 
the  demand  for  explosives  does  not  in  the  belief 
of  the  coal  operators  justify  the  manufacturers 
of  explosives  in  vacating  existing  contracts  or 
waiving  usual  notice  of  price  advance  and  insist¬ 
ing  on  previous  profit  at  the  sole  expense  of  coal 
operators,  when  admittedly  the  use  of  such  per¬ 
missible  explosives  is  compulsory  and  unavoid¬ 
able  if  accident  and  possible  disaster  be  avoided 
and  when  the  period  during  which  such  indul¬ 
gence  is  sought  is  so  brief — five  months.” 

L.  G.  Binkley,  vice-president  of  the  Egyptian 
Powder  Company,  acting  as  spokesman  for  the 
several  powder  companies  represented,  spoke  at 
length  regarding  the  rapid  increase  in  the  cost  of 
various  ingredients  entering  into  the  several 
kinds  of  explosives  made  by  his  and  other  com¬ 
panies.  The  unusual  conditions,  brought  about 
by  the  war  abroad,  and  the  embargo  placed  by 
various  foreign  countries  on  the  movement  of 
sweet  glycerine  and  other  ingredients  and  the  pur¬ 
chase  in  this  country  of  glycerine  for  shipment 
abroad,  was  carefully  called  to  the  attention  of 
those  present  and  the  further  statement  made  that 
had  it  not  been  for  certain  existing  contracts  held 
by  the  manufacturers  of  explosives  under  which, 
and  until  recently,  they  had  been  able  to  secure 
the  majority  of  their  material  requirements  at 
normal  prices,  their  action  in  advancing  prices 
would  have  been  taken  prior  to  the  present  time. 

It  was  definitely  stated  in  the  general  discus¬ 
sion  by  the  powder  men  that  it  was  not  the  pur¬ 
pose  of  any  powder  company  to  vacate  any  of 
their  existing  contracts  with  coal  companies  until 
such  contracts  had  expired  and  that  it  was  their 
purpose  only  to  advance  the  price  to  those  whose 
contracts  had  expired  and  who  were  now  seeking 
renewal  of  arrangements  for  the  provision  of 
their  supply. 

Representatives  of  the  miners,  each  of  whom 
spoke  on  the  subject,  insisted  that  no  change  in 
the  powder  price  to  miners,  within  their  belief, 
was  possible  without  the  calling  of  a  special  con¬ 
vention  of  their  organization  for  the  purpose  of 
considering  the  subject  and,  further,  that  it  was 
their  belief  their  organization  would  not  agree 
to  any  change  of  price  during  the  period  of  wage 
agreement. 

general  discussion  of  the  whole  subject  de¬ 
veloped,  on  the  part  of  the  operators,  a  continu¬ 
ance  of  the  precise  sentiment  set  forth  in  their 
resolution  presented  at  the  beginning  of  the  meet¬ 
ing,  it  being  their  definite  belief  that  powder  com¬ 
panies  had  not  shown  that  the  previous  price  on 
explosives  could  not  be  protected  throughout  the 
period  of  the  present  wage  agreement  (and  until 
March  .31,  1910)  without  actual  loss,  except  profits, 
to  the  powder  companies. 

As  the  final  action  of  the  meeting  it  was 
moved,  seconded  and  favorably  accepted  by  min¬ 
ers  and  operators,  that  a  committee  be  appointed. 


composed  of  two  operators,  two  miners,  and  two 
powder  representatives  for  the  purpose  of  per¬ 
mitting  the  powder  companies  in  a  smaller  meet¬ 
ing  to  make  clear  to  both  the  operators  and  min¬ 
ers  the  exact  status  of  the  situation  and  the 
necessity  for  continuance  of  advanced  prices  on 
explosives  and  the  factors  that  entered  into  the 
advance  in  cost — so  that  at  the  time  of  the  next 
conference  between  the  miners  and  operators,  for 
the  formation  of  a  new  wage  scale,  it  would  be 
possible  for  the  parties  at  interest — operators, 
miners,  and  powder  companies,  to  act  intelligently 
and  provide  such  contract  conditions  as  would  be 
thoroughly  understood,  agreeable,  and  acceptable 
to  all  parties  concerned. 

On  account  of  the  refusal  of  the  powder  repre¬ 
sentatives  to  vote  for  such  a  committee  without 
referring  the  whole  matter  to  their  respective 
principals,  it  was  decided  that  arrangements 
should  be  made  for  the  meeting  of  such  a  com¬ 
mittee  within  two  weeks  from  the  date  of  this 
present  meeting,  with  the  understanding  that  on 
or  before  the  expiration  of  such  period  the  sev¬ 
eral  powder  companies  would  indicate  their  will¬ 
ingness  to  send  appropriate  representatives  for 
the  purpose  of  studying  this  general  situation  aft¬ 
er  the  fashion  and  for  the  reasons  above  stated. 


Small  Activities. 


Cleveland  News  Notes. 

W.  T.  Watson,  Jr.,  general  manager  of  the 
hairmont-Cleveland  Coal  Company,  Fairmont, 
W.  Va.,  was  in  the  city  this  week. 

During  the  month  of  October  257,640  tons  of 
coal  were  loaded  at  the  docks  in  Conneaut.  Coal 
loaded  over  the  machines  at  the  Ashtabula  docks 
during  the  month  of  October  amounted  to  419,377 
tons.  During  the  same  time  1,201,240  tons  of  Ore 
were  received,  which  is  claimed  to  give  this  town 
first  place  in  Ohio  as  an  ore  receiving  port. 

It  is  said  that  the  increased  tariffs  on  coal  for 
western  shipment  from  West  Virginia  will  be 
filed  with  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission 
1)y  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio,  Norfolk  &  Western 
and  Chesapeake  &  Ohio  railroads  on  November 
15.  They  will  become  effective  a  month  later, 
and  will  increase  the  differential  between  the 
Ohio  and  the  West  Virginia  rates. 


Detroit  News  Notes. 

Ford  R.  Cate  of  the  Cate-Churchman  Coal 
Company  is  back  from  a  trip  through  Kentucky 
and  Ohio. 

James  P.  Cummiskey,  president  of  the  Ohio  & 
Michigan  Coal  Company,  has  returned  from  a 
trip  in  Ohio. 

A.  J.  Schrader  has  rejoined  the  Pittsburgh  and 
New  Pittsburgh  Coal  Companies  and  is  again 
covering  his  old  territory  of  Ohio  and  Indiana. 
Mr.  Schrader  spent  the  summer  and  part  of  the 
spring  with  the  New  York  Coal  Company,  Michi¬ 
gan  being  his  territory. 

With  several  slight  modifications  of  the 
measure  first  offered.  Highland  Park’s  village 
council  has  approved  the  ordinance  limiting  the 
percentage  of  moisture  that  may  be  contained  in 
coal  and  coke  sold  in  the  village.  The  maximum 
for  soft  coal  is  fixed  at  seven  per  cent,  on  hard 
coal  at  three  per  cent,  and  on  coke  at  eight  per 
cent.  An  ordinance  along  somewhat  similar  lines 
is  said  to  be  under  consideration  by  Detroit’s 
sealer  of  weights  and  measures. 


Indiana  Local  News. 

The  J.  R.  Morris  Coal  Company,  Indianapolis, 
capital  $10,000,  has  incorporated  there.  Directors, 
J.  R.  Alorris,  Harry  Smith,  Edward  Crowley. 

Dr.  August  F.  Knoefel,  Terre  Haute,  president 
of  the  American  Mine  Safety  Association  and 
head  of  first  aid  department  of  the  Indiana  Op¬ 
erators’  Association,  has  gone  to  Washington  to 
consult  the  Bureau  of  iMines.  He  will  a.sk  the 
latter  to  extend  its  investigation  in  Indiana  and 
to  increase  the  government’s  rescue  equipment 
in  this  state. 

In  acknowledgment  of  his  services  in  conceiv¬ 
ing  and  promoting  the  recent  successful  first  aid 
meet  at  Bicknell,  the  joint  committee  in  charge 
of  that  affair  voted  Dr.  Knoefel  a  gold  medal. 
The  committee,  made  up  of  representatives  of  the 
miners,  operators  and  business  men  of  Bicknell 
also  voted  to  him  the  unexpected  balance  of  the 
money  raised  to  defray  the  expenses  of  the 
meeting. 


Philadelphia,  Nov.  12. —  (Special  Telegram.) 
— Dealers  and  shippers  expecting  an  immediate 
refund  of  tax  imposed  on  anthracite  coal  for 
past  two  years  will  be  compelled  to  wait  until  a 
final  decision  is  rendered.  The  attorney-general 
of  the  state  of  Pennsylvania  on  November  11  filed 
notice  of  an  appeal  from  the  decision  of  the  su¬ 
preme  court  rendered  October  28,  declaring  the 
act  unconstitutional. 


Today’s  Opportunity. 

(Concluded  from  page  385.) 
these  men  as  fast  as  their  education  was  com¬ 
plete. 

The  plan  here  outlined  presents  co-opera¬ 
tion  in,  I  believe,  its  best  light.  F.  S.  Pea¬ 
body,  one  of  America’s  shrewdest  coal  men, 
says  it  is  a  good  plan  but  impractical.  It  does 
m  fact,  assume  a  great  deal  in  the  matter  of 
government  idealism  and  action.  And,  the 
government  has  never  been  noted  for  its 
steadfastness  to  a  program,  nor  has  it  been 
able  to  conceive  and  execute  an  idea  in  de¬ 
tail  which  requires  so  much  hewing  to  a 
given  line. 

What  Must  Be  Done. 

With  government  action  unlikely  for  years 
to  come,  because  political  attention  is  directed 
elsewhere  than  to  conservation,  there  is  in 
bituminous  coal  a  big  opportunity  for  a  real 
financier.  In  taking  advantage  of  it,  he  can¬ 
not  travel  any  of  the  beaten  paths  of  con¬ 
solidation — first,  because  the  best  programs  for 
another  industry  would  not  touch  the  need  in 
coal,  and,  second,  because  public  opinion  will 
not  permit  the  duplication  of  any  old  device 
or  intention.  Even  so,  the  whole  list  of  de¬ 
vices  has  not  been  used  and  a  new  one  may 
be  found.  For  example,  a  compromise  be¬ 
tween  the  old  financial  form  and  the  proposed 
governmental  action  is  possible.  It  will  win 
both  public  and  financial  applause  if  an  en¬ 
tirely  different  theory  of  control  is  used. 

I  shall  not  attempt  here  to  outline  what 
program  should  be  followed  by  the  new  finan¬ 
cier.  In  the  first  place,  to  do  so  would  be  a 
bit  presumptuous.  In  the  second  place,  the 
public  print  is  no  place  in  which  to  discuss 
plans  which  must  be  still  in  a  formative  stage. 
It  is  enough  to  say  of  the  new  financier  and 
of  the  future  that  all  the  devices  necessary  to 
control  the  coal  situation  are  now  in  prac¬ 
tical  use.  To  group  them  into  an  effective  ma¬ 
chine  calls  for  only  a  master  personality.  See¬ 
ing  the  time  is  about  ripe,  I  am  convinced  that 
he  will  be  found. 


[This  is  a  reproduction  of  a  siiecial  article  written  for 
the  New  York'  Annalist  by  the  editor  of  The  Black 
Diamond,  j 


It  is  understood  here  that  a  hitch  in  the  filing 
of  the  new  tariff,  further  increasing  the  differen¬ 
tial  between  West  Virginia  and  Ohio  coals  by 
fifteen  cents,  has  developed  and  that  there  is  a 
possibility  that  the  tariff  will  not  be  filed.  While 
at  Cincinnati  it  has  been  impossible  to  verify 
the  story,  it  is  taken  for  its  full  worth 
by  coal  operators  who  have  good  sources  of 
information,  that  the  Chesapeake  &  Ohio  Rail¬ 
way  Company  has  decided  not  to  participate  in 
such  a  tariff.  It  is  further  understood  that  the 
company  officers  made  the  decision  at  New  York 
a  few  days  ago,  but  were  in  no  hurry  to  let  it 
be  known  and  that  the  reason  for  the  decision  is 
that  the  road  fears  that  such  a  restriction  would 
greatly  reduce  the  volume  of  coal  transporta¬ 
tion  and  that  while  the  railroad  would  reap  the 
difference  in  rate  per  ton  for  the  product  trans¬ 
ported,  it  would  lose  a  large  volume  of  business 
and  in  the  end  lose  disastrously.  This  is  exactly 
what  the  coal  operators  of  the  state  have  claimed 
and  the  investigations  of  the  Chesapeake  &  Ohio 
officials  would  seem  to  bear  out  the  contention. 
Coal  operators  are  jubilant  and  it  is  reported 
that  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  Railway  and  the  Nor¬ 
folk  &  Western  Railway  will  follow  the  decision 
of  the  Chesapeake  &  Ohio  Railway  and  refuse 
to  file  any  further  advance. 


The  C.  Reiss  Coal  Company  is  figuring  on 
rather  extensive  improvements  on  its  coal  dock 
on  the  Superior  side  of  the  bay  during  the  com¬ 
ing  winter.  At  present  the  company  has  a  mod¬ 
ern  bridge  on  the  outer  end  of  the  dock,  but  on 
the  shore  end  has  old-fashioned  machines.  It  is 
proposed  to  build  up  the  foundations  and  let  the 
liridge  do  the  work  of  the  whole  dock. 


[November  13 


394 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


PUBIiISBED  BVEBT  SATTTBDAT  BT  THB 
BBACK  DIAMOBD  COMPAirST. 

Subscription  price,  $3.00  per  year,  postage  prepaid,  to 
any  postoffice  in  the  United  States.  Foreign  subscrip¬ 
tion  price,  $5.00  per  year.  Single  copies,  20  cents. 
Entered  at  Chicago  postoffice  as  second-class  matter. 


Address  all  communications  to 

THB  BBACK  blAMOND  COMPANY  (INC) 

Main  office,  Manhattan  building,  Chicago. 


Branch  Offices. 

New  York,  29  Broadway. 
Philadelphia,  1400  Land  Title  building. 
Pittsburgh,  1502  Oliver  building. 


Saturday,  November  13,  1915. 


INDEX. 


Special  Articles. 

Pa.§e 


Future  of  a  Trouliled  Trade — Today’s  Opportunity..  385 

Big  Shipbuilding  Company  Is  Terming .  38t) 

A  New  Type  of  Box  Car  Loader... .  386 

Lehigh  Valley  Annual  Report .  387 

Satisfying  the  Miners . .  387 

Koenig  Trucks  Make  Branch  Yards  Unnecessary....  388 

Losing  Money  on  Handling  Coal  at  Retail .  388 

Field  of  the  Retail  Dealer .  380 

Details  of  the  Rockefeller  Plan  in  Colorado .  390 

Maintenance  of  Output  at  Large  Long-Wall  Mines.  .  391 

The  Anthracite  Tax .  391 

A  New  Silo  Pocktt .  391 

Auto  Truck  Question  Again — When  Does  It  Pay?.  .  392 

Protest  Against  Raise  in  Powder  Prices .  393 

Small  Activities .  393 

Appeals  .Anthracite  Decision .  393 

Editorial  . ^ .  394 

New  Steamers  for  Coastwise  and  Export  Trade .  395 

News  Local  to  Chicago .  396 

Association  News .  396 

Facts  Which  l^etermine  Our  Export  Prospects .  397 

Market  Reports. 

General  Review  and  Chicago .  398 

Pittsburgh  and  Cleveland . 399 

Cincinnati,  Birmingham  and  St.  Louis....... .  400 

Louisville,  Detroit,  Indianapolis  and  Twin  Cities....  401 

New  York  and  Buffalo .  402 

Philadelphia  and  Duluth .  403 

New  England,  Baltimore,  Denver,  Southwest  and 

Omaha  .  404 

Hocking  Valley .  15 


Let  Sam  Do  It. 

Everyone  is  talking  about  exporting 
American  coal.  Every  coal  man  wants 
to  do  a  little  of  it  himself.  We  know 
there  is  an  ever-expanding  market  over 
the  ocean.  We  know  there  is  an  ever- 
increasing  production  at  home.  The  ex¬ 
tremes  meet  in  that  there  is  a  demand 
there  and  a  supply  here.  The  two  should 
get  together.  But  between  possibility 
and  accomplishment  there  is  the  stnh- 
horn  fact  of  ships.  We  have  none.  The 
buyers  have  none.  Those  who  own  ships 
have  so  many  demands  for  them  the  sup¬ 
ply  is  not  sufficient  to  go  around.  And 
there  you  are. 

The  apparent  need  is  to  get  shijis.  The 
best  way  to  get  them  and  to  be  sure 
about  it  is  for  America  to  build  them, 
and  to  do  it  at  once.  But  between  the 
evident  logic  of  the  situation  and  its 
actual  accom])lishment,  there  is  a  matter 
of  governmental  attitude.  The  nation 
wants  to  do  nothing,  seemingly,  hut  pass 
laws.  These  arc  not,  so  far,  helpful  of 
business  nor  do  they  solve  the  problem. 
Instead,  they  merely  regulate  the  equip¬ 
ment  of  ships  and  look  out  for  the  wel¬ 
fare  of  sailors.  These  things  are  all  right 
in  their  places,  hut  they  do  not  provide 
ships.  Indeed,  it  is  said  that  they  make 
the  profitable  operation  of  ships  impos¬ 
sible,  as  is  shown  by  some  withdrawals 
of  ships  from  our  trade  on  the  Pacific 
coast.  It  is  rather  embarrassing  to  have 
such  things  come  up  just  now  when  there 


is  a  real  impulse  toward  an  American 
merchant  marine  and  a  need  for  it. 

At  this  point  J.  A.  Renahan,  with  his 
customary  acuteness,  inserts  himself  in 
the  situation  with  a  suggestion.  He  says, 
in  substance : 

“The  foreign  business  is  as  much  a 
concern  of  the  nation  as  it  is  of  the  in¬ 
dividual — since  the  nation  is  merely  the 
individual  in  the  aggregate,  after  all. 
Therefore,  the  matter  of  supplying  ships 
is  as  much  a  national  matter  as  it  is  an 
indi\  idual  matter.  The  thing  to  do,  then, 
is  to  ‘let  Uncle  Sam  do  it,’  to  paraphrase 
a  common  remark.  That  is,  let  the  na¬ 
tion  buy  and  operate  the  ships. 

“There  is  a  particular  point  here  which 
fits  into  the  present  situation.  Under 
national  laws — for  which  Congress  can¬ 
not  shirk  responsibility — it  is  unprofit¬ 
able  to  operate  boats.  Still,  the  Gov¬ 
ernment  can  operate  them  and  may  get 
hack  out  of  pocket  cost.  If  indeed  it 
stood  a  loss  it  would  he  doing  nothing- 
more  heinous  than  paying  a  subsidy  to 
itself.  There  can  he  no  objection  to  that 
since  most  nations  pay  subventions  to 
private  companies.  Surely  there  can  he 
no  objection  to  it’  since  the  nation  is  al¬ 
ready  in  the  carrying  business,  in  hand¬ 
ling  the  parcel  post  matter.  It  sustains 
a  loss  on  that  business.  It  might  sus¬ 
tain  a  loss  on  the  merchant  marine  also. 

“Further,  a  firm  hold  by  America  upon 
the  coal  trade  abroad  in  future  is  depend¬ 
ent  neither  upon  the  equality  of  the  coal 
nor  the  price  at  the  mines.  These  are  es¬ 
tablished  beyond  dispute.  It  is  depend¬ 
ent,  however,  upon  the  rates  charged  for 
carriage  and  upon  the  fact  that  ships  shall 
he  available  at  all  times  to  make  deliv¬ 
eries  according  to  schedule.  The  nation, 
by  owning  the  ships,  could  provide  the 
regularity  of  delivery.  By  the  same  con¬ 
trol,  it  could  also  meet  the  competition 
of  foreign  carriers.  Thus  it  could  pro¬ 
tect  the  American  merchant  marine  from 
slaughter  a  second  time,  even  though  in 
doing  so  the  nation  stood  a  loss  or  had  to 
pay  a  subsidy  to  itself.” 

The  obvious  conclusion,  after  reading 
this  rather  searching  analysis  of  the  sit¬ 
uation  is  that  the  experience  of  the  Gov¬ 
ernment  while  running  these  ships  would 
he  highly  instructive  to  Government  of¬ 
ficials  and  might  provide  some  informa¬ 
tion  useful  to  Congress.  The  nation 
would  then  have  first  hand  information 
as  to  the  needs  of  a  merchant  marine  and 
the  actual  cost  of  getting  it.  The  Gov¬ 
ernment  would  have  a  very  clear  idea  to 
what  extent  laws  of  a  certain  type  are 
helpful  or  distressing  to  shipping.  Every¬ 
thing  considered,  the  plan  proposed  by 
Mr.  Renahan  should  be  tried  out  by  the 
Government. 


No  Ground  for  Pessimism. 

America  is  still  quite  young  in  the  mat¬ 
ter  of  exporting  coal.  For  that  reason 
alone,  there  are  many  things  which  its  ex¬ 
porters  know  about  ocean  transportation 
conditions,  practices  and  so  on.  A  les- 
.son  which  was  learned  (juite  a  while  ago 
by  the  shipping  men  on  the  Great  Lakes 
might  now  he  learned  to  advantage  by 
coal  operators  on  the  Atlantic  coast. 

The  I.ake  shippers  know  that  there  is 
a  season  for  everything,  especially  where 
boats  are  concerned.  On  the  Lakes  the 
early  part  of  the  navigation  season  is  de¬ 


voted  to  coal  and  ore  movement.  In  the 
late  summer  and  fall  months  these  have 
to  give  way  to  a  movement  of  grain.  To¬ 
ward  the  end  of  the  season  the  grain  trade 
has  dwindled  down  to  something  like  nor¬ 
mal  volume ;  then  both  coal  and  ore  get 
a  chance  for  further  movement. 

It  seems  that  something  of  the  same 
condition  prevails  on  the  ocean.  In  the 
fall,  there  is  quite  a  demand  for  grain 
abroad  and  much  of  America’s  crop  is 
moved.  Then,  too,  there  is  a  demand  for 
cotton  and  other  goods  of  a  seasonable 
character.  Thus,  the  world  over,  the 
farmer  moves  his  crop  when  he  harvests 
it  and  that  has  an  influence  on  the  sup¬ 
ply  of  ships  on  the  ocean.  During  that 
season,  farm  products  take  preference 
over  other  things  which  can  he  moved 
at  any  other  time. 

Our  export  figures  in  coal,  although 
they  are  not  comprehensive  enough  yet 
to  establish  this  fact  beyond  a  peradven- 
ture,  are  still  elaborate  enough  to  indi¬ 
cate  that  the  movement  of  coal  must  be 
arranged  to  take  place  at  some  other  time 
than  just  when  our  grain  and  other  farm 
jirodncts  are  moving.  We  will  take,  for 
example,  the  records  of  last  year.  In 
September,  or  before  the  grain  movement 
was  very  heavy,  the  export  coal  move¬ 
ment  was  620,000  tons.  In  October,  grain 
began  to  compete  with  coal  for  the  sup¬ 
ply  of  vessels ;  since  grain  was  a  preferred 
commodity  and  paid  a  higher  rate,  coal 
had  to  take  what  was  left  of  ships.  Thus 
in  October,  the  movement  was  only  340,- 
000  tons,  in  round  numbers.  In  Novem¬ 
ber  and  December  the  grain  movement 
had  evidently  increased  still  further  be¬ 
cause  the  coal  movement  fell  off.  From 
what  we  can  gather  from  the  figures, 
farm  stuffs  and  other  things  had  pref¬ 
erence  last  year  until  well  along  toward 
the  end  of  March,  when  a  gradual  upturn 
in  coal  movement  began.  Then,  begin¬ 
ning  with  the  first  of  April,  the  coal 
movement  doubled  in  volume  and  grew 
steadily  until  in  June  when  it  was  over 
a  million  tons.  For  June,  July  and  August 
of  this  year,  the  coal  movement  exceeded 
a  million  tons  a  month.  This  is  very 
easily  explained  by  the  fact  that  in  the 
late  spring  and  summer  months,  there 
was  no  demand  for  ships,  practically 
speaking,  for  grain  movement.  Thus  the 
available  ocean  tonnage  could  be  used  for 
coal  movement. 

This  same  idea  is  carried  out  by  the 
September  and  October  figures  on  move¬ 
ment  of  coal  this  year.  We  are  in  the 
midst  of  another  slump  of  coal  movement 
and  are  just  about  at  the  height  of  sea¬ 
son  for  grain  movement. 

In  a  word,  grain  and  coal  are  competi¬ 
tors  for  the  ocean-carrying  capacity. 
'Fhere  is  always  enough  boats  to  carry 
some  coal  but  there  is  not  always,  in  all 
season,  enough  to  carry  an  enormous 
quantity.  The  facts  seem  to  indicate  that 
if  coal  men  want  to  ship  a  large  volume 
of  tonnage  abroad,  they  had  better  ar¬ 
range  to  do  it  early  in  the  spring  and 
summer  season  when  vessels  are  plentiful. 

This  does  not  mean,  however,  as  some 
coal  men  have  surmised,  that  the  foreign 
trade  is  a  hopeless  proposition  on  account 
of  vessels.  It  simply  means  that  America 
must  conform  to  the  known  oceanic  con¬ 
ditions  and  therefore  arrange  to_  ship  her 
coal  when  the  vessels  are  available  for 
that  purpose. 


No.  20] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


395 


New  Steamers 

Charles  'S.  Thorne,  president  of  the  Pocahontas 
Navigation  Company,  Inc.,  and  vice-president  of 
the  Pocahontas  Consolidated  Collieries  Company, 
Inc.,  and  the  Pocahontas  Fuel  Company,  in  re¬ 
sponse  to  a  request  for  an  interview,  states ; 

The  S.  S.  “Virginia,”  which  was  launched  on 
Saturday,  October  23,  and  the  S.  S.  “Jonancy,” 
which  was  launched  on  Tuesday,  November  9th, 
with  the  S.  S.  “Bylayl,”  to  be  launched  about 
December  1st,  each  5,450  gross  tons,  constitute 
the  beginning  of  an  important  fleet  of  general 
cargo  freight  steamships  to  be  added  to  the 
American  merchant  marine.  These  vessels  are 
owned  and  will  be  operated  by  the  Pocahontas 
Navigation  Company,  Inc.,  of  which  Charles  S. 
Thorne  is  president,  located  at  No.  1  Broadway, 
New  York,  and  are  being  built  by  the  New  York 
Shipbuilding  Company  at  Camden,  N.  J. 

The  Pocahontas  Navigation  Company,  Inc.,  is 
a  company  associated  with  the  Pocahontas  Con¬ 
solidated  Collieries  Company,  Inc.,  and  the  Poca¬ 
hontas  Fuel  Company,  of  which  Isaac  T.  Mann  is 
president,  and  in  pursuance  of  the  progressive 
policies  of  Mr.  Mann’s  companies,  the  vessels  of 
the  Pocahontas  Navigation  Company,  Inc.,  have 
primarily  been  constructed  to  facilitate  the  ocean 
transportation  of  “Original  Pocahontas”  coal 
from  the  Lambert  Point  piers  of  the  Norfolk  & 
Western  Railway  at  Norfolk,  Va.,  sold  and  pro¬ 
duced  by  these  companies,  and  to  facilitate  the 
extension  of  the  markets  for  American  coal 
along  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  coast  and  in 
foreign  countries. 

The  S.  S.  “Virginia”  will  be  ready  to.  go  into 
commission  by  the  first  of  December,  1915,  and  is 
319  feet  in  length,  forty  feet  beam,  twenty-seven 
feet  six  inches  depth,  twenty-two  feet  eight  inches 
draft,  with  a  deadweight  carrying  capacity  of 
5.450  tons.  Her  speed  is  ten  and  one-half  knots. 
She  has  a  deckhouse  on  the  bridge  deck,  with  a 
captain’s  room  and  spare  room  with  pilot  house 
over  the  salon.  The  propelling  machinery  is 
placed  aft  and  consists  of  a  triple  expansion  in¬ 
verted  reciprocating  engine  of  about  1.800  horse 
power,  with  two  single  ended  Scotch  boilers, 
having  a  working  pressure  of  200  pounds.  The 
S.  S.  “Tonaney”  and  S.  S.  “Bylayl”  are  sister 
shins  of  the  same  capacity  and  dimensions.  The 
hailing  port  of  these  vessels  is  Boston,  Mass. 

The  Pocahontas  Navigation  Company,  Incorpo¬ 
rated.  will  work  in  coniunction  with  the  Pocahon¬ 
tas  Fuel  Companv,  which  has  recently  acquired 
by  purchase  the  Garfield  &  Proctor  coal  wharf, 
at  the  foot  of  Hillman  street.  New  Bedford. 
Mass.,  the  capacity  of  which  is  being  increased 
by  the  addition  of  modern  machinery  for  the 
ouiek  discharge  of  cargoes  of  coal  from  steam¬ 
ships  such  as  the  S.  S.  “Virginia,”  and  for  the 
Quick  handling  and  increased  storage  of  coal  on 
this  wharf.  The  Pocahontas  Fuel  Company  is 
akso  erecting  a  modern  coal  handling  and  storage 
plant  on  Long  Wharf  at  the  foot  of  Moulton 
street,  Portland,  Me.,  which  property  the  com¬ 
pany  has  purchased.  These  wharves,  with  the 
distributing  wharf  of  the  Bowenville  Coal  Com¬ 
pany  at  Fall  River,  Mass.,  and  the  distributing 
wharf  at  Everett  of  the  New  England  Coal  & 
Coke  Company,  which  handle  “Original  Pocahon¬ 
tas”  coal  for  the  Pocahontas  Fuel  Company  in 
these  districts,  it  is  contemplated  will,  with  the 
other  individual  business  of  the  Pocahontas  Fuel 
Company  in  New  England,  keep  this  fleet  of  ves¬ 
sels  fully  occupied  after  April  1,  1910,  until  which 
time  the  company  has  other  arrangements  for  the 
ocean  transportation  of  its  coal. 

The  S.  ,S._  “Virginia”  and  her  sister  ships  have 
all  been  equipped  with  discharging  ma.sts,  winches 
and  tackle  and  proper  hospital  facilities  to  per¬ 
mit  of  their  being  placed  in  the  export  business 
and  it  is  possible  that  until  the  spring  of  191G 
they  will  be  engaged  by  the  Pocahontas  Navigation 
Company,  Incorporated,  under  the  American  flag 
in  the  transportation  of  “Original  Pocahonta.s” 
coal  to  the  Mediterranean  and  South  American 
ports  where  the  Pocahontas  Euel  Companv  has 
many  contracts  and  is  shipping  large  quantities  of 
"Original  Pocahonta.s”  coal,  or  for  such  other 
export  business  as  may  be  acceptable,  the  vessels 
being  adapted  for  the  shipment  of  grain  or  gen¬ 
eral  cargo,  and  will  be  available  to  .apply  on  this 
class  of  export  business  for  which  there  is  now 
such  an  urgent  demand  until  the  spring  of  1910, 
when  the  vessels  will  be  required  in  the  transpor¬ 
tation  of  the  company’s  coal  to  New  England. 

In  referring  to  the  reasons  for  the  construction 
of  a  fleet  of  vessels  in  connection  with  the  coal 
business  of  these  companies,  Mr.  Thorne  sub- 


for  Coastwise  and  Export  Trade. 


Charles  S.  Thome  Explains  the  Situation 
Which  Led  the  Pocahontas  Navigation 
Company  to  Build  Three  New  Steamers 
— Eastern  and  Foreign  Markets  Analyzed. 


* 

mitted  some  interesting  figures  in  regard*  to  the 
increased  shipments  of  American  coal  to  the 
foreign  trade  and  to  the  growth  of  American 
owned  and  operated  vessels,  stating  that  the 
over-sea  exports  of  American  coal  in  which  the 
Pocahontas  Fuel  Company  was  taking  an  active 
part  had  aggregated  5,200,000  tons  during  the 
nine  months  ended  September  30,  1915,  as  com¬ 
pared  with  the  total  of  2,991,000  tons  for  the 
twelve  months  of  1914. 

As  illustrating  the  growth  of  the  American 
merchant  marine,  Mr.  Thorne  called  attention  to 
the  fact  that  the  United  States  is  now  the  second 
largest  merchant  marine  nation  of  the  world, 
owning  and  operating  about  0,400  vessels,  aggre¬ 
gating  6,700,000  tonnage,  as  compared  with  Great 
Britain’s  ownership  of  11,350  vessels  aggregating 
about  21,300,000  tonnage,  and  stated  that  of  the 
total  of  8,700,000  tonnage  of  vessels  owned  and 
operated  in  the  United  States,  about  2,500,000 


tonnage  is  operated  on  the  Great  Lakes.  This 
leaves  about  6,200,000  tonnage  owned  and  oper¬ 
ated  by  the  United  States  shippers,  independent 
of  the  Great  Lakes’  tonnage.  This  is  greater 
than  the  vessel  tonnage  owned  by  any  other 
maritime  nation  except  Great  Britain,  making 
the  United  States  the  second  largest  owner  and 
operator  of  vessel  tonnage,  regardless  of  its  lake 
tonnage. 

The  following  table  will  give  the  vessel  ton¬ 
nage  of  the  principal  maritime  nations  of  the 
world,  in  comparison  with  Great  Britain  and  the 
United  States,  mentioned  in  the  order  of  the  size 
of  the  tonnage: 

VESSEL  TONNAGE  OF  PRINCIPAL  MARITIME 
NATIONS  OF  THE  WORLD. 


As  of  June  30,  1915. 


No. 

Nations —  Vessels. 

Great  Britain  .  11,353 

United  States  .  6,410 

Germany .  2,166 

Norw.-iy  .  2,174 

France  .  1,539 

Japan  .  1,155 

Italy  .  1,177 

Holianfl  .  800 

•Sweden  .  1.462 

Russia  .  1,256 

Austria  .  433 

Greece  .  510 

.Spain  .  642 

Denmark  .  835 


Tonnage. 

21,274,068 

8,710,648 

4,706,027 

2,529,188 

2,285,728 

1,826,068 

1,736,545 

1,522,.547 

1,122,883 

1,054,762 

1,018,210 

908,725 

899,204 

854,996 


These  figures  include  only  vessels  of  100  gross 
tons  and  upwards  and  do  not  include  barges. 

Mr.  Thorne  also  called  attention  to  the  fact 
that  most  of  the  shipyards  in  the  United  States 
are  now  running  full,  there  being  under  construc¬ 
tion  in  these  yards  about  thirty-six  general  cargo 
steamers,  aggregating  about  175,000  tonnage  and 
about  twenty-two  bulk  oil  steamers,  aggregating 
about  223,000  tonnage,  making  a  total  of  approxi¬ 
mately  400,000  additional  tonnage  for  the  Amer¬ 


ican  merchant  marine,  now  under  construction, 
these  figures  being  exclusive  of  government  ves¬ 
sels,  barges,  scows,  tugs,  etc. 

The  S.  S.  “Jonancy,”  which  was  launched  on 
November  9th,  was  named  after  the  infant 
daughter  of  James  Ellwood  Jones,  general 
manager  of  Pocahontas  Consolidated  Collieries 
Company,  Incorporated,  and  the  sponsor  for  this 
vessel  was  Miss  Elizabeth  Bowen  Jones,  who  is 
nine  years  old.  Both  of  these  young  ladies  are 
granddaughters  of  Jenkin  Jones,  a  vice-pres¬ 
ident  of  the  Pocahontas  Consolidated  Collieries 
Company,  Incorporated,  who  was  one  of  the  first 
men  to  engage  in  the  mining  of  smokeless  coal 
in  West  Virginia,  and  who  is  now  probably  the 
oldest  living  representative  of  that  group  of  men 
who  first  developed  the  coal  mining  industry  on 
the  Norfolk  &  Western  Railway  and  Chesapeake 
&  Ohio  Railway  in  West  Virginia,  and  it  seems 
peculiarly  fitting  that  one  of  these  first  vessels  to 
be  constructed  for  the  ocean  transportation  of 
Pocahontas  coal  should  be  named  after  and 
christened  by  the  granddaughters  of  this  pioneer 
coal  operator,  who  is  still  in  the  enjoyment  of 
good  health  and  active  in  the  counsels  of  the 
Pocahontas,  .Consolidated  Collieries  Company, 
Incorporated,  and  its  associated  interests. 

The  sponsor  for  the  S.  S.  “Virginia”  was  Mrs. 
Ethel  Witherspoon  Alexander,  wife  of  Mr.  O.  L. 
Alexander,  Boston  manager  of  the  Pocahontas 
Fuel  Company. 

The  sponsor  selected  for  the  S.  S.  “Bylayl,” 
which  will  be  launched  about  December  1st,  is 
Miss  Alice  Wright  Mann,  the  thirteen-year-old 
daughter  of  Isaac  T.  Mann,  who  is  president 
of  the  Pocahonta.s  Consolidated  Collieries  Com¬ 
pany,  Incorporated. 


Want  Rates  Changed. 


A  Washington  dispatch  on  Tuesday  of  this 
week  stated  that :  “Application  has  been  made  by 
G.  B.  Markle  Company  and  other  independent 
shippers  for  a  reopening  of  the  anthracite  coal 
case,  so  far  as  it  affects  the  smaller  sizes,  buck¬ 
wheat,  rice  and  barley  coal. 

“The  present  rates  on  these  sizes  from  the 
Lehigh  region  to  tidewater  are  declared  to  be 
unreasonable  as  compared  with  prepared  sizes 
and  particular  objection  is  made  to  the  fact  that 
carriers  charge  a  higher  rate  on  buckwheat  from 
the  Lehigh  region  than  from  the  more  distant 
Wyoming  region. 

“The  Interstate  Commerce  Commission,  in  the 
anthracite  rate  case,  presumably  as  an  offset  to 
the  reductions  which  were  made  in  the  rates  on 
the  prepared  sizes  of  anthracite  coal.  Suggested 
that  an  increase  be  made  in  the  rates  on  the 
smaller  sizes,  this  averaging  about  fifteen  cents  a 
ton. 

“The  application  by  independent  shippers  for  a 
rehearing  of  the  anthracite  rate  case  is  in  con¬ 
nection  with  this  part  of  the  decision.  The 
smaller  sizes  of  anthracite  compete-  with  bitu¬ 
minous  coal,  and  it  is  claimed  that  it  will  be  im¬ 
possible  to  sell  any  of  the  steam  sizes  in  com¬ 
petition  with  the  soft  coal,  if  the  rates  are  ad¬ 
vanced  as  suggested. 

“Incidentally,  this  protest  by  the  independent 
coal  men  against  the  increased  rates  in  steam 
sizes  is  likely  to  work  out  to  the  benefit  of  the 
anthracite  carriers.  The  commission,  undoubt¬ 
edly,  considered  the  reduction  in  the  rates  on  pre¬ 
pared  sizes  in  connection  with  the  suggested  in¬ 
creases  in  the  rates  on  the  smaller  sizes.  If,  now, 
it  is  proven  that  the  smaller  sizes  will  not  move 
at  all  if  the  rates  are  advanced  as  suggested,  it  is 
likely  that  the  commission  of  its  own  volition  will 
revise  the  reductions  which  it  ordered  in  its  deci¬ 
sion  on  the  prepared  sizes  of  coal.” 


Trial  was  started  Tuesday  in  the  United  States 
District  court  in  the  suit  of  James  H.  Minds  and 
Julia  A.  Matz  to  recover  from,  the  Pennsylvania 
Railroad,  $65,000,  which  was  awarded  by  the  In¬ 
terstate  Commerce  Commission  in  March,  1912', 
for  the  alleged  discrimination  in  the  distribution 
of  cars  to  the  plaintiffs.  Minds  with  Jacob  II. 
Matz  onerated  bituminous  mines  in  Clearfield 
county.  Pa.,  until  the  death  of  the  latter.  Mrs.  Matz 
took  over  her  husband’s  interest.s  at  the  time  of 
his  death.  The  allegation  is  made  that  between 
1902  and  1904  the  Berwind  White  Coal  Company 
received  105.521  more  cars  than  did  their  prop¬ 
erties,  the  Buhlah  Coal  Company,  and  in  the 
second  complaint  that  the  Berwind  White  Com¬ 
pany  received  143,088  more  cars  than  did  they. 


396 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[November  13 


News  Local  to  Chicago. 


Among  the  Chicago  visitors  on  Thursday  of 
this  week  were:  H.  A.  Hillnier  of  Freeport, 
R.  O.  Sharon  of  Peoria,  and  R.  E.  Gannon  of 
Cairo,  111. 

F.  J.  Kopecky,  for  the  past  five  years  with  the 
RIack  Gem  Coal  &  Coke  Company,  joined  the 
sales  force  of  Richards,  Evans  &  Co.,  Chicago, 
on  the  first  of  the  month. 

George  R.  Harrington,  president  of  the  Chi¬ 
cago,  \\'ilmington  &  Franklin  Coal  Company, 
states  the  Orient  mine  hoisted  over  84,()()()  tons 
during  October,  breaking  all  monthly  hoist  rec¬ 
ords  for  that  operation. 

The  S.  &  S.  F'uel  &  Supply  Compan\-  was  or¬ 
ganized  this  week  by  Louis  Scbubert,  formerly 
with  Wilcox  &  Co.,  a  building  supply  firm,  and 
h'rank  Filha.  A  retail  yard  at  Sunnyside  and 
Cicero  avenues  has  been  acquired.  The  capital 
stock  of  the  new  company  is  $10,000,  which  it  is 
understood  wilt  be  increased  shortly  to  $25,000. 

D.  V\ .  Buchanan  says  the  war  supply  busi¬ 
ness  has  forced  the  price  of  mine  supplies  and 
equipment  over  fifty  per  cent  in  many  instances. 
\\  ire  rope,  electrical  goods,  steel  rails,  powder 
and  numerous  other  articles  are  advancing  in 
price  almost  daily,  but  no  increase  in  the  price 
of  coal  has  yet  been  mentioned  to  cover  this 
increase  in  the  cost  of  production.  Every  in¬ 
dustry  seems  to  be  getting  a  share  of  the  dis¬ 
tribution  of  war  funds  except  the  coal  mine 
operator.  “’Twas  ever  thus.” 

Colonel  \V .  P.  Rend,  while  in  a  reminiscent 
mood  a  few  days  ago,  remarked,  “1  have  oper¬ 
ated  mines  in  Ohio,  West  Virginia  and  Illinois 
for  nearly  fifty  years,  during  which  time  I  have 
had  first  hand  opportunity  to  judge  of  the  service 
offered  by  many  railroads.  In  all  my  experi¬ 
ence  no  coal  carrier  has  ever  equalled  the  service 
we  are  getting  every  day,  year  in  and  year  out, 
from  the  Burlington  Railroad.”  This  was  rather 
an  unique  testimonial,  as  generally  the  coal 
operator  spends  a  certain  portion  of  his  time 
cussing  the  transportation  companies.  Joseph 
Rend  remarked  incidentally  that  in  commenting 
on  the  service  given  by  the  Burlington  that 
considerable  credit  should  be  given  to  W.  A. 
Holley  the  coal  traffic  manager. 

The  Buchanan  Coal  Company  has  opened  up 
an  exhibition  room  in  connection  with  its  spa¬ 
cious  offices  in  the  McCormick  building.  Coal 
dealers  are  invited  to  make  this  room  their 
headquarters  while  in  Chicago  and  a  visit  there 
will  repay  any  retailer  for  his  trouble.  A  cabinet 
containing  all  the  various  sizes  of  coal  mined  by 
this  company,  a  model  of  the  famous  spiralizer, 
a  table  full  of  various  kinds  of  advertising 
literature  and  a  wall  covered  with  interesting 
mine  and  coal  photographs  are  part  of  the  equip¬ 
ment  to  be  found  in  this  unique  exhibit.  The 
publicity  department  of  this  company  is  doing 
a  wonderful  work  popularizing  Franklin  county 
coal  with  the  consumer,  going  a  step  further 
than  Joseph  Leiter,  who  directed  all  his  efforts 
to  educating  the  dealer  as  to  the  many  meritori¬ 
ous  qualities  of  Franklin  county  coal.  This 
policy  may  not  show  immediate  results  of  an 
astonishing  nature,  hut  it  is  bound  to  yield  hand¬ 
some  results  in  the  long  run. 

Chan.  F.  Lemmon  retired  from  the  sales  man¬ 
agership  of  the  Chicago,  Wilmington  &  Franklin 
Coal  Company  on  November  8th.  His  successor 
is  .'\ndrew  Maloney,  who  has  had  charge  of  the 
Thayer  and  Virden  coals  since  the  amalgamation 
of  the  Royal  Colliery  interests  with  the  Chicago, 
Wilmington  and  Franklin  Coal  Company  sev¬ 
eral  months  ago.  Mr.  Maloney  is  well 
fitted  to  take  the  added  responsibilities  of 
a  position  calling  for  the  disposal  of 
over  a  million  tons  of  coal  annually,  and  his 
many  friends  in  the  trade  have  no  fear  of  his 
success  in  this  new  undertaking,  working  under 
the  guiding  hand  of  George  B.  Harrington,  presi¬ 
dent  of  the  company.  Chan.  Lemmon  intends 
to  realize  a  lifetime  ambition  of  getting  into 
business  for  himself  by  joining  hands  with  Bob 
Gruschow  in  a  jobbing  enterprise  in  the  Old 
Colony  building.  A  new  corporation  will  be 
formed  immediately  under  the  name  of  the  Grus¬ 
chow  &  Lemmon  Coal  Company.  This  com¬ 
pany  will  take  over  the  jobbing  business  con¬ 
ducted  in  the  past  by  Robert  E.  Gruschow.  Air. 
Gruschow’s  north  side  retail  yard  is  not  included 
in  this  transaction. 

.American  railroads  are  confronted  with  one 
of  the  worst  car-shortage  situations  of  recent 
years,  according  to  A.  G.  Brown  of  the  Central 
and  \^'estern  Association  of  Car  Service  Officers, 
which  held  its  annual  meeting  at  the  Hotel  La 


Salle,  November  11.  The  carriers,  in  their 
efforts  to  keep  down  expenses  during  the  lean 
fiscal  year  1915,  put  off  ordering  new  cars  and 
now  they  have  been  caught  by  a  combination  of 
three  elements,  which  is  bringing  them  a  sudden 
rush  of  business  they  cannot  meet.  These  three 
elements,  according  to  Mr.  Brown,  are  the  huge 
grain  crop,  the  unexpected  industrial  tonnage 
from  war  business  and  the  runaway  steel  market, 
which  makes  it  impossible  for  the  roads  to  get 
cars  turned  out  now  that  they  want  them.  "The 
car  problem  on  a  large  part  of  American  rail¬ 
road  mileage,”  said  Air.  Brown,  “is  getting  very 
serious.  The  St.  Paul  road,  for  instance,  is 
having  the  heaviest  loadings  of  its  history.  This 
is  due  principally  to  the  phenomenal  spring  wheat 
yield.  Aline  tonnage  is  growing  heavier  every 
day,  with  the  exceptional  copper  situation  and 
the  demand  from  the  steel  mills.  As  soon  as 
the  northwestern  lumber  trade  picks  up — the 
southern  lumber  business  has  already  begun  to 
move — the  northwestern  roads  will  be  absolutely 
unable  to  get  cars  enough.  In  the  east  the  roads 
serving  the  industrial  states  have  a  huge  tonnage 
of  steel  and  other  war  products.  The  coal  roads, 
now  that  the  British  and  German  export  has  been 
stopped  or  hindered  and  non-coal  producing 
countries  are  forced  to  turn  to  us,  are  hauling 
a  tidewater  tonnage  that  is  unprecedented.  Even 
the  southern  roads  are  doing  better  and  the 
whole  prospect  points  to  a  car  famine,  espe¬ 
cially  if  sudden  cold  weather  following  upon  the 
present  unseasonable  warmth  precipitates  a  glut 
of  ccral  orders  from  small  dealers  who  keep  no 
reserve  on  hand.  The  surplus  of  idle  cars  that 
have  been  on  the  reports  does  not  represent  any 
real  surplus,  for  they  are  nearly  all  bad-order 
cars  or  antiquated  equipment  from  which  little 
practical  service  may  be  expected.” 

Alembers  of  the  coal  and  coke  subdivision  of 
The  Chicago  Association  of  Commerce  were  ten¬ 
dered  a  luncheon  by  the  president  of  that  or¬ 
ganization,  Charles  L.  Dering,  at  Luiion  League 
Clul),  Thursday  noon.  It  was  decided  to  make 
a  determined  campaign  in  the  coal  trade  for 
new  members  as  that  industry  has  an  insigni¬ 
ficant  representation  in  the  association  at  pres¬ 
ent.  In  speaking  of  the  work  of  The  Chicago 
-Association  of  Commerce,  President  Dering  said, 
e  generally  appeal  for  membership  in  the 
association  on  the  liroad  grounds  of  civic  loyalty 
and  patriotism.  W'e  hold  that  the  work  of  the 
association  is  a  ^most  worthy  one  and  entitled 
to  the  support  of  every  public  spirited  citizen 
and  particularly  of  every  company  or  corpora¬ 
tion  doing  business  within  our  limits.  We  hold 
that  our  work  has  made  Chicago  a  better,  cleaner, 
safer  place  in  which  to  live  and  do  business. 
"If  1  were  to  pass  over  all  that  has  been  done 
by  the  association  to  make  Chicago  a  better, 
cleaner,  safer  place  in  which  to  live  and  do  busi¬ 
ness,  and  solicit  new  members  solely  upon  the 
ground  of  the  magnificent  work  that  has  been 
done  by  the  association  in  the  matter  of  the 
anti-trust  legislation,  I  should  surely  feel  that  I 
could  urge  it  upon  you  in  that  respect  alone, 
that  the  association  is  deserving  of  your  support 
for  years  to  come.  I  make  the  assertion  that 
it  was  the  most  magnificent  piece  of  progressive 
business  effort  that  has  ever  been  put  forth  by 
the  business  world  and  that  we  finally  escaped 
trust  legislation  that  would  have  been  terribly 
harmful  in  the  remotest  corners  of  our  country, 
was  largely  through  the  efforts  of  The  Chicago 
Association  of  Commerce.  I  make  this  state¬ 
ment  without  fear  of  contradiction.  The  fact  is 
even  recognized  in  the  financial  circles  of  New 
A’ork.  A’ou  may  argue  that  you  do  not  have 
time  to  devote  personally  to  association  work, 
but  in  an  organization  of  this  sort  there  must 
be  two  types  of  support — the  one  who  pays  and 
works  and  the  one  who  simply  pays.  The  work 
of  one  could  not  go  forward  without  the  sup¬ 
port  of  the  other.  So  if  you  haven’t  the  time 
or  the  inclination  to  get  actively  into  the  harness 
and  do  your  share  of  the  work,  surely  you  want 
to  help  pay  for  the  ‘machinery’  with  which  the 
'other  fellow’  does  it.”  At  the  conclusion  of 
Air.  Dering’s  remarks  a  committee  was  appointed 
to  assist  Chairman  Dennis  Gibson  in  making  a 
thorough  canvass  in  the  coal  trade  for  new  mem¬ 
bers. 


The  physicians  attending  D.  A.  Thomas,  the 
well  known  Welsh  coal  magnate,  who  was  oper¬ 
ated  on  in  this  city  last  Wednesday,  undergoing 
a  double  operation  for  a  nose  and  foot  trouble, 
states  that  his  improvement  following  the  opera¬ 
tion  has  been  most  remarkable,  due  to  his  very 
strong  vitality.  It  is  understood  that  Mr.  Thomas 
will  return  to  England  early  in  December. 


Association  Ne’ws. 


I.  L.  Runyan,  secretary  of  the  Illinois  and 
W'isconsin  Retail  Coal  Dealers’  Association,  re¬ 
ports  that: 

“Business  with  the  retailer  is  moving  along  in 
a  fairly  satisfactory  manner.  The  variable 
weather,  of  course,  has  its  effect,  and  steady 
calls  from  the  consumer  can  hardly  be  hoped 
for  so  long  as  these  conditions  continue.  Many 
of  the  retailers  complain  of  slow  collections. 
In  fact,  there  appears  to  have  been  little  im¬ 
provement  in  this  respect.” 

Some  time  ago  it  was  reported  the  employees 
of  the  Kankakee  &  Urbana  Traction  Com¬ 
pany  were  soliciting  orders  from  consumers  in 
the  vicinity  in  which  they  were  located,  and 
when  sufficient  orders  had  been  accumulated  to 
justify,  a  car  of  coal  was  ordered  for  distribu¬ 
tion.  We  took  this  question  up  with  the  man¬ 
agement  along  the  lines  that  community  devel¬ 
opment  could  hardly  be  expected  if  those  hav¬ 
ing  investments  in  facilities  for  serving  the 
trade  were  expected  to  meet  competition  which 
does  not  represent  any  investment  other  than 
the  purchase  price  of  the  commodities  sold 
and  that  as  a  public  utility  and  dependent  for 
its  success  upon  the  patronage  of  the  public, 
its  agents  and  other  representatives  should  con¬ 
fine  their  activities  in  behalf  of  the  interests 
of  their  employer.  We  are  pleased  to  say 
the  management  readily  acknowledged  the 
justness  of  our  contention  and  a  circular  has 
been  issued  forbidding  their  agents  or  repre¬ 
sentatives  to  engage  in  the  sale  of  coal  or 
other  merchandise  while  in  the  employ  of  the 
traction  company.  This  is  simply  another  il¬ 
lustration  of  the  results  which  can  be  accom¬ 
plished  in  behalf  of  trade  betterments,  and  is 
one  of  the  many  reasons  why  the  association 
should  have  the  support  of  those  engaged  in 
the  retail  coal  business. 

We  are  pleased  to  say  progress  is  being 
made  in  increasing  the  association’s  numerical 
strength,  as  evidenced  by  the  following  firms 
and  individuals  who  have  become  members 
since  October  1st: 

Heddles  Lumber  Company,  Aluscoda,  Wis. ; 
Crumb-Colton  Company,  Rockford,  Ill.;  David 
Marliere,  De  Pue,  Ill.;  J.  W.  Backman  &  Son, 
Villa  Park,  HI.;  Alexander  Lumber  Company, 
Rantoul,  III.;  McCullough  &  Son,  Rantoul,  Ill.; 
Oscar  A.  Anderson  Lumber  Company,  Brook¬ 
field,  Wis.;  N.  W.  Ellis,  Sparta,  Wis.;  Frank 
Dry,  Portage,  Wis.;  C.  F.  Mohr,  Portage, 
Wis.;  A.  J.  Weir,  Portage,  Wis.;  Horner  Ele¬ 
vator  &  Alill  Company,  Lawrenceville,  Ill.; 
William  McClure,  Prairie  Du  Chien,  Wis.;  P. 
A.  Richards,  Durand,  Wis. 


.About  a  year  ago  most  of  the  city  depart¬ 
ments  of  greater  New  A'ork  City  began  purchas¬ 
ing  their  coal  through  a  central  purchasing  com¬ 
mittee.  To  test  the  efficiency  of  the  new  sys¬ 
tem,  purchasers  were  confined  to  twenty-eight  de- 
jiartments  under  the  jurisdiction  of  Ma3'or 
Alitchell.  The  committee  having  in  charge  the 
central  purchasers  have  recently  made  a  report, 
covering  the  year’s  work,  and  they  state  that  the 
city  has  benefited  in  lower  prices  and  wider  com¬ 
petition  under  coal-operating  purchasing.  Over 
$:i, .)()(), 000  in  supplies  have  been  bought  by  the 
city  as  a  single  institution,  instead  of  by  twenty- 
eight  independent  units  as  heretofore.  Concern¬ 
ing  coal  purchases,  this  report  says :  “The  av¬ 
erage  cost  of  anthracite,  buckwheat  No.  3,  W'as 
reduced  from  $'2,667  per  gross  ton,  to  $2.. 351  ; 
bituminous  from  $:i.56.'5  to  $:f.i:t6.”  They  state 
that  the  average  price  secured  Iw  the  depart¬ 
ment  in  1914  for  anthracite  nut  coal  per  ton 
was  $6.57],  whereas  the  average  in  1915,  through 
the  Central  Purchasing  Committee,  was  $6.544 : 
anthracite  buckwheat  No.  3  in  1914,  $2,607,  and 
in  1915,  through  the  Central  Purchasing  Com¬ 
mittee,  $2,351.  The  cost  of  bituminous  run-of- 
mine  in  1914  was  $3,536,  and  in  1915,  $3,136. 
The  report  says  that  the  work  of  the  Central 
Purchasing  Committee  in  the  future  is  to  be  put 
under  a  board  of  city  purchase,  consisting  of 
the  mayor,  comptroller,  a  representative  of  the 
board  of  estimate,  and  two  members  to  be  ap¬ 
pointed  by  the  mayor.  It  is  expected  that  the 
hoard  will  be  established  by  an  act  of  the  legis¬ 
lature,  and  that  it  will  have  committed  to  it  the 
purchasing  for  the  entire  cit\’  government. 


Charles  B.  Holcomb,  the  well  known  retail  coal 
dealer  of  Tariffville,  Conn.,  writes  The  Black 
Di.xmond  that  he  has  closed  out  his  retail  coal 
business,  after  forty-six  years  of  continuous 
service.  Air.  Holcomb  states  that  he  is  nearly 
seventy-three  years  old,  and  must  go  more  easily 
during  his  remaining  years. 


No.  20] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


397 


Facts  Which  Determine  Our  Export  Prospects. 


The  Export  Situation. 

The  shortage  of  vessels  for  taking  export 
cargoes  is  more’  acute  this  week  than  at  any 
time  previous.  Last  week  exports  from  Hamp¬ 
ton  Roads  ports  were  only  94,477  tons  and 
from  Baltimore  16,901  tons.  This  shows  a  fall¬ 
ing  off  as  compared  with  records  that  these 
ports  have  maintained  for  some  time  past. 
However,  exports  are  going  along  in  much 
greater  volume  than  at  this  time  last  year, 
when,  it  will  be  recalled,  that  there  was  also  a 
very  serious  shortage  of  ships. 

It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  our  Octo¬ 
ber  exports  were  approximately  650,000  tons, 
as  compared  with  exports  of  338,617  tons  in 
October,  1914.  Due  to  the  lack  of  ships  last 
fall,  November  exports  were  only  297,674  tons, 
and  in  December  234,695  tons. 

Tidewater  prices  on  standard  coals  that  go 
into  export  are  well  maintained.  In  fact,  at 
Baltimore  and  Philadelphia,  prices  are  much 
firmer,  good  Pennsylvania  coals  selling  at  $1.40 
and  $1.50  at  the  mines,  taking  a  rate  of  $1.18 
to  Baltimore  and  $1.25  to  Philadelphia,  when 
intended  for  export.  At' Hampton  Roads,  $2.85 
maintains  on  New  River  and  Pocahontas.  Bun¬ 
ker  requirements  are  heavy. 


Schooners  for  Export  Trade. 

Announcement  was  made  in  Washington 
last  week  that  four  steel  auxiliary  freight 
schooners  for  trans-Atlantic  service  are  being 
constructed  by  the  Toledo  Shipbuilding  Com¬ 
pany  at  Toledo,  Ohio,  for  a  New  York  ship¬ 
ping  concern.  Secretary  of  Commerce  Red- 
field  said  that  this  type  of  vessel  could  operate 
most  profitably  under  present  conditions,  and 
could  more  than  hold  its  own  even  in  normal 
times  against  foreign  competition. 

Mr.  Redfield  pointed  to  the  clearance  re¬ 
cently  of  two  wooden  steamers  of  the  old 
American  coastwise  type  from  Norfolk  and 
Newport  News,  with  cargoes  of  coal  for  Spain 
and  Italy.  This,  he  said,  was  the  first  time 
in  the  history  of  American  commerce  that  this 
country  had  shipped  coal  to  these  countries 
in  American  vessels.  He  said  there  is  no  rea¬ 
son  why  .America  should  not  continue  to  com¬ 
pete  in  these  markets  after  the  close  of  the 
war.  The  vessels  now  being  constructed  for 
the  New  York  company  can  be  operated  un¬ 
der  the  American  registry  cheaper  than  the 
Norwegian  tramp  steamer,  according  to  the 
secretary. 

The  construction  of  these  vessels  is  the  re¬ 
sult  of  correspondence  between  the  Secretary 
of  Commerce  and  the  New  York  firm.  Mr. 
Redfield,  it  is  stated,  learned  that  insurance 
could  not  be  obtained  on  the  wooden  coastwise 
vessel  for  ocean  voyages,  except  at  very  high 
rates.  Why  not  construct  them  of  steel,  and 
provide  them  with  auxiliary  engines  to  avoid 
the  delay  of  a  calm?  inquired  the  secretary. 
This  suggestion  was  promptly  acted  upon, 
plans  were  drawn  for  the  vessels  and  con¬ 
tracts  awarded  to  the  Toledo  Shipbuilding 
Company.  These  vessels  will  be  261  feet  long, 
forty-three  feet  wide,  and  will  draw  ten  feet 
of  water  light,  or  about  eighteen  when  loaded. 


Coal  Trade  in  Norway. 

Consul  Maurice  P.  Dunlap,  at  Stavanger, 
Norway,  under  date  of  October  13,  1915,  writes 
The  Black  Diamond  as  follows: 

“Although  the  coal  consumption  of  this  dis¬ 
trict  has  not  changed  materially  since  the  war 
began,  general  business  has  never  been  so  big 
before,  and  the  price  of  coal  has  advanced 
along  with  the  prices  of  other  commodities. 
The  bulk  of  the  coal  used  here  is  English 
steamer  coal,  and  the  price  of  the  best  New¬ 
castle  steamer  coal  is  now  forty-two  crowns 
($11.26)  per  ton.  Before  the  war  the  con¬ 
sumer  paid  only  twenty  crowns  ($5.36)  per 
ton.  House  coal,  which  comes  generally  from 
the  Firth  of  Forth,  Scotland,  costs  about  one- 
quarter  less  than  steamer  and  has  advanced 
in  about  the  same  proportion.  The  rise  is  due 
mainly  to  the  freight,  which  has  advanced  since 
July,  1914,  from  four  .shillings  six  pence  ($1.10) 
per  ton  to  fifteen  shillings  (.$3.65). 

“Coal  delivered  f.  o.  b.  in  England  has, 
however,  also  advanced  in  cost.  Before  the 
war,  the  best  Newcastle  ranged  from  about 
twelve  shillings  six  pence  (about  $3)  to  fourteen 
shillings  ($3.41).  Now  it  is  quoted  f.  o.  b. 
Blyth  at  nineteen  shillings  six  pence  ($4.75). 
Nearly  all  the  coal  used  here  is  ‘D.  C.  B.’ 


coal  (Davison,  Compen  &  Bothal) — the  stand¬ 
ard  kinds  from  Newcastle  and  Blyth.  Best 
Newcastle  smalls,  f.  o.  b.  Blyth,  is  now  quoted 
at  twelve  shillings  $(2.92). 

“There  is  some  uncertainty  felt  here  in  cer¬ 
tain  quarters  regarding  the  coal  situation. 
Great  Britain  now  requires  a  special  license 
for  every  cargo  of  coal  shipped  to  Stavanger, 
and  firms  suspected  of  making  shipments  of 
their  products  to  Germany  can  get  no  license. 
It  may  be  said  that  larger  stocks  of  coal  have 
been  laid  in  this  year  than  usual  because  of 
unsettled  conditions.  A  depot  for  German  coal 
has  been  started  recently  in  this  district. 

“Inquiries  have  been  made  at  the  consulate 
regarding  the  possibilities  of  getting  Ameri¬ 
can  coal  and  considerable  interest  was  shown 
at  first.  However,  the  interest  subsided  when 
prices  from  America  were  received  which 
ranged  about  twenty  shillings  (about  ($4.80) 
higher  than  English  prices,  c.  i.  f.  No  coal 
has  been  ordered  from  America. 

“There  are  no  electric  cranes  here  to  aid 
in  unloading  coal  to  the  private  docks,  al¬ 
though  the  local  government  has  recently  or¬ 
dered  one  from  Christiania  for  the  public 
quay.  Perhaps  200  tons  per  day  can  be  un¬ 
loaded  with  the  present  facilities. 

“Coal  and  coke  were  imported  to  Stavan¬ 
ger  during  1914  as  follows”: 

tons  (metric)  from  England. 

5  tons  (metric)  from  Germany. 

Total  S9,f;iS 


Egyptian  Coal  Trade. 

R.  J.  Moss  &  Co.,  of  Alexandria,  Egypt,  un¬ 
der  date  of  October  8th,  write  of  the  coal 
trade  there  as  follows: 

“The  stocks  ashore  and  on  board  steamers 
discharging  amount  to  31,000  tons. 

“The  importation  of  coal  from  January  1st 
to  October  7,  1915,  is  as  follows: 


Tons. 

Welsh  . 280,742 

Newcastle  .  .56,176 

■Scotch  .  54,77.) 

Yorkshires  .  64,083 

Other  qualities . 122,848 


578,624 

Same  period  last  year . 1,043,225 

Totals  for  previous  years: 

Tons. 

1900  . 1,264,601 

1907  . 1,376,082 

1908  . 1,307,683 

1909  . 1,202,085 

1910  . .' . 1,150,484 

1911  . 1,325,916 

1912  . 1,304,285 

1913  . 1,447,680 

1914  . 1,184,843 


Recent  Coal  Freight  Charters. 

Steamer  Mimer  (Br.),  Baltimore  to  Mexico,  coal,  p.  t. 

Schooner  William  D.  Marvel,  Philadelphia  to  Calais, 
650  tons,  coal,  $1.25. 

Schooner  P'.  A.  Allen,  Philadelphia  to  Calais,  775  tons 
coal,  $1  25. 

Steamer  Falk  (Nor.),  Baltimore  to  Sweden,  coal,  p.  t., 
November. 

Steamer  Thelma  (Nor.),  Philadelphia  to  Sagua,  coal,  $3. 

Steamer  Orkild  (Dan.),  Norfolk  to  Cienfuegos,  coal, 
p.  t. 

Schooners  Malco.m  Baxter,  Jr.,  and  Brina  Pendltton, 
Norfolk  to  Para,  coal,  $6. 

Schooner  Calumet,  Norfolk  to  Pernambuco,  coal.  $9. 

Schooner  Jacksonville,  Norfolk  to  Bermuda,  1,000  tons 
coal,  p.  t. 

Ship  Rhine,  Newport  News  to  Buenos  Aires,  coal,  $S, 
prompt. 


Portuguese  Coal  Trade. 

W.  L.  Lowrie,  American  consul  general  at 
Lisbon,  Portugal,  under  date  of  October  7, 
writes  The  Black  Diamond  as  follows: 

“The  consumption  of  coal  has  been  consid¬ 
erably  curtailed,  as  several  of  the  fast  trains 
have  been  taken  off  the  railroads  and  many 
of  the  factories  of  the  country  are  working 
reduced  hours  or  only  three  days  a  week. 
Importers,  however,  state  that  they  have  been 
making  every  effort  to  keep  up  with  the  de¬ 
mand  by  placing  larger  orders,  but  stocks  on 
hand  are  below  normal.  One  agent  informs 
me  that  he  is  several  thousand  tons  behind 
his  orders. 

“Importations  for  the  first  eight  months  of 
1914,  the  latest  statistics,  as  compared  with 
the  corresponding  period  in  1913,  were  as  fol¬ 


lows: 

Amount—  Value. 

1914,  824,936  metric  tons . $3,351,954 

1913,  925,575  metric  tons .  3,816,868 


“Portugal  uses  Welsh  (Cardiff)  coals  al¬ 
most  entirely. 


“Prices  of  Welsh  coal  on  August  1,  1914, 
averaged  twenty-four  shillings,  while  present 
quotations  are  from  forty-nine  shillings  to 
fifty-one  shillings,  c.  i.  f.  Lisbon.  Freight 
rates  from  England  are  gradually  increasing. 
The  rate  per  ton  on  September  14  was  eight¬ 
een  shillings,  and  on  September  29  it  was 
twenty-two  shillings  six  pence.  There  was  no 
American  coal  in  the  market  on  August  1, 
1914.  Lately  some  cargoes  of  Pocahontas  have 
been  received,  but  on  account  of  the  high 
freight  it  is  difficult  to  compete  in  price  with 
the  Cardiff  coal. 

“No  special  improvements  have  been  made 
to  the  docks  and  discharging  equipment  in 
Lisbon.  Four  hundred  tons  of  coal  is  the 
average  quantity  discharged  in  a  day. 

“The  importation  of  coal  in  1913  (latest 
available  statistics  as  to  source  of  origin)  were 


as  follows: 

.\niount.  Value. 

England  . 1,340.549  metric  tons  $5,548,31  1 

Germany  ■  •  •  •_ .  8,957  metric  tons  42,111 

Other  countries .  2,3l4  metric  tons  11,225 


Total  . 1,351,820  metric  tons  $5,601,447 


“The  problem  of  selling  American  coal  here 
is  based  on  freight  and  transportation — a  diffi¬ 
cult  proposition  at  present.” 


Foreign  Freight  Rates. 

W.  W.  Baltic  &  Co.’s  Produce  Exchange,  New 
York,  reports  as  follows : 

The  freight  market  is  today  at  the  highest 
level  it  has  ever  touched,  and  is  still  advanc¬ 
ing.  Over  seventy-five  shillings  per  ton  has 
been  paid  on  grain  to  the  West  Coast  of  Italy, 
and  time  charter  rates  advance  daily. 

Tonnage  is  more  than  scarce  and  the  few 
available  boats  are  all  asking  for  grain,  making 
is  very  difficult  to  operate  in  coal. 

If  you  have  any  export  coal  orders  or  in¬ 
quiries,  kindly  communicate  with  us,  so  that 
we  can  give  you  latest  freight  quotations,  the 
market  changing  daily. 

We  would  quote  freight  rates  on  coal  by 
steamer  as  follows: 

West  coast  of  Italy,  70s  to  75s;  Marseilles,  65s  to  70s; 
liarcelona  or  other  good  Spanish  port,  60s  to  70s  (Spanish 
dues  for  account  of  cargo). 

Note. — Charters  for  Italy,  France  and  Spain  read: 
“Lay  days  to  commence  on  steamer's  arrival  at  or  off 
port  of  discharge,  Is  per  net  register  ton  per  day  de¬ 
murrage.” 

Mo.itevideo,  about  45s;  Buenos  Aires  or  La  Plata,  about 
415;  Rosario,  about  50s;  Rio  de  .Taneiro,  about  45s; 
.S.i.itos,  about  45s  (consignees  paying  docas  dues). 

Valparaiso  or  Callao,  about  $7.50;  Havana,  $2.75  to 
$3;  Cardenas  or  Sagua,  $3  to  $3.25;  Cienfuegos,  $3  to 
.$3.50;  Pert  of  Spain,  Trinidad,  $4.00  to  $4.25;  St. 
Lucia,  $3.75  to  $4.25;  St.  Thomas,  $3.50  to  $3.76;  Bar¬ 
bados,  $l  to  $4.25;  Kingston,  $3  to  .$3.25;  Curacao, 
about  $3.75  and  p.  c.;  Santiago,  $3.25  to  $3.50;  Guan¬ 
tanamo,  $3.25  to  $3.50;  Dem erar,  $6  to  $6.50;  Bermuda, 
about  $3.50;  t'era  Cruz,  $5  to  $5.50;  Tampico,  $5  to  $5.50. 


Coke  to  Europe. 


For  the  first  time  in  many  years  a  shipload 
of  coke  will  be  sent  from  the  port  of  Phila¬ 
delphia  to  Europe  this  vreek.  This  is  one  of 
the  effects  of  the  European  war,  because  under 
normal  conditions  German  coke  producers  have 
been  monopolizing  the  foreign  trade  in  coke  on 
account  of  the  large  production  of  by-product 
coke  and  the  excellent  facilities  that  have  been 
provided  for  transshipping  it  to  steamers. 

In  the  past  there  have  been  shipments  of  coke 
from  this  country  to  Mexico,  Central  America 
and  South  America-,  but  the  cargoes  sent  to 
Europe  have  been  very  few  and  far  between. 
Since  the  blockading  of  German  ports  some  of 
the  European  coke  consumers  have  been  nego¬ 
tiating  with  producers  in  the  L^nited  States,  as 
the  English  producers  are  using  all  of  their 
output  in  their  home  market. 

The  cargo  to  be  shipped  from  Philadelphia 
will  consist  of  4,000  tons  of  by-product  coke 
(Otto  Coke)  from  the  works  of  the  Camden 
Coke  Company,  Camden. 

It  will  be  loaded  'on  the  steamship  Washing¬ 
ton  at  the  Port  Richmond  pier  of  the  Phila¬ 
delphia  &  Reading  Railway.  It  has  been  sold 
to  the  Italian  Government. — Camden  Courier. 


A  cable  from  Panama  on  Monday  of  this  week 
stated  that  the  progress  made  in  dredging  the 
Panama  Canal  at  the  Culehra  Cut  indicates  that 
there  will  he  a  channel  too  feet  wide  by  thirty 
feet  deep  through  the  slide  area  by  the  middle 
of  December.  But  the  canal  will  not  he  in 
position  for  use  much  before  January  1st.  The 
obstruction  is  being  removed  at  the  rate  of 
1,000,000  cubic  yards  a  month,  an  average  of 
35,000  cubic  yards  daily. 


398 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[November  13 


General  Review. 


Eastern  Markets  Fairly  Active — In  the 
West  the  Weather  Retards 
Progress 


New  England  reports  that  in  spite  of  the 
warring  atmosphere  in  the  bituminous  trade, 
there  is  a  better  feeling,  which  is  due  more 
to  a  revival  of  business  than  to  any  prospect  of 
a  peaceful  settlement  of  1916-17  prices. 

In  New  York  the  anthracite  market  is  in  a 
very  healthy  condition,  with  the  market  able 
to  take  care  of  the  full  output  of  the  mines, 
which  are  running  as  near  to  capacity  as  the 
state  of  the  car  supply  and  labor  will  permit. 
The  car  shortage  in  the  anthracite  regions  has 
not  arrived  at  an  acute  stage.  The  bituminous 
situation  continues  strong  with  a  tendency  on 
the  part  of  the  large  consumers  to  increase 
their  contract  shipments.  Reports  from  Phil¬ 
adelphia  show  that  feeling  in  the  anthracite 
trade  has  remained  good  with  the  demand 
firm.  The  mines  are  reported  as  running  on 
full  time,  and  there  have  been  no  untoward 
conditions  at  the  mining  regions  so  far.  There 
has  been  little  change  in  the  bituminous  mar¬ 
ket  at  this  point. 

.'\t  Baltimore  the  export  coal  business  has 
been  greatly  upset  by  the  high  freight  rates 
demanded  by  ships  not  under  time  charter. 
Most  of  the  boats  have  been  captured  by  the 
grain  and  ore  men  with  offers  of  freight  rates 
that  are  out  of  reach  for  most  of  the  coal 
exporters.  There  has  been  a  falling  off  in  the 
export  movement  from  fifty  to  eighty  thou¬ 
sand  tons. 

From  Buffalo  it  is  reported  that  there  is  a 
difficulty  in  securing  bottoms  for  the  move¬ 
ment  of  coal  towards  the  northwest.  Locally 
there  is  a  fairly  good  demand  for  anthracite, 
which  was  induced  by  some  seasonable  chilly 
weather.  Coal  is  not  coming  forward  as  fast 
as  desired,  owing  to  a  lack  of  cars. 

In  Pittsburgh  the  weather  continues  warm 
and  soft,  thereby  considerably  delaying  the 
purchases  for  the  domestic  account.  How¬ 
ever,  the  steam  coal  demand  continues  strong, 
especially  on  contract.  This  demand  at  pres¬ 
ent  about  equals  the  output.  The  car  short¬ 
age  is  an  important  factor  in  this  market. 

Detroit  reports  a  sluggish  condition  in  the 
steam  coal  trade,  although  the  strike  of  the 
Michigan  Central  Railroad  clerks  in  some 
measure  affected  the  supply.  It  is  stated  from 
Cleveland  that  slack  is  continuing  to  show 
considerable  strength,  but  other  sizes  of  steam 
coal  have  been  rather  inactive.  The  scarcity 
of  cars  has  resulted  in  ridding  the  market  of 
surplus  supplies  of  slack.  Cleveland  also  re¬ 
ports  the  scarity  of  coal  carriers  for  the  lake 
trade. 

In  the  Cincinnati  market  there  has  been  a 
lessening  in  the  demand  of  domestic  sizes  of 
coal  of  all  kinds.  This  has,,  in  a  measure, 
acted  as  a  relief  for  the  scarcity  of  cars  which 
is  becoming  more  and  more  apparent.  West 
Virginia  coals  are  reported  as  being  in  good 
demand. 

At  Louisville  the  market  is  again  threatened 
by  the  long  continued  warm  weather,  and  it 
is  said  that  the  operators  are  having  some 
difficulty  in  keeping  the  mines  going. 

Indianapolis  advices  show  the  demand  for 
steam  coal  is  slowly  improving  and  shows 
a  steady  growth.  The  prices,  however,  have 
not  improved,  although  they  are  holding  up 
fairly  well. 

Duluth  reports  an  increase  in  anthracite  re¬ 
ceipts  and  a  decrease  in  bituminous  receipts 
for  the  period  ending  November  1st  of  this 
year.  This  decrease  in  the  bituminous  is  ac¬ 
counted  for,  mostly,  by  the  fact  that  there 
was  a  great  deal  of  soft  coal  left  on  the  docks 
at  the  end  of  last  season.  A  fair  movement 
is  reported  from  that  city. 

In  the  Twin  Cities  all  grades  of  coal  are 
in  fair  demand,  although  there  is  not  the 
snap  to  the  trade  which  would  be  visible  un¬ 
der  more  favorable  weather  conditions.  The 
warm  weather  has  affected  the  St.  Louis  mar¬ 
ket  so  that  there  are  no  changes  reported. 
On  the  other  hand  the  operators  centering  at 
that  point  have  shown  a  very  decided  inten¬ 
tion  to  maintain  the  prices  in  all  districts. 

In  Omaha  and  further  west,  the  market  re¬ 
ports  indicate  that  the  continued  warm  weather 
has  caused  a  lull  in  the  activity  noted  a  few 
weeks  ago.  Until  the  weather  becomes  sea¬ 
sonable  it  does  not  appear  as  if  the  market 
will  revive  to  any  extent. 


Chicago  Market. 

Conservative  Production  Aids  Market 
Weakened  by  Warm 
Weather 


Office  of  The  Black  Diamond, 
Chicago,  November  11. 


Mild  Indian  Summer  or  rather  mid-sum¬ 
mer  weather  throughout  the  northwest  is 
acting  temporarily  as  a  damper  on  the  demand 
for  both  anthracite  and  bituminous  coal.  With 
the  thermomenter  in  the  seventies  for  the 
past  week,  coal  buying  has  been  the  last 
thing  in  the  mind  of  the  ordinary  householder. 
Usually  the  territory  contiguous  to  the  Chi¬ 
cago  market  is  visited  by  severe  frosts  each 
year  before  this  time,  but  thus  far  there  was 
only  one  short  cool  spell  and  that  was  over 
a  month  ago.  The  rest  of  the  time  house 
fires  were  not  a  necessity,  consequently  the 
coal  market  is  in  a  waiting  condition. 

The  anthracite  market  has  fared  worse  than 
bituminous  coal,  concessions  in  price  being 
made  on  practically  all  sizes  averaging  around 
fifteen  cents  below  circular.  This  weakening 
of  quotations  has  spread  to  companies  not 
heretofore  listed  in  this  class  with  the  urgency 
to  avoid  payment  of  demurrage. 

All  retail  yards  are  heavily  stocked  with 
both  hard  and  soft  coal,  and  it  will  require 
several  days  of  chilling  weather  to  create  any 
perceptible  demand  from  that  quarter. 

The  demand  for  steam  coals  is  better  this 
week  with  prices  considerably  firmer,  due 
doubtless  to  a  curtailment  of  production,  ow¬ 
ing  to  the  lack  of  orders  for  the  domestic 
sizes.  Some  of  the  railroads  are  taking  stor¬ 
age  which  has  helped  to  stiffen  this  market. 

Franklin  county  operators  recognizing  the 
futility  of  tryihg  to  force  a  market  already 
plentifully  Supplied  with  coal  are  restricting 
production.  Operating  companies  with  two 
mines  are  leaving  one  of  them  idle  until  the 
demand  catches  up  with  the  supply.  The 
other  operators  are  skipping  a  day  now  and 
then,  which  gives  them  a  chance  to  reduce 
their  supply  of  unbilled  coal.  With  the  ar¬ 
rival  of  active  coal  consuming  weather  the 
situation  is  bound  to  improve  rapidly. 

There  has  been  slight  concessions  made  I  ’ 
a  few  of  the  operators  on  egg  coal  with  lump 
and  No.  1  nut  bringing  full  circular.  Screen¬ 
ings  are  firm  at  fihy  cents  for  Chicago  de¬ 
livery  with  country  prices  ten  cents  higher. 

A  number  of  large  users  of  screenings,  who 
have  been  buying  on  the  open  market  were 
beginning  to  get  a  trifle  nervous,  and  have 
signed  up  contracts  within  the  week  calling 
for  their  requirements  to  April  1st.  Their 
decision  was  probably  influenced  by  the  firm¬ 
ness  of  the  fine  coal  market  around  current 
quotations  and  the  unprobability  of  prices  de¬ 
scending  to  the  level  reached  a  year  ago. 
Prices  up  to  Thursday  were; 


Franklin  County — 

Lump  . . . 

Kgg  . 

No.  1  nut . 

No.  2  nut . 

Mint  run . 

2.inch  screenings.... 


F.  O.  B. 
Chicago. 
$2.80 
2.55@2.86 
2,70@2.S0 
2  55 
2.15@2'.20 
1.55@1.65 


F.  O.  B. 
Mines. 
$1.75 
1.50(®1.75 
1.65@1.76 
1.50 
1.10@1.15 
.50®  .60 


The  situation  in  Williamson  county  is  prac¬ 
tically  identical  with  Franklin  county.  Pro¬ 
ducers  of  the  higher  grade  coals  have  decided 
that  it  is  best  to  leave  the  coal  in  ground  if 
it  cannot  be  sold  at  a  profit.  A  great  many 
of  the  mines  are  shutting  down  one  or  two 
days  a  week,  and  this  program  will  be  adhered 
to  until  the  weather  changes.  Some  of  the 
smaller  operators  with  no  equipment  to  pre¬ 
pare  their  coals  are  attempting  to  run  full 
time,  but  the  price  obtained  is  not  satisfactory. 
The  prices  up  to  Thursday  were: 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Williamson  County —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Lump  . $2.65@2.80  $1.60@1.75 

F.gg  .  2.65@2.80  1.60@1.75 

No.  1  washed .  2.80  1.75 

No.  2  washed .  2.45  1.40 

Saline  county  mines  are  running  a  little 
better  than  half  time,  but  this  program  will 
be  changed  immediately  with  a  drop  in  tem¬ 
perature  as  stocks  are  light.  Screenings  are 
in  good  demand  around  fifty  and  sixty  cents. 
The  prices  up  to  Thursday  were: 

F.  p.  B.  F.  p.  B. 

Saline  County —  Chicago.  Mines. 

r.ump  . $2.65@2.80  $1.60@1.75 

Mine  run .  2.20  1.15 

Screenings  . 1.55^@1.G5  .50@  .60 

I  54 -inch  lump .  2.35  1.30 

Business  is  almost  at  a  stand  still  in  the 


Central  Illinois  District.  Operators  realize 
the,  folly  of  flooding  the  market  when  there 
is  no  demand,  and  very  few  mines  are  run¬ 
ning  better  than  half  time.  Some  of  the  op¬ 
erators  on  the  outskirts  of  the  field  are  calling 
the  circular  fifteen  to  twenty-five  cents  on 
lump  coal,  but  the  regular  Circular  of  $1.75 
for  lump  is  being  maintained  by  the  Sangamon 
county  operators  generally.  The  prices  up  to 
Thursday  were: 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Central  Illinois —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Lump  .  $2.57  $1.75 

Egg  .  2.32@2.47  1.50@1.65 

Nut  .  2.47  1.65 

Mine  run .  1.87  1.05 

Screenings  .  1.22@1.32  .40@  .50 

The  Clinton,  Indiana  district  has  adopted  a 
watchful  waiting  policy  with  little  tonnage 
moving.  The  steam  trade  is  showing  some 
signs  of  life,  and  as  soon  as  seasonable  weather 
arrives,  the  mines  will  be  running  to  capac¬ 
ity.  The  prices  up  to  Thursday  were: 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Clinton — -  Chicago.  Mines. 

No.  4  domestic  lump . $2.42@2.57  $1.65@1.75 

No.  4  egg .  2.12  1.35 

Nut  .  2.12  1.35 

No.  5  and  6  mine  run .  1.87  1.10 

No.  5  and  6  screenings .  1.37@1.42  .00@  .65 

The  Knox  count  fiejd  has  been  helped  this 
week  by  railroad  business.  Several  orders 

have  been  placed  by  transportation  lines,  who 
decided  this  would  be  a  good  time  to  place 
coal  in  storage.  Two  orders  of  400  cars 

each  are  reported  to  indicate  the  size  of  this 
business.  Prices  up  to  Thursday  were; 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Knox  County —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Lump  .  $2.37  $1.50 

Egg  .  2.37  1.50 

Mine  run .  1.87  1.05 

Screenings  .  1.52  .65 

The  demand  for  smokeless  for  the  time 

being  has  vanished.  Some  shippers  are  pay¬ 
ing  demurrage,  hoping  that  the  thermometer 
will  come  to  their  rescue.  Mine  run  is  held 
firm  at  $1.40.  Lump  and  egg  has  been  moved 
at  $1.90  and  $2.00.  This  coal  was  sacrificed 
to  avoid  the  payment  of  additional  demurrage. 

Verjr  little  Somerset  county  coal  is  being 

offered  in  this  market,  owing  to  a  short  car 
supply  and  a  better  demand  in  the  east. 
While  the  shippers  have  a  circular  of  $1.40 
for  mine  run  coal  has  sold  at  $1.25  this  week. 
Lump  and  eg.g  are  in  fairly  good  demand 
around  $1.90  and  $2.00.  Prices  up  to  Thursday 
were : 

F.  p.  B.  F.  p.  B. 

Somerset  County —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Mine  run .  $3.40  $1.40 

Lump  and  egg .  4.05@3.25  1.25@2.00 

Hocking  coal  has  been  plentiful  this  week 
with  prices  showing  a  weakening  tendency. 
Prices  range  around  $1.50  and  $1.60  with  con¬ 
siderable  effort  made  to  move  coal  regardless 
of  price.  Prices  up  to  Thursday  were: 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Hocking —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Domestic  lump . $3.15@3.25  $1.50@1.60 

No  change  of  any  moment  noticeable  in  the 
Splint  market.  The  labor  and  car  shortage 
fortunately  has  kept  down  the  supply  where 
the  demand  was  light.  The  market  up  to 
Thursday  was : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Kanawha —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Itl-inch  lump . $3.40@3.50  $1.50@1.60 

Eastern  Kentucky  operators  are  rapidly 
catching  with  their  orders.  Prices  vary  ac¬ 
cording  to  the  reputation  of  the  product. 
Lump  is  selling  around  $2.00,  while  some  of 
the  more  popular  coal  is  moving  at  $2.25. 
Prices  up  to  Thursday  were: 

F.  p.  B.  F.  p.  B. 

Eastern  Kentucky —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Domestic  lu.mp . $3.80@4.I5  $1.90@2.25 

Egg  .  3.25@3.75  1.35@1.85 

The  foundry  coke  market  has  steadied  this 
week,  and  a  no  sky  rocket  tendencies  are  in 
evidence.  The  domestic  product  is  not  mov¬ 
ing  very  brisk,  due  to  climatic  conditions 
which  should  change  shortly.  The  market  up 
to  Thursday  was: 

F.  O.  B. 

Coke—  Chicago. 

Connellsville  . $5.50 

By-product,  foundry .  6.50 

By-product,  egg  and  stove .  4.75 

By-product,  nut  .  4-75 

Cas  house .  4.00 


At  the  last  meeting  of  the  Detroit  Coal  Ex¬ 
change  a  committee  of  two  was  appointed  to  ar¬ 
range  for  the  formation  of  a  bowling  league 
among  the  Exchange  members,  the  plan  being  to 
conduct  a  bowling  tournament  during  the  winter 
in  the  effort  to  make  the  coal  men  better  ac¬ 
quainted  with  each  other. 


No.  20] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


399 


Pittsburgh  Trade. 


Warm  Weather  Delays  Domestic  Pur¬ 
chases — Strong  Demand  for 
Steam  Coal. 


Office  of  The  Black  Diamond, 
1502  Oliver  Building, 

Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  November  11. 

Conditions  in  the  Pittsburgh  market  are  prac¬ 
tically  unchanged  from  what  they  were  a  week 
ago,  even  weather  conditions,  which  continue 
warm  and  soft,  holding  back  the  increase  that 
would  naturally  be  expected  in  domestic  buying 
at  this  date.  Demand  for  steam  coals  continues 
strong,  though  largely  on  contract,  and  this  with 
the  rushing  of  lake  coal  to  the  front,  just  about 
equals  output  at  present,  though  many  of  the 
larger  operators  claim  to  be  sold  up,  and  booking 
no  new  business.  The  car  shortage  is  the  most 
important  factor  just  now  in  shipping,  and  while 
some  stocking  is  being  done,  certain  interests 
claim  that  with  the  close  of  the  lake  trade,  and 
the  release  of  large  numbers  of  cars,  there  will 
be  a  weakening  of  prices,  others  think  the  re¬ 
verse  and  say  railroads  are  holding  off  on  stock¬ 
ing  coal  to  help  the  operator  with  cars  in  other 
directions,  and  that  this  with  the  unusual  demand 
for  cars  of  all  kinds,  that  the  extraordinary  steel 
and  iron  business  is  daily  calling  for,  will  com¬ 
mand  every  available  car,  and  that  prices  will 
still  further  harden  as  the  turn  of  the  year  ap¬ 
proaches,  and  prospects  of  any  wage  troubles  de¬ 
veloping  April  1st  come  nearer. 

No  one  seems  at  all  anxious  to  book  orders  for 
forward  delivery,  and  quotations  made  for  im¬ 
mediate  shipment  are  in  many  cases  made  sub¬ 
ject  to  prior  sale. 

The  same  labor  conditions  obtain  at  mines,  but 
an  acute  .shortage  would  be  felt  if  shipping  condi¬ 
tions  were  not  so  handicapped. 

Prices  are  at  considerable  variance  among 
sellers,  some  claiming  to  be  getting  considerably 
in  advance  of  the  quotations  below,  but  generally 
speaking  these  figures  are  as  near  the  market  as 
can  be  quoted,  f.  o.  b.  mines  Pittsburgh : 


Steam  slack . $0,80@1.00 

Run  of  mine .  1.10@1.25 

Three-quarters  screened  coal .  1.30@1.40 

Five-quarters  screened  coal .  1.40@1.50 


As  stated,  prices  seem  to  be  much  at  variance 
among  operators,  some  quoting  as  high  as  $1.40 
to  $1.50  for  mine  run  coal,  and  other  grades  on 
the  same  scale,  but  it  looks  very  much  as  though 
if  a  man  has  ten  cars  of  coal  for  sale  he  will  ask 
ten  different  prices  for  it,  and  sell  at  any  one  of 
them — if  he  has  the  coal — the  same  lack  of  uni¬ 
formity  in  price  prevailing  today  that  has  ever 
been  a  disturbing  element  in  the  trade. 

Some  slight  increase  has  been  noted  in  mine 
activity  operations  resuming  at  plants  that  have 
long  been  idle.  The  Bertha  mines  of  the  Union 
Coal  &  Coke  Company,  formerly  the  property  of 
the  Pittsburgh-Buffalo  Company  at  Bruceton, 
Pa.,  are  again  operating  after  many  months  of 
idleness.  The  Marrianna  and  other  mines  of  this 
company  are  still  idle.  In  reference  to  rumors 
concerning  the  merging  of  these  properties  with 
other  large  Pittsburgh  coal  interests,  we  have 
from  good  authority  that  while  negotiations  for 
the  sale  of  these  properties  by  the  Union  Trust 
Company  are  pending,  the  matter  is  in  no  wise 
connected  with  any  of  the  rumors  that  have 
gained  currency  east,  and  hereabouts,  but  is  en¬ 
tirely  independent  of  them. 

The  air  is  also  full  of  rumors  regarding  the 
J.  V.  Thompson  troubles  and  all  sorts  of  specu¬ 
lation  is  going  on  regarding  the  long  hoped  for 
settlement  of  his  affairs.  A  large  number  of 
suits  have  been  filed  in  the  local  courts  against 
J.  V,  Thompson  by  his  creditors.  Since  last 
Wednesday  about  250  suits  have  been  filed  against 
the  former  president  of  the  First  National  Bank 
of  Uniontown. 

The  Thompson  creditors  in  Wa.shington  and. 
Greene  counties  have  ahso  entered  a  number  of 
suits  in  Waynesburg  and  Washington,  Pa.  The 
statement  made  by  Thompson  in  New  York  that 
all  the  depositors  of  the  bank  would  ultimately 
receive  their  money  was  cheerfullv  received  by 
those  who  had  balances  in  the  bank. 

Receiver  John  H.  Strawn  entered  suits  amount¬ 
ing  to  nearly  $500,000  against  Thompson  and  his 
associates  in  the  United  Statgs  court  in  Pitts¬ 
burgh  Saturday  last. 

The  depositors  of  the  bank  have  absolute  con¬ 
fidence  that  Receiver  Strawn  will  delay  no  action 
that  will  bring  about  an  early  termination  of  the 
affairs  of  the  bank. 

The  general  opinion  seems  to  be  that  the  pres¬ 
ent  outlook  for  the  future  of  the  coal  business 
would  indicate  that  the  large  coal  land  holdings 
of  Mr.  Thompson  are  unquestionably  worth  a 


large  percentage  more  today  than  at  the  time  of 
their  appraisal  by  representatives  of  the  cred¬ 
itors  some  months  ago. 

The  coke  situation  is  more  than  holding  its 
own,  not  only  in  price,  but  in  firmness,  output 
and  demand.  More  ovens  would  undoubtedly  be 
fired  could  more  cars  and  more  labor  be  de¬ 
pended  upon.  As  it  is  it  is  hard  to  get  cars  to 
handle  present  production.  Some  producers  are 
piling  surplus,  and  expect  a  higher  price  for  spot 
delivery  of  this  in  the  near  future,  such  demands 
assuming  larger  proportions  daily.  As  near  as 
quotable  the  market  stands  as  follows : 


Prompt  furnace . $2.50@2.7.5 

December  furnace .  2.40@2.50 

1916  furnace .  2.25@2.35 

Prompt  foundry .  3.00@3.25 

First  half  foundry .  3.00@3.25 


Pittsburgh  News  Items. 

L.  S.  Bovee  of  the  Pittsburgh  &  Erie  Coal 
Company  of  Erie,  Pa.,  spent  some  days  in  Pitts¬ 
burgh  the  past  week. 

Wm.  Crothers,  formerly  with  B.  Nicoll  &  Co., 
has  assumed  the  selling  agency  of  the  Cleveland 
&  Western  Coal  Company  at  Pittsburgh. 

William  Hammil  has  been  made  local  sales 
manager  for  the  Pittsburgh  &  Erie  Coal  Com¬ 
pany  of  Erie,  Pa.,  with  offices  in  the  House 
building,  Pittsburgh. 

O.  Tibbett  of  Elkins,  W.  Va.,  superintendent 
of  the  Davis  Coal  &  Coke  Company  for  many 
years,  has  resigned  his  position  and  will  retire 
from  active  business. 

After  thirteen  months’  idleness  orders  have 
been  received  by  Superintendent  W.  C.  Fletcher 
to  get  the  Sharon  works  of  the  American  Steel 
Foundries  Company  ready  for  immediate  re¬ 
sumption  at  full  capacity.  The  plant  employs 
about  600  men. 

J.  H.  Powell,  head  of  the  large  producing  cor¬ 
porations,  with  mines  at  Powellton  and  Eldridge, 
W.  Va.,  has  just  returned  from  England  and  an¬ 
nounced  that  he  had  closed  contracts  in  Great 
Britain  that  would  require  the  operation  of  all 
the  mines  on  Armstrong  creek,  this  state  for  at 
least  one  year.  The  mines  are  to  be  placed  in 
operation  this  week,  following  a  shutdown  of 
almost  a  year. 

Directors  of  the  Littleton  Coal  &  Coke  Com- 
jiany  met  and  elected  T.  S.  Lackey,  president :  W. 
Cook  McKean,  vice-president,  and  A.  D.  Wil¬ 
liams,  secretary.  Other  members  of  the  board 
are  N.  H.  Jaquette,  T,  H.  Kerr,  A.  J.  Stentz,  J. 
H.  Cunningham,  F.  P.  Rush,  and  J.  L.  Borchus. 
The  company  holds  9,000  acres  of  Pittsburgh 
coal  in  Wetzel  county.  West  Virginia,  on  the 
Baltimore  &  Ohio  Railroad  near  the  Pennsyl¬ 
vania  line. 

The  first  heat  from  the  seventy-five  new  coke 
ovens  of  the  Republic  Iron  &  Steel  Company, 
Youngstown,  O.,  was  secured  Sunday,  the  charge 
having  been  made  last  Saturday  afternoon. 
Every  one  of  the  new  ovens  responded  in  record 
time,  the  arrangement  being  entirely  satisfactory 
to  the  management.  The  ovens  being  put  in  blast 
at  this  time  will  prove  a  valuable  asset  to  the 
corporation.  The  supply  of  benzol  so  much  in 
demand  at  the  highest  prices,  will  be  increased 
about  120  per  cent.  The  Republic  Iron  &  Steel 
Company  now  has  143  by-product  ovens  in  com¬ 
mission,’  producing  2,000  tons  daily.  Eventually 
other  ovens  will  be  added  so  as  to  increase  the 
daily  capacity  to  3,500  tons. 


Cleveland  Market. 


Cleveland,  Ohio,  November  11. —  (Special 
Correspondence.) — Slack  has  shown  continued 
strength  during  the  past  week,  but  other  sizes  in 
steam  coals  have  been  rather  inactive.  Scarcity 
of  cars  and  the  fact  that  the  larger  .sizes  are  not 
moving  readily  have  resulted  in  ridding  the  mar¬ 
ket  of  surplus  supplies  of  slack,  which  perhaps 
accounts  for  the  slightly  stiffer  prices  asked.  The 
market,  however,  is  not  yet  in  the  active  condi¬ 
tion  anticipated  some  time  ago. 

Coal  carriers  for  the  Lake  Michigan  trade 
have  been  scarce  during  the  past  week  and  it  is 
said  that  there  was  some  figuring  for  tonnage  at 
an  advance  rate  Tuesday.  Although  no  anxiety 
is  displayed,  there  are  indications  in  some 
fiuarters  that  shippers,  not  already  covered  for 
the  tonnage  desired,  will  perhaps  be  forced  to 
bid  up  later  on.  Receipts  of  lake  coal  have  been 
light,  though,  for  several  days.  Storms  for  the 
past  few  days  have  interfered^  somewhat  with 
the  progress  of  vessels  and  this  may  affect,  to 
some  extent,  the  tonnage. 

Dealers  are  demanding  anthracite  deliveries 
now.  but  will  in  all  probability  have  to  be  patient 
until  the  producers  arc  able  to  comply  with  their 


wishes.  The  car  shortage  has  interfered  ma¬ 
terially  with  deliveries  within  the  past  few  weeks. 
It  is  said  that  one  of  the  large  companies  is  a 
month  behind  with  its  orders  and  others  are  not 
in  much  better  shape.  The  independent  com¬ 
panies  are  securing  full  circular  prices  on  all 
orders  taken  now.  Dealers  have  been  slow  in 
placing  orders  for  their  full  needs  and  this  has 
brought  about  the  present  shortage,  it  is  said. 

Domestic  coals  of  all  kinds  are  in  demand  ju,st 
now  and  it  seems  that  the  same  causes  are  oper¬ 
ating  to  maintain  a  shortage  as  are  found  in  the 
anthracite  situation.  The  mild  weather  has  aided 
producers  and  jobbers  in  taking  care  of  the  busi¬ 
ness  to  a  large  extent,  but  should  the  tempera¬ 
ture  take  a  big  drop,  as  it  is  likely  to  do  at  any 
time,  it  is  possible  that  deliveries  would  be  more 
difficult  to  make  than  at  the  present  time. 

Some  No.  8  lump  for  domestic  purposes  is 
Iteing  handled  in  this  market  at  the  present  time, 
but  the  movement  in  the  larger  sizes  is  light. 
Slack  has  been  marked  up  five  cents  a  ton  and 
there  is  an  increased  demand  for  it.  Quotations 
on  Wednesday  are  as  follows; 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

No.  8  District —  Mines.  Cleveland. 

Three-quarters  . $1.05@1.10  $1.95@2.00 

Run  of  mine  .  .9,5  .  1.85 

Slack  .  .85  1.75 

All  sizes  of  Coshocton  coal  have  moved  fairly 
well,  but  there  has  been  little  change  in  the  prices 
since  last  week. 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Coshocton —  Mines.  Cleveland. 

r.ump,  4-inch  screened . $1.70@1.75  $2.40@2.45 

lt4-inch  .  I.fi0@1.65  2.80(32.35 

Egg  and  nut .  1.05@1.10  1.75(31.80 

Pittsburgh  slack  shows  an  advance  of  about 
five  cents  a  ton,  although  there  is  still  very  little 
of  it  in  the  market,  as  compared  to  some  other 
slacks. 


F,  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Pittsburgh —  Mines.  Cleveland. 

Slack  . $0.85@  .90  $1.85@1.00 


Youghiogheny  slack  has  been  very  scarce  here 
the  past  week  and  the  quotation  really  gives  only 
an  idea  of  its  selling  price,  were  it  moving  as 
other  grades  are. 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Youghiogheny —  Mines.  Cleveland. 

Slack .  $0.90  $1.90 

For  some  reason  Pocahontas  coal  has  been  sur¬ 
prisingly  weak  for  some  time.  A  year  ago  lump 
and  egg  were  strong  at  $2.25  to  $2.50  at  the 
mines,  but  at  present  they  are  going  slowly  at 
$2.10.  At  some  of  the  offices  here  it  was  said  that 
an  explanation  for  the  situation  is  difficult  to 
make. 


Smokeless — 
T.ump  . 


Run  of  mine 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Mines.  Cleveland. 
$2.10  $3.55 

2.10  3.55 

1.30  2.75 


The  demand  for  Massillon  coal  for  domestic 
use  is  strong,  but  there  has  been  difficulty  in  de¬ 
livering  and  the  producers  are  again  behind  in 
their  orders. 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Massillon —  Mines.  Cleveland. 

I  ump  .  $2.50  $3.20 

Knt  .  2.50  3.20 

Slack  . 90  1.60 


Th.e  Cambridge  product  is  moving  along  in  a 
fairly  satisfactory  way  without  an  advance  in 
any  of  the  sizes  since  last  week. 


Cambridge — ■ 
Three-nuarters 
Run  of  mine. 
.Slack  . 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Mines.  Cleveland. 
$1.10  $2.00 

1.00  1.90 

.90  1.80 


Wainright  coal  has  been  in  good  demand  for 
domestic  purposes  and  the  mines  are  operating 
fairlv  well  up  to  capacity. 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Goshen — Wainwright  Mines —  Mines.  Cleveland. 

Three-quarter,  domestic .  $1.40  $2.10 

I,\nnp  .  1.65  2,35 

Slack  .  1.70 


Little  Fairmont  coal  is  finding  its  way  to  this 
market.  However,  slack  is  quoted  at  the  same 
figure  given  last  week. 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Fairmont —  Mines.  Cleveland. 

Slack  .  T!16 


Kentucky  coals  are  holding  their  own  and 
proving  an  aid  to  the  domestic  situation  in  a 
wav.  Prices  have  varied  little  from  a  week  ago. 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Kentucky —  Mines.  Cleveland. 

4-inch  block . $1.90@2.00  $3.15@3.25 


Goshen  coals  [iroper  are  (pioted  as  follows: 


( joshen — 
Three-tiuarters 

1  kj-iueb  . 

Slack  . 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Mines.  Cleveland. 
$1,30  $2.00 

1.40  2.10 

1.00  1.70 


Prepared  Hocking  lump  is  selling  at  $1..50  per 
ton  at  points  west  of  here,  where  it  is  used  more 
freely  than  some  other  coals.  Quite  a  little  of 
it  is  sold  tlirough  this  market. 


400 


THE  BLACK  I)IA3I()ND 


[Novem'ber  13 


Cincinnati  Trade. 


Cincinnati,  Ohio,  November  11. —  (Special 
Correspondence.) — While  there  is  a  lessening  of 
demand  in  the  domestic  sizes  in  both  splint  and 
smokeless  varieties  of  coal  in  this  territory,  there 
is  little  evidence  of  lessening  activity  in  delivery. 
In  fact,  the  slow'ing  down  of  demand  for  the 
domestic  has  aided  in  giving  a  better  supply  of 
cars  for  contract  delivery,  and  operators  are 
bending  every  energy  to  catch  up  with  their  con¬ 
tract  requirements,  both  steam  and  domestic,  be¬ 
fore  the  weather  breaks,  a  situation  looked  for 
at  any  time.  Operators  are  therefore  cheerful 
this  week  and  look  forward  to  a  business  that 
will  he  worth  while  in  a  few  weeks,  the  basic 
conditions  improving  more  and  more  as  the  days 
go  by. 

Kentucky  operators  report  that  along  the 
Louisville  &  Nashville  Railroad  the  car  situation 
is  better  this  week  than  it  has  been  in  four 
weeks,  but  one  day  showing  a  scarcity  of  cars  in 
most  of  the  mines,  and  that  not  to  an  extent 
that  it  did  much  damage.  Prices  in  this  field 
are  much  better  also,  there  having  been  an  ad- 
\ance  by  small  additions  for  the  past  two  or 
three  weeks,  the  advance  not  being  questioned  by 
the  buyer.  The  average  price  at  which  the  or¬ 
dinary  Kentucky  coal  sold  at  the  past  week,  spot, 
is  the  following;  Four-inch  lump,  $1.75  to  $2.05; 
four-inch  run  of  mine,  ninety  cents;  nut  and 
slack  of  the  lower  grade,  fifty  cents ;  of  better 
quality,  sixty-five  to  seventy  cents,  and  hard  to 
get  most  of  the  time.  Egg  has  not  been  in  good 
demand,  hence  most  of  the  mines  are  neglecting 
it  for  run  of  mine,  which  is  in  good  demand. 

West  Virginia  coals  have  been  in  good  de¬ 
mand,  except  as  stated,  in  reference  to  domestic 
sizes.  There  has  even  been  good  delivery  of 
domestic,  contract  coal  moving  along  smoothly, 
generally,  as  retail  delivery  is  beginning  to  show 
volume  in  this  weather,  which,  though  nice,  has 
a  frosty  “tang”  that  suggests  fuel  storage.  The 
delivery  has  not  been  as  good  in  this  field  as  in 
the  Kentucky  field,  because  of  the  fact  that  the 
railroads  are  not  in  as  good  shape  for  taking 
care  of  the  coal  delivery,  being  busy  in  deliver¬ 
ing  to  the  seaboard,  to  the  lake  shore  and  into 
their  own  storage  yards.  In  some  cases  confisca¬ 
tion  of  coal  has  been  proceeding  for  some  time. 
A  little  earlier  operators  did  not  care  a  rap,  but 
recently  they  have  begun  to  become  anxious,  for 
while  the  railroads  pay  better  than  the  average 
price  under  these  circumstances,  yet  they  inter¬ 
fere  with  the  general  plan  of  catching  up  with 
contract  delivery. 

West  Virginia  splint  operators  are  still  out  of 
the  market,  in  many  cases,  and  are  maintaining 
the  prices  they  have  reached,  in  good  shape.  Av¬ 
erage  four-inch  lump  price  is  $1.85,  nut  and  slack’ 
seventy-five  cents,  run  of  mine,  spot,  if  it  can 
be  had,  $1,  and  egg,  which  is  in  good  demand, 
$1.25.  The  specials,  such  as  Miller’s  Creek,  Yel¬ 
low  Jacket,  white  ash,  and  other  special  brands 
are  in  much  better  position  than  they  have  been 
in  a  long  time.  The  operations  are  showing 
more  profit  and  more  good  future  business  than 
they  have  developed  in  a  long  time.  There  is 
one  feature  which  is  disturbing  the  situation  and 
that  is  growing  labor  scarcity.  The  Greeks  are 
leaving  the  field  or  are  getting  ready  to  do  so, 
licing  examined  for  passage  home  should  their 
country  go  to  war,  and  they  are  not  getting  in 
half  time.  This  with  the  growing  ease  of  the 
car  siqiply  is  beginning  to  counterbalance  other 
features  and  all  tend  to  elevate  prices,  an  opera¬ 
tion  that  is  hailed  with  joy  by  the  coal  dealers 
wlierever  it  takes  place. 

The  situation  is  on  the  verge  of  satisfying  all 
the  operations  of  the  field  with  good  business  at 
jirofitable  prices. 


Cincinnati  Trade  Notes. 

I-.  11.  Stone,  Cincinnati  manager  of  Jewett, 
Bigelow  &  Brooks  Company,  has  removed  his 
quarters  from  small  offices  on  the  twenty-sixth 
floor  of  the  LInion  Central  building  to  the  tenth 
lloor  of  the  building.  The  new  offices  are  com¬ 
modious  and  handsome  and  better  adapted  to 
the  business  of  the  offices  which  has  outgrown 
the  former  quarters. 

The  Ohio  &  Kentucky  Fuel  Company,  which 
has  offices  in  the  Union  Central  building,  has 
been  strengthened  by  the  participation  of  W.  G. 
Harris  of  Franklin,  Ky.,  who  enters  partnership 
with  Mr.  Roy  Holmyard,  founder  of  the  com¬ 
pany.  The  Ohio  &  Kentucky  Fuel  Company  is 
also  a  connection  of  the  Continental  Coal  Com- 
Iiany,  representing  that  company  in  this  terri¬ 
tory.  The  partnership  began  November  1st,  but 
Mr.  Harris  has  not  yet  removed  his  family  to 
Cincinnati,  although  he  is  in  the  office  getting 


hold  of  the  ropes.  Mr.  Harris  is  a  very  suc¬ 
cessful  business  man  and  has  large  tobacco  in¬ 
terests.  The  company,  with  its  new  interests, 
will  incorporate  later. 

The  past  week  saw  a  great  number  of  Greeks 
in  West  Virginia  and  in  this  section  of  Ohio 
examined  and  passed  for  military  duty  in  Greece, 
in  case  that  country  should  get  into  the  war  in 
Europe.  In  Wheeling  about  seventy-five  men, 
mostly  miners,  were  examined,  and  in  other  sec¬ 
tions  many  other  reservists  were  examined  and 
pronounced  fit.  This  is  expected  to  reduce  the 
population  of  skilled  miners  in  West  Virginia 
mining  regions  at  least  250  men.  The  examina¬ 
tions  are  being  conducted  by  Dr.  John  Kastas  of 
Washington,  representing  the  Greek  government. 
The  reservists  are  anxious  to  respond  to  the  call, 
for  under  the  laws  of  Greece  their  property  is 
forfeited  to  the  government  of  Greece  if  they 
fail  to  respond. 

Birmingham  Trade. 


Birmingham,  Ala.,  November  11. —  (Special 
Correspondence.) — Most  of  the  companies  which 
produce  iron  are  having  a  large  production  of 
coal,  while  the  commercial  coal  companies  are 
not  having  such  a  large  volume  of  business.  This 
is  true  also  of  the  smaller  mining  companies,  and 
the  demand  with  them  is  only  fair. 

Continual  warm  weather  has  caused  a  holding- 
up  of  orders  for  domestic  coal  and  the  trade  in 
this  class  of  coal  may  be  said  to  be  only  fair. 

Steam  coal  is  not  in  such  a  large  demand  as 
the  mining  people  expected,  most  users  of  steam 
coal  are  only  placing  limited  amount  of  tonnage. 

Coking  coal  is  really  the  only  trade  that  is  in 
any  degree  satisfactory.  The  large  sales  of  iron 
in  this  district,  and  the  continuous  running  of 
the  furnaces  make  a  demand  for  coking  coal  and 
coke  is  very  active  with  prices  and  output  good. 
The  feature  of  last  week  was  a  sale  of  coke  to 
Italy  by  the  Yolande  Coal  &  Coke  Company, 
which  sold  1,000  tons.  The  shipment  was  made 
via  New  Orleans.  A  report  is  current  that  bids 
are  being  asked  on  5,000  tons  for  early  delivery 
over  the  sea,  but  this  will  depend  largely  upon 
the  question  of  securing  vessels  for  the  ship¬ 
ments. 

J.  B.  McClary,  at  the  head  of  the  Yolande 
Coal  &  Coke  Company,  Tuesday  morning  veri¬ 
fied  the  report  of  the  sale  and  quick  delivery  of 
1,000  tons  of  coke  for  export,  and  said  there  had 
been  some  inquiry  for  further  business.  The 
shipment  is  among  the  healthy  movements  in  that 
commodity  in  recent  weeks,  and  may  mean  the 
establishment  of  a  steady  trade.  Mr.  McClary 
said  he  could  not  say  the  big  order  for  5,000  tons 
would  be  secured  here,  but  bids  were  being  sub¬ 
mitted,  dependent,  of  course,  on  the  opportuni¬ 
ties  for  delivery. 

Every  ton  of  coke  that  can  be  produced  is 
needed  and  the  prices  are  firm.  There  have  been 
additional  offers  for  export  coke,  but  manufac¬ 
turers  are  not  in  position  to  accept  much  of  the 
business  because  bottoms  are  scarce,  and  freight 
charges  are  high. 

The  by-product  ovens  coke  is  still  gaining  in 
esteem,  and  wherever  offered  is  being  accepted 
by  foundries  and  other  consumers  as  well.  The 
small  troubles  at  the  by-product  plant  of  the 
Tennessee  Coal,  Iron  &  Railroad  Company  at 
Fairfield  have  all  been  overcome,  and  coke  mak¬ 
ing  has  not  been  disturbed.  The  repairs  have  also 
been  completed  at  the  benzol  plant,  and  there  is 
a  steady  production  of  that  by-product  also.  Re¬ 
ports  are  again  current  that  another  by-product 
plant  will  be  erected  during  the  early  part  of  the 
coming  year,  the  works  to  be  finished  before  the 
end  of  the  coming  summer. 

The  Empire  Coal  &  Coke  Company  has  been 
shipping  coke  in  car  lots  to  the  United  States- 
Mexico  border  points,  in  lower  California  and  in 
Texas.  It  became  known  Tuesday  morning  that 
a  car  of  coke  w'as  started  during  the  day  bound 
for  Mexico,  and  that  a  big  smelter  was  in  need 
of  a  large  quantity  of  coke.  Walter  Moore,  of 
the  I'.mpire  Company,  declined  to  give  any  details 
of  the  shipment  of  coke  into  Mexico,  hut  ad¬ 
mitted  that  agents  in  California  and  Texas  had 
been  ordering.  Whether  it  was  being  used  in 
Alexico,  he  could  not  state. 

The  Woodward  Iron  Company  has  decided  to 
open  another  coal  mine  in  order  to  secure  a 
larger  supply  of  coal  for  its  furnaces  and  coke 
ovens,  the  mines  at  Dolomite  and  Mulga  not  fur¬ 
nishing  as  much  of  the  commodity  as  is  needed. 
Engineers  have  decided  to  open  a  slope  some  dis¬ 
tance  from  Dolomite,  but  striking  the  same  vein 
of  coal,  giving  a  shorter  underground  haul  than 
the  company  now  has  at  that  place.  The  slope, 
it  is  understood,  will  be  sunk  600  feet  and  will  be 
equipped  in  the  most  modern  manner.  The  work 
on  the  mine  will  be  commenced  at  once,  but  it 


will  be  several  months  before  it  can  be  com¬ 
pleted.  When  ready  for  operating,  a  large  force 
of  men  will  be  employed  and  a  much  larger 
amount  of  coal  produced.  The  Woodward  Com¬ 
pany  is  steadily  making  extensive  improvements 
and  adding  many  men  to  the  pay  rolls.  The  old 
bee  hive  coke  ovens  will  soon  be  ready  to  be 
fired  and  making  the  coke  so  much  in  demand 
by  the  company. 

Prices  for  October  and  the  balance  of  the  year; 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 


Bibb  County  Domestic — 

Red  ash  Cahaba  lump . 

Mines. 

$3.00 

Birmingham. 

$3.30 

Red  ash  Cahaba  lump . 

2.76 

3.10 

Red  Ash  steam  size . . 

1.20@1.36 

Frt.  rate  30c 

Jefferson  County — 

Fancy  steam  Pratt . 

1.75 

2.00 

Run  of  mine  Pratt . 

1.20@1.25 

1.45@1.60 

Mary  Lee  lump . 

1.40@1.50 

1.80@1.90 

Black  Creek — 

r'ancy  steam  lump . 

1.75 

2.05 

Washed  nut . 

1.75 

2.05 

W'ashcd  steam  . 

Frt.  rate  30c 

Mine  run . 

1.35  f®  1.40 

Frt.  rate  30c 

Jefferson  Steam  Coal — 

Mine  run. . . 

1.15@1.25 

Frt.  rate  30c 

Walker  County  Domestic 
Carbon  Hill  lump. . 

Coal- 

1.75 

2.15 

Carbon  Hill  egg . 

1.65 

2.05 

Horse  Creek  mine  run . 

1.00@1.20 

Frt.  rate  40c 

Genuine  Corona — 

Lump  . . 

2.00 

2.40 

Egg  . 

1.90 

2.35 

Steam  sizes . 

1.26@1.35 

Frt.  rate  4t)c 

Shelby  County  Domestic  Coal — ■ 
Cahaba  fancy  lump  . 

3.00 

3.30 

Cahaba  No.  2  lump  . 

2.75 

3.05 

Montevallo  domestic  prices 

ranging  from  $3.00  to  $3.25, 

Blacksmith  coal,  washed  and  screened,  per  ton,  $2.00  to 
$2.25  at  mines,  with  different  rates  to  various  points. 


St.  Louis  Trade. 


St.  Louis,  Mo.,  November  11. —  (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — Owing  to  the  unseasonably  warm 
weather,  which  has  continued  throughout  the 
week,  the  coal  business  shows  very  little  change. 
Operators,  on  the  other  hand,  have  shown  a  very 
decided  intention  of  not  cutting  the  price,  and  in 
all  districts  the  mines  have  been  idle  a  day  or 
two  on  account  of  the  want  of  orders.  As  a  gen¬ 
eral  proposition  the  prices  prevailing  are  those 
which  were  maintained  before  the  warm  weather 
came  upon  us.  In  fact,  there  is  nothing  like  the 
market  demoralization  one  would  have  expected 
in  former  years,  from  the  sudden  slacking  of  the 
dome.stic  demand.  It  shows  that  the  moral  tone 
among  the  operators  is  much  better. 

Screenings  have  been  firm,  but  prices  have  not 
advanced  as  much  as  anticipated  from  the 
weather  and  the  general  industrial  situation,  both 
of  which  have  been  very  favorable  to  an  ad¬ 
vance  in  the  screening  market. 

The  Standard  Mines,  on  the  whole,  are  doing 
very  well,  and  as  an  average  are  running  about 
four  days  a  week. 

Current  prices  are  as  follows; 


F.  O.  B. 


Standard  Coal —  Mine. 

6-inch  lump . $1.30 

6x3-inch  egg .  1.25 

2-inch  lump .  1.05 

Steam  egg . 90 

No.  1  nut .  1.15 

No.  2  nut . 80 

Mine  run . 85 

Screenings  . 40 


F.  O.  B. 

St.  Louis. 

$1.87^ 
1.82  Vi 
1.62  Vi 
1.47Vi 
1.72  Vi 
1.37Vi 
1.42  Vi 
.97Vi 


The  northern  Illinois  mines  in  the  Staunton 
district  are  in  about  the  same  boat  as  the 
Standard. 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Mine.  St.  Louis. 


6-inch  lump . $1.50  $2.07Vi 

2-inch  lump .  1.25  1.82vi 

Screenings . 40  .97Vi 


W’illiamson  county  operators  are  probably  mov¬ 
ing  better  than  any  other  in  the  state  of  Illinois, 
owing  to  the  fact  that  a  quantity  of  railroad  coal 
is  loaded  in  Williamson  count)',  and  consequently 
is  not  affected  so  much  by  the  weather  condi¬ 
tions. 


F.  9.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Mine.  St.  Louis. 

6-inch  lump  or  egg . $1.40@1.75  $2. 02V^  @2.4754 

.3x2-inch  nut .  1.20@1.75  1.9254 @2.47)4 

Screenings  .  .50  1.22)4 


In  h'ranklin  county  domestic  size  coals  arc 
supreme,  as  the  operators  have  shut  down  for 
half  time. 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Mine.  St.  Louis. 

6-inch  lump,  egg  or  nut . $1.75  $2.47)4 

No.  2  stove .  1.50  2.22)4 

Screenings  . 60  1.32)4 

The  demand  for  anthracite  has  slacked  off  a 


little,  but  is  still  moving  freely. 

Anthracite —  F.  O.  B.  St.  Louis. 

Chestnut  . $7.55 

Stove  or  egg .  7.30 

Grate  .  7.05 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Mine.  St.  Louis. 

I.ump  or  egg . $2.25  $4.75 

Gas  House  Coke —  F.  O.  B.  St.  Louis. 

Gas  house  coke . $4.25 

By-product  coke  (all  sizes) .  4.50 


The  prices  on  Illinois  soft  coal,  f.  0.  b.  East  St.  LoUis. 
Madison,  Venice  or  Granite  City,  III.,  are  20  cents  lower 
than  the  above  quoted  St.  Louis  prices. 


No.  20] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


401 


Louisville  Trade. 


Li)LUb\  ii.i.E,  Kv.,  Novemlier  ]  l.-~(Spcctal  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — The  continued  prosperity  of  the 
coal  trade  in  this  section  at  the  present  is  thrpt- 
ened  by  the  declining  activity  in  domestic  sizes 
due  to  the  long  continued  Indian  summer.  .Al¬ 
ready  there  are  evidences  that  prices  are  being 
shaded  by  producers  and  shippers  in  an  effort 
to  keep  their  mines  going  and  there  is  some 
danger  that  unless  operators  will  get  together 
and  decide  to  restrict  loading  to  three  or  four 
days  per  week  for  the  present,  the  market  can 
be  rapidly  over-supplied  and  domestic  grades  be 
forced  down  to  a  summer  price  basis  very 
quickly. 

Most  coal  men  feel  confident  that  all  that  is 
needed  is  a  week  or  two  of  cold  weather  to  put 
the  market  again  on  its  feet  and  that  funda¬ 
mental  conditions  in  regard  to  the  outlook  are 
still  extremely  good,  but  certain  it  is  that  car 
supply  has  relaxed  somewhat  in  the  past  ten 
days  and  the  increased  shipments  of  domestic 
coal  are  not  being  readily  absorbed.  Coincidently 
the  demand  for  steam  coal  is  not  quite  so  active 
as  it  was  several  weeks  back,  although  there  is 
apparently  no  lessening  of  industrial  activity  in 
this  section. 

The  retail  coal  business,  both  in  small  towns 
and  the  principal  market  points,  such  as  Louis¬ 
ville  has  dwindled  to  almost  nothing,  as  there 
has  so  far  this  fall  been  only  two  or  three  days 
when  it  was  necessary  to  have  fire  for  heating 
dwellings.  The  coldest  weather  experienced  so 
far  prevailed  during  the  latter  part  of  August 
and  the  early  part  of  September  and  practically 
the  entire  months  of  October  and  November  to 
date  has  been  a  procession  of  clear,  mild  days. 

Production  of  coal  has  been  extraordinarily 
heavy  in  eastern  Kentucky.  A  great  number  of 
mines  report  that  their  total  loading  for  October 
was  beyond  any  previous  months.  With  more 
plentiful  car  supply  November  loading  promises 
to  be  as  large,  if  not  larger.  In  view  of  this 
situation  a  decline  in  prices  must  be  expected 
unless  operators  get  together  and  restrict  their 
tonnage. 

There  is  no  change  in  the  retail  coal  situation 
in  Louisville  where  prices  are  still  maintained  on 
a  basis  that  makes  the  handling  of  every  ton  of 
coal  an  expense — or  very  little  if  any  profit — to 
the  dealers.  All  of  the  rail  coal  dealers  would 
he  glad  to  advance  prices  twenty-five  to  fifty 
cents  per  ton  and  earn  a  profit  on  their  business, 
but  the  stumbling  block  seems  to  be  one  or  two 
of  the  river  coal  dealers.  Possibly  the  situa¬ 
tion  will  not  be  solved  until  the  sources  of  sup¬ 
ply  both  of  rail  and  river  coal  compel  a  radical 
advance  of  price,  in  which  event  dealers  may  be 
wise  enough  to  fix  and  maintain  their  new  prices 
on  a  basis  which  will  permit  a  profit. 

The  prices  on  high  grade  eastern  Kentucky 
block  coal  range  from  $1.6.5  to  $2.10  f.  o.  b. 
mines;  lump,  .$1.50  to  $1.85;  egg,  $1.20  to  $1.50; 
straight  mine  run,  $1  to  $1.10;  high  grade  nut 
and  slack,  sixty  to  seventy  cents  ;  low  grade  nut 
and  slack,  thirty  to  fifty  cents. 


Detroit  Trade. 


Detroit,  Mich.,  November  11. —  (Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — Following  a  slight  spurt  of  ac¬ 
tivity  the  latter  part  of  last  week  the  steam  coal 
trade  has  relapsed  into  a  more  sluggish  condi¬ 
tion. 

While  current  sales  continue  to  represent  a 
considerable  tonnage  in  the  aggregate,  buyers 
seem  to  be  more  dilatory  in  placing  their  orders 
and  their  attitude  of  holding  off  is  reflected  in  a 
noticeable  reduction  of  business.  The  situation 
has  been  aggravated  to  some  extent  by  the  strike 
of  Michigan  Central  railroad  clerks,  which  had 
the  effect  of  holding  liack  shipments  and  in  one 
instance,  at  least,  is  said  to  have  come  very  near 
delaying  delivery  until  a  large  manufacturing 
plant  was  in  imminent  peril  of  being  forced  to 
suspend  operations  for  lack  of  fuel  supply.  The 
movement  of  freight  over  the  Michigan  Central 
is  said  to  be  proceeding  more  freely  this  week. 

Fine  coals  seem  to  find  a  readier  market  than 
the  larger  sizes,  although  customers  for  lump  and 
egg  also  are  found  with  a  little  more  effort.  The 
amount  of  consignment  coal  here  is  not,  just 
now,  causing  much  annoyance  and  the  offerings 
of  such  stock  at  prices  below  mine  schedule  are 
not  very  frequent.  Such  sales  are  reported,  how¬ 
ever. 

Temperature  conditions  have  not  yet  become 
severe  enough  to  produce  any  important  demand 
for  domestic  coal.  Hocking  and  Jackson  Hill 
lump  show  a  moderate  degree  of  activity.  Retail 


dealers  appear  to  have  considerable  stock  remain¬ 
ing  to  be  sold  before  they  will  he  ready  to  do 
much  new  buying. 

Complaint  is  heard  that  car  shortage  is  soon 
likely  to  become  an  important  factor  in  the  situ¬ 
ation,  hut  no  serious  trouble  has  yet  developed. 
The  lack  of  cars  is  said  to  be  especially  notice¬ 
able  in  the  Penn.sylvania  mine  districts. 

In  the  anthracite  trade,  business  also  falls  be¬ 
low  the  expectations  of  shippers,  although  re¬ 
tailers  have  been  handling  some  business  that 
was  withheld  by  customers,  who  usually  do  their 
buying  earlier  in  the  year.  The  car  shortage  on 
eastern  lines  is  not  noticeably  hindering  ship¬ 
ments. 

Coal  shipments  to  the  head  of  Lake  Superior  in 
October  made  a  better  showing  than  was  ex¬ 
pected,  the  movement  of  1, 643,283  tons  of  soft 
coal,  comparing  with  1,601,111  tons  in  October, 
1914,  and  with  1,697,821  tons  in  the  similar  month 
two  years  ago,  while  hard  coal  shipments  of 
260,188  tons,  were  an  increase  in  contrast  to  237,- 
710  tons  a  vear  ago,  though  under  the  October, 
1913,  total  of  292,690  tons. 


Prices  in  the  local 

market  on  mine 

shipment 

orders  are  as  follows: 

F.  O.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

West  Virginia  Gas — 

Mines. 

Detroit. 

Three-quarter  lump . 

.  $1.00 

$2.40 

Mine  run . 

.  .90 

2.30 

Slack  . 

2.00@2.15 

West  Virginia  Splint — 

rour-inch  lump . 

.  1.46@1.75 

2.85@3.15 

Two-inch  lump . 

.  1.20@1.40 

2.60@2.80 

Three-quarter  . 

.  1.10 

2.50 

Mine  run . 

2.30 

Nut,  pea  and  slack . 

1.95@2.05 

Smokeless — 

Lump  and  egg  . 

.  2.25 

3.85 

Nut  . 

.  1.75 

3.35 

Slack  . 

Open 

Mine  run . 

3.00 

Kentucky  Splint — 

Lumj)  . 

3.15@3.40 

I'-gg  . 

.  1.25@1.40 

2.65@2.80 

Nut,  pea  and  slack . 

.  .66 

2.05 

Fairmount — 

Three-quarter  steam  lump. 

. 86@  .95 

S.25@2.36 

Mine  run . 

. 70@  .80 

2.1002.20 

Slack  . 

Open 

Hocking  Valley — 

Sh.iker  three-inch  lunp... 

.  1.7.') 

2.90 

Shaker  egg  and  nut . 

.  1.15 

2.30 

Domestic  lump  . 

.  1.50 

2.65 

Three-quarter  lump . 

.  1.35 

2.40 

Mine  run . 

2.15@2.25 

Nut,  pea  and  slack . 

Open 

Pittsburgh  No.  8 — 

Three-quarter  lump  . 

.  1.05 

2.20 

Mine  run  . 

.  .95 

2.10 

Slack  . 

Open 

Jackson  Hill — 

Domestic  lump . 

.  2.50 

3.65 

Cambridge — 

Three-quarter  lump . 

.  1.20 

2.35 

Mine  run . 

.  1.10 

2.25 

Pomeroy — 

Two  and  three-inch  lump. 

.  1.60 

2.75 

Fgg  . 

.  1.35 

2.50 

Slack  . 

Open 

Indianapolis  Trade. 


Iniii.\n.'>iPoi,is,  Ind.,  November  11. — ■(.'Special 
Correspondence.) — The  demand  for  steam  coal  is 
improving  slowly  but  quite  steadily  in  Indiana, 
l)ut  prices  remain  the  same  as  they  have  been  for 
several  weeks.  The  demand  for  domestic  coal  is 
about  the  same  as  it  was  a  week  ago.  It  is  not 
moving  rapidly  for  the  reason  that  the  weather  is 
against  the  trade.  However,  prices  are  holding 
up  fairlv  well.  The  encouraging  feature  of  the 
market  is  the  increasing  demand  for  steam  coal 
indicating  that  the  long  delayed  revival  in  busi¬ 
ness  may  be  about  due.  President  Kurrie  of  the 
Monon  Railroad  while  here  this  week  sounded  an 
optimistic  note  when  he  said  that  the  business  on 
his  line  is  increasing  and  that  October  was  the 
Iiest  month  in  its  history.  He  pointed  out  that 
the  Monon  is  a  north  and  south  road  and  that 
its  increased  prosperity  cannot  lie  charged  up  to 
hauling  war  orders.  The  increase  comes  from 
coal,  stone  and  other  products.  President  Kur- 
rie's  statement  is  one  of  the  most  cheerful  given 
out  here  in  a  long  time  and  it  is  significant  since 
it  is  hacked  up  with  figures.  The  movement  of 
steam  coal  is  now  fairly  strohg,  wliile  domestic, 
although  it  is  less  than  it  was  a  month  ago,  is 
fairly  steady.  The  retailers  are  enjoying  a  fairly 
good  trade  and  it  is  said  that  collections  are 
much  better  than  they  were  a  few  weeks  ago. 

The  following  prices  are  being  (jiioted  by  the 


wholesalers : 

F.  O.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

Indiana^ 

Mines. 

Indianapolis. 

Mine  run,  No.  4 . 

$1.60@1.60 

Mine  run,  Nos.  5  and  6 . 

....  1 . 0  5  {3  1 . 1 5 

1..55@1.65 

Nut  . 

.  1.20@1.30 

1.70@1.80 

Kgg  . 

.  1.30@1.40 

1.80@1.90 

I'/i-inch  steam  lump . 

....  L25(ffi  1.35 

].75@>1.8r) 

No.  4  screenings . 

1.20(^1.25 

Nos.  5  and  G  screenings . 

1.05®  1.1.') 

3*/4-inch  domestic  No.  4 . 

,  .  .  .  .  1 .50(2)  1.55 

2.oo@i2.nr. 

No.  4  domestic . 

.  i.ooiai.o'i 

2.10@2.1.5 

Nos.  5  arul  6  domestic . 

.  |.40(®1.60 

1.90@i2.10 

l»ra?il  block  domestic . . 

.  2.25@2..')0 

2.75  @2. .'■.II 

No.  1  washed  coal . 

.  1.75 

2.25 

No.  2  washed  coal .  1.65  2.15 

Southern  Indiana  Field — 

Mine  run .  1.05@1.10  . 

Domestic  lump .  1.40@1.50  . 


Twin  Cities  Market. 


Min.xeai’olis,  Minn,  Novemlier  11. —  (Special 
Correspondence.) — As  usual  at  this  season  of 
tlie  year,  the  coal  business  has  resolved  itself  into 
a  weather  proposition,  and  while  all  grades  of 
coal  are  in  fair  demand,  there  is  not  the  snap  to 
the  trade  there  would  he  under  more  favoralile 
weather  conditions. 

Dealers,  as  well  as  consumers,  have  yielded  to 
the  allurements  of  the  weather  man  to  such  an 
extent  they  order  coal  as  they  would  eggs,  and 
expect  it  to  be  delivered  with  the  same  prompt¬ 
ness.  While  bins  are  full,  their  capacity  is  small 
and  real  old-fashioned  November  weather  will 
soon  deplete  them  and  set  the  telephones  and 
telegraph  wires  a  tingle  wdth  hurryup  orders. 

These  conditions  are  coming  to  an  end,  how¬ 
ever,  for  today  the  local  weather  bureau  has  is¬ 
sued  a  storm  bulletin  warning  shippers  of  the 
approach  of  a  cold  wave,  and  in  consequence  re¬ 
newed  activity  may  he  looked  for  wdth  confi¬ 
dence,  and  as  the  heavy  coal  movement  w’ill  come 
simultaneously  with  the  tremendous  grain  move¬ 
ment  now  in  progress,  a  more  or  less  serious  car 
shortage  liids  fair  to  develop.  The  dealers  who 
are  foresighted  enough  to  place  orders  in  ad¬ 
vance  of  their  requirements  will  he  in  clover 
while  their  slower  competitors  will  liemoan  tlieir 
lack  of  wisdom. 

The  enormous  crop  movement  is  in  full  swing 
and  it  is  considered  a  poor  day  when  less  than 
a  thousand  or  fifteen  hundred  cars  of  grain  are 
received  on  the  Minneapolis  market.  The  mills 
are  lireaking  all  records  in  the  production  of  flour 
and  have  sufficient  orders  hooked  ahead  to  keep 
them  Inisy  for  w'eeks  to  come. 

Prices  are  firm  on  Illinois  coal  and  dealers  are 
getting  over  their  former  tendency  to  shop 
around  before  placing  orders.  The  advance  in 
freight  rates  of  ten  cents  per  ton  on  coal  from 
Indiana  and  Illinois  has  caused  several  large 
users  of  steam  coal  to  turn  to  the  docks  for  their 
supply  and  in  most  instances  they  have  been  able 
to  fill  their  requirements  at  prices  twenty-live  to 
fifty  cents  under  circular.  The  Illinois  shippers 
feel  this  loss  of  business  keenly  and  only  the  fu¬ 
ture  can  determine  how  serious  the  inroads  on 
their  business  will  he. 

Dock  prices  on  soft  coal  are  becoming  firmer, 
although  there  is  complaint  of  some  cutting  on 
team  delivery  to  the  larger  users  of  steam  coal  in 
the  Tw’in  Cities.  It  is  believed,  however,  that  the 
advent  of  real  winter  and  the  increased  demand 
from  manufacturing  plants,  all  of  whom  are 
practically  on  a  full-time  basis,  will  serve  to  stif¬ 
fen  prices  and  thus  restore  the  parity  between 
the  docks  and  Illinois  shippers. 

Current  prices  on  coal  sold  in  this  market  are 
as  follows: 

.■\XT1IR.\CITE. 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Duluth  Minneapolis 
and  and 

Superior  St.  Paul 


Grate  .  $6.60  $7.80 

Kgg  .  6.85  8.05 

Stove  .  6.85  8.05 

Xut  .  7.10  8.30 

I^ea  .  5.50  6.70 

Huckwhent  .  LOO  5.20 


BITUMINOUS. 


Splint,  screened  lump  and  stove.! 

$3.30@3.40 

$4.26@4.36 

Splint,  dock  run . 

3.10 

4.06 

Hocking,  screened  lump  and  stove 

3.30@3.40 

4.26@4.36 

Hocking,  dock  run . 

.1.00 

3.96 

Voughioglieny,  gas,  lump  and  stove 

3.:i()@3.40 

4.26@4.36 

Voughioghenv,  gas,  dock  run . 

Pittsburgh  vein,  lump . 

3.10 

1.06 

4.26@4.36 

Pittsburgh  vein,  dock  run . 

.‘LCD 

3.96 

Pocahontas,  screened  lump  or  egg 
Pocahontas,  screened  lump  aiul 

4.75 

5.71 

egg  mixed . 

l..■in 

.5.46 

l*ocahontas.  mine  run . 

3.25 

4.21 

Cannel,  lump . 

5.25 

6.21 

.'smithing,  hulk . 

1.2.') 

5.21 

Smithing,  in  100  lb.  sacks . 

6.00 

Briquets,  anthracite . 

5.00 

5.96 

Briquets,  smokeless . 

.).00 

5.96 

In  the  Illinois  trade  the 

range  of 

prices  on 

.southern  Illinois  product  on 
as  follows: 

the  various  sizes  is 

Southern  Illinois  chunks . $l.65@  1.7.5 

Southern  Illinois  egg .  1. 65@  1.7.5 

Southern  Illinois  No.  1  nut .  1.6.5@1.75 

Southern  Illinois  No.  2  nut .  1.40@l.'>0 

Southern  Illinois  No.  3  nut .  1.10@1.2.) 

Southern  Illinois  run  of  mine....  1.15(®1.25 

Southern  Illinois  2*in.  screenings..  .60@  .70 


$.3.95@4.05 
3.0.5@4.0.) 
3.95@4.0.5 
3.70(®3.80 
:5.40@3..55 
,3. 45  @.3.  .5  5 
3.90@4.00 


Southern  Illinois  includes  l-'ranklin  county, 
Harrisburg  and  Williamson  count\'. 


Col.  T.  N.  Morduc  of  Castner,  Curran  &•  Bul¬ 
litt  spent  several  days  calling  on  friends  in  the 
trade  this  week. 


402 


[Novem'ber  13 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


New  York  Trade. 

Anthracite  Market  Healthy  With  Pro¬ 
duction  at  Maximum — Bituminous 
Strong. 

Office  of  The  Rl.'vck  Diamonh, 
New  York,  November  11. 

'I'he  anthracite  market  can  be  .said  to  lie  very 
healthy.  While  the  wholesalers  report  retail  buy¬ 
ing  not  as  active  as,  say,  a  week  or  ten  days  ago, 
yet  there  is  sufficient  new  business  coming  in 
from  day  to  day,  together  with  unfdled  orders, 
to  take  care  of  the  full  output  of  the  mines, 
which  just  now  are  running  at  capacity,  or  as 
near  that  state  as  labor  and  car  supply  will 
permit.  Car  shortage  in  the  anthracite  regions 
has  not  reached  the  acute  stage  that  it  has  in 
the  bituminous  fields,  but  every  day  or  so  col¬ 
lieries  here  and  there  are  not  able  to  work 
full  because  of  insufficient  cars. 

Most  of  the  companies  report  egg  easy,  with 
stove  and  chestnut  receiving  the  most  urgent 
call.  Some  individuals  are  selling  egg  at  ten 
to  fifteen  cents  off  circular.  Chestnut  with  most 
individuals  is  short.  This  is  also  true  with  com¬ 
panies  that  have  a  western  outlet.  Shipments 
west  have  been  greatly  delayed,  both  the  lake  and 
all-rail.  Lake  shipments  have  been  held  up,  due 
to  the  lack  of  vessels.  This  has  caused  some 
accumulation  of  loaded  cars  between  the  mines 
and  Buffalo.  This  is  one  reason  for  a  shortage 
of  cars  at  certain  mines. 

Moreover,  there  is  a  big  call  just  now  for  ship¬ 
ments  to  western  points  all-rail.  These  ship¬ 
ments  have  been  very  much  delayed  because  suit¬ 
able  cars  cannot  be  obtained.  In  the  east  the 
all-rail  trade  is  the  most  active. 

Anthracite  shipments  for  October,  aggregating 
(),d05,892  tons,  as  compared  with  6,644,476  tons 
in  October,  1914,  are  given  in  detail  elsewhere  in 
this  issue.  For  the  first  ten  months  of  the  year 
shipments  aggregated  53,885,003  tons,  a  decrease 
of  3,827,054  tons  as  compared  with  the  first  ten 
months  of  1914.  Stocks  at  tidewater  on  Octo¬ 
ber  31  were  625,821  tons,  as  compared  with  633,- 
338  tons  on  hand  September  30,  a  decrease  of 
7,517  tons  for  the  month. 

Steam  sizes  are  strong.  Pea  coal  is  very  scarce 
with  certain  shippers,  offers  at  tidewater  being 
very  few.  The  all-rail  trade  is  apparently  ab¬ 
sorbing  a  great  deal  of  pea  just  now.  This  size 
in  greater  New  York  city  has  practically  ceased 
to  fill  a  large  need  as  a  steam  coal.  Number  1 
buckwheat  is  strong,  and  the  full  circular  is 
readily  obtained  for  good  grades.  Cheaper  grades 
sell  at  fifteen  to  twenty  cents  below  circular. 
Rice  is  very  active,  especially  on  choice  grades. 
Barley  sells  at  $1.75  and  up,  and  is  in  fair  de¬ 
mand. 

Upper  Lower 

Ports.  Ports. 


Broken  .  $5.10  $5.00 

Pgg  .  5.35  5.25 

Stove  .  5.35  5.25 

Chestnut  .  6.60  5.50 

Pea  .  3.55  3.45 


Special  grades  of  red  ash  and  other  high- 
grade  coals  at  the  lower  ports  sell  at  twenty- 
five  to  fifty  cents  per  ton  over  above  figures. 

Spot  prices  in  individual  coals  at  lower 
ports  are  about  as  follows: 


ligg  . $5.05  and  up 

Stove  .  5.20  and  up 

Nut  .  5.20  and  up 

Pea  .  3.25  and  up 

Buck  .  2.30  and  up 

Rice  .  2.00  and  up 

Barley  .  1.75  and  up 


The  Bituminous  Situation. 

The  bituminous  situation  continues  strong. 
While  spot  demand  is  not  so  insistent,  except  in 
few  instances,  yet  there  seems  to  be  a  tendency 
on  the  part  of  some  of  the  very  large  consumers 
to  increase  their  contract  shipments,  and  in  such 
instances  large  shippers  are  known  to  have  been 
scouring  the  spot  market  for  desirable  qualities 
of  coal  evidently  to  use  on  contract  purposes. 
The  railroads  continue  to  stock  coal  though  this 
work  is  not  taking  tonnage  on  the  scale  as  was 
the  case  in  September. 

Practically  in  every  region  that  ships  coal  east¬ 
ern  producers  have  sufficient  orders  to  keep  their 
mines  going  on  as  full  time  as  labor  and  car 
supply  will  permit.  Some  of  the  producers  can 
ship  easily  fifty  per  cent  more  coal  than  they  are 
producing  upon  contract  requirements.  This 
means  that  they  have  consumers  as  customers 
who  would  stock  some  coal  just  about  now  were 
they  able  to  secure  it. 

Prices  continue  strong,  mine  prices  on  Penn¬ 
sylvania  grades  ranging  from  $1.15  up.  Tide¬ 


water  prices  at  New  York  harbor  ports  range 
from  $2.75  up,  and  only  a  small  amount  of  free 
coal  is  to  be  found  at  the  ports.  Slack  has  sold 
upwards  of  $1  at  the  mines.  Shippers  say  that 
car  supply  is  very  bad,  and  that  while  there  may 
be  ample  coal  cars  on  Monday  and  Tuesday  of 
each  week,  that  the  supply  will  be  very  short 
during  the  remainder  of  the  week.  Some  com¬ 
plaint  is  made  about  the  delay  in  transportation 
of  coal  from  the  mines  to  destination,  but  con¬ 
sidering  the  very  heavy  amount  of  munitions, 
grain  and  merchandise  of  all  kinds  that  is  being 
rushed  to  the  seaboard  at  this  time,  the  coal 
movement  can  be  said  to  be  very  fair. 

The  Vessel  Situation. 

Coastwise  rates  are  very  firm,  and  vessels  read¬ 
ily  secure  $1  from  Hampton  Roads  to  Boston. 
It  is  believed  in  some  quarters  that  rates  will 
go  even  higher,  as  there  is  very  little  tonnage 
open,  a  great  deal  of  tonnage  having  been  placed 
under  contract  recently.  From  Baltimore  and 
Philadelphia  to  New  England  points  rates  are 
also  strong,  while  rates  from  New  York  via 
the  sound  are  strong. 

Off-shore  rates,  especially  to  the  Mediter¬ 
ranean,  are  very  stiff,  the  rate  of  70s  to  75s  to 
the  west  coast  of  Italy  prevailing  this  week,  mak¬ 
ing  exports  practically  prohibitive  at  this  time. 

We  quote  current  rates  on  freight  as  follows: 

From  Hampton  Roads  to  Boston,  eighty-five 
cents  to  $1  is  about  the  range ;  to  Portland  and 
points  east  of  Boston,  from  ninety-five  centS'  to 
$1.10.  To  sound  points,  eighty  to  eighty-five 
cents.  From  Philadelphia  to  New  England 
points,  about  five  cents  under  the  Hampton  Roads 
rates. 

From  New  York  to  sound  points  as  follows: 
Bridgeport,  thirty-five  cents;  New  Haven,  forty- 
five  cents;  Providence,  fifty  cents;  New  Bed¬ 
ford,  fifty-five  cents.  To  Boston,  around  cape, 
sixty  to  seventy  cents ;  through  canal,  seventy- 
five  to  eighty  cents.  Harbor  rates  twenty  to 
twenty-five  cents. 

Current  quotations  on  bituminous  coal  in  spot 
lots  are : 


F.  O.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

Somerset  County — 

Harbor. 

Mines. 

Best  grades . 

$1.40 

Ordinary  . 

1.20 

Medium  grades . 

1.15 

Cambria  County — 

Best  Miller  vein . 

.  3.00 

1.45 

Medium  grades . 

.  2.80 

1.25 

Cheaper  grades . 

1.15 

Clearfield  County — 

Best  grade . 

.  3.00 

1,35 

Ordinary  grades . 

.  2.70 

1.15 

Indiana  County — 

Best  grade . 

.  2.80 

1.25 

Medium  grade . 

.  2.70 

1.15 

Maryland — 

Georges  Creek  big  vein . 

.  3.15 

1.65 

West  Virginia — 

Ordinary  grades . 

.  2.65 

1.10 

P.est  gas,  ^-inch  lump . 

.  2.00 

1.30 

Best  grade,  run  of  mine . 

.  2.70 

.95 

Gas  slack . 

.90@1.15 

New  York  Trade  Briefs. 

J.  L.  Rilley,  of  Duncan  &  Spangler  of  Phila¬ 
delphia,  was  in  New  York  Monday. 

Fred  McCann  and  W.  J.  Osgood,  of  the  E.  M. 
Alden  Company  of  Boston,  were  visitors  to  New 
York  City  Monday. 

James  Gregory  of  Ira  Gregory  &  Co.,  an  old 
established  retail  concern  of  Bridgeport,  Conn., 
was  in  New  York  City  on  Monday. 

A.  S.  Cary,  vice-president  of  the  Eastern  Coal 
&  Export  Corporation,  of  Richmond,  Va.,  was  a 
visitor  to  New  York  City  on  Monday. 

At  a  directors’  meeting  of  the  New  York,  New 
Haven  &  Hartford  Railroad  held  on  Tuesday, 
George  G.  Yeomans  was  appointed  purchasing- 
agent,-  to  succeed  H.  A.  Fabian,  who  resigned. 

R.  R.  Bunnell,  formerly  representing  the 
Skeele  Coal  Company,  Massachusetts,  resigned 
effective  last  week,  to  become  eastern  representa¬ 
tive  of  the  Seiler-BIanchard  Company  of  New 
York.  He  will  make  his  headquarters  in  Spring- 
field,  Mass. 

A  well  known  bituminous  operator  said  on 
Monday  that  labor  is  usually  short  on  Mondays 
and  Tuesdays,  whereas  the  car  supply  is  good, 
and  that  during  the  remainder  of  the  week  labor 
is  plentiful  and  car  supply  short.  He  stated  that 
during  the  month  of  October  the  Baltimore  & 
Ohio  furnished  about  seventy-four  per  cent  of  a 
full  car  supply,  but  that,  due  to  the  inability  of 
certain  operators  to  make  the  car  and  labor  sup¬ 
ply  tongue  and  groove,  that  some  of  them  barely 
got  out  more  than  fifty  per  cent  of  their  normal 
output  during  the  month. 

Joseph  Morrison,  Jr.,  president  of  the  Clarks¬ 
burg  Coal  Mining  Company,  recently  returned 


to  his  New  York  office  after  a  visit  to  the  opera¬ 
tions  of  his  company  in  West  Virginia.  Mr. 
Morrison  reports  that  the  coal  trade  in  the  Fair¬ 
mont  region  was  very  active,  with  car  supply 
very  short.  He  has  recently  purchased  a  new 
gasoline  motor  to  use  in  his  mine,  and  the  daily 
production  will  be  materially  increased. 

A  French  trade  commission,  representing  the 
industrial,  commercial,  agricultural  and  banking 
interests  of  France,  arrived  in  New  York  on 
Tuesday.  This  commission,  consisting  of  five 
members,  have  come  to  this  country  as  repre¬ 
sentatives  of  the  French  government  to  study  in¬ 
dustrial  conditions  in  the  United  States.  It  is 
stated  that  heavy  purchases  of  machinery  will 
be  made  by  the  commission  before  leaving  for 
France.  France  has  been  spending  about  $160,- 
000,000  a  year  in  Germany  for  machinery,  and 
it  is  stated  that  in  the  future,  or  for  a  number 
of  years  at  least,  France  will  take  its  machinery 
supplies  from  the  United  States.  France  figures 
that  labor  is  going  to  be  very  scarce  following 
the  war,  and  that  the  section  of  the  country  that 
has  been  occupied  by  Germany,  in  which  war 
has  been  raging  for  more  than  a  year,  will  need 
complete  rebuilding.  As  a  member  of  the  com¬ 
mission  puts  it:  “There  is  plenty  of  business 
for  our  manufacturers,  Init  there  is  not  enough 
labor.  With  the  population  reduced  by  the  war 
we  will  be  compelled  to  equip  our  factories  with 
modern  machinery  that  will  take  the  place  of 
hand  labor.  We  expect  to  buy  certain  machinery 
in  the  United  States.  Our  object  is  to  modernize 
the  factories  destroyed  by  the  war.  This  coun¬ 
try  must  furnish  the  machinery  material  for  re¬ 
building  the  industries  of  France.  We  undertake 
to  strengthen  the  trade  relations  between  France 
and  America,  and  the  work  of  this  mission  will 
last  five  or  more  years  after  peace  has  been 
declared.  About  $160,000,000  a  year  is  spent  by 
France  in  Germany  for  machinery  alone,  and  is 
a  very  small  estimate  of  what  will  be  spent  by 
our  people  in  America  when  trade  conditions  be¬ 
come  normal.’’ 


Buffalo  Trade. 


Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  November  11. —  (Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — The  shipments  of  anthracite  hy 
lake  for  the  past  week  were  109,800  tons,  which 
is  a  low  average  for  this  time  of  year.  The  car¬ 
goes  cleared  as  follows:  Duluth-Superior,  36,000 
tons;  Chicago,  25,400;  Fort  William,  19,500; 
Milwaukee,  16,300;  Sheboygan,  6,600;  Waukegan, 
5,500;  Port  Huron,  500.  The  number  of  cargoes 
averages  about  three  a  day,  while  the  number  of 
vessels  leaving  here  light  is  several  times  that 
many. 

The  demand  for  vessels  to  bring  wheat  from 
Lake  Superior  ports  and  the  lack  of  grain  at 
Lake  Michigan  ports  have  made  it  difficult  to  get 
tonnage  for  the  latter  route.  But  for  the  fact 
that  coal  shippers  have  contracted  for  vessels 
largely  the  rates  would  go  very  high.  A  few  car¬ 
goes  have  been  taken  for  Milwaukee  at  fifty 
cents,  as  compared  with  thirty  early  in  the  sea¬ 
son,  and  brokers  say  that  none  could  be  obtained 
at  the  former  figure  now.  Shippers  are  offering 
seventy-five  cents  to  ports  like  Racine  and 
Kenosha.  The  vessels  taking  these  cargoes  are 
lialde  to  be  sent  to  Lake  Superior  light  after 
grain,  which  accounts  for  the  dislike  of  going  to 
Lake  Michigan.  ^ 

A  fairly  good  demand  for  anthracite  prevails 
just  now,  with  a  large  share  of  it  centered  in 
chestnut,  which  is  more  active  than  for  some 
weeks.  The  weather  has  been  seasonably  chilly 
and  a  large  quantity  of  coal  has  lately  been  con¬ 
sumed,  so  that  dealers’  stocks  have  needed  con¬ 
siderable  replenishment.  The  lack  of  cars  con¬ 
tinues  and  coal  is  not  coming  forward  as  fast 
as  desired.  Any  sudden  change  to  still  colder 
weather  would  result  in  a  large  amount  of  buy¬ 
ing  and  it  would  be  impossible  for  the  companies 
to  fill  their  orders  promptly. 

The  bituminous  trade  is  steady  and  the  volume 
is  larger  than  a  few  weeks  ago.  Disappointment 
exists,  however,  that  it  is  not  still  heavier,  and 
for'this  condition  the  lack  of  demand  for  coal  on 
a  large  scale  by  Canada  is  assigned.  The 
Canadian  market  is  much  depressed  and  from 
some  sections  it  is  reported  that  coal  is  so  plenti¬ 
ful  that  prices  are  hardly  up  to  what  they  are  in 
Buffalo.  But  the  market  generally  shows  in¬ 
creased  strength  and  no  big  amounts  of  consign¬ 
ment  coal  are  threatening  it. 

The  strength  of  the  coke  market  continues  and 
prices  are  the  . highest  they  have  been  this  year. 
For  seventy-two  hour  Connellsville  foundry  coke 
buyers  have  to  pay  at  least  $4.8.5,  while  furnace 
and  stock  coke  are  both  very  strong. 


No.  20] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


403 


Philadelphia  Trade. 

Feeling  in  Anthracite  Trade  Good  With 
Demand  Firm —  Bituminous 
Steady. 

Office  of  The  Black  Diamond, 
1400  Land  Title  Building, 
Phil.adelphia,  November  11. 

Business  breezes  along  at  the  same  steady  gait 
that  has  been  set  for  the  past  couple  of  months 
and  both  hard  and  soft  coal  men  who  were  in¬ 
clined  to  believe  that  it  was  only  a  flurry  that 
"shot  things  along”  are  changing  their  opinion  of 
the  market  in  general. 

In  the  anthracite  lines  there  has  been  a  better 
feeling  shown  in  the  past  week  than,  really,  since 
the  season  for  hard  coal  sales  opened.  While  the 
estimated  decrease  in  the  tonnage  was  not  as  high 
as  was  forecasted  still  the  shortage  is  well  within 
the  three  million  mark  in  production  for  this 
year  as  against  last.  This  in  itself  is  an  indica¬ 
tion  that  there  will  not  be  a  volume  of  coal  on 
hand  when  the  real  cold  weather  comes.  The 
mines  are  running  full  time  and  there  has  been 
no  untoward  conditions  in  the  regions  so  far  to 
contend  with,  so  even  soft  weather  conditions 
have  not  been  the  detriment  that  they  usually  are. 

In  this  market  pea  is  again  “the  top  of  the 
heap.”  Demand  for  this — the  poor  man’s  fuel — 
has  again  risen  to  its  usual  November  volume 
and  the  raise  in  price  of  twenty-five  cents  on  the 
ton  did  not  in  any  way  cut  down  on  deliveries. 
Nut  coal  also  has  been  in  strong  demand,  with 
chestnut  closely  trailing  it.  The  buckwheat  and 
smaller  sizes  are  well  taken  and  the  demand  in¬ 
creased  considerably  with  cooler  weather  the 
forepart  of  the  week. 

In  the  retail  lines  there  was  an  endeavor  to  get 
the  price  cutters  and  those  who  have  slashed  even 
lower,  together  and  show  them  the  fallacy  of 
their  position.  This  came  about  through  the 
medium  of  the  Coal  Exchange.  The  effort  came 
to  little,  however,  for  the  dealers  who  have  been 
underselling  held  to  their  position  that  it  was 
strictly  their  own  affair  whether  or  not  they 
wanted  to  undersell  competitors. 

Bituminous  Situation. 

Little  change  has  been  observed  in  the  market 
here  in  the  last  week.  The  even  keel  on  which 
soft  coals  have  been  sold  during  the  last  couple 
of  weeks  continues.  The  yards  at  the  piers  are 
kept  clear  of  any  great  amount  of  free  coal  and 
spot  sales  are  made  at  varying  prices. 

The  Pennsylvania  railroad,  which  has  been 
stocking  coal  since  September,  placed  a  time  limit 
on  deliveries  for  their  requirements  at  November 
10.  This  has  again  been  raised  and  deliveries 
will  be  made  on  this  up  to  the  last  of  the  month. 
The  effect  of  this  will  be  that  Greensburg  coals 
will  be  practically  out  of  the  market  until  that 
time.  For  the  past  six  weeks  quotations  on  these 
have  not  lieen  made,  unless  for  a  scattering  car 
or  two. 

The  Fairmont  coals,  after  an  up-turn  in  price 
that  reached  as  high  as  $1.15,  have  settled  back 
and  could  be  bought  from  ninety  cents  to  a  dol¬ 
lar.  Fairmont  business  in  this  market  always 
has  peculiar  angles  and  this  time  it  was  in  the 
fact  that  the  above  price  took  in  anything  from 
nm-of-mine,  slack  or  three-quarter  inch  screened 
lump. 

Clearfield  and  Somerset  coals  are  held  from 
$1.15  up.  The  “up”  in  this  instance’  meaning  that 
higher  grades  can  be  bought  for  the  price  that 
the  mine  operators  hold  them.  And  this  consti¬ 
tutes  another  peculiar  twist  to  the  market.  The 
operators  have  set  ideas  on  what  their  coals 
should  bring,  delivered,  and  there  have  been  in¬ 
stances  within  the  week  where  coal  could  be 
bought  cheaper  at  the  piers  than  from  the  mouth 
of  the  pit. 


Philadelphia  News  Notes. 

Mr.  Burton  of  Burton,  Smith  &  Co.,  of  Boston, 
was  in  the  city  this  week. 

W.  H,  Patterson  of  the  Jaffa  Coal  Company 
of  Clearfield  was  seen  afnong  the  trade  on  Tues¬ 
day. 

J.  E.  Atkinson,  of  the  Excelsior  Coal  &  Coke 
Company  of  Harrisburg,  was  one  of  the  trade 
visitors  of  the  week. 

R.  B.  Isner,  assistant  general  manager  of  the 
Davis  Colliery  Company  at  Elkins,  W.  'Va.,  made 
a  call  at  the  local  office  while  on  a  trip  east  this 
week. 

R.  H.  Knode  of  the  National  Fuel  Company  of 
Pittsburgh  was  one  of  the  trade  visitors  of  the 
week.  Other  Pittsburgh  representatives  who 
were  in  the  city  were  George  Pauli  of  the  Com¬ 


monwealth  Fuel  Company  and  J.  H.  Hillman, 
Jr.,  of  J.  H.  Hillman  &  Sons  Company. 

H.  C.  Pearson  and  John  Kuhn  of  the  local  of¬ 
fice  of  the  Van  Wickle  estate  were  in  Hazleton 
during  the  early  part  of  the  week  looking  over 
the  properties  of  their  company. 

Morris  B.  Williams,  president  of  the  Susque¬ 
hanna  Coal  Company,  returned  last  week  from  an 
extended  trip  to  the  west,  on  which  he  reviewed 
the  trade  situation  as  far  as  Chicago. 

W.  S.  McDowell,  retail  dealer  in  Chester,  was 
one  of  the  coal  men  on  whom  political  office  has 
been  thrust.  Mr.  McDowell  was  elected  mayor 
of  Chester,  Pa.,  at  the  recent  elections. 

R.  Havemeyer  and  W.  F.  English  of  the  New 
York  office  and  Lloyd  McCrum  of  the  Victor 
Coal  Company,  Somerset,  were  callers  at  the  W. 
H.  Bradford  &  Co.’s  offices  within  the  week. 

W.  J.  White,  who  was  formerly  general  man¬ 
ager  of  the  operations  of  the  Brownfield  Coal  & 
Coke  Company  at  Uniontown,  Pa.,  has  joined  the 
local  sales  force  of  the  Gano,  Moore  Company. 

E.  H.  Hemingway,  of  W.  C.  Mason  &  Co.  of 
Hartford,  Conn.,  was  in  the  city  this  week.  Other 
New  England  visitors  w  ;re  A.  R.  Kloten  of  W. 
C.  Saxton  &  Co.  of  Albany,  N.  Y.,  and  A.  P. 
Bryant  ot  the  Spring  Coal  Company  of  Boston. 

The  “Jonancy,”  the  new  5,000-ton  collier  built 
by  the  New  York  Shipbuilding  Company  for  the 
Pocahontas  Navigation  Company,  was  launched 
at  the  company’s  yards  in  Camden  on  Tuesday  of 
this  week.  She  will  be  placed  in  the  New  Eng¬ 
land  trade  as  soon  as  completed. 

The  Emmons  Coal  Mining  Company,  which  has 
been  located  on  the  twelfth  floor  of  the  Land 
Title  building  for  more  than  a  year,  moved  to 
larger  and  more  commodious  quarters  on  the 
eighth  floor  of  the  same  location  this  week.  With 
the  move  came  also  an  enlargement  of  office 
force,  equipment  and  furniture. 

J.  Blair  Kennerly  has  leased  a  going  property 
of  550  acres  on  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  Railway 
in  Somerset  county  on  which  he  will  make  some 
improvements  and  expects  to  be  ready  to  ship 
about  January  1,  1916.  Shakers  for  making  lump 
and  egg  will  be  installed  a,nd  special  attention 
will  be  given  to  preparation  for  the  western 
markets. 

Dr.  C.  W.  A.  Veditz,  United  States  commercial 
attache  to  the  consular  service  of  Spain  and 
France,  a  former  Philadelphian,  has  returned 
from  several  months  spent  abroad.  He  is  highly 
enthusiastic  over  the  broad  scope  that  American 
coal  would  have  in  the  countries  named.  Dr. 
Veditz  is  making  his  headquarters  at  the  Cham¬ 
ber  of  Commerce  and  is  most  willing  to  supply 
information  to  those  who  are  interested  in  ex¬ 
port  trade. 

Though  a  recent  news  note  in  another  paper 
would  have  it  that  there  was  quite  a  little  mys¬ 
tery  in  the  awarding  of  a  contract  for  the  coal 
supply  of  the  Frankford  arsenal,  a  little  investi¬ 
gation  reveals  nothing  of  the  kind.  When  bids 
were  asked  last  June  for  this  supply  it  was  for 
six  months  only.  The  federal  government  had 
plans  for  a  change  in  stokerage  at  the  arsenal 
and  this  would  change  the  type  of  coal  to  be 
used.  It  was  hoped  to  have  them  installed  by  the 
fall.  This,  however,  was  found  to  be  impossible 
and  the  same  contract  as  was  offered  in  June  was 
again  opened.  The  George  B,  Newton  Coal  Com¬ 
pany  was  the  lucky  bidder  and  got  the  contract  at 
$2.78  a  ton  delivered. 

A  deal  was  consummated  early  in  the  week  by 
which  the  Midlothian  Coal  Company,  a  property 
operated  by  Percy  Heilner  &  Son  at  Dudley  in 
Huntingdon  county,  was  turned  over  to  other 
interests.  The  new  owners  will  continue  to  op¬ 
erate  the  property  under  the  former  company 
name.  W.  H.  Bradford  is  the  new  president  and 
R.  R.  Reutlinger,  secretary-treasurer.  The  output 
of  the  mines  will  be  sold  through  the  W.  H. 
Bradford  Company,  Inc.,  of  this  city.  The  Mid¬ 
lothian  property  was  opened  within  the  past  year 
and  the  new  owners  are  already  arranging  to  in¬ 
crease  its  output. 

All  sorts  of  speculation  is  being  indulged  in 
by  the  local  newspapers  as  to  the  result  of  the 
return  of  the  state  tax  on  hard  coal  to  the  retail 
merchants.  Philadelphia,  being  one  of  the  largest 
users  of  anthracite  for  household  purposes,  is 
particularly  interested  in  whether  or  no  the  con¬ 
sumer  is  to  get  some  of  the  money  that  has  been 
going  toward  an  anticipated  collection  of  the 
odious  tax.  Interviews,  ad.  lib.  have  been  pub¬ 
lished  to  indicate  that  the  small  consumer  is 
likely  to  receive  little  sympathy  from  the  retailer. 
Inability  to  trace  sales  affected  by  the  tax  is 
given  as  one  reason,  while  another  is  whether  or 
no  the  retailers  allowed  for  the  whole  absorption 
of  the  tax  fixing  their  price.  In  the  case  of 


the  large  consumers  where  tax  charges  were 
added  outright  and  so  specified  on  the  bills,  there 
will  be  no  question  as  to  these  people  getting  the 
return  of  money  that  the  tax  charge  would  indi¬ 
cate.  Few  retailers,  if  any,  made  such  indication 
on  their  bills  to  users  of  small  tonnage — and 
there  you  are.  Into  this  sorry  muddle  the  news¬ 
papers  have  injected  a  demand  that  there  be  an 
immediate  reduction  of  twenty-five  cents  a  ton 
on  retail  prices.  This  is  ludicrous.  The  1915 
law  is  still  in  effect.  The  companies  say  that  no 
return  can  be  made  until  the  unconstitutionality 
of  the  law  is  admitted  by  the  state. 

A  dispatch  from  Scranton  Pa.,  on  November 
9th,  says  that  bond  and  trust  note  holders  of  the 
Lackawanna  Coal  &  Lumber  Company,  one  of 
the  T.  J.  Foster-W.  L.  Connell  enterprises,  to 
the  number  of  150  met  here  this  afternoon  for 

the  purpose  of  devising  some  plan  of  saving  the 

company  from  the  financial  rocks. 

According  to  W.  L.  Connell,  president  of  the 
company,  who  gave  out  a  statement  following 
the  meeting,  fifty-five  per  cent  of  the  bonds  were 
represented  at  today’s  meeting  and  it  was  purely 
an  administration  gathering.  All  the  proposi¬ 

tions  submitted  by  Mr.  Connell  were  unani¬ 
mously  adopted.  The  main  one  was  that  bond 
and  note  holders  who  have  not  yet  done  so 

subscribe  up  to  six  per  cent  of  their  holdings 
of  new  bonds  of  the  company  to  be  issued  at 
seventy-five  per  cent  of  their  par  value,  with  a 
fifty  per  cent  bonus  in  stock  of  the  company.  It 
is  also  proposed  that  the  bond  and  note  holders 
surrender  their  1915  and  1916  coupons  and  their 
short  term  notes  for  preferred  stock  of  the 
company,  which  it  is  proposed  to  issue. 

Under  the  resolution  it  was  also  decided  to 
increase  the  board  of  directors  by  five  members 
to  be  chosen  from  the  bondholders,  and  it  was 
announced  at  the  conclusion  of  the  gathering  that 
those  chosen  as  members  of  the  board  were  Ed¬ 
ward  F.  Fletcher,  former  mayor  of  Worcester, 
Mass.;  James  N.  McKinney,  iron  manufacturer, 
of  Albany,  N.  Y. ;  F.  M.  Benning,  D.  L.  and 
W.  Superintendent,  Hoboken,  N.  J.;  Calvin  G. 
Turner,  of  Wilmington,  Del.,  and  George  S. 
Evans,  of  New  York. 

Following  the  meeting.  President  Connell  gave 
out  a  statement  to  the  press  in  which  he  declared 
that  the  action  of  the  bondholders  relieved  the 
company  from  all  overload  charges  for  a  period 
of  two  years,  placed  it  upon  a  strong  financial 
basis  and  gave  the  management  enough  money 
to  make  improvements  necessary  to  the  prop¬ 
erty. 


Duluth  Trade. 


Duluth,  Minn.,  November  11. —  (Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — As  compared  to  October,  1914, 
the  same  month  this  year  was  short  209,144  tons 
in  receipts  of  soft  coal,  and  ahead  by  26,493  tons 
of  hard  coal.  This  is  just  about  in  line  with  the 
situation  a:s  between  the  two  seasons  to  date.  In 
hard  coal,  up  to  November  1st,  this  year,  74,920 
tons  more  were  received  than  last  year  at  the 
head  of  the  lakes,  and  the  soft  coal  receipts  are 
1,735,687  tons  less. 

The  fact  that  a  much  larger  percentage  of  soft 
coal  was  left  on  the  docks  when  the  navigation 
season  opened  this  year  than  in  almost  any  other 
year  in  the  history  of  this  port  as  a  distributing 
point,  is  the  chief  factor  in  explanation  of  the 
shortage  of  receipts  this  season.  But  coal  dock 
superintendents  express  a  doubt  as  to  whether 
or  not  there  will  be  enough  coal  for  the  winter’s 
needs. 

The  total  receipts  to  November  1st,  this  year 
and  last,  were  as  follows : 


Anthracite. 

Bituminous. 

Total. 

1014  . 

_  1,276,000 

7,346,000 

8,623,60 

1915  . 

_  1,351,520 

5,610,313 

6,961,833 

The  receipts  last  month,  by 

companies, 

were  as 

follows  : 

Anthracite, 

Bituminous, 

Total, 

Tons, 

Tons, 

Tons, 

Northwestern  ... 

.  47,000 

70,568 

117,568 

Pittsburgh  . 

.  39,300 

69,000 

108,300 

Berwind  . 

77,600 

86,600 

Steel  Corp . 

163,500 

163,000 

Ilanna  . 

.  11.000 

75,000 

86,000 

Reiss  . 

.  14,500 

78,500 

93,000 

Carnegie  . 

.  14,000 

59,000 

73,000 

Zenith  . 

67,500 

67,500 

Clarkson  . 

.  3,000 

61.000 

64,000 

Great  I.akes . 

47,500 

29,000 

47,500 

P.  &  R . 

.  22,500 

51,500 

Northern  . 

.  9,500 

28,000 

37,500 

Lehigh  Valley  .  .  .  . 

.  19,500 

19,500 

Sunday  Creek . 

.  26,000 

26,000 

Island  Creek . 

29,000 

29,000 

Boston  . 

.  7,000 

5,000 

12,000 

Totals . 

.  223,300 

860,168 

1,082,468 

Novemlier,  to  date,  shows  even  a  heavier  fall¬ 
ing  off  in  receipts  than  that  shown  in  October. 


404 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[November  13 


New  England  Trade 


Bost(jn,  N()venil)cr  II. —  {Sficcial  Corcspoiid- 
I’licc.) — The  atmosphere  in  tlie  local  wholesale 
hituminous  trade  seems  less  depressing  than  it 
was  a  week  ago.  Xo  further  statements  have 
been  given  out  hy  the  Darrow-Mann  Company, 
the  New  England  Coal  &  Coke  Company,  or 
other  price-warring  factions.  It  would  seem  then 
that  the  better  feeling  in  the  trade  is  due  more 
to  a  revival  of  business  rather  than  to  any 
prospects  of  a  peaceful  settlement  of  1916-17 
prices. 

Unknown  to  the  trade,  however,  there  is  a  very 
strong  possibility  that  no  more  1916-17  price  con¬ 
cessions  will  be  announced  by  New  England  dis¬ 
tributors.  A  week  or  so  ago,  when  everybody 
was  completely  upset  over  price  reductions,  one 
of  the  interests  is  reputed  to  have  got  busy,  and 
within  a  few  days  secured  every  inch  of  avail¬ 
able  open  1916-17  barge  and  steamer  space.  In 
other  words,  they  practically  cornered  the  avail¬ 
able  water  freight  market,  which  naturally  places 
the  company  in  a  decidedly  favorable  position  as 
to  transportation,  and  at  the  same  time  makes 
further  bituminous  price  concessions  by  other 
concerns  a  rather  dangerous  undertaking.  The 
sharp  advance  in  water  freights  during  the  past 
week  clearly  demonstrates  that  vessel  space  is 
in  limited  supply. 

Another  feature  of  the  present  price-war  is 
that  some  of  the  firms  engaged  in  it  have  been 
unable  to  book  as  much  1916-17  business  as  they 
had  hoped  to;  consequently  further  cuts  are  not 
probable.  Consumers  and  retail  distributors,  as 
a  whole,  have  not  been  in  sympathy  with  the 
price  war  for  the  reason  that  wholesale  distribu¬ 
tors  have  not,  in  some  cases,  signified  their  in¬ 
tention  of  selling  coal  at  prices  named  in  con¬ 
tracts  unless  the  vessel  freight  rate  market  re¬ 
mained  at  the  level  quoted  a  week  ago,  or  de¬ 
clined.  The  possibility  of  being  “sewed  in”  with 
a  distributor  on  a  contract  governed  largely  by 
water  freights  and  with  possibilities  of  further 
])rice  concessions  hy  other  distributors  has  caused 
most  prospective  buyers  to  hold  off  for  further 
development.  As  matters  are  today,  however,  the 
chances  are  that  1916-17  prices  will  go  no  lower 
unless  a  sudden  ending  of  the  European  war 
should  throw  upon  the  market  a  large  amount  of 
additional  steamer  space.  The  end  of  the  Euro- 
Iiean  war  seems  a  long  way  off,  notwithstanding 
Wall  street  reports  to  the  contrary,  and  con¬ 
sumers  in  buying  coal  should  make  certain  that 
the  seller  will  be  able  to  deliver  it  next  year. 

Wholesalers  say  the  demand  for  old  contract 
coals  is  all  that  could  be  desired.  No  one  hears 
of  requests  for  deferred  deliveries  these  days, 
a  fact  attributed  by  some  houses  to  the  fact  that 
supplies  will  be  cheaper  next  year  and  that  the 
water  supply  of  many  mills,  etc.,  has  been  greatly 
reduced  within  the  past  fortnight.  Then,  too, 
hotels,  office  buildings  and  apartments  are  con¬ 
suming  more  bituminous  and  this  helps  to  deplete 
stocks  held  by  the  retail  trade.  One  actually 
hears  of  new  contracts  for  this  season’s  deliv¬ 
ery  on  a  basis  of  f.  o.  b.  Hampton  Roads 

ports  for  New  River  and  Pocahontas.  There  is 
still  plenty  of  coal  at  loading  ports,  but  there 
is  .some  question  of  getting  it  to  Boston.  Some 
of  the  wholesalers  are  not  finding  space  and  for 
lhat  reason  not  overjoyed  at  having  taken  on 
new  business.  .\t  Mystic  Wharf  more  New 
River  and  Pocahontas  has  sold  at  $:!.75  per  ton 
on  cars  during  the  past  week  than  has  been  the 
case  before  in  a  long  time.  That  market  is  very- 
far  from  active,  however,  and  a  buyer  of  large 
amounts  could  undoubtedly  secure  same  at  less 
than  $.3.7.5.  Georges  Creek,  at  iMystic  Wharf, 
is  quiet,  but  very  firm  at  $4  per  ton  or  better. 
Pennsylvania  bituminous  is  higher  at  $1.10  to 
$1.65  per  ton  on  cars  at  the  mines.  A  week  ago 
they  were  $1.05  to  $1.60.  Car  shortage  is  one  rea¬ 
son  for  the  advance  in  Pennsylvania  coals. 

The  car  shortage  is  not  limited  to  the  bitu- 
Ttiinous  field,  however.  .All-rail  anthracite  has 
been  coming  along  slowly  and  the  freight  con¬ 
gestion  at  Harlem  river  has  not  helped.  The 
demand  for  all-rail  coal,  particularly  at  Con¬ 
necticut  points,  is  excellent.  Many  cargoes  have 
been  disposed  of  since  last  reports  in  addition 
to  the  all-rail  business.  Lynn,  Salem.  Beverly, 
Boston,  Providence  and  Pawtucket  have  all 
figured  prominently  in  takings  of  large  lots  of 
anthracite.  The  best  part  of  business  is  that  the 
demand  runs  to  all  sizes,  but  stove,  as  of  old, 
is  the  best  seller.  Egg  is  in  better  demand  than 
it  has  been  before  in  a  long  time,  and  nut 
sells  well.  The  demand  for  pea,  as  one  dealer 
puts  it,  is  “fine”  and  supplies  are  quite  small. 
Broken  is  being  taken  every  day  on  a  basis  of 
$5.10  per  ton  alongside  Boston  Harbor.  There 


is  just  enough  buckwheat  coming  along  to  fill 
contracts,  and  dealers  in  almost  every  instance 
will  not  take  new  orders,  as  they  will  have  all 
they  can  do  to  su])ply  consumers’  needs  up  to 
.April  Is't. 

Vessel  space  from  Ham|)tun  Roads  ports  to 
Boston  is  now  quoted  around  $1  per  ton,  and 
there  is  nothing  in  view  to  indicate  lower  prices. 
Erom  New  York  to  Boston  the  market  is  very 
strong  at  fifty  to  fifty-five  cents  a  ton. 


Baltimore  Trade. 


Baltimore,  November  11. —  (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.') — The  export  coal  business  from 
Baltirnore  is  being  knocked  into  a  cocked-hat  by 
the  high  freight  rates  demanded  by  bottoms  not 
under  time  charters.  Grain  and  ore  men  have 
captured  most  of  the  unattached  boats  reporting 
here  by  the  offer  of  freight  rates  that  are  out  of 
reach  of  most  of  the  would-be  coal  exporters  at 
this  port.  The  result  has  been  that  there  has 
lieen  a  drop  from  the  weekly  foreign  movement 
of  between  50,000  to  80,000  tons  as  noted  in  the 
recent  summer  months  to  totals  of  between  17,000 
and  30,000  tons  for  a  six-day  working  period  at 
the  piers.  The  past  week  saw  a  movement  of 
16,925  tons  for  foreign  ports,  the  lowest  total 
loading  for  many  weeks  past. 

The  October  movement,  too,  showed  a  falling 
off  as  compared  with  recent  months,  and  the  pre¬ 
diction  is  made  that  November  will  be  consider¬ 
ably  off  those  figures.  Italy  again  took  the 
largest  amount.  The  consignments  by  foundries 
for  the  month  were: 


Sweden  .  3-2,239 

Kgypt  .  7,03.5 

Dutch  Guiana .  849 

.ygentina  .  8,10,5 

French  West  Indies .  3,247 

Spain  .  3,107 

Italy  .  .58,622 

Cuba  .  26,648 

Total  . 139,652 


Interesting  a  much  wider  field  than  exporters, 
however,  came  a  break  for  a  time  at  least  in  the 
wretched  car  situation.  Rolling  stock  was  in  bet¬ 
ter  supply  nearly  all  week,  and  while  some  did 
not  get  all  the  cars  desired,  most  of  the  producing 
interests  were  enabled  to  catch  up  on  business 
that  had  fallen  far  behind  because  coal  could  not 
he  moved  as  ordered  and  mined. 

While  there  was  a  somewhat  better  supply- 
noted  of  fuel  for  the  open  market,  there  was  no 
flood  of  coal  in  this  direction,  and  the  price  list 
remained  firm.  Contracts  existing  and  general 
business  demands  now  make  it  sure  that  but  little 
extra  coal  will  be  offered  during  the  winter 
months.  Rates  to  the  trade  are  aliout  as  fol¬ 
lows  : 


F.  0.  B. 

F.  0.  B. 

Fairmont — 

Mines. 

Baltimore. 

Three-quarter  . 

Run  or  mine . 

$2.48@2.53 

.  .95 

2.38 

Slack  . 

.  1.00 

2.43 

Somerset — 

Best  . 

.  1.45 

2.63 

Good  . 

.  1.25 

2.43 

W.  M.  R.  R.^ 

Freeport  . 

.  1  10 

2.28 

P.  R.  R.— 

Best  South  Fork . 

.  1.40 

2.58 

Miller  vein . 

.  1.30 

2.4S 

Ordinary  . 

.  1. 10 

2.28 

The  coke  market  is  possibly  a  little  easier. 
Rest  Connellsville  cokes  were  offering  around 
$2.50,  while  best  West  Virginia  products  brought 
about  .$2.35  generally.  Forty-eight  hour  Con- 
nellsvile  was  offered  at  $1.95  and  West  Virginia 
at  $1.80. 

Anthracite  men  report  that  they  are  busy. 
Smaller  sizes  are  in  specialy  good  demand,  pea 
coal  being  a  feature  of  the  market.  It  was  the 
heavy  call  for  this  fuel  that  forced  its  price  up 
a  year  or  so  ago. 

Bunker  business  is  very  good  here  just  now. 
The  foreign  fleet  moving  from  Baltimore  is  the 
largest  in  a  long  time.  .A  total  of  104  large 
foreign  steamers  reported  here  for  loading  in 
October.  The  number  of  vessels  under  Amer¬ 
ican  registry  has  also  increased  greatly  in  the 
tramp  trade,  and  about  forty  of  these  loaded  here 
for  foreign  ports  in  October. 


Denver  Trade. 


Denver,  November  11. —  (Special  Correspond¬ 
ence.) — Dullness  has  ruled  this  market  for  the 
past  ten  days,  owing  to  the  extremely  warm 
weather.  The  past  few  nights  have  been  close 
to  the  freezing  point,  however,  and  this  change 
has  materially  aided  local  retailers  this  week. 
The  storing  of  coal  for  domestic  purposes  still 
continues,  although  not  to  as  large  an  extent 
as  two  or  three  weeks  ago.  Jobbers  generally 
report  that  there  is  a  better  country  demand. 

Production  has  not  materially  decreased  from 


last  week.  Lignite  mines  are  very  busy  on  the 
sugar  factory  demand  and  tail-end  threshing  re¬ 
quirements.  The  lignite  output  -will  run  almost 
eight-five  per  cent  of  capacity  tonnage  for  the 
week. 

Trinidad  and  Walsenburg  tonnage  is  very  sat¬ 
isfactory,  and  Canon  City  is  steadily  increasing 
its  output.  Trinidad  will  lead  the  state  in  pro¬ 
duction  for  the  week,  wjth  Routt  county  a  close 
second.  The  demand  is  better  for  the  latter 
product  than  at  any  time  since  the  opening  of 
the  present  season.  Anthracite  producers  are 
swarnped  with  orders  based  on  anticipated  future 
requirements,  following  the  prediction  of  a  hard 
winter  later  on. 

There  is  no  change  in  the  slack  situation,  and 
the  supply  and  demand  for  all  grades  seems 
very  evenly  balanced.  Prices  are  unchanged. 

The  following  prices  are  ruling,  f.  o.  b.  mines, 
for  lignite:  For  Denver  delivery,  lump,  $2.35  to 
$2.65;  mine  run,  $1.50  to  $1.65;  slack,  $1.05  to 
$1.25.  Points  outside  of  Denver,  lump,  $2.50; 
mine  run,  $1.55  to  $1.65;  slack,  $1.05. 

Omaha  Trade. 


Omah,\,  Neb.,  November  11. —  (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — 'General  conditions  in  this  territory^ 
have  been  anything  but  favorable  to  the  coal  in¬ 
dustry.  Continued  warm  weather  after  a  record 
breaking  October  has  almost  completely  stopped 
the  retail  stocks  moving,  upsetting  the  calcula¬ 
tions  of  the  retail  dealers,  making  it  impossible 
for  them  in  a  great  many  instances  to  handle  coal 
which  they  had  ordered  to  finish  stocks,  result¬ 
ing  in  considerable  coal  being  refused,  and  as  a 
result,  transit  shipments  offered  at  very  low 
prices. 

The  steam  market  is  especially  weak,  Kansas 
screenings  finding  very  few  buyers  at  $1.25. 

General  business  conditions  are  good  and  the 
continued  warm  weather  has  helped  the  corn  out 
in  .some  localities. 


The  market  prices  on 

standard  lines 

of  coal 

are  as  follows : 

F.  0.  B. 

F.  0.  B. 

Southern  Kansas — 

IMines. 

Omaha. 

-\ut  . 

$3.30 

Slack  . 

1.25 

2.70 

Franklin  County — 

TAimp  . 

4.10@4.25 

i-gg  . 

4.10@4.25 

Nut  . 

1.60@1.75 

4.10@4.25 

Williamson  County — 

Lumjj  . 

S.95@4.10 

.  .  .  1  45@1  60 

3.05@4.10 

Rock  Springs — 

l-unip  . 

2.50 

6.25 

Nut  . 

1.75 

5.50 

Arkansas  Anthracite — 

Lump  . 

3.85 

6.or> 

Broke."*,  sizes . 

4.10 

7.10 

Colorado — Routt  County, 

al- 

senburg  and  C'anon  City — 

Lump  . 

3.00 

6.75 

Nut  . 

0  05 

6.00 

Pea  . 

5.00 

South'west  Trade. 


Oklahoma  City,  Okla.,  November  11. —  (Spe¬ 
cial  Correspondence.) — .As  has  been  said  in  this 
column  Oklahoma  is  industrially  and  domes¬ 
tically  in  the  clutches  of  oil  and  gas,  so  far  as 
the  coal  industry  is  concerned.  Because  this  is 
true,  the  following  editorial,  taken  from  the 
Oklahoma  City  Times,  is  full  of  hope  for  the 
"watching  and  waiting”  coal  men  of  the  state : 

“A  year  ago  the  oil  industry  was  prostrated. 
Cushing  was  producing  in  the  neighborhood  of 
:!()(), 000  barrels  of  refinable  oil  a  day,  and  every 
available  market  was  glutted. 

“.At  the  close  of  last  week  the  daily  production 
of  Cushing  was  down  to  118,000  barrels,  while 
the  total  production  of  the  Kansas,  Texas,  Okla¬ 
homa  and  Louisiana  fields,  refinable  oil,  was  363,- 
500  barrels.  In  a  very  short  time  now  the  avail¬ 
able  locations  in  the  Cushing  pool  will  have  been 
drilled  up.  When  that  time  comes  and  there  will 
be  no  more  new  wells  to  hold  up  the  daily  aver¬ 
age,  the  slump  will  be  even  more  marked.  A 
year  from  today  it  is  entirely  likely  that  the  Cush¬ 
ing  production  will  be  around  50,000  barrels  at 
the  most. 

“Thus  within  three  years  from  the  day  of  its 
discovery  the  greatest  oil  pool  ever  known  will 
have  come  and  gone.  That  is  the  history  of  oil 
fields.  .  .  . 

“There  is  an  apparent  shortage  of  oil  just  now. 
The  world  requirements  are  vast,  and  from 
whence  they  are  to  be  supplied  seems  to  be  a 
serious  question.  A^alues  are  appreciating.” 

Practically  all  the  industries  of  the  state  today 
are  using  oil  or  gas  for  fuel.  .Almost  every  city 
of  any  size  is  supplied  with  natural  gas.  Thus, 
it  would  seem,  if  the  above  prediction  is  true,  that 
the  coal  industry  in  Oklahoma  may  again  come 
into  its  own. 


1 

rHE  Black  Diamond 

Vol.  55.  No.  21 

uMB^s  NOVEMBER  20,  1915  S^^sburgh  $3.00  Per  Year 

Why  Miners  Will  Attack  Anthracite  Companies. 


Through  the  coal  trade  the  belief  is  grow¬ 
ing  rapidly  that  the  anthracite  field  is  to  be  the 
center  of  a  great  labor  struggle  next  spring. 
Among  the  long-headed  coal  men  there  are  in¬ 
dications  of  general  alarm  touching  the  coal 
supply  for  this  winter  and  next  year.  This  is 
not  yet  felt  by  the  general  run  of  coal  men. 
Certainly  the  people  themselves  have  taken  no 
notice  of  the  situation.  Not  even  in  the  east 
are  the  ultimate  consumers  storing  any  coal  to 
tide  them  over  the  period  of  labor  trouble  and 
car  shortage. 

The  labor  situation,  generally  and  specifically 
as  to  the  east,  seems  to  be  about  as  follows. 
The  international  union  is  in  debt  to  the  various 
locals  to  the  extent  of  about  $1,000,000.  It  has 
no  funds  for  a  big  fight  unless  it  can  borrow 
from  the  local  unions. 

The  state  union  in  Pennsylvania  should  be  in 
pretty  fair  financial  condition  because  its  mem¬ 
bers  have  had  work  a  good  part  of  the  time 
for  nearly  eighteen  months.  Still,  it  has  been 
extravagant  and  has  loaned  money  to  the  inter¬ 
national.  It  is  not  financially  robust. 

Ohio,  of  course,  has  no  money  left.  It  is 
as  badly  off  as  is  the  international.  It  can’t  lend 
and  may  have  to  continue  to  borrow. 

Indiana  and  Illinois  miners  have  been  working 
only  half  time  for  the  last  year  and  besides  the 
union  has  been  lending  money  to  the  international. 
The  position  of  these  states  is  only  fair.  Mich¬ 
igan  is  a  matter  of  small  consequence. 

The  southwest  has  been  working  right  steadily 
and  the  payments  by  miners  into  the  union  have 
been  fabulous.  Still,  the  state  officers  have  spent 
money  lavishly.  Also,  they  have  loaned  ex¬ 
tensively  to  the  international  union,  particularly 
to  fight  the  war  in  Colorado. 

Thus,  taking  the  situation  broadly,  the  union 
is  not  in  a  good  position  financially.  It  certainly 
is  in  no  position  to  undertake  any  such  a  national 
fight  as  would  be  indicated  by  insisting  upon  de¬ 
mands  in  all  places  where  contracts  expire  next 
.\pril.  At  the  same  time,  some  demands  must 
be  made  and  sustained  by  a  fight.  The  question 
is ;  “Just  where  is  it  most  important  to  fight 
and  just  where  have  concessions  so  far  been 
least  important?” 

Ohio  surely  has  paid  all  that  it  can.  The  union 
knows  that  it  has  gained  so  much  in  that  state 
the  operators  cannot  pay  unless  the  railroads  are 
first  robbed.  So,  the  Ohio  miners  have  started  on 
a  campaign  to  pillage  the  railroads  to  make  good 
their  demands  upon  the  operators.  Thus,  it  need 
not  be  expected  that  Ohio  will  be  the  center  of 
any  strong  demands  from  the  miners. 

No  Confiscation  Yet. 

Illinois,  likewise,  has  been  bled  until  no  more 
blood  is  left.  The  next  demand  of  the  miners’ 
union  will  be  one  of  the  semi-final  steps  toward 
the  confiscation  of  the  mines.  The  union,  while 
anticipating  such  a  movement  finally,  is  not  yet 
ready  for  such  a  bold  move.  It  has  not  the 
finances  to  support  its  proposal  to  seize.  So,  Illi¬ 
nois  need  not  be  expected  to  be  the  center  of 
any  great  labor  war.  About  the  only  thing  that 
Illinois  will  be  asked  to  do  is  to  rearrange  the 
matter  of  field  differentials.  This  need  not  be 
serious  if  the  operators  there  can  hold  together. 

Indiana  may  be  asked  to  come  up  to  Ohio’s 
standard  on  the  mine  run  question.  But  whether 
the  miners  will  make  a  stand  on  that  point  de¬ 
pends  upon  how  badly  the  union  thinks  it  needs 
Indiana  as  a  revenue  producer.  The  probabilities 
are  that  Indiana  will  not  be  disturbed,  since  the 
miners  need  money  more  than  they  need  Indiana 
in  the  list  of  “mine-run”  states. 

Iowa  and  the  southwest  always  trail  Illinois, 
so  they  need  not  be  expected  to  have  any  serious 
demands  made  upon  them. 

When  we  get  into  the  eastern  states  the  situa¬ 
tion  begins  to  change  very  rapidly.  The  east 
promises  to  be  the  seat  of  war.  As  one  man 
expressed  it : 

“It  is  a  presidential  year  next  year.  At  such 
times  no  labor  disturbances  are  wanted.  How¬ 
ever,  Pennsylvania  is  so  solidly  republican  under 


They  Want  to  Command  the  Anthracite 
Field  and  Think  the  Death  of  Mr.  Baer 
Gives  Them  a  Chance — A  Disturbing  Out¬ 
look. 

all  circumstances  that  an  outburst  of  the  union, 
especially  under  a  democratic  administration, 
might  not  be  displeasing.  So,  the  republicans 
will  not  do  what  they  did  to  save  McKinley — 
intercede  for  peace  through  the  party  bosses  and 
the  labor  leaders.” 

Pennsylvania’s  Position. 

There  is  reason  to  doubt  that  the  union  demand 
will  be  made  upon  the  whole  state  of  Pennsyl¬ 
vania  this  year.  Of  course  the  union  wants  west¬ 
ern  Pennsylvania  on  the  mine  run  basis.  It 
wants  to  level  conditions  there  up  with  those  in 
Ohio.  Still,  the  time  is  hardly  right  for  such 
action.  That  is,  the  miners  have  appealed  to  the 
operators  on  this  mine  run  question  as  long  as 
they  propose.  They  do  not  want  another  such 
a  rebuff  as  they  have  gotten  every  time  the 
question  was  raised.  Therefore,  they  are  going 
to  take  the  simpler  route  and  try  through  the 
legislature. 

Also,  they  have  other  things  they  want  to  ask 
from  the  general  assembly.  The  thing  nearest 
their  hearts  is  a  complete  divorcement  of  coal 
mining  from  railroad  and  other  large  control. 
They  have  in  mind  a  large  campaign  along  that 
line. 

The  legislature  of  Pennsylvania,  however,  does 
not  assemble  until  the  fall  of  1916.  The  miners 
cannot  hope  to  have  their  big  legislative  pro¬ 
gram  adopted  in  time  to  influence  the  wage  agree¬ 
ment  of  next  April.  On  that  account,  the  writer 
rather  expects  that  the  demands  on  the  western 
part  of  Pennsylvania  will  be  nominal,  with  ne¬ 
gotiations  rushing  to  a  quick  and  rather  easy 
compromise,  because  the  union  will  need  the 
revenue  from  the  working  miners. 

Trouble  begins  to  appear  when  one  gets  into 
the  central  field.  That  district  of  Pennsylvania 
has  never  been  brought  fully  under  union  domina¬ 
tion.  There  is  one  whole  district  in  which  the 
union  has  no  foothold.  There  is  another  district 
where  the  operators  still  dare  to  assert  their 
independence.  It  will  be  remembered  that  at 
one  time  the  operators,  even  in  the  organized 
field,  put  it  squarely  up  to  the  union  leaders  to 
discipline  their  men  or  the  association  would  dis¬ 
solve  and  with  it  would  end  the  labor  agreement. 
This  was  a  species  of  rebellion  which  the  union 
officials  cannot  broach.  They  want  these  oper¬ 
ators  to  understand  once  and  for  all  who  is 
boss  in  the  coal  fields.  They  want  to  bring  these 
operators  to  the  same  degree  of  subjection  as 
the  operators  in  Ohio  and  Illinois  have  admitted. 

First  to  bring  the  union  operators  under  their 
control  and  second  to  unionize  the  entire  field, 
the  writer  believes  the  central  portion  of  Pennsyl¬ 
vania  is  in  for  a  hard  fight. 

The  Real  Eastern  Struggle. 

These  things,  however,  are  merely  preliminaries 
to  the  big  fight.  They  are  mere  outpost  skir¬ 
mishes  when  compared  with  the  battle  which  is 
being  planned  for  the  anthracite  field.  There  the 
situation  is  so  intense  it  is  gripping.  The  anthra¬ 
cite  operators  have  alway*'  shown  a  stiff  back¬ 
bone  when  it  came  to  a  question  of  recognizing 
the  union.  That,  howewr,  was  when  George  H. 
Baer  was  alive.  New  .Mr.  Baer  is  dead.  The 
miners  know  it.  The  djierators  are  keenly  appre¬ 
ciative  of  the  fact  Vou  cannot  talk  to  a  man 
cast  of  the  Alleglunies  without  knowing  what  a 
hole  was  left  in  the  anthracite  organization  by 
the  death  ui  this  masterful  leader. 

The  n'.mers  say  that  they  are  going  to  fill  this 
gap  b'v  inserting  their  own  organization.  They 
say  that  what  Baer  was  to  the  anthracite  field, 
the>  propose  to  be.  They  say  that  for  the  master¬ 
ful  Baer  they  are  going  to  insert  John  P.  White. 


They  propose,  without  saying  it  just  that  way, 
to  put  a  mouse  in  the  chair  of  the  dead  lion. 

What  they  really  want  to  do  is  to  seize  upon 
this  opportunity,  before  the  operators’  lines  are 
reformed,  to  break  down  the  old  resistance  of 
the  entire  anthracite  field  to  the  miners’  union. 
So  long  as  Baer  lived,  they  knew  they  could 
not  do  it.  With  Baer  gone,  they  think  they  have 
a  chance  now  if  ever  they  had  one.  Some  few 
of  the  operators — but  not  many — think  the  reason¬ 
ing  of  the  miners  is  pretty  sound.  They  think 
there  is  real  danger  of  union  success.  That  is 
why  the  long-headed  operators  are  expecting  a 
serious  fight  there  next  April. 

To  get  this  thing  exactly  straight,  and  perhaps 
to  prove  that  the  union  is  mistaken,  we  have  to 
go  back  three  years  to  get  the  operators’  point  of 
view  on  the  miners  and  to  understand  the  whole 
plan  of  campaign.  The  operators  made  two  con¬ 
cessions  at  that  time  which  for  a  while  they  did 
not  understand.  The  first  one  of  them  was  the 
abolition  of  the  old  percentage  contracts.  The 
miners,  theretofore  had  been  paid  a  percentage  of 
the  price  at  tidewater  of  anthracite.  They  wanted 
to  be  paid  on  a  mine  basis  alone.  The  curious 
part  of  it  was  that  in  having  this  demand  allowed, 
the  miners  actually  gave  up  about  a  cent  and  a 
half  a  ton  which  they  might  have  had.  It  didn’t 
seem  reasonable  they  would  thus  give  away 
money. 

The  Goal  of  the  Miners. 

Then  the  truth  of  it  all  came  out.  The  miners 
were  not  fighting  for  money.  They  were  fighting 
for  the  mastery  of  the  anthracite  field.  They 
wanted  the  operators  to  acknowledge  them  as 
the  leaders  of  the  field.  This  was  one  of  the  first 
of  many  steps  they  were  intending  to  take  to  have 
their  position  fully  recognized.  Their  assump¬ 
tions  are  colossal  and  mount  to  an  aspiration 
finally  to  confiscate  that  field.  This  was  one  of 
the  first  steps  in  their  program.  What,  to  them, 
was  a  matter  of  a  cent  and  a  half  a  ton  in  wages 
when  they  gained  the  first  fight  for  the  final  mas¬ 
tery  of  the  field? 

The  second  concession  won  by  the  miners  was  a 
piece  of  the  same  program.  They  wanted  and 
got  partial  recognition  of  the  union.  The  pur¬ 
pose  of  this  half-loaf  demand  did  not  come  out 
at  first,  but  it  did  after  the  contract  had  been 
signed.  Then  the  men  in  the  union  began  to  wear 
buttons  signifying  their  affiliation.  Those  who 
did  not  wear  buttons  were  automatically  desig¬ 
nated  as  “scabs.”  The  accusation  was  not  merely 
implied.  It  was  pressed  home  on  the  other  fel¬ 
lows  in  ways  which  only  the  union  advocate 
knows  about.  The  men  were  ostracized.  The 
other  fellows  refused  to  work  with  them.  Or,  if 
they  did  work,  the  other  fellow  got  the  worst  of 
it  and  was  subjected  to  most  of  the  danger. 

However,  such  piecemeal  recognition  carried  its 
own  handicaps.  Without  full  recognition— mean¬ 
ing  the  establishment  of  the  check-off — it  was  im¬ 
possible  for  the  union  to  enforce  the  collection  of 
its  dues  and  therefore  keep  its  men  up  to  good 
standing  and  the  union  recruited  to  full  strength. 
.So,  the  union  had  to  work  its  ingenuity.  To  do 
that,  it  started  a  system  of  colored  buttons.  Each 
month  the  color  of  the  button  was  changed.  As 
a  man  paid  his  dues,  the  old  button  was  taken  up 
and  a  new  one  was  issued.  By  this  change  of 
color,  the  men  who  had  paid  could  spot  at  once 
those  who  had  not  paid.  It  was  like  changing  the 
pass  word  at  the  lodge.  Thus  those  who  had  paid 
refused  to  work  with  tho.se  who  had  not.  It 
was  a  forceful  way  of  collecting  union  dues,  but 
the  union  was  desperate.  How  much  simpler  it 
could  all  have  been  if  the  coal  company  had 
automatically  subtracted  the  union  dues  from  the 
pay  envelope.  But  the  operators  refused  to  play 
treasurer  to  the  union  and  there  you  are. 

These  button  strikes  rose  in  number  rapidly. 
.'Vccording  to  last  report,  if  information  is  re¬ 
liable,  there  have  been  22.5  of  these  strikes  in  the 
anthracite  field  during  the  life  of  the  contract 
about  to  expire. 

These  incidents  have  warned  the  anthracite 
(Concluded  on  page  -112.) 


406 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[November  20 


Getting  Rid  of  Pilots  and  Cutting  Shipping  Costs. 


'I'he  entire  east  has  heconie  almost  obsessed  on 
the  suljject  of  exports.  When  a  western  man 
goes  east,  the  first  (piestion  his  friends  ask  him 
is: 

"l)own  here  on  war  orders?” 

I'iveryone  wants  to  get  to  those  who  are  placing 
war  orders  and  are  trying  all  sorts  of  schemes 
and  devices  to  reach  their  goal.  Those  who  must 
do  the  buying  are  so  l)urdened  with  good  and 
had  offerings  they  have  no  time  to  sift  them  into 
what  they  arc.  Consequently  buyers  are  bar¬ 
ricaded  behind  red  tape  and  a  system  of  inter¬ 
mediaries  by  whom  the  offerings  get  their  pre¬ 
liminary  sifting. 

Thus  the  war  order  is  the  thing  of  the  minute 
east  of  the  Alleghenies  and  it  dominates  nearly 
everything.  It  is  even  getting  into  the  financial 
center.  It  is  dictating  today  the  fight  for  con¬ 
trol  of  the  larger  steel  companies.  And  one 
with  a  practiced  eye  can  see  that  the  size  of  the 
financing  means  that  even  the  financiers  are  stock¬ 
ing  and  lionding  the  new  companies  on  the  belief 
that  this  rush  of  orders  will  never  abate.  Steel 
companies  which  a  short  time  ago  were  incon¬ 
spicuous  factors  in  the  business  are  now  being 
financed  for  fabulous  sums.  There  may  come  a 
daj’  of  reckoning.  The  writer  of  this  article 
hopes  that  it  will  not,  but  it  seems  inevitable. 

And  this  same  spirit  of  recklessness  is  getting 
into  the  coal  trade.  Coal  men  have  the  same  fever 
of  anxiety  to  sell  abroad,  but  they  are  sobered — 
thank  God — by  the  temporary  shortage  of  ships. 
They  cannot  get  their  boats  to  carry  all  they 
would  like  to  sell  and  which,  no  doubt,  they 
could  sell.  Still,  if  they  sold  it  all  they  would 
get  an  inflated  notion  of  what  is  likely  to  happen 
after  the  war  is  over.  So,  the  temporary  short¬ 
age  of  ships  is  a  mighty  good  thing,  if  you  look 
at  in  the  light  of  possible  futures. 

The  plain  matter  of  fact  is  that  America  is 
not  ready  for  any  such  an  exi)ansion  of  her  for¬ 
eign  luisiness  as  is  likely  at  the  minute.  The 
-American  coal  trade  is  not  ])repared  to  do  the 
business  that  is  being  offered.  We  have  toyed 
with  this  situation  for  fifteen  months  or  more 
and  yet  we  are  no  nearer  a  solution  of  the  real 
|)roblem  than  we  were  then.  \\’e  have  made  a 
start  at  getting  finances  arranged  and  we  have 
made  a  start  at  studying  credits  abroad.  But 
on  two  essentials  we  have  done  nothing. 

The  first  of  these  is  the  matter  of  getting 
ships.  Of  that  more  will  be  said  at  another  time. 
Suffice  it  to  say  now  that  we  have  done  nothing. 

The  second  is  the  matter  of  getting  those  ships 
into  and  out  (if  port  without  paying  extortionate 
tribute  to  the  coast  pilots.  By  this  is  meant  pay¬ 
ing  a  tribute  which  is  larger  than  the  profit  of  the 
coal  company  on  the  cargo  and  larger  than  the 
profit  of  the  ship  owner  on  the  entire  voyage. 

-America  must  get  rid  of  the  present  pilotage 
system  or  the  merchant  marine  propaganda  is  a 
dream.  It  must  change  the  pilot  system,  or  the 
-American  coal  operator,  already  burdened  by 
differentials  against  him,  cannot  compete  with 
his  foreign  adversary. 

This  pilot  system,  which  is  under  state  con¬ 
trol,  is  interfering  with  a  national  program.  There 
is  raised  again  the  old  question  of  state’s  rights 
as  opposed  to  the  national  good.  The  best  good 
of  the  nation  suggests  that  the  charges  for  pilot¬ 
ing  ships  shall  be  sucb  as  will  allow  them  to  get 
into  and  out  of  any  port  cheaply  to  take  on  coal. 
State’s  rights  suggest  that  the  state  shall  have 
an  unrestrained  right  to  regulate  fees  so  that 
some  of  its  politicians  may  make  a  tremendous 
stake  by  steering  shii).s  into  and  out  of  ports. 
This  question  must  be  simplified  before  it  is 
going  to  be  i)ossible  for  our  foreign  commerce 
to  make  any  progress. 

In  this  connection  there  is  reproduced  here¬ 
with  parts  of  an  address  delivered  recently  by 
John  W.  Oast,  Jr.,  an  attorney  of  Norfolk,  A'^a., 
before  the  W’aterways  .Association  at  Savannah, 
( ia.  He  said  : 

Canal  Tolls  an  Embargo. 

"The  Beaufort  cut  made  it  possible  for  barges 
to  go  inland  behind  Cape  llatteras  and  thus  avoid 
the  long  and  dangerous  outside  run  from  Cape 
Henry  to  Cape  Lookcnit.  But  barges  have  not 
been  able  to  use  this  route  profitably  because  of 
the  canal  tolls,  and  the  small  cargoes  to  which 
they  are  limited  bj'  tbe  shallow  depth  of  eight 
feet  in  the  Albemarle  and  Chesapeake  canal,  and 
of  nine  feet  in  the  Di-smal  Swamp  canal.  When, 
however,  the  labors  of  this  association  brought 
about  the  purchase  of  the  Albemarle  and  Chesa¬ 
peake  canal  by  the  government,  the  Southern 
Transportation  Company,  anticipating  the  twelve- 


Northern  Ports  Have  Simplified  Matters 
Greatly,  But  the  South  Still  Has  a  Cum¬ 
bersome  System — Effect  on  Barge  Traffic. 

foot  depth  that  the  government  proposes  to  give 
this  route,  began  operating  a  few  of  its  barges 
to  the  south  Atlantic  ports  of  Wilmington,  Savan¬ 
nah  and  Charleston. 

“Upon  the  development  of  this  barge  traffic 
depends  the  full  usefulness  of  the  projects  which 
this  association  is  advocating.  These  barges  are 
about  .'iOO  feet  long,  twenty-four  feet  wide,  have 
from  twelve  to  sixteen-foot  sides  and  no  motive 
power  of  their  own.  They  can  carry  about  500,- 
000  feet  of  lumber  on  a  nine-foot  draft,  but  con¬ 
siderably  more  when  fully  loaded  to  ten  or  eleven- 
foot  draft.  They  are  the  cheapest  vehicles  for 
bulk  and  heavy  traffic  because  they  cost  less  to 
build  than  sailing  vessels :  carry  more  tonnage  on 
less  draft  than  sailing  vessels;  carry  a  crew  of 
two  men  as  against  eight  or  nine  men  for  the 
sailing  vessels;  can  conservatively  operate  in  the 
inland  waterways  without  insurance;  can  approx¬ 
imate  a  certainty  of  schedule  as  against  the  un¬ 
certainty  of  sailing  vessels,  and  give  better  dis¬ 
patch  in  loading  and  unloading. 

Unnecessary  Charges. 

“You  are,  therefore,  interested  in  the  unneces¬ 
sary  charges  which  the  pilotage  and  harbor  laws 
of  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina  and  Georgia 
impose  upon  the  barges  using  the  inland  water¬ 
ways.  I  say  unnecessary,  because  they  were  abol¬ 
ished  at  Norfolk  in  isios  and  1910,  and  before 
that  at  all  ports  north  of  Norfolk. 

“South  of  Norfolk  compulsory  pilotage  exists 
against  all  coastwise  vessels,  including  barges. 
The  only  exception  of  importance  is  that  of  steam 
vessels  when  navigated  by  officers  holding  United 
States  government  pilot  licenses  for  the  waters 
traversed.  This  exception  of  steam  vessels  is 
due  to  Section  4444  United  States  revised  stat¬ 
utes  ;  yet  barges  in  tow  of  such  steam  vessels 
have  to  pay  pilotage.  Pilots  are  useless  to  barges 
l>ecause  they  must  follow  the  tug.  Their  services 
are  not  needed,  and  when  offered  are  not  ac¬ 
cepted  ;  yet  when  they  offer  their  services  the 
barges  have  to  pay.  The  substance  of  a  pilot’s 
services  to  a  barge  in  tow  of  a  tug  navigated 
by  a  government  pilot  is  to  chat  socially  with 
the  master  of  the  tug,  while  the  tug  master  makes 
his  own  course,  which  the  barges  following  astern 
on  their  hawsers  must  hold.  Pilots  cannot  charge 
the  tug,  yet  the  barge  in  its  tow,  a  vessel  duly 
certificated  by  the  government  to  run  coastwise, 
is  compelled  to  pay  an  arbitrary  charge  for  a 
service  that  is  neither  needed  nor  rendered. 

“The  reason  for  this  is  that  barges  came  into 
existence  long  after  the  south  Atlantic  pilotage 
laws,  now  in  force,  were  enacted,  and  the  general 
phraseology  of  ‘all  vessels,’  ‘every  vessel’  and  like 
expressions  used  in  the  pilotage  laws,  have  been 
construed  by  the  courts  to  include  barges.  The 
barge  owners  long  contended  that  as  their  barges 
were  wholly  dependent  upon  the  tugs  towing  them, 
the  tugs  and  barges  were,  in  contemplation  of 
law,  one  vessel,  and  the  e.xemption  of  the  tug 
from  pilotage  included  the  barges  in  its  tow. 
This  contention  was  sustained  by  United  States 
District  Judge  Purnell,  in  the  case  of  ‘The 
Carrie  L.  Tyler,’  reported  in  103  Federal,  but, 
unfortunately,  he  was  reversed  and  barges  are 
still  a  happy  sight  to  south  -Atlantic  pilots. 

“It  would  seem  that  the  pilots  would  be  satis¬ 
fied  with  these  conditions.  But  not  so  with  the 
pilots  of  Beaufort,  North  Carolina.  -At  that  port 
they  never  had  the  energy  to  offer  services  out¬ 
side  the  bar ;  but,  when  they  became  aware  that 
the  Beaufort  cut  was  to  used  they  proceeded, 
without  notice  to  the  barge  owners,  to  have  en¬ 
acted  an  amendment  to  the  law,  whereby  they 
imposed  a  toll  of  about  $45.00  per  round  trip  on 
each  loaded  barge  passing  through  the  inland 
waterway.  Section  4i)()9  of  the  North  Carolina 
code  provided  that  i)ilotage  be  ‘collectible  in 
Beaufort  harbor  from  Aliddle  Alarsh  to  Lewis 
Thoroughfare.’  Last  March  they  had  it  amended 
to  read  ‘collectible  in  Beaufort  from  Middle 
Marsh  to  Lewis  Thoroughfare,  and  from  the 
Neuse  river  side  of  the  inland  waterway,  through 
the  said  waterway  and  out  of  Beaufort  inlet.’ 

The  Charges  Measured. 

"This  amendment  became  effective  -April  1,  1915, 
and  tbe  first  barges  to  pass  through  the  inland 
waterway,  after  that  date,  were  hailed  by  a  pilot 
standing  on  the  bank  at  the  Neuse  river  and 


at  Beaufort  Cut,  and  each  barge  then  billed  for 
$2.50  per  foot  of  their  nine-foot  draft — a  one¬ 
way  toll  of  $22.50  for  each  barge.  This  enter¬ 
prise  would  be  amusing  were  it  not  so  serious. 
Instead  of  encouraging  coastwise  traffic  they  dis¬ 
courage  it.  Fortunately,  the  commissioners  of 
navigation  at  Beaufort  are  reasonable  men,  and 
in  order  to  relieve  the  situation  they  have,  for 
the  usual  fee,  issued  barge  branches  or  licenses, 
whereby  the  masters  of  the  various  barges  are 
authorized  to  act  as  pilots  at  Beaufort,  of  the 
barges  under  their  command,  while  same  are  in 
tow  of  a  tug.  Under  this  arrangement  and  by 
an  adjustment  of  the  pilotage  fees,  which  this 
barge  branch  legally  entitles  the  masters  of  the 
barges  to  collect,  Beaufort  Cut,  while  still  not 
a  free  waterway,  is  not  as  expensive  as  it  might 
be.  Were  it  not  for  this  sensible  arrangement, 
made  by  the  commissioners  of  navigation  at  Beau¬ 
fort,  there  would  be  no  south  Atlantic  barge 
traffic,  as  otherwise  the  present  pioneers  in  this 
barge  traffic,  already  laboring  under  the  hindrances 
of  canal  tolls  and  the  small  cargoes  forced  by 
a  limited  draft,  would  have  given  up  the  trade  in 
disgust. 

“The  most  direct  relief  from  this  pilotage  would 
be  to  amend  Section  4444  of  the  United  States 
Revised  Statutes.  This  section  now  provides  that 
there  shall  be  no  compulsory  pilotage  against 
steam  vessels  navigated  by  government  pilots. 
-As  amended  it  would  exempt  from  such  pilotage 
barges  while  in  tow  of  such  steam  vessels.  Con¬ 
gress  should  certainly  be  willing  to  do  this  in 
order  that  the  country  shall  receive  the  full  bene¬ 
fit  of  the  inland  waterways  this  association  has 
and  is  urging  upon  it. 

“Harbor  masters’  fees  do  not  run  into  as  large 
money  as  pilotage.  They  are,  however,  a  heavy 
drain  upon  a  traffic  which  works  in  a  small  mar¬ 
gin  of  profit.  Norfolk  abolished  all  harbor  mas¬ 
ter  fees  in  1910,  and  Baltimore,  Philadelphia,  New 
A'ork  and  Boston  abolished  them  long  before 
that.  Harbor  masters  are  merely  harbor  police. 
Cities  support  their  police  forces,  why  should 
they  not  support  their  harbor  masters?  Norfolk 
has  three  harbor  masters,  which  cost  about  $6,500 
a  year.  The  northern  ports  have  officials,  with 
other  titles,  at  larger  salaries  who  perform  the 
same  duty.  The  aggravating  circumstance  about 
these  harbor  master  fees  in  the  south  Atlantic 
is  that  they  did  not  exist,  as  against  barges,  until 
the  inland  barges  appeared,  and  then,  when  the 
barges  objected  to  being  billed  at  schooner  rates, 
they  created  a  barge  rate.” 


Hard  Coal  Factories. 


With  the  acceleration  in  the  production  of  an¬ 
thracite  due  to  the  fall  demand  comes  the  time- 
honored  request  from  some  retailer  unfamiliar 
with  the  details  of  anthracite  mining  to  “open 
another  chestnut  chamber.”  The  anthracite  oper¬ 
ators  devoutly  wish  that  it  were  as  simple  as 
that,  and  patiently  write  to  their  correspondent 
that  anthracite  as  it  appears  at  the  mouth  of  the 
shaft  is  not  fuel  at  all,  but  a  mixture  of  coal  with 
slate  and  “bone”  and  dirt,  commonly  known  as 
refuse,  and  that  it  has  to  be  cleaned  and  sorted. 

-All  of  which  goes  to  show  that  the  knowledge 
is  not  yet  common  that  the  anthracite  coal  indus¬ 
try  is  a  manufacturing  as  well  as  a  mining  enter¬ 
prise,  and  that  twenty  per  cent  of  the  cost  of  pro¬ 
duction  comes  in  putting  the  coal  through  the 
huge  breakers  erected  for  that  purpose.  The  coal 
bill  alone  for  the  steam  plants  of  these  factories 
amounts  to  millions  of  dollars  a  year,  as  it  is  now 
necessary  to  burn  over  ten  per  cent  of  the  entire 
output  in  order  to  operate  them. 

The  function  of  these  breakers  is  to  eliminate 
the  refuse  and  break  and  sort  the  coal  into  the 
required  sizes.  The  sizing  of  coal  requires  a 
breaking  down  of  the  large  lumps  by  means  of 
rolls,  which  are  equipped  with  teeth  so  arranged 
as  to  crush  the  coal  with  the  production  of  the 
least  amount  of  the  small  and  unprofitable  sizes. 
The  refuse  must  be  eliminated  by  the  big  shak¬ 
ers  and  by  hand  on  the  picking  tables.  After 
that  the  coal  must  pass  for  further  refinement 
over  screens,  down  spiral  separators  and  through 
a  water  jig  before  it  is  ready  for  loading. 


The  Lehigh  A^alley  Coal  Sales  Company  is 
completing  a  new  trestle  at  Brighton,  a  suburb  of 
Rochester,  N.  V.  It  is  reported  by  those  who 
have  seen  it  to  be  "a  thing  of  beauty”  and  to 
adorn  rather  than  detract  from  the  generally  at¬ 
tractive  appearance  of  a  residence  neighborhood. 
Besides  this,  the  new  trestle  will  be  finely 
equipped  for  handling  coal  with  dispatch. 


407 


No.  21  j  _ _ TILE  BLACK  l)IA3IOND. 

Danger  Ahead  in  Eastern  Rail  Situation. 


Despite  the  assurances  which  have  been  given 
by  railroad  officers  that  eastern  lines  are  still  able 
to  handle  their  traffic,  more  and  more  anxiety  is 
being  felt  in  railroad  quarters  over  the  export 
freight  situation,  especially  at  the  port  of  New 
Y  ork. 

An  executive  officer  of  an  important  railroad 
estimates  that  between  Sfl.OOO  and  35,000  carloads 
of  export  freight  are  awaiting  delivery  at  or  near 
New  York,  or  held  up  en  route  to  this  city.  He 
adds  that  cars  have  actually  been  unloaded  at 
points  along  the  New  York  lines,  because  of  the 
inability  to  get  these  cars  through  to  New  Ydrk 
and  unloaded  here.  Such  unloading  had  become 
necessary  to  release  the  cars  for  other  shipments, 
and  to  get  them  out  of  the  way  of  moving  traffic. 

"I  do  not  wish  to  be  considered  an  alarmist,” 
this  officer  added,  “because  there  is  as  yet  no  oc¬ 
casion  for  alarm.  The  question  is  simply  whether 
the  situation  will  not  become  worse,  if  effective 
measures  are  not  adopted  against  it.  In  the 
absence  of  other  relief,  it  may  become  necessary 
for  the  railroads  to  adopt  such  measures  as  are 
open  to  them  to  prevent  the  blockading  of  their 
lines — in  other  words,  to  declare  an  embargo 
upon  export  business  until  the  tonnage  already 
on  hand  here  has  been  cleared. 

“It  occurs  to  me  that  if  the  right  sort  of  co¬ 
operation  among  shippers  could  be  secured,  the 
obstruction  of  the  railroad  lines  and  terminal 
facilities  might  be  avoided.  As  it  is,  we  are  al¬ 
most  face  to  face  with  a  situation  in  which  freight 
which  the  purchasers  may  not  need  for  months, 
which  may  in  fact  not  be  loaded  on  shipboard 
until  spring,  prevents  the  prompt  movement  of 
goods  needed  for  immediate  use.  It  looks  now 
as  though  that  condition  were  very  likely  to  arise 
in  the  near  future. 

"The  railroads  have  no  option  in  this  matter. 
As  common  carriers,  they  are  not  allowed  by  law 
to  discriminate  among  shippers,  but  must  accept 
freight  as  it  is  offered.  The  only  suggestion  that 


Of  the  millions  who  rely  year  after  year  on 
anthracite  coal  to  keep  their  homes  warm  and 
cheer}’,  few — if  “few”  means  darned  few — 
know  anything  about  the  region  from  which 
came  their  supply.  Hewer  of  wood  and 
drawer  of  water  that  man  in  his  original  state 
was,  he  knew  where  it  was  easiest  to  get  his 
supply.  Then,  when  he  passed  the  buck  to 
some  one  else  to  provide  him  these  things, 
he  quickly  forgot  and  did  not  care  to  be  re¬ 
minded  of  what  he  would  have  to  do  if  he 
were  to  return  to  the  primitive. 

So,  what  was  once  the  simple  proposition  of 
getting  the  firewood  from  the  tree  has  come 
to  the  laborious  and  highly  scientific  method 
of  digging  it  from  the  ground.  Volumes  have 
been  written  of  the  means  and  methods  em¬ 
ployed.  Who  has  tried  to  “high  light”  a 
visit  to  the  hard  coal  district?  To  reduce 
this  last  sentence  to  the  understanding  of  those 
not  familiar  with  newspaper  slang,  who  has 
made  a  trip  over  the  hard  coal  regions  and 
told  of  the  out  of  the  ordinary  things  that 
conditions  and  mining  have  created? 

It  may  surprise  some  laymen  to  know  that 
every  piece  of  coal  that  is  turned  out  of  the 
anthracite  breakers  is  truly  “hand  picked.” 
That  is,  to  say,  after  all  of  the  mechanical 
processes  have  been  exhausted  to  remove  all 
the  bone,  slate  and  refuse  from  the  hard  coal, 
every  lump  from  pea  to  the  biggest  size,  is 
given  personal  inspection  that  the  buyer  may 
get  nothing  but  the  coal  for  which  he  has 
paid. 

To  stand  behind  a  breaker  boy  or  a  man 
that  has  gone  over  the  coal  and  see  the  un¬ 
canny  sixth  sense  with  which  they  take  away 
the  pieces  of  refuse  is  a  revelation  in  itself. 

Fig'ures  are  of  interest  to  some  folk.  Here 
is  a  jolt  for  a  few  of  the  gentlemen  who 
think  that  the  coal  operator  is  getting  more 
than  a  return  on  the  money  that  has  been 
invested.  It  is  estimated  that  .$250,000,000  is 
invested  in  the  mining  machines  and  breakers 
in  the  anthracite  regions.  To  erect  a  breaker, 
sink  a  shaft  and  equip  all  adjuncts  to  produce 
coal  from  one  mine  means  an  outlay  of 
about  a  million  dollars.  Approximately  there 
are  180,000  men  and  boys  employed  about  the 
hard  coal  operations,  and  of  these  about  one- 
third  are  actually  employed  in  digging  the 
coal  and  the  other  two-thirds  work  above 
ground. 


offers  itself  is  that  those  who  are  in  charge  of 
the  purchase  of  supplies  for  Europe  extend  their 
supervision  over  the  transportation  of  these 
goods;  in  other  words,  that  they  direct  shippers 
specifically  when  to  ship,  holding  back  the  things 
not  urgently  required  in  favor  of  those  that  must 
be  forwarded  at  once. 

"Such  a  step,  if  practicable,  would  be  more  in 
the  interests  of  the  manufacturers  in  this  country 
and  of  the  purchasers  abroad  than  the  railroads, 
though  its  results  would  be  beneficial  to  all  con¬ 
cerned.  The  authorities  in  charge  of  purchases 
for  the  belligerent  nations  have  or  can  get  fairly 
exact  data  as  to  future  sailings  of  vessels,  and 
could  obtain  the  required  information  as  to  the 
order  in  which  the  various  purchases  were  de¬ 
sired  to  come  forward. 

“Whether  such  a  centralized  control  could  be 
established  over  a  large  enough  proportion  of  the 
export  trade  to  relieve  the  situation  may  be  an 
open  question.  But  I  think  a  good  deal  could 
be  done  in  this  way,  and  even  a  little  relief  is 
worth  having  for  the  sake  of  preventing  worse 
conditions  later  on.  It  would  be  a  serious  inter¬ 
ference  with  the  country’s  export  trade  if  the 
accumulation  of  all  sorts  of  export  freight  in  and 
around  New  York  should  prevent  the  forwarding 
of  commodities  that  must  be  shipped  promptly  to 
be  sold  at  all.  A  good  many  shippers  might  thus 
find  themselves  deprived  of  their  market.” 

It  has  been  calculated  that  some  of  the  rail¬ 
roads  entering  New  York  have  on  hand  an  accu¬ 
mulation  of  freight  which,  at  the  present  rate  of 
loading  on  board  ship,  cannot  be  cleared  off  in 
less  than  two  months.  There  has  been  some  dis¬ 
cussion  of  the  possibility  that  the  British  ad¬ 
miralty  or  the  Board  of  Trade  may  find  the  means 
of  increasing  the  number  of  vessel  sailings  from 
this  port,  but  railroad  men  assume  that  such  au¬ 
thorities  are  already  doing  everything  in  their 
power  toward  that  desirable  end. — Wall  Street 
Journal. 


Speaking  of  cost,  those*  who  wonder  at  the 
price  of  hard  coal  have  to  keep  in  mind  there 
is  the  tremendous  cost  of  pumpage.  In  many 
places  eleven  tons  of  water  have  to  be  lifted 
from  a  mine  in  order  to  recover  one  ton  of 
coal.  At  Keyser,  a  D.  L.  &  W.  operation 
outside  of  Scranton,  an  electric  power  hoist 
is  used  to  lift  a  bucket  carrying  3,100  gallons 
of  water  at  the  rate  of  a  bucket  a  minute. 
This  is  an  ocular  demonstration,  but  in  all 
mines  there  are  big  hydraulics  that  are  sendin.g 
forth  from  the  mines  enough  water  to  make 
some  river  courses  look  a  barnyard  creek. 

Again,  miners  must  have  fresh  air.  It  has 
been  said  that  it  takes  an  equivalent  in  horse 
power  to  send  in  fresh  air  in  the  mines  as  it 
does  to  take  the  coal  out. 

A  general  average  sItows  that  the  cost  of 
hard  coal  at  the  mouth  of  the  mines  is  about 
$2.75  a  ton.  The  profits  are  on  the  large 
sizes.  So  when  the  smaller  sizes  have  to 
lie  taken  to  market  the  general  profits  have 
been  cut  down.  The  Lehigh  Coal  &  Naviga¬ 
tion  Company  has  a  new  way  of  getting  these 
to  the  consumer  and  making  a  profit  on 
them.  At  Hansford  and  Plauto  immense  elec¬ 
tric  plants  have  been  erected  and  the  buck¬ 
wheat  and  smaller  sizes  have  been  turned  into 
“juice.”  This  is  marketed  as  far  south  as 
Bethlehem  and  the  company  can  deliver  elec¬ 
tricity  as  far  south  as  Philadelphia  at  a  profit. 

Styles  in  mining  change  just  as  much  as 
milady’s.  Strippings  have  become  immensely 
popular  in  the  regions.  Little  Panama  at 
Ebervale  is  about  the  most  extensive  and  the 
coal  recovered  from  this  mine  which  had  lieen 
aliandoned  as  “worked  out”  has  proved  amazing. 
It  is  possible,  mining  men  say.  to  get  out  coal 
from  these  old  workin.gs  at  one  for  ten.  In  other 
words,  an  overload  of  ten  tons  of  rock  and  slate 
can  lie  taken  out  to  recover  one  ton  of  coal  at  a 
profit. 

No  reason  exists  why  a  colliery  should  not 
lie  made  just  as  agreeable  to  work  about  as 
a  factory  that  cost  a  great  deal  less.  Such 
was  the  axiom  of  the  Lehigh  Valley  Company, 
when  it  started  its  experiment  at  the  Mineral 
Point  Colliery.  Here  acres  of  grass  have 
been  plotted,  barbered  and  landscaped.  White¬ 
washed  stones  mark  the  walks,  and  the  out 
buildings  are  all  well  painted  and  kept  painted. 
They  do  say  that  the  miners  thereabout  like 
the  change  so  well  that  some  of  them  come 


on  Sundays  to  use  the  hose  on  the  grass  to 
keep  it  fresh  and  green. 

The  burning  mine — who  has  not  read  in  the 
coal  magazines  of  this  and  wonders  if  it  really 
existed.  It  does.  It  is  at  Summit  Hill,  and 
is  one  of  the  tradegies  of  the  regions.  The 
story  goes  that  this  was  started  in  1856  by  a 
careless  miner,  who  left  his  lighted  lamp 
against  an  old  prop  and  the  fire  that  could  have 
been  put  out  with  a  bucket  of  water  is  burn¬ 
ing  still. 

Twenty  years  ago  the  fire  had  wormed  its 
way  through  the  mine  so  as  to  endanger 
other  property  of  the  Lehigh  Coal  &  Naviga¬ 
tion  Company.  An  immense  hole  in  the 
earth  was  blasted,' but  the  fire  beat  the  workers 
and  this  had  to  be  abandoned.  A  couple  of 
years  ago,  a  barrier  was  erected  in  a  trench 
700  feet  long,  200  feet  deep  and  twelve  feet 

wide.  In  this  was  placed  fire  clay  cement 
and  earth,  with  the  hope  that  it  would  cut 
off  the  fire.  To  make  doubly  sure  the  com¬ 
pany  started  a  stripping  operation  beyond, 
and  are  now  removing  the  coal  adjacent  as 
fast  as  possible. 

“Mary  take  the  tomato  plants  out  of  the 

bath  tub,  its  time  to  put  the  coa!  in”  may 
be  a  quip  for  the  tenement  dwellers  of  the 

large  cities,  but  it  does  not  apply  in 

the  hard  coal  territory.  In  the  “City  of  Con¬ 
crete,”  which  the  D.  L.  &  W.  people  have 
erected  back  of  Nanticoke  all  of  the  con¬ 
veniences  that  modern  folk  enjoy  are  to  be 
found  in  the  homes  there,  and  there  may 
be  a  few  of  the  miner’s  families  where  they 
do  not  understand  sanitary  laws — but  they 
are  few.  And  where  it  is  found  that  they 
are  abusing  modern  health  laws,  they  soon  are 
corrected.  Victrolas,  autos  and  the  niceties  of 
life  are  not  the  exception  in  this  place;  you 
arc  behind  the  times  if  you  do  not  have  them. 


Effect  of  Proposed  Increase. 


The  granting  of  the  demand  of  the  anthracite 
miners  for  a  twenty  percent  increase  in  wages, 
formulated  at  their  recent  convention,  would  add 
41.5  cents  to  the  per  ton  cost  of  the  domestic 
sizes. 

It  is  not  possible,  of  course,  to  predict  to  what 
extent  the  retailers  might  advance  their  prices, 
but  it  is  possible  to  make  approximate  estimates 
as  to  the  effect  of  the  granting  of  this  demand 
upon  the  cost  of  the  product  as  delivered  to  the 
railroad  for  shipment. 

-According  to  the  United  States  Census  Report 
for  1909  the  average  wage  expense  for  mined 
coal  was  $1.34  per  ton,  and  for  washery  coal 
nineteen  cents  per  ton.  .\s  the  washery  product 
at  the  present  time,  however,  is  less  than  three 
percent  of  the  total  output  it  might  well  be  ex¬ 
cluded  from  the  discussion.  In  1909  five  and  one- 
half  per  cent  of  the  total  output  was  from  the 
washeries.  Including  washery  coal  the  labor 
cost  was  $1.30  per  ton. 

By  the  wage  agreement  of  1912  the  wage  earn¬ 
ers  in  the  anthracite  region  were  granted  an  ad¬ 
vance  of  ten  per  cent  over  the  rates  in  effect 
since  the  great  strike  of  1902,  but  the  sliding 
scale  established  by  the  anthracite  strike  commis¬ 
sion,  from  which  the  miners  had  obtained  a  ben¬ 
efit  of  about  four  and  one-half  per  cent  during 
the  ten  years  of  its  operation,  was  abolished. 
The  net  gain  in  wages  by  the  advance  in  1912 
was  therefore  only  five  and  one-half  per  cent. 
This  would  make  the  labor  cost  of  anthracite 
at  the  present  time  $1.37  per  ton. 

-An  advance  of  twenty  per  cent  would  mean, 
therefore,  an  increase  of  27.4  cents  per  ton,  which 
on  the  production  of  81,000,000  tons  in  1914, 
would  amount  to  nearly  $22,200,000.  Of  this  to¬ 
tal  production,  however,  approximately  8,500,000 
tons  were  used  in  the  operation  of  the  mines, 
and  about  19,000,000  consisted  of  “buckwheat,” 
“rice”  and  “barley,”  the  steam  sizes  that  are  sold 
in  competition  with  bituminous  coal  and  on  which 
prices  cannot  be  advanced.  -All  of  the  increased 
cost  must  be  made  up  from  the  prepared  or  do¬ 
mestic  sizes,  of  which  the  production  in  1913 
amounted  to  approximately  53,500,(>00  tons. 

-An  increase  of  $22,200,000  on  the  payrolls 
would,  therefore,  add  41.5  cents  to  the  per  ton 
cost  of  the  domestic  sizes.  The  retailer  who  has 
to  pay  41.5  cents  more  for  his  coal  would  prob¬ 
ably  feel  justified  in  adding  fifty  cents  to  his 
selling  price.  Are  the  consumers  of  anthracite 
willing  to  pay  the  additional  cost? 


The  Philadelphia  &  Reading  Railway  has  placed 
another  order  for  steel  coal  cars,  its  latest  order 
being  for  500.  This  is  an  addition  to  an  order 
for  1,000  steel  cars  made  last  month. 


A  Sketch  Book  on  Anthracite  Mining. 


408 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[November  20 


Cost  and  Revenue  of  Franklin 


The  writer  recently  accompanied  a  number 
of  coal  dealers  from  the  northwest  on  an  in¬ 
spection  trip  to  the  Franklin  county  mines, 
and  was  much  interested  in  arguments  made 
by  some  of  the  retail  coal  men  concerning  the 
cost  of  producing  coal  in  Franklin  county, 
the  percentage  of  lump,  screenings,  etc.,  and 
the  general  attitude  of  the  western  dealers 
toward  the  southern  Illinois  coal  operator  as 
regards  the  alleged  difference  between  the 
total  cost  of  the  coal  to  the  operator  and  the 
price  which  he  receives  from  the  dealer  or 
retailer. 

In  traveling  about  one  of  the  mines,  the 
dealers’  committee  “discovered”  that  the  loader 
and  machine  runner*  received  fifty  cents  per 
ton  for  their  coal.  To  this  was  added  a  few 
cents  for  haulage,  hoisting,  top  labor,  etc., 
and  on  totaling  up  the  items,  Mr.  Dealer  was 
convinced,  “and  had  it  straight  from  the 
miner,  and  right  on  the  job,”  that  the  total 
cost  of  producing  the  coal,  including  every¬ 
thing,  was  something  like  seventy  cents  per 
ton,  and  he  was  paying  the  exhorbitant  rate 
of  $1.50  f.  o.  b.  mines. 

Flowever,  it  developed  that  this  $1.50  was 
for  lump  coal,  and  it  then  became  necessary  to 
figure  the  percentage  of  screenings  and  decide 
on  their  average  revenue.  After  counting  the 
cars  that  had  been  loaded,  and  doing  a  vast 
amount  of  figuring,  it  was  demonstrated  that 
the  screenings  averaged  about  thirty  per  cent, 
and  it  was  agreed  that  the  average  revenue 
from  screenings  was  sixty  cents.  On  this 
basis  the  average  revenue  per  ton  to  the  opera¬ 
tor  figured  $1.23,  so  that  the  operator’s  profit 
was  fifty-three  cents  per  ton.  Conceding  the 
three  cents,  Mr.  Dealer  had  the  operator  mak¬ 
ing  fifty  cents  per  ton  on  a  production  of  3,000 
to  4,000  tons  a  day,  and  insisted  upon  the 
reduction  of  this  ungodly  profit  by  a  conces¬ 
sion  on  the  contract  prices. 

For  the  benefit  of  our  misguided  brethren 
and  others,  who  imagine  they  are  paying  too 
much  money  for  their  coal  when  they  contract 
for  coal  at  prices  that  will  check  fairly  well 
with  the  average  prices  as  shown  on  the  cir¬ 
culars  for  Franklin  county  for  a  year,  the 
writer  has  prepared  the  following  data  show¬ 
ing  the  percentage  of  sizes,  and  the  operating 
costs  of  Franklin  county  coal. 

The  data  was  prepared  from  records  of  sev¬ 
eral  different  mines,  neither  the  best  nor  the 
worst  operations,  but  mines  that  will  average 
fairly  well  in  the  Franklin  county  field.  The 
figures  are  an  average  over  a  period  of  six 
months,  during  which  time  conditions  were 
fairly  noriTml.  and  although  the  various  mines 
will  show  slight  variations  from  these  fig¬ 
ures,  the  data  is  within  reasonable  bounds  of 
an  average  of  the  district: 

Percentages  of  Standard  Sises  of  Coal  at  a  Franklin 

County,  III.,  Mine — Average  of  Si.r  Months,  Normal 
Operating  Conditions. 

Lump — over  6-inch  round  perforations .  19.65 

Egg — 6,\3-inch  round  perforations .  22.90 

No.  1  nut — Sx2-inch  round  perforations .  9.77 

No.  2  nut — 2x1  -inch  round  perforations .  10.45 

No.  3  nut— 1 -inch  round  perforations .  9.01 

No.  4  pea — 54xrV-inch  round  performations .  3.76 

No,  5  duff — /sxO-inch  round  perforations .  19.28 

2-inch  screenings  loaded  direct  from  shaker  screen  5.18 

Total  . 100.00% 

■’McCormick  building,  Chicago. 


By  John  A,  Garcia,  E.  M.* 

A  Candid  Statement  as  to  What  It  Costs 
to  Produc.e  This  Coal  Is  Made  by  a  Man 
Who  Has  Paid  the  Bills — Data  Taken 
From  Mining  Company  Books. 

Percentage  of  Two-Inch  Screenings  to  Total  Tonnage. 
Figures  from  above  table. 

Per  cent. 


No.  2  nut — 2xlk4-in . 10.4.5 

No.  3  nut — 1  J4x-)4.-in.  .  .  .  9.01 

No.  4  pea — . 3.76 

No.  5  duft — iffXO-in . 19.26 

2-in.  screenings  loaded 
direct  .  5.18 


47.68=:2-in.  screenings  percentage 
Percentage  of  Sises  in  Two-Inch  Screenings. 
Figures  from  above  table. 

Per  cent. 


No.  2  nut — ’2xlj4'inch .  24.63 

No.  3  nut — lj4xM-inch .  21.16 

No.  4  pea — ^Xi^-inch .  8.82 

No.  5  duff — -fffxO'inch .  45.39 


100.00 

It  will  be  noticed  from  the  above  that  the 
mine  produced  47.68  per  cent  of  two-inch 
screenings,  which  is  quite  different  from  the 
thirty  per  cent  as  figured  by  our  friend  Mr. 
Dealer. 

The  statement  also  shows  that  over  forty- 
five  per  cent  of  the  coal  in  the  two-inch  screen¬ 
ings  is  duff  or  coal  that  will  pass  through  a 
seven-sixteenths-inch  screen,  and  is  not  only 
difficult  to  sell,  but  brings  an  extremely  low 
revenue. 

In  order  to  produce  the  above  sizes  it  is 
necessary  to  construct  and  operate  a  very  ex¬ 
pensive  sizing  plant,  but  as  the  dealers’  calcu¬ 
lations  were  based  on  lump  and  screenings 
we  will  use  that  basis  for  figuring  the  average 
revenue,  and  will  also  assume  that  the  dealers’ 
prices  are  a  fair  average,  viz.:  $1.50  lump  and 
sixty  cents  screenings: 


47.68%  screenings@C0  cents= . $0,286 

52.32%  lump@$i.50= . . . 785 

Average  revenue  per  ton  mine  run= . $1.07 


This  is  not  very  far  from  the  average  reve¬ 
nue  secured  by  the  Franklin  county  mines, 
but  to  lessen  the  argument  on  this  point  we 
will  concede  the  average  revenue  of  $1.10  per 
ton  mine  run,  f.  o.  b.  cars  mines. 

The  cost  of  production  is,  of  course,  a  very 
variable  item,  each  mine  having  special  condi¬ 
tions  that  affect  the  cost,  and  each  month  or 
year  showing  a  different  figure  for  every  mine. 
However,  the  writer,  after  studying  the  cost 
sheets  of  a  number  of  mines,  has  picked  out 
the  following  as  a  fail;  average,  and  on  an  an¬ 
nual  basis,  with  normal  conditions,  the  data 
will  check  well  with  the  average  Franklin 
county  mine.  The  statement  also_  shows  that 
there  are  a  number  of  items  entering  into  the 
cost  of  producing  coal  whereof  our  western 
friends  are  unacquainted,  but  they  are  taken 
direct  from  the  cost  sheets,  and  are  actual 
facts: 


County  Coal. 

COST  OF  COAL  PRODUCED  AT  A  FRANKLIN 
COUNTY  MINE. 

Inside  Labor — 

Including  the  following;  Digging,  yardage,  timber¬ 
ing,  track  laying,  driving,  caging,  trapping,  road 
men,  bosses,  haulage,  inspection,  electrician, 
brattice  men,  pump  men,  shot  firers,  mine  ex¬ 
aminers,  handling  supplies,  salvage,  pipe  men, 
machine  boss,  etc . $0.7026 

Mine  Supplies — 

Including  the  following;  Timber,  powder,  machin¬ 
ery  parts,  ties,  tracking,  etc . 0366 

T op  Labor — 

Including  the  following;  Firemen,  engineers, 
weighman,  trimmers,  teamsters,  stable  men, 
bosses,  smithing,  machinist,  check  puller,  han¬ 


dling  material,  electricians,  miscellaneous,  etc..  .0627 
Top  Supplies — 

Including  the  following;  Fuel,  stable,  oil,  waste, 

machinery  parts,  miscellaneous,  etc . 0441 

Overhead  Local  E.xpense — 

Including  the  following;  Superintendents,  clerks, 
office,  liability  insurance,  engineering,  miscel¬ 
laneous  . 0369 


Total  operating  cost  per  ton . $0.8829 

To  these  should  be  added  the  following 
costs  which,  of  course,  are  subject  to  violent 
fluctuations  at  the  different  mines,  and  the 
figures  give  our  estimates  based  on  the  cost 
to  a  number  of  companies: 


General  Overhead — 

Including  the  following;  Royalty  or  exhaustion 
Depreciation  on  equipment  and  development... 

Additions  and  betterments . 

Interest  cn  investment . 

Selling  cost . ; . 


$0.03 

.02 

.01 

.05 

.06 


Total  . $0.17 

Conceding  that  the  first  two  items  of  the 
above  constitute  a  sinking  fund,  which  is  not 
generally  the  case,  the  total  cost  of  producing 
coal  at  this  mine  is  $1.05. 

The  above  costs  do  not  take  into  considera¬ 
tion  the  very  important  items  of  idle  days, 
strikes,  explosions,  fires,  squeezes,  etc.,  etc., 
all  of  which  unfortunately  are  common  enough 
in  the  Franklin  county  field. 

Leaving  these  considerations  aside  the  above 
statement  of  facts  indicates  that  the  dealer  is 
not  paying  enough  for  his  coal,  and  as  the 
operating  costs  at  the  mines  have  been  re¬ 
duced  to  about  the  lowest  possible  point,  the 
only  salvation  for  the  operator  is  to  get  more 
money  for  his  coal,  and  the  writer  trusts  that 
the  above  facts  will  tend  toward  that  end. 


Major  T.  H.  Jackson,  United  States  Army, 
in  charge  of  the  Wheeling  district,  notified 
river  interests  and  rivermen  that  a  temporary 
cofferdam  will  be  placed  at  Dam  No.  12,  War- 
wood,  W.  Va.,  which  will  obstruct  navigation 
for  a  width  of  about  fifty  feet.  It  will  be 
placed  at  a  point  368  feet  from  the  river  wall 
of  the  lock.  The  navigable  channels  will  be 
open  for  a  width  of  350  feet  adjacent  to  the 
river  wall  and  300  feet  in  width  adjacent  to 
the  river. 


Latest  advices  show  that  the  total  amount  of 
coal  mined  during  the  month  of  August  at  Port 
Natal  (Africa)  was  201,184  net  tons,  as  against 
254,261  tons  for  the  corresponding  period  of  1914, 
showing  a  decrease  of  53,677  tons.  The  amount 
of  coal  bunkered  at  Port  Natal  for  August  was 
83,676  tons,  and  that  exported  was  38,314  tons, 
making  a  total  of  121,900  tons  bunkered  and  ex¬ 
ported,  as  compared  with  133,154  tons  for  August, 
1914. 


Tipples  Such  as  This  Are  Built  at  Franklin  County  Mines. 


W  -A  v** 

UP 

^ f 

Part  of  Rescreening  Plant  in  Franklin  County,  Illinois. 


No.  21] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


409 


Government  Aids  American  Coal  Exporters. 

By  Herman  G.  Brock. 


It  is  able  and  ready  to  serve  his  interests  but 
in  order  to  make  this  service  of  nia-Kimum  value, 
it  is  essential  that  the  bureau  be  closely  in  touch 
with  each  individual  member  of  the  coal  trade 
who  is  interested  in  export  possibilities. 


Coal  shippers  who  are  interested  in  exporting 
their  product  may  well  ask  themselves  at  this 
time  whether  they  are  taking  full  advantage  of 
the  service  rendered  by  the  United  States  De¬ 
partment  of  Commerce  through  the  Bureau  of 
Korign  and  Domestic  Commerce.  This  is  one 
which  an  American  business  man  is  entitled  to 
receive,  and  it  is  a  service  which  has  already 
demonstrated  its  value  in  many  ways,  particu¬ 
larly  at  this  time  when  the  competition  from 
Welsh  and  Australian  coal  is  so  greatly  lessened. 
The  Bureau  of  Foreign  and  Domestic  Com¬ 
merce  is  peculiarly  prepared  to  assist  coal  ship¬ 
pers  who  wish  to  aggressively  go  after  foreign 
business. 

In  what  way  has  the  individual  coal  shipper 
obtained  real  and  concrete  assistance  through  this 
“business  men’s  bureau’’  of  the  Federal  Govern¬ 
ment?  A  reference  to  a  recent  activity  of  the 
bureau  will  clearly  illustrate  one  occasion,  at 
least,  when  this  organization  rendered  undeniable 
service  to  the  coal  trade.  For  many  years  the 
movement  of  American  coals  to  Spain  has  vir- 
tiually  been  negligible  in  quantity.  The  principal 
reason  for  this  has  been  the  discrimination 
against  the  United  States  product  in  the  so-called 
“Transport  Tax”  on  coal;  that  is,  a  tax  which 
was  levied  on  a  vessel  which  brought  a  cargo 
of  coal  to  Spanish  ports,  but  the  rate  on  cargoes 
from  America  was  much  higher  than  the  rate 
on  cargoes  from  Wales,  and  this  transport  tax 
made  the  delivery  of  our  coal  in  Spain  at  a  profit 
practically  prohibitive.  In  April,  1915,  this  tax 
was  completely  removed  by  the  Spanish  Govern¬ 
ment  largely  as  a  result  of  a  visit  made  to  Madrid 
by  Dr.  C.  W.  A.  Veditz,  commercial  attache  of 
the  Bureau  of  Foreign  and  Domestic  Commerce, 
with  headquarters  at  Paris. 

The  news  that  the  transport  tax  on  coal  had 
been  removed  was  immediately  cabled  to  the 
Bureau  of  Foreign  and  Domestic  Commerce  at 
Washington  by  Commercial  Attache  Veditz.  A 
few  days  before  this  had  occurred,  the  Spanish 
State  Railways  had  asked  for  bids  for  one  million 
tons  of  semi-bituminous  coal  and  the  bureau 
had  been  advised  of  this  fact  but,  owing  to  the 
existence  of  the  transport  tax,  tbere  was  very 
little  prospect  of  American  coal  being  success¬ 
fully  offered.  With  the  removal  of  this  tax, 
however,  there  was  created  a  splendid  opportunity 
for  the  sale  Of  American  coals  in  Spain. 

It  was  highly  desirable  that  every  American 
coal  shipper  capable  of  submitting  a  bid  in  this 
connection  should  be  immediately  advised  of  these 
changed  conditions  in  Spain.  .4t  once  the  entire 
machinery  of  the  Bureau  of  Foreign  and  Domes¬ 
tic  Commerce  was  put  in  motion.  On  the  after¬ 
noon  of  the  same  day  that  the  cable  from  Madrid 
was  received  telegrams  were  dispatched  to  such 
coal  shippers  in  Seattle,  Washington,  and  various 
points  in  the  Allegheny  coal  region,  as  were 
registered  in  the  bureau’s  index  and  therefore 
known  to  be  interested  in  the  sale  of  semi-bitu¬ 
minous  coal  abroad.  The  wire  conveyed  the  in¬ 
formation  that  the  Spanish  transport  tax  on  coal 
'was  removed  and  explained  that  further  details 
of  the  Spanish  State  Railways  would  follow  next 
day  by  confidential  letter. 

The  commercial  agent  in  charge  of  the  New 
York  office  of  the  bureau  was  likewise  given 
this  same  information  by  telegraph,  and  in¬ 
structed  to  bring  the  situation  to  the  attention 
of  all  doal  shippers  in  his  district  known  to  be 
interested  in  foreign  trade.  The  response  was 
immediate  and  somewhat  surprising,  since  it 
showed  a  large  number  of  firms  who  were  pre¬ 
pared  on  short  notice  to  submit  bids  for  this 
Spanish  market  which  had  hitherto  not  been  ser¬ 
iously  considered  as  an  outlet  for  American 
coal.  Some  firms  were  inclined  to  go  slowly 
and  make  a  study  of  this  new  field ;  a  few  advised 
the  bureau  that  they  were  taking  the  matter  up 
at  once  with  their  London  connections.  By  far 
the  largest  number  of  concerns,  however,  wired 
the  chief  of  the  bureau  at  Washington  that  they 
were  cabling  their  bid  direct  and  at  once  to 
Madrid;  and  the  bureau  has  since  been  advised 
that  several  of  these  firms  secured  large  orders 
as  a  result  of  this  prompt  action. 

.Acquainting  business  men  with  specific  oppor¬ 
tunities  to  sell  their  products  abroad  is  not  the 
sole  function,  however,  of  the  Bureau  of  For¬ 
eign  and  Domestic  Commerce  by  any  means,  al¬ 
though  it  plays  an  important  part  in  the  work  of 
this  organization.  A  coal  shipper  who  is  not 
closely  in  touch  with  the  work  of  this  bureau 
should  take  steps  at  once  to  see  that  his  name 
is  entered  in  the  bureau’s  index  of  American 


manufacturers  and  exporters.  In  order  to  fa¬ 
cilitate  this  registration,  as  well  as  to  expedite 
the  collection  and  distribution  of  commercial  in¬ 
formation  of  all  kinds,  the  central  office  of  the 
bureau  at  Washington  has  established  branch 
offices  in  New  York,  Chicago,  St.  Louis,  Boston, 
Atlanta,  New  Orleans,  Seattle,  and  San  Fran¬ 
cisco  ;  and  co-operative  branches  in  the  local 
chambers  of  commerce  in  Cleveland,  Cincinnati, 
Detroit  and  Los  Angeles. 

Each  branch  office  has  on  file,  besides  confi¬ 
dential  information  regarding  foreign  trade  op¬ 
portunities,  lists  of  importers  in  foreign  countries, 
classified  commercial  trade  directories  and  a  fund 
of  information  concerning  market  conditions  in 
the  various  countries  of  the  world.  A  complete 
file  of  all  publications  of  the  bureau,  as  well  as 
publications  of  other  branches  of  the  government, 
that  are  of  assistance  to  American  exporters 
is  kept  in  each  branch  office. 

Consular  officers  and  commerical  agents  make 
the  branch  offices  their  headquarters  during  leave 
of  absence  in  this  country,  and  the  commercial 
agent  in  charge  of  each  branch  office  gladly  ar¬ 
ranges  conferences  between  exporters  in  his  dis¬ 
trict  and  these  men. 

The  Bureau  of  Foreign  and  Domestic  Com¬ 
merce  has  three  principal  sources  from  which  it 
obtains  trade  information  from  foreign  countries. 
The  United  States  Government  maintains  abroad 
nearly  three  hundred  consular  officers,  and  in 
addition  many  consular  agencies.  These  consular 
officers,  while  accredited  to  the  Department  of 
State,  nevertheless  furnish  the  bureau  with  a 
great  fund  of  information  relating  to  the  trade 
of  their  respective  districts,  including  annual  re¬ 
views  of  commerce,  special  reports  called  for 
by  the  Department  of  Commerce,  lists  of  im¬ 
porters,  notices  of  bids  for  contract  work,  re¬ 
quests  of  merchants  to  be  placed  in  communica¬ 
tion  with  American  exporters,  etc. 

A  second  source  of  information  is  the  bureau’s 
staff  of  ten  commercial  attaches  stationed  in  the 
principal  countries  of  the  world.  Although  lo¬ 
cated  at  one  post,  like  consular  officers,  the  com¬ 
mercial  attache  is  free  to  travel  within  the  field 
to  which  he  is  assigned.  He  has  but  one  function 
— the  facilitation  of  commerce  between  the  United 
States  and  the  country  or  countries  to  which  he 
is  accredited.  Each  attache  speaks  the  language 
of  the  country  in  which  he  is  located  and  is 
thoroughly  conversant  with  its  commercial 
usages. 

Another  source  from  which  the  bureau  derives 
a  great  deal  of  information  is  the  commercial 
agent  branch  of  the  service.  Most  of  these  men 
are  taken  from  active  work  in  some  particular 
industry  or  some  special  branch  of  commerce 
and  are  experts  in  their  respective  lines.  They 
travel  widely  and  make  reports  as  to  the  methods 
of  manufacture  and  special  requirements  in  the 
lines  that  they  are  investigating. 

The  information  collated  by  the  Bureau  of 
Foreign  and  Domestic  Commerce  is  distributed 
chiefly  through  its  publications  which  include 
monthly,  quarterly,  annual  and  special  bulletins 
and  a  daily  trade  journal  called  “Commerce 
Reports.”  Any  American  business  man  can  sub¬ 
scribe  to  this  daily  publication  by  the  payment 
of  a  nominal  sum,  and  this  bulletin  has  clearly 
demonstrated  its  value  as  the  organ  through 
which  vital  and  up-to-the-minute  information  on 
foreign  trade  matters  is  distributed  to  business 
men  of  the  country. 

The  Bureau  of  Foreign  and  Domestic  Com¬ 
merce  can  supply  every  eoal  dealer  with  a  for¬ 
eign  trade  information  service  of  a  distinct  type. 


October  Anthracite  Figures. 


The  shipments  of  anthracite,  as  reported 
to  the  Anthracite  Bureau  of  Information, 
amounted  in  Cfctober  to  0,505,893  long  tons. 
This  showed  an  increase  over  the  preceding 
month  of  September  of  987,121  tons,  but  was 
still  138,584  tons  short  of  the  shipments  in 
October,  1914.  The  shortage  for  the  month  in 
1915,  as  compared  with  the  corresponding 
month  the  previous  year,  was  in  the  shipments 
from  the  Wyoming  and  Lehigh  regions,  whose 
combined  total  showed  a  decrease  of  250,510 
tons,  while  the  Schuylkill  region  increased  111,- 
926  tons. 

The  total  shipments  for  the  first  ten  months 
of  1915  amounted  to  53,885,003  tons,  igainst 
56,712,057  tons  in  1914,  a  decrease  so  far  this 
year  of  2,827,054  tons. 

The  shipments  for  October  include  all  the 
coal  shipped  from  the  breakers  or  washeries. 
In  previous  statements  a  relatively  unimport¬ 
ant  quantity  put  into  storage  by  one  of  the 
transportation  companies  was  not  included. 

There  was  only  a  slight  change  in  the  stocks 
at  tidewater  shipping  ports  in  October,  as 
compared  with  September,  the  tonnages  being 
for  the  two  months  625,821  tons  and  633,338 
tons,  respectively,  a  decrease  of  7,517  tons, 
and  as  there  was  a  decrease  also  in  Septem¬ 
ber,  as  compared  with  August,  of  about  20,000 
tons,  it  appears  that  these  are  being  drawn 
upon  somewhat  to  supply  the  deficiency  in 
purchases  during  the  summer  months. 

Statement  of  shipments  of  anthracite  coal 
by  the  initial  transportation  lines  for  month 
of  October,  1915,  compared  with  the  corre¬ 
sponding  period  last  year. 


Philadelphia  &  Reading  Railroad 

Lehigh  Valley  Railroad . 

Central  R.  R.  of  New  Jersey... 
Dela.,  Lacka.  &  Western  R.  R.. 

Delaware  &  Hudson  Co . 

Pennsylvania  Railroad . 

Erie  Railroad . 

N.  Y.,  O.  &  W.  R.  R . 


, - Total  Shipments - ^ 

Oct..  1915.  Oct.,  1914. 


1,199,284 

1,266,539 

895,895 

888,609 

701,279 

637,052 

708,007 

209,227 


1,092,056 

1,391,144 

892,386 

990,570 

678,104 

611,593 

773,866 

214,757 


Total 


6,505,892  6,644,476 


Year  1915. 

Philadelphia  &  Reading  Railroad.  9,195,089 


Lehigh  Valley  Railroad . 10,714,002 

Central  R.  R.  cf  New  Jersey ...  .j  0,532,694 
Dela.,  Lacka.  &  Western  R.  R....  7,079,800 

Delaware  &  Hudson  Co .  6,671,603 

Pennsylvania  Railroad .  4,870,961 

Erie  Railroad .  6,524,667 

N.  Y.,  O.  &  W.  R.  R .  1,696,187 


Year  1914. 

9,961,608 

10,941,943 

7,452,435 

8,128,793 

6,032,697 

5,308,918 

6,943,394 

1,942,269 


Total  . 53,885,003  56.712,057 

Coal  on  hand  at  tidewater  shipping  ports  October  31, 
1915,  625,821  tons,  and  September  30,  1915,  033,338  tons, 
a  decrease  of  7,517  tons. 


Statement  of  shipments  of  anthracite  for  month 
of  October,  1915,  compared  with  correspond¬ 
ing  period  last  year,  by  regions. 


Region  1 — 

Wyoming  . 

Lehigh  . 

Schuylkill  . 

October, 

1915. 

_  3,729,867 

-  1,893,225 

October, 

1914. 

3,932,692 

930,485 

1,781,299 

Difference, 

Decrease. 

202,825 

47,685 

*111,926 

Total . 

_  6,505,892 

6,644,476 

138,584 

Regions — 

Wyoming  . 

Lehigh  . 

Schuylkill  . 

Year  1915. 

_ 32,335,981 

_  7,089,501 

- 14,459,521 

Year  1914. 
33,696,604 
7,642,774 
15,372,679 

Difference, 

Decrease. 

1,360,623 

553,273 

913,158 

Total  . 

56,712,057 

2,827,054 

■“  Increase. 


Buckwheat  No.  1 
an!  larger  Sizes. 
October,  Oct  iber, 
1915.  1914. 

1,031  456  n,S3,625 


Philadelphii  S:  Reading  Railway .  I,i20,262  1,212,392 

Lehigh  Valley  Railroad .  714.136  732,135 

Central  Railroad  of  New  Jersey .  743,449  838,826 

Deiawa.-e,  Lackawanna  &  Western  Railroad .  595,890  582,234 

Delaware  &  Hudson  Company .  545,023  532,831 

Erie  Railroad .  594,488  629,519 

N.  Y.,  O.  &  W.  R.  W .  183,322  189,280 


Sizes  Below 
Buckwheat  No.  1 . 
October,  October, 


1915. 

1914. 

167,828 

138,431 

146,277 

173,762 

181,759 

159,951 

145,160 

151,744 

105,389 

95,850 

92,029 

78.762 

113,519 

144,347 

25,905 

25,477 

Total  Shipments 
October,  October, 
1915.  1914. 

1,199,284  1,092,056 

1.266,539  1.391,144 

895,895  892,386 

888,609  990,570 

701,279  678,104 

637,052  611,593 

708,007  773,866 

209,227  214,757 


Total  .  5,,528,026 

Year  191 5. 

Philadelphia  &  Reading  Railway .  8,019,892 

Lehigh  Valley  Railroad .  9,604,914 

Central  Railroad  of  New  Jersey .  5,349,427 

Delaware,  I.ackawanna  &  Western  Railroad .  6,439,640 

Delaware  &  Hudson  Company .  5,672,276 

Pennsylvania  Railroad .  4.126,901 

Erie  Railroad .  5,484,380 

N.  Y.,  O.  &  W.  R.  W .  1,518,372 


5,611.162 

977,866 

973,314 

6,505,892 

6,644,476 

Yea  -  1914. 

Year  1915. 

Year  1914. 

Year  1915. 

Year  1914. 

8,708,209 

1,175,197 

1,253.."99 

9.195,089 

9,961,608 

9,782,945 

1,109,088 

1,158,998 

10,714,002 

10,941,943 

6,162,448 

1,183,267 

1,289,987 

6,532,694 

7,452,435 

6,797,952 

1,240,160 

1,330,841 

7,679,800 

8.128,793 

5,180,631 

999,327 

846,066 

6,671,603 

6,032,697 

4,611,522 

744,060 

697,396 

4,870,961 

5,308,918 

5,794,240 

1,040,287 

1,149,154 

6,524,667 

6,943,394 

1,732,671 

177,81 5 

209,598 

1,696,187 

1,942,269 

Totiil  . . . 46,215  802  4?,7/'6,618  7,669,201  7,935,439  53,885,003  56,712,057 

Coal  on  hand  at  tidewater  shipping  ports,  October  31,  1915,  625,821  tons;  September  30,  1915,  633,338  tons;  de¬ 
crease,  7,517  tons. 


410 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


[November  20 


r 


Mine  Safety  at  Strong,  Colo. 

'I'he  Sunnyside  Coal  IMining  Company,  at  their 
mine  at  Strong,  Colo.,  furnishes  each  man  enter¬ 
ing  their  employ  with  a  book  of  rules  govern¬ 
ing  the  mine.  The  following  are  the  rules  em¬ 
bodied  in  this  book ; 

Number  of  Hours  in  Working  Day. — The  law 
provides  that  all  inside  men  must  work  not  over 
eight  hours  a  day.  All  outside  men  work  nine 
hours  a  da}'.  All  inside  and  outside  men  must 
be  at  their  working  places  at  7  ;30  a.  m.  Thirty 
minutes  will  be  allowed  for  the  noon  period. 

Fall  Occurring  in  Working  Place. — When  a 
fall  occurs  in  a  working  place  at  any  time,  the 
miner  on  finding  same  shall  immediately  notify 
the  pit  boss,  and  the  company  shall  cause  the 
same  to  be  cleaned  up,  unless  the  fall  shall  be 
due  to  the  fault  of  the  miner,  in  which  event  the 
miner  shall  put  same  in  good  order  and  condi¬ 
tion.  Preference  shall  be  given  by  the  company 
to  the  miner  in  cleaning  up  such  fall  on  com¬ 
pany  time. 

Fault  Occurring  in  Working  Place. — When  a 
fault  occurs  in  a  working  place,  the  miner  may 
be  put  on  company  time,  or  may  be  given  an¬ 
other  place. 

Timbering  and  Track. — All  rooms,  entries  and 
other  working  places  shall  be  timbered  by  the 
miner  in  a  workmanlike  manner  before  leaving 
his  work,  and  the  pit  boss  shall  see  that  suffi¬ 
cient  timber  is  furnished  to  do  the  work.  .411 
miners  and  loaders  are  required  to  lay  track  in 
their  respective  working  place;. 

First  Aid. — For  the  purpose  of  caring  for  any 
person  or  persons  accidentally  injured,  the  com¬ 
pany  will  provide  appurtenances  and  medicines 
for  first  relief  to  the  injured.  (Draeger  pul- 
motor  immediately  available.) 

Blacksmith  Charges. — Men  loading  after  ma¬ 
chines  will  be  charged  fifty  cents  per  month  for 
blacksmith.  All  special  work  must  be  paid  for 
by  the  miner  or  loader. 

Coal  Supplied  to  Employes. — For  coal  for  em¬ 
ployes’  use  the  company  will  charge  $2. .70  a  ton 
delivered. 

Grievances. — Employes  may  present  any  griev¬ 
ance  to  the  pit  boss  and  superintendent,  and, 
failing  to  receive  satisfaction,  may  take  it  up 
with  the  president,  who  will  hear  all  complaints 
on  pay  day  of  each  month. 

Pay  Day.- — Pay  day  will  be  the  second  Satur¬ 
day  in  each  month.  By  request,  employes  will 
be  “time  checked”  on  the  sixteenth  day  of  each 
month,  to  include  the  first  fifteen  days’  wages. 
An  employe  voluntarily  leaving  the  company’s 
service,  giving  ten  days’  notice  to  the  superin¬ 
tendent  prior  to  the  time  he  leaves,  will  receive 
a  time  check ;  otherwise  he  will  have  to  wait 
until  the  regular  pay  day  for  his  check.  An 
employe  desiring  a  time  check  for  the  first  fifteen 
days’  wages  must  give  notice  at  the  mine  office 
on  the  15th  day  of  the  month. 

Credit  for  Work  Done. — .4  daily  bulletin  will 
be  posted,  showing  the  pounds  credited  to  each 
loader,  and  the  hours  credited  to  each  day  man. 
.411  claims  must  be  made  within  twenty-four 
hours. 

Check  Weighman. — It  is  perfectly  agreeable  to 
the  company  that  the  loaders  and  miners  may 
provide  a  check  weighman. 

Delivery  of  Cars  to  Working  Places. — The 
company  will  deliver  empty  cars  to  the  customary 
point,  and  the  loader  will  be  required  to  de¬ 
liver  the  loaded  car  to  a  convenient  point  where 
the  company  can  couple  rope  or  motor  to  the 
car.  In  the  event  of  a  wreck  caused  by  careless¬ 
ness  of  the  loader,  the  loader  will  replace  the 
track  on  his  own  time.  The  company  will  fur¬ 
nish  sufficient  sprags  to  protect  the  loader  in 
dropping  loaded  cars  to  the  point  where  they 
can  be  coupled  to  rope  or  motor. 

Loading  of  Coal. — Loaders  that  intentionally 
or  persistently  load  coal  carrying  more  than  the 
average  of  small  coal,  or  load  dirt,  rock  or  bone. 


so  as  to  make  the  coal  unmarketable,  are  sub¬ 
ject  to  a  reduction  of  weight  on  each  car  so 
loaded. 

Carrying  Powder  into  the  Mine. — Every  loader 
must  provide  himself  with  the  usual  powder  car¬ 
rier  as  prescribed  by  law,  which  must  not  con¬ 
tain  more  than  powder  sufficient  for  one  day’s 
use. 

Safety. — All  underground  employes  are  abso¬ 
lutely  forbidden  and  prohibited  to  travel  main 
haulage  ways  during  working  hours,  e.xcept  those 
whose  duties  require  them  to  do  so,  and  no  em¬ 
ploye  will  be  permitted  to  ride  trips. 

Identification. — .411  men  employed  under¬ 
ground  must  provide  themselves  with  an  identi¬ 
fication  check.  .4nyone  entering  the  mine  must 
take  his  check  from  the  board  and  carry  it  with 
him  inside  the  mine.  Upon  leaving  the  mine 
he  must  place  his  check  on  the  board  at  the 
entrance  of  manway. 

Application  for  Employment. — .4nyone  desir¬ 
ing  employment  with  the  company  must  make 
application  on  the  company’s  regular  form.  Ap¬ 
plicants  accepted  will  receive  one  book  of  rules, 
one  copy  of  “Colorado  Mining  Laws,”  and  one 
identification  check. 

The  last  sheet  in  this  book  of  rules  is  per¬ 
forated,  and  is  a  receipt  for  the  above  mentioned 
articles,  which  must  be  signed  by  each  new  em¬ 
ploye  at  the  mine. 

It  is  believed  that  such  rules  as  these,  placed  in 
the  hands  of  every  employe,  go  a  long  way  to¬ 
ward  reducing  the  number  of  accidents  in  mines. 

Colorado.  l.  e.  c. 


Inspection  of  Mines. 

The  number  of  men  to  whom  the  task  is 
assigned  of  inspecting  all  the  working  parts  of 
the  anthracite  mines  of  Pennsylvania  every  morn¬ 
ing  before  the  mine  workers  are  allowed  to  enter 
has  been  greatly  increased  in  the  last  few  years, 
and  the  inspection  now  continues  throughout  the 
working  day.  This  daily  inspection  had  been 
brought  to  .such  a  degree  of  perfection  several 


The  problem  of  getting  a  quick  and  accurate 
transmission  of  orders  from  the  office  of  coal 
companies  to  plants  and  yards  located  at  a  dis¬ 
tance  from  the  office  has  been  a  difficult  one  for 
dealers  to  solve.  ‘ 

However,  the  Staples  Coal  Company  of  Taun¬ 


ton,  Mass.,  has  seemed  to  solve  the  problem  of 
transmitting  orders  from  their  main  office  to  their 
five  different  yards,  through  the  installation  and 
use  of  a  system  called  a  telautograph. 

This  is  a  device  sold  by  the  Gray  National 


years  ago  that  it  was  being  imitated  in  the  bitu¬ 
minous  regions  of  the  state,  but  efforts  to  perfect 
it  still  further  continues. 

Each  morning  the  assistant  foremen,  or  “fire¬ 
bosses,”  visit  every  gangway  and  chamber.  The 
districts  assigned  to  them  to  cover  are  sufficiently 
small  so  that  they  can  complete  the  inspection  in 
from  one  to  two  hours.  They  make  tests  with 
their  little  Humphrey  Davy  lamps  to  locate  dan¬ 
gerous  gas,  and  when  a  cap  of  vapor  forms  above 
the  flame,  or  it  burns  low,  or  is  extinguished,  no 
miner  is  allowed  to  enter  the  chamber  until  the 
.gas  has  been  swept  away. 

In  addition  to  this,  the  timbering  and  the  “roof” 
must  be  examined  to  forestall  the  risk  of  a 
“cave,”  and  the  inspector  of  equipment  must 
e.xamine  all  the  fire  equipment,  pumps  and  engines 
for  safety  and  cleanliness.  The  men  entering  the 
mine  must  pass  the  foremen’s  offices,  at  the  bot¬ 
tom  of  the  shafts,  and  each  one  of  them  must  get 
his  O.  K.  before  he  proceeds  to  work. 


Permissible  Explosives 

Under  date  of  October  25,  the  Bureau  of 
Mines  placed  the  explosive  "du  Pont  Permis¬ 
sible  No.  t”  on  its  list  of  explosives  permissi¬ 
ble  for  use  in  coal  mines.  It  belongs  to  Class 
la,  ammonium  nitrate,  and  is  permissible 
oidy  when  used  with  detonators,  preferably 
electric  detonators,  of  not  less  efficiency  than 
the  No.  6.  Its  unit  deflective  charge  is  278 
grams;  rate  of  detonation  in  by  8-inch 

cartridges  is  9,610  feet  (2,930  meters)  per  sec¬ 
ond;  and  is  manufactured  by  the  E.  I.  du  Pont 
de  Nemours  Powder  Co.,  Wilmington,  Del. 

Under  date  of  November  4,  the  Bureau  of 
.■Vlines  also  placed  the  explosive  “Red  H  No. 
8”  on  the  list  of  explosives  permissible  for  use 
in  coal  mines.  It  belongs  to  Class  la,  ammo¬ 
nium  nitrate,  and  is  permissible  only  when 
used  with  detonators,  preferably  electric  de¬ 
tonators,  of  not  less  efficiency  than  the  No.  6. 
Its  unit  deflective  charge  is  278  grams;  rate 
ol  detonation  in  154  hy-  8-inch  cartridges  is 
7,590  feet  (2,315  meters)  per  second;  and  is 
manufactured  by  the  Hercules  Powder  Com¬ 
pany',  Wilmington,  Del. 

The  number  of  explosives  now  on  the  per¬ 
missible  list  is  130.  The  explosives  previously 
placed  on  the  permissible  list  are  given  in 
Technical  Paper  100,  “Permissible  Explosives 
Tested  Prior  to  March  1,  1915,”  and  a  supple¬ 
mentary  list  inclosed  therewith.  This  publi¬ 
cation  may  be  procured  by  request  of  the 
Director  of  the  Bureau  of  Mines,  Washington, 
T).  C. 


J.  W.  Wardrop,  former  representative  in  De¬ 
troit  of  the  Pittsburgh  &  Buffalo  Coal  Company, 
is  now  coverin.g  a  section  of  Canadian  territory 
for  the  Detroit  &  Pittsburgh  Coal  Company. 


Telautograph  Company  and  consists  of  an  ar¬ 
rangement  of  electrical  devices  which  transmit  a 
written  order  from  one  point  to  another.  In 
other  words,  the  system  resembles  a  telephone 
e.xcept  that  hand  writing  is  conveyed  over  wires 
instead  of  the  human  voice. 

.4s  shown  by  the  photograph  herewith,  the  op¬ 
erator  writes  an  order  with  a  pencil  on  the  trans¬ 
mitter,  which  is  so  connected  with  two  current 
carrying  rheostats  which  by  its  movements  while 
writing  varies  the  different  voltages  sent  over  the 
wires  which  operate  the  pen  at  the  receiving  end 
of  the  system  and  which  reproduces  the  motion 
of  the  transmitting  pencil. 

The  use  of  such  a  system  eliminates  all  mis¬ 
takes  which  might  occur  from  misunderstand¬ 
ings  in  a  telephone  message,  as  the  telautograph 
reproduces  a  message  identically  with  that  which 
it  sent. 

In  Chicago  these  telautographs  are  leased  to 
the  Chicago  Telephone  Company,  and  which  in 
turn  are  leased  to  those  parties  using  them.  The 
cost  is  forty  dollars  a  year  per  mile  of  private 
wire,  and  there  is  no  charge  for  the  use  of  the 
device.  Hence  a  dealer  who  has  three  yards  and 
connects  all  three  with  his  main  office  two  miles 
away  from  each  would  cost  him  $249  a  year. 


On  account  of  the  scarcity  of  tonnage  for  some 
ports  on  the  Great  Lakes  shippers  of  anthracite 
have  had  to  pay  double  the  ordinary  freight  rates, 
and  even  more,  during  the  past  two  weeks.  Rates 
will  remain  stiff  for  the  balance  of  the  lake  sea¬ 
son. 


Transmitting  Orders  to  a  Distant  Coal  Yard. 


No.  21 1 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


411 


The  German  Coal  Situation. 


{Translated  for  The  Black  Diamond.) 

A  German  exchange  of  Oct.  2d  contains  an 
article  by  G.  Gschwender  gf  Tuebingen,  who  dis¬ 
cusses  the  coal  situation  in  Germany  exhaustively. 
He  says  that  the  press  and  country  are  a  unit  in 
the  opinion  that  a  coal  famine  is  not  to  be  feared, 
but  adds  significantly : 

■‘The  precious  fuel,  it  is  true,  has  become  some¬ 
what  scarce  with  us,  but  the  reason  for  this  is 
not  to  be  sought  in  the  cessation  of  shipments 
from  England,  but  solely  in  the  lack  of  rolling 
stock  which  is  almost  monopolized  for  military 
purposes. 

“Austria  is  wont  to  buy  her  entire  supply  of 
coal  and  coke  in  Germany,  and,  if  need  be,  is  in 
a  position  to  cover  her  wants  by  lignite  of  her 
own  production.  But  Germany  has  in  the  last 
few  decades  bought  large  quantities  of  anthra¬ 
cite  from  England  and,  besides  the  port  cities,  it 
was  Berlin  that  consumed  English  coal  in  stead¬ 
ily  increasing  quantities.  It  is  noteworthy  that  in 
the  same  proportion  in  which  the  consumption  of 
English  coal  increased,  imports  of  Austrian 
brown  or  lignite  coal  diminished.  So  that  the 
German  industry,  if  a  coal  famine  were  to  ensue, 
could  just  as  Austria  herself,  fall  back  upon  the 
latter’s  production  of  lignite.  True  it  is  quali¬ 
tatively  much  inferior,  but  it  must  be  remembered 
also,  much  cheaper  fuel.” 

The  writer  then  gives  some  interesting  statis¬ 
tics.  “Berlin,”  he  says,  “consumed  in  1903  only 
344,000  tons  of  English  coal,  or  twelve  percent 
of  the  total  amount  of  coal  used  in  Berlin.  In 
1913  the  consumption  of  English  coal  in  Berlin 
had  reached  a  total  of  720,000  tons,  or  nineteen 
percent  of  the  total. 

Against  this  increase,  the  consumption  of  Aus¬ 
trian  lignite  had  decreased  in  these  ten  years 
from  three  percent  of  the  total  coal  used  to  one- 
sixteenth  percent.” 

A  statistical  table,  which  is  appended  to  the 
article,  shows  that  Germany  imported  during  the 
normal  years  of  1912  and  1913  from  England 
9,100,000  tons  of  anthracite.  To  her  other  ene¬ 
mies  Germany  sold  anthracite,  Belgium  receiving 
in  the  same  period  5,500,000  tons,  from  which 
must  be  deducted  350,000  tons  which  Belgium  sold 
to  Germany.  To  France  Germany  sold  3,100,000 
tons,  to  Italy  800,000  tons,  to  Russia  1,800,000 
tons.  Germany  shipped  in  the  same  period  800,- 
000  tons  of  coke  to  Belgium  and  bought  from  the 
latter  510,000  tons.  To  France,  however,  she 
sold  2,300,000  tons  of  coke,  to  Russia  500,000  and 
to  Italy  170,000.  Germany  also  shipped  750,000 
tons  of  anthracite  briquets  to  Belgium  and 
France.  From  Austria  she  imported  lignite  to 
the  amount  of  7,100,000  tons. 

On  the  basis  of  these  figures  the  writer  draws 
the  conclusion  that  the  cessation  of  exports  to 
France,  Italy,  Russia  and  Belgium  fully  makes  up 
for  the  cutting  off  of  the  English  supply  of 
anthracite,  in  addition  to  which,  he  asserts, 
“sight  must  not  be  lost  of  the  opportunity  to 
import  all  the  more  Austrian  lignite  coal  and  to 
render  thereby  a  great  service  to  our  faithful 
ally.” 


International  Conference. 

The  International  Trade  Conference  ar¬ 
ranged  by  the  foreign  trade  department  of 
the  National  Association  of  Manufacturers  at 
the  Hotel  .^stor.  New  York  city,  December 
()th,  7th  and  8th,  promises  to  be  a  notable 
meeting  of  prominent  men. 

Among  the  papers  to  be  presented  and  ad¬ 
dresses  to  be  made  at  the  conference  are  the 
following:  “Commercial  Treaties  and  Their 
Relation  to  Foreign  Trade,”  John  Basset 
Moore,  formerly  counselor  of  the  Department 
of  State;  “Transportation  and  Foreign  Trade,” 
l)y  Professor  Emory  R.  Johnson,  of  the  Uni¬ 
versity  of  Pennsylvania,  the  United.  States 
Government  special  commissioner  on  Panama 
canal  traffic  and  tolls;  “Credit,  Banking  and 
Exchange,”  J.  J.  Arnold,  manager  foreign  ex¬ 
change  department.  First  National  bank,  Chi¬ 
cago;  Benjamin  Joy,  vice-president  National 
.Shawmut  bank,  Boston;  David  H.  G.  Penny, 
vice-president  Irving  National  bank.  New 
York,  and  V.  Gonzales,  banking  adviser  of  the 
X.  .A..  M.,  delegate  to  the  Pan-American  Finan¬ 
cial  Conference,  and  member  of  the  Interna¬ 
tional  High  Commission;  “General  Review  of 
the  World’s  Commerce,”  Dr.  Albert  A.  Snow¬ 
den,  member  of  the  N.  A.  M.’s  trade  commis¬ 
sion  to  Australia  and  the  far  east  in  1914; 
“The  Present  Export  Situation,”  Dr.  E.  E. 
Pratt,  chief,  bureau  of  foreign  and  domestic 
commerce;  “International  Trade  as  a  Sign  of 


National  Prosperity,”  John  M.  Clausen,  Crocker 
National  bank,  San  Francisco ;  “Trade  Relations 
Between  Australia  and  the  United  States,”  P. 
E.  Quinn,  former  member  of  the  parliament 
of  New  South  Wales;  “Advertising  in  Foreign 
Trade,”  H.  M.  Kahler,  editor  of  “How  to  Ex¬ 
port”;  Elemental  Conditions  in  Credit  Informa¬ 
tion,”  J.  H.  Tregoe,  secretary  National  Asso¬ 
ciation  of  Credit  Men. 


Soo  Canal  Traffic. 


The  statistical  report  of  lake  commerce 
through  the  canals  at  Sault  Ste.  Marie,  Mich¬ 
igan  and  Ontario,  for  the  month  of  October, 
1915,  issued  by  L.  C.  Sabin,  general  superin¬ 
tendent,' is  as  follows: 


EAST 

BOUND 

U.  S. 

Can. 

ARTICLE.S. 

Canal. 

Canal. 

Total. 

Copper . 

Short  tons.  . 

15,526 

6,752 

22,278 

Grain  . 

Bushels  .... 

5,841,877 

3,848,973 

9,690,850 

Hnilding 

Flour . 

Barrels  .... 

934,330 

638,630 

1,572,960 

Iron  Ore.  .  . . 

Short  tons.  . 

5,470,808 

1,405,762 

6,876,570 

Pig  Iron .... 

Short  tons.  . 

0,050 

2,070 

8,726 

Dumber  .... 

M.  ft.  B.  M. 

58,568 

4,716 

63,284 

Wheat . 

Bushels  ....  4 

7,783,522 

17,603,834 

65,387,356 

Geieral  Mer 

chandisQ  .  . 

Short  tons.  . 

40,259 

16,207 

56,460 

Passengers.  . . 

Number  .  . . 

85 

452 

537 

WEST 

BOUND. 

Coal,  hard.  . . 

Short  tons.  . 

200,188 

260,188 

Coal,  soft.  .  . 

Short  tons.. 

1,537,590 

105,693 

1,643,283 

T'lntir 

n,-  y 

373 

373 

Manufactured 

Iro.i . 

Short  tons.  . 

19,652 

4,726 

24,378 

Iron  Ore.  . .  . 

Short  tons.  . 

1,500 

1,500 

.Salt . 

Barrels  .... 

113,876 

8,540 

122,416 

Gene 'al  Mer 

chandise  . . 

Short  tons.  . 

163,905 

46,853 

210,758 

Passengers. . . 

Number  .  .  . 

59 

313 

372 

SUMMARY. 

Vess'I  Pss- 

sages . 

.Number  ... 

2,421 

810 

3,231 

Uegistered 

Tonnage . . 

X;t  . 

7,305,359 

1,977,901 

9,283,260 

Freight — 

Hast  Pound. 

Short  tons .  . 

7,292,000 

2,107,436 

9,399,436 

West  Round . 

Short  tons.  . 

1,999,917 

158,498 

2,158,415 

Total  freiglu. 

Short  tons.  . 

9,291,917 

2,265,934 

11,557,851 

Short  tons  are  tons  of  2,000  pounds. 


September  Coal  Exports. 

The  Department  of  Commerce,  throu.gh  the 
Bureau  of  F'oreign  and  Domestic  Commerce  at 
Washington,  has  issued  its  monthly  statement  cov¬ 
ering  the  exports  of  domestic  coal  and  coke  from 
the  United  States,  and  bunker  coal  laden  on  ves¬ 
sels  engaged  in  the  foreign  trade  at  the  specified 
districts,  during  the  month  of  September,  1915. 
It  follows: 


DO.MKSTJC  EXPORTS,  TONS. 


Districts — 

Maine  and  New  Hampshire. 
Maryland  . 

r- - Coal 

Anthra. 

97  1 

252 

Bitum. 

22 

200,926 

2 

Coke. 

208 

New  York . 

Philadelphia  . 

20,273 

11,552 

2,00S 

64,351 

60 

2,922 

97 

603, .558 

20 

502 

New  Orleans . 

59 

909 

3 

Arizona  . 

2,308 

7,090 

El  Paso . 

10,971 

2,775 

36 

2,113 

San  Francisco . 

20 

Washington  . 

521 

3,345 

PulTalo  . 

119,440 

174,251 

34,316 

Dakota  . 

700 

2,311 

159 

Duluth  and  Supj^rior . 

6,160 

1,627 

182 

Michigan  . 

24 

10,367 

6,407 

Ohio  . 

36 

646,287 

379 

Rochester  . 

50,713 

60,062 

543 

St.  Lawrence . 

78,800 

18,660 

1,616 

Vermont  . 

790 

460 

15 

Total  . 

289,790  1 

,832,977 

59,395 

BUNKER 

COAL. 

Districts —  Gross  Tons. 

Maryland  .  48,456 

New  York .  284,634 

Philadelphia  .  29,648 

I'irginia  (Hampton  Roads) .  162,190 


The  Liverpool  Journal  of  Commerce  informs 
us  that  the  interests  identified  with  D.  A.  Thomas 
are  quite  active  during  his  absence  from  Car¬ 
diff  on  his  mission  to  this  country  for  the  British 
government.  Says  this  paper:  “Another  Cardiff 
company,  with  Mr.  D.  A.  Thomas  as  a  director, 
lias  been  registered  under  tlie  style  of  the  Plisson 
&  Lyslierg  Insurance,  Ltd.  I'lie  capital  is  £20,000, 
in  £l  shares,  and  the  object  is  to  carry  on  busi¬ 
ness  as  insurance  brokers,  a.gents,  insurers  of 
steamships,  etc.  The  subscribers  are  Lady  Mar¬ 
garet  II.  Mackworth  and  Mr.  H.  O.  King,  while 
the  directors  are  Messrs.  D.  A.  Thomas,  E.  Plis¬ 
son,  Lady  Mackworth,  W.  E.  Clare  and  A.  B. 
Craggs.  The  directorships  already  held  by  Mr. 
D.  Thomas  number  over  thirty,  and  he  is  chair¬ 
man  or  deputy  chairman  of  most  of  the  com¬ 
panies.” 


Trade  at  Para,  Brazil. 


George  H.  Pickerill,  .American  consul  at 
Para,  Brazil,  writes  The  Black  Diamond  as 
follows : 

“The  coal  consumption  has  decreased,  but  it 
would  not  be  correct  to  ascribe  the  total  de¬ 
crease  to  the  war.  Part  of  this  is  direcfly 
chargeable  to  the  continued  lowering  of  the 
price  of  rubber  and  the  fact  that  this  reduction 
compelled  them  to  resort  to  the  use  of  wood, 
which  could  be  obtained  at  a  cheaper  price. 
Many  of  the  river  steamers,  ice  factories,  elec¬ 
tric  works  and  breweries  are  now  using  exclu¬ 
sively  wood  and  will  continue  to  do  so  for 
some  time  after  a  parity  is  established  as  the 
money  spent  for  fuel  remains  in  the  country 
and  has  a  tendency  to  assist  general  business. 
In  re.gard  to  this  last  (general  business)  I  beg 
to  report  that  it  is  improving  and  the  indica¬ 
tions  are  that  the  improvement  this  year  will 
be  much  greater  than  w'as  expected.  Credits 
today  are  very  good.  Orders  still  continue 
small  in  size  but  their  frequency  is  highly  satis¬ 
factory. 

“For  the  immediate  future  in  coal  I  can  see 
no  improvement  for  the  reasons  given.  Some 
coal  must  be  used,  but  where  it  can  be  sub¬ 
stituted  by  wood  there  is  no  doubt  but  what 
the  substitution  will  be  made.  Wood  is  selling 
here  today  at  a  price  per  meter  cubic  foot,  which 
at  today’s  exchange  would  be  about  92c.  Coal 
unless  one  has  a  contract  cannot  be  bought  for 
less  than  $15.00  per  ton  and  in  some  cases 
the  prices  are  much  higher.  I  cannot  give  you 
the  range  of  prices  for  the  reason  that  the 
principal  buyer,  the  Lloyd-Brazileiro,  do  not 
inform  their  local  agents  as  to  prices  and 
the  same  can  in  a  measure  be  said  of  the  Booth 
Company.  As  the  coal  received  this  year  came 
from  America,  Norfolk,  I  have  no  doubt  but 
what  you  can  easily  obtain  the  prices,  as  also 
the  freights.  The  amount  of  coal  arriving  to 
the  end  of  August,  1915,  as  tons  38,821,  Amer¬ 
ican  90  per  cent. 


Year  1914 . do.  69,387  Part  Welsh 

Year  1913 . do.  116,658  {/3  American 

Year  1912 . do.  140,630  40%  American 

Year  1911 . do.  153,670 

Year  1910 . do.  150,404 


“For  reasons  best  known  to  themselves  the 
coal  importers  are  as  yet  continuing  to  store 
their  coal  in  lighters,  although  the  Port  of  Para 
can  take  care  of  it  should  they  so  desire.  The 
regular  unloading  rate  can  easily  be  run  up  to 
GOO  tons  per  day  of  twenty-four  hours,  but  300 
tons  they  can  do  easily  if  it  is  made  agreeable. 
The  old  charter  parties  called  for  an  average 
of  200  tons  per  day  exclusive  of  holidays,  etc., 
but  this  was  mainly  to  allow  the  buyers  time 
to  deliver  it  to  steamers  without  the  necessity 
of  putting  it  first  into  lighters. 

“I  have  just  had  a  very  interesting  interview 
with  the  general  manager  of  one  of  the  large 
transportation  companies  of  this  valley  and 
I  was  pleased  to  learn  that  they  were  getting- 
most  excellent  results  from  the  American  coal 
that  they  have  been  importing.  He  tells  me 
that  on  some  of  their  craft  they  are  obtaining 
better  results  than  they  have  ever  had  with 
other  foreign  coals.  The  friability  and  absence 
of  lumps  has  been  somewhat  of  a  bar  to  the 
introduction  of  our  coal  but  the  last  imports 
have  been  harder  and  there  has  been  a  notice¬ 
able  increase  in  the  size  of  that  received. 

“Generally  speaking  business  has  improved, 
but  it  is  yet  very  far  from  being  as  large  in 
amount  as  it  was  in  1912  or  1913,  and  I  doubt 
very  much  if  it  will  reach  those  figures  for 
some  years  to  come  unless  the  price  of  rubber 
advances  very  materially.  Credits  on  the  other 
hand  are  much  better  today  than  they  have 
ever  been  and  the  tendency  is  to  still  further 
improve.  There  has  been  a  general  tendency 
to  reorganize  all  former  business  methods  and 
the  good  effect  of  this  can  be  seen  in  the  pres¬ 
ent  credit  situation.” 


Bids  were  opened  on  Thursday,  November  D, 
by  the  president  of  the  Borougli  of  Brooklyn 
for  supplying  3,300,000  pounds  of  anthracite  coal 
for  the  various  public  buildings,  courts  and  baths 
in  the  Borou.gh  of  Brooklyn  for  the  year  lt)15. 
Bidders  and  their  bids  were  as  follows:  Thos. 
W.  Wood  .Sons,  $2.95J/^  per  1,000:  Bacon  Coal 
Company,  $2.90  per  1,000:  John  F.  Schniadeke, 
$2.85  per  1,000. 


The  Byproducts  Coke  Company  of  Canal 
Dover.  Ohio,  has  been  incorporated  with  a 
capitalization  of  $400,000  by  H.  M.  Hanna,  R. 

L.  Ireland,  F.  11.  Richards,  .S.  W.  Folsom  ami 

M.  McMurray. 


412 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[November  20 


Coal  and  Coke  Rates. 

Washington,  D.  C.,  November  17. — The  fol¬ 
lowing  rates  have  been  filed  with  the  Inter¬ 
state  Commerce  Commission,  since  the  last 
report; 

Kansas  City  Southern,  1.  C.  C.  No.  3438, 
Dec.  2.  (S.  P.  34820.)  Coal  facings  and  coal 

dust  from  Calhoun,  Okla.,  to  Atchison,  Kan., 
$2.35;  Council  Bluffs,  la.,  $2.00;  East  St.  Louis, 

111.,  .$2.30;  Kansas  City,  Mo.,  $2.10;  Leaven¬ 
worth,  Kan.,  $2.35;  Mt.  Vernon,  III.  (R),  $2.90; 
Omaha,  Neb.,  $2.00;  St.  Joseiih,  Mo.,  $2.35,  and 
St.  Louis,  Mo.,  $2.10  per  net  ton. 

Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy,  I.  C.  C.  No. 
11447,  Dec.  10.  Soft  coal  from  Kirksville,  Mo., 
to  Council  Bluffs,  la.,  Omaha,  South  Omaha 
and  Nebraska  City,  Neb.,  lump  and  egg  coal 
$1.40;  mine  run,  nut,  pea,  slack  and  screenings 
coal,  $1.10  per  net  ton  (R). 

Fort  Smith  &  Western,  I.  C.  C.  No.  429, 
Dec.  11.  Lump  coal  from  Blocker,  Bohoshe, 
Featherston,  Kinta,  Lequire,  McCurtain,  Mas¬ 
sey,  Milton  and  Quinton,  Okla.,  to  Arkadel- 
phia,  Arkansas  City,  $2.15;  Benton,  $1.90;  Little 
Rock,  $1.85;  Hope,  $2.30;  Helena,  $2.45;  El 
Dorado,  Ark.,  $2.50  per  net  ton.  Slack  coal 
from  above  named  points  to  Arkansas  City, 
Arkadelphia,  $1.90;  Paragould,  $2.25;  El  Do¬ 
rado,  Helena,  $2.25;  Little  Rock,  $1.60;  Pine 
Bluff,  $1.70;  Hope,  Ark.,  $2.10  per  net  ton. 

Baltimore  &  Ohio  Southwestern,  I.  C.  C.  No. 
7259,  Dec.  15.  Bituminous  coal,  all  grades, 
from  Norris  City,  Ill.,  to  Vincennes,  Ind.,  55c 
per  net  ton  (A). 

Baltimore  &  Ohio  Southwestern,  1.  C.  C.  No. 

7264,  Dec.  15.  Coal,  all  grades,  from  Spring- 
field,  Edinburg,  Taylorville,  Pana  and  Tower 
Hill,  Ill.,  to  Vincennes,  Ind.,  70c  per  net 
ton  (A). 

Baltimore  &  Ohio  Soutfivvestern,  I.  C.  C.  No. 

7265,  Dec.  15.  Bituminous  coal  from  Becke- 
meyer,  Breese,  Caseyville,  Lebanon,  O’Fallon 
and  Trenton,  Ill.,  to  Chicago,  Ill.,  proper, 
$1.02;  when  for  beyond,  92c  per  net  ton. 

Baltimore  &  Ohio  Southwestern,  1.  C.  C.  No. 
7267,  Dec.  15.  Bituminous  coal  from  Becke- 
meyer,  Breese,  Caseyville,  Lebanon,  O’Fallon 
and  Trenton,  Ill.,  to  Chicago,  Ill.,  proper, 
$1.05,  for  beyond,  95c;  Joliet,  Ill,,  $1,05;  Peoria, 

111.,  proper,  97c,  when  for  beyond,  75c,  and 
Whitehall,  Ill,,  80c  per  net  ton  from  Edinburg, 
Pana,  Taylorville,  and  Tower  Hill,  Ill,,  to 
Chicago,  Ill,,  proper,  97c;  for  beyond,  87c; 
Joliet,  111.,  87c;  Peoria,  Ill.,  proper  and  for 
beyond,  77c,  and  Pontiac,  Ill,,  87c  per  net  ton, 

Chicago  &  Alton,  Sup,  13  to  I,  C,  C.  No, 
.4468,  Dec,  15,  From  East  St,  Louis,  Ill,,  to 
Carbon  Cliff  and  Silvis,  Ill,,  lump,  egg,  nut 
and  mine  run,  pea,  slack  and  screenings  coal 
$1,20  per  net  ton  (A);  to  Moline,  East  Moline, 
Rock  Island,  Ill.,  and  Davenport,  la.,  lump, 
egg,  nut  and  mine  run  and  pea  coal,  slack  and 
screenings,  $1.15  per  net  ton. 

Chicago  &  Alton,  I.  C.  C.  No.  A823,  Dec.  15. 
From  Joliet,  Ill.,  to  Chicago,  Ill.,  soft  coal  55c 
(A)  and  hard  coal  50c  per  net  ton;  gas  coal 
from  Chicago,  Ill.,  to  Joliet,  Ill.,  45c  (A)  per 
net  ton. 

Chicago  &  Alton,  I.  C.  C.  No.  A824,  Dec.  15. 
Hard  coal  from  Chicago,  Ill.,  to  Davenport, 
la.,  Moline,  Rock  Island,  Milan,  Taylor  Ridge, 
Reynolds,  Doratha,  Matherville,  $1.30;  Gil¬ 
christ,  $1,196;  Aledo,  Burgess,  Suez',  Norwood, 
Springdale,  Cedar  Hill,  Riverside  Park,  $1,196; 
Sickman,  Butler’s  Siding,  Cameron  and  Gales, 

Ill.,  $1.13  per  net  ton. 

Chicago  Great  Western,  Sup.  36  to  I.  C.  C. 
No.  4908,  Dec.  15.  Bituminous  coal,  passing 
through  screens  not  exceeding  in  size  l]/2  inch 
bar  and  2-inch  round  hole,  from  Milwaukee, 
Wis.,  to  Mclnture,  la.,  and  Osage,  la.,  to  Ham¬ 
ilton’s  Siding,  la.,  $1.46  per  net  ton;  from  Du¬ 
luth,  Minn.,  and  rate  points  to  Mason  City,  la., 
and  directly  to  intermediate  points,  $1.46  per 
net  ton. 

Cincinnati,  Hamilton  &  Dayton,  I.  C.  C.  No. 
3123,  Dec.  15.  Bituminous  coal  from  Keys, 

Ill.,  to  Walkerton,  Ind.,  77c  per  net  ton  (A); 
applies  only  on  shipments  destined  beyond. 

Northern  Pacific,  I.  C.  C.  No.  5920,  Dec.  15. 
Lignite  coal  from  Lehigh,  Zenith,  and  Belfield, 
N.  D.,  to  Carlyle,  Ollie,  Mont.,  $1.00  (R); 
Yates,  Mont.,  90c;  Wilbaux,  95c;  Beaver  Hill, 
Heckman,  Hodges,  Iona,  Allard,  Curry,  Glen¬ 
dive,  $1,00;  Stipek,  Intake,  Burns,  Savage, 
Craneville,  Sidney,  $2.00;  Thurston,  $1.10;  Col¬ 
gate,  $1.25;  Hoyt,  $1.30;  Marsh,  $1.40;  Conlin, 
$1.50;  Fallon,  $1.60;  Cato,  $1.65;  Terry,  $1.70; 
Kamm,  $1.75;  Blatchford,  $1.80;  Zero,  Mont., 
$1.85;  Shirley.  $1.90;  Jordan,  $1.95;  Tusler, 
$2.00;  Murn,  $2.05;  Miles  City,  $2.10;  Fort 
Keogh,  $2.10;  Ulmer,  $2,15;  Horton,  $2.20; 
Clermont,  $2.25;  Hathaway,  $2.30;  Joppa,  $2.35; 


Rosebud,  $2.40;  Dewey,  $2.45;  Forsyth,  $2.50; 
from  Medora,  N.  D.,  to  Carlyle,  Mont.,  90c; 
(lllie,  Mont.,  90c;  Yates,  80c;  Wilbaux,  85c; 
[leaver  Hill,  Heckman,  Hodges,  Iona,  Allard, 
Curry  and  Glendive,  Mont.,  90c;  Stipek,  In¬ 
take,  Burns,  Savage,  Craneville,  Sidney,  Mont., 
$1.90;  Thurston,  Mont.,  $1.00;  Colgate,  $1.15; 
Hoyt,  $1.30;  Marsh,  $1.30;  Comlin,  $1.40;  Fal¬ 
lon,  $1.50;  Cato,  $1.55;  Terry,  $1.60;  Kamm, 
$1.65;  Blatchford,  $1.70;  Zero,  $1.75;  Shirley, 
$1.80;  Jordan,  $1.85;  Tusler,  $1.90;  Murn,  $1.95; 
Miles  City,  $2.00;  Fort  Keogh,  $2.00;  Ulmer, 
$2.05;  Horton,  $2.10;  Clermont,  $2.15;  Hatha¬ 
way,  $2.20;  Joppa,  $2.25;  Rosebud,  $2.30; 
Dewey,  $2.35;  Forsyth,  $2.40  per  net  ton. 

Michigan  Central,  Sup.  5  to  I.  C.  C.  No. 
4775,  Dec.  20.  Coal  and  coke  to  Thamesford, 
Out.,  from  Buffalo,  Black  Rock,  Suspension 
Bridge,  N.  Y.,  anthracite  briquettes  and  an¬ 
thracite  coal  90c,  bituminous  coal  and  coke 
90c  per  net  ton. 

(R)  indicates  a  reduction  in  rate. 

(.\)  indicates  an  advance  in  rate. 


Why  Miners  Will  Attack. 

(Concluded  from  page  405.) 
operators  of  the  extent  of  the  determination  of 
the  miners  to  win  their  fight  for  recognition  of 
the  union.  The  operators  know  the  weak  spot  in 
their  own  prganization — that  George  H.  Baer 
is  dead.  They  know,  too,  that  the  miners  are 
going  to  make  their  drive  against  that  point. 
They  are  watching  every  point  in  strategy  and  are 
not  going  to  give  in.  This  much  is  given  as  an 
assurance  all  along  the  line. 

Mr.  Parker’s  Questions. 

This  assurance  of  a  stand  pat  attitude  came 
somewhat  as  a  surprise  in  view  of  a  recent  com¬ 
munication  sent  out  from  the  headquarters  of  the 
Anthracite  Bureau  of  Information.  E.  W. 
Parker  wrote  a  letter  to  quite  a  number  of  oper¬ 
ators  asking  what  had  been  their  experience  with 
the  union.  The  interpretation  given  this  inquiry 
— outside  the  anthacite  field,  be  it  known — was 
that  the  operators  were  weakening  and  were 
thinking  of  giving  in.  When  this  phase  of  the 
question  is  presented  to  some  of  the  operators, 
thev  smile  at  it.  They  say  that : 

“Mr.  Parker  has  been  a  government  employe, 
you  know.  There  he  has  sent  out  all  sorts  of 
‘questionaires.’  In  the  Government  service  they 
have  no  significance  except  that  the  bureau  wants 
to  get  all  the  information  it  can.  In  the  anthracite 
field  the  same  purpose  is  behind  the  questions. 
They  merely  want  to  know  without  committing 
the  operators  to  anything.” 

The  Operators’  Plans 

There  is  another  thing  which  the  miners  seem 
to  have  overlooked.  Just  whether  they  have 
overlooked  it  is  not  so  certain.  But  they  seem  to 
have  overlooked  it  and  that  is  enough.  That  fact 
is  that  the  operators  are  not  so  much  without  an 
organization  as  may  seem.  They  are  not  without 
leadership  even  though  Baer  is  dead.  No  one 
in  the  east  expects  another  Baer  to  arise  between 
now  and  the  first  of  next  April.  It  is  taking  too 
long  chances  to  expect  any  such  thing.  The  oper¬ 
ators  are  taking  no  chances  and  certainly  no  long 
ones. 

On  the  contrary,  negotiations  will  be  conducted 
this  year,  not  by  an  individual,  as  has  been  the 
case,  but  by  committees.  Indeed,  Mr.  Baer,  three 
years  ago,  put  this  system  in  vogue  that  it  might 
be  there  as  an  operating  force  when  and  if  he 
should  die. 

At  that  time  the  so  called  “company”  operators 
did  not  conduct  the  negotiations  alone.  Rather 
the  field  was  broadened  immeasurably  by  getting 
into  the  committees  some  of  the  strongest  men 
among  the  “individual”  operators.  Three  years 
ago,  the  negotiations  were  conducted  by  commit¬ 
tees  representing  both  of  these  interests.  This 
was  Mr.  Baer’s  arrangement  and  it  is  most  likely 
to  be  the  one  that  will  be  brought  into  play  this 
year.  That  is  the  understanding  at  the  minute,  at 
least. 

As  a  matter  of  detail,  it  is  expected  that  there 
will  be  a  general  or  parent  board  which  will  map 
out  the  general  program.  This  will  represent 
both  classes  of  .operators.  Working  under  it 
will  be  committees  of  its  appointing  to  handle 
the  details.  As  this  indicates,  there  may  be  no 
general  head  of  the  operators  such  as  formerly 
was  the  case,  but  there  is  an  organization  just 
the  same. 

This  fact  seems  finally  to  have  gotten  into  the 
heads  of  the  miners’  leaders.  They  thought  for 
a  while  they  were  going  to  have  a  walk-away. 
They  counted  a  little  too  much,  perhaps,  on  the 
death  of  Baer.  Still,  the  fact  they  are  going  to 


meet  stiff  and  organized  opposition  does  not  abate 
the  temper  of  their  demands,  nor  does  it  make 
them  less  keen  to  bring  the  operators  into  subjec¬ 
tion.  It  seems,  if  anything,  to  have  whetted  their 
desire  to  win.  Thus  we  get  the  first  suggestion  of 
a  resort  to  an  old  and  familiar  trick.  It  is  one 
which  they  use  in  other  parts  of  the  country,  but 
one  which  is  practically  new  in  the  anthracite 
field. 

The  Miners  Weaken 

For  example,  there  has  been  heard  in  the 
last  few  days  the  first  talk  of  splitting  the 
anthracite  field  up  into  districts.  The  arguments 
in  favor  of  this  plan  are  convincing,  were  it  not 
for  the  fact  they  are  a  trifle  shop  worn.  That  is, 
the  men  say  that  there  are  three  natural  districts 
in  the  anthracite  field.  In  one  the  veins  are  clean, 
flat,  and  thick.  In  another  district,  the  veins  are 
thin,  dirty  and  pitching.  Therefore  a  labor  situ¬ 
ation  in  one  field  does  not  compare  with  that  in 
another. 

This  sounds  good  when  it  is  heard  the  first 
time.  But  it  loses  its  force  when  it  becomes 
known  that  this  is  an  old  trick  of  the  miners. 
It  is  a  plain  effort  to  split  up  a  solid  organization 
and  whip  it  piecemeal.  The  same  thing  was  done 
in  Ohio  last  year.  They  could  not  whip  the  oper¬ 
ators  of  the  entire  state,  so  they  made  peace  with 
the  Hocking  operators  and  then  went  about  de¬ 
liberately  the  work  of  pulverizing  the  eastern 
Ohio  field.  The  same  thing  has  been  tried  in 
West  Virginia.  The  same  game  has  been  worked 
on  Illinois,  until  that  state  has  the  miners’  yoke 
riveted  around  its  neck. 

Now  the  same  proposal  comes  up  in  the  an¬ 
thracite  field.  They  want  to  use  the  Schuylkill 
district  to  whip  the  Wyoming  and  contrariwise. 
The  purpose  is  to  break  up  the  major  organization 
that  they  may  cut  the  smaller  units  to  pieces  at 
their  leisure. 

The  operators,  however,  have  had  two  tastes 
of  the  skill  of  the  union  officials.  One  of  them 
was  in  the  button  incident.  The  operators,  ac¬ 
cordingly,  are  walking  into  no  open  traps,  espe¬ 
cially  when  those  traps  are  so  clearly  labeled  as 
in  this  case. 

For  these  various  reasons,  there  is  going  to  be 
a  rather  serious  struggle  in  the  anthracite  field. 
One  is  unavoidable.  Whether  it  is  long-drawn 
out,  as  in  the  case  of  1902,  depends  upon  a  matter 
of  money.  And,  the  matter  of  money  depends 
upon,  first,  the  number  of  districts  drawn  out  on 
a  strike  next  spring  and,  second,  on  the  demand 
for  coal  at  that  time.  If  the  demand  is  keen  and 
if  the  operators  cannot  afford  to  lie  idle  for  any 
length  of  time,  the  demands  may  be  multiplied 
and  thus  the  whole  program  of  the  union  may  be 
pushed  forward  quite  rapidly. 


Rate  on  Bunker  Coal. 


Norfolk  coal  shippers  have  been  notified  by 
the  Norfolk  &  Western,  Virginian  and  Chesa¬ 
peake  &  Ohio  railroads  that  the  promulgated  in¬ 
crease  of  twenty-eight  cents  a  ton  on  bunker  coal 
from  the  mines  to  the  piers  at  Hampton  Roads 
will  not  become  effective  January  1st,  the  date 
announced  for  the  change  in  freight  rate  to  be 
made. 

The  principal  reason  for  holding  up  the  change 
was  the  test  case  that  is  now  before  the  Inter¬ 
state  Commerce  Commission  applying  to  south¬ 
ern  railroads  shipping  particularly  to  New  Or¬ 
leans.  The  roads  have  reached  an- understand¬ 
ing  that  until  the  commission  finally  decides  the 
case,  the  bunker  coal  freights  from  the  mines  to 
Hampton  Roads  will  remain  as  they  are. 

It  was  also  announced  that  concurrently  with 
the  increase  in  the  freight  rate,  the  port  charges 
of  $30  for  foreign  vessels  and  $11  for  coastwise 
vessels  would  be  cancelled.  This  charge  always 
has  been  borne  by  the  supplier  of  coal. 

The  new  charges  for  docking  and  undocking 
were  to  be  one  and  one-half  cents  a  ton  net  regis¬ 
ter  for  vessels  without  steam  and  one  cent  a  ton 
net  re.gister  for  vessels  under  steam,  these  charges 
covering  the  handling  both  in  and  out. 

The  bunker  coal  lines  to  New  Orleans  have 
protested  the  decision  of  the  Interstate  Com¬ 
merce  Commission  that  gave  the  Hampton  Roads 
lines  the  opening  for  an  advance,  and  the  latter 
have  concluded  to  await  the  final  outcome  of  the 
case  before  attempting  to  raise  the  freight  rate 
on  bunker  coal. 


A  number  of  Boston  shipping  men  recently  at¬ 
tended  the  launching  of  the  steamer  Jonancy  at 
Camden,  N.  J.  The  boat  was  built  for  the  Poca¬ 
hontas  Navigation  Company  of  Boston,  is  one 
of  three  boats  to  be  completed  next  year,  is  of 
5.450  tons  and  will  operate  between  Norfolk  and 
Boston. 


No.  21] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


413 


A  Good  Electric  Sign. 

All  sorts  of  novel  and  effective  ideas  are  being 
put  forward  nowadays  for  use  in  connection  with 
electric  signs.  Many  coal  dealers  use  signs  of 
this  kind,  and  one  of  the  new  ideas  offered 
seems  particularly  appropriate  for  a  coal  con¬ 
cern.  It  involves  combining  a  weather  forecast 
with  the  regular  announcement  of  the  dealer. 

Usually  he  will  have  the  word  “coal”  on  the 
electric  sign  spelled  out  in  twelve-inch  or  larger 
letters,  with  the  name  of  the  concern  painted 
above  it.  Immediately  below  the  word  “coal,” 
arranged  in  three  columns  or  two,  are  the  words, 
“fair,”  “rain,”  “warmer,”  “colder,”  “wind,”  and 
“snow.”  The  weather  forecast  is  indicated  by  a 
lamp  burning  in  front  of  any  of  these  words — 
either  in  the  daytime  or  at  night,  of  course. 

The  dealer  who  is  using  this  sign  receives 
daily  the  official  forecast  of  the  weather  bureau, 
and  is  able  to  announce  the  weather  probabili¬ 
ties  to  the  public  by  lighting  the  proper  lamp  or 
lamps  by  means  of  switches,  one  of  which  is 
provided  for  each  lamp. 

The  fact  that  information  about  the  weather 
is  something  that  interests  everybody  would  be 
a  sufficient  argument  in  favor  of  the  stunt,  while 
added  to  this  one  must  remember  that  the  coal 
dealer,  above  all  others,  is  the  merchant  whose 
business  is  most  affected  by  weather  conditions, 
and  who,  therefore,  should  logically  be  looked  to 
for  information  regarding  it. 


An  Excuse  or  a  Reason? 

An  old  professor  whose  gruff  and  sometimes 
unsympathetic  methods  caused  him  to  be  the 
terror  of  the  college  freshmen  whom  he  taught, 
once  called  before  him  a  youngster  who  had 
failed  to  prepare  the  work  which  had  been  as¬ 
signed  the  day  before.  The  lad  murmured  some¬ 
thing  about  having  been  out  for  football  prac¬ 
tice  and  having  had  no  time. 

“That  isn’t  a  reason,”  announced  the  profes¬ 
sor  ;  “that’s  only  an  excuse !” 

One  is  tempted  to  use  the  same  expression  in 
discussing  the  logic  or  lack  of  logic  back  of 
the  prices  which  are  being  quoted  on  soft  coal 
in  some  markets.  A  good  many  dealers,  as  has 
been  set  forth  in  The  Black  Diamond,  are 
actually  selling  the  coal  at  a  loss,  figuring  the 
handling  and  overhead  expenses  which  must  in¬ 
evitably  accumulate  against  it,  in  addition  to  the 
cost  f.  o.  b.  the  mines  and  the  freight. 

A  coal  man  who  evidently  belonged  in  that 
category  was  asked  recently  how  he  figured  that 
he  could  make  any  money  on  the  price  basis 
he  was  working  on,  and  his  frank,  almost  naive 
reply,  was,  “Oh,  I’m  not  making  anything;  but 
my  competitors  aren’t  either !” 

Is  that  any  justification  for  selling  coal  at  a 
loss— the  fact  that  somebody  else  is  willing  to 
sell  it  at  that  rate  also?  The  ordinary  business 
man  admits  that  he  is  not  in  business  for  his 
health,  and  proceeds  to  charge  a  price  that  will 
make  his  efforts  worth  while.  The  coal  dealer, 
on  the  other  hand,  seems  to  be  content  to  work 
hard  and  struggle  with  unsatisfactory  labor,  ir¬ 
ritating  transportation  conditions  and  other  un¬ 
pleasant  factors  too  numerous  to  mention — 
merely  for  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  somebody 
else  lose  as  much  money  as  he  does ! 

This  may  meet  the  requirements  of  the  situa¬ 
tion,  judged  by  the  individual  dealer,  but  cer¬ 
tainly  such  an  attitude  is  not  logical :  morever, 
it  is  not  business-like ;  and,  finally,  it  is  not  cal¬ 
culated  to  keep  one  in  business  indefinitely. 

Theoretically,  it  is  necessary  to  meet  every  cut 
in  price  that  competition  may  spring;  actually. 


it  is  not.  The  dealer  who  admits  that  he  can’t 
sell  his  product  unless  his  price  is  as  low  or 
lower  than  that  of  everybody  else  in  the  market 
isn’t  a  merchant,  but  a  peddler.  He  hasn’t 
learned  the  a,  b,  c  of  salesmanship;  and  the 
sooner  he  enrolls  himself,  either  in  some  cor¬ 
respondence  course  or  night  school  or  elsewhere, 
and  finds  out  a  few  of  those  things,  the  better  it 
will  be  for  him  and  the  trade. 

You  have  lau.ghed  at  the  picture  of  the  little  boy 
who  came  in  with  a  black  eye  and  a  bloody  nose, 
and  said  to  his  grieving  mother,  “Oh,  mother, 
I  know  I’m  a  sight,  but  you  ought  to  see  the 
other  fellow !”  The  coal  man  who  is  cutting 
prices,  just  because  somebody  else  hasn’t  sense 
enough  to  charge  enough  to  produce  a  profit  is 
assumin.g  exactly  that  position ;  only,  there’s  not 
•much  of  a  laugh  in  it — it’s  too  serious  for  that. 


The  Open  Grate  Fire. 

Eastern  retailers,  whose  business  is  chiefly  on 
hard  coal,  which  is  not  so  well  adapted  for  open 
fires  as  bituminous  varieties,  are  featuring  cannel 
coal  and  similar  fuel,  which  is  well  worth  while 
for  this  purpose. 

A  dealer  who  puts  in  a  stock  of  cannel  coal 
to  supplement  his  sales  of  anthracite  will  be 
able  to  get  a  lot  of  business  that  would  not  be 
in  the  market  at  all  otherwise,  and  by  so  doing 
attract  the  favorable  attention  of  many  con¬ 
sumers  who  would  have  continued  to  buy  all 
their  coal  somewhere  else. 

One  member  of  the  trade  who  went  to  the  ex¬ 
tent  of  sending  out  a  form  letter  to  a  lot  of 
prominent  people — the  sort  whom  he  thought  ap¬ 
preciated  open  hearths  and  were  able  to  use  coal 
to  supply  good  cheer,  as  well  as  simply  to  fur¬ 
nish  heat,  found  that  he  had  calculated  correctly, 
and  he  got  a  lot  of  orders,  chiefly  for  one-ton 
lots,  from  these  consumers. 

They  really  appreciated  his  suggesting  the  use 
of  a  coal  of  this  kind,  for  the  big  lumps,  which 
burned  easily,  made  a  cozy  hearth,  and  helped 
to  create  the  “homey”  atmosphere  which  is  so 
restful  and  attractive  to  every  member  of  the 
family  during  cold  weather. 

Getting  an  introduction  to  a  worth-while  family 
by  selling  something  which  is  so  thoroughly 
appreciated  as  this  ought  to  lead  up  to  addi¬ 
tional  business.  That  is  the  way  this  dealer 
figures  it,  and  the  chances  are  that  he  is  right. 


The  Free  Lance  Solicitor. 

In  some  cities  there  are  men  who,  without 
holding  employment  or  authority  from  any  one 
dealer,  go  about  taking  orders  for  coal,  and 
brokering  them  with  the  regular  tradesmen  at 
so  much  a  ton.  Twenty-five  cents  is  the  usual 
amount,  though  sometimes  the  solicitor-broker  is 
scaled  down  to  fifteen  cents.  At  any  rate,  it  is 
evident  that  this  much  comes  off  the  profit  of 
the  dealer  who  handles  the  business,  inasmuch 
as  the  consumer  pays  only  the  regular  price,  and 
may  even  have  specified  the  name  of  the  concern 
which  she  wanted  to  fill  the  order. 

Now,  if  the  solicitor  actually  created  the  busi¬ 
ness,  he  might  have  a  just  claim  on  the  dealer. 
But  this  is  obviously  not  the  case.  Somebody 
would  have  secured  the  business  anyhow,  and  in 
many  cases  the  same  dealer  who  paid  a  com¬ 
mission  on  it  would  have  received  the  order  di¬ 
rect,  had  not  the  broker  been  allowed  to  inter¬ 
pose  himself. 

There  is  a  plain  and  obvious  method  of  get¬ 
ting  rid  of  an  illegitimate  factor  in  the  trade 
field,  and  that  is  simply  by  agreement  not  to 


deal  with  .solicitors  of  this  type.  If  the  coal  men 
were  to  get  together  on  this  simple  little  ques¬ 
tion  it  would  save  all  of  them  some  money,  and 
would  mean  a  little  bigger  margin  of  profit  on  a 
good  many  tons  of  business. 

Other  businesses  have  similar  conditions  to 
contend  with,  and  solve  them  in  the  manner  in¬ 
dicated.  There  is  no  reason  why  a  coal  dealer 
should  continue  to  pay  a  premium  for  business 
which  would  come  to  him  regularly  and  normally 
without  any  such  payment,  and  the  solicitor  who 
is  going  around  asking  for  orders  on  the  basis 
that  the  coal  will  be  delivered  by  any  concern 
the  customer  names,  and  at  the  regular  price, 
is  simply  taking  advantage  of  a  situation  which 
the  dealers  themselves  are  to  blame  for  per¬ 
mitting  to  grow  up. 


Gas  Is  Dangerous. 

Coal  dealers  who  are  feeling  the  competition 
of  gas  for  heating  purposes — and  they  are  rather 
certain  to  feel  it  if  natural  gas  is  easily  available 
— should  remember  that  a  good  argument  with 
which  to  offset  that  concerning '  the  cleanliness 
and  convenience  of  gas  is  that  use  of  the  latter 
is  positively,  actually  and  admittedly  dangerous. 

In  one  city  where  hundreds  of  gas  furnaces 
have  been  installed,  and  just  that  many  con¬ 
sumers  cut  off  the  list  of  the  coal  dealers,  be¬ 
cause  natural  gas  is  cheap  enough  to  compete 
readily  with  coal,  the  leading  morning  paper 
carried  an  item  a  few  weeks  ago  with  this  sug¬ 
gestive  headline,  spread  out  in  big  black  type  on 
the  front  page : 


HURT 

BY  BLAST 

OF  FURNACE  GAS 

V.  M. 

Smith  Thrown  Twenty  Feet  in 
Basement  Explosion 

Wife  Faces  Danger  in  Preventing  Recur¬ 
rence  of  Accident 

Victim  Confined  to  Bed 

The  news  item  went  on  to  tell  about  the  ex¬ 
perience  of  Mr.  Smith,  who  was  using  gas  in¬ 
stead  of  coal.  He  couldn’t  get  any  heat,  and 
went  down  to  investigate.  He  used  a  match  to 
aid  him  in  the  investigation,  and  the  gas  which 
had  accumulated  on  account  of  the  “pilot  light” 
going  out  promptly  made  itself  evident  and 
slammed  Mr.  Consumer  up  against  the  concrete 
foundation  of  his  residence. 

It  is  possible  that,  owing  to  the  fact  that  the 
gas  furnace  is  already  in,  and  it  would  involve 
trouble  and  expense  to  have  a  change  made  right 
now,  the  victim  of  the  accident  will  continue  to 
burn  gas  in  his  furnace.  But  how  about  the 
hundreds  and  thousands  of  readers  of  the  news¬ 
papers  who  may  have  been  thinking  about  putting 
in  gas  equipment?  If  they  are  wise,  and  if  the 
coal  men  with  whom  they  deal  are  sensible 
enough  to  make  use  of  a  legitimate  argument 
which  has  been  put  in  their  hands,  they  will 
hereafter  not  eVen  consider  the  question  of  sub¬ 
stituting  gas  for  coal. 

Gas  has  its  advantages,  and  for  cooking  pur¬ 
poses  is  indispensable  in  the  modern  home.  The 
coal  man  has  conceded  this,  and  isn’t  trying  to 
insist  on  supplying  the  fuel  for  cooking.  But 
when  the  gas  company  invades  the  realm  of 
heating,  and  tries  not  only  to  supply  coal  in 
grates,  but  also  in  furnaces,  it  is  time  for  the 
coal  man  to  get  busy.  Such  items  as  that  re¬ 
ferred  to  are  the  best  possible  arguments.  “Do 
you  want  to  get  blown  up?”  is  a  question  which 
the  dealer  should  ask  every  customer  who  hints 
thta  he  is  planning  to  substitute  gas  for  coal. 


James  Kay.  trustee  in  bankruptcy  of  the  Hughes 
Creek  Coal  Company,  in  Kanawha  county.  West 
Virginia,  sold  at  public  auction  last  week  several 
lots  of  coal  land  on  Morris  creek  along  the  line 
of  the  Kanawha  &  Michigan  Railway,  and  in  the 
Cabin  creek  district  also,  together  with  the  lease¬ 
hold  of  over  three  thousand  acres  from  the  Kellys 
Creek  Colliery  Company,  with  all  improvements, 
fixtures  and  equipment,  mules  and  live  stock  and 
stores  and  fixtures,  together  with  a  Morgan-Card- 
ner  locomotive.  The  purchaser  was  J.  W.  Daw¬ 
son,  .general  manager  of  the  Kellys  Creek  Colliery 
Company,  for  himself  and  others  associated  with 
him.  Several  mines  are  situated  on  the  prop¬ 
erty,  two  of  which  will  be  opened  shortly  by  Mr. 
Dawson.  These  are  situated  at  Hugheston  and 
five  hundred  men  will  be  given  employment  in 
them. 


414 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


[November  20 


px;bi.ished  evebt  satubdat  bt  the 
BEACK  DIAMOND  C01ffFAN7. 

Subscription  price,  $3.00  per  year,  postage  prepaid,  to 
any  postoffice  in  the  United  States.  Foreign  subscrip¬ 
tion  price.  $5.00  per  year.  Single  copies,  20  cents. 
Entered  at  Chicago  postoffice  as  second-class  matter. 


Address  all  communications  to 

THE  BEACH  DIAMOND  COMPANY  (INC) 

Main  office,  Manhattan  building,  Chicago. 

Branch  Offices. 

New  York,  29  Broadway. 

Philadelphia,  1400  Land  Title  building. 
Pittsburgh,  1502  Oliver  building. 


Saturday,  November  20,  1915. 


INDEX. 


Special  Articles. 

Page 


Why  Miners  Will  Attack  Anthracite  Companies....  40.5 
(Jetting  Rid  of  Pilots  and  Cutting  Shipping  Costs.  .  406 

Hard  Coal  Factories .  406 

Danger  Ahead  in  Eastern  Kail  Situation .  407 

A  Sketch  Book  on  Anthracite  Mining .  407 

Effect  of  Proposed  Increase .  407 

Cost  and  Revenue  of  Franklin  County  Coal .  408 

(iovernment  Aids  American  Coal  Exporters .  409 

October  Anthracite  Figures .  409 

Mine  Clearing  House .  410 

Transmitting  Orders  to  a  Distant  Coal  Yard .  410 

The  German  Coal  Situation .  411 

International  Conference .  411 

Soo  Canal  Traffic .  411 

Trade  at  Para,  Brazil .  411 

Coal  and  Coke  Rates .  412 

Rate  on  Bunker  Coal .  412 

Field  of  the  Retailer .  413 

Editorial  . .  414 

News  Local  to  Chicago .  416 

Association  .News .  416 

Facts  Which  Determine  Our  Export  Prospects .  417 

Market  Reports. 

General  Review  and  Chicago .  418 

Pittsburgh,  Detroit  and  Denver .  419 

Cincinnati,  Twin  Cities  and  St.  Louis .  420 

Cleveland,  Indianapolis  and  Duluth .  421 

New  York .  422 

Philadelphia  and  New  England .  423 

Baltimore,  Buffalo,  Birmingham  and  Oklahoma .  424 

Hacking  Valley .  15 


Following  the  Wrong  Line. 

Those  who  have  followed  coal  trade  de¬ 
velopments  in  recent  months  must  have  come 
to  the  conclusion  that  a  bitter  triangular 
war  is  being  waged  with  West  Virginia  on 
one  side  and  with  Ohio  and  Pennsylvania 
on  the  other.  In  the  public  press  and  be¬ 
fore  various  public  boards  these  men  are 
the  bitterest  of  antagonists.  After  the 
rumpus  is  over  they  usually  get  together, 
as  man  to  man,  ami  talk  it  out.  For  this 
latter  reason  we  are  not  interested  so  much 
in  what  they  say  publicly  as  in  what  they 
say  among  themselves. 

In  these  private  discussions  the  northern 
states  admit  that  if  they  were  in  the  shoes 
of  West  Virginia  they  would  do  exactly  as 
its  operators  are  doing.  West  Virginia  is 
gallant  enough  to  reply  by  saying  that  she 
would  do  the  same  as  they  are  doing,  if  the 
situation  were  reversed.  Then,  both  of 
them  come  down  to  the  only  real  point  of 
all  the  quarrel. 

They  admit  that  they  are  trying  to  right 
a  'torong  condition  in  the  coal  trade  by  mak¬ 
ing  the  railroad  the  scapegoat.  They  say 
that  the  place  to  set  things  right  is  not  in 
the  railroad  rate,  but  inside  the  coal  trade. 
They  say  that  it  is  no  solution  of  a  coal 
trade  ill  to  rob  the  railroads  of  their  revenue. 

They  admit,  as  does  everyone,  that  the 
whole  coal  rate  fabric  is  wrong.  For  that 
matter,  so  do  the  railroads.  Still,  they  say 
that  it  is  no  time  to  start  to  set  that  wrong 
right  when  the  operators  are  in  a  feud  over 
a  wrong  condition  inside  the  coal  trade. 


In  every  point  these  men  are  right.  They 
are  in  private  taking  a  position  which  is  as 
fundamentally  sound  and  true  as  their  pub¬ 
lic  jiosition  is  wrong  and  unsound.  It 
may  be  wrong  and  it  is  wrong  for  West 
Virginia  to  have  a  rate  advantage  merely 
because  once  upon  a  time  some  railroad 
officials  wanted  to  make  money  by  building 
lines  and  opening  coal  lands  which  they 
owned.  This  system,  which  was  born  in 
iniquity,  cannot  endure.  One  of  these  days 
the  whole  thing  will  have  to  be  changed. 

But,  it  is  not  a  proper  change  merely  to 
take  the  advantage  away  from  West  Vir¬ 
ginia  and  to  give  it  over  to  Ohio.  It  is  not 
a  proper  change  in  railroad  rates  to  handi¬ 
cap  new  mines  that  old  ones  may  continue 
in  existence.  It  is  not  a  proper  change  to 
hopple  mines  in  a  nezu  field  to  offset  the 
fact  that  older  mines  are  labor-ridden.  That 
is,  it  is  not  proper  to  ask  the  railroads  to 
shoulder  the  responsibility  of  bringing  about 
any  needed  readjustment  of  mining  condi¬ 
tions.  That  is  a  thing  which  the  mines 
must  do  themselves  and  inside  the  coal 
trade.  It  is  neither  right  nor  conscionable 
to  ask  the  railroads  to  do  it ;  certainly  it  is 
not  right  to  ask  the  Government  to  compel 
the  railroads  to  do  it.  Such  a  thing  is  giv¬ 
ing  back  into  railroad  hands  the  very  poiver 
zohich  the  nation  has  tried  to  snatch  from 
them  during  these  last  fifteen  years  of  trou¬ 
ble  and  distress. 

Certainly  it  is  not  right  and  proper  to 
give  Ohio  this  leverage  when  it  is  reason¬ 
ably  certain  that  she  will  use  the  new  power 
only  to  embroil  herself  with  the  western 
states  in  a  similar  dispute.  It  is  doing  no 
good  to  zvhip  West  Virginia  in  favor  of 
Ohio,  only  to  make  Ohio  defendant  in  a  light 
zoith  Indiana  and  Illinois. 

Thus  while  we  admit  the  iniquity  of  the 
whole  rate  fabric,  and  while  we  say  that  it 
must  be  cleared  up  some  of  these  days,  we 
stand  firm  on  the  position  that  it  eannot  re¬ 
sult  in  any  good  to  try  to  correet  a  compet¬ 
itive  matter  betzveen  the  mines  by  a  juggling 
of  the  freight  rates  of  the  railroads.  Even 
to  try  such  a  thing  leaves  the  wrong  condi¬ 
tion  unharmed  and  starts  the  coal  mines 
on  a  long  campaign  of  pulling  and  hauling 
at  rates  in  a  way  to  involve  endless  ex¬ 
pense  without  getting  anywhere.  There  is 
a  far  better  way  of  getting  at  the  real  re¬ 
sult  which  is  desired  but  not  confessed  in 
these  proceedings. 


An  Alarming  Situation. 

Coal  men  in  the  east  seem  to  have  a 
clearer  understanding  of  the  position  of 
the  west  today  than  have  the  western  people. 
They  are  genuinely  alarmed  over  the  west¬ 
ern  coal  situation.  This  is  a  lively  senti¬ 
ment,  which  the  western  people  do  not  share 
in  a  saving  sense.  On  the  contrary,  the  west¬ 
ern  people  are  asleep  to  their  own  best  in¬ 
terests,  and  perhaps  it  is  as  well  so,  seeing 
it  can’t  be  remedied. 

What  the  eastern  people  know  is  that  a 
strike  in  the  anthracite  field  is  almost  in¬ 
evitable.  If  it  lasts  long  and  proves  bitter, 
no  one  would  be  much  surprised.  This  is 
going  to  cut  short  the  supply  of  domestic 
coal  in  the  we.st,  particularly  after  the  first 
of  April. 

.“Mso,  the  western  people  have  not  stored 
any  coal,  to  speak  of.  This  fact  every 
western  man  appreciates. 

With  a  coming  shortage  of  one  grade  and 
with  a  lack  of  storage  of  all  grades,  the 
west  is  in  a  serious  position  seen  from 
anv  ]ioint  of  view. 


But  the  eastern  people  appreciate,  also, 
that  it  is  going  to  be  impossible  to  get  any 
large  amounts  of  coal  west.  The  sugges¬ 
tion  has  been  made  on  several  occasions  to 
the  larger  eastern  producers  that  it  would 
be  a  good  business  move  for  them  to  get 
coal  west — even  if  they  had  to  rent  the 
storage  space  of  the  retailers — in  order  to 
have  it  on  hand  when  the  big  demand  comes. 

"But,”  they  say,  “we  can’t  do  it.  We 
have  not  enough  coal  to  go  around  in  the 
east  now.  We  are  short  of  cars  to  move 
the  mine  output  to  satisfy  existing  demand. 
We  are  short  of  labor — and  it  is  getting 
shorter — even  though  we  had  the  cars.  Un¬ 
der  the  circumstances,  how  can  we  specu¬ 
late  on  a  possible  western  demand?  We 
can’t  do  it  and  that  is  the  end  of  the  mat¬ 
ter.” 

And  right  there  the  situation  rests.  The 
west  is  short  of  coal  and  is  rapidly  becom¬ 
ing  short  of  cars.  The  east  has  neither  the 
cars  nor  the  labor  to  come  to  the  relief  of 
the  west. 

What  the  east  cannot  do  now  will  be 
increasingly  hard  to  do  a  month  or  six 
weeks  from  now.  There  is  a  progressive 
shortage  of  cars  and  of  labor.  The  latter 
is  particularly  severe  because  the  Italians 
are  going  home  and  the  Greeks  are  about 
to  go.  The  railroad  situation  also  becomes 
more  acute  as  the  cold  weather  approaches. 
The  east  cannot  be  depended  upon  to  ship 
to  the  west,  for  months  to  come,  a  pound 
more  coal  than  is  now  being  moved.  And 
the  present  movement  is  barely  enough  to 
support  the  west  at  a  time  when  the  de¬ 
mand  is  at  a  minimum. 

The  situation,  looked  at  from  any  angle, 
is  alarming.  In  such  a  dilemma,  only  one 
word  of  advice  can  be  given,  and  that  is 
short :  “Get  all  the  coal  of  any  kind  that 
you  can  get,  and  while  you  can  get  it.  The 
time  is  coming  when  it  will  be  a  precious 
commodity.” 


Discounting  the  Future. 

These  are  the  days  of  big  things  in  New 
York.  One  can  meet  there  men  of  all 
shades  of  optimism.  One  thing  stands  out 
prominently.  Men  are  plunging  headlong 
into  great  undertakings.  They  are  having 
big  dreams  and  they  are  financing  those  on 
a  large  scale.  By  the  mere  act  of  financing, 
however,  they  are  committing  themselves 
to  great  programs.  They  are  putting  money 
into  things.  Also  they  are  committing 
themselves  to  the  need  to  make  that  money 
pay.  Thus  the  mere  fact  of  financing  great 
undertakings  is  a  warrant  of  future  activi¬ 
ties.  These  big  men,  committed  to  these 
big  things,  are  not  going  to  be  willing  to 
sit  down  on  their  laurels  and  take  their 
commissions  only  to  let  the  financed  busi¬ 
nesses  go  to  pot.  America  has  never  done 
that.  It  is  not  going  to  do  it  now. 

The  steel  trade  is  a  first  rate  example. 
Heretofore  there  was  only  one  great  cor¬ 
poration.  Now  there  are  two.  Soon  there 
may  be  three.  These  are  tied  up  to  ship¬ 
building  companies  and  all  that.  These 
three  big  organizations  will  have  to  fight  for 
an  existence  and  for  profit.  They  cannot 
get  either  by  fighting  each  other.  To  do 
that  sort  of  thing  is  folly.  Instead,  they 
will  have  to  fight  for  an  internal  develop¬ 
ment  that  will  make  all  three  of  them  pay. 

.\ssuming  that  the  latter  is  the  program 
most  likelv  to  be  followed,  it  is  interesting 
to  see  what  are  the  chances  for  success. 
In  the  first  place,  we  are  going  to  have  a 
shortage  of  labor.  To  get  around  that. 


No.  21] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


415 


without  letting  the  business  of  the  country 
suffer,  we  are  going  to  need  all  sorts  of 
machines  and  other  devices.  These  are  go¬ 
ing  to  require  steel. 

Thus  the  steel  business,  to  get  orders  on 
which  to  keep  the  mills  going,  will  have  to 
encourage  the  use  of  steel  and  hence  the 
building  of  machinery  of  all  sorts.  This 
in  turn  is  going  to  give  tremendous  encour¬ 
agement  to  those  who  want  to  run  their 
plants  on  an  efficient  and  economical  basis. 
It  is  going  to  mean  a  speeding  up  of  manu¬ 
facturing  programs  all  along  the  line,  be¬ 
cause  men  everywhere  will  need  machines 
to  take  the  place  of  men  who  are  not  to  be 
had. 

In  one  way,  we  may  look  at  the  large 
financing  of  the  steel  mill  consolidations  as 
a  sign  of  weakness  in  our  American  sys¬ 
tem.  But  when  you  come  to  realize  that 
we  are  thus  capitalizing  our  hopes  and  are 
thus  planning  to  make  those  hopes  real,  it 
can  be  seen  that  by  one  act  we  are  getting 
ready  for  a  bigger  and  busier  America. 

There  is  this  other  thing  to  be  remem¬ 
bered,  too.  While  we  may,  at  any  time, 
stop  selling  war  munitions  to  Europe,  we 
are  not  going  to  stop  selling  steel.  When 
the  use  of  steel  in  war  leaves  off,  the  use 
of  steel  for  reconstruction  will  start.  The 
new  program  may  be  separated  from  the  old 
by  a  period  of  some  months,  but  the  newer 
period  is  as  inevitable  as  it  is  that  the  war 
will  end  one  of  these  days.  Therefore,  we 
will  have  need  for  these  steel  mills  not  only 
to  sell  machinery  to  our  people  at  home,  but 
to  make  it  for  customers  abroad. 

Everything  considered,  there  is  pretty 
good  reason  for  this  elaborate  financing  of 
the  steel  mills  which  is  now  in  progress.  If 
everything  in  America  were  as  sound  as 
that,  the  country  would  be  in  an  enviable 
position. 


The  Financial  Awakening. 

Everyone  says  that  there  is  a  financial 
awakening  throughout  the  nation.  It 
must  be  true  because  everyone  is  talking 
about  it.  Perhaps  the  same  thing  can 
be  said  a  little  differently  that  will  make 
it  a  little  more  truthful. 

The  exact  fact  seems  to  be  that  the 
banks  have  more  money  than  they  know 
what  to  do  with,  just  yet,  in  the  way  of 
financing  the  ordinary  processes  of  busi¬ 
ness.  They  have  lending  power  which 
is  tugging  at  the  bits  and  wants  to  be 
on  the  move.  But,  business  itself  is  not 
quite  ready  to  borrow  this  money  and  to 
employ  it  in  the  ordinary,  every-day  pro¬ 
cesses  of  producing  and  selling  things. 
Still,  the  money  is  there  to  be  loaned  and 
the  banks  want  to  loan  it.  The  only  pres¬ 
ent  employment  for  it  is  to  put  it  into 
some  sort  of  financing — the  expression  of 
business  men  of  the  larger  plans  they 
have  for  the  future.  So,  there  is  a  lot 
of  money  that  is  going  into  big  financing. 
It  will  come  back  to  the  banks  after  a 
while  when  the  people  have  absorbed  the 
various  stock  issues.  Then  it  will  be 
ready  again  for  duty  when  the  sober  busi¬ 
ness  concerns  are  ready  to  produce  and 
sell. 

On  the  other  side  of  the  question,  the 
I)resent  borrowers  of  the  money  are  to 
be  considered.  They  have  quite  inflated 
ideas ;  indeed,  they  take  themselves  very 
seriously.  They  see  a  future  filled  with 
all  sorts  of  glorious  promises.  There 
arises  before  the  eyes  of  every  man  who 
has  an  idea  the  possibilities  of  duplicating 


some  of  the  big  financial  successes  which 
were  scored  a  matter  of  twelve  or  fif¬ 
teen  years.  Those  who  dream  are  dis¬ 
posed  to  borrow  this  idle  bank  money ; 
finance  their  dreams ;  and  make  great 
wonders  come  true.  Some  of  them  are 
out  for  a  commission,  only ;  others  are 
asking  inflated  prices  for  the  real  things 
they  have  to  sell.  But  from  whatever 
angle  they  approach  the  cpiestion,  the 
present  is  one  of  extravagant  notions. 

.\nd  America,  lulled  almost  to  sleep  on 
such  matters  by  the  long  period  of  dull 
business,  stands  between  the  necessity  of 
the  banks  and  the  dreams  of  the  incipient 
financiers.  The  situation  is  one  which 
gives  pause  to  the  thoughtful.  Such  men 
wonder  how  the  nation  is  going  to  pay 
interest  on  the  debt  which  is  thus  daily 
being  created. 

Then  comes  up  the  one  big  idea  of 
them  all.  America  the  buoyant — even  if 
the  suffering — is  capable  of  standing- 
much.  It  hasn’t  begun  yet  to  reach  a 
first  intimation  of  the  end  of  its  resources 
in  finance  even  as  the  European  countries 
are  finding  they  have  financial  strength 
far  beyond  any  possible  dream.  America 
the  buoyant  is  going  to  walk  away  with 
the  new  load  of  financing  even  as  it  has 
done  with  other  loads.  We  may  get  a 
little  more  social  unrest  as  a  consequence 
but  what  of  that. 


Getting  a  Master. 

Quite  a  number  of  years  ago  one  of 
these  wishy-washy  novels  came  out.  It 
devoted  about  two  hundred  and  fifty 
pages  to  a  .commonplace  yarn,  written  in 
a  dull  style.  It  was  zero  on  literature, 
if  ever  there  was  such  a  thing.  Still,  it 
did  contain  one  line  that  came  pretty  near 
to  redeeming  the  whole  book.  The  prin¬ 
cipal  characters  in  it  were  a  Kentucky 
colonel  and  a  Georgia  cracker.  The  Ken¬ 
tucky  colonel,  as  customary,  had  a  good- 
looking  daughter  and  an  equally  good- 
looking  horse.  In  one  scene,  the  girl  was 
riding  the  horse,  and  the  Kentucky  colo¬ 
nel  was  literally  bursting  with  pride.  The 
Georgia  cracker  remarked  to  this  effect : 
“I  have  observed  that  a  woman  is  just 
like  a  horse.  She  is  not  worth  a  damn 
without  a  man’s  hand  to  guide  her.” 

It  is  quite  possible  to  apply  that  same 
point  to  an  individual  coal  business.  It 
is  not  worth  very  much  unless  it  has  a 
man  who  is  master  of  it.  That  is  to  say, 
without  a  head  and  without  a  master,  a 
business  cannot  have  a  program,  and  a 
1)usiness  without  a  program  is  nothing. 

Precisely  the  same  thing  may  be  said 
about  an  entire  industry.  An  industry 
without  a  head  is  the  same  as  a  business 
without  a  master  and  a  woman  without  a 
man’s  hand  to  guide  her.  There  is  no 
program,  and  consequently  there  is  no 
trade  achievement.  Under  such  condi¬ 
tions  wholesale  ruin  is  usually  the  lot  of 
the  trade. 

Even  in  a  larger  sense,  you  might  say 
])recisely  the  same  thing  about  a  govern¬ 
ment.  In  the  final  analysis  the  essential 
weakness  of  ours  or  any  democracy  is 
that  it  has  and  can  have  no  program  be¬ 
cause  it  has  and  can  have  no  permanent 
head.  In  a  country  like  ours,  where  the 
head  of  the  government  changes  every 
four  years  and  where,  with  the  head  of 
the  government,  the  program  and  the 
])olicy  also  change,  we  cannot  with  any 


assurance  either  map  out  or  plan  to  fol¬ 
low  any  definite  program. 

The  claims  of  those  who  preach  that 
the  world  ultimately  is  going  to  become 
democratic  notwithstanding,  we  are  con¬ 
vinced  that  no  nation,  no  industry,  and 
no  individual  business  will  ever  get  any¬ 
where  until  each  has  a  master  who  is 
recognized. 


The  Old  Story. 

Louisville,  Kentucky,  is  presenting  an 
old  coal  trade  story  in  a  new  dress.  That 
story,  in  a  word,  is :  Pittsburgh  coal  was 
there  before  Kentucky  knew  that  it  had 
much  if  any  coal  outside  of  the  deposit 
in  the  western  part  of  the  state.  This 
was  not  comparable  in  quality  to  the 
Pittsburgh  product,  and  hence  the  Pitts¬ 
burgh  operators  practically  dominated 
that  situation.  Then  eastern  Kentucky 
began  to  open  mines.  It  has  coal  which 
succesfully  challenges  the  Pittsburgh 
coal  on  the  score  of  equality.  Incidentally, 
there  was  started  a  dispute  as  to  which 
should  control  the  Louisville  situation. 
Pittsburgh  wanted  to  remain ;  eastern 
Kentucky  wanted  to  come  in.  It  prom¬ 
ised  for  a  while  to  be  a  fight  to  a  finish. 
Then  they  composed  their  differences  by 
reaching  a  tentative  understanding  that 
a  differential  of  twenty-five  cents  a  ton 
should  be  e.stablished. 

Things  ran  along  this  way  rather 
smoothly  for  a  number  of  years,  or  until 
eastern  Kentucky  operators  got  a  mania 
for  increasing  production.  As  produc¬ 
tion  increased,  the  need  for  a  market 
grew.  As  the  need  for  a  market  grew, 
the  operators  and  retailers  jointly  were 
tempted  to  cut  prices  in  Louisville  in 
order  to  introduce  themselves  in  their 
nearest  market.  They  hoped  at  some  dis¬ 
tant  time  to  make  back  the  losses  inci¬ 
dent  to  the  campaign  of  introduction. 

Right  now  that  campaigning  for  an 
introduction  is  at  its  height.  It  finds  its 
first  expression  in  a  curious  problem  of 
arithmetic.  That  problem  is  that  the  re¬ 
tailers  in  Louisville  are  offering  to  sell 
eastern  Kentucky  coal  on  a  margin  be¬ 
tween  cost  at  the  yard  and  selling  price 
to  the  householder  of  thirty  cents  a  ton. 
Since  the  cost  of  handling  is  easily  ninety 
to  ninety-five  cents  a  ton  or  more,  the  re¬ 
tailers  are  doing  business  at  a  loss  of 
sixty  to  seventy-five  cents  a  ton. 

According  to  figures  which  have  been 
compiled  by  some  coal  men,  the  retailers 
in  Louisville  handle  about  1,500,000  tons 
of  coal  a  year.  At  a  loss  of  even  fifty 
cents  a  ton,  this  means  an  annual  loss  of 
$750,000.  The  question  is :  “Are  the 
retailers  of  Louisville  able  to  lose  $750,- 
000  a  year  and  still  be  good  credit  risks 
to  the  operators  who  are  producing  this 
coal  and  pouring  it  into  that  center?” 
This  is  not  a  matter  which  concerns 
r.ouisville,  Kentucky,  alone.  It  is,  in  re¬ 
ality,  the  one  big  problem  of  the  trade. 
That  problem  is  to  find  some  way  of  in¬ 
troducing  new  coals — if  new  coals  must 
be  introduced — without  wrecking  finan- 
ciallv  the  peo|)le  who  are  asked  to  intro¬ 
duce  them  and  the  mines  which  produce 
the  coal. 

Another  e.xi)ression  of  the  same  problem 
is  to  find  some  way  whereby  the  retail 
coal  men  can  compose  their  dift'erences 
before  the  loss,  rather  than  after  fin.ancial 
ruin  and  bankruptcy  have  come. 


416 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[November  20 


News  Local  to  Chicago. 

F.  S.  Peabody  returned  the  latter  part  of  last 
week  from  New  York,  where  he  had  spent  a 
week. 

George  M.  Bryant,  coal  merchant  of  DePue, 
Ill.,  was  a  Chicago  visitor  on  Wednesday  of  this 
week. 

J.  H.  Stahl,  the  principal  coal  dealer  of  Somo- 
nauk,  was  a  caller  on  the  Chicago  trade  on  Tues¬ 
day  of  this  week. 

John  Maher  of  the  Pittsburgh  &  Ashland  Coal 
Company,  with  headquarters  at  Minneapolis,  was 
a  caller  on  the  Chicago  trade  the  early  part  of 
this  week. 

Charles  V.  Hickox,  secretary  of  the  Coal  Oper¬ 
ators’  Mutual  Fire  Insurance  Company  of  Spring- 
field,  Ill.,  and  an  old  time  coal  man,  was  calling 
on  his  coal  trade  acquaintances  in  Chicago  this 
week. 

An  explosion  of  gas  at  the  Buckner  mine  of 
the  United  Mining  Company,  November  17,  se¬ 
verely  burned  four  men.  The  property  damage 
was  slight,  the  operation  of  the  mine  not  being 
interfered  with  in  any  way. 

Bob  Kernohan,  sales  manager  for  the  Poca¬ 
hontas  Coal  Sales  Company,  says  the  best  indi¬ 
cation  of  the  return  of  prosperity  is  the  in¬ 
creased  demand  for  coke  at  much  higher  prices 
than  prevailed  this  time  last  year. 

Complaints  of  car  shortage  from  alt  parts  of 
the  country  are  increasing.  Northwestern  roads 
have  issued  orders  to  prevent  their  cars  from 
going  east.  The  Illinois  Central  operators  note 
many  foreign  cars  in  their  daily  allotment. 

D.  W.  Buchanan,  while  speaking  of  the  in¬ 
crease  in  the  cost  of  mine  supplies,  said  that  the 
additional  cost  charged  to  production  by  his 
company  for  the  first  year  of  the  war  was  $27,- 
548.50,  as  compared  with  the  previous  year. 

John  T.  Connery  has  joined  hands  witli  J. 
J.  Corbett  in  the  erection  of  a  million  dollar 
family  hotel  at  Edgewater,  to  be  called  the 
Edgewater  Beach  hotel.  It  is  planned  to  have 
the  structure  ready  for  occupancy  early  in 
the  summer  of  1916. 

J.  P.  Danson,  formerly  with  C.  M.  Moderwell 
&  Co.,  is  now  manager  of  the  Nelson  Coal  Com¬ 
pany  of  Great  Falls,  Mont.  He  was  in  the  lime¬ 
light  in  Montana  last  week,  due  to  his  having 
secured  a  reduction  from  the  railroads  on  screen¬ 
ings  after  a  long  fight. 

The  latter  part  of  last  week  C.  A.  Bickett  of 
Bickett  Coal  &  Coke  Company  returned  from 
about  a  week  spent  in  New  York  and  left  the  first 
part  of  this  week  for  a  trip  into  Ohio  and  Toron¬ 
to,  from  which  point  he  returned  to  Chicago 
Wednesday  of  this  week. 

E.  H.  Doyle,  manager  of  the  Middle  West 
Coal  Company,  Cincinnati,  while  in  Chicago  this 
week,  reported  a  vigorous  demand  for  steam  in 
the  Queen  City.  All  the  machine  tool  factories 
are  busy,  some  working  night  and  day,  which, 
of  course,  means  a  heavy  coal  consumption. 

Samuel  Dickson  of  Hewlett,  W.  Va.,  and  one  of 
the  pioneer  operators  of  that  state,  stopped  off 
in  Chicago  a  day  the  early  part  of  this  week.  He 
has  just  returned  from  an  extended  trip  to  Cali¬ 
fornia  and  those  who  talked  to  him  are  strongly 
of  the  impression  that  before  long  he  will  be  a 
factor  in  the  western  coal  situation  again. 

W.  E.  Rothermel  has  been  appointed  trustee 
for  the  defunct  Mueller  Coal  Company.  He  is 
expected  to  collect  as  much  of  the  $7,000  worth 
of  assets  as  possible.  As  the  Mueller  Coal  Com¬ 
pany  and  the  receiver  have  undoubtedly  used 
their  best  efforts  in  this  direction  it  would  seem 
that  Collector  Rothermel  will  need  to  exercise 
considerable  ingenuity  in  his  new  connection. 

John  Sterling,  who  has  been  connected  with  the 
Big  Creek  Colliery  Company,  in  charge  of  the 
sales  of  Petroleum  Carbon,  has  resigned  that  posi¬ 
tion  to  go  with  the  Union  Pacific  Coal  Company. 
He  has  moved  his  family  to  Cheyenne,  Wyo., 
where  he  will  make  his  headquarters  in  future. 
For  the  time  being  he  is  on  a  trip  to  California, 
partly  to  study  the  possibilities  of  the  coal  mar¬ 
ket  there,  and  partly  to  take  a  short  vacation. 

On  Tuesday  night  of  this  week  the  Woodside 
mine  of  the  Woodside  Coal  Company.  Spring- 
field,  Ill.,  was  burned  to  the  ground.  The  tipple 
was  completely  destroyed,  as  were  the  othef  top 
works.  This  puts  this  mine  out  of  commission 
for  some  time,  due  to  the  fact  that  according  to 
state  laws  the  new  tipple  erected  in  place  of  the 
old  one  will  have  to  be  of  steel,  and  steel  is  not 
easily  obtainable  just  now.  This  mine  was  located 
on  the  Wabash  railway  and  had  a  production  of 
about  2,000  tons  a  day.  The  understanding  is  that 


its  contracts  have  been  transferred  to  some  other 
mines  in  the  district,  which  will  fill  them  while 
this  mine  is  closed  down,  and  of  course,  the 
other  mines  will  have  to  make  up  the  shortage  in 
coal  incident  to  the  closing  up  of  this  plant. 

In  September,  Chesapeake  &  Ohio’s  coal 
tonnage  was  2,164,912,  compared  with  2,006,- 
291  last  year.  In  three  months  ended  Sep¬ 
tember  30,  6,459,319  tons  of  coal  were  car¬ 
ried,  against  5,913,603  in  the  same  period  last 
year,  an  increase  of  545,716  tons.  Of  the  total 
tonnage  this  year  twenty-two  per  cent  was 
bound  to  tidewater,  compared  with  seventeen 
per  cent  last  year,  while  sixty-one  per  cent 
was  west-bound,  against  sixty-six  per  cent  last 
year. 

Complaint  against  alleged  discriminatory  rates 
on  bituminous  coal  are  made  by  the  Reiss  Coal 
Company,  in  a  proceeding  begun  before  the  in¬ 
terstate  commerce  commission  against  the  Great 
Western  and  the  Northwestern  roads  at  Wash¬ 
ington  November  11.  The  complaint  charges 
that  the  rates  on  coal  from  Sheboygan  and  Mani¬ 
towoc  to  certain  points  in  Iowa  and  Minnesota 
are  higher  without  good  reason  than  the  rates 
from  Chicago,  and  discriminate  against  Sheboy¬ 
gan  and  Manitowoc.  John  P.  Reiss  states  that 
the  Reiss  Company  has  joined  with  other  west¬ 
ern  shippers  in  an  effort  to  secure  the  same 
rate  for  its  coal  shipped  from  Sheboygan  over 
the  Northwestern  and  Great  Western  roads  as  is 
granted  to  shippers  of  coal  from  Chicago  to 
points  on  these  lines. 

L.  R.  Rutter,  chairman,  has  made  the  following 
report,  which  will  prove  of  wide  interest :  “The 
anthracite  committee  of  the  Chicago  Coal  Mer¬ 
chants  Association  met  on  Nov.  12,  1915,  pursu¬ 
ant  to  the  request  of  certain  members  of  this 
association.  The  object  of  said  meeting  was  to 
discuss  the  reasonableness  of  the  existing  anthra¬ 
cite  rates  to  Chicago.  Your  committee  was  ap¬ 
pointed  in  May,  1914,  and  appeared  before  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission  opposing  the 
increase  of  twenty-five  cents  per  ton  on  anthracite 
rates,  which  the  commission  subsequently  grant¬ 
ed.  There  was  a  further  meeting  of  your  com¬ 
mittee  at  the  association  rooms  Tuesday  morn¬ 
ing,  Nov.  16,  1915,  at  10  o’clock,  to  further  con¬ 
sider  the  advisability  of  this  association  filing  a 
protest  before  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commis¬ 
sion,  concerning  the  reasonableness  of  the  exist¬ 
ing  rates  to  Chicago  on  anthracite  coal,  and  their 
effect  on  the  trade.  The  data  now  in  possession 
of  your  committee  is  not  sufficient  for  them  to 
take  any  action.” 

James  E.  Gorman,  this  week  assumed  charge 
of  the  operation  of  the  Rock  Island  road,  as 
chief  executive  officer  under  Receiver  Dick¬ 
inson.  Mr.  Gorman  was  born  in  Chicago 
fifty-one  years  ago,  and  was  educated  at  the 
Holy  Eamily  School.  He  entered  railroad 
service  in  1887  for  the  Chicago,  Burlington  & 
Quincy,  his  first  work  being  as  a  car  number 
taker,  the  start  of  so  many  railroaders.  He 
continued  with  that  road  four  years,  and  left 
to  engage  with  the  Rock  Island  road.  Four 
years  later  he  became  clerk  in  the  offices  of 
the  Chicago  Lumber  Company.  He  re-en¬ 
tered  railroad  service  as  a  clerk  for  the  Chi¬ 
cago  &  Northwestern  road,  and  four  years 
later  engaged  as  chief  clerk  to  the  general 
freight  agent  of  the  Santa  Fe  system.  From 
there,  he  went  to  the  Illinois  Central  as  tariff 
clerk,  and  three  years  later  went  back  to  the 
Santa  Fe  as  freight  clerk.  In  1893,  and  for 
two  years  thereafter,  he  was  chief  clerk  for 
Joy  Morton  Company.  In  1895,  he  again 
engaged  with  the  Santa  Fe  as  chief  clerk  in 
the  freight  department.  In  September,  1895, 
he  was  appointed  assistant  general  freight 
agent  for  the  Santa  Fe,  his  first  titled  office, 
then  became  general  freight  agent,  assistant 
traffic  manager  and  freight  traffic  manager  of 
the  same  road.  On  December  15,  1909,  just 
twenty-seven  years  after  his  first  employment 
by  that  road,  he  re-entered  the  service  of 
the  Rock  Island,  this  time  as  vice-president 
in  charge  of  traffic. 


The  Boat  Run  Coal  Company,  Arden,  W. 
Va.,  has  let  a  contract  for  improvements  to 
a  1,500  coal  acreage  under  lease,  consisting  of 
a  half  mile  electric  road,  building  of  two  tip¬ 
ples.  construction  of  two  mine  openings  and 
placing  timber  in  readiness  to  begin  work. 

Members  of  the  Detroit  Coal  Exchange,  at  their 
regular  meeting  Thursday  evening,  received  from 
Secretary  F.  E.  Reeves  a  report  of  the  attitude  of 
the  exchan.ge  in  reference  to  collection  of  claims 
against  the  Pere  Marquette  railroad.  There  was 
discussion  also  of  a  plan  for  installation  of  a  col¬ 
lection  bureau  in  connection  with  the  exchange. 


Association  News. 


The  New  England  association  holds  but  one 
meeting  a  year,  unless  there  is  occasion  for  an¬ 
other.  District  meetings  are  held  occasionally, 
whenever  it  seems  likely  to  get  forty  or  thirty 
men  together. 

The  business  conditions  in  New  England  among 
coal  dealers  depends  a  great  deal  upon  the  loca¬ 
tion  of  the  man  himself.  There  are  several  places 
where  price  cutting  is  going  on  with  consequent 
loss  in  money  and  loss  in  credit.  We  are  suffer¬ 
ing  as  a  whole  from  what  we  call  irregular  ship¬ 
ments  of  coal.  Anthracite  is  being  shipped  direct 
to  the  consumers  by  individual  operators;  job¬ 
bing  houses,  not  only  coal  jobbers,  but  iron  and 
steel  jobbers  who  handle  an  occasional  car  for  a 
favored  customer. 

In  one  city  of  nearly  9,000  inhabitants  there  has 
been  nearly  4,000  tons  of  anthracite  coal  shipped 
direct  to  consumers  without  passing  through  the 
hands  of  the  retail  dealers  for  the  last  five  months. 

Our  federal  laws  prevent  dealers  combining 
and  making  such  plans  to  combat  such  kind  of 
competition,  whereas  they  make  laws  advocating 
farmers  getting  together  for  similar  reasons.  The 
state  of  Massachusetts  supports  one  of  the  finest 
agricultural  colleges  in  the  country,  and  the  coal 
dealers  pay  for  it,  or  pay  their  share  of  the  cost 
in  accordance  with  the  system  of  taxing.  One 
bit  of  information  sent  to  farmers  by  the  officers' 
of  this  institution  was  to  tell  them  where  they 
can  buy  carload  lots  of  coal  direct  from  the  mine. 

New  England  is  like  other  eastern  states  in  its 
consumption  of  hard  coal,  probably  about  9,000,- 
000  tons  being  consumed  annually.  For  years  we 
have  carried  on  an  educational  campaign  endeav¬ 
oring  to  have  the  New  England  retailers  keep 
accurate  cost  systems  so  they  may  know  exactly 
where  they  stand.  Progress  is  very  slow,  but 
the  matter  is  having  constant  attention. 

This  association  is  furnishing  illustrated  lec¬ 
tures  for  boards  of  trade,  business  men’s  associ¬ 
ations,  church  clubs,  etc.,  to  enable  local  mer¬ 
chants  to  show  the  people  of  their  community  the 
difficulties  of  anthracite  coal  production,  and  some 
of  the  reasons  for  its  increasing  cost. 

We  are  strong  advocates  for  coal  dealers’  as¬ 
sociations  working  with  other  business  men’s 
organizations  for  the  benefit  thus  gained  by  all 
retail  merchants.  We  believe  in  cooperation 
among  business  men  in  all  lines,  regardless  of 
whether  it  is  coal  or  groceries. 

W.  A.  Clark,  President, 
Northampton,  Mass. 


Small  Activities. 


Oklahoma  News  Notes. 

D.  J.  Jorden.  president,  San  Bois  Coal  Com¬ 
pany,  is  at  McCurtain  this  week  in  the  interests 
of  his  mines  there. 

S.  W.  Hogan,  of  Cashion,  Okla.,  has  recently 
established  grain  elevators  at  Prague  and  Oke- 
mah,  Okla.,  and  will  handle  coal  at  these  points. 

W.  S.  Swope  has  purchased  the  Erick  Coal 
Yard  from  L.  M.  Smith,  at  Erick,  Okla.  Erick 
is  one  of  the  plains  towns  in  the  Texas  panhandle 
country  and  although  having  a  population  of 
a  few  hundred  sells  more  coal  than  many  towns 
ten  times  its  size,  owing  to  their  large  trade 
area,  extending  as  it  does  fifty  miles  in  some 
directions. 

The  Oklahoma  City  coal  dealers,  at  the  insti¬ 
gation  of  Mr.  M.  B.  Schofield  of  the  M.  B. 
Schofield  Company,  have  arranged  a  splendid 
billboard  “burn  coal”  campaign  which  is  be¬ 
ginning  to  show  its  good  effects.  Kodaks  of 
the  six  billboards  they  have  placed  over  the  city 
will  be  reproduced  in  this  section  within  a  few 
weeks,  so  that  other  coal  dealers  who  are  fighting 
gas  competition  may  use  the  suggestions  if  de¬ 
sired. 

The  Santa  Fe  Coal  Company,  of  Cherokee, 
Okla.,  owned  by  O.  J.  Smith,  is  making  arrange¬ 
ments  to  install  a  large  automatic  loading  storage 
plant  in  connection  with  his  coal  business.  Mr. 
Smith  is  a  coal  man,  pure  and  simple.  He  does 
not  divide  his  time  with  grain  or  feed,  cattle 
raising  or  farming  and  although  he  is  located  in 
a  little  town  of  2,500  people,  where  there  are 
three  competitors,  he  is  making  good  at  the  same 
time  making  money  and  lots  of  it.  If  some  of 
the  combination  dealers  who  cry  continually. 
“There  ain’t  no  money  in  the  coal  business,” 
would  pay  Mr.  Smith  a  visit  and  see  his  up-to- 
date  coal  handling  plant  they  would  probably 
change  their  minds.  The  visit  would  do  them 
good  at  least. 


No.  21] 


417 


Facts  Which  Determine  Our  Export  Prospects. 


The  Export  Situation. 

Coal  exports  are  still  handicapped  by  lack  of 
sufficient  vessel  tonnage.  Last  week  saw  approxi¬ 
mately  100,000  tons  exported  from  Hampton 
Roads  and  12,668  tons  from  Baltimore. 

It  is  noticed  that  there  was  one  schooner  sail¬ 
ing  from  the  Roads  for  Spain  with  4,968  tons  and 
a  Norwegian  bark  for  Rio  with  2,588  tons.  There 
was  an  Italian  bark  from  Baltimore  with  2,000 
tons  for  Italy  and  a  Uruguayian  bark  from  New¬ 
port  News  for  Buenos  Aires,  taking  3,532  tons. 

Coal  is  at  the  moment  easy  at  Hampton  Roads, 
but  very  strong  at  all  of  the  other  ports. 

It  is  expected  that  any  moment  may  find  the 
Hampton  Roads  price  situation  very  strong,  as 
there  is  a  very  heavy  demand  for  the  southern 
coals  for  shipment  to  New  En.gland  and  also  to 
the  west.  Shipments  in  both  directions  have  been 
restricted  because  of  the  lack  of  cars  for  inland 
shipment  and  coastwise  vessels  for  coastwise 
shipment. 

There  is  a  good  demand  for  coal  for  Cuba  and 
vessel  rates  are  approximately  $3.50,  which  is 
about  the  rate  to  the  Plate  in  normal  times. 

Some  of  the  vessel  owners  that  have  been  using 
oil  for  fuel  are  complaining  of  the  recent  very 
radical  advances  in  oil  prices.  One  steamship 
owner  who  uses  oil  on  a  number  of  his  steam¬ 
ers  says  that  the  increase  in  the  price  of  oil  is 
costing  him  $60  per  day  per  steamer  more  than 
was  the  case  several  months  ago. 


The  Welsh  Coal  Situation. 

The  Cardiff  correspondent  of  the  Liverpool 
Journal  of  Commerce,  under  date  of  November 
5th,  writes  about  the  Cardiff  situation  as  fol¬ 
lows: 

“No  improvement  was  shown  this  week  in 
the  South  Wales  steam  coal  trade,  and  little 
can  be  looked  for  until  tonnage  arrives  in  suf¬ 
ficient  supply  for  shippers’  needs.  The  whole 
position,  in  fact,  hinges  in  the  question  of  ton¬ 
nage,  and  with  no  better  arrivals  the  mar¬ 
ket  continued  in  a  lifeless  state.  Collieries’ 
difficulties  were  most  pronounced  and  a  good 
number  failed  to  keep  their  pits  regularly  em¬ 
ployed  owing  to  the  inability  to  clear  wagons. 
Values  for  immediate  shipment  were  extremely 
difficult  to  range,  owing  to  the  small  amount 
of  new  business  passing  and  the  widely  dif¬ 
ferent  prices  offered  owing  to  the  particular 
circumstances  of  sellers.  Several  were  still 
offering  supplies  at  substantial  reductions  in 
order  to  secure  a  quick  release  of  wagons. 
The  generally  easy  position  was  accentuated 
by  middlemen  who,  forced  to  take  their  quota 
of  contract  deliveries,  undersold  collieries  to 
the  extent  of  2s  per  ton  or  even  more.  The 
prices  offering,  in  fact,  were  unremunerative 
to  collieries,  which  have  still  to  face  abnor¬ 
mally  high  production  costs,  and  a  number 
prefer  to  close  their  pits  temporarily  rather 
than  accept  the  present  low  prices.  With 
colliery  workmen’s  wages  standing  at  abnor¬ 
mally  high  levels,  the  present  prices  of  coal 
available  for  ordinary  commercial  purposes 
leaves  little  or  no  remuneration  to  the  col¬ 
lieries. 

“Much  harassed  coal  operators  have  de¬ 
rived  some  measure  of  satisfaction  from  the 
fact  that  the  government  intends  to  deal  with 
the  question  of  the  shortage  of  steamers, 
which  has  reduced  the  coal  export  trade  to 
an  exceptional  extent.  The  Board  of  Trade 
does  not  contemplate  requisitioning  the  en¬ 
tire  British  mercantile  marine,  but  a  suffi¬ 
cient  number  of  vessels  will  be  requisitioned, 
“where  emergency  exists  at  any  time  in  the 
market,”  whilst  powers  will  be  taken  “to  reg¬ 
ulate  the  employment  of  British  shipping  in 
the  carrying  of  cargo  between  foreign  ports 
by  means  of  licenses.”  It  is  expected  that 
the  scheme  will  give  more  tonnage  for  use 
in  the  South  Wales  coal  trade.  Some  time, 
however,  must  elapse  before  any  appreciable 
improvement  in  the  tonnage  position  is  shown 
under  the  scheme,  but  several  colliery  owners 
were  looking  forv/ard  to  steadier  conditions 
at  the  end  of  the  month  in  anticipation  of  a 
better  supply  of  vessels,  and  the  further  cur¬ 
tailment  of  the  output  of  the  coal  field  owing 
to  the  recruiting  which  is  still  going  on  in 
the  valleys.  There  are  a  number  of  opera¬ 
tors,  however,  who  are  dubious  of  any  relief 
being  received  from  the  government  scheme. 
They  point  out  that  a  vast  amount  of  tonnage 
was  engaged,  soon  after  the  Greek  vessels  were 
commandeered  by  the  Greek  government,  to 
carry  grain  from  America  to  this  country,  the 
supply  of  grain  having  fallen  much  below  the 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


normal.  This  pressure  will  not  be  continued, 
and  vessels  will  be  gradually  released  for 
other  trades.  Besides  no  scheme  can  increase 
the  world’s  tonnage.  If  British  vessels  are 
forced  to  confine  their  trading  to  this  coun¬ 
try,  it  is  argued  that  the  higher  freights  which 
will  be  shown  at  foreign  ports  will  drive  the 
foreign  tonnage  away  from  British  trades,  for 
there  is  still  a  considerable  quantity  of  for¬ 
eign  tonnage  engaged  in  carrying  coals  from 
Great  Britain  and  grain  home.  It  is  sug¬ 
gested  that  the  government  should  release 
vessels  which  for  some  time  have  been  used 
as  coal  hulks  by  the  authorities,  whilst  it  is 
also  sugested  that  discharging  facilities  at  the 
chief  ports  should  be  quickened.  The  problem 
is  an  acute  one,  for  the  Welsh  coal  export 
trade  has  been  restricted  to  an  exceptional 
extent  owing  to  the  shortage  of  vessels,  and 
the  restriction  of  exports  means  a  lessening 
of  the  nation’s  credit.” 

Quotations  on  Cardiff  coals  were  as  follows:  ‘ 
Admiralty  second,  19s-19s  6d;  other  sorts  from 
18s-18s  6d :  black  veins,  19sl9s  6d;  smalls, 
10s  6d-lls  6d. 


Palermo,  Italy. 

Mr.  Samuel  H.  Shaul,  American  consul  at 
Palermo,  Italy,  writes  The  Bl.\ck  Diamond  under 
date  of  October  19  as  follows: 

"I  be.g  to  inform  you  that  according  to  a  lead¬ 
ing  coal  importer  in  Palermo,  the  coal  consump¬ 
tion  at  present  is  limited,  being  estimated  at  twen¬ 
ty-five  per  cent  of  the  normal  consumption.  This 
is,  of  course,  due  to  the  war,  in  fact  a  number 
of  factories  are  not  working  and  others  have  re¬ 
stricted  work  either  for  financial  reasons  or  lack 
of  hands.  In  view  of  the  high  price  of  coal, 
some  firms  have  substituted  electric  for  their 
steam  motors.  The  coal  trade  has  been  pro¬ 
gressively  declinin.g  since  the  war  started  and 
conditions  at  present  do  not  point  to  any  im¬ 
provement. 

“Prices  for  American  or  Welsh  coals  at  pres¬ 
ent  are  given  at  ninety  to  ninety-two  lire,  depre¬ 
ciated  currency  (about  $15)  for  gas  and  100  to  105 
lire  (about  $17)  for  steam,  per  ton  c.  i..f.  Pal¬ 
ermo.  These  are  the  highest  prices  which  have 
prevailed  during  the  war.  Before  Au.gust  1,  1914, 
prices  were:  Newcastle,  $5.60;  Cardiff,  $6.80. 

“The  dealers  in  Palermo  are  of  small  im¬ 
portance  and  they  do  not  keep  statistics  of 
prices.  You  can  get  such  statistics  in  Genoa, 
which  is  the  Italian  center  for  coal  trade.  Like¬ 
wise,  it  is.  not  possible  to  secure  statistics  show¬ 
ing  importations  of  coal. 

“No  improvements  have  been  made  to  the 
docks  during  the  past  year.” 


Coal  in  Greece. 

John  E.  Kebe,  American  consul  at  Saloniki, 
Greece,  writes  The  Black  Diamond  under  date 
of  October  18  as  follows :  “The  immediate  effect 
of  the  European  war  upon  the  Saloniki  coal  mar¬ 
ket  was  the  severance  of  the  German  and  Belgian 
sources  of  supply,  and  later  on  that  of  Turkey, 
from  which  this  city  drew  a  lar.ge  supply  of  a 
cheap  inferior  grade  coal.  It  is  estimated  by  local 
coal  importers  that  increased  prices  and  depres¬ 
sion  of  business  in  the  few  manufacturing  con¬ 
cerns  operated  in  this  district  have  reduced  the 
local  imports  of  coal  thirty  per  cent  since  .Au¬ 
gust  1,  1914. 

“Wood,  coal  and  charcoal  are  commonly  used 
for  heating  purposes  in  this  city;  but  coal  is  re¬ 
quired  by  breweries,  hotels  and  a  few  manufac¬ 
turing  establishments  in  this  district.  The  local 
importation  of  coal  during  the  years  1913  and 
1914  and  an  estimate  of  the  amounts  supplied 
by  the  contributing  countries  is  shown  by  the  fol¬ 
lowing  figures  expressed  in  metric  tons  of  2,204.6 
pounds  each : 


1913.  1914. 

From  England  . 17,000  tons  19,000  tons 

From  Turkey  . 17,000  tons  15,000  tons 

From  Germany  .  7,000  tons  4,000  tons 

From  Belgium  .  2,300  tons  1,000  tons 


“Local  importers  estimate  that  during  the  first 
si.x  months  of  the  year  1915,  12,000  tons  of  Eng¬ 
lish  coal  and  2,000  tons  of  American  coal  were 
imported  at  this  port.  It  is  thou.ght  that  the  pres¬ 
ent  supply  of  coal  in  Saloniki  will  only  be  suffi¬ 
cient  to  supply  the  demand  for  four  months,  or 
less,  if  unforeseen  demands  are  made  upon  it  by 
ships  or  other  factors.  The  Hellenic  government 
has  prohibited  the  export  of  coal  without  special 
permission. 

“On  August  1,  1914,  coal  prices  were  as  fol¬ 
lows:  English  coal,  $10.40  per  ton;  Turkish  coal, 
$4.90  per  ton;  German  coal,  $6.20  per  ton;  Bel¬ 


gian  coal,  $6.20  per  ton.  The  above  prices  are 
quoted  c.  i.  f.  Saloniki.  What  little  English  and 
American  coal  that  now  reaches  this  market 
brin.gs  a  price  of  $17  c.  i.  f.  Saloniki.” 


Coal  Trade  of  Sweden. 

Ernest  L.  Harris,  American  consul-general  at 
Stockholm,  Sweden,  writes  The  Black  Diamond 
under  date  of  October  20  as  follows : 

“I  be.g  to  inform  you  that  owing  to  the  gen¬ 
eral  European  war,  there  has  been  a  reduction 
in  the  consumption  of  coal  in  this  country,  at¬ 
tended  at  the  same  time  by  an  increased  de¬ 
mand  for  American  coal.  As  an  example  of 
this,  a  great  many  of  the  coasting  steamers  in  the 
Swedish  merchant  service  are  using  wood  instead 
of  coal. 

“As  a  rough  estimate,  I  would  place  the  amount 
of  American  coal  imported  since  the  beginning 
of  the  war  at  about  300,000  tons.  More  than 
this  has  been  contracted  for  and  will  be  delivered 
during  next  year.  This  includes  all  sales  of 
American  coal  to  the  State  Railways,  gas  works 
and  private  industrial  enterprises. 

“It  is  also  reported  that  a  cargo  of  American 
anthracite  has  just  reached  Sweden.  The  pres¬ 
ent  price  of  coal  fluctuates  so  from  week  to  week 
that  it  is  impossible  to  give  a  .general  average, 
but  it  runs  anywhere  between  forty-nine  and  fifty 
shillings  a  ton.  The  price  of  German  coal  at 
present  is  forty-four  crowns  or  $11.79  per  ton 
c.  i.  f.  Stockholm.  No  Welsh  coal  has  been 
imported  since  the  outbreak  of  the  war.” 


Foreign  Freight  Rates. 

W.  W.  Battie  &  Co.,  Produce  Exchange, 
New  York,  report  as  follows  under  date  of 
November  15: 

The  freight  market  continues  to  advance 
and  conditions  are  practically  the  same  as 
a  week  ago.  The  last  charters  for  coals  from 
United  States  ports  to  Lower  Plate  ports, 
were  at  45s  8d,  500  tons  per  day  discharge  and 
steamers  are  difficult  to  obtain  even  on  these 
terms.  Shippers  of  Mediterranean  coal  are 
not  willing  to  pay  rates  owners  ask,  conse¬ 
quently  no  chartering  is  being  effected  for 
the  movement  of  coal  in  this  direction.  The 
tonnage  scarcity  is  making  it  difficult  to  oper¬ 
ate  on  West  Indian  orders. 

We  would  quote  freight  rates  on  coal  by 
steamer  as  follows: 

We<;t  coast  of  Italy,  70s  to  75s;  Marseilles,  65s  to  75s; 
Barcelona  or  other  good  Spanish  ports,  65s  to  73s  (Span¬ 
ish  dues  for  account  of  cargo). 

Note. — Charters  for  Italy,  France  and  Spain  read: 
“Lay  days  to  commence  on  steamer’s  arrival  at  or  off 
port  of  discharge,  Is  per  net  register  ton  per  day  de¬ 
murrage.” 

Montevideo,  about  45s,  500  discharge;  Buenos  Aires  or 
La  Plata,  about  45s,  500  discharge;  Rosario,  about  50s; 
Rio  de  Janeiro,  about  45s,  500  discharge;  Santos,  46s  to 
48s  (consignees  paying  docas  dues). 

Valparaiso  or  Callao,  $11  to  $12;  Havana,  $2.75  to  $3; 
Cardenas  or  Sagua,  $3  to  $3.25;  Cienfuegos,  $3  to  $3.50; 
Fort  of  Spain.  Trinidad,  $4  to  $4.25;  St.  Lucia,  $3.75  to 
$4.25;  St.  Thomas,  $3.50  to  $3.75;  Barbados,  $4  to 
$4.25;  Kingston,  $3.25  to  $3.75;  Curacao,  about  $3.75 
and  p.  c.;  Santiago,  about  $3.50;  Guantanamo,  about 
$3.50;  Demerara,  $6  to  $6.50;  Bermuda,  about  $3.50;  Vera 
Cruz,  $5  to  $6.00;  Tampico,  $5  to  $6. 


Baltimore  October  Exports. 

The  official  statement  of  bituminous  coal 
exports  from  the  port  of  Baltimore  for  the 
month  of  October  shows  as  follows: 


Country —  Tons. 

Italy .  58,522 

Spain  .  3,107 

Sweden  .  32,239 

Cuba  .  26,548 

French  West  Indies .  3,247 

Argentina  .  8,105 

Dutch  Guiana .  849 

Egypt  .  7,035 


Total  . 139,652 


Recent  Coal  Freight  Charters. 

Steamer  Vindeggen  (Swed.),  Baltimore  to  Sweden, 
coal,  p.  t. 

Bark  Siam  (Nor.),  Newport  News  to  Buenos  Aires, 
coal,  $8. 

Schooner  Daylight,  Philadelphia  to  Fort  de  France, 
coal,  p.  t. 

Schooner  Edward  H.  Blake,  Virginia  to  Bermuda,  coal, 
$3.25. 

Steamer  Sonora  (Mex.),  Philadelphia  to  Cienfuegos, 
coal,  p.  t. 

Ship  Andreta  (Ital.)  and  bark  Gaspara  S.  (Ital.), 
Philadelphia  to  Mediterranean,  coal,  p.  t. 

Schooner  J.  Edward  Drake,  Philadelphia  to  Marti- 
ninue,  coal,  $3.50. 

Schooner  J.  W.  F.uwell,  Philadelphia  to  Rosario,  coal, 
p.  t. 

Steamer  Sif  (Nor.),  Newport  News  to  St.  Lucia,  coal, 
p.  t.,  “Prompt.’* 


The  Island  Creek  Coal  Company  produced  196,- 
000  tons  of  coal  in  October,  214,110  tons  were 
turned  out  in  September  and  175,323  tons  in  Octo¬ 
ber,  1914. 


418 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[November  20 


General  Review. 


Chicago  Market. 


Steam  Coal  Is  Booming,  Coke  Production 
Increases  and  Domestic  Demand 
Is  Better. 


Screenings  Are  Strong,  Rising  Ten  to 
Fifteen  Cents  a  Ton — Domestic 
Coal  Is  Easy. 


The  demand  for  coal  has  advaneed  to  a  point 
where  the  operators  are  no  longer  concerned 
about  keeping  the  mines  running,  but  they  are 
beginning  to  he  concerned  over  being  able  to 
su])ply  all  the  calls  for  coal  in  the  ne.xt  six 
months.  This  is  a  complete  reversal  of  condi¬ 
tions  existing  a  montli  or  six  weeks  ago. 

The  first  reason  for  this  change  is  the  sudden 
cpiickening  of  activity  in  business,  principally  in 
the  eastern  territory.  Up  until  a  month  ago  there 
was  a  fictitious  Inisincss  activity  all  through  the 
east  beginning  with  Pittsburgh.  This  rested  on 
nothing  more  substantial  than  orders  for  war 
munitions.  While  very  large  producing  units 
were  busy,  the  businesses  which  usually  move 
along  in  their  train  were  not  busy  and  conse- 
(jiiently  we  only  had  a  quarter  to  one-half  of 
prosperity.  In  the  last  month,  factories  which 
serve  home  needs  have  also  begun  to  get  orders 
from  home  sources. 

In  addition,  the  car  shortage  which  has  been 
threatening  all  through  the  United  States  for 
month  has  become  a  reality  east  of  Pittsburgh. 
It  is  especially  severe  in  mining  regions.  Coal 
companies  are  finding  themselves  in  a  position 
where  with  orders  on  the  books  they  cannot 
get  cars  enough  to  fill  them. 

The  mines  are  also  annoyed  by'  a  growing 
shortage  of  labor.  The  mines  are  forced  to 
increase  production  and  some  new  mines  are 
being  opened,  but  no  new  supply  of  mine  labor 
has  been  received  from  abroad  for  some  time. 
I'urther,  losses  of  Italians  and  more  recently  of 
the  Greeks  have  been  quite  heavy  in  the  mining 
field,  one  operator  estimating  his  loss  as  twenty- 
five  per  cent.  Thus  the  mines  are  confronted  by 
an  ever  increasing  demand  for  steam  coal  and 
by,  at  the  same  time,  a  shortage  of  both  cars 
and  labor. 

Seeing  that  there  is  no  likelihood  of  a  change, 
especially  in  the-  labor  situation,  and  seeing  that 
one  big  strike  at  least  is  sure  for  next  spring, 
the  operators  are  already  figuring  their  future 
price  programs  with  larger  ideas  than  they  have 
held  lately.  Rig  contracts  carrying  an  increase 
in  price  of  twenty-five  to  thirty  cents  a  ton  liave 
been  refused  within  the  last  ten  days. 

In  the  Pittsburgh  district  the  coal  situation  is 
growing  rather  intense.  The  steel  mills  now 
are  demanding  quite  a  great  deal  of  coke  and 
with  i)rices  for  the  foundry  grade  fixed  at  about 
$3  a  ton  for  next  year’s  business,  the  operators 
are  increasing  the  production  as  fast  as  car  and 
labor  supply  will  permit.  This,  however,  is  not 
very  fast.  Of  course  the  larger  demand  for  coke 
makes  a  bi.g  demand  for  coal  which  is  pieced 
out  to  some  extent  hy  larger  Inlying  by  the 
railroads. 

In  the  upper  lake  territory  the  coal  men  are 
showing  some  alarm  over  the  situation.  The 
season  is  drawing  rapidly  to  a  close  and  will 
probably  end  about  the  first  of  December.  .\t 
the  same  time  reports  from  the  head  of  the 
lakes  indicate  that  the  movement  off  of  the 
docks  is  already  far  heavier  than  the  lake  move¬ 
ment  and  storage  piles  are  beginning  to  show 
the  drain.  With  the  continuation  of  this  de¬ 
mand  until  the  first  of  April  it  is  said  the  docks 
will  be  about  bare  of  coal,  with  very  little  chance 
to  get  a  fresh  supply  because  there  will  be  a 
bigger  demand  for  ore  boats  than  coal  boats 
w'hen  navigation  opens. 

In  the  western  interior  there  has  been  some 
talk  of  buying  by  the  railroads  in  anticipation 
of  the  strike  of  the-  miners  next  spring.  As  far 
as  can  be  learned  the  railroads  are  getting  un¬ 
easy  about  their  supply,  but  have  not  yet  begun 
to  buy  for  storage  purposes.  One  or  two  in¬ 
consequential  purchases  have  been  made,  but  they 
do  not  carry  a  suggestion  of  a  program. 

■•Ml  over  the  country  the  demand  for  domestic 
coals  this  last  week  has  been  much  heavier,  due 
to  a  sudden  drop  in  the  temperature.  The 
weather  so  far  has  not  been  cold,  but  is  some¬ 
what  cooler  than  it  was  last  week.  This  speeded 
up  demand  for  anthracite  in  the  east  and  in  the 
west  created  enough  demand  for  bituminous  to 
clean  up  the  accumulation  of  coal  which  had 
been  rather  annoying  and  large.  The  indications 
are  that  the  west  is  coming  to  the  point  where 
it  will  soon  express  the  same  strength  in  the 
bituminous  market  that  is  shown  in  the  east 
both  on  steam  and  domestic  sizes.  As  a  matter 
of  fact,  within  the  week  the  demand  for  fine 
coal  in  the  west  grew  so  rapidly  that  screenings’ 
[irices  were  marked  up  ten  cents  a  ton. 


Office  of  The  Black  Diamond, 
Chicago,  November  18. 

A  few  days  of  fairly  cold  weather  have  done 
wonders  for  the  domestic  trade,  reversing  com¬ 
pletely  the  attitude  of  producers  towards  the 
market.  In  the  meanwhile,  the  improvement 
in  steam  business  and  something  of  smaller 
production  of  lump  have  changed  the  tone  of 
screenings,  advancing  prices  there  a  minimum 
of  ten  and  in  some  places  fifteen  cents  a  ton. 

There  has  been  quite  a  good  deal  of  talk 
of  buying  of  coal  by  railroads  for  storage  pur¬ 
poses.  It  has  been  published  broadcast  that 
the  railroads  generally  were  buying  and  that 
the  reason  therefor  was  that  the  railroads 
wished  to  prepare  themselves  for  the  strike  of 
the  coal  miners  which  they  believe  is  sure  to 
come  on  the  first  of  next  April.  These  re¬ 
ports,  while  in  circulation  generally,  have  to 
be  taken  with  a  grain  of  salt.  One  railway  did 
buy  too  cars  and  another  railwaj^  some  time 
ago  did  put  down  100,000  tons.  The  former 
order  was  within  the  last  week,  the  latter  order 
was  placed  three  months  ago.  Further  than 
that,  no  storage  buying  of  any  consequence  is 
taking  place. 

Studying  the  market  in  detail,  Franklin 
county  is  occupying  an  interesting  position. 
If  one  would  judge  the  market  by  a  few  odd 
cars  that  have  to  be  disposed  of  from  time  to 
time,  he  would  come  to  the  conclusion  that  the 
market  is  weak.  Some  of  these  few  cars 
are  sold  in  Chicago  at  off  prices.  Some  of 
them  are  sold  in  other  places  where  they  have 
to  be  sacrificed  in  order  to  move  them.  How¬ 
ever,  if  one  disregards  the  few  odds  and  ends 
of  coal  left  at  the  end  of  the  day,  and  studies 
it  more  from  the  standpoint  of  the  volume  of 
husiness  that  is  moving,  over  the  whole  ter¬ 
ritory,  he  comes  to  the  conclusion  that  the 
last  few  days  have  strengthened  the  market 
up  to  about  circular  price  of  $1.75  for  lump, 
egg,  and  number  one  nut.  That  is  quite  a 
change  from  conditions  a  week  ago.  Then 
most  of  the  producers  had  much  coal  to  sell 
and  the  market  was  variable  in  spots.  One  or 
two  cold  days  have  quickly  cleared  up  accu¬ 
mulations  and  brought  supply  and  demand 
about  to  a  balance.  This  demonstrates  again 
that  the  market  this  year  is  a  weather  mar¬ 
ket,  with  the  weather  for  the  minute  in  favor 
of  the  operator.  Screenings  prices  have 
strengthened  pretty  generally.  The  minimum 
price  anywhere  is  sixty  cents  even  on  odd  lots 
held  over  from  the  previous  day’s  run.  Recent 
reports  indicate  that  all  accumulations  ha,ve 
been  cleaned  up  with  not  to  exceed  twelve  or 
fifteen  cars  unsold  in  the  whole  southern  field 
at  the  end  of  any  one  day.  From  a  minimum 
price  of  sixty  cents,  quotations  range  all  the 
way  up  to  seventy-five  cents. 


Franklin  County — 

r.iimp  . 

Fgg  . 

Xo.  1  nut . 

X'o.  2  nut . 

Mine  run . 

■-’-inen  scree, lings.  .  . 


F.  O.  B. 
Chicago. 
$2.80 
2.5.'i@2.86 
2.70@2.S0 
2.55 
2.15@2.20 
1.05@1.75 


F.  O.  B. 
Mines. 
$1.75 
1.50@1.75 
1.65@1.76 
1.50 
1.10@1.15 
.00®  .70 


In  Williamson  county  the  fine  coal  situa¬ 
tion  has  been  cleaned  up  in  the  last  few  days 
and  now  the  minimum  price  is  sixty  cents, 
with  prices  ranging  all  the  way  up  to  seventy- 
five  cents.  Consumption  is  evidently  heavier. 
The  domestic  sizes  are  in  fair  position,  every¬ 
thing  considered;  better  grades  of  lump,  egg 
and  number  one  washed  are  selling  for  $1.75. 
Some  other  coals  are  still  selling  for  $1.60  and 
a  few  odd  lots  now  and  then  are  selling  for 
$1.50.  Prices  up  to  Thursday  were: 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Williamson  County —  Chicago.  Mines. 

I.ump  . $2.65@2.80  $1.60@1.75 

F.gg  .  2.65@2.80  1.60@1.75 

No.  1  washed .  2.80  1.75 

No.  2  washed .  2.45  1.40 


Saline  county  mines  have  been  running  a 
little  fuller  time  this  week  because  the  weather 
has  warranted  a  production  of  more  domestic 
coal  and  because  the  demand  for  fine  coal  is 
improving.  Screenings  have  been  advanced  to 
a  minimum  of  sixty  cents,  with  higher  prices 
quoted.  On  sales  within  the  last  two  or  three 
(lays,  the  quotation  on  the  domestic  sizes  was 
$1..')0  to  $1.75.  Prices  up  to  Thursday  were: 


Saline  County — 

Lump  . 

.Mine  run . 


F.  O.  B. 
Chicago. 
;2.fi5(®2.80 
2.20 


F.  O.  B. 
Mines. 
$1.60@1.75 
1.15 


Screenings  .  1.65@1.75  .60@  .70 

ll<j-inch  lump .  2.35  1.30 


In  the  central  Illinois  field  an  order  by  the 
-Alton  Railway  for  100  carloads  of  lump  coal 
f(pr  storage  purposes  helped  out  the  domestic 
situation.  The  burning  on  Tuesday  night  of 
the  Woodstock  mine  also  shortened  the  supply 
Cooler  weather  came  to  the  relief  of  the  opera¬ 
tors  and  this,  with  a  better  demand  for  screen¬ 
ings,  helped  the  market  materially.  Screen¬ 
ings  are  now  sixty  cents  as  a  minimum  and 
Sangamon  county  lunq)  coal  is  held  pretty  firm  at 
$1.75.  Prices  up  to  Thursday  were: 


Central  Illinois  — 

I.ump  . . 

Fgg  . 

N  ut  . 

.Mine  run . 

Screenings  . 


F.  p.  B. 
Chicago. 

$2.57 

2.32@2.47 

2.47 

1.87 

1.42 


F.  O.  B. 
Mines. 
$1.75 
1.50(®1.65 
1.65 
1.05 
.60 


Clinton,  Indiana,  operators  are  having  a 
slightly  better  demand  for  domestic  coal  and 
an  improved  market  for  screenings.  Prices 
up  to  Thursday  were: 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Clinton —  Chicago.  Mines. 

X’o.  4  domestic  lump . $2.42@2.57  $1.65@1.75 

No.  4  egg .  2.12  1.35 

Nut  . 2.12  1.35 

No.  5  and  6  mine  run .  1.87  1.10 

No.  5  and  6  screenings .  1.52  .75 

The  Knox  county  situation  is  virtually  un¬ 
changed  from  what  it  was  last  week.  That  is, 
the  steam  demand  is  taking  up  most  of  the 


product  of  the  mines,  helped  along  by  some 


railroad  orders. 

Prices  up  to  Thursday 

were ; 

F.  O.  B.  F. 

0.  B. 

Knox  County — 

Chicago.  Mines. 

Lump  . 

.  $2.37 

$1.50 

Egg  . 

.  2.37 

1.50 

Mine  run . 

.  1.87 

1.05 

Screenings  . 

.  1.52 

.65 

Those  who  look  at  the  anthracite  situation 


in  a  broad  way  appreciate  that  the  market  is 
full  of  danger  for  the  buyer  and  contains  satis¬ 
factory  conditions  for  the  producer.  However, 
none  of  the  technical  strength  of  the  market 
is  reflected  in  current  buying.  Last  week  the 
trade  was  flat;  this  week  it  is  improved  just  a 
little  on  account  of  the  weather. 

The  smokeless  situation  is  just  barely  steady 
as  far  as  mine  run  is  concerned.  Retailers 
are  not  buying  and  even  with  a  very  small  car 
supply  at  the  mines,  shipments  are  heavier 
than  the  market  readily  can  absorb.  The  lump 
and  egg  market  has  been  decidedly  weak;  some 
sales  have  been  made  as  low  as  $1.50  and 
plenty  of  coal  could  be  had  for  $1.75. 

Somerset  county  operators  have  more  de¬ 
mand  for  mine  run  coal  than  they  have  car 
supply  or  labor  and  are  not  moving  much  of 
it  west.  That  market  therefore  is  firm.  Do¬ 
mestic  sizes,  however,  are  rather  easy  with  this 
week’s  prices  quoted  all  the  way  from  $1.50 
to  $2.00.  The  prices  up  to  Thursday  were: 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

vSomerset  County —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Mine  run .  $3.45  1.40 

Lump  and  egg .  3.55@4.05  1..50@2.00 


The  accumulation  of  Hocking  coal  that  was 
on  this  market  last  week  has  been  cleaned  up. 
While  that  had  to  be  taken  care  of  prices  went 
down  as  low  as  $1.35.  Now  that  that  accumu¬ 
lation  is  out  of  the  way,  prices  have  rallied  to 
$1.75  and  are  fairly  firm.  The  market  up  to 
Thursday  was: 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Hocking —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Domestic  lump . $3.15@3.25  $1.50@1.60 

The  Splint  market  all  told  has  been  in  good 
position  even  during  the  recent  depression. 
The  eastern  demand  accounts  for  most  of  this 
strength.  The  prices  today  range  from  $1.50 
to  $1.60,  the  fluctuation  being  on  quality. 
Prices  up  to  Thursday  were: 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Kanawha —  Chicago.  Mines. 

iG-inch  lump . $3.40@3.50  $1.50@1.60 


Eastern  Kentucky  operators  are  beginning 
to  get  behind  on  orders  again  because  this 
week  the  demand  has  improved  with  the 
slight  change  in  the  weather.  The  market  up 
to  Thursday  was: 

F.  p.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Eastern  Kentucky —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Djinestic  lump . $3.80@4.15  $1.90®2.25 

Hgg  . .  3.25@3.75  1.35@1.85 

Foundry  coke  prices  are  steady  to  stronger 

at  .$5.50  to  $5.75.  The  prospects  are  that  next 
year’s  business  will  be  done  as  it  is  being  done, 
on  the  basis  of  about  $5.50.  The  domestic  sizes 
of  by-product  coke  are  just  about  steady  at 
$4.75.  Gas  house  is  about  firm  at  $4.00.  The 
prices  up  to  Thursday  were: 

r .  O .  B . 

Coke—  Chicago. 

ConneBsville  . ?5.5fl 

By-product,  foundry .  "-Je 

By-product,  egg  and  stove . 

By-product,  nut  . 

Gas  house . 


No.  21] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


419 


Pittsburgh  Trade. 


Business  Is  Not  Quite  So  Brisk  for  the 
Week,  But  Prices  Are  Holding 
Quite  Firm. 


office  of  Thk  I’.LACK  Di.\MON1), 
1502  Oliver  Building, 

PiTT.snuKUH,  P.\.,  November  18. 

What  might  Ite  called  a  “lull”  in  the  gen¬ 
eral  trade,  seems  to  be  the  only  direct  feature 
of  note,  regarding  the  coal  business  of  this 
district  the  past  week.  Less  activity  is  noted 
than  for  some  time  past,  though  there  is  no 
appearance  of  a  slump,  prices  holding  firm. 
Owing  to  the  lower  prices  at  which  contracts 
were  made  months  ago,  consumers  have  been  • 
specifying  against  their  full  tonnages  even 
though  producers  will  not  be  able  to  ship  in¬ 
side  the  contract  period.  In  some  instances, 
producers  have  entirely  withdrawn  from  the 
market,  for  the  remainder  of  the  year. 

The  past  three  months  have  witnessed  a  re¬ 
markable  growth  in  the  tonnages  of  iron  and 
steel  products  in  this  district,  to  say  nothing 
of  coal  and  coke,  moving  over  the  thorough¬ 
fares  of  trade,  and  the  equipment  famine, 
which  eased  up  somewhat  the  past  week,  is 
still  felt  and  may  become  acute  again  at  any 
time,  unless  with  the  anticipated  close  of  lake 
navigation  now  approaching — shipments  in 
that  direction  are  ceasing  to  a  large  extent — 
may  release  large  numbers  of  cars.  The  near 
approach  of  this  factor  possibly  accounts  for 
the  slight  lull  in  the  trade  now  noticed.  Buy¬ 
ers  for  December  and  the  turn  of  the  year 
possibly  expect  a  decline  in  prices  to  result 
therefrom.  Many  operators  look  for  a  less 
active  month  for  December,  and  more  free 
coal,  but  others  insist  that  the  demand  will 
be  maintained.  They  base  their  opinions  on 
the  heavy  demand  for  export  on  the  West  Vir¬ 
ginia  output,  which  will  cause  an  increased  call 
on  the  Pittsburgh  district  for  home  consump¬ 
tion.  The  Pittsburgh  Dispatch  is  responsible 
for  the  following; 

“A  local  business  man,  who  has  just  returned 
from  an  extensive  trip  through  New  England, 
remarked  yesterday  that  manufacturers  in  that 
part  of  the  country  are  very  apprehensive  of 
a  coal  famine,  due  to  a  shortage  of  coal  cars. 
He  said  that  he  was  present  when  a  large  man¬ 
ufacturer  in  Boston  gave  an  order  for  50,000 
tons  of  Pennsylvania  coal  at  $4  a  ton  and 
was  glad  to  pay  the  price,  because  in  paying  it 
lie  was  assured  a  reasonable  delivery,  some¬ 
thing  which  he  was  not  able  to  obtain  re¬ 
cently.” 

The  general  range  of  quotations  still  show 
a  wide  variation,  dependent  upon  individual 
operating  conditions,  and  under  these  cir¬ 
cumstances  it  is  difficult  to  quote  flat  prices, 
but  the  following  range  about  represents  the 
coal  market  of  this  district,  f.  o.  b.  mines,  for 


November  shipment: 

Block  lump,  domestic . $1.60 

Domestic  lump .  1.45 

'I'hree-quarters  lump,  steam  or  domestic .  1.30 

Kun  of  mine .  1.20 

I'/i-inch  nut .  1.20 

Slack  . 95 


As  a  result  of  the  rains  the  past  week,  the 
three  rivers  were  rising  slowly  last  night  and 
all  indications  point  towards  a  packet  stage 
here  tomorrow  morning  and  perhaps  a  coal 
barge  stage.  The  river  front  presented  a 
far  different  aspect  than  that  which  has  ex¬ 
isted  for  the  past  ten  days  because  of  low 
water.  The  river  coal  companies  are  not  load¬ 
ing  much  coal,  however,  for  river  shipments, 
l)Ut  are  busy  making  rail  shipments  to  the 
lake  trade  and  interior  points,  and  even  should 
a  sufficient  rise  occur  in  the  near  future,  there 
is  little  probability  of  any  large  water  ship¬ 
ments  to  the  south. 

The  Monongahela  River  Consolidated  Coal 
&  Coke  Company  has  several  tow  boats  and 
many  barges  in  the  Kanawha  river,  making 
ready  for  a  shipment  south  from  that  point 
on  the  first  rise.  They  also  sent  crews  to 
the  towboats  Tom  Dodsworth,  at  Warwood, 
W.  Va.,  and  the  Charles  Brown,  at  Clarington, 
O.,  to  bring  the  towboats  and  their  empties 
to  this  port. 

Should  a  coal  shipping  stage  develop  the 
Diamond  Coal  &  Coke  Company  probably  will 
send  the  towboat  R.  Budd  out  with  a  small 
tow. 

The  towboat  Harry  Brown,  one  of  tbe 
largest  vessels  of  the  Monongahela  River  Con¬ 
solidated  Coal  &  Coke  Company,  sank  in  the 
Mississippi  river,  near  Osceola,  Ark.,  Monday 
night,  when  she  struck  a  snag.  She  v.'as  on 


her  way  with  a  tow  of  empties  from  New 
( )rleans.  La.,  to  Louisville,  Ky. 

The  coke  market  has  shown  a  decided  weak¬ 
ness  the  past  week,  spot  furnace  dropping  from 
previous  quotations  of  .'i!2.40  to  $2.75,  to  $2.25, 
and  purchases  have  been  made  at  even  less. 
One  large  furnace  interest  stated  this  morning 
that  they  were  offered  coke  at  $2.10  and  that 
sales  had  l)een  made  at  $2.15.  The  sudden 
spurt  of  a  couple  of  weeks  past,  it  seems,  was 
largely  due  to  the  demands  of  the  Youngstown 
Sheet  &  Tube  Company  for  a  large  amount  of 
prompt  coke — that  with  some  other  interests 
coming  into  the  market,  jumped  the  prices  up 
— and  they  dropped  as  quickly  when  these  in¬ 
terests  were  supplied.  General  conditions  have 
not  changed — and  the  market  is  just  as  apt  to 
advance  within  the  ne.xt  seventy-two  hours  as 
it  was  to  drop.  Labor  conditions  have  not 
improved  in  the  coke  centers,  and  while  large 
producers  are  sold  upon  contracts,  there  are 
smaller  ones  that  are  not  in  touch  with  “big 
l)usiness”  that  have  small  car  lots  to  be  sold  at 
any  time,  and  sell  for  what  they  can  get.  The 
week’s  production  will  be  about  normal,  and 
the  demand  on  contracts  increases  daily.  Quo¬ 
tations  today  might  be  made  as  follows; 


Prompt  furnace . $2.15@2.25 

Contract  furnace,  first  half .  2.25@2..35 

Prompt  foundrv .  3.00@3.25 

Contract  foundry .  3.00@3.25 


with  some  producers  of  old  basin  Connells- 
ville  coke  holding  for  25c  per  ton  over  these 
figures. 

The  winter  meeting  of  the  Coal  Mining  In¬ 
stitute  of  America  will  take  place  at  the  Fort 
Pitt  Hotel,  this  city,  December  21,  22,  23,  and 
the  executive  committee  have  their  program 
already  completed.  The  meeting  promises  to 
be  one  of  unusual  interest,  judging  from  the 
list  of  subjects  to  be  discussed,  and  the  names 
of  the  speakers  that  appear. 

Pittsburgh  News  Items. 

Thomas  Adams,  president  of  the  Norton 
Iron  Works,  Ashland,  Ky.,  has  purchased 
twenty-eight  acres  of  land  along  the  river 
front,  and  it  is  announced  a  by-product  coking 
plant  to  cost  between  $20(),(»00  and  $300,000 
will  be  erected  on  the  site. 

The  Riter-Conley  Manufacturing  Company, 
Pittsburgh,  has  received  an  order  for  design¬ 
ing  and  fabricating  the  plate  material  for  two 
450-ton  blast  furnaces  to  be  erected  by  the, 
Han  Yeh  Ping  Iron,  Coal  &  Coke  Company, 
Shanghai,  China.  About  3,000  tons  of  plates 
will  be  used. 

Rumors  that  the  Warner-Leonard  Coal  Com¬ 
pany  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  will  open  up  a  coal 
mine  a  few  miles  back  of  Charleroi,  Pa.,  at 
coal  acreage  already  owned  are  being  given 
some  circulation.  However,  it  is  not  stated 
that  operations  will  be  started  immediately, 
but  that  work  will  begin  next  spring. 

J.  Ray  Quinn,  who  for  the  last  six  years 
has  been  in  the  employ  of  the  Central  Fair¬ 
mont  Coal  Company  of  Clarksburg,  acting  as 
district  salesman  for  the  last  few  years,  re¬ 
signed  and  has  accepted  a  position  as  manager 
of  the  Gano-Moore  Coal  Company.  Mr.  Quinn 
has  been  engaged  in  the  coal  business  for 
eight  years,  the  largest  part  of  the  time  being 
with  the  Central  Fairmont  Company.  For 
a  time  he  held  a  responsible  position  with 
the  Calvert  Coal  Company  in  its  eastern  field. 


Detroit  Trade. 


Detroit,  Mich.,  November  18. —  (Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — With  temperature  ranging  closely 
around  freezing  this  week  a  rather  stronger  de¬ 
mand  is  developing  for  domestic  coals  in  the 
Detroit  market,  while  business  in  steam  coal  con¬ 
tinues  to  lag  behind  what  shippers  say  should  be 
a  normal  volume. 

Inquiry  in  the  steam  coal  trade  is  more  active 
for  fine  coal  than  for  the  larger  sizes,  though  the 
consumption  of  the  latter  seems  to  be  holding  an 
equitable  proportion  to  the  fine  coals.  In  a  few 
instances  shippers  have  had  a  little  difficulty  get¬ 
ting  fine  coal  promptly,  but  the  situation  has  not 
been  productive  of  much  complaint. 

Very  little  trouble  is  being  experienced  just 
now  from  the  sale  of  shipments  of  consignment 
coal.  There  is  apparently  a  material  reduction  in 
the  amount  of  such  stock  coming  into  the  city 
and  sales  at  prices,  showing  a  wide  discount  from 
mine  quotations  are  more  infrequent  than  they 
have  been,  although  bargain  hunters,  who  are  able 
to  wait  and  watch  are  still  able  at  times  to  buy  at 
prices  20  or  25  cents  below  the  market. 

Delivery  of  shipments  is  being  made  with  a 
reasonable  degree  of  promptness.  The  termina¬ 


tion  of  the  strike  by  clerks  of  the  Michigan  Cen¬ 
tral  railroad  has  contributed  in  improving  the 
movement  of  freight  over  that  company’s  lines, 
which  was  attended  with  some  uncertainty,  while 
the  strike  was  in  progress.  Complaints  concern¬ 
ing  lack  of  cars  continue  to  come  from  mining 
sections  served  by  the  B.  &  O.,  the  C.  &  O.  and 
parts  of  the  Pennsylvania  system,  but  conditions 
iia\e  not  arrived  at  a  stage  where  the  car  short¬ 
age  is  acute  or  is  causing  trouble  for  coal  users. 

The  buying  of  domestic  sizes  is  perceptibly 
improved  by  the  frosty  weather,  so  far  as  the 
retail  dealers  are  concerned.  Their  stock,  how¬ 
ever,  seems  to  be  holding  out  to  an  extent  that 
relieves  most  of  them  of  the  present  necessity  of 
placing  renewal  orders,  as  shippers  say  they  are 
receiving  very  little  new  business. 

Practically  a  similar  situation  exists  in  the 
anthracite  trade.  Deliveries  to  consumers  are 
stimulated,  but  the  improvement  in  retail  trade 
has  not  been  carried  in  very  large  proportion  to 
the  shippers. 

Shipments  over  the  rail-lake  route  seem  to  be 
chiefly  for  ports  on  Lake  Superior.  There  is  a 
somewhat  larger  movement  than  was  expected. 
Shippers  are  finding  it  difficult  to  get  vessels  to 
handle  shipments  to  Lake  Michigan  docks  and 
on  some  business  placed  this  week  a  rate  of  60 


cents  from  Buffalo  to 

Milwaukee  is  being  paid. 

Prices  in  the  local 

market  on  mine 

shipment 

orders  are  as  follows  : 

F.  O.  15. 

F.  O.  B. 

West  Virginia  Uas — 

Mines. 

Detroit. 

Three-quarter  lump . 

.  $1.00 

$2.40 

Mine  run . 

2.30 

Slack  . 

2.00®2.15 

West  Virginia  Splint — 

rour-inch  lump . 

.  1.45@1.75 

2.85@3.15 

Two-inch  lump . 

2.C0@2.80 

Three-quarter  . 

2.50 

Mine  run . 

2.30 

Nut,  pea  and  slack . 

1.95@2.05 

Smokeless — 

Lump  and  egg  . 

.  2.25 

3.85 

Nut  . 

3.35 

Slack  . . . 

Open 

Mine  run . 

3.00 

Kentucky  Splint — 

Lump  . 

3.15@3.40 

Egg  . 

.  1.25@1.40 

2.65@2.80 

Nut,  pea  and  slack . 

.  .65 

2.05 

Fairmount — 

Three-quarter  steam  lump. 

. 85@  .95 

2.25@2.36 

Mine  run . 

2.10@2.20 

Slack  . 

\Open 

Hocking  Valley — 

Shaker  three-inch  lunp... 

.  1.75 

2.90 

Shaker  egg  and  nut . 

.  1.15 

2.30 

Domestic  lump  . 

.  1.50 

2.65 

1  hree-quarter  lump . 

.  1.35 

2.40 

Mine  run . . 

2.15(®2.25 

Nut,  pea  and  slack . 

Open 

Pittsburgh  No.  8 — 

Three-quarter  lump  . 

.  1.05 

2.20 

Mine  run  . 

.  .95 

2.10 

Slack  . 

Open 

Jackson  Hill — 

Domestic  lump . 

.  2.50 

3.65 

Cambridge — 

Three-quarter  lump . 

.  1.20 

2.35 

Mine  run . 

.  1.10 

2.25 

Pomeroy — 

Two  and  three-inch  lump.  . 

.  1.60 

2.75 

Egg  . 

.  1.35 

2.50 

Slack  . 

Open 

Denver  Trade. 


Denver,  November  18. —  (Special  Correspond¬ 
ence.) — Decidedly  lower  temperatures  for  part 
of  this  week  have  gingered  up  the  coal  Inisiness 
in  this  section  very  materially.  The  week  was 
ushered  in  with  a  half-inch  snow  blanket  and  the 
thermometer  hung  around  the  freezing  point  dur¬ 
ing  the  first  half  of  the  week.  As  a  result,  a  fair 
retail  business  suddenly  developed  into  a  rush  and 
dealers  were  well  pleased  with  the  increase  in 
orders. 

Operators  in  the  several  districts  report  very 
satisfactory  gains  in  tonnage  as  compared  with 
last  week.  For  the  first  time  this  season  the  lig¬ 
nite  mines  reached  an  output  almost  to  full  ca¬ 
pacity.  With  the  cold  nights  now  prevailing  the 
increase  will  probably  be  pretty  well  maintained. 

Trinidad  mines  and  several  in  the  Walsenburg 
district  are  behind  on  orders  from  country  deal¬ 
ers.  The  country  business  is  better  now  than  at 
any  time  since  the  opening  of  the  season,  espe¬ 
cially  from  those  who  placed  lighi  storage  orders. 
iMuch  of  this  business  is  for  Routt  county  grades, 
and  all  of  those  mines  are  working  full  time.  The 
Canon  City  output  will  run  in  excess  of  40  per 
cent  of  normal,  'v 

Colder  weatlux-lA  greatly  stimulated  the  de¬ 
mand  for  both  lignite  and  bituminous  slack,  and 
the  available  supply  seems  to  be  well  taken. 
Prices  are  very  firm,  considering  the  possibility 
of  a  small  surplus  of  both  grades  being  expected. 

Prices  for  lignite  coal  f.  o.  b.  mines  are  un¬ 
changed.  The  quotations  ruling  are ;  For  Den¬ 
ver  delivery,  lump,  $2.35  to  $2.65;  mine  run,  $1.50 
to  $1.65;  slack,  $1.0.5  to  $1.25.  For  points  outside 
of  Denver,  lump,  $2,50;  mine  run,  $1.55  to  $1.65; 
slack,  $1,05. 


420 


[November  20 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


Cincinnati  Trade. 


Cincinnati,  Ohio,  November  IS— {Sj^ccial 
Corresl>ondeiice.) — Since  the  market  is  but  a 
weather  affair  now,  in  .general,  the  week  has 
brought  quite  an  activity  to  the  demand  for  coal 
for  domestic  purposes.  Dealers  who  last  week 
refused  to  talk  to  salesmen  about  ordering  coal 
are  now  paying  telegraph  and  telephone  tolls  to 
place  orders.  Operators  have  had  in  one  day 
more  tele.grams  and  telephone  messages  than 
they  had  received  all  year  previously. 

The  fine  weather  recently  caused  somewhat  of 
a  softening  of  smokeless  coal.  Lump  and  egg 
were  soft,  but  there  was  a  fair  demand  for  nut. 
This  softening  of  demand  was  still  extant  in 
the  middle  of  the  week,  notwithstanding  the  cold 
weather.  It  was  reported  that  the  price  softened 
also  in  some  quarters  to  $2,  and  in  one  case,  at 
least,  to  $1.90,  but  the  majority  of  operators  held 
up  to  $2.25. 

Splint  did  not  suffer,  even  m  the  domestic 
market,  probably  owiag  to  the  fact  that  there  had 
been  little  storing  of  domestic  sizes.  They  did  not 
take  time  to  haggle  about  the  price  or  terms,  but 
devoted  their  energies  to  pushing  delivery  at  cir¬ 
cular,  beiag  able  to  command  good  prices  from 
their  patrons. 

The  best  thing  the  splint  dealers  and  operators 
noted  in  the  week  was  the  fact  that  there  was 
a  continued  increase  in  demand  for  steam  coal, 
not  because  of  the  slackening  demand  for  do¬ 
mestic  sizes,  but  because  ovens,  steel,  and  other 
manufacturing  plants  wanted  more  coal.  They 
said  they  could  have  sold  many  more  cars  of 
steam  coal  than  they  dared  take  orders  for. 

As  yet  there  is  not  much  increase  in  price  of 
the  various  coals  of  the  district.  Cinderella  coal 
is  held  well  up,  three  and  one-half-inch  block 
selling  readily,  f.  o.  b.  at  the  mines,  at  $1.90  to 
$2.00;  eg.g,  $1.50  to  $1.60;  nut,  $1.30  to  $1.40;  nut 
and  slack,  eighty  cents.  The  stearn  demand  for 
this  coal  and  for  Pocahontas  steam  is  very  strong, 
with  nut  and  egg  in  the  Cinderella  rapidly  ap- 
proachiag  premium  prices.  Splint  mine  run  in 
most  of  the  West  Virginia  sections  commands 
$1.00,  and  in  Kentucky  it  is  strong  at  $1.10  to 
$1.20.  In  Kentucky  the  average  price  is  up,  four- 
inch' block  being  now  quoted  at  $1.85  to  $2.05; 
four-inch  mine  run,  ninety-five  cents ;  nut  and 
slack,  fifty-five  to  sixty-five  cents;  better  ,grade, 
seventy  to  seventy-five  cents ;  egg  in  better  de¬ 
mand  at  $1.50  to  $1.60.  Some  of  these  prices  are 
not  general,  but  the  most  of  them  are.  Eg,g  has 
not  been  in  good  demand  and  operators  run  it 
into  mine  run  and  are  wary  of  manufacturing 
much  of  it,  unless  under  direct  order. 

Operators  and  dealers  are  predictin,g  premium 
prices  for  all  grades  of  coal  before  thirty  days 
shall  have  passed,  and  by  January  ls_t  they  be¬ 
lieve  unprecedented  demand  will  arise  in  all 
grades,  and  that  they  will  at  last  be  on  “Easy 
Street.” 


Cincinnati  Trade  Notes. 

The  Campbell's  Creek  Coal  Company  has  estab¬ 
lished  a  new  harbor  on  the  Kentucky  side  of  the 
Ohio  river,  across  from  its  old  harbor,  and  last 
week  towed  its  barges  across  from  the  foot  of 
Niagara  street  to  Ludlow,  where  the  new  harbor 
is  located.  The  company  has  established  ice¬ 
breakers  and  other  equipment  to  protect  its  equip¬ 
ment  from  ice  and  high  water. 

The  convention  of  the  Ohio  River  Improvement 
Association  was  held  in  Cincinnati  this  week. 
Coal  men  were  prominent  in  its  deliberations. 
Cincinnati  coal  men,  delegates  to  the  convention, 
were  Captain  Oscar  F.  Barrett,  R.  P.  Gillham, 
C.  R.  Moriarty  and  Edward  Schonebaum.  The 
convention  pronounced  strongly  for  increased  ap¬ 
propriations  to  complete  the  canalization  of  the 
Ohio  river  and  to  carry  on  improvements  al¬ 
ready  begun. 

It  was  announced  this  week  that  the  E.  L.  Stern- 
ber.ger  Coal  Company  has  contracted  for  the  sell¬ 
ing  end  of  the  Eastern  Kentucky  Coal  Company, 
having  mines  at  Torch  Light,  Ky.,  on  the  Big 
Sandy  division  of  the  C.  &  O.  Railway.  The 
company  mines  the  well-known  “Torch  Light” 
block  coal.  The  production  is  lar,ge  and  is  a 
strong  reinforcement  of  the  products  of  the 
Sternberger  mines  across  the  mountains  in  West 
Virginia,  near  Williamson.  The  contract  was 
entered  into  November  1st,  but  was  not  an¬ 
nounced  until  this  week. 

Pam  &  Ilurd  of  Chicago,  it  is  understood,  are 
now  at  the  head  of  the  syndicate  which  is  to 
take  over  the  properties  of  the  Marmet  Coal 
Company  of  this  city  and  other  West  Virginia 
properties  to  form  a  lar,ge  working  operation  to 
develop  and  dispose  of  large  tonnages  of  the 
splint  coal  of  the  region.  The  Marmet  company 
is  in  receivership,  but  the  court  has  extended 


the  time  for  the  sale  of  the  property  to  coincide 
with  arrangements  by  which  Receivers  Poysell 
and  Marmet  and  their  attorney,  Adam  Kramer, 
will  turn  over  the  entire  Marmet  plant,  property, 
a  railroad  and  a  river  outfit,  consisting  of  steam 
tugs  and  barges.  It  is  believed  here  by  those 
most  closely  connected  with  the  interests  that  the 
transfer  of  property  and  the  organization  of  the 
new  corporation  will  take  place  about  the  first 
week  in  February.  There  will  be  common  and 
preferred  stock  issues,  and  also  a  bond  issue, 
it  is  understood.  Other  properties  in  the  middle 
west  will  be  included  also,  it  is  said.  Thomas 
Bruce  of  New  York  has  been  in  the  city  the  past 
week  in  conference  with  a  number  of  people  in 
connection. 

Nominally  the  lake  traffic  is  closed,  but  ship¬ 
ments  will  be  permitted  until  November  30,  un¬ 
less  cold  weather  should  set  in  sooner.  The  last 
few  days  of  the  season  witnessed  heavier  ship¬ 
ments  than  ever,  and  they  would  have  been 
phenomenal  had  there  been  cars  sufficient  at  this 
end  to  take  care  of  the  shipments  or  boats  at 
the  other  end  to  carry  cargoes.  Some  of  the 
big  companies  havin,g  storage  capacity,  or  will¬ 
ing  to  secure  it,  have  been  shipping  ceaselessly 
for  several  weeks.  The  unprecedented  lake  traf¬ 
fic  for  November,  carrying  iron  ore,  grain,  copper, 
steel,  iron  and  other  shipments  consigned  to 
Europe,  seriously  interfered  with  coal,  espe¬ 
cially  the  grain  shipments,  according  to  opera¬ 
tors  here.  Boats  would  not  wait  for  cargoes 
of  coal  even  when  cars  were  waiting  to  be  un¬ 
loaded,  but  would  hasten  up  the  lakes  light  in 
order  to  take  full  advanta.ge  of  the  grain  ship¬ 
ments,  which,  cubic  foot  for  cubic  foot,  paid 
better  than  coal.  Premium  offers  were  of  no 
avail,  and  many  coal  companies  have  been  sup¬ 
plementing  their  scant  lake  shipments  by  un¬ 
usually  heavy  rail  shipments  into  the  northwest. 


Twin  Cities  Market. 


Minneapolis  and  St.  Paul,  November  18. — 
(Special  Correspondence.) — Cold  weather,  accom¬ 
panied  by  two  snowstorms,  the  latter  part  of  last 
week  and  the  early  part  of  this  week,  made  it 
seem  like  winter  in  this  territory,  resultin.g  in  the 
largest  volume  of  business  at  wholesale  and  re¬ 
tail  reported  in  some  time.  The  demand  at  whole¬ 
sale  was  accentuated  because  of  the  fact  that  deal¬ 
ers’  stocks  were  not  large.  They  were  exhausted 
within  a  very  short  time.  Probably  the  greatest 
activity  was  in  the  hard  coal  trade.  Dealers 
have  been  extremely  backward  in  taking  in  this 
grade  of  coal,  and  many  of  them  were  out  with¬ 
in  a  very  short  time  after  the  cold  wave  arrived. 
Tele.grams  and  long-distance  calls  flooded  the 
shipping  companies  Saturday  and  Monday.  There 
was  also  considerable  activity  in  all  branches  of 
the  soft  coal  trade. 

While  a  few  cargoes  may  yet  come  forward,  the 
lake  shipping  season  is  practically  ended.  Ves¬ 
sels  for  new  cargoes  are  almost  impossible  to 
obtain,  and  the  eastern  shippers  have  such  a 
volume  of  tidewater  and  steam  business  that  they 
are  not  making  satisfactory  prices  to  take  on 
car.go  coal.  It  is  quite  generally  reported  by  the 
Lake  Superior  dock  companies  that  if  there  is  a 
normally  cold  winter  they  will  not  have  sufficient 
tonnage  of  some  grades  of  soft  coal,  notably 
splint  and  Hocking,  to  meet  their  requirements. 
Smokeless  is  in  about  average  supply,  but  it  is 
not  expected  there  will  be  any  surplus. 

The  transportation  situation  in  the  northwest 
is  beginning  to  attract  considerable  attention. 
The  grain  movement  is  assuming  large  propor¬ 
tions,  and  country  elevators  cannot  obtain  suffi¬ 
cient  railroad  equipment  to  load  the  grain  out 
as  fast  as  it  is  received.  Northern  roads  are 
transferring  a  large  number  of  cars  of  grain 
going  on  to  foreign  lines  to  conserve  their  equip¬ 
ment.  It  is  reported  one  of  these  northern  roads 
is  under  a  charge  of  $500  a  day  at  present  for 
transferring  grain  shipments.  All  the  prominent 
railroad  officials  are  lookin.g  for  a  serious  situa¬ 
tion  as  soon  as  snow  and  cold  weather  put  in  an 
appearance.  Switching  in  Minneapolis  is  serious¬ 
ly  delayed  at  present  on  account  of  the  conges¬ 
tion  of  loaded  grain  cars,  but  is  expected  to 
grow  worse  before  there  is  any  improvement. 

Collections  in  this  territory  are  in  fair  shape. 

Current  market  prices  at  wholesale  on  leading 
.grades  of  coal  sold  in  the  Twin  Cities  are  as 
follows : 

ANTHRACITE. 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Duluth  Minneapolis 
and  and 

Superior  St.  Paul 


Grate  .  .$6.fi0  $7.80 

Egg  .  6.85  8.05 

Stove  .  6.85  8.05 

Nut  .  7.10  8.30 

Pea  .  5.50  6.70 

Buckwheat  .  4.00  5.20 


BITUMINOUS. 


Splint,  screened  lump  and  stove.$3.30@3.40 


.“splint,  dock  run .  3.10 

Hocking,  screened  lump  and  stove  3.30@3.40 

Hocking,  dock  run .  3.00 

Voughiogheny,  gas,  lump  and  stove  3.30@3.40 

Voughioghenv,  gas,  dock  run .  3,10 

Pittsburgh  vein,  lump .  3.30@3.40 

Pittsburgh  vein,  dock  run .  3.00 

Pocahontas,  screened  lump  or  egg  4.75 

Pocahontas,  screened  lump  and 

egg  mixed .  4.50 

Pocahontas,  mine  run .  3.25 

Cannel,  lump .  5.25 

Smithing,  bulk .  4.25 

Smithing,  in  100  lb.  sacks .  6.00 

Hrifiuets,  anthracite .  5.00 

Briquets,  smokeless .  5.00 


$4.26@4.36 

4.06 

4.26@4.36 

3.96 

4.26@4.36 

4.06 

4.2C@4.36 

3.96 
5.71 

5.46 

4.21 

6.21 
5.21 

6.96 

5.96 
5.96 


In  the  Illinois  trade  the  range  of  prices  on 
southern  Illinois  product  on  the  various  sizes  is 
as  follows ; 


Southern  Illinois  chunks . $1.65@1.75  $3.95@4.05 

.Southern  Illinois  egg . 1.65@1.75  3.95@4.05 

Southern  Illinois  No.  1  nut .  1.65@1.75  3.95@4.05 

Southern  Illinois  No.  2  nut .  1.40@1.50  3.70@3.80 

Southern  Illinois  run  of  mine....  1.15@1.25  3.45@3.5.') 

Southern  Illinois  run  of  mine...  1.15@1.25  3.45@3.55 

Southern  Illinois  2-in.  screenings.  .70  4.00 

Southern  Illinois  includes  Franklin  county, 
Harrisburg  and  Williamson  county. 


St.  Louis  Trade. 


St.  Louis,  Mo.,  November  18. —  (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — The  weather  is  the  feature  of  the 
business.  The  unusually  warm  weather  has  made 
business  very  slow ;  a  couple  of  cold  days  caused 
it  to  spurt  up  a  little  bit,  but  the  warm  weather 
pgain  has  caused  it  to  ease  off.  It  was  somewhat  of 
Ja  surprise  to  see  how  sensitive  the  trade  was  to  the 
weather,  because  all  dealers  are  well  stocked,  and 
one  would  imagine  that  it  would  take  at  least  ten 
days  of  cold  weather  to  stir  up  anything  like  a 
stron.g  demand. 

While  the  mines  have  been  unable  to  put  in 
full  time,  prices  have  been  maintained  remark¬ 
ably  well  on  all  grades  of  coal.  This  has  been 
satisfactory  to  both  operators  and  dealers.  We 
are  expecting  much  colder  weather  tomorrow, 
which  is  causing  much  rejoicing  by  the  coal  trade, 
and  all  hope  that  it  will  last.  Industrial  condi¬ 
tions,  on  the  whole,  seem  much  better,  and  with 
anything  like  reasonable  weather  the  coal  market 
will  be  in  very  fair  shape. 

Standard  operators  are  running  about  half  time, 
though  some  mines  are  doing  much  better.  Prices 
remain  about  the  same,  and  are  as  follows : 


F.  O.  B. 


Standard  Coal —  Mine. 

6-inch  lump . $1.30 

6x3-inch  egg .  1.25 

2-inch  lump .  1.05 

Steam  egg . 90 

No.  1  nut .  1.15 

No.  2  nut . 80 

Mine  run . 85 

Screenings  . 40 


F.  O.  B. 

St.  Louis. 

$1.8754 
1.82  54 
1.6254 
1.4754 
1.72  54 
1.3754 
1.42  54 
.9754 


Northern  Illinois  mines  and  Staunton  opera¬ 
tors  are  pe.gging  away  on  contract  business,  and 
some  little  open  market  business.  A  number  of 
reports  of  cut  prices  have  been  heard.  In  a  good 
many  instances  their  prices  are  identical  with 
those  in  the  standard  field ; 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Mine.  St.  Louis. 


O-inch  lump . $1.50  $2.07^4 

2-inch  lump .  1.25  1.82 

Screenings . 40  .97^2 


Williamson  county  coals  are  moving  fairly  well. 
About  four  to  five  days  a  week  seem  to  be  the 
average  run,  and  prices  are  on  the  whole  satis¬ 
factory.  The  range  of  prices  between  the  mines 
is  quite  large : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Mine.  St.  Louis. 

6-inch  lump  or  egg . $1.40@1.75  $2.02 54  @2.4754 

3x2-inch  nut .  1.20@1.75  1.9254 @2.4754 

Screenings  .  .50  1.22  54 


Franklin  county  coals  are  movin.g  very  well. 
Prices  are  being  rigidly  maintained,  and  a  run 
of  three  to  four  days  is  an  average  for  the  field. 
It  will  only  take  a  day  or  two  of  cold  weather 
to  bring  the  Franklin  county  operators  back  to  full 
time : 


6-inch  lump,  egg  or  nut 

No.  2  stove . 

Screenings  . 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Mine.  St.  Louis. 

.$1.75  $2.4754 

.  1.50  2.2254 

.  .60  1.3254 


The  city  demand  for  hard  coal  has  dropped 
to  practically  nothing.  Chestnut  is  still  in  pretty 
.good  demand  throughout  the  country.  The  chances 
are  that  the  buying  will  be  constant  throughout 
the  season ; 


Anthracite — 

Chestnut  . 

.Stove  or  egg.  . 
Grate  . 


F.  O.  B.  St.  Louis. 

. $7.55 

.  7.30 

.  7.05 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Mine.  St.  Louis. 


I.ump  or  egg . $2.25  $4.75 

Gas  House  Coke —  F.  O.  B.  St.  Louis. 

Gas  house  coke . . $4.25 

By-product  coke  (all  sizes) .  4.50 


The  prices  on  Illinois  soft  coal,  f.  o.  b.  East  St.  Louis. 
Madison,  Venice  or  Granite  City.  III.,  are  20  cents  lower 
than  the  above  quoted  St.  Louis  prices. 


No.  21] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


421 


Cleveland  Market 


Cleveland,  Ohio,  November  18. —  {Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — The  indications  now  are  that  the 
lake  season  will  close  on  December  1st.  Eastern 
Ohio  operators  are  cleaning  up  their  mines  and 
loading  all  surplus  stocks  preparatory  to  that  end. 
A  few  years  ago  it  was  difficult  for  the  shippers 
to  complete  their  loadiag  by  this  date,  and  often 
they  were  compelled  to  secure  an  extension  of 
insurance  for  a  week  or  more  and  occasionally 
pay  an  advance  in  carrying  rates  to  have  their 
last  cargoes  accepted.  While  it  might  be  possible 
to  send  up  a  few  cargoes  after  the  closing  date 
this  season,  there  seems  to  be  no  indication  of  an 
intention  to  pay  additional  changes  under  any 
circumstances.  Shippers  say  the  business  will  not 
stand  this,  and  they  prefer  to  have  a  smaller 
amount  of  coal  at  the  upper  lake  points. 

Some  time  ago  there  was  some  talk  of  storing 
a  certain  amount  of  coal  in  vessels  at  the  ter¬ 
minal  docks,  but  if  the  demand  for  tonnage  by 
grain  shippers  continues  this  may  be  abandoned. 
The  boats  not  under  contract  will  hesitate  to 
spend  their  time  loading  the  coal,  if  there  is  a 
possibility  of  making  another  trip  for  grain. 

A  somewhat  better  demand  for  slack  developed 
the  past  week  which  resulted  in  an  advance  in 
some  grades  and  a  stiffening  of  prices  in  others. 
Except  in  a  few  instances,  however,  the  larger 
sizes  were  not  affected. 

While  prices  have  sagged  somewhat  on  certain 
.grades  of  domestic  coals,  others  have  begun  to 
enter  the  market  in  larger  quantities  and  are 
commanding  their  usual  figures.  This  seems  rath¬ 
er  a  peculiar  situation  and  has  not  been  ex¬ 
plained  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  dealers. 

No.  8  coals  have  not  shown  sufficient  activity 
to  warrant  a  shade  of  increase  in  price  since  last 
week,  but  fair  quotations  would  show  on  an  aver¬ 
age  that  figures  .given  then  hold  good  at  the  pres¬ 
ent  time.  Just  what  effect  the  closing  of  naviga¬ 
tion  will  have  on  prices  in  the  local  market  is 
causing  some  discussion  amon.g  producers  and 
jobbers  at  the  present  time: 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

No.  8  District —  Mines.  Cleveland. 

Three-quarters  . $1.05@1.10  $1.96@2.00 

Run  of  mine  . .95  1.85 

Slack  .  .85  1.75 

I'he  usual  amount  of  Coshocton  coal  reached 
this  market  during  the  past  week,  but  the  de¬ 
mand  did  not  exceed  the  supply,  with  the  result 
that  no  change  in  quotations  have  been  made : 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Coshocton — ■  Mines.  Cleveland. 

hump,  4-inch  screened . $1.70@1.75  $2.40@2.45 

l'/4-inch  .  1.60@1.65  2., 1002. 35 

Egg  and  nut .  1.05@1.10  1.75@1.80 

Pittsburgh  slack  has  been  very  scarce  and  the 
market  is  firm  at  the  prices  quoted  below : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Pittsburgh —  Mines.  Cleveland. 

Slack . $0.85@  .90  $1.85@1.90 

Jobbers  report  difficulty  in  securing  You.ghio- 
gheny  slack  in  sufficient  quantities  to  meet  the 
demand.  Other  sizes  became  active  within  the 
past  few  days.  Quotations  for  Wednesday  fol¬ 
low  : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Youghiogheny —  Mines.  Cleveland. 

I'A-inch  . $1.40@1.50  $2.40@2.50 

Three-quarters  .  1.30  2.30 

Run  of  mine .  1.20  2.20 

Slack  . 95@1.00  1.65@2.00 

Massillon  operators  are  again  about  three  weeks 
behind  in  their  orders.  However,  there  has  been 
no  advance  except  in  slack,  which  is  from  five 
to  ten  cents  above  the  figures  last  week : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Massillon —  Mines.  Cleveland. 

Lump  .  $2.50  $3.20 

Nut  .  2. .50  3.20 

Slack  . 95@1.00  l.G5@2.00 

Smokeless  coals  took  another  drop  the  past 
week,  in  some  instances  the  offerings  bein.g  down 
from  fifteen  to  twenty  cents  per  ton.  Retailers 
are  still  holding  off  orders  for  their  later  sup¬ 
plies,  it  seems : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Smokeless —  Mines.  Cleveland. 

Lump  .  $2.00  $3.45 

Egg  .  1.90  3.35 

Run  of  mine .  1.30  2.75 

There  has  been  no  change  in  prices  of  Cam¬ 
bridge  coals,  but  the  demand  for  the  past  few 
days  has  been  rather  weaker  than  usual : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Cambridge —  Mines.  Cleveland. 

Three-ouarters  .  $1.10  $2.00 

Run  of  mine .  1.00  1.90 

Slack  .  .90  1,80 

Hut  little  Eairmont  slack  arrived  in  this  mar¬ 

ket  within  the  past  week,  and  conditions  have 
not  materially  changed  with  respect  to  it : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Fairmont —  Mines.  Cleveland. 

Slack  .  1.90 

Quite  a  little  Kentucky  slack  of  good  {[uality 


arrived  in  the  market  recently  and  was  handled 
in  competition  with  the  better  grades  of  local 
slacks.  Larger  sizes  were  quoted  the  same  as  last 
week : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Kentucky —  Mines.  Cleveland. 

4-inch  block . $1.90@2.00  $3.15@3.25 


There  has  been  a  fair  demand  for  Wainwright 
coal  for  domestic  purposes  through  the  week, 
with  quotations  as  follows : 


Goshen — Wainwright  Mines — 

Three-quarter,  domestic . 

3-inch  lump . 

Lump  . 

Slack  . 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Mines.  Cleveland. 
$1.40  $2.10 

1.80  2.50 

1.65  2.35 

1.00  1.70 


Other  Goshen  coals  have  been  fairly 
there  has  been  no  change  in  prices ; 


F.  O.  B. 

Goshen — •  Mines. 

Three-quarters  .  $1.30 

154-inch  .  1.40 

Slack  .  1.00 


active,  but 

F.  O.  B. 
Cleveland. 
$2.00 
2.10 
1.70 


Hocking  egg  and  slack  sold  in  this  market  dur¬ 
ing  the  past  week  at  seventy  cents  at  the  mines 
or  $1.70  here.  There  has  been  no  change  from 
last  week’s  quotation  of  $1.50  for  the  prepared 
lump. 


Cleveland  News  Notes. 

T.  J.  Donahue,  the  Y.  &  O.  Coal  Company, 
Pittsburgh,  spent  some  time  here  this  week. 

G.  T.  McCarty,  the  United  Coal  Company, 
Pittsburgh,  called  on  the  coal  men  of  this  city 
Wednesday. 

Data  is  being  collected  for  use  in  presentin.g 
their  railroad  rate  case  to  the  public  utilities  com¬ 
mission  by  the  eastern  Ohio  operators.  No  date 
has  been  set,  however,  for  taking  up  the  matter 
actively  by  the  commission.  The  fact  that  this 
case  was  filed  prior  to  the  promised  increase  in 
the  differential  between  Ohio  and  West  Virginia 
rates  will  make  it  an  interesting  one.  The  in¬ 
crease  offered  by  the  roads  would  not  have  en¬ 
abled  eastern  Ohio  producers  to  put  their  coal 
on  the  market  in  competition  with  the  West  Vir¬ 
ginia  product  any  way,  but  they  do  stand  a  fair 
opportunity  to  secure  a  reduction  in  the  Ohio  rate. 


Indianapolis  Trade. 


Indianapolis,  Ind.,  Nov.  18. — (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — The  demand  for  coal  in  Indiana 
continues  about  in  the  same  groove  it  has  oc¬ 
cupied  for  the  past  month.  There  has  been  a 
slight  increase  this  week  in  the  demand  for 
domestic  as  the  mercury  began  a  downward 
slide.  However,  domestic  is  only  fair  for  this 
time  of  the  year. 

The  trade  in  steam  coal  is  increasing  stead¬ 
ily  but  not  rapidly.  The  situation  is  better 
than  it  was  at  this  time  last  year.  It  appears 
that  the  war  order  business  is  being  extended 
to  more  localities  in  Indiana  and  that  many 
lines  of  trade  are  improving.  Steam  coal,  how¬ 
ever,  is  selling  at  the  prices  that  were  quoted 
six  months  ago.  There  is  not  much  likeli¬ 
hood  of  an  advance  in  steam  coal  before  the 
close  of  the  present  winter.  New  contracts 
are  to  be  made  with  the  miners  next  spring 
which  doubtless  will  upset  the  present  scale 
of  prices  between  the  consumer  and  the  op¬ 
erators. 

Domestic  coal  is  quoted  at  a  price  that 
may  be  considered  normal  for  mid-November. 
The  open  winter  has  been  of  great  solace  to 
the  consumers.  There  has  been  no  car  short¬ 
age  and  probably  the  retailers  are  as  well  off 
as  they  would  have  been  if  they  had  been 
put  to  the  extra  trouble  and  expense  of  hand¬ 
ling  coal  under  unfavorable  weather  condi¬ 
tions.  There  is  not  much  coal  on  the  market 
that  is  not  sold  before  it  leaves  the  mines. 
The  demand  for  Pocahontas  and  other  east¬ 
ern  coal  is  fairly  satisfactory  to  the  dealers. 

The  following  prices  are  being  quoted  by 
the  wholesalers: 


F.  O.  B. 

Indiana —  Mines. 

Mine  run.  No.  4 . $1.10@1.20 

Mine  run,  Nos.  5  and  6 .  1.05@1.15 

Nut  .  1.20 @1.30 

Egg  .  1.30@1.40 

154-inch  steam  lump .  1.25@1.35 

No.  4  screenings . 70@  .75 

Nos.  5  and  6  screenings . 55@  .65 

2  54-inch  domestic  No.  4 .  1.50@1.55 

No.  4  domestic .  1.60@1.G5 

Nos.  5  and  6  domestic .  1.40@l.f)0 

Brazil  block  domestic .  2.25@2..50 

No.  1  washed  coal .  1.75 

No.  2  washed  coal .  1.65 

Southern  Indiana  Field — 

Mine  run .  1.05@1.10 

Domestic  lump .  1.40@1.50 


F.  O.  B. 

Indianapolis. 

$1.60@1.60 
1.55  @1.65 
1.70@1.80 
1.80@1.90 
1.75@1.85 
1.20@1.25 
1.05@1.15 
2.00@2.n5 
2.10@2.15 
i.9n@2.in 
2.75@2.50 
2.25 
2.15 


The  Indianapolis  retailers  are  quoting  the 
following  prices:  Linton  No.  4  lump,  forked. 


.$3.25  a  ton;  Indiana  lump,  forked,  $3.00;  Indi¬ 
ana  lump  and  egg,  screened,  $2.75;  Kenawha 
lump,  forked,  $4.25;  Ohio  Hocking  lump, 
forked,  $4.25;  Ohio  Hocking  washed  egg,  $4.50; 
Kentucky,  lump,  $4.50;  Ohio  Jackson,  lump, 
forked,  $5.00;  Blossburg,  smithing,  $5.50; 
Cannel  lump,  $6.00;  Pocahontas,  forked  lump, 
$6.00;  Pocahontas,  shoveled  lump,  $5.50;  Poca¬ 
hontas,  mine  run,  $4.50;  Pocahontas,  nut  and 
slack,  $3.75;  Anthracite,  chestnut,  $8.25;  An¬ 
thracite,  stove  and  egg,  $8.00;  Anthracite,  grate, 
$7.75;  Connellsville  coke,  $6.00;  Indianapolis 
by-product  coke  (all  sizes),  .$6.00. 

Extra  delivery  charges:  Bags,  50c  a  ton  ex¬ 
tra,  ground  floor  or  dumped  in  cellar;  bags, 
75c  a  ton  extra,  carried  into  cellar;  charge  for 
chute  or  wheelbarrows,  25c  a  ton;  coke,  bags 
60c,  bags  in  cellar  80c. 

Indianapolis  will  get  the  next  convention 
of  the  United  Mine  Workers,  who  indulged 
in  a  lot  of  threats  here  at  the  last  conven¬ 
tion  about  moving  to  another  city.  They  have 
arranged  to  hold  their  convention  in  Tomlinson 
Hall  here  beginning  the  week  of  January  24. 


Duluth  Trade. 


Duluth,  Minn.,  November  18. —  {Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — Coal  dock  men  are  now  beginning 
to  believe  that  there  will  be  a  very  small  amount 
of  coal  left  at  the  head  of  the  lakes  when  next 
spriag  arrives.  This  result  is,  of  course,  condi¬ 
tional  on  the  continuation  of  present  indications, 
which  are  that  there  is  going  to  be  an  unusual 
demand  for  coal  from  the  country  during  the 
coming  winter. 

While  for  several  weeks  there  was  a  lull  in 
the  demand,  it  is  nevertheless  true  that  more  coal 
was  goin.g  out  than  was  coming  in.  This  is  more 
emphatically  the  case  right  now  than  it  was  a  few 
weeks  ago.  The  demand  during  the  past  week 
took  a  decided  boom  and  salesmen’s  reports  indi¬ 
cate  that  it  will  continue  for  quite  a  long  time 
yet  before  it  subsides.  In  case  a  severe  winter 
breaks,  it  will  not  subside.  That  there  is  a  very 
.great  deal  more  coal  going  out  now  than  there  is 
arriving  from  down  the  lakes  is  a  fact,  and  the 
margin  is  increasing  constantly.  Navigation  will 
soon  be  over ;  in  fact,  it  might  be  said  that  the 
navigation,  so  far  as  coal  is  concerned,  will  be 
over  in  less  than  two  weeks,  so  that  not  a  great 
deal  more  can  be  expected.  Besides  that,  the 
succession  of  storms  that  have  swept  the  lakes, 
particularly  Lake  Superior,  have  robbed  the  boats 
of  much  valuable  time,  and  has  had  scores  of 
them  continuously  in  shelters  for  the  last  two 
weeks.  There  will  be  little  chance  for  more  than 
one  more  round  trip,  even  in  the  event  of  com¬ 
paratively  decent  sailing  conditions,  which  are 
by  no  means  assured. 

Stocks  are  coming  down  rapidly  and  it  is  pre¬ 
dicted  that  the  left-over  stock  next  spring  will 
be  the  smallest  for  years.  Last  spring’s  is  nothing 
to  compare  with,  for  it  was  abnormally  large. 
There  is  storage  capacity  at  this  point  for  8,000,000 
tons,  and  dock  men  claim  that  at  the  present  time 
there  are  less  than  5,000,000  tons  in  store  here. 

During  October  interior  dealers  in  the  north¬ 
west  bought  4,531  more  cars  of  coal  than  in  the 
same  month  in  1914,  accordin.g  to  reports  on  ship¬ 
ments  from  the  docks  here.  The  shipments  dur¬ 
ing  October  consisted  of  31,818  cars  of  anthracite 
and  bituminous  coal.  October’s  shipments  are 
marked  also  for  being  the  record  month  of  ship¬ 
ments  in  the  history  of  this  point  as  a  distributor. 

A  new  feature — for  this  end  of  the  lakes — 
will  be  furnished  by  boats  holding  storage  coal 
in  this  harbor  during  the  comin.g  winter.  They 
will  be  boats  of  the  Pittslnirgh  Steamship  Com¬ 
pany’s  fleet,  and  while  it  is  likely  that  most  of 
this  coal  will  be  for  the  Lhiited  States  Steel  Cor¬ 
poration’s  consumption,  not  all  of  it  will  be.  The 
idea  is  that  instead  of  the  boats  wintering  below, 
it  is  desired  to  have  them  here  so  that  they  may 
get  an  early  start  with  iron  ore  in  the  spring, 
and  an  unusual  rush  of  ore  is  expected  for  next 
year.  Quite  a  number  of  the  boats  will  hold  stor¬ 
age  coal  here,  and  will  begin  arriving  with  it  to 
lay  up  for  the  winter  in  about  two  weeks. 

Iron  ore  is  goin.g  to  interfere  with  the  coal 
movement  early  next  spring,  according  to  pres¬ 
ent  indications.  As  has  been  said,  an  immense 
rush  of  ore  from  this  point  to  Lake  Erie  points 
is  expected,  and  already  a  very  large  amount  of 
tonnage  has  been  placed  for  early  movement  at 
ten  cents  a  ton  advance  over  this  year’s  con¬ 
tracts.  In  view  of  the  fact  that  this  tonna.ge  calls 
for  rapid  movement,  most  of  the  boats  con¬ 
tracted  for  will  come  up  light  in  order  that  they 
may  take  as  much  of  the  ore  down  as  possible 
and  at  an  early  date.  That  will  preclude  their 
waiting  for  coal  cargoes.  The  advance  in  ore 
rates  is  also  certain  to  restdt  in  a  material  ad¬ 
vance  in  the  rates  for  coal  carrying. 


422 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


I  November  20 


New  York  Trade. 


Anthracite  Situation  Strong — Bituminous 
Situation  Growing  More  Tense 
Each  Week. 


Office  of  The  Ib.ACK  Diamond, 
New  York,  November  18. 

The  anthracite  trade  is  holding  its  own  pretty 
well.  L'ntil  the  first  of  this  week  the  weather  had 
not  been  favorable  to  a  large  consumption  of 
anthracite  for  domestic  purposes,  and  retail  hu\-- 
in.g  had  been  a  little  backward.  However,  retail 
dealers  are  doing  the  best  they  can  to  get  the 
consumers  to  take  coal  on  at  this  time,  and  a  fair 
tonnage  has  been  moving  into  consumers’  bins. 

The  companies  and  selling  agencies  report  that 
trade  is  active  on  all  sizes,  with  the  exception  of 
egg.  Stove  and  chestnut  fall  short  of  require¬ 
ments.  Coal  is  not  moving  promptly,  due  to  the 
very  heavy  congestion  of  merchandise  at  the 
tidewater  ports,  and  there  is  some  complaint 
that  the  line  trade  shipments,  especially  between 
the  mines  and  tidewater,  arc  delayed  from  four 
to  six  days  owing  to  con.gested  conditions  of  the 
various  railway  lines. 

Practically  all  of  the  prepared  sizes  are  selling 
at  the  full  circular  price,  with  the  possible  excep¬ 
tion  of  egg.  Most  of  the  individuals  are  selling 
this  at  ten  cents  a  ton  off  circular. 

Production  is  practically  up  to  the  capacity  of 
the  mines,  with  labor  still  unruly.  This  week, 
there  was  a  strike  of  about  3,000  miners  of  the 
Lehi.gh  Coal  &  Navigation  Company,  due  to  the 
reason  that  several  of  the  union  members  had 
been  suspended.  From  time  to  time  mines  are 
tied  up  by  button  strikes,  so  that  the  operators 
find  it  impossible  to  increase  production. 

Moreover,  car  supply  is  not  up  to  requirements, 
and  this  is  bringing  about  a  curtailment  in  pro¬ 
duction  at  certain  of  the  collieries. 

There  is  a  heavy  demand  for  coal  for  western 
shipment  in  box  cars,  and  these  continue  in  very 
limited  supply.  Considerable  coal  is  being  rushed 
to  tlie  lake  ports  for  loading  before  the  season 
of  navigation  ends.  Now  only  about  a  week 
remains  in  which  coal  can  be  shipped  in  this 
direction.  After  that  shipments  west  will  have 
to  be  made  all-rail. 

The  steam  size  situation  is  in  pretty  good 
shape.  Some  of  the  shippers  are  long  on  buck¬ 
wheat,  but  there  is  a  very  heavy  demand  that 
takes  practically  all  the  rice  and  barley  that  is 
offering.  The  all-rail  demand  for  steam  sizes 
is  better  than  the  tidewater  demand.  At  the  low¬ 
er  ports  prices  range  from  $1.75  for  barley  and 
$2.00  for  rice,  and  $2.30  for  buckvyheat  up.  Good 
grades  have  no  trouble  in  findin.g  buyers  at  the 
full  circular  price.  There  is  a  very  good  demand 
for  pea  coal,  both  for  tidewater  and  line  ship¬ 
ment  : 

Upper  Lower 

Ports.  Forts. 


I'.roken  .  $5.10  $5.00 

Lgg  .  5.3.5  5.25 

■Stove  .  5.35  5.25 

Chestnut  .  5.00  5.50 

Pea  .  3.55  3.45 


Special  grades  of  red  ash  and  other  high- 
grade  coals  at  the  lower  ports  sell  at  twenty- 
five  to  fifty  cents  per  ton  over  above  fi.gures. 

Spot  prices  in  individual  coals  at  lower  ports 
are  about  as  follows  : 


I'-gg  . $5.05  and  up 

Stove  .  5.20  and  up 

Nut  .  5.20  and  up 

Pea  .  3.25  and  up 

Puck  .  2.30  and  up 

Rice  .  2.00  and  up 

Harley  . 1.75  and  up 


The  Bituminous  Situation. 

There  are  several  important  features  in  the 
bituminous  sititation  this  week.  First  and  fore¬ 
most  is  that  of  car  supply.  Usually  on  Mondays 
practically  all  of  the  mines  have  a  full  supply, 
due  to  the  Sunday  accumulation.  Frequently  it  is 
the  case  that  the  supply  will  be  good  also  on 
I'ttesday,  not  so  bad  on  VVednesday,  but  tapering 
off  the  last  three  days  of  the  week.  This  week- 
saw  a  car  shortage  on  Monday,  some  of  the  big 
operator,s  on  the  Italtimore  &  Ohio  lines  especial¬ 
ly  having  only  a  sixty  per  cent  supply.  Tuesday 
also  found  the  supply  very  short,  with  Wednes¬ 
day  brin.ging  no  improvement. 

Labor  is  an  important  factor  just  now.  Labor 
and  car  supply  dominate  production,  and  with 
both  inadequate  production  lags.  It  is  no  longer 
a  question  of  orders.  It  is  a  question  of  cars  and 
miners.  A  great  majority  of  the  operators  are 
tied  up  on  contracts.  Usually  an  operator  allows 
himself  some  leeway,  contracting,  say,  for  only 
sixty  or  seventy  per  cent  of  capacity.  Some  con¬ 
tract  as  closely  as  ninety  to  ninety-five  per  cent. 
The  operator  who  is  contracted  to  within  twenty- 


live  or  thirty  per  cent  of  his  capacity  is  doing 
well  these  days  to  make  his  contract  shipments. 
Many  are  not  able  to  do  even  this.  Moreover, 
those  consumers  who  curtailed  receipts  of  coal 
duriag  the  summer  months  considerably  below 
their  regular  monthly  quotas  would  now  like  to 
even  up  by  taking  their  full  monthly  quotas,  plus 
what  tonnage  they  went  shy  on  during  the  sum¬ 
mer,  but  they  cannot  do  it.  This  argues  for  a  seri¬ 
ous  shortage  at  many  steam  plants  during  the 
winter  months  unless  relief  can  be  secured  from 
sources  unexpected  at  the  moment. 

A  peculiar  situation  exists  as  to  New  England. 
The  price-cutting  war  that  started  around  Boston 
some  weeks  ago  on  contract  business  for  1910 
delivery  is  said  to  be  over.  In  the  meantime, 
trade  has  grown  more  active,  with  immediate 
coal  requirements  larger,  and  in  most  instances 
with  consumers  none  too  well  stocked.  More¬ 
over,  several  middle  houses  that  made  delivered 
prices  at  New  En.gland  ports  and  who  failed  to 
protect  themselves  as  to  vessel  tonnage  now  find 
the  vessel  markets  denuded  of  vessels  for  this 
trade.  Rates  have  increased  fifty  per  cent  in 
some  instances,  or,  say,  fifty  cents  a  ton  from 
Philadelphia  and  the  Roads.  This  takes  all  the 
velvet  and  a  considerable  portion  of  the  meat  out 
of  contracts  made  on  a  basis  of  normal  vessel 
rates.  Some  of  the  interests  who  have  been  un¬ 
able  to  secure  boats  are  now  said  to  be  looking 
about  to  see  if  they  cannot  make  all-rail  deliveries 
to  their  customers,  and  as  railroad  rates  are 
somewhat  higher  than  water  rates,  they  stand  to 
lose  quite  a  lot  of  money  in  carrying  out  their 
commitments. 

Mine  prices  are  stronger.  In  central  Pennsyl¬ 
vania  the  range  is  from  $1.20  up  on  medium 
grades.  This  makes  this  coal  $2.75  f.  o.  b.  New 
York  harbor  ports.  Choice  grades  sell  at  $1.40 
to  $1.50  at  the  mines.  West  Virginia  steam 
coals  are  selling  at  about  the  same  prices.  Very 
few  lots  of  spot  coals  are  now  offered  at  New 
York  harbor  ports,  which  indicates  that  ship¬ 
ments  are  being  kept  very  closely  in  line  with 
contracts. 

The  Vessel  Situation. 

Coal  shippers  who  have  tonna.ge  to  move  from 
Philadelphia  to  New  England  points  find  in  many 
instances  that  they  cannot  obtain  boats.  There 
is  a  great  scarcity  of  schooners,  and  such  schoon¬ 
ers  and  the  barges  that  are  used  regularly  in 
carrying  coal  are  all  held  under  time  charters. 
When  a  free  vessel  is  located  the  rate  asked  is 
usually  so  high  that  the  coal  shipper  cannot  do 
business.  Vessels  are  very  scarce  for  every 
purpose  and  rates  continue  to  advance  in  all  di¬ 
rections. 

We  quote  current  rates  on  freight  as  follows ; 

From  Hampton  Roads  to  Boston,  ninety-five 
cents  to  $1  is  about  the  range ;  to  Portland  and 
points  east  of  Boston,  from  $1  to  $1.20.  To 
sound  points,  eighty-five  cents  to  $1.10.  From 
Philadelphia  to  New  England  points,  about  five 
cents  under  the  Hampton  Roads  rates. 

Erom  New  York  to  sound  points  as  follows: 
Bridgeport,  thirty-five  cents;  New  Haven,  forty- 
five  cents;  Providence,  fifty  cents;  New  Bed¬ 
ford,  fifty-five  cents.  To  Boston,  around  cape, 
sixty  to  seventy  cents;  through  canal,  seventy- 
five  to  eighty  cents.  Harbor  rates  twenty  to 
twenty-five  cents. 

Current  quotations  on  bituminous  coal  in  spot 
lots  are : 


F.  O.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

Somerset  County — 

Harbor. 

Mines. 

Best  grades . 

$1.40 

Ordinary  . 

.  2.S0 

1.25 

Medium  grades . 

1.20 

Cambria  County — 

Best  Miller  vein . 

.  3.00 

1.45 

Medium  grades . 

.  2.80 

1.25 

Cheaper  grades . 

.  2.75 

1.20 

Clearfield  County — 

Best  grade . 

1.35 

Ordinary  grades . 

.  2.75 

1.20 

Indiana  County — 

Best  grade . 

1.25 

Medium  grade . 

1.20 

Maryland — 

Georges  Creek  big  vein . 

.  3.15 

West  Virginia — 

Ordinary  grades . 

1 .20 

Best  gas,  54 -inch  luinp . 

Hest  grade,  run  of  mine . 

.  2.P0 

1.30 

.  -2.70 

.95 

Gas  slack . 

1.00@!.15 

New  York  Trade  Briefs. 

C.  R.  Brig.gs  of  A.  H.  Powell  &  Co.,  New 
Haven,  Conn.,  was  in  New  York  on  Tuesday. 

R.  W.  Pierpoint  of  James  Pierpoint  &  Co., 
Philadelphia,  was  a  visitor  to  the  New  York  trade 
this  week. 

R.  C.  Clark  of  the  firm  of  Benedict  &  Pardee 
of  New  Haven  was  visiting  the  trade  in  New 
York  this  week. 

A.  B.  Crane,  New  York  sales  manager  for  H. 
H.  Lineaweaver  &  Co.,  attended  the  Yale-Prince- 


ton  football  game  at  New  Haven  on  last  Satur¬ 
day. 

R.  S.  Townsend,  treasurer  of  E.  C.  Townsend 
Coal  Company  of  Boston,  was  a  recent  visitor 
to  New  York  trade. 

John  Edmonds  of  the  Philadelphia  office  of 
Madeira,  Hill  &  Co.,  visited  the  New  York  offices 
of  his  company  on  Wednesday. 

John  Laing,  president  of  the  Wyatt  Coal  Com¬ 
pany,  with  headquarters  at  Charleston,  W.  Va., 
was  a  New  York  visitor  last  week. 

Kuper  Hood,  general  sales  agent  of  the  Hous¬ 
ton  Coal  Company,  with  headquarters  at  Cincin¬ 
nati,  was  a  recent  visitor  to  New  York. 

The  Clinchfield  Fuel  Company  have  taken  much 
larger  quarters  on  the  thirteenth  floor  at  No.  24 
Broad  street,  now  having  a  large  portion  of  the 
southwestern  win.g  of  this  floor  in  this  building. 

Harry  A.  F'reeman,  who  recently  withdrew 
from  the  Freeman-Chestnut  Coal  Company  of 
New  York  and  Philadelphia,  is  now  a  member  of 
the  newly  organized  concern  of  Freeman  &  Cur¬ 
rie,  with  offices  at  No.  1  Broadway.  F.  Currie 
of  the  new  concern  was  formerly  with  the  Chesa¬ 
peake  &  Ohio  Coal  A.gency  Company. 

R.  C.  Hill,  vice-president  of  Madeira,  Hill  & 
Co.,  No.  143  Liberty  street,  will  return  home  on 
Monday  from  a  successful  huntin,g  expedition 
of  two  months  spent  in  British  Columbia,  on 
which  trip  he  was  accompanied  by  Mr.  H.  P. 
Davison  of  the  banking  house  of  J.  P.  Morgan  & 
Co.  They  were  met  by  Mrs.  Hill  and  Mrs.  Davi¬ 
son  at  San  Francisco  and  attended  the  exposition. 

Louis  Wertheim,  who  headed  the  late  firm  of 
L.  Wertheim  Coal  &  Coke  Company,  which  had 
headquarters  at  Jersey  City,  and  did  a  large  busi¬ 
ness  in  that  city  and  New  York  for  a  period  of 
twenty  years,  until  its  failure  several  years  ago, 
also  recently  interested  in  the  Scranton  &  Wyom¬ 
ing  Coal  Company,  which  has  a  plant  at  Twen¬ 
tieth  street  and  East  river,  died  on  Sunday  at 
his  home  in  Jersey  City  at  the  age  of  forty-eight. 

Herbert  Barber,  president  of  Barber  &  Co.,  Inc., 
steamship  agents  at  No.  17  Battery  place,  and 
head  of  the  Barber  Line,  which  controls  four 
steamship  companies — the  New  York  &  Oriental 
Steamship  Company,  the  La  Plata  Steamship 
Company  and  the  Barber  line  to  Prance  and  the 
Barber  line  to  Australia,  died  on  Tuesday  morn¬ 
ing  at  the  Presbyterian  hospital  of  New  York, 
following  an  operation  for  an  intestinal  disorder. 
Mr.  Barber  was  also  president  of  the  Virginia 
Coaling  Corporation,  the  Atlantic  Stevedoring 
Company  and  the  Oriental  Operating  Company. 
He  was  born  in  Kent,  England,  sixty-eight  years 
ago,  and  came  to  this  country  when  a  youn.g  man. 

dhe  Johnstown  (Pa.)  Tribune  states  that  the 
Hillworth  Coal  Company,  which  has  headquar¬ 
ters  at  No.  1  Broadway,  New  York,  has  begun  the 
work  of  reopening  its  No.  3  plant  at  Acosta,  in 
Somerset  county,  and  expects  to  have  it  in  full 
operation  by  January  1st.  John  C.  Cos.grove,  the 
general  manager,  who  has  his  headquarters  in 
Johnstown,  has  placed  an  order  for  new  pumps, 
new  haulage  locomotives  and  new  mine  cars. 
When  the  mine  is  ready  for  operation  the  com¬ 
pany  expects  to  employ  about  100  additional 
men.  Two  other  mines  of  this  company  near 
Acosta  are  working  now.  The  No.  3  is  practi¬ 
cally  a  new  mine,  having  been  opened  originally 
about  two  years  ago. 

Here  is  how  a  well-known  bituminous  man 
sized  up  the  present  activity  in  the  medium  and 
cheaper  grades  of  coal :  “As  you  know,  these 
coals  that  during  the  summer  sold  at  eighty  and 
ninety  cents  a  ton  in  West  Virginia  and  from 
ninety  cents  to  $1  in  Pennsylvania,  are  now  sell¬ 
ing  well  above  the  dollar  mark.  This  is  due,  I 
believe,  to  the  fact  that  many  of  the  middlemen 
who  have  contracts,  say  on  the  better  .grades  of 
coal,  and  who  are  spot  buyers  to  take  care  of 
their  contracts,  or  in  any  event,  not  under  yearly 
contracts  to  protect  their  commitments,  when  the 
prices  on  the  good  coals  began  to  stiffen,  began  to 
look  about  for  the  cheaper  grades  so  as  to  fill 
their  orders  and  at  the  same  time  get  out  even. 
Thus  we  had  a  condition  when  these  middlemen 
were  biddin.g  against  one  another  for  the  inferior 
coals ;  and  as  a  result,  they  have  taken  quite  a 
climb  in  price.  Just  how  satisfactory  these  coals 
are  to  their  receivers,  we  do  not  at  the  moment 
know.  As  long  as  the  middlemen  take  care  of 
their  contracts,  and  there  are  some  who  will  do 
this  until  their  last  dollar  is  spent,  we  will  not 
have  any  direct  trade  with  their  customers  for 
spot  lots.  However,  let  them  fall  down,  and  there 
are  some  who  will  do  this,  then  the  customer 
will  come  into  the  market  direct  and  usually  he 
wants  the  best.” 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


423 


No.  21] 


Philadelphia  Trade. 

Colder  Weather  Brings  a  Better  Demand 
for  Anthracite — Bituminous  Is 
Quite  Strong. 


Office  of  The  Black  Di.lmond, 
1400  Land  Title  Building, 
fniLADELPHiA,  November  18. 

Trade  conditions  are  holding  true  to  form — 
if  the  use  of  the  race  track  reporter’s  dope 
may  be  considered  King’s  English.  The  hard 
coal  trade  has  finally  been  treated  to  a  cold 
snap  that  is  but  a  forerunner  of  weather  still 
to  come.  In  the  bituminous  line  the  car  short¬ 
age,  demand  from  consumers  and  general  con¬ 
ditions  have  turned  the  market  about  so  that 
climbing  prices  seem  the  rule  rather  than  the 
exception. 

The  advance  of  twenty-five  cents  on  the  ton 
for  pea  coal  has  produced  quite  a  new  angle 
to  the  retail  trade  in  anthracite  here.  For  quite 
some  time  there  has  been  a  set  of  retailers 
who  have  found  it  expedient,  as  a  method  to 
produce  trade,  to  cut  prices  in  certain  locali¬ 
ties  of  the  city.  Even  these  gentlemen  have 
been  met  on  a  common  battleground  and  have 
had  their  prices  slashed.  Retailers  who  were 
of  the  belief  that  fsuch  battles  were  not  in 
keeping  with  good  merchandising,  have  met 
with  the  price  cutters  and  attempted  to  show 
them  the  error  of  their  ways.  When  the 
advance  on  the  price  of  pea  coal  was  an¬ 
nounced  there  was  quite  some  speculation  as 
to  what  effect  this  would  have  upon  those 
who  were  selling  at  lower  than  the  standard 
prices.  The  old  line  prices  have  been  $5.25  for 
pea,  $7.00  for  egg,  $7.25  for  stove  and  $7.50 
for  nut.  The  cut  prices  were  $4.75  for  pea, 
$6.50  for  egg,  $6.75  for  stove  and  $7.00  for  nut. 
The  advance  of  the  price  of  pea  coal  has  left 
that  size  unchanged  and  has  raised  the  price 
on  the  other  three  sizes  twenty-five  cents  a 
ton  since  the  first  of  the  month.  Even  in  the 
cases  of  the  “super-cutters”  who  have  been 
selling  pea  coal  at  $4.50  a  ton  their  quotations 
have  been  unchanged.  Various  expressions  of 
opinion  were  gleaned  through  this  strange 
maneuvering  of  prices,  but  one  terse  head  of 
a  coal  company  put  it  this  way:  “All  the 
damphools  are  not  dead  yet.” 

The  demand  has  been  of  the  best  since  the 
weather  tightened,  with  the  pea  size  remain¬ 
ing  in  the  limelight.  The  movement  has  been 
fairly  heavy  and  shipments  have  been  going 
forward  by  boat  and  rail  to  New  England 
points  in  good  volume. 

Bituminous  Situation 

The  car  shortage  still  occupies  the  center 
of  the  stage  and  this,  coupled  with  an  in¬ 
creased  demand  from  all  sources,  has  kept 
the  coal  men  who  have  contracts  to  fill  in  the 
same  position  as  a  hen  on  a  hot  griddle.  Bro¬ 
kers  who  have  been  able  to  get  free  coal  for 
spot  delivery  have  been  “in  clover”  and  there 
has  been  little  change  in  this  situation.  Some 
of  the  largest  miners  of  coal  in  Somerset  and 
Clearfield  counties  have  declared  themselves 
out  of  the  market  until  the  beginning  of  the 
new  year.  They  have  no  coal  to  offer  and 
will  not  trust  to  a  possible  change  in  the  car 
supply. 

Western  Maryland  coals  have  been  playing 
all  sorts  of  antics  in  the  last  week.  Free- 
ports  have  been  sold  as  high  as  $1.30  and  a 
good  many  sales  have  been  made  around  $1.25. 
Lower  Kittanings  are  held  at  $1.20  and  up — 
and  the  “up”  in  this  instance  means  as  much 
as  can  be  had  for  them.  Fairmont  coals  have 
been  in  about  the  same  position  with  the 
buyer  and  seller  making  individual  markets 
according  to  the  stress  that  necessitated  the 
buying.  Quotations  on  this  range  from  $1.10 
to  $1.25  for  any  of  the  grades,  slack,  run  of 
mine  or  three-quarter  inch  lump. 

At  the  piers  there  has  been  no  stringency, 
though  each  day  has  changed  the  situation. 
Loading  for  export  has  been  below  the  usual 
tonnage,  but  quite  a  bit  of  coal  has  been  going 
into  the  holds  for  coastwise  trade  and  for 
bunkerage. 

Prime  vein  Quemahonings  are  hard  to  lay 
hands  on  and  a  wide  range  of  quotations  has 
been  the  effect.  While  some  sales  have  been 
reported  about  $1.45,  operators  at  the  mines 
who  have  been  approached  to  name  a  price 
have  been  holding  this  coal  at  $1.()0. 

Greensburgs  are  still  going  to  fill  export 
contracts  and  to  fill  the  Pennsylvania  railroad’s 
storage  order,  and  these  are  out  of  the  mar¬ 
ket  as  far  as  price  is  concerned,  also. 


Philadelphia  News  Notes. 

Clarence  Clarke  of  Benedict,  Pardee  &  Co., 
of  New  Haven,  Conn.,  was  one  of  the  New 
England  visitors  of  Monday. 

Edward  Page  of  the  Hew  England  Coal  & 
Coke  Company  of  Boston  was  in  this  city  on 
a  business  trip  the  fore  part  of  the  week. 

George  Speese,  vice-president  of  the  George 
B.  Newton  Coal  Company,  left  this  week  for 
a  vacation,  which  will  be  spent  in  the  south. 

A.  C.  Speye  of  the  Maryland  Coke  Company 
of  Pittsburgh  was  among  those  who  were 
noted  as  having  visited  the  coal  trade  here 
last  week. 

J.  Edgar  Long  of  J.  E.  Long  &  Co.,  of 
Clarksburg,  W.  Va..  was  in  Philadelphia  and 
viewed  the  eastern  situation  through  the  local 
binoculars. 

\Trnon  Taylor,  general  manager  of  the  Cam¬ 
bria  Smokeless  Coal  Company  at  Brockway- 
ville.  Pa.,  was  one  of  the  trade  visitors  of 
the  week. 

Leonard  F.  Leighton  of  the  Carbon  Coal  & 
Coke  Company  was  another  member  of  the 
Boston  trade  who  was  among  those  who  were 
in  this  city  this  week. 

Murray  B.  Courtright  and  Harry  Cortright 
of  the  Cortright  Coal  Company  were  away  this 
week  on  a  trip  of  inspection  of  the  company’s 
mines  in  the  Fairmont,  W.  Va.,  district. 

Dr.  W.  S.  Blaisdell,  secretary-treasurer  of 
the  Punxsutawney  Coal  Mining  Company,  of 
Punxsutawnej’,  Pa.,  visited  the  local  offices 
of  that  company  during  the  fore  part  of  the 
week. 

An  order  for  500  more  steel  coal  cars  has 
been  given  the  Standard  Steel  Car  Company 
by  the  Philadelphia  &  Reading  railroad.  This 
is  in  addition  to  the  order  for  one  thousand 
cars  which  was  placed  in  October. 

Ivy  L.  Lee.  former  Philadelphian  and  pub¬ 
licity  man  for  the  Pennsylvania  railroad  and 
now  on  the  personal  staff  of  John  D.  Rocke¬ 
feller.  left  on  Tuesday  for  Colorado  where  he 
will  inspect  the  properties  of  the  Colorado 
Fuel  &  Iron  Company. 

Though  it  has  taken  three  weeks  for  the 
news  to  become  public,  Mr.  J.  C.  Stauffer,  man¬ 
ager  of  the  local  branch  of  B.  Nicoll  &  Com¬ 
pany,  has  been  receiving  the  congratulations 
of  his  friends  upon  his  venture  into  the  sea 
of  matrimony.  The  happy  young  lady  was 
Miss  M.  McCanna  of  Pittsburgh  and  the  nup¬ 
tial  knot  was  tied  in  Maryland. 

.At  a  meeting  of  the  stockholders  of  the 
Wilmore  Coal  Company  it  was  voted  to  merge 
the  properties  under  its  control  with  those  of 
the  Berwind-White  Coal  Mining  Companj-. 
The  Wilmore  properties  were  a  subsidiary  of 
the  Berwind-White  corporation  and  at  the 
latter’s  office  it  was  stated  that  the  business  of 
the  Wilmore  concern  would  be  taken  over  in 
its  entirety.  ’ 

The  annual  meeting  of  the  George  B.  New¬ 
ton  Coal  Company  has  been  changed  from  the 
22nd  to  the  29th  inst.  Quite  some  surprise 
was  occasioned  by  the  receipt  of  a  letter  from 
Cassatt  &  Co.,  bankers,  by  the  stockholders, 
which  indicates  that  fireworks  can  be  expected. 
In  this  letter  the  intimation  is  given  that  a 
change  in  the  management  will  be  insisted 
upon  by  certain  of  those  who  are  financially 
interested. 

'  Quite  a  little  interest  was  displayed  in 
the  news  dispatches  from  Uniontown  to  the 
effect  that  the  Midvale  Steel  and  the  Cam¬ 
bria  Steel  companies,  whose  headquarters  are 
here,  are  dickering  with  the  receivers  for  Josiah 
\'.  Thompson  for  the  purchase  of  a  part  of 
his  coal  land  holdings  and  intend  using  the  coal 
for  coke  purposes.  Coal  men  see  in  this  a 
substantiation  of  the  declaration  made  by  the 
steel  companies  that  they  had  work  for  months 
ahead. 


The  steainshii)  Rochambeau  of  the  French 
Line  had  a  fire  in  its  bunkers  shortly  after  leav¬ 
ing  New  York,  about  ten  days  ago.  It  was 
thought  that  the  steamer  would  have  to  put  into 
Halifax,  but  the  fire  was  put  under  control  and 
the  voyage  continued  to  Bordeaux.  W'hen  the 
wireless  brou.ght  the  news  of  the  fire  on  the 
Rochambeau,  it  was  surmised  that  a  time  bomb 
was  planted  on  the  steamer.  Upon  arrival  at 
Bordeaux,  the  captain  of  the  steamer  stated  that 
the  fire  was  caused  by  spontaneous  combustion, 
due  to  placing  new  coal  on  top  of  old  coal  in  the 
bunkers. 


New  England  Trade 


Boston,  November  18. — (Special  Correspond¬ 
ence.) — Excitement  in  the  local  wholesale  bitumi¬ 
nous  market  has  subsided.  The  1916-17  price 
war  bubble  seems  to  have  burst.  The  firm  that 
started  the  price  cutting,  while  giving  out  no 
official  information,  has,  it  is  understood,  inti¬ 
mated  to  people  that  it  had  booked  all  the 
1916-17  business  it  cared  to.  The  firm  that 
recently  acquired  the  surplus  1916-17  vessel  char¬ 
ters  is,  according  to  report,  still  booking  orders 
for  next  season.  In  the  meantime  other  con¬ 
cerns  have  been  doing  everythiag  possible  to  meet 
conditions  as  they  will  exist  next  season,  and 
there  is  a  feeling  that  things  will  not  be  as 
unsatisfactory  and  unprofitable  as  was  first 
thought. 

While  the  average  wholesale  house  has  been 
anticipatin.g  conditions  as  they  will  exist  next 
season,  activities  have  not  been  confined  to  this 
one  direction.  As  a  matter  of  fact  nearly  every¬ 
body  is  enjoying  a  good  business  in  New  River, 
Pocahontas,  Pennsylvania,  Georges  Creek  and  like 
coals.  Industrial  conditions  throughout  New 
England  are  unmistakably  decidedly  better  than 
a  month  ago,  and  naturally  the  consumption  of 
bituminous  has  increased  proportionately.  A  great 
many  of  the  manufacturing  concerns  had  large 
stocks  of  coal  on  hand,  but  these  have  been  ma¬ 
terially  reduced  and  everybody  seems  to  want 
coal  and  want  it  badly.  One  never  hears  nowa¬ 
days  of  cancellations  of  contract  coals,  but  quite 
often  a  dealer  is  requested  by  a  manufacturer  to 
double  his  order.  Retail  firms  are  moving  much 
bituminous,  now  that  the  apartment  houses  and 
office  buildings  have  to  be  heated. 

Stocks  of  New  River  and  Pocahontas  at  Hamp¬ 
ton  Roads  ports  are  still  large,  but  one  hears  less 
and  less  about  price  concessions  now  that  the  de¬ 
mand  is  better.  One  thing  seems  certain,  and  that 
is  that  shippers  are  getting  $2.85  per  ton  f.  o.  b. 
southern  ports  more  often  than  they  were  a  fort¬ 
night  a.go.  At  Mystic  Wharf,  the  spot  market 
for  New  River  and  Pocahontas  is  even  better 
than  it  was  a  week  ago,  and  sales  at  $3.75  per 
ton  on  cars  are  more  numerous.  Georges  Creek 
is  in  better  demand  and  very  firm  at  $4  to  $4.10 
on  cars.  Pennsylvania  bituminous  (all-rail)  is 
strong  on  a  basis  of  $1.10  to  $1.65  per  ton  on  cars 
at  the  mines.  The  off-shore  business  is  still 
unsatisfactory. 

The  local  wholesale  anthracite  market  seems 
to  have  become  a  weather  affair.  Business  a 
week  ago  was  all  that  could  be  expected,  but  re¬ 
cently  another  spell  of  unseasonably  warm  weath¬ 
er,  as  one  dealer  puts  it,  “put  a  crimp  into  the 
market.”  During  the  past  day  or  two  the  weath¬ 
er  has  been  more  seasonable,  and  trade  has 
picked  up  again.  This  is  what  one  wholesaler 
says  about  the  trade:  “Take  a  nice  warm  day, 
such  as  we  have  had  recently,  and  you  can’t  get 
a  fellow  to  take  coal  if  you  should  give  it  to  him. 
Perhaps  two  days  later  it  is  colder,  and  the  same 
dealer  who  would  not  take  coal  now  wants  it 
and  wants  it  liad,  and  he  will  give  you  all  kinds 
of  arguments  why  you  should  take  care  of  your 
trade.  .A  coal  dealer  has  to  be  a  pretty  .good- 
natured  fellow  to  hold  down  his  job.” 

With  the  month  half  gone,  most  firms  say  that 
November  bookings  to  date  compare  very  favor¬ 
ably  with  those  for  the  corresponding  period  last 
year.  This  is  certainly  encouraging  news.  The 
demand  continues  for  car.go  and  all-rail  lots  as 
well.  Stove  is  still  the  most  popular  size,  nut  next 
and  pea  third.  Some  firms  say  they  are  sold  well 
ahead  on  pea  and  are  not  anxious  to  take  on  new 
business.  The  buckwheat  situation  is  unchanged ; 
the  demand  is  larger  than  the  supply.  Prices  on 
everything  are  strong,  but  unchanged.  The  car 
supply  at  the  mines  appears  to  be  a  little  lar.ger 
than  it  was  a  week  or  ten  days  ago. 

Weather  conditions  outside  have  not  been  very 
favorable  for  the  shipment  of  coals,  and  as  a  re¬ 
sult  the  movement  has  been  slower.  The  marine 
freight  rate  market,  however,  appears  to  be  as 
strong,  if  not  more  so,  than  it  was  at  last  re¬ 
ports.  Very  little  space  from  Hampton  Roads 
ports  to  Boston  is  available  for  less  than  $1  per 
ton.  Anthracite  rates  from  New  A’ork  to  Bos¬ 
ton  are  unchanged  at  fifty  to  fifty-five  cents. 


New  England  Trade  Notes. 

The  Pond  Creek  Coal  Company  turned  out 
72,274  tons  of  coal  in  October,  in  September  the 
production  was  74,219  and  in  October  last  year 
54,862  tons. 

The  Union  Li.ght  &  Power  Comi)any  of  Augus¬ 
ta,  with  a  capital  of  $50,000,  has  been  granted  a 
Maine  charter.  The  incorporators  of  the  com¬ 
pany  are :  Ernest  L.  McLean,  Frank  E.  Southard 
of  .\ugusta,  and  Pauline  Lowell  of  Hallowell,  Me. 


424 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[November  20 


Baltimore  Trade. 


Baltimore,  November  18. — (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — Real  wintry  weather  has  come  to 
this  section.  A  little  ice  is  noted  here  and 
there,  and  chill  winds  have  been  blowing;  to 
the  effect  that  the  belated  coal  consumer  who 
needs  fuel  for  warmth  has  been  hustling  to 
get  under  cover.  All  of  the  anthracite  men 
have  been  rushed  with  orders.  As  deliveries 
are  slow  from  the  mines  by  reason  of  car 
shortage,  local  stocks  have  been  called  upon 
in  some  cases  to  a  considerable  extent.  It  is 
not  over-pleasing  to  many  coal  men  who  had 
hoped  to  conserve  stored  supplies  in  anticipa¬ 
tion  of  strike  clouds  for  the  spring,  to  have 
any  drain  made  upon  them. 

The  soft  coal  situation  has  not  undergone  , 
much  change.  The  early  part  of  last  week 
saw  a  fall-off  in  demand  for  unattached  coal, 
but  this  made  little  difference  to  the  trade  as 
the  urging  for  fuel  under  contract  is  such  as  to 
readily  absorb  all  coal  that  can  be  gotten 
through.  From  time  to  time  there  was  a  little 
free  coal  offering  at  tide  by  reason  of  lack  of 
sufficient  vessel  bottoms  reporting  to  take  all 
coal  consigned  here  on  export  account,  but 
this  was  readily  absorbed  at  good  figures. 

Prices  to  the  trade  were  quoted  about  as  fol¬ 
lows  : 


F.  O.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

Fairmont — 

^Tines. 

Baltimore. 

Three-quarter  . 

Run  of  mine . 

.  $1,05 

$2.48 

.  .95 

2.38 

Slack  . 

.  .95 

2.3S 

Somerset — • 

Best  . 

2.63 

Good  . 

2.43 

W.  M.  R.  R.— 

Freeport  . 

.  1,10 

2.28 

F.  R.  R.— 

Best  South  Fork . 

.  1.40 

2.58 

Miller  vein . 

2.48 

Ordinary  . 

2.23@2.28 

The  coal  trade  as 

a  whole  is  much 

worried 

by  car  scarcity  that  is  generally  not  more  than 
sixty  to  eighty  per  cent  of  needs.  The  rail¬ 
roads  are  bending  every  effort  at  relief,  but 
are  handicapped  by  the  fact  that  vessel  short¬ 
age  at  all  Atlantic  ports  is  such  that  thousands 
of  cars  have  piled  up  at  terminals  with  little 
prospect  of  quick  unloading.  The  vessel  sit¬ 
uation  here  has  hit  the  export  coal  trade  hard. 
Last  week  the  movement  on  foreign  account 
dropped  to  less  than  13,000  tons,  the  lowest  on 
record  for  a  number  of  months  past.  Few 
charters  were  reported  during  the  period  also, 
so  that  the  prospects  for  an  immediate  pick¬ 
up  in  this  trade  seem  poor.  Vessel  rates  are 
beyond  the  reach  of  most  shippers.  Some 
idea  of  conditions  may  be  gathered  from  the 
appended  list: 

To  the  west  coast  of  Italy,  70  to  75  shil¬ 
lings;  Marseilles,  65  to  70  shillings;  Barcelona 
or  other  Spanish  ports,  60  to  70  shillings;  Mon- 
tevidea,  about  45  shillings;  Buenos  Aires  or 
La  Plata,  about  45  shillings;  Rosario,  about 
50  shillings;  Rio  de  Janeiro,  about  45  shillings; 
Santos,  about  45  shillings;  and  Valparaiso  or 
Callao,  about  ,$7.50  per  ton. 

To  other  ports  the  rates  quoted  are  as  fol¬ 
lows:  Havana,  $2.75  to  $3.00;  Cardenas  or 
Sagua,  $3.00  to  $3.25;  Cienfuegos,  $3.00  to  $3.50; 
port  of  Spain,  Trinidad,  $4.00  to  $4.25;  St. 
Lucia,  $3.75  to  $4.25;  St.  Thornas,  $3.50  to 
$3.75;  Barbados,  $4.00  to  $4.25;  Kingston,  $3.00 
to  $3.25;  Curacao,  about  $3.75;  Santiago,  $3.25 
to  $3.50;  Guantanamo,  $3.25  to  $3.50;  Demer- 
ara,  $6.00  to  $6.50;  Bermuda,  about  $3.50;  Vera 
Cruz,  $5.00  to  $5.50;  and  Tampico,  $5.00  to 
$5.50. 

The  principal  drain  on  vessels  here,  outside 
of  the  natural  slacking  of  vessel  supply  due  to 
destruction  of  so  many  ships  at  a  time  when 
all  except  American  shipyards  are  practically 
idle  on  commercial  shipbuilding,  comes  through 
the  demands  of  the  grain  export  trade.  Thirtj'- 
five  steamships  were  announced  chartered  here 
the  past  week  for  loading  grain  on  foreign  ac¬ 
count. 

The  ore-carrying  trade  is  also  taking  many 
ships.  The  Maryland  Steel  Company  alone  is 
taking  a  total  of  about  35,600  tons  of  ore  a 
week.  The  big  prices  paid  by  the  grain  and 
ore  trade  are  blocking  tnany  coal  charters. 


Buffalo  Trade. 


Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  November  18. —  {Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — Anthracite  shipments  up  the  lakes 
have  been  small  lately,  owing  to  the  lack  of  avail¬ 
able  tonnage,  and  it  looks  very  much  as  if  the 
total  for  the  month  would  run  .short  of  a  year 
ago.  For  the  first  half  of  this  month  the  ship¬ 
ments  were  213,400  tons,  which  would  indicate  a 


falling  off  for  the  whule  month  of  at  least  100,- 
000  tons,  as  compared  with  November  of  last 
jear.  For  the  past  week  the  shipments  were  80,- 
too  tons,  which  cleared  as  follows :  Duluth-Supe¬ 
rior,  32. IDO ;  Chicago,  25,500;  Milwaukee,  16,500; 
Ashland,  3,300 ;  Fort  William,  3,000.  The  leading 
ports  are  getting  nearly  all  the  coal,  for  the  at¬ 
tractive  freight  rates  on  grain  are  sending  vessels 
to  the  chief  ports  to  a  large  extent. 

The  dolder  and  stormier  weather  of  the  past 
week  have  stimulated  the  anthracite  trade,  which 
is  now  quite  fair  for  this  time  of  year.  The 
companies  are  not  getting  as  much  coal  as  a 
short  time  ago,  owing  to  the  shortage  of  cars,  and 
it  is  growing  harder  to  make  prompt  deliveries. 
The  big  demand  just  now  is  for  chestnut  and 
stove  coal.  Further  cold  weather  will  no  doubt 
send  a  large  number  of  orders  and  dealers  are 
being  advised  that  if  they  delay  they  will  find  it 
difficult  to  have  their  needs  attended  to  promptly. 

The  bituminous  trade  is  fair,  but  there  is  no 
rush  for  coal  at  present,  and  business  is  below 
normal  for  this  season.  This  is  due  principally 
to  the  lack  of  activity  in  a  good  many  lines  in 
Canada,  where  the  chief  activity  is  centered  in 
the  turning  out  of  war  material.  An  improve¬ 
ment  in  industrial  lines  in  the  domestic  market 
is  reported  and  a  pretty  fair  demand  is  now 
springing  up  to  the  eastward.  The  shortage  of 
labor  and  of  cars  is  making  the  market  firm  and 
will  probably  continue  to  do  so  until  the  end  of 
the  lake  season,  when  as  usual  some  letting  down 
for  a  time  is  expected.  It  is  not  thought,  how¬ 
ever,  that  much  weakness  will  develop  in  the  mar¬ 
ket,  because  production  has  been  light  for  some 
time  and  nobody  is  loaded  up  with  coal.  A  num¬ 
ber  of  leading  companies  are  quoting  maximum 
prices  in  all  grades  and  are  confident  that  these 
prices  will  be  considered  fair  within  a  short  time, 
if  they  are  not  now. 

The  coke  market  is  the  strongest  now  in  some 
months,  with  72-hour  Connellsville  foundry 
bringing  about  $4.85.  Prices  considerably  higher 
are  predicted  for  the  near  future. 


Buffalo  Trade  Briefs. 

George  H.  Bortz.  manager  of  W.  A.  Stone  & 
Co.,  has  gone  back  to  Uniontown,  Pa.,  leaving 
the  office  in  charge  of  Walter  E.  Auld,  who  has 
been  lately  appointed  sales  agent. 

D.  D.  Schenck,  sales  agent  of  the  D.,  L.  &  W. 
Coal  Company,  Toledo,  and  G.  E.  Boulton,  sales 
agent  of  the  Lehigh  Valley  Coal  Sales  Company, 
Detroit,  were  late  visitors  to  the  city. 

D.  W.  McClennan,  sales  manager  of  the  Alle¬ 
gheny  Coal  Company,  is  recovering  from  an  at¬ 
tack  of  rheumatism  and  has  been  spending  about 
two  weeks  in  the  German  Deaconess  hospital, 
though  expecting  to  be  back  at  the  office  shortly. 

M.  and  M.  Eorbes  have  succeeded  to  the  coal 
business  of  Arthur  Forbes,  who  was  killed  by  a 
train  two  or  three  weeks  ago  at  Clinton,  Ont., 
where  he  had  been  a  dealer  for  several  years. 
The  members  of  the  new  firm  are  daughters  of 
the  deceased. 


Birmingham  Trade. 


Birmingham,  Ala.,  Nov.  18. — (Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — In  some  respects  the  coal  trade 
is  exceedingly  bright;  in  others  not  so  good. 
However,  as  a  whole,  the  indications  seem  to 
point  to  some  increased  production.  Most  of 
this  comes  from  the  coking  coal  district,  which 
is  having  a  large  demand  for  coking  coal  be¬ 
cause  of  the  very  large  demand  for  coke. 

The  steam  trade  is  only  fair.  The  Warrior 
trade  has  been  exceedingly  good.  The  Ten¬ 
nessee  company  is  making  some  good  ship¬ 
ments  down  the  river.  The  Sloss-Sheffield 
Company  is  considering  entering  the  river 
trade. 

The  domestic  situation  nas  not  been  so 
good  for  the  last  week,  but  the  coming  of 
frost  has  caused  orders  to  come  in  rapidly. 

The  Sloss-Sheffield  Steel  &  Iron  Company 
is  considering  a  contract  offered  by  the  state 
of  Alabama  to  use  from  three  hundred  and 
fifty  to  five  hundred  state  convicts  at  the  Flat 
Top  mines.  The  state  will  be  in  charge  of 
the  convicts,  feeding,  clothing,  and  treating 
them  in  times  of  illness.  The  company  will 
pay  for  labor  on  a  tonnage  basis  for  coal 
mined,  and  for  the  labor  on  a  day  schedule 
where  mine  work  is  done.  The  figures  are  not 
obtained  until  the  legality  of  the  contract  has 
been  passed  on.  The  Flat  Top  mines  are  con¬ 
sidered  among  the  best  in  the  state. 

The  demand  for  coke  is  probably  the  largest 
that  has  ever  occurred  since  Birmingham  be¬ 
came  an  iron  making  center.  The  big  by¬ 
product  coke  plants  have  been  working  prac¬ 


tically  on  full  time,  barring  accidents.  Many 
of  the  old  bee-hive  ovens  which  had  been  dis¬ 
carded  have  been  brought  back  into  use. 

The  announcement  is  made  that  the  Sloss- 
Sheffield  Steel  &  Iron  Company  has  made  a 
contract  with  the  Pratt  Consolidated  Coal 
Company  for  coke  to  be  manufactured  in  the 
ovens  at  New  Castle,  with  washed  Banner 
coal.  The  Sloss-Sheffield  Company  is  to  take 
150  tons  of  the  coke  a  day.  This  will  be  used 
in  the  additional  blast  iron  furnace  which  will 
be  lighted  Tuesday  at  North  Birmingham.  It 
IS  expected  that  Messrs.  McCormack  and  Ram¬ 
say  will  fire  up  all  their  ovens  at  New  Castle, 
as  the  demand  for  coke  is  steadily  growing. 
The  ovens  in  the  Blue  Creek  region  are  ready 
for  operation',  while  the  Yolande  Coal  &  Coke 
Company  has  been  shipping  all  of  its  coke. 
There  is  but  little,  if  any,  accumulation  of 
coke  in  this  district.  Prices  are  steady  at  $3.00 
to  $3.50  per  ton. 

“While  I  have  charge  of  the  operating  de¬ 
partment  and  not  the  sales  of  the  Sloss- 
Sheffield  Steel  &  Iron  Company,  my  observa¬ 
tions  are  that  the  metal  market  has  entered 
into  a  period  of  prosperity  that  is  going  to 
last  for  some  time,”  said  J.  C.  Maben,  Jr. 
“Our  preparations  are  for  a  steady  production 
of  pig  iron.  This  will  necessitate  a  steady 
supply  of  coal  and  coke.  In  fact,  we  have 
found  it  imperative  to  make  arrangements 
for  more  coke  than  we  clln  manufacture'  our¬ 
selves.” 


PRICE.S  FOR  OCTOBER  .AND  THE  BALANCE  OF 
THE  YEAR. 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Bibb  County  Domestic —  Mines.  Birmingham. 

Red  ash  Cahaba  Uimp .  $3.00  $3.30 

Red  ash  Cahaba  lump .  2.7,5  3.10 

Red  ash  steam  size .  1.20@1.35  Frt.  rate  30c 

Jeflferson  County — 

Fancy  steam  Pratt .  1.75  2.00 

Run  of  mine  Pratt .  1.20@1.25  1.45®!. 60 

Mary  Lee  lump .  1.40@1.50  1.80@1.90 

Black  Creek — 

Fancy  steam  lump .  1.75  2.05 

Washed  nut .  1.75  2.05 

Washed  steam  .  1.35@1.60  Frt.  rate  30c 

Mine  run .  1.35 @1.40  Frt.  rate  30c 

Jefferson  Steam  Coal — 

Mine  run .  1.15@1.25  Frt.  rate  30c 

Walker  County  Domestic  Coal — 

Carbon  Hill  lump .  1.75  2.15 

Carbon  Hill  egg .  1.65  '  2.05 

Horse  Creek  mine  run .  1.00@1.20  Frt.  rate  40c 

Genuine  Corona — 

Lump  .  2.00  2.40 

Egg  . .  1.90  2.35 

Steam  sizes .  1.25@1.35  Frt.  rate  40c 

Shelby  County  Domestic  Coal — - 

Cahaba  fancy  lump  .  3.00  3.30 

Cahaba  No.  2  lump  .  2.75  3.05 

Montevallo  domestic  prices  range  from  $3.00  to  $3.25. 
Blacksmith  coal,  washed  and  screened,  per  ton,  $2.00  to 
$2.25  at  the  mines. 


Oklahoma  Trade. 


Oklahoma  City,  Okla.,  November  18. —  {Spe¬ 
cial  Correspondence.) — Smiles,  smiles,  smiles— at 
the  mines,  in  the  wholesale  offices,  with  the  deal¬ 
ers  over  the  state.  This  is  the  expression  on  the 
faces  of  Oklahoma  coalmen  today.  The  cause? 
Just  this— the  first  killing  frost  of  the  season 
came  last  night.  Then  some  of  the  more  hopeful 
ones  think  they  can  see  in  today’s  low  hanging 
clouds  the  augur  of  an  approaching  snowstorm. 
Of  this  the  writer  is  not  so  sure,  however.  He 
has  seen  many  promising  snowstorm^  scattered 
into  thin  air  by  the  oncoming  rays  of  an  Okla¬ 
homa  sun  within  a  few  hours.  In  Oklahoma  the 
old  timers  do  not  bank  much  on  a  blizzard  until 
it  is  at  least  a  day  old. 

Practically'  no  coal  at  all  has  been  moving 
from  dealers’  yards  during  the  past  two  or  three 
weeks.  The  weather  has  been  unusually  warm 
for  November.  Not  at  any  time,  day  or  night, 
for  almost  a  month  has  it  been  necessary  to 
wear  an  overcoat  to  be  comfortable.  In  fact,  it 
has  been  no  uncommon  sight  to  see  men  on  the 
street  and  in  the  fields  in  their  shirt  sleeves 
almost  daily  since  the  middle  of  October. 

At  Enid,  which  is  the  largest  coal  consuming 
city  in  the  state,  two  of  the  leading  dealers  re¬ 
ported  this  week  that  they  were  doing  absolutely 
nothing.  One  of  these  dealers,  however,  ran 
from  seven  to  nine  teams  during  September  and 
most  of  October,  which  is  exceptionally  good  for 
a  town  of  17,000  people. 

Enid,  by  the  way,  is  the  largest  town  in  the 
state  not  served  by  natural  gas.  There  are 
numerous  wells,  large  producers,  less  than  forty 
miles  northeast  of  Enid,  but  there  has  been  little 
talk  of  extending  mains  into  the  town.  The  citi¬ 
zens  of  this  city,  differing  from  the  inhabitants 
of  the  average  town,  seem  to  know  that  the 
bringing  of  natural  gas  to  a  community  is  not 
the  establishment  of  heaven  on  earth  and  conse¬ 
quently  have  been  content  to  leave  the  gas  where 
it  is. 


rHE  Black  Diamond 

Vol.  5f 

No  22  CHI 

NOVEMBER  27,  1915  ^^3.00  Per  Year 

Factors  Which  Increase  Cost  of  Mining  Anthracite.* 


The  question  of  the  cost  of  producing  coal  is 
such  an  essential  one  to  all  operating  men  that 
if  they  are  not  pretty  well  conversant  with  it 
they  do  not  hold  their  jobs  very  long. 

The  average  anthracite  operating  head  has  com¬ 
ing  over  his  desk  twice  a  month  an  analyzed 
detailed  cost  sheet  for  each  and  every  mine  open¬ 
ing,  showing  the  detail  in  cost  per  ton  for  the 
different  items  for  mining  coal,  which  individual 
itemized  cost  is  followed  up  with  the  greatest 
of  care  with  the  foreman  and  division  superin¬ 
tendents  and  they  are  held  responsible  for  and 
obliged  to  explain  the  slightest  shade  of  increase 
in  these  costs.  The  variation  of  a  few  cents 
per  ton  on  our  production  of  our  eight  million 
tons  a  year  means  the  difference  between  profit 
and  loss. 

The  day  is  probably  coming  when,  instead  of 
having  a  semi-monthly  cost,  we  will  have  a 
weekly  cost,  and  it  is  not  improbable  that  we 
will  eventually  come  to  having  a  daily  cost  of 
the  production  of  coal. 

The  difference  between  profit  and  loss  in  the 
mining  of  anthracite  coal  is  becoming  smaller 
and  smaller  all  the  time,  and  as  the  conditions 
affecting  the  production  of  the  coal  remaining  in 
the  ground  are  becoming  harder  to  meet,  the  only 
manner  in  which  a  fair  profit  can  be  obtained 
by  the  producing  companies  is  by  careful  analy¬ 
sis  of  these  costs  and  by  efficiency  in  the  use  of 
material  and  labor. 

The  Variable  Seams. 

There  are,  as  you  know,  two  great  regions  in 
the  anthracite  coal  fields — the  northern  and  south¬ 
ern.  In  the  southern  field,  which  contains  by  far 
the  largest  reserve  of  unmined  coal,  the  coal 
stands  in  deep  basins  on  very  heavy,  sharp 
pitches.  The  bottom  of  these  basins  are  from 
two  thousand  (2,000)  to  three  thousand  (3,000) 
feet  below  the  surface,  and  the  problem  of  min¬ 
ing  this  deep  coal  is  one  not  yet  solved.  We 
know  one  thing,  however,  and  that  is  the  cost  of 
mining  that  coal  by  any  possible  known  method 
is  going  to  be  higher  and  higher  as  the  depth 
becomes  greater. 

In  the  southern  region,  due  to  the  nature  of 
the  coal  veins,  it  is  necessary  to  take  out  from 
forty  to  fifty  per  cent  of  the  refuse  along  with 
the  run  of  mine  coal.  This  refuse  has  to  be  sepa¬ 
rated  from  the  coal  on  the  surface  and  stored 
on  a  very  limited  surface  area  in  that  region. 
It  is  apparent,  of  course,  to  you  that  this  costs 
a  great  deal  of  money.  In  the  northern  field,  the 
basins  are  more  shallow  and  the  veins  flatter,  but 
as  the  coal  is  spread  over  a  very  wide  area,  the 
question  of  transportation  is  the  high  cost. 

The  first  item,  of  course,  in  the  increase  of  costs 
in  producing  anthracite  coal,  is  that  of  labor, 
especially  in  the  northern  regions,  where  the  min¬ 
ing  of  the  smaller  veins  is  necessary.  The  con¬ 
tract  miner  and  the  contract  laborer  working  in 
these  small  veins  have  to  make  a  living  wage ; 
they  have  to  be  paid  a  higher  rate  per  ton  to  mine 
the  coal  in  smaller  veins  than  in  the  larger  ones. 
The  average  figure  for  the  northern  anthracite 
region  is  about  thirty  per  cent  of  the  coal  in  the 
ground  is  in  these  veins  of  thirty  inches  or  under. 
We  are  trying  to  mine  the  small  vein  coal  in  the 
same  proportion  that  it  bears  to  our  total  reserve 
and  that  means,  of  course,  an  increase  in  the 
cost  of  our  coal  on  the  cars. 

Effect  of  Insurance. 

The  next  increase  which  has  to  be  faced  is  the 
question  of  the  employes’  compensation  act 
which  goes  into  effect  the  first  of  January,  1916. 
You,  of  course,  appreciate  that  in  any  manufac¬ 
turing  or  textile  industry,  the  risk  is  not  so 
great  as  in  the  mining  of  coal;  the  work  is  very 
hazardous  and  the  chances  for  negligence  on  the 
part  of  the  miner  very  great.  Approximately 
eighty  per  cent  of  the  accidents  in  the  anthracite 
mines  come  through  the  carelessness  of  the  men 
themselves.  Safety  first  organizations  and  first 

‘A  paper  read  before  the  New  York  State  &  Western 
Pennsylvania  Coal  Merchants  Association. 

tGeneral  superintendent  of  the  Hudson  Coal  Company. 


By  C.  Dorrance,  Jr.f 

Maintaining  Extensive  Underground 
Railways  Is  One  of  the  Problems — Cor¬ 
recting  Complaints  of  Dealers  Is  Forcing 
Up  the  Cost  of  Selling. 

aid  organizations  have  been  developed  toward 
trying  to  keep  this  accident  list  down,  but  due 
to  the  above  mentioned  fact  of  the  carelessness 
of  the  average  employe,  it  is  doubtful  whether 
our  proportion  of  accidents  will  be  materially 
decreased  from  the  present  average. 

Robbing  work,  which  is  the  re-claiming  of  the 
pillars,  after  the  first  mining  of  all  coal,  means 
many  accidents  from  fall  of  roof  or  fall  of  rock. 
From  the  figures  from  which  we  have  for  The 
Hudson  Coal  Company  it  appears  that  under  the 
existing  conditions  the  expense  of  the  probable 
rates  of  liability  insurance  and  the  compensation 
act  will  cost  our  company  in  the  neighborhood  of 
$400,000  to  $500,000  per  year.  Gentlemen,  this 
means  approximately  ten  cents  per  ton  added  to 
the  cost  of  producing  coal.  As  a  large  proportion 
of  our  coal  is  used  for  steam  purposes  and  the 
selling  price  thus  fixed  by  the  price  of  bituminous 
coal,  it  would  be  impossible  to  add  this  compen¬ 
sation  cost  to  the  steam  sizes.  Therefore,  I  esti¬ 
mate  that  the  compensation  law  will  mean  an  in¬ 
creased  cost  of  from  fifteen  (15)  to  twenty  (20) 
cents  per  ton  on  the  cost  of  domestic  sizes  of 
anthracite  coal. 

The  Water  Problem. 

Another  enormous  item  in  the  increase  of  cost 
of  production  is  the  question  of  freeing  our  mines 
of  water.  As  we  go  farther  in  the  robbing  out  of 
existing  coal  in  the  ground,  the  surface  is  dis¬ 
turbed  and  breaches  occur  which  allow  surface 
water  to  enter  the  mines.  In  the  anthracite 
region  today,  the  average  figure  shows  that  for 
every  ton  of  coal  hoisted  at  the  surface  thirteen 
(13)  tons  of  water  are  pumped  from  the  mines. 
This  figure  is  gradually  becoming  greater  and  is 
never  going  to  decrease.  At  our  Coal  Brook 
and  Powderly  collieries,  we  have  today  a  pumping 
capacity  of  seventeen  thousand  five  hundred 
(17,500)  gallons  per  minute.  We  pumped  dur¬ 
ing  last  year  year  three  billion  (3,000,000,000) 
gallons  of  water  and  produced  from  these  oper¬ 
ations  approximtaely  nine  hundred  thousand 
(900,000)  tons  of  coal.  In  the  production  of  this 
coal  we  had  to  pump  fifteen  million  (15,000,000) 
tons  of  water. 

The  question  of  thin  vein  work  is  another  im¬ 
portant  item  in  the  increased  cost.  In  these  small 
thirty-inch  veins  of  coal  our  gangways  or  main 
haulage  ways  have  to  be  driven  of  standard 
height  and  width.  This  means  the  taking  up  and 
mining  a  large  amount  of  rock,  and  the  mining 
of  rock  is  the  most  expensive  mining  that  can  be 
done;  at  the  same  time  giving  us  no  return  at  all. 
In  regard  to  this  thin  vein  mining  we  are  doing 
our  best  to  keep  our  cost  down  by  the  use  of 
machine  mining  and  the  use  of  buggies.  A  buggy 
is  a  small  mine  car  which  is  run  up  the  chamber 
from  the  gangway  and  which  is  low  enough  so 
that  no  rock  has  to  be  blown.  We  are  obliged, 
however,  to  pay  the  miner  extra  wages  for  min¬ 
ing  coal  with  this  buggy.  The  machine  mining  is 
the  undercutting  of  the  thin  vein  and  the  trans¬ 
ferring  of  the  coal  so  undercut  and  blown  from 
the  gangway  by  means  of  a  conveyor  line  which 
is  low  enough  so  that  no  rock  has  to  be  blown. 

Yesterday  morning  I  went  into  one  of  the  mines 
of  our  neighbors  at  Scranton  to  look  over  with 
some  other  engineers  the  question  of  the  advis¬ 
ability  of  spending  an  amount  of  money  on 
the  surface  to  clean  and  prepare  the  coal  from 
that  mine.  There  is  nothing  left  in  this  mine 
except  one  vein  of  coal  and  we  walked  practically 
the  whole  morning  in  this  vein  looking  at  the 
quality  of  the  coal  and  the  quality  of  the  vein 
and  nearly  half  the  chambers  in  that  vein  were 


six  (6)  feet  of  vein  matter,  out  of  which  eighteen 
(18)  inches  was  coal.  The  whole  six  (6)  feet 
had  to  be  mined  and  yet  from  that,  less  than 
twenty  (20)  per  cent  was  coal  which  could  be 
sent  to  market.  You  will  appreciate  what  it  means 
to  mine  a  vein  of  that  character  where  the  cost 
of  production  is  practically  five  times  what  it 
would  be  if  the  vein  were  all  coal. 

Protecting  the  Surface. 

The  question  of  the  protection  of  the  surface 
is  also  another  factor  in  the  increased  cost  of 
production,  due  to  the  fact  that,  independent  of 
the  law,  we  are  not  allowed  to  drop  houses  with 
women  and  children  in  them,  or  have  valuable 
surface  improvements  destroyed.  There  is  a  large 
proportion  of  territory  where,  instead  of  being 
able  to  mine  from  seventy  (70)  to  eighty  (80) 
per  cent  of  the  coal  underground,  we  are  obliged 
to  leave  sometimes  as  high  as  sixty  (60)  per  cent 
of  the  original  contents  of  the  vein  in  places  to 
protect  the  surface.  You  will  readily  appreciate 
what  this  means  towards  increasing  the  cost  of 
producing  coal  from  these  veins. 

Underground  Railroading. 

Inside  transportation  is  another  important  item 
in  the  increase  of  our  producing  cost.  When  we 
started  to  mine  anthracite  coal  our  gangways  were 
short  and  our  transportation  cheap;  today  at  our 
Olyphant  colliery  we  have  one  hundred  and  twen¬ 
ty-five  (125)  miles  of  railroad  track  in  the  mines. 
In  all  of  the  operations  of  The  Hudson  Coal 
Company  we  have  as  much  steel  railroad  mileage 
underneath  the  ground  as  The  Delaware  &  Hudson 
Railroad  has  on  its  whole  system  on  the  surface, 
running  from  Scranton  to  Montreal.  The  up¬ 
keep  of  this  underground  track  is  a  great  deal 
more  expensive  than  on  the  surface,  as  the  track 
is  subject  at  all  times  to  acid  water,  and  the  ties 
rot  quickly.  We  have  in  all  our  collieries  con¬ 
tinually  a  force  of  men  who  do  nothing  else  from 
day  to  day  but  keep  up  the  repairs  of  these  inside 
tracks. 

Finally,  one  of  the  increases  in  the  cost  of 
operation  which  you  can  readily  appreciate,  and 
which  I  hope  you  do  appreciate  is  the  question 
of  the  standard  preparation  of  coal  from  a  sales 
standpoint.  You  have  probably  all  read  Mark 
Twain’s  book  called  “Puddin’  Head  Wilson.”  At 
the  head  of  one  of  the  chapters  there  is  a  little 
note  about  a  man  who  was  always  finding  fault. 
“Puddin’  Head  Wilson”  said  that  this  man  when 
he  could  find  nothing  else  the  matter  with  his 
coal,  complained  that  it  contained  too  many  pre¬ 
historic  toads.  The  president  of  one  of  the  an¬ 
thracite  companies  had  this  saying  framed  and 
sent  to  each  one  of  his  sales  agents.  Now  I  want 
all  of  you  to  especially  appreciate  what  the  oper¬ 
ating  end  of  the  anthracite  business  is  doing,  and 
are  willing  to  do  everything  in  our  power  to  give 
you  a  uniform  standard  coal.  If  you  will  send  in 
your  troubles  through  the  sales  department  we 
will  see  that  they  are  investigated  and  that  any 
mistakes  are  rectified. 

We  have  a  force  of  men,  at  least  three  at  each 
colliery  of  any  size,  who  do  nothing  else  but  try 
to  see  that  the  coal  goes  to  market  in  a  uniform 
state,  within  the  limits  of  standard  preparation 
as  developed  and  made  permanent  by  the  Phila¬ 
delphia  &  Reading  sales  contract  of  1892,  which 
is  the  basis  for  the  standard  preparation  of  coal. 
We  cannot,  however,  give  you  gentlemen  coal 
that  was  mined  thirty  years  ago ;  that  coal  is 
burned  up  and  gone.  We  cannot  give  you  the 
bright,  glassy,  perfect,  bright,  diamond  that  was 
shipped  in  former  years ;  we  must  confess  that 
the  quality,  appearance,  brightness,  and  the  frac¬ 
ture  of  all  Pennsylvania  anthracite  coal  is  becom¬ 
ing  poorer  and  poorer  as  time  goes  on ;  the 
cream  of  the  anthracite  is  gone;  we  have  got  to 
do  the  best  we  can  with  what  is  left.  We  appre¬ 
ciate  that  all  coal  that  goes  to  market  is  not  per¬ 
fect;  and  that  our  inspection  departments  may 
make  mistakes. 

However,  in  this  connection,  I  would  say  that 
from  figures  obtained  from  the  different  com- 

(Concludcd  on  page  433.) 


426 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[November  27 


Increasing  the  Flexibility  of  a  House  Furnace. 


“'How  to  prove  and  increase  the  elasticity  of  a 
household  furnace”  is  one  of  the  most  fascinating 
topics  that  any  man  ever  tackled.  It  isn’t  ex¬ 
actly  a  business ;  it  isn’t  even  a  calling.  It  is  a 
great  deal  like  golf.  It  is  a  fad  which  gets  into 
the  blood.  The  more  you  play  at  it,  the  more 
you  want  to  play  at  it. 

The  results,  of  course,  are  worth  while,  because 
they  help  in  the  end  to  save  money.  But,  after 
a  man  has  been  tinkering  with  his  furnace  for  a 
month  or  so  he  loses  sight  of  the  money  he  is 
going  to  save  and  becomes  interested  only  in  the 
results  which  he  can  get.  This  means  to  say  that 
the  matter  of  reforming  the  house  furnace  has 
not,  yet,  become  one  of  the  everyday  practical 
things  of  life;  it  is  still  in  the  game  stage;  men 
play  at  it  as  a  means  of  diversion  rather  than 
as  a  source  of  profit.  One  of  these  days  it  will 
become  commonplace,  because  we  will  all  have  to 
study  it  in  earnest.  Then  the  sport  element  in 
it  will  be  lost. 

There  is  one  western  coal  man  who  is  a  tre¬ 
mendous  enthusiast  on  the  subject.  He  devotes 
to  his  furnace  the  time  other  men  give  to  cards 
and  the  theater.  He  will  talk  about  it  by  the 
hour  and  can  tell  precisely  how  to  handle  any 
kind  of  coal  or  any  furnace.  He  can  tell  how  to 
get  the  maximum  results  from  the  poorest  coal 
and  the  worst  furnace.  He  can  give  you  a  for¬ 
mula  by  which  you  can  fire  bituminous  coal  alone 
and  this  is  worked  out  into  a  schedule.  He  can 
tell  you  exactly  what  to  do  in  the  morning  and 
what  to  do  at  different  periods  throughout  the 
day.  He  can  throw  bituminous  coal  and  coke 
into  combination  and  tell  you  what  to  do.  Or, 
he  can  tell  how  to  fire  coke  alone.  From  his 
conversation  one  would  believe  that  anthracite 
coal  and  its  near  relatives  had  no  place  in  his 
household  economy. 

After  listening  to  him  for  an  hour  or  so,  the 
question  was  put,  quietly: 

“What  kind  of  coal  do  you  use?” 

“Oh,  I  use  anthracite.”  He  said  it  without  a 
blush. 

That  man  is  interested  in  the  “game”  of  re¬ 
forming  the  furnace.  It  attacks  his  mind  as  a 
problem  rather  than  as  an  every-day  matter. 
When  it  comes  down  to  a  matter  of  comfort  and 
of  followiag  the  line  of  least  resistance,  he  cuts 
free  of  all  bothersome  experimentation  and  goes 
back  to  the  old  reliable  anthracite. 

A  Practical  Point 

However,  the  supply  of  anthracite  simply  will 
not  go  around  among  all  coal  users  in  America. 
A  matter  of  75,000,000,000  tons  of  anthracite  coal 
per  year — forty  per  cent  of  which  goes  to  the 
steam  trade — cannot  warm  every  household  in 
America.  It  is  the  ideal  fuel  for  those  who  can 
get  it,  but  a  great  majority  of  the  people  must 
use  something  else.  They  must  learn  to  use  the 
other  coal  economically  and  without  befouling 
their  neighborhood  with  dense  black  smoke. 

So,  while  we  all  confess  that  anthracite  is  the 
best  fuel  known,  we  must  learn  to  use  the  bitu¬ 
minous  coals  and  coke.  Whether  we  use  them 
separately  or  in  combination  is  a  matter  of  detail. 
The  big  fact  is  that  we  must  learn  to  use  them. 
That  means  that  tinkerin.g  with  house  furnaces 
must  not  be  merely  an  interesting  game ;  we  must 
make  a  purposeful  study  of  it. 

As  recited  in  two  preceding  articles,  the  writer 
has  been  experimenting  with  a  combination  of 
Franklin  county  Number  Two  nut  coal  from 
Illinois,  and  by-product  coke  of  the  pea  size, 
the  two  being  burned  in  combination.  The  weather 
at  the  time  the  primary  experiments  were  made 
was  relatively  warm.  That  is,  the  lowest  tem¬ 
perature  was  about  forty  and,  with  the  exception 
of  one  occasion,  the  wind  was  not  stron.g.  There¬ 
fore,  the  heating  problem  was  relatively  simple. 
Under  those  conditions  it  was  not  imperative  to 
get  a  fire  started  quickly. 

Within  the  last  week,  liowever,  the  situation  has 
changed.  The  weather  from  being  almost  balmy, 
became  quite  severe.  Not  only  was  it  necessary  to 
get  up  a  hot  fire  quickly,  but  it  was  necessary  to 
maintain  a  hot  fire.  To  do  both  of  these,  the 
firin.g  practice  was  changed. 

Heretofore  the  coke  was  fired  first.  When  it 
presented  a  glowing  mass,  the  bituminous  coal 
was  fired  on  top.  When  five  or  six  shovelsful 
of  coke  were  fired,  the  fuel  bed  was  compact  and 
even  a  strong  draft  would  not  cause  it  to  burn 
quickly. 

To  get  a  hot  fire  to  meet  the  new  weather 
conditions,  the  process  was  reversed.  That  is, 
Franklin  county  coal  was  fired  first.  This  proves 
to  be  an  extremely  free  burnin.g  coal.  The  old 
Jackson  Hill  coal  from  Ohio  perhaps  is  flashier. 


Making  a  Fire  Respond  Quickly  When  a 
Need  Arises — Overcoming  Drafts  in  a 
House — An  Underfeed  Stoker  for  Use  in 
Small  Plants. 


but  of  course  that  is  not  obtainable  now.  Next 
to  that,  the  freest  burning  coal  is  the  Jellico 
product  from  southeastern  Kentucky.  As  almost 
everyone  knows,  this  ignites  almost  by  the  use  of 
a  match.  Once  ignited,  it  burns  freely.  New 
River  and  Pocahontas  coals  get  into  action 
quickly.  Even  so,  they  take  more  time  to  .get 
up  a  hot  fire  than  does  Franklin  county.  The 
latter  comes  somewhere  in  between  Jellico  coal 
and  the  smokeless  coals  from  West  Virginia.  It 
is>  a  quick  acting  fuel  and  gives  results  almost 
instantly,  if  properly  handled. 

The  proper  handling  of  it  consists  of  firiag  the 
bed  reasonably  thin  and  then  of  leaving  open  the 
stack  damper,  the  ash  pit  door  and  the  draft  slide 
in  the  feed  door.  If  one  follows  those  rules,  he 
can,  in  about  twenty  minutes,  get  the  water,  we 
will  say,  from  an  early-morning  temperature  of 
about  120  to  125,  up  to  boilin.g  point.  At  least 
this  record  has  been  obtained  in  the  one  house 
where  these  experiments  have  been  carried  on. 

After  the  gas  has  had  time  to  burn  off  the 
Franklin  county  coal  it  is  advisable  to  slow  down 
the  fire.  This  is  done  by  covering  the  glowing 
fuel  bed,  to  a  thickness  of  about  four  or  five 
inches,  with  the  pea  coke.  About  four  shovelsful 
of  coke  are  necessary  in  a  fire  pot  which  is 
twenty-four  inches  across.  After  that  is  done,  the 
ash  pit  door  and  the  draft  slide  in  the  feed  door 
can  be  closed  and  the  new  fuel  bed  will  maintain 
a  temperature  of  seventy  de.grees  throughout  the 
house  for  a  matter  of  five  or  six  hours. 

While  firing  the  coal  first  and  the  coke  on  top 
gives  a  quick  fire,  the  coal  is  likely  to  clinker  if 
the  coke  covering  is  put  on  too  soon. 

Getting  Rid  of  Soot 

On  several  occasions  the  question  has  been  asked 
whether  using  Franklin  county  coal  does  not  re¬ 
sult  in  soot.  What  the  questioner  had  in  mind 
was  the  fact  that  Franklin  county  coal  gives  off 
quite  a  great  deal  of  volatile  matter.  The  ques¬ 
tioner  believes  that  in  such  a  small  fire  pot  it  is 
impossible  to  burn  these  gases  before  they  reach 
the  relatively  cool  surface  of  the  water  tubes.  He 
believes  therefore,  that  the  cooling  down  of  these 
gases  before  they  were  burned  must  result  in  a 
deposit  of  soot,  both  on  the  water  tubes  and  the 
side  of  the  furnace. 

The  assumption  is  quite  correct ;  that  is  exactly 
what  happens.  However,  the  soot  remains  but  a 
very  short  time,  because  so  soon  as  the  coke 
starts  to  burn,  it  makes  such  a  hot  fire,  without 
flame,  that  the  soot  is  burned  off. 

This  does  not  mean  to  say,  however,  that  the 
water  tubes  do  not  have  to  be  watched  with  ex¬ 
treme  care.  They  do  have  to  be  watched  or  the 
struggle  for  fuel  economy  is  wasted.  The  ac¬ 
cumulation  on  them  does  not  come  so  much  from 
the  soot,  however,  as  from  the  ashes. 

Any  man  who  runs  a  house  furnace  must  no¬ 
tice  that  when  he  shakes  down  the  fuel  bed  in 
the  morning  quite  a  cloud  of  dust  arisen  If 
he  opens  the  ash  pit  door,  some  of  this  dust 
escapes  and  rises  to  decorate  his  basement  ceiling. 
Sometimes,  it  may  rise  to  decorate  the  upper 
portion  of  his  house — if  he  leaves  the  basement 
door  open.  Even  so,  a  certain  part  of  it  rises 
through  the  fuel  bed  and  must  settle  somewhere. 
The  most  convenient  place  for  it  is  the  water 
tubes.  The  writer  just  recently  opened  the  door 
into  the  water  tubes  after  having  neglected  clean- 
in.g  them  for  a  matter  of  about  two  months.  _He 
found  an  accumulation  that  was  a  good  inch  thick ; 
in  the  aggregate  it  made  nearly  a  half  bushel  of 
dust.  This  served  as  a  splendid  insulation  of  the 
water  tubes;  it  prevented  the  heat  frorn  going 
through  this  insulation  to  the  water  which  was 
to  be  heated. 

In  a  word  the  writer  was  burning  coal,  rather 
than  heating  water. 

.\fter  that  experiment  he  is  now  making  it  a 
point  to  use  the  scraper  on  those  water  tubes 
once  in  three  days.  Perhaps  this  is  a  trifle  too 
often,  but  if  one  is  after  real  fuel  economy  and 
heat  the  little  extra  trouble  is  worth  while. 

The  Effect  of  Wind 

On  last  Sunday  the  wind  was  quite  stron.g.  The 
outside  temperature  was  around  twenty-eight. 
With  the  high  wind,  the  day  was  really  cold.  All 
day  long  it  was  a  constant  strug.gle  to  keep  the 


house  temperature  up  to  anything  near  what  it 
should  be. 

Instead  of  a  couple  of  firings  a  day,  which  had 
been  necessary  theretofore,  the  furnace  was  fired 
at  half-past  six,  at  eleven,  at  half-past  three,  and 
at  half-past  six,  with  an  additional  firing  when 
the  banking  was  done  at  about  eleven  o’clock  at 
night.  However,  even  with  this  free  use  of  coal, 
it  was  not  possible  all  the  time  to  keep  the  house 
warm,  even  though  the  water  in  the  pipes  was 
always  at  boiling  point  and  even  though  the  boil¬ 
ing  point  was  twenty  degrees  higher  than  is  eco¬ 
nomical  in  a  hot  water  plant. 

It  soon  became  apparent  that  while  more  than 
enough  heat  was  being  generated,  it  was  being 
blown  away  by  the  house  drafts.  That  is,  the 
windows  were  leaking  cold  air  and  with  the  leak 
in  the  back  offset  by  another  one  in  front,  the 
'cold  air  passed  through  the  house,  carrying  the 
heat  with  it.  There  was  nothing  to  do,  therefore, 
but  to  insert  a  barrier  in  the  path  of  the  draft. 
This  was  done  by  closing  the  intervening  doors. 
Down  stairs  the  kitchen  was  shut  off  from  the 
dining  room  and  the  living  room  was  shut  off 
from  the  sun  porch.  Upstairs  all  the  doors  lead¬ 
ing  into  the  central  hall  were  closed.  With  that 
done,  the  average  temperature' of  the  house  rose 
very  quickly  five  degrees,  while  it  was  possible  to 
slow  down  the  burniag  of  coal  in  .the  basement. 

Incidentally  this  is  the  reverse  of  the  dead  air 
proposition  put  up,  a  month  ago,  by  George  W. 
Reed,  who  said  that  on  one  occasion  his  house 
w'ould  not  heat  because  the  air  had  become  dead, 
due  to  the  fact  that  the  windows  were  too  tight. 

In  this  connection  another  interesting  thing  was 
noted.  Everyone  knows  that  the  stairway  in  the 
house  is  an  open  chimney;  the  heat  passes  from 
the  downstairs  through  the  stairway  to  the  up¬ 
stairs.  In  most  ordinary  houses,  the  upper  rooms 
are  much  warmer  than  the  lower. 

In  this  particular  house  the  stairway  cannot  be 
closed  off.  The  assumption  naturally  would  be 
that  all  the  heat  would  rush  up  that  “chimney” 
and  warm  up  the  upper  part  of  the  house.  How¬ 
ever,  half  way  up  the  stairs  there  is  a  landing 
on  w'hich  there  are  three  good  sized  windows. 
It  was  found  that  this  landing  was  the  coldest 
spot  in  the  house.  The  windows  were  leaking 
cold  air.  The  lower  portion  of  the  stairway  was 
quite  hot.  The  upper  portion  was  quite  cold. 
That  is,  the  cold  air  coming  in  from  those  win¬ 
dows  presented  a  barrier  to  the  passage  of  heat 
and  thus  neutralized  the  effect  of  the  warm  air 
rising.  Until  storm  sashes  could  be  put  on  the 
windows,  the  blinds  were  drawn  and  thus  a  good 
part  of  the  heat  passing  up  the  stairway  was 
saved. 

Increasing  Circulation 

Gordon  Buchanan,  of  the  Old  Ben  Mining  Cor¬ 
poration  of  Chicago,  knows  Franklin  county  coal 
in  all  of  its  moods  and  tenses.  This  is  so  because 
he  has  experimented  with  it  so  often.  He  called 
the  writer’s  attention  to  the  fact  that  this  is  a 
particularly  free  burning  coal.  His  first  experi¬ 
ment,  alon.g  this  line,  was  made  one  day  when  the 
fire  had  been  allowed  to  become  so  low  that  it 
was  a  question  whether  fresh  coal  could  be  fired 
without  the  use  of  kindling.  He  wanted  to  give 
Franklin  county  coal  a  severe  trial  and  so  he 
threw  a  couple  of  shovelsful  into  the  fire  pot 
and  opened  the  drafts.  In  a  few  moments  it  was 
burning  freely. 

The  writer  wanted  to  give  this  coal  a  test  along 
this  same  line.  The  house  had  been  closed  for 
several  days  while  the  family  was  away.  The  fire 
in  the  hot  water  heater  had  been  allowed  to  go 
out.  He  wanted  some  hot  water  quickly,  so  he 
used  about  half  of  the  kindling  that  is  required 
to  start  a  fire  with  anthracite  pea  coal  and  put 
in  some  Franklin  county  number  two  nut.  In 
about  one-fourth  of  the  time  that  it  takes  to  get 
hot  water  with  anthracite  coal  hot  water  was 
available  at  every  faucet  in  the  house.  In  fact, 
the  water  became  so  hot  that  it  was  necessary  to 
check  the  fire  by  closing  all  the  dampers  and 
partly  removing  one  of  the  lids  of  the  stove. 

Mr.  Buchanan  has  a  way  of  getting  the  great¬ 
est  amount  of  heat  in  the  upper  portion  of  the 
house.  He  starts  with  the  assumption  that  it  is 
impossible  to  transmit  to  the  water  pipes  all  of  the 
heat  from  the  furnace.  Therefore,  some  of  it 
must  escape  into  the  basement.  There  is  almost 
enough  of  this  to  take  the  chill  off  that  section. 
If  the  pipes  are  uncovered,  they  radiate  heat. 
Thus  the  primary  energy  of  the  coal  is  devoted  to 
heating  a  part  of  the  house  where  nobody  lives. 
If  the  basement  window  is  left  open  for  ventila¬ 
tion,  a  good  part  of  this  heat  escapes  without 
doing  any  work. 

(Concluded  on  page  433.) 


No.  22] 


427 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


Getting  Down  to  Details  While  Talking  Costs. 


About  eight  years  ago,  the  Chicago  Coal  Mer¬ 
chants’  Association  began  to  discuss  the  ques¬ 
tion,  “What  Does  It  Cost  to  Do  Business?’’ 

At  that  time  it  was  a  youngster.  It  had  not 
been  organized  much  more  than  a  year,  and  had 
not  found  its  bearings.  It  was  in  the  position  of 
many  other  associations;  it  was  talking  about 
things  rather  than  doing  them.  Therefore,  it 
talked  about  what  it  costs  to  handle  coal  and 
then  talked  some  more.  After  a  long,  long  de¬ 
bate,  nearly  everyone  in  the  association  came  to 
realize  that  it  costs  far  more  to  handle  a  ton  of 
coal  than  they  had  supposed.  Some  men  had  be¬ 
lieved  it  cost  them  sixty-five  to  seventy  cents, 
only  to  find  that  it  cost  from  ninety  cents  to  $1. 
Still  with  this  fact  staring  most  of  them  in  the 
face,  the  only  thing  that  the  young  association  did 
was  to  talk  about  it. 

Just  a  few  months  ago  Homer  D.  Jones,  vice- 
president  of  the  association,'  decided  that  it  was 
about  time  to  stop  talking  and  to  do  something. 
When  it  came  to  the  question  of  taking  action, 
Mr.  Jones  discovered  another  thing  which  he 
expresses  as  follows ; 

"The  cost  of  doing  business  includes  many 
items.  For  example,  there  is  the  cost  of  the 
degradation  of  coal ;  the  cost  of  depreciating 
the  plants  and  appliances;  the  cost  of  making 
sales;  the  cost  of  cartage;  the  cost  of  adminis¬ 
tration,  etc.  So  long  as  we  try  to  include  all  of 
those  things  in  a  general  discussion  we  get  no¬ 
where.  I  may  be  thinking  about  the  cost  of 
degradation,  while  some  other  fellow  is  talking 
about  the  cost  of  selling.  In  a  word,  the  subject 
is  entirely  too  big  to  discuss  as  a  whole.  If  we 
are  going  to  get  any  place,  we  must  discuss  in 
detail  some  of  the  subdivisions  of  the  big  sub¬ 
ject.” 

Suiting  the  action  to  the  word,  Mr.  Jones  called 
together  some  dozen  or  more  of  members  of 
this  association  who  are  really  interested  in  im¬ 
proving  their  cost  accounting  system.  They  went 
into  a  sort  of  executive  session  in  which  it  was 
resolved  to  devote  attention  solely  to  just  one 
small  branch  of  the  big  topic.  They  decided 


to  meet  at  two  o’clock  in  the  afternoon  and  to 
stay  in  session  until  they  had  arrived  at  a  defi¬ 
nite  understanding  of  a  simple  way  to  handle 
that  detail. 

The  suggestion  came  from  several  men  at  once 
and  so  it  was  decided  to  devote  the  first  meet¬ 
ing  to  delivery  tickets.  They  wanted  to  get  a 
form  for  a  delivery  ticket  that  would  contain  all 
the  information  for  the  buyer  and  at  the  same 
time  would  fit  into  the  general  bookkeeping  sys¬ 
tem.  Before  they  parted  they  had  really  laid 
the  foundation  for  both  a  simplified  System  of 
bookkeeping  and  a  simplified  system  of  cost  ac¬ 
counting. 

For  example,  they  made  out  a  delivery  ticket 
in  triplicate.  One  of  these  was  given  to  the 
driver  as  his  scale  ticket  to  deliver  to  the  consu¬ 
mer.  The  original  was  put  in  an  envelope  and 
forwarded  by  mail  to  the  buyer  as  his  bill.  The 
third  copy  was  turned  over  to  the  bookkeeper 
as  his  record  of  the  transaction. 

This  was  the  result  of  one  meeting  only.  These 
retailers  who  are  interested  in  simplified  cost 
accounting  are  going  to  continue  to  discuss  other 
details  until  they  have  got  simple  forms  and  sim¬ 
ple  ways  of  keeping  accounts  for  each  branch  of 
the  subject. 

When  they  have  discussed  these  various  sub¬ 
jects  and  have  thus  come  to  have  a  simple  meth¬ 
od  of  doing  everything,  the  complete  system  will 
be  turned  over  to  the  Chicago  Coal  Merchants’ 
Association,  which  in  turn  will  be  asked  to  recom¬ 
mend  it  to  all  the  retailers  in  Chicago.  In  that 
way,  they  figure  that  every  retailer  will  have  a 
means  of  knowing  precisely  what  it  costs  him  to 
do  business  and  therefore  competition,  although 
it  may  be  keen,  will  no  longer  be  ignorant. 

This  method  introduced  in  Chicago  by  Mr. 
Jones  is  capable  of  duplication  in  every  other 
city  of  the  United  States.  He  starts  out  on  the 
theory  that  all  of  the  retailers  need  not  be  pres¬ 
ent  or  interested  at  the  start.  Rather  if  only 
two  or  three  can  get  at  it  first  and  work  out  these 
details,  it  will  be  worth  while,  because  the  oth¬ 
ers  would  then  know  what  is  coming  out  of  it  and 
are  almost  sure  to  follow  the  example. 


How  a  Delivery  System  Brought  Results. 


Unie  Clark,  owner  and  manager  of  the  Clark 
Cash  Coal  Company,  of  Elkhart,  Ind.,  attributes 
the  patronage  he  enjoys  today  in  smokeless  coal, 
not  so  much  to  the  coal  itself  but  more  to  the 
manner  in  which  it  is  delivered. 

Mr.  Clark  having  been  employed  by  a  retail 
coal  concern  before  entering  business  under  his 
own  name,  knew  that  smokeless  coal  was  a  hard 
one  to  deliver  satisfactorily,  and  most  of  the  dis¬ 
satisfaction  upon  the  part  of  customers  came 
from  this  source. 

In  remedying  this  fault,  all  drivers  employed  by 
the  Clark  Cash  Coal  Company  were  instructed  to 
distribute  evenly  the  fine  and  lump  coal  in  each 
load.  That  is,  if  one  side  of  the  shed  contained 
quite  a  bit  of  fine  and  small  coal  and  the  other 
side  lump,  to  take  a  scoop  full  of  the  fine  coal 
to  every  two  or  three  of  the  lump,  and  in  this  way 
eliminate  anv  chance  of  the  consumer  getting  a 
load  of  all  fine  coal.  Drivers  were  further  in¬ 
structed  to  use  the  utmost  care  in  unloading  the 
coal  and  in  putting  it  in  the  customer’s  bin. 


Mr.  Clark  does  not  believe  in  hiring  any  man 
who  comes  along  when  business  is  greater  than 
his  regular  men  can  handle  it,  but  prefers  to  de¬ 
liver  enough  of  each  order  to  tide  each  customer 
along  until  the  rush  is  over  and  his  men  and 
teams  can  handle  the  business.  In  this  way,  he 
not  only  retains  work  enough  to  keep  his  men 
busy  during  the  slack  times,  but  also  does  not 
have  to  employ  extra  help  during  business  rushes. 

Thus  in  hiring  regular  drivers  and  continually 
instructing  them  to  handle  the  coal  carefully,  Mr. 
Clark  has  managed  to  eliminate  the  trouble  and 
dissatisfaction  arising  from  the  poor  delivery  of 
smokeless  coal,  and  attributes  the  patronage  he 
enjoys  in  this  one  coal  alone  to  this  fact. 

How  Mr.  Clark  took  advantage  of  a  recent 
industrial  parade  in  his  city  to  advertise  his  coal 
and  his  company,  is  shown  by  the  photograph 
herewith.  The  float  of  the  Indian  girl  and  camp¬ 
fire  scene  was  one  of  the  most  effective  in  the 
parade,  and  caused  considerable  comment  among 
the  onlookers.  The  papoose  was  an  exceedingly 


Float  of  Clark  Cash  Coal  Co.,  in  Recent  Municipal  Industrial  Parade. 


energetic  one,  and  brandished  a  tomahawk  at  all 
the  bystanders. 

The  Clark  Cash  Coal  Company’s  yard  is  located 
in  the  very  heart  of  the  city,  and  attracts  many 
farmers  and  teamsters  to  it  as  a  public  scale. 
Mr.  Clark  takes  advantage  of  the  scale  tickets  he 
issues  in  public  weighing  to  advertise  his  coal  by 
printing  his  trademark  on  these  tickets.  This 


Clark  Cash  Coal  Company’s  Trade-Mark. 


trademark  appears  in  all  of  the  Clark  Cash  Coal 
Company’s  advertising,  and  though  we  do  not 
know  whether  the  name  Clark  and  the  dog  have 
any  connection  with  Champ  Clark  and  his  famous 
“Hound-dog,”  we  think  that  it  is  a  most  attractive 
and  effective  one. 


Appeals  to  Women. 


As  Mr.  Bernstein  says ;  “Time  was  when 
women  did  not  do  the  family  buying  because  it 
was  not  safe.  It  took  the  mental  equipment  of  a 
Pinkerton  and  the  physical  qualities  of  a  Jess 
Willard  to  buy  and  not  be  cheated.  But  it  is 
different  now — women  do  eighty  per  cent  of  all 


“If  I  Were  a  Man”- 


=a  lady  said  to  me  tlie  oilier  day,  “I  would  let  my  wife 
buy  the  coal,  for  she  certainly  ought  to  kuow  the  kind  that 
is  best  and  cleanest  and  cheapest  for  the  home.” 

Let’s  think  that  over,  men.  Maybe  lhatgood  lielper  td 
ours  thinks  the  very  same  thing,  but  is  too  good  to  say  1*0. 
It's  characteristic  of  women  to  hold  secret  many  ?ucb  ihots. 


The  fact  that  a  woman  is  overly  particular  about  the 
C'»al  she  uses  for  cooking  purposes,  especlolly,  is  evidenced 
hy  the  borulreds  of  housewives  using  Bernelein’e  extia 
clean  McAlester  Lump. 


A  (rial  wifi  do.  phrme  402. 


►ERNSTEll 

PHONE  492  1(17  N.  CHOCT.WV 


Appealing,  to  the  Woman  Buyer 

family  buying,  and  just  how  much  they  influence 
the  other  twenty  per  cent  we  do  not  know.” 

Realizing  that  women  purchase  eighty  per  cent, 
of  the  domestic  coal  as  well  as  other  household 
necessities,  Mr.  Bernstein  of  El  Reno,  Okla.,  di¬ 
rects  his  advertising  appeal  to  the  “Lady  of  the 
House.” 

Mr.  Bernstein  is  generally  known  as  the  most 
persistent  advertiser  of  coal  of  any  dealer  in  a 
town  of  8,000  in  the  country.  He  uses  thirty 
inches  a  week;  that  is,  ten  inches  in  three  dif¬ 
ferent  dailies,  carrying  a  different  advertisement 
in  each  paper  on  different  days. 

Starting  in  business  in  El  Reno  three  years  ago 
a  stranger,  he  has  built  up  his  business  until  now 
he  is  the  largest  coal  dealer  in  the  city,  notwith¬ 
standing  the  fact  that  one  dealer  has  been  in 
business  there  for  over  twenty-five  years,  and  has 
plenty  of  capital  behind  him.  Mr.  Bernstein  at¬ 
tributes  his  success  almost  entirely  to  his  adver¬ 
tising. 

One  of  Mr.  Bernstein’s  recent  advertisements 
in  which  he  appeals  to  the  woman  buyer  is  shown 
herewith. 


Another  rich  coal  field  was  opened  in  West 
Virginia  when  the  Consolidation  Coal  Company 
of  Fairmont  reached  the  coal  at  its  Carolina 
mine.  The  shaft  from  which  the  coal  will  be 
taken  is  500  feet  deep.  Last  spring  when  the 
Consolidation  Coal  Company  decided  to  operate 
mines  at  this  point  the  contract  was  let  to  the 
Dravo  Contracting  Company  of  Pittsburgh.  The 
contractors  began  work  abont  the  middle  of  May, 
expecting  they  would  have  the  shaft  down  by 
January  1,  1916. 


428 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[November  27 


Can  Car  Shortage  Be  Avoided  by  Storing  Soft  Coal? 


At  the  last  annual  meeting  of  the  International 
Railway  Fuel  Association,  one  of  the  questions 
up  for  discussion  was  the  matter  of  storing  coal. 

It  will  he  remembered  that  this  subject  was 
suggested  for  discussion  by  C.  G.  Hall,  secretary 
of  the  organization,  who  approached  it  from  the 
point  of  view  of  what  is  good  railway  economy. 
That  is,  he  believes  if  coal  can  be  put  in  storage 
in  the  summer,  it  will  lind  employment  for  rail¬ 
way  cars  which  otherwise  will  be  idle.  Being  in 
storage  at  point  of  consumption,  it  will  be  avail¬ 
able  when  winter  comes  and  therefore  it  will  not 
require  so  many  cars  to  handle  the  winter’s  sup¬ 
ply.  His  theory  is  that  coal  storage  will  simplify 
very  much  the  matter  of  railway  transportation. 

Now  that  winter  is  approaching  and  there  is 
an  excess  demand  for  cars  and  a  likelihood  of 
coal  shortage,  some  railway  men  are  wishing  that 
they  had  followed  the  advice  of  Mr.  Hall  and 
that  they  had  begun  to  store  coal.  However,  it 
is  too  late  to  talk  about  such  things  now,  because 
it  will  do  no  good  for  this  year.  Even  so,  a  dis¬ 
cussion  of  the  subject  may  help  to  avoid  a  dupli¬ 
cation  of  this  year’s  experience  at  some  time  in 
the  future. 

A  short  time  ago  we  published  a  portion  of  the 
report  of  this  fuel  committee  or  that  relating 
to  the  eastern  section  of  the  country.  What  fol¬ 
lows  is  a  report  of  the  same-  committee  relating 
to  the  southwestern  district. 

Southwestern  Group. 

1.  It  is  the  consensus  of  opinion  of  execu¬ 
tives  of  railroad  and  mining  companies  that  Mr. 
Hall's  reasons  for,  and  the  desirability  and  ad¬ 
vantages  of,  storing  coal  (which  were  reported 
at  the  1914  convention),  are  correct. 

It  is  generally  agreed  that  lump  and  nut  coal 
with  at  least  25  per  cent  of  slack  removed  is  the 
best  kind  of  store,  that  is  with  the  coals  which 
will  store  without  great  danger  of  spontaneous 
combustion. 

The  .grade  of  coal  produced  in  Illinois  (mostly 
referred  to  by  Mr.  Hall)  differs  from  that  in 
.Arkansas,  Kansas,  Missouri,  Oklahoma  and 
Texas.  Owing  to  the  “make-up”  of  the  coal  pro¬ 
duced  in  this  territory  (the  Southwestern)  the 
possibilities  and  problems  vary.  However,  they 
may  be  put  under  one  of  two  classes — the  Texas 
and  part  of  Arkansas  coal,  and  the  Oklahoma, 
Kansas,  Missouri,  and  Northern  Arkansas  coal. 

All  who  have  tried  to  store  Texas  and  part 
of  the  Arkansas  coal  have  found  that  it  is  a 
failure  on  account  of  the  liability  to  spontaneous 
combustion — one  pile  lost  about  50  per  cent  in 
value  within  a  year,  the  coal  being  stored  during 
cool  months,  and  in  the  summer  one  switch  en¬ 
gine  was  kept  busy  extinguishing  the  .  fires. 

.All  other  coals  in  the  second  territory — Okla¬ 
homa,  Kansas,  Missouri,  and  Northern  Kansas 
— can  be  stored  and  the  loss  in  heating  value 
and  weight  will  be  from  two  per  cent  to  eight 
per  cent. 

The  greatest  danger  from  spontaneous  _  com¬ 
bustion  is  caused  when  the  coal  is  stored  in  the 
open  during  the  hottest  months  of  the  year — 
July  and  August.  If  the  coals  in  this  territory 
were  stored  in  May,  June,  September,  and  part 
of  October,  the  danger  of  firing  would  be  greatly 
reduced,  and  practically  all  conditions  make  this 
possible. 

No  attempt  has  been  made  to  store  any  of 
the  southwestern  coals  under  water  except  in 
small  quantities  by  two  or  three  roads.  How¬ 
ever,  this  would  practically  eliminate  all  danger 
of  firing,  and  the  loss  in  weight  would  be  less 
than  three  per  cent  with  most  of  the  coals. 

2.  It  was  suggested  by  one  mine  operator  that 
storage  at  the  mine  could  be  obtained  as  follows ; 

“.At  strip  pit  mines  practical  storage  could  be 
accomplished  by  leaving  a  small  covering  on 
the  coal.  If  areas  operated  were  large,  from 
50, 000  to  100,000  tons  could  be  partially  un¬ 
covered  in  the  summer  and  thus  carried  in  stor¬ 
age  without  using  the  water  covering  method, 
and  this,  I  believe,  could  be  done  at  only  small 
additional  cost  to  reimburse  the  steam  shovel 
operator  for  returning  and  uncovering  and  load- 
in.g  coal  when  season  requires.  A  strip  pit  could 
be  made  to  double  or  treble  its  daily  production 
with  only  the  one  loading  cost,  and  this  would 
also  reduce  breakage.” 

This  was  the  only  suggestion  received  by  the 
committee  covering  storage  at  the  mines. 

It  is  the  opinion  of  practically  all  men  in  this 
territory  that  it  is  better  to  store  coal  at  the 
railroads’  larger  coaling  stations.  Some  of  the 
reasons  follow: 

The  coal  would  be  handled  only  twice,  un¬ 
loaded  from  cars  and  reloaded  on  tenders. 


This  Article  Contains  the  Findings  of  a 
Committee  of  the  Railway  Fuel  Associa¬ 
tion  as  to  Coals  from  the  Southwestern 
Group  of  Mines. 


The  facilities  at  the  lar.gcr  coaling  stations  are 
sufficient  to  handle  larger  amounts  of  storage 
coal. 

Usually  there  are  enough  laborers  employed 
around  coaling  stations  who  could  be  used  in 
storing  coal  part  of  the  time  in  addition  to  their 
other  duties  without  very  large  additional  ex¬ 
pense,  while  at  the  small  coaling  stations  an  e,xtra 
force  would  have  to  be  employed  and  it  is  not 
always  satisfactory  nor  profitable  to  do  so. 

If  there  is  at  least  one  large  stora.ge  pile 
or  station  under  each  Division  Superintendent, 
each  Superintendent  is  then  responsible  for  the 
reloading  of  the  storage  coal  and  does  not  have 
to  depend  upon  some  other  division  to  load  this 
storage  coal  for  him. 

Most  of  the  unloading  is  done  by  hand,  some 
hy  clam  shell,  some  by  dumping  methods.  Re¬ 
loading  in  cars  or  tenders  is  done  by  clam  shell, 
although  some  use  hand  labor.  The  clam  shell 
.gives  more  satisfaction  and  is  cheaper  than  other 
methods  of  reloading. 

Only  one  system  seems  to  have  made  a  stand¬ 
ard  of  any  device  for  handling  storage  coal,  and 
that  is  the  clam  shell. 

The  cost  of  handling  storage  coal  varies 
greatly. 


The  best  li,gures  obtainable  are  as  follows : 
Tons  coal  handled,  84,378. 

Average 
per  Ton. 

Cost  to  unload . $3,576.59  $0.0424 

Cost  to  reload .  2,320.15  .0275 

Miscellaneous  and  tracks .  2,663.22  .0315 


Total  cost . $8,559.96  $0.1014 

Another  system  reports  that  the  total  cost  to 
unload  by — 

Clam  shell . 5c  per  ton 

By  hand . 7^c  per  ton 

Reload,  clam  shell . 5c  per  ton 

Reload,  by  hand . 7yic  per  ton 

Total  average  unloading  and  reloading,  in¬ 
cluding  supplies  and  walls,  where  necessary, 
by- 


Clam  shell . lOc  per  ton 

By  hand . 15c /per  ton 

Other  figures  vary  from  15  cents  to  30  cents 
per  ton  for  total  cost  of  handling  stora.ge  coal. 

3.  As  far  as  we  could  determine,  there  have 
been  no  locomotive  tests  made  with  storage 
coal  in  comparison  with  freshly  mined  coal. 
Some  roads  have  mixed  fresh  coal  with  coal 
that  has  been  in  storage  for  several  months  and 
have  had  good  results,  while  some  other  roads 


have  used  a  little  crude  oil  with  storage  coal  by 
throwing  several  bucketsfull  over  the  coal  when 


it  is  put  on  the  tender,  both  methods  producing 
results  practically  as  good  as  obtained  from  coal 
just  from  the  mines. 

One  company’s  analysis  showed  a  loss  in  B. 
t.  u.  of  about  twenty-five  per  cent  on  account 
of  so  much  spontaneous  combustion  and  slack¬ 
ing.  This  is  an  exceptiorlal  case,  but  it  is  likely 
to  be  the  rule  with  Texas  and  some  of  the 
Arkansas  coal. 


A  Power  Hoist  on  a  Trailer  Truck. 


■A  ten-ton  hydraulic  hoist  trailer  has  been  put 
on  the  market  by  the  Knox  Motor  Associates, 
who  manufacture  the  Knox  tractor.  This  com- 
liany  is  probably  the  first  of  the  automobile  tractor 
companies  to  put  on  the  market  a  trailer  having 
dumping  equipment  with  capacity  for  ten  tons. 
Among  the  coal  companies  using  this  power  hoist 
trailer  is  the  Schmadeke  Coal  Company  of  Brook¬ 
lyn.  In  sending  in  their  second  order,  this  com¬ 
pany  wrote : 

“\\’ith  this  order  we  wish  to  express  our  com¬ 
plete  satisfaction  with  the  manner  in  which  you 
have  worked  out  a  proposition  of  a  power  hoist 
trailer,  and  also  our  general  satisfaction  with  the 
result  shown  by  the  tractors  in  the  three  years 
that  we  have  been  using  them.  We  have  found 
them  profitable  in  the  displacement  of  horses  for 
long  haul  distribution  of  our  goods,  even  con¬ 
sidering  the  fact  of  idle  time  while  unloading  at 
delivery  point,  which  in  the  delivery  of  coal  is 
necessarily  great.” 

The  illustration  herewith  shows  the  trailer  at 
the  angle  to  which  it  can  be  raised  by  power 
hoist.  They  are  made  up  to  capacity  of  ten  tons. 
The  rear  wheels  are  forty  by  ten  inches,  the  rims 


three  and  one-half  by  nine  and  one-half  and  the 
tires  are  one  and  one-quarter  inches  weldless, 
locomotive  type.  The  body  is  made  entirely  of 
steel.  The  floor  is  one  and  one-quarter  inches 
thick.  The  sides,  front  and  back  are  of  ten 
gauge  steel,  well  braced,  drilled  and  hot  riveted. 
The  frame  is  six-inch  channel  steel,  well  braced 
with  cross  members  and  tied  with  large  gussets 
drilled  and  hot  riveted. 

The  hoist  is  the  Wood  hydraulic  hoist,  and  all 
necessary  connections  are  of  the  Knox  make  with 
their  own  make  of  pump  on  transmission  cover. 
The  hoist  will  raise  ten  tons  to  full  height  of 
lift  in  fifty  seconds.  Angles  of  dump  approxi¬ 
mately  thirty-five  degrees.  The  tail  gate  is  auto¬ 
matically  released  and  closed  by  dumping  action. 
The  hoist  is  controlled  by  lever  operated  from 
the  driver’s  seat. 

The  weight  is  7,500  pounds.  The  inside  box 
dimensions  are  144  inches  by  eighty  inches  by 
thirty-one  inches.  The  height  of  the  top  of  the 
body  from  the  ground  is  eighty-five  inches ;  top 
of  hoist  from  the  ground,  107  inches;  rear  of 
body  from  the  ground  in  dumping  position.  The 
wheelbase  is  ninety-six  inches. 


The  Power  Hoist  Trailer  Used  With  the  K^nox  Tractor. 


No.  22] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


429 


Stricter  Compliance  with  Mining  Law. 

Writing  articles  for  publication  has  been  a 
very  small  part  of  my  life  work,  though  I  have 
always  been  a  very  interested  reader  of  the 
many  good  articles  published  by  the  mining  jour¬ 
nals. 

Just  at  present  we  are  putting  on  full  steam 
after  some  eighteen  months  of  only  thirty  per 
cent  operating  time.  At  present  we  are  pretty 
well  supplied  with  everything  but  good  miners, 
and  much  of  my  time  is  occupied  trying  to  make 
as  good  use  as  possible  of  what  I  have. 

Efficiency  and  safety  must  always  be  linked 
together,  for  you  must  always  have  efficiency 
to  pay  the  cost  of  making  coal  mines  safe  for 
men  to  labor  in.  A  great  deal  is  being  said 
and  done  with  the  object  of  safety  first.  Some 
men  have  an  idea  that  it  is  better  to  advance 
safety  by  doing  as  little  work  as  possible,  arguing 
that  the  less  work  the  less  risk.  But  the  ex¬ 
ecutive  officer  at  the  mines  has  the  idea  of  pro¬ 
viding  ‘‘safety  first”  in  such  a  way  that  greater 
efficiency  results  from  every  step  taken  to  pro¬ 
vide  more  safety. 

After  some  twenty-three  years  experience  as 
a  mine  official  I  have  imbibed  some  very  positive 
ideas  and  one  of  these  positive  notions  is ;  That 
if  every  mining  superintendent  and  mine  fore¬ 
man  of  this  state  would  live  up  to  all  the  rules 
laid  down  in  the  present  mine  laws  and  rules  of 
the  good  state  of  Pennsylvania,  and,  where  he 
finds  they  do  not  go  far  enough  to  suit  his 
case,  just  add  other  rules,  a  great  reduction  of 
human  suffering  would  result. 

At  some  mines  the  presence  of  the  mine  in¬ 
spector  excites  everybody  in  charge.  Why?  These 
men  know  that  the  trip  rider  cannot  run  by  the 
side  of  the  trip  without  getting  crushed  by  the 
rio — unlawful.  The  men  cannot  carry  their  tools 
in  or  out,  for  the  trolley  wire  seems  to  be  every¬ 
where — unlawful.  The  driver  or  trip  rider  can¬ 
not  get  the  brakes  on  the  run-away  cars  in  the 
butt  entries,  for  posts,  rails,  ties  or  other  ma¬ 
terial  lies  everywhere — unlawful.  And  we  might 
cover  all  the  causes  of  accidents  and  find  in  most 
cases,  that  safety  is  best  provided  for  in  the 
strict  enforcement  of  our  mining  laws.  In  some 
mines  with  high  coal,  light  grades,  good  roof,  it 
is  easy  to  provide  both  safety  and  efficiency,  but 
with  only  thirty-six  to  forty  inches  of  coal,  heavy 
and  variable  grades,  and  in  many  sections  bad 
roof,  safety  and  efficiency  are  harder  to  effect. 

For  the  last  two  years  we  have  had  no  fatal 
accidents  at  Chickasaw,  and  no  accident  more 
serious  than  a  broken  leg.  Our  object  and  the 
ideal  of  this  company  is  the  strict  compliance 
with  the  mining  laws,  for  we  do  not  want  acci¬ 
dents  as  they  do  not  pay. 

Thomas  Hale,  Superintendent. 

Allegheny  River  Mining  Co.,  Chickasaw,  Pa. 


Cokedale  Social  Club. 

Editor,  Black  Diamond: 

I  am  glad  to  advise  you  what  our  company  is 
doing  to  increase  safety  and  efficiency.  We  are 
members  of  the  National  Safety  Council  of  Amer¬ 
ica  and  through  this  council  are  constantly  ad¬ 
vised  of  the  safety  measures  adopted  and  being 
tried  out  by  others.  Such  as  apply  to  our  special 
needs  are  retained,  others  are  carefully  discussed, 
gone  over  and  stored  away  for  a  time  when  per¬ 
haps  we  may  need  the  same. 

Through  this  council  we  also  receive  moving 
pictures  of  safety  first  and  these  we  show  once 
a  month  free  of  charge  to  our  men. 

Safety  and  welfare  meetings  are  held  regularly 
once  a  month,  at  which  time  all  foremen,  fire 
bosses,  inspectors  and  outside  foremen  are  pres¬ 
ent.  Our  accidents  for  the  month  are  very  care¬ 
fully  discussed  and  suggestions  for  the  prevention 
of  same  in  the  future  carefully  studied  out.  At 
this  time  I  am  not  in  a  position  to  give  exact 
figures  as  to  our  accomplishments,  however,  there 
is  a  wonderful  improvement  noted  along  safety 


lines  both  above  and  underground  at  this  plant, 
all  of  which,  of  course,  has  decreased  our  ac¬ 
cidents  considerably. 

About  two  years  ago  the  Cokedale  Social  Club 
was  formed,  an  institution  furnished  by  the 
company  for  its  men  as  a  place  of  rest  and  recre¬ 
ation.  The  club  contains  two  bowling  alleys,  pool 
and  billiard  tables,  soda  fountain,  writing,  reading 
and  rest  room  combined,  same  being  furnished 
with  properly  selected  furniture  appropriate  for 
such  a  place.  The  club  house  and  equipment  is 
always  kept  in  first  class  condition  by  a  regularly 
employed  attendant.  Bowling  and  billiard  tourna¬ 
ments  are  held  regularly,  in  all  of  which  men 
of  all  classes  and  nationalities  enthusiastically 
partake. 

In  conjunction  with  the  social  club  there  is  a 
night  school  where  instruction  is  given  in  reading, 
writing,  civil  government,  etc.  This  night  school 
is  attended  principally  by  foreigners  and  that 
the  school  was  successful  was  proven  conclusively 
in  the  case  of  one  man  who  neither  read  nor 
wrote  the  English  language  previous  to  attend¬ 
ing  these  sessions  and  was  frankly  admitted  by 
the  Department  of  Labor  and  Immigration  In¬ 
spector  for  naturalization  papers  to  be  one  of 
the  best  prepared  men  that  he  had  ever  had  oc¬ 
casion  to  examine. 

Appropriate  safety  signs  are  placed  about  the 
plant  for  the  guidance  of  all  employes  and  the 
wearing  of  goggles  by  our  mechanics  is  com¬ 
pulsory.  We  have  accomplished  much  along  this 
line  during  the  past  and  in  the  future  we  hope 
to  conquer  it  as  far  as  is  possible. 

D.  D.  Dodge,  Superintendent. 
Carbon  Coal  &  Coke  Co.,  Cokedale,  Col. 


Getting  Greater  Efficiency. 

Editor,  Black  Diamond  : 

The  following  items  have  a  direct  bearing  upon 
the  subject  of  greater  efficiency  in  coal  mining 
and  they  are  taken  from  the  address  of  General 
Mining  Superintendent  Thomas  Thomas  of  the 
Lehigh  Valley  Coal  Company  at  the  annual  out¬ 
ing  of  the  Social  Association  of  the  Lehigh  Val¬ 
ley  Company  held  August  21,  1915. 

Special  attention  should  be  given  to  the  miner 
working  at  the  face.  He  should  be  surrounded 
with  all  the  protection  possible  as  it  is  evident 
that  only  by  such  means  can  we  hope  to  reduce 
the  number  of  accidents  at  that  point.  The  miner 
must  be  made  to  understand  that  his  working, 
as  well  as  his  moral  conduct,  is  amenable  to  the 
laws  of  the  country  and  that  he  must  govern 
himself  accordingly. 

Further,  the  foreman  and  his  assistants  should 
keep  in  close  touch  with  all  working  places,  that 
they  may  know  the  actual  conditions  throughout 
the  working  day. 

Recklessness  or  carelessness  on  the  part  of 
any  workman  should  not  be  tolerated  as  there 
is  no  doubt  that  a  .great  number  of  accidents 
are  caused  by  such  practices.  The  inexperienced, 
however,  should  be  given  caution  and  the  bene¬ 
fit  of  your  wide  knowledge  of  the  work  in  which 
he  is  engaged. 

While  safety  to  the  workmen  is  the  first  con¬ 
sideration,  successful  operation  is  a  question  that 
must  be  given  serious  thought  by  the  officers 
in  charge.  By  “successful”  we  mean  efficient  op¬ 
eration.  “Efficient”  means  effective,  competent 
and  causative.  Successful  operation  is,  therefore, 
to  a  great  extent  dependent  on  the  personal  effi¬ 
ciency  of  those  in  charge.  They  should  cause,  or 
put  into  effect,  a  working  system  that  would  be 
productive  of  the  best  possible  results. 

Close  attention  should  be  given  to  the  details 
as  they  all  enter  into  the  general  results.  Among 
the  important  details  I  will  mention  : 

(1)  Ventilation.  Special  attention  should  be 
given  to  the  air  currents.  The  air  should  be  so 
conducted  that  all  parts  are  fully  ventilated.  Thus 
will  the  danger  from  gases  and  the  inconveni¬ 
ence  from  smoke  be  reduced  to  a  minimum,  and 


the  miner  and  his  laborer  be  enabled  to  work- 
better. 

(:D  Drainage  and  Tracks.  Drainage  should 
be  given  close  attention  in  order  that  the  road¬ 
ways  be  free  from  water  and  mud.  The  tracks 
should  be  kept  in  first  class  condition  in  order 
that  you  be  not  compelled  to  use  a  part  of  your 
force,  that  could  be  otherwise  engaged,  in  replac¬ 
ing  cars. 

(3)  Motive  Power.  Whether  your  source  of 
power  is  electricity,  compressed  air  or  mules,  it 
should  be  looked  after  keenly.  The  compressed 
air  and  electric  engines  should,  at  the  start  of 
each  day,  be  in  shape  to  go  through  the  day’s 
work.  The  men  in  charge  of  these  machines 
should  be  required  to  keep  them  in  first  class 
working  condition  in  order  that  there  be  no  de¬ 
lays  on  account  of  a  breakdown  during  the  day. 
Mules  should  not  be  overworked.  With  roads 
or  tracks  in  good  condition,  and  the  work  done 
by  the  mules  commensurate  with  their  weight, 
there  is  no  reason  why  we  should  not  have  a 
great  reduction  in  the  percentage  of  mules  laid 
up  in  the  stable  on  account  of  injuries. 

(4)  Mine  Cars  or  Rolling  Stock.  The  condi¬ 
tion  of  the  rolling  stock  is  one  of  the  greatest 
factors  entering  into  the  efficient  operation  of  a 
coal  mine.  While  the  work  of  keeping  these  cars 
in  repair  is  in  the  jurisdiction  of  the  outside 
foreman,  there  should  be  a  complete  understand¬ 
ing  between  the  inside  and  the  outside  men  on 
this  question.  Both  should  realize  that  the  best 
results  can  be  obtained  only  by  having  the  maxi¬ 
mum  number  of  cars  at  the  colliery  in  good  work¬ 
ing  condition  and  in  service.  The  car  that  comes 
out  of  the  mines  in  a  crippled  state,  or  in  need 
of  any  repairs,  should  be  given  prompt  attention 
by  the  outside  men  and  returned  to  service  in  the 
quickest  time  possible.  You  should  give  this 
matter  very  serious  consideration  as  the  loss  due 
to  an  accumulation  of  crippled  cars  is  very  great 
indeed. 

(5)  Distribution  of  Mine  Cars.  It  is  very 
necessary  that  the  mine  foreman  keep  in  close 
touch  with  the  number  of  cars  at  important  points, 
such  as  foot  of  shafts,  slopes  and  on  turnouts. 
A  shortage  of  cars  should  not  be  felt  at  those 
points,  but  rather  nearer  the  working  faces.  As 
far  as  possible  it  should  be  so  arranged  that 
cars  are  not  placed  for  loading  unless  the  per¬ 
sons  receiving  them  are  prepared  to  load  them 
within  a  reasonable  time.  Very  often  a  car 
shortage  is  produced  by  injudiciously  placing  cars 
without  first  ascertaining  the  prospects  of  getting 
them  loaded. 

(0)  Breaker  Efficiency.  The  efficient  opera¬ 
tion  of  the  breaker  is  of  vital  importance  to  the 
general  efficiency  of  the  colliery.  The  outside 
foreman  should,  as  far  as  possible,  arrange  the 
plant  so  that  the  breaker  operates  continuously 
while  coal  is  being  produced.  Petty  delays  are  an 
abomination  and  as  such  should  not  have  place 
in  our  plans.  The  exercise  of  foresight  and 
good  judgment,  we  believe,  will  reduce  them  to 
a  minimum. 

(7)  Cleanliness.  The  breaker  and  the  outside 
surroundings  should  be  kept  in  a  clean  and  pre¬ 
sentable  condition  at  all  times.  A  clean  house 
generally  deqotes  an  efficient  housekeeper. 

Our  organization  holds  a  very  creditable  posi¬ 
tion  in  the  mining  world,  and  the  ability  and 
loyalty  of  its  members  is  proverbial.  These  at¬ 
tributes  go  hand  in  hand  with  success,  but  with 
greater  efficiency  we  can  expect  a  higher  degree 
of  success.  So,  let  “GREATER  EFFICIENCY” 
be  the  slogan  of  all. 

Wilkes-Barre. 


Comparison  of  Belt  Splices. 

At  the  h'ield  Day  exercises  of  the  Lehigh  Val¬ 
ley  Coal  Company  one  of  the  contests  was  to 
join  the  ends  of  a  broken  four-ply  rubber  belt, 
sixteen  inches  wide,  the  splice  to  be  made  as 
quickly  as  possible  and  all  splices  to  have  ap¬ 
proximately  the  same  strength  as  the  original 
belt. 

Each  team  kept  its  method  of  splicing  secret 
and  the  result  was  that  no  two  splices  were  alike. 
The  following  criticism  of  the  several  splices 
illustrated  was  given  by  Mr.  Paul  Sterling,  me¬ 
chanical  engineer  of  the  Temple  Valley  Coal  Com¬ 
pany  : 

The  following  brief  remarks  are  made  on  the 
assumption  that:  First,  only  a  four-ply  rubber 
belt  is  considered ;  second,  that  the  minimum 
belt-pulley  diameter  is  equal  to  six  times  the 
number  of  plys  in  the  belt  (hence  for  this  four- 
I)ly  belt  the  minimum  diamter  is  4  x  6  or  24 
inches)  :  and  third,  that  in  case  special  plate  or 
clip  fasteners  are  used,  they  are  to  be  curved 
the  proper  diameter  of  the  pulley. 

A  butt-lap  spice,  in  which  a  portion  of  the 
belt  is  used  for  making  the  lap  joint,  is  satis- 


430 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[November  27 


Danger  of  a  Coal  Shortage  in  the  Northwest. 


factory  as  far  as  strength  goes;  it  develops, 
when  properly  made,  nearly  the  strength  of  the 
original  belt.  The  thickness  of  the  belt,  however, 
has  been  increased  at  the  joint,  from  four  to 
eight  plys  and  instead  of  a  twenty-four-inch  pul¬ 
ley  the  diameter  should  be  forty-eight  inches, 
rile  result  is  that  every  time  this  eight-ply  belt 
passes  over  the  twenty-four-inch  pulley  the  bend¬ 
ing  stress  or  power  required  to  curve  this  extra 
thickness  of  belt  around  the  pulley  is  increased, 
thus  causing  a  loss  of  power  or  increasing  the 
total  power  required.  This  loss  may  seem  small, 
but  in  a  breaker  with  fifty  or  more  belts  running 
:;,(K)()  feet  per  minute,  the  loss  becomes  important, 
b'urthermore,  should  this  belt  have  a  reversed 
licnd  over  the  carrying  or  stress  pulley  the  splice 
cannot  be  used  on  account  of  the  inability  of 
the  lap  to  ride  smoothly  over  the  stress  pulley. 

The  use  of  belt  clips  or  hooks  are  recommended 
only  for  a  very  quick  and  temporary  repair.  Such 
joints  do  not  develop  the  full  strength  of  the 
belt,  but  the  ease  of  applying  the  clips  warrants 
their  use  when  the  time  required  for  making  an¬ 
other  form  of  splice  would  cause  a  serious  de¬ 
lay.  Since  the  curve  of  the  clip  is  made  to  con¬ 
form  to  the  radius  of  the  pulley,  the  additional 
bending  stress  in  passing  over  the  pulley,  due 
to  the  thicker  section  of  the  belt  at  the  splice,  is 
eliminated.  The  apparent  saving,  however,  is 
offset  by  the  abrupt  end  in  the  belt  when  it  is 
pulled  straight.  Like  the  butt-lap  splice  this  one 
cannot  be  used  over  a  stress  or  carrying  pulley. 

The  clamped-joint  splice  has  only  two  claims 
to  recommend  it.  It  will  develop  approximately 
the  strength  of  the  original  belt,  and  will  run 
smoothly  over  the  pulley  without  increasing  the 
bending  stress  in  the  belt.  It  has  the  objection 
that  it  cannot  run  over  reversed  belt  pulleys  as 
the  two  previous  splices.  The  “bend,”  is  also 
hard  on  the  belt  and  is  often  the  cause  of  future 
failures. 

There  is  loss  of  power  in  this  splice  often  over¬ 
looked,  due  to  the  splice  cutting  through  or  fan¬ 
ning  the  air.  As  an  example,  take  a  sixteen-inch 
belt  running  at  4,000  feet  per  minute  with  a  splice 
projecting  two  inches  high.  Four  thousand  feet 
per  minute  is  equal  to  forty-five  miles  per  hour, 
or  is  equal  to  a  wind  blowing  at  that  velocity, 
which  gives  a  pressure  of  twelve  pounds  per 
square  foot. 

The  area  exposed  to  this  wind  pressure  of 
twelve  pounds  is  sixteen  inches  (wide)  times  two 
inches  (high)  equal  to  thirty-two  square  inches 
or  twenty-two  one-hundredths  square  foot.  Fig¬ 
ured  in  horsepower  this  loss  equals : 

.22  (sq.  ft.)  X  12  (lb.)  x  4000  (ft.  per  min.) 

33000  (ft.  lb.  per  hp.) 

=;  .33  horsepower  loss. 

If  there  are  many  belts  with  this  kind  of  a 
splice  the  total  loss  would  be  considerable.  This 
loss  also  occurs  with  the  butt-lap  splice  and  is 
directly  proportional  to  the  exposed  area  and 
velocity. 

The  hinged  splice  is  probably  one  of  the  best 
splices  for  all  general  purposes;  the  construc¬ 
tion  of  the  splice  is  such  as  to  bring  the  hinge 
or  bend  point  of  the  splice  on  the  approximate 
neutral  axis  of  the  belt.  This  permits  the 
splice  to  pass  over  the  pulley  without  increasing 
the  power  due  to  increasing  the  bending  stresses. 
The  splice  may  be  bent  in  either  direction,  con¬ 
sequently  the  belt  may  have  reversed  bends  or 
run  over  stress  pulleys.  The  objection  to  this 
splice  is  that  it  does  not  develop  the  strength  of 
the  original  belt.  This  objection  may  be  neg¬ 
lected,  provided  the  belt  used  is  sufficiently  wide 
to  allow  for  the  efficiency  of  the  splice. 

There  are  other  methods  of  belt  splicing,  such 
as  lacing  and  lap  splices.  Both  of  these  methods 
are  desirable  and  especially  so  when  a  flexible 
joint  is  required  due  to  the  diameter  of  the  pul¬ 
ley  being  less  than  the  ratio  given  above.  The 
foregoing  rule  for  the  diameter  of  the  pulley 
in  relation  to  the  plys  of  the  belt  is  recommended 
for  general  use,  though  in  extreme  cases  the 
ratio  may  be  reduced  to  four  to  one. 

Belt  splicing  has  not  been  receiving  the  full 
attention  it  deserves.  There  is  no  doubt  that 
many  costly  delays  have  been  due  to  inefficient 
splices,  not  counting  the  many  petty  delays  which 
in  the  aggregate  mean  a  big  loss  of  time  during 
the  year.  In  order  that  we  may  all  profit  by  les¬ 
sons  taught  us  at  our  last  outing,  it  may  be  well 
to  summarize  the  result,  keeping  in  mind  that  the 
contest  was  only  to  demonstrate  an  emergency 
belt  splice. 

First,  for  large  and  permanent  belt  drives,  such 
as  main-drives,  use  the  butt-lap  splice,  using  ce¬ 
ment  for  joints  and  copper  rivets  or  belt  bolts. 

Second,  for  light  drives,  where  the  belt  width 
is  sufficient  (say  fifteen  per  cent  of  that  required) 
use  the  hinged  joint  splice  or  rawhide  lacings. 


Here  is  one  point  about  the  short  coal  supply 
which  every  retail  coal  dealer  in  the  west  should 
know.  It  was  brought  out  just  recently  by  T. 
B.  Davis  of  the  Davis  Coal  &  Coke  Company,  No. 
1  Broadway,  New  York.  In  substance,  he  said; 

“The  northwest  this  year  is  most  likely  to  be 
seriously  short  of  coal,  and  for  good  reason. 
For  the  last  year  or  so,  the  northwestern  rail¬ 
ways  have  been  using  far  less  fuel  than  normal¬ 
ly.  Everyone  has  believed  that  they  cut  down 
their  fuel  consumption  because  they  were  not  do¬ 
ing  much  business.  So  long  as  the  railways  con¬ 
tinued  to  burn  a  small  amount  of  coal,  the  peo¬ 
ple  concluded  that  business  generally  was  far 
from  brisk.  Therefore  everyone — including  the 
coal  men — argued :  ‘Until  business  braces  up  a 
bit,  no  one  need  worry  about  a  supply  of  coal.’ 
In  a  sense,  railway  fuel  consumption  was  looked 
upon  as  a  barometer  of  business. 

“The  facts  do  not  support  this  general  assump¬ 
tion.  It  is  true  that  the  railways  used  relatively 
a  small  amount  of  coal  within  the  last  year.  But 
it  is  not  true  that  this  measured  their  decrease 
in  business.  Rather,  it  signified  that  they  were 
using  only  the  very  best  and  most  modern  types 
of  locomotives.  In  a  word,  they  used  nothing 
but  the  Mallet  or  the  Mikado  engines.  With 
those  locomotives  they  not  only  hauled  a  much 
bigger  volume  of  business  per  engine,  but  they 
did  it  at  a  minimum  expenditure  of  fuel. 

“So  long  as  the  railways  were  able  to  get 
along  while  using  these  big  engines  alone,  they 
were  operating  at  maximum  efficiency  and  with 
a  minimum  amount  of  coal.  That  was  one  thing 


Port  Arthur,  Out.,  claims  the  finest  coal 
docks  on  the  Canadian  lakes. 

They  were  finished  this  year  and  were 
built  along  the  newest  lines  of  construction. 
They  will  handle,  before  navigation  closes, 
over  1,500,000  tons  and  the  total  may  run  as 
high  as  2,000,000. 

They  were  built  by  the  Canadian  Northern 
Railway  and  were  opened  with  one  set  of 
clams  in  1906.  The  capacity  at  that  time 
was  22,000  tons  of  hard  and  250,000  tons  of 
soft  coal. 

In  1913  this  capacity  was  increased  to  160,- 
000  tons  of  hard  coal  and  500,000  tons  of  soft 
coal.  Last  year  a  fourth  clam  of  two  tons 
capacity  capable  of  handling  three  thousand 
tons  per  day  of  ten  hours  was  added  and  is 
now  in  operation.  This  enables  the  dock  to 


that  cut  down  the  fuel  consumption. 

“Now  those  same  railroads,  to  handle  their 
busines.s,  must  pull  out  of  the  roundhouse  every 
locomotive  that  the  railway  owns.  These  are 
not  efficient  machines.  They  were  not  built  to 
get  fuel  economy.  From  now  on,  the  northwest¬ 
ern  railways  are  not  going  to  haul  their  busi¬ 
ness  with  anything  like  the  same  expenditure  of 
coal  as  heretofore.  As  a  consequence,  railway 
fuel  consumption  in  the  northwest  is  going  to 
increase  all  out  of  proportion  to  the  number  of 
engines  put  into  use.  This  means  that  north¬ 
western  business  is  improving  rapidly,  but  the 
railroads  are  not  going  to  be  able  to  handle  it 
all  with  efficient  equipment.  Rather,  they  are 
going  to  try  to  handle  a  part  of  the  big  volume 
of  business  with  antiquated  equipment.” 

When  the  railroads  are  cornpelled  to  take  these 
old  engines  out  of  the  repair  shop  or  the  round¬ 
house,  it  does  not  speak  very  well  for  the  chances 
of  the  coal  consumer  or  retailer  to  get  coal  from 
the  docks  in  stormy  or  cold  weather.  In  the  first 
place,  the  retailers  will  be  in  competition  with 
the  railways  for  the  available  coal ;  that  will 
automatically  shorten  the  supply  of  the  dealers. 
In  the  second  place,  these  old  engines  will  be 
likely  to  fail  when  called  upon  to  buck  a  snow¬ 
drift.  The  northwest,  in  consequence,  is  in  dan¬ 
ger  of  encountering  a  congestion  of  traffic  due 
to  engine  failure  at  the  very  time  the  demand 
for  coal  is  the  greatest.  The  retailer,  who, 
under  the  circumstances,  neglects  to  get  in  his 
coal  before  the  cold  weather  comes,  is  flirting 
with  the  worst  possible  kind  of  danger. 


load  into  railroad  cars  at  the  rate  of  8,400 
tons  daily. 

The  hard  coal  is  contained  in  sheds  which 
are  built  of  steel  and  concrete  and  each  have 
100,000  tons  capacity.  It  is  possible  to  ship 
independently  from  any  one,  and  all  may  ship 
together.  A  feature  of  these  sheds  for  hard 
coal  is  that  they  have  concrete  conduits  for 
the  loading  belts  to  run  in,  thus  greatly  les¬ 
sening  the  danger  of  fire. 

The  whole  dock  is  modern  in  construction 
and  is  run  by  electricity.  It  has  three  sets  of 
track-weighing  scales  which  weigh  the  emp¬ 
ties  in  and  the  loaded  cars  out.  It  is  possible 
to  weigh  loaded  cars  outward  and  empties  in¬ 
ward  at  the  same  time.  This  feature  is  unique 
in  coal  docks  at  the  head  of  the  Canadian 
lakes.  This  year  there  will  be  handled  through 
these  docks  over  1,250,000  tons  of  coal. 


Canadian  Northern  Railway’s  Coal  Dock  at  Port  Arthur. 


Canadian  Northern  Docks  at  Port  Arthur 


No.  22] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


431 


What  of  the  Price-cutter? 

Coal  dealers  who  have  the  price-cutting  habit 
will  not  enjoy,  but  may  profit  from  reading  the 
following  from  the  pen  of  Herbert  N.  Casson, 
who  states  the  situation  in  words  that  are  likely 
to  get  under  the  skin  of  the  most  callous  and 
hardened  sinner : 

“The  price-cutter  is  worse  than  a  criminal. 

“He  is  a  fool. 

“He  not  only  pulls  down  the  standing  of  his 
goods:  he  not  only  pulls  down  his  competitors; 
he  pulls  down  himself  and  his  whole  trade.  He 
scuttles  the  ship  in  which  he  himself  is  afloat. 

“Nothing  is  so  easy  as  to  cut  prices;  and  noth¬ 
ing  is  so  hard  as  to  get  them  back  when  once 
they  have  been  pulled  down. 

“Any  child  can  throw  a  glass  of  water  on  the 
floor,  but  the  wisest  scientists  can’t  pick  that 
water  up. 

“The  man  who  cuts  prices  puts  up  the  sign : 
‘This  Way  to  the  Junk  Heap!’ 

“He  admits  his  own  failure  as  a  salesman.  He 
admits  he  has  been  defeated  according  to  the 
Marquis  of  Queensbury  rules  of  business.  He 
admits  he  cannot  win  by  fighting  fair.” 


Cutting  Prices  Hurts  Demand. 

A  good  many  coal  dealers  who  from  time  to 
time  cut  the  prices  of  their  commodity  below  a 
figure  which  is  calculated  to  produce  a  profit 
have  the  idea  that  a  reduced  price  necessarily 
stimulates  demand. 

That  is  one  of  the  greatest  fallacies  of  the 
situation.  So  many  other  factors  enter  into  de¬ 
termining  where  an  order  is  to  be  placed  that  it 
is  impossible  to  reason  that  because  a  price  is 
cut  more  business  necessarily  will  follow.  In  the 
first  place,  the  cut  must  be  advertised,  and  that 
means  expense;  in  order  to  be  really  effective 
as  a  business-getter,  it  must  be  much  more  wide¬ 
ly  advertised  than  a  dealer  who  is  losing  money 
on  his  business  can  afford.  And  branding  him¬ 
self  in  this  way  is  going  to  make  it  mighty  hard 
to  climb  back  on  the  pedestal  of  profitable  prices. 

In  fact,  too  much  cut-price  advertising  tends  to 
undermine  public  confidence  in  an  article  or  a 
firm.  “Methinks  the  lady  doth  protest  too  much.” 
The  concern  which  keeps  hammering  on  the  re¬ 
duction  in  its  prices  suggests  to  the  buyer  that 
the  quality  may  not  be  up  to  the  mark,  and  even 
though  this  may  not  be  a  fair  imputation,  it  has 
its  effect  on  the  situation. 

In  a  town  where  cut  prices  have  been  the  rule 
for  some  time,  an  association  was  recently  formed 
by  the  better  class  of  dealers,  with  the  slogan, 
“Let’s  Make  Some  Money  Out  of  Our  Business!” 
The  notorious  price-cutters  were  left  off  the  list, 
and  after  standard  quotations  had  been  estab¬ 
lished,  it  was  reported  by  the  members  that  the 
activities  of  the  cut-price  concerns  did  not  seem 
to  be  hurting  them.  The  fact  of  the  case  was 
that  these  dealers  had  injured  their  own  reputa¬ 
tions  by  too  much  emphasis  on  their  low  prices, 
and  had  given  the  public  reason  to  believe  that 
there  must  be  some  reason  for  them  other  than 
a  desire  to  confer  a  benefit  on  coal  consumers. 

When  the  real  trade  leaders  establish  prices 
on  the  right  basis,  and  stick  to  them,  cutting 
prices  doesn’t  help  competitors  who  have  to  cut 
them  in  order  to  have  a  chance  to  get  the  busi¬ 
ness.  It  merely  establishes  their  status  a  notch 
below  the  people  who  are  holding  up  values,  and 
are  giving  everybody  his  money’s  worth  in  coal 
and  service. 

Where  Trucks  Help  a  Lot. 

A  coal  dealer  who  is  operating  a  number  of 
motor  trucks  had  an  experience  recently  which 


.showed  clearly  to  what  extent  trucks  can  be  of 
service  in  enabling  money  to  be  made  out  of  the 
business. 

A  big  industrial  concern,  which  for  reasons 
pertaining  to  its  business  is  not  located  on  a 
switch,  was  about  to  let  a  contract  for  coal, 
which  it  wanted  to  buy  in  carloads,  delivered  at 
its  factory. 

This  involved  a  haul  of  more  than  a  mile,  and 
the  teaming. charge  was  not  only  one  of  the  big 
factors  in  the  price,  but  also  was  the  only  basis 
for  competition.  Under  such  circumstances,  the 
use  of  trucks  was  not  as  effective  as  it  would 
have  been  with  a  longer  haul,  and  where  load¬ 
ing  equipment  could  be  used,  as  it  was  with  deliv¬ 
eries  from  the  yard;  but  it  was  just  helpful 
enough  to  enable  the  dealer  who  had  motor  equip¬ 
ment  to  get  the  business,  and  without  cutting 
the  price  below  a  profitable  figure.  The  trucks 
made  the  distance  in  a  third  of  the  time  taken 
by  horses  and  wagons,  and  while  the  loading 
time  was  the  same,  the  saving  was  sufficient  to 
enable  a  slightly  lower  price  for  the  work  to  be 
figured  and  the  contract  to  be  secured. 

Besides,  the  use  of  wagons  meant  that  a  lot 
of  equipment  would  be  tied  up  for  days  at  a 
time  getting  the  coal  to  the  consumer;  while 
with  trucks  the  buyer  could  be  kept  supplied  and 
the  cars  unloaded  in  a  reasonably  short  time,  with¬ 
out  making  the  equipment  unavailable  for  other 
work.  They  were  used  for  emergency  and  long¬ 
distance  business  just  as  before,  handling  the 
contract  deliveries  in  between  the  other  calls. 


How  Contests  Work. 

Business  is  a  great  game,  and  if  the  sporting 
element  is  properly  featured,  it  will  do  a  great 
deal  to  stimulate  interest  and  increase  results. 

In  big  organizations,  contests  among  the  mem¬ 
bers  of  the  sales  force  are  splendid  stimulants, 
and  it  is  often  well  to  offer  prizes  to  the  men 
who  make  the  best  records  for  periods  of  weeks 
or  months,  or  who  secure  the  greatest  nurnber 
of  new  customers,  have  the  fewest  complaints, 
etc. 

In  the  small  business,  where  only  one  outside 
salesman  is  employed,  for  instance,  a  contest 
does  not  seem  practicable.  And  yet  the  same 
element  of  competition  which  is  needed  to  ginger 
up  the  solicitor  may  be  introduced  by  letting  him 
compete  with  himself ! 

This  is  on  the  basis  of  his  former  records.  A 
bonus  can  be  offered  if  he  beats  last  year’s,  last 
month’s  or  last  week’s  figures;  and  the  boss,  by 
keeping  tab  on  these  comparisons,  can  likewise 
have  a  better  line  on  what  his  salesman  is  doing, 
and  whether  his  work  is  showing  an  improve¬ 
ment. 

The  solicitor  whose  record  is  constantly  in  the 
limelight,  as  it  is  when  a  contest  of  this  sort  is 
instituted,  is  going  to  try  harder  to  hold  up  his 
end  than  he  would  do  otherwise.  Some  men  are 
so  constituted  that  as  soon  as  they  turn  a  good 
trick,  they  begin  to  loaf,  feeling  that  they  have 
done  everything  that  ought  to  be  expected  of 
them.  Others  dislike  to  do  too  much  in  a  given 
week,  for  fear  it  will  set  too  hot  a  pace  for  them 
to  follow  thereafter,  and  they  begin  to  slump  in 
their  work  as  .soon  as  one  big  order  is  landed. 
But  the  man  who  fails  to  improve  is  not  a  suc¬ 
cess,  no  matter  if  he  manages  to  hold  his  own; 
it’s  the  live  wire  who  can  make  a  continuous 
improvement,  and  whose  advance  is  steady  and 
assured,  that  gets  the  raises  and  the  promotions. 

Having  a  sales  contest,  if  it  is  only  for  the 
benefit  of  one  outside  man,  will  do  a  lot  of  good 
for  the  business;  while  if  there  are  three  or 
four  in  the  sales  department,  a  little  healthy  com¬ 
petition  and  a  little  generous  rivalry  will  do  a  lot 


to  make  the  work  more  enjoyable  and  the  re¬ 
sults  more  satisfactory  to  the  man  who  is  running 
the  business. 


The  Element  of  Depreciation. 

Coal  retailers  whose  businesses  are  conducted 
as  corporations  have  had  their  attention  called, 
doubtless,  to  the  matter  of  making  returns  for 
income  tax  purposes,  and  to  the  item  of  depre¬ 
ciation  which  is  permitted  to  be  subtracted  from 
gross  profits  in  order  to  arrive  at  the  amount 
subject  to  taxation. 

It  is  probably  a  good  thing  that  this  feature 
is  being  emphasized,  because  the  treatment  of 
this  factor  has  been  decidedly  loose  among  most 
business  men,  including  retail  coal  dealers.  Some 
members  of  the  trade  have  made  a  charge  for 
depreciation  only  when  their  profits  were  large 
enough  to  take  care  of  this  feature;  others 
failed  to  allow  for  the  loss  of  value  caused  by 
ob.solescence,  which  is  entirely  different  from  phys¬ 
ical  depreciation,  but  is  just  as  important.  When 
a  class  of  equipment  becomes  obsolete,  and  must 
be  replaced,  the  fact  that  it  is  physically  in  good 
condition  does  not  alter  the  loss  of  value,  as  an 
operating  proposition. 

The  Government  has  laid  down  no  hard  and 
fast  rules  regarding  the  amount  of  depreciation 
which  is  permitted,  but  a  “reasonable”  charge 
must  be  made.  That  means  that  it  must  be  made 
annually,  instead  of  being  “saved  up”  for  the  fat 
years,  and  left  off  during  the  lean  years;  like¬ 
wise,  experience  has  shown,  if  a  charge  for  obso¬ 
lete  equipment  is  to  be  made,  it  should  not  be 
included  in  depreciation,  but  a  special  charge  for 
that  purpose  indicated. 

In  connection  with  depreciation,  the  plan  used 
by  a  business  man  in  another  line  would  probably 
be  a  good  one  for  retailers  to  adopt.  Since  the 
charge  is  shown  on  the  books,  the  money  which 
is  thus  produced  must  either  be  kept  in  the  gen¬ 
eral  accounts  of  the  firm  or  carried  as  a  separate 
proposition.  If  the  capital  of  a  concern  will 
permit,  the  plan  referred  to  of  investing  the 
money  produced  by  making  the  charge  in  nego¬ 
tiable  listed  securities  has  the  big  advantage  that 
when  additional  equipment  for  replacement  pur¬ 
poses  is  to  be  bought,  it  can  be  taken  out  of  this 
special  fund  by  the  sale  of  the  necessary  securi¬ 
ties,  without  having  to  go  into  the  general  fund 
or  perhaps  borrow  the  money  for  that  purpose. 


Thirty  Seconds  at  the  Phone. 

Psychologists  would  probably  be  interested  in 
analyzing  the  situation  presented  by  the  facts 
that  when  one  is  waiting  in  a  store  or  office, 
thirty  seconds  is  a  very  short  time;  but  when- 
one  is  hanging  on  the  end  of  a  telephone,  waiting 
for  someone — say  a  coal  dealer — to  answer,  thirty 
seconds  is  magnified  into  an  intolerably  long  in¬ 
terval. 

Probably  it  is  because  the  mind  is  concentrat¬ 
ed  on  the  phone;  the  person  calling  is  held  in 
suspense,  mentally,  each  second  expecting  the 
“Hello”  from  the  other  end  of  the  wire  to  start 
the  conversation  for  which  the  call  was  made. 
In  the  other  case,  the  mind  is  at  rest,  and  in¬ 
terest  may  be  taken  in  the  surroundings,  so  that 
the  time  which  intervenes  between  the  entrance 
into  the  store  and  securing  the  attention  of  a 
salesman  or  other  person  whose  presence  was 
desired  passes  quickly. 

This  is  not  merely  an  academic  fact  which  is 
Ijeing  passed  out  for  no  other  reason  than  that 
it  is  interesting;  but  to  emphasize  again  the 
necessity  of  having  prompt  service  in  regard  to 
answering  telephones.  It  takes  some  time  to  put 
a  call  through  the  exchanges,  and  consequently 
several  seconds  have  elapsed  when  the  bell  in 
the-  office  of  the  coal  dealer  rings.  It  is  there¬ 
fore  of  great  importance  that  it  be  answered  im¬ 
mediately,  even  if  conversation  with  someone  in 
the  office  must  be  interrupted,  or  an  entry  in 
a  ledger  suspended  without  crossing  a  “t”  or  dot¬ 
ting  an  “i.” 

It  is  best,  too,  that  the  phone  should  be  an¬ 
swered  by  someone  capable  of  taking  an  order,  as 
having  to  cause  further  delay  by  turning  the  cus¬ 
tomer  over  to  a  different  person  is  likely  to 
produce  irritation.  Everyone  in  the  office,  there¬ 
fore,  .should  be  trained  along  this  line,  so  that 
even  the  stenographer,  who  thinks  she  was  em¬ 
ployed  solely  to  take  dictation  and  pound  her 
typewriter,  will  be  available  if  others  are  out, 
and  everybody  else  will  be  in  a  position  to  do 
business  whenever  it  is  offered. 

Plenty  of  phones,  with  intelligent  and  courte¬ 
ous  and  prompt — especially  prompt — answers  to 
calls,  will  do  a  lot  to  create  a  favorable  impres¬ 
sion  in  the  minds  of  the  hundreds  of  cu.stomers 
whose  experience  with  the  dealer  is  solely  by 
way  of  the  telephone. 


432 


[November  27 


_  ^  _  the  black  DIA3I()ND. 

What  Retailers  in  Many  Cities  are  Doing. 


Arkansas. 

Little  Rock — A  new  retail  coal  business  of  this 
city  is  that  of  Thomas-Aclams  Fuel  Company, 
which  has  recently  been  incorporated  for  $10,000. 

Idaho. 

Kellogg — Boro  Brothers  of  this  city  have  re¬ 
cently  purchased  the  retail  coal  business  of  Ben 
Roth  rock. 

Illinois. 

Rock  Island — The  Port  Byron  Material  &  Fuel 
Company  is  a  new  corporation  of  this  city. 

Erie — The  Osborne  Company  will  conduct  the 
coal  business  of  the  old  Osborne  &  Clarke  Com¬ 
pany. 

Cairo — Mr.  I.  Bear  will  succeed  the  Citizens 
Fuel  &  Feed  Company  in  the  retail  coal  and  feed 
business. 

Winchester — Mr.  P.  E.  Taylor  is  in  charge  of 
the  business  of  the  Glacier  Coal  &  Ice  Company 
at  this  city. 

Geneva — The  Charles  Ilarbaugh  Lumber  Co. 
will  succeed  the  Watson  Lumber  Company  in  the 
retail  coal  and  lumber  business. 

Indiana. 

Kirklin — Ed  Mcllwain  will  enga.ge  in  the  re¬ 
tail  coal  business  in  the  near  future. 

Delphi — The  retail  coal  and  ice  business  of 
H.  L.  Sharp  has  been  taken  over  by  the  Haugh 
Coal  Company. 

Andrews — A.  Wasmuth  &  Sons  Company  have 
succeeded  the  Black  Diamond  Coal  Company  on 
the  death  of  the  former  owner,  Mr.  Long. 

Indianapoli.s — The  Northern  Ice  &  Fuel  Com¬ 
pany,  with  capital  stock  of  $25,000,  has  recently 
l)een  organized  to  deal  in  the  ice,  coal  and  coke 
business. 

Elkhart — Wm.  D.  Shimp  has  made  several  re¬ 
pairs  and  additions  in  his  coal  yards  here,  and 
now  has  a  storage  capacity  of  over  3,000  tons. 

Goshen — Business  is  .good  and  collections  fair. 
Present  cold  weather  has  caused  an  increased  de¬ 
mand  for  domestic  coal  here. — Independent  Coal 
Co. 

Muncie — The  Elevator  Cash  Coal  Company  has 
recently  been  incorporated  with  a  capitalization 
of  $10,000.  The  products  handled  by  the  new 
firm  are  coal  and  building  material  supplies. 

Plymouth — Business  is  good,  brought  on  by  the 
colder  weather,  and  collections  are  normal.  Are 
experiencing  some  difficulty  in  getting  anthracite. 
— A.  C.  Richard. 

■  Elkhart — Staples  &  Hardman  have  just  built  a 
new  office  building  in  their  coal  yard.  It  is  up-to- 
date  in  every  respect,  including  a  new  scale  with 
a  concrete  pit.  The  back  of  the  office  building 
is  used  as  a  warehouse  for  storin.g  lime,  cement, 
etc. 

Elkhart — Calvert  and  Krau,  a  new  retail  coal 
concern  here,  have  just  completed  a  new  coal 
yard  with  office  and  sheds.  The  sheds  are  con¬ 
structed  of  wood,  with  concrete  floors.  The  sheds 
are  built  in  a  semicircle  with  a  roof  projection 
to  protect  rain  or  snow  from  getting  in  the  coal 
from  the  driveway.  The  office  is  up-to-date  in 
construction  and  design. 

Iowa. 

Fort  Dodge — Edward  W.  Collins  has  succeeded 
H.  E.  Fitz  in  the  retail  coal  business. 

W'aterloo — F.  E.  Watkins  has  taken  over  the 
retail  coal  business  of  G.  W.  Bunn. 

Grundy  Center — E.  E.  Billings  is  now  en.gaged 
in  the  retail  coal  business,  having  bought  out  the 
Leibsohn  Grain  Company. 

Fort  Dodge — A  new  corporation  of  this  city 
is  that  of  the  Dean-Bennett  Company,  which  will 
deal  in  coal,  feed  and  grain.  The  capital  is  $3,000. 

Traer — The  Jas.  A.  Smith  Lumber  Company  of 
Osa.ge,  Iowa,  has  purchased  the  retail  coal  and 
lumber  yard  of  the  D.  E.  Baker  Lumber  Company 
of  this  city. 

Kansas. 

Junction  City — George  C.  Moses  &  Son  have 
purchased  the  retail  coal  and  lumber  business  of 
the  Mead  Lumber  Company. 

.Stafford — Pat  McCloskey  has  taken  over  the 
retail  coal  business  of  Soice  &  Jiminson. 

Blue  Rapids — The  Burgner-Bowman  Lumber 
Company  has  succeeded  the  Gem  City  Lumber 
Company  in  the  retail  coal  and  lumber  business. 

Kentucky. 

Louisville — The  Kennedy  Coal  Company  is  a 
new  organization  of  this  city.  The  firm  was  in¬ 
corporated  for  $1,200. 


Michigan. 

St.  Joseph — Fred  Ormsby  has  purchased  the  old 
Harmon  yard  at  this  city. 

Bay  City — W.  F.  Kaezynski  Coal  Company  has 
purchased  the  retail  coal  business  of  Frank  Webb. 

Gaylord — The  Gaylord  Lumber  &  Fuel  Com¬ 
pany  is  a  new  corporation  of  this  city.  The  prod¬ 
ucts  of  the  firm  are  coal  and  lumber. 

Clare — The  Clare  Lumber  Company  was  re¬ 
cently  organized,  having  taken  over  the  retail 
coal  and  lumber  l)usiness  of  N.  F.  Greeck. 

Ann  Arbor — The  .'\nn-A  Fuel  Company  has 
recently  been  organized  and  has  taken  over  the 
retail  coal  business  of  the  late  George  W.  Weeks. 

Holland — The  Fekkem  &  Dyke  Coal  Company 
is  a  new  retail  coal  business  recently  organized  in 
this  city. 

Royal  Oak — The  Lawson  Lumber  &  Coal  Com¬ 
pany,  with  capitalization  of  $50,000,  has  been  or¬ 
ganized  to  take  over  the  retail  coal  and  lumber 
business  by  J.  M.  Lawson  (estate). 

Missouri. 

Gibbs — The  Gibbs  Lumber  &  Coal  Company  has 
taken  over  the  lumber  and  coal  business  of  the 
Merideth  Lumber  Company. 

Joplin — The  Square  Deal  Coal  &  Material  Com¬ 
pany  has  recently  filed  articles  for  incorporation 
with  capital  stock  of  $2,000. 

Moberly — The  Central  Coal  &  Supply  Company 
have  succeeded  Tuley  &  Son  in  the  retail  coal, 
wood  and  building  material  business. 

Montana. 

Billings — I.  A.  Hoyt  has  purchased  the  interests 
of  the  North  Coal  Company. 

Helena — The  Pioneer  Coal  Company  has  re¬ 
cently  en.gaged  in  the  retail  coal  business. 

New  Hampshire. 

Concord — George  R.  Taylor  &  Company  has 
purchased  the  retail  coal  business  of  the  Loveren 
Coal  Company. 

New  Jersey. 

Red  Bank — J.  N.  Beers  has  succeeded  J.  S. 
Hunt  in  the  retail  coal  business. 

Washington — A  new  corporation  of  this  city 
is  that  of  Cattelle  &  Shulze  Coal  &  Lumber  Com¬ 
pany. 

West  Berlin — Robert  Jaggarshas  has  enga.ged  in 
the  coal  'business  recently. 

New  York. 

Albany — The  Star  Wood,  Coal  &  Charcoal 
Company,  with  capital  of  $2,500,  has  recently 
been  organized. 

Utica — R.  B.  Howarth  Coal  Company  has  re¬ 
cently  been  incorporated  to  engage  in  the  retail 
coal  business. 

Brooklyn — Thomas  F.  Taylor’s  Sons  is  a  new 
corporation  of  this  city  with  a  capitalization  of 
$50,000  to  engage  in  the  coal,  coke,  wood,  and 
lumber  business. 

Hudson — The  Van  Wycke-Thorpe  Coal  Com¬ 
pany,  one  of  the  largest  concerns  of  its  kind  in 
this  section,  has  recently  purchased  the  B.  S. 
Tohnson  Coal  Yard  formerly  owned  by  S.  H. 
Tallmadge. 

North  Dakota. 

Fargo — The  Great  Northern  Fuel  &  Construc¬ 
tion  Company,  with  capitalization  of  $5,000,  has 
'recently  been  incorporated. 

Ohio. 

Marysville — H.  D.  Harris  has  purchased  the 
retail  coal  business  of  Mrs.  L.  A.  Shields. 

Deaver  Dam,  Ohio. — The  coal  business  in  this 
city  is  in  a  very  satisfactory  condition.  The  vol¬ 
ume  of  business  is  increasing  each  year,  and  there 
has  been  no  changes  in  the  personnel  of  the  trade 
for  the  last  few  years.  There  are  two  yards 
here,  ours  and  that  of  the  Beaver  Dam  Elevator 
Co.— C.  C.  Heller. 

Batavia,  Ohio. — We  have  just  built  a  new  lum¬ 
ber  shed,  forty  by  120  feet  in  dimensions,  in  our 
lumber  and  coal  yard  here.  Business  is  very  satis¬ 
factory. — Geo.  A.  Keen  &  Bro. 

Pennsylvania. 

Wawaset — W.  J.  Pratt  &  Sons  have  purchased 
the  retail  coal  business  of  E.  P.  Wilkinson. 

Reading — Jacob  Mentzer  will  engage  in  the  re¬ 
tail  coal  business  in  the  near  future. 

Lansdale — The  A.  C.  Godshall  Company  has 
succeeded  James  Brady  in  the  retail  coal  business. 

Washington  Borough — BenjamineK.  Sauder  has 
taken  over  the  retail  coal  business  of  S.  M.  Young. 


Tennessee. 

Columbia — The  Columbia  Ice  &  Cold  Storage 
Company  has  engaged  in  the  retail  coal  business 
recently. 

Knoxville — J.  A.  Shanks  has  purchased  the 
stock  and  interest  of  H.  M.  Miller  in  the  Miller 
Transfer  &  Coal  Company. 

Chattanooga — The  flryan  Transfer  &  Stora.ge 
Company  has  added  a  coal  department  to  its 
large  transfer  and  storage  business. 

Texas. 

Tioga — A.  H.  Lefthwich  has  purchased  the  re¬ 
tail  coal  business  of  J.  H.  Henderson,  deceased. 

Mineral  Wells — T.  J.  Green  Ice  &  Kuel  Com¬ 
pany  has  taken  over  the  equipment  of  L.  N. 
Brewster,  who  has  retired  from  business. 

Wisconsin. 

Kenosha — The  Independent  Coal  Company  has 
been  incorporated  for  $20,000. 

Menomonie — The  City  Fuel  Company  has  pur¬ 
chased  the  business  of  the  F.  C.  Michaels  Fuel 
Company. 

Milton  Junction — Fifield  &  Halverson  have  pur¬ 
chased  the  retail  coal  and  lumber  business  of  the 
F.  B.  Goodrich  Lumber  Company. 

Milwaukee — The  Whitnall  Coal  &  Supply  Com¬ 
pany,  with  capital  stock  of  $50,000,  has  recently 
l)een  incorporated  to  enga.ge  in  the  retail  coal  and 
building  material  business. 


Character  in  Advertising. 


The  introduction  of  characters  into  advertising, 
such  as  the  Gold  Dust  Twins,  the  clowns  in  ZuZu 
Ginger  Snaps,  the  Dutch  Girl  in  Dutch  Cleanser 
and  the  Little  Bears  in  Winchester  Rifle  adver¬ 
tising,  must  be  a  successful  practice  from  the 
length  of  time  it  has  been  going  on. 

The  M.  B.  Schofield  Company,  a  retail  coal 
company  of  Oklahpma  City,  Okla.,  has  introduced 
a  character  into  its  advertising  under  the  name  of 
“Phil  Binns,”  who  in  reality  is  M.  B.  Schofield 
himself. 

“Phil  Binns’  ”  philosophy  usually  appears  in 
newspaper  advertisements,  he  himself  heading  the 
column  as  shown  by  the  extract  from  one  of  the 
recent  advertisements. 

The  advertisement  begins,  “Phil  Binns  says  a 
woman  asked  us  the  other  day,  ‘Why  do  you 
advertise  coal  as  healthful  heat.’  Not  wanting  to 
be  arrogant  we  let  her  answer  her  own  question 


PO;i3A/rvr\>o/ 

says 

A  Wornan^^^ 

Adv.  of  M.  B.  Schofield  Co. 

by  asking  her  these :  Did  you  ever  hear  of  coal 
‘escaping’ — or  of  killing  plants  in  the  room  where 
it  is  used — or  of  the  children  ‘turning  it  on’  while 
the  parents  were  away — or,  did  you  ever  hear  of 
coal  having  such  an  accident  as  ‘broken  mains,’ 
or  such  a  disease  as  ‘low  pressure?’  Of  course 
not.  Even  for  heating  a  small  furnace  in  a  five- 
room  house  coal  is  the  cheaper  fuel,  and  it  is 
safer  and  more  healthful  also.  Phone  Walnut  8 
for  healthful  (coal)  heat.’’ 

The  trade  slogan,  “healthful  (coal)  heat’’  is 
used  because  of  the  cheap  gas  competition  exist¬ 
ing  in  Oklahoma  City,  and  must  be  a  most  effec¬ 
tive  one. 

It  is  safe  to  say  that  “Phil  Binns”  philosophy 
and  argument  must  attract  and  hold  the  attention 
of  everyone  who  sees  it,  and  no  doubt  is  produc¬ 
ing  very  satisfactory  results  for  the  advertiser. 


No.  22] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


433 


Factors  in  Anthracite  Cost. 

(Concluded  from  page  425) 
panics  in  the  anthracite  region,  it  has  been  found 
that  during  the  last  ten  years  the  complaints 
received  by  the  anthracite  companies  amount  to 
less  than  one-half  of  one  per  cent  of  all  the  coal 
that  was  shipped,  and  in  a  great  many  instances 
a  number  of  these  complaints  were  not  justified. 

I  want  to  say  that  the  extra  cost  of  demurrage, 
the  extra  cost  of  repreparation,  and  the  extra 
cost  of  sales  allowances,  tend  to  increase  the 
cost  of  coal  to  the  retailer  and  the  consumer.  The 
retail  dealer  may  think  that  when  he  obtains  an 
allowance  on  a  car  of  coal  that  it  means  an  eco¬ 
nomical  saving,  but  I  wish  to  point  out  that  that 
allowance  goes  against  the  cost  of  producing  coal 
and  simply  brings  nearer  the  time  when  the  next 
increase  is  to  be  made  in  the  sales  cost  of  anthra¬ 
cite  coal  at  the  mines. 

It  has  always  appeared  to  me  that  if  the  sales 
organization,  and  by  that  I  mean  you  wholesale 
and  retail  dealers  who  are  essentially  the  sales 
organization  of  the  companies,  would  only  try  to 
bear  in  mind  that  complaints  when  justified  will 
be  rectified,  but  that  we  want  to  know  definitely 
what  the  complaint  is ;  that  when  we  receive,  as 
we  do  very  often,  complaints  concerning  rusty 
coal,  which  is  caused  by  a  fine  film  of  oxide  of 
iron  on  the  outside  of  the  coal,  or  dull  coal,  or 
fiat  fractured  coal,  that  these  conditions  are  out¬ 
side  our  power  to  correct.  The  rusty  coal,  the 
dull  coal,  and  the  flat  fractured  coal  must  be 
mined  and  must  be  consumed,  and  this  condition 
must  be  met  and  be  met  by  you  gentlemen. 

It  is  perfectly  possible  for  us  to  leave  this  qual¬ 
ity  of  coal  in  the  mine  and  then  go  back  in  twen¬ 
ty-five  years’  time  and  mine  it,  but  the  fact  must 
be  faced  that  if  we  do  this  it  will  cost  three  times 
as  much  to  mine  that  coal  in  twenty-five  years’ 
time  than  it  does  now. 

Another  question  of  constant  complaint  is  the 
burning  quality  of  coal — “coal  will  not  hold  fire 
over  night” ;  it  is  perfectly  all  right  for  you 
gentlemen  to  pass  that  complaint  on  to  us,  but 
you  know  where  the  complaint  comes  from  as 
well  as  we  do.  In  the  majority  of  cases  it  is  due 
to  the  careless  firing  of  the  coal  and  the  question 
of  laziness  or  the  inefficiency  of  service.  We 
have  this  same  complaint  at  home  and  we  have 
enough  to  do  without  receiving  any  more  from 
you  gentlemen  in  New  York  state. 

If  the  retail  coal  merchant  and  the  wholesale 
coal  merchant  would  simply  try  to  work  with  us 
and  appreciate  what  we  are  trying  to  do  toward 
the  conservation  of  this  wonderful  natural  prod¬ 
uct,  there  can  be  undoubtedly  a  vast  amount  of 
money  saved  through  the  allowances  which  are 
today  being  made  by  all  companies. 

I  would  like  to  say  in  conclusion  that  there  is 
one  thing  that  I  would  especially  like  to  impress 
upon  you  gentlemen  :  we  are  facing  a  new  agree¬ 
ment  in  the  anthracite  region  next  spring.  I  do 
not  know  what  will  be  the  outcome  of  the  nego¬ 
tiations,  and  while  I  hope  and  feel  there  will  be 
no  serious  trouble  of  any  kind,  you  can  feel  as¬ 
sured  of  one  thing,  and  that  is  the  price  of  an¬ 
thracite  coal  is  going  to  be  no  less  in  1916  than 
it  was  in  191.5. 


Furnace  Flexibility. 

(Concluded  from  page  426) 

Mr.  Buchanan  is  inclined  to  believe  that  the 
average  furnace  should  be  insulated  with  asbestos. 
Then  he  says  that  the  “lead”  pipes  in  the  base¬ 
ment  should  be  given  an  asbestos  covering.  The 
“return”  pipes,  of  course,  should  be  left  uncov¬ 
ered  because  some  heat  in  the  basement  is  neces¬ 
sary  in  order  to  warm  the  living  room  floors.  With 
the  “lead”  pipes  covered  and  the  “return”  pipes 
uncovered,  the  tendency  is  to  deliver  all  the  heat 
to  the  radiators  in  the  house  and  to  increase  the 
circulation  by  having  the  return  pipes  cold. 

The  writer  wanted  to  know  what  such  an  insu¬ 
lation  would  cost  and  made  inquiries  of  the 
plumber.  The  latter  .gave  an  estimate  of  twenty- 
five  cents  a  foot  for  the  “lead”  pipes,  which  would 
bring  the  cost  in  the  average  house  up  to  twenty 
or  twenty-five  dollars.  This  is  not  worth  while 
for  one  season,  but  as  a  long-run  proposition  it 
is  worth  while  if  the  householder  is  anxious  to 
get  the  best  results  from  burning  coal. 

One  of  the  most  interestin.g  experiments  made 
with  house  heating  appliances  was  brought  out  on 
the  train  recently  by  a  man  by  the  name  of  John 
A.  Shepard,  who  lives  in  St.  Louis.  Mr.  Shepard 
is  a  business  man  who  invests  some  of  his  earn¬ 
ings  in  apartment  houses.  His  investments  up 
to  now  have  been  in  two  or  three  apartment  build¬ 
ings.  He  says  that  the  best  results  he  has  been 
able  to  get,  so  far,  have  been  from  the  use  of 
New  River  mine  run  coal.  He  bears  out  Geor.ge 
F.  Stahmer  in  this  particular.  Incidentally  he 


fired  his  coal  in  about  the  same  way  that  Mr. 
Stahmer  does,  viz.,  making  a  mound  in  the  cen¬ 
ter  and  thus  exposing  the  greatest  possible 
amount  of  coal  to  the  flames. 

In  some  of  his  tiewer  buildings  he  has  been 
putting  in  a  sort  of  underfeed  stoker.  The  coal 
in  that  device  is  shoveled  into  a  hopper  which 
is  attached  to  the  front  of  the  furnace.  From 
the  bottom  of  the  hopper  a  channel  runs  in  under 
the  .grate  bar  and  in  this  channel  there  is  a  ram. 
In  the  center  of  the  grate  bar  there  is  a  circular 
opening  about  twelve  inches  across.  By  the  use 
of  a  lever  which  operates  the  ram  the  coal  is 
forced  through  this  channel  and  put  into  the  fuel 
bed  from  below.  As  fresh  coal  is  pushed  in,  the 
bed  of  coal  is  forced  up,  making  the  same  kind 
of  a  mound  in  the  center  that  Mr.  Stahmer  spoke 
about  a  month  ago.  The  .gases  from  the  coal 
must,  therefore,  pass  through  an  incandescent  bed 
of  coals  before  they  can  possibly  escape.  Thus 
they  have  the  best  chance  to  be  burned.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  he  says  that  this  firing  is  practi¬ 
cally  smokeless,  in  addition  to  which  the  plant  can 
be  operated  by  a  woman  with  the  least  possible 
annoyance  to  herself — if  the  man  shovels  the  coal 
into  the  hopper  at  morning  and  at  night. 

By  the  use  of  this  device  it  is  not  necessary  to 
burn  an  expensive  coal,  but  rather  he  has  found 
it  practical  to  use  the  finer  sizes — or  those  below 
two  inches — of  various  Illinois  coals.  He  is 
usin.g,  in  some  of  his  apartment  houses,  coal  from 
the  “inner  group”  of  mines  around  St.  Louis. 


Dr.  C.  W.  A.  Veditz,  Commercial  Attache  of 
the  United  States  Department  of  Commerce 
at  Paris  and  Madrid,  sailed  on  Saturday  for 


It  is  realized  that  if  coal  is  going  to  be  sold 
according  to  analysis,  and  if  as  a  consequence 
analyses  are  to  be  made,  much  depends  upon 
how  the  sample  of  coal  is  taken  that  is  going 
to  he  anaylzed.  Two  or  three  different  ways 
are  suggested  by  which  this  sampling  should 
l)e  done.  Most  of  them,  however,  include 
some  form  of  quartering  the  coal  pile,  and 


Paris  after  a  visit  of  about  three  weeks  to  this 
country.  Dr.  Veditz  has  been  very  active 
in  France  and  Spain  in  creating  interest  in 
American  coals,  and  believes  there  is  a  great 
future  for  American  coals  in  these  two  coun¬ 
tries.  Dr.  Veditz  believes  that  relief  is  in 
sight  to  the  present  scarcity  of  ships  for  tak¬ 
ing  coal,  he  taking  the  position  that  the  pres¬ 
ent  rates  are  prohibitive.  On  this  question 
he  said:  “I  can  see  relief  in  sight,  however, 
from  three  different  causes.  In  the  first  place, 
the  bulk  of  the  grain  traffic  will  soon  be  out 
of  the  way.  In  the  second  place,  many  of 
the  contracts  for  munitions  call  for  delivery 
during  or  before  the  month  of  February.  With 
the  filling  of  these  contracts  a  considerable 
bulk  of  the  traffic  will  be  cleared  away.  Lastly, 
natural  causes  always  cause  a  decline  in  freight 
rates  around  March,  and  this  will  enable  more 
of  the  bulky  material  of  low  value  to  move. 
These  circumstances,  combined,  perhaps  with 
others,  will  make  it  possible  to  ship  coal  again 
to  Spain  on  a  large  scale.  If  this  freight 
problem  can  he  solved,  I  am  sure  we  will  sell 
1,000,000  tons  of  coal  to  Spain  and  5,000,000 
tons  to  France  before  July.” 


The  Republic  Iron  &  Steel  Company  expects  to 
have  its  new  ninety-ton  open-hearth  furnaces 
completed  on  or  about  January  1st.  The  new 
lap  and  butt  weld  pipe  furnaces  being  erected  by 
the  company  will  not  be  completed  until  later. 
The  seventy-five  Koppers  by-product  ovens  are 
now  in  full  operation,  and  the  company  is  making 
enough  coke  to  supply  its  five  blast  furnaces  in 
the  Youngstown  district. 


Taking  a  Coal  Sample. 

then  pulverizing  the  residue  until  a  satisfac¬ 
tory  sample  has  been  obtained,,  d'hc  accom¬ 
panying  series  of  pictures  really  tell  their 
own  story,  because  they  are  sort  of  a  moving 
picture  of  coal  sampling  process.  They  were 
made  by  W.  D.  Stuckenburg  of  the  Commer¬ 
cial  Testing  &  Engineering  Company  of 
Chicago. 


One  Acknowledged  Way  of 


434 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


[November  27 


FUBIiISHED  BYBBT  SAT0BDAT  BT  THB 
BBACK  BIAMONB  COMPANY. 

Subscription  price,  $3.00  per  year,  postage  prepaid,  to 
any  postoffice  in  the  United  _  States.  Foreign  subscrip¬ 
tion  price,  $5.00  per  year.  Single  copies,  20  cents. 
Entered  at  Chicago  postoffice  as  second-class  matter. 


Address  all  communications  to 

THB  BBACE  DIAMOND  COMPANY  (INC) 

Main  office,  Manhattan  building,  Chicago. 


Branch  Offices. 

New  York,  29  Broadway. 
Philadelphia,  1400  Land  Title  building. 
Pittsburgh,  1502  Oliver  building. 


Saturday,  November  27,  1915. 


INDEX. 


Special  Articles. 

Page 

Factors  Which  Increase  Cost  of  Mining  Anthracite.  .  425 

Increasing  the  Flexibility  of  a  House  Furnace . 426 

Getting  Down  to  Details  While  Talking  Costs . 427 

llow  a  Delivery  System  Brought  Results .  427 

Appeals  to  Women .  427 

Can  Car  Shortage  Be  Avoided  by  Storing  Soft  Coal?  428 

A  Power  Hoist  on  a  Trailer  Truck .  428 

Mine  Clearing  House . 429 

Danger  of  a  Coal  Shortage  in  the  Northwest .  430 

Canadian  Northern  Docks  at  Port  Arthur .  430 

Field  of  the  Retail  Dealer .  431 

What  Retailers  in  Many  Cities  Are  Doing .  432 

Character  in  Advertising .  432 

One  Acknowledged  Way  of  Taking  a  Coal  Sample. .  433 

Editorial  .  434 

How  Elkhart  Dealers  Solved  the  Credit  Problem....  435 

Hocking  Valley  Rate  Case . 435 

News  Local  to  Chicago .  438 

Association  News .  436 

Facts  Which  Determine  Our  Export  Prospects .  437 

Anthracite  Rate  Suspended .  444 

Market  Reports. 

General  Review  and  Chicago .  438 

Pittsburgh  and  Cleveland .  439 

Cincinnati,  Denver,  Duluth  and  Indianapolis .  440 

St.  Louis,  Louisville,  Omaha  and  Detroit .  441 

New  York. . .- .  443 

Philadelphia  and  Buffalo .  443 

Baltimore,  New  England  and  Birmingham .  444 

Hocking  Valley .  19 


Defying  the  Lightning, 

There  is  an  old  picture  which  has  done 
service  for  a  good  many  centuries  when 
it  has  been  necessary  to  teach  the  innate 
folly  of  an  egotistical  line  of  action.  It 
is  a  picture  of  Ajax  standing  with  spear 
and  shield  upraised  defying  the  lightning 
to  have  a  tussle  with  him.  Today,  when 
an  individual  business  man  puts  himself 
in  opposition  to  the  progress  of  the  race ; 
to  the  progress  of  his  industry  or  of  his 
community,  some  cartoonist  shows  this 
gentleman  in  the  role  of  Ajax  defying  the 
lightning.  If  the  writer  of  these  edi¬ 
torials  were  a  cartoonist,  he  would  thus 
caricature  many  retail  coal  dealers — and 
.some  other  coal  men. 

The  immediate  point  in  mind  is  the  at¬ 
titude  of  the  antiquarians — meaning  the 
moss-backs — in  the  retail  and  other  de- 
liartments  of  coal  in  refusing  to  admit  that 
modern  methods  are  right  or  even  have 
a  ])lace  in  our  social  or  economic  life. 

For  example,  the  retailer  has  the  same 
side  tracks,  the  same  sheds,  the  same  kind 
of  horses  and  wagons  that  his  grandfather 
and  even  his  great-grandfather  used. 
While  employing  that  class  of  equipment, 
it  costs  him,  we  will  say,  $1.50  a  ton  to 
unload  the  coal  out  of  the  car  to  put  it  into 
one  of  his  ancient  chariots  and  to  haul  it  a 
mile  to  the  consumer.  This  is  as  much 
as  it  costs  the  railroad  using  modern  ap¬ 
pliances  to  haul  that  same  coal  300  to  500 
miles  and  to  deliver  it  to  his  yard.  This 


cost  is  fifty  cents  a  ton  higher  than  the 
value  of  the  coal  in  the  ground,  plus  the 
labor  cost  of  mining  it,  plus  the  cost  of 
l)reparing  it,  plus  the  interest  on  invest¬ 
ment  in  coal  and  top  works,  plus  the  cost 
of  making  sales. 

Still,  the  retailer  says  that  $1.50  a  ton 
is  not  enough.  He  wants  $1.75  or  $2.00. 
He  doesn’t  want  to  use  this  additional 
money  to  get  enough  capital  together  to 
improve  his  methods.  With  him,  the  pro¬ 
posed  larger  margin  is  not  any  such  tem¬ 
porary  matter.  He  wants  the  increase 
so  that  he  will  have  more  money  to  spend. 

Then  comes  along  in  competition  with 
him  a  line  yard,  we  will  say,  or  another 
method  of  distribution  which  is  not  so  ex¬ 
pensive.  Then  the  ancient  retailer  rises 
in  his  might  and  says  that  he  and  his 
father  and  even  his  grandfather  and  great¬ 
grandfather  were  in  business  right  there 
on  that  spot  for  years  and  years.  By 
right  of  length  of  service, '  the  business 
belongs  to  him.  He  is  going  to  have  it 
he  says,  against  the  other  fellow’s  com¬ 
petition.  It  makes  no  difference  what 
service  the  other  man  offers  and  what 
price  the  other  man  decides  to  sell  his 
coal  for,  he  will  hold  his  trade. 

As  a  business  proposition,  the  one  thing 
which  this  antiquarian  has  as  a  defense  of 
his  business  is  the  fact  that  his  customers 
are  his  friends.  He  is  thus  trying  to  in¬ 
sert  a  personal  relation  into  an  impersonal 
business.  The  two  never  have  mixed  and 
never  will  mix. 

As  an  economic  proposition,  his  proposal 
amounts  to  this:  The  old  method  is  best 
merely  because  it  is  old.  Anything  which 
is  new  or  modern  is  sacrilegious  because 
it  treads  upon  ground  which  is  holy  be¬ 
cause  of  its  antiquity. 

As  a  plain  matter  of  fact,  the  gentle¬ 
man  who  takes  such  a  position  is,  from 
the  standpoint  of  either  economics  or  of 
business,  a  plain  fool.  He  is  expecting 
people  in  business  to  do  something  which 
is  not  businesslike.  There  is  no  way 
properly  to  characterize  the  actions  and 
attitude  of  such  a  retail  dealer  except  to 
draw  a  picture  of  him  as  Ajax  defying 
the  lightning.  He  is  a  solitary  individual 
who  stands  up  valiantly  against  the  in¬ 
sistent  demand  of  the  whole  human  race 
for  progress. 


On  Coal  Taxation. 

The  Supreme  Court  of  Pennsylvania 
only  recently  handed  down  a  decision 
holding  to  he  unconstitutional  the  law 
laying  a  tax  on  anthracite  coal. 

Justice  Stewart,  who  wrote  the  opin¬ 
ion,  finds  that  the  “necessary  effect  of  the 
legislation  is  to  create  inequality  of  bur¬ 
den.”  As  this  is  forbidden  by  the  con¬ 
stitution,  the  law  is  stricken  down. 

The  act  referred  to  was  passed  by  the 
legislature  of  1913  and  provided  for  a 
tax  of  two  and  one-half  cents  a  ton  on 
the  value  of  anthracite  when  prepared 
for  market.  Of  this  sum  one-half  was 
to  he  returned  to  the  hard  coal  counties 
and  to  be  apportioned  to  the  various 
cities,  boroughs  and  townships  in  the 
counties. 

Justice  Stewart  gave  the  opinion  that 
the  law  was  unconstitutional  because  it 
placed  an  unfair  burden  on  a  certain  in¬ 
dustry  and  discriminated  in  favor  of  cer¬ 
tain  counties  and  against  others. 

The  decision  of  the  court  is  only  re¬ 


ferred  to  here  because  the  same  question, 
or  practically  the  same  one,  must  be 
answered  sometime  in  West  Virginia. 
Only  by  concerted  efforts,  involving  the 
manipulations  of  all  kinds  of  political 
deals,  have  several  legislatures  in  this 
state  been  prevented  from  putting  a  simi¬ 
lar  law  on  the  statute  books. 

Fuel  is  the  life  of  industry  and  of  man¬ 
ufacturing  power,  not  to  mention  its  vital 
part  in  domestic  economy. — Charleston 
(W.  Va.)  Gazette. 


Computing  the  Cost. 

There  are  and  may  be  certain  phases  of 
business  and  particularly  of  the  coal  busi¬ 
ness  which  are  general  in  their  character. 
1  hat  is,  there  are  coal  movements,  espe¬ 
cially  among  the  retailers,  which  can  be 
shared  by  every  retail  coal  man.  Such 
things  include  efforts  to  encourage  or  to 
discourage  general  legislation  for  example. 
It  is  perfectly  possible  for  all  the  retailers 
or  for  all  the  wholesalers  to  unite  on  a 
general  legislative  program  because  that 
is  something  which  concerns  them  all. 
An  increase  or  decrease  in  freight  rates  is 
of  a  similar  character. 

However,  the  matter  of  cost  accounting 
is  an  individual  proposition.  No  two  men 
have  precisely  the  same  elements  entering 
into  their  cost  of  doing  business.  There¬ 
fore,  no  two  men  have  had,  or  can  have 
the  same  method  of  computing  the  cost  of 
doing  business.  For  that  reason  the  mat¬ 
ter  of  studying  costs  in  order  to  know 
where  to  cut  them  is  a  problem  for  the 
individual  retailer. 

We  mention  this  phase  of  the  subject 
because  quite  a  number  of  retail  coal  men 
seem  discouraged  now  and  then  because 
every  dealer  in  the  community  will  not 
get  together  with  them  and  study  care¬ 
fully  into  this  subject.  Some  men  are 
keen  to  learn,  others  are  lukewarm,  still 
others  are  wholly  indifferent.  This  fact 
alone  has  discouraged  some  of  those  who 
did  want  to  study  costs  and  to  put  their 
business  on  a  lower  cost. 

Because  costs  are  such  an  individual 
matter,  our  belief  is  that  every  man  should 
study  his  own  whether  any  body  else  is 
doing  it  or  not.  Then  he  should  use  his 
acquired  information  to  cut  his  costs 
wherever  he  can.  Indeed  it  does  no  good 
to  study  costs  unless  the  information 
gained  is  thus  used  to  cut  various  items. 
However,  the  individual  retailer  by  know¬ 
ing  his  costs,  by  cutting  them,  and  by  get¬ 
ting  his  expense  down  to  rock  bottom  is 
in  a  position  where  he  can  defend  himself 
intelligently. 

If  he  knows  what  each  particular  item 
costs  him  and  has  cut  that  to  a  minimum, 
he  can  do  business  as  cheaply  as  anyone 
else.  Therefore,  if  an  ignorant  fellow 
comes  along  and  forces  him  into  a  price 
war,  he  knows  how  far  he  can  go  before 
he  begins  to  lose  money.  The  other  fel¬ 
low  doesn’t  know  ;  hence  has  not  cut  costs, 
and  soon  bankrupts  himself.  Thus  know¬ 
ing  costs  is  one  way  of  helping  the  retailer 
to  protect  himself.  It  may  even  help  him 
to  induce  the  opposition,  if  that  is  his  pur¬ 
pose,  to  bankrupt  himself.  He  can  thus 
limit  his  competition. 

The  point,  of  course,  is  that  costs  should 
be  studied  individually  whether  all  or 
even  a  small  per  cent  of  other  dealers  in 
the  community  are  interested  in  that  sub¬ 
ject  or  not. 


F 


No  22]  THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 

How  Elkhart  Dealers  Solved  the  Credit  Problem. 


Mlkhart,  Ind.,  is  primarily  a  railroad  town,  an 
enormous  transfer  switch  yard  and  repair  shops 
of  the  Lake  Shore  Railroad  are  located  there,  and 
in  addition  it  is  an  important  terminal  and  trans¬ 
fer  point  of  the  Big  Four  Railroad.  Its  popula¬ 
tion  of  a  little  more  than  20,000  people  are  almost 
entirely  dependent  upon  the  railroad,  and  nearly 
all  the  local  businesses  and  merchants  are  in  turn 
dependent  upon  the  trade  of  the  railroad  em¬ 
ployees. 

Until  two  years  ago,  railroad  employees  were 
paid  but  once  a  month  and  not  twice  a  month  as 
is  now  required  by  the  law.  This  monthly  pay 
day  was  the  primary  cause  of  the  disreputable 
credit  system  existing  in  Elkhart  today,  but  now 
this  condition  of  affairs  is  fast  being  remedied 
by  the  merchants  there. 

While  the  monthly  pay  day  was  in  force,  Elk¬ 
hart  merchants  had  to  adjust  their  business  to 
accommodate  the  monthly  pay  system.  In  other 
words,  goods  were  sold  not  for  cash,  but,  in  most 
cases,  for  payment  “next  pay  day,”  with  the  re¬ 
sult  that  credit  was  granted  everywhere  regard¬ 
less  of  the  financial  standing  of  the  buyer. 

This  former  buying  on  credit  had  become  such 
a  habit  among  the  people,  that  when  the  twice 
a  month  pay  day  went  into  effect  the  people  con¬ 
tinued  to  buy  on  a  credit  basis,  notwithstanding 
the  fact  the  semi-monthly  salary  gave  them 
money  for  their  immediate  needs. 

Of  all  the  husinesses  in  Elkhart  done  on  a 
credit  basis,  the  coal  business  was  probably  hit 
the  hardest.  People  would  buy  coal  on  a  promise 
to  pay  next  pay  day,  but  paying  for  coal  after  it 
is  burned  is  a  good  deal  like  paying  for  a  dead 
horse,  with  the  result  that  Elkhart  dealers  had 
and  still  have  a  surprisingly  large  number  of 
uncollectible  accounts  upon  their  books.  These 
dead  accounts  may  still  remain  on  the  books,  but 
there  are  very  few  new  ones  being  added  to  the 
list,  and  here  is  how  Elkhart  dealers  have  solved 
the  credit  problem. 

D.  H.  Herbster,  manager  of  the  Isbell  Lumber 
&  Coal  Company  of  Elkhart,  believes  in  system, 
not  so  much  system  that  it  burdens  the  business, 
but  enough  to  assure  a  profitable  and  systematic 
execution  of  business. 

It  is  he  who  conceived  and  promoted  the  credit 
system  employed  by  Elkhart  dealers  today. 

Here  is  the  system :  Tom  Jones  is  a  customer 
of  Godfrey  &  Son,  a  coal  company  in  Elkhart. 
His  account  reaches  a  point  where  Godfrey  & 
Son  will  not  trust  him  for  any  more  coal.  Eight 
ordinary  three  by  five  inch  index  cards  (red)  are 
made  out.  Tom  Jones’s  name,  address  and  the 
amount  of  the  account  against  him  is  put  upon 
these  red  cards  and  the  eight  cards  are  mailed 
to  the  eight  other  coal  dealers  in  Elkhart.  These 
cards  as  received  are  alphabetically  filed  in  a  con¬ 
venient  cabinet  for  future  reference. 

Now  Tom  Jones  needs  some  more  coal,  and 
.goes  to  Godfrey  &  Son  to  get  it.  Godfrey  &  Son 
refuse  to  sell  Tom  any  more  coal  on  credit,  with 
the  result  that  Tom  gets  sore  and  informs  the 
concern  that  he  will  get  it,  elsewhere.  So  he  goes 
over  to  the  Isbell  Lumber  &  Coal  Company,  and 
states  his  desire  to  purchase  some  coal.  Tom  be¬ 
ing  a  new  customer,  he  is  asked  his  name,  which 
is  then  referred  to  the  credit  file,  where  Tom’s 
name  appears  on  a  red  card. 

Mr.  Jones  is  then  informed  that  the  Isbell 
Lumber  &  Coal  Company  will  not  sell  him  coal 
on  credit,  but  if  he  will  pay  ca.sh,  that  they  will 
be  pleased  to  accept  his  order.  Tom  is  again  sore, 
and  makes  the  often  heard  remark :  “All  right. 
I’ll  get  it  somewhere  else.” 

Tom  Jones  wanders  leisurely  over  to  the  Con¬ 
sumers  Coal  Company,  and  again  evidences  a 
desire  to  purchase  some  coal.  With  a  request  for 
his  name,  and  the  bookkeeper’s  going  over  to  a 
file  and  looking  through  a  bunch  of  cards,  Mr. 
Jones  at  once  becomes  suspicious.  Again  he  is 
informed  that  this  concern  cannot  accept  his 
order  on  a  charge  basis,  but  would  be  glad  to 
handle  it  should  he  desire  to  pay  cash. 

This  is  not  at  all  to  Tom’s  liking,  and  he  makes 
similar  trips  with  like  results  to  the  other  dealers 
in  town.  What  is  the  result?  Just  this.  Some 
dealer  in  Elkhart  gets  a  cash  customer.  Tom 
Jones  cannot  open  any  more  new  accounts  with¬ 
out  giving  Godfrey  &  Son  a  chance  to  clear  up 
the  one  they  have  against  him.  Nine  times  out 
of  ten  Tom  Jones  goes  back  to  Godfrey  &  Son 
and  either  i)ays  cash  for  the  coal  he  gets,  or 
cleans  up  his  account  so  he  can  buy  more  on 
credit.  He  knows  that  he  has  got  to  stand  good 
for  what  he  buys  if  he  expects  to  enjoy  the  privi¬ 
leges  of  buying  coal  on  a  credit  basis. 

Now  these  cards  are  not  a  “Dead  Beat”  list. 


and  are  not  against  the  law  preventing  firms  from 
compiling  or  keeping  such  a  list.  These  cards 
merely  denote  the  fact  that  a  certain  person  has 
an  account  past  due  with  a  certain  company,  and 
that  this  company  will  not  trust  that  person  for 
any  more  credit.  Certainly  any  wise  dealer  would 
not  sell  that  person  any  coal  on  credit  in  the  face 
of  such  knowledge. 

Now  when  Tom  Jones  settles  his  account,  all 
of  the  eight  dealers  are  notified  to  this  effect,  and 
though  the  notation  is  made  upon  the  card,  it  is 
not  removed.  It  is  left  there  for  future  reference 
and  as  a  warning  should  Tom  Jones  ever  deal 
with  any  of  the  other  concerns. 

One  of  the  objections  raised  by  some  of  the 
Elkhart  dealers  when  discussing  the  installation 
of  this  Credit  System  was  that  it  gave  the.  other 
man  a  line  on  a  dealer’s  customers.  Surely  any 
dealer  can  see  that  even  if  it  does  give  a  line  on 
some  of  the  dealer’s  customers,  that  they  are  not 
of  the  character  that  any  dealer  would  have  any 
hope  of  building  up  his  business  upon. 

Of  course  there  are  cases,  just  as  Mr.  Herbster 
told  the  writer,  where  a  man  has  a  long-standing 
account  and  where  the  dealer  does  not  make 
out  any  card  for  him,  because  of  circumstances 
around  this  customer,  as  for  instance  sickness, 
death,  etc.  This  system  is  only  for  the  hard  ones, 
not  the  unfortunates — the  customers  a  dealer 
would  not  trust  with  any  more  coal. 

Though  this  credit  system  was  but  inaugurated 
in  June  of  this  year,  the  work  it  is  accomplishing 
and  the  worth  of  the  system  is  already  demon¬ 
strated  by  the  increased  number  of  cash  sales  and 
settlements  of  old  accounts. 


Hocking  Valley  Rate  Case. 


Columbus,  Ohio,  November  25. —  (Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — Interest  in  the  announcement  of 
advance  in  West  Virginia  rates  on  coal  shipped 
into  Ohio,  following  the  meeting  of  railroad  men 
in  New  York  last  week,  is  secondary  here  to  that 
felt  in  the  coal  rate  hearing  before  the  State 
Utilities  Commission,  which  was  resumed  on  the 
22nd  inst. 

The  temper  of  the  complainant  operators  is  to 
make  a  fight  to  a  finish  for  a  twenty-five  cents 
per  ton  larger  differential  in  favor  of  Ohio  on 
intra-state  movement.  The  new  tariffs  authorized 
at  the  New  York  meeting  would  give  only  a  forty- 
cent  differential.  Further,  they  are  subject  to  at¬ 
tack  by  the  West  Virginia  operators,  and  to  pos¬ 
sible  compromise  at  the  hands  of  the  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission.  Ohio  shippers  believe 
they  will  get  a  more  equitable  adjustment  and 
more  prompt  relief  from  the  state  tribunal. 
Again,  they  want  the  differential  to  come  through 
the  lowering  of  Ohio  intrastate  rates  and  not 
through  the  advance  of  interstate  rates. 

The  first  witness  to  take  the  stand  Monday 
morning,  after  the  three  weeks’  recess,  was  W. 
M.  Hopkins,  of  Chicago,  rate  expert  retained  by 
the  Sunday  Creek  Company.  This  was  on  re¬ 
direct  examination  in  the  matter  of  the  exhibits 
he  had  prepared  to  show  the  alleged  injustice  of 
the  present  eight-five  cent  rate  on  the  Hocking 
Valley  railway  from  the  Nelsonville  assembling 
yards  to  Toledo.  His  testimony  on  these  docu¬ 
ments  closed  the  Sunday  Creek  case  against  this 
defendant.  The  witness  was  continued  on  the 
stand,  however,  to  explain  exhibits  he  had  sub¬ 
mitted  in  the  attack  upon  the  rates  from  Corning 
to  Toledo  over  the  lines  of  the  Toledo  &  Ohio 
Central,  co-defendant  in  the  case  now  in  progress. 

The  greater  part  of  the  day  was  consumed 
with  Mr.  Hopkins  in  direct  and  cross-examina¬ 
tion.  When  he  got  through  it  was  felt  that  he 
had  not  materially  strengthened  the  cause  of  the 
plaintiffs.  His  efforts  had  been  mostly  along 
the  line  of  comparing  the  Nelsonville-Toledo  haul 
and  revenue  derived  therefrom  with  hauls  of 
similar  length  in  other  fields,  largely  from  Illinois 
points  into  Chicago.  The  defense  succeeded  in 
throwing  his  deductions  into  considerable  con¬ 
fusion.  A  more  forceful  witness  was  found  in 
W.  M.  Daniels,  of  Columbus,  a  former  freight 
traffic  man,  but  now  engaged  in  rate  expert  work. 
His  exhibits  were  confined  to  showing  what  the 
Corning-Toledo  rate  would  be  if  based  on  the 
same  ton-mile  charge  as  rates  from  various  West 
Virginia,  Kentucky  and  Tennessee  fields  into 
Toledo.  He  had  also  submitted  exhibits  in  the 
testimony  against  the  Hocking  Valley  railroad. 
The  contention  of  both  Mr.  Hopkins  and  Mr. 
Daniels  was  that  the  Corning-Toledo  rate,  includ¬ 
ing  assembling  and  terminal  expense,  should  be 


435 


about  sixty-seven  cents,  instead  of  the  $1  rate 
now  in  force. 

Monday’s  session  brought  out  a  number  of  new 
railroad  faces.  F.  S.  Lewis,  of  Toledo,  made  his 
first  appearance,  taking  charge  of  the  T.  &  O.  C. 
defense.  At  the  table  with  him  was  T.  J.  Cook, 
of  Toledo,  general  freight  agent  of  the  same 
road.  Herman  Griggs,  of  Cleveland,  representing 
the  New  York  Central  lines,  and  R.  F.  Kelley, 
general  freight  agent,  and  Auditor  Holmes,  both 
of  the  Wheeling  &  Lake  Erie,  were  among  other 
railroad  people  present. 

Tuesday  was  taken  up  with  the  cross-examina¬ 
tion  of  C.  W.  Hillman,  rate  expert,  on  technical 
explanation  of  his  exhibits  on  T.  &  O.  C.  earn¬ 
ings,  which  had  been  introduced  previous  to  the 
October  adjournment,  out  of  its  order,  to  ac¬ 
commodate  Mr.  Hillman,  who  had  to  attend  a 
rate  hearing  in  Florida,  in  which  he  had  been  re¬ 
tained. 

Wednesday  afternoon  saw  the  beginning  of  the 
defense  by  the  railroads,  on  the  strength  of  which 
hangs  millions  of  dollars  in  future  earnings,  and 
the  fate  of  existing  coal  tariffs  on  perhaps  every 
line  in  Ohio.  As  his  first  witness,  following  Mr. 
Hillman’s  long  cross-examination  on  the  T.  &  O. 
C.  exhibits.  Chief  Counsel  Wilson  of  the  Hocking 
Valley,  called  to  the  stand  C.  H.  Session,  train¬ 
master  in  the  employ  of  that  road  at  Nelsonville. 
His  testimony  occupied  the  whole  of  the  after¬ 
noon. 

Its  purpose  on  direct  examination  was  to  show 
that  the  yard  operations  at  Nelsonville,  the  as¬ 
sembling  point  for  Hocking  coal,  involved  forms 
of  service  which  had  either  not  been  considered 
in  the  rate  deductions  of  the  plaintiffs  or  placed 
unreasonably  low  as  items  making  up  the  general 
cost  of  operations  on  the  Nelsonville-Toledo  haul. 
It  was  brought  out  that  about  half  the  trains 
loaded  with  foreign  coal  received  service  in 
some  form  in  passing  through  Nelsonville.  Local 
coal  was  weighed  at  the  rate  of  30  cars  an  hour 
and  dispatched  northward  in  average  trains  of  60 
cars  length.  An  average  of  an  hour  and  forty- 
five  minutes  was  required  to  assemble  a  train  and 
get  it  out  of  the  yard.  Five-sixths  of  the  tonnage 
handled  through  Nelsonville  is  coal,  although  ex¬ 
tensive  brick  plants  are  also  served  from  this 
point. 

At  a  number  of  points  in  his  evidence  the 
prosecution  confronted  Mr.  Session  with  his  testi¬ 
mony  in  the  New  York  Coal  Company  case  of 
1910  against  the  Hocking  Valley  railroad,  which 
action  resulted  in  lowering  the  Toledo  rate  from 
$1  to  85  cents,  and  which  through  the  railroad’s 
appeal  to  the  courts  brought  a  decision  which  es¬ 
tablished  the  right  of  the  commission  to  make 
rates.  Mr.  Arnold  and  Mr.  Boyle,  for  the  Sunday 
Creek  Company,  sought  to  show  by  the  witness 
that  since  the  beginning  of  the  present  action  the 
method  of  keeping  yard  records  had  been 
changed  to  help  the  cause  of  the  defense.  Ad¬ 
journment  was  taken  until  Friday  morning. 

It  is  anticipated  that  the  main  defense  of  the 
Hocking  Valley  and  its  co-defendant,  the  Toledo 
&  Ohio  Central,  the  two  roads  involved  in  the 
Sunday  Creek*  Company  petition,  will  be  that  of 
attacking  the  accuracy  of  Mr.  Hillman’s  exhibits, 
which  are  the  chief  factor  in  the  prosecution.  In¬ 
stead  of  offering  any  general  documents  setting 
forth  service  costs,  it  is  believed  that  it  will 
present  an  amended  Hillman  exhibit  .showing  cor¬ 
rection  of  alleged  errors  and  inconsistencies.  A 
number  of  rate  decisions  and  opinions  pertaining 
to  litigation  in  other  parts  of  the  country  at  vari¬ 
ous  times  will  also  likely  play  an  important  part 
in  the  defense. 

To  date  the  case  has  been  one  to  attract  inter¬ 
est  by  reason  of  the  aggressive  intelligence  on 
both  sides.  A  vast  amount  of  preparation  has 
been  required  to  get  it  before  the  commission  in 
its  present  form.  Regardless  of  any  opinions  as 
to  the  merits  of  the  issue  at  stake,  it  is  believed 
that  the  evidence  offered  will  be  valuable  in  many 
ways  for  future  reference.  The  services  of  Mr. 
Hillman  in  his  exhaustive  treatment  of  the  situa¬ 
tion.  both  by  document  and  explanations  made 
during  the  numerous  days  he  was  on  the  witness 
stand,  stand  out  conspicuously  as  an  achievement, 
even  should  it  not  prove  conclusive  with  the  com¬ 
mission. 

Just  previous  to  adjournment  Wednesday,  H.  J. 
Booth  of  Columhus,  attorney  for  certain  other 
railroads  which  were  named  as  defendants  in 
petitions  outside  of  the  Sunday  Creek  Company 
intervention,  asked  if  the  commission  would 
render  decision  in  the  Hocking  Valley  and  Toledo 
&  Ohio  Central  cases  before  hearing  others.  The 
commission  replied  that  when  evidence  was  all  in 
with  respect  to  these  two  defendants  it  would  be 
time  enough  to  consider  the  point  raised.  Thus 
the  course  which  the  present  rate  agitation  will 
take  in  advance  of  a  ruling  remains  in  doubt. 


436 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[November  27 


News  Local  to  Chicago. 


The  offices  of  the  St.  Paul  Coal  Company 
have  been  moved  from  Ottawa,  Illinois,  to 
1308  Fullerton  avenue. 

The  Madison  Coal  Corporation  will  move  its 
main  offices  on  December  1st  from  St.  Louis 
to  the  Karpen  building. 

The  second  informal  dinner  of  the  Kan- 
tishina  Club  will  be  held  at  the  Auditorium 
Hotel,  Tuesday  evening,  December  Tth. 

J.  R.  Beardslee  of  the  Consolidation  Coal 
Company,  announces  that  this  last  week  the 
circular  price  on  Miller’s  Creek  coal  was  ad¬ 
vanced  from  $2.2.'i  to  $2.40  for  the  four-inch 
block  coal.  Other  prices  were  advanced  ac¬ 
cordingly,  the  one  and  one-half-inch  lump  go¬ 
ing  to  $2.25,  the  egg  to  $2.00  and  the  nut  to 
$1.70.  He  points  out  as  a  curious  fact  that  the 
increase  in  price  increased  the  number  of  or¬ 
ders,  rather  than  decreasing  them  as  might 
normally  be  expected.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
he  says  that  the  company  today  is  behind  on 
its  orders  which  has  not  been  the  case  here¬ 
tofore. 

Fire  destroyed  a  part  of  C.  W.  &  F.  Coal 
Company’s  Thayer  surface  plant  at  3  a.  m., 
Monday,  November  22,  but  fortunately  an  ef¬ 
fective  company  fire  brigade,  together  with  the 
fire  companies  from  Thayer  and  Virden,  saved 
the  power  house,  shops  and  miscellaneous 
buildings  and  prevented  the  fire  from  in  any 
way  damaging  the  mine.  No  one  was  injured. 
The  damage  is  being  promptly  repaired,  and 
the  mine  should  again  be  in  full  operation  in 
a  short  time.  I  r.  the  meantime,  the  other  mines 
of  the  company  have  been  speeded  up  to  fill 
n  the  temporary  loss  of  tonnage  from  the 
Thayer  plant. 

The  announcement  was  made  this  week  that 
J.  M.  Hedge  had  died  suddenly  at  his  home 
No.  3509  Wilson  avenue.  Mr.  Hedge  had 
been  connected  with  the  Philadelphia  &  Read- 
infi  Coal  &  Iron  Company  for  the  last  eight 
or  nine  years.  Prior  to  that  time,  he  had 
been  connected  with  E.  L.  Hedstrom  &  Co., 
for  ten  years.  He  had  been  traveling  the  Mis¬ 
souri  river  territory.  On  Sunday,  Mr.  Hedge 
telegraphed  his  wife  to  meet  him  at  the  train 
as  he  was  not  well  and  was  coming  home. 
He  was  attacked  shortly  after  arriving  in 
Chicago  by  heart  failure  and  died  Monday 
night.  The  funeral  services  were  held  at  the 
residence  on  Wednesday  at  three  o’clock,  and 
the  remains  were  taken,  for  burial,  to  his 
old  home  at  Cape  Cod,  Mass.  Mr.  Hedge  is 
survived  by  a  widow  and  two  married  daugh¬ 
ters.  He  was  fifty  eight  years  of  age. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  Chicago  Coal  Mer¬ 
chants’  Association  on  Tuesday,  there  was  a 
lively  discussion  as  to  whether  the  informa¬ 
tion  on  those  coal  buyers  who  are  doubtful 
credit  risks  should  be  sent  out  on  typewritten 
lists  as  heretofore,  or  whether  that  rnatter 
should  be  kept  in  the  office  and  made  available 
to  anyone  who  cared  to  call  for  it  over  the 
telephone.  The  disposition  seemed  to  be  to 
keep  the  information  on  file  in  the  office,  sub¬ 
ject  to  telephone  call,  because  when  it  is  sent 
out  in  typewritten  lists,  the  dealer  is  prone 
to  disregard  them  as  they  contain  too  much 
information  in  which  he  is  not  interested.  The 
matter  was  finally  left  in  the  hands  of  N.  H. 
Kendall  the  commissioner  of  the  association 
to  get  together  all  of  the  information  he  could 
as  to  what  other  associations  do  and  as  to 
what  are  the  preferences  of  the  different  mem¬ 
bers.  This  will  be  made  subject  for  discussion 
at  a  special  meeting  after  which  there  will 
proliably  be  a  referendum  vote  on  tbe  question. 

It  was  rumored  for  some  time  in  coal  cir¬ 
cles  that  Henry  Johnson  of  the  Johnson 
Brothers  Coal  Company,  had  quietly  slipped 
away  about  the  first  of  bast  month  and  joined 
the  Benedicts’  Clul).  Henry  has  many  friends 
among  the  coal  selling  fraternity  and  a  com- 
miltee  was  appointed  to  find  out  if  Henry  was 
or  was  not  a  bachelor.  This  co  .mittee  con¬ 
sisting  of  Colonel  L.  M.  Breeden,  W.  H.  Har¬ 
ris,  R.  L.  Duncombe,  John  Nelson,  W.  C. 
Waddell,  Bob  Kernohan,  Albert  Tbomas,  C. 
N.  Eastman,  H.  AT  Hall,  Chas.  Jessup,  John 
Kiley,  William  Lytton  and  C.  N.  Morrison 
made  a  call  on  the  evening  of  November  18, 
at  the  Johnson  home  at  435  E.  48th  street,  and 
found  there  really  was  a  Mrs.  Henry  John¬ 
son.  The  committee  thoughtfully  brought 
along  a  handsome  electric  lamp,  which  was 


presented  by  L,  M.  Breeden.  Colonel  Breeden 
was  in  excellent  form  and  delivered  an  ora¬ 
tion  that  would  have  been  a  credit  to  Colonel 
Bryan.  An  enjoyable  evening  was  spent  by 
the  entire  party.  Before  leaving  Mrs.  Johnson 
remarked  that  she  was  glad  she  had  mar¬ 
ried  into  the  coal  trade. 

A  short  time  ago  Homer  D.  Jones  of  the 
Western  Fuel  Company,  and  chairman  of  the 
Cost  and  Systems  Committee  of  the  Chicago 
Coal  Merchants’  Association  started  a  move¬ 
ment  for  the  careful  study  of  what  it  costs  to 
do  business.  This  was  in  connection  with 
some  other  members  of  the  association  who 
seemed  to  be  interested  in  that  subject.  He 
got  together  a  few  members  of  tbe  associa¬ 
tion  at  a  meeting  two  weeks  ago  Friday,  and 
learned  what  each  one  was  most  interested  in. 
They  divided  the  general  subject  up  into  six 
departments  and  chose  as  chairman  of  the 
subcommittees  a  man  who  was  particularly 
interested  in  that  phase  of  the  general  ques¬ 
tion.  These  subcommittees  are  now  at  work 
getting  together  all  the  information  possible 
on  their  general  division  of  the  subject  and 
on  next  Friday  there  will  be  a  meeting  of  the 
association  chairmen  of  these  various  subcom¬ 
mittees.  On  tbe  following  Friday,  there  will 
be  a  general  meeting  of  all  interested.  There 
will  be  short  talks  on  cost  and  systems  by 
George  E.  Hutchinson  and  one  or  two  other 
expert  accountants.  It  is  rather  hoped  be¬ 
fore  long  to  get  together  a  general  cost  sys¬ 
tem,  which  can  be  put  up  by  the  association 
to  all  of  its  members  and  recommended  for 
their  use. 

A  numher  of  railroads  centering  in  Chi¬ 
cago,  have  filed  both  with  the  Interstate  Com¬ 
merce  and  with  the  State  Boards,  new  tariffs 
which  carry  a  horizontal  increase  on  the 
freight  rate  on  coal  from  the  mines  in  Indiana 
and  Illinois  to  Chicago.  This  matter  was 
taken  up  for  discussion  at  the  meeting  of 
the  Chicago  Coal  Merchants’  Association  on 
Tuesday  afternoon,  and  was  referred  to  the 
railroad  bureau  of  that  association  with  in¬ 
structions  to  file  a  protest  against  these  rates. 
Just  whether  the  association  will  file  a  formal 
complaint  later  asking  a  definite  suspension  of 
the  tariff  is  a  matter  which  has  not  been  de¬ 
cided.  In  the  meantime  the  protest  will  be 
against  the  taking  effect  of  the  rates,  at  least 
until  the  conclusion  of  the  contract  year  on 
the  first  of  next  April.  It  is  expected  in  the 
meanwhile  that  formal  complaints  against 
these  freight  rates  will  be  filed  by  the  Illinois 
Manufacturers’  Association,  by  The  Chicago 
Association  of  Commerce  and  by  the  Coal 
Operators’  Associations  in  Indiana  and  Illinois. 
This  increase  in  rates  is  really  an  aftermath 
of  the  western  rate  advance  case,  tried  out 
before  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission 
some  months  ago  and  decided,  it  will  be  re¬ 
membered,  against  the  shippers  in  favor  of 
the  railroads.  At  that  time  the  railways  got 
a  horizontal  advance  of  ten  cents  a  ton  on 
all  interstate  traffic  with  the  exception  of  to 
the  Chicago  gateway.  No  increase  in  the 
rates  to  Chicago  was  asked  at  that  time, 
neither  was  there  any  advance  asked  then  on 
intrastate  rates.  The  railroads  have  now 
pieced  out  their  program  by  asking  an  in¬ 
crease  of  five  cents  a  ton  to  Chicago  proper. 
The  retailers  are  not  disposed  to  contest  this 
increase  in  rates,  provided  it  becomes  effective 
on  tbe  first  of  April  instead  of  on  the  15th 
of  December  as  proposed.  They  say  that 
they  have  made  contracts  for  coal  containing 
a  delivered  price,  these  contracts  not  expir¬ 
ing  until  the  first  of  next  April.  If  there  is  an 
increase  in  freight  rates  they  would  lose  five 
cents  a  ton.  This  is  particularly  true  of  con¬ 
tracts  to  supply  the  city,  county,  state  and 
federal  government  with  coal.  As  a  long-run 
proposition  objections  are  expected  to  come 
mainly  from  Chicago  interests,  and  from  some 
of  the  shippers  who  maintain  sales  organiza¬ 
tions  in  Chicago.  That  is.  if  the  jobbers  consign 
coal  to  themselves  at  Chicago  and  fail  to  find 
a  market  for  it  here,  and  then  decided  to 
reconsign  it  to  some  point  in  interstate 
traffic,  they  would  have  to  stand  an  increase 
of  fifteen  cents  a  ton  in  rates  as  against  ten 
cents  a  ton  applying  on  the  movement  direct 
from  the  mines.  They  figure,  therefore,  that 
the  jobber  in  Chicago  would  be  at  a  disad¬ 
vantage  as  compared  with  the  mines,  of  five 
cents  a  ton.  This,  however,  is  a  point  which 
has  long  been  very  clearly  brought  out  so 
far  by  the  discussion,  but  it  seems  to  be  one 
of  the  objections. 


Association  News. 


Knoxville  Coal  Dealer’s  Association. 

The  Knoxville  Retail  Coal  Dealers’  Association 
held  its  regular  monthly  meeting  Friday,  No¬ 
vember  12th.  Selling  coal  for  cash  was  discussed 
by  the  members,  as  several  of  the  local  dealers 
are  particularly  anxious  to  put  their  business  on 
a  cash  basis.  The  majority  of  the  members  are 
in  favor  of  putting  their  business  on  a  cash  plan, 
providing  all  of  the  dealers  are  willing  to  conduct 
their  business  in  a  like  manner.  The  matter  was 
referred  to  a  committee  for  investigation  and  to 
report  at  the  next  monthly  meeting. — T.  O.  Bus- 
bee,  secretary. 


Northwestern  Traffic  and  Service  Bureau. 

Articles  of  incorporation  and  the  by-laws  of 
the  new  organization,  the  Northwestern  Traffic 
and  Service  Bureau,  are  now  printed  in  book 
form  and  ready  for  distribution  among  members 
of  this  association  and  to  anyone  interested  in  the 
workings  of  this  organization.  Under  the  new 
method  of  this  association,  retail  coal  dealers  do 
not  become  a  member  of  the  bureau,  which  is  in¬ 
corporated,  but  simply  subscribe  for  the  service. 

A  luncheon  held  in  Minneapolis,  November 
4th,  was  attended  by  over  909  retail  coal  dealers, 
and  a  splendid  meeting  was  had,  all  of  those  at¬ 
tending  pledged  their  support  to  the  new  organi¬ 
zation. — H.  L.  Laird,  secretary  and  treasurer. 


Cincinnati  Coal  Exchange. 

The  Cincinnati  Coal  Exchange  at  a  meeting  at 
dinner  Monday  launched  the  1915  campaign  for 
new  members  of  the  board  of  directors.  The  an¬ 
nual  election  of  the  Exchange  will  be  held  De¬ 
cember  10  and  at  this  election  eight  candidates 
for  member  of  the  board  of  directors  will  be 
submitted,  four  of  whom  receiving  the  larger 
number  of  votes  to  be  declared  elected.  The 
board  of  directors  consists  of  seven  members  and 
these  members  constitute  the  executive  power, 
selecting  president,  secretary  and  treasurer.  The 
committee  on  nomination,  consisting  of  C.  R. 
AToriarty  of  the  Cabin  Creek  Coal  Company; 
T.  IT.  Richardson  of  tbe  Consolidation  Coal  Com¬ 
pany,  and  C.  J.  Alagee  of  the  Carbon  Fuel  Com- 
panv  made  its  report. 

The  committee  reported  the  following  names : 
James  P.  Rilev  of  the  Queen  City  Coal  Com¬ 
pany;  Frank  B.  Stewart  of  the  Winifrede  Coal 
Company ;  R.  P.  Gillham  of  the  Campbell’s  Creek 
Coal  Company;  C.  A.  Tribbey  of  the  Pocahontas- 
Jellico  Coal  Company;  A.  A.  Liggett  of  the  Ral¬ 
eigh  Coal  &  Coke  Company;  E.  L.  Sternberger  of 
tbe  E.  L.  Sternberger  Coal  Company:  E.  F. 
Bardin  of  the  Wyatt  Coal  Company,  and  C.  De¬ 
laney  Alartin  of  the  Halmar  Coal  Alining  Com¬ 
pany.  Not  all  were  present  but  those  who  came 
were  “put  to  their  paces”  a  la  gridiron  style,  and 
had  to  tell  all  their  meanness  and  all  their  bad 
points  and  to  give  these  as  their  reasons  why  they 
should  not  be  placed  on  tbe  ticket.  None  of  the 
excuses  were  good  enough  to  get  the  candidate 
off  the  ticket.  There  was  one  sad  note,  however, 
and  that  was  that  one  of  the  vacancies  to  be 
filled  was  that  of  Captain  Charles  J.  Menges, 
drowned  at  New  Orleans  while  doing  his  duty 
by  tbe  Pittsburgh  Coal  Company  in  trying  to 
save  the  coal  fleet  of  the  company  during  the 
great  tropical  storm  which  swept  that  city  last 
summer. 

A  committee  was  named  to  formulate  a  letter 
to  patrons  of  the  members  urging  them  to  have 
cars  promptly  unloaded  at  destination ;  to  refrain 
from  specifying  equipment  when  ordering  coaj ; 
and  in  every  way  possible  to  aid  the  railroads  in 
overcoming  the  present  car  shortage  as  much  as 
possible.  Guy  AT.  Freer,  traffic  manager  of  the 
Cincinnati  Chamber  of  Commerce,  was  a  guest 
of  honor  and  made  a  short  address.  About  thirty- 
five  members  were  present  at  the  dinner. 


Alembers  of  the  Detroit  Coal  Exchange  at  their 
last  meeting  completed  the  organization  of  eight 
bowling  teams,  four  each  representing  whole¬ 
salers  and  retailers.  The  teams  will  continue  a 
tournament  contest  through  the  winter.  The  open¬ 
ing  games  were  bowled  Wednesday  evening. 


A  company  that  is  building  a  large  power  plant 
at  Apraw  Falls,  two  miles  south  of  Bicknell,  Ind., 
has  made  arrangements  for  the  extension  of 
switches  to  its  property  by  the  Vandalia  and  the 
B.  &  O.  The  company  has  3,000  acres  of  land 
from  which  it  will  mine  coal.  Plans  for  erecting 
200  houses  have  been  drawn. 


No.  22] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


437 


Facts  Which  Determine  Our  Export  Prospects. 


The  Export  Situation. 

The  export  situation  has  not  changed  during 
the  week.  Vessel  tonnage  is  very  scarce,  and 
while  Baltimore  showed  a  slight  improvement 
last  week  over  the  week  previous  by  loading  one 
more  cargo,  or  a  total  of  18,000  tons,  Hampton 
Roads  shipments  fell  off. 

The  bunker  trade  at  the  latter  ports  has  also 
shrunk  because  fewer  vessels  are  reporting  for 
export  coal  cargoes. 

At  the  other  ports,  namely,  Baltimore,  Philadel¬ 
phia  and  New  York,  the  bunker  business  is  very 
fair,  being  most  active  in  New  York,  where  a 
great  many  steamers  are  calling  for  grain  and 
war  munition  cargoes. 

There  are  a  number  of  queries  in  the  market 
for  large  tonnages  of  coal  for  France  and  Italy, 
hut  shippers  have  found  it  impossible  to  negotiate 
these  to  a  successful  conclusion  because  of  their 
inability  to  secure  vessel  tonnage. 

With  one  or  two  vessels  offering  at  80s  to  85s 
to  take  coal  to  the  west  coast  of  Italy,  and  75s  to 
80s  to  take  coal  to  Spain,  little  business  can  be 
done  at  these  figures. 

The  rate  to  South  America  is  45s  to  55s. 

Rates  to  the  West  Indies  are  in  most  instances 
two  to  three  times  normal  rates.  These  attractive 
rates  are  drawing  from  the  coastwise  trade  quite 
a  large  tonnage  of  schooners. 

English  Shipping  Restrictions. 

Mr.  Runciman’s  announcement  in  the  House  of 
Commons  as  to  dealing  with  cargo  vessels  is  of 
the  highest  importance,  and  not  alone  in  its  bear¬ 
ing  upon  the  coal  trade.  Orders  in  Council  pro¬ 
hibit  British  ships  from  trading  between  one  for¬ 
eign  port  and  another,  except  by  license ;  and  this 
should  stop  British  ship  owners  carrying  Amer¬ 
ican  coal  from  the  United  States  to  Brazil  or  the 
Plate,  or  into  the  Mediterranean,  as  they  have 
been  doing.  The  Admiralty  has  power,  he  states, 
to  requisition  ships  abroad;  and  if  this  be  done 
for  carriage  of  food  stuffs,  etc.,  the  vessels  will 
reach  home  ports  and  thus  be  available  for  out¬ 
ward  cargo — of  which  coal  is  the  chief. 

It  should  be  noted,  however,  that  the  com¬ 
plaints  against  ship  owners,  as  to  their  having 
greater  concern  for  rates  of  freight  than  for  pub¬ 
lic  service,  finds  its  expression  occasionally  in  un¬ 
reasonable  form.  There  are  complaints  because 
the  owners  of  vessels  carrying  coal  cargoes  from 
South  Wales  to  the  French  coast  hurry  back  in 
ballast  in  order  that  they  may  as  soon  as  possible 
earn  another  high  freight  by  taking  out  coal. 
What  the  complainers  desire  is  that  they  should 
go  to  another  port  and  return  with  ore  or  loading 
of  pit  wood  for  home  use,  evidently  ignoring  the 
fact  that  the  loading  of  pitwood  abroad  is  dilatory 
on  account  of  lack  of  labor,  and  that  to  go  to 
Bilboa,  or  perhaps  even  further  afield  for  iron 
ore  would  mean  a  very  serious  delay.  The  one 
great  need  of  South  Wales  is  greater  rapidity  of 
export,  and  this  serves  national  ends,  because  it 
makes  foreign  credit,  and  thus  lessens  British  de¬ 
mand  for  exchange  facilities. — Colliery  Guardian, 
London. 


English  Coal  Exports. 

During  October  3,771,069  tons  of  coal,  coke, 
and  manufactured  fuel  were  exported  from  the 
United  Kingdom,  the  value  of  same  being  3,415,- 
412  pounds.  The  quantity  exported  in  October 
last  year  was  4,151,381  tons,  valued  at  2,754,829 
pounds,  whilst  the  figures  for  October,  1913,  were, 
respectively,  7,059,928  tons  and  valued  at  4,953,102 
pounds.  Exports  of  coal,  coke  and  manufactured 
fuel  aggregated  38,830,606  tons  during  the  first 
ten  months  of  the  present  year,  the  value  amount¬ 
ing  to  32,569,271  pounds.  This  compares  with 
54,523,993  tons,  valued  at  37,321,222  pounds,  and 
63,958,136  tons,  valued  at  44,708,99.)  pounds,  in 
the  corresponding  periods  of  1914  and  1915  re¬ 
spectively.  The  average  value  of  coal,  coke  and 
manufactured  fuel  exported  from  the  United 
Kingdom  during  October  was  18s  1.3d  f$4.55)  per 
ton,  as  compared  with  13,s  3. 2d  ($3,30)  in  October, 
1914,  and  14s  0.3d  ($3.50)  in  October,  1913.  The 
value  during  the  first  ten  completed  months  of 
the  present  year  is  16s  9.3d  ($4.20)  per  ton,  as 
compared  with  13.s  8. 2d  ($3.40)  and  13s  11. 7d 
($3.50)  respectively  in  the  corresponding  pe¬ 
riods  of  1914  and  1913. 

The  Welsh  Coal  Situation. 

The  Welsh  coal  situation  shows  but  little 
change,  the  supply  being  plentiful,  due  to  a  lack 
of  ships.  Some  relief  is  anticipated  from  the  re¬ 
cent  order  of  the  British  government  which  pro¬ 
hibits  British  shipping  trading  between  foreign 


ports  unless  they  have  a  license,  and  also  gives 
the  government  authority  to  requisition  vessels 
for  bringing  to  England  necessities.  For  the  sec¬ 
ond  grades  of  Admiralty,  19s  to  19s  6d  is  the 
range,  with  other  sorts  selling  at  18s  to  18s  6d. 
There  has  been  an  improvement  in  bunker  smalls. 

Vessel  rates  have  advanced  and  new  records 
have  been  established.  Algiers  has  been  fixed  at 
48  fcs. ;  Lisbon  at  25s  3d ;  Port  Said,  50s ;  Havre, 
16s  9d ;  Rouen,  19s;  Barcelona,  38s;  Genoa,  49s; 
Las  Palmas,  27s  6d;  Buenos  Aires,  39s. 

Recent  Coal  Freight  Charters. 

Str.  Tarbina  (Dutch),  Baltimore  to  River  Plata,  coal, 
p.  t. 

Schr.  Rebecca  Palmer,  Norfolk  to  Buenos  Aires, 
coal,  $8, 

Schr.  Emily  Anderson  (Br.),  Philadelphia  to  Halifax, 
N.  S.,  coal,  p.  t. 

Str.  Frances  Luckenbach,  Philadelphia  to  Havana,  coal, 
p.  t. 

Str.  Ocland  (Nor.),  Philadelphia  to  Martinique,  coal, 
p.  t.,  prompt. 

Str.  Caterina  Accamo  (Ital.),  Virginia  to  Port  Mili- 
tor,  coal,  47s  6d,  December. 

Schr.  Marguerite,  Philadelphia  to  Jucore,  coal,  private 
terms. 

Str.  Bygland  (Nor.),  Baltimore  to  Preston  and  Banes, 
coal,  p.  t. 


Foreign  Freight  Rates. 

W.  W.  Battle  &  Co.,  Produce  Exchange,  New 
York,  report  as  follows,  under  date  of  November 
22: 

The  freight  situation  grows  more  acute  daily, 
and  although  we  occasionally  charter  a  steamer 
for  export  coal,  it  is  more  than  difficult  to  secure 
tonnage  even  at  the  high  rates  now  current. 

We  would  quote  freight  rates  on  coal  by 


steamer  as  follows : 

West  coast  of  Italy .  80@85s 

Marseilles,  about .  80s 

Barcelona  or  other  good  Spanish  port .  75@80s 


(Spanish  dues  for  account  of  cargo.) 

Note — Charters  for  Italy,  France  and  Spain 
read:  “Lay  days  to  commence  on  steamer’s 

arrival  at  or  off  port  of  discharge,  Is  per  net 


register  ton  per  day  demurrage.” 

Montevideo  (500  discharge),  about .  50s 

Buenos  Aires  or  La  Plata  (500  discharge), 

about  .  50s 

Rosario,  about .  55s 

Rio  de  Janeiro  (500  discharge) . 45@47s  6d 

Santos  . 47s  6d@50s 

(Consignees  paying  docas  dues.) 

Valparaiso  or  Callao . $11.00@12.00 

Havana  .  2.75@  3.25, 

Cardenas  or  Sagua .  3.00@  3.50 

Cienfuegos  .  3.25@  3.75 

Port  of  Spain,  Trinidad .  4.00@  4.50 

St.  Lucia .  4.00@  4.50 

St.  Thomas .  3.50@  4.00 

Barbados  .  4.00@  4.50 

Kingston  .  3.50@  4.00 

Curacao,  about . 4.00  and  p.  c. 

Santiago  .  3.50@  4.00 

(luantanamo  .  3.50@  4.00 

Demerara  .  6.00@  7.00 

Bermuda  .  3.50@  4.50 

Vera  Cruz .  S.OOC®  6.00 

Tampico  .  5.00@  6.00 


Philadelphia  October  Exports. 

Exportations  of  coal  from  tlie  port  of  Phila¬ 
delphia  during  the  month  of  (October,  1915, 
were  as  follows; 


Country — 

Itily  . 

Anthracite. 

Bituminous. 

2,400 

10,950 

6,653 

48 

2,243 

1,650 

540 

42,386 

10,711 

8,821 

1,373 

Canada  . 

Guatemala  . 

.  1,198 

B.'itish  West  Indies . 

C uba  . 

French  West  Indies . 

Brazil  . 

.  4,772 

18,908 

87,775 

Export  Trade  Briefs. 

In  England  the  following  official  notice,  which 
is  being  posted  at  coal  mines,  has  been  issued,  and 
is  signed  by  the  House  Secretary  and  Lord  Derby, 
the  Director-General  of  Recruiting:  “Coal  miners 
have  already  joined  the  army  in  such  large  num¬ 
bers  that  the  supply  of  coal,  which  is  of  vital 
national  interest,  is  seriously  affected.  Miners, 
one  and  all,  must  remember  that,  upon  their  ef¬ 
forts  the  success  of  the  country  depends  no  less 
than  upon  the  men  who  are  serving  with  the 
forces.  Those  who  offer  themselves  as  recruits 
will  only  be  accepted  on  the  condition  that  they 
go  back  to  work  in  the  mine  until  they  are  called 
upon.  They  will  be  given  armlets  to  show  that 
they  are  willing  to  obey  the  call,  and  do  whatever 
will  most  help  their  country.  But,  in  the  mean¬ 
time,  it  is  vital  that  they  should  not  desist  from 
producing  the  coal  without  which  victory  is  im¬ 
possible.  This  notice  applies  to  all  men  who  are 
working  below  ground,  and  the  following  classes 
of  surface  workers — winding  enginemen,  pump¬ 


men,  weighmen,  electricians,  fitters,  and  mechan¬ 
ics.”  Mr.  Brace,  Under  Secretary  for  the  Home 
Department,  says  that  any  attempt  to  evade  mili¬ 
tary  obligations  by  young  men  seeking  work  at 
mines  will  be  stopped.  Coal  miners  as  a  class 
have  already  responded  to  the  call  for  recruits  in 
such  large  numbers  that  no  fewer  than  250,000 
had  joined  the  New  Armies  by  midsummer,  and 
this  number  has  since  been  increased. 

The  British  Board  of  Trade  announces  that, 
owing  to  the  increasing  demands  on  merchant 
shipping  in  connection  with  the  war,  it  has  be¬ 
come  necessary  to  take  special  steps  to  secure 
that  an  adequate  supply  of  tonnage  shall  be  avail¬ 
able  in  case  of  necessity  to  meet  pressing  national 
needs.  With  this  object  in  view,  two  Orders  to 
Council  were  made.  The  first  prohibits  British 
ships  from  carrying  cargo  from  one  foreign  port 
to  another  foreign  port  after  December  1,  unless 
licensed  to  do  so.  The  second  gives  power  to 
requisition  ships  for  the  carriage  of  food  stuffs 
and  other  necessaries.  The  first  order  lays  down 
the  principle  that  in  this  time  of  emergency  Brit¬ 
ish  needs  must  have  the  first  claim  on  British 
ships.  It  is  not  expected  that  it  will  be  necessary 
to  interfere  with  established  services  between  for¬ 
eign  ports,  and  every  effort  will  be  made  to  avoid 
disturbing  pre-existing  business  arrangements ; 
but  licenses  must  be  obtained  in  every  case  in 
which  it  is  desired  to  carry  cargo  in  a  British 
ship  from  one  foreign  port  to  another  foreign 
port  on  or  after  December  1,  and  owners  and 
charterers  concerned  should  apply  to  the  Secre¬ 
tary,  Ship  Licensing  Committee,  Board  of  Trade, 
London,  S.  W.  The  second  order  gives  power  to 
the  Board  of  Trade  to  requisition  merchant  ships 
in  case  of  emergency  for  the  carriage  of  food 
stuffs  and  other  necessary  supplies  to  this  country. 
This  power  will  be  exercised  by  a  Requisitioning 
Committee.  The  Committee  will  be  composed  of 
gentlemen  having  close  expert  knowledge  of  ship¬ 
ping  matters,  and  in  order  that  the  requisitions 
may  not  overlap,  these  gentlemen  will,  so  far  as 
possible,  be  the  same  as  those  who  now  advise 
the  Transport  Department  of  the  Admiralty.  The 
Committee’s  object  will  be  to  secure  that  tonnage 
shall  be  available  in  case  of  need  for  the  carriage 
of  food  stuffs,  etc.,  and  to  prevent  freights  on 
such  commodities  rising  to  prohibitive  levels. 


Virginia  Coal  Shipments. 


The  coal  shipments  over  the  Virginian  rail¬ 
way  fell  far  below  those  during  the  month 
of  August,  393,055  tons  being  shipped  in  Sep¬ 
tember  as  against  411,090  in  August.  Follow¬ 
ing  are  the  individual  colliery  loadings: 


K.  G.  J.  &  E.  R.  R.  via  Pax . 

E.  E.  White  Company — 

Glen  Wliite . 

Stotesbury  . 

New  River  Collieries  Company — 

Eccles  . 

Sun  . j 

Slab  Fork . 

Winding  Gulf . 

McAlp’n  . 

Gulf  Smokeless,  Tams . 

Loup  Creek  Col.  Page . 

Raleigh  . 

Pemhjrton  Coal  &  Coke  Company — 

Big  .Stick . 

Affinity  . 

Pemberton  . 

Woodbay  . 

Wyco  . 

Sullivan  . 

Long  Branch . 

Hot  Coal . 

The  New  River  Company — 

Carlisle  . 

Summerlee  . 

Lochgelly  . 

Cranberry  . 

Beckley  . 

Mabscott  . 

Sprague  . 

Scarbro  . 

Goodwin  . 

M.  P.  Tipple . 

Sugar  Creek . 

Trace  Fork . ; . 

Herberton  . 

Tralee  No.  2 . 

Mt.  Hope . 

Newlest  No.  1 . . . 

Wooflpeck  . 

•Skelton  . 

Gstego  . 

Hevil’s  Creek . 

Tralee  No.  1 . 

Algonquin  . 

Mullens  . 

Newlest  No.  2 . 


Tons. 

37,851 

27,659 

23,828 

26,384 

6,739 

24,371 

24,133 

20,613 

18,363 

18,169 

16,215 

14,948 

7,378 

3,974 

10,604 

10,545 

10,360 

9,350 

8,855 

7,180 

5,873 

5,139 

4,899 

4,402 

3,843 

3,091 

2,652 

5,640 

5,427 

3,954 

3,345 

3,204 

2,553 

2,343 

2,135 

1,600 

942 

900 

819 

760 

702 

413 

200 


Total 


393,055 


The  directors  of  the  LaFayette  Coal  &  Coke 
Company,  Uniontown,  Pa.,  elected  the  following 
officers  :  President,  Plarry  Whyel ;  vice-president, 
George  Whvel ;  secretary  and  treasurer,  A.  D. 
Williams.  This  company  holds  a  3,000  acre  tract 
in  Marshall  county  on  the  Ohio  river. 


438 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[November  27 


General  Review. 


Chicago  Market. 


Cool  Weather  Improved  the  Tone  of  the 
Domestic  Market — Better  Business 
Helps  the  Steam  Trade. 


Buying  of  Screenings  Is  Brisk  with  Sup¬ 
ply  Short — Domestic  Is  Stronger 
with  Prices  Rising. 


The  national  coal  market,  viewed  from  any  dis¬ 
tributing  center,  is  in  very  much  better  position 
now  than  it  has  been  at  any  time  in  several 
years.  The  situation  is  quite  encouraging  when 
viewed  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  operator. 
It  is  quite  the  opposite  when  one  views  it  with 
the  eyes  of  the  consumer. 

The  strength  of  the  market  rests  primarily  on 
the  improvement  in  business.  In  the  east  most 
factories  are  running  to  capacity  because  they 
have  war  orders  to  take  up  part  of  their  output 
and  domestic  business  to  absorb  the  rest  of  it. 
The  steam  market  in  the  west  is  strengthened 
mainly  by  an  improvement  in  business  at  home. 

A  shortage  of  cars  everywhere  is  helping  the 
coal  market  by  preventing  an  over-flooding  of 
different  centers  and  even  though  the  car  supply 
should  be  improved  by  some  change  in  transporta¬ 
tion  conditions,  the  mines  are  prevented  from 
turning  out  an  oversupply  of  coal  by  a  growing 
shortage  of  labor.  Thus  the  market  not  only  is 
strong  now,  but  promises  to  remain  firm  for  the 
rest  of  the  winter.  This  gives  the  operator,  as  a 
rule,  better  conditions  than  he  has  had  for  some 
time. 

The  coke  market,  right  now,  is  commanding  a 
great  deal  of  attention.  The  ovens  in  the  Con- 
nellsville  district  have  recently  closed  some  con¬ 
tracts  for  first-quarter  delivery  at  $3.00  a  ton  and 
have  refused  to  commit  themselves  further  than 
the  first  of  April.  This  is  quite  a  contrast  to  the 
attitude  of  the  same  operators  a  short  time  ago 
when  they  were  perfectly  willing  to  contract  at 
that  price  for  delivery  durin.g  the  last  half  of  next 
year.  Right  now  spot  coke  is  bringing  from  $3.00 
to  $3.25,  and  while  the  operators  would  like  to  in¬ 
crease  production,  they  cannot  conveniently  do  so 
because  the  supply  of  cars  and  labor  is  short. 

Incidentally  this  activity  in  the  coking  district 
is  making  the  demand  for  slack  coal  quite  strong 
all  through  the  central  field.  Coke  ovens  are 
taking  so  much  of  it  that  a  very  srnall  supply 
remains  for  those  who  are  equipped  with  stokers. 
This  is  advancing  the  price  of  slack  in  _  Pitts¬ 
burgh,  Cleveland.  Columbus,  and  Cincinnati.  An¬ 
other  effect  of  this  is  the  increased  supply  of 
domestic  coal  from  the  coking  coal  belt  and  that 
explains  the  weakness  in  several  markets  of  the 
price  of  smokeless  lump  and  egg. 

The  lake  season  is  just  about  at  an  end  for 
this  year.  Shipments  lately  have  not  been  mov¬ 
ing  because  boats  were  in  excellent  demand^  for 
the  movement  of  ore  and  grain.  While  quite  a 
tonnage  of  coal  was  moved  up  the  lakes,  it  is  not 
up  to  that  of  last  year.  Perhaps  with  the  stocks 
held  over  after  the  first  of  last  May,  the  tonnage 
available  for  use  up  until  the  first  of  April  will 
be  about  the  same.  However,  iudging  by  the 
nresent  rate  of  movement  from  the  docks  to  the 
interior,  the  simply  is  not  going  to  be  enou.gh  to 
go  around  and  some  are  looking  with  concern 
upon  the  northwestern  situation.  Some  of  the 
western  mines  have  a  better  chance  to  sell  coal 
there  than  they  have  had  for  several  years. 

In  the  west  one  of  the  most  consnicuous  factors 
is  the  almost  unprecedented  rise  in  the  price  of 
screenings.  The  quotation,  even  on  the  low-grade 
product,  is  now  sixty-five  cents  a  ton  with 
maximum  prices  ranging  about  eighty  cents.  This 
is  fully  thirty  cents  a  ton  higher  than  is  custom¬ 
arily  paid  at  this  time  of  year  and  is  close  to 
fifty  cents  a  ton  above  what  was  a  common  price 
a  few  years  ago.  This  is  traceable  directly  back 
to  a  better  demand  for  coal  for  steam  making, 
but  in  part  is  due  to  the  increased  use  of  stokers 
in  manufacturing  plants  and  on  the  railroads. 


The  Central  Coal  8z  Coke  Company  is  trying 
out  a  new  five-ton  White  truck  and  the  big 
motor  is  taking  care  of  the  company’s  retail 
trade  very  nicely.  At  present  the  White  is  re¬ 
placing  five  teams,  but  Manager  R.  C.  Goddard 
at  Omaha  says  that  the  splendid  wither  has  thus 
far  made  an  adequate  test  impossible.  “It  looks 
good,”  he  smiled,  “but  I  can’t  say  that  it  is 
more  than  an  experiment  as  yet.”  And,  by 
the  way — though  the  expression  is  not  intend¬ 
ed  to  convey  an  impression  of  casualty — the 
Ford  one-ton  truck  seems  to  be  meeting  with 
popular  favor,  at  least  several  dealers  are  using 
this  type. 


Office  of  The  Black  Diamond, 
Chicago,  November  25. 


The  feature  of  the  coal  market  in  the  west¬ 
ern  territory  for  this  week  is  the  strength  of 
screenings.  The  market  seldom  has  been 
stronger,  the  prices  rising  ten  to  fifteen  cents 
a  ton  within  the  last  week.  This  is  in  strong 
contrast  with  prices  on  the  same  size  at 
this  time  a  year  ago.  Then  the  market  was 
far  from  strong  at  prices  ranging  twenty- 
five  to  thirty  cents  a  ton  lower. 

The  market  today  is  quotable  at  a  minimum 
of  sixty-five  cents  a  ton  even  on  low  grade 
screenings,  while  seventy-five  and  even  eighty 
cents  a  ton  is  being  obtained  on  the  better 
grades.  This  is  a  price  which  usually  rules 
in  midsummer  for  a  short  time.  It  is  seldom 
that  it  gets  as  high  as  that  in  the  winter.  The 
price  is  due  to  better  demand  for  current  use, 
rather  than  for  any  buying  for  storage  pur¬ 
poses. 

The  railroads  this  week  have  begun  to 
store  some  coal  to  tide  them  over  a  possible 
period  of  mine  suspension.  They  are  not  quite 
sure  that  there  is  going  to  be  any  strike  next 
spring  in  Illinois.  Even  so,  they  are  sure 
that  there  is  going  to  be  a  good  demand  for 
steam  coal.  Whether  the  railroads  use  it  to 
tide  themselves  over  a  strike  period  or  whether 
they  use  it  to  relieve  themselves  when  the 
market  for  coal  is  extraordinary  for  other 
reasons  does  not  matter  much.  The  fact  is 
that  they  are  buying  coal  because  they  now 
think  they  are  going  to  have  need  for  it. 
They  are  taking  mostly  lump  of  some  size  or 
egg  coal.  This  is  relieving  one  section  of  the 
market  of  a  surplus  of  prepared  sizes,  which 
might  otherwise  be  bothersome  as  the  do¬ 
mestic  demand  right  now  is  not  overly  keen. 

The  Franklin  county  situation  is  brisk  in 
every  department.  Most  of  the  mines  are  run- 
jiing  to  capacity  and  are  sold  up  on  lump,  egg 
and  number  one  nut.  The  prices  are  firm  at 
$1.75.  Number  two  stove  is  selling  for  $1.50 
strong;  number  three  at  $1.40  and  other  prices 
proportionately  high.  The  market  is  bare  of 
any  suggestion  of  free  screenings  and  those 
who  happen  to  have  any  for  sale  can  very 
easily  get  seventy-five  cents  a  ton  for  them 
at  the  mines.  The  minimum  prices  offered 
by  buyers  is  seventy  cents.  But  very  few 
sales  have  been  made  at  that  figure  this  week. 
The  prices  up  to  Thursday  were: 


Franklin  County — 
Lump  . 

Egg  . 


No.  1  nut . 

No.  2  nut . 

Mine  run . 

2-inch  screenings 


F.  O.  B. 
Chicago. 
$2.80 
2.86 
2.80 
2.56 
2.15@2.20 
1.7.5@1.80 


F.  O.  B. 
Mines. 
$1.75 
1.75 
1.75 
1.50 
1.10@1.15 
.70®  .75 


The  Williamson  county  situation  is  quite 
strong  with  all  sizes  in  demand.  Lump,  egg 
and  number  one  washed  are  sold  more  gen¬ 
erally  today  at  $1.75  than  at  any  time  this 
fall.  One  or  two  concerns  are  still  selling  at 
$1.60  because  they  have  idle  productive  capac¬ 
ity.  However,  such  cases  are  rare,  most  op¬ 
erators  holding  for  $1.75.  The  domestic 
market  was  boosted  by  the  sharp  turn  in  the 
weather  a  few  days  ago.  Fine  coal  prices  are 
strong,  screenings  being  seventy  to  seventy- 
five  cents.  The  prices  up  to  Thursday  were: 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Williamson  County —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Lump  . $2.65@2.80  $1.60@1.75 

Egg  .  2.65@2.80  1.60@1.75 

No.  1  washed .  2.80  1.76 

No.  2  washed .  8.15  1.40 


Every  department  of  the  Saline  county  mar¬ 
ket  is  strong.  Domestic  sizes  are  now  firm  at 
$1.75,  mine  run  is  strong  at  $1.15  to  $1.20  and 
screenings  are  in  demand  at  a  minimum  of 
seventy  cents  with  seventy-five  cents  obtained 
on  most  sales.  The  market  up  to  Thursday 


Saline  County —  Chicago. 

T.ump  . $2.65@2.S0 

Mine  run .  2.20 

Screenings .  1.75@1.80 

ll4-inch  lump .  2. .35 


F.  O.  B. 
Mines. 
fl.60@1.75 
1.15 
.70®  .75 
1.30 


Central  Illinois  mines  have  been  able  to 
make  further  sales  within  the  week  to  rail¬ 
roads,  some  of  the  coal  being  for  immediate 
use  by  the  railroads,  and  some  portions  of 
it  going  into  storage  for  use  four  or  five 
months  hence.  This,  with  the  closing  down 


of  two  mines  due  to  fires,  made  the  demand 
larger  than  the  supply  and  strengthened  all 
prices.  Domestic  lump  is  now  firm  at  $1.75; 
screenings  are  strong  at  sixty-five  cents.  The 
prices  up  to  Thursday  were: 


Central  Illinois — 

Lump  . 

Egg  . 

Nut  . 

Mine  run . 

Screenings . 


F.  p.  B. 
Chicago. 

$2.57 

2.32®2.47 

2.47 
1.87 

1.47 


F.  O.  B. 
Mines. 
$1.76 
1.50@1.65 
1.65 
1.05 
.65 


Clinton,  Indiana,  screenings  are  strong  at 
a  minimum  of  eighty  cents  with  some  sales 
being  made  at  eighty-five  cents.  The  do¬ 
mestic  coal  for  the  number  four  vein  is  quite 
strong,  with  $1.75  being  obtained  in  most 
instances,  although  some  sales  are  made  at 
$1.65.  The  prices  up  to  Thursday  were: 


„  .  F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Clinton —  Chicago.  Mines. 

No.  4  domestic  lump . $2.42®2.57  $1.65®1.75 

No.  4  egg .  2.12  1.35 

Nut  .  2.12  1.85 

No.  5  and  6  mine  run .  1.87  1.10 

No.  5  and  6  screenings .  1.57  .80 


Knox  county  screenings  are  strong  at  a 
minimum  of  seventy  cents,  and  most  sales  are 
being  made  at  seventy-five  to  eighty  cents. 
Prices  up  to  Thursday  were: 


F.  O.  B. 

Knox  County —  Chicago. 

Lump  .  $2.37 

Egg  .  2.37 

Mine  run .  1,87 

Screenings  .  1.57@1.62 


F.  O.  B. 
Mines. 


$1.50 
1.60 
1.05 
.70®  .75 


This  week  brought  a  better  demand  for  an¬ 
thracite  coal.  For  one  thing,  the  cold  weather 
of  a  few  days  ago  caused  better  buying  gen¬ 
erally.  _  Then,  the  retailers  and  others  are 
beginning  to  realize  that  a  strike  in  the  an¬ 
thracite  field  is  imminent  for  next  spring. 
Better  current  business  and  some  precaution¬ 
ary  buying  have  improved  the  tone  radically. 

The  smokeless  situation  is  none  too  strong. 
The  demand  for  mine  run  has  been  just  about 
fair  and  some  sales  agents  have  wished  that 
the  car  supply  might  be  a  little  tighter.  Even 
so,  the  price  on  mine  run  has  held  firm  at 
$1.40.  Lump  and  egg  continues  to  be  a 
trifle  easy  with  $1.65  as  a  minimum,  $1.75 
as  a  common  price,  and  $2,00  as  a  top  figure. 
The  prices  up  to  Thursday  were: 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Smokeless —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Mine  run .  $3.45  $1.40 

Lump  and  egg .  3.70@4.05  1.65@2.00 


Somerset  county  coal  has  been  strong  be¬ 
cause  of  a  car  shortage  in  the  mining  region 
and  because  of  a  big  demand  in  the  east.  Mine 
run  has  been  firm  at  $1.40.  Lump  and  egg 
has  ranged  between  $1.65  and  $2.00.  The 
prices  up  to  Thursday  were: 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Somerset  County —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Mine  run .  $3.45  1.40 

Lump  and  egg .  3.70®4.05  1.65®2.00 

A  better  demand  at  home  and  a  livelier  de¬ 
mand  here  has  made  the  Hocking  rnarket 
strong  at  $1.60  to  $1.75.  The  operators  are 
going  back  to  their  old  circular  figures  again. 
The  market  up  to  Thursday  was: 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Hocking —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Domestic  lump . $3.25®3.40  $1.60®1.75 

Splint  coal  has  been  in  such  demand  in  the 
east  that  no  surplus  coal  has  been  shipped 
to  the  west.  Consequently  the  market  is 
strong  at  $1.50  in  open  cars  and  $1.60  in  box 
cars;  most  sales  were  made  on  the  latter  basis. 
The  prices  up  to  Thursday  were: 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Kanawha —  Chicago.  Mines. 

114 -inch  lump . $3.40®3.60  $1.50@1.60 


Some  eastern  Kentucky  operators  decided 
to  advance  the  circular  price  on  domestic  lump 
to  $2.40.  Others  are  taking  $2.25  and  some 
sales  are  at  $2.00.  Other  prices  are  corre¬ 
spondingly  high.  The  market  up  to  Thursday 


as: 

F.  p.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Eastern  Kentucky —  Chicago.  Mines. 

)mestic  lump . $3.80®4.30  $1.00®2.40 

;g  . .• .  3.65®3.!)0  1.75®8.00 

Connellsville  coke  is  commanding  $5.00  to 
1.75  with  emphasis  on  the  latter  price  in  Chi- 
igo  today.  The  spot  demand  has  moved  the 
;^"-product  price  up  to  $4.95,  a  rise  of  twenty 
mts  a  ton.  Gas  house  coke  is  stronger  be- 
luse  the  new  freight  rate  has  already  gone 
to  effect.  Prices  up  to  Thursday  were: 


Coke — 

Connellsville  . 

By-product,  foundry . 

By-product,  egg  and  stove 

By-product,  nut . 

Gas  house . 


Chicago. 

$.5.25®5.50 

5.25@6.50 

4.95 

4.95 

4.00 


No.  22] 


439 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


Pittsburgh  Trade. 

To  Avoid  a  Possible  Shortage  of  Coal 
Later,  Buyers  Are  Specifying  to 
Limit  of  Contracts. 

Office  of  The  Black  Diamond, 

1502  Oliver  Building, 

Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  November  25. 

There  has  developed  in  Pittsburgh  what  might 
be  called  a  many  sided  coal  market  or  a  market 
of  mystery,  because  of  abnormal  conditions  of 
trade  in  many  lines,  that  influence  the  coal  trade. 
This  may  or  may  not  last  for  some  time,  opinions 
of  various  operators  varying  as  to  both  the  near 
and  distant  future.  It  is  too  early  to  conclude 
that  the  advancing  tendency  shown  for  some 
weeks  past  will  weaken  with  the  close  of  lake 
shipping,  for  while  prices  have  not  been  adhered 
to  all  along  the  line,  the  disposition  of  operators 
is  to  look  upward,  with  some  entirely  out  of  the 
market,  so  far  as  1915  deliveries  are  concerned. 

Consumers  fearing  non-delivery  later  on,  are 
specifying  to  the  full  on  contracts,  and  while  no 
large  individual  new  inquiry  is  heard  of,  con¬ 
siderable  new  business  is  in  prospect.  Conditions 
in  one  sense  remain  practically  unchanged  from 
reports  of  a  week  ago  save  in  that  a  decided  drop 
in  the  temperature  has  developed  considerable  ac¬ 
tivity  in  both  coal,  and  heating  coke  for  home 
consumption,  and  the  retail  fuel  dealer  as  well  as 
the  smaller  jobber  are  wearing  a  smile  of  content¬ 
ment,  if  not  of  positive  joy.  As  should  be  the 
case  at  this  particular  season  a  round  among  the 
leading  operators  flnds  them  generally  in  a 
“thankful”  mood— fairly  well  satisfied  with  the 
present,  though,  as  stated,  differing  considerably 
as  to  the  future.  However,  it  is  not  thought  the 
cessation  of  lake  shipments  will  compel  the  clos¬ 
ing  down  of  operations  at  many,  if  any,  mines 
because  of  the  heavy  demands  of  mills  and  facto¬ 
ries  in  this  district  for  coal— the  fact  being  that 
with  the  existing  shortage  of  labor  and  increasing 
car  shortage,  it  has  been  hard  to  make  deliveries 
on  time,  and  it  is  reported  that  several  railroads 
will  be  in  the  market  shortly  for  large  tonnages 
for  stocking,  against  April  1st,  that  have  been 
holding  back  on  account  of  the  car  famine,  until 
the  lakes  closed. 

The  Thanksgiving  holiday  will  have  the  usual 
effect  of  curtailing  this  week’s  output  of  both 
coal  and  coke.  The  departure  of  many  Greek 
laborers  for  their  home  country — following  the 
example  of  their  Italian  co-laborers — is  having 
some  effect  on  the  labor  situation,  though  not  to 
a  great  extent.  Fayette  county  Italians  who  have 
responded  to  the  call  to  arms  will  leave  for  their 
native  land  and  the  firing  line  November  29.  The 
Guiseppi  Derdi,  an  Italian  steamer,  will  depart 
from  New  York  on  that  date  with  about  3,000 
reservists  on  board.  Of  that  number  several  hun¬ 
dred  are  from  Fayette  county.  About  500  were 
called  from  the  county  and  few  have  turned  a 
deaf  ear.  Those  who  remain  here  will  never 
again  be  permitted  to  visit  Italy. 

Inquiry  fails  to  develop  any  material  change  as 
to  prices  on  either  coal  or  coke  from  figures  given 
here  last  week,  though  furnace  coke  has  not  re¬ 
covered  the  strength  lost,  but  the  coke  operators 
are  still  talking  optimistically  of  $3.00  coke. 

Announcement  was  made  last  Saturday  that  the 
Republic  Iron  &  Steel  Company  has  authorized 
the  erection  of  another  blast  furnace  at  its  plant 
in  Youngstown,  Ohio.  The  new  stack  will  have 
a  daily  capacity  of  600  tons  of  iron.  It  will  cost 
approximately  $500,000,  and  erection  will  be 
started  at  once.  It  will  require  about  six  months 
to  complete.  The  new  furnace  will  give  the  Re¬ 
public  eight  blast  furnaces  in  this  district,  in¬ 
creasing  its  capacity  for  pig  iron  about  200,000 
tons  a  year,  or  to  1,500,000  tons. 

The  rivers  are  slowly  falling  and  no  coal  is 
going  south  from  this  harbor,  though  some  con¬ 
siderable  local  activity  is  shown  in  the  fourth  and 
fifth  pools.  A  number  of  empty  barges  which 
have  been  tied  at  the  Sligo  landing,  owned  by  the 
Monongahela  River  Consolidated  Coal  &  Coke 
Company  were  removed  to  the  mines  in  the  upper 
Monongahela  river  the  first  of  the  week  by  pool 
boats.  The  towboat  Aliquippa,  of  the  Jones  & 
Laughlin  Company’s  fleet,  passed  through  the 
local  harbor  with  a  tow  of  coal  for  the  company’s 
mill  at  Woodlawn.  The  A.  R.  Budd,  owned  by 
the  Diamond  Coal  &  Coke  Company,  passed 
through  the  harbor  Monday  with  a  tow  of  empties 
for  the  mines  in  the  upper  Monongahela. 

The  J.  V.  Thompson  troubles  still  occupy  the 
center  of  the  gossip  stage,  and  much  speculative 
talk  is  heard.  It  develops  today  that  President 
II.  C.  McEldowney  of  the  Union  Trust  Company 
of  Pittsburgh,  has  refused  to  become  a  member 


of  a  creditors’  committee  to  liquidate  the  holdings 
of  J.  V.  Thompson  for  the  benefit  of  Thompson’s 
creditors.  This  is  a  disappointment  to  the  many 
creditors  of  the  former  banker  and  coal  land 
speculator.  The  creditors  of  Thompson  are  of 
the  opinion  today  that  the  refusal  of  the  Pitts¬ 
burg  banker  disposes  of  the  last  hope  of  settling 
the  affairs  of  Thompson  through  a  creditors’  com¬ 
mittee. 

Uniontown  has  one  banker  and  business  man  in 
W.  A.  Stone  who  has  not  given  up  hope  of  per¬ 
suading  prominent  bankers  and  financiers  to  ad¬ 
just  the  affairs  of  Thompson.  It  is  known  that 
Stone  will  make  further  efforts  in  behalf  of  the 
Thompson  creditors  this  week.  Stone  is  inter¬ 
ested  especially  in  the  Thompson  unsecured  cred¬ 
itors  and  those  creditors  are  hoping  he  will  yet 
be  successful. 


Pittsburgh  District  News  Items. 

The  semi-annual  meeting  of  the  West  Virginia 
Coal  Mining  Institute  will  be  held  in  Fairmont 
Thursday,  December  9th.  Governor  Hatfield  will 
address  the  meeting. 

The  lack  of  laborers  is  holding  back  the  opera¬ 
tion  of  about  1,500  coke  ovens  out  of  a  possible 
10,000  in  the  Brownsville  region.  In  that  region 
8,500  are  now  in  operation  and  the  rest  would  be 
fired  at  once  if  the  necessary  labor  to  operate 
them  could  be  secured. 

The  Cannonsburg  Gas  Coal  Company,  which 
sunk  a  shaft  north  of  the  Standard  mill,  is  driv¬ 
ing  its  entries  and  getting  ready  to  mine  coal  on 
an  extensive  scale.  The  shaft  is  168  feet  deep, 
and  eight  entries  have  been  driven.  A  tipple  has 
been  built,  and  some  coal  is  being  taken  out. 


Cleveland  Market. 


Cleveland,  Ohio,  November  25. —  (Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — Coal  men  are  at  a  loss  to  know 
just  what  conditions  will  prevail  after  the  close 
of  navigation  with  respect  to  those  coals  which 
go  especially  to  the  lake  trade.  There  is  little 
doubt  that  producers  will  endeavor  to  replace 
their  lake  business  with  as  much  other  trade  as 
they  can  secure.  Moreover,  many  cars,  tied  up 
for  months  in  the  lake  business,  will  be  released 
and  it  is  believed  that  there  will  be  little  trouble 
thereafter  in  making  deliveries  to  the  various 
markets.  This  will  probably  not  only  affect  the 
coals  that  have  been  going  to  upper  lake  points, 
but  others  which  have  been  held  up  to  some  ex¬ 
tent  by  the  car  shortage,  and  it  is  feared  that 
there  will  be  a  drop  in  price  on  many  grades. 

While  the  weather  has  been  slightly  cooler  for 
a  few  days,  no  material  increase  in  the  consump¬ 
tion  of  steam  coal  has  yet  been  noted.  At  the 
same  time  reports  indicate  that  shops  and  facto¬ 
ries  are  all  running  full.  The  situation  is  un¬ 
doubtedly  different  from  other  seasons  in  this 
respect,  for  the  increase  through  the  fall  months 
has  not  been  as  great  as  was  anticipated  earlier  in 
the  year. 

With  the  exception  of  two  or  three  grades  of 
coal,  the  domestic  business  has  not  been  satisfac¬ 
tory  for  the  past  several  days.  Smokeless  coals 
have  presented  an  unsatisfactory  aspect,  due  to 
throwing  more  on  the  market  than  the  trade  de¬ 
mands.  Seemingly  the  eastern  trade  is  not  taking 
the  amount  that  was  going  in  that  direction  some 
time  ago. 

Vessel  tonnage  remains  scarce  and  it  looks  now 
as  if  but  few  more  cargoes  would  be  loaded.  It 
is  possible  that  a  few  boats  will  accept  storage 
coal,  but  even  this  is  uncertain.  Grain  and  ore 
have  usurped  the  coal  tonnage  to  a  great  extent. 

Shippers  of  No.  8  coals  are  looking  for  orders 
with  delivery  to  begin  December  1st.  This  is  due, 
of  course,  to  the  fact  that  navigation  will  close  at 
that  time.  So  far  the  prices  prevailing  last  week 
have  not  been  materially  weakened,  neither  have 
they  been  strengthened.  Quotations  Tuesday 
were  as  follows: 

F.  o.  B.  F.  o.  B. 

No.  8  District —  Mines.  Cleveland. 

Three-quarters  . $1.05@1.10  $1.95@2.00 

Run  of  mine  .  .95  1.85 

Slack  .  .85  1.75 


Conditions  as  to  supply  and  demand  have  not 
changed  with  regard  to  Coshocton  coal,  although 
prices  remain  firm  as  follows : 


F.  O.  B. 

Coshocton —  Mines. 

Lump,  4-inch  screened . $1,70@1.75 

l'/4-inch  .  1.60@1.65 

Egg  and  nut .  1.05@1.10 


F.  O.  B. 
Cleveland. 
$2.40@2.45 
2.30@2.35 
1.75@1.80 


As  yet  the  supply  of  Pittsburgh  slack  is  neg¬ 
ligible  in  the  market,  with  no  other  sizes  offered. 
Quotations  as  follows ; 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Pittsburgh —  Mines.  Cleveland. 

Slack  . $0.85@  .90  $1.85@1.90 


Massillon  coals  are  stronger  and  the  producers 


are  still  far  behind  with  their  orders.  Slack 
prices  have  advanced.  Figures  as  follows : 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Massillon —  Mines.  Cleveland. 

Lump  .  $2.50  $3.20 

Nut  .  2.50  3.20 

Slack  .  1.05@1.10  1.75@1.80 


Smokeless  coals  suffered  another  break  this 
week.  There  is  a  good  supply  in  the  market  and 
trouble  has  been  encountered  in  moving  it.  Prices 
quoted  follow : 


Smokeless- 

Lump  . . 

Egg  . 

Run  of  mine.  . 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Mines.  Cleveland. 
$1.90  $3.35 

1.75  3.20 

1.30  2.75 


No  change  has  taken  place  with  relation  to 
Cambridge  coal  and  prices  are  the  same  as  quoted 
last  week : 


Cambridge — - 
Three-quarters 
Run  of  mine. 
Slack  . 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Mines.  Cleveland. 
$1.10  $2.00 

1.00  1.90 

.90  1.80 


Fairmont  slack  is  still  scarce  with  no  change  in 
the  quotation  from  last  week: 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Fairmont —  Mines.  Cleveland. 

Slack  .  1.90 


It  is  possible  that  the  close  of  navigation  will 
increase  the  receipts  of  -Kentucky  coals  in  this 
market,  but  as  yet  the  price  of  Kentucky  block 
remains  firm : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Kentucky — •  Mines.  Cleveland. 

4-inch  block . . .  . $1.90@2.00  $3.15@3.25 


Quite  a  little  Youghiogheny  coal  was  handled 
in  this  market  the  past  week,  with  no  noticeable 
change  in  the  quotations : 


F.  O.  B. 

Youghiogheny—  Mines. 

Iti-inch  . $1.40@1.60 

Three-quarters  .  1.30 

Run  of  mine .  1.20 

Slack  . 95@1.00 


F.  O.  B. 
Cleveland. 
$3.40@2.50 
2.30 
2.20 
1.95@2.00 


Bergholtz  coal  has  gained  a  good  foothold  in 
this  market  as  a  domestic  coal  and  the  supply  has 
been  taken  promptly  all  through  the  season. 
Prices  for  the  past  week  are  as  follows : 


Bergholtz — 
G-inch  lump.  . 

l!4-inch  . 

Three-quarters 


Run  of  mine 
Slack  . 


F.  O.  B. 
Mines. 

$  1.70 

1.45 
1.35 
1.25 
1.20 
1.05@1.10 


F.  O.  B. 
Cleveland. 
$  2.40 

2.15 
2.05 
1.95 
1.90 
1.75@1.80 


Wainwright  slack  has  shown  more  strength 
than  usual  the  past  week,  but  other  sizes  are 
steady  at  the  prices  quoted : 


Goshen — Wainwright  Mines — 

Three-quarter,  domestic . 

3-inch  lump . 

Lump  . 

Slack  . 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Mines.  Cleveland. 
$1.40  $2.10 

1.80  2.50 

1.65  2.35 

1.05  1.75 


Goshen  slack  advanced  five  cents  a  ton  during 
the  past  week  and  there  was  considerable  business 
in  all  sizes.  Quotations  as  follows : 


Goshen — ■ 
Three-quarters 

154 -inch  . 

Slack  . 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Mines.  Cleveland. 
$1.30  $2.00 

1.40  2.10 

1.05  1.75 


Hocking  egg  and  slack  remained  at  $1.70  on 
track  here,  with  prepared  lump  quoted  at  $2.20 
delivered  here,  or  $1.50  at  the  mines. 


Cleveland  News  Notes. 

Department  heads,  with  a  few  guests,  were  ten¬ 
dered  a  dinner  at  the  Hotel  Statler  Saturday 
evening  by  the  Cambridge  Collieries  Company,  of 
which  J.  VV.  Ellsworth  is  the  head.  About  fifty 
persons  were  present.  This  is  an  annual  affair 
and  is  intended  as  a  get-together  meeting.  The 
guests  are  usually  those  who  are  in  close  touch 
with  the  company’s  work. 

Anthony  Howells,  formerly  prominent  coal 
operator  of  this  state,  died  at  the  home  of  his 
daughter,  Mrs.  J.  S.  Cockburn,  in  this  city,  on 
Wednesday  of  last  week.  Mr.  Howells  held  the 
office  of  state  treasurer  from  1878  to  1880  and 
served  in  the  state  senate  from  1890  to  1892.  He 
was  also  United  States  consul  at  Cardiff,  Wales, 
for  a  number  of  years.  His  home  was  at  Mas¬ 
sillon. 

The  noteholders’  committee  of  the  J.  PI.  Somers 
Company  has  notified  holders  of  notes  of  the 
company  that  in  pursuance  of  the  power  originally 
vested  in  the  committee  payment  of  interest  on 
the  collateral  trust  notes  given  to  creditors,  pay¬ 
able  December  1st,  has  been  postponed  six  months 
and  that  payment  of  the  principal,  due  at  the 
same  time,  has  been  postponed  for  one  year. 
Business  conditions  have  rendered  it  impossible  to 
realize  on  the  Somers  holdings,  as  was  expected 
when  the  arrangements  were  made,  and  this  in 
turn  has  caused  the  postponement  of  payment  of 
interest  and  principal  on  the  notes. 


440 


THE  BEACK  DIAMOND 


[November  27 


Cincinnati  Trade. 

The  Market  Is  Brisk,  Due  to  a  Better 
Demand  for  Both  Steam  and 
Domestic  Coal. 


Cincinnati,  Ohio,  November  25. —  (Special 
Correspondence.) — The  market  thi.s  week  is  niorc 
attractive  to  o[)erators  ami  salesmen  than  it  has 
been  in  some  months,  especially  in  the  splint  oper¬ 
ations.  The  car  situation  has  eased  up,  especially 
since  the  lake  movement  has  slowed  down,  re¬ 
leasing  many  cars  that  had  been  held  at  the  lakes 
for  unloading.  Most  of  the  Cincinnati  operators 
have  stopped  shipping,  but  one  or  two  have  con¬ 
tinued  loading  for  the  lakeside  aiming  to  reach 
the  waiting  vessel  for  the  last  cargo  up,  Novem¬ 
ber  20.  number  of  operations  are  out  of  the 
market  for  November,  but  are  taking  orders  for 
December  shipment,  the  prevailing  price  for  the 
better  West  Virginia  grades  for  shipment  in 
that  month  being  $1.S5  for  block  and  propor¬ 
tionate  prices  for  the  other  grades.  Nut  and  slack 
and  run  of  mine  are  very  strong  and  approaching 
premium.  In  fact,  demand  for  every  grade  is 
keeping  up  in  good  shape  and  all  lines  of  dealers 
are  reporting  good  business. 

Prices  are  better  and  holding  firm  for  the  better 
grades  of  coal  and,  in  fact,  they  are  better  for  the 
lower  grades,  nearly  all  being  in  demand  as  stated 
above.  Such  grades  as  the  better  West  Virginia 
Cinderella  and  Miller’s  Creek  and  other  best 
grades  running  for  four  and  three  and  one-half 
inch  block,  $1.90,  $2  and  $2.25.  Egg  is  in  good- 
demand  now  at  $1.75.  Nut  holds  firm  at  $1.40 
and  slack,  when  at  all  available,  runs  from  eighty 
to  ninety  cents.  In  the  Kentucky  fields  the  gen¬ 
eral  run  of  good  coal  is  held  firmly  to  $1.75  and 
$1.80,  for  four-inch  block.  Washed  egg  com¬ 
mands  $1.00  and  nut  and  slack  is  strong^and  al¬ 
most  unobtainable,  being  mostly  “cinched”  earlier 
on  contract.  A  week  ago  these  quotations  were 
given  out,  but  with  the  statement  that  if  an  offer 
of  from  five  to  ten  cents  below  were  made  for 
three  to  five  car  lots,  it  would  be  accepted,  was 
also  made  privately.  The  situation  is  almost  re¬ 
versed  now  and  the  offer  of  three  to  five  car 
lots  is  liable  to  be  made  at  five  to  ten  cents  ad¬ 
vance  on  the  prices  above  quoted. 

While  it  was  reported  in  the  last  correspond¬ 
ence  from  this  center  that  domestic  lump  in  Po¬ 
cahontas  was  developing  a  slight  softness  it  can 
be  stated  now  that  that  situation  has  been  cured 
by  the  weather  and  domestic  lump  is  as  strong  as 
is  egg.  Run  of  mine  is  still  quite  strong  and 
companies  are  not  saying  now  that  they  could 
take  on  a  little  more  business.  It  is  believed  in 
all  quarters  that  as  the  winter  develops  the  situa¬ 
tion  will  grow  stronger  until  it  will  develop  one 
of  the  worst  fuel  shortages  the  country  has  ever 
seen.  Coal  operators  said  this  week  that  pleasant 
weather  would  be  really  acceptable  just  now  to 
allow  coal  men  to  stock  up  and  give  the  railroads 
a  chance  to  get  their  loads  to  the  storage  yards. 

The  labor  situation  is  fair  but  not  improving. 
It  is  developing  more  and  more  toward  embar¬ 
rassment  to  the  mines.  The  holiday  this  week 
is  not  expected  to  curtail  production,  for  the 
miners  and  operators  will  scarcely  take  the  day, 
the  one  being  uneasy  at  the  situation  developing 
as  to  scarcity  of  cars  and  fuel  in  the  country  and 
the  miners,  not  having  been  able  to  work  con¬ 
tinuously,  are  not  “flush”  and  desire  to  continue 
to  work.  The  consumption  of  the  fuel  will  in¬ 
crease  on  that  day  also  and  unless  all  signs  fail 
the  full  carrying  capacity  of  the  railroads  will 
be  invoked  on  that  day  as  well  as  on  others. 


Cincinnati  Trade  News. 

O.  C.  Ingcrsoll,  of  the  Lorain  Coal  &  Dock 
Company,  of  Columbus,  Ohio,  was  a  visitor  in 
the  city  Tuesday. 

General  Sam  Patterson,  of  Vivian  and  Cin¬ 
derella,  W.  Va.,  was  a  guest  the  early  part  of  the 
week  of  F.  B.  Raines,  manager  of  Castner,  Cur¬ 
ran  &  Bullitt,  in  Cincinnati. 

John  J.  Laing,  president  of  the  Wyatt  Coal 
Company,  and  allied  companies  in  West  Virginia 
fields,  was  at  the  offices  of  the  company  here 
several  days  going  home  to  Charleston  Tuesday. 

'I'he  death  of  J.  L.  Pierson,  the  well-known 
coal  and  lumber  man  of  this  city,  was  announced 
'I'uesday  and  saddened  coal  men  of  the  city. 
While  Mr.  Pierson’s  specialty  was  really  real 
estate  and  building,  he  was  well  known  as  a  re¬ 
tailer  of  coal  also. 

By  reason  of  the  taking  over  of  the  mines  of 
the  Hazard  Coal  Company,  through  purchase  of 
the  bonds  of  the  company,  the  headquarters  of 


that  company  have  been  removed  from  Louis¬ 
ville  to  Cincinnati  and  have  been  merged  with 
the  Reliance  Coal  &  Coke  Company  of  this  city. 
Mr.  William  Polk,  secretary  and  general  manager 
of  the  company,  has  been  installed  in  the  offices 
of  the  Reliance  company  where  he  will  manage 
the  sales  of  the  specialty  of  the  Hazard  company, 
“Blue  Jacket”  coal.  The  new  addition  to  the 
Reliance  company  will  add  some  500  to  600  tons 
to  the  daily  capacity  of  the  company. 


Denver  Trade. 


De.nver,  November  25. — (Special  Correspond¬ 
ence.) — This  section  was  visited  by  a  touch 
of  real  winter  weather  for  a  few  days  last 
week  and  for  a  while  it  looked  like  the  coal 
dealer  would  surely  have  his  inning.  Some 
snow  fell  and  temperatures  fell  to  below  freez¬ 
ing,  but  the  storm  ceased  almost  as  suddenly 
as  it  came,  and  for  several  days  Colorado, 
Wyoming  and  New  Mexico  have  had  weather 
almost  as  warm  as  June.  As  a  result  the  mar¬ 
ket  buoyancy  of  the  storm  period  has  all  been 
dissipated. 

So  far  as  production  goes,  however,  the  re¬ 
cent  weather  changes  have  had  little  effect  one 
way  or  the  other.  There  is  a  good  de¬ 
mand  for  "all  grades  of  coal,  especially  lignite. 
Country  dealers,  while  not  placing  orders  to 
any  liberal  extent,  are  going  on  the  theory  that 
cold  weather  is  already  overdue,  and  they  do 
not  intend  to  be  caught  short-handed.  It  is 
said  that  the  lignite  production  for  last  week 
reached  almost  90  per  cent  of  normal  capa¬ 
city. 

In  the  Trinidad  district  every  mine  is  work¬ 
ing  steadily  and  the  output  for  the  present 
week  will  compare  very  favorably  with  corre¬ 
sponding  periods  in  previous  years.  The  steel 
mills  at  Pueblo  are  now  employing  5,000  men 
and  their  output  is  larger  than  for  many 
years.  All  departments  have  been  working  full 
capacity,  and  during  the  past  w;eek  90  per  cent 
of  them  have  been  on  double  time.  This  indi¬ 
cates  a  very  healthy  condition  for  this  sec¬ 
tion  during  the  winter  months. 

Walsenburg,  Canon  City  and  Routt  county 
output  has  suffered  no  decrease  in  tonnage 
as  compared  with  last  week.  There  is  a 
much  better  demand  for  Routt  grades  now 
than  for  several  weeks. 

There  is  no  change  in  slack  prices  and  the 
demand  for  all  grades  is  good.  The  recent 
cold  snap  cleared  the  very  small  surplus  of 
bituminous. 

The  anthracite  mines  are  running  full  time 
with  the  outp^ut  booked  ahead  for  some  time 
to  come. 

The  following  prices  for  lignite,  f.  o.  b. 
mines,  are  ruling;  For  Denver  delivery,  lump, 
$2.35  to  $2.65;  mine  run,  $1.50  to  $1.65;  slack, 
$1.05  to  .$1.25.  For  points  outside  of  Denver, 
lump,  $2.50;  mine  run,  $1.55  to  $1.65;  slack, 
$1.05. 


Duluth  Trade. 


Duluth,  Minn.,  November  25. — (Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — The  much-mooted  and  long 
talked  of  new  coal  dock  for  the  Northwestern 
Fuel  Company  on  the  Duluth  side  of  the  bay 
is  likely  to  materialize  before  very  long.  It  is 
understood  that  matters  preparatory  to  build¬ 
ing  are  pretty  well  cleaned  up  and  that  fig¬ 
ures  for  construction  work  are  likely  to  be 
called  on  very  soon.  For  the  past  two  years 
the  company’s  attorney  has  been  engaged  in 
clearing  titles  to  land  on  Rice’s  Point,  south 
of  Pittsburgh  No.  7  coal  dock,  that  being  the 
site  decided  on  for  the  next  coal  dock  of  the 
company,  and  that  this  work  is  virtually  fin¬ 
ished. 

In  view  of  the  fact  that,  to  give  itself  ade¬ 
quate  facilities  on  the  Duluth  side  of  the  bay. 
Northwestern  has  had  to  hold  under  lease  for 
a  number  of  years  Pittsburgh  No.  6  dock,  and 
desires  to  have  its  own  equipment  as  far  as 
possible,  it  is  expected  that  the  proposed  new 
dock  will  be  put  off  no  longer  than  neces¬ 
sary. 

.\t  present  the  equipment  of  the  North¬ 
western  company  is  its  dock  at  the  foot  of 
Fourth  Avenue  West,  which  is  one  of  the 
best  located  docks  in  the  city  for  general  local 
distribution;  and  added  to  this  is  the  dock 
on  Rice’s  Point  leased  from  the  Pittsburgh 
Coal  Company.  On  the  Superior  side  of  the 
bay  the  company  has  three  fine  docks,  and  has 
felt  to  be  at  rather  a  disadvantage  on  this 
side.  Should  the  new  docks  be  built  it  will 
be  used  for  delivering  in  carload  lots  to  the 
range  roads,  and  for  business  distribution  in 


the  western  end  of  the  city.  It  is  likely  that 
the  new  dock  will  be  moderate  as  to  size, 
for  the  head  of  the  lakes  is  rather  over¬ 
equipped  in  the  way  of  coal  docks  as  it 
stands. 

The  recent  succession  of  storms  has  held 
up  a  large  coal  fleet  at  various  points  between 
here  and  Lake  Erie,  and  the  boats  are  just 
beginning  to  arrive.  Tuesday  was  the  first 
day  that  any  boats  have  arrived  with  coal  in 
several  days,  and  at  that  time  eleven  boats 
arrived  practically  in  a  bunch,  bringing  ap¬ 
proximately  100,000  tons  of  coal,  the  largest 
amount  to  arrive  in  one  day  this  season.  Still 
others  are  expected  daily,  for  boats  have  been 
held  at  various  points  all  down  the  line. 


Mr.  and  Mrs.  Oliver  C.  Wyman  of  2500 
Park  avenue,  announce  the  engagement  of  their 
daughter,  Katherine  Ristine,  to  James  Albert 
Vaughan  of  Minneapolis.  Mr.  Vaughan  is 
vice-president  of  the  Clarkson  Coal  &  Dock 
Company. 


Indianapolis  Trade. 


Ini)i.\n.\polis,  Ini).,  November  24. —  (Special 
Correspondence.) — The  demand  for  steam  coal  is 
improving  right  along  in  Indiana.  Dealers  and 
operators  here  say  they  note  a  better  demand  for 
steam  grades.  The  improvement  that  has  been 
anticipated  so  long  seems  to  have  set  in.  The 
prices  have  not  been  advanced  but  the  trade  is 
feeling  more  optimistic  than  it  has  for  a  long 
time. 


It  appears  from  reports  coming  from  many 
Indiana  cities  that  industrial  concerns  are  ex¬ 
periencing  a  revival  of  orders  and  that  the  out¬ 
look  for  business  for  the  next  year  is  quite  satis¬ 
factory.  One  of  the  encouraging  features  here  is 
that  mercantile  business  is  better  than  it  has  been 
for  a  long  time  and  collections  are  satisfactory. 
Some  of  the  Hoosier  cities  have  not  hit  their 
stride  yet,  but  the  reports  from  all  quarters  show 
that  conditions  are  improving.  The  railroads  are 
doing  a  better  business  than  they  have  for  several 
months.  In  Indianapolis  the  bank  clearings  are 
increasing.  Postal  receipts  are  going  up  steadily. 
The  movement  of  grain  to  and  from  Indianapolis 
exceeds  the  mark  established  for  the  same  time 
a  year  ago.  These  facts  are  set  down  here  merely 
as  straws  indicating  a  general  tendency  which  un¬ 
doubtedly  will  be  of  great  value  to  the  coal  trade. 
There  is  an  increasing  number  of  inquiries  for 
steam  coal  and  many  industrial  concerns  are 
taking  more  coal  than  they  contracted  for  a  year 
ago.  Mine  run  is  selling  from  $1  to  $1.20  a  ton 
at  the  mines. 

A  car  shortage  is  imminent  and  it  would  not  be 
surprising  if  mine  run  should  be  considerably 
higher  before  the  end  of  the  winter.  The  con¬ 
sumers  who  failed  to  make  contracts  are  liable 
to  suffer  on  that  account  as  there  is  very  little 
coal  on  the  market  now  that  is  not  sold  before 
it  leaves  mines. 

The  supply  of  domestic  is  not  very  large.  Re¬ 
tailers  report  a  nice  trade  in  all  domestic  grades. 
There  has  been  practically  no  change  in  domestic 
prices  here  within  the  last  month.  The  following 
prices  are  being  quoted  by  the  wholesalers ; 


Indiana — 

Mine  run,  No.  4 . 

Mine  run,  Nos.  5  and  6.... 
Nut  . 

Egg  . 

1*4 -inch  steam  lump . 

No.  4  screenings . 

Nos.  5  and  6  screenings.... 
2j4-inch  domestic  No.  4.... 

No.  4  domestic . 

Nos.  5  and  6  domestic . 

Brazil  block  domestic . 

No.  1  washed  coal . 

No.  2  washed  coal . 

Southern  Indiana  Field — 

Mine  run . 

Domestic  lump . 


O.  B. 

F.  0.  B. 

Mines. 

Indianapolis. 

$1.60@1.60 

1.55@1.65 

.  .  1.20@1.30 

1.70@1.80 

1.80@1.90 

..  1.25@1.35 

1.75@1.85 

1.20@1.25 

1.05@1.13 

..  1.50@1.5.5 

2.00  @2.0.') 

..  1.60@1.6.5 

2.10@2.1.5 

1.90@2.I0 

.  .  2.25@2.50 

2.75@2.50 

1.75 

2.25 

1.65 

2.15 

. .  1  n  rtii  1  1  n 

. .  .  1.40@1.50  . 

John  W.  Coneys,  superintendent  of  the  Penn¬ 
sylvania  lines  here,  says  that  the  train  service  on 
their  roads  is  twenty-five  per  cent  larger  than 
it  was  a  few  months  ago.  He  says  there  is  a 
shortage  of  coal  cars.  He  declares  that  there  is 
a  notable  increase  in  the  movement  of  coal,  steel 
and  logs.  The  Pennsylvania  company  has  just 
arranged  to  build  a  new  $300,000  freight  house 
here. 


R.  K.  Brown  of  the  Coal  Hill  Coal  Company 
Omaha,  and  chairman  of  the  Omaha  Good  Roads 
Delegation,  led  his  crowd  of  highway  boosters  to 
New  Orleans  last  week,  where  they  attended 
a  national  gathering  of  good  roads  enthusiasts 
and  exerted  their  influence  toward  having  the 
proposed  Jefferson  Highway  pass  through  his 
city. 


No.  22] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


441 


St.  Louis  Trade. 


St.  Louis,  November  25. —  (Special  Correspond¬ 
ence.) — Owing  to  the  continued  mild  weather,  a 
number  of  grades  of  coal  are  suffering  somewhat, 
but  prices  on  the  whole  remain  about  the  same. 
Domestic  coals  are,  however,  undeniably  weaker, 
and  prices  are  being  shaded  in  order  to  keep, 
coal  moving.  The  situation  has  not  as  yet  gotten 
to  a  general  breaking  in  price,  and  will  take  only 
a  few  days  of  brisk  weather  to  see  all  grades  of 
coal  firmly  back  at  the  list. 

The  Standard  District  has  suffered  badly  dur¬ 
ing  the  last  week.  They  were  cut  down  to  about 
half  time.  Lump  and  egg  have  been  shaded 
somewhat.  Screenings  and  $2  nut  on  the  other 
hand  has  been  advancing.  This  is  entirely  natural 
at  this  time  of  the  year,  and  is  to  be  expected. 
From  past  experience,  one  would  feel  warranted 
in  assuming  that  a  general  advance  of  about  five 
cents  a  ton  per  week  on  screenings  from  now 
until  the  first  of  February  \*ill  be  what  we  should 
expect.  The  current  prices  on  Standard  coals  are 
as  follows : 


E.  O.  B. 


Standard  Coal — •  Mine. 

6-inch  lump . $1.30 

6x3-inch  egg .  1.25 

2-inch  lump .  1.05 

Steam  egg . 90 

No.  1  nut .  1.15 

No.  2  nut . 80 

Mine  run . 85 

Screenings  . 10  , 


F.  O.  B. 

St.  Louis. 

$1.87J4 
1.82'/2 
1.62  yj 
lAT’A 
1.72’A 
1.37y^ 
li2A 
■  97A 


The  steam  coal  from  the  mines  in  the  northern 


district,  around  Springfield  and  Staunton,  are 
finding  a  steady  demand.  Domestic  grades  have 
suffered  considerably,  and  in  some  instances  the 
six-inch  lump  from  this  district  has  been  quoted 
at  an  even  less  price  than  Standard,  in  the  St. 
Louis  market.  A  rather  peculiar  situation,  as 
they  generally  bring  a  differential  of  twenty-five 
cents  a  ton  more  than  Standard  coal. 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Mine.  St.  Louis. 


6-inch  lump . $1.50  $2.07yj 

2-inch  lump .  1.25  1.82A 

Screenings . 40  .97A 


Williamson  county  mines  seem  to  be  running 
betted  than  almost  any  other  district  in  the  state, 
due  partly  to  the  fact  that  these  operators  are  in 
a  good  many  instances  making  concessions  to 
keep  the  coal  moving.  Also  to  the  fact  that  a 
large  amount  of  this  coal  is  under  contract. 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Mine.  St.  Louis. 

6-inch  lump  or  egg . $1.40@1.75  $2.02  A  @9. i7  A 

3x2-inch  nut .  1.20@1.75  1.92yi  @2.4754 

Screenings  .  .50  1.22  54 


Franklin  county  operators  report  business  fair. 
The  prices  in  Franklin  county  are  being  main¬ 
tained  better  than  in  any  other  part  of  the  state 
on  domestic  sizes.  Steam  sizes  are  much  stiffer, 
as  they  have  started  putting  it  on  the  ground  to 
avoid  throwing  it  on  the  market  at  a  ruinous 
price. 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Mine.  St.  Louis. 

6-inch  lump,  egg  or  nut . $1.75  $2.4754 

No.  2  stove .  1.50  2.2254 

Screenings  . 60  1.3254 

The  demand  for  anthracite  continues  to  hold 
up  in  spite  of  the  mild  weather.  Chestnut  is  mov¬ 
ing  freely  in  the  country,  though  in  the  city  the 
business  is  a  littl?  dull. 


Anthracite — 

Chestnut  . 

Stove  or  egg. . 
Grate  . 


F.  O.  B.  St.  Louis. 

. $7.55 

.  7.30 

.  7.05 


Smokeless  coal  and  coke  are  dull  at  the  present 
time. 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Mine.  St.  Louis. 


Lump  or  egg . $2.25  $4.75 

Gas  House  Coke —  F.  O.  B.  St.  Louis. 

Gas  house  coke . $4.25 

By-product  coke  (all  sizes) .  4.50 


The  prices  on  Illinois  soft  coal,  f.  o.  b.  East  St.  Louis. 
Madison,  Venice  or  Granitz  City,  Ill.,  are  20  cents  lower 
than  the  above  quoted  St.  Louis  prices. 


Louisville  Trade. 


Louisville,  Ky.,  November  25. —  (Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — The  only  noticeable  change  of 
market  conditions  during  the  past  week  has  been 
due  to  colder  weather  over  this'territory,  and  this 
change,  to  the  extent  of  slightly  strengthening 
the  market  for  domestic  coal,  has  not  been  of  a 
pronounced  nature.  It  looks  as  if  the  market  will 
be  a  weather  proposition  from  now  on  as  to  all 
grades  of  domestic  coal,  with  not  very  much 
likelihood  that  prices  will  at  any  time  during  the 
winter  rise  to  abnormally  higher  levels,  but  with 
fairly  good  assurance  that  a  market  will  be  af¬ 
forded  for  a  large  tonnage  of  coal  at  better  than 
the  cost  production. 

In  regard  to  steam  sizes  the  outlook  is  consid¬ 
erably  more  encouraging,  though  the  demand  for 


same  is  not  quite  so  keen  as  was  the  case  a 
month  or  six  weeks  ago.  In  regard  to  fine  screen¬ 
ings,  however,  the  approach  of  winter  and  the 
outlook  for  a  suspension  of  mining  next  spring 
are  undoubtedly  having  some  effect  on  the  largest 
buyers,  who  are  in  the  market  trying  to  tie  up 
coal  for  delivery  over  several  months  time,  asking 
quotations  on  a  small  amount  of  coal  from  each 
one  of  numerous  producers  and  shippers  with  a 
view  thereby  to  protecting  their  requirements  un¬ 
til  the  end  of  the  winter.  There  is  every  likeli¬ 
hood,  however,  that  before  long  the  buyer  who  is 
relying  on  open-market  purchasing  will  be  in  a 
more  or  less  unfortunate  position  as  compared 
with  industries  who  are  protected  under  contract 
as  the  open-market  basis  for  screenings  has  been 
already  above  the  contract  basis  by  five  or  ten 
cents  per  ton  and  apparently  will  widen  the  gap 
week  by  week.  The  demand  for  four-inch,  six- 
inch  and  straight  run-of-mine  coal,  however,  is 
by  no  means  as  strong  as  it  was  some  time  ago. 

Retail  conditions  in  Louisville  are  somewhat 
healthier  since  the  twenty-five-cent  price  advance 
which  went  into  effect  about  a  week  ago  and- 
dealers  are  more  optimistic  and  more  inclined  to 
carry  a  full  supply  of  fuel.  Buying  in  the  coun¬ 
try  points,  however,  has  somewhat  decreased  in 
volume  as  the  long  period  of  dry  fall  weather  was 
availed  of  by  farmers  to  lay  in  their  winter 
stocks. 

Car  supply  on  all  railroads  in  the  Kentucky 
fields,  both  eastern  and  western,  has  considerably 
relaxed,  although  the  Southern  Railway  is  an  ex¬ 
ception  to  this  and  is  serving  the  mines  in  the 
Middlesborough  district  with  not  exceeding  four 
days’  car  supply  each  week.  Furthermore,  the 
Southern  Railway  some  days  ago  placed  an  em¬ 
bargo  on  shipments  of  commercial  coal  by  any 
of  its  contract  mines  until  its  fuel  contract  re¬ 
quirements  had  been  discharged.  This  condition 
together  with  a  considerable  shortage  of  labor 
which  is  reported  at  the  mines  in  this  district  is 
causing  the  operators  considerable  anxiety. 

In  general  it  may  be  stated  that  labor  is  less 
plentiful  but  that  car  supply  is  more  plentiful  than 
at  any  previous  time  during  the  past  several 
months,  but  with  a  few  weeks  of  severe  weather 
in  December  or  early  January  the  movement  of 
cars  would  be  considerably  hampered  and  a  short¬ 
age  would  speedily  develop. 

Prices  quoted  on  standard  eastern  Kentucky- 
Tennessee  domestic  coals  are  about  as  follows: 


6-inch  mine  rurf. . 90@1.00 

4-irich  steam . 80@  .90 

Block  . $1.75@2.10 

Esg  . 1.20@1.50 

Steam  mine  run .  1.00(2)1.10 

High  .grade  nut  and  slack . .75 

Low  grade  nut  and  slack . 40@  .50 


Omaha  Trade. 


Omaha,  Neb.,  November  25. —  (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — While  the  rank  and  file  of  Ne¬ 
braska  citizenship  is  offering  thanks  for  the 
prevailing  lovely  weather,  local  coal  men  are 
groaning  their  disgust  over  conditions  which 
have  kept  the  domestic  business  very  quiet. 
Several  times  during  the  past  week,  the  hopes 
of  the  trade  were  raised  only  to  fall  when 
a  threatened  “cold  wave”  disappeared.  Thus 
while  the  trade  is  beseeching  the  atmosphere 
custodian  for  “some  real  weather,”  stocks  in 
the  hands  of  local  dealers  remain  good.  Job¬ 
bers,  however,  report  a  surplus  of  steam  coal 
and  an  active  demand  for  domestic  grades. 

Petroleum  coke  is  still  holding  a  prominent 
place  in  the  Omaha  fuel  market  and  the  Haven 
Coal  Company  comes  forward  with  the  proph¬ 
ecy  that  unless  anthracite  is  maintained  at  a 
high  standard,  it  will  lie  replaced  by  coke. 
Nevertheless,  retail  dealers  here  expect  to  or¬ 
der  freely  of  anthracite  liefore  the  advance  in 
price  becomes  effective  December  15. 

The  following  prices  are  quoted  by  local 


jobbers,  f.  o.  b.  mines: 

Franklin  County — 

Better  grades  lump,  egg  and  nut .  $1.75 

Some  grades,  egg  and  nut  offered  at .  1.50 

Montgomery  County — 

Lump  . 1.35 

Lgg  .  1.35 

Washed  nut .  1.50 

Kansas — 

Cherokee  nut .  1.85@2.0n 

Cherokee  slack .  1.25 

The  market  is  very  long  on  slack  and  a  good 
deal  of  coal  is  held  on  demurrage. 

Iowa- 

Walnut  block  chunks .  2,00 

Iowa  nut .  1.35@1.50 

Iowa  scr-enings. . 40@  .75 

Iowa  mine  run .  1.35 

A  little  anthracite,  in  nut  and  egg  sizes,  is 

offered  at  from  ten  cents  to  twenty-five  cents 

a  ton  off  circular. 


Detroit  Trade. 


Detroit,  Mich.,  November  25. — (Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — With  low  temperature,  accom¬ 
panied  by  cold  wind  and  snow  flurries  serving  as 
a  visible  indication  of  the  presence  of  winter, 
domestic  coal  users  are  beginning  to  come  to 
the  front  with  greater  promptness  and  retail 
yards  have  experienced  a  considerable  accelera¬ 
tion  of  business  during  the  week.  So  far  the 
shippers  and  jobbers  have  not  benefited  in  any 
large  degree,  although  there  is  said  to  be  a  slight 
expansion  of  their  business,  which  provides  basis 
for  expectation  of  larger  activity  in  the  near  fu¬ 
ture. 

Moderate  improvement  also  appears  to  be  de¬ 
veloping  in  the  steam  coal  business,  this  being  off¬ 
set,  however,  by  such  drawbacks  as  car  shortage 
and  railroad  embargoes.  The  change  for  the  bet¬ 
ter  in  the  steam  coal  trade  is  described  as  being 
not  so  much  in  the  nature  of  an  increase  in 
sales  as  in  the  appearance  of  a  more  receptive 
attitude  on  the  part  of  consumers.  Orders,  though 
small,  are  given  with  greater  regularity  and  seem 
to  reflect  a  more  steady  consumption  of  coal. 

Interest  continues  most  active  in  the  small 
sizes,  which  are  less  plentiful  than  the  larger 
coal.  Some  of  the  shippers  are  finding  it  dif¬ 
ficult  to  get  enough  of  the  small  sizes  for  their 
customers.  Besides  the  condition  of  car-short¬ 
age  reported  from  various  mining  districts,  par¬ 
ticularly  along  the  lines  of  the  C.  &  O.  and  the 
B.  &  O.  railroads,  the  transportation  situation  has 
been  complicated  locally  by  the  operation  of  the 
embargo,  which  was  raised  last  week  by  the 
Grand  Trunk  railroad  against  freight  shipments 
consigned  to  Detroit.  The  embargo  was  against 
shipments  transferred  from  connecting  lines,  cov¬ 
ering  also  shipments  originating  on  the  (jrand 
Trunk  lines  after  November  16.  While  the  time 
tentatively  set  for  removal  of  the  embargo  is  this 
week,  there  is  a  suspicion  among  some  of  the 
coal  men  that  the  restriction  is  merely  the  first 
of  a  series  of  such  embargoes  that  may  be  placed 
in  effect  at  any  time. 

By  its  operation,  not  only  were  shipments  of 
anthracite  over  the  Grand  Trunk  from  Buffalo 
suspended,  but  the  movement  of  bituminous  coal 
over  the  Shore  Line  route  from  Toledo  also  was 
cut  off.  While  the  same  routes  are  covered  by 
other  roads,  the  shortened  service  occasioned 
much  inconvenience.  Renewed  demands  for  an¬ 
thracite  are  coming  to  retail  dealers  owing  to  the 
wintry  weather  conditions.  Their  stocks  appear 
to  be  lasting  longer  than  was  expected  and  the 
shippers  are  not  yet  doing  any  considerable 
amount  of  business. 

With  the  close  of  the  lake  navigation  season, 
probably  not  more  than  three  weeks  distant,  coal 
shippers  are  finding  it  very  difficult  to  get  boats, 
the.  delays  to  which  carriers  have  been  subjected 
because  of  stormy  weather,  causing  managers  to 
exert  every  effort  to  seek  dispatch  for  down- 
bound  cargoes  by  avoiding  loading  for  the  up- 
bound  trip. 


Prices  in  the  local  market 

on  the  mine 

shipment 

orders  are  as  follows : 

F.  O.  B. 

F.  0.  B. 

West  Virginia  Gas — 

Mines. 

Detroit. 

Three-quarter  lump . 

$1.00 

$2.40 

Mine  run . 

.90 

2.30 

Slack  . 

.60@  .75 

2.00®2.15 

West  Virginia  Splint — 

Four-inch  lump . 

.  1.45@1.75 

2.85®3.15 

Two-inch  lump . 

.  I.20@1.40 

2.60®2.80 

Three-quarter  . 

1.10 

2.50 

Mine  run . 

.90 

2.30 

Nut,  pea  and  slack . 

.  .55@  .65 

1.95®2.05 

Smokeless — 

Lump  and  egg  . 

2.25 

3.85 

Nut  . 

1.75 

3.35 

Slack  . 

.  Open 

Open 

Mine  run . 

1.40 

3.00 

Kentucky  Splint — 

Lump  . . 

.  1.75@2.00 

3.15®3.40 

Egg  . 

.  1.25@1.40 

2.65@2.80 

Nut,  pea  and  slack . 

.65 

2.05 

Fairmount — ■ 

Three-quarter  steam  lump . 

.  .85®  .95 

2.25@2.35 

Mine  run . 

.  .70®  .80 

2.10@2.20 

Slack  . 

,  Open 

Open 

Hocking  Valley — 

Shaker  three-inch  limp . 

1.75 

2.90 

Shaker  egg  and  nut . 

1.15 

2.30 

Domestic  lump  . 

1.50 

2.65 

Three-quarter  lump . 

1.35 

2.40 

Mine  run . 

.  1.00@1.10 

2.15®2.25 

Nut,  pea  and  slack . 

Open 

Open 

Pittsburgh  No.  8 — 

Three-quarter  lump  . 

1.05 

2.20 

Mine  run  . 

.95 

2.10 

Slack  . 

Open 

Open 

Jackson  Hill — 

Domestic  lump . 

2.50 

3.65 

Cambridge — 

Three-quarter  lump . 

1.20 

2.35 

Mine  run . 

1.10 

2.25 

Pomeroy — 

Two  and  three-inch  lump . 

1.60 

2.75 

Egg  . 

1.35 

2.50 

Slack  . 

Open 

Open 

Shack  . 

.  .95@1.00 

1.65(^2.00 

442 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[November  27 


New  York  Trade. 


Very  Brisk  Anthracite  Trade — Soft  Coal 
Is  in  Short  Supply  and 
Prices  Soar. 


Office  of  The  Black  Diamond, 
New  York,  November  25. 

'I'here  is  more  activity  in  the  antliracite  trade 
this  week  than  has  been  the  case  heretofore. 
'I'he  market  has  been  stimulated  for  several 
reasons.  One  of  these  is  the  cold  weather 
that  is  lieing  felt  in  most  of  the  territory 
that  consumes  anthracite.  This  has  started 
domestic  buying  on  a  large  scale,  and  many 
of  the  retail  dealers  find  that  their  supplies 
are  not  as  large  as  they  would  like.  Hence, 
there  are  hurry  calls  for  wholesale  shipments. 

Congestion  of  freight  of  all  descriptions  at 
New  York,  is  causing  considerable  delay  in 
the  transhipment  of  coal  from  the  Jersey  ports 
to  Long  Island  and  New  England.  Also  some 
delay  is  being  experienced  by  tidewater  re¬ 
ceivers,  as  coal  is  not  moving  as  promptly 
from  mine  to  tide  as  is  customary.  Some  of 
the  side  tracks  of  the  railroads  terminating 
at  New  York  tidewater  are  glutted  for  miles 
with  carloads  of  war  material  for  export,  this 
congestion  due  largely  to  the  inability  of 
shippers  to  secure  vessels.  This  has  brought 
about  the  use  of  a  great  many  barges  and 
scows  around  New  York  for  loading  these 
wares  on  until  ships  become  available.  This 
has  brought  about  a  shortage  of  harbor  boats, 
so  that  those  dealers  who  have  been  de¬ 
pendent  largely  upon  outside  boats  to  move 
their  anthracite,  are  now  experiencing  great 
difficulty  in  getting  coal  moved  promptly  and 
also  at  a  reasonable  price.  This  situation 
does  not  offer  much  improvement  for  the 
present. 

In  New  York  city  there  is  a  great  demand 
for  red  ash  coals,  and  the  companies  that  mine 
this  coal  are  having  the  business  offered  them 
that  they  can  take  care  of.  Also,  the  de¬ 
mand  for  stove  is  beyond  the  present  supply, 
while  many  of  the  shippers  of  chestnut  are 
over-sold  on  this  size.  Egg  is  the  only  one 
of  the  domestic  sizes  that  is  long. 

The  all-rail  trade  is  good  in  all  directions 
with  shipments  considerably  restricted  because 
of  the  inability  of  shippers  to  secure  a  suffici¬ 
ent  number  of  cars.  Many  shipments  to  the 
west  are  held  up  because  box  cars  are  not 
available.  While  premiums  on  stove  and 
chestnut  are  not  yet  announced  by  any  of 
the  individuals,  it  is  predicted  a  serious  snow¬ 
storm  or  freeze  up  on  some  of  the  lines  or 
roads,  would  bring  about  such  a  shortage  that 
buyers  would  willingly  pay  ten  or  fifteen 
cents  for  prompt  shipment  of  these  sizes. 

The  demand  for  the  steam  sizes  is  ex¬ 
cellent.  This  applies  particularly  to  the  high 
grade  coals,  which  are  practically  out  of  the 
market  at  the  upper  New  York  harbor  ports. 
Prices  are  very  firm  on  all  of  these  coals  for 
good  grades. 

There  is  a  good  demand  for  pea  coal,  and 
good  grades  sell  at  the  full  circular.  Some 
inferior  coal  was  offered  at  the  lower  ports 
on  Tuesday  at  $3.25  per  ton  which  is  the 
bottom  price. 

On  Tuesday  the  Interstate  Commerce  Com¬ 
mission  announced  that  the  application  of  the 
recent  changes  in  anthracite  freight  rates  to 
tidewater  would  not  be  made  until  January 
1st,  1916.  The  first  ruling  of  the  commission 
was  that  these  rates  would  go  into  effect  on 
December  1st. 


Upper 

Lower 

Ports. 

Ports. 

Rroken  . 

.  $5.10 

$5.00 

.  5.35 

5.25 

Stove  . 

.  5.35 

5.25 

Chestnut  . 

.  5.60 

5.50 

Pea  . 

.  3.55 

3.45 

Special  grades  of  red  ash  and  other  high- 
grade  coals  at  the  lower  ports  sell  at  twenty- 
five  to  fifty  cents  per  ton  over  above  figures. 

Spot  prices  in  individual  coals  at  lower  ports 
are  about  as  follows; 


Egg  . $5.05  and  up 

Stove  .  5.20  and  up 

Nut  .  5.20  and  up 

Pea  .  3.25  and  up 

Buck  .  2.30  and  up 

Rice  .  2.00  and  up 

p.arley  .  l  lS  and  up 


The  Bituminous  Situation. 

The  bituminous  market  continues  very  ac¬ 
tive,  with  production  largely  curtailed  because 
of  insufficient  labor  and  inadequate  car  supply. 
The  car  question  appears  to  be  growing  more 


serious  each  week.  Last  week  it  was  bad 
throughout  the  entire  week,  some  operations 
during  the  last  two  or  three  days  of  the  week 
not  being  able  to  work  at  all,  because  there 
were  not  enough  cars  furnished  them  to  war¬ 
rant  their  starting  up  the  mines. 

This  situation  has  brought  about  a  serious 
shortage  of  bituminous  coal  with  a  great  many 
consumers,  and  it  is  frequently  the  case  that 
a  shipper  with  some  free  coal  is  able  to  place 
it  promptly  and  at  very  satisfactory  prices. 
This  week  some  sales  of  Pennsylvania  coals 
have  been  made  up  to  $1.75  per  ton,  with  fre¬ 
quent  sales  of  $1.65  per  ton  at  the  mines,  and 
$1.50  seems  to  be  about  the  average  price  for 
any  kind  of  good  coal.  Inferior  coals  are  sell¬ 
ing  readily  at  $1.40,  the  Latrobe  selling  for 
eastern  shipment  at  $1.35.  Nearly  anything  in 
the  way  of  coal  along  the  Western  Maryland 
commands  $1.35,  these  prices  showing  an  ad¬ 
vance  of  forty  to  fifty  cents  a  ton  over  normal 
prices.  Most  of  the  shippers  of  the  good 
grades  of  Pennsylvania  coals  are  entirely  out 
of  the  market,  and  they  are  experiencing  great 
difficulty  in  mining  a  sufficient  tonnage  of 
these  coals  to  take  care  of  contract  require¬ 
ments.  On  the  other  hand,  they  find  that  a 
lot  of  their  contractors,  would  willingly  take 
just  at  this  time,  from  fifty  to  one  hundred 
percent  more  than  the  regular  monthly  quotas, 
were  the  mining  company  willing  to  furnish  it. 

There  are  some  of  the  trade  who  do  not 
believe  that  the  coal  operators  appreciate  just 
how  short  certain  consumers  are,  and  how 
large  their  requirements  are  going  to  be  dur¬ 
ing  the  next  two  or  three  months. 

As  pointed  out  in  this  column  last  week, 
shippers  of  coals  to  New  England  tidewater 
ports  are  experiencing  great  difficulty  in  get¬ 
ting  vessels,  especially  from  Baltimore  and 
Philadelphia.  It  is  said  that  $1.25  per  ton 
from  Philadelphia  to  Boston  and  common 
points  would  be  willingly  paid,  and  a  schooner 
was  offering  this  week  at  $1.40  from  Hampton 
Roads  to  Boston. 

At  the  New  York  harbor  ports  there  is 
very  little  free  coal  to  be  obtained,  and  prices 
are  very  firm  at  about  the  range  named  above. 
Slack  coal  has  sold  in  the  Fairmont  region  as 
high  as  $1.25,  and  in  the  Reynoldsville  region 
$1.35  has  been  named. 

The  Vessel  Situatioh. 

Coastwise  rates  are  advancing,  though  it  is 
difficult  to  obtain  tonnage  at  any  price.  From 
Philadelphia  to  Boston  and  common  New 
England  points  the  quotation  is  $1.15  to  $1.25, 
but  practically  no  boats  are  to  be  obtained 
at  these  prices.  From  Hampton  Roads  $1.25 
to  $1.40  is  about  the  range.  Off-shore  rates 
continue  to  advance,  but  very  few  fixtures 
have  been  made,  as  present  rates  to  the  Medi¬ 
terranean  are  prohibitive. 

We  quote  current  rates  for  freight  as  fol¬ 
lows: 

From  Hampton  Roads  to  Boston,  $1.20  to 
$1.40  is  about  the  range;  to  Portland  and 
points  east  of  Boston,  from  $1.15  to  $1.35.  To 
sound  points,  $1.00  to  $1.25.  From  Philadel¬ 
phia  to  New  England  points,  about  five  cents 
under  the  Hampton  Roads  rates. 

From  New  York  to  sound  points  as  fol¬ 
lows:  Bridgeport,  thirty-five  cents;  New 

Haven,  forty-five  cents;  Providence,  fifty  cents; 
New  Bedford,  fifty-five  cents.  To  Boston, 
around  cape,  sixty  to  seventy  cents;  through 


canal,  seventy-five  to 

eighty  cents. 

Harbor 

rates  twenty  to  twenty-five  cents. 

Current  quotations 

on  bituminous 

coal  in 

spot  lots  are: 

F.  0.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

Somerset  County — 

Harbor. 

Mines. 

Best  grades . 

$1.50 

Ordinary  . 

.  2.90 

1.40 

Medium  grades . 

.  2.80 

1.30 

Cambria  County — 

Best  Miller  vein . 

.  3.20 

1.65 

Medium  grades . 

.  2.95 

1.45 

Cheaper  grades . 

.  2.85 

1.36 

Clearfield  County — 

Best  £;rade . 

.  3.05 

1.45 

Ordinary  grades . 

1.35 

Indiana  County — 

Best  grade . 

1.45 

Medium  grade . 

1.35 

Maryland — 

Georges  Creek  big  vein.  .  .  . 

.  3.25 

1.75 

West  Virginia — 

Ordinary  grades . 

1.35 

Best  gas,  ^-inch  lump . 

Best  grade,  run  of  mine... 

.  2.90 

1.35 

.  2.S0 

1.00 

Gas  slack . 

1.00@1.25 

New  York  Trade  Briefs. 

The  Boston  &  Maine  Railroad  is  said  to 
have  an  inquiry  in  the  market  for  bituminous 
coal  to  be  delivered  at  the  rate  of  twenty 


cars  a  day  from  the  present,  up  to  May  1st, 
1916. 

L.  S.  Evans,  president  of  the  Eastern  Coal 
&  Export  Corporation,  of  Richmond,  Va.,  was 
in  New  York  on  Monday. 

•  Emil  Kahn,  president  of  the  Haddock  Coal 
.Sales  Company,  No.  17  Battery  place,  has 
returned  from  a  visit  to  Chicago. 

A.  G.  Bailey  of  the  Fuel  Testing  Company 
of  Boston,  was  calling  on  members  of  the 
New  York  coal  trade  on  Tuesday. 

Last  week  at  Charleston,  W.  Va.,  the  Elk- 
horn  Coal  Corporation  was  incorporated.  It 
has  taken  over  the  holdings  of  the  Elkhorn 
Fuel  Company  and  the  Elkhorn  Mining  Com¬ 
pany,  with  operations  in  eastern  Kentucky. 
The  capital  stock  is  $28,600,000.  The  incor¬ 
porators  are  Alfred  Dryer,  New  York; 
Nicholas  F.  Lenssen,  Englewood,  N.  J.; 
Edward  G.  Kerr,  New  York;  Louis  F. 
Schwartz,  Jr.,  New  Rochelle,  N.  Y.,  and  Frank 
C.  Titus,  New  York.  The  state  of  West  Vir¬ 
ginia  received  a  fee  of  $4,806,  the  largest  paid 
in  twelve  years. 

.\n  item  apeared  in  the  New  York  Sun  on 
Tuesday  to  the  effect  that  iron  founders  in 
New  England  and  on  the  Atlantic  seaboard 
are  finding  much  difficulty  in  securing  coke 
on  contracts,  and  have  been  obliged  to  pay 
as  high  as  $3.25  to  $3.50  per  ton  at  the  ovens 
for  foundry  coke.  Reports  come  from  nine 
or  ten  different  founders  within  the  last  few 
days  that  they  are  urgently  in  need  of  fuel. 
Blast  furnace  interests  are  also  finding  much 
difficulty  in  obtaining  an  ample  supply  of 
forty-eight  hour  coke  and  have  paid  as  high 
as  $3  a  ton  at  the  ovens  in  the  last  few  days. 
Shippers  are  glad  to  obtain  open  cars  if  the 
railroads  will  make  deliveries  on  contract.  In 
normal  times  box  cars  are  insisted  upon  by 
some  of  them. 

From  some  time  past,  there  have  been 
rumors  in  the  trade  that  the  New  York  Steam 
Company,  one  of  the  very  largest  users  of  the 
anthracite  steam  sizes  of  coal  in  New  York  for 
making  steam,  which  it  distributes  throughout 
certain  sections  of  New  York  City,  would 
change  from  anthracite  to  bituminous  coal. 
This  lent  interest  to  the  statement  made  last 
week  that  this  company  will  erect  a  service 
station  on  Burling  Slip  on  a  lot  purchased 
about  ten  days  ago.  The  property  com¬ 
prises  Nos.  174  to  180  Water  street.  No.  2  to 
No.  10  Burling  Slip  and  No.  232-234  Pearl 
street,  the  block  front  on  the  south  side  of 
Burling  Slip  between  Pearl  and  Water  street. 
The  property  fronts  174  feet  on  Burling  Slip, 
ninety-seven  feet  on  Water  street  and  forty 
feet  on  Pearl  street. 

Once  more  the  high  prices  of  oil  are  caus¬ 
ing  concern  with  those  companies  like  gas 
companies  that  use  large  quantities  of  this 
fluid.  As  was  stated  in  The  Black  Diamond 
last  week,  a  certain  ship-owner  is  now  pay¬ 
ing  about  $60  per  day  additional  for  oil 
for  fuel  for  his  ships,  over  former  prices. 
Last  week  some  interesting  testimony  was 
given  before  the  Thompson  Legislative  Com¬ 
mittee,  in  which  the  Kings  County  Lighting 
Company  figured.  This  company  supplies  gas 
to  the  Thirtieth  ward  in  South  Brooklyn,  and 
there  is  a  contention  before  the  Public  Serv¬ 
ice  Commission  as  to  whether  the  company 
should  charge  ninety-five  cents  or  eighty-five 
cents  for  gas.  Commissioner  Williams  has 
written  an  opinion  that  the  company  should 
be  permitted  to  charge  ninety-five  cents.  Com¬ 
missioner  Hayward  upheld  Commissioner  Wil¬ 
liams  on  virtually  all  of  his  figures  except  the 
cost  of  manufacturing  gas.  He  said  that  the 
Kings  County  Company  had  made  a  contract 
for  oil  which  he  did  not  consider  bona  fide  for 
several  reasons.  He  explained  that  whereas  the 
company  had  been  paying  4.18  cents  a  gallon 
for  oil,  it  suddenly  made  a  contract  by  which 
it  was  to  pay  4.575  cents.  This  made  a  dif¬ 
ference  of  six  cents  a  thousand  feet  of  gas. 


New  Pennsylvania  charters  have  been  granted 
The  Ideal  Coal  Company.  Capital  stock,  $5,000. 
Treasurer:  A.  W.  Evans,  Ebensburg,  Pa.  In¬ 
corporators  :  Charles  C.  Evans,  Leonard  S. 
Jones,  Ebensburg,  Pa.  The  Langloth  Coal  Com¬ 
pany.  Capital  stock,  $5,000.  Incorporators: 
James  I.  Brownson,  Washington,  Pa.;  Alva'n  E. 
Donnan,  Washington,  Pa.  The  Burtner  Coal 
Company.  Capital  stock,  $25,000.  Treasurer:  A. 
F.  McCall,  Punxsutawney,  Pa.  Incorporators : 
C.  P.  Burtner,  Philadelphia;  H.  G.  Bowers,  W.  A. 
Bowers,  I.  R.  Bowers,  all  of  Punxsutawney,  Pa. 


No.  22] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


443 


Philadelphia  Trade. 

A  Turn  of  the  Weather  and  an  Increased 
Shortage  of  Cars  Gives  the  Coal 
Market  a  Run-away  Trend. 

Office  of  The  Black  Diamond, 
1400  Land  Title  Building, 
Philadelphia,  Sovember  24. 

Three  things  happened  this  week ;  It  snowed ; 
the  car  shortage  tightened,  and  the  bituminous 
market  went  crazy  in  spots.  Some  folk  are  talk¬ 
ing  two-dollar  coal  and  some  cannot  see  where 
any  such  flip-flop  is  justified.  The  whole  situ¬ 
ation  is  up  in  the  air,  and,  speaking  soft-coalwise, 
the  operators  are  in  the  saddle.  For  this  very 
reason  all  eyes  are  on  central  Pennsylvania  and 
watching  what  is  happening  on  the  Western 
Maryland  and  Baltimore  &  Ohio  railway  lines. 

At  the  tail  end  of  last  week  there  was  a  general 
onslaught  made  by  western  Massachusetts  and 
Connecticut  buyers  in  the  central  Pennsylvania 
fields.  The  tide  water  sections  of  these  states 
were  first  to  wake  up  to  the  situation  and  while 
cheap  coal  was  obtainable  at  Hampton  Roads, 
boats  were  sky-high  on  charter  prices.  The 
scramble  that  followed  was  soon  felt  on  the 
trade  that  is  served  all  rail  from  the  Pennsylvania 
fields.  Operators,  who  have  cars  to  move  coal 
and  those  who  have  free  production  over  con¬ 
tract,  have  been  holding  a  regular  auction  sale 
method  of  disposal  of  their  coal.  Prices  on  the 
day’s  output  are  made  on  the  highest  bid.  Sales 
have  been  made  from  $1.35  to  $1.50  in  the  Clear¬ 
field  territory.  For  Quemahonings  the  price  was 
a  dime  higher. 

Western  Maryland  coal  has  been  holding  the 
center  of  attraction  since  prices  started  aviating. 
The  next  high-water  mark  was  reached  this  week 
when  quite  a  neat  tonnage  was  sold  at  $1.45  for 
New  England  delivery.  A  car  shortage — a  rare 
occurrence  on  this  line — was  given  as  the  under¬ 
lying  cause  of  the  further  up-turn  in  price.  Som¬ 
erset  county  coals  are  hardest  hit  of  all  in  the  car 
famine  that  has  now  reached  an  acute  stage.  The 
supply  on  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  road  is  tighter 
than  has  been  known  in  years  and  prices  have 
advanced  slowly  but  surely. 

The  question  of  price  is  all  absorbing  locally. 
As  has  been  pointed  out  in  these  columns,  the  low 
grade  coals  have  had  the  limelight  and  have 
shown  the  greatest  advances.  However,  within 
the  past  ten  days  there  has  been  a  steady  up-turn 
in  the  better  coals  and  there  has  been  a  gradual 
increase  of  a  dime  to  a  quarter  on  the  ton.  Some 
of  the  steel  mills  are  storing  coal  right  now,  and 
if  they  enter  the  market  for  any  great  amount 
of  stocking  it  is  thought  that  there  will  be  as 
great  a  response  in  the  high-grade  lines  as  the 
lower  brethren  have  shown. 

Business  at  the  piers  has  been  dropping  per¬ 
ceptibly.  The  tonnage  going  into  export  has  been 
severely  cut  down  from  this  port  in  the  past 
couple  of  weeks.  Even  coast-wise  trade  in  bi¬ 
tuminous  has  shown  a  decrease.  The  practice  of 
“shipping  to  tide,”  which  is  overdone  when  there 
is  plenty  of  free  coal,  has  gone  to  the  opposite, 
tangent.  Those  who  want  to  speculate  are  turn¬ 
ing  their  attention  to  the  all-rail  route  to  New 
England  points  of  consumption. 

Anthracite  Situation 

A  little  flurry  of  snow  and  brisk  weather  that 
smacks  of  winter  has  worked  wonders  in  the 
hard  coal  trade.  The  call  from  the  local  retail 
yards  is  now  for  the  whole  range  of  sizes  with 
pea  coal  showing  the  greatest  volume  in  the  move¬ 
ment.  Steam  sizes,  which  have  been  strong,  have 
even  shown  an  increased  demand.  In  fact,  some 
of  the  independents  who  have  had  surplus  coal 
of  this  kind  have  had  to  shut  down  on  some  of 
the  increases  in  delivery  which  have  been  asked. 

Erom  the  regions  comes  the  information  that 
the  car  shortage  has  touched  that  section.  A  mid¬ 
week  dispatch  from  Shamokin  stated  that  numer¬ 
ous  collieries  in  that  section  suspended  operations 
temporarily  because  of  a  scarcity  of  cars.  The 
same  holds  good  for  the  upper  regions,  according 
to  the  local  representatives.  As  a  reason  for 
closing  down  also.  Thanksgiving  day  and  pay 
day  the  end  of  the  week  will  mean  a  cut  down  in 
production  for  the  next  five  days.  This  will  cut 
quite  a  figure  in  the  year’s  production,  which  is 
now  running  about  three  million  tons  shy  of  the 
output  of  1915. 

Retailers  are  still  holding  to  the  prices  that 
have  prevailed  since  the  beginning  of  the  month. 
There  is  an  intimation  that  quite  a  change  can 
be  looked  forward  to  with  the  coming  of  the  new 
year.  Both  companies  and  independents  who 
have  cut  prices  to  move  certain  of  the  sizes  say 
that  the  stocks  have  been  cut  down  and  produc¬ 
tion  curtailed  to  a  degree  that  full  circular  will 


have  to  be  met.  This  means  that  the  price-cut¬ 
ters  here  will  have  to  readjust  their  prices  or  face 
a  loss. 


Philadelphia  News  Notes. 

William  Coale  of  Coale  &  Co.,  of  Cumberland, 
Md.,  made  a  pre-holiday  visit  to  the  local  offices 
of  his  company  here. 

Harry  K.  Courtright,  head  of  the  Cortright 
Coal  Company,  who  has  been  •  suffering  from  a 
severe  cold,  spent  the  holiday  with  his  family  at 
Atlantic  City. 

Dr.  T.  R.  Williams  and  E.  E.  Hewitt  of  the 
Dilltown  Coal  Company  spent  a  couple  of  days 
this  week  visiting  the  local  trade. 

C.  W.  Stall,  whose  headquarters  is  in  Lewis¬ 
ton  and  who  is  interested  in  various  operations 
in  the  central  Pennsylvania  district,  was  in  the 
city  on  Tuesday. 

A.  A.  Zane  made  a  trip  to  the  Arrow  mines 
this  week  to  speed  up  production  and  look  over 
the  car  situation.  Good.  Smith  was  also  away 
on  a  short  trip  to  New  York. 

William  Mason  of  the  Mason-Hefflin  Coal 
Co.  was  wearing  a  smile  a  mile  wide  early  in  the 
week  and  accepting  the  congratulations  of  his 
fellow  retailers.  It  was  a  boy. 

Harry  K.  Stauffer,  connected  with  B.  Nicoll  & 
Co.,  who  has  been  ill  and  underwent  an  operation 
in  a  hospital  at  Elmira,  N.  Y.,  is  able  to  be  about 
again.  He  was  in  the  New  York  offices  of  the 
company  on  Tuesday  and  left  for  his  home  up¬ 
state  to  spend  the  holiday.  , 

Friends  of  Charles  E.  Sayre,  head  of  the  Sayre 
Coal  Company,  with  offices  at  South  Bethlehem, 
were  shocked  Wednesday  morning  to  hear  that  he 
died  suddenly  in  his  office  in  that  city  on  Tues¬ 
day.  Mr.  Sayre  was  a  nephew  of  the  late  Robert 
H.  Sayre,  who,  with  Asa  Packer,  was  one  of  the 
big  figures  in  the  construction  and  up-building  of 
the  Lehigh  Valley  railroad.  In  his  younger  days 
Mr.  Sayre  was  connected  with  this  road  as  its 
general  eastern  freight  agent  and  in  other  ca¬ 
pacities.  He  was  fifty-six  years  of  age  and  is 
survived  by  a  widow. 

Papers  for  the  incorporation  of  the  firm  of 
Howard  D.  Pfeiffer  &  Co.  were  forwarded  to 
Trenton,  N.  J.,  this  week,  though  the  organization 
of  the  company  was  effected  a  couple  of  weeks 
ago  and  business  has  been  done  under  the  new 
firm  style.  The  new  corporation  will  act  as  the 
selling  agents  for  Chaffee  Coal,  a  Western  Mary¬ 
land  railway  operation.  The  offices  of  the  Chaffee 
Coal  Company,  on  the  sixteenth  floor  of  the  Real 
Estate  Ttitle  building,  have  been  retained.  Mr. 
Pfeiffer  has  represented  this  company  in  the  local 
market  for  some  time. 

Complete  plans  were  made  to  present  a  plan  for 
the  continuance  of  the  local  coal  association,  here¬ 
tofore  known  as  the  Philadelphia  Breaker  of  the 
Ko-Koals  at  a  dinner  held  Tuesday  evening  at 
the  Manufacturers’  Club.  The  annual  meeting 
of  the  Ko-Koals  will  be  held  on  December  16, 
when  the  plan  will  be  placed  before  the  members 
and  the  obsequies  of  the  breaker  will  be  said, 
of  the  Ko-Koals.  Social  and  educational  work 
The  name  of  the  new  organization  will  be  called 
the  Coal  Club  of  Philadelphia  and  a  new  constitu¬ 
tion  will  be  written  to  take  the  place  of  the  ritual 
of  the  Ka-Koals.  Social  and  educational  work 
that  has  been  the  object  of  the  Ko-Koals  will  be 
carried  out  by  the  new  organization.  No  restric¬ 
tions  will  be  placed  on  any  member  who  wants  to 
become  affiliated  with  the  National  Coal  Associa¬ 
tion,  but  it  is  intended  that  the  local  club  have 
no  outside  supervision.  Various  talks  were  made 
and  ideas  outlined  by  those  who  attended  the 
meeting  along  this  line.  Every  effort  will  be 
made  to  have  a  full  and  complete  attendance  at 
the  annual  meeting.  Those  who  were  present  at 
the  meeting  were  Thomas  Ayers,  Frank  Mathers, 
Samuel  Crowell,  W.  Barnard,  W.  H.  Kneass, 
Norristown ;  W.  L.  Scott,  Robert  Magee,  Robert 
Chalfant,  Charles  Heiland,  Charles  Fernberg, 
W.  E.  Grace,  George  Quigley,  L.  M.  Haldt,  Wal¬ 
ter  C.  Hancock,  Charles  Scull,  Walter  Eastlake, 
Merchantsville,  N.  J. ;  Samuel  C.  Nobelette,  1.  C. 
Freise,  J.  W.  Watson,  W.  J.  Steen,  D.  F.  Hill  and 
Henry  Pearson. 

George  P.  Cronk,  treasurer  and  general 
manager  of  the  Pennsy  Coal  Company,  died  at  his 
home  at  Franklin,  Pa.,  on  November  21,  after 
an  illness  of  several  weeks  with  typhoid  fever. 
He  was  53  years  old  and  leaves  a  wife,  to  whom 
he  was  married  only  a  short  time  ago.  He 
was  a  prominent  member  of  the  Order  of  Elks 
and  was  formerly  its  grand  exalted  ruler,  being 
chosen  to  that  office  at  Salt  Lake  City  in  1902. 
He  presided  over  the  1903  convention,  held  at 
Baltimore.  He  had  a  wide  acquaintance  in 
both  fraternal  and  business  circles,  among 
whom  he  will  be  greatly  missed. 


Buffalo  Trade. 


Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  November  25. — (Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — Lake  shipments  of  anthracite 
were  on  a  rather  small  scale  for  the  past 
week,  amounting  to  101,850  tons,  although  this 
is  a  larger  total  than  for  the  preceding  week. 
The  cargoes  cleared  as  follows:  Duluth- 
Superior,  42,500  tons;  Chicago,  37,350;  Milwau¬ 
kee,  9,300;  Green  Bay,  7,700;  Racine,  1,500. 
Lake  freights  are  very  stiff  to  all  but  two  or 
three  of  the  leading  ports,  as  most  all  the 
vessels  now  clearing  are  in  a  hurry  to  get  down 
cargoes  of  grain  or  ore  and  will  not  bother 
to  take  up  a  cargo  of  coal.  It  is  probable  that 
the  season  will  last  for  several  weeks  yet,  but 
the  total  coal  shipments  will  not  come  up  to 
those  of  last  year,  as  they  were  380,000  tons 
behind  to  November  1st.  The  present  month 
shows  no  sign  of  any  unusual  activity  to  les¬ 
sen  this  discrepancy. 

Dealers  are  calling  for  a  fair  amount  of  an¬ 
thracite,  but  the  companies  are  not  hard 
pressed  to  meet  all  the  calls  upon  them,  and 
do  not  expect  to  be  until  some  old-fashioned 
cold  weather  arrives.  A  gradual  increase  in 
business  is  being  shown  right  along  and  it  is 
accompanied  by  a  scarcity  of  cars,  which 
threatens  to  get  worse  before  it  is  better.  A 
large  share  of  the  present  coal  demand  is  in 
chestnut,  which  is  not  at  all  plentiful. 

The  bituminous  demand  does  not  show  any 
particular  gain  as  compared  with  two  or 
three  weeks  ago.  A  slightly  easier  tone  in  the 
market  is  also  reported,  but  this  is  a  common 
trend  just  at  the  close  of  the  lake  season.  That 
period  is  now  being  discontinued  to  some  ex¬ 
tent  and  prices  are  not  quite  as  strong  as  they 
have  been.  The  best  demand  for  coal  is  re¬ 
ported  to  be  from  the  seaboard,  and  shippers 
who  have  the  advantage  of  that  market  are 
getting  a  good  many  orders.  Those  who 
depend  upon  the  Canadian  market  for  much 
of  their  business  find  trade  disappointing.  A 
fair  share  of  the  Canadian  plants  are  now  busy 
with  war  orders,  and  these  are  kept  well  sup¬ 
plied  with  coal,  but  ordinary  industrial  lines 
are  backward.  The  big  war  orders  Canada  is 
receiving  and  the  abundant  grain  crops  run 
into  very  heavy  figures,  so  a  turn  for  the  bet¬ 
ter  in  coal  demand  is  expected  this  winter. 

The  coke  market  holds  up  strong,  with  72- 
hour  Connellsville  foundry  selling  around  .$4.85 
or  higher.  Producers  are  confident  that  prices 
are  soon  to  be  still  higher  and  the  ovens  ap¬ 
pear  to  have  all  the  orders  they  can  handle 
for  the  present. 


Buffalo  Trade  Briefs. 

The  vessel  movements  through  the  Welland 
Canal,  which  includes  some  cargoes  from  Lake 
Ontario,  have  been  unusually  light  of  late, 
especially  as  compared  with  the  heavy  traffic 
earlier  in  the  season. 

In  spite  of  the  lateness  of  the  season  they 
are  still  shipping  coal  from  Oswego,  and  prep¬ 
arations  are  being  made  to  load  a  number  of 
cargoes  there  this  week.  The  season  has  been 
about  an  average  one  this  year. 

Charles  B.  Kinne,  who  has  long  been  con¬ 
nected  with  the  local  coal  trade,  and  who  was 
formerly  president  of  the  Northeastern  Coal 
Company,  with  office  here,  has  left  the  coal 
trade  to  go  into  the  manufacturing  business. 

Capt.  William  P.  Henry,  who  for  years  was 
manager  of  the  Lehigh  Transportation  Company, 
a  lake  line,  died  here  on  November  22,  - aged 
78  years.  He  was  an  ocean  captain  for  many 
years  and  later  was  one  of  the  best  known 
men  on  the  lakes. 

J.  W.  Whiteley.  of  the  firm  of  Whitney  & 
Kemmerer,  was  here  last  week  from  New 
York.  The  office  reports  that  coal  is  now 
coming  to  this  market  from  the  Superior 
mine,  which  has  been  shut  down  for  some 
time  owing  to  a  fire. 

The  will  of  Mrs.  Josephine  L.  Goodyear, 
widow  of  the  late  Frank  H.  Goodyear,  head  of 
the  Buffalo  &  Susquehanna  Coal  &  Coke  Co., 
and  large  lumber  interests,  leaves  the  family 
home  on  Delaware  avenue  and  a  cottage  on 
Jekyll  island  to  her  son,  Frank  H.  To  sev¬ 
eral  local  charities  $40,000  is  left. 

It  is  expected  that  the  New  York  State 
Steel  Company  plant  here  will  soon  be  put 
into  operation,  following  the  announcement 
of  its  sale  to  the  Cambria  Steel  Company.  A 
number  of  changes  will  have  to  be  made  in 
equipment  before  work  is  begun.  The  plant 
has  been  idle  most  of  the  time  since  it  was 
built,  eight  or  ten  years  ago. 


444 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[November  27 


Baltimore  Trade. 


Baltimore,  November  25. —  {Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.)— Tighter  and  tighter  grows  the  fuel 
trade  in  all  its  aspects.  Lack  of  care  is  playing 
more  and  more  of  a  part  in  every  way.  Under 
the  restrictions  of  poor  movement  of  fuel  the 
stocks  of  anthracite  here  are  being  touched  upon 
long  ahead  of  the  usual  time.  Coal  men  are  let¬ 
ting  go  of  this  coal  gingerly,  but  the  demand  of 
fuel  that  developed  with  the  colder  weather  is 
already  considerably  above  the  amount  of  de¬ 
livery  here.  Coal  that  is  ordinarily  but  six  to 
seven  days  enroute  from  mines  to  tide  is  often 
on  cars  now  from  two  weeks  to  in  some  extreme 
cases  a  month.  As  most  of  the  coal  men  here 
are  now  convinced  that  a  strike  is  coming  in  the 
spring  and  that  the  whole  fuel  situation  will  be 
trying  this  winter,  it  would  not  be  at  all  surpris¬ 
ing  to  see  a  jump  in  hard  coal  prices  before 
winter  is  far  advanced. 

During  the  past  week  the  car  supply  in  the 
regions  of  interest  here  was  worse  than  for 
several  weeks  previous.  It  varied  anywhere  from 
forty  to  seventy  per  cent,  but  a  fifty-five  per 
cent  average  was  about  struck.  Hard  weather  in 
tlie  north  and  west  is  tying  up  returns  from  for¬ 
eign  lines  to  the  railroads  centering  here.  Then 
there  are  many  cars  tied  up  at  eastern  terminals 
at  tide  because  of  lack  of  vessel  bottoms  to  move 
fuel  and  other  commodities  as  needed. 

Consumers  as  a  whole  are  now  awakening  to 
what  may  face  them  later  in  the  year  and  are 
urging  delivery  of  every  pound  of  coal  possible 
on  existing  contracts.  The  inclination  to  store 
when  coal  can  be  secured  above  immediate  needs 
is  aiding  materially  in  making  the  situation  more 
rigorous.  Good  coals  are  more  and  more  being 
classed  as  out  of  the  market  for  the  time  being. 


Prices  to  the  trade  may  be  quoted  as 

follows : 

F.  0.  B. 

F.  0.  B. 

Fairmont  Ordinary — 

Mines. 

Mines. 

Three-quarter  . 

$  2.53 

Run  of  mine . 

.  1.00 

2.43 

2.38@2.43 

Somerset — 

Best  . 

.  1.40 

2.58 

Good  . 

.  1.25 

2.43 

W.  M.  R.  R.— 

Freeport  . 

.  1.20@1.25 

2.38@2.43 

B.  &  O.  R.  R.— 

Freeport  . 

.  1.25 

2.43 

P.  R.  R.— 

Best  South  Fork . 

.  1.40@1.45 

2.58@2.63 

Miller  vein . 

.  1.30 

2.48 

Some  Trade  Events 

A  petition  in  bankruptcy  has  been  fded  in  the 
United  States  Court  here  by  R.  Lee  Jones,  a  coal 
dealer.  No.  601  West  Pratt  street. 

Coal  charters  for  foreign  account  are  few, 
and  at  very  high  rates.  November  will  certainly 
prove  a  poor  month  on  total  export  movement. 

The  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad  is  receiving 
bids  for  the  erection  of  its  new  steel  and  concrete 
coal  pier  here  at  Curtis  Bay.  The  structure  will 
be  700  by  115  feet. 

The  Maryland  Steel  Company  is  completing  a 
40,000  ton  steel  rail  order  for  Russia.  It  is  un¬ 
derstood  that  the  same  country  is  again  in  the 
market  for  125,000  tons  of  rails. 


New  England  Trade 


Boston,  Mass.,  November  25. —  (Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — A  further  improvement  in  senti¬ 
ment  is  noted  throughout  the  local  wholesale 
anthracite  and  bituminous  trade.  Some  of  the  an¬ 
thracite  dealers  are  actually  optimistic  regarding 
the  outlook,  and  some  are  so  certain  in  their  own 
minds  that  their  predictions  will  materialize  they 
are  willing  and  anxious  to  “bet  money  on  it.” 

As  an  illustration  of  the  sentiment  expressed 
by  many  of  the  trade,  the  head  of  one  of  the  larg¬ 
est  local  wholesale  firms  says  in  regard  to  the  fu¬ 
ture  :  “In  past  years,  a  big  and  urgent  buying 
movement  of  hard  coal  has  very  often  been  pre¬ 
ceded  by  an  influx  of  orders  from  retailers  and 
large  consumers  sprinkled  throughout  New  Eng¬ 
land,  whose  credit  is  far  from  satisfactory.  Just 
why  the  demand  from  poor  credits  is  keen  before 
the  good  credit  buying  sets  in  is  of  no  moment. 
The  fact  is  this  demand  is  here  and  I  look  for  a 
large  general  buying  movement.  Then,  too,  the 
car  supply  is  small,  especially  for  small  cars. 
Wat,er  freight  rates  are  far  above  normal.  None 
of  the  producers  have  an  important  surplus  of 
any  size  of  coal  at  storage  points,  and  the  labor 
outlook  is  anything  but  encouraging.  Can  you 
beat  that  for  a  combination  of  bullish  arguments? 
I’ll  predict  that  prepared  sizes,  at  least,  will  be 
bringing  a  premium  of  50  cents  per  ton  within  the 
next  three  weeks  or  month.”  This  gentleman  was 


one  of  those  who  was  willing  to  “bet  money 
on  it.” 

Several  other  concerns  are  equally  as  certain 
that  coal  will  be  higher  before  the  turn  of  the 
year.  Still  others  believe  higher  prices  are  com¬ 
ing,  but  to  be  conservative  refuse  to  state  when 
they  expect  the  advance.  Undoubtedly  this  be¬ 
lief  is  based  to  some  extent  on  the  recent  action 
of  independent  shippers  operating  in  New  Eng¬ 
land.  These  shippers  are  asking  $3.85  to  $3.95  for 
coal  at  the  times  and  will  not  guarantee  deliver¬ 
ies.  A  month  ago  they  offered  coal  freely  at  $3.70 
at  the  times. 

Current  business  is  somewhat  spotty.  Dealers 
are  to  be  found  who  have  done  comparatively  lit¬ 
tle  during  the  past  week.  They  admit,  however, 
that  this  fact  is  due  largely  to  their  inability  to 
make  deliveries.  The  weather  outside  has  been 
unfavorable  for  water  transportation,  and  the 
congestion  of  cars  at  New  York  junction  points 
seriously  interferes  with  the  movement  of  coal 
into  New  England.  Some  cargo  lots  booked  more 
than  a  week  ago  remained  unfilled.  Those  who 
have  done  a  good  business  say  the  demand  has 
run  largely  to  nut,  and  stove  next.  Where  new 
business  in  these  two  sizes  has  been  taken  on 
shippers  have  insisted  on  buyers  taking  a  certain 
amount  of  egg.  All-rail  pea  is  in  light  supply; 
enough  is  coming  by  water  to  supply  the  demand, 
however.  Buckwheats  appear  scarce  as  ever — 
just  enough  coming  forward  to  supply  orders. 
.\longside  Boston  Harbor  prices  are:  Stove  and 
egg,  $5.85;  nut,  $6.10;  broken,  $5.10;  pea,  $4.05 
per  ton.  No.  1  buckwheats  are  quoted  here  on  a 
basis  of  $2.80  per  ton  f.  o.  b.  New  York;  No.  2  at 
$2.30;  No.  3  at  $1.60,  and  bird’s-eye  at  $2. 

Old  contract  New  River,  Pocahontas,  etc.,  are 
moving  well,  thanks  to  a  still  greater  expansion 
of  industrial  business  throughout  New  England. 
Supplies  of  coals  at  southern  shipping  points  con¬ 
tinue  far  in  excess  of  requirements,  yet  the  mar¬ 
ket  appears  to  be  on  a  real  firm  basis  of  $2.85  per 
ton.  The  spot  market  for  New  River  and  Poca¬ 
hontas  at  Mystic  Wharf  consists  chiefly  of  buying 
between  shippers  themselves.  If  a  shipper  hap¬ 
pens  to  get  short  of  coal  he  is  obliged  to  come 
into  the  spot  market  and  usually  pays  $4  per 
ton  on  cars  or  thereabouts.  Georges  Creek  at 
Mystic  Wharf  is  about  $4.10  to  $4.15  per  ton  on 
cars,  but  the  supply  offered  is  small.  The  all-rail 
Pennsylvania  bituminous  market  is  very  strong 
and  active  on  a  basis  of  $1.40  to  $1.60  per  ton 
on  cars  at  the  times. 

A  sharp  uprising  in  next  season’s  prices  is  con¬ 
fidently  expected.  In  fact  many  of  the  trade 
who  a  month  or  so  ago  appeared  greatly  alarmed 
over  the  situation  are  predicting  that  soft  coal 
prices  will  be  actually  higher  before  the  1916-17 
season  opens.  Some  go  so  far  as  to  predict  a 
minimum  price  of  $2  per  ton  for  bituminous  at 
the  mines  within  the  next  two  months. 

The  marine  freight  rate  market  is  very  strong. 
For  anthracite  space  from  New  York  to  Boston 
the  hig  companies  are  asking  fifty  cents  per  ton, 
but  outsiders  are  getting  all  the  way  from  seven¬ 
ty-five  to  ninety  cents  per  ton.  Big  company’s 
rates  from  New  York  to  Pawtucket  are  usually 
forty-five  cents  and  forty  to  Providence.  Out¬ 
siders  are  asking  and  getting  fifty  cents  to  Provi¬ 
dence  and  sixty  to  Pawtucket.  From  Hampton 
Roads  to  Boston  space  is  scarce  at  $1  to  $1.30 
per  ton,  and  to  Sound  points  about  ten  cents  a 
ton  less. 


Birmingham  Trade. 


Birmingham,  Ala.,  November  25. —  (Special 
Correspondence.) — Coal  trade  conditions  have 
been  better  this  week.  Even  the  smaller  mining 
companies  are  now'  feeling  the  effects  of  im¬ 
proved  trade.  The  railroad  demand  for  steam 
coal  is  much  better.  Heavy  traffic  has  caused  a 
.shortage  of  cars  for  coal  delivery. 

The  domestic  trade  has  shown  up  well.  One 
retailer  says: 

“There  is  quite  a  noticeable  difference  in  the 
coal  trade  this  year  as  compared  with  last  year. 
Not  only  is  the  trade  better,  but  people  are  buy¬ 
ing  differently.  Last  year  retailers  found  that 
by  far  the  greatest  number  of  people  ordered  coal 
in  half-ton  lots.  This  is  not  being  done  this 
year.  Coal  is  being  ordered  in  one,  two  and  more 
ton-lots,  and  even  in  carload  lots.” 

There  is  a  lively  demand  for  coke,  and  prices 
are  most  satisfactory.  The  big  by-product  coke 
ovens  in  this  district  are  w'orking  full  time,  and 
there  is  continued  strong  demand  for  every  one 
of  the  by-products. 

The  Paye  Bend  Warrior  Coal  Company  has 
filed  articles  of  incorporation  with  capital  stock 
of  $10,000.  This  company  has  leased  a  tract  of 
coal  land  belonging  to  Alabama  State  LTniversity. 


It  is  opened  on  the  well  known  Pratt  coal,  and 
shipments  will  be  made  down  the  river.  The 
president  of  the  company  is  W.  C.  Head;  vice- 
president  and  general  manager,  C.  C.  Huckabee; 
secretary  and  treasurer,  D.  M.  Lewis. 

The  trend  of  coke  trade  is  better.  Prices  on 
foundry  coke  is  from  $3.25  to  $3.50.  By-product 
prices  range  from  $2.60  upward. 

PRICES  FOR  OCTOBER  AND  THE  BALANCE  OF 
THE  YEAR. 


F.  O.  B. 

F.  0.  B. 

bibb  County  Domestic — 

Mines. 

Birmingham. 

Red  ash  Cahaba  lump . 

.  $3.00 

*3.30 

Red  ash  Cahaba  lump . 

3.10 

Red  ash  steam  size . 

Frt.  rate  30c 

Jefferson  County — 

Fancy  steam  Pratt . 

2.00 

Run  of  mine  Pratt . 

1.45@1.50 

Mary  Lee  lump . 

.  1.40@1.60 

1.80@1.90 

Black  Creek — 

Fancy  steam  lump . 

2.05 

Washed  nut . 

2.05 

Washed  steam  . 

.  1.36@1.60 

Frt.  rate  30c 

Mine  run . 

Frt.  rate  30c 

Jefferson  Steam  Coal — 

Mine  run . 

Frt.  rate  30c 

Walker  County  Domestic 

Coal — 

Carbon  Hill  lump . 

2.15 

Carbon  Hill  crr . 

.  1.65 

2.05 

Horse  Creek  mine  run . 

Frt.  rate  40c 

Genuine  Corona — 

Lump  .  2.00  2.40 

Egg  . .  1.90  2.35 

Steam  sizes .  1.25@1.35  Frt.  rate  40c 

Shelby  County  Domestic  Coal — ■ 

Cahaba  fancy  lump  .  3.00  3.30 

Cahaba  No.  2  lump  .  2.75  3.05 

Montevallo  domestic  prices  range  from  $3.00  to  $3.25. 
Blacksmith  coal,  washed  and  screened,  per  ton,  $2.00  to 
$2.25  at  mines,  with  difference  rates  to  various  points. 


Anthracite  Rates  Suspended. 


The  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  has 
further  extended  the  effective  date  of  its  order 
in  the  anthracite  coal  case  from  December  1, 
1915,  to  January  1,  1916. 

Postponement  of  the  effective  date  for  the 
lower  anthracite  rate  ordered  by  the  Inter¬ 
state  Commerce  Commission  to  January  1  fol¬ 
lows  a  previous  postponement  by  the  com¬ 
mission  from  the  original  date  of  October  1 
to  December  1. 

The  decision  by  the  commission  reducing 
anthracite  rates  on  an  average  above  10  per 
cent  was  handed  down  October  12.  In  this 
decision  basic  rates  to  tidewater  and  to  certain 
western  points  were  fixed,  but  as  regards  in¬ 
termediate  points,  merely  certain  ratios  were 
laid  out  and  it  was  left  to  the  carriers  to  pre¬ 
pare  the  actual  schedules.  This,  it  was  shown, 
it  was  impossible  to  do,  in  the  short  six  weeks 
allowed  and  a  sixty-day  extension  was  granted. 

Since  that  time  the  independent  coal  oper¬ 
ators  have  asked  for  a  reopening  of  the  case 
as  regards  the  smaller  sizes,  charging  that  an 
advance  in  rates  on  these  classes  of  coal,  as 
suggested  by  the  commission,  would  entirely 
prevent  their  movement  in  competition  with 
the  soft  coal. 

It  is  likely  that  various  adjustments  will 
have  to  be  made  in  the  rates  as  originally 
ordered  by  the  commission,  and  this  work  is 
now  being  done  by  conferences  between  rep¬ 
resentatives  of  the  carriers  and  of  the  com¬ 
mission. 


John  F.  Wedow,  member  of  the  firm  of 
Mitchell  &  Co.,  Cleveland,  Ohio,  vessel  agents, 
and  widely  known  in  lake  shipping  circles, 
died  at  St.  Luke’s  hospital  Monday  fore¬ 
noon  from  injuries  received  by  being  run 
down  by  an  automobile  an  hour  before.  He 
was  born  in  Germany  and  came  to  this  country 
when  thirteen  years  of  age.  After  serving  as  a 
clerk  in  a  Detroit  store  for  a  time,  he  entered 
business  at  Marine  City,  where  he  also  served 
four  years  as  postmaster  under  President  Cleve¬ 
land’s  administration.  Twenty-six  years  ago  he 
came  to  Cleveland  and,  with  Capt.  John  Mitchell 
and  John  C.  Fitzgerald,  formed  the  vessel  firm  of 
Mitchell  &  Company.  A  few  years  later  Capt. 
Alfred  Mitchell  was  taken  into  the  firm.  Then 
Capt.  John  Mitchell  and  Mr.  Fitzgerald  withdrew 
and  since  then  Capt.  Alfred  Mitchell  and  Mr. 
Wedow  have  been  associated  in  the  business.  Mr. 
Wedow  at  the  time  of  his  death  was  secretary  of 
the  Cleveland  Steamship  Company  and  owner  of 
the  barge  Troy.  The  funeral  was  to  take  place 
Wednesday  afternoon  from  the  home  of  his 
daughter,  Mrs.  F.  W.  Sinram. 


Fire  early  Saturday  morning  last  week  partially 
destroyed  the  garage  of  the  P.  Koenig  Coal  Com¬ 
pany,  in  Detroit,  inflicting  considerable  damage 
to  seven  motor  trucks.  The  loss  is  estimated  at 
$8,000. 


1 

ft 

rHE  Black  Diamond 

Vol.  55.  No.  23 

DECEMBER  4,  1915  SS  OO  Per  Year 

The  Ohio  Rate  Case  and  Its  Effect  on  Coal  Markets. 


For  several  months  coal  men  have  been  hear- 
in.g  a  great  deal  about  the  Hocking  Valley  rate 
case  in  Ohio.  From  indications,  they  will  hear 
more  about  it  before  they  hear  less.  It  is  becom¬ 
ing  as  big  as  the  question  of  unionism. 

Two  lines  of  action  have  been  followed.  The 
one  of  public  record  is  before  the  Public  Utilities 
Commission  of  Ohio.  There  the  strictly  technical 
phases  of  the  rate  question  are  being  discussed. 
The  other  has  had  to  do  with  the  effect  of  any 
possible  rate  change  upon  competitive  conditions 
as  between  Ohio,  western  Pennsylvania  and  West 
Virginia. 

Because  of  the  heated  discussion  of  the  tech¬ 
nical  phase  of  this  question  at  Columbus,  Ohio, 
public  attention  has  been  directed  mostly  there. 
The  result  has  been  that  the  larger  aspects  of 
the  case  has  been  lost  to  coal  trade  view  to  a 
certain  extent.  This  does  not  mean  that  West 
Vinginia  has  not  spoken,  but  few  listened  care¬ 
fully,  considering  theirs  a  partisan  view.  The 
purpose  of  this  article  is  to  disregard  the  ques¬ 
tions  involved  at  Columbus  and  to  discuss  the 
broader  questions,  namely : 

How  would  any  change  in  rates  affect  the  coal 
mining  business?  How  would  they  affect  the 
Ohio  operators  ?  How  would  they  affect  the  min¬ 
ing  districts  with  which  Ohio  is  in  competition? 

In  order  to  answer  those  questions,  it  is  best 
to  treat  the  whole  subject  in  a  historical  way;  to 
attempt  to  tell  a  connected  story  of  the  dispute 
from  the  beginning. 

Green  Laws  Responsible. 

No  one,  familiar  with  the  Ohio  situation,  has 
lost  sight  of  the  fact  that  this  controversy  sprang 
directly  from  the  passage  of  the  Green  anti-screen 
law  in  Ohio.  The  Ohio  miners  have  been  trying 
to  control  the  mining  situation.  Until  two  years 
ago  their  favorite — and  in  fact  their  only — meth¬ 
od  was  to  demand  of  the  operators  a  concession 
that  the  coal  should  be  paid  for  on  the  mine  run 
basis.  When  that  was  impossible  to  get  by  agree¬ 
ment,  they  went  before  the  state  legislature  and 
asked  the  passage  of  a  law  compelling  the  oper¬ 
ators  to  pay  them  on  the  mine  run  basis.  It  is  a 
matter  of  history  that  they  were  successful. 

The  immediate  result  was  a  fight  between  the 
Ohio  operators  and  the  Ohio  miners,  first,  as  to 
whether  this  law  should  be  applied  to  the  new 
contract  then  about  to  be  made,  and,  second,  as 
to  what  the  mine  run  rate  should  be.  For  a  brief 
period,  the  controversy  was  between  all  oper¬ 
ators  of  Ohio  and  the  international  organization 
of  the  union.  The  miners  stood  together.  The 
operators  united  only  for  a  short  time,  when  the 
Hocking  district  broke  away  from  its  colleagues. 

The  reason  for  this  break  has  not  heretofore 
been  made  public.  The  forces  then  in  control 
of  the  Sunday  Creek  Company  had  been  con¬ 
scious  that  they  were  losing  ground  in  the  west¬ 
ern  market,  due  to  the  competition  of  western 
coal.  They  attributed  their  loss  of  territory — 
perhaps  it  is  better  to  say  their  failure  to  main¬ 
tain  their  percentage  of  growth — to  the  fact  that 
western  coal  was  more  elaborately  sized  than  was 
Hockin.g  coal.  They  believed  that  if  the  Hocking 
product  were  sized  as  elaborately  as  is  the  Illinois 
coal  they  would  have  a  better  chance.  As  a  means 
of  enforcing  the  proposed  elaborate  preparation 
over  the  entire  Hocking  district,  they  acceded 
to  the  demands  of  the  miners;  they  believed  that 
with  the  mine  run  basis  established,  elaborate 
sizing  would  come  naturally. 

This  matter  is  .gone  into  because  it  is  the  crux 
of  the  whole  situation  in  Ohio  and  because  the 
Hocking  operators  were  shooting  at  one  mark  but 
succeeded  in  hitting  another. 

A  Big  Plan  Miscarries. 

Before  the  Hocking  operators  could  possibly 
install  the  sizing  equipment,  they  were  confronted 
by  the  fact  that  the  new  scale  had  so  increased 
the  cost  of  production  that  they  could  no  longer 
compete  with  the  newer  mines  in  West  Virginia. 
Rather,  therefore,  than  gaining  business  at  the 
e.xpense  of  Illinois  and  Indiana,  as  expected,  they 
were  losing  business  to  West  Virginia, 


Starting  as  an  Effort  to  Despoil  the 
Railroads  to  Pay  a  Debt  to  the  Union, 
It  Has  Developed  Into  a  Railroad  Effort 
to  Tax  Coal  in  the  Name  of  a  Change  of 
Differentials. 


The  miners  thereupon  found  that  they  had 
made  a  mistake.  They  had  won  their  concession 
from  the  Ohio  operators,  but  the  latter  were  un¬ 
able  to  pay  the  bill  and  stay  in  the  market.  The 
miners,  to  correct  this  mistake,  had  choice  of 
two  alternatives : 

They  could  reduce  the  mining  rate.  This  they 
refused  to  do. 

They  could  go  to  the  state  and  ask  it  to  reduce 
the  transportation  charges  on  Ohio  coal  and 
thus  reduce  the  delivered  price  to  a  point  where 
the  miners  could  get  their  increase  without  driv¬ 
ing  the  operators  out  of  business. 

The  union  officials  chose  to  go  before  the  Pub¬ 
lic  Utilities  Commission  of  Ohio  and  to  attack 
the  rate  fabric  which  had  existed  for  thirty  years. 
They  asked  a  reduction  in  the  intra-state  rate  on 
Ohio  coal,  knowing,  of  course,  that  this  would 
influence  the  interstate  rate. 

In  the  first  action,  the  United  Mine  Workers 
attacked  the  Hocking  Valley  Railroad.  Soon 
thereafter,  the  Sunday  Creek  Company,  the  con¬ 
trol  of  which  had  changed  in  the  meantime,  joined 
the  petitioners  and  really  substituted  itself  for 
them.  After  that  the  eastern  Ohio  operators 
joined  the  Hocking  Valley  operators.  Thus  by 
quick  expansion  it  became  a  state-wide  fight 
wa.ged  by  the  miners  and  operators  against  every 
carrier  in  Ohio. 

The  Defendants  Solidify. 

The  miners’  union  and  the  operators  of  Ohio 
seemed  to  be  attacking  only  the  railroads  of  Ohio, 
but  it  was  no  secret  that  the  real  defendants  were 
the  major  coal  producing  companies  of  West 
Virginia.  The  latter  saw  the  point  and  joined 
forces  to  resist  the  attack.  Lined  up  behind  the 
West  Virginia  operators  were,  soon,  the  West 
Virginia  railroads,  the  united  banking  interests 
of  West  Virginia,  the  state  .government  of  West 
Virginia,  and  indeed  the  whole  body  of  West  Vir¬ 
ginia  people.  The  situation  was — and  is — thus 
excessively  grave.  Nothing  just  like  it  has  been 
seen  in  years. 

When  this  controversy  had  grown  to  such  elab¬ 
orate  proportions,  many  intricate  questions  had 
been  raised.  However,  the  whole  contention  can 
be  simplified.  Tlie  Ohio  coal  in  question  is,  on  the 
average,  rather  high  in  volatile  matter;  it  runs 
close  to  thirty-five  per  cent.  Competing  West 
Virginia  coals,  therefore,  are  those  only  from 
West  Vir.ginia  which  are  equally  high  in  volatile 
matter.  This  means  everything  produced  west 
of  the  Pocahontas  field;  it  included  Cabin  Creek, 
Island  Creek  and  the  whole  range  of  splint  and 
gas  coals.  Low  volatile  coals  are  not  included. 

For  the  purpose  of  illustration,  the  freight  rates 
applying  on  those  coals  to  Chicago  is  to  be  used 
rather  than  those  applying  between  points  in 
Ohio.  The  Hockin.g  rate  to  Chicago  is  $1.65.  The 
splint  and  gas  rate  from  West  Virginia  to  Chi¬ 
cago  is  $1.90.  The  difference — the  differential — 
is  twenty-five  cents  in  favor  of  Ohio  and  against 
West  Virginia. 

The  contention  of  Ohio  has  been  that  its  rate 
should  be  reduced  twenty-five  cents,  making  the 
differential  fifty  cents  instead  of  twenty-five. 
That  is,  Ohio  wanted  a  rate  to  Chica.go  of  $1.40, 
while  the  rate  from  West  Virginia  should  remain 
$1.90.  This  is  merely  an  illustration,  but  it  shows 
precisely  what  the  contention  is ;  in  the  case  being 
heard  at  Columbus  these  points  and  these  figures 
are  not  used.  For  example,  in  Ohio,  the  rate  is 
computed  on  the  movement  from  Nelsonville  to 
Toledo,  rather  than  from  the  mines  to  Chicago. 
Even  so,  the  same  differential  applies,  namely, 
twenty-five  cents  a  ton.  Also  the  same  proposed 


increased  difference  applies,  namely,  fifty  cents  a 
ton. 

The  first  reply  of  the  West  Virginia  operators 
was  that  this  rate  has  remained  unchanged  for 
fifty  years;  it  should  not  be  changed  now.  They 
especially  objected  to  a  change  in  their  rate  which 
had  for  its  purpose  to  allow  the  Ohio  operators 
to  make  good  the  concessions  made  to  the  Ohio 
miners.  The  West  Virginia  operators  failed  to 
see  in  the  real  cause  of  this  rate  action  any  rea¬ 
son  why  the  whole  rate  fabric  of  the  eastern  min¬ 
ing  district  should  be  changed. 

The  Railroad  Switch. 

However,  the  West  Virginia  railroads,  in  a 
sense,  have  overruled  the  West  Virginia  oper¬ 
ators.  They  have  been  persuaded  to  consent  to  a 
certain  increase  in  differential.  They  suggest, 
however,  that  it  should  be  forty  cents  rather 
than  twenty-five.  They  also  suggest  that  instead 
of  a  reduction  in  the  intrastate  rates  on  Ohio 
coal,  there  should  be  an  increase  in  the  interstate 
rates  on  West  Virginia  coal.  That  is,  they  pro¬ 
pose  that  the  Ohio  rate  be  left  at  $1.65  to  Chi¬ 
cago,  while  the  splint  and  gas  rate  be  increased 
from  $1.90  to  $3.05.  This  would  increase  the  dif¬ 
ferential  from  twenty-five  to  forty  cents  a  ton. 

It  is  interesting  to  know  that  this  proposal  was 
made  by  Geonge  H.  Stevens,  president  of  the 
Chesapeake  &  Ohio  Railroad.  It  may  be  sig¬ 
nificant  that  he  is  in  control  also  of  one  of  the 
Ohio  fines  which  would  be  affected  directly  by 
the  decrease  in  the  Ohio  rate. 

Next  to  that,  the  most  significant  development 
is  that  Mr.  Stevens  succeeded,  at  a  meeting  in 
New  York  last  week,  in  persuading  the  lines  serv¬ 
ing  western  Pennsylvania  and  particularly  the 
Pennsylvania  Company,  to  join  him  in  a  proposal 
to  increase  the  interstate  coal  rate  not  only  from 
West  Virginia,  but  from  western  Pennsylvania. 
Accordingly,  as  per  his  pro.gram,  the  West  Vir¬ 
ginia  and  western  Pennsylvania  lines  are  both 
preparing  to  file  new  tariffs  naming  a  rate  of 
$3.05  to  Chicago.  The  Pennsylvania’s  attitude 
can  be  explained  on  the  score  that  thereby  it  gets, 
under  cover  of  a  readjustment  of  differentials, 
an  increase  in  rates  of  fifteen  cents  a  ton  on  all 
of  its  coal. 

In  reply  to  this  proposed  rate  change,  the  Ohio 
operators  object  to  the  basis  on  which  the  rate 
is  made,  primarily  because  it  takes  the  matter  to 
the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  rather  than 
to  the  Public  Utilities  Commission  of  Ohio.  The 
Ohio  operators  insist  that  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
proceeding  shall  not  be  changed.  They  want  the 
Ohio  commission  to  pass  upon  the  matter  both 
first  and  ultimately.  The  status  of  the  case  at 
the  minute  is  that  West  Virginia  and  western 
Pennsylvania  are  adhering  to  their  proposal  that 
if  differentials  are  disturbed  the  interstate  rates 
shall  be  changed;  the  Ohio  operators  insist  that 
the  intrastate  rate  alone  shall  be  changed  and  that 
that  shall  be  lowered.  The  West  Virginia  and 
western  Pennsylvania  operators  concede  a  differ¬ 
ential  of  forty  cents ;  the  Ohio  operators  and 
miners  stand  firm  on  their  demand  for  a  differ¬ 
ential  of  fifty  cents. 

West  Virginia’s  Attitude. 

The  West  Virginia  operators  are  inclined  to 
take  a  statistical  view  of  the  whole  matter.  They 
start  with  the  fundamental  proposition  that  Ohio, 
immediately  before  the  anti-screen  law  was 
l)assed,  produced  under  the  old  rate  the  largest 
tonnage  in  its  history.  They  contend  that  owing 
to  the  age  of  its  mines  and  the  fact  that  some 
of  its  most  important  deposits  are  worked  out, 
Ohio  is  approaching  the  limit  of  its  productive 
capacity. 

They  next  show  that  whereas  Ohio,  today,  is 
producing  one  ton  of  coal,  West  Vir.ginia  is  pro¬ 
ducing  easily  two.  They  say  that  by  no  possible 
change  of  freight  rates  and  by  no  conceivable 
handicap  placed  upon  West  Virginia  can  Ohio 
take  care  of  its  own  business  and  then  substitute 
itself  for  the  high  volatile  district  of  West  Vir¬ 
ginia.  That  is,  even  though  West  Virginia  were 


446 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[December  4 


so  heavily  handicapped  that  its  coal  business  were 
killed,  the  increase  in  production  could  not  pos¬ 
sibly  be  taken  care  of  by  Ohio  mines.  They  de¬ 
clare  that  the  beneficiaries  would  not  be  the  Ohio 
operators,  who  are  the  petitioners  in  this  case, 
but  some  other  mines  outside  of  Ohio.  They  sug¬ 
gest  that  Indiana  and  Illinois  mines  would  do  the 
business.  Because  of  possible  gainers  by  winning 
this  contention,  would  not  be  the  Ohio  petitioners, 
but  a  third  party  not  now  appearing  in  the  pro¬ 
ceedings,  West  Virginia  is  resisting  to  her  full 
strength  the  movement  which  she  says  is  clearly 
intended  to  destroy  her  business. 

West  Virginia  also  takes  a  stand  on  an  eco¬ 
nomic  question.  Those  operators  declare  that 
West  Virginia  has  gained  a  certain  expansion  of 
tonnage  not  merely  because  she  has,  what  Ohio 
considers,  a  favorable  freight  rate,  but  because 
she  has  very  excellent  coal  and  exceptional  min¬ 
ing  conditions. 

They  declare  that  the  present  intention  to  in¬ 
crease  the  West  Virginia  rates  is  not  especially 
a  movement  to  equalize  competitive  conditions 
between  Ohio  and  West  Virginia,  but  a  move¬ 
ment  to  give  the  benefit  of  that  coal  quality  and 
of  those  conditions  not  to  the  operators  who  own 
the  mines,  but  to  the  railroads.  They  say  it  is  a 
clear  effort  to  despoil  the  operators  of  their  most 
valuable  asset  and  turn  it  over  to  the  railroads, 
who  take  none  of  the  risk  of  mining  and  who  are 
not  allowed  to  invest  a  dollar  in  West  Virginia 
mines. 

Going  deeper  into  the  question,  the  West  Vir¬ 
ginia  operators  say  that  the  railroads  are  mak- 
in.g  a  thick-headed  mistake  by  taking  any  part  at 
all  in  this  fight  between  the  Ohio  and  West  Vir¬ 
ginia  operators.  They  say  that  the  railroads  can¬ 
not  possibly  get  their  own  fuel  coal  and  all  of 
the  commercial  coal  needed  from  the  Ohio  mines. 
Particularly,  they  cannot  get  their  fuel  coal  from 
the  Ohio  mines.  Therefore,  if  the  railroads  in¬ 
crease  the  West  Virginia  rate  by  fifteen  cents, 
they  will  at  the  same  time  increase  the  cost  of 
their  fuel  co:il. 

In  addition,  the  West  Virginia  operators  say 
that  if  Ohio  operators  get  the  langer  differential 
they  will  not  put  it  in  their  own  pockets.  Rather 
all  of  this  fight  against  West  Virginia  is  being- 
made  by  the  operators  really  for  the  benefit  of 
the  Ohio  miners.  This  is  an  adroit  way  of  ex¬ 
pressing  their  belief  that  any  concession  in  freight 
rates  made  to  Ohio  miners  will  be  turned  over 
to  Ohio  miners  in  the  form  of  a  lar.ger  wage  per 
ton. 

They  believe  that  since  the  miners  started  the 
rate  controversy,  the  union  will  demand  the  re¬ 
ward. 

Attacking  this  question  on  the  broad  basis  of 
humanitarianism,  the  operators  of  West  Virginia 
say  that  the  proposal  is  to  rob  two  West  Virginia 
miners  of  possible  revenue  in  order  to  increase 
the  wages  of  one  miner  in  Ohio. 

Another  Way  Around. 

Some  of  the  West  Virginia  operators  make  a 
clever  suggestion  when  they  say  that  the  rates 
may  be  changed  if  the  operators  and  railroads 
and  the  miners  insist  upon  it,  but  they  cannot 
drive  West  Virginia  wholly  out  of  the  market. 

In  support  of  this,  they  call  attention  to  the 
fact  that  while  the  mines  now  depend  upon  the 
railroads  for  the  movement  of  their  coal,  most 
miners  can  mov.e  coal  by  river.  That  is,  coal  can 
be  brought  down  from  the  Guyandotte  and  the 
Kanawha  rivers  to  the  Ohio  River  and  can  be 
floated  to  Ohio  ports,  where  it  can  be  loaded  into 
cars  and  moved  at  the  Ohio  rate  to  all  destina¬ 
tions  reached  by  Ohio  coal.  They  say  that  this 
can  be  done  for  twenty-five  cents  a  ton.  Of 
course,  it  wmuld  cost  some  money  to  install  the 
docks,  but  the  operators  would  put  up  that 
money  rather  than  to  be  driven  out  of  business. 
Therefore  the  West  Virginia  operators  say  that 
if  forced  to  such  an  action,  the  concrete  result 
will  be  the  loss  of  a  great  volume  of  business  to 
originating  West  Virginia  lines,  but  the  move¬ 
ment  of  West  Virginia  coal  to  tlie  ultimate  mar¬ 
kets  at  the  same  old  differential  of  twenty-five 
cents  a  ton.  This  means  to  say  that  they  believe 
the  coal  can  be  barged  from  the  mines  to  Ohio 
ports — including  dockage  charges — at  twenty-five 
cents  a  ton. 


The  T.  B.  Davis  mine  property,  near  Fleming- 
ton,  Taylor  county,  West  Virginia,  has  been  sold 
for  the  executors  of  the  T.  B.  Davis  estate  by 
Howard  Sutherland  of  Elkins,  W.  Va.,  to  Clar¬ 
ence  D.  Robinson  of  Fairmont,  W.  Va.,  who, 
with  associates,  already  operates  successfully  two 
mines  in  that  neighborhood.  Possession  was 
.given  December  1st.  The  sale  includes  all  the 
real  and  personal  property  connected  with  the 
mine. 


The  Hocking  Valley 


CoLUMaus,  Ohio.,  December  :i. —  {Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — F'riday  appeared  to  be  Hocking 
Valley  officials  day  in  the  big  rate  controversy, 
practically  the  entire  time  being  taken  up  with 
prominent  general  office  men.  E.  P.  Torry,  super¬ 
intendent  of  car  service,  was  the  first  witness  of 
the  morning.  Mis  figures  for  the  cars  handled  in 
the  Nelsonville  district  for  the  year  ending  June 
30,  1914,  was  70,960  loads  and  63,013  empties. 
Ton  mile  statistics  and  various  percentages  deal¬ 
ing  with  the  use  of  cars  for  foreign  and  local 
coal  were  gone  into.  William  Michel,  chief  engi¬ 
neer,  testified  to  certain  forms  of  expense  incident 
to  line  upkeep  and  structures  at  the  same  as¬ 
sembling  center,  the  total  amounting  to  $43,499. 
The  mileage  of  the  Nelsonville  yards  and 
branches,  inclusive  of  the  Straitsville  branch,  was 
placed  at  81.38  miles,  which  represented  about  11 
per  cent  of  the  whole  trackage  of  the  Hocking 
Valley  railway  system.  The  road  has  351  miles 
of  main  line,  the  balance  being  double  tracks  and 
sidings. 

A  combination  item  of  $123,042  was  submitted 
in  detail  by  M.  A.  Kinney,  superintendent  of  mo¬ 
tive  power,  as  having  been  the  Nelsonville  expense 
of  his  department  during  the  year  under  con¬ 
sideration.  It  was  shown  that  the  Hocking  Val¬ 
ley  owns  20,000  coal  cars,  2,500  all  steel,  4,000  steel 
underframes,  and  13,500  wood.  Cross-examina¬ 
tion  brought  out  the  statement  that  some  of  the 
cars  had  stood  idle  on  sidings  for  from  a  year 
to  two  years.  Mr.  Kinney  contended  that  the 
depreciation  of  a  coal  car,  whether  wood  or  steel, 
was  practically  as  great  when  standing  idle  as 
when  in  service.  The  weather,  he  claimed,  was 
the  most  injurious  factor.  Opposing  counsel 
charged  that  the  road  had  been  buying  new  cars, 
while  good  rolling  stock  had  been  left  unfit  for 
service  through  lack  of  repair  attention,  stating 
that  it  made  a  better  showing  to  the  stockholders, 
as  new  cars  were  charged  to  capital  account,  and 
repairs  charged  to  operating  expenses.  The  wit¬ 
ness  thought  the  new  cars  though  delivered  during 
the  recent  period  of  idleness,  had  been  bought 
previous  to  that  time.  His  estimate  placed  the  ex¬ 
pense  of  repairs  to  foreign  coal  cars  at  five  per 
cent  of  the  total  cars  repaired,  as  the  Hocking 
Valley  made  no  repairs  to  the  former,  only  such 
incidental  attentions  as  were  necessary  to  keep 
them  serviceable  while  they  were  rolling  over  its 
lines. 

W.  W.  Houston,  superintendent  of  the  Flocking 
Valley,  was  examined  by  the  company’s  counsel 
on  statistics  for  various  yards.  The  year’s  re¬ 
ceipts  of  cars  at  the  Walbridge,  or  Toledo  termi¬ 
nal  was  placed  at  333,060.  The  transportation 
wage  cost  for  this  yards  he  testified  was  $182,- 
252.88,  or  54.72  cents  per  car.  The  same  cost 
for  cars  handled  in  the  Fostoria  yards  was  11.23 
cents  per  car,  Marion,  21.97 ;  Columbus,  40.16 ; 
Nelsonville,  29.44.  The  yard  handling  of  local 
coal  was  three  or  four  times  greater  than  in  the 
case  of  foreign  coal. 

M.  S.  Connors,  general  manager,  who  was 
placed  on  the  stand  for  the  purpose  of  reading 
into  the  record  certain  small  items  of  expenses 
with  which  he  was  directly  concerned,  in  the 
Nelsonville  district,  made  a  rather  aggressive  wit¬ 
ness,  including  in  more  or  less  sarcasm  at  the 
expense  of  opposing  counsel.  He  made  the  direct 
charge  that  Rate  Expert  Hillman  had  made  mis¬ 
leading  use  of  certain  data  in  the  form  of  per¬ 
sonal  memoranda  which  he  had  loaned  him.  Mr. 
Hillman  was  not  present  at  the  time  Mr.  Connors 
was  on  the  staml.  The  tenor  of  the  day’s  evi¬ 
dence  was  to  emphasize  in  a  special  way  the  ex¬ 
pensiveness  of  Nelsonville  yard  operation,  and  in 
a  general  way  to  lay  the  basis  for  the  company’s 
defense  that  rate  expert  theories,  and  particularly 
the  system  of  cost  analysis  used  by  the  investiga¬ 
tors  of  the  company’s  records,  were  not  practical 
in  dealing  with  the  complicated  operation  of  as¬ 
sembling  yards  and  terminals. 

Just  before  adjournment  for  the  week  Chief 
Counsel  Wilson  called  to  the  stand  Mr.  Thomas, 
an  employe  of  the  commission,  whom  that  body 
had  made  chairman  of  the  investigating  commit¬ 
tee.  He  gained  from  Mr.  Thomas  the  statements 
that  his  experience  had  been  along  banking  lines, 
that  he  was  now  an  investigator  of  securities  and 
that  he  was  without  any  practical  knowledge  of 
railroad  or  traffic  matters.  The  commission  an¬ 
nounced  that  the  hearing  would  be  resumed  Tues¬ 
day  morning. 

Tuesday,  the  first  hearing  day  of  the  second 
week  since  the  case  was  resumed,  saw  a  change  of 
tack  by  the  defense.  Instead  of  dealing  further 
with  the  figures  pertaining  directly  to  its  own 
road,  the  nature  of  the  evidence  was  decidedly  off- 


Coal  Rate  Hearing. 


line.  Counsel  Wilson  first  presented  thirty  sta¬ 
tistical  exhibits,  which  had  been  compiled  under 
the  direction  of  C.  R.  Wright  of  Cleveland,  as¬ 
sistant  coal  and  coke  agent  of  the  Baltimore  & 
Ohio  railroad.  Mr.  Wright  was  placed  on  the 
stand  and  confirmed  each  exhibit  separately,  also 
giving  the  length  of  hauls,  rates  and  locations 
with  which  the  exhibits  dealt,  and  stating  his 
sources  of  information.  These  hauls  had  to  do 
with  many  railroads,  extending  over  a  good  por¬ 
tion  of  the  country.  They  included  Pennsylvania 
in  the  east,  most  of  the  southern  states,  Texas 
and  Oklahoma  in  the  southwest,  Iowa  in  the 
west  and  some  of  the  states  of  the  northwest, 
.^.n  interesting  table  of  hauls  and  rates  pertained 
to  points  into  Chicago  from  near-by  fields,  rang¬ 
ing  from  eleven  to  fifteen  miles  on  a  forty-five 
cents  per  ton  rate  up  to  190  miles  on  a  $1.08 
rate. 

On  cross-examination  it  developed  that  a  num¬ 
ber  of  the  defendant  railroads  on  the  original 
general  hearing  suit  had  appointed  a  joint  com¬ 
mittee  soon  after  the  case  was  filed  last  summer, 
to  compile  these  comparative  exhibits.  The  roads 
directly  represented  on  the  committee  were  the 
Pennsylvania,  New  York  Central,  Baltimore  & 
Ohio  and  Hocking  Valley.  Mr.  King  acknowl¬ 
edged  that  his  committee  had  made  no  direct  in¬ 
vestigation,  but  had  taken  its  data  from  tariffs 
and  other  printed  matter.  Large  assistance  had 
been  rendered  by  traffic  men  with  whom  the  com¬ 
mittee  had  communicated.  It  has  been  directed 
by  President  Wasson  and  Counsel  Wilson  as  to 
what  points  of  origin  and  destination  should  be 
used  in  the  compilations. 

J.  T.  Averill,  general  freight  and  passenger 
agent  of  the  Chicago,  Ft.  Wayne  &  Southeastern 
railway,  upon  being  sworn,  made  the  statement 
that  he  was  familiar  with  coal  traffic  conditions  in 
Illinois  and  Indiana,  by  reason  of  his  long  service 
in  those  fields,  with  his  present  connection  and 
former  association  with  the  Illinois  Central.  As 
announced  by  counsel,  it  was  expected  to  refute 
through  Mr.  Averill  exhibits  dealing  with  the 
same  fields  by  W.  M.  Hopkins,  one  of  the  rate 
e.xperts  for  the  plaintiff's.  With  a  specially  pre¬ 
pared  map  before  him,  submitted  as  an  exhibit, 
the  witness  figured  out  long  and  short  hauls  into 
Chicago  from  various  coal  districts  in  the  two 
states. 

Much  time  was  also  spent  in  explaining  the  so- 
called  manufacturers’  rate  prevailing  in  a  certain 
section  of  Indiana,  on  which  the  plaintiffs  had 
laid  considerable  stress.  He  said  that  ten  yprs 
ago  when  the  natural  gas  supply  failed  in  Indiana 
the  manufactories  which  had  been  attracted  to 
the  gas  belt  by  prospect  of  abundant  cheap  fuel, 
were  left  in  a  distressed  condition.  The  railroads 
decided  to  help  them  out,  partly  for  the  object 
of  conserving  the  tonna.ge  in  raw  materials  and 
finished  products  which  they  had  realized  from 
these  industries.  A  special  coal  rate  of  fifty  cents 
from  the  Linton  coal  field  to  the  gas  belt  was 
l)ut  in  force,  applying  only  to  manufacturers.  This 
had  been  gradually  raised  to  65  cents,  as  opposed 
to  the  present  regular  commercial  rate  of  75 
cents.  The  railroads  now  felt  that  they  had  done 
their  full  duty  toward  the  industries  in  question 
and  were  anxious  to  do  away  with  this  special 
rate  altogether. 

At  suggestion  of  counsel,  the  witness  went  into 
a  history  of  the  Illinois  and  Indiana  coal  fields, 
beginning  with  the  time  when  the  several  groups 
of  mines  in  northern  Illinois  had  supplied  one- 
third  the  soft  coal  used  in  Chicago.  The  coal  in¬ 
dustry  was  then  traced  through  its  extension  to 
other  fields,  the  rate  feature  being  explained^  as 
the  witness  proceeded.  Throughout  Mr.  Averill’s 
testimony,  continued  capital  was  made  by  counsel 
for  the  defense  of  the  five  cents  per  ton  increase 
in  coal  rates  which  are  to  go  into  effect  in  many 
liarts  of  Illinois  and  Indiana  on  December  15th 
next. 

Forenoon  of  Wednesday  was  taken  up  chiefly 
with  the  testimony  of  J.  C.  Vennin.g,  of  Pitts¬ 
burgh,  general  ore  and  coal  agent  of  the  Pennsyl¬ 
vania  lines  west  of  Pittsburgh.  He  entered  into 
minute  explanation  of  a  map  and  a  blue  print 
which  he  had  prepared  showing  originating  points 
of  coal  in  western  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  West  "Vir- 
.ginia  and  Kentucky,  also  groups  of  destination 
points  in  Ohio,  Michigan,  and  other  states  where 
coal  from  all  the  other  producing  states  narned 
were  in  competition  with  Ohio.  In  connection 
with  this  the  witness  gave  a  very  entertaining  his¬ 
tory  of  the  whole  coal  rate  proposition  and  the 
development  of  the  market  groups  in  which  the 
(Concluded  on  page  453) 


No.  23] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


447 


Failures  in  American  Business,  Why 


Leaving  out  of  consideration  the  bankiag,  rail¬ 
road  and  public  utilities  corporations,  and  refer¬ 
ring  only  to  those  that  have  to  do  with  trade 
and  industry,  we  find  that  there  are  about  250,000 
Inisiness  corporations  in  the  country.  The  aston¬ 
ishing  thing  is  that  of  those,  over  I00,000  have  no 
net  income  zvhatever.  In  addition,  90,000  make 
less-  than  $5,000  a  year,  while  only  the  60,000  re¬ 
maining,  the  more  successful  ones,  make  $5,000  a 
year  and  over. 

Turning  now  from  net  income  to  the  total 
volume  of  business  done  by  those  60,000  corpora¬ 
tions  we  find  that  20,000  have  sales  of  less  than 
$100,000;  20,000  more  sell  from  $100,000  to  $250,- 
000 ;  10,000  additional  from  $250,000  to  $500,000 ; 
5,000  corporations  ship  annually  half  a  million  to 
a  million  dollars’  worth  of  goods ;  4,500  have  total 
sales  from  a  million  to  five  million  dollars;  while 
only  462  industrial  and  mercantile  corporations  in 
the  United  States  do  an  annual  business  of  $5,000,- 
000  or  more. 

These  striking  figures  exhibit  a  condition  which 
has  existed  for  many  years.  They  show  con¬ 
clusively  that  big  business,  zvhile  important,  con¬ 
stitutes  but  a  small  fraction  of  the  trade  and  in¬ 
dustry  of  the  United  States.  They  make  clear 
that  there  is  an  unduly  large  proportion  of  unsuc¬ 
cessful  business  concerns.  Do  they  not  need  help? 
Why  have  we  not  paid  more  attention  to  small 
and  middle-sized  business?  Is  it  not  worthy  of 
our  consideration?  What  measures  are  we  to 
take  to  improve  these  conditions? 

Speaking  generally,  the  real,  constructive  help 
must  come  from  within.  You  know,  and  I  know, 
that  lumping  all  business  together  the  real  need  is 
for  better  business  methods.  When  we  were  all 
working  on  a  lar.ge  percentage  of  profit,  and  when 
it  was  a  case  of  filling  orders  at  our  own  price, 
we  didn’t  need  any  help.  But,  gentlemen,  that 
day  is  past.  We  now  have  to  get  down  to  the 
hard  facts  of  business,  to  learn  precisely  what 
they  are,  where  the  weaknesses  and  losses  exist, 
and  practice  the  same  thoroughness  which  char¬ 
acterizes  trade  and  industry  in  Europe.  We  need 
to  study  standard  systems  of  bookkeeping  and 
cost  accounting. 

The  fact  must  be  admitted  that  in  order  to  put 
a  selling  price  on  a  product  a  manufacturer  must 
first  know  exactly  what  it  costs  to  manufacture 
and  sell  it. 

A  manufacturer  who  does  not  know  with  a 
close  degree  of  accuracy  what  it  costs  him  to  pro¬ 
duce  the  different  articles  he  manufactures  and 
what  it  costs  him  to  sell  them,  is  not  in  a  position 
intelligently  to  meet  competition  and  invites  busi¬ 
ness  disaster. 

Many  of  the  large  manufacturers  have  thor¬ 
ough  cost  accounting  systems,  which  they  recog¬ 
nize  as  necessary  in  order  to  .give  them  the  infor¬ 
mation  essential  to  successful  management.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  number  of  smaller  manufac¬ 
turers  who  have  no  adequate  cost  accounting  sys¬ 
tem  and  who  price  their  goods  arbitrarily  is  amaz¬ 
ing. 

Proper  accounting  for  the  smaller  manufac¬ 
turer  is  most  essential.  It  is  necessary  for  his 
success  that  he  know  on  what  particular  article  he 
is  making  a  fair  profit  and  on  what  he  is  making 
only  a  narrow  mar.gin  of  profit  or  losing  money. 
If  he  has  this  information  he  can  concentrate  on 
the  manufacture  and  sale  of  the  product  on  which 
the  profits  are  satisfactory. 

Whole  industries,  in  many  instances,  are  suffer¬ 
ing  from  a  general  lack  of  intelligent  knowledge 
of  cost.  How  can  the  Federal  Trade  Commis¬ 
sion  help  to  cure  these  conditions? 

The  commission  has  no  power  and  no  desire  to 
use  compulsory  methods.  But  it  does  hope  to 
reach  the  desired  end  by  endorsing  standard  sys¬ 
tems  of  bookkeeping  and  cost  accounting,  and  to 
assist  in  devising  standard  systems,  either  at  the 
request  of  individual  merchants  and  manufac¬ 
turers  or  through  the  association  that  represents 
the  industry.  The  commission  expects  to  have 
for  this  work  an  adequate  force  of  experienced 
accountants  and  cost  experts  and  the  service,  in 
an  advisory  capacity,  of  public  accountants  of  na¬ 
tional  reputation. 

What  may  be  expected  for  such  activities  of 
the  Federal  Trade  Commission? 

First,  the  individual  enterprise  will  be  helped. 
They  will  be  enabled  to  know  exactly  where  they 
stand.  Their  prices  will  be  made  on  a  solid  basis 
of  fact. 

Second,  the  employees  of  these  firms  will  be 
benefited.  They  will  be  trained  to  more  thorough 

*An  address  by  the  vice-chairman  of  the  Federal  Trade 
Commission  before  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Associa¬ 
tion  of  National  Advertisers  in  New  York  City,  Decem¬ 
ber  1,  1915. 


By  Edward  N.  Hurley. 

An  Astounding  Statement  as  to  the  Lack 
of  Profit  in  Business — Only  Careful  Cost 
Accounting  and  Greater  Efficiency  Will 
Help. 

and  more  accurate  methods  of  work.  This  im¬ 
proved  knowledge  will  increase  their  effectiveness 
and  their  individual  value  to  their  employers. 

Third,  the  investor  will  be  benefited.  He  will 
be  able  to  invest  his  money  with  greater  assur¬ 
ance  that  it  will  be  used  in  the  most  advantageous 
manner. 

Fourth,  the  public  will  benefit;  it  will  not  have 
to  pay  for  inefficient  methods. 

To  take  a  specific  example,  suppose  that  there 
are  five  plants  making  a  certain  line.  Ima.gine 
that  one  of  these  plants  is  run  efficiently  and  that 
the  other  four  are  managed  in  a  slipshod  manner. 

Where  is  the  sort  of  trouble  going  to  appear 
that  costs  the  public  and  the  trade  heavily?  In 
the  four  plants  run  in  slovenly  manner,  of  course. 
It  is  in  those  four  plants  that  the  expensive 
strikes  will  occur,  the  dangerous  dissatisfaction 
among  workers  wilt  appear,  and  the  demoralizing 
practice  of  selling  below  cost  of  manufacture  will 
take  root,  and  other  unfair  methods  of  competi¬ 
tion  as  a  means  of  making  sales. 

If  we  can  raise  the  level  of  effectiveness  pre¬ 
vailing  in  these  four  plants  to  the  level  prevail¬ 
ing  at  the  ably  managed  plant,  or  even  higher, 
benefits  will  accrue  to  every  interest  concerned. 
All  five  of  the  plants  will  be  on  a  more  satis¬ 
factory  competitive  basis.  The  employees  in  at 
least  four  of  the  plants  will  learn  to  do  their 
work  to  better  purpose.  Consumers  will  be 
forced  to  pay  for  fewer  inefficient  methods.  The 
jobbers  and  retailers  will  get  their  goods  under 
more  advantageous  conditions.  And  the  bankers 
will  have  five  excellent  accounts  on  their  books 
instead  of  one  excellent  and  four  doubtful  ones.. 

-Vn  up-to-date  system  of  accounting  will  enable 
the  banker  to  extend  to* the  smaller  manufacturer 
the  credit  to  which  he  is  entitled,  and  which  he 
needs  in  order  to  expand  his  business.  The  small 
manufacturer  may  have  just  as  much  brains,  abil¬ 
ity,  knowledge  of  his  wares  and  of  his  customers 
as  the  larger  operator ;  he  may  even  put  out  a 
superior  product.  But  he  can  not  show  the 
banker  a  balance  sheet  based  on  proper  account¬ 
ing  methods,  and  the  banker  does  not  feel  ready 
to  extend  credit  without  the  knowledge  that  such 
a  balance  sheet  would  supply;  thus,  because  busi- 


The  photograph  reproduced  herewith  is  that  of 
the  new  power  house,  tipple,  and  rescreening 
plant  of  the  Central  Coal  &  Coke  Company  at 
Rock  Springs,  Wyoming.  This  mine  is  thor¬ 
oughly  equipped  with  electrical  appliances.  In 
addition  to  the  full  shaker  screen  equipment  for 
the  preparation  of  the  regular  sizes,  the  small 
coal  is  elevated  into  a  rescreening  plant  where, 
after  passing  over  the  rubber  belts  and  being  hand- 


They  Fail* 

ness  men  of  this  type  can  not  give  statements 
about  their  business  affairs  in  the  exact  manner 
necessarily  required  by  the  bankers,  their  credit 
is  restricted  and  fheir  expansion  checked. 

There  should  be  a  greater  degree  of  organ¬ 
isation  and  of  mutual  helpfulness  in  all  lines  of 
trade  and  industry,  so  that  American  business 
may  be  welded  into  a  commercial  and  industrial 
whole;  the  part  of  the  government  being  to  co¬ 
operate  with  business  men,  on  request,  to  bring 
about  the  results  that  will  benefit  business  and 
hence  promote  our  national  welfare. 


Foreigners  in  Pennsylvania. 


Only  fifty-five  and  one-tenth  per  cent  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  state  of  Pennsylvania  are  na¬ 
tive  whites,  born  of  native  parents,  according  to 
the  annual  report  of  the  secretary  of  internal 
affairs  for  1913-14,  just  published.  Compared 
with  1890,  there  is  an  increased  proportion  of 
two  and  seven-tenths  per  cent  in  the  foreign 
population.  The  total  state  population  of  7,665,- 
111  consists  at  the  time  of  the  report  of  6,222,737 
natives  and  1,442,374  foreigners. 

The  native  whites,  born  of  native  parents,  num¬ 
bered  4,222,727,  or  fifty-five  and  one-tenth  per 
cent  of  the  population ;  the  native  whites,  born  of 
foreign  or  mixed  parents,  number  1,806,267,  or 
twenty-three  and  six-tenths  per  cent ;  the  foreign¬ 
ers  (white),  born  abroad  of  foreign  parents,  num¬ 
bered  1,438,719,  or  eighteen  and  eight-tenths  per 
cent,  and  the  negroes  numbered  193,919,  or  two 
one  one-half  per  cent. 

Classed  by  nationality,  the  1,438,719  foreigners 
of  white  stock  had  birth  in  the  following  coun¬ 


tries  : 

.4ustria  . 351,773 

Ru.ssia  . 240,980 

Italy  . 196,132 

Germany  . 195,185 

Ireland  . 165,091 

Hungary  . 123,498 

England  . 109,061 

Scotland  .  32,042 

Wales  .  39,250 

Sweden  .  23,467 

Canada  (Eng.) . 14,032 

France  .  9,990 

Roumania  .  7,752 

Switzerland  .  7,454 

Belgium  .  5,350 

Turkey  (Asia) .  4,484 

Greece  .  4,221 

Denmark  .  3,033 

Turkey  (Europe) .  2,754 

Finland  .  2,413 

Norway  .  2,317 

Holland  .  1,229 

Canada  (French) .  1,246 

-411  other .  6,042 


picked  to  remove  the  impurities,  it  is  rescreened 
and  prepared  for  the  western  market.  The  com¬ 
pany  claims  that  the  best  preparation  in  the  en¬ 
tire  west  is  now  being  accomplished  at  this  mine. 
The  capacity  of  the  plant  is  1,600  tons  a  day. 
It  was  built  under  the  personal  direction  of  H. 
N.  Taylor,  the  vice-president  of  the  Central  Coal 
&  Coke  Company  and  is  operated  under  his  man¬ 
agement. 


448 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


[December  4 


How  Philadelphia  Offsets  Cut  Price  Competition. 


A  coal  dealer  in  Philadelphia,  who  averages 
daily  an  output  of  more  than  4,000  tons,  said  that 
the  actual  profit  on  each  ton  is  only  sixteen  cents! 
This  man  does  not  guess  at  his  margin ;  he  has  a 
cost  system,  and  knows.  During  the  last  decade 
the  costs  around  a  coal  yard  have  increased  re¬ 
markably.  This  has  pared  the  coal  dealer’s  mar- 
gin. 

In  all  other  businesses  the  cost  has  increased 
greatly,  but  the  public  has  been  made  to  share 
the  expense.  The  consumer  is  paying  more  for 
everythiag  else  except  coal. 

The  question  is :  Why  have  not  coal  prices 
gone  up  ?  The  answer  is :  The  coal  men  have 
not  learned  that  the  people  look  with  suspicion 
on  “cheap”  stuff.  If  they  can  get  that  idea  into 
their  heads,  prices  will  take  care  of  themselves. 

As  a  plain  matter  of  fact,  the  public  is  sus¬ 
picious  of  the  price-cutter.  Everybody  knows, 
for  example,  that  a  $15  ready-made  suit  of  cloth¬ 
ing  is  not  the  equal  of  a  $30  custom-made  suit,  no 
matter  what  the  “cheap”  fellow  may  claim. 

Recently  a  coal  dealer  who  had  been  “shaving” 
prices  as  an  inducement  to  secure  new  customers, 
remarked : 

“The  public  is  a  strange  animal.  I  offer  good 
pea  coal  at  a  real  bargain,  and  one  woman  tele¬ 
phoned  and  asked :  ’Are  you  sure  it  is  good 
coal?  Do  you  guarantee  that  it  isn’t  half  dirt? 
Well,  Pll  think  it  over  and  let  you  know  later. 
I  don’t  feel  quite  safe  in  ordering.’  One  man 
wrote:  ‘How  about  your  meight?  You  low-price 
fellows  are  great  on  that  short  weight  stunt.  If 
you  can  guarantee  your  stuff  to  be  as  .good  as 
- ,  send  me  a  ton  as  a  trial  order.’  An¬ 
other  man  called  at  the  office  and  said :  ‘I  would 
like  to  give  you  an  order  for  stove,  but  I  fear 
that  your  quality  is  not  of  the  best.  Last  year 
I  got  stuck  on  cheap  coal.  It  was  full  of  slate, 
and  the  clinkers  were  awful  I  Really,  I  lost  more 
in  the  end  than  if  I  had  bought  from  an  estab¬ 
lished  dealer  at  standard  prices.’ 

“After  I  had  solemnly  assured  him  that  every¬ 
thing  was  all  right,  he  finally  placed  the  order, 
but  as  he  passed  out  I  could  see  that  he  was  still 
dubious.  One  woman  customer  was  the  worst 
of  all.  After  two  tons  of  pea  had  been  placed 
in  her  house,  she  claimed  that  it  was  smaller  than 
the  ordinary  run  of  pea,  and  she  refused  to  pay 
for  it.  Told  us  to  take  it  out;  but  as  that  would 
be  a  losing  proposition,  it  is  still  in  the  cellar, 
and  I  am  hopeful  that  she  will  pay  for  it  some 
day. 

"Honest,  my  coal  is  just  as  .good  as  any  other 
dealer’s,  but  because  it  is  offered  at  bargain  prices 
the  public  will  not  believe  it.  I  am  selling  lots  of 
coal,  of  course,  but  it  is  to  the  worse  class  of 
trade,  and  they  add  to  the  troubles  in  the  busi¬ 
ness.” 

With  this  in  mind,  it  will  be  of  general  interest 
to  learn  how  Philadelphia’s  most  progressive 
coal  men  are  winning  orders  at  fair  prices,  de¬ 
spite  low  price  competition. 

Practically  all  of  these  dealers  state  that  adver¬ 
tising  in  the  leading  daily  newspapers  is  the  most 
effective  medium  for  their  publicity.  Perhaps 
the  newspaper  advertisin.g  of  the  George  B.  New¬ 
ton  Coal  Company,  of  No.  1527  Chestnut  street, 
Philadelphia,  is  attracting  greater  attention  and 
accomplishing  more  than  any  other  matter  of  this 
class  by  reason  of  its  frequency.  One  scarcely 
scans  a  morning  or  evening  paper  without  noting 
one  of  the  Newton  display  ads.  One  of  the  re¬ 
cent  advertisements  is  reproduced  herewith. 

This  is  an  effective  piece  of  publicity  on  atcount 
of  it  bein.g  so  simple,  vigorous,  and  truthful.  It 
is  composed  in  a  style  of  type  that  can  be  easily 
reqd  by  the  average  person.  It  is  an  ad  that 
stimulates  the  reader’s  confidence  in  the  Newton 
company. 

Located  in  convenient  sections  of  the  city,  the 
Newton  company  has  twenty-six  yards,  all 
equipped  with  modern  machinery  to  aid  in 
handling  the  prodiict  rapidly  and  economically. 
The  delivery  service  includes  a  “fleet”  of  nine¬ 
teen  two-ton  motor  trucks,  equipped  with  the  new 
power  hoists  operated  by  the  cars’  motors. 
Prompt  service  is  one  of  this  firm’s  “strong 
points,”  and  all  of  the  delivery  men  are  trained 
in  giving  polite  attention  to  patrons. 

On  frecpient  occasions  the  Newton  employes 
attend  a  special  meeting  held  by  the  company,  and 
among  other  important  thin.gs  they  are  minutely 
instructed  in  the  art  of  extending  courteous  treat¬ 
ment  to  all  customers.  When  a  visitor  calls  at 
any  of  this  firm’s  offices  he  is  greeted  in  a  friend¬ 
ly  manner. 

In  addition  to  newspaper  publicity,  the  Newton 
company  also  spends  a  considerable  sum  each 


The  Plan  Which  Has  Proved  Best  Is  to 
Get  an  Honest  Coal  and  a  Good  Service 
Which  Will  Stand  the  White  Light  of  an 
Advertising  Campaign. 


year  in  supplementary  advertising.  It  distributes 
to  the  factory  trade  large  wall  calendars  contain¬ 
ing  the  firm’s  name  and  trade-mark.  At  times 
direct  advertising  matter — booklets,  folders,  mail- 
in.g  cards,  etc.,  are  mailed  to  a  large  list  of 
families.  Billboard,  theater  program  and  placard 
advertising  is  also  used  to  some  extent.  Its  slogan 
is:  “Newton  Coal  Answers  the  Burning  Ques¬ 
tion.” 

Among  other  leading  coalmen  which  have  won 
the  confidence  of  the  public  by  givin.g  full  weight, 
highest  quality,  and  excellent  service  at  fair  prices 
are :  Charles  K.  Scull,  Thirty-first  and  Chestnut 
streets;  E.  J.  Cummings,  No.  413  North  Thir¬ 
teenth  street;  American  Ice  Company,  No.  600 
Arch  street;  Crean  Brothers,  Eighteenth  and 
Oregon  avenue;  John  Williams,  Twenty-fifth  and 
Dauphin  streets ;  William  M.  Lloyd  Company, 
Twenty-ninth  and  Ridge  avenue;  Donaghy  & 
Sons,  No.  1837  Market  street;  Bruner  &  Com¬ 
pany,  No.  16  North  Twenty-first  street;  M.  Kel¬ 
ley’s  Sons,  Forty-first  and  Pennsylvania  Railroad ; 
Geor.ge  W.  Miller,  Jr.,  Sedgley  and  Daughin,  and 


about  coal?  What  do  you  really  know  about  it?  You  buy 
a  yard  of  silk  and  it's  measured  in  front  of  you;  you  buy  eggs 
and  see  them  counted;  you  buy  coffee  and  the  scales  show 
the  exact  weight—- but  coal  III  You  send  your  order  in. 
the  wagon  drives  up  to  your  home  and  you've  got  to  take 
it  for  granted  that  you  are  getting  a  round  2240  pounds  in 
that  ton.  Maybe  yoii  get  it — maybe  you  don’t. 

Now.  common  sense  tells  you  that  you  ought  to  be  sure, 
and  there’s  a  way  that  you  can  be: 

Order  your  next  coal  from  the  Geo.  B.  Newton  Coal  Co., 
a  concern  with  a  system  of  checking  and  sworn  weighing 
that  absolutely  precludes  the  possibility  of  mistakes;  a  con¬ 
cern  that  can  take  your  money  honestly  because  it  gives 
honest  service  in  return — honest  in  quality  and  quantity; 
and  at  the  lowest  prices  possible  for 

Proper  Weight — Proper  Quality — Proper  Preparation 
Chute  Prices; 

Egg,  $7.00;  Stove,  $7.25;  Nut,  $7.50;  Pea,  $5.25 

^5c  Added  When  Carried 

Geo.  B.  Newton  Coal  Co. 

1527  Chestnut  Street 

Spruce  6400— Phones— Race  3800 

Our  deli.'-rT  at  th«e  prtc^  includlM  Oermuntown.  Oak  I  anp.  McSro.r. 

rhMtnut  Hill  Kniaiocton.  Ovprbrook.  W^Doefleld,  Bala,  CySH'id. 

UrS-rth.  rVmWood.  laimdowTie.  Ml»hlaod  Park.  Dr#.v«l  Hili.  etc. 


A  Typical  Newton  “Ad.” 


John  W.  Moore,  Twenty-sixth  and  Susquehanna 
avenue. 

Charles  K.  Scull  caters  exlusively  to  a  select 
family  trade,  and  he  has  gained  a  large  number 
of  steady  customers  of  the  class  that  are  inter¬ 
ested  in  only  the  best,  and  are  willing  to  pay  the 
right  price  for  it.  Mr.  Scull’s  offices  are  at¬ 
tractively  furnished.  The  plate  glass  windows 
are  kept  spotless,  and  their  plain  gilt  lettering  is 
effective  and  dignified.  For  the  retail  dealer 
aiming  to  sell  to  the  household  trade,  Mr.  Scull 
believes  that  well-written  newspaper  advertising 
is  an  excellent  medium. 

John  W.  Moore’s  offices  are  beautiful  and  are 
furnished  so  as  to  offer  comfort  to  the  visitor. 
There  is  plenty  of  room,  and  an  abundance  of 
natural  light.  In  what  may  be  termed  a  “recep¬ 
tion  room,”  there  is  a  large  upholstered  settee  of 
the  mission  style.  Back  of  a  railing  one  can  see 
the  new-style  business  equipment — desks,  type¬ 
writers,  etc. — and  a  number  of  stenographers  busy 
at  work.  All  this  makes  a  good  impression. 

Geor.ge  W.  Miller,  Jr.,  is  a  young,  progressive 
dealer  who  believes  in  going  out  on  “the  street” 
and  creating  new  business  when  orders  are  slow. 
He  employs  a  solicitor  trained  in  the  selling  art, 
and  this  man  is  continually  calling  on  household¬ 
ers.  Instead  of  talking  low  price,  he  uses  the 
quality  argument. 

Mr.  Miller  believes  that  personality  is  a  .great 
power  in  the  business  world,  and  he  has  made  it 
a  rule  to  make  his  personality  felt.  For  example, 
he  calls  frequently  upon  customers  personallv. 
He  has  made  it  known  that  if  at  any  time  his 
service  and  goods  are  not  just  up  to  the  high 
standard  he  has  set,  all  that  is  necessary  is  for 


the  customer  to  complain  to  him  personally. 

A  number  of  dealers  have  found  advertising 
in  the  telephone  directories  to  be  advantageous. 
Instead  of  having  their  names  listed  in  the 
classified  section  in  the  ordinary  way,  small  dis¬ 
play  cards  are  used.  A  great  many  people  now 
order  coal  as  well  as  other  things  over  the  tele¬ 
phone,  and  not  a  few  are  willing  to  call  up  the 
name  of  a  firm  easiest  to  locate.  In  the  Phila¬ 
delphia  telephone  books  the  displayed  ads  of 
John  W.  Moore,  Crean  Brothers,  Martin  F. 
Connor,  S.  D.  Hall,  and  a  few  others,  stand  out 
distinctively. 

One  dealer  is  using  an  electrical  sign  to  great 
advantage.  This  sign  faces  on  a  prominent 
street  along  which  pass  thousands  of  people  dur¬ 
ing  each  day  and  evenin,g.  The  sign  is  painted 
white,  inscribed  with  large  black  characters,  giv¬ 
ing  the  firm  name  and  list  of  market  prices.  Of 
course,  no  electric  lighting  is  necessary  during 
the  day,  but  at  night  it  is  illuminated  from 
overhead,  and  one  can  read  it  from  a  consider¬ 
able  distance. 

Several  dealers  have  foilnd  form  letters,  and 
post  cards  to  be  effective  publicity  matter.  The 
letters  (typewritten,  or  imitation)  call  attention 
to  the  quality  of  so-and-so  coal,  quoting  prices. 
The  post  cards  contain  the  firm’s  name  and  cur¬ 
rent  prices  for  popular  sizes  of  householders’ 
coal,  and  are  distributed  to  the  public  by  car¬ 
riers.  One  dealer  claimed  that  post  cards  of 
this  class  was  his  most  effective  advertising. 

A  number  of  dealers  believe  in  street  car  and 
billboard  advertising.  One  of  the  most  widely 
known  trolley  ads  in  the  city  is  that  of  E.  J. 
Cummings,  whose  watchword  is,  “We  deliver  a 
square  ton.”  Some  of  the  billboard  ads  are  ex¬ 
ceedingly  attractive. 

Few  of  the  dealers  seem  to  believe  in  “.good 
will”  advertising,  that  is :  Pencils,  rulers,  note¬ 
books,  desk  weights,  and  other  novelties  of  this 
variety.  Some,  however,  are  distributing  such 
matter,  containing  their  ads,  at  intervals,  but 
they  are  uncertain  as  to  its  real  value.  Adver¬ 
tising  like  the  George  B.  Newton  Company  that 
greets  the  public  from  every  side  is  the  right 
idea.  One  cannot  keep  this  concern’s  name  out 
of  mind — they  don’t  allow  it! 

About  150  of  the  leading  coal  concerns  are 
members  of  the  Philadelphia  Coal  Exchange, 
which  is  formed  for  the  purpose  of  protecting 
the  trade  and  business,  and  securing  the  public 
against  short  weight  and  other  fraud  in  coal. 
This  association  has  brought  about  many  im¬ 
portant  reforms  in  the  trade,  and  through  its  ac¬ 
tivity  many  dishonest  and  unscrupulous  dealers 
have  been  prosecuted.  It  is  largely  due  to  this 
society  that  today  there  are  scarcely  any  coal¬ 
men  in  Philadelphia  who  give  short  weight  to 
patrons. 


The  further  breathing  spell  to  January  1  given 
the  railways  by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commis¬ 
sion  on  the  readjustment  of  the  freight  tariffs  on 
anthracite  coal  caused  little  or  no  flutter  among 
the  anthracite  companies  with  headquarters  m 
Philadelphia.  “Where  the  rate  was  lowered  to 
western  points,”  said  one  hard  coal  man,  “and 
where  these  might  have  gone  into  effect  a  couple 
of  months  ago,  might  have  been  an  Inducement  to 
curtail  buying.  But  when  it  comes  the  first  of 
January,  the  buyer  has  to  have  coal  moving  and  a 
slight  difference  in  the  freight  rate  means  nothing 
to  him.  He  has  to  have  coal  no  matter  what  the 
freight  is.  We  are  more  concerned  in  the  consid¬ 
eration  that  commission  may  give  to  the  request 
for  a  rehearing  on  the  tariffs  on  smaller  sizes.  To 
the  independents  this  means  more  than  the  setting 
of  the  time  for  the  application  of  the  general 
freight  rates.” 


Ordersfor  two  new  colliers  to  be  built  by  the 
New  York  Shipbuilding  Company  were  awarded 
on  Tuesday.  Both  of  the  boats  are  to  be  dupli¬ 
cates  of  vessels  they  have  recently  turned  out  of 
their  yards.  One  is  to  be  a  counterpart  of  the 
collier  Virginia,  •  launched  Oct.  23  for  the  Poca¬ 
hontas  Navigation  Company  of  Boston.  Concern¬ 
ing  this  boat  there  is  a  rumor  current  that  while 
it  cost  between  $400,000  and  $500,000,  its  owners 
have  disposed  of  it  at  a  profit  of  $200,000.  The 
other  new  vessel  isfor  the  Coastwise  Transporta¬ 
tion  Company  of  Boston  and  is  to  be  a  duplicate 
of  the  collier  Franklin,  recently  launched.  This 
is  to  be  395  feet  long,  55  feet  beam  and  34.6  depth, 
with  a  carrying  capacity  of  9,400  long  tons.  She 
will  cost  about  $700,000.  These  contracts,  with 
two  new  orders  for  tankers  built  by  another  com- 
liany,  raises  the  total  to  eighty-two  ships  now 
being  built  on  the  Delaware  river. 


No.  23] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


449 


Editor,  The  Black  Diamond; 

St.  Louis,  Mo.,  November  21!,  1915.  1  have 

your  letter  of  November  19th  relative  to  the  sub¬ 
ject  of  first  aid,  rescue,  and  sociological  work  at 
the  mines  of  this  company,  and  note  you  wish  to 
know  whether  it  is  voluntary  on  the  part  of 
the  employes,  whether  they  contribute  financially 
toward  its  maintenance,  and  whether  any  wages 
or  other  payment  or  perquisites  are  given  them 
for  taking  part  in  such  work. 

We  think  we  have  a  very  complete  organiza¬ 
tion — both  in  the  matter  of  rescue  crews,  who 
are  specially  trained  in  that  work,  and  first  aid 
crews.  We  have  at  each  of  our  mines  rescue 
and  first  aid  stations,  as  per  blue  print  attached. 
Each  of  the  stations  is  so  constructed  that  they 
can  be  used  for  every  kind  of  service  in  con¬ 
nection  with  such  duties.  For  instance,  there  is 
a  large  sulphur  room,  where  the  men  go  and 
exercise  in  the  gas ;  and  when  called  upon  to  do 
rescue  work,  the  helmet  men — or  those  wearing 
the  breathiag  apparatus — go  in  there  and  test 
the  helmets  to  see  that  they  are  air  tight  and 
gas  proof. 

There  is  a  room  for  clothes  and  one  for  shower 
bath  and  two  rooms  for  the  breathing  apparatus 
and  all  supplies  necessary  to  equip  them  properly. 
A  full  supply  of  oxygen,  caustic  soda,  etc.,  is 
always  on  hand.  The  large  central  room  is  used 
to  take  care  of  the  injured  when  the  rescue 
work  is  going  on  and  is  so  fitted  that  it  makes 
a  comfortable  gathering  place  for  the  rescue 
and  first  aid  men  to  discuss  matters  together. 

The  buildings  are  all  steam  heated  and  fire¬ 
proof. 

Our  men  practice  once  every  two  weeks,  and 
in  some  cases  oftener,  and  that  is  quite  as  true 
of  the  fire-fighting  above  and  below  ground,  as 
of  the  first  aid  and  rescue  work.  It  is  purely 
voluntary  on  their  part,  and  they  receive  no 
wages ;  neither  do  they  contribute  financially; 
toward  its  maintenance  in  any  manner.  I  am 
pleased  to  say  that  the  men  generally  join  in 
the  first  aid  and  rescue  duties  very  heartily,  and 
we  feel  that  we  have  very  .good  organizations 
at  our  mines  in  this  respect. 

We  have  two  mines  close  together  in  the  south¬ 


ern  field  near  Carterville — one  at  Dewmaine  and 
the  other  near  Cambria.  At  these  two  mines, 
they  compete  for  two  silver  cups  which  the  com¬ 
pany  offers  as  prizes — one  for  rescue  work  and 
the  other  for  first  aid. 

We  have  specially  fitted  up  rescue  cars  always 
ready  to  move,  which  contain  every  appliance 
necessary  for  the  men  to  do  their  work  ex¬ 
peditiously  and  safely.  These  cars  are  specially 
constructed  so  that  the  injured  may  be  placed 
on  stretchers  on  top  of  them,  and  the  seats  form 
lockers  which  contain  crowbars,  axes,  augers, 
lifelines,  electric  lamps,  wire  cutters,  rubber 
gloves,  complete  Red  Cross  outfit,  splints,  and 
everything  necessary  for  the  men  to  cope  with 
any  situation  that  might  arise. 

Our  particular  reason  for  being  so  equipped 
at  each  of  our  mines  is  because  we  realize  that 
many  lives  might  be  lost  while  waiting  for  rescue 
parties  to  come  to  us  from  outside  stations,  and 
we  believe  that  by  being  able  to  make  a  survey 
immediately  after  an  explosion  or  fire,  we  could 
prevent  many  deaths  or  perhaps  loss  of  large 
territory  underground;  and  that  if  we  can  get 
at  it  within  twenty  or  thirty  minutes  after  it 
occurs  instead  of  having  to  wait  an  hour  or  two, 
we  may  be  able  to  reduce  the  loss  of  life  and 
property  very  materially  from  what  it  would 
likely  be  if  we  had  to  wait  for  some  other  or¬ 
ganization  to  reach  us  and  .give  us  help. 

In  the  southern  field,  we  have  two  outfits  (of 
three  sets  each)  with  everything  complete,  for 
the  colored  teams,  and  one  outfit  of  three  sets 
for  the  white  team,  making  nine  sets  for  those 
two  plants :  and  1  can’t  speak  too  highly  of  the 
interest  those  men  take  in  their  work  and  of  their 
wonderful  efficiency,  as  well  as  courage,  which 
they  have  demonstrated  several  times,  not  only 
at  our  own  plants,  but  at  the  mines  of  other 
companies. 

Our  other  plants  are  fitted  up  with  complete 
breathing  outfits  of  three  sets  each,  and  it  is  a 
source  of  great  relief  to  the  management  of  the 
company  to  know  that  we  are  so  well  provided 
and  prepared  to  cope  with  the  results  of  fire 
or  explosion. 

The  crews  at  the  other  mines — Glen  Carbon, 


-Mount  Olive,  and  I )ivernon— are  just  as  efficient 
as  the  others,  and  1  can’t  speak  too  highly  of 
any  of  them. 

Very  truly, 

A.  J.  iMikikheai),  President  and  General  Man¬ 
ager,  Madison  Coal  Corporation. 


Illinois  Mining  Institute. 

(Special  Correspondence.) 

The  third  annual  meeting  of  the  Illinois  Min¬ 
ing  Institute  was  held  in  the  city  hall.  Spring- 
field,  Saturday,  November  20,  the  first  .session 
opening  at  9  :'M)  a.  m.  The  address  of  welcome 
\yas  given  by  Mayor  Baumann,  to  which  a  fit¬ 
ting  response  was  given  by  the  president  of  the 
association,  J.  W.  Stark,  state  mine  inspector  of 
Georgetown. 

The  first  paper  upon  the  topic  “The  Mine  Man¬ 
ager,’’  which  was  read  by  a  state  mining  inspector, 
David  Z.  Thrash  of  Farmington.  The  paper 
elicited  considerable  discussion  and  was  so  inter¬ 
esting  that  by  request  it  was  read  again  at  the 
afternoon  session  when  more  members  had  come 
in.  A  very  animated  discussion  took  place,  the 
principal  participants  being  Messrs.  John  P.  Reese 
of  the  Superior  Coal  Company,  Gillespie,  Illinois; 
Thomas  Moses,  general  superintendent,  Bunsen 
Coal  Company;  Mr.  Burton  of  Herrin,  Illinois, 
the  newly  elected  president  of  the  Institute,  and 
Mr.  Patrick  Plogan  of  Canton.  Mr.  Burton 
called  attention  to  the  necessity  for  securirtg 
a  greater  efficiency  from  the  men  at  the  face 
and  urged  paying  more  attention  to  them  rather 
than  concentrating  so  much  of  the  attention 
upon  company  men  and  surface  men.  In  the 
discussion  the  fact  was  brought  out  that  the 
present  day  miners  seem  to  be  satisfied  with  a 
certain  wage  per  day  and  it  is  difficult  to  in¬ 
crease  the  output  and  hence  the  general  efficiency 
of  the  mine  by  increasing  the  output  per  man. 
It  was  stated  that  although  men  loading  behind 
different  kinds  of  machines,  such  as  the  puncher, 
chain  or  shortwall  might  be  able  to  make  bet¬ 
ter  wages  under  certain  conditions,  they  seem 
satisfied  to  make  about  the  same  average  wage. 
The  argument  was  also  brought  forward  that 
men  working  three  days  per  week  produced 
more  per  day  than  those  working  six  days,  and 
it  was  argued  that  there  would  be  greater  effi¬ 
ciency  if  the  daily  average  for  the  six  days 
could  be  increased.  In  opposition  to  this  it  was 
argued  that  a  man  naturally  works  harder  work¬ 
ing  part  time  than  he  will  if  working  steadily 
every  day. 

F.  W.  DeWolf,  director  of  the  State  Geological 
Survey,  rendered  a  paper  upon  the  “Relation  of 
Oil  and  Gas  Wells  to  Coal  Properties.”  Mr. 
DeWolf  showed  by  a  drawing  different  methods 
proposed  for  plugging  oil  and  gas  wells,  partic¬ 
ularly  those  that  penetrate  coal  measures.  In 
the  discussion  Mr.  John  P.  Reese  gave  an  inter¬ 
esting  description  of  the  controversy  now  in 
progress  in  central  Illinois  in  the  Staunton  dis¬ 
trict  where  oil  and  gas  wells  have  been  discov¬ 
ered  within  the  past  year  in  territory  where  min¬ 
ing  is  being  actively  prosecuted. 

At  the  afternon  session  in  addition  to  the 
rereading  of  the  paper  by  Mr.  Thrush,  a  paper 
by  Mr.  G.  E.  Lyman,  mining  engineer  of  the 
Madison  Coal  Corporation,  was  read  entitled 
"Cleanliness  and  Order  at  Coal  Mines.”  This 
paper  pointed  out  the  .great  waste  that  takes 
place  at  the  many  mines  due  to  disorder  and 
argued  for  the  economy  of  greater  order  and 
the  cleaning  up  of  the  large  amount  of  scrap 
that  usually  is  found  about  mine  works.  The 
idea  advanced  by  Mr.  Lyman  seemed  to  be  heart¬ 
ily  endorsed  by  a  number  of  speakers. 

In  the  annual  election  the  following  were 
e'ected  for  the  ensuing  year: 

President,  Mr.  Burton  of  Herrin. 

First  vice-president,  Mr.  Fehler  of  Belleville. 

Second  vice-president,  Mr.  Patrick  Hogan  of 
Canton. 

Secretary  and  treasurer,  Mr.  Martin  Bolt. 
Sprin.gfield. 

Executive  committee:  Messrs.  McClintock, 
Stark,  Reese,  Simpson  and  Bolander. 

Herrin  was  chosen  as  the  place  for  the  next 
meeting.  The  iiresident  appointed  as  an  auditing 
committee,  Messrs.  Fehler,  'Hogan  and  Stoek.  .At 
()  :;i()  a  banquet  was  held  at  the  St.  Nicholas  Hotel, 
at  which  John  P.  Reese  acted  as  toastmaster 
and  the  program  of  toasts  included  Da\id  Ross, 
Mr.  Bolander  and  Air.  Stark,  with  songs  by  Air. 
1  logan. 


Sealed  proposals  will  be  received  at  the  United 
States  Engineer’s  Office,  Customhouse,  Norfolk, 
Va.,  until  December  20,  1915,  for  furnisbing  about 
.'i,()i)0  tons  of  bituminous  coal.  Information  on 
application  to  the  Iffiited  State's  Engineer’s  Office. 


Floor  Plan  of  First  Aid  Headquarters  of  the  Madison  Coal  Corporation. 


450 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[December  4 


Life  and  Work  of  William  P.  Rend,  Coal  Producer. 


The  record  will  be  content  with  the  recital  that 
William  P.  Rend  was  horn  in  County  Leitrim, 
Ireland,  in  1840,  and  died  in  Chicago  on  the  last 
day  of  Novemher,  1915.  It  may,  because  he  was 
an  unusual  man,  add  that  he  made  a  business  of 
producing  and  selling  coal  at  the  time  when  the 
nation  was  but  developing  that  resource  in  an  ex¬ 
travagant  fashion.  It  may  add,  if  the  recorder  is 
interested  in  such  things,  that  he  made  far  more 
than  a  comfortable  fortune  from  bis  undertak- 
ings. 

Put  the  record,  no  matter  how  prolix  in  details 
and  dates,  cannot,  without  extending  itself  un¬ 
duly,  tell  what  this  brilliant,  eccentric  and,  some¬ 
times,  (luarrelsome  man  meant  to  bis  trade,  nor 
how  he  stamped  a  striking  personality  upon  great 
sections  of  this  country.  Such  things  do  not  fall 
out  of  a  mere  recital  of  dates  and  facts,  but 
only  by  a  close  comparison  of  the  man  and  the 
time  in  which  he  lived. 

His  life  covered  a  long  span  of  years — seventy- 
five,  to  be  exact.  His  work  covered  more  than  a 
half  century.  Within  his  working  time  he  opened 
and  operated  coal  mines  in  four  states.  He 
owned  and  operated  ships  on  the  Great  Lakes. 
He  owned  docks  and  distributing  plants  in  the 
west.  He  sold  his  product  in  a  district  where 
live  more  than  half  the  population  of  the  nation. 
In  that  great  selling  zone  his  Hashes  of  brilliant 
merchandising  and  his  keenness  in  production 
changed,  more  than  once,  the  methods  of  doing 
the  coal  business  and  also  the  taste,  as  to  fuel 
'  supply  of  the  people. 

To  understand  Col.  Rend  and  all  the  episodes 
which  make  up  his  life  history,  it  is  necessary 
first  to  understand  the  times  in  which  he  lived, 
and  the  nature  of  the  country  where  he  worked. 
So,  the  first  fact  of  importance  is  that  he  en¬ 
tered  the  coal  business  in  Chicago  the  latter  part 
of  1868  or  the  forepart  of  1869.  At  that  time, 
Chicago  was  a  village  and  the  present  business 
district  was  a  swamp.  In  the  entire  city,  no  street 
was  paved. 

At  that  time,  the  nation  was  flattened  out  finan¬ 
cially  as  a  result  of  the  Civil  War.  It  had  not 
even  begun  to  hope  again — much  less  to  plan  for 
the  great  future  in  store  for  it — because  it  had 
no  banking  system  worthy  the  name  and  no  cur¬ 
rency  that  was  dependable.  In  a  word,  it  had  no 
program,  and  it  had  not  yet  brought  forward  the 
men  who  were  to  master  it  and  make 
it  grow. 

At  that  time,  the  wealth  was  still  be¬ 
neath  the  soil,  and  seemingly  locked 
there  by  forces  which  defied  the  in¬ 
genuity  of  a  bankrupt  people.  But  the 
wealth  was  there,  and  a  few  men  knew 
that  it  could  be  dug  up  and  used  if  only 
they  had  courage  and  worked.  Still, 
the  prospective  manufacturer  had  no 
large  assortment  of  raw  material  upon 
which  to  depend  and  the  owner  of 
natural  resources  had  no  market,  be¬ 
cause  the  manufacturing  and  the  min¬ 
ing  districts  were  not  yet  bound  to¬ 
gether  by  a  chain  of  reliable  carriers. 

Even  the  east  was  then  served  only  by 
stragglin.g  and  disconnected  lines  of 
inefficient  railways.  America  was  in 
those  days  a  nation  of  great  possibili¬ 
ties  but  no  realization.  It  was  a  time 
■  which  called  for  strong  men  who  could 
be  as  ruthless  as  the  obstacles  they  had 
to  overcome. 

William  P.  Rend,  who  was  to  take  a 
truly  great  part  in  the  dramatic  pro¬ 
gram  of  his  country,  had  been  brought 
from  Ireland  at  the  a.ge  of  seven  and 
had  been  to  school  at  Lowell,  Mass. 

He  had  taught  school  in  Maryland: 
had  fought  in  some  of  the  greatest  bat¬ 
tles  of  the  Civil  War;  had  moved  to 
Chicago  to  become  a  surveyor  or  some¬ 
thing  of  that  sort  for  a  new  railroad 
about  to  be  built ;  had,  being  disap- 
l)ointed  there,  gone  to  the  Panhandle 
railroad  as  an  assistant  frei.ght  agent; 
and  then,  had  become  assistant  freight 
manager  for  the  Chicago  &  North¬ 
western  Railway.  That  part  of  his  life 
shows  nothing  except  the  natural  bent 
of  his  mind.  He  was  eager  and  ven¬ 
turesome  but  unsettled.  He  had  not 
yet  struck  his  gait.  Still,  he  displayed 
even  then  a  constructive  bent  and  a 
willingness  to  undertake  thin.gs  which 
while  hazardous  and  arduous,  made  for 
the  solidification  of  our  democratic 
empire. 

He  did  not  jiarley  long  over  the  pre- 


The  Pioneer  of  Ohio  and  West  Virginia 
Passes  Away  in  Chicago,  Where  He  Had 
Done  Business  For  More  Than  a  Half 
Century. 

liminaries  of  his  career,  for,  in  less  than  three 
years  from  the  time  he  was  discharged  from  the 
Federal  army,  he,  with  Edwin  C.  Walker,  had 
formed  the  Rend  Transportation  Company,  which 
was  to  do  a  teaming  business  in  Chicago.  He 
made,  so  it  is  said,  a  fortune  out  of  that,  because 
his  teaming  business  tied  together  the  eastern  and 
western  railways  which  had  not  yet  joined  their 
rails.  As  an  outgrowth  of  this  enterprise,  he  went 
into  coal.  He  owned  a  coal  dock,  in  those  days, 
in  Chicago,  to  which  he  shipped  coal  by  boat  on 
both  the  lake  and  the  old  canal.  He  distributed 
it  from  there  by  railroad  to  all  points  in  the  in¬ 
terior.  Also,  he  sold  it  to  Chicago  people,  as  he 
continued  to  do  through  fifty  years. 

An  incident  which  occurred  in  connection  with 
that  early  dock  property  helps  to  explain  what  a 
length  of  time  has  passed  since  then  and  how  con¬ 
ditions  have  changed.  When  this  dock  had  been 
in  operation  for  some  time,  James  J.  Hill  decided 
to  enter  the  coal  business.  Col.  Rend  sold  him 
his  first  lot  of  coal — on  credit. 

In  1870,  he  branched  out  and  became  a  producer 
of  coal  by  opening  a  mine  at  Straitsville,  Ohio. 
In  recounting  the  methods  then  in  vogue  and 
later,  he  used  to  tell  in  his  merry  way  what  he 
did  to  introduce  a  new  coal  to  Chicago  when  the 
Straitsville  field  could  no  longer  meet  the  demand. 
His  dock  was  on  the  Chicago  river,  a  little  above 
the  center  of  the  city.  When  a  consignment  of 
a  new  coal  was  due  to  arrive,  he  would  invite 
all  of  the  coal  men  and  all  the  newspaper  report¬ 
ers  to  come  to  his  place.  When  they  had  assem¬ 
bled,  they  would  make  an  inspection  of  the  coal 
while  he,  perched  in  a  conspicuous  place,  would 
deliver  a  lecture  telling  them  about  its  merits. 
The  formalities  ended,  a  luncheon  would  be 
served  and  champagne  would  flow  like  water. 

"We  could  do  such  things  in  those  days,”  he 
used  to  say,  "because  we  had  a  margin  of  more 
than  a  nickel  a  ton.” 

After  that,  he  opened  the  mine  at  Rendville, 
Ohio,  and  then  the  famous  Number  Six  mine 


William  P.  Rend,  Coal  Merchant. 


at  Gloucester,  Ohio.  It  was  the  coal  from  the 
Rend  Number  Six  mine  which  started  the  move¬ 
ment  of  Hocking  coal  into  the  west.  No  doubt 
it  was  the  introduction  of  this  coal  which  was 
responsible  for  the  sprightly  reminiscences  just 
related.  Before  that  time,  other  Ohio  coals  had 
commanded  the  western  market;  Hocking  was 
an  unknown  quantity.  It  was  Col.  Rend  who 
introduced  it  to  the  west  where  it  remained  an 
important,  if  not  a  predominant,  factor  until  the 
day  of  his  death.  Incidentally,  this  Number  Six 
mine  was,  at  that  time,  the  biggest  in  the  United 
States.  It  was  known  and  frequently  referred  to 
as  the  most  remarkable  coal  property  opened  up 
to  that  time. 

Shortly  after  exploiting  this  coal,  he  opened 
the  Number  Four  mine  at  Jackson  Hill  and  the 
Number  Two  mine  at  Gloucester. 

All  of  these  properties  were  sold  to  the  Sunday 
Creek  Coal  Company  when  the  late  Judge  Stev¬ 
enson  Burke  got  a  long  list  of  valuable  coal 
mines  together  and  tied  them  into  a  common 
ownership  with  the  Columbus,  Hocking  Valley  & 
Toledo  Railway. 

To  open  mines  and  to  sell  them  out  to  a  rail¬ 
road  combination  at  a  profit  seems  in  these  days, 
when  so  much  of  coal  history  is  an  open  book,  a 
simple  and  natural  thing  to  do.  But  the  prece¬ 
dents  had  not,  then,  been  established.  Nor  does 
the  recital  of  the  mere  incident  even  so  much  as 
hint  at  the  romantic  story  which  is  just  beneath 
the  surface.  Judge  Burke  and  his  associates 
had,  by  one  of  the  most  brilliant  feats  of  Ameri¬ 
can  finance,  bought  three  railroads  and  vast  coal 
properties  with  practically  no  capital  but  their 
courage.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  they  started  with 
about  $35,000  in  cash  and  in  a  few  brief  months 
had  financed  their  holdings  for  $14,000,000.  Such 
things  could  be  done  in  those  days  of  pioneering 
because  the  financial  tricks,  now  old,  were  new 
and  attractive. 

Col.  Rend  and  Judge  Burke,  both  brilliant 
fighting  Irishmen,  were  then  the  strongest  of 
opponents,  and  had  many  a  quarrel.  They  came 
to  an  open  rupture  when  this  coal  combination 
was  in  its  advanced  stages,  and  their  dispute 
was  due  to  be  settled  in  court.  Burke  stated 
his  case  to  court  and  jury  and  Rend  replied;  after 
that  lively  preliminary  when  the  quality  of  both 
minds  was  developed,  the  court  took  a  recess  for 
luncheon.  In  that  short  half  Lour,  the 
two  men  came  together.  In  the  end, 
it  was  agreed  that  two  such  men 
should  be  workiag  together  instead  of 
opposed  to  each  other.  After  that, 
the  Sunday  Creek  Coal  Company  took 
over  the  Rend  properties  and  they 
made  a  part  of  the  famous  Hocking 
Valley  collection. 

Col.  Rend  next  went  to  McDonald, 
\V.  Va.,  and  opened  the  Laurel  Hill 
mines — the  No.  One,  Two,  Three  and 
Four.  These  he  developed  until  they 
had  a  capacity  of  1,800  tons  per  day 
each.  While  he  was  running  these 
mines,  he  still  owned  a  dock  on  the 
upper  lakes  over  which  he  supplied 
coal  to  the  warring  tugboat  lines.  At 
that  time  the  fight  for  towing  business 
was  so  keen  that  the  fastest  tug  .got 
the  “tow.”  The  trig  captains,  who 
used  to  race  for  miles  to  get  a  short 
"tow,”  knowing  that  their  business  de¬ 
pended  on  their  speed,  bought  the  best 
coal  they  could  get.  The  Laurel  Hill 
was  the  product  which  seemed  to  suit 
them  best,  and  Col.  Rend  prospered. 
He  also  sold  his  coal  to  the  lake  ships. 

In  the  end,  he  sold  these  mines  to 
the  Pittsburgh  Coal  Company  when 
that  was  forced  about  1901. 

These  matters  show  the  business 
shrewdness  of  the  man,  but  they  do 
not  be.gin  to  hint  at  the  difficulties 
which  attended  the  opening  of  a  coal 
mine  in  the  mountain  districts  of 
West  Virginia.  The  niining  camps 
were  isolated  and  it  was  only  the 
roughest  sort  of  men  who  could  be  in¬ 
duced  to  go  there  to  work.  At  one 
time,  these  men  went  on  a  strike  and 
the  mining  camp  was  in  an  uproar.  To 
protect  his  property,  Col.  Rent  caused 
to  be  shipped  in  a  machine  .gun  and 
some  men  to  man  it.  He  himself  was 
on  duty.  They  heard  one  morning  that 
the  mine  was  going  to  be  attacked  by 
a  mob  that  night.  Accordingly,  the  de¬ 
fenders  of  the  property  took  a  position 
in  a  commanding  ravine  and  mounted 


451 


No.  23] 


the  machine,  gun  ready  for  action.  The  miners, 
expectiag  to  take  the  camp  by  surprise,  were  sur¬ 
prised  in  return,  and  the  strike  was  broken. 

After  these  mines  with  their  interesting  his¬ 
tory  had  been  sold  to  the  Pittsburgh  Coal  Com¬ 
pany,  Col.  Rend  went  farther  back  into  West 
Virginia  and  opened  five  mines  on  Arbuckle  Creek 
at  Thurmond.  There  he  was  working  the  Fire 
Creek  and  the  Sewell  seams,  both  known  now  as 
the  real  New  River  coals.  When  he  had  devel¬ 
oped  these  properties  to  full  capacity,  he  sold 
them  to  the  Berwind  White  Coal  Mining  Com¬ 
pany. 

VVhile  these  mines  were  still  in  operation,  he 
opened  the  Dugger  mine  in  Indiana,  from  which 
he  produced  the  Peacock  coal  that  was  made 
famous  by  his  selling  methods. 

In  1907,  he  opened  the  mines  in  Franklin  coun¬ 
ty,  where  he  had,  at  the  time  of  his  death,  the 
Number  One  and  the  Number  Two.  It  was 
one  of  his  great  dreams,  when  he  opened  that 
coal,  that  one  day  he  would  find  a  method  for 
coking  this  western  coal.  He  hoped  that  he 
would  be  first  to  offer  a  domestic  fuel  that  would 
satisfy  the  western  trade  as  to  smokelessness 
and  also  a  by-product  of  gas  to  meet  the  growing 
needs  of  the  western  cities.  He  never  realized 
that  ambition,  but  he  came  as  near  to  it  as  any 
man  can.  He  was  at  the  office  for  the  last 
time  on  Saturday  of  last  week.  On  that  day, 
the  news  went  round  Chicago  that  a  contract 
had  just  been  signed  for  the  building  of  a  battery 
of  ovens  of  a  new  style  at  St.  Louis.  These 
ovens  are  to  make  coke  of  Franklin  county  coal. 

At  the  time  of  his  death.  Col.  Rend  was  also 
operating  a  mine  near  New  Lexington,  Ohio,  on 
the  Cincinnati  &  Muskingum  Valley  Railroad. 

When  the  last  wage  conference  between  the 
miners  and  operators  was  held,  almost  two  years 
ago,  Col.  Rend  attended  some  of  the  meetings 
held  at  the  Great  Northern  Hotel.  He  was  speak- 


While  the  eastern  states  are  embroiled  in  a 
triangular  rate  dispute,  Illinois  and  Indiana  are 
confronted  by  a  situation  which  may  drive  them 
to  take  action  at  any  minute.  Their  situation 
may  be  condensed  as  follows : 

“The  Twin  Cities  (with  a  population  grown 
from  366,350  in  1900  to  580,232  in  1914)  offers 
the  largest  market  for  coal  west  of  Chicago,  while 
the  recent  extensive  development  of  the  cement, 
brick,  tile,  gas,  public  utilities,  and  other  manu- 
facturin.g  enterprises,  all  substantial  users  of  coal, 
has  brought  about  intense  competition  directly 
with  eastern  coal  moving  from  the  docks  at  the 
head  of  the  lakes. 

“After  various  periods  of  rate  war  (from  1896 
to  1904),  between  the  lines  serving  the  docks  at 
the  head  of  the  lakes  and  the  carriers  handling 
northern  Illinois  coal,  a  basic  adjustment  was 
finally  reached  (August,  1904),  naming  a  ninety- 
cent  rate  from  Duluth  and  $1.40  from  Illinois 
mines  and  all  south  lake  ports  to  the  Twin  Cities 
— all  intermediate  rates  being  predicated  on  such 
arraagement.  This  rate  status  prevailed  uninter¬ 
ruptedly  and  with  apparent  satisfaction  to  all 
parties  at  interest  for  ten  years,  when  in  Decem¬ 
ber,  1914,  the  northern  Illinois  and  lower  lake 
port  rates  were  advanced  to  $1.50,  while  the  Du¬ 
luth-Twin  Cities  rate  was  advanced  only  to 
ninety-six  cents. 

“The  present  effective  tariffs  (since  October 
1st,  1915)  carry  still  an  additional  ten-cent  ad¬ 
vance  from  northern  Illinois  mines  and  lower  lake 
port — with  no  change  zvhatcvcr  in  the  Duluth- 
Twin  Cities  rate,  which  remains  ninety-six  cents, 
regardless  of  the  thoroughly  understood  assur¬ 
ance  of  the  carriers  that  no  discrimination  against 
Illinois  coal  was  contemplated  or  would  be  per¬ 
mitted  in  their  effort  to  secure  additional  revenue 
on  coal. 

“The  maximum  concession  suggested  for  the 
new  tariffs,  now  being  prepared  presumably  in 
response  to  the  insistent  demand  of  the  Illinois 
operators  for  fair  treatment — contemplates  the 
re-establishment  on  fine  coal  only  of  rates  equal¬ 
ing  those  (on  all  sizes  of  coal)  moving  from  the 
docks  at  Duluth  and  Superior  to  common  north¬ 
west  destination.  The  volume  of  the  so-called 
major  (Lump,  Egg,  and  No.  1  Nut)  sizes  of  Illi¬ 
nois  coal,  shipped  to  these  same  Northwest  points, 
is  from  five  to  eight  times  the  volume  of  fine 
coal  that  it  is  proposed  to  protect  with  the  lower 
rate.  The  size  coal  from  Illinois  must  bear  the 
full  burden  of  two  discriminatory  advances  in 
rate  within  less  than  five  years.  It  would  seem 
apparent,  therefore,  that  the  Illinois  Coal  Oper¬ 
ators  cannot  permit  such  neglect  of  their  rights 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


ing  then  of  an  incident  concerning  which  very 
few  knew.  His  reminiscences  revealed  the  fact 
that  he  arranged  for  the  first  joint  conference 
ever  held  between  miners  and  operators.  This 
first  meeting  was  held  in  Chicago.  Prior  to  that 
time,  the  individual  operators  had  made  con¬ 
tracts  with  their  own  men.  These  expired  at  dif¬ 
ferent  times  and  were  not  lived  up  to.  The 
situation  was  semi-organized  chaos.  Mike  Ratch- 
ford  was  then  the  head  of  what  there  was  of 
the  miners’  union.  He  traveled  to  Chicago  to 
talk  over  the  situation  and  suggested  that  the 
miners  and  operators  should  get  together  and 
put  an  end  to  mining  irregularities.  He  appealed 
to  Col.  Rend,  who  undertook  to  arrange  a  meet¬ 
ing  of  the  mine  owners,  calling  in  Col.  Sweet, 
Major  Lemmon,  Walter  S.  Bogle  and  a  few 
others.  Out  of  this  meeting  grew  the  joint  con¬ 
ference  which  has  become  such  a  factor  in  coal 
trade  affairs. 

This,  then,  was  the  record  of  his  life.  He  saw 
Chicago  develop  from  a  village  into  the  second 
city  of  the  nation.  He  saw  the  coal  trade  de¬ 
velop  from  an  industry  where  the  best  handling 
equipment  was  a  wheelbarrow  to  a  point  where 
a  western  coal  is  to  be  coked  as  a  domestic  fuel 
while  the  by-products  will  go  to  support  a  larger 
industry  for  the  nation.  He  saw  the  railroads 
grow  from  practically  nothing  to  the  greatest 
system  of  transportation  in  the  world.  Of  all  this 
he  was  a  part  and  with  it  he  had  as  much  to  do 
as  any  other  man. 

And  all  the  while  he  was  not  merely  a  “grind¬ 
ing  business  man.’’  He  made  money,  to  be  sure, 
but  at  home  he  was  a  cultured  gentleman,  spend¬ 
ing  his  evenings  with  his  violin,  which  he  played 
exquisitely,  or  reading  the  classic  literature  in 
the  original  Greek  and  Latin.  At  other  times  he 
was  a  philanthropist,  doing  his  charities  modest¬ 
ly.  He  was  a  faithful  churchman  of  the  Catholic 
persuasion.  His  funeral  was  from  Mount  Carmel 
Church  on  Thursday  morning. 


to  go  unchallenged  nor  omit  demand  that  they  be 
fairly  and  fully  protected  in  their  equal  enjoy¬ 
ment  of  the  markets  in  territory  that  logically 
are  their  own. 

“That  the  Duluth-Twin  Cities  rate  is  purely 
local  and  under  the  sole  domain  of  the  Minnesota 
Railroad  Commission  and  cannot  by  order  of  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission,  after  full  in¬ 
vestigation,  be  made  a  proportional  rate — predi¬ 
cated  on  a  three  party  movement  from  eastern 
mines,  via  rail,  boat  and  again  rail  (all  interstate) 
to  destination — is  a  matter  that  must  be  promptly 
— once  and  for  all — determined,  if  Illinois  is  not 
supinely  to  acknowledge  the  perennial  domination 
of  the  most  attractive  markets  of  the  Northwest 
by  eastern  coal,  moving,  wholly  illogically  from  a 
conservation  of  proper  economic  standpoint,  over 
a  1,500  mile  route  at  almost  an  equal  transporta¬ 
tion  cost  as  compared  with  Illinois  coal  origin¬ 
ating  within  400-700  miles  and  moving  all  rail. 

“The  recent  striking  growth  of  coal  produc¬ 
tion  in  these  eastern  coal  fields  (a  substantial  por¬ 
tion  of  which  coal  is  produced  by  non-union 
labor)  and  this  early  repetition  of  discriminatory 
freight  rate  advance  on  Illinois  coal  indicates  the 
peril  of  the  industry  in  Illinois  and  makes  its 
operators  naturally  apprehensive  of  this  competi¬ 
tion  from  the  docks,  which  now  pours  thirteen  to 
fifteen  million  tons  of  coal  into  this  northwestern 
section  each  year  via  the  lakes,  all  rail  and  car 
ferry.  To  see  a  territory  in  which  Illinois  mine 
owners  have,  after  years  of  effort  and  at  great 
cost,  built  up  a  market,  ruthlessly  closed  to  their 
product  is  a  warrantable  occasion  for  anxiety 
and  concern.” 


Cross-Eyed  Arbitration. 


In  the  southwest,  the  question  has  been  raised 
as  to  what  sort  of  evicjence  is  required  to  prove 
a  violation  of  section  four  of  the  wage  agree¬ 
ment.  This  is  the  clause  which  says  that  an 
operator  may  not  discharge  a  man  because  of  his 
affiliation  with  the  union  or  his  activity  in  union 
affairs. 

The  case  in  question  arose  because,  on  Novem 
ber  25,  1914,  Mike  Broshears,  member  of  the 
miners’  union,  applied  to  the  Deimer  Coal  Com¬ 
pany  for  a  position  as  shot  firer  or  in  some  other 
capacity.  He  was  refused  employment.  The  min¬ 
ers’  union  declares  that  it  was  because  he  was  a 
member  of  that  organization  and  active  in  its 
affairs.  The  coal  operator  gave  no  reason.  They 
contend  they  were  not  discriminating  because  they 
have  no  objection  to  any  member  of  the  union. 


as  is  evidenced  by  the  fact  that  all  of  the  men 
in  their  employ  are  union  members. 

The  case  was  heard  by  Judge  J.  H.  Evans  of 
Booneville,  Ark.  Among  other  things,  he  says: 

“There  is  nothing  in  the  testimony  which  sug¬ 
gests  that  the  refusal  to  employ  Mike  Broshears 
was  on  account  of  any  personal  prejudice  against 
him,  and  it  remains  to  be  determined  whether 
the  proof  satisfactorily  establishes  that  the  re¬ 
fusal  to  employ  Mike  Broshears  was  because  of 
his  affiliation  with  the  U.  M.  W.  of  A. 

“The  proof  is  short  and  simple,  and  there  is 
no  witness  who  declares,  and  there  is  no  direct 
proof  in  the  record,  that  Broshears  was  active  in 
matters  affecting  the  organization.” 

Thus  having  declared  that  there  was  no  evi¬ 
dence  in  support  of  the  claim.  Judge  Evans  pro¬ 
ceeds  to  say  that  he  doesn’t  consider  direct  and 
positive  proof  absolutely  essential.  He  merely 
says  that  he  got  “an  impression”  from  the  argu¬ 
ment  and  otherwise  that  the  section  in  question 
was  violated.  On  that  “impression,”  he  grants 
Broshears  reinstatement  and  also  compensation 
of  $3.34  a  day  “from  November  27,  1914,  until 
the  final  decision  in  this  case  and  until  Broshears 
is  again  employed.” 

Colorado  Coal  Merger. 

Denver,  December  2. — A  merger  of  nearly  all 
the  coal  mines  in  Colorado  excepting  those  owned 
by  the  Colorado  Fuel  &  Iron  Company,  with  a 
capitalization  of  $25,000,000,  has  been  arranged 
through  the  efforts  of  Charles  T.  Brown  of  the 
New  York  banking  house  of  Henry  L.  Doherty 
&  Co. 

A  tentative  plan  was  submitted  to  all  the  oper¬ 
ators  by  Mr.  Brown  several  weeks  ago,  and  he 
says  the  merger  is  practically  assured.  He  told 
the  operators  that  the  annual  business  of  the 
merged  company  would  approximate  6,000,000  tons 
and  that  the  earnings,  exclusive  of  interest  on  the 
bonds  of  the  underlying  companies,  but  including 
all  other  charges,  would  be  at  least  fifty  cents  a 
ton.  Lost  territory  for  sales  in  Kansas  and  Ne¬ 
braska,  it  is  believed,  can  be  recovered  and  an¬ 
other  1,000,000  tons  sold. 

Forty-one  companies,  with  a  total  issued  capi¬ 
tal  of  $28,238,000  and  a  total  bonded  indebtedness 
of  $17,000,000,  are  included  in  the  merger.  These 
companies  own  92,000  acres  of  land,  lease  24,000 
more  and  operate  seventy-three  mines.  They  have 
machinery  and  equipment  valued  at  $9,600,000. 
The  annual  production,  as  in  1914,  is  5,085,008 
tons. - 

Bituminous  Prices  Soar. 


New  York,  December  3. — (Special  Telegram.) 
— Bituminous  coal  is  selling  in  the  Pennsyl¬ 
vania  regions  at  two  dollars  a  ton  at  the  mines. 
Sales  were  numerous  at  this  price  today  and 
predictions  are  that  next  week  will  see  prices 
much  higher.  New  England  buyers  are  in  the 
fields  and  this  has  given  quite  a  stimulus  to 
trade. 

While  southern  coals  are  easy  at  Hampton 
Roads,  transportation  cannot  be  secured  for 
them  to  New  England  points.  Practically 
every  schooner  that  can  stand  insurance  tests 
is  going  off  shore.  Rates  from  New  York  to 
Sound  points  have  advanced  radically,  one 
dollar  being  paid  to  Providence  from  the 
southern  ports;  one  dollar  and  fifty  cents  was 
paid  to  Boston. 

Coastwise  Coal  Rates  Soar. 

As  indicating  the  shortage  of  vessels  for 
coastwise  coal  carrying,  a  charter  was  fixed  on 
Tuesday  for  several  barges  from  Hampton 
Roads  to  Boston  at  $1.50.  Practically  no  large 
schooners  are  now  available,  those  offering 
for  charter  being  mostly  from  300  to  700  tons. 

Sound  rates  have  also  taken  a  rapid  advance, 
as  witness  the  fi.xing  of  a  boat  from  New 
York  to  Providence  at  $1. 

Coal  Trade  in  Spain. 

The  American  consul  at  Jerez  de  la  Frontera, 
Spain,  under  date  of  October  5th,  writes  The 
Bl.\ck  Diamond  of  the  coal  situation  there  as 
follows : 

“Jerez  de  la  Frontera  is  not  a  wholesale  point 
in  this  commodity,  receiving  its  supplies  from 
Cadiz  and  Seveille,  and,  there  being  no  manu¬ 
facturing  industries,  aside  from  the  making  of 
wine,  the  consumption  is  small.  The  annual  con¬ 
sumption  of  the  Province  of  Cadiz  is  65,000  long 
tons  of  English  and  35,000  of  domestic,  of  which 
Jerez  takes  6,000  tons  of  the  imported  stock.  The 
.gas  plant,  which  is  the  largest  local  consumer, 
is  a  branch  of  the  Compania  Madrilena  de  Alum- 
brado  y  Calefaccion  por  Gas,  of  Madrid,  where 
all  contracts  for  supplies  are  made,” 


The  Illinois  Rate  Situation  in  a  Nutshell. 


452 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[Deceml)er  4 


Window  Displays  in  Dull  Seasons. 

In  a  middle  western  city  is  a  coal  retailer  who 
has  an  exceptionally  .good  show  window.  It  is 
most  effectively  decorated  at  this  time,  with  lay¬ 
outs  of  the  various  coals  handled,  price  tags, 
and  a  little  literature — of  the  right  kind,  etc., 
while  on  the  other  side  of  the  entrance  is  a 
rousing  electric-fan-red-tissue-pai>er  fire.  The 
window  pleases  those  who  pass.  It  is  attractive 
and  suggestive  and  as  it  ought  to  be. 

Hut  during  the  lon.g  warm  weeks  of  the  early 
fall  those  windows  were  sorry  looking  places. 
Of  course  the  dealer  was  selling  very  little  coal. 
Nobody  was  thinking  about  coal.  The  very  time 
to  call  attention  to  coal  by  an  appropriate  win¬ 
dow  display.  Instead  these  windows  with  the  re¬ 
mains  of  former  displays,  bedraggled  streamers 
of  red  crepe  paper,  and  forlorn,  dust  covered 
heaps  of  coal  in  the  middle  of  the  floors,  re¬ 
minded  passers-by  of  nothing  so  much  as  an 
almost  empty  summertime  coal  shed.  They  ex¬ 
erted  no  pullin.g  power  at  all.  Hut  when  the  cold 
weather  came  and  forced  customers  to  the  office 
or  to  their  telephones,  then  the  window  man  sum¬ 
moned  the  courage  and  enterprise  to  dress  up 
his  window — at  a  time  when  he  did  not  need  a 
window  display. 

He  neglected  an  obvious  and  an  available  asset 
at  the  time  when  whatever  help  it  gave  the 
salesmen  would  have  been  very  much  appre¬ 
ciated.  Anything  would  have  been  better  than 
the  feeble  showing  he  made.  A  window  washer 
and  a  janitor  with  a  broom  and  mop  would  have 
recommended  the  business  more  than  the  lament¬ 
able  windows  which  were  permitted  to  remain. 
Even  a  placard  with  some  punk  pun  like  “'It’s 
hot  now  hut  you  won’t  need  to  sweat  as  hard 
if  you  see  to  it  that  you  are  coaled  against  the 
winter.”  The  time  to  boost  sales  by  window 
displays  is  when  sales  need  boosting. 


Why  Not  Do  Your  Coal  Buying  Early? 

For  the  last  few  weeks,  a  .great  deal  of  space 
has  been  used  up  by  the  newspapers  in  advocating 
the  merits  of  the  movement,  "Do  your  Christmas 
shopping  early.”  I'here  are  many  grounds  put 
forth  as  reasons  for  provident  purchasing  and 
one  on  which  a  considerable  part  of  the  stress 
is  laid  is  that  belated  shopping  is  awfully  hard 
on  the  sales  forces  in  the  stores.  Nobody  knows 
better  than  the  retail  coal  dealer  that  belated 
purchasers  of  coal  work  severe  hardships  on  his 
mules  and  horses  and  his  drivers.  Let  a  sudden 
blizzard  develop  anywhere  in  the  country.  The 
next  mornin.g  about  all  the  traffic  you  sec  on 
the  streets  is  composed  of  coal  wagons,  drivers 
bundled  in  lots  of  old  clothes,  mules  or  horses 
sweatin.g  but  with  icicles  hanging  from  the  long 
P;,;,..  nostrils.  Each  of  these  drivers 

is  out  in  response  to  insistent  demands  on  the 
l)art  of  some  consumer.  His  alternate  exertion 
in  unloading  and  the  drive  to  the  yards  again 
with  clothing  freezing  on  him  is  real  cruelty. 
And  the  S.  P.  C.  A.  enthusiasts  are  busy  at  their 
windows,  ready  to  jump  on  the  miserable  driver 
and  his  ‘‘abused"  team  at  tlie  slightest  oppor¬ 
tunity.  Why  not  cite  this  set  of  circumstances 
as  a  good  enough  reason  to  ‘‘Do  your  coal  buy- 
in.g  early?”  ,A  suggestion  to  the  effect  that  the 
various  humane  society  organizations  get  behind 
some  such  movement  ought  to  get  their  support 
and  through  them  get  inexpensive  publicity.  The 
coal  trade  man  likes  to  send  his  teams  and  his 
men  out  in  severe  weather  no  better  than  they 
like  to  go.  A’et  ])rocrastinatin,g  coal  purchasers 
make  it  necessary  to  do  so  and  there  are  a  lot 
of  i)eople  who  do  not  reason  but  who  see  an 


outlit  with  the  dealer’s  name  on  the  wagon  and 
a  horse  with  balls  of  snow  and  ice  under  his 
hoofs  floundering  about  in  the  drifts  and  con¬ 
clude  that  this  dealer  is  ‘‘mean  to  his  horses.” 
Then  they  go  and  call  out  some  other  dealer’s 
horses  on  the  same  kind  of  a  day. 


Grate  Fires  as  Schools  for  Consumers. 

Coal  is  coal  to  the  average  householder,  one 
kind  merely  more  expensive  than  another,  except 
to  those  householders  who  have  open  fireplaces 
in  their  homes  and  who  see  the  coal  burn.  In¬ 
telligent  buyers,  those  who  can  he  convinced  of 
the  superior  merits  of  superior  coal,  are  usually 
those  who  have  seen  it  burn.  Talk  to  a  man  or 
a  woman,  whose  only  knowled.ge  of  coal  is  that 
it  is  shoveled  into  a  furnace,  about  the  combus¬ 
tion  of  one  kind  of  coal  compared  with  that  of 
another  and  you  make  no  impression,  d'alk  to 
those  who  have  all  their  lives  lifted  lumps  of 
coal  from  the  scuttles  beside  their  open  fires 
and  dropped  them  on  the  coals  and  you  are  going 
to  get  somewhere. 

In  a  certain  town  where  the  smoke  evil  has 
been  getting  a  lot  of  attention  a  greater  degree 
of  co-operation  was  obtained,  it  was  noted,  from 
those  householders  who  heated  their  cottage 
homes  with  open  fires  than  from  the  people  who 
depended  upon  furnaces.  The  open  fire  is  a 
good  thing  from  the  coal  man’s  point  of  view 
and  deserves  his  support.  Whatever  the  future 
of  the  means  by  which  homes  are  heated — and 
the  trend  is  certainly  in  the  direction  of  the 
central  heating  plants — the  home  maker  will  want 
an  open  fire  on  his  hearth.  The  fireplace  is  con¬ 
tinually  doing  the  coal  man  a  good  turn  and 
he  can  well  afford  to  do  what  he  can  to  cn- 
coura.ge  it. 


Lift  the  Shadow  From  Your  Coal. 

Most  of  the 'people  who  are  buying  coal  today 
read  in  their  geographies,  when  they  were  in  the 
grade  schools,  of  the  deplorable  conditions  under 
which  coal  is  mined.  They  were  hound  to  take 
for  granted  what  they  read  about  the  poor,  ig¬ 
norant,  miserable  miner,  the  unfortunate  and 
ground-down  breaker  boys  who  simply  did  not 
have  a  chance,  and  lurkin.g  back  in  their  minds 
is  such  a  thought  whenever  they  give  the  sub¬ 
ject  of  coal  any  special  consideration.  People 
who  are  up  with  the  times  at  all  know  in  a 
general  way  that  conditions  have  improved,  that 
machinery  is  lifting  a  good  deal  of  the  onus, 
that  the  child  labor  laws  are  freeing  the  children 
from  serfdom,  etc.,  but  there  is  always  a  more 
or  less  distinct  impression  of  misery  which  has 
l)een  undergone  before  that  coal  was  put  on 
the  market. 

Now  the  coal  man  knows  that  such  circum¬ 
stances  are  exceedin.gly  rare;  that  conditions 
under  which  the  coal  miners  work  are  as  good 
or  better  than  those  prevailing  in  many  other 
industries.  Pictures  are  usually  available  of 
the  mining  operations  and  mining  towns  where 
the  coal  handled  is  produced.  'These  would  serve 
to  dispell  this  lurking  delusion  and  would  cer¬ 
tainly  he  an  influence  in  favor  of  the  dealer  who 
made  use  of  them,  together  with  a  story  of  the 
mine  and  surroundings.  At  least  they  would 
.go  a  long  ways  toward  establishing  good  will 
and  this  is  a  matter  which  every  l)usiness  man 
wants  for  his  business. 

Mining  Law  Convention. 

It  is  announced  by  the  United  States  Hureau  of 
Mines  that: 

‘‘.\  convention  that  will  act  on  recommenda¬ 


tions  regarding  a  general  revision  of  the  Federal 
mining  laws  will  meet  in  Washington,  1).  C.,  on 
Dec.  I().  All  the  known  mining  societies  in  the 
United  States  have  been  invited  to  send  dele¬ 
gates,  and  it  is  hoped  that  the  mining  industry 
will  be  so  well  represented  that  the  action  of  the 
convention  will  he  regarded  as  expressing  the 
wishes  of  the  industry. 

“Some  of  the  resolutions  that  will  come  before 
the  convention  will  recommend  the  fixing  of  a 
reasonable  term  of  years  beyond  which  placer 
claims  shall  be  immune  from  attack  on  the  ground 
of  fraud,  full  privilege  of  appeal  in  all  cases  of 
contests  over  locations,  recording  of  notices  of 
mining  locations  so  as  to  insure  public  notice,  the 
abolishment  of  the  law  of  the  apex,  and  the  ap¬ 
pointment  of  a  government  commission,  under  an 
act  of  Congress,  to  investigate  and  to  make  rec¬ 
ommendations  as  a  basis  for  the  revision  of  the 
mining  law.” 


An  Ad  Criticism. 


A  certain  retail  coal  company  sends  the  ad¬ 
vertisement  shown  herewith  to  the  Ad  Critic, 
hut  asks  that  the  name  be  omitted  for  reasons 
known  to  them. 

From  a  layout  or  type  arrangement  standpoint 
the  advertisement  seems  to  be  a  trifle  crowded 
and  is  confusing  to  the  reader.  The  general  ap¬ 
pearance  of  the  advertisement  catches  the  eye 
without  making  any  one  impression  upon  the 
reader.  The  Ad  Critic  suggests  leaving  out  the 
illustration  in  the  left  hand  corner  and  puttiag 
the  catch  line,  “Don’t  Let  Old  Crimp  Catch  You 
Napping,”  in  the  center. 

We  have  never  heard  of  winter  being  called 
“Old  Crimp,”  however  it  may  be  a  common  name 


Don’t  Let 

'OLD  CRIMP” 

CATCH  YOU  NAPPING 

THE  COLD  WINTER  DAYS  WILL  SOON  BE 
HERE. 


NOW 

Is  the  Time  to  Order  Youi 
Whiter 

COAL  SUPPLY 

—when  DELIVERIES  AtiE  PROMPT.  Don  : 
w>'>t  tiniil^the  l.is(  minute,  untjl  real  win¬ 
ter  weather  sets  ni.  when  ihe  sir'eets  are  filled 
with  snow,  when  deliveries  are  uncertain. 

Place  your  iiijers  NOW  and  wUh  uw- you 
will  be  safe  OUR  COAL  NEVER  DISAP¬ 
POINTS— that’s  because  .fs  THOROUGH¬ 
LY  SCREENED,  free  from  stale  and  dirt.”  it's 
all  coal — gel  the  best — 

’Phone  Us  Your  Order  Today 

*  AtnrSRTISSR'S  NAUR  OtfITTSD 


Don’t  Toke  •  Ch*nce  on  Coal 
You  Know  Nothing  About. 


For  Fumades  Our  Coal 
positively  .cannot  be  excelled 
by  any  one — for  it  is  o^lcd 
for  more  heat  and  less  clmk- 
ers.  So  what  more  do  you 
want — Then,  loo,  our  guar¬ 
antee  stands  bade  -oi  every 
load  of  Coal  we  sftl.  ’* 


AS  PSR  ASQUBST. 


The  “Old  Crimp”  Advertisement. 


in  the  section  of  the  country  in  which  this  com¬ 
pany  is  located,  and  if  so  the  use  of  the  name 
in  connection  with  the  advertisement  is  good. 

With  the  catch  line  in  the  center,  we  would 
not  suggest  any  change  in  the  arrangement  of  the 
rest  of  the  type  matter  or  the  illustration  to  the 
ri.ght  of  it.  We  like  the  idea  of  the  helpful  hint 
to  users  of  coal  for  furnaces  given  in  the  illus¬ 
tration,  and  were  we  writing  the  advertisements 
we  would  give  such  a  hint  in  every  one  of  the 
ads — say  a  hint  to  housewives  on  cooking  coal ; 
to  users  of  coal  for  heating  stoves,  and  others 
with  appropriate  illustrations. 

The  argument  presented  is  good.  It  is  ri.ght 
from  the  shoulder  and  is  stated  in  a  business¬ 
like  manner.  It  is  logical  and  in  logical  order. 


Joseph  J.  Kean,  president  of  the  Freesport  Coal 
Company,  has  organized  the  West  Side  Coal 
Company  in  Detroit  to  operate  retail  coal  yards. 
The  former  yard  of  the  Contractors’  Supply 
Company,  on  Woodland  avenue  and  the  Grand 
Trunk  railroad,  has  been  taken  over  and  is  be¬ 
ing  operated  under  the  name  of  the  Contractors’ 
Fuel  &  Supply  Company.  A  second  yard  has 
been  opened  on  Dragoon  avenue  and  the  Wabash 
railroad,  and  a  third  is  being  prepared  on  Ferdi¬ 
nand  avenue  and  the  Wabash.  Mr.  Kean  is  presi¬ 
dent  of  the  West  Side  Coal  Company;  R.  H. 
Dewey,  vice-president;  M.  L.  Kean,  secretary  and 
treasurer,  and  C.  A.  Slater,  a  member  of  the 
board  of  directors. 


No.  23] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


453 


Avoiding  Mine  Suspensions. 


At  the  San  Francisco  meeting  of  the  American 
Mining  Congress  a  resolution  was  passed  to  the 
effect  that  the  congress  shouTd  use  its  influence 
to  try,  in  some  way,  to  avoid  a  suspension  of 
the  mines  as  a  result  of  negotiations  on  the  wage 
question  this  coming  sprin.g.  The  belief  among 
coal  mine  operators  is  that  this  is  a  prolific 
source  of  trouble  to  the  coal  mines. 

As  Carl  Scholz,  president  of  the  congress,  put 
it,  the  present  situation  results  in  the  spasmodic 
operations  with  driving  of  the  output  to  the 
maximum  one  month,  only  to  allow  the  mines 
to  lie  idle  the  next  month.  He  considers  this 
as  distinctly  to  the  detriment  of  both  the  oper¬ 
ator  and  the  miner.  It  makes  hard  work  for  the 
miner  one  month  and  causes  him  to  lie  idle 
the  next.  It  raises  a  small  percentage  of  coal 
prices  one  month  only  to  have  a  small  volume 
of  coal  or  none  at  all  sold  the  next  month.  This 
causes  a  user  of  coal  to  create  storage  facilities 
and  storage  piles  perhaps  at  an  increased  price 
and  thus  influences  the  average  price  that  is  paid 
for  coal  durin.g  the  year.  The  system,  it  is 
generally  believed,  does  no  one  any  good,  but 
all  concerned  a  lot  of  harm. 

The  matter  has  been  discussed  l)y  the  officials 
of  the  mining  congress  with  officials  of  the 
various  coal  operating  associations.  They  all 
think  the  aim  is  good.  Every  coal  operator  wants 
to  get  away  from  these  periodical  suspensions. 

As  to  whether  the  mining  congress  should  in¬ 
terfere  in  matters  of  this  kind,  opinion  differs. 
The  better  class  of  coal  operators  do  not  believe 
this  comes  within  the  province  of  the  congress. 

Most  all  of  the  operators,  while  endorsing  the 
plan,  raise  the  question ;  How  can  it  l)e  made 
possible?  Secretary  Callbreath,  who,  perhaps, 
is  responsible  for  the  movement,  suggests  about 
the  only  practical  way  right  now.  He  suggested 
that  ne.gotiations  should  be  started  early.  That  is, 
he  believes,  the  miners  and  operators  should  get 
together  about  the  first  week  in  January.  lie 
thinks  that  between  that  time  and  the  first  of 
April  there  is  plenty  of  opportunity  for  the  two 
sides  to  discuss  all  the  questions  involved  in  an 
ordinary  labor  dispute.  He  believes  that  if  the 
issue  were  clearly  drawn  before  the  middle  of 
January  the  ^machinery  of  the  government,  of 
the  coal  operating  associations,  and  the  miners 
union  could  be  used  to  straighten  out  any  tangles 
before  the  first  of  April  and  thus  get  an  agree¬ 
ment  without  a  strike. 

To  this  plan  there  is  raised  this  one  objec¬ 
tion.  The  forehanded  consumers  of  coal  usually 
begin  to  create  their  storage  piles  about  the  mid¬ 
dle  of  December.  Some  few  begin  as  early  as 
the  first  of  December.  By  that  time  they  have 
arranged  for  storage  space  and  have  set  aside 
the  money  to  pay  for  the  coal.  Therefore  they 
have  mapped  out  their  program.  To  be.gin  dis¬ 
cussing  the  labor  question  after  that  does  not 
prevent  storage  of  coal  which  is  the  main  pur¬ 
pose  of  the  movement. 

It  is  getting  to  be,  for  various  reason,  too 
lata  this  year  to  handle  this  matter  in  such  a 
way  as  to  avoid  the  stora.ge  of  coal.  The  miners 
union  is  committed  to  the  plan  of  continuing 
work  duriag  negotiations,  but  this  is  clearly  a 
palliative  and  no  solution  of  the  question.  If 
the  consumer  went  ahead  on  the  general  assump¬ 
tion  that  the  miners  were  going  to  continue  work 
there  would  be  no  assurance  that  a  strike  would 
not  be  called  if  the  two  sides  could  not  agree. 
Thus  the  consumer  might  be  lulled  into  a  sense 
of  security  only  to  have  the  mines  shut  down 
and  his  supply  cut  off  when  his  bins  were  bare. 
Plainly,  then,  the  consumer  cannot  rely  upon  an 
amiable  policy  on  the  part  of  the  union. 

That  the  larger  consumers  take  this  view  of 
the  matter  is  indicated  by  the  fact  that  some  of 
the  railroads  already  are  beginnin.g  to  store  coal 
and  the  other  railroads  say  that  they  will  within 
a  very  short  time. 

In  fact,  the  storage  movement  will  be  in  full 
swing  within  the  next  few  weeks.  Following 
that  will  come  the  public  utilities  comi)any  and 
other  large  concerns  which  will  start  storing 
their  coal  by  the  middle  of  December  and  will 
continue  during  January,  February  and  March. 

It  has  been  su.ggested,  and  the  suggestion  seems 
sound  and  good,  that  at  the  forthcoming  con¬ 
ference  between  the  operators  and  miners  definite 
agreement  should  be  reached  that,  six  months 
before  the  expiration  of  the  scale  now  agreed  upon, 
the  first  meeting  between  the  operators  and  the 
miners  to  negotiate  a  new  scale  shall  be  held. 
That  is.  it  has  been  sug.gested  that  the  first  meet¬ 
ing  be  held  in  the  first  week  of  October  preceding 
the  expiration  of  the  agreement.  That  will  give 
six  months  in  which  to  negotiate.  Discussion  will 
start  fully  three  months  ahead  of  the  time  when 


the  storage  movement  be;gins.  If  this  is  done,  it 
will  be  possible  for  buyers  to  determine  whether 
or  not  there  is  a  serious  likelihood  of  a  strike. 
1  f  there  is  no  danger  of  a  strike,  the  storage 
movement,  of  course,  would  be  killed.  If  there 
is  danger,  then  the  storing  of  coal  could  be  done 
with  confidence  and  according  to  a  more  or  less 
ilefinite  program. 


Wabash-Pittsburgh  Change. 


A  new  interest  has  been  created  in  the  Wabash- 
Pittsburgh  Terminal  Railroad  reorganization, 
which  is  of  interest  to  the  coal  trade,  due  to  the 
large  coal  land  holdings  of  these  interests  in  the 
Pittsburgh  region. 

Steps  have  recently  been  taken  by  Sutro  Broth¬ 
ers  &  Co.,  H.  P.  Goldschmidt  &  Co.,  and  other 
New  York  bankers  to  form  a  syndicate  to  under¬ 
write  the  assessments  on  the  first  mortgage  bonds 
of  the  company.  The  general  situation  is  now 
much  more  favorable  and  the  earnings  of  the 
property  are  increasing  rapidly. 

The  general  manager  of  the  company  says  that 
the  company’s  coal  business  could  not  be  more 
satisfactory,  both  as  to  prices  and  as  to  output, 
which  last  month  reached  .300,000  tons.  The 
company  further  is  in  a  fortunate  position  in 
not  having  tied  itself  up  with  contracts  at  former 
low  prices,  but  is  now  getting  the  benefit  of  cur¬ 
rent  high  prices,  which  arfe  around  $1.50  a  ton. 
Cost  of  production  has  reached  a  figure  as  low 
as  the  lowest  cost  operations  of  other  similarly 
situated  properties,  and  this,  together  with  the 
high  prices  being  obtained,  will  produce  satisfac¬ 
tory  earnings  in  the  immediate  future. 

Several  new  coal  operations  have  been  started 
along  the  Terminal  railway  lines.  The  ore  move¬ 
ment  is  showing  a  heavy  improvement  and  the 
Carnegie  Steel  Company,  which  has  always  had 
a  contract  with  the  Terminal  for  delivery  of 
traffic,  and  was  always  allowed  to  lie  dormant,  is 
again  turning  considerable  business  over  to  the 
Terminal  railway. 


Hocking  Valley  Rate  Hearing. 

(Concluded  from  page  446.) 
coal  prosperity  of  the  states  in  question  are  so 
largely  interested. 

Some  twenty  years  ago,  he  stated,  Pittsbur.gh, 
as  a  basing  point  with  a  $1.25  rate  to  Toledo,  con¬ 
ceded  the  justice  of  a  twenty-five  cents  per  ton 
in  favor  of  Ohio  coal  to  the  same  destination  over 
the  western  Pennsylvania  field.  A  similar  spirit 
of  justice  had  prompted  the  railroads  to  extend 
the  Pittsburgh  $1.25  rate  to  the  Fairmount,  Kan¬ 
awha  and  other  West  Virginia  fields.  Com¬ 
parative  length  of  haul  was  not  considered  so 
much  as  the  natural  outlet  for  the  coal,  although 
a  higher  rate  was  afterwards  established  for 
West  Vir.ginia  coal  coming  from  more  remote 
sections.  Mr.  Venning  also  urged  the  fairness  of 
the  Ohio  rate  into  Chicago,  as  compared  with 
$1.90  for  the  Pittsburgh  district  and  $2.05  for  cer¬ 
tain  West  Virginia  points.  The  force  of  his  testi¬ 
mony  was  that  further  reduction  in  the  Hocking 
Valley  rate  into  Toledo  would  disturb  the  present 
rate  relationship  in  all  four  of  the  states  consid¬ 
ered.  The  Pittsburgh  and  Fairmount  districts 
mi.ght  be  expected  to  enter  prompt  protest  should 
Hocking  coal  be  given  no  additional  advantages 
that  were  sought  through  this  hearing.  He 
claimed,  further,  that  the  several  groups  of  des¬ 
tination  points  would  lose  the  proper  relative  ad¬ 
justment  which  they  now  enjoyed  in  the  matter 
of  coal  rates,  and  injustice  would  be  done  to  cer¬ 
tain  industrial  centers.  In  the  witness’  opinion, 
the  ton-mile  basis  of  fixin,g  coal  rates  was  neither 
fair  nor  logical. 

11.  K.  Wasson,  general  freight  agent  of  the 
Hocking  Valley  Railway,  submitted  from  the 
stand  some  figures  having  to  do  with  the  road’s 
local  and  foreign  coal  revenues.  The  total  ton¬ 
nage  for  the  year  ending  June  30,  1914,  was  2,546,- 
119  tons,  representing  1,180,479,831  ton  miles.  The 
earnings  on  this  coal,  at  the  $1  Nelsonville-Toledo 
rate  then  in  force,  for  the  Ohio  portion  of  the 
tonnage,  was  $3,653,122.41.  Had  all  this  coal  been 
handled  at  the  rate  which  the  road  is  forced  to 
accept  foreign  coal  at  Armitage,  the  K.  &  M. 
jiinction  near  Nelsonvillc,  the  year’s  revenue 
would  have  been  reduced  to  $1,106,922.83,  brin.g- 
ing  receipts  down  to  something  like  $100,000  be¬ 
low  operating  e.xpenses.  The  rate  on  foreign  coal, 
amounting  to  two  and  one-half  mills  per  ton  mile, 
the  witness  stated,  while  not  compensatory  if 
applied  to  the  total  tonnage  of  the  road,  yielded 
a  small  revenue,  taking  in  connection  with  the 
earnings  from  Ohio  coal.  The  former  had  to  be 
taken  on  a  low'  competitive  basis,  in  order  to  .get 
the  business.  Practically  all  of  the  foreign  coal 


originated  on  the  Chesapeake  &  Ohio,  which  road 
fixed  the  through  rate.  The  division  rates  were 
agreed  upon  by  the  traffic  departments  of  the 
three  participating  lines — the  C.  &  O.,  K.  &  M., 
and  Hocking.  Mr.  Boyle,  of  counsel  for  the 
plaintiffs,  drew  out  the  admission  that  Mr. 
Stevens,  president,  and  Mr.  Capels,  vice-president, 
of  the  C.  &  O.,  also  filled  the  same  offices  in  the 
Hocking  Valley  organization,  and  commented  on 
the  apparent  inconsistency  of  their  coercing  the 
Hocking  Valley  into  a  competitive  status  with 
other  carriers.  Mr.  Wasson  insisted  that  the 
Hocking  was  not  played  a  favorite,  and  that  it 
was  receiving  only  about  half  the  tonnage  that 
might  be  .given  to  it  by  the  C.  &  O. 

F.  V.  Davis,  statistician  for  the  Ohio  Bureau  of 
Coal  Statistics,  was  examined  on  his  exhibit 
which  gave  the  movement  of  coal  originating  on 
the  Hocking  Valley  during  the  year  ending  June 
I,  1914.  The  tonnage  for  on-line  destination 
points  was  507,330  tons,  and  for  off-line  consign¬ 
ment  1,355,228,  making  a  total  of  2,868,191  tons 
from  mines  located  on  the  Hocking  Valley  lines. 
Of  this  597,189  tons  were  railroad  fuel  and  398,- 
444  lake  coal. 

It  is  understood  that  but  one  important  witness 
in  the  Hocking  Valley  Railway  defense  remains 
yet  to  be  heard,  and  that  is  Auditor  Hodgson. 
He  is  regarded  as  the  star  witness,  as  it  is  be¬ 
lieved  that  he  has  given  elaborate  preparation  to 
a  correction,  from  the  railroad  standpoint,  of  the 
exhibit  of  Mr.  Hillman,  chief  rate  expert  for  the 
plaintiff,  on  whose  compilations  the  whole  pro¬ 
ceedings  are  mainly  based,  showing  up  alleged 
errors  and  false  deductions. 

Counsel  Lewis,  of  the  Toledo  &  Ohio  Central, 
announced  Wednesday  evening,  that  in  view  of 
the  thoroughness  with  which  the  Hocking  had  gone 
over  the  .general  ground,  his  defense  would  not 
require  possibly  more  than  one  day.  From  pres¬ 
ent  view'point  it  looks  as  though  the  arguments 
on  the  rate  case  would  be  reached  by  the  middle 
of  next  week. 


Coal  Mining  Institute. 


The  Coal  [Mining  Institute  of  America  will  hold 
its  winter  meeting  at  the  Fort  Pitt  Hotel,  Pitts¬ 
burgh,  on  December  21  to  23.  The  following  is 
the  pro.gram ; 

FIRST  DAY.  TUESDAY,  DIX'EMBER  31. 

10  A.  M. — Business  session. 

1:30  P.  M. — Question  box. 

'Xo  What  Extent  Has  a  Machine  Been  Developed  for 
Mining  and  Loading  Coal?”  Leader,  S.  A.  Taylor,  W. 
A.  Weldin. 

”V\  hat  Part  Should  the  Gasoline  Locomotive  Take  in 
Mine  Haulage?”  Leader  to  be  provided. 

“Is  the  Purchase  of  Electric  Power  Advisable  for  Coal 
Mining  Oneratiois?”  Leader,  J.  E.  Jenks,  general  man¬ 
ager  VV.  Penn  Electric  Company. 

0:30  P.  M. — Institute  dinner. 

SPEAKERS. 

Sion  B.  Smith,  ‘‘The  Bearing  of  the  New  Compensa¬ 
tion  Act  on  the  Coal  Mining  Industry  of  Pennsylvania.” 

H.  B.  Mellor,  “Mining  Extension  Work  of  the  Uni¬ 
versity  of  Pittsburgh.” 

SECOND  DAY,  WEDNESDAY,  DECEMBER  22. 

10  A.  M. — “Concentrating  Methods  of  Mining  in  the 
T.ower  Connellsville  District,”  W.  H.  Howarth. 

“The  Use  of  Storage  Battery  Locomotives  in  Mines,” 
'  S.  B.  Belden. 

1:30  P.  M. — “Permissible  Explosives;  Their  Advan¬ 
tages,”  Joseph  Williams. 

“Their  Disadvantages,”  Joseph  Knapper. 

“.Mine  Gases,”  Edwin  M.  Chance. 

“A  New  Methane  Detector,”  G.  A.  Burrell. 

THIRD  D.4Y.  THURSDAY,  DECE.MBER  23. 

10^  A.  M. — “Welfare  Work  and  Its  Relation  to  Work¬ 
men’s  Compensation,”  J.  H.  W’hite.  Bureau  of  Mines. 

“Workmen’s  Compensation  and  Mine  Safety  With  Ref 
erence  to  Cost  of  Coal  Production,”  H.  M.  Wilson 
director  -Americ.'in  Mine  Safety  Association. 

General  discussion. 

Adjournment. 


The  Lehigh  and  Wilkes-Barre  Coal  Company 
with  offices  at  No.  143  Liberty  street.  New  York, 
has  issued  the  following  circular :  “The  Su¬ 
preme  Court  of  Pennsylvania,  on  October  28, 
1915,  declared  unconstitutional  the  act  of  June 
27,  1913,  imposin.g  a  tax  of  two  and  one-half 
per  cent  on  the  value  of  anthracite  coal  prepared 
for  market.  When  assured  by  the  commonwealth 
of  Pennsylvania  that  no  further  proceedings  will 
be  undertaken  to  enforce  payment  of  this  ta.x, 
the  amount  of  tax  collected  by  this  company, 
under  this  act,  will  be  refunded.  The  tax  now 
being  added  to  the  price  of  anthracite  coal  sold 
by  this  company  is  imposed  by  a  later  act  of 
the  legislature  of  Pennsylvania,  approved  June 
1,  1915,  which  supersedes,  as  of  that  date,  the 
act  recently  declared  unconstitutional.  'I'he  valid¬ 
ity  of  the  later  act  has  not  been  determined.” 


It  is  announced  that  the  Jeffrey  Manufacturing- 
Company  has  opened  a  new  branch  office  in  the 
M.  Ik.  M.  building  at  [Milwaukee,  Wisconsin.  The 
office  will  be  in  cliarge  of  Q.  Dufour,  who  is 
qualified  by  long  experience  and  training  to  solve 
elevating,  conveying  and  transmission  problems. 


454 


FUBIiISHED  EVEBT  SATUBDAT  BT  THE 
BEACH  EIAMOHE  COUPAmT. 

Subscription  price,  $3.00  per  year,  postage  prepaid,  to 
any  postoffice  m  the  United  _  States.  Foreign  subscrip¬ 
tion  price,  $5.00  per  year.  Single  copies,  20  cents. 
Entered  at  Chicago  postoffice  as  second-class  matter. 


Address  all  eommunications  to 

THE  BEACH  DIAMOND  COMP  ANT  (INC.) 

Main  office,  Manhattan  building,  Chicago. 


Branch  Offices. 

New  York,  29  Broadway. 
Philadelphia,  1400  Land  Title  building. 
Pittsburgh,  1502  Oliver  building. 


Saturday,  December  4,  1915. 


INDEX. 


Special  Articles. 

Page 


The  Ohio  Rate  Case  and  Its  Effect  on  Coal  Markets.  445 

The  Hocking  Valley  Coal  Rate  Hearing .  440 

Failures  in  American  Business;  Why  They  Fail....  447 
How  Philadelphia  Offsets  Cut  Price  Competition....  448 

Mine  Clearing  House .  449 

Illinois  Mining  Institute .  449 

Life  and  VV'ork  of  William  P.  Rend,  Coal  Producer.  .  450 

The  Illinois  Rate  Situation  in  a  Nutshell .  451 

Colorado  Coal  Merger .  451 

Cross-Eyed  Arbitration .  451 

Field  of  the  Retail  Dealer .  452 

An  Ad  Criticism .  452 

The  Effort  to  Avoid  a  Mine  Suspension .  453 

Wabash-Pittsburgh  Change .  453 

Coal  Mine  Institute .  453 

Editorial  .  454 

News  Local  to  Chicago .  456 

•Anthracite  Developments .  456 

Small  Activities .  450 

Facts  Which  Determine  Our  Export  Prospects .  457 

Boomer  Mine  Explosion .  463 

Central  Pennsylvania  Status .  404 

Market  Reports. 

General  Review  and  Chicago .  458 

Pittsburgh,  Indianapolis  and  Twin  Cities .  459 

Cincinnati,  St.  Louis  and  Detroit .  460 

Cleveland,  Duluth  and  Birmingham .  461 

New  York . 462 

New  England  and  Baltimore .  463 

Buffalo  and  Denver .  464 

Hocking  Valley .  15 


AvoMing  Suspensions. 

W'e  are  approaching  another  period 
when  a  contract  between  the  operators’  as¬ 
sociations  and  the  miners’  union  will  have 
to  be  made.  With  that  conies  the  pos¬ 
sibility,  and,  indeed,  the  probability  that 
we  shall  have  a  suspension  of  the  mines. 
With  that  comes  the  suggestion  that  we 
shall  have  either  to  store  coal  to  tide  over 
the  period  of  suspension  or  business  will 
have  to  stop  until  the  miners  and  oper¬ 
ators  compose  their  differences.  Today 
we  are,  in  consequence,  hearing  the  same 
old  suggestion  that  some  way  ought  to 
he  found  to  reach  an  agreement  without 
these  costly  suspensions. 

The  reasons  advanced  in  favor  of  no 
suspension  are  quite  sound  and  can  be 
e.x])ressed  tersely; 

First,  the  storage  coal  is  ])ut  in  liy  those 
who  have  no  contracts  at  an  increased 
price  of  fifty  cents  to  $1.00  a  ton.  This 
increased  price  is  not  paid  to  the  oper¬ 
ators,  as  a  rule,  but  to  some  jobber  or 
scalner.  The  profits  do  not  go  to  the 
mining  business  but  to  the  middle-man. 
Still,  the  operator  pays  the  price  because 
the  consumer,  having  appropriated  so 
much  money  for  fuel,  and  having  paid  an 
excess  amount  for  his  storage  coal,  wants 
to  and  does  cut  down  the  price  of  his 
regular  supply. 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


Second,  those  who  get  coal  on  contract 
take  it  at  the  time  when  production  costs 
are  highest  and  when  transportation  is 
most  difficult.  This  results  in  imposing 
on  the  operator  at  one  period  and  in  rob¬ 
bing  the  mining  company  at  another.  In 
a  word,  the  mines  are  compelled  to  do — 
and  to  be  equipped  to  do — in  January, 
February,  and  March,  the  business  which 
ordinarily  they  would  do  in  the  first  five 
months  of  the  year. 

Third,  coal  put  into  storage  is  not  satis¬ 
factory,  as  a  rule,  for  the  reason  that  ex¬ 
tra  handling  makes  extra  degradation. 

Fourth,  the  need  to  create  storage  piles 
in  the  first  few  months  of  a  strike  year 
compels  the  operators  to  over-develop 
their  productive  capacity. 

Fifth,  the  high  prices  paid  prior  to  the 
strike,  give  a  false  impression  of  the 
profitableness  of  the  coal  business  and  in¬ 
vite  new  competition  for  the  mines. 

Sixth,  abnormally  high  prices  in  Febru¬ 
ary  and  March  are  always  followed  by 
abnormally  low  prices  in  April  and  May, 
if  the  -inticipated  strike  does  not  occur. 

Thus  everything  is  against  and  nothing 
is  in  favor  of  a  suspension  of  the  mines 
every  time  the  wage  contract  is  to  be  re¬ 
newed.  The  all  important  question  is: 
How  are  we  going  to  avoid  the  suspen¬ 
sion?  It  will  not  do  for  the  consumers 
to  refuse  to  store  any  coal  because  that 
endangers  them  without  changing  the 
situation.  It  will  not  do  for  the  operators 
to  fail  to  develop  their  mines  to  take  care 
of  this  storage  demand,  because  that 
would  simply  invite  competition  to  come 
in  and  supply  it.  It  will  not  do  to  rely 
upon  the  miners  to  be  decent,  and,  there¬ 
fore,  not  to  strike  because  that  is  an  ef¬ 
fort  to  control  an  uneducated  element  in 
human  nature  which  is  a  hopeless  proposi¬ 
tion. 

It  occurs  to  us  that  the  thing  to  do  is 
to  change  the  character  of  the  contracts. 
To  change  the  time  in  which  contracts  are 
made  would  serve  no  purpose  because  we 
would  have  the  same  old  proposition  over 
again  except  at  a  different  period  of  the 
year.  But  we  can  change  the  character 
of  the  contracts  and  the  length  of  time 
that  thev  are  supposed  to  run. 

In  this  connection  we  recommend  to  the 
operators  and  to  the  miners'  the  adoption 
of  some  such  a  system  as  is  employed  by 
the  railroads  .in  dealing  with  the  locomo¬ 
tive  engineers.  To  do  this  we  must  get 
away  from  the  theory  that  the  coal  miner 
can  automatically  get  an  increase  in  wages 
every  two  years  or  every  year.  We  must 
adopt  the  other  theory,  namely,  that  since 
the  prcjiminaries  have  been  worked  out 
by  these  frequent  conferences,  coal  mining 
is  worth  so  much  money  and  it  continues 
to  be  worth  that  much  money  until  the 
general  coal  trade  conditions  are  radically 
changed. 

In  a  word  we  believe  that  coal  labor 
contracts  should  lie  indeterminate. 


The  World  Opens. 

American  coal  buyers  are  facing  an  in¬ 
teresting  and  a  puzzling  situation  in  the 
increasing  demand  for  coal  abroad.  There 
is  at  the  minute,  enough  data  on  the  for¬ 
eign  demand  to  indicate  this  much: 
France,  up  to  the  opening  of  the  war,  had 
a  consumption  of  60,000,000  tons  of  coal 
per  year,  and  a  production  of  only  40,- 
000,000  tons.  There  has  been  a  deficit, 


[December  4 


therefore,  of  something  like  20,000,000 
tons  yearly,  which  has  been  made  good 
to  the  extent  of  10,000,000  tons  by  ship¬ 
ments  from  England  and  to  the  extent  of 
another  10,000,000  tons  from  Belgium  and 
Germany.  America  did  a  fragmentary 
business  only  along  the  southern  border. 

The  war,  with  its  prospect  of  changed 
relations  hereafter,  changes  the  situation 
completely.  It  will  be  quite  a  while  be¬ 
fore  Belgium  can  produce  any  coal.  It 
will  be  impossible  for  Germany  to  sell 
any  coal  to  France  for  years  to  come.  It 
is  a  grave  question  whether  England  is 
going  to  be  able  to  produce  the  amount  of. 
coal  which  France  is  going  to  require. 
The  only  available  other  market  is  in  the 
United  States. 

France,  however,  is  in  no  mood  to  take 
miscellaneous  offerings  from  America.  It 
has  a  somewhat  spoiled  notion  of  what 
coal  quality  is.  It  has  been  buying  the 
best  of  the  English  product  and  its  own 
coal  has  been  by  no  means  of  an  inferior 
quality.  Because  its  supply  has  been  of 
a  high  order,  France  has  never  studied 
combustion  very  much,  and  is  not  dis¬ 
posed  to  do  so  now.  Therefore,  France 
will  make  a  demand  upon  us  for  the  very 
best  grades  of  our  coal,  and  preferably 
those  which  run  below  twenty-five  per 
cent  in  volatile  matter. 

But,  the  French  situation  is  not  the 
only  one  which  commands  the  attention 
of  our  coal  producers.  Spain  is  in  the 
market  for  something  like  3,000,000  tons 
of  coal  per  year,  and  is  looking  in  this 
direction  to  get  its  supply.  Spain,  there¬ 
fore,  is  a  very  likely  customer  for  the 
American  product  and  may  ^ven  provide 
the  ships  to  carry  it.  However,  Spain  is 
going  also  to  want  our  coal  of  best  qual¬ 
ity,  which  means  our  coal  running  less 
than  twenty-five  per  cent  in  volatile  mat¬ 
ter. 

It  is  possible  to  expand  this  situation, 
but  only  to  find  the  same  thing  pertain¬ 
ing  to  the  demand  along  the  Mediterra¬ 
nean  and  in  Central  and  South  America. 
The  world  market  as  a  matter  of  fact  is 
open  for  our  coal,  but  that  same  market 
is  very  much  inclined  to  take  not  a  mis¬ 
cellaneous  assortment  of  coals  but  the 
best  we  have. 

The  situation  at  home  is  about  as  fol¬ 
lows.  This  low  volatile  coal  has,  for  va¬ 
rious  and  obvious  reasons,  been  the  one 
which  American  buyers  wanted.  Cities, 
for  e.xample,  insist  upon  smokeless  com¬ 
bustion.  Furnace  owners  are  inclined  to 
follow  the  line  of  least  resistance  and 
therefore  to  buy  a  coal  which  burns 
smokelessly.  America  as  a  consequence, 
has  been  hanging  fervently  upon  the 
mines  which  supply  this  low  volatile  and 
high  grade  coal. 

However  resourceful  the  mines  which 
produce  this  coal  may  be,  they  are  not 
by  any  means  omnipotent.  They  can¬ 
not,  in  a  word,  supply  all  the  rest  of  the 
world  and  take  care  of  a  steadily  grow¬ 
ing  demand  at  home.  That  can’t  be  done, 
first,  because  the  section  is  limited  and, 
second,  because  the  transportation  devel¬ 
opments  are  limited.  Therefore,  *A.merica 
must  make  choice  of  two  things.  It  must 
abandon,  in  a  sense,  its  foreign  trade, 
which  the  operators  will  not  do,  or  the 
consumers  at  home  must  learn  to  use  a 
coal  higher  in  volatile  matter,  or  learn  to 
manufacture  a  fuel  product  which  is 
lower  in  volatile  matter. 


No.  23] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


455 


Making  Coal  History. 

Those  of  us  who  are  so  intimately  as¬ 
sociated  with  it  every  day  may  not  real¬ 
ize  the  fact  but  it  is  true  that  we  are  pass¬ 
ing  through  one  of  the  most  interesting 
epochs  in  the  coal  business.  We  are  mak¬ 
ing  coal  history  perhaps  far  faster  than 
most  of  us  realize. 

The  present  epoch  finds  expression  in 
two  things.  The  first  one  is  a  tremendous 
efifort  to  simplify  the  selling  mechanism. 
First  there  is  the  effort  to  extend  our 
sales  abroad  and  therefore  to  lengthen 
and  broaden  our  market  zone.  Second, 
we  are  trying  to  reduce  the  number  of 
times  coal  must  be  sold  between  the  time 
it  leaves  the  mine  and  the  time  it  gets  to 
the  ultimate  consumer.  Efforts  in  that 
direction  are  particularly  worth  studying. 

However,  the  biggest  expression  of  this 
era  is  the  formation  of  various  kinds  of 
coal  associations.  There  never  was  a 
time  when  so  many  organized  efforts  in 
the  coal  trade  were  under  way  at  one 
time.  This  is  the  most  interesting  move¬ 
ment  that  has  ever  been  undertaken  by 
business  as  a  whole  or  by  any  one  indus¬ 
try.  This  can  be  called,  in  the  last  analy¬ 
ses,  nothing  more  nor  less  than  an  effort 
to  control  the  human  nature  in  business. 
We  may  give  the  effort  itself  a  great 
many  high  sounding  names  such  as  a  co¬ 
operative  movement,  a  live  and  let  live 
proposition,  a  movement  for  the  “good 
of  the  order,”  or  an  association  move¬ 
ment.  But,  whatever  the  title,  it  all  re¬ 
solves  itself  back  to  an  effort  to  control 
the  human  nature  in  business. 

That,  if  any  one  inquires  and  seems 
anxious  to  know,  is  quite  a  sizeable 
undertaking.  It  is  an  endeavor  not  only 
to  control  self-interest  and  to  educate  it 
to  be  enlightened  self-interest,  but  it  is 
an  effort  to  bring  under  common  control 
also  the  primary  instinct  of  human  nature 
which  is  self-preservation. 

We  are  right  in  the  middle  of  this  in¬ 
teresting  epoch  now  and  it  is  no  time  to 
write  the  conclusions  of  the  whole  thing 
nor  is  it  time  to  draw  any  lessons  from 
the  success  or  failure  of  the  efifort.  It 
will,  however,  prove  interesting  to  the 
coal  men  to  look  around  and  observe  the 
actions  of  human  nature  under  the  cir¬ 
cumstances.  In  the  end,  we  may  know 
whether  it  is  going  to  be  possible  to  make 
such  a  Utopian  thing  an  abiding  force  in 
such  a  perfectly  selfish  undertaking  as  a 
business  movement. 


Just  a  Suggestion. 

Labor  in  the  coal  mines  is  scarce.  Be¬ 
fore  the  winter  is  over  it  will  be  much 
more  so.  The  demand  for  labor  will  next 
spring  be  in  excess  of  the  supply.  That 
will  make  the  working  man  independent, 
in  a  sense.  Consider  that  fact  alongside 
two  others. 

First,  we  cannot  get  a  new  supply  of 
mine  workers  from  abroad  as  we  have 
done  in  other  years. 

Second,  for  the  first  time  in  six  years 
the  agreements  of  the  anthracite  and  the 
bituminous  workers  expire  at  once.  The 
unions  therefore  have  a  tremendous 
leverage. 

Will  the  miners  next  spring  force  the 
advantage  given  first  by  a  shortage  of 
labor  and  second  by  the  fact  of  two  agree¬ 
ments  expiring  at  one  time?  Will  we. 


therefore,  have  a  big  labor  dispute  on  our 
hands? 

Under  the  circumstances,  what  is  the 
part  of  wisdom  for  the  coal  buyer — to  let 
his  need  for  coal  run  until  the  last  min¬ 
ute  and  hope  to  get  enough  to  carry  him 
through  or  to  satisfy  that  need  now  when 
coal  is  to  be  had? 


Causes  of  Business  Distress. 

The  Bureau  of  Business  Research  of 
Harvard  University  has  just  issued  a  re¬ 
port  on  its  investigation  into  the  cost  of 
doing  business  in  retail  groceries  and  meat 
markets.  It  shows  that  the  gross  profit 
ranges  between  a  minimum  of  fourteen 
and  six-tenths  per  cent  and  a  maximum  of 
twenty-seven  and  nine-tenths  per  cent. 
The  report  says : 

“Within  this  range  the  bulk  of  the  fig¬ 
ures  are  between  eighteen  and  twenty- 
three  per  cent.  The  most  common  or 
typical  figure  is  twenty-one  per  cent.” 

That  is,  according  to  this  report,  the 
average  “mark-uj)”  of  the  retail  grocery 
business  is  about  twenty-one  per  cent. 
This,  it  must  be  remembered,  is  twenty- 
one  per  cent  on  the  business  done  and  not 
so  much  on  the  capital  invested. 

By  way  of  contrast,  it  is  frequently 
shown  by  retail  coal  men  that  the  average 
“mark-up”  on  retail  coal  is  three  and  one- 
half  to  four  per  cent  on  the  volume  of 
business  done. 

The  Harvard  re])ort  goes  on  to  say  that 
regardless  of  the  large  “mark-up”  the 
average  retailer  does  business  at  practi¬ 
cally  no  profit  or  at  a  net  loss  to  him  when 
his  salary  and  interest  on  the  money  in¬ 
vested  in  his  business  are  considered.  In 
the  retail  coal  business,  a  similar  report 
would  show  that  almost  precisely  the  same 
thing  is  true.  That  is,  regardless  of  the 
“mark-up”  the  retailer  is  doing  business 
without  profit  or  at  an  actual  net  loss. 

A  great  many  articles  and  editorials  are 
almost  sure  to  be  written  on  this  subject, 
and  from  a  great  many  points  of  view. 
Perhaps  the  preponderance  of  opinion  will 
l)e  that  this  showing  condemns  the  com¬ 
petitive  system  under  which  business  is 
laboring.  There  is  no  doubt  that  the  com¬ 
petitive  system,  when  carried  to  the  ex¬ 
treme,  is  economically  unsound  and  in  a 
sense  vicious.  At  the  same  time  this,  in 
our  opinion,  is  not  the  point  particularly 
in  this  report  of  the  Harvard  Bureau. 
The  real  point  is  that  regardless  of  our 
elaborate  experience,  we  have  not  profited 
by  learning  to  distribute  more  cheaply. 
In  a  word,  we  are  still  tyros  on  the  subject 
of  distribution  and  selling.  We  are  doing 
things  today  because  we  are  accustomed 
to  doing  them  that  way  rather  than  be¬ 
cause  they  are  the  right  things  to  do. 

The  point,  as  we  have  said  before,  is 
that  we  are  a  producing  and  not  a  mer¬ 
chandising  people.  If  it  cost  us  as  much 
to  produce  as  it  does  to  sell,  the  whole 
nation  woyld  be  scandalized  because  that 
would  go  against  our  producing  sense. 
We  are  not  following  precedent  in  pro¬ 
duction  ;  we  are  constantly  making  new 
precedent.  That  is  why  we  cut  produc¬ 
tion  costs. 

However,  we  continue  to  sell  in  the 
same  old  way,  because  we  have  not  made 
a  cult  of  cheap  selling.  Therefore,  in 
selling,  we  are  doing  things  not  because 
they  are  right,  but  because  that  is  the 
way  they  have  been  done  from  the  be¬ 


ginning.  A  new  era  is  dawning  and  with 
it  will  come  careful  and  close  study  of 
better  ways  to  sell  and  distribute.  The 
first  requisite  is  to  destroy  the  notion 
that  there  is  any  divinity  in  our  selling 
methods. 


Tariff  Commission  League. 

We  endorse,  unequivocally,  the  move¬ 
ment  for  the  revision  of  the  tariff  by  a 
commission,  rather  than  by  the  dominant 
party  in  Congress.  We  endorse,  as  neces¬ 
sary  to  the  success  of  that  movement,  the 
Tariff  Commission  League. 

There  are  four  reasons  why  we  en¬ 
dorse  the  idea  of  tariff  revision  by  com¬ 
mission  : 

First,  the  tariff  is  an  intricate  economic 
subject.  It  is  designed,  first,  as  a  fiscal 
instrument  of  the  Government  because  it 
is  depended  upon  to  give  the  nation  a 
good  part  of  its  revenue.  It  is  an  econ¬ 
omic  subject  because  duties  imposed  on 
imports  almost  automatically  fix  the  pos¬ 
sible  minimum  selling  price  of  commodi¬ 
ties  behind  the  tariff  wall.  Flowing  from 
that  is  a  whole  social  and  economic  sys¬ 
tem  which,  in  the  end,  influences  every 
phase  of  our  life.  The  subject  is  entirely 
too  intricate  to  be  understood  by  the  laity ; 
it  is  entirely  too  complex  to  be  under¬ 
stood  even  by  the  majority  of  members 
of  Congress.  In  a  word,  it  is  a  subject 
which  requires  expert  treatment. 

Second,  we  have  lived  under  a  protective 
tariff  system  for  more  than  fifty  years. 
The  country  has  become  acclimated  to  it. 
We  cannot  change  over  from  a  high  tariff 
to  a  low  tariff,  and  become  acclimated  to 
the  new  condition  in  such  a  short  period 
as  four  years. 

Third,  sober  thinking  people  of  America 
have  come  to  believe  in  neither  a  very  high 
tariff'  nor  in  free  trade.  They  want  the 
medium  somewhere  between.  However, 
under  partisan  political  control,  we  must 
have  either  a  very  high  tariff,  or  free 
trade.  Therefore  the  wish  of  the  people 
is  defeated  when  the  subject  is  in  politics. 

Fourth,  to  leave  this  question  to  the 
decision  of  the  electorate  presupposes  not 
only  a  very  high  order  of  intelligence  on 
the  part  of  the  people  generally,  but  an 
educational  system  and  a  public  press  cap¬ 
able  of  giving  the  people  information  with¬ 
out  bias.  We  have  neither  a  good  educa¬ 
tional  system  nor  an  unbiased  press. 
Therefore  the  people  have  no  fair  infor¬ 
mation,  and,  therefore,  they  cannot  be  in¬ 
telligent  on  this  question. 

For  these  reasons  we  endorse  the  ef¬ 
forts  of  the  Tariff  Commission  League. 
Some  persons  connected  with  that  league 
are  not  the  kind  of  men  and  women  who 
command  universal  respect.  Others  are 
of  a  high  order  and  are  respected  because 
their  views  are  sound.  Regardless  of  per¬ 
sonnel,  we  endorse  the  league  on  the  the¬ 
ory  that  every  movement  must  have  a 
head.  When  a  thing  has  to  be  done,  even 
a  bad  head  is  better  than  none  at  all.  By 
this  we  do  not  say  that  the  league  is  made 
up  of  those  who  cannot  decide  properly. 
On  the  contrary,  we  believe  it  is  as  good  a 
board  as  could  be  gotten  together  in  Amer¬ 
ica.  Seeing  the  need  for  a  head  for  this 
movement  and  seeing  that  the  majority  of 
its  members  are  sound  and  command  re¬ 
spect,  we  endorse  the  league  as  the  leader 
of  the  movement  even  as  we  endorse  the 
movement  on  account  of  its  inherent  merit. 


456 


News  Local  to  Chicago. 


Henry  !•'.  Patrick  visited  St.  Paul  and  Min¬ 
neapolis  this  week. 

W.  \\'.  Chapman,  ])rcsident  of  the  North 
West  Coal  &  Supply  Compan3^  Minneapolis, 
passed  through  Chicago  this  week  on  his  way 
home  after  visiting  the  Kentuckj'  coal  fields. 

A.  R  Stone  of  Alhia,  Iowa,  while  in  Chi¬ 
cago  this  week  said  the  consumption  of  Illi¬ 
nois  coal  in  the  Hawkeye  state  was  growing 
rapidly  and  1<)15  figures  should  show  a  sui)- 
stantial  increase  over  the  previous  3'ear. 

James  P.  Danson  of  Great  Falls,  Montana, 
was  in  Chicago  for  a  few  days  this  week.  He 
is  meeting  with  great  success  putting  Great 
Falls  coal  on  the  market  and  expects  his 
operation  will  run  to  capacity  all  winter. 

Harne3’  Cavanaugh,  father  of  the  late  Joseph 
Cavanaugh,  died  December  2d  in  a  Milwau¬ 
kee  hospital.  Mr.  Cavanaugh  was  a  conductor 
on  the  Northwestern  Railroad  for  a  score  of 
years  atid  was  known  personally  by  a  great 
man3'  of  the  Chicago  coal  trade. 

It  is  estimated  that  the  failure  of  boats  to 
take  the  smokeless  lump  and  egg  coal  to  the 
northwest  from  the  lower  lake  ports  diverted 
to  the  Chicago  market  something  upwards  of 
25, DUO  tons  of  this  free  coal.  Some  students 
of  the  market  estimate  th.at  it  will  take  abo'it 
three  weeks  to  clean  up  this  accumulation. 

The  Kantishna  Club  will  hold  its  second 
informal  dinner  Tuesday  evening,  December 
7th  at  the  Auditorium  Hotel.  Charles  M. 
Moderwell,  president  of  the  Illinois  Coal  O])- 
erators’  Association,  principal  speaker  of  the 
evening,  will  address  on  “Friendship  in  Busi¬ 
ness.”  Arthur  G.  Taylor,  sales  efficiency  ex¬ 
pert,  is  also  on  the  program. 

A  meeting  of  the  coal  operators  of  Indiana 
was  held  at  the  Auditorium  Annex  on  Mon¬ 
day  of  this  week.  The  principal  matter  up 
for  discussion  was  the  freight  rate  situation 
and  especially  the  recent  proposal  of  the 
various  lines  to  the  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission  that  the  rate  to  Chicago  shall  he 
advanced  five  cents  a  ton.  It  is  altogether 
likely  that  a  formal  protest  against  this  in¬ 
crease  in  rates  will  be  made  by  those  opera¬ 
tors. 

A  sidelight  on  the  Chicago  market  within 
the  last  week  came  out  of  the  effort  of  two 
or  three  sales  agencies  who  had  anthracite  up 
to  demurrage  and  tried  to  find  a  place  for  it. 
All  told,  the  demurrage  coal  was  upwards  ot 
200  cars  according  to  various  reports.  In 
order  to  stop  the  payment  of  demurrage  and 
therefore  to  find  a  lodgement  for  this  coal 
the  selling  agent  allowed  the  retailer  to  take 
it  in  if  he  would  pay  the  freight  and  then 
pay  the  operating  company  for  the  coal  after 
it  had  been  sold. 

Two  reports  have  been  around  Chicago 
within  the  last  week  concerning  the  new  Rob¬ 
erts  oven.  One  is  that  the  experiment  with 
this  oven  at  Chattanooga  has  convinced  the 
coke  people  that  this  device  cannot  only  coke 
coal  in  fourteen  hours,  but  it  can  handle  some 
of  the  western  product.  Accordingly,  so  the 
report  runs,  a  battery  of  ovens  has  been  or¬ 
dered  erected  at  Granite  City  near  St.  Louis, 
the  intention  being  to  carbonize  Franklin 
county  coal.  Another  battery  of  the  same 
ovens  will  be  erected  at  Canal  Dover,  Ohio. 

The  announcement  was  made  on  Friday  of 
this  week  hy  some  of  the  operators  in  the  Smoke¬ 
less  coal  field  that  the  new  schedule  of  prices  on 
lump,  egg  and  nut  will  hereafter  be  as  follows : 
Lum|)  and  e.gg  in  hopper  cars,  $1.85:  lump  and 
egg  in  flat  bottom  cars,  $2.00 ;  nut  in  hopper  cars, 
$1.(11);  nut  in  flat  bottom  cars,  $1.75.  This  is  the 
first  time  that  any  coal  company  has  ever  named 
a  differential  in  the  price  on  the  same  size  to 
cover  the  kind  of  ecpiipment  in  which  the  coal  is 
moved.  The  shortage  of  flat  hottom  cars  has  in¬ 
duced  some  of  the  operators  to  suggest  that  if  the 
retailer  specifies  that  sort  of  equipment,  he  should 
pay  a  higher  figure  for  the  coal. 

'Phe  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  has 
just  decided  the  Chicago  switching  reparation 
case.  In  this,  Thos.  VV.  Gilmore  &  Co.,  et  ah, 
were  plaintiffs  and  the  Chicago  &  North¬ 
western  Railwa3%  et  ah,  were  defendants.  The 
commission  thus  summarizes  its  decision; 
“Upon  presentation  of  the  issue  whether  or 
not  complainants  have  been  damaged  and  are 
entitled  to  reparation  because  of  the  payment 
of  charges  on  carload  shipments  of  coal. 
Held:  1.  That  complainants  in  Gilmore  & 
Cp.  V.  C.  &  N,  W.  Ry.  Co.  and  in  Hinners 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


Co.  V.  N.  &  W.  Ry.  Co.  have  not  proven  that 
they  were  damaged  by  the  payment  of  charges 
which  were  found  to  be  unjustly  discrimina- 
tor3'.  In  a  discrimination  case  the  measure 
of  damage  is  not  the  difference  between  the 
two  rates,  but  is  a  fact  that  must  be  proven 
with  the  same  definiteness  as  would  warrant 
a  judgment  in  a  court  ot  law.  2.  That  com¬ 
plainants  in  Lill  &  Co.  v.  C.,  M.  it  St.  P.  Ry. 
Co.  have  been  damaged  and  are  entitled  to 
reparation  to  the  extent  of  ten  cents  per  ton 
on  certain  shipments  and  five  cents  per  ton 
on  others  because  of  charges  which  were 
found  to  be  unreasonable.  No  damage  proven 
on  that  part  of  the  charges  which  was  found 
to  be  unjustly  discriminatory.” 

Col.  T.  N.  Mordue  of  Castner,  Curran  & 
Bullitt  says  that  times  such  as  these  develop 
the  morality  or  the  lack  of  it  among  the  Chi¬ 
cago  retailers.  As  proof  of  it  he  recited  a 
conversation  which  recently  took  place  be¬ 
tween  one  salesman  who  tries  to  dispose  of 
smokeless  coal  and  one  retailer.  They  had 
a  contract  calling  for  the  delivery  of  five  cars 
of  smokeless  mine  run  a  week.  He  notified 
the  salesman  to  discontinue  shipments.  He 
said  in  doing  so  “I  want  to  be  very  candid 
with  you.  I  am  not  shutting  off  shipments 
because  I  don’t  need  the  coal,  but  because  I 
can  now  get  plenty  of  lump  and  egg  at  mine 
run  prices.  1  want  that  lump  and  egg  to  im¬ 
prove  the  size  in  my  mine-rune  pile.”  The 
salesman  inquired  casually  “What  becomes 
of  your  contract?”  “Oh,”  said  the  retailer, 
“a  contract  is  worth  nothing  and  means  noth¬ 
ing  except  that  I  commit  myself  to  bu3'  coal 
from  you  so  long  as  1  please  to  do  so  and  so 
long  as  the  price  is  right.  A  contract  in  fact 
is  not  worth  the  paper  on  which  it  is  w^ritten.” 
The  point  of  this  anecdote  is  that  the  retailer 
in  question  w'as  one  of  the  so-called  substan¬ 
tial  concerns  doing  a  retail  business  in  Chi¬ 
cago. 

Some  of  the  Chicago  operators  who  are 
working  to  avoid  a  suspension  of  the  mines 
on  the  first  of  April  next  have  recently  been 
in  touch  with  John  P.  White,  president  of 
the  United  Mine  Workers  of  America.  Mr. 
White  has  replied  in  general  terms.  He  says 
that  it  is  the  policy  of  the  Miners’  Union  to 
have  the  men  work  during  the.  continuance  of 
negotiations  for  a  new  w'age  scale.  He  be¬ 
lieves  that  the  same  polic3^  will  prevail  this 
next  spring.  He  believes  also  that  the  miners 
will  follow  the  union  program.  This  seemed 
quite  encouraging  until  the  fact  was  brought 
out  that  while  Mr.  White  was  president  of 
the  union  he  cannot  commit  it  to  any  such 
policy  without  a  referendum  of  the  union  and 
no  such  proposal  has  l)een  put  up  for  a  refer¬ 
endum  vote.  Therefore  what  he  says  is 
merely  a  meaningless  statement  of  what 
amounts  to  an  amiable  intention.  There  is 
nothing  concrete  about  it  and  therefore  the 
consumers  of  coal  are  not  warranted  in  ac¬ 
cepting  that  as  the  last  word  on  the  subject. 
Therefore  some  railroads  are  already  storing 
coal  and  others,  so  their  officials  say,  are 
getting  ready  to  bu3'  coal  for  storage  pur¬ 
poses. 

N.  H.  Kendall,  commissioner  of  the  Chicago 
Coal  Merchants  Association,  made  the  fol¬ 
lowing  announcement  on  Tuesday:  “A  very 
interesting  meeting,  in  connection  with  the 
W'ork  being  done  by  the  cost  and  system  com¬ 
mittee,  will  take  place  in  this  office,  1004, 
No.  417  South  Dearborn  street,  Friday,  De¬ 
cember  3d,  at  2  o’clock  p.  m.  The  subject,  at 
this  meeting,  will  be  the  consideration  of  a 
report  to  be  made  by  the  committee  on  retail 
sales  and  accounting.  The  committee  finds 
that  it  is  impossible  to  confine  its  report 
strictly  to  the  cost  of  selling.  In  their  meet¬ 
ing  held  the  26th  inst.,  it  was  demonstrated 
that  all  of  the  items  going  to  make  up  the 
entire  cost  of  doing  business  must  be  con¬ 
sidered.  They  have  a  large  amount  of  very 
interesting  data,  and  have  secured  Mr.  Shep¬ 
ard,  of  the  accounting  firm  of  Shepard  & 
Hutchison,  who  will  be  present  to  assist  in 
the  discussion  and  answer  an3'^  questions  put 
to  him  pertaining  to  accounting.  The  costs 
and  systems  committee  is  endeavoring  to  se¬ 
cure  all  data  possible  on  the  subject,  and  they 
are  very  anxious  that  members  reply  to  the 
following  questions:  1.  Do  you  take  a  trial 
balance  monthly?  2.  Is  3'our  bookkeeper  a 
man  or  a  woman?  3.  Are  you  interested  m 
a  uniform  method  of  figuring  costs?  4.  Do 
3'ou  handle  material  other  than  fuel?  5.  Have 
you  any  cost  system  which  you  are  willing  to 
give  the  committee?  6.  Please  give  us  a  list 
of  expense  items  you  include  when  figuring 
your  cost  of  doing  business." 


[December  4 


Anthracite  Developments. 


I  he  ?(Iadeira-Hill  Company  will  strip  a  large 
vein  of  coal  west  of  Mahanoy  Plane.  At  that 
place  there  is  a  large  mass  of  coal  which  was  not 
heretofore  accessible  until  a  recent  ruling  of  the 
court  in  the  injunction  proceeding  of  the  P.  &  R. 
vs.  Lawrence  Company.  The  court  has  decided 
that  the  coal  can  be  removed  under  a  certain 
guarantee.  The  C.  K,  Shipp  Co.  of  Wilkes-Barre 
have  several  locomotives,  steam  shovels  and  dump 
wagons  on  the  grounds  and  work  will  be  started 
immediately. 

The  Lehigh  &  Wilkes-Barre  Coal  Company  will 
strip  about  1,200,000  cubic  yards  near  their  oper¬ 
ation  at  Audenried.  The  contract  has  been 
awarded  to  .Arthur  E.  Dick,  a  well  known  con¬ 
tractor  of  Hazleton.  Mr.  Dick  is  at  the  present 
time  stripping  the  No.  1  East  Extension  stripping 
between  Audenried  and  McAdoo. 

Control  of  the  Diamond  Water  Company  of 
Hazleton  has  been  secured  by  the  Lehigh  Valley 
Coal  Company,  according  to  the  Hazleton  Sen¬ 
tinel.  The  sale  is  stated  to  have  been  prompted 
by  the  desire  to  have  the  Diamond  Addition  ade¬ 
quately  supplied  with  water.  Under  existing  con¬ 
ditions,  there  are  but  five  or  six  feet  of  water  re¬ 
maining  in  its  main  dams,  despite  a  particularly 
rainy  season  this  year. 


Small  Activities. 


The  Maryland  Coal  &  Coke  Company,  with 
headquarters  at  Philadelphia,  announce  that  its 
New  England  business,  which  has  heretofore  been 
handled  through  the  Boston  office,  will,  in  the 
future,  be  taken  care  of  through  the  New  York 
office.  .Also,  effective  November  1st,  Mr.  Geor.ge 
E.  Dunn,  formerly  New  England  agent  at  Boston, 
was  appointed  manager  of  the  New  York  office,  at 
No.  17  Battery  place.  Mr.  William  S.  Johnson 
will  be  his  assistant,  and  will  be  given  the  title 
of  assistant  manager  of  New  York  office.  On  or 
about  March  1st,  1916,  this  company’s  office  at 
Boston  will  be  discontinued. 

The  eastern  bituminous  market  had  struck  an 
active  gait  on  Tuesday,  buyers,  it  appearing,  be¬ 
coming  more  eager  for  coal  than  they  have  been 
in  some  time.  Prices  for  most  any  grade  of  coal 
in  Central  Pennsylvania  were  not  lower  than  $1.50 
per  ton  at  mines,  with  good  and  choice  grades 
sellin.g  up  to  $1.65  and  $1.75.  Western  Maryland 
coals  were  selling  in  some  instances  up  to  $1.50. 
Not  only  were  buyers  seeking  New  York  dealers 
for  coal,  local  offices  being  plentifully  supplied 
with  out-of-town  visitors,  which  gave  a  tinge  of 
optimism  to  the  local  trade.  Operators  in  the 
regions  are  said  to  be  very  bullish  on  prices,  due 
largely  to  the  fact  that  middlemen  are  visiting 
them  daily  now  trying  to  secure  coal,  and  that 
their  advances  as  to  values  advance  as  buyers  be¬ 
come  more  eager  for  prompt  tonnage. 

The  harbor  boat  situation  is  a  trying  one  these 
days,  especially  for  the  transportation  company 
that  has  contracts  at  a  low  price,  and  has  to  go 
into  the  market  to  get  bottoms.  The  heavy  de¬ 
mand  for  boats  of  any  kind  for  handling  muni¬ 
tions  and  merchandise  from  the  railway  piers  to 
vessels  in  stream  or  at  docks  that  can  only  be 
reached  by  water  transfer,  is  so  very  heavy  that 
prices  that  some  months  ago  would  have  been 
declared  to  be  beyond  all  reason,  are  now  being 
paid  for  almost  anything  that  will  float.  Where  in 
the  good  old  summer  time  a  300-ton  boat  could 
be  secured  for  $3  per  day,  four  times  that  amount 
will  not  secure  one  today.  In  fact,  it  is  hard  to 
find  a  free  boat  now  at  any  price,  and  the  retail 
coal  dealer  who  has  not  protected  himself,  either 
by  ownership  or  control  of  harbor  boats  or  by 
time  charters,  is  having  his  troubles. 

Some  of  the  coal  men  who  find  coal  cars  on 
demurrage  after  a  certain  number  of  days,  if  they 
are  not  unloaded  when  they  arrive  at  destination, 
were  very  much  astonished  during  the  past  week 
to  learn,  due  to  the  congestion  of  loaded  freight 
cars  in  the  territory  of  New  York  City,  that  no 
demurrage  was  being  charged  shippers  on  a  lot 
of  munitions,  steel  and  other  products  that  was 
shipped  to  New  A’ork  for  export.  Some  cars 
are  said  to  have  been  held  for  six  weeks  or  two 
months,  according  to  reports,  and  as  a  result,  the 
railroads  announced  that  the  free  time  for  unload¬ 
ing  would  be  cut  from  thirty  to  fifteen  days.  Coal 
goes  on  demurrage  on  some  lines  in  twelve  days, 
and  fifteen  days  is  the  maximum  on  an3'  of  the 
eastern  lines.  On  Saturday  of  last  week  it  was 
estimated  that  there  were  16,006  loaded  freight 
cars  in  the  vicinity  of  New  York  containing 
products  for  export.  So  great  was  the  conges¬ 
tion  that  several  of  the  lines  declared  embargoes 
until  the  congestion  is  cleared  up, 


No.  23] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


457 


Facts  Which  Determine  Our  Export  Prospects. 


The  Export  Situation. 

Shortage  of  vessels  has  brought  about  a  very 
material  decline  in  exports  from  all  the  seaboard 
ports.  For  instance,  last  week  Baltimore  only 
exported  two  cargoes,  both  of  these  aggregating 
just  a  little  over  1,100  tons.  One  went  to  Cuba 
and  the  other  to  Honduras. 

Hampton  Roads  is  showin.g  up  better,  but  the 
shortage  of  vessels  there  is  more  serious  than 
at  any  time  since  last  spring.  Coal  is  plentiful 
there,  but  prices  are  firm. 

Bunker  business  is  good  at  all  of  the  upper 
ports.  The  decline  in  demand  has  been  most 
heavy  at  the  Hampton  Roads  ports,  due  to  the 
shortage  of  vessels  calling  for  cargo  lots. 

That  steamers  heading  for  the  United  States 
are  starting  out  from  originating  ports  with  very 
little  coal  in  their  bunkers,  is  indicated  by  the 
fact  that  early  in  the  week  the  following  vessels 
have  put  into  Bermuda  for  bunker  coal :  British 
steamer  Indrawadi,  from  China  and  Japan  for 
Boston;  Spanish  steamer  Mar  Caspio,  from  Pal- 
amas  for  Baltimore;  British  steamer  Eriner,  from 
Genoa  for  Hampton  Roads ;  British  steamer 
Strathard,  from  Havre  for  New  York;  British 
steamer  Silvercedar,  from  Bordeaux  for  New 
York;  Norwegian  steamer  Loch  Tay,  from  Rot¬ 
terdam  for*  New  York. 

The  Swedish  railways  are  said  to  be  in  the 
market  for  300,000  tons  of  “doubled  screened” 
coal,  transportation  to  be  arranged  later. 

Coastwise  schooners  are  being  diverted  from 
domestic  trade  by  fancy  rates  for  export.  There 
were  several  fixtures  this  week  of  large  schooners 
for  South  America. 

A  new  collier  of  5, .500  tons  capacity,  recently 
launched  for  a  coal  company,  has  been  placed 
under  charter  for  a  trip  to  Archangel  at  $30,000 
per  month.  She  will  take  a  general  car.go. 

Other  coastwise  coal  carrying  steamers  are 
being  diverted  to  the  off-shore  trade  due  to  fancy 
rates, being  paid  for  grain  and  merchandise. 


Conditions  in  Ecuador. 

The  American  consul  general  at  Guayaquil, 
Ecuador,  writes  The  Black  Diamond  under  date 
of  October  14,  on  the  coal  situation  there  as  fol¬ 
lows  : 

“The  war  has  had  no  appreciable  effect  on 
the  consumption  of  coal  in  Ecuador,  as  its  use 
is  limited  to  the  Guayaquil  &  Quito  Railway, 
and  Compania  de  Alumbrado,  the  coal  used  in 
the  government  war  vessels  being  purchased  from 
the  above. 

“The  price  paid  for  the  last  shipment  of  coal 
received  by  G.  &  Q.  Ry.  Co.,  was  $2.75  per  ton 
in  Philadelphia. 

“Welsh  coal  is  not  imported  into  Ecuador. 

“Conditons  for  discharging  have  not  been  al¬ 
tered,  the  gas  company  coal  being  discharged  at 
their  own  wharf,  and  that  of  the  railway  com¬ 
pany  on  lighters. 

“All  coal  is  imported  from  Australia  or  the 
United  States,  the  quantity  remaining  about  the 
same  year  after  year.” 


September  Exports  and  Nine  Months. 

Exports  of  coal  from  the  United  States  for 
September  and  comparisons  for  nine  months,  is 
shown  by  the  Department  of  Commerce  and 
Labor  to  be  as  follows ; 


English  Coal  Exports. 

Exports  of  coal,  coke  and  manufactured  fuel 
from  the  United  Kingdom  during  October  and 
the  first  first  ten  completed  months  of  1913,  1914 
and  1915; 


Country —  1013.  1914.  1915. 

Russia  .  7.10,112  19,107  2,890 

Sweden  .  .503,803  525,357  183,147 

Norway  .  200,079  197,813  195,514 

Denmark  .  281,369  313,873  185,511 

(lermany  .  835,839  . 

Netherlands  .  107,299  108,851  171,094 

Belgium  .  181,591  82,148  . 

France  . 1,077,519  1,000,000  1,002,300 

Spain  and  Canaries .  328,971  200,708  107,923 

Portugal,  Azores  &  Madeira .  94,748  05,434  84,009 

Italy  .  910,513  705,340  559,534 

Austria-Hungary  .  103,433  . 

Creece  . .  84,033  20,032  10,804 

Rournania  .  47,804  . 

Turkey  .  01,728  12,009  . 

Algeria  .  108,422  31,890  00,889 

Portuguese  West  Africa..  10,908  4,100  0.114 

Chile  .  35,310  10,382  385 

Brazil  .  147,943  71,590  22,274 

Uruguay  .  33,102  40,043  18.173 

Argentine  Republic .  297,148  173,008  38,553 

Channel  Islands .  14,720  12,317  8,924 

Gibraltar  .  25.311  15,110  20,744 

Malta  . 42,008  13,193  l:!,e06 

Egypt  (including  Anglo- 

Egyptit.n  Sudan) .  229,100  167,770  74,353 

Aden  and  dependencies...  20,881  10,907  1  476 

British  India .  14,210  12,523  715 

Ceylon  .  23,704  16,834  . 

Other  countries .  101,103  95,122  53,056 


Total  anthracite  .  281,443  154,855  313,259 

Total  steam  . 4,9.52,04.3  2,939,525  2,370,c91 

Total  gas  . 1,026,497  038,971  621,707 

Total  household  .  159,373  136,297  63,451 

Total  other  sorts .  319,517  74,849  155,178 


0,739,473  3,944,497  3,530,540 

Coke  .  150,955  150,879  113,499 

Manufactured  fuel .  169,500  56,005  127,024 


7,059,928  4,151,381  3,771,069 

TOTALS  FIRST  TEN  MONTHS. 

1913.  1914.  1915. 

■Anthracite  .  2,470,034  1,990,021  1,834,116 

Steam  . 44,708,116  37,588,990  20,371,294 

Gas  .  9,010,209  8,964,721  6,275,072 

Household  .  1,495,200  1,244,893  927,486 

Other  sorts .  2,972,796  2,272,221  1.536,190 


61,257,261  52,060,846  36,944,758 

Coke  .  989,010  975,204  798,188 

Manufactured  fuel .  1,711,865  1,487,953  1,087,000 


Grand  total . 63,958,136  54,523,993  38,830,606 


Note. — The  figures  in  the  above  table  do  not  include 
admiralty  and  certain  other  shipments. 


Foreign  Freight  Rates. 

W.  W.  Baltic  &  Co.,  Produce  Exchange,  New 
York,  report  as  follows  under  date  of  November 
20:  Nineteen  shillings  per  quarter  (which  is  about 
eighty-nine  shillings  per  ton )  has  been  paid  on 
grain  to  the  west  coast  of  Italy  and  Mediter¬ 
ranean  rates  are  firm  and  advancing. 

South  American  rates  are  practically  the  same 
as  a  week  ago  while  rates  to  the  West  Indies  are 
firmer. 

We  have  chartered  a  few  steamers  for  export 
coal  since  our  last  report  but  none  of  these  fix¬ 
tures  have  been  reported. 

The  only  way  in  which  coal  chartering  can 
be  arranged  is  by  shippers  getting  orders  firm 
in  hand,  so  that  they  are  in  position  to  make 
firm  offers,  and  although  tonnage  is  more  than 
scarce,  occasionally  steamers  can  be  obtained  if 
shippers  can  pay  market  rates.  In  some  in¬ 
stances  we  have  been  obliged  to  charter  steamers 


on  time  charters,  as  we  could  not  arrange  charters 
for  shipper.s  on  a  satisfactory  rate  basis. 

We  would  quote  freight  rates  on  coal  by 
steamer  as  follows : 

We-st  coast  of  Italy,  ahcut  90s;  Marseilles,  85s  to  90s; 
Barcelona  or  other  good  .Spanish  i  orts,  80s  to  85s  (Span¬ 
ish  dues  for  account  of  cargo). 

Note — Charters  for  Italy,  France  and  Spain  read: 
“Lay  days  to  commence  on  steamer’s  arrival  at  or  off 
port  of  discharge;  Is  per  net  register  ton  per  day  de¬ 
murrage.” 

Montevideo  about  50s,  50P  discharge;  Buenos  Aires 
or  La  Plata,  about  50s,  500  discharge;  Rosario,  about 
55s;  Rio  de  Janeiro,  45s  to  47s  6d,  500  discharge;  San¬ 
tos,  47s  fid  to  50s.  (Consignees  paying  docas  dues.) 

Valpara-so  or  Callao,  $11.00  to  $12.00;  Havana,  $2.75 
to  $3.25;  Cardenas  or  Sagua,  $3.00  to  $3.50;  Cienfuegos, 
$3.25  to  $3.75;  Port  of  Spain,  Trinidad,  $4.25  to  $4.50; 
.St.  Lucia,  $4.00  to  $4.50;  St.  Thomas,  $3.75  to  $4.00; 
Barbados,  $4.25  to  $4.50;  Kingston,  $3.75  to  $4.00; 
Curacao,  about  $4.00  and  p.  c. ;  .Santiigo,  $3.50  to  $4.00; 
Guantanamo,  $3.50  to  $4.00;  Demerara,  $6.00  to  $7.00; 
Bermuda,  $3.50  to  $4.00;  Vera  Cruz,  $5.00  to  $6.00; 
Tampico,  $5.00  to  $6.00. 


Recent  Coal  Freight  Charters. 

Str.  Eurasis  (Ital.),  Philadelphia  to  west  coast  of  Italy, 
private  terms. 

Schr.  R.  B.  White,  Newport  News  to  Cardenas,  private 
terms. 

Barr  Joseph  (Itab),  Philadelphia  to  west  coast  of  Italy, 
owners’  account. 

Str.  New  Orleans,  Philadelphia  to  Cienfuegos,  private 
terms. 

Ship  Edward  Sewall,  Virginia  port  to  Rio  Janeiro, 
coal,  $8.50.  “December-January.” 

Bark  Snowden,  Virginia  port  to  Buenos  Aires,  coal,  $9. 

Schr.  Waltham,  Baltimore  to  Cay  Francis,  coal,  pri¬ 
vate  terms. 

Schrs.  E.  R.  Winslow,  Ruth  E.  Merrill  and  Single- 
ton  Palmer,  Hampton  Roads  to  Rio  Janeiro,  coal,  $8.25. 
Previously. 

Str.  George  E.  Warren,  Philadelphia  to  Cienfuegos, 
3,700  tons  coal;  back  to  north  of  Hatteras,  sugar,  pri¬ 
vate  terms.  “Prompt.” 

Str.  Thelma  (Nor.),  Philadelphia  to  Sagua,  coal;  thence 
north  of  Hatteras,  sugar,  and  back  to  C'ienfuegos,  coal, 
private  terms.  “Prompt.” 

Schr.  Eleanor  F.  Bartram,  Philadelphia  to  Buenos 
Aires,  1,600  tons  coal,  $9. 


Greek  Coal  Trade. 

The  American  consul  general  at  Athens,  Greece, 
writes  The  Black  Diamond  under  date  of  Octo¬ 
ber  22,  as  follows ; 

“Coal  consumption  has  fallen  off  from  thirty 
per  cent  to  forty  per  cent  on  account  of  the 
practical  stoppage  of  much  of  the  normal  traffic. 

“From  one  viewpoint,  business  has  improved 
for  the  immediate  vicinity,  as  an  enormous 
amount  of  supplies  of  all  kinds  have  gone  into 
Serbia  and  other  Balkan  states  through  Greece, 
much  of  this  lieing  transshipped  at  Piraeus — the 
Port  of  Athens — on  its  way  into  the  Balkans  via 
Saloniki.  For  the  last  month,  however,  business 
has  been  to  a  larger  extent  practically  at  a 
stand,  owin.g  to  the  Grecian  mobilization  and  the 
uncertainty  of  what  will  be  the  country’s  role 
in  the  conflict. 

“Very  little  .American  coal  has  been  disposed 
of  in  the  Grecian  market,  largely  on  account  of 
almost  prohibitive  freight  rates;  some  .American 
coal  of  the  Pocahontas  type  was  brought  into 
Greece  last  April  and  sold  at  fifty-four  shillings 
(.$13. ,50)  per  ton.  The  buyers,  however,  seem  to 
prefer  the  larger  lump  Welsh  coal  and  are  willing 
to  pay  as  a  rule  as  much  as  four  shillings  more 
for  it  than  for  a  similar  .grade  American  coal. 

“On  October  1st,  of  this  year,  Welsh  coal  No. 
2  Admiralty  was  quoted  at  sixty  shillings  ($15) 
c.  i.  f.  Piraeus,  1  am  informed,  however,  that  the 
price  has  within  the  last  few  days  risen  to  sev¬ 
enty-two  shillings  ($18)  and  more. 

“English  companies  allow,  so  local  buyers  state, 
a  credit  of  from  two  to  three  months,  so  when 
the  existing  preference  for  Welsh  coal  is  taken 
into  consideration  together  with  the  almost  pro¬ 
hibitive  freight  rates  which  obtain  between  the 
United  States  and  Greece,  it  will  be  seen  that 
the  obstacles!  to  be  overcome  before  American 
coal  can  be  profitably  sold  in  Greece,  are  many 
and  serious.  At  present  English  coal  ships  un¬ 
load  at  the  rate  of  500  tons  per  day,  the  normal 
rate  is  750  tons  daily,  but  as  a  number  of  li.ghters 
have  been  liorrowed  by  the  Allies,  for  service 
elsewhere,  the  local  facilities  are  somewhat  im¬ 
paired.  In  normal  times  eighty-five  per  cent  of 
coal  sold  in  Greece  comes  from  British  mines, 
perhaps  ten  per  cent  is  from  Westphalian  mines, 
while  the  remainder  comes  from  miscellaneous 
sources.” 


The  imports  of  coal  and  coke  into  Italy  during 
the  first  six  months  of  this  year  showed  the 
heavy  decline  of  1,285,3(50  tons,  being  4,110,110 
tons,  as  against  5,404,470  tons  in  the  first  half 
of  1914,  and  5,295,147  tons  in  the  first  half  of 
1913.  The  total  value  declined  to  nearly  as  great 
an  extent,  this  year’s  imports  being  valued  at 
5,084,360  pounds,  as  against  7,458,160  pounds  in 
the  1914  period  and  7,307,320  pounds,  in  the 
first  half  of  1913. 


-  - September - \/ - - Nine  Months  Enc'ing  September - 

- 1014 - - 1915 - - 191.1 - - 1014 - ^  f - ^1915- 


Quantity. 

Value. 

Quantity. 

Value. 

Quantity. 

Vjliie. 

Ou.intity. 

Value. 

Quantity. 

Value. 

Anthracite  .  . .  . 

395,088  $2,091,296 

289,790  $1,512,573 

3,173,002 

16.750,031 

3,002,057 

10,031 ,297 

2,594,754 

13,40.3,508 

Exported  to- 

Canada  . 

369,213 

2,003,947 

276,583 

1,448,383 

3,119,522 

16,501,586 

.3,017,158 

15,807,511 

2,538,305 

13,201,555 

134 

955 

2.469 

15.153 

6 

46 

6 

46 

2,415 

9,518 

Uruguay  . 

'605 

3,367 

Other  countries 

i  5,869 

27,303 

13,073 

63,2.35 

5.1,480 

235,045 

44,893 

223,740 

50,960 

23.3,915 

‘Bituminous. 

1,857,520  $4,570,005 

1,832,977  $4,674,423  13,793,963  $34,777,105 

10,902,780  $20,779,590 

12,421,560  $32,317,930 

Exported  to- 

Italy  . 

324,925 

980,033 

2,348,870 

0,972,044 

Canada  . 

1,202,930 

2, .581,801 

944,800 

2,025,305 

10,283,998 

24,820,230 

7,241,856 

15,815,947 

5,082,455 

12,104,488 

Panama  . 

23,160 

02,549 

59,969 

105,622 

387,582 

1,048,753 

214,131 

576,185 

389,419 

1,069,138 

Mexico  . 

42,312 

163,529 

21,787 

93,052 

397,753 

1,142,285 

257,380 

980,522 

238,033 

1,083,173 

Cuba  . 

97,787 

277,418 

100.269 

315,796 

983,392 

2,0.57,947 

79.3,898 

2,210,6.30 

848,805 

2,349,370 

Other  West  In- 

dies  and  Ber- 

muda  . 

04,099 

193,201 

4  4,835 

139,528 

464,645 

1,342,747 

479,923 

1,428,000 

353,440 

1,093,344 

Argentina  . 

55,567 

174,377 

56,305 

167,080 

55,877 

1 56,:?90 

193,780 

583,737 

719,019 

2,109,014 

Hrazil  . 

45,846 

145,092 

61,223 

178,48,3 

211,045 

674,780 

201,071 

647,800 

644,194 

1,031,382 

Uruguay  . 

4,929 

14,787 

4,275 

12,184 

5,163 

11,992 

01,443 

182,213 

135,005 

.395,492 

Other  countries 

,  320,884 

957,251 

205,589 

597,335 

1.004, .508 

2,912,909 

1,459,292 

4,347,890 

1,107,200 

3,450,791 

Total  coal .  . 

2,252,603  $6, '■>61,301  2,122,767  $6,186,990  16,966,905 

$51,533,730  13,901,837  $42,810,887 

15,010,314  $45,781,444 

C'Dke  . 

28,510 

109,490 

59,395 

232,229 

662,863 

2,479,281 

485,171 

1,810,.507 

573,084 

2,205,057 

*The  above  figures  do  not  include  fuel  or  ljunker  coal  lailer  on  vessels  engaged  in  tlie  foreign  trade,  which 
agg“egntefl  during  the  month  and  nine  months  ending  Septemoer  vS  follows:  September.  1911.  67.3,372  tons,  valued 
at  $2,221,61.5;  September,  1915,  651,788  tons,  valued  at  $2,lf4,705:  nine  months  ending  September,  1913,  5,763,584 
tons,  valued  at  $18,709,694;  1914,  .5,711,948  tons,  valued  at  $18,911,185;  1915,  5,678,815  tons,  valued  at  $19,100,942. 


458 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[December  4 


General  Review. 


Chicago  Market. 


The  Scarcity  of  Ships  and  Cars  Interferes 
With  the.  Coal  Movement  and  Prices 
Are  a  Little  Easier. 


The  Volume  of  Business  Is  Fair,  But 
Production  Is  Too  Heavy  for 
Stable  Prices. 


It  seems  difficult,  if  not  almost  impossible,  for 
the  coal  trade  to  .get  away  from  a  reaction  in  the 
coal  business  in  the  early  part  of  December. 
In  other  years  this  reaction  has  been  easy  to 
explain  on  the  score  that  retailers  and  others 
had  bought  so  much  coal  in  the  preceding  three 
months,  they  did  not  have  any  need  for  coal  or 
any  storage  space  left  in  which  to  put  it. 

This  year  there  is  a  customary  lull  in  Decem¬ 
ber  without  any  such  apparent  explanation.  The 
record  shows  for  example  that  the  movement  to 
retailers  has  been  below  normal  every  month 
since  the  first  of  last  April. 

The  fact  of  the  matter  seems  to  be  that  three 
things  are  combinin.g  to  make  the  trade  a  little 
soft  just  now  regardless  of  heavy  demands  in 
other  directions.  The  most  important  one  of 
these  is  of  course  the  endiag  of  the  season  of 
navigation  on  the  great  lakes  the  first  of  De¬ 
cember.  It  is  true  that  hull  and  cargo  insur¬ 
ance  does  not  expire  until  midnight  of  December 
12th  this  year  and  therefore  coal  shipments  could 
continue  until  that  time.  However,  there  is  such 
a  demand  for  boats  in  the  down  bound  grain  trade 
that  coal  men  cannot  get  boats  -without  paying 
a  premium.  This  they  are  not  disposed  to  do 
in  view  of  the  publication  of  lake  figures  re¬ 
cently,  which  show  that  to  Duluth  and  Superior 
there  was  an  increase  in  tonnage  of  about  one- 
half  million  with  the  assumption  that  shipments 
to  other  directions  have  also  increased. 

The  two  other  instances  are  of  a  similar  char¬ 
acter.  That  is  to  sav.  the  movement  of  coal 
to  New  England  could  be  much  heavier  than 
it  is  now  if  the  operators  and  New  England  job¬ 
bers  could  get  ships  for  coastwise  trade.  A  third, 
which  is  a  distinct  disappointment  is  the  inabil¬ 
ity  of  the  operators  to  get  ships  to  engage  in 
what  would  be  a  much  larger  volurne  of  export 
trade  if  transportation  could  be  provided. 

With  lar.ge  shipments  thus  shut  off  in  three  im¬ 
portant  directions  the  all-rail  trade  has  been  asked 
to  absorb  a  very  much  larger  supply  of  coal  than 
was  anticipated.  In  the  east  this  is  not  partic¬ 
ularly  bothersome  because  the  car  supply  con¬ 
tinues  to  be  tight  there.  On  the  west  bound  move¬ 
ment  of  eastern  coal  and  on  all  the  movement 
of  western  coal  the  car  supply  is  easy.  This 
fact  in  the  western  trade  has  been  responsible 
for  some  disturbance  in  the  market.  For  ex¬ 
ample,  a  free  car  supply  released  from  the  lake 
trade  has  allowed  the  reconsignment  into  the 
western  territory  of  quite  a  lot  of  coal  destined 
to  move  bv  the  lakes  but  not  finding  boats.  This 
softened  the  market  on  smokeless.  In  finding  a 
market  for  this  surplus  the  operators  disturbed 
western  conditions  materially. 

The  .general  business  situation  may  be  said  to 
be  improving  steadily.  For  a  time  the  steel  mills 
were  quoting  billets  at  $65  a  ton.  This  is  fully 
too  per  cent  above  the  price  customarily  pre¬ 
vailing  when  the  steel  trade  is  in  a  boom 
period.  It  was  feared  for  a  while  that  this  would 
serve  as  an  embargo  on  improvement  in  general 
business  because  it  would  make  the  price  of 
finished  steel  entirely  too  high  for  anyone  to 
use  it  in  ordinary  business.  However  it  de¬ 
veloped  that  fancy  prices  were  bein.g  quoted  main¬ 
ly  on  the  speculative  phases  of  the  steel  business 
and  the  mills  are  holding  in  reserve  a  certain 
portion  of  their  productive  capacity  to  satisfy 
legitimate  home  demands.  Assurances  of  this 
kind  which  have  a  most  encouraging  effect  on 
business.  On  these  various  accounts  the  demand 
for  steam  coal  everywhere  is  much  stronger  than 
it  has  been  for  several  years.  An  indication  of 
this  is  the  price  of  slack  in  the  eastern  territory 
and  the  price  of  screenings  in  the  west.  In  the 
eastern  districts  slack  is  bringing  in  anywhere 
from  sixty-five  to  ninety  cents  a  ton  according  to 
quality  and  in  the  west  screenings  are  quoted  all 
the  way  from  seventy  to  eighty-five  cents  a  ton. 

In  some  places,  particularly  in  the  Pittsburgh 
district  and  in  portions  of  West  Virginia  the 
mines  are  sold  up  on  mine  run  coal  and  have 
withdrawn  from  the  market. 

It  is  a  little  too  early  yet  to  begin  to  measure 
the  storage  movement  of  coal  which  is  expected 
to  take  place  as  a  result  of  threatened  suspension 
of  the  mines  at  the  wage  contract  period  on  the 
first  of  April.  Even  so,  the  first  storage  move¬ 
ment  is  under  way ;  some  of  the  lar.ger  railroads 
are  beginning  to  store  coal  in  modest  amounts 
and  the  public  Utilities  companies  are  doing  the 
same  things. 


Office  of  The  Black  Diamond, 
Chicago,  December  2. 

One  or  two  incidents  gave  the  Chicago  market 
an  impression  of  weakness  not  altogether  war¬ 
ranted  by  the  status  of  demand.  At  the  same 
time  it  is  apparent  that  the  available  productive 
capacity  is  bein.g  worked  harder  than  even  the 
rather  lively  demand  warrants. 

The  first  of  the  incidents  in  question  was  a 
flooding  of  this  market  with  smokeless  lump  and 
egg  coal.  It  seems  that  three  or  four  companies 
had  attempted  to  ship  coal  by  the  lakes.  There 
were  some  temporary  interruptions,  of  no  great 
importance,  in  the  transportation  movement.  How¬ 
ever  the  interruptions  were  long  enough  to  de¬ 
cide  the  boat  owners  that  they  would  not  wait  for 
the  low-freight  coal  car.go,  but  would  hurry  back 
to  the  head  of  the  lakes  to  take  advantage  of 
the  high  freight  rates  in  grain.  Thus  several 
cargoes  of  smokeless  lump  and  eg.g  were  left 
marooned  on  the  lower  lake  docks  and  had  to 
he  disposed  of  in  some  way.  It  was  impossible 
to  get  other  boats  and  so  this  coal  was  diverted 
by  all-rail  to  Chicago  which  is  notorious  as  the 
dumping  ground  for  such  stray  lots  of  coal. 

The  second  incident  arose  from  the  fact  that 
one  selling  agent  was  a  little  too  sanguine  about 
the  immediate  future  of  the  Chicago  market.  He 
not  only  permitted  his  supply  of  anthracite  to 
come  on  uninterruptedly  but  speculated  a  little 
and  brought  into  this  market  Upwards  of  150 
cars  of  various  sizes  which  for  quite  a  while 
were  up  to  demurrage  and  had  to  be  moved  at 
some  concession  in  price. 

These  two  things,  coupled  with  the  fact  that 
the  car  supply  remains  annoyiagly  free,  gave  rath¬ 
er  an  easy  tone  to  prices  all  week  although  the 
careful  observers  of  the  market  realize  that  con¬ 
ditions  fundamentally  are  sound. 

The  Franklin  county  situation  seemed  to  bb 
both  strong  and  weak.  The  point  of  view  of 
the  commentator  determines  which  is  the  case. 
For  example,  the  operators,  on  shipments  direct 
from  the  mines,  especially  into  the  country  dis¬ 
tricts,  are  holding  firmly  for  circular  price  of 
$1.75  on  lump,  egg,  and  number  one  nut.  On 
the  other  hand,  there  has  been  a  considerable 
accumulation  of  unsold  and  unbilled  coal  at  the 
mines.  And,  it  has  been  a  known  fact  for  the 
last  two  weeks  that  three  producing  companies 
have  been  filteriixg  coal  through  Chicago  whole¬ 
sale  concerns  at  such  prices  that  the  Chicago 
jobber  can  make  a  handsome  profit  and  still  under¬ 
sell  the  producers  of  coal  in  the  outlying  dis¬ 
tricts.  Indeed  where  the  operator  has  been 
holding  for  $1.75,  some  Chicago  jobbers  have  been 
offering  their  product  to  their  customers  at  $1.50. 
The  latter  part  of  the  week  presented  indica¬ 
tions  that  this  situation  is  being  cleaned  up.  Mean¬ 
while  screenings  prices  are  somewhat  stroager 
than  heretofore  quoted.  Prices  up  to  Thursday 
were : 


Franklin  County — 

Lump  . 

Egg  . 

No.  1  nut . 

No.  2  nut . '. 

Mine  run . 

2-inch  screenings  . . 


F.  O.  B. 
Chicago. 
$2.80 
2.86 
2.80 

2.15  @12.20 
1.80@1.85 


F.  O.  B. 
Mines. 
$1.76 

1.75 

1.76 
1.50 

1.10(31.15 
.75@  .80 


Williamson  county  operators  have  been  con¬ 
ducting  their  affairs  well,  within  the  last  week, 
with  the  result  that  there  is  not  much  of  a 
spread  in  price  between  top  and  bottom  figures. 
For  example  the  circular  price  has  been  variable 
on  lump,  egg,  and  number  one  washed  at  $1.75 
from  the  larger  companies,  and  $1.60  from  the 
smaller  ones.  The  latter  in  places  have  cut 
prices  to  $1.50,  but  the  market  has  not  been  very 
badly  demoralized. 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Williamson  County —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Lump  . $2.65@2.80  $1.60@1.75 

Egg  .  2.65@2.80  1.60@1.75 

No.  1  washed .  2.80  1.75 

No.  2  washed .  2.45  1.40 


Saline  county  coal  has  not  been  as  strong  as  it 
mi.ght  be  because  the  operators  have  been  per¬ 
suaded  to  increase  production  ahead  of  the  time 
when  there  was  a  clear  demand  for  the  output. 
In  the  effort  to  market  the  coal  thus  produced, 
prices  in  places  have  broken  to  $1.50,  although 
the  screenings  remain  firm. 

F.  p.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Saline  County —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Lump  . $2.65@2.80  $1.60(31.75 

Mine  run .  2.20  1.15 

Screenings  .  1.80@1.85  .75(g  .80 

154-inch  lump .  2.35  1.30 


Central  Illinois  coal  has  shown  a  degree  of  firm¬ 
ness  due  to  the  fact  that  a  couple  of  good  sized 
producers  are  out  of  the  market  and  due  to  the 
further  fact  that  the  railroads  are  taking  on  some 
coal  for  storage  purposes. 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 


Central  Illinois— 

Lump  . 

Egg  . 

Nut  . 

Mine  run . 

Screenings  . 


Chicago. 

$2.57 

2.32@2.47 

2.47 

1.87 

1.47(31.52 


Mines. 
$1.75 
1.50@1.65 
1.65 
1.05 
.65@  .70 


Clinton,  Indiana,  coal  shows  very  little  change 
in  either  demand  or  prices  within  the  last  week. 
The  best  demand,  of  course,  is  for  steam  sizes 
produced  from  the  mines  in  the  number  five 
and  six  veins.  Prices  Up  to  Thursday  were: 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 


Clinton — 

Chicago. 

Mines. 

No.  4  domestic  lump.... 

$1.65(31.75 

No.  4  egg . 

.  2.12 

1.35 

Nut  . 

1.85 

No.  6  and  6  mine  run .  . , 

1.10 

No.  5  and  6  screenings.  . 

.  1.57 

.80 

The  strengthening  of 

Knox  county 

screenings 

has  been  the  feature 

of 

that  market 

within  the 

last  week.  Prices  on 

domestic  sizes  are  nominal. 

The  market  up  to  Thursday  was : 

F.  O.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

Knox  County — 

Chicago. 

Mines. 

Lump  . 

$1.50 

Egg  . 

1.60 

Mine  run . 

1.05 

Screenings  . 

.  1.62(31.72 

.75(3  .35 

The  anthracite  situation  has  been  up  in  spots 
and  down  in  other  places.  Cold  weather  has 
brought  a  better  demand  for  anthracite  coal  be¬ 
cause  the  retailers  have  been  making  small  sales 
and  hence  have  needed  more  coal.  At  the  same 
time  some  few  of  the  selling  agencies  allowed 
shipments  to  come  forward  too  freely  with  the 
result  that  prices  have  been  shaded  in  order  to 
avoid  the  payment  of  demurra.ge  charges. 

The  congestion  of  the  smokeless  market  by 
the  unwarranted  shipments  of  lump  and  egg 
coal  has  disturbed  both  the  market  on  prepared 
sizes  and  that  on  mine  run.  For  a  good  part  of 
the  week,  lump  and  egg  have  been  sold  at  mine 
run  prices  of  $1.40  and  dealers  who  had  con¬ 
tracts  for  mine  run  coal  have  cancelled  them  in 
order  to  get  the  lump  and  e.gg  to  improve  the 
quality  of  their  mine  rUn.  This  threw  a  lot  of 
mine  run  coal  back  into  the  market  which  had 
to  be  disposed  of  at  a  cut  in  price.  Sales  were 
made  freely  at  $1.25  and  some  few  instances  are 
reported  where  sales  as  low  as  $1.15  were  ac¬ 
cepted.  The  prices  up  to  Thursday  were : 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B.  ^ 
Smokeless —  Chicago.  Mines.  * 

Mine  rur.  . $3.30@3.45  $1.25@1.40 

Lump  and  egg .  3.45@3.95  1.40@1.90 


Somerset  county  operators  are  having  a  good 
demand  in  the  east  and  having  to  shade  prices 
if  they  wish  to  make  sales  in  Chicago  have  re¬ 
fused  to  ship  their  coal  here  in  any  quantity  and 
thus  the  market  has  been  firm  at  the  following 
prices : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Somerset  County —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Mine  rui  . $3.30@3.45  $1.25@1.40 

Lump  and  egg .  3.70(33.80  1.65@1.75 

Hocking  coal  has  been  only  fair  in  demand  and 
the  operators  have  prevented  a  break  in  price  by 
keepin.g  the  coal  off  the  market.  The  situation 
for  that  reason  is  fairly  firm. 

F.  p.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Hocking —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Domestic  lump . $3.25  @3.40  $1.60  @1.75 

Splint  coal  continues  to  be  a  fairly  strong  fac¬ 
tor  in  the  market  largely  because  shipments  have 
been  curtailed  owing  to  a  shortage  of  cars  at 
the  mines  and  a  better  demand  in  the  east. 

Prices  up  to  Thursday  were : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Kanawha —  Chicago.  Mines. 

1^-inch  lump . $3.40@3.50  $1.50@1.60 

At  few  times  has  eastern  Kentucky  coal  been 

sold  at  a  greater  spread  in  prices.  Lump  and 
block  combined  of  average  quality  has  been  sell¬ 
ing  all  the  way  from  $1.65  to  $2.00,  while  the 
better  known  coal  has  been  sellin.g  at  $2.40.  The 
market  up  to  Thursday  was : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Eastern  Kentucky —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Domestic  lump  . $3.55@4.30  $1.65@2.40 

Egg  .  3.40@3.90  1.50(32.00 

The  coke  market  is  practically  unchanged  in 
every  department  except  that  the  demand  for  the 
domestic  sizes  is  not  quite  so  keen.  By-product 
coke  is  having  to  meet  in  the  retail  trade  the 

competition  of  cheap  coals  of  other  sorts  and 

the  price  has  eased.  The  prices  up  to  Thursday 


were : 

F.  O.  B. 

Coke —  Chicago. 

Connellsville  . $5.25(35.50 

By-product,  foundry .  5.25@6.50 

By-product,  egg  and  stove .  4.75@4.95 

By-product,  nut  .  4.75@4.95 

Gas  house  .  4.00 


No.  23] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


459 


Pittsburgh  Trade. 

Prices  Vary  According  to  the  Condition 
of  the  Individual  Order  Book — Cars 
and  Labor  Are  Scarce. 

Office  of  The  Black  Diamond, 

1502  Oliver  Building, 

PiTTSBURCH,  Pa.,  December  1,  1915. 

Conditions  in  the  Pittsburgh  coal  market 
continue  to  become  more  and  more  complex 
— some  operators  claim  prices  to  be  harden¬ 
ing,  all  along  the  line,  while  others  see  soft 
spots.  Quotations  representing  the  general 
range  of  prices  for  standard  grades  of  coal, 
under  the  circumstances,  are  difficult  to  name, 
some  producers  quoting  much  higher  figures 
than  others,  for  relatively  the  same  deliveries. 
These  differences  probably  are  largely  due  to 
the  condition  of  individual  order  books  or  ca¬ 
pacity  for  deliveries  at  the  time.  Many  are 
practically  out  of  the  market. 

The  car  and  labor  situation  does  not  seem 
to  improve — and  this  has  a  tendency  to  keep 
prices  hard.  And,  while  no  large  tonnage 
inquiry  is  reported,  contract  deliveries  con¬ 
tinue  at  the  maximum,  and  colder  weather  has 
increased  domestic  demand  to  the  extent  that 
operators  seem  to  have  about  all  they  can  do 
to  meet  it. 

Higher  prices,  and  over-sold  conditions  at 
the  iron  and  steel  mills  in  this  district,  with 
continued  advances  in  sight,  seem  to  indicate 
a  further  hardening  of  price  for  not  only  pig 
iron,  as  shown  by  the  market,  but  also  of  coal 
and  coke,  and  the  general  belief  is  that  these 
conditions  are  going  to  maintain  for  months 
to  come.  Many  plants  in  this  district  that 
have  long  been  idle  have  been  put  into  opera¬ 
tion,  and  mills  going  at  top  capacity,  are  in¬ 
creasing  the  same  to  meet  the  situation. 

Slack  seems  in  stronger  demand  than  ever, 
prices  ranging  from  eighty-five  cents  to  nine¬ 
ty-five  cents,  and  we  hear  of  one  order  placed 
for  December  deliveries  at  $1.00.  Report  has 
it  that  Bethlehem  Steel  is  making  inquiry  this 
week  for  200  tons  mine  run  coal  per  day,  and 
though  several  are  quoting  on  this,  quotations 
are  being  carefully  guarded,  and  no  figures 
are  obtainable.  Mine  run  coal  is  quoted  for 
spot  delivery  all  the  way  from  $1.20  to  $1.35 — 
mines,  by  various  parties — three-quarter  at 
from  $1.35  to  $1.40,  and  five-quarter  coal  at 
$1.50  to  $1.60 — the  closing  of  lake  shipping 
apparently  showing  no  bad  effect  as  yet. 

The  general  situation  can  be  said  to  be  very 
quiet  and  devoid  of  event  of  note.  Purchas¬ 
ing  agents  from  out  of  the  district,  as  well 
as  prospectors,  have  been  scarce  in  the  mar¬ 
ket  for  some  weeks  past,  and  probably  will 
be  until  after  April  1st  conditions  develop, 
and  the  time  for  the  renewal  of  coal  contracts 
arrives.  There  has  been  little  activity  in  coal 
lands  for  some  months — investors  awaiting 
the  outcome  of  both  foreign  and  domestic 
matters  of  moment. 

The  coke  market  while  still  a  little  soft, 
is  strong,  the  Connellsville  region  doing  just 
about  all  it  can  do,  to-wit,  about  430,000  tons. 
This  might  be  considered  normal  capacity 
though  under  perfect  working  conditions  it 
would  turn  out  450,000  but  this  condition  is 
seldom  maintained.  Prices  hold  fairly  firm 
at  $2.25  to  $2.35  for  prompt  furnace  coke, 
with  ten  cents  to  fifteen  cents  advance  on 
these  figures  for  the  first  half,  while  foundry 
maintains  its  stand  at  $3.00  to  $3.25. 

The  Youngstown  Sheet  and  Tube  Company 
has  closed  a  contract  for  sufficient  coke  to 
operate  its  blast  furnaces  from  January  1st 
to  March  31  of  next  year,  when  the  new  by¬ 
product  plant  is  expected  to  be  placed  in 
operation.  The  tonnage  bought  at  this  time 
is  225,000.  The  price  was  not  announced. 

The  Corrigan-McKinney  Company  are  also 
reported  covered  until  spring,  expecting  their 
new  by-product  ovens  to  be  in  operation  by 
that  time.  Many  think  that  by-product  pro¬ 
duction  will  seriously  effect  the  Connellsville 
coke  trade,  but  it  is  also  said  that  numbers  of 
plants  in  that  district  have  exhausted  their 
coal  resources,  and  that  it  will  take  the  by¬ 
product  output  to  make  good  this  exhaustion, 
and  will  in  nowise  hurt  the  interests  that  are 
producing.  Heating  coke  demand  is  increas¬ 
ing  with  the  colder  weather,  and  is  bringing 
$2.15  to  $2.25,  with  higher  prices  quoted  for 
late  December  deliveries. 


Pittsburgh  News  Items. 

The  best  coal  shipments  for  any  one  month 
since  October,  1913,  are  reported  for  October 
of  this  year  by  Lockmaster  George  W.  Pax¬ 
ton  at  Lock  No.  4.  The  shipments  during 
October  of  this  year  totaled  19,819,000.  The 
record  of  October,  1913,  was  19,933,000  bush¬ 
els.  This  in  turn  was  the  best  record  of  any 
one  month  since  June  of  1910. 

The  Bird  Hill  Coal  Company  will  make 
extensive  improvements  to  its  mines  at  Kelso, 
Pa.  The  improvements,  on  which  work  was 
started  this  week,  will  increase  the  daily  out¬ 
put  from  500  tons  to  between  1,000  and  1,500 
tons.  The  present  force  of  160  men  will  be 
increased  to  400.  Instead  of  only  operating 
one  seam,  the  C  Prine,  the  Bird  Coal  Com¬ 
pany  intends  taking  out  the  B  seam  of  coal. 
To  do  this,  a  new  opening  is  necessary. 
Ground  was  broken  this  week  for  a  new  slope 
and  a  shaft. 

The  following  delegates  were  appointed 
yesterday  by  the  Pittsburgh  Coal  Exchange 
to  attend  the  twelfth  annual  convention  of 
the  National  Rivers  and  Harbors  Congress  to 
be  held  at  the  New  Willard  Hotel  in  Wash¬ 
ington,  D.  C.,  December  8th  and  9th  and  10: 
William  B.  Rodgers,  W.  K.  Field,  J.  A.  Don¬ 
aldson,  S.  C.  Gailey,  W.  Harry  Brown,  A.  B. 
Shepherd,  C.  C.  Bunton,  A.  H.  Stolzenbach, 
.Arthur  Moren,  James  Moren,  James  G.  Gee- 
gan,  J.  H.  Rodgers,  P.  M.  Pfeil,  George  Mc- 
Davison,  W.  P.  Fieger,  W.  T.  Smoot,  John  W. 
Hubbard,  Warren  Elsejq  John  C.  Neff,  George 
W.  Thomas,  J.  Frank  Tilley,  T.  M.  Rees  and 
C.  C.  Ramsey. 

West  Virginia  bituminous  coal  will  cost 
fifteen  cents  more  a  ton  in  Michigan,  Illinois, 
Wisconsin,  Minnesota,  and  nearby  states, 
than  in  Chicago,  or  points  in  Ohio  if  the  In¬ 
terstate  Commerce  Commission  approves  an 
application  of  the  Kanawha  &  Michigan  and 
associated  railroads.  Manufacturers  and  oth¬ 
ers  using  bunker  coal  in  the  southeastern 
states  likewise  will  pay  ten  cents  more  a  ton, 
should  the  proposed  rates  contained  in  the 
application  become  effective.  The  roads  have 
applied  to  be  allowed  these  increases  to  the 
territories  named,  as  a  means  of  ending  the 
controversy  that  has  become  acute  between 
the  West  Virginia  coal  operators  and  rail¬ 
roads  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  Western 
Pennsylvania  coal  operators  and  railroads 
serving  that  territory  on  the  other.  Tariffs  on 
the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  have  been  filed,  effective 
December  15,  providing  for  a  fifteen  cent  in¬ 
crease  in  rates  and  by  the  Pennsylvania  rail¬ 
road,  effective  December  20,  making  similar 
advances. 


Indianapolis  Trade. 


Indianapolis,  Ind.,  December  2. — (Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — The  coal  trade  in  Indiana  is  better 
than  it  has  been  for  a  long  time.  In  fact,  the 
operators  and  dealers  agree  for  once  that  it  is 
quite  satisfactory.  The  pessimism  marking  the 
situation  for  the  past  year  has  vanished.  The 
reason,  of  course,  is  the  very  good  demand  for 
steam  grades.  The  mines  are  being  operated  right 
up  to  the  limit,  except  in  a  few  instances. 

The  demand  for  domestic  coal  has  not  increased 
much  over  what  it  was  a  few  weeks  ago,  as  the 
weather  has  favored  the  consumers,  but  the  de¬ 
mand  for  steam  coal  is  booming.  One  operator 
said  today  that  the  railroads  are  stocking  coal. 
They  are  taking  a  great  deal  of  inch  and  a  quarter 
steam  lump  and  are  putting  it  away  for  winter 
use.  The  railroads  have  not  been  heavy  buyers 
in  Indiana  until  within  the  last  few  days.  One  of 
the  interesting  features  of  the  situation  is  that 
the  trade  between  the  Indiana  mines  and  Chi¬ 
cago  is  not  very  brisk.  The  big  demand  for 
steam  coal  is  coming  from  the  Indiana  cities, 
where  there  are  plenty  of  factories,  and  from  the 
railroads. 

The  general  trend  of  business  throughout  Indi¬ 
ana  is  for  the  better.  This  is  especially  true  of 
the  industrial  concerns.  The  wheels  are  begin¬ 
ning  to  turn  in  every  city,  with  the  result  that  the 
demand  for  steam  coal  finally  has  picked  up  to  a 
point  that  is  pleasing  to  the  members  of  the  trade. 
There  has  been  no  serious  car  shortage  as  yet, 
but  the  operators  are  being  warned  right  along 
by  the  railroad  men  to  load  their  cars  as  rapidly 
as  possible.  The  consumers  are  being  hurried  by 
the  railroads,  so  that  a  car  shortage  may  be  avoid¬ 
ed.  The  indications  are  that  prices  will  be  ad¬ 
vanced  within  a  short  time.  A  car  shortage  and 
cold  weather,  making  the  movement  of  coal  diffi¬ 
cult,  would  boost  the  prices  immediately,  as  the 
supply  of  coal  on  hand  is  not  very  large. 


Screenings  are  scarce.  Dealers  have  been  of¬ 
fering  as  high  as  ninety  cents  this  week  in  the 
open  market.  Best  four-inch  domestic  coal  has 
advanced  to  $1.65  and  $1.70  at  the  mines.  Two 
and  a  half-inch  is  selling  around  $1.50.  The  re¬ 
tailers  report  a  very  good  business  in  hard  coal, 
with  prices  about  the  same  as  they  have  been  for 
the  last  month.  The  following  prices  are  being 
quoted  by  the  wholesalers  : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Indiana —  Mines.  Indianapolis. 


Mine  run.  No.  4 . $1.10@1.20 

Mine  run.  Nos.  5  and  6 .  1.05@1.15 

Nut  .  1.20@1.30 

Egg  .  1.30@1.40 

I!4-inch  steam  lump .  1.25@1.3.5 

No.  4  screenings . 80@  .90 

Nos.  5  and  6  screenings . 65@  .75 

2!^-inch  domestic  No.  4 .  1.50@1.55 

4-inch  domestic,  Nos.  4  and  6...  1.65@1.70 

Brazil  block  domestic .  2.25@2.60 

No.  1  washed  coal .  1.75 

No.  2  washed  coal .  1.65 

Southern  Indiana  Field — 

Mine  run .  1.05@1.10 

Domestic  lump .  1.40@1.50 


$1.60@1.60 

1.55@1.65 

1.70@1.80 

1.80@1.90 

I.75@1.85 

1.30@1.40 

1.15@1.25 

2.00@2.05 

2.15@2.20 

2.75@2.50 

2.25 

2.15 


Twin  Cities  Trade. 


.  Minneapolis-St.  Paul,  Minn.,  December  2. — 
(Special  Correspondence.) — While  the  .tempera¬ 
tures  are  ranging  from  ten  to  thirty  degrees 
above,  there  has  been  practically  an  entire  ab¬ 
sence  of  snow  and  wind,  the  result  from  the  coal 
man’s  standpoint  being  three-fold — first,  ideal 
weather  for  railroading  enabling  the  carriers  to 
move  the  immense  tonnage  thrust  upon  them  with 
little  delay  and  comparatively  no  congestion ;  sec¬ 
ond,  as  long  as  the  farmers  can  work  at  home 
they  will  not  haul  much  coal,  and,  third,  the  city 
dweller  will  not  buy  coal  until  he  has  to  have  it. 

The  demand  for  all  grades  of  coal  has  kept  up 
remarkably  well,  and  there  is  but  little  free  coal 
being  offered.  The  dock  companies  report  large 
.shipments  to  interior  points,  and  this  may  account 
for  the  weakness  of  dock  screenings  in  the  Twin 
Cities.  All  grades  of  dock  steam  coal  are  being 
offered  at  from  twenty  to  thirty  cents  off  circular, 
and  it  does  not  seem  likely  that  the  various  inter¬ 
ests  will  be  able  to  get  together  on  a  sane  and 
reasonable  basis. 

Buyers  of  Illinois  steam  coals  are  holding  off 
as  long  as  possible  in  order  to  obtain  the  reduc¬ 
tion  in  freight  rates  which  become  effective  the 
15th  instant.  By  that  time  the  Illinois  operators 
will  probably  want  fancy  prices,  with  the  result 
that  the  rate  reduction  will  not  prove  an  unmixed 
blessing,  at  least  not  at  present. 

Current  market  prices  at  wholesale  on  leading 
grades  of  coal  sold  in  the  Twin  Cities  are  as  fol¬ 
lows  : 

ANTHRACITE. 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Duluth  Minneapolis 
and  and 

Superior  St.  Paul 


Crate  .  $6.60  $7.80 

Egg  .  6.85  8.05 

Stove  .  6.85  8.06 

Nut  .  7.10  •  8.30 

Pea  .  5.60  6.70 

Buckwheat  .  4.00  6.20 


BITUMINOUS. 


Splint,  screened  lump  and  stove. $3.30@3. 40 

Splint,  dock  run .  3.10 

Hocking,  screened  lump  and  stove  3.30@3.40 

Hocking,  dock  run .  3.00 

Youghiogheny,  gas,  lump  and  stove  3.30@3.40 

Youghioghenv,  gas,  dock  run .  3.10 

Pittsburgh  vein,  lump .  3.30@3.40 

Pittsburgh  vein,  dock  run .  3.00 

Pocahontas,  screened  lump  or  egg  4.75 

Pocahontas,  screened  lump  and 

egg  mixed .  4.50 

Pocahontas,  mine  run .  3.25 

Cannel,  lump .  5.25 

-Smithing,  bulk .  4.25 

.Smithing,  in  100  lb.  sacks .  6.00 

Briquets,  anthracite .  5.00 

Briquets,  smokeless .  5.00 


$4.26@4.36 
4.06 
4.26@4.36 
8  96 
4.26@4.36 
4.06 
4.26@4.3< 

3.96 
5.71 

5.46 

4.21 

6.21 
5.21 

6.96 

5.96 
5.96 


In  the  Illinois  trade  the  range  of  prices  on 
southern  Illinois  product  on  the  various  sizes  is  as 
follows : 


Southern  Illinois  chunks . $1.65@1.75  $3.95@4.05 

Southern  Illinois  egg .  1.65(®1.75  3.95(S4,06 

Southern  Illinois  No.  1  nut .  1.65@1.75  3.95@4.05 

Southern  Illinois  No.  2  nut .  1.40^1.50  3.70^3.80 

Sjuthern  Illinois  run  of  mine....  1.15@1.25  3.45^3.55 

Southern  Illinois  run  of  mine...  1.15@1.25  3.45(®3.55 

Southern  Illinois  2-in.  screenings.  .70  4.00 

Southern  Illinois  includes  Franklin  county, 
Harrisburg  and  Williamson  county. 


Mark  E.  Wentworth,  long  identified  with  the 
coal  business  in  the  northwest,  has  resigned  his 
position  with  W.  P.  Rend  &  Co.  and  will  soon 
leave  for  Hankinson,  N.  D.,  where  he  will  enter 
business  for  himself.  Mr.  Wentworth  has  long 
enjoyed  the  friendship  of  buyers  of  Illinois  coal, 
who  will  all  wish  him  well  in  his  new  undertak¬ 
ing. 


460 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[December  4 


Cincinnati  Trade. 


Cincinnati,  Ohio,  December  2. — {Special 
Correspondence.)  —  Tlie  wintry  conditions 
around  the  first  of  the  month  did  not,  at  first, 
stimulate  the  retail  demand,  excejit  in  small 
cities  and  towns.  But  all  dealers  awakened 
to  a  realization  of  what  is  likely  and  they 
began  at  once  the  usual  campaign  to  get  in 
their  suiiplies.  They  ran  up  against  what  they 
had  been  warned  of — prior  contracts  and  or¬ 
ders,  car  shortage,  and  labor  handicap.  In 
conseciuencc  they  have  been  making  life  mis¬ 
erable  for  the  operators,  generally. 

'J'he  domestic  situation  is  but  little  better, 
from  the  viewpoint  of  the  operator,  than  it 
was  last  week,  but  the  price  problem  is  ad¬ 
justing  itself.  The  steam  demand  has  become 
very  strong  and  is  steadily  strengthening,  un¬ 
til  it  has  not  only  gone  beyond  the  nut  and 
slack  supply,  but  it  has  taken  out  of  the  mar¬ 
ket  a  large  amount  of  run  of  mine.  About 
all  the  Kentucky  operations,  and  a  large  num¬ 
ber  of  West  Virginia  splint  operations  have 
withdrawn  run  of  mine  as  a  consec}uence. 

The  domestic  sizes  of  the  smokeless  prod¬ 
uct  are  in  that  dull  period  generally  charac¬ 
terized  as  “between  seasons”  and  this  means 
that  those  who  use  this  product,  principally, 
have  stored  their  needs  and  the  market  must 
wait  until  much  of  this  is  consumed. 

In  one  field  of  the  Kanawha  district,  four- 
inch  block  commands  $1.75,  two-inch  lump 
$1.35  to  $1.50,  mine  run  (gas)  $1  to  $1.10,  nut 
and  slack  (splint)  seventy-five  to  eighty-five 
cents,  nut  and  slack  (gas)  $1,  mine  run  out  of 
the  market  with  nut  and  slack  held  for  con¬ 
tract.  In  another  district  gas  run  of  mine 
commands  ninety-five  cents  to  $1.10,  the  run 
from  No.  2  seam  bringing  ninety-five  cents. 
In  the  Mingo  white  ash  district  one  section 
quotes  four-inch  block  at  $2,  egg  at  $1.50,  nut, 
$1.25,  run  of  mine  out  of  the  market  and  nut 
and  slack  seventy-five  to  eighty-five  cents  per 
ton.  In  another  section  of  the  same  white 
ash  district,  a  big  company  quotes  four-inch 
block  at  $1.85,  egg  $1.35  to  $1.45,  nut  $1.25, 
run  of  mine  out  of  the  market,  and  nut  and 
slack  seventy-five  cents,  straight,  when  avail¬ 
able.  These  are  early  December  quotations. 

The  Kentucky  splint  operators  have  had 
rather  a  good  time  of  it,  most  of  the  last  two 
months,  and  they  are  in  good  shape  now,  for 
car  service,  orders  and  price.  The  only  thing 
bothering  these  operations,  especially  along 
the  L.  &  N.  Railway,  is  labor.  That  is  scarce. 
Prices  of  four-inch  block  in  the  L.  &  N.  re¬ 
gion  of  high  grade  splint  are  $2.10  to  $2.25. 
Egg  is  in  good  demand  at  $1.75  to  $2.  Nut 
commands  $1.75;  nut  and  slack  runs  eighty  to 
ninety  cents  and  run  of  mine  is  generally  out 
of  the  market.  Nine-tenths  of  the  production 
of  the  Kentucky  districts  tributary  to  this 
city  are  under  contract  or  ordered  up  to  De¬ 
cember  15,  with  orders  pouring  in  for  the 
period  after  that  and  into  January.  The  gen¬ 
eral  run  of  Kentucky  coals  is  from  five  to  ten 
cents  under  the  prices  quoted. 

Since  the  middle  of  October  furnace  and 
family  coke  has  advanced  from  $2  to  $2.25; 
foundry  coke  is  priced  at  $3  and  $3.50  with  a 
tendency  to  tack  on  another  dollar  early  in 
the  present  month.  P'urnace  coke  is  scarce 
and  foundry  is  becoming  tight. 

Cincinnati  Trade  News. 

E.  H.  Doyle,  of  the  Middle  West  Coal  Com¬ 
pany,  returned  this  week  from  an  extended 
visit  to  Detroit  and  the  northwest. 

F.  P.  Forester  of  the  Crozer-Pocahontas 
Company,  Chicago,  was  a  visitor  in  Cincin¬ 
nati  a  day  or  two  the  latter  part  of  last  week. 

Charles  1*'.  Dunn,  formerly  coal  salesman 
for  the  Matthew  Addy  Company,  but  now  in 
business  for  himself  in  Detroit,  was  a  visitor 
in  the  city  and  called  on  old  friends  last  week. 

Harry  Ileywood,  representing  the  firm  of 
W.  Gosline  &  Co.,  Toledo,  was  in  the  city 
a  few  days  ago.  He  reported  all  lines  of  the 
coal  industry  improving  in  his  territory,  espe¬ 
cially  smokeless. 

“Bob”  Field,  formerly  well  known  in  coal, 
coke,  iron  and  steel  circles,  has  taken  a  position 
with  the  Matthew  Addy  Company  of  this  city  to 
sell  iron  and  steel.  Mr.  Field  has  been  ill  for 
over  two  years  but  is  recovering  rapidly. 

F.  B.  .Stewart  of  the  Winifrede  Coal  Corn- 
jiany  spent  the  week  in  Philadelphia  and  New 
York  on  business  for  the  company,  attending 
a  meeting  of  the  board  of  directors  of  the 
company  in  Philadelphia  early  in  the  week. 


He  will  be  at  the  mines  early  the  coming 
week. 

It  is  learned  here  that  Homer  Fay,  well 
known  in  this  territory,  who  has  been  trav¬ 
eling  salesman  for  the  Toledo  Coal  Sales 
Company,  has  resigned  from  connection  with 
that  company  and  will  make  a  new  connec¬ 
tion  in  the  future.  The  company  will  place 
a  new  man  in  the  territory  by  the  first  of  the 
year. 


St.  Louis  Trade. 


St.  Louis,  Mo.,  December  2. —  (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — Colder  weather  has  helped  the  mar¬ 
ket  considerably.  All  grades  of  domestic  coal  are 
moving  more  freely  than  last  week.  Screenings 
have  also  braced  up  a  great  deal  and  are  very 
stiff  at  the  present  time,  both  in  demand  and 
price.  The  price  on  screenings  has  advanced 
about  fifteen  cents  during  the  past  week,  and  it 
would  not  be  at  all  surprising  to  have  them  ad¬ 
vance  ten  cents  more  during  the  coming  week. 
No.  2  nut  is  also  in  strong  demand.  All  of  the 
industries  are  running  full  time,  and  a  number 
are  running  overtime.  This,  with  the  railroad 
movement  improving,  will  probably  cause  a  heavy 
demand  on  all  steam  sizes  for  the  balance  of  the 
year.  Prices  on  standard  coal  are  as  follows : 


F.  O.  B. 


Standard  Coal —  Mine. 

fi-inch  lump  . $1.25 

6x2-inch  egg  .  1.25 

2-inch  lump .  1.05 

Steam  egg . 90 

*No.  1  nut.  . .  1.15 

No.  2  nut  . 80 

Mine  run . 85 

Screenings  . 60 


There  is  a  better  movement  of  lump 
the  Staunton  and  Springfield  district  to 
and  screenings  are  in  heavy  demand, 
the  whole  remain  about  the  same : 

F.  O.  B. 
Mine. 


6-inch  lump . $1.50 

2-inch  lump .  1.25 

Screenings  . 60 


F.  O.  B. 

St.  Louis. 

$1.82  54 
1.8254 
1.6254 
1.4754 
1.72  54 
1.37  54 
1.4254 
1.1754 

coal  from 
the  north. 
Prices  on 


F.  O.  B. 
St.  Louis. 
$2.0754 
1.8254 
1.1754 


The  demand  for  Williamson  county  coal  is  fair 
to  the  north,  and  also  in  St.  Louis,  but  to  the 
south  the  demand  has  slacked  off  to  some  extent. 
Screenings  and  fine  coal  are,  of  course,  in  heavy 
demand  at  the  present  time ; 


F.  9.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Mine.  St.  Louis. 

6-inch  lump  or  egg . $1.40@1.75  $  2.02  54  @2.4754 

3x2-inch  nut .  1.20@1.75  1.9254 @2.4754 

Screenings  .  .65  1.3754 


The  first  of  the  month  brought  quite  a  large 
volume  of  orders  to  the  Franklin  county  opera¬ 
tors  for  domestic  sizes.  Domestic  sizes  have  been 
in  plentiful  demand,  consequently  business  is  good 
with  the  Franklin  county  operators ; 


6-inch  lump,  egg  or  nut 

No.  2  stove . 

Screenings  . 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Mine.  St.  Louis. 

.$1.75  $2.4754 

.  1.50  2.2254 

.  .70  1.42K’ 


The  demand  for  anthracite  is  fair,  though  there 
seems  to  be  no  great  rush  at  the  present  time : 


Anthracite —  F.  O.  B.  St.  Louis. 

Chestnut  . $7.55 

Stove  or  egg .  7.30 

Grate  .  7.05 

Smokeless  coal  and  coke  are  dull  at  the  present 

time : 

F.  9.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Mine.  St.  Louis. 

Lump  or  egg . $2.25  $4.75 

Gas  House  Coke —  F.  O.  B.  St.  Louis. 

Gas  house  coke . . $4.25 

By-product  coke  (all  sizes) .  5.00 


The  prices  on  Illinois  soft  coal.  f.  o.  b.  East  St.  Louis, 
Madison,  Venice  or  Granite  City,  Ill.,  are  20  cents  lower 
than  the  above  quoted  St.  Louis  prices. 


Detroit  Trade. 


Detkoit,  Mich.,  December  2. —  (Sfyecial  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — Except  for  handicaps  in  the  matter 
of  transportation  facilities,  due  to  continuance  of 
the  embargo  raised  November  16  by  the  Grand 
Trunk  railroad,  the  Detroit  coal  market  shows 
encouraging  activity. 

Buying  of  steam  coal  continues  in  good  volume, 
though  the  tonnage  handled  is  not  materially  in¬ 
creased.  The  fact  that  orders  are  being  booked 
with  a  gratifying  degree  of  regularity  is  one  of 
the  satisfactory  features.  Small  sizes  are  still 
sought  aher  more  eagerly  than  the  larger  ones, 
and  some  of  the  shippers  are  finding  the  task  of 
supplying  such  coal  is  not  altogether  easy. 

There  is  a  more  active  demand  for  domestic 
coal,  although  shippers  assert  there  is  still  room 
for  much  improvement  in  the  market.  Retail 
yards  are  handling  a  large  proportion  of  the 
business,  but  are  expected  to  come  into  the  mar¬ 


ket  in  greater  numbers  for  additional  stock  in 
the  near  future. 

The  inconvenience  that  results  from  the  em¬ 
bargo  enforced  by  the  Grand  Trunk  recalls  to 
some  of  the  shippers  the  efforts  that  were  made 
early  in  the  fall  to  induce  consumers  who  had 
storage  space  to  make  provision  for  just  such  an 
emergency.  With  the  second  week  of  the  em¬ 
bargo  ending  November  30,  word  went  out  that 
the  restriction  on  shipments  will  be  continued  a 
few  days  longer.  Representatives  of  the  rail¬ 
road  say  the  congested  conditions  which  caused 
the  embargo  are  being  relieved  rapidly  and  that 
normal  movement  of  freight  will  be  resumed 
very  soon.  Some  of  the  shippers,  however,  are 
inclined  to  fear  the  restrictions  will  not  be  lifted 
for  some  time  to  come. 

Refusal  of  the  Grand  Trunk  to  accept  cars  from 
other  roads  for  delivery  over  its  tracks  has  pro¬ 
duced  an  accumulation  of  cars  on  other  railway 
tracks  in  Detroit.  It  was  estimated  a  few  days 
ago  that  more  than  600  coal  cars  were  awaiting 
delivery  to  the  Grand  Trunk  and  that  something 
like  900  cars  of  coal  were  being  held  back  on  that 
company’s  tracks  between  Buffalo  and  Detroit. 

While  no  serious  shortage  of  supply  in  the  sec¬ 
tion  of  Detroit  served  by  the  Grand  Trunk  was 
reported,  a  number  of  retail  dealers  and  some  of 
the  consumers  were  saved  from  running  short  of 
supply  only  by  the  delivery  of  cars  that  were 
standing  on  the  Grand  Trunk  tracks  when  the 
embargo  became  effective. 

With  the  supply  somewhat  curtailed  by  the 
transportation  conditions,  there  is  a  more  active 
demand  for  anthracite.  Shipments  are  not  com¬ 
ing  into  the  city  in  very  large  volume  and  the 
complaints  about  shortage  of  cars  on  eastern 
lines  continue. 


Prices  in  the  local  market 

on  direct 

shipment 

orders  are  as  follows ; 

West  Virginia  Gas — 

F.  0.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

Mines. 

Detroit. 

Three-quarter  lump  . 

$1.00 

$2.40 

Mine  run  . 

.90 

2.30 

Slack  . 

.75@  .90 

3.15@3.40 

West  Virginia  Splint — 

Tour-inch  lump  . 

2.90@3.15 

Two-inch  lump  . 

1.25@1.40 

2.65@2.80 

1  hree-quarter  . 

1.10 

2.50 

Mine-run  . 

.90 

2.30 

Nut,  pea  and  slack . 

.75@  .90 

3.15®3.40 

Smokeless — 

Lump  and  egg  . 

2.25 

3.85 

Nut  . 

1.75 

8.35 

Slack  . 

Open 

Open 

Mine  run  . 

1.40 

3.00 

Kentucky  Splint — 

Lump  . 

1.75@2.00 

3.15@3.40 

Egg  . 

1.25@1.40 

3.65@2.80 

Nut,  pea  and  slack . 

.75@  .90 

2.15@2.30 

Tairmont — 

Three-quarter  steam  lump  . 

.85@  .95 

2.25@2.35 

Mine  run  . 

.70®  .80 

2.10@2.20 

Slack  . 

Open 

Ooen 

Hocking  Valley — 

Shaker  three-inch  lump  . 

1.75 

2.90 

Shaker  egg  and  nut  . 

1.15 

2.30 

Domestic  lump  . 

1.50 

2.65 

Three-quarter  lump  . 

1.35 

2.50 

Mine  run  . 

1.00@1.10 

2.15@2.25 

Nut,  pea  and  slack . 

Open 

Open 

Pittsburgh  No.  8 — 

Three-quarter  lump  . 

1.05 

2.20 

Mine  run  . 

.95 

2.10 

Slack  . 

Open 

Open 

Tdck.'^on  Hill — 

Domestic  lump  . 

2.50 

3.65 

Cambridge — 

1  hree-quarter  lump  . 

1.20 

2.35 

Mine  run  . 

1.10 

2.25 

Pomeroy — 

1  wo  and  three-inch  lump . 

1.00 

2.75 

Egg  . 

1.35 

2.50 

Slack  . 

.75@  .90 

1.90@2.C5 

Detroit  Local  News. 

Four  lake  freighters  have  been  purchased  with¬ 
in  the  last  few  days  by  James  Paisley  for  the 
Valley  Camp  Coal  Company.  The  E.  L.  Wallace, 
a  steel  ship  of  7,200  tons  capacity,  was  bought 
from  the  Dearborn  Transit  Company,  Dearborn, 
Mich.,  for  $240,000.  The  steamers  Thomas  Adams, 
George  L.  Craig  and  Eugene  Zimmerman  were 
bought  from  John  Craig,  former  Toledo  ship- 
huilder,  at  a  price  reported  as  about  $.530,000. 
The  Craig  and  Adams  have  capacity  of  about 
5,000  tons  and  the  Zimmerman  capacity  of  about 
8,700  tons. 

I'uneral  services  took  place  in  Bay  City,  IMich., 
Monday  for  Edgar  B.  Foss,  one  of  the  pioneer 
coal  mine  operators  of  the  Saginaw  valley,  who 
was  owner  of  the  What  Cheer  mine  near  Bay 
City,  and  of  a  mine  of  the  same  name  near  Flint, 
Mich.  Mr.  Foss  and  Joseph  Miksak,  president 
of  the  Pilsen  Lumber  Company,  Chicago,  were 
killed  November  26,  when  a  Michigan  Central 
train  backed  into  the  automobile  in  which  they 
were  riding  at  the  Woodside  avenue  crossing. 
Bay  City,  Mich.  Mr.  Foss  was  sixty-two  years 
old  and  had  become  a  millionaire  in  the  lumber 
industry,  operating  a  large  mill  in  Bay  City  and 
having  extensive  timber  holdings  in  Michigan  and 
Canada. 


No.  23] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


461 


Cleveland  Market. 


Clevk[.ani>,  Ohio,  Dccenilier  3. —  (Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — With  the  exception  of  a  few  stor¬ 
age  cargoes  that  may  be  loaded  later  the  lake 
business  practically  closed  at  the  end  of  the 
month.  Although  the  Canadian  embargo  on 
wheat  may  posibly  make  some  difference  in  the 
tonnage  supply,  it  is  believed  now  that  it  is  too 
late  to  make  any  difference  in  the  lake  situation 
so  far  as  it  relates  to  coal.  The  a.ggregate  ship¬ 
ments  of  coal  would  have  been  larger,  without 
doubt,  had  not  the  tonnage  grown  scarce  through 
the  demand  made  by  grain  and  ore  shippers,  but 
at  the  same  time  the  situation  at  upper  lake  points 
is  regarded  as  fairly  satisfactory.  The  amount 
of  coal  taken  up  is  perhaps  larger  than  expected, 
as  has  been  the  case  almost  every  season.  Unless 
there  should  be  a  continued  period  of  exceedia?- 
ly  cold  weather  the  supply  will  perhaps  prove 
sufficient. 

Retailers  are  asking  for  spot  shipment  of  an¬ 
thracite  since  the  weather  has  grown  somewhat 
colder,  but  the  producers  are  unable  to  meet  this 
demand.  Egg  and  stove  sizes  are  fairly  plenti¬ 
ful,  but  deliveries  on  chestnut  are  about  two 
weeks  behind. 

The  situation  with  regard  to  steam  coals  re¬ 
mains  very  much  the  same  as  it  has  been.  There 
has  been  some  change  in  prices  of  slack,  but 
on  the  average  the  demand  has  not  increased 
to  any  extent.  The  colder  weather,  however,  is 
expected  to  result  in  somewhat  more  favorable 
conditions  within  a  short  time. 

Owin.g  to  the  close  of  navigation  No.  8  slack 
has  become  somewhat  scarce  in  the  market,  but 
on  the  other  hand  run  of  mine  is  more  plentiful. 
Producers  are  seeking  a  market  for  the  larger 
sizes  and  until  results  are  reached  in  this  direc¬ 
tion,  it  is  believed  that  slack  will  remain  rather 
stiff. 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

No.  8  District —  Mines.  Cleveland. 

Three-qu.irters  . $1.0.5  @  1.10  $1.95  @2.00 

Run  of  mine  .  .90  1.80 

Slack  .  .90  1.80 


Producers  of  Coshocton  coal  state  that  there 
has  been  no  change  in  the  market  the  past  week 
and  that  quotations  for  some  weeks  back  hold 
good  at  the  present  time : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Coshocton —  Mires.  Cleveland. 

'.nmp,  4-inch  screened . $t.70@1.7.5  .$2.40@2.45 

tK-inch  .  l.«0@1.6.S  2.30@2.:?.'> 

Fgg  and  nut .  1.0;)®!. 10  1.75@1.80 

The  lake  trade  took  quite  a  little  Pittsburgh 
slack,  but  with  the  end  of  the  shipping  season 
it  has  become  more  plentiful  in  this  market 
and  the  price  has  weakened  perceptibly : 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Pittsburgh —  Mines.  Cleveland. 

•Slack  . $0.7.1®  .80  $1.75@1.80 


Massillon  operators  are  still  behind  in  their 
deliveries,  but  prices  remain  as  they  have  been  : 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Massillon — ■  Mines.  Cleveland 

I-ump  .  $2.50  $3.20 

Nut  .  2.50  3.20 

Slack  ...- .  1.05@1.10  1.75@1.80 


The  movement  of  smokeless  coals  has  not  been 


especially  active  the  past  week  in  any  of  the  sizes, 
while  run  of  mine  has  dropped  five  cents.  Prices 
quoted  are  as  follows : 


Smokeless — • 

Lump  . 

Egg  . 


Run  of  mine 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Mines.  Cleveland. 
$1.90  $3.25 

l.Tt)  3.20 

1.25  2.70 


The  supply  of  Cambridge  coal  in  the  market 
this  week  exceeded  the  demand,  with  a  conse¬ 
quent  weakness  in  the  prices,  althou.gh  no  actual 
change  is  noted  in  the  quotations : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 


Cambridge —  Mines.  Cleveland. 

Three-quarters  .  $1.10  $2.00 

Run  of  mine .  1.00  1.90 

Slack  .  .90  1.80 


Fairmont  slack  remains  strong,  with  but  little 
in  the  market.  Inquiries  for  it  are  frequent  and 
considerable  could  be  handled  if  it  were  to  be 
had.  It  is  still  quoted  as  follows : 

I'airmont — ■  Mines.  Cleveland. 

Slack  .  ....  $1.90 

While  there  has  been  quite  a  little  Kentucky 

coal  on  the  market  durin.g  the  past  week,  it  has 
moved  at  a  fairly  satisfactory  rate : 

Kentucky —  Mines.  Cleveland. 

4-inch  block  . $1.90@2.00  $3.15®3.25 

The  supply  of  Youghiogheny  coal  increased 

the  past  week,  but  the  increased  receipts  are  not 
sufficient  to  affect  the  prices,  which  are  as  fol¬ 
lows  : 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Youghiogheny —  Mines.  Cleveland. 

154-inch  . $1.40@1.50  $2.40@2.50 

Three-quarters  .  1.30  2.30 

Run  of  mine .  1.20  2.20 

Slack  . 95@1.00  1.95@2.00 

The  movement  of  Bergholtz  coal  has  shown 


no  change.  .Some  of  the  offices  are  behind  in 
deliveries.  Quotations  are  the  same  as  last  week: 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Bergholtz —  Mines.  Cleveland. 

6-inch  lump . $  1.70  $  2.40 

154-inch  .  1.45  2.15 

Three-quarters  .  1.35  2.05 

Lgg  .  1.25  1.95 

Run  of  mine .  1.20  1.90 

Slack  .  1.05@1.10  1.75@1.80 

The  movement  of  Wainri.ght  coal  remains 
steady  without  change  of  price ; 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Gosher.'Wainwright  Mines —  ^Mines.  Cleveland. 


Three-quarter  domestic 

3-inch  lump  . 

Lump  . 

Slack  . 


$1.40 

$2.10 

1.80 

2.50 

1.65 

2.35 

1.05 

1.75 

There  was  a  fair  supply  of  Goshen  coal  in 
the  market  through  the  week,  but  no  change  from 
last  week’s  quotations : 


Goshen — 
Three-quarters 

lJ4-inch  . 

Run  of  mine. 
Slack  . 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Mines.  Cleveland. 
$1.30  $2.00 

1.40  2.10 

1.15  1.85 

1.05  1.75 


It  is  reported  that  Richland  three-quarter  coal 
is  coming  into  the  market  in  plentiful  lots  and 
is  being  quoted  at  $1.80  to  $1.85  per  ton. 


Mr.  Flannigan  of  the  J.  II.  Hillman  Coal  Com¬ 
pany,  Pittsburgh,  was  in  the  city  Monday. 


Duluth  Trade. 


Duluth,  AIinn.,  December  2. —  (Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — That  in  the  matter  of  both  re¬ 
ceipts  and  shipments  of  coal,  the  seasons  of 
1915,  up  to  the  close  of  navigation,  will  be 
far  ahead  of  last  year,  is  now  patent;  and  as  to 
shipments,  R.  H.  Salter,  manager  of  the  West¬ 
ern  Weighing  Association,  having  in  charge 
the  checking  of  the  outgo,  says  that  this  year 
will  smash  all  records.  In  fact  it  is  ahead 
of  totals  of  former  years  now. 

The  close  of  the  coal  receiving  season  will 
probably  not  end  until  along  about  December 
15,  unless  the  present  fine  sailing  weather 
suddenly  changes.  The  marine  insurance 
rates  continue  until  midnight  of  December  12, 
and  boats  will  likely  leave  lower  lake  ports 
up  to  that  time.  That  every  effort  is  being 
made  to  have  a  surplus  stock  of  coal  on  hand 
here  in  case  of  a  strike  next  spring  in  the  coal 
mines  is  certain,  for  during  the  last  month  a 
much  greater  spurt  than  usual  has  been  made 
in  getting  coal  to  this  point.  Boats  have 
been  held  up  at  different  points  along  the  lake 
by  storms,  but  up  to  today  cargoes  have  been 
coming  in  as  fast  as  possible.  With  the  close 
of  business  on  November  30,  135  coal  cargoes 
arrived  during  the  month.  The  actual  figures 
of  the  amount  received  have  not  yet  become 
available,  but  it  is  considered  that  an  average 
of  8,000  tons  per  boat  is  conservative.  That 
would  make  the  receipts  during  November 
1,080,000  tons.  The  month  a  year  ago  brought 
in  907,046  tons. 

The  total  receipts  up  to  the  close  of  navi¬ 
gation  last  year  amounted  to  9,488,297  tons, 
all  kinds.  The  receipts  to  November  30,  with 
November  estimated  as  mentioned,  amount  to 
9,703,600,  214,403  tons  more  than  last  season, 
with  December  still  to  hear  from. 

Business  is  exceptionally  good,  according 
to  superintendents  of  the  various  coal  com¬ 
panies.  Despite  the  fact  that  coal  is  coming 
in  fast  these  days,  the  piles  on  the  various 
docks  are  full  of  caverns  and  canyons,  and 
serious  holes  are  being  made  in  some  grades. 
Out-going  cars  of  coal  are  helping  the  influx 
of  grain  to  double  and  treble  the  crews  on 
most  of  the  railroads  here.  When  the  totals 
are  all  in,  Mr.  Salter  says,  the  biggest  figures 
of  output  in  the  history  of  this  place  as  a 
distribution  point,  will  be  shown. 

Much  has  been  printed  about  the  failure  of 
the  Northwestern  dealers  to  grasp  the  sig¬ 
nificance  of  the  probability  of  a  coal  strike 
next  spring;  but  coal  men  here  say  that  so 
far  as  anthracite  coal  is  concerned,  there  is 
a  better  supply  than  usual.  The  situation  is 
easy,  they  claim,  except  in  the  event  of  a 
strike  of  long  duration,  which  would,  of 
course,  be  embarrassing.  It  may  be  that  the 
indifference  and  apathj'  charged  generally 
against  the  Northwestern  dealers  has  infected 
the  coal  men,  but  they  do  not  seem  to  be 
much  stirred  over  the  prospects. 

It  is  claimed  by  some  that  a  large  part  of 
the  excess  coal  receipts  here  is  due  to  the 
fact  that  the  United  States  Steel  corporation 
has  been  bringing  a  large  amount  of  coal  up 
the  lakes  all  summer  for  use  in  its  steel  plant, 
just  opened  here,  and  that  the  commercial 


coal  receipts  are  about  the  same  as  those  cf 
last  year.  The  Steel  corporation’s  boats  now 
on  their  way  up,  arc  expected  to  carry  coal 
for  storage. 


To  Purchase  Dock. 

Negotiations  are  said  to  be  going  on  which 
may  result  in  the  transfer  of  the  C.  Reiss  Coal 
Company’s  No.  4  dock  at  the  foot  of  Thomp¬ 
son  avenue  in  Superior,  East  end,  to  the  Pitts¬ 
burgh  &  Ashland  Coal  Company,  which  is  de¬ 
sirous  of  getting  located  at  the  head  of  the 
lakes.  The  latter  company  now  has  docks  at 
Ashland. 

The  Reiss  Company  has  No.  4  dock  well 
stocked  now,  and,  it  is  said,  the  transfer  will 
not  take  place  even  if  the  negotiations  are 
successful,  until  after  May  1,  1916,  so  that  the 
company  may  have  time  to  dispose  of  the  fuel 
now  stored  there. 

Dock  No.  4  is  owned  by  the  Northern  Pa¬ 
cific  Railway  Company,  which  built  it  many 
years  ago,  soon  after  the  road  itself  was  built 
into  Superior.  It  has  been  operated  under 
leases  for  the  greater  part  of  the  time  since 
then,  and  was  controlled  by  the  Pittsburgh 
Coal  Company  before  the  Reiss  Company 
leased  it.  The  latter  company  has  spent  a 
large  amount  of  money,  in  the  neighborhood 
of  .$250,000,  it  is  said,  in  extensions  and  im¬ 
provements  to  the  dock  and  has  greatly  in¬ 
creased  its  capacity. 


Birmingham  Trade. 


Birmingham,  Ala.,  December  2. —  (Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — There  is  a  larger  production  of 
coal  than  has  been  noted  for  some  time.  iMost 
of  the  larger  mines,  especially  those  of  the  iron- 
rnaking  companies,  have  been  running  on  full 
time,  and  many  others  are  now  running  six  days 
per  week. 

Steam  coal  trade  is  holding  up  with  good  ton¬ 
nage,  as  railroads  are  now  calling  for  delivery 
upon  contracts.  A  good  movement  is  still  in 
progress  down  the  Warrior  river.  Most  of  this 
coal  goes  to  New  Orleans,  where  a  large  tonnage 
was  lost  during  the  recent  hurricane.  A  fairly 
good  tonnage  is  going  to  Mobile  and  Pensacola. 
At  the  latter  place  the  Gulf,  Florida,  Alabama 
railroad  is  building  a  coal  pier. 

The  cool  weather  prevailing  over  the  south  has 
caused  good  business  in  domestic  coal.  The  busi¬ 
ness  vyith  retailer  is  more  satisfactory  than  it  has 
been  in  quite  a  while. 

With  nearly  every  iron  furnace  in  the  district 
running  at  fullest  capacity,  the  demand  for  coking 
coal  continues  to  be  large.  Orders  for  black¬ 
smith  coal  are  scarce. 

There  is  no  end  to  the  demand  for  coke.  The 
by-products  coke  ovens  are  working  day  and 
’’’Sht.  The  New  Castle  coke  ovens  belonging  to 
Ramsay  &  McCormack  are  producing  coke  right 
along  with  Banner  coal,_  and  the  Sloss-Sheffield 
bteel  &  Iron  Company  is  getting  a  fairly  good 
supply.  Coke  ovens  of  the  Tennessee  Coal,  Iron 
&  Railroad  Company  and  the  Yolande  Coal 
&  Coke  Comiiany  in  the  Blue  Creek  region  and 
along  the  southern  end  of  the  Birmingham  Min- 
eral  railroad  (Louisville  &  Nashville)  are  pro¬ 
ducing  a  goodly  quantity  of  coke  also.  The  by¬ 
products  coke  oven  plants  of  the  W’oodward,  the 
Fennessee  and  the  Semet-Solvay  companies  at 
vV oodward,  rairfield  and  Ensley  are  getting  out  a 
large  quantity  of  coke. 

Bee-hive  coke  has  advanced  to  $3.75  per  ton 

I  here  is  no  large  stock  on  hand.  Bv-product 
coke  ranges  from  $2.60  per  ton. 

Prices  are  quoted  as  follows: 


Bibb  County  Domestic — 

Red  ash  Cahaba  lump . 

Red  ash  Cahaba  lump . 

Red  ash  steam  size . 

Jefferson  County — 

Fancy  steam  Pratt . 

Run  of  mine  Pratt . 

Mary  Lee  lump . .  Q 

Black  Creek — 

Fancy  steam  lump . 

Washed  nut . 

Washt  d  steam 

Mine  run . 

Jefferson  Steam  Coal — 

Mine  run . 

Walker  County  Domestic 

Carbon  Hill  lump . 

Carbon  Hill  eg? . 

Horse  Creek  mine  run . 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Mines.  Birmingham. 
$3.00  $3.30 

2.75  3.10 

1.20@1.35  Frt.  rate  30c 


1.75  2.00 

].20@1.25  1.45®1.50 
1.40@1.60  1.80@1.90 


1.75  2.05 

1.75  2.05 

1.35@1.60  Frt.  rate  30c 
1.25  @1.25  Frt.  rate  3()c 


.  1.15@1.25  Frt.  rate  30c 

Coal — 

-  1.75  2.15 

-  1.65  2.05 

.  1.00@1.20  Frt.  rate  40c 


Genuine  Corona — 

Lump  .  2.00  2.40 

Egg  .  1.90  2.35 

Steam  sizes .  1.25@1.35  Frt.  rate  40c 

Shelby  County  Domestic  Coal — 

Cahaba  fancy  lump  .  3.00  3.30 

Cahaba  No.  2  lump  .  2.75  3  05 

Montevallo  domestic  prices  range  from  $3.00  to  $3.25. 
Blacksmith  coal,  lyashed  and  screened,  per  ton,  $2.00  to 
$2.25  .ii  mines,  with  different  rates  to  various  points. 


462 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[December  4 


New  York  Trade. 


The  Anthracite  Demand  Is  Brisk  But 
the  Movement  Is  Very  Slow — Strength 
of  Bituminous  Coal  Increases  Daily. 


Office  of  The  Black  Diamond, 
New  York,  December  2d. 

The  anthracite  trade  is  very  active  in  all  direc- 
tions.  This  week  finds  weather  more  seasonable 
and  consumption  growing  very  rapidly.  While 
consumption  is  expanding,  distribution  in  every 
direction  is  being  delayed  due  to  the  lack  of 
cars,  shortage  and  delay  in  schedulp  of  water 
transportation  and  congestion  of  railroads  with 
miscellaneous  freight,  which  brings  about  a  very 
material  delay  in  most  cases  of  anthracite  cars. 

The  trade  are  now  beginning  to  appreciate  that 
the  early  statements  that  were  made  to  dealers 
and  to  consumers  to  take  on  supplies  during  the 
summer  and  fall  months  in  anticipation  of  un¬ 
usual  conditions,  at  this  time,  were  most  timely. 
It  is  unfortunate  that  these  appeals  met  with  such 
little  response.  We  have  now  reached  the  real 
winter  season,  with  production  of  anthracite  coal 
nearly  3,000,000  tons  behind  the  production  of  last 
year  for  the  same  period,  and  with  the  consum¬ 
ing  power  greatly  increased,  due  to  the  better 
financial  conditions  now  obtaining. 

Last  week,  very  serious  car  shortages  were  felt 
at  many  of  the  anthracite  operations,  and  when 
the  tonnage  statements  are  made  up  showing 
shipments  for  the  past  week  the  lack  of  cars 
will  unquestionably  show  a  very  material  de¬ 
crease  in  shipments.  Conditions  as  to  production 
and  prompt  delivery  of  anthracite  from  this  time 
on  are  now  so  very  bad  that  shippers  cannot  with 
any  certainty  make  any  definite  promises  for  ship¬ 
ments  over  a  considerable  period.  The  railroads 
on  Tuesday  estimated  that  there  were  30,000  car¬ 
loads  of  freight  held  within  200  miles  of  New 
York  City  awaiting  discharge  at  the  local  ports, 
and  this  spells  “delay”  for  all  classes  of  freight 
and  no  one  believes  that  coal  is  going  to  receive 
any  special  precedence  unless  a  famine  should 


ensue. 

Prices  are  well  held  around  the  circular,  with 
steam  coals  at  tidewater  very  active.  Good  grades 
are  very  scarce,  and  there  is  very  little  of  the 
cheap  coals  obtainable  at  prices  that  are  consid¬ 
ered  low. 

New  York  anthracite  prices  are: 


Broken 
Egg  . . .  , 
Stove  . . 
Chestnut 
Pea  ... 


Upper 

Lower 

Ports. 

Ports. 

$5.10 

$5.00 

5.35 

5.25 

5.35 

5.25 

5.60 

5.50 

3.55 

3.45 

Special  grades  of  red  ash  and  other  high-grade 
coals  at  the  lower  ports  sell  at  twenty-five  to 
fifty  cents  per  ton  over  above  figures. 

Spot  prices  in  individual  coals  at  lower  ports  are 
about  as  follows  : 


Egg  . . 
Stove 
Nut  .  , 
Pea  .  . 
Buck  . 
Rice  . 
Barley 


$5.05  and  up 
5.20  and  up 
5.20  and  up 
3.25  and  up 
2.30  and  up 
2.00  and  up 
,  1.75  and  up 


The  Bituminous  Situation. 


The  bituminous  situation  continues  tense.  It  is 
tightening  up  in  most  every  direction,  with  the 
possible  exception  of  the  New  River  and  Poca¬ 
hontas  coals,  where  there  has  been  some  let  up 
due  to  the  lack  of  vessels  reporting  at  the  tide¬ 
water  ports  for  cargoes  for  export.  This  also 
brings  something  of  a  lull  in  the  demand  for 
bunker  supplies  at  the  lower  ports,  as  the  steam¬ 
ers  that  take  cargoes  for  export  usually  take  about 
fifteen  to  twenty  per  cent  of  their  cargo  tonnage 
for  bunkers.  Steamers  for  export  loading  have 
also  been  very  scarce  for  the  past  week  at  Balti¬ 
more,  and  tliis  has  enabled  some  of  the  large  ex¬ 
porters  through  this  port  to  devote  more  coal  to 
their  domestic  requirements,  which  are  just  now 
very  heavy. 

While  instances  of  sales  of  coal  above  $1.75 
at  the  mines  are  rare,  this  week  finds  no  few 
Pennsylvania  operators  who  have  fixed  this  price 
for  their  surplus  coals.  The  great  bulk  of  the 
spot  coal  offering  now  is  at  $1.50  per  ton  at  the 
mines  up.  One  of  the  New  England  railroads, 
is  reported  to  have  purchased  a  block  of  coal 
on  Monday,  paying  $1.50  per  ton.  The  heaviest 
purchasers  of  spot  coals  at  the  moment  are 
the  middle  houses  who  have  contracts  and  need 
‘  tonnage  to  apply  on  them.  These  people  are 
hunting  here  and  there  for  medium-priced  coal, 
and  they  are  not  finding  much  success  in  obtain¬ 
ing  anything  at  prices  that  are  in  line  with  some 


of  the  commitments  made  by  them  in  the  spring 
and  summer. 

The  car  question  is  still  responsible  for  light 
f)uti)ut  on  the  part  of  many  of  the  operators. 
Siqiply  is  below  normal  on  practically  all  of  the 
eastern  lines,  and  contractors  are  having  great 
difficulty  in  getting  enough  coal  forward  to  sat¬ 
isfy  their  customers.  In  fact,  many  of  them 
are  not  able  to  ship  anything  like  what  their  con¬ 
tracts  call  for ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  con¬ 
sumers  are  trying  to  get  enough  coal  forward  to 
create  some  surplus.  As  shipments  become  ir¬ 
regular,  many  consumers  are  digging  deep  into 
storage  piles  that  they  had  accumulated,  antici¬ 
pating  having  a  reserve  in  case  of  trouble  later 
in  the  winter.  A  shortage  of  coal  before  the 
first  of  December  was  not  deemed  possible  sev¬ 
eral  months  ago,  so  that  the  coal  men  who  tried  to 
induce  customers  to  take  in  heavy  shipments  dur¬ 
ing  the  early  fall  months  were  laughed  at  in 
most  instances.  Customers  accused  them  of  try¬ 
ing  to  scare  them  into  buying  coal  for  which  they 
would  have  no  need.  A  different  story  is  being 
heard  every  day  now. 

The  coastwise  vessel  situation  is  not  improving. 
Some  few  boats  can  be  obtained  for  coastwise 
shipments,  but  shippers  in  most  instances  cannot 
afford  the  rates  asked.  Schooners  of  sufficient 
size  to  make  a  trans-Atlantic  voyage,  or  to  the 
West  Indies  or  South  America,  are  being  grabbed 
for  these  trades,  so  that  the  supply  for  coastwise 
trading  are  very  few. 

At  the  local  piers  the  supply  of  coal  is  light. 
Some  few  shippers'  may  every  few  days  report 
some  surplus  on  hand,  but  usually  it  is  for  trans¬ 
shipment,  and  the  boats  are  delayed  in  reporting 
for  it.  It  is  hard  to  buy  anything  at  any  of  the 
piers  under  $3.  From  this  sum  up  to  $3.50  is 
asked.  Pennsylvania  slack  is  offered  at  $1.25. 

The  Vessel  Situation. 

The  coastwise  vessel  situation  has  not  eased. 
It  is  difficult  to  get  boats  at  any  price  for  car¬ 
goes  from  the  Roads,  Baltimore  or  Philadelphia  to 
New  England.  During  the  week  some  half-dozen 
schooners  have  been  fixed  for  export,  which  de¬ 
creases  the  supply  for  domestic  business.  Also, 
some  of  the  steamers  formerly  plying  coastwise 
have  been  diverted  to  other  trades  because  of 
fancy  rates. 

Off  shore  rates  are  still  advancing,  and  coal  ex¬ 
ports  have  slumped  heavily  because  of  lack  of 
vessels. 

We  quote  current  rates  for  freight  as  fol¬ 
lows  : 

From  Hampton  Roads  to  Boston,  $1.20  to  $1.40 
is  about  the  range ;  to  Portland  and  points  east 
of  Boston,  from  $1.15  to  $1.35.  To  sound  points, 
$1.00  to  $1.25.  From  Philadelphia  to  New  Eng¬ 
land  points,  about  five  cents  under  the  Hampton 
Roads  rates. 

From  New  York  to  sound  points  as  follows: 
Bridgeport,  forty  cents;  New  Haven,  forty-five 
cents;  Providence,  fifty  cents;  New  Bedford,  fifty- 
five  cents.  To  Boston,  around  cape,  sixty  to  sev¬ 
enty  cents ;  through  canal,  seventy-five  to  eighty 
cents.  Harbor  rates  twenty  to  twenty-five  cents. 

Current  quotations  on  bituminous  coal  in  spot 
lots  are : 


F.  O.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

Somerset  County — 

Harbor. 

Mines. 

Best  grades . 

. $3.15 

$1.65 

Ordinary  . 

1.50 

Medium  grades . 

.  2.95 

1.45 

Cambria  County — 

Best  Miller  vein . 

.  3.25 

1.75 

Medium  grades  . 

1.50 

Cheaper  grades . . 

.  2.95 

1.40 

Clearfield  County — 

Best  grade . 

1.55 

Ordinary  grade  . 

1.45 

Indiana  County — 

Best  grade  . 

.  . .  3.00 

1.45 

Medium  grade  . 

.  2.95 

1.40 

Maryland — 

Georges  Creek  big  vein . 

.  3.25 

1.75 

West  Virginia — 

Ordinary  grades . 

.  2.85 

1.35 

Best  gas,  4^-inch  lump . 

Best  grade,  run  of  mine . 

.  2.90 

1.35 

.  2.95 

1.15 

Gas  slack  . 

1.00@1.25 

New  York  Trade  Briefs. 

George  W.  Atkinson  of  the  Merchants’  Coal 
Company,  Baltimore,  was  a  recent  visitor  to  New 
York. 

W'.  P.  Tams,  Jr.,  of  the  Gulf  Smokeless  Coal 
Company,  Tams,  W.  Va.,  sailed  on  last  Saturday 
for  a  European  trip. 

O.  M.  Deyerle,  vice-president  and  general  man¬ 
ager  of  the  Flat  Top  Fuel  Company  of  Bluefield, 
W.  Va.,  was  in  New  York  on  Wednesday. 

D.  F.  Williams,  assistant  general  coal  agent  of 
the  Hudson  Coal  Company,  with  Scranton  head¬ 
quarters,  was  in  New  York  on  Wednesday. 

F.  R.  Wadleigh,  the  well-known  fuel  engineer 
with  headquarters  in  Philadelphia,  who  has  been 


in  Europe  for  the  past  two  months,  will  arrive  in 
New  York  some  time  next  week. 

Some  of  the  New  England  roads  are  said  to 
have  bought  coal  this  week,  paying  $1.50  per  ton 
at  the  mines,  Pennsylvania,  for  grades  that  were 
purchasable  several  months  ago  at  $1  and  $1.10. 

On  Wednesday,  some  of  the  New  York  bitu¬ 
minous  people  were  predicting  that  the  coming 
week  would  see  bituminous  coal  pretty  gener¬ 
ally  sold  at  $2  per  ton,  Pennsylvania  mining  fields. 

Effective  December  1st,  Willard,  Sutherland 
&  Co.  succeed  to  the  coal  business  formerly  con¬ 
ducted  at  No.  8  Bridge  street.  New  York,  by  Wil¬ 
lard  Brothers  and  the  Atlantic  &  Eastern  Coal 
Company. 

C.  E.  Lester  of  Hartwell,  Lester  &  Clitter,  Inc., 
of  No.  1  Broadway,  New  York,  who  went  abroad 
some  three  months  ago,  and  who  has  visited  the 
principal  European  countries  since,  is  now  on  his 
way  home,  and  is  e.xpected  to  arrive  some  time 
during  the  coming  week. 

Frank  Ellison  of  the  C.  G.  Blake  Company, 
Cincinnati,  returned  last  week  on  the  steamer 
Touraine  of  the  P'rench  Line  from  a  visit  to 
France  and  Italy,  stopping  over  in  New  York  with 
Manager  Steinkamp  of  the  New  York  office  for 
several  days  before  going  west. 

Harry  K.  Stauffer,  who  is  associated  with  the 
sales  forces  of  B.  Nicoll  &  Company,  making 
headquarters  at  Philadelphia,  has  recently  recov¬ 
ered  from  an  operation  that  was  performed  at 
Elmira,  N.  Y.,  where  he  was  convalescing  in  a 
hospital  for  two  months.  Mr.  Stauffer  was  in 
New  York  several  days  this  week,  going  to  Phila¬ 
delphia  for  the  holidays. 

Newspaper  dispatches  from  Scranton  on 
Wednesday  told  of  the  resignation  of  Col.  Reese 
A.  Phillips,  for  thirteen  years  general  manager 
of  the  collieries  of  the  Delaware,  Lackawanna  & 
Western  Coal  Company.  His  resignation  is  due 
to  ill  health.  He  started  in  the  anthracite  field 
a  great  many  years  ago  as  breaker  boy.  His 
successor  has  not  been  named. 

The  Van  Ormer  Coal  &  Coke  Company,  which 
has  its  general  offices  at  Boston,  has  moved  its 
headquarters  to  Altoona.  The  Van  Ormer  inter¬ 
ests  have  large  operations  at  Van  Ormer  along 
the  Cresson  and  Clearfield  branch  of  the  Penn¬ 
sylvania  railroad,  the  daily  production  of  its  mines 
being  about  1,000  tons.  The  Altoona  offices  will 
be  in  charge  of  B.  C.  McDowell,  who  formerly 
was  in  charge  of  the  Brothers  Valley  operations 
in  Somerset  county. 

Marcy  McD.  Price  of  Berlin,  Pa.,  and  for  many 
years  with  the  McNiver  &  Brothers  Valley  Coal 
Company  interests  in  New  York,  is  named  as  one 
of  the  incorporators  of  the  Hartland  Colliery 
Company  of  Clay  county.  West  Virginia,  which 
has  just  been  granted  a  charter  in  that  state,  with 
capital  of  $500,000.  Incorporators  are  John  B. 
Hart,  Edward  Hart,  W.  S.  Booth,  all  of  Clarks¬ 
burg,  W.  Va. ;  Marcy  McD.  Price  of  New  York 
and  David  Price  of  Johnstown,  Pa. 

C.  W.  Proctor  of  the  Skeele  Coal  Company,  No. 
90  West  street,  returned  on  the  steamer  Finland 
on  last  Thursday  from  a  trip  to  Norway,  Den¬ 
mark,  Sweden  and  England.  Mr.  Proctor  returned 
to  find  the  stork  about  three  days  ahead  of  him, 
a  fine  girl  being  the  result  of  the  winged  car¬ 
rier’s  visit.  While  in  London,  he  gave  a  fare¬ 
well  dinner  to  the  New  York  coal  men  who  were 
in  London  at  that  time,  Messrs.  W.  B.  McQueen 
of  Alden  Coal  Mining  Company,  McCormack  of 
Commercial  Coal  Company  and  Lester  of  Hart- 
Well,  Lester  &  Clitter,  Inc.,  attending. 

Some  of  the  coal  men  who  follow  traffic  mat¬ 
ters  very  closely  and  whose  experiences  have  been 
very  varied,  so  far  as  transportation  matters  are 
concerned,  are  inclined  to  the  belief  that  coal, 
notwithstanding  the  many  mean  things  said 
about  it  as  a  traffic  commodity,  is  about  the  best 
paying  revenue  that  the  railroads  have  after  all. 
Here  is  how  one  authority  viewed  the  matter : 
“Coal  originates  to  the  road  without  any  solicita¬ 
tion.  The  shipper  loads  it  and  pays  for  its  un¬ 
loading.  The  cars  run  promptly  back  to  the  mines. 
On  the  other  hand,  much  of  the  freight  that  is 
now  tying  up  cars  in  New  York  territory  was 
solicited  by  high-priced  solicitors.  They  usually 
turn  in  some  expense  accounts,  too.  Then  we 
get  a  glut  at  the  ports  where  it  has  to  be  unloaded, 
reloaded  and  handled  several  times,  all  at  great 
expense,  before  it  finally  reaches  its  resting  place 
on  shipboard  if  intended  for  export.  There  is 
but  one  movement  of  coal  after  it  reaches  the 
tidewater  ports.  That  is  when  it  is  dumped  either 
by  machines  or  gravity  piers,  directly  into  the  ves¬ 
sels.  And  then,  coal  moves  regularly.  It  is  a 
month  in  and  month  out  traffic,  so  that  transpor¬ 
tation  companies  can  move  it  with  a  minimum 
of  cost.” 


No.  23] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


463 


New  England  Trade 


Boston,  December  2. —  {Special  Correspond¬ 
ence.) — The  wholesale  anthracite  and  bituminous 
dealers  of  New  En.gland,  and  especially  those 
located  at  this  centre,  are  even  more  optimistic 
regardin.g  the  future  than  they  were  a  week  ago.  At 
that  time  a  dealer  could  be  found  here  and  there 
who  was  inclined  to  be  a  little  dubious,  but 
today  all  signs  of  pessimism  appear  to  have  dis¬ 
appeared.  The  great  question  today  is  not  so 
much  “demand”  as  it  is  “transportation  facilities.” 
'I'his  question  applies  as  much  to  anthracite  as  it 
does  to  bituminous. 

The  congestion  at  terminal  and  junction  points 
has  not  been  improved  upon  during  the  past 
seven  days,  and  there  is  nothing  to  indicate  any 
material  improvement  within  the  near  future. 
All-rail  dealers  are,  for  this  reason,  bound  to 
experience  more  or  less  delay  in  deliveries  of 
coal.  High  winds  and  seas  have  greatly  inter¬ 
rupted  water  transportation.  Some  houses  re¬ 
port  practically  no  cargoes  arriving  during  the 
past  ten  days.  Others  have  been  fortunate  enough 
to  get  three  or  four  barges  through  since  last 
reports.  But  every  house  is  backward  in  de¬ 
liveries  and  a  considerable  November  tonnage 
was  carried  over  into  this  month.  If  they  should 
not  take  another  order  within  the  next  fort¬ 
night,  a  majority  of  houses  could  keep  busy  mak¬ 
ing  deliveries  of  coal  already  ordered. 

But  instead  of  a  decrease  in  business  whole¬ 
salers  report  a  better  demand  for  bituminous. 
Manufacturers  and  other  large  consumers  seem 
to  have  awakened  to  the  fact  that  soft  coal  is 
more  apt  to  be  higher  before  April  1  than  it  is 
to  be  lower,  and  everybody  appears  anxious  to 
lay  in  a  good  supply.  Appeals  for  deliveries  of 
old  contract  coals  are  keen  and  some  consumers 
are  placing  orders  for  more  1915-16  coal.  At 
Mystic  Wharf  the  spot  New  River  and  Pocahon¬ 
tas  market  is  largely  a  professional  affair.  That 
is  the  buying  is  confined  largely  to  among  dealer.s 
themselves.  Owing  to  the  fact  that  receipts  have 
been  light  these  coals  have  recently  changed  hands 
at  $4.15  to  $4.25  per  ton  on  cars.  About  a 
month  ago  New  River  and  Pocahontas  was  a 
drag  on  the  Mystic  Wharf  market  at  $3.75.  Deal¬ 
ers  handling  Georges  Creek  and  like  coals  have 
practically  withdrawn  from  the  market,  and 
prices  for  them  are  largely  nominal.  The  f.  o.  b. 
Hampton  Roads  market  on  southern  coals  is 
reported  as  firmer  at  $2.85  per  ton,  notwithstand¬ 
ing  the  fact  that  supplies  standing  and  running 
to  those  ports  are  still  far  in  excess  of  the 
demand.  The  local  bunkering  market  for  New 
River  and  Pocahontas  is  better,  being  $4.50  per 
ton  over  the  rail,  as  compared  with  $4.25  a  week 
or  ten  days  ago.  Pennsylvania  bituminous  is 
higher  at  $1.25  to  $1.75  per  ton  on  cars  at  the 
mines,  and  in  some  cases  coal  has  brought  as 
high  as  $1.80.  Local  retail  prices  for  bituminous 
are  higher,  but  not  noticeably  so. 

The  demand  for  anthracite,  acording  to  a 
majority  of  the  wholesale  firms,  is  all  that  could 
be  desired.  Big  company  prices  are  very  stroag, 
but  unchanged,  but  independents  are  asking  and 
getting  premiums  of  fifteen  to  twenty-five  cents 
a  ton  and  not  guaranteeing  deliveries.  The  de¬ 
mand  for  cargo  lots  of  stove,  nut  and  egg  is  espe¬ 
cially  good,  and  the  chances  are  there  will  not 
be  enough  pea  and  buckwheat  to  go  around  dur¬ 
ing  the  balance  of  the  year.  Alongside  Boston 
Harbor  prices  are :  Stove  and  egg,  $5.85 ;  mi^ 
$6.10 ;  broken,  $5.10 ;  pea,  $4.05  per  ton.  On 
a  basis  of  f.  o.  b.  New  York,  No.  1  buckwheat  is 
$2.85;  No.  2,  $2.30;  No.  3,  $1.60,  and  bird’s  eye, 
$3. 

The  marine  freight  rate  market  is  strong  and 
higher.  From  Hampton  Roads  ports  to  Boston 
the  general  asking  price  for  bituminous  is  $1.15 
to  $1.25  per  ton.  From  Hampton  Roads  ports 
to  Sound  ports  rates  average  about  ten  cents 
less  than  to  Boston.  The  six-masted  schooners 
Ruth  E.  Merrill  and  Edward  B.  Winslow  and  the 
five-master  Singleton  Palmer,  three  of  the  lar.gest 
vessels  engaged  in  carrying  coal  to  Boston,  have 
been  chartered  at  a  very  high  rate  to  transport 
coal  from  Chesapeake  Bay  ports  to  Rio  Janeiro. 
The  boats  will  each  receive  $8.50  per  ton.  The 
Winslow  will  carry  4,800  tons,  the  Merrill  4,500, 
and  the  Palmer  3,800.  Rates  from  New  York 
to  Boston  continue  high,  usually  at  ninety  cents 
per  ton  ;  from  New  York  to  Providence  seventy 
cents;  and  from  New  York  to  Pawtucket  eighty 
cents.  From  New  York  to  the  Provinces  rates 
usually  run  from  $1.25  to  $1.40  per  ton,  and  some¬ 
times  as  Ivgh  as  $1.50. 

Boston  Trade  Notes. 

The  probabilities  are  the  New  River  Company 
will  produce  175,000  tons  of  coal  during  Novem¬ 


ber.  The  net  earnings  for  July,  August  and  Sep¬ 
tember  were  $70,000.  October  broke  about  even. 

The  Wravin  Coal  Company  of  Boston,  with  a 
capital  of  $25,000,  was  recently  granted  a  Massa¬ 
chusetts  charter.  The  incorporators  of  the  com¬ 
pany  are  Joseph  F.  Ryan,  Horatio  C.  Rohrman 
and  H.  Wray  Rohrman. 

The  net  earnings  of  all  companies  for  the 
four  months  ended  October  31,  were  $804,819; 
for  the  same  period  last  year  they  were  $807,631. 
The  earnings  of  the  coal  department  for  the  four 
months  were  $379,219,  as  compared  with  $379,780. 
•  F.  Sherman  &  Sons,  Inc.,  of  Poultney,  dealers 
in  grain,  coal  and  wood,  have  been  granted  a 
Vermont  charter.  The  capital  of  the  company 
is  $10,000,  and  the  incorporators  are  Henry  F. 
Sherman,  Alice  J.  Sherman  and  Thankful  S. 
Mears,  all  of  Poultney,  Vt. 

Rumor  has  it  that  the  shares  of  the  Virginian 
Railway  are  to  be  listed  on  the  Boston  Curb 
Exchange.  The  road  is  doiag  a  big  business 
hauling  coal  from  the  New  River  and  Pocahontas 
fields  to  Norfolk,  Va.,  whence  most  of  it  is 
shipped  by  water  to  Boston. 

On  her  first  trip  from  Louisburg,  C.  B.,  to 
Boston,  the  new  steamer  Rose  Castle  under 
charter  to  the  Dominion  Coal  Company,  brought 
in  7,400  tons  of  coal.  The  boat’s  capacity  is 
11,500  tons,  and  she  is  the  largest  vessel  in  the 
employ  of  the  Dominion  company. 

The  local  retail  dealers  have  started  their 
annual  solicitation  campaign  in  the  form  of  foy¬ 
ers  to  household  consumers  of  anthracite.  These 
folders  give  reasons  why  the  winter’s  supply 
of  coal  should  be  bought.  The  folder  issued  by 
the  Massachusetts  Wharf  Coal  Company  is  espe¬ 
cially  attractive. 


The  net  earnings  available  for  dividends  of  the 
subsidiary  companies  of  the  Massachusetts  Gas 
Companies  for  October  were  .$312,350;  for  the 
corresponding  month  last  year  they  were  $242,780, 
and  in  1913,  $220,781.  Following  are  the  earn- 
in.gs  of  the  coal  department  for  October,  with 


comparisons : 

New  England  coke 
New  England  coal, 

Federal  coal . 

Tow  boat . . 

Total  . 


1915. 

1914. 

1913. 

$50,007 

$57,945 

.  37,905 

42,938 

32,809 

.  5,860 

6,011 

7,119 

3,830 

4,082 

1,231 

$103,700 

$99,166 

A  hearing  on  soft  coal  rates  from  the  Clear¬ 
field  region  in  Pennsylvania  to  Providence,  01- 
neyville  and  Auburn,  R.  I.,  which  recently  have 
been  advanced  twenty-five  cents  per  ton  to  $2.70 
by  the  New  Haven  Railroad,  was  recently  held 
before  Examiner  La  Roe,  of  the  Interstate  Com¬ 
merce  Commission,  in  the  Federal  Building,  Bos¬ 
ton.  The  chief  protestants  were  the  Carbon 
Coal  &  Coke  Company  and  the  Skeele  Coal  Com¬ 
pany  of  Boston,  who  contended  that  the  tide¬ 
water  dealers,  transporting  coal  from  West  Vir¬ 
ginia  fields  via  Norfolk,  are  given  an  advantage 
by  the  increased  all-rail  rate.  Representatives  of 
the  New  Haven  stated  that  the  new  rate  to 
Auburn  was  based  on  the  rate  of  $2.70  to  Wor¬ 
cester,  that  city  being  equally  distant  from  Bos¬ 
ton  and  Providence,  where  tidewater  dealers  are 
located.  It  was  also  stated  that  a  reduction  for 
some  Rhode  Island  points  had  been  made  from 
$3.80  to  $2.70,  and  that  the  road  had  decided  to 
make  a  flat  rate  of  $2.70  for  that  territory. 
Examiner  La  Roe  took  the  matter  under  con¬ 
sideration. 


Baltimore  Trade. 


Baltimore,  Md.,  December  2. —  {Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — While  the  bituminous  coal  situation 
here  shows  a  gradual  tightening  of  lines  under 
the  adverse  influence  of  poor  labor  and  car  sup¬ 
ply,  although  demand  for  commercial  fuel  is  by 
no  means  heavy  for  the  season,  the  principal  in¬ 
terest  of  the  moment  is  centering  in  anthracite. 
Dealers  here,  where  yard  reserve  supplies  are 
none  too  large,  are  growing  somewhat  nervous  as 
to  prospects.  The  movement  of  coal  from  the 
mines,  even  after  it  is  gotten  awheel,  is  very 
poor,  such  shipments  often  consuming  from  two 
to  three  weeks.  When  coal  gets  in  a  yard  or 
siding  the  anthracite  man  here  has  to  whistle  for 
the  most  part.  It  is  only  the  fellow  who  requires 
the  immediate  forwarding  of  bills  of  lading  and 
then  gets  immediately  behind  the  shipment  to 
prevent  it  being  sidetracked,  who  is  getting 
through  coal  in  anything  like  satisfactory  form. 

Then  the  mines  are  often  refusing  to  make 
shipments,  as  they  have  not  the  coal  in  some 
cases,  or  the  cars  in  others,  to  take  care  even  of 
their  most  urgent  orders.  The  result  is  that 
stocks  in  Baltimore  have  been  hit  harder  this 
early  winter  than  ever  before  to  care  for  contract 


obligations,  and  storing  of  more  coal  to  take  care 
of  the  harder  weather  ahead  is  out  of  the  ques¬ 
tion.  Two  or  three  weeks  of  real  cold  weather 
just  now  is  likely  to  see  a  genuine  squeeze  for 
fuel.  There  has  been  much  talk  in  the  trade  of 
possible  increases  in  prices,  but  no  action  has  been 
taken  as  yet  to  go  above  the  regular  winter 
schedule. 

In  soft  coal  lines  there  is  a  loud  cry  for  cars, 
and  the  cry  for  the  most  part  is  being  met  with  a 
rebuff.  The  mines  that  received  thirty  to  forty 
per  cent  the  past  week  in  many  regions  were  the 
lucky  ones.  Under  such  conditions  contract  obli¬ 
gations  fell  further  back.  Operating  interests  not 
infrequently  are  not  only  offering  coal  for  sale, 
but  are  actually  buying  coal  awheel  wherever 
possible  to  fill  up  their  contract  obligations.  Two 
things  are  keeping  the  market  from  soaring.  One 
is  that  the  industrial  demand  is  not  pushing  even 
up  to  contract  obligations,  except  possibly  for 
those  issues  which  are  working  on  war  orders, 
and  the  other  is  that  there  has  been  an  almost 
complete  cessation  of  export  movement.  Were 
from  200,000  to  300,000  tons  a  month  now  going 
out  on  foreign  account,  as  was  the  case  a  few 
months  ago,  there  would  be  a  more  decided 
squeeze.  Last  week  foreign  shipments  were  negli¬ 
gible,  but  a  little  more  than  1,000  tons  being  load¬ 
ed.  Only  one  small  coal  charter  was  noted.  All 
the  coal  trade  has  stopped  foreign  shipments  for 
the  time  being  because  of  the  excessive  vessel 
rates  that  are  also  tying  up  all  classes  of  mer¬ 
chandise  at  eastern  terminals. 

Prices,  where  coal  was  available  at  all  in  the 
open  market,  were  a  little  tighter.  The  list  to  the 
trade  at  the  mines  may  be  quoted  about  as  fol¬ 
lows  : 


Fairmont  Ordinary — 

Three-quarter  . 

Run  of  mine . 

F.  O.  B. 
Mines. 

F.  O.  B. 
Mines. 
$2.53 
2.43 
2.S8 

2.63 

2.43 

2.38@2.43 

2.38@2.43 

2.58@2.03 

2.48 

Slack  . 

Somerset — 

Best  . 

Good  . 

W.  M.  R.  R.— 

Freeiiort  . 

B.  &  0.  K.  R.— 

Freeport  . 

P.  R.  R.-— 

Best  South  Fork . 

.  1.40@1.45 

...  1  30 

Baltimore 

Trade  Briefs. 

The  October  tonnage  report  of  the 

Baltimore 

&  Ohio  Railroad  shows  the  total  movement  was 
3,124,328  tons,  as  compared  with  2,662,377  tons 
for  the  same  period  of  1914,  a  gain  of  461,951 
tons. 

Great  interest  is  being  taken  here  in  the  grain 
embargo  placed  by  the  Pennsylvania  against  grain 
coming  here,  and  the  embargo  of  the  B.  &  O. 
against  iron  and  steel  for  New  York.  It  is 
thought  that  much  iron  and  steel  may  now  come 
here  for  shipment,  and  on  the  other  hand  the 
holdup  of  grain  coming  here  may  give  a  chance 
for  a  release  of  some  of  the  fleet  that  has  been 
absorbed  by  the  grain  interests  to  the  exclusion 
of  export  coal  movement. 

The  Baltimore  &  Ohio  railroad  has  awarded 
contracts  for  its  new  $1,500,000  concrete  and  steel 
coal  pier  at  Curtis  Bay.  The  work  was  divided  as 
follows  :  Superstructure  and  bulkhead,  H.  S.  Ker- 
baugh,  Baltimore  and  New  York;  dredging,  same 
concern ;  conveying  machinery,  Robins  Belt 
Company,  New  York;  car  dumpers,  McMyler  In¬ 
terstate  Company,  Cleveland,  Ohio;  grading. 
Smith  McCormick,  Easton,  Pa.,  and  thawing 
sheds.  Surety  Engineering  Company,  New  York. 


Boomer  Mine  Explosion. 


Boomer,  W.  Va.,  November  39. — Nineteen  men 
are  known  to  have  been  killed  by  an  explosion 
in  Mine  No.  2  of  the  Boomer  Coal  &  Coke  Com¬ 
pany  here  today.  Thirty  miners  were  brought  to 
the  surface  tonight,  and  rescuers  have  hopes  that 
others  will  be  found  alive. 

Ten  miners  were  rescued  from  a  sub-entry  to 
the  mine  at  6  o’clock  this  evening  in  a  semi¬ 
conscious  condition.  When  revived  they  said 
they  had  seen  many  men  apparently  dead  a  short 
distance  from  the  point  where  the  explosion  oc¬ 
curred. 

Early  reports  said  fire  was  raging  in  the  mine, 
l)ut  rescuers  denied  this.  The  fans  were  not  af¬ 
fected  by  the  explosion. 

Rescue  teams  are  working  in  thirty-minute 
shifts  under  the  supervision  of  State  Mine  In¬ 
spector  Earl  Henry  and  1).  J.  Parker,  chief  engi¬ 
neer  in  charge  of  the  car  of  the  United  States 
Bureau  of  Mines  stationed  at  Huntington,  \V.  Va. 


464 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[December  4 


Buffalo  Trade. 


liuri'ALo,  N.  December  — {Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — Tile  anthracite  shipments  l)y 
lake  for  the  past  week  were  on  a  fairly  lartje 
scale,  amounting  to  107,950.  Nearly  half  the 
coal,  or  53,900  tons  went  to  Duluth-Superior, 
with  33,750  for  Milwaukee,  13,900  for  Chicago, 
5,000  for  Manitowoc  and  3,400  for  Marquette. 
November  was  a  rather  light  month  as  com¬ 
pared  with  last  year  and  the  total  for  the  sea¬ 
son  will  undoubtedly  run  considerably  below 
a  year  ago.  Shipments  will  be  made  for  some 
days  yet,  the  intention  of  some  of  the  ship¬ 
pers  being  to  send  coal  forward  as  long  as 
the  weather  and  ice  conditions  permit. 

The  demand  from  dealers  is  on  a  fair  scale, 
but  it  will  take  some  more  wintry  w'eather 
than  has  thus  far  been  experienced  to  create 
any  flurry.  A  scarcity  of  cars  affects  the  de¬ 
livery  of  coal  at  present,  but  serious  delays 
have  not  as  yet  occurred.  The  bulk  of  the 
orders  just  now  runs  to  chestnut  and  it  is 
a  hard  matter  to  fill  all  the  orders  for  this 
size.  Other  sizes  are  fairly  plentiful. 

The  bituminous  demand  has  grown  consid¬ 
erably  in  eastern  territory  and  some  shippers 
have  a  large  business  there.  Prices  are  on 
a  stiff  basis  and  much  better  than  they  are 
nearer  home  or  in  Canada.  It  seems  to  be  a 
hard  proposition  to  get  a  fair  price  here,  but 
some  companies  are  declining  to  make  any  re¬ 
ductions,  quoting  prices  even  higher  than  the 
regular  schedule.  It  is  believed  that  coal  is 
going  to  be  worth  more  within  the  next  few 
weeks  and  operators  feel  that  it  would  be 
foolish  to  tie  up  any  large  quantity  unless 
they  get  satisfactory  figures  for  it.  Most  of 
the  sales  now  made  are  for  December  de¬ 
livery,  with  the  understanding  that  coal  will 
not  be  furnished  for  January  or  later  months 
at  such  prices. 

The  lake  season  in  bituminous  coal  is  about 
over,  and  the  next  week  or  ten  days  will  see 
the  finish.  The  ordinary  situation  at  the  end 
of  the  season  is  a  somew'hat  weaker  market 
for  a  brief  period,  but  it  seems  doubtful  if 
much  weakness  will  develop  this  year.  There 
is  a  great  scarcity  of  men  and  of  cars,  and 
these  factors  are  creating  a  pretty  firm  mar¬ 
ket.  Labor  of  all  kinds  is  not  as  plentiful 
as  it  ordinarily  is  and  employers  are  forced 
to  bid  against  each  other  to  get  help.  The 
outlook  is  for  numerous  labor  troubles  in  the 
mining  districts  in  the  near  future. 


Buffalo  Trade  Briefs. 

Charles  S.  Bygate,  of  the  Theiss-Bygate 
Company,  was  a  visitor  to  the  coal  trade  here 
this  week. 

The  Richland  Coal  Company  has  opened  an 
office  at  Cleveland,  O.,  and  Roswell  S.  Price, 
president  of  the  company,  will  spend  much  of 
his  time  looking  after  affairs  there  hereafter. 

Buffalo  anthracite  shippers  have  refused 
seventy-five  cents  on  coal  cargoes  to  Chicago 
this  week,  this  being  about  double  the  or¬ 
dinary  rate.  It  is  understood  that  that  rate 
was  paid  from  Erie  to  Chicago. 

It  is  expected  that  the  New  York  State 
Steel  Company’s  plant  will  start  operations  in 
the  near  future,  possibly  next  week,  if  enough 
men  can  be  secured.  Labor  is  difficult  to  se¬ 
cure  for  a  number  of  large  plants  here. 

The  steamer  Nyanza  ran  aground  with  a 
coal  cargo  at  Erie,  Pa.,  last  week  and  had  to 
be  lightered  of  500  tons,  after  four  tugs  had 
vainly  tried  to  get  her  loose.  The  vessel  was 
reloaded  and  continued  her  trip  up  the  lakes. 

Several  hundred  miners  employed  by  the 
Rochester  &  Pittsburgh  Coal  &  Iron  Com¬ 
pany  at  the  Adrian  and  Elorence  mines  went 
on  a  strike  last  week,  causing  considerable  in¬ 
convenience  in  the  filling  of  the  company’s 
shipments. 

The  steamer  .A.drian  Iselin,  owned  by  the 
George  Hall  Coal  Company,  Ogdensburg,  has 
made  ninety-three  trips  between  that  city  and 
Charlotte,  on  Lake  Ontario,  during  the  past 
season.  The  vessel  carries  3,000  tons,  so  that 
her  total  tonnage  for  the  season  is  nearly 
300,000.  The  number  of  trips  is  a  record- 
breaker  and  good  weather  has  favored  the 
Iselin  all  through. 

The  funeral  of  George  P.  Cronk,  treasurer 
and  general  manager  of  the  Pennsy  Coal 
Company,  was  held  last  Wednesday  at  Frank¬ 
lin,  Pa.,  the  services  being  in  charge  of  the 
Order  of  Elks.  The  bearers  were  members 


of  the  Elks  and  former  associates  in  the  com¬ 
pany.  A  special  train  conveyed  the  body  and 
fifty-two  members  of  the  local  lodge  o:  Elks 
to  Clarion,  where  interjuent  occurred. 

The  by-products  coke  plant  projected  by 
the  Wickwire  Steel  Company  and  the  Semet- 
Solvay  Company,  but  laid  aside  on  account 
of  the  outbreak  of  the  war,  is  to  be  built  soon. 
It  is  stated  unofficially  that  the  projectors 
are  sorry  that  they  dropped  the  work,  as  they 
need  the  coke.  The  plant  will  be  near  the 
Wickwire  Steel  Company  plant  on  the  Ni¬ 
agara  river  and  will  have  a  capacity  of  500 
tons  of  coke  a  day. 


Denver  Trade. 


Denver,  December  3. —  (Special  Correspond¬ 
ence.) — The  market  here  has  been  brisk  during 
the  past  week  on  account  of  several  days  of 
cold  weather.  It  has  been  especially  cold  during 
the  nights,  the  thermometer  dropping  to  about 
fifteen  degrees  below  freezing.  As  a  result  the 
market  has  displayed  more  snap  than  at  any  time 
since  the  opening  of  the  season. 

Li.gnite  production  is  around  the  top  notch, 
every  mine  running  full  time  and  crowded  with 
orders.  The  unexpected  change  caught  many 
dealers  rather  shorthanded  and  considerable  de¬ 
lay  occurred  in  the  filling  of  orders. 

The  bituminous  districts  all  report  a  rushing 
business  with  a  heavy  tonnage.  Trinidad,  Wal- 
senburg  and  Routt  mines  are  all  hard  pushed 
in  the  fillia?  of  orders,  and  running  full  time. 
The  output  in  the  Canon  City  district  is  very 
satisfactory  and  larger  than  for  many  months. 
There  is  a  very  heavy  demand  this  week  for 
Routt  county  grades. 

While  slack  prices  are  strong,  there  is  no 
radical  change  in  prices.  Present  production  is 
well  absorbed  by  the  better  demand. 

The  following  prices  on  lignite  coal  are  ruling, 
f.  o.  b.  mines :  For  Denver  delivery,  lump,  ,$3.35 
to  $3.C5  ;  mine  run,  $1.50  to  $1.65;  slack,  $1.05  to 
$1.35.  For  country  delivery,  lump,  $3.50;  mine 
run,  $1.55  to  $1.05;  slack,  $1.05. 


A  Matter  of  Rates. 

Denver,  December  3. —  (Special  Correspond¬ 
ence.) — Accordiag  to  a  recent  decision  by  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission,  pursuant  to  an 
investigation  of  coal  switching  charges  in  Chi¬ 
cago,  the  coal  shippers  in  Colorado  are  entitled 
to  recover  the  difference  between  the  rates  they 
have  been  paying  the  railroads  apd  the  rates 
fixed  by  the  commission.  The.  essence  of  this 
decision,  according  to  Attorney  Albert  L.  Vogl, 
of  Denver,  is  as  follows: 

“'Where  it  can  be  shown  that  coal  rates  are 
excessive  rather  than  discriminative,  the  shippers 
may  sue  and  are  entitled  to  dama.ges.  The  ship¬ 
per  cannot  get  damages  if  it  is  shown  that  the 
rates  have  been  merely  discriminative.  They 
must  be  in  excess  of  the  rates  fixed  by  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission  before  the 
shipper  has  cause  for  action. 

“The  supreme  court  of  the  United  States  de¬ 
cided  several  years  ago  that  discriminative  charges 
are  not  grounds  for  damages,’’  he  said.  “.4nd  the 
railroads  have  been  relying  on  that  decision  to 
protect  them  from  prosecution  for  their  inordi¬ 
nate  coal  rates. 

“There  is  no  question  that  the  rates  changed 
the  shippers  in  northern  Colorado  are  not  only 
excessive  but  far  above  the  rates  fixed  by  the 
commission,  and  therefore  illegal.  And  the  ship- 
|)ers  of  coal  from  the  northern  Colorado  fields 
who  have  been  paying  these  excessive  charges 
can  sue  and  recover  the  difference  between  the 
rates  they  should  pay  and  the  rates  they  have 
been  paying.  The  railroads  are  liable  for  a 
refund  of  the  excess  in  charges  they  have  made, 
and  the  supreme  court  decision  does  not  protect 
them.’’ 

According  to  the  above  the  shippers  of  coal  in 
this  state  may  now  recover  on  excess  charges 
aiuountin.g  approximately  to  $10(),()rr;). 


A  Ton  Lump  of  Coal. 

Denver,  December  3. —  (Special  Correspond¬ 
ence.) — The  lar.gest  lump  of  coal  ever  brought 
to  Denver  was  delivered  a  few  days  ago  liy 
the  Victor-American  Fuel  Company  from  the 
Pinnacle  mine  in  Routt  county,  which  it  recently 
put  in  operation.  The  lump  measured  over  eight 
feet  in  width  and  weighed  one  ton. 

The  second  largest  lump  was  brought  here 
thirteen  years  ago  by  the  Rocky  Mountain  Fuel 
Company.  It  weighed  half  a  ton  and  is  still 


at  one  of  the  company’s  yards.  It  seems  to  be 
in  about  as  good  condition  as  on  the  date  of 
its  arrival  in  Denver. 


Central  Pennsylvania  Status. 


In  response  to  a  request  from  The  Black 
Diamond  for  an  expression  as  to  what  pro¬ 
cedure  at  this  time  would  best  serve  the 
interests  of  the  Pennsylvania  bituminous  op¬ 
erators,  especially  those  in  the  central  Penn¬ 
sylvania  field,  where  the  wage  question  comes 
up  for  settlement  on  April  1st  next,  a  well 
known  operator  writes  as  follows: 

“Everyone  in  the  coal  business  realizes  the 
serious  danger  of  labor  trouble  impending 
.April  1st,  1916.  There  are  three  prospects 
to  contend  with: 

First — An  advance  in  wages. 

Second — Suspension  of  mining  pending  set¬ 
tlement. 

Third — A  strike. 

“The  first  will,  of  course,  be  disputed  by 
the  opposing  parties. 

“The  second  and  third  contingencies  would 
be  regretted  by  both  sides  and  would  cause 
losses  to  the  operators  and  suffering  to  the 
miners  and  their  families.  With  the  present 
prospect  of  a  serious  shortage  of  railroad 
equipment  clear  through  to  April  1st  next, 
the  miners  will  not  be  over-prosperous  at 
that  date. 

“Therefore,  the  question  of  a  settlement 
should  not  be  permitted  to  go  beyond  April 
1st,  and  preparation  for  negotiations  should 
be  commenced  at  once. 

“Operators  should  first  of  all,  accumulate 
by  subscription  or  assessment,  a  fund  of 
money  to  assist  those  of  their  numbers  not 
in  shape  to  carry  on  a  strike  in  case  an  agree¬ 
ment  is  found  impossible  at  the  outset. 

“The  last  advance  was  not  warranted,  as  all 
know  at  this  time.  It  was  brought  about 
solely  because  of  the  inability  of  two  or  three 
members  to  stand  a  shut  down.  Had  a  fund 
been  arranged  to  meet  such  a  situation,  the 
central  Pennsylvania  field,  as  a  whole,  would 
have  benefited.  Operators  would  have  saved 
thousands  of  dollars,  and  labor  would  have 
been  more  steadily  employed.  The  fictitious 
situation  that  prevailed  in  the  central  Penn¬ 
sylvania  district  was  not  to  the  benefit  of  any. 

“Facts  and  figures  should  be  gathered  and 
tabulated  at  once  so  that  no  delay  may  occur. 
These  figures  should  be  made  up  by  both 
sides  to  be  presented  by  each  side  in  a  clear 
and  concise  manner. 

"Operators  should  have  comparative  costs 
with  other  fields,  bearing  in  mind  that  every 
advance  made  in  Central  Pennsylvania  makes 
the  handicap  as  compared  with  mining  costs 
in  other  districts,  a  little  greater.  Compari¬ 
sons  of  present  costs  against  those  existing 
when  the  scale  went  into  effect  will  show  an 
increase  of  about  eight  cents,  brought  about 
by  various  causes  not  connected  with  the  scale. 
These  figures  should  be  gotten  up  also. 
Miners’  representatives  should  attempt  to 
show  plainly  where  their  claims  for  increases 
in  wages  are  based. 

“A  publicity  bureau  should  be  organized. 
Facts,  figures  and  details  of  negotiations 
should  be  given  to  the  press  daily.  Negotia¬ 
tions  pending  at  the  end  of  March  are  sub¬ 
ject  to  an  over  anxiety  for  settlement.  The 
high  market  prices  caused  by  the  fear  of  the 
public  has  biased  largely  the  men’s  minds  in 
their  work.  For  instance,  three  years  ago  a 
parallel  situation  prevailed  where  both  hard 
and  soft  coal  wage  agreements  expired  simul¬ 
taneously.  Some  operators  urged  the  grant¬ 
ing  of  an  increase  stating  that  a  hard  coal 
strike  was  certain  and  that  soft  coal  would 
sell  at  $1.75  per  ton  at  the  mines  in  central 
Pennsylvania  for  months  to  come.  An  ad¬ 
vance  was  granted  by  soft  coal  operators  and 
a  settlement  was  made  by  the  hard  coal  dis¬ 
tricts  and  soft  coal  has  done  well  to  sell  at 
the  cost  of  producing  ever  since. 

“Every  strike  or  labor  agitiation  has  cost 
the  central  Pennsylvania  district  business, 
which  is  lost  to  West  Virginia  and  other  non¬ 
union  fields.  Many  buyers  do  not  want  the 
losses  and  annoyances  entailed  through  in¬ 
terruptions  to  shipments. 

“Therefore,  this  is  the  time  for  operators 
to  act.’’ 


1 

rHE  Black  Diamond 

Vol.  55.  No.  24  cm 

DECEMBER  11,  1915  $3.00  Per  Year 

What  Is  a  Proper  Price  for  Coal  After  April  1st? 


What  are  the  prices  of  coal  going  to  1)e  after 
the  first  of  next  April?  Principally,  what  are 
the  contract  prices  of  coal  going  to  be  on  com¬ 
mittments  made  between  now  and  the  first  day 
of  May  for  the  delivery  of  coal  on  and  after 
the  first  of  next  April  either  for  a  period  of  one 
year  or  two  years?  Those  are  the  big  questions 
which  are  crowding  int(t  the  mind  of  the  coal 
man  now. 

Every  one  is  reasonal)ly  sure  about  the  trend 
of  affairs  between  now  and  the  first  of  April. 
Everyone  believes,  for  example,  that  in  the  east 
prices  will  rise  to  a  premium  of  fifty  per  cent 
if  not  one  hundred  per  cent  of  normal  in  the 
next  few  months.  In  the  west,  nearly  everyone 
believes  that  prices  are  going  to  l)e  marked  up 
from  twenty-five  to  thirty-five  if  not  to  fifty 
cents  a  ton  or  more  in  the  course  of  the  next 
four  months. 

Everyone  believes  that  this  is  going  to  result 
from  the  operation  of  very  natural  forces.  That 
is,  there  will  be  a  big  demand  for  storage  coal 
anticipating  the  likelihood  of  a  mine  suspension 
on  April  first.  Everyone  believes  that  the  normal 
demand  will  be  complicated  by  a  car  shortage  and 
labor  shortage.  Everyone  is  convinced  that  the 
price  will  get  an  additional  rise  due  to  the  fact 
that  very  few  individuals  and  very  few  manufac¬ 
turing  concerns  have  stored  coal  in  anticipation 
of  this  winter’s  needs.  So  everyone  thinks  that 
the  market  is  going  to  come  in  for  quite  a  lively 
boost. 

But  as  to  what  is  going  to  happen  after  the  first 
of  next  April  when  a  mine  strike  will  lie  a 
factor,  if  not  indeed  a  fact,  opinion  is  divided 
by  about  as  much  space  as  it  is  possible  to  get 
between  the  poles. 

A  percentage  of  the  operators  believe  that,  re¬ 
gardless  of  the  general  theory  to  the  contrary, 
lightning  is  going  to  strike  twice  in  the  same 
place.  That  is,  they  believe  that  there  is  going 
to  be  a  prolonged  strike  of  the  anthracite  mines. 
They  believe  this  is  going  to  present  the  same 
tantalizing  uncertainty  that  characterized  that 
strike  in  1903.  They  believe  that  the  anthracite 
mines  will  start  out  on  what  promises  to  be  a 
short  strike.  They  believe  that  history  will  repeat 
itself  and  that  the  people  will  expect  to  hear 
every  day  that  this  strike  is  ended,  only  to  have 
one  day  succeed  another  until  the  strike  has  run 
into  months — as  it  did  in  1902.  These  operators 
believe,  therefore,  that  there  is  going  to  be  the 
same  kind  of  shortage  of  coal  at  the  end  of  1910 
that  there  was  at  the  end  of  1902'.  They  be¬ 
lieve,  therefore,  that  there  is  going  to  be  a 
reproduction  of  prices  then  charged  for  coal, 
namely  two  to  three  times  the  normal  price,  in¬ 
cluding  the  freight  rate. 

The  operators  who  expect  lightning  to  strike 
twice  in  the  same  place  are  preparing  themselves 
accordingly.  They  are  refusing  to  accept,  for 
their  coal  for  1916,  a  price  which  would  mean  a 
very  sharp  rise  over  current  figures.  They  even 
refuse  to  tie  themselves  up  for  two  years  on  the 
basis  of  that  rise  in  prices.  They  say  that  twenty- 
five  cents  a  ton  over  current  figures  does  not  in¬ 
terest  them  at  all. 

As  a  corollary  to  this  decision,  these  opeators 
are  naturally  beginning  to  do  the  most  human 
of  things.  Anticipating  a  shortage  of  coal,  they 
are  planning  to  make  up  their  share  of  it  by 
increasing  their  productive  capacity.  This,  of 
course,  is  the  surest  way  of  killing  the  very  one 
thing  that  they  want  to  see  come,  namely,  a 
sharp  rise  in  the  current  prices. 

However,  the  fact  that  to  increase  production 
kills  the  hope  that  these  operators  have  in  mind, 
is  the  one  thing  that  they  do  not  seem  to  get  into 
their  minds. 

On  the  other  hand,  a  great  majority  of  the 
operators  are  of  the  opinion  that  whife  prices 
.should  rise  after  the  first  of  April  in  order  to 
permit  the  operators  to  live,  they  do  not  see  how 
such  an  advance  is  possible.  They  cannot  make 
up  their  minds  that  there  is  any  such  good  luck 
in  store  for  them.  These  operators  take  a  view 
which  is  expressed  by  one  of  them,  in  substance, 
as  follows : 


Eastern  Operators,  Generally,  Expect  a 
Rise  on  Contracts  and  Spot  Coal — West¬ 
ern  Men  See  Little  Hope  in  View  of 
Large  Over-Production. 


“The  country  has  overdone  the  creation  of  coal 
productive  capacity.  It  has  overdone  it  so  ex¬ 
travagantly  that  it  will  take  from  fifteen  to  twenty- 
years  for  the  national  coal  consumption  to  catch 
up  with  what  the  mines  today  are  capable  of 
doing.  With  the  mines  able  to  produce,  with  new 
machinery  coming  along  that  is  going  to  speed 
up  production  in  the  mines,  and  with  the  rail¬ 
roads  constantly  growing  in  efficiency,  there  is  no 
hope  that  prices  are  going  to  rise  to  any  such 
extravagant  extent  as  twenty-five  cents  a  ton  on 
the  average  or  any  other  figure.” 

Some  operators  are  candidly  of  the  opinion 
that  if  they  hold  their  own  in  the  matter  of  price 
and  get  off  with  paying  a  small  increase  to  the 
miners,  they  are  going  to  be  lucky. 

These  same  pessimistic  operators,  however,  arc 
doing  the  same  as  the  optimists  are  doing,  namely, 
they  are  planning  to  increase  their  productive 
capacity.  Their  reason  for  so  doing  is: 

First,  every  operator  thinks  that  while  the  trade, 
generally,  has  overproduced,  the  other  fellows 
haven’t  as  good  coal  as  he  has.  Therefore,  he 
can  increase  the  production  of  his  superior  prod¬ 
uct  and  get  away  with  it.  At  any  rate,  he  is 
increasing  the  productive  capacity  of  his  mines. 

Thus  whether  the  possible  future  is  viewed 
from  the  point  of  view  of  those  who  expect  very 
much  higher  prices,  or  whether  it  is  studied  from 
the  point  of  view  of  those  who  expect  the  same 
or  even  lower  prices,  the  natural  result  is  going 
to  be  an  increase  in  the  productive  capacity  of 
the  bituminous  mines.  If  both  of  those  programs 
are  carried  out,  it  is  very  easy  to  see  how  the 
favorable  prospects  are  going  to  be  killed.  That 
is,  larger  output  will  offset  the  urgent  buying 
mood  which  normally  would  make  for  higher 
prices. 

An  elaborate  discussion  of  this  subject  by  the 
operators  themselves  was  brought  out  within  the 
last  week  by  a  letter  of  inquiry  addressed  by  the 
editor  of  this  paper  to  the  heads  of  coal  concerns 
in  all  parts  of  the  country.  The  editor  had  be¬ 
come  acquainted  with  two  circumstances  which 
suggested  the  letter  which  is  as  follows : 

"Just  recently  a  big  eastern  coal  company  re¬ 
fused  to  accept  a  contract  under  these  conditions. 

“A  contract  for  big  tonnage  does  not  expire 
until  the  first  of  next  April.  The  selling  price 
was  under  $1.00  a  ton,  the  consumer  offered_  to 
cancel  that  contract  and  make  a  new  one,  running 
from  date  to  two  years  beyond  the  first  of  April 
next  at  twenty-five  cents  a  ton  increase  in  price. 

“Another  coal  operator  refused  to  accejtt  a 
contract  for  600,000  tons  of  coal  to  be  delivered 
next  year  at  a  price  which  is  twenty-five  cents 
a  ton  above  the  current  figures  for  his  eastern 
coal. 

“Most  men  in  the  east  are  more  concerned 
about  the  prices  after  the  first  of  next  .\pril 
than  they  are  between  now  and  the  first  of  .'Vpril. 
How  do  you  stand  on  this  question?  What  are 
your  opinions  as  to  future  prices?  Will  they  be 
as  high  as  these  two  incidents  indicate?  Do  you 
exnect  lower  figures? 

“Will  you  kindly  favor  us  with  a  reply  at  your 
convenience?” 

A  good  many  interpretations  have  been  placed 
upon  those  two  incidents.  One  of  them  was  that 
the  contractor  who  offered  to  advance  his  own 
price  twenty-five  cents  a  ton  was  conscious  that 
he  was  getting  coal  now  below  cost  of  pro¬ 
duction.  Incidentally,  this  seems  to  be  about  the 
truth. 

Another  was  that  the  contractor  was  willing  to 
pay  a  Iiigher  price  after  next  year  in  order  to  be 
sure  of  gettiiu/  his  coni  delivered  this  year. 

.\i  any  rate,  the  whole  question  of  price  is  very 
elaborately  treated  as  the  following  communi¬ 
cations  from  operating  companies  will  show. 


W.  H.  Warner  of  W.  H.  Warner  &  Company, 
Leader-News  Building,  Cleveland,  Ohio:  "Re¬ 
plying  to  yours  of  December  1st,  there  is  a  very 
good  demand  for  any  low  sulphur  coal  that  will 
go  east,  and  we  look  for  considerable  advance 
in  this  coal  during  the  next  two  or  three  months. 
It  is  predicted  in  some  quarters  that  the  advance 
will  amount  to  fifty  to  seventy-five  cents  per  ton, 
although  this  will  depend  quite  largely  on  weather 
conditions,  which  in  turn  woultb  affect  the  car 
supply. 

“As  a  general  proposition  we  look  for  the 
market  price  of  coal  next  year  on  contract  to  be 
anywhere  from  ten  to  twenty  cents  per  ton 
higher  than  this  year.  This  applies  particularly 
on  coal  that  is  used  for  steel  making  or  gas 
purposes.” 

The  Milton  Coal  &  Lime  Company,  Canton, 
Ohio,  writes  as  follows:  “In  regard  to  enclosed 
letter,  would  say  we  have  not  sold  any  coal  ahead 
for  over  thirty  days  for  past  six  months.  We 
just  sold  fifty  cars  for  this  month.  The  party 
tried  to  get  it  at  same  price  to  April  1st,  and  w'e 
refused  it.  We  believe  coal  will  be  in  such 
demand  that  buyers  will  be  begging  for  coal  at 
fully  twenty-five  cents  advance  before  April  1st 
and  it  may  come  within  thirty  to  forty  days.  All 
stocks  are  light.  Labor  shortage  and  car  shortage 
will  cause  it,  and  operators  are  in  need  of  profit. 
We  believe  we  will  get  it.” 

H.  IT.  Devereux,  president  of  the  Chicago- 
Springfield  Coal  Company,  Illinois  National  Bank 
building,  Springfield,  Illinois:  “In  reply  to  yours 
of  the  1st.  We  believe  it  is  not  a  question  of 
what  the  prices  will  be  after  the  first  of  April, 
l)ut  rather  what  they  should  be  and  how  this 
price  can  be  established.  Considering  the  great 
amount  of  risk  of  all  kinds  and  the  constant  de¬ 
preciation  that  the  coal  operator  has  to  contend 
with,  a  price  at  this  time  of  $1.35  per  ton  for 
run  of  mine  would  be  no  more  than  fair,  and 
while  there  may  be  some  improvement  in  price 
here  and  there,  we  believe  that  the  only  way  in 
which  a  general  increase  can  come  is  through 
the  railroads  adopting  a  more  liberal  policy  in 
Iniving  their  fuel  requirements. 

“The  buying  of  cheap  coal  by  the  railroads  is 
not.  in  our  estimation,  good  business,  but  rather 
a  case  of  killing  the  goose  that  lays  the  ‘Golden 
Egg.’  If  it  is  true  that  the  coal  mines  supply  the 
railroads  with  about  sixty-six  per  cent  of  their 
gross  freight  tonnage,  then  the  railroads  should 
not  force  the  mines  to  sell  their  product  to  them 
at  cost  or  below,  and  by  taking  from  one-fifth  to 
one-third  of  the  tonnage  from  the  mines  local 
to  their  roads  at  this  low  price  to  thereby  estab¬ 
lish  a  low  price  on  the  balance  of  their  output,  for 
it  is  hardly  conceivable  that  with  the  railroads 
paying  a  fair  price  for  their  fuel,  that  there 
would  be  any  of  the  remainder  of  the  output  sold 
at  less  than  the  then  established  price. 

“To  the  outsider  it  would  seem  that  the  price 
to  railroads  wotdd  rest  with  the  operator,  but 
you  know  that  the  whi[)  is  in  the  hand  of  the 
railroad  and  will  remain  there  unless  present  con¬ 
ditions  are  changed.” 

H.  L.  Cory,  sales  manager  of  the  Continental 
Coal  Corporation,  Chattanooga,  Tennessee:  “We 
thank  you  for  yours  of  recent  date,  containing 
information  as  to  the  attitude  of  eastern  operators 
regarding  the  price  for  steam  coal.  We  note  that 
several  contracts  have  been  offered  at  an  increase 
of  twenty-five  cents  per  ton. 

"We  have  never  known  in  this  section  steam 
coal  prices  to  advance  more  than  five  cents  or 
fifteen  cents  in  one  year  over  the  previous  year. 
Current  contracts  are  about  ten  cents  less  than 
they  were  from  1912  to  1914.  With  restoration 
of  normal  industrial  conditions  we  can  reasonably 
expect  in  this  district  to  get  back  to  normal  basis, 
which  will  probably  be  ten  cents  above  what  we 
are  getting  now.  Any  advance  over  that  will 
have  to  be  l)a.sed  on  something  out  of  the  ordi¬ 
nary,  such  as  tini)reccdented  car  shortage  or  con¬ 
gestion,  long  continued  strike,  or  something 
unusual.” 

Fern  Hills  Mines,  Owensboro,  Kentucky,  says: 
“Yours  of  the  1st  inst.  is  received.  We  hardly 


466 


[December  11 


l<iiow  what  to  say  about  the  coal  situation  in  this 
district.  Quite  a  number  of  mines,  that  is  to 
.say  the  country  mines  around  here,  are  tied  ui) 
with  a  lot  of  low  priced  contracts.  The  Fern 
Hill  mines,  however,  are  not  handicapped  with 
any  of  these. 

"There  seems  to  be  a  better  tone  to  the  market, 
and  we  believe  that  within  six  months  it  will  be 
\ery  strong.  All  the  mines  in  this  county  are 
non-union.” 

E.  S.  Helbuni  nf  the  Hignite  Coal  Mining 
•  Jompany,  Middlesboro,  Kentucky:  “Your  letter 
of  December  l.st  asking  our  opinion  as  to  what 
we  think  the  coal  market  will  be  after  April  1st 
received.  It  is  the  opinion  of  the  operators  in 
this  section  of  the  country  that  steam  coal  will 
continue  to  advance  from  this  time  on;  that  nut 
and  slack  will  be  exceedingly  high  during  the 
spring  and  summer  and  that  run  of  mine  will 
demand  as  high  price,  or  higher,  than  it  is  selling 
at  now.  Conditions  look  very  favorable  for  a 
go(;d  price  on  steam  business.” 

Howard  J  >.  Preiffer  &  Company,  Real  Estate 
'I'nist  building,  Philadeliihia,  Pa.:  “In  reply  to 
\ours  of  the  1st,  we  would  say  that  it  is  our 
policy  to  only  take  contracts  at  a  price  that  will 
show  the  mine  a  ])rofit,  considering,  of  course, 
with  whom  the  contract  is  made.  We  closed  a 
contract  this  week  for  300,000  tons  to  be  delivered 
in  equal  monthly  proportions,  within  the  next 
three  years.  This  contract  is  not  to  begin  until 
.April  1,  1016,  and  has  a  wage  clause  agreement 
in  it. 

“If  the  coal  men,  as  a  whole  would  make 
contracts  with  a  money  penalty  for  non-delivery 
or  non-acceptance  on  delivery,  it  would  immedi¬ 
ately  put  the  coal  business  in  a  position  it  should 
be  in.  As  to  what  the  prices  will  be  after  next 
.April,  no  man  living  can  say ;  we  do  know,  how¬ 
ever.  that  the  prices  for  any  commodity  eventually 
roach  an  average  price  that  shows  a  reasonable 
profit  to  tliat  industry,  and  it  is  our  policy  to 
accept  business  when  we  can  get  such  a  price.” 

T.  E.  B.  Siler,  president  of  the  Seng  Creek 
Coal  Company  and  Marsh  Fork  Coal  Company, 
Charleston,  W.  Va. :  “I  beg  to  thank  you  for 
your  letter  of  December  1st  and  to  say  that  we 
are  not  making  any  contracts  to  run  later  than 
April  1,  1916,  and  we  certainly  w’ould  not  take 
any  contracts  for  the  next  year  at  figures  aver¬ 
aging  less  than  twenty-five  cents  per  ton  advance 
over  the  present  year’s  prices.  We  would  prefer 
to  wait  until  the  first  of  April  before  doing  even 
that.” 

Philip  P.  Phillips  of  the  Phillips  Coal  Company, 
Ottumwa,  Iowa;  “Replying  to  your  favor  of  the 
1st,  beg  to  advise  that  we  will  have  no  particular 
relief  in  the  coal  situation  this  winter  so  far 
as  price  is  concerned.  The  price  for  coal  in  the 
Iowa  coal  market  is  governed  by  the  prices  quoted 
in  Illinois,  and  so  long  as  Illinois  continues  to 
have  an  overproduction  we  cannot  expect  much 
relief  in  Iowa.  Our  business  at  the  present  time, 
however,  is  better  than  it  has  been  in  many 
months.  This,  of  course,  is  the  season  when  the 
cellars  and  coal  houses  are  being  filled  with 
domestic  coal,  which  stimulates  business.  Then 
to  the  prospective  agreement  period  coming  April 
1st  is  tending  to  induce  the  railroad  companies 
to  store  some  coal.” 

E.  (A  Roberts  of  the  Fairmount  Coal  Company, 
Rutfalo,  New  York:  “Answering  your  circular 
letter  of  December  1st  with  reference  to  future 
contracts,  beg  to  state  that  our  entire  tonnage  is 
sold  up  to  April  1st  next. 

“I  am  not  taking  on  any  new  business  beyond 
that  time  until  we  know  what  our  mining  scale 
and  other  conditions  will  be  after  April  1st. 

“There  seems  to  be  quite  a  number  of  inquiries 
for  business  through  the  year  1916,  but  I  have 
refused  to  consider  same  until  we  know  what  is 
going  to  confront  us  by  the  new  mining  scale.” 

F.  R.  Babcock  of  the  Babcock  Coal  &  Coke 
Company,  Pittsburgh,  Pa. ;  “In  response  to  your 
letter  of  December  1st,  relative  to  the  present 
situation,  and  our  idea  as  to  accepting  contracts 
for  future  delivery,  we  beg  to  advise  that  we 
are  only  ‘sinall  fry’  in  the  coal  business.  Most 
of  our  product  goes  into  coke. 

“However,  under  the  present  outlook,  we  would 
not  feel  justified  in  booking  contracts  for  large 
blocks  for  delivery  next  year.  In  fact,  we  would 
not  Want  to  tie  up  a  large  portion  of  our  product 
at  any  price.  We  would  rather  take  a  chance 
on  spot  shipments,  as  we  believe  the  market  is 
bound  to  show  some  real  improvement.” 

Regal  Coal  Company,  Oskaloosa,  Iowa ;  “Re¬ 
plying  to  yours  of  the  1st  inst.  relative  to  the 
future  selling  price  of  coal. 

“We  are  situated  a  little  too  far  west  to  feel 
the  influence  of  a  strong  market  as  quickly  or  as 
forcibly  as  the  eastern  operators  experience.  The 
east  must  feel  the  increased  prices  much  earlier 
than  we  owing  to  the  much  larger  number  of 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


industrial  manufactories  being  located  in  the 
eastern  territory.  The  enormous  business  placed 
with  these  industries  by  the  nations  at  war  creates 
an  unusual  market  for  coal,  both  by  these  indus¬ 
tries  and  the  railroads  in  making  deliveries.  It 
is  our  opinion  that  should  the  war  continue  the 
|)rice  of  coal  will  no  doubt  go  up,  and  .should 
the  war  l)e  terminated  within  a  short  time,  we 
see  no  reason  for  a  reduction. 

“The  contract  between  operators  and  miners 
expires  April  1st.,  and  there  is  no  doubt  that 
the  miners  will  make  a  demand  for  an  increase 
in  wages — and  we  think  they  will  get  it. 

“In  view  of  the  above  stated  reasons  we  feel 
that  the  operators  must  receive  a  higher  price 
for  their  coal  than  that  for  which  they  have 
been  selling.” 

J.  W.  Dawson,  general  manager  of  the  Kellys 
Creek  Colliery  Company,  Ward,  Kanawha  County, 
West  Virginia:  “I  thank  you  for  and  appreciate 
\ery  much  your  letter  of  December  1st  about 
the  price  of  coal. 

“We  agree  in  every  detail  with  the  two  con¬ 
cerns  who  declined  the  business  mentioned.  We 
are  fully  convinced  that  commercial  activities 
will,  between  now  and  the  middle  of  1916,  demand 
more  coal  than  can  be  supplied,  and  we  believe 
coal  operators  have  at  least  come  to  their  senses 
and  have  determined  to  discontinue  the  practice 
of  selling  coal  at  from  ten  to  twenty-five  cents 
a  ton  below  actual  cost,  which  they  have  been 
doing  during  the  past  twelve  months. 

“We  are  making  no  sales  for  coal  to  be  shipped 
after  March,  1916,  and  we  don’t  expect  to  on 
the  present  market.” 

Henry  L.  Gilbert,  general  manager  of  the  Black 
Diamond  Company,  New  Hayden  Building,  Co¬ 
lumbus,  Ohio :  “Replying  to  your  favor  of  De¬ 
cember  1st,  we  expect  to  see  decidedly  better 
prices  for  coal  before  April  1st.  We  are  unable 
to  make  any  prediction  for  prices  after  April  1st, 
as  that,  of  course,  will  depend  largely  upon  the 
wage  scale  to  be  settled  for  the  following  two 
years.” 

Douglass  Gorman,  president  of  the  Cumberland 
Coal  Company,  Continental  Trust  Building,  Bal¬ 
timore,  Md. ;  “Replying  to  your  letter  of  the 
1st  inst.  We  confidently  expect  to  see  a  very 
strong  market  on  both  coal  and  coke  throughout 
the  entire  year  of  1916. 

“The  question  as  to  whether  prices  will  be 
higher  after  April  1st  than  prior  thereton  depends 
entirely  on  the  possibilities  of  a  prolonged  strike 
after  April  1st.” 

W.  E.  Eppert,  president  and  treasurer  of  the 
Eureka  Block  Coal  Company,  Terre  Haute,  Ind.: 
“Replying  to  your  inquiry  of  the  1st.  It  is 
very  gratifying  to  know  that  some  people  are 
optimistic  enough  to  do  what  you  say.  If  I 
could  understand  more  certainly  what  kind  of 
conditions  are  likely  to  prevail  in  the  east,  I  think 
I  could  judge  better  what  would  likely  prevail 
here. 

“I  cannot  sec  how  prices  can  be  made  lower 
and  therefore  certainly  hope  they  may  be  much 
higher.” 

F.  H.  Wigton,  receiver  for  the  Morrisdalc  Coal 
Company.  Philadelphia.  Pa. :  “Your  letter  under 
date  of  December  1st  has  been  received  relative 
to  the  possibilities  of  prices  of  bituminous  coal 
during  the  year  1916,  after  April  Ist,  and  we 
note  the  instances  to  which  you  refer. 

“It  is  a  well  recognized  condition,  both  through 
governmental  reports  and  by  actual  experience  of 
those  engaged  in  the  business,  that  the  bituminous 
coal  industry  for  .several  years  past  has  been  far 
from  profitable.  This  condition  has  been  brought 
about  through  a  multiplicity  of  circumstances  into 
which  it  is  not  necessary  in  this  communication 
to  enter. 

“There  have  been  various  suggestions  made  for 
the  improvement  of  the  industry  springing  from 
tlie  universal  desire  of  all  those  engaged  in  the 
.‘same  to  see  a  profit  in  place  of  a  loss  resulting 
from  every  effort.  So  far  as  we  know  of.  all 
of  these  have  been  based  upon  an  arbitrary  re¬ 
duction  or  restriction  in  the  output  so  that  the 
same  shall  be  brought  within  the  limitations  of 
the  market  requirements. 

“It  is  thereby  recognized  that  the  underlying 
law'  of  ‘supply  and  demand’  absolutely  controls 
all  business  and  makes  the  difference  between 
profit  and  loss. 

“We  have  never  looked  with  much  favor  upon 
the  arbitrary  restraint,  because,  that  which  is 
artificial  must  in  the  end  result  unsatisfactorily. 

“The  supply  of  bituminous  coal  is  regulated  by 
three  factors: 

“1.  The  ability  of  transportation  companies  to 
move  from  the  collieries  to  the  market. 

“2.  The  amount  of  labor  necessary  to  produce 
the  coal. 

“.3.  The  mining  capacity. 

“It  is  conceded  that  the  transportation  com¬ 


panies  of  this  country,  by  reason  of  the  con¬ 
ditions  in  the  past  few  years,  which  enforced 
excessive  economizing,  have  not  been  able  to 
keep  up  in  their  facilities  with  the  full  require¬ 
ments  of  the  country  when  it  shall  have  emerged 
from  the  slough  of  depression  to  one  (;f  normal 
activity;  and,  therefore,  as  the  activity  appears 
to  be  at  hand,  they  will  not  be  able  to  transport 
:my  increaseil  amount  of  coal  beyond  what  they 
were,  doing  in  the  year  1913,  whereas,  the  country 
w  ill  require  an  amount  in  excess  of  that  aggre 
gate,  which  it  has  not  been  taking  during  the 
years  1914  and  1915.  This,  therefore,  argues  a 
restriction  in  the  ability  to  transport  at  least  an 
excess  of  coal  beyond  the  requirements  of  the 
market. 

“The  coal  mining  industry  requires  an  influx 
of  new  labor  yearly  to  maintain  at  least  a  parity 
of  output  witli  the  preceding  year.  They  have 
not  gotten  that  increase  of  labor  in  the  year  1915, 
nor  is  there  the  slightest  prospect  at  the  present 
time  that  they  will  secure  it  in  the  year  1916. 
Instead  of  an  increase  in  these  two  year.s,  there 
is  an  actual  decrease  in  labor. 

“By  reason  of  the  restricted  demand  for  coal 
in  the  years  1914  and  1915,  up  until  November, 
there  was  little  incentive  for  the  average  operator 
to  cither  increase  development  work  nor  to  main¬ 
tain  that  which  he  already  had  because  of  his 
inability  to  use  the  existing  capacity,  and,  also,  the 
necessity  to  economize.  We,  therefore,  believe 
the  mining  capacity  in  the  country  is  no  greater, 
if  it  is  not  less  today  than  it  was  a  year  ago,  and 
it  is  not  likely  to  be  materially  increased  so  long 
as  the  shortage  of  labor  is  so  pronounced. 

“By  reason  of  these  three  causes,  we  believe  the 
demand  for  coal  in  the  year  1916,  after  April  1st, 
owing  to  the  industries  of  the  country  requiring 
full  supply,  will  be  fully  up  to  the  ability  of  the 
coal  operator  to  deliver  to  the  consumer  the 
amount  required  if  the  demand  is  not  really  in 
excess  of  the  supply. 

The  law  of  ‘supply  and  demand’  thus  working 
will  enable  the  coal  operator  to  sell  all  of  his 
output  in  an  active  market  and  prices  to  be 
received  will  be  the  highest  cost  of  production 
in  any  partciular  field,  plus  a  margin  for  profit. 

“As  the  average  price  of  coal  has  been  unre- 
munerative,  notwithstanding  all  kinds  of  subter¬ 
fuges  to  mislead  the  average  operator  into  the 
thought  he  was  producing  coal  lower  than  in 
reality,  it  is  only  fair  to  presume  that  twenty-five 
cents  per  ton  advance  will  not  cover  all  the  pa.st 
shortcomings  and  yield  a  reasonable  profit,  and, 
therefore,  the  selling  price  may  advance  con- 
siderabl}'^  beyond  twenty-five  cents  per  ton  for 
the  coming  year.” 

William  Atkins,  treasurer  of  the  Kingwood 
Coal  Company,  Philadelphia,  Pa. :  “We  have 
your  favor  of  the  1st  inst.  It  appears  to  the 
writer  that  at  present  the  situation  which  will 
control  the  price  of  coal  after  April  1st  next 
is  a  little  uncertain.  I  think  the  impression 
among  the  officers  of  the  anthracite  coal  com- 
])anies  is  that  there  will  be  a  stoppage,  but  for 
how  long  nobody  knows.  Of  course,  if  it  only 
lasts  for  a  .short  time,  it  will  not  have  mucli 
effect  on  prices :  but  a  stoppage  of  any  great 
length  of  lime  in  the  mining  of  coal  would 
undoubtedly  have  a  serious  effect  on  prices. 

“It  is  impossible  at  this  time  for  anybody  to 
foretell  how  long  the  stoppage  will  be,  if  any,  and 
we  are  inclined  to  think  that  the  price  of  coal 
will  be  governed  very  largely  by  the  car  supply 
and  the  ability  of  the  railroads  to  handle  it.  Of 
course,  in  this  one  man’s  guess  is  as  good  as 
another’s.” 


Rex  Company  Sold. 


Huntington,  W.  Va.,  December  6. — The  Rex 
Coal  &  Coke  Company’s  mine  at  Ethel,  W.  Va,. 
was  sold  today.  The  new  company  will  operate 
under  the  name  of  New  Rex  Coal  &  Coke 
Company,  and  will  be  managed  by  the  following 
men;  President,  E.  R.  Reese,  TTuntington.  W. 
Va. ;  vice  president  and  .general  manager,  J.  b'. 
McClung,  Ethel,  W.  Va. ;  secretary  and  treasurer, 
George  S.  Wallace,  Huntington,  W.  Va. 

This  mining  property  is  known  as  one  of  the 
best  in  the  Logan  field.  _  The  famous  Chilton 
seam  is  being  mined,  besides  the  No.  5  block 
seam,  nearly  twelve  feet  in  thickness,  and  the 
famous  Winifrede  seam  cover  a  large  area  under 
lease.  Karl  F.  Schoew  of  Huntington  conducted 
the  negotiations. 


N.  Bonni.st,  who  was  formerly  connected  with 
Messrs.  Cooke  &  Wilson  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  has 
joined  the  sales  forces  of  the  Morgan-Gardner 
Electric  Company  of  Chicago.  He  will  cover  the 
territory  comprised  in  Illinois  and  Indiana. 


No.  24] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


467 


Six  Reasons  Condemn  the  Rate  Advance 


.'I'lie  railway  bureau  uf  the  Chicago  Coal  Mer¬ 
chants  Association  has  asked  the  Interstate  Com¬ 
merce  Commission  to  suspend  the  tariffs  which 
call  for  an  advance  in  coal  rates  from  Indiana 
and  Illinois  to  the  Chicago  gateway.  In  doing 
so,  si.x  reasons  are  given  why  the  tariffs  should 
be  suspended.  The  protest  of  the  association  fol¬ 
lows  : 

“The  Chicago  Coal  Merchants  Association,  a 
voluntary  asociation  of  about  two  hundred  and 
forty  (2401  wholesale  and  retail  coal  merchants 
located  within  the  Chicago  switching  district,  said 
district  being  more  specifically  set  forth  and 
described  in  Lowrey’s  Tariff  20-F,  I.  C.  C.  30, 
respectfully  petition  you  to  suspend,  in  accord-  ^ 
ance  with  the  act  to  regulate  commerce,  all  of 
the  below  mentioned  tariffs  filed  by  the  carriers 
of  coal  to  Qiicago  district,  all  of  these  tariffs 
published  to  become  effective  December  15,  1915, 
or  thereabout,  and  putting  in  effect  a  horizontal 
increase  of  live  cents  per  ton  from  mines  in  Indi¬ 
ana  and  Illinois  to  the  above  described  territory. 

“The  tariffs  which  petitioner  seeks  to  have 
■suspended  are  as  follows,  also  such  other  tariffs 
which  have  not  yet  been  brought  to  your  i)e- 
titioner’s  notice  carrying  said  advances:  Chicago, 
Burlington  &  Quincy  R.  R.  Co.  Sup.  32  to  I.  C. 
C.  10688,  effective  December  15,  1915 ;  Cleveland, 
Cincinnati,  Chicago  .&  St.  Louis  Ry.  Co.  1.  C.  C. 
6680,  effective  December  15,  J915;  Chicago  Creat 
Western  R.  R.  Co.  Sup.  37  to  I.  C.  C.  4908,  ef¬ 
fective  December  15,  1915,  etc. 

“(Jur  reasons  for  asking  for  the  suspension  of 
the  above  mentioned  tariffs  are: 

■■|•■i^st — .'Kt  the  present  time,  many  of  our  mem¬ 
bers  have  made  and  entered  into  contracts  for 
ihe  sale  of  coal  in  large  amounts,  based  on  ex¬ 
isting  freight  rates,  which  said  contracts  con¬ 
tain  no  elatises  permitting  of  an  advance  in 
lirice,  due  to  change  in  freight  rates,  during  the 
life  of  the  contract  (this  statement  particularly 
ai)plie.s  to  various  Federal,  .State  and  Municipal 
contracts,  which  run  into  very  heavy  tonnages). 

“Second — Furthermore,  with  regard  to  either 
steam  or  domestic’  coal  delivered  by  wagon  from 
dealers’  yards,  an  advance  in  freight  could  not 
be  made,  without  increasing  the  price  correspond¬ 
ingly  to  the  consuming  public,  which  is  not  now 
advisable,  because  factories  and  their  employes, 
long  idle,  are  just  now  becoming  active. 

“Third — ^These  rates  can  not  be  equitably  ad¬ 
vanced.  at  this  time,  to  the  above  market,  with- 
f)Ut  creating  a  diserimination. 

“A — For  the  reason,  that  Illinois  intrastate  rates 
have  been  suspended  by  the  Illinois  Public  Util¬ 
ities  Commission,  an  approval  of  these  tariffs 
would  result  in  coal  originating  at  Illinois  mines, 
on  the  C.  C.  C.  &  St.  L.  R.  R.,  reaching  this  ter¬ 
ritory  at  a  rate  five  cents  per  ton  higher  than 
that  originating  from  the  same  districts  on  other 
lines;  owing  to  the  fact  that  coal  originating 
at  Illinois  mines,  on  the  Big  Four  Railroad, 
moves  to  Chicago  switching  district  as  interstate 
t  rathe.  1'his  same  situation  obtains  bn  coal 
from  Illinois  mines  .shipped  to  points  within  the 
(  hieago  switching  district,  located  within  the 
slate  of  Indiana. 

“H — Also  for  the  further  reason  that  Indiana 
intrastate  rates  having  been  suspended  by  the 
Indiana  Railroad  Commission,  and  if  the  inter¬ 
state  rates  arc  approved  by  your  honorable  body, 
it  will  leave  the  rates  in  these  tariffs  from  Indi¬ 
ana  mines  to  a  portion  c)f  the  Chicago  switching 
district  territory  located  in  Illinois  subject  to  a 
discrimination  of  five  cents  per  ton. 

“C — Also  for  the  additional  reason  that  in  I. 
&  S.  Docket  555  an  advance  of  ten  cents  per  ton 
was  granted  to  all  points  west  of  the  Mississippi 
river,  and  north  of  a  line  drawn  between  Mil¬ 
waukee  and  IMadison,  Wisconsin,  and  if  the  tar¬ 
iffs  herein  mentioned  are  approved  by  your  hon¬ 
orable  body,  it  will  create  an  additional  advance 
of  five  cents  per  ton  on  coal  from  mines  in  the 
slate  of  Indiana  moving  via  the  Chicago  gateway 
to  points  beyond  to  which  there  are  no  througli 
rates,  because  of  the  suspension  of  the  Illinois 
intrastate  rates  by  the  Public  Utilities  Commis¬ 
sion.  This  also  applies  to  all  points  west  of  Chi¬ 
cago,  in  what  is  known  as  Illinois  Freight  Com¬ 
mittee  Territory. 

“Fourth — In  conclusion,  we  respectfully  sug¬ 
gest  to  your  honorable  body,  that  at  the  present 
time  there  is  great  uncertainty  and  confusion 
existing  in  the  minds  of  the  coal  trade,  in  the 
Chicago  switching  district,  owing  to  the  fact 
that  the  rates  to  this  market  from  Pennyslvania. 
West  "Virginia,  Ohio,  Kentucky  and  Tennessee 
are  also  known  to  be  under  discussion  for  re¬ 
vision;  whereas,  the  present  rates  having  been 
based  on  well  established  differentials,  which 


have,  in  the  main,  been  satisfactory  from  a  com¬ 
petitive  standpoint  with  regard  to  the  various 
coals  coming  from  the  various  fields  all  these 
rates  should  be  seriously  considered  in  conjunc¬ 
tion  with  the  present  i)rr)posed  advances  from  Illi¬ 
nois  and  Indiana. 

“The  point  which  we,  as  business  men,  most 
desire  to  emphasize  is  that  the  stability  of  rates 
and  proper  differentials  thereof,  be  maintained  so 
that  we  may  know,  from  year  to  year,  upon  jusi 
what  we  can  base  our  calculations,  as  rate  ad¬ 
vances  coming  during  the  life  of  existing  con¬ 
tracts,  are  a  great  blow  to  stable  business  con¬ 
ditions,  and  disturb  relations  between  shipper 
and  consumer  and  unnecessarily  burden  your 
honorable  body.  In  this  connection,  we  would 
respectfully  cite  that  rate  advances,  when  neces¬ 
sary,  should  occur  at  some  definite  period,  such 
as  is  now  the  case  with  mining  wage  scales,  which 


The  following,  an  extract  from  a  letter  writ¬ 
ten  by  a  Massachusetts  reader,  will  I  am  sure 
interest  everybody : 

“I  am  about  to  sell  my  business,  a  business 
which  I  have  built  up  in  the  last  ten  years  and 
which  is  valuable  and  making  a  good,  regular 
])rofit.  .\ly  health  has  broken  down,  and  it  is 
my  intention  to  rest  for  about  a  year  and  then 
re-engage  in  the  same  business  in  the  same  city. 
•My  buyer  has  asked  me  to  sign  an  agreement  not 
to  go  liack  in  the  same  line  of  business,  but  I 
have  put  him  ofl'  until  I  could  obtain  your  ad¬ 
vice.  Have  I  not  heard  that  such  agreements 
are  illegal?  I  do  not  wish  to  tic  myself  up  so 
that  1  can’t  go  into  business  again,  and  as  this 
is  the  business  I  have  always  followed,  1  should 
be  out  if  I  agreed  not  to  go  into  that.  Please 
advise  me  how  far  a  man  ought  to  go  in  making 
an  agreement  not  to  re-engage  in  business.” 

This  kind  of  an  agreement  which  this  cor¬ 
respondent  speaks  of.  viz.,  an  agreement  by  the 
seller  of  a  business  not  to  go  back  into  that 
business,  is  considered  by  the  law  an  agreement 
in  restraint  of  trade,  and  must  be  framed  within 
certain  limits,  or  it  will  not  be  enforced.  The 
courts  do  not  believe  in  restraint  of  trade,  but 
they  will  enforce  an  agreement  which  protects 
the  buyer  of  a  business  from  the  former  owner’s 
competition,  if  it  doesn’t  go  too  far.  Under  the 
old  English  law.  which  is  the  foundation  of 
our  law,  you  could  not  tie  up  a  man  to 
stay  out  of  business.  That  rule,  however,  has 
been  relaxed,  and  you  can  do  it  today anywhere 
in  the  United  States,  within  certain  limitations. 

Those  limitations  are  that  the  seller  must  not 
agree  without  limit  as  to  time  to  remain  out  of  his 
former  business  forever,  nor  must  he  agree  with¬ 
out  limit  as  to  territory,  to  remain  out  of  his 
former  business  everywhere,  even  for  only  a 
limited  time.  For  instance,  if  a  hardware  dealer 
sells  his  store  and  agrees  never  to  go  into  the 
hardware  business  anywhere,  the  agreement  is 
void.  If  he  agrees  not  to  go  into  the  hardware 
business  anywhere  for  a  year,  the  agreement  is 
void.  But  if  he  agrees  never  to  go  in  again  in 
the  town  where  his  former  business  was  located, 
the  agreement  will  usually  be  held  to  be  good. 
The  courts,  however,  look  with  most  favor  upon 
agreements  that  kec])  a  man  out  of  business  in 
a  given  territory  for  a  limited  time,  thus  pre¬ 
scribing  a  limit  both  as  to  time  and  territory. 
The  purpose  of  course  is  to  give  the  buyer  time 
to  establish  a  personal  connection  between  the 
customers  of  the  house  and  himself. 

In  most  states  today  there  is  no  iron-elad  rule 
about  it.  When  one  of  these  agreements  gets 
into  court,  the  courts  listen  to  all  the  facts  and 
then  ask  themselves  this  ([uestion :  “Here  is  a 
man  who  has  bought  a  business,  relying  upon 
the  seller’s  promise  that  he  woidd  not  immediately 
start  in  to  compete  with  him.  What  sort  of  pro¬ 
tection  will  be  adequate  for  him?”  And  then 
they  will  sujjply  that  protection  if  they  can;  in 
other  words,  if  the  agreement  the  parties  have 
entered  into  is  not  unreasonable,  it  will  be  up¬ 
held.  Particularly  because  it  is  a  low  thing  for 
the  seller  of  a  business  to  sell  on  an  express 
promise  not  to  at  once  compete  with  his  buyer, 
and  then,  with  the  latter’s  money  in  his  hand, 
l)lead  that  his  agreement  was  invalid, 

I  can  best  give  point  to  this  explanation  by  cit¬ 
ing  a  few  of  the  restrictive  agreements  which 
have  been  upheld  by  the  courts ;  an  agreement 
on  the  sale  of  a  magazine  not  to  publish  a 
similar  one ;  an  agreement  on  the  sale  of  a  law 


said  definite  period  is  well  known  in  advance  to 
the  trade,  and  the  effect  provided  for. 

“Fifth— Furthermore,  it  is  our  belief  that  rail 
coal  and  coke  rates  to  a  great  market  like  Chi¬ 
cago,  through  which  gateway  practically  moves 
about  one-twenty-fifth  of  the  entire  coal  pro¬ 
duction  of  the  United  States,  which  .said  Chicago 
market  is  also  subject  to  water  competition,  that, 
therefore,  Chicago  should  be  considered  more  as 
a  basing  point  rather  than  be  governed  by  rates 
that  are  practically  the  sum  of  locals  to  inter¬ 
vening  points. 

“Sixth — And  furthermore,  we  believe  that  it 
would  be  a  great  advantage  to  both  the  coal 
trade  and  the  railroads  of  Chicago,  if  all  coal 
and  coke  rates  to  Chicago  were,  made  to  apply 
to  the  entire  Chicago  switching  district  as,  at  the 
present  time,  confusion  and  inequalities  arise 
from  the  present  practice  of  having  rates  termi¬ 
nate  on  initial  lines,  subject  to  varied  absorp¬ 
tions  and  charges,  which  residt  in  unjust  discrim¬ 
ination.” 


practice  extending  throughout  England,  not  to 
practice  law  in  England  for  twenty  years;  an 
agreement  not  to  engage  for  ten  years  in  busi¬ 
ness  as  a  soap  manufacturer  within  forty  miles 
of  Lockport,  N.  Y. ;  an  agreement  not  to  engage 
in  Imsiness  as  a  banker  in  a  certain  place  for 
ten  years ;  an  agreement  not  to  carry  on  a  tobacct) 
business  in  Albany  or  .Schenectady  (N.  Y.)  and 
surrounding  towns;  an  agreement  not  to  run 
wagons  over  a  butcher  routx;  which  had  been  sold  ; 
an  agreement  Ijy  the  seller  of  a  bakery  never  to 
solicit  trade  from  the  old  customers;  an  agree¬ 
ment  by  the  clerk  tor  a  lirm  of  custom  house 
brokers  not  to  take  a  similar  ()osition  within 
fifty  miles  of  the  same  city  for  twelve  months 
after  he  gave  the  position  up. 

In  all  these  cases  and  in  many  more,  the  courts 
held  that  the  agreement  oidy  afforded  reasonable 
protection  to  the  person  involved. 

Here  are  some  agreements  which  the  courts 
have  held  invalid  because  they  involved  unreason¬ 
able  and  unnecessary  protection :  an  agreement 
not  to  practice  dentistry  in  any  part  of  a  district 
two  hundred  miles  in  diameter ;  an  agreement  not 
to  carry  on  a  perfumery  business  within  six- 
hundred  miles  of  London;  not  to  become  a  coal 
dealer  anywhere  for  nine  months ;  not  to  make 
yeast  powder  anywhere  for  eight  years ;  not  to 
re-engage  in  a  certain  manufacturing  business 
anywhere  within  a  thousand  miles  of  the  seller’s 
former  town;  an  agreement  by  an  employe  not  to 
engage  in  similar  business,  after  leaving  his  em¬ 
ployer,  within  three  years  in  any  of  sixteen 
states ;  an  agreement  by  an  oil  dealer  not  to  go 
back  in  that  business  anwhere  in  Indiana,  the 
city  of  Indianapolis  excepted. 

Here  the  standard  was  the  same — does  the 
agreement  go  beyond  the  line  of  needed  protec¬ 
tion?  If  it  does,  as  it  did  in  all  of  the  above 
cases,  it  is  set  aside,  and  the  seller  of  the  busi¬ 
ness  is  as  free  as  if  he  never  made  it. — (('opy- 
rif/Ia,  December.  by  Ulton  J.  Buckley.) 


“I  Told  You  So.” 

The  ride  of  The  Black  Diamond  is  not  to 
print  any  poetry.  However,  this  contribution  on 
“I  Told  You  .So,”  while  taking  the  prose  form, 
is  in  poetic  measure  and  covers  the  point  which 
is  so  decidedly  interesting  we  arc  going  to  print 
it.  The  author,  incidentally,  is  W.  J.  McGowan 
of  Percy  Heilncr  &  Son,  Springfield,  Mass. 

“Some  weeks  ago  when  fields  were  green  we 
paid  twelve  cents  for  gasoline.  And  now  we’re 
paying  twenty-four  1  Why  didn’t  we  lay  in  a 
store?  The  same  with  coal  -You  thought  we  lied 
this  summer  when  we  prophesied  that  things 
would  soon  begin  to  hum,  with  transportation  on 
the  bum.  When  we  advised  you  to  buy  coal 
you  hated  to  part  with  your  roll,  and  here  we 
are.  just  as  of  old.  December  first,  it’s  getting 
cold,  the  coal  pile’s  low,  no  cars  in  sight.  The 
))oor  coal  man  works  day  and  night.  The  miners 
have  gone  home  to  war.  Railroads  arc  using 
every  car.  But  what’s  the  u.se  of  all  this  flow? 
.\  fool  can  say  T  told  you  so.’  If  you  need 
coal  put  up  a  yell.  We’ll  do  our  best  to  treat 
you  well.  We  still  know  where  to  get  good  coal, 
so  write  or  phone.  We’ll  pay  the  loll.” 


.'\  statement  by  L.  C.  Sabin,  general  superin¬ 
tendent  of  the  locks  at  Saidt  Ste  Marie  shows 
that  for  the  months  of  November  the  west-bound 
movement  of  anthracite  was  233,708  tons  and 
that  of  soft  coal  was  1,343,248. 


Tying  Yourself  Not  to  Re-engage  in  a  Business. 


468 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[December  11 


Coal  bins  erected  by  the  Indiana  Harbor  Lumber  &  Coal  Co.  Front  view. 
The  view  shows  the  bins  from  the  driveway  side  and  indicates  that  the 
coal  when  stored  must  be  put  into  the  wag'on  by  shovel  or  a  loader. 


Rear  view  of  coal  bins  erected  by  the  Indiana  Harbor  Lumber  &  Coal  Co. 
Walls  are  eig'ht  feet  above  floor,  the  timber  superstructure  being'  bolted 
to  the  concrete  by  anchor  bolts  embedded  in  the  partition  walls. 


Permanent  Coal  Bins  of  the  Indiana  Harbor  Lumber  &  Coal  Co. 


The  Indiana  Harbor  Lumber  &  Coal  Company 
is  one  of  the  well-known  buildin.q'  material  supply 
dealers  at  Indiana  Harbor,  Indiana.  'I'hey  re¬ 
ported  having  completed  on  September  17,  the  ten 
coal  bins  shown  from  two  points  of  view  in  two 
of  the  accompanying  illustrations.  These  were 
built  throughout  of  reinforced  concrete,  except 
for  the  superstructure  which  is  mainly  a  roof. 
The  ten  bins  form  a  unit  140  feet  8  inches  by  20 
feet  8  inches  in  outside  dimensions.  Each  bin 
measures  approximately  14  by  20  feet  inside.  Bins 
are  floored  with  concrete. 

An  accompanying  plan  gives  details  of  con¬ 
struction,  which  are  further  illustrated  by  re¬ 
productions  of  photographs  showing  methods  of 
placin.g  reinforcing  and  of  form  construction. 


The  simplicity  of  this  work,  and  its  decided  ad¬ 
vantages  viewed  from  the  standpoint  of  perma¬ 
nence  and  from  the  protection  that  will  be  afford¬ 
ed  against  fire,  sometimes  resulting  from  spontan¬ 
eous  combustion  in  stored  coal,  display  investment 
wisdom  on  the  part  of  the  Indiana  Harbor  Lum¬ 
ber  &  Coal  Company — a  wisdom  that  could  well 
be  imitated  by  many  other  dealers  who  must 
provide  similar  facilities. 


Reinforcing  steel  in  place  for  one  of  the  partition 
walls.  This  wall,  as  mentioned,  was  designed 
as  a  vertical  cantilever  and  the  horizontal  bars 
tie  into  the  bach  wall  to  prevent  it  from  over¬ 
turning. 


No.  24] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


469 


Hocking  Valley  Coal  Rate  Hearing. 


Trade  at  Azores. 


Columbus,  Ohio,  December  9. —  (Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — Early  last  fall  Chairman  Wilder- 
mjre,  of  the  Public  Utilities  Commission,  in  a 
slightly  caustic  rebuke  to  a  member  of  counsel  in 
the  Hocking  Valley  coal  rate  case,  said:  “At 
present  progress  this  hearing  will  not  be  over 
until  next  year.”  What  was  spoken  in  sarcasm 
now  seems  likely  to  be  almost,  if  not  quite,  ful¬ 
filled  in  fact.  On  Friday  evening  there  was  an¬ 
other  adjournment,  this  time  until  December  16. 
It  was  for  the  purpose  of  allowing  plaThtiffs  to 
prepare  rebuttal  to  the  exhibit  of  Auditor  Hudg- 
son  of  the  Hocking  Valley  Railway  Company. 

In  view  of  the  reference  just  made  to  the  com¬ 
mission,  this  is  a  good  place  to  testify  to  the  evi¬ 
dent  painstaking  fairness  of  that  body  toward 
both  sides.  The  case  has  been  marked  by  few 
controversies  over  the  incidental  rulings  of  the 
commission,  and  all  reasonable  leeway  has  been 
granted  in  the  matter  of  preparation  and  in  the 
admission  of  evidence.  Relations  between  oppos¬ 
ing  members  of  counsel  have  also  been  more 
amicable  than  is  usual  in  cases  of  like  importance. 

The  exhibit  of  the  auditor,  a  voluminous  docu¬ 
ment,  intended  to  refute  the  deductions  of  Mr. 
Hillman,  chief  rate  expert  for  the  plaintiffs,  was 
introduced  Thursday,  the  day  being  taken  up  with 
its  explanation  on  direct  examination.  As  an¬ 
ticipated,  the  exhibit  was  not  an  original  one 
governing  operating  expenses,  but  a  correction  of 
that  compiled  by  Mr.  Hillman.  First  was  the  flat 
statement  that  the  actual  cost  of  hauling  a  ton 
of  coal  from  Nelsonville  to  Toledo,  including 
assembling  and  terminal  expense,  was  sixty-seven 
cents,  instead  of  forty-seven  cents,  as  claimed  by 
the  expert  in  question.  In  accounting  for  this 
discrepancy  of  twenty  cents  per  ton,  three  prin¬ 
cipal  errors  were  charged  against  Mr.  Hillman, 
as  follows: 

First,  it  was  claimed  that  he  took  the  cost 
of  operating  the  Nelsonville  assembling  yards 
and  applied  it  over  the  entire  traffic  of  the  Hock¬ 
ing  road.  Books  of  the  company  show  that  these 
yards  are  used  almost  exclusively  for  the  handling 
of  coal,  and  their  cost,  the  railroad  says,  should 
be  charged  to  the  expense  of  the  coal  traffic. 
Second,  he  divided  the  cost  of  car  depreciation 
and  repairs  over  all  cars,  foreign  as  well  as  com¬ 
pany  cars.  In  this  matter  the  company  claims 
that  its  books  show  that  ninety-five  per  cent  of 
the  repair  cost  goes  to  Hocking  Valley  equipment 
alone.  Third,  he  had  figured  the  yard  cost  on  a 
basis  alleged  to  be  wrong,  in  assuming  that  eyery 
car  is  handled  only  once  in  a  yard,  whereas  it  is 
handled  several  times,  and  the  cost  per  car 
handling  which  he  used  is  not  the  same  as  the 
cost  per  car  for  yard  charges. 

The  most  vital  point  in  the  whole  hearing  is 


Ik 

Another  detail  of  methods  used  to  place  reinforc¬ 
ing*.  Some  horizontal  bars  were  bent  downward 
because  in  building*  this  structure  the  wall  was 
made  slightly  shorter  than  originally  designed. 
At  the  lower  edge  of  the  view  is  shown  a  por- 
.  tion  of  the  brace  wall  form  which  extends  the 
full  length  of  the  construction,  as  shown  on 
the  accompanying  plans. 


expected  when  Mr.  Hillman,  through  attorneys 
for  the  plaintiff,  attempts  to  defend  his  exhibit 
on  the  cross-examination.  This  was  evidenced  by 
the  request  for  time  on  which  to  get  ready  for 
this  feature  of  the  case.  Copies  of  the  defend¬ 
ants’  corrected  Hillman  exhibit  had  been  fur¬ 
nished  the  plaintiffs  but  a  short  while  before  it 
was  introduced. 

The  day  previous  to  adjournment,  Thursday, 
■was  utilized  by  the  Toledo  &  Ohio  Central  in  put¬ 
ting  in  its  defense.  Some  sixteen  exhibits  pre¬ 
pared  by  various  officers  of  the  road  were  placed 
in  evidence.  J.  A.  Stockton,  chief  engineer,  testi¬ 
fied,  with  the  aid  of  blue-print  profiles,  to  the 
greater  physical  difficulties  in  operating  this  line 
as  compared  to  the  Hocking  *Valley.  As  an  in¬ 
stance,  it  was  shown  that  the  T.  &  O.  C.  has  190 
curves  between  Corning  and  Toledo,  thirty-eight 
of  which  were  in  excess  of  three  degrees,  where¬ 
as  the  Hocking  Valley,  between  Nelsonville  and 
Toledo,  had  but  ninety,  of  which  only  seventeen 
were  in  excess  of  three  degrees.  C.  L.  Gardner, 
superintendent,  explained  by  statistics  in  what 
proportion,  through  a  period  of  years,  the  ex¬ 
pense  of  operation  in  its  relation  to  revenue  had 
been  in  favor  of  the  Hocking  Valley.  The  fiscal 
year  of  1914  showed  this  per  cent  to  be  41.08 
for  the  T.  &  O.  C.,  as  compared  with  the  Hock- 
ing’s  .34.01. 

J.  B.  Wagner,  auditor,  presented  a  corrected 
Hillman  exhibit,  the  method  of  treatment  being 
much  the  same  as  that  of  the  auditing  department 
of  the  Hocking  Valley,  introduced  the  following 
day,  and  which  has  been  already  explained.  The 
T.  &  O.  C.,  being  a  minor  defendant,  there  was 
less  detail  to  cover.  General  Freight  Agent  Cooke 
went  into  the  minutiae  of  switching,  assembling 
and  terminal  expenses,  as  well  as  the  general 
freight  movement.  It  was  stated  that  the  T.  & 
O.  C.  had  no  assembling  yards  at  Corning  or 
Chauncey,  the  points  at  which  its  Hocking  coal 
tonnage  originated,  but  had  to  use  the  main  line 
in  assembling,  which  necessitated  delays  and  in¬ 
creased  expense  in  getting  out  of  the  way  of 
trains.  Of  its  total  coal  tonnage,  60.09  per  cent 
was  from  Ohio  fields  and  39.01  from  foreign. 
The  cost  per  car  of  hauling  coal  from  Chauncey 
to  Toledo  was  68.82,  instead  of  forty-seven  cents, 
as  claimed  by  the  plaintiffs. 

The  statement  was  made  by  Mr.  Cooke  that  he 
did  not  think  West  Virginia  coal  was  supplant¬ 
ing  that  of  Ohio,  but  if  so  there  were  reasons 
for  it  that  had  nothing  to  do  with  transporta¬ 
tion,  and  he  desired  to  discuss  these  reasons. 
At  this  point  he  was  stopped  by  the  commission, 
which  had  made  a  ruling  early  in  the  hearing  that 
no  conditions  not  pertaining  to  transportation 
should  go  into  the  evidence.  Labor  troubles  and 
bad  financing  had  nothing  to  do  with  whether 
or  not  a  railroad  rate  was  fair.  Asked  by  his 
counsel  what  in  his  opinion  would  be  the  effect 
of  lowering  Ohio  rates,  Mr.  Cooke  replied  that 
it  would  throw  confusion  into  the  whole  sys-  . 
tern  of  present  eompetitive  tariffs,  and  that  inter¬ 
state  rates  would  undoubtedly  be  lowered  to  meet 
Ohio  reductions.  Mr.  Arnold,  of  the  plaintiffs, 
quite  adroitlj'  drew  the  statement  from  the  wit¬ 
ness  that  if  rates  outside  of  Ohio  should  be  raised 
it  would  necessarily  follow  that  Ohio  rates  would 
go  up.  In  view  of  the  recent  raise  of  rates  on 
coal  entering  Ohio,  which  was  decided  upon  at 
a  meeting  of  traffic  men  from  different  roads  in 
New  York  City,  the  plaintiffs  were  inclined  to 
seize  this  opinion  as  good  capital,  coming  from 
the  general  freight  agent  of  a  prominent  Ohio 
coal-carrying  line.  Auditor  Wagner  will  be  re¬ 
called  for  cross-examination  on  his  exhibit  after 
the  Hocking  Valley  defense  is  completed. 

The  defense  of  the  T.  &  O.  C.  was  in  a  way 
two-fold.  While  combating  any  further  read¬ 
justment  of  coal  rates  in  Ohio,  it  sought  to  im¬ 
press  the  commission  that  it  was  less  able  to 
stand  any  reduction  than  was  the  Hocking  Val¬ 
ley.  The  T.  &  O.  C.  line  still  enjoys  a  $1  coal 
rate  to  Toledo  on  Hocking  coal,  it  not  having 
been  a  defendant  in  the  action  brought  by  the 
New  York  Coal  Company  in  1910  which  resulted 
in  a  reduction  of  the  rate  on  the  Hocking  Val¬ 
ley  to  eighty-five  cents. 

No  intimation  has  yet  been  given  by  the  com¬ 
mission  as  to  its  policy  with  regard  to  the  hear¬ 
ing  of  the  testimony  of  eastern  Ohio  operators 
against  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  and  other  roads. 
The  fact  that  the  original  petition  in  the  present 
hearing  made  all  Ohio  roads  defendants  is 
thought  to  give  authority  for  withholding  decision 
with  respect  to  the  Hocking  Valley  and  Toledo 
&  Ohio  Central  until  the  whole  rate  question  is 
thra.shed  out,  should  the  commission  so  desire. 


The  American  consul  at  St.  Michael’s,  Azores, 
writes  The  Black  Diamond,  under  date  of  Octo¬ 
ber  14,  about  the  coal  situation  there  as  follows: 

“The  only  effect  the  war  has  had  on  the  local 
coal  market,  has  been  to  raise  the  price  of  that 
commodity  from  39s  6d  to  50s,  but  consumption 
has  increased  rather  than  decreased  as  shipping 
has  increased  considerably.  The  favorable  loca¬ 
tion  of  the  Azores  in  the  Mediterranean  and 
Panama  trade  routes  and  the  increased  imports 
of  the  Allies  has  contributed  largely  to  this  sit¬ 
uation.  The  island  of  St.  Michael’s  and  Fayal 
form  important  coaling  stations.  Many  ships 
which  were  forced  to  leave  European  ports  with 
little  or  no  bunkers  have  put  in  here  for  coal 
since  the  declaration  of  war. 

“Business  generally,  of  course,  has  been  con¬ 
siderably  affected.  It  has  been  exceedingly  diffi¬ 
cult  to  import  goods  from  Europe,  and  besides, 
freights  are  unprecedented,  causing  increased 
prices.  Business  men  do  not  anticipate  a  change 
for  the  better  for  some  time  to  come. 

“The  prosperity  of  St.  Michael’s  in  late  years 
has  hinged  largely  on  its  pineapple  industry, 
representing  an  export  value  of  $700,000  a  year 
in  normal  times.  This  industry  has  collapsed 
since  the  elosing  of  the  Hamburg  market.  Lon¬ 
don  also  bought  in  considerable  quantities  but 
since  the  war  has  become  an  indifferent  market. 
As  Europe  will  be  greatly  impoverished  by  the 
war,  it  is  difficult  to  see  a  return  of  prosperity 
to  the  local  pineapple  grower  for  many  years 
to  come. 

“The  range  of  coal  prices  since  August,  1914, 
is  39s  6d,  53s  and  50s. 

“In  1914  over  27,500  tons  of  coal,  valued  at 
$181,736,  were  imported  by  the  Azores;  also 
Welsh  coal.  In  the  first  nine  months  of  1915, 
already  38,000  tons  have  been  imported,  of  which 
S,000  tons  is  of  American  origin.  An  additional 
order  for  6,000  tons  of  American  coal  has  been 
placed  for  1915  delivery. 

“There  have  been  no  dock  improvements.” 


Barber’s  Coal  Pocket. 

The  very  compact  and  modern  coal  pocket 
shown  herewith  is  that  of  Charles  Barber,  a  coal 
and  grain  dealer  at  Manlius,  Illinois.  It  is  twenty- 
four  feet  wide,  forty  feet  long,  thirty  feet  high 
and  holds  300  tons  when  full. 

Coal  is  received  in  hopper  cars  and  is  elevated 
up  into  the  pocket  by  a  chain  conveyor  carrying 
the  coal  from  a  concrete  hopper  under  the  tracks. 
It  is  distributed  to  the  different  bins  by  spouts 
or  troughs. 

The  coal  when  loaded  into  wagons  flows  over 
a  screen  at  the  loading  spout,  taking  out  all  of 
the  screenings  and  dirt. 

Mr.  Barber  says:  “A  coal  pocket  is  the  only 
way  to  handle  coal  successfully  and  satisfac¬ 
torily.”  It  is  true.  Dealers  operating  and  handling 
coal  through  pockets  experience  less  trouble, 
make  more  money  and  are  more  successful  than 


Barber’s  Pocket  at  Manlius,  Ill. 

the  dealers  without  such  efficient  means  of 
handling  coal,  and  who  are  forced  to  devote  most 
of  their  profit  to  shoveling  and  labor. 

The  pocket  was  designed  and  the  machinery 
furnished  by  the  Gifford-Wood  Company  of 
Chicago. 


470 


[December  11 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


How  to  Divide  and  Account  for  Retail  Expenses. 


Getting  at  Costs. 

The  Chicago  Coal  Merchants’  As¬ 
sociation  is  getting  together  a  good 
cost  system.  To  do  that  it  divided 
the  subject  into  six  heads  and  ap¬ 
pointed  a  committee  to  handle  each. 
At  a  meeting  last  Friday,  the  gen¬ 
eral  subject  was  discussed  by  Mr. 
Hutchison  in  the  paper  here  pre¬ 
sented.  Thereupon  ten  coal  dealers 
arranged  to  employ  these  account¬ 
ants  to  work  out  a  system  for  them, 
and  this  will  be  available  to  other 
members  of  the  Association. 


The  form,  reproduced  with  this  article,  is  one 
that  if  filled  out,  will  supply  the  necessary  in¬ 
formation  to  be  used  as  the  basis  of  the  operating 
accounts  of  any  retail  company.  Of  course,  fur¬ 
ther  detail  may  be  obtained  as  desired. 

The  books  and  reports  from  which  this  state¬ 
ment  is  made  up  are  so  arranged  that  monthly 
totals  readily  can  be  obtained.  While  it  is  im¬ 
possible,  in  a  brief  article,  to  outline  the  entire 
system  necessary,  the  blank  presented  will  give 
an  idea  of  the  book  accounts,  a  larger  portion  of 
which  will  be  for  actual  cash  expenditures  and 
passed  through  a  voucher  record. 

While  it  is  highly  desirable  to  show  all  the  de¬ 
tail  required  for  an  analytical  comparison  either 
between  months  and  years,  or  possibly  between 
companies,  it  is  very  essential  to  keep  the  book 
records  and  reports  simple  and  clear.  This  does 
not  mean  that  data  must  be  curtailed  but  that 
any  change  going  through  the  accounts  and  which 
is  to  be  reflected  in  the  operating  statements, 
must  have  a  proper  place  or  account  in  the  books, 
or  vice  versa.  Any  item  necessary  for  the  state¬ 
ment  should  be  put  through  the  books  monthly. 
If,  in  order  to  keep  the  record  of  all  expenses, 

‘Certified  public  accountant  of  Shepard  &  Hutchison, 
Chicago,  » 


By  George  E.  Hutchison.* 


Everything  Around  a  Yard  Costs  Some¬ 
thing — If  the  Retailer  Is  to  Be  Safe  He 
Must  Charge  This  Into  His  Cost  of 
Doing  Business. 


the  number  of  book  entries  becomes  more  numer¬ 
ous  than  would  be  the  case  when  insufficient  data 
is  entered,  it  does  not  complicate  the  records  or 


George  E.  Hutchison, 


system,  but  merely  increases  the  number  of  en¬ 
tries. 

The  writer  recognizes  the  imperative  necessity, 
in  drafting  any  retail  system  or  forms,  of  recog¬ 
nizing  the  condition  surrounding  the  operation  of 


small  retail  merchants,  so  that  such  small  retail 
merchants  can  avoid  the  necessity  of  keeping  a 
large  office  force.  This  condition  can  be  met, 
especially  if  coal  merchants  will  arrange  to  have 
a  periodical  supervision  of  their  accounts  by 
some  independent  accountants. 

Brief  remarks  will  be  made  upon  the  elements 
shown  on  this  statement  and  it  must  be  borne  in 
mind  that  these  remarks  can  hardly  cover  all  the 
questions  that  may  arise  in  the  mind  of  each 
reader. 

The  unloading  expenses  are,  of  course,  in  reality 
a  part  of  the  cost  of  putting  the  coal  in  the  yards, 
and  as  such  might  be  considered  as  a  part  of 
the  “Cost  of  Sales.”  However,  in  considering 
this  phase  of  the  situation,  it  cannot  be  denied 
that  in  a  .great  many  cases  the  labor  of  un¬ 
loading  coal  upon  the  yard  of  some  coal  dealers 
is  done  by  the  use  of  the  laborers  employed 
about  the  yard  for  general  purposes.  It  then 
becomes  optional  with  the  company  keeping  up 
this  form  of  expense  account  whether  they  desire 
to  separate  the  unloading  expense  from  the  item 
marked  “Loading  coal.”  This,  of  course,  should 
be  done  by  showing  on  the  payroll  the  propor¬ 
tion  of  time  spent  on  unloading  cars  and  loading 
wagons  or  trucks.  In  some  rail  yards  a  certain 
percentage  of  coal  is  Unloaded  direct  from  cars 
to  wagons  or  auto  trucks.  The  unloading  ex¬ 
pense  there  becomes  also  a  loading  expense.  In 
such  instances  the  expense  can  be  divided  between 
unloadiag  wages  and  loading  wages. 

Whenever  cars  are  unloaded  by  men  employed 
for  that  purpose,  either  by  paying  a  certain  sum 
per  ton  or  by  employing  day  labor,  there  is  a 
straight  charge  for  unloading  and  such  changes 
can  go  through  the  records  under  accounts  pro¬ 
vided  for  such  purpose. 

It  is  also  conceded  that  certain  charges  for 
maintenance  of  equipment,  etc.,  are  chargeable 
to  the  expense  of  unloading  coal  but  it  may 
become  burdensome  to  ascertain  these  and  in  this 
form  they  are  considered  in  various  “Repair  and 
Renewal”  accounts  shown  in  yard  expense. 

The  usual  expenses  incident  to  the  maintenance 
of  the  yard  are  self-explanatory  and  require  little 
comment.  However,  the  conditions  and  machin¬ 
ery  will  be  different  in  different  yards.  As  an 
illustration  of  this  one  yard  will  be  situated  on 


PROGRESSIVE  COAL  COMPArfY 

Monthly  Operating  Statement 

.  191 

SUMMARY  OP 
OPERATIONS 

December  1915 

December  1914 

lor.  H)o  031,1915 

Amnount 

Per 

ton 

Ammount 

Per 

.\ranount 

Per 

Amnount 

^er 

SALES 

COST  OP  SALES 

GROSS  PROFIT 

YARD  EXPENSE 

DELIVERY  EXPEHSE' 

SELLING  EXPENSE 

GENERAL  EXPENSE 

TOTAL  EXPENSE 

NET  PROFIT 

ADD  OTHER  INCOldE 

DEDUCT  OTHER  EXPENSES 

NET  INCOME 

KINDS  OF  COAL 
ANTHRA-  Sinall  Ekk 

SAL 

E  S 

- Large  Egg 

Ranee 

Chestnut 

Pea 

POCA-  Lump 

- HKg 

Nut 

Run  of  Nine 

All  Other  Coals 

TOTAL  SALES 

ANTHRAC-  Small  Egg 

C 

0  S 

T  0 

p  i 

-  L 

E 

< 

- Large  Egg 

Range 

Chestnut 

Pea 

POCA-  Luidd 

SkS 

Nut 

Run  of  Mine 

All  Other  Coals 

TOTAL 

Demurrage 

Shortage  and 
Shrinkage 

■  TOTAL  COST  OP  SALES 

GROSS  PROFIT 

SHEPARD  &  HUTCHISOH,  PUBLIC  ACCOUIJTAHTS ,  CHICAGO  RB. 


PROGRESSIVE  COAL  COIX/.IIY 
Monthly  Operating  Statement 

. 191 


December  1914 

DeccDbcrl9l5 

Apnl-Dea3l3.915 

AprJL-DeCi3] 

JM4 

Ammount 

Per 

Ton 

Ammount 

Per 

Ton 

Ammount 

Per 

Ton 

Ammount 

lin 

YARD  EXPEt:Sl4 

Unioadine  iTages- 

nav  T.^hnr 

Vera  '.Vpcres- 

i''orerjan 

Loadinff  Cool. 

Oleaninff  iflrd 

Chute  Lcaaintr 

Rent 

Hepa  1  r.ci-K.enewais  Yara 

^3. 

icent 

”  "  " 

Pit 

1  Pnnk# 

t.R  f 

BuL 

LTEht  &  rower  SerYTcb” 

^  -iiabliltv 

Taxes  &  Licenses 

Denreclstion 

total 

■  lir.T.TVKHV  ffll’ENSK 

Salaries  A  ffaires 

Barn  Forego n  £  Ass ■ i: 

• 

Drive  rs 

Ueraaee  t6  PhObyrtV 

Rent 

P^d  z:  Bedding 

.ShoelniT 

ter  Chorres 

vehicle  License 

Insurance-Fire 

‘ -LlablillV 

irS“Kenewals-^ap:o 

“Fq: 

:  1 

♦ 

 "  -Rfl  m 

uenrociation  nagon  Lq' 

T,t 

"  Auto  KCU 

nne  ■ 

'  p 

GaRoline  A  Oil 

TOTAL 

BirEUSE 

1 

Salaries  Salescan 

I 

CommlRsions  “ 

Entertainment 

Carfare 

fixbense  ^3uc^5:y 

total 

r.F.tlERAT.  raPTllKK 

Rxe cub Ives 

n  p  rk  R 

roil ei 1 onR 

Hpdt 

JGTt“ 

Trave  ilntz:  £  EnteY’taln 

Insuron  cq 

_ 

, 

. 

- T-.0-T.fl..J. _ 

SHEPARD  &  HDTCHISON,  PUBLIC  ACCOUNTAHTS ,  CniCAGO. 


Item  marked  “All  Other  Coals”  signifies  that  any  other  kinds  of  coal  handled  are  shown  in  making  up  this  form  of  statement. 


No.  24] 


THE  BLACK  DIxlMOND 


471 


an  elevated  road  with  a  trestle  and  probably 
hoppers  for  holding  the  coal.  Another  yard  will 
be  a  ground  level  yard  in  which  the  coal  is  un¬ 
loaded  from  the  car  upon  the  ground  and  hauled 
from  the  pile.  It  then  becomes  evident  that  the 
cost  of  labor  involved  in  unloading  cars  and 
loading  wa,gons  should  be  materially  less  in  the 
first  class  of  yard.  But,  the  maintenance  of  ma¬ 
chinery  and  hoppers  plus  depreciation  on  such 
equipment  will  be  an  item  in  the  first  class  of 
yards  not  to  be  found  in  the  second.  Therefore, 
such  individual  items  are  not  susceptible  to  com¬ 
parison  between  these  two  yards,  but  the  total  of 
the  yard  operations  can  be  compared  and  from 
the  proper  records  kept  it  becomes  evident  that 
a  basis  can  be  established  which  will  give  any 
association  information  for  the  benefit  of  its  mem¬ 
bers  who  desire  to  ascertain  what  the  expenses 
are  upon  different  classes  of  yards. 

In  the  section  for  “Delivery  Expense,”  provision 
is  made  for  both  wagon  deliveries  and  auto  deliv¬ 
eries,  and  a  comparison  can  be  made  between 
the  wages  of  chauffeurs  and  drivers ;  also  between 
the  costs  of  repairs  of  each  and  between  the  de¬ 
preciation  on  the  two  classes  of  equipment.  As 
an  illustration,  it  might  be  stated  that  the  cost  of 
gasoline  and  oil  for  auto  trucks  may  be  consid¬ 
ered  as  somewhat  the  same  expense  as  the  feed 
and  beddiag  for  horses.  Further  details,  if  de¬ 
sired,  can  be  kept  upon  each  auto  truck  and  each 
delivery  wagon. 

The  amount  of  tonnage  handled  by  wagon  and 
by  auto  trucks  and  by  each  individual  wagon  and 
truck  and  the  cost  of  maintenance  of  same  is  not 
very  difficult  to  obtain,  as  most  yards  have  to 
maintain  some  sort  of  a  delivery  sheet  for  the 
information  of  the  shipping  clerk  which  will  show’ 
the  tonnage.  The  clerks  in  the  main  office  can  very 
readily  keep  a  record  of  the  expense's  of  each 
piece  of  equipment.  This  latter  phase  of  the  situ¬ 
ation  is  mentioned  more  particularly  for  occa¬ 
sional  comparison ;  it  hardly  becomes  necessary  tcf 
go  into  this  matter  in  such  detail  each  month  un¬ 
less  desired. 

In  the  section  marked  “Selling  Expense”  should 
be  charged  those  items  that  can  be  clearly  con¬ 
sidered  as  a  selling  expense.  The  only  item 
that  seems  to  require  any  particular  comment 
here  is  that  marked  “Salesmen’s  Expenses.”  This 
is  divided  for  the  purpose  of  arriving  at  the 
different  divisions  of  this  account,  due  to  different 
operating  conditions.  As  an  illustration,  it  might 
be  mentioned  that  one  firm  will  employ  a  sales¬ 
man,  and  pay  his  carfare,  entertainment,  and  other 
expenses.  Another  firm  may  employ  a  salesman 
who  owns  his  own  horse  and  buggy,  or  automo¬ 
bile,  and  will  allow  him  a  certain  sum  per  month 
for  its  maintenance,  the  other  expenses  remaining 
the  same.  Another  firm  will  allow  a  man  a 
stated  expense  amount  per  month,  regardless  of 
how  it  is  spent,  and  still  another  method  might 
be  for  the  firm  to  furnish  some  sort  of  a  vehicle 
to  the  salesman  and  simply  allow  him  an  enter¬ 
tainment  expense. 

To  be  susceptible  of  comparison,  these  different 
conditions  must  all  be  considered  and  due  pro¬ 
vision  made  for  them  in  making  up  the  monthly 
expense  statement. 

There  is  still  another  element  and  that  is  a 
possibility  of  payin.g  the  salesman  a  salary,  or  com¬ 
mission,  or  both,  and  require  him  to  pay  his  own 
expenses.  In  order  to  be  able  to  make  a  com¬ 
parison  it  is  necessary  to  make  some  division  to 
take  care  of  this  and  charge  the  necessary  amount 
to  “Salesmen’s  Expenses.”  It  is  quite  certain 
that,  in  giving  a  compensation  to  cover  salary, 
or  commission,  or  both,  and  expenses,  some  idea 
of  the  amount  of  expense  to  be  considered  must 
have  been  arrived  at. 

The  “General  Expenses”  are  those  items  which 
may  be  termed  “overhead  expenses,”  and  are 
usually  a  burden  upon  every  business  and  I 
think  in  most  cases  are  capable  of  comparison  as 
they  are  usually  based  upon  the  amount  of  the 
business  transacted.  It  is  quite  evident  that 
a  proprietor  or  proprietors  of  a  small  business 
must  consider  their  services  at  a  certain  value 
every  month,  whether  they  actually  take  it  in 
cash  or  simply  credit  their  accounts.  Such  serv¬ 
ices  may  be  called  “Executive  Salaries” ;  in  other 
cases  salaries  will  be  paid  executive  officers. 

The  problem  of  rent  is  one  that  has  been  wide¬ 
ly  discussed  by  accounting  authorities,  and  some 
of  the  most  able  have  ranged  themselves  upon 
both  sides  of  the  question  as  to  whether  a  prop¬ 
erty  that  is  owned  by  the  company  should  or 
should  not  be  taxed  with  a  rental  figure  that 
might  be  considered  as  payable  if  the  company 
did  not  own  its  property.  For  the  purpose  of 
comparing  expenses,  as  between  various  com¬ 
panies,  it  becomes  evident  that  rent  must  be  con¬ 
sidered.  If  interest  is  paid  for  money  borrowed 
to  purchase  the  property,  this  offsets  a  rental 
charge  and  really  becomes  equivalent  to  rent. 


It  will  be  noted  there  is  a  division  of  “Rent.” 
This  item  is  shown  in  “yard  expense,”  “delivery 
expenses,”  and  “general  expenses.”  The  varying 
conditions  surrounding  different  retail  companies 
require  this. 

Some  companies  will  rent  a  barn  to  take  care 
of  their  teams  or  auto  trucks,  and  have  a  straight 
charge  for  same.  Others  will  have  a  barn  or 
garage  or  both  on  the  yard.  In  such  instance 
the  “delivery  expense”  should  stand  a  percentage 
of  rent. 

Some  companies  with  several  yards  have 
straight  rental  charges  in  yard  expenses.  Others 
with  one  yard  with  the  barn  or  .garage,  or  both, 
and  office  at  the  yard  will  have  to  charge  a  per¬ 
centage  of  rent  to  yard  expense. 

The  “rent”  charge  under  “general  expense” 
should  be  cost  of  office  room  paid  when  office 
is  rented  or  a  percentage  of  total  rent  when 
office  is  at  the  yard. 

The  remarks  applicable  to  “rent”  may  arise  in 
treating  such  changes  as  “insurance,”  “taxes  and 
light.”  Taxes  can  be  readily  divided  and  are 
set  up  on  the  books  each  month  and  credited  to 
“accrued  taxes”  until  tax  bills  are  received.  In¬ 
surance  policies  are  usually  paid  in  advance, 
charged  prepaid  insurance  and  can  be  so  divided 
as  to  cover  different  items  and  credited  to  pre¬ 
paid  insurance. 

Light  bills  may  be  rendered  against  each  yard, 
the  barn  and  office  or  in  case  of  one  yard  and 
with  office  and  barn  at  yard,  are  divided  between 
"yard  expense,”  “delivery  expense,”  and  “general 
expense.” 

Sometimes  some  of  these  items  such  as  light 
and  service  in  a  small  yard  are  so  small  it  does 
not  pay  to  try  to  divide  same. 

The  interest  item  could  be  discussed  at  some 
length  but  it  may  be  noted  that  where  a  reduc¬ 
tion  in  cost  of  coal  is  secured  by  borrowing 
money  to  purchase  at  advantageous  seasons  such 
a  charge  is  clearly  a  part  of  “cost  of  sales.” 
Where  it  is  interest  paid  on  investment  in  prop¬ 
erty,  it  is  really  a  rental  change,  and  where  it 
is  interest  on  working  capital,  it  may  be  con¬ 
sidered  a  “general  expense.” 

One  of  the  important  features  is  to  ascertain 
the  profit  made  from  delivered  sales  and  from 
yard  sales — the  latter  being  really  sales  to  small 
dealers. 

A  simple  statement  can  be  made  to  cover  same. 
The  reports  or  sales  record  will  be  divided  to 
show  these  by  making  up  two  daily  reports  or 
by  having  two  sections  in  the  sales  record,  to 
show  such  sales  and  each  class  bears  its  expense 
burden. 

The  cost  of  sales,  i.  e.,  cost  of  fuel  is  the 
same  per  ton,  and  generally  speaking,  “yard  ex¬ 
penses”  and  “general  expenses”  are  chargeable 
to  each.  Dealers’  sales  in  yard  really  carry  no 
delivery  expense. 

Income  from  outside  sources  or  expenses  ap¬ 
plying  to  operations  outside  of  fuel  transactions, 
such  as  outside  income  from  rentals  or  invest¬ 
ments,  or  an  expense  on  property  owned  by  com¬ 
pany  but  not  used  in  fuel  business,  are  shown 
in  summary  of  operations. 

This  form  has  been  drafted  to  show  the  opera¬ 
tions  from  the  first  of  current  year  up  to  end  of 
month.  For  purpose  of  illustration,  December 
has  been  used  and  the  fiscal  year  has  been  con¬ 
sidered  as  April  1  to  March  31. 


New  Proposed  Railway. 


The  wholesale  and  retail  coal  trade  of  New 
England  are  .greatly  interested  in  a  plan  to  con¬ 
struct  a  railroad  from  Schenectady,  N.  Y.,  to 
Hloomsburg,  Pa.,  which  would  link  the  Boston 
&  Maine  Railroad  with  the  coal  fields  of  the 
west.  The  plan  is  described  briefly  in  a  letter 
made  public  recently  by  Gov.  Walsh  of  Massa¬ 
chusetts  which  he  received  from  R.  B.  Williams, 
of  Scranton,  Pa. ; 

“On  account  of  the  deep  interest  your  adminis¬ 
tration  has  shown  in  the  reorganization  of  the 
Boston  &  Maine  Railroad,  I  thought  you  might 
be  interested  in  learning  of  the  followin.g  project, 
which  would  tend  to  largely  benefit  the  people 
of  Massachusetts,  and  greatly  increase  the  rev¬ 
enue  of  the  Boston  &  Maine  Railroad. 

“There  is  under  way  at  the  present  time,  a 
proposition  to  build  a  railroad  from  Schenectady, 
N.  Y.,  to  Bloomsburg,  Pa.,  following  the  Scho¬ 
harie,  Delaware  and  Tunkhannock  Valleys,  giving 
tliq  lowest  possible  grade  and  the  shortest  dis¬ 
tance  from  the  heart  of  the  anthracite  regions  to 
the  New  England  states. 

“Further,  this  railroad,  by  interchange,  will 
connect  the  New  England  states  with  the  Erie 
Railroad,  the  Delaware,  Lackawanna  &  Western, 
the  Lehigh  Valley  and  the  Pennsylvania  and 
their  western  and  southwestern  tributaries. 


Anthracite  Shipments. 


The  shipments  of  anthracite  for  November, 
191.5,  as  reported  by  the  Anthracite  Bureau  of  In¬ 
formation  at  Wilkes-Barre,  Pa.,  amounted  to 
(>,297, S15  long  tons,  which  establishes  a  new  rec¬ 
ord  for  November  shipments  for  the  region. 

Compared  with  November,  1914,  the  shipments 
last  month  showed  an  increase  of  368,929  tons, 
and  compared  with  October  of  this  year  they  ex- 
hibit  a  decrease  of  208,677  tons. 

The  decrease  in  November,  as  compared  with 
October,  was  due  to  the  fact  that  there  were  two 
fewer  working  days  in  the  later  month— 23  days 
in  November,  against  25  in  October.  The  average 
daily  shipments  in  November  exceeded  those  of 
October. 

The  total  shipments  for  the  year  to  the  end  of 
November  are  2,458,125  tons  behind  the  first 
eleven  months  of  1914.  This  shortage  does  not 
represent  by  any  means  the  actual  falling  off  in 
the  supply  of  anthracite  for  winter  use.  In 
spite  of  repeated  warnings,  consumers  this  year 
have  not  laid  in  their  winter  supply  in  advance, 
n'ld  retailers  were  equally  laggard. 

The  statement  of  the  Bureau  is  as  follows : 

NOVEMBER,  1915. 


Buckwheat 

Sizes  Below 

No.  1  and 

Buckwheat 

Total 

Larger  Sizes. 

No.  1. 

Shipments. 

Philadelphia  &  Reading  1,002,455 

161,396 

1,163,851 

Lehigh  Valley.  .  . 

.  1,049,374 

140,729 

1,190,103 

Central  of  New 

Jersey.  599,415 

162,725 

762,140 

Delaware.  Lacka. 

&  W.  799,234 

172,155 

971,389 

Delaware  &  Hudson...  568,726 

125,660 

694,386 

Pennsylvania  .  . 

.  528,831 

87,359 

616,190 

Erie  . . 

.  593,131 

103,759 

696,890 

N.  Y.,  0.  &  W, 

.  176,798 

25,468 

202,266 

Total  . 

.  5,317,964 

979,251 

6,297,215 

NOVEMBER,  1914. 

Buckwheat 

Sizes  Below 

No.  1  and 

Buckwheat 

Total 

Larger  Sizes. 

No.  1. 

Shipments. 

Philadelphia  &  Reading  976,520 

105,824 

1,082,344 

Lehigh  Valley... 

.  1,011,195 

128,272 

1,139,467 

('entral  of  New 

Jersey  643,833 

118,064 

761,897 

Delaware,  Lacka. 

&  W.  740.770 

140,875 

881,645 

Delaware  &  Hudson...  552,605 

86,287 

638,892 

Pennsylvania  .  . 

80,373 

595,819 

Erie  . 

.  522,609 

99,545 

622,154 

N.  Y.,  O.  &  W. 

.  187,460 

18,608 

206,068 

TotM  .  5,150,438  777,848 

\"EAR  1915. 

Buckwheat  Sizes  Below 
No.  1  and  Buekwheat 
Larger  Sizes.  No.  1. 

Philadelphia  &  Reading  9,022,347  1,336,593 

Lehigh  Valley . 10,654,288  1,249,817 

Central  of  New  Jersey  5,948,842  1,345,992 

Delaware,  Lacka.  &  W.  7,238,874  1,412,315 

Delaware  &  Hudson...  6,241,002  1,124,987 

Pennsylvania  .  4,655,732  831,419 

Erie  .  6,077,511  1,144,046 

N.  Y.,  O.  &  W .  1,695,170  203,283 


5,928,286 


Total 

Shipments. 

10,358,940 

11,904,105 

7,294,834 

8,651,189 

7,365,989 

6,487,151 

7,221,557 

1,898,453 


Total  . 61,533,766  8,648,452  60,182,218 


YEAR  1914. 

Buckwheat  Sizes  Below 
No.  1  and  Buckwheat 
Larger  Sizes.  No.  1. 

Philadelphia  &  Reading  9,684,729  1,359,223 

Lehigh  Valley . 10,794,140  1,287,270 

Central  of  New  Jersey  6,806,281  1,408,051 

Delaware,  Lacka.  &  W.  7,538,722  1,471,716 

Delaware  &  Hudson...  5,739,236  932,353 

Pennsylvania  .  5,126,968  777,769 

Erie  .  6,316,849  1,248,699 

N.  Y.,  O.  &  W .  1,920,131  228,206 


Total 

Shipments. 

11,043,952 

12,081,410 

8,214,332 

9,010,438 

6,671,589 

5,904,737 

7,565,548 

2,148,337 


Total  . 53,927,056  8,713,287  62,640,343 

COAL  ON  HAND  AT  TIDEWATER  SHIPPING 
FORTS,  TONS. 

November  30,  1915 .  610,661 

October  31,  1915 . . .  625,821 


Decrease  .  15,150 

The  Statement  of  shipments  of  anthracite  by 
regions  for  the  month  of  November,  1915,  com¬ 
pared  with  corresponding  period  last  year,  is  as 


follows : 

November —  1915.  1914.  Decrease. 

Wyoming  .  3,745,422  3,489,818  *256,604 

Lehigh  .  735,499  772,539  37,040 

Schuylkill  .  1,816,294  1,665,929  *150,366 


Total  .  6,297,215  5,928,286  *368,929 

Year —  1915.  1914.  Decrease. 

Wyoming  . 36,081,403  37,186,422  1,105,019 

Lehigh  .  7,825,000  8,415,313  690,313 

Schuylkill  . 16,275,815  17,038,608  762,793 


Total  . 60,182,218  62,640,343  2,458,125 


‘Increase. 

The  Stock  of  anthracite  on  hand  at  various  tide¬ 
water  shipping  points  on  November  30,  1915,  was: 


Tons. 

Port  Reading .  44,040 

Port  i^ichmond . 153,070 

Greenwich  .  8,006 

Canton  Piers .  3,315 

Elizabethport  .  19,450 

Port  Johnson .  21,954 

Soiith  Amboy .  806,068 

Perth  Amboy .  63,868 

Hoboken  . . 

Weehawken  . . 

Edgewater  . 

Newburgh  . 


Total  .  610,661 


472 _ _ THE  BLACK  DIAMOND.  [December  11 


First  Aid  in  Oklahoma. 

At  first  we  did  not  have  very  much  encourage¬ 
ment  along  this  line.  However,  when  Car  No.  4 
(H  the  Bureau  of  Mines  was  in  Alderson  the 
latter  part  of  1914,  we  had  trained  in  first  aid 
work  between  forty  and  fifty,  and  about  eight 
trained  in  rescue  work.  After  the  car  left 
Alderson  interest  in  first  aid  and  rescue  work 
died  out  until  about  three  months  ago,  when  the 
writer  took  the  matter  up  again  with  a  number 
of  our  young  men  and  explained  to  them  the  use¬ 
fulness  of  this  work,  both  at  home  and  around 
the  mines,  or  wherever  they  were,  and  we  soon 
had  several  crews  organizecl.  Thursday  night  of 
each  week  is  set  as  meeting  night  with  the  fore¬ 
man  of  the  Rescue  Station  at  McAlester  as  in¬ 
structor.  We  now  have  three  teams  practicing 
every  Thursday  night.  I  assured  them  that  the 
company  would  appreciate  their  efforts  along 
these  lines  and  have  given  them  all  the  encour¬ 
agement  I  possibly  could,  stating  to  them  that  we 
would  furnish  all  necessary  supplies  and  that  as 
soon  as  they  secured  a  certificate  of  proficiency, 
in  order  to  keep  them  in  practice  the  company 
would  probably  allow  an  hour’s  pay  each  week  to 
each  member  of  the  team  who  attend  the  meet¬ 
ings  and  who  would  keep  in  training  and  put  his 
knowledge  in  use  in  and  around  the  mines. 

P.  U.  Malloy, 

Superintendent  Rock  Island  Coal  Mining  Co. 

Alderson,  Oklahoma. 


D.  L.  &  W.’s  Sociological  Work. 

Editor  Black  Diamond  : 

With  regard  to  first  aid,  rescue  and  sociolog¬ 
ical  work  being  done  by  the  coal  mining  com¬ 
panies  of  the  anthracite  region,  would  state  that 
we  have  in  connection  with  our  coal  mines,  or¬ 
ganizations  of  first  aid  to  the  injured  and  rescue 
corps,  etc.,  as  follows : 

First.  We  have  at  each  of  our  collieries,  and 
each  section  of  the  same,  where  there  is  more 
than  one  foreman,  a  first  aid  team,  consisting  of 
six  men,  one  of  whom  is  selected  as  captain,  and 
another  as  a  subject  (generally  a  boy  is  chosen 
as  the  subject).  These  organizations,  in  some  in¬ 
stances,  meet  weekly  for  practice  upon  the  sub¬ 
ject,  treating  him  for  all  kinds  of  injuries  with 
which  they  have  become  familiar,  or  in  which 
they  have  been  instructed. 

The  first  aid  teams  at  our  collieries  in  Scranton 
and  vicinity  are  instructed  by  Dr.  J.  M.  Wain- 
wright,  chief  surgeon  for  our  company,  and  chief 
of  staff  of  the  Moses  Taylor  hospital.  The  first 
aid  teams  for  our  collieries  located  in  the  Wyo¬ 
ming  Valley,  Luzerne  county,  are  instructed  by 
Dr.  D.  H.  Lake,  assistant  company  surgeon. 
These  teams  meet  monthly  at  our  district  super- 
iiitendent’s  office  at  Kingston,  Pa.,  and  they  have 
formed  an  organization,  known  as  “United  First 
.‘\id  Corps  of  the  D.  L.  &  W.  R.  R.  Co.”  All  of 
the  members  of  this  first  aid  corps  organization 
are  very  enthusiastic  in  their  work  and  show  con¬ 
siderable  proficiency  in  the  same.  These  men 
hold  annually  a  first  aid  contest,  which  is  con¬ 
ducted  on  the  fifteenth  day  of  August  at  some 
I)leasure  or  picnic  ground,  with  the  result  that  at 
the  present  time  they  have  in  their  treasury  about 
fifteen  hundred  ($1,500)  dollars,  which  they 
expect  to  use  later  on  in  furnishing  suitable  club 
rooms  for  their  own  personal  use.  The  service 
rendered  by  these  first  aid  teams,  while  meeting 
and  practicing,  etc.,  outside  of  working  hours,  is 
entirely  voluntary.  The  company  at  all  times  fur¬ 
nish  sufficient  material  for  practice,  such  as  band¬ 
ages  of  all  kinds,  sterilized  gauze  and  adhesive 
plaster,  and  all  other  material  necessary  for 
actual  first  aid  work.  The  members  of  the  first 
aid  teams  contribute  in  no  way  financially  to- 
\yards  maintaining  and  carrying  on  this  work, 
and,,  if  they  enter  into  what  is  known  as  an 
“inter-company”  contest,  by  which  they  are  re¬ 
quired  to  he  from  home  or  absent  from  their 
;  work  for  a  day  or  more,  the  company  pays  them 


their  full  time,  and  also  bears  the  burden  of  ex¬ 
pense  for  traveling,  hotel  accommodations,  etc. 

Second.  We  have  at  each  colliery  a  rescue  team, 
consisting  of  six  men,  one  of  whom  is  delegated 
as  a  leader  or  captain.  These  men  are  selected 
from  volunteers  and,  generally  speaking,  the  most 
able  and  best  appearing  persons  employed  at  the 
various  collieries  are  chosen.  Their  training  and 
preparation  is  in  charge  of  a  qualified  person, 
who  has  had  some  years  experience  in  the  use  of 
the  rescue  or  oxygen  breathing  apparatus  and 
first  aid  work.  They  are  thoroughly  instructed 
in  the  use  of  this  important  machine  and  its  me¬ 
chanism  ;  disconnecting  and  connecting  all  parts 
of  the  oxygen  breathing  apparatus,  and  after  they 
have  become  thoroughly  acquainted  wtih  the  same 
they  are  trained  in  walking  and  running  depend¬ 
ing  upon  the  oxygen  in  the  tanks  for  their  breath¬ 
ing  supply.  They  are  also  instructed  with  regard  to 
recharging  these  tanks  with  a  fresh  supply  of 
oxygen,  and  when  they  have  been  so  trained  with 
regard  to  handling  the  apparatus,  a  room  con¬ 
taining  noxious  gases,  sulphur,  or  formaldehyde 
is  provided,  in  which  they  are  trained  in  the  work 
of  sawing  timber,  climbing  up  stairs,  crawling 
under  tables  and  all  other  stunts  imaginable  by 
the  person  in  charge  of  the  work,  in  an  endeavor 
to  practice  conditions  under  which  the  men 
might  be  called  upon  to  perform  in  actual  work 
following  a  serious  explosion  of  gas,  by  which 
the  ventilating  system  has  been  destroyed  and  the 
traveling  roads  wrecked  to  such  an  extent  as  to 
make  climbing  and  crawling  necessary  in  con¬ 
nection  with  this  important  work. 

Third.  The  company  maintains  within  a  short 
distance  of  the  district  office  at  Kingston,  Pa., 
three  railroad  cars,  known  as  the  “Rescue  Car,” 
“Hospital  Car”  and  the  “Fire  Car.”  The  Rescue 
Car  is  equipped  with  eight  oxygen  Draeger  hel¬ 
mets,  a  sufficient  supply  of  oxygen,  what  is 
known  as  the  fresh-air  stretcher,  which  can  be 
carried  by  the  helmet-men  into  places  containing 
noxious  gases  and  the  persons  rescued  can  be 
given  oxygen  while  being  conveyed  to  a  place  of 
safety,  also  an  abundant  supply  of  oil  and  electric 
safety  lamps,  a  quantity  of  first  aid  material, 
blankets  and  all  other  necessary  equipment  for 
emergencies. 

The  hospital  car  contains  six  cots,  necessary 
stretchers,  blankets  and  first  aid  material,  which 
in  case  of  a  serious  accident  can  be  brought  into 
play  and  used  to  good  advantage  to  bring  persons 
injured  to  the  Moses  Taylor  Hospital  at  Scranton, 
if  they  desire  to  be  removed  to  that  institution. 

The  Fire  Car  contains  all  kinds  of  mine  fire 
fighting  implements,  which  can  be  brought  to 
.  any  colliery  within  a  short  time  and  used  ad¬ 
vantageously. 

Fourth.  The  sociological  work  of  this  com¬ 
pany  consists  in  a  joint  effort  made  with  that  of 
the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  at  Wilkes-Barre  in  conducting 
their  District  Mining  Institute,  of  which  a  large 
percentage  of  the  members  are  employes  of  this 
company.  The  company  contributes  two  hundred 
and  fifty  ($250.00)  dollars  annually  towards  the 
maintenance  of  a  mining  school  in  connection 
with  this  mining  institute. 

The  Nanticoke  District  Mining  Institute,  to 
which  the  company  contributes  annually  $150.00 
to  the  maintenance  of  the  mining  school,  during 
the  past  few  years,  has  joined  its  efforts  with  that 
of  the  Nanticoke  school  district,  which  is  com¬ 
posed  of  intelligent  and  aggressive  men,  with  the 
result  that  at  the  enrollment  for  vocational 
schools  during  the  year  1915-16,  about  1,200  em¬ 
ployes  of  this  and  other  companies  and  mem- 
i)ers  of  their  families  were  enrolled  and  are  now 
attending  these  night  schools.  For  instance,  there 
are  enrolled  in  the  sewing  classes  about  369  girls 
and  women. 

Within  the  past  few  years  we  have  also  im¬ 
proved  living  conditions  around  our  collieries  by 
improving  dwellings  occupied  by  employes.  We 
have  constructed  what  is  known  all  over  the 
country  as  the  “Concrete  City.”  The  company 


maintains  in  the  center  of  this  village  a  play¬ 
ground,  consisting  of  swinging  bars,  sliding 
chutes,  swimming  pools,  etc. 

We  are  also  building  at  present  forty  double 
houses,  constructed  of  concrete  and  brick,  con¬ 
taining  modern  improvements,  electric  lights  and 
steam  heat,  etc.,  near  our  new  Loomis  colliery. 
This  village  is  already  known  as  “Loomis  Park.” 

hi  general,  the  employes  of  the  D.  L.  &  W. 
R.  R.  Co.,  coal  mining  department,  will  compare 
favorably  in  aggressiveness  and  intelligence  with 
any  of  those  found  in  any  part  of  the  anthracite 
region.  They  have  joined  heartily  in  all  our 
movements  of  “Safety  First,”  “First  Aid”  and 
“Sociological”  matters  during  the  past  few  years. 

The  picture  book  we  had  published  in  1912, 
showing  how  accidents  occurred,  and  how  they 
could  have  been  prevented,  has  had  a  wide  circu¬ 
lation  among  our  men.  Nearly  200  slides  made 
from  various  accidents  that  have  actually  oc¬ 
curred,  acted  and  posed  by  our  employes,  have 
also  been  exhibited  and  practical  talks  have  been 
given  by  our  superintendents  along  these  lines. 
We  have  also  recently  had  one  of  our  assistant 
superintendents  work  up  a  “Scenario,”  or  moving 
picture,  entitled  “The  Price  of  Carelessness,” 
which  has  been  shown  free  of  charge  at  various 
moving  picture  theaters  to  crowded  houses. 

We  also  have  about  completed  a  combination 
moving  picture  machine  and  lantern,  which  can  be 
used  for  exhibiting  these  slides  and  films  at  the 
homes  of  our  employes.  The  company  is  now 
arranging  to  employ  men  who  will  take  these 
pictures  from  house  to  house  to  instruct  as  well 
as  entertain  our  employes  and  members  of  their 
families  during  the  long  winter  evenings. 

R.  A.  Phillip,  General  Manager. 

Scranton,  Pa. 


Pay  of  First-Aid  Teams. 

Editor  Black  Diamond. —  At  Midvalley  and 
Maryd  collieries  we  have  a  set  rate  per  hour 
that  we  pay  the  first-aid  teams  for  every  hour 
they  put  in  on  first  aid  practice  work. 

At  J.  S.  Wentz  &  Company,  Hazle  Brook,  we 
pay  part  of  their  salaries. 

At  Upper  Lehigh  Coal  Company,  Upper  Le¬ 
high,  the  first-aid  team  is  not  paid'  anything,  but 
they  do  not  contribute  anything  toward  the  ex¬ 
penses  ;  the  company  pays  for  all  the  material, 
supplies,  etc.  T.  E.  Snyder, 

General  Manager,  J.  S.  Wentz  &  Company,  Hazle¬ 
ton,  Pa. 


First-Aid  Work. 

The  first-aid  work  of  this  company  is  under 
the  direction  of  a  surgeon  specially  employed  for 
the  purpose.  Lectures  and  instruction  are  given 
at  stated  meetings  throughout  the  year  in  the 
auditorium  of  the  company’s  office  building  at 
Wilkes-Barre.  About  September  1st  we  hold  an 
annual  field  day,  at  which  the  different  teams 
compete  and  bronze  medals  are  awarded  to  the 
members  of  the  winning  team.  Following  the 
contest  luncheon  is  served.  The  attendance,  in¬ 
cluding  members  of  the  teams,  certain  employes 
who  have  shown  particular  interest  in  the  work, 
officers  and  guests,  totals  about  eight  hundred. 
The  work  is  voluntary  on  the  part  of  the  em¬ 
ployes.  The  expense  of  the  field  day  exercises  is 
borne  by  the  company. 

With  reference  to  rescue  work,  this  is  under 
the  direction  of  a  man  formerly  employed  in 
our  mining  engineering  department  and  who, 
therefore,  has  some  general  knowledge  of  condi¬ 
tions  in  and  around  the  mines.  Instructions  and 
demonstrations  in  the  use  of  apparatus  are  given 
at  stated  intervals,  so  that,  at  the  present  time,  no 
less  than  thirty  men  at  each  operation  are  'thor¬ 
oughly  familiar  with  the  rescue  helmet  and  pre¬ 
pared  to  use  same  in  case  of  necessity.  This 
work  is  also  voluntary  on  the  part  of  the  em¬ 
ployes.  C.  F.  Huber, 

President  and  General  Manager,  Lehigh  and 
Wilkes-Barre  Coal  Company. 


Accident  Reduction  Contest. 

Editor  Black  Diamond. — We  have  twenty-six 
regularly  organized  first-aid  teams  at  our  mines 
and  breakers.  Our  rescue  car  foreman  is  also 
head  of  the  first-aid  work.  About  one-third  of 
the  total  number  of  men  making  up  these  teams 
meet  on  alternating  Monday  nights,  for  two 
hours’  instruction  and  drill  by  the  rescue  car 
foreman  and  the  physician  in  charge.  For  this 
instruction  work  the  members  of  the  teams  are 
paid  twenty-five  cents  per  hour  and  give  free  trol¬ 
ley  tickets  to  and  from  the  meeting  place.  Each 
team  is  given  two  hours’  per  week  practice  work 
during  working  hours,  at  the  rates  of  pay  for 
their  regular  occupations. 

None  of  our  men  contribute  financially  to- 


No.  24] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


473 


ward  the  maintenance  of  the  first-aid  teams ; 
every  item  of  expense  is  paid  by  the  company. 

Each  year,  on  the  last  Saturday  in  August,  we 
hold  a  first-aid  contest.  To  the  winning  team  a 
handsome  loving  cup,  suitably  engraved  with  the 
winner’s  name,  is  presented,  and  held  until  the 
next  annual  contest. 

In  addition,  the  first,  second  and  third  highest 
teams  are  given  cash  prizes  of  $25,  $15  and  $10 
respectively. 

Our  mines  are  divided  into  five  districts.  We 
keep  a  very  detailed  record  of  all  accidents,  and 
the  length  of  time  in  each  case  lost  by  reason  of 
injury.  The  total  amount  of  time  lost  by  the 
employes  due  to  injury  is  divided  by  the  pos¬ 
sible  working  time  of  all  employes,  and  percent¬ 
age  figures  are  obtained.  These  are  made  up 
monthly  and  the  statements  distributed  among 
our  own  men.  At  the  end  of  the  year,  the  district 
having  the  lowest  percentage  of  time  lost,  or,  in 
other  words,  the  greatest  efficiency  in  time  lost 
and  therefore  accident  prevention,  is  presented 
with  a  handsome  loving  cup,  suitably  engraved 
with  the  name  of  the  district,  and  held  for  one 
year.  Our  fatal  accidents  are  given  an  arbitrary 
value  of  365  days,  while  all  other  accidents  carry 
the  actual  number  of  days  of  disability. 

W.  G.  Whildin, 

Mining  Superintendent,  Lehigh  Coal  &  Naviga¬ 
tion  Company. 


First-Aid  Department. 

Editor  The  Black  Diamond; 

The  first-aid  work  of  the  Colorado  Fuel  &  Iron 
Company  is  looked  after  by  the  local  doctors  at 
our  mines.  We  issue  a  first-aid  certificate  to  all 
our  employes  who  attain  a  proficiency  necessary 
to  pass  examination  by  local  surgeons.  The  op¬ 
portunity  to  participate  in  contests  has  served  as 
some  stimulant. 

Four  years  ago  we  had  a  contest  at  the  Las 
Animas  County  Fair  and  the  captains  of  teams 
winning  prizes  ’were  given  a  trip  at  company  ex¬ 
pense  to  the  Pittsburgh  Training  Station  and  ex¬ 
hibition  given  at  Forbes  field,  November,  1911. 

This  year  we  allowed  the  four  camps  in  Las 
Animas  and  Huerfano  counties  having  the  high¬ 
est  number  of  trained  first  aid  men  to  send  a 
team  to  compete  for  valuable  prizes  offered  at 
our  field  day  meet  at  Trinidad,  August  14th. 

We  are  now  arranging  to  furnish  buttons  to  all 
our  employes  who  complete  a  course  of  training 
in  first  aid. 

We  have  been  able  to  keep  up  the  interest  in 
this  way,  and  up  to  date  the  work  has  been  en¬ 
tirely  voluntary  and  employes  have  not  con¬ 
tributed  financially  towards  its  maintenance. 

Our  training  in  rescue  and  helmet  work  is 
carried  on  by  sending  around  our  rescue  car 
from  camp  to  camp,  under  the  charge  of  an  ex¬ 
pert  in  this  kind  of  work.  At  intervals  the  gov¬ 
ernment  car  also  goes  around  and  our  men  take 
examination  under  the  government  officials  and 
receive  certificates  for  training  in  helmet  work. 

Yours  very  truly, 

E.  H.  Weitzel, 

Manager,  The  Colorado  Fuel  &  Iron  Company. 


C.  W.  Babcock  Dies. 


Denver,  Colo.,  December  9.— (Special  Corre¬ 
spondences) — Charles  Wesley  Babcock,  second 
president  of  the  Rocky  Mountain  Fuel  Company, 
died  at  his  residence  in  this  city,  Friday  morning, 
December  3d,  of  asthma,  with  which  he  has  been 
afflicted  for  the  past  twelve  years. 

Mr.  Babcock  was  one  of  the  most  prominent 
coal  men  in  Colorado.  When  he  came  to  Denver 
twelve  years  ago  he  reorganized  the  Standard 
Coal  Company  and  became  its  active  head.  Foup 
years  ago  the  Standard  was  merged  with  several 
other  companies  to  form  the  Rocky  Mountain 
Fuel  Company.  He  was  made  a  vice  president 
of  the  new  corporation  at  the  time  of  its  or¬ 
ganization. 

In  that  position,  in  spite  of  his  ill  health,  he 
carried  a  tremendous  burden  of  responsibility  at 
all  times.  Refusing  almost  every  opportuiiity  for 
rest  and  recreation,  he  carried  his  double  burden 
constantly  until  a  few  days  before  his  passing. 

Mr.  Babcock  was  forty-nine  years  of  age  and 
was  formerly  engaged  in  the  shoe  manufacturing 
business  in  Philadelphia,  which  he  gave  up  for 
the  benefit  of  the  Colorado  climate.  Pie  was 
married  in  1889  to  Anna  R.  Hiding  of  Phila¬ 
delphia,  and  is  survived  by  her  and  two  brothers, 
George  W.  Babcock  of  the  Philadelphia  Centenary 
church  and  William  A.  Babcock  of  Baltimore, 
both  Methodist  ministers. 

Funeral  services  were  held  from  the  family 
residence  last  Sunday,  conducted  by  Dr.  Orien 
W.  Fifer,  pastor  of  the  Warren  Memorial  church. 


of  which  he  was  a  member,  assisted  by  Dr.  Forest 
Craft.  The  remains  were  interred  in  Fairmount 
cemetery. 


Death  of  J.  M.  Dodge. 


James  Mapes  Dodge,  chairman  of  the  board 
of  the  Link-Belt  Company,  died  at  his  home  in 
Philadelphia,  December  4,  1915. 

He  was  born  June  30,  1852,  at  Waverly,  N.  J. 
His  grandfather  was  Prof.  James  J.  Mapes,  a 
noted  chemist  and  scientist,  and  his  mother,  Mary 
Mapes  Dodge,  a  well-known  author  for  many 
years  editor  of  the  St.  Nicholas  Magazine. 

Mr.  Dodge  spent  three  years  at  Cornell  Uni¬ 
versity  and  a  year  at  Rutgers.  At  the  latter  in¬ 
stitution  he  took  a  special  course  in  chemistry 
under  the  late  Prof.  George  PL  Cook,  state  geolo¬ 
gist  of  New  Jersey.  After  spending  a  short  time 
at  the  Morgan  Iron  Works  in  New  York  City,  he 
entered  the  .shops  of  John  Roach,  the  shipbuilder, 
at  Chester,  Pa.,  where  his  marked  mechanical  abil¬ 
ity  and  ingenuity  brought  him  rapid  advance¬ 
ment.  During  the  three  years  at  the  Chester  es¬ 
tablishment  he  was  successively  journeyman,  fore¬ 
man  and  superintendent  of  erection. 


James  Mapes  Dodge. 


Shortly  after  the  Centennial  at  Philadelphia, 
in  1876,  he  left  the  shipyard,  and  after  several 
years  of  experience  in  the  east,  went  to  Chicago. 
It  was  here  that  he  formed  the  acquaintance  of 
William  D.  Ewart,  the  inventor  of  the  Ewart 
link-belting,  and  soon  after  he  joined  hands  with 
Mr.  Ewart  and  his  associates  in  the  development 
of  the  chain  business. 

At  that  time,  about  thirty-five  years  ago,  the 
application  of  chains  to  power  transmission  was 
exceedingly  limited,  and  their  use  in  elevating 
and  conveying  machinery  was  practically  un¬ 
known.  The  Ewart  chain  blazed  the  way  for  a 
new  industry,  and  Mr.  Dodge  and  his  associates 
were  quick  to  seize  the  opportunity.  Mr.  Dodge’s 
early  work  was  confined  principally  to  develop¬ 
ment  and  manufacture,  and  here  his  genius  had 
full  play.  New  chains,  new  methods  of  manufac¬ 
ture,  and  new  conveying  and  elevating  appliances 
were  brought  out  in  rapid  succession. 

After  this  period  of  development  Mr.  Dodge 
went  east  and  entered  the  partnership  of  Burr  & 
Dodge  of  Philadelphia,  for  the  exploitation  of 
the  Ewart  chain  and  its  allied  interests.  Out  of 
this  partnership  grew  the  Link-Belt  Engineering 
Company,  in  1888,  and  after  the  organization  of 
this  company,  Mr.  Dodge  carried  out  his  idea  of 
development  along  strictly  engineering  lines.  A 
highly  specialized  engineering  staff  was  developed, 
a  scientific  study  was  made  of  the  characteristics 
of  the  materials  to  be  handled,  and  special  appli¬ 
ances  were  invented  to  meet  varying  conditions. 

Machines  grew  from  capacities  of  thirty  tons 
per  hour  to  capacities  of  600  tons  per  hour,  and 
from  simple  problems  solved  by  detached  ma¬ 
chines,  the  company  expanded  its  field  to  the 
planning  and  arranging  of  works  to  secure  the 
most  economical  and  efficient  handling  of  both 
raw  and  finished  product  under  guarantees  of  ac¬ 
complishment.  In  all  this  development  Mr.  Dodge 
was  the  creative  and  guiding  spirit. 

It  was  in  1889,  after  having  become  thoroughly 
acquainted  with  the  needs  of  the  anthracite  coal 


industry,  that  Mr.  Dodge  developed  the  boldest 
and  perhaps  the  most  original  of  his  inventions. 
This  was  his  system  of  storing  anthracite  coal 
in  large  conical  piles,  and  reloading  it  by  ma¬ 
chinery — accomplishing  this  result  with  little  la¬ 
bor  and  practically  no  breakage.  The  invention 
was  so  complete,  and  yet  withal  so  simple,  that 
it  is  still  without  a  rival  in  the  field  of  anthra¬ 
cite  coal  storage. 

When  it  is  considered  that  this  system  reduced 
the  cost  of  storing  coal  from  thirty  and  often 
forty  cents  per  ton  per  round  trip  to  five  cents, 
it  is  evident  that  the  saving  effected  on  the  5,000,- 
000  tons  handled  by  this  system  annually  has 
been  a  large  item. 

Fertility  of  invention  and  mechanical  ingenuity 
are  rarely  coupled  with  a  high  order  of  executive 
ability,  yet  such  is  the  combination  of  qualities 
that  has  brought  success  to  Mr.  Dodge,  who,  as 
an  inventor,  had  the  distinction  of  being  men¬ 
tioned  in  patent  office  reports  among  the  few  who 
had  been  granted  over  one  hundred  letters  patent, 
and  as  an  executive  had  won  success  as  the  presi¬ 
dent  and  active  managing  spirit  of  such  highly 
successful  industrial  engineering  corporations  as 
the  Link-Belt  Engineering  Company  and  the 
Dodge  Coal  Storage  Company  (later  called  the 
J.  M.  Dodge  Company).  He  was  made  president 
of  these  companies  in  1892,  and  chairman  of  the 
board  of  the  Link-Belt  Company  when  it  was  or¬ 
ganized  in  1906  as  a  merger  of  the  allied  com¬ 
panies — the  Link-Belt  Engineering  Company,  Phil¬ 
adelphia;  the  Link-Belt  Machinery  Company, 
Chipgo,  and  the  Ewart  Manufacturing  Company, 
Indianapolis,  at  which  time  Charles  Piez  became 
president  of  the  Link-Belt  Company. 

.Among  Mr.  Dodge’s  important  inventions  and 
improvements  were  those  relating  to  the  construc¬ 
tion  and  manufacture  of  the  link-belt  silent  chain, 
its  bushed  joint  being  the  most  essential  element 
in  the  durability  and  efficiency  of  the  chain. 

Though  for  many  years  a  large  employer  of 
men.  Air.  Dodge  has  never  met  with  any  strikes 
or  other  labor  difficulties.  He  was  deeply  inter¬ 
ested  in  the  personal  welfare  and  advancement  of 
his  employees,  and  a  conspicuous  leader  in  the 
general  introduction  of  the  best  elements  in  “sci¬ 
entific  management,’’  having  the  double  purpose  of 
producing  greater  efficiency  in  the  mechanical  and 
human  equipment  and  greater  pay  with  shorter 
hours  and  improved  conditions  for  the  men.  He 
was  closely  associated  with  Frederick  W.  Taylor 
in  the  accomplishment  of  remarkable  results  for 
the  benefit  of  both  employers  and  employees,  in  a 
wide  circle  of  industries.  His  influence  was  al¬ 
ways  toward  the  development  of  self-help,  initia¬ 
tive,  ambition  and  responsibility  in  the  men,  and 
of  a  spirit  of  fair  play  and  humanitarianism  as 
real  business  assets  in  the  many  employers  who 
recognized  Mr.  Dodge’s  leadership  in  modern  pro¬ 
gressive  methods  of  shop  management. 

Always  affirmative  in  his  views,  he  was  fertile 
in  suggestion  and  quicker  to  point  out  the  better 
way,  or  the  way  to  improve,  than  to  condemn  or 
discountenance.  He  was  encouraging,  optimistic, 
and  a  constant  inspiration  to  those  with  whom  he 
came  in  contact,  public  spirited,  a  leader  in  vari¬ 
ous  societies  and  clubs  of  which  he  was  a  mem¬ 
ber,  such  as  the  American  Society  of  Mechanical 
Engineers,  of  which  he  was  at  one  time  president ; 
.American  Academy  of  Fine  Arts,  Franklin  Insti¬ 
tute,  Union  League  Club,  New  England  Society, 
Engineers’  Club,  etc. 


America’s  Shipbuilding  Boom. 


H.  L.  Ferguson,  president  of  the  Newport  News 
Shipbuilding  and  Dry  Dock  Company,  of  New¬ 
port  News,  Virginia,  who  was  in  New  York 
this  week  said : 

“The  American  merchant  marine  is  growing 
very  rapidly.  It  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
growths  I  ever  saw  in  the  business.  The  tonnage 
of  American-built  ocean-going  ships  is  about 
1,750,000.  There  are  under  construction  now 
more  than  500,000  tons  in  ships,  more  than  was 
ever  before  in  the  process  of  being  built  at  any 
one  time  in  the  history  of  this  country.  These 
ships  are  better  and  larger  than  .A.merican  firms 
have  ordered  in  the  past.  When  the  war  started 
we  had  just  one  lone  merchant  ship  building 
at  Newport  News.  Now  we  have  sixteen  and 
would  be  building  as  many  more  if  we  had  the 
capacity. 

“1  know  of  120  modern,  ocean-going  merchant 
ships  now  lieing  built  in  .America  for  Americans, 
and  there  are  probably  more.  Before  the  war 
there  were  just  twelve  being  built.  This  goes 
to  show  what  Americans  will  do  when  they  get 
started,  and  at  the  present  rate  in  five  years 
.American  tonnage  will  be  doubled  in  American- 
built  boats.  That  doesn’t  take  into  account  for¬ 
eign-built  ships  that  may  come  under  our  fla.g.’’ 


474 


[December  11 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


Ft;BI.ISHED  EVERT  SATURDAY  BT  THE 
BEACH  DIAMOND  COUPANT. 

Subscription  price,  $3.00  per  year,  postage  prepaid,  to 
any  postoffice  in  the  United  _  States.  Foreign  subscrip¬ 
tion  price,  $5.00  per  year.  Single  copies,  20  cents. 
Entered  at  Chicago  postofHce  as  second-class  matter. 


Address  all  communications  to 

THE  BEACH  DIAMOND  COMPANY  (INC.) 

Main  office,  Manhattan  building,  Chicago. 


Branch  Offices. 

New  York,  29  Broadway. 
Philadelphia,  1400  Land  Title  building. 
Pittsburgh,  1502  Oliver  building. 


Saturday,  December  11,  1915. 


INDEX. 


Special  Articles. 

Page 


What  Is  a  Proper  Price  for  Coal  After  April  1st?.  .  465 

Hex  Company  Sold .  466 

Six  Reasons  Condemn  the  Rate  Advance .  467 

Tying  Yourself  Not  to  Re-engage  in  a  Business.  .  •  •  467 
Permanent  Coal  Bins  of  the  Indiana  Harbor  Lumber 

&  Coal  Compa.ny .  468 

Hocking  Valley  Coal  Rate  Hearing .  469 

Trade  at  Azores .  469 

Barber’s  Coal  Pocket .  469 

How  to  Divide  and  Account  for  Retail  Expenses....  470 

Anthracite  Shipments .  471 

New  Proposed  Railway .  471 

Mine  Clearing  House .  472 

C.  W.  Babcock  Dies .  473 

Death  of  J.  M.  Dodge .  473 

America’s  Shipbuilding  Boom .  473 

Editorial  .  47 1 

News  Local  to  Chicago .  470 

Facts  Which  Determine  Our  Export  Prospects .  477 

Market  Reports. 

General  Review  and  Chicago .  478 

Pittsburgh,  Duluth  and  Twin  Cities .  479 

Cincinnati,  Birmingham  and  Denver .  480 

Cleveland,  St.  Louis  and  Indianapolis .  481 

New  York .  482 

Philadelphia,  Buffalo  and  Omaha .  483 

New  England,  Baltimore  and  Detroit . .  484 

Hocking  Valley .  1.5 


Colonel  Rend’s  Legacy 

When  W.  P.  Rend  died  he  left  a  legacy 
to  the  coal  trade  which  is  far  greater  and 
far  more  important  than  that  which  he  left 
to  his  own  children.  It  is  this :  He  left,  as 
a  result  of  his  experience,  a  policy  accord¬ 
ing  to  which  coal  can  be  made  profitable. 
The  only  misfortune  is  that  this  legacy  can¬ 
not  be  put  in  trust  so  that  the  beneficiaries 
'Will  be  sure  to  get  the  rewards  of  it  and 
hence  will  be  prevented  from  squandering  it. 

Col.  Rend’s  legacy-policy  may  be  ex¬ 
pressed  in  these  terms :  There  are  two 
stages  in  business.  The  first  stage  is  when 
a  business  is  small.  Then  it  can  and  really 
should  be  dominated  by  an  individual.  The 
'  second  stage  begins  when  a  business  has 
grown  to  such  size  that  it  recjuires  an  or¬ 
ganization.  There  is  a  very  clear  dividing 
line  between  the  two.  The  difficulty  always 
arises  when  a  business  is  about  to  pass  from 
one  to  the  other.  If  the  operator  fails  to 
recognize  the  arrival  of  that  time,  he  con- 
•  demns  his  business  to  quick  decay  and  de¬ 
struction.  If  he  makes  an  ineffectual  at¬ 
tempt  to  continue  the  old  personal  con¬ 
trol  into  the  zone  where  only  an  organiza¬ 
tion  can  work  the  result  is  inefficiency  and 
hence  partial  rather  than  full  rewards. 

-Another  expression  of  Col.  Rend’s  legacy- 
policy  is  as  follows :  As  it  is  with  individ¬ 


ual  businesses,  so  it  is  with  industries.  Every 
industry  has  its  time  when  many  personali¬ 
ties  must  express  themselves.  But,  after 
the  first  development  has  been  effected, 
there  is  need  for  an  organization  to  supplant 
the  individual.  The  difficulty  arises  because 
but  few  industries  recognize  when  one 
period  is  ended  and  when  another  era  begins. 
However,  failure  to  recognize  the  time  and 
need  for  change  brings  quick  destruction 
and  rapid  decay.  Ineffectual  attempts  to 
transfer  the  industry  from  one  period  to 
another  mean  less  than  full  realization  of 
the  possibilities. 

While  these  things  may  be  recognized  as 
truisms  touching  business  concerns  and  even 
whole  industries,  the  question  may  be  asked  : 
How  did  it  happen  that  Col.  Rend  left  such 
an  important  legacy  as  this  policy  to  the 
coal  industry?  What  was  there  in  his  per¬ 
sonal  experience  which  taught  such  a  les¬ 
son  ? 

Everyone  recognizes  that  he  was  a  bril¬ 
liant  coal  man.  Perhaps  for  that  quality  he 
had  np  superior.  Also,  he  was  essentially 
an  individual.  It  is  given  to  but  very  few 
to  be  more  so.  He  was  not,  however,  an 
organizer.  In  all  his  fifty  energetic  years 
in  the  coal  business  he  left  no  organization 
as  an  expression  of  his  genius.  The  only 
thing  he  did  leave  was  a  number  of  individ¬ 
ual  enterprises.  This  fact  “places”  the 
man.  Col.  Rend  was  clearly  an  individual 
and  a  pioneer. 

When  there  was  a  need  to  execute  a  bril¬ 
liant  coup  by  which  he  opened  a  new  coal, 
a  new  series  of  mines,  or  a  new  market,  no 
individual  coal  man  could  do  the  work  bet¬ 
ter.  In  this  respect  his  work  was  a  trifle 
spectacular — he  was  something  of  a  show¬ 
man.  He  could  make  a  dash  into  any  coal 
situation  and  illuminate  it  in  such  a  way 
that  evervone  could  see  its  possibility.  This 
was  particularly  true  about  a  mining  held,  a 
new  market,  or  a  labor  situation.  When  any 
branch  of  the  trade  was  new  he  could  make 
a  profit  out  of  it. 

The  instant,  however,  it  came  down  to  the 
hard  detail  work,  which  required  entrusting 
jurisdiction  and  powers  to  others — where  it 
required  close  organization,  in  a  word — it 
is  a  matter  of  record  that  he  began  to  fail. 

Col.  Rend  seems  to  have  recognized  the 
one  place  wherein  his  strength  lay.  He  de¬ 
voted  himself  to  that  form  of  activity  ex¬ 
clusively.  He  never  attempted  those  things 
the  theory  of  which  he  understood  thor¬ 
oughly,  but  the  practice  of  which  he  was 
not  by  nature  equipped  to  undertake.  For 
example,  he  opened  up  mines  in  Ohio  and 
by  brilliant  exploits  made  that  coal  known 
throughout  the  west  and  northwest.  This 
was  a  work  of  development  and  exploita¬ 
tion  for  which  he  was  pecularly  fitted.  When 
he  had  done  this  pioneer  work  and  when 
there  came  to  be  a  demand  for  an  organiza¬ 
tion  to  handle  the  new  mines,  he  sold  out 
to  the  Sunday  Creek  Coal  Company.  There¬ 
after  he  went  to  Macdonald,  West  Virginia 
and  duplicated  his  earlier  exploit  of  opening 
that  field  only  to  sell  out  to  the  Pittsburgh 
Coal  Company.  For  a  third  time  he  went 
further  back  into  the  coal  field  and  having 
duplicated  his  brilliant  record  sold  out  to 
the  Berwind-White  Coal  Mining  Company, 
lust  prior  to  his  death  he  had  opened  mines 
in  the  Franklin  county  field  of  Illinois.  He 
was  ready  to  sell  to  any  interest  which 
could  insert  an  organization  instead  of  his 
])ersonality. 

The  legacy,  briefly  put,  which  Col.  Rend 
left  is  his  advice  to  coal  men  to  change  their 


point  of  view  toward  their  company  and 
especially  to  know  when  to  take  on  more 
and  when  to  let  go.  He  recognized  that 
business  is  an  impersonal  undertaking.  He 
governed  it  by  impersonal  rules.  Inci¬ 
dentally  he  left  a  sizable  fortune  as  a  re¬ 
sult  of  following  his  own  rule  of  doing 
what  he  knew  he  was  fitted  to  do. 

The  average  coal  man  rather  than  accept¬ 
ing  his  view  that  connection  with  any  coal 
venture  is  essentially  a  temporary  arrange¬ 
ment,  looks  upon  a  venture  in  the  business 
about  the  same  way  that  he,  being  orthodox, 
looks  upon  taking  a  wife- — to  have  and  to 
hold  until  death  do  them  part.  Col.  Rend 
developed  the  business  as  he  would  a  child — 
to  nurture  it  until  the  age  of  maturity  and 
then  to  turn  it  over  to  some  one  else.  The 
average  coal  man  marries  his  business  and 
looks  upon  it  the  same  as  he  does  upon  his 
wife — as  something  to  stay  with  him  until 
he  or  it  dies  ;  he  is  never  sure  which  is  going 
to  pass  on  first. 


Running  Into  Complexities. 

( )ne  of  the  shrewdest  coal  operators  in 
the  West  made  the  causal  comment  the 
other  day  that  we  are  beginning  to  Ger¬ 
manize  the  coal  !)usiness  far  faster  than 
most  of  us  realize.  The  context  which  ex¬ 
plains  the  remark  was  a  discussion  of  the 
extent  to  which  we  are  getting  away  from 
the  belief  that  coal  in  its  natural  state  is 
a  merchantable  product  like  potatoes  and 
apples,  and  are  coming  to  look  upon  it  as 
nothing  more  than  a  raw  material  which, 
to  be  made  valuable,  must  be  made  over. 

So  long  as  we  clung  to  the  old  idea  that 
coal  was  a  finished  article  of  commerce,  we 
were  interested  only  in  coal  lands,  coal 
mines,  and  the  means  of  transporting  and 
distributing  the  product.  The  minute  we 
begin  to  realize  that  it  is  a  raw  material 
requiring  a  manufacturing  process,  we  be¬ 
gin  to  get  interested  primarily  in  coke 
ovens  because  coking  in  some  form  is  the 
first  step  toward  the  completely  manufac¬ 
tured  product. 

As  this  operator  implied,  other  countries 
than  America  came  to  this  conclusion 
about  coal  long  before  we  did.  The  his¬ 
tory  of  the  development  is  rather  intricate 
but  Belgium  seems  to  have  lead  in  the 
production  of  by-product  ovens  with  its 
Solvay  process.  It  was  followed  by  Ger¬ 
many  with  the  Koppers  and  other  proces¬ 
ses.  Now  America  is  using  all  of  the  for¬ 
eign  patents  and  is  developing  some  of  her 
own.  We  are  beginning,  as  a  matter  of 
fact,  to  get  the  same  multiplication  of  the 
types  of  oven  used  that  we  formerly  got 
in  the  matter  of  additions  to  mine  equip¬ 
ment.  Candidly,  we  are  beginning  to  face 
the  same  danger  of  overdoing  the  coke 
business  that  we  fell  into  when  we  over¬ 
did  coal  production. 

The  coking  of  coal  is  not  as  we  assume 
now,  an  end  in  itself ;  it  is  merely  a  means 
to  an  understood  end.  The  act  of  coking 
is  merely  getting  ready  to  do  something 
more  important.  By  it  we  divide  the  fuel 
mixture  into  two  parts — coke  and  gas. 
Each  one  of  these  is  a  crude  product.  The 
coke  is  supposed  to  support  the  fluxing 
l)roces.s  of  the  metallurgical  industry.  The 
gas  is  supposed  to  supply  the  light  and  the 
efficient  fuel  for  cooking  required  by  mod¬ 
ern  cities. 

At  that  point,  however,  we  begin  a  sub¬ 
division  of  both  subjects.  The  gas  is  too 


No.  24] 


475 


valuable  for  all  of  it  to  be  burned  for  illu¬ 
minating  purposes  or  for  cooking.  There¬ 
fore,  we  divide  the  gas,  taking  out  first  the 
tar,  which  is  capable  of  being  split  up  into 
about  150  by-products,  and  second,  some 
other  ingredients. 

When  we  produce  all  the  gas  that  mod¬ 
ern  cities  require,  and  when  we  take  all  of 
these  by-products  from  the  gas,  we  are 
likely  to  over-produce  those  by-products 
because  we  have  not  made  a  market  for 
them. 

Also,  when  we  produce  the  requisite 
volume  of  gas,  we  over-produce  by  far,  the 
amount  of  coke  that  is  needed  for  metall¬ 
urgical  purposes.  We  thus  have  left  a 
great  quantity  of  coke  for  which  a  market 
must  be  found. 

The  difficulty,  at  the  minute,  is  that  we 
have  not  gone  beyond  the  stage  of  manu¬ 
facturing.  That  is,  there  has  been  no 
sensible  effort  in  America  to  develop  the 
market  for  by-products ;  we  have  not  de¬ 
veloped  even  the  process  for  their  manu¬ 
facture.  In  the  distribution  of  the  coke, 
we  are  going  on  the  dangerous  assump¬ 
tion  that  instead  of  the  fuel  being  made 
to  fit  the  household  conditions,  the  house¬ 
holder  should  be  educated  to  use  a  fuel  pri¬ 
marily  designed  for  metallurgical  purposes. 
The  people  can  be  educated,  of  course,  to 
use  coke  in  time,  but  a  product  which  de¬ 
pends  for  its  popularity  upon  skillful  firing 
by  the  whole  body  of  consumers  is  in  a 
dangerous  position.  It  would  be  infinitely 
easier  and  less  expensive  to  change  the 
manufacturing  process. 

By  the  same  token,  to  manufacture  by¬ 
products  in  the  hope  that  somebody  will 
learn  how  to  use  them  and  hence  come  to 
buy  them,  may  be  an  example  of  American 
enterprise,  but  it  is  hardly  intelligent. 

If  we  admit,  which  we  must,  that  coal 
is  no  longer  a  natural  product  and  that  it 
becomes  valuable  only  when  it  is  turned 
into  a  manufactured  product,  we  instantly 
see  the  necessity  to  change  radically  our 
whole  attitude  towards  its  manufacturing 
process. 

It  is  suggested  on  one  hand  that  we 
must  diversify  the  manufacturing  pro¬ 
gram.  That  is,  we  can  no  longer  assume 
that  the  same  coke  which  is  valuable  for 
metallurgical  purposes  is  equally  valuable 
as  a  household  fuel.  We  must,  if  the 
records  of  retailers  are  dependable,  change 
the  manufacturing  process  so  that  we  get 
enough  coke  for  metallurgy  and  then  pro¬ 
duce  a  domestic  fuel  which  will  bring  more 
than  one  repeat  order  in  twenty-five  sales 
and  more  than  one  permanent  customer 
out  of  fifty  who  have  used  the  fuel.  That 
is,  we  must  emancipate  the  people  from  a 
smoking  coal  without  asking  them  to  be¬ 
come  expert  firemen. 

In  the  by-product  department,  we  must 
not  only  diversify  our  manufacturing  pro¬ 
gram  to  produce  many  things,  but  we 
must  also  carry  on  a  merchandising  cam¬ 
paign  that  is  going  to  find  a  market  for 
those  things.  That  market  is  here  and 
abroad.  It  is  an  essential  part  of  the  true 
function  of  the  coal  trade  both  to  find 
the  market  and  to  manufacture  products 
which  will  satisfy  it. 

Thus,  the  instant  we  step  over  the  line 
which  divides  mere  coal  production,  as  we 
know  it  today,  from  the  manufacturing  of 
coal,  as  we  must  know  it  tomorrow,  we 
get  into  an  entirely  new  zone  where  old 
methods  must  be  forgotten  and  new  ones 
devised. 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


What  Shall  the  Price  Be?. 

We  recently  reported  the  fact  that  two 
coal  producing  companies  of  some  size  re¬ 
fused  to  renew  contracts  callitig  for  coal 
after  the  first  of  next  April  at  an  increase  in 
price  of  twenty-five  cents  a  ton  over  that 
called  for  on  existing  contracts.  The  ex¬ 
planation  of  one  of  these  refusals  is  that 
the  coal  company  had  been  selling  its  prod¬ 
uct  on  contract  at  a  loss.  Its  refusal  to 
sign  up  at  a  higher  price  merely  indicated 
that  it  insisted  upon  a  profit  on  that  piece 
of  business  in  future.  The  explanation  of 
the  other  incident  is  that  the  operator  in 
question  expects  very  much  higher  prices  to 
prevail  in  the  future. 

Most  coal  men,  in  commenting  upon  the 
attitude  of  the  second  operator,  say  that  he 
is  very  foolish  because  he  is  planning  for 
something  which  really  cannot  happen. 

Waiving  the  objection  of  these  other  oper¬ 
ators  aside  and  assuming  the  optimistic  at¬ 
titude  of  the  condemned  operator,  suppose 
we  inquire  what  would  happen  if  for  any 
reason  prices  should  go  up  that  much.  Our 
belief  is  it  would  prove  one  of  the  greatest 
disasters  of  the  business.  Of  course,  it 
would  be  very  pleasant  for  the  coal  oper¬ 
ators  for  one  year  to  get  an  increase  in 
price  of  twenty-five  cents  a  ton.  If  the 
operator  were  in  business  for  only  that  one 
year,  and  if  he  expected  to  retire  from  it 
or  die  thereafter,  that  additional  profit 
would  be  delightful.  However,  all  mining 
companies  are  in  business  for  more  than  a 
year.  Some  of  them  have  mapped  out  their 
plans  for  fifty  years  to  come.  They  cannot 
consider  the  market,  therefore,  from  the 
standpoint  of  1916  alone ;  they  must  look  at 
it  now  for  every  year  up  to  1966.  The 
question  then  is  not,  “would  it  be  pleasant  to 
make  twenty-five  cents  a  ton  more  in  1916,” 
but,  “what  would  be  the  influence  of  that 
l)rice  on  business  in  1917?” 

Everyone  will  admit  that  an  abnormal 
price  for  next  year  would  bring  about  an 
abnormally  low  price  for  the  following  year. 
This  is  so  for  the  simple  reason  that  every 
man  would  try  to  double  his  capacity  in 
order  to  get  that  higher  price  on  twice  the 
amount  of  business  that  he  is  now  doing. 

Thus  increased  production  would  do  two 
things  at  once.  It  would  kill  off  the  rise  in 
price  and  thus  defeat  the  present  hope  of 
the  operator.  It  would  involve  him  in  an 
unending  succession  of  losses  in  future  due 
to  excessive  competition. 


The  Machinery  Age. 

Some  years  ago  an  eminent  publicist,  who 
was  concerned  with  the  theory  of  publica¬ 
tions  as  well  as  the  mere  fact  of  publishing, 
observed  that: 

“No  industry  ever  becomes  important  to 
the  publisher  until  it  has  passed  through  the 
primary  stage  and  has  reached  the  ma¬ 
chinery  stage  and,  therefore,  has  learned  to 
produce  cheaply  because  mechanically.  The 
steel  trade  reached  that  point  a  long  time 
ago  and,  therefore,  was  interesting  to  the 
])ublisher.  The  railroad  business  always 
has  been  there  and,  therefore,  has  been  in¬ 
teresting  to  the  publi.sher.  The  coal  busi¬ 
ness  is  just  ai)proaching  that  point  and, 
therefore,  is  beginning  to  be  interesting  to 
the  publisher.” 

This  growing  publicity  does  not  mean  so 
much  to  the  coal  man  as  does  the  fact  of 
the  expanding  use  of  machinery  in  coal 
production  and  distribution.  If,  as  the  pub¬ 


lisher  indicated,  coal  is  moving  into  the 
mechanical  stage,  it  is  time  for  the  coal 
men  to  think  carefully  what  have  been  and 
are  likely  to  be  the  influences  of  machinery 
upon  the  profitableness  of  the  coal  business. 

Machinery  is  used  in  the  production  of 
anything  for  only  .two  purposes.  One  is  to 
lessen  the  production  cost  by  using  one 
machine  in  substitution  for  several  workers. 
The  other  is  to  make  one  producing  plant 
get  out  more  coal  and,  therefore,  to  double, 
triple,  or  even  quadruple  the  output. 

Up  to  now  quite  a  great  many  mechanical 
appliances  have  been  introduced  into  the 
coal  business.  The  first  was  a  hoisting  en¬ 
gine  to  supplant  the  old  hand  windlass.  The 
second  was  a  machine  to  undercut  the  coal, 
supplanting  the  man  who  did  it  with  a  pick. 
The  third  was  shaker  screens  to  make  the 
sizing  more  exact,  etc. 

Through  all  of  these  many  changes  one 
thing  has  remained  true.  With  the  intro¬ 
duction  of  every  mechanical  appliance,  pro¬ 
duction  has  been  increased,  competition  has 
been  multiplied  and  the  profits  of  the  coal 
business  have  receded  to  the  vanishing  point. 

We  are  accustomed  to  judge  the  future 
only  in  the  light  of  the  past.  The  past  has 
meant  that  the  use  of  machinery  has  brought 
a  progressive  destruction  of  coal  profit.  If 
we  look  into  the  future,  therefore,  it  is  one 
with  a  grave  concern  because  a  multiplica¬ 
tion  of  machinery  means  that  we  shall  pass 
over  the  line  which  divides  profit  and  loss 
and  come  to  occupy  a  position  where  as¬ 
sured  loss  is  the  inevitable  portion  of  the 
coal  trade. 

Under  the  circumstances,  the  publishers 
may  rejoice  in  the  fact  that  the  coal  is  going 
into  the  mechanical  stage  because  he  thereby 
gets  a  new  topic,  but  the  coal  operator  looks 
upon  it  with  something  more  than  fear. 


Our  Foreign  Trade. 

The  markets  of  the  world  are  not  to  be 
taken  by  conquest.  They  must  be  won  and 
held  by  the  administration  of  the  same  busi¬ 
ness  principles  on  which  our  domestic  trade 
is  founded — -superior  goods,  superior  serv¬ 
ice.  uniform  trade  dealing,  unfailing  re¬ 
liability. 

I  have  complete  confidence  in  the  ability 
of  the  American  business  man  to  compete 
with  anybody,  anywhere,  on  any  terms — 
when  he  really  sets  out  to  win. 

The  trouble  is  with  us  that  we  have  not 
cared.  Profits  at  home  have  been  too  easily 
made  to  supply  the  necessary  stimulus  to 
the  search  for  profits  abroad.  Our  own 
country  with  its  natural  wealth  has  offered 
so  rich  a  field  that  the  foreign  field  has 
seemed  less  attractive  by  comparison,  and 
if  we  in  the  past  have  viewed  with  com¬ 
placency  the  greater  progress  of  others  in 
the  winning  of  world  markets,  it  has  been 
because  right  here  at  home  were  more  gen¬ 
erous  rewards  than  could  be  found  over¬ 
seas. 

But  we  are  facing  changed  conditions. 

Our  commercial  future  is  not  as  an  ex- 
y^orter  of  raw  materials  and  the  products  of 
the  soil.  More  and  more  we  are  consuming 
our  raw  materials  at  home.  More  and  more 
we  are  learning  the  wisdom  of  marketing 
not  merely  these  crude  materials  of  rela- 
tivelv  small  value,  but  finished  materials  to 
which  have  been  added  the  relatively  large 
value  of  American-paid  labor. — C.  L. 
Dering,  president  of  the  Chicago  Associa¬ 
tion  of  Commerce  in  an  article  in  the  Chi¬ 
cago  Post. 


476 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[December  11 


News  Local  to  Chicago. 


W.  C.  Hill,  vice-president  of  the 
Chicago  &  Carterville  Coal  Company 
makes  a  statement  which  the  retailers 
will  do  well  to  keep  iir  mind.  It  is  in 
substance  as  follows : 

“Some  retailers  are  sure  to  be  dis¬ 
appointed  this  year.  In  other  years 
they  have  been  accustomed  to  delay 
buying  until  the  last  minute.  W  hen 
they  needed  coal,  they  sent  an  order  to 
the  jobber  at  the  nearest  reconsigning 
point.  The  jobber  usually  had  the  coal 
on  hand  and  could  make  shipment  im¬ 
mediately.  The  retailers  in  other 
years  were  thus  able  to  adopt  a  care¬ 
less  attitude  towards  the  coal  supply, 
and  not  suft'er  as  the  result,  because 
the  operators  in  those  days  were  in 
the  habit  of  sending  coal  on  consign¬ 
ment  to  every  distributing  point. 

“This  year  the  operators  are  pro¬ 
ceeding  on  information  rather  than  on 
guess.  They  are  not  mining  coal  un¬ 
less  they  know  there  is  a  market  for  it, 
consequently  they  are  not  shipping 
anything  on  faith  to  reconsigning 
points. 

“However,  the  retailers  apjiarently 
are  under  the  belief  that  the  situation 
will  be  the  same  this  year  as  it  always 
has  been  heretofore.  They  believe 
they  are  going  to  get  coal  on  a  minute’s 
notice  from  the  nearest  recognizing- 
point.  On  the  contrary,  the  coal 
which  is  unsold  is  held  at  the  mines. 
If  the  dealers  depend  upon  getting  coal 
from  the  reconsigning  point,  they  are 
going  to  be  disappointed  wdien  a  cold 
snap  comes.’’ 


Col.  T.  N.  Hordue  of  Castner,  Ciirran  &  P>ullitt 
left  on  last  Saturday  for  a  trip  to  New  York 
where  he  spent  the  better  part  of  this  week. 

George  Lawson,  until  recently  connected  with 
the  Clarkson  Coal  &  Dock  Company  as  a  salesman 


in  the  northwest,  is  spending  a  short  time  in 
Chicago. 

Henry  E.  Patrick,  general  sales  agent  of  C.  M. 
Hoderwell  &  Company  returned  the  first  part 
of  this  week  from  his  trip  into  the  northwest. 

J.  S.  Chipman,  cashier  in  the  office  of  C.  L. 
Derin,g  of  the  S.  C.  Schenck  Company,  died  Fri¬ 
day  morning  at  his  residence,  6925  Prairie  avenue. 
He  was  taken  down  with  an  attack  of  pneumonia 
some  days  ago. 

F.  C.  Honnold,  general  manager  of  the  Chicago 
&  Big  Muddy  Coal  Company,  returned  on  Thurs¬ 
day  of  this  week  from  a  trip  into  Southern  Illi¬ 
nois  and  Missouri,  where  he  was  making  an  in¬ 
vestigation  of  railroad  conditions  and  studying 
the  car  situation. 

The  various  coal  associations  in  this  territory 
have  now  up  three  matters  of  freight  rates  which 
are  going  to  command  considerable  attention  in 
the  coming  months.  The  first  of  these  is  the 
intra-state  rates  on  coal  in  Illinois,  it  being  the 
effort  of  the  railroads  to  get  within  the  states 
the  same  rates  that  were  allowed  them  by  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission  in  the  recent 
western  advance  rate  case  decision.  The  Illinois 
commission  has  definitely  decided  to  suspend 
these  rates  and  an  elaborate  hearing  is  therefore 
assured.  The  operators  also  are  going  to  try 
to  have  set  aside  the  decision  of  the  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission  allowing  an  increased 
freight  rate  on  coal,  which  increase  was  decided 
upon  when  the  commission  handed  down  its  west¬ 
ern  rate  advance  decision.  It  is  rather  expected 
that  it  will  take  some  time  before  this  matter 
can  be  heard  by  the  commission.  It  is  possible 
that  in  the  next  few  days  a  formal  protest  will 
he  made  by  the  various  associations  against  the 
increased  rates  from  Indiana  to  the  Chicago  gate¬ 
way  and  from  Illinois' through  Indiana  to  the  Chi- 
ca.go  gateway,  this  advance  being  five  cents  a  ton. 
The  understanding  is  that  definite  action  in  this 
direction  will  be  taken  within  the  next  week. 

The  second  informal  dinner  of  the  Kantislma 
Club  was  held  at  the  Auditorium  Hotel  on  Tues¬ 
day  night  of  this  week.  The  program,  was  as 
diversified  as  it  was  on  the  occasion  of  the  first 
informal  dinner.  As  indicated  by  the  accompany¬ 
ing  ])hotograph,  the  attendance  was  somewhat 
larger.  The  officers  of  the  club  at  this  dinner 
got  away  from  the  cramped  arrangement  of 
serving  ordinary  banquets,  namely,  of  sandwich¬ 
ing  men  side  by  side  at  a  long  table  without  el¬ 
bow  room  for  anyone,  when  they  arranged  for 
separate  tables,  each  one  accommodating  four. 
It  made  a  very  attractive  arrangement  and  one 
that  was  especially  convenient  because  the 
speaker’s  table  could  be  put  at  one  side  and  the 
platform  for  the  professional  entertainers  at  one 
end.  The  professional  entertainers  included  those 


necessary  on  such  occasions,  namely,  a  couple  of 
women  to  sing  and  do  a  'little  impromptu  dan¬ 
cing,  a  male  quartet  to  add  a  little  harmony 
with  a  suggestion  of  barber  shop  chords  here  and 
there,  and  an  energetic  young  fellow  to  tell  stories 
who  gave  an  idea  of  different  nationalities  by 
raising  or  lowering  his  voice.  E.  R.  Foley,  the 
president  of  the  club,  acted  as  toastmaster  and 
now  that  he  has  had  a  couple  of  experiences  in 
that  job'  he  is  proving  himself  quite  proficient 
and  fills  a  very  difficult  position  with  ease  and 
grace.  The  principal  speaker  of  the  evening  was 
C.  M.  Moderwell,  whose  topic  was  “Friendliness 
in  Business.’’  He  started  out  by  making  quite  a 
distinction,  which  is  proper,  between  friendship 
and  friendliness.  He  said  that  to  expect  friendship 
in  business  was  asking  quite  a  good  deal,  but  to 
provide  for  friendliness  in  business  was  nothing 
more  than  part  of  the  decency  of  trade  and  this 
could  best  be  promoted  by  such  occasions  as 
that  where  competitors  became  acquainted  with 
each  other  and  thus  cleared  up  ignorance  upon 
which  enmity  principally  is  founded.  Mr.  Mod- 
erwell’s  remarks  were  well  received,  but  the  part 
of  his  address  that  got  him  the  biggest  ovation 
was  when  he  invited  the  Kantishna  Club  on  the 
anniversary  of  its  trip  to  West  Virginia  to  accept 
his  invitation  to  go  to  the  mines  at  Christopher 
in  Franklin  county,  Illinois.  The  invitation 
was  incidentally  accepted  and  so  the  Kantishna 
Club  is  scheduled  for  another  outing  in  the  near 
future.  The  other  speaker  on  the  platform  was 
Mr.  Davis  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  at  Zion  City.  He 
made  a  striking  address  which  had  a  touch  of 
humor  here,  a  dash  of  sentiment  there,  and  quite 
a  good  deal  of  common  sense  mixed  in.  The 
subject  was  similar  to  that  of  Mr.  Moderwell’s, 
being  another  phase  of  the  benefits  to  business 
of  constant  association  by  competitors.  These 
dinners  of  the  Kantishna  Club  are  becoming  in¬ 
teresting  and  distinct  features  of  the  Chicago 
trade. 


Inspection  of  Mines. 


The  members  of  the  senior  class  of  the  de¬ 
partment  of  mining  engineering.  University  of 
Illinois,  have  returned  from  their  annual  inspec¬ 
tion  tour  of  mines  which  was  in  charge  of  Pro¬ 
fessor  E.  A.  Holbrook.  This  year,  through  the 
courtesy  of  the  various  companies,  studies  were 
made  at  the  mines  and  plants  of  the  Paradise 
Coal  Company,  Duquoin ;  Old  Ben  Mining  Cor¬ 
poration,  West  Frankfort;  Chicago  and  Cartef- 
ville  Mining  Company,  Herrin ;  and  Peabody  Coal 
Company,  Mine  No.  3,  Marion.  Afterwards  the 
party  visited  the  offices  of  the  Western  Coal  and 
Alining  Company,  Railway  Exchange  building, 
St.  Louis,  where  the  office  end  of  coal  mining 
was  explained  to  them. 


Members  of  the  Kantishna  Club  at  the  Second  Informal  Dinner  at  the  Auditorium  Hotel  Tuesday,  December  7th. 


No.  24] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


477 


Facts  Which  Determine  Our  Export  Prospects. 


The  Export  Situation. 

Vessels  are  still  very  scarce,  and  exports  are 
showing  a  heavy  decrease  as  compared  with  the 
earlier  months.  Last  week  saw  but  few  arrivals 
at  the  coal  loading  ports,  and  thus  coal  is  very 
easy  at  Hampton  Roads,  though  very  scarce  at 
Baltimore  and  Philadelphia,  where  prices  are 
soaring,  due  to  the  fact  that  the  coals  that  come 
to  these  ports,  have  so  many  all-rail  markets  that 
they  can  reach,  that  they  can  be  diverted  for 
other  purposes  when  export  business  slumps. 
Also,  there  is  a  very  good  bunker  demand  at  these 
latter  ports,  due  to  the  heavy  shipments  of  war 
munitions,  and  miscellaneous  freight. 

November  figures  of  exports  are  not  yet  an¬ 
nounced  officially,  but  best  advices  at  the  moment 
show  them  to  have  been  as  follows : 

Port — •  Nov.,  1915.  Nov.,  1914. 

Hampton  Roads .  334,830  163,650 

Baltimore .  55,343  75,998 

Philadelphia  .  73,000  58,136 


16s  to  17s.  Owing  to  reduced  outputs,  the  small 
coal  market  is  rather  firmer,  but  material  con¬ 
cessions  are  obtainable  in  cases  where  collieries 
are  hard  pressed  for  empty  wagons.  Best  bunk¬ 
ers  are  11s  6d  to  12s,  ordinary  10s  to  11s,  and 
cargo  qualities  about  7s  6d,  although  8s  is  beiag 
asked  for  forward  delivery.” 


Baltimore  November  Exports. 

Bituminous  coal  exports  from  Baltimore  for 
the  month  of  November,  were  as  follows: 


Country — •  Tonnage 

Martinique  .  1,551 

Italy  . .  37,724 

Guadaloupe .  1,58P 

San  Domingo .  1,331 

Sweden  .  3,460 

Cuba  .  4,741 

Argentine  .  4,300 

Honduras  .  650 


55,343 


463,179  297,674 

In  October,  669,070  tons  were  exported.  In 
December,  1914,  exports  from  the  above  ports 
reached  234,695  tons. 


The  Welsh  Coal  Situation. 

In  its  issue  of  November  26  The  Colliery 
Guardian  of  London  says  of  the  Cardiff  coal  situa¬ 
tion  : 

“Although  tonnage  has  been  arriving  more  free¬ 
ly,  it  cannot  yet  be  said  that  prospects  are  any 
more  promising  than  they  were  a  week  or  two 
ago.  The  comparatively  heavy  chartering  at  the 
openirug  of  the  month  is  beginning  to  tell,  but 
many  vessels  are  much  overdue  owing  to  stormy 
weather.  Against  this,  however,  must  be  set 
the  fact  that  shippers  are  fighting  shy  of  Greek 
tonnage,  and  they  are  disinclined  to  enter  into 
arrangements  until  the  political  situation  becomes 
clearer  and  the  position  more  defined.  Outputs 
are  still  very  largely  in  excess  of  the  demand, 
and  stocks  continue  to  accumulate  on  all  sides. 
Some  collieries  have  been  only  workin.g  half  time, 
and  in  many  other  instances  temporary  stoppages 
have  taken  place  for  a  day  and  two  days,  with 
the  result  that  large  numbers  of  men  have  been 
idle.  The  crux  of  the  present  position  is  the 
tonnage  question,  and  until  vessels  arrive  in  the 
channel  in  considerably  larger  numbers  than  they 
are  doing  today,  very  little  improvement  can  be 
expected.  As  already  stated,  urgent  representa¬ 
tions  have  been  made  to  the  .government,  and  the 
recent  Order  in  Council  restricting  British  ships 
to  British  trade  is  anticipated  to  be  productive 
of  good  results  in  the  near  future.  It  is  pointed 
out,  with  justification,  that  extravagance  in  trans¬ 
port  organization  is  at  the  root  of  the  difficulty 
in  the  Cardiff  coal  market,  although  it  is  gen¬ 
erally  admitted  that  there  is  a  world-wide  short- 
a.ge  of  shipping  tonnage,  which  at  present  cannot 
be  remedied.  Freights  continue  to  go  up  by  leaps 
and  bounds,  and  in  many  cases  the  rates  de¬ 
manded  by  shipowners  are  five  and  six  times  more 
than  they  were  before  the  commencement  of 
the  war.  Charterings  last  week  amounted  to 
158,000  tons,  compared  with  145,850  tons  in  the 
preceding  six  days,  or  an  increase  of  12,150  tons. 
Such  a  total,  however,  is  entirely  inadequate  to 
the  requirements  of  the  port,  and  it  is  earnestly 
hoped  that  some  scheme  will  be  devised  which 
will  not  only  attract  more  vessels  to  the  channel, 
but  also  result  in  the  freight  market  being  put 
on  a  more  reasonable  basis.  Shipments  last 
week  amounted  to  397,163  tons,  compared  with 
267,323  tons  in  the  corresponding  week  of  last 
year,  or  an  increase  of  129,840  tons.  These  fig¬ 
ures  are,  of  course,  exclusive  of  shipments  on 
admiralty  account,  particulars  of  which  are  not 
available.  No  information  is  yet  to  hand  as  to 
the  allocation  of  the  business  of  the  French 
Alidi  and  the  Paris,  Lyons  and  Mediterranean 
Railways,  but  it  is  expected  that  the  contracts 
will  be  settled  in  the  course  of  a  few  days. 
There  is  also  an  inquiry  on  the  market  for 
the  Paris  and  Orleans  Railway,  but  the  quantity 
asked  for  is  not  stated.  With  regard  to  prices, 
there  is  very  little  change.  Best  and  superior  sec¬ 
ond  Admiralties  continue  to  be  monopolized  for 
the  most  part  by  the  government,  and  what  quan¬ 
tities  can  be  released  are  being  supplied  to  ex¬ 
porters  under  old  contracts.  Tliere  is  therefore 
no  quotation  to  indicate  the  market  value.  Ordi¬ 
nary  qualities  are  still  on  the  basis  of  17s  6d  to 
19s,  the  latter  figure  bein.g  firmly  maintained  in 
the  case  of  collieries  which  are  favorably  situ¬ 
ated  so  far  as  steams  are  concerned.  Monmouth¬ 
shire  coals  are  unaltered,  best  Black  Veins  being 
18s  to  19s.  western  valleys  Is  less,  and  easterns. 


Hampton  Roads  November  Exports. 


Exports  of  coal  from  the  three  Hampton  Roads 
ports  during  November,  together  with  a  com¬ 
parison  for  November  of  last  year,  were  as  fol¬ 
lows  : 


Destination— 

Lamberts 

1914. 

Point. 

1915. 

Briagetown,  Barbados.  . . 
Barcelona,  Spain . . 

.  3,750 

4,968 

Buenos  Aires,  Arg . 

12,690 

BagnoH,  Italy . . 

4,900 

Cristobal,  C.  Z . 

42,547 

Curacao,  D.  W.  I . 

5,400 

Dakar,  F.  \V.  A . 

6,509 

Fortune  Bay,  N.  Fid... 

60 

Genoa,  Italy . 

.  34,566 

17,029 

Gibraltar  . . 

Havana,  Cuba . 

8,016 

Hamilton,  Bermuda . 

. 

.  788 

Iquique,  Chile . 

.  4,523 

2,016 

Italy — any  port . 

5,275 

Java  . 

8,147 

Kingston,  Jamaica . 

981 

Lisbon,  Portugal . 

3,898 

Leghorn,  Italy . 

Messina,  Sicily . 

4,033 

7,050 

Manzanillo,  Cuba . 

.  1,374 

La  Plata,  Arg . 

.  5,150 

. 

Naples,  Italy . 

3,262 

Para,  Brazil . 

.  6,500 

2,371 

Puerto  Ferrajo,  Italy.  .  . 
Rio  de  Janeiro,  Brazil... 

9,990 

.  6,500 

11,085 

Savona,  Italy . 

10,397 

San  Juan,  P.  K . 

2,706 

St.  Lucia,  B.  W.  I . 

6,985 

St.  Thomas,  D.  W.  I.  .  .  . 

1,547 

Trapuii,  Sicily . 

.  1,600 

Valparaiso,  Chile . 

.  7,000 

Vera  Cruz,  Mexico . 

.  4,402 

4,363 

Totals 


Augusta,  Italy . 

Buenos  Aires,  Arg . 

Genoa,  Italy . 

Havana,  Cuba . 

Italy — any  port . 

Maddalena,  Italy . 

Naples,  Italy . 

Para,  Brazil . 

Rio  de  Janeiro,  Brazil 
St.  Lucia,  B.  W.  I .  . . 


104,613 

186,225 

Sewalls  Point. 

1914. 

1915. 

5,036 

3,802 

6,313 

2,440 

7,750 

4,980 

5,529 

11,054 

■  814 

3,239 

2,102 

4,498 

Bridgetown,  Barbados . 

Buenos  Aires,  Arg . 

Cardenas,  Cuba . 

Cienfuegos,  Cuba . 

Cayo  Francis,  Cuba . 

Georgetown,  Detnerara . 

Gothenburg,  Sweden . 

Havana,  Cuba . 

Mirseilies,  France . 

Montevideo,  Uruguay . 

Naples,  Italy . 

Port  of  Spain,  Trinidad . 

San  Juan,  P.  R . 

St.  Lucia,  B.  W.  I . 

Santa  Cruz,  Teneriffe . 

Santiago,  Cuba . 

Santo  Domingo  City,  C.  D.  . 
Stockholm,  Sweden . 


11,669  45,883 

Newport  News. 
1914.  1915. 

.  8,988 

.  3,532 

7,815  1,915 

12,104  7,328 

.  626 

.  1,789 

.  5,737 

15,616  30,702 

.  9,962 

4,629  . 

.  4,553 

.  4,580 

1,804  1,450 

2,823  10,164 

.  1,523 

3,902  2,859 

1,020  . 

.  6,542 


49,713  102,250 


Foreign  Freight  Rates. 

W.  W.  Battie  &  Co.,  Produce  E.xchange,  New 
York,  report  as  follows,  under  date  of  Decem¬ 
ber  6th : 

'I'be  tonnage  scarcity  is  growing  more  acute, 
wliich  has  a  tendency  to  advance  freight  rates 
to  new  liigh  levels.  Mediterranean  rates  are  un¬ 
changed,  although  occasionally  we  have  a  steam¬ 
er,  that  is  too  old  for  grain,  that  is  willing  to 
accept  coal  at  less  than  the  equivalent  rate  on 
grain..  There  is  an  urgent  demand  for  steamers 
for  River  Plate  ports,  and  tonnage  is  difficult 
to  obtain  even  at  advanced  figures.  Sugar  rates 
from  Cuba  have  advanced  to  unprecedented  fig¬ 
ures,  and  owners  of  the  few  boats  available  for 


the  West  Indian  trade  prefer  to  send  them  in 
ballast  unless  they  can  secure  very  high  rates 
on  coal  outward.  None  of  our  recent  charters 
for  export  coal  have  been  reported. 

We  would  quote  freight  rates  on  coal  by  steam¬ 
er  as  follows : 

WeH  coast  of  Italy,  about  90s;  Marseilles,  85s  to  90s; 
Barcelona,  or  other  good  Spanish  port,  80s  to  85s  (Span¬ 
ish  dues  for  account  of  cargo). 

Note. — Charters  for  Italy,  France  and  Spain  read: 
“Lay  days  to  coniinence  on  steamer’s  arrival  at  or  off 
port  of  discharge,  Is  per  net  register  ton  per  day  de¬ 
murrage.’’ 

Montevideo,  50s  to  55s,  500  discharge;  Buenos  Aires 
or  La  Plata,  50s  to  55s,  500  discharge;  Rosario,  55s  to 
57s  6d;  Rio  de  Janeiro,  about  50s,  500  discharge;  Santos, 
50s  to  53s  Od  (consignees  paying  docas  dues). 

Valparaiso  or  Callao,  $11  to  $13;  Havana,  $2.75  to 
$3.25;  Cardenas  or  Sagua,  $3.50  to  $4;  Cienfuegos, 
$3.75  to  $4;  Port  of  Spain,  Trinidad,  $4.75  to  $5;  St. 
Lucia,  $4.75  to  $5;  St.  Thomas,  $4.25  to  $4.75;  Bar¬ 
bados,  $4.75  to  $5;  Kingston,  $4  to  H.25;  Curacao,  about 
$4.50  and  p.  c. ;  Santiago,  $4  to  $4.25;  Guantanamo,  $4 
to  $4.25;  Demerara,  $6.50  to  $'7;  Bermuda,  $3.50  to 
$1;  Vera  Cruz,  $5.50  to  $6.50;  Tampico,  $5.50  to  $6.50. 


Recent  Coal  Freight  Charters. 

Str.  Tor(3ensjoId  (Nor.),  Newport  News  to  Bermuda, 
coal,  private  terms. 

Schr.  Brina  P.  Pendleton,  Philadelphia  to  Para,  coal, 
private  terms. 

Str.  Mar  Cor  (Ital.),  Baltimore  to  west  coast  Italy, 
coal,  private  terms. 

Schr.  Mary  W.  Bowen,  Norfolk  to  Buenos  Aires,  coal, 
private  terms. 

Str.  Californian,  Virginia  to  River  Plata,  coal,  $11.50. 

Schr.  E.  IT.  Blake,  Philadelphia  lo  Bermuda,  coal, 
$3.25. 

Schr.  II.  B.  Cossens,  Philadelphia  to  St.  Johns,  N.  B., 
coal,  private  terms. 

Str.  Skogstad  (Nor.),  Philadelphia  to  ^lartinque,  coal, 
private  terms. 

Bark  Appolo  (Nor.),  Norfolk  to  Perambuco  or  Rio 
de  Janeiro,  coal,  $8.50,  “Jan.-Feb.” 


Export  Trade  Briefs. 

The  Cardiff  Chamber  of  Commerce  at  a  recent 
meeting  had  before  it  the  question  of  loss  of 
coal  trade  and  the  development  of  American 
competition.  T.  E.  Watson,  who  presided,  pointed 
out  that  American  exports  of  coal,  which  in 
1913  were  only  two  million  tons  had  now  in¬ 
creased  to  twelve  million  tons  per  annum ;  and 
he  said  that  unless  energetic  steps  were  promptly 
taken  to  increase  the  shipment  of  Welsh  coal, 
there  was  grave  risk  of  many  markets  beiag  lost. 
American  exporters  had  made  contracts  for  three, 
four,  and  five  years  ahead  with  British  cus¬ 
tomers  in  France  and  Italy.  Freights  have  risen 
five  and  six-fold ;  there  seemed  to  be  no  limit. 
Vessels  built  in  1913  could  at  present  rates,  earn 
their  cost  in  a  twelve-month;  and  this  meant  a 
dividend  of  100  per  cent.  He  blamed  the  govern¬ 
ment  for  commandeering  at  seven  shillings  to 
fourteen  shillings  per  ton ;  and  said  that  it  was 
on  account  of  the  inequality  of  treatment  that 
the  difficulties  had  arisen.  Mr.  H.  Radcliffe,  a 
member  of  one  of  the  leadiag  firms  owning 
“tramp”  steamers,  said  that  there  was  no  owner 
who  desired  rates  to  be  at  the  point  they  had 
reached.  A  resolution  was  passed  to  await  the 
result  of  the  Order  in  Council  restricting  British 
trade;  and  it  was  decided  to  urge  upon  the  gov¬ 
ernment  the  desirability  of  appointing  commercial 
men  to  assist  in  obtaining  greater  efficiency  in 
working  requisitioned  vessels. 

The  scarcity  of  coal  in  the  Netherlands  since 
the  war  bagan  has  led  to  search  and  inquiry  in 
all  directions  for  relief  by  the  use  of  substitutes 
or  otherwise.  (The  Netherlands  uses  vast  quan¬ 
tities  of  foreign  coal  yearly.  In  1913  the  imports 
totaled  22,429,730  tons;  in  1914,  17,946,325  tons.) 
.Along  this  line,  an  Amsterdam  newspaper  prints 
an  extract  from  a  scientific  journal  stating  that 
"turfpoeder”  (peat  in  a  pow'dered  form)  has  long 
been  used  in  Sweden  as  a  fuel  for  stationary  boil¬ 
ers,  and  that  recent  experiments  in  that  country 
with  railroad  locomotive  boilers  show  that  one 
and  one-third  tons  of  peat  powder  equal  one  ton 
of  the  best  English  coal  for  steaming  purposes. 
This  leads  the  -Amsterdam  newspaper  to  remark 
that  acordin.g  to  estimates  the  peat  nioors  of 
the  Netherlands  contain  at  the  present  time  fully 
100,000  million  kilos  (about  100,000,000  long  tons) 
of  ready-to-burn  peat,  which  is  equivalent  to 
about  75,000,000  tons  of  best  English  coal,  ac¬ 
cording  to  the  Swedish  experiment,  and  that  this 
fuel  is  immediately  available.  The  newspaper 
adds  that  the  price  of  "burgerturf”  (a  short,  hard 
peat  burning  a  long  time)  is  eleven  to  thii-teen 
llorins  ($4.4:1.  to  $5.2:!)  per  ton,  while  the  best 
En.glish  coal  costs  sixteen  florins  ($6.43). 


h'ire  in  a  pile  of  .soft  coal  in  .storage  in  the 
yard.s  of  the  L.  K.  Bnrket  Company  at  Wayne, 
a  Philadelphia  suburb,  has  been  a  source  of  local 
interest  for  several  weeks.  Last  Thursday  it 
hurst  into  flame  and  ignited  a  ])ile  of  cordwood 
nearby.  After  this  had  been  extinguished,  it  vyas 
decided  to  tear  the  pile  apart  and  do  away  with 
any  further  danger. 


478 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[December  11 


General  Review. 

Eastern  Prices  Are  Strong,  Due  to  Car 
Shortage,  but  Western  Trade  Is 
Easy,  Due  to  Weather. 


A  projection  of  the  Ohio-Pennsylvania  line  di¬ 
vides  the  coal  market  into  two  zones  where  the 
general  trend  is  almost  in  diametrically  opposite 
directions.  East  of  that  line  the  market  is  quite 
strong;  west  of  it  the  market  is  easy.  The  lea- 
son  for  the  strength  in  the  east  is  the  shortage 
of  cars  and  labor.  The  weakness  in  the  west 
is  due  to  the  abundance  of  both.  The  car  situa¬ 
tion,  and  not  particularly  the  demand,  is  the  domi¬ 
nant  force  in  the  coal  market  right  now. 

The  eastern  situation  is  not  very  hard  to  under¬ 
stand.  The  factories  are  busy  and  want  coal ; 
indeed,  they  must  have  it,  because,  as  previously 
related,  they  not  only  have  a  growing  home 
business,  but  they  have  a  tremendous  foreign 
business.  This  requires  a  manufacturing  pro¬ 
gram  which  entails  the  use  of  coal.  However, 
the  door  to  their  coal  bin  has  been  closed  by  the 
transportation  situation.  This  incidentally  is  due 
to  the  rush  of  their  manufactured  products  to 
the  east.  All  these  manufacturers,  to  say  noth¬ 
ing  of  the  producers  of  foodstuffs  in  the  west, 
are  shipping  war  materials  to  fidewater  for 
transfer  to  Europe.  They  can  get  the  goods 
to  the  coast,  but  the  vessels  for  the  movement 
of  the  stuff  beyond  are  not  available.  At  least 
the  vessels  cannot  be  provided  to  move  the  vol¬ 
ume  that  is  seeking  transportation.  Therefore, 
every  terminal  in  the  east  is  congested  with  cars. 
As  the  terminals  become  congested  and  this  works 
back  on  the  railroad,  the  situation  instantly  be¬ 
comes  serious  from  a  transportation  point  of 
view.  No  commerce  can  pass  a  terminal  block¬ 
ade  of  this  kind,  and  this  includes  coal,  as  well 
as  any  other  commodity.  So  the  coal  that  is 
required  to  continue  the  active  manufacturing 
program  cannot  get  through  the  blockade  formed 
by  manufactured  goods.  The  natural  result,  of 
course,  is  that  coal  is  scarce  because  cars  are  not 
moving  rapidly  enough  and  the  scarcity  of  coal 
is  booming  the  prices.  Extravagant  prices  such 
as  $1.75  to  $2.00  a  ton  are  now  being  paid  for 
ordinary  bituminous  mine  run  coal  in  the  east, 
according  to  certain  reports,  and  some  sections  of 
New  England  are  paying  even  higher. 

Some  of  the  coal  operators  have  apparently 
been  misled  by  the  prices  quoted  on  coal.  Rather 
than  attributing  the  rise  in  values  to  an  interrup¬ 
tion  in  transportation,  they  ascribed  it  to  the  in¬ 
creased  demand.  Therefore,  they  are  predicting 
an  increase  of  these  prices  far  beyond  the  pe¬ 
riod  when  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  the  trans¬ 
portation  situation  will  be  cleaned  up. 

Considered  from  the  point  of  view  of  what  is 
the  reasonable  demand  for  coal,  the  eastern  mar¬ 
ket  is  nevertheless  in  a  good  position.  The  fac¬ 
tories  are  running  full  time  and  this  always 
makes  a  good  market.  In  addition,  the  export 
situation,  while  not  fully  up  to  the  hopes  of  the 
operators,  is  nevertheless  very  good.  That  is,  the 
coal  operators  are  not  selling  all  of  the  cargo 
coal  that  they  can  find  a  market  for  because  trans¬ 
portation  is  not  available.  But  they  are  selling 
an  unprecedented  amount  of  bunker  coal.  So 
soon  as  the  rush  of  grain  has  let  up  a  little,  the 
vessel  situation  will  be  relieved,  and  then  we 
can  expect  to  do  some  of  the  cargo  business  that 
is  now  in  abeyance. 

An  annoying  circumstance  at  this  juncture  is 
the  attitude  of  the  miners.  In  the  Pennsylvania 
bituminous  field  they  seem  to  be  purposely  heck¬ 
ling  the  operators  by  calling  petty  strikes  for  no 
apparent  reason.  Very  evidently  they  are  seek¬ 
ing  to  curtail  production  so  as  to  make  storage 
impossible,  and  thus  increase  the  strength  of  their 
strategic  position  a  little  later  when  they  will 
have  some  wage  demands  to  make.  These  strikes, 
added  to  the  labor  shortage,  make  the  eastern 
mining  situation  perplexing,  as  putting  an  em¬ 
bargo  on  output  in  addition  to  the  embargo  rising 
from  congested  terminals. 

In  the  west  the  situation  is  not  difficult  to  un¬ 
derstand.  The  lake  trade  has  been  absorbing 
a  big  volume  of  coal  every  month.  However, 
insurance  rates  expired  on  the  first  of  December, 
but  were  extended  until  the  12th.  Even  so,  the 
last  cargoes  are  now  on  their  way.  Cars  which 
have  been  traveling  the  short  route  between  the 
mines  and  the  south  shore  of  Lake  Erie  are  thus 
released  for  a  longer  all-rail  movement.  By  the 
same  token,  the  mine  capacity  which  has  been 
devoted  to  the  lake  trade  can  now  devote  its 
energies  to  meeting  the  demands  of  the  interior 
trade. 

As  a  consequence,  both  coal  and  cars  are  easier 
in  the  west.  This  comes  at  a  time  when  warm 


weather  makes  for  a  light  consumption  of  coal. 
The  situation  is  not  very  easy  to  control.  It  was 
made  especially  difficult  by  the  fact  that  some 
coal  was  reconsigned  from  lake  ports  after 
failing  of  shipment  by  that  route.  Temporarily, 
the  western  market  is  very  crowded  and  was 
only  prevented  from  showing  a  bad  break  in 
prices  by  the  western  operators  curtailing  ship¬ 
ments  to  actual  orders. 

The  western  situation  also  was  complicated  by 
the  sudden  shutting  off  of  buying  for  storage. 
Some  of  the  railroads  and  others  had  been  doing 
a  little  storage  buying  in  anticipation  of  lal)or 
trouble  and  a  severe  winter.  The  small  call  for 
steam  lump  coal  within  the  last  week  indicated 
that  their  programs  have  been  held  in  abeyance. 


Chicago  Market. 

Soft  Weather  Lessens  the  Domestic 
Demand,  but  Screenings 
Are  Stronger. 


Office  of  The  Bl.\ck  Di.\mond, 
Chicago,  December  9. 

The  entire  coal  market  for  this  week  is  influ¬ 
enced  by  the  soft  weather  which  has  prevailed 
for  about  the  last  ten  days.  That  is,  there  is  a 
lessened  demand  for  domestic  coal,  but  a  con¬ 
tinued  strong  demand  for  steam  coal.  Inasmuch 
as  the  steam  demand  is  mainly  for  screenings 
with  a  lessening  of  the  demand  for  steam  lump, 
a  certain  percentage  of  larger  sizes  had  to  be 
made  for  which  no  ready  market  has  been  found. 
As  a  consequence,  the  steam  market  has  been 
called  upon  to  absorb  some  of  the  domestic  coal, 
and  this  has  made  the  price  situation  rather  easy. 

The  car  supply,  which  has  been  depended  upon 
to  give  some  strength  to  the  coal  market,  has  been 
entirely  too  easy  for  comfort.  Having  plenty  of 
cars,  some  of  the  mines  have  been  induced  to  run 
to  nearly  full  time,  only  to  find  that  the  coal 
could  not  be  sold.  There  has  been,  in  some  places, 
quite  an  accumulation  of  unsold  coal  at  the  mines. 
However,  it  is  a  very  decided  point  in  favor  of 
the  market  that  the  operators  have  kept  this  coal 
at  the  mines,  rather  than  consigning  it  unsold  and 
therefore  breaking  the  market.  Only  in  one  in¬ 
stance  in  the  state  of  Illinois  has  unsold  coal 
been  consigned.  The  reward  of  this  effort  has 
been  a  reduction  in  price  of  domestic  egg  and 
lump  coal  to  $1.10  a  ton.  That  indicated  the  lack 
of  obsorptive  capacity  and  quickly  taught  the 
other  operators  that  consigning  free  coal  was  a 
dangerous  practice. 

The  Franklin  county  situation  has,  from  a 
technical  standpoint,  been  strengthened  within 
the  last  week.  That  is,  the  operators  have  recog¬ 
nized,  after  a  careful  study  of  the  situation,  that 
this  is  no  time  to  try  to  force  coal  on  the  market. 
They  have  produced  more  than  they  have  sold,  as 
is  indicated  by  a  very  heavy  accumulation  of  coal 
on  track  at  the  mines.  However,  they  are  holding 
the  coal  at  the  mines,  rather  than  trying  to  force 
it  on  the  market,  and  consequently  the  circular 
price  has  been  more  strongly  maintained  than  at 
any  time  for  some  weeks.  While  the  prices  are 
firm,  the  mines  have  been  losing  business,  owing 
to  warm  weather.  The  operators  have  no  con¬ 
trol  over  the  buying  tendency,  but  they  can 
control  the  prices  and  the  factor  that  has  been 
under  their  direction  has  been  handled  extremely 
well.  Lump  and  egg  coal,  and  especially  egg, 
have  been  moving  rather  slowly.  Number  one  nut 
has  moved  better  than  any  other  size.  Screen¬ 
ings  are  quite  strong  at  eighty  cents  for  spot  de¬ 
livery,  with  eighty-five  cents  asked  and  paid  where 
deliveries  are  to  be  made  during  December.  The 
prices  up  to  Thursday  were : 


Franklin  County — 

Lump  . 

Egg  . 


No.  1  nut . 

No.  2  nut . 

Mine  run . 

2-inch  screenings 


F.  O.  B. 
Chicago. 
$2.80 
2.36 
2.80 

2.15@2’.20 

1.85@1.90 


F.  O.  B. 
Mines. 
$1.76 
1.75 
1.75 
1.50 

1.10@1.16 
.80®  .85 


In  Williamson  county,  the  lump  and  egg  coals 
have  been  moving  slowly.  This  is  due  to  the 
fact  that  weather  has  been  against  the  retail  busi¬ 
ness.  In  one  or  two  instances  egg  coal  has 
broken  to  $1.50  in  order  to  move  it.  No  consid¬ 
erable  portion  of  the  tonnage,  however,  has  moved 
at  that  figure.  About  half  of  the  operators  are 
short  of  orders  for  number  one  nut,  the  other 
half  have  sold  more  of  that  size  than  they  can 
deliver  conveniently.  By  sales  between  the  opera¬ 
tors  the  supply  is  made  about  equal  to  the  de¬ 
mand.  Fine  coal  has  been  strong  at  eighty  to 
eighty-five  cents: 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Williamson  County —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Lump  . $2.65@2.80  $1.60@1.75 

Egg  .  2.65@2.80  1.60@1.75 

No.  1  washed .  2.80  1.75 

No.  2  washed .  2.45  1.40 


Saline  county  coal  is  still  handicapped  by  the 
fact  that  the  producers  undertook  an  increase  in 
production  at  an  unfortunate  time.  They  en¬ 
larged  the  tonnage  just  as  fhe  market  slowed 
down  because  of  warm  weather.  This  has  made 
domestic  lump,  egg  and  number  one  nut  some¬ 
what  easy,  with  prices  breaking  to  $1.50.  Screen¬ 
ings,  on  the  other  hand,  have  been  quite  strong, 
with  prices  ranging  close  to  eighty  cents  at  the 
mines.  Prices  up  to  Thursday  were : 

F.  p.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Saline  County —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Lump  . $2.55@2.80  $1.50@1.75 

Mine  run .  2.20  1.15 

Screenings  .  1.85@1.90  .80@  .85 

1^-inch  lump .  2.35  1.80 

Sangamon  county  domestic  lump  has  been 

moving  slowly,  but  prices  are  firm  at  $1.65  to 
$1.75.  Some  of  the  other  counties  have  shipped 
unsold  coal  to  market,  and  the  lump  and  egg,  and 
especially  the  egg,  has  broken  below  $1.25,  some 
big  sales  being  made  at  $1.10.  Mine  run  is  quot¬ 
ed  at  about  $1.05  throughout  the  entire  central 
district,  and  screenings  at  seventy  cents :  . 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Central  Illinois —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Lump  . $2.32@2.57  $1.25@1.75 

Egg  .  2.32@2.47  1.50@1.65 

Nut  .  2.47  1.65 

Mine  run .  1.87  1.05 

Screenings  .  1.52  .70 

Clinton  number  four  lump  is  firm  at  $1.65  to 
$1.75,  but  the  egg  is  easier,  going  at  $1.50.  Screen¬ 
ings  are  strong  at  about  eighty-five  cents : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  p.  B. 

Clinton —  Chicago.  Mines. 

No.  4  domestic  lump . $2.42@2.57  $1.65@1.75 

No.  4  egg .  2.27  1.50 

Nut  . ;■ .  2.12  1.85 

No.  5  and  6  mine  run . , .  1.87  1.10 

No.  5  and  6  screenings....’. .  1.62  .85 

Knox  county  domestic  lump  has  been  moving 
slowly  at  $1.50.  There  has  been  a  little  letup  in 
orders  for  steam  lump  and  this  has  shortened 
the  supply  of  screenings,  which  are  quoted  at 
eighty-five  to  ninety  cents  and  strong  at  that 
figure : 

F.  p.  B.  F.  p.  B. 

Knox  County —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Lump  .  $2.37  $1.50 

Egg  .  2.37  1.60 

Mine  run .  1.87  1.05 

Screenings  .  1.72  .85 

The  accumulation  of  unsold  anthracite  noted  a 
week  ago  has  been  about  cleaned  up  and  the  mar¬ 
ket  is  firm  as  to  prices,  but  decidedly  quiet.  The 
tonnage,  in  fact,  is  disappointing  to  most  of  the 
producers,  although  some  statements  are  made 
that  business  is  good. 

The  smokeless  coal  market  has  continued  easy 
as  to  mine  run,  the  major  operators  holding  for 
$1.40,  with  some  of  the  coal  being  sold  at  $1.25. 
A  few  reports  have  indicated  sales  at  less  than 
that  price,  but  these  are  not  easily  confirmed,  and 
even  if  they  were  confirmed,  the  tonnage  would 
be  found  to  be  small.  The  establishment  of  a 
new  circular  price  on  lump  and  egg,  effective  the 
latter  part  of  last  week,  strengthened  that  situa¬ 
tion  considerably : 

F.  p.  B.  F.  p.  B. 

Smokeless —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Mine  rur.  . $3.30@3.45  $1.25@1.40 

Lump  and  egg .  3.90@4.05  1.85@2.00 

Practically  no  Somerset  county  coal  is  coming 
west,  because  the  operators  are  now  getting,  ac¬ 
cording  to  reports,  from  $1.75  to  $2.00  for  mine 
run  coal.  That  size  has  practically  been  with¬ 
drawn  from  this  market,  except  a  few  shipments 
made  to  satisfy  contracts : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  p.  B. 

Somerset  County —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Mine  run .  $3.45  $1.40 

Lump  and  egg .  3.80  1.75 

Hocking  coal  has  been  practically  unchanged 
both  as  to  price  and  market  for  the  last  week. 
The  market  is  quiet : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Hocking —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Domestic  lump . $3.25@3.40  $1.60@1.76 

The  splint  situation  continues  steady  as  to  price, 
l)Ut  a  little  more  quiet  as  to  volume  of  business : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Kanawha —  Chicago.  Mines. 

It4'inch  lump . $3.40@3.50  $1.50@1.60 

Softening  of  the  weather  hit  eastern  Kentucky, 

continuing  the  wide  spread  of  prices  quoted  last 

week :  „  „  „ 

F.  p.  B.  F.  p.  B. 

Eastern  Kentucky —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Domestic  lump  . $3.55@4.30  $1.65@2.40 

Egg  .  3.40@3.90  1.50@2.00 

The  coke  market  is  active,  with  a  good  demand 
'for  furnace  and  foundry  and  a  moderate  de¬ 
mand  for  the  domestic  sizes  of  by-product  coke: 

F.  O.  B. 

Coke _  Chicago. 

Connellsville  . 

By-product,  foundry .  3-35@6.60 

By-product,  egg  and  stove .  4.76@4.96 

By-product,  nut  . 

Gas  house  . 


No.  24] 


479 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


Pittsburgh  Trade. 

Slack  Prices  Are  Rising  and  There  Is 
Talk  of  Crushing  the  Mine  Run — 
Other  Sizes  Are  Strong. 

Office  of  The  Black  Diamond, 
1502  Oliver  Building, 

Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  December  9. 

The  coal  market  in  this  district  is  strong  and 
steady,  demand  keeping  ahead  of  production,  and 
prices  hardening  all  along  the  line.  No  coal  has 
sold  at  $2.00  in  this  district,  as  quoted  from  the 
east  the  past  week  for  Pennsylvania  coal  at  mines. 
Possibly  the  eastern  part  of  the  state  may  be 
getting  those  figures,  but  those  who  have  coal 
to  sell  here  are  quoting  mine  run  f.  o.  b.  mines 
at  $1.25  to  $1.30,  with  three-quarter  screened 
coal  $1.40  to  $1..50,  and  five-quarter  at  $1.50  to 
$1.60,  and  small-lot  producers  are  selling  their 
output  at  five  to  ten  cents  less  than  this. 

Slack  is  very  strong,  with  reported  sales  at 
$1.00  to  $1.10,  though  quotations  today  are  made 
at  ninety-five  cents  to  $1.00  for  best  gas  slack, 
with  steam  anywhere  from  eighty-five  cents  to 
ninety  cents,  and  hard  to  find.  Talk  of  crushing 
at  the  mines  is  heard  from  some,  but  owing  to 
the  scarcity  of  cars  and  labor,  it  is  hard  to  get 
deliveries  made  on  what  is  now  produced. 

The  seriousness  of  the  transportation  situa¬ 
tion  cannot  be  overestimated,  in  so  far  as  the 
Pittsburgh  district  is  concerned  particularly. 
While  every  plant  in  the  district  is  being  operat¬ 
ed  full  time  with  feverish  determination  upon 
the  part  of  its  owners  to  derive  all  the  benefit 
possible  from  the  present  unprecedented  demand 
for  manufactured  products  of  every  description 
and  particularly  iron  and  steel,  freight  cars  where¬ 
in  to  transport  them  to  the  markets  are  lacking 
to  a  disheartening  extent  as  regards  numbers,  de¬ 
spite  the  efforts  of  the  railroads  to  supply  them. 

The  situation  east  is  much  worse  than  west,  the 
great  majority  of  the  cars  now  arriving  thereat 
are  being  utilized  for  storage  purposes,  with  the 
result  that  literally  thousands  of  them  are  now 
standing  on  yard  tracks,  at  least  this  is  the  re¬ 
port  here.  Last  Thursday  and  Friday,  in  the 
Latrohe-Connellsville  district,  mines  could  only 
get  thirty  to  forty  per  cent  of  their  requirements; 
Saturday  and  Monday  the  average  was  about 
fifty  per  cent,  and  that  situation  maintains  today. 
At  the  coal  and  coke  shipping  office  of  the  Balti¬ 
more  &  Ohio,  the  writer  was  informed  that  not  in 
twenty  years  had  conditions  like  the  present  ex¬ 
isted.  Pennsylvania  lines  east  are  just  as  bad.  In 
some  sections — locally — short  line  service  is  better, 
and  supplies  moving  fairly  well.  Mine  activity  has 
not  lessened  since  lake  shipping  ceased.  The  in¬ 
creased  consumption  for  domestic  purposes  that 
colder  weather  has  brought,  to.gether  with  the  in¬ 
creasing  call  on  mill  contracts,  practically  counter¬ 
balancing  the  falling  off  in  the  northwest  trade. 

Retail  trade  has  been  fairly  active  the  past 
week,  but  dealers  are  slow  to  buy  any  distance 
ahead,  taking  chances  on  getting  a  supply  as 
they  need  it. 

The  Pittsburgh  Press  has  this  to  say  regarding 
Pittsburgh  :  “The  extent  of  the  recovery  in  this 
district  may  be  gauged  by  a  study  of  the  follow¬ 
ing  table,  which  shows  the  percentage  of  oper¬ 
ations  at  present,  three  months  ago  and  six 
months  ago.  The  table  was  prepared  by  leading 
local  authorities  for  conditions  in  March,  Septem¬ 
ber  and  November,  and  is  as  follows: 

I - Per  Cent - , 


Present. 

September. 

March. 

Steel  plants . 

.  102 

90 

40 

Minor  manufacturers.  . 

.  80 

70 

45 

fila?s  i)atents . 

.  !)5 

90 

75 

Industrial  payroll . 

.  110 

7.5 

50 

Coal  operations . 

.  90 

65 

40 

(‘okc  operations . 

.  90 

72 

45 

Railroad  equipment.... 

.  90 

75 

25 

Electrical  equipment... 

.  90 

65 

30 

M.  M.  Cochran,  a 

prominent  member  of  the  Fa- 

yette  county  bar  and  one  of  the  leading  bank¬ 
ers,  coal  operators  and  coke  manufacturers  in 
the  Conuellsville  region,  was  elected  president  of 
the  J.  V.  Thompson  Creditors’  Association.  It 
was  largely  through  the  efforts  of  Mr.  Cochran 
that  the  association  was  formed,  and  he  made  a 
stirring  address  in  which  he  urged  that  such  an 
action  be  taken.  The  formation  of  such  an  or¬ 
ganization  is  declared  hy  creditors  of  Mr.  Thomp¬ 
son  and  his  associates  to  be  the  means  of  saving 
his  assets  and  at  the  same  time  indicating  the 
])ayment  of  all  of  the  debts,  both  secured  and  un¬ 
secured.  It  is  said  that  the  organization  of  the 
creditors’  association  will  mean  the  refinancing 
of  the  banker’s  affairs  within  a  reasonably  short 
time,  and  the  payment  of  all  claims  at  their 
face.  Bankruptcy,  which  was  strongly  hintad  at 


a  meeting  of  the  lawyers  last  Monday,  has  been 
averted. 

Furnace  coke  has  been  a  little  weak  the  past 
week,  so  far  as  price  is  concerned,  though  no 
large  accumulation  of  free  coke  can  be  found. 
Off  grades  have  been  bought  at  $2.00,  and  some 
of  the  better  grades  has  been  sold  at  $2.15.  No 
large  inquiry  has  been  out,  however,  the  fur¬ 
nace  interests  being  well  covered  for  December, 
and  well  into  the  first  half.  The  coke  interests 
are  somewhat  excited  over  the  labor  question, 
and  a  general  scarcity  is  reported,  and  the  near 
approach  of  the  Christmas  holidays  will  have 
a  tendency  to  further  handicap  the  producer. 
There  will  be  plenty  of  help  the  week  before, 
but  Christmas  coming  on  Saturday,  there  will  be 
little  done  the  week  following. 

To  take  place  of  men  whom  they  cannot  se¬ 
cure,  the  Oliver  &  Snyder  Steel  Company  are 
installing  two  Covington  coke  drawing  machines 
at  their  No.  2  plant,  in  the  Conuellsville  district. 
The  company  has  been  unable  to  secure  enough 
men  to  operate  275  of  the  ovens.  Efforts  have 
lieen  made  at  various  places  to  obtain  sufficient 
men,  but  of  no  avail.  To  remedy  this  condition, 
the  company  has  decided  to  install  machinery 
which  will  displace  a  number  of  workmen.  Each 
machine  will  displace  fifteen  men.  Each  machine 
can  pull  forty  ovens  per  day,  but  on  account  of 
the  construction  of  the  equipment  of  the  plant 
this  number  of  ovens  will  be  reduced  to  about 
thirty-two.  Machines  are  used  at  each  of  the 
other  two  plants.  The  machines  were  ordered 
from  the  Covington  Machine  Company,  at  Cov¬ 
ington,  Va.,  and  cost  $6,000  each. 

The  quotable  market  on  standard  furnace  coke 
for  spot  or  contract  would  be  $2.25  to  $2.35,  but, 
as  stated,  off  grades  are  selling  for  less  and  being 
taken  by  consumers.  The  same  handicap  is  felt 
here  in  the  car  shortage  that  is  being  experienced 
in  coal,  iron  and  steel. 

Best  foundry  grades  of  old  basin  Connells- 
ville  coke  hold  firm  at  $3.25  to  $3.50,  with  $3.00  for 
less  desirable  product. 

The  operator  who  made  his  contracts  with  the 
furnace  trade  on  the  sliding  scale  basis  is  the 
“man  who  laughs’’  just  now,  and  pats  himself 
on  the  right  side,  though  as  a  general  thing  the 
sliding  scale  is  frowned  upon  by  the  producer. 


Duluth  Trade. 


Duluth,  Minn.,  December  9. — {Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — By  the  time  this  is  printed  the 
last  coal  barge  of  the  season  will  have  been  un¬ 
loaded  here.  One  more  boat  is  to  arrive,  at  this 
writing,  and  may  be  in  at  any  time,  and  with 
her  burden  transferred  to  the  docks,  the  lake 
coal  season  will  have  ended. 

Since  the  first  of  the  month  thirty-five  boats 
have  arrived,  carrying  250,000  to  300,000  tons, 
mostly  of  hard  coal.  The  heavier  part  of  the 
movement  of  the  last  few  weeks  has  been  in  hard 
coal,  although  soft  coal  will  be  pretty  scarce 
when  the  winter’s  supply  will  have  been  furnished. 

A  story  issued  this  week  to  the  effect  that 
there  is  likely  to  be  a  coal  shortage  owing  to  the 
comparative  scarcity  on  the  docks  here,  brought 
forth  from  coal  officials  in  the  Twin  Cities  a 
denial.  However  there  is  no  disputing  the  fact 
that  not  nearly  so  much  coal  as  usual  is  stored 
here,  and  if  the  demand  is  anything  like  that 
of  a  normal  year,  there  is  bound  to  be  less  of  a 
percentage  on  hand — to  say  the  least — when  the 
lake  season  opens  next  spring. 

The  storage  capacity  of  the  docks  here  amounts 
to  8,000,000  to  8,500,000  tons.  At  the  present  time, 
according  to  estimates  of  coal  men  here  who 
are  in  a  position  to  know,  there  is  on  hand  about 
5,500,000  tons  of  soft  coal  and  about  1,100,000 
tons  of  hard  coal.  This  is  about  70  per  cent  ol 
capacity  and  about  15  per  cent  less  than  the 
owners  of  docks  usually  aim  to  have  on  hand  to 
face  the  winter  months. 

The  usual  amount  left  over  in  the  spring  is 
twenty-five  per  cent  or  less,  but  twenty-five  per 
cent  is  a  good  average.  Should  there  be  any¬ 
thing  like  a  normal  demand  through  the  north¬ 
west  this  winter,  it  is  therefore  patent  that  the 
docks,  facing  this  winter  with  a  curtailed  supply, 
are  going  to  be  pretty  well  cleaned  out  next  spring. 
Last  spring  the  left-over  stock  amounted  to  about 
thirty  per  cent,  which  was  most  unusual,  and  was 
due  to  the  fact  that  less  coal  than  in  many  years 
was  demanded  in  this  part  of  the  country.  Up  to 
*liis  time  the  dpmand  through  the  northwest  has 
l)een  much  heavier  than  in  any  previous  year, 
and  should  this  keep  up,  the  chances  of  a  shortage 
are  .great.  However,  some  dealers  claim  to  be¬ 
lieve  that  the  unusually  heavy  demand  that  has 
l)eeu  experienced  all  fall  merely  means  that  the 
coal  dealers  of  the  northwest  have  been  ordering 


their  supplies  early,  and  that  it  is  not  wholly  due 
to  the  extraordinary  demands  of  railroads  and 
threshers  as  some  believe. 

The  heavy  demand  keeps  up  well,  so  far  as 
commercial  trade  is  concerned,  despite  the  fact 
that  the  weather  has  been  very  much  against  it. 
Weather  throughout  the  northwest  has  been  un¬ 
usually  mild  so  far,  and  coal  consumption  must 
have  been  lighter  than  in  the  general  run  of  early 
winters.  The  railroad  demand  has  dropped  off 
during  the  past  week  also. 

It  was  expected  that  a  number  of  Pittsburgh 
boats  would  lay  up  here  with  storage  coal,  but 
only  one  has  done  so.  The  steel  corporation 
has  enjoyed  a  liberal  movement  during  the  past 
few  months  and  is  pretty  well  stocked  up  in  its 
storage  yards  and  on  the  docks,  which  is  the 
probable  reason  that  no  more  boats  have  been 
used  for  storage. 


Twin  Cities  Trade. 


Minneapolis-St.  Paul,  Minn.,  December  9. — 
(Special  Correspondence.) — The  weather  con¬ 
tinues  extremely  mild  for  this  season  of  the  year, 
and  the  trade  is  beginning  to  feel  its  effect.  Coun¬ 
try  dealers  especially  complain  of  full  bins  and 
no  buyers,  consequently  they  will  not  reorder  un¬ 
til  buying  takes  a  brace,  and  that  will  be  just  as 
soon  as  the  cold  and  snow  makes  it  impossible  for 
the  consumers  longer  to  defer  going  to  town  after 
coal. 

The  dock  companies  report  a  falling  off  in 
business,  but  are  moving  a  fair  tonnage,  espe¬ 
cially  anthracite.  The  activity  on  the  part  of 
manufacturers  in  the  Twin  Cities  is  affordnig 
them  an  outlet  for  an  increased  tonnage  of  steam 
coals,  but  prices  are  still  weak,  and  are  not  main¬ 
tained  as  they  should  be.  The  advance  of  ten 
cents  per  ton  on  all  coals  from  Illinois  and  Indi¬ 
ana  has  put  a  crimp  in  these  coals  for  steam  pur¬ 
poses,  and  the  docks  are  reaping  the  benefit,  and 
will  continue  to  enjoy  a  large  tonnage  even  after 
the  15th,  when  lower  rates  on  coals  under  two 
inches  in  size  go  into  effect,  for  the  reason  that 
Illinois  screenings  seem  to  be  getting  higher  than 
ever  before  at  this  time  of  year,  and  buyers  will 
pass  them  up  in  favor  of  the  dock  coals,  unless 
the  dock  interests  can  get  together  on  something 
like  a  decent  price  and  conclude  that  it  is  better 
to  make  a  little  money  out  of  their  product  instead 
of  selling  at  a  loss. 

A  fairly  large  tonnage  of  smokeless  coals  in¬ 
tended  for  shipment  to  upper  lake  ports  is  find¬ 
ing  its  way  into  this  market  for  the  reason  tliat 
when  it  reached  loading  ports  no  boats  were  avail¬ 
able  and  it  had  to  be  diverted  to  the  all-rail  mar¬ 
ket.  Some  of  the  cars  are  of  such  enormous  pro¬ 
portions  as  to  suggest  an  ocean  liner  and  the 
dealer  who  gets  one  of  them  lets  loose  some 
loud  wails  when  he  goes  to  unload  the  coal. 
Some  of  this  coal  is  being  offered  at  very  low 
prices,  and  some  demurrage  is  bound  to  accrue. 

On  Franklin  county  coals  the  smaller  sizes 
seem  to  be  more  popular  than  ever,  and  it  is  a 
hard  matter  to  get  orders  for  lump  and  egg. 

Current  market  prices  at  wholesale  on  leading 
grades  of  coal  sold  in  the  Twin  Cities  are  as  fol¬ 
lows  : 

ANTHRACITE. 


Grate  . 

F.  0.  B. 
Duluth 
and 

Superior 

6  85 

F.  0.  B. 
Minneapolis 
and 

St.  Paul 
$7.80 

8  05 

6  85 

8.05 

Nut  . 

7  10 

.  8.30 

6.70 

Pea  . 

5.50 

Buckwheat  . 

5.20 

BITUMINOUS. 

Splint,  screened  lump  and  stove.$3.30@3.40 

$4.26@4.36 

Splint,  dock  run . 

3.10 

4.06 

Hocking,  .screened  lump  and  .stove 

3.30@3.40 

4.26@4.36 

Hocking,  dock  run . 

3.00 

3.9C 

VoughioRheny,  gas,  lump  and  stove 

3.30@3.40 

4.26@4.36 

VoughioghenV;  gas,  dock  run . 

3.10 

4.06 

Pittsburgh  vein,  lump . 

3.30@3.40 

4.20@4.36 

Pittsburgh  vein,  dock  run . 

3.00 

3.96 

Pocahontas,  screened  lump  or  egg 

4.75 

5.71 

Pocahontas,  screened  lump  and 
egg  mixed . 

4.50 

5.46 

Pocahontas,  mine  run . 

3.25 

4.21 

Cannel,  lump . 

5.25 

6.21 

.Smithing,  bulk . 

4.25 

5.21 

Smithing,  in  100  lb.  sacks . 

6.00 

6.96 

Briquets,  anthracite . 

5.00 

5.96 

Briquets,  smokeless . 

5.00 

5.96 

In  the  Illinois  trade  tlie 

range  of 

prices  on 

southern  Illinois  product  on  the  various  sizes  is  as 
follows : 


Franklin  County — 

1  ump,  egg  and  No.  1  nut . 5i 

>  I  1.75 

$:P05(aT4.05 

No.  2  nut . 

1.40@1.50 

3.70@3.KI 

2-inch  screenings . 

.75 

4.05 

Run  of  mine . 

1.15@1.25 

3.45@3.55 

Williamson  and  Saline  C'ounties — 
1  ump,  egg  and  No.  1  nut . 

1.65@1.75 

3.95  @4.05 

No.  2  nut . 

1.40@1.50 

3.70@3.SO 

2-inch  screenings . 

.75 

4.05 

Run  of  mine . 

1.15(»1.25 

3.45@3.55 

480 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[December  11 


Cincinnati  Trade. 

Smokeless  Lump  and  Egg  Circular  Is 
Reduced,  Due  to  Mild  Weather  and 
Growth  of  Slack  Demand. 


Cincinnati,  Ohio,  December  9. —  (Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — The  sale  of  several  hundred  cars 
of  smokeless  lump  and  egg  in  the  Chicago  and 
Detroit  markets  at  mine  run  prices,  the  past 
week,  caused  quite  a  flurry  among  smokeless 
operators  and  resulted  in  a  new  circular  from 
some  of  the  largest  operations,  reducing  the  price 
of  lump  and  egg  from  the  original  schedule  of 
per  ton  to  $2  in  flats  and  $1.85  in  hoppers. 
Nut  coal  also  sustained  a  reduction  of  price  from 
$2  to  $1.75  for  flats  and  $1.65  for  hoppers.  This, 
together  with  the  prevailing  mild  weather  the  past 
week  or  ten  days  operated  to  make  the  market 
generally  dull,  although  there  were  exceptions. 

The  buyers  of  splint  block  and  egg  hesitated 
and  suspended  or  cancelled  orders,  declining  to 
pay  $1.85  to  $2  for  domestic  splint  when  Poca¬ 
hontas  lump  and  egg  could  be  had  at  $1.40  per 
ton.  Some  of  the  smokeless  people  in  Cincin¬ 
nati  were  indignant  at  the  action  of  those  who 
threw  this  large  tonnage,  estimated  at  25,000 
tons,  into  the  market  without  warning. 

The  condition  in  Kentucky  as  to  splint  is  still 
.good.  Borderland  prices  have  advanced  this  week 
to  the  followng  schedule:  Four-inch  block,  $2; 
21/2-inch  block,  $1.85 ;  4x2;4-inch  egg,  $1.50 ;  nut, 
.$1.35;  and  no  nut  and  slack  to  offer  being  out 
of  the  open  market.  In  this  field  the  car  supply 
is  estimated  by  a  prominent  operator  to  be 
eighty-five  per  cent,  labor  eighty-five  per  cent, 
delivery  not  satisfactory  and  collections  excellent. 
In  fact  collections  generally  have  been  more  satis¬ 
factory  in  the  past  thirty  days  than  for  many 
months.  In  West  Virginia,  Cinderella  coal  is  in 
the  market  at  the  following  prices :  Three  and 
a  half-inch  block,  $2;  egg,  $1.50  to  $1.60;  nut, 
$1.40  to  $1.50;  mine  run,  no  attention  paid  to  this 
product  in  the  present  state  of  the  market;  nut 
and  slack,  eighty-five  and  ninety  cents.  This  coal 
loaded  a  fine  cargo  at  tidewater  the  past  week. 
The  Majestic  mines  of  Kentucky  quoted  $1  to 
$1.10  for  mine  run;  three-inch  lump,  $1.60  to 
$1.75 ;  egg,  $1.25  to  $1.35 ;  nut  and  slack,  eighty 
to  eighty-five  cents. 

In  the  territory  in  the  districts  of  which  these 
mines  are  the  center  the  car  supply  is  low,  gon¬ 
dolas  about  forty  per  cent  to  fifty  per  cent  of 
normal  and  hoppers  too  plentiful,  according  to 
the  operators  of  that  region.  Many  of  the  patrons 
of  these  operations  complain  that  they  have  no 
adequate  arrangements  to  take  care  of  these  huge 
cars.  Formerly  they  could  dump  the  contents 
of  the  car  on  the  side  track,  but  most  of  the 
railroads  have  adopted  rules  against  this  practice 
and  labor  will  not  shovel  out  of  cars  with  sixteen- 
foot  sides  at  any  price.  These  districts  also  re¬ 
port  labor  short  about  twenty  per  cent,  collec¬ 
tions  good  and  very  little  transfer  trouble,  one 
big  company  reporting  but  one  case  of  transfer 
in  forty  days. 


Cincinnati  Trade  News. 

R.  D.  Jeffers,  representative  of  the  Litz-Smith 
Company  of  Huntington,  W.  Va.,  was  a  visitor 
in  the  city  the  past  week.  Fie  was  formerly  in 
offices  in  Cincinnati  and  is  well  known  here. 

Jules  Hoffman,  a  well  known  coal  operator  of 
Detroit,  dropped  off  in  Cincinnati  Tuesday  and 
visited  Cincinnati  friends  a  few  hours.  He  was 
on  his  way  to  inspect  some  coal  properties  in 
Kentucky. 

James  A.  Reilly,  Cincinnati  manager  of  the 
Queen  City  Coal  Company,  started  Wednesday 
for  a  tour  among  the  offices  of  the  company  in 
the  south,  including  Baton  Rouge,  New  Orleans, 
Memphis,  Cairo,  St.  Louis  and  other  points.  He 
will  return  home  in  time  for  his  Christmas 
dinner. 

L.  E.  Armentrout,  president  of  the  Borderland 
Coal  Company  of  Borderland,  Ky.,  and  of  the 
Borderland  Coal  Sales  Company  of  this  city,  was 
a  visitor  at  the  offices  of  the  company  here  this 
week.  Mr.  Armentrout  reports  the  situation  fair 
to  good  in  his  section  of  Kentucky  and  believes 
that  the  market  will  be  a  very  strong  one  before 
the  winter  is  over. 

Letters  from  W.  C.  Rogers,  formerly  a  well 
known  coal  manager  of  this  city,  show  that  he 
is  safely  enscounced  in  his  new  home  on  the 
Isle  of  Pines,  where  his  son  is  the  general  mana¬ 
ger  of  several  large  fruit  ranches.  Mr.  Rogers 
reports  that  he  is  well  contented  and  that  he  will 
have  watermelon  for  his  Christmas  dinner,  that 


fruits  are  abundant,  flowers  blooming  and  birds 
singing  and  that  he  was  in  a  bathing  party  on 
a  day  when  in  Ohio  the  thermometer  was  down 
to  26. 

H.  11.  Morris,  formerly  superintendent  of  the 
Chesapeake  &  Ohio  Railway  company,  resident 
at  Huntington,  W.  Va.,  resigned  from  the  rail¬ 
road  company’s  employ,  effective  December  1st, 
and  has  organized  a  new  selling  company  to  be 
known  as  the  West  Virginia  Standard  Coal  Com¬ 
pany,  with  headquarters  in  Huntington  and  later 
with  branch  offices  in  Cincinnati,  Toledo,  Cleve¬ 
land,  Detroit,  Richmond,  Va.,  and  Chicago.  The 
company  has  been  incorporated  and  has  ample 
capital  behind  it. 

Mr.  Frank  Ellison  of  the  C.  G.  Blake  Company, 
of  this  city,  is  at  home  after  a  trip  to  Europe 
connected  with  the  export  business  of  the  com¬ 
pany  and  a  stay  of  several  weeks  in  New  York 
keeping  an  eye  on  the  situation  there.  There 
has  been  considerable  commotion  in  connection 
with  the  capture  of  the  Genessee,  one  of  the 
Blake  company’s  export  steamships,  taken  by 
British  cruisers  and  held  on  the  ground  that  it  is 
a  German  built  ship  and  that  Germans  are  inter¬ 
ested  in  its  business. 

C.  E.  Flutchinson,  vice-president  of  the  Hutch¬ 
inson  Coal  Company  of  Fairmont,  W.  Va.,  C.  H. 
Jenkins,  secretary-treasurer  of  the  company,  and 
Frank  E.  Hutchinson,  of  Logan,  W.  Va.,  general 
manager  of  the  Rich  Creek  Coal  Company,  were 
all  recent  visitors  at  the  Cincinnati  offices  of  the 
Hutchinson  Coal  Company.  Mr.  Jenkins  is  a 
member  of  the  executive  board  of  the  West  Vir¬ 
ginia  Coal  Association  and  is  deeply  interested 
in  the  fight  against  the  proposed  raise  in  the 
freight  rate  in  West  Virginia. 

Quite  a  number  of  Cincinnati  coal  and  river 
men  are  in  Washington  this  week  in  attendance 
on  the  National  Rivers  and  Harbors  Cpngress, 
which  held  its  annual  convention  in  that  city. 
Among  them  were  the  following  well-known 
.men :  Colonel  Oscar  Barrett,  Captain  Slack  Bar¬ 
rett,  Captain  Henry  Vorbroker,  Captain  Walter 
Ware,  Captain  Fred  Hall,  Captain  Fred  Hart- 
weg.  Captain  J.  T.  Ellison,  Captain  James  T. 
Hatfield,  and  Dr.  Felix  Cross.  Captain  E.  A. 
Burnsides  of  Point  Pleasant,  W.  Va.,  was  also 
of  the  party. 

Forgery  and  tampering  with  a  coal  and  mineral 
clause  in  a  will  are  involved  in  a  case  which 
came  up  from  Kentucky  to  the  United  States 
Circuit  Court  of  Appeals  in  this  city  this  week. 
The  transcript  is  that  of  the  case  of  Joseph 
H.  Estep  and  John  B.  Estep  vs.  The  Kent- 
land  Coal  &  Coke  Company,  The  Alma 
Coal  Company,  and  James  E.  Hellier  and 
Charles  E.  Hellier,  and  it  came  up  from  the 
United  States  District  Court  at  Catlettsburg,  Ky., 
and  appeals  from  the  decision  of  that  court  which 
refused  to  decree  that  Joseph  H.  Estep  and  John 
B.  Estep  are  the  owners  of  the  coal  and  mineral 
rights  in  certain  lands  in  Pike  county,  Kentucky, 
held  at  present  by  the  Kentland  Coal  &  Coke 
Company.  The  Estep  brothers  allege  that  they 
had  received  the  deed  to  the  land  from  their 
father  and  that  after  the  deed  was  made  it  was 
tampered  with,  altered  and  amended  by  the  forg¬ 
ing  of  a  clause  into  the  instrument  excepting  the 
coal  and  mineral  rights  underlying  the  land. 


Birmingham  Trade. 


Birmingham,  Ala.,  December  9. —  (Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — Cool  weather  has  caused  increased 
business  in  domestic  coal.  The  consumer  is 
buying  and  some  retailers  report  they  have  all 
the  business  they  can  handle.  Most  of  the  yard¬ 
men  have  stored  sufficient  tonnage  to  meet  de¬ 
mands  temporarily.  Other  yards,  which  had  only 
moderate  storage,  have  about  used  up  this  stock 
and  these  dealers  are  orderin.g  from  operators. 

Steam  coal  is  being  used  in  quantity.  The 
railroads  are  using  larger  quota  than  formerly 
and  are  storing  some  coal  for  winter  use.  This 
extra  demand  has  caused  some  difficulty  in  get¬ 
ting  the  cars  needed. 

The  river  trade  is  holdiag  up  well.  Walter 
Allen,  formerly  at  Birmingham,  but  at  present 
located  in  New  Orleans,  says  the  coal  business 
is  picking  up  and  if  demand  continues  to  increase, 
it  will  be  greater  than  supply.  The  bunker  trade 
at  both  of  these  cities  is  good.  Trade  at  Pensa¬ 
cola  is  fairly  good. 

Coke  is  very  strong.  There  is  practically  no 
by-product  for  the  .general  market  and  the  addi¬ 
tional  bee-hive  ovens  find  the  call  equal  to  sup¬ 
ply.  Prices  are  strong,  being  quoted  from  $3.25 
iiy  some  operators,  to  $3.75  asked  for  Number  2 
foundry  coke.  Some  coke  is  still  being  shipped 
from  the  district  to  western  points. 


Articles  of  incorporation  were  filed  Thursday 
by  the  Cane  Creek  Tipple  Company  in  the  pro¬ 
bate  court,  capital  stock  $25,000.  The  new  cor¬ 
poration  is.  headed  by  Henry  T.  DeBardeleben, 
president,  and  G.  M.  Bowees  and  the  DeBarde¬ 
leben  Coal  Company,  incorporated,  takes  $24,600 
of  the  stock.  The  company  will  operate  a  large 
line  on  the  Warrior  river. 

The  DeBardeleben  Company,  incorporated, 
caused  the  construction  of  a  spur  track  by  the 
Frisco  railroad  from  the  water  tank,  a  short 
distance  east  of  Cordova,  in  Walker  county,  to 
vvhat  is  known  as  Cane  Creek.  A  wharf  and 
tipple  was  put  on  Cane  creek,  and  several  barges 
have  already  been  provided.  Coal  is  brought  from 
Sipsey  to  Cane  creek  by  the  Frisco,  loaded  on  to 
bar.ges,  and  taken  to  Mobile  and  New  Orleans. 

Barge  lines  on  the  Warrior  river  are  now  being 
operated  by  the  Pratt  Consolidated  Coal  Com¬ 
pany,  the  Tennessee  Coal,  Iron  and  Railroad  Com¬ 
pany  and  the  DeBardeleben  people.  It  is  under¬ 
stood  that  preparations  are  under  way  to  increase 
the  carrying  capacity  through  the  various  locks 
on  the  river,  and  by  early  spring  it  is  estimated 
that  at  least  twenty  more  barges  will  be  in  readi¬ 
ness  for  Warrior  river  operation. 

The  Empire  Coal  Company,  of  which  company 
Walter  Moore  is  the  head,  will  use  the  bar.ge 
line  also.  This  will  be  four  large  companies  who 
will  use  the  river  for  coal  transportation. 

The  Pratt  Consolidated  Coal  Company,  a  few 
weeks  ago,  announced  bids  would  be  received 
from  a  Mobile  concern  for  additional  barges  de¬ 
signed  along  new  lines.'  It  was  also  reported 
some  time  ago  that  the  American  Bridge  Com¬ 
pany,  a  subsidiary  organization  of  the  United 
States  Steel  Corporation,  was  figuring  on  the 
construction  of  additional  barges  for  the  Ten¬ 
nessee  Coal,  Iron  and  Railroad  Company,  which 
concern  is  now  using  bar.ges  of  the  Alabama  and 
New  Orleans  Transportation  Company. 

Prices  are  as  follows; 


Bibb  County  Domestic — 

Red  ash  Cababa  iump . 

Red  ash  Cababa  lump . .  . 

Red  ash  steam  size . 

Jefferson  County — 

Fancy  steam  Pratt . 

Run  of  mine  Pratt . 

Mary  Lee  lump . 

Black  Creek — 

Fancy  steam  lump . 

Washed  nut . 

Washed  steam  . 

Mine  run . 

Jefferson  Steam  Coal — 

Mine  run . 

Walker  County  Domestic  Coal- 

Carbon  Hill  lump  . 

Carbon  Hill  egg . 

Horse  Creek  mine  run . 

Genuine  Corona — 

Lump  . 

Egg  . 


F.  O.  B. 
Mines. 
$3.00 
2.75 


F.  p.  B. 
Birmingham. 
$3.30 
$.10 


1.20@1.35  Frt.  rate  30c 


1.75 

1.20@1.25 

1.40@1.60 

1.75 
1.75 


2.00 

1.45?»1.50 

1.80@1.90 

2.05 
2.05 


1.36@1.0O  Frt.  rate  30c 
1.35@1.40  Frt.  rate  30c 

1.15@1.25  Frt.  rate  30c 


1.75 

1.65 


2.15 

2.05 


1.00@1.20  Frt.  rate  40c 


2.00 

1.99 


2.40 

2.35 


Steam  sizes .  1.25@1.35  Frt.  rate  40c 

Shelby  County  Domestic  Coal — 

Cahaba  fancy  lump  .  .  .  3.00  3.30 

Cahaba  No.  2  lump  .  2.75  3.06 

Montevallo  domestic  prices  range  from  $3.00  to  $3.25. 
Blacksmith  coal,  washed  and  screened,  per  ton,  $2.00  to 
$2.25  at  mines,  with  different  rates  to  various  points. 


Denver  Trade. 


Denver,  Colo.,  December  9. —  (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — A  break  in  the  recent  cold  spell  has 
resulted  in  a  falling  off  in  the  activity  of  the 
market  here  a  week  ago.  But  while  the  retail 
business  has  been  slow,  production  does  not  seem 
to  have  suffered  any  material  decrease.  Antici¬ 
pation  of  the  future  requirements  of  distributors 
and  a  good  many  unfilled  orders  have  brought  the 
output  for  the  week  almost  up  to  that  of  the 
preceding  period. 

The  lignite  output  shows  the  greatest  loss  for 
the  week,  but  will  not  run  below  ten  per  cent  of 
that  of  the  previous  week.  The  nights  now  are 
invariably  chilly  and  often  cold  and  consumers 
are  taking  no  chances  on  what  is  liable  to  happen 
at  this  time  of  the  year.  The  su.gar  factories  are 
still  running  and  may  continue  for  two  weeks 
more,  and  this  demand  takes  care  of  considerable 
lignite. 

There  continues  a  fair  demand  for  all  grades 
of  bituminous  coal,  and  Trinidad,  Walsenburg, 
Canon  City  and  Routt  county  report  a  fair 
volume  of  business,  with  orders  arriving  from 
country  dealers  in  excess  of  what  might  be  ex¬ 
pected,  considering  weather  conditions. 

At  the  close  of  last  week  there  was  a  surplus 
of  lignite  and  bituminous  slack,  but  prices  this 
week  have  been  well  held.  There  is  not  a 
sufficient  order  supply  to  cause  embarrassment 
unless  unseasonable  days  are  too  prolonged. 

The  following  prices  on  lignite  are  ruling; 
f.  o.  b.  mines:  For  Denver  delivery,  lump,  $2.35 
to  $2.65 ;  mine  run,  $1.50  to  $1.65 ;  slack,  $1.05 
to  $1.25.  For  points  outside  of  Denver,  lump, 
$2.50;  mine  run,  $1.55  to  $1.65;  slack,  $1.05. 


No.  24] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


481 


Cleveland  Market. 


Cleveland,  Ohio,  December  9. — (Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — The  reduction  in  the  amount  of 
larger  sizes  of  coal  needed,  due  to  the  close  of 
the  lake  season,  has  tightened  up  the  slack  market 
here  and  resulted  in  an  increase  in  the  price, 
of  almost  every  grade.  For  the  same  reason  the 
three-quarter  size  of  No.  8  and  similar  sizes  of 
a  number  of  other  coals  have  gone  down  the 
scale.  In  many  instances  the  larger  sizes  have 
been  offered  at  the  same  price  as  slack  and  it  is 
said  that  some  grades  may  be  secured  at  even 
lower  prices  than  are  asked  for  slack  of  the 
same  kind. 

When  the  lake  season  closed  there  was  little 
slack  on  track  at  this  port  and  the  usual  market 
depression  was  averted  for  this  reason.  In  the 
past  much  trouble  often  followed  the  close  of 
navigation,  because  of  the  large  accumulation  of 
coal,  due  to  efforts  to  have  as  much  as  possible 
loaded  during  the  last  few  days.  Much  of  this 
coal  would  fail  to  reach  the  docks  until  too  late 
and  frequently  many  hundred  cars  would  have 
to  be  dumped  on  the  market  to  bring  what  they 
would.  In  a  season  of  close  trading,  as  the  pres¬ 
ent  one  has  been,  coal  is  not  rushed  forward  to 
the  same  extent  and  little  trouble  is  encountered 
in  having  it  all  loaded. 

Some  producers  have  been  seeking  boats  for 
stora.ge  at  this  end  of  the  line,  but  they  are  still 
difficult  to  secure.  The  partial  embargo  placed 
on  Canadian  grain  seemingly  had  little  effect 
on  the  tonnage  and  there  is  not  much  to  be  had 
for  any  purpose.  Unless  the  weather  grows  too 
cold  to  move  boats  about  some  of  them  may 
be  loaded  later  on  with  storage  coal.  Pro¬ 
ducers,  by  loading  boats,  in  this  way,  would  be 
able  to  make  a  lot  of  slack  which  is  in  demand  at 
a  good  price  now. 

Domestic  coals  have  been  weak  through  the 
past  several  days.  Although  the  weather  has  been 
somewhat  cooler  than  usual,  the  demand  has 
shown  little  response.  To  some  extent,  it  is  be¬ 
lieved  that  the  number  of  different  coals  used 
in  the  domestic  market  has  increased  and  that, 
for  this  reason,  those  grades  which  are  usually 
very  strong  at  this  time  of  the  year  are  feeling 
the  effect. 

No  8  slack  has  advanced  at  least  five  cents  a 
ton  within  the  past  week,  while  the  quotation  for 
run  of  mine  has  remained  stationary  five  cents 
lower.  It  appears  now  that  slack  will  show  a 
corresponding  increase  during  the  coming  week, 
unless  something  occurs  to  develop  a  demand 
for  the  larger  sizes.  The  figures  are : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

No.  8  District —  Mines.  Cleveland. 

Three-qu..rters  . $1.05@1.10  $1.95@2.00 

Run  of  mine  .  .90  1.80 

Slack  .  .95  1.85 


Coshocton  coal  has  been  in  fair  demand  through 
the  week,  especially  in  the  smaller  .sizes,  but  this 
has  not  been  sufficient  to  cause  any  material 
change  in  the  quotations : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Coshocton —  Mines.  Cleveland. 

Lump,  4-inch  screened . $1.70@1.75  $2.40@2.45 

lJ4-inch  .  1.60@1.65  2.30@2.35 

Egg  and  nut .  1.05@1.10  1.75@1.80 

Pittsburgh  slack  has  been  offered  in  this  market 
in  somewhat  larger  quantities  than  for  some 
time,  but  the  demand  was  such  that  it  commanded 
an  increased  price  over  last  week: 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Pittsburgh—  Mines.  Cleveland. 

Slack .  . $0.85@  .90  $1.85@1.90 

The  mild  weather  prevailing  for  some  little 
time  has  enabled  the  Massillon  operators  to  catch 
up  somewhat  with  their  orders,  but  there  has  been 
no  change  in  prices : 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Massillon —  Mines.  Cleveland. 

Lump  .  $2.50  $3.20 

Nut  .  2.50  3.20 

Slack  .  1.05@1.10  1.75@1.80 


Smokeless  coals  have  not  recovered  from  their 
recent  depression.  The  offerings  seem  to  be 
heavier  than  usual  without  the  demand  naturally 
expected  at  this  season  of  the  year.  The  quota¬ 
tions  have  changed  little  during  the  past  week : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 


Smokeless —  Mines.  Cleveland. 

Lump  .  $1.90  $3.25 

Egg  .  l.Tt)  3.20 

Run  of  mine .  1.25  2.70  , 


Cambridge  slack  has  recovered  its  strength,  but 
there  has  been  little  business  in  the  other  sizes 
the  past  week.  Prices  quoted  are  as  follows: 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Cambridge —  Mines.  Cleveland. 

Three-quarters  .  $1.10  $2.00 

Run  of  mine .  1.00  1.90 

Slack .  .96  1.85 


Kentucky  block  remains  stationary  in  price,  with 


quite  a  little  handled  in 
past  week: 

Kentucky — 

4-inch  block  . 


the  market  during  the 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Mines.  Cleveland. 
.  .  .$1.90@2.00  $3.15@3.25 


The  small  amount  of  Youghiogheny  coal  in  the 
market  resulted  in  light  trading.  Quotations  un¬ 
changed  : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Youghiogheny —  Mines.  Cleveland. 

lJ4-inch  . $1.40@1.60  $2.40@2.5O 

Three-quarters  .  1.30  2.30 

Run  of  mine .  1.20  2.20 

Slack  . 95@1.00  1.95@2.00 


Bergholtz  coal  showed  the  same  strength  in 
slack  as  the  other  coals,  but  there  has  been  no 
change  in  the  quotations  on  other  sizes : 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Bergholtz —  Mines.  Cleveland. 

6-inch  lump .  $1.70  $2.40 

lt4-inch  .  1.45  2.15 

Three-quarters  .  1.85  2.06 

Egg  .  1.25  1.95 

Run  of  mine .  1.20  1.90 

Slack  .  1.10@1.15  1.80@1.85 


The  larger  sizes  of  Wainwright  coal  did  not 
move  as  freely  as  might  be,  because  of  the  dull¬ 
ness  of  the  retail  trade,  but  slack  is  on  the  up¬ 
ward  trend : 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Goshen-Wainwright  Mines —  Mines.  Cleveland. 


Three-quarter  domestic  .  $1.40  $2.10 

3-inch  lump  .  1.80  2.50 

Lump  .  1.65  2.35 

Slack  .  1.10  1.80 

Quotations  on  Goshen  coal  are  as  follows: 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Goshen — ■  Mines.  Cleveland. 


Three-quarters 

l}4-inch  . 

Run  of  mine. 
Slack  . 


$1.30  $2.00 

1.40  2.10 

1.15  1.85 

1.10  1.80 


Cleveland  News  Notes. 

Henry  Barkhausen  of  the  Barkhausen  Coal  & 
Dock  Company,  Green  Bay,  was  in  the  city  on 
business  Monday. 

The  coal  shipments  from  the  Ashtabula  docks 
for  November  were  433,898  net  tons.  From  the 
Conneaut  docks  291,756  tons  of  coal  were  shipped. 
The  ore  receipts  at  these  two  docks  were  well 
up  to  the  records  of  other  heavy  seasons. 


St.  Louis  Trade. 


St.  Louis,  Mo.,  December  9. — (Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — The  weather  has  been  dragging 
in  a  very  mild  state,  and  the  temperature  has 
been  as  unsatisfactory  as  it  can  possibly  be  to 
the  coal  trade  at  large,  especially  the  retail  trade, 
as  it  is  just  cold  enough  not  to  move  much  ice, 
to  those  dealers  who  are  in  both  the  coal  and 


ice  business,  and  not  cold  enough  to  do  the  coal 
business  much  good.  In  fact  the  consumption  of 
coal  has  been  so  light  as  to  be  just  a  teaser  to 
the  coal  men.  As  a  consequence  the  domestic 
business  has  not  been  very  brisk,  and  all  grades 
of  coal  are  feeling  it. 

Steam  business  has  been  quite  brisk,  on  both 
screenings  and  larger  sizes.  The  general  indus¬ 
trial  situation  seems  to  be  much  better,  as  the 
railroads  and  factories  have  all  been  taking 
a  full  quota  of  coal.  In  fact  some  of  the  rail¬ 
roads  have  been  out  on  the  open  market  buying, 
something  that  they  have  not  done  for  several 
years.  Undoubtedly  the  coal  trade  is  better  and 
more  optimistic  than  it  has  been  for  some  time, 
as  it  is  generally  anticipated  that  there  will  be 
a  good  market  for  coal  in  the  next  four  months. 

Standard  coal  remains  about  the  same,  and  the 
prices  are  as  follows: 


F.  O.  B. 


Standard  Coal —  Mine. 

6-inch  lump  . $1.25 

6x2-inch  egg  .  1.25 

2-inch  lump .  1.05 

Steam  egg . 90 

No.  1  nut .  1.15 

No.  2  nut  . 80 

Mine  run . 85 

Screenings  . 60 


F.  O.  B. 

St.  Louis. 

$1.82 
1.82 
1.62^ 
1.47^ 
1.72 >4 
1.37!4 
1.4214 
1.1754 


There  is  a  heavy  demand  for  screenings  and 
fine  coal  from  Chicago  and  the  north  for  coal 
from  the  Springfield  and  Staunton  district.  The 
lump  and  egg  coals  are  not  moving  very  briskly, 
in  fact  the  steam  egg  sizes  are  better  than  lump. 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 


6-inch  lump . $1.60  $2.07J4 

2-inch  lump .  1.25  1.82V^ 

Screenings  . 60  1.17^ 


Southern  Illinois  screenings  have  stiffened  up 
a  great  deal,  and  are  very  scarce  and  hard  to 
get.  Lump  coal  is  moving  only  fairly  well. 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Mine.  St.  Louis. 

6-inch  lump  or  egg . $1.40@1.75  $2.02 54  @2.4754 

3x2-inch  nut .  1.20@1.75  1.9254  @2.4754 

Screenings  .  .66  1.8754 

Franklin  County  is  still  in  good  demand,  by 
dealers,  though  the  mines  are  not  able  to  quite 
realize  full  time. 


F.  9.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Mine.  St.  Louis. 

6-inch  lump,  egg  or  nut . $1.75  $2.4754 

No.  2  stove .  1.50  2.2254 

Screenings  . 70  1.4254 

The  demand  for  anthracite  chestnut  is  unusu¬ 
ally  good,  but  the  larger  sizes  are  very  dull. 


Smokeless  and  coke  are  moving  nicely. 

Anthracite —  F.  O.  B.  St.  Louis. 

Chestnut  . $7.66 

Stove  or  egg .  7,30 

Grate  .  7.05 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Mine.  St.  Louis. 

Lump  or  egg . $2.25  $4.76 

Gas  House  Coke —  F.  O.  B.  St.  Louis. 

Gas  house  coke . $4.25 

By-product  coke  (all  sizes) .  5.00 


The  prices  on  Illinois  soft  coal,  f.  o.  b.  East  St.  Louis. 
Madison,  Venice  or  Granite  City,  Ill.,  are  20  cents  lower 
than  the  above  quoted  St.  Louis  prices. 


Indianapolis  Trade. 


Indianapolis,  Ind.,  December  9. —  (Special  Cor- 
responde)ice.)-^The  coal  operators  and  dealers  in 
Indiana  who  haven’t  all  or  more  than  they  can 
do  now  are  few  and  far  between.  One  sales 
representative  for  a  large  company  says  that  his 
company  is  on  the  market  for  twenty-five  cars 
a  day.  While  the  demand  is  very  strong  prices 
have  not  gone  up  as  naturally  should  have  been 
expected.  Operators  are  inclined  to  complain 
that  the  demand  is  strong  but  the  prices  are  be¬ 
low  what  they  should  be.  It  is  very  likely  that 
an  advance  may  be  made  in  all  grades  within  a 
short  time. 

Domestic  is  stronger  than  it  was  a  week  ago, 
many  sales  being  around  $1.75  a  ton  for  four- 
inch  coal.  Two-and-half-inch  domestic  is  sell¬ 
ing  at  $1.50  to  $1.60  a  ton  at  the  mines.  Mine 
run  ranges  from  $1  to  $1.20  a  ton  at  the  mines, 
according  to  the  grade.  Inch-a-quarter  steam 
lump  is  strong.  The  retailers  are  doing  a  fine 
business.  They  have  more  orders  for  domestic 
than  they  have  had  for  a  long  time.  There  is 
a  strong  demand  here  for  all  smokeless  domestic 
coal.  Indiana  domestic  is  also  selling  well. 
The  movement  of  coal  is  heavier  than  it  has  been 
for  a  long  time. 

The  following  prices  are  being  quoted  by  the 
wholesalers : 


Indiana — • 

Mine  run.  No.  4 . 

Mine  run.  Nos.  5  and  6 
Nut  . 


1 54 -inch  steam  lump . 

No.  4  screenings . 

Nos.  5  and  6  screenings . 

254-inch  domestic.  No.  4 . 

4-inch  domestic.  Nos.  4  and  6.... 

Brazil  block  domestic . 

No.  1  washed  coal . 

No.  2  washed  coal . 

Southern  Indiana  Field — 

Mine  run . 

Domestic  lump . 


F.  O.  B. 

Mines. 

$1.10@1.20 
1.05@1.15 
1.20@1.30 
1.30@1.40 
1.25@1.35 
.80@  .90 
.65®  .75 
1.50@1.55 
1.65@1.70 
2.25@2.50 
1.75 
1.65 


f;.  O.  B. 

Indianapolis. 

$1.60@1.60 

1.55@1.65 

1.70@1.80 

1.80@1.90 

1.75@1.85 

1.30@1.40 

1.15@1.25 

2.O0@2.O5 

2.16@2.20 

2.75@2.50 

2.25 

2.15 


1.05@1.10 

1.40@1.50 


Indianapolis  retailers  are  quoting  the  following 
prices :  Linton  No.  4  lump,  forked,  $3.25 ;  Indi¬ 
ana  lump,  forked,  $3 ;  Indiana  lump  and  egg, 
screened,  $2.75 ;  Kanawha  lump,  forked,  $4.25 ; 
Ohio  Hocking  lump,  forked,  $4.25;  Ohio  Hocking 
washed  egg,  $4.50 ;  Kentucky,  lump,  $4.50 ;  Ohio 
Jackson  lump,  forked,  $5;  Blossbur.g,  smithing, 
$5.50;  Cannel  lump,  $6;  Pocahontas,  forked  lump, 
.$0 ;  Pocahontas,  shoveled  lump,  $5.50;  Pocahontas, 
mine  run,  $4.50;  Pocahontas,  nut  and  slack,  $3.75; 
anthracite,  chestnut,  $8.25;  anthracite,  stove  and 
egg,  $8 ;  anthracite,  grate,  $7.75 ;  (Tonnellsville 
coke,  $6;  Indianapolis  by-product  coke  (all  sizes), 
$6. 

— Extra  Delivery  Charges — 

Bags,  fifty  cents  a  ton  extra,  ground  floor  or 
dumped  in  cellar. 

Ba.gs,  seventy-five  cents  a  ton  extra,  carried  into 
cellar. 

Charge  for  chute  or  wheelbarrows,  twenty-five 
cents  a  ton. 

Coke,  bags,  sixty  cents,  bags  in  cellar,  eighty 
cents. 


The  supreme  court  has  sustained  the  Clay 
county  court  awarding  Samuel  Cahall  $5,O0K) 
dama.ges  against  the  Vivian  Collieries  Company. 


The  county  commissioners  here  have  awarded 
the  following  contracts :  Coal  for  County  Infirm¬ 
ary,  to  Globe  Coal  Company,  1,600  tons  of  one 
grade,  at  $1.84  a  ton ;  fifty  tons  of  another  grade 
at  $2.95,  and  fifty  tons  of  a  third  grade  at  $3.65 
a  ton ;  coal  for  the  Workhouse,  Globe  Coal  Com¬ 
pany,  700  tons  at  $1.79  a  ton;  coal  for  Marion 
County  Asylum  for  Incurable  Insane  at  Julietta, 
Globe  Coal  Company,  1,500  tons  at  $2.09 ;  fuel  for 
the  Detention  Home,  A.  B.  Meyer  Company,  sev¬ 
enty-five  tons  of  coal  at  $4.90  a  ton,  and  ten  tons 
of  coke  at  $5.65  a  ton. 


482 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[December  11 


New  York  Trade. 


Car  Supply  Causes  Suspension  of  An¬ 
thracite  Mines — Bituminous  Prices 
Continue  to  Soar. 


Office  of  The  Black  Diamond, 
New  York,  December  9. 

The  output  of  anthracite  this  month  is  being 
restricted  by  the  short  supply  of  cars.  On 
Wednesday  of  this  week  quite  a  number  of  mines 
had  to  lie  shut  down  because  of  car  shortage. 
Due  to  the  congestion  of  freight  cars  in  every 
direction  throughout  the  east,  this  situation  does 
not  promise  inii)rovement.  In  fact  there  is  every 
reason  to  believe  that  conditions  will  become  much 
worse.  Notwithstanding  the  lake  trade  has  closed 
so  far  as  shipments  from  Buffalo  are  concerned, 
the  all-rail  demand  is  sufficient  to  take  prompt 
care  of  maximum  output,  were  it  possible  to 
secure  it.  That  coal  is  very  short  in  the  west  is 
best  indicated  by  the  heavy  orders  that  come 
from  this  territory  for  shipments  all-rail. 

In  the  east  coal  is  moving  very  slowly  to  tide¬ 
water  ports,  and  due  to  the  shortage  of  boats  it  is 
being  handled  very  slowly  when  it  arrives.  Water 
equipment  for  trans-shipment  is  very  scarce,  and 
rates  have  advanced  most  radically.  In  New 
York  harbor  every  available  boat  that  will  float 
is  being  taken  for  handling  general  cargoes  so 
that  those  coal  shippers  or  consumers  who  have 
to  deal  with  the  trans-shipment  of  anthracite 
when  it  reaches  ports  are  having  a  great  deal  of 
trouble  unless  they  own  their  own  transportation 
or  have  such  transportation  under  time  charter. 

The  November  production  figures  will  be  made 
public  later  in  the  week.  Early  estimates  place 
November  production  as  being  slightly  heavier 
than  in  November  last  year.  Due  to  the  shortage 
of  cars  that  has  developed,  it  is  not  expected  that 
December  production  will  reach  that  of  Decem¬ 
ber  last  year,  notwithstanding  the  great  urgency 
that  now  exists  for  anthracite  that  did  not  exist 
at  this  time  last  year. 

Some  of  the  shippers  are  very  short  on  egg 
and  stove,  with  nut  slightly  easier.  Others  report 
egg  selling  at  slight  concessions,  but  prompt  ship¬ 
ments  are  taken  at  the  full  circular  price.  Some 
of  the  individuals  report  that  they  are  securing 
slight  premiums  on  stove. 

The  steam  sizes  are  in  good  demand,  though 
inferior  grades  of  buckwheat  are  dragging  at 
tidewater.  Rice  coal  is  firm,  with  barley,  espe¬ 
cially  the  poor  grades  showing  weakness. 

New  York  anthracite  prices  are: 

Upper  Lower 

Ports.  Ports. 


Broken  .  $5.10  $5.00 

Egg  .  5.35  5.25 

Stove  .  5.35  5.25 

Chestnut  .  5.60  5.50 

Pea  .  3.55  3.45 


special  grades  of  red  ash  and  other  high-grade 
coals  at  the  lower  ports  sell  at  twenty-five  to 
fifty  cents  per  ton  Over  above  figures. 

Spot  prices  in  individual  coals  at  lower  ports 
are  about  as  follows : 


Stove 
Nut  . 
Pea  .  . 
liuck 
Kice  . 
Harley 


$5.05  and  up 
5.20  and  up 
5.20  and  up 
3.25  and  up 
2.30  and  up 
2.00  and  up 
1.75  and  up 


The  Bituminous  Situation. 


The  bituminous  trade  are  just  now  witnessing 
a  runaway  market.  It  is  no  longer  a  matter  of 
price;  the  paramount  question  is  delivery.  If  a 
man  has  coal  on  cars  he  can  command  his  own 
terms  and  Tuesday  of  this  week  saw  coal  sell 
in  Pennsylvania  on  cars  at  $3.50  per  ton.  One 
sale  of  1,000  tons  was  reported  at  this  price. 
Wednesday  buyers  in  the  regions  were  offering, 
$1.85  cash  for  car  numbers,  irrespective  of  grade. 

Late  last  week  prices  had  reached  the  $2  mark, 
but  these  sales  were  very  few,  and  the  tonnage 
involved  very  small.  Monday  there  was  hardly 
anything  in  the  Pennsylvania  regions  resembling 
coal,  quoted  under  $1.75,  with  good  coals  com¬ 
manding  $2.  If  coal  was  on  cars  or  on  rails 
enroute  a  better  price  could  be  obtained. 

The  great  call  for  coal  at  the  moment  comes 
from  New  England.  The  situation  here  is  very 
tense.  The  southern  coals  at  Hampton  Roads 
are  in  ample  supply  and  prices  are  easy,  but  there 
are  very  few  boats  that  can  be  obtained  to  take 
them  to  New  England  points.  Tuesday  a  fixture 
was  reported  at  $2.50.  This  is  more  than  three 
times  the  normal  rate.  A  5,500-ton  boat  secured 
$2  from  Philadelphia.  From  New  York  $1.75  was 
paid.  This  makes  coal  cost  considerably  above 
$5  when  unloaded  at  Mystic  Wharf.  And  so 
little  coal  is  going  forward  that  consumers  and 


middlemen  are  trying  to  obtain  supplies  all-rail 
from  the  Pennsylvania  and  because  there  is  a 
heavy  demand  for  coal  from  every  quarter  the 
operator  is  holding  the  whip  hand. 

Locally  there  is  a  very  good  demand  and  coal 
is  coming  to  tide  very  slowly.  Deliveries  are 
very  much  hampered  by  the  general  congestion  of 
freight  on  all  lines  leading  to  New  York  and 
other  seaboard  ports.  Then,  again,  there  are  very 
few  boats  to  be  had  at  New  York,  outside  the 
regular  lines,  all  of  which  are  under  time  charter. 

Bunkering  business  is  very  good.  There  is  a 
good  call  for  slack,  and  only  a  small  tonnage 
of  it  is  being  made.  Therefore  it  sells  in  close 
line  with  run  of  mine. 

Car  supply  is  bad  on  all  roads  in  Pennsylvania, 
with  the  possible  exception  of  the  New  York 
Central.  Here  operations  have  a  serious  labor 
shortage,  so  that  the  tonnage  being  shipped  is 
below  normal.  Also  miners  are  striking  for  sun¬ 
dry  causes,  some  fifteen  mines  in  the  Cambria- 
Clearfield  region  being  idle  due  to  strikes  during 
the  past  week. 

The  Vessel  Situation. 

The  diversion  of  every  class  of  vessel,  both 
sail  and  steam,  not  under  time  charter,  to  the 
export  trades,  leaves  the  coastwise  trade  facing 
a  most  serious  shortage  of  bottoms.  Therefore, 
those  few  owners  who  have  vessels  for  charter 
are  making  their  own  rates.  The  highest  fixtures 
of  the  past  week  have  been  $2.50  on  barges  from 
Hampton  Roads  to  Boston ;  $2  on  a  steamer 
from  Philadelphia  to  Boston.  For  Rio,  $8.50  is 
being  i)aid  for  schooners. 

Current  rates  are  as  follows  : 

h'rom  Hampton  Roads  to  Boston,  $1.00  to  $2.50 
is  about  the  range ;  to  Portland  and  points  east 
of  Boston,  the  same.  To  sound  points,  $1.50  to 
$2.25.  From  Philadelphia  to  New  England 
points,  $1.75  to  $2.25. 

I'rom  New  York  to  sound  points  as  follows: 
Bridgeport,  sixty-five  cents;  New  Haven,  seventy- 
five  cents;  Providence,  $1  to  $1.10;  New  Bedford, 
$1  to  $1.15.  To  Boston,  around  cape,  $1.25  to 
$1.75.  Harbor  rates,  twenty-five  to  thirty  cents. 

Current  quotations  on  bituminous  coal  in  spot 
lots  are : 


F.  O.  B. 

F.  0.  B. 

Somerset  County — 

Harbor. 

Mines. 

Best  grades . 

$2.15 

Medium  grades . . 

.  3.55 

2.00 

Ordin  iry  . 

.  3.35 

1.75 

Cambria  County 

Best  Miller  vein . 

2.25 

Medium  grades . 

.  3.55 

2.00 

Cheaper  grades . 

.  3.45 

l\10 

Clearfield  County — 

Best  grades . 

2.00 

Ordinary  grades . 

.  3.40 

1.85 

Indiana  County — 

Best  grades . 

.  3.45 

1.90 

Medium  grades . 

.  3.35 

1.85 

Maryland — 

Georges  Creek  big  vein . 

.  3.75 

2.25 

West  Virginia — 

Ordinary  grades . 

.  3.25 

1.85 

Best  gas,  ^-inch  lump . 

Best  grade,  run  of  mine . 

.  3.25 

1.85 

.  3.25 

1.85 

Gas  slack . 

1.15@1.45 

New  York  Trade  Briefs. 

Robert  Hasler,  Norfolk  manager  for  Hasler 
Bros.,  Inc.,  spent  last  week  at  the  New  York 
offices. 

R.  R.  Reutingler,  treasurer  of  W.  H.  Bradford 
&  Co.  of  Philadelphia,  was  in  New  York  last 
Tuesday. 

W.  J.  Richards,  president  of  the  Philadelphia  & 
Reading  Coal  &  Iron  Company,  visited  New 
York  on  Tuesday. 

E.  E.  White,  president  of  the  E.  E.  White  Coal 
Company  of  Glen  White,  West  Va.,  was  a  New 
York  visitor  on  Monday. 

D.  B.  Zimmerman  of  Somerset,  Pa.,  president 
of  the  Quemahoning  Coal  Company,  spent  the 
week  end  in  New  York. 

Jesse  L.  Eddy  of  Dickson  &  Eddy,  No.  17 
Battery  Place,  has  returned  from  a  two  weeks’ 
stay  at  Hot  Springs,  Va. 

A.  B.  Crane,  New  York  manager  for  H.  H. 
Lineaweaver  &  Co.,  No.  17  Battery  Place,  spent 
Tuesday  this  week  in  Philadelphia. 

S.  B.  Cary,  Roanoke,  Va.,  manager  for  Castner, 
Curran  &  Bullitt,  Inc.,  was  a  visitor  at  the  New 
York  offices  of  his  company  on  Monday. 

George  F.  Getz  and  Norman  S.  Birkland,  presi¬ 
dent  and  secretary  respectively  of  the  Globe  Coal 
Company  of  Chicago,  were  New  York  visitors 
late  last  week. 

W.  R.  Minds,  New  York  manager  of  the 
Bulah  Coal  Mining  Company,  No.  120  Broad¬ 
way,  visited  the  mines  of  his  company  in  Clear¬ 
field  county  over  the  week  end. 

Cuban  coal  freights  have  advanced,  $4  being 
the  rate  asked  this  week  to  common  Cuban 


points.  To  keep  in  line,  vessel  owners  were  ask¬ 
ing  $1.75  from  Hampton  Roads  to  Boston. 

S.  W.  Adsit,  general  freight  and  passenger 
agent  of  the  Virginian  Railway,  was  up  from 
Norfolk  on  Tuesday,  and  was  a  caller  at  several 
of  the  coal  offices  at  No.  1  Broadway. 

E.  R.  Wadleigh,  the  well  known  coal  engineer, 
who  makes  his  headquarters  in  Philadelphia,  re¬ 
turned  this  week  on  the  Holland-America  Line 
steamer,  from  a  two  months’  European  trip. 

The  New  York  Coal  Merchants’  Association 
will  hold  its  annual  meeting  next  Tuesday,  the 
14th,  at  which  meeting  the  report  of  the  ensuing 
year  will  be  made  and  general  business  discussed. 

D.  A.  Thomas,  the  Welsh  coal  magnate,  who 
was  in  this  country  for  five  months  in  the  interest 
of  the  munitions  department  of  the  British  gov¬ 
ernment,  reached  Cardiff  on  Monday  of  this 
week. 

A.  C.  Lammont,  of  Scranton,  chief  mining  en¬ 
gineer  of  the  D.,  L.  &  W.  Railroad  Company, 
was  on  Monday  appointed  general  superintendent 
of  the  mining  operations  of  the  company,  suc¬ 
ceeding  Col.  R.  A.  Phillips,  who  resigned  on 
account  of  ill  health. 

The  Pennsylvania  Society  of  New  York  will 
iiold  its  annual  dinner  on  Saturday  evening  at 
the  Waldorf.  This  dinner  is  largely  attended 
l)y  native  Pennsylvania  people  now  residing  in 
Mew  York  state,  among  whom  there  is  a  good 
delegation  of  coal  men,  while  many  coal  men  in 
the  regions  come  to  New  York  to  attend  this 
event. 

New  Yorkers  hear  many  rumors  these  days  of 
l)ig  enterprises.  During  the  past  few  weeks  there 
have  been  numerous  rumors  about  new  enter¬ 
prises,  especially  in  the  shipbuilding  line.  This  is 
one  industry  that  is  most  active  just  now,  the 
repair  plants  along  the  Atlantic  seaboard  reeking 
in  prosperity,  as  well  as  the  plants  that  build 
anything  from  a  battleship  down.  One  rumor 
has  it  that  some  very  big  undertakings  in  the  ship¬ 
building  line  are  to  be  started  somewhere  along 
the  Staten  Island  shores,  between  Constable  Hook 
and  the  lower  coal  ports,  on  the  Kill  Von  Kull. 
Added  to  this,  the  shipbuilding  plant  on  Shooter 
Island,  also  near  the  Kill,  is  becoming  very 
active.  This  plant  is  being  rebuilt  practically,  and 
put  in  condition  to  turn  out  the  large  size  freight 
steamers,  and  rumor  has  it  that  orders  are 
crowding  upon  its  proprietors.  A  recent  inquiry 
for  10,000  tons  of  steel  plates  is  said  to  be  for 
this  plant,  to  be  used  in  the  construction  of  two 
9,000-ton  steamers.  Some  of  the  shipbuilding  re¬ 
pair  plants  on  New  York  water  fronts  are  said 
to  have  all  the  business  that  they  can  take  care 
of  in  the  repair  lines,  and  that  price  is  no  object. 
Boats  of  all  kinds  are  such  money  makers  at 
this  time  that  when  they  require  repairs  their 
owners  do  not  stickle  over  terms,  but  rather  for 
speed. 

Here  is  how  a  prominent  anthracite  authority 
sized  up  the  situation  this  week :  “The  anthracite 
trade  is  good.  We  are  not  in  a  panicky  state 
yet,  but  we  have  found  the  demand  so  very  good 
that  we  have  not  thought  that  it  was  good  policy 
to  take  on  new  customers.  Also,  we  have  not 
felt  inclined  to  give  some  of  our  old  customers 
all  the  coal  that  they  have  been  clamoring  for. 
We  recognize  that  coal  is  going  to  be  scarce, 
and  we  are  sharing  our  shipments  as  equitably  as 
we  can,  between  all  of  our  customers,  trying  to 
give  them  all  an  equal  show.  As  is  always  the 
case,  there  are  some  who  appreciate  the  tense 
situation  more  than  others.  In  their  zeal  to  get 
protected  they  naturally  order  more  coal  than 
they  really  need,  and  more  in  fact  than  they  ex¬ 
pect  us  to  ship  them,  but  they  hope  that  we  may 
be  so  eager  for  business  that  we  will  rush  to  fill 
their  orders  in  their  entirety.  We  have  seen  this 
situation  coming.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  some  two 
months  ago  we  tried  to  interest  the  dealers  into 
taking  liberal  shipments  while  conditions  were 
favorable.  Well,  most  of  them  are  human,  and 
it  is  human  to  procrastinate.  Hence,  here  we  are 
in  the  first  real  winter  month,  with  coal  short  in 
every  direction,  with  wintry  weather  upon  us, 
and  production  at  maximum,  and  still  not  coal 
enough  to  go  around.  It  is  going  to  be  a  serious 
winter  for  some,  and,  in  our  opinion,  it  is  going 
to  be  an  entirely  different  market  situation  from 
any  that  we  have  had  in  previous  winters.” 


The  D.,  L.  &  W.  Coal  Company  will  load  coal 
after  December  20  over  the  docks  of  the  Erie 
Railroad  Company  on  the  Blackwell  canal,  ap¬ 
parently  continuing  its  season  into  winter  storage 
cargoes,  as  it  has  before.  This  is  on  account  of 
the  fact  that  the  D.,  L.  &  W.  coal  trestle  will 
have  to  be  .given  up  this  fall,  by  order  of  the 
government. 


No.  24] 


483 


Philadelphia  Trade. 

Consumers  Enter  the  Market  in  Force 
and  the  Shortage  of  Cars  Puts 
Up  the  Prices. 

Office  of  The  Black  Diamond, 

1400  Land  Title  Building, 

Philadelphia,  December  9. 

All  the  fireworks  necessary  to  make  it  the  “wild¬ 
est  market  since  1903”  were  injected  into  local 
conditions  in  the  past  week.  The  scurry  to  get 
coal  has  made  a  range  of  prices  that  consumers 
who  have  been  caught  short  can  scarce  realize. 
And  the  consumer  is  now  in  the  market.  It  has 
passed  beyond  the  middle  man  and  the  broker 
stage.  During  the  week  more  inquiries  were  re¬ 
ceived  from  the  actual  users  of  coal  than  for 
some  time  past.  Each  day  has  seen  this  increas¬ 
ing.  By  the  entry  of  this  strong  factor  coal  men 
say  that  little  possibility  of  a  break  under  the 
strain  now  appears.  January  and  February  may 
have  downward  flurries,  but  high  prices  being  es¬ 
tablished  now  will  continue  until  after  the  pass¬ 
ing  of  the  April  crisis. 

The  car  shortage  has  again  tightened  and  is 
more  distressing  than  has  been  in  the  past  two 
months.  A  statement  from  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio 
railway  shows  that  18,000  cars  are  on  foreign 
lines  with  little  prospect  of  getting  them  back  in 
service  to  help  out.  The  Pennsylvania  railroad, 
through  blockades  and  embargoes,  has  been  fur¬ 
nishing  lower  than  one-half  of  its  allotments. 
The  coal  shortage  in  New  England  has  been  play¬ 
ing  hob  with  lines  which  tap  the  central  fields  of 
the  state.  Even  the  hard  coal  carriers  are  throw¬ 
ing  up  their  hands  at  the  alarming  shortage  that 
has  been  staring  them  in  the  face. 

Prices  vary  with  each  hour,  so  that  a  collec¬ 
tion  of  figures  as  will  be  quoted  hereafter  were 
those  which  were  gathered  on  Wednesday  morn¬ 
ing  and  were  given  a  further  upward  impetus  by 
a  flurry  of  snow — the  first  white  mantle  of  the 
winter.  Western  Maryland  coal  has  been  the 
most  active  in  this  market,  and  sales  were  made 
on  ordinary  grades  at  $1.75  to  $1.85.  Freeports 
held  a  dime  higher  with  actual  transactions  as 
high  as  $1.95.  Big  Vein  Georges  Creek  was  held 
at  $2.25  to  $2.50,  though  little  free  coal  of  this  vein 
was  to  be  found  on  the  market.  Quemahonings 
were  held  on  a  range  of  $2  to  $2.25,  with  a  couple 
of  good  blocks  selling  at  $2.10. 

A  sale  of  Clearfield  coal  at  $2'.10  marked  the 
high-water  figures  for  years.  At  Osceola  mills, 
in  the  regions  several  sales  were  made  at  the 
even  two-dollar  mark  on  Tuesday  and  Wednes¬ 
day.  A  block  of  coal  “for  shipment  within  a 
week”  from  the  Beech  Creek  section  was  sold 
Tuesday  at  $1.92^  a  ton. 

A  salesman  with  coal  from  the  Allegheny  sec¬ 
tion  of  the  Pennsylvania  railroad  dropped  into 
town  with  about  a  hundred  cars  of  coal  to  sell. 
This  carries  a  freight  rate  of  forty  cents  higher 
than  the  minimum.  The  figures  at  which  the 
sale  was  made  were  not  disclosed,  but  the  turn¬ 
over  was  completed  within  an  hour. 

Fairmont  coals,  also  carrying  the  high  freight 
rate,  have  been  doing  all  sorts  of  acrobatics.  Size 
and  preparation  cut  little  figure,  run  of  mine  in 
some  cases  selling  higher  than  three-quarter  sizes. 
The  range  was  $1.20  to  $1.40. 

Coal  at  the  piers,  which  has  held  fairly  steady 
even  in  the  face  of  the  jumping  market  for  free 
coal,  took  a  boom  upward  this  week.  Quotations 
on  B.  Miller  vein  and  Somerset  county  coals 
have  been  made  for  delivery  there  at  $1.75  f.  o.  b. 
mines.  Shipments  for  export  have  been  cut  away 
down,  but  bunkerage  has  increased  considerably, 
and  that  is  given  as  the  cause  for  the  flurry. 

One  marked  feature  to  the  market  is  the  fact 
that  no  quotations  can  be  had  for  deliveries  that 
extend  further  than  a  week  or  ten  days  and  some 
operators  who  promised  to  have  quotations  from 
January  1st  on  say  that  they  doubt  if  they  will 
be  able  to  enter  the  market  for  several  weeks 
later. 

Anthracite  Situation 

Pea  coal  is  again  to  the  forefront.  Both  the 
independents  and  the  companies  are  inclined  to¬ 
ward  strong  indications  that  the  circular  price  of 
$2.50  will  be  maintained  after  the  first  of  the 
year.  Several  contracts  that  were  made  up  to  this 
date  are  to  run  out  and  the  full  circular  price  will 
mean  a  considerable  change  in  the  local  retail 
attitude.  With  soft  coals  selling  at  high  figures, 
the  anthracite  people  figure  that  their  coal  should 
at  least  bring  set  prices. 

Shortage  of  cars  in  the  hard  coal  regions  has 
made  deliveries  slow,  and  some  of  the  small  yards 
in  this  and  other  cities  have  felt  the  pinch  result¬ 
ant.  Steady  customers  are  getting  a  preference. 


THE  BEACK  DIAMOND. 


but  even  these  have  not  been  getting  the  total 
shipments  that  they  have  asked  for. 

Steam  sizes  are  again  strong,  and  while  there 
have  been  a  few  instances  of  a  premium  being 
paid  on  the  Jersey  lines  that  are  first  to  feel  this 
upturn,  it  can  be  said  that  the  premium  will  be 
general  before  a  great  while.  Egg  sizes,  which 
dropped  back  twenty-five  cents  on  the  ton,  have 
recovered  this  lost  ground  and  are  now  being 
held  firm  at  the  circular.  Nut  and  stove  coal  is 
also  in  good  demand  and  has  been  well  taken. 

Shipments  over  the  piers  to  New  England 
points  have  shown  a  considerable  increase  within 
the  last  fortnight.  The  reason  for  this,  as  given 
by  shipping  men,  is  that  the  shortage  on  ship¬ 
ments  from  Virginia  points  has  turned  greater 
attention  to  the  anthracite. 


Philadelphia  News  Notes. 

Mr.  Anderson  of  George  E.  Warren  &  Co., 
Boston,  was  a  trade  visitor. 

Mr.  Baker  of  the  Keystone  Coal  Company,  with 
headquarters  in  York,  Pa.,  was  one  of  the  visi¬ 
tors  of  the  mid-week. 

Max  Voelker  of  Buffalo,  representing  the 
Youghiogheny  and  Ohio  Coal  Company,  was  seen 
among  the  trade  visitors. 

E.  J.  Skeele,  president  of  the  Skeele  Coal 
Company  of  New  York,  made  a  flying  trip  for 
trade  purposes  early  this  week. 

A.  A.  Zane,  representing  F.  W.  Foedisch  &  Co., 
made  a  trip  to  the  mines  in  central  Pennsylvania 
district  the  early  part  of  the  week. 

President  D.  B.  Zimmerman  of  the  Quema- 
hofiing  Coal  Company  paid  a  visit  to  the  local 
offices  of  his  corporation  this  week. 

J.  Edgar  Long  of  the  J.  Edgar  Long  Coal  Com¬ 
pany  of  Clarksburg,  W.  Va.,  spent  a  couple  of 
days  here  going  over  the  local  situation. 

John  Thomas  of  the  Kraemer  Coal,  Coke  and 
Stone  Company  of  Johnstown,  Pa.,  was  one  of 
the  interested  spectators  of  the  quick  turning 
market  as  seen  in  this  city. 

H.  C.  Burnett,  president  of  the  Atlantic  Crushed 
Coke  Company  of  Greensburg,  made  a  tour  of 
the  market  in  the  east  this  week  and  was  in 
Philadelphia  on  Monday  and  Tuesday. 

J.  A.  Boucher  of  the  Beaver  Run  Coal  Com¬ 
pany  of  Beaverdale,  was  in  the  city  on  Tuesday 
attending  a  directors’  meeting,  which  was  held 
in  the  company’s  offices  in  the  Pennsylvania 
building. 

William  F.  Coale  of  Cumberland,  Md.,  who  is 
one  of  the  lucky  ones  who  have  coal  to  offer  in 
these  days  of  a  tight  supply,  dropped  into  the 
iQcal  offices  of  his  company,  after  a  trip  to  New 
York  the  forepart  of  the  week. 

R.  G.  Harris,  who  was  in  the  sales  department 
of  the  Davis  Colliery  Company  in  their  local  of¬ 
fices,  is  now  associated  with  the  Cortright  Coal 
Company.  Prior  to  coming  here,  Mr.  Harris  was 
the  Washington  manager  for  the  White  Oak  Coal 
Company. 

The  Cortright  Coal  Company  has  been  elected 
a  member  of  the  American  Manufacturers’  Ex¬ 
port  Association.  The  members  represent  some 
of  the  strongest  firms  in  this  country  who  are 
interested  and  are  furnished  with  information 
on  export  prospects. 

Howard  Pfeiffer,  who  has  been  the  local  repre¬ 
sentative  of  the  Chaffee  Coal  Company  in  this 
market  for  several  years,  has  incorporated  the 
firm  of  H.  Pfeiffer  &  Co.  under  the  New  Jersey 
laws.  The  new  corporation  will  continue  to  han¬ 
dle  the  output  of  the  Chaffee  mines  on  the  west¬ 
ern  Maryland,  together  with  other  high-grade 
coals. 

Invitations  have  been  issued  to  the  coal  men 
who  are  members  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce 
to  meet  with  Mr.  Davies  of  the  Lehigh  Coal  and 
Navigation  Company  and  George  Van  Dusen  of 
Van  Dusen  Bros.,  at  a  dinner  to  be  given  the 
coal  trade  group  at  the  Manufacturers’  Club  on 
Thursday.  While  none  of  the  tentative  plans 
has  been  made  public,  it  has  been  learned  that 
this  is  intended  as  a  stepping  stone  toward  inter¬ 
esting  the  coal  men  in  the  formation  of  an  ex¬ 
change  where  all  can  meet  upon  a  common 
ground.  Other  cities  have  found  the  plan  very 
successful,  and  Philadelphia  should  be  in  line  for 
a  movement  of  the  kind. 


The  Coal  &  Delivery  Company  of  Maine,  with 
a  capital  of  $1,000,000,  has  just  been  granted  a 
Maine  charter.  The  incorporators  are:  William 
M.  Bradley,  Portland ;  B.  L.  Merryman,  South 
Portland,  Me.;  Charles  C.  Upham  and  Arthur 
Gardner,  of  New  York  City,  and  Karl  R.  Miner, 
of  Yonkers,  N.  Y. 


Buffalo  Trade. 


Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  December  9. —  {Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.)- — The  November  shipments  of  an¬ 
thracite  by  lake  amounted  to  443,900  tons,  com¬ 
pared  with  597,495  in  the  same  month  last  year. 
I'he  total  shipments  to  December  1st  this  year 
were  3,757,146  tons,  against  4,292,510  tons  in  that 
period  of  1914,  a  falling  off  of  over  twelve  per 
cent.  Since  the  month  opened  the  shipments  have 
been  78,926  tons,  of  which  35,800  tons  cleared 
for  Duluth-Superior,  20,126  for  Milwaukee,  19,200 
for  Chicago  and  3,800  for  Fort  William.  It  is 
likely  that  the  shipments  will  run  over  100,000 
tons  this  month.  That  amount  is  usually  the 
maximum  for  the  last  month  of  the  year.  In 
December,  1914,  shipments  were  93,700,  and  in 
December,  1913,  they  were  103,100.  The  insur¬ 
ance  expires  next  Sunday  night. 

There  is  a  prospect  of  a  large  amount  of  win¬ 
ter  loadin.g  of  coal  cargoes  here,  for  which  two 
good  reasons  exist.  There  is  plenty  of  coal  and 
the  shippers  have  a  notion  that  if  they  do  not 
take  advantage  of  the  large  fleet  wintering  here 
they  w'ill  have  trouble  getting  tonnage  in  the 
spring,  as  so  much  of  it  has  already  been  taken 
for  ore. 

Anthracite  demand  from  retailers  is  not  heavy 
at  present,  though  they  are  taking  a  good  quantity 
of  chestnut.  It  will  require  colder  weather  than 
that  so  far  this  month  to  stimulate  much  busi¬ 
ness.  As  soon  as  it  grows  colder  it  is  expected 
that  business  will  be  good  and  that  a  coal  short¬ 
age  will  be  experienced.  Already  cars  are  getting 
scarcer. 

Bituminous  demand  has  been  showing  much 
increase  in  the  eastern  market  and  shippers  are 
selling  a  lot  of  coal  there  at  prices  much  above 
those  recently  charged.  The  Allegheny  Valley 
and  Reynoldsville  operators  all  have  gathered 
up  many  orders  and  are  able  to  place  all  the 
coal  they  can  mine.  Smokeless  coal  has  become 
quite  scarce  and  is  bringing  a  premium.  Scarcity 
of  labor,  and  to  some  extent  of  cars,  is  keeping 
mining  output  down  considerably,  and  a  good 
deal  of  labor  trouble  has  developed  at  certain 
mines,  which  have  lately  decided  to  suspend  oper¬ 
ations  until  a  settlement  can  be  reached.  The 
closing  of  the  lake  season  has  not  been  followed 
as  was  expected  by  a  drop  in  coal  prices,  and 
the  outlook  is  for  a  strong  market  during  the 
winter,  unless  the  industrial  boom  in  the  east 
comes  to  a  sudden  end. 

The  coke  market  remains  strong,  but  at  a 
slightly  lower  level  than  reported  a  week  or  two 
a.go. 


Omaha  Trade. 


O.MAHA,  Neer.,  December  9. —  {Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — Prevailing  warm  weather  here  has 
left  local  dealers,  as  well  as  those  throughout 
the  state,  with  heavy  stocks.  Durin.g  the  latter 
part  of  the  past  week,  there  were  very  slight 
flurries  of  snow  and  a  threatened  drop  in  the 
mercury.  The  result  was  a  general  shortage  on 
the  market  for  steam  coal  early  this  week,  fac¬ 
tories  and  plants  demanding  spot  deliveries.  The 
immediate  future  promises  a  continuance  of  prev¬ 
alent  fair  weather  and  very  little  buyiag  of  spot 
coal. 

The  car  situation  has  not  affected  this  market 
as  yet  and  there  seems  to  be  plenty  of  box  cars 
at  tbe  docks,  and  shipments  are  being  made 
promptly  on  anthracite  and  splint.  Colorado  coal 
seems  to  be  quite  plentiful  and  prices  on  Maitland 
and  Loutt  county  are  fairly  weak.  All  rail  coal 
shipments  are  coming  forward  a  little  slowly. 

There  is  a  contemplated  advance  of  ten  cents 
per  ton  on  freight  rates  on  anthracite,  although 
this  has  had  but  slight  effect  on  local  trade.  Many 
dealers,  however,  believe  that  this  will  influence 
the  market  toward  petroleum  coke  and  semi-an¬ 
thracite  coals,  the  demand  for  which  is  steadily 
increasing  here. 

Slack  coal  is  strengthening  very  materially. 
Cherokee  slack  is  very  scarce  and  strong  at  $1.35 ; 
Cherokee  mill  is  bringing  $1.50  and  Cherokee  nut 
is  in  good  demand  at  $2.  Iowa  screenings  have 
hovered  around  seventy-five  cents  and  eighty 
cents.  The  market  has  been  weak  on  Franklin 
county  coals,  the  better  grades  of  which  are 
quoted  at  $1.75;  other  grades  are  quoted  at  $1.40 
to  $1.50.  Montgomery  county  lump  is  going  at 
$1.25,  while  egg  and  nut  from  this  locality  com¬ 
mand  $1.25  and  $1.50  respectively.  Springfield 
district  grades  are  quoted  as  follows :  3x2  nut, 
$1.1.5,  and  6x2  e.gg,  $1.10.  Iowa  mine  run  hovers 
at  $1.35  and  walnut  block  at  $2. 

Anthracite  has  been  selling  at  from  fifteen  to 
twenty-five  cents  off  circular  in  all  sizes. 


484 


New  England  Trade 


Boston,  December  9. —  (Special  Correspond¬ 
ence). — The  all-aljsorbiiiff  topic  of  conversation 
among  the  local  wholesale  anthracite  and  bitumi¬ 
nous  trade  is  the  marine  freight  rate  market; 
and  its  attending  influence  upon  the  price  of  coal. 
The  demand  for  space  from  Hampton  Roads 
ports  and  from  New  York  is  so  keen  and  the 
available  supply  so  limited,  it  is  somewhat  diffi¬ 
cult  to  secure  reliable  rates  because  of  their 
erratic  movements.  Certain  it  is,  however,  that 
rates  are  probably  higher  today  than  they  have 
been  before  in  the  history  of  the  coal  trade. 
Nor  does  it  look  at  the  moment  that  the  top 
has  been  reached.  The  fact  that  the  New  Eng¬ 
land  Coal  &  Coke  Company  a  month  or  so  ago 
secured  practically  all  of  the  available  ocean 
space  for  1910,  has  had  its  influence  upon  the 
present  market. 

It  is  understood  that  as  high  as  $1.15  per  ton 
has  been  asked  and  secured  for  space  from  New 
York  to  Providence  since  last  reports.  From 
New  York  to  Pawtucket  charters  at  $1.25  per  ton 
have  been  made,  and  from  New  York  to  Boston 
as  high  as  $1.50.  These  rates  are  undoubtedly 
the  most  extreme  paid.  On  the  other  hand  it  is 
understood  that  nothing  less  than  $1.10  per  ton 
has  been  accepted  recently,  whereas  a  month 
ago  the  general  asking  rate  was  fifty  or  fifty-five 
cents.  From  Hampton  Roads  ports  to  Boston 
the  bulk  of  the  recent  charters  are  said  to  have 
been  on  a  basis  of  $1.60  per  ton,  and  we  hear  of 
one  instance  where  a  ship-owner  received  as  high 
as  $2.  Tuesday,  $2.50  was  reached. 

To  say  that  the  local  wholesale  bituminous 
market  is  booming  is  putting  it  mildly,  for  it  is 
in  reality  truly  excitably  buoyant.  Stran.ge  to  say, 
however,  the  retail  price  of  soft  coal  is  unchanged 
at  $4.40  per  ton,  and  most  of  the  largest  distrib¬ 
utors  feel  that  it  is  not  likely  to  advance  this 
year  because  most  of  them  are  fully  protected 
liy  contracts.  The  strength  of  the  market,  then, 
can  be  ascribed  to  buying  almost  wholly  among 
the  wholesale  dealers  themselves.  Dealers  having 
contract  coals  to  deliver  have  been  obliged  to 
go  into  the  open  market  at  Mystic  Wharf  and 
cover.  As  a  result  it  is  doubtful  if  any  New 
River  and  Pocahontas  has  sold  at  that  point  dur¬ 
ing  the  past  week  at  less  than  $4.50  per  ton. 
Some  of  the  trade  predict  $6  coal  if  shipping 
conditions  do  not  improve  within  the  next  fort¬ 
night.  Dealers  handling  Georges  Creek  coals  at 
Mystic  Wharf  have  virtually  withdrawn  from 
the  market  because  of  their  oversold  condition. 
Small  lots  of  this  coal  have  been  sold  as  high 
as  $4.75  per  ton.  The  demand  for  old  contract 
coals  is  wonderfully  good,  much  to  the  dis- 
comforture  of  dealers,  and  there  is  considerable 
sounding  of  the  market  for  1916-17  quotations.  The 
all-rail  Pennsylvania  bituminous  market  has  been 
greatly  benefited  by  the  unfavorable  water  trans¬ 
portation  market,  coupled  with  a  real  car  short¬ 
age.  The  poorest  grades  that  a  month  or  so 
ago  were  .going  begging  at  ninety  cents  a  ton, 
are  now  selling  readily  at  $1.75  per  ton  on  cars 
at  the  mines,  and  from  that,  prices  have  ranged  up 
to  $2.25  to  $2.50  per  ton. 

The  wholesale  anthracite  market  is  very  strong, 
Init  prices  have  not  changed  noticeably  among 
the  shippers  of  bi.g  company  coal.  Many  of  the 
local  trade  feel,  however,  it  is  but  a  question  of 
a  very  short  time  when  there  will  be  a  gen¬ 
eral  marking  up  of  values  in  sympathy  with  the 
independent  schedule,  especially  now  that  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission  has  refused 
to  open  the  case  involving  rates  from  the  an- 
tliracite  fields  to  the  seaboard.  One  dealer  says: 
“The  soft  coal  fellows  are  having  their  troubles 
in  trying  to  keep  up  with  steadily  advancing 
prices  and  the  consumers  with  .getting  supplies. 
I'or  the  moment  anthracite  has  been  pushed  into 
the  background.  But  wait  another  two  weeks 
and  I  believe  you  will  see  some  fireworks  in 
hard  coal  prices,  especially  if  the  eastern  section 
of  the  country  should  experience  two  or  three 
snow  storms  which  would  practically  tie  up  the 
all-rail  movement.”  During  the  past  week  the 
demand  for  hard  coal  has  been  exceptionally 
good,  but  the  high  water  rates  has  curtailed  actual 
business.  In  other  sections  of  New  England 
new  orders  have  been  booked  daily  and  orders 
are  accumulating  because  of  dealers  bein.g  unable 
to  make  deliveries.  At  Mystic  Wharf  stove  and 
egg  are  strong  at  $6.20  per  ton  on  cars,  and  nut 
at  $6.45.  Alongside  Boston  Harbor  prices  are : 
Stove  and  eg.g,  $5.85;  nut,  $6.10;  broken,  $5.10: 
pea,  $4.05  per  ton.  No  1  Buckwheat  is  still 
mioted  on  a  basis  of  $2.85  per  ton  f.  o.  b.  New 
Vork  •  No.  2.  $2.90;  No.  3,  $1.60,  and  Bird’s 
Eye,  $2,  and  all  are  scarce. 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


New  England  Trade  Notes. 

A  Worcester  dealer  is  predicting  $10  anthracite 
by  another  winter.  Boston  retail  prices  are  un¬ 
changed,  but  dealers  say  almost  anything  is  apt 
to  happen  any  moment. 

The  T.  J.  Sullivan  Coal  Company  of  Spring- 
field,  with  a  $25,000  capitalization,  has  just  been 
granted  a  Massachusetts  charter.  The  incorpo¬ 
rators  are:  Timothy  J.  Sullivan,  Jr.,  George  B. 
Corcoran,  and  Mary  G.  McDonough. 

The  employes  of  the  Metropolitan  Coal  Com¬ 
pany’s  Winthrop  branch  are  planning  a  series  of 
bowling  matches  during  the  winter.  The  town 
of  Winthrop  has  apparently  gone  mad  over  bowl¬ 
ing,  and  the  Mets  claim  they  have  some  pin  drop¬ 
pers. 

I'ollowing  are  the  receipts  of  anthracite  and 
bituminous  at  Boston  for  November  and  the 


eleven  months  ended  November  30,  together  with 
comparisons  (in  tons)  : 

November — 

Anthracite 

Bitum. 

Anthracite 

Bitum. 

Sea,  domestic.  , 

.  .  123,232 

337,044 

131,706 

412,141 

Sea,  foreign .  .  . 

20,081 

56,093 

Rail  . 

.  30,132 

8,074 

16,327 

4,543 

Totals . 

,  .  153,304 

365,799 

148,033 

472,777 

For  January  1 — 

Sea,  domestic ...  1,390,526 

4,254,802 

1,600,011 

4,540,433 

Sei,  foreign.. 

367,579 

209,860 

Rail  . 

.  165,018 

72,499 

178,523 

49,673 

Totals . 

.  .1,555,544 

4,694,880 

1,778,534 

4,800,016 

Baltimore  Trade. 


Baltimore,  Mn.,  December  9. —  (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — The  coal  trade  here  is  busy  adjust¬ 
ing  itself  to  the  best  possible  advantage  to  sev¬ 
eral  unusual  conditions,  and  with  only  partial 
success.  Car  shortage  has  become  so  acute  that 
the  non-delivery  of  fuel  has  caused  conditions  of 
lack  of  coal  at  some  consuming  points,  when  oth¬ 
erwise  everything  would  be  sailing  smoothly.  In 
other  words,  the  present  demand  for  coal,  while 
fairly  healthy,  is.  by  no  means  abnormal,  and  in 
fact  below  standard  in  some  cases,  and  yet  mines 
with  a  plentiful  supply  of  fuel  at  base  are  un¬ 
able  to  ship  coal  promptly  because  the  car  supply 
is  running  in  various  districts  at  but  thirty  to 
seventy  per  cent  of  requirements. 

Then  the  high  ocean  freight  rates  have  put 
a  serious  handicap  on  export  movement.  The 
past  week  saw  a  loading  of  less  than  12,000  tons, 
and  while  the  present  week  promises  to  furnish  a 
somewhat  better  total,  it  will  still  be  far  below 
recent  standards.  The  entire  month  of  November 
saw  a  foreign  movement  of  Init  43,836  tons  from 
this  port. 

Another  unusual  condition  is  that  an  artificial 
price  list  has  been  created  by  purchasing  between 
shippers  and  operators,  etc.,  in  order  that  contract 
obligations  can  be  filled  at  least  nearly  in  full. 
Much  of  this  purchasing,  to  prevent  regular  cus¬ 
tomers  being  disappointed  in  coal  needed  to  run 
industrial  plants,  has  been  at  a  loss  to  the  supply¬ 
ing  agency.  The  result  has  been  that  coals  are 
at  times  selling  at  prices  probably  from  forty  to 
fifty  cents  above  what  would  be  the  case  were 
cars  available  at  the  mines.  Those  with  individ¬ 
ual  cars  in  fact  are  getting  fairly  low  prices  on 
surplus  fuel  at  mines  that  cannot  be  moved  by 
allotment  of  railroads  to  the  particular  operation. 

Lhider  such  circumstances,  it  is  hard  to  fix  a 
price  schedule.  The  rates  quoted  herewith  are 
what  many  have  paid  the  past  week  in  covering 
weak  spots  of  delivery.  Should  a  big  change 
come  in  car  supply,  as.  many  are  predicting  early 
in  January,  the  probabilities  are  for  a  much  weak- 


er  price  list.  Prices  are  : 

F.  0.  B. 

F.  0.  B. 

Fairmont  Ordinary — 

Mines. 

Mines. 

Three-quarter  . ' . 

$1.50 

$2.98 

Run  of  mine . 

1.20 

2.63 

Slack  . 

1.05 

2.48 

Somerset — 

Best  . 

1.05 

2.78 

Good  . 

1.60 

2.58 

\V.  M.  R.  R.— 

Freeport  . <.  .  . . 

1.40 

2.58 

B.  &  O.  R.  R.^ 

Freeport  . 

2.63 

P.  R.  R  — 

Best  South  Fork . 

1.60 

2.78 

Miller  vein . 

1.50 

2.68 

The  anthracite  situation 

here,  too,  is 

becoming 

more  complex.  With  the  rush  of  demand  from 
household  interests  that  came  with  colder  weath¬ 
er,  a  shortage  in  certain  sizes  developed.  Mines 
are  lieing  urged  to  rush  coal,  but  all  are  far 
liack  on  their  orders. 

A  contest  that  interests  the  trade  somewhat 
just  now  is  for  the  possible  introduction  of  natu¬ 
ral  gas  into  Baltimore  from  West  Virginia.  The 
Columbia  Gas  Company  has  approached  the  local 
Consolidated  Gas,  Electric  Light  &  Power  Com¬ 
pany,  and  their  ])roposition  refused.  They  now 
threaten  a  separate  invasion. 


[December  11 


Detroit  Trade. 


Detroit,  Mich.,  December  9. —  (Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — While  the  amount  of  stock  han¬ 
dled  does  not  show  any  special  increase  in  ton¬ 
nage,  in  the  Detroit  market  the  steam  coal 
trade  seems  to  be  maintaining  a  .good  degree  of 
activity,  and  there  is  a  little  better  demand  for 
domestic  coal  due  to  continued  low  temperature. 

Interest  in  small  sizes  appears  most  pronounced 
in  the  steam  coal  buying  and  orders  for  stock 
of  that  character  are  coming  to  shippers  more 
frequently  than  for  the  larger  coal.  The  stock 
to  meet  requirements  seems  available,  though 
occasionally  a  little  extra  effort  is  necessary  to 
obtain  delivery  promptly. 

Just  now  egg  coal  is  seemingly  slower  of  move¬ 
ment  than  any  of  the  other  sizes.  The  supply, 
however,  is  not  excessive  and  even  the  egg  size 
is  finding  buyers,  without  serious  delays. 

Weather  conditions  have  brought  an  increase 
in  the  buying  of  domestic  coal  through  retail 
dealers  and  shippers  are  participating  to  a  moder¬ 
ate  extent  in  the  improvement  of  conditions. 
All  through  the  season  the  sale  of  domestic  coal 
and  anthracite  has  been  backward  and  it  is  ex¬ 
pected  there  will  be  an  appreciable  increase  in 
activity  in  that  branch  of  the  trade  in  the  near 
future. 

There  is  a  considerable  amount  of  consignment 
coal  coming  into  Detroit.  The  stock  seems  to  find 
a  ready  niarket  and  durirtg  the  week  little  or 
none  of  it  remained  long  enough  on  railroad 
tracks  to  approach  the  demurrage  stage  or  neces¬ 
sitate  cutting  prices  to  force  sales.  For  a  few 
days,  there  is  said  to  have  been  an  excess  of 
smokeless  lump  and  there  are  reports  that  some 
of  the  stock  was  offered  at  $2  with  freight  to 
be  added,  tbou.gh  the  schedule  of  $2.25  is  asserted 
to  be  generally  maintained. 

Sales  of  anthracite  are  not  equal  to  expecta¬ 
tions,  despite  the  curtailing  of  shipments  for  two 
weeks  by  the  embargo  on  the  Grand  Trunk  Rail¬ 
road  lines.  The  embargo  was  raised  at  midnight, 
December  4th,  and  conditions  on  the  Grand  Trunk 
are  now  described  as  favorable  to  continuance 
of  operation  without  restrictions. 

To  obtain  carriers  for  delivery  of  late  coal 
cargoes  on  Lake  Michigan,  some  shippers  have 
paid  seventy-five  cents  a  ton  or  forty-five  cents 
more  than  during  the  summer.  Shipments  to 
Lake  Superior  ports  have  taken  an  advance  of 
about  15  cents  making  a  forty-five-cent  rate  in 
some  instances.  The  statistical  report  for  the 
waterways  at  Sault  Ste.  Marie  shows  that  in 
November  233,708  tons  of  anthracite  and  1,343,248 
tons  of  soft  coal  passed  through  the  canals.  This 

compares  with  339,344  tons  of  anthracite  and 

2,798,416  tons  of  soft  coal  in  November  last 

year  and  with  291,768  tons  of  anthracite  and 

1.345,473  tons  of  soft  coal  in  November,  1913. 
Some  shippers  are  now  making  arrangements  to 
obtain  vessel  capacity  to  be  used  in  storage  of 
soft  coal  at  Lake  Erie  ports  during  the  winter. 


Prices  in  the  local  market 

on  direct 

shipment 

orders  are  as  follows : 

West  Virginia  Gas — 

F.  O.  B. 
Mines. 

F.  0.  B. 
Detroit. 

I  hree-cjuarter  lump . 

$1.10 

$2.50 

Mine  run . 

2.30@2.40 

Slack  . 

.75®  .90 

3.15®3.40 

West  Virginia  Splint — 

Four-inch  lump  . 

1.50@1.75 

2.90@3.15 

Two-inch  lump  . 

1.25®1.40 

2.05@2.80 

Three-quarter  . 

1.05@1.10 

2.45@2.50 

Mine-run  . 

.90 

2.30 

Nut,  pea  and  slack . 

.75@  .90 

3.15@3.40 

Smokeless — 

I.ump  and  egg  . 

2.25 

3.85 

Nut  . 

1.75 

3.35 

Slack  . . 

Open 

Open 

Mine  run  . 

1.40 

3.00 

Kentucky  Splint — 

Lump  . 

1.75@2.00 

3.15@3.40 

Kgg  . 

1.25@1.40 

2.65®2.80 

Nut,  pea  and  slack . 

.75®  .90 

2.15@2.30 

Fairmont — 

Three-quarter  steam  lump . 

1.10 

2.50 

Mine  run . 

2.35®2.40 

Slack  . 

Open 

Open 

Hocking  Valley — 

Shaker  three-inch  lump . •.  .  .  . 

■  1.60 

2.75 

Shaker  egg  and  nut... . 

1.25 

2.40 

Domestic  lump  . 

1.50 

2.65 

Three-quarter  lump  . 

1.35 

2.50 

Mine  run  . 

1.00@1.10 

2.15@2.25 

Nut,  pea  and  slack . 

Open 

Open 

Pittsburgh  No.  8 — • 

Three-quarter  lump  . 

1.05 

2.20 

Mine  run  . 

.95 

2.10 

Slack  . 

Open 

Open 

Jackson  Hill — 

Domestic  lump  . . 

2.50 

3.65 

Cambridge — 

Three-quarter  lump  . 

1.20 

2.35 

Mine  run  . 

1.10 

2.25 

Pomeroy — 

Two  and  three-inch  lump . 

1.60 

?.75 

Kgg  . 

1.35 

2.50 

Slack  . 

.75®  .90 

1.90@2.C5 

1 

Phe  Black  Diamond 

Vol.  55.  No.  25 

uMBus  DECEMBER  18,  1915  S^sbSrgh  Per  Year 

What  America  Has  to  Offer  in  Quality  of  Coal. 


When  an  American  coal  producer  offers  to 
sell  fuel  to  a  consumer  abroad,  quite  a  num¬ 
ber  of  important  and  pertinent  questions  arise. 
These  questions  in  numerical  order  are: 

First: — What  quality  of  coal  has  America 
to  ofi'er?  What  quantity  of  that  coal  is  now 
being  produced? 

Second: — What  is  the  financial  responsibil-, 
ity  of  the  companies  which  produce  this  coal? 
In  a  word,  if  they  sell  coal  are  they  equipped 
financially  and  with  transportation  facilities 
to  make  the  delivery? 

Third : — What  dependence  can  the  buyer 
place  in  the  regularity  of  delivery?  That  is, 
what  is  the  labor  situation  in  the  various  dis¬ 
tricts  where  this  coal  is  produced? 

The  questions  are  essential  and  fair.  The 
buyer  of  coal  has  a  right  to  ask  any  one  or  all 
of  them;  in  reality,  he  should  make  such  in¬ 
quiry.  The  American  coal  company  which 
offers  itself  as  a  prospective  source  of  supply 
to  the  foreign  buyer  has  no  objection  to  an¬ 
swering  any  one  or  all  of  them.  Therefore, 
this  article  attempts  in  a  superficial  way  to 
answer  all  of  them  to  all  of  the  buyers  on  be¬ 
half  of  all  of  the  producers. 

Heretofore  when  this  publication  has  di¬ 
rected  foreign  attention  to  our  coal  offerings 
it  has  devoted  itself  to  the  generalities  mainly, 
i.  e.,  to  the  general  character  of  the  coal  com¬ 
ing  from  different  parts  of  the  country;  to 
general  statements  about  finance  and  trans¬ 
portation  and  to  general  assertions  about 
labor.  Thus  in  previous  export  issues  we  have 
shown  that  our  better  grades  of  coal  come 
from  the  eastern  part  of  the  country.  To  im¬ 
press  this  fact  home,  we  have  reproduced 
maps  showing  that  the  coals  available  for  ex¬ 
port  are  also  near  to  tidewater,  which  is 
reached  by  excellently  equipped  transportaton 
lines. 

Those  statements  were  made  when  our  cam¬ 
paign  for  foreign  trade  was  just  beginning.  In 
a  way,  therefore,  our  earlier  statements  were 
purely  preliminary  and  introductory.  They 
disclosed  only  the  broad  source  of  our  coal 
supply  without  going  into  any  detail  about 
either  quantity  or  quality. 

Inquiry  Becomes  Specific. 

In  the  last  year,  however,  foreign  inquiry 
has  crossed  the  line  between  the  general  and 
the  specific.  Foreign  buyers  are  no  longer 
interested  in  such  broad  considerations  as  the 
character  of  the  coal  coming  from  a  producing 
zone  which  may  cover  several  counties  or  a 
whole  state  and  which  may  stretch  away  for 
fifty  or  one  hundred  miles  in  a  given  direc¬ 
tion.  They  want  to  know  today  about  specific 
coals,  in  definite  districts.  They  want  to  know 
in  detail  about  the  chemical  analysis  of  that 
coal. 

Foreign  buyers  also  want  to  know  not  the 
general  reputation  of  all  the  coal  companies 
in  a  certain  field,  but  in  dollar  and  cents  de¬ 
tail  about  the  standing  of  certain  concerns  in 
America  which  produce  the  coal  they  are 
about  to  buy. 

The  foreign  buyers  do  not  care  today  for  a 
general  statement  about  our  labor  situation, 
but  something  of  detail  about  the  supply  of 
miners  and  their  attitude  towards  steady  em¬ 
ployment. 

Perhaps  the  best  way  to  approach  this  big 
subject  is  to  treat  our  coal  offering,  not  ac¬ 
cording  to  the  county  in  which  it  is  mined,  or 
any  other  geographical  subdivision  in  which 
it  is  found,  but  by  the  geological  seam  which 
yields,  supplement  this  by  showing  in  detail 
the  average  quality  of  that  seam,  as  found  at 
the  points  where  it  is  now  worked;  the  uses 
to  which  that  coal  can  be  put;  and,  an  idea  of 
the  amount  which  annually  is  produced. 

In  detail,  we  produce  many  coals  which  run 
under  twenty-five  per  cent  in  volatile  and 
hence  are  good  for  steam.  We  produce  a 
much  greater  number  of  high  volatile  coals. 
We  will  treat  the  steam  coals  first. 

The  first  American  coal  to  be  called  to  the 


Seven  Leading  Veins  Offer  a  Low  Vola¬ 
tile  Coal  for  Steam  Making — Fourteen 
Veins  Yield  Fifty  Grades  of  Gas  and  Cok¬ 
ing  Coal. 


attention  of  European  buyers — that  was  some 
twenty-five  or  thirty  years  ago — was  sold  then 
and  is  sold  now  under  the  trade  name  of 
Pocahontas.  This  coal  runs  from  fifteen  to 
eighteen  in  volatile  matter  and  ranges  from 
seventy-four  to  about  seventy-eight  per  cent 
in  fixed  carbon.  The  geological  seam  from 
which  this  is  taken  is  known  as  Pocahontas 
Number  Three  vein,  which  is  found  in  rela¬ 
tively  a  small  area  in  the  eastern  part  of  West 
Virginia.  The  true  Pocahontas  coal  is  found 
only  in  the  Number  Three  seam,  which  meas¬ 
ures  from  seven  to  eleven  feet  in  thickness. 

The  coal  itself  is  very  friable.  It  has  the 
peculiar  characteristic  that  the  fine  coal  burns 
just  as  well  as  the  lump;  in  fact,  no  American 
users,  except  possibly  a  few  householders, 
make  any  point  of  the  size.  They  prefer  the 
mine  run  at  a  fair  price  rather  than  pay  any 
premium  to  get  the  lump. 

The  true  Pocahontas  coal  has  exceptional 
merit  for  coke  making.  For  a  gas  coal,  the 
percentage  of  volatile  matter  is  entirely  too 
low.  It  is  excellent  for  steam  use. 

Something  like  twenty  companies  are  now 
engaged  in  the  production  of  this  coal.  They 
operate  mines  which,  considered  jointly,  have, 
easily,  a  productive  capacity  of  20,000,000  tons 
per  year.  Perhaps  as  much  as  5,000,000  tons 
of  this  is  available  for  export  if  a  satisfactory 
market  can  be  found.  This  same  percentage 
of  possible  exports  to  production  will  apply 
for  some  time  in  future,  because  the  undevel¬ 
oped  acreage  is  so  extensive,  existing  mines 
will,  with  no  difficulty,  increase  their  output 
as  demand  grows. 

As  to  the  financial  responsibility  of  the  con¬ 
cerns  which  produce  this  coal :  That  is  not  a 
matter  which  can  be  treated  in  detail  in  these 
columns.  It  must  suffice  to  say  that  some  of 
the  strongest  coal  houses  in  America  have 
producing  plants  in  this  field.  One,  for  ex¬ 
ample,  has  resources  in  mines,  docks,  ships 
and  working  capital  aggregating  easily  $25,- 
000,000.  Others,  while  not  so  big,  have  re¬ 
sources  ranging  from  $1,000,000  up  to  $15,000,- 
000. 

New  River  Coal. 

Another  coal  of  almost  identically  the  same 
kind  is  now  being  offered  in  the  export  mar¬ 
ket.  It  is  known  as  the  New  River  coal.  It  is 
produced,  to  an  extent,  in  the  same  counties 
from  which  is  obtained  the  Pocahontas. 
Mainly,  it  is  produced  a  little  to  the  west.  The 
two  seams  which  yield  this  coal  are  known  lo¬ 
cally  as  the  Beckley  and  Fire  Creek. 

In  chemical  properties.  New  River  coal  is 
almost  identical  with  Pocahontas.  That  is, 
the  volatile  matter  runs  from  sixteen  to 
twenty  per  cent  and  the  fixed  carbon  from 
seventy  to  seventy-eight  per  cent.  This  coal, 
like  true  Pocahontas,  is  very  low  in  ash;  runs 
less  than  one  per  cent  in  sulphur;  and  is  par¬ 
ticularly  free  of  moisture.  This  is  indicated 
by  the  fact  that  impurities  in  the  aggregate 
take  up  less  than  eight  per  cent  of  the  coal 
volume. 

Like  Pocahontas  coal.  New  River  is  very 
friable;  is  especially  adapted  for  coke  making; 
but  is  used  with  excellent  results  in  steam 
production. 

The  financial  responsibility  of  these  pro¬ 
ducers  is  indicated  by  the  fact  that  one  of 
them  is  a  large  smelting  interest  having  re¬ 
sources,  all  told,  of  more  than  $100,000,000. 
Another  has  coal  resources  valued  at  $10,000,- 
000. 

Tug  River  Coal. 

Tug  River  coal  is  the  product  of  a  vein 
known  in  West  Virginia  as  Number  Four  or 


Tug  River  seam.  It  overlies  the  Number 
Three  or  Pocahontas  seam  and  is  found  in 
about  the  same  territory.  At  the  point  where 
the  true  Pocahontas  vein  dips  so  far  below  the 
surface  it  is  no  longer  available  for  mining  un¬ 
der  present  conditions,  the  Number  Four  or 
overlying  vein  becomes  available  and  is  mined 
extensively.  It  produces  a  coal  almost  identi¬ 
cal  with  true  Pocahontas  and  New  River  coal 
or,  in  other  words,  a  fuel  which  never  exceeds 
twenty  per  cent  in  volatile  matter  and  ranges 
up  to  seventy-six  or  seventy-seven  per  cent  in 
fixed  carbon. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  these  three  coals— Poca¬ 
hontas,  New  River  and  Tug  River — are  con¬ 
sidered  in  America  to  be  identical  fuels,  even 
though  produced  by  entirely  different  mining 
corporations  from  entirely  different  veins  and 
moving  to  market  by  different  routes  of  trans¬ 
portation.  They  are  all  known  by  the  generic 
term  of  smokeless  coal  and,  as  such,  sell  inter¬ 
changeably  in  our  most  discriminating  mar¬ 
kets. 

The  leading  producer  of  Tug  River  coal  has 
financial  resources  running  into  millions  of 
dollars. 

The  true  Pocahontas  coal  is  moved  to  tide¬ 
water  by  the  Norfolk  &  Western.  The  true 
New  River  coal  is  moved  by  the  Chesapeake 
&  Ohio.  The  Tug  River  coal  takes  those  two 
lines  alternately  and  then  moves,  in  part,  by 
the  Virginia  Railway. 

Ocean  Smokeless  Coal. 

A  coal  which  is  very  similar  to  these  three 
is  known  locally  as  Ocean  Smokeless  coal, 
from  the  state  of  Maryland.  These  mines  are 
a  little  closer  to  tidewater  than  are  the  West 
Virginia  mines,  but  otherwise  the  situation  is 
almost  precisely  the  same.  Ocean  Smokeless 
is  a  little  more  friable  even  than  Pocahontas. 
It  seldom  exceeds  eighteen  per  cent  in  vola¬ 
tile  matter;  runs  as  high  as  seventy-nine  per 
cent  in  fixed  carbon;  and  is  exceptionally  free 
of  impurities. 

The  one  predominant  characteristic  of  these 
four  coals  is  that  they  take  fire  quickly;  dis¬ 
pense  with  practically  all  of  their  gases  in  the 
first  fifteen  minutes  after  firing;  and  yet  hold 
fire  for  about  the  same  time  that  anthracite 
does,  regardless  of  the  fact  that  anthracite  is 
a  coal  which  ignites  very  slowly. 

The  Kittanning  Coals. 

In  parts  of  western  Maryland  and  in  parts 
of  eastern  central  Pennsylvania — this  means 
that  the  deposits  are  very  close  to  tidewater — 
are  found  two  seams  of  coal  known  as  the 
upper  and  lower  Kittanning.  These  veins  have 
been  under  development  in  that  section  of  the 
country  for  forty  years  or  more  and  have  by 
long  use  established  themselves  as  of  a  given 
character. 

The  coal  from  the  Kittanning  seam  is  known 
as  our  premier  smithing  coal  and,  of  course,  is 
available  for  steam  making  where  the  steam 
user  insists,  as  do  the  foreign  buyers,  upon  a 
coal  running  low  in  volatile  matter.  Analysis 
of  this  product  shows  that  it  runs  less  than 
.75  in  sulphur;  less  than  twenty-three  per  cent 
in  volatile  matter  and  in  the  neighborhood  of 
seventy  to  seventy-four  per  cent  in  fixed  car¬ 
bon.  On  the  average  this  coal  runs  less  than 
eight  per  cent  in  ash  and  has  a  B.  t.  u.  value 
of  around  14,500. 

This  coal,  in  addition  to  being  first-class 
smithing  coal,  is  one  of  America’s  best  steam 
products  and  is  available  for  coking  purposes. 

It  moves  to  tidewater  over  a  relatively  short 
route,  primarily  by  the  WTstern  Maryland 
Railroad,  one  of  our  principal  coal  carriers. 
From  certain  districts  it  has  advantage  of 
transportation  by  the  unexcelled  Pennsylvania 
Railroad. 

.'\s  to  the  financial  responsibilities  of  the 
companies  which  produce  this  coal,  it  need 
only  l)e  said  here  that  some  of  the  strongest 
coal  houses  in  .America  have  plants  which 
mine  this  seam.  .\s  an  average,  perhaps,  the 


486 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[December  18 


operators  who  mine  this  seam  are  of  the  high¬ 
est  standing  in  America. 

The  Freeport  Coeils. 

In  virtually  the  same  district  are  found  an¬ 
other  coal  known  geologically  as  the  upper 
and  lower  Freeport.  It  runs  between  sixty- 
five  and  sixty-eight  per  cent  in  fixed  carbon; 
between  twenty-six  and  twenty-eight  in  vola¬ 
tile  matter;  less  than  nine  per  cent  in  ash,  and 
less  than  .7  per  cent  in  sulphur.  In  some  of 
the  foreign  markets,  particularly  in  France 
and  Spain,  a  coal  which  is  under  twenty  per 
cent  in  volatile  matter  is  considered  available 
for  steam  making.  As  is  indicated,  this  coal 
is  on  the  line  between  a  true  steam  coal  and 
what  the  European  considers  a  true  gas  coal. 
It  has  very  peculiar  characteristics  which 
make  it  equally  available  for  steam  and  gas 
and  also  for  coking  purposes. 

This  product  is  mined  by  some  very  sub¬ 
stantial  coal  houses  in  America  and  has. 


among  others,  advantage  of  transportation 
over  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad. 

The  Miller  Vein  Coal. 

In  the  central  portion  of  Pennsylvania  is 
found  what  is  known  as  the  B  or  Miller  vein 
of  coal.  This  product  is  sturdier  than  is  Poca¬ 
hontas,  but  it  is  often  sold  and  used  inter¬ 
changeably  with  that  coal.  By  sturdier  is 
meant  that  it  resists  rough  handling  very 
much  better  and  hence  does  not  break  up  so 
easily.  There  is  in  its  preparation  a  much 
larger  percentage  of  lump  and  a  much  smaller 
percentage  of  fine  coal. 

A  fair  analysis  of  this  product  shows  that, 
in  the  run  of  mine  coal,  it  has  fixed  carbon  of 
73.04;  volatile  matter,  16.82;  moisture,  3.51; 
ash,  6.63;  sulphur,  one;  B.  t.  u.,  14,279.  This 
analysis  was  incidentally  made  by  the  United 
States  Government’s  Bureau  of  Mines  and  is 
considered  official. 

These  seven  coals  do  not  embrace  all  of  the 
low  volatile  coals  of  America,  by  any  means. 
We  do  not  pretend  here  to  give  a  complete  list 
of  those  fuels  which  are  supposed  to  meet 
those  European  requirements  which  call  for 
a  fuel  running  less  than  thirty  per  cent  in 


volatile  matter.  They  do  indicate,  however, 
tons.  Considering  the  possible  productive  ca¬ 
pacity  of  all  the  mines  producing  these  seven 
low  volatile  coals,  it  is  safe  to  say  that  Amer¬ 
ica  could,  without  straining,  export,  in  the 
next  few  years,  a  total  of  twenty-five  million 
tons  of  a  low  volatile  coal  per  year.  Candidly, 
tills  is  far  in  excess  of  any  expectations  that 
we  have  in  the  export  market.  This  state¬ 
ment,  however,  shows  by  what  a  margin  of 
safety  we  can  solicit  foreign  business  and  as¬ 
sure  delivery. 

American  Gas  Coals. 

Aside  from  the  low  volatile  coals,  the  for¬ 
eign  buyer  is  going  to  want  a  certain  percent¬ 
age  of  high  volatile  coals  for  gas  and  coke 
making. 

In  that  zone,  the  offerings  of  American  coal 
are  almost  unlimited,  both  as  to  variety  and 
quantity.  In  a  word,  we  can  give  anyone  any¬ 
thing  that  he  is  likely  to  want  and  in  any 


quantity.  It  is  not,  in  a  word,  stretching  the 
that  we  have  quite  an  abundance  of  low  vola¬ 
tile  steam  coal  which  can  meet  the  exacting 
demands  of  France  and  Spain  and  the  equally 
exacting  demands  of  coal  users  in  other  parts 
of  the  world. 

We  can  ship  into  export  of  “smokeless”  coal 
alone  close  to  eight  million  or  ten  million 
truth  to  say  that  America,  in  high  volatile 
coals,  could  export — if  transportation  were 
available — seventy-five  million  tons  per  year 
and  give  practically  fifty  different  degrees  of 
quality. 

A  detailed  statement  of  the  characteristics 
of  some  of  the  leading  seams  of  coal  will  here 
be  made. 

One  of  the  leading  gas  coals  of  America  is 
that  produced  from  the  seam  around  Fair¬ 
mont,  West  Virginia.  It  is  produced  from  a 
vein  which  averages  seven  feet  or  more  in 
thickness.  It  is  moved  to  tidewater  ports  prin¬ 
cipally  by  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  Railroad. 
This  line,  for  the  movement  of  coal  in  that 
direction,  is  peculiarly  -well  equipped  not  only 
in  railroad  cars  and  engines,  but  in  the  docks 
over  which  the  coal  is  transferred  to  ships. 

Fairmont  coal  has  been  a  standard  gas  coal 


of  America  for  something  like  fifty  years. 
The  particular  point  in  its  favor  is  that  it 
contains,  on  the  average,  ninety-three  and 
one-half  per  cent  of  combustible  matter.  This 
coal  runs  upward  of  thirty  per  cent  in  volatile 
matter;  less  than  one  per  cent  in  sulphur;  and 
is  very  low  in  ash  and  moisture.  These  facts 
are  indicated  by  the  statement  that  the  coal 
contains  ninety-three  and  one-half  per  cent  of 
combustible  matter. 

This  coal  is  produced,  mainly,  by  America’s 
biggest  bituminous  coal  company.  This  con¬ 
cern  has  mining  operations  in  four  fields  and 
selling  agencies  in  all  parts  of  America  and 
foreign  agencies  in  London,  in  the  Mediter¬ 
ranean  country  and  is  establishing  itself  in 
South  America. 

Westmoreland  Gas  Coal. 

Another  excellent  gas  coal  is  that  which  is 
produced  from  the  Pittsburgh  bed,  mostly  in 
Westmoreland  county,  in  the  western  part  of 
Pennsylvania.  This  coal  is  found  further  in 
the  interior  than  Fairmont  and,  consequently, 
has  a  longer  transportation  route  to  tide¬ 
water.  It  has,  however,  favorable  rates  to  the 
Atlantic  ports  and  the  movement  is  quite 
heavy.  This  coal  runs  from  thirty-two  to 
thirty-five  per  cent  in  volatile  matter;  ranges 
around  fifty-six  to  fifty-seven  per  cent  in  fixed 
carbon  and  has  a  B.  t.  u.  content  ranging  a 
little  above  14,000.  It  is  from  this  vein  of  coal 
that  the  famous  Connellsville  coke  is  made, 
that  being  the  standard  of  excellence  through¬ 
out  the  United  States.  Every  American 
knows  that  “the  Pittsburgh  gas  coal,”  as  it  is 
called,  is  the  standard  fuel  for  gas  making  all 
through  the  central  part  of  the  United  States. 
It  is,  indeed,  the  standard  by  which  the  qual¬ 
ity  of  all  gas  coals  is  gauged. 

Many  Gas  Coals. 

We  get  into  an  almost  unending  succession 
of  high  volatile,  or  gas  coals,  the  minute  we 
cross  over  the  line  from  Pennsylvania  into 
the  western  part  of  West  Virginia  and  into 
the  northeastern  part  of  Kentucky.  Indeed, 
one  can  scratch  the  surface  of  western  West 
Virginia  almost  anywhere  and  get  a  gas  coal. 
The  best  known  seam  is  that  which  is  called 
the  Number  Two  gas  seam.  It  is  mined  prin¬ 
cipally  in  the  northwestern  part  of  the  state 
or  close  to  the  Ohio  river.  However,  the  same 
vein  when  worked  on  the  Kanawha  river. 
Cabin  creek.  Island  creek  and  the  Guyandotte 
river,  yield  a  high  grade  gas  coal. 

Over  the  line  into  eastern  Kentucky — the 
latter  field  is  really  a  continuation  of  the  for¬ 
mer — is  found  the  Elkhorn  vein  of  coal,  which 
is  now  declared  to  be  of  equal  quality  with  the 
gas  coal  from  the  Connellsville  district. 

Further  east  and  south  there  is  another  very 
valuable  deposit  of  medium  high  volatile  coal. 
This  is  produced  in  what  is  known  as  the 
Clinch  valley  of  southwestern  Virginia.  This 
coal  ranges  between  thirty  and  thirty-three 
per  cent  in  volatile  matter  and  runs  close  to 
sixty  per  cent  in  fixed  carbon.  It  is  conse¬ 
quently  very  low  in  ash  and  other  impurities 
and  is  excellent  for  gas,  coke  and  steam  mak¬ 
ing. 

This  coal  reaches  tidewater,  at  Charleston, 
South  Carolina,  over  the  Carolina,  Clinchfield 
&  Ohio  Railroad,  which  was  built  especially 
to  transport  this  coal  to  the  coast. 

The  seam  names  in  Virginia,  West  Virginia 
and  eastern  Kentucky  are  really  too  numerous 
to  haye  any  significance.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
there  is  something  like  fourteen  separate 
veins,  each  one  of  which  produces,  in  certain 
localities,  an  excellent  variety  of  gaS  coal. 

That  territory  is  practically  new  and,  in 
West  Virginia  especially,  big  and  little  com¬ 
panies  are  operating  side  by  side,  embracing 
all  degrees  of  financial  responsibility. 

Our  Fuel  Offering. 

Enough,  perhaps,  has  been  said  about  the 
quality  of  coal  to  indicate  to  the  careful  buyer 
abroad  that  we  can  satisfy  pretty  nearly  any 
demand  which  he  is  likely  to  make.  That  is, 
in  steam  coals  we  can  give  a  low  volatile  prod¬ 
uct  which  is  friable  and  a  low  volatile  product 
which  is  reasonably  sturdy,  but  nothing  so 
hard  as  a  few  of  the  best  English  coals. 

In  medium  volatile  coals  we  can  supply  any 
quantity  of  coal  comparable  in  quality,  etc.,  to 
anything  produced  abroad. 

In  the  matter  of  gas  and  coking  coals  it  is 
probably  true  that  our  assortment  has  no 
equal. 

As  indicated,  our  productive  capacity  is  so 
large  that  taking  all  of  them  together,  we 
could  very  easily  export  much  in  excess  of 
(Concluded  on  page  509.) 


The  map  herewith  is  a  roug'h  outime  of  the  eastern  coal  measures  of  the  United  States,  whose  product 
is  considered  available  for  export.  It  will  be  noticed  that  there  is  left  out  of  this  map  the  coal 
deposits  of  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  and  all  states  to  the  west.  Those  coals  may  one  of  these  days 
move  down  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  rivers  to  the  Gulf  and  be  exported  therefrom,  but  at  present 
exports  will  be  from  the  eastern  field.  The  numbers  on  the  chart  sig'nify  as  follows:  One,  is  the 
measure  containing  the  seven  veins  which  produce  the  low  volatile  coal.  Two  is  the  area  in  which 
is  included  the  fairmont  and  the  Pittsburgh  gas  coal.  Three  is  the  section  which  includes  the  gas 
coals  of  West  Virginia  and  northeastern  Kentucky.  Pour  is  the  territory  which  contains  the  coal 
from  southern  Virginia,  or  that  in  the  Clinch  Valley.  Pive  is  the  district  which  produces  the  gas 
and  coking  coal  from  the  Birmingham  district  in  Alabama.  The  arrows  point  to  the  dock  on  the 
coast  through  which  the  coal  is  exported. 


No.  25] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


487 


America’s  Growth  of  Exports  Measured  by  Figures. 


What  has  the  United  States  done  in  the  last 
year  by  way  of  increasing  its  exports  of  bitumin¬ 
ous  coal  over  the  Atlantic  seaboard?  What  head¬ 
way  have  American  shippers  made  in  securing  a 
foothold  in  the  foreign  markets,  that  prior  to 
the  war  had  secured  practically  all  of  their  coal 
from  England? 

For  the  years  1913  and  1914,  bituminous  ex¬ 
ports  through  the  principal  American  seaports  on 
the  Atlantic,  were  approximately  4,200,800  tons 
per  year.  For  the  fiscal  year  ending  June  30, 
1915,  our  exports  over  the  seaboard  reached 
5,073,927  tons. 

Prior  to  September,  1914,  there  had  been  only 
one  month  where  sea-borne  exports  had  exceeded 
500,000  tons;  this  exception  was  in  April,  1912, 
when  our  shipments  made  a  very  heavy  increase 
due  to  the  great'  mine  strike  in  England.  Im¬ 
mediately  following  the  settlement  of  the  strike, 
which  lasted  only  one  month,  our  sea-borne  ex¬ 
port  trade  became  normal  again,  which  meant  an 
average  exportation  of  around  333,000  tons  per 
month. 

It  was  not  until  the  present  European  war 
started  that  our  exports  began  materially  to  in¬ 
crease.  As  will  be  noted  from  the  table  of 
exports  on  this  page,  measuring  our  business  for 
the  first  sixteen  months  of  the  war,  our  exports 
in  August,  1914,  reached  402,636  tons.  In  Sep¬ 
tember  following,  they  reached  619,408  tons.  Then 
the  shortage  of  shipping  began  to  make  itself  felt 
and  shipments  were  very  light  for  about  six 
months.  It  was  along  in  April  of  this  year  when 
ships  became  more  plentiful,  and  this  change  in 
the  vessel  situation  is  reflected  in  exports  of  697,- 
739  tons  in  April  as  compared  with  337,575  tons 
in  March.  May  showed  a  still  further  improve¬ 
ment. 

In  June,  our  exports  exceeded  1,000,000  tons 
over  the  Atlantic  seaboard,  for  the  first  time  in 
our  history.  July  and  August  showed  exports 
around  the  million  mark. 

In  September,  vessels  became  scarce  again,  so 
that  exports  have  showed  a  gradual  decline  each 
month  since. 

As  will  be  noted  from  a  table  showing  exports 
by  countries  over  a  period  of  years,  Canada  has 
always  been  a  large  importer  of  bituminous  from 
the  United  States.  For  about  five  or  six  years 
our  bituminous  exports  to  Canada  have  aver¬ 
aged  well  around  10,000,000  tons  per  year.  The 
past  year  they  shrank  due  to  the  business  de¬ 
pression  in  Canada  brought  about  by  the  war. 

That  American  coals  are  now  firmly  planted 
in  numerous  foreign  markets,  seems  pretty  well 
assured,  if  one  will  study  the  several  tables  of 
figures  accompanying  this  article. 

What  may  be  looked  upon  as  permanent  mar¬ 
kets  for  American  coals  in  the  future  are  the 
South  American  countries  and  several  of  the 
Mediterranean  countries. 

Prior  to  the  war,  we  had  already  captured  the 
coal  business  in  the  West  Indies.  Next  to 
Canada,  Cuba  was  one  of  our  largest  customers, 
taking  well  over  a  million  tons  each  year. 

Italy,  for  the  years  ending  June  30,  1911,  1912 
and  1913,  took  194,015,  276,460  and  332,264  tons 
respectively.  For  the  year  ending  June  30,  1915, 
Italy  imported  1, 628,279  tons  from  America.  It 
is  interesting  to  note  that  in  July  of  this  year 
our  exports  to  Italy  alone  were  464,459  tons,  or 
more  than  for  the  entire  year  of  1913  and  more 
than  the  exports  of  1911  and  1912  combined. 

For  the  first  nine  months  of  this  year  (1915) 
our  exports  to  Italy  reached  2,348,870  tons. 

Let  us  see  how  our  exports  to  South  America 
have  grown. 

In  the  years  ending  June  30,  in  1912,  1913,  1914 
and  1915,  our  exports  to  three  of  the  princiiial  of 
these  countries  were  as  follows : 

1st  9  Mo.s. 

rounti-y—  1912.  1913.  1911.  1915.  1915. 

Argentine  ...159,793  38,834  139,409  563,889  719,019 

ISrazil  . 307,135  234,368  239,083  .527,264  544,194 

Uruguay  ....  40,265  4,400  64,453  103,639  135,065 

504,182  277,602  442,9.43  1,194,792  1,398,278 

Our  exports  to  Argentine  and  Brazil  in  the 
year  ending  June  30,  1912,  amounted  to  only 
99,224  tons.  It  should  be  explained  that  our 
radical  increase  in  1912  wa's  due  to  the  English 
mine  strike,  which  shut  off  En.glish  shipments 
for  about  a  month. 

Exports  to  Chile  for  the  fiscal  years  ending 
June  30  of  1911,  1912,  1913,  1914  and  1915,  were 
26,688.  29,751,  112,067,  83,876  and  57,781  tons,  re¬ 
spectively.  The  United  States  has  not  benefited 
by  the  war  in  increasing  its  coal  exports  to  Chile 
for  the  reason  that  transportation  has  not  been 
available.  It  is  expected  that  as  soon  as  the 


Due  to  Vigorous  Campaigning  and  the 
Building  of  Ships,  We  Have  Won  a 
Prominent  Place  in  Many  Important 
Coal  Markets. 


Panama  Canal  is  permanently  opened,  and  as 
soon  as  big  ore  steamers  are  run  between  the 
States  and  the  Chilean  ore  ports,  a  great  quantity 
of  coal  will  be  taken  on  the  downward  trip  of 
the  ore  steamers.  To  make  this  proposition 
attractive  to  the  ore  carriers,  however,  some  im¬ 
provements  must  be  made  in  the  way  of  provid¬ 
ing  rapid  unloading  equipment  at  the  Chilean 
ports.  In  short,  it  would  hardly  pay  the  type  of 
vessel  proposed  for  this  service,  about  12,000  tons 
cargo  capacity,  to  carry  down  a  cargo  of  coal 
and  discharge  at  the  rate  of  500  tons  a  day.  It 
would  be  more  economical  to  go  down  in  ballast. 

It  was  not  until  the  first  of  1915  that  the 
Department  of  Commerce  began  showing  our  ex¬ 
ports  to  Italy  separately  in  the  monthly  reports. 
Only  detailed  figures  were  given  out  once  a  year, 
so  that  a  person  who  wanted  to  keep  very  close 
tab  on  what  we  were  doing  had  to  compile  his 
own  figures. 

Our  total  exports  to  Italy  in  the  calendar  year 
1914  were  952,714  tons.  For  the  year  ending 
June  30,  1915,  they  were  1,628,279  tons.  As  has 


been  noted,  our  exports  to  Italy  for  the  first  nine 
months  of  1915  were  2,348,870  tons.  This  would 
indicate  a  permanent  trade  here. 

Exports  to  countries  across  the  Atlantic  in 
1914  reached  1,463,135  tons,  distributed  as  fol¬ 
lows  : 

Italy  .  952,714 

.8icily  .  15,433 

France  .  46,594 

Egypt  .  94,979 

(Ireece  .  72,853 

Spain  .  52,785 

Algiers  .  20,921 

Dakai,  F.  W.  A .  78,117 

Norway  .  25,313 

Sweden  .  20,242 

Austria  .  20,099 

Portugal^  .  12,091 

(Irand  Canaries  .  13,100 

Gibraltar  .  26,810 

Congo  .  3,742 

India  .  3,010 

Liberia  .  3,009 

German  S.  A .  1,499 


The  following  tables  show  exports  of  bitumin¬ 
ous  coals  from  the  United  States  for  five  years, 
ending  June  30,  respectively : 

Exported  to — 

Europe; 

Austria-Hungary  . 

Azores  and  Madeira  Islands . 

Belgium  . 

France  . 

Germany  . 

Gibraltar  . 

Greece  . . 


1,463,135 

Since  the  war  started,  one  very  favorable 
development  that  guarantees  permanency  to  our 
export  coal  trade,  was  the  move  taken  by  Ameri¬ 
cans  to  build  new  steamers  and  to  acquire  as 
much  of  tonnage  already  in  com.mission  by  reg¬ 
istry  under  the  American  flag.  The  tonnage  added 
to  American  registry  by  conversion  of  vessels 
formerly  flying  foreign  flags,  approximates  500,- 
000  tons.  At  present,  at  our  domestic  shipyards, 
500,000  tons  of  freight  vessels  are  under  con¬ 
struction.  A  goodly  number  of  these  will  be  put 
in  the  coal  trade. 

A  considerable  number  of  steamers  have  been 
(Concluded  on  page  509.) 


etc. 


Malta,  Gozzo. 

Netherlands  . 

Norway  . 

Portugal  . 

Russia  in  Europe . 

Spain  . 

Sweden  . 

United  Kingdom — England. 
North  America: 

Bermuda  . 

British  Honduras . 


Central  American  States: 

Costa  Rica . 

Guatemala  . 

Honduras  . 

Nicaragua  . 

Panama  . 

■Salvador  . 

Greenland  . 


Miquelon.  Langley,  etc . 

Newfoundland  and  Labrador . 

West  Indies — British: 

Barbados  . 

Jamaica  . 

Trin.  and  Tobago . 

Other  British . 

Cuba  . 

Danish  .  104,396 

Dutch  . 

French  . 

Haiti  . 

Santo  Domingo . 

South  America: 

Argentina  . 

Brazil  . 

Chile  . 

Bolivia  . 

Colombia  . 

Ecuador  . 

British  Guiana . 

Dutch  Guiana . 

French  Guiana . 

Peru  . 

Uruguay  . 

Venezuela  . 

Asia: 

British  India . 

Dutch  East  Indies . 

Japan  . . 

Russia  in  Asia . 

Oceania: 

Philippine  Islands . 

Africa; 

Belgian  Congo . 

British  West  Africa . . 

British  South  Africa . 

Canary  Islands . 

French  Africa . 

German  Africa . 

Portuguese  Africa . 

Turkey  in  Africa,  Egypt . 

Liberia  . 

Morocco  . 

I'ripoli  . 

Total  . 


1911. 

17,161 

1912. 

26,226 

16,433 

1913. 

64,754 

1914. 

39,952 

5 

22 

37,864 

110 

43,222 

319 

5,308 

16,140 

6,730 

5;320 

47,322 

5,123 

11,280 

194,015 

37(),467 

r),G2S 

332,264 

776,422 

95 

4,000 

245 

202 

50 

4,860 

16,027 

50,260 

42,875 

11,280 

20 

13,566 

1,743 

11,472,397 

14,559 

590 

8,627,968 

10,099 

1,343 

10,671,982 

8,808 

826 

11,981,443 

47,434 

14,938 

4,576 

2,047 

506,979 

16 

37,552 

16,205 

4,688 

3,020 

511,802 

210 

554 

39,526 

17,646 

6,846 

1,042 

483,884 

45 

45,386 

15,858 

13,759 

1,617 

362,427 

619,447 

50 

344,712 

443,884 

296,392 

5,498 

9,783 

26,683 

20,746 

55,430 

44,721 

66,704 

106,590 

945,394 

104,396 

31,980 

69,914 

4,480 

14,594 

79,455 

70,953 

121,482 

150,072 

1,121,580 

140,479 

35,028 

72,062 

4,065 

8,839 

70,739 

56,132 

85,866 

124,819 

1,273,945 

105,093 

62,305 

70,815 

8,488 

8,366 

60,608 

70,765 

92,925 

112,488 

1,129,594 

90,105 

43,557 

79,404 

2,228 

11,895 

34,929 

64,295 

26,688 

156,792 

307,125 

29,751 

38,834 

234,368 

112,067 

139,409 

239,082 

83,876 

1,920 

-21,664 

9,750 

2,574 

1,292 

19,446 

374 

3,427 

17,652 

15,687 

6,452 

299 

39 

40.265 

2,671 

3,958 

18,305 

11,200 

5,485 

191 

9,209 

4,400 

3,351 

3,584 

22,571 

16,054 

5,325 

280 

96 

64,452 

5,733 

4,750 

6,605 

1915. 


48,213 


3,000 


55,770 


7,520 

V9,5i2 

102,498 

1,493 

14,802 

121,275 


53,353 

'  6.261 
l'32,548 


96,627 


45,987 


142,144 

3,712 


73,785 


.11,839,099 


5,100 


14,709,847  10,083,101  15,704,900 


RECAPITULATION., 

Europe  .  254,133  4  404,905  4  75,713  923,261 

North  America . 11,290,300  13,415,965  14,877,291  13,937,550 

South  America .  182,932  .580,160  441,368  578,462 

Asia  .  4.751  6,612  .  . 

Oceania  .  48,213  5  53,3.53  46,052 

Africa  .  58,770  302,200  235,376  219.641 


5,728 

'50,626 

3'2’,578 

101,783 

1,628,279 


10,868 

64,247 

17,637 

1,200 

100,547 

46,415 

2.261 

20,145 

536 

8,425,103 

29,141 

15,643 

18,577 

1,271 

343,372 


391,611 

'  '4',6ir> 

66,350 

53,091 

83,315 

61,156 

1,065,206 

37.780 
54,716 
71,592 

1,397 

12.344 

563,889 

527,264 

57.781 
1,007 
2,601 


25,400 

2,712 

'  ’4,436 

103,639 

8,553 

3,103 

,8,014 

5,559 


30,837 

2.742 
10,950 

3.742 
20,552 
47,389 

’  '5,418 

139,600 

6,045 

2,348 


14,412,995 

2,061,280 

10,756,199 

1,297,29] 

16,586 

36,847 

244,792 


[December  18 


4S8 _  ^  ^  _ THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 

Spanish  N eeds  and  America’s  Plans  to  Supply  Them. 


The  figures  which  measure  the  coal  imports  of 
Spain  arc  not  convincing.  First,  authorities  dif¬ 
fer  widely  as  to  their  volume.  Second,  Spain  is 
on  the  eve  of  a  .great  industrial  change  which  will 
make,  in  the  near  future,  any  figures  of  little 
value. 

Perhaps,  as  a  conservative  statement,  it  may 
be  said  that  Spain  imports  3,000,000  tons  of  coal 
per  year.  This  is  under  some  estimates  by  a 
million  or  so  tons  per  year.  It  exceeds  some 
other  estimates  to  the  extent  of  a  little  better 
than  a  million  tons  per  year.  To  assume,  there¬ 
fore,  that  imports  will  amount  this  year  to  3,000,- 
000  tons  of  coal  will  about  strike  the  average  and 
will  be  conservative.  For  the  purpose  of  this 
article — which  does  not  concern  itself  much  with 
figures  anyway — we  will  use  that  as  the  basis  of 
calculation.  We  do  so  knowing  that,  in  the  near 
future,  the  situation  is  almost  sure  to  change 
radically  because  Spain  itself  is  going  to  change. 

Until  this  year,  Spain  got  practically  all  of 
her  coal  from  England.  Until  this  year  hardly  a 
pound  of  coal  was  sold  to  Spain  by  American 
producers.  This  situation  is  also  goin.g  to  change, 
first,  for  the  reason  that  England  cannot  supply 
that  market  and,  second,  for  the  reason  that  the 
commercial  relations  between  the  United  States 
and  Spain  are  undergoing  a  rapid  evolution.  In¬ 
deed,  it  would  not  be  surprising  if,  in  the  near 
future,  these  two  countries  were  as  close  to¬ 
gether  commercially  as  they  have  been  far  apart 
geographically,  politically  and  in  a  business  sense 
for  the  last  fifteen  years. 

The  Influence  of  the  King. 

The  reason  why  Spain  is  to  undergo  a  great 
industrial  chan.ge  is  the  same  as  the  reason  why 
new  relations  are  sure  between  that  country  and 
America.  Tliat  reason  is  not  far  to  seek.  The 
strong  personality  of  King  Alfonso  is  daily  e.x- 
pressing  itself  more  strongly  on  Spanish  diplo¬ 
macy  and  on  Spanish  finance  and  industry  alike. 
Indeed,  his  is  the  dominant  force  in  the  nation. 
Alfonso  has  seen  the  drift  of  things.  He  knows 
that  a  nation  is  only  as  powerful  as  its  industry. 
He  knows  that  industry  gives  strength  only  on 
interchange  with  other  countries.  He  knows  that 
the  interchange  is  most  secure  when  bound  by 
interlocking  investments.  And,  he  is  planning 
alon.g  the  line  of  his  knowledge.  Thus,  today, 
when  anyone  tries  to  forecast  Spain’s  future,  he 
must  do  so  in  terms  of  the  personality  of  the 
Spanish  king.  This  fact  makes  Alfonso,  from  the 
American  point  of  view,  one  of  the  most  inter¬ 
esting  figures  in  Europe. 

His  personality  as  well  as  his  grasp  of  the 
international  business  situation  was  brought  out 
in  a  recent  interview  which  he  granted  an  Ameri¬ 
can  representatitve.  At  that  time,  England  had 
just  shut  off  her  exports  of  coal  to  all  countries 
except  her  immediate  possessions  and  her  allies. 
Spain,  being  neither,  was  likely  to  lose  a  vital 
part  of  her  coal  supply.  The  question 
was :  From  whence  was  she  to  get 
the  needed  coal  to  carry  on  industry. 

When  matters  W'ere  in  that  acute  stage 
the  American  representative  went  to 
Madrid  to  present  to  the  Crown,  at 
the  latter’s  suggestion,  a  definite  plan 
by  which  America  might  supply  the 
deficiency. 

At  that  time,  it  was  called  to  His 
Majesty’s  attention  that  a  transport 
tax  of  forty  cents  a  ton  and  an  im¬ 
port  tax  of  seventy  cents  a  ton  stood 
against  a  low  price  of  American  coal 
at  Barcelona  or  at  any  other  Spanish 
port.  That  is,  a  combination  of  the 
two  taxes  would  add  $1.10  to  the  mine 
price  of  the  coal  plus  the  freight  rate 
to  Barcelona.  That,  it  was  shown, 
would  make  the  price  of  American 
coal  so  high  that  importation  could  at 
best  be  temporary  and  hence  unsatis¬ 
factory  to  both  parties. 

At  the  same  time,  it  was  shown  that 
whereas  American  coal  must  pay  an 
import  tax  of  seventy  cents,  English 
coal  was  having  to  pay  only  ten  cents. 

This  made  a  de  facto  but,  perhaps,  an 
unintentional  discrimination  in  favor 
of  England  of  sixty  cents  a  ton.  The 
net  result  was  practically  to  dictate 
that  Spain  must  get  its  coal  now  and 
in  future  from  English  mines.  It  was 
called  to  His  Majesty’s  attention  that 
if  a  revision  in  this  tax  would  be 
made,  America  could,  with  satisfac¬ 
tion,  supply  Spain  her  immediate 


How  and  Why  the  Transport  Duty  Was 
Revoked — Our  Chance  to  Sell  3,000,000 
Tons  a  Year  and  What  We  Will  Do  to 
Establish  Ourselves. 

needs  and  could  look  to  the  future  with  some  en¬ 
couragement. 

At  that  time  the  Spanish  parliament  was  about 
to  assemble.  There  was,  accordin.gly,  presented 
to  it,  by  the  court,  a  bill  which  allowed  the  Crown 
the  privilege  of  suspending  all  import  and  trans¬ 
port  taxes  if,  in  his  opinion,  the  good  of  the 
commerce  of  the  country  demanded  it.  Parlia¬ 
ment  instantly  passed  the  bill.  Almost  imme¬ 
diately  thereafter  Alfonso  issued  an  order  sus¬ 
pending  both  the  import  and  the  transport  tax 
on  American  coal. 

The  matter  rests  there  now.  This  seems  to 
indicate  that  the  suspension  of  the  tax  is  only 
a  temporary  measure.  It  is  realized  that  His 
Majesty  can  at  any  time  restore  the  tax  and  thus 
return  the  trade  to  England,  where  it  has  been, 
instead  of  to  America,  where  it  promises  soon 
to  flow. 

However,  a  situation  is  arising  which  seems  to 
assure  the  permanence  of  our  relations.  That  is, 
the  whole  commercial  exchange  between  Spain 
and  America  is  likely  to  be  quickened  under  the 
advice  and  leadership  of  the  King  himself.  This 
is  indicated  by  certain  things  said  in  the  inter¬ 
view,  previously  referred  to,  between  the  Ameri¬ 
can  representative  and  the  Spanish  sovereign. 

At  that  time,  the  American  inquired  what  Span¬ 
ish  ports  could  do  in  the  way  of  unloading  boats. 
Alfonso  replied  that  they  could  unload  si.K  hun¬ 
dred  tons  a  day.  Then  he  inquired  what 
American  ports  could  do.  He  was  told  that 
single  docks  in  America  could  easily  load  or  un¬ 
load  8,000  tons  a  day.  His  Majesty  was  aston¬ 
ished  at  these  figures  and  said  that  Spain  must 
have  some  dock  machinery  of  that  kind. 

This  directed  the  interview  to  a  discussion  of 
the  basic  difference  between  American  and  Span¬ 
ish  industrial  methods.  Disclosures  by  both  sides 
made  it  apparent  that  the  Spanish  people  need 
many  things  which  America  has.  But,  it  was 
expressly  shown  by  His  Majesty,  that  Spain 
needs  money  with  which  to  develop  its  resources. 
This  it  has  been  trying  to  get  by  import  duties. 
If  it  cancels  these  the  nation  must  borrow.  Eor 
e.xample,  tbe  country  is  very  much  in  need  of 
additional  railroad  facilities.  His  Majesty  volun¬ 
teered  the  suggestion  that  if  American  money 
could  be  induced  to  build  those  tramways,  as 
they  are  called,  the  Crown  would  guarantee  in¬ 
terest  on  the  investment  and  allow  the  financiers 
to  make  as  much  money  as  they  could  out  of 
operation. 

He  went  further  and  called  attention  to  the 


fact  that  Spain  has  in  its  southern  district  con¬ 
siderable  deposits  of  high  grade  iron  ore  which 
can  be  developed  and  can  be  made  to  support  a 
considerable  steel  industry  if  capital  can  be  in¬ 
terested.  The  Crown  showed  a  disposition  volun¬ 
tarily  to  guarantee  interest  on  that  investment 
also,  and  to  leave  it  to  the  shrewdness  of  the 
investors  to  increase. the  profit  by  developing  the 
industry.  Later,  His  Majesty  showed  also  the 
need  for  docks  in  Spain.  In  this  connection  he 
made  the  same  broad  and  encouraging  proposal. 

In  a  word,  the  Spanish  Crown  is  now  com¬ 
mitted  to  an  elaborate  and  expanding  industrial 
program  which  has  for  its  basis  the  guaranteeing 
of  interest  on  investment  to  the  end  that  foreign 
money — American  money — may  be  induced  to 
open  the  country  as  it  is  capable  of  growing. 

This  opens  quite  a  broad  field  for  American 
enterprise.  The  result  must  be,  if  this  is  fol¬ 
lowed  to  anything  like  a  logical  conclusion,  the 
establishment  of  America  in  Spain  on  about  the 
same  basis  as  England  has  established  herself  in 
her  principal  foreign  markets.  That  is  to  say, 
we  will  be  privileged  to  put  money  into  Spanish 
industries  and  get  in  return  something  approach¬ 
ing  a  mortgage  on  a  big  percentage  of  Spain’s 
future  foreign  business.  This  includes  the  owner¬ 
ship  of  docks  and  through  it  control,  in  a  sense, 
of  the  imports  of  coal  into  Spain.  Those  im¬ 
ports  must  be  large  enough  not  only  to  support 
the  present  business,  but  the  much  larger  business 
which  is  sure  to  be  done  if  the  Spanish  Crown 
carries  out  its  program  of  increasing  the  in¬ 
vestments  in  Spanish  industry  and  hence  Spain’s 
business  by  guaranteeing  the  interest  thereon. 

Getting  Goods  Carried. 

During  the  interview  in  question,  His  Majesty 
exhibited  a  lively  interest  in  transportation  mat¬ 
ters  in  so  far  as  they  concern  the  movement  of 
commodities  between  Spain  and  America.  He 
inquired  of  the  American  representative  what  the 
United  States  was  doing  toward  getting  a  mer¬ 
chant  marine  and  hence  a  supply  of  ships  to 
promote  our  commerce.  He  was  told  the  truth 
about  the  matter,  wihch  is  that  the  upbuildin.g  of 
our  merchant  marine  lias  become  involved  in  our 
politics.  Thus,  while  we  may  expect,  in  course 
of  time,  to  set  about  building  a  fleet,  it  need  not 
be  expected  or  supposed  that  w'e  were  going  to 
make  anything  like  characteristic  rapid  progress 
in  that  direction.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  reason¬ 
able  to  suppose  that  we  will  get  a  representative 
fleet  only  after  a  long  delay.  It  was  shown  that 
when  obtained  it  would  not  be  commensurate  in 
all  probability  with  the  size  of  our  foreign  busi¬ 
ness.  After  hearing  this  comment.  His  Majesty 
remarked,  in  substance ; 

“There  are  two  w'ays  to  get  a  fleet.  One  is 
for  the  country  which  has  something  to  sell  to 
provide  the  ships  to  carry  it.  The  other  way  is 
for  the  country  which  wants  to  buy  somethin.g 
to  provide  the  ships  to  go  after  what 
it  wants.  Spain  is  going  to  want  a 
great  many  things  if  the  bigger  indus¬ 
trial  program  which  we  have  in  mind 
is  carried  out.  It  would  not  be  a  part 
of  wisdom  for  the  Spanish  govern¬ 
ment  to  depend  solely  on  the  good  in¬ 
tentions  of  the  other  countries  to  sup¬ 
ply  ships  with  which  to  carry  the  com 
merce  to  our  shores.  The  safest 
course  for  us  is  to  build  ships  of  our 
own  to  go  out  after  what  we  want  and 
what  we  expect  to  use. 

"I  have  thought  that  the  best  course 
for  us  to  follow  would  be  to  put  on 
a  few  steamers — I  cannot  say,  yet, 
just  how  many — to  engage  regularly  in 
the  trade  between  Barcelona  and  New 
York.  If  there  is  to  be  an  exchange 
of  business  between  these  two  coun¬ 
tries  and  particularly  if  investments 
are  made  here  by  Americans,  we 
should  show  the  Spanish  good  faith 
by  putting  on  these  ships.” 

What  America  Will  Do. 

It  would  .seem  there  is  now  a  mar¬ 
ket  in  Spain  for  3,000,000  tons  of 
American  coal  and  a  prospective  mar¬ 
ket  for  much  more.  It  is  clearly  in¬ 
dicated  that  if  we  want  to  get  and 
hold  that  market  we  must  not  only 
sell  coal,  but  invest  the  money  in 
Spain.  If  that  is  done,  the  Spanish 
government  will  secure  our  invest¬ 
ments  by  guaranteeing  the_  interests 
and  will  quicken  trade  by  improving 


No.  251 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


489 


transportation  between  the  two  countries.  Tliis 
is  attractive  to  America. 

It  remains  to  be  seen  what  America  is  ready 
to  do  to  hold  up  her  end.  The  attention  of  the 
Spanish  people  is  here  called  to  an  important 
fact  or  two  in  connection  with  the  American 
export  pro.gram.  When  the  war  in  Europe  had 
gone  to  some  lengths,  a  suggestion  was  made 
to  the  American  bankers  that  they  lend  some¬ 
thing  like  $500,000,000  to  England  and  France. 
The  loan  of  that  amount  is  now  a  matter  of 
history. 

While  the  bankers  were  discussing  that  inter¬ 
esting  proposal,  an  American  coal  man  advised 
the  bankers  that  such  a  loan  would  defeat  the 
purpose  of  our  new  foreign  commercial  policy 
unless  loans  were  made  also  to  the  countries 
which  are  customers  of  France  and  England.  It 
was  sug.gested  therefore  that  we  set  aside  another 
half-billion  to  loan  in  Spain,  in  Italy,  in  Greece, 
in  the  Nile  country  and  in  Central  and  South 
America.  It  did  not  take  the  American  bankers 
long  to  act  on  this  suggestion.  They  saw  that  a 
loan  to  England  and  France  was  nothing  more 
than  a  matter  of  financing  the  inaking  and  sale 
of  war  munitions  during  the  period  of  the  war. 
However,  a  loan  of  an  equal  sum  to  the  cus¬ 
tomers  of  England  and  France  would  transform 
our  temporary  business  with  those  countries  into 
a  permanency. 

Therefore  there  was  organized  in  America  a 
great  corporation  with  an  initial  capital  of  fifty 
million  dollars.  The  purpose  of  this  organization, 
which  is  financed  by  some  of  the  wealthiest  men 
and  institutions  in  America,  and  which  is  headed 
by  Charles  A.  Stone  at  Boston,  is  to  undertake 
the  financing  of  businesses  in  other  countries. 
By  this  concern  financial  aid  will  be  given  to  com¬ 
panies  which  want  to  expand  their  business  by 
using  American  products  or  which  have  become 
financially  embarrassed  as  the  result  of  the  war 
and  need  rehabilitation.  The  initial  capital  there¬ 
fore  of  fifty  million  dollars  is  merely  a  nucleus. 
W’henever  a  foreign  prospect  appears  attractive, 
money  will  be  forthcoming  to  develop  it.  That 
is,  if  the  iron  ore  mines  in  the  southern  part  of 
Spain  need  to  be  developed  and  if  American 
money  can  do  it,  this  organization  will  supply 
that  money.  If  the  same  is  true  of  the  building 
of  tramways  or  docks  in  Spain,  the  money  will 
be  forthcoming  through  this  organization.  In  a 
word,  we  are  starting  out  on  a  program  of  an 
expansion  of  American  finance  into  the  foreign 
field.  As  Mr.  Stone  expressed  it,  we  do  not 
want  or  intend  to  supplant  any  competitor.  We 
do  intend  to  put  America  on  the  map.  This  gives 
assurance  to  King  Alfonso  and  the  Spanish  peo¬ 
ple  that  we  stand  ready  to  make  operative  the 
friendly  suggestion  which  he  put  forth. 

American  Coal  in  Spain. 

The  question  remains  whether  the  coal  that  we 
have  to  offer  will  meet  the  Spanish  need  and 


whether  the  people  of  that  country  will  lie  dis¬ 
posed  to  buy  what  we  have  to  sell.  In  this  con¬ 
nection  the  statement  made  about  our  coal  in 
France  applies  with  equal  force  to  Spain.  It  has 
liecn  depending  i)rimarily  on  England  for  its  coal 
supply.  Recently  it  has  not  been  getting  from 
that  source  either  the  quantity  that  it  needs  or 
the  quality  to  which  it  has  been  accustomed. 
Spain  cannot  turn  to  France  for  coal  because  the 
French  mines  are,  to  the  extent  of  fifty  per  cent 
at  least,  under  German  control.  It  cannot  turn 
to  Belgium  because  all  the  Belgian  mines  are  in 
the  hands  of  the  enemy.  It  cannot  turn  to  Ger¬ 
many  because  the  German  mines  are  not,  now, 
shipping  into  export.  The  only  place  it  can  get 
coal  is  the  United  States  or  Australia.  Of  course, 
the  United  States  affords  t  he  most  available 
market. 

However,  the  Spanish  coal  user  has  been  accus¬ 
tomed  to  a  high  grade  of  fuel.  He  has  con¬ 
sidered,  the  same  as  has  the  Frenchman,  that 
anything  under  twenty-five  per  cent  in  volatile 
matter  is  a  steam  coal.  Anything  over  twenty- 
five.  or  especially  over  thirty  per  cent,  is  a  gas 
coal.  For  steam  purposes  he  will  want  the  Ameri¬ 
can  low  volatile  coals  coming  from  anyone  of  a 
number  of  eastern  seams.  For  gas  production  he 
will  probably  want  some  of  the  higher  volatile 
coals.  If  the  Spanish  metallurgical  industry- 
takes  on  any  such  pretentious  growth  as  the  state¬ 
ment  of  the  Spanish  monarch  wishes,  Spain  will 
also  want  some  of  our  coking  coals.  Of  all  these 
coals  we  have,  virtually,  an  unlimited  supply. 

The  attitude  of  the  Spanish  government  to¬ 
wards  American  coal  is  indicated  by  an  official 
act  of  some  months  standing.  Wdien  the  Ameri¬ 
can  representative  had  his  interview  with  the 
Crown  several  pertinent  and  pointed  questions 
were  asked  about  the  amount  of  coal  which  we 
had  available  for  export,  the  character  of  the 
product,  how  it  is  prepared,  and  the  financial 
responsibility  of  the  concerns  which  have  it  for 
sale.  The  American  representative  presented 
quite  an  elaborate  memorial  on  that  subject 
which,  in  fact,  was  prepared  at  the  suggestion  of 
His  Majesty.  Accompanying  this  was  a  copy  of 
the  1914  Export  Number  of  The  Black  Diamond. 
Almost  immediately  thereafter,  the  official  gazette 
of  the  Spanish  army  and  navy  compiled  a  list  of 
American  coal  companies  which  were  willing  to 
supply  Spain  with  coal.  A  statement  was  printed 
enumerating  the  kinds  of  coal  they  have  to  offer 
and  the  quantities  which  they  can  be  called  upon 
to  export.  This  amounted  to  practically  a  free 
advertisement  for  the  American  coals  in  the 
Army  and  Navy  Gazette  at  Madrid.  That  state 
ment  has  been  allowed  to  stand  from  the  date  of 
its  first  issue  linti  the  present.  Tlie  Spanish  peo¬ 
ple,  therefore,  are  showing  a  keen  interest  in  our 
coal  offerings  and  America  is  reciprocating,  first, 
by  sending  a  .government  official  to  the  court  of 
Aladrid;  second,  by  establishing  coal  selling 
agencies  in  Spain  and,  third,  by  the  intention  of 
our  financiers  to  loan  money  in  that  country 


where  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  such  loans  will 
add  some  permanency  to  our  commercial  rela¬ 
tions. 


International  Corporation. 


American  coal  men  who  are  interested  in 
exporting  see  great  possibilities  for  American 
coals  in  foreign  countries,  due  to  the  recent 
incorporation  of  the  $50,000,000  American  In¬ 
ternational  Corporation,  which  has  a  directo¬ 
rate  made  up  of  some  of  the  strongest  bank¬ 
ers  and  industrial  leaders  in  the  United  States. 

The  corporation  has  a  very  broad  charterj 
which  practically  permits  it  every  activity  in 
foreign  fields. 

As  much  as  $500,000,000  debentures,  cover¬ 
ing  acquired  properties,  may  be  distributed  by 
the  corporation  among  investors.  Ultimately 
the  $50,000,000  capital  may  be  increased  and 
an  unlimited  amount  of  foreign  investments 
placed  in  this  country. 

In  addition  to  financing  and  controlling  for¬ 
eign  properties,  the  corporation  will  seek  to 
foster  the  sale  of  American-made  materials, 
commodities,  etc.,  in  many  foreign  countries! 

Twenty-four  directors  have  been  selected, 
and  to  name  them  is  but  to  name  some  of 
the  principal  bankers  and  industrial  leaders 
in  America. 

Frank_  A.  Vanderlip,  president  of  the  Na¬ 
tional  City  Bank  of  New  York,  one  of  Amer¬ 
ica’s  strongest  banking  houses,  is  the  orig¬ 
inator  of  the  scheme  of  the  American  Inter¬ 
national  Corporation,  and  he  has  been  named 
as  chairman  of  the  board. 

Charles  A.  Stone  of  Stone  &  Webster  Com¬ 
pany  of  Boston  was  appointed  president,  and 
R.  P.  Tinsley,  formerly  treasurer  of  the  Stand¬ 
ard  Oil  Company  of  New  York,  is  secretary 
and  treasurer.  Willard  D.  Straight,  formerly 
with  J.  P.  Morgan  &  Company,  is  a  vice-presi¬ 
dent.  James  J.  Hill,  one  of  America’s  fore¬ 
most  railroad  builders,  is  on  the  directorate, 
as  are  Charles  A.  Coffin  of  the  General  Elec¬ 
tric  Company,  J.  Ogden  Armour  of  the  Ar¬ 
mour  Packing  Company,  William  E.  Corey  of 
Midvale  Steel  &  Ordnance  Company,  Robert 
Dollar  and  Jos.  P.  Grace,  the  well  known 
steamship  owners,  Otto  H.  Kuhn  of  Kuhn, 
Loeb  &  Company,  Robert  S.  Lovett  of  the 
Union  Pacific  Railroad,  Ambrose  Monell  of 
International  Nickel,  Henry  S..  Pritchett  of 
Carnegie  Foundation,  Percy  A.  Rockefeller  of 
Standard  Oil,  John  D.  Ryan  of  Anaconda  Cop¬ 
per  Company,  Charles  A.  Sabin  of  Guarantee 
Trust  Company,  William  L.  Saunders  of  In- 
gersoll-Rand  Company,  James  A.  Stillman  of 
the  National  City  Bank,  Guy  E.  Tripp  of 
Westinghouse  Electric,  Theo.  AI.  Vail  of 
American  Telephone  &  Telegraph,  Edwin  S. 
Webster  of  Stone  &  Webster,  Albert  H.  Wig- 
gin  of  Chase  National  Bank  and  Beekman 
Winthrop  of  Robert  Winthrop  &  Company. 
Alost  of  these  people  have  international  repu¬ 
tations. 

In  explanation  of  how  the  corporation  will 
go  about  distriluiting  foreign  securities.  Air. 
Vanderlip  said: 

"The  great  drawback  in  extending  direct 
foreign  trade  relations  is  the  difficulty  of  sup¬ 
porting  our  efforts  with  adequate  financial 
means.  This  the  new  company  expects  to  do 
on  a  large  scale.  Another  difficulty  is  in  en¬ 
listing  the  support  and  cooperation  of  Ameri¬ 
can  investors  in  foreign  enterprises.  It  is 
now  hoped  to  overcome  this  prejudice.  The 
new  corporation  will,  among  other  things, 
finance  either  old  or  new  enterprises  abroad. 
The  corporation  will  in  some  instances  form 
separate  companies  and  offer  to  American  in¬ 
vestors  its  own  debentures,  secured  by  bonds 
or  stocks  of  tbe  foreign  properties.  Or  the 
corporation  may  sell  the  securities  of  the  for¬ 
eign  companies  directly  here,  when  the  securi¬ 
ties  are  well  known.” 

To  this  statement  President  Stone  added: 

“It  is  organized  for  the  purpose  of  doing  an 
international  business  and  establishing  trade 
relations  with  different  countries,  which  will 
help  make  the  world  markets  for  our  products. 
It  will  finance  and  promote  the  developments 
in  foreign  countries  by  .American  engineers 
and  manufacturers  of  great  public  and  private 
undertakings.  Also  it  will  assist  in  the  re¬ 
habilitation  of  industries  in  foreign  countries 
and  will  undertake  sucb  domestic  business  as 
seems  advantageous.” 

Coal  men  believe  that  the  appointment  of 
Charles  A.  Stone  as  president  of  this  immense 
financial  enterprise  is  of  more  than  passing 
importance  to  the  export  coal  trade. 


The  Port  of  Barcelona,  Spain,  Where  American  Coal  Is  Being  Shipped. 


490 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[December  18 


Progress  Toward  an  Export  Coal  Organization. 


A  year  ago,  America  was  a  tyro  in  the  niatter 
of  exporting  coal.  It  had  practically  no  business. 
It  had,  compared  with  the  extent  of  the  industry, 
practically  no  export  coal  selling  organization. 
It  had  virtually  no  ships.  Foreign  cxchan.gc  m 
every  country  was  decidedly  against  it.  It  had, 
virtually,  no  foreign  financial  policy,  either  a 
concerns  the  government  itself  or  the  banks,  m 
a  large  sense.  It  had  no  means  of  getting  credit 
information  outside  the  narrow  precincts  of  its 
own  home  market.  It  was,  in  a  word,  a  provincial 
country,  so  far  as  coal  selling  and  distribution 
was  concerned 

In  fact,  about  the  only  things  winch  America 
did  have  was  an  abundant  supply  of  every  con¬ 
ceivable  kind  and  size  of  coal,  supported  by  such 
a  tremendous  ambition  to  sell  coal  to  all  the  rest 
of  the  world  it  amounted  to  a  passion. 

The  foreigner,  getting  his  first  glimpse  of  us 
through  the  glass  of  his  own  immediate  needs, 
looked  upon  America  in  a  calculating  way.  He 
said:  ,  ..  . 

“Here  is  an  interesting  market  place  if  it  can 
ever  be  equipped  to  do  business.  One  of  these 
days  it  will  be  an  interesting  and  attractive  place 
to  do  business.  But  it  is  not,  as  yet.  Just  when 
it  will  be  no  one  can  tell.  A  miracle  may  be  per¬ 
formed  and  America  may  put  herself  in  position 
to  do  business  before  this  war  ends.  But  if  it 
does,  it  will  be  a  miracle.  And,  in  these  days, 
such  things  do  not  happen.” 

The  world’s  appraisement  of  America  was 
rather  severe,  but  there  is  no  escaping  the  fact 
that  it  was  nearly  correct.  About  all  we  had  to 
offer  was  our  own  hope  that  we  could  learn  to 
trade  and  our  elaborate  natural  resources. 

Measuring  Our  Growth. 

Seeing  with  what  little  promise  we  entered  the 
lug  field,  the  foreign  coal  buyer  may  be  inter¬ 
ested  to  know  what  be  have  done,  meanwhile. 
We  have  not  exactly  performed  a  miracle  in 
those  twelve  months,  but  we  have  come  near 
enough  to  it  for  all  practical  purposes.  That  is 
to  say,  we  have  sold  abroad  more  than  double 
the  amount  of  coal  previously  sold;  we  have 
learned  to  finance  those  sales  and  even  the  ex¬ 
tension  of  credit;  we  have  begun  to  get  a  foreign 
credit  system  that  is  practical ;  and  we  have 
worked  exchange  around  until  it  is  in  our  favor 
and  until  we  can  do  business  without  handicaps. 

To  enable  our  friends  abroad  to  understand 
precisely  how  this  astounding  change  was  made, 
it  is  necessary  to  show  in  some  detail  what  was 
the  situation  at  this  time  a  year  ago  and  then  to 
show  how,  gradually,  we  worked  from  one  thin.g 
we  had  to  the  other  thing  we  got. 

A  year  ago  the  American  coal  producer,  with 
a  notable  exception  here  and  there,  was  forced 
to  take  this  stand: 

“We  have  the  coal  for  sale  and  we  are  anxious 
to  sell  it.  But,  if  you  want  it.  you  must  pay 
cash  f.  o.  b.  New  York  or  some  other  seaport.” 

The  attitude  implied  by  that  remark  was  brutal 
and  not  businesslike.  It  seemed  to  express  in 
one  breath  an  eagerness  to  sell  and  in  the  next  a 
determination  to  dictate  terms,  which  questioned 
the  other  man’s  standing.  Those  terms  were  not 
intended,  studiously,  to  insult  the  prospective 
liuyer  but  they  imparted  that  notion  to  his  mind 
just  the  same.  They  did  not  openly  challenge 
the  credit  standing  of  the  prospective  customer, 
yet  they  had  that  effect.  They  violated  the  golden 
rule  of  trade,  which  is :  Be  particular  to  sell  only 
to  those  who  are  good  risks  but  do  not  let  them 
know  that  you  are  inquiring. 

Those  terms  were  austere  and  undiplomatic, 
liUt  really  there  was  nothin,g  else  for  America, 
the  exporting  novice,  to  do.  We  had  no  knowl¬ 
edge  of  foreign  coal  credits.  We  dared  not 
assume  that  because  so  many  foreign  credit  risks 
are  first  class  all  of  them  must  be  good.  To  do 
any  such  thing  would  have  involved  us  in  such 
a  succession  of  losses  we  would  not  have  re¬ 
covered  from  our  first  attempt  at  exporting  with¬ 
in  a  period  of  twenty-five  years.  To  have  endured 
such  a  loss  would  have  been  doubly  disastrous 
because  it  would  have  delayed  indefinitely  our 
orderly  occupation  of  the  foreign  field,  and  it 
would  have  prevented  us  from  making  those 
liberal  terms  which  we  are  beginning  to  suggest. 

To  avoid  doing  anything  so  disastrous,  America 
had  to  take  the  other  position,  which  was :  “Since 
we  do  not  know  the  good  from  the  bad  credits 
yet,  we  must  play  safe  and  say  that  all  are  bad.” 
But  it  wasn’t  a  permanent  program  of  ours  and 
was  never  intended  to  be  such.  Rather  it  was 
merely  our  first  effort  at  getting  a  real  program. 
It  was  a  negative  proposal  which  held  a  situation 


In  Twelve  Months  We  Have  the  Nucleus 
of  a  Credit  Bureau,  Simplified  Exchange, 
a  Growing  Sales  Organization,  and  We 
Will  Get  Ships  and  Docks. 


in  status  quo  until  we  could  get  a  positive  one. 

From  that  crude  be.ginning,  we  soon  began  to 
get  upon  firmer  ground.  Some  buyers  from  all 
over  the  world  needed  coal  sorely.  Since  the 
only  place  to  get  it  was  in  America,  they  came 
to  us  and  met  our  terms.  They  paid  us  cash  for 
coal  f.  o.  b.  New  York  or  some  other  seaport. 
That  gave  us  our  first  real  “line”  on  the  depend¬ 
able  foreign  buyers.  We  saw  the  big  point  be¬ 
hind  these  cash  orders  at  once,  as  American  busi¬ 
ness  men  are  likely  to  do.  This  point  was  that 
concerns  which  were  able  to  raise  the  cash  to 
pay  for  a  cargo  of  coal  in  advance  must  also  have 
the  resources  which  must  entitle  them  to  credit 
if  they  wanted  it. 

Thus  when  we  found  some  concerns  that  were 
able  to  pay  cash  we  also  found  by  the  same  stroke 
the  keynote  to  our  future  credit  system.  That  is, 
we  made  the  second  sale  to  this  cash  customer  on 
limited  credit.  Then  through  our  new-found 
connection  abroad  we  got  into  touch  with  other 
buyers  who  were  equally  good.  Through  the 
first  introductions  we  .got  second,  and  through 
the  second  we  got  the  third  introductions.  This 
established  an  endless  chain  of  customers  and 
hence  gave  us  a  growing  list  of  accounts  and  an 
ever  widening  market  for  our  coal.  It  worked 
out  well  for  us.  It  worked  out  equally  well  for 
the  people  at  the  other  end  of  the  line. 

By  this  method  we  soon  began  to  have  financial 
relations  abroad.  That  is,  through  the  sale  of 
coal  to  strong  buyers,  we  got  in  touch  with  those 
foreign  banking  houses  who  were  doin.g  the  bank¬ 
ing  for  our  new  customers.  Those  banking 
houses  not  only  got  more  business  to  do  by  deal¬ 
ing  with  us,  but  we  got  through  them  another 
excellent  source  of  credit  information.  It  was  a 
process  of  slow  and  careful  expansion,  still, 
everything  considered,  it  was  a  source  of  rapid 
expansion  too.  That  tells  how  we  removed  our 
first  handicap — the  lack  of  credit  information  or 
any  system  by  which  we  could  get  credit  data. 

Simplifying  Exchange. 

The  next  thing  we  undertook  was  the  matter 
of  simplifying  exchange.  When  we  started  a 
year  ago,  on  a  large  scale  to  export  coal,  we  had 
practically  no  exchange  arrangement  except 
through  London.  We  had  at  that  time  to  per¬ 
suade  the  buyers  of  our  coal  to  use  the  money 
of  their  own  country  to  buy  pounds  sterliag. 
Then  we  had  to  use  the  pounds  sterling  to  buy 
American  dollars  if  we  wished  to  get  the  cash 
for  our  coal.  It  was  a  slow  and  costly  process, 
involving,  as  it  did,  at  least  two  exchanges,  both 
of  which  increrased  the  price  of  what  we  had  to 
sell. 

At  what  was,  for  us,  an  opportune  time,  there 
came  a  serious  break  in  the  foreign  exchange 
rate.  That  is,  pounds  sterling  were  depreciated 
in  the  international  money  market.  After  that 
break,  American  dollars  were  considered  more 
stable  than  pounds  sterling  and  hence  were  more 
in  demand.  This  turned  the  attention  of  the 
bankers  of  the  world  toward  American  dollars. 
It  was  the  first  time  they  had  come  to  look  upon 
their  evident  stability  with  any  covetous  eyes. 
This  was  a  good  thing  for  America,  because  it 
helped  aloaq  immeasurably  our  effort  to  stand¬ 
ardize  our  dollars  in  the  money  markets  of  the 
world.  This  served  to  concentrate  exchange  as 
much  on  New  York  as  on  London.  The  concrete 
result  was  most  satisfactory  to  both  foreign  buyer 
and  the  American  seller  of  coal.  As  a  net  result, 
we  have  today  worked  out  an  arrangement  which 
is  virtually  as  follows: 

Three  of  our  leading  coal  companies — and 
others  are  following  the  example — have  estab¬ 
lished  their  own  selling  agencies  abroad.  These 
agencies  make  a  sale  of  coal  to  any  point  in 
Europe  or  South  America  on  terms — price,  credit, 
etc. — satisfactory  to  the  buyer.  When  it  cornes 
time  to  pay  the  bill,  arrangements  are  made_ which 
will  allow  the  buyer  to  pay  in  the  coin  of  his  own 
country  through  his  own  bank  at  the  rate  of 
exchan.ge  then  prevailing.  If  he  thinks  the  rate 
of  exchange  is  favorable  to  him,  he  can  take 
advantage  of  it.  If  the  company  wants  the  money 
at  that  time,  it  can  draw  on  that  bank  and  have 
the  money  in  New  York  the  same  day. 

But  no’  matter  whether  the  money  is  trans¬ 
ferred  to  New  York  the  same  day  it  is  paid  into 
the  foreign  bank,  or  whether  the  transfer  is  de¬ 


layed  for  some  time,  the  effect  of  it  all  is  to 
reduce  the  exchange  proposition  to  simplest  pos¬ 
sible  terms  by  inserting  but  one  exchange  instead 
of  many  into  the  whole  transaction.  It  makes  the 
doing  of  business  extremely  easy  to  the  buyer 
for  all  he  has  to  concern  himself  about  is  raising 
enough  of  the  coin  of  his  own  country  to  meet 
his  obligation.  This  he  pays  into  his  own  bank, 
which  is  the  simplest  possible  way  for  him  to 
do.  'I'hen  the  bank  and  the  seller  of  the  coal 
undertake  the  small  task  of  transferrin.g  that 
local  currency  into  United  States  dollars  and 
effecting  the  delivery  to  the  United  States.  Thus 
we  solved  our  second  problem,  which  was  to  get 
a  .system  of  exchange  by  which  foreign  money 
can  be  made  to  settle  American  coal  bills. 

American  Selling  Plans 

In  the  year,  also,  we  have  eliminated  many  of 
the  crudities  from  our  selling  plans.  We  started 
at  practical  zero  but  now  we  are  approaching  true 
efficiency.  A  year  ago  we  had  nothing  worth 
the  name  of  a  selling  organization.  One  of  our 
largest  companies  was  selling  coal  abroad  through 
the  medium  of  jobbing  houses  with  local  connec¬ 
tions.  Another  large  company  was  selling  coal 
by  a  long  distance  arrangement  which  amounted 
practically  to  negotiations  between  a  salesman 
located  in  New  York  and  a  buyer  located  at  some 
other  point.  Others  were  trying  the  doubtful 
experiment  of  sending  representatives  from  the 
New  York  office  on  a  tour  of  the  prospective 
markets.  In  a  word,  we  had  every  shade  of 
selling  arrangement  of  doubtful  value  and  very 
little  real  representation  of  any  definite  value. 
To  get  from  one  to  the  other  and  to  establish 
a  definite  selling  program  was  a  commercial  task 
at  which  even  Hercules  might  have  hesitated. 

Our  only  equipment  with  which  we  undertook 
to  sell  coal  abroad  was  a  knowledge  of  how  sales 
must  be  made  at  home.  We  knew  that  the  for¬ 
eign  buyer  was  as  human  as  the  home  buyer; 
therefore,  the  appeal  to  one  must  be  identical 
with  that  to  the  other. 

Starting  there,  we  know  that  before  we  could 
sell  coal  in  Europe  or  South  America  we  must 
know  what  are  the  fuel  preferences  of  those 
countries  and  what  equipment  they  have  with 
which  to  burn  coal.  That  information,  we  knew, 
was  quite  necessary  at  home ;  we  had  every 
reason  to  believe  it  was  requisite  abroad. 

There  were  only  two  ways  by  which  we  could 
get  that  information.  We  could  rely  upon  for¬ 
eign  jobbers  for  it.  While  we  had  to  resort  to 
that  plan  at  first — there  wasn’t  time  to  do  anything 
else — the  American  operator  has  had  experience 
with  the  coal  jobber.  He  understands  that  such 
distributors  are  interested  primarily  in  the  sale 
for  the  sake  of  the  commission.  Our  producers 
were  more  interested  in  establishing  a  permanent 
relationship  with  the  consumer.  This  system  of 
distribution  did  not  appeal  to  us  because  it  did 
not  promise  to  make  those  adjustments  of  size, 
preparation  and  shipping  arrangement  upon 
which,  alone,  the  permanency  of  our  foreign 
trade  depends. 

The  far  more  satisfactory  plan  and  the  one 
which  companies  adopted,  was  the  placing  of 
salaried  sales  agents  in  London  with  branch 
offices  in  all  parts  of  Europe.  The  same  thing 
was  done  in  South  America.  After  a  year  of 
this  sort  of  thing,  they  recognize  that  this  must 
be  considered  as  merely  a  preliminary  step. 
However,  it  is  a  start  in  the  right  direction. 

These  agents,  before  attempting  any  actual 
sales  of  coal,  devoted  some  months  to  getting 
information.  This  included  the  quantities  of  coal 
used  by  certain  buyers;  how  deliveries  should  be 
made;  what  distributing  center  was  best;  what 
class  of  equipment  the  buyer  had  in  which  to 
burn  coal  (whether  mechanical  stoking  or  hand 
firing  was  employed)  ;  and,  in  fact,  all  about  the 
needs  of  the  larger  users  of  coal. 

Thus  our  start  in  selling  coal  abroad  was  on 
the  graduated  plan,  which  has  characterized  all 
our  initial  actions.  From  knowing  the  needs  of 
a  few  big  plants,  we  came,  through  them,  to  know 
of  other  and  smaller  plants  which  were  similarly 
situated.  Thus  one  big  order  led  to  a  second 
smaller  order;  the  second  smaller  order,  in  turn, 
led  to  a  third  which  was  still  smaller;  and, 
thereby,  we  established  another  endless  chain  of 
trade  expansion. 

The  starting  point  of  this  ever-widening  cam¬ 
paign  was  the  establishment  of  our  salaried  sales 
agents  who  were  equipped  by  home  experience 
to  get  this  information.  No  sooner  were  these 
agencies  established  and  the  flow  of  coal  started 


No.  25] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


491 


than  we  came  automatically  into  possession  of 
additional  and  supplementary  information  of 
value.  We  learned  that  many  foreign  buyers 
have  been  accustomed  to  getting  coal  at  regular 
intervals  from  a  nearby  source  of  supply — gen¬ 
erally  a  dock.  In  a  word,  they  have  been  accus¬ 
tomed  to  getting  coal  that  is  moved  to  those 
docks  by  ships  which  travel  on  schedule  time. 
Where  deliveries  are  to  European  centers,  the 
schedule  is  much  faster  because  the  distance  from 
the  mines  to  the  point  of  consumption  is  not 
great. 

Where  delivery  is  made  to  Central  or  South 
America,  the  distance  from  the  base  of  supply 
is  greater,  but  the  regularity  with  which  the  ships 
sail  and  arrive  gives  the  buyer  a  dependable 
supply. 

The  main  point  of  interest  to  us  was  that  the 
coal  must  move  at  stated  intervals  to  the  storage 
dock  that  it  may  move  quite  as  regularly  to  the 
consumer. 

The  American  agent  was  quick  to  appraise  the 
value  of  this  arrangement  because  he  was  accus¬ 
tomed  to  something  similar  at  home.  That  is, 
we  ship  coal  from  our  eastern  mines  to  points  in 
our  own  northwest  by  the  lake.  This  involves 
a  tifteen-hundred-mile  haul;  a  need  for  docks; 
and  regular  shipments  therefrom.  Thus  we 
quickly  adjusted  ourselves  to  the  foreign  situa¬ 
tion  which  differs  only  in  that  it  requires  an 
ocean  rather  than  a  lake  haul. 

But,  details  and  comparisons  aside,  the  point 
is  that  America  has  come  to  know  the  necessity 
of  docks  for  the  transfer  of  coal  from  ships  to 
shore.  We  realize  now  that  these  docks  must  be 
part  of  the  equipment  of  our  selling  organization. 
In  other  words,  we  might  have  the  best  possible 
selling  agents  abroad,  but  unless  they  were  sup¬ 
ported  by  docks  to  assure  regular  deliveries  to 
the  consumers,  we  might  as  well  abandon  the 
foreign  field. 

Getting  Our  Own  Docks 

There  were  two  ways  to  get  the  docks.  One 
was  to  make  arrangements  with  a  jobber  who 
owned  one.  The  other  was  to  build  our  own. 
We  have  been,  for  the  last  year,  using  docks 
owned  by  other  people.  We  have  found  them 
slow  for  our  purposes  and  not  accustomed  to 
handling  our  coal.  Already,  therefore,  a  move¬ 
ment  is  under  way  to  solidify  our  foreign  busi¬ 
ness  by  our  larger  companies  consolidating  their 
foreign  selling  agencies  and  establishing  docks 
equipped  with  American  machinery  and  man¬ 
aged  by  salaried  American  men.  From  these 
docks,  which  will  be  fed  at  regular  intervals  with 
American  coal,  we  expect,  in  the  course  of  another 
year,  to  be  feeding  coal  ’  out  regularly  to  the 
foreign  buyers. 

This  statement  is  not  a  promise  of  what 
.America  will  do.  It  is  merely  an  insight  into 
the  trend  of  our  discussion. 

It  can  be  seen,  from  what  is  here  said,  that 
we  have  solved  the  third  problem  which  was : 
How  were  we  to  get  a  sales  organization  abroad? 

If  America,  in  twelve  months,  had  done  nothing 
more  than  lay  the  foundation  for  a  system  that 
was  to  yield  credit  information ;  foreign  exchange 
in  favor  af  the  American  dollar,  and  make  so 
much  progress  toward  getting  a  selling  organi¬ 
zation,  the  foreign  buyer  must  admit  that  we 
have  performed  practically  a  miracle. 

Extending  Our  Activities 

Our  progress  in  the  other  important  directions 
has  not  been  so  pronounced  but  nevertheless  we 
have  made  progress.  For  example,  we  started 
a  year  ago  with  practically  no  ships  at  all.  We 
did  not  have,  when  the  war  broke  out,  even  a 
policy  touching  what  our  ships  should  carry  and 
where  they  should  carry  it.  In  twelve  months, 
however,  we  have  done  more  than  broken 
ground. 

The  accepted  theory  of  the  world,  heretofore, 
has  been  that  cheap  coal  depended  upon  its  being 
transported  in  the  low'er  decks  of  general  cargo 
boats  and  hence  carried  practically  as  ballast. 
This  might  have  reduced  the  ocean  freight  rate 
to  some  extent,  but  any  reduction  there  was  more 
than  offset  by  the  fact  of  slow  loading  and  un¬ 
loading  at  the  two  ends  of  the  route.  America, 
which  believes  in  doing  everything  by  machinery 
in  order  to  save  time,  started  on  the  theorv  that 
boats  must  be  loaded  and  unloaded  quickly  or 
coal  transportation  could  not  be  cheap.  Accord¬ 
ingly,  we  began  to  arrange  for  suitable  docks  at 
both  ends  of  the  route.  We  had  the  fast  loading 
docks  and  need  only  equally  fast  unloading  plants. 
That  suggested  ships  designed  principally  to 
carrv  coal  and  to  fit  into  those  docks. 

With  this  theory  established,  at  least  five  of 
our  eoal-exporting  concerns  have,  within  the  year, 
bought  or  built  ships  of  their  own.  One  eom- 


pany  has  diverted  its  vessels,  heretofore  em¬ 
ployed  in  our  own  coastwise  trade,  to  the  foreign 
trade.  Another  company  at  first  took  time 
charters  on  ships  and  then  bought  them.  The 
third  company  has  built  new  boats  of  its  own. 
A  fourth  is  having  ships  built  now  which  will  be 
delivered  in  a  short  time.  A  fifth  company  an¬ 
nounces,  just  as  we  are  about  to  go  to  press,  that 
it  has  bought  the  fleet  of  boats  that  have  here¬ 
tofore  been  under  a  different  management.  Thus 
we  have  five  coal  fleets  already  and  others  will 
be  forthcoming  as  fast  as  the  shipyards  can  turn 
them  out. 

An  accompaniment  of  these  boats  will  be  the 
erection  of  fast  unloading  plants  at  the  points 
where  we  expeet  to  do  a  big  coal  business. 
These  will  duplicate  the  fast  loading  plants 
which  we  have  on  the  Atlantic  coast.  To  indi- 


The  Panama  Railroad  Company  is  most  fortu¬ 
nate  at  this  time  in  that  the  Government  had  the 
foresight  some  two  years  ago  to  make  an 
appropriation  for  building  colliers  for  carrying 
coal  between  the  American  ports  and  the  Panama 
Canal.  During  the  building  of  the  Canal,  the 
Government  was  depehdent  upon  private  trans¬ 
portation,  and  the  average  cost  of  transporting 
coal  from  Hampton  Roads  to  Colon  ran  around 
$1.40  per  ton.  At  this  writing,  vessels  to  take 
coal  to  Panama  could  hardly  be  secured  for  $.1.00 
per  ton. 

Coal  requirements  when  the  Canal  was  being 
built  ran  around  500,000  tons  per  year,  and  iq) 
to  the  time  the  Canal  was  closed  early  in  October 
by  the  Culebra  slides,  the  bunker  requirements 
of  steamers  passing  through  the  Canal  was  run¬ 
ning  around  45,000  tons  per  month.  So  that  it 
is  reasonable  to  anticipate  that  the  requirements 
when  the  Canal  is  reopened  and  shipping  is  re¬ 
sumed  generally,  will  be  considerably  in  excess 
of  500,000  tons  per  year. 

About  six  months  ago,  the  Panama  Railroad 
placed  in  commission  the  first  of  two  colliers 
that  were  built  for  it  upon  special  designs,  the 
construction  work  being  done  bv  the  Maryland 
Steel  Company  at  Baltimore.  What  was  con¬ 
sidered  by  many  shipping  men  to  be  a  most  radi¬ 
cal  requirement,  was  that  these  steam  colliers 
should  make  fifteen  knots  per  hour  when  loaded. 
The  cargo  capacity  is  13,000  tons,  and  bunker 
.space  allows  for  about  1.500  tons  more.  Not  onW 
did  these  steamers  make  fifteen  knots  on  their 
trial  test,  but  have  been  able  to  make  it  after 
six  'nonths  in  service. 

When  these  colliers  were  designed,  it  was 
stated  that  they  would  be  able  to  transport  coal 
from  Hamoton  Roads  to  Panama,  a  di.stance  of 
about  1,600  miles,  unload  and  return  in  ballast 
to  the  coal  loading  piers  on  the  Atlantic  seaboard, 
at  a  cost  of  approximatelv  $1.00  per  ton.  It  is 
understood  that  these  colliers  have  been  able  to 
make  good  the  duties  required  of  them.  Thev 
have  not  been  making  their  fu’l  speed,  because 
this  has  not  been  considered  necessary,  as  it  is 
found  that  a  speed  of  eleven  and  one-half  knots 
is  more  economieal.  These  boats  were  built  for 
a  maximum  speed  of  fifteen  knots,  so  _  that  in 
case  they  were  needed  as  naval  auxiliaries,  they 
could  be  so  utilized. 

It  is  understood  that  the  two  colliers  have  been 
carrying  approximately  35,000  tons  of  coal  per 
month  to  Panama,  and  they  could  take  consid¬ 
erably  more  if  they  were  given  quick  dispatch 
at  the  other  end.-  Early  the  coming  year  the  first 
units  of  the  Government’s  coaling  plant  at  Colon 
will  be  ready  for  service,  and  these  steamers 
will,  therefore,  be  given  very  quick  dispatch  so 
that  they  can  then  make  a  quick  turn  at  each 
end  of  their  trip. 

In  the  construction  of  these  vessels,  all  ma¬ 
terials  used  were  in  accordance  with  Lloyds’ 
Glassification  Society  rules,  and  the  United  States 
Steamboat  Inspection  rules,  except  as  modified  bv 
detailed  specifications.  The  shipbuilders  agreed 
that  the  vessels  should  be  sufficiently  strong  and 
have  sufficient  stability  without  water  ballast  to 
carry  their  equipment,  machinery,  stores  and 
bunker  and  cargo  coal,  and  that  when  completed 
in  all  respects,  that  all  fittings  and  outfits  and 
loaded  with  13.000  tons  of  cargo  and  1,300  tons 
of  bunker  coal,  twenty  tons  of  reserve  feed 
water,  ten  tons  of  drinking  water  and  seventv- 
five  tons  of  stores  and  crew,  the  mean  drafts 
would  not  exceed  twenty-eight  feet  one  inch  in 
salt  water,  with  ballast  tanks-  empty  and  the  ves¬ 
sel 'trimmed  not  more  than  two  feet  by  the  stern; 
that  when  completed  and  loaded  as  stated  above. 


cate  how  fast  those  are,  it  is  only  necessary  to 
say  that  they  can  load  10,000  tons  into  one  boat 
in  a  working  day. 

That  is  how  we  are  solving  the  fourth  problem 
which  confronted  us. 

The  fifth  problem  concerns  itself  with  our 
financial  policy  abroad.  It  is  not  necessary  to 
dwell  at  length  upon  that  subject  here  because 
our  activities  have  been  treated  elaborately  in 
another  connection  in  this  issue. 

Seeing  all  of  these  things,  the  question  raised 
by  the  foreigner  at  the  beginning  of  this  article 
■ — can  America  perform  a  miracle  in  the  course 
of  a  year  and  enter  the  export  market  before  the 
war  ends — seems  to  us  to  be  answered.  America 
has  done  practically  the  impossible.  As  a  result 
it,  today,  has  a  coal  exporting  organization  which 
is  nearing  completion. 


except  with  bunkers  empty  and  water  in  tanks 
as  necessary,  the  trim  should  not  exceed  one  foot 
by  the  head ;  and  that  the  metacentric  height  shall 
not  be  less  than  eighteen  inches  at  full  loaded 
condition  without  the  use  of  water  ballast. 

The  contractors  also  guaranteed  that  the  coal 
consumption  for  all  purposes  would  not  exceed 
on  trial  B,  850  pounds  per  knot  run  reduced  to 
fourteen  knots  speed  in  proportion  to  the  fourth 
power  of  revolutions. 

When  these  colliers  were  under  negotiation, 
the  Panama  Railroad  Company  submitted  an  esti¬ 
mate  based  on  seventeen  and  one-half  round  trips 
per  annum  for  each  vessel,  which  would  mean 
the  transportation  of  310,000  tons  of  coal  per 
vessel  per  annum,  that  the  cost  of  transportation 
would_  amount  to  ninety-seven  cents  per  ton,  not 
including  depreciation  and  interest  on  capital  in¬ 
vested.  It  is  understood  that  these  colliers  have, 
during  the  five  or  six  months  that  they  have  been 
in  service,  given  every  satisfaction.  It  is,  of 
course,  a  source  of  great  satisfaction  to  the 
Panama  Railroad  Company  that  these  colliers 
were  built  so  that  their  delivery  was  made  this 
past  summer. 

During  the  year  1913,  the  cost  of  water  trans¬ 
portation  on  coal  to  the  Isthmus  had  been  $1,395 
per  ton.  Prior  to  the  building  of  these  colliers, 
all  coal  shipped  to  the  Isthmus  was  carried  down 
in  foreign  bottoms.  There  was  constant  fluctua¬ 
tions  in  the  cost  of  water  transportation,  but  the 
Government  had  been  able  to  get  what  was  con¬ 
sidered  a  reasonable  rate  on  coal  to  Panama,  due 
to  the  fact  that  the  steamers  could  get  return 
cargoes  of  ore  and  sugar  from  Cuba. 

It  is,  indeed,  doubtful  that  any  contracts  for 
tonnage  after  the  expiration  of  the  charters  made 
in  1913  could  have  been  consummated  during  the 
past  year  at  any  price  on  foreign  bottoms,  and 
there  was  so  little  American  tonnage  available 
that  the  Panama  Railroad  Company  could  not 
have  secured  it  except  at  very  high  rates.  Should 
a  contract  have  been  entered  into  following  the 
expiration  of  the  old  contract  for  water  trans¬ 
portation,  on  foreign  bottom.s,  the  Railroad  Com¬ 
pany  would,  no  doubt,  at  this  time  be  finding 
themselves  very  much  in  the  position  of  the 
private  shippers,  who  have  had  their  vessel  con¬ 
tracts  invalidated  by  reason  of  the  requisitioning 
of  steamers  by  the  governments  at  war. 

At  the  moment,  vessels  would  be  hard  to  ob¬ 
tain  to  take  coal  to  Panama  at  $5.00  per  ton. 

At  the  present  time,  the  Government  is  saving 
easily  $2.50  to  $3.00  per  ton  on  transportation  of 
coal  to  Panarna,  and  it  is  likelv  that  they  will  save 
this  amount,  if  not  considerably  more,  for  many 
months  to  come. 

The  two  colliers  were  given  the  name  “Achilles” 
and  “Ulysses.”  The  contract  for  their  construc¬ 
tion  was  entered  into  on  Anril  9,  1914,  and  the 
contract  awarded  to  the  Maryland  Steel  Com¬ 
pany  of  Baltimore,  who  made  the  lowest  bid, 
$987,500  each.  This  may  seem  high  for  ships  at 
tlpt  time,  but  the  Navy  Denartment  took  the 
view  that  m  consideration  of  the  character  of 
service,  which  these  colliers  will  be  ca'led  unon 
to  perform  and  the  importance  of  maintaining 
their  schedules  with  a  minimum  of  delay  for 
repairs,  that  specifications  for  boilers  and  ma¬ 
chinery  be  somewhat  in  excess  of  ordinary  rat¬ 
ings  and  specifications  in  order  to  obtain  as  great 
reserve  power  and  strength  as  possible. 

_  On  June  30,  1914,  the  Secretary  of  War  de¬ 
cided  that  these  colliers  when  completed  should 
be  operated  for  the  Panama  Canal  bv  the  Panama 
Railroad  Company  in  a  manner  similar  to  the 
operation  of  the  vessels  of  the  Panama  Railroad 
Steamship  Line,  which  vessels  ply  between  New 
York  and  the  Canal. 


The  Ships  Which  Carry  Panama  Railroad’s  Coal. 


492 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[December  18 


The  Everett,  Our  First  Ocean  Going  Coal  Carrying  Steel  Steamer.  She  Is  Shown  Loaded  with  7,200  Tons  of  Coal. 


Getting  a  Fleet  to  Carry  American  Coal  to  Market. 


In  foreign  trade  our  merchant  marine  consists 
of  thirty-seven  steel  sailing  ships  averaging  1,600 
tons  each,  544  wooden  sailing  vessels  averaging 
600  tons,  239  wooden  steamers  averaging  300  tons 
and  331  steel  steamships  averaging  3,800  tons. 
There  are  also  537  motor  boats  and  1,106  barges. 

At  this  writing  the  merchant  fleet  of  the  United 
States  in  service  ranks  second  to  that  of  Great 
Britain.  That  is,  due  to  war,  Americans  have 
made  some  progress  on  the  seas,  and  now  ships 
bearing  the  American  flag  are  going  to  practi¬ 
cally  all  ports  of  the  world  that  are  open  for 
merchant  vessels. 

Prior  to  the  war  there  were  no  vessels  flying 
the  American  flag  in  the  Atlantic  trade,  with  the 
exception  of  an  occasional  schooner  that  made 
some  of  the  eastern  provinces  or  some  of  the 
West  Indies  ports.  It  had  been  many  years  since 
a  merchantman  had  crossed  the  Atlantic  flying 
the  stars  and  stripes. 

Now,  with  Germany’s  merchantmen  interned, 
including  the  fleet  of  steamers  on  the  Great 
Lakes,  the  United  States  will,  no  doubt,  rank 
second  to  England  in  the  tonnage  of  vessels  now 
actually  in  merchant  service. 

This  article  is  intended  primarily  to  show  that 
the  coal  men  are  largely  responsible  for  the  in¬ 
crease  in  the  building  of  cargo  ships,  which  has 
enabled  the  United  States  to  step  in  during  the 
past  eighteen  months  and  take  advantage  of  the 
remarkable  shortage  of  vessels  brought  about  by 
the  war.  The  diversion  of  steamers  built  origi¬ 
nally  for  coal-carrying  coastwise  exclusively,  to 
the  general  trade,  has  been  of  great  benefit  to 
.American  shippers  in  that  it  has  enabled  them  to 
export  not  only  coal,  but  a  great  deal  of  cotton, 
grain  and  other  products,  that  otherwise  might 
not  have  moved.  The  benefit  of  this  has  not 
only  been  to  the  profit  of  the  ship  owner,  but 
the  farmer,  merchant  and  transportation^  com¬ 
panies  have  also  profited  because  of  the  existence 
of  American  merchant  vessels. 

Prior  to  1908,  the  only  steamers  flying  the 
American  flag  ran  coastwise.  There  were  not 
so  many  steamers  in  service  outside  the  regular 
liners  that  made  regular  schedules  between  the 
principal  cities  along  the  Atlantic  seaboard  and 
the  Gulf.  Every  line  of  steamers  operating  to 
foreign  ports  was  of  foreign  registry.  The 
steamers  engaged  in  the  coastwise  trade  were 
combination  passenger  and  freight  steamers  and 
freighters. 

Our  local  .ship-building  plants  had  turned  out 
very  few  exclusive  cargo  ships  other  than  some 
oil  'tanks  and  some  small  freight  steamers,  most 
(if  which  were  for  service  betw-ecn  New  1  ork 

and  the  Gulf.  . 

It  was  in  1907  that  the  first  steamers  built  ex¬ 
pressly  for  carrying  coal  were  launched.  1  he 
Fore  River  Shipbuilding  Company  in  that  year 
began  turning  out  colliers  for  the  New  England 
Coal  &  Coke  Company,  to  use  in  carrying  coal 
between  Hampton  Roads,  Baltimore  and  Boston, 
where  the  coal  company  had  erected  very  modern 
coal  discharging  and  storing;  docks.  The  colliers 
were  constructed  with  a  view  of  having  them 
work  quickly  between  coal  loading  piers  at  the 
ports  named  and  the  Boston  terminals.  Four 
boats  were  constructed  of  the  same  type.  The 
first  of  these  was  the  Everett,  named  after  the 


What  Our  Coal  Companies  Are  Doing  to 
Supply  Transportation  and  the  Theory 
on  Which  Our  Ships  Are  Built — The 
Importance  of  Base  Docks. 

town  where  the  company’s  plant  is  located,  in 
the  suburbs  of  Boston. 

In  planning  these  ships,  the  coal  people  said : 
“We  have  piers  where  1,500  or  2,000  tons  of  coal 
per  hour  can  be  loaded  into  vessels.  We  have 
at  our  Boston  terminals  a  plant  where  1,000  tons 
per  hour  can  be  discharged,  provided  the  hatches 
of  the  ship  permit.  Why  not  build  steamers 
whose  hatches  will  be  uniform ;  each  ship  to  be 
of  the  same  size,  so  that  our  discharging  plant 
can  be  worked  at  maximum?’’ 

Moreover,  the  company  found  that  it  could 
not  depend  upon  schooners  or  barges  for  a  reg¬ 
ular  supply  of  coal.  Both  of  these  methods  of 
coal  transportation  were  uncertain.  Schooners 
were  dependent  upon  weather.  They  ran  slow 
when  there  was  little  wind.  They  anchored  when 
fogs  were  heavy.  The  same  could  be  said  about 
the  barges.  Then  there  were  no  two  schooners 
built  alike.  There  was  no  uniformity  about  the 
hatches.  Therefore,  it  was  never  possible  to  get 
the  Everett  plant  to  work  at  full  speed.  And 
full  speed  was  what  the  company  wanted  and 
must  have. 

Therefore,  the  design  of  the  Everett.  Briefly, 
this  steamer,  and  her  three  sister  ships — the  Mel¬ 
rose,  Malden  and  Newton — were  built  with  five 
hatches,  all  uniform,  self  trimming  with  cargo 
space  for  7,200  tons  and  ample  bunker  space  to 
steam  some  1,500  or  3,000  miles. 


The  Hampden  Under  Construction. 


These  steamers  were  the  first  words  in  Ameri¬ 
can  collier  building.  They  have  been  in  service 
now  for  more  than  seven  years,  and  they  are 
modern  yet.  Here  is  a  detailed  description  of 
these  steamers: 

The  length  of  each  steamer  is  approximately 
400  feet ;  the  beam,  is  fifty-three  feet,  and  the 
draft,  loaded,  is  twenty-six  feet.  As  stated,  their 
coal  cargo  capacity  is  7,200  tons  in  addition  to 
bunker  coal.  Their  speed  is  about  ten  and  one- 
half  to  eleven  knots  per  hour  loaded.  Year  in 
and  year  out  these  steamers,  including  the  more 
recently  built  Newton,  make  an  average  of  from 
forty-two  to  forty-six  trips  each.  This  means  a 
service  of  great  regularity  and  in  this  regularity 
of  movement  lies  the  great  value  of  such  steam¬ 
ers  both  to  the  shipper  and  the  purchaser  of  the 
coal. 

These  vessels  were  built  specifically  to  carry 
coal  and  were  of  an  entirely  new  type  for  such 
trade.  The  propelling  machinery  is  located  away 
aft,  leaving  the  whole  ship  forward  available  for 
cargo.  In  addition,  these  steamers  are  self-trim¬ 
mers,  having  top  side  ballast  tanks  arranged  longi¬ 
tudinally  in  such  a  manner  that  the  space  formerly 
occupied  by  the  tanks  is  available  for  cargo.  The 
space  now  occupied  by  these  tanks  is  that  which 
formerly  required  trimming  by  hand. 

Here  are  some  of  the  records  made  in  loading 
these  steamers:  At  Newport  News,  on  June  6th, 
the  Everett  took  on  7,500  tons  of  coal  in  two 
hours  and  forty-five  minutes,  a  world’s  record. 
At  Curtis  Bay  piers,  Baltimore,  the  Newton  took 
on  7,500  tons  in.  three  hours  and  forty-five  min¬ 
utes. 

These  boats,  due  to  the  fact  that  they  run 
regularly  between  modern  loading  and  modern 
discharging  docks,  average  just  about  a  round 
trip  per  week.  The  distance  between  Hampton 
Roads  and  Everett  docks,  Boston,  is  approxi¬ 
mately  650  miles.  This  means  that  each  seven 
days  these  steamers  travel  over  1,250  miles,  re¬ 
ceive  and  discharge  7,200  tons  of  cargo  coal. 
This  means  that  this  fleet  of  four  steamers  is 
capable  of  making  forty-eight  trips  per  year 
each,  and  to  transport  a  total  of  1,400,000  tons  of 
coal. 

Following  the  building  of  this  fleet  of  steam¬ 
ers  for  coal  carrying,  other  Boston  interests  be¬ 
gan  building  steamers  on  the  Great  Lakes  or  at 
coastwise  plants  for  coal  carrying. 

Two  steamers  were  turned  out  at  Camden,  N. 
J.,  for  the  Coastwise  Transportation  Company  of 
Boston.  This  company  had  formerly  operated 
.schooners  or  barges  exclusively.  It  was  in  June, 
1909,  that  they  gave  an  order  to  the  New  York 
Shipbuilding  Company  of  Camden,  N.  J.,  for  the 
construction  of  the  first  colliers  to  be  turned  out 
from  their  yard. 

These  boats  were  the  “Coastwise”  and  the 
"Transportation,”  and  these  were  delivered  Feb¬ 
ruary  1st  and  April  1st,  1910,  respectively.  Then 
followed  the  Suffolk,  which  was  built  in  1911. 

The  Suffolk  type  of  collier  was  found  to  be 
so  complete  in  its  details  that  this  has  been  fol¬ 
lowed  in  the  construction  of  other  boats  which 
have  been  built  for  the  Coastwise  Transporta¬ 
tion  Company  since  then.  These  boats  were  the 
"Middlesex,”  built  in  1912;  the  “Norfolk,”  built 
in  1913,  and  the  “Hampden,”  which  was  launched 


No.  25] 


493 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


■ 


The  Steamship  Plymouth,  a  Type  of  Large  Collier  Built  for  Trans-Atlantic  Service. 


March  13,  1914.  With  the  exception  of  the 
“Norfolk,”  which  has  a  capacity  of  5,000  tons  and 
250  bunker,  the  other  boats  have  the  same  length 
and  tonnage  as  the  “Suffolk.” 

The  “Suffolk”  type  is  391  feet  over  all  in  length, 
has  a  beam  of  fifty  feet  and  a  depth  of  thirty- 
two  feet.  Their  total  dead  weight  is  7,500  tons, 
including  both  bunker  and  cargo.  They  are 
fitted  with  triple  expansion  engines  of  2,100 
horsepower,  which  will  produce  ten  and  one-half 
knots  an  hour  loaded  and  eleven  knots  light. 
They  have  eleven  cargo  hatches,  fifteen  by  thirty 
feet,  all  of  which  have  immense  steel  covers 
which  are  opened  and  closed  by  winches  and 
which  are  of  length  and  breadth  to  allow  easy 
access  for  the  grab  buckets  to  get  the  coal  from 
any  part  of  the  hold.  In  the  cargo  hatches  there 
are  no  stations  or  pillars  to  interfere  with  the 
free  unloading  of  the  coal.  Neither  are  there 
any  cleatings  or  stringers  on  the  side  walls  in 
these  holds  so  that  coal  can  slip  between  them 
and  the  hull.  Arch  webb  frames  as  a  means 
of  construction  lend  both  strength  and  also  add 
to  the  freedom  in  getting  the_  cargo  in  and  out. 
All  of  these  ships  are  electric  lighted  and  are 
equipped  with  refrigeration  plants.  A  crew  of 
thirty-four  men  is  sufficient  to  operate  these 
boats.  The  engines  are  placed  in  the  after  end 
in  all  of  the  boats  named  above. 

In  building  colliers  for  the  transoceanic  trade, 
which  was  the  next  line  of  construction  to  be 
essayed  by  the  New  York  Shipbuilding  Company, 
it  was  found  that  the  large  amount  of  bunker 
coal  used  necessitated  a  different  kind  of  a  boat. 
On  January  15,  1915,  when  ocean  business  was 
practically  demoralized  and  there  was  a  genera) 
call  for  bottoms  for  the  transportation  of  coal 
for  foreign  ports  and  particularly  to  the  Mediter¬ 
ranean,  the  Coastwise  Transportation  Company 
entered  into  contract  with  the  Camden  concern 
for  the  building  of  two  ocean  colliers,  which  were 
to  be  so  designed  as  to  be  the  last  word  in  coal- 
carrying  equipment. 

It  was  found  necessary  to  place  the  engines 
aboard  these  boats  in  the  center,  so  that  the 
proper  sea-going  trim  would  be  preserved  as  the 
bunkers  were  emptied. 

These  were  a  larger  type  of  boat — sister  ships 
of  8,750  tons  total  dead  weight.  The  first  of 
these  ships  completed — the  “Franklin” — was 
launched  September  2'4.  The  second — the  “Ply¬ 
mouth” — slipped  off  the  ways  on  October  15. 
The  measurements  of  these  two  vessels  are  395 
feet  in  length,  fifty-five  feet  beam  and  a  depth 
of  thirty-four  feet  six  inches.  These  boats  are 
now  under  charter  to  the  Consolidation  Coal 
Company  and  are  used  in  carrying  coal  to 
Fgypt.  Orders  for  a  third  boat  of  this  type  have 
licf'ii  placed. 

The  three  boats  for  the  Pocahontas  Naviga¬ 
tion  Company,  which  arc  liuilding  at  the  present 
time,  are  of  the  same  type  as  the  “Suffolk,”  but 
of  the  carrying  capacity  of  the  “Norfolk.”  The 
“Virginia”  of  this  fleet  was  sold  to  a  shipping 
company  just  before  it  was  ready  for  service, 
so  an  order  was  immediately  placed  for  another 
ship  to  take  her  place. 

Another  boat  which  the  Coastv/isc  Transpor¬ 
tation  Company  has  contracted  for  and  which  is 
now  building  is  the  “Bristol.”  She  is  on  the 
ways  and  when  completed  will  he  of  the  general 
type  of  the  “Coastwise”  and  “Transportation.” 

Two  sister  ships  to '  the  “Virginia” — the 
“Jonancy”  and  the  “Bylayl” — have  been  launched 
for  the  same  concern. 

The  “Virginia”  is  a  vessel  calculated  to  carry 


5,500  tons  total  dead  weight.  Her  engines  are 
set  at  the  stern.  To  the  bow  and  in  the  waist 
rides  her  coal  cargoes  and  the  navigating  bridge 
and  pilot  house  are  set  amidships.  The  immense 
coal  hatches  have  been  built  with  the  concen¬ 
trated  idea  of  giving  both  the  easiest  means  of 
loading  and  discharging  as  well  as  safety  in 
carriage  while  in  transit.  Her  officers’  quarters, 
men’s  quarters  and  the  entire  scheme  of  caring 
for  the  crew  are  all  most  up  to  date  and  intended 
to  give  the  greatest  amount  of  comfort  and  con¬ 
venience  that  a  merchantman  can  afford. 

The  “Virginia”  affords  a  good  contrast  between 
the  old  and  the  new  methods  of  coal  transporta¬ 
tion.  When  the  old  type  of  wooden  schooners 
were  in  their  hey-day,  these  were  the  principal 
means  of  carriage  of  coal  from  one  American 
port  to  another.  Nine  to  ten  trips  a  year  be¬ 
tween  Norfolk  and  New  England  were  sup¬ 
posed  to  be  sufficient  for  a  productive  twelve- 
month  for  such  4,000-ton  vessels.  One  of  these 
reasons  why,  was  that  the  old  wooden  hulks 
could  lay  on  demurrage  and  make  about  as  much 
money  as  while  cargo-laden  on  the  high  seas. 
With  the  coming  of  the  steel  collier,  however, 
this  was  found  to  be  a  poignant  trespass  on  good 
business.  The  steel  collier  owners  set  about  to 
remedy  the  condition.  There  must  be  quick  load¬ 
ing  and  discharging  in  order  that  this  type  of 
boat  would  pay.  There  must  be  sufficient  trips  to 
lower  the  total  cost  of  carriage  and  likewise  pay 
dividends  for  the  owners.  Forty  to  forty-eight 
trips  a  year  in  the  coastwise  trade  is  what  some 
of  the  colliers  in  service  to  New  England  ports 
are  called  upon  to  do. 

Yankee  brains  have  always  been  called  upon 
to  meet  conditions  that  particularly  obtain  to 
this  part  of  the  world.  So,  when  it  came  time 
to  build  steel  colliers  for  the  American  trade, 
some  changes  in  the  old  order  of  things  were 
projected. 

With  the  closing  days  of  October  of  this  year 
the  company  entered  into  contract  with  the 
Darrow-Mann  interests  of  Boston  for  the  con¬ 
struction  of  two  deep-sea  colliers.  One  of  them 
eclipses  anything  that  has  yet  been  turned  out 
of  the  Camden  yards.  This  boat — at  the  present 
time  unnamed — will  have  a  total  length  of  453 
feet,  beam  sixty-three  feet  and  thirty-six  feet  in 
depth.  The  capacity  is  to  be  12,650  tons  total 
dead  weight.  The  other  ship  is  to  be  a  dupli¬ 
cate  of  the  “Plymouth”  and  “Franklin”  above 
referred  to. 


Some  seven  or  eight  steamers  were  built  on 
the  Great  Lakes  during  the  past  four  or  five 
years  for  the  coastwise  coal-carrying  trade.  As 
these  steamers  had  to  be  brought  to  the  Atlantic 
through  the  Welland  Canal,  they  could  only  be 
built  260  feet  long.  This  meant  a  cargo  capacity 
of  4,000  tons.  Some  of  these  steamers  are  the 
“Geo.  E.  Warren,”  “Edison  Light,”  “Mary  E. 
Harper,”  “George  Hawley,”  F.  J.  Lisman,”  “Sea- 
connet.” 

Recently  the  New  England  Coal  &  Coke  Com¬ 
pany  bought  two  steamers  on  the  Lakes  and 
added  them  to  their  coastwise  fleet.  These  are 
the  “Arlington”  and  “Brandon.” 

The  Clinchfield  Coal  Corporation  bought  two 
new  lake  steamers  this  year  and  put  them  in 
service  between  Charleston,  S.  C.,  and  the  Gulf 
and  West  Indies  ports.  Two  new  steamers  are 
now  being  built  at  Detroit  for  tliis  company,  and 
they  will  he  placed  in  service  next  year.  This 
company  also  bought  an  old  English  steamer  and 
are  having  her  rebuilt  at  New  York  yards  for 
the  coal-carrying  service. 

Some  six  years  ago  the  Berwind-White  inter¬ 
ests  had  two  steamers  built  in  England  for  their 
West  Indies  coal  service.  These  steamers  carry 
8,500  tons  cargo. 

At  the  moment,  American  shipbuilding  yards, 
outside  of  the  lake  plants,  are  building  150 
passenger  and  freight  steamers.  They  also  have 
a  lot  of  naval  construction. 

At  Newport  News,  the  local  plant  is  building 
seven  oil  steamers  and  ten  miscellaneous  freight¬ 
ers. 

At  the  New  York  Shipbuilding  Company  plant 
at  Camden,  N.  J.,  seven  oil  and  twelve  colliers 
and  miscellaneous  freighters  are  under  construc¬ 
tion. 

At  Cramps,  Philadelphia,  vessels  under  con¬ 
struction  include  six  oil,  four  passenger  and 
four  freighters. 

At  Maryland  Steel  Company  plant  at  Balti¬ 
more,  ten  steamers  are  under  construction. 

Eight  oil  steamers  are  being  built  at  the  Harlan 
&  Hallingsworth  plant  at  Wilmington,  Del. 

Fore  River  Shipbuilding  Company,  at  Quincy, 
Mass.,  are  building  seven  oil  and  three  freight 
steamers. 

Also,  all  the  Pacific  coast  plants  are  busy, 
while  local  plants  at  New  York  are  being  en¬ 
gaged  so  that  they  can  build  freight  steamers. 

Moreover,  some  of  our  biggest  financial  inter¬ 
ests  are  now  turning  their  attention  to  shipbuild¬ 
ing.  They  no  longer  look  upon  shipping  as  a 
ri=k.  The  war  has  taught  them  that  many  of 
our  industries  on  land  are  largely  dependent  upon 
sea  transportation,  and  moreover,  some  of  the 
handicaps  against  American-built  ships  have  been 
wiped  out  by  the  war.  It  is.  not  anticipated  by 
those  who  have  given  some  study  to  the  question, 
that  England’s  shipyards  will  in  the  near  future 
be  able  to  turn  out  ships  as  cheaply  as  they  did 
before  the  war.  The  differential  in  labor,  so 
vastly  in  English  shipbuilders’  favor,  has  largely 
been  removed,  and  it  is  not  believed  that  they 
are  going  to  find  the  raw  materials  for  ship¬ 
building  as  cheap  as  before  the  war.  Further¬ 
more,  it  is  believed  that  Americans  will  give  to 
shipbuilding  in  future  the  same  serious  attention 
that  they  have  given  to  other  industries,  and  that 
this  will  mean  that  ways  will  be  found  by  which 
ship  construction  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic  can 
be  carried  on,  if  not  as  cheaply  ton  for  ton,  then 
on  competitive  basis,  with  ship  construction 
abroad.  It  is  argued  that  the  English  ship¬ 
building  yards  will,  for  many  years  to  come,  have 
to  pay  enormous  taxes,  and  that  the  income  tax 
also  will  inflict  such  burdens  upon  shipbuilding 
capitalists  that  they  will  not  be  so  anxious  to  turn 
out  ships  merely  for  the  fun  of  it. 


The  Steamship  Hampden,  a  Type  of  Vessel  in  Our  Coastwise  Coal  Trade. 


494 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


[December  18 


How  America  and  Europe  Met  on  Coal  Question. 


The  attitude  of  the  business  people  of  the 
United  States  toward  the  foreign  trade  was,  as 
a  rule  ])rior  to  the  outbreak  of  the  war,  one  of 
indifference.  Since  the  general  declarations  of 
war  it  has  been  one  of  intensified  interest.  The 
possible  foreign  customer  of  American  concerns 
may  fail  to  understand  why  a  great  nation  like 
ours  should  at  one  time  be  totally  indifferent  to 
such  an  important  subject  and  at  another  keenly 
alive  to  it.  The  possibility  is  that  we  may  be 
.grossly  misunderstood  unless  our  change  is  ex¬ 
plained.  .  ,  ,  r 

The  best  explanation  of  Americas  change  ot 
front  is  made  by  C.  L.  Dering,  the  president  of 
the  Chicago  Association  of  Commerce.  Ills  or¬ 
ganization  is,  perhaps,  the  largest  and  strongest 
individual  or  local  commercial  organization  in 
this  country,  and  hence  his  word  must  carry  some 
weight.  He  said,  in  a  recent  address : 

"Profits  at  home  have  been  too  easily  made  to 
supply  the  necessary  stimulus  to  the  search  for 
profits  abroad.  Our  own  country  with  its  natural 
wealth  has  offered  so  rich  a  field  that  the  foreign 
field  has  seemed  less  attractive  by  comparison. 
.\nd,  if  we  in  the  past  have  viewed  with  com¬ 
placency  the  greater  progress  of  others  in  the 
winnin.g  of  world  markets,  it  has  been  because 
right  here  at  home  were  more  generous  rewards 
than  could  be  found  over  seas.  But  we  are  fac¬ 
ing  changed  conditions.” 

It  is  a  fact,  known  to  every  student  of  our 
affairs,  that  even  before  the  war  we  were  quickly 
arriving  at  the  point  where  production  at  home 
was  becoming  so  heavy,  in  nearly  every  industry, 
the  home  market  could  not  longer  sustain  the 
full  force  of  our  productive  genius.  To  find 
relief  we  must  do  one  of  two  things— abate  some¬ 
thing  of  the  zeal  for  production  at  home,  or  enter 
upon  a  campaign  to  win  forei.gn  markets,^  which 
would  give  us  a  broader  market  zone.  We  were 
just  at  that  point  when  the  war  broke  out  and 
practically  forced  us  to  occupy  the  foreign  market 
in  order  to  relieve  the  needs  of  oversea  com¬ 
munities  as  to  the  necessities  of  life. 

Even  so,  our  occupancy  of  the  foreign  market 
had  thus  to  be  almost  instantaneous  and  hence 
under  something  of  pressure.  This  quick  change 
of  front  did  not  alter  the  fact  that  America  was 
going  into  markets  that  it  did  not  know  and  that 
.Americans  were  goin.g  to  deal  with  concerns 
about  which  they  knew  nothing.  It  did  not  alter 
tlie  fact,  either,  that  we  were  going  to  solicit 
the  trade  of  concerns  and  communities  which  did 
not  know  us.  There  was  ignorance,  on  our  part, 
of  the  credit  standing  of  foreign  buyers.  There 
was  ignorance  on  their  part  of  the  financial 
standing,  productive  capacity,  quality  of  goods, 
etc.,  of  some  of  the  most  stable  houses  in 
.America. 

To  clear  up  this  evident  and  mutual  lack  of 
understanding,  there  was  need  for  some  kind  of 
American  representation  abroad  that  was  other 
than  commercial.  That  ks  to  say,  the  representa¬ 
tive  of  an  American  house  mi.ght  plead  the 
financial  responsibility  of  his  own  concern  but 
his  word  was  likely  to  be  discounted  on  the 
score  of  his  self-interest.  Also  such  a  personal 
representation  could  not  very  easily  solicit  an 
order  one  minute  and  inquire  pointedly  the  next 
— with  the  order  in  his  pocket — about  the  finan¬ 
cial  standing  of  the  person  by  whom  the  order 
was  given.  In  a  word,  it  was  necessary  to  estab¬ 
lish  an  accepted  intermediary  between  buyer  and 
seller  that  the  two  might  be  introduced  as  their 
respective  standings  warranted.  This  intermedi¬ 
ary  must  be  someone  who  knew  intimately  about 
home  producers  and  foreign  consumers  and  who 
could  in  a  way  vouch  for  one  to  the  either.  He 
could  smooth  the  w'ay  so  as  to  make  future  rela¬ 
tions  satisfactory  and  profitable  to  both. 

'J'he  most  natural  person  to  occupy  this  delicate 
position  was  a  commercial  representative  of  our 
government.  In  view  of  the  fact  that  America 
was  the  one  that  was  seeking  business,  the  com¬ 
mercial  attache  of  the  United  States,  accredited 
to  places  where  we  wanted  to  sell,  was  the  per¬ 
son  to  undertake  this  diplomatic  mission.  Since 
lie  was  to  speak  for  America,  he  must  be  some¬ 
thing  of  a  diplomat.  That  he  was  skilled  in  the 
fine  points  of  commerce  and  knew  what  is  needed 
to  help  along  the  expansion  of  our  trade  went 
without  saying. 

.America  was  fortunate  in  having,  at  the  outset 
of  the  war,  a  commercial  attache  in  the  person 
of  C.  W.  A.  Veditz,  who  was  at  that  time  accred¬ 
ited  to  Belgium  and  France.  Later  he  was,  on 
the  request  of  its  monarch  for  such  a  representa¬ 
tion  and  hence  on  the  broadening  of  our  com¬ 
mercial  prospects  in  Spain,  asked  to  e.xtend  his 


The  United  States  Changes  Front  on 
Exports  Over  Night  and. Its  Commercial 
Attache  Introduces  Its  Coal  and  the  Pro¬ 
ducers  in  a  Way  to  Expedite  Business. 

territory  to  include  that  country.  He  has  per¬ 
formed,  both  for  the  American  producer  and  for 
the  European  buyers,  an  extremely  important  and 
valuable  service.  As  the  result  of  his  work,  all 
of  these  countries  are  in  position  to  exchange 
business  on  a  bigger  and  broader  plan  in  future. 

It  is  understood,  of  course,  that  a  commercial 
attache  must  concern  himself  with  all  forms  of 
business.  He  must  express  industry  as  a  whole 
and  not  be  a  partisan  of  any  one.  At  the  same 
time  he  must  be  able  to  treat  each  separate  in¬ 
dustry  intimately  that  it  might  be  supposed  his 
discussion  of  anyone  business  were  the  sole  object 
of  his  mission  abroad.  Thus,  while  Mr.  Veditz 
concerned  himself  from  time  to  time  with  touch¬ 
ing  most  of  our  business  enterprises,  he  took 
occasion  to  study  minutely  the  question  of  coal 
and  the  market  for  it  because  there  is  so  much 
opportunity  for  the  immediate  and  future  sale 
of  our  product  in  Europe. 

.Among  others  with  whom  he  discussed  that 
question  was  the  minister  of  public  works  of 
France.  As  is  outlined  in  another  connection, 
the  French  fuel  problem  is  intricate  just  now  and 
far  from  simple.  The  minister  of  public  works, 
who  buys  the  coal  supply  for  the  French  rail¬ 
ways,  was  much  interested  in  the  broad  question 
of  fuel,  and  particularly  in  what  we  have  to  offer. 
He  showed,  in  explaining  France’s  position,  that 
between  fifty  and  sixty  per  cent  of  the  French 
mines  are  now  in  the  hands  of  the  enemy.  Nat¬ 
urally,  they  arc  not  producing  any  coal  for  the 
country  which  owns  them.  Further,  he  showed 
that  the  supply,  on  which  France  has  been  de¬ 
pendant  from  Belgium  and  Germany,  had  been 
cut  off,  naturally.  This  indicated  that  France 
was  depending  for  much  of  its  coal  supply  on 
England  alone.  Thus,  as  shown  in  another  con¬ 
nection,  is  crippled  first  because  the  available  coal 
supply  had  to  be  spread  out  thin  over  such  big 
territory  and,  second,  because  England  lost  miners 
to  the  army.  This  placed  France  in  a  position 
where  its  coal  supply  was  in  jeopardy  and  where 
it  was  eager  to  know  more  about  coal  supply,  and 
especially  about  the  dependable  concerns  here 
which  produce  coal. 

When  the  position  of  France  had  thus  been 
disclosed,  Mr.  Veditz  went  as  far  as  time  would 
allow  into  a  preliminary  study  of  the  kind  of  coal 
to  which  France  has  been  accustomed.  He  wanted 
to  know  what  we  must  sell  if  we  want  to  hold 
trade.  He  could  not  carry  this  as  far  as  he 
wished  because  the  information  in  dependable 
form  was  not  immediately  available.  He  did 
uncover  some  facts  of  importance.  One  was  that 
the  French  coal  buyer  wants,  for  steam  making, 
a  coal  which  comes  under  thirty  per  cent  in 
volatile  matter  and  perferably  under  twenty-five. 
He  disclosed  the  further  fact  that  the  French 
buyer  is  not  interested  in  any  except  a  clean  coal 
that  will  not  form  a  clinker,  and  will  not,  under 


any  circumstances,  make  smoke.  This  simplified 
the  discussion  for  Mr.  Veditz.  It  told  him  that 
certain  American  coals  would  suit  admirably. 
-Accordingly,  he  told  the  minister  of  public  works 
what  American  coal  fields  produce  fuel  coming 
within  those  limits.-  He  indicated  that  at  least 
three  veins  in  central  Pennsylvania  supply  almost 
unlimited  quantities  of  this  coal ;  that  nearly  all 
the  state  of  Maryland  produces  it,  and  that  three 
big  fields  in  West  Virginia  supply  that  quality  of 
coal.  He  showed  further  that  some  of  the  veins 
worked  in  Virginia  yield  approximately  the  de¬ 
sired  quality. 

He  was  able  to  show  from  the  tonnages  pro¬ 
duced  by  these  states  and  by  the  names  of  the 
companies  which  operate  in  those  fields  that 
France  could  buy  any  reasonable  amount  of  coal 
here  and  do  business  in  America  with  the  utmost 
assurance. 

This  interview  was  timely  in  view  of  what  the 
leading  American  coal  houses  had  done.  Some 
of  them,  seeing  an  opportunity  to  expand  our 
trade  abroad,  had  established  a.gencies  in  Europe. 
Three  in  particular  have  salaried  representatives 
in  London.  These  men  are  in  charge  of  the 
entire  European  market.  They  have  branch 
offices  in  France,  in  Italy,  and  in  Greece.  It  hap¬ 
pened  that  these  companies  were  soliciting  busi¬ 
ness  from  France  at  about  the  time  Mr.  Veditz 
made  such  a  strong  representation  of  our  coal 
and,  incidentally,  mentioned  these  companies  as 
dependable. 

With  the  introduction  of  our  producers  thus 
made,  the  field  was  opened  to  the  American  pro¬ 
ducer.  By  the  same  process  our  producers  were 
enabled  to  proceed  securely,  as  they  were  given 
every  facility  to  learn  who  are  the  dependable 
buyers  of  coal  on  the  other  side.  The  work  of 
Mr.  Veditz  has  been  of  incalculable  service,  there¬ 
fore,  not  only  to  the  American  coal  producer  of 
standing,  but  also  to  the  French  coal  buyer  of 
reliability. 

While  our  commercial  attache  was  in  Paris  he 
was  visited  one  day  by  the  representative  of  a 
big  coal  house  in  England.  This  representative 
said  that,  at  first,  he  had  heard  about  American 
coal  but  had  laughed  at  the  idea.  Afterward  he 
had  heard  some  more  about  American  coal  and 
wasn’t  quite  so  sure 'that  his  early  pessimism  was 
warranted. 

Then  he  had  seen  some  of  the  American  coal, 
after  which  he  was  decidedly  uneasy.  He  wanted 
to  know  about  American  coal — all  about  it. 
Through  this  and  other  similar  channels  Mr. 
Veditz  was  able  to  give  important  concerns  in 
France  quite  a  lively  impression  of  both  the 
quality  and  quantity  of  coal  that  can  be  shipped 
from  the  United  States. 

.About  that  time,  the  American  ambassador  to 
Madrid  cabled  the  State  Department  at  Washing¬ 
ton  that  Kin.g  Alfonso  had  requested  the  appoint¬ 
ment  of  a  commercial  attache  to  Spain.  No  com¬ 
mercial  diplomat  was  available  for  that  post  and 
Mr.  Veditz  was  asked  to  extend  his  territory  to 
include  Spain.  He  went  at  once  at  the  sugges¬ 
tion  of  the  Spanish  monarch  to  Madrid  for  an 
interview.  At  that  time,  as  is  outlined  elsewhere. 
His  Majesty  consented  to  suspend  the  import  and 
transport  taxes.” 


Production  of  Peat  in  1913  and  1914. 


During  1914  no  new  processes  or  machinery  for 
preparing  peat  for  fuel  were  reported  to  have 
lieen  given  commercial  trials  in  the  United  States. 
The  whole  number  of  plants  reportin.g  production 
was  fourteen,  of  which  ten  sold  peat  for  fertilizer 
uses.  Two  firms  that  furnished  data  for  1913  did 
not  cooperate  for  1914,  and  four  firms  are  rep¬ 
resented  for  the  first  time,  having  made  their 
initial  production  during  the  year. 

The  fourteen  plants  known  to  be  at  work  dur¬ 
ing  the  year  were  distributed  as  follows ;  Maine, 
1;  Massachusetts,  1;  Connecticut,  2;  New  York, 
1;  New  Jersey,  3;  Pennsylvania,  1;  Florida,  1; 
Alichi.gan,  2;  Illinois,  1;  Indiana,  1. 

The  following  tables  give  the  quantity  of  peat 
products  made  and  used  in  the  United  States  in 
1913  and  1914,*  so  far  as  these  have  been  reported: 

PRODUCTION,  IMPORTS  AND  CONSUMPTION  OF 
PEAT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  1913, 

IN  SHORT  TONS. 


^—Production — ^  , - Imports - , 

L'se —  Quantity.  Value.  Quantity.  Value. 

Fertilizer  . .  •  ■  .28,460  $169,660  .  . 

Stock  food .  4,800  27,600  . 

Stable  litter .  10,983  $55,719 


jotal  . 33,260  $197,200  10.983  $55,719 


Fertilizer  .  . 
.Stock  food. 
-Stable  litter 


- Consumption - \ 

Quantity.  Value. 
28,460  $169,600 

4,800  27,600 

10,983  55,719 


Total  .  44,243  $252,919 

PRODUCTION,  IMPORTS  AND  CONSUMPTION  OF 
PEAT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  1914, 

IN  SHORT  TONS. 


, - Production - ^  r— — Imports^ - ^ 

Use —  Quantity.  Value.  Quantity.  Value. 

Fertilizer  filler . 22,767  $136,994  . 

Fertilizer  . 14,962  112,905  .  . 

Fuel  .  1,925  6,540  . 

iscellaneous*  .  7,439  53,253  . 

Peat  moss  litter .  9,921  $57,542 


Total  . 47,093  $309,692  9,921  $57,542 

‘Only  one  producer  each  of  peat  for  stock  food,  mud 
baths  and  paper  pulp. 

, - Consumption - , 

Quantity.  Value. 

Fertilizer  filler .  22,767  $136,994 

Fertilizer  .  1M62  112, 90o 

p-ygl  .  l,92o  6,540 

Miscellaneous*  .  I’l'l? 

Peat  moss  litter .  9,921  5i,542 

Xotal  .  57,014  $367,234 

‘Only  one  producer  each  of  peat  for  stock  food,  mud 
baths  and  paper  pulp. 


No.  25] 


THE  BLACJK  DIAMOND 


495 


Who  Will  Supply  F  ranee  W  ith  Coal  After  the  War? 


America  is  asking  today:  "Who  is  going  to 
supply  France  with  coal  after  the  war  is  over?” 
From  certain  indications  Frenchmen  in  official 
positions  are  asking  the  same  question. 

Both  realize  that  France  before  the  war  con¬ 
sumed  fifty  per  cent  more  coal  than  she  pro¬ 
duced.  After  the  war,  her  production  will  prob¬ 
ably  be  reduced  for  awhile  and  her  consumption 
will  be  increased.  The  question  as  to  who  is 
going  to  supply  that  coal  is  a  very  live  one, 
therefore,  and  concerns  both  the  American  coal 
producer  and  the  French  coal  consumer. 

A  statement  of  the  case,  as  made  by  one  who 
has  first  hand  information  on  the  subject  is  both 
interesting  and  important  to  America  and  France. 
He  allows  each  to  see  the  other  and  itself  at 
the  same  time.  Prior  to  the  war  France  con¬ 
sumed — the  figures  are  official — sixty  million  tons 
of  coal  per  year..  The  French  production  was 
only  about  forty  million  tons.  This  left  a  deficit, 
prior  to  the  war,  of  about  twenty  million  tons 
per  year.  This  deficit  was  made  good  by  ship¬ 
ments  from  English  mines  of  about  ten  million 
tons  and  by  shipments  from  Belgium  and  Ger¬ 
many  of  another  ten  million  tons. 

According  to  this  authority,  this  interesting  sta¬ 
tistical  situation  has  been  changed  by  the  war 
and  perhaps  permanently  so.  He  shows,  for 
example,  that  the  French  mines  in  the  north¬ 
western  portion  of  the  Country  are  under  Ger¬ 
man  control  and  are  likely  to  remain  so  for 
some  time.  He  estimates  that  from  fifty  to  sixty 
per  cent  of  the  French  mines  are  now  in  the 
hands  of  the  German  army.  Just  what  is  hap¬ 
pening  to  those  mines,  no  one  knows.  If  they 
are  not  being  worked,  the  damage  to  some  of 
them  may  be  almost  irreparable.  If  they  are 
being  worked,  the  damage  due  to  the  change  of 
method  may  be  considerable.  No  one  has  the 
slightest  idea  of  what  is  likely  to  be  their  con¬ 
dition  at  the  conclusion  of  the  war.  Therefore, 
no  one  can  predict  with  any  certainty  what  their 
productive  capacity  will  be  after  peace  is  de¬ 
clared. 

He  considers  it  conservative  to  say,  however, 
that  for  several  years  these  mines  will  not  be 
back  to  normal  capacity.  In  the  meanwhile,  they 
will  be  short  of  it  at  least  twenty-five  per  cent. 

Asuming  that  these  mines  had  the  capacity  to 
produce  twenty  million  tons  per  year,  to  cut  that 
down  twenty-five  per  cent  would  reduce  it  to 
fifteen  million  tons.  The  result  would  be — as¬ 
suming  consumption  to  be  the  same — to  increase 
the  importation  of  coal  in  France  by  about  five 
million  tons  a  year.  That  would  make  the  coal 
imports  of  France  after  the  war  twenty-five  mil¬ 
lion  tons  instead  of  twenty  million  before  the 
war. 

The  possibilities,  he  believes,  are  for  a  much 
heavier  consumption  when  peace  is  restored,  first, 
because  France  will  try  to  duplicate  America  and 
produce  more  of  the  stuff  that  she  uses  than  here¬ 
tofore,  and  second,  because  quite  a  good  deal 
of  the  coal  burning  equipment  will  be  of  a 
temporary  character  and  therefore  more  ineffi¬ 
cient  than  the  permanent  installations  and  hence 
more  wasteful  of  coal. 

At  any  rate,  this  authority  believes  that  France 
will  be  in  the  market  for  twenty-five  million  tons 
of  coal  when  the  war  ends.  That  causes  to  be  in¬ 
sistent  the  question:  Who  is  going  to  supply 
this  coal? 

To  answer  that  question,  he  studies  the  situa¬ 
tion  as  it  now  stands  and  then  assumes  a  pro¬ 
jection  of  the  same  situation  into  the  coming 
times  of  peace.  At  the  minute,  England  is  trying 
to  carry  the  whole  burden  of  supplying  coal  to 
France  with  such  little  assistance  as  she  is  get¬ 
ting  from  the  United  States.  And  it  is  quite  a 
job  that  England  has  undertaken.  For  example, 
France,  of  course,  is  getting  no  coal  from  Ger¬ 
many.  Further,  the  mines  in  Belgium  which  have 
served  her  are,  like  her  own  mines,  under  German 
control.  Thus,  assuming  consumption  to  be  the 
same  as  it  was  before,  or  sixty  million  tons  per 
year,  France  is  now  short:  Twenty  million  tons 
from  her  own  mines  now  under  German  con¬ 
trol  and  ten  million  tons  which  she  formerly  got 
from  Belgium  and  Germany.  This  makes  a  net 
increased  shortage  of  thirty  million  tons.  As¬ 
suming  a  slowing  down  in  her  business  due  to 
the  war,  the  French  supply,  today,  is  short  due 
to  the  closing  of  her  mines  and  to  the  shutting 
off  of  imports  from  Belgium  and  Germany,  in 
excess  of  twenty  million  tons  a  year.  This  calls 
upon  England  to  supply  not  only  the  ten  million 
tons  that  she  did  before  the  war,  but  thirty 
million  tons  additional  or  thirty  million  tons  all 
told.  There  is,  of  necessity,  quite  a  good  deal 


Germany  Will  Be  Cut  Off,  Belgium  In¬ 
capacitated,  and  French  Units  Below 
Normal — England  and  America  Will 
Compete  with  England  at  a  Disadvantage. 

of  conjecture  about  these  figures,  but  that  con¬ 
jecture  semes  warranted  under  the  circumstances. 

The  question  then  arises :  What  facilities  has 
England  for  meeting  this  extraordinary  demand? 
How  is  she  going  to  do  it?  A  statement  of  the 
English  position  is  made  by  the  authority  in  ques¬ 
tion,  who  has  recently  studied  the  situation  thor¬ 
oughly.  He  says  that  instantly  the  war  was 
declared,  England  lost  twenty-five  per  cent  of  the 
miners  who  left  the  pits  and  enlisted  in  the  army. 
This  automatically  cut  England’s  production,  of 
course,  twenty-five  per  cent. 

However,  England  could  not  sustain  the  twenty- 
five  per  cent  reduction  in  her  coal  output  and 
meet  her  growing  demands.  So  she  had  to  put 
unskilled  men  in  the  mines.  These  were  not 
employed  as  practical  miners,  but  as  miners’  help¬ 
ers.  While  in  that  capacity  they  might  have  been 
reasonably  efficient  from  a  manual  standpoint, 
they  could  not  do  the  work  of  cleaning  the  coal 
that  the  experienced  miners’  helper  was  depended 
upon  to  do.  Therefore — and  this  is  an  important 
point — the  quality  of  the  English  coal  has  been 
much  deteriorated  even  though  the  quantity  may 
have  been  practically  the  same. 

Still,  even  though  England’s  output  was  thus 
restored  to  normal,  it  could  not  take  care  of  an 
additional  demand  for  twenty  million  tons  from 
France  and  a  much  larger  demand  from  its  army 
and  navy  without  sacrificing  its  trade  in  some 
other  direction.  This,  according  to  the  expert, 
explains  why  England  decided  to  shut  off  the 
exports  of  coal  except  to  English  possessions 
and  to  the  allied  countries.  In  a  word,  according 
to  this  investigator,  England  was  forced  to  sacri¬ 
fice  part  of  its  foreign  commercial  market  in 
order  to  meet  the  insistent  demand  of  its  ally, 
France,  for  coal. 

Projecting  this  situation  beyond  the  close  of 
the  war,  the  investigator  in  question  then  proceeds 
to  ask:  What  will  be  the  English  coal  owner’s 
position  following  the  war?  Many  of  the  miners, 
he  says,  who  went  to  the  war  will  never  return. 
Others  who  do  return  will  hardly  want  to  go 
baxk  into  the  mines  again  after  having  had  a 
year  or  more  in  sunlight.  Some  of  those  who 
were  recently  taken  into  the  mines  may  be  ex¬ 
pected  to  return  to  their  own  callings  when  peace 
is  restored.  England,  therefore,  is  likely  to  have 
a  tremendous  struggle  to  get  its  coal  production 
back  to  where  it  was. 

In  the  meanwhile,  England  will  have  suffered 
in  two  directions.  It  will  have  suffered  a  loss 
of  its  commercial  export  trade  due  to  the  war 
order  restricting  shipments.  It  will  have  suffered 
a  loss  of  prestige  in  France  due  to  the  fact 
that  people  who  heretofore  have  used  French, 
Belgium,  or  German  coal  have  now  been  com¬ 
pelled  to  use,  for  the  first  time,  the  English  prod¬ 
uct  of  inferior  quality. 

“That  is,”  says  the  expert,  “the  best  coals  from 
England  have  been  going  to  the  navy,  therefore, 
they  have  not  found  their  way  into  France.  The 
second  grade  coals,  which  alone  were  shipped 
to  these  customers,  are  not  of  the  best  quality, 
even  when  carefully  prepared.  But,  today,  it  espe¬ 
cially  lacks  quality  because  it  is  not  prepared  ac¬ 
cording  to  the  true  English  standard,  that  work 
being  done  by  unskilled  men  in  the  mines.  Eng¬ 
land,  therefore,  is  going  to  suffer  in  France  from 
the  fact  that  she  got  her  first  hearing  when  she 
had  only  a  depreciated  and  off-grade  product  to 
sell.” 

As  to  where,  in  future,  France  is  to  get  her 
coal,  opinions  differ  radically.  An  American, 
who  has  studied  the  situation,  believes  that,  after 
the  war,  prejudice  against  the  Germans  will  be 
so  strong  no  German  coal  can  be  sold  in  France 
for  years  to  come.  However,  a  citizen  of  England 
and  a  citizen  of  Russia  take  a  different  view. 
They  say  that  the  prejudice  against  the  Germans 
is  national  and  not  personal.  They  say  that  even 
though  it  should  be  personal,  it  will  not  dictate 
business  considerations.  That  is,  they  look  upon 
business  as  an  impersonal  matter  altogether. 
When  the  question  of  dollars  and  cents  is  in¬ 
volved,  the  matter  of  national  disputes  and  per¬ 
sonal  unpleasantness  is  soon  subordinated.  There¬ 
fore,  with  peace  restored  and  with  an  urgent 
que.stion  of  dollars  and  cents  raised,  they  believe 
that  a  German  will  have  as  good  a  chance  to 
sell  in  France  as  he  has  had  heretofore. 


However,  all  concede  that  while  the  Germans 
may  have  a  chance  to  sell  coal,  they  will  not 
have  the  coal  to  sell  because  their  working  force 
has  been  so  depleted  production  will  be  decreased. 

Also,  after  the  war,  the  Germans  will  be  so 
eager  to  extend  their  markets  beyond  the  con¬ 
tinent — it  is  for  this  right  they  are  fighting — 
they  will  not  care  to  participate  in  the  intensive 
competition  in  nearby  fields. 

It  is  also  conceded  that  while  Belgium  has  an 
almost  unparalleled  recuperative  power,  it  will 
take  some  time  for  the  Belgian  mines  to  get 
back  to  anything  like  normal  productive  capacity. 
This  is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  mines  there  are 
so  deep  and  working  conditions  normally  are  so 
severe  it  will  not  be  easy  to  restore  them  to 
productive  capacity. 

Every  suggestion  made  about  the  French  situa¬ 
tion  leads  irresistably  to  the  conclusion  that 
America  must  sell  coal  in  France  not  only  now 
but  hereofter.  According  to  some  authorities, 
we  have  a  sure  market  there  for  about  ten  mil¬ 
lion  tons  of  coal  a  year. 

In  that  connection  America  is  considering  two 
or  three  questions  which  concern  her  future 
vitally.  The  first  one  is  the  character  of  the  de¬ 
mand  for  coal  in  France.  This  demand  may  be 
said  to  come  under  two  heads.  The  average 
French  buyer  of  coal  says,  for  example,  that  coal 
under  twenty-five  per  cent  in  volatile  matter  is 
a  steaming  coal;  that  which  runs  over  twenty- 
five  per  cent  and  especially  over  thirty  per 
cent  in  volatile  matter  is  a  gas  coal.  He  con¬ 
cedes  that  there  is  a  neutral  zone  ranging  between 
twenty-five  and  thirty  per  cent  where  a  coal 
may  be  either  a  steam  or  gas  producer. 

The  French  buyer  knows  that,  as  a  rule  the 
work  over,  the  low  volatile  coals  are  more 
friable  than  those  which  are  higher  in  volatile 
matter.  There  is  no  scientific  explanation  of 
this  fact,  but  it  is  generally  recognized  to  be 
true.  Therefbre,  when  the  Frenchman  buys  a 
low-volatile  coal,  he  rather  expects  to  get  one 
that  will  break  up  easily.  However,  on  the  other 
side  he  has  been  acustomed  to  a  form  of  prepa¬ 
ration  _  which  overcomes  this  natural  difficulty. 
That  is,  the  foreign  coal  producer  has  become 
accustomed  to  briqueting  his  fine  coals  and  the 
Frenchman  has  been  accustomed  to  using  those 
briquets. 

The  point  which  the  American  is  beginning  to 
appreciate  is  that  the  Frenchman  insists  upon 
quality  and  also  insists  that  coal  of  good  qual¬ 
ity  shall  be  prepared  in  the  way  he  is  familiar 
with.  We  also  know  that  the  French  have  no 
objection  to  paying  whatever  price  is  dictated  by 
the  combination  of  proper  quality  and  the  proper 
preparation.  These  facts  are  sure  to  influence 
our  exporting  program. 

The  second  matter  which  confronts  the  Amer¬ 
ican  exporter  to  France  is  that  of  transporta¬ 
tion.  The  matter  of  distance  alone  from  our 
coal  loading  ports  to  France,  as  compared  with 
the  distance  from  English  coal  loading  ports  to 
France  makes  a  difference  in  the  ocean  freight 
rate.  This  difference  varies,  but  is  considerable. 
The  transportation  fact  about  which  our  coal 
people  are  thinking  most  is  that  the  big  factor 
in  rates  isn’t  so  much  a  matter  of  distance  as  a 
matter  of  the  time  involved  in  a  voyage.  We 
have  corrected  part  of  the  differential  in  time 
against  us  by  increasing  the  speed  of  the  loading 
facilities  at  our  home  ports.  We  have  not  as 
yet  finished  the  correction  of  the  time  by  putting 
up  faster  unloading  equipment  at  the  other  end 
of  the  route.  The  unloading  time  for  boats  in 
France  is  rather  slow  now,  being  about  six 
hundred  tons  a  day  on  the  average,  with  perhaps 
a  few  very  exceptional  cases  where  a  thousand 
tons  a  day  can  be  done  if  every  facility  were 
pushed  to  the  limit  and  if  the  men  worked  with 
extraordinary  zeal.  This,  of  course,  is  not  fast 
enough  to  correct  the  factor  of  time  against  us 
and  thus  correct  also  the  freight  rate  which  takes 
time  into  consideration. 

Our  American  coal  producers  are  familiar  with 
the  situation  and  today  know  the  need.  As  a 
consequence  they  are  planning  to  overcome  this 
obstacle.  It  would  not  be  surprising  if  they  suc¬ 
ceeded  in  putting  in  some  co-operatively  owned 
docks  that  would  make  as  fast  time  in  unloading 
in  France  as  they  make  in  loading  at  our  own 
ports. 

The  buyer  of  coal  in  France  may  be  sure  of 
this  one  thing :  America  appreciates  the  oppor¬ 
tunity  of  doing  business  there  now  and  is  going 
to  do  what  is  commercially  necessary  both  in 
preparation  and  in  transportation  in  order  to 
warrant  the  patronage  of  French  coal  buyers. 


496 


THE  15EACK  DIA3I()ND 


[December  18 


Vital  Statistics  of  Some  of  America’s  Markets. 


Valencia,  Spain. 

The  American  Consul  at  Valencia,  Spain,  writes 
The  Black  Diamond,  under  date  of  August  5th, 
on  the  coal  situation  there  at  that  time  as  fol¬ 
lows  : 

“Although  the  coal  movement  at  Valencia  reaches 
the  respectable  figure  of  350,000  metric  tons 
(3,204.6  pounds  to  the  ton)  yearly,  more  or  less, 
it  is  so  distributed  that  hardly  one-fifth  comes 
within  the  scope  of  freely  competitive  business. 

“About  twenty  per  cent  of  the  total  is  native 
coal  from  the  Asturias  mines  of  northern  Spain, 
which  always  has  a  limited  outlet  because  it  is 
slightly  cheaper  than  imported  coal  though  ad¬ 
mittedly  of  inferior  grade.  The  tendency  in  re¬ 
cent  years  has  been  to  discard  it,  however,  as 
shown  by  steadily  declining  receipts,  which  now 
range  from  fifty  to  sixty  thousand  tons  against 
a  former  yearly  consumption  in  excess  of  80,000 
tons. 

“Approximately  150,000  tons  of  foreign  coal 
are  imported  yearly  for  three  concerns.  All  of 
it  is  contracted  for  outside  of  Spain,  and  con¬ 
stitutes  but  a  fraction  of  the  gross  requirements 
of  the  interested  concerns  in  the  kingdom  at 
large.  Naturally  their  purchasing  agents  demand 
and  receive  the  personal  concurrence  of  foreign 
shippers  or  their  agents  who  desire  to  bid  for 
the  business.  Only  about  50,000  tons  of  foreign 
coal  are  purchased  in  the  open  market  by  seven 
retail  concerns  in  Valencia  or  parent  corpora¬ 
tions  in  other  localities,  for  general  consumption. 

"The  three  large  consumers  are:  The  North¬ 
ern  Railroad  of  Spain  (Ferrocarriles  del  Norte 
de  Espana),  about  100,000  tons,  purchased  by  the 
main  office  in  Paris;  the  Aragon  Central  Rail¬ 
road  (Ferrocarril  Central  de  Aragon),  20,000  to 
25,000  tons,  with  the  purchasing  office  in  Brussels; 
and  Lebon  &  Cia.,  2'5,000  to  30,000  tons,  also  con¬ 
tracted  for  by  its  Paris  headquarters  for  a  chain 
of  gas  works  in  Mediterranean  ports. 

“American  gas  coal  has  been  used  here  in 
varying  quantities  for  many  years,  and  of  late 
the  Northern  Railroad  of  Spain  has  received 
several  cargoes  from  the  same  source  and  is  said 
to  have  arrangements  for  an  indefinite  period. 
As  far  as  can  be  ascertained  the  Aragon  Central 
Railroad  has  made  no  purchases  for  Valencia  in 
the  United  States. 

“Interested  exporters  in  the  United  States 
would  gain  nothing  by  addressing  inquiries  to 
Valencia,  but  should  arrange  to  send  personal 
representatives  to  headquarters  of  the  concerns 
mentioned. 

“The  general  coal  trade  of  Valencia  and  trib¬ 
utary  territory  is  not  alluring  from  the  American 
exporter’s  standpoint.  Fifty  thousand  tons  is  a 
small  consumption,  in  spite  of  the  limited  in¬ 
dustrial  development  of  the  region.  An  import¬ 
ant  dealer  estimates  that  hardly  twenty  factories 
use  as  much  as  500  tons  a  year,  while  the  vast 
majority  consume  between  five  and  twenty-five 
tons.  Coal  is  not  used  to  an  appreciable  extent 
for  heating  purposes.  Winters  are  very  mild  in 
the  first  place,  and  during  the  three  months  or 
less  of  coldest  weather  coke  and  charcoal  are  the 
fuels  used,  the  former  being  supplied  by  the 
gas  works  and  the  latter  by  individual  enterprise. 

“Quite  recently  coal  consumption  has  been  al¬ 
most  stationary,  with  a  slight  tendency  to  decrease 
with  the  gradually  increasing  supply  of  cheap 
hydro-electric  power.  Steam  is  now  used  as 
auxiliary  power  in  many  plants  where  formerly 
it  was  primary  motive  power.  Electric  power  is 
also  displacing  steam  in  numerous  irrigation 
plants.  In  general  it  may  be  conceded  that  the 
use  of  coal  in  this  region,  except  by  public  service 
corporations,  will  not  increase ;  rather  may  it  be 
expected  to  decrease  as  new  electric  developments 
now  contemplated  are  completed  and  in  opera¬ 
tion  and  transmission  lines  are  extended  to  re¬ 
gions  not  hitherto  served. 

“Previous  to  the  war  England  supplied  nearly 
all  foreign  coal  consumed  here.  The  only  excep¬ 
tion  consisted  of  an  occasional  cargo  of  gas  coal 
from  the  United  States  and  sometimes  from 
Belgium.  The  English  monopoly  was  easily 
maintained  by  reason  of  the  high  reputation  en¬ 
joyed  by  Cardiff  and  Newcastle  coals,  and  the 
efficiency  of  maritime  communications.  A  numer¬ 
ous  fleet  of  fruit  vessels  ply  nine  months  of  the 
year  between  this  coast  and  England,  carrying 
oranges,  onions  and  other  products  of  the  soil 
and  returning  with  any  cargo  that  is  offered. 
The  latter  consists  chiefly  of  coal  and  fertilizing 
materials,  which  together  embrace  considerably 
more  than  half  of  Valencian  exports,  so  it  was 
(|uite  natural  that  her  coal  should  predominate 
here.  The  trade  was  further  fomented  by  the  sharp 


competition  among  fruit  vessels,  which,  in  time 
of  peace,  insured  low  freight  rates  and  enabled 
local  dealers  to  carry  on  business  with  limited 
capital  investment,  giving  rise  to  the  now  well- 
established  custom  of  ordering  frequently  and 
in  small  quantities.  Cargoes  of  English  coal  sel¬ 
dom  exceed  2,000  tons,  and  are  generally  not  over 
1,000  tons.  Quantities  of  100  to  500  tons  are 
quite  usual.  Local  competition  and  the  limited 
gross  consumption  (a  good  part  of  which  is  re¬ 
stricted  by  contract  to  English  coal)  compel 
dealers  to  maintain  this  system  of  buying  as  far 
as  conditions  permit  in  order  to  avoid  being 
caught  with  large  stocks  on  hand  in  times  of 
sudden  price  changes,  fluctuation  in  ocean 
freights,  etc. 

“For  these  reasons  no  one  firm  here  feels  dis¬ 
posed  to  handle  cargoes  of  3,500  tons  or  more 
from  America;  and  smaller  shipments  would 
prove  uneconomical.  Of  late  an  American  coal 
exporter  investigated  this  field  in  person  and 
reached  the  conclusion  that  the  obstacles  outlined 
would  prevent  business  unless  local  importers 
would  combine  enough  small  orders  to  make  a 
full  cargo.  One  of  the  dealers  interviewed  said 
this  might  be  done  if  all  of  his  colleagues  would 
agree  to  protect  each  other  by  maintaining  prices 
until  the  cargo  was  disposed  of,  and  intimated 
that  conferences  were  being  held  with  this  in 
view. 

“There  are  only  four  independent  coal  im¬ 
porters  of  importance  in  Valencia  (see  attached 
list).  Another  firm  handling  bunker  coal  is 
merely  the  agent  (without  authority  of  pur¬ 
chase)  of  a  larger  concern  in  Barcelona  having 
the  privilege  of  maintaining  floating  coal  depots 
in  .Spanish  ports.  A  sixth  concern  is  bound  by 
contract  with  English  collieries  (through  partner¬ 
ship  connection  to  supply  its  entire  needs  from 
that  market. 

“The  facilities  for  discharging  coal  at  Valencia 
are  fairly  good.  The  sea  side  of  two  docks  are 
set  apart  for  this  purpose,  each  having  accommo¬ 
dation  for  one  very  large  vessel  and  equipped 
with  two  one-ton  electric  traveling  cranes.  Hand 
labor  is  also  employed  with  the  aid  of  the  typi¬ 
cal  mat  baskets  used  here  in  all  kinds  of  manual 
labor.  The  average  rate  of  discharge  is  250  to 
300  metric  tons  per  day,  but  this  varies  with  the 
facilities  offered  by  the  ship.  Some  contracts 
specify  as  much  as  400  to  500  tons  per  day  of 
ten  hours.  The  S.  S.  Rosebank,  recently  from 
Baltimore,  with  coal  for  railroad  use,  discharged 
at  the  latter  rate.  Receivers  do  the  unloading, 
but  collect  from  the  ship  at  the  rate  of  1.50 
pesetas  (about  27  cents)  per  ton,  although  the 
actual  cost  usually  works  out  as  less. 

“All  fiscal  charges  on  imported  coal  (except 
port  duties)  are  suspended  temporarily.  Usually 
the  chief  items  are  customs  duty  and  transport 
tax,  the  former  being  about  sixty-eight  cents  a 
ton  and  the  latter  thirty-nine  cents  on  American 
coal  and  nine  cents  from  European  countries. 

“It  is  calculated  that  steamers  of  8,000  to  10,000 
dead  weight  capacity  can  be  accommodated  in 
the  port  of  Valencia.” 


Pernambuco,  Brazil. 

Consul  A.  T.  Haeberle  of  Pernambuco,  Brazil, 
under  date  of  November  2nd,  writes  as  follows : 

“Since  August,  1914,  the  consumption  of  coal 
in  this  district  has  been  reduced  notwithstanding 
the  fact  that  about  fifteen  months  ago  a  very 
heavy  consumer  of  coal  entered  the  field  when 
the  Pernambuco  Tramways  and  Power  Company 
substituted  the  present  electric  system  for  the 
long-used  mule  car  system.  This  company  owns 
and  operates  the  gas  company’s  plant  also  and 
so  are  large  importers  of  coal.  Much  more  coal 
will  be  imported  in  the  future  when  the  tram¬ 
way  company  installs  the  proposed  electric  light 
plant.  At  present  the  trolley  wires  are  extensively 
tapped  to  supply  much  of  the  downtown  street 
and  store  lighting.  Incidentally  there  will  be 
additional  power  required  for  the  running  of  the 
elevators  in  the  many  new  business  blocks  build¬ 
ing  or  proposed. 

“The  power  houses  of  the  tramway  company 
being  new  and  modern,  that  company  is  able  to 
use  in  its  fireboxes  the  fine  American  coal  from 
which  they  are  obtaining  good  results.  How¬ 
ever,  in  most  of  'the  grates  in  Brazil  it  is  possible 
to  use  only  the  larger  sized  screened  coal  which 
is  imported  from  Wales. 

“High  freight  and  insurance  rates  is  responsi¬ 
ble  for  the  tendency  to  cut  down,  save  and  sub¬ 
stitute  whenever  possible.  The  numerous  inter- 
urban  railroads  are  now  using  wood  where 
formerly  they  used  coal.  Cotton  and  other  fac¬ 


tories  are  beginning  to  use  wood  wherever  possi¬ 
ble.  The  sugar  mills  use  “bagaco”  (the  dried 
pulp  left  after  the  sugar  is  extracted  from  the 
cane)  and  wood  when  there  is  not  sufficient  of 
the  former. 

“The  fewer  number  of  vessels  touching  this 
port  since  the  war  has,  of  course,  played  an  im¬ 
portant  part  in  the  reduced  coal  consumption. 

“The  shutting  down  almost  entirely  of  the 
extensive  dock  improvement  work  and  of  other 
municipal  construction  work,  should  also  be 
noted. 

“This  being  a  tropical  climate,  no  coal  or  other 
fuel  is  required  for  domestic  heating  purposes 
and  for  cooking  charcoal  is  used  almost  ex¬ 
clusively  . 

“There  is  no  water  power  to  be  developed  in 
this  section  so  that  all  power  is  generated  from 
steam  plants. 

Since  August,  1914,  Welsh  coal  has  varied 
from  $12.50  to  about  $18.50  per  ton  delivered  in 
bunkers,  while  American  coal  varied  from  $10.25 
to  about  $11.50,  c.  i.  f.  (Added  to  this  are  the 
high  handling  costs,  i.  e.,  stevedoring,  lighterage, 
et  cetera.)  The  present  price  of  Welsh  coal  is 
about  $16.80  delivered  in  bunkers  and  of  Ameri¬ 
can  coal  $10.50  c.  i.  f.  Flowever,  the  prices  are, 
of^  course,  constantly  fluctuating. 

“There  have  been  no  dock  improvements  dur¬ 
ing  the  past  year  and  so  cargoes  are  discharged 
as  formerly  by  means  of  lighters. 

“From  April  28,  1914,  to  March  23,  1915,  not 
one  American  vessel  touched  this  port,  however, 
on  March  24  an  American  schooner  loaded  with 
coal  arrived  from  Norfolk.  To  date  fourteen 
American  schooners,  carrying  coal  from  the 
United  States,  have  arrived  in  Pernambuco  and 
mad  sent  from  home  in  care  of  this  consulate 
indicates  that  there  are  three  or  four  more 
schooners  en  route. 

"To  date  this  consulate  has  not  been  successful 
in  obtaining  authoritative  information  regarding 
the  imports  of  coal  into  this  port,  but  it  is  hoped 
that  statistics  will  be  received  in  the  near  future.” 


Coal  Trade  at  Gibraltar. 

The  American  Consul  at  Gibraltar,  Spain, 
writes  The  Black  Diamond  under  date  of 
October  25,  about  the  coal  situation  there  as 
follows : 

“I  regret,  however,  to  have  to  inform  you  that 
no  American  coal  whatsoever  has  yet  been  im¬ 
ported,  the  principal  reason  being  that  Gibraltar 
offers  no  coaling  accommodation  for  the  storage 
of  large  cargoes.  Coal  imported  for  mercantile 
purposes  is  stored  in  floating  depots  moored  in 
the  open  bay  and  their  capacity  is  very  limited. 
The  number  of  hulks  is  nineteen,  which  number 
cannot  be  increased  owing  to  military  objection, 
their  average  capacity  is  about  1,800  tons. 

“The  advantages  of  importing  British  coal  is 
that  orders  can  be  executed  more  promptly,  as  it 
IS  impossible  to  estimate  what  the  monthly  sales 
will  be ;  this  is  most  important. 

“Certain  firms  endeavored  to  import  American 
coal  but,  owing  to  the  time  cargoes  would  take 
to  arrive  here,  and  the  size  of  the  cargo,  the  idea 
was  given  up. 

“The  majority  of  the  colliers  arriving  with 
coals  are  of  one  to  two  thousand  tons,  and  in 
exceptional  cases  there  have  been  steamers  of 
3,000  tons  or  over. 

“During  the  present  circumstances  freights 
fluctuated  from  13s  3d  to  30s  per  ton.  Present 
prices  for  coals  are  about  54s,  ordinary  Welsh, 
and  52s  Durham  unscreened  f.  o.  b.,  which  are 
the  only  coals  imported  here. 

The  government  keeps  a  very  large  stock  of 
coal  which  is  all  of  Admiralty  descriptions. 

‘‘No  improvements  have  been  made  to  acceler¬ 
ate  the  discharge  of  coal  and  the  handling  is 
done  by  manual  labor  in  baskets  of  100  pounds 
as  heretofore. 

“During  the  nine  months  from  January  1  to 
September  30,  1915,  about  270,361  tons  of  coal 
were  supplied  to  1,2'48  steamers.” 


Chilean  Conditions. 

Tlie  American  Consul  at  Valparaiso,  Chile, 
writes  The  Black  Diamond,,  under  date  of 
October  20,  about  the  coal  situation  there  as  fol¬ 
lows  : 

“Prices  of  Pocahontas  coal  on  this  coast  have 
varied  from  forty-four  to  fifty-four  shillings 
during  the  past  fourteen  months.  Present  prices 
are  quoted  as  forty-six  to  forty-eight  shillings, 
depending  on  port  and  sailing. 

“.'\t  the  principal  ports  in  Chile  all  coal  is  un¬ 
loaded  into  lighters.  Port  conditions  do  not 
indicate  that  any  more  rapid  type  of  unloading 
will  be  available  for  many  years.” 


No.  25] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


497 


Why  American  Coal  Sells  at  Low  Mine  Prices. 


An  incident  which  occurred  recently  suggests 
that  some  buyers  of  coal  in  other  countries  may 
have  gained  a  wrong  impression  from  the  fact 
that  American  coal  sells  at  a  low  price  at  the 
mine.  To  he  frank  about  it,  they  may  have  con¬ 
cluded  that  our  coal  is  worth  no  more,  else  we 
would  ask  a  higher  price  for  it. 

The  one  fact  which  stands  out  so  conspicu¬ 
ously  in  the  international  market  is  that  the  aver¬ 
age  selling  price  of  coal  at  the  mine  mouth  in 
England  is,  even  in  normal  times,  two  and  a 
quarter  times  as  high  as  is  the  average  selling 
price  at  the  mine  mouth  in  America.  We  have 
a  saying  in  the  “States” — borrowed  from  one  of 
our  advertisers — that  “there  is  a  reason.”  Per¬ 
haps  the  man  who  has  been  asked  to  buy  some 
of  our  coal  and  who  has  been  told  the  price  at 
the  mine  has  thought  that  “there  is  a  reason.” 
Indeed,  he  may  have  decided  that  we  have  such 
a  poor  coal  it  is  expensive  even  at  that  figure. 

The  incident  which  suggests  that  conjecture 
happened  here  in  the  “States”  some  weeks  ago. 
One  of  our  leading  retail  dealers  advertised  his 
coal  at  a  very  low  price.  He  made  an  unfort¬ 
unate  se'ection  of  words  and  called  it  “cheap 
coal.”  When  the  people,  who  had  been  accus¬ 
tomed  to  paying  a  much  higher  price,  read  the 
amount  he  was  asking,  they  placed  special  em¬ 
phasis  upon  the  “cheap”  and  slurred  the  “coal.” 
One  man  who  read  the  advertisement,  remarked. 

“What  is  going  on  here?  Are  you  fellows 
shoveling  the  whole  mountain  into  the  car  and 
calling  it  coal?  Or,  have  your  scales  broken 
down?  What  is  wrong  with  the  coal  that  you 
name  such  a  price  upon  it?” 

The  Origin  of  Our  Prices. 

It  is  true  that  American  coal  is  remarkably 
low  priced.  It  is  also  true  that  America  has 
unusual  quality  in  coal.  Our  government  and  our 
whole  industrial  system  had,  of  course,  nothing 
whatever  to  do  with  the  quality  of  the  coal,  but 
thev  have  had  much  to  do  with  the  price  at 
which  it  is  sold.  Therefore,  a  brief  statement 
is  to  be  made  here — for  the  interest  of  our  read¬ 
ers  abroad — which  we  hope  will  harmonize  what 
seem  to  be  the  hopelessly  conflicting  facts  that 
some  of  the  best  coal  on  earth  is  selling  at  the 
lowest  prices  named  anywhere  on  the  globe. 

As  an  initial  proposition,  we  will  ask  the  reader 
to  remember  that  the  United  States  is  an  ex¬ 
tremely  young  nation.  That  is,  politically,  we 
date  back  to  1776,  but  industrially  we  date  back 
only  to  186,5.  Our  industrial  history  has  en¬ 
compassed,  then,  only  fifty-five  years. 

At  the  close  of  our  Civil  War,  we  had  noth¬ 
ing  but  our  natural  resources  and  they  were 
locked  up  in  the  earth.  But,  we  had  no  manu¬ 
facturing  business,  we  had  not  even  rail  com¬ 
munication — or  any  other — between  the  places 
where  the  resources  were  to  be  found  and  where 
the  center  of  population  might  supply  enough 
labor  to  manufacture  them.  Such  immediate 
neighbors  as  the  north  and  the  south  were  not 
connected  by  carriers.  This  was  one  of  the  causes 
of  war,  incidentally ;  ignorance,  due  to  a  lack 
of  travel,  bred  hostility. 

In  a  word,  we  were,  then,  where  Russia  is  now 
except  that  the  average  intel  igence  of  our  citi¬ 
zenship  was  higher.  Industrially  we  were  then 
about  where  some  countries  of  South  America 
are  today. 

One  policy,  only,  was  open  to  us.  We  had 
things  but  no  money.  We  needed  money  more 
than  we  needed  the  things.  So  we  decided  to 
sell  what  we  had  and  get  the  money.  We  had,  at 
that  early  date,  a  notion  we  should  go  into  the 
export  market  as  we  have  done  in  the  last  three 
years.  So  we  adopted  the  idea  of  “everything 
going  out  and  nothing  coming  in” — except  monev. 
We  wanted  to  sell  abroad  and  we  built  a  tariff 
wall  so  that  nothing  could  come  in. 

We  expected  to  get  a  big  export  business,  hut 
instead  we  drew  one  of  the  most  remarkable  ex¬ 
amples  of  internal  expansion  that  the  world  hag 
ever  seen.  We  expected  to  sell  our  natural  re¬ 
sources,  hut  we  found  that  no  European  country 
was  particularly  interested  in  our  coal,  iron,  ore, 
timber  and  what  not.  Europe  clearly  would  not 
buy  them,  but  it  was  interested  in  their  develop¬ 
ment  ;  it  was  perfectly  willing  to  lend  us  money 
upon  them. 

We  borrowed  that  money,  always  expecting  to 
repay  it  by  selling  what  we  produced  while  using 
it.  We  manufactured  things,  hut,  we  still  could 
not  sell  them  largely  because  we  were  so  busy 
satisfying  home  needs.  Thus  we  kejjt  on  for 
fifty  years,  borrowing  money  abroad  and  using  it 


A  National  Zeal  to  Produce  Has  Brought 
Over-Production  and  Loss — Our  Excel¬ 
lent  Mining  Conditions  and  the  Use  of 
Machinery  Cut  the  Cost. 

to  build  railroads,  open  iron  and  coal  mines,  hew 
down  forests  and  all  that.  Meanwhile  we  also 
built  great  cities  and  came  to  have  the  most 
astounding  civilization  in  the  world — astounding 
because  it  got  dimensions  in  such  a  short  time. 
It  got  solidity  and  beauty,  too,  along  with  the 
dimensions. 

Underlying  all  of  this,  there  was  one  dominant 
policy  for  the  whole  people.  It  was:  “Make 
two  blades  of  grass  grow  where  only  one  grew 
before.”  Build  two  miles  of  railroad  where  there 
was  only  one.  Open  two  coal  mines  where  there 
was  hut  one.  Get  two  or  more  factories  where 
there  was  but  one.  In  a  word,  our  basic  ambi¬ 
tion  was  to  “produce.”  We  did  that  in  every¬ 
thing. 

This  idea  of  production  as  the  chiefest  good  of 
the  whole  people  dominates  our  business,  our 
law,  our  political  economy,  our  politics,  our  sys¬ 
tem  of  education  and  even  the  thought  of  our 
pulpits.  You  cannot  read  our  literature  without 
finding  the  same  ideal  protruding  from  almost 
every  page.  It  is  essentially  the  ideal  of  the 
whole  people.  What  wonder,  then,  that  it  should 
dominate  and  mould  our  genius? 

How  would  it  be  possible  for  our  coal  mines, 
fitting  so  intimately  into  every  phase  of  our 
business,  to  escape  expressing  the  same  ideal. 
Ours  was  a  passion  for  production  without  rea¬ 
son  and  without  definite  goal.  We  produced  re¬ 
gardless  of  our  ability  to  consume.  We  pro¬ 
duced  despite  towering  evidences,  at  times,  that 
we  were  overdoing  the  whole  thing.  We  had  so 
much  momentum  along  the  lines  of  production, 
there  was  no  checking  our  progress.  Along  with 
the  procession,  the  coal  mines  produced  also. 
They  knew  nothing  else  to  do. 

The  Railroads  and  Coal. 

But  the  secret  of  our  coal  production  lies  a 
little  deeper.  The  one  thing  we  needed  most  was 
railroads.  We  needed  them  to  bring  the  widely 
scattered  districts  into  closer  social  relation.  We 
needed  them  to  develop  the  interior  farms  and 
to  carry  things  to  the  farmers.  So,  every  dollar 
that  we  could  spare  from  production  was  put 
into  new  railroad  lines. 

We  built  them  so  fast  and  we  put  down  so 
many  of  them  that  it  was  an  eternal  struggle  to 
make  them  pay.  They  were  pioneering  as  far  as 
concerned  the  opening  of  new  agricultural  dis¬ 
tricts  which  had  not  yet  come  to  flower  and  fruit 
in  the  building  of  cities.  Since  the  sections  for 
which  they  were  built  could  not  support  them, 
something  else  must.  We  came,  then,  to  depend 
upon  the  opening  of  coal  mines  to  help  pay  the 
running  expenses  of  these  carriers. 

Naturally,  with  so  much  unprofitable  (imme¬ 
diately)  railroad  building,  we  came  to  a  time 
when  the  money  needed  to  finance  or  refinance 
these  lines  was  not  readily  forthcoming.  We 
had  to  tie  something  in  with  the  railroads  to  at¬ 
tract  the  money  of  the  investor.  We  decided  that 
this  should  be  the  coal  lands.  Thus  we  bound 
the  coal  acreage  and  the  carriers  together  in 
many  a  financial  flotation.  And,  in  the  end,  the 
coal  lands  had  to  develop  mines  and  the  mines 
had  to  produce  extravagantly  to  help  pay  the 
railroad’s  Interest. 

It  can  be  seen  that,  partly  due  to  our  national 
mania  to  produce  and  partly  due  to  the  need  to 
give  our  new  railroads  some  easily  increased  ton¬ 
nage,  the  coal  mines  came  to  he  worked  on  most 
an  elaborate  scale.  We  have,  in  fact,  gone  so  far 
in  that  direction  we  have  hardly  stopped  to  ask 
whether  all  of  this  coal  production  is  profitable 
or  how  we  shall  set  al)out  making  it  pay  a  profit. 

A  detail  of  which  the  American  coal  producer 
is  vividly  aware  is  that  we  have  opened  so  many 
mines  we  can  produce  nearly  6()(',0()0,000  tons  of 
coal  per  year  for  sale  and  still  have  the  equiva¬ 
lent  of  ail  of  our  mines  standing  idle  one-third 
of  the  time.  In  a  word,  we  could,  by  merely 
using  the  idle  time  of  our  miners  and  the  idle 
mine  machinery,  produce,  easily,  300,000,000  tons 
more  coal  than  we  do. 

.As  this  indicates,  our  coal  business  lias  not 
been  profitable.  It  is  not  now.  It  is  hardly 
likelv  to  he  so  for  years  to  come.  This  fact  is 
boldly  lirought  out  by  one  of  our  government 


officials  who  says  that  of  the  six  states  which 
produce  more  than  eighty  per  cent  of  all  our 
coal,  but  one  has  ever  been  able  to  show  a 
profit,  as  a  state.  The  other  five  have  not  taken 
in  over  the  counter  for  their  coal  what  they  paid 
out  through  the  cashier’s  window  for  labor,  sup¬ 
plies  and  the  like. 

As  this  indicates,  the  outside  world  is  not  get¬ 
ting  American  coal  at  a  ridiculously  low  figure 
because  the  quality  of  that  coal  is  low.  It  is 
getting  our  coal  at  a  bargain  merely  because  we 
have  overdone  production  and  are  now  selling 
our  product  at  a  loss. 

In  this  statement,  the  American  coal  producer 
is  not  asking  the  sympathy  of  the  world.  All  he 
asks  is  that  his  prices  shall,  being  understood,  be 
considered  as  bargains  and  not  as  a  condemna¬ 
tion  of  the  product  which  he  has  to  offer. 

Influence  of  Machinery. 

There  is  another  fact  which  explains  these 
prices.  The  United  States,  from  the  beginning 
of  its  industrial  development  until  now,  has  made 
such  imperfect  use  of  its  working  force  it  has 
always  been  short  of  men.  That  is  to  say,  work¬ 
ers  have  gone  into  the  coal  fields  and  have  be¬ 
come  anchored  in  their  employments.  There  they 
would  get  work  for  only  three  or  four  days  a 
week.  While  not  enough  to  satisfy  them,  it  tied 
them  to  the  mines  and  hence  kept  them  out  of 
other  employments. 

The  same  thing  has  been  true  in  our  mills  and 
factories.  We  had  so  many  working  places,  each 
with  its  complement  of  men,  and  so  little  mo¬ 
bility  of  our  working  force,  except  in  a  few 
occupations,  we  have  been  constantly  short  of 
workers.  What  we  have  been  able  to  import 
has  not  helped  us  except  temporarily. 

For  this  reason,  we  have  depended  more  com¬ 
pletely  on  machinery  than  any  other  nation.  Most 
of  the  others  who  are  in  our  class  as  industrial 
nations  have  faced  the  reverse  situation — an 
overplus  of  workers. 

By  depending  upon  machinery,  we  have  learned 
to  produce  extravagant  tonnages  from  single 
mines.  It  is,  consequently,  a  small  American 
mine  which  cannot  produce  3,000  tons  of  coal  a 
day.  It  is  only  a  moderate  sized  mine  which 
produces  3,000  tons  of  coal  daily.  Our  larger 
mines  produce  from  4,000  to  6,000  tons.  Naturally 
this  helps  to  cut  the  cost  of  production  and  goes 
far  toward  dictating  the  low  prices  we  name. 

Further,  our  mines  are  relatively  near  the  sur¬ 
face;  have,  on  the  average,  thick  veins;  and, 
have  extraordinary  roof  and  floor  conditions. 
All  of  these  things  help  to  dictate  the  extremely 
low  prices  which  we  name.  As  is  shown,  the 
quality  of  coal  has  nothing  whatever  to  do  with 
the  price  at  which  the  coal  is  sold. 


Builds  More  Steamers. 


The  Clinchfield  Navigation  Company,  of 
New  York,  which  is  associated  with  the 
Clinchfield  Fuel  Company  and  Clinchfield  Coal 
Corporation  interests,  will  have  three  more 
steamers  in  its  coal  service  out  of  Charleston, 
S.  C.,  in  1916. 

One  of  these  steamers  will  be  put  in  service 
early  next  spring.  This  is  the  British  steamer 
Dunholme  of  5,500  tons  cargo  capacity,  which 
was  purchased  about  a  month  ago,  and  which 
is  now  undergoing  substantial  repairs  at  the 
shipbuilding  plant  of  Tietjen  &  Lang  in  New 
York.  These  repairs  are  of  such  nature  that 
the  steamer  wilt  be  eligible  for  American  reg¬ 
istry  when  they  are  completed,  so  that  the 
stars  and  stripes  will  fly  from  her  mast-heads. 

On  Monday  of  last  week  the  Navigation 
Company  closed  a  contract  with  the  Great 
Lakes  Shipbuilding  Company  of  Detroit, 
Mich.,  to  build  two  cargo  steamships,  each 
to  be  according  to  Lloyd’s  Al  specifications. 
These  steamers  are  to  be  of  the  same  model  as 
the  George  Hawley  and  Edison  Light,  built 
by  this  same  shipbuilding  company  some  two 
years  ago  for  Boston  interests,  and  which 
have  since  been  engaged  in  the  coastwise  coal¬ 
carrying  trade.  These  boats  are  constructed 
with  a  view  of  having  them  fitted  for  any  kind 
of  service,  and  both  the  Hawley  and^  Edison 
Light  have  been  in  the  trans-Atlantic  trade 
since  the  war  brought  about  such  a  scarcity 
of  tonnage  and  such  enticing  rates. 

The  new  boats  are  expected  to  be  in  service 
on  the  Atlantic  early  next  fall.  When  they 
are  put  in  service  the  Clinchfield  fleet  will 
number  five  vessels. 


498 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


[December  18 


Why  Ocean  Rates  are  High— Howto  Reduce  Them. 


The  world  is  facing  the  most  serious  shortage 
of  vessels  in  its  history.  Kates  have  now  ad¬ 
vanced  to  such  high  levels  that  one  wonders 
how  shippers  can  pay  such  transportation  costs. 

It  is  worthy  of  note  that,  so  far,  none  of  the 
English  or  American  writers  have  said  anything 
convincing  about  one  of  the  most  glaring  causes 
of  our  present  inefficient  vessel  service — abnormal 
detention  at  discharging  ports,  especially  of  coal 
cargoes. 

We,  in  America,  have,  during  the  last  twenty 
or  thirty  years,  been  frightened  away  from  em¬ 
barking  in  the  shipping  business  by  tales  of  how 
cheaply  Englishmen  can  operate  ships.  \\  e 
have  been  told  that  it  was  but  to  invite  bank¬ 
ruptcy  to  try  to  compete  with  them.  Hence,  un¬ 
til  the  commencement  of  the  present  war  none 
of  the  American  ships  would  venture  away  from 
the  coastwise  trade.  In  the  latter  they  were  safe, 
being  given  a  monopoly  by  our  federal  laws. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  here  also  that  notwith¬ 
standing  the  vessels  used  in  American  coastwise 
service,  built  exclusively  at  American  shipyards, 
cost  from  thirty  to  fifty  per  cent  more  than  ships 
of  same  tonnage  built  at  English  yards,  and  that, 
moreover,  our  ships  are  much  more  expensive 
to  operate— due  to  our  higher  standard  of  wages 
and  also  to  the  fact  that  we  have  to  carry  more 
officers  and  crew  than  the  British  ships— our 
freight  charges  have  bene  much  cheaper  on  the 
average  than  the  charges  made  by  British  vessels 
for  about  the  same  mileage. 

For  the  years  1909,  1910  and  1911,  according  to 
Professor  Jevons,  an  English  authority  on  coal 
and  transportation,  the  average  rate  from  Cardiff 
to  Bordeaux,  about  540  miles,  was  4s  syid.  This 
is  about  $1.13.  P'rom  Cardiff  to  Diepe,  415  miles, 
the  average  was  4s,  5d,  or  $1.06. 

Now  how  does  this  compare  with  American 
rates  for  the  same  mileage? 

In  1914,  the  average  price  for  transportation 
of  coal  between  Hampton  Roads  and  Boston,  was 
sixty-eight  cents.  The  mileage  is  practically  the 
same  as  between  Cardiff  and  Bordeaux.  More¬ 
over,  this  rate  meant  the  return  of  vessels  one 
way  in  ballast. 

The  above  rate  was  the  average  of  all  classes 
of  vessels.  No  doubt  the  modern  colliers  used 
in  this  service,  carried  coal  at  fifty  cents  per 
ton,  or  considerably  under.  On  the  other  hand, 
it  is  quite  possible  that  the  steamers  taking  coal 
between  Cardiff  and  Bordeaux  and  Dieppe,  got 
return  cargoes. 

Furthermore,  a  great  deal  of  coal  handled  along 
the  Atlantic  seaboard  between  Hampton  Roads 
and  New  England  points  is  in  schooners  and 
barges,  many  of  which  are  antiquated,  and  con¬ 
sequently  do  not  lend  themselves  to  rapid  un¬ 
loading.  Moreover,  a  great  many  of  the  small 
docks  that  the  barges  and  schooners  take  coal  to 
are  not  equipped  with  modern  coal-handling 
equipment.  Were  all  of  the  New  England  coal¬ 
receiving  plants  modernly  equipped,  and  all  coal 
transported  in  the  new  type  of  colliers,  ranging 
from  4,000  to  12,000  tons  cargo  capacity,  the 
average  per  ton  for  all  classes  of  transportation 
would  be  most  radically  cut  from  the  average 
of  sixty-eight  cents  per  ton  made  last  year  in  this 
coastwise  trade. 

Just  now  when  vessels  are  commanding  from 
twenty-five  to  thirty  shillings  per  month  per  net 
ton  dead  weight,  as  compared  with  four  shil¬ 
lings  the  prevailing  rate  before  the  war,  the  value 
of  transportation  is  fully  stressed.  Therefore, 
it  is  entirely  within  reason  to  argue  that  the 
more  trips  between  certain  fixed  points  that  a 
steamer  makes,  the  greater  service  it  renders 
and  that  the  revenue  return  is  accordingly  in¬ 
creased. 

The  statement  that  the  foreign  countries  that 
import  coal  have  paid  during  the  sixteen  months 
of  the  European  war,  enormous  premiums  upon 
their  inadequate  discharging  and  storing  facil¬ 
ities  for  coal,  is  entirely  supported  by  facts. 

For  many  years  the  shipping  world  have  fixed 
a  speed  of  nine  to  ten  knots  per  hour  as  an 
economic  speed  for  a  tramp  steamer  when  loaded, 
•hut  little  attention  has  been  paid  to  the  dock 
question  in  most  of  the  ports  where  tramp 
steamers  trade,  as  it  has  been  argued  that  the 
detention  of  a  steamer  ordinarily  chartering  at 
four  shillings  per  ton  deadweight  capacity  per 
month,  is  not  so  heavy  as  to  offset  the  cost  of 
providing  and  operating  modern  discharging- 
equipment,  and  but  few  ports  in  those  foreign 
countries  that  import  coal  have  discharging  facil¬ 
ities  that  will  enable  them  to  discharge  a  ship  at 
a  greater  speed  than  500  tons  of  coal  per  day. 
There  are  probably  a  half  dozen  exceptions  where 


A  Study  of  American  Port  Methods 
Gives  Us  Good  Reason  for  Entering  the 
Foreign  Trade,  While  Using  Ships 
Owned  and  Operated  by  Americans. 

an  average  of  1,000  tons  per  day  is  reached,  these 
exceptions  being  mostly  in  the  cases  of  large 
industrial  or  railway  plants,  who  have  some  idea 
of  the  value  of  quick  dispatch.  Of  course  at 
most  places  the  ship  pays  a  premium  for  dis¬ 
charge  above  a  fixed  tonnage  per  day,  which  is 
usually  500  tons  at  most  of  the  ports,  and  300 
tons  per  day  at  others. 

It  may  be  a  very  broad  statement,  but  it  will 
no  doubt  be  supported  by  facts  if  the  proposition 
were  tried,  that  the  tramp  steamers  that  are  now 
engaged  in  moving  coal  between  the  Atlantic  sea¬ 
board  ports  of  the  United  States  and  the  South 
American  and  Mediterranean  ports,  could  trays- 
port  fully  twenty  per  cent  more  coal  per  year 
than  they  are  doing  at  present  were  they  enabled 
to  dock  promptly,  and  discharge  their  cargoes 
say  in  not  exceeding  two  days  at  destination. 

Prior  to  the  war,  charters  as  low  as  nine  shil¬ 
lings  from  America  to  the  Mediterranean  had 
been  made  on  coal  cargoes.  For  a  long  while 
the  range  of  rates  was  between  twelve  and  four¬ 
teen  shillings.  Today  the  lowest  rate  quoted  is 
around  ninety  shillings.  America  has  built  and 
is  still  building  the  most  modern  docks  for  load¬ 
ing  coal  into  cargo  steamers,  and  no  matter  how 
large  a  cargo  steamer  may  be,  it  is  possible  to 
give  it  a  full  cargo  and  full  bunkers  at  any 
of  our  principal  ports  within  a  working  day.  On 
the  Great  Lakes,  by  means  of  modern  equipment, 
12,000-ton  coal  steamers  are  discharged  within 
a  working  day,  and  some  of  our  coastwise  plants 
at  ports  that  receive  coal  by  water,  as  in  the 
case  of  Boston,  have  discharging  facilities  that 
average  1,000  tons  per  hour  per  steamer.  If, 
for  instance,  Rio  and  Buenos  Aires  in  South 
America,  which  ports  take  the  greater  part  of 
the  tonnage  that  we  are  now  exporting  to  this 
country,  had  discharging  facilities  that  would  en¬ 
able  them  to  unload  the  average  tramp  steamer, 
say  6,000  tons  cargo  capacity  in  two  days,  the 
saving  accomplished  on  a  steamer  of  this  capacity 
at  the  present  charter  rates,  would  mean  at  least 
eight  days  or  $12,000.  The  average  time  of  a 
steamer  from  Hampton  Roads  to  Buenos  Aires  is 
three  weeks.  This  means  that  a  steamer  taking 
a  cargo  at  Hampton  Roads  in  one  day,  would 
take  up  twenty-one  days  in  reaching  Buenos 
Aires,  and  according  to  present  methods,  about 
twelve  days  to  discharge.  Say  that  it  came  back 
in  water  ballast  taking  twenty-one  days,  the 
round  trip  would  consume  fifty-five  days.  Say 
that  ten  days  were  saved  in  discharging  and  you 
would  find  a  ship  making  a  round  trip  in  forty- 
five  days. 

The  distance  from  Hampton  Roads  to  Rio  de 
Janeiro  is  approximately  4,500  nautical  miles.  A 
cargo  steamer  making  ten  knots  per  hour  would 
take  about  nineteen  days  to  make  the  run.  Say 
that  the  steamer  takes  6,000  tons  of  coal,  and  is 
discharged  at  the  rate  of  500  tons  per  day,  and 
she  would  lay  twelve  days  discharging,  exclusive 
of  Sundays.  This  would  m§an  fourteen  days. 
Let  us  say  that  she  could  discharge  in  two  days, 
and  allow  her  one  Sunday,  and  she  would  be 
in  port  only  three  days.  Making  twenty-two  days 
from  port  of  origin  of  cargo  to  destination  and 
completion  of  discharge.  This  would  mean  a 
saving  of  ten  working  days,  or  at  the  rate  steam¬ 
ers  are  today  being  chartered  to  take  coal  to  Rio, 
about  $22,650  on  the  voyage. 

The  freight  rate  on  coal  to  Rio  at  this  writing 
is  fifty  shillings  per  ton.  It  therefore  costs  $72,500 
to  transport  a  6,000-ton  cargo  of  coal  to  Rio. 
Figuring  the  time  of  the  vesse.1  a'  tually  employed 
in  this  work,  and  we  have  thirty-two  days,  di¬ 
vided  as  follows : 

Days. 


Taking  cargo .  1 

.\t  sea.. . 

Discharging  .  12 


22 

Divide  the  cost  of  the  charter,  $72,500  by  thirty- 
two,  and  we  have  the  cost  per  day  of  the  steamer, 
of  $2,265.  But,  argues  the  shipping  man,  you 
must  allow  something  for  the  time  the  steamer 
consumes  in  reaching  the  loading  port.  We 
will  do  this,  and  see  how  it  looks. 

A  great  number  of  steamers  that  take  coal  from 
■America,  come  to  American  ports,  either  Hamp¬ 
ton  Roads,  Baltimore,  Philadelphia  or  New  York 
with  cargo.  If  they  then  go  to  the  Roads  for 


coal,  the  time  consumed  need  not  be  longer  than 
two  days.  Say  that  they  come  in  ballast  from  the 
other  side,  and  we  would  add  twelve  days.  This 
would  make  a  total  of ,  forty-four  consumed  in 
taking  a  cargo  of  coal  from  Hampton  Roads  to 
Rio,  or  at  fifty  shillings  per  ton  freight,  about 
$1,650  per  day.  Ten  days  saved  in  discharging 
would  therefore  mean  a  saving  of  $16,500.  This 
is  quite  a  nice  sum  when  one  considers  that  prior 
to  the  war  a  6,000-ton  steamer  chartered  at  about 
$6,000  a  month,  or  $200  per  day. 

Let  us  see  what  modern  discharging  facilities 
would  mean  at  Genoa,  where  a  great  deal  of 
American  coal  is  now  going. 

The  distance  from  the  American  coal  ports  to 
Genoa  is  about  4,200  miles.  Thus  a  steamer  trav- 
aling  at  the  rate  of  ten  knots  per  hour  would 
make  the  run  in  420  hours  or  under  eighteen 
days.  Taking  twelve  days  to  discharge  a  6,000- 
ton  steamer  here,  we  would  have  the  trip  con¬ 
sume  in  time,  about  thirty-one  days.  Allow  twelve 
days  for  steamer  to  come  on  in  ballast  for  cargo, 
and  we  would  have  forty-three  days  consumed  on 
the  tripi.  At  the  present  rate  of  freight  to  Italy, 
about  eighty  shillings,  we  have  a  6,000-ton  cargo 
of  co.al  costing  about  $120,000  for  freight.  This 
would  mean  about  $2,800  per  day  as  the  cost  of 
the  ship. 


Willard,  Sutherland  &  Co. 


Effective  January  1st,  the  coal  business  of  Wil¬ 
lard  Brothers,  a  well-known  New  York  house, 
and  the  Atlantic  &  Eastern  Coal  Company,  owned 
by  the  same  interests,  will  be  consolidated  under 
the  name  of  Willard,  Sutherland  &  Company. 
The  principals  of  the  new  firm  are  Le  Baron  S. 
Willard,  who  is  now  the  senior  member  of  Wil¬ 
lard  Brothers,  and  John  E.  Sutherland,  who  has 
been  associated  with  the  firm  since  it  was  organ¬ 
ized  about  ten  years  ago.  Mr.  Sutherland  has 
been  a  partner  for  the  past  five  years.  No  change 
in  ownership  or  management  is  involved.  The 
company  will  maintain  its  present  offices  at  No. 
8-10  Bridge  street.  New  York. 

The  steam  and  bunkering  business  of  Willard 
Brothers  have  grown  very  rapidly  of  late,  and 
they  are  now  shippers  of  a  large  tonnage  of  high 
grade  Pennsylvania  and  West  Virginia  coals, 
being  financially  interested  in  Pennsylvania  and 
West  Virginia  coal  properties. 

In  addition  to  its  general  trade  with  large  in¬ 
dustrial  consumers  throughout  the  east,  the  firm 
does  an  important  bunkering  business  at  all  of 
the  principal  Atlantic  ports,  and  are  also  prom¬ 
inent  in  the  export  trade,  being  large  shippers 
through  Hampton  Roads  of  the  well-known  New 
River  and  Pocahontas  coals.  In  Europe,  they  are 
represented  by  Gueret,  Gait  &  Co.  Ltd.,  of  London 
and  Paris.  They  also  represent  a  line  of  coal 
depots,  which  enables  them  to  contract  for  the 
supply  of  bunkers  at  foreign  ports  in  all  parts  of 
the  world,  being  American  agents  for  James  Bur- 
ness  &  Sons  of  London  and  other  foreign  com¬ 
panies. 


Buys  Pacific  Mail  Ships. 


New  York,  December  13. — The  American  In¬ 
ternational  Corporation  by  interests  connected 
with  the  National  City  Bank  and  other  prominent 
financiers  today  announced  the  purchase  of  the 
entire  remaining  fleet  of  the  Pacific  Mail  Steam¬ 
ship  Company,  consisting  of  seven  steamships. 

In  this  venture  the  corporation  has  secured  the 
cooperation  of  William  R.  Grace  &  Co.,  importers 
and  exporters  between  the  United  States  and 
South  America,  who  are  represented  on  the  board 
of  the  new  International  corporation. 

Incidentally  by  the  step  the  last  fleet  of  vessels 
under  the  United  States  flag  on  the  Pacific  ocean 
will  not  suffer  complete  disintegration. 

The  statement  issued  by  officials  of  the  Amer¬ 
ican  International  Corporation  says : 

“Since  the  or.ganization  of  the  American  Inter¬ 
national  Corporation  appeals  have  been  made  to 
it  to  take  up  the  situation,  especially  with  a  view 
of  saving,  if  possible,  the  shipping  service  between 
Pacific  ports  and  the  west  coast  of  Central  Amer¬ 
ica.  The  San  Francisco  Chamber  of  Commerce 
and  the  business  men  of  the  coast,  it  was  learned, 
have  protested  seriously  against  the  breaking  up 
of  the  fleet. 

“In  order  to  maintain  the  shipping  service  with 
Central  America  so  that  trade  relations  can  be 
continued  the  fleet  has  been  acquired  and  will  be 
kept  intact,  enabling  a  continuance  of  the  service 
for  the  present.” 


No.  25] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


499 


The  Proper  Size  of  Coal  for  Locomotive  Use. 


The  railroads  in  the  United  States,  com¬ 
prising  more  than  225,000  miles  of  railway, 
burn  approximately  twenty-five  per  cent  of  the 
total  bituminous  coal  production  of  the  United 
States.  The  total  output  has  been  averaging, 
for  the  past  few  years,  around  500,000,000  tons 
per  year.  This  means  that  American  rail¬ 
roads  burn  each  year  around  125,000,000  tons 
of  coal,  or  more  than  one-third  of  the  entire 
coal  production  of  Great  Britain. 

The  supposition,  naturally,  is  that  as  coal 
is  such  an  item  of  expense,  the  railroads  use 
it  as  economically  as  possible.  It  is  to  be 
supposed  that  every  known  means  of  reduc¬ 
ing  the  use  of  coal  and  securing  the  greatest 
results  will  be  employed.  Such  has  been  the 
case.  There  can  be  no  dispute  on  that  score 
The  American  railroads  are  today  getting 
more  value  from  the  coal  they  burn  than  do 
the  railroads  of  any  other  country,  with  the 
possible  exception  of  Germany. 

It  was  not  surprising,  therefore,  that  some 
months  ago,  one  of  the  big  French  railway 
systems  sent  their  chief  engineer  to  America 
to  study  our  railroads  and  how  they  secure 
the  best  results  from  the  coal  they  burn  upon 
their  locomotives. 

In  this  connection,  it  is  interesting  and  sig¬ 
nificant  that  many  of  the  railways  in  foreign 
countries  which  have  sent  their  coal  specifica¬ 
tions  to  American  coal  exporters  recently, 
have,  with  few  exceptions,  asked  for  lumpy 
coal.  In  many  instances,  “double  screened” 
coal  has  been  requested.  Americans  have 
heard  many  stories  as  to  why  foreign  railways 
want  lumpy  coal.  In  none  of  these  has  the 
question  of  economy  been  brought  up.  One 
of  the  principal  reasons  given  for  the  request 


To  show  the  foreign  reader  at  a  glance 
where  the  principal  coals  suitable  for  and  go¬ 
ing  into  export  and  bunker  trades  are  loaded, 
and  who  ship  them,  the  table  below  has  been 
prepared. 

Houston  Coal  Company,  Norfolk,  Va.,  Pocahontas, 
Lambert’s  Point. 

Pocahontas  Fuel  Company,  No.  1  Broadway,  New 
York,  Pocahontas,  Lambert’s  Point. 

B.  Nicoll  &  Co.,  No.  149  Broadway,  New  York,  Poca¬ 
hontas,  Lambert’s  Point. 

Smokeless  Fuel  Company,  No.  1  Broadway,  New  York, 
Pocahontas,  Lambert’s  Point. 

Crozer-Pocahontas  Company,  Philadelphia,  Pocahontas, 
Lambert’s  Point. 

Castner,  Curran  &  Bullitt,  Inc.,  No.  1  Broadway,  New 
York,  Pocahontas,  Lambert’s  Point. 

Hasler  Bros.,  Norfolk,  Va.,  and  New  York,  Pocahontas, 
Lambert’s  Point. 

Flat  Top  Fuel  Company,  Bluefield,  W.  Va.,  Pocahontas, 
Lambert’s  Point. 

Chesapeake  &  Ohio  Coal  &  Coke  Company,  Norfolk, 
Va.,  Pocahontas,  Lambert’s  Point. 

Berwind  White  C.  M.  Co.,  New  York,  Pocahontas, 
Lambert’s  Point. 

Pocahontas  Coal  ■  Sales  Company,  Cincinnati,  Ohio, 
Pocahontas,  Lambert’s  Point. 

West  Virginia  Coal  Company,  Richmond,  Va.,  Poca¬ 
hontas,  Lambert’s  Point. 

New  River  Coal  Company,  Charleston,  W.  Va.,  New 
River,  Newport  News  and  Sewall’s  Point. 

Berwind  White  C.  M.  Company,  New  York,  New  River, 
Newport  News. 

Chesapeake  &  Ohio  Coal  &  Coke  Compan.v.  Norfolk, 
Va.,  New  River,  Newport  News  and  Sewall’s  Point. 

B.  Nicoll  &  Co.,  New  York,  New  River,  Newport  News 
and  Sewall’s  Point. 

Clinchfield  Fuel  Company,  Spartanburg,  S.  C.,  Clinch- 
field,  Charleston  and  Lambert’s  Point. 


for  lumpy  coal  for  locomotive  purposes  is 
that  the  firemen  find  it  easier  to  fire  the  lumps 
than  the  fine  or  run  of  mine.  That  the  grate 
bars  used  on  most  of  the  foreign  operated 
locomotive  are  so  widely  separately  that  the 
fine  coal  falls  through,  and  is,  therefore,  an 
almost  total  loss.  Whatever  may  be  the  case 
it  is  unquestionably  true  that,  until  a  few 
years  ago,  Americans  made  but  little  prog¬ 
ress  in  selling  coal  to  foreign  railways.  That 
they  have  made  such  material  increase  in 
exports  to  foreign  railways  during  the  past 
two  years,  is  chargeable  directly  to  the  fact 
that  they  have  been  able  to  convince  certain 
foreign  railway  interests  that  the  economy  in 
fuel  consumption  comes  from  using  the  fine 
or  run  of  mine  coal. 

That  Americans  have  not  gone  in  extensively 
for  screening  coal  for  locomotive  or  general 
stea  muse  is  due  to  the  fact  that  American 
coals,  as  a  rule,  are  ‘cut”  out  of  coal  measures. 
That  is,  some  coal  is  left  for  the  roof  and  some 
for  the  floor  of  veins,  so  that  only  pure  coal 
is  brought  to  the  surface.  For  this  reason  it 
has  not  been  necessary  to  screen  it. 

On  the  contrary  it  is  charged  that  the 
“double  screen”  habit  originated  in  certain 
of  the  foreign  coal  fields,  where  coal  was  cut 
directly  from  between  fire  clay  measures,  and 
screening  became  essential  if  a  clean  product 
was  desired. 

The  result  of  the  study  of  the  American 
railway  and  the  coal  consumption  questions 
by  the  French  railroad  engineer  is  said  to  have 
been  his  conversion  to  the  plan  of  utilizing 
fine  coals  for  railway  purposes.  This  will  un¬ 
questionably  be  the  verdict  that  any  unbiased 
engineer  will  arrive  at  from  a  similar  study. 


Hasler  Bros.,  Norfolk,  Va.,  New  River,  Newport  News 
and  Sewall’s  Point. 

West  Virginia  Coal  Company,  Richmond,  V'a.,  New 
River,  Newport  News  and  Sewall’s  Point. 

C.  G.  Blake  Company,  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  New  River, 
Newport  News  and  Sewall’s  Point. 

White  Oak  Coal  Company,  Newport  News,  Va.,  New 
River,  Newport  News  and  Sewall’s  Point. 

Castner,  Curran  &  Bullitt.  New  York,  New  River, 
Newport  News  and  Sewall’s  Point. 

Chesapeake  &  Ohio  Coal  &  Coke  Company,  Norfolk, 
Va.,  Splint,  Newport  News. 

West  Virginia  Coal  Company,  Richmond,  Va.,  Splint, 
Newport  News. 

Castner,  Curran  &  Bullitt,  Inc.,  New  York,  Splint, 
Newport  News. 

Wyatt  Coal  Company,  Charleston,  W.  Va.,  Splint  and 
New  River,  Newport  News. 

Island  Creek  Coal  Sales  Company,  New  York,  Splint, 
Newport  News. 

White  Oak  Coal  Co.,  Newport  News,  Va.,  Splint, 
Newport  News. 

Consolidation  Coal  Company,  New  York,  Fairmont, 

Baltimore. 

Hutchinson  Coal  Company,  Philadelphia,  Fairmont, 
Baltimore. 

New  Central  Coal  Company,  New  York,  Fairmont, 
Baltimore. 

B.  Nicoll  &  Co.,  New  York,  Fairmont,  Baltimore. 

W.  A.  Marshall  &  Co.,  New  York,  Somerset,  Baltimore. 

Brothers  Valley  Coal  Company,  New  York,  Somerset, 
Baltimore. 

Berwind-White  C.  M.  Co.,  New  York,  Somerset, 

Baltimore. 

W.  A.  Marshall  &  Co.,  Cambria,  Baltimore. 

Berwind-White  C.  M.  Co.,  New  York,  Cambria,  Phila¬ 
delphia. 

Pennsylvania  C.  &  C.  Corp.,  New  York,  Cambria, 

Philadelphia,  New  York. 

Pennsylvania  C.  &  C.  Corp.,  New  York,  Clearfield, 

Philadelphia.  Baltimore. 


W.  A.  Marshal  &  Co.,  New  York,  Clearfield,  Philadel¬ 
phia,  Baltimore. 

Wittenberg  Coal  Co.,  New  York,  Clearfield,  Philadel¬ 
phia,  Baltimore. 

Punxsutawney  Coal  Mining  Co.,  Philadelphia,  Clear¬ 
field,  Philadelphia,  Baltimore. 

New  Central  Coal  Co.,  New  York,  Georges  Creek, 
Baltimore. 

Thorne,  Neale  &  Co.,  Philadelphia,  Georges  Creek, 
Baltimore. 

B.  Nicoll  &  Co.,  New  York,  Cumberland,  Baltimore. 

B.  Nicoll  &  Co.,  New  York,  Georges  Creek,  Baltimore. 

B.  Nicoll  &  Co.,  New  York,  Davis,  Baltimore. 

B.  Nicoll  &  Co.,  New  York,  Youghiogheny,  Baltimore. 

Pittsburgh  Coal  Co.,  Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  Youghiogheny, 

Baltimore. 

Westmoreland  Coal  Co.,  Philadelphia,  Westmoreland, 
Baltimore,  Philadelphia. 

Keystone  Coal  &  Coke  Co.,  Philadelphia,  Westmoreland, 
Baltimore,  Philadelphia. 

Keystone  Coal  &  Coke  Co.,  Philadelphia,  Greensburg, 
Baltimore,  Philadelphia. 

Berwind-White  C.  M.  Co.,  Philadelphia,  Westmoreland, 
Baltimore,  Philadelphia. 

Dexter  &  Carpenter,  New  York,  Westmoreland,  Cam¬ 
bria,  Somerset,  Baltimore,  Philadelphia,  New  River,  New¬ 
port  News,  Pocahontas.  Lambert’s  Point. 

Thorne,  Neale_  &  Co.,  Philadelphia,  Cambria,  Balti¬ 
more,  Philadelphia. 

Alden  Coal  Mining  Co.,  New  York,  Fairmont,  Cam¬ 
bria  and  Somerset,  Baltimore. 

Skeele  Coal  Co.,  New  York,  Clearfield,  Cambria,  .Som¬ 
erset,  Baltimore  and  Philadelphia. 

Stonega  Coal  &  Coke  Co.,  Philadelphia,  Stonega  at 
Charleston. 

Whitney  &  Kemmerer.  New  York,  Wicova  at  Charles¬ 
ton;  Cambria  and  .Somerset  at  Baltimore  and  Philadelphia. 

Hartwell,  Lester  &  Clitter,  Inc.,  New  York,  Poca¬ 
hontas,  Lambert’s  Point;  New  River,  Sewall’s  Point  and 
Newport  News;  Fairmont  and  Westmoreland  at  Balti¬ 
more;  Somerset  and  Cambria  at  Baltimore  and  Phila¬ 
delphia. 

A.  Sidney  Davison  Coal  Co.,  New  Yoork,  Cambria, 
Clearfield  and  Fairmont  at  Baltimore  and  Philadelphia. 

Chesapeake  &  Ohio  Coal  Agency,  Boston,  New  River 
at  Newport  News. 

Gano,  Moore  &  Co.,  Philadelphia,  New  River,  Sewall’s 
Point  and  Newport  News;  Pocahontas  at  Lambert’s 
Point:  Fairmont  .Somerset  and  Cambria  at  Baltimore 
and  Philadelphia. 

.1.  J.  Hobbs.  New  York,  Pocahontas  at  Lambert’s  Point; 
Fairmont  at  Baltimore  and  Philadelphia. 

Willard,  Sutherland  &  Co.,  New  York,  New  River, 
Newport  News  and  Sewall’s  Point;  Cambria  at  Baltimore, 
Philadelphia  and  New  York. 

Western  Fuel  Company,  San  Francisco,  Wellington, 
British  Columbia. 

The  Pocahontas,  Netv  River,  Georges  Creek 
Somerset  and  Cambria  coals  are  known  as 
low  volatile-  coals.  Splint  is  a  gas  or  high 
volatile  coal.  Clearfield  is  a  good  steam  coal 
but  running  higher  in  volatile  than  the  other 
coals  above  named.  Fairmont  is  a  gas  or  vola¬ 
tile  coal,  and  is  used  for  both  steam  and  gas 
making.  Youghiogheny  and  Westmoreland 
are  also  well  known  gas  or  volatile  coals. 
Clinchfield  and  Stonega  are  volatile  coals,  run¬ 
ning  around  thirty  to  thirty-two  percent,  and 
have  many  uses.  Alabama  coals  are  of  vari¬ 
ous  grades.  The  volatile  is  around  twenty- 
eight  to  thirty  and  in  some  cases  the  ash  runs 
verv  low. 

These  coals  take  the  following  freight  rates 
from  the  mines  to  loading  ports: 

New  River  to  Sewalls  Point  and  Newport 
News,  $1.40  per  gross  ton.  Splint  or  Kanawha 
coals,  to  Newport  News,  $1.50  per  gross  ton. 
Clinchfield  and  Stonega  to  Charleston.  $1.40 
per  gross  ton;  to  Norfolk  (Lamberts  Pointl 
$1.50  per  gross  ton.  Pocahontas  takes  rate  of 
$1.40  to  Lamberts  Point.  Georges  Creek  takes 
$1.18  rate  to  Baltimore:  Somerset.  Cambria. 
Cumberland  and  Clearfield.  $1.18  to  Baltimore’ 
Fairmont,  Pittsburgh,  Youghiogheny  and 
Westmoreland,  $1.43  to  Baltimore:  Colver, 
$1.18  to  Baltimore,  $1.25  to  Philadelphia.  Ala¬ 
bama  coals  take  an  average  rate  of  $1.10  from 
mines  to  Mobile  or  Pensacola  per  net  ton. 
These  rates  apply  to  coal  going  into  export, 
bunker  coals  in  some  instances  taking  a  higher 
rate. 


Coal  Shipping  Ports  and  the  Rates  Applying. 


FIGo3 


500 


THE  I5LA(  K  DIAMOM) 


[December  18 


Opening  of  Panama  Canal  Permanently  to  Traffic. 


Naturally  ship  owners  and  coal  contracting 
linns  throughout  the  world  are  interested  in  the 
Panama  Canal,  and  await  the  latest  word  as  to 
when  it  will  l)e  reopened  for  commerce.  The 
Panama  Canal  was  first  opened  for  traffic  in 
•August,  and  slides  occurring  in  Culehra  cut 

have  occasionally  closed  it,  hut  only  for  a  few 
days  at  a  time  until  October  14th,  when  a  slide 
of  such  size  appeared  that  tlie  Canal  was  closed, 
■At  the  moment  it  is  still  closed  and  predictions 
as  to  when  it  will  he  reopened  are  made  hesi¬ 
tatingly. 

The  latest  information  from  Panama  is  under 
date  of  Decemher  8th.  A  wire  on  that  day  said 
that  l)Ut  fifty  feet  of  earth  locks  the  channel  in 
Gaillard  cut,  so  rapid  has  been  the  work  of  the 
dredges.  It  was  expected  that  this  miniature  cut, 
less  than  twenty  feet  high,  would  he  removed  in 
a  few  days.  This  wire  stated  that  while  prospects 
are  that  the  waters  of  the  two  sections  of  the 
canal  will  speedily  join  each  other,  there  is  no 
expectation  that  the  channel  can  be  made  ready 
for  the  passage  of  ships  for  many  weeks.  It  was 
further  stated  that  a  more  cheerful  spirit  over 
the  outcome  of  the  dredging  work  and  probabil¬ 
ity  of  definitely  overcoming  the  twin  slides  in 
the  Galliard  cut  at  an  early  date,  is  being  mani¬ 
fested  by  the  canal  engineers,  including  Col. 
Goethals. 

On  Ifecemlier  4th,  Col.  Goethals  sent  a  long 
report  from  Panama  to  the  Panama  Canal  office 
at  Washington  on  the  recent  slides  in  the  big 
ditch.  In  this  report,  he  estimates  that  from 
7,000,000  to  13,000,000  cubic  yards  of  earth  will 
have  to  be  removed  from  the  cut  before  the 
slides  are  entirely  stopped.  He  believes  that  the 
amount  will  really  prove  to  be  about  10,000,000 
cubic  yards. 

It  should  not  be  inferred,  however,  he  says, 
that  the  Canal  must  be  closed  for  ten  months  or 
until  this  large  amount  is  taken  out,  for  it  is 
the  intention  to  pass  ships  as  soon  as  a  navigable 
channel  is  opened  with  a  fair  prospect  of  main¬ 
taining  it.  He  does  not  volunteer  a  statement 
as  to  just  when  this  will  be  completed. 

General  Goethals  in  the  first  part  of  his  ex¬ 
haustive  report  discusses  the  causes  of  the  earlier 
slides,  the  theories  offered  in  explanation  of 
them,  and  the  steps  taken  to  check  the  movement 
of  the  banks  and  bottom  of  the  ditch.  Then  he 
comes  to  the  slides  of  October  of  last  year  and 
their  treatment.  He  says  in  part : 

■‘Ships  were  passed  through  the  canal  when  a 
channel  of  sufficient  width  and  depth  was  dredged 
through  Cucaracha  slide,  and  when  there  was  a 
very  reasonable  hope  of  maintaining  it.  In  this 
respect  there  was  no  subsequent  disappointment, 
and  the  dredges  were  completing  their  work  in 
this  locality  when,  on  Oct.  14,  1914,  without  any 
warning,  a  section  of  the  east  bank  north  of  Gold 
Hill  settled  vertically  20  feet.  This  section  meas¬ 
ured  2, OOP  feet  along  the  prism  face  and  ex¬ 
tended  l)ack  about  1,000  feet  from  the  axis  of  the 
canal,  generally  along  an  irregular  curved  line. 

The  top  of  the  bank  was  from  300  to  O.lo  feet 


It  Is  Delayed  by  Recent  Slides  and  the 
Date  When  Shipping  May  Pass  Is  Not 
Set — Report  of  Col.  Goethals,  Governor 
of  the  Canal. 


al)ove  sea  level,  and  the  extension  of  the  ground 
eastward  was  relatively  flat  country.  In  the  set¬ 
tlement  the  upper  portion  that  broke  away  re¬ 
mained  practically  parallel  to  its  original  position, 
and  the  benches  which  formed  the  upper  part  of 
the  slide  had  not  changed  their  relative  positions, 
though  they  were  badly  broken  up,  while  the 
lower  strata  were  s(|ueezed  out  across  the  canal. 

"Subseciuently  the  liroken  mass  moved  into  the 
cut,  reducing  the  depth  of  water  from  4.-)  feet  to 
9  inches  at  one  point.  Until  August,  19 1."),  the 
dredges  were  able  for  the  most  part  to  keep  up 
with  the  movement  as  it  came  down  and  probably 
would  have  been  al)le  to  maintain  tins  condition 
had  not  a  movement  occurred  on  the  west  bank, 
necessitating  work  on  this  side  to  the  detriment 
of  the  east  side. 

“A  crack  was  found  on  the  slope  of  Zion  Hill 
in  June,  1914,  but  observations  made  upon  it 
showed  no  movement  and  the  solidity  of  the  hill 
was  never  doulited.  Subseeiuent  to  the  break  on 
the  east  side,  a  gradual  Imt  general  breaking  up 
of  the  west  bank  followed,  and  the  crack  on  the 
slope  increased  in  size  and  new  ones  developed 
farther  up  the  hill,  until  finally  one  extended  to 
elevation  480,  the  limit  of  the  present  break.  The 
movement  into  the  cut  from  the  west  bank  oc¬ 
curred  early  in  August,  191.1,  when  a  section  of 
Zion  Hill  Ijroke  away  and  settled  down.  The 
edge  of  the  break  on  this  side  is  also  a  curve. 

"TJie  movements  from  the  tw'o  sides  are  to¬ 
ward  the  central  portion  of  the  inclosed  area, 
and  at  this  central  portion  is  the  obstruction  to 
the  channel.  It  first  appeared  as  an  island  forced 
up  from  the  bottom,  then  as  a  peninsula  project¬ 
ing  from  the  east  bank,  and,  finally,  was  pushed 
entirely  across  the  channel,  completely  closing  it. 

"The  dredges  in  attacking  the  closure  have 
made  little  headway  thus  far,  for  any  gain  was 
offset  by  a  movement  in  the  vicinity  or  in  the 
rear  of  the  dredges,  forcing  them  to  withdraw 
and  begin  again  their  approaches  on  it.  These 
successive  movements  are  due  in  large  measure 
to  the  rains,  which  were  above  the  average 
through  October.  The  amount  of  material  block¬ 
ing  the  Canal  at  this  locality  could  be  easily  re¬ 
moved  in  ten  days  but  for  the  recurring  move¬ 
ments.  When  a  cut  is  secured  through  this  mass 
and  it  can  be  held,  some  idea  can  be  formed  of 
when  the  passage  of  ships  can  be  resumed,  but 
until  this  is  accomplished  it  is  impossil)le  to  make 
any  predictions. 

“Sluicing  the  obstruction  is  producing  some  re¬ 
sults,  and  the  nozzles  are  being  increased  and 
streams  with  greater  pressure  are  to  l)e  put  at 
work,  to  force  the  material  to  the  dredges  and 
to  draw  down  the  material  which  is  the  cause  of 


oljstruction.  This  sluicing,  however,  will  not  de¬ 
crease  the  amount  of  material  to  be  handled  liy 
the  dredges.  In  the  meantime,  the  dredges  not 
employed  on  the  ol)struction  are  working  to  the 
north  of  it  digging  the  channel  to  full  depth  and 
as  much  wider  than  the  prism  as  is  necessary  to 
remove  those  ])ortions  of  the  slide. 

"In  moving  toward  the  cut  the  material  on  the 
east  side  is  forming  into  a  succession  of  waves, 
which  move  gradually  into  the  prism.  The  one 
that  occiqued  part  of  the  channel  in  October  is 
being  dug  away,  except  at  the  obstruction,  an¬ 
other  has  formed  in  its  rear,  and  still  another  is 
forming  up  the  slope  of  the  hill.  This  material 
in  moving  down  has  at  the  same  time  taken  away 
the  support  of  the  overlying  rock  on  the  north 
side  of  (jold  Hill,  which,  being  seamed,  becomes 
overljalanced  and  Ijreaks  away,  producing  the 
same  results  as  occurred  on  the  south  face  of 
Gold  Hill  during  the  removal  of  Cucaracha  slide. 

“On  the  west  hank  the  wave  effect  is  also  evi¬ 
dent.  Here  the  bank  was  pushed  forward  hori¬ 
zontally  into  the  channel,  followed  l)y  a  settle¬ 
ment  of  the  mass.  The  benches  in  some  portions 
still  maintain  their  relative  position  with  respect 
to  each  other,  but  the  ground  in  their  rear  set¬ 
tled,  forming  sink  holes  on  the  side  away  from 
the  prism.  There  is  some  movement  northward 
along  the  axis  of  these  depressions  into  the  prism. 
The  southern  portion  of  this  west  bank  has  come 
to  rest,  but  projects  into  the  channel. 

"The  breaks  in  the  vicinity  of  Culebra  cut  were 
handled  by  excavations  in  the  prism  and  by  steam 
shovels  lightening  the  banks  above;  at  Cucaracha 
a  great  deal  of  material  was  diverted  from  the 
prism  by  sluicing.  When  the  break  of  Oct.  14, 
1!)14,  occurred  and  examination  was  made  to  as¬ 
certain  if  relief  could  be  afforded  by  either  of 
tlicse  methods,  but  neither  was  practicable  for 
the  east  bank. 

“The  configuration  of  the  ground  made  it  im¬ 
possible  to  sluice  any  material  away  from  the 
prism.  Steam  shovels  and  trains  could  not  oper¬ 
ate  on  any  portion  of  the  broken  mass,  which 
was  incapable  of  giving  them  necessary  support, 
and  so  far  as  concerned  the  stretch  of  ground 
between  the  lireak  and  the  limiting  crack,  it  was 
in  such  condition  that  before  preparations  could 
be  completed  for  beginning  work  it  would  be 
broken  up  so  that  steam  shovels  could  effect 
nothing ;  subsequent  developments  have  verified 
this.  No  further  cracks  or  indications  of  a  fur¬ 
ther  extension  eastward  have  occurred,  and  judg¬ 
ing  from  past  experience  the  existing  limits  are 
definitely  marked,  the  farthest  section  being  1,300 
feet  from  the  east  water  line  of  the  Canal. 

"Similar  investigations  were  made  with  regard 
to  the  use  of  steam  shovels  and  sluicing  opera¬ 
tions  on  the  west  bank.  The  configuration  of  the 
ground  is  such  that  all  the  material  in  the  pres¬ 
ent  movement  will  be  taken  away  long  before  the 
area  involved  could  be  reached.  Like  the  east 
side.  Sluicing  away  from  the  direction  of  the 
prism  is  impracticable. 

"The  conclusion  reached,  therefore,  was  that 


Government  Coaling  Plant  at  Balboa,  Canal  Zone,  Showing  Progress  of  Work  of  Construction  on  September  15,  1915. 


No.  25] 


the  only  method  of  handling  the  slides  on  the  two 
banks  is  to  remove  the  material  from  the  prism 
by  dredges  as  it  comes  in.  The  breaks  on  the 
two  banks  are  clearly  defined,  and  judging  from 
experience  with  other  slides  and  breaks,  the  limits 
of  the  movement  have  been  reached. 

■‘Mr.  MacDonald,  the  geologist  formerly  em¬ 
ployed.  passed  through  here  on  his  way  to  Costa 
Rica  three  weeks  ago,  and,  after  going  thor¬ 
oughly  over  the  slides,  reached  the  same  con¬ 
clusions  as  to  the  limits  to  which  the  sliding 
would  take  place,  and  the  methods  employed  for 
handling  the  material.  His  profession,  his  inti¬ 
mate  knowledge  of  the  formation  of  the  locality, 
and  his  experience  with  the  various  slides  and 
breaks  make  his  opinions  on  the  subject  of  value. 
He  also  expressed  the  belief  that  the  troubles 
due  to  slides  would  end  with  the  removal  of  the 
material  from  those  in  progress. 

“When  the  break  occurred  in  October,  1914, 
and  the  subsequent  breaking  up  of  the  west  bank 
became  evident,  it  was  decided  to  augment  the 
dredging  fleet  by  another  fifteen-yard  dipper 
dredge  and  three  1,000  cubic  yard  barges,  all  of 
which  are  now  in  service,  and  the  dredges  are 
handling  at  the  slide  nearly  1,000,000  cubic  yards 
per  month  at  a  cost  less  than  30  cents  per  cubic 
yard. 

“As  to  the  amounts  involved,  it  is  difficult  to 
make  any  reliable  estimate.  As  already  stated, 
when  the  break  occurred  at  Cucaracha  in  1913,  it 
was  estimated  that  3,000,000  cubic  yards  were 
involved,  but  before  the  movement  ceased  4,679,- 
238  cubic  yards  were  taken  out  by  steam  shovels 
and  dredges,  in  addition  to  upward  of  1,000,000 
cubic  yards  of  material  which  would  have  entered 
the  prism  had  it  not  been  removed  by  sluicing. 

The  length  of  the  slides,  which  are  directly 
opposite  each  other,  is  approximately  2,200  feet 
( the  channel  through  which  is  navigable  with  the 
exception  of  600  feet)  ;  the  banks  are  300  to 
3.50  feet  above  sea  level  on  the  east  and  extend 
up  to  480  feet  above  sea  level  on  the  west.  The 
area  of  the  territory  affected  on  the  east  side 
covers  81  acres  and  on  the  west  side  78.5  acres. 

“Assuming  that  all  material,  lying  above  planes 
extending  from  the  outside  limits  of  the  bottom 
of  the  prism,  reference  40,  up  to  the  limits  of  the 
1)reaks,  will  move  into  the  Cut,  7,000,000  cubic 
yards  will  have  to  be  removed  before  the  slides 
are  entirely  stopped.  Mr.  Comber,  Resident  En¬ 
gineer  of  the  Dredging  Division,  assumed  a  sur¬ 
face  parallel  to  the  surface,  existing  on  Oct.  14, 
the  date  of  the  last  complete  survey,  and  forty- 
five  feet  below  it,  on  which  basis  13,000,000  cubic 
yards  would  be  the  quantity  to  be  handled.  He 
thinks,  however,  that  a  mean  between  the  two 
amounts  may  be  more  nearly  correct,  which  was 
the  method  of  arriving  at  the  10,000,000  cubic 
yard  figure  which  has  appeared  in  the  press.  It 
is  at  best  only  a  guess. 

“It  must  not  be  inferred  from  this  that  the 
Canal  will  be  closed  until  this  amount  is  dredged, 
for  such  is  not  the  case;  on  the  contrary,  it  is 
the  intention  to  pass  ships  as  soon  as  a  channel 
is  secured  through  the  remaining  600  feet,  and 
there  are  reasonable  grounds  for  assuming  that 
a  channel  through  the  obstructed  area  can  be 
maintained. 

It  is  certain  that  the  troubles  are  due  to  the 
failure  of  underlying  strata  because  these  were 
unable  to  bear  the  weight  that  the  banks  brought 
upon  them.  Under  the  circumstances  it  is  diffi¬ 
cult  to  understand  the  impression  that  has  gained 
credence  in  some  quarters  that  a  sea-level  canal 
would  have  avoided  the  difficulties  encountered, 
since  the  cutting  would  have  been  through  the 
same  material,  but  at  least  eighty  feet  deeper. 

"It  is  also  certain  that  nothing  can  stop  the 
movement  now  in  progress  until  the  angle  of  re¬ 
pose  is  reached  for  the  materials  under  the  con¬ 
ditions  that  exist,  and  that  this  can  be  reached 

nly  1)y  removing  the  excess  amount  of  material. 
If  experience  counts  for  aught,  then  that  gained 
'll  the  handling  of  the  slides  and  the  breaks  that 
have  occurred  along  the  line  of  the  Canal  leaves 
no  doubt  that  the  means  adopted  and  now  in  use 
will  effect  a  cure  in  the  slides  that  now  close  the 
Canal ;  furthermore,  that  when  cured  no  further 
troubles  need  be  anticipated  from  slides  in  this 
locality.” 


Acting  Chief  Geographer. 

Secretary  Lane  has  ordered  the  transfer  of  i\lr. 
R.  B.  Marshall,  chief  geographer  of  the  Survey, 
to  the  position  of  superintendent  of  the  National 
Parks,  effective  at  once,  and  to  continue  during 
the  balance  of  the  fiscal  year. 

Mr.  Sledge  Tatum  has  been  designated  acting 
chief  geographer  and  he  will  continue  to  serve 
as  geographer  in  charge  of  the  Rocky  Mountain 
division. 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


Rates  on  Bunker  Coal 


At  this  writing,  those  who  supply  bunker  coal 
on  the  Atlantic  seaboard  are  undecided  as  to  what 
schedule  of  prices  will  obtain  at  the  Hampton 
Roads  ports  over  3916.  This  inability  to  decide 
brought  about  largely  several  months  ago  by  the 
notice  given  by  the  three  railroads  serving  these 
ports,  that  rates  on  bunker  coal  would  be  ad¬ 
vanced  twenty-eight  cents  per  ton,  effective  Janu¬ 
ary  1st.  The  Hampton  Roads  shippers  took  issue 
against  the  attitude  of  the  railroads,  inasmuch  as 
the  railroads  serving  Baltimore,  Philadelphia  and 
New  York  assured  their  shippers  that  rates  on 
bunker  coals  to  these  ports  would  not  be  ad¬ 
vanced.  The  Plampton  Roads  bunker  suppliers 
saw  their  trade  drifting  to  the  upper  ports  in  case 
the  southern  railroads  insisted  on  an  advance,  and 
consequently  these  railroads  decided  that  for  the 
time  being  no  changes  in  the  Hampton  Roads 
bunker  rates  would  be  made. 

However,  they  have  not  so  far  given  shippers 
assurance  that  rates  will  remain  stationary 
throughout  the  year  1916.  Therefore,  such  ship¬ 
pers  as  have  entered  into  contracts  over  the  year 
have  in  most  instances  inserted  clauses  which  will 
protect  them  in  case  the  railroad  rates  are  ad¬ 
vanced. 

The  railroads,  it  is  stated,  take  the  position 
that  they  are  compelled  to  abide  by  the  decision 
of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission,  which 
has  authority  to  prescribe  rates,  and  that  should 
the  commission  at  any  time  decide  that  the  rail¬ 
roads  create  a  differential  between  coals  intended 
for  bunkers  and  those  for  exports,  that  they 
would  be  forced  to  make  immediate  revisions  in 
•  their  freight  tariffs. 

The  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  in  the 
case  of  a  complaint  brought  before  it  on  the  part 
of  some  of  the  shippers  at  a  Gulf  port,  decided 
that  bunker  coals  were  not  entitled  to  an  export 
rate,  but  should  take  the  local  rate,  which  in  the 
case  of  Hampton  Roads,  makes  a  difference  of 
about  twenty-eight  cents  per  ton.  The  export  and 
“beyond  capes”  rate  to  Hamton  Roads  is  $1.40 
per  gross  ton,  and  this  has  always  been  the  rate 
on  bunker  coals  supplied  foreign  vessels.  The 
local  rate  on  road  to  Hampton  Roads  ports  in¬ 
tended  for  domestic  distribution  is  $1.50  per  net 
ton.  If  this  rate  were  enforced,  it  would  make 
the  bunker  rate  $1.68  per  gross  ton. 

Contractors  for  bunkers  for  vessels  engaged  in 
the  foreign  trade  that  call  at  the  Atlantic  sea¬ 
board  ports,  particularly  New  York,  Philadelphia 
and  Baltimore,  should  bear  in  mind  that  the  pres¬ 
ent  high  prices  being  asked  at  these  ports  for  spot 
lots  of  coal  are  abnormal.  Coals  that  come  to 
Baltimore,  Philadelphia  and  New  York  ports  are 
now  affected  by  a  shortage  in  coastwise  transpor¬ 
tation,  which  has  brought  about  such  a  scarcity 
of  coals  in  New  England  that  mine  prices  in  the 
Pennsylvania  bituminous  fields  and  in  the  north¬ 
eastern  fields  in  'West  "Virginia  have  advanced 
in  the  past  few  weeks  from  fifty  to  one  hundred 
l)er  cent.  This  condition  may  continue  for  some 
weeks,  perhaps  for  months,  unless  the  transporta¬ 
tion  question  can  be  righted.  This  situation  is  di¬ 
rectly  chargeable  to  the  general  shortage  of  ves¬ 
sels  in  the  foreign  trade,  which  has  caused  the 
diversion  of  a  great  number  of  schooners  and 
other  vessels  that  are  at  ordinary  times  available 
for  handling  coal  coastwise. 

It  will  no  doubt  be  interesting  to  the  foreign 
coal  man  to  note  that  while  prices  on  the  Penn¬ 
sylvania  and  eastern  West  Virginia  coals  moving 
through  the  ports  above  named  have  advanced  so 
radically  that  there  has  been  no  advance  in  the 
prices  of  New  River  and  Pocahontas  coals  that 
move  through  Hampton  Roads  ports.  This  is  due 
to  the  fact  that  the  New  River  and  Pocahontas 
coals  cannot  move  by  rail  east  of  the  Potomac 
River,  on  competitive  rates  of  freight,  and  as  long 
as  there  is  a  shortage  of  water  tratisportation  to 
take  these  coals  to  NNw  England  ports,  which  is 
their  natural  market,  prices  will  remain  easy,  un¬ 
less  a  larger  outlet  to  the  west  can  be  obtained. 
While  the  west  is  calling  for  a  great  deal  of  New 
River  and  Pocahontas,  due  to  the  enormous  quan¬ 
tity  of  shipping  in  every  direction,  the  railroads 
are  not  able  to  supply  shippers  with  the  cars  that 
would  he  needed  to  materially  increase  their  ship¬ 
ments  west.  Added  to  this,  exports  have  fallen 
off  about  fifty  per  cent  from  the  summer  ton¬ 
nages,  because  of  the  shortage  of  vessels,  and  this 
also  accentuates  the  easy  position  that  the  New 
River  and  Pocahontas  shippers  find  themselves 
in  at  the  moment. 

However,  it  is  only  in  extreme  cases  that  for¬ 
eign  vessels  calling  at  Baltimore,  Philadelphia 
and  New  York  have  to  go  out  into  the  market 
arid  buy  spot  coals  and  pay  the  high  prices  pre¬ 
vailing  at  the  moment  for  same.  Most  of  the 
owners  who  send  their  vessels  to  these  ports  have 


501 


for  1916  Are  Uncertain. 


contracts  with  regular  bunker  suppliers,  and  so 
far  these  suppliers  have  taken  good  care  of  their 
customers.  These  suppliers  in  no  few  instances 
are  forced  to  buy  spot  coals  at  prevailing  prices, 
because  of  the  great  congestion  of  general  mer¬ 
chandise  at  our  tidewater  ports,  and  the  shortage 
of  equipment  provided  by  the  railroads  for  mov¬ 
ing  coal  from  the  mines. 

In  this  particular,  it  is  interesting  to  quote  from 
the  bunkering  number  of  “Fairplay,”  the  well 
known  London  shipping  paper,  which  under  date 
of  November  18,  in  writing  of  the  bunker  situ¬ 
ation,  said : 

“'We  must  say  that  during  the  war,  American 
coaling  contracts  have  been  fulfilled  in  the  most 
honorable  manner.  The  coal  contracted  for  has 
been  shipped  with  good  dispatch,  and  we  believe 
that  we  are  correct  in  saying  that  not  one  single 
complaint  has  been  made  by  owners.  Considering 
the  enormous  differences  in  prices  as  between  the 
highest  levels  touched  in  Wales,  and  the  contract 
prices  in  the  United  States,  it  is  greatly  to  the 
credit  of  the  United  States  suppliers  that  they 
have  so  honorably  fulfilled  every  contract,  for 
everyone  knows  that  contractors  could  cause  much 
trouble  by  declaring  inability  to  supply  through 
partial  stoppages  or  strikes,  railway  delays  and 
causes  beyond  their  control.  No  advantage  has 
been  taken  of  such  points  as  these.” 

We  might  add  that  so  far  The  Black  Diamond 
has  not  heard  of  any  complaints  from  the  for¬ 
eign  shippers  over  the  quality  of  bunkers  that  are 
being  supplied  at  our  ports.  Americans  returning 
from  Europe  during  the  past  month  have  com¬ 
plained  at  the  delay  in  arrival  of  their  steamers 
by  saying  that  two  or  three  days  in  some  in¬ 
stances  were  lost  because  of  poor  coal  supplied  on 
the  other  side,  or  that  slow  time  was  made  be¬ 
cause  the  captains  wished  to  economize  on  coal. 
Questioning  the  economy  of  slow  time,  rigjit  now, 
when  vessels  are  worth  three  or  four  times  what 
would  be  their  average  worth  per  day  in  normal 
times,  several  shipping  men  in  position  to  know 
have  told  us  that  the  ships  are  being  supplied  at 
some  of  the  European  ports  with  bunker  coals 
from  the  English  mines  that  are  inferior  to  the 
coals  supplied  in  normal  times.  The  statement 
is  made  that  the  better  grade  coals  are  not  avail¬ 
able  for  bunkers,  due  to  the  fact  that  most  of 
these  coals  have  been  requisitioned  for  govern¬ 
ment  purposes.  Also,  recently,  there  have  been 
some  very  bad  gales  on  the  Atlantic  and  a  good 
many  steamers  have  been  compelled  to  put  in  to 
Bermuda  to  get  bunkers  enough  to  bring  them  to 
our  ports. 

The  bunkering  business  at  New  York  and  Phila¬ 
delphia  has  been  very  good  for  the  past  two  or 
three  months,  due  to  the  great  number  of  steam¬ 
ers  calling  at  these  ports  for  grain  and  munitions. 
The  Russian  government  is  shipping  a  great  deal 
of  heavy  tonnage  through  New  York  and  Phila¬ 
delphia  to  'Vladivostok.  The  steamers  taking  these 
cargoes  have  to  take  large  bunker  supplies  here, 
as  well  as  most  of  the  steamers  taking  cargoes 
to  ports  where  the  supply  of  coal  is  uncertain. 
However,  with  freight  paying  so  handsomely, 
some  vessel  owners  are  stinting  on  taking  more 
bunkers  than  are  absolutely  required  to  get  them 
to  destination. 

Some  interesting  figures  showing  bunker  coals 
supplied  the  foreign  vessels  for  a  number  of  years 
are  given  elsewhere  in  this  issue. 


Colorado  Mine  Commission. 

PniL,\DELPin.\,  December  15. — The  President’s 
Mine  Commission  to  inquire  into  conditions  in  the 
Colorado  fields,  will  leave  for  Denver  on  Decem¬ 
ber.  26  and  there  will  take  up  the  various  phases 
of  the  coal  mining  problems  which  have  been  a 
source  of  disa.greement  for  the  past  couple  of 
years.  The  personnel  of  the  commission  is.  Seth 
Low  of  New  York,  Charles  W.  Mills  of  Phila¬ 
delphia  and  Patrick  Gilday,  the  well  known  rep¬ 
resentative  of  labor  in  the  Pennsylvania  fields. 

The  commission  has  written  to  Governor 
George  .\.  Carlson  of  their  intention  and  have 
asked  that  any  assistance  which  will  expedite 
their  iiuiuiry  be  offered.  It  is  the  intention  of  the 
members  of  the  board  to  carefully  review  the 
scope  that  is  offered  by  the  new  industrial  board 
of  the  state  of  Colorado  and  go  over  the  new 
I'lan  and  working  agreement  of  the  Colorado 
Ftiel  and  Iron  Company’s  new  agreement  with  its 
men.  Various  other  lines  of  intiuiry  have  been 
mapped  out,  but  are  tentative  with  conditions 
which  are  met  when  the  commission  commences 
this  actual  work  in  the  field. 


502 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[December  18 


Double  Tipple  Loading  Arrangement  at  Arno  Mines. 


Where  Contentment  Reigns  Supreme — Keokee,  Va. 


Coal  Offerings  of  the  Stonega  Coke  Coal  Co. 


Forty  square  miles  of  coal  lands,  which 
by  outcrop,  bore  holes  and  openings  are 
known  to  run  in  uniform  seams  from  five 
and  a  half  to  seven  feet  and  a  half  in 
thickness. 

A  capacity  production  of  four  million 
tons  a  year  possible  under  existing  con¬ 
ditions. 

Enough  coal  to  last,  at  the  present  rate 
of  production,  for  the  next  two  hundred 
years — and  then  some. 

Coal  of  a  quality  which  in  its  own 
wealth  of  argument  has  placed  it  as  a 
premier  in  the  east,  west  and  south. 

A  geographical  location  which  gives 
entry  to  southern,  middle  western  and 
eastern  markets  and  precludes  a  fore¬ 
shortening  of  car  supply. 

Five  essentials  to  make  a  trade  story 
worth  while.  It  is  like  taking  the  last 
throbbing  chapter  from  the  end  of  a  novel 
to  thus  detail  the  meat  of  what  is  to  fol¬ 
low,  yet  the  foregoing  is  part  and  parcel 
of  the  story  of  the  Stonega  Coke  &  Coal 
Company’s  immense  operations  in  Wise 
and  Lee  counties,  Virginia. 

Let  us.  then,  get  back  to  Genesis — 


Working  in  Veins  Which  Produce  Excel¬ 
lent  Coal  for  Coke  Making,  Gas  Produc¬ 
ing  and  Steam  Generation,  It  Has  Plants 
with  Which  to  Prepare  the  Product. 

start  at  the  beginning.  The  business  of 
the  Stonega  Coke  &  Coal  Company 
started,  as  its  name  would  indicate,  as 
a  coke  proposition.  Its  mine  at  Stonega 
was  one  of  the  first  to  be  opened  in  the 
Virginia  coal  fields.  From  this  the  anal¬ 
ysis  showed  that  the  coal  was  high  in 
volatile,  low  in  sulphur  and  had  the  com¬ 
ponent  parts  to  make  good  coke.  In 
existence  today  is  one  of  the  early  reports 
on  the  coke  product.  The  comment  de¬ 
clares  it  “to  have  the  purity  of  Poca¬ 
hontas  and  a  structure  excelling  the  Con- 
nellsville.” 

Came  a  time,  about  ten  years  ago,  to 
be  specific,  when  a  combination  of  rail¬ 
way  facilities  and  a  reputation  that  the 
coke  made  was  an  opening  wedge  for  the 
free  sale  of  the  coal  that  can  be,  and  is, 
produced  at  the  mines  of  the  company. 
New  openings  brought  in  new  lines  of 


coal  to  be  placed  on  the  market.  The 
range  that  is  offered  by  the  Stonega  peo¬ 
ple  runs,  at  the  present  time — good  gas 
coal,  good  steam  coal,  and  good  domes¬ 
tic  coal — metallurgical,  foundry  and  fur¬ 
nace  coke  with  a  national  reputation  for 
excellence — and  any  bituminous  propo¬ 
sition  which  can  offer  this  need  not  take 
a  back  seat  in  any  mining  congregation. 

Yet  there  are  other  worlds  to  conquer, 
according  to  the  way  that  the  officials 
of  this  corporation  look  upon  their  prod¬ 
uct.  At  the  present  time  about  10  per 
cent  of  their  coal  goes  to  tidewater.  Ac¬ 
tual  tests  made  of  Stonega  coal  show  that 
it  will  fill  bunkering  purposes  and  export 
requirements.  The  opening  of  the  South¬ 
ern  Railway’s  new  coal  pier  at  Charles¬ 
ton,  S.  C.,  offers  a  new  channel  to  the 
markets  of  the  world,  and  Stonega  coals 
are  to  play  even  a  bigger  part  in  produc¬ 
ing  the  steam  that  propels  the  ships  which 
sail  the  sea  and  drives  the  wheels  of  in¬ 
dustry  abroad. 

Agents  of  the  company  have  placed  be¬ 
fore  the  foreign  buyers  the  point  of  in¬ 
terest  that  the  coal  from  the  Stonega 


Tipples  Nos.  1  and  2  With  Trackage  at  Roda  Mines. 


No.  1  Tipple  and  Braize  Bin  at  Stonega  Mine. 


No.  25] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


503 


Portion  of  Coke  Ovens  at  Stonega  Mines  in  Operation. 


Railroad  Yards  at  Osaka  With  Tipple  in  Distance. 


regions  contains.  The  first  ship  to  be 
bunkered  from  the  Charleston  pier 
sailed  away  with  Stonega  coal  in  her 
holds — not  that  she  was  the  first  ship 
to  use  Stonega  coal,  but  the  first  to  be 
bunkered  at  a  pier  where  it  could  be  had 
of  free  access.  “Stonega  Bunker  Coal”  it 
was— coal  that  for  bunkering  purposes 
will  soon  make  a  name  for  itself.  While 
high  in  volatile,  Stonega  cokes  sufficiently 
in  the  firebox  to  produce  tremendous  heat 
and  still  can  be  so  heavily  fired  that  its 
popularity  with  firemen  and  stokers 
grows  in  direct  proportion  to  its  use. 

Of  its  export  and  bunkering  possibili¬ 
ties  one  of  the  strong  points  that  has 
been  put  forth  is  its  excellent  storage 
qualities.  On  numerous  occasions  quanti¬ 
ties  of  this  coal  have  been  placed  'in 
stocking  piles  and  there  has  never  been 
a  trace  of  spontaneous  combustion.  One 
storage  pile  of  40,000  tons,  under  ex¬ 
treme  weather  conditions,  stood  for  nine 
months,  near  Greensboro,  N.  C.,  without 
a  sign  of  heating. 

The  Stonega  Company  is  a  young 
man’s  organization.  At  its  head  is  Daniel 
B.  Wentz  as  president.  In  the  early  days 
of  operation  of  this  company  he  was  a 
resident  of  Stonega  and  he  is  so  familiar 


with  the  region  that  much  of  the  com¬ 
pany’s  progressive  policy  can  be  laid  to 
his  association  with  local  conditions 
there.  Vice-president  Dr.  John  S.  Wentz 
has  so  long  been  associated  with  coal 
production  and  has  been  so  prominently 
connected  with  the  development  of  the 
Virginia  coal  field  as  to  make  comment 
unnecessary.  Vice-president  Otis  Mau¬ 
ser,  who  directs  sales  and  traffic,  has 
long  been  associated  with  the  properties. 
Vice-president  and  General  Manager 
Everett  Drennan  was  for  years  associated 
with  another  large  coal  corporation,  and 
was  instrumental  in  the  development  of 
a  great  area  in  the  Eastern  Kentucky 
fields.  Vice-president  Wm.  C.  Kent  of 
Wyncotte,  Pa.,  concludes  the  directorate 
.of  the  Stonega  Company.  Ralph  E.  Tag¬ 
gart,  general  superintendent,  is  a  son  of 
the  first  general  superintendent  of  the 
company  and  also  the  man  for  whom  the 
Taggart  vein  was  named.  The  younger 
Taggart  has  been  intimately  associated 
with  the  operating  end  of  the  interests 
the  whole  of  his  life. 

William  Johnson  &  Co.  are  the  repre¬ 
sentatives  of  the  company,  and  have 
charge  of  the  bunkering  of  ships,  which 
is  done  at  Charleston,  S.  C.  Mr.  Johnson 


recently  made  a  trip  abroad  to  explain 
the  merits  of  the  coal  and  meet  with  for¬ 
eign  agents. 

One  of  the  strong  selling  points  of 
Stonega  coal  is  its  comparative  freedom 
from  dirt  or  refuse.  All  of  the  mines — 
Arno,  Clover  Eork,  Imboden,  Keokee, 
Roda  and  Stonega — are  drift  mines.  Of 
the  commercial  characteristics  of  the 
veins,  the  Imboden  seam,  which  is  mined 
at  Arno,  Imboden,  Osaka  and  the  Ston¬ 
ega  mines,  is,  in  the  run  of  mine,  an 
excellent  steam  and  coking  coal.  In  the 
sized  coal  it  gives  excellent  results  for 
domestic  use. 

The  Taggart  vein,  which  is  found  in 
the  Keokee  and  Roda  mines,  is  the  com¬ 
pany’s  highest  grade  of  gas  coal.  Where 
mechanical  stokers  are  used,  the  smaller 
sizes  have  given  utmost  satisfaction  to 
users.  Its  big,  blocky  lumps  takes  odds 
from  no  other  coal  for  bunkerage  pur¬ 
poses.  It  is  also  an  excellent  coking  coal. 

A  feature  of  tipple  inspection  is  used 
at  the  mines  of  the  company,  and  as  one 
phase  deals  with  the  commercial  end  it 
will  be  taken  up  here  and  the  mine  in¬ 
spection  later.  The  sales  department 
maintains  an  inspector  at  each  tipple  and 
on  each  battery  of  coke  ovens,  who 


Keokee  Tipple  and  Slack  Bin  at  Keokee,  Va.  Block!  Coal  Ready  for  Shipment  From  Stonega  Mines. 


504 


[December  18 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


watches  carefully  every  car  of  coal  and 
coke  that  is  loaded  and  has  strict  orders 
to  refuse  shipping  instructions  for  any 
or  all  cars  which  are  not  up  to  a  strict 
standard. 

In  addition,  the  company  maintains  a 
testing  chemical  and  physical  laboratory 
with  the  latest  aj)paratus,  and  daily  sam- 
])les  are  taken  and  tests  made  of  coal 
from  all  of  the  workings.  This  brings 
us  to  the  point  of  the  physical  make-up 
of  the  coals  as  mined  by  the  company. 
Below  is  given,  for  comparative  purj)oses, 
recent  analyses: 

STONEGA  OR  IMBODEN  VEIN. 


Moisture  .  1.19 

Volatile  matter  . 32.74 

I'^xed  carbon  . 59.67 

.\sh  .  6.40 

Sulphur  . 0.757 

B.  T.  U. 

(as  received)  . 14119 

(dry  basis)  .  14289 

RODA  OR  TAGGART  VEIN 

Moisture  .  1.12 

Volatile  matter  . 34.4 

Fixed  carbon  . 60.9 

Ash  . 3.58 

Sulphur  .  0.48 

B.  T.  U . 15183 

PROXIMATE  GAS  ANALYSIS  FROM  RODA 
COAL. 

I  lydro  carbon  .  4.20 

Carbon  monoxide  .  5.40 

Hydrogen  . 50.18 

Methane  . 32.73 

Nitrogen  .  7.49 

Specific  gravity  . 38 

British  thermal  units  per  cu.  ft.  gas . 661 

British  thermal  units  per  pound  coal . 3,298 

Gallons  coal  tar  per  ton  . 13 

Pounds  sulphate  ammonia  per  ton . 26 

Cubic  feet  gas  per  ton  . 11,200 

Per  cent  coke  per  ton  . 63.8 


Two  things  stand  out  today  in  the  sale 
of  coal — two  things  vital  and  essential — 
after  the  cardinal  point  of  cost.  The  first 
is  quality  and  the  second  is  preparation. 
When  He  who  made  the  mountains  and 
the  seas  finished  His  task,  modern  man’s 
fuel  was  left  tucked  away  far  below  the 
surface.  Like  wine,  age  improved  its 
quality.  So,  when  it  is  brought  to  the 
surface,  the  work  of  the  Master  Hand  is 
over  and  the  human  must  do  its  bit.  At 
the  mines  of  the  Stonega  Coke  &  Coal 
Company  all  of  the  latest  and  improved 
methods  of  mining  and  engineering 
brains  can  produce  are  being  lavished  on 
tliis  fruit  of  the  bowels  of  Mother  Earth. 

A  first  principle  in  mechanical  effi¬ 
ciency  is  the  production  of  the  highest 


volume  of  power  at  the  lowest  minimum 
of  cost.  So,  in  the  production  of  inten¬ 
sive  energy,  electricity  stands  as  the  vital 
power  to  make  things  move.  The  Ston¬ 
ega  Company,  with  its  supply  of  virgin 
coal,  looked  elsewhere  than  at  home  from 
which  to  obtain  its  “juice.”  It  could  be 
had  at  a  lower  cost. 

From  the  Kentucky  Utilities  Company 
it  has  contracted  for  a  supply  of  power 
sufficient  and  adequate  to  supply  all  of. 
the  needs  of  its  six  mines  in  this  field  for 
the  present  and,  if  needs  be,  any  require¬ 
ments  that  the  future  may  hold.  This 
electrical  company,  which  is  under  the 
management  of  Samuel  Insull  of  Chicago, 
has  increased  its  plant  at  Pocket,  Va.,  in 
order  that  any  demand  made  upon  it  can 
be  met.  Even  more,  it  is  also  connecting 
this  plant  with  high  tension  provisions 
with  its  other  equipment  at  Verrilla,  Ky.. 
and  no  matter  what  mishap  may  befall, 
this  will  insure  a  continuous  supply  of 
power. 

Most  modern  forms  of  transmission  are 
used  in  bringing  the  current  the  thirty 
miles  across  country,  and  once  on  the 
property  of  the  Stonega  Company,  the 
very  latest  means  of  transforming  the 
high  voltage  to  the  various  requirements 
is  to  be  found. 

.  The  DC.  stations  are  placed  under¬ 
ground  and  as  near  the  center  of  the  load 
as  possible,  insuring  good  voltage  at  ter¬ 
minals  and  on  all  power  circuits.  The 
voltage  is  transmitted  to  each  of  the  com¬ 
pany’s  plants  at  33, OCX)  volts,  where  it  is 
reduced  to  23,000  volts  and  then  taken 
through  bore  holes  to  the  underground 
DC.  stations,  where  it  is  again  reduced 
through  transformers  to  196  volts.  Then 
it  is  converted  into  direct  current,  250 
volts,  by  Westinghouse  rotary  converters 
— two  to  a  station— of  300  kilowatt  capa¬ 
city.  Though  this  is  an  electrical  tech¬ 
nicality,  it  is  used  here  in  explanation 
that  those  who  are  familiar  may  see  that 
there  is  a  sufficient  and  ready  current  to 
use  at  all  times  for  the  motors  and  the 
large  number  of  various  types  of  coal 
cutters  which  are  in  daily  use  in  the 
mines. 

In  this  connection  it  might  be  said  that 
all  mining  machinery  is  electrically 
driven.  Undercutters  of  the  latest  pat¬ 
tern  and  model  do  the  bulk  of  the  work. 
A  big  four-and-a-half-ton  top  cutting  ma¬ 


chine  with  a  twenty-four  foot  arc  is  a 
giant  among  this  species.  High  speed 
electric  locomotives  are  used  to  bring 
the  coal  out  from  all  headings. 

All  six  of  the  mines  are  equipped  with 
fire-proof  fans  and  most  modern  systems 
of  mine  ventilation.  All  of  the  fans  em¬ 
ployed  are  reversible  and  of  sufficient 
capacity  to  assure  good,  fresh  air  at  the 
face  of  all  workings.  These,  usually,  are 
run  exhausting  in  the  summer  and  blow¬ 
ing  in  the  winter,  and  if  free  use  of  steam 
to  humidify  the  atmosphere  inside  is 
necessary,  attachment  of  this  equipment 
can  be  made  at  a  moment’s  notice. 

In  that  we  now  have  the  coal  on  the 
surface,  let  us  return  to  the  inspection, 
two  forms  of  which  are  employed,  inside 
and  at  the  openings.  Heretofore  it  has 
been  mentioned  that  the  sales  depart- 


Type  of  Outside  Sub-station  in  Use. 


ment  has  a  man  whose  eagle  eye  is  on 
all  coal  and  coke  loaded  into  railroad 
cars.  “Inside”  inspectors  are  constantly 
“on  the  job”  to  scrutinize  the  coal  as  it 
goes  into  the  mine  cars.  A  lay-off  or  a 
discharge  is  the  penalty  the  miner  draws 
for  persistently  loading  refuse.  At  the 
tipple  still  another  inspector  takes  one 
loaded  car  from  every  twenty,  reloads 
it  a  shovelful  at  a  time  with  extreme 
care.  Any  dirt  or  refuse  found  here 
means  penalization  for  the  miner.  There 
is  no  side-stepping  this,  and  the  miner  is 
going  to  right  his  idea  of  what  is  wanted 
if  he  has  to  pay  for  continued  careless¬ 
ness. 

All  of  the  tipples  are  equipped  to  make 
three  sizes  of  coal — lump,  egg  and  slack. 
The  lump  passes  over  the  shaker  screens 
with  perforations  four  inches  wide  by 
nine  inches  long,  where  it  meets  with 
traveling  loading  boom,  which  deposits 
the  coal  in  the  cars  with  a  minimum  of 
breakage. 

As  has  been  intimated,  coke  has 
played  a  great  i)art  in  the  upbuilding  of 
the  business  of  the  Stonega  Coke  &  Coal 
Company,  and  it  would  scarce  be  fair  to 
proceed  further  without  telling  something 
regarding  this  product.  The  ovens  are 
of  the  bee-hive  type  and  have  a  capacity 
of  between  92;000  and  93,000  tons  a 
month.  Roda  coke,  which  is  manufac¬ 
tured  from  the  coal  produced  at  the  Roda 
and  Keokee  mines,  is  in  great  demand 


Top  Cutter  at  Work  at  Company’s  Mines. 


Xo.  25] 


THE  BEACK  DIAMOND. 


505 


1 

H  &  E 

Rear  View  Showing  Transformers  in  Underground  Station. 


Interior  View  at  Outside  Substation  Imboden^  Va. 


from  companies  manufacturing  gas  and 
it  is  also  very  attractive  to  manufacturers 
of  high-grade  iron.  It  is  exceptionally 
low  in  sulphur  and  ash  and  contains  prac¬ 
tically  no  phosphorus.  Foundrymen 
also  are  heavy  users  of  this  coke  and  es¬ 
pecially  those  at  considerable  distance 
from  the  ovens,  who  find  freight  rates  a 
consideration.  The  extreme  purity  of 
the  Roda  coke  leaves  a  minimum  of 
freight  to  be  paid  on  fuel  and  it  com¬ 
mands  a  premium  price  in  all  markets. 

Coke  from  the  Imboden  vein  has  al¬ 
ways  been  in  demand  by  both  furnace  and 
foundrymen  on  account  of  its  low  sul¬ 
phur  and  excellent  structure.  This  coke, 
as  is  Roda,  is  loaded  entirely  free  from 
braize  or  ash.  On  account  of  its  large 
lumps,  much  better  service  can  be  had 
from  it  than  from  the  finer  cokes.  All 
of  the  Stonega  Company’s  cokes  for  foun¬ 
dry  consumption  are  loaded  with  lump 
middles  and  from  six  to  eight  wails  to  the 
car — built  of  large  lumps.  This  makesj 
separation  for  the  foundryman  and  if  he 
desires  he  can  lay  the  larger  of  the  coke 
aside  for  use  in  the  bottom  of  cupolas. 
Its  structure  is  such  that  it  will  .su])port 
tremendous  burdens. 

Experts  who  have  pas.'-ed  upon  the 


merits  of  the  coke  and  coal  of  the  com- 
jjany  awarded  it  gold  medals  at  the  St. 
Louis  and  Jamestown  expositions.  Now, 
then,  a  word  about  the  geological  forma¬ 
tion  of  the  coal. 

The  Stonega  Coke  &  Coal  Company's 
coal  lands,  comprising  an  area  of  apj)roxi- 
mately  forty  miles,  are  a  part  of  the  Vir¬ 
ginia  coal  fields  and  lie  in  the  southern 
edge  of  the  incline  between  Powell 
River  on  the  south  and  Pine  Mountain 
on  the  north.  On  this  property  the 
strata  di]).s  about  three  degrees  to  the 
northwest,  with  very  few  local  disturl)- 
ances.  The  lowest  vein,  the  ImbcJden, 
occurs  in  practically  the  whole  area  and 
the  other  coals  occur  in  a  decreasing 
area  toward  the  top  of  the  Black  Moun¬ 
tain,  where  the  highest  co'al,  the  High 
Splint,  has  an  area  of  not  cpiite  two' 
sc|uare  miles. 

The  coal  beds  in  this  section  belong  to 
the  same  period  as  the  measures  known 
as  the  Pottsville  Conglomerate  series,  or 
Xo.  12,  in  western  Pennsylvania.  In  the 
Pennsylvania  field  these  measures  carry 
four  workable  seams,  namely.  Upper 
Mercer,  Lower  Mercer,  Ouakertown  and 
Sharon  coals,  below  which  is  found  the 
Potts^■ille  Conglomerate  ;  the  total  thick¬ 


ness  of  the  series  above  the  Pottsville 
Conglomerate  being  a  maximum  of  oidy 
about  three  hundred  feet. 

In  this  field  the  series  has  thickened 
greatly,  and  beginning  at  bottom  shows 
intervals  as  follows :  Lee  Conglomerate 
(corresponding  to  Pittsville  Conglom¬ 
erate),  one  thousand  feet  interval,  con¬ 
sisting  of  sandstones,  shales  and  small 
coal  seams,  above  which  comes  the  Im¬ 
boden  coal  seam.  Above  this  seam  is 
another  interval  of  two  hundred  feet,  and 
then  we  have  the  seam  known  locally  as 
the  Wilson  seam  as  mined  at  Keokee. 
I'his  seam  has  been  corelated  with  the 
Harlan  seam  of  southeastern  Kentucky 
and  the  Rockhouse  coal  of  the  Kentucky 
River.  About  two  hundred  feet  above 
this  seam  is  the  seam  known  to  the  coal 
trade  as  Roda.  This  seam  is  variously 
known  as  the  Taggart,  McConnell,  Keo¬ 
kee,  Killioka  and  Darby.  After  about 
one  thousand  feet  interval,  we  find  the 
limestone  coal,  known  as  such  from  its 
];roximity  to  a  persistent  Ijed  of  fossil 
limestone,  varying  in  thickness  from  one 
inch  to  eighteen  inches,  and  found 
throughout  this  field  about  fifty  feet 
al)ove  the  limestone  coal.  Three  hun¬ 
dred  and  scventv-five  feet  above  this  is 


Undercutting  Coal  in  Stonega  Company’s  Mines. 


Miners  Loading  Coal  From  the  Roda  Mine. 


506 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[December  18 


Type  of  Permanent  Construction  of  Stonega  Mines. 


Approach  and  Entrance  to  Arno  Mine. 


the  Cornett  coal,  and  seventy-five  feet 
above  this  is  the  High  Splint,  the  highest 
of  the  coals  in  this  series  and  occurring 
only  in  the  top  of  the  ridges  on  this  prop¬ 
erty.  This  makes  a  series  in  this  prop¬ 
erty  about  three  thousand  feet  in  thick¬ 
ness,  or  ten  times  the  thickness  that  is 
found  in  the  Pittsburgh  field. 

After  considering  the  geological  for¬ 
mation  of  the  Stonega  fields  as  a  whole, 
it  might  be  well  to  turn  attention  to  the 
individual  history  and  characteristics  of 
each  of  the  six  mines  which  are  operated 
by  the  company. 

The  Stonega  Mine. 

The  Stonega  mine  proper  was  first 
exploited  in  1891,  and  for  four  years  lit¬ 
tle  more  than  prospecting  work  was  done. 
Tn  1895  arrangements  were  made  and  a 
plant  started  to  convert  the  coal  into 
coke,  and  actual  shipments  were  com¬ 
menced  in  1896.  The  total  producing 
capacity  of  this  mine  has  risen  to  60,000 
tons  a  month  since  that  day.  The  coal 
is  on  the  Imboden  seam  and  runs  from 
six  to  seven  feet  in  thickness.  Main  track 
haulage  is  by  motors,  though  mules  are 
used  to  gather  the  coal  from  the  butts. 
Inside  electrical  equipment  gives  free  use 


of  high-power  mining  machinery  within. 
Outside  two  tipples,  fitted  with  screens, 
give  free  access  to  the  cars  on  the  tracks 
below.  Sufficient  yardage  is  in  connec¬ 
tion  to  allow  one  day’s  storage  of  empties 
and  loads.  Being  the  first  of  the  coke 
ovens  located  in  this  field,  the  Stonega 
plant  is  really  the  “daddy”  of  that  in¬ 
dustry  in  this  section. .  Here  are  located 
666  bee-hive  ovens  in  which  coke  can 
be  made  from  either  run  of  mine  or  slack 
coal.  These  have  a  total  production  of 
35,000  tons  a  month. 

The  Osaka  Plant. 

This  opening  was  first  made  in  1902, 
and  is  also  on  the  Imboden  seam  and  is 
of  the  same  general  characteristics  as  the 
Stonega  mine,  the  vein  running  from  six 
to  seven  feet  in  thickness.  The  produc¬ 
tion  of  coal  here  is  running  about  35,000 
tons  a  month.  It  is  also  electrically 
equipped,  with  motor  haulage  in  the  main 
heading.  At  this  plant  the  company  has 
400  coke  ovens,  which  can  convert  run 
of  mine  or  slack  coal  to  a  capacity  of 
22,000  tons  a  month.  Here  are  located 
elevating  devices  for  the  coking  of  coal 
which  has  been  transported  from  any 
of  the  other  mines  of  the  company. 


At  the  Arno  Mines. 

Arno  is  another  of  the  mines  of  the 
company  where  mule  power  is  used  to 
gather  the  coal,  but  other  than  this,  elec¬ 
tric  equipment  is  used  throughout.  High- 
powered  motors  carry  out  in  the  neigh¬ 
borhood  of  45,000  tons  of  coal  a  month 
from  the  workings  back  from  the  two 
openings  of  this  mine,  which  is  also  on 
the  Imboden  seam.  The  tipple  is 
equipped  for  handling  the  three  standard 
grades  of  coal  and  the  yardage  capacity 
is  sufficient  to  allow  a  one-day’s  storage 
and  empty-car  supply.  This  mine  was 
opened  in  1907. 

Imboden  Plant. 

This  is  one  of  the  plants  which  was 
opened  by  other  than  the  Stonega  Com¬ 
pany.  It  was  opened  by  the  Imboden 
Coal  and  Coke  Company  in  1902,  and 
shipments  were  first  made  in  1903.  The 
plant  was  taken  over  by  the  Keokee  Con¬ 
solidated  Coke  Company,  and  in  1910 
was  acquired  by  the  Stonfega  corporation. 
The  capacity  of  this  mine  strikes  a  ton¬ 
nage  of  45,000  a  month  and,  as  its  name 
indicates,  it  is  on  the  Imboden  seam. 
There  are  storage  yards  here  for  a  one- 


Rotary  Dump  in  Operation  at  Keokee  Tipple. 


J 


Loading  Boom  in  Operation  at  Roda  Tipple. 


No.  251 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


507 


Loading  Stonega  Coal  on  a  Ship  at  the  Charleston,  S.  C.,  Dock. 


■ir  ? 

'sir'  ijS 


A  Near  View  of  the  Mechanism  on  the  Charleston,  S.  C.,  Dock. 


day  supply  of  cars  above  and  below  the 
tipple.  The  company  also  has  320  coke 
ovens  located  here,  which  have  a  pro¬ 
ducing  capacity  of  17,000  tons  a  month. 

The  Mines  at  Keokee. 

These,  with  three  openings,  were  ac¬ 
quired  from  the  Keokee  Consolidated 
Coke  Company  in  1910,  and  here  is  found 
a  difference  in  the  viens  as  mined  in  the 
preceding  locations.  What  is  known  as 
the  McConnell  vein  locally  and  elsewhere 
as  the  Taggart  or  Roda  seam,  as  well  as 
the  Wilson  seam,  is  on  this  property,  the 
thickness  of  which  varies  from  five  and 
a  half  to  six  and  a  half  feet.  Here  the 
company  has  tunneled  through  the  moun¬ 
tain  to  the  Kentucky  side  in  order  to  give 
natural  drainage.  Since  the  plant  was 
opened  in  1907,  many  improvements  have 
been  made,  so  that  there  is  now  com¬ 
plete  electrical  equipment  with  a  produc¬ 
ing  capacity  of  45,000  tons  of  coal  a 
month.  Cutters,  motors  and  lines  to  all 
parts  of  the  mine  are  served  with  electric 
current. 

The  Roda  Workings. 

Last,  but  by  far  the  least  is  this  mine, 
which  is  the  pride  of  the  properties  of 
the  company.  The  Roda  is  a  generous 
producer  and  puts  80,000  tons  a  month 
at  the  hand  of  the  consumer.  She  has 
two  mine  openings,  made  in  1903.  The 
character  of  the  coal  is  of  the  Taggart 
seam  and  runs  uniformly  from  six  to 
seven  feet.  A  double  tipple  arrange¬ 
ment,  both  well  equipped  with  latest 
types  of  shaker  screens  and  loading 
booms,  prepares  the  three  standard 
grades  of  coal  shipped  from  there.  Yard¬ 
age  is  so  arranged  that  there  is  always  a 
day’s  supply  above  and  below  the  tipple. 

From  the  foregoing  it  can  be  seen  that 
the  total  capacity  of  the  six  mines  of  the 
company  ranges  about  325,000  tons  a 
month,  or  well  onto  four  million  tons  of 
coal  a  year.  Some  dubious  person  may 
offer  a  skeptical  quiz  on  the  last  state¬ 
ment  upon  the  grounds  that  twelve 
months  is  a  long  while  to  work  a  group 
of  mines  up  to  averages  or  capacity  pro¬ 
duction.  It  is  well  to  remember  that  the 
records  of  this  company  show  operation 
for  years  together  without  the  loss  of 
a  working  day. 


This  also  brings  about  a  necessary  ex¬ 
planation  as  to  the  labor  conditions  in 
their  fields  and  the  methods  by  which  the 
company  is  able  to  assure  itself  of  as 
many  working  days  in  the  year  as  the 
calendar  affords.  Fifty-fifty,  in  present- 
day  slang  indicates  that  a  thing  is  half- 
and-half  ;  then  labor  in  the  Stonega  terri¬ 
tory  can  be  considered  thirty-thirty- 
thirty.  That  is,  one-third  is  foreign,  one- 
third  is  white  American  and  one-third 
negroes.  “Whether  our  foreigners  go  on 
a  holiday,  our  ‘niggers’  on  a  jubilee,  or 
our  whites  get  drunk,  you  can  see  that 
we  are  pretty  well  assured  of  two-thirds 
of  the  men  turning  up  on  any  and  all 
occasions,”  was  the  facetious  explanation 
that  one  of  the  officials  made. 

John  Fox,  Jr.,  the  novelist,  lives  in 
Big  Stone  Gap,  where  the  general  of¬ 
fices  of  the  company  are  located  and  in 
many  of  his  word  paintings  he  has  faith¬ 
fully  described  the  natural  beauties  of 
his  native  heath.  Far  be  it  that  this 
humble  writer  attempt  to  improve  upon 
his  excellent  work.  Suffice  it  to  say  that 
if  rugged,  picturesque  Mother  Earth  is 
conducive  to  a  man’s  contentment,  the 
miners  should  have  what  many  a  million¬ 
aire  has  cut  capers  with  his  dollars  to 
find.  , 

Add  to  this  all  of  the  conveniences  that 
the  human  craves  for  and  you  have  the 
conditions  which  obtain  in  the  care  of 
the  employe.  Churches  of  all  denomi¬ 
nations  dot  the  hillsides,  distributed  by 
creed  to  minister  to  the  particular  wants 
of  the  inhabitants.  In  ministers  the  range 
is  from  the  shouting  parson  for  the  col¬ 
ored  folk  to  his  Greek  church  brother 
in  the  cloth.  Motion  picture  halls,  lodge 
meeting  places,  free  library,  pool  rooms, 
and  even  bandstands  and  parks  are  the 
provisions  made  to  satisfy  those  who 
crave  entertainment. 

While  the  company  maintains  eleven 
stores,  scattered  over  their  fields,  each 
located  to  be  of  easy  access,  no  attempt 
is  made  at  the  compulsory  commissary 
system.  Competitors  range  side  by  side 
with  these  and  the  miner  always  has  the 
option  of  dealing  where  he  pleases.  Com¬ 
pany  doctors  are  always  at  his  beck  and 
call,  and  centrally  located — at  Sonega — 
is  the  company  hospital,  well  equipped 


for  minor  and  major  operations  and  with 
competent  nurses  in  charge.  First-aid 
work  and  safety-first  instruction  have  been 
one  of  the  lines  of  uplift  into  which  the 
miners  have  heartily  entered,  and  over 
150  men  showed  their  skill  in  the  open 
competition  which  was  held  in  Big  Stone 
Gap  on  July  4  of  last  year.  Stonega  Com¬ 
pany  teams  also  made  their  bid  for  hon¬ 
ors  in  the  open  state  competitions  of 
Tennessee  and  Kentucky. 

Within  the  past  four  years  over  200 
miles  of  macadam  roadways  have  been 
laid  in  Wise  county.  These  connect  all 
of  the  Stonega  Company’s  plants.  Not 
alone  is  this  an  attractive  feature  for  the 
company,  but  for  the  employes  as  well, 
for  in  this  section,  as  well  as  elsewhere, 
there  are  numbers  of  the  miners  who  have 
their  own  autos  and  enjoy  a  spin  after 
working  hours. 

Lumber  for  the  use  of  the  company, 
be  it  for  building  a  hen-coop  or  a  com¬ 
missary  store,  a  tenant  house  or  a  mine 
car,  is  manufactured  at  the  company’s 
mill,  which  will  turn  out  about  5,000,000 
feet  a  year.  A  planing  mill  in  connection 
dresses  all  lumber  needed  in  interior 
work.  It  has  been  said  that  the  company 
can  build  everything  about  the  tenant 
houses  except  the  window  panes. 

Machine  shops  are  located  at  each 
plant,  with  a  large  central  plant  and 
foundry  at  Stonega,  where  all  the  heavier 
work  is  done,  so  that  there  is  no  delay  in 
replacing  anything  from  an  intricate 
electrical  part  to  a  heavy  pier  of  bar  iron. 

While  labor  is  a  cornerstone  in  assur¬ 
ance  of  supply  to  consumers,  and  the 
foregoing  is  an  attempt  to  show  that  there 
is  plenty  of  care  taken  to  make  living 
conditions  attractive,  yet  there  is  another 
thing  which  the  Stonega  field  excels  in — 
getting  its  coal  to  market.  That  is  the 
all-important  item  of  car  supply. 

Two  main  lines  enter  the  field,  viz : 
the  Interstate  Railway  and  the  Virginia 
and  Southwestern,  which  is  a  subsidiary 
of  the  Southern  Railway.  For  its  total 
trackage  the  Interstate  has  a  higher  per¬ 
centage  of  rolling  stock  than  will  be 
found  elsewhere  on  independent  lines, 
and  the  V.  &  S.  W.  is  by  no  means 
stinted.  Add  to  this  the  fact  that  these 


508 


THE  BLACK  1)IA:\I()XD 


initial  carriers  have  shipping  connections 
with  the  Southern  Railway,  the  Louis¬ 
ville  and  Nashville,  the  Norfolk  and 
Western,  and  the  Carolina,  Clinchfield 
and  Ohio,  and  it  will  be  seen  that  the 
bane  of  the  operating  man's  existence — 
lack  of  empties — becomes  a  lly-bite  in 
comparison  with  other  worries. 

d'he  tidewater  outlet  for  this  coal  has 
been  a  source  of  study  for  the  company's 
officials  for  some  years.  Through  the 
energy  of  the  executive  officers  of  the 
Southern  Railway  Company,  there  has 
l)een  established  pier  equipment  at 
Charleston,  S.  C.,  which  is  to  make  that 
city  one  of  the  notalde  coaling  stations 
of  the  world.  With  only  seven  miles  to 
sea,  Charlestown  is  bound  to  be  a  fa¬ 
vored  port  of  bunkerage  for  both  foreign 
and  coastwise  steamers.  Hundreds  ot 
miles  closer  to  South  America  and  closer 
to  Spain  and  the  Mediterranean  ports, 
this  presents  prospects  for  exports  that 
are  already  being  realized  upon.  A 
freight  steamer  bound  from  South  Amer¬ 
ican  or  Culf  ports  to  English  Channel 
ports  will  average  a  day  and  a  half  sav¬ 


ing.  and  a  steamer  hound  to  ^Mediterranean 
])orts  will  average  three  days  saving  if 
it  bunkers  at  Charleston  instead  of 
bunkering  at  Norfolk,  d'he  long  estab¬ 
lished  and  well  known  hrm  of  William 
Johnson  &  Co.  is  the  e.xcltisive  bunker 
agent  of  the  Stonega  Company  at 
■Charleston.  A\dth  two  of  the  mine.s — 
Keokee  and  Imboden — on  the  lines  of 
the  subsidiary  of  the  Southern  Railway, 
and  the  other  four  having  direct  connec¬ 
tion  with  it,  coal  can  be  moved  to  the 
shipping  port  in  a  week  without  any 
bother,  ^^’here  fast  time  has  to  be  made, 
even  this  can  be  reduced.  From  the 
Stonega  fields  the  freight  rate  carried  for 
export  coal  is  $1.40  to  Charleston.  At 
this  port  the  company  has  tugs  and 
ocean-going  barges  to  transfer  coal  to 
the  ports  north  or  south. 

Lambert’s  point,  the  ocean  terminal  of 
the  Norfolk  and  \\’estern  Railway,  is 
the  other  tidewater  shipping  point 
for  the  outlet  of  these  coals.  The 
connection  is  between  that  line  and  the 
Interstate  Railway  at  Norton,  Va.,  from 
which  there  is  a  haul  of  a  little  over  100 


[December  18 


miles  to  Bluefield,  where  the  main  line 
of  the  N.  &  W.  is  met.  Coal  has  been 
sent  to  this  port  in  four  days,  though 
six  is  the  average  time  required  for  de¬ 
livery.  Stonega  export  coal  at  present 
takes  a  freight  rate  of  $1.65  to  Lam¬ 
bert’s  point. 

Still  another  source  of  car  supply  to 
tide  is  afforded  through  connection  with 
the  Carolina,  Clinchfield  and  Ohio.  From 
the  terminal  of  the  last  named  road  at 
Spartanburg,  N.  C.,  it  has  a  traffic  ar¬ 
rangement  over  the  Southern  Railway  to 
Charleston. 

The  movement  south  and  east,  how¬ 
ever,  is  not  all — not  by  a  jugful.  With 
a  connection  with  the  Louisville  and 
Nashville  at  Appalachia,  Va.,  and  con¬ 
nections  either  at  Louisville  or  Cincin¬ 
nati,  thousands  of  tons  of  this  coke  and 
coal  moves  yearly  to  radiating  points 
about  Chicago,  where  the  reputation  it 
has  established  among  by-product  oven 
plants  and  blast  furnaces  and  foundries 
has  placed  it  in  a  class  by  itself. 

[This  article  is  styled  an  advertisement  to  comply 
with  the  postal  laws  as  revised  August  24,  1912.] 


A  New  Basis  Proposed  for  Chicago’s  Gas  Prices 


Early  this  week  officials  of  the  People’s  Gas 
Light  &  Coke  Company  of  Chicago  proposed  to 
Mayor  Thompson  a  new  basis  by  which  to  deter¬ 
mine  the  selling  price  of  gas.  The  new  proposal 
was  in  the  form  of  a  letter.  It  follows: 

“For  many  years  there  has  been  a  succession 
of  controversies  between  the  city  of  Chicago 
and  this  company  upon  the  subject  of  rates  to 
1)C  charged  consumers  of  gas. 

"Previous  similar  controversies  between  the  city 
and  this  company  and  its  predecessors  have  never 
satisfactorily  accompli.shed  their  object,  but  have 
caused  much  expense  both  to  the  city  and  to  the 
company  concerned. 

“It  is  our  desire  to  bring  the  pending  con¬ 
troversy  to  a  conclusion,  and  we  believe  that  this 
can  be  done  by  negotiations  between  the  city  and 
the  company  far  more  promptly  and  satisfactorily 
than  by  continued  litigation. 

“Will  you  permit  us  to  suggest  that  you  invite 
the  city  council  through  its  proper  committee  to 
confer  with  the  officers  of  this  company,  with  a 
view  of  determining  whether  a  schedule  of  rates 
can  be  evolved  which  will  be  mutually  satisfac¬ 
tory.  If  an  agreement  can  be  reached  it  can 
then  be  submitted  jointly  by  the  city  and  the 
company  to  the  state  public  utilities  commission 
for  approval  by  that  body. 

“We  have  in  mind  proposing  a  system  of  rates 
graduated  along  lines  heretofore  adopted  in  other 
cities  which  would  tend  to  encourage  the  use 
of  gas  not  only  for  domestic  purposes  but  also 
by  local  industries,  both  small  and  large,  and 
which,  in  our  opinion,  can  he  adjusted  fairly  and 
reasonably  so  as  to  result  in  reducing  from  time 
to  time  the  selling  price  of  gas  through  reduc¬ 
tions  in  the  cost  of  its  manufacture. 

“The  constantly  increasing  price  of  oil,  which 
is  the  factor  of  greatest  expense  in  the  manu¬ 
facture  of  water  gas  now  supplied  by  this  com¬ 
pany,  must  inevitably  call  for  an  increase  in  the 
price  of  gas  in  the  near  future,  unless  the  con¬ 
ditions  surrounding  its  manufacture  shall  lie  so 
changed  as  to  enable  the  company  to  avoid  the 
increasing  cost. 

“Gas  in  the  city  of  Chicago  is  now  supplied 
according  to  a  prescribed  standard  of  ‘candle 
power’ — the  highest  to  be  found  in  any  large 
city  in  the  country.  We  believe  this  standard 
of  quality  to  he  unsound.  A  change  of  standard 
to  a  ‘heat  unit’  basis  would  permit  the  manufac¬ 
ture  of  gas  without  the  use  of  oil,  and  would 
thus  place  the  company  in  a  position  to  lower  the 
cost  and  price  of  its  product. 

“For  heating  and  cooking  ana  for  lighting  in 
burners  equipped  with  mantles  the  candle  power 
requirement  is  wholly  useless.  A  high  candle 
I)ower  is  important  onlv  in  gas  used  in  old  tyjic 
open  flame  burners.  Only  a  negligible  percent¬ 
age  of  the  gas  now  consumed  in  Chicago  is  used 
through  these  old  style  burners,  and  from  the 
standpoint  of  efficiency  and  economy  to  the  con¬ 
sumers  these  old  burners  ought  to  he  entirely 


discarded.  They  are  as  much  out  of  date  and 
as  wasteful  as  the  old  type  carbon  filament  lamp 
now  is  in  electric  lighting. 

“The  public  utilities  commissions  of  Illinois, 
Indiana,  Wisconsin,  Pennsylvania,  Washington, 
Oregon,  New  Hampshire,  Missouri,  Nevada,  and 
the  District  of  Columbia,  after  exhaustive  studv 
of  the  question,  have  adopted  the  heat  unit  stand¬ 
ard.  Other  states  are  considering  the  change  and 
will  doubtless  follow  their  lead. 

“If  the  city  is  willing  to  co-operate  with  the 
company  by  eliminating  the  unwise  high  candle 
power  requirement  it  will  allow  the  company  an 
opportunity  to  erect  a  coal  gas  plant  on  property 
heretofore  acquired  for  that  purpose,  and  will 
thereby  promote  the  possibility  of  future  greater 
reductions  in  the  price  of  gas.  The  erection  of 
such  a  plant,  with  the  regular  extension  of  the 
company’s  distribution  system,  would  necessitate 
an  expenditure  by  the  company  of  not  less  than 
$14,000,000  within  the  next  three  years. 

“We  invite  the  careful  consideration  of  the 
citv  to  this  subject.” 

The  letter  bears  the  signature  of  Samuel  Insull, 
chairman  of  the  board,  and  E.  G.  Cowdery,  presi¬ 
dent ;  John  J.  Mitchell,  James  A.  Patten,  and 
Stanley  Field,  constituting  the  board  of  directors. 


Coaling  Importance  of  Honolulu. 


The  Inter-Island  Steam  Navigation  Company 
at  Honolulu  are  now  operating  the  only  com¬ 
mercial  coaling  plant  in  the  islands.  This  plant 
was  installed  by  the  C.  W.  Hunt  Company  and 
consists  of  two  steeple  towers,  one  through  tower 
and  cable  railway.  At  the  time  this  plant  was  in¬ 
stalled,  some  seevn  years  ago,  it  was  considered 
adequate  for  the  coal  handling  requirements  of 
the  islands  for  the  next  twenty-five  years,  hut  the 
islands  have  shown  to  be  such  a  desirable  coaling 
station  for  Pacific  shipping  that  at  the  present 
time  it  is  operating  practically  twenty-four  hours 
a  day  to  meet  the  demand  for  coaling.  After  the 
opening  of  the  Panama  Canal,  the  present  facil¬ 
ities  will  be  entirely  inadequate.  To  meet  this 
condition  of  affairs,  not  to  mention  the  future  de¬ 
velopment  of  Russia,  the  Inter-Island  Steam  & 
Navigation  Company,  always  progressive,  have 
acquired  what  is  known  as  the  Dorsett  property, 
located  right  in  the  harbor  of  Honolulu,  and  this 
property  will  be  developed  as  a  coaling  station. 

The  final  plant  contemplates  storing  over  100,- 
0(10  tons  of  coal,  all  of  which  can  be  reclaimed  by 
machinery.  Before  deciding  upon  the  method  of 
handling  this  coal,  these  people  made  a  very  thor¬ 
ough  study  of  the  latest  and  most  approved  meth¬ 
ods  of  efficient  handling  of  this  commodity. 

C.  W.  Hunt  Company  has  installed  two  steeple 
towers  on  Pearl  Harbor,  Hawaii,  for  the  United 
States  government,  and  four  steeple  towers  on  the 


Atlantic  side  of  the  Panama  Canal,  and  two 
steeple  towers  at  the  Pacific  end  of  the  Panama 
Canal.  These  towers  are  about  to  be  completed, 
and  the  towers  purchased  by  the  Inter-Island 
Steam  &  Navigation  Company  are  similar  in  de¬ 
sign  to  these  recent  towers,  though  the  Inter- 
Island’s  plant  will  be  electrically  operated 
throughout,  and  the  plant  includes  in  addition  to 
steeple  towers  equipment,  elevated  bunkers  for 
reloading  to  ships.  Mechanical  reloaders  and 
movable  storing  and  reclaiming  bridge,  with  elec¬ 
tric  motor  cars  are  used  in  handling  the  coal 
throughout  the  plant. 

The  ultimate  plant  contemplates  arrangements 
for  loading  six  vesesls  at  the  same  time,  with 
four  towers  to  be  used  in  unloading  at  the  same 
time.  This  plant  will  be,  when  consummated,  the 
largest  on  the  Pacific  Coast,  also  one  of  the  most 
completed  modern  plants  in  existence.  It  will  be 
a  monument  to  the  officers  and  directors  of  the 
Inter-Island  Steam  &  Navigation  Co. 

This  plant  was  designed  to  be  efficient  and  rapid 
in  reloading,  as  well  as  unloading,  and  can  unload 
effectively  from  any  vessel  with  ordinary  hatches 
(a  feature  point). 

They  are  now  supplying  both  Japanese  and 
Australian  coals,  and  in  the  near  future  use 
American  coal. 

The  Inter-Island  Steam  &  Navigation  Company 
advise  The  Black  Diamond  that  they  do  not  an¬ 
ticipate  that  the  new  coaling  plant  will  take  away 
any  considerable  business  from  the  Panama  Canal 
coaling  plants,  and  therefore  work  to  the  dis¬ 
advantage  of  American  coals.  They  state  that, 
under  most  favorable  condition,  supplies  cannot 
he  landed  at  their  port  at  a  figure  low  enough 
to  compete  with  the  canal  depots,  where  ships  are 
now  supplied  with  bunkers  at  the  rate  of  $6.00 
and  $7.00  per  ton,  which  is  less  than  the  actual 
cost  of  supplies  of  Australian  and  other  coal 
C.  I.  F.  Honolulu,  and  to  which  must  be  added 
the  e.xpense  of  handling  same  in  and  out  of  stor¬ 
age  as  well  as  a  reasonable  amount  of  profit. 
Vessels  are  only  calling  there  for  the  purpose  of 
replenishing  their  bunkers  and  taking  only  suf¬ 
ficient  to  carry  them  on  to  the  next  port  of  call. 
This  is  a  fact  that  all  shipowners  are  well  aware 
of  and  can  he  verified  by  inquiry  of  shipping 
firms  having  vessels  calling  at  that  part. 


American  Coal  Values. 


The  subjoined  table  taken  from  the  United 
States  Government  reports,  just  issued,  shows  the 
output  and  value  of  American  coal  for  ten  years : 


— Bituminous —  — .Anthracite — 


Year — 

Quantity. 

Calue. 

Quantity. 

Value. 

1 90.9  .  .  . 

..SI.'), 002, 73.1 

$.134,059,294 

09,339.152 

$141,879,000 

190(5  .  . 

..149,874,8(57 

381,102,115 

63,645,010 

131,917,694 

1907  .  .  . 

.,194,7.59,112 

451,214,842 

76,432,421 

163,584,056 

1908  ... 

..132,.57.1,94  4 

374,1.15,208 

74,347,102 

1.58,178,849 

1909  ... 

..179,744,2.57 

405,480,777 

72,384,249 

149,181,587 

1910  ... 

.417,111,142 

409,281,719 

75,433,240 

100,275,302 

1911  ... 

.405,907,059 

451,375,819 

80,771,488 

175,189,392 

1912  ... 

.450,104,982 

517,983,445 

75,3.12,855 

177,022,620 

191,S  .  .  . 

.478,4.15,297 

505,234,952 

81,718,680 

195,181,187 

1914  ... 

.422,703,970 

493,309,244 

81,090,631 

188,181,399 

Xo.  25] 


509 


THE  BLACK  DIA^IOND. 


American  Quality  of  Coal. 

(Concluded  from  page  485.) 

100,000,000  tons  of  coal  per  year,  if  there  were 
a  demand.  VVe  could  do  this  without  going 
further,  at  home,  than  taking  up  the  idle  time 
of  our  plants  and  men.  15y  expanding  our  ex¬ 
ports  to  any  such  volume,  our  foreign  trade 
would  equal  the  total  export  coal  business  of 
England,  Belgium  and  Germany  as  those  rec¬ 
ords  stood  before  the  war.  We  do  not  expect 
to  do  any  such  volume  of  business,  but  this 
statement  indicates  what  a  reserve  force  we 
have  behind  our  offerings. 

American  Labor  Situation. 

The  one  question  which  remains  to  be  an¬ 
swered  is  whether  the  labor  situation  here  is 
such  that  the  mines  are  as  dependable  on  that 
score  as  it  is  indicated  they  are  with  respect, 
to  their  financial  resources,  their  transporta¬ 
tion  facilities  and  their  abundant  productive 
capacity.  A  brief  statement  of  the  labor  situ¬ 
ation  will  clear  up  that  point.  Perhaps  it  will 
prove  convincing. 

The  entire  field  which  produces  Pocahontas, 
New  River,  and  Tug  River  coal  is  non-union. 
The  miners’  organization  has  not  yet  estab¬ 
lished  itself  there.  The  same  is  true,  to  a  cer¬ 
tain  extent,  of  Maryland  and  of  central  Penn¬ 
sylvania.  However,  a  little  more  than  half 
of  the  mines  in  the  central  Pennsylvania  field 
are  under  union  control.  This  means  that 
more  than  seventy-five  per  cent  of  the  field 
which  produces  the  low  volatile  coal  is  free 
of  lg,bor  disturbances  such  as  spring  from 
union  activities. 

The  mines  in  the  Fairmont  field  are  non¬ 
union.  Those  in  the  Pittsburgh  district  which 
produce  a  gas  coal  are  unionized.  They  are 
subject  to  periodical  interruptions — not  more 
often  than  once  every  two  years,  however — 
when  the  wage  contract  is  to  be  renewed. 
This  next  spring  this  labor  contract  will  have 
to  be  renewed.  These  interruptions  of  min¬ 
ing  seldom  last  for  more  than  thirty  or  forty- 
five  days. 

In  the  big  gas  coal  producing  district  of 
West  Virginia  only  a  very  small  section  of 
the  mining  district  is  under  union  control. 
The  great  majority  of  the  mines  are  non¬ 
union.  In  eastern  Kentucky  no  labor  unions 
are  recognized.  The  same  is  true  of  the  min¬ 
ing  field  in  southwestern  Virginia.  Thus  not 
more  than  twenty-five  per  cent  of  the  gas 
coal  field  is  under  union  control,  and  hence 
subject  to  interruptions  of  mining  due  to  labor 
unrest. 

Taking  the  whole  eastern  or  coal  exporting 
district  into  account,  only  about  twenty-five 
per  cent  is  under  union  control.  Even  though 
labor  trouble  should  tie  up  one-fourth  of  the 
mines,  the  others,  owing  to  their  excess  pro¬ 
ductive  capacity,  could  meet  the  market  re¬ 
quirements  of  all  the  outside  world,  as  far  as 
American  coal  is  concerned,  without  one  con¬ 
tractor  having  to  default  on  a  single  contract. 

Even  of  the  unionized  district,  there  is  this 
to  be  said;  The  union  is  trying  to  make  itself 
national  and  international  in  scope.  It  is  go¬ 
ing  about  extending  its  hold  on  the  mining 
district  according  to  a  well  defined  plan.  It 
makes  a  big  demand  on  one  district  today  and 
then,  having  won  its  point,  leaves  that  district 
until  it  can  bring  all  other  districts  up  to  ap¬ 
proximately  the  same  level.  Thus  it  scatters 
its  centers  of  disturbance,  striking  in  one 
place  today,  and  in  quite  another  place  a  year 
hence.  It  very  seldom  delivers  two  blows  in 
the  same  place  in  successive  wage  periods. 
Only  at  widely  scattered  intervals — the  divi¬ 
sion  in  point  of  time  is  often  ten  or  twelve 
years — is  any  general  disruption  of  mining 
attempted  by  the  miners.  Thus,  in  a  broad 
way,  it  may  be  said  that  only  seldom  is  the 
American  coal  field  subjected  to  any  serious 
labor  disturbance. 

The  foreign  buyer  may,  therefore,  proceed 
with  the  utmost  confidence  to  place  his  or¬ 
ders  here.  He  may  know  that  if  he  wants  a 
coal  of  a  good  quality  the  operator  who  con¬ 
tracts  to  supply  it  can  either  do  so  from  his 
own  mines,  or  if  they  should  be  tied  up  by  a 
labor  disturbance,  he  can  get  enough  coal  to 
fill  his  contract  from  some  nearby  producing 
field. 


Growth  of  Our  Exports. 

(Concluded  from  page  487.) 
brought  into  the  Atlantic  from  the  Great  Lakes, 
and  a  goodly  number  of  these  have  been  placed 
in  the  export  coal  trade. 

To  take  care  of  some  of  its  foreign  business. 


two  modern  steamers  were  built  for  the  Con¬ 
solidation  Coal  Company,  each  of  8,500  tons  cargo 
capacity,  and  these  have  already  been  placed  in 
commission  between  Baltimore  and  Alexandria, 
Egypt.  A  third  .steamer  is  now  being  built  for 
this  service. 

The  Pocahontas  Fuel  Company  interests  have 
had  three  steamers  built  and  an  order  has  just 
l)een  placed  for  the  fourth. 

The  Clinchfield  interests  have  brought  around 
two  new  steamers  from  the  Great  Lakes  and 
placed  them  in  the  West  Indies  trade,  and  are  re¬ 
building  now  at  New  York  a  British  steamer 
recently  purchased,  that  they  will  place  under 
American  registry. 

These  companies  will,  no  doubt,  increase  their 
coal-carrying  fleets  as  rapidly  as  they  can  have 
steamers  built,  or  acquire  by  purchase,  steamers 
already  in  commission. 

Experts  of  bituminous  coal  from  principal  At¬ 
lantic  ports  for  sixteen  months : 


Hampton 

Bal. 

Phila- 

1914— 

Roads. 

timore. 

delphia. 

Total. 

August  . 

. 294,180 

52,786 

55,786 

402,635 

September  .  .  . 

. 432,685 

128,178 

58,545 

619,408 

October  . 

. 196,423 

85,1.52 

57,049 

338,617 

November 

. 163,550 

75,998 

58,136 

297,674 

December  .... 

. 132,946 

50,712 

51,037 

234,695 

1915— 

January . 

. 117,607 

89,779 

40,648 

248,034 

February  .... 

. 150.417 

79,029 

32,794 

262,240 

March  . 

. 262,687 

76,888 

48,646 

339,575 

April  . 

. 444,239 

193,293 

60,207 

697,739 

May  . 

. 445,917 

232,866 

107,645 

786,428 

Tune  . 

. 608,599 

305,917 

122,379 

1,036,895 

July  . 

. 712,955 

258,585 

167,321 

1,138,861 

August  . 

. 628,995 

210,700 

154,965 

994,720 

September  .  . . 

. 603,558 

200,926 

64,351 

868,835 

October  . 

. 441,643 

139,562 

87,775 

669,070 

November  .... 

. 334,643 

55,343 

73,000 

462,606 

Total  . 9,460,254 

The  above  figures  do  not  include  exports  from 
New  York,  Charleston  and  the  Gulf  ports. 
Charleston  has  only  recently  begun  exporting 
coal,  while  Mobile  and  New  Orleans  have  been 
shipping  less  than  1,000  tons  per  month  each. 
New  York  will  run  around  2,000  to  3,000  tons 
per  month. 


Four  Dodge  Generations. 


The  accompanying  photograph  shows  four  gen¬ 
erations  of  the  Dodge  family  of  retail  coal  peo¬ 
ple  in  Monroe,  Wis.  The  founder  of  the  business, 
to  the  left,  is  just  retiring.  The  new  candidate, 
to  the  right,  is  perhaps  a  trifle  too  young  to  be 
thinking  much  of  coal  retailing  so  far. 

The  four  generations  reading  from  left  to 
right  are : 

A.  C.  Dodge,  born  in  Barre,  Vt.,  November  C, 
1834. 

C.  S.  Dodge,  born  in  Fulton,  Rock  county,  Wis., 
July  31,  1861. 

Laroy  Weatherby  Dodge,  born  in  Oakdale, 
Neb.,  September  23,  1888. 

Wesley  Lamont  Dodge,  born  in  Monroe,  Wis., 
September  2,  1914. 

A.  Clarke  Dodee  started  in  the  coal  and  lum- 


Four  Generations  of  Dodges. 


her  business  in  Monroe,  in  1865,  and  is  now  ac¬ 
tively  in  charge  of  the  Dodge  Lumber  Company. 

Charles  Sumner  Dodge  started  in  business  in 
Shullsburg,  Wis.,  in  1882,  under  the  firm  name  of 
Dodge  &  Son.  Sold  out  in  1883,  returned  to 
^lonroe. 

The  Dodge  Lumber  Company  was  incorporated 
with  A.  C.  Dodge  as  president  and  C.  S.  Dodge, 
secretary,  in  1893. 

In  1899  C.  S.  Dodge  took  charge  of  the  Monroe 
Planing  Mill  Company  and  later  bought  out  the 
pme.  In  1913  took  his  son,  Laroy  W.  Dodge, 
in  partnership  with  him  and  changed  the  firm 
name  to  C.  S.  Dodge  &  Son. 


Lackawanna’s  New  Head. 


In  appointing  Chief  Engineer  Arthur  C.  La- 
Monte  to  the  position  of  general  manager  of  the 
mining  interests  of  the  Delaware.  Lackawanna  & 
Western  Company,  President  W.  H.  Truesdale 
has  again  recognized  long  and  tried  service  in  the 
company’s  employ.  Mr.  LaMonte  has  been  in 
continuous  service  with  the  company  in  various 
capacities  for  the  last  26  years,  and  worked  his 
way  from  the  post  of  chainman  on  a  surveying 
corps. 

Mr.  LaMonte  was  born  in  Ea.st  Worchester, 
N.  Y.,  and  came  to  Scranton  with  his  parents 
when  14  years  old.  He  was  educated  in  the 
Scranton  schools,  graduated  from  the  high  school 
and  then  entered  the  employ  of  the  Lackawanna 
Company  at  the  age  of  20  years.  In  1903  he  was 
named  assistant  chief  mining  engineer.  Two 
years  later,  when  John  F.  Snyder  retired  as 
chief  engineer,  he  was  advanced  to  that  position. 

Coming  to  the  position  of  chief  engineer  soon 
after  the  appointment  of  Colonel  R.  A.  Phillips 
as  general  manager,  he  was  of  great  aid  to  the 
latter  in  modernizing  the  mining  plants  of  the 
company,  and  in  all  of  the  moves  to  improve  and 
build  up  the  various  properties  he  has  been  fore¬ 
most. 

It  had  been  generally  considered  that  C.  E. 
Tobey,  general  superintendent  of  the  company, 
would  be  advanced  to  the  post  of  general  man¬ 
ager,  so  the  appointment  of  Mr.  LaMonte  came 
as  a  surprise,  he  being  as  much  surprised  as  any 
one.  The  fact  that  he  was  a  practical  mining 
man,  and  that  neither  President  Truesdale,  Vice- 
President  E.  E.  Loomis  nor  Superintendent 
Tobey  had  practical  experience,  brought  about 
the  appointment. 

Mr.  LaMonte  is  well  liked  by  the  thousands  of 
employes  of  the  company,  and  stands  high  in  the 
city,  being  a  past  president  of  the  Engineering 
Society  of  Northeastern  Pennsylvania. 


Proposed  Merchant  Marine. 


In  his  annual  report  to  Congress,  Secretary  of 
the  Navy  Daniels  asked  an  appropriation  of  $500,- 
000,000  covering  a  five-year  upbuilding  program 
for  the  navy.  It  is  proposed  to  spend  $100,000,- 
OOO  annually  on  various  naval  constructions. 

In  his  report.  Secretary  Daniels  declares  that 
one  of  the  great  needs  of  the  navy  is  some  pro¬ 
vision  for  auxiliaries  “properly  built  and  equipped 
with  trained  Americans.’’  He  asserts : 

"A  merchant  marine  with  foreign  crews  is  not 
available  for  American  defense.  An  American 
merchant  marine,  opening  new  markets,  paying 
its  way  in  time  of  peace,  ready  to  be  converted 
into  a  powerful,  suitable  and  efficient  naval  aux¬ 
iliary  in  time  of  war,  is  a  need  that  cannot  be 
overestimated. 

“The  solution  for  the  government  is  to  con¬ 
struct,  from  time  to  time,  a  sufficient  and  suitable 
auxiliary  fleet,  proportioned  to  the  needs  of  the 
navy,  and  to  have  such  auxiliaries  operated  in 
commerce  during  peace  times  in  such  a  way  as 
will  preserve  them  and  train  the  essential  naval 
reserve  men,  and  while  doing  this  relieve  the 
'government  of  the  burden  of  the  cost  of  main¬ 
tenance  through  the  income  or  earnings  of  the 
vessels  employed  in  commerce. 

“In  order  to  insure  the  maximum  efficiency  to 
our  present  fleet  in  time  of  war  we  should  need 
400  merchant  vessels  for  auxiliaries  with  a  total 
of  1,172,000  gross  tonnage.  It  has  been  estimated 
we  could  draw  approximately  800,000  gross  ton¬ 
nage  from  our  present  privately  owned  merchant 
marine,  but  most  of  these  ships  would  not  be  suit¬ 
able  for  the  best  service,  and  there  would  still 
be  wanting  400,000  gross  tonnage. 

“How  shall  this  need  be  met?  Clearly,  the 
only  certain  and  satisfactory  way  is  for  the  gov¬ 
ernment  to  seize  the  opportunity  of  providing  the 
necessary  auxiliaries  by  constructing  ships  for 
commercial  uses  so  built  and  manned  as  to  give 
the  navy  its  essential  requirements.” 


510 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


[December  18 


FUBIiISHED  EVEKT  SATUBDAT  BT  THE 
BEACH  EIAUOZn}  COMPAHT.. 

Subscription  price,  $3.00  per  year,  postage  prepaid,  to 
any  postoffice  in  the  United  _  States.  _  Foreign  subscrip¬ 
tion  price,  $6.00_per  year.  Single  copies,  20  cents. 
Entered  at  Chicago  postoffice  as  second-class  matter. 

Address  all  communications  to 

THE  BEACH  SIAUOHD  COMPAHT  (INC.) 

Main  office,  Manhattan  building,  Chicago. 

Branch  Offices. 

New  York,  29  Broadway. 

Philadelphia,  1400  Land  Title  building. 
Pittsburgh,  1502  Oliver  building. 


Saturday,  December  18,  1915. 


INDEX. 


Special  Articles. 

Page 


What  America  Has  to  Offer  in  Quality  of  Coal...  -  485 
America’s  Growth  of  Exports  Measured  by  Figures.  .  487 
Spanish  Needs  and  America’s  Plans  to  Supply  Them  488 
Plans  and  Personnel  of  International  Corporation.  .  489 

Progress  Toward  an  Export  Coal  Organization .  490 

The  Ships  Which  Carry  Panama  Railroad’s  Coal...  491 

Buys  Pacific  Mail  Ships .  49T 

Getting  a  Fleet  to  Carry  American  Coal  to  Market.  .  492 
How  America  and  Europe  Met  on  Coal  Question....  494 

Production  of  Peat  in  1913  and  1914 .  494 

Who  Will  Supply  France  With  Coal  After  the  War?  495 

Vital  Statistics  of  Some  of  America’s  Markets .  497 

Why  American  Coal  Sells  at  Low  Mine  Prices .  497 

Willard,  Sutherland  &  Co .  498 

Why  Ocean  Rates  Are  High  and  How  to  Reduce 

Them  .  498 

Proper  Size  of  Coal  for  Locomotive  Use .  499 

Coal  Shipping  Ports  and  the  Rates  Applying .  499 

Opening  of  Panama  Canal  Permanently  to  Traffic.  .  500 

Rates  on  Bunker  Coal  for  1916  Are  Uncertain .  501 

The  Offerings  of  the  Stonega  Coke  &  Coal  Co .  502 

A  New  Basis  Proposed  for  Chicago  Gas  Prices .  508 

Editorial  .  510 

News  I.ocal  to  Chicago .  512 

J.  S.  Chipman  Dies .  512 

Henry  Hafer  Dies .  512 

Lackawanna’s  New  Head .  512 

Paris  Coal  Scarcity .  513 

Pacts  Which  Determine  Our  Export  Prospects .  513 

Market  Reports. 

General  Review  and  Chicago .  514 

Pittsburgh,  Detroit  and  St.  Louis .  515 

Cincinnati  and  Omaha .  516 

Indianapolis,  Denver  and  Cleveland .  517 

New  York  and  Baltimore .  518 

Philadelphia  and  Buffalo .  519 

Birmingham  and  Duluth .  520 

Hocking  Valley .  27 


America’s  Record  Performance. 

There  is  no  disposition  among  American 
business  men  to  boast  of  what  we  have  done 
in  the  last  twelve  months  in  the  way  of  get¬ 
ting  ready  for  a  systematic  engagement  in 
the  export  trade.  We  do  not  boast  of  what 
we  have  done  so  far,  because  every  Amer¬ 
ican  appreciates  that  we  are  just  entering 
the  woods  instead  of  coming  out  of  it.  We 
know  that  we  have  still  much  to  learn. 

Still,  we  do  not  depreciate  the  fact  that 
in  the  last  twelve  months  we  have  made 
astounding  progress.  This  we  are  not  un¬ 
willing  to  measure  in  public  because  we  be¬ 
lieve  such  a  statement  as  will  result  will 
convince  the  foreign  buyer  that  we  can  do 
what  we  promise.  In  measuring  that  prog¬ 
ress  we  keep  always  in  mind  and  must  ask 
our  customers  also  to  remember  that  we 
started  at  practical  zero.  In  the  beginning, 
even  the  habits  of  the  buyers  were  against 
us.  Surely  the  habits  of  our  own  people 
were  against  our  rapid  progress  so  far  from 
home.  Further,  we  had  practically  no  ma¬ 
chinery  with  which  to  do  an  off-shore  busi¬ 
ness.  In  a  year  this  whole  record  has 


changed  radically,  as  a  few  known  facts 
will  indicate. 

When  we  tried,  first,  to  sell  abroad,  we 
and  our  customers  were  alike  conscious  of  a 
lack  of  any  credit  system ;  we  had  not  even 
a  plan  by  which  we  could  get  credit  infor¬ 
mation.  This  was  embarrassing  because 
we  had  to  try  to  make  sales  while  flatly  re¬ 
fusing  to  consider  any  terms  except  cash 
in  advance  at  our  own  ports.  We  soon  saw 
that  this  could  not  continue,  so  we  built  an 
ingenous  credit  system.  We,  at  first,  got 
in  touch  with  one  buyer  who  could  pay  cash. 
We  learned  thereby  that  he  was  strong 
enough  to  be  allowed  credit.  When  we  had 
investigated  and  proved  this  indication  cor¬ 
rect,  he  became  a  valuable  asset  because  he 
introduced  others  who  also  were  of  suffi¬ 
cient  standing  to  do  business  on  credit. 

We  were  perfectly  safe  while  proceed¬ 
ing  in  this  way,  because  we  were  dealing 
with  big  business  men.  They  appreciated 
that  losses  due  to  bad  credits  must  be  paid 
by  those  whose  credit  is  good.  Therefore, 
no  man  who  intended  to  do  business  on 
credit  would  introduce  another  who  would 
not  pay  his  bills.  This  would  penalize 
rather  than  reward  business  introductions. 

In  this  ingenious  way  we  put  virtually  a 
community  of  foreign  buyers  to  work  to 
build  the  framework  of  our  growing  credit 
system.  By  this  means  we  got  an  endless 
chain  of  good  credit  risks  abroad.  We  will 
have  to  elaborate  upon  that  system  after 
while,  but  the  foundation  principle  is  so 
sound  we  could  hardly  improve  upon  it. 

We  started  to  sell  abroad  with  exchange 
against  us.  The  American  dollar  was  not 
known  favorably  in  the  foreign  markets 
even  as  the  obscure  coins  of  small  coun¬ 
tries  are  not  known  here.  The  only  com¬ 
mon  meeting  place  for  American  dollars 
and  coins  of  other  countries  was  in  English 
pounds  sterling  into  which  all  money  had 
to  be  changed  in  order  to  effect  its  transfer 
to  New  York.  We  speedily  got  rid  of  that 
cumbersome  method  by  inserting  the  local 
banks  of  the  buying  country  in  place  of 
pounds  sterling.  That  is,  they  look  in  the 
money  of  their  own  country  and  transferred 
it  into  American  dollars.  This  inserted  the 
foreign  bank  into  our  selling  system  and  re¬ 
lieved  both  buyer  and  seller  of  any  need  to 
study  the  intricacies  of  the  exchange  system. 

We  started  the  year  without  any  selling 
organization.  We  soon  began  to  use  our 
own  sales  agents  who  were  familiar  with 
our  coal,  who  were  interested  in  the  en¬ 
largement  of  our  output  and  in  the  ex¬ 
pansion  of  our  market,  and  who  were 
financed  by  us,  instead  of  relying  upon  for¬ 
eign  selling  agencies,  familiar  with  foreign 
coals,  interested  in  the  expansion  of  the 
market  for  foreign  coals,  and  in  a  sense 
financed  by  the  producers  of  those  foreign 
coals.  The  instant  we  adopted  the  plan  of 
selling  through  salaried  representatives,  we 
were  led  to  study  the  needs  of  foreign  buy¬ 
ers  as  those  were  dictated  by  their  local 
customs,  the  equipment  of  their  plants,  and 
their  arrangements  for  receiving  coal.  This 
is  leading  us  to  think  about  solidifying  our 
selling  agencies  that  we  may  simplify  the 
cost  of  gathering  this  information  and  that 
we  may,  by  uniting  the  capital  of  the  selling 
organizations,  erect  docks  which  will  give 
the  kind  of  service  that  is  required  at  prin¬ 
cipal  points.  This  is  going  to  lead  us  in  the 
end  to  the  construction  of  ships  fitted  nicely 
into  the  requirements  of  those  docks. 

As  this  indicates,  we  are  making  tremen¬ 
dous  progress  toward  getting  ocean  trans¬ 


portation  for  our  own  coal.  The  astound¬ 
ing  statement  is  made  that,  in  a  year,  Amer¬ 
ica — if  the  lake  tonnage  is  included — has 
come  to  occupy  second  place  in  the  shipping- 
world  as  to  boats  in  service.  If  we  do  not, 
presently,  occupy  first  place,  it  will  be  sur¬ 
prising.  America  is  now  committed  to  an 
expansion  of  her  foreign  trade.  To  assure 
that  we  are  planning  to  loan  money  on  an 
elaborate  scale  to  countries  where  we  ex¬ 
pect  to  do  business.  Our  financiers,  who 
are  committed  to  a  loan  of  one-half  billion 
at  least,  know  that  this  program  cannot  be 
supported  unless  we  have  ships.  These 
they  are  already  beginning  to  provide. 


Paying  the  Fiddler. 

The  foreign  coal  importer  has  paid  dearly, 
since  the  outbreak  of  the  European  war,  be¬ 
cause  he  had  not  prepared  himself  by  pro¬ 
viding  docks  to  unload  economically  and 
handle  coal  on  shore.  Before  the  war,  when 
freights  were  cheap,  and  delay  at  unloading 
ports  meant  very  little,  it  was  all  very  well, 
perhaps,  to  stumble  along  with  antiquated 
and  slow  systems  of  discharging.  But  the 
loss  of  tonnage  by  destruction  and  the  em¬ 
ployment  of  such  an  enormous  amount  of 
tonnage  by  the  governments  has  left  such 
a  small  merchant  fleet  that  there  are  not 
enough  vessels  to  go  around.  Thus  many 
countries  which  import  coal  are  paying 
freight  rates  that  make  the  cost  of  the  de¬ 
livered  product  out  of  any  reasonable  pro¬ 
portion  to  the  cost  at  the  point  of  produc¬ 
tion. 

In  carrying  coal  the  vessels  now  in  use 
could  easily  carry  twenty  per  cent  more  ton¬ 
nage  than  they  do,  were  it  possible  for  them 
to  be  discharged  at  anything  like  the  rate  of 
speed  customary  in  America.  This  twenty 
per  cent  saving  in  tonnage  would  naturally 
mean  a  reduction  of,  like  percentage  in 
freight  costs.  This,  then,  measures  the 
cost  of  the  lack  of  proper  docks  at  Euro¬ 
pean  ports. 

There  are  other  things  to  consider.  For 
example,  what  are  the  English  coals  going 
to  cost  after  the  war?  Again,  what  are 
ocean  freight  rates  going  to  be? 

Every  one  familiar  with  shipping  believes 
that  as  soon  as  the  present  rush  of  grain 
and  war  munitions  is  over,  the  tonnage 
situation  will  be  much  relieved.  However, 
the  European  countries,  devastated  by  the 
war,  are  going  to  rebuild  as  rapidly  as  pos¬ 
sible.  To  do  this,  it  will  be  necessary  to 
import  great  quantities  of  raw  and  finished 
materials.  Consequently,  there  will  be  de¬ 
mands  for  tonnage.  Moreover,  there  will 
be  a  disposition  on  the  part  of  no  few  coun¬ 
tries  to  go  a  little  further  toward  prepared¬ 
ness  than  they  have  done  heretofore.  This 
will  mean  that  certain  countries  will  have 
a  lot  of  work  for  their  merchant  ships  to 
do.  There  is  no  promise  that  merchant 
vessels  now  under  requisition  to  their  na¬ 
tive  governments,  are  to  be  returned  to 
commerce. 

The  United  States  government  is  com¬ 
mitted  to  a  policy  of  preparedness  that 
means,  for  the  next  five  or  six  years  at  least, 
that  our  naval  and  ordnance  work  will  be 
carried  on.  This  program  will  call  for 
importation  of  a  great  deal  of  raw  material. 
What  this  country  is  proposing  and  is  com¬ 
mitted  to  do,  will  no  doubt  be  followed 
closely  by  the  European  countries.  These 
countries  will  have  greater  needs  to  im¬ 
port  ores  and  other  materials  than  we. 


No.  25] 


THE  BLACK  1>IA31()XD 


511 


Moreover,  it  is  certain  that  no  longer 
will  the  English  tramp  steamer  roam  the 
seas  in  a  position  to  name  a  rate  that  will 
give  it  the  business,  irrespective  of  what 
other  vessel  owners  may  ask.  Ifngland  is 
spending  $25,000,000  per  day  as  her  ])art 
of  the  war.  Her  subjects  have  got  to  ])ay 
the  enormous  debts  that  this  war  is  piling 
up.  Her  two  great  big  industries,  coal  and 
shipping,  cannot  evade  their  part  of  this 
burden.  What  is  this  burden  going  to 
mean  to  them  ? 

No  one  dares  predict.  Some  authorities 
say  that  English  coal  after  the  war,  will  not 
be  mined  for  within  four  shillings  per  ton 
of  what  it  cost  prior  to  the  war. 

And  as  for  shipping.  England  has  lost 
many  ships.  While  English  ship-owners 
today  are  getting  rates  that  Captain  Kidd 
would  not  have  thought  of  asking,  one-half 
of  what  they  secure,  over  a  normal  rate, 
is  Ijeing  taken  by  the  government  as  a  war 
or  income  tax.  This  tax  is  not  going  to  l)e 
materially  reduced  when  the  war  is  over. 

Whether  the  tax  be  direct  or  indirect,  the 
English  coal  operator  and  the  English  ves¬ 
sel  owner  must  pay  their  fair  share.  This 
will  mean  that,  for  years  to  come,  there  will 
be  no  English  vessels  offering  for  time  char¬ 
ter  at  four  shillings  per  ton,  deadweight  per 
month,  as  was  the  case  up  to  August  1, 
1914. 

Another  point,  English  ship  yards  will  no 
longer  be  able  to  turn  out  merchant  vessels 
as  cheaply  as  was  the  case  before  the  war. 
In  fact,  they  are  going  to  find  it  hard  to 
turn  out  ships  as  cheaply  as  Americans  were 
l)uilding  them  with  high-priced  labor  and 
high-priced  materials  prior  to  the  war. 
Cost  of  shipbuilding  on  both  sides  of  the 
Atlantic  will  be  equalized.  There  is  a 
chance  that  Americans  may,  eventually, 
build  ships  just  as  cheaply,  if  not  cheaper. 
They  have  not,  heretofore,  gone  into  ship- 
building  as  an  international  proposition. 
'I'hey  have  built  only  for  domestic  use,  for 
lake  or  coastwise  service,  where  navigation 
laws  have  protected  owners  from  foreign 
competition.  Now,  we  are  building  for  the 
world.  As  some  of  biggest  men  in  steel 
and  banking  have  gone  into  the  shipbuilding 
business,  we  may  look  for  some  develop¬ 
ments  that  will  make  America  a  shipbuild¬ 
ing  power. 

Einally,  the  war  has  given  English  labor 
a  taste  of  better  wages.  England  stands, 
therefore,  committed  to  paying  her  'work¬ 
men  more  than  she  has  ever  done.  This 
means  that  she  must  secure  better  prices  for 
her  coal  and  her  shipping,  and  this  in  turn 
means  that  the  importer  of  coal  must  pay 
the  price,  or  shop  elsewhere. 


America’s  Factors  of  Safety. 

An  American  minister  of  the  gospel  who 
was  built  in  the  mold  of  a  statesman,  made 
the  statement,  one  time,  from  the  pulpit  that 
the  American  continent  is  divided  into  three 
valleys  by  two  mountain  ranges.  These 
mountain  ranges  are  of  such  height  as  prac¬ 
tically  to  dictate  three  separate  climatic  con¬ 
ditions.  These  weather  conditions  make  it 
extremely  unlikely  that  all  three,  or  indeed, 
any  two  of  these  districts  will  be  devastated 
by  the  same  season  of  drought  or  excessive 
storm.  Therefore,  he  said  that  by  a  pro¬ 
vidential  provision  America  was  always  sure 
of  a  crop  which  would  sustain  the  people 
and  support  its  trade.  He  considered  the 
mountains,  therefore,  a  factor  of  safety  for 
the  agricultural  districts  in  the  valleys. 


W'e  have,  in  America,  other  factors  of 
safety  which  equal  those  just  brought  out. 
Considered  from  the  point  of  view  of  coal 
and  coal  being  considered  from  the  point 
of  view  of  labor  supply,  it  is  apparent  that 
.America  is  hardly  likely  to  any  such  general 
interruption  of  labor  supply  as  that  which 
recently  embarrassed  all  of  Great  Britain, 
and  which  is  likely,  at  any  time,  to  em¬ 
barrass  it  seriously  again.  That  is,  America 
has  so  many  miners  and  these  are  scattered 
over  such  an  enormous  territory,  a  collusion 
among  them  can  hardly  handicap,  to  any 
serious  extent,  our  production  of  coal. 

Eor  one  thing  American  mines  which  are 
today  producing  close  to  600,000,000  tons  of 
coal  per  year  employ  upwards  of  750,000 
men.  ( )nly  about  fifty  per  cent  of  these 
are  enrolled  by  the  labor  union.  Thus,  even 
though  all  of  the  union  miners  should  be 
called  out  on  a  strike,  one-half  of  our  mines 
are  left  to  supply  the  requirements.  In  view 
of  the  fact  that,  the  non-union  miners  are, 
because  of  over-production,  working  only 
two-thirds  time,  they  could  go  very  far 
towards  making  up  any  shortage  due  to  a 
general  suspension  of  the  unionized  mines. 

However,  the  400,000  miners  in  the  union 
are  scattered  in  so  many  dift'erent  districts 
they  can  hardly  all  be  called  out  at  any  one 
time.  For  example,  we  have  twenty-eight 
coal  producing  states.  The  miners’  union 
has  a  foot-hold  in  about  twenty  of  these. 
It  is  extremely  unlikely  that  all  the  miners 
in  those  twenty  states  could  be  called  out 
at  any  one  time.  There  would  be  no  pur¬ 
pose,  in  reality,  in  doing  so  because  some 
of  the  districts  are  not  competitive.  Fur¬ 
ther,  it  would  be  so  expensive  to  undertake 
a  general  strike  of  this  character,  the  min¬ 
ers’  union  would  very  quickly  exhaust  even 
its  elaborate  resources  and  would  be  forced 
to  sue  for  peace. 

Thus,  in  the  size  of  our  coal  business  and 
in  the  lack  of  control  of  the  situation  by  the 
union  and  in  the  extent  of  the  territory  over 
which  our  mines  are  spread,  we  have  a 
factor  of  safety  as  to  labor  supply,  which 
must  be  reassuring  to  the  foreign  buyer. 

.Also,  we  have  another  factor  of  safety 
in  the  matter  of  coal  supply.  Figures  com¬ 
piled  by  the  leading  geologists  of  the  world 
indicate  that  the  American  continent  has 
something  like  fifty  per  cent  of  the  coal 
reserve  of  the  world.  These  figures  may, 
one  of  these  days,  prove  to  be  inaccurate 
because  we  are  convinced  that  the  coal  re¬ 
serves  in  Russia  and  China  have  never  been 
appraised  at  '  their  full  value.  Even  so, 
what  is  known  of  America’s  coal  reserve  in¬ 
dicates  a  deposit  running  upward  of 
4,000,000,000  tons.  Knowing  how  easy  it 
is  to  open  these  veins,  this,  in  itself,  is  a 
factor  of  safety  of  tremendous  importance, 
not  only  to  our  own  people,  but  to  custom¬ 
ers  abroad. 

In  this  same  connection  we  have  a  sec¬ 
ondary  factor  of  safety  in  the  extent  to 
which  we  have  expanded  our  productive 
capacity.  As  indicated,  we  are  getting  out 
today,  close  to  600,000,000  tons  of  coal  per 
year.  At  the  same  time  our  mines  on  the 
average  are  not  working  much  more  than 
200  days  per  year.  This  means  that  we 
are  working  to  about,  or  a  little  better,  than 
two-thirds  of  our  capacity.  This  indicates 
that  with  ease,  and  without  increasing  either 
the  number  of  mines,  the  machinery  or  the 
number  of  men  employed,  but  by  merely 
employing  them  full  time,  we  could  increase 
our  production  by  200,000,000  tons  per  year. 
In  a  word,  we  could  take  over  the  entire 


export  coal  business  of  England,  Belgium 
and  Germany  as  it  stood  before  the  war, 
and  still  have  productive  capacity  lying  idle. 

In  the  way  of  money  resources  we  also 
have  a  third  factor  of  safety.  Our  banking- 
system  is  one  which  doesn’t  take  account, 
alone,  of  the  solid  money,  including  specie 
and  bullion,  but  of  the  conversion  of  our 
natural  wealth  into  a  circulating  medium. 
This  is  done  by  a  banking  process.  By  this 
banking  process  our  weath  is  transferred 
into  a  bank  deposit  after  which  the  borrower 
is  permitted  to  draw  his  check  against  his 
deposit. 

The  facts  in  that  connection  are  that  we 
have  a  national  wealth  of  approximately 
$150,000,000,000,  while  by  the  banking  proc¬ 
ess  mentioned,  our  deposits  or  our  credit 
money  have  grown  to  only  $20,000,000,000. 
We  have,  therefore,  about  seven  and  one- 
half  times  as  much  wealth  which  can  be 
turned  into  credit  money  as  we  have  today 
in  actual  credit  money.  This  means  to  say 
that  if  we  cared  to  do  so,  we  could  expand 
our  business- — and  finance  it — by  something 
like  six  or  seven  times. 

These  various  factors  of  safety  in  Amer¬ 
ican  business  tell  the  foreign  buyer  that  we 
can  enter  upon  a  most  elaborate  campaign 
of  foreign  selling  with  the  utmost  assur¬ 
ance. 


The  Car  Storage. 

The  coal  trade  has  I)een  .struggling  to 
understand  the  car  situation.  It  has  been 
apparent  that  cars  are  short  in  the  east, 
but  reasonably  plentiful  in  the  west.  That 
was  not  easy  to  explain.  If  this  were  attrib¬ 
utable  to  any  shortage  of  cars  or  engines  or 
both  on  the  railroads,  it  would  seem  that  it 
would  find  equal  expression  in  both  districts. 

Starting  with  the  coal  car  fact  in  mind, 
Mr.  Murray,  the  western  editor  of  the  Wall 
Street  Journal,  made  an  investigation  which 
resulted  in  an  enlightening  conclusion.  He 
sought  all  the  facts  pertaining  to  the  car 
situation  everywhere.  Therefore,  he 
wanted  to  know  what  was  the  car  supply  for 
the  movement  of  grain,  live  stock,  steel 
products,  manufactured  articles,  war  muni¬ 
tions  and  coal.  He  discovered  that  the  big 
shortage  of  cars  was  in  places  where  box 
cars  are  used  for  the  movement,  principally, 
of  foodstuff's  and  steel  products.  This  re¬ 
sulted,  according  to  his  information,  from, 
first,  an  extraordinary  movement  of  those 
commodities  to  tidewater,  and  second,  prin¬ 
cipally  from  the  shortage  of  ocean-going  ves¬ 
sels.  That  is,  everybody  is  trying  to  ship 
stuff’  to  Europe.  As  a  consequence,  good.'^ 
are  going  to  tidewater  far  faster  than  they 
are  moving  over  seas.  The  result  is  a  very 
natural  delay  of  this  equipment  at  tidewater 
and  consequently  a  terminal  congestion 
there. 

From  this  it  is  very  easy  to  explain  why 
there  is  a  shortage  of  cars  in  the  east  and 
practically  none  in  the  west.  That  is,  the 
coal  cars,  going  to  tidewater,  become  in¬ 
volved  in  the  terminal  congestion  there  and 
consequently  the  movement  is  slowed  down. 
Thus  it  takes  two  cars  in  the  east  to  do 
what  would  normally  be  the  work  of  one. 
However,  the  same  number  of  cars  moving 
to  the  west  avoid  any  suggestion  of  terminal 
congestion,  and,  as  a  result,  the  supply  of 
cars  in  the  west  is  reasonably  free.  On 
these  accounts  Mr.  Murray's  investigations 
are  tremendously  important  because  they  e.x- 
plain  the  situation  which  has  puzzled  a  great 
many  coal  men. 


512 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[December  18 


News  Local  to  Chicago. 


William  J.  Jackson,  receiver,  of  the  Chicago  & 
Eastern  Illinois  Railroad,  announces  that  effective 
December  15,  E.  J.  Alexander  is  appointed  fuel 
agent,  with  offices  at  Chicago,  Ill.,  vice  C.  G.  Hall, 
resigned  to  engage  in  other  business. 

John  S.  Reiner  of  the  Reiner  Coal  Company,  at 
Fifty-eighth  and  Robey,  Chicago,  has  organized 
the  Superior  Ice  Company  with  a  capital  of  $100,- 
000.  The  new  company  is  now  building  an  up-to- 
date  and  modern  artificial  ice  plant  which  will 
occupy  a  space  100x150  feet.  The  plant  will  have 
a  capacity  of  one  hundred  tons  a  day.  The  officers 
are:  John  S.  Reiner,  president;  J.  B.  Anderson, 
vice-president;  August  S.  Reiner,  secretary,  and 
A.  K.  Brown,  treasurer.  The  ice  company  will 
be  operated  in  conjunction  with  the  Reiner  Coal 
Company. 

An  interesting  letter  was  received  last  week  by 
Arthur  M.  Hull,  secretary  of  the  National  Coal 
Association,  from  Charles  E.  Lester,  former  Im¬ 
perial  Pictor  of  the  Order  Ko-Koal  and  now  an 
active  member  of  the  coal  association.  Mr. 
Lester  was,  at  the  time  of  the  writing,  in  Paris. 
He  relates  in  that  letter  that  he  ran  into  lohn  D. 
Valleaux  in  Paris  and  found  that  he  was  Ko-Koal 
number  fifty-one.  Mr.  Valleaux  is  a  Chicagoan, 
formerly  selling  coal  for  the  Chicago,  Wilming¬ 
ton  and  Vermillion  Coal  Company  and  later  for 
the  Jones  &  Adams  Coal  Company. 

On  Wednesday  of  this  week  the  reduction  in 
the  rates  on  steam  coal  to  the  former  basis  by 
the  railroads  went  into  effect  in  the  western 
territory.  It  will  be  remembered  that  the  rail¬ 
roads  were  given  by  the  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission  the  right  to  increase  interstate  rates 
to  certain  points  in  the  west  about  ten  cents  a 
ton.  It  is  recalled  that  these  rates  applied  into 
the  northwest  without  there  being  a  similar  appli¬ 
cation  of  increased  rates  from  the  docks.  The 
Illinois  and  Indiana  coal  operators  protested  vig¬ 
orously  but  at  the  hearing  their  protest  was 
without  avail.  They  subsequently  appealed  to 
the  railroads  not  to  check  in  the  advance,  es¬ 
pecially  on  the  steam  coal  and  the  railroads 
consented  to  that  modification  as  effective  Decem¬ 
ber  15.  All  sizes  under  two  inches  are  included 
in  the  new  rate  ruling. 

Carl  Scholz,  president  of  the  American  Min¬ 
ing  Congress,  went  to  Washington  on  Wednesday 
of  this  week,  where  on  Thursday  he  attended  a 
luncheon  given  by  Van.  H.  Manning,  director  of 
the  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Mines  to  influential  men. 
At  the  luncheon  were  Mr.  Ingalls,  president  of 
the  Mining  &  Metallurgical  Society  of  America; 
Mr.  Saunders,  president  of  the  American  Insti¬ 
tute  of  Mining  Engineers;  Mr.  Scholz,  president 
of  the  American  Mining  Congress,  and  the  mem¬ 
bers  of  the  Senate  and  the  House  who  are  on 
the  committee  of  mines  and  mining.  The  matter 
immediately  under  consideration  was  the  revi¬ 
sion  of  the  mineral  land  laws,  with  such  changes 
as  are  likely  to  result  therefrom,  affecting  the 
attitude  of  the  Government  toward  the  whole  min¬ 
eral  industry. 

Some  Chicago  operators  received  this  week 
with  some  amusement  the  announcement  that  the 
mine  at  Gebo,  Wyoming,  had  been  closed  down. 
This  mine  has  had  a  very  interesting  experi¬ 
ence  as  far  as  eastern  operators  are  concerned. 
It  was  first  opened  by  private  interests  but  it  was 
soon  discovered  that  it  was  developing  govern¬ 
ment  coal  land.  The  original  owners  had  therefore 
to  surrender  the  mine  to  the  Government.  The 
Bureau  of  Mines  siezed  upon  this  opportunity  to 
put  into  effect  some  very  interesting  rules  for 
the  conduct  of  the  mine  and  insisted  that  these 
rules  were  very  highly  practical  and  would  in 
no  sense  hamper  the  operator  of  a  mine  which 
was  under  competitive  conditions.  The  operators 
all  through  the  east  declared  that  these  rules 
were  entirely  too  burdensome  and  it  was  im¬ 
possible,  therefore,  to  continue  a  mine  so  oper¬ 
ated,  in  active  production.  The  announcement 
from  Gebo  that  the  mine  is  closed  is  taken  to 
indicate  that  the  eastern  operators  were  right 
and  the  Bureau  of  Mines’  officials  were  wrong  in 
their  assumptions  touching  the  supposed  innocu¬ 
ous  effects  of  the  Government  rules. 

N.  H.  Kendall,  commissioner  of  the  Chicago 
Coal  Merchants’  Association,  recently  sent  a 
communication  to  the  members  which  said: 
“It  is  reported  that  a  committee,  representing 
the  railroads  of  the  country,  is  now  before  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission  requesting 
the  privilege  of  amending  the  national  demur¬ 
rage  code.  The  principal  changes  sought  are 
the  elimination  of  the  average  agreement, 
which  is  so  beneficial  to  shippers  and  receiv¬ 
ers  of  carload  freight,  and  increasing  the 


demurrage  charges  from  $1.00  per  day  to  a 
basis  of  $1.00  for  the  first  three  days,  $3.00  for 
the  next  succeeding  three  days,  and  thereafter 
$5.00  per  day.  This  is  a  matter  that  should  be 
given  careful  and  continued  attention.  At  the 
last  regular  meeting  of  the  Association  the 
railroad  bureau  was  instructed  to  file  a  peti¬ 
tion  with  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commis¬ 
sion,  protesting  against  the  advance  in  rates, 
governing  Illinois  and  Indiana  coal  to  the  Chi¬ 
cago  territory.  Petition  was  duly  filed,  and 
we  are  just  in  receipt  of  advice  from  the  In¬ 
terstate  Commerce  Commission  that  certain 
tariffs  have  been  suspended  until  April  13, 
1916.  During  the  past  month  two  thefts  of 
coal  have  been  reported  to  the  Association. 
One  case  has  been  tried.  The  teamster  sell¬ 
ing  the  coal  is  now  serving  a  sentence  in 
the  Bridewell.  We  were  unable  to  secure  a 
conviction  of  the  party  purchasing  the  coal. 
Everything  possible  is  being  done  to  stamp 
out  this  practice.  Members  can  protect  their 
interests,  to  a  large  extent,  by  keeping  a  rec¬ 
ord  of  their  teamsters,  and  when  one  is  dis¬ 
charged  for  cause,  report  the  matter  to  this 
office,  giving  full  information.  We  will  then 
be  in  a  position  to  furnish  other  members 
with  his  record  when  he  applies  for  another 
position.  It  is  only  a  few  minutes  work  to 
keep  a  record  of  each  of  your  teamsters,  and 
when  they  know  that  it  is  impossible  to 
secure  work  without  filling  out  an  application, 
giving  references,  which  will  be  investigated, 
the  liability  of  improper  actions  on  their  part 
is  immediately  decreased.” 


J.  S.  Chipman  Dies. 


James  S.  Chipman  died  Friday,  December  10th, 
at  his  residence,  6925  Perry  avenue,  Chicago. 

He  was  born  in  Momence,  Ill.,  and  was  fifty- 
six  years  old.  For  over  thirty  years  he  had  been 
connected  with  the  coal  trade.  First,  with  the 
old  anthracite  house  of  Langdon,  Harvey  & 
Richardson ;  then  with  their  soft  coal  mining  con¬ 
nection,  the  Crescent  Coal  Company  of  What 
Cheer,  Iowa,  afterwards  for  a  short  while  with 
the  Philadelphia  &  Reading  Coal  &  Iron  Com¬ 
pany  at  Milwaukee  when  under  the  management 
of  F.  R.  Buell.  From  there  he  came  to  Chicago 
in  1891,  associating  himself  with  Charles  L.  Der- 


J.  S.  Chipman. 


ing  in  the  coal  jobbing  business  and  afterwards 
going  with  Mr.  Dcring  to  the  S.  C.  Schenck  Com¬ 
pany  with  which  firm  he  had  been  connected  ever 
since,  a  period  of  some  eighteen  years. 

Always  of  frail  physique,  he  was  possessed  of 
indomintable  courage  and  a  happy  optimism, 
which  endeared  him  to  a  host  of  friends.  Many 
a  young  man  owes  his  start  in  life  to  the  sterling 
principles  which  Mr.  Chipman  so  thoroughly  and 
so  happily  taught  to  all  who  worked  with  him. 

“We  are  a  very  sad  household,”  said  one  of  his 
co-workers  .“We  shall  miss  his  cheery  presence 
very,  very  greatly.” 

Mr.  Chipman  was  as  much  beloved  and  will  be 


as  greatly  mourned  in  his  circle  of  social  friends 
and  acquaintances  as  he  will  be  with  his  busi¬ 
ness  associates. 

He  is  survived  by  his  widow,  Louise  Scully 
Chipman,  a  son  and  four  daughters. 


Henry  Hafer  Dies. 


Henry  Hafer,  one  of  the  veteran  coal  operators 
of  America  and  the  head  of  Henry  Hafer  &  Son 
Coal  Company,  died  on  Tuesday  morning  of  this 
week  at  his  home.  No.  4631  Michigan  Avenue, 
Chicago.  He  was  at  his  office  on  Wednesday  of 
last  week,  but  shortly  thereafter  contracted  a 
cold  which  developed  into  pneumonia,  from  which 
he  passed  away. 


Henry  Hafer. 


Mr.  Hafer  was  born  December  2'6,  1837  at 
Homburg,  Germany.  This  is  a  watering  place 
of  some  prominence  in  Germany,  being  made  so 
because  of  its  natural  beauty  and  its  many  at¬ 
tractions. 

Mr.  Hafer  obtained  his  early  education  in  the 
public  schools  of  Germany,  but  came  to  America 
when  he  was  fourteen  years  of  age.  He  went 
at  first  to  Cleveland,  Ohio,  where  he  lived  with 
friends  and  worked  until  a  few  years  later  when 
he  brought  his  own  family  over.  At  that  time 
Mr.  Hafer  was  apprenticed  to  the  carpenter  trade. 

He  moved  to  Chicago  at  the  age  of  seventeen 
years  and  soon  thereafter  opened  a  retail  grocery 
store. 

Later,  or  in  1854,  he  formed  a  partnership  with 
Charles  C.  Harder  as  Harder  &  Hafer  for  the 
purpose  of  engaging  in  the  retail  coal  business 
handling  eastern  coals  and  wood.  The  firm  neces¬ 
sarily  handled  eastern  coal  at  that  time  because 
no  western  coals  were  then  being  sold  in  Chicago 
or  the  western  market. 

In  the  early  seventies,  this  retail  establishment 
branched  out  into  the  operating  end  of  the  busi¬ 
ness,  opening  mines  in  Sullivan  county,  Indiana. 
A  little  later  Mr.  Hafer  was  interested,  with 
some  others,  in  the  Jackson  Hill  Coal  &  Coke 
Company  of  Terre  Haute,  Indiana. 

At  the  time  the  Dering  Coal  Company  was 
formed,  his  mines  in  Sullivan  county  were  sold 
out  to  that  organization.  At  the  time  of  his 
death,  Mr.  Hafer  was  operating  a  mine  at  West 
Terre  Haute,  Indiana,  and  a  mine  in  William¬ 
son  county,  Illinois. 

Mr.  Hafer  was  married  twice.  He  leaves  three 
daughters  and  one  son,  eleven  grand-children  and 
five  great  grand-children  living.  His  first  wife 
was  tlie  sister  of  his  former  partner,  Mr.  Harder, 
and  the  second  wife,  Mrs.  Phene  Hafer,  sur¬ 
vives  him. 

The  funeral  services  were  held  on  Thursday 
morning  of  this  week  at  St.  Stephen’s  church  at 
Fifty-seventh  and  Sangamon  streets,  Chicago. 
He  had  been  a  deacon  of  that  church  for  forty 
years. 


W.  B.  Whitehorn,  who  has  been  purchasing 
agent  for  the  Omaha  Electric  Light  &  Power 
Company  during  the  past  seventeen  years,  has 
resigned  his  position  and  will  enter  into  the 
electrical  supply  business.  Mr.  Whitehorn’s 
resignation  takes  effect  January  1st,  when  he 
will  be  succeeded  by  J.  P.  Eagan. 


No.  25] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


513 


Facts  Which  Determine  Our  Export  Prospects. 


Spain’s  Coal  Needs. 

Total  consumption  of  Spain  for  all  classes  of 
coal  is  given  at  eight  million  toneladas  (Tonelada 
equals  2,204  lbs. — Consul),  of  which  one  million 
is  consumed  in  the  district  of  Cataluna,  princi¬ 
pally  in  Barcelona.  Receipts  at  Barcelona,  for 
the  year  1914,  were  of  foreign,  867,914  toneladas 
and  of  domestic,  201,812.  Total  production  of 
domestic  for  year  1912  was  3,663,621  toneladas, 
valued  at  Pesetas  51,011,455  (Equal  to  $9,847,771 
U.  S.  currency. — Consul).  This  has  been  slightly 
increased  in  the  past  three  years. 

The  possibilities  of  increasing  domestic  produc¬ 
tion  are  hampered  by  large  capitalization  re¬ 
quired,  labor  troubles  and  shortage  of  experi¬ 
enced  miners.  Estimated  that  an  increase  of  4 
million  toneladas  annually  would  cover  present 
necessities,  which  the  rich  fields  of  Asturias, 
Leon,  Ciudad  Real,  Teruel,  Cordoba  and  Cataluna 
could  easily  supply  with  proper  development. 

Suggests  government  aid  in  meeting  the  neces¬ 
sities  of  capitalization  and  transportation  (the 
latter  by  means  of  special  rail  rates,_  any  loss  to 
the  roads  to  be  made  good  by  subsidy)  ;  an  in¬ 
crease  of  import  duties  and  the  establishment  of 
a  body  of  competent  miners  by  means  of  train¬ 
ing  facilities,  exemption  from  lilitary  service  and 
the  granting  of  old  age  or  disability  pensions. 


Santos  Brazil  Coal  Trade. 

The  American  Consul  at  Santos,  Brazil,  writes 
The  Black  Diamond  under  date  of  November  9, 
1915,  about  the  coal  situation  there  as  follows: 

“The  importation  of  coal  through  the  port  of 
Santos,  Brail,  has  been  reduced  about  80  or  90 
per  cent  by  reason  of  the  war. 

“In  normal  times,  the  importation  of  '  coal 
through  this  port  was  some  three  chartered  ves¬ 
sels  a  month;  at  present  there  is  about  one  such 
vessel  each  two  months.  Practically^  all  of  the 
coal  received  both  then  and  now  is  for  one 
English  firm,  Wilson  Sons  &  Co. 

“This  firm  supplied  the  local  demands,  princi¬ 
pally,  that  of  bunker  coal  for  ships  in  this  port, 
and  it  has  a  branch  in  Sao  Paulo,  through  which 
the  many  industrial  plants  of  that  section,  the 
railroads,  etc.,  were  supplied.  The  _  first  and 
smaller  business,  that  of  supplying  ships  in  this 
port  has  not  fallen  off,  as  vessels  find  equal  diffi¬ 
culties  in  securing  coal  and  equally  high  prices  in 
the  neighboring  South  American  ports.  The  prin¬ 
cipal  decrease  is  that  due  to  decreased  consump¬ 
tion  by  industrial  plants  and  railways.  For  such 
purposes  the  use  of  wood  fuel  is  displacing  coal 
in  very  many  cases,  the  cause  being  that  of  the 
inordinately  high  prices  of  the  coal  delivered  to 
this  port. 

“The  present  price  here  for  English  coal  is  ap¬ 
proximately  $20.00  U.  S.  currency,  per  metric 
ton,  American  coal  is  approximately  $18.50.  The 
freight  rates  have  been  ranging  at  about  $10.00 
per  ton  from  England  and  show  tendencies  to  a 
further  rise.  The  normal  price  of  coal  here  was 
about  $15.00  per  ton. 

"General  business  in  this  city  and  section  have 
recovered  to  more  than  appreciable  extent  and 
the  immediate  business  prospects  are  very  good. 
One  of  the  remaining  effects  of  the  war  still  felt 
here  is  that  new  work  or  construction  involving 
heavy  outlays  are  not  projected  for  the  present. 

“No  improvements  of  importance  have  been 
made  in  the  past  year  to  the  extensive  and  ade¬ 
quate  docks  and  discharging  equipment  of  the 
port.” 


Foreign  Freight  Rates. 

W.  W.  Battie  &  Co.,  Produce  Exchange,  New 
York,  reports  as  follows,  under  date  of  Decem¬ 
ber  13 : 

I'reight  market  conditions  are  practically  un- 
clianged.  Since  our  last  report  the  Greek  steamer 
"Platea,”  about  5,000  tons  coal  capacity,  Decem¬ 
ber  loading,  was  chartered  from  Virginia  to  a 
lower  Plate  port  at  52s  6d,  with  500  tons  per  day 
discharge  at  Is  3d,  aiid  we  have  another  boat  of¬ 
fered  on  these  terms.  There  is  an  active  demand 
for  steamers  for  Cuban  and  West  Indian  ports, 
and  we  have  recently  closed  a  number  of  boats 
on  terms  quoted  below.  The  only  coal  that  we 
are  moving  for  Mediterranean  ports  is  on  steam¬ 
ers  that  we  are  chartering  on  time  charter.  About 
95s  is  now  offered  on  grain  to  the  west  coast 
of  Italy,  and  vessel  owners  seem  to  prefer  grain 
to  coal  on  the  same  basis  of  freight. 

We  would  quote  freight  rates  on  coal  by 
steamer  as  follows: 

West  coast  of  Italy,  90s  to  100s.  Marseilles,  85s  to 


95s.  Barcelona  or  other  good  Spanish  port,  85s  to  95s; 
Spanish  daes  for  account^  of  cargo.  Note:  Charters 
for  Italy,  France  and  Spain  read:  ‘‘Lay  days  to  com¬ 
mence  on  steamer’s  arrival  at  or  off  port  or  discharge 
Is  per  net  register  ton  per  day  demurrage.”  Monte¬ 
video,  52s  6d  to  55s;  500  discharge.  Buenos  Aires  or 
La  Plata,  52s  6d  to  55s;  500  charge.  Rosario,  55s  to 
60s.  Rio  de  Janeiro,  60s  to  52s  6d;  600  discharge.  San¬ 
tos,  50s  to  55s;  consignees  paying  docas  dues.  Val¬ 
paraiso  or  Callao,  $12  to  $13;  Havana,  $3  to  $3.25; 
Cardenas  or  Sagua,  $3.50  to  $4;  Cienfuegos,  $3.75  to 
$4;  Port  of  Spain,  Trinidad,  $4.75  to  $5;  St.  Lucia, 
.$4.75  to  $5;  St.  Thomas,  $4.25  to  $4.50;  Barbados,  $4.75 
to  $5;  Kingston,  about  $4.25;  Curacao,  about  $4.50  and 
p.  c. ;  Santiago,  $4  to  $4.25;  Guantanamo,  $4  to  $4.25; 
Demerara,  $6,50  to  $7;  Bermuda,  $4  to  $4.25;  Vera  Cruz, 
$5.50  to  $6;  Tampico,  $5.50  to  $6. 


U.  S.  Coke  Exports. 


Exports  of  coke  from 
three  years,  ending  June 

Country — 

Europe: 

Austria-Hungary  . 

Belgium  . 

Denmark  . 

France  . 

Germany  . 

Italy  . 

Netherlands  . 

Norway  . 

Russia  in  Europe . 

Spain  . 

United  Kingdom: 

England  . 

Scotland  . 

North  America: 

Bermuda  . 

British  Honduras . 

Canada  . 

Central  American  States: 

Costa  Rica . 

Guatemala . 

Honduras  . 

Nicaragua  . 

Panama  . 

Salvador  . 

Mexico  . 

Miquelon,  Langley,  etc . 

Newfoundland  and  Labrador. 
West  Indies,  British: 

Barbados  . 

Jamaica  . 

Trinidad  and  Tobago . 

Other  British . 

Cuba  . 

Danish  . 

Dutch  . 

French  . 

Haiti  . 

Santo 


the  United  States  for 
30th,  respectively : 

1912.  1913.  1914. 


1,827  1,889 

450  . 

20  . 

15,909  20,869 

50  13 


720 


3,290  4,144 

.  95 


45  . 

4,083  4,954 

800  . 


14,759 
’  i',6oo 

1,027 

3,041 


5,955 


6  . 

6  25  6 

551,025  675,724  543,764 


58 

53 

2 

22 

1,708 

44 


222 

137 


2 

1,599 

29 


219,240  179,399 


41 

53 

2 

6,194 

1 

16 

208 


188 

86 

20 

41 

1,079 

27 

162,937 

4 

31 


42 


44 

8,901 


124 

24 


Domingo .  . .  . 
South  America: 

Argentina  . 

Brazil  . 

Chile  . . 

Colombia  . 

Ecuador  . 

Venezuela  . 

Asia: 

Japan  . 

Oceania: 

Philippine  Islands.  . 


18 

5 

9 

56 


189 

184 


5 

10 

25 


2,384 

24 


46 


251 


40 


7,177 

1 

9 


100 

54 

’  38 

iio 


150 


Total 


Europe  . 

North  America. 
South  America. 

Asia  . 

Oceania  . 


.  805,819 

RECAPITULATION. 

.  26,474 

.  778,681 

.  413 


900,672  742,476 


251 


31,964 

866,214 

2,454 

’  40 


26,502 

715,617 

207 

1.50 


Coal  Through  Panama  Canal. 

The  following  table  showing  the  shipments  of 
coal  through  the  Panama  Canal  in  1914  has  been 
compiled  from  the  Canal  Record,  the  official 
publication  of  the  Panama  Canal.  The  canal  was 
opened  for  shipping  in  August,  1914,  and  the 
first  cargo  of  coal  recorded  was  from  Norfolk 
to  San  Francisco,  passing  through  the  canal  on 
September  27.  The  total  quantity  in  1914  was 
small,  100,503  long  tons,  and  the  individual 
cargoes,  their  source  and  destination,  are  given. 
This  does  nto  include  coal  shipped  to  the  Canal 
Zone  for  bunker  trade.  All  of  the  shipments 
were  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  and 
more  than  one-half  of  the  coal  was  from  Europe. 
COAL  SHIPPED  THROUGH  THE  PANAMA  CANAL 
IN  1914,  LONG  TONS. 

Date/  From—  To—  Shipment. 

Sept.  27.  .  .Norfolk  . San  Francisco....  8,340 

Sept.  28.  .  .Norfolk  . Valparaiso  .  6,010 

Oct.  1 . Baltimore  . San  Diego .  6,000 

Oct.  2 . Norfolk  . Guaymas,  Mex.  .  .  5,943 

Oct.  3 . Norfolk  .  4,252 

..Glasgow  . San  Francisco....  6,499 

..Newport,  England. ..  Esquimault .  4,659 

..Cardiff  . Esquimault .  4,550 

..New  York . Seattle  .  3,995 

..Cardiff . .Balboa*  .  5,150 

..Newport,  Wales . Balboa*  .  4,200 

..Cardiff  . Miollendo  .  2,000 


Oct.  19.  . 
Oct.  19.  . 
Oct.  22.  . 
Nov.  1 .  . 
Nov.  2 .  . 
Nov.  2.  . 
Nov.  8.  . 
Nov.  18. 
Nov.  21 . 
Nov.  30. 
Nov.  30. 
Dec.  2.  . 
Dec.  9 


.  Ecuador-Chile  . New  York.. 

.Spain  . Valparaiso  .... 

.Cardiff . Pacific  Ocean.. 

.Newport,  England. .  .Pacific  Ocean., 

.  Baltimore  . San  Pedro . 

. . Barry  . For  sea . 

Dec!  11 .  .  .  .Cardiff  . Sealed  orders.  , 

Dec.  12 _ Cardiff  . Sealed  orders., 


7,000 

4,006 

4,221 

4,878 

1,700 

5,000 

5.600 

6.600 


Total  . . . 100,503 


’’For  orders. 


Exports  to  Europe. 


Exports  of  bituminous  coal  from  the  United 
States  to  the  principal  countries  across  the  At¬ 
lantic  for  the  first  eleven  months  of  1915,  were 
approximately  as  follows : 


Portugal 
Spain  .  . 
Fiance  . 
Greece  . 
Egypt  .  . 
Morocco 
Hclland 
Sweden 
Gibraltar 
Italy  .  .  . 
Denmark 
England 
Norway 


Tons. 

20,448 

192,950 

203,148 

65,334 

137,903 

6,458 

25,915 

229,434 

21,765 

2,757,540 

2,677 

1,479 

52,527 


Total 


3,707,578 


South  American  Exports. 


Exports  of  bituminous  coal  from  the  United 
States  to  the  principal  South  American  countries 
during  the  first  eleven  months  of  1915,  were  as 
follows : 


Country — • 

Chile  . 

Peru  . 

Argentine  . 
Uruguay  .  . 

Brazil  . 

Venezuela 
Ecuador  . . . 


Tonnage. 

55,443 

11,631 

765,278 

145,403 

605,077 

15,114 

7,044 


Total 


1,604,990 


Paris  Coal  Scarcity. 


A  cable  to  the  New  York  Times  from  Paris  on 
December  9th  reads : 

“The  press  campaign  against  the  lack  of  com¬ 
mercial  transportation  facilities  has  had  the  effect 
of  disturbing  the  official  departments  concerned. 
The  parliamentary  committees  dealing  with  trans¬ 
portation  have  also  tackled  the  question  and  have 
heard  expert  evidence  from  business  men,  rail- 
waymen,  and  others. 

“Marcel  Sembat,  the  Minister  of  Public  Works, 
today  informs  Le  Journal,  the  articles  in  which 
paper  have  been  chiefly  responsible  for  the  ven¬ 
tilation  of  the  trouble,  that  most  active  measures 
are  being  taken  to  provide  facilities,  by  means  of 
railroad  cooperation  for  the  re-delivery  of  empty 
trucks  and  by  a  supply  of  labor  to  the  barge  com¬ 
panies. 

“The  authorities  further  contemplate  an  ela¬ 
borate  scheme  to  reduce  and  standardize  the  price 
of  coal  by  the  establishment  of  a  government 
monopoly,  with  a  fixed  price  based  on  the  differ¬ 
ence  between  the  average  pit-head  price  at  French 
mines  and  the  price  of  foreign  coal  delivered  at 
French  ports.  The  proposed  law  covering  the 
scheme  has  been  published,  but  is  not  likely  to 
be  passed  without  a  struggle. 

“Some  idea  of  the  difficulty  the  government  is 
facing  may  be  obtained  from  the  fact  that  when  a 
recent  meeting  of  the  Public  Works  Committee, 
M.  Sembat  stated  that  he  reckoned  the  price  of 
a  certain  kind  of  coal  delivered  at  French  ports  at 
63  francs  ($12.60)  per  ton,  one  of  the  largest  coal 
importers,  called  an  expert,  staggered  the  Minister 
by  first  offering  to  sell  him  half  a  million  tons  of 
that  quality  at  60  francs,  delivered  at  any  part, 
following  with  the  explanation  that  he  was  under 
contract  to  supply  200,000  tons  of  that  coal  to  the 
Creusot  works  at  50  francs  per  ton,  and  adding : 
‘Even  then  I  make  ten  francs  per  ton  profit,  de¬ 
spite  the  freight  from  the  western  port  to  the 
Creusot  works.’ 

“The  same  merchant  bluntly  declared  that  the 
government  figures  were  hopelessly  increased  by 
the  custom  of  paying  commissions  to  interme¬ 
diaries.  The  committee  then  postponed  the  dis¬ 
cussion  of  the  project  until  February. 

“The  government’s  kindred  scheme  to  reduce 
prices  by  the  acquisition  of  a  fleet  of  fifty  freight¬ 
ers  has  met  with  equally  sharp  criticism  from  ex¬ 
perts.  They  point  out  that  as  freights  are  high 
owing  to  the  excess  of  the  demand  for  tonnage 
over  the  supply,  it  is  hardly  possible  to  remedy 
things  by  increasing  the  demand.  Experts  assert 
that  it  is  impossible  to  buy,  built,  or  hire  ships 
at  any  figure  which  would  not  involve  enormous 
loss.” 


W.  H.  Donner,  who  with  others  has  just  bought 
the  plant  of  the  New  York  State  Steel  Company 
here,  will  improve  it  by  spending  about  $3,500,000. 
New  docks  will  he  built  on  the  Buffalo  river  and 
a  by-products  coke  plant  and  blast  furnace  put 
up.  Mr.  Donner  prophecies  that  Buffalo  is  the 
coming  steel  center  of  the  country  as  well  as  the 
chief  grain  and  milling  headquarters. 


514 


[December  18 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


General  Review. 


Weather  Is  a  Dominant  Influence,  While 
the  Interruption  of  Transportation 
Helps  to  Strengthen  Prices. 


The  coal  trade  for  this  week  is  back  to  its 
old  familiar  position  where  the  weather  is  the 
dominant  influence  in  everything.  This  is 
something  of  a  novelty,  because,  for  the  last 
six  months,  the  coal  trade  has  been  ruled  first 
by  the  war,  second  by  business  expansion, 
third  by  car  shortage,  fourth  by  a  fear  of  la¬ 
bor  interruptions,  and  fifth  by  the  activities  of 
the  lake  season.  In  all  these  things  there  was 
no  suggestion  of  the  influence  of  the  most 
vital  force  of  them  all,  the  weather,  because 
that  heretofore  has  not  been  of  a  character  to 
influence  the  trade  favorably.  This  last  week, 
however,  the  weather  reinstated  itself  as  the 
dominant  force,  this  came  about  by  a  blizzard 
in  the  east,  which  brought  temperatures  down 
close  to  zero,  and  which  interrupted  transpor¬ 
tation.  It  is  hard  to  tell  which  had  the  most 
efifect  upon  better  demand  and  prices — the 
droi)  in  temperatures,  or  the  interruption  of 
transportation.  It  is  true  that  the  cold 
weather  served  to  intensify  greatly  the  con¬ 
gestion  of  terminals  and  the  shortage  of  cars 
which  has  bothered  the  east  all  fall.  It  intro¬ 
duced  also  a  new  element,  which  was  an  abso¬ 
lute  shortage  of  coal,  whereas  heretofore 
there  has  been  only  inconvenience  or  delay  in 
getting  supply. 

The  interruption  of  transportation  was  quite 
serious.  One  report  says  that  even  the  mails 
were  twenty-eight  hours  behind  schedule  time 
and  this  means  that  in  many  directions  the 
shipment  of  coal  was  actually  suspended. 

The  influence  of  the  weather  on  the  west¬ 
ern  trade  was  not  quite  so  serious.  There 
the  temperature  dropped  down  close  to  zero. 
This  increased  the  consumption  hy  house¬ 
holders  and  enlarged  the  buying  by  retailers. 
The  latter  entered  this  period  with  no  large 
supply  and  consequently  had  to  replenish. 
This,  of  course,  brought  a  good  sized  demand 
upon  the  producers  and  it  seemed  that  it  would 
improve  the  price  materially.  However,  prior 
to  that  time,  the  operators  had  been  accumu¬ 
lating  unsold  coal  at  the  mines  in  consider¬ 
able  quantity,  the  aggregate  being  several 
thousand  cars.  The  extraordinary  demand 
brought  only  enough  orders  to  about  clean 
up  the  coal  on  track  and  did  not  call  upon 
the  mines  to  increase  production  to  any  ex¬ 
tent.  In  fact,  it  will  take  a  week  or  ten  days 
of  severe  weather  to  compel  the  western  mines 
to  increase  their  production.  It  will  take 
much  more  severe  weather  than  we  have  had 
so  far  to  bring  anything  like  a  serious  inter¬ 
ruption  of  transportation,  as  cars  in  the  west 
are  free. 

In  the  meanwhile  the  forces  which  have 
been  working  to  make  the  market  strong  are 
still  in  operation.  There  would  be  a  good 
demand  for  export  coal  if  we  could  get  the 
ships  to  move  it.  There  is  a  good  demand  for 
coal  for  bunkering  purposes  on  ships  which 
are  carrying  war  munitions  and  foodstuffs. 
This  is  increasing  our  off-shore  business. 
.•\lso  in  the  east  the  terminal  congestion  is 
still  serious,  and  this  brings  about  a  shortage 
of  cars.  In  the  east  also  the  manufacturing 
programs  are  constantly  expanding,  due  to 
good  business,  both  at  home  and  abroad, 
and  this  means  an  increasing  demand  for  coal. 

In  the  central  district  the  lake  season  has 
come  to  a  close  and  this  releases  for  nearby 
consumption  the  product  of  the  mines,  and  it 
also  releases  cars  which  have  been  engaging 
in  the  lake  trade.  However,  reports  from 
Pittsburgh  indicate  that  home  demand  has 
expanded  enough  to  absorb  the  lake  tonnage 
without  difficulty.  In  a  word,  the  mines  which 
normally  close  down  at  the  expiration  of  the 
lake  season  are  still  running  to  capacity. 

The  possible  Influence  of  this  situation 
upon  prices  also  causes  the  student  of  the 
trade  to  pause.  In  the  east,  so  the  report 
goes,  the  immediate  influence  of  the  severe 
weather  was  to  advance  prices  to  almost  un¬ 
precedented  figures.  Bituminous  coal  for 
steam  making  purposes  has  sold  in  Philadel¬ 
phia  within  the  week  at  $3.00  a  ton.  In  the 
eastern  markets  some  of  the  buyers  are  hold¬ 
ing  for  $3.00  while  prices  ranging  between 
$2.50  and  $3.00  at  the  mines  are  being  asked. 
This  means  simply  that  the  coming  short¬ 
age  of  coal  is  going  to  dictate  really  runa¬ 
way  prices  if  the  situation  in  the  east  is  any 
criterion. 


The  situation  is  not  relieved  either  when 
it  is  realized  that  supplying  this  rush  demands 
must  come  at  the  same  time  that  America 
begins  to  get  together  enough  storage  coal  to 
tide-  the  business  over  the  period  of  mine  sus¬ 
pension  which  is  expected  on  the  first  of  April. 
It  would  be  bad  enough  to  go  into  a  severe 
winter  with  no  more  coal  than  we  have  in 
storage  but  it  is  even  worse  to  contemplate 
that  alongside  the  need  to  create  storage 
piles  of  coal. 


Chicago  Market. 

A  Touch  of  Cold  Weather  Cleans  Up 
Accumulations  of  Domestic  Coal — 
Screenings  Are  Strong. 


Office  of  The  Black  Diamond, 
Chicago,  December  16. 

The  coal  market  this  week  is  in  a  very  much 
better  position.  The  western  coal  market  is  in 
a  good  position  this  week  because  of  a  touch 
of  cold  weather.  The  benefit  of  heavier  con¬ 
sumption  by  the  householders  and  consequently 
heavier  buying  by  retailers,  was  felt  mostly  by 
the  operators  of  Indiana  and  Illinois.  At  those 
mines  there  had  been  considerable  accumulation 
of  unsold  coal  at  the  mines  and  it  was  a  ques¬ 
tion  how  this  was  going  to  be  moved  without 
breaking  the  market.  The  touch  of  cold  weather 
came  along  making  an  extraordinary  demand 
for  the  prepared  sizes  and  this  cleaned  up  the 
accumulation  nicely  without  compelling  the  oper¬ 
ators  to  increase  output.  As  a  consequence,  the 
domestic  sizes  became  stronger  without  doing 
any  damage  to  screenings  prices  which  on  the 
contrary  have  risen  five  cents  a  ton  in  price  as 
the  result  of  the  gain  of  demand  over  produc¬ 
tion. 


The  market  on  eastern  coals  is  very  much 
stronger,  first  by  the  better  demand  from  re¬ 
tailers  in  the  west  and  second,  by  the  fact  that 
a  severe  storm  in  the  east  so  tied  up  railroad 
transportation  as  to  interfere  even  with  the 
mails  to  say  nothing  of  the  slowing  down  of 
passenger  trains  and  freight.  Whatever  of  an 
accumulation  of  eastern  coal  there  had  been  was 
quickly  cleaned  tip  by  the  better  buying  of  re¬ 
tailers  and  because  fresh  supplies  were  not  com¬ 
ing  through  rapidly  prices  rose  to  some  extent. 
Everything  considered,  the  market  is  in  first- 
class  position. 

The  operators  in  Franklin  county,  Illinois,  had 
been  producing  lump  coal,  for  which  there  was 
no  active  demand  in  order  to  supply  the  screen¬ 
ings  and  other  steam  sizes  for  which  there  was  a 
good  demand.  In  consequence,  there  was  quite 
an  accumulation  the  latter  part  of  last  week  of 
prepared  sizes  at  the  mines.  Some  estimates 
show  that  this  ran  as  high  as  1,200  cars.  On 
Tuesday  thefe_  was  an  election  which  caused 
most  of  the  mines  in  that  county  to  close  down 
and  for  the  first  part  of  the  week  there  was  a 
very  much  better  demand.  As  the  result  of 
the  two  things  the  accumulations  had  been 
cleaned  up  to  the  extent  of  about  700  to  800 
cars,  leaving  only  a  normal  amount  of  400  to 
500  cars  on  hand.  The  better  demand  without 
any  increase  of  production  will  soon  take  care 
of  that  and  as  a  consequence  the  market  is  quite 
strong.  Screenings  in  the  meantime  are  firmer, 
prices  raaging  about  five  cents  a  ton,  the  quota¬ 
tion  being  eighty  to  eighty-five  cents. 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Franklin  County —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Lump  .  12.30  $1.75 

Egg  .  2.36  1.75 

No.  1  nut .  2.80  1.75 

No.  2  nut .  2.65  1.50 

Mine  run .  2.15(32.20  1.10@1.15 

2-inch  screenings .  1.85(gl.00  .80(g  .85 

Williamson  county  operators  had  a  very  small 
accumulation  of  coal,  the  no-bills  amounting  to 
not  more  than  500  cars.  The  closing  down  of 
the  mines  for  election  and  the  heavier  orders 
from  retailers  removed  this  accumulation  com¬ 
pletely  and  the  market  is  technically  and  actu¬ 
ally  strong.  Those  who  had  been  holding  for 
$1.75  a  ton  are  firm  at  that  figure  and  those  who 
have  been  holding  for  $1.60  are  inclined  to  ask 
higher  prices.  Fine  coal  is  quite  strong. 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Williamson  County —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Lump  . $2.65(92.80  $1.60(91.75 

Egg  .  2.65@2.80  1.60@1.75 

No.  1  washed .  2.80  1.75 

No.  2  washed .  2.45  1.40 


Saline  county  operators  are  still  struggling 
with  the  tendency  to  over-produce,  but  the  better 
demand  relieved  them  to  some  extent.  As  a 
consequence,  the  immediate  price  is  now  $1.60 
instead  of  $1.50  as  it  was  a  week  ago  and  some 
operators  are  holding  for  $1.75.  Fine  coal  prices 


are  firrner,  ranging  from  eighty  to  eighty-five 
cents  with  emphasis  on  the  latter  figure. 


F.  O.  B. 

Saline  County —  Chicago. 

Lump  . $2.55(32.80 

Mine  run .  2.20 

Screenings  .  1.85(31.90 

lli-inch  lump .  2.35 


F.  O.  B. 
Mines. 
$1.50@1.75 
1.15 

.80(9  .35 
1.30 


The  better  demand  for  lump  coal  strengthened 
the  central  Illinois  situation  a  little,  but  some 
of  the  operators  down  there  are  still  feeling 
the  effect  of  too  elaborate  production.  Lump 
and  egg  have  not  sold  at  as  low  fi.gures  as  they 
were  a  week  ago,  but  they  have  ben  sold  enough 
at  circular  as  to  make  that  of  little  importance. 
The  Sangamon  county  operators  are  holding 
firmly  for  the  circular  price  of  $1.75,  but  are  noT 
doing  a  great  volume  of  domestic  business,  their 


coals  are  going  to  the  railroads  mostly  for  stor¬ 
age  purposes.  The  screenings  has  a  little  stronger 
range  from  seventy  to  seventy-five  cents. 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 


Central  Illinois — 

Lump  . 

. 

Nut  . . 

Mine  run . 

Screenings . 


Chicago. 
$2.32@2.57 
,  2.32@2.47 
2.47 
1.87 
1.52 


Mines. 

$1.25@1.75 

1.50(31.65 

1.65 

1.05 

.70 


The  Clinton,  Indiana,  situation  is  hardly  dif¬ 
ferent  than  last  week.  There  is  a  good  demand 
for  domestic  sizes  in  Indiana  and  fine  coal  has 


an  upward  tendency. 


Clinton — 

F.  O.  B. 
Chicago. 

F.  O.  B. 
Mines. 

No. 

4  domestic  lump . 

. $2.42(92.57 

$1.65@1.75 

No. 

4  egg . 

1.50 

Nut 

1.35 

No. 

5  and  6  mine  run . 

1.10 

No. 

5  and  6  screenings . 

.  1.62 

.85 

Knox  county  operators  have  diversified  their 
business  a  little  this  week  by  adding  a  line  of 
domestic  orders  to  their  already  heavy  steam 
business  and  the  market  all  told  is  quite  firm. 


Knox  County — - 

Lump  . 

Egg  . '. . 

Mine  run . 

Screenings  . 


F.  p.  B. 
Chicago. 
$2.37 
2.37 
1.87 
1.72 


F.  O.  B. 
Mines. 
$1.50 
1.50 
1.05 
.85 


Cold  weather  and  the  interruption  of  trans- 
liortation  between  here  and  the  mines  served  to 
clean  up  any  suggestion  of  an  accumulation  of 
anthracite  coal  and  as  a  consequence  prices  are 
quite  firm.  As  a  matter  of  fact  the  retailers 
who  had  not  stored  much  coal  began  ordering 
quite  freely  by  telephone  and  telegraph,  the  first 
of  this  week,  but  the  wholesalers  were  in  no 
position  to  respond  quickly,  their  shipments  be¬ 
ing  interfered  with  from  the  mines  by  the  tie- 
up  of  eastern  transportation.  There  was  enou.gh 
coal  available  for  movement  from  the  docks, 
however,  to  relieve  any  distress  of  the  retailers. 

Smokeless  coal  benefited  most  by  the  interrup¬ 
tion  of  transporttion  from  the  east.  The  car 
supply  had  been  entirely  too  free  there  hereto¬ 
fore  and  this  resulted  in  a  situation  which  was 
somewhat  discoura.ging.  As  recently  reported, 
prices  had  broken  both  on  lump  and  egg  at 
mine  run.  However,  when  cold  weather  in  the 
west  brought  a  better  demand  and  when  the 
railroads  were  tied  up,  the_  market  righted  itself 
quickly.  The  circular  price  on  mine  run  of 
$1.40  has  been  maintained.  Lump  and  egg  be¬ 
came  firm  at  the  new  circular  price  established 
a  short  time  ago. 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Smokeless —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Mine  run  . $3.30(93.45  $1.25(91.40 

Lump  and  egg .  3.90@4.05  1.85@2.00 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Somerset  County — •  Chicago.  Mines. 

Mine  run .  $3.45  $1.40 

Lump  and  egg .  3.80  1.75 

Hocking  coal  has  been  firm  in  this  territory 
for  the  last  week  at  $1.75,  shipments  being  rela¬ 
tively  small. 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Hocking —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Domestic  lump . $3.25(93.40  $1.60@1.75 

Splint  coal  in  demand,  both  east  and  west,  has 
been  firm  at  prices  heretofore  quoted. 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Kanawha —  Chicago.  Mines, 

lid-inch  lump . $3.40@3.50  $1.50(91.60 


Eastern  Kentucky  coal  was  helped  out  by  the 
cold  weather  of  the  last  week  and  modified  to 
some  extent  the  spread  of  prices  on  coal  as 
previously  reported.  The.  minimum  it  seems 
has  moved  about  ten  cents  a  ton. 

F.  p.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Eastern  Kentucky —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Domestic  lump  . $3.55(94.30  $1.65(32.40 

Egg  .  3.40@3.90  1.50@2.00 

The  coke  market  is  firm  in  all  departments 
with  gas  house  coke  moving  up  twenty-five  cents 
a  ton  to  $4.25. 


F.  O.  B. 

Coke—  Chicago. 

Connellsville  . $5.25@5.50 

By-product,  foundry .  5.25(3  6.50 

By-product,  egg  and  stove .  4.75(94.95 

By-product,  nut  .  4.75@4.95 

Gas  house  .  4.00 


No.  25] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


515 


Pittsburgh  Trade. 


Despite  the  Closing  of  Lake  Naviga¬ 
tion  Demand  for  Coal  Is  Strong 
Enough  to  Absorb  Output. 


Office  of  Tue  15l.\ck  Diamond, 

3  503  Oliver  Building, 
Pittsburgh,  December  10. 
The  coal  men  that  predicted  a  dull  December, 
a  lull  after  shipping  ceased,  and  similar  condi¬ 
tions,  has  no  standing  in  the  trade  today. 

Coal,  to  say  the  least,  if  not  experiencing  a 
boom,  and  a  very  decided  one  at  that,  is  certainly 
seeing  what  can  only  be  termed  a  skyward  mar¬ 
ket,  and  no  man  will  quote  you  anything  but 
twelve  hour  prices,  not  knowing  what  a  daj'  nor 
an  hour  may  bring  forth,  e.xcepting  that  it  don’t 
bring  forth  a  car  supply. 

Transportation  conditions,  export  trade,  and 
the  consequent  increased  demand  for  Pennsyl¬ 
vania  coal  east,  has  created  a  situation  that  has 
led  up  to  a  condition  where  if  a  man  has  any  free 
coal  he  can  practically  get  whatever  he  wants  for 
it  if  he  can  give  car  numbers.  This  condition  de¬ 
veloped  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  state  some 
weeks  ago,  and  in  spite  of  freight  rates  has 
worked  its  way  from  the  Clearfield  district  west¬ 
ward  to  the  Latrobe-Greensburgh  section,  and  on 
through  the  Westmoreland,  and  the  Youghiogheny 
zone  until  today  the  whole  Pittsburgh  circle  is  in 
the  throes  of  a  condition  that,  as  stated,  cannot 
be  quoted  twelve  hours  ahead.  Pittsburgh  oper¬ 
ators  in  the  Latrobe  district  are  getting  $3.2.j 
gross  at  mines,  and  sales  of  Westmoreland  gas 
coal  are  reported  at  from  $2.13  to  $2.25,  and 
eastern  buyers  are  offering  $1.75  for  Pittsburgh 
coal  where  car  numbers  can  be  given.  One  large 
operator  stated  today  that  he  was  quoting  $2.00 
for  delivery  over  the  next  two  weeks,  and  would 
quote  no  less — as  he  felt  very  certain  the  prices 
would  be  higher  before  January  1st,  notwithstand¬ 
ing  Pittsburgh  freight  rates  east.  The  market 
is  altogether  east,  no  western  demand  appearing. 

telephone  inquiry  yesterday  from  No.  8  dis¬ 
trict  (Ohio)  offered  mine  run  for  eastern  ship¬ 
ment  as  low  as  95  cents,  but  rates  practically  ex¬ 
clude  that  section  from  Eastern  markets. 

The  New  River  and  Pocahontas  region  are  also 
reported  as  practically  out  of  the  eastern  mar¬ 
ket,  owing  to  a  lack  of  vessel  capacity  as  well 
as  the  scarcity  of  cars,  and  $2.00  per  gross  ton  is 
being  quoted  there,  where  any  shipments  can  be 
made.  Slack  seems  to  be  an  impossibility — as  long 
as  the  above  prices  maintain  on  mine  run.  Pan 
Handle  eoal  sold  at  $1.35  the  fore  part  of  the 
week  and  $1.05  to  $1.10  for  slack  was  offered,  but 
none  to  be  had.  It  doesn’t  seem  to  make  much 
difference  what  kind  of  coal  it  is,  the  market  east 
is  just  the  same. 

Railroads,  traction  companies  and  manufactur¬ 
ing  plants  are  stocking  coal  in  anticipation  of 
further  advances,  and  from  present  indications 
in  the  iron  and  steel  trades  there  is  little  pros¬ 
pect  of  the  demand  shrinking.  Some  apprehen- 
tion  is  felt  here  and  there  regarding  developments 
.'kpril  1st,  but  optimists  seem  to  think  that  with 
market  conditions  maintaining  as  at  present  there 
will  be  little  or  no  trouble  regarding  new  scale 
jirices. 

W’herever  it  is  possible  to  obtain  labor,  addi¬ 
tional  capacity  is  being  operated,  and  new  work¬ 
ings  are  getting  into  the  market. 

The  Delmont  Gas  Coal  Company  of  Delmont, 
Pa.,  load  their  first  car  today,  and  are  now  in 
shaiie  to  continue  shipments,  entering  the  market 
at  a  very  opportune  time. 

Considerable  snow  over  the  watersheds  of  the 
three  rivers  here  raised  the  hopes  of  river  coal 
operators  for  a  coal  barge  stage — but  the  weather 
forecaster  holds  out  no  encouragement,  as  a  de¬ 
cided  fall  in  the  temperature  will  prevent  any 
raise  in  the  rivers  and  any  shipments  south  by 
water.  The  same  weather  conditions  tend  to  iin- 
nrove  domestic  trade. 

'  i.rnnrc  coke  has  been  doing  some  queer  stunts 
for  some  time  past  and  capped  its  slump  of  a  few 
weeks  ago  by  jumping  to  $3.00  and  $3.35  this 
week.  Furnace  interests  anticipating  more  than 
the  usual  shortage  in  spot  coke  during  the  holi¬ 
days  came  in  for  whatever  was  to  be  had  and 
prices  soared  very  unexpectedly.  The  situation  of 
output  and  consumption  has  been  so  evenly  bal¬ 
anced  that  no  coke  has  accumulated,  and  sales 
were  made  at  the  figures  above  quoted  at  Union- 
town  during  the  past  few  days.  This  condition 
is  likely  to  obtain  until  after  the  turn  of  the 
year  and  $4.00  or  $5.00  furnace  coke  may  be  seen 
at  any  time,  as  predicted  by  various  operators. 

The  pig  iron  market  looks  like  $20.00  a  little 
ways  off,  and  the  sliding  scale  contracts  evidently 


influence  the  spot  coke  market.  Foundry  grades 
hold  firmly  at  $3.25  to  $3.75  with  an  upward 
tendency  that  looks  good  to  the  producer. 


Pittsburgh  News  Items. 

.\braham  Overholt  Tinstman,  aged  eighty-one, 
who  was  largely  instrumental  in  starting  H.  C. 
Frick  in  business  and  was  probably  one  of  the 
oldest  coke  manufacturers  in  Pennsylvania,  died 
of  pneumonia  at  his  home.  Sycamore  and  Grant 
streets.  Turtle  Creek,  at  7  o’clock  p.  m.  the  14th 
instant. 

Preparations  are  going  on  for  the  blowing  in 
about  January  15  of  two  blast  furnaces  of  the 
Carnegie  Steel  Company.  They  are  the  Neville 
furnace  on  Neville  Island,  which  has  not  been  in 
operation  for  eight  years,  and  the  Edith  furnace 
in  Woods  Run,  which  has  not  been  worked  for 
si.x  years.  These  two  furnaces  with  several  others 
are  on  the  reserve  list  of  the  Carnegie  Steel  Com¬ 
pany  and  are  only  fired  in  case  of  emergency. 


Detroit  Trade. 


Detroit,  IMich.,  December  IG. —  {Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — Continued  strength  is  the  most  con¬ 
spicuous  and  gratifying  feature  of  the  Detroit 
market.  1  liougii  sales  of  coal  are  not  especially 
large,  orders  are  being  placed  with  a  good  de¬ 
gree  of  regularity  and  shippers  are  hopeful  this 
situation  will  continue  well  through  the  winter. 

While  this  is  more  particularly  applicable  to 
the  steam  coal  trade,  the  same  conditions  are  a 
feature  of  the  domestic  coal  trade,  in  which  the 
activity  is  less.  The  continuance  of  seasonable 
weather  and  low  temperatures  is  expected,  how¬ 
ever,  to  do  much  to  bolster  up  the  domestic  busi¬ 
ness  before  spring.  Buyers  who  have  been  hold¬ 
ing  back  are  coming  into  the  market  in  increasing 
number  and  shippers  are  counting  on  an  even 
more  general  willingness  to  take  coal  if  the 
weather  does  not  suddenly  moderate. 

In  the  steam  coal  branch  of  the  business  small 
sizes  are  still  holding  the  lead  in  demand,  which 
is  causing  strenuous  effort  on  the  part  of  some 
shippers  to  get  stock  through  on  time.  All  sizes 
are  meeting  with  rather  a  ready  sale,  however. 

Though  the  closing  of  the  season  of  navigation 
on  the  lakes  was  expected  to  bring  quite  a  sub¬ 
stantial  increase  in  the  amount  of  consignment 
stock  shipped  into  Detroit,  the  apprehension  of 
certain  shippers  in  this  respect  is  only  partly  borne 
out  by  the  developments.  The  increase  in  quan¬ 
tity  of  such  coal  has  not  been  so  great  as  to  make 
it  a  very  material  factor  in  the  situation,  and  such 
coal  as  is  arriving  seems  to  find  buyers  willing  to 
receive  it  in  reasonable  time.  It  cannot  be  said, 
of  course,  that  schedule  prices  are  obtained  on  all 
this  stock,  but  the  proportion  on  which  any  im¬ 
portant  reduction  is  made  is  so  small  as  not  to 
have  exerted  any  noticeable  effect  on  general 
conditions. 

Stove  and  egg  sizes  in  anthracite  are  some¬ 
what  sluggish,  with  light  demand.  Chestnut  is 
finding  a  steady  market  with  demand  slightly 
more  active  than  the  supply,  the  result  being  that 
in  a  number  of  recent  sales,  a  premium  of  15  to  25 
cents  a  ton  was  paid  shippers  to  obtain  stock 
siieedily.  In  some  instances  shippers  are  being 
required  to  take  the  larger  sizes  of  anthracite  to 
obtain  chestnut  in  sufficient  quantity  for  their 
requirements. 

The  transportation  situation  is  very  much  im¬ 
proved  locally,  in  contrast  with  10  days  ago,  but 
traces  of  congestion  are  still  apparent  in  suf¬ 
ficiently  impressive  form  to  cause  anxiety  to  some 
of  the  shippers  who  are  delayed  in  getting  stock 
delivered  promptly.  Car  shortage  conditions  re¬ 
ported  from  mining  districts  in  both  hard  and 
soft  coal  fields  give  no  indication  of  improvement. 

Brices  on  mine  shiiimcnt  orders  are: 


West  Virginia 

Gas — 

F.  0.  B. 
Mines. 

F.  0.  B. 
Detroit. 

Three-quarter  lump . 

Mine  run . 

$1.10 

...  .90@1.00 

.  .  .  .75@  .90 

$2.50 

2.30@2.40 

3.15@3.40 

West  Virginia 

Splint — 

I‘'our-inch  lump 
Two-inch  lump  . 
Three-quarter  . . 

.  ..  1.50@1.75 
.  .  .  1.25@1.40 
...  1.05@1.10 
.90 

2.90@3.15 

2.65@2.80 

2.45@2.50 

2.30 

Nut,  pea  and  slack . 

.  . .  .75@  .90 

3.15@3.40 

Smokeless — 

Lump  and  egg  . 
Nut  . 

2.25 

3.85 

3.35 

Open 

Mine  run  . 

1.40 

3.00 

Kentucky  Splint — 

Lump  .  1.75@2.00 

Kgg  .  1.25@1.40 

Nut,  pea  and  slack . 75@  .90 

Fairmont — 

Three-quarter  steam  lump .  1.10 

Mine  run . 9.5(31.00 

Slack  .  Open 


3.15@3.40 

2.65@2.80 

2.16@2.30 

2.50 

2.35@2.40 

Open 


Hocking  Valley — 
Shaker  three-inch  lump.  . 

Shaker  egg  and  nut . 

Domestic  lump  . 

Three-quarter  lump  . 

Mine  run  . 

Nut,  pea  and  slack . 

Pittsburgh  No.  8 — 

Three-quart'.-r  lump  . 

.Mine  run  . 

Slack  . 

Jackson  Hill — 

Domestic  lump  . 

Cambridge — 

Three-quarter  lump  . 

Mine  run  . 

Pomeroy — • 

1  wo  and  three-inch  lump 

Kgg  . 

Slack  . 


1.60 

1.25 

1.50 

1.35 

1.00@1.10 

Open 

1.05 

.95 

Open 


2.50 


1.20 

1.10 

1.60 
1.35 
.75(3  .90 


2.75 

2.40 

2.65 

2.50 

2.15(32.25 

Open 


2.20 

2.10 

Open 

3.65 


2.35 

2.25 


2.75 

2.50 

1.90(32.65 


St.  Louis  Trade. 


St.  Louis,  Mo.,  December  IG. —  (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — The  colder  weather  has  helped  the 
domestic  situation  considerably.  While  the 
weather  has  only  been  moderately  cold,  in  fact 
just  about  freezing  points,  even  this  little  touch 
of  cold  weather  has  stirred  things  up  consid¬ 
erably  and  shows  that  everything  is  in  good  con¬ 
dition. 

The  mines  throughout  the  state  of  Illinois  have 
been  able  to  do  a  little  better  in  fact  about  five 
days  a  week  working  time  has  been  maintained, 
and  probably  most  of  the  mines  will  begin  do- 
full  time  if  the  weather  continues  cold. 

The  dernand  on  screenings  and  steam  sizes 
have  also  increased  and  the  prices  are  stiffening 
up,  in  spite  of  this  fact,  lump  has  been  running 
better.  This  is  a  sure  sign  that  we  can  anticipate 
a  strong  screening  market  for  the  rest  of  the 
season. 

The  whole  feeling  of  the  trade  is  much  more 
optimistic  and  things  are  in  such  a  condition 
now  that  it  would  only  take  the  slightest  spell  of 
cold  weather  or  a  touch  of  car  shortage  to  make 
a  very  high  price  market.  In  other  words  with 
full  car  supply  and  only  moderately  cold 
weather,  as  far  as  the  mining  is  concerned 
everything  is  in  a  free  and  easy  state.  The  bal¬ 
ance  between  supply  and  demand  is  almost  equal, 
and  it  would  only  take  a  very  small  curtailment 
of  output  or  a  very  small  increase  in  demand  to 
make  the  demand  far  outrun  the  supply. 

Standard  coal  is  selling  about  the  same  figures 
as  heretofore,  there  is  a  stiffer  demand  on  all 
sizes.  Prices  are  as  follows: 


Standard  Coal —  Mine. 

6-inch  lump  . $1.25 

6x2-inch  egg  .  1.25 

2-inch  lump .  1  05 

Steam  egg .  jgo 

No.  1  nut .  115 

No.  2  nut  . .so 

.Mine  run . 85 

Screenings  .  jeo 


F.  O.  B. 

St.  Louis. 

$1.82H 

1.82 

1.62‘/2 

1.47!4 

1.72J4 

1.37J4 

1.42/, 

1.17J4 


The  demand  for  steam  sizes  from  Chicago  and 
the  mines  in  the  Springfield  and  Staunton  dis¬ 
trict  are  brisk.  Egg  and  lump  are  also  moving 
better. 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B, 


C-inch  lump . $1.50  $2.07)4 

2-inch  lump .  1,25  1.82‘4 

Screenings  . 60  1  17)4 


Williamson  County  mines  are  much  better  off 
than  last  week  in  regard  to  lump  and  egg  or¬ 
ders.  Screenings  are  very  scarce  indeed. 


F.  9.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Mine.  St.  Louis. 

6-inch  lump  or  egg.. . $1.40(31.75  $2.02)4 @2.47)4 

3x2-inch  nut .  1.20@1.75  1.92)4 @2.47)4 

Screenings  .  .65  1.37)4 

The  demand  for  domestic  sizes  from  Frank¬ 

lin  County  is  very  much  brisker,  and  it  is  an¬ 
ticipated  that  the  Franklin  County  mines  will 
probably  be  over  sold  with  the  slightest  touch 
of  cold  weather  on  all  domestic  sizes.  Steam 
sizes  from  Franklin  County  are  in  stiff  demand. 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Mine.  St.  Louis. 


6-inch  lump,  egg  or  nut . $1.75  $2.47)4 

No.  2  stove .  1.50  2.22)4 

Screenings  . 70  1.42)4 

Anthracite  is  in  a  fair  demand,  locally.  Chest¬ 
nut  is  still  moving  actively  in  the  country.  Smoke¬ 
less  is  a  little  dull,  though  coke  is  making  quite 
a  spurt  at  the  present  time.  Demand  has  im¬ 
proved  and  prices  have  also  gone  up. 


Anthracite —  F.  O.  B.  St.  Louis. 

Chestnut  . $7.65 

Stove  or  egg .  7.30 

Grate  .  7.05 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Mine.  St.  Louis. 

Lump  or  egg . $2.25  $4.75 

Gas  House  Coke —  F.  O.  B.  St.  Louis. 

Gas  house  coke . $4.26 

By-product  coke  (all  sizes) .  5.00 


The  prices  on  Illinois  soft  coal,  f.  o.  b.  Fast  St.  Louis, 
Madison,  Venice  or  Granite  City,  Ill.,  are  20  cents  lower 
than  the  above  quoted  St.  Louis  prices. 


516 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[December  18 


Cincinnati  Trade. 


Weather  Favors  a  Heavy  Consumption  of 
Coal  But  a  Heavy  Accumulation 
Prevents  Strong  Prices. 


Cincinnati,  Ohio,  December  IG. —  (Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — While  there  has  been  excellent 
weather  for  consumption  of  fuel,  and  while  there 
has  been  large  consumption,  the  domestic  mar¬ 
ket  in  this  territory  has  been  in  such  condition 
as  to  profit  very  little  by  it  so  far.  Producers 
and  dealers,  however,  recognize  it  as  a  fact  that 
if  the  weather  should  continue  as  it  has  in  the 
past  ten  days  that  it  will  not  be  more  than  another 
ten  days  that  this  demand  will  continue.  In 
fact,  from  various  directions  come  indications 
that  a  fine  demand  is  springing  up  and  that  this 
will  rescue  the  market  from  its  present  condi¬ 
tion,  which  is  one  of  overproduction,  under¬ 
price  and  choked-up  delivery  in  domestic.  The 
condition,  as  far  as  price  is  concerned,  is  due 
largely  to  the  bad  judgment  shown  in  the  lake 
trade  by  smokeless  shippers  who  glutted  the  docks 
with  coal  which  could  not  be  delivered  to  the  ves¬ 
sels,  and  which,  when  dumped  on  the  market  in 
the  northwest,  sent  prices  galley-west.  The  de¬ 
livery  situation  is  largely  due  to  the  car  scarcity 
and  the  difficulty  in  being  able  to  send  out  the 
right  kind  of  equipment. 

While  smokeless  coals  feel  the  effect  of  the 
sale  of  several  hundred  cars  of  lump  and  egg  at 
$1.40,  mine  run  prices,  some  of  the  producers  have 
retired  from  the  market  except  to  deliver  con¬ 
tract  coal,  which  in  their  case  is  going  at  the  regu¬ 
lar  prices.  Quite  a  number  have  not  been  at  all 
affected  by  the  slump,  every  ounce  they  can  de¬ 
liver  in  the  present  state  of  delivery  going  to  con¬ 
tract  customers.  Others  who  cut  prices  to  meet, 
what  they  term,  an  “emergency”  have  been  un¬ 
able  to  deliver  the  cheaper  coal  and  it  has  done 
them  little  good.  A  recovery  is  expected  by  the 
turn  of  the  year,  and  those  holding  out  are  doing 
so  for  that  reason.  Splint  lump  demand  has  been 
affected  by  the  slump  in  smokeless,  but  not  to  the 
extent  feared  by  some  of  the  timid  ones.  In  fact, 
if  the  producers  had  stood  “pat,”  there  would 
have  been  no  effect,  for  the  absorption  of  the 
smokeless  surplus,  which  has  been  accomplished, 
saved  their  market. 

Prices  in  the  Kentucky  field  are  holding  well, 
under  conditions  prevailing,  the  grades  generally 
considered,  the  higher  holding  around  $2,  or  a 
little  better,  for  four-inch  block;  $1.60  for  egg; 
no  effort  to  sell  nut  alone  in  many  districts,  but 
ranging  from  $1  to  $1.25  where  produced ;  and  85 
to  90  cents  for  nut  and  slack  where  they  can  be 
had.  The  nut  and  slack  market  is  a  joy  and  de¬ 
light  to  producers,  for  it  is  strong,  steady,  advanc¬ 
ing  and  promising  for  the  future.  It  might  be 
inferred  that  the  strength  of  this  product  is  due 
to  the  slowness  of  domestic  at  this  time,  but  this 
is  not  altogether  the  fact.  It  has  some  bearing 
on  the  market,  and  so  has  the  car  situation,  but 
the  best  factor  in  that  trade  is  the  growing  de¬ 
mand  through  the  country  for  manufactured 
goods  clearing  the  storehouses  of  the  manufac¬ 
turers  and  thus  setting  the  spindles,  looms,  fur¬ 
naces,  and  rolling  mills  in  operation.  As  these  go 
to  work,  more  and  more  labor  is  employed,  more 
wages  distributed,  more  buying  power  created  and 
more  activity  in  all  directions  engendered.  This 
is  better  than  the  war  material  demand  for  the 
coal  producer.  In  the  Kentucky  field,  also,  there 
is  a  peculiar  situation  which  is,  that  while  the 
schedules  of  the  contract  and  spot  order  prices 
have  been  advanced  as  usual  in  the  circular,  and 
they  should  be  $2.25  for  the  better  grades  of  coal 
and  $1.75  to  $2  for  December  delivery  of  the 
other  grades,  both  spot  and  contract  prices  are 
being  held  to  November  prices.  In  the  contract 
it  is  not  strictly  necessary  but  some  of  the  wiser 
dealers  have  been  billing  out  December  delivery 
at  November  prices  and  many  grateful  letters  in 
acknowledgement  have  been  received.  In  the 
lesser  grades,  therefore,  prices  have  been  about 
$1.60  to  $2  for  lump;  egg,  $1.25  to  $1.30;  mine 
run,  $1  to  $1.10,  and,  where  manufactured,  3-inch 
lump,  $1.50  to  $1.65. 

West  Virginia  prices  remain  about  where  they 
were  in  November,  also,  except  that  in  most  cases 
where  schedule  was  fixed  it  has  been  adhered  to, 
but  there  has  been  little  difference  from  the 
fact  of  car  shortages.  The  users  of  West  Vir¬ 
ginia  coal  have  paid  very  little  attention  to  price 
changes  on  this  account,  being  willing  to  pay  a 
little  more  for  favorite  products  and  prompt  de¬ 
livery.  Kanawha  lump  is  $1.60  to  $2;  egg,  $1.35 
to  $1.50;  mine  run,  90  cents  to  $1.10;  nut  and 
slack,  75  to  90  cents.  This  embraces  nearly  all 
grades  but  the  very  cheapest,  which  run  at  almost 


any  price.  In  all  fields  an  average  estimate  of  the 
factors  of  the  market  gives  about  the  following 
result,  making  due  allowance  for  slightly  better 
car  service  in  the  C.  &  O.  territory:  Car  allot¬ 
ment,  70  to  75  per  cent;  labor,  75  per  cent;  deliv¬ 
ery,  80  per  cent  of  normal  at  this  season ;  produc¬ 
tion,  85  per  cent;  collections,  95  per  cent;  general 
situation,  80  per  cent  of  normal.  The  holidays 
will  take  at  least  ten  days  of  good  production  out 
of  the  situation  January  3  ;  consumption  will  take 
100  per  cent  of  normalj  and  at  the  beginning  of 
the  year  operations  will  face  strong  demand,  bet¬ 
ter  prices  and  difficult  delivery. 


Cincinnati  Trade  News. 

George  Keyes  of  the  P.  &  O.  Coal  Company, 
Cleveland,  Ohio,  and  C.  E.  Kline  of  the  Wauban 
Coal  Company,  Chicago,  were  callers  on  friends 
in  the  state  Saturday. 

J.  B.  Ratterman  of  the  Blue  Ash  Coal  Company 
last  week  was  initiated  into  the  Cincinnati  Coal 
Exchange  and  as  a  member  of  the  Chamber  of 
Commerce.  Mr.  Ratterman  came  here  some 
months  ago  from  Louisville,  Ky.,  to  take  charge 
of  the  Blue  Ash  company  as  manager. 

The  Wyatt  Coal  Company  was  able  to  send  out 
three  boats  after  the  close  of  navigation  on  the 
lakes,  by  taking  all  risks  on  the  voyage,  two 
large  vessels  going  out  last  week  and  the  third 
sailing  Wednesday  this  week.  The  latter  is  be¬ 
lieved  to  be  the  last  boat  sent  out  of  the  lower 
harbors  this  season.  The  boats  had  been  tied  up 
with  grain  shipments,  and  for  that  and  other  rea¬ 
sons  could  not  respond  to  contract  with  the 
company  earier. 

John  A.  Pageler,  Michigan  and  northern  In¬ 
diana  representative  of  the  Pocahontas  Fuel  Com¬ 
pany,  is  lying  seriously  ill  at  his  home  at  Fort 
Wayne.  Some  weeks  ago  Mr.  Pageler,  who  is 
well  known  to  coal  men  all  over  the  west,  went 
“in”  from  his  “route”  suffering  from  what  was 
diagnosed  as  ptomaine  poisoning.  Later  the 
symptoms  were  of  bronchial  trouble,  and  this 
week  the  sickness  has  developed  into  what  is  be¬ 
lieved  to  be  a  very  serious  case  of  pneumonia. 
His  friends  are  alarmed  about  his  condition. 

Samuel  Perry  of  the  Gray  Eagle  Coal  Com¬ 
pany,  Kermit,  W.  Va.,  and  Frank  S.  Easley, 
president  of  the  Bluefield  Coal  &  Coke  Company, 
Bluefield,  W.  Va.,  were  visitors  from  the  West 
Virginia  fields  this  week.  Frank  Harris,  general 
superintendent  of  the  Cannelton  Coal  &  Coke 
Company,  Cannelton,  W.  Va.,  was  also  a  visitor 
in  the  city  from  another  field  of  that  state.  Among 
railroad  officials  circulating  among  Cincinnati 
coal  offices  this  week  was  Omar  O.  Mills  of 
Columbus,  commercial  agent  of  the  T.  &  O.  C. 
Railway. 

The  Raleigh  Coal  &  Coke  Company  officials 
in  this  city.  President  John  M.  Wright  and  Secre¬ 
tary  A.  A.  Liggett,  were  present  Saturday  night 
last  week  at  the  opening  of  the  new  Virginian 
theater  at  Raleigh,  W.  Va.,  Mrs.  Wright  accom¬ 
panying  Mr.  Wright.  The  interesting  feature  of 
the  occasion  was  that  the  theater  building  had 
been  built  by  the  company  and  turned  over  to  the 
Raleigh  Mining  Institute,  an  organization  of  of¬ 
ficers  and  employes  of  the  company,  to  run  for 
the  common  good.  This  is  the  third  enterprise 
thus  entrusted  to  the  institute,  all  of  which  are 
prospering.  The  first  is  the  Institute  building, 
which  is  used  for  the  common  good  of  the  mem- 
bers,  being  fitted  as  club  rooms  and  having  a 
library  and  reading  room.  The  second  is  a  base- 
liall  ground  prepared  and  fitted  out  in  modern 
style  and  turned  over.  The  third  is  the  theater 
Iniilding.  A  committee  of  the  Institute  for  each 
of  these  enterprises  conducts  the  business,  pay¬ 
ing  all  expenses,  and  setting  aside  a  sinking  fund 
for  the  extinguishment  of  the  claims  against  the 
enterprise,  the  object  being  to  purchase  and  retain 
the  enterprise  for  the  Institute.  The  baseball 
ground  paid  seventy-five  per  cent  of  its  purchase 
price  the  first  year  and  will  extinguish  the  balance 
the  second  year.  It  is  hoped  the  theater  enter¬ 
prise  will  be  equally  successful. 

Saturday  night  was  devoted  to  music ;  a  picture 
presentation,  “The  Diamond  in  the  Sky” ;  and  a 
lianquct  followed  for  the  membership  of  the  In¬ 
stitute,  their  families  and  the  officials  of  the  coal 
company.  A  sixteen-piece  orchestra,  a  twenty- 
piece  colored  band  and  a  sixteen-piece,  philhar¬ 
monic,  Hungarian  band  furnished  the  music,  all 
the  performers  being  employes  of  the  company. 
In  a  box  at  the  performance  were  President  and 
Mrs.  Wright,  of  this  city.  General  Manager  and 
Mrs.  Ernest  Chilson,  Treasurer  and  Mrs.  H.  V. 
Stephenson,  Secretary  A.  A.  Liggett,  General 
Superintendent  James  P.  White,  Company  Phy¬ 
sician  Dr.  Banks.  Store  Manager  W.  W.  Reif  and 
other  guests.  The  design  of  the  stage  curtain 


was  painted  by  a  miner  in  the  company’s  employ. 
The  stage  performance,  beside  the  picture  presen¬ 
tation,  was  by  local  talent  from  among  the  miners. 
A  chorus  of  fifty  miners’  and  employes’  daughters 
presented  an  elaborate  “Flag  Drill” ;  while  the  at¬ 
tendance  was  about  1,200  parents,  friends  and  as¬ 
sociates  of  the  performers.  Able  speaking  and 
singing  were  also  a  part  of  the  exercises,  which, 
with  the  banquet,  contributed  to  a  jollification 
continuing  until  3  o’clock  the  following  morn¬ 
ing.  The  theater  is  a  modern  building,  fully 
equipped  with  the  most  modern  equipment,  ca¬ 
pable  of  seating  1,000  people  and  would  be  a  credit 
to  any  city  in  the  country.  Business  rooms  will 
occupy  a  part  of  the  building,  the  offices  of  the 
managers  and  others  being  also  located  in  the 
building.  The  company  is  very  proud  of  this 
welfare  venture.  The  Institute,  which  has  been 
in  operation  for  five  years  is  no  longer  an 
experiment.  At  the  close  of  the  day  President 
Wright  and  General  Manager  Chilson  were  pre¬ 
sented  with  handsome  loving  cups. 


Omaha  Trade. 


Omaha,  Neb.,  December  16. — (Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — Holiday  shopping,  as  a  rule,  gives 
very  little  consideration  to  the  common  neces¬ 
sities  of  life  and  as  the  weather  has  not  been 
such  as  to  strongly  suggest  fuel,  the  local 
market  is  experiencing  its  usual  quietude. 
Dealers  report  that  business  throughout  the 
fall  has  been  satisfactory,  although  the  ele¬ 
ments  of  excitement  have  been  lacking  pend¬ 
ing  the  approach  of  a  real  “cold  snap.”  Con¬ 
ditions  throughout  the  state  seem  to  be  about 
normal.  Today  the  thermometer  is  dropping 
and  there  is  every  indication  of  snow. 

The  Routt  county  field  is  feeling  the  ef¬ 
fects  of  the  car  situation  as  the  Denver  & 
Salt  Lake  Road  has  refused  to  furnish  box 
cars  for  loading  nut  coal  with  a  view  toward 
supplying  the  demand  for  lump  and  egg  ship¬ 
ping  facilities. 

Despite  the  advance  in  freight  rates,  going 
into  effect  today,  anthracite  has  been  very 
slow.  The  tonnage  on  egg  and  range  sizes 
has  not  been  equal  to  that  of  previous  years, 
a  condition  which  dealers  account  for  by  the 
increased  number  of  oil  burning  furnaces,  as 
well  as  the  popularity  of  petroleum  coke  and 
other  substitutes. 

The  A.  B.  Currie  Company  makes  a  spe¬ 
cialty  of  western  coal  and  reports  that  the 
demand  for  Mt.  Harris  coal  is  making  this 
one  of  the  most  popular  grades  in  Nebraska. 
Routt  county  also  has  been  especially  good 
with  this  firm.  Other  dealers  seem  to  think 
that  the  market  is  well  stocked  with  Routt 
county  coal  and  that  tempting  offers  are  re¬ 
quired  to  move  it. 

Cherokee  nut  is  running  from  $1.85  to  $2.00 
and  slack  is  tight  at  $1.35.  Cherokee  mill 
is  bringing  $1.50.  Missouri  screenings  have 
been  a  trifle  weak,  running  at  from  60  to  85 
cents.  Nut  and  mine  run  from  this  terri¬ 
tory  are  going  at  $1.50  each.  Iowa  screenings 
have  strengthened  very  materially,  the  coal 
moving  at  from  ninety  cents  to  $1.00,  with 
but  few  offerings  made.  Iowa  mine  run  is 
quoted  at  $1.35  and  walnut  block  at  $2.00.  In 
the  Illinois  field  the  Franklin  county  market 
is  unchanged.  Better  grades  of  lump,  nut 
and  egg  are  offered  at  $1.75;  other  Franklin 
county  coals  are  offered  at  $1.40  to  $1.60. 
Montgomery  county  grades  seem  to  be  weaker 
of  late;  lump  is  quoted  at  from  $1.10  to  $1.35, 
and  egg  is  offered  at  the  same  figures.  Num¬ 
ber  one  washed  nut  is  in  better  demand,  at 
$1.50.  There  have  been  few  quotations  on 
Carterville  coal,  prices  running  at  about  $1.50 
on  lump  and  nut.  Rock  Springs,  Wyoming, 
coal  is  rather  slow  because  of  the  weather. 
Lump  from  this  vicinity  is  quoted  at  $2.50, 
grate  at  $2.40  and  nut  at  $1.75.  Hanna  lump 
is  offered  at  $2.50  and  grate  and  nut  sizes  at 
$1.75. 


Omaha  Personal  Notes. 

Mr.  McKabe  of  the  Lehigh  Coal  Sales  Com¬ 
pany,  Chicago,  stopped  at  Hotel  Fontenelle 
during  a  visit  to  the  city  last  week. 

T.  O.  McLaughlin,  Nebraska  sales  agent 
for  the  Gunn-Quealey  Coal  Company,  was 
an  Omaha  visitor  during  the  past  week, 

G.  A.  Barrett  of  the  Connelsville  Coal  and 
Mining  Company,  Connelsville,  Mo.,  called  on 
his  local  friends  during  the  past  few  days. 

Dave  Johnson  of  Murray  &  Johnson.  Goth¬ 
enburg,  Neb.,  was  in  the  city  during  the  past 
week  and  reported  conditions  in  his  home 
town  as  “mighty  fine.” 


No.  25] 


517 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


Indianapolis  Trade. 


Indianapolis,  Ind.,  December  16. —  (Special 
Correspondence.) — ^The  Indiana  coal  trade  is  im¬ 
proving  all  the  time.  The  demand  for  steam  coal 
is  fine.  There  is  hardly  a  mine  in  Indianapolis 
that  is  not  being  operated  up  to  the  limit  and 
the  jobbers  are  having  difficulty  in  getting  as 
much  coal  as  they  can  sell.  Prices  are  a  trifle 
stronger  than  they  were  last  week  although  there 
has  been  no  marked  advance.  Domestic  grades 
are  strong.  The  retailers  are  doing  a  rushing 
business  and  are  keeping  right  after  the  operators 
for  coal.  The  demand  for  domestic  coal  is 
strong  in  every  city  in  the  state.  The  demand  for 
steam  coal  is  better  than  it  has  been  for  more 
than  a  year.  The  only  surprising  feature  of  the 
situation  is  that  prices  have  not  gone  up  on 
steam  grades.  Steam  coal  that  is  not  being  sold 
under  contract  is  higher  than  it  has  been,  but  it 
happens  that  many  of  the  industrial  concerns  that 
were  not  taking  much  coal  a  few  wesk  ago  are 
now  taking  the  limit  of  their  contracts.  Domes¬ 
tic  coal  is  selling  about  the  same  as  it  did  last 
week,  but  a  $2  market  for  Indiana  is  predicted. 
It  would  not  be  surprising  if  Indiana  domestic 
should  be  selling  at  $2  a  ton  at  the  mines  by 
the  first  of  the  year.  The  railroads  are  moving 
coal  pretty  well,  but  is  keeping  after  the  opera¬ 
tors  and  dealers  to  see  that  cars  ar  unloaded 
promptly.  The  following  prices  are  being  quoted 
by  the  wholesalers  here : 


Indiana — ■ 

Mine  run.  No.  4 . 

Mine  run.  Nos.  5  and  6 . 

Nut  . 

Egg  . 

Ipi-inch  steam  lump . 

No.  4  screenings.... . 

Nos.  5  and  6  screenings . 

2;4-inch  domestic.  No.  4 . 

4-inch  domestic.  Nos.  4  and  6 

Brazil  block  domestic . 

No.  1  washed  coal . 

No.  2  washed  coal.... . 

Southern  Indiana  Field — 

Mine  run . 

Domestic  lump . 


F.  O.  B. 

Mines. 

$1.10@1.20 
1.05@1.15 
1.20@1.30 
1.30@1.40 
1.25@1.35 
.80@  .90 
.65@  .75 
1.50@1.55 
1.65@1.70 
2.25@2.50 
1.75 
1.65 


F.  O.  B. 

Indianapolis. 

$1.60@1.60 

1.55@1.65 

1.70@1.80 

1.80@1.90 

1.75@1.85 

1.30@1.40 

1.15@1.25 

2.00(®2.05 

2.15@2.20 

2.75@2.50 

2.25 

2.15 


1.05@1.10 

1.40@1.50 


The  Indianapolis,  retailers  are  quoting  the  fol¬ 
lowing  prices:  Linton  No.  4,  lump,  forked,  $3.25; 
Indiana  lump,  forked,  $3.00;  Indiana  lump  and 
egg,  screened,  $2.75 ;  Kanawha  lump,  forked, 
$4.25 ;  Ohio  Hocking  lump,  forked,  $4.25 ;  Ohio 
Hocking  washed  egg,  $4.50;  Kentucky  lump, 
$4.50;  Ohio  Jackson  lump,  forked,  $5.00;  Bloss- 
burg,  smithing,  $5.50;  Cannel  lump,  $6.00;  Poca¬ 
hontas,  forked  lump,  $6.00 ;  Pocahontas,  shoveled 
lump,  $5.50;  Pocahontas,  mine  run,  $4.50;  Poca¬ 
hontas,  nut  and  slack,  $3.75;  Anthracite,  chestnut, 
$8.25;  Anthracite,  stove  and  egg,  $8.00;  Anthra¬ 
cite,  grate,  $7.75 ;  Connellsville  coke,  $6.00 ;  In¬ 
dianapolis  by-product  coke  (all  sizes),  $6.00. 

Extra  delivery  charges :  Bags,  50s  a  ton  extra, 
ground  floor  or  dumped  in  cellar;  bags,  75c  a  ton 
extra,  carried  into  cellar. 


Indianapolis  News  Briefs. 

Job  P'reeman,  Terre  Haute,  who  is  running 
again  for  the  Republican  nomination  for  state 
treasurer,  was  here  this  week. 

Samuel  M.  Sexton,  formerly  editor  of  the 
United  Mine  Workers’  Journal  and  for  many 
years  a  prominent  figure  at  the  miner  workers’ 
conventions,  died  here  this  week.  He  was  well 
known  throughout  the  coal  fields  of  this  country. 

The  Vandalia  railroad  has  let  contracts  for 
the  building  of  $150,000  worth  of  switches  and 
terminals  at  Bicknell,  Ind.,  where  some  big  coal 
properties  are  being  developed.  The  Pennnsyl- 
vania  railroad  has  made  an  appropriation  of 
$300,000  for  new  freight  terminals  here  indicat¬ 
ing  that  the  general  industrial  situation  is  im¬ 
proving. 


Denver  Trade. 


Denver,  December  16. —  (Special  Correspond¬ 
ence.) — About  all  that  is  saving  this  market  from 
stagnation  this  week  is  the  cold  nights.  During 
the  past  ten  days  Indian  summer  temperatures 
have  prevailed  during  the  daytime,  but  the  nights 
have  been  marked  unusually  by  temperatures  close 
around  freezing  or  below.  In  consequence  of  this 
weather  condition,  local  retailers  report  a  ma¬ 
terial  falling  off  in  the  volume  of  their  sales,  as 
compared  with  two  weeks  ago. 

The  lignite  output  this  week  is  about  20  per 
cent  under  that  of  last  week,  and  would  be  less 
were  it  not  for  the  sugar  factory  requirements. 

The  Trinidad  district  output  shows  but  a  slight 
falling  off,  but  they  were  behind  on  the  filling  of 
orders  from  last  week  and  the  week  before.  The 
production  of  the  Walsenburg  mines  is  about  60 


per  cent  of  normal,  and  the  Canon  City  mines  will 
produce  a  tonnage  ten  per  cent  under  last  week. 

Routt  county  operators  are  all  running  full 
time  and  report  a  steady  arrival  of  orders  during 
the  past  two  weeks  from  country  dealers.  Their 
production  for  the  week  is  about  normal. 

The  slack  situation  is  weak  and  the  demand  is 
slow  for  any  grade.  Many  sales  at  a  shade  under 
regular  prices  are  reported.  Unless  there  is  a  de¬ 
cided  change  soon  in  weather  conditions,  there 
will  be  a  surplus  to  be  reckoned  with. 

The  following  prices  for  lignite  are  ruling,  f.  o. 
b.  mines :  For  Denver  delivery,  lump,  $2.35  to 
$2.65;  mine  run,  $1.50  to  $1.65;  slack,  $1.05  to 
$1.25.  For  points  outside  of  Denver,  lump,  $2.50; 
mine  run,  $1.55  to  $1.65 ;  slack,  $1.05. 


Colorado  Southern  Sued. 

Denver,  December  16. —  (Special  Correspond¬ 
ence.) — Judgment  for  $9,456  is  demanded  by  the 
National  Fuel  Company  in  a  suit  filed  against  the 
Colorado  &  Southern  Railway  Company.  The 
fuel  company  alleges  that  the  railroad  company, 
prior  to  Feb.  15  last,  induced  it  to  solicit  orders 
for  coal  in  Mexico,  promising  that  it  would  pro¬ 
vide  sufficient  cars  for  delivery  at  Mexican  points. 
After  it  had  obtained  orders  for  1,066  carloads  of 
fifty  tons  each,  the  coal  company  states,  the  rail¬ 
road  provided  only  sixty-six  cars.  As  a  result  the 
plaintiff  was  unable  to  fill  its  orders. 

The  coal  company  further  alleges  that  the  rail¬ 
road  company  failed  to  deliver  the  sixty-six 
loaded  cars  to  their  destination  in  Mexico,  and 
the  coal  was  sold  in  El  Paso  at  an  actual  loss  of 
$736.11. 

This  is  believed  to  be  the  first  coal  suit  growing 
out  of  the  Mexican  war. 


Cleveland  Market. 


Cleveland,  Ohio,  December  16. —  (Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — The  point  of  interest  in  this 
market  during  the  past  week  is  the  advance  in 
price  of  almost  all  grades  of  coal.  In  some 
cases  the  advance  amounts  to  ten  cents  a  ton 
and  in  several  different  grades  all  sizes  are  af¬ 
fected.  This  includes  the  No.  8  field  in  which 
most  of  the  Cleveland  producers  are  mor  eor  less 
interested,  as  well  as  the  Cambridge  and  other 
sections  of  the  state. 

The  cause  of  the  advance  is  the  demand  for 
coal  from  the  eastern  states.  Local  shippers  are 
sending  a  great  deal  of  coal  to  points  much 
further  east  than  it  is  usually  sold,  while  the 
coals  which  have  been  supplying  these  points  are 
going  still  further  east.  The  indications,  as 
taken  now  by  the  local  producers,  is  that  this 
demand  will  continue  and  the  market  will  remain 
strong  for  some  time  to  come. 

In  order  to  facilitate  deliveries,  it  is  said  that 
a  great  deal  of  coal  marked  for  eastern  points 
is  being  routed  by  way  of  Lorain,  so  that  the 
Lake  Shore  railroad  may  be  used  from  that 
point.  Coal  shipments  on  this  section  of  the  road 
are  usually  light.  No.  8  coal  is  also  going  over 
the  Wheeling  &  Lake  Erie,  the  Pennsylvania  and 
the  Lake  Erie,  Alliance  &  Wheeling. 

Because  of  the  large  amount  of  run  of  mine 
that  can  be  shipped  just  now,  it  is  the  belief  of 
coal  men  that  slack  will  soon  have  to  sell  at  a 
price  equal  to  that  of  run  of  mine.  If  it  does 
not,  producers  will  not  makeslack,  but  will  ship 
it  to  points  where  run  of  mine  can  be  used. 

Lower  temperatures  have  brightened  the  do¬ 
mestic  trade  somewhat,  but  it  had  not  had  any 
material  effect  yet  on  the  wholesale  and  produc¬ 
ing  end  of  the  business. 

The  larger  sizes  of  No.  8  coal  showed  an  ad¬ 
vance  of  ten  cents  a  ton  all  around  the  past 
week,  while  slack  is  quoted  at  $1.00  instead  of 
ninety-five  cents,  as  it  was  last  week.  There 
has  been  an  active  demand  for  this  grade  of 
coal.  Quotations  follow : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

No.  8  District —  Mines.  Cleveland. 

Three-quarters  .  $1.20  $2.10 

Run  of  mine .  1. 10  2.00 

.Slack  . • .  1.00  1.90 


The  movement  of  Coshocton  coal  has  been 
satisfactory  the  past  week  and  prices  on  all 
sizes  have  advanced  from  five  to  ten  cents  a 
ton : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Coshocton —  Mines.  Cleveland. 

Lump,  4-inch  screened . $1.80@1.85  $2.50@2.5.6 

154  inch .  1.70@1.75  2.40@2.4,5 

Egg  and  nut .  1.15@1.20  1.85@1.90 

Pittsburgh  slack  has  advanced  with  all  other 
coals  handled  in  this  market  and  the  quotation 
is  at  least  ten  cents  higher  tlian  last  week: 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Pittsburgh —  Mines.  Cleveland. 

Slack  .  $1.00  $2.00 


Massillon  slack  is  in  demand  at  $1.10  to  $1.15 
per  ton,  which  is  an  advance  of  between  five  and 
ten  cents  a  ton  over  last  week.  Other  sizes 
remain  at  circular  prices. 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Massillon —  Mines.  Cleveland. 

Lump  .  $2.50  $3.20 

Nut  .  2.50  3.20 

Slack  .  1.10@1.15  l.S0@1.85 


Smokeless  coals  have  shown  increased  strength 
during  the  past  week  and  the  drop  in  tempera¬ 
ture  will  probably  have  a  good  affect  on  the 
market.  Quotations  are  as  follows : 


Smokeless — 

Lump  . 

Egg  . 

Run  of  mine. 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Mines.  Cleveland. 
$1.60  $3.25 

1.80  3.25 

1.25  2.70 


Cambridge  prices  are  very  much  the  same  as 
the  No.  8  coals  in  the  various  sizes.  The  demand 
is  good  and  receipts  should  be  heavier  without 
weakening  the  prices,  which  are  as  follows : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Cambridge —  Mines.  Cleveland. 

Three-quarters  .  $1.20  $2.10 

Run  of  mine .  1.10  2.00 

Slack  .  1.00  1.90 


The  price  of  Kentucky  block  is  about  the  same 
as  last  week : 

F.  p.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Kentucky —  Mines.  Cleveland. 

4-inch  block  . $1.90@2.00  $3.15@3.25 


Youghiogheny  slack  shows  an  advance  in  price 
of  about  ten  cents  a  ton,  while  the  larger  sizes 
are  quoted  at  about  the  same  figures  as  week 
ago.  Slack  is  strong  at  $1.10  at  the  mines.  Prices 
as  follows: 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Youghiogheny —  Mines.  Cleveland. 

l>4*inch  . $1.40@1.50  $2.40@2.50 

Three-quarters  .  1.30  2.30 

Run  ot  mine .  1.20  2.20 

Slack  .  1.10  2.10 


Prices  of  Bergholtz  coal  have  changed  but  little 
from  last  week,  although  there  has  been  but  a 
small  amount  of  it  in  the  market : 


Bergholtz — 
6-inch  lump. . . 

l}4-inch  . 

Three-quartrrs 

Egg  - - -  -  - 

Run  of  mine. 
Slack  . 


F.  O.  B. 
Mines. 
$1.70 
1.45 
1.35 
1.25 
1.20 
1.10@1.15 


F.  O.  B. 
Cleveland. 
$2.40 
2.15 
2.06 
1.95 
1.90 
1.80@1.85 


Goshen  slacks  have  advanced  five  cents  a  ton, 
but  there  has  been  little  change  in  the  other 
sizes.  It  is  probable,  however,  that  conditions 
are  such  that  the  larger  sizes  will  follow  the 
trend  of  other  coals  within  the  next  few  days. 
Quotations : 


F.  O.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

Goshen-Wainwright  Mines — 

Mines. 

Cleveland. 

Three-quarter  domestic  . 

$1.40 

$2.10 

3-inch  lump  . 

1.80 

2.50 

Lump  . 

1.65 

2.35 

Slack  . 

1.15 

1.85 

F.  0.  B. 

F.  0.  B. 

Goshen — 

Mines. 

Cleveland. 

Three-quarters  . 

$1.30 

$2.00 

lJ4*inch  . 

1.40 

2.10 

Run  of  mine . 

1.15 

1.85 

Slack  . 

1.15 

1.85 

Cleveland  Notes. 

Charles  O.  Jenkins,  who  will  manage  the 
steamers  of  the  Jenkins  Steamship  Company,  has 
opened  an  office  at  904  Rockefeller  building. 

M.  A.  Hanna  &  Co.  and  the  Cambria  Steel 
Company  have  jointly  purchased  four  10,000-ton 
boats  from  the  Frontier  Steamship  Company  of 
Tonawanda,  and  one  of  the  same  class  from  the 
Niagara  Transit  Company,  of  the  same  port. 
The  boats  purchased  are  the  Charles  Weston, 
D.  B.  Meacham,  J.  G.  Munro,  James  Corrigan 
and  W.  A.  Rogers.  Control  of  the  steamers 
Charles  O.  Jenkins,  Thomas  Shaughnessy  and  F. 
B.  Squire,  of  the  Jenkins  Steamship  Company, 
was  secured  by  M.  A.  Hanna  &  Co.  some  time 
ago,  and  another  new  steamer  has  been  ordered 
built. 

Operators  here  have  so  far  declined  to  discuss 
the  effort  of  the  miners’  organization  to  call  a 
meeting  of  miners  and  operators  of  Ohio,  In¬ 
diana,  Illinois  and  western  Pennsylvania,  with  the 
idea  of  re-establishing  the  four-state  agreement 
that  was  dissolved  at  Chicago  two  years  ago. 
They  say  that  there  is  yet  notliing  to  discuss  and 
the  less  said  about  plans  of  this  kind,  the  better, 
especially  in  the  inception  of  the  attempt  to  get 
together  gain.  Apparently  the  operators  are  look¬ 
ing  to  each  other  to  decide  on  what  is  best  to  be 
done  when  the  present  contracts  expire  in  April. 
The  dissatisfaction  of  the  Hocking  Valley  oper¬ 
ators  over  the  agreement  finally  reached  in  the 
Eastern  Ohio  field  may  have  something  to  do 
with  the  matter.  It  is  pretty  safe  to  say  that  the 
miners  are  as  anxious  as  the  operators  to  reach 
a  plan  that  will  result  in  satisfactory  contracts. 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


518 


[December  18 


New  York  Trade. 


Blizzard  Brings  Chaos  to  Deliveries  of 
Both  Anthracite  and  Bituminous 
— Latter  Prices  Higher. 


Office  vf  The  Black  Diamonh, 
.\i;\v  York,  JJecembcr  JO. 

•Shipping  in  the  east  cn  many  of  the  railroads 
was  made  impossible  for  several  days  this  week 
by  the  blizzard  there  l)egnn  on  Alonday.  At  this 
writing  service  on  many  of  the  roads  was  far 
from  normal,  so  that  taken  as  a  whole  but  little 
anthracite  has  been  delivered  in  certain  important 
consuming  territories  this  week. 

Up  to  Monday  the  demand  for  anthracite  was 
good  from  all  sources.  Coal  was  moving  pretty 
freely;  all  of  the  domestic  sizes,  with  the  excep¬ 
tion  of  c,gg,  being  readily  absorbed.  However, 
no  premiums  were  being  paid,  but  no  concessions 
were  being  made,  so  that  on  the  whole  the  mar¬ 
ket  situation  was  just  al)out  as  satisfactory  as  one 
could  wish. 

Complaints  about  show  movement  of  ears  had 
lieen  the  rule  for  some  weeks.  This  week  the  sit¬ 
uation  in  this  respect  had  grown  very  serious 
even  before  the  blizzard  came  to  further  demor¬ 
alize  shipping.  Uue  to  the  congestion  of  loaded 
cars  in  and  around  New  York,  hundreds  of  coal 
cars  on  most  of  the  important  coal  carrying  roads 
serving  the  anthracite  markets  were  sidetracked, 
and  deliveries,  especially  to  the  tidewater  ports, 
have  been  slow.  Some  shippers  report  no  deliv¬ 
eries  on  anthracite  loaded  nearly  a  month  ago, 
cars  being  sidetracked  here  and  there  between 
the  mines  and  tide,  to  give  headway  for  more 
important  freight. 

Undoubtedly  by  the  end  of  the  present  week 
some  sections  will  be  so  short  of  anthracite  that 
consumers  will  suffer. 

In  the  way  of  production,  November  tonna.ges 
were  given  in  last  week’s  issue.  These  show 
shipments  to  the  end  of  November  2,458,125  tons 
behind  the  first  eleven  months  of  1914.  This 
shortage  does  not  represent  by  any  means  the 
actual  falling  off  in  the  supply  of  anthracite  for 
winter  use.  In  spite  of  repeated  warnings  that  a 
scarcity  of  fuel  would  be  apt  to  occur  when  cold 
weather  approached,  consumers  this  year  have 
not,  to  the  same  extent  as  formerly,  laid  in  their 
winter  supply  in  advance,  and  retailers  were 
equally  laggard  in  placing  their  orders.  Not  in 
any  year  since  1901,  when  the  spring  and  summer 
discounts  were  put  into  effect,  has  so  little  advan¬ 
tage  been  taken  of  the  opportunity  to  purchase 
coal  at  reduced  rates.  The  Anthracite  Bureau  of 
Statistics  points  out  that :  “The  anthracite  com¬ 
panies  have  had  a  thorough  realization  of  what 
the  result  of  this  would  be  and  have  maintained 
production  at  a  rate  hardly  justified  by  the  mar¬ 
kets.  putting  the  surplus  into  stora.ge  until  many 
of  the  storage  yards  were  filled  much  above  rated 
or  intended  capacity.  These  storage  yards  are, 
however,  at  relatively  short  distances  from  the 
mines,  and  not  at  points  of  consumption.  In  the 
event  of  car  shortage  or  of  interruption  to  traffic 
on  the  railroads  it  is  just  as  difficult  to  get  this 
storage  coal  to  market  as  it  is  to  get  the  freshly 
mined  product  from  the  breakers.’’ 

What  a  break  in  transportation  means  has  been 
fully  brought  home  to  many  tardy  retailers  this 
week. 

The  steam  sizes  are  in  fair  demand.  Pea  is  in 
excellent  demand  for  line  shipment. 

New  York  anthracite  i)rices  are: 


Upper  I.ower 

Ports.  Ports. 


Proken  .  $.S.10  $5.00 

Pgg  .  5.35  5.25 

Stove  .  5.35  5.25 

Chestnut  .  5.00  5.50 

Pea  .  3.55  3.45 


Special  grades  of  red  ash  and  other  high-grade 
coals  at  the  lower  ports  sell  at  twenty-five  to 
llft\-  cents  per  ton  over  above  figures. 

Spot  prices  in  individual  coals  at  lower  ports 
are  about  as  follows : 


•Stove 
Nut  . 
Pea  . 
Buck 
Rice  . 
Barley 


. $5.05  and  up 

.  5.20  and  up 

.  5.20  and  up 

.  3.25  and  up 

.  2.30  and  up 

.  2.00  and  up 

.  1.75  and  up 

The  Bituminous  Situation. 


The  bituminous  market  tins  week  still  retains 
the  run-away  features  that  developed  last  week. 
■After  the  effects  of  this  week’s  blizzard,  said  to 
be  the  most  severe  the  east  has  seen  since  1888, 
are  weighed,  it  will  no  doubt  be  found  that  many 
consumers  are  actually  facing  shut-downs  because 
of  lack  of  fuel,  for  transportation  conditions 
were  very  bad  even  before  the  blizzard  came  to 


brin,g  a  complete  stop  to  the  movement  of  coal 
for  two  or  three  days. 

For  instance,  on  Monday,  when  the  New  Haven 
system  officials  were  warned  that  a  blizzard  was 
on  the  way,  orders  were  immediately  Hashed  to 
put  all  freight  trains  on  sidings  and  devote  all 
energies  to  keep  passenger  trains  moving.  To 
depict  the  New  Haven’s  dilemma,  on  Tuesday  no 
trains  moved  at  all  on  some  of  its  most  important 
lines.  And  other  railroads  fared  very  little  bet¬ 
ter. 

Prices  on  Tuesday  were  freely  (pioted  at  $2.50 
to  !|;.'!.00  per  ton  at  Pennsylvania  mines.  This  was 
an  advance  of  twenty-five  to  fifty  cents  per  ton 
over  prices  prevailing  last  week.  At  New  York 
tidewater  ports  but  little  free  coal  was  to  be 
obtained.  Prices  asked  ranged  all  the  way  from 
$3.75  to  $4.50. 

Conditions  in  the  mining  regions  are  reported 
as  bein.g  very  bad.  Car  and  labor  are  both  bad. 
Fortunate  indeed  is  the  operator  who  can  get 
out  within  twenty-five  per  cent  of  a  normal  pro¬ 
duction.  Shippers  are  finding  it  a  most  difficult 
task  to  divide  shipments  between  their  customers. 
Certain  customers  who  would  take  only  a  very 
small  percentage  of  their  allotted  monthly  tonnage 
during  the  summer  and  fall  months  are  now 
demanding  shipments  of  such  proportions  as  to 
make  up  their  shorta.ge  of  tonnage  in  previous 
months. 

Locomotive  fuel  is  also  in  heavy  demand,  and 
practically  all  of  the  eastern  roads  are  consuming 
coal  more  heavily  than  at  any  time  in  the  pact 
few  years. 

In  New  York  harbor  the  bunker  business  i.s 
very  active,  and  contractors  for  bunkers  who  do 
not  operate  their  own  mines  and  are  not  fully 
protected  by  contracts,  are  having  their  troubles 
in  buying  spot  coal  to  make  good  on  deliveries. 

Movement  of  coal  about  the  harbor  is  greatly 
retarded  by  lack  of  boats. 

The  Vessel  Situation. 

The  coastwise  vessel  situation  has  grown  more 
acute.  From  Hampton  Roads  to  Boston  $3  would 
be  the  rate,  but  few  boats  are  available  at  this 
rate.  From  Philadelphia  very  high  prices  are 
offered  with  practically  no  boats  available. 

To  some  points  rates  are  abnormal. 

Current  rates  are  as  follows ; 

From  Hampton  Roads  to  Boston,  $2.50  to  $3.00 
is  about  the  range ;  to  Portland  and  points  east 
of  Boston,  the  same.  To  sound  points,  $2.00  to 
$.25.  From  Philadelphia  to  New  England  points, 
$1.75  to  $2.25. 

From  New  York  to  sound  points  as  follows: 
Bridgeport,  sixty-five  cents;  New  Haven,  seventy- 
five  cents;  Province,  $1  to  $1.10;  New  Bedford, 
$1  to  $1.15.  To  Boston,  around  cape,  $1.25  to 
$1.75.  Harbor  rates,  twenty-five  to  thirty  cents. 

Current  quotations  on  bituminous  coal  in  spot 
lots  are : 

Best  grades . $4.50  $3.00 

Medium  grades .  4.00  ‘.J.rjO 

Medium  grades .  3.75 

Cambria  Cpunty — 

Best  Miller  vein .  4.50  3.00 

Medium  grades .  4.00  2.50 

Cheaper  grades .  3.G5  2.15 

Clearfield  County — 

Best  grades .  3.G5  2.15 

Ordinary  grades .  3.G5  2.15 

Indiana  County — 

Best  grades .  3.65  2.15 

Medium  grades .  3.55  2.05 

Maryland — 

Georges  Creek  big  vein .  4.25  2.75 

West  Virginia — 

Ordinary  grades .  3.50  1.95 

Best  gas,  ^-inch  lump .  3.25  1.85 

Rest  grade,  run  of  mine .  3.25  1.85 

Gas  slack .  1.35@1.65 


New  York.  Trade  Briefs. 

C.  J.  Wittenberg  of  the  Wittenberg  Coal  Com¬ 
pany  sailed  last  week  for  Europe. 

L.  S.  Evans,  president  of  the  Ifastern  Coal  & 
Export  Corporation,  of  Richmond,  \’a.,  was  in 
New  York  early  this  week. 

E.  J.  AlcCormack  of  the  Commercial  Coal  Com¬ 
pany,  No.  29  Broadway,  returned  last  week  on  the 
steamship  Nieuw  .Amsterdam  from  a  trip  to  Eu¬ 
rope. 

S.  D.  Fobes,  sales  manager  of  S.  P.  Burton  & 
Co.,  of  Boston,  was  in  New  York  on  Tuesday,  en 
route  home  from  the  central  Pennsylvania  fields. 
Mr.  Fobes  believes  that  coal  will  sell  at  the  Penn¬ 
sylvania  mines  in  excess  of  $4  per  ton  in  the  next 
several  weeks. 

At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  New  York  Coal 
Merchants’  Association,  held  on  Monday,  W.  A. 
Leonard  was  re-elected  president,  and  Theodore 
Trimmer  vice-president.  Arthur  F.  Rice  was  re¬ 
elected  commissioner,  with  which  office  is  asso¬ 
ciated  the  duties  of  secretary  and  treasurer.  Re¬ 
tiring  directors  were  re-elected.  Commissioner 
Rice’s  annual  report  was  one  of  the  most  interest¬ 


ing  yet  made  by  him,  and  it  will  be  printed  in  an 
early  isue  of  The  Black  Diamond. 

A  cable  from  Paris  announces  the  engagement 
of  Mr.  Charles  S.  Thorne,  vice-president  of  the 
Pophontas  Fuel  Company,  of  New  York,  to  an 
estimable  New  York  lady,  who  has  been  residing 
in  Paris  for  the  past  several  years,  and  who  has 
l)cen  prominently  identified  with  the  Red  Cross 
work  since  the  iiresent  war  started.  No  date  is 
set  for  the  wedding.  Mr.  Thorne  sailed  from 
New  A'ork  on  November  20,  on  his  annual  trip 
abroad  to  look  after  the  interests  of  his  com¬ 
pany. 

Advices  that  come  from  the  southeast  show 
that  the  railroads  are  using  vast  quantities  of 
coal  now  as  locomotive  fuel.  Their  traffic  is  the 
heaviest  in  many  years,  and  they  are  taking 
enormous  quantities  of  coal  at  present,  not  for 
stocking  purposes,  but  for  present  needs.  In  the 
east  there  are  quite  a  few  of  the  big  roads  that 
are  not  as  well  protected  as  to  coal  supplies  as 
they  would  like,  and  certain  buying  of  late  has 
been  attributed  to  them.  This  week’s  blizzard  has 
taught  them  the  folly  of  expecting  current  ship¬ 
ments  to  take  full  care  of  their  needs. 

■As  indicating  that  the  shipments  of  munitions 
is  by  no  means  on  the  wane,  one  important  New 
York  shipping  concern  is  said  to  have  a  con¬ 
tract  to  transport  as  soon  as  ships  can  be  secured, 
five  hundred  thousand  tons  of  stuff  to  Vladivos¬ 
tok.  This  will  mean  the  employment  of  more 
than  eighty  ships  of  6,000  tons  cargo  capacity, 
and  these  boats  will  require  in  excess  of  1,000 
tons  bunkers  each  before  starting  from  New  A^ork. 
One  wonders  also,  from  reading  almost  daily 
the  spel  and  munitions  purchases  being  made 
in  this  country,  shipments  to  cover  practically 
al  of  the  year  1916,  just  where  ships  are  going  to 
be  found  to  take  this  tonnage  across.  All  of  this 
points  to  heavy  bunker  requirements  at  the  Amer¬ 
ican  ports. 

Adolph  Busch,  the  well  known  St.  Louis  brewer, 
is  one  of  the  financial  backers  of  the  newly  or¬ 
ganized  Standard  Shipbuilding  Company,  which 
has  taken  over  fhe  Downey  &  Townsend  ship¬ 
building  plant  on  Shooters  Island,  on  the  Kill  von 
Kull  and  Newark  Bay.  Already  work  has  been 
started  to  put  this  plant  in  order  to  turn  out 
merchant  vessels.  One  million  dollars  will  be 
spent  on  improvements.  For  the  first  year,  com¬ 
mencing  in  about  two  months,  one  ship  every 
sixty  days  will  be  launched.  After  the  second 
year  a  ship  will  be  launched  every  thirty  days. 
Schwab  interests  will  also  open  up  a  big  plant 
near  Elizabethport,  and  still  there  is  talk  of  an¬ 
other  big  shipbuilding  plant  to  be  operated  on  the 
Staten  Island  side  of  the  Kill.  News  also  comes 
from  Newcastle,  Delaware,  that  the  Bethlehem 
Steel  Company  plant  at  that  place  will  be  turned 
over  to  shipbuilding. 


Baltimore  Trade. 


Baltimore,  December  16. —  (Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — The  coal  trade  here  is  in  a 
state  of  excitement  and  uncertainty.  Under 
the  most  rigid  car  scarcity  known  to  the 
trade  in  years  the  supply  of  available  fuel  is 
growing  so  scarce  that  consumers  are  begin¬ 
ning  to  feel  the  pinch  in  disagreeable  man¬ 
ner.  Already  some  of  the  smaller  fellows  who 
rely  on  the  sending  through  of  their  full  con¬ 
tract  orders  to  run  their  plants  are  curtailing 
their  output  because  they  can  not  get  fuel  as 
desired. 

Coal  is  extremely  scarce  at  tide.  The  local 
yards  of  the  three  railroads  centering  here 
were  practically  swept  clear  of  fuel  the  entire 
week.  Some  days  there  was  not  more  than 
fifty  or  sixty  car  loads  in  sight,  and  even  with 
the  lessened  export  movement  by  reason  of 
inability  to  get  vessel  bottoms,  some  holdups 
in  shipment  were  recorded  because  cars  could 
not  be  gotten  through  with  coal  loads. 

Brisk  trading  was  being  done  between  ship¬ 
pers  and  agencies  for  the  coal  in  sight  in  or¬ 
der  to  cover  their  emergency  contracts.  Every 
effort  is  being  made  bj"  the  trade  to  care  for 
their  older  customers,  but  some  have  fallen 
so  far  back  in  supply  that  a  break  from  this 
precedent  all  along  the  line  is  threatened  un¬ 
less  the  car  situation  improves  rapidly. 

Anthracite  men  are  in  little  better  shape 
than  their  bituminous  brothers.  Demand  here 
has  far  exceeded  the  supply,  and  some  sizes 
are  genuinely  scarce.  Stored  stocks  are  be¬ 
ing  let  go  gingerly  and  every  effort  made  to 
conserve  the  supply  on  hand  pending  better, 
deliveries  from  the  mines.  Snow  and  colder 
weather  have  brought  their  complications  of 
increased  demand  for  quicker  deliveries  on  or¬ 
ders. 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


519 


No.  25] 


Philadelphia  Trade. 


A  Scarcity  of  Cars  Continues  and  Steam 
Coal  Rises  to  Record  Figures  as  a 
Natural  Result. 


Office  of  The  Black  Diamond, 
1400  Land  Title  Building, 
Philadelphia,  December  16. 

Three  dollar  coal,  forty-five  cars  of  it,  was  sold 
through  a  middle  house  in  this  city  Monday 
morning.  And  by  the  time  that  this  appears  in 
print  the  shipment  should  be  well  on  its  way  or 
in  the  hands  of  the  receivers  in  New  England. 
Three  dollars  was  the  price  asked  by  various 
houses  with  free  coal  to  move,  but  this  sale  was 
actually  recorded  and  delivered. 

From  railway  sources  the  word  has  been  sent 
forth  that  the  car  supply  shows  signs  of  better¬ 
ment,  but  sporadic  reports  of  this  kind  have  been 
heard  before  and  the  prices  as  set  heeded  them 
not.  Even  had  there  been  a  material  increase  at 
the  mines  noted,  the  heavy  snow  that  came  Sun¬ 
day  would  have  offset  anything  of  this  encourag¬ 
ing  nature  which  the  railways  might  have  to 
offer. 

Baltimore  &  Ohio  sources  have  it  that  new 
equipment  is  being  rushed  to  Somerset  and  Clear¬ 
field  counties,  that  cars  on  foreign  lines  are  com- 
in.g  in  and  that  rolling  stock  in  the  repair  shops 
is  coming  out.  Yet  the  mines  there  that  are  get¬ 
ting  above  a  forty-five  per  cent  of  normal  sup¬ 
ply  are  the  envy  of  their  neighbors.  The  Penn¬ 
sylvania  has  an  embargo  on  cars  going  into  far 
foreign  territory  and  reports  the  release  of  many 
cars  in  the  lake  trade.  Still  the  operators  on  its 
lines  say  “show  us.” 

New  England  is  the  “big  noise”  in  this  market 
and  the  fact  that  wires  were  down  and  the  mails 
delayed  on  Tuesday  showed  the  fact  that  these 
buyers  were  not  in  the  saddle.  At  the  mines  the 
price  around  Osceola  Mills,  Altoona,  Johnstown 
and  other  buying  centers  ran.ged  as  high  as  $2.25 
to  $2.50  when  this  was  written.  This  was  a  clear 
advance  over  $2.10  to  $2.25  as  was  quoted  Mon- 
day. 

From  a  purely  local  viewpoint  the  brokers  are 
still  the  top  of  the  heap  and  though  prices  have 
gone  beyond  the  best  that  those  with  imagination 
figured  it  to  go  by  the  first  of  the  year,  yet  there 
is  still  an  active  and  advancing  market  for  free 
coal  that  can  be  had.  Some  distinction  is  being 
made  in  price  to  distinguish  the  better  grades, 
but  the  usual  run  of  things  is  “the  de’il  take  the 
hindermost.”  In  the  helter  skelter  to  get  fuel  the 
quality  and  character  of  the  purchase  has  not 
been  cutting  much  of  a  figure.  Western  Mary¬ 
land’s  have  been  quoted  and  sold  as  high  as 
Quemahonings  and  Miller  veins — and  there  you 
are. 

The  last  week  has  seen  quite  a  spurt  in  the 
business  at  the  piers.  Over  fifteen  ships  were 
bunkered  here  in  that  time  in  excess  of  the  same 
period  of  last  year.  Coal  tonnage  for  export  for 
the  week  also  saw  a  gain  over  the  amount  of  last 
year,  despite  the  cry  for  bottoms  from  all  quar- 
ters. 

Shipments  of  Fairmont  coals  are  now  in  open 
competition  with  the  Pennsylvania  gas  coals. 
Quotations  on  these  ranged  from  $2.10  to  $2.25. 

The  Anthracite  Situation. 

It  only  takes  a  good  fall  of  snow  to  set  the 
hard  coal  men  as  busy  as  bees  in  their  offices  and 
they  got  what  they  were  looking  for  this  week. 
The  uncertain  car  supply,  however,  cau.ght  them 
at  the  end  of  the  week  when  they  were  best  pre¬ 
pared  to  make  deliveries,  so  that  the  small  yards 
that  were  low  in  stocks  got  supplies  without 
much  bother. 

The  independents  who  have  firmly  believed  that 
pea  coal  was  good  for  its  circular  price  of  $2.50 
did  not  wait  until  the  first  of  the  year  to  raise 
prices.  They  now  declare  that  by  that  time  there 
will  be  asked  a  premium  on  this  size,  providing 
that  the  cold  weather  has  come  to  stay.  This  is 
going  to  solve  the  serious  question  of  price  cut¬ 
ting  locally.  Most  of  the  dealers  who  have  had 
small  sizes  on  contract  will  have  new  contracts 
to  make  about  the  first  of  the  year.  With  pea 
coal  ranging  above  $2.50  a  ton  it  can  be  seen  that 
$4.75  will  leave  no  great  profit  after  freight  and 
apportionment  for  workmen’s  compensation  is 
reckoned  with. 

All  other  grades  are  in  .good  demand  with  the 
steam  sizes  holding  firm  at  the  circular  and  also 
in  line  for  an  advance.  It  is  declared  that  with 
bituminous  coal  bringing  outlandish  prices  the 
steam  sizes  are  bound  to  feel  the  effect,  if  only 
from  a  point  of  comparison. 


Philadelphia  News  Notes. 

J.  J  Tierney  of  the  Crozer-Pocohontas  Com¬ 
pany,  who  spent  the  previous  week  in  Boston, 
arrived  home  last  week. 

J.  T.  Roberts,  who  is  connected  with  the  Wid- 
noon  Coal  Company  of  Buffalo,  called  on  the 
coal  trade  here  the  early  part  of  the  week. 

H;  K.  Stauffer,  field  man  for  B.  Nicoll  S:  Co., 
after  a  short  visit  to  the  local  ojces,  left  f(.'r  a 
trip  to  the  regions  this  week. 

W.  P.  McGuire  of  the  Makoma  Coal  Company 
and  whose  headquarters  are  in  Harrisburg  was  in 
the  city  this  week. 

Arnold  Gerstelle,  sales  manager  for  Percy 
Heilner  &  Son,  returned  the  fore  part  of  the 
week  from  a  business  trip  in  the  west. 

D.  B.  Wentz,  president  of  the  Stonega  Coke 
and  Coal  Company,  left  Monday  night  for  q 
week’s  visit  to  his  company’s  properties  at  Bi.g 
Stone  Gap,  Va. 

A.  W.  Calloway,  president  of  the  Davis  Coal 
and  Coke  Company,  dropped  into  the  local  offices 
of  that  corporation  this  week,  while  on  his  way 
from  headquarters  in  Cumberland,  Md.,  to  Nev/ 
York. 

George  Paul  of  the  Commonwealth  Fuel  Com¬ 
pany  of  Pittsburgh  was  one  of  the  trade  visitors 
of  the  week.  Another  from  the  Smoky  City  was 
W.  W.  Greist  of  the  Carnegie  Coal  Company. 

C.  W.  Procter  of  the  Skeele  Coal  Company  of 
New  York  was  in  town  on  business  on  Tuesday. 
E.  A.  Ward  of  E.  A.  Ward  &  Co.  was  another 
visitor  from  the  Big  Town. 

W.  A.  Perry,  known  to  his  close  acquaintances 
as  “the  Commodore,  paid  a  visit  to  the  local  trade 
this  week.  Mr.  Perry  said  that  his  company,  the 
Greensburg-Connelsville  Coal  and  Cok,e  Com¬ 
pany,  intended  to  open  an  office  in  Pittsburgh  in 
the  near  future. 

J.  Herbert  Milnes  of  the  Milnes  Coal  Com¬ 
pany,  Toronto,  Ont.,  looked  over  the  soft  coal  sit¬ 
uation  from  Quaker  City  angles.  Mr.  Milnes 
said  that  the  shortage  in  fuel  had  been  felt  in 
the  Canadian  cities  where  the  manufacture  of 
munitions  and  other  articles  for  abroad  was  tax¬ 
ing  industrial  conditions  to  capacity. 

John  Hood,  whose  long  years  of  connection 
with  the  Davis  Colliery  Company  here,  was  the 
busiest  hand-shaker  in  town  this  week.  In  his 
own  inimitable  way  he  had  to  tell  of  his  “vaca¬ 
tion  in  the  Blue  Grass”  and  his  business  projects 
in  the  eastern  part  of  Tennessee.  Mr.  Hood  in¬ 
tends  to  winter  in  New  York. 

“Arrived  short  of  coal”  is  the  notation  seen 
with  due  regularity  in  the  marine  columns  in 
comment  about  various  ships  entering  port. 
Skimping  and  holding  down  the  supply  of  fuel, 
which  is  the  bane  of  any  captain’s  existence,  is  a 
common  occurrence  in  these  days  when  coal  piles 
abroad  are  at  their  highest  valuation  in  all  his¬ 
tory. 

William  Hollenback,  who  is  the  genial  repre¬ 
sentative  of  the  Amos  Coal  Company  in  this  mar¬ 
ket,  and  is  otherwise  known  as  “Big  Bill”  Hol¬ 
lenback,  when  he  gets  into  togs  and  coaches  foot¬ 
ball  teams,  had  more  newspaper  space  accorded 
him  the  past  few  weeks  than  the  average  run  of 
coal  man  gets  in  years.  He  was  the  storm  center 
in  an  election  of  the  Athletic  Association  of  the 
University  of  Pennsylvania.  And  “Big  Bill”  won 
out  by  666  votes,  the  most  accorded  any  .graduate 
in  years.  Louis  Maderia — a  name  slocely  con¬ 
nected  with  the  coal  business — was  also  elected  a 
member. 

The  public  is  a  funny  critter.  All  summer  long 
daily  papers  carried  in  their  news  columns  a 
warning  that  certain  conditions  might  be  looked 
for  which  would  tie  up  the  supply  of  coal  for 
the  householder.  The  editor  of  the  Public  Ledger 
wanted  to  know  why  the  stiffening  in  price  and 
the  tightening  of  supply.  He  asked  an  explana¬ 
tion  of  E.  W.  Parker,  head  of  the  Anthracite 
Bureau  of  Information,  and  for  brevity  and  con¬ 
ciseness  it  takes  in  the  whole  situation.  Mr 
Parker’s  answer  follows :  “There  is  undoubt¬ 
edly  a  serious  shortage  in  the  car  supply,  due 
largely  to  the  inability  to  get  cars  now  in  transit 
unloaded  and  returned  to  the  mines.  The  Hazel- 
ton  Standard  estimates  there  are  40,000  loaded 
cars  waiting  discharge  within  500  miles  of  New 
York.  We  have  no  exact  information  on  this 
point.  The  supply  of  coal  at  tidewater  por's 
November  30  was  sufficient  only  to  supply  the 
New  York  market  for  two  weeks.  There  are 
lar.ge  quantities  in  storage,  but  storage  yards  are 
in  the  vicinity  of  the  mining  region.  It  is  just  as 
difficult  to  get  that  coal  to  market  as  the  freshly 
mined  output.  The  present  shortage  at  retail 
yards  and  in  consumer’s  hands  is  due  entirety  to 


the  fact  that  during  the  summer  months,  in  spite 
of  repeated  and  urgent  warnings,  distributors  and 
consumers  did  not  place  orders,  and  less  advan¬ 
tage  was  taken  of  discount  prices  in  the  spring 
and  summer  months  than  in  any  year  since  this 
practice  was  put  into  effect  in  1901.” 


Buffalo  Trade. 


Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  December  16. —  {Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — The  December  shipments  of  anthra¬ 
cite  by  lake  have  ended,  according  to  representa¬ 
tives  of  the  different  shipping  companies,  the 
total  amounting  to  106,926  tons.  This  is  one  of 
the  largest  December  totals  on  record,  comparing 
with  93,700  tons  in  the  same  month  of  last  year 
and  103,100  in  the  year  preceding.  The  total  ship¬ 
ments  of  the  1915  season  were  3,863,072  tons,  a 
falling  off  of  over  10  per  cent  from  the  preceding 
year,  when  shipments  were  4,386,226  tons.  The 
1913  shipments  were  5,033,696  tons.  The  1915 
season  got  a  good  start  in  the  way  of  large  ship¬ 
ments,  but  after  the  first  two  months  nearly  every 
month  showed  a  decrease. 

A  better  demand  has  started  up  from  retailers, 
owing  to  the  severity  of  the  weather  this  week, 
which  has  been  the  coldest  so  far  this  winter. 
Dealers  have  not  been  making  any  heavy  demands 
upon  the  companies  lately,  though  the  movement 
has  been  fair  for  a  number  of  weeks.  Chestnut 
has  been  in  strong  demand  and  scarcely  enough 
is  available  to  go  around.  A  car  shortage  still 
exists  and  is  expected  to  grow  worse  soon. 

The  bituminous  market  is  showing  increased 
strength  in  this  section,  but  shippers  are  confident 
that  a  change  is  to  occur  within  the  next  three 
or  four  weeks.  At  present  the  great  seat  of  activ¬ 
ity  is  in  the  east  and  all  available  coal  is  being 
shipped  in  that  direction.  The  market  is  reported 
to  be  up  25c  from  the  strong  prices  of  a  week 
ago.  Sellers  say  that  coal  is  worth  more  money 
today  than  at  any  time  this  year  and  some  grades 
areb  ringing  about  80c  more  than  during  the  sum¬ 
mer.  A  good  many  operators  are  profiting  by  the 
increased  scale  of  activity  and  are  only  wishing 
that  they  had  a  good  deal  more  coal  to  sell.  There 
are  low-priced  railroad  and  other  contracts  which 
take  a  large  share  of  some  companies’  output,  and 
besides  that  drawback  a  car  and  labor  shortage 
exists  to  further  reduce  the  amount  available  for 
sale.  No  letting  up  in  tlie  demand  is  looked  for 
in  the  near  future,  and  it  looks  as  though  some 
fancy  prices  would  be  paid  in  the  local  market 
before  very  long.  Consumers  are  slow  to  wake 
up  to  the  fact  that  eastern  industries  are  absorb¬ 
ing  immense  quantities  of  coal  and  this  will  al¬ 
most  inevitably  mean  a  scarcity  elsewhere  before 
many  weeks.  The  car  shortage  is  quite  likely  also 
to  become  more  acute  soon. 


Buffalo  Trade  Briefs. 

W.  H.  Cox,  of  the  coal  company  bearing  his 
name  at  Toronto,  was  a  visitor  here  this  week. 

E.  J.  Skeele,  president  of  the  Skeele  Coal  Com¬ 
pany,  spent  two  days  at  the  office  of  the  company 
here  last  week. 

J.  P.  Walsh,  vice-president  of  the  Pittsburgh 
Coal  Co.,  was  a  visitor  at  the  company’s  office 
last  week. 

R.  1.  lago  and  Mr.  Troll,  Jr.,  representing  the 
C.  L.  Ayers  Coal  Company,  Cleveland,  were  here 
this  week  and  are  reported  to  have  disposed  of  a 
large  amount  of  coal. 

Vice-President  D.  E.  Russell,  of  the  D.  L.  & 
W.  Coal  Co.,  who  went  to  Chicago  a  few  days 
ago  to  look  after  his  trade,  has  been  called  home 
this  week  on  account  of  a  death  in  his  family. 

D.  W.  McLennan,  sales  manager  of  the  Alle¬ 
gheny  Coal  Company,  who  was  recently  ill  with 
rheumatism  and  away  from  business  for  a  month, 
has  gone  to  the  General  Hospital,  but  expects  to 
be  able  to  be  at  his  duties  within  two  weeks. 

C.  A.  Storck,  general  sales  agent  of  the  J.  B. 
Jenkins  Coal  &  Coke  Co.,  has  returned  from  a 
business  trip  to  Chicago  and  the  west.  He  found 
the  market  quite  well  supplied  with  coal  and 
conditions  less  satisfactory  than  in  the  east. 

There  is  a  great  scarcity  of  tonnage  in  the 
harbor,  in  suite  of  the  fact  that  the  fleet  is  the 
biggest  on  record.  Some  of  the  coal  shippers 
wish  to  load  a  few  cargoes  on  winter  storage  and 
they  find  the  vessels  so  tied  up  in  various  ways 
that  it  is  impossible  to  get  any.  Some  boats  want 
to  get  away  as  soon  as  unloaded,  to  lay  up  else¬ 
where,  some  need  repairs  after  unloading,  and 
others  are  in  the  market  for  sale.  The  demand 
for  vessels  by  purchasers  is  very  great,  and  the 
price  offered  is  high.  A  steamer  half  a  dozen 
years  old  sold  in  Buffalo  the  other  day  for  $40,000 
more  than  it  cost,  and  such  a  thing  as  a  coal 
charter  is  not  going  to  stand  in  the  way  of  a 
thing  like  that. 


520 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[December  18 


Birmingham  Trade. 


Birmingham,  Ala.,  December  15. —  {Special 
Correspondence.) — Locally  with  the  retail  yard 
men  domestic  coal  trade  is  good,  hut  as  most  of 
the  yards  were  fairly  well  stocked,  the  demand 
upon  the  coal  operators  is  not  so  good,  and  only 
a  few  cars  at  a  time  is  being  ordered.  The  out- 
of-town  trade  to  the  different  parts  of  the  state 
is  much  better  and  a  fair  tonnage  is  being  shipped 
from  the  mines.  All  of  the  large  producers  of 
coal  are  working  upon  full  time;  also  some  few 
of  the  smaller  companies,  but  much  more  could 
be  supplied  if  demand  was  sufficient. 

The  steam  trade  is  much  better  than  for  some 
weeks  past,  most  of  the  railroads  are  taking 
nearly  full  quota  contracted  for.  The  trade  down 
the  river  is  assuming  goodly  proportions,  and  if 
present  indications  of  the  river  movement  con¬ 
tinues,  it  will  not  be  long  before  river  shipments 
will  become  quite  an  item  to  Alabama  coal  trade. 
Fairly  good  bunkerage  coal  is  being  shipped  to 
the  ports  and  takings  at  these  parts  is  better 
than  it  has  been  in  many  months. 

Contract  for  coal  for  use  in  the  next  twelve 
months  beginning  December  15,  1915,  by  the  New 
Orleans  Street  Railway  Company,  has  been  signed 
with  the  Sloss- Sheffield  Steel  and  Iron  Com¬ 
pany.  Shipments  will  be  made  by  rail. 

The  Sloss-Sheffield  Company  had  the  contract 
duririg  the  past  twelve  months,  but  it  is  under¬ 
stood"  there  was  an  advance  in  prices  for  the 
coming  twelve  months.  The  contracts  call  for 
a  minimum  of  180,000  tons,  with  a  probability  of 
200,000  tons  being  taken. 

The  coal  is  being  shipped  from  the  Dora  mines 
in  Walker  County,  and  is  one  of  several  big 
contracts  this  company  has  for  the  coming  year. 
It  insures  steady  work  at  some  of  the  big  mines 
of  the  district.  The  company  has  a  big  demand 
for  coal  for  its  own  furnaces  and  coke  ovens. 

The  continued  large  sales  of  iron  causes  the 
furnace  people  operating  their  own  mines  to  get 
out  heavy  production  of  coking  coal.  The  out¬ 
put  of  this  grade  of  coal  is  more  satisfactory 
than  anv  of  the  other  kinds  of  coal  mined  in  the 
state.  The  continuous  demand  for  coking  coal 
will  be  largely  the  means  of  a  much  larger  an¬ 
nual  production  than  had  been  anticipated. 

Coke  is  in  heavy  demand  with  fine  prices.  Con¬ 
sumption  very  nearly  up  to  the  output,  the  excess 
output  is  very  small  and  very  little  coke  is  being 
accumulated. 

The-  output  at  the  big  by-product  plants  at 
Ensley,  Fairfield,  Woodward  and  Holt  continues 
good,  and  there  is  demand  for  every  product. 
Coke  prices  are  strong,  and  there  is  need  for  a 
large  tonnage.  No  doubt  is  expressed  now  that 
the  annual  figures  as  to  coke  production  in  Ala¬ 
bama  will  be  the  best  there  has  ever  been  here. 
A  report  will  not  down  that  the  Sloss-Sheffield 
Steel  &  Iron  Company  will  in  the  very  near  future 
consider  the  construction  of  by-product  coke 
ovens  , spending  near  a  million  dollars  on  the 
same,  while  the  Gulf  States  Steel  Company  may 
also  become  interested  in  such  a  project.  J.  C. 
Mahen.  president  of  the  Sloss-Sheffield  Steel  & 
Iron  Company,  accompanied  by  W.  H.  Goadby, 
one  of  the  principal  directors  in  the  company,  will 
spend  this  week  in  the  Birmingham  district, 
coming  from  New  York,  and  in  addition  to  mak¬ 
ing  a  full  inspection  of  the  properties  of  the 
company  and  looking  at  the  improvements  under 
way  at  several  of  the  plants,  may  consider  the 
advisability  of  by-product  ovens.  To  meet  the 
demands  for  coke  at  its  furnaces,  in  addition  to 
that  received  from  a  large  number  of  beehive 
ovens  operated  by  the  company,  there  are  several 
hundred  tons  of  coke  being  purchased  daily  from 
other  manufacturers  to  use  at  the  North  Birming¬ 
ham  blast  iron  furnaces.  The  Sloss-Sheffield 
Steel  and  Iron  Company  has  extensive  coal  prop¬ 
erties  in  the  western  part  of  the  county,  and  it 
is  figured  that  the  same  will  hardly  be  worked 
out  for  a  decade  to  a  score  of  years  and  more. 
Within  a  few  years  the  by-product  coke  ovens 
almost  repay  themselves. 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 


Bibb  County  Domestic — 

Mines. 

Birmingham. 

Ked  ash  Cahaba  Jump . 

.  $3.00 

$3.30 

Red  ash  Cahaba  .Jump . 

.  2.75 

8.10 

Red  ash  sream  size . 

.  1.20@1.35 

Frt.  rate  30c 

Jefferson  Countv — 

Fancy  steam  Pratt . 

.  1.75 

2.00 

Run  of  mine  Pratt . 

.  1.20(3)1.2.5 

1.45(»1.50 

Mary  Lee  lump . 

.  1.40<®1.60 

1.80(®1.90 

Black  Creek — 

Fancy  steam  lump . 

.  1.75 

2.05 

Washed  nut . 

.  1.75 

2.05 

Washed  steam  . 

Frt,  rate  30c 

Mine  run . 

.  1.35@1.40 

Frt.  rate  30c 

Jefferson  Steam  Coal — 

Mine  run . 

Walker  Countv  Domestic 

.  1.15(ffil.25 

Coal — 

Frt.  rate  30c 

Carbon  Hill  lump  . 

.  1.75 

2.15 

Carbon  Hill  egg . 

.  1.65 

2.05 

Horse  Creek  mine  run . 

.  1.00(®1.20 

Frt.  rate  40c 

Genuine  Corona — 

Lump  .  2.00  2.40 

Egg  . .  1,99  2,35 

Steam  sizes .  1,25@1.35  Frt.  rate  40c 

Shelby  County  Domestic  Coal — 

Cahaba  fancy  lump  .  3.00  8.30 

Cahaba  No.  3  lump  .  2.75  3.05 

Montevallo  domestic  prices  range  from  $3,00  to  $3.25. 
Blacksmith  coal,  washed  and  screened,  per  ton,  $2.00  to 
$2.25  at  mines,  with  different  rates  to  various  points. 


Duluth  Trade. 


lowing  car  statistics  for  the  other  months  of 
the  year,  makes  up  the  total  shipments  already 
mentioned : 


January  . 
February 
March  .  .  . 
April  .  .  .  . 
May  .  . .  . 
Tune  .  .  .  . 
July  ,,.. 
August  .  . 
September 
October  , 


1915.  1914. 

.24,990  21,639 

.20,279  24,220 

.10,800  16,083 

.12,029  16,800 

.11,401  13,275 

.11,468  13,312 

.12,855  15,099 

.18,075  20,349 

i24,712  24,347 

.31,818  27,287 


Duluth,  Minn,,  December  16. — (Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — In  the  last  week  three  cargoes 
of  coal  arrived,  and  there  are  four  more  due, 
which  is  contrary  to  the  expectations  at  the 
writing  of  the  last  letter  to  this  department. 
At  that  time  only  one  more  cargo  was  ex¬ 
pected,  but  unexpected  charters  shoved  the 
additional  six  this  way.  This — provided  the 
four  boats  supposed  to  be  on  their  way  here 
arrive — will  make  the  receipts  of  coal  in  De¬ 
cember  forty-one  cargoes  or  about  350,000 
tons,  as  compared  with  91,308  tons  during  the 
month  a  year  ago. 

Just  what  the  coal  situation  actually  is  just 
now,  with  respect  to  a  possible  coal  shortage, 
is  impossible  for  the  layman  to  estimate,  and 
the  coal  docks  men  are  disputing  about  it. 
Some  feel  certain  that  there  will  be  a  shortage, 
while  others  declare  that  there  will  be  an 
ample  overage  when  the  navigation  season 
opens  up  next  spring;  and  these  latter  declare 
the  only  danger  is  a  shortage  caused  by  strike 
in  the  East.  Estimating  5,500,000  tons  of 
coal  on  the  docks  now,  the  optimists,  if  such 
they  may  be  termed  for  convenience  sake, 
say  that  there  will  be  lots  of  coal  left.  They 
claim  that  the  demand  is  not  up  to  an  average 
of  1,000,000  tons  a  month,  and  the  four  light¬ 
est  months  of  the  winter  are  faced  now,  so 
that  they  anticipate  no  particular  danger. 

Several  of  the  coal  companies  claim  that  if 
contracts  are  lived  up  to,  Youghiogheny  is  go¬ 
ing  to  run  pretty  short  and  not  far  distant. 
There  is  no  advance  in  price  as  yet.  Some  of 
the  companies,  but  not  all,  have  advanced  the 
price  of  Pocahontas  egg  and  lump  coal  25 
cents  a  ton,  making  the  price  now  $7  a  ton. 
The  North  Western  Fuel  company  has  ad¬ 
vanced  the  price  of  a  special  grade  of  soft 
lump  25  cents,  but  other  coal  companies  hav¬ 
ing  special  stock  have  not  done  so  yet,  but 
may  before  long. 

Parts  of  the  Carnegie  and  Zenith  coal  docks 
at  West  Duluth  will  probably  be  involved  in 
a  fight  between  the  states  of  Minnesota  and 
Wisconsin  to  decide  taxable  rights  and  also 
in  one  over  the  ownership  of  riparian  rights, 
as  a  result  of  a  decision  recently  given  by 
the  United  States  court  of  appeals,  and  just 
allowed  to  stand  as  final  by  the  United  States 
supreme  court,  in  a  case  involving  the  boun¬ 
dary  between  the  two  states.  The  suit  was 
that  of  the  trustee  of  the  George  W.  Norton 
estate  against  Robert  B.  Whiteside  of  Duluth, 
and  the  court  decided  that  the  natural  channel 
of  the  river  constituted  the  boundary.  The 
docks  of  the  two  coal  companies  mentioned 
built  on  the  Duluth  side  of  the  bay,  extend 
beyond  the  natural  channel  and  up  to  the  ar¬ 
tificial  channel,  and,  it  is  claimed,  thus  extend 
into  Wisconsin. 


Lake  Shipments  in  1915. 

Duluth,  Minn.,  December  16. — (Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — The  shipments  of  coal  from  the 
Head  of  the  Lakes  to  interior  points  of  the 
Northwest,  show,  for  the  year  from  Jan.  1 
to  Dec.  1,  a  slight  falling  off  from  the  same 
period  last  year,  but  the  difference  is  only 
about  20,000  tons.  The  increases  during  the 
months  of  September,  October  and  November 
this  year  over  shipments  in  the  same  months 
last  year,  were  marked,  and  January  also 
showed  an  increase  but  the  intermediate 
months  show  figures  considerably  below  those 
of  their  corresponding  months  of  1914. 

The  total  shipments  during  the  year  to  Dec. 
1,  with  comparative  figures,  were  as  follows; 


Tons. 

1914  . 7,138,016 

1915  . 7,118,432 


Decrease  .  19,584 

The  shipments  during  November  this  year 
and  last  were ; 

Tons.  Sars. 

1915  . 1,160,256  36,253 

1914  .  901,664  30,052 


Increase  .  198,592  6,206 


This  added  to  the  tonnage  computation,  fig¬ 
ured  at  thirty-two  tons  to  the  car,  of  the  fol- 


Twin  Cities  Trade. 


i\IiNNE.\poLis  AND  St.  Paul,  December  16. — 
(Special  Correspondence.) — Five  million  bushels 
of  wheat  were  on  track  at  the  terminals  in  Minne¬ 
apolis  last  week  and  for  several  days  it  looked 
as  if  there  would  be  an  old-fashioned  congestion. 
The  railroads,  by  extraordinary  efforts  and  due 
to  lighter  receipts  at  country  elevators,  did  not 
get  in  as  bad  shape  as  expected,  although  the 
effect  of  these  heavy  receipts  is  being  felt  with¬ 
in  the  switching  limits  of  the  Twin  Cities..  Coal 
cars  are  sometimes  a  couple  of  weeks  getting 
to  dealers,  and  nearly  all  the  owners  of  large 
rail  yards  are  anticipating  their  requirements  to 
some  extent.  One  thing  that  materially  helped  the 
situation  was  the  mild  weather.  When  the  con¬ 
gestion  was  at  its  worst,  the  temperatures  were 
ordinarily  those  experienced  in  June,  so  that  the 
railroads  had  every  advantage  in  getting  away 
from  what  might  have  been  a  serious  situation. 

Demand  for  coal  of  all  descriptions  this  week 
has  been  more  active  than  for  nearly  a  month. 
There  is  no  snow  in  this  part  of  the  country 
but  the  thermometer  registered  down  nearly  to 
zero  Tuesday  and  this  stimulated  business.  A 
few  orders  came  in  that  day  but  yesterday  busi¬ 
ness  was  in  much  more  substantial  volume,  and 
the  industry  showed  nearly  as  much  “pe^  as  it 
did  in  October.  The  cold  weather  Tuesday,  how-, 
ever,  was  not  as  severe  as  that  experienced  a 
year  ago.  The  temperature  at  that  time  went  to 
eleven  below  zero,  which  is  colder  than  any  time 
this  year  since  the  first  of  February. 

In  the  dock  trade  much  interest  is  being  felt 
in  the  war  situation  abroad.  The  demand  for 
coal  in  France  may  be  a  vital  factor  in  the  dock 
trade  next  spring  if  that  country  carries  out 
its  plan  of  establishing  a  government  fleet  for  the 
transportation  of  American  coal,  and  other  Eu¬ 
ropean  countries  join  in  such  a  movement.  Dock 
interests  realize  that  with  all  of  Europe  bidding 
against  them  there  is  every  reason  to  expect  much 
higher  prices  at  the  mines  and  correspondingly 
higher  prices  for  lake  shipment. 

Bituminous  coal  of  all  descriptions  is  in  fair 
supply  on  the  docks,  the  only  noteworthy  excep¬ 
tion  being  Pocahontas  egg.  This  grade  is  very 
scarce  and  while  prices  have  not  yet  advanced 
appreciably,  dock  companies  are  having  difficulty 
in  securing  a  sufficient  supply  to  meet  their  cur¬ 
rent  orders. 

Current  market  prices  at  wholesale  on  loading 
grades  of  coal  sold  in  the  Twin  Cities  are  as  fol¬ 
lows  : 


ANTHRACITE. 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Duluth  Minneapolis 
and  and 

Superior  St.  Paul 


Grate  .  $6.60  $7.80 

Egg  .  6.85  8.05 

Stove  .  6.85  8.05 

Nut  .  7.10  8.30 

Pea  .  5.50  6.70 

Buckwheat  .  4.00  5.20 


BITUMINOUS. 

Splint,  screened  lump  and  stove.$3.30@3.40 


Splint,  dock  run .  3.10 

Hocking,  screened  lump  and  stove  3.30@3.40 

Hocking,  dock  run .  3.00 

Youghiogheny,  gas,  lump  and  stove  3.30@3.40 

Youghiogheny,  gas,  dock  run .  3.10 

Pittsburgh  vein,  lump .  3.30@3.40 

Pittsburgh  vein,  dock  run .  3.00 

Pocahontas,  screened  lump  or  egg  4.75 

Pocahontas,  screened  lump  and 

egg  mixed.  . .  4.50 

Pocahontas,  mine  run .  3.25 

Cannel,  lump .  5.25 

.Smithing,  bulk .  4.25 

Smithing,  in  100  lb.  sacks .  6.00 

Briquets,  anthracite .  5.00 

Briquets,  smokeless .  5.00 


$4.26@4.36 
4.06 
4.26@4.36 
3  9€ 
4.26@4!36 
4.06 
4.26@4.3( 

3.96 
5.71 

5.46 

4.21 

6.21 
5.21 

6.96 

5.96 
5.96 


In  the  Illinois  trade  the  range  of  prices  on 
southern  Illinois  product  on  the  various  sizes  is  as 
follows : 


Franklin  County — 

Lump,  egg  and  No.  1  nut . $1.65@1.75 

No.  2  nut .  3.66@ 

No.  2  nut .  1.50@1.60 

-inch  screenings  .  .85 

Run  of  mine..,...._ . 1.15@1.25 

Williamson  and  Saline  Counties — 

Lump,  egg  and  No.  1  nut......  1.65@1.75 

No.  2  nut .  1.40@1.50 

2-inch  screenings .  .85 

Run  of  mine .  1.15@1.25 


$3.95@4.05 

3.76 

3.66@3.76 

3.01 

3.45@3.55 

3.95@4.05 

8.50@3.66 

3.01 

3.45@3.55 


The  Black  Diamond 

_ _ _ _ _ 

Vol.  55.  No.  26  80LUMBUS  DECEMBER  25,  1915  S^sIurgh  $3.00  Per  Year 

How  Chicago  Began  to  Study  Cost  Accounting. 


The  following  is  one  question  the  retail  dealer 
will  have  to  answer  for  himself — the  associations, 
the  trade  papers,  the  legislatures  and  the  city 
councils  cannot  answer  it  for  him : 

“Are  you  justified  in  not  knowing  what  it  costs 
you  to  do  business  merely  because  your  neighbor 
does  not  know,  does  not  want  to  know,  and  will 
not  learn?” 

In  a  word,  is  “the  cost  of  doing  business”  a 
subject  which  must  be  studied  by  all,  or  it  can’t 
be  studied  at  all.  Taking  a  parallel  case,  must 
we  abandon  the  schools  and  do  away  with  our 
whole  system  of  education  merely  because  a  few 
blacks  and  a  few  mountain  whites  will  not  learn 
to  read  and  write? 

That  was  precisely  the  question  which  con¬ 
fronted  the  retail  coal  men  of  Chicago  who  were 
banded  together  in  the  Chicago  Coal  Merchants’ 
Association.  From  the  time  when  Milton  E.  Rob¬ 
inson  was  president  of  that  organization  and 
hence  from  the  time  when  it  was  little  more  than 
a  commercial  debating  society,  the  question  “what 
does  it  cost  to  do  business”  was  one  of  the  themes 
which  came  up  for  periodical  discussion.  The 
writer  of  this  article  remembers  distinctly  some 
of  those  early  sessions  of  that  new  association. 
Mr.  Robinson  would  suggest  as  the  subject  of  the 
day’s  debate,  “What  does  it  cost  to  do  business?” 
Then  he  would  call  upon  some  of  the  members  to 
arise  and  tell  what  it  had  cost  them  the  preceding 
year.  We  have  a  vivid  recollection  of  one  meet¬ 
ing  in  particular.  One  retailer,  who  thought  he 
was  a  good  business  man,  arose  and  said  that  his 
costs  had  been  sixty-eight  cents  a  ton.  This  man 
owned  a  rail  yard  and  extensive  equipment.  He 
did  better  than  50,000  tons  of  coal  business  a 
year. 

The  next  man  to  arise  was  of  the  same  kind. 
He  said : 

“You  have  got  me  beat.  It  cost  me  seventy- 
three  cents  a  ton.” 

The  third  man  up  went  to  the  subject  with  the 
same  candor  when  he  said  that  both  of  the  oth¬ 
ers  bettered  his  record,  which  seventy-eight  cents 
a  ton. 

At  this  point  A.  J.  Bunge,  with  customary 
abruptness,  got  into  the  discussion  with : 

“I  am  not  hard  up  today,  and  I  don’t  want  to 
take  anybody’s  money,  but  I  will  bet  any  one  of 
you  three  men  $100  to  $5  that  what  he  thinks  were 
his  costs  are  not  correct  within  fifteen  cents  a  ton. 
I’ll  bet  the  fellow  who  named  the  lowest  figure 
isn’t  right  within  twenty  cents  a  ton.  I  can  do 
business  as  cheaply  as  any  one  of  you.  It  costs 
me  ninety-two  cents  a  ton  now  and  the  cost  is 
going  up  every  day.” 

The  challenge  was  too  pointed  to  pass  without 
notice.  Everyone  in  the  room  knew  that  Mr. 
Bunge  was  a  good  business  man.  At  least  he  was 
doing  two  to  three  times  as  much  business  as 
most  of  them.  His  blunt  statement  that  they  were 
off  in  their  calculations  as  to  cost  by  fifteen  to 
twenty  cents  a  ton  made  them  blink.  It  explained 
to  some  of  them  why  at  the  end  of  the  year  they 
never  had  any  of  it  to  spend,  whereas  they  thought 
they  were  making  money.  In  view  of  what  Mr. 
Bunge  said,  most  of  them  realized  that  what  they 
thought  was  a  profit  was  only  a  bookkeeping 
method  which  concealed  a  loss. 

Two  or  three  months  after  this  incident  the 
old  debating  society  came  pretty  nearly  losing  its 
character,  because  some  of  the  retailers  wanted 
actually  to  begin  to  study  what  it  cost  to  do  busi¬ 
ness — to  do  something  besides  talk.  And  they 
really  tried  for  a  month  or  more  to  learn.  They 
found,  in  the  end,  that  Mr.  Bunge  was  right. 
The  average  cost  for  the  city  of  Chicago  was 
nowhere  near  sixty-eight,  or  seventy-three  or 
seventy-eight  cents  a  ton ;  it  was  somewhere  be¬ 
tween  ninety-two  and  ninety-three  cents,  as  Mr. 
Bunge  had  said.  That  was  eight  years  ago.  The 
cost  today  is  above  $1.05. 

When  an  effort  was  made  to  use  this  informa¬ 
tion  the  difficulty  arose.  It  was  the  big  stumbling 
block  in  Chicago.  From  letters  received  from  all 
parts  of  the  United  States  it  is  the  stumbling 
block  of  the  coal  trade  generally.  That  is,  the 
old  debating  society  thought  it  would  be  a  good 


After  a  Disheartening  General  Debate,  a 
Few  Cut  Loose  from  the  Crowd  and  the 
Others  Followed  the  Lead — What  Other 
Cities  Do. 


thing  to  introduce  a  uniform  system  of  account¬ 
ing.  Still,  it  thought  it  could  not  do  anything 
unless  everyone  was  in  the  band-wagon.  It 
thought  there  was  no  use  of  having  an  account¬ 
ing  cost  system  unless  everyone  used  it.  It 
thought  and  decided  it  wasn’t  worth  the  while  of 
the  association  to  spend  its  time  and  money  to  get 
up  that  cost  system  unless  everyone  wanted  it  and 
was  willing  to  pay  his  share.  Especially  was  this 
true  unless  everyone  was  willing  to  use  the  sys¬ 
tem  when  it  was  compiled. 

Of  course,  everyone  would  not  go  to  school; 
therefore  everyone  would  not  pay  for  his  school 
books.  As  a  natural  and  the  only  possible  result, 
the  old  debating  society  got  up  to  the  edge  of  a 
mighty  important  and  interesting  subject  and  then 
abandoned  it.  It  did  so  because  the  universal 
adoption  of  the  system  was  clearly  out  of  ques¬ 
tion. 

Then  followed  a  period — it  seems  that  such  a 
thing  is  almost  impossible,  but  it  is  true — of  six 
or  seven  years,  when  the  subject  was  always  on 
the  tips  of  the  tongues  of  a  few  retail  dealers 
like  Homer  D.  Jones,  but  nothing  was  ever  done. 
Every  once  in  a  while  the  cost  and  systems  com¬ 
mittee  would  make  a  report.  This  report  would 
urge  the  importance  of  the  subject  and  end  up  by 
saying  that  something  must  be  done.  The  rest 
of  the  members  would  grin  at  the  effort  to  revive 
the  old  topic,  and  then  would  put  on  their  hats 
and  walk  out.  For  all  those  years  Mr.  Jones  was 
a  pleader  without  an  audience. 

After  a  disheartening  experience  of  this  kind, 
he  was  about  to  give  up  the  idea.  He  thought, 
even  as  the  association  thought,  that  it  was  not 
worth  while  to  do  anything  at  all  unless  every¬ 
body  was  in.  It  was  impossible  to  get  everybody 
in.  That  is  the  only  reason  why  nothing  was 
done. 

Incidentally  the  retail  dealers  of  Boston,  Phila¬ 
delphia  and  the  small  and  large  cities  of  Ohio, 
Indiana  and  all  over  the  other  states  are  in  ex¬ 
actly  the  same  position  today.  Some  retailers 
want  to  talk  about  the  cost  of  doing  business  and 
to  urge  united  action.  The  others  grin,  put  on 
their  hats  and  go  home.  Because  they  can’t  get 
the  others  interested,  and  because  the  subject 
can’t,  therefore,  be  handled  by  all  the  retailers  of 
one  locality,  those  who  have  a  saving  idea  on  the 
subject  become  disheartened  and  are  ready  to  give 
it  up,  or  have  actually  done  so. 

At  the  critical  moment,  as  it  seems,  Homer  D. 
Jones  of  the  Western  Fuel  Company  of  Chicago 
— chairman  of  the  cost  and  systems  committee  of 
the  Chicago  Coal  Merchants’  Association — got  a 
new  idea.  He  said  one  day  at  the  regular  semi¬ 
monthly  meeting : 

“We  have  got  to  get  away  from  this  old  notion 
of  ours  that  one  hundred  per  cent  of  this  associ¬ 
ation  must  study  this  subject  of  costs  in  order  to 
have  it  come  up  for  any  consideration  at  all.  We 
must  abandon  the  idea  that  we  can’t  do  anything 
toward  uniform  accounting  unless  all  do  it.  If 
we  wait  for  everybody  to  come  in,  we  will  wait 
forever  and  end  our  days  in  precisely  the  same 
position  as  we  are  now.  I’m  going  to  cut  loose 
from  the  bunch.  I’m  going  to  get  together  those 
in  the  association  who  are  interested  in  knowing 
what  it  costs  to  do  business.  Even  if  there  is 
only  one  other  member  who  wants  to  study  costs 
and  if  he  will  come  down  here  at  an  appointed 
time,  he  and  I  will  hold  a  meeting.  'If  there  are 
two,  it  will  be  just  that  much  better.  If  we  can 
get  five  or  ten  it  will  be  fine.  But  I  am  not  going 
to  wait  for  the  250  members  of  this  association 
to  get  down  to  business  before  we  start  to  study 
costs  as  they  should  be  studied.  As  chairman  of 
this  committee.  I’m  going  to  call  a  meeting  for 
next  Friday  afternoon.  We’re  going  to  hold  a 


meeting  if  nobody  but  A1  Bunge  and  myself  at¬ 
tend.” 

At  the  conclusion  of  that  short  speech,  Mr. 
Bunge  said  that  he  would  be  on  hand.  Charles 
Dreiske  announced  that  he  would  be  present,  and 
so  it  ran  until  something  like  ten  members  h^d 
joined  the  movement.  Before  Friday  afternoon 
this  number  had  been  swelled  to  twenty-five. 
Everything  considered  the  result  was  wholly  un¬ 
expected. 

When,  on  the  following  Friday,  the  little  band 
of  retailers  got  together  to  discuss  what  it  co^s 
to  do  business,  some  vitally  important  informa¬ 
tion  began  to  come  out.  One  man  had  a  simpH^ 
fied  method  of  getting  the  information  on  the 
books  and  getting  the  bills  sent  out.  Another  one 
had  an  ingenious  way  for  separating  yard  labor 
cost  so  that  it  was  easy  to  divide  the  cost  for 
loading  the  wagons  from  the  cost  of  putting  coal 
into  and  taking  it  out  of  storage.  Another  had  a 
simplified  time  clock  method  by  which  he  found 
the  cost  of  delivery,  etc. 

At  first  it  was  supposed  that  this  thing  could 
be  worked  out  by  departments.  That  is,  out  of 
the  twenty-five  men  some  were  most  interested  in 
the  cost  of  sales,  others  in  the  cost  of  loading, 
others  in  the  cost  of  yard  labor,  etc.  It  was 
planned  to  have  each  man  devote  his  attention  to 
the  one  topic  in  which  he  was  most  interested. 
Therefore,  primarily  it  was  decided  to  divide  the 
general  topic  up  into  six  departments  and  have  a 
committee  representing  each.  These  different 
committees  accordingly  were  appointed  and 
worked  for  about  three  weeks. 

However,  the  instant  the  committee  tried  to 
segregate  the  cost  of  its  particular  theme  from 
the  general  cost  of  the  yard  it  found  that  prac¬ 
tically  an  impossible  task.  So  many  activities 
around  the  yard  overlap  with  other  activities — 
and  must  do  so  or  the  expense  is  going  to  in¬ 
crease  inordinately — it  was  found  necessary  to 
consider  all  costs  as  practically  one.  That  is,  in¬ 
stead  of  having  a  separate  selling  cost,  delivery 
cost,  storage  cost,  etc.,  it  was  found  that  a  true 
accounting  system  could  not  be  gotten  together 
unless  the  yard  operations  were  considered  as  a 
whole. 

Thus  the  instant  the  retailers  came  down  out 
of  the  air  and  began  to  discuss  the  thing  in  sav¬ 
ing  detail,  a  big  discovery  was  made  as  far  as 
they  were  concerned.  This  gave  the  students  of 
this  question  a  real  program  to  work  out  and 
something  definite  to  do.  Thereafter  the  six 
committees  resolved  themselves  into  a  commit¬ 
tee  of  the  whole.  This  larger  committee  started 
to  work  on  a  general  accounting  system  for  the 
yard. 

The  first  thing  they  found  was  that  it  was  a 
pretty  big  topic  to  handle  and  they  wanted,  of 
course,  to  get  a  short  cut.  The  best  short  cut 
was  to  call  in  an  expert  accountant  who  really 
knew  the  subject  thoroughly  and  who  could  de¬ 
vise  a  system  that  would  fit  the  conditions  of  the 
different  yards.  They  decided,  therefore,  to  em¬ 
ploy  a  certified  public  accountant  and  did  so.  He 
held  a  meeting  with  the  general  committee  about 
two  weeks  later.  At  that  meeting  it  was  decided 
that  seven  of  the  retailers  should  pay  a  certain 
sum  for  the  first  year.  This  would  cover  the  cost 
of  installing  the  system  and  the  necessary  super¬ 
vision  of  that  system  until  it  was  in  actual  work¬ 
ing  order. 

When  this  has  been  done,  the  results  will  be 
turned  over  to  the  association.  Then  the  forms 
will  become  the  property  of  the  association  and  if 
any  other  dealers  want  to  use  them,  arrange¬ 
ments  can  be  made  by  which  they,  cheaply,  can 
have  the  installation  made  and  the  introduction 
of  the  system  supervised. 

After  this  experience  with  the  Chicago  retail¬ 
ers,  the  editors  of  this  paper  prepared  and  sent 
out  a  letter  to  quite  a  number  of  retail  dealers  in 
all  parts  of  the  country.  This  letter  asked 
whether  any  similar  movement  had  ever  been 
started  in  their  community  of  the  person  ad¬ 
dressed.  Candidly  we  did  not  expect  that  it  had 
liecn,  because  we  knew  about  what  the  situation 
(Concluded  on  page  528.) 


522 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[December  25 


An  Eastern  Retail  Cost  Accounting  System. 


WEEKLY  OPERATING  EXPENSES. 

FIXED  EXPENSES. 


A  week  or  so  ago  we  went  fishing  for  informa¬ 
tion  about  cost  systems  used  by  retail  dealers. 
We  got  one  that  was  interesting. 

Perhaps  that  isn’t  just  exactly  the  right  way  to 
put  it.  We  found  that  the  dealers  in  Chicago 
were  beginning  to  do  a  big  and  sensible  thing  in 
connection  with  cost  systems.  We  wanted  to  pass 
the  word  along.  So,  Yankee  fashion,  we  told 
what  we  had  to  say  in  the  form  of  a  question. 
If  anybody  else  had  information  to  the  same 
point,  we  were  mighty  glad  to  get  it.  That  would 
broaden  the  whole  field  of  discussion,  even  though 
it  was  not  necessary.  Thus  fishing  the  whole 
North  American  continent  by  a  circular  letter,  we 
might  draw  in  some  good  accounting  systems,  but 
we  would  tell  many  that  such  a  thing  was  pos¬ 
sible. 

We  were  rewarded  by  one  which  comes  from 
S.  P.  Burton  of  Boston.  Burton  &  Co.  have  a 
dock  at  Providence.  This  dock  does  a  retail  busi¬ 
ness  and  for  the  purpose  of  accounting  for  the 
coal  received  and  sent  out,  a  regular  system  has 
been  installed. 

Two  things  stand  out  very  clearly  in  this  set 
of  forms. 

First,  this  firm  knows  that  if  it  is  going  to 
account  for  everything  the  system  must  be  com¬ 
prehensive.  So,  its  forms  are  elaborate  and  even 
a  recapitulation  of  the  record  of  the  books  takes 
six  sets  of  forms,  each  of  which  fills  two  small 
pages  or  one  big  page. 

Second,  it  knows  that  to  get  a  comprehensive 
idea  of  any  one  cost,  it  must  have  a  proper  sub¬ 
division  of  that  cost  into  the  departments  where 
the  expense  originates.  Therefore,  it  makes  four 
general  subdivisions  of  the  cost  statement  and 
details  thereunder  the  things  which  properly  make 
up  that  expense. 

With  that  general  statement  of  the  Burton  pol¬ 
icy,  the  forms  will  explain  themselves.  In  repro¬ 
ducing  these  forms,  one  explanatory  note  is  nec¬ 
essary.  That  is ;  In  some  months  there  are  five 
weeks.  Therefore,  the  form  which  is  to  include 
the  whole  month  and  to  detail  it  by  weeks  should 
have  five  columns  for  the  weeks  with  one  column 
for  the  grand  total.  In  the  Burton  form  there  are 
five  columns  for  the  weeks.  We  reproduce  only 
one  of  them;  to  reproduce  the  form,  the  other 
four  have  only  to  be  added  in.  These  forms  are 
as  follows: 

WEEKLY  OPERATING  EXPENSES. 

ACCOUNT  DISCHARGING. 


Supplies  .  7 

Veterinary  ....  8 

Accid’t  insurance  U 
Office  and  stable 
insurance  ...  10 
Reserve  fund..  11 
12 


7 

8 
9 

10 

11 

12 


Total 


Yard  men .  14 

Office .  15 

Sundry  expense  16 

Supplies  .  17 

Ferry  expense. .  18 
19 


13  13 

TOTAL  TONS  CARTED. 

.  14 

.  15 

.  16 

.  17 

. .  18 

.  19 


Total  . 

.20  . 

.  20  _ 

. 

(J)wn  trucks... 

.21  . 

.  21  _ 

Auto  cars . 

.22  . 

.  22  _ 

Hired  trucks.  . 

.23  . 

.  23  _ 

Hired  teams.. 

.24  . 

.  24  . . . . 

Total  carting.  . 

.25  . 

.  25  _ 

Week  Ending— ^ 

-Month’s  Total— ^ 

Main  Office.  No. 

Tons  Sold. 

Memorandum 

of  Cost — 

Amount.  PerTon. 

Amount.Per  Ton. 

Items— 

Salaries  . 

1 

1 

Executive  exp.. 

2 

2 

Office  rent . 

3 

3 

Sundry  office  ex- 

penses  . 

4 

4 

Legal  expenses. 

5 

5 

Advertising  . . . 

6 

6 

Telephone  .... 

7 

7 

Salesmen’s  exp. 

8 

8 

Mileage . 

9 

9 

Bond  insurance 

10 

10 

Office  supplies.  . 

11 

11 

Miscellaneous 

insurance  . . . 

12 

12 

Reserve,  bad 

debts  . 

13 

13 

Contingent  tund 

14 

14 

Building  coal 

pocket  . 

15 

15 

16 

16 

17 

17 

Account  Housinc 


Bitum.  tonnage  26 
Cost  .  27 


26 


Anth.  tonnage.  28 
Cost .  29 


28 

29 


Cost  of  Housing 


Number  tons...  30 
Cost  .  31 


30 

31 


Total  cost. 


32 


32 


WEEKLY  OPER.VTING  EXPENSES. 

ACCOUNTS  MISCELLANEOUS. 


Totals  . 

18 

.  18  . 

Wharf  Expense. 

No.  Tons  Sold. 

Items — 

Rent  . 

19 

.  19  . 

Fire  insurance. 

20 

...... 

.  20  . 

Taxes  . 

21 

.  21  . 

Repairs  and  sup- 

plies  . 

22 

.  22  . 

Acci.  insurance 

23 

.  23  . 

.... 

Anthracite  ins. 

24 

.  24  . 

25 

.  25  . 

Totals  . 

26 

. 

.  26  . 

. 

WEEKLY  SHIPMENTS. 

TONNAGE. 


-Week  Ending- 


-Month’s  Total- 


Number  Tons  Via 
Car,  Memoran¬ 
dum  of  Cost — 


-Week  Ending— 


-Month’s  Total- 


Tonnage.  Total. 


Tonnage.  Totai 


Amount.  PerTon. 


Amount.  PerTon. 


Items — 


Wages  . 

.  1  . 

1  . 

Repairs  . 

.  .  2  . 

2  . 

Supplies  . . . . 

.  ..  3  . 

3  . 

Switching  .  . . 

.  .  4  . 

4  . 

Expense  .  .  . . 

.  .  5  . 

5  . 

6  . 

6  . 

Totals  . 

.  .  7  . 

7  . 

Steam  Coal — • 

Deliv’d  by  teams 
Delivered  on  cars 
Sold  at  yard.  . 
Sold  on  dock.  . 
Sold  on  lighter 


Total  .  7 


Items— 


Account  Pick-Up. 
No.  Tons  Re¬ 
moved — 


Domestic  Coal — ■ 

Deliv’d  by  teams  8 
Delivered  on  cars  9 
Sold  at  yard..  10 
Sold  on  dock..  11 
Sold  on  lighter  12 
13 


8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 


^ — We’ek  Ending—^ 

^Month’s  Total — ^ 

Number  Tons 

Discharged 

M  e  m  o  r  a  n- 
dum  of  Cost. 

Amount.  Per  Ton. 

Amount.  PerTon. 

Power  . 

Wages  . 

Repairs  .  .  . . 
Supplies  .  . 
Expense  .  . . 

. .  .  8  . 

.  .  .  9  . 

.  8  . 

. .  0  . 

Total  .  14  . 

.  14  . 

. .  .  10  . 

...  11  . 

. . .  12  . 

.  10  . 

.  11  . 

.  12  . 

Storage  Coal — 

Deliv’d  by  teams  15  . 

Delivered  on  cars  16  . 

.  15  . 

.  16  . 

Totals  .  13 


13 


Items — ■ 

Wages  . 

Supplies  . 

Coal  . 

Boiler  and  liabil¬ 
ity  insurance. 

Repairs  .  5 

Water  .  6 

Oil  .  7 

Lights  .  8 

Sundries .  9 

Suspense .  10 

Tornado  insur¬ 
ance  .  11 

Discharging  re¬ 
serve  .  12 

13 


2  . 

3  . 

2  ... 
3  .  .. 

ings.  No  Tons 

Sold— 

Total  .  . . . 

21  . 

.  21  . 

4  . 

4  .  . . 

Items — ■ 

Totals  .  . . . 

.  22  . 

6 

7 

8 
9 

10 

11 

12 

13 


Totals  .  14 


14 


-Vccount  Screen- 


Sold  on  dock. .  18 
Sold  on  lighter  19 
20 


17 

18 

19 

20 


Power 
Wages  . 
Repairs  , 
Supplies 
Expense 


14 

15 

16 

17 

18 
19 


14 

15 

16 

17 

18 
19 


Elk  Horn  Coal. 


Totals 


20 


20 


WEEKLY  OPERATING  EXPENSES. 

ACCOUNT  WOOD. 


Account  Trim¬ 
ming — 


-Week  Ending- 


-Month’s  Total- 


Bitum.  tonnage. 

15  . 

.  15  . 

Cost  . 

16  . 

.  16  . 

Anth.  tonnage.. 

17  . 

.  17  . 

Cost . 

18  . 

.  18  . 

Total  tonnage.  . 

19  . 

.  19  . 

Average  cost... 

20  . 

.  20  . 

Total  cost . 

21  . 

.  21  . 

No.  Cords  Sold. 


WEEKLY  OPERATING  EXPENSES. 

ACCOUNT  CARTING. 


-Week  Ending— / — Month’s  Total- 


No.  Tons  Carted — 
Own  teams.  . 

Own  trucks.  . 

Auto  cars .... 

Hired  trucks. 

Hired  teams. 

Total  tons  carted 


Memorandum 
of  Cost — 

Per 

Amount.  Cord. 

Per 

Amount.  Cord. 

Items — 

Power  . 

1  . 

1  . 

Wages  . 

2  . 

2  . 

Repairs  . 

3  . 

3  . 

Supplies  . 

4  . 

4  . 

Expense  . 

5  . 

5  . 

6  . 

6  . 

7  . 

7  . 

8  . 

8  . 

Totals  . 

9  . 

9  . 

Automobile  Oper¬ 
ating.  No.  Tons 
Sold— 


Items — 


Memorandum  of 

Cost — 

Amount.  PerTon. 

Amount. PerTon. 

OWN  TEAM  TONNAGE. 

Items — 

Teamsters  .... 

1 

1  . 

Feed  account.. 

2 

o 

Stable  men.... 

3 

3  . 

Shoeing  . 

4 

4  . 

1  ights  and  water 

r) 

5  . 

Repairs  . 

6 

6  . 

Wages  .... 

...  10  . 

.  10 

Repairs  .  . . 

..1  11  . 

.  11 

Supplies  . . 

...  12  . 

.  12 

Insurance  . 

...  13  . 

.  13 

14  . 

.  14 

15  . 

.  15 

16  . 

.  16 

17  . 

.  17 

18  . 

.  18 

19  . 

.  19 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Elk  Horn  Coal  Corpora¬ 
tion,  recently  formed  by  the  merger  of  the  Elk 
Horn  Fuel  Company,  the  Elk  Horn  Mining  Com¬ 
pany  and  the  Mineral  Mining  Company,  Clarence 
W.  Watson,  George  A.  Baird,  Johnson  N.  Cam¬ 
den,  George  W.  Fleming,  J.  M.  W.  Stewart,  Ed¬ 
ward  Cornell,  S.  D.  Camden,  John  E.  Bucking¬ 
ham,  D.  A.  Langhorne,  C.  H.  Slemp,  James  C. 
Fenhagen,  George  T.  Watson,  A.  E.  Nusbaum 
and  Walton  Miller  were  elected  directors. 

Qarence  W.  Watson  was  chosen  chairman  of 
the  board;  George  W.  Eleming,  president;  John¬ 
son  N.  Camden,  George  A.  Baird  and  A.  E.  Nus¬ 
baum,  vice-presidents;  J.  W.  M.  Stewart,  secre¬ 
tary;  J.  E.  Caulfield,  treasurer  and  assistant  sec¬ 
retary.  The  executive  committee  consists  of 
Messrs.  C.  W.  Watson,  chairman;  G.  W.  Flem¬ 
ing,  J.  N.  Camden,  S.  D.  Camden  and  G.  T.  Wat- 
son. 

The  Elk  Horn  Coal  Corporation  will  operate 
and  develop  further  its  large  coal  tracts  in  east¬ 
ern  Kentucky.  A  successful  sale  of  $4,000,000 
bonds  was  made  within  the  last  fortnight,  largely 
to  Baltimore  interests. 


Totals 


20 


20 


J.  J.  Hobbs,  the  New  York  coal  exporter,  has 
chartered  in  past  month  eight  schooners  to  take 
coal  to  Argentine  and  Brazil.  Mr.  Hobbs  re¬ 
cently  chartered  the  schooner  Edward  J.  Law¬ 
rence.  which  made  a  record  trip  (thirty  days)  to 
Barcelona,  Spain,  with  five  thousand  tons  of 
Pocahontas. 


No.  26] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


523 


Handling  Anthracite 


The  shipping  season  of  1916  will  see  some  big 
improvements  in  the  vessel  loading  methods  of 
anthracite  at  Buffalo. 

The  L.  V.  R.  R.  Company  has  almost  completed 
their  new  plant  at  Tifft  Farm,  and  it  should  be 
thoroughly  tried  out  and  ready  for  regular  serv¬ 
ice  at  the  opening  of  navigation  next  spring. 

Recently  the  Delaware,  Lackawanna  &  Western 


General  View  of  Gravity  Yard,  Oi^rator’s  House 
Over  tlie  TTnloaders  and  Inclined  Conveyor 
House.  Taken  from  Top  of  Present  Iiehig-h 
Valley  Dock. 

Railroad  Company  started  dredging  a  new  slip  on 
their  dock  property  in  preparation  for  an  entirely 
new  vessel  loading  plant. 

From  what  can  be  learned  locally  in  Buffalo, 
the  plans  for  this  new  plant  are  now  completed. 
It  is,  however,  generally  understood  that  a  typical 
car  dump  is  to  be  installed.  That  is,  the  familiar 
type  in  use  at  Hoboken  by  the  Delaware,  Lacka¬ 
wanna  &  Western  Railroad  and  at  Perth  Amboy 
by  the  Lehigh  Valley  Railroad  for  hard  coal,  and 
Cleveland  and  other  places  for  soft  coal. 

Where  the  general  conditions  of  the  various 
companies  are  apparently  entirely  similar  it  is 


The  Two  Vuloaders,  Four  Dxtra  Hoppers  for  Self- 
Cleaning'  Cars,  and  Dower  End  of  Inclined  Con¬ 
veyor  House.  Dehig'h  Valley  Dock,  Buffalo. 


interesting  to  note  how  the  methods  of  meeting 
these  conditions  differ. 

As  has  been  stated  previously  in  The  Black 
Diamond,  it  is  a  great  advantage  to  the  railroad 
companies  to  haul  their  box  cars  back  to  Buffalo 
loaded  instead  of  empty.  The  cars  go  east  with 
grain  and  other  products  from  the  west,  and 
unless  loaded  with  anthracite  in  Pennsylvania, 
many  are  returned  to  Buffalo  empty. 

Two  years  ago  when  the  preliminary  plans 


Car  on  Unloader  Platform  Tilted  to  Its  Extreme 
Position. 


Over  Loading  Docks. 


were  being  worked  up  for  the  Lehigh  Valley 
dock,  the  tirst  consideration  was  to  get  a  method 
of  handling  box  cars  cheaply  and  quickly,  with¬ 
out  breaking  the  coal  any  more  than  was  abso¬ 
lutely  necessary.  The  result  is  that  the  new 
Lehigh  Valley  system  is  built  with  the  box  car 
unloaders  as  the  central  and  most  important  fea¬ 
ture. 

As  a  contrast  to  this,  the  Lackawanna  is  plan¬ 
ning  a  typical  car  dump  which  will  handle  only 
open  cars,  the  box  cars  apparently  being  a  sec¬ 
ondary  consideration,  and  will  probably  be  han¬ 
dled  by  one  of  two  methods.  Either  the  coal  will 
be  transferred  from  box  to  open  cars,  and  then 
the  open  cars  be  put  over  the  car  dump,  or  have 
a  box  car  unloader  at  the  dock  and  elevate  the 
coal  with  belt  or  elevator  discharging  it  into  the 
same  chute  through  which  the  open  car  coal  is 
loaded. 

If,  as  is  anticipated,  the  amount  of  box  car  coal 
is  increased  to  50  or  60  per  cent  of  the  whole 
instead  of  20  percent  as  at  present,  it  is  easily 


The  Dust  Over  the  Boat  Illustrates  to  Some  Ex¬ 
tent  the  Excessive  Breakag'e  of  Coal  Under 
Present  Doading  Methods. 


seen  that  this  transferring  from  one  kind  of  car 
to  another  will  prove  a  very  expensive  operation. 
Expensive  from  an  operating  standpoint  but  more 
expensive  because  of  the  increased  breakage  of 
coal  due  to  the  extra  handling.  The  combining 
of  an  open  car  dump  and  a  box  car  unloading  on 
the  dock,  all  of  the  coal  discharging  into  the 
same  chute,  ought  to  prove  very  satisfactory,  if 
the  details  can  be  worked  out. 


Face  of  Present  Dehig'h  Valley  Dock  Showing' 
Telescopic  Chute,  'Which  Is  Part  of  the  New 
System,  in  Its  Raised  Position. 


The  new  Lehigh  Valley  system  consists  in  a 
large  gravity  yard,  with  two  car  unloaders  at 
ground  level  to  be  fed  by  four  tracks,  and  four 
lioppers  in  addition  to  those  under  the  car  un¬ 
loaders,  with  a  track  for  each.  These  four  hop¬ 
pers  are  to  receive  the  coal  from  the  self-clean¬ 
ing  cars.  The  car  unloaders  are  to  handle  all 
box  cars,  and  flat  bottom  open  cars  with  open¬ 
ings  or  gates  in  bottom  which  are  not  self  clean- 
ing. 

The  six  hoppers  discharge  onto  two  pan  con¬ 
veyors  each  5  feet  wide.  These  conveyors  of 
about  300  feet  centers  carry  the  coal  up  a  grad¬ 
ual  incline  and  discharge  over  a  large  lip  screen 


into  an  open  chute  and  thence  through  a  tele¬ 
scopic  chute  into  the  boat. 

The  degradation  or  breakage  of  coal  is  to  be 
kept  to  a  minimum  by  having  the  hoppers  which 
are  not  deep  kept  well  filled  and  the  chute  and  tel¬ 
escopic  chute  filled  so  that  the  coal  movement  is 
a  flow  instead  of  a  drop. 

Each  car  unloader  should  unload  box  cars  at 
the  rate  of  twelve  an  hour  or  five  minutes  to  the 
car;  the  flat  bottom  open  cars  at  a  much  faster 
rate;  and  as  is  well  known  the  self  cleaners  by 


Box  Car  on  the  Unloader  in  a  Tilted  Position.  It 
Is  Planned  to  Take  the  Grain  Door  Boards  Out 
of  the  Cars  Before  They  Are  Placed  on  the 
Unloader.  The  Conveyor  Shown  in  the  Picture 
Is  for  Conveying  the  Coal  That  Falls  Out  of 
the  Cars  on  Removal  of  Doors,  to  the  Main 
Hopper. 

merely  opening  the  gates  discharge  in  a  half  min¬ 
ute  or  less. 

The  rated  capacity  of  the  two  conveyors  is 
18,000  gross  tons  in  ten  hours.  It  is  expected  to 
load  readily  under  normal  operating  conditions 
10,000  to  12,000  tons  in  ten  hours. 

The  machinery  has  been  all  turned  over  and 
as  a  whole  promises  to  work  satisfactorily.  There 
will  undoubtedly  be  a  number  of  changes  made 
before  the  plant  is  accepted.  The  box  car  un¬ 
loaders  are  not  as  efficient  as  they  can  easily  be 
made  by  some  moderate  changes  and  there  are  a 
number  of  other  smaller  features  to  be  adjusted 
and  modified. 

The  fact  that  this  is  the  first  plant  of  its  kind 
designed  primarily  for  the  efficient  unloading  of 
box  cars  makes  it  extremely  interesting.  The  box 
car  unloader  after  it  is  once  demonstrated  on  a 
large  scale  as  it  will  be  in  Buffalo,  should  have  a 
wide  field.  There  are  a  number  of  other  prod¬ 
ucts  transported  in  box  cars  which,  under  the 
present  methods,  are  slow  and  expensive  to  un¬ 
load  grain  being  the  most  important  of  these.  The 
unloader  is  as  suitable  for  unloading  grain  as 
anthracite  and  it  is  believed  that  the  operation  of 
this  Lehigh  Valley  plant  will  be  followed  with 
much  interest  by  grain  men  as  well  as  by  coal  han¬ 
dling  concerns. 


November  Anthracite  Increase 


The  production  of  anthracite  in  November  is 
estimated  at  about  250,000  tons  more  than  that 
of  November  a  year  ago.  As  this  increase  is 
indicated  after  several  months  of  low  produc¬ 
tion,  a  shortage  of  approximately  2,500,000  tons 
will  remain  when  the  total  figures  for  the  first 
eleven  months  are  compared  with  those  of  last 
year. 

When  the  official  figures  of  shipments  to  mar¬ 
ket  are  announced  by  the  Anthracite  Bureau  of 
Information  at  Wilkes-Barre  next  week,  it  is 
probable  that  the  tonnage  for  November  will  be 
in  the  neighborhood  of  6,200,000  tons.  The  ship¬ 
ments  in  November,  1914,  were  5,928,286  tons. 

Operators  attribute  the  small  production  of 
anthracite  so  far  this  year  to  the  industrial  de¬ 
pression  of  last  winter  reflected  in  the  purchasing 
power  of  the  consumers.  The  amount  of  coal 
shipped  to  market  in  1914,  was  68,342,601  tons. 
•An  economy  by  the  consumer  of  five  per  cent  on 
his  anthracite  fuel  bill  would  make  a  difference 
of  over  3,400,000  tons.  The  public  failed  to  take 
advantage  this  year  of  the  spriag  and  summer 
discounts  when  anthracite  can  be  bought  at  the 
lowest  figure. 

Anthracite  shipments  for  November  were  6,297,- 
215  tons,  an  increase  of  368,929  tons  over  Noveni- 
ber  of  last  year.  For  eleven  months,  the  decrease 
is  2,500,000  tons. 


[December  25 


524 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


This  View  Gives  a  Suggestion  of  the  Method  of  Construction  of  the  Barker  Pocket. 

Barker  Company’s  Circular  Concrete  Coal  Pockets 


The  concrete  .siio  has  moved  to  town.  Some 
one  discovered  that  it  was  equally  as  good  for 
storing  coal  as  for  preserving  green  fodder  for 
stock.  So,  coal  dealers  are  taking  advantage  of 
this  fact  and  are  erecting  circular  concrete  bins 
or  coal  storage  pockets — nothing  more  nor  less 
than  reinforced  concrete  silos,  so  popular  in 
many  farming  and  dairying  sections. 

Among  the  latest  dealers  to  erect  structures 
of  this  kind  is  the  Barker  Lumber  &  Fuel  Com¬ 
pany,  Watertown,  Wis.,  who  engaged  a  silo  con¬ 
tractor  to  construct  the  four  tanks  18  by  46  feet 
each,  shown  in  the  accompanying  illustrations. 
These  structures  are  independent  of  each  other, 
although  standing  as  closely  together  as  possible 
to  permit  operating  the  silo  form  while  con¬ 
struction  was  in  progress. 

Each  rests  on  a  reinforced  concrete  footing  18 
inches  thick  and  4  feet  below  ground  level.  Walls 
are  6  inches  thick  throughout,  reinforced  both 
vertically  and  horizontally,  in  the  first  case  by 
'/^-inch  rods,  placed  every  2  feet  around  the  struc¬ 
ture  at  the  center  of  the  wall  and  in  the  latter 
case,  by  J^-inch  rods  6  inches  center  to  center. 


Here  is  a  situation  which  will  appeal  to  every 
employer;  that  is  why  I  am  answering  it  here 
instead  of  by  letter  to  the  inquirer.  The  letter 
comes  to  me  from  a  New  York  reader  who  re¬ 
quests  that  I  withhold  his  name: 

“Here  is  a  case  for  you  and  your  readers  to 
consider  together.  Up  to  a  month  ago  we  em¬ 
ployed  a  man  as  collector.  We  did  not  bond  him, 
believing  him  perfectly  honest.  He  collected  a 
large  amount  of  our  accounts  and  had  been  with 
us  for  five  years.  His  last  collection  was  made 
about  a  month  ago,  and  consisted  of  about  $150. 
He  came  in  at  the  close  of  the  day  and  said  he 
had  lost  it.  Ordinarily  we  would  have  accepted 
his  word,  but  I  noticed  liquor  on  him  and  I  had 
already  heard  some  things  about  his  manner  of 
living.  I  questioned  him  about  the  manner  of  his 
loss  and  his  story  did  not  seem  convincing.  We 
therefore  discharged  him  on  the  spot.  He  applied 
to  another  house  in  the  same  line  for  a  position 
and  gave  our  name  as  reference.  A  member  of 
the  firm  called  at  our  store  and  asked  about  him. 
and  I  told  him  the  whole  story.  I  stated  what  I 
had  learned  about  the  young  man’s  private  life,' 
also  about  noticing  the  liquor  and  the  story  about 
losing  the  money.  I  told  him  frankly  that  I  sus¬ 
pected  the  young  man  of  having  stolen  the  money 
instead  of  losing  it.  As  a  result  of  what  I  stated 
the  young  man  did  not  get  his  position.  I  believe 
he  would  have  gotten  it  if  I  had  given  him  a  good 
reference.  He  has  now  brought  suit  against  our 
house,  charging  defamation  of  character  and  asks 
heavy  damages.  I  always  believed  that  a  former 
employer  had  a  right  to  tell  his  opinion  of  a  for¬ 
mer  employe,  but  if  there  is  anything  in  this  suit, 

I  appear  to  have  been  mistaken.’’ 

You  are  not  mistaken,  and  in  my  judgment 
there  is  nothing  in  the  suit.  The  only  chance  your 
former  employe  has  of  getting  damages  from  you 


One  of  these  tanks  is  divided  into  four  com¬ 
partments  which  are  equal  segments  of  a  circle, 
these  compartments  being  formed  by  partitions 
made  of  2  by  4’s  spiked  together  flat  and  se¬ 
cured  to  the  walls  at  the  ends  by  bolting.  The 
tanks  have  no  floors,  provision  having  been  made 
to  spout  the  coal  into  wagons  by  gravity  by  filling 
the  tanks  with  well-compacted  cinders  to  the 
necessary  level  (8  feet  above  ground)  so  that 
the  coal  would  flow  from  the  wood  chutes  built 
into  the  silos  on  opposite  sides.  As  each  tank  has 
two  such  chutes  it  is  possible  to  load  eight 
wagons  at  one  time.  The  wagon  ways  are  roofed. 

The  structures  stand  in  a  row  running  east  and 
west,  with  railroad  trackage  at  the  west  end,  thus 
permitting  spotting  of  cars  alongside  the  un¬ 
loading  hopper  and  conveying  apparatus  which 
are  housed  in  a  wood  frame  structure  that  ex¬ 
tends  across  the  top  of  all  tanks,  thus  permitting 
any  desired  distribution  of  coal  when  unloading. 
Fire  risk  has  been  largely  eliminated  as  regards 
possible  injury  to  the  structures,  and  consequent 
reduction  of  insurance  rates  and  elimination  of 
the  necessity  for  insurance  on  the  structures  have 
followed. 


is  to  prove  that  in  what  you  said  you  were  actu¬ 
ated  by  malice.  You  know  whether  you  were  or 
not.  If  he  can  prove  that,  he  may  have  a  chance. 
Let  me  explain. 

Ordinarily  one  man  may  not  say  scandalous 
things  about  another,  even  if  they  are  true.  If 


they  are  not  true,  they  always  give  cause  for  a 
civil  damage  suit,  and  even  if  they  are  true,  the 
law  holds  that  they  tend  to  a  breach  of  the  peace, 
and  makes  the  person  uttering  them  criminally 
liable. 

But  there  are  certain  exceptions  to  this  rule, 
called  privileged'  communications.  One  of  these 
is  just  the  sort  of  communication  described  in  the 
above  letter — that  made  where  a  former  employer, 
when  asked  for  a  reference  as  to  a  former  em¬ 
ploye,  expresses  his  opinion  about  him.  Even  if 
what  he  says  would  ordinarily  be  slanderous,  and 
— if  he  acts  in  good  faith — even  if  what  he  says 
is  not  true,  the  employer  is  protected  and  no 
action  can  successfully  be  brought  against  him 
for  slander  or  libel. 

In  such  a  case  the  employer  can  even  go  fur¬ 
ther  than  telling  merely  what  he  knows  about  his 
former  employe.  He  can  tell  what  he  has  heard, 
even  though  he  has  not  investigated  it,  and  does 
not  know  it  to  be  true.  Even  if  these  rumors 
which  he  repeats  prove  to  be  completely  unfound¬ 
ed  and  untrue,  the  employer  is  not  liable  for  re¬ 
peating  them — if  he  acts  without  malice  and  in 
good  faith. 

The  legal  reason  for  permitting  the  employer 
so  much  latitude  is  that  an  employer  who  is 
about  to  hire  somebody  is  entitled,  as  a' sort  of 
social  obligation,  to  have  all  the  information  he 
can  get  about  that  person.  As  a  leading  case 
puts  it: 

“Giving  information  as  to  the  character  and 
capabilities  of  a  former  employe  is  not  a  legal 
obligation  enforced  by  law,  but  the  law  recognizes 
its  existence  as  a  social  obligation  which  cannot 
be  performed  unless  it  creates  a  privileged  occa¬ 
sion.  When  inquiry  is  made  of  a  person  as  to 
the  character  and  capabilities  of  a  former  em¬ 
ploye,  the  person  to  whom  the  inquiry  is  ad¬ 
dressed  would  not  do  his  whole  duty  if  he  should 
confine  his  answer  to  facts  which  he  knows  of 
his  own  knowledge.  Nor  would  he  do  his  whole 
duty  if  he  should  confine  himself  to  giving 
information  which  he  has  fully  investigated.  In¬ 
deed,  he  would  fail  in  doing  his  full  duty  if  he 
should  omit  to  impart  any  material  information 
which  has  come  to  him,  even  if  he  has  not  at¬ 
tempted  to  investigate  it  at  all.  He  must  be  care¬ 
ful,  however,  to  state  that  he  is  giving  it  as  in¬ 
formation,  and  not  as  fact,  because  if  he  gives  it 
as  fact  and  it  proves  to  be  untrue,  he  is  liable.” 

But  woe  betide  the  employer  who  allows  dis¬ 
like,  hatred,  or  resentment  to  color  his  report 
about  a  former  employe.  The  law  is  always 
severe  with  such,  and  these  cases  are  not  infre¬ 
quent.  Especially  where  an  employe  has  left 
against  his  employer’s  will,  or  after  a  quarrel,  he 
is  apt  to  try  to  get  back  when  asked’  by  a  pro¬ 
spective  employer  for  a  reference.  Even  though 
what  he  says  would  have  been  completely  pro¬ 
tected  as  a  privileged  communication,  had  there 
not  been  evidence  of  malice,  the  employe  reflected 
upon  can  collect  damages  from  him  if  the  state¬ 
ments  turn  out  to  be  untrue,  and  if  malice  can 
be  shown  to  have  been  present. 

Of  course  the  $150  “lost”  by  this  employe  will 
never  be  recovered.  To  the  employer  it  is  indeed 
lost,  but  it  would  not  have  been,  I  cannot  refrain 
from  saying,  had  this  collector  been  put  under 
bonds,  as  all  employes  handling  money  should  be. 
(C opyright,  November,  1915,  by  Elton  J.  Buckley.) 


Barker  Lumber  &  Fuel  Company’s  Circular  Concrete  Coal  Pocket. 


Giving  a  Frank  Opinion  as  to  a  Former  Employe 


No.  26 1 


525 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 

A  Coal  Company  and  Community  Advertising. 


This  year  the  East  State  Street  Business  Men’s 
Association  of  Rockford,  III.,  decided  to  celebrate 
the  Christmas  holidays  and,  incidentally,  invite 
the  attention  of  the  rest  of  Rockford  and  the 
vicinity  to  the  advantages  of  trading  on  East 
State  street.  They  went  about  it  by  decorating 
all  of  the  stores  and  windows  on  that  thorough¬ 
fare.  They  called  on  the  electric  light  company 
and  with  its  help  the  street  became  flooded  with 
light  from  numerous  new  arc  lamps. 

When  the  matter  of  advertising  this  part  of 
Rockford  was  first  broached,  E.  H.  Keeler  of  the 
Rockford  Lumber  &  Fuel  Company  ran  plump 
into  a  problem.  Running  into  a  problem  is  noth¬ 
ing  new  to  Keeler — but  this  time  the  particular 


problem  caught  him  at  a  new  angle.  He  had  a 
window  right  on  East  State  street,  a  landmark 
in  one  of  the  most  prominent  localities  of  Rock¬ 
ford.  It  would  never  do  to  have  that  big  window 
dark  and  all  the  rest  of  the  windows  on  the  street 
ablaze  with  light.  The  problem  then  was :  What 
could  a  coal  man  put  in  such  a  window  and  at  the 
same  time  make  it  interesting  enough  to  make  the 
display  a  business  producer? 

Now  Keeler’s  business  is  not  window  dressing; 
rather  it  is  being  the  dynamo  for  a  big  coal  com¬ 
pany.  It  is  his  part  to  keep  affairs  moving.  This 
thing  of  being  a  dynamo  has  its  disadvantages, 
but  also  it  carries  compensations.  It  causes  one 
to  meet  people  who  know  how  to  do  things  and 


Philadelphia,  December  22. —  (Special  Corres¬ 
pondence). — Not  in  years  has  railway  traffic  been 
twisted  into  the  snarl  that  at  present  exists  on  the 
eastern  seaboard.  There  are  coal  cars  scattered 
from  Dan  to  Beersheba  trying  to  make  headway 
into  points  of  destination  or  unloading  points. 
Railway  men  in  droves  are  workin.g  twenty-four 
hours  to  the  day  doing  their  utmost  to  get  the 
lines  clear.  Embargoes  here,  there  and  every¬ 
where  have  been  on  for  nearly  a  week  and  day¬ 
light  is  still  to  be  seen. 

Of  course  the  heading  off  of  coal  en  route  by 
reason  of  the  embargoes  which  have  gone  into  ef¬ 
fect  have  caused  a  flurry  among  the  men  that 
had  coal  on  the  wheels  moving  to  the  eastern 
points  of  trouble  and  to  New  England,  but  the 
slackeniag  of  price  is  believed  to  be  only  tem¬ 
porary  because  were  an  entire  clean  up  of  the  rail¬ 
way  yards  at  seaboard  a  possibility  there  is 
enough  merchandise  to  hurry  east  that  would 
again  clog  things  badly. 

The  condition  of  affairs  was  not  entirely  un¬ 
foreseen.  Railway  men  gave  warning  as  far  back 
as  September  that  there  was  such  an  immense 
amount  of  freight  that  was  on  its  way  or  could 
be  expected  for  trans-shipment  abroad  that  a  tie- 
up  was  the  expected  outcome.  Bottoms  for  all 
sorts  of  carriage  of  ocean  going  freight  have  been 
scarce  but  there  was  little  thought  given  to  the 
actual  conditions  which  would  follow  when  the 
full  weight  of  demand  for  space  was  made. 

The  result  has  been  that  when  the  cars  came 


while  Keeler  was  figuring  on  the  problem  he 
remembered  about  George  A.  T.  Long,  the  foun¬ 
dry  expert  of  the  Solvay  Coke  people. 

Long  is  not  a  window  dresser  either,  but  he 
could  make  a  fine  living  at  it.  He  has  a  record  of 
many  fine  displays  to  his  credit.  Keeler  knew 
Long  and  knew  about  his  window  dressing  abili¬ 
ties.  The  two  came  in  consultation  and  with 
Long’s  help  the  problem  was  solved. 

How  well  he  succeeded  is  attested  by  the  ac¬ 
companying  reproduction. 

The  window  is  about  twelve  feet  long,  eight 
feet  high,  and  six  feet  deep.  In  the  background 
was  draped  some  white  cotton  cloth  and  against 
this  was  erected  a  miniature  club-house,  a  replica 
of  the  new  home  of  the  Rockford  Motor  Club, 


which  will  be  erected  next  summer.  The  model 
is  about  six  feet  long  and  is  built  exactly  to  the 
scale  of  the  architect’s  plans.  Inside  are  placed 
carpets,  miniature  chairs,  tables  and  everything 
is  arranged  as  nearly  a  duplicate  of  the  real  thing 
as  possible.  The  house  is  brilliantly  lighted  with 
electric  lights.  The  material  used  for  the  walls 
is  wire  netting,  into  the  meshes  of  which  are 
placed  pieces  of  Solvay  coke.  The  roof  is  of  or¬ 
dinary  roofing  material.  Just  in  front  of  the  lit¬ 
tle  club-house  are  placed  some  palms  to  give  the 
idea  of  trees. 

The  foreground  is  composed  of  different  sizes 
of  Solvay  coke  and  the  edges  of  the  display  are 
decorated  with  Christmas  greens. 


rolling  into  the  various  points  of  reloading  that 
each  week  added  to  the  toll  of  traffic  stagnation 
until  the  huge  total  of  7000  cars  in  the  South  Am¬ 
boy  yards  of  the  Pennsylvania,  and  nearly  5500 
cars  in  the  Port  Reading  yards  were  blocked  last 
Thursday  when  the  order  came  to  permit  no  fur¬ 
ther  shipments  to  the  first  named  port. 

Interlaced  with  cars  containing  all  sorts  of 
goods  from  perishables  to  heavy  goods  for  foreign 
export  were  hundreds  of  cars  of  coal  that  could 
not  be  moved  out  of  the  jam.  Various  coal  firms 
who  make  a  business  of  transferring  coal  from 
the  South  Amboy  piers,  say  that  they  have  bot¬ 
toms  ready  and  waiting  to  move  coal  from  that 
point  but  they  cannot  reach  their  shipments. 

When  this  article  was  written  the  embargoes 
placed  were  as  follows ;  Pennsylvania,  South  Am¬ 
boy,  tight.  New  York  District,  for  necessary  pur¬ 
poses  only  (locomotive  fuel).  New  Haven  points 
via  Jersey  City — all  shipments.  Lehigh  and  Hud¬ 
son  and  connections — all  shipments. 

Philadelphia  and  Reading  R.  R.  Port  Readin.g, 
bituminous  coal.  New  Haven,  via  Jersey  City — 
all  shipments.  Lehigh  and  Hudson  and  connec¬ 
tions — all  shipments.  Lehigh  and  New  England 
and  connections — all  shipments. 

In  addition  to  this  there  is  a  Lehigh  Valley  em¬ 
bargo  at  Phillipsburg,  N.  J.,  against  all  hard  coal 
except  that  moving  in  Central  Railway  of  New 
Jersey  cars  and  those  which  are  billed  to  charit¬ 
able  and  public  institutions. 

The  tie-up  means  a  most  serious  situation  for 


New  England  and  for  the  first  time  in  years  the 
part  that  coal  carryin.g  boats  delivering  coal  to 
New  England  points  have  actually  proved  the  big 
part  which  they  play  in  the  trade. 

War  time  prices  for  cargoes  have  taken  away 
many  of  the  boats  that  plied  between  Hampton 
Roads  and  tbe  New  England  ports.  The  modern 
collier  played  a  big  part  in  driving  the  coal  hooker 
and  barge  out  of  the  business.  Today  barges  be¬ 
tween  the  ports  bring  the  highest  charter  rate 
that  has  ever  been  known.  Freights  have  been 
made  at  prohibitive  figures  but  even  the  high  prices 
that  have  been  offered  has  not  brought  enough 
bottoms  into  service  to  supply  the  wants  of  the 
coal  users  there. 

At  Hampton  Roads  there  are  strings  of  cars 
waiting  for  bottom  to  carry  the  coal  away.  That 
in  itself  has  been  the  cause  of  the  coal  stringency 
that  has  to  be  faced  there. 

Three  weeks  a.go  when  the  first  acute  signs  of 
a  coal  famine  in  New  England  made  its  appear¬ 
ance  the  buyers  from  that  part  of  the  country 
jumped  into  the  Pennsylvania  market  and  in  the 
Clearfield  and  other  sections  where  free  coal  could 
be  had  that  would  take  a  direct  connection  along 
the  Hudson  river,  advances  in  prices  were  quickly 
noted.  With  this  coal  on  the  wheels  and  bound 
for  points  from  Poughkeepsie  on  down,  the  free 
door  began  to  close.  Connections  through  Bing¬ 
hamton  and  Mechanicsville  to  the  Boston  and 
Maine  were  flooded  to  capacity  and  now  have 
been  cut  off.  The  connection  to  the  Boston  and 
Albany  lines  through  Rotterdam  Junction  clogged 
and  with  the  diversion  of  traffic  which  has  been 
occasioned  by  tbe  embargoes  about  New  York  it 
is  only  a  question  of  time  until  this  will  have 
reached  its  capacity. 

So  far  as  the  New  Haven  connection  are  con¬ 
cerned  they  are  as  tight  as  though  there  was  not 
a  wheel  moving.  Coal  moving  in  box  cars  were 
able  to  get  throu.gh  for  awhile  but  this  has  been 
practically  put  an  end  to,  and  all  traffic  must 
await  the  untangling  of  the  snarl  before  any  more 
can  move  through  that  artery. 

Two  ports  of  outlet  through  which  some  coal 
can  pass  is  the  piers  at  St.  George  and  Port 
Reading.  There  is  also  at  New  York  the  piers 
at  Elizabethport  and  at  Communipaw  but  these 
are  only  small  affairs  and  were  traffic  thrown  there 
in  any  .great  quantity  these  would  be  jammed  in 
short  order. 

With  the  Pennsylvania  shippers  the  open  ports 
that  now  remain  are  Port  Richmond  and  Green¬ 
wich  piers  in  this  city.  Richmond  has  been 
handling  its  full  amount  of  freight,  and  while  it 
could  stand  a  considerable  consignment  of  coal 
cars  it  would  not  be  any  great  time  before  it  also 
would  clog. 


Pennsylvania  charters  have  been  granted  the 
following  new  coal  companies:  Van  Ormer  Coal 
&  Coke  Company.  Capital  stock,  $5,000.  Treas¬ 
urer,  Frank  H.  Clemson,  Stormstown,  Pa.  In¬ 
corporators  :  Thomas  F.  Barrett,  Altoona,  Pa. : 
h'redrick  G.  Clemson,  Junita,  Pa.  The  Paint  Coal 
Company.  Capital  stock,  $5,000.  Treasurer: 
John  Schwabenbauer,  Snydersburg,  Pa.  Incor¬ 
porators:  E.  J.  Carroll,  Snydersburg,  Pa.;  S.  A. 
Sacherl.  Arthurs,  Pa. ;  Barbara  Saltsman,  Oil 
City,  Pa.  Conestoga  Coal  Company.  Capital 
stock,  $5,000.  Treasurer:  H.  B.  Hartswick, 
Clearfield,  Pa.  Incorporators :  L.  C.  Norris,  G. 
W.  Ralston,  Clearfield,  Pa.  Watkins  Coal  Min¬ 
ing  Company.  Capital  stock.  $10,000.  Treasurer, 
J.  C.  Thornton,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.  Incorporators, 
C.  Law  Watkins,  Rye,  N.  Y. ;  William  J.  Schafer, 
Marlton,  N.  J. ;  Edwin  S.  Lawrence,  Ardmore, 
Pa. 


At  the  Cincinnati  Coal  Exchange  election, 
a  few  days  ago,  C.  A.  Tribbey,  R.  P.  Gillham, 
James  A.  Reilly  and  E.  L.  Sternberger,  were 
elected  to  fill  vacancies  on  the  board  of  di¬ 
rectors  of  the  e.xchange,  this  being  the  annual 
election.  Mr.  Sternberger  is  elected  for  one 
year  to  fill  the  vacancy  caused  by  the  death  of 
Captain  Charles  J.  Menges.  The  newly  elected 
members  of  the  board  and  the  "holdovers” 
have  been  called  to  meet  to  reorganize  and 
elect  president,  secretary,  treasurer  and  other 
officers  of  the  exchange.  The  new  executive 
officers  will  take  their  seats  at  the  annual  din¬ 
ner  of  the  exchange,  usually  given  shortly  after 
New  Year’s  day. 


Now  that  the  more  seasonable  weather  has  set 
in  the  New  England  railroads  are  experiencing 
their  annual  petty  coal  thefts.  Through  the 
activities  of  Railroad  Officer  h'rank  J.  Coughlin, 
the  Boston  &  Maine  road  recently  rounded  up 
four  Polish  women  who  are  charged  with  the 
larceny  of  a  considerable  amount  of  coal. 


Why  Cars  in  the  East  Are  Scarce. 


526 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[December  25 


THE  LOADED  PURCHASE 

A  Chemical  Combination  ^  ~ 


In  Fiction 


Were  I  a  writing  man  instead  of  sales  man¬ 
ager  of  the  Sovereign  Coal  Company,  it  is  likely 
I  should  be  able  to  so  disguise  my  identity  that 
you  would  feel  a  piquant  pride  in  your  cleverness 
finding  me  out.  But,  I  am  not  a  writing  man 
and  will,  therefore,  stick  to  plain  facts. 

Unfortunately  also — or  fortunately,  if  you 
prefer — my  ignorance  of  the  writing  craft’^  tech¬ 
nique  leaves  me  without  the  means  of  revealing 
to  you,  in  an  interesting  fashion,  the  fact  my  of¬ 
fice  is  in  the  Girard  building,  Philadelphia. 

One  thing  else:  Our  company  is  a  jobbing- 
concern.  It  neither  owns,  nor  operates  mines. 
I  set  this  statement  down  flat,  and  without  shad¬ 
ing,  leave  it  bald  as  a  beardless  scald-head.  Here, 
likewise,  must  I  have  it  foreknown  that  we  buy 
the  output  of  the  Blackbelt  Mine,  down  in  the 
Fairmont  field.  We  resell  this  coal,  ten  per  cent 
of  the  selling  price  to  us,  the  balance  back  to  the 
Blackbelt  Company.  May  this  last  fact  fasten 
itself  in  your  mind.  Now  I  open  the  action.  T 
will  not  attempt  to  write  the  story ;  I  .shall  merely 
tell  it. 

You  may  not  recall  the  long,  hot  spell  of  Sep¬ 
tember,  but  I  have  reason  to  remember  it  vividly. 
On  the  very  worst  day  of  it  I  sat  in  my  office  with 
all  the  doors  wide  open  endeavoring  to  get  every 
breath  of  air  that  moved.  The  office  boy  was  on 
his  vacation,  the  bookkeeper  had  gone  to  the 
bank,  and  I  was  alone  waiting  for  my  stenogra¬ 
pher  to  return  from  lunch. 

Things  were  rotten.  No  new  business  was  in 
sight  and  the  weather  was  killing  off  what  little 
we  already  had  booked.  I  was  under  the  im¬ 
pression  we  had  made  $1914  in  August,  but  in 
analyzing  the  month’s  balance  sheet  I  found  the 
bookkeeper  had  made  a  mistake  and  had  added 
the  “Year  of  Our  Lord”  into  our  profits. 

Just  as  I  made  this  pleasant  little  discovery,  a 
cat-whiskered  gink  in  a  plug  hat  and  pegged 
trousers  came  snooping  up  to  the  door  with  a 
note  book  in  his  hand. 

Ah,  a  book  agent !  I  reached  for  a  paper 
weight,  thinking  not  to  let  drive  until  he  came 
within  good  range.  But  he  didn’t  come  in.  He 
stood  consulting  his  note  book  and  rubbering  at 
the  sign  on  the  glass  panel  of  the  hall  door.  Like 
a  storm  I  saw  his  face  cloud  up.  He  began  to 
cuss  or  cry,  I  couldn’t  tell  which.  But  a  second 
look  and  a  closer  scrutiny  proclaimed  him  no 
book  agent,  so  I  got  up  and  sauntered  out  into 
the  front  office. 

“Can  I  do  anything  for  you?”  I  asked. 

“Eh,  bien !  Un  autre!  C’est  a  rire!”  he  snarled, 
looking  as  if  he  were  going  to  bite.  I  stood  my 
.ground.  Slowly  his  face  changed.  He  took  off 
his  hat  and  bowed  deferentially. 

“Pardon,  Monsieur,”  he  said,  breaking  into  a 
smile,  “but  it  is  my  great  trouble  that  everyone 
would  do  something  for  me,  but,  Mon  Dieu,  what 
they  do  for  me  is  incredible !  They  send  me 
here;  direct  me  there  and  always  it  is  wrong. 
Will  Monsieur  be  so  kind  as  to  say,  is  this  not 
the  Girard  building?” 

“It  is,”  said  1. 

“Then  should  not  the  offices  of  the  Majestic 
I'liel  Company  he  found  in  this  building?” 

“'Phey  should,”  I  answered,  “but  they  can’t.” 

“I  do  not  understand.  Monsieur.” 

“Come  in  where  it’s  cooler.” 

r  scented  business.  He  accepted  my  invitation. 
After  seating  him  and  passing  him  a  cigar  I  ex¬ 
plained  there  was  a  Girard  building  in  Philadel¬ 
phia  and  also  a  Stephen  Girard  building.  He 
saw  then  he  had  mistaken  the  Girard  building 
for  the  Stephen  Girard  building,  and  had  con¬ 
fused  our  company,  the  Sovereign,  with  our 
rival,  the  Majestic  Fuel  Company.  It  required  a 
little  time  for  him  to  unravel  the  tangle.  While 
he  was  puzzling  it  out,  I  was  wondering  how  I 


*This  story  has  been  refused  by  five  well  known 
magazines.  It  was  written  by  Arnold  Gerstell  on 
a  bet.  Its  publication  here  is  the  penalty  he  pays 
for  bad  guessing.  In  a  good  natured  wrangle 
zvith  one  of  The  Black  Diamond’s  representatives, 
Mr.  Gerstell  maintained  there  was  an  open  field 
for  fiction  in  the  coal  business  and  to  prove  his 
contention  he  undertook  to  "put  a  coal  yarn  over” 
on  one  of  five  leading  fiction  publications,  failing 
which  The  Black  Diamond  was  to  have  the  privi¬ 
lege  of  "running”  his  story.  He  failed.  He  of¬ 
fers  no  alibi. — Editor. 


%  O  q  J 

coiild  hold  on  to  him.  Happily,  at  the  moment, 
my  stenographer  came  in. 

That- girl  of  mine  is  no  faded  wall  flower.  The 
instant  she  put  her  foot  in  the  door  the  French¬ 
man  sat  up  and  took  notice.  For  his  benefit,  I 
called  her  to  my  desk  and  gave  her  some  fake  in¬ 
structions  regarding  several  imaginary  orders. 
Then  I  said :  “Miss  Beard,  I  am  going  to  show 
this  gentleman  down  to  the  Stephen  Girard 
building.”  • 

She  turned  and  looked  him  over.  Out  of  his 
•chair  he  went  as  if  he  had  been  stuck  with  a  pin. 
He  clicked  his  heels  together  and  again  bowed 
like  a  dancing  master.  I  slipped  the  girl  the 
wink  and  got  up  to  leave.  Reluctantly  the 
Frenchman  followed,  and  I  saw  his  glances  trail¬ 
ing  wistfully  back  toward  the  girl  as  we  went 
out  the  door. 

As  soon  as  we  were  out  of  the  building  I 
headed  him  for  the  club  in  place  of  the  Stephen 
Girard  building.  Once  or  twice  I  thought  he  was 
going  to  balk  and  get  away,  but  finally  I  landed 
him  in  good  order. 

We  exchanged  cards  on  the  first  drink.  My 
expectations  were  confirmed.  Truly  I  had  a  live 
one.  The  card  he  handed  me  was  of  thin,  flexible 
velumcd  paper.  Upon  it  was  engraved,  “M.  1.  J. 
Unanidref,  Engineer  in  Charge,  Copenhagen  Gas 
Company,  Copenhagen,  Sweden.” 

Queer  name  for  a  Frenchman,  think  you,  but 
it  is  not  odd  when  you  know  the  facts  in  his  case. 
It  took  a  quart  of  wine  and  seven  dollars’  worth 
of  food  to  get  his  history,  but,  to  me,  it  seemed 
well  worth  the  money. 

He  wasn’t  exactly  French.  He  was  born  in 
Switzerland.  His  father  was  a  Russian  but  his 
mother  was  full  French.  His  father  died  and  left 
him  a  half  orphan  at  twelve.  His  mother  took 
him  back  to  her  people  in  France.  Through  some 
social  influence  she  got  the  boy  into  the  govern¬ 
ment  academy  at  Saint  Cyr.  Fie  graduated  there 
as  a  military  engineer  in  1885.  In  a  competitive 
examination  he  won  an  appointment  as  an  assist¬ 
ant  engineer  to  Bunau-Varrilla,  who  was  then 
chief  engineer  of  the  Panama  Canal. 

Dnanidref  was  on  the  Isthmus  through  the 
yellow  fever  scourge.  He  was  left  there  with¬ 
out  a  sou  when  the  French  enterprise  collapsed. 
While  he  was  waiting  at  Colon  for  the  arrival  of 
a  French  steamer,  which  had  been  promised,  but 
which  it  seemed,  never  came,  an  English  tramp 
anchored  outside  the  breakwater.  Her  captain 
was  afraid  to  come  in  and  discharge  on  account 
of  the  fever. 

Dnanidref  was  desperate.  At  high  tide  that 
night  he  threw  an  empty  beer  keg  off  the  dock 
and  took  a  chance.  He  hung  on  for  two  hours, 
and  finally  brought  up  against  the  steamer.  With 
what  strength  he  had  left  he  managed  to  climb 
the  anchor  chain  and  slip  under  cover.  In  the 
fierce  heat  of  the  under-deck  he  lay  fighting  thirst 
for  two  days  before  he  emerged,  and  for  eleven 
months  thereafter  he  remained  on  the  ship  work¬ 
ing  as  a  common  seaman. 

The  only  thing  he  got  for  his  labor  was  his 
food,  a  bunch  of  experience  and  a  fair  working 
command  of  English.  At  last,  however,  the  ves¬ 
sel  fetched  up  in  Copenhagen  with  a  cargo  of  gas 
coal.  Dnaniderf  slipped  off  the  boat  by  stealth. 
After  she  had  discharged  and  cleared  he  got  a 
job  shoveling  coal  for  the  gas  company.  From 
this  beginning  he  advanced  until  he  became  the 
company’s  engineer  in  charge. 

This  experience,  I  imagine,  he  recounted  when¬ 
ever  opportunity  presented  an  excuse  and  I  sur¬ 
mise  from  the  way  he  told  it  that  it  had  lost 
none  of  its  savor  through  oft  repetition.  It  was 
a  tale  such  as  one  would  treasure  for  the  inspira¬ 
tion  of  his  children. 

But  what  interested  me  was  this :  I  learned 
from  his  talk  he  had  once  used  a  coal  in  Panama 
that  had  come  from  America,  a  very  peculiar  coal 
possessing  certain  particular  analytical  properties 
rarely  found  in  a  coal  with  physical  characteris¬ 
tics  such  as  to  assure  its  being  successfully  con¬ 
verted  into  coke  of  a  high  porosity.  And  it  came 


out  on  top  of  this,  that  his  purpose  in  visiting 
the  FJnited  States  was  to  find  that  particular  kind 
of  coal. 

It  further  developed  that  an  extensive  search 
for  the  coal  he  desired  had  been  fruitless.  He 
had  scoured  the  Pocahontas  field  to  find  no  coal 
containing  more  than  twenty  per  cent  volatile 
matter.  With  disgust  he  recited  the  many  mis¬ 
directions  he  had  received.  He  told  me  sadly 
of  the  incorrect  information  forced  upon  him. 
In  the  New  River  district  the  highest  volatile 
coal  he  found  showed  but  twenty-six  per  cent. 
Always  the  kind  of  coal  he  was  looking  for  was 
somewhere  just  beyond.  He  had  spent  two  weeks 
in  central  Pennsylvania  and  a  coal  thirty-three 
per  cent  in  volatile  matter  was  the  highest  he  en¬ 
countered.  He  had  combed  the  Pittsburgh  terri¬ 
tory,  and  had  learned  the  limit  of  volatile 
combustibles  in  the  coal  of  that  region  was 
thirty-six  per  cent.  Along  one  of  the  tributaries 
of  the  Kanawha  river  in  West  Virginia  he  had 
come  across  a  coal  thirty-eight  per  cent  in  volatile 
but  it  was  of  a  slabby  structure  which  would 
prevent  its  coking  properly.  He  had  gone  every¬ 
where  except  where  he  should  have  gone — to 
Fairmont. 

He  required  a  coking  coal  forty  per  cent  in 
volatile  and  nothing  less  would  answer.  A 
perilous  trip  across  a  mined  sea  and  two  months’ 
work  and  expense  had  gone  for  nothing. 

Before  leaving  Copenhagen,  oil  for  enriching*, 
gas,  made  from  low  volatile  coal,  had  become, 
on  account  of  the  war,  an  impossible  proposition. 
He  has  assured  his  directors  the  coal  his  com¬ 
pany  needed  was  produced  only  in  America.  He 
had  staked  his  reputation  on  his  ability  to  find 
that  coal.  He  knew  there  must  be  such  a  coal, 
but  where?  Where?  Where? 

His  question  repeated  sent  his  voice  trembling 
up  in  a  crescendo.  Actually  he  shed  tears.  A 
fit  of  exasperation  seemed  to  carry  him  off  his 
feet.  While  he  ranted  I  was  thinking  what  price 
I  would  ask  him  for  Blackbelt.  I  knew  I  could 
guarantee  it  to  run  forty  per  cent  in  volatile.  I 
knew,  of  course,  it  would  coke. 

“I  ask  you,”  he  sniveled,  “is  it  not  that  such 
a  coal  as  I  require  exists  in  your  country?” 

“It  does,”  I  said. 

“Where?  Where?”  he  pleaded,  grasping  me 
by  the  lapel  of  my  coat  and  sending  his  breath 
into  my  face. 

“In  the  Blackbelt  Mine,”  I  replied.  He  hitched 
his  hold  further  up  on  my  coat  collar  and  stiff 
armed,  he  pushed  me  back  in  my  chair.  An  angry 
look  came  into  his  eye,  and  I  shot  a  hasty  glance 
at  the  water  bottle  just  within  reach. 

“Do  not.  Monsieur,  make  sport  of  me,”  he 
warned.  “I  am  not  in  the  frame  of  mind  to  bear 
trifling.” 

“Neither  am  1.  Sit  down,”  I  commanded,  and 
he  obeyed  gloweringly.  Then  I  talked;  and  he 
listened  intently.  As  I  went  on  speaking  his 
humor  changed.  His  countenance  lighted  up. 
Gradually  an  expression  of  hopeful  anticipation 
overcast  it. 

It  took  me  some  time  to  convince  the  poor  nut 
we  had  the  very  sort  of  coal  he  needed.  I  was 
telling  him  about  the  mine  when  he  cut  in  and 
falteringly  asked  if  this  wonderful  Blackbelt  coal 
could  be  put  aboard  a  vessel  at  a  cost  not  to  ex¬ 
ceed  $6.50  per  ton.  I  nearly  fainted !  That  was 
$3.85  per  ton  more  than  I  expected  to  quote  him. 

Hastily  tranquilizing  my  agitation,  I  feigned  to 
weigh  the  matter  carefully  and  told  him,  after 
some  hesitation,  we  could  arrange  to  let  him  have 
a  limited  tonnage  at  that  figure.  Then  I  thought 
to  myself,  “This  wop  is  crazy.”  I  again  looked 
at  his  card.  It  reassured  me.  “How,”  I  ques¬ 
tioned,  “am  I  to  hold  him ;”  I  was  thinking  it 
over  when  he  again  forestepped  me. 

“Ah,  Monsieur,  I  perceive  you  suffer  with  a 
gentleman’s  restraint  in  presenting  your  terms.  I 
appreciate  the  delicacy  of  the  courtesy  you  pay 
me,  but,  this,  my  dear  sir,  is  a  matter  of  business. 
Will  you  not  favor  me  by  looking  over  my  letters 
of  introduction  and  will  you  not  be  good  enough 
to  make  note  of  my  banking  company’s  name  and 
address?” 

Across  the  table  he  passed  me  a  half  dozen  let¬ 
ters.  It  required  but  a  cursory  inspection  to  see 
they  were  all  right.  His  banking  firm  was  a  well 
known  New  York  house.  As  I  ran  over  the  cor¬ 
respondence  he  went  on  to  say  that  this  bank  had 


No.  26  J 


THE  BEACK  DIAMOND 


527 


authority  to  pay  cash  against  sight  draft  with 
clearance  certificate  and  bill  of  lading  attached. 

I  handed  back  his  letters  and  looked  at  my 
watch.  It  was  a  quarter  of  three.  I  begged  him. 
to  sit  still  while  I  telephoned  to  a  gentleman  with 
whom  I  wished  to  postpone  an  appointment.  Im¬ 
mediately  he  was  on  his  feet.  He  wouldn’t  hear 
of  it.  Already  he  had  imposed  on  me  too  far. 

1 1  is  apologies  were  profuse.  He  would  not  con¬ 
sider  my  allowing  him  to  monopolize  my  very 
valuable  time.  Quickly  I  ordered  one  of  the 
club’s  justly  famous  brandy  stingers.  Under  its^ 
seductive  influence  he  subsided  and  I  got  to  the 
telephone. 

W'hile  the  long  distance  operator  was  getting 
his  liank  in  New  York,  I  got  Miss  Beard  on  the 
wire.  .She,  really,  is  the  only  one  I  have  in  the 
office  who  has  sense  enough  to  come  in  out  of 
the  wet.  She  is  all  right.  .She  is  a  rattling  good 
stenographer,  tf)o,  but  she  is  a  hoiden  and,  while 
she’s  ordinarily  very  well  behaved,  it  is  always 
ail  effort  for  her  to  be  ladylike.  At  heart  .she  is 
a  relative  of  Mrs.  Botiphar. 

So  I  jollied  her  about  the  “hit”  she  had  made 
with,  the  Frenchman  and  explained  to  her  how  it 
would  never  do  to  let  ea.sy  money  like  this 
I  tnanidref  go  rolling  around  loose  in  a  strange 
town,  without  a  chaperone.  I  made  it  plain  to 
lier  that  I  had  set  the  trap  for  a  rabbit  and  caught 
;i  bear  and  that  I  was  afraid  he’d  get  away  from 
me.  I  would  hold  on  as  long  as  I  could,  but 
would  she  help?  She  would.  Just  as  we  got  it 
framed  up  that  1  was  to  leave  the  office  early 
and  give  the  Frenchman  a  chance  to  ask  her  to 
dinner.  New  York  came  on  the  wire.  Sure 
enough  everything  was  exactly  as  Dnanidref  had 
said  it  was  and  the  cashier  promised  to  confirm 
our  conversation  by  letter. 

It  must  have  been  nearly  five  o’clock  when  we 
got  back  to  the  office.  In  our  sample  cabinet  we 
liad  a  good  sized  chunk  of  Blackbelt  coal.  This 
we  sent  out  to  a  chemist  and  arranged  to  have  a 
rush  analysis  made  of  it.  Dnanidref  was  in  high 
good  humor,  that  is  to  .say,  spirited  or  perhaps 
spirituous.  I  introduced  him  formally  to  Miss 
Beard,  pleaded  the  postponed  engagement,  placed 
the  office  at  his  disposal  and  left,  carrying  weight 
for  age  myself. 

The  next  morning  1  was  in  the  office  bright  and 
early — maybe  not  exactly  “bright,”  but  certainly 
early.  The  written  confirmation  from  the  New 
York  bank  was  in  the  mail ;  also  the  report  of  the 
chemist  showing  the  sample  of  Blackbelt  con¬ 
tained  40.27  per  cent  volatile  matter.  Everything 
looked  lovely.  Then  the  lid  flew  off.  Miss  Beard 
came  in  as  sore  as  a  crab  and  resigned  right  off 
the  bat.  She  had  been  disgraced ;  she  would 
have  me  understand  she  was  a  lady;  she  was  a 
stenographer  and  did  not  draw'  her  twenty-five 
Iier  as  a  social  entertainer.  If  I  thought  she  was 
•Mrs.  Vernon  t'astle,  1  had  another  guess  com¬ 
ing.  Her  feet  hurt  her  and  she  had  a  headache. 

"Besides,”  she  snapped,  “this  Frenchy  is  a 
crook.  For  your  lictter  information  the  Copen¬ 
hagen  Cas  Company  is  nothing  but  a  fence  for 
the  Cerman  government.  These  Copenhagen 
peo])le  do  not  use  any  coal.  They  mike  water 
gas  from  coke.” 

It  was  evident  Miss  Beard  had  failed  to  no¬ 
tice,  the  evening  before,  that  the  Frenchman  was 
well  on  his  W’ay  w'hen  1  introduced  him  to  her. 
But  it  seemed  from  what  she  said,  two  drinks 
had  made  him  sensational ;  three  had  made  him 
ilrnnk,  and  on  taking  the  fourth  one,  he  harl 
let  the  cat  out  of  the  bag. 

"What  the  Copenliagcn  (ias  Company  is  doing,” 
she  flushed,  “is  landing  high  volatile  coal  on  its 
docks  and  reshipiiing  it  by  rail  to  Germany.  And 
it  is  getting  rich  hecanse  Germany  has  no  high 
volatile  coal.  Germany  w'ants  coking  coal  forty 
per  cent  volatile  because  stich  coal  yields  fifty 
per  cent  more  benzol  than  (ierman  coal.  Ger¬ 
many  needs  licnzol  for  motors,  hut  that’s  not  the 
answer,  either,  hecanse  benzol  from  high  volatile 
coal  carries  with  it  a  very  large  percentage  of 
picric  acid  and  tohml.  Picric  acid  is  the  active 
principal  in  fulminates  and  toluol  in  combination 
with  introgan  makes  the  trinitrate  of  toluol  which 
is  the  high  explosive  used  in  the  forty-two  centi¬ 
metre  guns.” 

“h'or  Heaven’s  sake !  ’  I  e.xclaimed,  “Shut  the 
door.” 

I  realized  then  why  this  Frenchman  was  will¬ 
ing  to  pay  such  a  price  for  coal.  That,  however, 
didn’t  bother  me,  I  had  the  girl  to  handle  and  it 
was  up  to  me  to  finesse  carefully.  I  managed  to 
do  so  expertly.  About  the  time  I  got  her  all 
smoothed  out  with  a  boost  in  salary,  in  came 
Dnanidref  with  a  bunch  of  flowers  in  his  arm 
as  big  as  a  wheat  sheaf.  He  deposited  them  on 
Miss  Beard’s  desk.  Holding  his  shiny  tile  pressed 
tightly  to  his  heart,  he  bowed  with  a  coxcomical 
humility  that  was  amusing.  She  thawed  out  in 


spite  of  herself.  Once  more  the  sun  was  shining ! 

He  came  into  my  office  and  I  handed  him  the 
analysis  on  Blackbelt. 

“Forty,  twenty-seven,”  I  said.  He  gave  the 
report  one  look  and  wilted. 

“Oh,  Monsieur  !  Monsieur  !”  he  wailed. 

“What’s  the  matter?” 

“Oh,  Monsieur!  Monsieur!  It  is  awful!  It  is 
impossible!  It  is  hopeless!” 

“What’s  awful?” 

“The  sulphur.  Monsieur.  See !  It  is  more  than 
three  per  cent.  Surely  there  must  be  a  mistake. 
No  coal  could  carry  so  much  sulphur.” 

The  blamed  fool  hadn’t  said  a  word  about  sul¬ 
phur  before.  I  knew  there  was  no  mistake  and 
f  saw  the  fat  was  in  the  fire.  I  felt  like  throwing 
the  idiot  out,  but  the  poor  fellow  looked  so 
motirnful  I  hadn’t  the  heart  to  do  it.  He  limped 
over,  steadying  himself  with  a  hand  against  the 
wall,  and  stretched  himself  out  on  the  cotich. 
With  his  arm  covering  his  eyes,  he  lay  there  mut¬ 
tering.  Miss  Beard  appeared  in  the  doorway. 

“Good  night,”  she  murmured.  She  tossed  him  a 
kiss  from  her  finger  tips.  Then  she  turned  up 
her  nose  at  me.  I  sat  there  all  beaten  down  to  a 
whisper  looking  at  him. 

Suddenly  he  jumped  up  with  a  squall  like  a 
wild  cat  and  ran  over  and  kissed  me  on  both 
cheeks. 

“I  have  it.  Monsieur!  I  have  it!”  he  shouted. 

He  sung  a  little  tune  and  did  a  jig  step  arotind 
mv  desk.  Abruptly  as  he  began  he  stopped. 

"No!  No!”  he  moaned,  “I  have  it  not!  I  am 
a  fool.” 

“Say,”  I  blurted  out,  “What’s  eating  you,  any¬ 
how  ?” 

“No,  Monsieur,  it  does  not  eat.  It  is  non-cor¬ 
rosive.  It  is  harmless,  but,  alas  it  is  contraband.” 

“What’s  contraband  ?” 

“The  chemical.  Monsieur,  the  chemical !” 

“What  chemical?” 

“Oh,  pardon!  I  will  explain.  You  see  it  is 
very  simple.  With  a  cheap,  common  chemical  I 
could  neutralize  the  sulphur  in  your  coal,  suffi¬ 
ciently  for  our  purpose,  but  it  is  impossible  since 
the  war  to  get  such  a  chemical  in  Denmark.  The 
Germans  use  it  all.  Neither  can  it  be  shipped 
from  America  for  chemicals,  unlike  coal,  are  con¬ 
traband  and  England  will  not  let  them  pass.” 

I  thought  I  caught  a  glimpse  of  light. 

“You  say  you  can  get  this  chemical  in 
.\merica?” 

“Oh,  easily!  But  it  cannot  be  gotten  into  Den¬ 
mark.  There  lies  the  difficulty.” 

"Never  mind,”  I  said.  “You  say  this  stuff  is 
harmless?” 

“Oh,  quite  harmless.  Most  innocent!” 

“What’s  it  like?” 

“It  is  merely  a  crystalline  salt  precipitate  re¬ 
sembling,  I  should  say,  coarsely  ground  coffee.” 

“Black  is  it?” 

“Quite  black.  Monsieur.” 

“Well,  you  sit  down  there  and  listen  to  me  a 
minute.” 

“As  Monsieur  pleases.” 

“Now,  suppose  you  should  ship  this  stuff  to  our 
mine  and  suppose  we  could  arrange  to  mix  it  in 
with  the  coal.  How  would  that  do?” 

His  eyes  widened.  In  another  instant  he  was 
over  my  desk  tickling  my  ears  again  with  his 
whiskers.  Monsieur  had  the  wisdom  of  Solomon. 
Monsieur  was  the  very  quintessence  of  clever¬ 
ness  !  Monsieur’s  genius  was  to  be  compared 
only  with  that  of  the  great  Napoleon!  With 
difficulty  I  managed  to  turn  off  his  flood  of  com- 
|)liments.  Shortlv  he  got  busy  to  a  purpose.  So 
.lid  I. 

While  he  was  out  hunting  up  his  chemical  I 
burnt  up  a  fifty  dollar  bill  on  the  long  distance 
after  an  American  bottom.  Billy  Donaldson  on 
.Marine  Exchange  gave  me  a  tip  and  I  landed  on 
the  old  steamer,  Gomet,  discharging  ties  down 
at  Portsmouth.  She  was  under  charter  to  make 
a  trip  with  coal  from  the  Roads  to  Boston,  but 
would  be  ready  to  load  again  in  two  weeks’  time. 
I  got  an  option  on  her  from  Baltimore  to  Copen¬ 
hagen  at  eight  dollars  per  ton. 

When  Dnanidref  came  back  he  accepted  the 
charter,  and  I  closed  my  option  by  wire.  Then  I 
wrote  up  a  formal  contract  covering  our  under¬ 
standing  in  full.  I  handed  it  to  him  to  sign.  He 
went  over  it,  dipped  his  pen  in  the  ink  and  hesi¬ 
tated. 

“Oh,  Monsieur,”  he  broke  out,  “one  detail  we 
have  forgotten.” 

There  was  $20,000  profit  hanging  on  his  pen 
point.  I  almost  stopped  breathing. 

“Yes,”  he  repeated,  “a  mere  detail.  What  does 
the  Comet  carry?” 

“Fifty-two  hundred  tons,”  I  answered,  fully 
expecting  something  to  snap. 

“Ah,  it  is  quite  well,”  he  mused,  signing  the 


agreement  contract.  “Then  we  shall  need  another 
hundred  tons  of  chemical.” 

“A  hundred  tons !”  I  echoed. 

“Yes,  I  have  only  ordered  two  hundred.  With 
fifty-two  hundred  tons  of  coal  we  shall  require 
another  hundred  tons  of  chemical.” 

Holy  Mackerel !  I  was  about  to  put  up  a  kick 
when  I  took  a  tumble  to  myself.  As  the  con¬ 
tract  he  had  just  signed  called  for  settlement  on 
vessel  bill  of  lading  weight,  he  was  bound  to  pay 
us  $6.50  a  ton-  for  his  own  chemical,  less,  of 
course,  the  rail  freight  wc  had  to  pay  from  the 
mine  to  tidewater. 

Naturally,  I  shut  up  tighter  than  a  clam,  see¬ 
ing  an  additional  $1,500  clear  velvet  for  us.  Ab¬ 
surd  as  it  seems  he  overlooked  the  bet  plumb 
clean.  Miss  Beard  breezed  in  with  a  telegram 
and  at  once  he  was  up  with  a  lot  of  fluffy  gush  to 
her.  Inside  of  five  minutes  he  had  forgotten 
business  and  was  out  buying  chocolates  and  more 
flowers  for  the  girl. 

After  I  had  recovered  my  composure,  I  got  the 
Blackbelt  on  the  telephone.  Instead  of  sending 
the  chemical  direct  to  Blackbelt,  we  decided  to 
ship  it  over  on  the  other  side  of  the  mountain  to 
Peeltree  and  to  store  it  in  the  old  pumping  sta¬ 
tion  at  the  mouth  of  the  drainage  tunnel.  The 
rest  was  easy.  We  loaded  the  stuff  in  mine  cars 
at  the  pumping  station,  hauled  it  through  the 
waterway  under  the  hill,  and  dumped  it  into  the 
railroad  cars  along  with  the  coal  we  loaded  for 
tb.e  Comet.  Everything  worked  like  a  charm, 
and  when  she  loaded,  I  cleared  her  and  cashed 
my  draft. 

Now,  that  is  exactly  what  happened.  It  did 
not  occur  to  me  to  question  the  transaction  nor 
to  consider  why  it  happened.  To  my  mind  the 
satisfaction  of  successful  accomplishment  proved 
entirely  sufficient  until,  two  weeks  later,  I  fell 
into  an  argument  with  that  blackavised  scoundrel, 
Jim  Ferdinand. 

I  allude  to  him  facetiously,  of  course,  for  I 
account  him  one  of  my  best  friends,  although 
an  interrogation  frequently  enters  my  mind  as 
to  whether,  in  his  queer  composition,  such  a  thing 
as  friendship  really  exists.  Nevertheless,  I  like 
him — like  him  probably  because  I  feel  he  is  fond 
of  me.  At  any  rate,  it  was  his  influence,  backed 
by  his  forty  per  cent  ownership  in  the  Blackbelt 
mine,  that  landed  me  in  my  present  job. 

At  sight  one  would  take  him  for  anything  other 
than  he  is — sales  manager  for  the  big  mining 
combination  of  the  Somerset  field,  his  interest 
in  Blackbelt  being  but  a  side  venture.  About  him 
there  are  no  earmarks  of  the  drummer.  He 
never  seems  to  work.  Certainly  he  seldom 
speaks  of  it. 

Reading  is  his  recreation.  Never  is  he  without 
a  book,  or  more  correctly,  part  of  a  book.  Every 
volume  he  takes  up  he  first  splits  in  two,  the 
better  to  fit  half  of  it  in  his  coat  pocket.  As  he 
reads,  he  tears  off  leaf  after  leaf  and  throws 
them  away.  He  sat  alone  reading  at  a  “ring¬ 
side”  table  on  the  Ritz  Roof  that  evening  I  ran 
across  him  after  my  cleanup  on  the  Comet. 

“Astronomy  or  Egyptology,  Jim?”  I  asked, 
slipping  into  the  chair  opposite  him. 

He  did  not  answer.  He  took  a  sip  of  claret- 
reddened  ice  water  and  tossed  his  despoiled  book 
toward  me.  It  was  a  well  known  treatise  on  in¬ 
sanity.  The  title  adequately  informed  me  I  had 
found  him  in  true  form.  So,  after  a  glance  at  it, 
1  transferred  my  interest  from  the  book  to  the 
menu  and  I  ordered  a  seasonable  dinner  with 
more  care  than  economy. 

“Put  it  on  Mr.  Ferdinand’s  check,”  I  instructed, 
expecting  my  effrontery  to  draw  some  sarcastic 
''hot  in  return.  But  my  impudence  was  ignored. 
-Mjstractedly  my  vis-a-vis  resumed  his  reading, 
r^eisurely,  but  lonesomcly,  I  dined.  He  read  on. 
I  ordered  coffee.  Still  he  read.  I  ordered  a  cigar, 
ft  was  a  long  chapter.  Last,  I  ordered  a  cordial 
and  was  cudgelling  my  brain  for  a  pretext  to 
interest  him  when  .Simpson  of  the  United  Com- 
Iiany  happened  by.  He  stopped  to  throw'  us  a 
w'ord  of  banter.  Jim’s  only  acknowledgement  of 
the  greeting  was  a  cold  nod. 

“That  fellow  gives  me  a  pain,”  I  growled,  as 
.Simpson  moved  on  to  another  table.  “He  has  a 
pianola  coal  to  sell  and  fondly  imagines  he  is  a 
real  salesman.” 

Not  a  w'ord  from  Jim. 

“If  ever  a  fellow  was  shot  in  the  back  with  a 
load  of  luck,”  I  ventured,  “that  man  is  Simpson.” 

Aspersive  comment  was  no  temptation. 

“I  am  thoroughly  convinced,”  I  went  on,  “that 
brains  are  absolutely  unnecessary  in  the  coal 
business.  A  fool  has  just  as  much  chance  to 
make  money  in  our  business  as  the  wisest  man 
in  it.  It’s  all  a  case  of  luck!” 

Jim  looked  up  and  eyed  me  inquiringly. 

“You  want  to  cut  out  intoxicants,”  he  observed, 
(Concluded  on  page  5.32.) 


[December  25 


THE  BLA(  K  DIAMOND. 


528 

Hocking  Valley  Coal  Rate  Hearing. 


Coi.UMiiUS,  Ohio,  December  :2:i. —  ( .S/’Ccai/  C  <h'- 
rcspondeucc.) — The  Hocking  \  alley  railway 
coal  rate  hearing  came  to  an  end  on  the  21st, 
at  least  so  far  as  the  offering  of  testimony  is 
concerned.  January  20  is  the  date  fixed  hy 
the  State  Utilities  Commission  for  the  Sunday 
Creek  Company,  complainants,  to  file  their 
brief.  The  railways  are  allowed  ten  days 
after  this  document  is  in  to  make  reply  to  it, 
and  the  complainants,  if  so  desired,  niay  take 
an  additional  five  days  to  e.xamine  this  reply. 
Following  this  both  sides  are  required  to  pre¬ 
sent  their  arguments  to  the  commission  orally. 

riiis  practically  marks  the  close  of  the  long¬ 
est  coal  rate  case  in  the  history  of  Ohio,  and 
one  involving  the  largest  interests.  The  hear¬ 
ing  began  on  the  5th  of  August  last,  but  has 
been  subject  to  several  continuances  of  con¬ 
siderable  duration.  The  record  of  testimony 
consists  of  about  2,1)00  pages,  exclusive  of  nu¬ 
merous  exhibits.  In  the  action  before  the  com¬ 
mission  of  the  New  \ork  Coal  Company' 
against  the  Hocking  Valley  Railway  Com¬ 
pany,  in  1911,  which  resulted  in  reducing  the 
rate  from  Nelsonville  to  Toledo  over  that  road 
from  $1  to  eighty-five  cents  per  ton,  with  pro¬ 
portional  decreases  north  of  and  including  Co¬ 
lumbus,  had  a  record  of  some  1,500  pages. 

As  the  present  case  is  regarded  as  a  test 
of  Ohio  coal  operators  to  secure,  through 
reduction  of  Ohio  rates,  an  increase  of  dif¬ 
ferential  for  Ohio  coal  as  opposed  to  that  of 
West  \'irginia  and  Kentucky,  of  fifty  cents 
per  ton,  an  advantage  which  Ohio  operators 
claim  would  give  them  a  fighting  chance  in 
the  steam  markets  of  their  home  state,  the 
proceedings  have  been  watched  with  great  in¬ 
terest  by  coal  and  railroad  men  generally. 
During  the  hearing  a  number  of  railroad  at¬ 
torneys  and  officials  from  outside  the  state 
have  been  in  attendance  from  time  to  time. 

Nothing  that  might  be  considered  unusual 
has  developed.  Each  side  has  supported  its 
contention  with  great  thoroughness.  From 
present  viewpoint  the  strongest  basis  of  the 
defendant  would  seem  to  be  the  simple  fact 
that  the  Hocking  valley  is  receiving  West 
Virginia  coal  at  Armitage,  Ohio,  the  K.  «&  M. 
junction  point,  which  it  hauls  through  Nel¬ 
sonville  to  Toledo  at  about  thirty-nine  cents 
per  ton,  whereas  it  charges  eighty-five  cents 
from  Nelsonville,  which  is  the  assembling 
point  for  Hocking  coal,  to  Toledo.  The  rail¬ 
road,  on  its  part,  admits  this,  but  claims  that 
the  bulk  of  operating  expense  accrues  to  Ohio 
coal,  largely  by  reason  of  assembling  cost. 
It  states  further  that  but  for  the  fact  of  its 
Ohio  coal  earnings,  at  present  rates,  it  could 
not  exist,  and  that  the  small  profit  which  it 
realizes  from  West  Virginia  tonnage  is  fixed 
by  competition.  The  complainants  have 
sought  to  show  the  community  of  interests  be¬ 
tween  the  Chesapeake  and  Ohio — the  line  on 
which  the  foreign  coal  originates — and  the 
Hocking  Valley,  as  being  under  the  same  own¬ 
ership.  They  also  point  to  the  alleged  growing 
proportion  of  West  \'irginia  coal  over  Ohio 
coal  in  the  total  tonnage  of  the  Hocking  Val¬ 
ley,  claiming  the  present  status  to  be  nearly 
one-half. 

While  not  prepared  in  the  form  of  testi¬ 
mony,  the  complaints  expect  that  the  commis¬ 
sion’s  common  knowledge  of  the  existing  bad 
state  of  the  Ohio  coal  industry  will  have 
weight  with  a  body  naturally  having  the 
state’s  welfare  at  heart.  On  the  other  hand 
the  defendants  may  benefit  by  the  greater 
caution  which  now  seems  to  prevail  through¬ 
out  the  country  with  respect  to  regulation  that 
reduces  railroad  revenue.  Much  is  expected 
to  depend  upon  the  skill  and  forcefulness  with 
which  each  side  sums  up,  in  its  briefs  and  ar¬ 
guments,  the  great  volume  of  evidence  taken. 

A  phase  of  the  hearing  was  the  doubt  at  the 
outset  whether  or  not  other  coal  companies 
would  become  parties  with  the  Sunday  Creek 
Company  in  prosecuting  the  railroads,  all  of 
whicli,  if  doing  business  in  Ohio,  are  de¬ 
fendants  in  the  original  petition  filed  by  the 
United  Mine  Workers.  While  the  Sunday 
Creek  Company  has  had  the  moral,  and  it  is 
believed  the  financial,  support  of  other  oper¬ 
ators,  these  have  withheld  open  jiarticipation. 
Petition  for  rate  reduction  was  filed  against 
the  Pennsylvania,  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  and 
other  lines  by  the  Eastern  Ohio  Operators’ 
Association  several  weeks  ago,  but  this  will 
be  considered  as  a  separate  case. 

Leading  coal  men  believe  that  should  the 
commission  authorize  a  reduction  on  the  Hock¬ 
ing  X’alley  Toledo  rate,  this  would  mean  ac¬ 


tion  of  producers  in  all  Ohio  fields  for  rate 
readjustment.  But  should  the  existing  Hock¬ 
ing  rate  be  upheld  it  is  thought  that  other 
hearings  will  go  by  default.  The  recent  filing 
of  a  tariff  by  the  Hocking  Valley  restoring  its 
old  .$1  rate  from  Nelsonville  to  Toledo,  is  not 
taken  seriously  by  the  coal  trade.  Formal 
protest  has  been  offered  by  a  leading  Hock¬ 
ing  valley  coal  company,  but  it  is  felt  that 
the  commission  in  any  event  would  not  sus¬ 
tain  the  old  rate.  The  railroad  has  set  January 
20  as  the  date  for  its  going  into  effect. 

The  last  two  days  of  the  hearing  were 
marked  by  the  presence  on  the  bench  of  a 
new  member  of  the  commission,  Louis  M. 
Day,  a  prominent  attorney  of  Chillicothe,  who 
had  been  appointed  to  succeed  Oliver  M. 
Hughes,  resigned. 


Incorporation  papers  were  granted  on  De¬ 
cember  20,  1915,  to  the  Rerwinsdale  Coal  Min- 


“Storing  the  Black  Diamonds,”  is  the  title  of 
a  four-page  circular  recently  sent  out  by  James 
F'aucett,  a  retail  coal  dealer  at  Bath,  N,  Y. 

The  circular  goes  on  to  say:  “You  may  not 
know,  sir,  that  Coal  in  itself  is  not  especially 
dusty,  most  of  the  dirt  coming  from  pieces  rub- 
bin,g  against  each  other  when  coal  is  handled 
in  the  old  way.  If  we  shoveled  the  coal,  you 
you  would  not  care  to  stay  in  the  room  very 
long. 

"Our  way  of  filling  the  storage  bins  avoids 
breaking  the  coal,  and  does  away  with  a  great 
deal  of  the  dirt.  The  bottom  of  the  bin  is  about 
twenty-five  feet  below  the  point  where  the  coal 
enters,  and  if  we  permitted  the  coal  to  drop  it 
would  be  broken,  but  we  use  a  series  of  chutes 
on  a  sli.ght  incline,  and  the  coal  rolls  from  one 
chute  to  the  other  until  it  reaches  the  bottom. 

“Another  point  is  that  our  coal  is  protected 
both  winter  and  summer  from  the  weather.  Coal 
loses  a  certain  percentage  of  its  carbon  or  burn- 
in.g  quality,  when  exposed  to  the  rain,  sun  and 
winds,  so  that  unless  the  coal  is  protected  you 
will  require  more  than  a  ton  of  coal  to  do  the 
same  work  that  a  ton  under  the  protection  that 
we  give  it  will  do. 

"We  call  your  attention  to  the  manner  in  which 
our  coal  is  loaded  into  the  wagon.  The  bottom 
of  the  upper  section  of  the  chute  is  a  heavy 
wire  screen.  The  driver  lifts  the  gate  in  the  bin 
which  permits  the  coal  to  come  out,  and  not  one 
piece  falls  into  the  wagon  without  first  rolling 
over  the  screen.  No  matter  if  the  driver  is 
in  a  hurry,  he  must  wait  until  all  of  the  coal 


ing  Company,  I’hiladelphia,  I’a.,  capital  stock, 
$101), 000.  The  incorporators  are  Louis  C.  Em¬ 
mons  and  James  A.  Emmons  of  Philadelphia 
and  W.  11.  Reed  of  Dudley,  Pa.  This  com¬ 
pany  has  been  formed  to  take  over  the  present 
holdings  of  the  Reed  Colliery  Company  of 
Rerwinsdale,  Pa.  At  the  present  time,  this 
mine  is  producing  approximately  400  tons  per 
day.  The  new  owners  will  electrify  this  mine 
throughout,  have  purchased  two  new  electric 
locomotives,  two  new  mining  machines  and 
made  arrangements  to  rebuild  the  present  tip¬ 
ple.  When  these  improvements  are  completed, 
this  mine  will  have  a  capacity  of  1,000  tons  per 
day.  The  company  owns  400  acres  of  coal 
land  outright  and  have  under  lease  2,100  acres. 
They  own  twenty-five  miner’s  houses  and  a 
large  store.  The  officers  of  the  company  will 
be  Louis  C.  Emmons,  president;  Jas.  A.  Em¬ 
mons,  secretary  and  treasurer,  and  W.  H. 
Reed,  vice-president  and  general  manager.  The 
entire  output  of  this  mine  will  be  handled  by 
the  Emmons  Coal  Mining  Company  of  Phil¬ 
adelphia,  and  the  coal  will  be  known  as  “Cul¬ 
pepper  Smokeless.” 


is  screened,  and  not  one  piece  can  get  into  the 
wagon  that  is  not  just  as  clean  as  coal  can  be 
made.  This  method  makes  faster  loading  and 
cleaner  coal. 

“To  give  our  customers  clean  coal  and  the 
most  careful  attention  to  every  order  given  in 
person  or  by  telephone  or  mail,  is  our  reason  for 
erecting  our  Coal  Pocket.  The  investment  is 
large,  but  one  that  we  are  willing  to  make  for  the 
sake  of  givin.g  our  customers  efficient  service.” 

The  circular  ends  with  an  appeal  for  a  trial 
order  and  an  invitation  to  visit  and  inspect  the 
pocket. 

A  photograph  of  the  pocket  is  shown  herewith. 
It  has  been  covered  with  sheet  iron  since  the 
picture  was  taken. 

Mr.  Faucett  handles  wood,  grain,  mill  feeds, 
grass  seeds  and  masons’  supplies  in  addition  to 
anthracite  and  bituminous  coal. 

He  has  designed  and  uses  what  seems  to  be 
a  very  simple  and  convenient  form  of  scale  ticket 
and  billing  system.  This  consists  of  four  tickets, 
4J4x9/^  inches,  printed  upon  one  page  with  a 
duplicate  sheet  for  carbon  copy.  Upon  each  of 
these  tickets  is  a  line  for  the  date,  the  customer’s 
name  and  his  address.  A  list  of  the  different 
products  handled  is  made  below,  so  that  only  the 
amount  bou.ght  of  each  product  and  the  charge 
is  all  that  need  be  filled  in.  These  tickets  are 
perforated  in  such  a  manner  that  the  original 
copy  can  be  torn  out  and  used  as  a  bill,  the 
carbon  copy  remaining  as  a  record  of  each  sale. 
All  coal  is  sold  for  cash  with  order  or  on  de¬ 
livery. 


The  Pocket  of  James  Faucett  at  Bath,  New  York. 


Simple  Explanation  of  the  Storage  of  Coal. 


No.  26J 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


529 


What  Retail  Associations  are  Doing. 


Northwestern  Traffic  Bureau. 

.^t  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Northwestern  Re¬ 
tail  Coal  Dealers’  Association  held  in  Minneapo¬ 
lis  on  July  loth  and  Kith,  1915,  the  delegates  in 
attendance  voted  unanimously  to  reorganize  the 
association  into  a  corporation,  to  be  known  as  the 
"Northwestern  Traffic  and  Service  Bureau,  Incor¬ 
porated.”  The  action  was  taken  after  two  days' 
thorough  discussion  of  the  proposed  plan  which 
had  been  under  consideration  by  prominent  mem¬ 
bers  of  the  association  for  two  years  prior  to  the 
annual  meeting.  The  proposed  bureau  was  in 
line  with  the  recommendations  of  our  legal  de¬ 
partment. 

Two  important  reasons  for  this  action,  were: 
first,  the  elimination  of  the  individual  responsibil¬ 
ity  that  has  heretofore  been  attached  to  the  mu¬ 
tual  form  of  association  work,  and,  second,  the 
association  was  up  against  it  to  get  enough  funds 
to  carrj'  on  the  work  efficiently  in  the  future,  and 
prominent  members  who  have  taken  an  active  in¬ 
terest  in  the  association  for  years  would  not  sub¬ 
scribe  more  money  to  the  old  association,  but 
gladly  and  willingly  consented  to  pay  $10.00  per 
yard  annually  to  a  bureau  where  the  service  was 
subscribed  for  and  the  individu.^l  respon.sibility 

ELIMINATED. 

On  November  15  we  were  ready  to  solicit  our 
first  subscription,  and  to  show  you  how  the  re¬ 
tail  dealers  feel  about  this,  at  the  date  of  this 
writing — after  six  weeks  solicitation — $10,000.00 
has  been  subscribed,  almost  as  much  money  as  we 
formerly  received  under  the  old  organization  plan. 
Under  the  new  bureau,  however,  a  minimum  fund 
of  $25,000.00  per  year  will  be  provided  to  carry  on 
the  work. 

'fhe  same  finance  committee  that  has  looked 
after  the  affairs  of  the  association  for  the  past 
number  of  years  will  have  change  of  the  new  bur¬ 
eau.  This  will  insure  to  everyone  the  fact  that 
that  the  money  received  will  be  spent  in  the  in¬ 
terests  of  the  retail  trade,  and  that  the  money  col¬ 
lected  by  the  bureau  will  not  at  any  time  be  used 
for  any  other  purpose. 

Under  the  new  bureau  the  subscription  will  be 
payable  in  advance,  one-half  each  on  January  5th 
and  July  5th,  or  can  be  paid  at  one  time,  if  de¬ 
sired. 

The  Northwestern  Traffic  and  Service  Bureau, 
Incorporated,  will  be  the  most  efficient  retail  mer¬ 
chants’  organization  in  the  country  because  of  the 
high  grade  business  men  back  of  it. 

The  Northwestern  Traffic  and  Service  Bureau, 
Incorporated,  proposes  to  sell  service  to  its  sub¬ 
scribers  rather  than  act  as  the  executive  and  in¬ 
formation  department  of  an  associate  body  of  re¬ 
tail  dealers.  Any  unincorporated  organization  is 
in  fact  no  more  nor  less  than  a  large  co-partner¬ 
ship  with  a  personal  liability  possible  to  be  en¬ 
forced  against  any  of  its  members.  The  "Incor¬ 
porated  Service  Bureau's”  subscription  for  service 
overcomes  the  most  serious  objections  to  an  as¬ 
sociation  membership. 

The  service  rendered  to  its  subscribers  by  the 
Northwestern  Traffic  and  Service  Bureau,  Incor¬ 
porated,  will  be  very  similar  to  that  rendered  by 
the  commercial  agencies,  such  as  Bradstreet  and 
Dun,  or  by  any  other  information  bureau,  but  be¬ 
ing  specifically  aligned  with  the  retail  coal  trade. 

The  fact  that  association  work  has  actually  gone 
far  beyond  the  plan  for  which  it  was  originally 
organized  and  could  only  take  up  in  a  limited  way 
some  of  the  very  important  matters  that  can  now 
be  more  thoroughly  covered  by  the  Service  Bur¬ 
eau,  forced  the  conclusion  with  many  of  the  lead¬ 
ing  association  members  that  as  an  association  it 
had  reached  its  limits  of  usefulness. 

The  Service  Bureau  in  its  plan  of  selling  service 
is  in  line  with  modern  methods  of  doing  business. 
The  work  will  be  less  hampered  by  investigations 
of  governmental  authorities.  Any  plan  for  carry¬ 
ing  forward  the  work  on  behalf  of  the  retailer 
along  the  lines  of  an  association  body  can  be  done 
only  through  wisely  directed  effort.  The  North¬ 
western  Retail  Coal  Dealers’  Association  has  a  re¬ 
cord  for  efficiency.  However,  to  the  trade  in  .gen¬ 
eral,  the  association’s  field  of  usefulness  under  the 
new  plan  will  be  more  efficient. 

H.  L.  Laird,  Secretary. 


St.  Louis  Coal  Clubs. 

St.  Louis,  December  21!. — 1  take  great  pleasure 
in  telling  you  the  conditions  that  prevailed  in  our 
organization  during  the  past  year  and  prospects 
for  the  coming  year. 

The  object  of  our  organization  is  to  promote 
good  fellowship,  to  have  educational  and  social 


meetings,  so  as  to  enable  all  members  to  become 
better  acquainted. 

Our  meetings  are  held  the  second  Monday 
night  in  every  month  and  are  well  attended  by  the 
retail  and  wholesale  coal  men  of  St.  Louis  and 
vicinity.  .‘^t  these  meetings  we  have  special  top¬ 
ics  for  discussion,  such  as  pertain  to  the  coal  busi¬ 
ness.  The  principal  ones  discussed  recentl\’  were, 
Credit,  Competition,  What  is  a  reasonable  margin 
in  price  on  bituminous  coal  in  a  retail  yard?  Why 
are  steam  coal  contracts  handled  at  a  margin  of 
profit  so  much  less  than  domestic  business?  Traf¬ 
fic  and  coal  deliveries  in  the  down  town  district. 
The  isolated  steam  plant,  its  reliability  of  service 
and  its  economy  over  the  Central  Station  service, 
and  a  great  many  others  of  similar  nature. 

The  topics  are  suggested  by  members  of  the 
Club,  each  topic  is  assigned  to  a  committee  to 
prepare  a  paper  on  the  topic  assigned  to  them 
for  discussion.  .\t  all  times  the  discussions  have 
been  ver.\-  interestin.g  and  educational,  as  points 
are  brought  out  that  ordinarily  no  one  would  think 
of. 

While  our  organization  is  still  in  its  infancy,  it 
is  surprising  the  good  work  that  is  being  done,  all 
members  are  very  enthusiastic  and  the  meetings 
are  always  well  attended. 

The  social  part  of  our  meetings  consists  of 
speakers  who  lecture  on  various  subjects  not  per¬ 
taining  to  the  coal  industry,  the  principal  of 
which  were  a  lecture  by  Mr.  J.  W.  Booth,  adver¬ 
tising  manager  of  the  Alissouri  Pacific  railroad, 
together  with  a  trip  to  the  California  Exposition  in 
motion  pictures.  A  tour  of  the  Golden  State,  in¬ 
cluding  a  side  trip  to  Colorado  Springs,  Cliff 
Dwellers’  Ruin,  and  Yellowstone  Park,  showing 
the  Royal  Gorge,  Feather  River  Canyon  and  the 
Panama  Exposition. 

Dr.  Frederic  Ha.gler,  who  has  recently  returned 
from  Serbia,  delivered  a  very  interesting  lecture 
with  pictures  entitled  “Experiences  in  the  Euro¬ 
pean  War  Zone.” 

.Another  successful  feature  of  our  entertain¬ 
ments  was  two  boat  excursions  which  were  held 
during  June  and  August.  The  committee  in 
charge  made  special  arrangements  to  insure  a  most 
enjoyable  time  for  all,  and  which  proved  very 
successful. 

These  entertainments  serve  to  make  better  ac¬ 
quaintances,  and  are  educational  as  well  as  in¬ 
structive. 

The  principal  and  most  important  step  the  Club 
has  undertaken  is  to  procure  the  passage  of  an 
ordinance  of  the  City  of  St.  Louis,  relating  to 
weights  and  measures,  and  abolishing  what  is 
commonly  known  as  the  “City  Ticket.” 

The  retail  dealers  enga.ged  in  business  in  the 
City  of  St.  Louis,  during  the  past  year  have  paid 
to  the  city  for  these  tickets  approximately  the 
sum  of  $24,000.00.  The  expenditures  above  men¬ 
tioned,  afforded  no  protection  whatever,  either  to 
the  coal  dealer  or  the  public.  The  city  ordinance 
requiring  dealers  to  purchase  the  tickets  was  ori¬ 
ginated  about  fifty-eight  years  ago.  This  state¬ 
ment  alone  is  sufficient  to  raise  the  presumption 
that  the  ordinances  are  wholly  inadequate.  An 
entire  new  ordinance  has  been  drafted  conform¬ 
able  to  modern  ideas  on  the  subject  of  weights 
and  measures,  and  submitted  to  various  city  offi¬ 
cials  who  would  be  interested  in  securing  the  pas¬ 
sage  of  a  proper  ordinance.  The  ordinance  as 
revised  in  the  city  counselor’s  office  was  then  in¬ 
troduced  to  the  Board  of  Aldermen,  and  on  Fri¬ 
day,  December  10,  1915,  received  its  second  read¬ 
ing.  Thus  far,  no  one  has  interposed  any  ob¬ 
jection  to  the  ordinance  and  asserted  that  they 
could  discover  no  reason  why  it  should  not  be 
enacted  into  law. 

The  present  officers  of  the  Club  are:  A.  11.  Bed- 
del,  President ;  W.  H.  Riester,  First  Vice-Presi¬ 
dent;  L.  P.  Coan,  Second  Vice-President;  H.  B. 
Wessel,  Secretary;  11.  P.  Bri.ggs,  Treasurer. 

Directors;  J.  J.  Connell,  F.  L.  Swanson,  A,  O. 
Willig. 

We  have  the  following  committees;  Railroad, 
J.  J.  O’Donnell,  Chairman;  Membership,  E.  G. 
Ridgway,  Chairman;  Entertainment,  J.  A.  Jeff¬ 
eries,  Chairman  ;  Sick,  Officers  of  the  Club. 

These  committees  are  principally  responsible  for 
the  success  of  the  Club  during  the  past  \ear. 
due  to  the  fact  that  the  chairman  of  each  com¬ 
mittee  took  deep  interest  in  attaining  the  best  re¬ 
sults  possible.  They  are  to  be  congratulated  on 
their  jirogrcss. 

II.  B.  \Vessei.,  Secretary,  St.  Louis  Coal  Club. 

.Archibald  S.  Graham,  age  08,  owner  of  the 
McKim-Cochran  Coal  Company,  Madison, 
Ind.,  died  this  week  of  heart  trouble.  He  was 
well  known  in  southern  Indiana. 


Chicago  Cost  Accounting. 

(Concluded  from  page  521.) 
been,  because  we  knew  about  what  the  situation 
was.  -Also,  we  knew  that  it  had  taken  seven  or 
eight  years  of  constant  discussion  to  get  anything 
definite  started  in  Chicago.  Still  we  thought  it 
was  worth  while  to  pass  on  the  Chicago  plan  to 
the  other  retailers.  This  we  did  in  the  form  of  a 
question. 

The  answers  to  that  letter  have  been  just  what 
might  have  been  expected.  One  retailer,  for  ex¬ 
ample,  says ; 

“We  have  never  tried  anything  of  that  kind  in 
our  town  because  the  retailers  here  are  suspicious 
of  each  other.  If  they  should  give  in  their  figures 
the  statement  would  be  falsified,  because  no  one 
would  know  for  sure  what  mse  the  other  fellow 
would  make  of  them.” 

This  was  a  familiar  line  of  reasoning,  because 
precisely  the  same  question  had  been  put  in  Chi¬ 
cago.  In  answer  the  Chicago  men  said :  “My 
competitor  may  know  my  cost  and  hence  arrive 
at  my  minimum  selling  price.  He  may  thus  cut 
down  to  my  minimum,  but  unless  he  is  a  fool  he 
will  not  go  below  it.  Thus  we  may  get  a  bottom 
figure.” 

-Another  retailer  said  : 

“This  subject  has  been  much  discussed  by  the 
trade  journals,  but  not  at  all  by  the  retailers. 
We  can’t  get  the  dealers  in  our  town  interested 
in  it.” 

This  was  also  a  familiar  circumstance  because 
the  same  thing  had  come  up  in  Chicago.  After 
a  while  the  Chicago  dealers  realized  that  the  trade 
papers  were  not  discussing  cost  accounting  for 
their  own  benefit  or  amusement.  Rather,  they 
were  discussing  it  because  they  hoped  to  be  of 
some  service  to  the  retailers  themselves.  There¬ 
fore,  trade  paper  discussion  without  any  action 
by  the  retailers  is  a  waste  of  the  time  of  the  man 
who  wrote  the  articles  and  of  the  retailer  who 
reads  them.  It  is  a  pure  economic  loss. 

Another  dealer  says ; 

“We  have  no  information  in  our  own  office, 
but  if  you  get  in  touch  with  two  or  three  other 
fellows  in  town  who  are  cranks  on  that  subject 
you  may  get  something.  Th^  reason  we  are  not 
interested  in  it  is  that  we  handle  something  be¬ 
sides  coal  and  you  can’t  separate  coal  costs  from 
lumber,  building  material,  etc.” 

That  was  also  a  familiar  circumstance  in  Chi¬ 
cago,  because  some  retail  yards  handle  ice,  others 
building  material,  and  some  do  a  teaming  busi¬ 
ness.  However,  the  Chicago  retailers  soon  learned 
that  because  they  did  two  or  three  kinds  of  busi¬ 
ness  under  one  roof  they  were  not  justified  in  re¬ 
fusing  to  learn  the  cost  on  any  one  of  them. 

The  most  common  expression  came  from  a 
dealer  who  said : 

“We  have  never  tried  anything  of  the  kind 
among  the  dealers  of  our  city.  Each  one  is  work¬ 
ing  out  his  own  individual  plan  by  himself.” 

Chicago  tried  the  individual  method  and  after 
nine  years  of  fruitless  discussion  of  the  matter 
had  gotten  nowhere.  So  Chicago  abandoned  it. 


Anthracite  Rates  Postponed. 


It  is  understood  that  the  anthracite  people  are 
expecting  that  the  proposed  anthracite  rate  reduc¬ 
tion,  which  had  been  e.xtended  to  January  1st, 
are  to  be  further  extended  month  by  month  until 
the  close  of  the  anthracite  year  on  March  lilst. 
It  is  pointed  out  by  those  interested  that  an  e.x- 
tension  to  April  1st  would  he  equitable  to  all  con¬ 
cerned. 

Previous  extensions  from  October  1st  to  De¬ 
cember  1st,  finally  to  January  1st,  have  been 
granted  not  particularly  from  a  desire  to  refrain 
from  injuring  the  railroads,  but  to  prevent  injury 
to  large  independent  coal  producers. 

The  first  order  by  the  Commission  was  drastic, 
and  would  have  hurt  the  earnings  of  the  big 
anthracite  companies  considerably.  -After  re¬ 
peated  conferences,  modifications  in  the  amount 
of  the  reduction  in  rates  were  secured. 

It  was  found  that  the  increase  in  the  steam 
sizes  would  particularly  interfere  with  yearly  con¬ 
tracts,  which  expire  .April  1st,  for  the  sale  of 
steam  sizes  in  the  New  York  district.  These  con¬ 
tracts  were  fixed  before  the  commission  attempted 
tto  reduce  anthracite  rates.  Hence  the  commis¬ 
sion.  realizing  that  the  anthracite  rate  changes 
would  interfere  with  such  contracts,  has  granted 
the  recent  extension  and  probably  will  grant 
others  until  the  close  of  the  present  anthracite 
year. 


The  Fore  River  Ship  Building  Corporation  has 
recently  secured  a  contract  for  two  steamers  for 
Edgar  I'.  Luckenbach  of  New  York  and  one  for 
the  -Argentine  government. 


530 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


[December  25 


PUBIiISHED  EVEBT  SATTTBDAY  BT  THE 
BEACH  DIAUOITD  COMFAirr. 

Subscription  price,  $3.00  per  year,  postage  prepaid,  to 
any  postoffice  in  the  United  _  States.  Foreign  subscrip¬ 
tion  price,  $5.00  per  year.  Single  copies,  20  cents. 
Entered  at  Chicago  postoffice  as  second-class  matter. 


Address  all  communications  to 
THE  BEACH  DIAMOND  COMPANY  (INC) 

Main  office,  Manhattan  building,  Chicago. 


Branch  Offices. 

New  York,  29  Broadway. 
Philadelphia,  1400  Land  Title  building. 
Pittsburgh,  1502  Oliver  building. 


Saturday,  December  25,  1915. 


INDEX. 


Special  Articles. 

Page 


I  low  Chicago  Began  to  Study  Cost  Accounting .  52t 

An  Eastern  Retail  Cost  Accounting  System .  522 

IClk  Horn  Coal .  522 

Handling  Anthracite  Over  Loading  Docks .  523 

November  Antliracite  Increase .  523 

Barker  Company’s  Circular  Concrete  Coal  Pocket.  .  .  521 
Giving  a  Frank  Opinion  as  to  a  Former  Employe.  .  .  .  521 

A  Coal  Company  and  Community  Advertising .  525 

Why  Cars  in  the  East  Are  Scarce .  525 

.\  Loaded  Purchase — By  Arnold  Gerstell .  52(1 

Hocking  Valley.  Coal  Rate  Hearing .  528 

Simple  Explanation  of  the  Storage  of  Coal .  528 

What  Retail  Associations  Are  Doing .  529 

Anthracite  Rates  Postponed .  529 

Editorial  .  530 

What  the  New  York  Association  Has  Done .  531 

News  Local  to  Chicago .  532 

Facts  Which  Determine  Our  Export  Prospects .  533 

Market  Reports. 

General  Review  and  Chicago .  534 

Pittsburgh,  Omaha  and  Detroit .  535 

Cincinnati,  Indianapolis  and  Twin  Cities .  536 

Cleveland,  Birmingham  and  Denver .  537 

New  York .  538 

Philadelphia  .  539 

Buffalo,  New  England  and  Baltimore .  540 

Hocking  Valley .  27 


Sensible  Advertising, 

Advertising  is  a  subject  with  which  the 
editor  is  not  supposed  to  concern  himself. 
In  the  nice  adjustment  of  things  inside  the 
newspaper  office,  the  advertising  force  is 
supposed  to  go  out  into  the  byways  and 
hedges  and  bring  in  the  money.  This, 
according  to  the  fiction  of  the  craft,  is 
turned  over  to  the  editor  to  spend.  How 
the  money  comes  in  is  presumed  to  be  none 
of  the  editor’s  business— so  long  as  it  comes 
in. 

However,  in  these  inquiring  days,  the  pro¬ 
fessional  writer,  sometimes,  batters  down 
the  door  which  was  built  to  segregate  him 
from  the  real  things  of  life  and  insists  upon 
a  look  at  the  wheels  as  they  go  around. 
This  occasional  glimpse  at  real  things,  as 
opposed  to  those  of  theory  and  idealism, 
brings  a  practical  suggestion  as  to  adver¬ 
tising  which  seems  to  this  particular  the¬ 
orist  to  be  worthy  of  consideration. 

The  first  part  of  this  practical  suggestion 
is :  Professional  advertising  writers  as  a 
class  have  reduced  their  craft  to  a  science 
in  the  treatment  of  everything  except  coal. 
For  example,  certain  “copy”  men  devote 
themselves  exclusively  to  public  service 
copy.  Others  devote  themselves  to  mechan¬ 
ical  or  scientific  copy.  And  so  the  big  ques¬ 
tion  of  appealing  intelligently  to  the  public 
is  divided  and  subdivided  about  as  the  doc¬ 
tors  have  come  to  divide  the  human  body 
among  the  specialists.  But  in  all  of  this 
subdivision,  no  attention  has  been  paid,  so 


far,  to  the  advertising  of  our  natural  re¬ 
sources. 

Rather  than  coal  advertising  being  han¬ 
dled  by  experts,  as  in  other  lines,  every 
man  who  has  had  an  odd  lot  of  coal  to 
sell  has  tried  to  do  his  own  advertising 
writing.  In  a  word,  the  retail  dealer  has 
been  a  yard  manager  one  minute  and  an 
“advertising  expert”  the  next.  .Since  yard 
managing  is  his  busines  and  absorbs  his 
attention,  he  has  not  made  a  renowned 
success  at  advertising  writing.  The  re¬ 
sult  has  been  a  wanton  waste  of  adver¬ 
tising  money.  Pardon  our  candor,  but 
this  is  the  truth. 

To  see  whether  advertising  has  been 
done  properly,  suppose  we  start  with  an 
illustration.  Would  Ileinz  pickles  have 
been  successfully  advertised  if  the  fac¬ 
tory  had  tried  to  make  a  campaign  on 
each  of  the  fifty-seven  varieties?  Instead 
of  saying  as  they  did,  “Heinz  Pickles,  fifty- 
seven  varieties,”  would  results  have  been 
possible  if  they  had  said:  “Heinz  Pickle 
Company,  producers,  jobbers  and  retail¬ 
ers  in  pickles.  We  produce  the  following 
well  known  brands,”  following  which  they 
would  have  named  each  one  of  the  fifty- 
seven  varieties  and  printed  a  little  essay, 
in  small  type,  under  each  of  the  different 
names.  Our  impression  is  that  under  the 
latter  plan  Heinz  pickles  would  still  be 
virtually  unknown. 

In  a  word,  the  people  got  the  Heinz 
message  because  it  was  telegraphic  and 
told  much  in  a  sentence  which  is  easy  to 
understand.  It  appealed  to  the  imagina¬ 
tion  of  the  buyers  rather  than  to  their 
reason.  It  allowed  them  to  imagine  a 
basic  quality  and  to  ascribe  this  to  every¬ 
thing  that  Heinz  touches.  And  this  is 
what  the  people  have  done. 

The  average  coal  retailer,  instead  of 
sifting  it  all  down  to  a  single  sentence, 
which  includes  his  fifty-seven  varieties 
of  coal,  wants  to  talk  shop  in  public.  He 
imagines — without  experience  to  support 
his  view — that  the  coal  user  knows  as 
much  about  coal  as  he  does.  Therefore 
he  thinks  the  householder  is  as  interested 
in  details  as  he  is.  The  retailer,  on  this 
mistaken  theory,  wants  to  enumerate  a 
dozen  brands  of  coal,  under  the  wholly 
misguided  notion  that  the  buyer  knows 
the  difference  between  them  and  will  want 
to  make  a  discriminating  choice.  On  the 
contrary,  the  buyer  does  not  know  the 
difference  even  between  hard  and  soft 
coal.  As  between  the  different  grades  of 
soft  coal,  he  knows  absolutely  nothing 
whatever  and  doesn’t  want  to  know. 

That  raises  the  question :  Is  there  any¬ 
place  in  which  the  advertising  of  coal 
trade  names  should  be  done?  Is  there 
any  field  for  the  exploitation  of  local 
favorites  on  coal  or  of  seam  names?  To 
be  sure  there  is.  Our  only  point  is  that 
that  place  is  not  to  the  public,  which  is 
not  interested  in  and  cannot  grasp  infinite 
details  as  to  quality  and  preparation. 
Rather  the  place  for  such  thing  is  in  the 
advertisements  addressed  to  the  retailer 
who  shows  a  fondness  for  detail.  That 
is.  Island  Creek  coal  may  be  made  by 
proper  exploitation  to  mean  a  vast  deal 
to  the  retailer  as  distinguishing  the  qual¬ 
ity  and  preparation  of  one  West  Virginia 
product  from  the  many  which  that  state 
affords.  It  is,  therefore,  perfectly  proper 
to  advertise  Island  Creek  coal  to  the  re¬ 
tailer,  and  to  do  it  as  elaborately  as -the 
producers  think  they  can  afford.  But  to 


talk  such  details  of  coal  to  the  house¬ 
holder  would  mean  nothing,  because  he 
could  not  grasp  them.  Candidly,  it  would 
cost  too  much  money  to  have  such  details 
come  to  mean  something  to  the  ultimate 
consumer. 

Therefore,  our  conclusion  is  that  it  is 
right  and  proper  to  talk  about  local  or 
trade  names  when  you  are  advertising- 
inside  the  trade  where  such  appeals  are 
appreciated.  To  try  to  carry  that  prac¬ 
tice  into  the  advertising  to  the  ultimate 
consumer  is  only  to  bring  confusion  be¬ 
cause  the  public  mind  cannot  grasp  such 
things. 

Our  suggestion  to  the  trade  is :  Be  spe¬ 
cific  on  internal  advertising,  but  lump  and 
simplify  your  appeal  to  the  public.  Our 
advice  to  the  retailer  is :  Get  your  own 
slogan  for  your  own  yard  and  let  it  stand 
for  everything  going  out  of  your  yard, 
from  anthracite  to  peat. 

The  advertising-  department  invades  the 
sanctum  at  this  point  and  suggests  that 
the  columns  shall  be  left  open  for  testi¬ 
mony  in  rebuttal.  That  is  hereby  done. 
In  the  language  of  the  drunken  mouse: 
“Bring  on  your  cats — all  of  them.” 


The  Austrian  Note. 

We  have  read  the  note  which  the  Aus¬ 
trian  minister  wrote  to  the  secretary  of 
state  of  the  United  States.  It  was  in 
reply  to  another  sent  by  Mr.  Lansing  to 
Austria  regarding  the  sinking  of  a  ship 
which  carried,  among  others,  some  Amer¬ 
ican  passengers. 

After  reading  it,  we  are  led  to  inquire : 
“What  would  be  the  situation  if  one  man 
in  private  life  wrote  that  sort  of  note  to 
another  man  ?”  Looking  at  the  document 
in  that  light,  a  few  things  suggest  them¬ 
selves  : 

First,  the  Austrian  note  is  sarcastic. 
Our  observation  has  been  that  when  a 
man  uses  sarcasm  he  is  out  of  patience 
with  the  fellow  addressed  and  takes  a 
polite,  or  at  l^east  an  accepted,  way  of  tell¬ 
ing  him  that  he  is  a  fool  without  using 
the  word.  By  the  abundant  use  of  sar¬ 
casm,  then,  the  Austrian  government  told 
the  American  government  that  it  was  a 
fool  without,  however,  saying  as  much 
except  in  spirit.  Our  opinion  is  that  if 
one  man  in  private  life  said  that  to  another, 
there  would  be  a  fight. 

Second,  the  Austrian  government  told 
the  American  government  that  it  was  a 
liar.  It  didn’t  say  so  exactly,  and  in  so 
many  words,  but  it  did  put  that  same  idea 
into  diplomatic  language,  namely,  that  the 
American  government  made  a  statement 
to  the  Austrian  government  which  it  was 
not  particular  to  substantiate  by  facts 
and  which,  indeed,  could  not  be  so  sub¬ 
stantiated. 

If  one  man  in  private  life  said  that  to 
another  man,  there  would  be  a  fight  at 
the  end  of  the  correspondence. 

We  are  not,  here,  discussing  the  merits 
of  the  controversy  and  shall  not.  We 
are  interested  in  this  lively  exchange  only 
on  the  human  basis.  We  are  interested 
to  know  what  would  be  the  result  if  two 
red-blooded  men  reached  a  point  where 
one  called  another  an  inhuman  brute  and 
where  the  other  replied  by  saying  that 
the  first  writer  was  a  fool  and  a  liar. 
Isn’t  it  going  to  require  a  good  deal  of 
self-restraint  hereafter  to  keep  these  two 
gentlemen  out  of  each  other’s  whiskers? 


No.  26J 


531 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 
What  the  New  York  Association  Has  Done. 


At  a  recent  nieetir.g  ul  the  New  York  Coal 
Merchants  Association,  Arthur  I*'.  Kice,  the  com¬ 
missioner,  made  his  annual  report  in  which  he 
said,  in  part ; 

“As  we  review  the  results  of  the 
season’s  work,  from  April  first  to  date,  we  find 
that  at  least  one-fourth  of  the  tonnage  has  been 
placed  at  figures  that  show  either  a  loss  or  a  ridi¬ 
culously  inadequate  profit,  and  distrust  has  taken 
the  place  of  confidence  throughout  the  trade.  On 
two  or  three  occasions  the  market  has  been  on  the 
verge  of  going  to  pieces  altogether  and  only  es¬ 
caped  disaster  by  a  narrow  margin. 

“The  first  and  most  serious  disturbing  element 
was  the  condition  of  the  wholesale  market.  The 
trouble  be.gan  with  an  influx  of  coal  at  tidewater, 
and  as  early  as  February  sales  were  made  at 
April  prices.  The  larger  companies  did  not  be¬ 
gin  soon  enough  to  restrict  mining,  and  a  lot  of 
individual  operators,  whose  coal  had  heretofore 
been  handled  by  the  big  wholesalers,  started  in  to 
merchandise  their  own  product,  evidently  looking 
upon  the  tidewater  market  as  their  harvesting 
place.  The  result  was  that  a  big  surplus  of  coal 
piled  up  here  that  the  market  could  not  digest  and 
that  had  to  be  moved  somehow.  All  sorts  of 
prices  were  made  to  accomplish  this,  and,  as  the 
dealers  could  not  absorb  it  all,  the  residue  fell  into 
the  hands  of  jobbers  and  scalpers,  who  hawked  it 
about  everywhere,  among  the  manufacturies,  the 
hotels  and  even  the  apartment  houses.  Men  whose 
names  were  unfamiliar  to  the  trade  suddenly 
blossomed  out  as  “wholesale  dealers” ;  and  for 
each  car.go  of  coal  on  demurrage  in  this  harbor 
there  were  a  dozen  concerns  out  trying  to  sell  it. 

“As  a  natural  result,  much  long-established  re¬ 
tail  business  was  taken  by  the  jobbers  and  middle¬ 
men,  and  on  a  still  larger  proportion  of  it  the 
dealers  were  compelled  to  make  ruinous  prices  or 
lose  their  customers.  Tn  the  conviction  that  the 
continuance  or  repetition  next  season  of  this  state 
of  affairs  would  spell  calamity  for  the  retail  deal¬ 
ers  in  this  city,  I  addressed  a  letter,  under  date  of 
June  1st,  to  all  the  principal  wholesale  houses. 

“Within  a  month  after  this  letter  was  written, 
the  first  decision  under  the  Clayton  Law  was  ren¬ 
dered  by  Judge  Hough  in  the  United  States  Dis¬ 
trict  Court  and,  as  the  Times  stated  in  an  editorial 
comment  on  this  decision,  “The  gist  of  it  is,  the 
right  to  hx  prices,  choose  customers  and  abstain 
from  business  at  will.”  The  old  bugaboo  that  a 
man  may  not  refuse  to  sell  his  goods  to  anyone 
who  tenders  the  money  in  payment  therefor,  no 
matter  how  much  damage  the  transaction  may  in¬ 
flict  upon  the  business  of  the  seller,  is  so  thor¬ 
oughly  exploded  that  it  can  no  longer  be  used  as 
an  argument  or  an  excuse  for  selling  coal,  or  any¬ 
thing  else,  to  those  who  are  disturbing  the  trade 
in  such  commodity, 

“But,  we  need  not  rest  on  this  decision  alone. 
On  the  12th  of  November,  1915,  the  United  States 
Court  of  Appeals  handed  down  a  decision,  in 
what  is  known  as  the  “Cream  of  Wheat  Case,” 
concerning  which  the  JVall  Street  Jourml  made 
this  comment : 

“  ‘Refusing  to  sell  to  one  whose  conduct  is  such 
as  to  injure  the  business  of  the  seller,  or  others 
with  whom  he  competes,  certaiidy  cannot  be  con¬ 
strued  as  unfair  competition,  nor  can  it  be  called 
a  restraint  of  trade.  The  gist  of  the  decision  is, 
that  neither  the  Sherman  nor  the  Clayton  law 
takes  from  the  dealer  the  right  to  select  his  own 
customers,  but  leaves  him  free  to  deal  with  whom 
he  pleases.' 

“These  important  decisions,  the  first  to  be  ren¬ 
dered  under  the  recently  enacted  Clayton  Law,  put 
the  matter  squarely  up  to  the  wholesalers  and  it 
remains  to  be  seen  whether  they  will  adopt  the 
policy  therein  outlined  and  whether  they  will  se¬ 
lect  as  their  customers  the  people  who  are  under¬ 
mining  and  destroying  the  trade,  or  whether  they 
will  refuse  to  do  so  and  confine  their  business  to 
the  le.gitimate  and  permanent  dealers  who  trade 
with  them  twelve  months  in  the  year  and  who  are 
entitled,  by  every  law  of  good  business  and  com¬ 
mercial  fairness,  to  wholesale  cooperation  and  sup- 
port. 

“Next  to  this  wholesale  competition — if  T  may 
use  that  term — the  most  disturbing  feature  of  the 
business  has  been  the  ruinous  competition  that  has 
been  introduced  into  it  by  certain  people  whose 
regular  line  of  trade  is  the  ice  business.  This 
began  last  year.  If  people  really  want  to  go  into 
the  coal  business  permanently,  establishing  ade¬ 
quate  plants  and  hazarding  their  capital  as  the 
regular  dealers  arc  obliged  to  do,  there  would  be 
nothing  to  say  a,gainst  it.  The  city  would  be  jus- 
lificd  in  renting  its  property  to  them  for  such  pur¬ 
poses.  Blit,  it  does  not  seem  fair  or  consistent 
with  public  interest  for  the  city  to  grant  dock  per¬ 


mits  to  people  who  do  not  assume,  or  pretend  to 
assume,  the  responsibilities  of  taking  care  of  their 
trade  throughout  the  year ;  who  rent  docks  by  the 
month  instead  of  on  long-term  leases,  as  the  coal 
men  are  compelled  to  do,  and  who,  without  heavy 
overhead  expenses,  proper  delivery  facilities  or  the 
upkeep  of  costly  plants,  are  thus  enabled  for  a 
brief  period  to  snatch  a  certain  class  of  business 
away  from  the  legitimate  dealers. 

“In  spite  of  protest,  more  permits  have  been, 
and  are  still  being,  granted  to  the  ice  men  to 
transact  a  coal  business  at  various  points.  In 
order  to  protect  their  trade  which,  if  we  are  cor¬ 
rectly  informed,  was  being  taken  from  them  by 
methods  which  mi.ght  well  engage  the  scrutiny  of 
the  courts,  one  or  two  of  the  largest  dealers  en¬ 
gaged  in  the  ice  business  themselves.  It  was  the 
last  thing  they  wished  to  do  and  S7mething  which 
they  would  probably  retire  from  promptly  if  the 
cause  were  removed ;  but  I  venture  to  predict  that 
they  will  not  withdraw  from  it  so  long  as  this 
form  of  competition  remains. 

“I  have  long  maintained  that  the  time  would 
come  when  it  would  be  legally  possible  for  men  to 
get  together  in  any  line  of  business  and  a.grei' 
upon  prices,  provided  always  that  there  should  be 
a  supervising  commission  to  decide,  if  the  question 
were  raised,  whether  those  prices  were  fair  and 
reasonable:  and,  furthermore,  that  when  these 
prices  had  thus  been  approved — as  is  the  case  with 
the  railroad  rates  today — the  cutting  of  them 
would  no  longer  be  considered  a  public  benefit  but 
a  misdemeanor  in  the  eye  of  the  law.  Everything 
points  that  way  and  now  at  last  'we  have  such  a 
commission,  to  which  questions  concerning  cor¬ 
porate  business  may  be  submitted.  I  refer  to  the 
h'ederal  Trade  Commission,  headed  by  Joseph  E. 
Davies,  who  is  reputed  to  be  a  broad  and  saga¬ 
cious  man.  It  is  no  remote  possibility  that  through 
this  new  channel  may  flow  wise  and  equitable  de¬ 
cisions  respecting  some  of  the  problems  that  have 
sorely  vexed  us. 

“The  Federal  'I'rade  Commission  Act — which 
practically  creates  a  Board  of  Advisers  to  the  De¬ 
partment  of  Justice — became  a  law  in  September, 
1914,  and  it  states,  in  Section  V,  “That  unfair  me¬ 
thods  of  competition  in  commerce  are  hereby  de¬ 
clared  unlawful.”  It  only  remains  to  have  this 
term  “unfair  competition”  defined— which  the 
Congressional  committee  itself  has  thus  far  been 
unable  to  do — in  order  that  we  may  know  just 
where  we  stand  and  perhaps  enjoy  the  benefits  of 
this  Act. 

“In  addressing  a  meeting  of  the  Merchants’  As¬ 
sociation  of  New  York  last  February,  Mr.  Davies 
said :  ‘The  purpose  of  the  law  is  to  preserve  the 
great  body  of  the  business  units  of  this  country, 
constituting  ninety-nine  per  cent  thereof,  from  the 
menace  of  possible  unfair  competition  of  the  other 
one  per  cent.’  What  more  would  we  want? 

“Among  the  other  events  which  contributed  to¬ 
ward  making  the  conditions  more  trying  than 
usual  this  season  was  the  investigation  of  the  re¬ 
tail  coal  business  here  by  the  Federal  Department 
of  Justice.  The  first  evidence  that  an  investiga¬ 
tion  was  on  foot  came  in  the  guise  of  two  or  three 
men  who  misrepresented  themselves  as  retail  buy¬ 
ers  of  coal  and  asked  for  prices  at  various  yards, 
with  the  probable  expectation  of  unearthin,g  a  con¬ 
spiracy  of  some  sort  among  the  dealers.  A  num¬ 
ber  of  men  were  subpoened  to  testify  before  the 
grand  jury.  Some  of  these  witnesses  were  i.g- 
norant  of  the  facts ;  others  were  of  questionable 
veracity,  and  still  others  were  scared  so  stiff  that 
their  ordinary  functions  refused  to  operate  for 
some  days  thereafter.  While  evidence  of  this 
sort  sufficient  to  indict  a  man  may  be  easily  se¬ 
cured,  it  requires  a  different  kind  of  evidence  to 
convict  him,  and  so  the  range  of  inquiry  broad¬ 
ened.  I  had  not  been  subpoened — -for  reasons 
which  are  not  difficult  to  surmise — but  was  in¬ 
vited  to  go  to  the  District  Attorney’s  office  and 
discuss  the  situation.  This  I  was  very  glad  lo 
do. 

“Considerable  curiosity  was  displayed  as  lo  the 
retail  prices  and  how  they  were  arrived  at;  it  was 
even  strongly  intimated  that  I  made  them  myself. 
Information  on  this  point,  however,  was  easily 
given.  I  admitted  freely  and  without  apprehen¬ 
sion,  that  I  Used  every  argument  at  my  command 
to  prevent  the  dealers  from  transacting  business  at 
a  loss  or  at  a  ridiculously  inadequate  profit.  I 
also  admitted  that  I  sometimes  tinged  the  whole¬ 
sale  dealers  not  to  sell  coal  to  certain  people  who 
were  wrecking  the  market,  and  the  recent  decisions 
of  the  highest  courts  seem  to  indicate  that  I  was 
well  within  my  legal  rights  in  that  respect. 

“I  invited  the  Assistant  District  Attorney  lo  in 
sped  the  books  and  papers  of  the  Coal  Merchants’ 
.'\ssooiation,  which  he  promptly  did.  spending  an 


entire  day  here  with  me  and  his  assistant.  1  ex- 
jilained  to  him  that  we  were  incorporated  under 
the  laws  of  the  State  of  New  York,  that  our 
rights  were  clearly  defined,  entirely  adequate  for 
our  needs  and  had  never  been  over-stepped,  and 
demonstrated  the  truth  of  these  assertions  evident¬ 
ly  to  his  satisfaction ;  He  saw  the  workings  of  our 
credit  and  collection  system,  and  the  Coal  Trade 
Protective  Association,  which  has  killed  the  short 
weight  coal  business  in  this  town. 

“At  his  request  I  again  conferred  with  him  at 
his  office.  I  informed  him  as  to  the  number  of 
dealers  who  had  quit  the  business  in  recent  years 
because  they  couldn’t  make  a  living  in  it,  and,  as 
he  said  that  monopoly  was  the  thing  they  were 
trying  to  prevent,  I  endeavored  to  show  him  that 
if  things  were  made  any  harder  for  the  dealers 
than  at  present,  more  of  them  would  be  forced  out, 
until — carried  to  a  logical  conclusion — only  a  few 
big  dealers  would  be  left  and  monopoly — the  thing 
he  was  trying  to  prevent — would  have  arrived. 

“I  then  suggested  that  he  examine  the  books  of 
a  few  of  the  largest  dealers  and  find  out — beyond 
a  iieradventure — whether  there  is  any  such  thing 
as  one  price  for  coal  in  this  town  and  also  what 
avera.ge  profit  per  ton  the  dealers  arc  making. 
'I'his  suggestion  was  adopted  in  one  or  two  im 
portant  instances  and  I  imagine  that  the  results  of 
this  inspection — so  far  as  prices  and  profits  are 
concerned — must  have  been  an  eye-opener. 

“I  stated  to  the  Assistant  District  Attorney  that 
if  he  would  make  the  investigation  a  thorough  one 
and  report  his  findings  to  the  public  he  would  con¬ 
fer  a  huge  favor  upon  the  retail  coal  trade  and 
that  if  no  one  else  made  the  facts  jmblic  I  would. 
So  I  am  merely  keeping  my  word  in  stating  them 
lo  you. 

“You  may  recall  that  I  expressed  a  belief  in  my 
report  last  year  that  the  Pennsylvania  State  Tax 
on  coal  was  unconstitutional  and  would  be  so  de¬ 
cided  if  anybody  had  the  nerve  to  contest  it.  It 
has  already  been  declared  unconstitutional  and 
there  is  evidently  some  money  coming  back  to  you. 
There  seems  to  be  a  strong  likelihood,  however, 
that  the  price  of  coal  in-  some  sizes  may  be  ad¬ 
vanced  next  spring  unless  reducing  the  number 
of  sizes  shall  also  reduce  the  mining  expense.  The 
cost  of  the  compensation  law  in  Pennsylvania  ha.s 
been  figured  out  and  will  be  equivalent  to  about 
ten  cents  per  ton ;  but  inasmuch  as  it  would  be  of 
doubtful  expediency  to  add  this  ten  cents  to  the 
prices  of  the  steam  sizes,  which  come  into  com¬ 
petition  with  soft  coal,  the  result  of  this  compen¬ 
sation  law  will  mean  an  additional  cost  of  about 
twenty  cents  per  ton  in  the  domestic  sizes. 

“The  credit  system  inaugurated  about  eighteen 
months  ago  is  working  so  smoothly  and  success¬ 
fully  that  little  need  be  said  about  it  except  to  con¬ 
gratulate  ourselves  on  having  at  last  gotten  some¬ 
thing  as  nearly  perfect  as  a  business  proposition 
can  well  be. 

“For  the  first  time  in  nine  years  we  have  had 
no  resignations  from  the  Association, -in  spite  of 
the  fact  that  every  legitimate  dealer  doing  busi¬ 
ness  here  belongs  to  it. 

“There  have  been  submitted  for  collection  ac-  < 
counts  amounting  to  $106,3,37  and  of  these  wc 
have  collected,  up  to  November  30,  $65,130,  with 
another  month  to  go.  The  total  collections  for 
the  year  will  amount  to  over  $70,000.  Of  1,249 
accounts  submitted  791  have  been  collected,  of 
which  718  were  gotten  in  through  this  office  with¬ 
out  legal  action  or  any  costs  whatsoever  to  the 
dealers  who  submitted  them.  The  increase  in  the 
collections  to  November  30,  as  compared  with  the 
same  period  last  year,  amounts  to  over  $12,000. 

“It  may  be  interesting  to  you  to  learn  that  dur¬ 
ing  the  last  nine  years  we  have  collected  for  our 
members  more  than  $530,000,  which  means  that 
for  every  dollar  paid  in  to  run  this  Association  wc 
have  handed  hack,  not  only  that  dollar,  but  four 
others  with  it.” 


The  Youghiogheny  &  Ohio  Coal  Company,  with 
offices  in  Cleveland  and  its  Pittsburgh  office  in 
the  House  building,  purchased  from  the  Carnegie 
Coal  Company  what  is  known  as  the  Charleroi 
plant  of  the  Carnegie  Company.  The  purchase 
price  was  $1,400,000.  The  property  is  situated 
along  the  Monongahela  river  and  consists  of 
1,100  acres  of  rich  coal  land.  The  Qiarleroi  prop¬ 
erty  formerly  was  owned  by  the  Pittsburgh  Plate 
Glass  Company  and  was  acquired  by  the  Car¬ 
negie  Coal  Company  several  years  ago.  The 
Youghiogheny  company  is  one  of  the  largest  coal 
companies  in  western  Pennsylvania,  with  exten¬ 
sive  holdings  in  Washington,  Green  and  West¬ 
moreland  counties.  It  also  operates  in  Ohio.  The 
purchase  of  the  Giarleroi  plant,  the  company 
says,  will  add  greatly  to  its  coal  output  in  west¬ 
ern  Penn.sylvania.  James  G.  Patterson  is  vice- 
president  of  the  Youghiogheny  &  Ohio  Coal 
Company  ami  i.s  its  Pittsburgh  representative. 


I  December  25 


532 


TUP:  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


News  Local  to  Chicago. 


F.  S.  Peabody  spent  a  part  of  the  week  in  New 
York. 

C.  Aloderwell  was  one  of  the  operators  to 
attend  a  meeting  of  the  American  Mining  Con¬ 
gress  directors  at  Washington  last  week. 

A.  J.  Nason  of  the  Twin  Cities — he  is  financially 
interested  in  the  Nokomis  Coal  Company  at  No- 
komis.  Ill. — was  a  caller  on  the  Chicago  coal  trade 
on  Tuesday  of  this  week. 

•Among  the  Chicago  visitors  within  the  week 
was  11.  M.  Ferguson,  general  manager  of  the 
Clinton  Coal  Company  of  Ginton,  Ind.  He  was 
here  looking  after  business  and  incidentally  doing 
some  holiday  shopping. 

E.  A.  Byrne,  formerly  connected  with  the 
.Sunday  Creek  Company,  has  taken  a  position 
with  the  Maynard  Coal  Company,  selling  Hocking 
coal  in  Chicago.  His  offices  are  in  the  Old  Colony 
building,  where  he  is  associated  with  E.  E.  Heiner. 

Ve  editor  is  in  receipt  of  a  green  leather  hill 
fold  from  Herbert  H.  'faylor  of  the  Taylor  Coal 
Company.  It  is  one  of  the  souvenirs  of  the 
season  which  he  is  distributing.  Herb  is  a  good 
provider,  as  witness  his  attention  to  purses.  Come 
again.  Herb. 

Edward  T.  Bent,  who  has  just  passed  through  a 
long  sie.ge  of  sickness  is  out  again  and  is  gaining 
strength  and  weight  slowly.  His  normal  weight 
is  l.')0  pounds,  hut  his  attack  reduced  him  to  120 
which  he  says  he  is  regaining  at  the  rate  of  about 
a  half  a  pound  a  week. 

Carl  Scholz,  president  of  the  American  Mining 
Congress  was  in  Washington  the  latter  part  of  last 
week.  He  attended  a  meeting  of  the  committee  on 
mines  and  mining  relative  to  the  new  mineral  land 
laws.  By  the  especial  recpiest  of  the  secretary  of 
the  interior,  no  national  laws  hearing  on  coal  will 
he  discussed  by  this  committee  just  now. 

I.  L.  Runyan,  secretary  of  the  Illinois  &  Wiscon¬ 
sin  Retail  Coal  Dealers  Association,  will  leave  on 
Monday  for  Galesburg  where  he  will  spend  the 
forenoon  of  Tuesday.  He  will  go  that  afternoon 
to  McComh  and  will  spend  Wednesday  at  Kewa- 
nee.  At  all  three  places  he  expects  to  hold  meet¬ 
ings  of  retail  dealers  in  the  interest  of  the 
as.sociation. 

The  transportation  department  of  the  Big  Four 
has  begun  taking  precautionary  measures  in  case 
of  a  strike  of  coal  miners  next  spring  by  erecting 
mammoth  storage  sheds  along  its  system.  At 
Mattoon,  Ill.,  there  has  been  placed  in  storage, 
in, 000  tons  of  coal.  Contracts  have  been  let  for 
storage  sheds  at  other  points  along  the  line,  nota¬ 
bly  at  Hillsboro  and  Duane.  At  Cincinnati  the 
road  has  completed  the  storage  of  coal  in  such 
(piantities  as  to  outlast  any  strike  and  keep  the 
road  in  good  supply  until  next  fall. 

The  announcement  is  made  that  the  Ferguson- 
.Spears  Coal  Company  is  opening  a  new  mine  to 
the  Number  Four  vein  at  Clinton,  Ind.  The 
parties  responsible  for  this  new  company  are  the 
.general  mana.ger  and  the  chief  engineer  of  the 
Clinton  Coal  Company  of  the  same  point.  I’he 
plans  are  interesting,  as  the  intention  is  to  drive  a 
tunnel  under  the  Wahash  river  at  that  point  to 
get  to  part  of  the  coal  land.  It  is  said  that  the 
vein  at  that  point  produces  a  coal  having  a  rather 
unusual  fracture  and  to  be  of  exceptional  quality. 

■Most  of  this  week  was  taken  up  by  the  opera¬ 
tors  in  a  hearing  before  the  Illinois  Utilities  Com¬ 
mission.  It  will  be  recalled  that  the  railroads  a 
short  time  ago  fded  tariffs  calling  for  an  increase 
of  five  cents  a  ton  in  the  coal  rate  to  Chicago  and 
to  all  points  not  reached  by  the  recent  decision  of 
the  commission  in  the  western  advance  rate  case. 
It  will  be  recalled  also  that  the  Illinois  and  In¬ 
diana  operators  protested  against  this  rate  and 
asked  specifically  the  suspension  of  the  tariff.  It 
will  also  be  recalled  that  the  Chicago  Coal  Mer- 
cahnts’  Association  made  a  protest  against  the 
rates.  The  matter  came  up  on  Monday  for  the 
first  hearing  before  tbe  state  commission  and  most 
of  the  week  was  spent  in  taking  testimony.  The 
railroads  presented  their  matter  first  and  then  the 
operators  presented  their  side  of  the  case.  It 
was  the  same  old  fight  which  has  been  on  for  tbe 
last  few  years.  The  railroads  attempted  to 
prove  that  they  need  and  must  have  the  money. 
The  coal  men  tried  to  get  it  into  the  railroad  Iiead 
that  the  operators  cannot  absorb  tins  increased 
rates  out  of  their  earnings.  They  said  that  this 
was  impossible  for  the  sim|)le  reason  there  are  no 
coal  earnings.  To  try  to* pass  the  rate  on  to  the 
consumer  is  hopeless  because  of  the  competition 
afforded  by  other  fields.  This  ground  has  been 
gone  over  a  good  many  times  and  before  a  num¬ 
ber  of  commissions.  Still,  the  state  commission 
tackled  the  job  as  though  this  were  the  first  time 
the  testimony  had  ever  been  presented.  The  bet¬ 


ter  part  of  the  week  was  consumed  by  the  rail¬ 
roads,  which  had  taken  their  tip  from  the  pre¬ 
vious  activities  of  F.  H.  Harwood  and  G.  W.  Reed 
and  had  prepared  elaborate  exhibits.  These  were 
reduced  to  blue  prints. 

According  to  tbe  records  which  have  just  been 
compiled,  the  larger  interests — the  railroads,  pub¬ 
lic  utilities  companies  and  the  like — in  this  terri¬ 
tory  are  going  to  store  about  ,'5, 000, 000  tons  of 
coal  to  protect  them  against  the  possibilities  of  a 
mine  strike.  The  average  price  on  this  coal  will 
be  about  $0  a  ton.  This  means  that  the  cost  to 
these  consumers  will  be,  in  round  numbers,  close 
to  $t), 000,000,  The  statement  w'as  compiled  in 
part  from  the  records  of  the  purchasers  but  it 
seems  to  have  been  made  up  mainly  from  the  fig¬ 
ures  supi)Iied  by  those  who  sold  the  coal.  As 
this  indicates,  the  buying  for  storage  is,  so  far  as 
the  larger  consumers  are  concerned,  a  matter  of 


history.  The  smaller  buyers  have  still  to  cover 
their  needs  and  it  is  expected  that  this  will  ag¬ 
gregate  more  than  another  li, 000, 000  tons.  Still, 
with  the  larger  orders  out  of  the  way  there  is 
not  so  much  coal  buying  to  be  done  as  would  in¬ 
fluence  the  price  seriously.  The  statement  which 
has  just  been  compiled  and  made  available  for 
publication  shows  the  following  amounts  for  tiie 
various  companies  ; 

Purchaser —  Tonnage. 

New  York  Central .  140,000 

Michigan  Central .  200,000 

lUg  Four .  70,000 

(irand  Trunk .  80,000 

Soo  Line .  15,000 

Pennsylvania  . 00  days 

North-Western  .  200,000 

St.  Paul  .  400,000 

Hurlington  .  200,000 

Illinois  Central .  .‘500,000 

Chicago  &  Alton .  100,000 

.Steel  Corporation .  300.000 

Commonwealth  Edison .  300,000 

Standard  Oil  Co .  50,000 

Stock  Yards .  150,000 


In  the  case  of  the  Steel  Corporation,  North- 
Western  and  the  Standard  Oil  Company  it  is  un¬ 
derstood  that  these  amounts  will  he  expanded  until 
they  equal  what  will  be  a  sixty  days’  supply.  Of 
tbe  various  prospective  buyers,  the  Illinois  Cen¬ 
tral  has  done  nothing.  Neither  have  the  stock 
yards.  The  Alton,  the  Steel  Corporation  and  the 
Standard  Oil  have  just  started  to  put  in  their 
storage  coal.  That  of  the  Commonwealth  Edison 
Company  is  all  down.  The  other  buyers  eitb.er 
have  their  coal  down  in  major  part  or  are  re¬ 
ceiving  final  shipments.  In  addition  to  these  buy¬ 
ers  tbe  International  Harvester  Company  and  the 
railroads  now  in  the  hands  of  a  receiver  will  do 
some  storing  but  their  programs  have  not  been 
mapped  out  in  full. 


The  Loaded  Purchase. 

(Concluded  from  page  527.) 

"and  stick  to  straight  liquor.  That  green  stuff 
is  going  to  your  head.” 

"Never  mmd  the  green  stuff,”  I  retorted.  “You 
know  what  1  say  is  the  truth.” 

"I  know  nothing  of  the  sort.” 

"Well,  if  you  don’t,  suppose  you  wake  up  and 
take  a  look  at  some  of  our  pompous  coal  barons.” 

"If  a  lack  of  brains,”  he  stated  gravely,  “were 
the  only  requisite  for  the  accumulation  of  riches 
in  our  line,  then  you.  Bill,  indubitably,  would  be 
the  Croesus  of  the  coal  trade.” 

"Is  that  so !”  I  scoffed. 

"No.  it  is  not.  There  is  a  problem  in  the  coal 
trade  demanding  in  its  solution,  more  brains  than 
have  ever  been  put  to  it.  Baer  came  very  nearly 
working  it  out  but  he  got  an  exotic  notion  of 
divinity  tangled  up  in  his  destiny  which  threw 
him  down.  Any  one  can  mine  coal.  That  oper¬ 
ation  is  laid  down  upon  well  establi.shed  principles 
of  engineering.  The  problem  in  the  industry  is 
to  sell  the  stuff.” 

"Right  you  are,”  I  broke  in,  “and  if  there  were 
anv  definite  principles  upon  which  salesmanship 
could  be  based,  there  would  be  no  problem.  The 
fact  that  the  problem  exists  proves  my  contention 
that  our  business  is  a  game  of  chance.” 

“That  is  good  logic,”  smiled  Jim,  "hut  like  most 
logic,  it  is  unconvincing.” 

"For  the  love  of  Alike!”  I  exclaimed.  "I  am 
talking  about  luck  in  the  coal  business,  and  now 
von  start  pulling  this  abstract  stuff  about  logic. 
Don’t  get  started  because  it  doesn’t  get  you  any¬ 
where.  One  fact  is  worth  a  dozen  theories.  Now, 
just  let  me  .show  you  where  a  man  gets  off  on 
this  luck  [iroposition.  Let  me  tell  you  what 
actuallv  happened  to  me  a  couple  of  weeks  ago. 

Thereupon  I  recounted  to  him  the  details  of  my 
encounter  with  the  Frenchman.  He  listened  with 
a  bored  expression.  When  I  reached  the  point  in 
mv  narration  where  the  exchange  of  cards  took 
l)lace  in  the  club,  he  took  a  pencil  from  his 
pocket  and  idly  printed  the  name,  M.  I.  J.  Dnani- 


dref,  upon  the  tahlecloth.  Then  he  underscored 
each  letter  of  the  name  in  the  reverse  order — 
F-e-r-d-i-n-a-n-d,  J-i-m. 

So  engrossed  was  I  in  telling  my  story,  I  did 
not  in  the  least  comprehend  the  significance  of 
his  little  hy-play.  I  went  on  with  my  story  to  the 
end. 

“And,”  I  finished,  “I  cleared  the  boat  and 
cashed  my  draft.  Dnanidref,  happy  as  a  kid, 
sailed  home  as  the  captain’s  guest  on  the  Comet.” 

"The  damned  fool!”  ejaculated  Jim,  straighten¬ 
ing  up  in  surprise. 

"He  sure  was,”  I  agreed.  “He  was  worse  than 
a  fool.  He  was  nutty,  and  when  a  good  thing 
like  that  falls  into  your  hands  out  of  a  clear  sky, 
vou  claim  there  is  no  luck  about  it,  do  you?” 

•T  do.” 

“Well,  how  do  you  figure  it  out?” 

“I  don’t  have  to  figure  it  out.  I  did  that  three 
months  ago.” 

“What  do  you  mean?”  I  did  not  fancy  the 
grim  alignment  his  features  assumed.  He  seemed 
to  ponder  and  did  not  answer  immediately. 

"Your  question.  Bill,  makes  it  plain  you  have 
forgotten  how  many  times  I  have  found  you 
alone  in  your  office  at  noon ;  makes  it  plain,  you 
considered  it  purely  an  accident  when  a  hlue-eyed, 
bristle-topped  German,  in  the  theatrical  habili¬ 
ments  of  a  burle.sque  h'renchman,  planted  himself 
before  your  door  at  that  hour;  makes  it  plain, 
you  concluded  without  the  least  circumspection 
that  you  had  the  key  to  his  intentions  when  your 
stenographer  rejjeated  to  you  the  pervious  lie  he 
had  meaningly  let  fall  into  her  hands  under  the 
pretense  of  drunkenness ;  makes  it  plain  he  acted 
bis  assigned  part  well ;  makes  it  plain,  your 
cupidity  caused  you  to  gulp  down  a  crude  mys¬ 
tery  about  a  chemical  without  once  questioning 
it.” 

"A'ou  mean  to  say,”  I  spluttered,  but  he  cut  me 
oft'. 

“I  mean  to  say,”  he  persisted  deliberately,  “you 
think  you  sold  a  cargo  of  coal  at  an  outrageous 
price  to  a  crazy  foreigner  on  a  streak  of  luck. 
■As  a  matter  of  fact,  this  fellow,  Dnanidref,  as 
you  know  him,  sold  you  a  gold  hrick!” 

"Sold  me  a  gold  brick:”  I  screached.  “Don’t 
make  me  laugh.  I  have  a  sore  lip !” 

“I  won’t.  But  it  may  chill  your  merriment  to 
know  it  is  a  felony  to  clear  a  vessel  on  a  falsified 
bill  of  lading.  The  law  would  fail  to  hold  culpa¬ 
ble,  however,  one  who  unknowingly  and  unwit- 
tedly  cleared  a  cargo  falsely.  To  convict  it  would 
he  necessary  to  prove  criminal  intent.” 

"What  sort  of  chatter  is  this,  anyhow?”  I  de¬ 
manded  with  asperity. 

"It  is  chatter  on  a  mere  matter  of  detail — a  de¬ 
tail  which  enables  the  Blackbelt  Company  to  pay 
me  an  extra  dividend  of  $8,000  on  my  stock; 
which  enables  it  to  do  this  with  impunity  since, 
in  forwarding  the  coal  for  the  Comet,  the  mine 
acted  on  your  instructions,  as  your  agent,  and 
you  became  the  answerable  principal — a  principal, 
however,  whose  legal  responsibility  was  set  at 
naught  through  childish  gullibility. 

"Man,  you  are  raving,”  I  cried. 

“A’ou  flatter  me.  Bill,  Init  in  your  ravings  mark 
you  these  things;  Oxide  of  copper,  CuO,  is 
black.  When  pulverized  and  mixed  with  bitu¬ 
minous  coal  it  cannot  be  detected  except  by  a 
cbemical  analysis.  Now,  set  fire  to  coal  impreg¬ 
nated  with  copper  oxide  and  the  oxygen  in  the 
coi)per  combines  with  the  carbon  in  the  coal,  go¬ 
ing  oft  as  carbon  dioxide  gas.  The  pure  copper, 
Cu,  melts  and  runs  down  with  the  ash,  losing 
slightly  in  weight  on  account  of  the  deoxidiza¬ 
tion.  Reheat  this  mass  of  ash  and  copper  and  the 
ash,  being  tbe  lighter,  passes  off  as  a  flux,  leaving 
pure  metallic  copper  in  the  crucible.  Germany 
needs  copper ;  needs  it  more  than  she  needs  ben¬ 
zol  and  toluol ;  needs  it  more  than  you  need  a  les¬ 
son  in  constructive  salesmanship.  .And  1,  Bill, — 
I,  whom  you  look  upon  as  a  lily  of  the  field,  toil¬ 
ing  little  but  spending  much,  need  the  money !” 


meeting  of  the  executive  committee  of  the 
Pittsburgh  Vein  Operators’  Association  in  Ohio 
held  a  meeting  Monday,  but  it  is  not  known  wheth¬ 
er  the  United  Aline  Workers’  request  for  a  re¬ 
newal  of  the  joint  agreement  was  discussed  or  not. 
The  operators  are  adhering  to  an  attitude  of  sil¬ 
ence  as  to  their  views  on  this  matter,  for  the 
present  ,and  it  is  impossible  to  give  any  idea  as  to 
what  course  they  will  take.  Doubtless,  they  will 
give  the  miners’  organization  a  reply  when  they 
feel  that  it  is  best  to  do  so. 


The  British  steamer  Rose  Castle,  having  com¬ 
pleted  her  charter  to  the  Dominion  Coal  Corn- 
pan  v,  sailed  recently  from  Portland  with  a  cargo 
of  5()(),()00  bushels  of  wheat  for  England.  The 
steamer  has  been  taken  over  by  the  British  gov¬ 
ernment  for  war  service. 


No.  26] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


Facts  Which  Determine  Our  Export  Prospects 


533 

49,296 

99,717 

97,956 

33,498 

29,750 

West 

Africa — Portuguese. . 

6,156 

Average  Welsh  Coal  Rates. 

In  its  issue  of  December  3rd,  the  Cardiff  Jour¬ 
nal  of  Commerce  gives  some  interesting  figures 
showing  the  average  coal  freights  from  the 
United  Kingdom  for  August,  September,  October 
and  November  of  this  year.  Attention  is  called 
to  the  constant  appreciation  in  rates  from  the 
commencement  of  the  European  war  in  August, 
1914.  Says  this  paper:  “The  reason  for  the 
enormous  appreciation  is  to  be  found  in  the  fact 
that  the  world’s  available  tonnage  is  distinctly 
below  the  requirement  of  the  commercial  com¬ 
munity.  The  requisitioning  of  a  couple  of  thou¬ 
sand  steamers  by,  the  Quadruple  Entente  and  the 
tonnage  sunk  by  the  German  submarines  and 
striking  mines,  has  seriously  depleted  supplies, 
while  the  calling  home  to  Greece  of  all  the  Greek 
steamers  towards  the  close  of  September,  further 
accentuated  the  tonnage  shortage.  In  fact, 
charters  in  all  quarters  of  the  globe  have  for  the 
past  three  months  been  in  active  competition  for 
steamers  to  transport  their  commodities  from  one 
country  to  another.  The  tonnage  supply  is  totally 
insufficient  and  to  meet  the  requirements,  rates 
have  daily  advanced.  With  tonnage  supplies 
totally  insufficient  to  meet  requirements,  rates 
have  of  late  daily  advanced  by  shillings  per  ton. 
The  full  extent  of  the  appreciation  in  outward 
coal  freights  from  the  United  Kingdom  is  clearly 
in  the  following  table,  giving  the  average  rates 
during  August,  September,  October  and  Novem¬ 
ber  to  representative  ports  from  Cardiff  and  the 
Tyne : 


f 

Aug. 

Sept. 

Oct. 

- ^ 

Nov. 

Cardiff  to — 

Algiers  . 

.  .  .26.61 

35.00 

44.11 

49.60 

Alexandria  .  . . 

. .  .27/0.14 

32/9 

44/6 

48/6 

Bordeaux  . . . . 

25.17 

29.84 

36.78)4 

Barcelona  .  . .  . 

. . .19/2 

27/10)4 

35/3 

38/1)4 

Dieppe  . 

15/2 

16/- 

16/- 

(lenoa 

.  .  .24/1)4 

31/4 

40/2)4 

48/6)4 

Gibraltar  . 

.  .  .1.5/6 

21/7)4 

27/954 

30/5)4 

Havre . 

.. .12/9 

14/4)4 

14/9)4 

l'?'/9)4 

Lisbon  . 

.  .  .14/10)4 

19/1 

2.3/6 

27/554 

I-.as  Palmas... 

..  .17/- 

18/6 

28/4 

29/4)4 

Marseilles  .  . .  . 

38.25 

49.25 

.58.42)4 

Port  Said . 

...26/1)4 

33/4 

44/4)4 

51/8 

Rouen  . 

.  . .14/11 

16/- 

16/954 

19/1054 

River  Plate... 

.  .  .22/6)4 

29/4)4 

40/5)4 

38/5 

St.  Nazaire... 

22.54)4 

27.36)4 

35.35 

Valencia  . 

...17/- 

26/- 

31/10)4 

33/6)4 

1.  yne  to — 

Algiers . 

.  .  .23/- 

27/- 

32/9)4 

38/ 

Bordeaux  .... 

. . .19/11 

22/11 

26/1)4 

35/  954 

Genoa  . . . . 

33/254 

44/7 

53/10)4 

Havre . 

.. .13/9)4 

17/3 

16/9 

21/8)4 

Las  Palmas... 

. . .18/7 

23/11 

31/1 

26/6 

London  . 

...  7/244 

8/7)4 

9/4)4 

13/7)4 

Marseilles  .  . .  . 

.  .  .28/- 

31/C 

41/154 

45/1 

Exports  at  Hampton  Roads. 

Coal  export  loadings  at  the  three  Hampton 
Roads  ports  and  Baltimore  for  the  past  week 
have  been  as  follows : 

I.AMBERTS  POINT. 

Date.  Vessel  and  Destination. 

12-1.0  Am.  S.  S.  Achilles.  Cristobal,  C.  Z. 

12-10  It.  Ilk.  Nostra  S.  Del  Carmine,  Genoa, 

,  Italy  .  . . 2,074 

12-15  Nor.  S.  S.  Sosua,  Kingston,  Jamaica..  1,131  213 

12-17  U.  S.  N.  Collier  Cuclops,  Cristobal, 

C.  Z. . 10,315  .  .  . 

12-17  Am.  Sell.  Richard  W.  Clarke,  St. 

Georges,  Bermuda  .  068 

12-17  It.  Bk.  Nostra  Signora  Assunta, 

Genoa,  Italy  .  1,920 

12-17  Nor.  S.  S.  Tabor,  Curacao,  D.  \V.  1.  5,387 
12-18  It.  S.  S.  Mar  Terso,  Spezia,  Italy....  3,965  003 

12-20  It.  .S.  S.  Juno,  Italy — any  port .  4,950  730 

12-20  Dan.  S._  S.  Nordland,  Manzanillo,  Cuba  1,519  177 

12-20  It.  .S.  S.  Tea,  Italy — any  port .  7,100  650 

12-20  Hr.  S.  S.  Clarissa  Radcliffe,  Italy— 

port  .  8,050  750 


6,907 

SEWAI.LS  POINT. 

12-15  It.  S.  S.  Patras,  Genoa,  Italy .  4,147  553 

12-16  Am.  S.  S.  Moldegaard,  Chaparra,  Cuba  3,954  386 

12-20  Am.  Sell.  Magnus  Manson,  Pernam¬ 
buco,  Brazil .  2,393  ... 


10,494 

NEWPORT  NEWS. 

12-16  Br.  S.  .S.  Northmount,  Trinidad .  2,518  415 

12-18  Br.  S.  S.  Wellington,  Havana,  Cuba..  2,041  232 


B.M/ITMORE. 

12-16  Dan.  S.  S.  Absalon,  Havana,  Cuba..  3,193 
12-16  Am.  .Sell.  Edward  B.  Winslow,  Rio  de 


Janeiro,  Brazil  .  5,000  21 

12-17  Br.  S.  S.  Clavercsk.  Eelton,  Cuba....  6,100  400 
12-17  Nor.  .S.  S.  Byland,  Preston,  Cuba....  3,523  411 


Bunk- 
Cargo.  ers. 
...12.022  1.098 


17,816 


Welsh  Coals  and  Vessel  Rates. 

Latest  advices  from  Cardiff  under  date  of 
December  10  show  quietness  in  the  coal  trade, 
chiefly  as  a  result  of  the  shortage  of  tonnage. 
Quotations,  therefore,  are  irregular  and  entirely 
governed  by  the  position  of  individual  colliery 
operations.  Best  admiralties  are  not  quoted,  sec¬ 


onds  selling  at  2'ls  to  22s,  black  veins  21s  to  21s 
t)d ;  western  valleys,  20s  to  20s  6d ;  eastern  valleys, 
19s  to  19s  6d.  Prices  were  irregular  in  the  small 
steam  coals. 

Recent  charters  have  been  made  from  Cardiff 
to  Buenos  Aires  at  39s;  Marseilles,  7.5  frs. ;  Gib¬ 
raltar,  32.S  ()d ;  Rouen,  23s;  Bordeaux,  44  frs.; 
Havre,  21s;  Dakar,  3.5s;  Montevideo,  3Ss ;  Port 
Said,  62s ;  Genoa,  54s  to  56s. 

From  the  Tyne  37s  to  Bordeaux;  62s  6d  to 
Genoa;  50s  to  Marseilles;  62s  6d  to  Sicily. 


Philadelphia  November  Exports. 

E.xports  of  coal  from  the  port  Of  Philadelphia 
during  the  month  of  November,  1915,  were  as 
follows : 

Anthracite,  Bituminous, 


Italy  . 

Sweden  . 

Canada  . 

Costa  Rica . 

Tons. 

.  48 

Tons. 

4,992 

8,536 

1,501 

3,011 

2,880 

Guba  . . 

. 2,045 

28'iHr3 

7,818 

1,766 

3,828 

11,088 

San  Domingo . 

Argentina  . 

Brazil  . 

2,763 

73,985 

Baltimore  November  Exports 

The  custom  house  statement  of  bituminous 
coal  exported  from  the  port  of  Baltimore  during 
the  month  of  November,  1915,  is  as  follows: 


Country —  Tons. 

Italy  . 19,220 

Sweden  .  3,46fi 

Honduras  .  1,001 

Cuba  .  4,741 

Santo  Domingo .  1,331 

French  West  Indies .  2,292 

Argentina  .  4,008 

Kgypt  .  7,048 


43,830 


English  Coal  Exports. 

The  English  Board  of  Trade  returns  relating 
to  the  export  of  coal  to  foreign  countries  afford 
interesting  reading.  In  only  about  three  instances 
are  increases  shown  during  the  ten  months  of  the 
year,  the  i)rincii)al  one  being  France,  which  has 
taken  nearly  one  and  three-quarter  million  tons 
more  than  in  the  corresponding  period  of  last 
year.  The  following  table  shows  the  quantities 
exported  to  the  various  foreign  countries  and 
British  possessions  during  the  year,  together  with 
the  increase  and  decrease  respectively  compared 
with  the  corresponding  period  of  1914: 


Ten  months 
ended  Oct.  Increase, 


Tons. 

Russia  .  5,707 

Sweden  .  63,404 

Norway  .  73,254 

Denmark  .  32,479 

Germany  . 

Netherlands  .  25,377 

Java  .  6,550 

Other  Dutch  i)ossessions  in 

the  Indian  Seas . 

Belgium  . 

France  . 7,282,226 

.\lgeria  .  354,395 

French  Somaliland .  27,584 

■Madagascar  .  13,554 

Reunion  (Bourban) . 

Portugal  .  544,701 

Azores  .  32,253 

•Madeira  .  44,165 

.Spain  .  698,498 

Gar  ary  Islands .  184,381 

Italy  . . 2,731,555 

Italian  East  Africa .  5,043 

Austria-Hungary  . 

(ireece  .  180,819 

Bulgaria  . 

Roumania  . 

Turkey — European  .  6,557 

Turkey — Asiatic  .  3,767 

Tripoli  . 

Tunis 
Ghina 

Japan  . 

Guba  . 

Peru  .  138 

Ghile  .  30,436 

Brazil  .  348,033 

Uruguay  .  205,784 

Argentine  Reintblic . 1,079,706 

Ghannel  Islands... .  33,810 

(iibraltar  .  167,675 

■Malta  and  Gozo .  99,751 

Egypt  . .  687,347 

Gape  of  (rood  Hope .  6,401 

Anglo-Egyptian  Sudan .  22,378 

.Mauritius  and  Dependencies  8,813 
Aden  and  Dependencies.  .  .  105,623 

British  India .  18,917 

.Straits  Settlements .  2,200 

Geylon  and  Deirendencies .  36,160 

Hong  Kong . 

Western  .Aif^tralia . 

Canada  .  394 

Bermudas  . 

British  West  India  Islands  2,573 
I'alkland  Islands .  27,501 


Tons. 


82,417 


1,706,205 


5,033 


Decrease, 

Tons. 

353,828 

99,600 

37,153 

18,230 

174,423 

45,820 

7,062 

28,128 

246,922 


72,681 

8,974 

6,260 

10,647 

37,531 


22,789 


14,12; 
371,82! 
175,78i 
1,493,97; 
11,81! 
127,74! 
88,54! 
03,23! 
183,53; 
101,20! 
166,94: 
8,03; 
50,711 
9,93; 
5,30s 
5,791 
12,82! 
200,32; 
494,76! 
231,45; 
1,137,54; 
22,661 
1,171 
144,921 
786,251 
19,641 
14,211 
3,641 
24,99! 
86,071 
14,64; 
187, 21S 
10,361 
4,90! 
12,67; 
10,531 
13,95: 


Foreign  Freight  Rates. 

VV.  W.  Battle  &  Co.’s  Produce  Exchange,  New 
York,  report  as  follows  under  date  of  Decem¬ 
ber  20 : 

Steamers  are  even  more  difficult  to  obtain  than 
a  week  ago,  and  although  we  have  chartered  a 
number  of  boats  during  the  interval  none  of  these 
fixtures  have  been  reported.  Freight  rates  are  at 
about  the  same  level  as  a  week  ago. 

We  would  quote  freight  rates  on  coal  by 
steamer  as  follows : 

West  coast  of  Italy,  95s  to  100s;  Marseilles,  90s  to 
9.)s;  Barcelona,  or  other  good  Spanish  port,  about  90s 
1. Spanish  dues  for  account  of  cargo). 

Note. — Charters  for  Italy,  France  and  Spain  read: 
“Lay  days  to  commence  on  steamer’s  arrival  at  or  off 
port  of  discharge.  Is  per  net  register  ton  per  day  de¬ 
murrage.” 

Montevideo,  52s  6d  to  55s,  500  discharge:  Buenos 
.\ires  or  Ea  Plata,  52s  6d  to  55s,  500  discharge;  Rosario, 
55s  to  60s;  Rio  de  Janeiro,  50s  to  52s  fid,  500  discharge; 
.Santos,  50s  to  55s  (consignees  paying  docas  dues). 

Valparaiso  or  Callao,  $12  to  $13;  Havana,  $3  to  $3.25; 
Cardenas  or  Sagua,  $3.50  to  $4;  Cienfuegos,  $3.75  to 
$4;  Port  of  Spain,  Trinidad,  $4.75  to  $5;  St.  Lucia, 
$4.75  to  $6;  St.  Thomas,  $4.25  to  $4.50;  Barbados,  $4.75 
to  $5;  Kingston,  about  $4.25;  Curacao,  about  $4.50  and 
]).  c. :  .Santiago,  $4  to  $4.25;  Guantanamo,  $4  to  $4.25; 
Demerara,  $6.50  to  $7 ;  Bermuda,  $4  to  $4.25;  Vera  Cruz, 
$5.50  to  $6;  Tampico,  $5.50  to  $6. 


Recent  Coal  Freight  Charters. 

Str.  p'arwin  (Br.),  Philadelphia  to  Rio  de  Janeiro, 
coal,  private  terms,  “Prompt.” 

Str.  Isthmian,  Philadelphia  to  Rio  de  Janeiro,  coal. 

Str.  Bygland  (Nor.),  coal,  Baltimore  to  Boca  del  Toro, 
private  terms. 

Str.  Claveresk  (Br.),  coal,  Baltimore  to  Felton,  pri¬ 
vate  terms,  “Spot.” 

Str.  Platia  ((Ireek),  1,956  tons,  coal,  Norfolk  to  River 
Plate,  523  6d,  “December.” 

Schr.  Gov.  Powers,  Baltimore  to  Porto  Rico,  coal, 
private  terms. 

Schr.  Mary  A.  Hall.  Philadelphia  to  Cardenas,  coal,  $2. 

Sclir.  Isabel  B.  Wiley,  Philadelphia  to  Rio  Grande  do 
Sul,  coal,  $9. 

Schr.  Dusten  C.  Cressey,  Philadelphia  to  Porto  Rico, 
1,500  tons,  coal,  private  terms. 

Schr.  Jarstein  (Nor.),  New  York  to  St.  John’s,  N.  F., 
coal. 

Schr.  William  C.  May,  Norfolk  to  Cartagena,  coal, 
$5.30  net. 

Str.  Platea  (Gk.),  Virginia  to  River  Plata,  coal,  52s 
6d,  “Dec.” 

Schr.  Moama  (Br.),  Philadelphia  to  St.  John,  N.  B., 
coal,  private  terms. 

Schr.  Richard  W.  Clark,  Virginia  to  Bermuda,  coal. 
$3.75. 

Schr.  Adelide  W'.  Barborer,  Baltimore  to  Porto  Rico, 
coal,  private  terms. 

Schr.  George  h.  W^alcott,  Philadelphia  to  Buenos  Aires, 
2,300  tons,  coal,  private  terms. 

Schr.  Charles  Davenport,  Philadelphia  to  Porto  Rico, 
coal,  private  terms. 

Str.  Mar  Cor  (Ital.),  Norfolk  to  West  Italy,  coal,  OOs, 
“Prompt.” 

Bark  Snowden,  Baltimore  to  Buenos  Aires,  coal,  $9. 

Str.  Absalom  (Dan.),  Baltimore  to  Egypt,  coal,  privte 
terms. 

Schr.  Edith,  Hampton  Roads  to  Porto  Rico,  coal,  $3.75, 
port  charges. 


Rates  from  Great  Britain  to  Spain. 

[Consul  Robertson  Honey,  Madrid,  November  15.) 

Tlie  Re  vista  de  Economia  .v  Hacienda,  pub- 
li.shed  in  Madrid,  quotes  freight  rates  on  coal 
from  Great  Britain  to  Spain  and  compares  them 
with  rates  of  1914.  The  quotations  are  in  Brit¬ 
ish  shillings  and  pence,  equivalent,  respectively, 
to  24.33  cents  and  two  cents  each.  The  rates 
from  the  various  British  ports  to  Spanish  desti¬ 


nations  are : 

1914.  1915, 

I'rom  Cardiff  to —  s.  d.  s.  d. 

Huelva  .  6  6  26  0 

Cadiz  .  6  9  28  6 

Valencia  . 10  0  32  3 

Tanagona  . 10  0  31  0 

Barcelona  .  9  3  37  6 

I.as  I’almas .  7.  0  25  0 

Sevilla  . 10  6  27  0 

From  Newport  to — 

Bilbao  .  0  6  19  0 

Sevilla  . 13  6  21  0 

I'rom  Swansea  to — 

Alicante  .  13  0  32  0 

Huelva  .  8  0  26  0 

Valencia  .  8  6  32  0 

Barcelona  . 10  fi  32  0 

Erom  Tyne  to — 

Barcelona  . 17  0  38  0 

Malaga  .  il  0  35  0 

Las  I’almas .  9  1  27  6 

Cadiz  . 13  0  30  0 


The  week  opened  with  no  letup  in  the  demand 
for  steel,  says  the  Wall  Street  Journal.  Europe 
would  take  .500, 000  tons  of  semi-finished  steel  if 
the  mills  were  able  to  .suppl.v  it.  .Ys  it  is,  pre¬ 
miums  of  from  $2  to  $.■)  a  ton  arc  being  paid  for 
certain  classes  of  steel  for  delivery  in  the  near 
future.  Prices  for  steel  continue  to  advance,  but 
domestic  consumers  are  given  the  preference  in 
both  prices  and  deliveries  over  foreign  con¬ 
sumers.  The  mills,  as  a  rule,  close  for  a  short 
[leriod  in  December,  due  to  the  holidays,  hut 
there  will  he  little  idleness  this  year,  owing  to 
congested  conditions. 


534 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[December  25 


General  Review. 


The  National  Market  Is  Spotty,  with 
Strength  in  Some  Districts  and 
Weakness  in  Others. 


Some  weeks  ago,  attention  was  called  to  the 
unusual  character  of  the  coal  market  for  this  year. 
That  is,  the  lack  of  preparation  for  winter  on  the 
part  of  the  householders  and  retailers,  and  the 
lack  of  forehanded  buying  on  the  part 
of  the  steam  users  i)romised  to  reverse  the 
regular  order  and  bring  strength  in  December 
prices.  Today,  the  realization  of  that  forecast  is 
the  b’.g  feature  in  the  coal  market.  All  the  lack 
of  preparedness  has  come  to  a  focus  east  of  the 
.Alleghenies  because  of  a  terminal  congestion 
there  which  has  slowed  up  the  movement  of  cars. 
In  consec|uence,  prices  have  risen  to  abnormal 
levels.  In  places,  new  records  have  been  estab- 
lisbed. 

The  crux  of  the  whole  situation  seems  to  be 
the  New  England  trade.  Both  householders  and 
.'iteam  users  have  been  warned  of  a  coming  short¬ 
age  of  coal.  At  the  same  time  they  knew  that 
cold  weather  and  a  big  upturn  in  business  were 
sure.  They  disregarded  the  warning.  That 
district  being  a  long  way  removed  from  the  mines 
depends  mostly  on  water  transportation.  In  that 
direction.  New  En.gland  has  been  in  competition 
with  the  warring  countries  for  the  supply  of  boats 
and  lost  out.  That  left  the  railroads,  mainly,  to 
carry  coal  to  that  district.  They  were  not  many 
and  were  not  yet  equipped  for  any  such  rush  of 
business.  In  consequence,  coal  headed  for  New 
England  could  not  get  through  the  various  ter¬ 
minal  blockades  and  prices  rose  accordingly. 

There  was  no  virtue  in  the  eastern  coal  pro¬ 
ducers  selling  their  product  at  a  low  price  to  near¬ 
by  consumers  when  they  could  get  a  fancy  price  in 
New  EIngland.  I'lierefore  the  prices  which  Bos¬ 
ton  bid  for  coal  dictated  what  the  market  would 
be  all  through  the  east.  The  result  was  a  run¬ 
away  market  until  the  railroads  placed  embargoes 
on  all  coal  movements  in  that  direction.  The 
placin.g  of  embargoes  removed  Boston  as  the  dic¬ 
tator  of  eastern  coal  prices.  The  operators  left 
with  a  narrowed  and  normal  market  for  their 
product — but  still  with  a  shortage  of  cars — modi- 
lied  their  price  programs.  The  spot  figures  re¬ 
ceded  from  the  abnormal  level  but  did  not  get 
down  to  normal  circular  at  that.  Thus,  at  the 
minute,  the  coal  situation  in  the  east  is  intense 
with  transportation,  the  keynote  of  the  whole  mat¬ 
ter. 

For  the  reason  that  the  transportation  situation 
in  the  west  is  the  reverse  of  what  it  is  in  the  east, 
the  western  coal  market  is  the  reverse,  almost,  of 
what  it  is  in  the  east.  That  is  to  say,  west  of  the 
.Alleghenies  the  trade  is  influenced  by  another 
water  route.  The  lakes  have  just  been  closed  for 
the  year.  This  turns  back  into  the  all-rail  chan¬ 
nels  not  only  the  coal  which  has  been  going  to  the 
lakes  but  tbe  cars  which  have  carried  that  coal. 
Thus  west  of  the  Alleghenies  there  is  a  little  more 
coal  than  there  is  demand ;  there  are  a  few  more 
cars  than  are  actually  needed ;  there  is  no  sug¬ 
gestion  of  terminal  blockade ;  and,  in  consequence, 
prices  are  at  circular  or  a  little  below. 

The  one  thin.g  operating  to  strengthen  the  west¬ 
ern  market  now  is  the  buying  of  coal  for  storage 
purposes.  Information  made  public  within  the 
week  is  to  the  effect  that  there  will  be  no  mine 
labor  trouble,  this  year,  outside  of  Pennsylvania. 
The  miners  are  going  to  strike  at  the  anthracite 
operators  first.  Unless  they  can  bring  western 
Pennsylvania  up  to  Ohio’s  level  and  to  somewhat 
nearer  the  Illinois  level,  there  will  be  trouble 
there.  Still,  they  do  not  plan  on  any  other 
strikes. 

This  shadow  of  a  promise  does  not  convince  the 
larger  consumers  of  coal.  They  must  protect  them¬ 
selves  until  it  is  assured  by  formal  agreement  that 
there  is  to  be  no  strike.  As  a  measure  of  pre¬ 
caution,  the  larger  users  have  bought  and  will 
put  on  the  ground  about  3,000,000  tons  of  coal. 
This  does  not  include  the  buying  which  must  be 
done  by  the  factories  and  the  smaller  public  util¬ 
ities  companies.  They  will  probably  buy  another 
.3,000,000  tons  or  more.  Still,  it  does  not  mean 
that  quite  a  tonnage  has  already  been  sold.  This 
tonnage  was  placed  without  disturbing  western 
prices  perceptibly. 

No  doubt  the  accumulation  of  this  coal  at  rea¬ 
sonable  prices  was  made  possible  by  the  fact  the 
retailers  and  consumers  have  not  been  forehanded 
in  their  buying.  The  only  perceptible  effect  upon 
the  market  has  been  to  turn  December,  normally  a 
month  of  weak  prices,  into  a  month  when  good 
fi.gures  have  been  obtained  and  when  the  mines 
could  run  reasonably  full  time. 


Chicago  Market. 

Buying  Is  a  Little  Heavier,  Due  to 
Weather — Screenings  Prices 
Advance  a  Nickel. 


Office  of  The  Black  Diamond, 
Chicago,  December  23. 

The  fact  about  the  market  in  the  zone  reached 


throu.gh  Chicago  is,  for  the  week,  that  the  weather 
has  been  colder  and  consumption  of  domestic  coal 
has  been  heavier  but  buying  by  rct.ailers  has  been 
only  slightly  greater.  Cars  are  still  plentiful.  I'he 
prices  of  steam  coal  have  gone  up,  due  in  part  to 
demand,  but  due  also  in  part  to  the  fact  that  mine 
production  has  not  been  increased. 

The  steam  trade  demands  most  attention.  The 
first  matter  of  importance  is  the  fact,  revealed 
within  the  week,  that  storage  coal  to  tide  over  the 
period  of  mine  suspension  has  been  bought  to  the 
extent  of  nearly  3,000,000  tons  of  coal.  A  good 
part  of  this  has  already  gone  into  storage.  The 
remainder  which  has  been  bought  in  part  is  now 
movin.g  into  storage.  This  means  that  the  steam 
coal  storage  movement  on  the  part  of  the  rail¬ 
roads  and  larger  interests  is  now  behind  the 
trade.  Its  influence  on  prices  has  therefore, 
been  felt  and  discounted.  This  leaves  only  the 
storage  buying  by  the  smaller  interests  to  in¬ 
fluence  the  market  prices  after  the  turn  of  the 
year. 

Whether  due  to  this  storage  movement  or 
whether  due  to  short  production,  fine  coal  has 
been  strong  in  the  west,  rising  five  cents  a  ton 
easily  to  eighty-five  or  ninety  cents  a  ton.  In 
some  cases,  as  much  as  $1  has  been  paid. 

The  rather  easy  tone  of  domestic  coal  is  ac¬ 
counted  for  by  the  fact  that  we  are  approaching 
the  turn  of  the  year  when  the  dealers,  in  many 
cases,  take  an  invoice  and  when  they  wish  to  have 
their  stock  on  hand  reduced  to  near  minimum. 
They  have  had  better  business  but  have  not  bought 
to  cover  recent  shipments.  This  strengthens  the 
technical  situation. 

h'ranklin  county  operators  had  almost  cleaned 
iq)  their  stocks  of  unsold  coal  at  the  mines  at  the 
close  of  last  week.  Then  the  weather  became 
softer,  buying  eased,  and  the  accumulation  started 
again.  By  mid-week  this  had  approximated  1,000 
cars  of  the  sizes  above  two  inch.  Everything 
smaller  sold  freely,  screenings  bringing  eighty- 
five  cents  as  a  minimum  and  some  sales  being 
made  at  ninety-five.  Prices  up  to  Thursday 
were : 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Franklin  County —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Lump  .  $2.30  $1.75 

Egg  .  2.80  1.75 

No.  1  nut .  2.80  1.75 

No.  2  nut .  2.55  1.50 

Mine  run .  2.15@2.20  1.10@1.16 

2-inch  screenings .  1.90@1.95  .85@  .90 

'I'he  Williamson  county  operators  have  been 
holding  firm  for  the  circular  price  which  is  no\l 
$1.75.  To  be  sure  there  were  occasional  lapses 
from  this  figure,  even  as  was  the  case  in  the 
whole  of  the  southern  district.  Still,  the  opera¬ 

tors  are  so  confident  of  tbe  future  market  they 
are  holding  their  coal  for  a  full  circular  price  or 
are  not  mining  it.  Fine  coal  has  been  strong. 


F.  O.  B. 

F.  O.  B. 

Williamson  County — 

Chicago. 

Mines. 

Lump  . 

$2.80 

$1.75 

Egg  . 

2.80 

1.75 

No.  1  washed . 

2.80 

1.75 

No.  2  washed . 

2.45 

1.40 

The  Saline  county  operators 

have  been 

getting 

good  prices  for  their  fine  coal  but  the  lump  and 
e.gg  has  been  selling  all  the  way  from  circular  of 
$1.75  down  to  $1.10.  Screenings  have  brought 
eighty-five  cents  as  a  minimum  with  higher  prices 
(pioted.  The  market  up  to  Thursday  was : 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Saline  County —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Lump  . $2.65@2.80  $1.50@1.75 

Mine  run .  2.20  1.15 

Screenings  .  1.90@1.95  .85@  .90 

154*inch  lump .  2.35  1.30 

Central  Illinois  coal  has  been  soft.  Lump  coal 
has  hardly  been  moving  at  all,  although  the  egg 
coal  has  had  a  good  demand  in  the  steam  market 
at  prices  rangin.g  around  $1.15  to  $1.20  at  the 
mines.  Screenings  have  been  stronger  at  eighty- 
five  to  ninety  cents. 


Central  Illinois — 

Lump  . 

Egg  . 

Nut  . 

Mine  run . 

Screenings  . 


F.  O.  B. 
Chicago. 
$2.32@2.67 
2.32@2.47 
2.47 
1.87 
1.62@1.72 


F.  O.  B. 
Mines. 
$1.26@1.75 
1.60@1.66 
1.65 
1.05 
.80@  .90 


Clinton  Number  Four  coal  has  been  in  good  de¬ 
mand  in  Indiana  but  little  of  it  has  been  coming 
here.  The  ruling  price  has  been  between  $1.65 
and  $1.75  at  the  mines.  Number  Four  screen¬ 


ings  have  sold  at  $1  but  the  other  vein  coals  have 
been  selling  at  ten  cents  less. 

F.  p.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Clinton —  Chicago.  Mines. 

No.  4  domestic  lump . $2.42@2.57  $1.65@1.75 

No.  4  egg .  2.27  1.60 

No.  4  nut .  2.12  1.35 

No.  5  and  6  mine  run .  1.87  1.10 

No.  5  and  6  screnings .  1.62@1.67  .85@  .90 

Knox  county  screenings  have  sold  at  ninety 
cents  to  $1  but  the  demand  for  the  domestic  sizes, 
except  in  the  home  state,  has  been  rather  small. 


Knox  County — 
Lump  . 

Egg . 

Mine  run . 

Screenings  . 


F.  O.  B. 
Chicago. 
$2.37 
2.37 
1.92 
1.77@1.87 


F.  O.  B. 
Mines. 
$1.50 
1.60 
1.05 
.90@1.00 


The  cold  weather  influenced  the  anthracite  trade 
favorably.  Still,  the  market  has  been  surprisingly 
dull  at  that.  The  dealers  are  not  taking  coal, 
even  as  the  householders  are  buying  in  driblets. 
No  one  seems  concerned  over  the  coming  sus¬ 
pension  of  the  mines.  They  care  less  for  the 
fact  that  anthracite  production  up  to  the  close  of 
the  year  is  about  3,000,000  tons  short  of  normal. 

An  authoritative  statement  has  it  that  1,000  cars 
of  smokeless  lump  and  egg  was  diverted  from  the 
lakes  to  the  western  trade.  To  be  exact,  the  di¬ 
version  amounted  to  48,000  tons.  This  caused  the 
recent  break  in  that  market.  Most  of  the  larger 
companies  are  now  free  of  demurrage  coal  and  are 
holding  for  the  circular  figure.  However,  some 
stuff  which  has  a  liberal  mixture  of  slate  has  been 
sold  in  this  market  lately  below  $1.50.  The  mine 
run  coal  is  about  steady  at  circular  price  but  the 
retailers  say  they  are  not  in  the  market  until  after 
the  turn  of  the  year. 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Smokeless —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Mine  run  . $3.30@3.45  $1.25@1.40 

Lump  and  egg .  3.90@4.05  1.85@2.00 


Somerset  county  coal  has  been  in  such  demand 
in  the  east  and  prices  there  have  been  so  much 
more  attractive,  shipments  to  the  west  have  been 
just  large  enough  to  satisfy  contracts. 


Somerset  County — 

Mine  run . 

Lump  and  egg . 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Chicago.  Mines. 
$3.46  $1.40 

3.80  1.75 


The  Hocking  situation  is  stren.gthened  by  the 
fact  that  all  of  the  Sunday  Creek  mines  are  closed 
down  due  to  labor  disturbances.  Other  produc¬ 
ers  have  regulated  shipments  so  that  prices  are 
firm. 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Hocking —  Chicago.  Mines. 

Domestic  lump . $3.25@3.40  $1.60@1.75 

The  splint  coal  situation  continues  to  be  good. 
The  big  eastern  demand  coupled  with  a  steady 
run  of  orders  from  the  west  makes  this  market 
firm  but  not  especially  strong. 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Kanawha —  Chicago.  Mines. 

I'/l-inch  lump . $3.40@3.50  $1.50@1.60 


The  eastern  Kentucky  coal  has  had  a  slightly 
better  demand  due  to  the  weather  but  the  upturn 
was  not  strong  enough  to  change  the  prices. 


Eastern  Kentucky — 

Domestic  lump  . 

Egg  . 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 
Chicago.  Mines. 
$3.55@4.30  $1.65@2.40 
3.40@3.90  1.50@2.00 


The  coke  market  has  been  in  good  condition  in 
both  departments.  Prices  on  the  hard  cokes  have 
been  steady.  On  the  domestic  sizes,  the  weakness 
recently  noted  is  .gone  and  demand  in  some  quar¬ 
ters  is  booming. 

F.  O.  B. 


Coke —  Chicago. 

Connellsville  . $5.25@6.60 

By-product,  foundry .  6.25@6.60 

By-product,  egg  and  stove .  4.95 

By-product,  nut .  4.95 

Gas  house  .  4.50 


Coal  Land  Sale. 

One  of  the  largest  coal  land  transactions  con¬ 
summated  in  western  Pennsylvania  in  many  years 
was  closed  when  Youghiogheny  &  Ohio  Coal 
Company  purchased  from  Carnegie  Coal  Com¬ 
pany  the  Charleroi  plant  of  Carnegie  Company. 
Purchase  price  was  $1,400,000.  Property  situated 
along  the  Monongahela  river  consists  of  1,100 
acres  of  rich  coal  land  and  will  be  transferred 
immediately. 

The  Charleroi  property  formerly  was  owned 
by  the  Pittsburgh  Plate  Glass  Company  and  was 
acquired  by  Carnegie  Coal  Company  several 
years  ago.  Youghiogheny  Company  is  one  of  the 
largest  coal  companies  in  western  Pennsylvania, 
with  extensive  holdings  in  Washington,  Greene 
and  Westmoreland  counties.  It  also  operates  in 
Ohio. 


Dr.  T.  D.  Scales,  of  Boonevilic,  a  well- 
known  southern  Indiana  coal  operator,  has 
entered  the  race  for  the  Democratic  nomina¬ 
tion  for  Congress  from  the  first  district.  He 
has  been  in  the  first  district  this  week  look¬ 
ing  after  his  political  fences. 


No.  26 J 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


535 


Pittsburgh  Trade. 


An  Acute  Car  Shortage  Complicates  a 
Coal  Situation  Made  Strong  by  a 
Brisk  Steam  Demand. 


Office  of  The  Black  Diamond, 
1502  Oliver  building, 

Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  December  22. 

Uncertainty  and  indicision  has  characterized 
the  coal  market  the  past  week.  Quotations  are 
made  subject  to  immediate  change,  and  though 
business  could  be  had  at  a  good  profit,  abnormal 
conditions  existing  in  various  directions  conflict 
seriously  with  the  operator  taking  advantage  of 
the  rising  market.  The  embargoes  placed  on 
eastern  shipping  has  caused  a  halt  in  that  direc¬ 
tion,  and  at  this  date,  coal  that  has  gone  forward 
on  speculation  is  very  apt  to  be  subject  to  demur¬ 
rage  charges  to  an  extent  that  may  mean  a  loss. 
The  demand  is  still  insistent  for  practically  all 
grades  of  coal,  but  in  most  cases  producers  are 
unable  to  take  on  the  business  on  account  of  the 
acute  car  shortage — and  even  with  a  better  car 
supply — labor  conditions  would  prevent  shipping. 

At  the  railroad  offices  little  hope  of  a  better¬ 
ment  of  transportation  facilities  is  given,  for  the 
immediate  future,  officials  being  unable  to  see  any 
solution  of  the  car  problem,  and  this,  together 
with  the  coming  holiday  season,  which  always 
disturbs  labor,  adds  to  the  troubles  of  the  oper¬ 
ator,  hence  while  prices  are  up  and  advancing,  it 
availeth  nothing  to  the  poor  operator  who  can 
neither  get  the  help  to  mine  his  coal  or  the  cars 
to  ship  it  if  he  could. 

The  eastern  embargo  may  have  temporarily 
weakened  the  situation  slightly,  but  when  lifted, 
will  undoubtedly  add  renewed  strength  and  in¬ 
creased  demand. 

Today,  mine  run  coal  is  being  quoted  f.  o.  1). 
Pittsburgh  at  $1.50  to  $1.60,  with  screened  coals 
$1.60  and  $1.75,  and  slack  has  been  quoted  the 
liast  week  at  from  $1.10  to  $1.25,  but  with  run  of 
mine  at  present  figures,  slack  is  practically  not  to 
be  had. 

East  of  Pittsburgh,  owing  to  the  difference  in 
freights,  Pennsylvania  run  of  mine  coal  is  selling 
at  from  $1.65  to  $1.75,  and  where  cars  can  be  had 
for  spot  shipment,  and  freight  is  lower,  $2.00  and 
$2.25  are  figures  Pittsburgh  has  to  compete  with. 
No.  8  (Ohio)  coal  quoted  in  Pittsburgh  last  week 
at  ninety-five  cents  has,  owing  to  scarcity  further 
cast  has  entered  this  market,  notwithstanding  the 
high  freights,  to  a  limited  extent. 

Unusually  heavy  rains,  while  considerable  snow 
lay  over  the  water  sheds  of  the  three  rivers,  the 
latter  part  of  the  past  week,  unexpectedly  brought 
the  waters  to  a  flood  stage  Sunday  last,  and 
created  much  activity  among  river  coal  shippers, 
and  a  «oal  shipment  that  may  amount  to  over 
iwo  million  bushels  is  going  out  of  the  Pitts¬ 
burgh  harbor  on  the  rapidly  disappearing  rise. 

'I'lie  Diamond  Coal  &  Coke  Company  taking 
time  by  the  forelock,  sent  its  two  towboats,  the 
Monitor,  and  the  A.  R.  Budd  to  the  lower  pools, 
ahead  of  the  rise  Saturday  A.  M.,  each  with  a 
tow  of  seventeen  barges,  containing  a  total  of 
510,000  bushels  of  coal  to  be  delivered  to  numer¬ 
ous  points  between  Pittsburgh  and  Louisville,  and 
the  Monongahela  Consolidated  Coal  &  Coke  Com¬ 
pany,  on  Monday  P.  M.  after  the  crest  of  the 
flood  had  passed  sent  out  the  boats  Valiant, 
James  Moren,  W.  K.  Field  and  the  Boaz,  with 
something  over  one  and  and  a  half  million  bush¬ 
els  for  the  New  Orleans  market.  This  is  the  first 
river  shipping  that  has  been  possible  from  this 
point  for  many  weeks,  the  low  water  deflecting 
all  shipments  possible  to  the  railroads. 

The  annual  convention  of  the  Coal  Mining  In¬ 
dustry  of  America  convenes  at  the  Fort  Pitt 
Hotel,  this  city,  today,  and  the  meeting  which 
will  extend  over  the  22nd  and  23rd,  will  be  of 
much  interest.  Quite  a  number  of  interested 
parties  will  be  in  attendance. 

A  delegation  of  Pittsburgh  coal  operators  left 
for  Harrisburg  yesterday  to  attend  a  meeting  to 
be  further  instructed  regarding  Pennsylvania’s 
new  workingmen’s  compensation  laws,  as  they 
apply  to  mining,  the  situation  apparently  being 
hard  to  understand  through  all  its  ramifications. 

Furnace  coke  that  a  week  ago  jumped  to  $3.25 
and  $3.50,  dropped  back  again  for  a  day  or  two 
to  the  three  dollar  mark,  but  quickly  recovered 
and  is  quoted  today  at  $3.50  spot  with  $4.00  in 
sight.  Little  or  no  free  coke  is  on  hand,  and  the 
next  two  weeks,  owing  to  the  usual  holiday  short¬ 
age,  $4.00  coke  or  even  $5.00  will,  in  all  proba¬ 
bility,  be  .seen.  Foundry  holds  firm  at  $3.25  to 
$3.75,  with  everything  tending  upward. 


Pittsburgh  Personals. 

B.  F.  Vincent,  president  of  the  Wonderland 
Coal  Company  of  Portsmouth,  Ohio,  was  a  caller 
at  Pittsburgh  the  past  week.  Mr.  Vincent  was 
visiting  the  trade  in  this  city. 

E.  F.  Hartland  has  assumed  the  position  of 
general  sales  agent  of  the  Commonwealth  Fuel 
Company.  Mr.  Hartland  is  well  known  to  the 
trade,  having  been  active  in  the  business  in  Pitts¬ 
burgh  for  many  years  past. 


Omaha  Trade. 


Omaha,  Neb.,  December  22. —  {Special  Corre¬ 
spondence.) — Last  Thursday  and  for  several  days 
after  the  ground  was  white  with  snow.  The  brief 
cold  period  died  on  the  first  of  the  current  week, 
however,  and  though  the  wholesale  trade  ex¬ 
perienced  a  temporary  stimulus,  prevailing  lovely 
weather  had  made  the  market  sag  back  about 
where  it  was.  From  now  on  the  market  will  be  a 
weather  market  unless  the  labor  situation  among 
llie  miners  becomes  such  as  to  force  a  storage 
against  suspension  in  April. 

Cold  weather  will  bring  high  prices  and  a  big 
shortage  in  steam  coal.  Dealers  have  been  hold¬ 
ing  off  and  have  such  low  stocks  that  a  crisp 
change  to  seasonable  weather  would  force  them 
to  get  coal  at  almost  any  price. 

Christmas  and  New  Year’s  have  been  antici- 
l)ated  by  a  slight  demand  for  coal.  There  is  a 
shortage  of  Cherokee  slack  and  mill — the  first  in 
a  year.  Missouri  slack  has  also  advanced  sympa¬ 
thetically.  There  is  no  big  demand  at  present  for 
Franklin  county  coals.  Southern  Kansas  coal  is 
the  tightest  it  has  been  this  winter  and  this  con¬ 
dition  is  explained  somewhat  in  a  letter,  from 
that  field,  exhibited  by  a  local  dealer.  The  mis¬ 
sive  states  that  the  unprecedented  demand  for 
zinc  and  lead  and  the  consequent  usage  of  mine 
run  has  called  forth  a  “fierce”  demand  for  coal  at 
nearby  lead  and  zinc  mines.  “It  is  a  common 
thing  now  to  see  fifty  or  sixty  teams  at  the  nearby 
little  town  of  Qupaw,  Okla.,  hauling  coal  to  the 
zinc  mines  where  they  are  unloading  fifteen  or 
twenty  cars  every  day!  Formerly,”  the  letter 
concludes,  “two  or  three  cars  were  unloaded  dur¬ 
ing  a  month.”  Seventy-five  per  cent  of  the  steam 
coal  used  in  Omaha  comes  from  Kansas. 

The  steam  trade  has  picked  up  very  noticeably 
although  the  domestic  trade  is  slow  and  probably 
will  be  until  after  New  Year’s  day.  Anthracite 
is  slow.  All  rail  coal  is  coming  forward  “in  a 
liesitating  fashion,”  the  principal  delay  appar¬ 
ently  being  at  Chicago;  three  weeks  to  a  month 
seems  to  be  the  time  required  to  get  a  shipment 
through.  In  contrast  to  this  is  the  promptness 
with  which  dock  coal  is  shipped.  Splints  are  sell¬ 
ing  at  $3.30  at.  dock  box  cars,  and  Hocking  is 
going  at  the  .same  price.  The  main  demand,  with 
dealers,  is<i-on  splint ;  Hocking  coal,  at  present,  is 
not  much  in  demand. 

Very  little  coal  seems  to  be  shipped  on  consign¬ 
ment  to  junction  points.  There  is  very  little  de¬ 
mand  for  fuel  for  domestic  purposes,  probably 
because  of  the  Christmas  passion  for  buying  gifts 
of  sentiment  and  things  other  than  coal.  There 
is  not  much  demurrage  coal  either,  and  cold 
weather  will  create  a  very  active  demand,  as  has 
lieen  suggested  heretofore  in  this  letter. 

^  The  Cudahy  Packing  Company  and  Swift  & 
Company  both  bought  their  coal  on  the  open  market 
last  year,  but  were  evidently  alarmed  at  condi¬ 
tions,  for  they  have  just  closed  contracts  for  their 
requirements  in  Cherokee  slack  until  July  31.  It 
is  doubtful  if  the  Morris  Packing  Company  has 
yet  closed  its  contract. 

The  Nicholas  Senn  Hospital,  one  of  the  most 
modern  local  institutions  of  its  kind,  has  just 
taken  out  its  oil  burning  furnace  equipment  and 
has  reverted  to  the  use  of  coal.  There  is  either 
something  wrong  with  the  burner  or  the  big 
shortage  in  oil  with  consequent  boosting  of  prices 
on  this  commodity  is  frightening  its  users,  for  the 
Coal  Hill  Coal  Company  reports  four  more 
patrons  as  having  “returned  to  the  old  coal  field.” 

Some  local  quotations  are  as  follows : 


('herokee  nut . 

Steam  .  n.;; 

Nut  .  . 

^  Iowa  and  Missouri  Coals— 

Xut  mixture . . 

Mine  run . 

Walnut  lilock  lump . 

Icwa  nut . 

Franklin  County  lump .  1.75 

Hest  grades  nut  and  egg  (each) .  1.75 

^Jther  grades  Franklin  County .  I.ri0@2.6r) 

Montgomery  lump  and  egg  (each) .  \.2r> 


Rock  Springs,  Wyoming  Coals — 

l.ump  and  egg  (each) . 

.Nut  . 

Ilanna  Ininp  ami  egg  (each) . 

Detroit  Trade. 


Detroit,  Mich.  December  23. —  {Special  Corres¬ 
pondence). — Re.gularity  of  buying  continues  a 
prominent  feature  of  the  steam  coal  trade  in  the 
Detroit  market.  While  the  quantity  of  stock  that 
IS  being  handled  is  regarded  by  some  of  the  ship¬ 
pers  as  falling  short  of  the  tonnage,  which  they 
believe  should  be  sold,  the  business  is  being  main¬ 
tained  on  a  comparatively  steady  basis. 

With  manufactviring  plants  and  various  indus¬ 
tries  operating  with  a  large  degree  of  activity, 
shippers  believe  more  coal  should  be  bought  for 
current  consumption  and  direct  attention  also  to  the 
indifference  of  the  consumers  in  the  matter  of 
accumulating  a  supply  ahead  of  day-to-day  needs 
to  serve  as  a  reserve  in  case  transportation  of 
stock  should  be  curtailed  by  increasing  car  short- 
ii.ge  or  because  of  freight  congestion. 

Some  difficulties  already  have  been  experienced 
in  obtaining  prompt  delivery  of  shipments,  aside 
from  the  complications  that  attended  the  recent 
embargo  on  Grand  Lrunk  lines.  Any  sudden 
check  in  supply,  such  as  might  result  from  heavy 
snowfall  or  extremely  cold  weather,  might,  the 
.shippers  say,  catch  some  of  the  manufacturing 
plants  in  such  condition  as  to  necessitate  total 
or  partial  suspension  of  operations. 

I  he  buying  in  the  steam  coal  trade  is  most  ac¬ 
tive  in  the  small  sizes.  Not  much  difficulty  is 
experienced,  however,  in  selling  any  good  steam 
coal. 

Although  temperatures  during  the  week  have 
been  only  moderately  cold,  the  domestic  trade 
seems  to  be  maintainin.g  the  gains  made  earlier  in 
the  month.  Consumers  evince  more  willingness 
to  invest  in  fuel  supply  than  was  the  case  a  month 
ago  and  renewal  orders  from  retail  yards  are  tak¬ 
ing  more  prominence  in  the  business  coming  to  the 
shippers. 

Consignment  coal  is  still  much  in  evidence,  the 
shiprnents  including  most  of  the  Ohio  and  West 
Virginia  coals.  With  the  market  in  its  present 
condition,  the  stock  is  finding  comparatively  ready 
sale.  Very  little  of  it  is  left  long  enough  on  the 
tracks  to  arrive  at  forced  sale. 

The  lar.ger  sizes  of  anthracite  arc  showing  less 
strength  than  chestnut.  The  supply  of  the  lat¬ 
ter  IS  seemingly  less  plentiful  and  shippers  who 
are  able  to  obtain  it,  have  been  making  sales  at 
an  adyance  of  about  25  cents  a  ton  over  the  regu¬ 
lar  price.  Consideralile  complaint  is  heard  about 
lack  of  promptness  in  movement  of  anthracite 
from  the  mines. 

While  shippers  of  iron  ore  are  making  stren¬ 
uous  efforts  to  assure  adequate  supply  of  vessel 
capacity  for  next  season  by  buying  and  chartering 
lake  steamers,  some  of  the  coal  shippers  also 
have  been  endeavoring  to  close  contracts,  in  most 
instances,  with  only  partial  success,  owing  to  the 
fact  that  vessel  owners  are  unwilling  to  enter  into 
a.greements  which  would  prevent  the  sale  of  their 
boats. 

Prices  in  the  local  market  on  mine  shipment 
orders  are  as  follows  : 


West  Virginia  Splint — 

Fourjnch  lump  .  1.50@1.75  2.90@3.15 

Two-mch  lump  .  1.25@1.40  2.65@2.80 

Ihree-quarter  .  1.05@1.10  2.45@2.60 

Mme-run  .  .90  2.30 

Nut,  pea  and  slack . 75@  .90  3.15@3.40 

Smokeless — 


.  1.75  3.35 

.  Open  Open 

Mine  run  .  1.40  3,00 

Kentucky  Splint — 

Jmmp  .  1.75@2.00  3.15@3.40 

.  1.25@1.40  2.65@2.80 

Nut,  pea  and  slack . 75@  .90  2.15@2.30 

Fairmont — 


Tiiree-quarter  steam  lump.... 

1.10 

2.50 

Mine  run . 

2.35@2.40 

Slack  . 

Open 

Hocking  Valley — 

Shaker  three-inch  lump . 

1.60 

2.75 

Shaker  egg  and  nut . 

1.25 

2.40 

Domestic  lump  . 

1.50 

2.65 

Three-quarter  lump  . 

1.35 

2.50 

Mine  run  . 

2.15@2.25 

Nut,  pea  and  slack . 

Open 

Pittsburgh  No.  8 — 

Three-quarter  lump  . 

1.05 

3.20 

Mine  run  . 

2.10 

Slack  . 

Open 

Jackson  Hill — 

Domestic  lump  . 

2.50 

3.65 

Cambridge — 

Three-quarter  lump  . 

1.20 

2.^5 

Mine  run  . 

1.10 

2.25 

Pomeroy— 

Iwo  and  three-inch  lump . 

1.60 

2.75 

F-gg  . 

1.35 

2.50 

Slack  . 

..  .7r>0}  .00 

1.00(3)2.05 

536 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[December  25 


Cincinnati  Trade. 


The  Weather  Is  None  Too  Favorable  to 
Domestic  Orders,  but  Steam  Prices 
Rule  Quite  Strong. 


Cincinnati,  Ohio,  December  23. — (St’ccial 
Correspondence.) — Being  a  weather  proposi¬ 
tion,  the  coal  market  is  now  fairly  firm  in  all 
domestic  grades,  prices  having  settled  at  about 
a  general  level  slightly  above  the  prices  of  a 
few  weeks  ago.  Some  of  them  went  higher  but 
had  to  recede. 

The  splint  domestic  sizes  are  in  best  shape 
at  present,  being  unhampered  by  previous  or¬ 
ders  taken  at  higher  figures.  A  peculiar  .sit¬ 
uation  arises  in  the  conditions  in  \V  est  \  ir- 
ginia  fields  and  in  Pennsylvania  fields.  The 
demand  in  the  east  is  brisk  and  is  causing 
profitable  prices  and  business  in  the  eastern 
fields.  Run  of  mine  of  the  same  grade  as  the 
average  Kentucky  and  West  Virginia  products, 
is  commanding  $2  in  Pennsylvania  fields  while 
it  is  selling  slowly  in  West  Virginia  and  Ken¬ 
tucky  at  .$1.10  to  $1.25,  for  the  best.  Operators 
threaten  that  if  the  rate  is  established  at  fifteen 
cents  a  ton  in  the  central  and  northwestern 
part  of  their  territory,  they  will  take  the  war 
into  Africa  by  demanding  an  equalization  of 
eastern  rates.  This  is  causing  three  or  four 
of  the  railroads  some  uneasiness. 

While  this  is  the  dull  season  for  smokeless 
coal,  it  was  expected  this  year  that  the  period 
would  be  pushed  farther  into  the  season  and 
infringe  on  the  New  Year.  It  is  believed  this 
forecast  was  true  a  month  ago  but  it  failed  to 
materialize  because  of  the  heavy  surplus  left 
after  the  lake  season  closed.  Large  buyers, 
who  had  been  waiting  for  some  such  situation 
to  develop,  captured  the  surplus  and  are  now 
offering  it  in  the  market,  in  competition  with 
the  regular  smokeless  movement,  at  lower 
])rices.  It  is  likely  the  operators  will  close 
the  mines  for  ten  days  in  the  Holidays,  and 
if  they  do  it  will  be  sweet  revenge  on  the 
jobbers  who  have  been  helping  on  the  slump. 
Several  of  the  big  Pocahontas  shippers  are 
selling  at  $1.85  and  $2,  still,  for  lump  in  flats 
and  hoppers  respectively,  but  the  price  of  nut 
has  gradually  worked  its  way  back  to  normal 
in  most  cases. 

The  redeeming  feature  of  the  market  is  the 
run  of  mine,  and  nut  and  slack  situation.  Any¬ 
thing  that  looks  like  nut  and  slack  is  eagerly 
taken  and  the  best  commands  a  premium  over 
anything  sold  for  years  at  this  season  of  the 
year.  For  four  weeks  not  a  car  of  nut  and 
slack  has  been  seen  lingering  about  in  the 
mine  yards.  The  man,  with  anything  like 
slack,  who  does  not  get  seventy-five  cents  to 
eighty-five  cents,  now,  is  a  poor  salesman,  and 
any  one  with  standard  slack  can  sell  it  at 
ninety  cents  to  $1  per  ton.  This  is  true  of 
every  field  in  this  territory,  and  every  variety 
and  grade.  Smokeless  nut  and  slack  to  the 
limit  of  possible  production  seems  to  have 
been  contracted  and  now  moves  as  freely  as 
the  car  supply  will  permit,  from  mine  to  mill, 
to  coke  oven  and  gas  retort. 

River  coal  is  coming  into  more  prominence 
now,  especially  in  the  nut  and  slack.  Both 
Kanawha  and  Pittsburgh  coals  are  now  com¬ 
ing  into  harbor  here  and  large  tonnages  are 
floating  down  the  river.  About  a  million  and 
a  half  bushels  floated  down  the  river  on  the 
crest  of  the  rise,  this  week.  Little  is  being 
said  about  the  car  supply  now,  there  having 
been  but  little  betterment  of  the  situation 
apparent  ease  having  been  secured  only  by  less 
frantic  demand  for  domestic  coal. 

Italians  are  still  leaving  the  territory  for 
the  European  bear  pit,  and  other  nationalities 
are  leaving  more  slowly,  the  Greeks,  however, 
holding  themselves  in  readiness  to  go,  also, 
when  called  to  the  colors.  Other  skilled  lab¬ 
orers  are  drifting  away  into  iron  furnaces  and 
rolling  mill  work,  where  labor  is  at  a  premium. 
This  is  causing  the  mine  labor  supply  to  shrink, 
but  only  those  having  large  contract  tonnage 
to  deliver  are  feeling  the  labor  shortage.  The 
car  supply,  the  embargoes  at  tide-water,  the 
closing  of  the  lake  trade  and  the  slow  demand 
for  everything  but  steam  sizes,  are  all  combin¬ 
ing  to  preserve  the  equilibrium  of  the  situ¬ 
ation. 


Duluth  Trade. 


Duluth,  Minn.,  December  23. —  (Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — With  the  arrival  of  the  steamer 
Griffin  last  night  with  3,000  tons  of  hard  coal. 


the  navigation  season  between  Lake  Superior 
and  the  other  lakes  closed  for  the  season  of 
1915.  The  Griffin  left  Lake  Erie  about  ten 
days  ago,  but,  owing  to  the  fact  that  most 
of  the  aids  to  navigation  have  been  removed, 
she  being  the  only  boat  on  her  way,  her  master 
had  to  come  along  carefully.  In  a  few  days 
Maj.  E.  D.  Peek,  the  United  States  govern¬ 
ment  engineer  in  charge  of  this  district,  will 
issue  his  annual  report  on  coal.  In  fact,  it  is 
all  prepared  with  the  exception  of  recording 
the  Griffin’s  cargo;  but  the  figures  will  not 
be  given  out  until  all  will  have  been  com¬ 
piled.  However,  it  is  well  known  that  the  re¬ 
ceipts  of  soft  coal  are  considerably  less  than 
those  of  the  previous  season  while  the  re¬ 
ceipts  of  hard  coal  are  a  good  deal  more.  Spe¬ 
cial  attention  has  been  given  to  anthracite 
in  anticipation  of  a  strike. 

President  Bergingham  of  the  D.  L.  &  W.  Coal 
Company,  of  New  York,  was  here  a  few  days 
ago,  in  company  with  President  E.  N.  Saund¬ 
ers,  Jr.,  of  the  North  Western  Fuel  Company, 
of  St.  Paul,  looking  over  the  coal  docks  of 
the  latter  company.  It  is  declared  that  there 
was  no  particular  significance  attached  to  the 
visit.  Mr.  Saunders  did  not  discuss  the  re¬ 
ported  project  of  his  company  to  build  a 
large  coal  dock  on  its  Rice’s  Point  property, 
in  this  city,  but  the  general  belief  is  that  this 
improvement  will  be  made.  While  there  is 
plenty  of  coal  dock  capacity  at  the  Head  of  the 
Lakes  for  the  next  eight  or  ten  years,  and 
much  more  than  is  actually  needed  right  now, 
the  North  Western’s  property  is  not  very  ad¬ 
vantageously  located,  and  it  needs  a  new  dock 
for  iron,  range  and  western  city  service.  The 
proposed  dock  would  give  this. 

Steam 

Harbor.  Delivered. 


Egg  .  $8.10  $8.10 

Stove  .  8.10  8.10 

Nut  . 8.35  8.35 

Stove  and  nut  mixed .  8.25  8.25 

Nut  and  pea  mixed .  7.00  7.00 

Pea  .  0.80  0.80 

Youghiogheney  lump .  3.55  4.75 

Voughiogheney  stove .  ...  4.75 

Youghiogheney  run  of  pile .  3.35  4.45 

Youghiogheney  screenings .  2.05  3.50 

Kentucky  lump  . 3.90  5.00 

Kentucky  mine  run .  3.50  4.45 

Kentucky  stove  .  4.05  5.30 

Kentucky  screenings  .  2.90  3.50 

Hocking  Valley  lump  or  stove .  3.55  4.75 

Hocking  Valley  run  of  pile .  3.30  4.35 

Hocking  Valley  screenings .  2.50  3.25 

Splint  domestic  .  3.80  4.75 

Splint  screenings  .  2.80  3.50 

Pocahontas  nut.  egg  or  lump .  ...  0.75 

Pocahontas  mine  run  .  ...  4.50 

Pocahontas  screenings  .  3.15  3.95 


Indianapolis  Trade. 


Indianapolis,  Ind.,  December  23. —  (Special 
Correspondence.) — The  coal  trade  in  Indiana 
continues  to  improve.  All  of  the  mines  are 
busy  and  the  dealers  here  have  all  the  orders 
they  can  fill.  Coal  is  scarce.  Many  operators 
are  forced  to  go  into  the  open  market  now  to 
fill  their  orders.  Mine-run  is  strong.  Domes¬ 
tic  is  stronger  than  it  was  a  week  ago  and 
some  is  selling  as  high  as  $2  a  ton  at  the 
mines.  There  is  a  good  demand  for  all  steam 
grades.  One  favorable  situation  of  the  mar¬ 
ket  is  that  there  has  been  no  weather  to  tie 
up  the  railroads  and  make  difficult  the  han¬ 
dling  of  cars.  The  railroads  are  keeping  right 
after  the  operators  and  shippers  in  order  that 
cars  may  be  loaded  and  unloaded  promptly. 
However  if  there  isn’t  a  car  shortage  before 
long  it  will  be  surprising.  The  retailers  here 
are  doing  a  fine  business  in  all  grades  of  coal. 
There  is  a  strong  demand  for  smokeless  do¬ 
mestic  grades  which  are  rather  hard  to  get  at 
this  time.  The  feature  of  the  situation  that  is 
most  encouraging  is  the  growing  demand  for 
steam  grades  which  indicates  a  healthy  condi¬ 
tion  of  the  market.  Prosperity  seems  to  have 
hit  all  of  the  Indiana  cities.  The  holiday 
shopping  here  has  broken  all  records.  People 
are  buying  heavily  and  merchants  say  that 
they  are  paying  their  bills  promptly.  Postal 
receipts  are  increasing  over  the  correspond¬ 
ing  periods  in  1914.  The  movement  of  freight 
is  much  heavier.  These  items  are  mentioned  as 
being  incidental  to  the  increased  demand  for 
steam  coal.  The  following  nrices  are  being 
quoted  by  the  wholesalers: 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Indiana —  Mines.  Indianapolis. 

Mine  run.  No.  4 . $1.10@1.20  $1.60@1.60 

Mine  run,  Nos.  5  and  6 .  1.05@1.15  1.55@1.65 

Nut  .  1.20@1.30  1.70@1.80 

Egg  .  1.3n@1.40  1.80@1.90 

I'/rinch  steam  lump .  1.25@1.35  1.76@1.8.5 

No.  4  screenings . 80@  .90  1.30@1.40 

Nos.  5  and  6  screenings . 65@  .75  1.16(ffil.2.5 

2t4-inch  domestic.  No.  4 .  1.50@1.65  2.00(ffi2.05 

4-inch  domestic.  Nos.  4  and  6....  1.65@1.70  2.15@2.20 

Brazil  block  domestic .  2.25@2.50  2.75@2.50 


No.  1  washed  coal .  1.75 

No.  2  washed  coal.... .  1.65 

Southern  Indiana  Field — 

Mine  run .  1.06@1.10 

Domestic  lump .  1.40@1.50 


2.26 

2.15 


T-win  Cities  Trade. 


Minneapolis  and  St.  Paul,  December  22. — 
(Special  Correspondence.) — A  white  Christmas 
will  prevail  in  the  northwest  this  year,  which  al¬ 
ways  means  an  increased  consumption  of  coal  of 
all  kinds.  A  year  ago  the  weather  had  been 
colder  than  thus  far  the  present  month,  but  there 
was  an  absence  of  snow,  which  resulted  in  the 
farmers  burning  corn  cobs  and  other  offal  to  be 
found  around  a  farm.  When  the  landscape  is 
covered  with  snow  this  is  an  impossibility. 
Hence,  a  white  Christmas  means  an  increased  call 
for  fuel  of  all  kinds. 

Various  factors  in  the  northwestern  trade,  re¬ 
tail  as  well  as  wholesale,  in  discussing  the  feat¬ 
ures  of  the  trade  this  year  called  attention  to  one 
important  matter.  Since  the  early  part  of  Sep¬ 
tember  demand  has  been  almost  continuous,  but 
there  has  been  no  spurt  at  any  time.  From  a 
retail  standpoint  this  is  a  decided  advantage.  It 
has  done  away  with  the  necessity  of  increasing 
the  number  of  teams  in  the  delivery  service,  en¬ 
abling  coal  merchants  to  use  their  regular  force. 
In  the  wholesale  end  of  the  trade  it  has  had  al¬ 
most  the  same  effect,  keeping  the  loading  crews 
on  the  docks  busy  but  not  making  it  necessary  to 
increase  the  number  of  men  employed.  In  the 
Illinois  and  Indiana  trade  the  demand  has  been 
steady.  It  is  true  that  it  has  not  always  been  uni¬ 
form,  but  the  mining  companies  have  been  en¬ 
abled  to  depend  upon  about  so  much  business 
each  week. 

Twin  City  dealers  are  confronting  a  serious 
problem  in  getting  coal  cars  switched  to  their 
yards.  When  a  car  arrives  over  a  foreign  line 
it  takes  all  the  way  from  a  week  to  two  weeks  to 
move  it  to  the  unloading  track.  The  local  switch¬ 
ing  crews  of  the  various  railroads  have  more 
business  than  they  can  handle  on  account  of  the 
continued  heavy  movement  of  grain,  and  if  there 
should  be  a  heavy  fall  of  snow  at  any  time,  there 
is  a  strong  probability  that  some  Coal  yards 
would  be  very  short  of  some  grades  of  fuel  be¬ 
fore  the  switching  service  would  supply  them 
with  additional  tonnage.  There  is  no  reason  to 
look  for  any  immediate  improvement.  Coal  is 
moving  from  the  docks  in  good  time,  but  the 
Illinois  lines  reaching  southern  Illinois  seem  to 
be  badly  congested  and  the  movement  over  their 
rails  is  slow,  taking  from  a  week  to  ten  days  to 
get  the  coal  forwarded  to  common  junction 
points  within  the  confines  of  the  state.  This  is 
making  it  necessary  to  trace  a  good  many  cars. 
Dealers,  however,  have  fair  stocks  of  coal  on 
hand  and  as  yet  there  have  been  no  serious  con¬ 
sequences  of  these  conditions.  After  «the  coal 
leaves  the  originating  lines,  the  movement  is  fair. 
Collections  are  in  good  shape. 

Current  market  prices  at  wholesale  on  leading 
grades  of  coal  sold  in  the  Twin  Cities  are  as  fol¬ 
lows  : 


ANTHRACITE. 

F.  0.  B. 
Duluth 
and_ 
Superior 

F.  O.  B. 
Minneapolis 
and 

St.  Paul 
$7.80 
8.05 
8.06 
8.30 
6.70 

Nut  . 

7.10 

Pea  . . 

Buckwheat  . . 

5.20 

BITUMINOUS. 

Splint,  screened  lump  and  stove.$3.30@3.40 

$4.26@4.36 

Splint,  dock  run . 

3.10 

4.06 

Hocking,  screened  lump  and  stove 

3.30@3.40 

4.26@4.36 

Hocking,  dock  run . 

3.00 

3.96 

Youghiogheny,  gas,  lump  and  stove 

3.30@3.40 

4.26(i4.36 

Youghioghenv,  gas,  dock  run . 

3.10 

4.06 

Pittsburgh  vein,  lump . 

3.30@3.40 

4.26®4.36 

Pittsburgh  vein,  dock  run . 

3.00 

3.96 

Pocahontas,  screened  lump  or  egg 

4.75 

6.71 

Pocahontas,  screened  lump  and 
egg  mixed . 

4.50 

6.46 

Pocahontas,  mine  run . 

3.25 

4.21 

Cannel,  lump . 

5.25 

6.21 

Smithing,  bulk . 

4.25 

6.21 

Smithing,  in  100  lb.  sacks . 

6.00 

6.96 

Briquets,  anthracite . 

5.00 

5.96 

Briquets,  smokeless . 

5.00 

5.96 

In  the  Illinois  trade  the 

range  of 

prices  on 

southern  Illinois  product  on  the  various  sizes  is 
as  follows: 


Franklin  County — 

Lump,  egg  and  No.  1  nut . $1.65@1.75 

No.  2  nut .  1.50@1.60 

2-inch  screenings . 85@  .90 

Run  of  mine . . . .  .  ••  1.15@1.25 

Williamson  and  Saline  Counties — 

Lump,  egg  and  No.  1  nut .  1.65@1.75 

No.  2  nut .  1.40@1.50 

2-inch  screenings . 8.1  @  .90 

Run  of  mine .  1.15(®1.25 


$3.95@4.05 

3.66@3.76 

3.01@3.06 

8.45@3.55 

3.95@4.05 

8.56@3.66 

3.01@3.0fi 

3.45(®3.55 


No.  26] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


537 


Cleveland  Market 


Cli;vei..\ni),  Ohio,;  December  22. —  (Special  Cor¬ 
respondence). — The  local  market  presents  rather  a 
curious  condition  this  week.  Although  there  has 
been  no  increase  in  the  demand  for  steam  coals 
and  the  supply  has  been,  at  least,  normal,  prices 
l  ave  remained  stiff  and  in  some  instances  have 
shewn  a  material  advance.  Apparently  neither 
the  producers  nor  wholesale  dealers  are  particu¬ 
larly  anxious  to  move  their  holdings.  This  con¬ 
dition  has  probably  been  brought  about  by  the 
heavy  shipments  east,  which  have  been  counted 
upon  to  hold  the  prices  up,  even  in  the  face  of  a 
demand  that  is  not  particularly  encouraging. 

Reports  from  the  east  are  to  the  effect  that  the 
railroad  yards  and  sidings  are  now  full  of  coal  and 
some  of  the  roads  have  declared  an  embargo  on 
further  shipments  for  the  present.  It  is  believed 
by  some  that  this  will  react  on  the  market  here 
and  there  will  be  a  drop  in  prices,  instead  of  a 
further  advance  as  was  expected  a  week  ago. 
This  will  depend  upon  the  real  need  of  coal  in  the 
east,  however,  and  if  the  supply  is  absorbed  within 
a  reasonable  time  and  further  shipments  become 
necessary,  a  stiff  market  here  will  result. 

A  sufficient  amount  of  tonnage  for  next  season 
has  been  covered  to  fix  the  old  rate  of  30  cents  to 
the  head  of  the  lakes.  Vessel  men  expected  that 
the  Lake  Michigan  rate  would  be  at  least  five  cents 
hi.gher  than  last  season,  but  at  this  time  it  has  not 
been  clearly  established  as  to  just  what  it  will  be. 
The  shippers,  however,  do  not  expect  any  change 
from  last  season’s  rate.  It  is  said  that  contracts 
have  been  made  recently  for  several  big  blocks  of 
coal,  covering  a  number  of  years,  at  the  going 
rates,  whatever  they  may  be.  Shippers  are  en¬ 
deavoring  to  make  themselves  safe  against  the  big 
demands  that  sometimes  arise  in  the  grain  and  ore 
trades. 

Quite  a  number  of  boats  will  be  loaded  with 
storage  coal  if  the  weather  remains  favorable  and 
it  is  believed  that,  before  the  openin.g  of  naviga¬ 
tion  in  the  spring,  there  will  be  quite  a  large 
amount  afloat. 

The  demand  for  many  grades  of  domestic  coal 
has  been  very  weak  during  the  past  week,  while 
the  supply  has  been  above  normal.  The  rather 
soft  weather  is  blamed  for  this  condition. 

The  anthracite  situation  is  quite  dubious  at  this 
time.  Egg  and  stove  sizes  are  perhaps  normal, 
but  chestnut  is  moving  very  slowly  because  of 
the  congestion  at  East  Buffalo.  The  heavy  storms 
in  the  east  have  also  made  the  situation  worse. 
Many  dealers  have  had  no  chestnut  coal  in  stock 
for  a  week,  it  is  said,  and  it  is  possible  that  they 
will  have  to  wait  some  time  for  it  until  the  Buf¬ 
falo  congestion  is  cleared  up  somewhat. 

Some  of  the  independent  collieries  are  said  to 
be  more  than  a  month  behind  in  their  deliveries. 
.•\s  a  result  they  have  been  able  to  secure  a  prem¬ 
ium  of  from  25  to  50  cents  above  the  circular 
prices  for  quite  a  little  of  the  coal  they  have  been 
able  to  get  through. 

Both  run  of  mine  and  slack  from  the  Eastern 
Ohio  field  showed  an  advance  of  from  five  to  ten 
cents  a  ton  the  past  week.  Doubt  was  expressed 
as  to  whether  any  amount  of  run  of  mine  could  be 
purchased  at  $1.15  and  no  particular  anxiety  was 
expressed  to  sell  slack  at  $1.10.  Quotations  were 
as  follows : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

No.  8  District —  Mines.  Cleveland. 

Three-quarters  .  $1.20  $2.10 

Kun  of  mine .  1.10@1.15  2.00@2.or) 

Slack  .  1.00@1.10  1.90@2.00 

While  Coshocton  coal  has  not  been  marked 
above  last  week’s  figures,  it  is  said  that  there  was 
little,  if  any,  free  coal  in  the  market  the  past 
week.  The  demand  has  been  good  and  there 
has  been  no  trouble  to  move  all  that  was  producetl : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Coshocton —  Mines.  Cleveland. 

l.ump,  4-inch  screened . $1.70@1.75  $2.40@2.4.'j 

IH  inch .  1.60@1.6.5  2.30@2.35 

Kgg  and  nut .  l.Ooigil.lO  1.75@1.80 

Pittsburgh  slack  was  marked  up  from  $1  to 
$1.15,  but  there  was  none  in  the  market,  even  at 
the  latter  figure.  The  east  has  taken  all  avail¬ 
able  slack  for  several  days  past : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Pittsburgh—  Mines.  Cleveland. 

Slack  .  $1.15  $2.15 

Massillon  producers  are  behind  in  the  delivery 
of  the  larger  sizes  and  they  have  not  been  able 
to  take  care  of  the  flood  of  orders  for  slack  at 
all: 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Massillon —  Mines.  Cleveland. 

r.ump  .  $2.50  $3.20 

Nut  _ 2.50  8.20 

Slack  .  1.10@1.15  l.S0@1.85 

Smokeless  coals  have  moved  very  slowly  the 
past  week,  while  at  the  same  time  there  has  been 
an  over-abundance  on  track  here.  Because  of  the 
demand  for  steam  coal  in  the  east,  operators  have 


not  been  able  to  move  the  usual  amount  of  smoke¬ 
less  coal  in  that  direction  : 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Smokeless — -  Mines.  Cleveland. 

Lump  .  $1.80  $3.25 

Egg  . 1.80  3.25 

Run  of  mine .  1.25  2.70 

Prices  of  Cambridge  coal,  run  of  mine  and 

slack,  have  moved  up  a  notch  in  unison  with  other 
coals  of  similar  quality.  Slack  was  in  good  de¬ 
mand  up  to  $1.10  per  ton.  Quotations  are  as 
follows  : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Cambridge —  Mines.  Cleveland. 

Three-quarters  .  $1.20  $2.10 

Run  of  mine .  1.10@1.15  2.00@2.05 

Slack  .  1.00@1.10  1.90@2.00 

There  has  been  no  change  in  Kentucky  black 
coal  for  some  time  and  prices  quoted  are  the  same 
as  last  week : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Kentucky —  Mines.  Cleveland. 

4-inch  block  . $1.90@2.00  $3.15@S.25 

It  is  immaterial  as  to  what  prices  are  placed  on 
Youghiogheny  coals,  as  they  were  entirely  out  of 
the  market  all  the  past  week : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Youghiogheny —  Mines.  Cleveland. 

154-inch  . $1.40@1.60  $3.40@2.60 

Three-quarters  .  1.80  2.30 

Run  of  mine .  1.20  2.20 

Slack  .  1.15  2.15 


No  change  has  been  noted  in  the  prices  of 
Bergholtz  coal,  but  it  remains  firm  at  the  figures 
quoted  last  week : 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Bergholtz —  Mines.  Cleveland. 

6-inch  lump .  $1.70  $2.40 

154-inch  .  1.46  2.15 

Three-quartrrs  .  1.86  2.06 

Egg  ■ .  1.26  1.95 

Run  of  mine .  1.20  1.90 

Slack  .  1.10@1.15  1.80@1.86 


Goshen  slacks  have  held  their  own  at  last  week’s 


figures.  Because  of  the  light  demand  for  do¬ 
mestic  coals,  the  figures  on  the  larger  sizes  have 
not  changed.  Quotations  follow  : 


F.  O.  B. 

Goshen-Wainwright  Mines —  Mines. 

Three-quarter  domestic  .  $1.40 

3-inch  lump  .  1.80 

Lump  .  1.66 

Slack  .  1.16 

F.  O.  B. 

Goshen —  Mines. 

Three-quarters  .  $1.30 

I  54 -inch  .  1.40 

Run  of  mine .  1.16 

Slack  .  1.16 


F.  O.  B. 
Cleveland. 
$2.10 
2.60 

2.85 

1.86 

F.  O.  B. 


Cleveland. 

$2.00 

2.10 

1.86 

1.86 


Birmingham  Trade. 


Birmingham,  Ala.,  December  23, —  (Special 
Correspondence.) — There  is  no  question  that  of 
the  coal  trade  being  better  than  it  was  this  time 
last  year.  While  considerable  improvement  has 
become  effective,  the  coal  mart  has  not  recovered 
as  sucessfully  from  the  depression  in  1914  and 
part  of  1915  as  in  other  lines  of  business. 

It  is  true  that  both  steam  and  domestic  coal 
have  improved  considerably,  but  neither  has  come 
up  to  the  expectations  of  the  operators.  Coking 
is  the  only  grade  of  coal  that  has  in  any  way  ful¬ 
filled  the  anticipations  of  the  coal  people.  This 
realization  comes  from  the  large  demand  for  iron 
sales  which  are  very  extensive  from  this  district. 
This  gratifying  condition  of  the  iron  trade  will  still 
cause  a  heavy  tonnage  of  coking  coal  to  be  mined 
for  some  months  to  come. 

The  outlook  for  domestic  and  steam  coal  is 
not  so  propitious,  but  operators  of  steam  and 
domestic  coal  mines  are  hopeful  of  better  con¬ 
ditions  obtaining  for  this  trade  during  the  coming 
months.  Chief  Mine  Inspector  C.  H.  Nesbitt, 
adheres  to  his  prediction  that  coal  production  in 
•Alabama  for  the  year  1915,  will  show  an  increase 
over  1914,  and  that  the  figures  of  the  year  before 
will  not  be  so  very  much  in  the  lead  of  1915  pro¬ 
duction. 

Effort  to  build  up  a  large  balance  of  business 
down  the  Warrior  River  is  being  made  with  four 
large  companies  and  several  smaller  operators  en- 
terin.g  this  field  of  coal  development.  The  pros¬ 
pects  for  fulfillment  of  a  fine  business  in  this 
direction  seems  to  be  good. 

Domestic  trade  the  past  week  has  been  fairly 
good  with  the  retail  men,  but  as  most  of  them  are 
well  stocked  very  little  buying  has  come  from 
them  to  the  operators. 

Steam  coal  is  only  fair.  The  railroads  are  tak¬ 
ing  the  largest  tonnage,  but  this  is  not  enough  to 
satisfy  the  operators  who  say  that  business  is  not 
so  good  as  they  wish  it  to  be. 

Coking  coal  is  being  mined  in  large  quantities 
and  conditions  are  satisfactory. 

'I'he  Tennessee  coal  mines  at  Blue  Creek  are 
turning  out  more  coal  at  the  present  time  than 
they  have  for  the  past  two  years.  The  mines  at 
Ad.ger  and  Sumpter  are  working  a  full  force 
of  men,  mining  coal  to  be  shipped  to  the  fur¬ 
naces  and  by-product  |)lant  of  the  company.  At 


Johns,  the  old  beehive  coke  ovens,  which  were 
abandoned  five  years  ago,  have  again  been  placed 
in  working  condition  and  are  turniag  out  a  high 
grade  of  coke. 

The  300  ovens  require  a  large  force  of  men  to 
operate  and  the  ovens  are  making  72-hour  coke, 
considered  better  than  the  by-product  coke  for  the 
making  of  pig-iron.  The  conditions  in  the  Blue 
Creek  district  are  better  generally  than  they  have 
been  in  years,  and  prospects’  are  bright  for  steady 
work  right  through  the  winter  months,  or  as  lon.g 
as  the  furnaces  are  operating  and  the  price  of  pig 
iron  as  it  is  at  present. 

There  is  no  end  to  the  demand  for  coke  and 


.good  prices  obtain.  At  the  same  time,  there  is  a 
full  production  noted.  It  is  figured  that  the 
production  of  coke  this  year  will  exceed  the  most 
optimistic  figures.  Announcements  during  the 
week  foretell  of  possibilities  of  two  big  batteries 
of  by-product  coke  ovens  being  constructed  in 
this  State,  one  by  the  Sloss-Shefifield  Steel  and 
Iron  Company  and  the  other  by  the  Gulf  States 
Steel  Company. 

President  J.  C.  Maben,  of  the  Sloss-Sheffield 
Steel  and  Iron  Company,  has  been  in  Birmingham 
and  the  Birmingham  district  this  past  week,  and 
while  he  still  doubts  the  success  of  the  by-product 
coke  ovens,  it  is  known  that  he  is  giving  serious 
thought  to  a  recommendation  to  the  directors  of 
his  company  for  some  development  aloag  this  line. 
The  Gulf  States  Steel  Company  has  had  an  offer 
of  a  site  for  a  big  coke  plant  in  the  vicinity  of 
Gadsden,  and  the  board  of  directors  of  the  com¬ 
pany  had  a  meeting  the  past  week  in  New  York, 
attended  by  James  Bowron,  President. 

There  is  more  coke  being  manufactured  with 
even  the  old  style  beehive  ovens  than  for  two  or 
three  years  past,  while  the  four  by-product  coke 
oven  plants  are  doing  exceedingly  well  in  the  way 
of  output.  Foundries  and  machine  shops  are 
taking  more  and  more  to  the  use  of  the  by-product 
coke,  while  other  interests  are  willingly  accepting 
the  product. 

The  following  prices  prevail : 

F.  O.  B.  .F-P.  B. 

Bibb  County  Domestic —  Mines.  Birmingham. 

Red  ash  Cahaba  lump .  $3.30  $3.30 

Red  ash  Cahaba  lump .  2.76  1.10 

Red  ash  s^eam  size .  1.20@1.85  Frt.  rate  30c 

JeflFerson  County — 

Fancy  steam  Pratt .  1.75  2.00 

Run  of  mine  Pratt .  1.20@1.26  1.45@1.60 

Mary  Lee  lump .  1.40@1.00  1.80@L90 

Black  Creek — 


Fancy  steam  lump .  1.76  2.05 

Washed  nut .  1.75  2.00 

Washed  steam  .  1.36@1.60  Frt.  rate  80c 

Mine  run .  1.35@1.40  Frt.  rate  30c 

Jefferson  Steam  Coal — 

Mine  run .  1.15@1.25  Frt.  rate  30c 

Walker  County  Domestic  Coal — 

Carbon  Hill  lump  .  1.75  2.15 

Carbon  Hill  egg .  1.65  2.06 

Horse  Creek  mine  run .  1.00@1.20  Frt.  rate  40c 

Genuine  Corona — 

Lump  .  2.00  2.40 

Egg  .  1.90  2.35 

Steam  sizes . .  L25@1.35  Frt.  rate  40c 

Shelby  County  Domestic  Coal — 

Cahaba  fancy  lump  .  3.00  I  SO 

Cahaba  No.  2  lump  . _  2.75  8.06 

Montevallo  domestic  prices  ranging  from  $3.00  to  $3.25. 
Blacksmith  coal,  washed  and  screened,  per  tan,  $2.00  t* 
$2.25  at  mines,  with  different  rates  to  various  points. 


Denver  Trade. 


Denver,  December  23. —  (Special  Correspond¬ 
ence.) — Weather  conditions  for  several  days  past 
are  almost  all  that  could  be  desired  from  the 
standpoint  of  the  coal  dealer.  The  entire  district 
is  covered  with  a  two-inch  snow  blanket  which 
has  stuck  for  nearly  a  week,  and  temperatures 
have  been  hugging  the  freezing  point  during  the 
day  and  near  zero  at  night.  As  a  result,  pro¬ 
duction  has  increased  and  the  distribution  has 
been  marked  with  greater  activity  than  at  any 
time  since  the  beginning  of  the  season. 

The  lignite  output  has  been  above  maximum 
since  the  beginning  of  the  storm,  and  production 
in  every  district  of  the  state  shows  decided  gains 
over  last  week.  Only  one  or  two  of  the  sugar 
factories  have  closed  their  season’s  grind,  the 
others  not  being  able  to  finish  until  well  along 
in  February. 

Trinidad  and  Wal.senburg  operators  report  a 
heavy  increase  in  country  orders,  and  there  is  a 
•Strong  demand  for  Routt  county  grades  from 
Nebraska.  The  Canon  City  district  shows  a  gain 
over  last  week’s  outimt  of  nearly  twenty-five  per 
cent. 

The  effect  of  the  cold  snap  has  not  been  lost 
on  the  slack  market,  every  indication  of  a  surplus 
being  completely  obliterated  and  the  .supply  of  all 
grades  being  well  taken.  Prices  are  very  firm. 

The  following  prices  are  ruling  for  lignite  coal, 
f.  o.  b.  mines:  For  Denver  delivery,  lump,  $2.35 
to  $2.05;  mine  run,  $1.50  to  $1.05;  slack,  $1.05  to 
$1.25.  For  points  outside  of  Denver,  lump,  $2..)0 ; 
mine  run,  $1.55  to  $1.05;  slack,  $1.05. 


538 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[December  25 


New  York  Trade. 


Anthracite  Production  and  Distribution 
Greatly  Retarded — Bituminous  Ad¬ 
vances  Stayed  by  Embargoes. 

Office  of  Thk  Black  Diamond, 
New  York,  December  33. 

'i'lie  aiitliracite  trade  is  marked  this  week 
l)y  light  production  and  greatly  interrupted 
distribution.  Roads  have  placed  embargoes  in 
most  every  direction,  and  particularly  against 
coal  moving  by  all-rail  into  New  England. 

( )n  Tuesday  about  the  only  open  way  to  shi|) 
straight  car  load  lots  into  New  England  was 
via  Jersey  City  and  the  floats  around  New 
^'ork  city.  This  is  a  slow  methocl,  especially 
now  that  the  Jersey  terminals  are  congested 
with  miscellaneous  freight. 

Also,  movement  by  water  to  New  Ifngland 
from  both  Philadelidiia  and  New  York  is  seri¬ 
ously  clelayed.  Rad  weather  has  kept  back  all 
kinds  of  water  transportation  and  vessel  trans¬ 
portation  is  very  scarce. 

As  cars  are  not  being  returned  to  the  mines, 
but  few  of  them  are  working  as  well  as  three 
full  days  a  week.  Last  week  it  is  doubtful 
if  the  regions  as  a  whole  got  out  more  than 
two  full  days’  production.  And  this  week, 
conditions  as  regards  car  supply  are  even 
worse.  ( )ne  big  company-found  its  supidy  of 
cars  on  Monday  only  sufficient  to  enable  it  to 
mine  but  one-iifth  of  a  normal  day’s  tonnage. 
This  interruption  in  car  supply  will  mean  that 
production  this  month  will  fall  very  far  behind 
that  of  December  of  last  year.  Thus  the  short¬ 
age  of  anthracite  for  the  full  year  will  run 
easily  .f, (MW, 000  tons  short  of  the  1914  pro¬ 
duction. 

Already  individuals  who  are  in  position  to 
accept  spot  orders,  are  securing  premiums  of 
about  twenty-five  cents  a  ton  on  domestic- 
coal  for  line  shipments.  Tide  prices  so  far, 
have  been  held  very  close  to  circular. 

The  steam  sizes  are  getting  very  active.  The 
high  bituminous  prices  are  in  a  measure  re¬ 
sponsible.  Though,  there  is  also  the  fact  that 
short  time  mining  makes  for  a  smaller  output 
at  a  time  when  consumption  is  very  heavy. 

Some  sales  of  No.  1  buckwheat  were  made 
at  $2  per  ton  at  the  mines  for  rail  delivery. 
.\t  New  York  harbor  ports,  both  rice  and  bar¬ 
ley  are  very  short,  and  sell  readily  at  twenty- 
five  cents  over  the  circular  for  fair  grades. 
Buckwheat  is  also  selling  at  five  to  ten  cents 
over  the  circular.  The  companies  arc  prac¬ 
tically  out  of  the  market  on  steam  coals,  con¬ 
tract  requirements  taking  their  entire  output. 
I’ea  coal  is  also  sharing  in  the  better  demand. 

New  York  anthracite  prices  are; 

Upper  Lower 

Ports.  Ports. 


Itrokcn  .  $5.10  $5.00 

I'-gg  .  5.35  5.25 

•Stove  .  5.35  5.25 

Chestnut  .  5.60  5.50 

Pea  .  3.55  3.45 


Special  grades  of  red  ash  and  other  high- 
grade  coals  at  the  lower  ports  sell  at  twenty- 
live  to  fifty  cents  per  ton  over  above  figures. 

•Spot  prices  in  individual  coals  at  lower  ports 
are  about  as  follows: 


fc-gg  . $5.05  and  up 

Stove  .  5.20  and  up 

Nut  .  5.20  and  up 

Pea  .  3.25  and  up 

t’uek  .  2.45  and  up 

nice  .  2.25  and  up 

Harley  .  1.05  and  up 


The  Bituminous  Situation. 

The  bituminous  market  in  the  east  is  still 
Itanicky.  Brices  have  not  further  advanced  this 
week,  but  few  sales  being  reported  above  $2 
per  ton  at  the  mines  in  Pennsylvania,  but  this 
is  ascribed  to  the  fact  that  early  this  week, 
most  of  the  originating  railroads  had  put  on 
embargoes  that  shut  off  shipments  in  most 
every  direction.  This  meant  that  the  buyer 
of  coal  at  the  mines  was  taking  a  chance  as 
to  delivery,  and  as  the  shipper  could  make  no 
guarantees,  there  was  no  necessity  therefore 
to  pay  a  handsome  price. 

To  the  embargoes,  therefore,  is  to  be  cred¬ 
ited  the  easing  off  of  prices  by  many  operators, 
numerous  quotations  appearing  on  Tuesday 
ranging  from  $2.40  to  $2.7.5  per  ton  at  the 
mines,  whereas  the  latter  part  of  last  week, 
every  operator  had  $.3  per  ton  in  mind  as  the 
right  price  to  ask. 

New  England  consumers  are  unquestionably 
very  short  of  coal.  They  have  not  been  able 
to  get  any  relief  from  the  southern  coals,  as 
water  transportation  is  lacking,  and  also 
weather  conditions  coastwise  have  been  so 


bad  the  past  several  weeks  that  much  of  the 
coal  moving  in  time  chartered  bottoms  has 
been  delayed  in  delivery.  Coal  at  $7  per  ton 
has  been  reported  at  Boston,  f.  o.  b.  cars  at 
Mystic.  Water  rates  from  Hampton  Roads 
have  gone  as  high  as  $3  per  ton,  with  few 
boats  offering  at  thi.s  price.  Erom  Baltimore 
aiid  Philadelphia,  it  is  practically  impossible  to 
lind  boats  at  any  price,  -wliile  about  the  same 
state  of  affairs  exists  at  New  York  for  boats 
for  .Sound  and  around' the  cape  points. 

It  was  expected  last  week  that  the  operators 
in  Pittsburgh  region  would  come  into  the  east¬ 
ern  market,  and  take  advantage  of  the  fancy 
prices  being  offered.  A  great  deal  of  Pitts¬ 
burgh  coal  was  offered  in  the  east,  to  come 
forward  on  the  Pittsburgh  rate,  but  the  rail¬ 
roads  have  forestalled  any  material  movement 
of  coal  from  that  territory  into  the  markets 
that  have  heretofore  been  held  by  the  Central 
Pennsylvania  coals.  Either  they  have  been 
unable  to  supply  operators  with  cars  in  which 
to  move  coal,  or  their  embargoes  have  operated 
so  as  to  keep  shipments  back.  Up  to  this 
time,  but  little  coal  from  foreign  regions  have 
come  into  the  eastern  markets,  nor  is  it  likely 
that  any  tonnage  of  any  moment  will  secure 
an  eastern  outlet. 

Pennsylvania  operators  are  being  hard 
pressed  to  take  care  of  contract  requirements. 
'Phey  had  found  this  very  difficult  even  up  to 
the  first  of  the  month,  before  the  railroad  con¬ 
gestion  became  so  serrous.  The  New  Haven 
system  is  .still  suffering  from  the  effects  of 
last  week’s  blizzard.  The  coal  movement  by 
rail  in  New  England  may  be  said  to  have  bqen 
set  back  at  least  a  week  by  this  blizzard,  and 
the  Pennsylvania  railroad  embargoes  coming 
on  top  of  this,  will  mean  perhaps  another 
week’s  demoralization.  When  you  add  to  this 
the  fact  that  New  England  consumers  were 
running  with  very  low  stocks  all  the  fall,  their 
liosition  at  present  can  be  easily  appreciated. 

At  New  York  tidewater  ports,  deliveries 
are  very  much  delayed.  Coal  is  arriving  very 
slowly,  and  many  shippers  are  finding  it  very 
hard  to  load  boats  with  anything  like  prompt¬ 
ness.  Thousands  of  loaded  cars  are  in  transit 
between  mines  and  tide,  sidetracked  along 
nearly  every  mile  of  road  intervening,  and  it 
will  be  some  weeks  before  conditions  can  be 
righted.  In  the  meantime,  another  snowstorm 
may  come  along  to  break  a  transportation  link 
here  and  there,  or  miscellaneous  freights  may 
continue  to  swamp  the  carriers. 

Unfortunately,  but  few  coal  producers  are  in 
position  to  take  advantage  of  the  present  high 
prices  being  quoted.  Most  of  them  have  low'- 
priced  contracts,  and  with  a  shortage  of  labor 
and  a  most  erratic  supply  of  cars,  they  are 
doing  nobly  if  they  can  get  out  even  the  rc- 
(juirements  of  their  contractors. 

The  Vessel  Situation 

Coastwise  and  sound  vessel  rates  arc  still 
soaring.  It  is  very  hard  to  fix  a  line  of  quo¬ 
tations.  From  the  Roads  to  Boston,  $3  has 
been  paid  and  $3.25  asked.  From  Philadelphia 
and  Baltimore,  rates  are  practically  the  same. 
But  few  boats  are  to  be  obtained  at  any  price. 
From  New  York  to  Providence,  $1.50  is  the 
rate,  with  $1.75  to  $2  being  asked  to  Boston. 

Harbor  rates  have  advanced  to  thirty  and 
forty  cents  per  ton.  Bad  weather  has  held 
up  coastwise  shipping,  while  boats  are  given 
unusual  detention  in  New  York,  especially  at 
Ihe  loading  ports  due  to  the  slow  arrival  of 
coal.  I 

Off-shore  rates  are  still  very  firm  at  the  re-, 
cent  high  record  levels. 

We  quote  the  curreul  rales  of  freight  as 
follows: 

From  Hampton  Roads  to  Boston  $2.75  to 
$3.25  is  about  the  range;  to  Portland  and  points 
cast  of  Boston,  the  same.  To  Sound  points. 
$2.50  to  $3.  From  Philadelphia  to  New  Eng¬ 
land  points,  $2  to  $3. 

From  New  York  to  Sound  points  as  fol¬ 
lows:  Bridgeport,  sixty-five  cents;  New  Haven, 
seventy-five  cents  to  $1;  Providence,  $1.25  to 
$1.50;  New  Bedford,  $1  to  $1,15.  To  Boston, 
around  cape,  $1.75.  Harbor  rates,  thirty  to 
forty  cents. 

Current  quotations  on  bituminous  coal  in 
spot  lots  arc: 


F.  O.  B. 

F.  0.  B. 

Somerset  County — 

Harbor. 

Mines. 

Best  grades . 

$2.75 

Medium  grades . 

.  4.05 

2.50 

Ordinary  . 

2.20 

Cambria  County — 

T^est  Miller  vein . 

2.95 

Medium  grades . 

.  4.05 

2.50 

Cheaper  grades . 

.  3.80 

2.25 

Clearfield  County 

Best  grades . 

2.50 

Ordinary  grades . 

2.25 

Indiana  County — 

Best  grades .  4.00  2.45 

Medium  grades .  3.80  2.25 

Maryland — 

Georges  Creek  big  vein .  4.50  3.30 

West  Virginia — 

Ordinary  grades .  3.85  2.30 

Best  gas,  44-inch  lump .  3.75  2.20 

Best  grade,  run  of  mine .  3.70  2.15 

Gas  slack .  3.05  1,50 

New  York  Trade  Briefs. 

G.  U.  Kierstead,  treasurer  of  the  City  Coal 
Co.  of  Hartford,  Conn.,  was  in  New  York  on 
Tttesday. 

G.  W.  Hoban  of  the  sales  force  of  'Weston 
Dodson  &  Co.,  Inc.,  spent  his  Christmas  at  his 
home  in  Clairmont,  Vt 

C.  E.  Randolph,  sales  manager  for  Thorne, 
Neale  &  Co.,  No.  17  Battery  place,  took  a  trip 
through  New  England  this  week. 

!•'.  A.  Taylor,  Philadelphia  manager  for  the 
Maryland  Coal  &  Coke  Company,  was  at  the  New 
York  office  of  his  company  on  Monday. 

C.  F.  Huber,  president  of  the  Lehigh  &  Wilkes- 
Barre  Coal  Company  of  Wilkes-Barre,  Pa.,  was 
at  the  New  York  offices  on  Tuesday. 

G.  R.  Gabelle,  bituminous  manager  for  Thorne, 
Neale  &  Co.,  stationed  in  Philadelphia,  visited  the 
New  York  office  of  his  company  on  Tuesday. 

Carl  F.  Siebeckcr,  formerly  of  the  Bethlehem 
offices  of  Weston  Dodson  &  Co.,  Inc.,  has  been 
assigned  to  the  New  York  office,  where  he  will 
work  in  the  sales  department. 

F.  C.  Kraft,  recently  with  the  New  York  office 
of  Weston  Dodson  &  Co,,  Inc.,  has  been  trans¬ 
ferred  to  the  Bethlehem  office  of  this  company 
and  will  be  connected  with  the  sales  department. 

F.  H.  Ray,  formerly  identified  with  the  Baker- 
Whiteley  Coal  Company,  of  Baltimore,  has  asso¬ 
ciated  himself  with  B.  Nicoll  &  Co.  as  special 
agent.  While  Mr.  Ray  is  making  his  head¬ 
quarters  at  the  Baltimore  office  of  B.  Nicoll  & 
Co.,  his  activities  will  not  be  confined  to  that 
territory  alone. 

The  Manamar,  a  7,500-tou  steamship  con¬ 
structed  for  the  Munson  Line  by  the  Maryland 
Steel  Company,  arrived  in  New  York  on  Mon¬ 
day.  The  vessel  is  to  be  placed  in  the  Cuban 
trade  and  will  start  on  her  maiden  voyage  Decem¬ 
ber  31.  She  has  accommodations  for  fifty  saloon 
and  thirty  second-cabin  passengers. 

J.  J.  Hobbs,  the  well  known  coal  exporter  of 
No.  1  Broadway,  has  chartered  eight  schooners 
recently  to  take  coal  to  Spain,  Argentine  and 
Brazil.  Recently  one  of  the  schooners  chartered 
by  Mr.  Hobbs,  the  “Edward  J.  Lawrence,”  made 
a  record  trip  of  thirty  days  to  Barcelona,  Spain, 
with  a  cargo  of  5,000  tons  of  Pocahontas.  Sun¬ 
day  two  schooners  chartered  by  Mr.  Hobbs,  and 
loaded  with  coal,  sailed  from  Hampton  Roads 
for  Rio.  The  first  to  arrive  at  destination  will 
receive  a  purse  of  $500. 

R.  Martens  &  Co.,  Inc.,  is  the  name  of  a  new 
corporation  with  offices  at  No.  24  State  street. 
New  York.  This  corporation  is  affiliated  with 
R.  Martens  &  Co.,  Ltd.,  of  London  and  Petro- 
grad,  with  which  is  associated  the  firm  of  Hulton, 
Thompson  &  Co.,  Ltd.,  of  London.  The  Euro- 
liean  companies  are  large  shippers  and  contractors 
of  coal  for  bunker  and  export  purposes,  and  arc 
also  extensively  engaged  in  general  shipping.  The 
American  branch  will  do  a  general  shipping  and 
contracting  business,  and  have  recently  acquired 
a  dock  property  on  Staten  T.sland  to  facilitate  the 
movement  of  their  ships. 

W.  11.  Carpenter,  of  Dexter  &  Carpenter,  Inc., 
of  No.  12  Broadway,  returned  on  last  Friday 
from  a  six  months’  trip  to  Europe  and  South 
America  in  the  interests  of  his  company.  Mr. 
Carpenter  spent  more  than  two  months  in  South 
America,  coming  directly  from  Buenos  Aires  to 
New  York  on  a  Lamport  &  Holt  steamer.  Con¬ 
cerning  the  South  American  situation,  he  finds 
plenty  of  opportunities  for  /Vmerican  coal.s,  pro¬ 
viding  shipping  can  be  arranged.  Due  to  the  very 
high  prices  obtaining  at  South  American  ports 
for  coal  at  present,  consumption  in  many  lines 
has  been  reduced.  Many  of  the  railroads  are 
using  wood  on  certain  divisions,  while  in  the 
mining  regions,  especially  in  the  phosphate  min¬ 
ing  fields,  he  found  that  a  great  deal  of  oil  was 
being  used.  In  southern  Chile  Mr.  Carpenter 
found  that  the  native  coal  mines  were  being 
developed  to  provide  fuel.  The  Chilean  coal  runs 
higher  in  volatile  than  do  the  American  gas  coals, 
and  consequently  it  takes  a  great  deal  more  of  it 
to  produce  an  equal  amount  of  steam,  especially 
for  the  railroads,  who  are  the  largest  consumers, 
than  do  the  American  or  Welsh  coals.  However, 
on  account  of  its  cheapness,  the  Chilean  railroads 
arc  using  more  of  it  than  prior  to  the  war. 


No.  26] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


539 


Philadelphia  Trade. 

Due  to  Embargoes  Against  Shipments 
and  the  Approach  of  the  Holidays, 
Prices  Eased  Off  a  Trifle. 


Office  of  The  Black  Diamond, 
No.  1400  Land  Title  Building, 
Philadelphia,  December  23. 

The  coal  market  hereabouts  has  been,  for 
the  past  week,  as  nervous  as  an  unmarried  fe¬ 
male  at  retiring  time.  The  distress  of  the 
railroads  and  consequent  embargoes  became 
the  big  feature  of  the  market  as  soon  as  the 
tie-up  of  cars  forced  the  roads  to  that  action 
last  Thursday.  Coming  Christmas  inactivity 
and  inaction  about  mills  and  factories  slack¬ 
ened  up  the  demand  and  a  see-saw  in  price  that 
concluded  in  a  drop  of  fifteen  to  thirty  cents 
on  the  ton  from  the  first  of  the  week  until  this 
was  written.  The  big  factors  in  the  bituminous 
market  are  of  the  opinion  that  a  further  drop 
can  be  expected  and  are  making  no  calculations 
as  to  what  the  price  may  be  a  week  from  now. 
One  thing  that  all  are  firm  in,  however,  and 
that  is  the  middle  of  January  will  see  the 
stringency  in  the  same  position  that  it  was 
when  the  top  prices  of  ten  days  ago  were 
reached. 

The  big  query  at  this  time  is — how  long  will 
it  take  the  railways  to  straighten  out  the  mess 
of  cars  that  have  clogged  all  of  the  arteries 
about  New  York.  For  this  information  it 
was  necessary  to  go  to  the  traffic  offices  of 
the  railroads  here.  No  definite  solution  was 
offered.  One  official  vouchsafed  the  answer 
that  much  had  been  accomplished  in  the  week 
that  the  embargoes  had  been  placed.  Another 
pointed  to  a  telegraphic  story  that  appeared 
in  the  local  papers  stating  that  there  had  been 
a  further  tightening  of  the  lines  of  restric¬ 
tions  and  declared  “that  is  as  good  a  guess  as 
I  can  give.” 

What  with  every  drop  in  price  that  was  re¬ 
corded  the  market,  however,  is  not  in  a  “picky 
and  choosey”  stage.  Coal  practically  is  with¬ 
out  grading  and  a  range  of  prices  is  for  any 
class  of  coal  that  can  be  put  on  this  market, 
with  differences  in  price  only  applying  to  the 
freight  zones  from  which  it  originates.  Mid¬ 
dle  men  with  West  Virginia  coals  to  offer  for 
immediate  delivery  held  this  product  on  the 
following  range  Wednesday,  run  of  mine  and 
three-quarter-inch  screened  lump,  $1.60  to  $1.80 
and  slack  at  $1.50  to  $1.60.  Clearfield,  Somer¬ 
set  and  Western  Maryland  offerings  were 
made  over  a  wide  range  running  anywhere 
from  $2.10  to  $2.40  according  to  the  pressing 
needs  of  the  prospective  customer.  From  this 
section  the  report  on  Wednesday  that  coal  was 
being  held  at  Johnstown  and  Altoona  at  $2.20 
at  the  mines  and  a  local  report  that  some  box 
car  sales  had  been  made  with  New  England 
delivery  as  high  as  $2.60  to  $2.70  for  steels. 

The  entrance  of  the  operators  from  West¬ 
ern  Pennsylvania  into  this  market  has  been 
cutting  didoes.  With  coal  at  the  prices  named 
they  have  been  able  to  put  in  shipments  at 
prices  ranging  from  $1.45  to  $1.65  and  even 
higher  than  this  last  figure  and  take  a  profit. 

With  the  shipping  restrictions  which  have 
been  placed  by  the  railroads  the  pier  business 
here,  which  is  in  no  wise  touched  by  the  em¬ 
bargoes  has  taken  on  a  new  life.  Many  cars 
started  for  tide  have  been  switched  to  the 
Port  Richmond  and  the  Greenwich  yards.  The 
stringency  that  was  being  felt  in  getting  bun¬ 
ker  coal  has  pretty  well  disappeared.  Export 
shipments  are  not  active  and  in  figures  are 
below  those  of  the  corresponding  week  of 
last  year  when  bottoms  could  be  had  more 
freely. 

Anthracite  Situation. 

What  is  to  be  the  result  of  the  conference 
that  was  held  in  Harrisburg  by  men  prominent 
in  the  hard  coal  trade  on  the  question  of 
workmen’s  compensation,  is  the  lodestone  that 
is  attracting  the  eyes  of  those  who  are  in  the 
hard  coal  trade.  Various  means  of  making 
the  public  absorb  the  cost  have  been  advanced 
and  the  all-important  question  of  price  will 
have  to  be  uncovered  before  long  with  the 
law  going  into  effect  in  the  next  ten  days. 
“We  have  not  decided  our  course  yet,”  was 
the  answer  that  your  correspondent  received 
from  three  representative  heads  of  large  coal 
companies.  And  there  you  are.  The  January 
circular  will,  this  year,  be  of  more  than  pass¬ 
ing  interest. 

The  main  question  is  what  effect  this 
will  have  upon  local  retail  prices.  Many  of  the 
contracts  for  the  “star  size,”  pea,  will  expire 


with  the  beginning  of  the  year  and  with  car 
shortage,  labor  agitation  and  workmen’s  com¬ 
pensation  to  be  reckoned  with,  it  is  doubtful 
if  the  low  prices  for  pea  coal  can  be  expected 
when  the  new  contracts  are  written.  This  is 
bound  to  have  an  effect  on  the  price  war  that 
has  rocked  Philadelphia  for  many  moons.  Even 
with  a  fifty-cent  advance  in  the  price  of  this 
size  in  three  months  retailers  are  still  offering 
it  at  $4.75  a  ton — a  ruinous  price  if  full  circular 
is  demanded  at  the  very  least. 

Steam  sizes  have  been  in  the  highest  de¬ 
mand  for  the  past  week.  With  bituminous 
coal  soaring  plants  which  can  burn  the  small 
anthracite  sizes  became  extremely  nervous 
over  their  fuel  supply  and  have  been  doing 
some  heavy  buying.  One  large  order  for 
buckwheat  at  $1.85  was  placed  this  week  “so 
quick  that  it  made  my  head  swim,”  was  the 
way  that  the  salesmanager,  who  made  the  deal, 
put  it. 


Philadelphia  Coal  Club. 

The  Coal  Club  of  Philadelphia  is  now  an 
established  institution.  On  Thursday  Decem¬ 
ber  16,  what  would  have  been  the  annual 
meeting  of  the  Philadelphia  breaker  of  Ko- 
koals  was  held  in  the  ladies’  dining  room  of 
the  Manufacturers’  Club.  Over  seventy  were 
present  and  all  in  the  course  of  the  evening 
approved  the  plans  that  were  made  for  the  ab¬ 
sorption  of  the  old  organization  under  its  new 
name  style  and  without  any  affiliation  with  or 
connection  to  any  governing  body.  The  dis¬ 
cussion  that  followed  when  President  Frank 
Mathers  of  the  Kokoals  rapped  for  order  was 
more  as  to  details  rather  than  as  to  the  gen¬ 
eral  movement  toward  the  establishment  of  a 
new  association.  It  was  decided  first  to  or¬ 
ganize  and  then  from  the  officers  elected  draft 
committees  to  take  action  on  by-laws,  mem¬ 
bership  and  the  various -other  phases  that  will 
have  to  be  considered  to  make  the  member¬ 
ship  attractive. 

Many  features  are  under  consideration  by  the 
individuAl  members  to  make  the  club  attrac¬ 
tive'  both  from  a  social  as  well  as  a  business 
viewpoint.  Philadelphia  has  no  common 
grounds  upon  which  coal  men — retailers,  mid¬ 
dle  men  and  producers  can  meet  and  it  is  in¬ 
tended  that  this  club  can  be  the  happy  medium 
for  the  purpose.  The  whole  of  the  130  mem¬ 
bers  of  the  Kokoals  breaker,  it  is  thought,  will 
join  the  new  organization  and  with  the  new 
objects  to  be  attained  it  is  hoped  to  double 
if  not  treble  the  number. 

The  officers  who  were  elected  were  as  fol¬ 
lows:  Howard  Perrin,  president;  F.  F.  Math¬ 
ers,  vice-president;  W.  L.  Scott,  secretary; 
Charles  Scull,  treasurer.  The  directors  are: 
W.  C.  Hancock,  S.  B.  Crowell,  J.  M.  Kelley, 
Thomas  W.  Ayers,  William  J.  Steen,  Ambrose 
Letters,  H.  H.  Lineaweaver,  S.  C.  Noblette, 

D.  B.  Cunningham,  Charles  E.  Eernberg,  W. 

E.  Bernard,  Walter  Bush,  W.  H.  Eastlak  and 
G.  G.  Smith. 

Those  who  were  present  at  this  meeting  of 
organization  were:  Chevalier  C.  C.  A.  Baldi, 
Howard  W.  Perrin,  L.  N.  Holdt,  W.  L.  Scott, 
G.  G.  Smith,  J.  C.  Freese,  Thomas  Gucker, 
Jr.,  Walter  H.  Eastlak,  D.  B.  Cunningham, 
William  Shubin,  E,  F.  Mathers,  W.  L.  Haw¬ 
kins,  James  M.  Kelley,  I,  Nicholson,  W.  C. 
Hancock,  George  P.  Quigley,  John  Williams, 

C.  K.  Scull,  Louis  Brande,  W.  H.  Kneas,  John 

A,  Coon,  —  Heiland,  Robert  L.  Chalfant, 
Thomas  W.  Ayers,  Irvin  T.  Ward,  George 
Speese,  Samuel  B.  Crowell,  S.  C.  Noblette, 
Howard  McTurk,  J.  E.  B.  DeBergh,  E.  G. 
Wagner,  H,  Landgraf,  C.  S.  Chesburt,  William 

D.  Hamer,  Arthur  C.  Cohn,  J.  W.  Mason,  J. 
M.  Crean,  David  Isaacman,  George  W.  Par¬ 
ker,  Jr.,  C.  E.  Wilcox,  John  F.  Meigs,  Joseph 
Missimer,  George  H.  Story,  Joseph  W.  Gucker, 

B.  S.  Pusey,  Henry  C.  Pearson,  W.  H.  Clem¬ 
ency,  I.  Lampert,  A.  Steen,  M.  K.  Kirkpatrick, 
Robert  P.  Magee,  J,  Howard  Magee,  Wilson 
W.  Sell,  Charles  E,  Fernberg,  Ottey  Darling¬ 
ton,  William  J.  Steen,  A,  C.  Peterson,  David 
Walters,  F.  S,  Coale,  H.  E.  Strathman,  Jr.,  C. 
J.  .Snyder,  John  J.  Cronin,  W.  E.  Robinson. 


Philadelphia  Trade  Notes. 

A.  P.  Bryant,  of  the  .Spring  Coal  Company 
of  Boston,  paid  his  respects  to  friends  in  the 
coal  trade  here  last  week. 

“Uncle”  Daniel  D.  Howard,  of  the  Central 
Fairmont  Coal  Company  of  Clarksburg,  W. 
Va.,  was  a  welcome  visitor  at  the  many  offices 
of  his  friends  in  this  city  early  in  the  week. 

Lloyd  G.  MeCrnni,  of  the  Victor  Coal  Min¬ 
ing  Company,  and  whose  headcinarters  are  in 
Somerset,  Pa.,  droi)pcd  in  to  the  local  offices 


of  that  company  while  returning  from  a  visit 
to  New  York. 

James  Pugh  of  the  Ajax  Consolidated  Coal 
Mining  Company  of  Hubbard,  W.  Va.,  was 
one  of  the  pre-Christmas  visitors  to  the  trade. 

J.  G.  Emmons,  who  has  been  connected  with 
the  Bell  Telephone  Company  in  this  city,  is 
the  third  brother  to  become  a  member  of  the 
firm  of  the  Emmons  Coal  Mining  Company. 
He  will  join  the  firm  on  New  Years  day. 

Christmas  courtesies,  calendars  and  remem¬ 
brances  are  the  order  of  the  day  and  the 
gladsome  season  sees  the  general  spirit  of  the 
trade  in  a  better  condition  than  this  time  last 
year.  Visitors  to  the  local  offices  this  week 
have  been  few — home  ties  and  a  humping  mar¬ 
ket  proving  a  double  combination  hard  to 
beat. 

An  epidemic  of  la  grippe  in  an  aggravated 
form  has  hit  the  coal  offices  in  this  city  as 
hard  as  any  other  form  of  business.  Stenog¬ 
raphers  unable  to  longer  withstand  their  aches 
and  sniffles  have  been  missing  from  their  desks 
and  even  a  few  of  the  office  boys  fought 
gamely  to  preserve  good  Christmas  records 
but  were  knocked  out. 

Charles  E.  Pool,  who  is  at  the  head  of  the 
Pool-Townsend  Coal  Company,  with  offices 
in  the  Rockefeller  building  in  Cleveland,  Ohio, 
had  the  hand-shaking  privileges  among  ohl 
friends  this  week.  Several  months  ago  this 
company  acquired  mines  in  the  Clarksburg 
district  of  West  Virginia.  Mr.  Pool  left  the 
middle  of  the  week  for  Clarksburg. 

A  two-sided  appeal  to  the  various  legal 
tangles  which  have  resulted  from  the  trials 
of  the  so-called  "Hard  Coal  trust”  cases  in 
the  local  federal  courts  have  been  carried  to 
Washington.  The  government  has  appealed  its 
case  wherein  the  U.  S.  Attorney  General’s 
contentions  to  dissolve  an  alleged  illegal  com¬ 
bination  was  only  partially  sustained.  On  the 
part  of  the  Reading  Company  an  appeal  has 
been  taken  from  the  recent  decision  of  Judges 
Buffington,  McPherson  and  Hunt,  demanding 
a  divorcement  of  the  Philadelphia  and  Read¬ 
ing  Coal  and  Iron  Company,  the  Lehigh  and 
Wilkes-Barre  Coal  Company  and  The  Central 
Railroad  of  New  Jersey. 

The  many  acquaintances  and.  friends  of 
Henry  Liveright  in  the  coal  trade  were 
shocked  to  hear  of  his  sudden  death  in  Clear¬ 
field,  Pa.,  while  he  was  on  a  business  trip. 
For  over  thirty  years  Mr.  Liveright  was  con¬ 
nected  with  the  coal  trade  of  this  city.  In 
the  late  eighties  he  sold  out  a  grocery  business 
in  Philadelphia  and  went  to  Osceola  Mills 
where  he  entered  the  same  trade.  This  dis¬ 
trict  was  in  its  early  development  stage  and 
he  acquired  a  holding  of  coal  lands  which  were 
soon  afterward  turned  into  active  operations. 
He  returned  to  Philadelphia  and  formed  the 
firm  of  Liveright,  McCoy  &  Co.,  which  was 
later  succeeded  by  Liveright  &  Co.,  and  for 
the  last  decade  Mr.  Liveright  operated  under 
his  own  name.  During  the  long  years  that 
he  was  mining  and  selling  coal  he  was  iden¬ 
tified  with  many  mining  operations  about 
Clearfield,  Osceola  Mills  and  in  Clearfied  county 
He  maintained  an  office  at  No.  411  Walnut 
street  in  this  city.  Mr.  Liveright  was  a  mem¬ 
ber  of  the  Rodelph  Shalom  congregation.  He 
was  a  German  by  birth  but  came  to  this  coun¬ 
try  while  a  small  boy.  He  is  survived  by  a 
widow,  four  sons  and  two  daughters. 

Several  coal  men  interested  in  the  operating 
and  producing  end  of  the  business  were  in 
Harrisburg  Tuesday  and  Wednesday  attending 
a  conference  with  the  officials  of  the  State  In¬ 
surance  Fund  board.  Both  the  men  from  the 
soft  as  well  as  the  hard  coal  fields  were  given 
a  hearing.  The  big  event  of  the  meeting  was 
the  announcement  that  the  state  rate  for  min¬ 
ing  with  shafts,  tunnels  or  galleries  or  on 
drifts  or  slopes  for  anthracite  mines  would  be 
$4.18  for  anthracite  and  $3.45  for  bituminous 
mines  based  on  each  $100  of  the  pay-roll.  This 
the  members  of  the  state  board  declared  was 
a  ten  per  cent  reduction  in  the  rates  which 
have  been  offered  by  stock  companies.  A  grant 
has  l)een  made  by  the  state  board  allowing 
the  Lehigh  and  VVilkes-Barre  Coal  Company 
in  the  anthracite  fields.  The  Westmoreland 
and  Penn  Manor  Gas  Company  in  the  bitumin¬ 
ous  fields  to  conduct  their  own  insurance  de¬ 
partments.  Attorneys  for  the  coal  companies 
asked  all  facts  and  made  many  inquiries  as 
to  the  workings  of  insurance  under  the  state 
board,  but  no  decision  was  announced  as  to 
the  means  that  will  be  taken  by  the  larger 
companies  to  care  for  this  compensation  as 
demanded  by  the  state. 


540 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[December  25 


Buffalo  Trade. 


Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  Deceml)er  2.3. —  (Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — It  is  a  (iiiestion  whether  much 
loading  of  anthracite  into  vessels  will  he  done 
here  this  winter,  as  coal  is  not  likely  to  be  at  all 
plentiful  and  the  rail  demand  is  likely  to  he  above 
the  average  on  account  of  the  troubles  expected 
in  the  spring.  Vessels  will  he  plentiful  enough 
here  this  winter,  as  the  largest  amount  of  grain 
ever  held  in  the  local  harbor  will  be  here  this 
winter.  Xo  doubt  many  of  these  vessels  will  he 
looking  for  winter  coal  cargoes  when  they  have 
unloaded  their  grain. 

The  anthracite  demand  is  good  at  present,  run¬ 
ning  largely  to  chestnut,  on  which  some  independ¬ 
ent  companies  are  getting  a  premium  of  ten 
cents.  It  is  very  short  in  this  market  and  the 
companies  have  booked  many  orders  ahead.  Pea 
coal  is  also  strong.  Mines  are  now  reported  to 
he  running  at  sixty  per  cent  of  their  capacity,  or 
even  less,  and  production  will  he  short  during  the 
remainder  of  the  year.  Cars  are  not  in  sufficient 
supi)ly  to  make  prompt  deliveries.  No  surplus 
coal  is  being  held  here  at  present,  while  not  very 
long  ago  it  was  taxing  the  abilities  of  the  coal 
representatives  to  find  places  for  what  they  had. 
The  outlook  is  for  an  active  market  for  some 
time. 

The  soft  coal  market  has  reached  the  maximum 
figures  of  the  year  during  the  past  two  weeks, 
owing  largely  to  the  big  demand  for  coal  east¬ 
ward.  In  Canada  and  nearby  territory  there  is 
no  heavy  inquiry  for  coal,  hut  prices  have  shown 
an  advance  of  about  fifteen  to  twenty-five  cents 
during  the  past  couple  of  weeks.  Supplies  are 
light  and  the  movement  of  coal  is  unusually  slow. 
The  railroads  complain  a  good  deal  of  lack  of 
cars  to  move  the  coal  and  operators  are  finding  it 
a, hard  matter  to  get  either  cars  or  men  enough 
to  keep  production  anywhere  near  what  it  .should 
he  to  fill  orders.  The  congestion  on  the  railroads 
is  shutting  off  the  fields  where  coal  can  be  deliv¬ 
ered,  but  this  is  believed  to  he  only  a  temporary 
influence  and  prices  which  declined  a  trifle  a  few 
days  ago  are  back  again  at  the  top  levels. 

More  activity  has  developed  in  the  bituminous 
market  during  the  past  two  months  than  for  a 
long  time  previous,  and  in  all  probability  this 
month  will  end  with  a  vast  amount  more  op¬ 
timism  among  coal  men  than  was  visible  a  year 
ago.  The  outlook  is  for  higher  prices  next 
month,  so  far  as  most  members  of  the  trade  see 
it.  They  expect  a  temporary  lull  in  orders  for 
the  next  week  or  two,  but  say  this  is  offset  by  a 
lull  in  mining  as  well. 


Buffalo  Trade  Briefs. 

i\1iller  &  Parsons,  of  Corry,  Pa.,  have  bought 
out  the  coal  interests  of  J.  Fletcher  .Xlden  of  that 
city. 

The  Artificial  Ice  Company,  of  Warren,  Pa., 
has  discontinued  its  coal  business,  which  was 
started  about  a  year  ago. 

C.  S.  B.  Ward,  representing  G.  P.  Bassett,  Jr., 
Pittsburgh,  and  George  D.  Rowland,  of  the  Rich¬ 
land  Coal  Company,  Wheeling,  visited  the  trade 
here  this  week. 

Charles  A.  Royce  has  opened  an  office  at  1028 
Prudential  building  as  Northeastern  sales  man¬ 
ager  of  the  J.  Harold  Thompson  Company,  Pitts¬ 
burgh,  with  which  he  has  been  connected*  for  sev¬ 
eral  years. 

Dealers  in  Chautauqua  county,  especially  in 
Dunkirk  and  Mayville,  report  a  largely  increased 
coal  business  on  account  of  the  .shortage  of  gas 
in  that  section.  A  still  further  increase  is  ex¬ 
pected  this  winter. 

The  Pittsburgh  Coal  Company,  which  has  for 
many  years  had  offices  in  the  Prudential  building, 
will  remove  early  in  the  year  to  896-898  Ellicott 
square,  where  it  will  have  conveniently  located 
oftices  on  the  Main  street  side. 

Charles  L.  Couch,  president  of  the  Weaver 
Coal  Company,  is  one  of  the  candidates  for  di¬ 
rector  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  at  the  elec¬ 
tion  to  he  held  on  January  12.  Twenty-two  are 
running  and  eleven  are  to  be  elected. 

Receipts  of  iron  ore  at  this  port  during  the 
past  lake  season  were  the  largest  on  record,  and 
amounted  to  5,328,608  tons.  August  and  Sep¬ 
tember  receipts  were  over  1,000,000  tons  each. 
Next  .season  is  expected  to  be  larger. 

'I'he  old  Lackawanna  lake  trestle  is  dismantled 
and  the  site  of  one  of  the  elevators  which  was 
to  take  part  in  the  widening  of  the  Buffalo  river 
channel  is  now  deep  water,  hut  the  dredge  has 
not  yet  passed  the  site  of  the  Union  elevator, 
which  is  close  to  the  trestle.  A  new  handling 


plant  is  planned  by  the  Lackawanna  for  some 
time  in  June. 

The  work  of  perfecting  the  car  unloader  at  the 
Lehigh  Valley  docks  at  the  Tifft  I'arm  is  being 
continued.  About  400  tons  were  unloaded  on  the 
steamer  Brown,  which  was  the  last  cargo  to  he 
shipped  by  the  company  this  season.  The  un¬ 
loader  is  expected  to  be  in  good  shape  to  begin 
the  next  season. 

The  way  the  railroads  sometimes  “get  there”  is 
shown  by  the  record  of  a  car  of  coal,  which  on 
November  18  a  Buffalo  shipper  asked  to  have 
traced  for  him.  On  December  21  he  received  a 
letter  from  the  railroad  stating  that  the  car  had 
arrived  on  November  24.  Of  course  he  had  long 
before  known  of  the  arrival  of  the  car  and  taken 
care  of  it. 


New  England  Trade. 


Boston,  December  23. —  (Special  Correspond¬ 
ence.) — At  the  moment  it  is  a  most  difficult 
proposition  to  determine  the  exact  basis  upon 
which  the  wholesale  anthracite  and  bituminous 
dealers  of  New  England  are  doing  business.  .The 
dealers  themselves  don’t  really  know.  Conditions 
existing  in  Boston  are  more  trying  than  they 
have  been  before  in  a  great  many  years.  Coal  of 
every  description  is  actually  scarce  and  prices 
asked  for  it  change  with  the  rapidity  of  a  “movie.” 

Local  agents  of  the  big  anthracite  producers, 
in  a  majority  of  cases,  are  absolutely  refusing  to 
take  on  new  business.  As  one  of  them  puts  it : 
“What’s  the  use  of  taking  on  new  business  when 
you  can’t  fill  the  old  orders?  It  just  makes  a  lot 
of  extra  bookkeeping  and  it  don’t  get  you  any¬ 
thing  except  your  goat.”  .Another  agent  was 
asked  what  the  New  England  trade  was  calling 
for  most.  His  answer  was  “anything  that  looks 
like  coal.”  Still  another  one  says :  “It  is  not  a 
question  of  price,  but  of  getting  coal  supplies.” 
-And  that  is  the  case  with  every  wholesaler.  The 
Pennsylvania  and  the  Reading  railroads  have  put 
an  embargo  on  all  freight  moving  into  New  Eng¬ 
land  via  the  New  Haven  Railroad,  which  is 
allowed  enough  coal  for  locomotives  only.  Under 
such  conditions  it  can  be  readily  seen  that  the 
all-rail  movement  of  coal  to  New  England  points 
is  extremely  unsatisfactory. 

On  top  of  this,  anybody  who  is  forced  to  go 
into  the  open  market  for  vessel  bottoms  is  up 
against  it  at  once.  There  is  very  little  to  he  had 
and  rates  are  almost  prohibittive.  Anyone  get¬ 
ting  coal  into  Boston  Harbor  is  a  very  lucky 
person,  for  they  can  secOre  almost  any  price  they 
care  to  ask  for  it.  We  hear  of  stove  and  egg 
selling  alongside  Boston  Harbor  at  a  premium 
of  $1  and  nut  at  a  premium  of  $1.25  over  circular 
prices.  At  Portland  stove  and  egg  has  sold  at  a 
premium  of  $1.25  in  cargo  lots,  and  for  even 
more  for  car-load  lots.  At  Portsmouth,  Provi¬ 
dence,  Pawtucket  and  many  other  New  England 
points  offerings  have  been  so  few  and  far  be¬ 
tween  and  prices  so  erratic  it  would  be  unfair  to 
quote  those  markets.  At  Mystic  Wharf  there  is 
practically  no  spot  market  for  anthracite,  for 
everything  is  sold  before  it  gets  there.  In  fact, 
we  know  of  instances  where  stove,  egg  and  nut 
have  sold  at  a  premium  of  fifty  cents  a  ton  on 
cars  at  the  mines  before  the  coal  has  actually 
been  loaded  on  the  cars.  Local  and  nearby  retail 
anthracite  prices  have  been  advanced  twenty-five 
cents  a  ton  and  will  undoubtedly  go  higher  before 
another  month  has  passed. 

Conditions  governing  the  bituminous  market 
are  even  more  acute  than  in  the  case  of  anthra¬ 
cite,  owing  to  a  greater  demand  for  the  product. 
,As  with  anthracite  there  is  no  spot  market  for 
New  River,  Pocahontas,  Georges  Creek  or  any 
other  coal  at  Mystic  Wharf.  Since  a  week  ago 
New  River  has  sold  in  Boston  Harbor  at  $7  per 
ton  before  landed,  a  new  high  record  price  for 
this  movement,  and  just  al)out  double  the  price 
asked  a  month  ago.  That  price  seems  to  have 
been  the  extreme.  Some  houses  have  asked  as 
high  as  $9  per  ton  for  Southern  coals  en  route, 
but  it  is  believed  that  no  actual  sales  have  been 
made  at  that  figure.  Some  coal  has  sold  as  low 
as  $6,50  here,  and  one  or  two  barges  'at  $7  at 
Portland.  West  Virginia  coals  are  selling  at 
$1.75  to  $2  on  cars  at  the  mines.  Virginia  smoke¬ 
less  coal  has  fetched  as  high  as  $3.25  on  cars 
at  the  mines,  while  Pennsylvania  bituminous  has 
changed  hands  at  $2.25  to  $2.35  per  ton  and  not 
especially  good  at  that.  Some  choice  Pennsyl¬ 
vania  has  .sold  at  better  than  $3  per  ton  on  cars  at 
the  mines.  In  view  of  the  fact  that  comparatively 
little  bituminous  is  mined  at  this  sea.son  of  the 
year,  local  dealers  expect  a  strong  and  possibly 
advancing  market  until  the  middle  of  January, 
when,  they  believe,  the  apex  of  the  advance 


should  be  reached.  Reserve  supplies  at  large 
consumption  points  throughout  New  England 
have  been  greatly  reduced  the  past  fortnight,  and 
another  two  weeks  will  see  an  actual  shortage  of 
l)ituminous  unless  the  weather  moderates  enough 
to  allow  a  freer  movement  of  vessels. 

The  marine  freight  rate  market  is  really  more 
than  buoyant — it  is  tremendously  excited.  The 
average  price  paid  for  space  during  the  past  week 
from  Hampton  Roads  ports  to  Boston  has  been 
$3  to  $3.50  per  ton.  From  New  York  to  Boston 
as  high  as  $1.25  to  $2  per  ton  has  been  asked  and 
received,  to  Portland,  $2  to  $2.25,  to  Providence 
and  Pawtucket,  $1.25  to  $1.35. 


The  Pond  Creek  Coal  Company  produced  73,- 
904  tons  of  coal  in  November;  in  October  its 
output  was  72,274  tons. 


Baltimore  Trade. 


B.M.TIMORE,  December  23. —  (Special  Correspond¬ 
ence). — The  coal  trade  has  plunged  into  official 
winter  with  a  splash  of  great  uncertainty.  Prices 
are  soaring  for  the  moment  under  what  is  appar¬ 
ently  a  false  impetus  of  temporary  railroad  ship¬ 
ping  restriction,  car  shortage  and  vessel  scarcity ; 
what  may  happen  should  any  or  all  of  these  ele¬ 
ments  find  relief  can  be  imagined.  The  demand 
for  fuel  for  consumption  purposes  by  industries 
here  is  but  moderate,  but  nearly  everybody  is  get¬ 
ting  short  of  coal  or  sees  shortage  ahead  as  a 
result  of  restricted  movement  of  fuel  from  mines 
to  terminals. 

Cold  weather  and  car  shortage  is  having  an  ef¬ 
fect  on  anthracite.  The  retail  situation  here  is 
tightening  rapidly.  .A  number  of  yards  are  now 
reported  short  of  certain  sizes,  and  urgent  action 
l^ehind  individual  shipments  is  necessary  to  keep 
abreast  of  existing  obligations  in  many  cases 
without  entering  into  new  ones. 

The  bituminous  situation,  however,  is  the  one 
of  greatest  interest.  The  market  is  almost  one 
of  trading  between  coal  man  and  coal  man,  and 
some  fancy  prices  have  been  asked  and  secured 
the  past  week.  It  is  largely  a  market  in  which 
coal  is  coal,  and  steam  varieties  have  about  hit  the 
same  level  in  most  cases.  Low  grade  gas  coals 
are  still  to  be  had  in  limited  quantities  at  less 
than  steam  coals  bring  here,  but  hi.gh  grade  gas 
coals  are  practically,  if  not  entirely,  out  of  the 
market.  Efforts  to  get  quotations  on  low  sulphur 
Fairmont  coals  were  generally  without  avail  the 
past  week. 

Prices  to  the  trade  where  operators  furnish 
equipment  from  allotments  was  about  as  fol¬ 
lows  during  the  past  week : 


F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Fairmont —  Mines.  Baltimore. 

Three-t|uarter  . li;l.90@2.00  $3.4S 

Run  of  mine .  1.65@1.75  .3.23 

-Slack  .  1.65  3.13 

Somerset — 

Best  .  2.73  3.93 

(iood  .  2.50  3.68 

Freeport — 

B.  &  O.  and  W.  Md .  2.00@2.2.)  3.43 

South  Fork — 

Best  .  2.50 @2.75  3.93 

Miller  Vein — 

Best  .  2.25@2..50  3.6,S 

Ordinary  .  2.00  3.18 


Baltimore  News  Briefs. 

Vessel  rates  continue  exorbitant  both  on  for¬ 
eign  delivery  and  coastwise  account  to  New  En¬ 
gland  and  the  north.  Water  haul  has  been 
thrown  more  into  competition  with  rail  because 
of  Pennsylvania  and  other  general  freight  rate 
embargoes  and  congestion.  Durin.g  the  past  week 
rates  to  Boston  have  run  as  high  as  $3.50  per  ton 
asked  and  closed,  while  Providence  brought  up  to 
$3.00.  The  export  rate,  especially  to  Mediter¬ 
ranean  and  other  submarine  infested  waters,  is 
out  of  sight.  -As  the  result  of  $25  to  $30  a  ton 
coal  rates  to  Mediterranean  ports,  the  Italian  in¬ 
dustrial  situation,  which  has  relied  largely  until 
recently  on  shipments  of  coal  from  this  port,  is 
reported  as  badly  hit.  Coal  is  selling  in  Italy  as 
high  as  $40  a  ton. 

E.xports  the  past  week  from  Baltimore  showed 
some  improvement,  the  total  being  17,816  tons. 

The  Alaryland  Steel  Company  has  just  closed  a 
90,000  ton  rail  order  with  the  French  government. 

Some  comment  was  cause  in  the  coal  trade  by 
the  fact  that  several  cars  of  New  River  coal  were 
shipped  here  all  rail.  This  coal  can  be  secured  at 
Hampton  Roads  on  a  mine  basis  of  about  $1.50, 
and  even  the  hi.gh  all-rail  freight  rate  put  it  into 
Baltimore  cheaper  than  some  of  the  competing 
steam  coals  of  this  port  are  bringing  here. 

Barge  rates  between  Norfolk  and  Baltimore 
have  trebled  in  the  past  three  weeks.  A  rate  of 
$1.50  a  ton  against  coal  makes  shipment  that  way 
almost  an  impossibility. 


Vol. 


o 

o  O. 


CHICAGO. 


D-iCCICiVdyJCil  2  5,  1915. 


MFAY  YORK. 


$3.00  Per  Year. 


Index  to  Advertisers,  Pages  36  and  33 


’WT’ 


SANTA  CLAUS— “I’ve  been  in  this  Christmas  present 
business  for  a  good  many  years,  but  I’ve  never  seen  so 
many  dealers  wanting  PURITY  SOOTLESS  COAL  as 
this  year.’’ 


SPECIAL  FEATURE  ARTICLES 


page  521 

.  522 

.  523 

.  524 


How  Chicago  Began  to  Study  Cost  Accounting .  .  .  . 

An  Bastern  Retail  Cost  Accounting  System . 

Handling  Anthracite  Over  Loading  Docks . 

Barker  Company’s  Circular  Concrete  Coal  Pockets 


PROGRESSIVE  GOAE 


72  West  Adams  Steet,  CHICAGO 


N.  W.  Sales  Office: — 916-918  Security  Bank  Building,  Minneapolis,  Minn. 

E.  C.  PRATT.  N.  W.  Sales  Agent 
Exclusive  Selling  Agents— PURITY  SOOTLESS  COAL 
Mined  by  the  Christopher  Coal  Mining  Co.,  Christopher,  Ill. 

SUNDERLAND  BROS.  CO.,  Omaha,  Neb. — Agents  for  Kansas,  Missouri  and  Nebraska 


F.  J.  BROWNING,  Manager  of  Sales 


Never  in  the  history  of  this  company  has  there  been  such  a  firni  and 
universal  demand  for — 

PURITY  SOOTLESS  COAL 

as  at  the  present  time.  Not  merely  just  a  temporary,  flash-in-the-pan  rush  of 
business,  but  a  steady  increase  growing  larger  each  day  as  each  day  grows  colder. 
To  be  exact,  our  records  show  an  increased  tonnage  of  over  333^  per  cent  over 
that  of  last  year. 

News  travels  fast  and  by  many  tongues.  Judicious  buyers  of  domestic  coal, 
always  on  the  alert  for  a  more  satisfactory  and  economical  coal  to  burn,  have 
learned  of  PURITY  BOOTLESS  and  are  buying  this  coal  from  those  dealers 
handling  it  and  demanding  it  from  those  who  don’t. 

If  you  happen  to  be  one  of  those  dealers  u’ho  don’t — let  us  take  up  the  matter 
of  an  Agency  for  PURITY  COAL  with  you.  It  pays  and  pays  big. 

- OOOOO - 

CDcrc's  notbind  that  adds  more  to  tbe  pleasure  of  business  than  cordial  re¬ 
lations  with  one's  customers,  and  now  that  tbe  b^lidav  Season  Is  at  band,  laden  with 
its  spirit  of  good  fellowship,  we  want  to  tbank  you  for  past  faoors,  and  to  wish  that 
you  may  enjoy  a  flowing  measure  of  bcaiib,  happiness  and  Prosperity  all  through  tbe 
coming  year. 


PURITY  COAL  COMPANY 


2 


TPIE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


[December 


ISAAC  T.  MANN  CHARLES  S.  THORNE  THOIv/iacit  odd.-.. 

Vice-Pre.ident  G^nefa^Man^gfr  '^Asl”  G.n^I  Manag’l'^'^  CEO.  W.  WOODRUFF 

POCAHONTAS  FUEL  COMPANY 

Sale.  Department  of  Pocahonta.  Con.olidated  Collierie.  Company,  Incorporated. 

Miners,  Shippers,  Exporters  and  Bunker  Suppliers  of 

“ORIGINAL  POCAHONTAS”  COAL 

Ship  from  22  Mines  in  the  Pocahontas  Coal  Field  ci_* 

Ship  5,000,000  ton.  per  annum  by  all-rail,  tidewater  and  the  Great  Lake. 

LARGEST  PRODUCERS  OF  SMOKELESS  COAL  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 

taken  fromTa^loe‘’.’[FurniVheTby®Pocrh?nt«'Fu^^^^ 

n  r-  ^  Fixed  Carbon  -  74  0i_ 

P.  F.  C.  Volatile  Matter . ‘  ‘  .  '  Jg U  ^  P  F  r 

REGISTERED  SIGNAL  >  Sulphur . ..  ..  p.f.c. 

Hampton  Road.  ^  ..'re  - ^  I]  POCAHONTAS^ 

m  ,  . . Trade  Mark 

Total  - . 100.00 

British  Thermal  Units  15003 

THl.  coal  i.  — .nrrX".\V:.-at  I^o^a^H^  FieM  were  made  from  the  mine,  of  the  Pocahonta. 

niinmstheNo.3  veinand.hip;i^TrhVEiK;r*ldLTprafeV::^^^^^  "»« 

LARGEST  EXPORTERS  OF  SEMI-BITUMINOUS  COAL  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 

No.  1  BROADWAY,  NEW  YORK 

BRANCH  OFFICES  NORFOLK,  VIRGINIA,  117  Main  Street  BOSTON  MASS  Rnar/i  nf  t*  a  n  ~^a-  t»t  ttt^  « 

CHICAGO.  ILLINOIS.  Fisher  Building  ’  -  CINaNNATI  OHIO  T  VIRGINIA.  Pocahonta.  Building 

dock,  BOSTON.  MASS. 

TIDEWATER  PIERS;  Lambert  Point,  Sewalls  Point,  Norfolk;  and  Newport  News,  Va. 

Tug.  Bunkered  at  City  Pier.,  Norfolk,  Virginia 

tin-American,  West  Indian  and  European  Coal  Consumers  Invited  to  Correspond  with 

POCAHONTAS  FUEL  COMPANY,  No.  1  Broadway,  New  York  City  U  S  A 


llll>iilIl[lllll[llll|[|[|I|[IEI 


SETTLE  THE  QUALITY  QUESTION 


We  are  living  in  a  “QUALITY  AGE.” 

QUALITY  in  everything  is  demanded  on  all  sides. 

QUALITY  in  Bituminous  Coal  means  a  combina¬ 
tion  of  essentials,  demanded  by  those  who  use  it. 

It  must  be  free  burning;  quick  to  get  into  action  if 
necessary;  it  must  hold  fire  all  night  if  required;  it 
must  be  absolutely  clinkerless;  it  must  make  very 
little  ashes;  it  rnust  work  satisfactorily  in  the  cook 
stoves,  the  heating  stoves,  the  furnace  and  the  open 
grate  as  well;  it  must  be  clean  and  highly  prepared. 

These  specifications  are  demanded  by  the  trade  — 
very  few  coals  can  fill  them  satisfactorily.  Settle 
the  QUALITY  question  and  use  BLACK  STAR  or 
BLACK  CRESCENT  COALS. 

WALLINS  CREEK  COAL  COMPANY,  Inc. 

MINE  OPERATORS 

WALLINS  CREEK  SALES  COMPANY,  Inc. 

EXCLUSIVE  SALES  AGENTS 
Companies  Under  Same  Management 

E.  R.  Clayton,  Sales  Manager,  Pineville,  Ky. 


Illlllllll[||||in[||||||||||||| 


iiiiiiiiiiiinniiiiiiiMiiiiiii 


ORDERS,  satisfactory  orders  are  the  result 

of  work  and  study  along  right  lines.  Satisfactory 
orders  in  the  retail  coal  business  are  the  result  of 
careful  study  and  judicious  buying  of  efficient  and 
economical  coals.  For  more  satisfactory  orders 
try  a  car  or  two  of 

WOLF  RUN  -  HOCKING 

l>OJVIE^{STlO 

A  coal  mined  and  prepared  expressly  for  the 
dealer  and  his  domestic  trade.  Domestic  sizes 
are  (>"  LUMP,  LUMP  and  li4"x()"  RE¬ 
SCREENED  EGG. 

New  York  Central  Lines 

LET  US  SEND  YOU  PRICES.  WRITE 

W.  H.  WARNER  &  COMPANY 

811  Leader-News  Bldg.,  Cleveland 
OPERATORS 

KINDER  MINE— Pa.  R.  R. 

Youifhiogheny  District 


LEONARD  MINE  — P.  6  1.  E.  R.  R. 
Youghio^heny  District 


PEYTONA  MINE 

Blach  Band,  W.  Va.,  District 

WAR  MINE 

Pocahontas,  W.  Va..  District 


Mention  The  Black  Diamond  when  writing  advertisers. 


No.  26] 


THE  BLACK  DIA3I()NI). 


3 


r 


alphabetically  speaking 


is  for  CHICAGO  —  more 
particularly  for  407  McCor¬ 
mick  Building,  Chicago — a 
good  place  to  buy  good  coal. 

for  WILMINGTON  — 
the  leading  Northern 
Illinois  coal.  A  favorite 
for  forty-eight  years. 


I 


& 


( this  case)  stands  for 

ROYAL  &  THAYER, 

well-known  twin  mines  in 
Central  Illinois,  producing  an¬ 
nually  more  than  a  million  tons  of 

Royal  Thayer  Coal,  and 


m-  is  for  FRANKLIN— that 
justly  famous  County  in 
Southern  Illinois  and 
the  home  of  ORIENT,  one  of  the 
largest  and  finest  coal  mining  plants 
in  this  country. 

taken  together,  stands  for 
An  Organization 
painstakingly  built  and 
equipped  to  give  Good 
Coal  Service,  and  specializing  in  the 
production  and  wholesale  distribu¬ 
tion  of  Best  Illinois  Coals. 


0 


iL/. 


&r 


D 


N 


lllUill 

McCormick  Building,  Chicago 


C0AL(p. 


Producers  of  Best  Illinois  Goals 


Daily  Capacity  12,000  Tons 


ORIENT  ROYAL  THAYER  WILMINGTON  STREATOR 


Mention  The  Black  Diamond  when  writing  advertisers. 


4 


THE  BEACK  DIAMOND 


[December  25 


FRANKLIN  COUNTY 


A  Merry  Christmas 
and  a  Happy  and  Prosper¬ 
ous  New  Year  to  all  those 
in  the  coal  trade. 

We  thank  those  whose  appreciation  of  our  efforts  and  our  service  has 
caused  the  year  almost  passed  to  be  one  of  our  most  successful  years,  and 
hope  that  our  past  relationship  will  warrant  a  continuance  of  your  favors. 

We  solicit  a  trial  from  aU  those  who  have  never  tried  our  service,  and 
who  are  not  familiar  with  our  coals.  To  those  who  are  anxiously  striving 
to  find  a  more  profitable  and  satisfactory  coal  to  handle,  we  :recommend 


‘‘MITCHELUS 

THE  PEER  OF  FRANKLIN  COUNTY 


The  high  quality  and  thorough  preparation  of  this  .coal  and  the  satis¬ 
factory  service  rendered  by  this  company  has  helped  hundreds  of  dealers 
to  a  better  coal  to  buy  and  a  better  place  to  buy  it. 

It  is  mined  at  Royalton,  Ill.,  prepared  in  all  sizes,  and  shipped  over 
the  C.  B.  &  Q.,  M.  P.  and  I.  C.  Ry’s. 

The  same  careful  attention  given  an  order  as  is  given-  an  inquiry. 
Write 

Bickett  Coal  &  Coke  Co. 


507  McCormick  Bldg., 


Chicago,  Ill. 


Mention  The  Black  Diamond  when  writing  advertisers. 


No.  26] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


O 


■'Sir: 


iMay'  your’ 

I  Christmas 


prove  to  be  a  merry  ending  of  your  most  successful  year, 
and  your  New  Year  a  happy  beginning  of  a  better  one. 


As  in  former  years,  we  have  put  torth  every  effort  in 
accomplishing  our  work, —  the  task  of  making  our 
service  of  even  a  more  satisfactory  character,  and 

CHRISTOPHER  COAL 


a  little  nearer  perfection.  The  year  1916  will  see  us 
continuing  the  work  with  renewed  vigor  and  added  effort. 

We  solicit  a  continuance  of  patronage  from  all  of  our 
regular  customers,  and  an  early  trial  from  those  dealers 
who  are  not  now  familiar  with  CHRISTOPHER  COAL 
nor  the  satisfactory  service  rendered  by  us. 

C.  M.  MODERWELL  &  CO. 

1060  McCormick  Bldg.,  Chicago,  Ill. 


Mention  The  Black  Diamond  when  writing  advertisers. 


6 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


[December  25 


I 


iibbki 


t  this  season  it 
is  but  natural  to 
pause  for  ^  ^ 
contemplation. 


Our  business  relations 
have  been  most  pleasant. 

The  friendly  ties  which 
bound  us  before  are  even 
more  closely  cemented.  ^ 

Y es,  it  is  a  joyous  season 
and  made  so  in  no  small 
part  because  of  our  ^  ^ 
^  relations  with  you. 


BIG  CREEK  COLLIERY  COMPANY 

CHICAGO 


Mention  The  Black  Diamond  when  writing  advertisers 


No.  26] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


7 


Furnishing  the  Best  on 
Earth  in  Coal,  our  Christ¬ 
mas  wish  would  naturally 
be  the  best  of  everything  on 
earth  to  you. 

McCORMICK  BUILDING 

CHICAGO 


Mention  The  Black  Diamond  when  writing  advertisers. 


8 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


[December  25 


hearty  wish  for  a  Merry 
Christmas  and  a  Happy 
and  Prosperous  New  Year  to 
all  in  the  fuel  and  allied  trades. 

SOLVAY  SOLVAY 

POCAHONTAS  COAL  KINGSTON  COAL 

AND 

SOLVAY  COKE 

I  **The  Fuel  Without  a  Fault” 


BY-PRODUCTS  COKE  SOLVAY  COLLERIES  SOLVAY  COLLERIES  CO. 
CORPORATION  COMPANY  &  SEMET-SOLVAY  CO. 

Marquette  Bldg.,  Chicago,  III.  1023  Union  Central  Bldg.,  Cincinnati,  O.  Detroit,  Mich. 


‘‘It  pays 
to  be  a 
SOLVAY 

dealer/' 


! 


1 


Mention  The  Black  Diamond  when  writing  advertisers. 


No.  26] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


9 


KAithithgAttAKhitAKAttlkttAKAIttMASAitAttiMAitA 


ay  your  Christmas  be 
as  Merry  and  your 
New  Year  as  Happy 
as  you  have  made  our  last 
year  a  successful  one.  «  «  « 

Producers  Coal  Company 

D.  H.  Jenks,  General  Manager 

GENERAL  SALES  OFFICES :  NORTHERN  SALES  OFFICES : 
Union  Central  Building  Dime  Bank  Building,  Detroit 

Cincinnati,  Ohio  R.  C.  Hurd,  District  Manager 

MINE  OWNERS  AND  SHIPPERS 

^^The  Distinctive  Brands^^ 

Mines  Located  on 

Norfolk  &  Western  and  Chesapeake  &  Ohio  Railways 

BEST  GRADES 

West  Virginia  and  Kentucky 

Splint  and  Gas  Coals 

Annual  Capacity  2,000,000  tons 

‘‘Best  Quality?  “Best  Preparation’’  “Best  Service” 

Lake,  Rail  and  Tidewater  Shipments 


VlV1tV%V1tV%V«.V%VlbV%V%V%V%V«V«.V%V%V%V«.V 


Mention  The  Black  Diamond  when  writing  advertisers. 


10 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


[December  25 


LettKeHolid^  .^eaj’onbe 

brigntened  for  jour  Gi.rtoiiierj’ 
andj^our  trouble  j*  lightened 
^  filling  tneir  orderj'  with 

Dependable  Coal 


j.jr WENTZ  V  COMPANY 
MARYD  COAL  CO.  MIDVALLEY  COAL  CO. 

UPPER  LEHIGH  COAL  CO. 

PHILAPELPHIAPA. 

DETROIT  MICH. 


Mention  The  Black  Diamond  when  writing  advertisers. 


No.  26] 


11 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


A  Merry 
Christmas 
and  a  Happy 
New  Year  to 
Everybody. 

•  •  •  • 


Gil 


more 


&  Sol 


omon 


(?o  al  Minin  (Company 


C.  W.  GILMORE.  Pres. 


Nature’s  gifts  to 
the  coal  dealer 


Westville 

3  mines,  Vermilion 
Co.,  Ill.  Domestic 
and  Steam  Coal. 

Long  flame,  low  in 
sulphur  and  ash. 

‘‘Little  Jack’» 

2  mines,  Franklin  Co., 

Ill.  Domestic  Lump, 

Egg  and  Nut.  “As 
good  as  the  best  and 
better  than  the  rest.” 

Clinton,  Indiana 

6  Mines,  3rd,  4th,  and 
5th  Seam. 

Original  Hillsboro 

1  Mine,  Montgomery  Co., 

Ill.  Eight  inch  coal. 

Good  for  domestic  use. 

“Clinton  FourthVein  Gas  Coal” 

For  brick,  tile,  malleable  iron 
work,  pipe  plants,  gas  companies 
and  gas  producing,  this  Fourth 
Vein  Coal  has  no  equal.  It  is  a 
fuel  that  will  assure  the  greatest 
economy  in  plant  operation. 

J.  K.  Dering  Coal  Co. 

1914-1919  McCormick  Bldg., Chicago,  Ill. 

J.  K.  Dering  J.  B.  Roynon  W.  H.  D.  Gibson  A.  R.  Odell 


Mention  The  Black  Diamond  when  writing  advertisers. 


12 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


[December  25 


extend  to  you 
the  Greetings 
of  the  Season 
with  the  sincere  wish 
that  the  coming  year 
will  be  one  of  Peace, 
Progress  and  Prosperity 


Consolidafion  Coal  Co. 

BALT/MOff£ ,  Jtfo.  D 

-  Irocoino/hi^ 


(Gold)  Medal  of  Honor  Awarded  The  Consolidation 
Coal  Co.,  by  the  Panama-Pacific  Exposition, 
THE  HIGHEST  AWARD 


Consolidation  Elkhorn 

Same^heatjas  Pocahontas,  with  one-half  the  ash. 
Lumpy.  Hard.  Free-burning. 

Ocean  Smokeless  Lump  and  Mine  Run 

The  perfect  smokeless  coal. 

Georges  Creek  Big  Vein  Cumberland 
Smithing 

The  International^Standard 

Consolidation  Anthracite 

Always  uniform  and  dependable. 


Millers  Creek  Kentucky  Block 

The  perfect  and  profitable  domestic  coal. 

No.  3  Pocahontas  Lump,  Egg,  Washed  Nut 
Washed  Pea,  and  Screened  Mine  Run 

The  firmer  kind. 

Elkhorn  Laclede  Gas  Coke 

A  perfect  domestic  fuel.  Low  in  ash  and  free -burning. 

St.  Louis  Elkhorn  By-Product  Coke 

For  Foundry,  Furnace  and  all  Industrial 
and  Domestic  L^ses. 


THE  CONSOLIDATION  COAL  COMPANY 

INCORPORATED 


E.  M.  MANCOURT,  Western  Manager,  Fisher  Building,  CHICAGO 


DETROIT 

CHICAGO 

CINCINNATI 

LOUISVILLE,  KY. 

ST.  LOUIS,  MO. 

C.  A.  CHAMBERS,  Mer. 

J.  B.  BEARDSLEE,  Mgr. 

THOMAS  H.  RICHARDSON,  Mgr. 

G.  E.  DAVIS.  Mgr 

M.  W.  WARREN  COKE  CO. 

Dime  Bank  Bldg. 

Fisher  Bldg. 

W.  T.  COE 

Union  Central  Bldg. 

Manager,  Billiter  Square  Buildings,  London,  E.  C.,  England 

Paul  Jones  Bldg. 

Laclede  Gas  Bldg. 

Operators  of  101  Mines  in  Kentucky,  West  Virginia,  Pennsylvania  and  Maryland 


Mention  The  Black  Diamond  when  yriting  advertisers 


No.  26] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


13 


m 

WL 


A  M  I) 


M  i 


AJ' 


BITUMINOUS 


COAL 


COKE 


l^enn 


ik  31<lg, 
Fhilncloljiliifi,  Pu, 


wAa  yXf/^  * 


fji 

-  •M 


mmmm 


WILL  YOU 
INVESTIGATE 

Our  claims  for  VULCAN 
BY-PRODUCT  COKE 
(the  Perfect  Fuel) 

That  it  is  as  good  a  coke 
as  you  can  buy  and  with 
greater  profits. 

Vulcan  coke  is  now  being 
handled  by  hundreds  of 
dealers  who  formerly 
depended  upon  Hard 
Coal.  All  we  ask  is  for 
you  to  try  it. 

Vulcan  Quality  makes 
permanent  customers. 


ATWIll-MAKEMSON 
COAL  AND  COKE 
COMPANY 

specialize  in  guaranteed  Cokes 
for  every  use  and  shipment  to 
all  parts  of  the  country. 

YOUGHIOGHENY 
FORKED  GAS  HOUSE 

HAMILTON  OTTO 
BY-PRODUCT  F’DRY 

VULCAN  DOMESTIC 
AND  RUN  OF  OVEN 

72-hour  Foundry,  48-hour  Fur¬ 
nace,  from  Connellsville,  Pa., 
West  Virginia,  and  Wise 
County,  Virginia;  also  Soft 
Coke  for  Core  Oven  use. 

Phone  or  Write 

ATWIll-MAKEMSON 
COAl  AND  COKE 
COMPANY 

McCormick  Building 

CHICAGO 


Phone 

Harrison  1911-1912 


Phone 

Harrison  1913-1914 


Mention  The  Black  Diamond  when  writing  advertisers. 


14 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


[December  25 


Williamson  County  Coal 


after  being  once  tried,  becomes  as  much  of  a  necessity  to  the 
household  as  any  other  staple  brand  of  article  which  the  house¬ 
wife  knows  she  can  depend  upon.  It  becomes  just  as  much  of  a 
habit  for  her  to  order  Williamson  County  Coal  as  it  is  for  her  to 
order  her  favorite  brand  of  flour,  soap  or  thread. 

Continuous  experience  in  buying  and  burning  the  coal  has  proven 
to  her  that  Williamson  County  Coal  is  always  of  that  clean  and 
uniform  preparation  and  of  that  exceptionally  high  quality  for 
which  this  coal  is  known. 

The  first  trial  demonstrated  to  her  that  this  coal  was  a  more 
economical  and  satisfactory  coal  to  buy.  Economical,  because 
it  furnished  more  heat  at  a  smaller  cost  per  ton  than  any  other 
coal  she  had  ever  used.  Satisfactory,  because  Williamson  County 
Coal  made  little  smoke  or  soot  while  burning  and  left  very  little 
ash  to  dispose  of. 

What  is  more,  the  housewife  learned  that  this  coal  burned  equally 
as  well  in  a  hot  water  or  steam  boiler,  hot  air  furnace  or  open 
grate  as  it  did  in  her  cooking  range.  In  other  words,  it  was  a 
universal  coal. 

For  a  coal  that  will  establish  its  own  permanent  patronage,  order 
a  car  or  two  of  Williamson  County  Coal. 


R 


n 


Mention  The  Black  Diamond  when  writing  advertisers. 


No.  26] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


15 


OTTER  CREEK  COAl  COMPANY 

417  So.  Dearborn  St.,  CHICAGO 
and  BRAZIL,  INDIANA 

PRODUCERS 

Celebrated  White  Ash  Brazil 
Block  Coal 

For  Steam  and  Domestic  Use 


Mines  Extra  Large 
Well  Screened 
Stocks  Well 
No  Clinkers 
No  Stringers 
Soft  Light  Ash 
Long  Bright  Flame 
Burns  Up  Clean  as 
Wood 

Holds  Fire  a  Long 
Time 

Less  Coal  to  Handle 


GENUINE 

Lower  Vein 
Brazil  Block 
Shaft  Mined 


For  steam  Users  It 
Means: 

Less  Ash  to  Handle 
Mere  Steam 
Cheap  Steam 
No  Sulphur,  Hence 
No  Leaky  Flues 
No  Burnt -Out 
Grates 

Contented  Firemen 
Happy  Engineers 
A  Clean  Smoke¬ 
stack 


It  gives  abundance  of  STEAM.  Plenty  of  STEAM  makes 
everything  and  everybody  move  faster. 

To  be  sure  of  getting  GENUINE,  SHAFT  MINED, 
LOWER  VEIN  BRAZIL  BLOCK  COAL, 

order  from  the  Miners. 


Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii^ 


TU 
Rid 


In  Sealed  Box  Cars  for 
the  Northwest  7  rade 

All  Sizes 

of  KENTUCKY  PRIDE  COAL  are  shipped  in  Sealed 
Box  Cars  to  assure  the  buyer  that  the  coal  is  of  the  same 
quality  that  it  was  when  it  left  the  producer. 

KENTUCKY  PRIDE  BLOCK 

is  one  of  the  best  domestic  coals  produced.  It  is  hard, 
square  and  lumpy  in  structure,  free  burning,  little  ash, 
and  practically  no  smoke  or  soot. 

KENTUCKY  PRIDE  WASHED  EGG 

and 

KENTUCKY  PRIDE  WASHED  STOVE 

sizes  4x234"  and  234x13^  respectively,  are  the  last  words 
in  the  preparation  and  quality  of  coal.  No  screenings  or 
impurities. 

Write  for  delivered  prices 

R.  C.  Whitsett  Coal  and  Mining  Co. 

Transportation  Building 
CHICAGO,  ILL. 


.TillllllllllllMIIIIIIMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIillllllllllllllllillllllllllllllllllllMIIIIIItT: 


*yj"AV.V.V.V.V.".V.VV.V.W.V.V.W.V.V.V.VA".V.V.V-V-".V.^' 


i 


A  car  or  two  direct  to  you 

And  in  Sealed  Box  Cars 


iTfrrr  r- 


minmimji 


GENUINE 

PITTSTON  ANTHRACITE 


ROLLER  SCREENED  AND  RE-SCREENED  AT  OUR  MILWAUKEE  DOCKS 


VICTORY  SPLINT  LUMP 


FROM  WEST  VIRGINIA.  DOCK  PREPARED 


nimionur. 


Z3. 


VIRGIN  POCAHONTAS 


EGG  OR  LUMP.  DOCK  SCREENED 
WRITE 


I 


1 


Pennsylvania  Coal  &  Supply  Co.  S 

All  roads  Milwaukee  Milwaukee,  Wis.  !• 


The  Standard  of  Excellence 
A  Symbol  of  Quality 

C.  C.  B.  POCAHONTAS  C.  C.  B.  NEW  RIVER 


Officially  endorsed  by  the  Governments  of  Great 
Britain,  Germany,  Austria  and  the  United 
States.  Mines  on  the  Norfolk  &  Western  Ry. 


THE  CREAM  OF  THE  NEW  RIVER  FIELD. 
Unsurpassed  for  the  generation  of  steam. 
Mines  on  the  yirginian  Railway. 


ASHLESS,  KY. 


THE  PEER  OF  ALL  ^NTUCKY  COALS.  Tumbler 
Shaker  Screen  Preparation  in  Two  Sizes — BLOCK  and  EGG. 
The  BLOCK  size  can  be  loaded  in  BOX  CARS,  if  dwired. 
Shipped  from  the  Hazard  District  on  Louisville  &  Nashville  Ry. 

SOVEREIGN  BITUMINOUS  CINDERELLA  SPLINT 

A  FREE  NON-CLINKERING  COAL, 

LOW  IN  ASH  AND  HIGH  IN 
HEATING  VALUE. 


A  genuine  WEST  VIRGINIA  WHITE 
ASH  SPLINT,  unbeatable  for  domestic 
purposes.  Stocks  like  ANTHRACITE. 


1 


SAMUEL  CASTNER,  Jr.,  Praa.  P.  A.  CASTNER,  Saoy.  mmd  Traas. 

LEMUEL  BURROWS.  Jr.,  V.-P.  and  G.  M. 

Castner,  Curran  &  Bullitt,  Inc. 

SOLE  AGENT 

Main  Offioe:  Stock  Exchange  Balldlng,  Philadelphia 


BRANCH  OFFICESi  Naw  Yark  Chloaga  Narfolk  Raanaka 

EUROPEAN  AGENTSi  Hull.  Blyth  &  Ca.,  Lanaon.  Eng. 


Cincinnati 


•r  -a 

^/J■aVWarJWd■irJWarAVi^A^^v^JVaV^^d■.vwwu^^vlAwwvvwJ^ 


:.c.E 

"POCAHONTAS' 
.^SMOKELESS., 
JCOAL^ 


X.C.B^ 
NEW  RIVER 
JSMOKELES^ 


Mention  The  Black  Diamond  when  writing  advertisers. 


16 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


[December  25 


Clinchfield 

Navigation 

A  coal  of  the  highest 
standard  for  bunkering 

ALWAYS  IN  STOCK  AT 

NORFOLK,  VA. 

WILMINGTON,  N.  C. 
CHARLESTON,  S.  C. 

SAVANNAH,  GA.,  and 
GALVESTON,  TEX. 

Clinchfield  Fuel  Company 

Spartanburg,  S.  C. 

24  Broad  Street,  New  York 

EUR  EAN  AGENTS  : 

HARRIS  &  DIXON,  LTD.,  81  GRACECHURCH  STREET 
LONDON,  ENGLAND 


Lincoln  Coal 

“Same  as  the  last’" 


LINCOLN  is  known  as  the  hardest  coal 
from  either  Illinois  or  Indiana.  It  is  one 
of  the  most  thoroughly  and  carefully  pre¬ 
pared  coals  in  the  country.  Its  quality  is 
equal  to  any  produced. 

LINCOLN  COAL  is  prepared  in  all  do¬ 
mestic  and  steam  sizes; 

Lump  passes  over  a  shaker  screen,  Egg  and 
Nut  sizes  are  put  through  a  revolving  screen. 

For  a  coal  that  will  satisfy  your  trade  and 
increase  your  business,  write 

LINCOLN  -SPRINGFIELD 
COAL  COMPANY 

900-904  Old  Colony  Bldg.,  Chicago 


_ SPRING  VALLEY  COAL  COMPANJT _ 

Producers  of  THIRD  VEIN  COAL  Exclusively 

CAPACITY  OF  MINES,  6,500  TONS  DAILY 

ADDRESS  ALL  COMMDWCATIDHS  TD  PRINCIPAL  DFFICE 

SUITE  915  OLD  COLONY  BUILDING,  407  $0.  DEARBORN  STREET  CHICAGO,  ILL. 


J.  K.  DERIHG,  President  J.  B.  ROYNON,  Secretary 

J.  K.  BERING  COAL  COMPANY 

1914-1920  McCormick  Btiilding,  Chicago,  Ill. 

TELEPHONE,  HARRISON  6906 

“LITTLE  JACK” 

Franklin  County,  Illinois,  Domestic  Lump,  Egg  and  Nut 

W.  H.  D.  GIBSON  A.  R.  ODELL 


Y oughiogheny  The  House  of  Quality  Black  Band 

Hocking  Pocahontas 

ww»  w%  ,  The  Company  with  the  Coal  and  the  Service  Crtrinol 

C4/.  Ua,  yjpLint  Anthracite  and  Bituminous  Coal  K^UTlTlfs 

Red  Jacket  tu  d  •  4-  1  ^  Smithing 

Kentucky  Elkhorn  *”**^*'^  Kentucky  Derby 

dtlKBOYOAN,  WIS. 

DOCKS  AT — Sheboygan,  Manitowoc,  Green  Bay,  Ashland,  Superior  n-nd  Two  Rivera,  Wis.,  Esoanaba,  Mich.,  Waukegan,  III, 


L.  R.  ROTTER  H.  P.  HARMON  R.  H.  CLARK 

FTee.  A  TreM  Vice-President  Secretnry 

DAVID  RUTTER  &  COMPANY 

Incorporated 

COAL  and  COKE 

417  S.  DEARBORN  STREET,  CHICAGO 

Telephone  Herrieea  1440 

WHOLESALE  RETAIL 


Mention  The  Black  Diamond  when  writing  advertisers. 


No.  26] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


17 


I 


1 

3 

s 

yv 

c 

Ml 

•1 

wr,  o.  ooooivow'  co. 

MI  IV IV  J®  S 

Kentucky,  Pocahontas,  Cannel,  Illinois,  Coke. 

All  Dock  Coals.  Bituminous  and  Anthracite. 


.  - - — °  "  . 

V.V.V.V.V.V.V.V.V.V,V,V,V■V■V^V■V^V■V■VilF.V.V.^^V,V,VJ^^V,V,^VAV,V,^^^^^^^^^^^^^V■^V^^^^V^V■V^V^V■^■V■V^^V^V■^■V.C 


Pennsylvania  Coal  &  Coke  Corporation 


MINERS  AND  SHIPPERS 

WEBSTER-BITUMINOUS  COAL-PARDEE 
WEBSTER  SELECTED  SMITHING  COAL 
FOUNDRY  AND  FURNACE  COKE 

Ownen  and  Operators  of  the  only  Aatomatis  Coaling  Barges  in  New  York  Barbor. 


BUNKERING  A  SPECIALTY 


Shipping;  Piers: 


NEW  YORK, 

PHILADELPHIA 

BALTIMORE 


-  -  -  Port  Liberty 

Port  Richmond  and  Greenwich 

-  -  -  Canton  Piers. 


NEW  YORK,  17  BATTERY  PLACE 


Boston.  141  Milk  St.  Syraoose,  Union  Boilding  Philadelphia,  Land  Title  Bldg.  Hartford,  34  Pearl  St. 
HXILL,  BLYTH  ft  CO..  No.  1.  Loyd’s  Ave.,  London,  E.  C.,  EUROPEAN  AGENTS. 


20  Mines 


Capacity  10,000 
tons  daily 


THE  WHITE  OAK  COAL  COMPANY 

Macdonald,  West  Va. 

Sales  and  Distributing  Agents  for  The  New  River  Company’s  famous 

“White  Oak”  Smokeless  Coal 

LUMP  EGG  MINE  RUN  STEAM  and  SMITHING 

Mined  in  the  heart  of  the  famous  NEW  RIVER  SMOKELESS  coal  field  of  West  Virginia 

SERVICE,  QUALITY  and  PREPARATION  Our  Aim 


C.  H.  SPRAGUE 
&  SON 

Boston  Mass. 

TIDEWATER  AGENTS 

londotT^ents 

MOORE  &  FLETCHER 

101  Leadenhall  St.,  S.  E. 

BRANCH  OFFICES 
Cincinnati  Chicago 
Washington  Newport  Newi 
Indianapolis 


tibe  IRew  (pittsburob  Coal  (TompaiTg 

Incorporated  in  1886 

Miners  and  Shippers  of 

GENUINE  HOCKING 
VALLEY  COAL 

From  the  Heart  of  the  Hocking  District 


General  Office 

50  East  Broad  Street,  Columbus,  Ohio 

Western  Office  Northern  Office 

1105  Old  Colony  Building,  Chicago  1124  Majestic  Bldg.,  Detroit 

All  Upper  and  Lower  Lake  Port  Shipping  Docks 

Mines:  Powell's  Run,  Murray  City,  Greendale,  Kittanning,  New  Monarch 


NEW  RIVER  COAL 
COMPANY 

Miners  and  Shippers  of  Sfandard  Grades  New  River  Goal 

GENERAL  OFFICE,  CHARLESTON,  W.  VA. 

C  CHICAGO,  1 708  FIshar  Bulldina 

BKftNCH  OFFICKS:  ]  'J.*  * 

i  CINCINNATI,  O.,  601  Naava  Building 
t  NORFOLK,  VA.,  National  Bank  of  Commoroo  Building 

New  England  Agents,  NEW  ENGLAND  COAL  &  COKE  CO. 
Ill  Devonshire  Street,  Boston,  Mass. 

Tidewater  Shipping  Piers: 

Newport  News,  Va.  and  Sewalls  Point,  Va. 


THE  LORAIN  COAL  &  DOCK  COMPANY 

New  Hayden  Building,  Columbus,  Ohio 

ISLAND  CREEK,  :  LOGAN  COUNTY,  W.  VA. 

No.  8  PITTSBURGH  :  BELMONT  COUNTY,  O. 

HOCKING  :  ATHENS  COUNTY,  O. 

KENTUCKY  BLOCK  :  PERRY  COUNTY,  KY. 

DAILY  CAPACITY  OF  THESE  MINES,  15000  tons 


DETROIT  BRANCH  David  Whitney  Bldg. 


WRITE  US 


CLEVELAND  BRANCH  Rockefeller  Bldg. 


O’OiARA 


Ol3.ioae:o,  Ill. 


HARRISBURG 

FOR  HEAT 


Mention  The  Black  Diamond  when  writing  advertisers. 


18 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


[December  25 


For  coal  and  service 
that  warrants  the  trial 
order  and  justifies  the 
continued  patronage 
try 

CONSUMERS  COAL 

Only  the  best  Steam  and  Domestic  grades 
handled.  Shipments  on  any  railroad. 

Consumers  Company 

Consumers  Bldg.,  Chicago 

Telephone  Wabash  1 


Mention  The  Black  Diamond  when  writing  advertisers. 


No.  26] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


19 


B.  Niooll  &  Coixxparxy 


GENERAL  SALES  AGENTS 

PITTSBURGH  TERMINAL  R.R.  &  COAL  COMPANY 

Saw  Mill  Run  Youghiogheny  Steam  and  Gas  Coal 


GENERAL  SALES  AGENTS 

DILLTOWN  SMOKELESS  COAL  COMPANY 

Miller  Vein  Smokeless  Coal 


GENERAL  SALES  AGENTS 

NORTH  PENN  COAL  COMPANY 

Kaylor  Steam  Coal 


EASTERN  SALES  AGENTS 

FOUR  STATES  COAL  &  COKE  COMPANY 

Annabelle  Fairmont  Gas  Coal 

General  Offices,  149  BROADWAY.  NEW  YORK 
Pittsburgh  Philadelphia 


SALES  AGENTS 

THE  DAVIS  COAL  &  COKE  COMPANY 

Cumberland  Steam  and  Davis  Smithing  Coal 


NEW  ENGLAND  SALES  AGENTS 

THE  CHESAPEAKE  &  OHI9  COAL  &  COKE  COMPANY 

Admiralty  New  River  Smokeless  Coal 


SALES  AGENTS 

LATROBE-CONNELLSVILLE  COAL  &  COKE  COMPANY 

Lathrobe  Steam  Coal 

FURNACE,  FOUNDRY  and 
SMELTER  COKE 

European  Agents,  WM.  JACKS  &  CO.,  GLASGOW,  SCOTLAND 
Boston  Baltimore  Chicago 


ANNUAL  OUTPUT 
OVER  ONE 
MILLION  TONS 


A 


VIA  C.  8s  O.  RY. 

AKD 

VIRGINIAN  RY. 


THE  C.  G.  BLAKE  COMPANY 

CINCINNATI,  U.  S.  A. 

NFW  RIVPR  STEAM  and 

PIEiww  Imilfdm  DOMESTIC 

SMOKELESS 

COAL 


LUMP— EGG— NUT 
MINE  RUN 


CHAMPION”  SMITHING 


CHICAGO,  ILUNOIS 
LYTTON  BLDG. 

NEW  YORK 
1  BROADWAY 

NORFOLK,  VA. 

ROYSTER  BLDG. 

THURMOND,  W.  VA. 
NEW  ENGLAND  AGENTS 

OEO.  E.  WARREN  COMPANY 

BOSTON,  MASS. 
LONDON  AGENTS 

HXJLTON,  THOMPSON  &  CO. 

LONDON,  B.  C.  ENGLAND 


OFFICES: 

New  York,  Chicago 
Norfolk,  Va. 

London,  En^. 

H.  N.  Hartwell  £t  Son, 
Inc., 

70  Kilby  St.,  Boston 


MILTRENA  COALS 


New  River 


Pocahontas 


Gas 


On  Land 
and  Sea 

Splint 


WHARVES: 


SMOKELESS  FUEL  CO. 


I  ATI.  OHIO,  U.  S.  A. 


Newport  News,  Va. 
Lamberts  Point,  Va. 
Sewalls  Point,  Va, 


Phone  Harrison  448 


Chicago  Manager 


Chicago  OfHce: 
414  Fisher  Buildin 


VE>i:iV  oo^r^  00. 


No.  4  INDIANA  GAS 

Mine  at  Macksville,  Ind. 

Vandalia  Connections 


PRODUCERS  OF 


No.  5  INDIANA  STEAM 

Mine  at  Princeton,  Ind. 

C.  &  E.  I.  and  Connections 


ALDEN  COAL  MINING  CO. 

Crushed  Coke 

Fairmont  Gas  Coal  Carnwath  Bituminous 

Connellsville  Furnace  and  Foundry  Coke 


YEARLY  CAPACITY  4,000,000  TONS 

Cabin  Creek  Consolidated  Coal  Company 


MINERS  AND  SHIPPERS  OF 


Acme  Splint  and  Keystone 


aNCINNATI.  OHIO 
C.  R.  Moriarty, 
Weatera  Saks  Agcal 
Union  Central  Bldg. 

DETROIT,  MICHIGAN 
L  C.  Ruffner, 
Nortkern  Salea  Agent 
1 228  Majeadc  Bldg. 


Gas  and  Steam  Coals 


GENERAL  OFFICE: 

SALES  DEPARTMENT 

CHARLESTON,  W.  VA. 

W.  M.  PUCKETT 

PTa.M.Bi  uui  GOTMtal  SbIm  A#iMt 


RICHMOND.  VIRGINIA 
B.  H.  Randolph 
Eaitern  Salea  Agent 
Aaetican  Nat’l  Bank  Bldg. 


Mention  The  Black  Diamond  when  writing  advertiser*. 


20 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[December  25 


THE  PHILADELPHIA  &  READING  CDAL  AND  IRDN  COMPANY 


Miners  and  Shippers  of 


Hard  White  Ash 


Free  Burning  White  Ash  Shamokin  Red  Ash  Lorberry  Lykens  Valley 

EVERY  TON  A  CONDENSED  SUPPLY  OF  INTENSE  HEAT 


North  Franklin 


NO  SMOKE 


PROMPT  DELIVERIES 


ANNUAL  CAPACITY  14,000,000  TONS 


NEW  YORK — Frank  Oberrender,  Sales  Agent,  143  Liberty  St. 
BOSTON — Thos.  M.  Richards,  Gen’l  Eastern  Agent,  141  Milk  St. 
BUFFALO — D.  L.  Tuttle,  Sales  Agent,  Prudential  Building 
PHILADELPHIA )  Coughlin.  City  and  Southern 

Reading  Terminal  J  ^aSn  sf  Smith,  Line  Sales  Agent 
BALTIMORE — T.  W.  Claggett,  Agent,  Calvert  Budding 
READING — J.  H.  Wily,  Agent,  Second  National  Bank  Bldg. 


CHICAGO — J.  H.  M.  Claggett,  Resident  Manager,  Old  Colony  Bldg. 
MILWAUKEE — E.  T.  McDonald,  Sales  Agent,  704  Majestic  Bldg. 
MINNEAPOLIS — J.  H.  Sessions,  N.  W.  Sales  Agent,  Minneapolis, 
Minn. 

ST.  PAUL — F.  L.  Gregory,  Agent,  Grand  Opera  House  Bldg. 
ROCHESTER — L.  Treman,  General  Northern  Sales  Agent, 
(Western  New  York  and  Canada) 

WASHINGTON — J.  A.  Lounsbury,  Agent,  308  Ouray  Budding 


Robert  J.  Montgomery,  General  Coal  Agent 


GENERAL  OFFICES: 


READING  TERMINAL,  PHILADELPHIA>^A^^<^^ 


l<l  REAPING  I«"l 


Do  You  Wish  to  Have  a  Photograph  of  Your  Mine  or  Dock  ? 

WE  make  a  specialty  of  mine  and  dock  pictures.  Satisfactory  undergroimd 
photographs  cannot  be  secured  by  the  ordinary  photographer.  The  Black 
Diamond’s  operator  has  taken  hundreds  of  underground  views,  thereby  acquiring 
experience  which  permits  us  to  guarantee  satisfaction  in  this  line  of  work. 

For  Terms  Address 

THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 

MANHATTAN  BLDG.,  CHICAGO 


Mention  The  Black  Diamond  when  writing  advertisers. 


No.  26] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


21 


y 

y 

y 

y 

y 

y 

y 

y 

y 

y 

y 

y 

y 

❖ 

t 

y 

y 

y 

y 

y 

y 

y 

❖ 

t 

y 

y 

y 

y 

X 

y 

y 

y 

y 

y 

y 

y 

y 

y 

❖ 

y 

y 

X 

y 

y 

y 

y 

y 


y 

y 

5* 

X 

t 


PITTSBURGH 
COAL  COMPANY 

Producers  of  the  Highest  Grade  of 

Pittsburgh  Steam  Coal 
Youghiogheny 

- AND - 

Westmoreland  Gas  Coal 

Daily  Production  106,000  Tons 


GENERAL  OFFICES 


HENRY  W.  OLIVER  BLDG.,  PITTSBURGH,  PA. 


Hew  Tork,  N.  T. 
Buffalo,  n.  Y. 
CIoTeland,  Ohio 
Detroit,  Mich. 
Chicago,  ni. 

Erie,  Pa. 

Youagstowa,  Ohio 
Akroa,  Ohio 


■  ISTRICT  OFFICES 

Toronto,  Canada 
Duluth,  Minn. 

Superior,  Wis. 

St.  Paul,  Minn. 
Minneapolis,  Minn. 
Winnipeg,  Manitoba 
Cincinnati,  Ohio 
Louisrille,  Ky. 


DeKoyen,  Ky. 
Paducah,  Ky. 
Cairo,  Ill. 
Memphis,  Tenn. 
Natchez,  Miss. 
Vicksburg,  Miss. 
Baton  Rouge,  La. 
New  Orleans,  La. 


f 

y 


z 


THE 

Carbon  Fuel  Company 

TRACTION  BUILDING,  CINCINNATI 

Miners  and  Distributers  of 

Carbon  Coal 

The  best  of  all  Domestic  Coals.  Greatest  heat  value. 
Lowest  in  ash  and  sulphur.  Positively  non-clinkering. 
Perfectly  screened  in  all  sizes  by  the  latest  improved  shaker 

screens  and  carefully  loaded  by  conveyor  booms. 

Carbon  Coal  is  unequalled  for  brick,  tile  and  pottery  kilns 
and  for  malleable  purposes. 


Carbon  Gas  and  Steam  Coal 

unsurpassed  for  general  steam  purposes,  producer  gas  and  by¬ 
product  coking. 

Mines  on  Cabin  Creek,  Kanawha  County,  West  Virginia,  on 
Chesapeake  &  Ohio  Railway. 

Capacity,  two  million  tons  annually. 


Sunday  Creek  Coal  Co. 

Producers  of 

SMITHERS  CREEK  GAS  and  SPLINT 
SUNDAY  CREEK  HOCKING 
KANAWHA  WHITE  ASH  SPLINT 


General  Offices:  Columbus,  Ohio 

J.  S.  Jones,  Pres.  Jno.  H.  Winder,  Gen.  Mgr.  P,  A.  Coen,  Gen.  Sales  Agent 

Jones  &  Adams  Coal  Company  The  Sunday  Creek  Coal  Co.  of  Wisconsin 

Western  Sales  Agents,  Chicago,  Ill.  Northwestern  Sales  Agents,  St.  Paul,  Minn. 


Docks:  DULUTH  SUPERIOR  MILWAUKEE 


The  Pyrollte  Combination 

LOW  ASH  -  -  HIGH  B.  T.  U's 

The  BEST  FOR  COLD  WEATHER 

THOMSON  &  BURTON  CO. 

625  Home  Insurance  Bldg.  CHICAGO 


Mention  The  Black  Diamond  when  writing  advertisers. 


22 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


[December  25 


I  •  •  •  ■  ■  I 


.V^AV.V.V^A> 


I 


5 


None  Better  Than 
Rend  Franklin  County  Coal 

The  successful  dealer  places  his  order  with  the  company 
that  will  give  him 

Quality 

Preparation 

and  Service 

Buy  Rend  Coal  and  get  a  guarantee  from  the  oldest  soft 
coal  producing  company  in  the  United  States. 

Write  or  wire  at  our  expense  for  prices. 

W.  P.  REND  &  COMPANY 

601  McCormick  Bldg.  CHICAGO 


§ 


i 


5 


.V.V.V.V-V.V.V.V.V-Vm'.W.V.V.V.V.V.V.V.V~V.V.'.V.V.'. 


TRADE 


WINIFREDE  COAL 


MARK 


WINIFREDE  LUMP — Big  and  Blocky.  Stocks  like  cannel. 

WINIFREDE  WASHED  EGG  AND  NUT  —  Washed,  Sprayed,  Shaker 
Screened.  An  ideal  domestic  coal  for  cook  stoves  and  ranges;  and 
unexcelled  for  gas  producing  purposes. 

WINIFREDE  WASHED  PEA  —  The  cleanest  pea  on  the  market,  un¬ 
equalled  for  generation  of  steam  and  particularly  adapted  for 
underfeed  furnaces  and  automatic  stokers. 

DPI  lUIOMT  OOAI  These  mines  ara  opsratad  by  the 

WINIFREDE  COAL  COMPANY 

BELMONT  LUMP  — 3^  -inch  preparation.  Especially  prepared,  hard 
and  chunky,  a  good  stocker,  and  holds  fire  overnight. 

BELMONT  MINE  RUN — Both  Splint  and  Gas.  Less  than  1%  sulphur, 
a  good  steam  and  gas  producer. 

We  are  the  EXCLUSIVE  miners  and  shippers  of  these  celebrated  coals. 

Mines  at  Winifrede  and  Crown  Hill,  Kanawha  County,  W.  Va. 


WINIFREDE  COAL  COMPANY 

^'^Q°ENEIIAk.  OFFICES  C I  N  C  I  N  NATI  CKn!^MOIiT  AND  VnEAS. 


AVUCH  HOTTER  AND  CLEANER 


A  Broad  Statement 

Th  ere  is  no  coal  mined  in 
the  United  States  containing 
less  sulphur  than  ZEIGLER. 
It  is  free  from  impurities. 

BELL  &  ZOLLER 

COAL  COMPANY 

Fisher  Building  CHICAGO 


miTHERS  CReek 


lllllllll 


West  Virginia  Gas  Coal 
For  Steam  Making 

You  know  that  West  Virginia  Gas  Coals 
stand  supreme  as  steam  makers.  But  there 
is  a  difference  in  West  Virginia  Gas  Coals. 

Only  when  you  orderOliveSmithersCreek  do 
you  get  all  you  expect  and  a  great  deal  more. 

The  Olive  Smithers  Creek  trade  name  is 
your  guarantee  of  quality,  preparation  and 
service.  Make  a  memo  of  this  fact  now. 

The  Columbus  Iron  and  Steel  Co. 

COLUMBUS,  OHIO 

Mines  on  Smithers  Creek,  at  Marting,  Fayette  Co.,  West  Virginia 


The  Chesapeake  8i  Ohio  Coal  &  Coke  Company 

COLLIERY  OWNERS  AND  EXCLUSIVE  SHIPPERS  OF  THE  CELEBRATED 

ADMIRALTY  NEW  RIVER  Smokeless  Coal 
“WELDING  BRAND**  SMITHING  COAL 
CANDO  SPLINT  AND  GAS  COAL 

From  New  River.  Kaoawba  and  Pocahontaa  Fields  of  Weat  Virginia 

ADMIRALTY  2^x1"  NUT 

INQUIRIES  SOLICITED 


Q 

3MIRALT 

srv'iontzi-css 

.  oo>vi^  ^ 

'Ar 


OVER  SHAKER  SCREENS 


OPEN  OR  BOX  CARS 

CANNEL  COAL— Mines  on  C  &  O.  Ry.,  Virginian  Ry.,  N.  &  W.  Ry.— COKE 


EXECUTIVE  and  MAIN  OPERATING  OFFICE 
120  Broadway 
New  York  City 


TIDEWATER  OFFICE 
Board  of  Trade  Bldg. 
Norfolk.  Va. 


WESTERN  OFFICE 
First  Nat.  Bk.  Bldg. 
Cincinnati,  Ohio 


SHIPPING  OFFICES 
Sun.  W.  Va. 
Handley,  W.  Va. 


BRANCH  OFFICES  AND  AGENCIES 
Chicago  Boston  Newport  News 

St.  Louis  Richmond  London,  Eng. 


Mention  The  Black  Diamond  when  writing  advertisers. 


No.  26] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


23 


iiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiDiiii 


Pocahontas&  Jellico  Coal  Co. 


HIGH  GRADE 

STEAM 

AND 

DOMESTIC 

COAL 


POJELCO 

KENTUCKY 

BLOCK 


Mines  in  Kentucky  and  West  Virginia 

Write  us  for  information  and  quotations 


100  Neave  Building 


Cincinnati,  Ohio 

iiiiiiiiiii 


“WEYANOKE” 

Genuine  No.  3  Vein  Pocahontas 
Smokeless 

The  Coal  of  Quality 

“MALGO  BLOCK” 

The  Coal  That  Always  Makes  Good 

“JUMBO  BLOCK” 

A  High  Grade  West  Va.  Coal.  Low  in 
Ash,  High  in  Fixed  Carbon 


“WHITE  STAR” 

West  Virginia  Splint 

High  in  Fixed  Carbon,  Low  in  Ash, 
Economical 

“ELLEN  BLOCK” 

Once  Tried  Always  Used 

“ANTHRACITE” 

Quality  Second  to  None 


Pocahontas  Building 


►  1. 


THE  S.  J.  PATTERSON  COMPANY 


Dayton,  Ohio 


THE  BLUE  ASH 
COAL  COMPANY 

Incorporated 

First  National  Bank  Bldg.,  Cincinnati,  Ohio 

Miners  and  Shippers 

WEST  VIRGINIA  AND 
KENTUCKY  COALS 

Th  e  best  low  ash  and  no  soot 
coals  that  the  market  affords  in 

BLOCK,  EGG  or  NUT  SIZES 

We  are  equipped  to  load  box  cars 

Naugatuck  White  Ash,  Kentucky  Red  Ash 
Grey  Eagle,  Marwen  and  Pocahontas  Coals 

Preparation  and  Quality  Unexcelled 


Reliable 

Invaluable 

Indispensable 


The  Laws  of  Business 


For  all  the 
States  and  Terri¬ 
tories  of  the  Union 


By  Theophilus  Parsons,  LL.D.,  late  Professor  of  Law  in  Harvard  University,  and  author  of  standard  treatises  on  the  law  of  Contracts,  on  Mercantile  Law,  etc.,  etc. 

Thoroughly  Revised  as  to  Abstracts  of  all  State  and  Territorial  Laws  relat-  Several  valuable  practical  new  chapters  added,  on  Stockholders,  Officers  and 
ing  to  Collection  of  Debts,  Usury,  Execution  and  Acknowledgment  of  Deeds,  Wit-  Directors  of  Corporations,  Employers'  Liability,  Bailment,  Food  and  Drug  Law, 

nesses  to  Wills,  Holidays  and  Days  of  Grace,  Mechanics'  Liens,  Statute  of  LimitOr-  etc.,  with  a  Complete  Glossary  of  Law  Terms,  making  a  large  octavo  volume  of 


tions.  Chattel  Mortgages. 


In  (his  work  a  (treat  lawyer 
spared  no  effort  to 


946  pages  complete  with  table  of  contents,  general  index  and  index  to  forms. 

make  It  A  Safe  Guide  in  Every  Business  Question  In  any  State  of  the  Union 


Appended  is  a  list  of  some  of  the  more  important  matters  treated  in  the  boo\: 


Contracts — Rules  of  Construction;  How  errors 
affect;  Effect  of  custom  or  usage;  How  inter¬ 
preted  and  proved;  Written;  Receipts  for  money. 

Sales — What  constitutes  a  sale  with  warranty;  De¬ 
livery  and  its  incidents;  Void  for  illegality  or 
fraud;  The  sale  of  one’s  business. 

Agency-;-Relation  of  principal  and  agent;  Authority, 
how  given,  extent  and  duration;  How  Revoked; 
Liability  of  an  agent;  Mutual  rights  and  duties,  etc. 

Bailment — Responsibility  for  goods  under  repair, 
on  storage ,  etc 

Agreement  and  Assent— Meaning  of ;  Mistakes,  how 
corrected;  Annulment  by  fraud;  Time  offers;  Bar¬ 
gains  by  correspondence;  How  affected  by  custom, 
etc. 

Stoppage  in  Transitu — ^When  goods  may  be 
stopped;  Notice,  how  given,  ete. 

Consideration — Need  of ;  SufiBcient;  Illega  ;  When 
impossible;  Failure  of,  etc. 

Limitations — Statute  of  and  its  construction;  The 
new  promise;  Part  payment;  Statutory  excep¬ 
tions  ;  How  collateral  security  is  affected,  etc . 

Partnership — How  formed ;  How  dissolved ;  Property 
of :  Several  authority  and  liability  of  partners ;  Rem¬ 
edies  against  each  other ;  P  ights  of  creditors ;  Forms. 


Corporation  Membership  and  Management — 

Rights  and  risks  of  Stockholders;  Powers  and  ob¬ 
ligations  of  OflScers;  Of  Directors. 

Employers’  Liability — Rights  and  limitations  of 
Employees  in  case  of  accident. 

Notes  and  Bills  of  Exchange — Drafts  and  Checks; 
Negotiable  paper;  Acceptance  and  Indorsement; 
Notes  secured  by  mortgage;  Mistakes;  Peri  or 
pencil;  Chattel  Notes;  Delays  of  presenting; 
Death  of  a  Drawer;  Forged  Checks;  Accommo-* 
dation  paper;  Law  of  Place;  Value  Received; 
Consideration;  Protest  and  Notice,  etc. 

Executors  and  Administrators  —  Powers  and 
duties;  To  order  debts  paid,  etc. 

Leases — Definition;  Rights  and  obligations  of  par¬ 
ties,  Fixtures,  etc. 

Interest  and  Usury — When  interest  is  due;  Legal  ' 
interest;  What  is  Usury;  Charge  for  Risk  or 
Service;  Discounts;  Sale  of  Notes;  Compound 
Interest. 

Carriage  of  Goods  and  Passengers — Common  car- 
Carrier’s  liability;  Obligation  of  carrier;  Lia-  ‘ 


Fire  and  Life  Insurance — Usual  forms;  construc¬ 
tion  of  policies:  interest  of  insured;  Risk  incurred; 
Valuation;  Notice  and  proof;  Adjustment  and 
loss,  etc. 

Collection  of  Debts — Means  provided;  Trustee 
process;  What  is  protected. 

Also  nearly  300  approved  forms,  tested  in  the 
courts,  of  the  greatest  value  to  business  men  and 
property  owners;  for  Contracts,  Mortgages,  Deeds, 
Bonds,  Leases,  Sales,  Receipts  and  Releases,  Part¬ 
nership,  Liens,  Insurance,  Guaranty,  Powers  of 
Attorney,  Assignments,  Apprentices,  Arbitration, 
Notes,  Patents,  Protest,  Shipping,  Wills,  etc. 

It  contains,  among  many  others,  chapters  on  Com¬ 
mercial  Law  in  general;  Infants  or  Minors;  Ap¬ 
prentices;  Bailment;  Private  and  Corporate  Part¬ 
nership;  Employers'  Liability;  Bonds;  Assign¬ 
ments:  Guaranty;  Statute  of  Frauds;  Receipts  and 
Releases;  Payment;  Arbitration;  Patents;  New 
(/pop)  Copyright  Law;  Statute  of  Limitations; 
Law  of  Place;  Shipping;  Fire,  Marine  and  Life 
Insurance;  Deeds,  Mortgages;  Liens  of  Mechanics 
and  Material  Men;  Recovery  of  Debts;  Wills; 
Guardians. 


9x6}^  inches 


rier;  .  , 

bility  for  goods  carried  by  passengers. 

v^uosuii.  M.  iirsuus  uckure  kucurrin^  Le^al  Responsibilities  in^  one  what  NOT  to  do —  The  indispens- 

ablecompanionof  every  oneittbusinesa,  every  one  who  plptfr  business,  every  one  bable  to  need  knowledge  about  business:  every  one  who  holds  property  or  may  wish  to;  thatis,  all  the  world. 

Would  You  Know  Without  a  Heavy  Fee 

Your  rights  under  Patents,  Trade-Marks  or  Copyright?  How  binding  a  contract  you  can  make  with  a  minor?  What  constitutes  one  pereoii  an  agent  for  another? 

What  a  partnership  obligates  one  for?  •  .  What  is  a  valid  will,  promissory  note,  business  agree-  •  .  What  are  the  statutes  of  lunitations  on  claims  or  debts?  Ag.!. 

What  one  can  claim  from  or  as  a  common  carrier?  Ask  ment,  consideration  of  a  bargain,  condition  of  a  ASK  What  will  invalidate  your  fire  or  life  insurance? 

What  liens  of  mechanics  and  material  men  take  first  bond,  sale  of  property,  and  how  to  word  one  to  pre- How  you  can  or  cannot  collect  a  debt?  Parsons 

-1—’  ^arsons  . — rnrsons  How  to  act  legally  in  a  hundred  common  transactions 


placer  vent  its  being  waste  paper?  rlow  to  ac 

What  you  can  enforce  as  a  landlord  or  force  as  a  tenant?  What  sort  of  promise  holds  one  for  a  surety?  of  life? 

A  Quick  Reference  Book  on  Thousands  of  Law  Points 

Adapted  for  use  by  and  already  in  the  hands  of  over  230,000  business  Know  how  to  write  contracts,  agreements,  deeds,  mortgages,  judgments,  leases,  wills,  etc., 
men  of  all  classes — Merchants,  Manufacturers,  Bankers,  Brokers,  Lawyers,  or  how  to  act  as  arbitrator,  administrator,  executor,  guardian  or  trustee,  etc.  The  book 
Real  Estate  and  Insurance  Men,  Magistrates,  Notaries,  etc.,  etc.  contains  946  pages  and  is  bound  in  Iaw  Canvas^  a  Genuine  Buckram  Binding,  Price  $4.00 


The  Black  Diamond  Publishing  Co., 


Manhattan  Building,  Chicago 


Mention  The  Black  Diamond  when  writing  advertisers. 


24 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


[December  25 


•• 


The  Delaware,  Lackawanna  &  Western  Coal  Co. 

SOLE  VENDERS  OF 


J.  F.  BERMINGHAM,  President. 
120  Broadway,  New  York. 


D.  E.  RUSSELL,  Vice-Pres.  and  Gen.  Sales  Agent, 
Buffalo,  New  York. 


J.  H.  ABBOTT,  Tidewater  Sales  Agent, 

120  Broadway,  New  York. 

S.  G.  MEMORY,  Line  Sales  Agent, 

Broad  and  Market,  Newark,  N.  J. 

H.  A.  SMITH,  Assistant  Line  Sales  Agent, 

Traders  National  Bank  Bldg.,  Scranton,  Pa. 

D.  N.  ROTHERMEL,  Salesman, 

22  Barnes  Street,  Providence,  R.  I. 

JOHN  J.  TOWN,  Sales  Agent, 

64  Martin  Building,  Utica,  N.  Y. 

G.  W.  McEATHRON,  Sales  Agent, 

1620  W.  Fayette  Street,  Syracuse,  N.  Y. 

OGDENSBURG  COAL  &  TOWING  CO.,  Sales  Agents, 

134  McCord  St.,  Montreal,  Que. 


E.  H.  READ,  Sales  Agent,  924  Prudential  Bldg.,  Buffalo,  N.  Y. 
W.  B.  PALMER,  Sales  Agent,  Penobscot  Building,  Detroit,  Mich. 

D.  D.  SCHENCK,  Sales  Agent,  408  Superior  Street,  Toledo,  O. 

THE  S.  C.  SCHENCK  CO.,  Sales  Agent, 

Old  Colony  Building,  Chicago,  Ill. 

E.  L.  HEDSTROM  &  CO.,  Sales  Agents, 

Marquette  Building,  Chicago,  Ill. 

MILWAUKEE-WESTERN  FUEL  CO.,  Sales  Agents, 

14  Grand  Avenue,  Milwaukee,  Wis. 

NORTH  WESTERN  FUEL  CO.,  Sales  Agents, 

Merchants  National  Bank  Bldg.,  St.  Paul,  Minn. 
Duluth,  Minn.  Superior,  Wis. 


1  Broadway, 

NBW  YORK 

Commercial  Trust  Building 
PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Staples  Coal  Co.,  Agents 

40  Central  St. 
BOSTON,  MASS. 

Peoples  Oaa  Building, 
CHICAGO 

Bor'W'ln.d.-'Wlii'to  Ooal  JVIlningj  Oo. 

MIRERS  AND  SHIPPERS  OF  THE 

EUREKA  BITUMINOUS  COAL 

Berwind’s  New  River  and  Pocahontas  Smokeless  Coal 

An  Unexcelled  Fuel  for  Steamships  and  Locomotives,  Manufactories,  Rolling  Mills,  Glass  Works, 
Brick  and  Lime  Burning,  Coke,  and  for  the  Manufacture  of  Steel,  Iron,  etc. 

SHIPPING  WHARVES 
Philadelphia 

Greenwich  Point 

Newport  News  and  Norfolk,  Va. 
Baltimore:  Canton  Piers 

New  York:  Eureka  Pier 
Harsimus  (Sixth  Street) 
Jersey  City,  H.  J. 

Duluth,  Minn. 

Superier,  Wiaoonsin 

PHILADELPHIA  NEW  YORK  BOSTON  PITTSBURGH  BUFFALO  ALTOONA  MAUCH  CHUNK 

WHITNEY  KEMMERER 

SHIPPERS  high  grade  anthracite  and  BITUMINOUS 

Shipments  to  All  Points,  Either  Tidewater,  Lake  or  All  Rail  143  Liberty  Street,  NEW  YORK 


CHARLES  8.  PHILLIPS  CHARLES  P.  HUNT 

HINRY  H.  ASHLEY  GEORGE  A.  MelLROY 

Parrish,  Phillips  &  Co. 

SHIPPERS  OF 

Parrish  Coal  Co.’s  Coal,  Lehigh  &  Wilkes-Barre  Coal 
Co.’s  Wilkes-Barre,  Plymouth  and  Honey  Brook 

Distributors  of  Lehigh  Coal  &  Navigation  Co.’s  Steam 
Coals,  also  Georges  Creek,  Cumberland  and 
Clearfield  Coal 

No.  1  BROADWAY  -  NEW  YORK 


COALS  for  BUNKER  and  EXPORT 

NEW  RIVER  SMOKELESS 

South  Fork  Miller  Vein 

and 

Somerset  County  Smokeless 


VERNON  METAL  &  PRODUCE  CO.,  Inc. 

HUGH  L.  KIRBY,  Mgr. 

COAL  DEPARTMENT 

90  West  St.,  New  York  City 

Phone  Rector  4567  Cabla  Addreac  FREELOU,  New  York 


Mention  The  Black  Diamond  when  writing  advertisers. 


No.  26] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


25 


WILLIAMS  &  PETERS 

1  Broadway,  New  York. 

PENNSYLVANIA  COAL  COMPANY’S 


PITTSTON 


ANTHRACITE 


COAL 


BRANCH  OFFICES: 


BITUMINOUS 


E.  O.  SCHERMERHORN,  Eastern  Sales  Agent,  141  Milk  Street,  BOSTON,  MASS. 

WILLIAMS,  WELLS  &  CO.,  39  Church  Street,  NEW  HAVEN,  CONN. 

W.  T.  ROBERTS,  Western  Sales  Agent,  1112  Prudential  Building,  BUFFALO,  N.  Y. 

F.  N.  PEASE,  Southwestern  Sales  Agent,  203  S.  Dearborn  Street,  CHICAOO,  ILL. 


The  Skeele  Coal  Co. 

SALES  AGENTS  FOR  — LEHIGH  COAL  Ss 
NAVIGATION  CO.’S  well  known  Anthracite  Coal 
for  Canada  and  the  West,  via  Buffalo. 

ALSO  SHIPPERS  Bituminous,  Steam,  Gas  and 

Forge  Coals, 

The  Skeele  Coal  Co. 

General  Office :  90  West  Street,  NEW  YORK 

Marine  National  Bank  Bldg.  1100  Old  Colony  Bldg. 

BUFFALO,  N.  Y.  CHICAGO,  ILL. 

86  Deronshire  St.,  BOSTON,  MASS. 

M.  BAXTER,  Jr.,  President  D.  SINCLAIR,  Gen’l  Mgr. 

New  Central  Coal  Company 

Big  Vein  Georges  Creek  Cumberland  Coal 
Pittsburgh  Seam  Gas  and  Steam  Coal 

R«*ma  304-5.6.  17  Baltcrr  riaee  ....  IVE^'W'  YORK 

Shipments  from  Baltimore,  Philadelphia  and  New  York,  and  all  rail 

CHARCOAL 

WHOLESALE— RETAIL 

Bulk — Gunny  Sacks — Paper  Bags 

We  also  manufacture  the  prepared  sizes  In  Bags  and  Cartona 

CENTURY  FUEL  CO.,  328  W.  37th  St.,  Chicago,  III. 

Dickson  &  Eddy 

Scranton  Coal  Co.’s 


COAL 


DICKSON  &  EDDY 

17  Battery  Place  -  NEW  YORK 

Branch  Officci: 

BOSTON,  MASS. 

BUFFALO,  NEW  YORK 
UTICA,  NEW  YORK 

NEW  HAVEN,  CONN. 


Mention  The  Black  Diamond  when  writing  advertisers. 


Illlllllllllll 


26 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


[December  25 


1 

.EHIGH  VALLEY 

r 

COAL  SALES  CG 

1. 

COAL  AND  COAL 


There  is  a  big  difference. 

Experienced  buyers  and  sellers  of  coal — men  who  have  experimented  and  compared  results — generally  recognize  anthracite  as  the 
coal  that  will  give  unfailing  satisfaction  and  the  greatest  economy.  Among  a  goodly  proportion  of  these  men  the  recognized  “one  best 
buy  and  sell”  is 


LEHIGH  VALLEY 

ANTHRACITE 

The  Coal  That  Satisfies 


Its  carbon  richness  is  the  secret  of  its  strong,  steady  heat-making  power.  Its  careful  preparation  is  the  reason  why  you  will  find  so 
little  oreign  matter  in  it. 

LEHIGH  VALLEY  COAL  SALES  CO. 

90  West  Street,  New  York  City 

Boston  Philadelphia  Allentown  Syracuse  Chicago  Buffalo 

Cleveland  Detroit  Newark  Minneapolis  Milwaukee  Rochester 


LEHIGH  VALLEY 


COAL  SALES  CO. 


FREDERIC  A. 

ANTHRACITE 


General  Office 
143  LibertylSt 
New  York 


POTTS  &  COMPANY 

COAL  BITUMINOUS 


Charles  J.  Maclean, 
New  England  Agent 
Salem,  Mass. 


iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiijiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiE 

WESTMORELAND- CONNELLS  VILLE  I 

COAL  AND  COKE  COMPANY  | 

=  MINERS  AND  SHIPPERS  = 

I  Semi-Volatile  Bituminous  Coal  | 

I  HIGH  IN  BRITISH  THERMAL  UNITS  I 

=  HIGH  FUSING  POINT  OF  ASH  = 

=  WILL  NOT  CLINKER  = 

S  PREPARED  BY  MOST  MODERN  METHODS  = 

I  General  Offices,  Frick  Building,  -  PITTSBURGH,  PA.  | 

^iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiF 


- n 

The  Jones  &  Adams 

Coal  Company 


Scranton  Anthracite 
Pocahontas 
Rich  Valley  Splint 
Jackson  Hill  (Ohio) 
Kanawha  Splint 
Smithers  Creek  Gas 
and  Splint 

Kentucky  Blue  Grass 
Peerless  (Sangamon 
County,  Ill.) 
Franklin  Co.,  Ill. 
Linton  Fourth  Vein 
Indiana 

Brazil  Block(Indiana) 


Producers  and  shippers  of 

COAL  AND  COKE 

Steger  Building 
Chicago 


Jefferson  Building 
Peoria,  Ill. 


Traction  Terminal  Bldg. 
Indianapolis,  Ind. 


Mention  The  Black  Diamond  when  writing  advertisers. 


I  Quality,  Not  Quanity  I 

I  is  the  policy  that  (dom-  | 

I  inates  the  producers  of  1 

Logan  Coal 

The  idea  back  of  the  pro-  | 

duction  of  Logan  coal  is  ! 

preparation.  We  abso-  | 

lutely  guarantee  the  f 

preparationof  Logancoal.  | 

The  Logan  Coal  we  send  | 

you  will  be  prepared  as  | 

well  as  any  coal  in  Frank-  | 

lin  County.  And  it  | 

will  be  prepared  better  j 

than  a  great  many  coals  f 

coming  from  that  famous  | 

field.  j 

Mined  and  sold  by  f 

The  John  A.  Logan  Coal  Company 

Old  Colony  Bldg.,  Chicago 

Phone  Harrison  8217  Robert  L.  Green,  Manager  of  Sales  | 

W.  J.  Carney,  Pres-  John  P.  Harding,  Vice-Pres.  J.  Joseph  Wright,  Sec’y  and  Treas.  \ 


. . . . . 


General  John  A.  Logan 


No.  26] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


27 


The  Hocking  Valley  Coal  Trade. 


Columbus,  Ohio,  December  23. —  {Special  Cor¬ 
respondence.) — A.  continued  steady  market  de¬ 
void  of  any  strong  pressure  upon  shippers  marks 
the  domestic  trade.  Absence  of  car  shortage  or 
extreme  weather  conditions  that  would  hinder 
transportation  has  so  far  permitted  of  such  a 
free  movement  of  coal  that  dealers  are  inclined 
to  be  easy-going.  Mines  are  able  to  keep  run¬ 
ning.  Reports  from  the  thin-vein  district  of  the 
general  Hocking  field  show  a  good  stage  of 
activity  under  physical  handicaps  that  do  not 
apply  to  the  Hocking  region  proper.  Fine  coal 
is  scarce  on  a  strengthening  price.  Shippers  look 
for  growing  demand  on  all  steam  sizes  after  the 
first  of  the  year  in  view  of  wage-scale  agitation. 

•  Prices  corrected  up  to  Thursday  are : 


Hocking  Valley — 

3-inch  lump . 

J^-inch  lump . 

Egg  . 

Mine  run . 

Nut,,  pea  and  slack 
Coarse  slack . 


F.  O.  B. 

Columbus 

$2.20 

1.95 

1.60 

1.75@1.80 

1.55@1.60 

1.40@1.50 


F.  O.  B. 
Mines. 
$1.60 
1.35 
1.00 
1.15@1.25 
.95@1.00 
.80@  .85 


Washed  Coals — 

Egg  . 

Stove  . 


2.35  1.75 

2.20  1.60 


Some  of  the  large  Pomeroy  producers  have 
their  men  off  the  road  and  are  making  an  effort 
to  clean  up  on  business  contracted  for  under 
existing  prices,  in  the  belief  that  the  market  will 
take  an  upward  turn  in  January.  Following  are 
prices  to  date : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  O.  B. 

Pomeroy —  Columbus.  Mines. 

3-inch  lump . $  2.40  $  1.75 

2-inch  lump .  2.25@2.30  1.60@1.65 

Mine  run .  1.76@1.80 

Nut,  pea  and  slack .  1.50@1.60  .85@  .95 

Nut,  pea  and  slack .  1.35@1.45  .70@  .80 


Splint  coals  show  no  increased  strength,  but 
are  about  holding  their  own,  both  on  lump  and 
screenings.  Results  from  what  appears  to  be 
favorable  weather  are  somewhat  disappointing  in 
not  bringing  about  a  stronger  demand.  The  car 
shortage  in  some  of  the  fields  are  not  affecting 
deliveries  to  any  extent  here.  Prices  are : 

F.  O.  B.  F.  p.  B. 

West  Virginia  Splint —  Columbus.  Mines 

2*incb  lump . ^.36@2.40  $1.40@1.50 

^-inch  lump  .  2-25  1.30 

Mine  run  .  1.80@1.90  .85@  .95 

Low  ash  nut,  pea  and  slack .  1.65@1.75  .70@  .80 

High  ash  nut,  pea  and  slack....  1.60@1.70  .65@  .75 


In  fancy  domestics  there  is  more  or  less  uncer¬ 
tainty  about  equipment.  Hoppers  are  strong  in 
the  East,  and  the  unusual  condition  of  shippers 
being  compelled  to  substitute  flats  on  westward 
tonnage,  where  hoppers  had  been  ordered,  has 
come  about  during  the  past  week.  Prices  are 
firm,  but  with  no  immediate  prospects  of  advance. 


Latest  quotations  are: 

F.  0.  B. 

F.  0.  B. 

White  Ash — 

3-inch  lump . 

2-inch  lump . 

Columbus. 

_  2.65 

Mines. 

$1.85 

1.66 

1.25 

Red  Ash— 

_  2.80 

1.90 

Egg  . 

Screenings  . 

1.60 

Open 

Smokeless  coals,  while  recovered  somewhat 
from  the  recent  slump  due  to  Eastern  embargoes, 
are  not  commanding  full  circular.  Lump  and 
egg  is  moving  at  from  $2.00  to  $2.15  in  this  mar¬ 
ket,  with  $1.35  as  the  maximum  for  mine  run. 

As  the  season  advances  it  develops  that  the 
Columbus  retail  market  has  been  hurt  more  than 
was  anticipated  by  the  natural  gas  campaign  of 
the  past  nine  months.  Prices  are  steady,  but 


volumn  of  tonnage  is  not  normal  under  present 
weather  conditions.  Hocking  is  still  selling  for 
$3.50  and  West  Virginia  lump  at  $3.75. 


Columbus  News  Notes. 

R.  D.  Jeffers,  of  the  Litz  Smith  Coal  Company, 
Cincinnati,  was  one  of  the  week’s  visitors. 

W.  J.  McGee,  of  the  Carbon  Coal  Company, 
Cincinnati,  was  in  town  on  Friday  last. 

Harry  Haywood,  of  the  firm  of  W.  A.  Gosline 
&  Co.,  Toledo,  was  here  last  week  calling  upon 
coal  friends. 

William  Lawson,  salesman  for  the  Lorain  Coal 
&  Dock  Company,  stationed  at  Cleveland,  paid  a 
recent  visit  to  headquarters  here. 

Maury  Robinson,  western  sales  manager  of  the 
Davis  Colliery  Company,  spent  a  couple  of  days 
in  Indianapolis  the  present  week. 

C.  J.  Andrews,  former  sales  manager  for  the 
Sunday  Creek  Company,  but  now  of  Morgan, 
Andrews  &  Co.,  Detroit,  was  in  Columbus  on 
the  15th. 

W.  J.  Hamilton,  of  the  W.  J.  Hamilton  Coal  & 
Coke  Company,  was  at  South  Bend,  Ind.,  on  the 
21st,  attending  the  wedding  of  his  brother,  Don 
Hamilton,  a  young  attorney  of  Columbus. 

James  Pritchard,  secretary  of  the  Hocking  Val¬ 
ley  Operators’  Association,  is  in  the  field  as  a 
candidate  for  the  position  held  by  John  M.  Roan 
as  chief  deputy  and  safety  commissioner  of  the 
state  mining  department. 

Though  idle  in  the  blocking  valley,  awaiting 
freight-rate  and  labor  developments,  the  Sunday 
Creek  Company  is  pushing  operations  in  West 
Virginia.  Of  its  eight  mines  there  only  one  is 
still  inactive. 

As  part  of  a  vigorous  campaign  being  urged  by 
Safety  Commissioner  Roan,  of  the  state  mining 
department,  to  cure  carelessness  of  employes  at 
mines,  a  pamphlet  has  been  issued  in  all  lan¬ 
guages  spoken  at  Ohio  mines,  and  containing 
excerpts  of  the  mining  laws.  Mr.  Roan  insists 
that  there  can  be  no  safety-first  without  discipline. 

Officials  of  the  Hocking  sub-district  state  that 
nearly  $60,000  in  benefits  have  been  paid  within 
the  past  few  weeks  to  miners  of  the  Sunday 
Creek  Coal  Company,  whose  mines  have  been 
shut  down  all  season.  Some  2,000  men  are  on 
the  relief  list.  Christmas  donations  have  been 
made  by  some  of  the  mining  centers  of  the  state. 

The  New  Pittsburgh  Coal  Company  has  filed 
with  the  Utilities  Commission  informal  notice  of 
protest  against  the  proposed  new  tariff  for  the 
Hocking  Valley  Railroad  on  coal  rates  from  Nel- 
sonville  to  Toledo.  It  claims  that  the  rate  of  $1 
to  which  the  railroad  seeks  to  return  is  dis¬ 
criminatory,  unreasonably  high  and  relatively 
higher  than  rates  of  competing  roads. 

C.  M.  Anderson,  western  sales  manager  of  the 
Elk  River  Coal  &  Lumber  Company,  is  a  member 
of  the  non-resident  membership  committee  of  the 
Athletic  Club,  which  in  January  will  open  its  new 
half-million-dollar  home.  Coal  men  residing  out 
of  the  city  who  desire  membership  should  com¬ 
municate  with  Mr.  Anderson.  A  number  of  such 
have  already  become  affiliated.  The  coal  men 
will  have  a  separate  table  in  the  dining  room  of 
the  club,  and  it  is  expected  to  make  this  a  popular 
feature  with  the  trade.  The  club  house  will  have 
eighty  sleeping  rooms. 


Brazil’s  Purchase  of  Foreign  Coal. 


[Consul  General  A.  L.  M.  Gottschalk,  Rio  de  Janeiro, 
October,  19.] 

American  participation  in  the  coal  trade  of 
Brazil  since  the  beginning  of  the  present  Eu¬ 
ropean  war  is  disclosed  by  the  following  table, 
made  up  from  statistics  gathered  at  the  vari¬ 
ous  ports  of  this  republic: 

MiETRIC  TONS. 


Months,  1914 — 

From 

Total 

United  States. 

Imports. 

August  . 

100,139 

September  . 

116,910 

October  . 

100,546 

November  . 

.  25,277 

82,539 

December  . 

1915 — 

.  19,620 

104,368 

January  . 

.  19,360 

89,261 

r  ebruary  . 

.  17,073 

61,495 

March  . 

90,156 

April  . 

.  34,141 

115,450 

May  . 

.  61,428 

128,816 

Tune  . 

111,579 

July  . 

126,139 

August  . 

.  89,576 

118,749 

Total  . 

.  561,150 

1,346,147 

Of  the  imports  during  the  thirteen  months 
under  review  Rio  de  Janeiro  took  918,795  tons, 
Santos  131,895,  Pernambuco  94,241,  Bahia  58,- 
070,  Para  45,793,  and  Rio  Grande  44,902  tons. 


We  are  always  pleased  to  receive  inquiries 
on  Hocking,  Pomeroy,  West  Virginia  and 
Kentucky  steam  and  domestic  coal. 

The  Seidenfeld-Hammond  Coal  Company 

Murray,  Ohio 


NEW  YORK  COAL  COMPANY 

COLUMBUS,  OHIO 

Miners  and  Shippers  of  Specially 

Prepared  Domestic  Coals 
Also  Manhattan  Washed  Coals 


THE  PEACOCK  COAL  CO. 

Sole  operators  of 

Genuine  Peacock  Pomeroy  Coal 

Capacity,  3,000  tons  dally 

Harrison  Building  Columbus,  Ohio 


The  Gibson-Spence-Coal  Co. 

Producers  and  Shippers 

“Banner”  Hocking  “Blue  Ridg'e”  White  Ash 
“Valley”  Cambridge  .  “Pine  Mountain”  Kentucky 
Anthraiclte — Pocahontas — Smithing 
Cols  Savings  6  Trust  Building  -  Columbus,  Ohio  • 


SUNDAY  CREEK 

COAL  COMPANY 

Outleok  Building,  Columbus,  Ohio 


PEALE,  PEACOCK 


REMBRANDT  PEALE,  President 
H.  W.  HENRY,  Vice-President  and  Traffic 
Manager 

Wm.  B.  OAKES,  Treasurer 

GRAND  CENTRAL  TERMINAL  ^ 

NEW  YORK 


BITUMINOUS 

V I C  TOR 


E.  E.  WALLING,  Vice-President 

NORTH  AMERICAN  BLDG., 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 


COAL 


u.s. patent 


&  KERR 

NEW  YORK 


ANTHRACITE 

COAL 

GAS  COAL 

and  COKE 


Mention  The  Black  EhAMOND  when  writing  advertisers. 


28 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[December  25 


Rates  on  Coal  and  Coke. 


Washington,  D.  C.,  December  22. — 
The  following  rates  have  been  filed  with 
ihe  Interstate  Commerce  Commission 
since  the  last  report ; 

C.  R.  N.  P.,  Sup.  7  to  ICC  C97()l,  Jan. 
1,  1916.  Lignite  from  Roswell,  Colo., 
to  Goodland,  Ruleton,  Kanorada,  Las 
Burlington,  Bethunc,  Stratton,  Vona, 
Seibert,  Flagler,  Arriba,  Bovina  and 
Genoa,  Colo.,  slack  or  pea,  to 

Cioodland,  Ruleton  &  Kanoradom,  Kas., 
mine  run  or  nut,  $1.60  per  net  ton  (R). 

Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe,  Sup.  21 
to  ICC  6363,  Jan.  5,  1916.  Coal,  anthra¬ 
cite  or  soft,  from  Kennedy,  Los  Cerril- 
los  and  Waldo,  N,  M.,  to  Eagle  Lake, 
Garwood  and  Matagorda,  $3.50  (R)  ; 
Weatherford,  $3.35,  and  Beaumont, 
Te.x.,  $3.50  per  net  ton. 

Bangor-Aroostook,  ICC  1113,  Dec.  23. 
Anthracite  and  bituminous  coal  from 
Northern  Maine  Junction,  Me.,  (ex  Le¬ 
high  Coal  and  Navigation  Co.’s  plant 
to  St.  Leonard,  N.  B.,  $1.65  per  gross 
ton.  From  Stockton  Harbor,  Me.  (Cape 
Jellison,  Kidders  and  Searsport  (Me.), 
to  St.  Leonard,  N.  B.,  bituminous  coal, 
$1.85  (R),  and  anthracite  coal,  $2.10  per 
gross  ton. 

T.  Sy.  L.  &  W.,  ICC  A729,  Dec.  26. 
Soft  coal  from  Coffeen,  Panama  and 
Sorento,  111.,  to  Alton  and  Federal,  111., 
thirty-seve.n  and  one-half  cents  (  R  )  per 
net  ton. 

Fredericton  &  Grand  Lake  Coal  & 
Ry.  Co.,  ICC  8,  Cane.  7  RR  29.  Coal 
from  Minto,  N.  B.,  to  Calias,  Me.,  $1.25; 
Woodland,  Me.,  $1.44  per  net  ton.  De¬ 
cember  26  effective. 

Erie,  ICC  A5355,  Dec.  26.  Coke  from 
Cleveland,  O.,  stations  to  Buffalo,  N. 

$1.30  per  net  ton.  i 

Central  Indiana,  ICC  286,  canc.  283, 
Dec.  27.  Coal,  bituminous,  from  Brazil, 
Bridgeton,  Bryson,  Caryon,  East  Rock¬ 
ville,  Sundown,  Superior  and  Walton, 
Ind.,  to  Chicago,  Chicago  Heights, 
Englewood,  Kensington,  Momence,  St. 
Anne  and  Watseka,  Ill.,  eighty-two  cents 
])er  net  ton. 

Boston  &  Albany,  ICC  7276,  canc.  6504 
RR  7500,  Dec.  29.  Coke  from  East 


Boston,  Everett,  Mass.,  to  Dover,  Eliza¬ 
beth,  Elizabethport,  N.  J.,  $2.50;  Mah- 
wah,  $2.60;  Newark,  North  Newark, 
Passaic,  Paterson  and  Trenton,  N.  J., 
$2.50  per  net  ton. 

Penn.sylvania,  Sup.  2  to  ICC  AA557. 
Bituminous,  briquettes  and  boulets,  from 
Phoenix,  Md.,  to  Sag  Harbor,  N.  Y., 
$2.65  per  gross  ton  (R),  Dec.  31. 

Philadelphia  &  Reading,  Sup.  4  to 
ICC  J5224,  Jan.  1,  1916.  Petroleum 
coke  from  Marcus,  Hook  and  Chester, 
Pa.,  to  Jersey  City,  N.  J.,  seventy-five 
cents. 

Missouri,  Kansas  &  Texas,  Sup.  4  to 
ICC  No.  A4142,  Jan.  1,  1916.  Mine-run 
coal  from  Fleming  Mine  and  West  Min¬ 
eral,  Kan.,  to  Bartlesville,  Okla.,  fifty- 
five  cents  per  net  ton  (R).  Slack  coal, 
fifty-five  cents  per  net  ton  (R)  from 
Cherokee,  Howe,  Mulberry,  Pittsburg, 
Scammon  and  Weir,  Kan.,  to  Bartles¬ 
ville,  Chanute,  Dewey,  Gas,  Humboldt, 
lola.  La  Harpe  and  Mildred,  Kan.; 
mine-run  coal  from  same  points  to 
Idenbro,  Wilsonton,  Hayden,  Mound 
Valley,  Penfield,  Angola,  O’Herin,  Cof- 
feyville,  Coverdale,  Kan.,  South  Coffey- 
ville,  Noxie,  Wann,  Wayside,  Dewey 
and  Bartlesville,  Okla.,  sixty-five  cents 
per  net  ton  (R). 

Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul,  ICC 
No.  B3216,  Jan.  1,  1916.  Coal  from 
Port  Angeles,  Wash.,  to  Earles,  Wash., 
$1.50  per  net  ton;  from  Seattle,  Wash., 
to  Bayside,  $1.75  per  gross  ton ;  to 
Earles,  Wash.,  $2.50  per  net  ton. 

Boston  &  Maine,  ICC  No.  A1546,  Jan. 
5,  1916.  Coke  from  Rotterdam  Jet.,  N. 
Y.,  to  Archdale,  Easton,  Greenwich, 
Middle  Falls,  Northumberland,  So. 
Cambridge,  Thomson,  Trionda,  Vly 
Summit  and  West  Cambridge,  N.  Y., 
ninety-five  cents  per  net  ton.  Coal  from 
Mechanicville,  eighty-four  cents;  Rot¬ 
terdam  Jet.,  ninety-five  cents,  and  Troy, 
N.  Y.,  to  eighty- four  cents  per  gross 
ton  to  Archdale,  Easton,  Greenwich, 
Middle  Falls,  Ondawa  and  So.  Cam¬ 
bridge,  N.  Y. 

Baltimore  &  Ohio,  ICC  C&C  Series 
1123,  Jan.  5,  1916.  Coke  to  port  Rich¬ 
mond  (Philadelphia)  Pa.,  from  Con- 
nellsville  Region,  all  districts  and 
Klondike  Region,  all  districts,  $1.70; 


from  W.  Va.  Region,  all  districts  ex¬ 
cept  Gauley  District,  $1.70;  Gauley  Dis¬ 
trict,  $1.90  per  net  ton. 

Penn.sylvania  R.  R.,  *ICC  No.  AA718, 
Jan.  6,  1916.  Coke  and  coke  breeze  from 
Steelton,  Pa.,  to  Baltimore,  Md.,  and 
Sparrow’s  Point,  Md.,  $1.00  per  net  ton 
(R). 

Elgin,  Joliet  and  Eastern,  Sup.  1  to 
ICC  No.  1543,  Jan.  10,  1916.  Petroleum 
coke  from  Whiting,  Ind.,  to  Cleveland 
(R),  $1.90;  Fremont  and  Fostoria, 

(Jhio,  $1.60  per  net  ton. 

Missouri,  Kansas  &  Texas,  Sup.  2  to 
ICC  A4011,  Jan.  15,  1916.  Petroleum 
coke  from  Coffey ville,  Kas.,  to  Council 
Bluffs,  Pa.,  Omaha,  Fort  Crook,  La 


Platte,  Plattsmouth,  Nebraska  City, 
Verdon,  Falls  City,  Louisville,  Dunbar, 
$2.25;  Lincoln,  Hichman,  Neb.,  $2.40  per 
net  ton  (R). 

(K)  Indicates  a  reduction  in  rate. 

(A)  Indicates  an  advance  in  rate. 


West  Virginia  Coal  Charters. 

Charters  have  been  granted  to  the  fol¬ 
lowing  companies  to  operate  in  West 
Virginia  coal  fields : 

The  Rex  Coal  &  Coke  Company  of 
Huntingdon,  capital  $100,000,  with  works 
at  Ethel,  Logan  county.  The  incorpora¬ 
tors  are  George  S.  Wallace,  L.  R.  Reese, 
J.  W.  Lawton,  P.  P.  Gibson  of  Hunting- 
ton  and  F.  M.  McClung  of  Ashland,  Ky. 


DEXTER  &  CARPENTER,  INC. 

10-12  BROADWAY,  NEW  YORK 
ANTHRACITE  ) 

BITUMINOUS  (  ^OaiS 

LLOYDELL  PRINCESS 
CLAIRE  CROWN 

and  CROWN  SMITHING 
COKE 

Branch  Office:  Land  Title  Bldg.,  Philadelphia 

Continental  Bldg.,  Baltimore,  Md. 


C.C.  BOWMAN  ANTHRACITE,  COKE, 

Miner  and  Shipper  BITUMINOUS 


“North  Wilkes-Barre” 
‘‘West  Wyoming” 
‘‘Lopez” 

‘‘Big  Vein  Lehigh” 

And  other  grades  Anthracite 


‘‘Perfection”  Smithing 
“Best”  Gas 

‘‘White  Oak”  Steam 

And  other  gradee  Bituminous, 
Connellsville  Coke,  etc. 

Address  all  communications  to  119  William  St..  Pittston.  Pa.  Anthracite  shipments  made 
by  rail  or  water  via  P.  R.  R..  P.  &  R.  R.  R.,  L.  V.  R.  R..  and  their  connections 


Sole  Shipper 
and 

Mine  Agent 


Established  1884 


Punxsutawney  Coal  Mining  Co. 


HARRY  YATES.  PreridenI 


WALTER  S.  BLAISDELL.  Sec'y-Treai. 


Wm.  C.  Tail 

General  Sales  Agent 

BUFFALO.  N.Y. 


Frederic  Landstreet 
Genial  Eattem  Sale*  Agent 
Land  Tide  Buikting 
PHILADELPHIA.  PA. 


THE  FRANCES  MINES 

Mine  Owners  and  Shippers  of 

BITUMINOUS 

COAL 

,  Geoerai  Office; 

1442  Marine  National  Bank  Bldg. 
BUFFALO.  N.  Y. 


Mines  on  the  Buffalo, 
Rochester  and  Pittsburgh 
Railway,  near 
Purvesutarsne^,  Pa. 


SHIPPING  PIERS: 

Pi.  Richmond,  Phila.,  Pa. 
Pt.  Reading,  N.Y.  Harbor 


WE 

MINE  AND 
SELL  GOOD 
COAL 


I  Peabody  Coal  Company 

■  General  Offices: 

I  McCORMICK  BUILDING 

I  CHICAGO 

I  St.  Louis  Mo.  Office:  Syndicate  Trust  Building 

s 

m 

^liliilllillllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllUllllllllllllllilllllllllillllllilllllllllU^ 


We.4r  •. 


■  J 


DELAWARE,  LACKAWANNA  &  WESTERN  COAL  GOi’S 

SCRANTON  COAL 

THE  S.  C.  SCHENCK  CO..  Sales 


Two  Large 
Covered  Docks. 


Shipments 
All  Railroads. 


Agents] 


C.  L.  DERING, 

Suit  Coal  Department  ISLAND  CREEK 

When  you  buy  “SCRANTON”  be  sure 

West  Virginia  Splint 

Manager  Chicago  Office 

you  6et  the  GENUINE  D.,  L.  &  W. 

Rescreened  at  Sekitan  elevator,  Cincinnati. 

... 

-  Old  Colony  Rnilding 

Scranton. 

Mention  The  Black  Diamond  when  writing  advertisers. 


No.  26] 


29 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


A.  B.  CURRIE  COMPANY 

JOBBERS  OF 

COAL  AND  COKE 


AGENTS  FOR  PRODUCING  COMPANIES 


IN 


Colorado,  Wyoming,  Illinois,  Michigan 


DISTRIBUTORS  IN  NEBRASKA 


OF 


Thorne,  Neale  &  Company's 

Anthracite  Coals 


From  The 


Pittston,  Plymouth  and  Scranton  Districts 


CITY  NATIONAL  BANK  BUILDING 

OMAHA,  NEBRASKA 


BROTHERS  VALLEY 
COAL  CO. 


Miners  and  Shippers  of 


SMOKELESS 

COAL 

VOLATILE  MATTER  16% 

Unexcelled  for  Steam  and  Domestic  Purposes 

PAR  EXCELLENCE  SUMS  UP  IN  A  WORD  THE  RESULT  OF  THE 
CAREFUL  PREPARATION  PEN-MAR  LUMP,  EGG  &  STOVE  RECEIVES 
OVEROUR  MOST  MODERN  SHAKER  SCREENS  AND  PICKING-TABLES 
THESE  SIZES  ARE  RESCREENED. 


J.  M.  LEONARD,  Sales  Manager 


W.  E.  McCauley,  Resident  Manager 
Union  Trust  Building,  Baltimore,  Md. 

W.  A.  LEIGH,  Resident  Manager 
Old  Colony  Building,  Chicago,  Ill. 


90  West  Street,  New  York 


December  2.'),  1915 


CHICAGO,  ILL. 


Price;  One  Look 


The  Taylor  Coal 
Company,  in  wishing 
you  a  Merry  Christ¬ 
mas  and  a  Prosperous 
New  Year,  strives  just 
as  energetically  toward 
the  complete  fulfill- 
merit  of  that  wish  as 
this  concern  energet¬ 
ically  strives  to  increase 
your  profits  by  making  you  a  perma¬ 
nent  dealer  in  ENERGY  CO.\L. 

The  past  has  been  a  most  pleasant 
and  successful  year  for  us.  It  has 
been  made  even  more  satisfactory^ 
than  that  of  former  years,  because  in¬ 
creased  sales  and  a  greater  tonnage 
has  demonstrated  to  ns  that  the  re¬ 
lationship  between  this  company  and 
its  customers  has  been  one  of  mutual 
irrofit. 

'I'o  all  those  who  have  contributed 
so  much  toward  our  success  during 
the  past  year,  we  hope  that  all  of  the 
many  favors  have  been  instilled  and 
that  the  experience  in  each  case  has 
been  one  that  will  warrant  a  con- 
tinnatioii  of  patronage  during  IttltC 

To  those  dealers  who  have  not  yet 
given  ENERGY  CO.YL  the  trial  we 
conscientiously  believe  it  deserves,  we 
hope  that  the  coming  year  will  offer 
ns  the  opportunity  of  deiiioiistratiiig 
the  business-bringing,  business-hold¬ 
ing  qualities  of  this  coal  to  yon. 

We  hope  that  the  last  has  been  the 
most  successful  of  all  your  years,  and 
that  191(i  will  prove  even  a  better  one. 

- ENERGY - 


HAPPY  HOME  HEATED 
WITH  ENERGY  COAL 

VVe  are  indebted  to  a  user  of 
ENERGY  CO.YL  for  the  photograph 
shown  above.  It  is  just  one  of  hun¬ 
dreds  of  such  photographs  which 
might  he  taken  of  happy  homes  heated 
with  ENERGY  COAL. 

The  design  and  appearance  of  the 
home  evidences  the  character  of  the 
owner — a  careful,  up-to-date  and  ju¬ 
dicious  man.  That  this  is  the  case  is 
proven  by  the  fact  that  he  buys  and 
linrns  ENERIYS'  CO.AL. 

riie  reader  will  see  that  a  large  fire¬ 
place  adorns  the  house,  and  though 
we  are  not  positive,  we  are  led  to  be¬ 
lieve  that  this  fireplace  will  lend  much 
to  the  comfort  and  cheerfulness  of  the 
room  in  which  it  is  located  with  many 
a  warm  and  cozy  fire  of  ENERGY 
COAL. 

- ENERGY - 


L.  W.  McKown 

Mr.  L.  \\\  McKown,  who  is  rapidly 
inishing  ENERGY  CCj.AL  to  the  very 
front  rank  in  the  'I'ri-Cities  and  vi¬ 
cinity.  desires  to  thank  and  express 
his  appreciation  of  the  loyal  support 


Ii.  W.  McKown 

given  him  by  the  trade  in  his  territory 
Since  his  new  connection. 

Mr.  McKown  has  been  with  the 
iaylor  Goal  Company  for  less  than  a 
year,  hut  he  has  demonstrated  beyond 
doubt  that  a  good  salesman  and  a 
good  product  make  a  team  that  can 
obtain  hig  results  quickly. 


ENERGY 


MOVING  PICTURE  SHOWS 
ADVERTISING  ENERGY  COAL 

Dealers  handling  ENERGY  COAL 
are  finding  the  use  of  the  lantern 
slides  furnished  by  the  Taylor  Coal 
Company  of  much  help  in  the  profit¬ 
able  advertising  of  their  coal,  business 
and  name  to  “movie”  theater  goers. 

.  These  slides  are  novel  and  attrac¬ 
tive  in  appearance,  and  each  bears  the 
dealers  name.  Pictures  speaking  all 
languages,  the  slide  and  dealer’s  name 
IS  brought  to  the  mind  of  every  per¬ 
son  seeing  one  of  these  slides  every 
time  he  or  she  is  in  the  market  for 
coal. 

Dealers  who  would  like  to  secure 
these  slides  for  similar  purposes  can 
secure  them  upon  request  to  any 
ENERGY  salesman  or  to  the  Taylor 
Coal  Company  at  Chicago. 


ENERGY 


“HOOS  HOO”  IN  ENERGY  COAL 

1'.N1■.R(>^  (.GAL  is  mined  in  Wil¬ 
liamson  comity,  Illinois.  It  is  clean, 
washed,  roller  screened,  sized  and  re¬ 
screened.  It  is  free  from  impurities. 
Shippeil  in  all  domestic  and  steam 
sizes  over  the  1.  C.  and  Mo.  I’ac 
Railroads. 

^  I' RANKLIN’  RNERG'i’  is  mined  in 
Franklin  County,  111.  It  is  an  ideal 
one  for  steam  and  domestic  imr- 
posos.  and  is  carefully  jireparcd  in  all 
.'team  and  domestic  sizes.  .Shipped 
over  the  C.  R.  N-  (j.  and  I.  C.  Rail¬ 
roads. 

For  prices  and  particulars  write. 

TAYLOR  COAL  CO. 

Old  Colony  Bldg. 

ChicagOt  111. 

Miners  and  shippers  of 
“Energy*'and  Frank¬ 
lin  “Energy”  Coal 


Mention  The  Black  Diamond  when  writing  advertisers. 


30 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


**The  Coal  Traders  Accepted  Want-ad  Medium' 


WANTED  FOR  SALE  DEPARTMENT 


The  rmte  for  mdeertisemente  under  thie  heading  it  four  cents  a  teord  per  issue, 
with  a  20%  discount  from  this  rate  for  four  or  more  consecutive  insertions, 
Repiies  mailed  direct  or  through  our  office.  Ads  received  by  phone  at  Chicago 
until  S  F.  M.  Thursdmy^Harrison  1224. 


COAL  MINES  FOR  SALE 

COAL  MINE  FOR  LEASE— 1,200 

acres;  drift  mine;  fine  gulch;  six-foot 
seam;  14,669  B.  T.  U.;  sandstone  roof; 
electric  power  by  meter;  on  river  and 
trunk  railway.  P.  A.  Reece,  Johnston 
building,  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 


FOR  SALE — 1,223  acres  in  fee,  five 

Kanawha  splint  seams.  Railroad  and 
river  frontage;  $18,000  improve¬ 
ments  on  property;  oil  and  gas  indi¬ 
cations.  Reasonable  terms.  Invite 
inspection.  Box  939,  Charleston,  W. 
Va. 


FOR  SALE — 712  acres  lease  prop¬ 
erty.  River  and  railroad  frontage; 
five  seams  Kanawha  splint  coals; 
$13,000  improvement  on  property. 
Invite  inspection.  Reasonable  terms. 
This  is  a  bargain.  Box  939,  Charles¬ 
ton,  W.  Va. 


FOR  SALE— 8,000  to  15,000  acres 
of  coal  lands,  located  in  the  south 
central  part  of  Illinois,  six  and  one- 
half  to  seven  and  one-half  feet  in 
thickness  and  385  feet  below  the  sur¬ 
face.  Good  railroad  facilities.  Best 
steam  coal  in  Illinois.  Address  G.  W. 
Schmidt,  Gillespie,  Illinois. 


FOR  SALE — Minshall  vein  mine, 
average  five  feet,  fully  equipped,  good 
top  and  conditions  on  the  C.  &  E. 
1.  Railroad,  with  access  to  the  Penn¬ 
sylvania  Lines  and  New  York  Cen¬ 
tral;  609  acres  more  available;  freight 
rate  to  Chicago,  77c;  Indianapolis, 
50c.  Address  Box  676,  The  Black 
Diamond. 


FOR  SALE  —  Operating  mine ; 

Pennsylvania  Railroad;  1,200  acres 
coal;  present  capacity  500  tons;  can 
easily  be  increased;  fine  grade  of 
coal;  principal  market.  New  York  and 
New  England.  ,  It  has  a  good  rate 
for  lake  shipments.  Price,  $150,000; 
to  settle  an  estate.  Thomas  Ligg:ett, 
1213  First  National  Bank  building, 
Pittsburgh,  Pa. 


FOR  SALE— Six  hundred  fifty- 
eight  acres  of  coal  land.  Under  320 
acres  is  Upper  Freeport  coal,  measur¬ 
ing  six  feet,  and  under  about  530  acres 
Lower  Freeport,  measuring  two  to 
three  feet,  and  under  the  entire  658 
acres  is  the  vein  variously  named 
“Miller,”  “B”  or  “Lower  Kittannmg,’ 
measuring  three  to  four  feet  of  coal. 
There  is  about  250  acres  of  surface 
and  nearly  a  mile  and  a  half  frontage 
on  Pennsylvania  Railroad  and  Con- 
nemaugh  river.  This  includes  one 
of  the  best  manufacturing  sites  of 
about  fifty  acres  fronting  on  the 
Pennsylvania  Railroad.  The  Upper 
Freeport  is  a  drift  mine,  sixty  feet 
above  the  railroad  at  lowest  point, 
and  produces  good  coking  coal.  The 
Lower  Freeport  is  opened  as  a  drift 
mine  and  shows  good  coal.  The  “B” 
vein  is  reached  by  a  slope  or  shaft  and 
is  considered  to  be  among  the  best 
grades  of  coal  in  central  Pennsylva¬ 
nia.  The  equipment  of  this  property 
consists  of  fifty-two  coke  ovens,  sid¬ 
ings,  chute,  tipple,  forty-nine  wagons, 
tracks,  mules,  twelve  miner’s  houses, 
pumps,  stables,  shops  and  other 
necessities.  This  tract  is  in  group  5, 
which  bears  lowest  freight  rate  east 
in  Pittsburgh  district.  Analysis  fur¬ 
nished  on  application.  For  further 
details,  price  and  terms,  address 
SOUTH  SIDE  TRUST  COMPANY 
OF  PITTSBURGH,  PA.,  trustee  in 
bankruptcy  of  Bolivar  Coal  &  Coke 
Company. 


COAL  MINES  FOR  SALE 


41,000  ACRES  CATTLE,  fanning 
and  coal  lands;  producing  coal  dis¬ 
trict;  oil  and  flowing  artesian  water 
nearby;  large  free  range,  $4.25;  also 
land  scrip.  Hugo  Seaberg,  Raton, 
N.  M. 


FOR  SALE  CHEAP  TO  CLOSE 
AN  ESTATE — 24,000  acres  good  coal 
land,  with  a  mine  ready  to  operate, 
power  plant,  mining  machines,  cars, 
etc.;  fourteen  miles  of  standard  and 
narrow-gauge  railroad,  connecting 
with  the  Southern  Railway  at  Lime 
Rock,  Ala.,  sixty-five  miles  westerly 
from  Chattanooga;  four  locomotives, 
cars;  eighty  dwellings  and  large  com¬ 
missary.  Much  valuable  hardwood 
timber,  with  two  good  saw  mills; 
most  of  the  land  on  Cumberland  pla¬ 
teau  suitable  for  agriculture  when 
cleared,  and  two  improved  farms;  coal 
known  locally  as  Belmont  Block,  very 
hard,  high  in  volatile  matter,  contain¬ 
ing  some  cannel-coal  (co-related  to 
Bon  Air  seam  of  Tennessee),  excel¬ 
lent  for  domestic  use.  Low  freight 
rates  and  best  of  markets.  For  full 
particulars,  price  and  terms  address 
F.  D.  Pierce.  Bridgeport.  Ala.  

COAL  MINES  WANTED 


WANTED — To  buy  an  interest  in 
a  coal  mine  on  the  Louisville  &  Nasli- 
ville  Railroad  in  the  Hazard  district 
of  Kentucky,  only  those  who  have 
facilities  for  caring  for  some  western 
trade  considered.  Address  Box  736, 
The  Black  Diamond. 


MACHINERY  FOR  SALE 

FOR  SALE — One  22x48  Standard 

girder  frame  Hamilton  Corliss  engine. 
Write  Box  515,  Ottawa,  111. 

FOR  SALE — One  reel,  about  1,000 

feet,  grooved  trolley  wire.  Nineteen 
and  one-half  cents  f.  o.  b.  Dickinson, 
W.  Va.  Address  Quincy  Coal  Com¬ 
pany,  Quincy,  W.  Va. 

RAILS,  MACHINERY  AND 
EQUIPMEi^T — Buy,  sell  or  ex¬ 
change.  Send  list  of  what  you  have 
for  sale  and  advise  of  your  require¬ 
ments.  L.  A.  Green,  1514  First  Na¬ 
tional  Bank  building,  Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

FOR  SALE — Two  HD  and  one 
low  vein  Morgan-Gardner  mining 
machines.  One  six  or  eight-ton  Mor¬ 
gan-Gardner  locomotive.  Equipment 
in  good  condition.  Quincy  Coal  Co., 
Quincy,  Kanawha  County,  W.  Va. 

FOR  SALE — One  Richardson  auto¬ 
matic  scale,  2,500  pounds  capacity; 
one  Christy  box  car  loader,  fifty  horse 
power,  both  in  perfect  working  con¬ 
dition.  Smith-Lohr  Coal  Mining  Co., 
Pana,  Ill. _ 

FOR  SALE — Heavy  construction, 

full  housed  mine  fan,  top  horizontal 
discharge,  overhung  ten  foot  diameter 
wheel,  complete  with  pedestal,  thrust 
and  outboard  bearings  and  fly  wheel 
pulley.  Capacity  70,000  cubic  feet 
at  350  R.  P.  M.  As  good  as  new  and 
a  bargain.  Aluminum  Ore  Company, 
East  St.  Louis,  Ill. 

LOCOMOTIVE  FOR  SALE— A 
bargain — Gasoline  Locomotive,  in  per¬ 
fect  condition,  ^Vhitcomb.  7  ton; 
width.  63  inches;  height,  43  inches; 
length,  12  feet  8  inches.  Gauge  42 
inches.  Cast  iron  wheels,  steel  tires, 
one  new  set  tires  with  locomotive. 
Used  one  year,  displaced  by  electric 
installation.  Cost  new,  $3,500.  To 
move  quick,  will  sell  for  $1,750  com¬ 
plete,  f.  o.  b.  Fairmont  &  Cleveland 
Coal  Company,  Fairmont,  W.  Va. 


SITUATIONS  WANTED 

SITUATION  WANTED  — Offi« 

man,  fourteen  years’  experience  all 
departments,  operative  and  retail. 
Familiar  all  details  office  and  yards. 
Box  749,  The  Black  Diamond. 

.WANTED — To  represent,  in  west¬ 
ern  Michigan  on  commission  basis, 
reliable  operating  company  producing 
Pocahontas  an<l  splint  coals.  Ad¬ 
dress  Box  748,  The  Black  Diamond. 

MINE  SUPERINTENDENT— 
Thoroughly  familiar  with  electrical 
and  modern  methods.  Twenty  years’ 
practical  experience  general  coal  min¬ 
ing.  Can  produce  results.  Address 
Box  733,  The  Black  Diamond. 

YOUNG  MAN  with  broad  and  ex¬ 
tensive  experience  in  development, 
construction  and  operation  of  coal 
mines.  Employed  as  superintendent 
of  large  concern  at  present.  Can 
handle  any  sort  of  proposition.  Want 
to  change.  References.  Address  Box 
747,  The  Black  Diamond. 

SITUATION  WANTED— One  of 

the  best  bituminous  coal  salesmen 
traveling  New  York,  New  England 
and  Ontario;  fifteen  years’  command¬ 
ing  large  tonnage;  desires  a  better 
connection  by  Januarv  1st.  Gilt  edge 
recommendations  as  to  ability  and 
character.  Address  P.  O.  Box  760, 
Buffalo,  N.  Y. 

SALESMAN  with  ten  years’  experi¬ 
ence  traveling  Ohio,  Indiana  and 
Mich.,  familiar  with  sales  manager’s 
duties  and  possessing  executive  abil¬ 
ity,  now  employed  with  high-grade 
coal  company,  will  consider  sales 
manager’s  position  after  January  1. 
Would  like  to  communicate  with  re¬ 
liable  company.  None  others  need 
answer.  Address  730,  care  of  The 
Black  Diamond.  . 

POSITION  W  A  N  T  E  D— Twelve 

years’  experience  as  sales  and  traffic 
manager  handling  western  and  east¬ 
ern  coal.  Will  locate  in  any  locality. 
Will  accept  traveling  position  if  re¬ 
munerative.  Age,  thirty-five  years. 
Address  Box  746,  The  Black  Dia¬ 
mond. 


MAPS  OF  CAMBRIA  COUNTY, 
PA.,  FOR  SALE — Revised,  up-to-date, 
showing  location  of  mines,  coal  areas 
and  basins,  townships,  railroads,  etc. 
Descriptive  supplement  with  each 
map  gives  the  name  of  each  mine, 
township  in  which  the  mine  is  lo¬ 
cated,  name  of  mining  company,  ad¬ 
dress,  general  superintendent  and  his 
address,  number  of  employees,  seam, 
thickness,  kind  of  opening,  shipping 
railroad,  average  daily  output  for  years 
1912.  ’13  and  ’14.  Inspection  district  and 
further  remarks.  Map  measures 
about  40  inches  square.  Price  com¬ 
plete,  $2.00.  Address  Book  Dept., 
The  Black  Diamond,  Chicago,  111. 


HELP  WANTED 


WANTED — Chicago  city  salesman, 
familiar  with  steam  trade,  by  operat¬ 
ing  company.  Give  references.  Ad¬ 
dress  Box  706,  The  Black  Diamond 

WANTED — First  class  salesman 
with  established  trade  in  western 
Iowa  by  operator  producing  highest 
quality  Illinois  coal.  State  experience 
fully.  All  replies  confidential.  AT 
dress  Box  705,  The  Black  Diamond. 


WANTED — By  southern  Illinois 
operator  producing  coal  of  first  qual¬ 
ity,  a  salesman  for  Iowa;  also  one  for 
Illinois  teritory.  Will  pay  a  salary 
of  $125  per  month  and  commission. 
A  real  opportunity  for  a  man  who 
can  sell  coal.  Address  Box  742,  The 
Black  Diamond. 


BUSINESSOPPORTUNITY 

“RARE  BUSINESS  OPPORTU¬ 
NITY” — Wanted,  some  capital  in  a 
new  mine  just  developing;  20-year 
lease;  best  steam  coal.  One-third  in¬ 
terest  for  $5,000.  Address  Box  745, 
The  Black  Diamond. 


FOR  SALE — A  complete  and  suc¬ 
cessful  coal  and  feed  business  in  a 
town  of  45,000,  near  Chicago.  Low 
freight  rates.  This  business  is  well 
established  and  will  stand  your  in¬ 
vestigation.  Address  Box  738,  The 
Black  Diamond. 


FOR  SALE — Coal  yard,  including 

equipment  coke  buildings,  lease  of 
ground;  centrally  located;  splendid 
opportunity  for  someone  who  wishes 
to  go  into  this  business.  For  fur¬ 
ther  information  address  Syndicate 
Dry  Goods  Company,  Indianapolis, 
Ind. 


WANTED — A  practical  coal  op¬ 
erator  with  some  capital  to  join  with 
me  in  a  splendid  coal  stripping  propo¬ 
sition  in  the  No.  8  coal  fields  in  east- 
tern  Ohio.  I  own  the  coal  land,  good 
tipple,  mine  cars,  railroad  sidings, 
houses,  etc.,  but  need  some  capital  to 
do  the  rest,  but  not  a  large  amount. 
Address  J.,  Room  633,  Fulton  build¬ 
ing,  Pittsburgh,  Pa. 


RAILS 


FOR  SALE — One  carload  each  of 

new  forty  and  sixteen-pound  steel 
rail.  Address  Quincy  Coal  Company, 
Quincy,  W.  Va. 


MISCELLANEOUS 


FOR  SALE — Addressograph.  We 

have  card  index  addressograph,  good 
as  new;  metal  drawers  holding  3,600 
addresses.  Will  sell  at  half  original 
cost.  The  Maynard  Coal  Company, 
Columbus,  Ohio. 


^HE  Classified  advertisements  in  The  Black 
Diamond,  costing  4c  per  word,  are  prob¬ 
ably  as  eagerly  scanned  as  any  other  part  of 
the  paper.  Advertisers  desiring  to  get  in 
touch  with  the  coal  industry  will  find  through 
the  use  of  these  small  announcements  that 
they  readily  accomplish  their  purpose. 


Mention  The  Black  Diamond  when  writing  advertisers 


No.  26] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


31 


POMEROY  &  MARTIN 

ATTORNEYS  AND  COUNSELORS 

FISHER  BUILDING 
CHICAGO 

Andrewa* Allen,  C.  E.  John  A.  Garcia*  E.  M, 

Allen  &  Garcia  Co. 

Consulting  and  Constructing  Engineers 
DESIGNING  -  SUPERINTENDENCE  -  CONSTRUCTION 
Everythlne  for  a  Coal  Mine.  Including  Structures, 
Mechanical  and  Electrical  Installation,,  Shaft 
Sinking,  Development  and  Operation 

Examinations  -  Reports  -  Appraisals 
McCormick  Bldg.  CHICAGO 

HNS  OLSON,  Pns.  INO.  L  HSHER,  Sic’y 

PUNXSUTAWNEY  DRILLING  &  CONTRACTING 
COMPANY 

DIAMOND  DRILL  CONTRACTORS 

TBSTINO  BITUMINODS  COAL  LANDS  A  SPBOIALTT 
PUNXSOTKWNEY,  PL 

MARSHALL  HANEY 

Consulting  Mining  Engineer 
SEER,  GREENE  COUNTY,  VA. 

Examlna  minLnc  properties  and  furnish  reliable 
Information  to  Intending  Investors,  undertake 
management  and  development  of  prospects  and 
mines.  Pnrebasere  eeonred  for  properties  of  an- 
qaestloned  merit. 

Halit  liasaiakle.  CirrisiiMlMM  liiltai. 

aOOD  PROPgRTIES  FINANCED 

ANALYSIS  o/COAL 

IS  OUR  SPECIALTY 

Experience,  Caie  and  Standardized 
Equipment  Mean  Accurate  Results 

GULICK-HENDERSON  CO. 

Manhattan  Buildini  CHI  C|A  G  O 


Established  1894  Telephone  Franlclia  1013 

WM.*W.  THOMPSON  &  CO. 

Certified  Public  Accountants 

927-931  Stock  Exchange  -  -  CHICAGO 

Auditors  and  System  Designers 


I*  A.  T  Pf  TD  S 

United  StatesandForeign 

Trad*  Mark*  Racistarad 

Neabit  &  Doolittle 

Attornaja 

7  It  Park  Buildlnff»  PITTSBURGH,  PA. 


SHEPARD  &  HUTCHISON 

Public  Accountants  and 
Auditors 


Both  members  of  this  firm  being  expe¬ 
rienced  and  practical  coal  accountants, 
special  attention  is  given  to  mining 
costs,  appraisals  and  systems,  and  to 
retail  costs  and  examinations. 


1645  Old  Colony  Building 
Phone  Harrison  7572  Chicago,  Ill. 


H.  H.  Althous*  H.  W.  Althou** 

ENGINEERB— OEOLOGISTS 

RAILROADS— COAL 

Reports,  eetlmatefl.  surreys.  Mina  construction, 
design,  examination  and  Taluatlon:  mining 
geology. prospecting.  Experience  and  opera¬ 
tions  In  middle,  western  and  southern  states 
and  Mexico. 

WoelweMh  Bulldlnt*  New  Yerk 


Coal  Briquetting  Machinery 

Capacities  from  10  to  35  ton*  of  2  ounce 
Briquette*  per  hour.  Complete  plants 
erected  >nd  guaranteed 

NASHEK  ENGINEERING  CO. 
80  West  Street.  New  York 


RATES  FOR  SPACE 

Under  Professional  Directory 
heading,  $1.45  per  inch  per  in¬ 
sertion. 


FOR  SALE-DYNAMOS  &  MOTORS 

240  Volt  Direct  Current  Generator*. 

K.W.  Speed 

I  10  Crocker-Wheeler  direct  con.  to  Ideal 

engine .  250 

1  125  Alhs-Chalmers,  6-pole .  525 

1  150  Western  Elea.,  6-po1e  typ*  L,  3-bearing  500 

1  150  Willey,  direction,  to  i-valve  Atlas  en* 

gine .  225 

1  240  Crocker-Wheeler,  MP.  direot-connected 
to  15x28x36  in.  cross  compouad  Vilter- 

Corliss  engine .  120 

Send  for  our  "Monthly  Bargain  Sheet,"  showing 
net  prices.  We  make  a  specialty  of  second-hand 
electrical  machinery  overhauled  "like  new.” 

Motors  and  generators  rented.  We  will  rent  any 
machine  in  our  stock. 

GREGORY  ELECTRIC  CO. 

16th  and  Lincoln  Sts.  Chicago,  III. 


ROBINS  CONVEYING  MACHINERY 

Our  bulletins  describe  the  successful  solution  of 
many  materials-handling  problems.  Write  for 
them. 

ROBINS  CONVEYING  BELT  COMPANY 
New  York,  IS  Park  Row 

Chicago.  Old  Colony  Bldg.  San  Francisco,  Th«  Grltfin 
Co.  Spokane.  United  Iron  Works.  Toronto.  Gutta 
Fercha  &  Rubber,  Ltd.  New  Glasgow,  Eastern  Steel 
Co..  Ltd. 


PIRON  AND  ^  WIRE  AND  MALLEABLE  ■ 

STEEL  I  MANILA  1—^  AND  CAST 

PIPE  Jl  ROPE  M  FITTINGS  i  ^ 

Large  stock  of  good  sound  SECOND  HAND  Largest  stock  of  NEW  pipe  in  the  Middle  West 

eitL'plt^fcoipta^^^^^^^  OHIO  PIPE  CO.,  Works  and  Yards,  FINDLAY,  OHIO 


W.  H.  THOMAS,  President  r,evcDi  c  u  e  a  u  H.  WOODWARD,  Sales  Mgr. 

EDWARD  COOPER.  Vice  Pres.  **•  ''•-P.  »•  G.  M.  j  g  pgARSON,  Treasurer 

Flat-Top  Fuel  Co. 

Ineorporntod 

GENERAL  OFFICES 

BLUEFIELD,  W.  VA. 

E.  K.  SHERA 

Ohio  and  Indiana  Salesman 

W.  S.  HAMLIN 
Southern  Salesman 

Mine  Owners  and  Shippers  Exclusively  of 

Pocahontas  Furnace  and  Foundry  Coke 

Capacity  250,000  Tons  per  Annum 

Cooper-Thomas  Cream  of  Pocahontas  Coal 


Capacity  TWO  MILLION  Tons  Annually 

GUARANTEED  NUMBER  THREE 

THICK  VEIN 

Domestic  Lump  and  Egg  Screened  Mine  Run  Standard  Mine  Run 
Steam  Nut  Washed  Nut,  Pea  and  Slack  “Flat  Top”  Smithing 

CLOSELY  SCrVeNeV^N  OF  MINE 

Very,  Very  Lumpy  — A  GREAT  COAL  FOR  DEALERS 

HOW  WE  PLEASE  OUR  TRADE 

UANCFACTOKE  ODR  OWN  COKE  MINE  OUR  OWN  COAL  DO  OUR  OWN  SELLING 

WRITE  US^FOR  PRICES 


ROLLER  SCREENED  COKE 

Especially  Prepared  for  Domestic  Use 
EGG,  STOVE,  NUT  AND  PEA  SIZES 


HOLLY  STOVER,  •  Western  Mgr. 
Lytton  Building 
CHICAGO 

Phonei  919  Herrison 


Our  Coke  is  made  from  Youghiogheny  Coal. 

We  have  the  only  roller  screened  coke  plant  west  of  the  Mississippi. 
Prompt  shipments  via  C.  M.  &  St.  P.,  Illinois  Central,  C,  G.  W. 

and  C.  B.  &  Q.  railways. 

We  solicit  your  inquiries. 


THE  KEY  CITY  GAS  CO. 

DUBUQUE,  IOWA 


Improved  Cutterhead  and  Vanadium 
Steel  Cutter  Chain 

SOLE  AGENTS  FOR 

Morris  Automatic  Bit  Machines 

Do  away;  with  expensive  hand  sharpening.  More  hits  at  less  cost. 

LOTT  MINE  EQUIPMENT  CO. 

7031  South  Chicago  Are.,  Chicago,  HI. 


Electric 
Coal  Mining 
Machine 
Repairs 


General  Offices: 

MEEKER  &  COMPANY 

Western  Agent 

SHIPPERS  OF 

1 43  Liberty  St. 

Wyoming  Valley  Anthracite 

Philip  Rafferty 

New  York  City 

Shipments  to  all  Eastern  and  Western  points  in  the  United  States  and  Canada 
reached  by  the  Pennsylvania,  Delaware  &  Hudson,  Central  Railroad  of  New  Jersey 
and  their  connections  and  from  New  York  tidewater. 

Ford  Bldg.,  Detroit 

Mention  The  Black  Diamond  when  writing  advertisers. 


32 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[December  25 


EMMONS  COAL  MINING  COMPANY 

MINERS  AND  SHIPPERS 

“Culpepper"  Bituminous  Coai 

Smokeless  Lump,  6^',  3]^"  and  Sizes. 

General  Offices — Land  Title  Building,  PHILADELPHIA,  PA, 


Advertising  creates  PRESTIGE  and 
prestige  brings  PROFIT.  That’s  why 
“it  pays  to  advertise.” 


T.  B.  DAVIS,  President,  No.  1  Broadway,  New  York 

Island  Creek  Coal 


Shipped  via  Chespeake  &  Ohio  Railway 

BLOCKY— CLEAN 


R.  S.  McVeigh,  Vice-Pres.,  Union  Central  Bldg.,  Cincinnati,  O  L.  A.  HICKLEY,  Vice-Pres..  Land  Title  Bldg.,  Philadelphia.  Pa. 

From  the  model  mines  of  the  United  —I  1  From  the  new  and  magnificently 

States  Coal  &  Oil  Co.,  in  Logan  Co.,  I  )  equipped  mines  of  Pond  Creek  Coal 

West  Va.,  which  produced  2,207,444  Shipped  via  Norfolk  &  Western  Railway  j  Co.  in  Pike  County,  Kentucky,  which 

tons  in  1914.  LOW  SULPHUR  *  produced  690,653  tons  in  1914. 


For  quick,  dependable  steam  development.  For  work  reqnirinii  a  long  flame  and  a  high  percenlade  of  volatile  matter.  For  domestic  use. 


cre>b?k:  domkstio  si^r^iiv'T  rvXJivii5* 

One  quality  Ideal  preparation  Stocks  well  Burns  freely  Be  sure  you  get  genuine  Island  Creek 


Inquiries  solicited  for  coal  prepared  in  various  sices  for  shipment  via  rail,  take  and  tide-water,  and  from  large  storage  plants  at  Sekitan,  Ohio,  Superior,  Wis.,  and  Duluth.  Minn. 

ISLAND  CREEK  COAL  SALES  COMPANY  Exclusive  sales  agents  for  the  above  mentioned  mines 

VENABLE  JOHNSON,  Manager  W.  H.  GROVERMAN,  Northwestern  Manager  FRANK  COLLINS,  Manager 

Ford  Builcung,  Detroit,  Mich.  Pl3rxnouth  Building.  Minneapolis,  Minn.  Plymouth  Building,  Minneapolis,  Minn. 


Lehigh  &  Wilkes-Barre  Coal  Company 


MINERS  AND  SHIPPERS  OF 

ANTHRACITE  COAL 

HONEY  BROOK  LEHIGH 
WILKES-BARRE  FREE  BURNING 
PLYMOUTH  RED  ASH 


Capacity,  6,000,000  Tons  per  Annum 

ALL  RAIL  AND  TIDE  WATER  SHIPMENTS 


The  Sign  of  Quality 


Shipping  Wharves{LTe‘ ” 

P.  B.  HEILNER,  Vice  President  and  Gen’l  Agent 
DANIEL  ANTHONY,  Assistant  Gen’l  Agent 
143  Liberty  Street,  New  York 
JOHN  LANCE,  Line  Agent,  Elizabeth,  New  Jersey 


LEHIGH  &  WILKES-BARRE  COAL  COMPANY 

OF  NEW  JERSEY 

A.  DENITHORNE,  President,  48  Congress  Street,  Newark,  N.  J. 

LEHIGH  &  WILKES-BARRE  COAL  COMPANY 

OF  MASSACHUSETTS 

C.  C.  ALLEN,  General  Manager,  141  Milk  Street,  Boston,  Mass. 

GENERAL  OFFICES :  16  South  River  St.,  Wilkes-Barre,  Pa. 


L.  R.  PAGE,  Pt,s.  J.  J.  TIERNEY,  Vic-Prei.  and  Mgr.  Sales 

H.  W.  TUMAN,  Sec’y  H.  E.  WaSOH,  Treaa. 

CROZER-POCAHONTAS  CO. 

1008  North  Americao  Building  PHILADELPHIA.  PA. 

SHIPPERS  OF 

Standard  Pocahontas  Coal 

Mines  located  in  heart  of  original  Pocahontas  fields,  insure 
quality  that  has  made  this  coal  the  standard  the  world  over. 

BRANCH  OFFICES: 

10  Congresa  St.  (S.  P.  Barton  &  Co.)  Boston,  Mass.  Law  &  Commerce  Bldg.  Bluefleld,  W.  Va. 
Fiahar  Bniiding  ....  Chicago,  m.  Citizena  Bank  Building  -  Norfolk,  Va. 

17  St.  Helen’s  Place  (D.  Flack  &  Son),  London,  E.  C. 


WESTMORELAND 
COAL  CO. 

The  Standard  Gas  Coal 

MINES  IN  WESTMORELAND 
COUNTY,  PENNSYLVANIA 

PRINCIPAL  OFFICE: 

224  South  3rd  St.,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 


WITTENBERG  COAL  COMPANY 

SUPERIOR  STEAM  COALS 

WITTENBERG’S  ACME— POCAHONTAS— NEW  RIVER 

BRANCH  OFFICESi  PHILADELPHIA,  Bourse  Building  NEWPORT  NEWS.  VA..  West  Avenue  NORFOLK.  VA..  Seaboard  Bank  Bldg.  LONDON,  ENG. 

EUROPEAN  AGENTS ■  Harrisons  (London)  Limited,  66  Mark  Lane,  London,  Eng.  Cable  Address:  “WITCOAL,  NEW  YORK” 


Mention  Thk  Black  Diamond  when  writing  advertisers. 


No.  26] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


33 


HUTCHINSON  COAL  CO 

PRODUCERS  OF 

LOGAN  COUNTY  SPLINT  AND  LINDEN  CHUNKS  WHITE  ASH 
FAIRMONT  GAS  AND  STEAM  COAL  PITTSBURG  NO.  8 


MAIN  OFFICE  FAIRMONT,  W.  VA. 

PHILADELPHIA  STOCK  EXCHANGE  BLDG. 

PHILADELPHIA.  PA. 
ROCKEFELLER  BLDG..  CLEVELAND.  0. 


KEYSTONE  COAL  &  COKE  CO. 

Westmoreland  Gas,  Greensburg  Steam  and  Miller  Vein  Smithing  Coal 

MANUFACTURERS  OF 

CONNELLSVILLE  COKE— FOUNDRY,  FURNACE  AND  CRUSHED— INDIVIDUAL  CARS 

0«n«ral  Offlcai:  aRBBNSBURO.  PA.  Ofllo**:  NBW  YORK,  BOSTON,  PHII.A1>1IIjPHIA.  BABTIlfORB,  PITTSBUROH  and  CLBVB1.AND. 


The  Lehigh  Coal  and  Navigation 


General  Offices :  437  Chestnut  Street,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 


S.  D.  WARRINER,  President.  ° 

RICHARD  T.  DAVIES,  General  Coal  Agent.  i4s  Liberty  s».  uii  weinutst.  uiMUkSt. 

CHARLES  H.  DAYTON,  Ass’t  Gen’l  Coal  Agent.  New  York  Philadelphia  Beitao 

THE  SKEELE  COAL  CO.,  Sales  Agents,  Marine  National  Bank  Bldg.,  Buffalo,  N.  Y 


ROY  W.  BELL 
Agent 
Syracuse 
N.  Y. 


SUSQUEHANNA  COAL  COMPANY 

MINERS  AND  SHIPPERS 

CELEBRATED  “SUSQUEHANNA”  ANTHRACITE 

GEHERAL  OFFICE,  907  Commercial  Trust  Building.  PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 

Manager’s  Oifice  and  Purchasing  Department,  Miners’  Bank  Building,  Wilkes-Barre,  Pa. 

- SALES  OFFICES - 

NEW  YORK  CITY,  No.  1  Broadway  BALTIMORE,  100  Chamber  of  Commerce  Bldg.  CHICAGO,  1306  Old  Colony  Bldg. 

PHILADELPHIA,  1436  Commercial  Trust  Bldg.  WILLIAMSPORT,  1,  2  and  3  Hart  Bldg.  ERIE,  Marine  Bank  Bldg. 


THORNE,  NEALE  CSb  COMPANY,  Inc.^ 

601-610  Stephen  Girard  Building,  PHILADELPHIA,  PENNA. 


Temple  Collieries 

Harry  E . L.  V. 

Forty  Fort . L.  V. 

Mount  Lookout  L.  V,  or  D.  L.  &  W. 
Lackawanna  -  D.  L.  &  W.  or  Erie 

Schuylkill  Collieries 

Buck  Run . -  P.  &  R, 

New  Castle  -  -  -  -  -  P.  R.  R. 


ANTHRACITE  and 
BITUMINOUS 

COALS 

SHIPMENTS  — RAIL  OR  WATER 


Agents  for 

Psu’dee  Bros.  &  Co.  Lattimer-Lehigh 
Bituminous 

Sonman  Shaft  -  -  -  -  “B”  Vein 

Sonman  Slope  -  -  -  -  '‘E”  Vein 

Sonman  Smithing — IJ^-inch  Screened, 
Low  Sulphur,  Spongy  Coke 


New  York  Office :  17  Battery  Place 
Cable  Addregg;  “THORNEALE” 


CHAS.  £.  FERNBERG,  General  Sales  Agent 

CHICAGO 


BALTIMORE  BOSTON 
BUFFALO  MAUCH  CHUNK 


Mention  The  Black  Diamond  when  writing  advertiserg. 


34 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


[December  25 


Books  that  belong  at  the  right  hand  of  every  coal  mine 
operator,  mine  manager,  superintendent,  etc. 

- - - - o - 


Advanced  Machinist.  672  pages,  700  illustrations 
and  1,800  references.  Price  $2.00. 

Aerial  or  Wire  Ropeways,  by  A.  J.  Wallis-Tayler. 

255  pages,  155  illustrations.  Price  $3.00. 

Application  of  Electric  Power  to  Mines,  by  W.  H. 
Patchell.  344  pages,  91  illustrations.  Price  $4.00. 

Anthracite  Coal  Combination  in  the  United  States, 
by  Eliot  Jones.  275  pages.  Maps  and  charts.  Price  $1.50. 
Black  Diamond  each  week  for  one  year,  $3.00. 

Black  Diamond  Year  Book,  1914  edition.  365  pages. 
Price  $5.00. 

Blasting,  by  Oscar  Guttman,  C.  E.  146  illustrations, 

183  pages.  Price  $3.00. 

Chemistry  of  Mining  and  Mine  Ventilation,  by  Jos.  J. 
Walsh.  200  pages,  27  illustrations.  Price  $2.00. 

Carbonization  of  Coal,  by  V.  B.  Lewes.  330  pages, 

27  illustrations.  Price  $3.00. 

Coal,  by  Jas.  Tonge.  283  pages,  46  illustrations. 
Price  $2.00. 

“Coal  Catechism,”  by  William  Jasper  Nicolls. 
Answers  over  666  questions  regarding  the  mining,  his¬ 
tory,  selling  of  coal  and  coke.  Price  $2.00. 

Coal,  Its  Composition,  Analysis,  Utilization  and 
Valuation,  by  E.  E.  Sommermeier.  175  pages,  illustrated. 
Price  $2.00. 

Coal  Mining,  by  Robert  Peel.  386  pages,  214  illus¬ 
trations.  Price  $1.25. 

Coalier’s  Actuary,  Giving  Price  of  Any  Amount  of 
Coal  from  5  to  1,100  Tons,  and  in  Prices  Ranging  from 
5c  to  $15.00.  Bound  in  cloth  $2.75,  in  leather  $3.25. 

Colliery  Manager’s  Hand  Book,  by  C.  Pamely.  Mo¬ 
rocco,  1208  pages,  1,000  illustrations.  Price  $10.00. 

Combustion  of  Coal  and  Prevention  of  Smoke,  by 
Wm.  M.  Barr.  350  pages,  illustrated.  Price  $1.00. 

Compressed  Air,  by  L.  I.  Wightman.  160  pages  and 
110  illustrations.  Price  $1.00. 

Construction  and  Working  of  Pumps,  by  E.  C.  R. 
Marks.  267  pages.  Price  $1.50. 

Cost  of  Mining,  by  J.  R.  Finlay.  415  pages,  illus¬ 
trated.  Price  $5.00. 

Cushing’s  Manual  of  Parliamentary  Practice  with 
Rules  of  Procedure  in  Business  Corporation  Meetings. 

280  pages.  Price  $1.00. 

Design  of  Mine  Structures,  by  M.  S.  Ketchum,  C.  E. 

460  pages,  265  illustrations,  65  tables  and  7  plates.  Price 
$4.00. 

Dynamo-Electric  Machinery,  by  F.  B.  Crocker.  250 
pages  and  260  illustrations.  Price  $1.50. 

Electric  Blasting  Apparatus  and  Explosives,  by  Wm. 
Maurice.  167  pages,  88  illustrations.  Price  $3.50. 

Electrical  Engineering  for  Mining  Students,  by  H.  J. 
Heather.  344  pages,  183  illustrations.  Price  $2.50. 

Electrical  Mining  Installations,  by  P.  W.  Freud- 
macher,  102  pages,  36  illustrations.  Price  $1.00. 

Electrical  Equipment  in  Collieries,  by  Duncan  & 
Penman.  329  pages,  157  illustrations.  Price  $4.00. 

ElectricM  Practice  in  Collieries,  by  D.  M.  Burns,  M. 

E.  307  pages  and  172  illustrations.  Price  $2.00. 

Electricity  in  Mining,  by  Siemens  Bros.  Dynamo 
Works,  Ltd.  201  pages,  189  plans  and  illustrations. 
Price  $3.75. 

Electricity  in  Mining,  by  S.  F.  Walker.  Price  $3.00. 
Electric  Mine  Signaling  Installations,  by  Lummis 
Paterson.  190  pages,  139  illustrations.  Price  $1.50. 

Electric  Wiring  and  Lighting,  by  Knox  and  Shaad. 

190  pages  and  150  illustrations.  Price  $1.00. 

Elementary  Coal  Mining,  by  G.  L.  Kerr,  M.  E.  225 
pages,  200  illustrations.  Price  $1.25. 

Further  description  of  any  of  the  above  booths  will  be  sent  upon  request. 
When  writing  or  ordering  please  address  letter  to  Book  Department 


Erecting  and  Operating.  600  pages  and  500  draw¬ 
ings.  Price  $2.00. 

Examination  and  Thermal  Value  of  Fuel,  by  Coste 
and  Andrews.  278  pages,  63  illustrations  and  8  plates. 
Price  $2.00. 

Friction  of  Air  in  Mines,  by  J.  J.  Atkinson.  Price 
$0.50. 

Fuel  and  Refractory  Material,  by  A.  H.  Sexton.  374 
pages,  104  illustrations.  Price  $2.50. 

Gas  &  Coal  Dust  Firing,  by  A.  Putsch.  Price  $3.00. 

Gas  Engine  Manual.  512  pages,  156  drawings.  Price 

$2.00. 

Gases  Met  With  in  Coal  Mines,  by  J.  J.  Atkinson 
Price  $0.50. 

Haulage  and  Winding  Appliances  Used  in  Mines,  by 
C.  Volk.  160  pages,  155  illustrations.  Price  $4.00. 

Heat  Efficiency  of  Steam  Boilers,  by  Bryan  Donkin. 
311  pages,  149  illustrations.  Price  $7.00. 

Heat  Energy  &  Fuels,  by  Hanns  von  Juptner.  306 
pages  and  118  illustrations,  138  tables.  Price  $3.00. 

Laws  of  Business,  by  Theophilus  Parsons.  946 
pages,  bound  in  genuine  Buckram.  Price  $4.00. 

Methods  of  Air  Analysis,  by  J.  S.  Haldane.  130  pages, 
24  illustrations.  Price  $1.75. 

Mining  Without  Timber,  by  R.  B.  Brinsmade.  300 
pages,  fully  illustrated.  Price  $3.00. 

Modern  Mining  Practice,  by  G.  M.  Bailes.  Five  vol¬ 
umes.  Each  $3.50. 

Modern  Mine  Valuation,  by  M.  H.  Burnham.  160 
pages,  19  illustrations.  Price  $3.75. 

New  Methods  of  Testing  Explosives,  by  C.  E.  Bichel. 
62  pages,  illustrated.  Price  $2.00. 

Notes  and  Formulae  for  Mining  Students,  by  J.  H. 
Merivale.  188  pages.  Price  $1.00. 

Practical  Coal  Mining,  by  G.  L.  Kerr,  M.  E.  778 
pages,  755  illustrations.  Eight  volumes.  Price  $4.50. 

Practical  Lessons  in  Electricity,  by  Crocker,  Cushing 
and  Sager.  275  pages  and  150  illustrations.  Price  $1.50. 

Practical  Shaft  Sinking,  by  Francis  Donaldson,  M.  E. 
150  pages,  63  illustrations.  Price  $2.00. 

Prevention  of  Smoke,  by  W.  H.  Popple  will.  220 
pages,  50  illustrations.  Price  $3.50. 

Pumps  and  Hydraulics.  In  two  parts.  900  pages  and 
700  illustrations.  Price  $2.00. 

Recovery  of  Coal  Mines  After  Explosions  and  Fires, 
Rules  of,  by  W.  E.  Garforth.  Price  $1.50. 

Recovery  Work  After  Pit  Fires,  by  R.  Lamprecht. 
187  pages,  76  illustrations.  Price  $4.00. 

Shaft  Sinking  in  Difficult  Cases,  by  Riemer  and 
Brough.  122  pages,  18  illustrations  and  19  plates.  Price 
$3.50. 

Shot-Firer’s  Guide,  by  Wm.  Maurice.  212  pages,  78 
illustrations.  Price  $1.50. 

Simple  Mine  Accounting,  by  David  Wallace,  60 
pages,  with  bookkeeping  forms.  Price  $1.00. 

Smoke  Prevention  and  Fuel  Economy,  by  Booth  and 
Kershaw.  194  pages,  illustrated.  Price  $2.50. 

Technical  Gas  and  Fuel  Analysis,  by  A.  H.  White. 
255  pages,  47  illustrations.  Price  $2.00. 

Text  of  Mining  Formulae,  by  Robt.  W.  Dron.  62 
pages.  Price  $1.00. 

Text  Book  of  Coal  Mining,  by  H.  W.  Hughes,  C.  E. 
563  pages,  690  illustrations  and  4  plates.  Price  $7.00. 

Timbering  and  Mining,  by  W.  H.  Storms.  279  pages, 
fully  illustrated.  Price  $2.00. 

Ventilation  of  Coal  Mines,  by  Fairley  &  Andre. 
Price  $0.50. 

Ventilation  of  Mines,  by  R.  Wabner.  Price  $4.50. 

THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


1114  MANHATTAN  BUILDING,  CHICAGO,  ILLINOIS 


Mention  The  Black  Diamond  when  writing  advertisers. 


No.  26] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


35 


When  you  install  your  new  tipple  do  not  fail 
to  include  an  Ottumwa  Rotary  Dump.  They 
are  the  very  latest  thing  going  and  are  one 
of  the  most  useful  and  economical. 


Ottumwa  Rotary  Dumps 

Made  in  various  sizes  and  capacities. 
Electric  or  steam  power  driven. 

Ottumwa  Dumps  are  extremely  rapid. 

Permit  using  solid  end  cars  which  reduces 
car  repairs  to  a  minimum. 

Permits  reversing  cars,  saving  switching. 

Saves  labor  in  dumping. 

By  having  solid  end  cars  you  prevent 
many  wrecked  cars. 

By  preventing  wrecked  cars  you  prevent 
personal  accidents. 

Why  not  write  us  telling  size  of  cars,  load  carried  etc., 
and  we  will  gladly  quote  you  a  price? 


Your  shortage  claims 
filed  and  collected  at  a 
cost  of  one  cent  per  claim 

Are  you  filing  your  claims  lor  loss  of  weight  in  transit?  Or 
are  you  losing  that  money,  which  rightfully  belongs  to  you, 
because  you  do  not  want  to  bother  with  the  tedious  system  of 
red  tape  connected  with  their  collection?  Our 

RAILROAD  CLAIMS  BOOK 

does  away  with  the  red  tape,  and  permits  a  quick  and  con¬ 
venient  way  of  filing  and  collecting  claims,  and  hastens  their 
settlement. 

RAILROAD  CLAIMS  BOOK, 
No.  444,  is  book  containing  100 
Original  and  100  Duplicate  copies  of 
a  form  of  claim  blank,  preferred  by 
the  railroad  companies  and  used  by 
associations  everywhere. 

These  blanks  when  properly  filled 
in,  and  the  Original  copy  sent  to  the 
claim  agent,  not  only  presents  your 
claim  in  an  effective  and  proper  man¬ 
ner,  but  causes  its  early  settlement. 
The  Duplicate  copy  of  each  claim  re¬ 
mains  in  the  book  for  your  record. 

This  book  is  well  bound  in  art  can¬ 
vas,  6}/2  X  1 1  inches,  contains  1 00 
Original  and  100  Duplicate  Blanks  and 
2  sheets  of  carbon  paper.  Price  $1 .00. 
When  ordering  write  the 
Book  Department 

THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 

1114  Manhattan  Bldg., 

Chicago,  Ill. 


RAILROAD 
CLAIMS  BOOK 


THE  BLACK  DIAHOMD 
CHICAGO 


DON’T  STOP  YOUR  TIPPLE  CARS 
ON  THE  SCALE 

The  Streeter-Amet  Recorder  automatically  weighs 
the  cars  as  they  pass  over  the  scale. 

Your  weighing  capacity  is  more  than  doubled.  Ac¬ 
curate  weights  are  assured  and  a  permanent,  printed 
weight  of  each  car  is  recorded. 

It  prevents  the  “leaks”  and  losses  caused  by  forget¬ 
fulness  or  carelessness  upon  the  part  of  the  weigh- 
master  or  operator.  It  is  the  most  accurate,  depcnd- 
ableand  satisfactory  method  of  weighing  known.  Used 
by  large  and  small  mining  companies  everywhere. 

May  we  send  yon  further  particulars? 

STREETER  AMET  WEIGHING 
&  RECORDING  COMPANY 

4101-4105  Ravenswood  Avenue  CHICAGO,  ILL. 


Mention  The  Black  Diamond  when  writing  advertisers. 


36 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[December  25 


Index  To  Advertisers. 


The  Coal  Buyers*  Guide 

A  List  of  Mine  Operators  and  Wholesale  Coal  and  Coke  Shippers  Whose 
Advertisements  Appear  in  This  Journal. 


Classified  Directory  of  Manufacturers  of  Mine 
and  Yard  Supplies 


Page 

IIiXiINOIS 

Franklin  County — 

Bell  &  Zoller  Coal  Co..  2-> 
Bickett  Coal  &  Coke  Co .  C 
Big  Creek  (^ollie^  Co..  <1 
Buchanan  Coal  Co..... 
Chicago.  Wilmington  & 

I'ranklin  Co . 

Con.sumers  Co . . 

1.1.  K.  Dering  Coal  Co... 
I’lohn  A.  l.ogan  Coal  Co. 
Mitchell  &  Dillon  Coal 

!  Co . ■ 

I  JloderweU,  C.  M.,  &  Co. 

i  Purity  Coal  Co . 

Kcntl,  .  P..  Co . 

'  Butter.  David,  S:  Co.... 
Thomson  &  Burton  Co.. 

Harrlsburgr — 

O’Gara  Coal  Co . 


Sprlngifield — 

Ciilmore  &  Solomon .  11 

O’Cara  Coal  Co .  17 

Third  Vein  Spring  Valley 
Coal  Co .  10 


’Williamson 

Mitchell  & 
Co.  ..... 
O'Cara  Coal 


County — 

Dillon  Coal 


1!) 


12 


17 


17 


2.3 


20 


Co . 

INDIANA 

Consolidated  Indiana  Coal 

Co.  . . 

Deep  _  Vein  Coal  Co.  . .  . 
Miami  Coal  Co. . . .  •  •  — 
( Itter  C  reek  Coal  Co .  .  . 
Richards  &  Son . 

KENTUCKY 

Consolidation  Coal  Co.. 
The  Gibson-Spence  Coal 

Co . . 

W.  C.  Goodnow  Coal  Co. 
l.'ii-’tid  Creek  Coal  Sales 

Co . 

Jones  &  .Adams . 

Mitchell  &  Dillon  Coal 

Co . 

Northwestern  Fuel  Co.  . 
Pocahontas  &  Jellico  Coal 

Co . 

R.  C.  Whitsett  Coal  & 
Mining  Co . 

MASYDAND 

aeorgres  Creek — 

Brothers  Valley  Coal  Co. 
Consolidation  Coal  Co.. 
Cibson-Spence  Coal  Co.  . 
New  Central  Coal  Co... 
Parrish,  Phillips  &  Co.. 

OHIO 


Cambrldgre — 

Consolidation  t  Oal  To.. 

The  Gibson-Spence  Coal 

Co . 

l.orain  Coal  —  Dock  Co. 
.Mitchell  &  Dillon  Coal 

Co . 

New  Pittsburgh  Coal  Co. 

New  York  Coal  Co . 

O’tiara  Coal  Co . 

Ohio  &  Michigan  Coal 

Co.  . . 

Peacock  Coal  Co . 

Reiss,  C.,  Coal  Co . 

Seidenfeld-Hammond  Coal 

Co . 

Warner,  W.  11.,  &  Co.. 

Fltts’burg’h,  No.  8 — 

(I’Cara  Coal  Co .  17 

Jones  &  Adams  Co .  20 

Sunday  Creek  Co .  21 

FENNSYD VANIA 
Cambria — 

Berwind-White  .  24 

Cosgrove  . 

Dexter  &  Carpenter .  28- 

Kmmons  Coal  Mining  Co.  32 
Peale,  Peacock  &  Kerr..  27 
Pennsylvania  Coal  &  Coke 

Coro .  17 

The  Skeele  Coal  Co....  25 
Thorne,  Neale  &  Co....  33 
Vernon  Metal  &  Produce 

Co .  24 

Whitney  &  Kemmerer.  .  24 

Clarion — 

Wittenberg  Coal  Co....  32 

Clearfield 

Berwind-White  .  24 

Peale,  Peacock  S:  Kerr.  .  27 
Pennsylvania  Coal  &  Coke 
Corp .  17 

Indiana — 

Cosgrove  . 

Peale,  Peacock  &  Kerr..  27 
Pennsylvania  Coal  &  Coke 
Corp . 17 

Jefferson — 

Peale,  Peacock  &  Kerr.  .  27 

Somerset — 

Berwind-White  .  24 

Brothers  Valley  Coal  Co.  29 
Consolidation  Coal  Co...  18 

Cosgrove  . 

Kmmons  Coal  Mining  Co.  32 
Vernon  Metal  &  Produce 

,Co . 24 

Whitney  &  Kemmerer. .  24 


27 


Westmoreland — 

Berwind-White  .  ■ 
Keystone  Coal  & 


Page 


Coke 


T  o. 

Pittsburgh  Coal.... 
Westmoreland  Coal 
Westmoreland  & 
nellsville  Coal  & 
T'o . 


Co .  . 
Con- 
Coke 


24 

24 

21 

32 


Yousfhioffheny — 

Consolidation  Coal  Co.  . 

Nicoll.  B.,  3;  Co . 

Northwestern  Fuel  Co.. 

Pittsburgh  Coal . 

Warner,  W.  II.,  &  Co.  . 


20 


21 


Smitbingr — 

Blake,  C.  Co.. 
Bowman.  C.  C.  .  . 
Chesapeake  8:  Ohio 

8-  Coke  Co . 

Columbus  Iron  S: 

Co . 

Kevstone  Coal  & 

Co . 

Nicoll,  B.,  8  Co... 
Reiss,  C. ,  Coal  Co. 
'Thorne,  Neale  8  Co 
'The  White  Oak  Co:d 


19 


Coal 


Steel 


22 


Coke 


33 
...  10 
...  10 
...  33 
Co.  17 


VIRGINIA 

ClinehTield  . . 

Whitney  8  Kemmerer.. 

WEST  VIRGINIA 


10 

24 


Fairmont — 

Alden  Coal 


Mining  Co.  .  19 


Pocahontas — 

Berwind-White  .  24 

Brothers  Valley  Coal  Co.  29 
Cabin  Creek  Consolidated 
Co . :  19 

Cpstner.  Curran  &  Bul¬ 
litt,  Inc .  23 

Chesapeake  8  Ohio  Coal 

8  Coke  Coal .  22 

Consolidation  Coal  Co..  12 
Crorer-Focahontas  Coal 

Co . 32 

Flat  Top  Fuel  Co .  31 

Globe  Coal  Co .  7 

W.  C.  Goodnow  Coal  t  ".  17 
Mitchell  &  Dillon  Coal 

Co .  2i 

O'Gara  Coal  Co .  17 

Patterson,  S.  .1 .  23 

Peabody  Coal  Co .  21 

Pennsylvania  Coal  &  Sup¬ 
ply  Co .  23 

Pocahontas  Fuel  Co....  2 

Pocahontas  &  Jellico  Coal 
Co .  23 

Reiss,  C.,  Coal  Co .  19 

Sunday  Creek  Co .  21 

'Thorne,  Neale  8  Co.  ...  33 
Warner,  W  .H.,  8  Co.  .  2 

White  Oak  Coal  Co.  ...  17 

New  Rivet — 

Berwind-White  Coal  Min¬ 
ing  Co .  24 

Blake,  C.  G.,  Co .  19 

Cp'tner.  Curran  &  Bul¬ 
litt,  Inc .  23 

Chesapeake  8  Ohio  Coal 

8  Coke  Co .  22 

New  River  Coal  Co....  17 

Reiss.  C.,  Coal  Co .  19 

•Smokeless  Fuel  Co .  19 

C^erpon  Metal  &  Produce 

Co .  24 

White  Oak  Coal  Co,  ...  17 
Wyatt  Coal  Co . 

Splint — 

Blake,  C.  G.,  Co .  19 

Blue  -Ash  Coal  Co .  23 

Cabin  Creek  Consolidated 

Coal  Co .  19 

Carbon  Fuel  Co .  23 

Castner.  Curran  &  Bul¬ 
litt,  Inc .  23 

Cbesaneake  8  Ohio  Coal 

8  Coke  Co .  22 

Consolidation  Coal  Co.  .  12 

Crozer-Pocahonlas  Co...  32 

Globe  Coal  Co.... .  7 

Hutchinson  Coal  Co....  33 
Island  Creek  Coal  Sales 

Co .  32 

Mitchell  8  Dillon  Coal 

Co .  21 

O’Gara  Coal  Co .  17 

Reiss,  C.,  Coal  Co .  16 

Smokeless  Fuel  Co .  19 

.Sunday  Creek  Co .  21 

Winifrede  Coal  Co . 22 

White  Oak  Coal  Co....  1'7 
AVyatt  Coal  Co . 


Page 

.  .  28 
.  .  29 


ANTHRACITE 

Bowman,  C.  C. ..... . 

A.  B.  Currie  8  Co.  . 
Delaware,  Lackawanna  & 
VV'estern  Coal  Co....  24 

Dexter  8  Carpenter .  28 

Dickson  8  Kddy..  .....  25 
Emmons  Coal  Mining  Co.  32 

Globe  Coal  Co .  7 

Jones  8  Adams . _.  26 

'The  Lehigh  Coal  &  Navi¬ 
gation  Co.,  Philadelphia  33 
Lehigh  Valley  Coal  Sales 

Co . 26 

Lehigh  &  Wilkes-Barre 

Coal  Co .  32 

Meeker  8  Co .  17 

Mitchell  &  Dillon  Coal 

Co . ._.  .  .  21 

Northwestern  Fuel  Co.. 
Ohio  8’  Michigan  Coal 

Co . 

Parrish,  Phillips  8  Co..  24 
Pennsylvania  Coal  &  Sup¬ 
ply  Co .  23 

Philadelphia  &  Reading 

Coal  8  Iron  Co .  20 

Potts,  F.  A.,  8  Co .  26 

Reiss,  C. .  Coal  Co .  16 

■Schenck,  S.  C.,  Agent..  28 
The  Skeele  Coal  Co....  25 
Susquehanna  Coal  Co..  33 
'Thorne,  Neale  8  Co.  ...  33 

J.  .S.  Wentz  8  Co .  10 

W  hitney  8  Kemmerer.  .  24 
Williams  8  Peters .  25 


CANNEX. 

&  Ohio  C.  & 
billon  Coal 


Chesapeake 
C,  Co... 

Mitchell  & 

Co . 

Northwestern  Fuel  Co 
Reiss.  C.,  Coal  Co... 

COKE 


22 

21 


16 


Bowman;  C.  C .  28 

Brothers  Valiev  Coal  Co.  29 
By-Products  Coke  Corp.  8 
Chesapeake  &  Ohio  C.  & 

C.  Co .  22 

Flat  'Top  Fuel  Co .  .11 

W.  C.  Cloodnow  Coal  Co.  17 

Key  City  Gas  Co .  31 

Kevstone  Coal  8  Coke 

Co .  33 

New  River  Coal  Co.  .  .  .  17 

Nicoll.  B..  _  8  Co .  19 

Pennsylvania  Coal  8  Coke 

Corp .  17 

White  Oak  Coal  Co....  17 
Whitney  8  Kemmerer..  24 

CHABCOAX. 

Century  Fuel  Co .  25 


Classified  Directory  of 
Manufacturers  of  Mine 
and  Yard  Supplies. 

Page 

Air  Compressors. 

George  D.  Whitcomb  Co., 
Rochelle,  Ill .  39 

Analytical'  Chemists. 

Culick  Henderson  Co...  31 

Auto  Tracks. 

Kissel  Motor  Car  Co., 

Hartford,  Wis . 

Knox  Motors . 

Packard  . 

Pierce-Arrow  Motor  Car 
Co..  Buffalo.  N.  Y...  42 
The  Autocar  Co . 

Auto  Towinff  Cable. 

Broderick  8  Bascom  Rope 
Co.,  St.  Louis .  38 

Bag'g'lng'  System. 

Link-Belt  Co . 


Bearingrs. 

Jeffrey  Mfg.  Co.,  Colum¬ 
bus,  Ohio . 

Link-Belt  Co .....  . 
Robins  Conveying 
Co.,  New  York.  . 


37 


Belt 


Belt  Conveyors. 

C.  O.  Bartlett  8  Snow 
Co.,  Cleveland,  Ohio..  39 
Gifford-Wood  Co.,  Hud¬ 
son,  N.  Y.;  Boston, 
Mass.;  Chicago,  III...  40 
Jeffrey  Mfg.  Co.,  Colum¬ 
bus,  Ohio .  37 

Link-Belt  Co .  . ._ . 

Robins  Conveying  Belt 
Co.,  New  York .  31 

Belt  Hoists. 

Mead-Morrison  Mfg.  Co., 
Cambridge,  Mass .  10 

Bit  Uachlnes. 

Lott  Mine  Equip.  Co...  3] 

Box  Car  Doafiers. 

Christy  Box  Car  Loader 
Co.,  Des  Moines,  Iowa  43 
Eagle  Iron  Works,  Des 

Moines,  Iowa .  39 

Manierre  Eng.  Co . 

Ottumwa  Box  Car  Loader 
Co.,  Ottumwa,  Iowa, . .  3.') 


Page 

Breaker  Construction. 

Jeffrey  Mfg.  Co.,  Colum¬ 
bus,  Ohio .  37 

Breaker  Machinery. 

C.  O.  Bartlett  8  Snow 
Co.,  Cleveland,  Ohio..  39 
Jeffrey  Mfg.  Co.,  Colum¬ 
bus,  Ohio .  37 

Link-Belt  Co . 

Briquetting  Machinery. 

Jeffrey  Mfg.  Co.,  Colum¬ 
bus,  Ohio .  37 

Link-Belt  Co . 

Mashek  Eng,  Co.,  141 
Broadway,  New  York.  31 

Backet  Elevators. 

C.  O.  Bartlett  8  Snow 
Co.,  Cleveland,  Ohio.  .  39 
Gifford-Wood  Co.,  Hud¬ 
son,  N.  Y. ;  Boston, 
Mass.;  Chicago,  III...  40 
Jeffrey  Mfg.  Co.,  Colum¬ 
bus,  Ohio.  . .  37 

Robins  Conveying  Belt 
Co.,  New  York .  31 

Buckets  (Clam  Shell). 

"The  Hayward  Co.,  New 

York  .  39 

Jeffrey  Mfg.  Co.,  Colum¬ 
bus,  Ohio .  37 

McMyler  Interstate  Co., 
Bedford,  Ohio .  41 

Backets  (Drag  Iilne). 

The  Hayward  Co.,  50 
Church  St.,  New  York, 

N.  Y .  39 

Backets  (Orange  Feel). 

The  Hayward  Co.,  New 

A^ork  .  39 

McMvler  Interstate  Co., 
Bedford,  Ohio .  41 

Buckets  (Grab). 

C.  O.  Bartlett  8  Snow 
Co.,  Cleveland,  Ohio..  39 
The  Hayward  Co.,  New 

York  .  39 

Jeffrey  Mfg.  Co.,  Colum¬ 
bus,  Ohio .  37 

McMvler  Interstate  'Co., 
Bedford,  Ohio .  41 

Buckets  (Dog  Grapples). 

The  Hayward  Co..  50 
Church  St.,  New  York. 

N.  Y .  .39 

Backets  (Rock  Grapples). 

The  Hayward  Co.,  50 
Church  St.,  New  York, 

N.  Y .  39 

Bunkering  Machinery. 

McMyler  Interstate  Co.  .  11 

Cableways  and  Tramways. 

Broderick  8  Bascom  Rope 

Co.,  St.  Louis .  38 

Jeffrey  Mfg.  Co.,  Colum¬ 
bus,  Ohio .  37 

Cages  (Mine). 

C.  O.  Bartlett  8  Snow 
Co.,  Cleveland,  flhio..  39 
Jeffrey  Mfg.  Co.,  Colum¬ 
bus,  Ohio .  37 

Car  Dumps. 

Jeffrey  Mfg.  Co.,  Colum¬ 
bus,  Ohio . 37 

McMyler  Interstate  ('o.  .  41 
Phillips  Mine  8  Mill  Sup¬ 
ply  Co.,  Pittsburgh,  Pa.  41 

Car  Hauls. 

C.  O.  Bartlett  8  Snow 
Co.,  Cleveland,  Ohio.  .  39 
Gifford-Wood  Co..  Hud¬ 
son,  N.  Y. ;  Boston, 
Mass.:  Chicago,  III...  40 
Jeffrey  Mfg.  Co.,  Colum¬ 
bus,  Ohio .  37 

Car  (Mine  and  Dump). 

Eagle_  Iron  Works,  Des 

Moines,  Iowa .  30 

Hockensmith  Wheel  8 
Mine  Car  Co.,  Penn 

Station,  Pa .  41 

Jeffrey  Mfg.  Co.,  Colum¬ 
bus.  Ohio .  37 

Link-Belt  Co . 

Link-Belt  Co . . . 

Co.,  Ottumwa,  Iowa...  35 
Phillips  Mine  8  Mill  Sup¬ 
ply  Co.,  Pittsburgh,  Pa.  41 

Chntss. 

C.  O.  Bartlett  8  Snow 
Co.,  Cleveland,  Ohio..  39 
Gifford-Wood  Co.,  Hud¬ 
son,  N.  Y. ;  Boston, 
Mass.;  Chicago,  111...  40 
Jeffrey  Mfg.  Co.,  Colum¬ 
bus,  Ohio .  37 

Phillips  Mine  8  Mill  Sup¬ 
ply  Co..  Pittsburgh,  Pa.  41 

Coal  and  Ore  Bridges. 

C.  O.  Bartlett  8  Snow 
Co.,  Cleveland,  Ohio..  39 
Jeffrey  Mfg.  Co.,  Colum¬ 
bus,  Ohio .  37 

I.ink-Belt  Co . 

McMyler  Interstate  Co.  .  41 
Robins  Conveying  Belt 
Co.,  New  York .  31 


Page 

Coal  Crushers. 

C.  O.  Bartlett  8  Snow 
Co.,  Cleveland,  Ohio..  39 
Jeffrey  Mfg.  Co.,  Colum¬ 
bus.  Ohio .  37 

Link-Belt  Co . 

Coal  Cutters, 

Goodman  Mfg.  Co.,  48th 
Place  and  Halsted  St., 

Chicago  . 

Jeffrey  Mfg.  Co.,  Colum¬ 
bus,  Ohio . 37 

Morgan-Gardner  Electric 

Co.,  Chicago . 

George  D.  Whitcomb  Co., 
Rochelle,  III .  39 

Coal  Handling  Machinery. 

Gifford-Wood  Co.,  Hud¬ 
son,  N.  Y. ;  Boston, 
Mass.;  Chicago.  Ill...  40 
The  Hayward  Co.,  50 
Church  St.,  New  York, 

N.  Y .  39 

Jeffrey  Mfg.  Co.,  Colum¬ 
bus,  Ohio .  37 

Link-Belt  Co . 

McMyler  Interstate  Co.  .  41 
Mead-Morrison  Mfg.  Co., 
Cambridge,  Mass .  40 

Coal  Mining  Machinery. 

Goodman  Mfg.  Co.,  48th 
Place  and  Halsted  St., 

Chicago  . 

Jeffrey  Mfg.  Co.,  Colum¬ 
bus,  Ohio . 37 

Morgan-Gardner  Electric 

Co.,  Chicago . 

George  D.  Whitcomb  Co., 
Rochelle,  Ill .  39 

Coal  Mining  Plants. 

Allen  8  Garcia  Co.,  Chi¬ 
cago  .  31 

Jeffrey  Mfg.  Co.,  Colum¬ 
bus,  Ohio .  37 

Link-Belt  Co . 

Whitcomb,  Geo.  D.,  Co., 
Rochelle,  Ill .  39 

Coal  Pockets. 

Allen  8  Garcia  Co.,  Chi¬ 
cago  .  31 

C.  O.  Bartlett  8  Snow 
Co.,  Cleveland,  Ohio..  39 
Gifford-Wood  Co.,  Hud¬ 
son,  N.  Y. :  Boston, 
Mass.;  Chicago,  III...  40 
Jeffrey  Ivlfg.  Co  ,  Colum¬ 
bus,  Ohio .  37 

Coal  ’Washing  Machinery. 

C.  O.  Bartlett  8  Snow 
Co.,  Cleveland,  Ohio..  39 
Jeffrey  Mfg.  Co.,  Colum¬ 
bus,  Ohio .  37 

Conveying  JUachlnery. 

C.  O.  Bartlett  8  Snow 
Co.,  Cleveland,  Ohio..  39 
Cifford-Wood  Co..  Hud¬ 
son,  N.  Y. ;  Boston, 
Mass.;  Chicago,  III...  40 
The  Hayward  Co.,  New 

York  .  S9 

Jeffrey  Mfg.  Co.,  Colum¬ 
bus,  Ohio .  37 

Link-Belt  Co . 

McMyler  Interstote  Co.  .  41 
Robins  Conveying  Belt 
Co.,  New  York .  31 

Conveyors  (Belt). 

C.  O.  Bartlett  8  Snow 
Co.,  Cleveland,  Ohio.  .  39 
Gifford-Wood  Co.,  Hud¬ 
son,  N.  Y. ;  Boston, 
Mass.;  Chicago,  111...  40 
Jeffrey  Mfg.  Co.,  Colum¬ 
bus,  Ohio .  37 

Link-Belt  Co... . 

Robins  Conveying  Belt 
Co.,  New  York .  31 

Conveyors  (Buckets). 

C.  O.  Bartlett  8  Snow 
Co.,  Cleveland,  Ohio.  .  39 
Gifford-Wood  Co.,  Hud¬ 
son,  N.  Y. ;  Boston, 
Mass. ;  Chicago,  III .  . .  40 
The  Hayward  Co.,  New 

York  .  39 

Jeffrey  Mfg.  Co.,  Colum¬ 
bus,  Ohio .  37 

Link-Belt  Co . 

McMyler  Interstate  Co., 
Bedford,  Ohio .  41 

Conveyors  (Chain). 

C.  O.  Bartlett  &  Snow 
Co.,  Cleveland,  Ohio..  39 
Gifford-Wood  Co.,  Hud¬ 
son,  N.  Y. ;  Boston, 
Mass.;  Chicago,  III...  40 
Jeffrey  Mfg.  Co.,  Colum¬ 
bus,  Ohio .  .37 

Core  Drill  Contractors. 

Pennsylvania  Drilling  Co., 
New  York . 

Counterweight  Drums. 

The  Hayward  Co.,  50 
Church  St.,  New  York, 

N.  Y .  39 


Page 

Couplers. 

Gravity  Coupler  Co.,  Peo¬ 
ria,  Ill . 

Coupling  Pins. 

Gravity  Coupler . 


Coupons. 

Allison  Coupon  Co .  41 

Cranes. 

(Locomotive,  Jib,  Pillar, 
Cantilever,  Hand, 
Traveling,  Electric 
Traveling.) 

Jeffrey  Mfg.  Co.,  Colum¬ 
bus,  Ohio . 37 

McMyler  Interstate  (^o., 
Bedford,  Ohio .  41 

Cross-Over  Dumps. 

Jeffrey  Mfg.  Co..  Colum¬ 
bus,  Ohio .  37 

Phillips  Mine  8  Mill  Sup¬ 
ply  Co.,  Pittsburgh,  Pa.  41 

Crushing  Machinery. 

C.  O.  Bartlett  8  Snow 
Co.,  Cleveland,  Ohio..  39 
Jeffrey  Mfg.  Co.,  Colum¬ 
bus,  Ohio .  37 

Derricks  and  Derrick 

Fittings. 

The  Hayward  Co.,  50 
Church  St,  New  York, 

N.  Y .  39 

Jeffrey  Mfg.  Co.,  Colum¬ 
bus,  Ohio .  37 

Link-Belt  (io . 

McMyler  Interstate  Co.  .  41 

Derrick  Swingers. 

Mead-Morrison  Mfg.  Co., 
Cambridge,  Mass .  40 

Designers  of  Plants. 

C.  O.  Bartlett  &  Snow 

Co.,  Cleveland,  Ohio..  39 
The  Hayward  Co.,  New 

York  .  39 

Jeffrey  Mfg.  Co.,  Colum¬ 
bus,  Ohio .  37 

Link-Belt  (io . 

McMyler  Interstate  (io..  41 

Digging  Machinery. 

The  Hayword  Co.,  50 
Church  St.,  New  'York, 

N.  Y .  39 

McMyler  Interstate  Co.  .  41 

Dredging  Machinery. 

The  Hayward  Co..  50 
Church  St.,  New  York, 

N.  Y . .’39 

McMyler  Interstate  Co.  .  41 

Drills. 

Jeffrey  Mfg.  Co.,  Colum¬ 
bus,  Ohio .  37 

Morgan-Gardner  Electric 

Co.,  Chicago . 

Punxsutawney  Drilling  & 
Con.  Co.,  Punxsutaw¬ 
ney,  Pa .  31 

George  D.  Whitcomb  Co., 
Rochelle,  III . 39 

Drills  (Core). 

Pennsylvania  Drilling  Co., 
New  York . 

Dnmp  Oars. 

Jeffrey  Mfg.  Co.,  Colum¬ 
bus,  Ohio .  37 

Hockensmith  Wheel  8 
Mine  Car  Co..  Penn 
Station,  Pa .  41 

Dynamos. 

Jeffrey  Mfg.  Co.,  Colum¬ 
bus,  Ohio .  37 

Goodman  Mfg.  Co.,  48th 
Place  and  Halsted  St., 

Chicago  . 

Gregory  Electric  Co., 

Chicago  .  31 

Morgan-Gardner  Electric 

Co.,  Chicago . 

Westinghouse  Electric  t 
Mfg.  Co.,  East  Pitts¬ 
burgh,  Pa . 

Elyectrlo  Moisting 

Machinery.  ^ 

Jeffrey  Mfg.  Co.,  Colum¬ 
bus,  Ohio .  37 

Westinghouse  Electric  8 
Mfg.  Co.,  East  Pitts¬ 
burgh,  Pa . 

Bleotric  Bocomotlves. 

Goodman  Mfg.  Co.,  48th 
Place  and  Halsted  St., 

Chicago  . 

Jeffrey  Mfg.  Co.,  Celura- 

bus,  Ohio . 37 

Morgan-Gardner  Electric 

Co.^  Chicago . 

Westinghouse  Electric  & 
Mfg.  Co.,  East  Pitts¬ 
burgh,  Pa . 


No.  26] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


0/ 


ii 


Booster 


99 


“Booster" 


A  Dividend  Paying  Investment 
For  Nearly  Every  Coal  Mine 

Jeffrey  Centrifugal  “Boosters”  are  small  sized  fans  adapted  to  special  mine 
use.  The  fan  is  easily  taken  from  place  to  place,  and  may,  when  not  in  use, 
be  kept  as  a  reserve  aid  against  fires  and  other  emergencies. 


The  Centrifugal  “Booster”  solves  the 
problem  of  the  ventilation  of  long 
and  contracted  air-ways,  where  the  Disc 
Type  of  Booster  is  unable  to  provide  the 
necessary  pressure. 

An  expenditure  of  five  or  six  hundred 
dollars  for  a  complete  ventilating  equip¬ 
ment,  very  freciuently  has  saved  several 
thousand  dollars  cleaning  up  a  remote 
section  of  the  mine. 


General  arrangement  in  the  mine  of  a  Centrifugal  Booster 
equipped  with  expansion  discharge. 


Six  Foot  Propeller  Fan 

fitted  with  steel  casing  for  spe¬ 
cial  connection.  These  fans 
are  furnished  with  steel  con¬ 
struction  to  meet  any  requirements. 


The  Jeffrey 
Propeller  Fan 

is  a  most  dependable  fan 
for  general  ventilating  pur¬ 
poses  or  for  light  duty 
boosting. 

Simple  in  operation,  easily 
installed,  and  reversed  by 
simply  changing  direction 
of  rotation.  Self-contained 
and  is  filled  with  Ball-Bear¬ 
ing  'Thrust  Collars  on  each 
side  of  the  wheel,  which 
eliminates  all  friction. 


Eight  Foot  Propeller  Mine  Fan. 

'The  main  driving  disc 
prevents  churning  oi  the 
air  which  is  so  common 
among  other  i)ropellc'r  fans. 


Write  for  our  new  Bulletin  No.  110-8  on  the  subject  of  Mine  Ventilation 

Jeffrey  Mfg.  Co.,  908  N.  4th  St.,  Columbus,  O. 


New  York 
Boston 


Philadelphia 

Pittsburgh 


Charleston,  W.  Va. 
Chicago 


Birmingham 

Milwaukee 


Denver 

Montreal 


Mention  The  Black  Diamond  when  writing  advertisers, 


38 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


[December  25 


A  half  day  lost 

for  the  want  of  a 
towline. 


A  Power  steel  Truckline 


and  a  passing  team 
would  have  soon  got  that 
stalled  truck  or  team  on 
the  road  again  without 
any  delay.  A  Powersteel 
Truckline  would  have 
prevented  that  lost  half 
day,  that  truck  or  team 
from  standing  idle  and 
any  disappointment 
upon  the  part  of  the 
customer  which  the  de¬ 
lay  might  have  caused. 


Powersteel  Trucklines 
are  compact  and  able  to 
withstand  the  most  se¬ 
vere  truck  service.  They 
are  18  feet  long  and  34 
inch  thick,  and  are  made 
of  that  world-famous 
Yellow  Strand  Wire  rope 
with  a  tested  breaking 
strain  of  about  12  tons. 
Furnished  with  strong  drop 
forged  hooks,  and  wire  rope 
or  manila  rope  slings  as 
desired. 


Let  us  send  you  a  descriptive  circular 
and  prices  before  the  Winter  months 
and  the  muddy  streets  arrive.  Write 


Broderick  &  Bascom  Rope  Co. 

845  North  Second  Street 
St.  Louis,  Missouri 


RAILS  Switches 

RELAYING  RAILS  NEW  STEEL  RAILS 

40,  56,  60,  70, 75,  80,  8, 12, 16, 20, 25,  30,  35, 

85  and  90  Lb.  40  and  45  Lb. 

These  rails  are  in  stock  at  our  Pittsburg  yards,  and  can  be  shipped  immediately;  also 
second-hand  rails  in  stock  cut  any  length  needed  for  building  and  contract  work. 


Richardson  &  Co.  Rail  Dealers 

1  1  03  Bessemer  Bldg.,  Pittsburg,  Pa. 


Index  to  Advertisers 


Page 

Electric  and  Steam  Hoists. 

Mead-Morrison  Mfg.  Co., 
Cambridge,  Mass .  40 

Elevator  Uacliliiery. 


C.  O.  Bartlett  &  Snow 
Co.,  Cleveland,  Ohio.  ■  39 
Gifford-Wood  Co.,  Hud¬ 
son,  N.  Y.;  Boston, 
Mass.;  Chicago,  Ill...  40 
Jeffrey  Mfg.  Co.,  Colum¬ 
bus,  Ohio .  3 


Ottumwa  Box  Car  Loader 
Co.,  Ottumwa,  Iowa...  35 
Robins  Conveying  Belt 
Co.,  New  Y'ork .  31 

Engineers. 

Allen  &  Garcia  Co .  31 

C.  O.  Bartlett  &  Snow  , 
Co.,  Cleveland,  Ohio..  39 
Buffum,  F.  D .  31 


Gifford-Wood  Co.,  Hud¬ 
son,  N.  Y.;  Boston, 
Mass.;  Chicago,  III...  40 
Jeffrey  Mfg.  Co.,  Colum¬ 
bus,  Ohio .  37 

Link-Belt  Co . 

Manierre  Eng.  Co . 

Marshall  Haney .  31 

Mashek  Eng.  Co .  31 

Nesbitt  &  Doolittle .  31 


Engines  (Hoisting  and 

Hauling). 

C.  O.  Bartlett  &  Snow 
Co.,  Cleveland,  Ohio.  .  39 
Eagle  Iron  Works,  Des 

Moines,  Iowa .  39 

Jeffrey  Mfg.  Co.,  Colum¬ 
bus,  Ohio .  37 

Litchfield  Foundry  &  Ma¬ 
chinery  Co .  40 

Ottumwa  Box  Car  Loader 
Co.,  Ottumwa,  Iowa...  35 

Excavating  Machinery. 

The  Hayward  Co.,  50 
Church  St.,  New  York, 

N.  Y .  39 

Pans  (VentUatlng). 

Eagle  Iron  Works,  Des 

Moines,  Iowa .  39 

Jeffrey  Mfg.  Co.,  Colum¬ 
bus,  Ohio .  37 

Litchfield  Fdry.  &  Mach. 

Co.,  Ottumwa,  Iowa.  . .  35 
Link-Belt  Co . 

Forgings. 

Jeffrey  Mfg.  Co.,  Colum¬ 
bus,  Ohio.  . .  37 

Robins  Conveying  Belt 
Co.,  New  York .  31 

Gasoline  Eocomotives. 

Jeffrey  Mfg.  Co.,  Colum¬ 
bus,  Ohio .  37 

George  D.  Whitcomb  Co., 


Gear-Cutting. 

RoBins  Conveying  Belt 
Co.,  New  York .  31 


Gearing. 

Generators. 

Link-Belt  Co . 

Grey  Iron  Castings. 


Robins  Conveying  Belt 
Co.,  New  York .  31 

Hoisting  Machinery. 

Allen  &  Garcia  Co.,  Chi¬ 
cago  .  31 

The  Hayward  Co.,  New 

York  .  39 

Gifford-Wood  Co.,  Hud¬ 
son,  N.  Y.;  Boston, 
Mass.:  Chicago,  Ill...  40 
Jeffrey  Mfg.  Co.,  Colum¬ 
bus,  Ohio .  37 

Link-Belt  Co... . 

Robins  Conveying  Belt 
Co.,  New  York .  31 


Hoists,  Electric. 

C.  O.  Bartlett  &  Snow 
Co.,  Cleveland,  Ohio..  39 
Westinghouse  Electric  & 
Mfg.  Co.,  East  Pitts¬ 
burgh,  Pa . 

Ice  Handling  Machinery. 


Gifford-Wood  Co.,  Hud¬ 
son,  N.  Y.;  Boston, 
Mass.;  Chicago,  Ill...  40 

Iron. 

Beck  &  Corbitt .  38 

Irrigating  Machinery. 

The  Hayward  Co.,  60 
Church  St.,  New  York, 

N.  Y .  39 

Earrles  (Coke). 

Jeffrey  Mfg.  Co.,  Colum¬ 
bus,  Ohio .  37 

Link-Belt  Co . . . 

Phillips  Mine  &  Mill  Sup¬ 


ply  Co.,  Pittsburgh,  Pa.  41 


(Continued  from  page  24) 


Page 

Eocomotlves. 

Goodman  Mfg.  Co.,  48th 
Place  and  Halsted  St., 

Chicago  . 

Jeffrey  Mfg.  Co.,  Colum¬ 
bus,  Ohio .  37 

Morgan-Gardner  Electric 

Co.,  Chicago . 

Westinghouse  Electric  & 
Mfg.  Co.,  East  Pitts¬ 
burgh,  Pa., . 

Whitcomb,  Geo.  D.,  Co., 
Rochelle,  Ill .  39 

Mine  Car  Hltchings. 

Broderick  &  Bascom  Rope 

Co.,  St.  Louis .  38 

Hockensmith  Wheel  & 
Mine  Car  Co.,  Penn 

Station,  Pa .  41 

Phillips  Mine  &  Mill  Sup¬ 
ply  Co.,  Pittsburgh,  Pa.  41 

Mine  Car  Trucks. 

Hockensmith  Wheel  & 
Mine  Car  Co.,  Penn 

Station,  Pa .  41 

Phillips  Mine  &  Mill  Sup¬ 
ply  Co.,  Pittsburgh,  ra.  41 

Mining  Machines. 

Goodman  Mfg.  Co.,  48th 
Place  and  Halsted  St., 

Chicago  . 

George  D.  Whitcomb  Co., 
Rochelle,  Ill .  39 

Mining  Machines 

(Electric). 

Goodman  Mfg.  Co.,  Chi¬ 
cago  . 

Jeffrey  Mfg.  Co.,  Colum¬ 
bus,  Ohio . .  .  37 

Morgan-Gardner  Electric 

Co.,  Chicago . 

Westinghouse  Electric  & 
Mfg.  Co . 

Motors. 

Gifford-Wood  Co.,  Hud¬ 
son,  N.  Y.  ;■  Boston, 
Mass.;  Chicago,  111.  ._.  40 
Morgan-Gardner  Electric 

Co.,  Chicago . • 

Westinghouse  Electric  & 
Mfg.  Co.,  East  Pitts¬ 
burgh,  Fa . 

Ore  Bedding  Systems. 

Robins  Conveying  Belt 
Co.,  New  York .  31 


Ore  Handling  Machinery. 

The  Hayward  Co.,  60 
Church  St.,  New  York, 

N.  Y .  39 


Pipe. 

Ohio  Pipe  Co .  31 

Power  Transmission 
Machinery. 

C.  O.  Bartlett  &  Snow 
Co.,  Cleveland,  Ohio..  39 

Public  Accountants. 

Shepard  &  Hutchinson..  31 

Pulverizers. 

C.  O.  Bartlett  &  Snow 
Co.,  Cleveland,  Ohio..  39 
Jeffrey  Mfg.  Co.,  Colum¬ 
bus,  Ohio .  37 


Pumps. 

Jeffrey  Mfg.  Co.,  Colum¬ 
bus,  Ohio .  37 

Balls. 

Richardson  &  Co.,  Pitts¬ 
burgh,  Pa .  38 


Hope  (Wire). 

Broderick  &  Bascom  Rope 
Co.,  St.  Louis .  38 


Scales. 

Streeter-Amet,  Chicago .  .  35 

Screening  Plants. 

Jeffrey  Mfg.  Co.,  Colum¬ 
bus,  Ohio .  37 

Link-Belt  Co . 

Phillips  Mine  &  Mill  Sup¬ 
ply  Co.,  Pittsburgh,  Pa.  41 

Screens  (Mining). 

Allen  &  Garcia  Co.,  Chi¬ 
cago  .  31 

C.  O.  Bartlett  &  Snow 
Co.,  Cleveland,  Ohio..  39 
Jeffrey  Mfg.  Co.,  Colum¬ 
bus,  Ohio .  37 

Link-Belt  Co . 

Ottumwa  Box  Car  Loader 
Co.,  Ottumwa,  Iowa. .  .  35 
Phillips  Mine  &  Mill  Sup¬ 
ply  Co.,  Pittsburgh,  Pa.  41 

Screens,  Botary. 

Gifford-Wood  Co.,  Hud- 


SOT1»  jjuatvii, 

Mass.;  Chicago,  Ill...  40 

Screening  Plants. 

Jeffrey  Mfg.  Co.,  Colum¬ 
bus,  Ohio .  37 


Mention  The  Black  Diamond  when  writing  advertisers. 


Page 

Screens  (Bevolvlng) . 

Jeffrey  Mfg.  Co.,  Colum¬ 
bus,  Ohio .  37 

Screens  (Yard). 

C.  O.  Bartlett  &  Snow 
Co.,  Cleveland,  Ohio..  39 
Gifford-Wood  Co.,  Hud¬ 
son,  N.  Y. ;  Boston, 
Mass.;  Chicago,  III...  40 
Jeffrey  Mfg.  Co.,  Colum¬ 
bus,  Ohio .  37 

Ottumwa  Box  Car  Loader 
Co.,  (Dttumwa,  Iowa. . .  35 
Robins  Conveying  Belt 
Co.,  New  York .  31 

Shafting,  Pulleys. 

C.  O.  Bartlett  &  Snow 
Co.,  Cleveland,  Ohio..  39 
Jeffrey  Mfg.  Co.,  (Colum¬ 


bus,  Ohio .  37 

Robins  Conveying  Belt 
Co.,  New  York .  31 

Steel. 

Beck  &  Corbitt .  38 


Steel  Structures. 

C.  O.  Bartlett  &  Snow 
Co.,  Cleveland,  Ohio.  .  39 
Gifford-Wood  Co.,  Hud¬ 
son,  N.  Y. ;  Boston, 
Mass.;  Chicago,  Ill...  40 

Storage  and  Be-Handling 

Equipment. 

Gifford-Wood  Co.,  Hud¬ 
son,  N.  Y. ;  Boston, 
Mass.;  Chicago,  Ill...  40 
Jeffrey  Mfg.  Co.,  Colum¬ 
bus,  Ohio .  37 

Link-Belt  Co . 

McMyler  Interstate  Co..  41 
Robins  Conveying  Belt 
Co.,  New  York .  31 

Suspension  Cableways. 

Mead-Morrison  Mfg.  Co., 
Cambridge,  Mass .  40 


Tanks. 

Gifford-Wood  Co.,  Hud¬ 
son,  N.  Y. ;  Boston, 
Mass.;  Chicago,  III...  40 

Tipples. 

Allen  &  Garcia  Co.,  Chi¬ 
cago  .  31 

C.  O.  Bartlett  &  Snow 
Co.,  Cleveland,  Ohio..  39 
Jeffrey  Mfg.  Co.,  Colum¬ 
bus,  Ohio .  37 

Ottumwa  Box  Car  Loader 
Co.,  Ottumwa,  Iowa..  40 
Phillips  Mine  &  Mill  Sup¬ 
ply  Co.,  Pittsburgh,  Pa.  41 ' 


Tramways. 

Broderick  &  Bascom  Rope 

Co.,  St.  Louis .  38 

Link-Belt  Co . ■■ . 


Trench  Excavating 
Machinery. 

The  Hayward  Co.,  50 
Church  St.,  New  York, 

N.  Y .  39 

Trucks  (Auto). 

Kissel  Motor  Car  Co., 

Hartford,  Wis . 

•  Knox  Motors . 

Packard  . 

Pierce-Arrow  Motor  Car 


Co .  42 

The  Autocar  Co . 

Wagon  Eoaders. 

Gifford-Wood  Co.,  Hud¬ 
son,  N.  Y. ;  Boston, 
Mass.;  Chicago,  Ill...  40 
Jeffrey  Mfg.  Co.,  Colum¬ 
bus,  Ohio .  37 

Link-Belt  Co . 

Washerles  (Coal). 

Allen  &  Garcia  Co.,  Chi¬ 
cago  .  31 

C.  O.  Bartlett  &  Snow 
Co.,  Cleveland,  Ohio..  39 
Jeffrey  Mfg.  Co.,  Colum¬ 
bus,  Ohio .  37 

Link-Belt  Co . 

Weigh  Baskets. 

Eagle  Iron  Works,  Des 
Moines,  Iowa .  39 


Phillips  Mine  &  Mill  Sup¬ 
ply  Co.,  Pittsburgh,  Pa.  41 

Wheels. 

Hockensmith  &  Wheel 
Mine  Car  Co.,  Penn 


Station,  Pa .  41 

Ottumwa  Box  Car  Loader 
Co.,  Ottumwa,  Iowa.  . .  35 

Wire  Bope. 

Broderick  &  Bascom  Rope 
Co.,  St.  Louis .  38 


No.  26] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


39 


For  Rapid,  Economical  Coal  Handling 

HAYWARD  SiS.  BUCKETS 

These  buckets  fill  to  more  than  rated  capacity  each  trip  and  reduce  the 
loss  through  chippage  to  one  per  cent  or  less.  Owing  to  the  widespread  jaws 
of  the  Hayward  Bucket  only  a  few  pieces  of  coal  are  touched  by  the  cutting  edges. 

The  coal  is  drawn  together  by  the  closing  power  of  the  bucket  and  works  only  on 
itself. 

Write  for  a  copy  of  our  Pamphlet  602  devoted  wholly  to  coal  handling  equipments. 

THE  HAYWARD  COMPANY,  50  Church  St.,  New  York,  U.S.A. 


COBASCO  SYSTEM 

The  MODERN  METHOD  of  HANDLING  MATERIALS 

There  are  three  general  types  of  skip  hoist  construction,  operated  as 
follows: 

Two  skip  buckets  in  balance. 

One  skip  bucket  with  counterweight. 

One  skip  bucket  without  counterweight. 

Any  one  of  these  allows  for  the  application  of  entire  automatic  or 
semi-automatic  control,  depending  on  the  capacity,  material  and 
general  conditions  surrounding  the  proposition. 

THE  C.  O.  BARTLETT  &  SNOW  COMPANY 
Cleveland,  Ohio,  U.  S.  A. 


No^ 


The  Superior  Coal  Company  at  Mine  ■ 
a,  Gillespie,  Ill.,  on  March  14th,  hoisted  5,023, 
tons^  of  coal  in  eight  hours  from  a  det 
making  1.562  hoisl^;^^ 


Clipping  from 
The 

Black  Diamond 
of  March  21, 
1914 


Thit  REMARKABLE  RECORD  wat  made  with 

Self  Oas:es 


"1 


Shipment  of  Three  Olsen  Cages  to  the  Chicago,  Wilmington 
A  Vermillion  Coal  Co-»  Orient,  III. 

Eagle  Iron  Works 


Correspondence  Solicited  DES  MOINES,  IOWA 


|g^*^«««»»«^^XZTTTTTTTTXXXX:XirXXXXXXXIXXXXXXXZXXXXXXXX 


H 

M 

M 

M 

M 

H 

M 

M 

M 

M 

N 

H 

M 

W 

X 

M 

H 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

M 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 


FOR  THE  NO  MULE  MINE  S 


Use 


Whitcomb 
Gasoline 
Locomotives 

For 

Main  Line  Haulage 

MOST  ECONOMICAL  AND  EFFICIENT 

Whitcomb 
Electric 
Storage 
Battery 
Locomotive 

For  cross  entry 
and  gathering 
from  the  rooms 

iV rite  us  for  further  information 

GEO.  D.  WHITCOMB  COMPANY 

Rochelle,  Illinois 


Mention  The  Black  Diamond  when  writing  advertisers. 


XXXXT 


40 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


I  December  25 


IF  THE  COST  OF  HANDLING  YOUR  COAL 

IS  EXCESSIV^E _ THE^OLLOWING  WILL  INTER- 

"We  have  run  two  cars  of  coal  through  the  pocket  and  we  find 
that  it  costs  less  than  2c  per  ton  for  labor  to  unload,  and  we 
load  our  wagons  at  the  rate  of  one  ton  per  minute.  We  are 

well  pleased  with  the  plant.  - and - were  up  to  see  plant 

work  and  were  enthused  with  it.” 

The  above  is  one  of  many  unsolicited  testimonials. 

Name  of  owner  of  this  plant  on  request. 

GIFFORD  WOOD  EQUIPMENT 


accomplishes  the  same  results  wherever  installed 


Coal  Elevators — Conveyors — Wagon  Loaders 


We  also  Design  and  Manufacture  Buckets,  Screens.  Chutes.  Bagging  Hoppers,  etc. 
Everything  for  Yard  and  Pocket  Economy  and  Efficiency.  Our  engineers  will  gladly 
render  you  any  assistance  you  may  desire.  Catalogs. 


Main  Office  and  Works 

HUDSON,  N.  Y. 


30  Church  Street,  New  York 
51  North  Market  Street,  Boston 
565  West  Washington  Street,  Chicago 


STEAM  and  ELECTRIC 
HOISTS 

for 

Mines,  Yards 
and  Docks 

1st.  (iet  our  Catalogs. 

2nd.  JCit  our  name  on  your  list  for  bids. 

3rd.  Compare  competing  machines  point  for  point. 

YOUR  KNOWLEDGE 

of  Machinery  will  bring  out  the  Points  of  Superiority 
in  our  line  and  will  compel  yon  to  purchase  your 
next  machine  of  the 

PIONEERS  IN  COAL  HANDLING  MACHINERY 

MEAD-MORRISON  MANUFACTURING  COMPANY 

Mead-Morrison  Mfg.  Co., 

128  Prescott  St.,  Boston,  Mass. 

PLEASE  SEND  YOUR 
CATALOGS 

Nil  me. 

Atldre.ss  . 


THE  “LITCHFIELD 


A  Pair  of  “Litchfield”  36x42  Hoisting  Engines  at  the  Old  Ben  Mining  Company’s  Mine  at  West  Frankfort,  Ill. 


This  illustration  shows  a  pair  of  our 
26x42  HOISTING  ENGINES  with  8-ft. 
diameter  drums,  annealed  cast  steel  drum 
spiders,  steel  cranks  and  steel  cross  heads. 
All  parts  have  a  very  high  factor  of  safety. 

These  engines  are  equipped  with  STEAM 
BRAKE,  STEAM  REVERSE  and  our 
SELF-CLOSING  LEVER  THROTTLE 
VALVE. 

We  have  just  installed  a  similar  engine 
(somewhat  larger,  28x42)  for  the  Bell  & 
Zoller  Mining  Company  at  the  famous 
ZEIGLER  MINE,  where  8  tons  of  coal 
are  being  hoisted  per  trip. 

We  will  be  glad  to  have  COAL  MEN  who 
are  interested  in  this  class  of  machinery, 
visit  these  mines  and  see  the  performance 
of  our  engines  in  actual  .service. 

Ask  the  ENGINEER  what  he  thinks  of 
our  SELF-CLOSING  LEVER  THROT¬ 
TLE  and  ask  us  about  our  HEAVY 
DUTY  SHEAVE  WHEEL  WITH  RE¬ 
NEWABLE  STEEL  LINING. 


•  LITCHFIELD  FOUNDRY  tS,  MACHINE  CO 

Litchfield,  Illinois 

> 


Mention  The  Black  Diamond  when  writing  advertisers. 


No.  26] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND 


41 


PHILLIPS  MINE  AND  MILL  SUPPLY  CO. 

PITTSBURGH,  PA. 

of  Col«:o  Works  BJci v»li3merxt; 


There  are  sufficient  Phillips 
Dumps  already  installed 
throughout  the  United 
States,  Canada,  Mexico  and 
South  America  to  handle  the 
entire  coal  output  of  the 
world.  Capacity  practically 
unlimited. 


PHILLIPS  AUTOMATIC  CROSS  OVER  CAR  DUMP 


The  Simplest  and  Strongest 
Dump  on  the  Market.  Can 
be  operated  by  common 
labor.  Guaranteed  to  work 
satisfactorily.  Buffer 
Springs  on  horns  protect 
dump  and  rolling  stock. 


$2.00  No.  7294C 

Retsof,  N.  Y . 191 

RETSOF  MINING  CO. 

Pay  RETSOF  STORE  CO. 
Two  Dollars 

and  charge  same  against  my 
labor  account. 


(The  Note) 


Put  your  store  on  a  safe,  simple  cash  basis, 
and  avoid  errors,  disputes  and  save  time 

ALLISON  COUPON  BOOKS 

will  put  your  mine  store  on  a  safe  and  simple  cash  basis,  prevent  loss  and  disputes  accrmng  from  other 
methods.  Used  by  hundreds  of  mine  store  companies.  Let  us  send  you  further  particulars, 
prices  and  some  sample  coupon  books. 

ALLISON  COUPON  COMPANY,  ;  Indianapolis,  Ind. 


The  McM  yler  Interstate 


c 


ompany 


CLEVELAND,  OHIO 

NEW  YORK  CHICAGO 
LOS  ANGELES  LONDON 


Many  Cranes  for  fueling 
vessels  have  been  installed 
by  us.  We  design  and  build 
all  types  of  coal  handling  and 
coal  storage  plants. 

Our  guarantees  have 
always  been  surpassed  in 
actual  operation. 

i 


rOAI  Dealer’s  Blue  Book 

VUilly  VAL/I/I  I  |3  Established  1886 

Issued  semi-annually;  supplemented  monthly.  Contains  a  complete  list  of  Coal 
Operators,  Coal  Dealers  and  Car  Lot  Consumers  in  the  United  States  and 
Canada,  with  capital  and  pay- ratings.  Most  complete  system  in  use  for  the 
co-operative  reporting  of  business  experience  in  this  line. 

COLLECTION  LETTERS  for  the  Shipper  or  Retailer,  sent  from  own  office, 
calling  for  remittance  direct,  will  keep  slow  accounts  cleaned  up  at  a  minimum 
expense.  Details  on  Application 

THE  J.  B.  SANBORN  COMPANY  —  Coal  Trade  Mercantile  Agency 

440  So.  Dearborn  Street,  CHICAGO  206  Broadway,  NEW  YORK 


I 

Are  Your  Freight  Rates  Satisfactory? 

^  Did  it  ever  occur  to  you  that  your  competitors  in  many  instances 
have  lower  rates  than  you,  due  entirely  to  the  aggressiveness  of 
expert  trafiBc  men?  Are  you  discriminated  against?  Are  your 
rates  unreasonable? 

9  We  have  men  m  our  employ  who  thoroughly  understand  these 
vexatious  trafiBc  problems  and  are  prepared  to  assist  you  in  every 
possible  manner,  such  as  securing  reductions,  collecting  over¬ 
charges,  etc. 

Writm  u«  of  yoar  Tra/Kc  Troublmt  and  wm  will  Advlta  You  Without  Chargm 

GENERAL  TRAFFIC  ASSOCIATION,  Inc. 

715  14th  Street,  N.  W.  Washington,  D.  C. 


Oil  and  Power  Saving  Mine  Car  Wheels 


The  “Eureka”  Wheel 


f  The  “EUREKA”  is  an  Improved  self-oiling  wheel  with  a 
dust  and  water-proof  valve.  Large  oil  chamber.  Exposed 
Hnch-pin.  No  Bolt  Caps  or  Gaskets.  Runs  two  to  three 
weeks  with  one  oiling. 

^  Over  600,000  now  in  use  and  we  are  making  500  per  day. 

n  The  HOCKENSMITH-HYATT  wheel  li  equipped  with 
Hyatt  flexible  Chrome  Steel  Rollers.  Exposed  linch-pin.  Saves 
50%  in  power.  Runs  three  to  six  months  with  one  oiling. 

f  All  made  Deep  Chilled,  of  a  special  charcoal  Iron  mixture 
and  thoroughly  ANNEALED  after  casting. 

Q  Either  type  of  wheel  on  our  ANGLE  BAR  TRUCE  (strong 
where  others  are  weak)  will  effect  economies  In  OIL,  POWER 
and  REPAIRS. 


The  Hockensmith-Hyatt  Roller 
Bearing  Wheel 


WRIXK  U®  KOR  OUR  ORRRR  OR  SEX®: 


HOCKENSMITH  WHEEL  AND  MINE  CAR  CO. 


(Pittsburgh  District)  :: 


PENN  STATION,  PENNA  , 


Mention  The  Black  Diamond  when  writing  adverti.sers. 


42 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


[December  25 


I 


Are  You  Still  Delivering 

Coal  by  Team 

You  are  losing  money  if  you  are — just 
assure  as  shooting.  You  are  not  de¬ 
livering  a  single  load  of  coal  by  team 
that  could  not  be  delivered  cheaper, 

,  quicker  and  better  by  Pierce-Arrow 
Motor  Truck.  This  is  a  sweeping  statement,  but  we  have  the  facts 
and  figures  to  prove  it.  Some  of  them  are  contained  in  our  booklet, 
“What  Piei  ■ce-Arrow  Motor  Trucks  are  Doing  in  the  Coal  Trade.” 
It  tells  about  the  experience  of  many  of  the  most  successful  coal 
dealers  in  the  country  with  Pierce -Arrow  Trucks. 

If  you  wish  us  to  make  an  investigation  of  your  particular  propo¬ 
sition  we  will  submit  a  definite  dollars-and-cents  estimate  of  just 
how  much  Pierce -Arrow  Motor  Trucks  can  save  you 
on  your  delivery  costs. 


THE  PIERCE-ARROW 
MOTOR  CAR  COMPANY 

BUFFALO  NFW  YORK 


The  Worm-Gear 

All  Pierce-Arrow  Trucks 
are  equipped  with  the 
worm-gear  drive,  which  is 
a  positive  guarantee  ot  ef¬ 
fective  service  under  the 
most  difficult  conditions. 


Mention  The  Black  Diamond  when  writing  advertisers. 


No.  26] 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


43 


mPLH 


The  “Marcus”  is  a  horizontal  screen  that  has 
a  greater  capacity  per  foot  of  screening  surface 
than  the  well  known  inclined  shaker  screen. 

The  “Marcus”  is  a  picking  table  on  which 
hand  picking  is  more  effective  than  on  the  old 
style  apron  conveyor,  because  the  coal  is  spread 
in  a  thin  layer. 

The  “Marcus”  therefore  combines  in  one  ma¬ 
chine  a  superior  screen  and  a  superior  picking 
table.  In  each  capacity  it  is  the  very  best  de¬ 
vice  we  have  found  for  the  purpose. 


The  “Marcus”  in  the  preparation  of  coal, 
has  superseded  the  inclined  shaker  screen  just 
as  the  shaker  screen  superseded  the  bar  screen. 

The  cost  of  a  “Marcus”  installation,  includ¬ 
ing  the  tipple  structure,  is  less  than  the  cost  of 
the  old  style  shaking  screen  and  picking  con¬ 
veyors  with  tipple  structure. 

“There  is  Satisfaction  in  Using  the  Best” 


Drive  Head  for  Marcus  Patent  Picking 
Table  Screen.  We  are  the  Sole  Licen¬ 
sees  in  this  Country  for  this  Machine. 


ROBERTS  AND  SCHAEFER  CO, 


‘Fulfill  the  Contract” 


ENGINEERS  AND  CONTRACTORS 

CHICAGO,  U  S.  A. 


‘Satisfy  the  Client” 


On  our  Superior  Box  Car  Loader,  coal  is  carried  full  length  of  this  long  rever¬ 
sible  conveyor.  It  gives  a  perfectly  loaded  product  without  sacrificing 
strength,  durability  or  capacity  for  which  all  CHRISTY  Loaders 


With  only  one  man 
to  operate  any  sized 
coal  can  be  loaded 
in  capacities  up  to 
twenty  tons  per 
minute.  Direct 
drive  for  power 
t  ransmission. 
Steam  or  electri¬ 
cally  operated. 
Powerful  car  puller. 


are  renowned. 


CHRISTY  B(R  CAR  LQADFR  CO, 

DES  MOINES,  IOWA 


Mention  The  Black  Diamond  when  writing  advertisers. 


4-4 


THE  BLACK  DIAMOND. 


[December 


El^ngineer;^ 


The  J.  W.  Frazier  Company 

ENGINEERS 

Specialists  in  Coal,  Coke  and  Ore  Handling  Plants  of  Every 

Type,  Including  Foundations,  Docks,  Power  Plants  and  Terminals 

Ten  Reasons  Why 

You  Should  Retain  Us  as  Engineers  when  Planning  Such  Improvements 

1 —  We  prepare  preliminary  plans  and  estimates  and  furnish  unbiased  opinion  re¬ 
garding  the  most  efficient  method  of  solving  your  problems. 

2 —  We  prepare  complete  design  drawings  and  specifications  upon  which  competi¬ 
tive  bids  may  be  canvassed.  By  this  method  you  are  enabled  to  obtain 
quotations,  based  on  ONE  specification,  and  which,  therefore,  are  really 
comparable. 


3 —  We  carefully  check  and  approve  all  drawings  before  fabrication  of  material 
is  started. 

4 —  We  design  and  superintend  the  entire  installation,  including  docks,  foundations, 
power  plants,  etc. 

5 —  We  provide  mill  inspection  of  all  material  entering  into  the  construction  of 
your  apparatus. 

6 —  We  place  a  competent  inspector  in  the  shop  who  looks  after  your  interests 
during  fabrication. 

7 —  We  place  a  competent  field  engineer  at  site  of  erection,  who  lays  out  the  work 
and  guards  your  interests  in  every  way. 

8 —  We  conduct  tests  of  all  apparatus  to  insure  that  same  is  in  accordance  with 
plans  and  specifications. 

9 —  We  have  had  years  of  experience  in  engineering  pertaining  particularly  to  the 
mechanical  handling  of  material. 

1  0 — We  have  a  large  number  of  successful  achievements;  also  many  satisfied 
clients  to  whom  we  will  gladly  refer  you. 

Why  Not  Grant  Us  An  Interview  ? 


Mention  The  Black  Diamond  when  writing  advertisers. 


,p 


t 


f-h' 

i 

I 

4 

I 

V 

i 


> 
'  k 


' 


! 

«  i 


i 


\ : 

V 


'' 

'Y. 


I