Daily Richmond times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1849-1850, 1850-04-02
Tuesday Morning, April 2, 1850.
THE TIMES TERMS.
Cumberland Coal-Canals and Railroads.

Cumberland Coal-CanalS and Railroads.
"The Washington Coal Company is an asso-|
citation of capitalists, chiefly of New York city,
chartered by the Legislature of Maryland, with al
capital 100000, to carry on the coal mining and
coke manufacturing business near Cumberland.
The Company owns about 1900 acres in Allegha-
ny county, ten or twelve miles from Cumberland
Its establishments and equipments are on theI
most extensive scale; its office is in New York.
The Philadelphia Inquirer learns the following
facts from the Company's first annual report;
"In the list of drecrors we observe the names Of
some of the largest capitalists of sister city This
company has been in active operation about eight
months, and has paid semi-annua dividend OF three
per cent the value of its stock The Cunard line OF
steamers from both Boston and New Y ork the Bremen
line from New York, the Chagres lines from the same
city, known Laws and Howard and Sons lines, as
siyely. Collins line, from New York to Liverpool,
have concluded to adopt it. 1t is also used exclusively
on the burden trains of the Baltimore and Ohio Rail
road and extensive experiments in the use OF coke ma
nuacured from this coal, now being made, by order
of several great Northern Railroads. with view to its
employment by them as locomotive fuel
The annexed detail OF the expenses per ton, attend
ing the delivery of this coal at Underwater at Alexandria
now that the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal is finished
may not be without value or interest to coal dealers
Mining and delivery at Cumberland, on board the boats
eleven miles from the rsines of the Washington Goa
Transportation and tolls to Alexandria ........ l 81
Placing on board coasters. .................. III
90 As
The above is exclusive OF Sales commissions and pro-
fits the coal, but is less than has, up to this time
been paid for TRANSFORMATION alone the Baltimore
and ohio Railro6 from Cumberland to Baltimore
All this presents cheering prospect for our
Alexandria friends, at which we heartily congra-
tulate them. The figures showing the superior
cheapness of transportation by the canal, should
serve to convince the public of the truth of the
proposition that for purposes Of trade, canals are
to be preferred to railroads. The rates at which
the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad is now transport
ing the Cumberland coal, are admitted by the com.
pany not to be remunerative Yet we see that
the canal will greatly underbd them. And so il
will be wherever the two modes of improvement
come into competition. We now venture the pre-
diction that when the Rvanna connection is COM
pleted, the bulk of the trade of Albemarle, will
come down the Rivanna and the James Rver
Canal, and not the Virginia Central Railroad
We are of this opinion, for the that it costs
navigation company nothing to allow transport
talon upon its line, whereas, on a railroad every
ton of freight produces definite and easily cal
culated injury to railroad, and is borne at cer-
tain expense of locomotive power, fuel, &c, which,
greatly exceeds the motive expenses on canal i
The result u.s. that where canal completes with al
railroad, it can always afford to putits tolls SO low
as to secure the trade. The Reading Railroad uni
dertook to break down the Schuylki navigation,
but failed in the effort, and sunk sixteen millions|
of dollars in the attempt.