New-York tribune., 1869-04-03
TIE PRICE or CoAL IyNEE-YoRKa

To those living in q climate such as that Of the
City OF coal much Of the necessaries
of life are bread, and meat and clothing. 1t would,
doubt, be exceedingly pleasant we'll
omcal arrangement II matters could be managed that
the Of heat from which suffer in GUNNER could
be in way kept to moderate the bitterness of
the cold snaps which benumb us In the Winter How
science has not yet pointed out the by
which contamination devouty 10 be wished. may be
reached must continue to lay in good stock Of coal
every Fall and be content 10 walt patiently till II does
But, in the meantime the price OF conl becomes very
serious item IN all household expenses more especially IN
all those OF the working classes and the poor, whose
weekly INCOME being of elastic nature Is unable
10 bear the strain put upon II by sudden and rapid n-
consumption Their consumption therefore, and with It
the comfort OF themselves and their families decreases
That the price of coal vary to extent sufficient
considerable inconvenience TO the smaller
sumers OF that commodity we have ample evidence; for,
during the past year. u has been , sold % as high as gig
residents of NewYorh and the surrounding cities may
thank the unexcepnonaby mild season, and not those
who traffic In coal that they have been able TO supply
themselves with that necessary article during tho present
journals INFORM us in their resume Of the coal trade for
the year 1865 that in the early part Of last Fan there was
Of coal These maneuyers bade fair at one time TO
be more than ordinarily successful for coal rose
as human calculations not inallbe. the most careful
are often upset by by eey0na
thing only wanting to secure the success OF their OPP
has been tho perversy Of the weather that the very one
thing which they much coveted that one thing neees'
sary command has been persstenty denied to
them, and the coal owners are at this moment as much
pitched though they had been shot out or ore OF
their big mine scuttes Coal has fallen and continued to
fall in price leaving all with large stocks on hand, and
with Spring turning the corner Of the next street
But told that Winter had really put In an ap
pearance in an odfasoned way, coal would have risen
TO unheard.0f prce-to such price as would nave
rendered it difficult for the working classes TO purcnaset
i'm anything like sufficient quantity for their necessities,
and that considerable suffering and misery must IN,
such state of things be possible in city like NewY York.
which the advantage Of being the coal fields
capital cities of Europei
The anthracite coal districts Of Pennsylvania during
the last thirty years. have been developed In ratio far
greater than that Of the increase OF population In the
large cities which they supply In 1888 they yielded 139
2g3 tuns in 1ss tuns In 1885, 649 s7 tuns; and
in 1863 I539 72O tuns. Their resources. too would ap
pear be capable Of much further development without
schuylk Company have 1900 acres OF coal Held with
an average depth Of bed OF 100 feet; the Lehgh 236O
acres with so feet depth the shamokIn $4,000 accswh
feet depth; the Lacawanna 6O acres, Win GO Ieet
IS lnf total OF a s acres Of coal ed With an
average depth of bed OF 81 feet.
ought TO be brought TO the NewYork markets regularly
and moderate price, that is provided the means OF
transit are direct carefully arranged and efficiently car
ried out But the coal from the Pennsylvania mines
does not come straight to market aud that fact alone
only largely increases the of carriage from the extra
mileage expense Of transfer from one line 70 another
DELAYS in the transit moro especially over general
tranio lines, and enables speculatOrs ana JOObers 10
manipulate the market accordingly. As the crow nes,
Potsve the great center OF the coal district Is but 100
miles from Perth Amboy in Raritan Bay but the route
from the mines via the Philadelphia and Reading Rail
road and Rantan Canal l96 miles that by the schuy
kin Canal aud the Delaware and Rariian Canai Is 21I
miles. while tho routes by the Central Railroad OF New
Jersey and the Morris and Essex Railroad scarcely less
circuous The iarnb these wv
per fun Ii grayey asserted by engineers aud survey
ors that direct through line can be constructed when
shall carry coal without stogPage, except for repen&s ISM
ment OF fuel aud water, TO Perth Amboy, within lew
miles OF NewYOrk City, for 70 cents per tun ana YET DO
able 10 defray all expenses OF working maintenance @c
and pay dividend Of per cent on their investment
10 its shareholders. OF the i23SOI0 tnns OF coal Tor
warded from the Pennsylvania mines In 1868 10 the sea
bort 364e57I were brought by fsw oi these big
lines 10 the Eew-York markets. reduction OF "a IL
Nor fun I'M the cost of carriage OF this quantity
would amount saving OF S7,77l4sS. But there IL
large quantity arriving by other routes tho staiscs OF
which have not been made public and the reduction on
which would I'm all probability raise the amount OF The
saving to nearly Si0OOOO0O In year But the adyan
ages OF through TOuto would also effect regularity OF
supply. would prevent violent fluctuations IN thc market
nations by uDphncipled speculators.