The Carbon advocate. [volume] (Lehighton, Pa.) 1872-1924, 1879-04-05
The Coal Trade.

The Coal Trade.
There is very little in the tendency Of the
anthracite coal trade different from what we
have had occasion to report from week to
week for several weeks past The demand
for coal is still reported pretty good by the
Reading Railroad Company, and the supply
of vessels at Port Richmond is short of the
demand Of coal actually ordered for ship
ment from that point. On Friday last over
ten thousand tons were shipped, and the
business OF the company is represented as
steadily more profitable this year under un-
restricted tonnage then it was last year when
prices were higher under restricted produc-
ton. The anxious inquiry now is, will the
demand for coal keep prices where they are,
or will they continue to sink, and eventually
lind downward point where there is no
market for coal at prices which will cover
the cost of putting it into the market? 1t is
said that that point has already been reached
by the individual operators, and that the
large companies, which are transporters
alone, can supply coal in the market at pres
ent prices The Transporting companies
m IKE up in toll charges what they lack in
profits from coal sales Unless some ar
ransement is reached by which the price
can be held up to what it now is the indi.
vi lual operators will have to prepare to 90
out Of the business. They will be found To
b. simply giving away their coal, hardly ex-
changing an old dollar for new one, and
this is simply suicidal and FOOLISH The
Il CURES of the Reading Railroad Company
continue To show profits, anil the Lehish
Navigation Company up to the present
makes similar report Of gain over its Dusi.
ness in corresponding time last year, and is
now SlGO,O0O better Olr than at the end of its
first quarter in 1878. That company now, we
hear begins to experience some reaction.
Its orders for coal are esscning, and espec-
ally those for coal to its line trade The
well known superior quality of this COM
ptny's coal however, gives it the advantage
generally of better prices than eau be real
iz'd 10y some other of the competing com
plnies. Any further fall ofpriccs, however,
wall tell directly to the prcjudices of its in
terest, as a dull market has already done to
that of some other parties in the trade. The
report in circulation last week, that the lie.
high Valley Railroad Company had reduced
its toll charges from Maurh Chunk to tide at
Perth Amboy to 80 cents ton we are inform
ed is incorrect. The company's toll charges
are now seventy five cents per ton for the
distance named, which is the lowest rate ever
made on that road. The new orders for coal
with the transporting companies are light,
but, in addition to those which had accumu-
lated previous to last week, have proved
enough to keep up fair shipping business.
One great source Of complaint rs the cause
Of the present depressed condition of the
coal trade is the monthly auction sales Of
large blocks Of coal. These sales tend mater
tally to domorali2e the market. They afford
opportunities for manipulation of prices.
Buyers may conspire TO not bid against each
other by agreeing to let one purchaser buy
as much as may meet the wants Of i've or
ten aud OF dividing it after sale, or sellers
may be equally delusive in running up price
through the use of Peter Funk" bidders.
II these auction sales were discontinued
there is r'ason TO believe that some arrange
ment might be agreed upon among operators
that would bring immediate relief to the
trade without adding ultimately to the cost
of fuel. the auction sale OF lOO,009 tons of
Scranton coal at New York, on Wednesday
last, the 2Gth instant, realized lower prices
than at any public sale IN that market for a
long time, the decline from the low sale of
November, 1877, ranging from 81 to ny
cents per ton, except for chestnut, which on
Wednesday last brought . cents more than
ia November, 1877. Yet because the great
majority of the offerings of the last sale con
sisted Of the tw, highest priced sizes, the
average price was the same as that of the
sale in November, 1877. There was IL sharp
decline in prices, and ia nearly every in
stance the rates were the lowest ever known.
The November sale of 1871, just before the
coal combination was organized, was noted
for its low prices. Ledger, Monday.