The Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1885-1886, 1885-12-15
COAL STATISTICS.
Annual Reports Of the Mine inspector.
fiilinois..-ROck Island County.

John S, Lord. secretary of the State
Bureau of Labor Statistics, has forwarded
US the fourth statistical summary of the
coal mining industry Of this state The
report says;
at may be said of coal production IN
this state that the past has been most
trying year both to operators and men.
In the face Of gradually declining dcs
mand for coal in all the great markets,
there has still been tendency to develop
new mines and enlarge the capacity of
old ones until the possible output has
largely exceeded consumption or any
probable demand. There has moreover
been a diversion of unusual Quantities of
coal from Pennsylvania to western mar
kets, occasoned by the utilization of nat
ural gas as fuel in many of the mills and
manufactures of that state; and Ohio and
Indiana coal is brought in large quantities
to distributing points in the west, thus
throwing all producers into active cons
petition for contracts, and pushing them
into new fields of operation, to the utter
decentralization of the prices OF fuel This
again has reacted disastrously upon the
wages paid to miners, and thus while
proprictors have been struggling to save
their property, miners have been either
struggling to live on reduced earnings,
or to live without any, pending "a strike
for more.
But this unfortunately is not a new AS
poet of affairs for this industry. The
last three years have each been equally
marked by depression and decline. Dur
ing that period the average value of coal
per ton Mt the mine for the state ut large
as reported To this office has fallen of
from S1.5l in 1888 to 81 II for 1885,
while corresponding averages computed
for the prices per ton paid for mining
show decline from 50 . cents to II 3
cents. These averages, however. are less
torcble illustrations of the impairment of
prices and earnings than the minimum
| lgures. We lind upon reference to st
| Clair county that the average value of the
product OF 10 mines in that county is re-
ported AS ~ per ton at the mine. while
| the output of two mines ii considerable
| Importance is valued at So cents per ton.
The average price pad for mining in 1his
county is Al cents but the minimum
reached for hand mining has been j; cents
per ton. This is the field trbntary to The
st. Louis market and two factors con
tribute to intensity competition and Re,
duce value, one, the active pariicip ttion
of the carrying companies in the coal
trade, and the other, the use OF mining
machines in some of the larger cole RIGS
In the northern part OF the state, cs-
pcclally in that field tributary 10 Chicago,
the average value Of coal has declined
from 81 60 to ~ 30 per ton, and the
price of mining has declined 10 ceuts or
from 80 to 50 cents ton since ! SS2 Ten
years ago coal in some parts of this field
was worth 81 - at the mines. and the
price of mining was ia high As 81 %
Prices declined, however, from lS,5 to
1880, when they had reached +, point
nearly as low as that Of today The year
l9SO,Sl witnessed revival OF ira .e and
better prices, which were maintained for
that year and the succeeding one, A,t
since then gradual falling Oh has taken
place unl!l the present time
| Mining interests ia tins state during
the past year, ana more cspvCl Oily during
the late summer, have been Disturbed aud
depressed to ia degree not before attained
since the industry assumed importance.
| As usual III crises OF this Character tue
burden falls most heavily on those leuei
able to bear it. There Is hardly locality
| in the entire field in which wages have
not been reduced from standati already
low. The resistance which has been Of
fered to these reductions has been deter
mined, and in some instances prolonged,
and although some compromises have
been Effected, the ultimate result has been
the failure rather than The success of the
miners.
| Notwithstanding the increase in tHe
number OF mics Given, the total output
| of the state has been somewhat less than
in either of the two years Immediately
preceding. The total tonnage for 1884
was 10, lOl ,OOj; this year it is ., t9l Si4,
"A difference of 800, 1871 tons This fall
ing of in produce is traceablc to the third
and fourth districts, the output Of the
other districts being substantially the
same as last year In these two districts
| Occurred the longest strike of the great
rs, number of men reported for the year.
| The Ellsworth Coal company has twelve
collleries, six in Macoupin county, aud
| two recently acquired in Madison county,
in the fourth district, and four i'll the
vicinity of Danville in the third district
In the first group there was suspension
of over three months, and in the last of
four months. In Macoupn county the
strike extended TO some ncighbCring
mines also, and the number of men in~
volvcd was about 1875, which added to
325 in the Danvlle district, makes to-
tai of / roo men who were idle for over
| three months. We find the total shrink
age of product in the field covered by this
strike, as shown by the reports of the two
years, to be 3l7 ,45S tons. But prior TO
this strike the amount of coal mined had
been greater than in former years. owing
to an enlargement of the capacity of
some of the lately acquired property of
| the Ellsworth company, so that the real
disparity is not so great as would other
wise have appeared.
| ROCK ISLAND COUNTY
Very little change has taken place in
the out put of this county compared with
last annual report. A slight decrease is no
ticeable, the cause of which may be attri,
buted to the closing of Taylor Williams
mine, at Happy Hollow, which gave US
about eight thousand tons for the report OF
1884. The deficiency is nearly made up,
however, by an increase in the out put OF
the mine at Rapids City, which exceeds
the previous annual production by about
six thousand tons. There are 10 mines
in the county, which gives employment
10 252 men; number OF tons mined by the
use of powder. 100, 676 number kegs OF
powder used, 2,019. The proprietors OF
the mines, their nearest postoilices, anC
the amount invested are:
Taylor Williams, Rapids City, S1Oo. 900
Fred HOLMAN, Rapids City, $500; North