Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1886-02-24

IL is unfortunate that the dealers In
Racine coast Goals in San Francisco
cannot regulate the prices to be paid
them for coal. IL they eoold, they
would have no difficulty in paying sscs
prises for the production II their Goals
as ter iaborers demand. The rsassu
sly they cannot regulate the prics Of
coal IL this the tariff ou flreIgn coal
really amounts 10 nothing, and ships
coming TO California for grain charters
bring sareoes Of foreign csal in place
Of ballast This coal, from Australia
aud elsewhere. which is superior to our
coast coais for nearly all purposss, can
De bought By toe carRs, and has boen so
osugat during the past year, at from g.
10 g % per ton, delivered on the
vharVes. Daring the past year toe
OREGON Improvement Con- pany hanaled
1900 tons of Australian GOAL, for ths
reason that it could be boaehI cheaper
than the product of the company's
mines could be miaed and shipped to
San Francisco. The Oregon Impruvs-
ment Company vas ANXIOUS to keep its
mines raining just as long as it could
zee Its way clear and keep even. When
that company bought the Ns~castle
mines Seattle coal was selling 10 San
Francisco AZ $40 per ton. since that
time the price has been reduced 60 g. 80
psr ton. Notwithstanding this gre q
reduction, the company has never re
dnced the prices paid for mining, bot
eay9 kept them at sbsot ths same stan
AAF
employed 10 or 80 Cinnamon as labsrer
and oeal pickers at ths mine, at q cost
of 81 cents per day to tue man. some
months ago, IN response to a popular
demand, she company discharged al its
Chinameu and employed white l.oorers
In their places, a. 81 % Per day. thus
increa ing the expense of runuing tue
mine asout so per day. Sluce that
tine thore has been some difference
between the miners and the company as
TO the prioe to De paid for mining the
| coai, but that finally was satisfactorily
arranged without any material change
from old prices. The company, suppos
ing the labor question hsd besn seItled,
commenced cutting corners In other
directions In order to place their coal on
the market without absolute loss aud
without reducing or Interfering With
wages. 1t was thouRht this could be
done by making advantageous CHARTERS
aud economically handling the coal after
leaving tne mine; but these fond hopes
sere dispelled few days ago. when Mr.
| Howard was notified that a demand
| would be made, backed by the mipers
( for an advance 10 81 per day for outside
labor. With this staring him in the
| face, Mr.. Howard realized that the ad-
vance could not be aoceded to without a
positive loss on overy ton of coal taken
from the mines; so he ordered the mine
shut down tall such time as tne price of
coal would again justify the Resumption
OF work. The question which presented
Itself To the company vas this: Shall We
aceede to the demands of our employees
and run the mine at an actual loss, or
shall We shut the mine down until sacn
time as We cau run it at a fair profit?
The latter plan was adoptsd, and the
nine ssut down iadefnitely.
About ths same state off affairs pre-
vailed At Cedar Mountain; and although
the loss of a valuable trade, which b I'd
been built up at an immense expen %,
was staring hin IN the faoe, Mr.. Colman,
too, bad to shut down his mine. At
Black Diamond the stnRie men have
been discharged, bot IL 10 thOaght shat
mine can be kept running for time, at
least, on account Of tss superiority of
its coal for steam purposes. Fhe Frank
i'm viii probably run, as the difficulty at
that place has bsen adjusted.
lac shutting dosn of the Newcastle
and Cedar Mountain mines means the
cutting of In our circulating medium Of
| over $50 90 per month, wnion has been
,hs amsant of moaey paid out for labor
~ this county by the two c1mpaaiss
| conserRed. it mean more t.aa tais
10 means the throwing oHt Of employ
sent Of several hundred men, many OF
them tse heads Of famIlIss; il means
that the hard times viii bs hardsi; il
means that IN meg viii be sSarcer and
harder 20 get hold of; aad is means that
tue ranks Of the idle lsborers will be
greatly augmented, which augurs NJ
good resoits