The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1890-02-20
Scarcity of Fuel in England.

The scarcity of fuel in England is dis
turbing the calculations of iron manu-
facturers in that country. The "English
Letter" in the last number of the Pitts
burg american Manufacturer, states
the situation. under date of Jan. 10, as
follows:
English iron and steel masters are anx-
ious this week on the all-important sub
ject of fuel supply. AS | have intimated
III previous letters there is scarcely any
matter which is more likely to engage
their serious attention during at any
rate the earlier months and probably
throughout the whole twelve months,
than the difficulties which in all proba-
bility will be experienced in obtaining
fuel in sufficiently large quantities and
with sufficiently prompt delivery to en-
able them to cope with the enormous
demand that is now springing up alike
for pig iron and for all descriptions of
finished iron and steel. Americas facili-
ties for coke production are being dis
cussed by some of the chief iron and
steel authorities of this country, and the
wish is being expressed that in this re-
spect some of our leading iron and steel
centres were as favorably situated as are
those of the United States There have
been frequent cases of temporary stop
pages OF iron and steel works by reason
OF the coke scarcity. particularly on the
northwest coast, where of course very
large quantities are used in the produc-
tion OF steel making pigs and of steel in
a finished state. 1t has been customary
to draw supplies from the Durham fields
on the east coast, but these have been
recently proving too inadequate for the
nd lyn
west have had to go to the expense of
obtaining supplies by sea from South
Wales to make up the deficiency Under
these circumstances it is matter for con-
graduation that the threatened strike
OF TO- 900 Welsh golfers has been averted.
The men have declared in favor of the
continuance of the sliding scale princi-
pie with some notifications embracing
an advance equivalent to u per cent,
and thus very serious disturbance in
one of the chief coal fields of the king
dom has been avoided. Such a disturb
ance, had it occurred, must have inter
fered greatly with the supply of coke
making fuel, and consequently with the
coke supplies of steel smelters in many
of the leading steel centres the country
through. But the Durham miners are
now asking 10 per cent advance, and
this will make Durham coke even
scarcer and dearer than it is at present.
Shall we have to come to you for our
pig iron, is one of the questions which |
the scarcity Of fuel is just now giving
rise to. 1t is seldom that we see the |
spectacle of American sending pig iron
to this country in any very great guam
titles involving, as such q state of
things does, almost reversal of the |
normal conditions of trade between this
country and the United States-but |
there are some farsighted authorities
over here who believe that the small be-
ginnings which we have recently seen in
the buying of American pig iron by
British ironmasters will have to very
largely develop unless radical altera-
ton takes place soon in the matter of
English coke and GOAL production and
delivery. But II English miners will be
but reasonably moderate in their de-
mands as to wages and hours the situa-
ton may yet be greatly improved both
as regards the cost and extent Of pro-
duction.
These statements coming from source
so conservative and reliable, indicate
that the iron interest of the United
States has no impending disaster, but
on the contrary, everything to force the
conclusion that it must develop and i'm
prove for many wears to come