The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1894-01-01

With the re- assem- bling Of congress
this week will be resumed the fierce.
but not noisy, fight that is waging be-
tween friends of American industry
and those foes of it who are uppermost
in the councils of the present ways and
means committee The particular
branch of this struggle which has for
lis purpose the retention Of protective
duty on bituminous coal imports, is of
especial interest to ScrantoDians and
other residents of the anthracite region
because the freeing OF Nova Scotian
coal would surely cut away from our
anthracite industry considerable and
a growing market for the smaller sizes,
such as buckwEeat and pea. which are
proftably utiliz ii in many factory fur
naces along the Atlantic seaboard. Stu
dents Of the coal trade concur In the
prediction that desirable future
awaits the attempt to redeem the little
grades of anthracite, but they also ad-
NIT that this future would be seriously
impaired by the unrestricted entrance
of the cheaply mined surface coal of
Nova Scotia brought in syndicate yes
sells and put down in New England and
other seaboard cities at mere fraction
of the freight cost unfairly put on an.
thracite by the rail carrying corpora
tions.
The Washington Post. discussing this
subject recentlv. said: "The shipment
OF coal from Virginia and West Vlr
ginia to New England has grown to
enormous proportions. There is ship
ped annually from Newport News. the
terminus OF the Chesapeake and Ohio
railroad, 1000. 900 tons Of coal to points
along the northern and New Englsni
coast A similar amount goes from
Lambert's Point. near Norfolk. the ter
minus Of the Norfolk and Western
railroad. The shipment OF this coal
means not only an immense revenue
for the railroads, but upon it depends
the operation of the extensive coal
fields In Virginia and West Virginia.
the employment of thousands OF min
ers, and the service of large feet OF
ships, with all their officers and men
1t is claimed by those who are inter.
estsd in this matter that the placing OF
coal upon the free list will close the
mines, stop the running of freight
trains, and send TO the wharvss tue
ships that are now engaged in the
coastwise coal trade.
OF course the endeavor to secure
duty on coal will be fought with great
bitterness by the syndicate that has
just secured acres and acres OF coal
fields in Nova ScoLia-coal that lies in
thick veins close to the surface, and 80
near to the sea that few miles OF rail-
road will be sufficient to place it in the
holds OF schooners, q very different
condition of affairs than exists along
the line of the two great trunk limos al
ready mentioned, which have to haul
several hundred miles to the nearest
seaport. The fight of the syndicate to
save its investment, and the struggle
of the coal roads to save their business
will be one Of the most noticeable fea-
lures of the tariff fight, and will be
none the less interesting because of the
fact that it will not be fought upon the
surface"
Statistics Of the new cars and loco.
motives built in the United States dur.
ing the year 1893 show that in engines
and passenger cars the record, as com
pared with previous years, is not so
bad as was to have been expected, but
the number Of new freight cars has
fallen eff from 9S. 1876 in 1892 to 80, 0S2
IN 1893. The statistics are gathered
from the principal manufacturers
throughout the country (but do not in
clude railroad companies shops, and
they are summarized as follows: Loco
motives built this year, 1858; last year,
2,026 Passenger cars this year, 1870;
last year, 2 1876. The 80, 900 new freight
cars make an addition of only about
4 per cent. to the total stock of freight
cars in the country, though in capacity
the addition is much larger, the new
cars being built to carry twenty to
thirty tons, while the average capacity
of all cars in s9rvice is much less. The
business is now very dull, especially in
pdseeuVeI cars, MI uuuoul nuuUeE vi
which were built early In the year to
accommodate Worlds fair traffic. OF
the fifty car shops in the county ten,
including one or two large ones. are
now wholly idle.
The Pittston Gazette argues edito.
rally for better organization among
anthracite mine officials and says: 1T
is strange enough to occasion surprise
among visitors to this section that in
the vast anthracite territory OF Penn
sylvania, with its thousands Of men in
charge Of important work that Is to a
considerable extent the same, there is
OF in existence single organization
whose object is to disseminate facts
and new ideas connected with the bus
mess Important questions Of engi-
neering and mining are continually
coming up in these days of advance.
ment that would furnish profita BILE
subjects for discussion at mining in
stitute. The organization might b,
local or general, and its membership
might include even those workmeu
who are sufficiently interesred to de-