The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1894-01-11

Idea OF an Elevated Railroad BE-
tween Carbondale and Wilkes
Barre Minor Gossip ofthe Day.
Baird Halbers:adt, of Pottsville. coin
cides with THE TRIBUNE in the belief
that free bituminous coal would exert
a depressing effect upon the anthracite
trade. This is how he explains his
position in the Miners Journal: "Since
1878 our anthracite operators have been
shipping large quantities Of the small
(buckwheat and ricp) coal which before
that time was thrown into the culm
banks. The use of perforated plates in
place Of CRATE bars and forced draft
have, however made this of vBlue, an
thousands of tons are now sent to mar
ket 1t is used largely in industrial
works for generating steam and has
probably displaced large tonnage
Of bituminous coal--for this purpose.
Without the duty Pennsylvania, Mary
land and West Virginia cannot COM
pete with the Goals from Nova Scotia
In the markets from New England
The mines of that province are all near
the coast, and the distance by
water from them to Boston is less
than 700 miles; hence if we as
sumo that the Goals of Nova
Scotia and Pennsylvania are of equal
value at the mines. it will readily b.
seen that owing to the long railway
haul of the Pennsylvania, West Vir-
ginia and Maryland Goals before reach
ing tidewater they will be practically
left out Of this market. What is true
of the btuminous coal is also true OF
the smaller size anthracites Notwith
standing the fact that in 1892 the coal
production Of the United States was
over lI9. 900, 600 short tons or over lG0-
900, 600 long tons e, 240 pounds there
were imported and entered for con-
sumption at the several seaports of th-
United States in that year over ,00O
900 tons of foreign coal Great Britain
sends her coal to points on both thr
Atlantic aud Pacific coasts. Australia
and British Columbia ship to San Fran
cisco, while Nova Scotia coal is entered
at the Atlantic ports. Should the duty
be removed, ! belisve that the New
England trade in buckwheat and Rice
coal will bo lost and / am sure that
Center. Clsar6eld Huntingdon and
Cambria counties will lose any bitumi-
nous trade they may have in that sec
ton, owing to the competition with
Nova Scotia coal, which can be placed
in the Boston market and pay the duty
at cost per ton less by dollar than
the Pennsylvania Goals. e"
A southern writer in the Washing
ton Post, speaking Of this same sub
ject, says: Careful estimates show
that fully 95 per cent Of the cost OF
coal is labor. The long and short of it
is. wages of the American miner must
come down if the duty on coal comes
off. Reduced to an ad valorem basis,
the duty on bituminous coal (anthra-
cite coming in free is now less than 2j
per cent. The Mckinley tariff put a
lower duty on coal than the Clay tariff
of 1942, and lower than the Walker
tariff, of 1916. To put coal on the free
list would therefore be nothing short
Of wanton blow at class of men who
perform a dangerous work for pay
which is now far too low. When coal
comes to the seaboard, which is the
place where the price of it is affected,
it is, as we have said, probably 95 per
cent. labor. Coal is worth more than
from 10 to Is cents in the mines For
the sake Of cheapening the price Of
bituminous coal few cents per ton to
wealthy manufacturing concerns and
to enrich the foreign producer it ia
proposed to reduce tho wages of nearly
$50, 900 coal miners, and thereby i'm
poverish nearly 1900, 600 men, women
and children whose existence in Q
measure depends upon the prosperity
of a great mining industry, carried on
in no less than twenty nine states and
territories"
Says the Carbondale Leader; 1.-THE
question Of more rapid transit
through the Lackawanna and
Wyoming valleys is matter
that may require earnest at
tention in the future. This is one of
the most tnickly settled portions of the
country and the population is rapidly
increasing. Even now it is one con.
tinuous town from Carbondale to
Wilkes Barre and the business inter
ests OF the region are closely inter.
twined Colonel II. NJ. Boies, of Scran-
ton, advocates an elevated road bs-
tween these points operated by cleo
tricity. The feasibility Of the scheme
was demonstrated by the Intramura
railway at the Worlds fair, but trains
would have to run at q much
higher rate Of speed. The first
cost of the plant would he
large, as the road should run through
the center of each town. Consequently
dividends would not be enormous az
first. The road should be double
tracked and in the beginning q sched-
ule of trains every thirty minutes
would probably be all that would be
necessary. Sixty miles per hour could
be obtained between stations As on
all similar roads she gate system would
be used, Buy your ticket at the sta
tion and drop it into slot before get
ting on the train. Tickets would be
all the same price whether for long OF
short maui. 1t would cost no more tc
go to Wilkes.Barre than to Jermyn.
The immense amount of traffic thi,
would induce would make n low rate
of fare possible. Who will be the first
to start the movement Yea, verify,
who2
I MISCELLANEOUS JOTTINGs:
There has been noticeable increase il
the passenger traffic on the Pennsylvania.
lines west Of PittsbWg during the past few
days.
Railway passenger agents affect to fee
greatly encouraged, and say that better
n