The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1894-02-16
Hs kEsTos COAL CO. WINDS UP.
Ovssss 81 Resss. Misc Drive. Ont sv
shs Wffsoa Bnl.

eoson Mise Drives Out by
shs Wffson EN-.
oAs fMscEsco. Feb. 15-It Il ONLY =
mater OF lev weeks. perhaps dsys. until
.he last vessige Of what vas once the Lead
ing coal hrm Of San Francisco viii have
PASSED out OF existence. combination Of
a'serse circumstances has gradually driven
tne Eenton company 20 the wall. and not
Tue ieast OF these il the reduction OF IS
cents . ton under the Wilson tariff bill.
When business reached such condition
that it could not be continued except =, q
loss. A. N. Simpson. the lumber merchant
ana ship owner. who IL the largest stock
nosaer IN the company, decided to wind up
us business. A meeting OF the directors
vas held, and Mr.. Simpson assumed the
eompany's debts and had its accounts.
property. bills receivable and contracts
transferred 10 him. He also undertook to
pay All bills against the concern. and to
diseontinus the coal business with all pos
sioie dispatch. l. w. Bushnell, president
OF the kenton Coal Company. said yesfer-
day That the discontinaance could not be
regarded as failure in the accepted sense
OF the word. Said he:
THE creditors will receive 100 cents on
the dollar. AS far rs our Indebtedness is
concerned. Mr.. Simpson is good for much
larger amounts, If Ii became necessary 10
call upon him. but the debts can be more
than met by the accounts, though | don't
Know how Mr.. simpson will come ont
with his own stock in the company. All
the other shareholders will get their stock
paid In full. The business 10 pretty nearly
aisposed Of already. The bunkers at Oak
land. six OF them with a capacity of about
!. 40 tons. were sold 10 Rosenfeld a Sons.
The retail business was bought by TAYLOR
q Co., and our anthracite contracts were
purchased By A. c. Richards, 50 there IL
little left 20 be sold
mine At Renton. In Washington, about
seven miles from Seattle. which is worth
f5o1.O We had 10 close IL down five
years ago. when on account of the large
wheat eFop many ships came from En-
gland to San Francisco with coal instead
OF ballast. After that coal was imported
cheaper than ever. and the increased cup
ply cut prices. 50 We had to shut down.
You know when - day has to be paid
for labor II Is not possible to compete with
or shiiiipgs, perhaps less. Coal on the
Iacihc coast Is not quite 80 good as the
English. and consequently il did not CON-
mand the same price. After all that. here
comes the Wilson bill, knocking of IS
cents ten and running our business.
will tel you straight now, that the Wilson
bill has forced US out of business"
The Renton Coal Company was incor-
porated with . capital stock of $500 0o0 and
began business in 1876. for many years
Its business of importing Welsh anthracite
coal WAS larger than all the other coal
houses combined. Usually rs many as
fifteen or twenty ships year brought
cargoes to their bunkers hero and on the
Oakland wharf The company had the
largest contracts In this city. among them
being that Of the Spring Valley Company,
which was recently taken by McDonough
d Co. The directors were: G. w. Bush.
nell. president; II. d. Stark. secretary: A.
NJ. Simpson. Z. W. Bushnell, ID. ID. stark.
]. ID. Roche ana John Whitworth.