The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-06-11
Business
BreVitieS


for anthracite coal was in fair shape
last week. and the cancellation of uu-
filed orders at the old scale Of prices
sives the situation a more even appear
ance. Stocks have been drawn down
to a low point in many cases. and deaf
ers are buying with a little greater free
dom. The price OF coal at wholesale is
firmly held at the full circular. which
for stove Is on the basis Of s4.00. less 10
cents commission, (. o. b., in New York
harbor. The restriction of production
has enabled accumulated stocks to be
worked off thoroughly, SO that stocks
in dealers hands are light. Dealers
recognize this. but are hoping that the
circular can be successfully upset by in
ducing individual companies to cut.
With regard to the future, the situation
Is promising. II the requirements OF
the anthracite trade this year do not
foli below those of last year, the COM
panies will have to mine and bring to
market about 4.50O, 900 tons Of coal per
month for the last half Of the year.
This means working on full time. The
market will not merely take this pro-
Guction, but will cali for It, and there is
no doubt that most Of 1t will be mar
keted at higher prices than those cur
rent AS the situation stands. dealers
have about thirty days in which to
break the circular, II they can-Phi!a-
delphia Times.
AMERICAS BEER TRADE.--The
brewers who are now holding their ma
tional convention, direct attention to
the fact that they have q quarter Of a
billion Of invested capital ard that since
1876 their annual sales have increased
from IS, SOC, 900 to S36.000,c00. Striking as
these figures are they are less so than
the statistical exhibit made by the
Treasury department. Cficial figures
show that the consumption Of malt Ii
quors in 1875 was SOs, 1886. 900 gallons; OF
1885, 717,145,00O gallons; Of 1895. 1O43.-
2s2, 900 gallons. Thus in three decades
the annual consumption CT beer has
tripled. The present enormous output
of a thousand million gallons annually
gives consumption officially stated at
14.95 gallons per head Of population,
against only 6S3 gallons per head 10
has u little more than doubled IN the
same time that tie total consumption
has tripled. 1t Is more important to
notice that during this same period the
a.nnual consumption Of distilled liquors
has fallen from l.2S gallons TO LIP GAL
Ions a. head, while that OF wines has also
fallen from 45 to % per cent. Of s. gallon
per head-New York World.
BIGGEST WINE TUN.-At Fresno,
Cal. on the st. George vineyard, has
lately been erected q gigantic wine cask
or tun, beside which the famed great
tun Of Heidelberg sinks into insieni-
ficance. 1t is the biggest In the world.
For about $50 years the great tun has
been celebrated far and wide for Its
immense size, and nothing on the globe
could compare with 1t. II was built in
part oil the picturesque castle Of Heidel-
berg. the finest in all Germany, itself
erected at the end Of the thirteenth CEN
tury. The great tuu holds $4,000 Ger
man gallons. or 42,Q00 American gallons,
while the St. George tun holds no less
than 10000 gallons. or almost twice as
much as the tun which has for 80 years
been figuring in history. 1t took two
carloads of steel to hoop the gigantic
cask, and rh-re is enough lumber in It
to construct an elegant mansion. The
lumber is all redwood, obtained from
the forests Of Humboldt county. Not
one stick in ten from which the ma
teriai was selected would' answer. Abb
solute freedom from any flaws was re-
uured. When the redwood was select
ed it took almost two years for 1t to
dry and undergo the preparation for
the cask. About two complete rail-
road trains OF this California redwood
Is used in the Fresno great tun. The
tun towers to a height OF no less than
30 feet and it is &c feet wide. 1t can
contain 60 carloads Of wine.
THE SUEZ CANAL.-The Suez canal
passed in 1895, says the Journal Of Com
nnerce New York;, 3,4S4 steamers,
which is not quite ten q day. The st.
Mary's canal, open last year 231 days,
passed 12,495 steamers, 4,790 sail ves-
sells and 671 unregistered craft. The
dNSEdSC AoH4DCi VI NSoSSi9 tiAest peASSSN
through the canal on each day that 1t
was open was over 72, and the average
lockages per day was a fraction over 80.
TIE 1878 vessels of every class that
passed through the 800" canal last
year had registered net tonnage Of
16,OS9,77S, which Is an average Of not
much less than 1000 tons, and the
freight carried amounted to I4,471,6is
net tons. The number Of vessels that
passed through the Suez canal in 1894
was only 81 less than the number In
1895, and the net tonnage was S,O3s los.
The tonnage in 1895, then, very lightly
exceeded ore-half the tonnage Of the
800" canal, carrying almost entirely
coarse bulk freights and open less than
eight months. Two and a half million
tons Of COAL nearly nine million barrels
OF -four, over forty-one million bushels
Of wheat and other grains, nearly eight
million tons Of iron ore. end three-quar-
ters Of a million thousand feet Of lum-
ber, board measure, were the larger
items Of freight.
/ i Il
SHORTER NOTES:
vanderb.lt's New York pavement cost
$40 900