The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-01-07

hN'SS
During the third week In December SlI
| railroads increased 7.2G per cent in gross
earnings.
A company to control the distribution of
| the New York and New Jersey potato crop
has been formed.
National hank circulation on Dec. 81 was
2l3.621,S2l an increase of N,lll,l6S during
| the year.
The average tide price of anthracite
stove coal in 1895 was S3OS per ton as COM
pared with $500 in 1894 and sl.l9 in 1898.
The annual order of the Pennsylvania
Railroad company for rails Is expected
in a short time. The Pennsylvania s;e.l
company always gets one-fourth OF The
order.
There Is more pig iron in the yards of
the Pennsylvania Steel company now
than for years and the stocks Is still be-
ing Increased. Besides the accumulation
or iron from the fun operation of the
four furnaces. large quantities are being
received from the Sparrows Point fur
naceS.
Saturday the employees of the Pennsyl-
vania Steel works were paid SIs,3OO for
work done Dec. l-l5. In comparison with
the first pay day of 1895. Saturday. the
first of 1896, is nearly $4,000 ahead. the roll
Jan. =. 1885,, being S59,Oo0 During 1895. de-
spite the inauspiciOus opening, the works
We're buster than was ever known before
and three times the pay rolls climbed
above the SlOO,Gp mark, while the number
of men employed reached the unprecedent-
ed total of I.75o. The shipments We're the
greatest ever known al tn works and
the outputs of departments notably the
open hearth. which one month was l6.WO
tons. rail and slab, were beyond all pre-
Nious figures.
Extensive preparations are being made
| At the Raub colliery at Luzerne borough
prior to starting work \ large trestle
| is being erected from the mountain side
| to the head of the breaker. over this
coal Will be conveyed from the tunnels
in the mountains. The breaker is being
| fitted with all the latest machinery. The
| new tunnel. which was recently started.
| is being pushed rapidly and under capa-
| BILE management will no doubt send ont
| IL lot of coal Everything will soon be
| in readiness to make a start and a num-
| ber of miners and others are looking for
ward with anxiety to that time.
| Philadelphia Stakeholder: An attempt
| Is being made to make the stock of the
| Scranton Traction company active in the
Philadelphia Stock Exchange. The first
| mortgage bonds of the company are quite
| generally held i'm this city, aud are re-
| aarded as good as any dealt in here. The
earnings of the company are excellent
| and are likely to increase rather than
| otherwise. The territory covered is pro-
ductive of stability of earnings. Cost of
| operation. moreover. IL comparatively NOM
| inal, with the item Of coal hardly a fac
| tor. The management very wisely makes
full statements of the company's opera
tons at frequent intervals, and thus in
| vites confidence.
| In a paper on the economical equipment
railways. by II. ). Newton. of Syracuse It
| is stated that at Syracuse the best coal
| was found 10 be anthracite buckwheat
| costing on board ears delivered at the
station S2.2a per gross ton. Dust anthla-
cite was found to sif, through the bars:
| when mixed with an equal quantity Of
| soft coal ii worked well but necessitated
the help of an extra man as mixer. and 1t
| is not so economically fired. Thirteen
| tons of buckwheat per day are used
| where IL was necessary to use seventeen
| or eighteen tons of the mixture.
The coal handling business at COXton is
| rushing. Orders have been issued to for
| ward all coal westward as rapidly as pos
| sible. on account, IL is said. of an ex-
| pccted increase in coal rates on the west
| ern roads
| William r. Lacey. formerly foreman
at the keystone colliery at Miners Mills
but lately engaged in mine contracting at
| South Wilkes-Barre, where he resides
| has accepted the position of inside fore
| man al Miner d co. s Westminster colliery
| near lateSville, and entered upon his du-
| ties on Friday.
Work has been in progress for some time
| past on new fan at the Hoyt shaft Of
| the Pennsylvania Coal company n Pitts
ton. and II Is now in operation. says the
| Gazette. The mine Is quite gaseous. and 1t
was deemed advisable TO erect the new
conjunction with the old fan. The fan
| house H. of brick amos. entirely, the
| girders in that portion where the air cir
| culates as IL comes from the mines being
| Is twenty feet i'm diameter. and il has Il
capacity of about 1900 feet of air each
| minute. Several feature of the plan Of
the new fan are of special interest. by
reason of the fact that ;hey are here
| adopted for the frs; time by the Penn
| sylvania company There are two brick
| passa ageways through which air Is drawn
| from the shaft to the fan, and at the
entrance to each of these passages is
| a massive iron door. one Is l4x4 feet in
| size. and the other about liX5 These
are so set on upright aXles as TO work
| automatically if anything should occur
to stop the fan, Thus Il the new fan
| should be injured. the old fan would be
| STATED and the change in the current OF
| air would of itself be sufficient to close
| the iron doors leading to the idle fan.
| and vice versa, since it is the intention
| of the company tn place similar ar-
rangement in the old fan. Should the
| doors fail to operate automatically. levers
running from the engine house will enable
| the engineer TO open or close the doors
| with but little effort. The idea Is to
| make If possible to change from using
one fan to the other with the least pos
| sible delay. 1t is hoped. too, that the
| two fans will work together is such be
| desired. In a WilkesRarre shaft a some
| what similar arrangement Is proving very
| satisfactory. The new fan will be an
| important addition TO the equipment to
| the Hoyt shaft and its operation is be-
| ing watched with interest by the COM
pany's officials. The fan has been In
| operation for several days in order to
get the machinery working smoothly,
| but has not yet been connected with the