The evening herald. [volume] (Shenandoah, Pa.) 1891-1966, 1897-06-24
AN the News That's Fit to Print, "
Evening Herald
THURSDAY, JUNE "a, 1897
The Marketing OF Anthracite.

than cneSlnul was Stll 10 ludIkel
aud i'm fact thousands of tons of the
latter were thrown ON the culm pile
mt the mines ON account of lack of
market In course of time this waste
of chestnut coal ceased and the de
nand for that size became almost as
strong as that for stove coal The
broken and lump coal sizes were used
exclusively for steam purposes at
manufacturing establishments i'm the
Eastern and Middle States. Later
the cheaper bituminous coal wrested
the trade of manufacturers from the
anthracite operators and anthracite
became gradually known as domes-
tic coal for peculiarly fitted
This resulted i'm less demand for lump
and broken coal, and made necessary
the production of larger proportions
of egg stove and chestnut The
breaking of these large sizes down to
tine sizes i'm demand naturally in
creased the proportion of pea, buck
wheat and rice coal. In more recent
years improved appliances havemade
it possible to secure most excellent re
suits i'm steam-raising by the use of
the smaller sizes of anthracite, or
those below chestnut i'm size. Owing
to- the absence of smoke and the great
heating power of anthracite, manu-
fucturers, i'm many instances, prefer
it to bituminous. and the anthracite
trade has, therefore, resolved itself
into two distinct classes First, the
trade in domestic coal, which takes
the sizes larger than pea coal Sec
oud, the trade in steaming Goals,
which takes the small sizes. About
twenty-eight per cent of the coal
shipped to market from the collieries
of the Girard estate i'm Schuylkill
county i'm 1896 consisted of sizes below
chestnut. This percentage would
have been materially increased had
all the small sizes possible been
shipped This proportions about al
average one for the entire anthracite
region
AS will be seen from the foregoing
the domestic sizes of anthracite dc
not enter into competition with btu
minous coal, and the trade i'm those
sizes is limited to the domestic con
sumption in localities comparatively
near the anthracite regions and to
domestic consumption in the homes
of vealthymeu iuthe west and north
D.. r..f. 10, "a
prize for anthracite over bituminous
ON account of its greater cleanliness.
The trade i'm the small sizes enters
into direct competition with the btu
minous coal trade Tomeet this com
petition, lower freight rates on sizes
below chestnut coal are necessary
The operator i'm the anthracite region
can afford to put these small sizes OF
the car under the breaker at pric,
that will compete with the price re
ceived by the bituminous operate
for his coal at the mine but, when {
freight rate of two or three times "a
much is charged on small sizes of an
thracite it cannot compete i'm tn,
markets with bituminous coal. anC
the result ismanufacturers, nomatte
how much they may desire anthra
cite, are driven to the use of bitumin
Gus. The anthracite carrying road
contend that they are carrying Goa
to market as cheaply as they cal
afford to. This statement may b.
true as far as the large sizes are con
cened because the demand is no
constant enough to keep their car
continually in service and thus Civ
them a regular tonnage.
There is nothing to be gained b,
the statement that the anthracit
production is not restricted. 1t is re
stricted, and rightfully so. Withou
restriction the market for domesti
sizes would be flooded, prices woul
break, bankruptcy would be the fat
of the operator and starvation tina
of the miner but, the restrictio,
that wisely controls the productio
of domestic sizes should not Doe S
closely applied to the small sizei
li'HE nlIltll NlhNN 0lIhhI'A Al'N -
counted in the apportionment. The
have very little, if any bearing o
the state of the market for tn
domestic sizes, and they should hay
the same advantages of regula
supply to consumers, as bituminou
coal Further, the freight rates o
these small sizes should be reduced {
figure more i'm consonance with tn
freight rates given bitmninOus Goa
If this is done many manuta'
turers now using bituminous Goa
because they can get regular supple
of il, would speedily turn to tn
small sizes of anthracite Operator
of anthracite mines would be ben,
Gted and the railroad companiC
would certainly gain, as it is bette
for them to employ their cars in I'll
transportation Of small sizes of al
thraeite than to have them lying id
during a considerable portion Of eac