The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-10-15
ANTHRACITE COAL.

Henry $. Fleming, secretary of the
Anthracite Coal Operators association,
before he sailed for Europe explained
the object of his journey. He is to so
in the interests Of the association with
the object i'm view of developing the
market for anthracite coal abroad.
THE anthracite operators have had
their eyes on the European market
for a number of years." said Mr.. Flem-
ing. land our organization has had an
Immense amount Of correspondence
with European dealers. In October,
1896, l made a report, which was print
ed in the Evening Post, showing that
we had accomplished all that could be
done by correspondence toward the
development of 4 market abroad. Since
then have been pcrfecting plans for
"a personal inspection of the markets
in all the large trade centres of Eu-
rope. l have orders to take as much
time as necessary to get at the cOndi-
tions which govern the trade. | shall
go through England, France. Germany,
Sweden, Norway, Russia, Italy and
such other countries as look promising
from a trading standpoint The An
thracite Coal Operators association is
present effort at expansion. What
these interests are | do not care to
say. The Philadelphia ard Reading
railroad sold some anthracite coal
abroad number of years ago. With
in the past seven or eight years the
operations abroad have been confined
to small lots, sold independently. This
has not been profitable, owing to the
I I'll.
The chief competition comes from the
Welsh collieries. But with a heavy
trade under way, we in America would
be able to compete with the Welsh
coal miners in the countries which are
far enough away from Wales to make
the freight charges heavy. In Ger
many, for instance we could sell steam
sizes of anthracite coal at a figure
which would be within range of the
prices for the Welsh fuel. In that way
it might be possible to compete for the
steamship trade, which at present is a
closed door to us. owing to the fact
that the transatlantic liners cannot
secure anthracite coal on the other
side to use on their westward trim az
a reasonable cost. In the general
market, too, anthracite will always be
at disadvantage. AS luxury among
people of the Weather class, we think
1T probable that some exploitation of
the commodity would result in a gem
eral increase in the demand. At all
events, | shall take pains to find out
why a foreign market is not possible,
if it is not, and American interests
cannot fail to be gamers to the extent
of valuable information if in nothing
else"
Concerning the Lse of soCI coal in
New York city, President Murphy, of
the board of health, said the other day:
THE use of soft coal in the metropol-
itan district will soon be a matter of
history. We wish it understood that
a violation Of this ordinance against
the use of soft coal calls for just as
summary measures as the violation Of
any other ordinance, and We pro Jose
to use summary measures If necessary.
We will close a factory If necessary
to stop the nuisance"
Consul Jackson at La Rochelle,
France, informs the state department
at Washington that, owing to the Ia
Dor troubles in England, coal has gone
up to $9.GS and 50 G5 per ton and the
supply is short. He thinks La Ro-
chelle would be a good market for
American coal
The New York Commercial Adver-
tlser says: 1.-THE amount of coal con-
sumed by vessel during a voyage
depends very largely upon the speed,
for the consumption of coal increases
almost in geometrical ratio to the
speed, There are many ships which
burn from 100 to 800 tons Of coal day,
the lowest consumption being when the
vessel is going at a moderate rate.
Our men-of-war do not consume so
much in proportion as swift passen-
ger steamers which ply between Eu-
rope and America for, unless in an
emergency, they are not driven at the
highest attainahla sneed. The ocean