The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-03-21
in NEW
MEXICO COAL
One OF the Most Tempting PROPOSE
tions Ever offered to Business Men.
A supply That Practically Com-
mands the Great Market Of the
SOuthwast

southwest.
FL Paso. Texas. March ia good
many people at the North do not seem
to realize what the coal situation here
really Is. A number of correspondents
have questioned me on this point and I
hear OF many inquiries directed to
other persons.
Bear in mind that El Paso Is the
meeting point for six railroads which
radiate in every direction-into Old
Mexico as well as the United States.
These railroads are not only extensive
consumers of coal, but they reach mar
kets for that product throughout the
entire Southwest. There are very large
smelling establishments in this city
and in the region reached by these
roads, which also require great guam
titles of coal. There are likewise de-
mands for manufacturing and for do
nestle purposes. All told it is esti-
mated that the FL Paso market for coal
is about $4,000 tons per month and for
coke about 10000 tons per month---a
total equivalent of about $4,000 tons of
raw coal each month. At present the
principal sources of supply for coal at
this point are:
Trinidad, Colorado $50 miles away.
Sabinas, Mexico, 514 miles away.
Cerrillos, N. NJ, $3.50 miles away.
In nearly every case the haul to FL
Paso is over adverse railroad grades,
aggregating fully 5000 feet. Half a
cent a mile per ton for hauling is the
usual estimate. Add the cost of min
ing-which in every instance is greater
~ NJ oil .,,1 t., a,
cases many times greater-and it is
easy to see that with the New Mexico
Railway & Coal Co.'S coal but 100 miles
distant it's product can be laid down at
Ell Paso at price that will command
the market.
The quality of the coal is equal to
the best that is available in the South
west and is better than most of the
supply that now reaches El Paso. 1t
cokes easily and well.
The very best coal mining authorities
say that the cost of mining coal at Sal
ado should not exceed $1.25 a ton. The
haul of 100 miles is down grade all of
the way. 1t is easy to see therefore
that this coal could be offered in the
Ell Paso market at a very low price and
still give a profit to the consumer. At
present the wholesale price of soft coal
here is $3.50 ton. The price of coke
is $3.50 to $3.50. No wonder that the
railroads and smelters at El Paso are
frequently inquiring when the coal and
cokes of the New Mexico Railway &
Coal 70. will be ready.
Even at current prices they have diff
ficulty in securing regular supplies on
account of their great distances from
the mines. The Salado coal is about
as far from El Paso as the Wyoming
Valley is from New York, but no one
who has seen the regular, easy, down.
gradiants of the mesas from Tularosa
to Ell Paso can imagine how different
the haul proposition is in the two cases.
The wholesale cost of anthracite in
New York ranges from $3.50 to $4 per
ton and the producer has royalties of
from 25 cents to 40 cents per ton to pay,
and there are large expenditures for
improvements and breakers for the
preparation of this coal in different
sizes. At Salado, on the other hand,
the coal Out-crops in seams of nearly
six feet and at an easy dip, so that
mining it is reduced to the very sim
plest proposition.
All the world knows of the immense
fortunes that have come from anthra-
cite mining in Pennsylvania. The coal
is there, hard to get, hard to haul, eX-
| pensive to prepare for market, and
with a demand which must be handled
with discretion. In Salado the coal is
| plenty, easy to mine, cheap to haul and
| 1t will reach market where it is prac-
| tically without a price-competitor.
No wonder those who know most of
| this proposition are the ones that are
investing the most literally in it.
| NJ. NJ, G.,