New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1900-06-10
COAL WILL BE KING.
AMERICAN SUPREMACY IN THIS M
PORTANT INDUSTRY.
BY FREDERICK E. sAwARD. EDITOR OF THE
COAL TRADE JOURNAL"

of the country must be of the activity
in the soft coal industry. beyond the mere dig
ging Of this grade Of fuel and the landing OF IL
On the cars They are also aware or the III
creased foreign demand that exists and are
eager for information upon the topic. There is
an increased demand at home that takes up the
production almost quickly as IT is mined, and
in addition to this evidence OF industrial activity
the country is now enjoying there Is the open
ing of a foreign trade beyond what had been
thought possible N former years There is an
exhibit at Paris Of our coal resources winch
will open the eyes and mind of the foreign VS.
itor in some degree to our possibilities In the
fuel line This exhibit consists OF samples OF
coal with their analysis and source OF product
from twenty Of the coal producing States OF the
T-nicr and there are also charts which show
mos graphically this country's coal product
This aggregate product is represented by a
parallelopiped figure standing for 5,o6Seooooo
cubic feet. the amount of the coal output OF the
United States The Eiffel Tower. as compared
with This huge figure is a playthng; in
cideatally the outputs of Great Britain, Ger
mary and all other countries are shown In
comparison with that of this country
UNEoUALLED RESOURCES.
BY far the greater portion of the coal that
has thus far gone abroad is contracted for is
the product OF Maryland and West Virginia.
It has been truly said of the resources of the
country that the largest industrial foundation
in the world. and one practically undeveloped
in everything but 3 foundation Of railways and
the beginnings of industrial plants, is the noun
tain country lying between Pennsylvania and
Northern Georgia and Alabama. 1t is a region
containing twenty times the coal that Great
Britain originally possessed and lying in such
e. way that il be brought to the surface
with from one-fourth TO one-half OF the
1,enditure Of energy required IN Great Britain.
It contains paralleling its coal fields for some
seven hundred miles, an incalculable quantity
Of iron ores Of all kinds from the Clinton ores.
which lie under and along the coal. to the brown
ores and the high grade magnetites." No Won
DER thenI that we lind Baltimore. Newport News
and Norfolk foremost in the matter Of coal
shipments when the foreigners need II. The
great coat pier Curtis Bay, on the Chesapeake,
is being constructed by the Baltimore and Ohio
Railroad for the main purpose OF catering to
this foreign trade.
In England the high cost Of fuel Is beginning
to touch many interests and industries and.
should IL continue at its present price, while
naming cheaper in countries which are COM
mercial rivals Of England. il is felt that it will
do more TO lessen British foreign trade than any
other imaginable calamity, The most
serious thing IN the matter is the rapdty with
which the stores of coal in the United Kingdom
being used UP. In consequence great
extent Of the large exports of coal and its in
other ways, the supply is in many directions
threatened with exhaustion at a relatively near
period
PRICES IN ENGLAND.
In regard 70 recent railway contracts in
England. IL is said that the London and North
western Railway Company has arranged
the bulk, If not the whole. of fits locomotive
peculiar circumstances of the market, not
satisfactory -Four OF the other great companies
to wit. the Midland. Northeastern, Great
Northern and Great Eastern-are now consider
ing the tenders sent IN by the coIliery owners.
Various conferences have been held between
the companies and the coIiery owners and
there is good reason 10 believe that full rates
that is, 81 for Barnsley and So rs for North
Derbyshire steam coal and similar qualities-will
be paid by all these companies for their sup
plies under the new contracts Since the com
panies made their contracts a year ago prices
have been steadily advancing. so that. as
matter Of fact, for the bulk of their contracts
they have beer paying much less than the pub
lie or the manufacturers. Many Of the colliery
owners getting from other customers mors
than they have quoted the companies. In regard
to the domestic trade at the largest point of use,
the owners sit tight and view with Indifference
any attempt the part OF the London trade
to bring down present public prices We have
other markets." they say, twenty times bigger
in the aggregate than the London market. Let
London wait" 1t is the turn Of the coal owners
to-day.
As to prices abroad, in England, It is stated
that taking the coal output a whole the
present averaged realized price is not u shillngs
(S3) per ton, which is only shillings 90 cents
above the figure shown to be needful to give
the coal owner 10 per cent his investment, in
addition to covering the cost Of production. No
one who understands the vicissitudes Of the coal
trade is likely to say that this is a boom profit
IN excess Of what coal owners may reasonably
take" Were our coal owners 10 get such q price
this at the mines they would be able TO pay
far more than 10 per cent on the investment:
they are selling coal at less than that figure at
Atlantic ports two hundred to four hundred
miles from the source Of production.
A Scotch coal owner writing to the leading paper
in the industry says: II have no hesitation in
saying that the coal question is OF the most
thought how absurd II is yearly TO send abroad
without the slightest restriction, f20O00OO0
worth OF the material necessary for foreign
ers TO compete with us in manufacture. How
ever vast our coalfields may be. such drain
upon them in the interests of rivals is
ludicrous. Even so as regards foreign navies
We keep them in existence by Welsh coal and
thus, when they add TO their fleets. have to
put millions on the public back to keep pace
with them
AMERICAN COAL FOR THE CONTINENT.
A correspondent of a coal trade paper in this
country, writing from Milan, Italy, has this
encouraging note: Without wishing to exag-
gerate. we may safely say that American Goals
have a certain future in Europe in Italy as in
other European countries Knowing the neces-
sity Of opening up TO our industry other
of procuring Goals, freeing ourselves once for
all from the necessity OF depending England,
we hope that an arrangement may be made be-
tween American producers and Italian consum
that viii facilitate the means OF importing
American Goals into Italy. We. on our side. Will
gladly give any Information that those In
terested in this question may please TO ask
IL has been said that one drawback TO the de-
velopment Of the export coal trade Of the United
States is obvious None Of the vessels now
available. or likely soon 10 be so, for carrying
coal from the United States to Europe are we'll