St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1900-12-08
OUR FOREIGN LETTER
Dealing with Commercial and In
dustria1 Affairs Abroad.
Testing American Coal for Gas MAX
ing in London-The Glove Indus
try In AnstrIn--Ofher In-
terestfng Items

ing in London-The Glove Indus
try In AnstrIn--0tlaer In-
terestfng Items
Regarding the importation of Amer
ican coal to London for use in gas max
-, ing, the Daily Tele-
graph, of that city,
- =" has the following
tosay: Basing these calcula tions on the
tests so far made in American gas coal.
the South Metropolitan Gas company
obtaip-- results which justify the re-
cent purchase they made of some 1000
tons of this mineral for experimental
purposes. The cost Of Durham coal,
which is the best English coal obtain
able for gas making purposes, is at
the present time about $3.50 per ton,
free on board, and the freight to Lon
don is 81 cents per ton, giving in round
figures a total cost of S4.S7 per ton.
The American article. including
freight, touches about S6.57 a ton.
There is, therefore, considerable mar
gin in favor of British coal on the
score of prime cost, and any counter
balancing advantage gained from the
use of imported coal must lie in its
better producing qualities and its supe-
rior yield of coke and other marketable
residuals. Roughly speaking, a ton of
Durham coal viii produce from 10000
to 10000 cubic feet of gas. The
American contractors limited at be-
tween 14,000 and 5000 cubic feet
per ton as the yield of their sup
ply, but, although the results show
figures considerably exceeding those
attaching to British coal, they
fall much short of the American
estimate. It is necessary, however, to
note that experiment has so far been
made with only fraction of the 1000
tons brought over, and fuller tests may
materially affect the comparison one
way or the other. Nor can the tests
be. regarded as thoroughly satisfac-
tory. in that the American article has
had slight admiSture of the British.
In future experiments, this co1nbina-
tion will be avoided and the imported
coal taken on its merits entirely. On
the whole. the test has proved more.
favorable than similar one recently
made in Paris.
The glove industry in Austria he's
shown remarkable growth within
~ the past few years.
=. !. In 1880, the total
',os : Ha productions of gloves
within the empire was about 100000
dozens; in 1897 it had risen to /. .75g 900
dozens: and at the present time it is
not far from 2,0o0,G0 dozens. The
city of Prague records the greatest
gain. The number of establishments
increased there from 100 in 1880 to
1875 in 1899; the number of cutters,
from 453 to 1000; and the number of
gloves manufactured from 236,000 to
/ 1,0o0, 600 dozens. Vienna follows with
ITO establishments against 21a in
18So). 500 cutters 1850 in 1ssO), and 275,-
600 dozen gloves (1s7, 900 dozen in 1sso).
The decrease in the number of estab-
lishments in the latter city is to be
accounted for by the prevailing tend
ency toward concentration.
In the Erzgebirge, the third impor-
tant center of the Austrian glove in
dustry, the production has increased
from $4,000 dozens in 1890 to 342, ,00o
dozens in 1899.
Austria at present not only supplies
almost her entire home demand for
gloves, but also exports this article to
the value of over ST, ,e0o, COO per annum
The only foreign makes imported
are Krimmer gloves (which are pro-
duced at remarkably low rates In
and buckskin and mocha
gloves from Germany, superfine kid
gloves from France. and sporting
gloves from England.
The Austrian glove industry has not
prospered without experiencing severe
trials. It has had to meet increased
foreign competition and lower prices;
but with cheaper labor and an in
creased capacity of its factories, it has
continued to coH.srte successfully even
in German markets. There are now In
the empire number of establishments
capable of turning out 100, 600 dozen
gloves per annum.
The principal market of the Austrian
glove manufacturer is England, where
a large demand has sprung
up for silk-lined (bfiIanese) gloves. a
demand which is at present supplied
almost exclusively by Austria
The export to the United States,
which was considerable up to 1897, has
shrunk to about 20 per cent. of its for
ner amount. In the two years from
1897 to 1899 its value decreased from
s492. 900 to 500. .s31.
In his interesting series Of letters
entitled Round Russia now appear
ing in the London
= Daily Chronicle, Mr.. |
RUSSIAN SINNERS H enry Norman |
peaks of the wonderful development
If the cotton industry. In 1886 there
we're over z, 2,0oo, 900 spindles in the Mos
,ow district and as many more in other
places. From 1880 to 1889 the output OF !
he cotton manufacturing industry
'ose from 4O.o00. 900 rubIes to 4s7 y0oe,-
100 rubles. During the ten years that I
ave since elapsed vast progress has
been made. but serious statistics ean-