The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1900-08-27

put out of the way, and the anthra-
cite miners, after many long-drawn
strikes, accepted wages that bore n
fair proportion to the greatly reduced
prices for coal. Then, as a result Of
the changed conditions, the old Welsh
and Irish miners gradually left the
district, and were replaced by Slavs,
Poles, Hungarians and Italians.
EVOLUTION OF MINING.
low level of 1876, the anthracite miner
has been forced to take wages which,
reckoned by the day, seem large but
are often painfully small when reck-
oned by the year. The evolution of the
anthracite trade has tended steadily
to put coal mining and the transpOr-
tation of coal to market under the
control of allied companies: and in
this evolution, the profits have been
in transportation rather than in min
ing, so that we find a great industry
employing thousands of men showing
no profit; in fact, it is altogether like
ly that for the last twenty years some
of the large concerns have actually
mined at a loss. How this has come
about is we'll known by mine opera
tors, but apparently little understood
by the public.
Anthracite coal is now mined from
considerable depths, making fixed
charges high. Expenses for pumping,
ventilating and haulage tend to in
crease with depth in any mine and
particularly in the anthracite region.
To keep the workings open, it is nec-
essary to leave very large pillars, any
weakening of the roof in such a field
as the Wyoming Valley would likely
let in a flood of water that would
drown the mine.
Again, owing to the policy pursued
by some of the large transportation
companies and therefore imposed on
the rest, of seeking tributary coal
lands, royalties are often very high,
in many cases as high as 80 cents
a ton, with large minimum output
requires of the lessees. Finally, an
thracite coal is sold in a number of
prepared sizes, and the preparation
of these sizes entails a great deal of
waste, so that as a final result but
about one-third of the coal originally
in the seam gets to market.
SOME MINING FIGURES.
"In the thorough and exhaustive re-
view of the anthracite trade that ap-
peared in Volume w. of the Mineral
Industry" figures were given showing
that the actual cost of producing coal
at three mines in the Schuylkill region
in November, 1876, was from s1.0S5 to
$1.21 per ton, exclusive of royalty and
;pta af ha
Coal and Iron company show in the
years 1SI7-79 that the average price the
company received for coal at Schuyl-
kill Haven was from S1.30 to s1.33 per
ton, but Mr. Gowen stated that the
company mined at a loss. 1t is likely
that since then improved and cheaper
machinery has about offset the in
creased expenses from greater depth
Allowing for royalties and freights
the actual cost at South Amboy, with
out profit to the operator or interest
on the investment, in November, 1876
was $3.50 to 1888 per ton, while the
selling price of different sizes was
from 1925 to 1918 per ton. A COM
parison of expenses and selling prices
for, say, November, 1898, would un.
doubtedly give a very similar result
while during this very summer stove
coal has sold f. a. b. South AmboS
as low as s3.45 per ton. The average
cost of mining the Delaware and Hud,
sons coal last year was $l.22; selling
price S1.S3.
"Bituminous coal is necessary to ma.
| tional growth, its consumption is :
measure of industrial activity. An
| thracite, on the other hand, is now bu
| little used industrially even in the bias
! furnace, and in many parts of tht
| country is merely a luxury for domes
| tic use. Even here it meets increasini
| competition from gas and oil Conse
| quently the consumption of anthracit,
! does not increase in the ratio Of btu
minous from year to year, nor Is it il
| steady demand the year through.
UNAVOIDABLE HARDSHIP.
Experience has shown that hard Goa
| offered in the spring for 81 less thar
the usual fall prices finds few buyers
| with the result that mines which run
| full time during the fall and earl,
| winter may work but one or two day
a week during late spring and mid
| summer. This is a hardship to tn
miner, but under present conditions /
unavoidable.
"The price of anthracite may go un
duly low; it cannot go to exorbitan
figures. The productive capacity of al
the mines now opened is greater thai
the consumptive demand and is likeI
to stay greater for some years, in spit
Of the increased consumption due I
increase in population,
ut is altogether a waste of time t
compare the wages OF anthracite an
bitumlnous miners, and to assert tina
| anthra cite n1inars shOuld he naid III