The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1900-09-14
ADV AlNC, ON Iron
IS LOOKED FOR.
The Corner Turned and 1t VIII
Hardly Go Backward.
GoA' "a NJ IN E ACUTE.
Tic reor,c of Berlin Wal, lii Line at
'l.e Gas House ror,le Privilege
ofBnyi,,::a Bnshcl aud a
Hair Of Coke.
{ 0A9 AMIN E AC q I E.
tsreciaI Dispatch TO The Times


BALTIMORE, September 13.-There is
ieeiihs al Birmingham, Ala. that the
corner aas been turned on prices of iron
f 11iio the PROBABILITY Tor an advance is
4cs'fonser than for decline The export
business continues in fair volume, and
ahe. belief is expressed that VITA moderate
rates and ship .,ocr,, every pound Of iron
III tneSdisiiict could be uuloaded with
attie 4tFoabie. The correspondent OF the
( Manufacturers Record al Birmingham
sspcriss u.et 500 or 1000 tons went cut
aast week Tor export account. and re-
ported engaged up to January for ali mat
ean be obiained- The leading interests
Il Birin tlsaam admits sales OF 5000 tons
10 the export trade during August, and
another admits selling its anticipated out
put OF two numbers up TO January on
Inc ether side Of the Atlantic, as noted by
lhe correspondent at Berlin of the Man
atactuters Record, the iron trade is in a
waiting attitude. There are indications.
however, taat the coal famine in Germa-
ny, which has never been fully relieved,
WI become more acute Iiaan ever before.
The correspondent says:
The complaints about the difficulty OF
getting coal have multiplied of late
Here in Berlin, for example, there is d
regular scramble among the poorer peo-
pie 10 get the coke from gas works, which
IS here used for cooking fuel. 50 great
IS the demand for this coke that the
gas works have had to adopt the plan
Of selling only a limited qGant;ty-about
bushel and one naif-to cath buyer, and
small dealers, unable otherwise to re-
pienish their stocks, have resorted to the
ruse of sending their wives and children
and friends to the gas works To buy coke
for them. At the gas works there are
scenes that remind one of the scenes that
are witnessed at the box office of a
theatre when great actor comes to
them; the people form in line and wait
for hours, but many are even then COM
PEELED to go home with empty sacks and
WileelhairowS.
Owing TO the scarcity of coal prices
remain very firm. some cases nave been
recently reported where prices have been
advanced The producers in the Walden
burg district of Uppe- Siles-a have just
decided upon an advance OF prices Tor
to-,norrow The brown coal. or lignita
syndicate of Modgeburg raised prices last
week, and the same was done by the
Briquette syndicate of Cologne. The lat
ter raise WAS explained by the fact that
brown ccal, of which the brquettes are
made, was bought up in such large guam
titles by manufacturing establishments
for lack of hard coal that there was not
enough of brown coal left 10 make the
y
fact showing the strength of the situa-
ton is the following: The prusstan Rail
way authorities, finding that the locomo-
tive coal contracted for till April l is
inadequate to meet their wants, nave Just
asked hle coal syndicate if it can supply
30 per cent aiiic onaa coal. It3e an
.swer given Syas III 1T ihis couidSbe FdQIlel
only at a considerably higher price than
the contract price.
1.-The air is again fun Of talk about ways
End means to relieve the coal scarcely
The demand made by many chambers OF
commerce last spring that the Prussian
Railway authorities abolish the special
freight rates on export coal, having been
rejected by the railway council, me efic!t
iaus, lattcrly been made To get the auihoii-
lies to classify coal in a lower class, so
as to facilitate the transportation OF i'm
ported coal into the interior OF Inc couh-
try. 1t has just been announced that
the P,ussian Government will do This.
Such a reduction of freight ought TO Oh
fer a great opportunity to American pro-
,llicers to establish a fair ccal trade III
Germany. adhere TO the view that coal
prices are likely to remain nigh mere III
Germany and on the Continent for long
lime TO come, and the German market
is certainly worth capturing by our pro
ducers. Gerfnany's imports OF coal are
steadily increasing. IN JuiS my
amounted TO 645.G0o tons against aet''~o
tons in July, 1899, and the imports OF
brown coal amounted 70 $1,000 tons
against .76.aa0 tons. During the Ifst
seven months of the year the arrivals OK
coaling vessels at Hamburg by sea
amounted to ] CSs. against $40 LOT tiie
same month IN 1889.