The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-12-30
YANKEE COAL
FOR EUROPE
France and Germany Feel
American Invasion.
BUSINESS Won BY SUPERIORITY.
Foreign Conditions Met by United
States Producers = Favorable
Freight Rates Necessary to
Establish Paying Trade.


SION as the introduction into Europe of
products of the United States has been
lately termed. has advanced considerably
in recent months il the amounts OF coal
imported by France and Germany In
the former country present conditions
have been reported at length to the State
/ Department by ThornweIl Haynes, United
States Consul at ROuen.
/ For its entrance into northern France,
| American coal seems destined soon to be
! independent of abnormal conditions. The
/ present depressed state of the Continental
| metallurgic industry offsets the advan-
| tages offered by the TransvaaI war and
| the miners disturbance. In southern
! France the Importation of American coal
/ has passed the experimental stage; and,
/ notwithstanding the nearness of English,
/ Belgian, and German coal fields, American
! coal has begun to filter into northern
| France at different points.
/ For the first time in the history of this
port. a vessel direct from Philadelphia
| has recently un1oaded cargo on the
| Rouen quays. If this infiItration is SUE
| cessfulIy begun with the employment of
! foreign shipping says the Consul, it can
! only be z matter of time when the United
| States, with her own vessels. Will sup
| ply most. If not all, of the French de-
feieney.
Labor in French Mines.
Though a general strike was threatened
lately. work now continues with little
! interruption though the miners impcr ted
arms and the Government seat armed
forces to QueH possible disturbances.
The eight-hour day is the principal
! demand The working-day is divided INTO
| two parts-one from ; a m. to 1870 D. m,
I and the other from D. n. to 1870 D. m
! The first. much the more importan, is
. devoted 10 the productive part of the
/ Work-the actual extraction OF the coal:
the second, to preparing the track for
/ its conveyance and keeping up the ordi-
nary repairs Those two shifts have :
! total duration OF eight and One-hali
hours. but the actual time Of work is
much less.
The miners insist that the eight-hour
/ day should begin when TT y descend. and
that the time ior remounting also should
be counted in It IS said that when d
( workman has descended to the bottom OF
the SHAFT, he is at least twenty minutes
/ distant from his cutting and Of course the
same journey must be made when quit
ting work
About a m in the first shift and
. about p n. in the second. the workman
stops for "briquet," a meal lasting about
twenty minutes. It may be said then.
that the actual work is reduced TO seven
and one-half hours at most Should the
miners eventually win. as they have won
other demands in the past il will very
I likely reduce the working day. enough to
diminish the yearly output OF France some
. 100000 or 5000, goo tons: quite enough TO
diSfsrrh the market rprPPDrihiV
American and English Coal.
One OF the greatest objections urged
against American coal in France is its
fTiability. In answer to the charge Mr.
I SuIIivan-AIexander, of the American Coal
and Shipping Agency, contributed a let
I ter, at the request Of the editor, admit
ting that American coal in general was
/ more friable than the English product
but insisting that some American coal
such as the Pocahontas. the Westmore-
land etc. Tivaled the very best Cardiff
steam coal
He further gave reasons why the Amer
lean article arriving in England was more
broken than that from England-the ex-
traction by machinery instead OF chiefly
by hand, the employment of dynamite and
powder: the cIoseness to the surface of
American Goals. thus rendered more fra
bic by atmospheric action; the American
custom OF dealing in run-of-the- mine
partly because bTiquettes are not en-
ployed to utilize the by-product Of screen
ing.
Smaller Amount of Ashes.
Henri Bordes. Of Bordeaux. who runs
a Bordeaux-New York line OF steamers.
says that ne has always considered quality
and caIoric power before aspect.
For ny steamers in the service be-
= have burned Cardiff in going and
American coal in returning; almsot al
ways the American product has been
| considered equal to the best Cardiff. Good
American coal gives / to 3 per cent Of
ashes; the best Cardiff. I to 9 per cent
This consideration is causing many TO
! prefer the American coal to the Cardiff
1here is no doubt that most OF the
objections to the American product are
| due to ignorance of its usage The
| Frenchman IS accustomed to the screened
! coal. and does not know how to handle
the ugh-snd-through article-a disad-
vantage that time alone viii overcome.
Germans Buying Coal Here.
The importation of anthracite coal into
Germany is progressing favorably, accord
ing 10 a report just made to the State
Department by Ernest A. Man, United
States Consul at BresIau One of the
largest dealers in Berlin, he says, has
/ just returned from p trip to this coun-
try. and has made the following statement
regarding 1t.
q have Just purchased 0,000 tons,
which will reach Hamburg shortly, an
have arranged for 10000 tons more for
March and April. I shall probably take
100 600 tons next year
The freight however, must not 90 above
$40 per ton, or nc business can be done.
I have the coal sent whole, and break 1t
Up at my works il Hamburg In the i'm
portation Of anthracite coal. England is
the only competitor with America"
Coal for Mediterranean Ports
, This beginning gives promise of leading
to an established trade, the consul be-
Iieves. but in the opinion OF the dealer
he saws the talk of America flooding Ger
many with coal shows ignorance OF the
situation American soft coal cannot yet
even with the present low ocean rates
be introduced there proftably.
Just now soft coal costs $3.TT per tor
| in Hamburg. he says. and is of two sorts
\ | both SO soft that they cannot stand trans
portation. The Westphalian soft coal is
| both better and cheaper than the Ameri-
. can. st present, American soft coal car
: | only be imported on the Mediterranean
! with profit. and there also everything de-
ponds on the freight rates
5 Sues for Money Lost on Margin.
SPRINGFIELD. Mass. Dec. s0.-A D
: 1