The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-10-09
HARD COAL FOR GERMANY.
First Shipments Of Anthracite
From This Country.

Attempt to Compete With the Welsh
Minc~-TrHnsncti"n Said 20 he
Very PrOftabIc-NicNys of n Noted
German Dealer in the Product.
NEW YORK. oct 9.-One of the inter
Cstiug features Of the anthracite trade
last week WAS IN, shipment OF a cargo Of
3.7S4 tons 10y the British steamship Ormcs-
by 90 Hamburg. The Ormsbys cargo will
mostly De discharged into lighters and
foatcd down to Berlin. eighty miles. by
river and canal. a good portion viii be
shipped inland by rail The cuusignor of
this cargo says that the German stove
makers would be very glad Co see in
creased use Of anthracite stove coal
There is more TO go this week. as freigh,s
continue favorable. and the shipper re
ports that he has made arrangements for
two other consiEnments for delivery 20
German ports. The first Of these. com
prising 900 tons. viii br shipped on the
Cosmopolitan liner Perumauor. which Is
in the regular service between Philadcl-
phia and Rotterdam The second, which
will be about about Loo tons, will he Ia
den on steamship Of the Brau,r line
plying between Philadelphia and Ham
burg. In both cases the freight will be
Is. Cd. which will enable the coal 10 be
placed In those ports at 25S. cd The con
siEnor said that. even at this figure the
coal would stand him In Is. sd. to .. cd
less than Welsh anthracite nut coal T. @.
b.. AT the Welsh port. or. with the freight
Of SIS sd. TO Is. added. about 5s Cd. a ton
less than the Welsh product C. T. f. 1T
Stettin. He says that these shipments
are experimental. but that if the coal
meets with the favor ne has every reason
20 expect it will more shipments viii fol-
low provided "a similar low freight is
ohtainable. The coal was purchased from
the Philadelphia and Reading Company
and opens MP ar entirely new and profta-
bic trade for that company.
The Importance Of the shipments 10
Hamburg and Rotterdam can be easily
appreciated. Not alone is this bona fide
attempt 20 introduce American anthracite
into the German market as a substitute
for the Welsh nut Of the same character.
but # is being Effected through the medi-
UNI of the established lines trading be
tween Philadelphia and these ports If
a rate of freight is obtainable that Will
admit Of one consignment il is fair To as
sumo that similar future business can be
made on the same basis and thus regu-
lar trade with Germany opened up. The
outcome of this new German business will
be awaited with interest
A letter just received from one Of the
largest coal handling firms in Berlin in
oicates in the fullest manner what is
likely 10 be done in the direction referred
to. This firm. writing on September 10
says that, while up TO some weeks ago
froights were prohibitiye they seem to
nave come down now 10 a point that will
allow imports Of American product TO the
German market. at least for some sorts
The writer adds.
e. r.l7
parcels, nam ~ part csrgoes To Hamburg
at as low as shillings per ton, instead of
ballast II steamers take whole cargoes
from Philadelphia. Newport News or
baltimore 70 MarseiIles or Italy at los TO
IS Cd per ton. they should find il perhaps
even more profitable 10 carry whole car
goes at s. per ton to Hamburg. which de
cldediE oilers better chances for return
freight
Before this no American anthracite has
ever come 10 Germany. but we think that
we should be able 10 begin with about
10000 10 3lp 600 tons "a year. as the an
thracite consumption is growing with US
every year There Is none i'm our coun-
try. and England offers so short supply
and at such high prices that our big CON
sumers are really anxious TO draw at
least part Of their supply from the
United States. even consciously paving a
certain premium over English prices in
case Of need namely OF high freights. We
Intend 10 sail with one Of cur biggest con-
sumCTS either by the steamship DeutSch-
land OF by the steamship KrOnprinz VIII
helm, middle Of October. to New York II
mere IS some chance to get good quail
ity Of anthracite. reasonably low in ashes
and sulphur. AT about 1Ss. O.. /. T. per ton
Hamburg, even a fraction more for some
sample lots would not deter our friends
from buying some 500 10 5000 tons. in
order 10 thoroughly test the quality by
breaking the anthracite in their own
German works We should say that such
price ought 10 be paying one to Am
er1Can producers AT present freight rates.
Il was found out that il Is not paving 10
"a hF.. Lr.rH h-.r.
peas buCkWheat etc Anthracite Is too
brittle and the friction during the trans
port produces great percentage Of pow
Der which IN the case or anthracite, b. a
clear loss. while with soft coal il may De
used still. though NJ a lower price. We
have. therefore. 10 break the anthra cite
in this country and 20 buy either Jumps
or tumpy ruE-Of-miue anthracite. which
ought 10 be cheaper than the broken peas.
etc
Even II the anthracite interests are not
looking at present for export chances.
thuy ought 20 be aware Of the advantages
they have by q regular export trade, in
case hard times on your side occur again.
Moreover. the anthracite mines are most
" owned by railroad companies. who bet
ter than commission merchants. are able
20 conform the T. d. b. price for export 20
the fluctuations of the ocean rates How
ever difficult il may be 20 explain TO an
American the advisability Of an addition
al export trade, as long as he can get
better prices in the home trade. We are
willing 20 again go into the expense and
loss Of time Of another trip TO the United
States. as we believe in the future Of the
American coal export trade.
I'VE know enough Of the transatlantic
business not % dream Of millions of tons
10 begin with. Sut think IL absolutely
necessary TO have your qualities selected
and tested by our consumers first before
the question OF actual business on larE-
er scale can be taken up. The future viii
be In the creation Of an American coal
golfers feet. just as much as the Eng
fish coal Golfers fleet means the force Of
the British coal export trade. This time
may be too early for considering the Gre
alton Of a whole feet, but for making
testing purposes We think there is no
better time than now. when freights are
cheap. We are willing 20 pay as much
as we reasonably can for having the tests
made here. but on the other hand we
must reckon that American producers do
what they can on their part, else the iul-
tiaI steps Will be again belated-
While we have been doing a very exc
tensfve business in soft coal 10 many
ports and places. IL is a decidedly new
feature in the American Goa! trade TO find
that anthracite can De sent abroad profit
ably.