The evening times., 1902-07-11

AuEh1NaH NOI%L AMI 1uG RERGh
MARKET-George H. Jackson, Consul
at La Rochelle, writes TO the State
Department under date of June 3:
The fact that much of the fuel used
in France has TO be imported. at an
exceedingly high price, has leo the
French 10 make minute calculations Of
the relative value of the various com
bustibles they employ. In some IocaI-
ties. there Is a strong conservatism
which opposes the use OF any product
unknown in a practical way The result
is that our coal has been looked upon
with more or less suspicion and many
unravorabIe p-ejudices have been ere
ated ID by first appearances, due to the
ignorance Of our exporters as to the
needs Of the French market; % by an
aIyses which, theoretically. showed a too
small percentage Of carbon and too much
volatile matter. judging from experience
with European Goals
It has been found in practice, however.
that to some degree appearances were
deceptive and the theory incorrect. as
shown by the opinions Of seven persons
as to the quality of American coal.
These persons are either highly con-
.nected with railway lines or with large
manufacturing concerns which have
burned American coal.
The first claimed tnat it was inferior
in caIorfc force, as compared with newly
mined South Wales coal; the second,
that he found the combustion in the
CRATES Of his factory too rapid; the third,
that the Jumps fell to pieces when
touched by the stoker (he admitted that
his men may not have aade the most OF
1t. as they were not accustomed to such
coaD; the fourth declared that the coal
was too friable; the fifth stated that
for locomotives, other conditions being
equal. there was no noticeable difference
between the samples of American coal
tried by him and the best Cardiff; the
sixth was persuaded that this coal could
easily replace the best Welsh; while the
seventh person had learned that Ameri-
can fine coal was worth ten per cent
more than Cardiff menu" because II
did not run to fine dust when broken,
but consisted largely of particles the
size Of peas.
The French classification of coal used
here is as follows:
/ Tout venant" C''run of mine" or
through and through'D To the French
purchaser, the Specification is not the
same as to the American seller; it
means here coal that contains not more
than 30 per cent of fine.
2 Menu" fine coaI), which contains
80 per cent Of Jumps. The rest con-
sists Of dust and particles small enough
10 pass through a mesh Of 0.98 inch.
American coal. on its arrival in
France, has usually been so badly
broken as to contain as high as 85 per
cent of fine. This places our coal on a
par with Cardin menu, SO far as the
proportion of Jumps is concerned
The prices are determined by classi-
fcati6tT and quality. AS the general
opiGioE Of the railroads Is that the quail
ity is tof The best there remains only
the QUESTION of classification. One rail
road officer writes ne that the price
should not exceed at any time that of
Cardiff coal, quality being equal"
II our mine owners are content TO sell
their Goals as menu in France; they
can easily secure the market, but the
buying price is low. One railroad Of
fetal tells me that his company recently
purchased lis, 600 tons OF menu at S2.99
the ton, delivered n cars alongside and
duty-25 cents-paid by the sellers
These people could have paid S3-2S for
American menu under the same condi-
tioDs.
Should our exporters wish TO sell coal
with 20 per cent large, they may be gov
erned in price by the current value Of
best Cardiff.
The uses of bituminous coal in France
should also serve as a guide to the
American exporter For domestic pur-
poses. the ecaI should not be too friable,
as the necessary handling produces
much dust and consequent loss; neither
should fl be too bituminous, on account
of the smell and smoke
For the manufacture of gas, the re
quirements are practically the same as
il the United States, except, perhaps,
that more stress is laid on the necessity
for a large amount Of coke Large
quantities Of coal are consumed in fac
tories in this part Of France. Two i'm
poTtant consumers say that under exist
ing conditions American coal is worth
about 10 per cent less than the best
Cardiff. How far this deficiency in
value nay be due to CRATES adapted to
burning a coal with greater. pei. cent
of carbon and OF a slower combustion
than the American coal tried here, is a
question which it may pay our exporters
10 investigate.
In the ships that visit ports south of
Havre, there seems to be very little
difficulty in obtaining good results from
our coal This may be due in part to