Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1902-10-23

these.percentages will probabl
give close approximation to tn
k"etuai percentages among the seve-a
fciasses of workmen. The Lithuania
element has greatly increased sine
.hese nsures were prepared, and ther
mas oeen-a corresponding decline i
americans and western Europeans.
Concentration of interest has been tn
polcV for the last few years. One iarg
| lorea1er now does the work formerly don
10y number of small Ones, This concen
Itration naturally tends to better manage
mnent' ana to saving in fixed expenses
| fhese economics have been made neces
sary from the fact that there has been
steady increase in the capital and labo
occurred to produce anthracite; Will
there has not been corresponding in
Icreasef III the demand for it. In 1880 Goa
ROYALTIES were from ~ to % cents per tol
Tor prepared sizes: no account being takel
in many cases of sizes below chestnut
and upon some of the old culm banks
large amount of chestnut even wa:
thrown. Royalties are now from 40 to j
cents, and III occasional instances ever
higher for prepared sizes above pea, 2
cents for pea coal, and about 10 to 12h
| cects' for small sizes below pea. In 1877
| the average number of days worked in /
Year was zoo. In 1897 it was only 1872
| The cost of opening a colliery i'm 1887 wa.
| Sl1l.Wv; now ii is from $780, 600 to $500 900.
| The coal near the surface and in the
| thicker seams has in many cases beer
worked out. necessitating deeper work
| 1ngs. heavier machinery and increased
cost in many ways in connection with
| mining while the greatest purity of the
salab!e product has greatly increased the
( cost of preparation.
| The diagrams showing the production
| or anthracite for each year since 1880 re-
veal an increase, but in a diminishing
| ratio. number of estimates have been
made as to when the maximum output
| will be reached, and while some persons
figure out a gradual and steady increase
for a number of years to come, the more
conservative estimate the period of max
noun production in the early present cen
fury.
Anthracite will probably be mined
while any of it remains in the ground.
An industry in which the invested capt.
tai amounts to al least 500, 0V, 600 and the
value of whose natural profits is from
xS5 900 00O to $l0O, 0.WV while its freight
traffic nets the carriers 10000 600 per year.
cannot be wiped out of existence while
any coal lasts
In 1896 Mr. William Griffith wrote:
The present annual capacity of the
anthracite region will take but 49, 600.
or IA capacity of y 100000 tons ahead of
annual consumption. a situation of affairs
which requires shrewd and careful man
aSement to maintain a profitable bust
ness. How long this condition can endure
depends on the market and the manner IN
With tte iuuStAs Is Hduulel ny tIoSt
in control. With present rates of in
crease of annual consumption it ought
not to continue many years. for the Wy
omine and Iehigh regions. which togeth-
er Yield about 20 per cent. of the annual
tonnage seem to be nearing their maxi
mum output.
The Hazelton district of the Lehsh
region has probably reached this point.
A future development in the Schuylkill
region ought not to progress faster than
is necessary TO meet the demands. eS-
peciallv in view of the fact that the
lands are so largely controlled by the
transportation companies. and lands for
individual enterprises are very limited
and more expensive to develop than for
merlv.
Statistics show that from 1887 to 1897,
while the number of dwellings in the Sec
tons of the country supplied with anthra-
cite increased a per cent. and the popu-
latiOn IL per cent. the consumption per
dwelling actually decreased IA per cent,
and the consumption per capita per
cent Indicating AN increase in the use
of other things. The reason of this in
crease is doubtless the cheapness of btu
minous coal through the extension of CEN
trail steamheating plants in towns and
cities and the increasing use of gas.
The increase of apartment houses has al
affected it. as these houses have their
own steam-generating plants. which use
soft coal or a reduced amount of anthra-
cite. while Il large amount of the cooking
is done with gas.
Anthracite is par excellence a domestic
tuel, on account of its cleanliness, and
the permanence and smokeless character
of its fire. In 1881 Dr. Geissenhainer ap-
piled Dor a patent for making pig iron
with anthracite, and in 1888 IT was USED
tor this purpose at Mauch Chunk and
Po:tsviile blast furnaces. In 1880 anthra-
cite replaced charcoal as the leading
fuel, and form that date
until 1876 it retained this place. put then
it was s,perceded by coke, and it has
Sip yt.dit<- l.rItp4l in inheritance. SO
that at the present time there are very
few blast furnaces using anthracite Tor
fuel. 1t has also disappeared almost en-
TREY from the steamboats,, and its use AT
plants is confined largely
to the smaller sizes of coal. The use OF
anthracite on railroads is confined to the
coal carriers. and even mere It's
use is not now so general as formerly;
many of them find it more prohtable To
use bituminous coal. practically Tor
freight ira fiic.
The first shipments of anthracite coal
were made by water. and a certain part
of the output has been shipped III TINS
way ever since. OF the three great Goa
canals ONLY that Of the Iehigh Coal d
Company, from Mauch Chunk
to EaSton to Perth AmbOy. is i'll active
operation now. The Delaware n Hudson
Canal was abandoned in 1880. ana the
canal bed sold to the Delaware .Naiey ~
Kingston Railroad.
Gravity railroads were formerly extern
siyeIv used for transporting coal over the
mountains which surrounded the basins
in which it was mined. Two OF these are
we'll known as favorite resorts Tor TOUR
lists. The Switch Back at Mauch Chunk;
was originally built to transport coal
from the Panther Creek district to the
canal at Mauch Chunk. The GraVlty
Read, from Carbondale to Honesdaie
originally used to transport coal from the
upDer end of the I.ackawanna Valley to
the Delaware II Hudson Canal at Homes
dale is also we'll known to tourists.
The facilities for transporting anthra-
cite from the mines to tide water. TO the
Great Lakes and to the contiguous thick-
~ populated sections of the country
where, it is mainly consumed. are ample,
as eleven railroads traverse the region
Some of the transportation companies
carry only the coal mined by their own
mining companies. Others transport aiso
coal mined by individual operators.
According to the present constitution OF
PENNSYLVANIA "A railroad company cannot
mine and sell coal. Hence. excepting
where the charters antedate the present
constitution the coal-carryinG roads are
theoretically separate from the m1mhs
CORPORATIONS, commonly referred 10 pS
the same name. This distinction may De
carried out theoretically and Legally, put
for all practical purposes the coai-carr!
ing roads and their corresponding coai
companies are one, as the STOCK OF tne
coal company is usually exclusively con-
trolied by the railroad. and none put q
wver can tell where the coal coinpah!
IF nd the railroad corporation