The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1906-05-15
KING COAL, JOLLY OLD SOUL.
Value Of the Black Diamonds compar,
ed With Other Products

We have long been accustomed TO
asserting that iron IS the king of Am
erican manufactures The total an
nual value of iron and steel manufac-
lures is now about $500. 100000. or
500. 900, 900 less than the capita!1za-
ton Of the United States Steel Cor
poration. We have heard also OF King
Cotton. With a crop OF 100000
bales at an average price Of cents
a, pound, this king Is worth S5S4.000,-
600 There is King Corn One OF the
a1manacs gives the crop of 1904 al.
e2,461 ,4S0, 1874 bushels. If We drop the
go and make it 2.467.4So.934 We may
be about right. Va1ue-S1.oS..oo 900
Our annual wheat crop IS worth lit
tie more than half billion
What OF old King Coal. jolly old
soul? The output last year was. in
round numbers, 6o.ooo.ooo tons
worth at the pits mouth S1-35 ton
Suppose we pay 81 ton for it
There is a value of s1.44o.00o.o 900 Our
total annual gold output IS only bag
,atelle of some sSo.oee.ooo. And gold
the most precious of metals, is seldom
! worth wore than its intrinsic mining
value. Coal? It Is the foundation OF
all the sciences and arts; for without
it there would be no manufactures. no
iron. no steel. no corn, no wheat to
speak Of Without it where would we
get gas. electricity. railroads, steam
craft, and a thousand other necessities
of civilization? Coal surely is king
There is no estimating its potentially
Coal was burned freely in King Sol
onions time. but it must have been
charcoal. The first coal used in Amer
! lea was discovered in 1919 Some OF
our ancestors mined it in Virginia in
1850. Anthracite was discovered first
in Rhode Island The little State is
well supplied with it to this day. but
the mines are not in operation
! Most Of us old fellows can recollect
when coal was shipped by the ark load
An ark was a sort Of inverted log
cabin. about 100 feet long. 20 feet
wide. and 4 feet deep That is, it was
a pen, floating IN the stream 1t was
pointed at both ends, and steereG b.
an oar twenty-five feet long 1t tooS
two men to handle an ark's oar The
crew consisted Of four men usually
and they were seven days navigating
load OF coal from the mines to the
seaboard The cost of the trip was
about $50 The ark was worth S15. As:
it could not be brought up the river
again. it was sold with the coal fo-
SIG or SIS
In the early days coal was sold to
the consumer just as it happened to
come out OF the pit-aH sizes at one
price. about SIPS a ton The cost OF
transportation was IS ton An ark
held about sixty-fve tons OF Tun-of-
mine coal The rivernen called their
arks "sondolas,"! after the pretty
boats in use in the Venetian archipei-
ago. When the railroads captured the
coal business on broad scale the cars
used were not much bigger than
whee1barrows. By and by, as their
size and carrying capacity increased
they were called "sondolas.' after the
arlls and the Venetian pleasure craft
We who pay $3.50 a ton for stove
coal to-day ought to look back to the
days when the cost of Transporting .
| 900 pounds from the mines to Phila-
delphia by horse and wagon was $50
The first canals IN general use IN the
United States were dug for the con-
veyance of coal Who invented the
railroads The coal disgers ir the
nerth Of England Their little tram
ways were the origin of all the rail
road systems OF the world Street
cars in England are still called tram
ways Yes; coal is king.