The evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1907-1908, 1907-09-12
THE COST OF COAL
OF CANALS TO IN
CREASED PRICE.
Richard c. Jenkinson Furnishes Some
Interesting Information-Not Much
Hope in the Future.
10 ths Edltor Of the Evening st.r:

To the Editor Of the Evening Star:
| note in your paper Of the 5th an edito-
rial regarding the canals and coal prices. I
made a study Of this subject in 1902 and
found we in Newark were up against IT.
Some of the information l obtained may
interest you.
Peter Roberts. Pm. d, and w. G. Sum-
ner, LII. D., professor Of political and So
cial science at Yale University. wrote a
book on the Anthracite Coal Industry
published in 1901 by Macmillan & Co.. a
good book, too. They show the three hard
coal sections Of Pennsylvania. extending
from Williamstown on the southwest to
Mauch Chunk, and running from near Har-
risburg IN a northeasterly direction to
Mauch Chunk, The middle field covers the
same general direction and runs from the
west OF Shamokin to the east of Hazleton,
The northern and most important coal
field is north Of these and runs from east
Of ~Schickshinny on the Susquehanna River
through Nantlcoke, wilkesbarre and Pitts
ton and then following the Laekawanna
River from there through Lackawanna,
Taylor, Scranton, Olyphant, Jermyn and
Carbondale, and extending north of that
city some twenty-five miles, so you see 1t
runs from Wayne County, the northeasterly
county of Pennsylvania. In a general south
westerly direction to near Harrisburg.
These three anthracite coal regions are
crossed by three canals and a number Of
semi-navigable rivers. Now, the canals are
not of the smallest use unless the i'm
provements that were destroyed are re-
placed at great expense they would be OF
absolutely no use, as they have no feeders.
These canals have been coal-carrying ones
in the past because they connected with
other canals or railroads, which they do not
do now. These canals in order Of size are
as follows:
Pennsylvania Canal, ran from Nanticoke
within FIVE miles of W~ilkesbarre), Lucerne
County, Pa, to Sunbury, Northumberland
County, Pa; general trend, southwest; then
south to Harrisburg, Pa; then southeast
to Columbia, Pa, Then 1t crossed the river
Susquehanna and Joined the Susquehanna
canal, which followed the Susuuehanna
River to Havre de Grace on the Chesa-
peake Bay. These canals followed the
Susquehanna River for their whole length.
The Delaware and Hudson Canal COM
menced at Honesdale and followed a south
eastern course to Port Jervis. From there
it went In a northwestern direction, coming
out on the Hudson at Rondou Creek.
Lehigh and Navigation Company canal
started at Mauch Chunk, going in a south
east direction to Easton, where 1t was sup
posed to meet the Morris and Essex canal,
which ran from the Delaware at Phillips
burg to the Passaic at Newark.
Years ago the railroad companies secured
control of these canals and abandoned all
attempts to keep them up, the locks de-
caved, the banks fell in and the weeds
grew up In their beds. The reason for this
was that the railroad companies wanted
the tonnage and the canals could take care
of only a small part; to allow a canal
boatman to take a lot of coal. say 100 tons,
from Mauch Chunk to New York fdt " per
ton when the railroads could get and did
get sc. 08 on the Reading from Port Carbon
TO PHILADELPHIA. would be absurd according
to the railroad management, and SO the
Lehigh canal was abandoned from Mauch
Chunk TO Easton, and as there is no coal
mined here, how could you get the coal
even IL the Morris canal could carry 1t
which it cannot do in its present condition
because the railroad companies would hav'
to carry the coal to Phillipsburg and dunn
1t into the boats.
Now the point is this, How are you going
to limit the charges of the railroad com
pany? The Delaware, Lackawanna and
western Railroad Company has charged as
much as 81 per ton for nine miles, or z2A
cents per ton a mile for coal. They con-
tend that under the Pennsylvania State
law and their contracts they can charge
anything they please.
From 1920 to 1900 there has been mined
1.152. FOG, 1s1 tons, of which 54,0S4,2 24 tons
were mined in 1899. The total amount OF
coal to be mined is now estimated at 1882,
685. 66S tons, and even with a gradual In
crease of consumption this cannot last more
than seventy years, as one-fifth OF the
supply was gone by 1900.
In 1900 the proportion each OF the parties
Interested received for coal laid down at
Underwater was as follows:
Per cent.
ROYALTIES and insurance. ................ u
Labor azo
Operators 81 (
Railroad companies. o"o
Where is 1t now?
The PHILADELPHIA and Reading and New
Jersey Central Railroad companies con-
trolled in 1899 1855 per cent. of all the an-
thracite coal mined. This is according TO
William Grihith's computation (Engineer).
The railroad companies combined control
all but 81 per cent.
Coal has been sold for enormous sums In
the past. Back In 1853 a blacksmith In the
vicinity of Wilkesbarre used hard coal and
not until 1907 was any attempt made to
market it. william Wurts, of Philadelphia,
was the real pioneer in "stone coal" He
left Philadelphia and went to Carbonate,
and in 1872 he began his first work of explo-
ration for coal. In 1914 he began operations
IN the Anderson farm" near Scranton, but
he had In the previous two years secured
thousands Of acres by purchase or option
at from so cents to So per acre. The same
land today is worth 50, 900 per acre or more,
It was not until 1920 that the business
~nrospered. In 1922 Wurts Bros. carted 100
tons Of anthracite from Carbonate to
Lackawaxen, where it was put on a raft
and hoated to philadelphia and sold at
from $40 to $12 per ton.
In 1924 the Delaware and Hudson Canal
Company was organized, $1,5O0.0oO put into
It in one day. In 1882 1T was completed by
the help of a loan from New York State of
$500. 900. In 1888 10000 tons were shipped
over this route. In 1884 10000 tons and In
1899 this railroad and canal carried 4,429,575
tons, or Q per cent. of the total amount Of
anthracite used.
In 1907 100 acres of best coal land sold for
$500, or s. per acre; 1887 the price was $40
pere acre; 1873 the price was $3.50 per acre;
1890 the price was $4SS per acre; 1900 the
price was 5000 per acre, and now good
land costs $4,000 per acre.
The cost of producing coal in these dis
tricts, including all expenses Cup to 1900
run from 50 cents to $1.A per ton. In 1893
LIT was S1.56 per ton, including royalties,
ETC., making costs as follows:
Cost of coal. 'Si9o
Transportation to tidewater. ...,........ $50
ss.O6
II the price realized was $50 operators