The Washington herald., 1909-06-20

Newport News. June 1s-Newport News
as a city may not be considered such an
Important factor with respect TO its size
or population. yet 1t has rapidly gained
recognition. both by our government and
By the great commercial centers OF the
world. as one OF the greatest and most
promising ports Of the United States In
recognizing this one can but marvel at
the rapid strides Newport News has
made IN taking advantage Of facilities
FOX the shipment OF bituminous coal 10
eli parts OF the world.
The anchorage grouid OF the port OF
Newport News Is 50 vast that an almost
unlimited number Of vessels may anchor
without interfering with the convenient
passage Of other commercial boats along
out water front. and the depth Of water
alongside the coal piers is sufficient for
docking and loading the largest vessels
.ia the coal business.
First Coal shipped In 1882
In reviewing the history OF the coal
business OF this port might say that the
hrst coal shipped from Newport News
was in ISS2 Previous 70 that time the
business was conducted al Richmond.
Va, the coal being loaded there into yes
sells OF I'VE. SIX. and eight hundred tons
capacity IN lSS2 the facilities for the
transportation and dumping Of coal were
limited. stiIl. they were sufficient TO take
care Of all the business that came 10 us-
Only one coal pier was then needed for
this purpose When this first coal pier
was put n operation az Newport News
the Isborers used IN cOaling the vessels
we're sent from Richmond. and soon as a
vessel was loaded they would be taken
back 10 await the arrival OF other vessels
az Newport News. and Il would some
times be two or three weeks before any
more coal would be shipped.
Although this was twenty-five years
ago. we stin number among our col0red
laborers a few who helped 20 load the
+ Grst vessels al Newport News
I First Facilities Crude.
On account OF the shortage Of vessel
I tonnage IN those days and IN order 20
( keep the few small coal cars owned by
/ the railroad company IN service, the con-
I pany constructed al point now occupied
by our car shops a large trestle with
1 pockets for the storage OF coal TIE cars
of coal would be showed on TOP OF this
trestle and the coal dumped into these
I pockets. and when a vessel arrived 10
/ load coal empty cars would be placed
under the pockets. the coal reloaded into
Z the cars, and then taken TO the coal pier
and dumped into the vessel
The capacity of the coal cars al that
T time was from FIVE 10 seven tons, known
among railroad men as Buck Jimmies.'
a car having but four wheels. In com
T parisOn with the large steel cars we are
noE using I may best Illustrate the dif-
I ference by stating thar IL would take the
I contents OF Tot less than tsn OF these
+ Buck Jimmies" 20 load one Of our steel
cars 10 its capacity.
+ The engines in those days could only
+ haul eighteen or twenty small cars from
! the mines 70 Newport News quite a con
. trast with the powerful engines we are
now using. The number OF tons dumped
+ per month would hardly class with one
I OF our good DAYS work ar present The
+ largest vessel in those DAYS would carry
/ ISQQ tons. Now We have vessels loading
ar our coal piers with a carrying ca
F pacity OF 1000 tons. which We are able 20
Z load within twenty-eighJ 10 thirty hours.
+ Only recently a vessel was put IN berth
{ az one Of our coal piers az a. n. and
/ sailed with $500 tons OF coal OF board az
I 4 . m the same day This IS considered
T 70 be the best record made at any coal
Z ing Fort on the Atlantic seabOaTd
Facilities Good aS Elsewhere.
The terminal facilities al Newport News
/ for handling coal compare favorably wiki
other ports. We have four coal piers so
/ arranged that the smallest or the largest
I boat in the coal business can be handled
with dispatch There is berth room fo-
twelve boats loading al the same time.
i'and we have loaded into vessels as much
as 5000 tons in one day. and II e esteem
ed that We can easily ship. from four and
one-half 20 FIVE million tons Of coal a
year
The railroad terminal yard az Newport
News has increased in twenty years frorn
a small yard with capacity OF about 80
cars 70 S. miles Of track IN the yard i'm
its alone. with a storage capacity OF 4.e0O
cars. leaving ample room 70 work ali the
coal piers and 70 Go the other necessary
terminal work
Export Business Grows.
Il was only a few years ago that New
port News commenced to do an EXPORT
coal business. but This business has so
rapidly increased that II IS seldom we 90
not have boats here taking coal for ex-
port During the past year we have
shipped over $4,000 tons Of coal for ex-
Port, the larger tonnage going 10 Colon.
St Lucia. Havana, Cardenas. Santi-
ago. Matanzas. Guantanamo. Cienfuegos.
Kingston. ST George. s.. Thomas. Vera
Cruz. Curacao. SanIander. Punta Arenas.
Honolulu Ponce. Bremen. AIarseIlles.
Auckland. Naples. Rio. Manila. Trinidad.
Alexandria. and Sweden. A great deal OF .
this coal is used al the coaling stations
in the West Indies
In addition 20 the export business. we
have had a large Increase in loading ships
with bunker coal Newport News has
become a favorits port for ships loading
IN The South FOR all points In Europe
Tney stop here and replenish their bunk
ers. During last year we had over sc
ships here for bunker coal only
COastvviSe Business Increases.
The coastwise business Is also increas-
ing year by year. We now have a regu-
lar line OF boats running between here
and the New England States. The total
number OF boats landing az the coal piers
last year was ESQ. including steamers.
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