The silver state. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1909-1925, 1911-12-28
COUNTRY'S COAL
OUTPUT FOR YEAR

Although the production of coal in
the United states for 1911 was prob
ably second only to that of the record
year 1910, when the half billion ton
marx was passed, there have neverthe-
less been few more unsatisfactory
years In the history of the coal-mining
industry, in the opinion of Edward W.
Parker, coal statistician Of the United
states geological survey. For the most
part the year was one Of over.produc.
ton and of a struggle for trade which
depressed prices to such an exten.
that when the total returns for tho
year are footed up the balance will
pIobab,v be on the wrong side of rha
lrdger. There were, of cours, ex-
ceptions, and notable among them was
the record made in the anthracite re-
glon OF Pennsylvania. The shipments
OF anthracite reported A. III. Arm
strong, chief of the bureau of anthra-
cite statistics, for the eleven months
ended November 30, amounted to 63.-
s5S,o12 long tons, and estimating the
shipments during December at $780,
200 tons, the total for the year was
io,10O0,000 long tons. This exceeded
the previous high record of 1907 bv
approximately 100000 tons. The
local trade in 1911 amounted to about
100000 long tons, and the collierv
consumption amounted to about 8.OOOs
900 tons, so that the total production
was very close to so, 100000 long tons.
or about 100000 tons over the outpuf
of 1910. But for number of wears the
use of anthracite has been, with the
exception of the small sizes used for
steam raising in hotels, apartments
and office buildings, confined to pure
ly domestic purposes and increases or
decreases in its production cannot be
considered as factors in the study of
industrial conditions. The anthracite
industry in 1911 was probably as firm
as any other in the country. A part of
the increase in production is probably
due to the stocking of fuel in antici-
patton of April 1,19l2, when the wage
agreements terminate, but the market
mas been absorbing an unusually large
tonnage and the increase in production
has not been chiefly artificial.
Soft Coal Mining at Loss.
On the whole the bituminous trade
has been demoralized and discourage
ing, and much of the business was con
Quoted at loss. The principal cause
for this, particularly in the eastern
states, has been the depression in the
IRON trade which was more seriously
reflected IN the coking coal regions.
From correspondence with manv 81
the principal coal mining and coke
making companies Mr.. Parker esti.
mates that the production of coke in
1911 will show a decrease of 90 To "a
per cent, compared with 1910. About
"A per cent of the coal used in the
manufacture of coke is .slack.v AZ
the fine coal produced in the mining
operations is called. It is not desir.
able fuel for other purposes, and the
shutting down Of hundreds of coke
ovens has added the burden Of dispos.
ing OF this product to the other
troubles of the bituminous operators
The demands of the railroads and OF
other manufactures than iron were
scarcely up to normal, and bituminous
coal was drug on the market. A coal
mine cannot, like factory, be shut
down and allowed to remain ide with
out expense. Ventilation, pumping
and repairs must be kept up, and Il
may be cheaper in the end to mine and
sell coal at loss than to shut down
the mine.
generally expressed opinion
among those interested in bituminouf
coal mining is that legislation must be
secured which will enable the produc
ers to effect better control of the in
dustry, under federal supervision. il
need be, in order that life and proper.
ty may be adequately safeguarded, an
lmpossibility when operations are con.
Quoted at loss or with too narrow
margin of profit. Such control seems
essential, too, if real conservation
maximum recovery with minimum
waste-is to be accomplished.
Total Coal Output from 485, ,OOO, 900 to
496,000,000 Tons.
The total production of bituminous
coal in 1911 was probably from 8 to
5 per cent less than in 1910. A de-
crease of per cent does not seem rel
actively important, but when consid-
cred that per cent of the production
means 25,000,000 tons in quantity,
more than a quarter Of a ton for each
inhabitant, it assumes more signif.
cance. 1t is equivalent to the total
production of Belgium, the sixth coal
producing country of the world, and
practically double the output of our
northern neighbor, Canada. With a
decrease of to per cent in the
bltumlnous production, the output for
the year would be between 395,OO0,-
600 and 405,000,000 short tons. When
to this is added the production of an
thracite, S9,700,000 short tons (the
equivalent of S0,100,000 long tons),
the total production Of coal aggregat-
ed between 4S5,000,00O and 496, 900 900
short tons, compared with 601, 10000
tons in 1910. These estimates are
based on statements from leading ope-
rators, on the railroad shipments for
all but the last few weeks of the year,
and on the monthly reports from the
blast furnaces. The railroad shipments
indicate decrease of about As per
cent in 1910 compared with 1911, and
the production of pig iron, as given in
the Iron Age, shows decrease of
about 16 per cent.