The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1913-01-06

snt time will not Rreclnae tnelr ~
ttFaction at future time. Present
| cperatlons mas damage them to q
certain extent hut by some addionas
expenses nearly all Of them can be
recovered. westrust that the future
generations mag have the necessary
means for 'lsls. extra expense.
West Virginia has a large variety
OF Goals, in fact every kind Of bitotr'
nous coas ftu be tcu0d in merchant
able Quantities within tier bori.!s:
The ting is past when aDgth'nE or
mineral bltuminous nature is coal. 1t
was Marco Polo when returning from
his travels in China IN tn Thirteenth.
Century Who gave the first definition
OF coal III that It &as "A stone that
vas black and gava'forth mn. heat"
The coal industry Of today requires a
muchmuch broader definition than this
and the character ola coal has more
to do with It's marketable qualities
than does It's quantity. In fact. we
might say that it fixes the relative
prices OF coal. Without going into
the various applications for the diff
ferent kinds OF coal it will suffice To
gay that gas GOAL has its special arpliI
cation. coklng coal, smokeless coal
and even sp!int coal in :hc domestic
trade, and show sufficient reason why
some Goals may be temporarily adams
doned or completely ignored.
After the character Of coal the quail.
Hy is the most ruinous feature in coal
mining and is where the largest per-
manent losses occur A seam OF coal
that is mors than four feet in thick
ness is rarely uniform in quality, and
It is common practice that II the III:
lerior coal is either at the top or bot
tom OF the seam. when sufficient head,
rnom can be procured, that this In,
rerior coal is left in the mine and ulti7
mately lost. II does appear that this
Is a waste OF fuel but the operator
must keep up his standard in the mar
ket for the b. t. u. man is constantly!
after him and will penalize him TO,
such an extent that he prefers to take.
no chance. and as business PROPOSE.
ton he would rather lose a cents.
worth OF coal in the hall than be pen,
allied two or more cents on the coal
that he mines. A prominent authori.
ty has made the statement that coal
can be considered as a fuel until the
per cent. of impurities exceeds 40 per
cent. Yet it is my opinion that II any
operator in West Virginia attempts TO
market coal with more than s or 8 per
cent. OF ash he will find II extremely
difficult, II not impossible. Washing
coal appears at first thought to be a
remedy but all Goals do not respond
TO this treatment and, furthermore, as
fuel proposition washing coal really
introduces more impurity in the coal
than is taken ont II Is difficult and
expensive operation to take moisture
out OF coal West Virginia Goals as
rule have long haul and the con.
sumer pays the freight. After all 1t
is not so much the impurity itself
that the consumers object TO but the
cost of the freight. This is not true
when the coal Is used locally. making
coke for instance, where there is no
transportation charge. The moisture
in the coal in this operation is not OBJ.
tectionable. in fact by some it is con.
sidered a distinct advantage.
The coal operator in his efforts to.
wards conservation need look for
neither help nor encouragement from
the consumer. The latter is keen on
getting what he pays for but his
knowledge of coal mining is so mea.
ger or entirely absent, that his de.
mands, If not an injustice. are at least
arbitrary.
During the last ten years the meth
cd OF selling coal by analysis has been
largely introduced and it was hailed
with delight my many consumers as
the method for getting more for their
money. Some OF the specifications for
the purchase OF coal that have been
prepared are simply ridiculous.
The operator was caught unawares
and when the contract and specltica
lions were handed him, with the op.
ton 10 take or leave it, he took 1t, to
his sorrow, and learned that there was
more to this Il. t. u, business than he
had reckoned on. But he is getting
wise and is more cautious about sell
ing coal Oh specification and also is
not so free to say that hsi coal is the
best in the country, especially in the
hearing OF prospective purchaser;
,,uoh mora rnuId he said ahnut the