Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1919-01-25
10 CENTURIES COAL
SUPPLY IN PENN A.,
PRObERS ARE TOLD
Four Hundred Billion Tons of An
thracitc Unmined; Production
Costs $3.50; Profits, Sl.lO.
GIRARD WORST GRABBERS

ltlst AZ they are touhNs W. 49, y
sckol, "A mining engineer Ia the lhN'St-
eating Committee Of the United states
Sensfr IN scss,ap here That l.. hC
explained "il coal Is uIncd IN All that
period with no greater energy than IS now
being displayed IN tins region
senator Nardaman questioned the wit
ness as 10 he nrccssItv of he conservation
of coal Il hchtve Schuylkill should have
more operations declared Sckol There
are many favorable sites for mining and the
tonnage could be double, tripcd or quad
rupled
asked John T. Nhalen, counsel for the
Philadelphia 4 Reading Coal and Iron
Company who occupied seat lcsIdc
President Richards, of the same company
In the South and West. where great
markets might be- built mp II II WAS not
fur the artificial restrictions of trade,
declared Sckol
HUNDREDS oF HIIIIoNSoF roNs.
Tho amount Of coal estimated lv Nchnl
as hclng availahlc III the Schuvkrll rcrlon
made the investigators gasp Sckol Csti-
mates the number oi toms ~ place at
40O 600 OOO.O 600 Thus would make u
the greatest coal held IN the world
Sckol qualified tor making hc estimate
hv stating the number at Years hc had
bccn engaged q, consulting engineer Wit
ComInulc. In IN, northern part oi the
anth1arrt, region ~ present hc IS u.s.
sociatcI with + Ellsworth paNI~ ~ Csti-
mating the valuation ~ ho cuai lands for
the Daupln Comfy COMMISSIONERS
t.corrc VI Road. counsel for tho IchIgh
Coal and Navigation Company, question:
ed Scknl Is 81 how ~ made thus estimate,
when the sC,ani geological survey ut
Pennsylvania onll pisces the number az
tons available a- uluc billions Sckol
said h. made aH independent estimate
depending upon the accuracy of hC mining
maps and the cross. sections and admitted
engineers sumctimrS make mistakes. ono
way or the other.
Particular attention was gwen by tho
committee a. ROYALTIES paid i, producing
Companlcs and "a the cost of production
Rol ,rurs T,rrIN CIE,Ep r~r'Tr.
IstIrnatcs ~ witnesses is "a tho cost
~ production ranged from 81 5O to : 81
ton. Whllr the amount nj roNatIc> paid
was said to hc trnn 80 cents 10 - .i0a ton
A. G. Dodson. bead of The Dod-nn Coal
CompanicS, testified that the ROYALTY
constituted about - per cent ci The selling
price
Nir Dodson said tho Girard estate was
the barometer IN determining ROYALTIES
and that othcr owners before leasing
virgin coal lands or hriorr making now
scale of ROYALTIES invariably rauEci thor
prices on what vas charged hy tto C'Irard
estate.
'Evcry time wages ar increased or
snv other factor aIds ln boosting the
rricc of coal. the Girard estate collects
on IL, commented Senator Jones.
PROJECTION COSTS.
MIR. Dodsnn estimated roughly tho
cost al producing a ton Of coal AZ 81 10,
whIlc the estimate of Charles DurrancC,
operating hcad of th, hudson Coal Co.
was II - 4 Il lr~sup c.ncral manager
of tho & B Marklc Co. told the COM
mittec tho average cost ~ his mines IN
the llazlcton region was s. 81 a ton with
reduction OF 30 cents pald IN royalties
Of tins cost. he sad. 80 per cent repre-
senicd the labor charge
Mr. lcs>up sand IN, rate oi ROYALTIES
was regulated the same rs tor anv other
commodity hv the highest pricc The coal
land owner could get fer the lease oi h's
lands lie declared The pcrccntag, basis
of calculating ROYALTIES Wa~ unfair. be-
cause ROYALTIES went ar v1fa tho prlcc
of coal. while the profits st3 not ncccS-
Sarllv 60 M with tho increased pricc.
He favored maNmum and minimum
ROYALTY
That the Schuvlkln Geld IS unr,valci
IN AL rhc world pas testified IL hv j.
Ellsworth DAVIS, "a mining expert. Who
has been cheiiv responsible for raising
the taxes u coal cnmpauIes m Luzcrnc
and lackawanua counties This Is trle
notwithstanding the taNc- ri Schuylklll
an, the lowest @; all the anthracite coun-
tlcs hc declared
TAXARIT NAIJT TlNT MILLIONS
DAVIS declared the iaNabic value 81
Schuylllll cual lands i = o0u 0N0 600.
but. considering the deuth- Is some of
the coal he placed the alue a. present
for taxation at a billion and "a quarter
dollars.
A. hose lands are now assessed - only
s25. 600 400 and the operator are pro
testing against an increase tins tcsti-
uionv was received with great interest
bv tie committee
"Thc Courts IN the northern fields
fixed the taxable price OF coal a. - cents
3 for sand Davis The corporations
m L.ckaUanua paid Sl2,OO0o0 increase
In taN,~ ~ 10 wears over former taxes
a. thc result 81 our Investigations.
Ne End that IN tins estimate OF the
valuation ot coal lands II would take 400
years IT, eat up the profit in coal sup
posing III, pra-.t j, 3 a ton.
ht CIV HI scranton lncIcaStO It's
school neon. 100000 i year on the in
crca~. Ir cuai land taxation, recon-
mcnded testt.cd DAVIS
III II, southern or NchuvlkIl field
there h d place = 600 acres Originally
there was N place - .oiO 100000 tons 81
coal
Allowing @ 600 900 tons year for 20
years thcrc Wa i removal Of 70O0O.000
tons lcavnF = 80 100000 remaining,
said Duvl>
The Philadenta & Reading Coal and
Iron Co. tho Lchlgh Valley Coal Co. the
Behigh Coal and Navigation 90 and the
Hudson Coal o. ar the chrf operators
Of these vast trarte There va, considers
BILE discrepancv between the estimates of
Sekol and DAVIS but Dayis SAID tins va.
because II hav. hecn vrrv conservative
and conceded every doubt 10 the opera
tor.
COMPANIE9 Still. Nttf MONEY
To senator Aardaiuau tic Vitnc-, ~
planned that tho increased r9NaItlt- do
creased the pro- = Of hI- conDan, but ID
senator Reed 10 sand thel Werc stiIl
making money.
Then you must have nud considerable
money before TIA, roNaltc- were ~
creased remarked senator Reed
The cost of producing j ton oi coal.
sad this WItues- l. 81 30 1 ton The
average price at the m,nes l. 81 80
The witness admitted making profit
Il