Coal Trade.
The Times, 1824-02-17T00:00:00

TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES'. Sir,-In reply to the various inquiries and obserrsations ihich occasionally appear in your journal respecting the prectict gf deli- vering coals, it will peihups be savi1ng the time of your reader and the appropriation of its valuable columns from any liature dessltoly inquiries, to give a short and correct account of the two ways by which coals are now boaight and sold in London and its victnity. One is calletl " pool neaLsurc," that is, as they are mesured by the ship-meter in the pool, from the .at, which cotaorises nine btushels of coals, delivered in quantities not less than fiveTchaldronw, with the ingrain or allowauce in addition,of one vat for that ounntv, two for tea,and four for twenty chaldronsi and in the samepoportion for a cargo of coals, consisting of any quantity. The other is caUed 'wharf measure," when the coals are re-measured by the land. meter with the bushel at the wharf, in quantities not less than halfa chahlron, which chaldron consists of 36 bushds, and in lacks which must contain three bushels of' soals each. Adistinct charge formerage or inspection is paid by the purchaser of either nnode-for- " ool mneasure," Is. for the inspection of every 54 chaldrons; for " warf measure,"' 6d. per chaldron for metage. 1t ib St the optiou of any person to nurchase coals from the wharf, by pool or wharf-tmoea sure. The former mode is genera[l resorted to by g t consuers, coal-dealers, and retailers, as experinientalUy yideldiuxamuch greater quantity, though mathematically a vatcontaii:s nine times the nuew ber of cubic inches which a buslhel contains, or nine times the quan- tity of water; and it is by this fluid (eight gallor s and ois4juart) that the dimen5ions of a bushel are ascertained at Westtninattr or Guildhall, previous to receiving the lezal stamp ar.d I presume that a vat undergoes a similar ordeali. For "*strike meatoe," as irn the case of grain, this precaution would appear tGbe aiflident biut in " heap measure," as in the case of couls, the quatity is heaPed above the rim of the measuire in the form of a cone5 whose b.sis :s the rim both in the vat and bushel,! and in the latter, the a"t 47th George IT1. directs that the cone sballbe" at leastsix inch's" apove the rin. In this act, which seems to repeat orro nprise tbtsujistanc of former aots, there does not appear any definition cf..the height of the cone in a vat of coals, which, after all, must be ieteruiined by the meter's eye, or his disposition to bencfit thevetider or purc4aiser; and hence arises an opportunity for thu neefaioues practicei'daily couimitted in the coal-trade: the critedoio of the relative proportions o tne vat and bushl ceasing at the rim of each, it folloss tIlht the conscience of the moeters must determine the heap of the respec. tive measurefs. Not less than i4- chaldons can be delivered frea the ship into a barge. This quantity constitutes Xroom ; or seven chaldrons, or 10. chaldrons, muay be deposited in distinct rooms o? compartments, or 21 chaldrons, or any greater quantity in bilk, iA one barge, as may be desirable. It is a penal ottence todelivee.coals by the vat into the barge,vithout the usual ingrain or ovtrplus-IJthat is, one-quarter in five, o)e-third in seven, one-half in ttsn, and one chaldron in 20); but it is nevertheless occasionally done, and is called loading them " bare," As rnany persons hare not orc, sion tOI so large a quantity as 54 chaldrons (without which ther- is no allowance of ungcn)_ but only for smne"smmljer quxliety, it follows that such quantity must be measured by the- bushel at the wharf, and ir is from the variation of 'the heaps of the-- respective measures, which mnust in both cases depernd eOn tbe eye or the conscience of the meter,operated upon oceasiobsily.hy *bc coal-merchant or dealer, that the latter denve their chie profit, amounting to a superabundance of 10 sacks upon the erage:in 5 chaldrons: that is, the toofcoalswhenxe..meaod bythe bushe tivll be eked out to 73 sacks, whereaxs, relatvely anathesnaticaiy speaking, the 5.4 chaldrons should be toinprisad n-63 s ; it is therefore evider.t, that this difficreace,niut ultimately depend,o the probity of the vender or meter: it consequent]y varies m nws instances, from 68 to 78 sacks, seldom less than the former quntrity, even with the most respectable part of the trade. I have known j% dealer to purchase a room of 54 chaldrons, and eke the-ts out to 8 sacks, and sell them by single chaldrons: so tba; i this be had a clear profit of 24 sacl:s, out of a rora cossmnng 54 chaldrons, which ought to iake out 63 sck onl, 'nd pendently of any profit on the price; and It is by availing themselves of the opportunity for fraud which the riation in the heaps of the two measures wdl aslti of, that the ma3erity of the coal-merchants and dealers gaiu their chief protit, and tnder an hosourAble man. The majority of the housekeepers h lon o and itsvcinity are not supplied by the coal-merchaun OeCtsp. wharfs, and employing barges, waggons, &c. (amiong whom thea are tloubtless many highly respectable men); but these supply the dealers, who undersell them, as the fohner will not drace - to their netfrious practices. The trade is now become tbe lasi resource of bankrupts in fortune or character, who'calculate upon the imrnense population of London and its vicinity, and risk the chanec of a re- measurement twhich rarely happens, from the dilatory, troublesome and expensive proceeding attending it); and should it take place, ana the quaniity toaund deficient, either compound with the purchaser, or throw theniselves and families unon his merciful consideratidn. I will venture to assert,tlat. two-thirds of the quandty of coamitdeliver. ed in London daily, as and for " wbarf tReasure," would, upon fair remeasuremnent, be found detficent, and that this deficiency wil upon an average amount to onie-tenth part of the quantity annually sold in London by " wha.rf measure." I enclose, in proof of thi assertion. some short extracts from the epo-t of the Comumittee bf tl, a [louse of Comm ons appointed to inqaire irto the state of th4e,0oz trade in the year 180 - (Examination of Mr. Richard Austen Vaux, deputy te2-mcoal_ meter.9" Is there a way of fiUing the vat, SO -s to litd a larger *r smaller quantity ?"-; There is: it depends upw ' the qufility (Sizeuof coals, and the attention of.the olSccr wfio itisp et the vat," (Examination of Air. JolinNettlefll,deputysfc.= neter.t-is there any diftererce between measuring by the bushel, by theland- meters, from wvat is practised by the ship:uieters, who use the vat ?"_ ' The land-metcrs give little more than strike nteisure, whereas the ship-meters give heap mntasure.") (Examination of Mr. Williaun Gibbons, sealer of essures at Guildhall)_." As to his. knowledge of the present moae of esaur- ing coals, and as to any nlleans of reniedyin$ defewt and abuses tl4erein."_ He stated, that he had been intormtd by a sea-coal- meter, that they can put twelve (in place of nine) bushels iuto x -rom this. exposition it will appear, that the purchaser of 54 chaldrons of coals by "~ wharf mneasee,' deprives hsun6dlf of at tost 5 saCks, which he vould otherwise receive, if he orderid them t* Of delivere by"' pool-measure;" anld sustains n.ts dditional lows oE' eel, pet chatdron fi?r metasre which in this case is c.learly aa.abhs,,r ALtWuozUon. AN OLD COAL-MBRCANdST. w ill in a ixlwre communication point out an 4,teti-.IL re- rnty fr te spprssin o prmpt~ieeetonof thiem ancl similar abuss, fom o boad te thp, te w arf ad the oa44,hed, by tbQ COAL TRADB.