i STEAM COAL - Clpdigital.org
i STEAM COAL - Clpdigital.org
i STEAM COAL - Clpdigital.org
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2i; THE <strong>COAL</strong> TRADE BULLETIN.<br />
and Western Pennsylvania will not only continue<br />
in prosperity but will become supreme in the<br />
manufacturing world."<br />
The ambitious project now seems nearer than<br />
ever before to realization. The estimated cost<br />
of construction is $33,000,000. It is figured that<br />
with the canal in operation it will mean an annual<br />
saving of upward of $23,000,000 in freights of<br />
fuel producers and manufacturers.<br />
The physical and commercial feasibility of the<br />
canal was completely demonstrated in the last<br />
decade. No phase of the question down to the<br />
ultimate water supply or the utmost possibilities<br />
of expansion was left unsettled in the commission's<br />
report in 1896. The main problem is to<br />
fight down opposition and it is a big one.<br />
THE ISTHMIAN CANAL ENTERPRISE.<br />
In his address before the Pittsburgh chapter of<br />
the American Institute of Bank Clerks, Robert W.<br />
Armstrong, assistant secretary of the treasury,<br />
told the Pittsburgh bankers that the government<br />
is spending millions of dollars and infinite pains<br />
in pushing the ocean up to Pittsburgh, meaning<br />
that the present expenditures on the Panama<br />
canal amount to making this city a seaport. Naturally,<br />
his expression means more than that. It<br />
means that the government must spend other millions<br />
in the improvement of the Ohio river to<br />
bring the two projects together. Mr. Armstrong<br />
thus shows a true appreciation of the situation, if<br />
others at Washington do not. The others soon<br />
will. It is impossible that statesmen shall long<br />
remain blind to the enormous advantage to the<br />
whole country and to American commerce that is<br />
to be gained by the proper improvement of the<br />
Ohio river.<br />
One point was given emphasis by Mr. Armstrong<br />
that has, perhaps, escaped many acute Pittsburghers.<br />
It is that the Pittsburgh district will he<br />
looked to for the supply of steam coal necessary<br />
to navigate the world's steamers that will seek<br />
passage through the canal. In fact, the quality<br />
of Pittsburgh coal will make the canal a favorite<br />
coaling station for the commercial fleets. That<br />
item means a good deal to Pittsburgh, and to give<br />
it full effect the locking of the Ohio becomes a<br />
necessity. Incidentally this improvement is of<br />
military advantage to the government in almost<br />
as great degree as that of the canal itself. There<br />
are conceivable circumstances in whicli the importance<br />
of the Ohio might be even greater than<br />
that of the isthmian waterway. It is time congress<br />
shall awaken to the broader aspects of this<br />
subject and give authority to begin the practical<br />
work in earnest.<br />
Mr. Armstrong might also have added that the<br />
barges which will he required for the business developed<br />
by the canal could profitably be towed<br />
through the waters of a ship canal to the lakes,<br />
and over the waters of the latter to the distant<br />
Northwest, and that the mere work of construction<br />
of such a canal would pour millions of dollars<br />
into Pittsburgh, to say nothing of the great results<br />
which would follow from its operation.<br />
WHO SHOULD BEAR THE INCREASE<br />
IN THE COST OF TRANSPORTATION?<br />
"Almost anything will serve the purpose of the<br />
coal dealer as an excuse for his advance of the<br />
price of the black diamonds, but the limit is<br />
reached when the New York dealers explain that<br />
the reason for a 25-cent advance per ton as soon<br />
as snow comes is that the asphalt streets of New<br />
York are then so slippery that it is impossible to<br />
haul large loads, and therefore they are justified<br />
in taking the extra cost of delivery out of the<br />
consumer. Next!"<br />
The foregoing from an Eastern journal is a fair<br />
sample of the editorial acumen of some of the<br />
Daily Howlers. Anybody knows, or ought to<br />
know, that had road conditions means greatly increased<br />
cost of transportation. Must the seller<br />
always stand the brunt? Fortunately no fairminded<br />
person—and they are in the majority—expects<br />
him to. If there were more logical deductions<br />
in tlie comment on the news and less editorials<br />
with a "rich and nutty flavor," the influence<br />
and standing of many newspapers and the<br />
daily press in general would be vastly increased.<br />
If the price of coal is increased in New York, as<br />
it is intimated will be the case, the public cannot<br />
blame the operators. The proposition appears to<br />
be made solely by the retail dealers, who are anxious<br />
to make up for losses sustained during the<br />
severe weather last winter, when dealers were<br />
obliged to spend an extraordinary amount of<br />
money on unloading and drawing. Sometimes<br />
it was necessary to hire tugs to break ice in the<br />
harbor so that coal barges could be got to the<br />
wharves and frequently it was necessary to put<br />
four horses, instead of two, on a wagon.<br />
THE YEAR'S <strong>COAL</strong> MINING<br />
OPERATIONS IN ILLINOIS.<br />
The report of the operators in Illinois during<br />
the year ending June 30, 1904, shows a total production<br />
of 34,955,406 tons, an increase over the<br />
previous year of 4,934,100 tons. The report shows<br />
that there are 353 commercial mines in the state<br />
shipping coal for the general trade and 580 small<br />
mines worked for purely local trade. The commercial<br />
mines produced 96.5 per cent, of the coal.<br />
The average number of days worked in the mines<br />
was 222. There were 49.814 employes in the<br />
mines and 156 were killed and 410 injured by accidents.