i STEAM COAL - Clpdigital.org

32 THE COAL TRADE BULLETIN.
FAIRMONT COMPANY ACQUIRES
ANOTHER BIG COAL PROPERTY.
The Fairmont Coal Co. has acquired control of
the Pittsburgh & Fairmont Fuel Co. through securing
a majority of its stock, and the mines it
owns will be operated in conjunction with those
of the Consolidation, Fairmont and Somerset Coal
Cos. and the Clarksburg Fuel Co., all of which are
dominated by the same interests and have their
headquarters in Baltimore. The Pittsburgh &
Fairmont was controlled by Archie Brown, of the
firm of Rogers, Brown & Co., of New York. Mr.
Brown died recently. The deal had previously
been made with him and completed. The company
has a capital stock of $2,250,000, all issued,
and $1,500,000 of first mortgage 5 per cent, bonds.
Of the bonds $1,300,000 are outstanding and $200,-
000 are held in the treasury for future use.
The company operates five mines and owns 17,-
966 acres of coal land, located on the Monongahela
river, along what is known as the West Virginia
Short Line, of the Baltimore & Ohio railroad, that
runs from Clarksburg, W. Va., to New Martinsville,
on the Ohio river. The mines are producing
at the rate of about 500,000 tons of a fine grade of
coal a year and their output can be doubled.
KELLY COAL INTERESTS SOLD.
Announcement is made that Michael Kelly has
sold his coal interests near Danville, 111., to an
Eastern syndicate represented by Congressmanelect
W. B. McKinley for $3,200,000. The new
owners take possession February 1. The deal
covers 13,000 acres of land and coal rights and
several mines, one of which has the largest output
of any in the state. It also includes company
stores and miners' cottages.
COAL IN THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS.
The war department may give up its attempt
at coal mining in the Philippines. The government
has already expended $40,000 in the effort
to ascertain whether the coal mined at Batan
Island serves a practical purpose. The recomdetermine
whether there is sufficient coal of the
of $5,000, in order to continue the test which will
determine whether there is sucient coal of the
required quality to justify carrying on the work.
The army engineers are doing the mining, and
employ native labor. A large amount of American
machinery has be«n taken to Batan, and
American foremen are in charge of it. The coal
obtained is of varying quality, and it remains
to be seen whether there is enough to justify
further work in that direction.
Attorney O'Brien of the Manila law firm of
Bishop & O'Brien, is in the United States for the
purpose of raising $100,000, to be used in the development
of coal beds 25 miles from Cebu, which
have been worked to a small extent in time past by
the Spaniards. O'Brien is a West Virginia man
and is now believed to be in that state where his
representations will have weight with old friends
and acquaintances.
To exploit the Cebu mines properly, it will be
necessary to build a tramway about six and onehalf
miles long, to the coast, where easy shipment
can be made. The coal beds in question were
found some 15 years ago by a Spaniard. There
are two large veins within 150 feet of each other,
one said to be 13, the other 14 feet wide. The
government assay made of the coal showed it to
be as good as Batan coal.
Down in Knoxville, Tenn., a violent protest is
being made because the coal producers of that
section persist in accepting the $6 per ton their
coal commands in Chicago in preference to the
$3 or $3.50 the local people are willing to pay.
The howls, complaints and execrations that are
being expended on the "Callous Coal Barons," who
"have no consideration for ineir neighbors" and
"no sense of local pride," come pretty nearly being
the limit.
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Birmingham, Ala., is congratulating itself on
being able to get domestic coal cheaper than any
other place in the country. Its good fortune is
due to its coal dealers taking advantage of advice
to buy before present trade conditions set in.
There are thousands of consumers in a position to
regret that those who supply them were not equally
far-sighted.
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By buying drinks for every man he met during
a period of three weeks, Charles Messenger,
a miner, learned wno dynamited the residence of
the superintendent of the Austen (W. Va.) Coal
& Coke Co., and obtained a confession of the
crime. And some persons still insist that "booze"
and business make a bad combination!
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The surprise of the year was that given to its
employes by the Dominion Coal Co. at Sydney,
B. C. Just when the men become resigned to
accept the usual winter reduction in pay they received
a proposition to enter into a three-year
contract with the same wage rate and working
conditions then in effect.
Work has been resumed at Mine No. 15 of the
Black Diamond Coal Co. at Bevier, Mo.. 39 men
out of 66 being reinstated.