January 8, 1915.

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

79

FOREIGN COAL TRADE OF THE
UNITED STATES.*

By Dr. Edward W. Parker.'!

At the present time the world is producing coal at the rate
of about 1,500,000,000 short tons a year. The interruption
to mining and to trade generally by the war in Europe may
cause the output for the current year to fall below that figure,
but as in 1913 it amounted to approximately 1,450,000,000
tons, we can safely assume that the world has an annual
productive capacity of a billion and a half. Of this great
tonnage, more than 98 per cent, is produced in the continents
of North America, Europe and Asia, and less than 2 per
cent., or approximately 26,000,000 tons, is from the countries
of South America, Africa and Oceania, which lie south of
the equator. The reason for the much more important
standing of the northern hemisphere as a coal producer may
be readily appreciated when one looks at the estimate of the
world’s coal supplies, as presented before the International
Geological Congress at Ottawa, Canada, last year. Nearly
three-fourths of the land of the globe lies north of the equa-
tor, but the proportion of the coal reserves in that half of the
world exceeds those of the southern hemisphere in almost
the same degree as does the production. The estimates pre-
sented at the congress show that the total coal reserves of
the world amount to about 7,400,000,000,000,000 metric
tons (8,157,000,000,000 short tons), of which about
7,140,000,000,000 tons (7,780,000,000,000 short tons), or
nearly 97 per cent., are in North America, Europe and Asia,
and about 26,000,000,000 metric tons (290,000,000,000 short
tons), or a little oyer 3 per cent., are in South America,
Africa and Oceania. The northern hemisphere has in
reserve about 213,000 short tons of coal per square mile of
land territory, and the southern hemisphere has less than
21,000 tons. North America is credited with more than two-
thirds of the total reserves, with an aggregate supply of over
5,000,000,000,000 metric tons (5,500,000,000,000 short tons),
of which the United States, including Alaska, has nearly
4,200,000,000,000 tons, or more than one-half of the total
world’s supply and nearly twice as much as that of Europe
and Asia combined. Of the European supply of
864,000,000,000 short tons, Great Britain has nearly 25 per
cent., or 189,500,000,000,000 metric tons (208,900,000,000
short tons), and Germany 423,000,000,000 metric tons
(466,000,000,000 short tons), or about 2| times as much as
Great Britain.

Considering the quantity of stock on hand, Great Britain
has been by far the largest producer of coal, and until it
was exceeded by the United States in 1899, was actually the
leading country in the quantity of coal mined and marketed.
Germany has not been, and probably will not be, an appre-
ciable factor in the world’s barter of coal, except as to her
trade with her own dependencies and the supplying of her
own naval vessels and merchant marine. Germany has
rather pursued the not unwise conservative policy of using
her fuel at home and exporting to other countries the manu-
factured products which bear the familiar legend, “ Made
in Germany.”

Great Britain’s profligacy with her coal supply has had
much to do with making her the greatest maritime country
of the world and the greatest carrier of ocean-borne freight,
but she is now beginning to feel the pinch of poverty in con-
nection with her coal supplies, and it would not be surprising
if, when the present war is over, Great Britain should limit
her export trade to the needs of her naval vessels and bunker
trade. To what other country, then, than the United States
are those countries, in themselves partly or entirely barren
of coal, to look for their fuel supplies? It does not appear
that the United States has any reason to fear a shortage of
fuel for many years to come, some centuries, in fact, but
there are some economic questions to be considered. England
has an advantage for export in coal from the proximity of
her coal fields to the seaboard, in some cases the coal being
loaded directly from the mines into vessels. All of the
coals in the United States which are available for export
are some distances inland, and rail or water hauls with
transhipment to vessels at the seaboard are necessary
This condition is somewhat counterbalanced by the fact
that although wages among the British miners are lower
than in the United States,the total cost of mining in the
United States is lower, owing to more favourable natural
conditions and to the large extent to which mining
machines have replaced the more expensive hand labour.
Probably our prices at the seaboard for Clearfield, Cumber-
land, New Biver, Pocahontas, or Alabama coals do not
exceed those of English coals of comparative quality.

The exports of bituminous coal from the United States
in the fiscal year ended June 30, 1913, amounted to
16,083,101 long tons, distributed by continents as follows :—

Other countries in North America ........ 14,877,291

South America ............................... 441,368

Europe ...................................... 476,713

Africa ...................................... 235,376

Oceania ...................................... 53,353

It will be noted that of the total exports of 16,083,101 long
tons, only 1,200,000 tons were sent to other continents than
North America.

Our export trade in bituminous coal, while still small
when compared with that of Great Britain, has shown a
decided growth in the last few years, having increased from
less than 10,000,000 long tons in 1909, to nearly 18,000,000
tons in 1913, a gain of 86 per cent, in five years. Naturally,
during the continuance of the war, there will be an
increasing demand for American coal, probably as much of
a demand as we can find vessels in which to send it, for at
no time in our history has the paucity of American vessels
been so forcibly thrust upon us as at the present juncture.
I recently observed a list of 24 vessels that had cleared with
coal from Baltimore and Hampton Beads. Ten of them
were British, four were Norwegian, five were Italian. The
others were Greek and Danish. Not an American vessel in
the lot. It looks somewhat strange, and is a source of
mortification, to note that with all the coal and other com-
modities the United States has for export, nearly all of our
shipments to foreign countries are made in foreign bottoms.
A recent published statement of the merchant marines . of
the different countries shows the United States in third
place, with a total net tonnage of steam and sailing vessels

* Erom a paper read at the winter meeting of the Coal
Mining Institute of America, Pittsburg, December 8,
1914.

t Statistician U.S. Geological Survey.

of 2,700,000, while Great Britain has over 11,700,000 tons,
and Germany over 3,200,000 tons.

If Great Britain should cease to export coal, it is probable
that a good portion of the trade that goes to southern Europe
might come to the United States. In 1913 the exports of
British coal to Portugal, Spain, Italy, Austria-Hungary,
Greece, Boumania, and Turkey aggregated 15,760,541 long
tons. It is doubtful if the United States would export any
coal to Germany, Russia, Belgium, or Erance, though even
in the southern part of Erance we might find some markets.
Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, which together have been
taking some 9,000,000 tons, may have to look to the United
States for some of their fuel supply. Altogether, it seems
possible for the United States to be able to place somewhere
between 15,000,000 and 30,000,000 tons in Continental
Europe. This, of course, upon the peradventure of British
coal being withdrawn from the markets. South America
requires at the present time about 6,500,000 tons, and there
is no reason to expect a decrease in these requirements,
unless perchance there should be brought in some oilfields
in that continent which would supply liquid fuel to the dis-
placement of coal, as has been done in Mexico and in our
own Pacific States. What coal there is in South America
is principally in Columbia, Peru, and Chile, the first possess-
ing about 85 per cent, of the total. Small areas also exist
in Venezuela and Argentina. The total reserves of the
continent are estimated at 32,100,000,000 tons, and the
annual production is between 1,500,000 and 2,000,000 tons
(not as much as is produced in Arkansas, which ranks 22nd
among our coal producing States). Nearly three-fourths of
the total production of South America is in Chile, on the
west coast. The principal exports of British coal are to
Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay.

Africa requires something over 4,800,000 tons, in addition
to what is produced in that continent. The coalfields are
chiefly in the Transvaal and Natal, and produce enough
only for their own requirements.

In discussing the possibilities of developing those foreign
markets, one important factor must be considered, and that
is that the high-grade coals only will be available. It must
not be coal that will fire spontaneously, and it must be
mined and shipped with care so as to avoid an unduly large
proportion of fines. Complaint is made of the large quan-
tity of small coal contained in the American shipments. If
we want to get and to hold the trade, we must supply the
quality of coal that the buyers want, not that which we
want to get rid of, and we must be prepared to furnish it
wnen it is wanted, not make it the opportunity of simply
unloading a surplus. That surplus represents, by the way,
a sort of ever-present evil, potential if not actual, in the
bituminous coal mining industry. The productive capacity
of the bituminous coal mines of the United States is nearly
30 per cent, in excess of the four and three-quarter million
tons produced in 1913. In that year the average number
of working days made at the bituminous coal mines of the
United States was 232, an unusually large average, yet too
short a working year to satisfy the ambitious mine worker,
and the average production per day was 2,060,000 tons. If
the mines had worked a full 300 days, and the average pro-
duction per man were maintained, the output would have
amounted to 618,000,000, or about 140,000,000 tons more
than the quantity actually mined. In spite of this bad
economic condition, new mines are constantly being opened,
and as they can for a few years produce coal at less cost
than the older mines with deeper workings and longer hauls,
any decided improvement in the near future is not apparent.
A movement toward correcting the evil is observable in the
tendency to operation in larger units, by which, as is well
known, mining costs are reduced. This tendency is
exhibited in the United States Geological Survey’s report on
the production of coal in 1913, which shows that in that year
50’5 per cent, of the production of bituminous coal was from
mines producing 200,000 tons, or over, whereas in 1909 the
percentage from that class of mines was 42’5. The per-
centage of production from small mines—those producing
less than 10,000 tons—decreased from 35’6 in 1909 to1 29’9
in 1913. Even in the already highly concentrated anthra-
cite operations, the percentage of production from the largest
class of mines increased in the same time from 85’6 to 89’5.

I cannot say that I am altogether in sympathy with the
idea of sending our best coal to supply the needs of foreign
consumers, but my personal prediction has nothing to do
with the case. If the producers of American coal want that
foreign trade, let them go to it, and if this outlet shall
help to take care of our excessive capacity, and result in some
better returns to the coal operators for the energy and capital
they have put into the business, few there are who are
familiar with the coal mining business that will object.
Doubtless by the time our supplies of high grade coals are
growing low, the world’s dependence upon coal will be less
than it is at the present day.

U.S. Imports and Exports of Coal.—The following’ is a
comparative statement of imports and exports of the
United States for October 1913-14, and for the ten months
ending October 1913-14 in long tons :—

	Ten months.	October.  	A		
Imports from.—	1913.	1914.”^  Tons.	Tons.	(1913. Tons.	1914.  Tons.
United Kingdom..	5,259...	8,672..	662..	262
Canada 		. 897,489... 840,447..	. 69,476..	. 69,289
Japan 			89,115...	50,099..	. 10,040..	5,560
Australia and Tas mania 		141,578... 187,337..	. 20,192..	. 23,213
Other countries ..	3,296...	2,053..	480..	—
Total 		1,136,737... 1,088,608..	. 100,850..	. 98,324
Exports:— Anthracite:			
Canada 		. 3,540,336... 3,351,569..	. 420,814..	. 334,411
Brazil 		—	...	6..	—	—
Other countries ..	58,007...	54,916..	4,527.’.’	.’ 10,023
Total 		. 3,598,343... 3,406,491..	. 425,341..	. 344,434
Bituminous :			
Canada 			.11,662,469... 8,221,467..	.1,378,471..	. 979,611
Panama 			419,680... 239,837..	. 32,098..	.	25,706
Mexico 		.	417,262...	289,259..	.	19,509..	. 31,879
Cuba 		. 1,111,573...	908,324..	. 128,181..	. 114,426
West Indies		. 524,260... 510,167..	. 59,615..	30,272
Argentina		61,877... 207,904..	6,000..	. 14,118
Brazil		. 241,099...	235,453..	.	30,054..	. 34,382
Uruguay	..		5,163...	71,819..	—	. 10.376
Other countries ...	. 1,100,273... 1,570,527..	95,765?.	. 111,207
Total 		15,543,656...12,254,757..	.1,749,693..	.1,351,977
Bunker coal		, 6,483,020... 6,285,770..	. 719,436..	. 573,822

KMJKG AMD OTHER MOTES.

Messrs. James Simpson and Company Limited inform us
that they are shortly removing to India House, Kingsway,
W.C.

The substitution of petroleum for coal in Chile is causing
a serious falling-off in imports. During 1913, coal, valued
at <£387,399, was imported into Iquique (Chile), as against
<£501,836 in 1912 and <£480,340 in 1911. The amounts were,
258,266 tons, 334,558 tons, and 320,560 tons respectively.
At Pisagua, the quantity of coal imported during the year
1913 showed a decrease of 13,126 tons on the previous year’s
figures, to compensate for which 18,748 tons of petroleum
residuum from California must be taken into consideration.
Of the eight nitrate manufactories which export their
production through Pisagua, five have now substituted oil
fuel for coal, consequently a further decrease in the coal
imports must be expected. Of the coal imported during
1913, there came from United Kingdom, 23,513 tons (in
addition to 6,813 tons of patent fuel) ; Australia, 9,198
tons; and United States, 254 tons. At Junin imports fell
from 32,297 tons to 6,094 tons, and at Caleta Buena from
32,306 tons to 23,851 tons.

Kemp’s Mercantile Magazine states that there is a falling
off in official bankruptcies in the United Kingdom of 826
for last year as compared with 1913, and in the same way
in deeds of arrangement of 855. The total liabilities under
deeds of arrangement for England and Wales for last year
was £4,758,388, with total assets valued at £2,012,288,
showing a loss to creditors (subject to realisation) of
£2,746,100. The amounts for the previous year were :—
Total liabilities, £3,031,925; total assets, £1,608,969,
showing a loss to creditors ' (subject to realisation) of
£1,422,956. The winding-up of public companies shows an
increase of 29, there being a total of 2,116 for last year, as
against 2,087 for 1913. The failures in the coal and mining
industries were 139 in 1914, as against 220 in 1913 and 196
in 1912. The failures in iron and steel industries were
respectively 188, 261 and 262.

At an ordinary meeting of the Institution of Civil
Engineers, to be held on Tuesday, January 12, at 8 p.m., a
paper on “The Lateral Pressure and Resistance of Clay,
and the Supporting Power of Clay. Foundations,” will be
read by Arthur Langtry Bell, B.A., B.E., M.Inst.C.E.

This is the first great war in which field motor-ambulances
have been extensively used. It was inevitable that many
defects should be found in existing types, and at the
instance of Mr. Henry S. Wellcome, the founder of the
Wellcome Bureau of Scientific Research, a commission has
been formed, which will first and foremost act as a judging
committee for the award of* prizes of the value of £2,000,
provided by the Wellcome Bureau of Scientific Research.
These prizes are offered for the best designs of an ambulance-
body which shall fit a standard pattern motor-chassis for
field motor-ambulances. The last day for the receipt of
competing designs is June 30, 1915. Probably, in addition
to one design of special excellence, there will be submitted
various ingenious suggestions which may be incorporated
in the pattern design approved by the commission. For
these, a portion of the prize money has been set apart. The
first prize is of £1,000, the second of £500, and the third of
£300. All details of conditions may be obtained from the
Secretary, the Ambulance Construction Commission, 10,
Henrietta - street, Cavendish-square, London, W. The
competition is open to citizens of all nations. .

A meeting of the South Wales section of the Association
of Mining Electrical Engineers will be held at the Carlton
Cafe, Queen-street, Cardiff, on Saturday next, Jan. 9, 1915,
at 6 p.m., when a paper will be read, and discussed, on:
“The Prevention of Electrical Accidents in Mines,” by
Mr. T. J. Nelson, A.M.I.E.E.

Mr. John Cowan, the founder of the Stirling Boiler Com-
pany in this country, and who has been its chairman since
its inception, was accorded the honour of a knighthood, his
name appearing in the New Year’s List. Mr. F. G. Con-
stantine, who has been associated with the company for
many years, has retired from active business, and resigned
his position as managing director, remaining, however, a
director of the company. He is succeeded in the manage-
ment by Mr. H. J. S. Mackay.

An explosion at the Coal Creek mines at Fernie, in
British Columbia, occurred on Saturday, and it is believed
that a large number of miners have been killed. The
Government inspector, Mr. Evans, descended the shaft with
a rescue apparatus, but was immediately overcome, and
has since died.

Details of successful trials of the use of ordinary gas
coke as fuel for motor omnibuses, instead of paraffin, were
given by Mr. Thomas Clarkson last week before the annual
meeting of the National Steam Car Company Limited. The
cost, he said, worked out at less than one-third that of
paraffin. At the Whit Monday parade of the Commercial
Motor Users’ Association last year, one of their coke motor
lorries was exhibited for the first time, and for this a silver
cup was awarded to them. About a month ago the board
received notification from the secretary of the Royal
Automobile Club that its expert and technical committee,
having considered all the trials made by the club during
the year ended October 15, had selected the company’s
National Coke Motor Trial as the most meritorious
performance, and in consequence of this they were awarded
the “ Dewar ” Trophy. In the new year oil fuel would cost
less, and it was hoped to substitute gradually coke fuel in
place of the oil.

Presiding at the first annual meeting of the Nitrogen
Products and Carbide Company Limited, last week, Mr.
A. E. Barton remarked that the method of the distillation
of ammonia from cyanamide has recently been very much
improved and is now looked upon as a perfect process. In
this connection, he stated that after thorough investigation
and practical tests, extending over a period of several
months, a large industrial company, in which important
French banks are interested, were so satisfied with the
results attained that they have erected special plant at
their works, and entered into a contract to take from
15,000 to 25,000 tons of cyanamide per annum. The
cyanamide will be converted by them into ammonia for use
in their compounds instead of using ammonia from gas
liquor as hitherto. This they believed to be only the
commencement of a much larger business in this direction,
as the consumption of ammonia for many and varied
purposes, in all parts of the world, is a large and growing*
one.