THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN

AND

JOURNAL OF THE COAL AND IRON TRADES.

Vol. CXI.

FRIDAY, JUNE 2, 1916.

No. 2892.

COAL AND SHIPPING.

I.—The National Value of

The great importance of coal as a national power is
doubtless still not fully realised, yet it may be truly said
that coal has been the very foundation of prosperity. The
development of manufacturing industries has of course
been due to coal, and the continuance of national pro-
sperity is still dependent upon coal for’manufacturing,
transport, light, and heat. The best coal of this country
is recognised as the most valuable obtained anywhere,
and it is in demand throughout the world, with the
result that the exports of British coal far exceed those of
either of the other two great coal-producing countries—
the United States of America, and Germany; and it is
owing to the effect of coal exports on tonnage, freights,
and oversea commerce that the supremacy of British
shipping has been attained.

It has been, and is still being, urged that our coal
resources are being' greatly depleted on account of the
extent of our coal exports, and that the conservation of
our coal resources—being an important part of our
national wealth—should be provided for by the taxation,
or partial prohibition of exports. This subject will not
be discussed here, but, from what has been stated above,
a fairly obvious inference may be. drawn as to the
probable effect such a course would have on British
oversea commerce.

There are no doubt other, and profitable, methods of
conserving our coal resources. It is only comparatively
recently that we appear to be realising the extent of the
waste in coal consumption, and that there is a field for
the profitable use of at least some inferior grade coals:
also, that the valuable products contained in coal surely
make it worthy of the name “ black diamond.” Here,
then, are directions in which our coal resources could be
conserved — by abandoning wasteful use, by utilising

of Shipping Coal.

Conveyor System

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low-grade coal previously considered hardly marketable,
and by extracting the valuable products contained in the
coal. It has been commercially proved that, by con-
verting coal into gas, not only are tar and ammonia
obtainable, but, by distilling the tar, various oil
products, etc., can be procured, and by a process of
cleansing the gas, benzol is extracted, also a smokeless
household fuel is produced, and the gas can be utilised

I By F. J. WARDEN-STEVENS,

■	M.I.M.E., A.M.I.E.E., &c.

Coal and Coal Shipping.

for power. Other almost unmarketable coals may, by
technical intermixing with .superior classes, be converted
into fuel briquettes of fair heating value. It must, then,
be borne in mind that, by distillation, coal can be made



Combined Coal Truck and
a source of oil supply, instead of being a rival power
fuel. These preliminary observations may assist in
urging the necessity of using coal to the best advantage,
thus making it practicable to conserve our resources
without restricting exports. The selection of classes of
coal with greater discrimination for the particular use

and utilising the coal to obtain the highest efficiency are
matters which call for greater attention.

Coal Exports.

Now, in considering the position of the European
nations involved in war, it should be noted that England
alone is in a position to supply her own requirements on
land and sea, and is also able to export to other countries.
It should be mentioned here that the restriction

in exports, which has gradually increased since
the commencement of the war, is only a natural
consequence brought about, not only by the
excess demands for naval requirements, but also
by the diminution of labour, and therefore out-
put, of our collieries, and by the abnormal demands for
manufactures at home concerned with war supplies.
Probably, however, high freights and the reduction in
available tonnage have had the greatest effect in reduc-
ing our coal exports.

Barge for Coal Shipping.

British and Continental Shipments.

Pre-war conditions indicate more accurately our posi-
tion regarding coal exports, and the following statistics
may be referred to :—

The output of our collieries the year prior to the out-
break of war exceeded 287 million tons, being thehighest
on record, and of this quantity over 73 million tons were
exported to foreign countries. The principal markets
were France, with a demand of 12,775,900 tons; Italy,
9,647,000 tons; Germany, 8,952,000 tons; South
America, 6,893,000 tons; and Russia, 5,998,000 tons.
In addition, the supplies to the bunkers of foreign-bound
vessels exceeded 21 million tons, shipments of manu-
factured fuel (coal briquettes) exceeded 2 million tons,
and those of coke II million tons; therefore it will be
seen that about one-third of the coal output of this
country was shipped as cargoes for abroad, or for steam-
ships’ use on foreign voyages.

As regards the facilities for shipping coal from the
British Isles, there are of course the numerous ports
where cargoes are loaded in particular, and where bunker
supplies are also obtainable; then -we have the . naval
bases where coal supplies to the fleet are provided for;
also there are coaling stations particularly intended for
bunker supplies, some of which it is proposed to refer to
later. Looking further afield, we find English coal is
available for steamship supplies at most of the many
coaling stations all over the world, and it is these to
which the writer more particularly intends to refer.
Ample supplies of coal, it has been realised, not only
make it possible in time of war for a fleet to have full
range of action for either offensive or defensive pur-
poses, but also ensure the continuance of ocean
commerce..

Continental Supplies and Coaling.

With regard to Germany, although that is the third
greatest coal producing country, we have seen that nearly
nine million tons were imported from us in 1913; yet,
notwithstanding this, Germany—doubtless realising the
importance of exporting coal—had been making a hard
fight to compete with our export coal markets. That the
utilisation of low-grade fuel has been studied in
Germany is evident from the fact that lignite (brown