TABLE 66.-Bituminous coal loaded for shipment, 1925, by railroads and waterways, in net tons-Continued Monongahela West Penn Public Service Co. Electric... West Virginia... 3, 623 Arkansas 32, 885 3,623 32, 885 Montana. Kentucky. Pennsylvania.. 5,562, 085 5,562, 085 Tennessee. Ohio.. 4,763 35, 913 1,966 4, 763 35, 913 1,966 [Ohio.. 4,222, 902 Pennsylvania. 7,410, 259 West Virginia.. 14, 195, 823 2,562, 662 Illinois.. 699, 779 708, 232 Tennessee. 30, 115, 196 Pennsylvania (includes Ohio River & Western, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis, and Wheeling Terminal). Peoria & Pekin Union.. Peoria, Hanna City & Western. (Illinois. Pere Marquette.. Peru, La Salle & Deer Park. Pittsburgh & Lake Erie. Pittsburgh & Shawmut.. Pittsburgh & Susquehanna.. 29, 419 Alabama.. 577, 876 29, 419 577,876 1,007, 435 5,468, 307 West Virginia. Oklahoma.. Pennsylvania. Texas. Texas TABLE 66.-Bituminous coal loaded for shipment, 1923, by railroads and waterways, in net tons-Continued STOCKS OF COAL HELD BY CONSUMERS For convenient reference, a summary of the stocks of coal held by consumers, as published by the Geological Survey and Bureau of the Census, is given in Table 67. (See also fig. 25.) Copies of the detailed reports from which the table is extracted may be had on application to the Director, Bureau of Mines, Washington, D. C. TABLE 67.-Stocks of bituminous coal in hands of commercial consumers and stocks of anthracite and bituminous coal in retail dealers yards, 1916-1924 [From periodic stock reports of the U. S. Geological Survey. Coal for steamship fuel, on lake docks, in transit, and in the bins of householders is not included] The figures for 1918 in this table are based upon an actual count. Beginning with Apr. 1, 1919, the figures are based upon reports from a selected list of 5,000 consumers whose stocks in 1918 bore a known relation to the known total stocks. No canvass of consumers was made on this date. Total was estimated from stocks on Mar. 1. IMPORTS AND EXPORTS OF COAL IMPORTS The distribution of coal in international trade is governed largely by transportation cost and very little by tariffs and trade regulations. Many of the principal coal-producing countries import as well as export coal; thus Germany, in the years before the war, though exporting great quantities of fuel over her land frontiers to Austria, Hungary, Russia, Switzerland, and France, still found it advantageous to import some 10,000,000 tons of British coal through her Baltic seaports. The United States has a large exportable surplus, but there are districts in Washington, Idaho, and Montana that depend on imports from Canada. Under normal conditions of trade the imports fluctuate but little from month to month or from year to year and amount to about 1,300,000 tons annually. The great strike of 1922 created a shortage in the United States severe enough to stimulate importation from Europe, and its influence was felt well into the year 1923. From 1,257,000 net tons in 1921 the imports jumped to 5,060,000 tons in 1922, and even in 1923 they stood at 1,882,000 tons, or fully 500,000 tons above the normal figure. From Table 68 it will be seen that the abnormal sea-borne imported coal of 1923 came almost entirely from England and Scotland, which furnished together 644,000 tons, against 29,000 tons in 1921. This British coal was delivered in New England and New York. Not the least interesting feature of the imports of 1923 was the receipt of 300,360 tons of anthracite. Stray shipments of anthracite are reported by the customs statistics in every year, though their classification as anthracite is sometimes questionable. In 1921 the anthracite thus reported amounted to 8,894 tons (Table 69). About the identity of the 254,000 tons of British anthracite reported in 1923, however, there can be no doubt. It was true anthracite from the Swansea Valley of Wales, although the sizes in which it is prepared differ from those familiar to the American consumer. A much smaller quantity of anthracite, 14,282 net tons, was received from Scotland in 1923. TABLE 68.-Bituminous coal imported, 1919–1923, by countries and districts, in net tons [Compiled from the records of the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce] |