ADVANCE IN COAL

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1930, 28 August 1888, Page 3

ADVANCE IN COAL

♦ The effect of the miners' strike ia AmtralU has been to Bead Newcastle coal up to 50 1 per ton In Aahburton, a rise of 83 within the lsst few days, Malvern o?a\ f • «lso raised at the pit's month, but the , prloe of Monnt Somen ooa', so fae as we •re aware, has not been altered. The stock of Newcvtle coal m Aehbnrton m»y be estimated at under 200 tons, and this, eVen at the advanced price, must soon be cleared off. The demand for West Coast coal has been ho brisk \ within the last few daya thit back orders cannot be filled. Before the strike actually took place freights were rising, and at Lyttelton just before the strike 4s ptr ton over the usual price wai charge i This extra freight charge, tdded to the xlbb m coal at the mines, makes firing somewhat expensive. A proposal to reduce the p* ice of gas -was to have been bronght forward at the next meeting of the G*s Company, bat In view of the rise In coal the prospect ß of Its being carried are no* so hopeful . The amount of ooal annually used at the 6a? Works, however, rnns under 300 *ons per annum, and perhaps the redaction m*y be carried out yet. Cheaper gas might supersede coal ia some cases for heating purposes', If coal were to remain high m price. Local coal cannot bn used fur gas making, but for household purposes it may prove an ally to us until the strike his abated . The " Press " Bays ,— Aa there Is likely to be a difficulty m Newoaßt'e eo»Is hetag obtained at Hobart for (he mail steamers. we understand that instructions have been given the vessels to take sufficient coal at Capetown to oarry them to New Zialind. The mineß fit Greymou'b f»re Bronner, Goalpithettb, Wallssnd; and Tynesida. All these are now owned by the Grey Valley Coal Company; Limited, represented m Christohurcb by Ktasey and Co, and under, the general management of Martin Kennedy, at Greymouth (late sole proprietor of the Brunner Coal Company). The Grey coal is specially well adapted for gat, steam, and blacksmith's purposes, It is also a valuable household ooal. The late Brunner Company of Greymouth established a retail depot m Chrlstchqrch and Lyttelton In TDnsey and Co.'s management, and since then the oon•umption hai been daily increasing, until atUbe present time the demand for their «oal for honseholu nse Is very considerable. Grey coal is notoriously liob Id gas and bltnmen, and la therefore apt te •awell, and the mistake that consumers cnake when first uslog this coal Is to out too much at one time m the grate* The average output of the Grey mines Is 4000 tons per week, and this aan be easily Increased to 6000 tons. Unfortunately the rough state of the bars on the West £oMt baa prevented the colliers leaving for gtf«ne dayi past, and this makes the coal faWin* more severely felt than it otherwise* would have been. It appears that the ea*<io of oo%\ whtoh the s.s. Whampoa has J»een chartered to take to Hong Kong !■ noi *h« nMt CM «° °* West Coast ooal sent to the E«t. The barqua May took a cargo of B^oner ooal from Greymoath direct to Bon£ Kong. The Woosong took 17C0 tons Brunner coil from Wellington to Hong Kong In August lait year. The Whampoa took a oar£° of Greymouth ooal from Wellington jo Hong Koiig end of last September. The Grey Valley Coal Co., at Greymonth, have raised the price of ooal to all dealers m town They m turn have jralsed the prloe of ooal of all kinds, round -coal 2i 6s per ton, the luorea.se on small ißcreened coal la la 6d. The Newcastle ooal brought Into Lyttelton from Ap*in to August 25 (Saturday last) was 7073 tons, value £6642, The «• North Otago Times "says —The 'price of West Coast ooal has been raised tftcce the beglnnlog of the month about •aeven shillings per ton. The retail dealers did not Institute this upward movement. The ooal companies, anticipating a harvest from the strike at Newcastle, took the bull by the horns, and raised the price of West Coast ooal was, we should think, quite dear enough before the strike was thought about without adding 7s per ton to ita cost. Instead of raising the price, ft reduction biiould have been made, for the output wlli be Increased, and the profits m that way. alone largely augmented. This, however will not satisfy the ooal companies, who evidently wish to make a fortune daring the tli£e that the strike at Newcastle continues. & 2 effort was made during the time of the projection mania to place a duty upon foreign' coal. Consumer i, with the experience of this month before them, may thank their lucky stars that no suoh duty was imposed. They would certainly have had to pay dearly for it. We are not aware whether the coal pit owners on this side of the island are going to raise the price of their commodity or not, but if they are not perhaps the consumers will see the ad visableness of supporting them m their determination. The " Otsgo Dally Times " says : —At a meeting of ooal merchants held on Satutday morning at the offices of Mr J, B. Scott, It wae resolved to raise the .prloe of all seaborne ooal. The rise Is .equivalent to 5s per ton. The coals thus ■affected are Ooalbrookdale (Weatport), and Greymouth, the latter in(eluding all West Coast coals other than Ouaibrookdale. The Immediate cause of tills rise m prices was the receipt by the merchants of a circular m whioh the Westporfc Company announced that Coal* brook-Sale would hence forth until farther notice be raised 2a per top. The coal merchants have also to meet an Increase In the harbor does, the Harbor Board having put on £d per ton since last Monday, thus bringing the dues up to 2s 6d per ton. 80 far as New Zealand is concerned the strike of miners m New South Wales ia not likely to oause any serious inconvenience so long as a supply of West Coast ooal Is obtainable at a reasonable price* The Railway department has of late yea n received the supply from local mines, while most of our factories use looal or West Coast coal. Ia Auckland we ate Informed Newo«stle ooal has advanced Kb a lon, and West Coast coal Is 6d. The price of looal coal b unaltered, but It Is expected to rise if tbi iWkt coatlnaei. -