N&W in 1912--Coal tonnage

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Bluefield Daily Telegraph
January 12, 1912

GROWTH OF NORFOLK AND WESTERN COAL TONNAGE
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(Wall Street Journal)
    Bituminous coal today comprises nearly sixty per cent of the entire tonnage carried by the Norfolk and Western, while in 1897, following the reorganization, only forty-four percent of the tonnage was soft coal.  This represents a growth in bituminous coal traffic from 3,052,882 to 13,467,781 tons or 408 percent.
    The company's increased coal traffic reflects a remarkable development of the bituminous coal mining industry in Virginia and West Virginia which during 1910 produced about one-sixth of all soft coal mined in the United States.  This table shows the growth of production since 1890:
                    Total Product        Product of                Ratio of Prod.
                    of Virginias            United States            in Va. to U.S.
    1910        68,179,016 tons    417,091,659 tons    16.35 per cent
    1900        25,040,961 tons    212,316,112 tons    11.89 per cent
    1890         8,178,665 tons     111,302,822 tons      7.35 per cent
    This clearly indicates the steady development in coal production in the Virginias which seem to be destined to hold permanently the position they now occupy as second only to Pennsylvania in the production of coal.
    The strong strategic position of the company's lines in the Mountainous fields and pursuits of the policy of extending lines to tap the richest coal districts, assures a continuancy of the remarkable growth in coal traffic.  Norfolk and Western penetrates the famous Pocahontas coal fields located in Logan, McDowell, Mercer and Mingo counties, West Virginia, as well as Tazewell county, Virginia, and all of the product of this district goes either west or to the tidewater over the company's lines.  About thirty-five per cent of the total tonnage of coal produced in the Virginias is Pocahontas coal.
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[A very few numerals were indistinct on the microfilm.  The best interpretations are shown.]
Gordon Hamilton
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