Cape Breton's Magazine

and that they showed but slight improve? ment from that time up to the end of 1826. Even within those narrow limits the flucta- tions were considerable, the sales in one year--as, for instance, in 1805--being sometimes nearly twice as large as in the year preceding. There is every reason to believe that these fluctuations were due, in a great measure, to the quantity of coal stolen in some years from the cliffs, as it was found that, whenever the Govern? ment withdrew the cruising vessels, this illicit traffic was carried on to a great extent. Governor Ainslie reported, in Feb? ruary 1819, that, after dispensing with the services of the schooner Eclipse, in the previous year, the quantity of coal stolen from the cliffs exceeded 2,000 tons. It might reasonably have been expected that, in the course of forty years, the sales would have reached a higher figure than 10,000 tons, especially since the rap? idly growing cities of the United States at that time derived their whole supply of bituminous coal from Great Britain and the Virginia mines (The anthracite of Pennsyl? vania had not, at this period, come into use; the first cargo of 365 tons was of? fered for sale in New York in the year 1820.), but it does not appear that more than an occasional cargo was sent from Syd? ney to New York or Boston. The small demand for Sydney coal in the United States may, however, easily be ac? counted for on other grounds. The coal was sent to market in such bad condition that it could not find purchasers so long as a plentiful supply of English coal, careful? ly screened, and even hand-picked, was in the market. At the Sydney mines no pains Table I • Coal Sales at Sydney, from 1785 to 1826 1 1 Year 1 1785 1 1786 1 1787 1 1788 1 1789 1 1790 1 1791 1 1792 1 1793 1 1794 1 1795 1 1796 1 1797 1 1798 1 1799 1 1800 1 1801 1 1802 1 1803 1 1804 1 1805 1 1806 1 1807 1 1808 1 1809 1 1810 1 1811 1 1812 1 1813 1 1814 1 1815 1 1816 1 1817 1 1818 1 1819 1 1820 1 1821 1 1822 1 1823 1 1824 1 1825 1 1826 Tons sold 1668 No return 13351 2143 1926 4405 5320 5249 6039 5948 8947 8401 5775 7769 6601 5976 10130 4938 5119 6616 8919 8609 8516 9570 9744 9856 9336 8619 9284 7920 8692 9980 11388 7512 12600 Selling price s. d. 11 6 do. 9 8 11 6 do. do. do. Not stated do. do. do. do. do. do. do. do. do. 10 3 do. do. do. do. do. do. do. do. do. do. 13 2 do. do. do. do. do. do. do. do. do. do. do. do. do. Royalty per s. d. Nil do. do. Not stated do. do. do. 3 0 do. do. do. do. do. do. do. Nil do. 4 0 do. Nil do. do. do. do. do. do. do. do. 3 8 do. do. do. do. do. do. do. 3 6 4 3 do. do. do. do. Names of Lessees Worked by Government do. do. T. Moxley do. do. do. Tremain and Stout do. do. do. do. do. do. do. Worked by Government do. Wm. Campbell do. Worked by Government do. do. do. do. do. do. do. do. Ritchie & Leaver do. do. do. do. G. W. Bown & J. Leaver do. do. G. W. Bown T. S. & W. R. Bown do. do. do. do. Remarks 1 No separate return 1 given from 1787 1 to 1791 inclusive 1 Average is 2,600 1 per annum 1 Including 911 tons 1 from cliffs 1 do. 995 tons do. I With 365 from clif 1 With 170 from clif 1 No returns for the e 1 three years. Pro- 1 bably averaged 1 about 9,000 tons 1 Mabou Gardens 945-2105 (60) were taken to separate the large from the small coal; the colliers, who were not skilled workmen, had no inducement to make as much large as possible, being paid at the same rate per chaldron for small as for large; and it was so much tossed about and trampled upon in its way from the pits, subject to not less than four lifts before it was stowed in the ship's hold, that it was little better than mere slack. Under these circimistances it is not surprising that Sydney coal did not sell readily in the United States. The lessees of the mines, it must be admitted, were less to blame for this state of things than the Government, which persisted in granting on? ly short leases at exorbitant rates of roy? alty. It could not be expected that men of Bell Buoy Restaurant SEAFOOD "Fresh from the Shoreline" ??' Steaks * Poultry * Sandwiches '71'ff'/> Luncheon Menu * Children's Menu Two Separate Dining Rooms * Fully Licensed Baddeck, N.S. 295-2581 Ramsay's '' Honda Shop Motorcycles, Parts & Accessories' 480 Grand Lake Road 539-7644 Sydney 539-1730 THeReasonYouRue.