CONDITIONS IN PARTICULAR INDUSTRIES. 343

tor other causes, should give the American operators a decisive advantage
 in various foreign markets over their British competitors.

TRANSPORTATION AND HANDLING FACILITIES.

The railroads of the United States furnish adequate service to the
Appalachian operators seeking to ship coal from Atlantic ports.
The Clinch Valley coals have advantageous connections with Charleston.
 The Pocahontas and New River coals reach Hampton Roads
by several railways. The Fairmont, George’s Creek, and Somerset
coals come down to Baltimore, and the Cambria and Clearfield
mines ship to Philadelphia and New York on favorable rates; all the
railroads hauling this traffic have the most modern rolling stock and
handle trainload shipments at low rates. This explains the fact
that these coals can be placed on docks at tidewater at prices which
retain much of the American operator’s advantage in cheaper mining
cost over his Welsh competitors.
At the Atlantic ports mentioned, especially at Hampton Roads,
the docks and piers are equipped with facilities for handling coal
that surpass anything found in Wales. Moreover, Welsh ports
suffer under other serious disadvantages. Because of the high
tides colliers must be locked into small basins at favorable times.
In consequence American coal exporters enjoy marked advantages
in loading their coal. At any of the major coal ports a 6,000-ton
collier can be loaded in from one to two days, and at Hampton
Roads 50-ton cars are picked up and dumped into vessels with such
dispatch that such colliers have been loaded in less than eight hours.
At Welsh ports the loading of such a vessel requires from six to
eight days. This saving in time is an important factor in the cost
of shipping service.
The advantages of lower tidewater prices and superior loading
facilities, however, have been nullified by the higher freights charged
for transporting American coal to South America and the Mediterranean
 and by the British control of unloading and storage facilities
in foreign ports. The lack of an American coal-carrying fleet has
made American exporters dependent upon British vessels, and British
 ship brokers have been able constantly to maintain rates which
favored the Welsh coal. Early in February, 1914, comparative
ocean freights on coal were as follows: *