381
The following is a recent analysis :-
Volatile matter
Output.
Water
Ash
Fixed carbon
Sulphur...
Nitrogen
Specific gravity
4
Per ceat. 5-717
40.635
53.648
3-89
0:53 1'60
1.276
The average daily output of the Fushun mines is at present about 8,000 to 9,000 tons. The colliery, however, has for some months past not been working at full strength, as the company have been obliged to reduce production owing to decreased sales resulting from the business depression of last year and the consequent accumulation of considerable stocks, variously estimated to amount to from 400,000 to 1,000,000 tons
The total quantity of coal mined during the working year 1920, ie, from April 1920 to March 1921, is stated to have been 8,129,835 tons, and these figures show an increase of over 200,000 tons as compared with those for the previous year. The output for each of the fourteen years during which the colliery has been operating under the South Manchuria Railway Company is shown in Annex No. attached to this report, and it will be seen that there has been a steady increase in output year by year, and that the quantity mined during 1920 was nearly four times as great as that, mined during 1910. The plant is at present said to be capable of an output of 10,000 tons a day, and this figure was actually reached during the autumn of last year, though, as already stated, the mines are not now working at full strength, and the output has been considerably reduced.
Labour.
The labour employed at the mines is, of course, mainly Chinese, the great majority of the miners coming from the province of Shantung. Few of them remain long at the mines, six months being about the average stay, after which the mer return home. The colliery, however, has little or no difficulty in securing an adequate supply of labour as there are always plenty of coolies travelling to Manchuria in search of employment and, when necessary, men are seat to recruit coolies in Shantung,
So far there has been no serious labour trouble at the mines, though some time ago there was some talk of a cessation of work among the miners unless their wages were raised. Trouble was, however, averted by compliance with the miners' demands.
Work is carried on night and day in two shifts, the total number of men employed being at present about 10,500, of whom 8,000 are Chinese. The latter are paid in silver, receiving on an average about 50 centa a day. The present rates of wages pail (in gold yen) are as follows:-
Japanese.
Chinese.
Maximum.
Minima.
Average.
Maximum, Minimum. Average.
Yen.
Yen,
Above ground Workman,
Teu.
Yen.
Yen.
Yen.
Guard..
3-02
1.80
2-32
0.64
0-39
0.48
Loader
3+57
1.30
2.20
1.00
0.39
0:51
Coal sorter
2.64
1.20
2.20
0.70
0.93
0.50
Blacksmith
5-13
1.30
3.22
1-27
0.27
0.49
Driller
2-53
2.53
6.77
0-43
0.55
Surveyor
3.18
1+98
2-28
0.60
0.43
0-51
Carpenter
3.70
2-08
2.90
1.10
0.57
0.70
Loading hand
2.62
1.70
2-20
0.68
0.86
0.49
Miscellaneous
3.40
1.00
2-20
0.82
0-32
0-44
Underground Workmen.
Hewer
3.60
1.70
2+44
1.01
0.31
0.51
Timeborman
9.53
2.08
2.78
0.90
0.35
0:57
3.65
2.22
2-96
0-84
0.31
0.57
1.90
1.50
1.72
0-78
0.95
0.58
3.02
2.00
3.19
0.07
0+48
0.57
3.85
1.80
2.21
0.79
0-35
0-53
Flushing land
3.55
1.08
2.55
0.80
0.40
0.5%
Miscellaneous
3:45
1.20
2.15
0.93
0.87
0:30
Carpenter
Surveyor
Foreman Trimmer
:::::
5
The actual wages (in silver) received by the Chinese employees have not increased much during the last few years, though owing to the high cost of silver prevailing during the greater part of 1919 and 1920 the company's wages bill has, of course, been much higher than it would otherwise have been, e.g., in April 1919 the average wage of the Chinese was 0.56 gold yen; in April 1920, 071 gold yen; and in April 1921. 048 gold yen. The wages of the Japanese employees, on the other hand, have rison considerably from 1-28 yen in April 1919 to 260 yen in April 1921. present rates of exchange the value of a yen in English currency is about 2s. 6d., so that the wages paid at the Fushun mines compare very favourably with those ruling in the United Kingdom.
At
All the Chinese labourers are accommodated by the company in specially constructed quarters, and when at work they are given a certain amount of food every day, while arrangements are made whereby they can obtain meals from kitchens operated by the company at extremely reasonable prices, the cost of such meals being deducted from their wages. They have to work a certain number of full days before they are entitled to receive any money, a system which is found to work satisfactorily, as it tends to counteract a tendency to laziness, which is a common failing of the Chinese coulie.
The Japanese employees at the colliery are also housed by the company, and practically all the houses in the Japanese portion of the town are heated in winter by a central heating plant. The total Japanese population of the town of Fushun is about 12,000, and the company maintains its own hospitals and schools. There is also an electric tramway service from the railway station to the extreme end of the concession, the line being run in conjunction with that linking up the various workings. The total mileage of the lines in operation is over 40 miles. There are three Germans employed by the company at the mines.
Markets.
Annexes Nos. 2 to 5 attached to this report show-
1. The total sales of Fushun coal in Manchuria;
2. The quantity of Fushun coal used by the South Manchuria Railway Company
for their own purposes;
3. The exporte of Fushun coal; and
4. The quantity of Fushun coal used for bunkering vessels
during the four years from 1917 to 1920.
Exports during the first six months of 1921 amounted to 198,043 tons, over one-third of which was exported during the month of June. The exports in that month included 13,970 tons shipped from Dairen to the United States, the first shipment of its kind that has been made.
Prices of Coal.
The authorities are naturally inclined to be somewhat reticent in regard to the actual cost per ton of working the coal. From remarks made to the writer, however, at the time of a recent visit to the mines, it may be stated that the cost of mining the coal has risen considerably during the last two or three years, Wages for some time ruled high, while the high prices of machinery, &c., prevailing during the war involved the expenditure of much larger sus than were previously paid. It is not unlikely, therefore, that the cost of working the coal has risen 150 per cent., and a conservative estimate of the cost per ton would perhaps be about 5 yen.
At the date of writing the retail price of Fushun lump coal at Dairen is 1810 yen per ton (including retailer's delivery fee). This is more than 100 per cent. higher than the price which ruled for many years prior to the beginning of 1916, viz., 8:30 yen per tou, while for a short time at the end of the winter of 1919-1920 the price was 24-70 yen per ton, the highest figure reached up to the present time. From the autumn of 1920 until the end of January last the price was 24:20 yen per ton; in February it fell to 21:80 yen; and in May it was further reduced to its present figure.
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