. WET COAL
[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR, —Many readers will be glad to have Mr. E. T. Good's article, " Coal, Wages and Prices," but in elucidating what " still seems a puzzle to many people," he omits to deal with one aspect of the question, namely, that of the purchase of coal after a spell of wet weather.
Upon the assumption that coal is bought by weight at the pithead and before it is retailed is exposed to considerable rain for a few days or more, is not the weight of wet (some- tizne-s sodden) coal appreciably more than that of the same coal at the pithead ?
Different kinds of coal may appreciate or deteriorate by absorption of water, but that is not my point, which is only, Can a coal distributor buy a ton of coal but have 10, 15 or even 20 per cent. more than 20 cwt. to sell through it getting thoroughly wet in transit or at the local coal yard ? This is a matter of material interest to householders, and since Mr. Good allows as a charge 9d. per ton for " loss on smalls, deficiencies etc.," it is, I submit, very relevant to his article.—
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