DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR BULLETIN 428 THE PURCHASE OF COAL BY THE GOVERNMENT WITH ANALYSES OF COAL DELIVERED FOR THE FISCAL YEAR 1908-9 Advantages of definite specifications... Methods of sampling and testing.. Moisture content of the coal.. Adjustment of price to weight. Procedure in practice............. Gathering samples............... General directions for sampling.... 3 TABLE 1. Bids showing price computations... 2. Coal proposals, Treasury Department, 1909–10.......... 3. List of anthracite coals, showing contract standard.. 4. Price corrections for variations in ash content, anthracite coal. 21 23 37 38 40 41 7. General average of quality of anthracite, fiscal years 1907-1909..... 46 47 THE PURCHASE OF COAL BY THE GOVERNMENT UNDER SPECIFICATIONS. By GEORGE S. POPE. INTRODUCTION. SCOPE AND OBJECTS. This bulletin is the third of a series a showing the results of government purchases of coal according to specifications as to its quality and giving typical forms of proposals for supplying coal and general information relating to government coal purchases. Numerous calls for authentic information concerning the purchase of coal according to its heat value attest a growing interest in the subject. Many of the commodities of life have long been purchased according to specifications requiring chemical or physical tests, or both, to determine whether the material delivered meets the requirements, the price to be paid depending on the results of the tests. Until recent years coal consumers purchased coal merely on the statement of the dealer as to its quality, relying on his integrity and on the reputation of the mine or district from which the coal was obtained. It is surprising that the important question whether value was being received for the money expended was not sooner seriously considered. The purchase of coal by specification is an important step toward the conservation of our national mineral resources, for it results in an increased use of the lower grades of coal. The poorer coals find a market by competing with the better grades, not as to the price per ton but as to the cost of an equal number of heat units. This paper gives in detail the results of government purchases of coal for the fiscal year 1908–9 and the list of contracts with abstracts of specifications for the fiscal year 1909-10, and summarizes the information on this subject obtained by the Survey. It is hoped that this information will promote a better understanding of the specification a Randall, D. T., The purchase of coal under government and commercial specifications on the basis of its heating value, with analyses of coal delivered under government contracts: Bull. U. S. Geol. Survey No. 339, 1908. Burrows, J. S., Results of purchasing coal under government specifications: Bull. U. S. Geol. Survey No. 378, 1909. 5 |