Uncle Sam Trades British Coal for a Bellingham Bay Mine
A test run by the Yorktown won Blue Canyon coal a federal contract—and local boosters dared to imagine Puget Sound fuel powering the nation’s ships.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
As a result of the tests of Blue Canyon coal recently made by Commander Folger, of the Yorktown, the government has given to the Blue Canyon Coal Company the contract for supplying coal to the vessels of the revenue marine service in the Puget Sound district. It is to be presumed that a contract for supplying naval vessels will follow as a matter of course, for the conditions are essentially similar and there is no reason why a coal which can be used to advantage in one class of vessels cannot be used with equally good results in the other.
It is a good thing that the government has at last decided to use American coal on American vessels. Heretofore British Columbia coal has been given a decided preference, and it has appeared impossible to convince the naval authorities that any coal mined on this side of the international boundary was as good for steaming purposes as that from the other side. The Blue Canyon coal, however, seems to have met all requirements, and we are heartily glad of the fact, not because we believe that it is necessarily better than any other coal on the Sound, but because it is an American coal, and the money paid by the government for it will be expended in the state of Washington.
The Blue Canyon mine is tributary to the cities on Bellingham Bay, and those enterprising communities will doubtless receive much benefit from the adoption of its coal by the government.
“It is a good thing that the government has at last decided to use American coal on American vessels.”
The Blue Canyon contract was a small victory in a long regional fight over energy, shipping and public money. Today the same waterfront economies argue about transition away from fossil fuels—and whether public contracts should shore up local industry or accelerate its end.
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