246 RICHMOND. 



will be required to supply the demands of the power and repair plants and 38 

 unskilled laborers will be necessary for handling materials and supplies, washing 

 and screening stock and as helpers in the general routine of a pulp mill. 



The estimated cost of the different grades of labor required is considered by 

 me to be very conservative. The amount given is considerably more than double 

 the average wage of European pulp workers, and 2 pesos and 1 peso for skilled and 

 unskilled labor is in excess of the prices of such labor in other local industries at 

 the present time. Based on a daily production of 20 tons, which is approximately 

 the minimum of economic production in the industry, the estimated daily cost of 

 . labor is only 9 pesos per ton of output, which is a very favorable expenditure as 

 compared with that in the United States and Canada, where there are larger units 

 for pulp production operated in conjunction with paper manufacture, but with a 

 labor cost equal to the above in many of the departments. 



POWER. 



The cost of power, next to the cost of labor, probably enters into the 

 total expense of manufacture to a greater extent than any other element. 



The making of chemical pulp requires steam for heating the digesters 

 and for drying cylinders of the pulp machine, so that only under very 

 favorable circumstances is the initial cost of a water-power installation 

 warranted. 



The heavy power consumption in hauling, barking, sawing and chipping wood 

 for chemical pulp does not enter into the estimates of the requirements of a 

 plant utilizing bamboo. The material is light and is easily handled, there is 

 no bark to be removed, and comparatively light saws, crushing rolls and chipper^ 

 are all that are required to place this raw material in a condition suitable 

 for the digesters. I estimate that 25 horsepower will perform all the work of 

 the bamboo-preparing plant as compared with 100 or more horsepower in the 

 wood room of a chemical wood-pulp mill of the same capacity. 



There is much to be said in favor of water power in respect to tlie low cost 

 of maintenance and the small operating expenses, but in this country the incon- 

 venience of locating the plant with due regard for the necessary capacity for 

 water storage and the evident variations in water level because of climatic 

 changes, argue against its economic value. 



FUEL. 



Imported coals, either Australian or Japanese, form the bulk of the 

 fuel employed by the local industries at the present time. 



The present quotations on these coals are 9 pesos and 50 centavos to 10 pesos 

 and 50 centavos, ex-ship Manila, with an import duty' of 50 centavos per ton. At 

 least one local source for coal may be considered to be fairly well developed. The 

 Bataan Coal Company's mines, situated about sixty hours' steaming distance from 

 Manila, are at present turning out 300 tons of coal each day, and loading it on 

 board ship at the rate of 6 pesos and 50 centavos per ton. A lower price than 

 this might be expected by the steady consumer. The capacity of this mine is now 

 being increased to 1,000 tons per day. 



The comparative steam-making value of Philippine and foreign coals offered 

 on this market, together with recommendations on the type of fire-box grates 



