In approaching
Petroseny the railway rises one foot in forty, no inconsiderable
gradient.
The coal-fields are partly in the hands of Government, and partly owned
by the before-named Kronstaeder Company. Between these separate interests
there is not much accord. The Kronstaeders say that Government has not
behaved fairly or openly, but has secured to itself so many "claims" as
to damage considerably the prospects of the private speculators.
While at Petroseny, I heard great complaints against the Government for
selling coal at such a low price that they must actually work at a
loss. The Kronstaeder Verein say they are prevented in this way from
making their fair profits, as they are obliged to sell down to the
others. It would appear to be a suicidal policy for the pockets of the
tax-payers to be mulcted for the sake of securing a prospective monopoly
and the ruin of a private enterprise. As it stands it is a pretty
quarrel.
Writing in 1862, Professor Ansted says: "The coal of Hungary is of
almost all geological ages, and though none is first-rate in point of
quality, a large proportion is excellent fuel. The coals most valued at
the present moment in Hungary are those of the _Secondary_ and _not_ of
the _Palaeozoic_ period. But the great body of coal is very much newer;
it is _Tertiary_, and till lately was regarded as of comparatively
modern date. In the Ysil Valley there is a splendid deposit of _true_
coal.
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