[Cold Heart]

1800’s US West Coast imported coal from Australia.

The ocean miles are the cheapest part of the shipment.

[PUGACHEV]

Joseph Conrad wrote a remarkable short novel called Youth which I have read at least every ten years since I was a teen-ager, and it means something different to me at each stage in my life. Not to spoil the plot, but the story surrounds the voyage of an old sailing ship carrying coal from Great Brittan to the Orient, which catches fire and explodes on the way.