Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-12-21

/ "Well, the car famine isabout over, anC
for few weeks, at least, we Will hear D'
more of the, chestnut about how soon viii
we get those cars, ," said General Freigh
Agent f. a. Dean, of the Pittsburg arc
Lake Erie Railroad. Yesterday was thC
first day we had more cars than we coulc
possibly find use for. The surplus is not SC
great that the cars will not be pressed int
service, but at some points we had toe
many. It will take several days to dis.
tribute them properly, and we expect then
to have enough for all practical purposes.
when l say that we have lots of cars
do not mean box or merchandise cars. We
have a surplus of coal and coke cars, but
the others are still scarce, although we have
no complaints about not getting them. We
are still receiving parts of the order for 900
cars being built at indianapolis and La
fayette. We are sending on our line about
400 cars of coal a1d coke each day.
COAL MEN IN HARD LUCK.
'The coal men have turned their atten-
tion from cursing the railroad companies,
and are now complaining about the warm
weather. They cannot get any orders now
on account of the winter being so backward.
Formerly they had the orders, but could not
get the cars Now they can get the cars,
out no orders. There is a big demand for
slack from the furnace men in the Mahon-
ing and Shenango valleys. The article is
scarce and hard to get. 1t only costs about
half as much as lump coal, and is just as
good for manufacturing purposes as the
large coal The shipments are still very
heavy, notwithstanding the fact that there
are plenty of cars. suppose after the holi-
days business viii brace up again.
An official in the Office of the General
Superintendent of Transportation, Joseph
Wood, of the Pennsylvania company, said:
''Yes, the car famine is about at an end.
We have few surulus cars, and notice
that the number is increasing daily. There
is still crying demand for cars in the West
to be used in the grain trade. The ship
ments of grain still continue to be very
heavy, with no sign of let up.
MORE IDLE CARS.
Tin January 1 expect to see many more
idle cars. In that month the furnaces
blow out for repairs, and shut off great
amount of freight After being blown in
the heavy shipments will resume, and the
business will again be heavy by spring.
From the present indications think next
season will be big one in the railroad busi-
ness"
Another official Of the Pennsylvania lines
said: ''The rush is about over, and for the
first time in months we have more cars than
we can use. At some points along our
lines it is impossible to get the kind of cars
wanted as soon as they are ordered. In
another week 1 think there will be more
cars of all kinds than can be used. We
have been as far as 200 cars behind in our
orders per day. but now have caught up"
The reports sent to Freight Agent Dean
show the shipments Of coke TO be on the in
crease. For the first two weeks of this
month, six days per week there were shipped
1897 cars of coke to Pittsburg and the
West. On the 10Th inst. there were shipped
to Pittsburg, Bessemer and the West, 7SS
carloads. About 300 cars went east the
same day. 1t is safe to say that the east
and west will average the past week from
200 to ], 800 cars per day.