The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1898-11-25
Railroads Seize Carloads of Coal
for Their Own Use.
Thus Depriving Customers and
Injuring Coal Shippers.
COMPLAINT is MADE
By Coal Mine Owners Who Are
Unable to Fill Contracts.
Railroads Excuse Their Action
on Ground of Necessity.

Kansas is today experiencing the most
remarkable coal famine in the history of
the state and the coal dealers charge the
railroads with producing this condition
by confiscating the coal for their own
use.
Many of the dealers are afraid to
permit the use of their names in making
such charges but some of them assert
privately that the railroads. by confis-
eating coal in cars broken down" in
transit, are seriously crippling the bus
mess of independent mines and using
the prestige gained by having a supply
of coal at mines owned by the railroads,
IN building up business for their own
property
Mr. F. E. Wear of this city, president
of the Wear Coal company which oper-
ates extensive mines in southeastern
Kansas said today:
1.-The railroads have taken seven or
| eight cars of coal shipped from our
mines to customers during the past two
weeks. Thus the customer is deprived
| of coal consigned to him; his trade suf-
| fers but there is no recourse either for
| the customer or shipper which will stop
| this practice.
''Of course the companies take the
coal from the cars and use it in their
| engines claiming that unless they do so
| trains will be delayed, mails interrupted
and people prevented from reaching
| their destinations in proper season. At
/ ter using the coal the companies notify
I the mines from which the coal is ship
| ped and instruct the managers to send
/ a bill for the car of coal to the treas
ury department of the road thus appro-
priating the coal.
''Iy my memory serves me correctly" p"
| continued Mr.. Wear, "a suit brought to
! recover in case like this in Ohio was
| decided in favor of the railroad. the
court holding that the road was entitled
to the privilege of confiscating coal and
paying for it to prevent the delay in
| the operation of trains. This, of course,
| was probably based on the theory that
the railroads may adopt any method
they may choose to transmit the mails
| of the United States without delay.
There is a coal famine in Kansas to-
day which exceeds anything Of the kind
I have seen in eighteen years exper-
ience in the business. We are now
mining and shipping seVenty-hVe cars
of coal per day and yet there are towns
all over the state which are simply beg
ging for coal We could ship $50 cars
per day if we had it This contingency
was not expected by the mines. There
was nothing to indicate that such an
unprecedented demand for coal would
arise this fall. The result Is that the
mines are unable to supply the demand.
We are now arranging to ship coal
from Illinois into Kansas to supply this
extraordinary demand. We have been
shipping from Missouri for two weeks.
Notwithstanding all of this extra busi-
ness we can not supply the demand.
However, the local dealer must sit idly
by and submit to the conf1scatiOn meth
DDS of the railroads."
A reporter for the Journal asked H.
U. Nudge, general superintendent of
the Santa Fe system in this city, about
this method of doing business and he
replied by saying:
1--WE take this coal in transit only
when it is absolutely necessary for US
to do So For example, were a, passenger
train delayed and it were necessary to
have coal for the engine we would help
ourselves to the coal nearest at hand,
provided there was none owned by the
company available and then settle with
the mines, instructing the shipper that
we had used the coal and requesting
them to make a bill against US for the
car of coal, or whatever quantity may
have been used. This also notifies the
shipper to send another car to his Gus
! toner.
This method of confiscation, as it
has been called, is adopted only when
emergencies arise. Railroads must have
coal for their engines or tie up the sys-
tenn. BY taking coal from the cars in
our trains we are able to continue the
business of the road without serious
interruption. Our mines sometimes fail
to supply the requisite amount of coal
| and then we are compelled to adopt
the other policy"
Mr.. Nudge said further: ''I am not
aware that anything of this kind has
been done this year, but if it has taken
place, it is not irregular because the
shipper is fully compensated for the
Z
the coal in transit to run our trains the
dealer would not get his COAL because
if the trains do not run how can the
local dealer be supplied?"
From the mining districts come many
complaints. The Pittsburg Tribune
published in the mining center of the
state, has this to say:
In the last week the railroad COM
panies have confiscated scores of cars
of coal shipped on commercial orders by
| mine companies doing business in this
city. This practically drives the oper-
atOrs out of commercial market.
"Of late there has been an unprece-
| dented shortage of empty coal cars and
| the operators in this vicinity have been
Scheming in every possible way to let
all their patrons have a portion of their
| orders filled, but when this coal went
| out from here it was confiseated by the
| various railroad companies for railroad
! use, and the customers of the coal COM
| pany have been left unsuppIied
1.-The worst feature of this cOnfiscation
is this, that some of the railroad COM
panies are indirectly in the coal business
and supply a gOOdly portion of COM
l mercial coal in Kansas, and it has been
coal their statesmen have gone to the
patrons, whose coal has failed to reach
| them, and suggested that they buy coal
of q company who would be sure to fur,
nish it promptly and without fail. Of
course, when a patron is in need of
coal he does the best he can and places
his order with the company indirectly
owned by the railroad, and the legiti-
mate coal operators lose another Gus
toner.
After a time his mine is operated by