The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-08-04
HINT AT A COMBINE
STATE INSTITUTIONS GETTING ,.A
RAW DEAL ON THE FUEL
QUESTION
LOCAL FIRMS HANG TOGETHER
Chicago Dealers Cut the Price Ten
Cents, and 1t Is Not Unlikely the
Commission VIII Call for New
Bids on Coal2Bids Run From
IS Cents TO $I.25 Higher Than
Last Year


Maybe it is just coincidence that nine
coal companies, bidding on anthracite
coal for the st. Peter hospital, should each
DID $(.5O per ton; but the members of the
state fuel commission, who received bids
Tor $4,000 tons of coal for the state insti-
tut1ons yesterday afternoon, believe that
the state is getting a very bad deal on the
1uel proposition. The bids in nearly
every case were uniform, with the eXcep-
ton of several bids submitted by Nc
Carthy & Newman, of Chicago, which are
10 cents lower than those which have evil
IDENTIFY been submitted by the combine
companies
Inc bids this year run all the way from
70 cents to SIPS a ton higher than those
presented last year. The commission held
TWO hours session without accepting
any of the bids, and it is not unlikely
that the commission will call for more
bids. The state is buying $4,000 tons, and
the commission, consisting of Gov. Lind,
State Auditor Dunn and State Treasurer
koerner think the prices submitted are
very high, and some concession should be
made on account of the size of the pur-
chase. Anthracite coal was quoted, al
most without exception, at $3.50. Bids
were received as follows:
For st. Peter hospital 5000 tons of
Youghiogheny is required.
The Pioneer Fuel company bid $3.50; ].
H. Sessions, $3.50; Adams Coal company,
$4.3O; Lehigh Coal and Coke company,
$3.50; Mccarthy & Newman, $4O5; 3.
Uhrlg Fuel company, 1924; ]. H. Quael
company, SAP; Northwestern Fuel COM
pany, 1888. The same companies all bid
$50 on thirty tons of CRATE and $3.50 on
250 tons stove coal and thirty tons egg
The same companies submitted bids on
$3.50 tons of coal, $500 of which is to be
soft coal for the Rochester asylum. The
Northwestern Fuel company was the low
est bidder on Youghiogheny, bidding So. 70,
against S4.45, the highest bid, made by the
Pioneer Fuel company. For nut and
stove coal $780, was. bid by all the COM
panies right straight through.
At Faribault. for the state institutions,
5000 tons of Youghiogheny coal is re-
quired. Bids on this were received as
follows: Pioneer Fuel, $40; Ohio Coal
company, $3.50; j.. Fl. Sessions, $40;
Adams Coal company, $3.50; Mccarthy &
Newman, $405; B. Chrig, $40; Western
Coal and Coke company, $3.50; North
western Fuel, So. SO. Mccarthy & New
man again break through on the bids for
anthracite, bidding. $40 as against
straight $3.50 asked by the other compa-
MES. For the. training school at Red
Wing, which requires 1000 tons of soft
coal, the bids run very much the same as
the Faribault institutions. Mccarthy &
Newman bid $40 again on hard coal, and
the Northwestern Fuel company bids the
lowest on soft coal. 1t is quite evident
that the combine has a very strong grip
in the hard coal business, while on soft
coal there is not the uniformity that is
noticed on the anthracite product.
For 2,lOO tons of YOughiogheny, deliver
ed at the Soldiers home all companies
bid $4.25, the only company bidding on
this not asking for the business of the
institutions above is Grinnels & Co, of
St Cloud. The usual $3.50 is asked for
hard coal on the Soldiers home bid
There is slight deviation in the bids
submitted for the st. Cloud reformatory
supply. Perhaps the coal barons had a
softening of heart when this bid was
made out; at any rate the figure is 81 %
on egg coal Cumberland is quoted by
all the companies at $50 and Youghio-
gheny at $3.50. There is not a cents diff
ference between any of the bids submit
ted for the university supply, which is
sixty tons. Coke is quoted at $675, egg
$3.50 and Cumberland S.
The experimental station uses nearly
1000 tons all told, and the bidders quote
prices as follows, every bid being the
same: Hooking, $50 pea $625; stove
$3.50 and nut $3.50, On 10 tons of soft
coal needed at the public school at Owa-
tonna two companies bid the same figure,
while the other bids range from $3.50 to
$450 The Ohio Coal company and the
Western Coal and Coke company both
bid $3.50, delivered Oh side track All
companies bid $3.50 per ton for 5000 tons
Of Hooking Valley, required at the insane
hospital at Fergus Falls and $40 for
the hard coal.
Eight hundred tons of coal is used an
nually for heat and power at the state
house. -Four hundred tons of Pocahontas
is quoted at $3.50, against 1926 charged
last year The pea coal is quoted at S. p.
-Four hundred tons are required.