The Savannah morning news., 1902-10-17
COAL WILL BE HIGH
LITTLE REDUCTION IN PRICE MAY
BE LOOKED FOR.
81 A TON MAY COME OFF.
NOT BEFORE DEC. L WILL THAT
REDUCTION BE NOTED.

News of the settlement of the Coal
Strike Received in Savannah with
Deer. Satisfaction New supply
VIII be Secured by Dealers at
Winter Rates and operators VIII
Add the Concession to the Miners
to the Price-This VIII Keep Up
the Retail PrIces-Nevv Coal win
BE Slow in Reaching Savannah.
Demands of the North Must First
Be Met.
decline in the price of coal may
not be expected in Savannah prior to
Dec. L The settlement of the strike
will eventuate in lowering of prices
on both anthracite and btuminous
coal, but for some weeks yet Savan-
nahians will have to pay the famine
prices of $40 a ton for hard and 81 a
ton for soft coal.
The dealers in coal have not yet had
a conference looking toward a restora-
ton of prices to something like the
normal. They appreciate no need for
hurry in this matter, for they do not
anticipate that a supply of hard coal
will be available for this section for
some weeks. Only exorbitant prices
could secure coal for Savannah from
the mines at this time, or even some
days later, so that the. sale of the pres
ent stock will continue at the present
retail prices
High Prices Will Continue.
81 do not see how any hope of a de-
crease in prices can be entertained for
the immediate future" said Mr.. d. r.
Thomas, an extensive dealer, yester-
day. 1T is hardly possible that a de-
cline in prevailing prices can be noted
before Dec. !, and it may be later than
that before they go down. Even then
it is not likely that the reduction on
hard coal will be more than 81 a ton
On soft coal 1t may not be as much.
1.-TWO reasons will operate to keep up
the prices even after the coal begins
to come South. so that it is not likely
that the prices of last winter will OBJ
tain. Coal will cost more than it did
last winter. The reasons are that the
coal the dealers may now buy, after
the resumption of mining operations
will be at winter rates. instead of
spring and summer rates, and added
to this. will be the extent of the con-
cession the operators make to the
miners, whatever that may be. The
operators will see that the consumers
meet the demand of the strikers"
Enough for Local Needs.
So great will be the demand upon the
mines when they begin operations that
Mr. Thomas considers that it will be
weeks before any coal at all will come
ic- Iafa ant
quantity on hand in Savannah to sup
ply the trade until such time as ship
ments may come in. 1t will be neces-
Sary, however, for consumers
to accept whatever sizes the dealers
may have. Some of the dealers are
already out of one or another of the
sizes in which hard coal comes, and
consumers have found it necessary,
when waiting some particular size, to
be content with some other. AS the
weeks progress this necessity will be-
come greater, and it will only be re-
lieved by the coming of cargoes of new
coal
Not since last May has there a cargo
of coal reached Savannah. This is I'M
precedented. 1t is usually the case
that many cargoes arrive during the
summer months, when the dealers are
laying in their stock for the winter.
"The first output of the mines upon
their resumption of operations" said
Mr.. Thomas will be to New York
Philadelphia, the New England cities
and other great centers along the lines
of the railway companies that control
so large proportion of the anthra-
cite mines. The transportation COM
panies will see to it that these cities
are first supplied.
Another great demand will be made
in the lake regions. In order to reach
wide section of country north and
west of the Great Lakes it will be
necessary for cargoes to be started
very soon, because navi cation will be
closed shortly. The water ways will
be blocked"
Savannah Feels Relief.
The settlement of the strike, as an
nounced in the Morning News yester-
day, afforded general relief in Savan-
nah. 1t was pleasing information for
all consumers. To some the question
of fuel had grown to be a serious one,
and even now there is no agreeable
prospect before them To those who
use coal the unpleasant necessity of
paying prices considerably above those
of last winter appears, and there is
little chance of the normal conditions
being reached this winter.
Probably the transportation officials
OF the railways, especially such lines as
the Seaboard and the Atlantic Coast
Line, which do not reach into the coal
bearing territory, have been in the
deepest concern about their coal sup
ply Day after day the officials have
been making inquiries about the sit
uation in Pennsylvania. They were i'm
measurably relieved when they found
the hn
Dealers in wood had begun to feel
the effect of the strike. They were find
ing 1t difficult to get a supply. So
many orders for wood We're placed be-
cause of the high price of coal and the
possibility of the strike continuing in
definitely. Dealers, on applying to some
OF the farmers fer supply, would find
that the farmers had none.
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