Barton County democrat., 1902-11-14
HARD COAL PROBLEM
It Is a Great One for the Govern
ment Of the Republic.
Wnshingfonians, Like the Citizens of
other MunfcipaIfties, Worried
over Shortage of Their
Fuel Supply.
Especial Washington Letter.l

IT. HE price of gas in the District
CT Columbia is fixed by law,
and the corporation possessing
the monopoly cannot increase the
price under any circumstances.
The Erices of coal and all grades
of oil, Icing determined by the dealers,
have reen raised so rapidly and SO
high chat it is almost impossible for
the poor, the very poor, to secure ar
tificial heat or light during these
melancholy days, the saddest of the
year"
Anthracite coal is almost unobtain-
able because of the protracted strike.
Twenty-Five dollars per ton is the
price now fixed here; dealers will
only deliver quarter of a ton at a
time, ind then only to their regular
customers. Coke, which is mere
tinder, is sold at SIS per ton, and the
demand for it is enormous. Soft coal
is being used, and even that kind of
fuel is scarce, the price being $12 to
SIS per ton.
Gas stoves and ranges of all kinds
and sizes are being purchased and
set up in the residences of those
who can afford to use gas, and the
company is increasing it's daily man
ufacture of gas, with the expectation
that during the winter their product
will constitute the principal fuel OF
thousands of people here, because of
the failure of the coal supply.
President Baer, of the Philadel-
4phia & Reading railroad, the man who
represented the aggregated wealth
of the mine owners at the recent
white house conference, has supplied
500 tons of best anthracite coal for
the public schools of the national
capital, at the ordinary rate of six
dollars per ton, and all of that coal
is now here under cover. 1t was
dumped at the yards of a prominent
coal dealer, and guarded by details
of policemen from the moment of its
arrival until the present. Every day
wagon loads of it are being carried
to the bins of the different schools,
where it will be guarded by special
watchmen. The public schools had
already secured 500 tons of soft coal
and 1000 tons of coke. 1t is esti-
mated that this supply will be suffi-
cient for the schools until the Christ
mas holidays. In the meanwhile eff
forts will be made in various direc-
tions to secure another supply which
will enable the commissioners to keep
the schools comfortable, so that the
little ones will not be obliged to
give up their supply of education.
In all of our homes the house
wives are studying the fuel problem,
and the wage-earning husbands are
giving it their consideration also.
Some OF our scientific men in the de-
partment of agriculture have been
experimenting with soft coal and
coke, with the result that they claim
to be able to get along very well
without hard coal. They put in a
layer cf kindling, layer of coke and
then Il layer of soft coal. The coke
keeps the soft coal from packing,
gives it solidity, and makes room for
the passage of the air draughts.
While in the use of anthracite coal
it is necessary to leave open some of
the top drafts, or dampers, to dead
en- the fire, these must always be
closed in the use of soft coal, or the
house will be filed with gases. Dur
ing the night, where soft coal is used
in furnaces, there must be.a watch