The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-10-17
COAL STRIKE EFFECT
HAS ADVANCED $1 A TON IN
 MONTGOMERY.
Normal Conditions May Not Be Soon Restored and Price May Stay
 Up-Situation in Brooklyn.


 been a very serious one in this city, sim ply because of the fact that cold weather has not yet arrived, and now that the s;r,'-e Of the coal miners Is practically at an end, 1t is not likely to be, and yet there were many expressions of rejoicing to be heard on every side on yesterday over the fact that the strike had been settled and the troubles between the op- orators and the miners likely to be ad- justed to the satisfaction of all concerned.
 The price of coal in this city has ad- vanced about $l a ton over the same time last year for all grades of coal and so far as can be learned, there has been no shortness of supply up to this time. al though it was anticipated and on that account the price went up If the strike had continued for few days longer and there had been a cold slap there would have been great demand for grate coal and the suply being short the price would have gone at once skyward ,and that there would have been much sunerlng goes as a matter of course. for many would not have been able to buy at the exorbitant figures and the supply would not have been equal to the demand. At any rate coal will be higher this winter and those who laid in their winter sup ply in advance are to be congratulated
 The miners will go back to work at once but the mines are said to be in bad shape and it will be some time before th.re will be enough anthracite coal ,n the market to meet the demands It IS said 1t will take six weeks or two months for normal conditions in the coal trade to be restored and in the meantime hign prices will prevail.
 The Brooklyn Eagle tells in the follow ing the condition in that city, which is a pretty fair index to the condition all over the country:
 The coal dealers of Brooklyn seem to be of the opinion that If the present negotiations looking to a settlement of the coal strike should succeed that 1t will have no immediate effect on the To- cal market. All the dealers who were seen this morning expressed themselves as unwilling to commit their firms by stat that the price of coal would drop as suon as an agreement was reached between the operators and the strike leaders, but all agree in saying that prices would decline as rapidly as coal could be placed on the market. The op- orators fix the price of coal at the mines and if transportation facilities are ade- quate enocgh to relieve speedily the pres ent famine coal may reach somewhere near it's normal price by the middle of December. hardly before that.
 One dealer, who did not want his name used said this morning: If the strike is settled, the price and supply of coal de- pend upon the way the miners return to work-whether they go back few at a time or in a body-and 1t depends upon local conditions which the operators may not be able to control. If sufficient coal Is mined right away to supply the exces- hA -atl dg are able to transport it, why undoubtedly prices will fall rapidly. But that is a question.
 Sometimes. even under favorable cir cumstances coal shipments are month reaching here from the mines. Sometimes it takes no more than a week, but condl- tions now are such that with all sections of the country and all classes of people clamoring for coal, that unless coal be given the right of way over other com moditles to meet the exigency of the times, we may have to wait quite a long time to get our coal.
 "At the office of z. o. Nelson & Go. the firm has hopeful view of the situation, but declared it was not easy to say what the immediate effect of a settlement of the strike would have on the local mar ket It would undoubtedly lower the
 
 coming in, but it might take some time to get the coal here. The demand for the coal would be something tremendous and, again, as the operators fixed the price of coal, dealers here would have to be governed by it.
 If the output of coal reaches the average amount and can be transported without more than the usual delay how soon would coal reach its normal priceT
 Ask me something easy. Normal is a very elastic term. The operators may keep the normal price away up and they may not
 How long would 1t take under favor able conditions to relieve the present stringency?'
 "'It Is hard to tell. It depends on the transportation companies. Sometimes we have been able to get our orders deliv- cred at Long Island City-which is our delivery point-within week after our order is placed, sometimes not for a month,