Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-12-11
COAL MORE PLENTIFUL
One Hundred and Thirty
Four Cars in View.
SITUATION BRIGHTER
CARTS AND MEN ACTIVE AT THE
DELIVERY YARDS.
One School Closed Temporarily for
Want Of Fuel-Result Of
Mistake.

The coal situation in Washington today
is brighter than at any time since the
famine confronted the people. Terminal
Agent Legg of the Baltimore and Ohio rail-
road said this afternoon that there were
thirty-four leftover cars of anthracite
from yesterdays supply in the coal yards
near the old base ball park. Twenty more
cars of anthracite were received up to Z
o'clock this afternoon and thirty more
cars were said to be between here and
Baltimore on their way. In addition to
these, fifty cars of anthracite were reported
to be In the yards at Baltimore en- route
to Washington. This makes An aggregate
of 1874 cars of coal. Mr. Legg said that the
greater portion of this amount was from
the Philadelphia and Reading Coal and
Iron Company and the balance from lnue-
pendent operators
On the square north Of street east and
east of North Capitol street there was a
scene of activity today. In the plg raii-
road yard there the car loads OF coal con-
signed to the dealers who have no private
dumps are left to be emptied. 1t is also
the place where the firm Of Albright q
Barker receives coal to be distributed TO
the smaller dealers or others VINO are apIe
to pay the price. At this time the patrons
of this firm find 1t necessary to get their
teams in line over night in order to be as
sured of getting fuel In event or the. ar
rival OF cars. more tNdu OHe huHui GU eSc.A'iS
were in line about the yard at noon today,
and others were still appearing. Men were
at work filling wagons and carts OF every
description ana scores OF men, women anu
children were gathering up the stray Jumps
as they would fall from where the drivers
were working 1t was impossible for the
Waterman to keep these people away anu
the men at work estimated that the coal
pickers carried from the yard and street
fully one-half ton Of coal each day When
the receipts amounted to much.
More Than Can Be Weighed Out.
A Star reporter was told by a clerk in the
wholesale establishment that there was
more coal in the yard this morning than he
could weigh out before night. The teams
were in line and only one of them was al
lowed to load at bin at a time. This made
the work of unloading comparatively slow.
1t was stated that there has been an IN
crease in the receipts during the past week
but no one about the yard could give zen.
mite information concerning the amount OF
increase In the yard where the coal con-
signed to a number of dealers Is delivered
there were more than twenty carloads OF
anthracite COAL A number OF teams were
in this part of the yard and Few men were
at work doing some unloading. In this
yard it is necessary for the drivers TO
shovel the coal from the cars, which has
the effect Of holding the cars here much
longer than they would have to be held II
elevated tracks over coal bins were provid-
ed, such as is the case in the private yards
Of the larger dealers.
Instances of High Prices.
Anthracite coal is selling from s7.25 to
SIS a ton today to my certain knowledge"
said Mr. B. F. Locraft, land there Is not
much hope for lower prices just now"
Mr. Locraft explained that he had coal
on the road which will stand him $3.50
ton on the track. He said he also had
about ore hundred tons of splint coal on
the Pennsylvania railroad which would
greatly relieve him if he could get 1t. This
coal, he stated, shipped from the mine
nearly a month ago. The delay he peiieV-
ed was caused by the railroad company.
THE fact of the matter is" he said, the
railroads cannot handle the coal last
enough"
The conditions are said to be far worse
in Baltimore and other cities than they
are here" said another coal merchant to
Star reporter A great amount OF coal
be said. has been mined. and If the rail-
roads could handle 1t fast enough the sup
ply would be much larger. There are
brokers at the mines, he added, who are
willing to pay almost any price for coal to
ship to New York. Boston and other cities.
The brokers. according to his Information,
outnumber. the operators at some OF the
mines. and he had no doubt that much OF
the coal is bought up by these brokers and
shipped to places other than where 1t was
intended to be shipped when it was put in
the cars. At the yard Of Albright & Bark
er brokers stood outside the gates today
and offered the drivers an advanced price.
At the yards Of the many coal dealers to-
day the stock on hand was rather small.
The demand was so great that the dealers
had 1t delivered to their patrons as fast as
their teams could haul it. With the larger
dealers, who have branch yards, small
quantities are hauled to these places in
order to fill orders Of customers about the
neighborhood Of the yards. The dealers
haul the coal direct from the cars to their
customers, where 1t is possible for them to
do so, and this method not only saves the
time and expense Of double hauling, but
their patrons get their fuel much earlier.
Small quantities OF coal, to be sold in bushei
and peck lots, are kept on hand at most OF
the yards, and it was retailing today at
from % to 30 cents bushel.
Takes Pessimistic View.
Mr.. V. Baldwin Johnson. one Of the larg-
est local dealers in coal, said to Star re-
porter this morning that he was selling an
thracite coal today at $12 a ton, and he
was advising his customers to take quarter
and half-ton lots in order that the small
amount he had On hand might relieve as
many people as possible.
There is nothing favorable In the situa-
ton today from my standpoint" he stated.
There is very little coal coming and the
sales must correspond. received only one
have been able to ascertain, there has been
no appreciable increase in the coal receipts
during the past week. The committee Of
citizens who went to Philadelphia 1 am
satisfied accomplished nothing. The coal
had mapped out their plans long
before the committees visit, and 1t is rea-
sonable to suppose that they would not
change their policy SO long after opera
lions had been resumed In some cities the
need is more urgent tIlan In others, and I
take it that this question was considered
when the companies mapped out the policy
they were to pursue.
School Temporarily Closed.
At its regular meeting at the Franklin
building last night the board Of education
considered the coal question related to
the supply Of coal for the public schools.
Reports were received showing that none
Of the schools had been compelled to close
from lack of coal, except the Logan School,
at the corner of Sd and G streets northeast,
where the pupils were dismissed because
the supply, was exhausted. An arrange
snent was made by which the deficiency was
met at once and the school opened for busi-
ness this morning as usual.
It was announced that the stock OF coal