Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-12-04
50 CABsQ COAL A DAY
Reading Company Promises
This tgWashington.
MORE III PRACTICABLE
Il -4tS.
WILL SEE That c1TlY,s NEEDY
POOR Do NOT SUFFER.
Pennsylvania Will Haul ALI Cars Con-
signed Here-The Lehigh VAL
legs Position.
MORE agIF PRACTICABLE
:, ny

4 = ~>>~J 's~~AAeS Wall AAssNA $500 $3.50
signed Here-The Lehigh Val
Legs Position.
The people Of Washington and the Dis
| trict of Columbia will rejoice to learn that
! the efforts .ofstthe committee of business
| men appointed by the District Commission
| ers to investigate the cause of the coal
| famine with, the purpose of devising means
! to bring 1t to end. bid fair to be pro-
| ducttve of some tangible results.
| The Philadelphia and Reading Coal and
| Iren Company has given assurances that
| from now ON fifty cars of anthracite coal
| shall be shipped to Washington daily. and
| that the amount will be increased soon
| as practicable. The Pennsylvania Railroad
Company. which dominates the Susquehanna
| Mining Company, the Mineral Road and
| Mining Company, and the Summit Com
| pany, has assured the people of Washing
| ton that all cars of coal destined for this
city shall receive prompt attention
Lehigh Valleys Reply.
| The Lehfgh Valley Company has declared.
| through one Of its officers. that it does not
care for Washington business. and it's rea-
sons will be found below.
Mr.. Thomas W. Smith, president of the
Washington Board of Trade and chairman
| OF the Business mems committee appointed
| by the commissioners Is In Baltimore to-
| DAY concerning with J.. J. Hills & Co.. who
| have control OF all the coal produced by the
mines dominated by the Pennsylvania rail
road TO- see ifathats company will duplicate
the promise OF, the Philadelphia and Read
ing. frsa -s.s 80
Secretary Buckley of the business mems
COMMITTEES ha6u to this afternoon receiv-
| ed replies from three local dealers to whom
questions were sent Tuesday. These were
| John Miller, William J. Zeh and v. Bald
| win johnson. The replies were similar in
| text, each declaring that he was seven
months behind in filling orders. and that he
| could not reasonably be expected to remedy
! In one month an evil of so long a growth.
The above ARE. in brief, the. conditions
that exist this Afternoon
| Committee Goes to Headquarters.
| The subcommittee of the business men s
committee. composed of Mr.. Smith, Mr..
| w. A. Guide president of the Business
| Mems Association. and Mr. Wilton ]. Lam
bert. returned Vast evening from Philadel-
| phia where a conference was had with
railroad ofacSalsiands others in the interest
OF hastening "a supply of anthracite coal to
The aittesdealed first at the offices
| of the sLehigh~ Valley Company. Mr.. F. r.
ments of that road. said his company had
| all 1t coulG; do on its own lines, and had
1 been diyeBraagi business from Washington,
| as it was undesirable. He said it was
due toithesbaot that cars were scarce and
the cempafyiwas subjected to much incon-
venience ann annoyance in looking after its
| cars wheni they were on other lines.
| At the eticesobf the philadelphia and
| Reading CDas 'aA& dren Company the COM
1 mittee rnet1Mf. T. c., CoughIin. sales agent,
| who took Rfis members toe SEE Mr. c. E.
ffeHdeF ssee6Aa vice president and gem
| erai hdaIaksf Seathe cempany5 The con-
ferenee hefs lase1g two hours -
= "a , ri Al the Reading Offices.
Mr.. Lambert, relating the interview to-
T day, sand: sseu,s = 1919 " +5s'-
MP Hehfftsrson assured the committee
| that he had been compelled to divert cars
| from, Washington and, to give. to the city a
! limited supply of anthracite coal. He said
that hes INTENDED giving the city a proper
| tomato supply. The committee ascertained
pretty accurately that for a number of days
/ al. time of late no cars were sent to
I Washington. not because Of d shortage OF
cars, but because the quantity of coal in
| hand would not Justify. ''-E '..'
| THE Reading" Mr.. Henderson said chad
| been embarrassed by the exigencies of it's
| own road, having to use a vast amount of
coal for its engines and for transportation
The Reading Company, he said had been
4 compelled to- use bitumino,is coal for this
| purpose and the supply of that product
had been short. 80
Needed for Own Use.
| MIR. Henderson said that the first vice
| president of the Reading railroad came to
him yesterday morning and told him that
! the road was saHering for want of coal for
| engines. The first vice president was en-
phatic in his demands. He said he was
| past the request stage and that if he, Hen
derson, did not turn over coal at once he
! should forthwith seize coal wherever he
could find 1t. Henderson said he had as
] sured his brother officer that he hoped to
/! be able to avoid any such contingency. He
said the trouble was that the company did
not have enough coal.
Mr.. Henderson discussed with the COM
mittee the condition in all its dffferen.
| phases. He said that some of the collieries
| were crippled by the idleness of a part of
| the men employed and by water In the
mines. At the most, he had not been able
| to work out more than 80 per cent of the
normal output. and even If it were to reach
| the normal now it would be far too little to
meet the abnormal demand.
Will Take Three Months.
| THE committee asked when it could be
hoped that thesoutput would be equal to
| the demand. Mr. Henderson replied that,
barring unforeseen accidents, he thought
| the output could be relied on to be In ex-
cess the normal demand inside of three
months and with what the company might
be able to put out In the meantime would
possibly balance the demand, though this
was uncertain.
THE committee then approached him on
| the report that dealers in Washington had
not signed the, contract required by the
Reading Company, Mr.. Henderson said he
was not selling to dealers who hadn't
signed the contract regulating the retail
price of hard coal. He said that a number
of WashfnatonY dealers had signed tiae CON