The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-05-01
BAER'S AMBITION FOR READING
HE HOPES no MAKE THE COW.
PANY PAY rom PER CENT.
"If ] DO That I Shall Have Done what
Smarter Men Than Have Tried for
so Years and Failed" Says He-Will
Store Coal to Prot cot the puhIic

"If ] DO That ! Shall Have Done what
smarter Men Than ] Have Tried for
so Years and Failed" Says He--Will
store Coal to Protect the Public.
George F. Baer, president Of the Reading
Company, and Eben B. Thomas president
OF the Lehigh Valley Railroad and the
Lehigh Valley Coal Company and ex-presi-
dent of the Erie. were the witnesses before
the Interstate Commerce Commission at
Its hearing in the Federal Building yester-
day. For nearly three hours Mr.. Baer
answered questions by Clarence J. Shearn,
attorney for the petitioner, about the Read
ing Company.
Mr.. Baer told the commission that the
Reading road had not paid dividends and
that it was his object to make 1t pay per
cent. Said Mr.. Shearn:
Bearing on your statement of yesterday
that you intend to work up the price OF coal
from 81 SO to s. a ton at the rate Of 10 cents
month. would an April purchaser be COM
PEELED to pay the price of the month Of de-
livery. or would he be charged the April
price irrespective of date OF delivery? A. He
would have to pay the price according to
the date OF delivery
q, Then you don't accept an uncondi-
tional purchases purchase to deliver ut
certain price? A. No.
y. That suggests another method Of in
creasing the price by Withholding delivery.
deliver all the coal we can during the month.
We want to make quick deliveries.
He said that since 1897 there had been a
steady increase in the consumption OF
anthracite and quoted statistics to show
this, but read from report Of the Reading
Railroad that it carried Q, a85 953 tons last
year, a decrease Of ,O57 1888 from the year
before.
O. Was the capacity Of your colieries the
same in 1890 az in 1901. :, A. Approximately.
q. And the production Of coal is increasing!
a; No; i Is slightly decreasing. Several
we have found would not pay US to repair.
lieries' 4. We have spent a great deal Of
money, not in new workings, but IN repairing
old ones. 1t takes more than three years
to develop a new. collery. We battered our
facilities for producing coal as well as we
q How do you account for the fact that the
production has not varied during. the three
extensive improvements. A. Because in the
past the amount of production was based
shs %%a BY ens based
on the percentsse each colliery supplied {. 70
s on s 81 n5Hnss.
ton, Of the Reading company against indie
pendent operators, Before that our tracks
system was cogeed The private operators
o mine no ope coal than the Market Mon
take Sometimes. however. we get the roads
congested and then simply say We cant take
any more coal until the cars are out OF the
way.
Commissioner ,rrouty: Who determines
the that Ey Since Sc,dber 1885, cots thr 9s
has been no necessity to curtail II because We
have increased our number of cars from
haven't been able to work regularly. not
alone an account Of strikes. but because the
men otter, refuse to work on holidays. More
coal could have been mined II they could
have worked more steadily.
Q. You have power to restrict the output?
could shut down their collieres and be as
arbitrary as the strikers If they wanted to
entirely disregard the stockholders and the
q. Would the, market take more. coal II
the, price was was, iowe1r over. a., A. 70. ! think pot not
TO an inquiry if bituminous coal Is a
competitor of anthracite Mr.. Baer said 1t
was very severe competitor. II ia a
better steam fuel and can be bought cheaper.
The market for anthracite in New England
had been taken away during the strike by
Nova Scotia coal and it would take years
to regain it. He went on:
IN, the case Of the BEADING we are not
unable to pay diyidenda. The, Reading
only wants reasonable interest on the money
/ viii ejoice and believe my administration
successful for will have done something
that smarter men than have tried for thirty
years to do and failed.
! never have been party to any scheme
OF over capitalization in my life of over three
score years, and ] hope never will be. Our
securities represent property that IL honestly
ACQUIRED.
In closing his testimony Mr.. Bacr said
It was his intention to protect the public in,
future by storing several million tons OF
coal
President Thomas said that the Erie
Railroad carries somewhere about 100000
tons of coal year and the Susquehanna
and Western probably about COZ, 900 or
500 600 tons. The cost Of mining had
greatly increased since 1900. His company
had expended 100000 in rebuilding a col
lery and in one instance they were pumping
out ten tons of water to one of coal.
The hearing will he continued to-day
with President William Fl. Truesdale OF
tho Delaware, Lackawanna and Western
as the principal witness.
Coal Ten Cents Higher.