The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1905-10-27

ld TIE WALTER NJ IoWSkY co. sos1os. mi
GOAL OPERATORS
PREPARE FOR WAR.
I CONTINUED from First Page.)
sought for domestic and stearning pur-
poses.
Lack of Cars.
Inability to get the product Of the New
River and Kanawha mines to market Is
tho absorbing topic, not only among coal
men, but among banking people and IN
business circles generally In Charleston:
| for coal Is king in West Virginia. Every
| Interest in the neighborhood of the CAPT.
tai Of the State is dependent upon the
prosperity Of the coal business. The coal
operators are the largest bank deposit
/ tors, and the banker depends upon the
| operator for his best loans. The opera
| tors furnish the Wholesale merchant with
his largest ord ers, and the best opportuni-
l tv the laboring man has to get good
wages Is by working in the coal mines.
The trouble appears to be that the
! development OF the coal deposits Of this
section Of West Virginia has outrun the
capacity OF the Chesapeake and Ohio
Railway to move the product of the mines
i to the markets. which so eagerly await
it. This road controls the Kanawlla and
New River coal fields, and there Is no
Immediate likelihood that 1t will have
serious competition, unless the mystcri-
Gus Tidewater Road. which Is to run
almost the entire length OF Virginia to
II Norfolk eve. tally. undertakes to make
the Chesapeake and Ohio share the
fields The western terminus Of the Tide
water is Deepwater alittle village on
a the Chesapeake and Ohio, some thirty
miles east of Charleston
4 The Chesapeake and Ohio has increased
its tonnage very materially in the last
4 five years, but the capacity OF the mines
has increased still more rapidly. The
consequence Is that the operators find
themselves every year with fewer days
work for their mines. This is caused by
the inability OF the railway company to
supply the cars needed to haul the coal
to market. &.
An Eight-Day Month.
1t is an astounding fact that the aver
ago time worked every month by the
3minrs Of kanawha and New. River Is q
fraction less than nine days.. S.73 days, to
be exact. This is due to the inblity OF
the rilway company to supply the cars
= needed to haul the coal to market #
l. a representative OF all the operators
In the Kanawha and New River nelds
save one or two, gave me figures show
4 ing the combined capacity Of the mines
i Of the two districts, the tons loaded, and
i tho average number of days worked each
| month for the past five years. It Is from
these tables that the following Is taken
I. In the year 1903 about 500, $50 tons were
loaded and shipped, the mines running an
average of HOP days per month.
i In 1904 the coal loaded was about 7,473.-
1886 tons, while the average time worked
4 at each operation fell to 800. 8
i The coal loaded during the nine months
ending with September 80. 1906 was e,265,-
145 tons. but the average monthly work.
] ing time at each of the mines was only
/ 1913. N
l So that, while the amount Of coal
being shipped from these fields increased
! yarly, because OF the increase in the
| number OF operations, the average time
| worker per month in each Of the mines
grows steadily less. Operators. who
I would be glad to sec the fields developed
as rapidly as possible under normal CON-
dtions shiver every time they hear talk
| of n new operation, 1t means that there
| must be- longer division of the number
of cars available for tho hauling Of the
coal to market. The representative Of
the operators said In a recent report to
| his cllnts.
AS the Operators See It.
4. "The running time for the mines Ia
growing less each year, and the outlook
for the future Is most dsoouraging.
| New 4operationseare starting on Guyan.
and they will be followed by new plants
on Coal river, Lower. Loup. Plney l1x-
i tension, Laurel Greek, and elsewhere.
4 IEIeroci remedies must be applied or the
coal Industries on the line of the Chesa-
peake and Ohio. railway will be involved
Il in grave disaster. Labor Is demorallzed
4 by idleness, cost Of production is greatly
!. Increased property values are reduced.
4 md owners and operators are deprived
OF their legitimate income by reason OF
tho complete failure OF the railway COM.
4 ipany to move even one-half OF the ton
4 mage that Is offered. 1t has beer the
i policy 81 the Chesapeake and Ohio TO
j invest heavily In branch lines or feeders
to control the territory and prevent me
entrance of competing lines,
/ From the viewpoint OF the railway Wis
may be the natural thing to do. rs has
| been Claimed, uHu there tWoulu pe ~ Wv
! lection to 1t on the part OF the operators
il an equal amount Of money and energy
were given to the betterment OF tide
water facilities, and extensions of the
| line in the direction OF the Great Lakes.
i we have no evidence that this needed
relief is coming. We see the road reach
iing out every day for more coal terri
tory, but we do not see where adequate
arrangements are heing made to handle
the coal 1T now has
No Blame of Stevens.
There is not manifest the slightest dis,
position on the part OF the coal opera
i tors 10 critieise President, Stevens. OF
i the Chesapeake and Ohio, The relations
i between these big shippers and the presl-
dent. Of the railway company nave al