The Jersey City news., 1906-04-05
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THURSDAY. APRIL .. 1906.

The inclination of the rtail coal deal
lers In at least two of our principal cities
to take advantage of the strike TO
squeeze the public is shown by the fact
that on Saturday they raised the price
of anthracite coal in New York and
Philadelphia. In the former city they in
creased the price from 81 to $125 a ton,
and in the latter from 25 to so cents a
SOD. says the Rochester "Unio nand Ad-
vertiser." This they did in spite of the
&act that the mine operators have de-
elared that they will not increase the
price, of coal at tidewater unless their
present stored supply of 100000 tons
shall be exhausted If the operators
stand by this declaration probably the re-
tail dealers viii be compelled to return
10 the old prices. They may be led TO
10 this, first by the threat of some of
bthe principal operators to cut off their
supply of coal If they charge exorbitant
tpriees. and secondly by public opinion
(which is running high aga INST them.
Certainly for some time there viii be
no good excuse for increasing the price
sof anthracite coal in the metropolis. Ac-
tcording to information obtained by the
New York Herald there within twelve
hours train haul of the city probably
a ,5e0, 900 tons of anthracite coal in the
possession of the coal roads. st is,'
says fhst journal, tsored in immense
,.heaps along the lines of these roads,
sprincisaaiy in New Jersey, within easy
reach of the city. At South Plainfeld
khere are 100000 tons, at Rochelle Park
s250000 tons, and so on at nearly every
savailable storage place within one hun
dred miles Of the metropolitan district.
This is exclusive of the large quantities
tthat have been stored adjacent to New
Fork within the last six months by big
kecrporations like the New York Edison
sComDany, the consolidated Gas Com
Tpany and other corporations in New
Iork." As the full stored supply is de-
fsiarea by the operators to be 10, Coz, 900
hons there ought to be coal enough to go
Eareind for some time TO come.
/ HoBever, the reason given by some
iaesiefs for advancing the price Of coal IS
THAT the coal does not go round. that it
has already become difficult for them to
! get their ordinary supply from the usual
tsourees and they have had to go to in
dependent seucres. But IL they were
1nade to understand that they would get
none from the regular sourcss of supply
I Il they raised the prices they might, per-
haps, keep to the old schedule. Certain
II they have shown their greed in adj
vanciag prices before the miners quit
Work.
If the strike Is prolonged Of course an
Increase in the price Of anthracite coal
win be inevitable. But, aside from the
remote possibility that an agreement
may be reached at to-rnofrow's meeting
IN New York Of Representatives of the
Anthracite operators and the miners
there Is reason for believing that the
fact that only part of the miners In the
soft coal reslons win be on strike will
lead to an early settlenien, Of the trou-
blss il the bi.1m.nous mines and that
settlement IN that field win have a
pacific ssfser on II fight III the anrhra.
cite Geld one ssmss, as now seems in
svitable.
Il y our4oa sand interesting fact
Ehat = the eountry's principal financial
lsspvx 4 - vsstty generally believed that
zhs csss ss,ike sili nos last long The
Azaasiai vxitsr Of sne of the leading
e'tN zssk aswspass~ sass; .swAn