The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1906-12-17

~'N VI sAahSPot r esStiitsGs FVf
Coal and Wood - Harvested Grain
Lying on Ground Under snou-Raii~
road Men Appalled,.
st. Paul, MINI, Dec. 1.-THE north
west no longer merely faces fueI
famine-it is experiencing cee. Al
ready several persons have frozen to
death through the failure of the rail-
roads to furnish cars for the shipment
of coal and wood.
In North Dakota there Is no timber.
Coal is the only fuel. Careful inquiry
In every part of the northern half Of
the state shokTs that there lis not q
town with an adequate supply of fuel.
In some towns coal can he had only
in small quantities and to supply Inn
mediate needs. In scores of places
there is not pound to be bought. In
some cases the dealers have been out
Of fuel for week or more
Similar conditions prevail in the
southern half of the state and in north
ern Minnesota.
Snow Blockade Feared.
One of the most serious features II
the possibility of a general snow
blockade. There is nolT more snow on
the ground In North Dakota than at
any previous time since 1895. Thus far
the state has escaped high wines and
bad riffs, but storm such as may
come at any time In the winter would
pile up immense drifts, tie up the
roads for many days and cripple them
for the entire winter.
In the face of the appalling condl-
tions the people are paying no atten-
tion to the lack Of cars for the ship
ment of the immense quantities Of
wheat that lie loose on the ground,
buried under the snow. In Ii viduals,
commercial and civic bodies and the
newspapers demand that fuel be given
right Of way over everything.
There are in North Dakota some tSyo
thousand miles OF branch railways
over which not more than cne rassan-
ger and'one freight train run each day,
and these lines it is aimost impossible
to keep open. II is aAong these hranch-
es that there Ia nosz the greatest sHE-
fering.
Railroad Mon at VIA End.
The interstate commerce comnagslou
Is here investigating the fusa shortage.
Railroad men are appalled, and DO not
mNto know what Il do. The tra61c
manager Of one of the -ansccntinental
lines said; I'VE are short of both ears
and locomotives. A year ago ali the
traffic managers urged the purchase
of more cars and locomotives, but the
presidents of the roads insisted that
the traffic at that time had reached
high tide and that rolling stock was
unnecessary.
ITO add to the congestion 1t Is alieg-
ed that the fuel dealers did not order
their supplies early this season as usu-
al, but sought the reduction in freight
rates that was expected after the TAX
ing effect Of the new federal railway
rate act. Finally the orders came In
lunches, and neither the coal compa-
nias nor the railroads could take care
of the business
Notwithstanding this statement, the
car accounts of the great northwesterD
lines declare that thsre are more than
5000 empty cars on the side tracks Of
ST. Paul and nearby terminals.
The newspapers are mekir The
char that one cause OF the fuel fam
Inc is that the railroads have been op-
Grated not for the hest interests Of the
public, but purely for dividends. The
nor rthwest has made this charge. and
the commerce commission is expected
to find out what there is to it.