New-York tribune., 1907-09-05
COAL FAMINE POSSIBLE
SCARCITY OF MINERS.
Gloomy piezcs for HousehoIders, and
Also Reassuring Ones.

demand for the so-calIed steam sizes than the
coal producers can fill. and this. they say. IS
bound to increase by the very nature Of coal
production until manufacturers turn to the use
of other sizes of coal or to soft coal
This condition is due in part to the nature
of coal mining and the various difficulties sucn
as increase in the price Of supplies which the
producers have found lately but chiefly, they
maintain To great scarcity Of proper labor
Mines are producing thousands OF tons of coal q
day less than their proper output. one producer
declared yesterday. because miners are scarce
and refuse to work more than certain number
Of days a month.
Whether or not the householder will be in
convenienced depends entirely on the severity
of the weather. There is nothing now which
could be termed a scarcity of coal in the house,
hold sizes: in any event the pinch probably
would be less there than in the steam sizes
But there is large demand for coal OF all
sizes n excess OF the supply and the quantity
of coal now on hand now is so much less tnan
the normal because of late spring. that soma
dealers are inclined TO take serious view OF
the situation. The question OF price hardly
has come up yet. One wholesaler said yester-
day that the househoIders probably would get
their coal as cheaply this winter as last Other
people believed there would be general IL
crease in the prices OF household coal. there
has been for the steam sizes
BELIEVES FAMINE COMING
Joseph B. Dickson of Dickson & Eddy. miners
and shippers of the Ontario & Western coal.
expressed rather pessimistic views yesterday.
IF there is coal shortage this winter hs
said the people can charge it up to the labor
unions I suppose people at large will think
that's a biassed view. but the Lord knows we're
thousands of tons Of coal day below what our
output ought be. and we've got reason
/ to keep il in the ground. with fixed charges
| Il consider the general situation serious. and
/ there is no particular comfort in any especial
/ phase Of it 1t is no exaggeration to say that
/ an early cold spell or an early snowfall might
/ cause a rush of business which would bring
/ great inconvenience. perhaps hardship. 70 the
! coal dealers. I don't believe any OF US IS
/ fixed for that sort OF thing. A long winter. or a
/ hard one. might bring about much graver CON-
6itions
! You see we had very late spring this year.
/ Coal was burned away along in April and May
/ where other years the fires were out by ths
latter part OF March early in April That
threw every dealer and every producer far be-
hind the normal condition at the beginning OF
. summer Because of labor conditions our firm
+ has been unable TO make up this shortage TO
bring US 10 our normal condition at the begin
I ming Of autumn I can't speak for others on
, that score. but I know have storage pockets
a M10QletCWn
we have about 1000 tons there now I'd Ike
TO see 100000.
CAN'T GET ENOUGH MINERS
'aIt comes back principally to the subject OF
the miner. We can't get enough miners 10
work our mines 10 their full capacity. and when
7 say that, you must remember that every year
there's a bigger demand for coal than in the
last year Labor Day. Of course, none or our
11or-ed hJ1rv VII do think OF a
bunch Of men who knowing Monday was going
to be a holiday took Saturday of 10 hold .
/ picnic? That happened at most Of our mines
The resuIt-Saturday off. Sunday off. Monday
off. the men celebrating Sunday and Monday
and 100 tons OF coal on Tuesday from mines
l which ought to produce 2,GtO- We can't help IL
Practically all our miners are Poles and Hun
I garians and Litnuanians-nen who never neard
. Of as much money in their lives as they make II
thev work for a full month They won't do it.
IF thev can make as much they want IN
( twenty days they say there's no use working
I thirty And they don't. Then lots OF them
/ won't work at all IL. the summer They taks
two or three months off to visit the old country
and the mines go shOrthanded when they should
be busiest
THE recent rise In the price Of the steam
| sizes as told in The Tribune last Sunday. was
only a fair indication Of the conditions prevail
ing so far as that kind of coal is concerned
The demand is vastly greater than the supply.
These sizes buckwheat. barley. rice. even pea
are by-products of coal mining Years ago this
| stuff was thrown aside into the great CUM
hanks Then somebody found the stuff could
he used for steam; 1t was cheaper than burning
! the made sizes. and factories were lifted up 10
/ burr il Now the culm banks are about ex-
/ hausted and all the factories and hotels and
/ apartment houses which make steam from the
|
On the s,,npIv from the ordinary day TO day
/ manufacture OF coal That's nowhere near
/ enough. even nov and that means that soon
! factories and other places using this kind OF
f,a1 will have 10 turn 70 soft coal or the bigger
/ ,zas There's no profit in the buckwheat ana
| harley for us-the money we get only helps 10
t;,e 5ovr, the cost of the other sizes. and there
wouldn't be any profit in it even when the prices
| climbed as high as soft coal prices now
/ AZ factors in the seriousness of the general
/ coal situation. Mr. Dickson mentioned the N
crease in the price Of supplies ana rna1eriaI
rssded Hemlock lumber which once he could
purchase for S5 a thousand feet, last year COST
hin, more than $50 a thousand he declared
VIEWS OF RAILROAD OFFICIAL
The vice-president Of one of the largest coal
| carving railroads declared that so far as MS
cornnany was concerned il was producing and
+-ansnorting the normal quantity OF COAL our
| ,rohabIy was selling little more tnan at tlis
! season in other years On many points ne
agraed with Mr. Dickson in his view or the
| general situation There was difficulty IN get
ting labor he said. and great increase year
~, YEAR in the consumption OF coal-greater
,ha the facilities for mining coal could well ac-
/ commodate-
coal mining is a slow business. even under
/ 49,, ,as+ conditions said he Even with virgin