The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-01-26
BILL DEALS WITH
COAL SITUATION
Object to Stop Railroad ,ConfiS-
cation of Fuel in
Transit.
FAMINE IS STILL SERIOUS
RECEIPTS YESTERDAY WERE
FAR FROM REAssuRINc.

representative Barnett of Juab coun-
". In a bill introduced in The house YES
eeroay, proposes to put a stop TO the al
ieged practice Of railroads of appropriate
ing 70 their own use coal and other fuel
designed for public or private use. while
III transit. His bill makes such cOnfis-
o,.', III a hlsuemeanor, punishable as 9TH
- IllS1eIheanors under the statutes. It
Il made an emergency 10 take effect
upon It's approval by the governor.
me Dill was referred without comment
10 the committee on railroads and com
mon carriers. In view of the present
coal shortage, ii Is probable that the
committee will make a report to the
I5o'.se at an early date; The text Of Mr..
barnetts bill is as follows:
Section /. No railroad or common car
! rler snail be allowed to appropriate to its
own use coal or oil consigned for public
sit
Section 2 Any violation of the above
section shall be a misdemeanor.
Section 3. This act shall take effect
upon approval"
Ii is contended that much OF the pres
ent shortage in the supply of coal TO pri-
Vate consumers is due to the acts of the
railroads in cOnfiscating to their own
use coal consigned to dealers for CON
sumption in Salt Lake and other cities
1t is asserted that the railroads take a
| car or coal wherever found and apply il
70 their own use in steam-making. and
that in consequence private consumers
are left to suffer. as is the case i'm many
salt Lake homes today. Representative
| Barnett proposes to reach the alleged
| evil by the most direct route possible
The coal situation in Salt Lake yester-
| day was II anything more acute than
IL has been i'm some weeks past Notwith-
standing the claims of the railroads that
I they are hauling coal into Salt Lake in
preference to all freight except stuff of
/ perishable nature. the amount OF coal re-
! ceived yesterday was below the average
since the present famine set in.
Here are the figures of the coal ac-
! tually received in the city yesterday bv
/ the various dealers for commercial pur-
| poses, as nearly as they could be gotten.
! kemmerer Coal company, three cars: Cit
lzens Coal company, four cars. and the
/ BamDerger Coal company five cars G.
I ;. Martin got no coal whatever and the
/ Central Coal x Coke company declined to
say anything as to its receipts AS a
matter of fact the last named company
| probably received more coal during the
1 day than all of the other dealers com
| deliver coal when not an ounce was 10
/ be had of any other dealer in the city. A
/ shortage OF teams and a method of hand
| ling generally regarded as obsolete have.
I however. initiated against this COM
panys efforts to deliver coal TO it's Gus
/ toners when ordered
/ General Manager n. G.. Ridgeway OF
| the Denver Il Rio Grande system. inter
/ viewed Thursday by The Herald said
/ of coal and coke have been brought into
( the valley by the Rio Grande Western
road alone. 1t is hard to determine what
| has become Of this coal as there has been
an Increase instead of a decrease in the
discomfort and suffering.