The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-01-29
4 Few DISCREPANCIES.

~
Strange as it may seem. the person
ally conducted" investigation of the
Merchants K Manufacturers associa-
tion by c. O. Harris. manager. seems
10 have gone amiss as TO the facts in
the coal situation Mr. Harris took the
trouble i'm behalf Of the public to make
trip along the Rio Grande railroad
10 see for himself how the octopus was
octopussing the suffering consumers of
coal. He reported only three trains en-
route 90 Salt Lake, he said - per cent
Of the coal output OF the state was be-
ing converted into coke for the maws
Of the smelters. and. horrible to relate.
he found a lot of empty cars at Cotton,
the junction 81 branch line on the Rio
Grande where the coal product is
turned into the main line
Now comes one s. V. Derrah. minion
of the octopus, and declares on his
honor as a gentleman. that Mr.. Harris
eyesight failed him: that instead Of
three trains carrying coal on the day
specified there We're nine. Worse than
this. Mr. Derrah says the dispatchers'
sheets show that there were nine trains
which TO the average mind would seem
more conclusive than Mr., Harris UNI
aided eyesight
Mr.. Derrah further deposes and says
that Mr.. Harris figures as to the per-
centage of total coal output converted
into coke for the maws Of the smelters
is much less than the aforesaid Harris
estimate. that instead OF - per cent it
is only 1000 tons of coal of total of
1000 tons daily.
Then with no regard for the reputa-
ton of the proponents. Mr.. Derrah says
somebody missed the truth mile or
more when he told the mass meeting in
Labor hall that slack costs manufac-
turer here 1928. Mr.. Derrah says slack
IS sold TO manufacturers at only S2.75
ton delivered i'm Salt Lake. and since he
is in charge of Rio Grande traffic i'm
Utah it may be taken for granted he
speaks with authority
or course such little discrepancy as
The difference between s5.25 and $275
.@'gs no coal with the people who want
railroad commission named by the
state Republican machine: but to the
average citizen it would seem that an
exaggeration OF 200 per cent i'm the price
Of slack is verbal extravaganza that
might have been waived Also. it would
seem that Mr.. Harris. he of the eagle
eye and ready conversation. might have
guessed a little closer TO the truth when
he was figuring the amount OF coal in
transit % Salt Lake
Finally TO get down TO the serious
side Of the situation, there seems to be
mighty little excuse for mis-statement
IF fact. The man is short on brains
who thinks for a moment that the rail-
roads will not do their utmost to relieve
the pressure for coal There is no ex-
cusc for making the task more difficult
or misrepresenting the actual condi-
tIons So far no actual suffering has
followed the shortage in the coal sup
ply: and The Herald undertakes to say
that the man who is actually in danger
Of suffering from lack Of fuel can get
coal IL he shows that there is such a
danger Much Of the difficulty mas been
due TO coal hogs" who have ordered
coal when they didn't need II; some of
the trouble has been due TO the awful
condition of the streets outside the
paved districts. which makes delivery
difficult. and the rest has been the re-
suit of a misguided policy of the coal
companies which they probably recog-
nize now as a mistake and are not like
~ to repeat.