The Evening statesman. [volume] (Walla Walla, Wash.) 1903-1910, 1907-09-05
FUEL BUYERS
kept GUESSING
No Heavy Supply Has Been
Thrown on Market

What will 5000 cords of wood
amount to when there is all of eastern
Oregon. and Washington and part of
Idaho to supply from that source" said
a fuel dealer of the city this morning.
ut would help some, of course, but to
say that On account of it any fuel
famine can be averted is nonsense. I
can not say positively there is going
to be famine, it's absolute guesswork
You can say wheat is surely going up
but it doesn't always do as you say. No
more than does the stock you buy fol-
low the way you thought it would on
the market.
"Ohe thing is sure. Coal is going to
be high. Another thing. Coal dealers
have no trust here and probably make
as small profits on their goods as any
merchants in the city. If there were a
combination, would one dealer sell coal
for a less price than another. as is now
the case here? We are selling the coal
as cheaply as We can and when the
wholesale prices go jOwnhrdlua oind
sure retail prices will follow. Our
prices are as low as we can make
them at a fair profit. Coal may be
high but it is not the dealers fault.
They are selling at a narrow margin
but they are held up by the mine own
Always Good Market.
Prices this year bid fair to go high.
President Elliot of the Northern Pa
cific said in his visit to this city this
summer:
'It makes little difference to me
personally whether people buy coal
now or during the winter. We always
have a good market for coal. And
when people are advised and warned
to buy coal while they can get it and
then later blame the railroads be-
cause there is a shortage of cars and
they cannot get coal it almost makes
one quit caring whether the people
get coal or not. We are doing our
best this year to get people to buy
their coal early, partly because we
know they will have difficulty in get
ting it and then we know how it Will
be when the time comes when they
can't get fuel l honestly believe
there will be a shortage this wint I
and it is my earnest advice 20 all VIZ
need coal to get it at once
In this tone nearly every man who
is interested in mines speaks. If they
are not all scoundrels and thieves we
must expect some shortage in the fuel
department this year.
Coa1 is still high. In spite OF the
statements published elsewhere to the
effect that coal is going down, one
dealer of this city paid 1915 ton for
coal loaded on the track. To make any
profit on this it will have to sell Tor
more than the Pasco quotation OF $7.5p
per ton.
While there is a great deal of wocH
in the mountains this year ready lot
shipme1t vet when the fact that tfie
whole country is to be supplied from
that one source, it will be readily seen
that it cannot supply the country long.
No Bids Offered.
The hope that the Alaska mines
would come to the rescue and help tEe
people out is likely to prove dream.
Gov. Hoggatt of Alaska, sald re-
Gently that there is no hope along TINS
line whatever this year. Another year
it might be better but this year there
is no promise of any relief from this
source.
The city of Seattle lately called 1or
bids for $50 tons of coal and rot an
bffer was made to supply the fuel lot
the schools. The time was extenaeu
and still no bids have been received
Everywhere a shortage is reported
but whe.her it is an indication OF Sc
rious difficulty or only a scheme OF
the mineowners to get good prices
cannot be determined.
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