Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-09-23


opened and in excess of tn" demand. The
whole trouble lay in the improvdenCe of
the consumers and the lack of capital and
enterprise among the local dealers. who al
lowed an unusually early winter to catch
them without their usual supply. Begin
ming with November the weather last year
became very severe and neither the retail
dealers nor the consumers were prepared
for il.
Trying to Arouse the People.
This year the railway companies are do
ing their level best to persuade the retail
dealers along their lines to put away an ex-
ira supply and appealing directly to
the people to the newspapers, to all large
consumers and 10 the officials in charge of
school houses and other public institutions
to provide against such condition oc-
CURED last winter. The railway officials
have even app aled to the Catholic priests
10 secure their cooperation in perSuading
the lHboTinE people. WHO arc mostly for
ciGners and Catholics in this part of the
country. 70 lay in their winter coal before
the Ju!G weather comes on. Mr.. A l..
Craig, passenger traffic manager of the
Great Northern railroad. has been running
IN every country newspaper along the line
Of that road during the summer months the
following advertisems nj:
ORDER YOUR COAL NOW,
There is plenty Of coal at the head of
the lakes and equipment to handle it,
ORDER YOUR COAL NOW!
I y W
Reports show that but small pro-
portion of the coal necessary for winter
consumption is on hand at CName of
town.
ORDER YOUR COAL NOW!
TO be delivered at once.
On the 1st of June Mr.. Craig addressed
a circular letter to the editors of all the
newspapers along the line of this railroad
calling attention to the apprehension and
discomfort caused by the limited fuel sup
ply last winter and asking them to publish
articles from time to time editorially and
otherwise calling attention to the fact that
there Is plenty of coal at Duluth and that
II can be purchased at a lower price in the
summer than in the winter months. He
requested them also to appeal to the local
dealers TO lay in all the supply that may
be necessary and to ask consumers to CO.
operate with them by ordering and paying
for their winter fuel in advance.
ON the sta of August a second circular
was sent to every newspaper calling atten-
tOn to the amount of coal ordered up to
that date by the local dealers in each par
ucular town and comparing il with the
quantity consumed during the year 1906;
In many cases when the orders were in
adequate Mr.. Craig called attention to the
fact. and asked them TO warn the public
that unless they We're considerably in
creased another coal famine would occur
during the coming winter. This. Mr.. Craig
told them, Will do much 10 discourage and
retard the mate rial development of that
section of the country and injure the repu-
tation OF the towns. He appealed to the
pride and public spirit of the editors and
asked their cooperation In bringing the
matter To public notice and in securing an
increase of the coal supply in their towns
before the cod weather sets in.
Coal Dealers Handicapped.
The result has been to insure most of the
towns in nOrthern Minnesota and Dakota
against any repetition of last years
shortage, but in others the local dealers do
not have the capital TO purchase a large
quantity at a time. Most of them handle
lumber In the summer and coal in the win
ter, and they need all the capital at their
command for their current business The
people most likely to suffer are the i'm
pr"Tldent kind, who live from hand to
mouth. who never save any part of their
wages. who buy their coal by the bucket
flu when they actually need it, and all
come at once and usually exhaust the sup
ply o! d dealer every time there is a bliZ-
zdf'- The farmers. as rule, lay in their
winter supply early and are able to paw
cash when they sell their wheat. Few
Wagr-earHers have the money TO do this
and few local dealers have capital enough
To carry their customers
Prices are not high. The freight on coal
j. only - cents ton from the Lake Erie
ports Z" Duluth, and railways give low
rates because they want west-hound car
tnts. Anthracit" coal rctails FOR 81 to
-" and Luminous from $3.50 TO 81 alb
along the line ~ the Great Northern the
Northern Pacific and other railroads
Scarcity of Freight Cars.
Tn" scarcity of cars is still felt every
where The great prosperity of the coun-
try has caused an unprecedented demand
FOR rolling stock. and although Mr.. Craig
tells me that the Great Northern has re-
c.!Ved 3,U"r new box cars 800 ore and
coal ears and 800 new locomotives mis-
year. they cannot handle al the east
bound freight that is offered them II
should also be considered that the new
ears are twice az large as the old ones and
carry fifty tons.
The enormous fleet OF steamers that
carry iron ore. grain. flour and other prod
uCts OF the northwest from Duluth 10 the
ports Of Lake Erie bring back coal salt
and m-rChandisa as return Cargoes and can
afford To offer very low rates rather than
come empty. Coal is the easiest and most
profitable cargo. and during the navigation
year OF 1905 the official records show that
the canals at the Sault Ste Marie.
This was an increase Of 2,230 600 tons. or
more than - per cent over the previous
year. In 1885 only a little more than a
in 1895 only a little more than three mil
Hon The shipments in 1896 were eight
times those OF twenty years ago, three
times those of ten years ago, and twice
those of five years ago.
The receipts of coal. at Duluth have in
creased with the same rapidity. In 1876
they amounted TO less than 25.0O tons: In
1856 they were 10000 tons: in 1896, ! $50 80
tons: In 1900. 1872 81; in 1903. 3.GO7 555
and in 1905 the total receipts were 4 30 600
tons
Coal Docks in Duluth.
There are enormous coal docks in Duluth
tons each year. The bituminous coal. which
a. tl.a l,ol..