The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-02-10
GOVERNMENT BUYS FUEL ON CONTRACT Great Saving Has Already Been
 Accomplished DEALERS GET PREMlUM MS When Coal Grades Up Better Than Contract Requirements the Dealer Is Paid An Extra
 Profit.
DEALERS GET PREMIUMS

Dealer Is Paid An Extra
 Profit.
 Washington, February 9.-(Speciaf) As the result of suggestion made last March by President Roosevelt, looking toward a more uniform basis in the purchase of fuel for government use, there has already been "a. saving of several thousand dollars through the delivery of a better quality of coal In many of the government buildings in Washington coal is now being pur- chased on contracts which specify def nitely the heating value of the coal and the percentage of ash it contains. Un- der such a contract, government of ficials say, the consumer gets what he pays for and pays for what he gets.
 When the government first indicated it's wish to purchase fuel under such a contract, there was some dissatis- faction among the coal dealers, but this has cleared away, it is said, for the dealer while penalized for furnishing coal below the standards set in the specifications, is given a premium whenever the coal analyses above the requirements. Quite number of prem iums have been paid, which is satis- factory to the government, for in each instance the superior quality Of the coal delivered has proven an absolute economy over the old, haphazard method of purchase.
 Important Problem.
 The importance of this problem is seen in the fact that the government each y pays nearly $6,SOO,00 for fuel.
 This up by the techn United States geolt wing a letter writ oosevelt to the nat d on fuels and str body of leading CT lntry which was 4sident some time [ lst such questions.
 The recent inves- VII so wide a Varia-
 generating heat and
 fious public buildings
 ment purposes, that I
 have the national ad-
 n fuels and structural
 ider this matter and
 me more uniformly e. for the purchase of fuel suppl the several departments of the gove. nent and for securing the highest attainable efficiency in the use of these fuels.'
 l The advisory board referred the Pres | ident's req to government engineers 1 familiar Vi power plant require- ments, and lcifications for the pur- chase of coa on its actual heating value were q twn up and later re- vised and recol lmended by this board. Contracts were st in a number of de- partments on this basis and the tech nologic branch set it's chemists to work making analyses of the coal as received from the dealers. This work is being carried forward all the time. At various times, when the dealers are delivering coal, the custodians of the government buildings notify the tech nologic branch and samples of this coal are taken to the laboratory and analysed to determine the number of heat units the fixed carbon, the volatile matter. the ash and sulphur in the coal. If the coal averages higher than | the standard set in the contract. the dealer gets a premium; if 1t is below l the standard there is a penalty. The result of this work so far is l contained in a bulletin. just Issued by the geological survey under the ap- l proval of Director George Otis Smith and J. A. Holmes, chief of the techno- logic branch. D. T. Randall, the au- l thor of the bulletin, and who has the l investigations in charge, says;
 RandaIl's Report.
 "The people of this country have been purchasing coal for years on the state | ment of the selling agent as to its | quality, or on the reputation of the mine or district from which 1t was obtained. The farmers show more I judgment in the purchase of fertilizer | than do many manufacturers in the purchase of coal, for the farmer de- | mands a chemical analysis of the fer | tilizer before he purchases it.
 "Under the old nlan of purchasing coal, when the consumer had cause, or 1 thought he had cause, to find fault with | the quality of the fuel he received, he l was generally assured that 1t must be l good, because like all other coals sent 1 him, it came from a mine with an es- 1 tablished reputation. Such a state of l affairs made 1t difficult to take ad- | vantage of the competition which 1 usually results when a considera ble | number of bidders are asked to sub | init prices. The purchaser was afraid 1 to buy from any but such dealers as he knew and trusted, because, although 1 each dealer claimed that his coal was l equal in quality to that of the others, ] yet if it q. not prove to be satisfac- l tory. there ns no standard for set l clement or oscillation. On the other | hand many complaints made by the | consumers are unfounded and un- | reasonable, but the dealer has no way | of proving to the consumer that the l coal delivered Is of standard quality. | The specifications protect not only the l consumer but also the dealer It is an easy thing under the specifications for l the coal dealer to prove absolutely the grade of his coal and get its~true | value in money.
 Old Unsatisfactory Plan. Many thousands of dollars worth of coal are being bought each year under the old, unsatisfactory plan; but the l purchasers would consider it ridicu- lous If they were asked to give con tract for a building with no specifica- : tions and simply on the agreement that it should be of certain size and well constructed. Neither would they buy