New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-05-02
MACHINES SOLVE
COAL PROBLEMS
Expensive Appliances Are
Needed to Keep Up with
Big Deliveries.

Not only the machinery but the
geography and number Of retail Goa
yards In New York City have made
great changes in the last thirty years
Three decades ago there we're about 8OC
retail coal dealers In New York, and
few of them had yards on the water
front. To-day there are about sixty
and the inland yard is now practically
a thing Of the past The change IN
geography is due to the prohibttive
cost OF hosting tho present great con
sumption OF coal from the boat, haul
ing il to the inland yard, and then re-
loading It to deliver TO the consumer
The decrease in the number OF coal
dealers Is due to the expensive equip
ment now necessary TO make the en-
terprise profitable, and to the fact
that it is next to impossible 70 lease
or buy waterfront property which is
mostly owned by the city.
Years ago a customer ordering seven
tons of coal would receive seven differ
ent deliveries in q one horse, one ton
truck. To-day the three horse truck
with a five or six ton load and the
seven ton auto truck have come to
stay All these horse trucks and the
majority of the auto trucks are now
elevated by hand with a crank so as
to chute the coal into the bins. The
motor hoist is in use on some Of the
L. - nV,tn 10 o
distances TO cover and rapidity of de-
livery are two other necessities which
have made the investment in all this
expensive equipment unavoidable. A
motor truck does not tire, and the last
load at night is delivered as quickly
as the first load in the morning.
The consumption Of coal has kept
pace with the increase in population,
and now some Of the great New York
office buildings use 20, 80, 80 and even
methods of delivery these could not
to-day can deliver as much as l25 tons,
depending upon the length Of haul. It
hauls as much as the oldtime railroad
car.
At the old-fashioned yards coal was
with the ordinary block and fall
bucket system, and it was considered
quite an exploit to handle 100 tons a
day. Now many of the yards handle 800
tons p day in the ordinary course of
business, and clam shell digger which
will hold from 1000 to 1000 pounds is
the means by which coal is hoisted
from the boat. Formerly the coal was
e4a ha ch cd
up into q truck. Nowadays great coal
pockets Of wood, steel or concrete are
maintained by the retailers, and their
trucks are filled rapidly by the release
of lever.
Unfortunately for the producers,
the railroads and the retailers, the con-
sumers will no longer store coal in
their cellars during the summer
months, although il does not dete-
riorate in storage. Owing to the ex-
perience of the last twelve years, dur
ing which time the consumer has found
that the supply of coal is steady, he
has gradually abandoned his former
practice of storing coal. This means
that the producers must give discounts
to stimulate the summer trade, the
railroads have much idle unproductive
equipment in summer, and the retail
ers have to maintain expensive and
elaborate mechanical means to make
quick deliveries even in blizzard
weather. In winter many retailers
must work both day and night shifts.
The telephone has proved an added
facility for the consumer, but an added
expense for the retailer. Every modern
retail coalyard must have at least one
trunk line, and some have as many as
a dozen. Deliveries are now made
within an hour, and short weight de-
liveries are thing of the past. The
Retail Coal Protective Association was
inaugurated and laws passed covering
the system of making out delivery
tickets. At present there are thirty
two inspectors and one coal trade in
spector empowered by the Mayor to