Grand Forks herald., 1916-08-30

situation over with manv of the men
and know that many Of them W
think twice before quitting"
The estimated number who would
remain in the service Of the company
10 evidently high. and is one reason
for the optimism with which the rail-
way officials face the situation.
Another reason for the attitude Of
officials and business men is a con-
fidence imposed in the power Of public
opinion to accomplish two things.
They expect that the public will force
an early settlement Of the dispute be-
tween the employees and employers
the aroused public will not tolerate
interference with men who volunteer
to take the place Of the strikers. The
service Of these men will appear so
valuable that the people will not toll
crate interference with them by the
men who have quit.
No Fuel Shortage.
An interview with local coal deal
ers this morning developed that
Grand Forks is in no danger Of fuel
shortage in the event of a strike The
local bins of every coal dealer are
filled to overflowing at the present
time. Although the capacity of the
bins Is but small proportion of the
total sales for the winter season. it
1s still sufficient to last for two or
three weeks in the opinion Of A. G..
Sorlie and Leslie Stinson, two promi-
nent fuel dealers in the city, at the
present rate of demand.
II can foresee nothing to cause
worry. as far as the fuel situation is
concerned. said Mr.. Stinson this
nish the people with fuel as though
nothing had happened. The scarcity
of other commodities will force a set
tlement of the strike long before the
shortage Of coal will begin to be felt
This. of course, is supposing that no
extraordinary demand springs up as
the result of some groundless scare
of a shortage
In the opinion of the A. G. Sorlie
company. the strike will mean less to
the coal dealer and coal consumer
than does the coal shortage at the
head of the Great Lakes which exists
from entirely different causes. Be-
cause Of the exceedingly high price of
iron ore and the correspondingly high
profit of shipping it, steamer owners
are devoting every effort to ship this
commodity. They flnd 1t profitable to
return to the head Of the lakes with
made so much faster. thus enabling
them to handle so much more iron
ore. AS a result not as much coal Is
arriving by the returning ships as
normally. and a shortage from this
cause exists at the head of the lakes.
Goal dealers point out that there
still remains about 80 days in which
coal can be shipped to the head of
the lakes, and from there to all points
inland. No strike could possibly last
long enough to create a serious short
age.
The University of North Dakota Of
lcials are apparently not fearing a
shortage, for this large consumer has
as yet not ordered carload of fuel,
according to Mr.. Stinson. Wesley COL
lese is completely stocked up.
Brisk Sales Of Groceries.
Merchants throughout the state are
preparing for the situation by order
ing unusually large consignments. ac-
cording to W. @. Mcdonald of Nash
Bros, wholesale grocers.
for larger quantities than ordinarily
taken by the merchants sending them.
All staples are ordered in large
quantities. Merchants are ordering by
telephone and telegraph as we'll as by
mail. The least delay is followed by
telegraphic inquiry. There is a very
noticeable increase in the volume Of
our business, and 1t can be traced to
the imminence Of the strike situation" !"
Mr.. Mcdonald stated also that
even fruits. such as lemons and
oranges are being ordered in larger
quantities than usual. Even such a
semi-perishab BILE commodity as yeast is
being taken in unusually large guam
titles.
Fruit Still Coming.
According to Fl. F. Corrigan, man.