The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1916-09-13
COAL OPERATIONS
BADLY CRIPPLED
BY CAR SHORTAGE
Practically Every Mine in
District Forced to Run
on Short Time
SITUATION rs SERIOUS,
SAY INDUSTRIAL MEN
Lumber, Iron, Cement and Other
Products Affected in Like Man
ner-,No Hope for an
Improvement
Big business is in a dilemma.

The railroads are acutely short of
equipment with which to move coal
lumber, pig iron, ore, Stag and cement
to market The big companies en-
gagged in thr production of these com
mercial products are swamped with
orders that involve thousands of dol
lars, but are unable to deliver the de-
sired stores.
Within the immediate vicinity of
Birmingham coal mines of the Sloss-
Sheffield Steel and Iron company, the
Bessemer Coal, Iron and Land com
pany and those of other interests have
been forced to suspend operations by
the day. Virtually every mine within
the environs of Birmingham is running
on short time, although business was
never better.
No relief is in view. The railroads.
facing the beginning of the great grain
movement in the western states the
cotton transportation season in the
south and heavy movements of coal
and lumber, are daily having increased
demands for cars The situation, while
extremely serious at the present,
threatens to become more acute as the
fall advances. Big business is quaking
with fear of more dire season of car
shortage.
While the shortage is not local con-
dition, the heads of the huge corpora
lions declare that Birmingham, on &C
iron transportation is not as fruitful OF
re- oc ier1n c1a F~.a i.r1,t &c
will feel the full force of the impend-
ing blow
The coal operators are in a more Sc
rious quandary than the other COM
mercial operators. Companies in this
district, employing hundreds of miners,
have shut down daily, with orders that,
If sufficient equipment were avilable,
would be lucrative. Coal prices have
advanced on account of the growing
demand and the inability of the rail-
roads to handle the orders,
HENRY BADHAM TALKS
Henry L. Badham, president of the
Bessemer Coal, Iron and Land com
pany, declares that the business of the
Bessemer company's mines has been
seriously affected by the prevailing
conditions.
Our company operates three Mines"
y
Gently we have been favored with big
orders. 1t seems ironical to us to be
forced to run our mines on short time,
when we could work at maximum ca
pacity and still be unable to meet the
demand. The coal business is better
now than it has been in the past two
years.
THE car shortage Is serious. We
cannot get so per cent of the cars that
w pead Orr M hein N
hardly more than one-third of full
time. This has prevented vast num-
Der of miners from working more than
three days a week and, of course, this
affects the prosperity of the outlying
districts. While it is obvious that we
do not have to pay these men when not
working, the overhead charges-and
the operators.
CAUSE OF SHORTAGE
"The local railroad officials are do
ing their utmost to offset the shortage,
but are frank to admit that they can
not relieve the dire situation. The
reasons assigned for the shortage are
many In the west the railroad COM
panies, in anticipation of the great
grain movement, have parked many
cars. In the east there is a conges-
ton due to the movement of lumber.
An additional cause assigned Is the
fact that the other railroads hold cars
when they are transferred to connect
ing lines.
1.-THE future seems dark, with no re-
lief in sight from the prevalent acute
conditions"
The Sloss-S Sheffield Iron and Coal
company is experiencing trouble in the
movement of coal from it's various
mines and also in handling iron ore
and pig iron, according to J. Campbell
Maben, Jr., vice president of that COM
pany.
'The situation is serious in it's eff
feet upon our business" Mr.. Maben
said yesterday. at is affecting the
movement of coal tremendously and
is retarding appreciably the transpor-
tation of pig iron and iron ore.
"Our company operates mines at
Bessie, Ivy Drifton, Flat Top and four
at Brookside. Reports from these
mines show that each, except at Flat
Top, is operating on short time.
THE Flat Top mines give employment
to state convicts. At Brookside the car
shortage has affected operations to such
an extent that the miners are not work
ing more than 40 per cent Of full time.
During the present month reports show
that virtually all of the mines have been
forced to shut down on account of hav-
ing no available coal cars to handle the
output.
1.-THE output of ore from the mines at
Russellville has suffered a rs per cent