Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-02-23
Help Must Come From Public.

To attain this end. though. they say.
the public must held by not buying
more coal than will meet immediate
need. W. ". Griffith, director of the
Coal Merchants Association. explained
this aspect of the situation follows;
Usually at this time of the year
there is big slump in the demand for
coal We generally have "A cold spell
in February. and after that no great
effort Is made TO lay in large supplies
of coal, but buyers prefer to gauge
their wants to their needs for the rest
of the season, buying pretty much as
they need it. If this is done this year
believe the coal shortage here will be
considerably relieved"
Some dealers say the milder weather
has brought little diminution of the de-
mand for coal except in the case of
the larger users. They say that apart
ment houses, hotels and offices find
they can do with boiler less during
such weather, but that IL takes nearly
much coal to heat the average house
during weather like that of the pres
ent week as it does in colder weather.
Difficulty in Filling Contracts.
Dealers have had a difficult time in
filing contracts with private buyers
during the past few months. They say
that there has been greater success in
filing these contracts than has been
supposed. They accomplished this. it
is stated, by substitution OF other
grades of coal when they could not get
the kind contracted for. by borrowing
from other dealers. and by delivering
coal only day ahead. thus avoiding
placing some customers on easy
street" for week or two, and having
to deprive others of fuel altogether.
In preparation for future difiicultles
with contract buyers, and especially
with the government, the members OF
the Coal Merchants Association are
considering making an effort to place
the government contracts on the same
basis as the contracts with private
buyers In the latter contracts there is
a clause exempting the dealer from re-
sponsibility for fulfilling his contract II
the causes OF 1alicre lay pe!oho MS
own control.
This fact has made it easier to deal
with private buyers. it was explained,
and has enabled the dealers to distrib-
ute their coal on percentage basis
when they had not enough to I'LL all
contract orders.
With the government the situation
has been different because contractors
must give bond to furnish the COAL and
in one case where a big coal company
was unable to supply the government
with the coal it contracted for the
question arose as to whether the bond
ing company could be held responsible.
No court aCtlOn mas YET Tesuitcu. ~
| most cases the government took what
the contractors were able to supply.
realizing that their failure TO supply the
total amount was not their fault.
Conditions Better Than Elsewhere.
Officers of the Coal Merchants Asso-
citation stated that the cooperation OBJ
| tanned through that organization has
resulted in better conditions here than iu
many other cities. In not a single case.
they assert, has any Washington dealer
sought TO evade his contract. though
many of them could have sold coal at
far higher prices by doing SO. Those
supplying coal to the government, II
was said. could have refused to fulfill
their contract. paid their bond and still
made a profit at the greatly increased
prices offered during the recent cold
weather for both hard and soft coal
Early in the year bituminous coal was
selling at $3.S5 to 81 a ton, and 1t was
on these figures that contracts were
made last April Now this soft coal is
selling as high as S. and even at SO "a
ton. in some cases. Anthracite coal has
advanced from SO l-3 to so per cent in
the same period, now selling at from
S7.75 to $3.50 a ton, according to The
grade and size.
One factor in the difficulty of getting
coal at all. a big dealer explained to-
day, lay in the obligation of dealers To
supply their contract customers. Even
when they did this they hesitated 70
try to increase their supply by paying
prevailing higher wholesale prices and
sell to outside customers on the basis
of these advanced prices. because this
would put them under suspicion or DIT
verting the coal they had contracted
with at the mines on the basis of Their
retail