Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-10-01
aGangFo CclS
Retail Coal Price
Under Garfield Order


t'on.Inoed from PAGE One
o. the biggest retail coal firms in the city.
said
''rhe Government plan will not reduce
coal prices They cannot be reduced as the
situation Ia now. The Government nlan Win
II Il does anything, permit the increase al
prices.
Dealers may put the price IN twenty
cents ton under the Garfield schedule
based ON margins of profits IN 1915 and
July. 1917.
The present price Of pea coal at the mine
ls S4.90. Add to this $13O for haulinR to
the city, and you have ss.20: that is what
the retailer has TO pay. The retailer is get
ting S7.15. Some are getting a little more.
some little less but s775 Is the average
and " Is what most are getting Take
$500 from s775. and yoy have s1.55--that
Is the profit per ton Of the retailer--on
paper Deduct from this what the retailer
must pay for delivering hiring drivers. in
vestment In wagonS horses and other equip
ment. feeding horses, etc. and the retailer
has left a profit Of ten or twenty cents.
FIGvREs AND PROFIT
'.That is his real net profit Now. In |
1918 we Maid S3.65 at the mines and got W
"a ton from the consumer our paper pront
was St25, whereas our paper pront now is
Eb6 but our actual net profit then was
slightly more than II Is now because equlp-
/ ment horses feed. labor etc, were cheaper
/ men than now
Nov, under the Government plan, as !
understand II. we can add 80 per cent TO
our profits Of 1s15--that is. we can add
forty and half cents. This gives $l.15 =
ton profit we can charge now. rms
will not exceed the retail margin added in
July 1917. This would enable us 10 charSe
S7s5h. -,
prices will stay where they are though
In a few Isolated Instances there may be
slight reductlons-so few and 80 slight as
10 be Of no consequence Whatever
"AIl who want coal or expect to want it
had better buy 1t now. n they walt for
a reduction they will be disappointed ana |
when they do want Il and want 1t badly
thew may find that the retailers are swamped
with orders and cannot make deliveries
quickly enough.
If you order now you can get coal We |
are keeping up with orders If we get all |
the orders now they can all be filled within |
two weeks but II we don't get them until !
cold weather sets in we will be swamped |
and can't make deliveries in time.
Il am not member of the Coal Ex-
change. but l am familiar with its prices |
as well as others and what ! have said |
describes the situation generally.
j. f, Richards. president of the George |
B. Newton Coal Company. said:
II intend to do nothing until / hear |
efinte information from Washington. All
Know now is what have seen In the pa
ers. can't even discuss what the prices
,il be or whether they will be higher or
1wer'
At the William S. Lloyd Coal Company. |
wenty-niuth street and Ridge avenue, Il |
'as said coal price reduction could not
osult from Mr.. Garfeld's order, the price
lready being as low as possible. The COM
any quoted pea coal at $3.50.
SEES 39-CENT ADVANCE
Henry n. Kerr Of the Kerr-Hueftal |
ompany, 1895 North Broad street, took !
he view OF Mr.. Chafant that under Car
eld's plan the dealers may. If they please, |
dvancc present prices. The Kerr-Hueftal |
company was selling pea coal al IS Satur- |
lay and said that under Garfields plan It |
ould charge $3.50 Today, however, the |
had only egg coal on hand and |
vas not stating the price on IT, Deliveries |
we're being made to credit customers with |
he understanding that the price would be
ixed in accordance with the Governments |
plan. /
we have been selling pea coal at IS a
on" said Mr.. Kerr In December 1915, |
we sold pea at $5.25; nut. $3.50; stove.
$3.50 egg. 81. At that time we bought 947
IONS of pea at the mine at 81 the freight
was S1.45; the cost to us on the track in
was, therefore, s3.45, and we
sold II at S5.25 Our gross profit was $3.50.
Thirty per cent of that Is 54 cents The
gross profit we could charge now would be
II so plus 81 cents, OFF 1924. We now have
an offer of 500 tons of pea at the mine for
Sass. Add 1900 for freight to that and we
have cost TO us OF S6O5 on the track in
Add to that the S2.84 we
are allowed to charge and you nave $3.50, |
!, h,ch is 39 cents more than we are charg-
ing"
At the Twenty-seoond and westmoreland
streets offices of the American Ice Com
pany, which deals extensively In coal it was |
said no prices we're being quoted and no de-
liverles were being made today
c. o. Spruce & Son, 4002 Ridge avenue,
were selling pea coal at $3.50, nut at 1915, |
stove at $3.50 and egg at Ss25, with
twenty-five cents off for cash on all kinds. |