Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-10-04
COAL STOCK LIGHT,
DEALERS NOW SAY
whats the Use of Talking
About Prices?" They
Argue
BIG DEFICIT IN SUPPLY

what's the use Of talking about prices
on pea coal, when there's no coal to sell?'
This seems to be the general opinion Of
retail dealers in coal in this city today
When asked II they intended to follow the
lead set yesterday by the Mason-Scholes
Company and the Mason -Hefilin Company In
reducing the price Of pea coal from $3.50
to $500 a ton, they declared that the
amount OF hard coal being brought into
Philadelphia by the railroads at present is
30 small that the clty's coal yards are
virtually empty Of coal for domestic use.
LABOR SHORTAGE BLAMED
Shipments Of coal have also been greatly
retarded by the scarcity OF labor TO be had
by the railroads The Pennsylvania Rail-
road asserted today that It had lost about
5000 men through army enlistments ana
draft.
No accurate figures as TO the actual
amount Of hard coal shipped into this city
for local consumption during the montm
of September are yet obtainable, according
TO an official of the Pennsylvania Railroad
today He admitted that considerable COM
plant had been made to the railroads on
account of delays in deliveries This, how
ever. could not be taken as indicating that
the supply of coal reaching this city Is
less than normal, he said.
PRODUCTION OF COAl. INCREASED.
The explanation might lie in the fact
he added that the production and consump-
tion Of coal has increased considerably over
last year, while the number of cars whlch
the railroads had for the business has not
been materially increased.
He cited figures to show that while the
amount of coal delivered in Philadelphia
by the Pennsylvania Railroad for local use
between April / and July 81, 1916, whJ
$50 900 tons the amount delivered In tho
same period this year was 100000 tons, an
increase Of 2S.1 per cent. The present snort
age Of cars to handle this increase COZ
sumption of hard coal was due to the fact
that the Government has ordered priority
Of shipment to be given to soft coal destined
for lake transportation, so that II may be
transported across the Great Lakes before
the close of navigation, and so that Gals
will be available at lake ports To transport
ere shipments being hurried East before
:he winter close lake navigation. The cars
could hardly be released for anthracite shin-
ments before December l.
That the difficulty experienced by the re-
tail coal dealers in getting coal from the
mines is so serious that there Is strong
probability that hundreds Of homes VIII
be without fuel when cold weather sets in
was predicted today.
at is idle for us to say that we will re-
duce prices, when we have no coal to offer.
said Frank F. Mathers of the Atlantic Fuel
Company. today. at will be time to talk
about reducing prices when we get from
the mines some of the coal which the
Government has made the operators set a
lower price. Here's the situation--last year,
at this time, we had about 5000 tons of
pea coal in stock. Today we have less
than 100 tons We have no stove coal on
hand at ALL"
RETAILERS SIDE
Mr. Mathers asserted that the coal opera
tors when pea coal commenced to grow
scarce had been mixing IL with nut coal
so that they could continue to fill orders.
Fifty per cent OF 1t is nut coal" said he.
"It has been an absolute disgrace. That
is one of the things which the retail dealers
must Ill TO the attention of Mr., Potter"
William Potter, newly appointed fuel
administrator for Pennsylvania, returned
to his Offices today after having visited
Washington to confer with DR.. Harry A.
Garfield, national fuel administrator, but
said that he would have no statements to
make as to the local coal situation for some
days
Inquiry must be made by the fuel ad-
ministrator as to the tie-up of coal at the
Mines for lack of transportation facilities"
said one big retail dealer. "A survey Of all
the retail coal yards in the city will show
that the dealers are doing hand-to-mouth