The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-01-26
This Is First Step of Fuel Administration in Putting the Zone System Into Effect
BOUNDARIES OF SEVEN ARE ALREADY FIXED; DIRECTOR IN EACH
E. A. Holmes of Birmingham Will Represent Garfield in Alabama Division.
 Situation Better

Washington, January p. Division of the conntry's bitu- minous coal fields into 20 dis tricts as the first step toward instituting q zone system of coal distribution is under way 1 by the fuel administration. Boundaries for seven of the dis tricts already have been estab- lished and Fuel Administrator Garfield has named a represen- tative in each.
 With the aid of the railroad admin istration the fuel administration next will define consuming districts, each to be supplied from one of the pro ducing districts. A joint committee working on the problem probably will announcela definite zoning plan with in few days.
 Distribution by zones has been suc- cessfully tried out in England. Fuel
 administration officials say it will work l just as well everywhere, saving thouN' sands of miles of transportation and insuring the speediest possible move | ment of coal from the mine to the consumer. It will eliminate to a great extent cross hauling, generally con- ceded to be one of the most uneco- homie practices in the coal industry.
 PRODUCING DISTRICTS NAMED
 The producing districts already es- tablished and the fuel administrators representatives therein are:
 Southeastern Kentucky, Georgia and Tennessee. F. R. Clayton of Harlan. Ky.
 Alabama. F. A. Holmes, Birming- ham.
 1 Gauley fields of West Virginia on the Baltimore and Ohio, D. R. Lawson of Fairmont w. Va.
 Gauley fields of Virginia on the Chesapeake and Ohio and part of the 1 Norfolk and Western field in West Virginia. A. H. Land of Huntington. I W. Va.
 Indiana. c. c. Hall of Terre Haute. Southern Ohio and Mason county, 1 " Va. ". D. Mckinney. Northern Ohio, J. R. zerbey. l The district representatives in ev- cry instance will be operators or men familiar with coal production. They will allot all orders received from state fuel administrators and will te made responsible for the prompt movement of coal out of the producing l fields. All demands for emergency coal will go directly to them.
 PERIODICAL REPORTS | The plan as contemplated calls for periodical reports from the producing district representatives as to the amount of coal each district is mining. These will be turned over to J. D. A. Morrow. the coal expert just named by Fuel Administrator Garfield as man. ager of distribution and apportion- ment, who will make up budgets for each consuming district on reports from state fuel administrators.
 NO INTERFERENCE
 The district representatives will not interfere in any way with the duties of state administrators, but will be ex- lpected to assist them.
 Anthracite coal is not included in the zoning plan because most of 1t Is mined ! in narrow strip of territory in Penn sylvania-
 The chief difficulty looked for in ad- ministration of the zone system is ex- pected to come from the demand for specific grades of coal and this will have | to be reckoned with in working out a practical plan of operation. The con- suming districts will be formed as nearly as possible along state lines. Producers | in district serving specified consum- | ing district will be permitted to sell In tho other and consumers will be required to purchase only in the districts serving ithelr territory. If a consuming district, through it's state fuel administrator. de- mands more coal than allotted to 1t. con- sumption will have to be curtailed unless | the national administration decides per- manent or temporary establishments are necessary. To prevent shortage next winter fuel administration officials plan to operate in the summer reserves in tevery consuming center.
 SITUATION BETTER Early reports today indicated that ris- ling temperature had brought consider~ | ahIe improvement in the coal transpor- ltation situation in the east. but snow and high winds developed later and A. Fl. smith, regional director for the east. tonight reported almost no perccptible decrease of the freight accumulations. Hundreds of cars of coal were tied up along with other traffic and the short tthan on previous days. The movement
 tco.tinuea .. Pase Tws,