Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-10-27
BUSINESS m AMERICA
Fuel Conservation and Fuel Efficiency Debating
Relocation Of Plants
UNCLE SAM has a tremendously
By WILL p. KENNEDY,
OF The Star Stan.

Uncle SAM has q Tremendously
big coal pile-more, probably,
than he will ever use. He can
stand on top Of that coal pile
and feel that there Is an abundance
there to furnish all the power needed to
win the war and to rebuild dynamited
Europe, besides meeting the day-after-
day requirements of the people OF this
country. But he has to make that coal
available for use. How to meet the i'm
mediate and pressing and multiplying
war demands-that's the big task now.
The Garfield Shutdown" order and
the freezing days to which New Eng
land was forced last winter illustrates
how drastic action must be taken to
meet wartime conditions
During the months since then coal
production has been greatly increased
and the means of distribution more
carefully systematized. Miners nave
come to realize that they are really SOL
corps has been developed in which they
are rivaling the boys over there IN
patriotic service. Those who are SOW
ing the fuel problem, however. realize
that a redistribution Of Industries must
be made to meet the titanic demands
Not Up to War Demands.
We have been boasting for years
about having the greatest commercial
city in the world-New York-and proud
of concentrated industry in New Eng
land. The railroads had developed their
service to supply the needs OF that ter
ritory in normal times, but war damned
tr, new burdens and a winter of unprec-
edented severity snowbound the rails
and icebound the shipping.
Transports had to carry soldiers by
the thousands overseas to support the
strained French and British battle lines.
Supplies had to go with and follow
them Clothing, shoes and munitions
had to be made by hundreds of thou
sands for this Army gone overseas and
q larger Army being modified.
The little northeast corner Of the
United States. banked around New York
and Boston had the factories nearest to
the shipping points, and they got the
contracts. AS these contracts were
filled larger ones were given to the
same plants. Hundreds Of thousands
of factory workers flocked in. Hauling
in the raw materials and the workers
and the soldiers and the supplies and
the coal just damned up the railway
gateways.
The drastic Garfield order awaken
ed the railroads and manufacturing
projectors to a realization of unbal-
anced industry, and since then new
order OF industrial dlEerSlnCat1On ana
diffusion is being put into effect. This
is being done largely under federal
insistence, but with the cooperation
of labor and industry.
Here is an X-ray picture of the sit
uation: IS to IS per cent of the
''must" business of the country-war
supplies-massed in this small area.
But four originating railroads could
haul in bituminous coal-the Pennsyl-
vania, Baltimore and Ohio. New York
Central and Western Maryland. This
coal had to be hauled from the Penn
sylvania. Maryland and West Virginia
fields exclusively.
Much of this is by-product and gas
coal. which ought not to be used for
steam purposes. Because of it's use in
by-product plants the nation is de-
pendent for smokeless powder, drugs,
chemicals and all tar derivatives.
But war work had to be kept go
ing. ''Win the war" is the first slogan
of the United States until the Huns
are whipped. So this valuable by
product and gas coal had to be hauled
in for use under the boilers. with mil
lions of dollars worth of essential by
products going up in smoke.
AS soon as possible the product of
into Norfolk and Newport News over
nhe Norfolk and Western. the Chesa-
peake and Ohio and the Virginian rail-
roads, to be used as bunker coal for the
Navy and transports and to be water
hauled UP the coast to war work plants
in New England and New Jersey.