The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-01-19

IlO0S Nnltttt III pf'Ssf ''"N sellers of coal were now buyers of 1t. On investigation I found both to be true.
 RAILROADS OVERBURDENED
 To further complicate the coal sit- nation. the railway system was over burdened not merely with the big crops, but with the transportation of munitions, the hauling of freight for the many cantonments, the carrying of foodstuns for the allies, and the caring for the great movement of troops.
 It is well known fact that the transportation systems broke down be- fore the entrance of America into the war; trat sidetracl<s were lined with all classes of freight crying to be moved; that mills were closing; that raw material was banked in yards, and that the cry for cars was loud and insistent. Then the war came with it's embargoes, it's priority shipments. which delayed traffic and drove the operating heads of railroads to de- spair.
 Now, on top of these conditions came winter unknown in it's severity, which gripped the country from one end to the other. until the coal as well as other traffic was demoralized to an extent never known before, and, then the government took a hand at regulation and later one fine morn-l ing we woke up to find that Uncle So in nf rai1rna6g
 I have gone a bit into the matter to show that many things went into the mak ing of the coal crisis, which con fronts every section of the country, and led up to the appointment of fuel administrator and leaves us to sit shivering in our offices, freezing In our homes. and the fires out in our industries. The only thing we know
 's that we are cold and we imme- ejiately look for somebody for the goat. Now, let's try and estimate the st- uation fairly.
 THE DOMESTIC SUPPLY
 The first thing we are interested in is the domestic supply. Bear in mind that only few mines in this district produce coal which is nor mally in demand for domestic pur- poses The daily product of domestic grades is not sufficient to supply the requirements during the usual four months of cold weather. Heretofore
 the retail dealers, beginning about April l, and continuing during the dull summer months, were laying in
 their winters supply. ,he householders frequently laying up enough in the dog days for the cold snaps.
 Beginning with October. 1916. on ac-
 count of the unprecedented demands
 of the industries supplying munitions and supplies to the allies and to our own government and the inadequate
 supply of coal carrying railroad to s10 per ton, f. o. b. mines in nearly all the coal fields except those in Alabama. Then began an agitation
 nationwide against the high prices of coal. but it's not my purpose to re- hash it here.
 The weather being mild the house. holder just let things rock along, and the retail dealer was afriad of the market, and stayed out, only a few risleing putting in of sufficient stocks. They were wise in not plunging as price fixing began in earnest. and in the end, resulted the appointment of Dr. Garfield as fuel administrator. But while the market was settling thousands of tons of fancy lump do- nestle coal was thrown into the laps
 of the railroads and the big industries. There was an outcry in this district over the fact that Montevallo coal was | used for engine purposes. It was not the fault of the operator. The coal was bling up and none of them had storage facilities and to load on cars
 meant that the profits would be eaten up in demurrage
 AWAITED PRICE FIXING Fuel / administrator Garfield notified | the retail dealers that he expected to l fix the price at which coal could be l sold at retail and. judging from the | exnerience of the mines. they took the | hint and got from under as fast and as best they could.
 1 Many of them sold their stocks down I to the very ground and closed. await | ing developments. Cold weather came | ana the price was fixed, but it was l foo late for the yards to acquire suf~ fcient stocks to supply the current demands, let alone take care of the l future.
 These are practically the facts as \ ,bev came about without trying to sit 1 in judgment as to whose fault it is 1 that we are in the fix we find our selves as we face the drastic orders of pr. Garfield. Practically all of the l operators are shipping the greater 1 part of their output, and many oi them their entire output on govern ment priority orders. which they have no other alternative than to fill One of the largest operators said: 'Ths