The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1918-01-05
Fuel COMMISSION



here. However. with the present reg.
ulariiy Of the shipments over the v,
. Il w. and g. e q. no critical shortage
IL expected.
: The situation over the entire state,
/, said State Administrator Byrd yester-
day. has assumed q serious stage, AZ
] Norfolk two cars OF coaf was taken
by the people OF the city from the
cars in the railroad Yards before Il
reached the hands pf the dealers. In
Bristol II was reported that ouly one
: ar could be HAD to satisfy the de-
, tnanE OF the entire city. At the re-
quest Of Mr. Byrd the Norfolk and
/ Western diverted several cars toward
J that city which Will, for "a time. re-
, lieve the suffering
, Three cars OF anthracite was yeHter-
, day ordered 70 he shipped here from
, the yards al Williamsburg. where il
had been tied up Tor ten days. The
consignment was for Portsmouth but
The G.. a ., tohd found IL impossible
10 deliver < 10 III" consisnees because
u -tlE -el-nr!4la,.-- q=e4t4,4f4-
WILLIAMSBURG. Administrator Byrd
ordered il sent 20 Richmond immedi-
ately
The work or thu national tag day
mat ls To take place on January 30
lis progressing satisfactorily In Viz
Eiuja' In addition 10 the rs, 600 tags
ordered by City Superintendent Chand-
Ter, over 100000 have been ordered
nY state superintendent r. c. Stearnes
Tor the numerous schools throughout
the state, An effort viii be made to
tag tbs shoveis If all. the rich and
poor alike. All the children will carry
. home With them a small tag bearing
, the inscription, "Save this shovel Of
coal for Uncle Sam" The shovela of
the president, governors. mayors and
other men much In the public eye viii
EN- tagged
! In addition 70 the vigorous efforts
I or the fuel authorities to bring coal
into the state. the work at the Gay
/ tor mines VIII soon be under way,
que 70 9 large extent to their efforts.
Mine Inspector Lucas. OF the depart
htent ~ labor, will make a thorough
examination before they are opened
/ To $iin1inoyA any dangers that might
Inrk In thqir depths II viii he re-
nemofred that the explosion several
years ago Killed a number Of men.
4. ne most faodern safeguards will be
installed before the mines are re-
iopened.
/ state Administrator Byrd Yesterday
sent out the following bulletin 20 all
/ the fuel retailers IN Ike state, asking
Tor such data as will assist In the
/ N'''FiifhS OF vital information IN re-
gard to the consumption Of coal in
/ each OF coal receiving poIn,s and the
! existing contracts:
! Through the local fuel commits
sions this Office is endeavoring to ess-
/ certain the following:
/ Cd The approximate consunp-
! ton OF each coal receiving point in
/ Virginia for the months ar January,
February and March
"(2) The existing contracts and
! to what extent these contracts can
! be depended upon TO supply the re-
/ quiCements
To ascertain this information {
| have sent 10 every fuel commission
in Virginia forms and full informa-
! ton for compiling the data desired.
| This Ii 10 ask your cooperation so
that the local commissions can obtain
/ this Information as promptly as pos
sible and forward 10 me I, il obvi-
J Gus that with this information at
hand, I can much more intenigentlv
proceed 10 supply the necessary re-
! quirent erts throughout the state Of
Virginia.
4 First Reports Monday.
/ Please forward nae on reports en-
closed on Monday, January 7. and
every Monday thereafter, fun infor-
Il nation regarding your coal receipts
and quantity on hand for the Satur-
day preceding. This report ia TO be
made up on each Saturday night and
mailed to me on Monday. In the
event that you do not receive any
coal please so state and return the
! report Under separate cover aup-
ply OF reports and franked envelopes
Is being sent you 80 that these reports
can be mailed without postage
, The coal situation throughout Viz
ginia, as well as elsewhere In the
: United States, Is reaching a most cri-
! teal stnge, BY reason Of the con.
? tinuatfon OF existing contracts. only
: per cent Of the output of the mines
; is available for government distri-
button. In all cases the fuel admins
tration desires TO obtain the require
ments OF each community from exist
ing contracts or from parties who
have previously supplied.
: 10000 900 Ton Shortage
; "A shortage OF Atty million tons
exists THIS shortage must he borne
, equally by all communities and IN no
case can normal requirements be sup
: piled ! want you to understand that
!, every effort on my part will be exarted
toward furnishing your community
, through your local commissions with
your MINIMUM nfPu&- can make
no promise. however as to coal ship
nents but upon receipt OF request
wifi endeevor to keep each local com
= mission advised
The fuel administration must view
the coal situation from the standpoint
OF the entire community and not from
the standpoint of ths individual re-
taller. That r. TO saw. providing that
Il community az whole is securing
sufficient coal, the administration will
not exert efforts 10 obtain shipments
from, such retailers who are without
supplies unless the needs az the COM
munity as a whole Justify II. 7 am
certain that by reason ~ the existing
! crisis in the coal situation, the Justice
| Of this policy will be readily appre-
| cinted.
Please appeal 20 the fuel admins
tration only when you have exhausted
| every other effort To obtain coal
| Please understand II is not the func-
| ton Of the fuel administration TO sup
! ply all fuel requirements hut only to
eudeavor to supply emergency coal
when your efforts have been ex-
hausted
n Il ask your co-opcratton in making
these reports very promptly, This