Evening star., 1918-01-10

the year. AS they are fewer IN num-
Der and supervision over them may De
moro easily kept, the Distribution may
be under a form of voluntary agreo-
ment. Whatever rules governing
| them are laid down by the national fuel
administration will be enforced by Ad-
ministrator Weaver, and. as in the case
| of domestic consumption, the coal deal
ers stand ready to help.
Coal in Householders' Bins.
| Mr.. Weaver told the committee that
when he took charge of the local fuel
administration about the middle OF Octo-
| ber the great majority of the coal tnen
| in Washington was in the bins OF the
| citizens. due to the fact they had had
coal delivered for their winter supply
during the summer. They had been
strongly urged to adopt this precautionary
| measure. he said, by the coal dealers ana
| the real estate dealers of the city.
There was little coal in the dealers
| bins when 1 came into Office" said Mr..
Weaver. He said there were about sew.
enty-ave dealers I'VE recognize as such,
and many small hucksters OF coal In
Senator Reed, chairman Of the COM
mittee, wanted to know how much coal
had been delivered by the dealers to the
consumers during the summer months as
compared to previous years.
Mr.. Weaver replied he had been un-
able to obtain such Information from
the dealers. He said that the failure
of the dealers to furnish him with the
data which he considered necessary had
brought about his threat to take over
the coal business Of Washington for
the government, which in turn was fol-
lowed by an organization of the deal
ers to cooperate and coordinate to
bring about greater efficiency IN deal
! ing with the coal situation.
The railroads. he said, were perfectly
willing to furnish figures showing coal
deliveries to Washington.
Did as much coal come here in 1917
as in the preceding twelve months"
asked Senator Reed.
II can't say just how much came here
in 1916" said Mr.. Weaver, but l be-
lieve that the amount brought here IN
1917 was somewhat in excess OF the
deliveries in the preceding year"
Hasn't the population OF Wash1ng-
ton increased greatly In the last twelve
months?" asked Senator Reed
Thinks Increase 10000.
at has increased much more than the
police census would indicate" replied
Mr.. Weaver Il estimate that 1t has
increased 10000. OF course this means
is needed. There were more than 5:o0o
vacant houses in Washington before
the war, and now there are none. 1
estimate there are about 75,00O struc-
lures OF all xmas III w dsHiA6 LII. - -
the public utilities have been forced to
use much more coal for lighting heating
and transportation"
Mr.. Weaver said Washington was feel
ing the pinch of the war along with
tFS rest of the country.
He said that car shortage failure t to
mine enough coal and failure to move the
coal promptly probably had much to do
| with the shortage.
"An coal that has come here has been
distributed promptly" he said. Wash
ington dealers have not been able to make
as much out of selling coal on the gross
margin Of $3.50 d ton which 1 allowed
.hem as they could have with smaller
margin in ordinary times. because OF the
great increase in the cost Of conducting
their business. I believe the dealers would
welcome a smaller price IL they could
have q return to normal conditions.
'I set the price for selling by the bushel
at 40 cents, and As cents If the woman
who purchased had to have it delivered in
a pushcart or wheelbarrow or son1e such
means Of transportation. This meant
about s12 a ton for coal. The small deal
ers tould not have retailed in bushel lots
for less and made a fair profit. Some OF
the larger dealers might have been able
to do go