New-York tribune., 1918-01-02
Fuel Administrator
Declared at Fault
Remington Factory Run
ming at Reduced Speed
More Than a Month
Bv lanes Arthur Seavey

pany. had to shut down yesterday, put
will resume tomorrow. because it got
ESQ tons of coal this afternoon. That
much coal will last the company two
weeks. If it doesn't get more coal ov
that time it will have to shut down
second time, and 1000 employees will be
laid off again They are making motor
trucks for here and cover there" on
government contract that ought to be
completed in June
The rifle works Of the great Remlng-
ton Arms Union Metallic Cartridge
Company has coal enough, according to
John 0. Persons, works engineer. 10
last about two weeks. The Union Me-
tallic Cartridge Company has enough
to keep it going for four days. But
this giant cartridge maker can keep on
going so long as the Remington works
have coal, since the U. M. c., as every
body calls it here, gets power from
the Remington plant. What coal it
needs for its locomotives and for heat
ing it can borrow from the Remington
stock SO long as there is any Reming-
ton stock to borrow from.
Large Contracts at Stake
The two plants have large munition
and rife contracts from the govern
ment. At the Remington works about
$1,000 persons are employed. The u.
NJ. c. employs about 5000. Officials OF
the two companies do not seem to be
worrying much over the prospect OF
having to shut down either plant be-
cause Of lack Of coal.
The Bullard Company. normally ma
chinists, has a government contract
for six-inch guns 1t has nothing like
the supply of coal it ought to have, and
has put its case squarely up to the
War Department and the fuel admins
tration at Washington. The Bridgeport
Brass Works, the Lake Torpedo Com
and a few other large concerns have
coal, but not what they should have to
make certain prompt deliveries on gov
ernment contracts, and all Of them
must have fresh stocks soon or they
must shut down.
This is the Bridgeport coal situa-
tion. Two distinctly different kinds OF
comment is made concerning. 1t. The
conservative kind was voiced this after
noon by the vice-president and genera
manager Of one Of the companies thai
have been hardest hit by the coal short
age. He said:
1T is a lot easier to criticise thar
it is to create. much more popular te
throw bricks than bouquets. The Goa
situation all over the country is bad
1t is particularly bad in Bridgeport, TO
the reason that so much government
work must be done here, and about al
of it is hurry up work. For this rea
son manufacturers and the government
ought to pull together, stop passinl
the buck and the manufacturers, par
ticularly, even after they have received
all the help the government can give
ought not for a minute to relax IN
diyidual effort to keep supplied wit
coal"
Affects Only One
This man had good reason to re
frain from growing at the govern
ment on this New Years Day. reF
resentative of the War Departmer
came here to-day especially to sc
him and to give the department's as
eurance that, no matter what haI
pened, the work his company is doin
will not be held up by lack of coal.
asked if the same assurance had bee
or would be given to the other comps
MES having government contracts, a:
sumng, Of course, that such assn.
ancc would be given, if it had M
been already The mans reply su
prised me.
"Tl,is assurance has nothing to {
with any otter company" he said. "Tf
War Department representative can
here especially TO see me and to fir
out what shape the government woi
is IN. We found out that we are col
sderably ahead of cur contract, al
after my talk with him feel sure th
we shall geo all the coal we need"
No explanation was given for tt
seeming government partiality Mayl
it is u new wrinkle in priorties. The1
are other manufacturers here, ho,
ever, who arc not so philosophical al
complacent. These were spoken f
by another man whose company HI
war contracts. He was both emphat
and epigrammatc when he said:
"My opinion about this Bridgepo
coal shortage is this: If this COVER
ment cannot keep it's war industri
supplied with coal it ought to go O
of the war business. All the plants a
short of coal; but that is not all
the story. The coal bin Of every arr
end munitions worker in Bridgeport
low in coal-anthracite coal. If the
workers and their families have to
cold in their homes they will becor
dlscontented, as some Of them ha,
and leave. or threaten to leave, as sor
of them have.
81 took up this matter with mi
named Sncad. who is in charge of Il
anthracite end of the fuel administr
ton in Washington. I told him Of t
urgent need of hard coal for the HON
of our workers, but all the satisfs
tion l got was an cXcellently pass
buck If this, that or the other &c
crnnent official would only see tn
coal should have priority over ever
thing everybody would have as mu
coal as was necessary. But what cou
one do under the circumstances Su
talk makes me tired"
The local fuel administrator is C,
Siemon. president of the Bridgept
Hard Rubber Company. Nobody he
seems to know why Mr. Siemon "
appointed, but many persons seem
think that while he knows n lot abe
the hard rubber situation, he does
know as much as he might know abo
the Bridgeport coal situation. Or.
he does he is not doing as much
ought to be done, or as much as mig
be done TO cure or remedy it. Mr.. Stem
has cheerful notions about the pos
Iiliticc He told representatives