The daily banner., 1918-01-23

Washington, Jan. 22.-An urgent
recommendation that an embargo be
declared fer few days on accep-
ance 0y the railroads of any freight
cXc2pt coaI and food was submitted
20 director General McAdoo tonight
~ the Fuel Administration.
This action is imperative, Admin
stratCr Garfield said, to assure ade
luate movement of fuel during the
balance o. me week, when the gen
cral trans roIiauOn situation East OF
he Mississippi threatens to become
worse daily owing to the prolonged
strain Oh railroads of deep SHOWS
and intensely cold weather.
Tonight the tive-day period of in
dustrial suspension ended, and with
the resumption OF manufacturing to-
morrow, railroad officials look for a
new flood OF traffic which the rail-
roads cannot handle unit! normal
weather is restored.
Director General McAdoo tonight
was not inclined to look with favor
on the embargo proposal. He held
that under government operation and
consequent pooling of facilities and
short-haul routing, the railroads
would be able 10 clear all freight Of
fered for transportation without
priority and without embargoes.
Coal and food already have prefer
ence over all other classes of freight,
he pointed out, and are being moved
to tidewater and to localities where
domestic needs are greatest, as fast
as is physically possible.
Mr.. McAdoo promised, however,to
study closely Dr.. Garfield's figures,
showing how coal production had
oeen curtailed in recent weeks, ana
20 take whatever action seemed best.
Meanwhile he and Dr.. Garfield set
about devising a scheme by which
cross hauls of coal will be elimlnat-
ed largely, and fuel will be transpor-
ted from mines to consumers over
the shortest possible routes. By this
means it is planned to save many
thousand miles of needless hauling.
and devote locomotives and labor
thus conserved tc transporting great
er quantities to regions where the
coal shortage threatens to become
more acute if blizzard weather con-
tinues for few days longer.
A committee of two officials from
the Railroad and the Fuel Admins
trations will work out a plan which
may be based on a division of the
East into districts, each of which is
to get its coal mainly from a desig
mated mining area. Howard Elliott.
president of the New Haven, and
A. G. Gutheim, an official of the In
terstate Commerce Commissions car
service bureau, will represent the
D.; l,,,i ictr fhic
mittee.
The necessity for some new meth
cd OF dealing with the coal transpor-
tation problem was emphasized to-
day by scores OF reports that wealth
er conditions were as bad or worse
than at any time since the unprece-
dented period of cold and stormy
weather started nearly two weeks
ago. Heavy snow throughout New
York and New England, in Pennsyl-
vania, West Virginia, Maryland and
elsewhere made traffic movement ex-
tremely slow and cut the supply of
empty cars to coal mines far below
even the subnormal supply of the
last few days.
The bright phase of the situation
was a report of Fuel Administrator
Garfield that ships were being bunk
cred more rapidly than last week,
and that coal was going in sufficient
quantities TO domestic consumers.
These were the main purposes of the
industrial curtallment order of five
days ago, Dr.. Garfield said, and con-
sequently the result of the industrial
suspension was satisfactory.
In the memorandum sent to Direc-
tor General McAdoo, suggesting the
embargo, DR.. Garfield referred to the
one-day embargo on all freight ex-
cept food and fuel, declared yester-
day by the Pennsylvania lines east of
Pittsburg, and suggested that SINH
lar action should be taken for sew
eral days, particularly on the Penn
sylvania, the Baltimore and Ohio and
the Philadelphia and Reading, the
worst congested trunk lines leading
to the seaboard. War munitions and
supplies. he said, might be exempted.
Such an embargo would be espe-
cially effective if it could follow i'm
mediately the five days covered by
the January II order, 'said the mem
orandum. This would make an en-
barge effective tomorrow.
During the last two months OF
1917 the Administrator declared, in
creasingly acute car shortage on the
Pennsylvania and Baltimore and
Ohio neutralized every effort for in
creased production at the mines,
empty cars were not at the mines
and congestion was SO great that
loaded cars did not reach their con-
signees.
while the railroads were opera
ted separately, although in coop
erative plan" he added, they SEEM
ed to have found it impossible to
remedy this situation and since a di-
rector general of railroads has been
appointed we have had nothing but
unprecedentedly severe weather al
most nullifying his efforts"
During the five weeks ending jan
uary 5, it was explained, coal pro-
duction lost because of car shortage
amounted to 10 per cent, 80 per
cent, "a per cent, "a per cent, and
9 per cent, respectively. Conditions
were worst on the Baltimore and
Ohio and Pennsylvania.
The Fuel Administration today re-
ported better movement of empty
cars to mines of Pennsylvania West