New Britain herald., 1918-10-19
CONNECTICUT COAL
QUOTA MAY BE CUT
7. W. Russell Fears Influenza May
Force Decrease in Supply

FOlCt DtCEodH Ill puppy
Hartford, Oct, 19.--The influenza
epidemic at the coal mines has re.
duced the production OF anthracite
to such an extent that Thomas w
Russell, United States Fuel Admins
traitor for Connecticut, believes Con-
necticut's supply will be curtailed. Mr..
Russell mentioned the influenza epi-
demic today in this connection as an,
additional reason why consumers of
all classes in this state should exercise
the most rigid economy in the use Of
hard coal. Every householder, he
said, should buy at least one cord of
wood to supplement his supply.
From one mine after another"
said Mr.. Russell. Comes the report
that the reason for the falling off IN
shipments is the fact that so many
of the coal miners are Ill with iaf1u-
enza. This makes for the time being
an exceedingly serious situation, par
tlcularly when one considers that be-
fore the epidemic struck the mine re-
gions the number of anthracite coal
miners had been reduced fifteen to
twenty per cent, by war conditions,
and that the production standard has
| been maintained all summer only be-
| cause each miner has greatly in
| creased his own efficiency, partly
through the efforts of the fuel admin
istration, and partly ii a great num-
Der of cases through his own patrio-
tism. AS a matter of fact the short
age of labor at the mines is bound to
continue for the next twelve months
at least, and in the meantime, the de-
mand for anthracite for necessary
! war processes has increased tremen-
| dously. l can not say too often that
| the only answer for us is conserva-
| ton.
Buy Cord OF Wood.
1T earnestly requested that every
| householder purchase at least ole
| cord of wood and use this fuel as
much as possible to reduce his con-
| sumption coal. This is particularly
| true in the rural communities. If
| there is a real shortage we shall be
| compelled to concentrate the distribu-
| ton of coal in the large cities, rather
| than in the communities where wood
| is accessible and where If necessary,
it can be substituted altogether for
| coal. However, until am in possess
| ion of more definite facts as to the ex-
| tent of the curtailment in supply due
| to influenza at the mines, shall not
| be in a position to promise that any
| community will have it's full require
ments of anthracite.
ITO stimulate the cutting Of cord
| wood and to regulate it's distribution,
| an extensive Cord Wood organization
| has been perfected during the past
| two or three weeks in cooperation
with the fuel administration and
I! through this organization the supply
| of cord wood in the cities as well as
| in the rural districts, will be checked
! up and equalized as far as possible
| Consumers in cities should first make
| every effort to purchase wood through
| dealers in their communities. In case
| they can not get supply through
their own efforts they should report
| to the local fuel administrator. Each
| local fuel administrator has a cord
| wood member on his committee,
whose duty it is to report to the
state headquarters any shortage or
surplus in the supply of wood, to the
end that the condition may be
remedied without delay
IT do not wish to ask anyone to
make any sacrifice in the matter of
fuel which am not willing to make
myself and I don't mind saying that
I have four cords of wood in my
cellar which will cut down my coal
requirements considerably.
Other Substitutions.
Not only should anthracite be
saved by the substitution of wood but
| in every case where No. / buckwheat
| can be substituted for domestic sizes,
| this should be done without question.
| Twenty-Five per cent. of No. l buck
L. a to- I4,, ,Aefty, FYtY-
| naces; the price is fifty cents per ton
less than pea coal. Business blocks
and other large consumers should use
bituminous or a mixture of bitunin-
Gus and buckwheat. I am informed
that Mr.. W. B. Bassett local fuel
chairman for Hartford, has enforced
this rule to such an extent that all
the schools and ninety per cent. of
the large stores and Office buildings
Of Hartford Will use bituminous and
buckwheat mixture this winter. This
means a saving of thousands OF tons
Of anthracite. Mr.. Martin E. Jensen,
local chairman at Norwich, has eff
fected a saving of thousands of tons
by the same means. I mention these
two cases because the saving has been
notable. Chairman in all parts OF the
state are engaged in the same good
work and it is only by such economy
that we can avert shortage.
ut is not my purpose in making
this statement to cause undue alarm
among consumers. There is certain
ly no need of hysteria. because ship
ments 10 Connecticut ASIA whole to
date have been reasonably satisfac- .
tory. With rigid conservation we
should get. through the winter with
out suffering, but I wish to emphasize
that every consumer must do his part"