The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-05-18
Daily Wall Street Gossip
BY HOLLAND.

New York. May Special Ut
 may become expedisnt possibly nee
 essary. for the government to suggest
 that the steel industry and some of [ the other industries which are produc- ing non- essentials, that is to say com
 aodities which are rot necessary to ! life, shut down for a month or six weeks. Whether acton of that kind would relieve a situation which is be- coming somewhat desperate is re- Edrded as doubtful. I. would certainIx, throw many thousand employees out of work. Nevertheless. cn account of 4he l cohgested transportation conditions
 which now prevail, tae steel industry inay be compelled toS curtail produc-
 tlorn perhaps to stop it for time
 It is useless to disguise fbe fact
 that the situation is really serious but II IS observed that those who have sfuoled 1t and who are in some meas Ire affected by it are confident that | leiie1 VIII come, al hough in what form they do not now know. Some
 weeks ago the prediction was made by man who was formerly a United SSates senator that within two years soup kitchens would necessarily be
 la1vlded, for there would be very large number of worKmen without em-
 pieyinent and in actual distress This preolctlon is about two years ahead of tte fact. The leader in one of the largest coal industries of the United states. both bitpminods and anthracite. sdid this morning thg- he and his as- soclates had within few days been compelled to perfect relief associations 50 that the miners employed by him and his associates might not suffer for want of food
 The miners, he said. are willing, even anxious, to work. but in many cases it is impossible to put them to em- T;9yment because even if they did pro- Guee the normal amount of coal yet
 BUYERS EVERYWHERE
 It is one of the unexpected phe- nomena of the fines that in many parts of the country buyers are seek irs for cars with which to secure transportation of commodities which arc locked up by reason of congestion. h some of the large railroad cen ters like Altoona there are so many of these buyers, eacn acting in com rrtition against the others for cars. that it has been" necessary to provide hunks for them to sleep in. since the fotel accommodations are insufficient These buyers are instructed to offer al;y price for cars and gladly to ac- cept even one car. Yet they are hav- ing great difficulty in securing ears and this difficulty seems to increase. Today the apprehension is strong that it may, within a week or two be prac- tically impossible to secure any cara for the transportation of coal and the heeessaries of life.
 High prices are often paid for the use of cars. The light and power com tany in one of the larger New Eng land cities was almost compelled to sus pend operations because it was un- able to procure coal It had only a, days supply on hand. It's buyer was able, however, to secure at the last moment several cars and the hauling of these cars, together with the coal cost this light and power company $20 ton, the normal rate being from $7 te sS- Yet they were glad to pay this excessive price, because otherwise the community would have been in dark ress excepting such light as candles and kerosene lamps would furnish. And the highways would have only davkened lamp posts. Attempt was made this morning to obtain from some who are competent to speak, in- formation about the cause of this con Gcstion- They attribute it in great