The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1920-02-14
III BY BRUCE cLAeETr.
Asistant to Director General Of Rail-.
roads.

roads.
i nave the thought that the people
the United States would ike RI
nov now their coal supply was ham
Ged during the six weeks strike Of hi.
4umlnous coal miners, which has inst
I enc to an end. This was the urst ma.
tm-wide coal strike the country ever
Aperlenced, and therefore the p-ob-
ms arising were novel. Necessarily.
mlng the continuance Of the strike.
ne exact stacks on hand could not he
made public at all times, although as
~ all vital facts, the public seems to
we been kept fully informed day by
1W. Uncle Sam set up his own coal
plle as soon as the strike began and
tept replenishing it from the mines
Fhich continued to work, but mean
nile the pile was being diminished
nore rapidly than new supplies were
cming in, and before long it became
question of keeping people warm
nther than what industries should be
entinued. Had the strike continued
unch longer many industries would
ave had to shut down and people
0rovn out of work, but on the re-
6ficted basis to which the country
nally came and with the part-time
fOduction obtained undoubtedly the
ntion could have carried on" for
Meks longer, If not months.
Strike Anticipated.
Several weeks before the coal strike
ngan on November 1 its coming was
Eainly apparent, and therefore the
fector general Of railroads, Walker
d Hines, consulted with all the re-
6onal directors Of railroads and the
8incipal members Of his staff, and
&cided that If the strike came it would
u the Job of the railroad administra-
ION to make the coal produced 60 as
hr as possible. After thorough dis
nssion the plan was adopted Of allow
ng all coal mined up to the time Of the
strike proceed AS billed to consignees
"a the idea that once the strike actu-
lily began the railroads could look
liter their own and the emergency
needs of the country by taking over
pal actually on the rails at that time.
Through this method foresighted con-
<nmers were placed in position to
tore up. The alternative method
Rould have been for the railroads to
lave begun to buy coal early in prepa-
sation for the strike, thus keeping such
coal out Of normal channels.
4 Prior to the strike very careful
survey Of stocks on hand, both Of rail-
roads, industries and individuals Gas
Tar as possible) was conducted so that
The railroad administration went into
the strike with as accurate knowledge
of the coal situation throughout the
country as was obtainable. The adj
illustrations original survey on No
rember 1 showed 100000 tons OF BIZ
luminous coal on wheels and In rail-
road storage subject to distribution
nnder the administrator supervision.
70 this was added the daily pfoduc-
hon which totaled 10000 tons in
November, and Of the aggregate the
stocks still available for the tountry's
protection on December l, 12,3OO.OOO
IONS aud on December s, 11,475.OOO
IONS.
Prior to the strike orders were IS
sued By the railroad administration
10 give preference to coal loading, and
This naturally resulted In hardship on
some Industries. The result was how
ever, that in the week ended October
Is q total Of 100000 tons OF coal
was produced and moved In the United
States, this constituting a record Tor
The country. 1t took hard work by
everyone concerned to distribute this
enormous amount Of coal. Once the
strike was on, the production never
reached 30 per cent Of normal. with
The result shown above, VIZ, that IN
addition TO using the production every
1ay. the stored coal in possession OF
he railroads was depleted In the si1