Americus times-recorder., 1920-06-22

MILWAUKEE,, June 22-(Spe-
cial) -Extortionate coal prices and
the severe fuel famine will apparently
Strike their hardest blows next winter
4. In Wisconsin, Minnesota, the Dakotas
and other states of the northwest.
This section depends for its fuel
on the coal shipped by Great Lakes
vessels and dumped at Milwaukee and
other ports.
The supply now arriving at these
ports is only about ONE-FOURTH
/ what it should be to keep the north
west warm and its industries operat-
, ing.
Up to June the seasons shipments
of coal by lake boats totaled only l.
497, ,304 tons. Thissis shortage of g.
216,730 tons compared with the same
u period of 1919.
1t is actually worse than that
really 75 per cent shortage COM
pared with requirements.
For, like other sections of the
country the northwest didn't have
the customary carry-over of surplus
coal from the year previous.
At this rate, less than 100000
tons of coal will travel up the Great
. Lakes this year against 30,000,000
tons needed.
There are isolated cases in which
lake vessels, at present high market
prices of coal, are paying MORE for
fuel than they can get out of their
/ freiSht.
ixpo, in the main, lake shippers are
+bo ,.oiIcooJ- louo 70 o1Io,,
down on getting coal to lower lake
ports for shipment.
Ore Shipments Slump
A lake boat takes coal up the Great
Lakes and loads with ore for the re-
turn trip. Since few boats are arriv-
ing with coal in the ore region, ore
shipments down the lakes have slump
ed.
Up to June 7 the seasons ship
ments of ore by boats totaled only
3,096,837 tons against 5,736,856 tons
in the same period in 1918, Thus a
fuel famine is being sown at one end
of the lakes and an iron and steel
famine at the other end.
To help relieve this situation, the
Interstate Commerce Commission,
June II, sanctioned the formation
of a coal pool centered in Cleveland.
Under this arrangement coal consign-
ed to the pool for shipments up the
lakes has right of way or priority over
all other freight on all railroads
touching Lake Erie.
The |. C. C. has also placed an en-
barge on coal shipped to Lake Erie
ports for destination up the lakes ex-
cept when consignee can show that
the cars can be unloaded fast.
Costly Mistake
The TRANSFORMATION ball-up was well
illustrated by conditions prevailing
at lower Lake Erie ports June IA,
when IA vessels with 576,42 tons of
ore were at the docks waiting to be
unloaded, with % more vessels due
within "a hours. -,
Nearby stood 6328 cars loaded with
an average of so tons of coal each,
This coal was waiting to be loaded IN
TO the boats as soon as they would be
emptied of ore.
But "by mistake" the cars that
should have hauled the ore away were
taken back to the mines empty, so the
ore vessels and the coal cars had to
wait until empty cars SHoWeu up
Says H. A. Adams, head of the ter
minals committee of the Cleveland
Chamber of Commerce:
Failure of lake shippers to move
coal is traceable directly to the short
age of coal cars at the mines. The ter
ninals are gradually being cleared,
but more empty cars dispatched to the
mines is the only solution to the coal
problem. To accomplish this, cars
must be unloaded faster and used
more efficiently"