Evening star., 1921-01-18
HIGH COAL PRICES
PUT ON OPERATORS
Local Dealers Appear as Wit
nesses Before Calder
Committee.

High prices charged for coal to
consumers in the District of Colum-
bia were blamed upon the mine oper-
ators by representatives Of the local
coal dealers appearing yesterday
afternoon before the Calder commit
tee on reconstruction and production.
J. NJ. Walling. bookkeeper of the l.
r. White Coal Company. declared that
the prices charged in Washington fol-
lowed naturally upon the prices which
the dealers here are compelled to pay
the operators. I'VE have been paying
exorbitaut prices for our coal at the
Mines" SD MIR. Walling. 'Decem-
ber 20 and 80 last we paid $11.50 per
gross ton"
No collusion for the fixing of prices
exists among Washington coal deal
ers. Mr. Walling told the committee.
Mr. Zimmerman Quotes.
A letter from J. r. Zimmerman, sec
retary of the local Coal Merchants
Association. was read to the commit
tee. showing the retail pri ces of va
rious grades of coal, sidewalk deliv-
cry. on January Z. The range of
prices follows: Egg coal. s14.5O to
$3.50; stove. $14.90 to $16.S0: nut.
s1470 to s16.55: pea. $1,000 to s13.95;
soft coal. $10.75 to s11.45.
Thomas j. Donovan. president of
the Central Citizens Association and
a member of the committee appointed
by the Federation of Citizens Associ-
ations to investigate the cause of
high prices charged for coal in Wash
ington, told the committee that he
had considered the prices charged for
coal here Outrageous" He said he
l,nI u vol, ,nta IN ct
mittee report which gave excuses for
the dealers raising their prices.
Jesse c. Suter, vice president Of the
Federation of Citizens Associations,
also a member of the investigating
committee. testified tina. the commit
tee did not find that the dealers here
were charging exorbitant rates for
coal. when the prices they were COM
pelled to pay for coal were taken
into consideration. Mr.. Sater was
formerly secretary of the local coal
dealers association. He said that he
had opposed the establishment of a
government coal yard here. anil that
he believed it was one Of the contrib
uting causes of higher prices charged
private citizens for coal, since the
dealers would have had the government
contracts as "fllers" and could have
reduced the prices therefore 20 other
consumers.
Counsel for the Senate committee
pointed out that if the government
yard had been able to supply all the
local needs, as well as those of the
government, the people here would
have saved about $1.250.0G0 Oh an
thracite coal this winter.
Tells What Government Paid.
George S. Pope, in charge of the
government fuel yard here, gave the
prices paid by the government for coal
and the prices at which it was sold to
the schools and government depart
ments. He said that the overhead at
the yard amounted to 81 a ton and
that If the government had to meet
all the charges the local dealers have
to meet the overhead would be $1.45
a ton. The evidence given by Mr..
Donaldson showed. however, that the
difference in prices charged by the
government yard and the local deal
ers had run as. high as s4.06 on some
coal.
Prices charged by the government
fuel yard given by Mr.. Pope follow
Anthracite coal-Furnace. $12.39;
egg, $12.59; w. A. stove. s12.69; chest
nut, $3.50; pea. $10.76; buckwheat,
1919; r. A. stove. 5000.