The Washington herald., 1921-10-25
RAIL STRIKE TALK
SPURS ORDERSFOR
.:BTUMINOUS COAL
Sudden Rush of Business
calls for Prompt
Shipment.
MINES RUSH OUTPUT
Anthracite Also Affected by
The Possibility of
Tie-Up.

As a result Of the threatened rail-
road strike. a good many orders ror
bituminous coal have suddenly ap-
.peared calling for prompt shipment,
reports say.
Small orders for a few cars pre-
dominate, but larger ones also ag-
,.ure. Some Of the small mines which
had. been running two or three days
a week have now sold up their out
pnt for balance of the month Un-
TIL reception of this business, sales
of-Gach mines had merely kept q
day or so ahead of production. Con-
tract commercial consumers are
also IN many Instances requesting
prompt deliveries in view of pos
.stbIe strike Quite a number have
been going along with light stocks
: and now wish to protect themselves.
Where spot sales Of coal are not
to regular customers, sellers since
q the sudden demand sprang up are
asking advance Of 10 to Is cents a
; ton. Regular customers senerarry
eansstin buy at the old price. Bet
ter grades in pool are freely
quoted $3.50 to $2.65 a ton, while
. some sellers say they can get as
much as s2.75. For pool 10 about
= s2.36 to s2.35 is asked.
- !" Railroads Buy Supplies.
. Prior. to the strike cloud. produc-
tfUn stepped up. passing the 9.000,-
.0OQ-ton mark in the frst week of
october. Railroads have been stock
ing up on fuel, while with trade
improvements rolling mills and
other concerns in the steel industry
have been buying more freely.
Some bituminous operators who
have refrained from selling at the
lowest market prices are not marx
ing up quotations to their own
trade. They say they have been op-
Grating part time, and If the mar
ket is now inclined to take more
coal they would rather run full at
prices they have been getting than
- to try and capture temporarily a
. little business at an advance. One
such interest remarks tnar he may
suggest to a customer the purchase
of coal as an insurance against a
strike, but does not like to base his
selling argument altogether on sucn
: 4 contingency. If the strike does
not materialize, the customer is sure
10 remember.
While agents are selling good
grades OF coal aroAnd 1915 a ton,
they still have uncompIeted con-
Tracts at 1925 and $3.50. In GER
tain cases large consumers have ne
Eotiated reduction in price by ex-
lending the term of the contract a
Few months further into the future
and increasing the tonnage con-
tracted for
Anthracite in Demand.
Quite an influx of orders is re-
ported also by anthracite operators
since the cooler weather further
fastened by the railroad labor stu
alton.
Until recently autumn demand has
been below the average. Even II
there be no railway tie-up, the mar
ket for domestic sizes of anthra-
cite is likely TO be improved pro-
yided the weather Is not unseason-
ably mild.
Large companies which had been
dumping chestnut are now picking
IL up, so much better is the demand,
and certain ones have stopped stor-
ing egg. Stove continues the leader,
with pea and egg the slowest OF
sale among the prepared sizes. A
few OF the large producers have
more business on stove and chestnut
than they can take care of promptly,
Steam sizes of anthracite remain
uufet. with a trif1e improvement in
No. buckwheat.
One thing that is holding back the
dealers is the current discussion to
the effect that reduction OF railroad
freight rates must come with any
wage reduction. with the question
OF lower freights thus again brought
into the limelight, dealers hesitate
to keep on loading up their yards
with coal