New-York tribune., 1922-09-04
Immediate Needs of ALI
Homes Can Be Met Until
Anthracite Production Is
Normal, Dealers Declare
Reserves i'm Cellars
To Prevent Pinch
Possible Failure of Trans.
portation Sole Remain
ing Cause for Worry

Unless a breakdown Of the rail-
roads congests traffic and inpedes
shipments New York City should
suffer no hardship this winter
due to scarcity of anthracite.
Among representative coal dealers
it was the consensus yesterday that
the settlement of the anthracite
strike late Saturday night came
just in time to avert suffering.
Enough hard coal can be mined be-
fore November, it was said, to supply
the city's immediate needs during tho
first cold snap, and from then OF
through the winter there should be
enough fuel obtainable to meet all re-
quirements.
1t probably will be impossible, how
ever, dealers explained, for any house
holder to have his total order filled at
one time, but they felt confident that
the needs of the average home for a
two or three weeks period could be
met.
Mines in Good Condition
Production is expected to begin I'm
mediately with the return of $4,000
men to the mines on September II, &C.
cording to Girvan N. Snyder, general
manager Of the coal brokerage Arm of
Dickson & Eddy, II Battery Place.
During the war Mr. Snyder was trans
portation adviser to the fuel admins
tration in Washington. He is Of the
opinion that the mines have been main
tanned in good condition and operation
can begin at once.
It will be about month, Mr.. Snyder
thought, before capacity production
can be attained. Since the shutdown
on April l the miners have been idle,
muscles have become softened and four
weeks of work will be required to make
them again efficient. Some miners
have drifted off into other work.
"At the end of two months" Mr..
Snyder said, @the mines should be fur
nishing normal production and coal
should be coming into the New York
market in steady stream. During
cite coal was mined, there was pro-
duced 6,77S,0G0 tons; the monthly aver
age is about 100000 tons. Seventy
five per cent of this tonnage is Ia
stove sizes, that is, sizes suitable for
household use. The remaining 90 per
cent consists of the so-celled steam
sizes, buckwheat, rice, ETC., usually
used in industrial and power plants.
"For the most part the mines have
4
maintained and the timbering renewed
wherever necessary. The efficiency of
the pumps is all important when one
considers that for each tor of anthra-
cite mined there are fifteen tons OF
water pumped. The only section of the
district where there may
be difficulty with pumping machinery
is near Carbondale, Pa, where several
cloudbursts have overtaxed the pumps"
Small Cellar Stocks Plentiful
Cellar stocks of anthracite, which
are believed TO be plentiful, although
only averaging from two to FIVE tons,
are expected to take the edge of any
shortage that may occur during the
first cold weather. Some coal will .szvs
been mined by that time, but small re-
serve stocks, it is thought, will aid
materially in tiding over the short pro-
duction period.
Senator Borah's bill calling for
sweeping investigation into the coal
industry was praised in letter sent
yesterday to Senator Borah by Frank
A. Pattison, chairman of the National
Bureau of Information and Education.
The passage of this measure, Mr. Pat
tison says in his letter, which was
made public by the committee of forty
eight, will mark the first step IN the
permanent solution of the coal prob
lem and will prevent repetition OF
the critical situation.
The letter suggests Ave possible fields
of inquiry, as follows, and points out
the necessity for complete information
on these subjects:
Standardizing the mines on the basis
of their productive capacity.
Standardizing the cost Of living and
living conditions for mine workers.
Standardizing the overhead cost OF
delivering coal at the door Of the con-
sumer.
The advisability or inadvisability OF
nationalizing the coal industry.
The feasibility or necessityaof gov
ernmental regulation and control.
The letter also contains an indorse-
rnent of the Borah bill by Bishop VIII
liems, of Michigan.