New Britain herald., 1922-08-15
COAL SHIPMENTS
 WILL BE DELAYED
Condition of Cars Will Hamper Speeding Up Efforts
By Harry Hunt

Washington, Aug, IS.-Predictions of . serious coal shortage next win ter were given additional weight to- Parn1elee, director of the bureau of railway economies.
 Even though the coal strike should be settled, attempts to speed up trans portation of coal will be seriously hampered by the condition Of rail way rolling stock, he declared.
 There are today, Parmelee says, ap- proximately double the normal num- Der of bad-order cars--the total being in the neighborhood Of 3o0.o00 out Of. grand total of 2,344.ooo freight cars,
 Because of the shopmen's strike, and the consequent failure to make necessary repairs. the number of cars which will have 10 be laid up for general overhaulins within a few months is rapidly increasing. The peak of out-of-order cars and locor.4o- tives seems likely to be reached about the time the peak demand for coal transportation arrives, and will add . serious complication to the fuel situa- ton.
 Normally" says Parmelee, about seven to eight per cent of freight cars are out of service for repairs. Today. however, that percentage is in the neighborhood of 14 per cent and is in- creasing.
 "So far the numbers of laid-up To- comotives has shown no large in- crease, but because of present shop conditions 1t is naturally to be expect ed that that will follow. Heavier Load The number of cars actually out because of bad condition. however, does not wholly reveal the real stua- tion. By keeping in service large numbers of cars which are in need of minor repairs, but which are still suf- fciently serviceable that they are not in danger of actually breaking down or endangering their contents, heav- fer load of major repairs will have to be met in the early future. If is case of failure to take stitch in time Care that could be laid up now and repaired in a day or two at cost of perhaps $40 or $50, will have to he laid up in a few months to undergo general overhauling or rebuilding at cost of several hundred dollars. 1 Despite the coal strike and the great falling off in coal shipments that resulted, there has been the sur prising condition of an actual increase in total car loadings over year ago. That indicates that business was de- cidedly on the upgrade at the time the strike came. In fact, 1t was the momentum that business generally was acquiring that carried total car loadings steadily upward through the first months of the strike, despite the loss of nearly one-haf normal coal shipments.
 50 Per Cent Less
 Tn April. the first month of the strike the number of cars of coal shipped was just 50 per cent. less than the number shipped in April, 1921. The total cars loaded, for all purposes. however in April. was 2.5 per cent more than in April, 1921.
 Tn May, coal shipments declined 47.4 per cent, but total car loadngs increased 3.5.
 Tn June, coal shipments were off 393 per cent, but shipments of freight exceeded those in June, 1921, by 1O.s per cent.
 And even in July, following the shopmen's strike, with coal shipments off AS per cent. total car loadings were 10 per cent above the preceding July Copyright. 1922, NEA service.)