Perth Amboy evening news., 1922-08-19

WASHINGTON, Aug. ia plan
for the conversion of coal into cleo
trio power at the mouths of Goa
mines and transmitting the current
TO the industrial consuming centers
has been called to the attention of
the President, Secretary of Com
merce Hoover, and other high ofli-
Gals of the government.
In proportion to its value. both
in money and in heating power, coal
Is Unfortunately bulky. More than
one-third of the total railroad
freight of the United States is coal.
On some roads in coal producing
sections, coal amoun to so per cent
of all the freight hauled. A very
large portion of this coal is railway
fuel-that is, Goa to fire the engines
which haul the trains.
Louis Brandeis, now an associate
justice of the Supreme Court of the
United States. in his brief in the
five per cent case before the Inter-
state Commerce Commission, esti-
mated that when all items of cost
to the railroads of buying and haul
ing their own GOA were added, the
total would be $250,000, 900. Since
hat estimate was made, prices and
costs have increased and the rail-
road coal bill has amounted to $780,
100000. To transport coal to meet
the American demand. $4,000, 900
cars are employed annually and of
these $500, 600 carS are employed
in hauling coal for the railroads
W use-coal to be consumed in
the locomotives that haul the coal
and other traffic. These figures have
been filed with the Interstate Com
merce Commission
The commission has found, in one
of its investigations into the coal
traffic, that approximately 81 per
cent of all the coal cars return to
the mines empty.
These figures give an impression
of the extent to which the Transport
tation system is burdened with the
movement of this bulky material
n show how much more railroad
equipment would be available for
general freight if the power which
springs from coal could be handled
in another
The General Plan
In general outline, the new plan
would provide for the erection at
the Goa mines of gigantic power
plants. The coal would be brought
just fast enough to be put into the
furnaces and maintain a steady head
of steam to keep the dynamos turn
ing.
One of the underlying reasons for
discomfort among coal miners and
therefore one of the main causes of
tho coal strike is the intermittency
in the industry. The big demand for
coal comes in the winter time; in
the summer months it falls off. Coal
is mined as the market calls for it.
Therefore, when the demand is
light, there is little mining to be
done. The men are thrown out of
employment. The result is that
coal miners work but from 165 to
30 days a year. While their wages
are regarded as good their work is
not steady and therefore their earn
ings for the e are not large.
1t is the opinion of experts that
tho Goa industry is overmanned.
There are some 700,0 600 men en-
gagged in it. Under the power plan
tho intermittency in the work of
coal miners would be eliminated.
The Goa would be feeding machines
running steadily and not an ever
changing open market demand. The
requirements of the power genera
tors could be reckoned in advance
with a fair amount of accuracy and
the coal could be kept coming
above ground regularly all the year
round. Fewer meh would be re-
quired to take care of this produc-
ton and while the change would
throw man thousands out of work.
it would be gradual and ultimately
would result in a clear economic
gain. it is claimed. Fewer men would
be doing one branch of the worlds
work. The remainder would become
engaged in other productive labor.
The first step In the plan for the
identification of the nation is the
changing over of railroads from
steam to electric power. The rail-
roads cross the country in every di-
rection and the cities and industries
which consume power are built up
along their tracks. Power cables
would parallel the tracks but would
carry so much more power than
would be required for the railways
that the surplus would be ample
for diversion of the cities en- route.
This would run the mills and fac
tories, light the cities and furnish
power for municipal traction lines.