Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1922-10-29
AMOUNT OF COAL MINED
IS FAST INCREASING
Car Shortage Still a Factor in
Industrial Problem Of
Delivery.
AtTo Production INCREASES
ontput In August ENcrcnrd All hut
June This Scnr-TObncco JniIuntry
sho'rs mn Improvement Likely 10
Continue for Some Time.

nc 'iEhtn bimOnthIS survey OF
business and industrial conditions in
the United states made public today
by the National Industrial Confer
cncn Board. 10 East Thirty-ninth
street. New York. gives the follow
ing encouraging summary of the sit
ua,ion In October:
While tho outlook Is uncertain. II,
is significant tha, tho amour, Of
coal mined has increased faster Than
was at nrst anticipated produc,!ou
IN the hitumtnnus Held. 1. practical
Is back 10 normal. Prices arc he
ginning 10 weaken slightly. An
'hracitc production is also regain.
ing It's stride. but only q few mines
ere operating at capacity. The av.
rage is, however. now above so
per cent
The building Indu.iry.
Tn" building aud construction In
dustr%. which reached Unprecedented
heights IN July and August. 1872. has
now begun to show IN. usual slgns
OF a seasouahlc decline. Contracts
Tor building construction. measured
ny IN" amour; "f floor space. show
an !ncrcas" The chief Increase oc-
CURED In Industrial building. There
Was a slight dcc!iu" in residential
construction, Tho total yalu. of
contracts awarded In August I'm
iwtnty-s"ycn Southeastern states
was '3:2.oo, 400. az compared Win
$500 900 in July. This d.clin. In
August. In conjunction with tn. In
crcas" In square f"otage, indicates
movement toward cheaper typcs
OF construction. b.cauac building ma
terlalS and building labor were no,
more expensive Ia August than In
July.
= Building hgures for the first six
months In IN" present year. com
pared with those of tn" three pre-
"cdinI years, furnish further impress
sivc EVIDENCE Of the recent revival
in this Industry For tho mrs, six
months Of 1922 tho total was tlc32
$4,000. In 1927 IT was ,7OO.237.o0O;
IN 1870. sS5a.0oo. 600. and in
1919 Iii2.c0o.oOO.
In the meanwhile. building costs
nave been rising and apparently arc
likely "a continue 10 rise Prices
OF building materials have been
steadily increasing. Wages In tho
building trades have also been GO
Ing M continuously. Bullding costs
~ measured by some OF tho stan
dard indicss Of construction costs
nave Increased AZ much a. 30 per
cent between May and Scpten-
Der 30.
The lion and steel Industry has
suffered some decline In activity du.
10 combination OF causes arisin,
out OF the Goa! and railway strikes
Many furnaces have recently beer
blown out and production OF pig iron
has been reduced from the July
hHure, which Is tho peak since Jan
nHry. 1921. Productior of steel insots
has also been slightly reduced Tn.
untitled tonnage Of the United states
Steei Corporation continues to In.
Tredsc, indicating sustained demand
Auto Production Incrrn>rs
Production o. automobiles was
again unusually high in Angus, and
In fact exceeded the production OF
any other month this year .xccut
June
August production Is tho hcav!cs /,
on record In August. 1872. .a.sGs
NOR" cars w"r" produced that In hi
gust. 1921. The unusually favorabl.
condition OF the automobile indus.
Try is ascrib"d TO the forchandcdn.ss
OF tho manufacturers in debating
prices.
Conditions seem to Indicate con-
t!nued large production and CON
sumption OF petroleum products
Consumption Of domestic and import
ed petroleum In August was the
largest OF any month. aRgcgatinp
bo.si7.00o barrels. a daily average Of
1.e2s.25s barrels.
Lumber Holdn Tn well.
3, , Lumber production seems to have
held up remarkably well during Au-
gust. Production was about the
same as In July. From the Pacific
Coast. however. come tales Of UMPIRE
-
reporting to the West Coast Lumber
mems Association produced 2.S33..
051.63s board measure feet OF lumhcr
from January to September i 1870
In the same period last year these
mills cut l.733.O5l.237 board measure
feet of lumber. Water transpor,a
tlon and cargo business is reported 10
i'n an increasingly important factor
in the business OF the Pacific and
Atlantic Coasts, as well as for ex-
port.
1t has been the almost universal
experience in the lumber industry
that JUST AS soon as demand for
lumber becomes pressing and prices
per thousand feet rise. a large mum
Der of mills, previously idle. resume
production. The result is that the
market Is quickly gluttcd with large
stocks of lumber, prices fall RAPIDLY
: and the industry ceases to operate nj
profit. This Is apparently what Is
happening at the present moment
In face of brisk demand for lum-
Der. the mills are Wing at ton
speed and production for the month
OF August exceeds any previous
month since the war by more than
f.300,000 board feet
Considerable increase in activity
OF cotton mills during August and
September took place. Mill consume
,tion of raw cotton for August to-
tailed 527.404 bales. an increase M
nearly $4,000 bales over July. This
Is the largest consumption reported
for any month in the last two Years
Conditions in the silk industry are
decidedly more hopeful SILK con
sumption. measured by warehousc
Withdrawals showed "A marked i'm :
crease in August The total mill
taklngs OF 34,772 bales In that month
Is the largest reported for any month
for which there are records. Sen
temher tak!ngs amounted to 34.2lo
bales
. The wooden industry continues 70
be rather more active than tho
worstcd industry. In the industry
as n whole there has been little
change. The worsted industry. how
ever. showed renewed activity, es
pecially during August In the
weaving section of the industry