Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-09-04
BY r. T. S.

BY r. T. S.
speeiaI corre,scndert Of Great Falls Tribune
Copyright, 1922. by The Great Falls Tribune
Washington, Sept. 3.-Governmen'
price fixing of coal, as proposed IL
the legislation now on it's way through
is looked upon with mixed feelings hers
in the capital. Government prices, II
precedent amounts to anything, NEAR
high prices. And thereby hangs a tale
During the days of the fuel admins
tration by DIR. Garfield throughout the
.1ate unpleasantness". it seems thai
some coal operators in Wyoming de,
sired to move and sell a quantity OF
slack coal In ordinary times the
operators were glad TO. dispose of this
virtually waste product at the rate oil
Is cents a ton. They admit now tina
on account of the war they were
tempted to raise the price and they
did so. They charged 80 cents a ton
for the coal and had plenty of buyers.
Eventually word filtered in to the
coal administration in Washington that
the Wyoming dealers were profiteering
in slack. The administration was
shocked and decided at once to put q
stop to it. Word went forth immedi-
ately that no more freight cars would
be available for the movement of slack
at profiteer prices.
1t is a popularity of slack that,
when piled and allowed to stand,
| spontaneous combustion takes place
and a serious fire results. The ope-
rators were much put out by the order
shutting off the cars. Their coal piles
began to burn. They appealed to their
| representatives in the national con-
gress telling them that useful fuel was
! going up in useless smoke and that if
allowed to move the coal they could
realize from sixty to seventy-five cents
q ton upon it thus preventing the loss.
congressman Warm Up
The appeals from the operators
stirred the Wyoming delegation at
Washington into action. They called on
the fuel administration in company
| with one of the most prominent ope-
| rators. The administrator agreed to see
the national legislators but excluded
the operators from the royal presence.
After a due presentation of the facts
the administrator said to have stamp
ed his foot with ~finality upon his desk
as he gravely announced.
81 viii not permit profiteering in
slack or any other grade of coal. !
will not permit a ton of this slack to
be moved if il is sold in excess of $3.50
a ton"
Needless to say. when the cruel
decision of the administrator was wired
to the boys back home there was q
wild scramble to extinguish the fires
in the slack pits and get the stuff
aboard the cars.
There has been much discussion of
late as to whether women can be good
losers. 1t is claimed by some that
l%truculent 'meOws' and the swift, sur
r~eptious scratchings of sharp feline
, claws are being heard in all phases of
public life now that women have en-
tered il. Those who profess to see
"~cattiness' in the public performances
of women always point nowadays TO
the attack made by Miss Alice Robert
son. the only woman in congress-, upon
Lady Astor when she was in this coun-
try. and also the rather acrimonious
exchanges between the a~lluring Lenglen
and matchless Molla during the wom-
ems tennis championships.
when women say mean things about
each other they are called cats says
Miss Anne Webster. who as both a
sportSwoman and a politician is quail
fled to make observations that carry
weight.
Mrs. Calvin Coolidge. wife of the
vice president, is one who believes.
however. that women carry grudges
longer than men do.
.Whiie sitting in the senate the other
day." she says, 81 heard senator's on
the floor d~enounCe each other in heated
terms and then later saw them chat
ting together in the most friendly man
ner. That is the way men do. They
have their political arguments and criti-
cize each other in all sorts of ways.
but continue friendly in their personal
relations. Women can't do that. They
bear grudges, ] think, more than men,"
William Jennings Bryan. in Wash
ington this week. surprised everybody
with the sickness of his hair. Once
wont to hold but his collar and lend
itself to c%artooning as a sort of
cuckoo's nest, the raven appendage was
shorn right short and made the dis
tinguished commoner look real young
and snappy.
II is said that the late Ebert Hub
bard. when approached one DAY ana
questioned as TO why he permitted his
hair to grow so long, exclaimed:
MY good man, if it were only three
inches longer | could get $500 more a
lecture"
James j. Hill. in the days Of his
railroad pioneering, always wore his
hair long when he was ~mingling with
farmers of the great northwest, but
when he got to Wall street every now
and then to negotiate a loan he always
clipped his hair before beginning nego-
tiations.
Mr.. Bryan is going into the demo-
cTat fight with vigor and enthusiasm
this fall. 1t is the first time in years
that he has seemed to have his heart
and soul in the welfare of the party.
With clipped hair and sparkling eyes
he has girded himself for the fray and
is rearing to go.
/ Representative Frank Mondell of
Wyoming. who is running for the SEN