Daily Kennebec journal., 1922-04-26
tic. the 1llinoi. operators will use in

tics the Illinois operators will use In
their negotiations.
"There will be no coal. no market,
and no summer prices" said Mr. Scott.
I The larger public utilities OF the
state are well supplied. but small in
dependent companies are expected to
suffer II the strike lasts long. Two
hundred towns supplied by one COM
pany had an average supply Of S0-days
fuel the second week OF the strike; %
supplied by other companies had an
average supply OF two-weeks fuel.
Most central Illinois factories have
.three-months supply. and some have
four-months. according to Secretary
Scott. All users OF coal in that dis
trict were warned in advance and
have stocked up, he said.
!. Retailers and operators Of Southern
Illinois, including w. X. Kavanaugh,
president of the Fifth and Ninth
District Coal Operators Association,
safd that prices would remain station
.ary for the present as there was
Is to 90-days, supply mined. and that
summer prices hinged entirely on the
settlement. 1t was asserted that oper-
ators look upon the eight-hour day
and fiye-day week as equivalent to
25 per cent raise, and that 1t would
mean an increase in price. as would
raise in wages. A reduction in wages
would be passed on to the consumers,
dealers said.
MICHIGAN-The majority Of public
utility companies throughout the state
have protected themselves with suffi-
cient fuel to last through what they
think will be the duration OF the
strike. The leading coal dealers In
Detroit said that prices would depend
upon the length of the strike. upon ac-
tion Of the Interstate Commerce Com
mission relative to freight rates. and
variety of other factors entering into
the situation.
WISCONSIN-Coals supplies in Wis
consin should last through the strike
even II it extends over several months.
the state department Of markets be-
lieves, basing it's assumption On sur
vey made last winter. Edward Moro
man, commissioner held that no in
creases in price were warranted on the
ground Of insufficient supply to meet
the demand. The department. while
having no definite information Of pres
ent supplies. was definitely Of the
opinion that they were ample for all
needs and that there was little likeli-
hood of a shortage in any cities for
utility purposes or in small towns.
oJo
of navigation this winter were said to
have been sufficient to carry the state
through the year without shortage if
cars could be obtained to distribute
them. The department reported last
November that Illinois and Indiana
were shipping more soft coal into the
state than in any previous year. and
concluded that that fact, combined
with the industrial depression, would
mean that all dock companies would
carry a substantial supply over into
the following year G92e).
IOWA-The coal on hand will last
public utilities until about July 1. ac-
cording to the estimate of Edward
Weir, secretary of the Iowa Mine In
spection Department..
Sufficient coal to last
all Missouri industries. utilities and
home demands for at least 60 days
was estimated by operators and min
ers' officials, including Arch Helm of
Mobcrly, Mo-, president of the Mis-
souri, miners.
There have been no general summer
prices for Missouri, Kansas, Oklaho-
ma and Arkansas since the federal
fuel administration relinquished con-
troll according to W. l.. A. Johnson,
western Interstate Coal Operators AS
sociation. Any reduced summer
prices, Mr.. Johnson said. have been
the result of isolated action by inde-
pendent coal companies that were
overstocked.
KANSAS-Cities and towns Of Kan
sas have on an average more than
60-days supply of coal on hand, accord
ing to the Kansas Court of Industrial
100 municipalities. Although Cherry
vale reported very little fuel and Ire-
donia only a 15-days allowance, Abb
lene reported 9-months supply and
Newton enough for any emergency"
Despite the 3O-day extension of the
old agreement between union miners
and operators. ordered by the indus
trial court, the coal mining industry
is practically at a standstill in Kan
sas. State institutions. % in number
have from two to siX-months supply
Sc
at the penitentiary will be able to sup
plement these supplies sufficiently to
prevent any shortage at the institu-
tions indefinitely.
. At the recent hearing held by the
industrial court Kansas operators tes-
titled that they had large volumes Of
coal on board cars at the mines await
ing shipment.
Railroads generally have stored
large amounts of coal in anticipation
of a long strike. One exception. how
ever, is Santa Fe which reported
it had stored no emergency supply.
but would be able to meet all traffic
demands by oil burning locomotives
il necessary.
other large users of coal for power
purposes at Omaha are supplied for
from GO togo days. One dealer as
serted that the strike could run until
September without exciting fears of
shortage and / doubt II there would
be much fear even then" Omaha re-
tailers customarily begin reducing
their stocks to minimum at this