Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1922-09-15
LITTLE HARD COAL
AVAILABLE HERE
Users May Have to Piece Out
with Some Soft Coal


Deliveries May BE In Small Amounts
Mr.. Barrows Expects First Output
VIII BE Shipped West and North
west.
Its going to be some time before we
get much hard coal, and even after we
do. people will have to use some soft
through" Thus did Edward Il. Bar
rows of Barrows IL Co., local coal deal
ers sum up the coal situation as far as
it will affect Brattleboro this coming
fall and winter. i'm an interview with a
representative of The Phoenix Wednes-
day.
When asked when he expected to have
shipment of anthracite coal, Mr.. Bar
rows said: "As far as expectations go,
| hope to have a car of hard coal this
week. Of course it's hard to say just
when we will have hard coal. 1t has
been intmated that the first products Of
the hard coal mines will be sent west
and northwest, because much of the coal
/ is sent by way of the Great Lakes
steamers and as navigation on the lake
ceases Dec. l. it looks as though the
next few months would be used in get
ting coal out to the western cities. For
this reason, we here in. the East may
have to wait longer. However, l hope
Dec. l l hope to be able to serve people
even though it may be in small quanti-
ties. OF course, the service this winter
will depend largely on how much soft
coal the people will USE
Asked if many people had bought soft
coal, Mr.. Barrows said that they had,
although in small quantities, or rather
just enough to tide them over until the
coal situation rightcd itself. There is
plenty of soft coal to be had, according
to Mr. Barrows, and it is coming in all
the time. At the beginning of the strike
Mr. Barrows had English coal recon-
mended to him, and he now has supply
of the overseas product. 1t is cross
between our hard and soft coal, but just
how satisfactorily it works, is not
known, because no one has tried it out.
In a normal year, Mr.. Barrows said
he would have two-months' reserve
supply on hand about Oct. /. This
year it will be well into the winter be-
fore he has any reserve supply of hard
coal, and then it will be only six
weeks reserve. 1t always has been the
intention of Mr. Barrows to have a two
months supply of anthracite coal on
hand during the winter to guard against
poor transportation conditions, extreme
cold weather. and severe storms. These
are the times when heavy inroads are
made into the coal supply and this is
why Il heavy reserve Unnecessary.
Another point that is likely to delay
the coming of hard coal into Brattle-
boro, as well as other towns and cities
throughout New England, is that the
condition of the railroads is not at all
what is should be. Wholesalers point
out that many coal cars are out of COM
mission and sadly in need of repair,
and piled up on sidings awaiting atten-
ton. Many of the railroads are oper-
ating with smaller number of loco
motives, many of them being in the
shops awaiting repairs. The railroad
strike, therefore, lines up closely with
the coal situation. and the settlement of
one strike is still hindered by the con-
tinuance of the other.
Mr.. Barrows points out further that
just because the coal strike is settled
and the miners are returning TO work
today doesn't mean that anyone can
have all the hard coal he wants any time
he wants it. For some time, he says,
we may have to get along on small ra-
| tons, but if everyone will cooperate
and use little soft coal with the other,
thus may succeed in getting through the
winter without much hardship.