The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-08-27
1O5,OOO EMPL-0YES OF FORD PLANT ID BE: WITHOUT JOBS
Lack of Sufficient Fuel Supply makes Manufacture of Cars Impossible, Detroit Man
 Announces
By Associated Press

By Associated Press
 Detroit, August 25.--One hundred and five thousand employees of the Ford Motor company throughout ths country will be without jobs after September 16. In addition, several hundred thousand other workers en- ployed in industries furnishing ma- terials for the Ford plants will be affected.
 Henry Ford gave these figures to- day In announcing that his three big motor plants at Detroit and his as- sembling plants throughout the country would be closed on that date because of the coal shortage.
 The announcement was the most severe blow that industrial Detroit has received since the industrial de- precision of two years ago. It means, according to Mir. Ford, that 75,000 men employed in the plants of the company here will be without work. Thirty thousand others in the assem- blinE plants scattered throughout the entire country will be thrown out of employment. How long the plants
  supply. the Detroit manufacturers said.
 Little Coal Left
 Mir. Ford declared he had not tho remotest Idea" when the plants could be reopened. It was announced that the normal daily consumption of coal in the Ford industries was $500 tons, and although declining to state tho amount on hand at this time, officials said it would be impossible to do more than keep the furnaces and ovens warm"
 Only a comparatively small number of employees will be retained during the shutdown. it was announced.
 Mir. Ford's statement follows;
 The coal situation has become im- possible. For the last several weeks we have seen a situation approach ing that we feared would force us to close. We greatly regret having to take that step. Edsel (Edsel E. Ford, president Of the Ford Motor company and I returned from our eastern trip, and night before last. with every possible data and infor- nation bearing on the subject be- fore us, we strove until daylight try in to find some way out without clos Ing down.
 Must Close
 Every way we turned we vera confronted by the situation that un- der the present handling of coal there never could be n time when we would have enough coal to operate the sev- eral departments Of the plant simul- tancously.
 We therefore decided that of ne- cessity we must close down sooner or later We wish to keep enough coal l,nsx grAr coke ovens warm; to let them get cold would cause us loss of hun dreds of thousands of dollars. At the rate we are getting coal now. September 16 will mark the time when we will have only enough coal left to keep our furnaces and ovens warm.
 Our reserve stock by that time will have been completely exhausted. We therefore will close down tho entire plant on September 16.
 Last night we wired 900 houses that supply us with material to stop shipment and this morning letters and telegrams were sent out to about I 900 more.
 Doing Great Business
 We appreciate the great loss 1t will mean to these hundreds of sup
 
 tremendous loss to us. At present we are producing 5.200 cars n day and we can sell 5,300 a day. We have to close down at a time when we are doing a greater business than ever before Tn our history"
 Effect of the Ford shutdown will be felt on industry in every part of the country, according to officials of the company The number of york; CTS employed by firms supplying the Ford company with various parts and raw materials. including iron and steel, was variously estimated at from several hundred thousand to three million"
 The Ford plants in Detroits sub urbs were closed for number of weeks during the industrial depres- sion nearly two years ago. MT. Ford reopened with 9 comparative- ly small number of workmen, add ing to them rapidly. As conditions improved. the employment figures rose to the height attained during the peak period" days following the war. At present, it is said. the com pany is manufacturing autoL. Lilies and tractors at a greater rate than ever before in it's history. An- nouncement was made recently that Mir. Ford had installed oilburning furnaces at one of his plants as an experiment. It developed today. however, that only the furnaces in the machine shops had been coEvert- cd into oil burners.
 Business men and manufacturers here were unanimous that the clos ing of the Ford plants might have
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