Evening star., 1923-01-24
AGREEMENT STOPS
COAL STRIKE FEAR
Lower Soft Coal Prices Are
Predicted--Hard Coal
Prices Going Higher.
BY j. G. ROYLE.
Special Dispatch to The Star

Special Dispatch to The Star.
NEW YORK, January 24.-BorrnaI
confirmation today OF the wage scale
for the bituminous mines of the CEN
tral competitive field, which has al
ready been agreed upon by both opera
tors and miners, will relieve fear of a
coal strike April / and give manufac-
ture and industry a firm basis for op-
Grafton and expansion. The terms
agreed upon practically duplicate tho
existing agreement, and will be IN
lorce until April 1. 1924. Although
the pennsylvania operators have not
oeen represented at the present meet
ing they are expected to sign witt,
tneir miners along with the operators
from illinois, Indiana and Ohio. Other
sections of the country are expected
10 ioiioW the lead of the central COM
petltlve district.
Soft Coal Markets Easier.
The success of the conferences here,
snoed to better car supply and in
creased production, gave the coal
markets today slightly easier tone.
domestic grades remained firm and
Whlle there was a let-up in tension
IN steam coal, those grades still were
In demand. owing to heavy production
dustries. Indications. however, point
TO slow, If steady, decrease in
nltuminous prices for some months
to come.
Current production now exceeds
consumption by "a fair margin,
reserve stocks are growing and dis
| trlbut1on is better. The situation in
anthracite is far different, however.
and prices for hard coal are showing
an upward tendency which is ex-
pected to reach its top in February.
Continued advances in crude oil and
initial advances in some sections Of
the price of gasoline marks the i'm
proved statistical position of pc
troleum throughout the country. Al
though prices of crude in the Cai4-
fornia fields have not been advanced.
PRODUCTION i'll that state is mounting
steadily.
Oil Supplies Increasing.
"California's oil production Will
reach 100000 barrels a day within the
next three months" X E. Cullom.
state oil and gas supervisor. said. to-
DAY. This estimate. he added. was
based on present development acttvi-
ties and continued bringing in of new
wells in the Long Beach. Santa Pc
Springs and Huntington Beach dis
tricts. The first three weeks of Jan
uary showed forty new. wells
being drilled than in the last two
weeks of December The three fields
mentioned. the whole comprising less
than per cent of the proven acre
age in the state. are producing more
than 80 per cent of the present sup
ply.
The falling off in the shipments Of
the lighter crude oils from Mexico
is aiding demand for California light
crudes on the eastern seaboard and
shipments are going forward steadily
through the Panama canal.
Refners in western Pennsylvania
are paying 20 cents a barrel premium
above posted prices for Pennsylvania
crude.
Shoe Industry Booming.
The Improvement in the shoe man
ufacturing industry and the bright
prospect for the present year were
fully outlined in statement issued
today by George F. Johnson, presi-
dent of the Endicott- Johnson Cor
poration, who declared that opera
tions in 1922 resulted in profit OF
S10.000.00O and an increase of 25 per
cent in the number of shoes shipped.
In spite. of lower prices. total sales
increased nearly s5,000.000. With
new plants now nearing completion
in operation the output of the COM
pany will average $4,000 pairs Of
shoes a day, compared with 125.o0n
pairs at present, and Mr. johnson de-
clared today the future was big, with
the promise of better things.