Evening star., 1924-04-27
RAIL COAL SHIPPING
ABNORMALlY SHORT
Railway Age Notes Recent De-
cline in Loadings at the
Mines.
PRICE A RECORD BREAKER
Sees Trouble Due to Needed Pro-
duction Later.

The Railway Age in an editorial
calls attention to the recent "abnor-
NAL decline in shipments of coal
from the mines and declares that "if
the present low rate of production
continues for some time there will be
later an abnormal increase of produc-
tion and in demands upon the rail-
ways for transportation. This abnor-
NAL increase in the demands upon the
railways will cause congestion in the
handling of all traffic and abnormal
and unnecessary operating expenses
that the shipping public will have to
pay. In the interest of all concerned
the best advice that can be given at
present with respect to many conf
moGities. and especially coal, is to
buy now and ship now
In the week ended April r." says
the Railway Age, total shipments of
coal declined to 121,010 carloads,
which, with the exception of two
weeks during the year of profound
business depression, 1921, are the
smallest shipments ever reported for
any week in many years when no ma
tion-wide coal strike was in effect.
Stated in tons, the total amount OF
bituminous coal loaded in the week
tons, while in the corresponding week
of 1924 il was only 6,742,0 tons, a
decline of over 80 per cent. This was
the elimination of a decline in coal
shipments which had been going on
for nine weeks.
Shipments Is Per Cent Less.
"The railways have to move each
year a large amount of coal to east
ern New York and New England. Ship
ments to that territory recently have
been IS per cent less than a year ago.
They also have to move large
amounts Of coal to the Lake Erie
ports for transshipment by boat to
supply the fall and winter needs of
the northwest. The season of lake
shipping was formally opened during
the second week of April. Up to the
time of the last report coal dumpingS
! At the Lake Erie ports were running
81 per cent less than in the CORE
spending part OF 1923.
The principal explanation of the
abnormally small shipments of coal is
no market In other words, dealers
and consumers are not tuying any
where neac as much in anticipation
| or future requirements as they were
! last year. Hhe natural result of the
/ abnnrmally small shipm ents is cor
responding increase in the number of
On April the total number Of sur
plus freight cars in good epair was
2lS,I2i. and of these 159.4SS were coal
cars This means that about one
/ third of all the coal cars owned by
the railways and in good -epair We're
idle and standing on sidinGs because
there was no coal to haul in Them.
The average consumption of bi-
luminous coal in the United States in
years Of normal business activity cX-
rprHS a h.
in recent weeks only about two-thirds
this much has been produced. If it is
not produced and shipped now it will
have TO be produced and shipped later.
One of the principal reasons why
the railways We're able in 1928 to
handle record king freight
business without car shortages con-
gestions or delays after the early
/ gave their freight to the roads IL
lunprecedentedly uniform volume
/ throughout the year. Fearing that
there would be a car shortage when
| the peak of business was reached in
! the fall. many shippers, in the Tirst
half of last year, needed the injunction
| to ship early
Previous Experience cited.
THE experience, both of earlier
years, when great fluctuations of
traffic resulted In serious congestions
aud delays. and. of 1923, when these
We're avoided. seems TO have been
forgotten by many shippers. The
movement of freight in 1924 already
has been subject to wide fluctuations,
and the seasonal fluctuations threaten
TO beCom. as great this year as in
! Years previous to 1928 unless more
! shippers can be aroused to the de-
sirability Of shipping early and
avoiding the usual fail rush.
! I'm the first fourteen weeks of
| 1928 the difference between the
! smallest and the largest weekly car
! loadings of all freight was l6S,422
| carloads. In the corresponding weeks
| of 1924 there was maximum fiuctu-
alton of 2i1, $50 carloads. the smallest
| loadings in any week being 703.269,
and the largest 945,049.
The wide fluctuations in the total
| car loadings this year have been
mainly due to extraordinary fuctu-
! ations in the shipments of bituminous
| coal In the first fourteen weeks or
! 1923 the smallest weekly shipments
| of bituminous coal were 164,OSs. ana
| the largest 19S,6S6. the difference be-
| ing only 34.597 cars. In the frst
| fourteen weeks of 1924 the smallest
| weekly shipments of coal were 123:-
go. and the largest 21l.O9S, the dlf-
ference eGng S7,S7S carloads"
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