Evening star., 1925-11-20
COAL PRICE BOOST
TALE FOUND FALSE
Bituminous Costs No More
Now Than When Drive Be-
gan, The Star Finds.

Complaints that Washington coal
merchants are taking advantage of
the burn hltuminous' campaign to
raise prices for that fuel beyond rea.
sonable figures failed of substa ntiation
today following an impartial survey
of the retail coal companies here by a
representative of The Star. Prices
were found to be substantially just
where they were the first of the
month.
Inquiry at the sales offices OF half
a dozen of the larger companies dis
closed that while there may he price
variations of possibly % cents here
and there, the bituminous coal mar
ket is comparatively stable. The few
trivial differences brought to light
were accounted for by the added
freight rates for fuel now coming here
from the more distant mines.
Average SIS Ton.
The average price In Washington
for the best screened low volatile BIZ
luminous coal, which more closely ap-
proaches anthracite in its burning
qualities than any other grade of soft
coal, was found to be SIS a ton. One
dealer interviewed asked but $1475.
volatile screened bituminous brings
S1o.75 to s11 a ton and run-of-nine
$S so a ton.
These are virtually the same figures
quoted in The Star before announce
ment of the soft coal drive was made.
Coke was quoted today at SIS a ton,
81 less than two weeks ago. 1t is not
believed there will be any advance
over this general scale Immediately,
hyr@ <I If~
quantity Of screened bituminous coal
is comparatively small, and a scarcity
of those grades may occur later.
The only difference between run of
mine bitumiDous and screened btu
minous. however, Is that the latter
has been picked out by regular sizes
and is trifle easier to handle. 1t all
reduces to the same thing in the fur
mace. though. and should the people
of-the-mine late in the Winter they
will find it quite as efficient as the
more costly coal.
Drive Meets Success.
Numerous letters have been re.
ceived by The Star from persons who
followed its suggestion and Joined the
burn bituminous" campaign. In
every instance those who tried soft
coal in their furnaces found it just
as efficient, no more difficult to handle
and less expensive to buy than an
thracite. An illustration Of the sue
cess that Is being met Is contained in
the letter of James F. Child, 1881
Eleventh street, who wrote today as
follows:
MY hot-water plant was installed
IS years ago, with instructions never
to attempt the use of soft coal. I used
hard coal up to the time Of the war,
when it was difficult to get hard coal.
so i attempted the use of soft coal.
The attempt proved to be a complete
failure. Ny furnace smoked. gummed
up and did everything possible to
prove to me that I could not use soft
coal. 1t cost me quite bit to have
my furnace cleaned out
"A few days ago l was thrown In
company with coal dealer, and the
subject Of soft coal came up. 1 told
him of my experience. He told me
that he would send me two tons Of his
soft coal, run Of the mines grade. and
If it smoked, threw out gas or gummed
up my furnace 1 need not pay for the
coal and he would haul 1t back to his
yard free Of charge to me.
IT felt that nothing could be fairer
than this proposition, so took him
at his word. In order to give the soft
coal a fair chance, / came home and
gave my furnace a thorough cleaning.
The coal came. I started my fire
I~optIp,,od nm Do0n & CnI,,rnp Al