Evening star., 1925-11-09
MILLION T0NSLY|NC
IN COAL FIELDS TIED
UP BY CONTRACTS
Operators Say All Has Been
Paid For and Awaits
Orders to Ship.
MIGHT LAST ALL SEASON
IF USED DISCRIMINATELY
Evidence of Impatience With
Strike Seen in Some Parts, While
Others Are Still Determined.
RY HAROLD X. PHILIPS.
staff Correspondent Of The star.

POTTSNILLE. Pa, November q
lust as many little drops of water
combine to make the mighty ocean.
SO The numerous little nuggets of pre-
cious anthracite that are scattered
from one end of this great hard coal
field to the other would make a most
comforting fuel pile if they, too, were
permitted to coloniZe and were judi
ciously distributed to the public's
emptying bins.
1t is safe to say that there must be
considerably more than a million tons
~ coal, all of it in the much needed
domestic sizes, stored here and there
along the railroad lines from Potts
VILE to Scranton. The operators.
however. persist in minimizing this
supply, asserting that what coal is
left" has long since been bought and
paid for.
No Coal for Washington.
stray lots are all north of the Mason
and Dixon line. Up in Scranton all
the hard coal waiting to be shipped
was destined for high priced distribu-
tion in New York State. Down here.
the southern tip of the anthracite
field. it is going TO Philadelphia. There
apparently is no coal, not ton, for
the people of Washington.
To the stranger who first comes
into the anthracite field in search
of coal it seems that the supply is
really exhausted. OF course. there
are quite innocent looking strings of
, ears here and there, all loaded with
furnace and stove sizes of anthra cite.
Such supply seems insignificant at
first, in comparison to the demand
cry for hard coal that is increasing
hourly.
Cars Become Impressive.
But the further one travels the
more impressive these little strings
of cars become. They become en-
tirely too numerous for mental COM
fort. A number of them were parked
around Scranton and it took only a
glance to tell that there was a hand
some supply there awaiting orders for
release for somebody. Pittston has
quite a quota. Wilkes Barre. too.
And then on down the line, just
p dozen or "A score here and
there, over at the Honey Pot scales
Of the Pennsylvania Railroad, down
al Schuylkill Haven and scores
OF other places. Quite unconsciouSly
these few cars begin 10 multiply into
many. and soon the observer realizes
there are literally thousands of them
scattered from the northern end to
the southern end of the strike bound
districts.
Nor are coal cars the only places in
which this supply is being parked.
The gread hoard around Scranton has
already been described. 1t was by far
the largest found by this writer in
the field. but there are numerous
1Ni1pG n nnSSihlV a dozen
additional storage plants this side of
Scranton. At Schuylkill Haven near
here. for instance, the Philadelphia
and Reading Coal Co. still has q little
pea coal.
Bins Hold Big Supply.
II is said this plant had a tremen
dous quantity a few weeks ago and
that even as late as last week there
We're several bins fun. Most of il
has been moved, however. But just
as the apparently negligible supplies
in the cars would make a mountain
If all dumped together, so would these
remaining tons in the storage plants
induce considera bic enthusiasm from
tho thousands of housekeepers whose
cellars are empty.
Then there is coal in the collieries
The only way to find coal in these
hose towering structures. That is
not always comfortable or even pos
sibe. Most of the collieries around
this field are guarded by watchmen,
who are none too trusting of the mo-
tiVes of Curiosity-stricken investiga-
tors
All of The collieries inspected, how
ever, were found to he cock IA block
full of anthracite. Their great, yawn-
ing. 1t was admitted that most of the
collieries in this field are similarly
gorGed. The United Mine Workers, it
was also learned. would offer no OBJ
lection to this coal being removed and
distributed, since it was agreed be
fore this strike was called that the
union would not interfere with the sale
Of coal mined previous to the begin.
ming of hostilities. The coal in the
C0llierieS was mined before the walk
out
Towns Using Soft Coal.
II might be argued that these scat
tered stores are being held for do
mestiC consumption or the use of pub
lie utilities through here or even that
they are bituminous coal. None of
these would be true. The biggest
power company up here owns its own
them TO be well stocked up with buck
wheat or rice coal Either of these
sizes may be had in plentiful guam
titles, il seemed. but being unsuited
To furnaces We're not included in the
tunnaeeS estimated above.
As to domestic consumption, every
town in the anthracite field, except
Pottsville. is now burning soft coal,
actually importing it's fuel from out
side districts, although this country
is fairly bursting with anthracite. And
All of the cars filled with bituminous
coal are parked around the local re-
tail yards, not out along the main
lines. Furthermore, the contents of
many cars were examined and found
Ia he really truly anthracite.
Although this supply is quite
formida bile one, statements made re-
Gently that there Is plenty of coal
at the mines are not justified. If
taken from the control of the forces
that are holding it here at the mines
and distributed with care among The
people whose heating plants cannot
nurn bituminous coal. this supply
slould last nearly through he Win
Z. ~