Evening star., 1925-11-12
WAR ON HARD COAL
OPENED BY PUBLIC
Burn Bituminous" Cam
paIgn Threatening Lock-
out on Anthracite.
BY HAROLD X. PHILIPS.

There are growing Indications
everywhere that the anthracite coal
strike is rapidly becoming a national
lockout-with the public. sick of hav-
ing its fuel bill boosted by labor war
every year or so, on the locking end
And before the hard coal miners and
operators have learned their lesson
it is highly possible that the consumer
may have been won over perma nentlN
to the less expensive bituminous coal.
Face 10 face with the alternative of
burning soft, coal or freezing, thou
sands of consumers who heretofore
believed only anthracite would ignite
in their furnaces have learned that
bituminous will give off more heat
and do its job with no more gas or
dust than hard coal once the house
holder has learned to manipulate the
drafts properly.
Movement Sweeping East.
With this knowledge as its club
"a mighty public movement is sweep
ing the whole East Its war cry is:
l"Burn bituminous coal until the price
of anthracite comes down. And
those who have watched this drive
ioperate in New England and New
Il
result-an end for all time to the
periodical wars that have rocked the
anthracite industry. and sharp drop
lin the price of that fuel.
That bituminouS coal is superior
TO anthrac acite in many respects If II
is given the proper drafts is Vouched
for by the United States Bureau Of
Mines. 1t simply requires different
treatment than hard coal, but no
Ii,,fy nd n
Kudlich, assistant to the chief me
chanical engineer of the bureau In
return. he added, it gives more heat
and far less ashes than anthracite.
These facts are being taught the
public in many Northern cities and
there is every reason to believe that
within a very short time Washing
ton, too, may join the movement to
force an end to hostilities perma-
nently. Experts see in this strike
an opportunity for the public to turn
the benefits completely to itself
Campaign Put On.
In Newark, y. J.. for instance. the
city and one of the leading newspa-
pers are cooperating in a campaign
to teach the public how to get per-
/ feet results from the use of bitumin-
Gus coal. Demonstration stations
have been established at several cen
ters in the city and there the con-
| sumers are shown by means of fur
naces in operation just how to ar
range their drafts and how to bank
the coal to eliminate dust and gas and
produce more heat.
Dozens of other cities have sent
representatives to Newark toS get
ideas for a similar campaign among
their citizens. Trenton has already
! followed suit. New England is run
ming similar demonstrations, and
New England formerly was one of
| the sections of the country that be-
| lieved closing of the anthracite mines
was a sure sign of a cold Winter.
Already it has learned differently,
and those who have studied the sit
uation in New England predict that
! those States are lost permanently to
the anthracite trade.
In Philadelphia the operators make
| no bones about admitting this menace.
| The miners leaders, however, laugh
at it, They predict that once the
mines start operating again the public
will gulp down every nugget of hard
coal as fast as it pours from the
breakers. However, experts believe
| the public has embarked upon the
greatest lockout in history.
Operators See Danger.
| I'VE realize the danger prolonged
| strike may hold for the anthracite
! industry declare the operators. I'VE
| are not blind; we can see that we
have already lost some of our best
! markets. Whether we will get them
back again is problematical. But we
i know, too, that if miners wages go
up the price of anthracite must so up,
! too And if the price of anthracite
| goes any higher we will lose our mar
kets anyhow, so we are standing pat. "
A few weeks ago the dominant
worry of the public was that the an
| thracite strike might keep the hard
| coal mines closed through what prom
| ises to be a bitter Winter. In the
I districts where lessons in bituminous
| burning have been going on, how
ever, the dominant fear now is that
| the operators and miners may get
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