Evening star., 1925-08-13
WARNS COAL BUYER
OF MINERS STRIKE
Railway Age Sees Serious
Coal Shortage Possible.
Supply in Storage Limited.

From the Railway Age.
The Nation il confronted with The
threat of strike IN the anthracite
mines. There is also talk of trouble
in some OF the bituminous mines 1t
seems well worth while. therefore, to
call the attention of the public to the
fact that there is probably less coal in
storage now than there has been at
any time since January !. 1928, when
storage supplies were still depleted
1 by the effects of The srea; coal strike
OF 1922. and that the amount in stor-
age is still declining
On January l. 1924. storage supplies
reached g. million tons. During the
year and nine months that have
elapsed since then, consumption has
steadily exceeded production, and in
consequence storage supplies have
steadily declined. The Geological Sur
vey reported that on June /, 1925,
there were In storage only 3S million
tons OF bituminouS coal. We do not
know exactly at what rate coal has
been consumed since then, but we do
know that from June l to September
! l, 1924. consumption averaged $685.
600 tons a week, and 1t is reasonable,
in view of general business conditions,
to assume that the weekly rate of
consumption has been at least as
large as II was last Summer.
Production Less Than Consumption.
The reports of the Geological Sur
vey show that the production of coal
during the seven weeks from May 80
TO July Is averaged only 8,431 900 tons
q week. This would indicate that
since June | storage supplies have
been reduced at the rate of about
235 900 tons week, and that there
are now only about sc million tons in
storage.
This is the smallest amount that
ever has been in storage at any time
since June l, 1920, except during and
Immediately following the great coal
strike of 1922; and if production and
consumption should be continued at
the present rates until September l
the supply in storage on Setember 1
would be only about "a million tons. or
13 million tons less than on Septem-
Der /, 1924. and % million tons less
than on September /. 1923, and only
Il million tons more than on Septem-
Der l, 1922. just before the great coal
strike ended
From a railroad traffic standpoint
these statistics are encouraging. They
indicate that during the next five
months the railways will be called
upon to transport a substantially
larger amount of coal than during the
corresponding months of last year.
Consumer Should Look Ahead.
In what condition would the public
find itself, however. if there should
be a strike in the anthracite mines?
The production Of anthracite thus far
this year has been about the same as
last year. If, however. there should
be an anthracite strike there would
be a large demand for bituminous coal
from those who usually burn anthra-
cite. This would greatly increase the
load upon the bituminous coal car
riers. Finally. in what condition
would the public find itself if there
should be strikes not only in the
anthracite, but also in some of the
bituninous mines?
The railways can transport a great
deal more bituminous coal than they
are now handling. Many of them that
are suffering from the smallness Of
total coal purchases and shipments
and from the continued demoraliza-
ton of the coal mining industry would
heartily welcome the opportunity to
haul more coal.
1t would be much better. however.
for the railroad business in particular
and business in general if coal were
shipped in larger amounts in the Sum-
mer months with the result that the
railways would be called upon to han
die less of it in the Fall and Winter
months. Furthermore, there is a limit
! to the amount of coal the railways
can transport, especially when it be-
comes necessary to move it over new
routes because of coal strikes.
| The supplies now in storage give
| the public a very narrow margin OF
| safety, and if it were wise it would
| begin buying and storing more coal
al once.