Evening star., 1926-01-21
INQUIRY ORDERED
INTO COAL PRICES;
GOUG|NG G|SDEN|ED
Dealers, Accused of Demand
ing S14.5O for "S3 Fuel"
Blame Mine Owners.
DECLARE BITUMINOUS
COSTS THEM $40 A TON
Capper Calls District Committee to
Meet Tomorrow to Take Up
Reed Accusations.

Three developments Of outstanding
Importance followed in quick success.
sion today the charges issued l,v Sen.
ator David y. Reed of PENNSYLVANIA
In the Senate Yesterday that retaI
coal dealers are coucinc tho public
generally and that Washington cor,
sumers are paving $3.50 Il ION f..
bltumlnous coal that costs only SO at
The mines. These resultant develop
ments. in the order OF their Concep.
ton. follow.
First. Senator Arr 1hur Capper of
Kansas. chairman of the Senate Dis
trict committee, summoned his com
mlttee 10 convene in special session al
$50 O'Clock tomorrow afternoon to in
Quire into coal prices in Washington.
pointing out that the revelations made
by Senator Reed were rather star
ting
Second. Investigation by The Star
over the telephone disclosed the exist,
ence of large differences between the
prices of bituminous coal mined in
MARYLAND and West Virginia which
provide Washington with its entire
supply. and the mines Of central and
western PENNSYLVANIA. The Pennsyl-
Nania mines. il appears have for sale
all grades of bituninous coal for from
= 10 IS a ton cheaper than the Mary
land and West Virginia mines.
Third. In the face of this informa-
ton. local retail dealers virtually
lifted from their shoulders 70 the
backs of the MARYLAND and West Vir-
Sinia operators blame for any cou--
ing that may be going on. After
special meeting the Coal Merchants
Board of Trade here issued a state
ment showing that Washington deal
ers are paving around $40 a ton fu,.
the coal that is being sold for $145o.
and that the grade referred to by Sen.
ator Reed brings only S11 n ton here
Offered Coal at S..
IN contrast 10 this price. any mum.
her of mining companies in Pennsvl.
vania today offered d representative
of The Evening Star any qua nifty of
what was declared to be the same quail
ity of 1ow-volatile or smokeless coal at
from $3.50 10 S5 a ton at the mines
Plus freight rate of S2.S4 a ton. the
total wholesale price of this Pennsyl.
Nanla coal in the cars in Washington
would range from S7.34 TO S783 a ton.
which Is $50 ton cheaper than deal
erS say they are now paying the Mary
land and West Virginia operators
The statement Of Washington deal
ers that Smokeless bituminous coal is
costing them SO A ton on the tracks
here was SuhStantiated bv one Narv-
land mining company, the Consolida-
ton Coal Co. whose representative
further added that another increase
in the price of this preferred grade
of fuel may come next month because
of severe scarcity. Even the high
volatile grade of bituminous. which
Is supposed TO he more smoky than
the low. is scarce in prepared sizes.
he said.
Decline TO Give Prices.
The Pocahontas Coal Co. with Of
fees i'll New York City. declined TO
make known its prices. merely saving
II had been offered a 5 much as $3.50
a ton at the mines for Smokeless coal
The Pocahontas coal has become one
of ths most popular grades here he
cause of its reputation for being
'smokeleSs.' over the lonC-distanCe
telephone. however. the COMPANY took
the stand that what its clients pay for
coal lis nobody else's business"
similar viewpoint was asserted hr
other companies shipping from Mary
land and West Virginia.
An entirely different attitude was
found in Pennsylvania. however In.
uuiry among the operators in the
Clearfeld and Somerset fields. which
compare in quality with Pocahontas
and New River fields of MARYLAND
and West Virginia. disclosed the fol-
lowing prices for coal at the mines:
Egg and nut sizes. highest quality.
S4.75 70 s. a ton; lump size. 81 80 10
Si.15. and run-of-the-mine, $3.50 to
ST. a ton. The cost of bringing this
fuel to Washington would be s2S4 a
ton.
Prices Seem Misleading.
The Pittsburgh Coal Co. announces
its readiness to ship any amount
from one car to 10000 cars" of pre-
pared, stove-size hishlvolatile coal for
from S2.75 to SO ton at the mines
With freight added, the wholesale
price for this fuel in Washington
would be considerably under SIS ton.
I Maryland and Virginia companies.
however. said their fields are short of
, this grade. too. and that should the
price of bituminous coal advance, high
volatile coal would so up with the
other grades.
y hurried investigation strongly in
dicates that Senator Reed referred to
I high volatile coal Yesterday when he
spoke of fuel that could he bought for
So at the mines This "rade Of pre-
pared coal sells in Washington for
about S1l a ton, and. although 1t
would still appear that the retail deal
ers are eXactinE an eNorbitant profit.
their profit is not as large as might
he expected.
Not only must the retail merchants
pay for unloading and storing the
coal. but they must put il through a
screening process again. because con
siderable of the Jumps have been re
duced to dust during the iolting in
transit. This dust must then be sold
as run-of-the-mine coal for consider
ably less money, although they paid
the full price for prepared coal When
, normal overhead and drayaCe charges
are added the profit is cut down con.
siderably. it was pointed out.
Smokeless Coal High.
The only coal bringing S14 and
S14.50 a ton here. as described by
Senator Reed, is the so-called smoke
less variety. This is the coal that the
dealers. supported by at least one of
the operators, declared was costing
them $40 a ton in the cars in Wash
ington. This coal, too, must go
through the same process described in
the preceding paragraph. The only
other furnace fuels available here are
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