Evening star., 1948-03-18
By jones Y. Newton

BY jones 7. Newton
The Office of Defense Trans
portation today ordered Is pei
cent reduction, effective at mid
night Sunday, in coal-burnine
passenger train service because
OF the Nation wide coal mine
stoppage.
ODT used some of it's authority
left over from wartime to order the
railroads using coal-powered locomo-
tives to reduce passenger service q
per cent below the level of March
The agency said the step was neces-
sary as conservation measure be-
cause railroad stocks of coal are
considerably" lower than on occa-
sions of past mine strikes.
The order prohibits the railroads
from substituting Diesel-electric OF
other power for coal-burning en-
gines. All special passenger service
requiring coal, including circus and
carnival trains, will be banned fol-
duration of the emergency.
As Per Cent Operated With Coal.
Some Government estimates in
dicate that about As per cent OF the
Nations passenger trains are
hauled by coal-burning locomotives
Both the B. & o. and Pennsyl-
vania said that none of their blue
ribbon" trains would be affected by
the ODT order All through trains
on the Washington-New York main
line OF the B. g. o. are pulled by
Diesels.
The Pennsylvania is electrified
from Washington to New York and
from New York to Harrisburg. juno
ton point of several of its lines
However, all Pennsylvania trains
except the blue ribbons" from
Harrisburg to Chicago, Detroit and
st. Louis use coal-burning engines
company officials said.
q. S. Enters Mine Dispute.
Meanwhile, the Government tried
its hand at settling the soft coal
pension dispute, while the four day
walkout of United Mine Workers
began biting into vital steel pro-
duction.
Cyrus S. Ching, head Of the Fed
eral Mediation and Cancellation
Service, arranged separate meet
ings to talk things over with Ezra
Van Horn, coal operators repre-
sentative, and John L. Lewis.
Mr.. Ching met with Mr.. Van Horn
this morning at his office and sched
uled a 1890 pm. luncheon ses-
sion with Mr.. Lewis. He said both
talks would be exploratory. There
may be a followup effort to bring
the disputants together. Failing
at mediation, the Government prob
ably will move swiftly to invoke the
Taft Hartley Act national emer-
gency" provision, aimed ultimately
at a court injunction against the
walkout.
$4,000 Miners Idle.
Anything that interferes in a
material way with production Of
coal at this time is serious Mr..
Ching said.
Reports from the coal fields in
dicated that at least $4,000 miners
were staying away from the pits in
support of Mr.. Lewis demand for
500 monthly pension for all miners
60 and over with 20 years expe-
rience. Estimates indicated that at
the most only IA per cent of the
Nations soft coal diggers were on
the job. Others were expected to
quit today.
Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co.
shut down one of its blast furnaces
at Youngstown, Ohio, to save fuel.
Two other companies soon will fol-
low suit. These are the Sharon
Steel Corp, Farrell, Pa, which will
bank one blast furnace and two
open hearths, and Bethlehem Steel
Co., which said it would curb pro-
duction soon if the coal stoppage
continues.
May Hit Entire Steel Industry.
If the walkout is prolonged the
entire steel industry will be af-
fected. A shortage of steel has
prevented many of the industries
dependent on it, including auto
mobiles, from reaching maximum
production.
Mr., Lewis wrote the miners last
Friday that the mine operators had
"dishonored" their contract which
calls for, among other things, estab-
lishment of pension plan. He said
Mr.. Van Horn, backed by the other
operators, had stalled negotiations
on the pension for eight months.
Both Mr.. Lewis and Mr.. Van
Horn are trustees of the UNIV well
fare and retirement fund, which is
raised by payment by the operators
of 10 cents on each ton of coal
mined. The fund now totals over
$50 ,000, 900, and lies uninvested in
bank because of the dispute over
its use. The contract states that the
fund is to cover many needs of the
miners other than pension, in
cluding hospital and medical care
disability, death benefits, etc.
Differ on Cost of Demands.
Mr.. Van Horn accused Mr.. Levi.
of deliberately" provoking the coal
stoppage in order to force the pen
sion issue. He said the miners chief
was attempting to force the opera