EDITORIAL COMMENT ;j(;i 



What a dangerous impression to convey in this era of increasing Gov- 

 ernment ownership and control ! 



Wood-fuel Situation 



There seems Httle reason to doubt, optimists notwithstanding, that 

 the coal shortage from which we have suffered this season will be in- 

 tensified next season and become a real fuel famine unless the war 

 needs cease to make their extraordinary demands. 



There are only four ways in which the trouble may be avoided, or 

 ])artly overcome, namely, by a greatly increased output of the mines, 

 b\- a systematic, organized apportionment and delivery at places of 

 consumption, by conservative practices in the use of coal, or, lastly, by 

 substitute fuels. If, as the United States Fuel Controller has declared, 

 the output at the mines was really 50,000,000 tons short this season, 

 with its extra requirement of 100,000,000 tons, one can hardly expect 

 that in the direction of substantially increasing the output there lies 

 mucli hope, and without that the second and third methods will be of 

 no avail ; hence substitute fuels alone need to be considered. 



We are naturally most interested in the proposition to return to 

 wood fuel in order to relieve the shortage of coal, which is advocated 

 l)y the conservation commissions, fuel controllers, and others, some 

 of which agencies have gone so far as to issue bulletins suggesting 

 practical procedures, such as the State of New York Conservation Com- 

 mission, the Canadain Conservation Commission, the Fuel Adminis- 

 trator of North Carolina, the Federal Fuel .Administrator of New 

 England. 



There are at least three major difficulties which, we must realize, 

 will have to be overcome to make this recommendation operative. City 

 houses are almost excluded from the use of wood fuel, not only because 

 their heating apparatus is not fit for that fuel, but, even if it could be 

 made to use it, there is, as a rule, hardly space enough to store the nec- 

 essary cordage. While theoretically a cord of wood is to produce the 

 heating effect of one ton of coal, as .some of the advocates of this sub- 

 stitute have claimed, practically it can be asserted that this proposition 

 will rarely hold, if for no other reason (such as the difficulty of keep- 

 ing a wood fire fed), because wood is rarely, or should we say never, 

 seasoned, if. as it would have to be. it is stored in the yard. .V simple 

 two or three story city house, which in our northern climate might get 

 along with twelve tons of coal for the season for heating purposes and 

 another eight to ten tons for cooking purposes, would rf(|uire not less 



