14 



The Flo^ts^ Review 



July 1, 1920 



capacity for work of the present force 

 is even farther below normal than the 

 figures indicate. Under these circum- 

 stances, immediate relief of traffic con- 

 gestion and restoration to normal con- 

 ditions is not to be expected. 



Moreover, there seems to be an actual 

 shortage of rolling stock, due to the 

 economy practiced by tlie government 

 railroad administration and since the 

 roads were returned to private control. 

 It has been pointed out that new coal 

 cars have not been tHfdered by the rail- 

 roads in anything like an adequate num- 

 ber since government control was re- 

 moved. In equipment circles orders 

 have been reported for something like 

 3,700 coal cars, it is stated. The esti- 

 mate which was made by the special 

 equipment commijttee of the Association 

 of Eailway Executives showed need for 

 approximately 50,000 gondolas and hop- 

 pers, both styles of rolling stock being 

 suitable for the movement of coal. 



It is believed that replacements of 

 coal car rolling stock at the rate of ap- 

 proximately 3.52 per cent are necessary 

 every year in order to provide adequate 

 supply. This figures out roughly to 

 about 34,500 cars each year. Eegarding 

 the outlook for further ordering of coal 

 cars for the account of the roads, it 

 is believed that when all contracts have 

 been signed the carriers will not have 

 made commitments for more than 5,000 

 new cars for 1920. 



Assigned Car System Blamed. 



Some of the responsibility for the 

 lack of cars has been placed by coal 

 operators upon the interstate commerce 

 commission, because of the restoring of 

 the assigned car system. That this 

 system is a failure was demonstrated, 

 they say, during the war, when it was 

 banished by Fuel Administrator Gar- 

 field. "Through the instrumentality of 

 this commission, it is stated, the rail- 

 roads once again have been placed in a 

 position to dictate to the coal industry 

 and once again it has become necessary 

 to renew the fight against an iniquit- 

 ous practice prejudicial not only to the 

 Hoal industry but to the country at 

 la^e." 



The only mines able to obtain cars 

 with any degree of regularity, it is as- 

 serted, are those furnishing railroad 

 I fuel. In many instances, in self-de- 

 fense, mines are compelled to accept 

 railroad fuel orders in order to get cars 

 at all. At a time when the car supply 

 averages little more than thirty-five per 

 cent, the effect of wholesale and promis- 

 cuous assignment of cars is apparent. 

 It creates a scarcity of coal for com- 

 mercial shipment. "When mines are 

 forced to accept railroad fuel orders in 

 order to get cars, the, railroads, it is 

 charged, demand concessions and con- 

 sequently obtain coal at a lower price 

 than commercial consumers. Somebody 

 has to pay the difference between the 

 market price <ind the price at which 

 the coal is sold to the railroads and, 

 as is always the case, tliat somebody is 

 tlie consumer. 



High Prices To Continue. 



Unless there is improvement in the 

 traflBc situation and the car supply, 

 prices will continue at the hisih level 

 they now hold, in the estimation of a 

 leading coal trade journal. Its report 

 of conditions last week stated: 



"Nowhere has any material improve- 

 ment been made in production, because 

 the car situation still remains totallv 



inadequate to the keeds of the mines. 

 In spots in West Virginia some improve- 

 ment was noted, but] this was offset by 

 losses in other sections of the state. 



"Briefly sketched! the situation is 

 this: One or two days a week mines are 

 able to get out a fairly good tonnage, 

 but the balance of the week they are 

 held down to a minimum, so that pro- 

 duction for the country does not aver- 

 age over forty per cent. 



"The logical result is high-priced 

 coal in every market and, as there is no 

 indication of either an immediate or 

 permanent improvement in car supply, 

 the public can expect to pay high prices 

 for the balance of the year." 



Export Discussion Distracts. 



Attention has been distracted from 

 the real causes of the coal shortage 

 by congressional discussion of fuel ex- 

 ports. Contrary to supposition on the 

 part of some individuals, the coal ex- 

 ported from this country has no con- 

 nection with the present shortage. 

 Statistics show that from January 1 to 

 June 5 the production of bituminous 

 coal in this country totaled 221,000,000 

 tons. In the same period the entire 

 exports of coal, including those to the 

 Panama canal and Panama railroad, 

 amounted to 7,000,000 tons, or about 

 threa per cent of the total production. 

 The total amount shipped out of the 

 country in these five mpnths is less than 

 one week 's production — about two- 

 thirds, in fact, of the average quantity 

 mined in this country in a week. This 

 year 's expwrts of coal have not been above 

 normal years' exports, though in excess 

 of those during the war years when the 

 fuel administration placed temporary 

 embargoes on the shipment of fuel out of 

 the country. So there is not special 

 cause for alarm in the size of the coal 

 export trade, particularly in comparison 

 with the other factors which have been 

 pointed out in this article as of first 

 importance. For instance, if the car 

 supply were sufficient to enable the 

 mines to operate at full capacity, in the 

 neighborhood of 12,000,000 tons per 

 week, instead of 8,000,000 to 9,000,- 

 000 per week, as at present, the amount 

 exported in the first five months of this 

 year would be made up, in addition to 

 j)resent production, within two weeks' 

 time. 



What the Chart Shows. 



The situation at present is indicated 

 by the chart on the preceding page. Pro- 

 duction during the early part of 1919 

 was the lightest for several years,/)wing 

 to the mild winter and consequent de- 

 creased demand. As autumn advanced 

 the quantity of coal mined increased 

 until the strike in November caused the 

 startling drop recorded. So short was 

 the supply as a result that activity in 

 the coal fields rose to wartime height 

 during .lanuary. Then various impedi- 

 ments brought down the production 

 mark until the switchmen's strike 

 caused another heavy slump in April. 

 ^ This drop was the more perilous be- 

 cause stocks were depleted, in railroad 

 heads, in dealers' yards and in con- 

 sumers' bins. Eeserves^are lower than 

 thiey have been for a long time. An 

 •improven>ent is noted in the last few 

 weeks, but not so rapid as it should be, 

 because the railroads cannot furnish 

 the needed cars to carry the coal away 

 from the mines. The heavy black line 

 must climb more vertically in the next 

 few months if our supply is to be at all 



adequate. That ij: is above 1919 is no 

 comfort, since the big drop in last No- 

 vember must be made up. To meet the 

 heavy demand, both for current use and 

 to furnish reserves, production should, 

 experts say, be up to the high mark of 

 1918, so that instead of a weekly 9,000,- 

 000 tons, we should have 12,000,000 tons. 



Vigilant Persistence. 



Under present conditions, this figure 

 is not soon possible. The ear shortage 

 and the inadequate railroad service 

 render hope of such a thing quite vain. 

 Hand-to-mouth consumption of coal will 

 continue for some time and supplies for 

 storage will not be large. 



As soon, however, as immediate in- 

 dustrial needs are satisfied, florists will 

 be better able to secure shipments. But 

 it will be by no means so easy as in 

 former years to secure next winter's 

 supply. The greenhouse owner must be 

 vigilant and persistent. He must be un- 

 ceasing in his efforts to lay in an early 

 supply. In three months the autumn 

 rush will create a still keener demand. 

 The aim of the florist, therefore, must 

 be to secure his coal at the earliest 

 favorable opportunity, for, hard as it 

 may be to get coal during the summer, 

 it will be still harder when cold weather 

 arrives. 



JUNE SHOW AT PROVIDENCE. 



The Ehode Island Horticultural So- 

 ciety held its annual June exhibition 

 of roses, peonies, strawberries and 

 other seasonable exhibits in the Nar- 

 ragansett hotel, Providence, June 22 

 and 23. The ballroom was well filled 

 with exhibits. A long table running 

 down the center of the large hall con- 

 tained a grand collection of hybrid tea 

 roses and peonies from Fred C. Green, 

 superintendent of Eoger Williams park. 

 Providence. Included were three beau- 

 tiful new yellow Moutan peonies raised 

 by Lemoine, named Souvenir de Maxine 

 Corner, L'Esperance and La Lorraine. 

 Fine peony displays came from Mrs. 

 Samuel Brown, Mrs. Clinton E. Walch 

 and John S. Doig, head gardener to F. 

 S. Peck, Barrington, E. I. 



Ephraim Morley had the finest indi- 

 vidual bloom of hybrid teas in the com- 

 petitive classes in Lady Ashtown. 

 There were good displays of hybrid 

 teas, hybrid perpetuals and ramblers. 

 John S. Doig had the best group of 

 flowering and foliage plants; Maple- 

 hurst Greenhouses, Longmeadow, E.|I., 

 were second. The table decoratioW 6f 

 Mrs. Walch and collection of ^a^dy 

 perennials from John S. Doig were extra 

 fine. Johnston Bros, had the best 

 bride's bouquet. Strawberries were 

 large and handsome Jrom Ephraim Mor- 

 ley, Arthur Sallon and John Gerard, 

 Bristol, E. I. W. N. Craig, Brookline, 

 Mass., officiated as judge. 



PAYING BILLS. 



That a seller of goods, under agree- 

 ments to allow the buyer a discount on 

 payment of the price being made within 

 thirty days, on two or three occasions 

 permitted the buyer to deduct- the dis- 

 count on payments made after lapse of 

 thirty days, did not give the buyer a 

 vested right to make such unauthor- 

 ized deduction in subsequent transac- 

 tions. This is the holding of the Appel- 

 late Term of the New York Supreme 

 court in the case of Bombas vs. Fisher, 

 180 New York Supplement, 449. S. 



