Independence enterprise. (Independence, Or.) 1908-1969, January 16, 1920, Image 3

Independence enterprise., January 16, 1920, Page PAGE THREE, Image 3

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Newspaper Page TextEIGHT PAGES THE INDEPENDENCE ENTERPRISE, INDEPENDENCE, OREGON. PAGE THREE HEAVY SNOWSTORM IN PARIS GIVES TRACTOR WORK HOW COAL SUPPLY WAS CARED FOR DURING STRIKE OF MINERS 2 !44dr," i eminent Burcair Collects and Publishes Much Important Information. EliTS COVER WHOLE COUNTRY Than 4,000,000 Plecei of Mall andlcd by Divltton of Crop Re port During Pt Year Re port Are Uaucd Monthly. urltig tlio Hmi-hI year t'wlel Juno 1019. tin? Iiurnu of crop m1I Cof the UhIUhI Hliitfli'imitnu'iit t Ictiltu rt IkhuimI llio rrjjulnr itlily rrcp n-portu, hhowlnt; CMtl ! acn-njji'a iluiti'(l, growing con oris, y Irlil.i p'r crv, mul toinl pra tlon, f it nn iiiicim of UHTfr.iit cropa pncfi suite uml tin l-'ulli'il Stut, inn I en of totnl number of live k of ilirfcri'iit i Iiih-mcu on faruiH niul ;i tlnlr roiKlltluii. uml lows n im nw nml Hht cnum-a. Coin CluJ ttlliimU-H of the npplo nnd th cropH vcr tmuK'. mid the kly truck-crop news aorvlre which provlotiHly Id'i-n In force, won con iik! and MU'inkd, in'curdlng to the Uttl rtiiort of the chief of the hu j, nit oitrnct from which In glvon w. nny f-pcclnl Inipilrlca were rnndo ing the yi'iir, Including : uantlly of ooniinorclnl fertilizer 1 per ncre of cottmi nnd proper , of lU-lih uwn w hich lined, crrentnge of various crops to eh commercial fertilizer inid inn a wax applied and quantity ukoiI. hitler twine roqiilremoiita for the n crops of 1018 for the uso of the In corporation, uurgoncy live stock atirvey, to de iiliie the imniher on farms July 1, J. -; sea innde of wheat crop, for the ted Ktntea food ndmlnlMlrutlon. iitiiitltlos of vurlouM crops fed to rent cImhnph of live stock. Ive Block survey of January, 1010. crtillzor Inquiry of January, 191ft. ascertain quantity of commercial llljscra nnd manure ued for crops. 'Bftea of farm help. rices fanner pay for equipment, lilnory, nnd supplies. iTcentngo of farm labor require- its avnllahle. s Agenta Gather Facta, lold agents prepared estimates of dige, yield, production, nnd stocks 'arms of wheat nnd corn by coun ftif the United States Grain corpo im,' nnd they nlso prepared cstl es of the vnluo of agricultural Suction by counties In each of the clpal states for the use of the sury deportment. Field aueiits co- 1919 Fashions Harmful I Says Woman of 100 New York. Catherine Tlblmll. vlio celebrated her one hun Iredth birthday a few days ago t 001 Lnfuyetto avenue, Broolc yn, does not nee longevity for ny woman who follows the max ms of dress approved by Dr. toynl S. Copclnnd, health com missioner. Her dau(hter-ln-law, Irs. Thomas Tlbbnll, said :' "My niother-ln-biw and I are ntlrely against fashions of dress or women. I never wore any hltig but the simplest kind of tnys, nnd neither dltl she." The centenarian was told botit Doctor Copehind's slutc ient Hint women can wear silk tockliig.i,, hlgh-heelod shoes, iKht corsets and low-neck gowns ,ilh benelit rather than harm. "I have never painted or pow ered my fuce," she snld. "I ever wore high-heeled shoes or nv-neck gowns, yet I have lived ! bo a hundred years old and . xpect to celebrnto another litliduy next year. Woman's ishlons today ore more tuon fnl; they are harmful." FoJIowliiu u licuvy unuwHiorm lu 1'orl a now miow iiow urnwn by n Itcnoult tractor wu put Into coiunilloB to r itio wnlkN, Ittt great numrN. op Estimating Gigantic Task operntetl with ofllclals of the th-pnrt-itient of ngrlcnlliire, the treusury de partment, nml the state extension -rv-be In tho slates where seed-grnln Ioiiijh were made to farun-rs In tho drought stricken regions of the north wist ami Iho southwest In tho full of IMS nml spring of lMft. The bureau compiled Innumerable statement showing tho production, consumption, surplus uad deficiency, export (mil Imports, and prices of lm port n nt ngilcultuial products for nil tne .rliit lpn coun.'rles before the wnr, and of production un requirements during the war, for the Infoi niallon of admlnlstrntlve oltlclnls of the depart ment of agriculture, of other federal department, and various war-emergency oiKiinlzatlons, Jinny of those statements were for tho use of the de partment committee on crop produc tion nnd wero used ns a basis for the crop-production program which wore recommended. other compilations were made for the confidential use of tho war trade board nnd for the com mittees on Agriculture in congress. Much Information Compiled. Summaries of weekly reports of the state field agents of tho bureau were furnished for the confidential informa More Energy and Zip in Germany Writer Says There Is Less Lazi ness Than in Any Other European Country. LOW EXCHANGE IS BIG AID Gives Germany Advantage in Laying Her Commercial Lines In LlttlB Nations About HerBitter at United State. By HAROLD E. BECHTOL. (In Chicago Tost.) Herlln. I have been tuvollng In centrnl Flu rope for months. I have visited farms and factories and stores and banks nnd government otllces. A marked difference Is noticeable ns soon ns the Oermnn frontier Is crossed. Thero Is more energy nnd , zip In Oermuny; thero Is less laziness; trains move regularly; clerks In stores are well staffed ; wagons and cars nnd freight trains (ono of the rarest sights In Europe) move briskly ; smoke comes from tho stacks of at least some of the factories. Germon factory owners say "Made In Oermuny" goods enn never again depend on cheapness for sale abroad. Thev nolnt out that her sources of ma terial are cut and that tho old long hours nnd cheap labor are gone. Yet Germany bid far lower than anybody elso on n contract for metal uniform buttons for tho Czechoslo vak army recently. I could cite sev eral other cases. Germany has a big advantage In lay ing her commercial lines In the llttlo nations about her (sentiment nsldo of course) because of the fact that her exchnngo Is very low, like theirs. From Germany alone, among the big nations, can tho new nations get values approximating what their money represents to them. Germany's Bright Side. That Is, for Ciorninny, the bright side of a bnd situation. Her mark Is worth under a nickel, about a sixth of par. She has Bt to have a credit before sho can buy cotton and copper from Amer ica. Sho can't buy with murks. Government ofllclals urge n credit for tho hope It would glvo the Ger man people us they enter on a hard winter. Tho same picas, of course, are made by tho other nations of central Eu rope, some of whom helped the allies to win the war. American observers hero say the v' t --', 5" A 3 tion of tho aecretary and chiefs of bureaus of tho department of agricul ture, and ufter the signing of the armistice tho mailing list for these summaries was extended to Include other government oinduis and senator and members of the house of represen tative". Hlmonthly foreign crop re ports were Issued In the spring of 1919 nnd will be continued. A vast amount of Information was complied and furnished In response to Inquiries received by telephone, tele graph, letter, or personal cull of rep resentatives of the food administra tion, the war trade board, the war In dustries board, the military Intelli gence office of the war department, the tariff commission, the federal trudo commission,' the council of na tional defense, other departments of the federal and state government, congress, and private Individuals. Sloro than 4,mnm pieces of inall were handled by the division of crop report during the year, as compared with 3.2W.0OU by the saino division for the preceding fiscal year, nn Increase of 2T per cent. About the same rela tive Increase was noted In all other branches of the bureau ot Washington. In tho state offices of field agents the work more than doubled In the fiscal yonr 1010 as compared with tho preceding yenr. The Issuance by field agents of monthly ntnle crop reports hearing their names which are gener ally reproduced In nil the state pnpers has made them widely known through out their states and has resulted In a heavy volume of correspondence. It can, but the attitude of tho I'rns sluns in the business world Is: "You huve to give us credit before wo can pay France nnd lU lglum nnd England 1 You're delaying to give France nnd England a further head start!" They hold Uncle Sam personally re sponsible; he's hated for declining to rush humbly across with open mony bags. There aro several reasons why (ho south of Germnny Is leading the north. The Prussian worker had less 't dom In tho old days than the south German worker. Now that he holds tho whip hand, he hasn't ns sane on idea of what to do with his liberty. Prussian capitalists, too, are, slower. They hate to "get to work for France and England," as they put It. llrltlsh officers In the occupied area tell me the big dye works In the northern Khlne district are kept closed by the Cermans. Tho Germans know the allies cannot yet equal their dyes especially a "fixed" blue nnd they do not propose to start these plants nnd let tho allies learn the secrets If they can avoid It. What She Can Export. Germany can export some glass, china, potash, cutlery, optlcnl Instru ments, surgical and scientific Instru ments and toys, without Importing raw materials. Sho needs from America principally cotton and copper. French and British chocolate, soap, toilet articles, etc., nre on sale In tho 6torcs everywhere In Germnny. Tho only American goods found gen erally nre prewar stocks. The French nnd Itrltlsh occupied zones nre now commercial fronts. Mil itary officers there nnd military mis sions In Germnny give tho French nnd British commercial travelers nnd bank ers every assistance. All of the Amer ican commercial men and bankers I met In Germany told mo they had fought their way through In spite of tho American government, rather than with Its assistance. Tho Germans realize their overseas trade will be absolutely dependent on tho allies for years to come. Germany now owns only 34 per cent of her pre war shipping. Catch Two-Legged Whale. Victoria, B. C. A female humpback whale having two hind legs 50 inches In length has been caught ot the Kvu- got whaling station. Manager ltuck of the Consolidated Whaling company says that In his 20 years of vhallng experience he has never heard of Uncle Sam Set Up His Own Coal Pile as Soon as Strike Began and Kept Replenishing It From Mines Which Continued to Work Nation Able to Last Out the Six Weeks Through Efficiency of Government Control. By BRUCE CLAGETT, Assistant to Director General of Rail roads. I have the thought that tho people of tho United States would like to know how their coal supply was han dled during the six weeks' strike of bi tuminous coal miners, which has Just come to an end. This was the tirst nation-wide coal rtrlke the country ever experienced, and therefore the prob lems arising were novel. Necessarily, during the continuance of tho strike, tho exact stacks on hand could not be made public at all times, although as to all vital facts, the public seems to have been kept fully Informed day by duy. Uncle San- set up his own coal pile as soon as the strike began nnd kept replenishing It from the mines which continued to work, but mean while the pile was being diminished more rapidly than new supplies were coming In, and before long It became a question of keeping people warm rather than what Industries should be continued. Had the strike continued much longer many Industries would have had to shut down and people Ihrovn out of work, but on the re stricted basis to which the country finally came and with the part-time production obtained undoubtedly the nation could have "carried on" for weeks longer. If not months. Strike Anticipated. Several weeks before the coal strike begun on November 1 Its coming was plolnly apparent, and therefore the director general of rallrouds, Walker I). Illnes, consulted with nil the re gional directors of railroads and the principal members of his staff, nnd decided that If the strike came it would be the Job of the railroad administra tion to make the coal produced go as far as possible. After thorough dis cussion the plan was adopted of allow ing all coal mined up to the time of the strike proceed as billed to consignees on the Idea that once the strike actu ally began the railroads could look after their own nnd the emergency needs of the country by taking over coal actually on the rails at that time. Through this method foreslghted con sumers were placed In a position to store up. The alternative method would have been for the railroads to have begun to buy coal early In prepa ration for the strike, thus keeping nuch coal out of normal channels. Prior to the strike a very careful survey of stocks on hand, both of rail roads, Industries and Individuals (as far as possible) was conducted so that the railroad administration went into the strike with as accurate knowledge of the coal situation throughout the country as was obtainable. The ad ministration's original survey on No vember 1 showed 22,000,000 tons of bi tuminous coal on wheels and in rail road storage subject to distribution under the administration's supervision. To this was added the dnily produc tion which totaled 18,800,000 tons In November, and of the aggregate the stocks still available for the country's protection on December 1, 12,300,000 tons and on December 8, 11,475,000 tons. Prior to the strike orders were Is sued by the railroad administration to give preference to coal loading, nnd this naturally resulted In hardship on some Industries. The result was how ever, that In the week ended October 25 a total of 13,200,000 tons of coal was produced ond moved In the United States, this constituting a record for the country. It took hard work by everyone concerned to distribute this enormous amount of coal. Once the strike was on, the production never reached 50 per cent of normal, with the result shown above, viz., that In addition to using the production every day, tho stored coal in possession of the railroads was depleted in the six ONE OF THE THINGS : -we. a. 1 f 1 This Is the great terminal In Constantinople of the Bagdad railway which 'faiM,iv.a.,ti. of the Fust. weeks of the strike from 22,0X),000 tons to 11575.000 tons. Pile Saved Country. At times during the strike some com plaints were made regarding the hold ing of this coal In storage and on wheels by the railroads. Without such a storugc, however, the country would have suffered much more than It did, and It would have been Impossible to have looked after the emergency re quirements of the parts of the country In greatest need. Throughout the strike practically all of the coal moved was produced In West Virginia and Pennsylvania, although some coal was produced In Kentucky, Alabama and Wyoming and a few other states. The great central competitive fields, how ever, closed down completely and out side of the stocks on hand the people In that territory had to depend entirely on tho coal from the East and upon the coal in the hands of the railroads to meet Just this emergency. At the beginning of the strike coal was delivered freely to all of the ten classes on the fuel administrator's pri ority list, but soon afterward it was necessary to restrict deliveries to the first five classes, which Included rail roads, army and navy, together with other departments of the government, state and county departments and in stitutions, public utilities, and retail dealers, and toward the end of the strike It was difficult in some parts of the country to , meet even these re quirements, due to the fact that princi pally In the middle West the stocks became almost exhausted and it was necessary to depend practically en tirely upon the coal produced in the East The amount which could be shipped West was limited, not by car supply, but by transportation facilities and the necessity for moving tnis coal West was one of the reasons for the curtailment of passenger service in all parts of the country, which nat urally led to some hardships and some complaints. With regard to these complaints, a careful survey shows that, taken as a whole, the country has stood re markably well the restrictions which bad to be placed. The action of the government dur ing the strike which caused the great est comment was the placing of restric tions in connection with the use of bi tuminous coal and coke In supplying light, heat and power to stores, office buildings, manufacturing establish ments, etc. These regulations were put Into effect by the railroad admin istration on the advice of the cectral coal committee and under authority of tho fuel administrator. They were put Into effect primarily as a coal con servation measure and because prior to their issuance local reflations, some times more stringent than these regu lations, had already been laid down In many sections of the country. Prior to tho Issuance of these regulations the fuel administrator had Issued a re quest that coal for light, uent and power be conserved as much as pos sible. Just as soon as the Indian apolis settlement was reached the at torney general, following out a prior arrangement, Immediately notified the railroad administration, nnd plans were at once begun to modify restrictions, with the result that within two days after the strike was formally ended, Instructions were issued to regional di rectors permitting theio. to remove 'be restrictions as to the furnishing of light, heat and power, and also permit ting them to restore passenger trains which had been taken off as a coal con servation measure. The receipt of the word from In dianapolis wus also the signal for the releasing of instructions already prepared for the turning of empty coal cars towards mines which were ex pected to begin operation In order to transport tho maximum production of all such mines at once. W1LHELM COVETED KSSSSSS5 S&.3 L 1 if- H ji $5 .A v S3 --ytST Probably there was never a more unique organization ever set up In the United States than the central coal committee of the United States rail road administration at Washington, which throughout the strike had com plete control over tha distribution of coal mined and over supplies of coal In storage and on wheels on the rail roods when the miners stopped work. The committee had back of It all the power of the fuel administration un der the Liever act. There was no prece dent to go by. Being bound by no precedents, it could go ahead In a common-sense way and that Is exactly what it did. Barry B. Spencer, director of divi sion of purchases of the railroad ad ministration, formerly vice president of the Southern railroad, and a man of long experience in dealing with coal questions, was given the unenviable Job of handling the situation as chair man of the central coal committee. Be fore the strike actually began, he had his assistants all picked, his plans all made, his orders written and every thing prepared to take charg-.: There fore, the evening of October 31 Dr. Harry A. Garfield, the fuel administra tor, who had tendered his resignation months before, but whose resignation had not been accepted and whose pow ers had only been suspended, not an nulled, was called back into service and Issued an order re-establishing control over the distribution of coal, making the director general of rail roads his agent, and re-establishing the priority orders In effect during the war. At the same time, and to pre vent profiteering, the fuel administra tor issued orders re-establishing the government maximum prices on bitu minous conl. The day the strike began Mr. Spencer put his organization into effect throughout the country, and from then on the problem was one of distributing coal and looking after the constantly decreasing stock of the country. On the Job Every Day. The committee remained In practi cally continuous session every day of the strike, including Sundays, and as rapidly as telegrams and letters came in. took Immediate action. Back of this committee and co-operating closely with It have been re gional and district local coal com mittees, picked in advance of the strike and established immediately after the strike began. On these re gional and local coal committees has fallen a very large share of the bur den of handling the coal distribution problems from day to day, and It Is to the credit of these committees that they have had a minimum of clashes with state or local authorities when it Is appreciated that on these com mittees fell many of the duties exer cised by tho fuel administration through the war and when it Is appre ciated that these committees always were limited in what they could do. by the stocks of coal on hand, it wUl be realized that their work was of the most difficult character. One of the chief difficulties In the situation was the fact that conditions throughout the United States were so widely different that It was apparent that It would be impossible to deal with all sections of the country alike. Therefore a great deal of responsibil ity was loft with the regional directors of railroads nnd with the regional and local coal commutes. However, some general principles were laid clown Im mediately which were followed In a general way throughout the coal strike. The preliminary rule was laid down that no coal should be given to any consumer who bad a reserve fcupply, and that coal should only be given to meet emergency needs. Get Reports Daily. In order to avoid long distance com munication, the rule was set up that persons desiring coal should make ap plication on the road ordinarily sup plying them with coal and in order that the central coal committee should be kept constantly supplied with in formation machinery was set up under which each railroad should promptly report to the central coal committee and to the regional coal committee the name, title, location and telephono ad dress of the representative of that rail road In whom the whole coal question would be centered for that railroad. Summed up, the result of the handling of the coal supply of tho na tion by the government has been that with a mobile supply at the beginning of tho strike of 22,000,000 tons of coal at the disposal of the entire country, and a production which never reached 50 per cent of normal, with cold weath er existing In most parts of the coun try during part of the strike, and blizzards in some parts of the coun try throughout most of the strike, the nation was able to last out six weeks with very little actual lack of coal by householders, with practically all pub lic utilities supplied with sufficient conl to meet emergency needs, with very few Industries actually closed down, although many would have had to close down had the strike continued much longer and with a reserve stock: In the hands of the railroads at tho' end of the strike of more than 11,000, 00O tons of coal which was available for emergency railroad needs nnd for the emergency needs of governmental Institutions, of public utilities nnd re tailers supplying conl to domestic consumers.