EIGHT 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.