Show state coal inspector pettit haa has just completed an inspection of the grass creek coal mines lie ile says there in to an alarming shortage of cars and motive power in handling coal the consolidated fiel company id Is six hundred cars behind orders and the independent coal company forty thousand tons behind while between price and salt lake city pettit counted last eek seven hundred cars loaded with coal laid oft off on the sidings evidently because of lack of 0 engines to handle the traffic some years ago when the butth fuel company properties in lit carbon county and the denver and rio grande i was vms sold to the gould interests by george foster poster ile body and gen N alliani ll llan A palmer a fund of 0 several thousands of dollars was set aside for hospitals in the coal camps and libraries arlei along the railroad at certain points it was from train this fund hat the Y M C A at helper wa wah built including contributions from ills helen couo now there Is to be erected at salt lake city near the gould station a building similar to th tint thit it at helper from front this fund and which will be tor for tho uio of the nine hundred employed emp loyes of the denser er and aitto 1110 grando grande and the western pacific all emp olyes of tho the two lines froin from eiko elko nev to grand junction cole colo are to have the use of at the same cri COAL A L production TION FOR PRESENT YEAR XI though the production of coil coti in the united state 4 for or 1911 wm ws probably second only to that at 0 the record beir 1910 when the th half billion ton mark nas pissed have nevertheless been fe few more unsatisfactory in the history of the coal mining industry in tho the opinion of edward W V parker coal statia titan ot of the united states geological survey for the most part the year was one of over production abid of a struggle for trade which depressed prices to such stich an extent that when the total returns for the year are aro footed up the balance will be on the wrong sido of the ledger there were of course exceptions and notable among them was the record made in the untera dito region of li the shipments of anthracite reported b A 11 II armstrong chief of the bureau of anthracite statistics for the eleven months ended november amounted to long ton tons and estimating the shipments during december at tons the total for thi tho year waa was long tons this exceeded the previous high record of 1907 by approximately tons the local trade in 1911 amoun amounted tol to about long tons and the colli colliery nry consumption amounted to about tons so that the total production was very cloae close to long ton or about 4 tons over oer the output of 1910 hut but for a number of 0 yet years ra the use of anthracite has b been n with mes the exception of the small elbes used for steam r raising alsing in hotels apart ments and office bull dines confined to purely domestic pur purposes pases and increase increases or decreases in lie its production can not be con consider siderA as factors in the study of industrial Indu conditions the anthracite industry in 1911 wae was probably ably as firm ns as any other in the country A part of the increase in production Is probably due to the stocking of fuel in anticipation ci of april 1 1912 when the I 1 wago ago agreements terminate hut but the market ie been absorbing an unusually large tonnage and te the increase in pro production luction his has not been chiefly artificial hoft and Alln filling liiK isa on the whole the bituminous trade has been demoralized and discouraging cou raging and much of the business waa was condic conducted ted at a lose loss the tho principal cause for this particularly ln in tho eastern sartes sir tea has been beca the depression press ton in t e iron tron trade which waa its more at reflected in the coking coal regions from correspondence spon dence with many of the principal coal mining and coke making companies mr parker estimates that the production of coke in lit 1911 1011 will show a decrease of 20 0 to 30 per cent compared with 1910 about 24 per cent of tho the coal used in the manufacture of coke Is slack aa as the tine coal produced in the mining regions la to called it Is not i de do fuel for other purposes and the shutting down don of hundreds of roke ovens has added the burden of disposing cf ct this product to the other troubles of the bituminous operators the demands of the railroad railroads and of other manufactures than iron were scarcely up to normal and bituminous coal was as a drug on the market coal mines can cin not like a factory be shut down and allowed to remain idle without expense ventilation ti pumping must be ko apt pt up and it iray toay be cheaper in the end to mine and sell coal at a loss than to shut down don the mine A generally expressed opinion among those interested in bituminous coal mining Is that legislation must be secured sec tired which will enable the producers to effect a better control of the industry under federal supervision if need be in order that life and property may I 1 ie e adequately safeguarded site guarded an when operation ara a condu conducted ted at a loss or with a too narrow margin of profit such control seems essential too it if real conservation maximum recovery with minimum waste Is to to b 3 accomplished ho total coal coul output the total production of bituminous coal in 19 1311 11 was probably from a 3 to 5 per cent less than in 1910 A decrease of 6 per cent dow does not m relatively lely important but when fis la considered td that 5 per cent of at the production means melna ton tont t la quantity more than a quarter of a ton for each inhabitant it assumes assur iles more significance it 11 1 equivalent to the total production of belgium Hel glum the sixth co coil coal al producing country of the world and practically double the output of our northern neighbor canada aith alth a decrease of 3 to 5 6 per cent in the bituminous production the output of the year would be between and short tons when to this 1 Is added the production of anthracite th short tons the equivalent of long tons the total production of coal agg aggregated r e between and short tons compared with tons in 1910 abeso th so estimates are based baaed a on n statement statements from leading operators on the railroad shipments shir for ali all but tho the last few we of the year and on the monthly reports frym frim the blast furnaces the railroad shipments indicate a decrease of at about 4 G 5 per cent in 1910 compared with 1911 and tho the I 1 luction luct lon of pir iron ae an alv n in the iron age 1111 shows haws a decre so of about 16 per bent nt A |