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Show CRISIS IN COAL STRIKE " i Drastic Steps to Control Coal Consumption To Be Taken. I SHORTAGE INCREASES - Miners and Operators Threaten to Leave Conference Con-ference for Holidays. Washington, Nov. 26. The na-tional na-tional coal situation has reached a crisis, in the view of officials here, and drastic steps to curtail consumption consump-tion are in contemplation. It was said today that, among other steps, an order prohibiting the manufacture of ' coke had been' prepared. 1 SITUATION IS UNCERTAIN. Washington mfwvp bd mfwv m m; WASHINGTON, Nov. 26. Prospects Pros-pects for the general resumption d I coal mining in the United States to) I day still swung around the expected (action of the federal government. Cabinet members who spent nil of; yesterday in session without, how-, eer, enli-tlng the aelual participation of President Wilson in the procedure' w ere again trying to reach a de- j cision. That Ihere was a difference of opin ion among the cabinet members as to what advances coal miners should re j ceive appeared certain, though none of: them were prepared to discuss th( matter. So far, the only definite proposal from governmental sources has been; that made by Secretary of Labor Wilson Wil-son last week for a 31 per cent in- j crease in the pay oi miners. This I the operators rejec ted professing un-j 1 willingness to accept it without a dl reet authorization from Fuel Admlni-jtartor Admlni-jtartor Garfield for the increase ip coal prices which t-hey said would be necessary neces-sary to maintain the prices. Meanwhile, the approach of t he i Thanksgiving holiday threatened the wage scale negotiations with further delay, since miners and coal operators'1 representatives threatened to go home and defer their meetings ; Coal shortage in the middle west I continued to increase and there was little Increase in coal production re-I re-I ported. PRODUCTION AT STANDSTILL. CHICAGO. Nov 26. Progress today to-day ol the national strike of bitumn tons coal miners into the twenty sixth, day was without marked development, j Efforts of the government to bring! about an agreement between the niin- !ers and operators at Washington held chief attention, The gradually decreasing fuel supply; forced additional shutting down of plants in ihe middle west and in the south the regional coal committee re QueBted all Industries which could do SO without heavy financial loss to closei down from this evening until Monday) morn in;,. Produclion in West Virginia today j held up to Ihe standard maintained iiue ihe strike went into effect with i smaller quantities added from the Wyoming and New Mexico mines. In Texas a few miners who had returned to work were out today on a second strike. In the central west the coming of cold weather, forecast for today, was expected io bring increased suttenng l Many cities and towns were virtually'! without fuel. At Sheildan, Wyo., six miners today were under arrest charged with violating vio-lating the strike injunction issued by-Federal by-Federal Judge A. B. Anderson at In- j dianapolis. They were believed to be the lirsl workers io be be taken into! custody under that restraining order. J |