Show COLD COID BLOODED FORECAST coad shortage looms Loo 11 lill 1 S for U US S take a tip from the coal producers unless your furnace burns bums oil it win will be a good idea to keep a little sunshine in your smile and warmth in your heart this winter because from the standpoint of obtaining coal it looks like the winter ol of 1947 48 will be the toughest in at least six years producers a already 1 are admitting drearily th that a t there is little chonce chance that fuel shortages inconvenience and suffering can be put aside reasons for this uninviting outlook are three in particular un unparalleled p paralleled aralle led demand in a peacetime I 1 im c period which even record production COO million tons will not fully satiate attempts are being made to stockpile but to little avail industrial stocks are the lowest in years retail supplies on hand are only fair unprecedented shortage of railroad ail 2 cars never in histo history ry of the solid fuels industry were so few cars available to move so much coal to to so many consumers domestic buyer indifference to 3 pleas that they fill their bins during summer months that apathy is accounted for by higher retail prices of coal combined with the prolonged heat wave which lulled the householder into a false sense of security at the same time paradoxical though it may seem coal production this year will reach a level surpassed only by the output jn tn 1844 1944 when the nation was atthe at the height of its war effort even it 11 miners dug and machined an average of only 10 million tons tona a week during the remaining weeks of 1847 1047 production would be 45 million tons higher than the million mon total in 1946 because of strikes idle time car shortages and a shorter work week the mines have lost somewhere between 35 and 60 50 million tons of production so tar far this year concerning prices the most likely prospect is for them to go up again dealers say that the customer appears ready to take higher charges for his f r al 31 as something dunavold un avold able but buthe be like it |