NEW RECORD PROBABLE

Evening Post, Volume CXXX, Issue 144, 14 December 1940, Page 13

NEW RECORD PROBABLE

COAL PRODUCTION

ADVICE TO THE PUBLIC

Returns from the principal - collieries for the month of November show an increase of 22,000 tons in production of coal compared with" the corresponding month last year, according to an announcement last evening by the Minister of Mines (Mr. Webb), who said that for the first months of the calendar year production was 182,000 tons ahead of the same period in 1939. "It is evident now," said Mr. Webb, "that the output of coal.for 1940 will exceed 2,500,000 tons, and given normal conditions between. now and Christmas there is every likelihood that the total, production for this year will set a new record in the history of coal-mining in this country. This is a very fine achievement, especially in view of the bad start during the first three months of the year, but it would be a. grave mistake for consumers, both industrial and domestic, to be lulled into a sense of false security in respect of coal supplies on. account of increased production. "There has been a rapid increase in coal consumption during the past few years, and: it is quite clear that next year even greater quantities of coal will be needed from our mines. "My advice to the public, therefore, is to take coal into stock whenever the opportunity offers, because even now we are faced with problems of distribution which are not likely to be solved for some time. There is no need whatever for panic buying, but to lay in stocks for winter would be a wise precaution."