rs with favor, would
enforce low prices. Hence during the last three months of the year an
unprecedented amount of coal had to be shipped, and the congestion on the
competing railroads was such that the country faced a real coal famine.
In December, the Government recognized the obvious fact that the railroad
must be placed under one management, if the confusion in the whole
industrial situation were to be eliminated. President Wilson accordingly
announced that the Federal Government would take over the railroads for
the period of the war.

This measure came too late to save the country from the evil effects of
the fuel shortage. The penalty for the delays of the preceding summer had
to be paid, and it was the heavier because of the severity of the winter.
Overloaded trains were stalled and harbors froze over, imprisoning the
coal barges. Thirty-seven ships laden with essential military supplies
were held up in New York harbor for lack of fuel, and long strings of
empties blocked the sidings, while the shippers all over the country cried
for cars. To meet the crisis Garfield decreed that all manufacturing
plants east of the Mississippi should be shut down for five days and for a
series of Mondays, until the 25th of March. The order applied also to
places of amusement, private offices, and most stores, which were not
allowed to furnish heat. Munitions plants and essential industries, as
well as Government offices were naturally excepted. "Heatless Mondays"
caused great inconvenience and bitter criticism, for they came at the
moment when it was most important that the economic life of the nation
should be functioning at its greatest efficiency. But the embargo helped
to tide over the crisis. As in the case of food, the public, once it
appreciated the necessity of the situation, accepted it cheerfully.
Domestic economy was also widely preached and applied, to the slogan,
"Save a shovelful of coal a day." The elimination of electric
advertisements and the diminution of street lighting, served to lessen the
non-essential demand for coal; and the crisis also forced the introduction
of "daylight saving," the advancement of the clock by an hour, during the
months extending from March to October, thus saving artificial light.

In the meantime the Fuel Administration, the operators, and the miners
were cooeperating to increase coal production. The enthusiasm of the mine
workers was stimulated by making them realize that they were