Dr. A. Hoyt Taylor: "Coal Needed"

Asbury High School closed to provide coal to keep station running.

During the Winter of 1917-1918 along in February, I think, we ran out of coal, on account of some misunderstanding about our coal deliveries. As this happened at the same time the temperature went down to 13 below zero, we were in a tough spot. I had to keep that station going, as it was the nerve center of the trans-oceanic system.  I went down to Belmar and Asbury Park and bought a supply of kerosene and all the kerosene heaters I could locate, plus a large number of saws and axes. I practically commandeered these things; since I had no paymaster on the station, accounts being carried in New York, and I couldn't wait for red tape to unroll. Every man on the station not on watch, marine or gob, had to get out and chop wood to feed the furnaces in order to get up enough steam to run our main power plant, so that we could keep the generators going. Since it takes about four cords of wood to equal one ton of coal, and we were normally burning four to six tons of coal a day, it was a sizeable order. At the end of four days we had sawed all of the dead timber on the reservation. I then commandeered a car load of forty tons of coal, intended for heating the schools in Asbury Park. I called the Mayor and told him what I had to do. He said, “I guess it is more important for you fellows to keep going, than to keep the schools open”. The bills for that forty tons of coal followed me personally around the country for years before the Navy finally O.K.'d my action and paid for it. In the meantime I had gotten some action in Washington, and 600 tons of coal were on the way by Pennsylvania Railroad. I was calling up the station master each day, and finally he said "You can't get it, because the Bill of Lading hasn't arrived". I said "Look here, the Railroad is in the hands of the government and I am working for the government - furthermore, we are freezing here. Will you give me that coal, or do I have to send the marines down to get it?” He finally agreed to give us the coal, but I had, the Marines go down anyway, just to make sure.

Page updated December 29, 2003  page created September 02, 2000