Your TR Source
President Roosevelt asks Acting Secretary of the Navy Newberry to refer to the telegram regarding coal sent by Acting Secretary of War Robert Shaw Oliver and to report back on how much of a delay would be caused by loading coal for Panama.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-08-31
President Roosevelt instructs Acting Secretary of the Navy Newberry to ensure there is enough coal for the Great White Fleet’s trip, and says the Bureau of Equipment is “on trial in this matter.” He likes the idea of “having one first-class man. . .represent all the newspapers.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-08-17
President Roosevelt asks the Interstate Commerce Commission if there’s any way to address the issue detailed in a letter from The Lakota American newspaper editor Avard McIntosh Beveridge to North Dakota Representative Asle J. Gronna. Beveridge’s letter concerns the coal and fuel shortages in North Dakota.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-12-13
Senator Lodge returns the papers pertaining to the matter of the colliers. In his opinion, it is fine if the Department sends coal in foreign vessels just as long as there are not any more American vessels that can carry it. Lodge also mentions that some New York newspapers say he supports a third term. In fact, Lodge would like to “smash them thoroughly.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-09-11
Acting Secretary of the Navy Newberry submits a report to President Roosevelt about the coal situation. The Navy Department wants to approve what Admiral Wm. S. Cowles has written about this subject. Newberry concludes by listing three propositions the Navy Department could adopt if the transcontinental railroads offer a lower rate than the New England Coal and Coke Company has already proposed.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-09-06
Navy Department Chief of the Bureau of Equipment Cowles outlines the situation regarding the transfer of coal for Senator Lodge. The Navy Department used to accept coal shipments from American vessels to Pacific ports under the coastwise shipping laws, but it was unsustainable due to rates and foreign markets. In response to the issue, the Judge Advocate General of the Navy Edward Hale Campbell ruled that President Roosevelt had the authority to charter foreign vessels. Cowles lists the American vessels that were chartered. Allegations have been made that the Navy illegally selected foreign vessels, hurting American shipping, and Cowles gives examples to refute these claims. For the remainder of the voyage of the Fleet, the department intends to utilize American vessels as often as possible, but the necessary coal will have to come in foreign bottoms.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-09-05
Acting Secretary of the Navy Newberry informs President Roosevelt that the railroads have agreed to the Navy’s wishes regarding government colliers, and he describes the positions of the colliers. The waiver of precedence for Panama colliers could once again agitate the commercial interests, but Newberry does not foresee long term effects if the railroads and coal suppliers can agree. He recommends the transfer of a few cargoes already en route.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-09-01
Senator Lodge informs President Roosevelt of the rumored attacks against sending the Atlantic Fleet to the Pacific. With the upcoming presidential campaign, Lodge feels these attacks are an attempt to “get in a blow at the Administration.” He advises they “ought not leave any loophole” for the opposition, such as the role of the coastwise law, which he details. As a separate matter, Lodge mentions the contentious relocation of the USS Constitution from Boston to Annapolis.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-08-30
Admiral Brownson, chief of the Bureau of Navigation, sends President Roosevelt a letter from Admiral Robley D. Evans with information about the Great White Fleet. Brownson comments on Evans’s points about fleet movements, maneuvers, and supplies. He feels it best to have just one journalist accompany the fleet.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-08-19
A digest of an attached detail clarifies that Acting Secretary Thomas Ryan’s memorandum was sent in mistake. The memorandum incorrectly reported President Roosevelt’s determination at the conference on October 5 regarding forest reserve lands. If Roosevelt approved the memorandum without noticing the error, Ryan is directly responsible.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-12-19
G. W. Woodruff, Chief Law Officer of the Forest Service, reports on a controversy concerning Secretary of the Interior Ethan Allen Hitchcock. President Roosevelt withdrew ten million acres of land from disposal under public laws to protect the coal it contained, but asked that no land be withdrawn until he received Geological Survey field reports. Hitchcock claimed that he did not know which lands were inside the reserves and “materially misquoted the President’s clearly expressed intention.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-12-17
The District of Columbia Board of Commissioners writes to President Roosevelt to discuss the enforcement of a “smoke-law” approved February 2, 1899, which intended to reduce the harmful emissions of power plants. Despite some legal setbacks, enforcement of the law has been generally successful, except in a handful of cases, including the Potomac Electric Power Company. Due to the “frequent and flagrant” violations of the plant, 66 prosecutions have been brought against it in court.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-01-05
President Roosevelt is hunting, and has scared up two “octopi” labeled the Beef Trust and the Standard Oil Trust and a bird, likely a vulture, labeled the Hard Coal Trust.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-04-13
Six cowboys, one labeled “Coal Trust” and another labeled “Miner’s Union,” all carry handguns which they are using to force a diminutive man labeled “Small Consumer” to dance.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1906-04-25
A large mean-looking man labeled “Coal Trust,” patterned after Charles Dickens’ character “Bill Sikes” from the novel Oliver Twist, holds a club labeled “Control of Rail Roads” in his right hand and looks down at a cowering man/dog figure labeled “Independent Mine Owner.” On a table on the left is a bottle labeled “Rebates.”
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1906-03-07
Photograph of a seam from the burning coal vein in the South Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park.
Theodore Roosevelt National Park
1958-06
Photograph of a park employee standing at a seam from the burning coal vein in the South Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park.
Theodore Roosevelt National Park
1958-06
John Mitchell, president of the United Mine Workers of America, grasps an angry bull labeled “Coal Operators’ Combine” by the horns. The cartoonist is suggesting that the bull might get the better of him.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1902-10-15
A dejected coal sculpture of a royal figure labeled “Old King Coal” wears robes and a crown which he holds onto his head. In the background are factories burning oil for fuel and spewing thick black smoke which drifts, in the shape of a hand, toward the coal sculpture with the intent of snatching the crown from his head.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1902-09-17
President Roosevelt writes to George F. Baer, William H. Truesdale, E. B. Thomas, Thomas Powell Fowler, Robert M. Olyphant, and John Markle to request that several railroad and coal industry leaders meet with him on October 3 in Washington, D.C., to discuss the failure of the coal supply, which is affecting the entire nation.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902-10-01