From the Observer archive: this week in 1929 | From the Observer archive

Fuel and the future – how coal can compete with oil There have been reports of late of increased activity in the coal trade. Those qualified to judge have rightly warned the public against facile optimism. The Continental orders are the result of the abnormal weather. They are not a sign that the old trade is coming back. It will never come back, because the conditions which created it have ceased to exist.But the last few days have also brought two items of news really suggestive of a tur