The Carbon advocate. [volume] (Lehighton, Pa.) 1872-1924, 1884-06-07
PICKING SLATE AT A 81 A WEEK.
The Awful Slaughter of Childhood that Is
Going on at the Coal Mines.

"Ihere are many melancholy features
connected with the life Of coal miner"
said Morgan Jnnes, formerly a mine boss
in the Schuylkll cnal region, but now
resident of New York city, to San rc
porter, "but the most painful is the EN-
plnyment of boys in and about colleries. A
colIery boy is never child. lie has TO
games. lie seldom speaks. lie knnws
nothing OF the world beyond the line nt
bleak hills that environ the grimy locality
where he begins to enrn his living almost Ms
soon as he is large enough to be put into
trousers.
Il haye in my mind now acollery where
for years was nns of the delivers. 1t IL
one ol the oldest ana one Of richest mines
IN the region. passed up and down it,
shalt every day when il was not idle tor
more than twenty five years. have helped
IN carry from rs depths the nanged body
ui many pnnr fellow workman, crushed
beneath same tall Of coal, or mutlated by
fire damp explosions. have witnessed the
agony of wives and mothers and sisters, AS
victim sfter victim In the prrils that con
stantly threaten the miner has been raiteh
from the deadly depths, aud my heart as
ached Tor them in their grief. The p0ig.
nancy OF that feeling time never failed tn
temper, but the Spectacle of score or mor'
oi boys aged before their time, bent and
Stunted, and worn, working their lives
away in the black, dusty breaker, s~elteI
ing and sut,neatihg IN the summer aud
| chilled To the bone in the winter, was some
thing that brought rerpetual heartache
The cnlliery | refer to is only the counter
part of hundreds Of others. Its buildings
are on high spur OF the Blue Mountains,
aud are visible for miles. The entrance L.
the mines is at the top of the hill, which is
covered with the accumulated coal dust OF
years, clouds of which are constantly rising
from the whirling,sharp-tnothed machinery
within, aud pouring from the open doors
and windows. The interior is dark and
gloomy, with coal begrimed men moving
silently about, appearing and disappearing
in the dust, cnming from invisible corners
aud suddenly swallowed up in impenetra
ble depths.
"In one room in one Of these colliery
buildings-a room not moro than fifteen
feet square Il have seen forty boys at work
picking slate from the coal that passes
swiftly down the chutes in an endless stream
They are seated on rough hemlock boards
stretched across the room il rows. The
windows are always open in winter and
summer, in order that the dust may escape
apartment and the snow beats in at the
windows and doors. from 7 O'Clock in the
morning until darkness compals work To
cease these boys cit on their benches, with
back bent almost double over the running
coal separating the slate from il. To do
this requires great dexterity and skill with
the hands and quick eye. The slate pick
ers range from to is years Of age. At Is
or l6 they are old enough to enter the
mines, and to reach that stage in their
career is their only ambition. II any Visi.
tor to the collery will take the trouble to
enter the miners graveyard near by he
will not need to be told how many of these
boys never reach the goal Of their ambition.
The tombstones in the graveyard are mum
erous, but great majority bear the names
of boys under the age of l5-slate pickers,
who have succumbed to the overstrain OF
their toil-toil that had made them old,
decrepit. and iufrm before they bad reach.
ed the freshness of youth.
"The wages paid to these bows are from
81 to 81 so week, il they have the luck to
be steadily employed. Some OF them, ia
many instances,live long distances from the
eollieries where they are employed frequent
ly as far as Eve or six miles. In such in
stances they are carried to work in the
morning aud home again in the evening in
the coal cars Of the eolliery or company
For this service they are charged sometimes
rs much as ten cents trip, the money
being deducted from their wages. i is no
uncommon thing lorth boys to fnd, alter
reaching the colliery, that the works will
be idle for some reason. In such cases they |
get no pay, and have known 1t to happen |
that at the end of the month il would re- |
qure not only oil OF boys wages to pay /
Ior his transportation, but that he would still /
be in debt to his employer. While / wss
in the coal regions endeavored TO awaken
an interest among the miners on the cub
ject Of this employing boys at eollieres,
with the idea of making a change in the
system, but nine out Of ten had to run the
risk Of their being equal to the hardship OF
the life Of a slate picker rather than lose
the pitance each would contribute to the
family income. got up . petition among
people at large asking the enaeting Of law
prohibiting the employment of boys under
l6 at any eollery, aud compelling miners
to send their children To school until they
were that sge, bun nothing sYer came Of il.
In he mean time the grave yards Of TIE