The intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1887-1891, 1890-06-28

OF being good hearted men and wiIl,D,
10 share their last cent with their suffer
y ing fellow miners. Whenever mine
n meets with an accident in the mines O
laiis sick, a paper is passed round an,
each miner contributes not less than 2!
u OF oo cents. Sometimes they are callet
J, upon two or three or more times durint
y month; but once a month, ALWAYS
LOT oo cents. A committee of miner,
visits the family in which a deati
occurs TO discover whether they are
aoie TO bear the expense attendant
upon the sickness or death of the de
ceased; II not, they raise eubscrip.
uPh anu bear the expenses. When q
ueaih occurs in miners family,
whether the death be that of a child
one DAY old or fellow miner, IL often
happens that all stop work and DO not
resume again until the one who has
Deeh Dereaved returns to work. This
Is 10 snow respect, but il is also that
'hey may not take his turn be earning
something when he Ia unable to 20 TO
WORK. III they should continue work
ing on when he has stopped (for which
there might sometimes be a necessity
on account OF urgent order for coaD
they one and all contribute enough ont
OF their boxes to give him turn.
1t seems that the employe gets no
work until bis employer gets an order
ior coal; the work lasts only long
ehough Tor this order TO be filled. Each
man has room, 35 or 40 feet of the
Vein or face of the coal, to which he
coniines his mining. For each order
10 DO hiied, every man has turn, a
certain number OF boxes (carts), to
ioad with coal. This number of boxes
Deing hlled, work comes to a stand
sill until another order comes in.
some OF the miners i'm Lexington
complain OF foreigners at Riverton,
whom they designate as "hoggish. :"
Ihese Foreigners, they say, will take
more than their turn. They will 20
ihto the mines at night, after the others
have left for the day. and mine for
several hours, thus getting that much
more coal ready to run out for the
next day, aud earning thereby, a cou.
pie or dollars more than their ssIess
| hogglsh" companions. "Then," say
those who complain, 'they make them
selves sick with working too hard, aud
the paper Is passed rouDd and we have
to suffer for it,"
There are no regular hours for work
III these mines for the miners; the men
come and 60 as they will. However.
they all try to be there as esrly as 7
O'Clock in the morning, that they NAV
run out their cars at the same time
that the others are doing il; else one
car would be In the way of other cara
that are on the same track. The bosses,
cagers, engineers, mule drivers, weigh
bosses and top-hands have regular
hours of from TO SO hours a day.
In these mines the miner either does
his own wheeling or pays the wheeler
out of his earnings.
Ihose who are compelled to work in
water are subject to rheumatism or
malaria and ehills. Many complain of
being affected by the work disagree
at first and getting over it afterwards,
others experience bad effect from the
work continually. Those who have
weak lungs are subject 10 violsnt attack
OF coughing; some complain of their
heads. others Of their side and back.
but all agree In saying that they can
endure the work much better when il
10 continuous; that after stopping
awhile, when they begin again they
are stiff and sore.
A miner can't make the same amount
of wages every day; Tor instance, in
running out coal. one day he may meet
with many delays and obstacles; other
cars are In his way on the same track,
a lot OF dirt and debris may obstruct
the track, and he may have 10 stop TO
prop up his root. The miners them.
selves say that when one miner has
spite against another, he has many
ways OF hindering him in his work.
Some OF the tunnels are 80 low and
narrow that the miners have to squeeze |
through. They say they manage to get |
through, the same as rat does through |
It's hole. In places they crawl on their |
hands and knees for distance of 200
feet or more. The air is purer In the
mines in the winter than IL is IN sum.
mer.
More than one miner thus explains
why, once u miner, always miner:
we can earn more money at mining |
than at any other kind of work. We |
are unfit to work out In the sun or i'm |
extremes OF weather after becoming
accustomed TO the mild temperature
underground. Ii we wanted to get
other work we could not succeed:
mining Is all the work there is in this |
part OF the country; (and what is per-
haps The chief reason in the miners
mind) we are our own bosses; we are
free TO come aud 60 when we will; we
can work when we want to work, and
stop when we don't feel like working. :"
Miners living outside OF city limits
usually work out their polI.tax Of $4 on
the road. In the town some pay their
poll-tax OF 81 80 by belonging to the
town fire company. Several old mluers
belong TO the city council.
Cake and pie tor the miners bucket
is the great stand by. Tea Is preferred
to coffee In the pit, as il is better cold
than coffee. Few OF the Lexington
miners care tor fresh meat In the bank,
or pit. They say that IT gets soft and
does not taste good, but pie and cake
are always palatable.
Very few miners have the least idea
OF the wages earned during the year.
Many keep an account OF what is com
ing to them up to payday, then de-
strov the account. "Atter this,r say
the miners and their wives, 1--WE are
going TO keep all account of everything
we earn or spend during the year."
III Ao&iuStou, sOine OF the Young |
miners belong TO the town band, for
which position they have had thorough
Lexington boasts an ex-
cellent band. Miners are fond OF
aud when they earn good
wages, many so cents goes for ball
to which they take their sweet hearts.
In Riverton, during the winter months,
the miners families get up sociables
and parties at each others houses.
a miner will wear out three and four
pairs OF overalls In year and from 1 to
q pairs of shoes.
Their personal taxes do not amount
TO much-25 cents on $35 worth of
furniture being the usual rate.
Four cents during the summer and Al
cents, beginning III September, for the
six winter months, is the rate at which
they are paid. A miner can mine
about one bushel OF coal all hour.
With one or two exceptions only, all
the miners owe for their grocery bills .
from one payday to another.
The agents of the bureau have been
gratitied by the frank manner i'm which
their questions have been answered,
IL is true the miners have not in all ,
instances been able to give accurate
replies, but they have replied to the ,
best of their ability, and shown dis.
position to aid the bureau in getting at =
he facts. Among all the miners visit