The morning call., 1892-10-02


| holiday, and when trade is depressed they
| may even take another day per week In
| order to keep wages up.
as wages run in England collier earns
fairly good living. IL he has from twenty
/ five to thirty shillings per week he may be
| contented. When his earnings run over
! forty shillings per week he may consider
| himself very prosperous and able TO save
| little for rainy day. His house rent sell
| dom exceeds siXpence or shilling per
| week. The houses OF a colliery village
/ generally belong to the lessees AMI are let
as part of the understanding with the
| workmen. In q large proportion OF IN
| stances, while the villages may appear
| squalid and mean-looklng, with no paving
| in the streets and usually nithy gutter
! running down the side, the houses are CON-
| Portable and decent within, consisting OF
| three or four rooms. often tastefulIy lur-
| nished
A thrifty housewife has no difficulty in
making ends meet Ia sucn home' PROVIDED
her bread winner brings his wages home and
does not linger by the way to squander
| them in beer at the Pack Saddle or the
| Shoulder of Mutton. Generally in England
the miners cottage has a good slice of gar
den attached, and at the far end there Is
| certain to be a pigsty and a pig In the
process of fattening for winter provision.
| The garden is utilized for potatoes, cab
/ bage, onions, leeks, parsley, carrots ana
| turnips and it adds materially 10 the food
| supplies Of the household.
4 collier enters upon marriage with
very light heart at an early age. At 20 he
| has a sweetheart, at q or y wife. and he
! has large family to support by the time he
! is 40 As they grow up the sons enter the
/ nit also, and add TO the income OF the home.
! They are first employed as drivers of ponies
| or dOor-Openers along the ventilation
courses. and as they get older they become
! hewerS or roadmenders
Imprudent as they appear, these early
| marriages are beneficial both 10 the family
and 10 the country, aud ! shrewdly suspect
| that many Northumbrian or Durham col
| iier who emgrates TO Pennsylvania. and
| earns, perhaps. twice IS much money as he
| did in England looks back wistfully TO his
early career in his native village. He GER
/ tainly cannot take kindly to the uncoutb
| companionship of Huns. Poles and Italians,
willing to work Tor song and To live In
| rickety shantieS.
The institutions common to mining viii
lagos may be easily enumerated. First of
all. there is the cooperative store where
goods of every description are supposed to
be purchasable of better quality and cheaper
| than anywhere else. In many cases this is
| a delusion. But the miner has share in
| the store and trusts il, and deals with il
exclusively. The miner has often a good
/ grounding of religion in his nature, and
becomes Methodist by preference. He finds
| opportunities to pray and preach in that
| Mr. tenwick, NJ. P, long before he en-
| tered Parliament. acquired sound ora
/ tUrical style as a local preacher There are
| Schooihouses as we'll as chapeiS, and posi-
bly, a ha!l for public meetings, or me-
chanics institute, where newspapers and
magazines may be read. Concerts two or
three in a year are events TO be remem-
bered, and trip to Durham or Newcastle
on a Saturday night is relished.
The collier has one expensive taste or
xrso, = IS k..Ff
able description OF competition, and lie is
fond of sport He keeps a terrier or
greyhound. and is constantly making rabbit
or rat matches for his terrier and coursing
matches for his greyhound. H. can be very
selfish, too, during times of pinch in feed
| ing these dogs. While food has been scarce
/ for his wife and children he has been
| known to keep a leg of mutton for his dogs.
Another weakness is bis positive passion
| for pigeOn-fYing. He may be seen on
Saturday or Sunday ut the cross roads with
some cronieS, all basket laden, and one bird
after another is liberated and timed with
stop-watch. There would be no harm in
this sport but for the perBiciaus prevalence
| OF betting. Many man loses a weeks
wages in a single stake on these pigeon
| matches.
| A story goes of pitman who was dying
| and was daily visited by q curate. The
| good man lsbored hard with the sufferer to
! prepare his mind for the great change, and
| had almost concluded that he had sue
ceeded. One day he was startled by the
| pitman asking:
| when get to heaven will hae wings ?"
The curate gave comforting assurance
| on the point. as far as his knowledge went.
And will ye hse wings ?''
The curate hoped he would
Then when ye come 10 heeyen I'll fee
! ye for a sovereign"
| This was assuredly the ruling passiOn
strong in DEATH
The great unions of the miners in Eng
| land are admirably managed. The funds
| contributed by the men are invested and
| when misfortune occurs to a man he is
handsomely dealt with; or when q general
] Strike eccurs there Is a little money to go
| round. But even such a sum as $40, coo
| may disappear In three weeks when strike
| is general The Northumbrian miner has
good deal OF Scotch caGtiousness in his
nature, and is supposed to be better edu-
Gated than the rest Of his class. His actions
are. however, at times inst as rash as can
be conceived. a few years ago he entered
upon very foolish strike, which lasted
four months. and came out Of it beggared
and demorallZad. In Durham the miner is
oil quite another type-perhaps lower in
some aspects of character, but open and
outspoken and not afraid OF taking the pub
lie into confidence.
The annual miners demonstration at
Durham Is a very curious assemblage.
1uOuoduuo VI OUTLETS 1IOD every part OF
the county assemble In a field where plat
forms have been erected, and listen to ad-
dresses from orators whom they regard as
cham pions OF their cause. The late Charles
Bradlaugli was always a welcome speaker
at these gatherings. His sonorous voice and
his vehement denunciations of the work
lngman's oppressOrs stirred his listeners
profoundly.
The committee Of arrangements is always
IaVish ID hospitality on these occasions
Free table Is kept at one of the principal
hotels in the old cathedral city, and the
cause OF the miners is toasted in wines of
the choicest vintage. Why should not these
toilers be happy at least one day in the
year?
| We're it not for the terrible risks OF his
| calling the miner might be considered a
workman In comforts bic circnmstan ces.
| lie at least is better of than the agrieul-
| tural labnreT, who always has low wage
and leads very dull, prosaic lie. In many
cases he 10 quite the equal Of the carpenter
| or mason in worldly circumstance though
not in average intelligence. The leisure he
has enables him 10 study. if he will apply
| himself TO learning Some men have risen
| TO lame as poets among cOllierIes. But those
dangers which always surround the miner
when below ground can never be regarded
! lightly. Legislation aud efficient inspec-
ton have done much to minimize these
| risks, but all the precautions taken cannot
| avert catastrophe, ard long and painful is
| the record of huge disasters.
When two or three hundred men are sud-
denly swept away By an explosion or the
flooding OF mine, or the blocking up OF a
shaft, there Is grief and wailing among the
thousands. Many noble nature is exhib-
tied in traits of quiet heroism on these try
ing occasions OF peril, when there is still
nope mat a lew survivors may be extri-
| Gated from choked workings
| DELAY MACKART.
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