Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-06-20

time trying to find reasons for this strike"
Down the tunnel We stumbled and walked,
past the engine. around corners and through
sidings. Now and then a train OF cars
would SO rumbling up or down Then the
rope tracks were left and tie tunnel was
smaller and you had to walk stopped over.
stu there were tracks. and now and then
q mule dragging cars would be passed.
Sometimes q light would flicker in the dis
lance disappea- and sparkle out again. as
miner doomed up suddenly. his grimy
race thrown into strong RELIEF by the little
lamp in his hat
Sometimes We went down hill and some
times up hill. Sometimes We splashed
through water and mud and again walked
on solid ground. The air was pure being
famed into the mine. but the walls were
dirty. Coal. coal was everywhere. The diff
ferent strata were clearly defined In the
side walls. the flooring the lower level
mixed with slate. the breast coal, the up
per strata and the roof coal all glistening
all black. and all representing stored-up
energy.
Finally we paused to let the stout man
catch his breath. and incidentally to hear
about coal formations. DO you recall"
said Mr.. Krapf. "a big stone house with
green shutters and a yellow door. just out
side OF F'rostburg? Well. We are now d.
TSes the back S Of that
lie there any way Of getting up?" said
the stout man. with a CLEAN Of hope. mo;
well. II 1 was Mr.. William Sitkins / would
uoWu INTO THIS coal nelo and get my
own supply. anyway.
The Formation of Coal Mines.
Then Inspector Mcmahon explained the
reason people did not set up mines Of their
own in their cellars or back yards. The
land for miles around Frostburg. and, In
fact. all over the region. is owned by the
companies. and under all circumstances
they retain control Of the titles. They build
houses. however and rent them at low rates
and even sell the houses. but never the
ground. II q workman desires to build q
house for himself he has no trouble In get
ting the ground. for which he pays a NOM
inal rent. For an acre or SO of ground q
man will pay Is cents q year. Much OF the
ground II farmed by the companies them
selves.
Just where we turned into this siding"
broke in M Krapf. I'VE were under the
COW shed OF George Archibald Mazourka.
pays 40 cents a year. He owned the farm
before. The company bought II. with the
arran cement that Mazourka should retain
possession. paying the rent mentioned"
Soon after all this the party were steered
into the rooms In which coal was actually
being dug. In mine language they are
called rooms. and each pair OF miners have
an apartment to themselves. The size OF
the room varies with the length of time
that II has been worked. Into each room
runs q track, which IL laid by the miners
and this space Ii filled with timbering act
ing supports for the roof. AS has been
said. two men work In each room. They
extend its walls until the engineer tells them
to quit, when q new place Ia assigned them.
In this way the rooms or tunnels are driven
until only q pillar OF coal IL left standing
In that especial -neighborhood to act as
support. The men do their own timbering
and track laying. each empty car as II
comes in bringing q few supports, which
are put in place as the coal is removed.
strata and leaving a table. which IL re-
moved later. His partner loads the coal on
the car and In this way. even with the ne
cessity Of timbering and laying tracks. two
men can average about ten tons OF coal
. day.
A Shaky Appearance.
One Of the rooms visited presented a de-
cidedly shaky appearance Several Of the
tmhsrs, heavy - they wsTss were sanpZ