The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1895-07-26
ENGLISH AND YANKEE MINES.

Mr.. McDonalds Views are not In &C.
cord with the usual views on this sub
ject and are likely to attract consider
able attention in mining circles. Mr..
Mcdonald holds that great injustice Is
done to the anthracite industry in many
ways. by comparing It with the English
mine statistics as q striking example
of the way in which figures are made to
bear against anthracite. Mr.. Mcdonald
cites the comparative fatalities in the
two industries. In English mines the
loss of human life Is reputed to be one
for every 100000 tons Of coal mined in
the anthracite industry. Mr.. McDonald's 8
report argues that this Is an unfair and
unjust standard OF comparison. inas-
much as the English percentage Is based
mined, while the American figures are
based on the number Of tons sold. The
force Of Mr.. McDonald's argument in
favor of the home industry will readily
be seen when 1t Is borne in mind that
not over 65 per cent. under favorable
conditions and down to 50 per cent. un-
der less favorable conditions Of the an
thracite coal Ia taken from the mineral
In the ground, and that Of this amount
from 25 to S5 per cent. Is consumed or
wasted In the course Of its prepara-
tion for market.
In England almost the entire amount
Of coal in vein Is mined and the per-
centage Of loss or waste in the course
Of preparation-the English product
being soft, or bituminous GOALS re-
duced to the minimum. as almost every
thing brought to the surface finds
ready sale in the markets. An
other important factor operating to
produce this apparently great dis
parity between the two countries Is, as
Mr.. Mcdonald forcibly sets It forth. the
very great difference In the workmen. In
England the men engaged In mining
coal are skilled and experienced work.
men, whose lives from the earliest years
at which they are permitted by law to
work underground, have been spent in
acquiring knowledge and skill in a call
ing in which they intend to pass their
lives. In this country. however, the
work Of mining and preparing anthra-
cite for the market Is very largely in the
hands Of men Of little skill or exper-
ience. ignorant of the language OF the
country. who have adopted this voca-
ton because their lack OF knowledge
shuts them out of employment in other
branches Of toll In which the return for
their labor In any degree approaches
that received in mining.
Another difference In the mining con-
dtttons contributing greatly to the ap-
parent disparity-and one Of which the
mere figures or the reports from which
the statistics are quoted. take no ac-
counts the very great dissimilarity
in the veins mined and the methods Of
mining in use in the two countries. In
the English mines the veins are thin,
six feet Of coal being about the average
thickness. In this country the anthra-
cite measures are Of much greater thick
ness In the Lackawanna and Wyo-
ming regions veins fourteen feet in thick
ness are common. while in the Halle
ton and Sohuylkiu districts the man.
moth vein attains In many instances a
thickness Of seventy feet Of mtnable
powder or other explosive is used, most
Of the mining being done with the pick.
In this country powder. and In many
mines. dynamite and other high ex-
plosives are used to bring down the
coal. The disturbance and breaking up
Of the neighboring strata of rock bring
into American mining elements Of
danger which are entirely unknown to
the English workman, and to which is
due very large proportion Of the fatal
accidents in the anthracite regions. Mr..
McDOnald's report goes into this sub
ject exhaustively and at length, and
concludes with the statement that the
loss Of life In the mining of anthracite
Do not 80 great proportionately as the
loss in the English mines. when the
different conditions az to the mines and
the methods Of mining used. as outlined,
are borne In mind and used as a basis
upon which to make comparison.