The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-12-25

CAREER OF A TON or COAL.
From TO Cellar n shovel Touches It
Once.

anu WilliO II CIdChieS lcN aHS zen Nou sumo
things. have just learned about coal in
a visit to the mine country. 1t was a trip
to see exactly what happens TO a ton of
coal from the time il leaves the mine till
It is stored in your cellar, aud, incident
ally, perhaps to catch n coal baron.
The first thing that learned out in
Wilkesbarrc was that tho miner is tho
same old chap that he was in tho days
when [ knew the coal regions as | know
Broadway--which was, more's tho pity,
nearly a quarter of a century ago. He was
grumbling then, and he is grumbling now,
and no doubt he has been grumbiing ever
since But no is far more peaceable now.
Those were the glorious days of the Molly
Maguires, when one went down into mine
with two armed men in front and two
more behind. Under such cheerful circum-
stances / once interviewed a fluffy-faded
Irishman named Pat Hester-a Molly, Of
course, and a murderer. Later ON l was
locked in his cell with him, TO interview
him, in the Pottsville Jail. still later,l had
the pleasure of seeing him hanged, think
It was at Bloomsbury. with two others on
the same gallows. But that bloody era IL
only a memory now.
The coal barons let the honest miner
make a decent living IN those days by
taking his infants out of the cradle ana
setting them at work. There was the ola
man digging away in the mine lheh
there was George the Oldest boy, say
about 49, down in the mine also, driving
one of the mules that drew the coal from
the miner to the foot OF the shaft and
making his 81 week. And there was
snufiling little Tommy, aged anywhere
from s up. standing in a big, cold room
in the breaker with forty Other infants
picking slate from the coal and making
his 81 a week. Those shivering little fell
lows were continually blowing their red
noses, and an wore red scarfs round Their
throats.
But now see what the grasping capital
lists have done. They have abolished the
mules entirely and put i'm trolleys and mo-
tors to move the little cars from shaft
to drift and back again. So Georges oc-
cupation is gone. And they have thrown
out that great moving tray from which
Tommy and his companions picked the
slate, and have put In its place a soul
less contrivance that they call a washery
in which the coal and the slate are sep
arated by a powerful stream of water. SO
Tommy's job Is gone. too. The very bread
has been snatched from his mouth, and
he is at home or at school.
The miner himself, down in the very
vermiform appendix Of the earth, uses now
a diamond drill and much gunpowder and
furnishes his own tools and powder. He
works In pairs, and the two men together,
under the most favorable circumstances,
can get out" seven wagon loads of coal
o day, If allowed to work full time. "Wag-
on is the name they give to the little car
that Is used In the mine. which holds
two and one-half tons. The pay is IS
cents wagon, so It is possible for miner
20 make $25 a day. out of which he
must pay for his powder But there is an
inspector at the top of the shaft to exam
inc every wagon load who knows as much
about "dockage" as a sea captain. Dock.
age here means docking so much from the
pay when there is too much slate In the
coal. He may knock off a quarter, q
half, or the whole Of the pay, IL the per-
centage of slate is too large.
The first real handling of the coal Is
when the miner shovels 1t into his wagon.
and after that all the other mine processes
are automatic. The wagon Is hoisted like
lightning on the car, which we would can
the elevator. and at the top the coal is
dumped into a chute, which carries il 60
the breaker. IL is in big Jumps at first
but the breaker attends to that
1t is a real coal baron, that breaker II
swallows down the great Jumps and d.
gests them and turns them out in eight
sizes. The very smallest Is called rice
coal no bigger than grains of rice. The
next is buckwheat, and the next pea; but
those three sizes are used only by manu-
factnrers. Then come, growing larger at
every step, nut, stove, egg, broken and
steamboat. The breaker, II provided with
double rockers, and manned by sixty-five
men and boys, will run out" 2s5 wagons
of coal day, equal to 7l2 tons. From this
one-fourth is to be subtracted for slate
dirt leo xffuC Of .~frc ~.
coal day. And each mine has. Of course,
as many breakers as necessary.
From the breaker the coal goes auto
matically through the washery, comes
out, still automatically, ready 10 be sold
or shipped II you are employed by the
company you can buy coal there at the
breaker for $2.75 a ton; If you are an
outsider you can have 1t for So a ton. The
mine owner will not sell it for less than
1t costs him, so to a certainty II does not
cost more than S275 ton, including the
interest on his large capital
But what coal is sold at tho breaker is
not drop IN the bucket. Most Of IL is
bound direct for tidewater. which is an
other name they give New York That
long black snake winding across the fields
Is a train Of "jimmies,' the Jimmy be-
ing the small coal car that holds six tons.
The engine pulls 100 jimmies, and the
track runs IN front Of the breaker When
the train draws up, down drop twenty
chutcs from the breaker TO the cars. The
pull Of lever, and twenty cars are load
ed. SO on. until in ten minutes the whole
train OF 100 j.mmies is loaded and ready
20 start. How many men 70 run that
train? one engineer, one fireman, one
conductor. and two bralSemen-five in all.
Now, stop a minute for / think 1 have
caught a coal baron. II you own any stock
IN one Of the coal-carrying railroads, you
are one Of the coal barons yourself, sir.
That " the richest barony OF all. What
do yoit think would be a fair price for
pulling that train OF 100 jlmmies from
WllkesbDrre 10 tidewater2 Five men for
four dayg (goins and rcturnlns). az s.
day, 80; eoal consumed. $40 more: for use
Of rolling stock and tracks. four days-shasl
we DO extI emcly liberal and say. 500?
Total. 500 To q man who IS coal bar
rem, but not a coal baron, does that not
look Ike T. lair. honest pricc7 Then LEI
~ ace what hie cxccllcncy the baron real
y does charge and make 90 pay. For