The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1896-09-08
THE PRICE or COAL.

We are not familiar enough with the
coal business as transacted from the
mines to the domestic hearthstone, to
know who gets the benefit of any extra
price asked of the consumer for this ne
cessity of life and living.
We should like to know more about
the matter than we do. Perhaps some OF
our friends who deal in coal can en-
tighten us. We don't believe that the
retailer gets any great advantage from
increased prices. But, then, we don't know
anything about it.
One thing, however, we wish TO ex-
press, anc that is, IL the increased raie
adds a dollar or a cents worth OF money
10 the wages OF the coal miner, we believe
Il at nobody who is SO poor that sacrifices
are impossible to him without positive
suffering should begrudge an extra quarter
or an extra hali-dollar imposed for his
coal. The raise, TO be sure is always
a burden to people of even ordi-
nary means. We know OF no commod-
ity that jumps in price at such a
fearful rate of per centage as does coal.
Neither our -four, nor sugar, nor any OF the
other commodities that we all have to
have advances in price at the rate that
coal does when it gets started. Even the
we'll remembered "beei famine" of some
months ago showed nothing like it.
We hope the miner gets some bene fit
out of the raise. He needs the money and
no class OF laboreis needs an ext ra penny
more. The Pennsylvania coal miners
had a particularly hard time of 1t this
summer. Tney have had work only
about three days a week, as we are in
formed. While we pity ourselves and
our own poor il coal goes up, we rarely
stop TO think of the lot OF the man who
mines the coal, and who, perhaps we
lie, poor fellow, is more often than not
hungry and half clothed. lie finds 1t
harder than most men to keep his
body and his soul united. lie lives
In the rudest sort OF a hut, thrown to
gether With the cheapest kind of lum-
ber, black, dirty and in comparison TO
which an ordinary New England barn
is a palace. lie gets S5 cents car
as we are informed. when he has work at
all. A car holds about two tors and ca
pable miner can dig out ,our or five car
loacs a day. That is good round price
for his work IL the miner could keep 1t
all. But out of that he has to pay his
"laborer" or "helper," who loads the car
while he mines, 80 cents a car-which,
SO TO speak, lakes the rough edge of his
days wages. Then, OF course, there is
"dockagc" to look out ior-thnt means,
II the car is not loadoo JUST so many inches
above the side board, and IL there is any
slate In it or other foreign matter that
has to be picked out, he is docked for
that. And there are comparatively few
cars we guess, that go through Without
docking. Taking it oil in all, even when
he works full week, the miner Is not
on bed of roses.
Ii 1t is true that the coal we are asked
TO pay from % to 20 a ton for costs at
the mines s1.50 net ton, and that the
freight is about g ton al the outside,
perhaps we can trace the benefit derived
from the retail price to very small area.
And maybe when the. price IS increased
to the wage earning consumer the wage
earning miner gets precious littIe benefit
from 1t. -fts, ttr
As we said before, we don't know.
Tom WATSON CONTINUES to want to have