Kansas City journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1897-1928, 1897-08-01

I Wales coal fields are less than three feet
In thickness. Some OF our PENNSYLVANIA
anthracite veins run from thirty feet to
sixty Ieet In thickness. while the Pittsburg
I nitrminoIs coal veins are from eight
| to sixteen feet thick. At the present rate
OF inning IL IS estimated that all the En-
| g.tsh co@l Will De- exhausted In PIP years
IL IL Is worked down TO loo feet. and this
viii be liS feet deeper than any Of the In
Elish mines now worked. Notwithstanding
the enormous amounts Of coal which W.,
have taken cuf Of DUR anthracite region. II
Is estimated that we could go on at the
| present rate for fi6 wears.
As England goes further down her coal
mining viii become more expensive. and
her days IS a manufacturing nation are
consequently, numbered. Already we sur
pass her a great deal in manufacturing.
and there is no doubt that we, with ON
vast supplies OF coal ana iron. are 10 be
the chief manufacturing nation Of the tut
ure.
Our Wealth In Black Diamonds.
Our Appalachian coal fields alone could
supply the world with fuel for centuries.
They are the largest and richest known.
and they are SO situated that the coal can
be shipped from them long distances by
water. From Pittsburg coal can be carried
for 1900 miles on nayigable streams. ana
the CRATE fires OF the South blaze with the
rays from the black diamonds from Penn
sylv0nia. The Ohio river is the great coal
chute for the Mississippi valley. The con!
i carried down il in great bargcs pushed
by little steamers, and so fastened together
mat q single steamer VIII push acres Of
coal. Loads Of 1900 tons are taken. A vast
amount Of coal IS carried on the canals
and the great lakes form one of the CHIEF
highways Of the coal traffic.
The amount Of coal carried on the rail
roads is almost beyond conception. Tho
Philadelphia & Reading has more than
5000 coal cars. which are dragged by 800
coal locomotives. These cars are kept busy
in carrying anthracite coal. The Pennsyi-
vania railroad employs more than 7OO0O
cars for the movement of its Pnat and goI-a
trade. ana the Central railroad of New
Jersey carries about 5,0o1.00g tons of an
handled at New York than at any other
place in the world, except London. more
than 100000 tons being used or trans
shipped at that point annually.
Little Money for the Miners.
One would think that there would be al
lot Of money in coal for the miners. There
Is not. and it Is a question whether the
present strike will materially better mat
tiers. As far as strikes have gone in the
past. they have been against the working
men. Some years ago Carroll D.. Wright,
the United States commissioner Of labor.
figured up the profit and loss Of ten years
Of striking in all branches of labor. He es-
timated that the employees during this time
lost Si3.tN0.W0. an average of $40 TO each
striker involved. while the employers lost a
little more than half the amount. or So, Co.,
The coal miners live as poorly as any
other class Of workmen in the country. For
the most part they are in dirty villages
with narrow streets. their houses ~blackened
~ coal smoke. In many mining districts
the houses belong to the company owning
the mines, and the miners pay rent for
them, so that when a strike occurs and
they are out Of money, they are given or
ders to leave. Many of the houses have
nothing more than two rooms and a kitch-
en-, and in some places the only stores at
which the miners can trade are the com
ANY stores. With all this the American /
miners are far better of than the miners
of other countries. The coal miners of
Japan receive only a few cents a day. Both
women and men work in the mines. and
the foreign ships. which get coal at japan. |
are always loaded by women, who pass