Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1897-07-25

In the recent coal agitation which IN
volved the states Of Pennsylvania ONO
West Virginia. Alabama. Tennessee, Ken
lucky. Indiana and Illinois, the question
was not one of hard work for the men
have drained the cup of toll TO the depths
but one Of money.
In the most contented Of the mines high
wages are paid-not as a matter of phil
anthropy. but as one of business. Inc
Hanna system" was the greatest check
the strike knew. Yet it is not such mag
nifcent thing. only common sense. Unoer
this system the men receive SO cents per
ton for mining the coal. Each week ~
per cent. of their wages are withheld. A
man who has earned s. received A.0O.
That sum is placed on the books OF the
companv to the credit of the laborer. on
New Years Day ne gets it all back with
per cent. interest added. But if he
strikes during the year he forfeits all To
this end ne has signed a contract and the
company has his signature upon its DOCKS
The trouble with the coal business, the
miners say. is the poor pay and the IN
certainty of it. In Ohio. where coal work
/! ers. receive good pay, they say that min
err who makes s. per week. on an average
all the year. is a plutocrat and that 50
for three weeks out of the four would be
. nearer the truth.
The mineowners. on the other hand,
claim that a good man can earn s. per
+ dav. When asked why so few men do so
/ they reply that the market in miners Is
/ overstocked. Five men flock to do the
/ work of one: and as 1t is job work the
money is divided up too small.
3 But there are cold facts about which
/ there can be no dispute. One is that the
getting of coal from underneath the
] ground is the most dangerous of known
| occupations. exceeding in hazardousness
! even the working in electricity or diving
] There are miners insurance companies
but the risks are great and the premiums
correspondingly big.
The danger in coal mine lies from the
difficulty Of egress. Ten miners impris'
oned alive" is not such an unusual head
line as 10 cause extra notice in daily
paper.
The old shafts lead down to veins Ions
since worked. New veins have been struci
leading further into the bowels OF IN
] eartn. ana, III many AAAAAA~' % +----N-
half mile 10 travel after he has made TN
periious descent into the mine. Small car
running upon improvised railways in III
mine carry him 10 his work and bring hin
hack 10 the shaft at night. 1t is the dir
test work known, and the deadliest. In
blackness alternating with the fiicker.n
lamu tries the eyesight TO its utmost. In
6us. STILES the lungs and penetrases tn
th.oat and nostrils until the taste an
smell are blunted. AL sense OF color. too
f-sappears. and the miner becomes hu
man tool. a piece Of intelligent mechanism
, alive vet dead 10 the things that 10 mos
neople make life worth living.
There has been more sentiment eXpende
mon the miner than upon any other liz
ing class Of men. Though he delves in dil
and blackness. the very awfulness of h
: chosen calling inspires the poet TO vers
The strike of the telegraph operator
. fourteen years ago for shorter hours. II
strikes Of the. car drivers in New YoI
CITY. Chicago and Philadelphia for mo-
money. the famous railroad strike
eighteen years ago. and the later ones
: the express companies. and the cloal
: ma1sers. have all had their strong poin
> Dr5 and con. But for the miner there
: tvmpathy! Even though. at this dull co
fseason. the companies cannot see the
" vav clear to that greatest Of all pea