The evening tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 189?-190?, 1897-06-02
RUINS WHOLE TOMS
LORD DUDLEys MINING OPERATIONS
WORK WOE TO THOUSANDS.

WORK WOE TO THOUSANDS.
Large Districts Undermined by Tunnels.
Towns and Villages on; the Surface Crack
and Crumbis Down Great Peril of Life
end Property.
Young Lord Dudley once more IL
coming In for no end Of abuse In con-
nection with the ruin which he IL work
Ing by means of his mining enterprises.
Certain Of his coal mines are located In
4 district Of country known az Pensnett
Chase, which extends over portions Of
the counties Of Stafford and Worcester
and comprises the prosperous towns Of
Pensnett, BrockmoU, Briefly Hill and
Quarry Bank. the latter having . pop
ulation Of about 10000 people. Lord
Dudley has inherited the mining rights
Of tho district, although he owns very
little Of the land on the surface, and a.
the beds Cf coal are somewhst shallow,
running. that II TO say, within 90 feet
Of the surface, there Ia subsidence Of
land tho moment the pillars left for
supporting the roof Of the mine are re-
moved. These pillars either take the
form Of heavy beams Of wood or else Of
columns Of coal, and their removal aft
Or the exhaust&o Of the vein Of coal IN
. piece Of petty economy that 10 sordid
and selfish In she extreme. At the pres
ent moment the major portion Of the
once prosperous industrial town Of
Quarry Bank 10 In ruins, while parts Of
the town Of Brockmoor consist Of moth
ing but houses cracked, twisted and rent
from top to bot>Om in such manner a.
70 render them uninhabitable.
The entire population Of these vart-
ous towns II threatened with ruin; yet,
according TO the present condition Of
the Epglish law concerning mining
rights, no legal redress OF damages can
be obtained from the earl, who pursuea
bis way regardless Of all protests, intent
solely on extracting all the coal that he
possibly can from the bowels Of the
earth, coal which he subsequently sells
both at Wholesale and at retail. The
only indications that he gives Of his
knowledge that he 10 subjecting his fel-
low countrymen to hardship are the no.
tifications that he issues from time to
time to the people Of this or that town
or village that the houses which they
occupy will be unsafe for habitation
after a given date, owing to the pene-
tration by the miners of the galleries
beneath.
Lord Dudley's rights, like those Of
many other peers similarly endowed,
have been in the possession Of his fam
lily for hundreds of years. Most of these
mining rights were granted by monarchs
in olden times to their favorites, both
masculine and feminine. They were
granted in perpetuity. Far from endeav-
oring to correct and to check this abuse,
the corrupt parliaments of the latter
half Of the seventeenth century encour-
aged this Wholesale distribution Of min.
ing privileges, their members being
careful to feather their nests and those
Of their friends at the expense Of the
public.
In the United States when q person
buys piece Of ground he has right tG
everything below its surface. This il
far from being the case in England, and
il in digging the foundations of house
on land purchased as freehold one were
to strike a gold, tin or coal mine the
latter would belong not to the propri.
etor of the land, but to the descendants
of the courtier or of the dishonest states
man who centuries ago managed to Sc
cure grant Of the mining rights Of the
district, mining rights that permitted
him and his descendants to delve up.
ward to within few feet Of the surface
of the soil.
1t might have been expected that the
outcry now being raised in the English
press against Lord Dudley in connection
with his Staffordshire and Worcester
shire mines would lead to repeal ol
these medieval privileges Of the peerage.
But this need not be looked for, as ev.
cry reform in that direction is certain
to be blocked in the house of lords.
Marquise de Fontenoy in Chicago Rec
ord.