Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1902-10-13
Statistics Gathered BY Labor
Commissioners Wright Of
Peculiar Interest Now
WAGES IN ANTHRACITE FIELDS
An Analysis Of the Conditions as They
Exist Among the Hard Coal Miners
in Normal Seasons Rather
Small for Dangerous and Difficult
Work.

on account or conflicting SlaleiHeHeS ~,
regard to the earnings of miners a
great deal of confusion has arisen in
the public mind. Many think the min
ers are forced to work for starvatlon
wages. while others are equally sure
t It the men earn big wages and that
/ lere is no justification whatever OF the
trille, TO clear up this controversy
oy reference to actual record is both
important and interesting.
1t should be borne in mind at the
outset that less than One-quarter OF al
the persons employed in the production
of anthracite coal are actual miners.
According to the official figures of the
Pennsylvania State Bureau OF Mines
last year the total number of employees
was 141,5O0, of whom $4,000 We're en-
ployed inside the mines and ASSOC out.
side. OF the $4,000 workers within the
mines $1,000 were actual miners, $4,000
were helpers and 10000 We're drivers
The remainder We're door boys, timber
men, laborers, etc.
1t will thus be seen that the miners
and their helpers together make ur
an army Of about 10000 workers, or
about AZ per cent of the whole force
These 10000 men in round numbers
are not paid by the day, week or month.
They are paid according to the amount
of coal produced. The miners Ger
titicated as such under the mining laws
of Pennsylvania are really contract
workers; that is to say, they undertake
to remove coal from the veins at SC
much per colliery car, paying Their
own helpers who do the loading, and
buying their powder and oil and pay
ing for the sharpening of tools, etc.
AS rule the miner does very little
work with pick and shovel. He is the
skilled workman who undertakes the
responsibility of handling explosives in
a dangerous calling. He must know
his business thoroughly. Hence the
provision of the Pennsylvania law that
every certificated miner must have had
at least two years experience in the
mines. After a helper has had three
years experience he may undergo ar
examination and receive certificate
as miner. The miner goes into the
colliery at in the morning He drills
holes in the vein in the sbreast" to
which the mine boss has assigned him
charges it with powder, adjusts his.
fuse, eXplodes the charge, and the coal
comes tumbling down. His helper
loads 1t on the mine cars, and the COM
pany's employees, driver boys, hitch on
the mules and haul the cars out to
the breaker, where the coal is cleaned
and assorted and loaded at once into
the railway cars for shipment to mar
ket
Some of the miners do their own
the fact that there are more miners
than helpers. If anything goes wrong
with the powder charge the miner has
to take his pick and clear it away. AS
a general rule the miners work is not
Very hard, and in from five to seven
hours he can knock down enough coal
to make a days work. Customarily the
miner quits work and goes home before
the loader has finished his task
There is q great difference in the
veins. Some work easily and others
with much difficulty There is also a
difference in the skill of men. Thus it
happens that here and there a miner
may earn $500 a month or some such
figure. He may have two leaders, The
few miners who make such large earn
ings have the best breasts" to work in
and are skillful men. OF course these
are the exceptional cases, which give
rise to the reports that THE miners ar.
able to earn IS or Sc day for as many
hours work" This is true Of a few
men, but the vast majority can not do
half SO well. Every one will under
stand that it is the general average
which counts, not the exceptional cases.
In the anthracite field wage condi-
tions vary according to the district and
the mine. There is no uniformity as to
pay per car or as to size of car. But
there is not much difference in the av-
erage earnings of the workers, mine
coYared with mine or district with
dis.rict. Again, there is no absolute
rule as to the wages which the miners
are to pay their helpers, but in nearly
all instances the helpers are given ex-
actly one-third of the gross sum re-
ceived for the coal produced. If a miner
turns out coal for which the company
pays him SIS, one third of this, or $25.goes
to the helper. In difficult workings one
helper may serve two miners. The
miner must also pay for his powder and
Oil and the sharpening of his tools at
the companys smithies.
In the report which he made to Pres
ident Roosevelt, Labor Commissioner
Carroll ID. Wright did not on his own
responsibility state what the average
earnings are in the coal fields. But he
collated the evidence given by company
managers. bosses, miners and others.
and there is no substantial conflict be-
tween these statements. They agree
that the following figures fairly repre-
sent the average daily earnings of the
various classes of labor thruout the re-
gion:
Certificated miners (skilled labor) 1886
Miners helpers. EOS
Day laborers. .... 1893
Slate pickers. men,. ...... 1.2O
Slate pickers, bows .S5
Car leaders >. ...... 1.59
sLaborers, first class 1859
LaborerS, second class. l29
With this as a basis it is easy to get
at the average annual or monthly
earnings. In the anthracite region the
men work an average of 2O4 days per
year. or seventeen days per month. In
204 days they can and do produce all
the coal which the companies can sell
at the prices which the managers fix.
If prices were lowered the pubic would