Omaha daily bee., 1902-07-01
LABOR IN THE MINES.
Some u the Conditions Prevalent In
h Anthracite Region.
R. d. Rbone in Review of Reviews.

r. d. Rhone in Review OF Reviews.
The employees in the se3 eollieries OF the
anthracite coal region in the year 1900 num-
bered 143, S26. This is according to the
latest report OF the Bureau Of Mines. The
newspaper figures are somewhat In excess.
A breast Is generally worked by four
men-two miners and two laborers; each
miner calls his partner his 'butty;" the
laborers are also "butties'' TO each other.
The miners have a contract with the
operator to work the breast at a certain
price per car. the miners to furnish tools
and powder and to pay the laborers. 1t
is their business to cut the coal. to direct
the opening and advance Of the breast and
to prop the roof. No miner can be en-
ployed who has not a certificate. in order
to obtain which he must have had two years
experience as q laborer in the mines Of the
state and must be able to answer, before
the mine examining board. at least twelve
questions in the English language pertain
ing to the requirements Of a practical miner.
A miners days work Is done when he
has cut enough coal to ill the cars as
signed him by the mine boss. He may do
this In three or four hours, when he goes
home to smoke his pipe and talk politics,
leaving the laborers to load the cars and
clean up the breast ready for the next days
work. The miner likes his job-his place
Is cool IN summer and warm In winter, the
hours are short. the labor light and the ele-
ment Of danger is never calculated upon.
1t Is upon the mine laborer that the hardest
work falls, and he receives little more than
half as much as the miner.
OF the employees about one-fourth are
boys. The law forbids the employment Of
boys under the age of IL inside or under
IL outside a mine. The boys inside drive
and tend the mules which pull the coal
cars and open and shut the many doors in
the dark labyrinths. Outside they work
In the breaker as slate pickers. A person
or humane Instincts cannot contemplate
with calmness these children kept out of
school and forced to such grim and tedious
work. In the great labor parades Of 1900
large companies OF these children marched
through the streets; It was a holiday for
them, and with the exuberance of child
hood, which even the hard conditions Of
their lives could not crush, they were
shouting and whistling. They carried ban
ners, on which were inscribed sentiments
like these:
What our fathers were we will be also"
"Give our fathers Justice and we can go
to school,"
I'VE need schooling but must work"
Adjustment of the young slaves"
"our mothers are up at 8 p. m. (sic) to
get our scanty meals"
Those poor little banners, with their
badly-spelled legends, were not ridiculous
but touching, for they revealed a state OF
affairs that even dwellers in the coal re-
gions are not accustomed to consider.
The miner is the unit OF the mine-labor
question. The wage scale, fixed by the
car, is the basis OF payment. The other
labor Of a mine-the opening and timber
ing Of g~angways. the laying of tracks, the
cutting Of tunnels through rocks known
as dead work. and is paid for on a diff
ferent basis-by the day or by the yard.
1t 10 not considered mining at all.