The Savannah morning news., 1902-10-11
THE LIFE OF A COAL MINER.
How He Begins and Ends His Ca
reer as "a Breaker boy"


reer as "a Breaker Boy
Rev. John Mcdowell, who was once
coal miner, gives the following
sketch of a miners life in the Worlds
Work for October:
I'm IL years old, goin' on 49," said
the boy to the boss of the breaker. He
didn't look more than 10, and he was
only 9, but the law said he must be
II to get a job. He was one of a
multitude of the 10000 youngsters of
the mines, who, because miners fami-
lies are large and their pay compare
lively SMALL start in the breaker be-
fore many hoys have passed their pri-
mary schooling. From the time he en-
tiers the breaker there is a rule of
progress that is almost always follow
ed. Once a miner and twice a break
er-boy, the upward growth of boy to
man, breaker-boy to miner, the de-
scent from manhood to old age from
miner to breaker-boy: that is the rule.
So the 9-year-old boy who is "12 go
in on 49," starts in the breaker He
gets from so to 70 cents for ten hours
work. He rises at $50 o'clock in the
morning, puts ON his working clothes,
always soaked with dust, eats his
breakfast, and by o'clock he has
climbed the dark and dusty stairway
to the screen-room, where he works
He sits on a hard bench built across
long chute through which passes a
steady stream of broken coal. From~the
coal he must pick the pieces of slate
or rock
1t is not hard life, but it is con-
filming and irksome. Sitting on his I'M
comfortable seat, bending constantly
over the passing stream of coal, his
hands become cut and SCARED by the
sharp pieces of slate and coal, while
his finger nails are soon worn to the
quick from contact with the iron chute.
The air he breathes is saturated with
the coal dust, and as a rule the break
er is fercely hot in summer and in
tensely cold in winter. In many of the
modern breakers, to be sure, steam
heating pipes have been introduced in
to the screen-rooms, and fans have
been placed in some breakers to carry
away the dust. But however faVora BILE
the conditions, the boys life is a hard
one. Yet it is consistent introduction
to what is to follow.
The ambition of every breaker-boy is
to enter the Mines and at the first
opportunity he begins there as a door
boy-never over IA years of age, and
often under The work of the door-boy
is not so laborious as that in the
breaker, but is more monotonous. He
must be on hand when the first trip of
cars enters in the morning and remain
until the last comes out at night. His
duty is to open and shut the door as
men and cars pass through the door,
which controls and regulates the venti-
lation of the mine. He is alone in the
darkness and silence all day, save
when other men and boys pass through
his door. Not many of these boys care
to read, and if they did 1t would be
impossible in the dim light of their
small lamp whiting and whistling
are the boys chief recreations. The
door boys wages vary from 60 to 10
cents a day, and from this he provides
his own lamp, cotton and oil.
Just as the breaker-boy wants to be
a door-boy, the door-boy wants to be
a driver. When the mules are kept
in the mines, as they usually are, the
driver-boy must go down the smart IN
time to clean and harness his mule,
bring him to the foot of the smart ana
hitch him to a trip of empty cars be-
fore 7 O'Clock. This trip of cars varies
from four to seven, according to the
number of miners The driver takes
the empty cars to the working places
and returns them loaded to the FOOT OF
the shaft. They are then hoisted to the
surface and conveyed to the breaker.
where the coal is cracked. sorted ana
cleaned, and made ready for the mar
ket. There are to-day 10000 drivers IN
the anthracite coal mines. These ooys
are in constant danger, not only OF
falling roof and exploding gas, but OF
being crushed by the cars. Their pay
varies from $1.1O to SIPS, from which
sum they supply their own lamps cot
ton and oil.
When the driver reaches the age OF ~
he becomes either a runner or Ia
tcrer in the mines more frequently
the latter The runner is a conductor
who collects the loaded cars ana ol-