Waterbury Democrat., 1902-02-27
TURN OUT THE MULES
Compressed Air Locomotives to Be
 Used in Coal Mines.
Pennsylvania Companies Testing the Engines and Will Probably Dis- Rense Entirely with the
 PIodding Animals.

During the coming 12 months the picturesque driver boy and the pa tient mine mule will be gradually superseded at the anthracite mine by the unsentimental but useful and eff ficient compressed air locomotive. The machine which will displace the boy and the mule has been sought for during many years, and the operators have at lsst found it. A test has been made by the Philadel- phia and Reading Coal company, and has been so satisfactory that the company is now preparing to place the compressed air locomotives in all it's mines, and retire from serv- ice the 5000 mules now used to pull the cars in and out of the workings. Other companies are watching the experiment. with great interest, and. as it promises to prove economical and efficient, the engines will doubt less be placed in all the other mines within short time. Some years ago the electric motor promised to oust the mule and the boy, but while they are still in use at some of the mines they are not so suc- cessful as to be generally adopted, says the New York Tribune.
 The passing of the mule and the boy will mark a change in mining which has been anticipated for years, with other big Improvements, but it will deprive the mines of one of their most interesting features. The boys are in a class by them selves, differing from boys employed in any other work. They are dar- ing, reckless lot, most of them be- tween 16 and 20 years old, in con- stant danger, brave, leading a rough, strenuous life, which makes them self-reliant at an unusually early age.
 The big mules which they control are as different from the average mule as their drivers differ from the average boy. Kept in the mine for years at time, without sight of sky, sniff of fresh air or taste of green grass, they live life apart; solitary and desolate, often develop ing viciousness which makes them as dangerous as the fall of roof which constantly threatens the lives of the mine workers.
 Many a hardy youngster has been brought out of the mine nlained or dead, and the report has set oppo- site his name the words: Kicked by mule.' In the course of a year the deaths from mule kicks amount to about 50, while the mules which are killed in revenge are unnum- bered. The animals are often se- verely ill-treated. Their tongues have been pulled out, cars have been allowed to run into them and crush them against the side of a working, and ground glass has been fed to them in their mash. and the mule thus treated dies quickly. It is diff fcult for the companies to discipline the boys, because it is so hard to de- tect when they have wiifully injured an animal. A vicious mule gets a reputation which leads quickly to it's being tanned or killed, and it is usual 1y in one process or another that the daring boy gets hurt.
 The animals are capable of a great amount of work, although the conditions do sour their tempers, and, barring accidents and intention al injuries, they live for many years, despite the fact that they are con- fined under ground all the time.
 Their sicknesses and their injuries compel their being brought to the surface and treated in the company hospital, which is a constant source of expense, and this is one of the reasons why the companies desire to displace them. The engines, too, will do the work faster, while the heavy cost of feed and the space taken by the stables will be saved, and the driver boys and stable bosses will be replaced by the engines. About 16,0o0 mules are now used in the anthracite region.