Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1903-01-04
Frank Carpente Draws Pen
Pictures Of a Rich Coal Re-
gion Largely orkeda by
Women.

sss IlSlUA % VI %s q lNlsAk8OO6ls1NS
gion Largely W0rked B,
Women.
II the average number ST working day
q every year Is more than 800 Low wage
8 and long hours are the rule. There ar
q f5o.05o working people here, and Of thes
q zine t9nths work ten, eleven or NOR
9 hours ger day. OF all the workers on
q sourth make less than 80 cents per day
q one fourth; from 20 to go cents. and; an
II other fourth from 70 TO 80 cents per diem
q WoafAN'S WORK AND WAGES
81 Women are everywhere paid less thai
= the men. and about half OF the femal,
q workers make less than 90 cents a day
S while in the whole country Of more thai
Il $780, 900. half Of whom are women, onl,
4 395 women get as much as so cents day
& Among the best-paid women here arr
4 those who u work underground in the
q mine he work is hard and degrading
4 It unsexes those who are thus working
q away day after day IN the semi darkness
4 ana IN time makes them animals In OLE
i age they are little better than horses anc
donkeys which work with them, ane
which stay In the mines until they die
Some Of the horses will . live from ter
q. twenty years after going down under
ground. but they become perfectly blinf
at the end of three years.
HOW THE MINERS LIVE
! nave been interested in the life OF the
4 people. Every great mine has it's dwell.
ing houses about it, collection of littIx
Vo-story bricks built together In blocks
Each house has five rooms two on the
/ ground hoor, two above and little attic
under the roof The families are large,
1 and the average number OF children /.
4 slS or seven. The miners are n1iser2bly
poor. Nearly every one pays a rent 81
4 Sl9 OF SO a year for his home, but onl,
the ieWest save money. The people arr
Lgreat drinkers. In this region every th1ro
j house is q saloon, and the most Of thu
wages go for drinks. The people drinf
/ alcohol, and the women drink as well as
/ the, men. ss
Belgium spends more than eight times.
as much for liquor as it does for schools
and its annual drink bill is about IS pc.
/ mead, or SIS per family. am surprised
at the number Of saloons They arr
known as "estaminets,'' and you see Their
everywhere. There is hardly block i,
the city without one or more, and they
! are scattered along the country roads
| There are more than two hundred thous.
and saloons in Belgium, and it is SAID
\ that one person in every thirty of til.
| whole population. is employed in selling
| Intoxicating drinks
Many of the 4workmen get drunk or
! Saturday and lay off over Monday. Sim.
/; lar conditions prevail in England where
| drunkenness is, If anything. worse thai
! here.
WoRKINGMEN's ASSOCIATIONS.
! There are number of workingmen's
| associations in Belgium. The men have
their trades unions and their co-operativ.
societies. There is one kind Of organiza.
ton, known as "Mutualties," which has,
; over fifty thousand members. There ar.
societies for mutual help SO formed tina
the members support each other in times
of trouble, providing medical attendance
and other such things.
Many OF the societies are perfected by
the government, and to some the state
gives subsidies, increasing their funds for
medical attendance and support In time
Of sickness. The government now has
pensions for such working men of over
sixty-fve who need them, and also asso-j
Citations which insure the lives Of work
ing men attlow rates.
Belgium has ministry of industry and
labor which has to do with matters relat-5
ing to workingmen. and there is also
what IS known as the superior council OF
labor, organized to consider labor inter
ests and prepare measures regulating
them for presentation parliament. This
council is composed of sixteen workmen
sixteen manufacturers and sixteen sclen-
lists. It is said to be Of great value to
labor interests.
The governments are becoming more
and more paternal in many of the Euro
pean countries. They are taking the
place Of father to the people and try
ing to benefit them in variety OF ways.
In Belgium the state has erected dwell
ings for workingmen in certain Localities
and has arranged SO that they can BUY
them on easy terms. It is helping the
fo t,xyc rrirul-
ture, and through its railroad service is
reducing freights and facilitating the
marketing. have spoken Of the postal
arrangements of Switzerland and France,
whereby the farmer can express his goods
to consumers through the postott1ces.
Here in Belgium the government mas put
on fast trains for England for the ship
trade and 1t seems to be on the outlook
to help the producing classes.
THE BEEHIVE OF EUROPE.
Z i am surprised at the enormous manu-
featuring industry Of Belgium The
country is a very beehive of work. 1t
has about 6,000o0o people, and fully 750.--
ON Of them are at work making some
II ng to sell. The factories are az thick
as in the black country of England. and
the land teens with house industry. There |
are about $4,000 workshops which employ
on the average only three hands each
and an enormous amount Of cotton and |
linen cloth is woven at home.
On the eastern edge Of the Belgian |
coal field is Lege, which has $4,000 peo-
pie, and which was built up out Of manu-
features Of iron. It is the Sheffield of the !
country, making vast quantities Of fire
arms for home use and export. 1t has |
50. 900 worknlen, who make nothing but
guns. and most of these work at their
own homes. The manufacturer furnishes
the material. and the workmen take it
home and make the different parts OF
gun. One man may be employed upon |
locks, another on barrels, getting from (
9 to cents for his work on each gun. It |
is only recently that much machinery has
been introduced and this is used only
with the cheaper kinds of firearms.
Parts Of guns are also made for export
we get many Of our steel gun barrels
from Liege, and also the Damask gun
barrels which are made nowhere else in
the world. The secret Of making them
being handed down from father to son.
Only the most skilled Of the workmen
that can make these barrels. The ordi-
nary rough bored barrels are turned out !,
in great quantities; they cost from 60 [
to 20 cents apiece. when ready for ex-
port.
AMERICAN COAL FOR BELGIUM.
When the United States has finally set
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