The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-08-19

total of S1675. It takes thirty minutes to walk from the mouth of the mine to the work We generally ride.
 Sross-examined by Mr. Cabaniss he says-I have been at Jefferson more than two years. l went there from Newcastle l have wife and six chuldren at home and three children married. l own my own home and have bought property out of my earnings. I have just finished a room in the mine in which the coal ran pretty well up to three and one-half feet The room work is good. No. slope is about the same as No. l. The dirt is easily handled. The coal is said to be sort l have been a miner for twenty two years. At present the majority of the headings are in less coal than they were a year ago.
 MT. Fairley asks:
 MT. Moore, if the headings are in small CT coal then the room and heading min- CTS earn less, don't they? Answer-Yes put the seam is wavy and varies in thickness. They will average now three feet four inches, but the foreman says that, taking all the rooms they will av- craze four to six inches or more. In the largest seam 1t shows three feet and three-fifths of an inch clear coal
 Joseph Walwork.
 Joseph Walwork of Blocton, the next witness. says:
 l am miner and have been mining for thirty-nine years. I first mined in Dur ham county England. l worked in Kansas and Arkansas. I have been working in Blocton for seven years think there are just as practical men in Blocton as any where Some of the best workmen at Blocton are native Alabamians Blocton has the best class of colored miners in the district. It takes as much practical knowledge to mine Blocton coal as any coal l have ever mined. man must know how
 The Blocton coal is hard to mine. A man who had never mined before could not go to Blocton and in ninety days mine as much as a practical miner. A miner must keep his roadway clean for twenty-feet back. A man can pull thirty to thirty-five tons to a keg of powder don't work in headings now for can't stand it. I am too old I don't think the heading man is paid enough com pared to the room man. A miner gets ton of coal for $2.50 delivered from the company. They pay 55 cents ton for dig ging It.
 Cross- examined by Mr. Percy Witness says in May I dug 156 tons of coal and received $S5sO In April 157 tons and in March 15s tons. I averaged twenty-one or twenty-two days. I used four kegs Of powder per month at $l 70 per keg.
 Edward Roach.
 Edward Roach, living at Blocton, is the next witness and says: l am a miner have worked at Blocton since June, 1890 l mined in Kentucky and Tenesseee It takes a lot of skill to mine at Blocton. The hard thing is to guage the powder. am now working in a room. l have worked in heading and narrow work am getting too old for heading. l think the Blocton miners are a good class of men. Some are good and some are bad. work in No. slope. I think No. ? the best mine. I think the heading men are underpaid in comparison to the room men.
 Cross questioned by MT. Percy he said:
 As rule young, strong men want the headings, for the honor. My boy less than Is years old works with me- and the last month I worked was March and had something over 200 tons at 55 cents a ton.
 Adam Pow recalled:
 Lives al Wylam. l have copy of state ment handed to me by MT. Percy pur- porting to show my wages beginning in January, 1900, showing a statement of more than $100 for 21 days work. I always had a boy or two with me. The boy start 
 years old
 The miners. through Mir. Fairley and Mir Flynn. and the Tennessee company. the Alabama Consolidated. the Republic company agree that the board may bring in award preventing boys less than IA years going into the mines.
 MT. Pow's Earnings.
 Mir Pow resumes. My earnings aver aged s314 per day in 1900; S3.09 per day in 1901; S3.1 per day in 1902 and S3.77 per day for the first six months of 903. This was gross and practically speaking all narrow work. I deducted the boys earn ings.
 MT. Fairley says-Mr. Pow, don't want to shock your Scotch modesty by asking if you are considered good miner Mr. Percy saves his modesty by saying that MT. Pow is considered good miner Mr. Pow states that a fair estimate for ex- penses of man in heading work would be S15.00 per month In a room a fair es- innate would be fifty tons of coal to q keg of powder l use dynamite in head ing work at Pratt because there is so much gas. In room a man getting 100 tons of coal would each month need three kegs of powder, costing s5.40 one box of squibbs at 20 cents. blacksmith, 30 cents; tools. Sl.05: oil, 90 cents: file, 20 cents; lamp wick 15 cents. Total expense SS.45 per month Some men work in a heading and don't send out any coal some days. I always sent out coal every day When a man goes into the Pratt mine he generally gets out coal. A man may be in the Pratt mine and not get out q ton of coal in a day. Nineteen of us have laid out six days this month on account of gas. The air is worse In the evening than in the morning.
 Captain Bush says that the statement, filed were taken from the pay rolls. IL man had ton or car of coal brougnv to his credit any one day he was credited with days work. The tables were abso- lutely correct.
 Adjourned until today at 10 a. m.
 Both sides agree that the case will be submitted to the commission without argument.