Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1903-01-04
slCerTespondence OF the Diopatch.3
CopsTiEht, 1902. by Frank G. carpenter.1
Washes. BELGTuA. January LIZ am

CeTespondencc OF the Diapatch.3
81 copyright, 1909. by Frank g. Carpenter.1
Washes. BELGIUM. January IL am
It iii The heart OF one OF the richest coal
]. mining regions OF Europe Belgium 1s
y snly about oae-third the Size OF Indiana.
~ but Il has deposits OF coal and iron which
& make II hum Ike bee hive II is the
3 busiest workshop upon the continent, and
81 IL supports about as many people 10 the
u square mile as any country OF the world.
{ its annual product OF coal amounts to
M q. O06. 900 tons. It uses the greater part OF
6 this al home and afsn imports fuel from
Germany and England. AT present the
& people are looking to the United States
1 as possible source Of manufactures
fuel. and the day may come when. the
mills here will be largely run through
coal from the United States.
TIE BLACK COUNTRY OF BELGIUM
The Belgium mining conditions are en-.
sfire11 different from those OF our country.
Cur mines are near the surface and It
COSTS but little to get the coal 10 the cars
Those OF Belgium are FAR down under the
earth. and every ton has to be lifted by
machinery to the surface. Some Of the
mines which visited to-day are more
than half mile deep. The water has to
z be fought at every turn. and mighty
{ pumps are employed to keep the works
dry There are tunnels cutting the earth
this way and that at a depth OF 2.00o feet.
Over them are other tunnels. and the
whole country Is q catacomhs, made by
s getting ont the coal. 1ae nine5 have to
be tnbered. The wood is cut from the
forests nearby. but the most OF 1t IS not
over SIX inches thick. and as II comes to
the mines it looks like telegraph poles,
each fifty feet long. tapering to q point
At the end. Such timber stands in great
stacks about each mine 1t is un1oaded
From the cars by women, who handle the
poles like so many Alnazons.
BELGIUM'S COAL PYRAMIDS
This coal region is far different from
those OF Pennsylvania, Ohio. or Ten
nesseee. There It is mountainous. Here
at Washes the land Is fiat, and the only
elevations are from the dumps of tho
minea The coal hero Is filled with waste.
st has to be sorted and the refuse Is car
fied out upon cars. There is so much Of 1t
that pyran1idal mountain soon rises
up beside each mine. standing out like
q black conc against the blue sky. There
are such pyramids everywhere In Bel
GUM Some Of them are dead, the mines
which produced them having been work
&c out and abandoned Others have lad
ders up their backs and a framework on
the top where women push the cars along
and with a rafting sound empty them.
Some OF these pyramids are smoking.
There Is much sulphur In the coal, and
spontaneous combustion often starts a
fire which burns on for years. Instances
are known of people going to sleep on the
dumps and being suffocated by the fumes
and gases.
Take your stand with me on one of these
coal mountains Just outside the mining
town OF Washes and look about you. See
the farms covered with rich crops. with
these coal mounds rising above them.
There Is Que at our right with great bug
light bags crawling over 1t. Take your
field glass ana look at them. They are
not bags They. are women who are pick
Eng up the coal that has been left In the
waste. Theme comes car aabng the coal
mountain. Two women are pushing 1t,
md with the glass you can almost see
their muscles swell as with bare arms
they cast 1t on the dump.
Now, look at that mound alb the left.
It Is hundreds Of feet high, and. like
the others about It, it is an evidence Of
the ENORMOUS waste that the miners have
80 contend with. Every bit Of Goa! that is
brought to the surface has to be picked
over and the waste is evidently more than
the coal itself.
Near every mound you see the huge
buildings OF the coal workers They are
not unlike those of the United States \
but the scenes about them are different
TIGER LILIES AN BLACK DIAMONDS
In the United States the work is done
altogether by n1eN. Here most OF the la
Dor above the surface is done by women.
And sucn women! Lusty young girls OF
from ls to 20. Pretty girls! Rosy checked,
round armed, and plump. with faces
Emutty, with coal Gust, but at the same