Omaha daily bee., 1903-01-04

wv cial Correspondence OF The Bee.)
XA I an in the heart of one of the
richest coal mining regions of Eu-
~ rope. Belgium is only about
one-third the size of Indiana, but 1t has
deposits of coal and iron which make 1t
hum like u bee hive. 1t Is the busiest
workshop upon the continent, and 1t sup
ports about as many people to the square
mile as any country of the world. Its an
nual product of coal amounts to %, 900
tons. 1t uses the greater part of this at
home, and also imports fuel from erman
and England. At present the people are
looking to the United States as "A possible
source OF manufacturing fuel, and the day
may yet come when the mills here VIII be
largely run through coal from the United
States.
The Belgium mining conditions are en-
tirely different from those of our country
Our mines are near the surface, ana IL
costs but little to get the coal to 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 today are more than
n half mile deep, The water mas TO De
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 1000 feet. over them
are other tunnels, and the whole country Is
n catacomb, made by getting out the coal
The mines have to be timbere1. The WOOD
is cut from the forests nearby, but the most
of it Is not over six inches thick, ana as II
comes to the mines 1t looks like telegraph
poles, each nifty feet long, tapering to a
point at the end. Such timber stands In
great stacks about each mine, 1t Is un-
loaded from the cars by women, who handle
the poles like 30 many Amazons.
This coal region is far different from
those OF Pennsylvania, Ohio or tennessee
There IT is mountainous. Here at Washes
the land is Nat, and the only elevations are
from the dumps of the mines. The coal
here is filled with waste. IL has TO De
sorted and the refuse is carried out upon
cars. There is so much Of 1t that a pyra-
midal mountain soon rises up beside each
mine. standing out like a black cone against
the blue sky. There are such pyramids
everywhere in this part OF Belgium. Some
of them are dead, the mines which produced
them having been worked out and aban-
doned. Others have ladders up their backs
and "A framework on the top where women
push the cars along and with a rattllnl
sound empty them. Some of the pyramids
are smoking. There Is much sulphur In th'
coal and spontaneous combustion oilel
starts a FIRE which burns on for years In
stances are known OF people going to sleeI
on the dumps and being suifocated by tn
fumes and gases,
Take your stand with me on one OF thes'
coal mountains just outside the mining Tow
Of Washes and look about you. See IN
farms covered with rich crops, with thes
coal mounds rising above them, There !
one at our right with great bug-like bag
crawling over It. Take your field glass an
look at them. They are not bags The
are women who are picking up the coal ina
has been left in the waste. There comes
car along the coal mountain. Two wome
are pushing It and with the glass you ca
almost see their muscles swell as with bar
arms they cast IL on the dump.
Now look at that mound at the lett
Is hundreds Of feet high, and, like tn
others about It, l., is an evidence OF u
enormous waste that the miners have
contend with. Every bit OF coal that
brought TO the surface has to be pickt
over. and the waste is evidently more tha
the coal itself.
Near every mound you see the huge buil'
ings OF the coal workers, They are not III
like those Of the United States, but Il
scenes about them are different.
In the United States the work Is done a
together BY men. Here most OF the lap
above the surface is performed by wome
And such women! Lusty young girls