The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1906-07-12
calls from other parts of the mine.

have charge of all tracks in the mine;
his work is very dangerous. His abil-
ity is determined by the adroitness
displayed when laying curves, switches
and frogs with straight rails, and by
the small amount Of rails and ties that
he loses in the worked-out fields. He
commands good wages and pays his
own assistant The shot-tirers are
men whose lives have been spent in
mines, and whose work requires cool
head and extreme caution. Their
hours are short (about three) and
wages good.
But the miner! The man who digs
the coal. and who is kept continually
before the public by the quarrel be-
tween the anthracite operators on the
one side and the United Mine Work
ers of America on the other. What Of
himp He always works with one or
more assistants (called buddies) whom
he employs, and who perform all the
hard work, such as drilling holes, sort
ing the slate from the coal, throwing
it back from the face of the bank, load
ing it into the cars and pushing them
to the door, besides many other things
too numerous to mention. He sees
that this work is done properly, does
all the undermining, looks after the
condition of the slate overhead, prop
ping and Gaping whenever necessary,
and is held responsible for the safety
of his buddies while in his room. In
fact, he is the brain and intelligence of
his place of business, while his buddies
are the laborers. The plans of these
mines were almost the same in every
detail. They contained the main
heading, fifteen entries and close to a
hundred rooms. y.
Time being limited / will give you
but brief description of how room
is worked. They are generally thirty
six feet wide. The miner digsa three
and -a-half-foot, or a. a.four-foot under
mining clear across it. He then throws
his slack back of him, places the pow
der into the holes, which were drilled
while he was digging, and which are
the same depth as the undermining
lamps them, and is ready to leave
This has taken him five or six hours
In the meantime his buddies have
cleaned up the coal from the last fall
providing they receive the cars. II
not, he sees the pit boss and re.
quests more cars; if unsuccessful he
helps his men to throw the coal out
of the way, so that the shot-frers may
have plenty of room for their work.
1 have known miners, who had theil
relatives for buddies, to divide the
work in such manner that they would
leave the mines within six hours from
the time they entered them. But this
occurred only when they could get the
l cars to load their coal in, which was
, seldom. The miner is paid certain
price for every ton of coal he sends
3 out, slight dockage occurring when
, ever a car of coal contains mucf
3 slate. The weighing is always done
by two men, one employed by the com
r pany, called the Teigher, and the othel
3 employed by the miners, who is called
d the check -weighman. This system O.
!, weigher and check-weighman is il
4 effect at all the mines in the anthra
Q cite fields of Pennsylvania.
t After all the rooms have been worked
t out there remain the huge pillows o.
: butts. These must all be pulled, and a
: it is very dangerous work, it is Away
t given to the most careful men. Th'
b work Is easy for the miner, as strok'
;, of his pick in most cases loosens sew
eral car loads.
Q The miners life is hard one at al
r times; from the minute he enters tn
Q mine until he leaves 1t he carries hi
i life in his hands.
q In conclusion wish to say that fo
q six weeks I entered these mines daily
. and during thar time never heard {
complaint Of any kind-other than
demand for cars. These men told M
that they could make high wages at al
times if the company would give then
cars enough to get out the coal tina
? they mined, bat at that time they wer
9 Just able to make expenses. I wish
T we're able to transmit to yeu the i'm