The Cordova daily times., 1918-09-13
M|NERSF0RMA A
 PATRIOTIC ARMY
 LOYAL WORKERS

WASHINGTON, Sept. 12.-An army of three-quarters of million men, with no divisional or corps numbers, with no insignia except that of the man who labors. and working far from the fanfare of trumpets, Is the subterranean army of men who toll in the darkness of the underground to produce the coal that supplies the vital necessities of the other army now fighting the Huns.
 That the coal miners constitute an army as truly as the men who march to the front is being attested daily by the enthusiastic reports that reach the bureau of mines of the depart ment of the interior of records smashed in the production of coal. From all parts of the country from isolated villages, in places where one would imagine the war spirit was slow in penetrating. come these reports that miners have gladly given up their holidays in order that there should not be any slowing up of the great war machine that is destined to r. finally crush the Hun. These reports from operators not only give the facts of greater production, but generally add a virile comment upon what their organizations intend to do in the near future to help win the war The pa triotic spirit that pervades the oper ators is the same in the superlnten- dents, the foreman and the men them selves The lone miner in his work ing place, tearing the coal from it's resting place. knows that more coal means moro guns. more ships, more munitions. and that these mean vic tory and the saving of the lives of their brothers who are fighting across the seas.
 Just recently the bureau of mines sent one of its representatives into the mines of Michigan, Tennessee and Ohio to investigate the pyrite which sulphuric acid, the pyrite being the sulphur found in the coal. It Is not known as yet whether it will be nec- cssary to use these sulphur balls, the bureau making the investigation as a measure of preparedness. The inyes tiEator found, however that the oper- ators and the miners were ready to mine the pyrite just as soon as it was demanded.
 The message brought back to the bureau by the investigator was that the outstanding feature of his trip was the absolute patriotism of the men and the general anxiety to help the government in any way possible. The investigator found that the old socialistic chalk slogans on the walls Of many mines had given way to Buy Liberty bonds" and many other ref erences to winning with the war One of the most familiar of the signs in number of mines reads. ITO he'll with the kaiser" Almost every electric motor seen in the mines carries a miniature American flag. bringing continually to the miners that the var is on and giving him the in spiration to greater effort
 And the miner is risking his life as we'll as the soldier boys at the front. In the year 1917, the last for which statistics are available. 2.696 miners gave up their lives while dig ging coal to win the war Unfortu- nately the government does not tab ulate the casualties of the mines as it does of the soldiers. If the number of injuries could be shown they would indicate that mining perhaps is as hazardous as war Yet the miner goes about his work with the same enthusiasm and the same fearessness as the boys lover there" and Is as' surely doing his part toward winning the war