Denver labor bulletin., 1918-10-26
735, 100000 TONS OF COAL MUST BE
MINED FOR THE YEAR ENDING APRIL |
"Work the Men Who Dig, Says President
Wilson; Splendid Records Made by Patriots Who Toll
Dangerous Tasks Underground to Win the War
for Liberty.

While battles are fought by our SOL
diers over in Europe it is easy to for
get that the fire which flames from
cannon and gun, from shell and bomb,
is really kindled by the men who are
working faithfully day by day in the
coal mines of the United States.
President Wilson has said of these
men that "the work Of the world waits
on them," and now has come the
moment in history when the war de-
pends on them.
All the machinery which moves
armies, and then supplies them with
the means of fighting, demands fuel.
According to estimates made by the
United States fuel administration,
every time a $4,000 ton troop ship
carries American soldiers to the fight
ing front in France it consumes 5000
tons of coal. This means that each
ton of coal sends two soldiers over
seas. For the transportation of food
and all the endless consignments of
munitions 100000 tons of coal will
be required in a year, while the ship
building program demands $4,000 900
tons of coal to manufacture and to
transport the steel used in ship con-
struction. And for every ton of ship
ping that leaves the ways five tons of
coal Will nave peen burned curing
the building process.
Increase Over Normal Output
In the coal year from April l, 1918,
to April l, 1919, there must be sup
piled approximately 735,000,000 tons
of coal and a gap of S0,000,000 tons
between this years production and
that of last year must be bridged. As
the output for 1917 was $4,000, 900
r - 8
there is an imperative demand for
IA 100000 tons more than the normal
output.
Less than 100000 miners are now
actually bearing the greatest respon-
sibility that has come to any class
of workers who are giving their
strength to the winning Of the war.
To them has been presented gigan-
tic task that must be accomplished
with the handicap of greatly reduced
man power, and they are accomplish
ing what has seemed impossible. They
have broken all previous records in
production, altho thousands of their
comrades have gone into the army and
the navy.
Before the first draft approximately
900 mine workers were employed
in the United States. Then the war
took about Is per cent of the work
ers, for a large number volunteered,
in addition to the loss by draft. Men
accustomed to danger went to war
with the courage of long experience
in daring death. Thus, with greatly
increased demands upon them, the
mine workers of the country found
themselves hampered by reduced
numbers.
''The Great Service Army"
In the first three months of 1918,
despite the most patriotic effort, fig
ures showed that 100000 tons less
than in the same period of 1917 had
been produced. Bad weather was the
/ principal cause of this disappointment.
I The United States fuel administration
studied the report for the quarter and
made earnest appeals to speed up.
But the mine workers needed no
urging to do their best in what Presi-
dent Wilson has called the great
service army" Increased production
became the watchword and enthusi-
asm spread from Pennsylvania to In
diana, from West Virginia to Illinois,
from Texas to Colorado. In every
state where mines are located men
fell to work with supreme energy.
Miners who had been working part
time on account of age or physical
disability ceased to spare themselves.
Many who had made enough money
to support them in old age gave up
their well earned leisure, and appeared
again in the early morning lines of