The Topeka state journal., 1919-12-02


nor believes fifteen mines will be open
Wednesday.
Great Aggie Record.
Seventy-five students from the State
Agricultural college will go to the
fields each day until the volunteer list
of 500 is exhausted. John H. Craw-
ford, state labor commissioner, stated
that the Aggie men were among the
finest~ men sent into the service. A
large number of negroes are to go to
the mines this week. They will be
used in the Weir district where negro
workers have been employed for a
number of years.
Distribution of Coal.
The first state coal will. go to Cold
water, st. John, kiowa, Muscotah,
Washington, Logan, Seneca, -Centralia,
Leon, Clearwater, Huron, Ports. The
governor said there was enough coal
for shipment to meet the emergency
demand.
= One of the first volunteer workers
IN the state house this morning was
Rev. John A. McAfee, pastor of the
Westminster Presbyterian church.
The Rev. McAfee, a chaplain during
the war period, asked permission to
go to the coal fields to help produce
coal for the needy.
flee this morning were to the effect
that laeol hospitals are practically
without coal. Some of them have a
weeks supply inland.
This morning Guilford Dudley of
the coal firm of McCleery-Dudley, as
sured the governors office that plans
for direct shipment of state coal
would meet with NIB opposition from
their firm He approved the plan to
ship coal direct to the needy and re-
crisis.
Spring Surprise.
Governor Allen is today preparing
one of the biggest surprises which ever
of the mine workers union in Kansas
He is planning to open so many new
strip mine pits and produce so much
coal that the tonnage records of the
unions will lCok like school attendance
figures on circus day. Before night
the governor, acting with state mine
receivers, will doubtless close con-
tracts with several big construction
companies for the opening of a num-
Der of big coal strips.
BY the end of another two weeks,
the governor believes, enough coal will
be uncovered to insure an adequate
supply of fuel for the state. AS pid-
iy as new labor can be trained to
handle the c6al, the workers will be
encouraged to stay on the job and
state protection and support will be
insured. Before Christmas, Governor
ander Howat some tonnage compare
CONS which will lead to the belief that
the mine workers celebrated grand
mas birthday during most OF the
time when a strike order vas not in
effect.
Not Into Shaft Mines.
1t is not the plan of the state to go
into the shaft mines. But the. secret
of the mining game in southeastern
Kansas IS in the fact that the coal
strips lying six to twenty feet under
the surface of the soil are from three
to five feet thick. The shaft mine
veins range from a thickness of "a
inches to 80 inches Consequently the
more profitable mining is in the strip
fields. Governor Allen is today ar
ranging with Several big contractors
to clear the earth from the strip coal
veins and employ enough labor to meet
the states demand for fuel.
While this plan is being worked
out in the Cherokee-Crawford dis
trict. the Usage mines are being re-
opened by operators in that field. It
is believed that number of the mines
in the Usage field will be operated at
capacity before the end of the week.
These mines were closed more than a
year ago when it was found that they
could not be operated profitably un-
der the Garfield fuel rate schedule.
Open Mines I'm Osage.
Two mines in the Usage county
fields have already opened after
months of idlness thru dissatisfaction
over the federal fuel administration
rate orders Evidence today pointed
to the reopening of majority, If not
all, of the mines in the field. A meet
ing this afternoon in Usage will de-
ternine the course of the miners and
operators.
j. H. Lee, Of Topeka and W.
Turvey, we'll knewn among the Usage
miners C4iS6T1SSaf7 nj 1S
with Governor Allen. Both are hope
ful of a big tonnage production in the
field under the new rate regulations
being worked out. Turvey, however,
denied today that he had stated that
all of the miners would return to their