Indiana daily times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1914-1922, 1920-11-11
RAILROAD COAL
+. PICKERS AGAIN
PLYING TRADE
Women, Children, Some Men,
Too, Found in Most Any
Yard These Days.
WAR CHANGES THINGS

with the advent Of cold weather the
once familiar, and in many instances pitt
full, sight of women and children gath
ering coal from along railroad tracks in
and about Indianapolis, may be seen
again. A trip along any railroad track.
particularly in those regions where coal
cars are switched, will bring to the eyes
OF the traveller dozens Of poor persons
making an effort to obtain fuel enough
to keep themselves warm for the night
they have no fires in the daytime) or
enough to cook their mea ger meals.
Many of the women form parties"
each woman with a basket or a sack, and
the crowd viii go to the nearest railroad
track, where they viii walk sometimes
many miles, picking up large lump Of
coal here, a small piece there, until at
the end Of the day they have a we'll
filled basket or sack. Many Of them
gather up so much coal IN this manner
that Il is difficult for them, weary as
they are from their long walk, to drag
their days find home.
THEY KNOW WHERE TO
FIND BEST FIELDS.
The best field for finding coal, accord
ing to these women, is about the rail-
IVau SdAue u dI pAdNc nhCAO a
1srze amount of switching OF coal cars
takes place. This Is easily explained.
The continuous humping Of the cars,
loaded to the top with coal, causes sew
araI humps to fall at each buup. Rail-
road men will not stop to pick up the
large Jumps, much less the smaller
amounts OF coal that fall TO the grounds,
and they are left to lie on the ground
until some woman or child comes along to
gather up the find"
Time was when these people could
climb on the coal cars and roll OF few
large Jumps Of coal, sufficient to last them
for a day or two. That was before the
war. But along with the many other
changes brought about by the war, that
practice was stopped.
Whefs the United States Government
took over is control OF the coUntry's
railroads, if~hecame a criminal offense.
a violation of Federal laws, to take coal
from a railroad car. no matter where it
was standing. County, city and justice
courts BEFORE the war, hesitated to look
upon this practice as stealing, and. in
few Instances was any person convicted
or fined for taking coal from a railroad
car.
But the large posters, pasted or nailed
up along railroad tracks, on depots and
ears, warning Of the penalty for taking
any article from a railroad car, went a
long way toward breaking up the prac-
tice Of rolling coal from the gondolas.
COAL MEN SELDOM
MADE COMPLAINTS.
Coal men. TO whom these cars were
consigned, very seldom made complaints.
At that time they explained their lack
Of action by saying they expected TO
have the car weigh Short, and it might
as well lose weight in this manner as to
have the coal lost along the way by the
shifting of cars.
But women and children are not the
only persons who make these foraging
expeditions for coal. proportionate
quota Of men also carry their sacks along
the tracks, vieing with the others in their
efforts to obtain a large supply, so they
may not have to come out again for a
few days.
-, One particularly fruitful Geld for pick
ing mp coal is on the Belt railroad, in
the vicinity Of the Midwest Engine Com
pany. Here in the old days, organized
parties" Of coal pickers would gather
and It was common enough for the po-
lice emergency squad to make from ten
to twenty runs in each twenty -four hours
70 the scene TO dispel disorder that arose
among the pickers.
Baby buggies, baskets, wheelbarrows,
gunny sacks. in fact. any other article
that would hold coal, would be pressed
Into service.
With the shortage of coal this year.
and the accompanying high price asked
Tor what one can buy, it is expected the
quota Of coal pickers will be considerably
Increased.