Perth Amboy evening news., 1922-10-06
LOT OF THE COAL MINER
TOLD OF BY MIR. HASKIN
Daily Letter by Frederic }. Haskin

mining do not show that the occu-
patton is extremely hazardous. 1t
is pointed out that the miner Is eA-
posed to no extremes of temperd-
ture, His work is done in an atmus-
phere not unlike that of Mann
moth Cave, SO well are modern
mines ventilated, and in an I'M
changing cellar-like temperature.
After a short days work the
miner is free to enjoy life in Lynch
or Jenkins in such a climate as
health seekers go far to enjoy.
Lynch has nearly as high an eleVa-
ton as Rockbridge Alum Springs IN
Virginia, or the hotels in and about
Asheville, N. c.. ALI of the convent
ences and most of the luxuries OF
life in a first class city are pro-
vided. The miners residence is near
everything his wife wants in the way
OF table or household supplies
Necessary living is not high.
The rapidity with which money
is spent by miners and their fam
lilies indicates welfare above that OF
a majority of skilled laborers in
GLIDING those engaged in occupa-
tons such as bridge carpentry AND
outside painting on city buildings,
which are as hazardous as mink g.
The miner who has come out OF the
mine covered with coal dust, AXE
on by pe~rspiration, goes to a bath
house which compares f~aVorably
with that of the Y. M. c. A. in
Washington or New York. After
ward he may be seem playing bill
lizards or attend a picture show. at
tired like a business man, or 1dllnS
on the street in khaki according to
his bent. But his wife and his
children nearly always ate well
dressed. and nothing is too good or
too costly for the family table.
The elaborate system of welfare
work in the model mining camps is
indeed inspiring, but the labor turn
over indicates that it inspires the
student of industrial relationships
more than it does the miner. He
takes it all as a matter of course.
He seems about as happy in the less
we'll equipped camps. He Drifts
from one to another often with
seeming aimlessness.
Some observers claim that in the
Kentucky coal fields men are more
restless where they are best housed,
bes. fed and best amused. The rea-
son ascribed is that tho miners in
the great coal camps feel no sort of
allegiance to the soil, nj matter
how long their residence at a given
camp, while miners in many of the
smaller operations have a love Tor
home which keeps them there.
Some Miners May Own Homes
Visitors are impressed especially
with the living conditions and the
apparent loyalty of the miners at
Stearns, a timber and coal opera
ton which has it's administration
buildings on the Cincinnati South
ern Railroad near the Tennessee
line. Here the miners are given,
under stipulated conditions, oppor-
tGnity to acquire surface rights to
land. They may build their cot
tages and own them and live in
them in the style TO which Kentucky
.nouutaineers are accustomed. The
! result is that a great proportion oi
the miners here are na..yes, Their
log cabins peep from thu pines in
va. ious SITUATIONS so picturesque
that they look as If they had built
them for a movie camera to shoot
| They are wholly withou. the con
veniences which make a miners
| Lome in a modern camp much like
| an apartment In Chicago or New
| York. Wives of miners here pack
water from the spring" in native
yernacular, feed pigs n a per, and
keep chickens. They know the
hardship of strenuous labor. but
seemingly they have no desire TO
move, and their men share their
local attachment.
In Floyd County, IN the Big San
dy Valley, native miners predomi-
rates. There are no camps in this
| region that could be called show
| places of Kentucky coal tields. But
native miners, r~esenting the intrp-
sion of foreigners, are inclined TO
| remain in n place. So greatly
do they resent the presence of out
siders that importing labor into this
field may cause bloody clashes. In
times of large coal orders there is
difficulty in getting enough labor as
the native coal population is not
dense.
In the model camps a miner own
nothing but his household goods
| That as a rule he acquires at the
company store after arrival. Otter
he sells 1t and leaves it when ne
moves. Nothing binds him to the
place. Nothing impedes him if he
wishes to move. He goes like 8
city ledger. leaving one furnished
room to take a similar one In an