The Winslow mail., 1922-09-01
SUCCESSFUL PIONEERS SOLVING
COAL PROBLEM
Fairness And Honesty Win

states that coal mining has been
the nations most inefficient and
poorly organized industry And ev-
cry other competent mining engin-
eer says the same thing. There has
been waste and extravaganza in min
ing coal, In shipping it, and in mark
citing it. The miners have often not
been paid living wage or received
steady Employment, while the public
has been compelled to pay for its
coal from four to six times what il
cost at the mouth of the mine
The present coal crisis is the out
come of years of bungling with the
coal industry The public-for whom
the coal is mined-is anxiously wait
ing for some organization with the
brains and courage and honesty tC
prove to the nation that the coal in
dustry can be scientifically and eff.
ficiently managed, with fair wages
and human treatment for the miners
reasonable profits for the mine op-
orators, and lower cost to the con
sumer
Two big problems stand out in the
public mind today: transportation
and fuel. The railway workers have
already formulated a successful So
luton of the former in the Plumb
Plan of railway control The loco
motive engineers are solving the
latter by the operation of the Coal
River Collieries
Engineers Natural Pioneers
The engineers are by nature pio-
neers. Their Brotherhood put up an
iY,,x rto >ffi I,,,.1
ing in Cleveland when other labor
organizations said it couldn't be done
yet the building is now worth S3,-
900, 900, debt free, and paying sub
stantial dividend A year and half
ago the Brotherhood established the
first Cooperative National Bank in
America, the resources Of which have
grown from 1868 900 to SIS 600 900
in this brief period Three months
ago the officers of the Brotherhood
announced the organization of a mil
lion dollar investment company as an
auxiliary to the bank. and this too
has gone through with the usual eX-
pedition and success.
Record Insures Success
With this record of sound bust
ness Judgment and achievement be-
hind them the leading officers of the
brotherhood have tackled the coal
, problem. They have secured control
f over 5000 acres of the best coal
land in the United States situated on
the Coal River in Boone County.
West Virginia, and in Floyd County
the heart of the Big Sandy Coal Dis
trict, near Prestonburg. Kentucky
and they are again demonstrating
that they are successful pioneers.
Main Points Of the Plan
The successful pioneer in industry
as well as in other fields is The man
or company that is willing 70 com
bine hard work with honesty and
common sense The engineers take
no great credit to themselves for
solving the coal problem. It is sim
ply an application of the same sterl-
ing principles that have brought
them success in other lines of en-
deavor
First of all, they have set out in
telligently hy making men. and not
merely money, the basis of their
plans The men who dig the coal
are receiving the best wages the in
dustry can nav-higher than the ac-
cepted scale in neighboring mines
Then they are given ideal living and
working conditions, and treated as
human beings rather than lumns Of
machinery. There never has beer
and never will be any labor trouble
at the Coal River Collieries. And II
consequence of this fair and gener-
Gus treatment, the miners are pro
ducing more coal with less waste
than sullen. discontented workers
have ever done.
In the second nlace. the engineers
are aquipping their mines with the
most modern machinery obtainable
From years of experience they know
the value of efficient mechanical ap
tpliances. They know that the bes
workers in the world cannot produce
| the maximum amount of coal with
out scientific machinery to help then
The engineers have therefore called
IN the best mechanical experts OBJ
tainable, and have turned over into
their hands the construction anc
equipment of the most efficient Goa
mining plant in the United States
Competent mining engineers uncon
nected with the company have mar
veled at the lay of the big stee
twin tipples with retarding convey
ors, running from the mines to the
central four track tipple where the
coal is graded inspected. sorted into
fifteen grades and automatically
placed by boom leaders into the rail
road cars for shipment to the con
| sulner.
Cutting Cost to the Consumer
Finally, the engineers are going tc
cut the cost of coal to the consumer
by eliminating the profits of hall
dozen middlemen. This is to be done
by encouraging local groups of en-
gineers to organize their own CO.
operative coal yards, buy coal from
their own mine at cost, and dis
tribute it to themselves, their fellow
railway workers, and their neigh
bors, with fair return for their eff
forts and a big saving to the coal