Twin city review. [volume] (Champaign, Ill.) 19??-1929, 1923-04-13
WHAT BUREAU
OF EDUCATION
SAYS OF MINES

! Ut EDUIA1ION
SAYS OF MINES
A report on schools in the bitum-
inouS coal regions of the Appalachian
Mountains recently made by the Bu-
reau of Education, was confined to
the best districts in the bituminous
field of western Pennsylvania. Ii
showed that l9 per cent of the chill
dren who entered school continued
TO the eighth grade, that the amount
| OF retardauon was greatest in the
third, fourth, nth and sixth grades,
that OF $50 elementary teachers in
one mining district in western Penn
sylvania, only Is per cent had attend
ed school more than four years after
completion of the eighth grade, and
that about one-fourth of the teachers
were teaching their first term and
about one-half were occupying for the
| flrst time the position they held at
the time the study was made. The
| course OF study in that district was
found to be bookish and not related
to the life of the mining town; play
as a part of the school work re-
ceived no attention except in few
towns. The Kindergarten, although
especially needed, was not found any
where in the Appalachian region out
side of Jefferson County, Ala, and
Ellsworth, Pa.
For the most part the school build
ings of the district were like the
houses, small wooden buildings-often
unpainted, in bad repair, and some
times inadequately heated. Cave-ins
had occurred near several of the
buildings. None Of them had play
grounds. 4
The grade reached by the children
who had left school and by those who
remained in school reflect the denial
of opportunity form which these
groups of children suffered. In the
course of the investigation, 30 chill
dren were found Who could neither
read nor write.
Death Rate Double Average for
Nation
The infant mortality for the entire
birth-registration area of the United
States was "a in 1917, for that year
the rate for Shenandoah was 1877
one of the highest in the country.
The town of Shenandoah is so
hemmed in by mine properties on
every side that expansion to meet the
needs of its growing population has
been impossible. As a result, when
more people came, in response to the
demand for more and more mine
workers, rear houses were built until
the alleys were turned into narrow
streets; then houses were added be-
tween those in the front and the rear
until by 1920 there were "a, ,726 per-
sons living on an area a little more
than one-half of a square mile. (Note:
This is three times the density of Chi
cago).
In 81 instances z people were oc-
cupying two rooms, in 80 instances
10 people were occupying three rooms,
and in 40 instances 10 people were
occupying two rooms.
The general explanation given of
the disrepair of the houses of this
district is the pull of the mines. In
large part of the town of Shenan-
doah the old workings have been filled
in with slush, but in many places no
such precautions have been taken and
the ground has given way and fissures
and cave-ins have resulted.
Kitchen Almost Drops Into Under
ground Cavern.
One family reported having had to
move because of a cave-in directly
under the house in which they were
living. The ground under the kitchen
and dining room disappeared, taking
with it the coal and other things
stored beneath. The kitchen floor
broke under the weight of the furni-
ture and the stove was rescued just
as it was slipping in.
A man had paid $3.50 on S3,-
$50 house, which presently started
to sink. In the hope of saving it he
had spent an additional 81 800 TO build
cellar. He spoke bitterly Of the
conditions, saying that even when the
estates or mining companies served
notice on their tenants to move be-
cause the ground was undermined
there was no place to which they
could 90. As there is no more
ground for lease in Shenandoah, the
people felt, he said, that there was
nothing for them to do but wait for
their house to cave in. "Then," ne
said, after it's gone under you can
go in and get what lumber is left.
The home of another Of the chill
dren for whom a schedule was secured
was perched on the edge OF breach
which had opened after it was built.
Six years before the kitchen had fall.
en- into the breach and at the time OF
the study one side Of the house
seemed dangerously near the edge.
The two estates and the mining
companies who were the landlords OF
the district, protected themselves by
their leases from liability for any
damage to property or to life. and
limb resulting from the caving Of land
due to mining operations, even though
these mining operations were "negi.-.
gently, unskillfully, and Improperly
carried on and without leaving any
support whatever for the surface"
Landlord Employer in Combination
Evils Multiply.
The very fact that the landlord
was also so frequently the employer
might well be said to have created
a special obligation to protect the
children of their employees from the